FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   >>  
stice to each of the works. In the _Athenaeum_, of August 5, the presumed profit on the whole edition is estimated at L100,000.! The calculation of the sale of 12,000 of each work is a reasonable one, and splendid as, in that case, the reward will be, the reading-public will be the gainers. * * * * * THE FAMILY LIBRARY. _HISTORY OF THE JEWS._ We scarcely know how to do justice to the high character of the series of volumes now publishing under this denomination. In printing and embellishment they take the lead of the Periodical Works of our day, (and some of these are extremely beautiful,) while their literary worth is even of superior order. Although they are matter-of-fact works--as in history and biography--they are not mere compilations of dry details and uninteresting lives; but they are so interspersed with new views, and the facts are so often re-written, that the whole have the appearance of original works. Excellent principles, and economy of cost are, likewise, two important points of their recommendations; for many works which have already appeared on the same subjects, have been deformed by party spirit, and written to serve a sect, or are so expensive as to be purchaseable only by the wealthy ranks, and scarcely accessible by the middle classes of society; whereas the Family Library is published at a rate within the reach of two-thirds of the reading public, who may therefore possess what they read, and appreciate the value of these volumes as works of reference and authority. The division of the series which has called forth this notice, is No. 5, or the first volume of the _History of the Jews_, to be completed in three volumes, by the Rev. H.H. Milman, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and the author of the splendid poem--The Fall of Jerusalem; and judging by the portion before us, this work will form one of the most attractive in the whole series. In proof of this it would be easy to select many passages which are beautifully picturesque; a few, however, will suffice: "The Jews, without reference to their religious belief, are among the most remarkable people in the annals of mankind. Sprung from one stock, they pass the infancy of their nation in a state of servitude in a foreign country, where, nevertheless, they increase so rapidly, as to appear on a sudden the fierce and irresistible conquerors of their native valleys in Palestine. There they settl
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   >>  



Top keywords:

volumes

 

series

 

public

 
scarcely
 

reading

 
reference
 

written

 

splendid

 

History

 
volume

society

 

completed

 

Poetry

 

Oxford

 

author

 

Professor

 

middle

 
Family
 
classes
 
Milman

published

 

possess

 
thirds
 

authority

 

Library

 

called

 

division

 
notice
 

picturesque

 

servitude


foreign

 

country

 

nation

 

infancy

 

Sprung

 

increase

 

valleys

 
native
 

Palestine

 
conquerors

irresistible

 

rapidly

 

sudden

 

fierce

 

mankind

 

annals

 

select

 

attractive

 

judging

 

portion