reasons: first, it is on a better plan; and secondly, it is better
executed. We can safely pronounce it to be the readiest, the most
useful, and exactest of modern works on the subject.”--_Spectator_.
“A work of great value. It is the most faithful record we possess of
the aristocracy of the day.”--_Post._
EDNA LYALL’S NOVELS
EACH IN ONE VOLUME CROWN 8vo, 6s.
DONOVAN:
A MODERN ENGLISHMAN.
“This is a very admirable work. The reader is from the first carried
away by the gallant unconventionality of its author. ‘Donovan’ is a
very excellent novel; but it is something more and better. It should do
as much good as the best sermon ever written or delivered extempore.
The story is told with a grand simplicity, an unconscious poetry of
eloquence which stirs the very depths of the heart. One of the main
excellencies of this novel is the delicacy of touch with which the
author shows her most delightful characters to be after all human
beings, and not angels before their time.”--_Standard._
“‘Donovan’ is told with the power of truth, experience, and moral
insight. The tone of the novel is excellent and very high.”--_Daily
News._
WE TWO.
“This book is well written and full of interest. The story abounds
with a good many light touches, and is certainly far from lacking in
incident.”--_Times._
“‘We Two’ contains many very exciting passages and a great deal
of information. Miss Lyall is a capable writer and a clear-headed
thinker.”--_Athenæum._
“A work of deep thought and much power. Serious as it is, it is now and
then brightened by rays of genuine humour. Altogether this story is
more and better than a novel.”--_Morning Post._
“There is artistic realism both in the conception and the delineation
of the personages; the action and interest are unflaggingly sustained
from first to last, and the book is pervaded by an atmosphere of
elevated, earnest thought.”--_Scotsman._
IN THE GOLDEN DAYS.
“Miss Lyall has given us a vigorous study of such life and character
as are really worth reading about. The central figure of her story is
Algernon Sydney; and this figure she invests with a singular dignity
and power. He always appears with effect, but no liberties are taken
with the facts of his life. The plot is adapted with great felicity to
them. His part in it, absolutely consistent as it is with historical
truth, gives it reality as well as dignity. Some of the scenes are
remarkably vivid. The escape is an admirable narrative, which almost
makes one hold one’s breath as one reads.”--_Spectator._
“‘In the Golden Days’ is an excellent novel of a kind we are always
particularly glad to recommend. It has a good foundation of plot and
incident, a thoroughly noble and wholesome motive, a hero who really
acts and suffers heroically, and two very nice heroines. The historical
background is very carefully indicated, but is never allowed to become
more than background.”--_Guardian._
WON BY WAITING.
“The Dean’s daughters are perfectly real characters--the learned
Cornelia especially;--the little impulsive French heroine, who endures
their cold hospitality and at last wins their affection, is thoroughly
charming; while throughout the book there runs a golden thread of pure
brotherly and sisterly love, which pleasantly reminds us that the
making and marring of marriage is not, after all, the sum total of real
life.”--_Academy._
“‘Won by Waiting’ is a very pleasing and well-written tale; full of
graphic descriptions of French and English life, with incidents and
characters well sustained. A book with such pleasant reading, and with
such a healthy tone and influence, is a great boon to the young people
in our families.”--_Freeman._
SIX-SHILLING NOVELS
EACH IN ONE VOLUME CROWN 8vo.
HIS LITTLE MOTHER. By the Author of “John Halifax, Gentleman.”
“‘His Little Mother’ is one of those pathetic stories which the author
tells better than anybody else.”--_John Bull._
“This book is written with all Mrs. Craik’s grace of style, the chief
charm of which, after all, is its simplicity.”--_Glasgow Herald._
MY LORD AND MY LADY. By MRS. FORRESTER.
“A very capital novel. The great charm about it is that Mrs. Forrester
is quite at home in the society which she describes. It is a book to
read.”--_Standard._
“Mrs. Forrester’s style is so fresh and graphic that the reader is kept
under its spell from first to last.”--_Morning Post._
SOPHY. By VIOLET FANE.
“‘Sophy’ is the clever and original work of a clever woman. Its merits
are of a strikingly unusual kind. It is charged throughout with the
strongest human interest. It is, in a word, a novel that will make its
mark.”--_World._
A HOUSE PARTY. By OUIDA.
“‘A House Party’ will be read, firstly, because it is Ouida’s,
and, secondly, because of the brightness of the conversations and
descriptions. It is indeed more like a comedy than any other of the
writer’s books.”--_Globe._
OMNIA VANITAS. By MRS. FORRESTER.
“This book is pleasant and well meant. Here and there are some good
touches. Sir Ralph is a man worth reading about.”--_Academy._
“This tale is well and cleverly written; the characters are drawn and
sustained with considerable power, and the conversation is always
bright and lively.”--_Glasgow Herald._
BETRAYAL OF REUBEN HOLT. By BARBARA LAKE.
“This novel shows considerable power of writing. There are some
striking scenes and incidents.”--_Scotsman._
“This tale displays elevation of thought and feeling, united to no
little grace of expression.”--_Post._
THE BRANDRETHS. By the Right Hon. A. J. B. BERESFORD HOPE, M.P.
