The arrangement of subjects is such as to allow the study of literature to be begun with any chapter and followed in any order selected by individual judgment, or the end in view.

The works of any author may be studied consecutively. The Index of Authors appended to each volume will suggest the method by which such study can be advantageously pursued. The same index will also furnish any necessary biographical information.

The selection of illustrative quotations is governed by their practical value, their adaptability to exemplify certain peculiarities of style, and as calculated to arouse additional interest in the student and urge him to further study. In these quotations, the best versions and most approved texts have been followed, and, except in rare cases, the orthography and punctuation carefully preserved.

Copious extracts from leading critics are given, both as the briefest and best method of presenting critical opinions, and as an aid to the proper appreciation of the production under consideration.

From the large number of flattering opinions, the few that follow have been selected to show the favor with which this work has been received.

Prof. William M. Nevin, LL.D., Professor of English Literature in Franklin and Marshall College, Pa., writes:

"It is a work which deserves commendation, being in advance of most other manuals of the same sort, and a decided improvement. Its poetical selections are many and well made, being restricted to such as are best adapted for illustrating the peculiar style and manner of each author, and the criticisms introduced are from the best and most approved reviewers.

"While grouping together such books as are of a similar kind, whereby the works of older and those of later poets may be better contrasted and their differences observed, yet the author has not dispensed wholly with their chronological arrangement, but follows, so far as he can, a chronological order, commenting first on the earliest writers belonging to the same class, and afterwards on those following them in regular succession to the latest date; which is a happy combination of the two methods."

Prof. B. C. Burt, Professor of English Literature in the University of Michigan, says:

"The book is well made. The original parts are sensibly written, and the choice of selections and criticisms is judicious."

Prof. J. Baldwin, Principal of Sam Houston Normal Institute, Texas, says:

"I deem it a very valuable contribution to the study of English literature. It is the best analysis and presentation of the subject I have found."

H. W. Hazzen, A.M., Mt. Carroll Seminary, Ill., writes as follows:

"I regard it a most admirable work. I hope to make extensive use of it in this institution. It is the best book, all things considered, I have yet seen.'

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Mrs. J. W. Shoemaker, National School of Elocution and Oratory, Philadelphia, says:

"It will prove a valuable work to those who contemplate a close and critical study of the English classics. It will also be especially helpful to those who desire a classified arrangement of the various styles of both poetry and prose."

Prof. J. R. Spiegel, Public School Superintendent, Westmoreland Co., Pa., writes thus:

"I think it the best work of the kind that ever came to my notice. I shall cheerfully do all I can for its introduction."

Attention is called to the high standing of the journals whose opinions we quote:

Public Ledger, Philadelphia:

"In this clear and well-arranged volume, Prof. Baldwin does not attempt a history of literature, he rather furnishes a guide, with copious quotations, for the ordinary reader, leading him from the Anglo-Saxon poets and the transition period down to the romance poets, where the method of the book is first unfolded. From this point the authors are not given in chronological chapters, but are grouped together under characteristic heads. In story-telling poetry Scott follows Chaucer, and the break in the line of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is explained. Byron, Crabbe, Keats, Campbell, Landor, Tennyson, Longfellow, and William Morris belong to this chapter. In dramatic poetry the line again is traced back to Skelton, Heywood, 'Gorboduc,' to the Elizabethan dramatists, and by way of Milton and Dryden, Otway, Steele, and Sheridan to modern times. So on through all other divisions of satiric, lyric, epic, and pastoral poetry, making altogether a far more interesting treatment than when each writer is labeled with date and a critical summary. The many-sidedness of English poets is well brought out by this method, and the book is all the more attractive because of this new grouping."

Journal of Education, Boston, Mass.:

"This important volume is designed as an introduction to the study of English literature and literary criticism, and is a very useful guide to the acquirement of a practical acquaintanceship with all that is best in our literature. Prof. Baldwin furnishes a scholarly introduction, and quotations on the value of poetry from Philip Sydney, Lord Bacon, Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Macaulay, and Hazlitt. He gives also a series of definitions of the several kinds of verse, authorities, and references, and a complete index of authors, with date of birth and death, with titles of poems, and list of criticisms for the convenience of students who may desire to refer to them. Prof. Baldwin has been very wise in the choice of illustrative quotations, and the selections are eminently practical, showing the peculiarities of style of the authors. The best versions and the most approved texts have been followed, and generally the orthography and punctuation of the originals have been carefully preserved. It is a book of great value.

The Daily Post, Pittsburgh, Pa.:

"This admirably-printed and strongly-bound volume-the best, in these respects, we have seen-is intended as a study of English literature and literary criticism. It is designed for colleges and seminaries, but should find a welcome place in the household library. Its aim is not that of a history of English literature, but rather to serve as a guide to the acquirement of a practical acquaintanceship with all that is best and most worthy in our literature. There are copious quotations and extracts from leading English critics, and many illustrative quotations from the authors criticised. The arrangement of subjects is admirable. The present volume, the first of the series, is devoted to poetry. Prof. Baldwin has certainly done his work with skill and judgment, and produced a book of great value."

The Examiner, New York:

"We have been happily disappointed in this work. The books on English literature designed for use as text-books in the schools are so numerous and so commonly common. place-with of course some honorable exceptions-that it is always with a feeling of appre.

hension we take up a new-comer in the same line. But this one is calculated to win its way to favor. It has some peculiarly good features, and chief among them that of arrangement. A chapter is given to each class, with a valuable list of authorities and references at the end of every chapter, so that the reader or student who is inspired with the desire to learn more of the riches here merely hinted at may know where to turn. Whenever an author is introduced for the first time, a brief but intelligent account of him is given, and in what follows is brought out, in the case of those eminent enough to warrant it, an able criticism of his work. The quotations from both poets and critics show the author's literary good taste and judgment in a field so vast as to make success largely dependent on these qualities. The advantages of bringing the poems of the various classes into close connection and contrast, regardless of time, are constantly appreciable. The book is a trustworthy, intelligent, and interesting guide to the student who would acquire a beneficial knowledge of English poetry; and that is to say that it is what Professor Baldwin aimed to make it. The companion volume on English prose will be looked for with interest. The publishers have outdone themselves in their part of the production,-paper, type, and press-work being all that could be desired.

