114

The Keepsake for 1836. Edited by the Hon. Mrs. NORTON.

The name that honours this splendid Annual is an earnest for every thing good, as the editress is a type of every thing that is beautiful and accomplished. The great excellence of this volume is, that this lady has herself contributed so much to it. There are two tales of the deepest pathos, told with her peculiar grace of manner. Heir" is a tale of woman's devotion and of hate, the offspring of the "Count Rodolph's deepest love. It is touchingly tragical, and will long hang darkly in the memory of the reader. "The Artist's Love" is a noble vindication of the nobility of nature, and greatly honourable to the writer, as she justly claims to be of that class to whom admission cannot be purchased by mere talents. Her poetry is also of a very superior order. A lady who writes so well herself, the reader may suppose will admit of nothing inferior in her collection. Such is the case. cles, there is a very graphic description of a Fire at Sea, by Captain Among other excellent artiChamier, told in a peculiarly animated style. With the other contributors, we also find the names of Samuel Rogers, the Author of " Peter Simple,' Thomas Moore, Mr. Bernal, and Miss Landon. The articles from the pens of all these writers, who have earned a well-deserved fame, are in their best manner. that none will surpass, it. Whatever Annual may compete with, we feel assured

Yarns for the Long Shore Folk, consisting of Land and Sea Tales.
By the OLD SAILOR. Author of "
Illustrated by G. CRUIKSHANK.
Tough Yarns," &c. 2 Vols.

We have received these yarns so late in the month, that we have really no time to expatiate upon them. We have read them. We could not help it. If any of them are once begun, there will be no ease to the mind, until they be fairly unravelled. We will briefly state what the reader has to expect, when he takes up these interesting volumes. The first tale that will be offered to him is entitled the "Farmer's Daughter." It is founded upon an historical basis, and has many of the beauties of Walter Scott, without his sustained excellence. It is, however, a very superior and exciting tale. "The Farmer's Daughter and West Indian tale, with the singular, yet most appropriate, title of " I is followed by a pathetic Drink to Heads." Our ebony brethren of Africa are the principal actors in this pathetic drama. Their manners, and their language, are admirably hit off. What "I Drink to Heads" means, we will not tell our readers. It is a mystery that they must solve, by getting possession of the book. The longest and the principal story, is a nautical one, known by the name of "The Warlock." On this, the author has exhausted all his care, and employed all his energies. It is really a very superior work. The plot is original and striking, the characters well delineated, and well sustained; but there is much that is improbable in the verisimilitude of the two brothers. This sacrificing the vraisemblable to effect is a vice, of which we hardly thought our Old Sailor would have been guilty. There is a naval romance coming out by another hand, in which the coincidences between the ideas of the two authors are very singular. Neither party can be the pirate, as they are unknown to each other.

The Battle of the Annuals.

A Fragment.

A good idea, indifferently worked out.

The Works of William Cowper, his Life and Letters. By W. HAYLEY, ESQ. Now first completed by the Introduction of Cowper's Private Correspondence Edited by the Rev. T. S. GRIMSHAWE, A.M., &c.

This beautiful edition is now made complete, by the appearance of it fifth volume, which did not come out in the natural order of publication It is embellished by a frontispiece view of Mundesley," Norfolk, spiri. tedly engraved by W. Finden, after a picture of great merit by Harding "Weston House" is a sweet rural spot, sweetly portrayed. The universal approbation of the public press, has stamped that high character upon this edition, that it can defy censure, and praise is merely a work of superfluity. It is a perfect edition, which none other can possibly be.

Supplement to Captain Sir John Ross's Narrative of a Second Voyage in the Victory, in Search of a North-West Passage; containing the Suppressed Facts necessary to a proper understanding of the Failure of the Steam Navigation of the Victory, and a just appreciation of Captain Sir John Ross's character as an Officer and a Man of Science. By JOHN BRAITHWAITE.

Not having noticed or received Sir John's work, it would not be decorous on our parts to give any opinion on the merits of this Supplement. We merely mention this, that the author may not accuse us of any want of courtesy.

The Picture of Dublin; or, Stranger's Guide to the Irish Metropolis: containing an Account of every Object and Institution worthy of Notice; together with a brief Description of the surrounding Country and its Geology.

This is a very superior book of its kind, and a pleasant companion to any who may be disposed to visit the Irish capital. There is in this volume more attention paid to the plates than is usual in works of this descriptive; and many parts of the volume are more than merely description, for they are very scientific. The map of the city is large and extremely well executed. In fact, this publication altogether has our decided recommendation.

