BOOKS BY MAIL.—Now that the postage on printed matter is so low, we offer our services to procure for our subscribers or others any of the books that we notice. Information touching books will be cheerfully given by inclosing stamp to pay return postage.

From HARPER & BROTHERS, New York, through LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, Philadelphia:—

THE U. S. GRINNELL EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. A Personal Narrative. By Elisha Kent Kane, M. D., U. S. N. As Americans, we certainly have reason to feel, and may therefore be permitted to express an honest pride and gratification in the rapid contributions which our countrymen are continually presenting to the various departments of literature and science. Among the more recent and most valuable of these and similar contributions is the beautiful volume the title of which stands at the head of this article. In 1850, Mr. Grinnell, an eminent merchant of New York, actuated by a most humane and liberal spirit, fitted out two of his own vessels and proffered them gratuitously to the government to be employed in an expedition to the Arctic region, in search of Sir John Franklin, who had not been heard from after the 26th of July, 1850. The officers of this expedition were appointed by the navy department. It was commanded by Lieut. Edwin J. De Haven, and its first surgeon was Dr. E. K. Kane, who, at the request of the commander, became the historian of their perilous and romantic voyage. We say romantic, because the scenes to which we are introduced by the graphic pen of the doctor seem more like the creations of the imagination than the realities of sober observation, or the experience of personal adventure. In addition to the historical, scientific, and descriptive merits of the work, it is profusely and beautifully illustrated by fine mezzotints and wood-engravings.

From D. APPLETON & CO., No. 200 Broadway, New York, through C. G. HENDERSON & CO., corner of Fifth and Arch Streets, Philadelphia:—

BOYS AT HOME. By C. Adams, author of "Edward Clifton," etc. Illustrated by John Gilbert. This is an English story, written especially for the moral instruction and encouragement of young persons in adverse circumstances. It inculcates the highest principles of duty and honor, and, at the same time, shows the necessity of perseverance in the accomplishment of virtuous designs.

THE CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE. By James F. W. Johnson. It should be read by the million, for it informs us all about the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil we cultivate, and the plant we rear. The dedication is to Sir David Brewster, one of the most eminent scientific men in England. We shall make some extracts from the work for our June number.

THE SUNSHINE OF GREYSTONE. A Story for Girls. By E. J. May, author of "Louis's Schoolboy Days." This is a handsome volume, with many beautiful illustrations. Its greatest beauties, however, will be found in the good sense, the high moral tone, and in the pure religious feeling which pervade its printed pages.

From J. S. REDFIELD, 110 and 112 Nassau Street, New York, through W. B. ZIEBER, Philadelphia:—

THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. By Frederick Dinison Maurice, M. A., Chaplain of Lincoln's Inn. From the second London edition. With a new preface and other additions. The author of this work is a learned clergyman of the Established Church of England. The volume contains seventeen essays on subjects intimately connected with the dogma of that church, and explanatory of the general teachings of Christianity. These essays were originally a series of discourses delivered before the author's own congregation, and embraced numerous topics which he desired to bring under the notice of Unitarians. They therefore partake of a controversial spirit, but in a mild and charitable form.

THE WORKINGMAN'S WAY IN THE WORLD. Being the Autobiography of a Journeyman Printer. This volume furnishes us with what purports to be the true, and certainly is the very interesting history of the struggles of an English journeyman printer.

CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. By James Bruce. This volume is devoted to a description of the personal appearance of a long list of celebrated persons, male and female, ancient and modern, commencing with Sappho, and ending with Madame de Stael. The peculiarities of character, which accompany the "descriptive list," render this volume interesting and instructive in a high degree.

From TICKNOR, REED, & FIELDS, Boston:—

LETTERS TO A YOUNG MAN, AND OTHER PAPERS. By Thomas De Quincey, author of "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater," etc. etc. Exclusive of the "Letters," five in number, this volume contains seven essays: 1. Theory of Greek Tragedy; 2. Conversation; 3. Language; 4. French and English Language; 5. California and the Gold Mania; 6. Ceylon; 7. Presence of Mind; in all which the great reputation of the author as an instructive and philosophical writer is fully sustained.

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY, JOHN BIGLER, Governor of the State of California. Such is the title of a pamphlet sent us from the press of George Kerr, State Printer, Benicia, and the address is worthy of being thus distributed over the whole country. It is a clear and able exposition of the progress and resources of that wonderful portion of our Union. Aladdin, with his genii, could hardly have effected greater changes than gold and the genius of American freedom have effected in California. We are much obliged to the friend who sent us this excellent address. The name of Bigler should be highly honored in Pennsylvania.

WESTERN DEMOCRATIC REVIEW. George P. Buell, Editor and Publisher: Indianapolis, Jan., 1854. This is a new periodical, whose table of contents embraces a variety of subjects, social, political, poetical, biographical, and miscellaneous. We welcome every such manifestation of the growth, the prosperity, and the mental vigor of the Great West. The editor is evidently a man of ability and enterprise, and his articles, varied as they are, are all written with spirit, and show a truly liberal and patriotic mind.

THE SOUTHERN QUARTERLY REVIEW. C. Mortimer, Publisher: Charleston, S. C. We have often wondered that, excepting in political matters, the South has so long been willing to do without a literature of its own. We are glad to see that, at last, a publication devoted to subjects of general interest, as well as to politics, seems to meet with the success it deserves. The articles in it are written evidently with care and thought, and, although generally of too abstruse a nature to interest ladies, there are one or two lighter articles, pleasant chronicles of the olden time, which can hardly fail to please. Rich as South Carolina is in such themes, both from its old Huguenot ancestry, and from the characteristic earnestness with which it threw itself into the Revolutionary struggle, it needs only some one with the patient and devoted spirit of the antiquary to rescue from oblivion many scenes and incidents of romantic interest. The political articles, exclusively Southern as they are in thought and sentiment, yet, by their earnestness and acumen, justify the boast that the South is the birth-place of politicians.

