SMART AND CROFTON:

THE DIALECT OF ENGLISH GYPSIES. By B. C. Smart, M.D., and H. T. Crofton. Second edition, revised and greatly enlarged. 8vo, cloth. London, 1875.. SOUTHESK (EARL OF.) SASKATCHEWAN and the Rocky Mountains. A Diary and Narrative of Travel, Sport, and Adventure, during a Journey through the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories, in 1859 and 1860. With Maps and Illustrations. 8vo, cloth, extra. Edinburgh, 1875....

*In the Appendix of this entertaining volume will be found the Earl of Southesk's Critical Remarks on "The Winter's Tale," Hamlet," Macbeth," "Merchant of Venice," "Othello," etc., etc.

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STANLEY (DEAN.) SERMONS AND ESSAYS ON THE APOSTOLICAL AGE. Third edition, revised. Crown 8vo, cloth. London, 1874.. 3 75

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NEW YORK, MARCH 1, 1875.

SPECIAL NOTICE.

Hereafter THE BOOK BUYER will be issued on the first of each month instead of on the fifteenth, as heretofore. In accordance with this arrangement this number bears the date of March 1.

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On or before April 1, Scribner, Armstrong & Co., and Scribner, Welford & Armstrong, will remove to 743 and 745 Broadway.

THE BRIC-A-BRAC SERIES.-MOORE & JERDAN. THE new volume of the Bric-a-Brac Series" is rich in the reminiscences of famous men, by men who were themselves famous. "Tom." Moore could write about others with rare brilliancy and raciness. His Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence, edited by Lord John Russell, were published in London in eight volumes, containing nearly three thousand pages, and were reissued here in two volumes, but have long been out of print, as it was very natural that they should be, in view of the very large amount of extraneous and entirely uninteresting matter, so far as the present generation is concerned, which they embody. Mr. Stoddard, in his preface, characterizes Moore "as the most voluminous and trivial of journalizers." He adds:

The papers left to Lord John Russell [as editor], consisted of a Memoir of Moore, written by himself, beginning from his birth, but only reaching to the year 1799, when he was not twenty years old; a Journal, begun in 1818, and extending to the years 1846-47; and Letters to and from various correspondents, but especially to his mother.

Here was material in abundance; how to use it was the question. I doubt whether his Lordship gave it the consideration that it demanded before he began his task. He confessed the embarassments which weighed upon him, and that it was not easy to choose between the evil of overloading the work with letters and anecdotes not worth preserving, and the danger of losing the individual likeness by softening and obliterating

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details. Whether any person was pained by the publication of Moore's papers does not appear; but very many persons must have been wearied by the trivial and obsolete nature of a large portion of them. Their writer was dead, and the reputation which had once been his had waned. A new and greater race of poets than the one to which he belonged had risen. "Lalla Rookh" was still read, perhaps, but not with the same pleasure as "The Princess," or "The Blot on the 'Scutcheon." Moore had ceased to charm, and the details of his life were not cared for. Perhaps his portrait, as drawn by himself, was considered effeminate. However this may be, his noble biographer felt called upon to write a second preface, which may be found at the commencement of his sixth volume. He had discovered that the constant repetition of daily engagements had become wearisome, and he promised to employ, with more reserve, the remaining portion of his material. He admits that he has not concealed Moore's weaknesses, and unburdens himself in regard to the vanity of mankind in general, and Moore in particular.

The essence of Lord John Russell's eight volumes is here presented to the reader, who, I hope, will be entertained by it as I have been, in spite of the tiresome reading which I have undergone to obtain it. There is a freshness and sparkle in it which I do not find in Moore's poetry."

Moore's companion in this volume is comparatively little known to American readers. Mr. Stoddard says of him:

WILLIAM JERDAN was a man of note at one time; it is not easy to see why now. He was not a man of letters-though he wrote books-but a journalist, and it was as the editor of The Literary Gazette that he was best known. The Literary Gazette was a power in English literature fifty years ago, its praise being sought and its censure deprecated by much greater writers than its editor. Jerdan dwelt with compiacency on his connection with it, and was proud of his one literary discovery-L. E. L.," whom he was the first to introduce to the world. Besides editing The Literary Gazette, he worked on other papers. The Royal Society of Literature, which was founded in 1821, owed its existence in great measure to him. He was a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, and a corresponding member of the Real Academia de la Historia of Spain.

In August, 1851, a testimonial was set on foot "as a public acknowledgment of the literary labors of William Jerdan." Shortly after this testimonial, which was successful, Jerdan commenced the publication of his Autobiography," which extends to four volumes (London, 1852-53), and is-but the reader will judge what it is from the portion here presented to him, which is the essence of over fourteen hundred pages. If it be not as sprightly as he could wish, he should remember that it was written by one who began to remember when most begin to forget. An autobiography that is begun at seventy must of necessity, I think, be somewhat tedious. Jerdan was born at Kelso, on the 16th of April, 1782; he died at his residence, near Burkey Heath, in July, 1869.