A short

The Comet: in four Parts, &c. With the History of Halley's Comet for the space of Two Thousand and Forty-one Years. Illustrated and explained by Tables, Diagrams, &c. By JOHN Searle. A very foolish and superstitious book, by a very learned man. treatise, in which the reader will find a strange mixture of poetry, divi nity, astronomy, theory, hypothesis, speculation, sense, and absurdity, very apt to the present time for many reasons. Amidst all this confusion, Mr. Searle has shown lights, and pointed out leading marks, that others may follow up to the most important conclusions. We certainly would say to our friends, read the work-always provided that they are not easily frightened by astrological denunciations. In this respect, Halley's comet has been most villainously used by Mr. Searle.

What is Phrenology? Its Evidence and Principles familiarly Considered. By EDWIN SAUNDERS, Author of "Five Minutes Advice on the Care of the Teeth."

As this science is rapidly gaining ground, and drawing the thoughts of most men who think, towards it, this well-written little treatise appears very opportunely. It merely lays down principles without going into detail, thus leading the way to the study of more voluminous works on the subject. The little that is done, is excellently well done, and shows that the author is completely the master of his subject. As, in every company, at least once in the evening, the interesting subject of phrenology is started, this book should be made familiar to every one unacquainted with the larger treatises. It will give the reader a good conversational power over the whole matter.

The Angler's Souvenir. By P. FISHER, Esq. Assisted by several Eminent Piscatory Characters. With Illustrations by BECKWITH and TOPHAM.

An Annual for the lovers of the rod and line! And why not? The one before us is well baited, and we think that the public will bite. It is got up neatly, and is elegantly embellished. There is not much novelty in the piscatory instructions; but they are interspersed with episodes that are written with a sly, quiet humour, and not without occasional flashes of a sterling wit. Angling, when a passion, is mostly an old gentlemanly one-coming in with avarice and the gout-therefore, the publishers of this work have not been judicious in printing it in so small and so faint a type. To all past fifty, it must be read with spectacles on

nose.

The Parent's Cabinet of Amusement and Instruction.

We find that this varied and useful publication is, for the present, about to be discontinued, not for want of an encouraging success, (of this we are sure,) but solely on account of the conductors having their attention called to other (to them) more important concerns. Already there have appeared six volumes. This, the last, is in no manner inferior to any of the preceding ones, and is an elegant combination of the useful with the agreeable.

A Manual of Entomology, from the German of Dr. Hermann Burmiester. By W. E. SHUCKHARD, M.E.S. With additions by the Author, and Original Notes and Plates by the Translator.

This double number, containing parts thirteen and fourteen, treats upon the physiology of the respiration, the circulation of the blood, the metamorphosis, and the muscular motion of insects, and treats upon all these various branches excellently. We have often before given this publication its just meed of praise; if we do not repeat our eulogiums, it is not because it ceases to deserve them, but because it is unnecessary.

The Squib Annual of Poetry, Politics, and Personalities.

Squibs are Annuals by prescriptive and historical right. The failure of the gunpowder under the House of Lords has been the occasion of an immense consumption of gunpowder ever since. But the Squib is a very modest title for this little work. It is an assemblage of brilliant fireworks; we have not only squibs, with their fiz and their bounce, but mines with their blows up, Catherine wheels, as full of torture as that upon which the fair saint was pinned; and we may add, that there is no want of crackers in almost every page. Brougham and Vaux, as Guy Vaux, is very happy. He certainly is as sincere in his wishes to blow up the House as his celebrated prototype. Spring Rice must be quite in spirits with the praise bestowed upon his gin palaces. It is impossible to go through the whole of this work in our limited space; all we can say is, that it fizzes and bounces at every body, Whig, Tory, or Radical, without mercy, but not without wit, for it is full of keenness and satire. All will be delighted but those who are burnt-this is the case in all exhibitions of fireworks. We congratulate the writer or writers upon their talent, and we shall be most anxious to meet them again on the next fifth of November.

History: or the Juvenile Traveller. A faithful Delineation of a Voyage across the Atlantic, in a New York Packet, &c. &c. By the Wife of a British Officer.

This is a pleasing and intelligently-written little affair, that would form a suitable Christmas present to well-disposed little girls and boys. It contains also that plain and unobtrusive piety which ought to be made not only familiar but loveable to childhood. We know that the descriptive parts of her work are true, and as there is in them nothing like ostentation they are as pleasing as they are true. The book is good.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

The English Bijou Almanak, for 1836; with Poetical Illustrations. By L. E. L. Containing an Almanack, and other useful and entertaining information for the ensuing year. With six Portraits of Eminent Personages, each accompanied with Poetical Illustrations, by L. E. L.

Manual of Ancient Geography. By A. H. Heeren.

12mo. 2s. 6d.

Literary Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, with Memoir. By H. W. Beechey. 2 vols. foolscap 8vo. 16s.

Flowers of Loveliness. Edited by the Countess of Blessington. Imperial 4to.

1l. 11s. 6d.

My Aunt Pontypool. 3 vols. post 8vo. 1l. 11s. 6d.

Fables and Tales; suggested by the Frescos of Pompeii and Herculaneum. By W. B. Le Gros. 4to. 1. 48.

