Posthumous Humanity: A Study of Phantoms/Advertisements

The following are the Contents of the Four Numbers published this year. Articles:—Domsaday Book—Frostiana—Some Kentish Proverbs—The Literature of Almanacks{"{mdash}}Madcap Harry" and Sir John Popham—Tom Coryate and his Crudities—Notes on John Wilkes and Boswell's Life of Johnson—Rarities in the Locker-Lampson Collection—A Day with the late Mr. Edward Solly—The Defence of England in the 16th Century—The Ordinary from Mr. Thomas Jenyns' Booke of Armes—A Forgotten Cromwellian Tomb—Visitation of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII.—The Rosicrucians—The Seilière Library—A Lost Work—Sir Bevis of Hampton—More Kentish Proverbs—Cromwell and the Saddle Letter of Charles I.—Recent Discoveries at RomevFolk-Lore of British Birds—An Old Political Broadside—Notes for Coin Collectors—Higham Priory—Byways of Periodical Literature—How to Trace a Pedigree—The Curiosities of Ale—The Books and Bookmen of Reading—The Language of the Law—Words, Idioms, etc., of the Vulgar—Notes on Old Chelsea The Romans in Cumbria.

Collectanea.—Early Italian Prints—Tercentenary of the Potato—Chaucer Discovery—Sir John Soane's Museum—Copyright in Government Publications—Pausanias—The Loan of Manuscripts—Paper Making in 1588—Portraits of Charles Dickens—Hopton Castle—A very Ancient Watch—The Value of Antiquarian Study—Curiova Forestry Privilege—A "Factory"—Thimbles Old and New—Mrs. Glasse's Cookery Book—A Bucks Estate—Chalfont St. Giles—Greek Coins—Shakespearian Literature—Geography in the Sixteenth Century—Welsh Place Names—Japanese Art—Duelling in 1760—Shelleyana—English Archers—Oriental Porcelain—South Italian Folk-lore—Serpent-lore—Modern Witches—The Domesday Plough—A Bishop of the Olden Time—Historical Treasures in the Upsala Cathedral—The Witches Ladder—Old Prayer-Book—A Relic of James II.—Pontefract and Ripon—Old Shoes—Love Charms—County Families—A Roman Fire Brigade—Parish Registers—Border Raiding—Peasant Proprietors—Quen Mary's Tree—The Turks and Persians as Book-lovers—Epitaph of John Ruskin's Parents—Quakers—"Yankee" and the "Stars and Stripes"—Gipsies—The Royal Academy—Chigwell Church, Essex—Printers' Errors—A Village Club—An Historical Fishery—A Survival—A Cock Match—Early Publishing—Pancakes at Westminster School—The Archbishop's Palace at Croydon—The Art of the Saracene in Egypt—The Early Custody of Domesday Book.

Correspondence.—The late Bishop Hannington's Ancestry—A Reader of Curious Books—Throwing the Dart in Cork Harbour—The De la Polea—The Family of John Hampden—The "Olls. Podrida" and T. Monro—Life of Bertram Montfichet—Magdalen College, Oxford—Book Bound in a Murderer's Skin—A Forgotten Society—Latin Veraea by Dr. Johnson—"Merchet" and the "Jus Primæ Noctia"—Hanna, Hanet, and Wallace—Another Book Bound in a Murderer's Skin—Enormous Portrait of Charles Dickens—Beating Boys at Parish BoundariesvDestruction of National Antiquities.

"The remains of Thackeray are now in the hands of the resurrectionists, Writers in the Athenæum have been gloating over them, and Mr. George Redway, a London publisher of peculiar and quaint literature, has issued a handsome volume of Thackerayau fragments."—Glasgow Herald.

"Thackeray collectors, however, have only to be told that none of the pieces now printed appear in the two volumes recently issued by Mesers. Smith, Elder, and Co., in order to make them desire their possession. They will also welcome the revision of the Bibliography, since it now presents a complete list, arranged in chronological order, of Thackeray's published writings in prose and verse, and also of his sketches and drawings."—Daily Chronicle.