“The great attraction of this novel is the easy, conversational,
knowledgeable tone of it; the sketching from the life, and yet
not so close to the life as to be malicious, men, women, periods,
and events, to all of which intelligent readers can fit a name.
The political and social sketches will naturally excite the chief
interest among readers who will be attracted by the author’s name and
experience.”--_Spectator._
THE NEW AND POPULAR NOVELS. PUBLISHED BY HURST & BLACKETT.
ST. BRIAVELS. By MARY DEANE, Author of “Quatrefoil,” &c. 3 vols.
“The authoress throughout writes with moderation and consistency, and
her three ample volumes well repay perusal.”--_Daily Telegraph._
“‘St. Briavels’ is a story replete with variety, and in all
developments of her plot the author skilfully maintains an unabated
interest.”--_Morning Post._
A LILY MAID. By WILLIAM GEORGE WATERS. 3 vols.
“A story of the keenest interest. Mr. Waters’ plot is neat, and his
style is bright and pleasing.”--_Daily Telegraph._
“‘A Lily Maid’ is throughout exceedingly pleasant reading.”--_Morning
Post._
LIKE LUCIFER. By DENZIL VANE. 3 vols.
“There is some pleasant writing in ‘Like Lucifer,’ and the plot is
workmanlike.”--_Academy._
“Denzil Vane has a talent for lively, fluent writing, and a power of
tracing character.”--_Whitehall Review._
A DAUGHTER OF THE GODS. By JANE STANLEY. 2 vols.
“‘A Daughter of the Gods’ is very pretty. That is a description which
specially suits the easy-flowing, love-making story.”--_Athenæum._
LUCIA. By Mrs. AUGUSTUS CRAVEN, Author of “A Sister’s Story.”
Translated by LADY HERBERT OF LEA. 2 vols.
“This is a very pretty, touching, and consoling story. The tale is as
much above the ordinary romance as the fresh air of the seaside is
better than the stifling atmosphere of the fashionable quarter of the
gayest city.”--_St. James’s Gazette._
“‘Lucia’ is as good a novel as has been published for a long
time.”--_Academy._
LOVE, THE PILGRIM. By MAY CROMMELIN, Author of “Queenie,” “A Jewel of a
Girl,” &c. 3 vols.
“‘Love, the Pilgrim’ is a pretty story, which, beginning quietly,
develops into one of very sensational incident indeed.”--_Graphic._
“A tale of thrilling interest.”--_Scotsman._
THE KING CAN DO NO WRONG. By PAMELA SNEYD, Author of “Jack Urquhart’s
Daughter.” 2 vols.
“This novel gives evidence of imagination, insight into character, and
power of delineation.”--_Athenæum._
“Shows command of exceptional narrative and descriptive power--the
story is told with cleverness and force.”--_Scotsman._
THE COURTING OF MARY SMITH. By F. W. ROBINSON, Author of “Grandmother’s
Money,” “No Church,” &c. 3 vols.
“One of the finest studies that any of our novelists has produced of
late years. To read such a book is to strengthen the soul with a moral
tonic.”--_Athenæum._
“The book is full of the truths and experiences of actual life, woven
into a romance by an undoubtedly clever novelist.”--_Morning Post._
THRO’ LOVE AND WAR. By VIOLET FANE, Author of “Sophy: or the Adventures
of a Savage,” &c. 3 vols.
“‘Thro’ Love and War’ has a succinct and intelligible plot, and
is written with a quaint combination of acute perception, veiled
sarcasm, and broad fun, which is certain to ensure for it a wide
popularity.”--_The World._
PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF A LADY in 1814, 1815, 1816. By HAMILTON AIDÉ,
Author of “Rita,” “Penruddocke,” “Poet and Peer,” &c. 3 vols.
TILL MY WEDDING DAY. By a French Lady. 2 vols.
THE GREEN HILLS BY THE SEA: A MANX STORY. By HUGH COLEMAN DAVIDSON. 3
vols.
VICTIMS. By THEO GIFT, Author of “Pretty Miss Bellew,” “Lil Lorimer,”
&c. 3 vols.
THE BROKEN SEAL. By DORA RUSSELL, Author of “Footprints in the Snow,”
&c. 3 vols.
“Miss Dora Russell writes easily and well, and she has the gift of
making her characters describe themselves by their dialogue, which is
bright and natural.”--_Athenæum._
MURIEL’S MARRIAGE. By ESME STUART, Author of “A Faire Damzell,” &c. 3
vols.
“Much of the interest and charm of the story, and both are
considerable, are due to the delineations, not merely of the two
principal personages, but of the minor characters.”--_Scotsman._
ONCE AGAIN. By Mrs. FORRESTEr, Author of “Viva,” “Mignon,” “My Lord and
My Lady,” &c. (_Second Edition_) 3 vols.
“A really fascinating story. Bright and often original as is Mrs.
