We have received from Messrs. Chapman and Hall a reprint
of the Christmas numbers of Household Words in nine volumes (1s. net per vol.) These must, of course, be distinguished from Charles Dickens's "Christmas Books," the "Christmas Carol," "The Cricket on the Hearth," &c. They were the Christmas numbers of Household Words, and appeared during the years
1850-58, while Dickens edited that periodical. They were the work of a number of authors, whose names are now completely and accurately given for the first time. Dickens contributed to each number, sometimes more than one piece. In "A Christmas Tree" (1850), for instance, he wrote the first part, and collaborated with Dr. Cormack in the seventh, "Christmas in the Frozen Regions." "The Perils of Certain Prisoners" he wrote in collaboration with Wilkie Collins. This was in 1857. The names of the contributors to the first number are Dickens, W. B. Jerrold, W. H. Wills, James Hannay, Charles Knight, K. H. Hunt, Dr. Cormack, Samuel Sidney, R. H. Horne. In the next number are the names of E. Oilier, Harriet Martineau, G. A. Sala, Eliza Griffiths, and W. T. A. Buckley; in 1852 we find W. Moy Thomas, Mrs. Gaskell, James White, and W. Hepworth Dixon ; in 1853 Mrs. E. Lynn Lynton and A. A. Procter are new ; in 1854 Wilkie Collins appears ; in 1855 William Hewitt and "Holme Lee "; in 1856 the only new name is Percy Fitzgerald, and there are none in the two years following. The idea of collecting these numbers is a very good one. Apart from their intrinsic value, it is interesting to see how Dickens dominated his contributors.
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