I.—SAM SLICK’S NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE.

“The first volume of Messrs. Hurst and Blackett’s Standard Library of Cheap Editions forms a very good beginning to what will doubtless be a very successful undertaking. ‘Nature and Human Nature’ is one of the best of Sam Slick’s witty and humorous productions, and well entitled to the large circulation which it cannot fail to obtain in its present convenient and cheap shape. The volume combines with the great recommendations of a clear, bold type and good paper, the lesser, but attractive merits of being well illustrated and elegantly bound.”—Morning Post.

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“The new and cheaper edition of this interesting work will doubtless meet with great success. John Halifax, the hero of this most beautiful story, is no ordinary hero, and no ordinary book. It is a full-length portrait of a true gentleman, one of nature’s own nobility. It is also the history of a home, and a thoroughly English one. The work abounds in incident, and many of the scenes are full of graphic power and true pathos. It is a book that few will read without becoming wiser and better.”—Scotsman.

“This story is very interesting. The attachment between John Halifax and his wife is beautifully painted, as are the pictures of their domestic life, and the growing up of their children; and the conclusion of the book is beautiful and touching.”—AthenÆum.

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“Independent of its value as an original narrative, and its useful and interesting information, this work is remarkable for the colouring power and play of fancy with which its descriptions are enlivened. Among its greatest and most lasting charms is its reverent and serious spirit.”—Quarterly Review.

“Mr. Warburton has fulfilled the promise of his title-page. The ‘Realities of Eastern Travel’ are described with a vividness which invests them with deep and abiding interest; while the ‘Romantic’ adventures which the enterprising tourist met with in his course are narrated with a spirit which shows how much he enjoyed these reliefs from the ennui of every-day life.”—Globe.

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“‘Nathalie’ is Miss Kavanagh’s best imaginative effort. Its manner is gracious and attractive. Its matter is good. A sentiment, a tenderness, are commanded by her which are as individual as they are elegant. We should not soon come to an end were we to specify all the delicate touches and attractive pictures which place ‘Nathalie’ high among books of its class.”—AthenÆum.

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“These thoughts are good and humane. They are thoughts we would wish women to think: they are much more to the purpose than the treatises upon the women and daughters of England, which were fashionable some years ago, and these thoughts mark the progress of opinion, and indicate a higher tone of character, and a juster estimate of woman’s position.”—AthenÆum.

“This excellent book is characterised by good sense, good taste, and feeling, and is written in an earnest, philanthropic, as well as practical spirit.”—Morning Post.

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“‘Adam Graeme’ is a story awakening genuine emotions of interest and delight by its admirable pictures of Scottish life and scenery. The plot is cleverly complicated, and there is great vitality in the dialogue, and remarkable brilliancy in the descriptive passages, as who that has read ‘Margaret Maitland’ would not be prepared to expect? But the story has a ‘mightier magnet still,’ in the healthy tone which pervades it, in its feminine delicacy of thought and diction, and in the truly womanly tenderness of its sentiments. The eloquent author sets before us the essential attributes of Christian virtue, their deep and silent workings in the heart, and their beautiful manifestations in the life, with a delicacy, a power, and a truth which can hardly be surpassed.”—Morning Post.

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“We have not the slightest intention to criticise this book. Its reputation is made, and will stand as long as that of Scott’s or Bulwer’s novels. The remarkable originality of its purpose, and the happy description it affords of American life and manners, still continue the subject of universal admiration. To say thus much is to say enough, though we must just mention that the new edition forms a part of the Publishers’ Cheap Standard Library, which has included some of the very best specimens of light literature that ever have been written.”—Messenger.

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“A picturesque book on Rome and its ecclesiastical sovereigns, by an eloquent Roman Catholic. Cardinal Wiseman has here treated a special subject with so much generality and geniality that his recollections will excite no ill-feeling in those who are most conscientiously opposed to every idea of human infallibility represented in Papal domination.”—AthenÆum.

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“‘A Life for a Life’ is a book of a high class. The characters are depicted with a masterly hand; the events are dramatically set forth; the descriptions of scenery and sketches of society are admirably penned; moreover, the work has an object—a clearly defined moral—most poetically, most beautifully drawn, and through all there is that strong, reflective mind visible which lays bare the human heart and human mind to the very core.”—Morning Post.

