By E. L. Mason.
_Symbolically Illustrated._
[Illustration]
The publishers feel pride in announcing the appearance of what they
believe to be a very remarkable production in the department of Didactic
Fiction. It is entitled “HIERO-SALEM: THE VISION OF PEACE,” by E. L.
Mason, and is unquestionably a work of a very high, if not indeed of the
first, order. Whatever may be thought of its theories,--and its theories
will attract, even where they fail to convince, readers,--there can be
no question of its great power. It goes to the bottom of things, and
stirs its readers’ consciousness to its lowest depths, as Hugo, and
Sand, and Balzac, and Heine, and Richter, and all the great masters of
the human heart, do. Striking philosophical and psychological insight,
marked originality, and intense vigor of attack, are among its
characteristics. Those who remember George Sand’s Count Albert will find
in Daniel, especially in the first half of the work, something akin to
that marvellous creation of abstract wisdom and ideal beauty. The
general plan, too, of the book, consisting as it does of a succession of
apparently somewhat unrelated episodes, which, however, at the end are
brought together, explained, and wrought into a consistent and
symmetrical whole, may not impossibly recall _Consuelo_. _Charles
Auchester_, doubtless, will occur to the minds of many, as, we should
say, if the reference had not become hackneyed, will _Robert Elsmere_,
with which it has much in common. Still, possessing qualities resembling
those of the above-named works though it does, as a whole “Hiero-salem”
is totally unlike them, and indeed distinct from every other work with
which we are acquainted. It is, we think, _sui generis_ in Fiction.
Containing passages of great poetic beauty, and of the most intense and
sustained passion; bristling with appropriatenesses and happy audacities
of expression, that are likely to be welcomed into the common fund of
speech; abounding in queer turns and startling surprises of incident and
of thought,--it takes the interest captive, and hurries it, breathless,
and sometimes even almost bewildered, on. The publishers feel themselves
unable to hazard any conjecture with regard to the _popularity_ of this
book. To persons of cultivation, experience and thoughtfulness, whenever
it reaches such, they feel sure it will speak; and their number is not
inconsiderable. They await the verdict of critical and competent society
with confidence, and will not be surprised if it settle down to the
conviction that, on the whole, here again is nothing more or less than a
_great work_, worthy to stand and live beside the abiding literary
masterpieces.
The author, evidently an earnest believer in the immortality of the
spiritual ego, treats in this work of the endeavor made by a man deeply
versed in all lore that deals with the universality of the immaterial
world, and the possibility in this life of the partial removal of the
sensual barriers which separate us from it, to raise the standard of
physical and intellectual man by the establishment of a new race founded
at the outset by careful selection of two individuals. Many subjects of
much interest to many thinkers now, are introduced as an integral part
of the narrative,--the doctrine of reincarnation, the beliefs of
Esoteric Buddhism, even the occult knowledge acquired by the Kabbalists.
The idea, however, that shines through all is that behind these mere
glimmerings of light there is the splendor of the truth itself, of which
these are but the reflections vouchsafed to the earnest studies and
strivings of man--a deeper truth which this book endeavors to express.
“Hiero-salem” will be found to be unique in manufacture as well as in
contents, and is symbolically illustrated.
_1 vol. Illustrated, large square 12mo. Unique cloth binding, gilt top,
bevelled boards, 528 pages. Price $2.00._
⁂ Mailed postage paid to any address, by the publishers, on receipt of
the price.
* * * * *
_Important New Books._
AUNT NABBY: HER RAMBLES,
HER ADVENTURES, AND
HER NOTIONS.
With characteristic illustrations and vignettes. 12mo. pp. 314, xii.
Paper, 50 cents. Cloth, $1.00.
“Delightful drollery.”--_Pilot._
“Highly amusing.”--_Boston Herald._
[Illustration]
☛ _SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED._
* * * * *
_BRIGHT ORIGINALITY, SPRIGHTLINESS, AND KEEN OBSERVATION._
=A BUNDLE OF LETTERS FROM OVER THE SEA.=