"'Sultan Stork'. . . . .which purports to be told by Scheherazade on the thousand and second of the 'Arabian Nights,' is undoubtedly the work of Mr. Thackeray, and is quite pretty and funny enough to have found a place in his collected miscellanies. 'Dickens in France' is as good in its way as Mr. Thackeray's analysis of Alexander Dumas 'Kean' in the 'Paris Sketch-Book.'. . . .There are other slight sketches in this volume which are evidently by Mr. Thackeray, and several of his obiter dicta in them are worth preserving. . . . . .We do not assume to fix Mr. Thackeray's rank or to appraise his merits as an art critic. We only know that, in our opinion, few of his minor writings are so pleasant to read as his shrewd and genial comments on modern painters and paintings."—Saturday Review.

"It is well for Dr. Anna Kingsford that she was not born into the sidereal world four hundred years ago, Had that been her sorry fate, she would assuredly have been burned at the stake for her preface to 'Astrology Theologized.' It is a very long preface—more than half the length of the treatise It introduces; it contains some of the finest flowers of Theosophical philosophy, and of course makes very short work of Christianity."—St. James's Gazette.

"Mrs. Kingsford, amid many things which we do not understand, and some few which we think we comprehend afar off, gives a more detailed analysis of ghosts than we remember to have met with in any of the ancient hermetic writers."—St. James's Gazette.

"The only pleasing features of the book are the reproductions of a number of beautiful symbolical figures with which it is illustrated. That on p. 28, representing Christ surrounded by an elliptical glory and carried up to heaven by angels, is taken from an illuminated manuscript of the fourteenth century in the Bibliothèque Royale; and the figure of the Virgin in an aureole, on p. 94, is from a tenth-century illuminated manuscript in the same library. Some of the figures here reprodued are among the finest things in Christian iconography."—St. James's Gazette.

Eliphas Levi, who died in 1565, and whose real name was Alphonse Louis Constant, ranks, beyond controversy, as the prince of the French adepts. His writings contain a revelation of the Grand Secret and a lucid interpretation of the theory of the Astral Light, which is the great Magical Agent. His philosophy of miracles is of lasting value and interest, and absolutely indispensable to all students of occultism. It establishes a harmony between religion and science based on a rational explanation of all prodigies. Eliphas Levi revealed for the first time to the modern world the arcanum of will-power in the operations of transcendental magic, and he was also the originator of a new departure in Kabbalistic Exegesis. In the present digest, the information on the various branches of esoteric science, which is scattered over six large volumes of the French originals, has been diligently collated, and the translation carefully made.

"A very curious book."—Time.

"To the rapidly-extending catalogue of remarkable books published by Mr. George Redway, of London, an important addition has been made by the issue of a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi. Many people, we dare say, will consider the volume to be full of nonsense, but it is really a very curious and improving work, going over a vast space of ground, and presenting a great deal of matter that is worth thinking over. The author has earned a title to be heard. As a contribution to what is called 'occult science,' the present book will, of course, find a welcome from many readers, among those especially whose passion it is to grope grope for the unseen, and to these the varied contents will give delight. The matter contained in Mr. Waite's volume is wonderfully varied, and much of it worth reading, even by those who do not believe in magic of any kind, black or white."—Glasgow Herald.

"Mr. Waite has rendered an important service to English students of occult science by the preparation of his digest of the works of Eliphas Levi, One would rather have welcomed so profoundly philosophical a volume under some simpler name less calculated to alienate the sympathies of a cultivated world at large. True magic—the science of the Magi—is in reality nothing less than spiritual knowledge, and the name is strictly appropriate, of course, in its loftiest significance, to the grand philosophy of the ancient 'Wisdom-Religion' which Eliphas Levi partly unveils. We have merely objected, in passing, to the title of Mr. Waite's book, in so far as it may to some extent lessen its acceptability to a generation not yet generally ripe to understand it, but from the midst of which it may still be possible, by the presentation of occult truth in a certain way, to way to attract more advanced minds into the path of spiritual inquiry. No determined student of Nature's higher mysteries, setting out from the standpoint of modern European culture, can afford to remain ignorant of Eliphas Levi's works. But to study them in the original is a wearisome task, if for no other reason, on account of their aggregate length. The present single volume is a digest of half a dozen books enumerated by the ​present author in a 'biographical and critical essay' with which he prefaces his undertaking. These are the Doyme et Rituel de la Haute Magic, the Histoire de la Magie, the Clef des Grands Mysteres, the Sorcier de Meudon, the Philosophie Occulte, and the Science des Esprits. To attack the whole series—which, indeed, it might be difficult to obtain now in a complete form—would be a bold uudertaking, but Mr. Waite has endeavoured to give his readers the essence of the whole six books in a relatively compact compass."—Mr. A. P. Sinnett, in Light.

