When Mr. Murray commenced that admirable series of _Guides_ which form
the indispensable companion of those restless spirits who delight with
each recurring summer--
"To waft their _size to_ Indus or the Pole,"
he first sent his Schoolmaster abroad; with what success those who have
examined, used, and trusted to his _Continental Handbooks_ best can
tell. Whether Mr. Murray is now actuated by a spirit of patriotism, or
of moral responsibility under the remembrance that "charity begins at
home," we neither know nor care; since our "home-staying" friends, as
well as all who visit us, will benefit by the new direction which his
energy has taken. Among the first fruits of this we have Murray's
_Handbook for Modern London_, which did not need the name of our valued
contributor MR. PETER CUNNINGHAM at the foot of its preliminary
advertisement to show the mint in which it was coined; for it is in
every page marked with the same characteristics, the same laborious
research--the same scrupulous exactness--the same clear and distinct
arrangements, which won such deserved praise for that gentleman's
_Handbook for London, Past and Present_. Any visitor to London, be he
mere sight-seer or be he artist, architect, statist, &c., will find in
this neatly printed volume the most satisfactory replies to his
inquiries.
_The Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum, being a
Description of the Remains of Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian and Etruscan
Art, preserved there_, by W. S. W. Vaux, _Assistant in the Department of
Antiquities_, has been compiled for the purpose of laying before the
public the contents of one department of the British Museum--that of
antiquities--in a compendious and popular form. The attempt has been
most successful. Mr. Vaux has not only the advantage of official
position, but of great practical knowledge of the subject, and abundant
scholarship to do it justice; and the consequence is, that his _Handbook
to the Antiquities in the British Museum_ will be found not only most
useful for the special object for which it has been written, but a
valuable introduction to the study of Early Art.
There are probably no objects in the Great Exhibition which have
attracted more general attention than the Stuffed Animals exhibited by
Herrmann Ploucquet, of Stuttgart. Prince and peasant, old and young, the
pale-faced student deep in Goethe and Kaulbach, and the hard-handed
agriculturist who picked up his knowledge of nature and natural history
while plying his daily task,--have all gazed with delight on the
productions of this accomplished artist. That many of these admirers
will be grateful to Mr. Bogue for having had daguerreotypes of some of
the principal of these masterpieces taken by M. Claudet, and engravings
made from them on wood as faithfully as possible, we cannot doubt: and
to all such we heartily recommend _The Comical Creatures from
Wurtemburg; including the Story of Reynard the Fox, with Twenty
Illustrations_. The letter-press by which the plates are accompanied is
written in a right Reynardine spirit; and whether as a memorial of the
Exhibition--of the peculiar talent of the artist--or as a gift book for
children--this pretty volume deserves to be widely circulated.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--Neander's _General History of the Christian Religion
and Church_, vol. iv., is the new volume of Bohn's _Standard Library_;
and it speaks very emphatically for the demand for cheap editions of
works of learning and research that it can answer Mr. Bohn's purpose to
issue a translation of such a book as this by the great ecclesiastical
historian of Germany in its present form.
_The Stone Mason of Saint Pont, a Village Tale from the French of De
Lamartine_, a new volume of Bohn's cheap series, is a tale well
calculated to stir the sympathy of the reader, and to waken in him
thoughts too deep for tears. It must prove one of the most popular among
the works of imagination included in the series; as its companion
volume, _Monk's Contemporaries, Biographic Studies of the English
Revolution, by M. Guizot_, must take a high place among the historical
works. M. Guizot describes his Sketches as "constituting, together with
Monk, a sort of gallery of portraits, in which persons of the most
different character appear in juxtaposition;" and a most interesting
study they make--not the less, perhaps, because, as the author candidly
avows, "in spite of the great diversity of manners, contemporary
comparisons and applications will present themselves at every step,
however careful we may be not to seek them."
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.--W. Dearden's (Carlton Street, Nottingham)
Catalogue Part I. of Important Standard and Valuable Books; J.
Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue Part 125., No. 6. for 1851, of
Old and New Books; Joseph Lilly's (7. Pall Mall) Catalogue of a very
Valuable Collection of Fine and Useful Books; F. Butsch's, at Augsburg,
Catalogue (which may be had of D. Nutt, 270. Strand) of a Choice and
Valuable Collection of Rare and Curious Books; Edward Tyson's (55. Great
Bridgewater Street, Manchester) Catalogue, No. 1. of 1851, of Books on
Sale.