Phelps, late member of the Vermont Historical Society, author of “A
History of Madagascar,” etc. With numerous very fine illustrations by
J. J. Grandville. Elegantly bound in fine cloth, gilt edges,
ornamented, price _$1.15_
The above described work is presented to our patrons with an unusual
degree of pleasure, and some pride. The fables are good reading—old and
young will be delighted with them; they are worthy of place by the side
of Æsop’s and La Fontaine’s; the illustrations are simply superb, true
to the text, supplementing and enforcing the teachings of the author,
and true to art, original, graphic, and charming.
“Of all the collections of Fables which have appeared since La Fontaine,
that of Florian is, beyond dispute, the best. It is also, of all the
works of the author, that in which his talent as a writer and as a poet
shows to the greatest advantage. In regard to merit of originality, the
author avows himself that he has put under contribution all his
predecessors; Æsop, Pilpay, Gay, and above all, the Spanish poet
Yriarte, who has furnished him the most pleasing apologues. It is worthy
of remark that in this kind of literature, whose object is no less to
instruct than to please, Florian has one advantage over La Fontaine,
that of being in general better adapted to the unaffected simplicity of
childhood.”—_Grand Dictionnaire Universel du xixe. Siècle._
“Good of every description prevails in this collection. You find here
some fables of touching interest, others of a sweet and playful humor,
others of a biting subtilty, and still others in a loftier strain
without being above that of the fable. The poet understands how to vary
his colors with the subjects; he can describe and converse, relate and
moralize. We nowhere feel the effort and are always sensible of the
metre.”—_La Harpe._
“In the writings of Florian we are solely interested with the meaning of
the tale, with its moral, which is always refined and delicate, and with
his ingenuous and even epigrammatic style. Florian loves Horace, Virgil,
La Fontaine, is delighted with Montaigne and the poetic tales of the
16th century; he notices the caprices and little irregularities of human
nature, without being a biting critic or a profound moralist. Under the
gentle form of fables he threw an agreeable breeze of ridicule both upon
the individual and upon society, as if he hoped to reform.”—_M. St. Marc
Girardin._
“Few readers of French are unacquainted with the works of Florian. His
style, at once elegant and easy, has universally recommended him to the
teachers of language, and Telemachus is commonly succeeded or supplanted
by some work of Florian. In the circulating libraries the Tales of
Florian are almost as generally read as those of Voltaire and Marmontel.
He possesses indeed very great attractions for the lovers of light
reading. His narrative is spirited and interesting. Love, Friendship,
and Heroism are his themes, and he commonly descants upon them with that
genuine warmth which results from the combination of sensibility with
genius.
“The feelings with him are never exalted at the expense of virtue. His
women are tender without licentiousness, and his heroes daring without
violating the laws of their country, or questioning the existence of
their Creator. He combines the morality of Fenelon with the enthusiasm
of Rousseau or St. Pierre. His writings derive an additional charm from
his glowing descriptions of the beauties of nature. He seems tenaciously
to uphold the poetical connection between rural life and moral purity,
and loves to annex to tales of love and hardihood their appropriate
scenery of rivers, woods, and mountains.”—_London Quarterly Review._
The Unity of the Truth.
The Unity of the Truth in Christianity and Evolution. By J. Max Hark,
D.D. 12mo. 293 pages. Small Pica type, leaded, cloth, gilt top, uncut
pages, _90c._
Few books of its kind recently published have aroused more discussion
and called forth more varied and contradictory opinions. For example,
_The Andover Review_ gave fifteen pages to a criticism of its positions;
while _The Christian Union_, of equal authority, declares that “The
volume deserves to take rank with the works of Munger, Newman Smyth, and
Prof. Drummond.” The N. Y. _Independent_, though granting that “in many
respects the volume is instructive and suggestive,” and “its aim merits
commendation,” has devoted over four columns to combatting its
arguments; whereas the critical _Sunday-School Times_ has heartily
commended it in a leading review. While the _Presbyterian Quarterly_ (S.
C.) condemns it as being “of no more use than to show the antagonism of
the human heart to the things of God,” the _Reformed Review_ (Pa.)
praises it as “an earnest effort towards the solution of a grave and
difficult problem,” and says, “The author deserves the thanks of all who
are sincerely interested in the progress of religion and in the welfare
of the Church.” Such contradictions from such sources are the strongest
proof of the importance of the work, and of the need of every
intelligent person’s reading and judging it for himself. At the same
time, however, by far the greater weight of criticism, religious and
secular, is favorable to it, as will be seen by the following few
Critical Comments.