Vanity Fair says:—"Mr. Paterson writes charmingly of a charming subject, He is a cultured and au athletic man, and teils of the climbs he has done in nervous, descriptive English. He confesses to some partiality for getting along alone, but he is evidently not a churl, and he opens the store of his experiences under the snow-line in Wales, Cumberland, Scotland, and Norway with a skill which will make his wanderings acceptable to a much larger number of people than can ever climb mountains themselves."

"The interest of this compilation is naturally not to be compared to that aroused by the ever-fresh Thousand and One Nights;' but it has had high reputation among particular admirers, and the gentleman to whom we are indebted for this English version apparently the most complete in any language of Western Europe merits the thanks of the reading public for the work performed."—Athenæum.

"A delightful addition to the wealth of Oriental stories available to English readers is 'The History of the Forty Vezirs' (Redway), done into English by Mr. E. J. W. Gibb, from the Turkish of Sheykh-Zāda. The collection comprises 112 stories. To the forty told by the Lady and those of the forty Vezirs, Mr. Gibb has added four from Belletête, twenty from a MS. in the India Office, six from Dr. Behrnauer's translation, and two from a MS. recently purchased by Mr. Quaritch. The results of collation are admirally summarised in a comparative table that analyses the contents of the various texts. In the preface Mr. Gibb deals with the bibliography of the French and German versions, and indicates some of the more interesting parallels suggested by those old stories in the 'Gesta Romanorum,' the 'Decameron,' the 'Thousand and One Nights', the 'Mabinogion,' and other treasures of old-world fable. In short, Mr. Gibb has considerately done everything to help the reader to in iutelligent appreciation of this charming book."—Saturday Review.

"In my opinion the version is definite and final. The style is light and pleasant, with the absolutely necessary flavour of quaintness; and the notes, though short and few, are sufficient and satisfactory. Mr. Gibb does not write only ad clerum: and thus he has been obliged to 'leave in the obscurity of an Eastern language' three whole tales (pp. 358, 366, and 399), No. 2 being exceedingly witty and fescennine. He has the good sense, when he supplants a broad joke by a banal English phrase, to subjoin in a note the original Turkish (pp. 109, 140, 199, 215, and 382). Yet some of the novelle are highly spiced enough; see the amorous princess in the Eleventh Wazir's story (pp. 381–3); and the truly Turkish and unspeakable version of modest Æsop's 'Country-man and his Son.' Of the lese Milesian I would especially commend the story of the Venus-star and the magical angels, Harut and Marut (p. 167); the explanation of the proverb, 'Take counsel of the cap that is on thy head' (p. 362), and the Thirty-seventh Wazir's tale, showing why 'men have beaten their wives since the days of Saint Adam' (p. 349).—Sir Richard F. Burton, in The Academy.

"Mr. Swinburne's new patriotic song, 'A Word for the Navy,' is as fiery in its denunciation of those he believes to be antagonistic to the welfare of the country as was his lyric with which he startled the readers of the Times one morning."—Athenæum.

"His attempt (B. W. Betts') seems to have taken a similar direction to that of George Boole in logic, with the difference that, whereas Boole's exprеssion of the Laws of Thought is algebraic, Betts expresses mind-growth geometrically; that is to say, his growth-formulæ are expressed in numerical series, of which each can be pictured to the eye in a corresponding curve. When the series are thus represented, they are found to resemble the forms of leaves and flowers."—Extract from "Symbolic Methods of Study," by Mary Boole.

"This book is written ad clerum, and appeals to the scholar only, and not to the multitude. It is a masterly and exhaustive account of that worship of the creative powers of nature which, under various names, has prevailed among all the nations of antiquity and of mediæval times, alike in Egypt and India, in Italy and Gaul, among the Israelites of old, and among the primitive inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland . . . . a most valuable auxiliary to all who care to pursue such a subject of inquiry, a subject for which Mr. Jennings is the better fitted on account of his long and intimate acquaintance with the Rosicrucians, their tenets, and their practices."—Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer.