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“A book which has afforded us no slight gratification.”—AthenÆum.

“From the mixture of description, anecdote, biography, and criticism, this book is very pleasant reading.”—Spectator.

“A more agreeable and entertaining book has not been published since Boswell produced his reminiscences of Johnson.”—Observer.

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“We recommend all who are in search of a fascinating novel to read this work for themselves. They will find it well worth their while. There are a freshness and originality about it quite charming, and there is a certain nobleness in the treatment both or sentiment and incident which is not often found.”—AthenÆum.

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“A peculiar interest attaches to sketches of colonial life, and readers could not have a safer guide than the talented author of this work, who, by a residence of half a century, has practically grasped the habits, manners, and social conditions of the colonists he describes. All who wish to form a fair idea of the difficulties and pleasures of life in a new country, unlike England in some respects, yet like it in many, should read this book.”—John Bull.

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“This last production of the author of ‘The Crescent and the Cross’ has the same elements of a very wide popularity. It will please its thousands.”—Globe.

“Eliot Warburton’s active and productive genius is amply exemplified in the present book. We have seldom met with any work in which the realities of history and the poetry of fiction were more happily interwoven.”—Illustrated News.

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“It were impossible to praise too highly this most interesting book, whether we should have regard to its excellent plan or its not less excellent execution. It ought to be found on every drawing-room table. Here you have nearly fifty captivating romances with the pith of all their interest preserved in undiminished poignancy, and any one may be read in half an hour. It is not the least of their merits that the romances are founded on fact—or what, at least, has been handed down for truth by long tradition—and the romance reality far exceeds the romance of fiction.”—Standard.

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“We have had frequent opportunities of commending Messrs. Hurst and Blackett’s Standard Library. For neatness, elegance, and distinctness the volumes in this series surpass anything with which we are familiar. ‘The Laird of Norlaw’ will fully sustain the author’s high reputation. The reader is carried on from first to last with an energy of sympathy that never flags.”—Sunday Times.

“‘The Laird of Norlaw’ is worthy of the author’s reputation. It is one of the most exquisite of modern novels.”—Observer.

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“Mrs. Gretton had opportunities which rarely fall to the lot of strangers of becoming acquainted with the inner life and habits of a part of the Italian peninsula which is the very centre of the national crisis. We can praise her performance as interesting, unexaggerated, and full of opportune instruction.”—The Times.

“Mrs. Gretton’s book is timely, life-like, and for every reason to be recommended. It is impossible to close the book without liking the writer as well as the subject. The work is engaging, because real.”—AthenÆum.

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“‘Nothing New’ displays all those superior merits which have made ‘John Halifax’ one of the most popular works of the day. There is a force and truthfulness about these tales which mark them as the production of no ordinary mind, and we cordially recommend them to the perusal of all lovers of fiction.”—Morning Post.

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“We have read this book with great pleasure, and have no hesitation in recommending it to general perusal. It reflects the highest credit on the industry and ability of Miss Freer. Nothing can be more interesting than her story of the life of Jeanne D’Albret, and the narrative is as trustworthy as it is attractive.”—Morning Post.

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“If asked to classify this work, we should give it a place between ‘John Halifax’ and ‘The Caxtons.’”—Standard.

“The spirit in which the whole book is written is refined and good.”—AthenÆum.

“This is in every sense a charming novel.”—Messenger.

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“This attractive book will be perused with much interest. It contains a great variety of singular and highly romantic stories.”—John Bull.

“A work of singular interest, which can never fail to charm and absorb the reader’s attention. The present cheap and elegant edition includes the true story of the Colleen Bawn.”—Illustrated News.

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“‘AdÈle’ is the best work we have read by Miss Kavanagh; it is a charming story, full of delicate character-painting. The interest kindled in the first chapter burns brightly to the close.”—AthenÆum.

“‘AdÈle’ will fully sustain the reputation of Miss Kavanagh, high as it already ranks.”—John Bull.

“‘AdÈle’ is a love-story of very considerable pathos and power. It is a very clever novel.”—Daily News.

