Under the title of Atalanta, the much and deservedly appreciated
Every Girl's Magazine enters in October on a new and ambitions career as a sixpenny magazine. When regard is had to quality of paper and letterpress on the one hand, and to variety and excellence of illustrations on the other, it may be said at once that there in nothing to compare with it among the existing English monthlies, except the English Illustrated Magazine, with which, however, it does not compete. Even without the aid supplied by an admirable explanatory poem from the pen of Mr. Edwin Arnold, the very name Atalanta suggests a very high purpose, which we heartily hope will be fulfilled. The magazine is intended mainly for the entertainment of those young ladies whose goddess at the present moment is Min Agneta Rarasay, and who, while they may be deep in calculus or classics, are the reverse of indifferent to beauty or Beethoven. And so we have the commencement of "Neighbours," which promises to be one of Mrs. Moleeworth's beet stories ; "Embroidery and Lace," by Miss M. F. Robinson; "Flower Fairies," by the late P. Bourke Marston; and "At the Play Two Thousand Years Ago," by Professor Church, and as graceful a reproduction in miniature of ancient life as even he has hitherto accomplished. But while Atalanta is intended mainly for girls (not below the fifth form), it is not quite forbidden to boys ; for if it were, why should Mr. Rider Haggard be allowed to begin a fresh series of Allan Quatermain's experiences, under the title of "A Tale of Three Lions"? But Atalanta means in the future not only entertainment, but education. We have no space to give to the rules and objects of the Atalanta Scholarship and Reading Union, and can only say that in its work for the present month are included a pretty (though a trifle monitorish) paper on Sir Walter Scott, by Mr. Andrew Lang, and a list of "search" passages in English literature which some experts will be floored by. The object of this enterprise by the con- ductors of Atalanta is to promote the knowledge of literature, and to stimulate its acquisition by methods mach superior to those of the proposers of prize puzzles. The experiment began by the first number of Atalanta is a very high-class one. It deserves success, and, if we may judge from appearances, will obtain it.
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