Louisiana Journal of Education, New Orleans:

We find it to be a valuable guide to students who desire a just appreciation of the works of our great poets. The author's classification is admirable, enabling him to give, with no less lucidity than felicity, a very interesting and well illustrated review. Justice is done to all the authors, under respective heads, and appropriate quotations illustrate the compiler's views and criticism throughout. An index of authors, showing which of their works are presented for study and criticism in the text, closes this interesting and instructive volume. Prof. Baldwin will doubtless throw new light on the study and criticism of prose literature in his forthcoming second volume.

The Globe, Boston, Mass.:

It is a practical guide to the acquirement of a useful acquaintanceship with the best literature. The books referred to are not arranged in a chronological order, but are grouped together in classes which are determined by their similarity in kind. At the end of each division is a list of references which are of the greatest value to the student and general reader. It includes works in all departments of literature, which have a direct bearing upon the subject treated in the preceding pages. The style of each author is intimately described, and its peculiarities are exemplified by illustrative quotations. This is the best text-book on poetry for general use, as well as for students, that we have ever read, for many reasons which will be apparent to every one upon examination, and we hope that it will be generally introduced.

The Press, Philadelphia:

"Prof. Baldwin discards the chronological method of arrangement usually adopted in manuals of literature, and divides his work into chapters with these headings: Anglo-Saxon poetry (449-1066); poetry of the transition period (1066-1362); poetical romances, including those of both earlier and later times; story-telling poetry from Chaucer to Hiawatha; allegories from Piers Plowman to Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal; historical poetry; dramatic poetry epic, lyrical, satirical, descriptive, pastoral, didactic, and miscellaneous poetry. This method has decided advantages, though it sometimes leads to repetitions. The work is clear and attractive, and has an abundance of quotations. A list of historical and critical authorities is added to each chapter."

The National Baptist, Philadelphia:

"This volume is not a history of English literature, but groups topics of similar kinds, and thus treats the subject more naturally and forcibly. The book will awaken a new enthusiasm in the study of English poetry. The indices in the back of the book are a valuable feature. The volume is a decided accession to the student's apparatus in the study of the higher English literature."

Indiana School Journal, Indianapolis, Ind. :

"This volume of 600 pages is arranged on a new plan. It does not pretend to be a history of English literature, and so does not follow a chronological order. It has taken what seems the most natural method, viz: placing together works of a similar kind, so that they may be studied together, compared, contrasted, etc. This method commends itself to our judgment. The author not only makes his own criticisms, but quotes the criticisms of others. The excellent index and numerous references add much to the value of the book."

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"The Most Complete and Exhaustive Treatise."

FRENCH SYNTAX:

A

ON THE BASIS OF

EDOUARD MÄTZNER.

BY JAMES A. HARRISON.

JOHN E. POTTER AND COMPANY,

PHILADELPHIA.

12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.50.

N exhaustive treatise on French Syntax has long been one of the desiderata of students of that language. The scientific study of French composition as the groundwork for acquisition in French has come to be regarded as the true starting-point. An explication of the principles of the syntax of this most flexible of languages, and a thorough analysis of the French theory of construction in its largest sense, is the task which the author of this book has set himself.

The book is therefore arranged wholly to this end. Phrases, Thèmes, Gallicisms, etc., and all such subjects as are treated in conversation books, and works looking to oral instruction, memorizing of idioms, and the like, and having especial reference to the spoken language, are omitted in this work as foreign to the aim of the author and unnecessarily encumbering the book with irrelevant. matter. These are all of secondary importance, relative to the main end in view.

The work begins with a careful chapter on Phonology, which furnishes all desired information in regard to pronunciation. This is supplemented by a brief and comprehensive chapter on Outline of Forms for etymology. Following this is an important chapter on the Historical

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Development of the French Language, which reviews the growth and development of the modern French out of Old French and Latin. The sketch of French Prosody is a thorough analysis of the laws that govern French Verse.

The body of the work, as the name implies, is devoted to the Syntax of the French language. The French sentence is made the basis of the work, and from this the treatment proceeds to individual words. The method is analytic, and each form and variety of construction finds its explanation under its appropriate head. The large option allowed by French usage, according to shifting points of view, is thus well exhibited.

In the treatment of the Tenses, Sequence of Tenses, Cases, Substantive, Adjective, and Adverbial Sentences, and Prepositions, especially, this work finds no competitor.

Every principle is abundantly illustrated by translated examples from standard writers. The student will find great help, too, in the constant parallels pointed out between French and the Latin or other modern languages.

The formal part of the work is very full. Irregular Verbs, French Metres, Pronunciation, List of Verbs with varying regimens, etc., and a minute alphabetical Index by word and subject will facilitate the use of the varied contents of the volume.

A series of carefully-prepared and graded Exercises, supplemented by a copious Vocabulary, affords opportunity to the student for practice in translating French into English and English into French, and will appeal to teachers as a happy combination of the theoretical and the practical.

Of the many high commendations received, we subjoin the following:

Prof. William D. Whitney, Ph.D., LL.D., of Yale College, under date of July 8, 1882, writes to the publishers as follows:

"One who has been complimented by the dedication of a book will not be generally accepted as a trustworthy critic of it; but that shall not prevent my expressing