William Pitt, Sidney Smith, Porson, the Duke of Wellington, Lamb, Byron, Thomas Campbell, Irving, Coleridge, James Hogg, Edmund Kean, L.E.L.-whom Jerdan claims to have

discovered-Montgomery, Scott, Wordsworth, and a long catalogue of others, have their memories revived by characteristic anecdotes.

As an additional attraction to the "Bric-aBrac Series," and in order to bring before the eye of the reader still more vividly some of the characters who again come upon the stage through these anecdotes and reminiscences, Messrs. SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & Co. propose to give occasional portraits, chiefly in outline, in the future volumes. The well-known Fraser portraits, as grouped in the Maclise Gallery, include a large number of the literary celebrities of the last half century, and these will be drawn upon as occasion may require, in fac-simile reproductions, somewhat reduced but carefully executed. In course of time, all the more prominent of these portraits will be given, and thus the chief characteristics of this singularly interesting collection will be incorporated in the Bric-a-Brac Series. Only those volumes will be illustrated, the interest of which will thereby be enhanced.

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HOURS IN A LIBRARY-LESLIE STEPHEN. THE taking title of this volume is most admirably sustained by its contents. "De Foe's Novels," Richardson's Novels," Pope as a Moralist," "Some Words about Sir Walter Scott,' "Nathaniel Hawthorne," "Balzac's Novel's," and "De Quincey," are the authors and the subjects discussed. No recent writer has developed the true critical instinct at all in the degree which this volume proves that Mr. Leslie Stephen possesses it. His judgments are the result of the closest and most careful study. They are, moreover, comprehensive, and are expressed in a style so incisive and brilliant as to place their author in the front rank of living essayists. Messrs. SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & Co. have just published Hours in a Library, and it cannot fail to be received here, as it has been in England, as the most notable volume in critical literature lately published.

ELEMENTARY COLLECTIONS OF MINERALS AND ROCKS.

EVERY teacher who has undertaken to impart instruction in mineralogy or geology, can appreciate the difficulty, and, indeed, the impossibility, of giving the student any comprehension of the simplest rudiments of either science from the manuals alone. With the characteristic specimens at hand, on the contrary, instruction is easy, and the study becomes one of the most

interesting and important that can be taken up. Seymour's "Elementary Collection of Minerals" supplies this want precisely. It contains in all 50 specimens, comprising 28 non-metallic minerals, 11 metallic minerals, and 11 rocks. These come in a neat black, walnut case, and each case is accompanied by a pamphlet giving brief and non-technical descriptions of each specimen (price $15). With this case and pamphlet alone a practical knowledge of the rudiments of mineralogy and geology can be obtained in a few hours' study.

Besides the elementary collection, there is an “advanced student's collection in mineralogy" of 100 specimens (price $25). This is furnished according to the arrangement in Dana's Manual, and is also chemically arranged after the fifth edition of Dana's Mineralogy. "The Advanced Student's Collection in Geology" (price $25) contains 100 specimens, and the " Advanced Student's Collection in Mineralogy," with the "Advanced Student's Collection in Geology," are supplied together-200 specimens in all, in a neat, black walnut case, for $55.

Prof. J. D. Dana, of Yale College, who is the greatest living authority in these sciences, says:

There is no studying mineralogy or geology without a collection of this kind. Every academy in New York, as well as in the other States, should have one. The pages of description in the pamphlet which accompanies the collection will be a help to beginners in the study.

Either of these collections will be forwarded by SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & Co., upon receipt of the price--the purchaser to pay express charges.

EPOCHS OF HISTORY-THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

The French Revolution and First Empire, by William O'Connor Morris, is the new volume in the Epochs of History. Nowhere else can so succinct a statement of this great historic movement be found. Hon. Andrew D. White, President of Cornell University. has made a most important addition to the volume in the shape of a bibliography, which summarizes the literature of the subject clearly and satisfactorily. Mr. White suggests two courses of reading for those who may desire to follow up the subject. One course is brief, the other fuller; but even the latter may easily be accomplished by any reader of ordinary leisure who is interested in this subject.

The Epochs of History, as a series, is every day gaining in popularity, as its substantial merits come to be more clearly understood. Appended

is an estimate of the series by President Noah Porter, of Yale College :

YALE COLLEGE, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,
Feb. 12, 1875.

The volumes already issued in the series, entitled Epochs of History, seem to me to have been prepared with knowledge and artistic skill to meet the wants of a large number of readers. To the young they furnish an outline or compendium which may serve as an introduction to more extended study. To those who are older they present a convenient sketch of the heads of the knowledge which they have already acquired. The outlines are by no means destitute of spirit, and may be used with great profit for family reading, and in select classes or reading clubs.

N. PORTER.

SMITH'S ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES. THIS remarkable volume has attracted wide attention, and is meeting with the large sale which the extraordinary discoveries it records could not fail to secure for it. Some extracts from the notices it has received are appended:

FROM AMERICAN JOURNALS.

