lA cia PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

BOOKS.

"':;Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers, and other Poems. By William Edmond- 'nn stone Aytearn, Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Leases in the University oti of-Edinburgh.' *wicks Laweashore Witches; a Romance of Pendle Forest. By William Mar-

i risen Ainsworth, Esq. In three volumes.

rfArsweveh and its Remains; with an Account of a Visit to the Chaldssan &o,,rucbrietiaus of. Kurdistan, and the Yezidis or Devil-Worshipers; and an E1..,i4nquiry into the Manners and ,Arts of the Ancient Assyrians. By Austen olo

-ary Layard, Esq., D.C.L. In two volumes.

Srfl DattleS Divine Comedy: The Inferno. A literal Prose Translation, with the Tektof the Original collated from the best Editions, and explanatory Notes. - By John A. Carlyle, M.D.

(The best account that we can give of Dr. Carlyle's contribution to the study of this most diffilettitanthor is the following extract from his own precise and modest pee.feoe...

" The objectOf the c011owlog.prose translation Is to give the real meaning of Dante ilt'lltetajly and brie.* as-possible. No single particle has been wittingly left uurepre- sleeted Mit, for which any equivalent could be discovered; and the fevrwords that have heenaddedarsmarkedln Italics. English readers, it is hoped, will here find a closer, And therefore, with all its defects, a warmer version than any that has hitherto been published for them. 'The Italian text, 'carefully collated from the best editions, is printed beneath, in or- der tO justify and support the translation, which is perhaps too literal for standing alone ; and,likewise to enable those who have any knowledge of Italian to understand the original itself more easily, and with less obstruction enjoy the deep rhythmic force And beauty of it, which cannot be transferred into any other language. ,‘"liew argumenti or explanatory introductions, intended to diminish the number and burden of indispensable notes, are prefixed to the cantos. The notes themselves are either original, or taken directly, and In no case without accurate reference, from the best Italian commentators and historians, and, above all, from Dante's own works, wherever anything appropriate could be met with. Illustrative or parallel passages are quoted in them, from the Bible, and from Virgil and other ancient authors, to show the way in which Dante used his materials ; and more sparingly from Chaucer and Milton, bath of whom had read the Divine Commedia with poetic warmth and insight, before producing any of their own great works. The endless passages which mighthave been quoted from Italian writers are excluded for the sake of brevity, and as being far less near and less interesting to us. " Finally, the doubtful, difficult, or obsolete words, are explained between the notes and the original text, or In the notes themselves. A brief account of the most remark- able editions, 'comments, and translations, is given at the commencement, together Witfi a sketch of Dante's Hell and his journey through it. And the volume concludes ellth a complete Index of the proper names that are mentioned or alluded to."

'Dr. Carlyle is correct in thinking that he may have erred on the side of too great Bterality; in fact, he has gone beyond mere literality,—as where he trans- lates ' affettnose" affectitous, instead of affectionate, which would exactly ex- press the sense; " dubbiosi" dubious, which is not Dante's meaning in speaking of the wishes of Paolo and Francesca. Literality, however, is the safe side; and we well understand the manner in which a devoted translator like Dr. Carlyle becomes so imbued with the language of his author as not to know it at times from his own. The volume will be a valuable guide to many who could not ap- proach the austere Florentine without it.] The Squib, or Searchfoot; an Unedited little Work which Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra wrote in Defence of the First Part of the Quijote. Published by Don Adolfo de Castro, at Cadiz, 1847. Translated from the original Spanish, by a Member of the University of Cambridge. [It appears from the Spanish editor of this " squib," that Cervantes was known to have written an anonymous defence or notice of Don Quixote, as the Spanish literati differed respecting its object; but he declares that it never was published. His evidence, however, is not more cogent than the fact of the manuscript before him having been copied, which need not to have been done had the brochure been printed. The Squib is in the form of a dialogue between two travellers casually ineeting;-and chiefly applies itself to the objection, that the satire against knight- errantry was not wanted, whereas the defender of Don Quixote shows, by many instances of foolish persons, that it was: and in this part obviously lurks a good deal of personal satire, though its force would be more perceptible to contempo- raries than to our generation. The plan of The Squib is well designed, and well carried out, in the pure Spanish fadtion; and the style is neat. Written with a temporary object, it has no other interest, however, than what arises from the authorship of Cervantes.] Notes from Books; in four Essays. -'13YI'Henry Taylor, Author of "Notes from Life," Sm. Of the four essays in this volume, three are reprints of articles from the Quarterly Rethw; two of them being criticisms on Wordsworth's poetry, the other a notice of Mr. De Vere's Poems. The fourth essay is mostly new, and consists of remarks on the expenditure and mode of living prevalent amongst people of fashion. It is distinguished by some of the shrewdness and pseudo-philosophical felicity of re- mark and expression that distinguished this writer's Statesman. It would have stood well enough among other original papers, but is not sufficient to uphold three reprinted reviews, that have little-that is remdikable in themselves, and one of which is on a book that has not and never had any interest eicept as literary news.] IT 1137 I liT81J.1 The Bird of Passage; or Flyini-GlfdiliSes of Many Lands. By Mrs. Romer, Author of "A Pilgrimage id'fhe'Temples and„Tombs of Egypt,

