LITERARY NEWS.
Messrs. Chapman and Hall announce for immediate publication a " Secret History of the Austrian Government, and of its systematic prosecution of Protestants." The author of this work, which is stated to be compiled from Official Documents, is M. Alfred Michiels.
Among the works which Mr. Bentley has in the press are " The Cruise of the Pearl round the World in 1857-8-9, with an account of the Naval Brigade in India," by the Reverend Edward A. Williams, Chaplain R.N. ; and " The Semi-detached House," a novel, by Lady Theresa Lewis.
Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co.'s List of New Books includes the fol- lowing works of travel : " Through Norway and Sweden with a Knap- sack," the description, by an anonymous writer, of a pedestrian tour through the Scandinavian Peninsula ; and a "Voyage to Japan and the coasts of China, Kamschatka, and Siberia," by Mr. John M. Tronson late surgeon of H.M.S. " Barracouta," which formed part of Admiral. Stirling's squadron to Japan.
Messrs. Groombridge advertise the commencement, on the 1st of Aufust next, of a new monthly periodical, called " Recreative Science," which, in the words of the prospectus, " will be a record of discovery, observation, and intellectual progress ; as well as an instructor in first principles, and an exhibitor of the accomplishments of research." Messrs. Williams and Norgate, whose late reprint of the Vatican Greek Testament has been a great success, are now about publishing the Alexandrine Codex, which in point of antiquity ranks next to the Vati= can, it being ascribed, by Professor Tischendorf and other eminent bib- lical scholars, to the fifth century.
We see it stated that Sir John Bowring, who was among the pas- sengers lately wrecked on board the " Alma" in the Red Sea, lost by that disaster a large portion of valuable MSS., destined to form the ma- terials for a history of our late war with China.
A "Life of the Earl of Durham," by M. Egan, author of the " Status of the Jews in England," is about to appear.
The third volume of the "History of the Religions of ancien Greece," by M. Alfred Maury, member of the French Institute, has just been issued by Ladrange, Paris. It treats of the influence of the foreign religions, especially the Phrygian, Phoenician, and Egyptian, on the cultus and mythology of the Hellenic races.
The French Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres some time ago offered a prize for the best " Critical and Historical Essay on the Text of the Koran." A considerable number of writings were sent in, several of them so good that it was found necessary to give three prizes instead of one. In the sitting which the Academy held on Monday this week, these prizes were publicly announced. The first was given to Herr Theodore Niildecke assistant at the royal library. of Berlin ; the second to Signor
Michel Amari of Palermo, lately appointed professor of Arabic at the University of Pisa ; and the third to M. Aloys Sprenger, in the civil ser- vice of the East India Company.
The first volume of a "Universal, Theoretical, and Practical Dic'- tionary of Commerce and Navigation," has just appeared, the publishers are Guillaumin and Co., Paris. It contains about 1500 double-column pages, price 25 francs (1/.).
M. Amedee Achard, the late correspondent of the Journal des Debate at the seat of war in Italy, has just published his letters in one volume, (Hachette, Paris,) under the title, "Montebello, Magenta, Marignan." A " Complete History of the War in Italy," from the pen of M. Emile
de in BodoMere, with illustrations by Lange, is announced by G. Barba and Co., Paris.
A very outspoken pamphlet entitled " ddtrdner le Pape," pub- lished by Lebigre-Duquesne, is creating at present some sensation in Paris.
Ohiromancy is again coming into fashion in France, to judge by a book of some pretension just published by Dentu, Paris, under the title of "Les Mysteres de la Main, reveles et expliques par Ad. Dcsbarrolles." The author, in some six hundred pages, attempts to teach the art of knowing, "by a single inspection of the hands," the life, character, habits, and destiny of any person. A young ballet dancer at the Paris opera, Mademoiselle Marguerite Rigolboche, is about publishing her memoirs, under the title of " Messieurs de ces Dames." It is whispered that Alexander Dumas file, Author of the " Dame aux Camelias," has considerably assisted thcrlady in her compilation. A new novel from the pen of Paulin Niboyet, called " The Loves of a Poet," is making at present a furore in the salons of the French metropolis.
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