From PARRY & MCMILLAN (successors to A. Hart late Carey & Hart), corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia:—

THE PLANTER'S NORTHERN BRIDE. A Novel. By Caroline Lee Hentz, author of "Linda," "Rena," "Eoline," etc. etc. We have not had time to become acquainted with the true character of this novel. We have read sufficient, however, to enable us to say that it is an effort to reconcile the difficulties that are sometimes supposed to exist between "true" lovers on account of their geographical positions. The name of the popular author will be the best recommendation we could give of her work. The volumes sent us are of the cheap edition, with paper covers, price fifty cents each. We are told that an edition is published with six engravings, two volumes, cloth gilt, $1 50. We might have been enabled to speak more confidently of the merits of the work, had we been favored with the plates.

From HENRY CAREY BAIRD (successor to E. L. Carey), No. 7 Hart's Buildings, Sixth Street above Chestnut, Philadelphia:—

CORINNE; OR, ITALY. By Madame de StaËl. Translated by Isabel Hill; with metrical versions of the odes by L. E. Landon. This is a new and very beautifully printed edition of a work which, from its earliest publication, has continued to be read, admired, and criticised by persons of literary taste and judgment in all the languages of civilized Europe. It cannot fail therefore to prove highly interesting to that portion of our readers who may not have had an opportunity of perusing it in the original French of the celebrated author.

VATHEK: an Arabian Tale. By William Beckford, Esq. With a memoir of the author, and notes critical and explanatory. "Vathek" is an Eastern tale, written before the author had attained his twentieth year, and was composed at a single sitting of three days and two nights. For more than seventy years it has held the highest rank among similar works of imagination. It was a great favorite with Byron, who preferred it even to "Rasselas." In its descriptions of oriental costumes and of the manners of the people, its correctness has been established by writers of judgment, and, for "exquisite humor and supernatural interest and grandeur," is declared to stand without a rival in romance.

NOVELS, SERIALS, PAMPHLETS, &c.

From John P. Jewett & Co., Boston, and Jewett, Proctor, & Worthington, Cleveland, Ohio, through Cowperthwait, Desilver, & Butler, Philadelphia: "The Lamplighter." This is a tale of unusual interest, written in a clear, natural style.

From Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, Boston: "The Barclays of Boston." By Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis. A domestic story of great merit.

From D. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway, New York, through C. G. Henderson & Co., Philadelphia: "Marie Louise; or, the Opposite Neighbors." By Emilie Carlen, author of "John; or, Is a Cousin in hand worth two in the Bush?" etc. Translated from the Swedish. The author of this tale is deservedly popular, as well on account of the beauty of her style, as because she is always endeavoring to inculcate the purest morals.

From Blanchard & Lea, Philadelphia: Nos. 1 and 2 "Orr's Circle of the Sciences." A series of treatises on every branch of human knowledge. No. 1. On the Nature, Connection, and Uses of the great departments of Human Knowledge. By the Editor. No. 2. The Physiology of Animal and Vegetable Life. By the Editor and Professor Owen. With numerous illustrations. Price 15 cents. These are the first numbers of a work now publishing in London, designed to present in a popular style and condensed space the leading facts and principles of the various departments of human knowledge. The editors of this valuable series are persons of the highest reputation.

From T. B. Peterson, 102 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia: "Kate Clarendon; or, Necromancy in the Wilderness." By Emerson Bennett. This is a very interesting and romantic tale of the West, connected with the first settlements on the Ohio River.—"Miriam Alroy." A Romance of the Twelfth Century. By B. D'Israeli, M. P. Three English volumes complete in one. Price 37 cents.

From Bunce & Brothers, New York, through T. B. Peterson, Philadelphia: "Carlington Castle: a Tale of the Jesuits." By C. G. H., author of "The Curate of Linwood," etc. This is the story of an Irish heiress, who suffered a fierce persecution and imprisonment in the British dominions, on account of her religious opinions.

From Partridge & Britain, New York: "An Epic of the Starry Heaven." By Thomas L. Harris. There are undoubtedly a great many very high poetical flights in this volume, but really we are unable to judge of their claims to peculiar inspiration or spirituality. We must leave those claims, which we find enforced in the introduction, to the decision of the "spiritualists," with whose peculiar tests we have not yet become familiar.

"THE THREE BELLS QUICKSTEP."—Another of D. B. Williamson's beautiful productions. We cannot do better than publish the following letter from Captain Crighton:—

"NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 1854.

"D. B. Williamson, Esq., South Fifth Street, Philadelphia.

"DEAR SIR: Your kind note of the 15th, and four copies of the nautical song, were received this day.

"Among all the many expressions of gratitude which I have received from the American nation, for my simple duty towards suffering humanity, there are none I prize more highly than the song of my gallant ship, 'The Three Bells;' she, too, behaved nobly, and you are the first to acknowledge her merits. 'Permit me to write the songs of my country, and I care not who makes her laws,' said one who understood human nature, and I would hope through your instrumentality the name of my good ship will become a household word.

"Yours, very respectfully,
"ROBERT CRIGHTON."

We are in receipt of another piece of music, "Happy Hearts make Shining Faces;" a very happy title, and very pretty music and words.

"THE LITTLE FORESTER," published at Cincinnati, is an excellent publication for children, and, we are happy to hear, is doing well. The terms are only 25 cents a year, or twenty-five copies for $5. We designed to say something in this number about the "Little Pilgrim," but we have not received the last number; yet we see it noticed elsewhere.