The Keepsake. Edited by the Hon. Mrs. Norton. With 19 Engravings. 11. 1s. ; royal 8vo. India proofs, 2l. 12s. 6d.

Margaret Ravenscroft; or, Second Love. By J. A. St. John. 3 vols. post 8vo. 1l. 11s. 6d.

Dissent Unscriptural and Unjustifiable; a Third Letter to the Rev. J. Pye Smith, D.D. By Sam. Lee, D.D. 8vo. 3s. 6d.

Some Remarks on the Code of International Signals. By H. C. Phillips. 8vo. 1s. Agricultural Distress; a Second Letter to G. R. Robinson, Esq. M.P. By a Farmer's Daughter. 8vo. 6d.

The Loseley Manuscripts, MS. and other Documents relating to English History &c. preserved in the Muniment Room of J. M. Molyneux, Esq. With Notes, by A. J. Kempe, Esq. 8vo. 1l. 15.

Milton's Life and Works. Edited by Sir Egerton Brydges. 6 vols. foolscap 8vo.

1l. 10s.

The Squib Annual; or, Poetry, Politics, and Personalities, for 1836. 12 Designs by Seymour. 18mo. 5s.

Narrative of a Voyage Round the World. By T. B. Wilson, M.D. 8vo. 12s. Municipal Corporation Act. By R. C. Sewell.

The New Year's Token for 1836. 12mo. 6s.

12mo. 7s.

Pencillings by the Way. By N. P. Willis, Esq. 3 vols. post 8vo. 1l. 11s. 6d. Holman's Travels, Vol. IV. 8vo. 14s.

The Rev. T. Scott's Commentary on the Bible. 3 vols. imp. 8vo. with 84 Illustrations. 41. 10s.

A Familiar History of Birds: their Nature, Habits, and Instincts. By the Rev. E. Stanley. 2 vols. foolscap 8vo. 7s.

Minerals and Metals; their Natural History and Uses in the Arts, with an Account of Mines. 18mo. 2s. 6d.

Recollections of the Private Life of Lafayette. By M. J. Cloquet, M.D. 8vo. 12s. Manual of Practical Midwifery. By J. Reid, M.D. 24mo. 5s. 6d.

Popery in Alliance with Heathenism. By John Poynder, Esq. Second edition. 8vo. 3s. 6d.

Macdougal's Improved System of Short Hand. 18mo. 2s. 6d.

Spark's Library of American Biography, Vol. IV. 12mo. 4s.

Poems of a Traveller. By the Rev. T. Hartley. Foolscap 8vo. 38.

The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. By J. P. Lawson, M.A. 12mo. 4s. 6d. History of the United States of North America. By J. Grahame, Esq. 4 vols. 8vo. 21. 10s.

The Little Library: Natural History of Birds.
Square, 4s.

Illustrations by T. Landseer.

Jardine's Naturalist's Library, Vol. XI. Deer. 12mo. 6s.

An Analysis of Parliamentary Proceedings of the Session of 1835. By H. Deacon. 8vo. 7s. 6d.

Pure Gold, from the Rivers of Wisdom. 32mo. 1s. 6d.

The Excitement for 1836. 7th Series. 18mo. 4s. 6d.

Lovette, the Daughter of a Canadian Nun. By the Rev. G. Bourne. 18mo. 2s. Archbishop Whateley's Sermons at Dublin. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Wallace's Additional Observations on Brougham's Theology. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. Ramble on; or, Dialogue the Second, between Warner Search and Peter Peeradeal. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d.

Tales of the English :-the Knevets. By Emily Taylor. Foolscap 8vo. 4s. 6d. Prometheus of Eschylus, and Electra of Sophocles. Translated by G. C. Fox, Esq. 8vo. 8s. 6d.

LITERARY NEWS.-WORKS IN PROGRESS.

Two of the most popular works of the season have appeared within the last few days, we allude to Mr. Bulwer's "Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes," and Mr. Grattan's "Agnes de Mansfeldt."

Captain Marryat's "Japhet, in Search of a Father," will be ready about the 10th instant. From the interest excited by the portions of it which have appeared in our pages there can be little doubt but that as a separate publication this work will become as popular as the Captain's former productions, Peter Simple," and "Jacob Faithful," of each of which Three Editions have already appeared.

The success attending the publication of that beautiful work, the " Book of Gems,” has been almost unprecedented. We believe that the talent of fifty-three artists was never before employed in the production of a single volume.

The novel published under the piquant title of "My Aunt Pontypool," is pronounced to be excellent; although appearing anonymously, it is evidently from the pen of a practised and experienced writer.

The beautiful edition of Mr. Grimshawe's

Life and Complete Works of Cowper," is now concluded, it appears, most opportunely for the Christmas season, as no work could be selected, better calculated for a Present, or a New Year's Gift.