6 MARCH 1897, Page 26

The Island of Capri. From the German of Ferdinand Grego-

rovius by M. Douglas Fairbairn. (T. Fisher lJnwin.)—The author tells us that he visited the island in 1855, and again in 1876. He describes the place and its people with sentiment, perhaps one might say sentimentality. Capri is a spot that charms the moderns as it charmed the ancients. It is full of associations, not always, it is true, of the happiest kind, but curiously interesting. Those who have not read this account of it, the work of an accomplished scholar, should not fail to make acquaintance with it as it is now made accessible by Mrs. Fair- bairn to those who "have no German."

We know of no prettier and pleasanter reprints than those of " The Temple Classics " and " The Temple Dramatists " (Dent and Co.) The print and paper of these delightful little volumes are excellent, the price is small, and they will go into the pocket. These good qualities make the Bacon's Essays in the first-named series fulfil what the advertisers call "a felt want." This is the first Bacon's Essays which we have encountered in which the print is perfectly legible, though the book will lie in the pocket without making a protruberance. The Essays are essentially a book for the pocket. One may take them out " in the steamship or the railway," and be sure to find something that will hold the atten- tion and fire the imagination. The reprint of the Duchess of Malfi in the " Temple Dramatists " makes a very pleasant book, but Webster is not a pocket author. This " talk fit for a charnel- house" is apt to be depressing unless one is in the mood for deaths and burials.