A batch of books are on our table intended for
little folks.
uncle Olirer's "Travels—Persia. Vol. I.
Historic Shetehes—Spain and Portugal. Vol. I. _Historical Pietures—England. Vol. L The Bog and the Birds. By EMMY TAYLOR. With Designs by THOMAS LaxosEtac.
A Scripture Geography .Tarr the 1.7q! of Young Persons. By the Reverend Samuel. WooD, B.A.
Blank Maps fur ditto. I. II. III. The first three works on the list are specimens of a new specu. lation by the Useful Knowledge Society : and are intended, we suppose, to supersede the regular goods of the trade. It' this be the design, we suspect it will fail. The externals are not equal to many publications of a similar kind that have come before us ; and if' the literary materials are more weighty and valuable, there is not so much skill displayed in presenting them to the infant mind. The writers seem unable naturally and easily to address themselves to the comprehension of childhood. Their descent is forced, and they often forget it ; giving us more matter in a small compass than the feeble digestion of the young can master.
Miss TAYLORS Boy and the Birds, is a pleasant book; though its framework be tabular, and its manner dashed with Cock- neyism. A boy is feigned to address, in succession, some sixteen birds, on the subject of their nature, character, haunts, and habits. An answer follows, and the dialogue or monologues which ensue are made the vehicle of giving some popular informa- tion on natural history, but aneedotical rather than scientific. A cut—we had almost said a portrait— of each bird accompanies the account of it ; and the designs, by the introduction of the child, cleverly bring out the conception of the text, but with this draw- back—the birds are sometimes far bigger than the child.
Mr. Woon's Scripture Geozraphy, embraces a general view of the countries mentioned in the Old Testament, of the districts over which our Saviour wandered, and of the travels of the Apostle Paul. There are also a great number of questions relating to the details of these descriptions, and a series of keys to the blank maps which accompany the little book. The compiler promises pains and research amongst modern writers, to fix the site of places ; and his general arrangement of his subject is judicious. The plan, however, does not differ from that of several other pub- lications; and its use, as we have said already on similar works, must depend on the judgment and perseverance of the teacher. We now come to a number of reprints, which require a line of acknowledgment. The first—Criaist.esLastia's Specimen of the EnA,,lish Dramatic Poets, who Bred about the time of Shakspeare __demands a hearty welcome as welt. The beauty, the strength, or the cmriosity of the passages selected—the skill and taste with which they are chosen, so as to give us a complete w hole instead (..f mere fele metes —the rat tuber of authorh frO111 whim samples are taken—t he dillieulty of vetting at some of the originals—the time weiiell would he wcatel iu reading the whole of such as are readily ar ce-sible--uuelb. ly, the s;,:r:b, terseness, and keenness of the ciltieol notes Lppended toalmun.st ever) scone—render these S ; w/o/ ..,1* OW n10.4 useful of elegant extracts. Mr. MoxoN is to be than!es1 fer this charming achltion to oer literary- stores.
The very pleasant tales of negro life mid s ea adventures which Mrs. R Lee (formerly Mrs. Bowmen) furnished to the different Aneteds, have Iteea collected awl retired, and appear in a single
volume, untl,e. the ti!!e of 'v Slren:,re L.cals, with the audition tit SOIlle elucidator). note.:.
Mr..IAstee Bons; lets sent tts a new edition of the Reverend
lee fesevesta; Seeped 'Pee/el/iv ire Vers.! : a velutne of eleeend. thettg,li rather dill'itee poetry, in which the itneees are di awn from natural axed oledeee sulacets, but rendered religious by the colouriog they rceeive front the author's mind.
The Reverend OevIT.T.E DMEY.S 1.);Ar'.1tH'Veni. wi rari,,,us Sub- jc-ts, are a collectiou of eighteen sore ens, originally delivered at New Bedford, in the United States, awl reprinted by Mr. Fox, in order perhaps to enable us to see what that curiosity a Yankee sermon can be like. We have looked into tli'm, and find them short and sober--of an average but not of a striking merit.
Last in this class, we see a second edition of Mr. W. II. Ro- nseers's British I finc-31altar and Doarytie Brewer. Such a rapid circulation in a few manths, seems to argue well for the drinkers of home-made wines.
Previous page