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“These ‘Studies’ are truthful and vivid pictures of life, often earnest, always full of right feeling, and occasionally lightened by touches of quiet, genial humour. The volume is remarkable for thought, sound sense, shrewd observation, and kind and sympathetic feeling for all things good and beautiful.”—Morning Post.

“These ‘Studies from Life’ are remarkable for graphic power and observation. The book will not diminish the reputation of the accomplished author.”—Saturday Review.

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“We commend ‘Grandmother’s Money’ to readers in search of a good novel. The characters are true to human nature, and the story is interesting.”—AthenÆum.

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“A book to be read and re-read; fit for the study as well as the drawing-room table and the circulating library.”—Lancet.

“This is a pleasant book for the fireside season, and for the seaside season. Mr. Jeaffreson has, out of hundreds of volumes, collected thousands of good things, adding thereto much that appears in print for the first time, and which, of course, gives increased value to this very readable book.”—AthenÆum.

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“We advise all who have the opportunity to read this book. It is well worth the study.”—AthenÆum.

“A work of great originality, merit, and power.”—Standard.

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“A good wholesome book, gracefully written, and as pleasant to read as it is instructive.”—AthenÆum.

“A charming tale, charmingly told.”—Standard.

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“‘Lost and Saved’ will be read with eager interest by those who love a touching story; it is a vigorous novel.”—Times.

“This story is animated, full of exciting situations and stirring incidents. The characters are delineated with great power. Above and beyond these elements of a good novel, there is that indefinable charm with which true genius invests all it touches.”—Daily News.

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“The merits of ‘Les Miserables’ do not merely consist in the conception of it as a whole; it abounds with details of unequalled beauty. M. Victor Hugo has stamped upon every page the hall-mark of genius.”—Quarterly Review.

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“It is not often that we light upon a novel of so much merit and interest as ‘Barbara’s History.’ It is a work conspicuous for taste and literary culture. It is a very graceful and charming book, with a well-managed story, clearly-cut characters, and sentiments expressed with an exquisite elocution. The dialogues especially sparkle with repartee. It is a book which the world will like. This is high praise of a work of art, and so we intend it.”—The Times.

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“A good book on a most interesting theme.”—Times.

“A truly interesting and most affecting memoir. ‘Irving’s Life’ ought to have a niche in every gallery of religious biography. There are few lives that will be fuller of instruction, interest, and consolation.”—Saturday Review.

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“This novel is the work of one who possesses a great talent for writing, as well as experience and knowledge of the world. The whole book is worth reading.”—AthenÆum.

“‘St. Olave’s’ belongs to a lofty order of fiction. It is a good novel, but it is something more. It is written with unflagging ability, and it is as even as it is clever. The author has determined to do nothing short of the best, and has succeeded.”—Morning Post.

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“Dip where you will into this lottery of fun, you are sure to draw out a prize. These ‘Traits’ exhibit most successfully the broad national features of American humour.”—Post.

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“A more charming story has rarely been written. It is a choice gift to be able thus to render human nature so truly, to penetrate its depths with such a searching sagacity, and to illuminate them with a radiance so eminently the writer’s own.”—Times.

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“No account of this story would give any idea of the profound interest that pervades the work from the first page to the last.”—AthenÆum.

“A novel of uncommon merit. Sir Walter Scott said he would advise no man to try to read ‘Clarissa Harlowe’ out loud in company if he wished to keep his character for manly superiority to tears. We fancy a good many hardened old novel-readers will feel a rising in the throat as they follow the fortunes of Alec and Annie.”—Pall Mall Gazette.

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“‘Agnes’ is a novel superior to any of Mrs. Oliphant’s former works.”—AthenÆum.

“Mrs. Oliphant is one of the most admirable of our novelists. In her works there are always to be found high principle, good taste, sense, and refinement. ‘Agnes’ is a story whose pathetic beauty will appeal irresistibly to all readers.”—Morning Post.

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“Few men and no women will read ‘A Noble Life’ without feeling themselves the better for the effort.”—Spectator.

“A beautifully written and touching tale. It is a noble book.”—Morning Post.