Unpleasant as this subject is, we are quite prepared to agree that in its scientific aspect, as a form of human worship, it has considerable importance . . . Mr. Jennings deals almost entirely with the subjective part of his inquiry, and he has evidently made a considerable amount of research into the literature of early religions. . . . . He has produced something which is, at all events, worth the attention of the student of comparative psychology."—Antiquary.

"This book. . . is profoundly learned, and gives evidence on each page of deep thought, intense powers of research, clear and unmistakable reasoning, and thorough mastership of the subject. The appendix also contains much very curious matter which will interest those who desire to study the subject under all its different aspects and bearings."—Reliquary.

"Mr. Sinnett's memoir is fluently written, and is free from unsympathetic scepticism. Theosophists will find both edification and interest in the book; and the general student of science will profit more or less by having his attention called to, etc. . . . ."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"Mr. Sinnett, however, offers on all the disputed points explanations which will be perfectly satisfactory to those who do not agree with the committee of the Psychical Society."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"For any credulous friend who revels in such stories I can recommend 'Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky. I READ EVERY LINE OF THE BOOK WITH MUCH INTEREST."—Truth.

"A profound interest will be aroused by the keenness and clearness of vision, no less than by the wealth of learning, by means of which he follows a line of research, tracing through this one rite the cannibalism of savages to a religious impulse not essentially different in its symbolical aspect from one of the most vital principles of Christianity. In the details of the work will be found much to attract the attention of the curious. Its fundamental and essential value, however, is for the student of religions; and all such will be grateful to Dr. Trumbull for this solid, instructive, and enlightening work."—Scotsman, March 14th.

". . . .A guide to first those who are great admirers of Thackeray, and editions of his works, and are collecting first editions of this works. The dainty little volume, bound in parchment and printed on hand-made paper, is very concise and convenient in form; on each page is an exact copy of the title-page of the work mentioned thereon, a collation of pages and illustrations, useful hints on the differences in editions, with other matters indispensable to collectors. . . . Altogether it represents a large amount of labour and experience."—The Spectator.

". . . .Mr. Johnson has evidently done his work with so much loving care that we feel entire confidence in his statements. The prices that he has affixed in every case form a valuable feature of the volume, which has been produced in a manner worthy of its subject-matter."—The Academy.

"The list of works which Mr. Johnson supplies is likely to be of high interest to Thackeray collectors. His preliminary remarks go beyond this not very narrow circle, and have a value for all collectors of modern works."—Notes and Queries.

". . . .It is choicely printed at the Chiswick Press; and the author, Mr. Charles Plumptre Johnson, treats the subject with evident knowledge and enthusiasm. . . . It is not a Thackeray Bibliography, but a careful and minute description of of the first issues, with full collations and statement of the probable coat. . . . Mr. Johnson addresses collectors, but is in addition a sincere admirer of the greatest satirist of the century."—Book Lore.'

"Enthusiastic admirers of Dickens are greatly beholden to Mr. C. P. Johnson for his useful and interesting 'Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of the Works of Charles Dickens' (Redway). The book is a companion to the similar guide to collectors of Thackeray's first editions, is compiled with the like care, and produced with the like finish and taste."—The Saturday Review.

"This is a sister volume to the 'Hints to Collectors of First Editions of Thackeray,' which we noticed a month or two ago. The works of Dickens, with a few notable 'Dickensiana,' make up fifty-eight numbers . . . . and Mr. Johnson has further augmented the present volume with a list of thirty-six plays founded on Dickens's works, and another list of twenty-three published portraits of Dickens. As we are unable to detect any slips in his work, we must content ourselves with thanking him for the correctness of his annotations. It is unnecessary to repeat our praise of the elegant format of these books. . . . ."—The Academy.

"We have no hesitation in saying that he has produced the best book of moderate size yet published for the purpose of enabling an ordinary reader to thoroughly understand the origin and history of this ancient impost. . . . . The author gives a great deal of interesting information concerning the planting and growth of Christianity in these islands, the origin of parishes, and the founding and endowment of parish churches. . . . . Mr. Clarke declares himself in his book to be a member of the Church of England. He thus writes in no spirit of hostility to her, But he rightly uses very plain language in giving his opinion on the wilful distortion of facts by Church writers aiming to defend their Church. . . . . No one who wishes thoroughly to understand the history of tithes should be without this book. It will well repay perusal as a book of ecclesiastical history apart from its special object.—Literary World, March 25th.

