CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Century of Louis %W. By M. Bourgeois. Translated by Mrs. Cashel Hoey. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.)—About a year ago we noticed the French edition of this beautiful book. The present work differs very little from the original, except that M. Bourgeois's French has been turned into English by Mrs. Cashel Hoey, and that, unless our recollection is at fault, the binding of the present issue is much prettier and more tasteful than that pro- duced by the French publishers. It would be difficult to speak too highly of the illustrations. They are exactly what illustrations ought to be when they are found in a historical work. That is, they are never fancy pictures, but always reproductions either of portraits or else of statues, busts, and contemporary engravings, showing the life and manners of the time. The number of plates and cuts in the text is enormous, and they are extremely well selected. To turn these pages attentively is to become saturated with the epoch of the Great King. Though in essentials a base and material age, it is impossible not to be struck by the energy, the ingenuity, and the splendour which marked it. Few epochs in history have had clearer and more strongly-marked charac- teristics. Messrs. Sampson Low and Marston may be congratu- lated upon their enterprise in issuing the book for English readers.
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