22 JANUARY 1870, Page 25

The Book of Wondefful Characters. (Rotten.)—Any one who cares to

read about the monstrous eccentricities of mind and shape is human beings of which record has been kept may do so in this volume, and may also see the authentic portraits of many of these characters, we suppose, that is, that they are authentic, though some of them are sufficiently

surprising, that of "The Wild Boy," for instance, who presents the appearance of a venerable old man, which we should have accepted without difficulty as the similitude of a saint or patriot. These records are certainly not pleasant reading, but they have a sort of half-sinister fascination about them ; and, whatever one's own taste about them may be, they are worth preserving and collecting.