* * * * *
_Le Petit Albert_ (No. 24. p. 385.).--I suspect this Petit Albert,
in 32mo.--a size in harmony with the cognomen--is only a catchpenny
publication, to which the title of _Le Petit Albert_ has been given
by way of resembling its name to that of Albertus Magnus, who wrote a
work or works of a character which gave rise, in the middle ages, to
the accusation that he practised magical arts; and hence, probably,
any abridgement or compendium of them, or any little work on such
arts, would be styled by the French compiler _Le Petit Albert_. In
the _Biographie Universelle_, it is affirmed that the rhapsodies
known under the name of _Secrets du Petit Albert_ are not by Albertus
Magnus; a statement which favours the belief that the work mentioned
by your correspondent "JARLZBERG" is one of that vulgar class (like
our old Moore's Almanack, &c.) got up for sale among the superstitious
and the ignorant, and palmed on the world under the mask of a
celebrated name. According to Bayle, Albertus Magnus has, by
some, been termed _Le Petit Albert_, owing, it is said, to the
diminutiveness of his stature, which was on so small a scale, that
when he, on one occasion, paid his respects to the pope, the pontiff
supposed he was still kneeling at his feet after he had risen up and
was standing erect.