Forrester, her peculiar gifts have never been seen to better
advantage than in ‘Once Again.’ An undercurrent of tragedy runs
through this startling tale, and this, together with its graphically
drawn characters, sets it completely apart from the ordinary society
story.”--_Morning Post._
A WILFUL YOUNG WOMAN. By A. PRICE, Author of “A Rustic Maid,” “Who is
Sylvia?” &c. 3 vols.
“A very readable story. Mrs. Price has drawn her _dramatis personæ_
with some power and vigour.”--_Academy._
“The story is throughout both sound and high-principled.”--_Literary
World._
THE SURVIVORS. By HENRY CRESSWELL, Author of “A Modern Greek Heroine,”
“Incognita,” &c. 3 vols.
“There is cleverness in this book, and occasional brilliancy and
wit.”--_Academy._
“An amusing comedy of modern life; there are some good situations and
striking episodes in the book.”--_Athenæum._
A WICKED GIRL. By MARY CECIL HAY, Author of “Old Myddelton’s Money,”
&c. 3 vols.
“The author of ‘Old Myddelton’s Money’ always manages to write
interesting stories.”--_Academy._
“The story ‘A Wicked Girl’ has an ingeniously carried out plot. Miss
Hay is a graceful writer, and her pathos is genuine.”--_Post._
THE WOOING OF CATHERINE. By E. FRANCES POYNTER, Author of “My Little
Lady,” &c. 2 vols.
“The figures are drawn with clear, bold strokes, each individual
standing before us with marked personality, while the backgrounds are
effective and striking.”--_Literary World._
HURST & BLACKETT’S
STANDARD LIBRARY.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET, W.
HURST & BLACKETT’S STANDARD LIBRARY
OF CHEAP EDITIONS OF
POPULAR MODERN WORKS.
ILLUSTRATED BY
SIR J. E. MILLAIS, SIR J. GILBERT, HOLMAN HUNT, BIRKET FOSTER, JOHN
LEECH, JOHN TENNIEL, J. LASLETT POTT, ETC.
Each in a Single Volume, with Frontispiece, price 5s.
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._
II.--JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.
“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 this his history is 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._
III.--THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
BY ELIOT WARBURTON.
“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._
IV.--NATHALIE.
BY JULIA KAVANAGH.
“‘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._
V.--A WOMAN’S THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN.
BY THE AUTHOR OF “JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.”
“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._
VI.--ADAM GRAEME OF MOSSGRAY.
BY MRS. OLIPHANT.
“‘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._
VII.--SAM SLICK’S WISE SAWS AND MODERN INSTANCES.
“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._
VIII.--CARDINAL WISEMAN’S RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LAST FOUR POPES.
“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._
IX.--A LIFE FOR A LIFE.
BY THE AUTHOR OF “JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.”
“We are always glad to welcome Mrs. Craik. She writes from her own
convictions, and she has the power not only to conceive clearly what
it is that she wishes to say, but to express it in language effective
and vigorous. In ‘A Life for a Life’ she is fortunate in a good
subject, and she has produced a work of strong effect. The reader,
having read the book through for the story, will be apt (if he be of
our persuasion) to return and read again many pages and passages with
greater pleasure than on a first perusal. The whole book is replete
with a graceful, tender delicacy; and, in addition to its other merits,
it is written in good careful English.”--_Athenæum._
“‘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._
X.--THE OLD COURT SUBURB.
BY LEIGH HUNT.
“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._
XI.--MARGARET AND HER BRIDESMAIDS.
BY THE AUTHOR OF “THE VALLEY OF A HUNDRED FIRES.”
“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 of sentiment and incident which
is not often found.”--_Athenæum._
XII.--THE OLD JUDGE; OR, LIFE IN A COLONY.
BY SAM SLICK.
“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._
XIII.--DARIEN; OR, THE MERCHANT PRINCE.
BY ELIOT WARBURTON.
“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._
XIV.--FAMILY ROMANCE; OR, DOMESTIC ANNALS OF THE ARISTOCRACY.
BY SIR BERNARD BURKE, ULSTER KING OF ARMS.
“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 of reality far exceeds the
romance of fiction.”--_Standard._
XV.--THE LAIRD OF NORLAW.
BY MRS. OLIPHANT.
“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._
XVI.--THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN ITALY.
BY MRS. G. GRETTON.
“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._
XVII.--NOTHING NEW.
BY THE AUTHOR OF “JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.”
“‘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._
XVIII.--LIFE OF JEANNE D’ALBRET, QUEEN OF NAVARRE.
BY MISS FREER.
“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._
XIX.--THE VALLEY OF A HUNDRED FIRES.
BY THE AUTHOR OF “MARGARET AND HER BRIDESMAIDS.”
“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._
XX.--THE ROMANCE OF THE FORUM; OR, NARRATIVES, SCENES, AND ANECDOTES
FROM COURTS OF JUSTICE.
BY PETER BURKE, SERJEANT AT LAW.
“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._
XXI.--ADÈLE.
BY JULIA KAVANAGH.
“‘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._
XXII.--STUDIES FROM LIFE.
BY THE AUTHOR OF “JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.”
“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._