“A very remarkable book, written in a nervous, brilliant style, each
phrase a squarely-planted and advancing step. That it will bring peace
and conviction to many restless souls cannot be doubted.”—_The World_,
N. Y. City.
“We have seen no volume which seems to us so thorough and intelligent in
its purpose to consider the relations between modern evolutionary
thought and ancient Christian faith and doctrines. Does not attempt to
reconcile science and religion by tearing away either the one or the
other.”—_The Christian Union_, N. Y. City.
“A good, wholesome book, brief enough for the busiest Christian, an
honest untechnical book, of plain words, and powerful. It is an
admirable essay, informed with the essence of true religion, and
destined to bring light to many struggling Christians.”—_The Press_,
Philadelphia.
“He speaks with freshness and enthusiasm. We are persuaded that Dr.
Hark’s purpose and spirit are such that good will be wrought by his
work.”—_Illus. Christian Weekly_, N. Y. City.
“A candid and thoughtful discussion; expounded with much earnestness and
a fine religious spirit.”—_Literary World_, Boston.
“It can hardly fail to help the candid reader to a wider and more
satisfactory view of God, of Providence, of Prayer, and of Religion.
Whatever does this for man has proved an infinite blessing to
him.”—_Christian Evangelist_, St. Louis.
“Significant as showing very clearly the drift of the orthodox creed in
the hands of its intelligent supporters.”—_Sunday News_, Charleston, S.
C.
“A sincere and reverent endeavor to help all inquiring souls, in trouble
concerning the conflict between evolution and the doctrines of
Christianity.”—_The Interior_, Chicago.
“No writer could approach any question with a more candid spirit or more
honorable motive. We wish every clergyman could read the work, and every
other person indeed who is interested in the question of
evolution.”—_Herald of Gospel Liberty_, Dayton, O.
The Spirit of Beauty.
The Spirit of Beauty. Essays, Scientific and Æsthetic. By Prof. Henry W.
Parker. Large 12mo, cloth, 85c.;
“I have already read a large part of the book, and I have been
delighted, instructed, and morally animated. It gives rich, delicate,
and robust expression to a various knowledge, as well as to fine, devout
and far-reaching thought. I have not for long taken up a book which has
interested me so immediately, or refreshed me so abundantly.”—Rev. R. S.
Storrs, D.D., Brooklyn, N. Y.
“An admirable treatment of a widely related theme. The book is none the
less profound for being so pungent, and its sharp raciness of style is
quite befitting its keen discrimination of thought.”—Pres. Julius H.
Seelye, LL.D., Amherst College.
“I appreciate it highly. The incisive but graceful style is worthy the
pure and elevating sentiments and conceptions which it inculcates. I
feel a singular sympathy with its way of thinking, and shall embrace
every proper opportunity to call attention to a book so brilliant and so
noble in its aims.”—Prof. Alexander Winchell, LL.D., Michigan
University.
“I know Prof. Parker chiefly by the articles he gave me for the _North
American Review_. These gave me the highest regard for him as an
original, sound and deep thinker. I have repeatedly characterized his
article on the natural theology of art as the best paper that passed
under my hands during the ten or eleven years of my editorship. My
belief is that Mr. Parker’s æsthetic capacity and culture are
unsurpassed among us.”—Prof. A. P. Peabody, D.D., of Harvard University.
“Prof. Parker, like the late President Hitchcock, was continually laying
in rich stores of facts and principles in the several departments of
natural history. At the same time he was contributing to the _North
American Review_ articles in natural and ethical philosophy unexcelled
for richness and beauty by any contemporaneous productions of American
periodical literature.”—Prof. W. S. Tyler, LL.D., of Amherst College.
“By personal knowledge of the manuscript I know that Prof. Parker has
investigated the subjects of Animal Intelligence and Animal Æsthetics in
a new and fresh way, as never has been done before, in defence of a
spiritual philosophy. It is a work that was greatly needed, and is
thoroughly done by Dr. Parker, as only an accomplished naturalist, a
skilful literateur and a clear reasoner could do it.”—Ex-President G. F.
Magoun, D.D., of Iowa College.
