LITERARY NEWS, A new poem by the Laureate entitled "

Sea-Dreams : an Idyll," will

enrich the January number of Laureate, _Magazine.

Mr. Josiah Allen, of Birmingham, has in the press a fac-simile edition of the Duke of Devonshire's quarto copies of Hamlet, of 1603 and 1604. The two texts will appear on opposite pages, with the parallel passages face to face, in antique type, and with exact imitation even, to the title- pages and headings.

Two histories of Hampshire are now in preparation, the one by Sir Frederick Madden, head of the manuscript department of the British Museum, and the other by Mr. B. B. Woodward, of the Society of An- tiquaries. The latter is to form three quarto volumes.

Messrs. Longman and Co. announce several more new books now in the press. Among them are a "Life of Sir Henry Havelock," by his brother-in-law, Mr. Marshman; an autobiography of Mrs. Piozzi, Dr. Samuel Johnson's fair friend, with [or probably after] a collection of her letters ; "The Mountain Wanderer," a book of travels, by Mr. John Ball, president of the Alpine Club ; and "The Washingtons, a Tale of a Country Parish in the Seventeenth Century," by the Reverend John Nassau Simpkinson, Rector of Brington, North Hants.

The second volume of Mr. Buckle's "History of Civilization" is stated to be in preparation by Messrs. J. W. Parker and Son. The same publishers announce the third volume of Mr. Massey's "History of Eng- land during the Reign of George the Third," and the fifth and sixth vo- lumes of Mr. Froude's "History of England."

Messrs. Edmonston and Douglas, of Edinburgh, announce "Sketches of Early Scottish History," by Cosmo Innes, Professor of History at Edinburgh University ; "Popular Tales from the Highlands, orally col- lected,' by J. F. Campbell ; and "The Story of Count Njal, a transla- tion from the Icelandic of the Njal Saga, with an introductory Essay," by E. W. Dasent.

Messrs. Strahan and Co., of Edinburgh, announce, for the let of January, a new weekly, entitled "Good Words," under the editorship of Dr. Norman Macleod. The prospectus promises contributions from "many of the best-known writers of the day."

Messrs. W. H. Allen and Co. have in the press a "Popular History of India," by J. W. Kaye, Esq.; a "History of the Game of Chess, from the Earliest Times," by Duncan Forbes, LL.D. ; and a lengthened treatise on the Book of Revelations entitled "The Consummation," by Captain Thomas Hutton, of the Bengal Army.

A prize of two hundred rupees has been offered by a Madras civilian for the best essay, in English or Canarese, "On the Religious Belief of the Hindoos," showing the changes it has undergone and the state of mind, of the natives, especially in South India, on the subject. A further • prize of one hundred rupees is to be given if the essayist shows the failure of Hindooism and the sufficiency of Christianity to satisfy the Spiritual wants of man. The essays are to be sent before the 1st of July, 1860, to Mr. Rice, at Madras.

Another prize, but far more considerable than the one just named, has this week been offered by the Academie des Incriptions at Belles-Lettres of Paris in the name of M. Louis Fould. The sum of 20,000 francs will be given for the best "History of the Arts of Design," comprising their origin, progress, and transmission by the different nations of antiquity, up

to the time of Pericles. By the expression "Arts of Design" (arts du dessin) the Academy understands sculpture, painting, engraving, and architecture, as well as the industrial undertakings in immediate con- nexion therewith. The conditions of this competition are very liberal, for not only manuscripts, but likewise printed books, either in French or Latin, and by authors of all countries, are allowed to be sent in.

M. Patin, professor at the Faculte des Lettres of Paris, and member of the French Academy, has just published a new translation of Horaoe, which is said to be executed with the utmost care, the author having been occupied on it for nearly ten years.

M. Louis Enault has published, through Hachette and Co., an histo- rical novel entitled "Alba." The plot is descriptive of the insurrection of Venice in 1848-49, and based on private and public documents of a rather curious kind which were forwarded at the time to an Italian gen- tleman at Paris.

"Madame de Swetchine, sa Vie et see (Euvrea," the long-announced work by M. de Falloux, the well-known Legitimist writer, appeared on Saturday last in Paris.

From the pen of M. Noel Seguin has appeared a work entitled "In- troduction b. une esthetique nonvelle ; " and Didier and Co., Paris, have published " Memoires de Louis XIV., pour rinstruction du Dauphin," with historical notes by IL Chas. Dreyss.

The two last volumes of a new translation, in verse, of Dante's "Divine Commedia," by M. Louis Ratisbonne, one of the editors of the Journal des Debats, have just been published by Michel Levy, freres.

The Gazette di Milano announces the publication, in French, of a pamphlet by Signor Massimo d'Azeglio, entitled "La Politique et le Droit chretien, au point de vue de la Question Italienne."

Another Italian nobleman, Signor M. C. Marsuzi di Aguirre, a native of Rome, and not unknown as an author, has published this week at Paris a work called "L'Italie apres Villafranca," in which the probable consequences of the late peace are sketched from a conservative point of view.

A new weekly paper, entitled Der Pangermane, edited by Herr Francis Baader, has made its appearance at Brussels. The prospectus states the periodical to be destined to combat French influence in Belgium, and to raise and fortify the Teutonic element in the Flemish nation.

A volume of "Enthiillungen ans England" (Revelations from Eng- land) has been published by C. Bumpier, Hanover ; and Vienna has just witnessed the birth of a literary curiosity, namely, a tragedy in Hebrew, entitled "King Jojakim," by Herr Simon Becher.