Nubia, and Palestine," &c. In three volumes. •

[Mrs. Romer has visited varnma countries, said' has publiihjet accounts of some of them; she has written two or three fictions, in all of which she displayed a knowledge of Continental life and manners, with much felicity in depicting,them in their more questionable aspect; and in Stunner she applied mesmerient AO the purposes of fiction in a way that we thought distasteful. She has also cOutriltitted shorter tales to the Annuals, &c., which, if not mach above the common runcin matter, are very superior in ease of manner and a certain tone of society; _of these fugitive tales the present volumes partly consist. They contain, as the title intimates, stories whose scene is laid in many lands, from Syria and Nubia to the Emerald Isle; and form a collection which is agreeable from its vivacity and variety.] Martin Toutrond; a Frenchman in London, inl.q1. Tratislated.frons an

unpublished French MS.

[The adventures and observations of a young.Freeldventurer of the bourgeois class, who comes to London in search of a wife w ortnne, and goes through a variety of scenes. The idea of satirizing manners hi the guise of a foreigner is common enough in literature; it was very fashionable ;luring the last century, and is familiar to the present day in the well-known Sara Slick. M. Toutrond, how- ever, is very inferior in keenness, point, humour, and observation, to the Yankee pedlar. Indeed, the topics he selects for satireare both hacknied and obvious, and his jokes often of the flattest.] Six Weeks in Corsica. Illustrated with fourteen highly finished Etchings, by William Cowen. [In 1840, when war between France and England seemed imminent, Mr. Cowen went to Corsica to pursue his studies as an artist, and waa taken for a spy; which, under all the circumstances, was not surprising. This subjected him to some surveillance and adventures; but it did not prevent him from drawing what he wished. He published his drawings some five or six years ago: he has now printed an account of the six-weeks tour spent in making. them, and of his jour- ney through France to Corsica; mixing up with it reminiscences of other travel- ling occurrences, and matter derived from Benson and Valery. The narrative is simple and unpretending, but somewhat bare. The etchings are from the ori- ginal drawings, and furnish a better idea of Corsican scenery than the verbal de- scriptions.] The Joint-Stock Companies Winding-up Act, 1848, (11 and 12 Vict. cap 45); with an Introduction, Notes, and Forms, and same Notes of Cases. By John Malcolm Ludlow, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq., Barrister-at-law. [The text of an important act, with an elaborate exposition by one of the drafts- men of the bill. There is, however, a good deal more than text and commentary: Mr. Ludlow gives the history of the bill, and criticizes the state of the judge-made Equity la* which it was designed to remedy; pointing out how deficient that remedy is likely to be. He also makes a variety of useful remarks on the mode of drawing bills, and the present ineffective and often mischievous manner of lawmaking.] A Biographical Sketch, the Poetical Meditations, and Poetical and Re- ligious Harmonies, of M. de Lavtartine. Translated by the Rev. William Pulling, M.A., A.L.S., &c. With interesting Facts from his " Three Months in Power."