“The title is a gem in itself, and I have named my wife after it. I have
had a copy presented to the Philosophical Society of Great Britain, and
have urgently recommended the author for honorary membership, and am
assured of success. These deeds are better encomiums than words like the
following:—that I deem it one of the best displays of the connection
between science and religion I have ever met with. A grand
book.”—Ephraim Cutter, M.D., LL.D., Hon. F. S. Sc. (London), Mem.
Victoria Inst., etc.
“The author is a naturalist and in quite familiar with the facts and
views of Darwin, Spencer and Haeckel; and, whatever restrictions he may
make upon them, he has made as a man who has studied the subject from
the inside. The observation of facts in the organic and inorganic worlds
is good.”—_Science._
“In Prof. Henry W. Parker’s volume we have just one of those protests
against the recent schools of philosophical sensationalism which are
sure to be raised, sooner or later, in the name of esthetics. We welcome
everything that will bring intelligent people to see that it is not
dogmatic orthodoxy alone or the limited and perhaps narrow interests of
sectarian religion which are assailed by this philosophy, but the whole
spiritual theory of man, the basis of his esthetic ideas and of art in
all its higher relations. This is the value of Professor Parker’s book.
It is attractive in style and indicates an abundant familiarity with the
subject, both as a naturalist and a student of esthetics. The chapter on
the Divine in Art can hardly be surpassed in the literature of the
subject.”—_N. Y. Independent._
“_The Spirit of Beauty_, by Prof. Parker, is a fresh find in John B.
Alden’s literary gold mine. It is a series of essays, æsthetic and
scientific, inspired by a reverent passion for purity and beauty, and
clothed in the language of a ripe and finished scholar. The essays are
all overflowing with beauty, melody and fragrance, as well as charged
with learning and profound thought.”—_Southern Criterion_, Atlanta, Ga.
The Talmud: What It Is
and What it Knows about Jesus and his Followers. By Rev. Bernhard Pick,
Ph.D. Ideal Edition, Small Pica type, cloth, 60c.;
One of the most interesting and valuable of recent contributions to
religious literature. It answers the great popular curiosity as to what
the Talmud is, and gives to clergymen and theological students
information of transcendant value, not heretofore accessible to many.
“That wonderful monument of human industry, human wisdom, and human
folly.”—Dean Milman.
“In the history of the origin of Christianity, the Talmud has hitherto
been far too much neglected.”—Ernest Renan.
“The Talmud may compete with the _Constitutions of Loyola_ for the right
to be considered the most irresistible organ ever forged for the
subjugation of the human will.”—_Edinburgh Review._
“The Talmud is the slow growth of several centuries. It is a chaos of
Jewish learning, wisdom and folly, a continent of rubbish with hidden
pearls of true maxims and poetic fables.”—Philip Schaff.
“But glimpses of profound metaphysics, stray parables of real beauty,
and occasional sentiments of true spiritual breadth and elevation, are
only the rare grains of wheat in mountains of chaff.”—Dr. Geikie.
“Anything more utterly unhistorical than the Talmud cannot be conceived.
It is probable that no human writings ever confounded names, dates, and
facts with more absolute indifference. Some excellent maxims may be
quoted from the Talmud where they lie imbedded like pearls in a sea of
obscurity and mud.”—Canon Farrar.
“A most curious monument, raised with astonishing labor, yet made up of
puerilities. An immense heap of rubbish, at the bottom of which a few
bright pearls of Eastern wisdom are to be found. The book composed by
Israel _without_ their God, in the time of their dispersion, their
misery, and their degeneracy.”—Dr. Isaac Da Costa.
“Here, then, we find a prodigious mass of contradictory opinions, an
infinite number of casuistical cases, a logic of scholastic theology,
some recondite wisdom, and much rambling dotage; many puerile tales and
oriental fancies; ethics and sophisms, reasonings and unreasonings,
subtle solutions, and maxims and riddles.”—Benjamin Disraeli.
“It is a vast debating club in which there hum confusedly the myriad
voices of at least five centuries. In its way, a unique code of laws, in
comparison with which, in point of comprehensiveness, the law books of
all other nations are but Lilliputian, and, when compared with the hum
of its kaleidoscopic Babel, they resemble, indeed, calm and studious
retreat.”—Prof. Delitzsch.