"His book is a simple, straightforward record of what he accomplished, written not to catch the applause of the ignorant, but to inform the wise and the thoughtful. The narrative of personal experience is interesting, without trace of straining for sensational effect. But the chief value of the work is its account of things accomplished."- Watchman and Reflector.

"Mr. Smith's book is in clearness and accuracy all that could be wished; himself a great authority on Assyrian antiquities, he has prepared a work which no person who has studied or intends to study this fascinating subject should fail to read."-New York Evening Post.

"These things have united to prepare the public for a very interesting book in Mr. Smith's personal account of his work, now published; and they will not be disappointed. Mr. Smith's discoveries are not only told simply and systematically, but in such a way as to be more thoroughly interesting to the general reader than one would, at first thought, imagine possible."-Appleton's Journal.

"Mr. Smith appears to have engaged in his work with equal ardor, perseverance, and good judgment. His habits as a scholar have not impaired his efficiency as a practical man. The recital of his experience is marked by frankness, modesty, and great intelligence." -N. Y. Daily Tribune.

"The book reveals much of the hitherto hidden history of the Assyrian empire, and shows that its people were wise in many things. The maxims translated from the records, and the curious devices and pictures brought to the earth's surface, give us a clearer knowledge of the character of the people that inhabited that nation than we have gained from any other source. ** It is a work of great importance, and will be welcomed by all scholars and antiquaries."-St. Louis Democrat.

"Scholars will appreciate the translations of the Assyrian inscriptions, forming about one-half the contents of the book, while students of the Bible will be deeply interested in the confirmation they give to sacred records. For the general reader the volume contains, besides the narrative of personal experience of travel and encounters with the Asiatic bigots who govern the country, much that is curious and interesting."-Christian Era.

"It is in the hope that these rich first fruits of investigation will stimulate inquiry, and induce the British Government to take hold of the matter and bring its influence to bear in such a manner upon the Ottoman, as to secure its coöperation in prosecuting a thorough system of investigation, that we close Mr. Smith's absorbingly interesting book."-Cincinnati Commercial.

FROM THE ENGLISH JOURNALS. "In this volume Mr. Smith tells us, in modest and unassuming language, the results of two visits he made, first, at the instance of the Daily Telegraph, and secondly, for the trustees of the British Museum, to sites which, twenty years ago, were so well known from the labors of Layard and Loftus, visits the more interesting that they were entirely due to his discovery, on some fragments of Assyrian cuneiform tablets procured by the former traveler, of what reads like a Babylonian version of the Noachian Deluge. It is a record of discoveries of which any man might be proud. Besides the legends of the Flood, and the inscriptions of Assurbanipal, Mr. Smith's volume contains many interesting details from the Early Babylonian Texts, the Early Assyrian Inscriptions, with others of Tiglath Pileser the Second, Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon, down to the fall of Nineveh. Among these will be found many confirmations of Biblical history, the names of five Hebrew kings having been now detected, three of them (we believe) by Mr. Smith himself."-Athenæum. "No book of recent years has exceeded, very few even have equaled, the extraordinary interest of this work. There are portions of the work now before us which equal in value anything either in ancient or modern literature. Chronicles as old, if not older, than the time of Abraham. *** The histories and the writings of Sennacherib, of Sardanpalus, and Nebuchadnezzar-the familiar Biblical names with the most perfect authentication of Biblical history."Nonconformist.

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"A little late in the London literary season, but still in good time to secure a warm and hearty welcome, appears Mr. George Smith's new and important book on his Assyrian Discoveries.' It has just been published on both sides of the Atlantic, and can hardly fail to sustain and deepen the interest already so widely felt in the results of cuneiform research. It furnishes a detailed account of the valuable additions made by Mr. Smith to our monumental knowledge of the East during his two archæological journeys in the spring of 1873, and in that of last year to the Euphrates and Tigris valleys. ** *The piece de resistance, to which most readers will turn with the keenest appetite, is undoubtedly the long chapter of about sixty pages on the Izdubar, or Flood Tablets. ** * His present work marks a new starting-point in Assyrian research, and the British nation is too deeply pledged to the race to stop with the goal in view."-Standard.

The above most interesting and valuable work, handsomely bound in cloth, gilt, will be sent to any address, post free, on receipt of the published price, $4.

RELIGION AND SCIENCE.

AMONG the papers which Dr. Tyndall's address at Belfast has called forth on this side of the water, that by Dr. C. W. Shields, of Princeton, N.J., discussing the relations of Religion and Science to Philosophy, holds a very high place. It was read by the writer before the Philosophical Society of Washington a few weeks since, and has attracted such wide attention as to deserve permanent preservation. Messrs. SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & Co., have it in press, and will issue it in March. Price $1.00.

CRAIK'S ENGLISH LITERATURE.

Craik's English Literature still holds its place as the most thorough work of its kind ever published. Its characterizations are clear and well considered, its summaries are accurate, and its selections are marked by that careful, critical judgment which has given the work its well established reputation. The cheaper editionthe price has been reduced from $7.50 to $5-must find its way into many libraries.