[A handsome volume, but coming somewhat late, since the great interest in La- martine passed with his political popularity in France. The Life is a translation from the French, though from more writers than one; and it exhibits all the French manner, though the diction is English. The selection from the Poems is made with judgment, and will afford an idea of Lamartine's poetical sentiments to those who have not the original.] Lives of the British Admirals, and Naval History of Great Britain, from the days of Csesar to the Present Time. Condensed from the Work of Dr. John CampbelL New edition, revised and corrected. Illustrated by numerous Portraits, Fac-similes, and Engravings. (Campbell has been added to, as well as condensed, in this compact volume; the lives of contemporary Admirals being included, and the story brought down to the bombardment of Acre.] Calculating Cubes, illustrating the Rudiments of Arithmetic. By J. E. Ryffel. [A small explanatory volume, describing a method of teaching arithmetic with the helpof cubes: the cubes are contained with the book in a box. Mr. Ryffel proceeds much upon Jacotot's principle, of teaching little at a time; recommencing daily from a point far back in the series of lessons, and making what is learned already a key to the sequel. The cubes are so planned as to convey, in a visual and tangible form, the operation of the rules for enumeration, addition, subtrac- tion, multiplication, &c. By the help of this ingenious apparatus, we believe that a child could not only learn arithmetic with rapidity, but also without that heartbreaking difficulty and disgust that keep back children who are " dull " at the particular study. In all it must promote the development of distinct arith- metical ideas; a result only imparted by the usual methods to pupils who have a genius for the science.] The Stowe Catalogue, Priced and Annotated. By Henry Ramsey Forster. [For some time hence it will be a matter of interest to many to know what has become of the several objects of art and vertu in the Stowe collection; and this corrected catalogue, therefore, comprising a complete list of the articles sold and of the purchasers, supplies a want. The editor, Mr. Ramsey Forster, has added explanatory annotations, a biographical sketch of the Buckingham family, ttc.; and illustrations, many of them from the Illustrated London News, add a pictu- resque interest to the volume.] The Puppet-Showman's Album, with Contributions by the most Eminent Light and Heavy Writers of the Day. Illustrated by Gavarni.

[A series of jeux d'esprit, both in prose and verse, in the form of parodies of the manner of contemporary writers. There are also many cuts, which are some- times not illustrative of the letterpress, but complete in themselves. Altogether, the Album forms a cheap shilling's worth of amusement.]

Poems, by Robert Browning. In two volumes. A new edition. [A handsome edition of Mr. Browning's poetical works, thoroughly revised.] Family Pictures; or the Life of a Poor Village Pastor and his Children, From the German of Augustus in Fontaine. (Purloin. Library.) .1fT1114itetrateare Abridged. By John Kitto, D.D., F.S.A. Mier•are; Part I. IM34' i nt ef-pie: Cyclopedia of J3thlical Literature is designed for the grulllbt AP.11.41unitIfilillearye. as t.-original work was intended for the di- vine or 'Ole student. By the omission of some articles and the careful condense- tion7of °them the almalament will; be reduced to less than half the size of the largerpablibation, Withbat Much diminishing the information useful to the ge- neral,realeii.or,imaaisinKit,s Altered for the same class. The wood-cute and the eipltatina thikeriguial book, judging from the number before us, will be in- clinigdadt eabildgmenti 'which when completed will form the popular library of BibPd.alLiteratare, Whether we look to the original character of the matter,: de- rited as if Wee frOill the. Most Modern sources and not from other dictionaries, the care l ithWhIchit Is composed, or the typographical manner in which it is pre- Verified. By the Author. of " The PilgrimsProgress Versified," Parts I. .:1"tr.

ILLUSTRATED WORKS.

s, Madaigak,ou51 Sonnets . a Gathering of some of the most pleasant v;iallodwda

`Vignettes. LA small pocket volome, cdfitaming some sixty short lyrical poems, by various

'-'11°41:3'eri7rdiiioieder;a'in°1adliannea4rEllhordeerril, from e side ornamented with a grotesque

, the bad of Surrey to Coleridge. Each

-,rtifieilhe Manner of the groteusqdnesmlinoPthe Vatican. The designs are printed tint ftebi wooden blocks. The uniformity size, a certain smallness, sal thh-Wlaitetierts • of the paper, give an anirotoLpoevnemrty and monotony to the orna- mental part of the beak; though cannot denied that some of the designs are pleasing. Altegether, the volume is an agreeable pocket companion.]