"A pleasant volume on a pleasant topic. . . . The Countess, with her sincere enthusiasm for what is simple, passionate, and sensuous in folk-song, and with her lucid and unaffected style, well understands the mode in which the educated collector should approach the shy singers or story-tellers of Europe. . . . Her introduction is perhaps, to the scientific student of popular culture, the best part of her book. . . . Next to her introduction, perhaps her article on 'Death in Folk-Poetry' is the most serviceable essay in the volume. . . . 'Folk Lullabies' is perhaps the most pleasant of the remaining essays in the admirable volume, a volume remarkable for knowledge, sympathy, and good taste."—Extracts from a page notice in the Saturday Review, April 24, 1886.

"This is a very delightful book, full of information and thoughtful suggestions. It deals principally with the Folk-songs of Southern peoples, Venetian, Sicilian, Armenian, Provence, and Greek Songs of Calabria, but there are several essays devoted to the general characteristics of Folk-Poetry, such as the inufluence of Nature, the Inspiration of Death, the idea of fate, the numerous songs connected with the rites of Msy, Folk-Lullabies, and Folk-Dirges. There is also an interesting essay on what is called the White Paternoster, and Children's Rhyming Prayers. This is one of the most valuable, and certainly one of the most interesting, books which have been written on a subject which has of late years been exciting an ever-increasing attention, and which involves many important problems connected with the early history of the human race."—Standard.

"'Folk-Songs,' traditional popular ballads, are as tempting to me as King Charles's head to Mr. Dick. But interesting as the topic of the origin and diffusion and literary merit of these poems may be—poems much the same in all European countries—they are rather eaviare to the general. The Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco is, or should be, a well-known authority among special students of this branch of literature, to whom I heartily commend her 'Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs,' The Countess is, perhaps, most familiar with Southern volksleider, eg of Greece, Italy, and Sicily. Her book is a treasure-house of Folk-lore of various kinds, and the matter is handled with much poetic appreciation and a good deal of learning."—Daily News.

"A kind of popular introduction to the study of Folk-lore."—St. James's Gazette.

This Bibliography commences with the brief-lived College Magazine, to which Mr. Swinburne was one of the chief contributors when an undergraduate at Oxford in 1867–8. Besides a careful anumeration and description of the first editions of all his separately published volumes and pamphlets in verse and prose, the original appearances is duly noted of every poem, prose article, or latter, contributed to any journal or magazine (e.g., Once a Week, The Spectator, The Cornhill Magazine, The Morning Star, The Fortnightly Review, The Examiner, The Dark Blue, The Academy, The Athenæum, The Taller, Belgravia, The Gentleman's Magazine, La République des Lettres, Le Rappel, The Glasgow University Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, etc., etc.), whether collected or uncollected. Among other entries will be found a remarkable novel, published in instalments, and never issued in a separate form, and several productions in verse not generally known to he from Mr. Swinburne's pen. The whole forma a copious, and it is believed approximately complete, record of a remarkable and brilliant literary career, extending already over a quarter of a century.

"This book, to which we can only allot an amount of space quite incommensurate with its intrinsic interest, is one that will appeal to the prepared student rather than to the general reader. To anyone who has previously made the acquaintance of such books as Mr. Sinnett's 'Occult World,' and 'Esoteric Buddhism,' or has in other ways familiarised himself with the doctrines of the so-called Theosophical Society or Brotherhood, these lectures of Colonel Olcott's will be rich in interest and suggestiveness. The American officer is a person of undoubted social position and unblemished personal reputation, and his main object is not to secure belief in the reality of any 'phenomena,' not to win a barren reputation for himself as a thaumaturgist or wonder-worker, but to win acceptance for one of the oldest philosophies of nature and human life—a philosophy to which of late years the thinkers of the West have been turning with noteworthy curiosity and interest. Of course, should the genuineness of the phenomena in question be satisfactorily established, there would undoubtedly be proof that the Eastern sages to whom Colonel Olcott bears witness do possess a knowledge of the laws of the physical universe far wider and more intimate than that which has been laboriously acquired by the inductive science of the West; but the theosophy expounded in this volume is at once a theology, a metaphysic, and a sociology, in which mere marvels, as such, occupy a quite subordinate and unimportant position. We cannot now discuss its claims, and we will not pronounce any opinion upon them; we will only say that Colonel Olcott's volume deserves and will repay the study of all readers for whom the bye-ways of speculation have an irresistible charm."—Manchester Examiner.

