PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
Odd Journeys In and Out of London. By John Hollingshead. Pub- lished by Groombridge and Sons.—Two-and-twenty very amusing papers, originally published in 411 the Year Round, are here collected into a volume, which may be put with advantage into the travelling bag, or kept within reach of hand, as a sure resource against ennui in half-hours of leisure. Mr. Hallingshead's sketches are among the most pointed illustrations known to us of the case of Eyes versus No Eyes. He finds matter of fresh and lively interest, where to the blunted facul- ties of most observers all seems stale and tedious as a thrice-told tale; but then he often takes quite novel methods of coming at his subjects and everybody knows how much the effect of scenes and objects depends upon the point of view from which they are regarded. A journey to Bir- mingham appears to be a very commonplace affair in these railway days, and who but Mr. Hollingshead ever dreamed of making it by canal at the rate of two-and-a-half miles an hour, for the sole purpose of gather- ing impressions de voyage ? He has done it, however, and with die happiest results, as his book testifies. He rides to Brighton on the rail- way engine, travels in the postal carriage of a mail train goes down to the bottom of the sea in a diving-bell, and, as chance helps those who help themselves, it has been his good fortune to reckon the explosion of the Great Eastern among the number of his personal experiences. Let it not be supposed, however, that he is absolutely dependent on extraor- dinary modes of travelling for opportunities to exercise his peculiar talent. He can make a street cab or an omnibus servo his purpose ex- ceedingly well. It matters little to him how he journeys, or whether he journeys at all, for he can stand still on London Bridge, or in the Ro- tunda of the Bank of England, and gather, in an hour, matter better worth telling than some other writers will bring home from a tour over half Europe. Like most shrewd observers' Mr. Hollingshead has a plea- sant flow of humour, and the keenness of his inspection is matched by
the easy vivacity of his narrative. .
Stanford's Yew _London Guide is a little book of some 250 pages, which may be carried conveniently in the pocket, and appears to be designed chiefly for the use of strangers visiting the metropolis. In the main, it is well adapted to that purpose, but it needs improvement in some points. The map of London is not comprehensive enough; it omits well-peopled districts both in the North and the South, which many strangers; will have occasion to visit in search of the houses of their London friends, and instead of being bound up with the book, which makes it very in- convenient for reference in the open air, and very liable to be torn in the process, it ought to be detached, mounted on linen, and enclosed in a pocket in the cover. A list of omnibabes is given in the Guide, but it is defective both in matter and arrangement, and fails to give the sort of information which is indispensable for strangers who have to find their own way in various directions through London and its suburbs. If they want, for instance, to go to Newington, they will look in vain for that name either in the list of omnibuses or in the index ; and if they are in search of Kennington the omnibus list bids them "see Clapham," thus giving their choice oionly two routes out of four, neither of which two is the most eligible for passengers whose points of departure lie half a mile eastward of Regent Circus or westward of Graefthurch Street.
The Femall Glory ; or the Life of the Blessed Virgin' 4W., is a very handsome reprint, with illustrations by Overbeck, of a book by Anthony Stafford which was first published in 1636. It was "esteemed egre- giously scandalous among the Puritans," and commanded the approval of Laud and Juxon ; that is to say, according to the modern editor, "of a martyr who is only not a saint, and of a confessor who acted in the spirit of a martyr." The new edition is "printed and published for a layman of the Scotch Church, and sold by Edward Lumley."
Playhours and Half Holidays; or Further Experiences of Two School- boys. By the Reverend J. C. Atkinson. Published by Itoutledge and Co. This is a sequel to the same author's successful book, "Walks and Talks of Two Schoolboys," and is even more amusing than its popular predecessor. Perhaps, however, it would not have been worse in any respect if the author had sprinkled its pages less copiously with slang. Boys will talk slang of their own accord, but that is not exactly a reason why it should abound in books written expressly for their usat, A sprinkling of this kind of diction may be allowed for the sake of dra- matic propriety, but it strikes us that Mr. Atkinson rather exceeds the necessary allowance.
Prircis de la Littirature Francais. By Leon Contanseau. Published by Longman and Co.—Introduction to the History of English Literature. By Robert Demaus, M.A. Published by A. and C. Black. The first of these works had been compiled expressly for the use of schools and students preparing for the Government competitive examinations, and is both in plan and execution very happily adapted to its professed purpose. The body of the work consists of a critical and biographical narrative, remarkably compact, yet by no means dry, and its utility is greatly en- hanced by certain typographical arrangements which facilitate reference and aid the student's memory, by giving prominence to all the more im- portant words, such as author's names, dates, titles of works, Ste. A much smaller book on a much wider subject is that by Mr. Demaua, who also deserves no little commendation for the judgment and industry with which he has accomplished a useful and difficult task—that of providing a brief but sufficiently comprehensive outline of the History of naglisit Literature, which shall prepare the reader for entering profitably on the study of more elaborate works. The greatest difficulty in the composi- tion of a book of this kind is that of preserving due symmetry between its parts, neither compressing any too muelt,nor Buffeting others to en- gross more space than fairly belongs to them. Mr. Demaus has over- come this difficulty in a very satisfactory manner. No part of his work appears to us to be out of scale.
Booxs.
On the Climate of Worthing : its Remedial Influence in Disease, especially of the Lungs. By Walter Goodyear Barker, M.B. The Prairie and Overland Traveller : a Companion for Emigrants, Traders. Trmellers, Bunters, and Soldiers tut, ersiog Great Plains and Prairies. BY Captain II. B. Marcy.
Hesperus; and other Poems and Lyrics. By Charles Sangster. Pictorial Sunday Readings. By the Rev. William Owen.
The Novelties of Romanian. Addressed to the Right Reverend Dr. Goss, the Bishop of Roman Catholics in Liverpool. In three parts. I. Doctrine ; II. Chronology ; III. Creeds. By Charles -Hastings Collette. The Shadow in the House. A Novel. By John Saunders. Treatise on Naval Gunnery. By General Sir Howard Douglas, Bart., G.C.B., &c. Fifth edition, revised. With Illustrations. Faithful for Boer. By Coventry Patmore.
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