“‘A Noble Life’ is remarkable for the high types of character it presents, and the skill with which they are made to work out a story of powerful and pathetic interest.”—Daily News.

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“A very interesting book. Mr. Dixon has written thoughtfully and well.”—Times.

“We recommend everyone who feels any interest in human nature to read Mr. Dixon’s very interesting book.”—Saturday Review.

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“‘Robert Falconer’ is a work brimful of life and humour and of the deepest human interest. It is a book to be returned to again and again for the deep and searching knowledge it evinces of human thoughts and feelings.”—AthenÆum.

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“‘The Woman’s Kingdom’ sustains the author’s reputation as a writer of the purest and noblest kind of domestic stories.”—AthenÆum.

“‘The Woman’s Kingdom’ is remarkable for its romantic interest. The characters are masterpieces. Edna is worthy of the hand that drew John Halifax.”—Morning Post.

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“A racy, well-written, and original novel. The interest never flags. The whole work sparkles with wit and humour.”—Quarterly Review.

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“A novel which is the work of a man of genius. It will attract the highest class of readers.”—Times.

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“We earnestly recommend this novel. It is a special and worthy specimen of the author’s remarkable powers. The reader’s attention never for a moment flags.”—Post.

“‘A Brave Lady’ thoroughly rivets the unmingled sympathy of the reader, and her history deserves to stand foremost among the author’s works.”—Daily Telegraph.

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“A very pleasant, healthy story, well and artistically told. The book is sure of a wide circle of readers. The character of Hannah is one of rare beauty.”—Standard.

“A powerful novel of social and domestic life. One of the most successful efforts of a successful novelist.”—Daily News.

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“This is one of the most amusing books that we ever read.”—Standard.

“‘The Americans at Home’ will not be less popular than any of Judge Halliburton’s previous works.”—Morning Post.

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“These stories are gems of narrative. Indeed, some of them, in their touching grace and simplicity, seem to us to possess a charm even beyond the authoress’s most popular novels. Of none of them can this be said more emphatically than of that which opens the series, ‘The Unkind Word.’ It is wonderful to see the imaginative power displayed in the few delicate touches by which this successful love-story is sketched out.”—The Echo.

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“‘A Rose in June’ is as pretty as its title. The story is one of the best and most touching which we owe to the industry and talent of Mrs. Oliphant, and may hold it own with even ‘The Chronicles of Carlingford.’”—Times.

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“This story presents a number of vivid and very charming pictures. Indeed, the whole book is charming. It is interesting in both character and story, and thoroughly good of its kind.”—Saturday Review.

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“This last ‘Chronicle of Carlingford’ not merely takes rank fairly beside the first which introduced us to ‘Salem Chapel,’ but surpasses all the intermediate records. Phoebe, Junior, herself is admirably drawn.”—Academy.

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“A work of remarkable merit and interest, which will, we doubt not, become the most popular English history of Marie Antoinette.”—Spectator.

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“‘Sir Gibbie’ is a book of genius.”—Pall Mall Gazette.

“This book has power, pathos, and humour.”—AthenÆum.

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“‘Young Mrs. Jardine’ is a pretty story, written in pure English.”—The Times.

“There is much good feeling in this book. It is pleasant and wholesome.”—AthenÆum.

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“A very readable story. The author has well conceived the purpose of high-class novel-writing, and succeeded in no small measure in attaining it. There is plenty of variety, cheerful dialogue, and general ‘verve’ in the book.”—AthenÆum.

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“In ‘It was a Lover and his Lass,’ we admire Mrs. Oliphant exceedingly. It would be worth reading a second time, were it only for the sake of one ancient Scottish spinster, who is nearly the counterpart of the admirable Mrs. Margaret Maitland.”—Times.

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“Mr. Jeaffreson comes forward with a narrative which must take a very important place in Byronic literature; and it may reasonably be anticipated that this book will be regarded with deep interest by all who are concerned in the works and the fame of this great English poet.”—The Times.

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“It is scarcely necessary to sign ‘Through the Long Night,’ for the practised pen of Mrs. Lynn Linton stands revealed on every page of it. It is like so many of its predecessors, hard and bright, full of entertaining reflection and brisk development of plot.”—Saturday Review.