"Before going to help to the Burmese govern them, Mr. Scott has once more written on Mr. Scott claims to have covered the whole ground, to show Burma as it was, is, and will be; and as there is nobody competent to criticise him except himself, we shall not presume to say how far he has succeeded. What, however, may be asserted with absolute confidence is, that he has written a bright, readable, and useful book."—Saturday Review, March 27.

"Very lively and readable."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"The author knows what he writes about."—St. Stephen's Review.

"There is a good deal of curious reading in the hook."—Literary World.

"The book is amusing and instructing, and Mr. George Redway, the publisher, will have done the public and himself a service."—Court Journal.

"The print is clear, and the binding in excellent taste."—Bookseller.

"Evidently full of genuine information."—Society.

"A handy guide to Burma, as readable as it is accurate."—Globe

"Mr. Scott should have called this volume 'A book for Members of Parliament,'"—London and China Telegraph.

"The sketch of Burmese cosmogony and mythology is very interesting."—Nature.

"A competent historian, He sketches Burma and the Burmans with minute fidelity."—Daily Chronicle.

"Probably no Englishman knows Burma better than Mr. J. G. Scott."—Contemporary Review.

An excellent description both of land and people."—Contemporary Review.

"Most interesting."—St. James's Gazette.

"Shway Yoe is a graphic writer . . . no one can supply this information better than Mr. Scott."—Asiatic Quarterly Review.

"Thackeray's essay 'On the Genius of George Cruikshank,' reprinted from the Westminster Review, is a piece of work well calculated to drive a critic of these days to despair. How inimitable is its touch! At once familiar and elegant, serious and humorous, enthusiastically appreciative, and yet just and clear-sighted; but, above all, what the French call personnel. It is not the impersonnel reviewer who is going through his paces . . . it is Thackeray talking to us as few can talk—talking with apparent carelessness, even ramblingly, but never losing the thread of his discourse or saying a word too much, nor over missing a point which may help to elucidate his subject or enhance the charm of his essay. . . . Mr. W. E. Church's prefatory note on 'Thackeray as an Art Critic' is interesting and carefully compiled."—Westminster Review, Jan. 15th.

"As the original copy of the Westminster is now excessively rare, this reissue will, no doubt, he welcomed by collectors,"—Birmingham Daily Mail.

"The new portrait of Cruikshank by F. W. Pailthorpe is a clear, firm etching."—The Artist.

"Mr. Nesfield's name as an author is established on such a pleasantly sound foundation that it is a recognised fact that, in taking up a book written by him, the reader is in for a delightful half-hour, during which his riaible and humorous faculties will be pleasantly stimulated. The history of young Archibald Highton Tregauntly, whose fortunes we follow from the cradle to when experience is just beginning to teach him a few wholesome lessons, is as smart and brisk as it is possible to be."—Whitehall Review.

"It will be matter for regret if the brisk and lively style of Mr. Nesfield, who at times reminds us of Lever, should blind people to the downright wickedness of such a perverted career as is here described."—Daily Chronicle.

"This book is honestly what it pretends to be, and nothing more. It is a comprehensive catalogue of all the writings of Mr. Charles Dickens, and of a good quantity of books written about him. It also contains copious extracts from reviews of his works and from sermons on his character. The criticisms are so various, and some of them are so much at variance with others, that the reader of them can complain of nothing less than a lack of material on which to form his judgment, if he has not formed it already, on the claim of Mr. Dickens to occupy a front place in the rank of English classics. Assertions, if not arguments, are multiplied on either side."—Saturday Review.

"Mr. Fred. G. Kitton . . . . has done his work with remarkable thoroughness, and consequently with real success. It is a subject on which I may fairly claim to speak, and I may say that all I know, and a great deal I did not know, about Dickens is to be found in Mr. Kitton's work."—"Atlas," in the World.

"This very remarkable book, 'Sithron,'. . .is a bold, pungent, audacious satire upon the ancient religious belief of the Jews. . . . No one can read the book without homage to the force, the tenderness, and the never-failing skill of its writer."—St. James's Gazette.