“It has proved a grateful task to wander through the mazes of the Talmud
and cull flowers yet sparkling with the very dew of Eden. Figures in
shining garments haunt its recesses. Prayers of deep devotion, sublime
confidence and noble benediction, echo in its ancient tongue. Sentiments
of lofty courage, of high resolve, of infantile tenderness, of
far-seeing prudence, fall from the lips of venerable sages. No less
practicable would it be to stray with an opposite intention, and to
extract venom, instead of honey, from the flowers that seem to spring up
in self-sown profusion. Fierce, intolerant, vindictive hatred for
mankind; idle subtlety; pride and self conceit amounting to insanity;
indelicacy pushed to a grossness that renders what it calls virtue more
hateful than the vice of more modest people; all these strung together
would give no more just an idea of the Talmud than would the chaplets of
its lovelier flowers.”—_Edinburgh Review._
A Remarkable Story.
Strange Threads. A Novel. By J. Douglas. 12mo, cloth, 60c. (15c); 22 oz
This is not only a remarkable story in itself but is really wonderful in
its power to interest its readers, and in the various ways in which it
impresses them. A gentleman whom the _Christian Leader_, Cincinnati,
calls “a wise and critical connossieur” pronounces this book, with the
possible exception of Vanity Fair, “the most original novel I ever read.
* * I should have to go back as far as ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Villette,’ to
name a novel as good as ‘Strange Threads,’ and I am not at all certain
that this is not as strong as either of them.” And the _Leader_ calls
the book the “creation of a master imagination” and declares it to be
“evidently the product of a genius.” The burden of testimony is along
this line. Still there are
A FEW CONTRARY MINDS
whose opinions we quote in connection with the favorable criticisms.
“One can conceive that with less effort the author might write a
passable book. As to the present book it is fairly unreadable, and the
veriest devourer of romances cannot possibly get past the opening
chapters without the feeling that he is in for a bad time.”—_Daily Bee_,
Omaha, Neb.
“The publisher has done more than the writer for this book. The type and
paper are so agreeable that one is tempted to read on, long after the
discovery that there is little in the matter worthy of serious
consideration. The author has shown a certain shrewdness, however, in
filling the vacuum produced by absence of intellect in the book by
cramming it with sentiment.”—_The Epoch_, N. Y. City.
MAN OR WOMAN?
Another matter about which the critics are puzzled is the sex of the
author. Some affirm that J. Douglas is a man, others are equally sure
that it is a woman’s name, while some are content to say they do not
know.
“J. Douglas is a new name in our list of novel-writers, but if ‘Strange
Threads’ is his maiden effort, he is surely a phenomenon. Regarded as
the first work of a new writer, it is simply wonderful; even as the
product of mature experience it is still worthy of being termed
remarkable. It is original without being strained or whimsical,
wholesomely terse in construction, frequently bright in epigram, and the
story grows stronger with every page to the close. It is not too much to
say that it will bear reading along with the novels of Charlotte Bronte,
and the writer succeeds even better than she in picturing his characters
in life-like presence without making an elaborate study of them, while
there is a more perceptible and worthier motive in his drawing.”—_Paper
World._ Springfield, Mass.
“J. Douglas is evidently a woman. The adventures of a party of American
novelists in Europe, their love-making and their heart disappointments,
are the author’s stock in trade, and she has certainly succeeded in
weaving a very tangled web. There are here and there a strong
portraiture and a keen analysis of motives, while the descriptive
portions have a picturesqueness and vigor which give old and
well-traveled roads a new beauty.”—_Record_, Philadelphia.
“It is probable that “J.” stands for Jane, Josephine or some other name
feminine, for the book is thoroughly a woman’s book. It certainly is
very well written, and, if by a new aspirant for literary honors, as it
seems, she is certain to make her mark.”—_The Republic_, St. Louis, Mo.
“A new American novelist of considerable originality and force has
appeared. The name is J. Douglas, though whether it stands for man or
woman must be gathered from the book. The dialogue is bright, the
situations are dramatic and the book is thoroughly readable from
beginning to end.”—_Illus. Christian Weekly_, N. Y. City.
PRE-EMINENTLY A LOVE STORY.
“A love Story; a bright sketchy tale of a wayward young lady—that is,
wayward in her loves. It is certainly very original; on the whole, is a
novel to be liked by the public.”—_Times_, Kansas City, Mo.
“A most interesting work, which engrosses the attention of the reader
from the first to the last chapter.”—_Morning Call_, San Francisco.
Lang Syne, or the Wards of Mt. Vernon.
Lang Syne; or The Wards of Mount Vernon. By Mary Stuart Smith. 12mo,
paper, 30c. (10c)., cloth, 60c. (20c).
