D'Ordel's Pantechnicon : an Universal Directory of the Mechanical Art
of Manufacturing Illustrated Magazines. By Prometheus D'Ordel, Esq., Gent. Edited by Mark Sykes and Edward Sandars. (Bickers and Sons. ls.)—This admirable skit on the cheap popular magazine is worthy of the authors of the parody of the Drill Book. It consists,, to be exact, of a burlesque specimen of a farthing magazine, and of critical appendices showing how the gentle art is practised. The burlesque could hardly be bettered. "The Search for the Iron Toe," the thrilling serial, in which a gentleman called Grypula, some thousands of years old, who carries as his familiar a stoat in a diamond-studded reticule, performs the usual crazy prodigies, is legitimate parody of the monstrosities which run rampant in illustrated magazines. Scarcely less good is the satire on Ruritanian romance, called " For the Royal Rusks." There is an article on "Dustmen and their Lives," in which nothing is said in two pages and several illustrations ; and a fine specimen of the legal tale of illustrated journalism, containing not more than the usual number of blunders. D'Ordel's guide to the profession of magazine-making is not the least valuable part of the book. We would in particular recom- mend his excellent list of synonymous phrases to suit the different types of tale, cliches which give all the local colour required. Every reader of this little book will find much food for laughter, including those who may have a sneaking affection for the kind of publication satirised.
SOME BOOKS OF THE WE E K.
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