"This work is a multum in parts of the growth and spread of Phalliciam, as we commonly call the worship of nature or fertilizing powers. I falt, when solicited enlarge and and Blustrate to it on the sudden death of the lamented author, that it would be desecration to touch so complete a compendium by one of the most competent and soundest thinkers who have written on this world-wide faith. None knew hetter or saw more clearly than Mr. Westropp that in this oldest symbolism and worship lay the foundations of all the goodly systems we call Religions."—J. G. R. Forlong.

"A well-selected repertory of facts illustrating this subject, which should he read by all who are interested in the study of the growth of religions."—Westminster Review.

"When Dr. Döllinger wrote to the effect that 'the subject of Pope Joan has not yet lost interest,' he said no more than the truth. The probability is that the topic will always have its attractions for the lovers of the curiosities of history. Mr. Baring-Gould has declared that 'the whole story of Pope Joan is fabulous, and rests on not a single historical foundation; but others are not so firmly convinced in the matter, and at all times there are those who are anxious to investigate singular traditions. . . . . Rhoïdís discusses the topic with much learning and ingenuity, and Mr. Collette's introduction is full of information."—Globe.

"It is interesting enough, and is accompanied by curious illustrations."—Notes and Queries.

"Some write well, but he writes Weller."—Epigram on Dickens.

"Some of the best sayings of the immortal Sam and his sportive parent are collacted here. The book may be taken up for a few minutes with the certainty of affording amusement, and it can be carried away in the pocket,"—Literary World.

"It was a very good idea . . . . the extracts are very humorous . . . . here nothing is missed."—Glasgow Herald.

"An Interesting addition to the fast-expanding literature of Theosophy."—Literary World.

"All who are interested in Theosophy should read it."—Glasgow Herald.

"Mr. Sinnett scores some points against his adversary, and his pamphlet is to be followed by some memoire of Madame Blavatsky, which may further refutations. Madame Blavatsky herself appends to the pamphlet a brief and indignant denial of the grave charges which have been made against her."—Graphic.

"There is in the book a high and pure moral and a distinct conception of character. . . . The dramatis personæ . . . . are in reality strongly individual, and surprise one with their inconsistencies just as real human beings do. There is something powerful in the way which the reader is made to feel both the reality and the untrustworthiness of his (the hero's) religious fervour, and the character of the atheist, Graham, is not less strongly and definitely conceived. . . . It is a work that shows imagination and moral insight, and we shall look with much anticipation for another from the same hand."—Contemporary Review.

"This is a collection of short pieces, most of which can fairly be considered poetry—no slight merit, as verses run just now. Some of the pieces are singularly pathetic and mournful; others, though in serious guise, are permeated by quaint humour; and all of them are of considerable merit. From the variety and excellence of the contents of this bundle of poetical effusions, it is likely to attract a great number of readers, and many passages in it are particularly suitable for recitation."—Army and Navy Gazette, Aug. 14, 1886.

"But 'Low Down,' as it is called, has the distinction of being multi-coloured, each sheet of eight pages consisting of paper of a special hue. To turn over the leaves is, in fact, to enjoy a sort of kaleidoscopic effect, a glimpse of a literary rainbow. Moreover, to complete the peculiarity of the thing, the various poems are printed, apparently at haphazard, in large or small type, as the case may be. There are those, perhaps, who would take such jokes too seriously, and bring them solemnly to the bar of taste, there to be as solemnly condemned. But that is scarcely the right spirit in which to regard them. There is room in life for the quaint and curious as well as for the neat and elegant."—The Globe.

"Theosophy has suddenly risen to importance. . . . The movement implied by the term Theosophy is that cannot be adequately explained a few words . . . those interested in the movement, which is not to be confounded with spiritualism, will find means of gratifying their curiosity by procuring the back numbers of The Theosophist and a very remarkable book called 'Isis Unveiled,' by Madame Blavatsky."—Literary World.

"This is an interesting monograph on Poe's famous poem. First comes the poet's own account of the genesis of the poem, with a criticism, in which Mr. Ingram declines, very properly, we think, to accept the history aa entirely genuine. Much curious information is collected in this essay. Then follows the poem itself, with the various readings, and then its after-history; and after these 'Isadore,' by Albert Pike, a composition which undoubtedly suggested the idea of 'The Raven' to its author. Several translations are given, two: in French, one in prose, the other in rhymed verse; besides extracts from others, two in German and one in Latin. But perhaps the most interesting chapter in the book is that on the 'Fabrications.'"—The Spectator.