In this book, which is dedicated “To the Memory of Washington and to
American Womanhood,” we have an interesting love story of the
revolutionary era, in which are interwoven in a skilful manner many
excellent descriptions of prominent events and of the eminent men,
Washington, Lee, Franklin, Cadwalader, and others, who were foremost in
the great struggle for independence. It also shows the important part
taken by the women of that period and the valuable service which they
rendered the patriot army. About one-third of the book is specially
devoted to “the Women of the Revolution.” A great deal of information
regarding the character, habits, tastes, and labors of the people of
that stirring period is conveyed in an entertaining manner. The author,
who styles herself a “Daughter of Virginia” (and who might have stated
the interesting fact that she is a direct descendant of Gen.
Washington’s only sister) has done well to write this book, and its
appearance at this centennial period is appropriate and timely.
Patriotic Hymns.
Rankin. Hymns Pro Patria. By Rev. J. E. Rankin, D.D. Ideal Edition,
cloth, 60c. (20c).
Dr. Rankin needs no introduction to the American public. As a clergyman
and an author he long ago won high reputation. In this little volume
will be found his more recent poems. They include some of his finest
work and will certainly add to his reputation as a genuine poet. In the
collection are Hymns for Forefather’s Day. National Hymns, Humanitarian
Hymns, Foreign Missionary Hymns, Christian Endeavor Hymns, and several
Hymns relating to Christian Experience. The book will interest many.
Jerry: A Story for Young Folks.
Pratt. Jerry. By Ellen P. Pratt. 12mo, cloth, 75c. (25c).
This is a spirited story which will especially please the young people,
though it will furnish no small degree of entertainment to their elders.
It opens sadly with a record of intemperance and misery, but the scene
soon changes and the love story opens in earnest. Various adventures,
some of them quite remarkable, are narrated. The characters are
numerous, events move rapidly, and the interest deepens until the
closing page is reached.
The Medical Student _As Pictured in Punch._
Smith. The London Medical Student. By Albert Smith. 12mo, cloth, 50c.
(20c).
In this book the career of a student in a London Medical College is
traced in a broadly humorous manner. The appearance of the “new man”
when he comes up from the country to continue his medical studies is
aptly described, and the zeal with which he enters upon his new duties
is delineated in a laughable manner. His subsequent course, his dodging
of recitations, the letters home for money with which, ostensibly, to
purchase books, his examination, and the various “Curiosities of Medical
Experience,” follow in a similar strain. The work is reprinted from
_Punch_, in which it appeared as a serial.
Dorance: A Novel.
Nelson. Dorance; A Novel. By R. E. Nelson. 12mo, cloth, 75c. (25c).
This first novel by an author as yet unknown to the public will find
sympathetic readers among those who still read Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
“Of Virginia blood, but of Northern birth, my earliest sympathies were
aroused in behalf of the people of both races of the ‘Sunny Southland,’
and my imagination was made alive by the glowing pictures of Southern
life, gleaned from my friends and from books on the subject. If I have
succeeded in interesting my young friends in this phase of life, which
has now passed into history, the problem of which is still unsolved in a
measure, I will have fully accomplished my purpose in writing this
book.”—_Author’s Preface._
Bonds are issued in amounts to suit the purchaser, not less that $10.00;
they are also made payable, if desired, in six months, or three months,
the coupon being reduced in proportion with the time. If cash is
preferred to books, the coupons will be purchased by the Company, at
maturity of bond, at the price of $1.00 for a $10.00 one-year bond, and
pro rata for others. The following examples of prices (full price list
in Catalogue) to the Public (first price) and to Stockholders (second
price) indicate value of the Bond as an investment to one wanting books:
Geikie’s Holy Land $2.75 $1.75
Wallace’s Repose in Egypt 1.00 50
Robert Elsmere 50 30
Alden’s Home Atlas 2.25 1.45
Ruskin’s Choice Works 60 40
Boswell’s Johnson $2.75 $1.50
Hallam’s Middle Ages 3.00 2.00
Drummond’s Natural Law 50 35
The Kalevala, cloth 2.25 1.50
Ideal Shakespeare, 12 vols. 6.00 3.50
Hours with the Bible 50 30
Goldsmith’s Works 3.00 1.75
Tom Brown at Rugby 25 18
Irving’s Washington 1.25 75
Interwoven Gospels 90 60