"There is no more reliable authority on the subject of Edgar Allan Poe than Mr. John H. Ingram . . . the volume is well printed and tastefully hound in spotless vellum, and will prove work of the greatest interest to all students of English and American literature."—The Publisher's Circular.

"A very clever and amusing porody of the metaphysics tresties once in fashion. Every smoker will be pleased with this volume."—Notes and Queries.

"We have here a most excellent piece of fooling, evidently from a University pen contains some very clever burlesques of classical modes of writing, and a delicious parody of scholastic logic."—Literary World.

"A delightful mock assay on the exoteric philosophy of the pipe and the pipe bowl reminding one alternately of 'Melancholy' Burton and Herr Teufelsdröch, and implying vast reading and out-of-the-way culture on the part of the author."—Bookseller.

"This remarkable poet affords nearly the most striking instance of neglected genius in our modern school of poetry. His poems are full of vivid disorderly power."—D. G. Rossetti.

"It forms a useful and entertaining guide to a beginner fu historical researches."—Notes and Queries.

The author has laid it before the public in a most inviting, intelligent, and intelligible form, and offers every incentive to the study in every department, including Ancient Records, Manorial Court-Rolls, Heraldry, Painted Glass, Mural Paintings, Pottery, Church Bells, of the student is directed. The pamphlet in printed on a beautiful modern antique paper, appropriate to the subject of the work."—Brighton Examiner.

"Mr. Batty, who is one of those folks Mr. Dobson styles 'gleaners after time,' has clearly and concisely summed up, in the space of a few pages, all the various objects which may legitimately be considered scope of antiquarian study."—Academy.

"There is a sort of bizarre attraction in this fantastic little book, with its weird, unhealthy imaginations."—Whitehall Review.

"Imagination or some other faculty plays marvellous freaks in this little hook."—Lloyd's Weekly.

"A weird little book. The author seems to have been delighted with his dreams, and carefully explains how hachish may be made from the resin of the common hemp plant."—Daily Chronicle.

"To he added to the literature of what is, after all, a very undesirable subject. Weak minds may generate a morbid curiosity if stimulated in this direction."—Bradford Observer.

"The stories told by our author have a decidedly Oriental flavour, and we would not be surprised if some foolish individuals did endeavour to procure some of the drug, with a view to experience the sensation described by the writer of this clever brochure."—Edinburgh Courant.

"In the absence of a fuller biography we cordially welcome Mr. Kitton's interesting little sketch."—Notes and Queries.

"The multitudinous admirers of the famous artist will find this touching monograph well worth careful reading and preservation."—Daily Chronicle.

"The very model of what such a memoir should be."—Graphic.

"It possesses a certain literary interest, for Miss Baughan shows the connection between palmistry and the doctrines of the Kabbala."—Graphic.

"Miss Rosa Baughan, for many years known as one of the most expert proficients in this branch of science, has as much claim to consideration as any writer on the subject."—Sussex Daily News.

"People who wish to believe in palmistry, or the science of reading character from the marks of the hand," says the Daily News, in an article devoted to the discussion of this topic, "will be interested in a handbook of the subject by Miss Baughan, published by Mr. Redway."

"This tragedy is the work of a post and not of a playwright. Many of the scenes abound in vigour and tragic intensity. If the structure of the drama challenges comparison with the masterpieces of the Elizabethan stage, it is at least not unworthy of the models which have inspired it."—Times.

"Mr. Serjeant deserves the thanks of all who are interested in astrology for rescuing this important work from oblivion. . . . . The growing interest in mysticical science will lead to a revival of astrological study, and advanced students will find this book an indispensable addition to their libraries. The book is well got up and printed."—Theosophist.

"One of the best hooks of gossip we have met for some time, It is literally crammed full from beginning to end of ite 148 pages with well-selected anecdotes, poems, and excerpts from tobacco literature and history."—Graphic.

"The smoker should be grateful to the compilers of this pretty little volume. No smoker should be without it, and anti-tobacconists have only to turn over its leaves to be converted."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"Something to please smokers; and non-smokers may be interested in tracing the effect of tobacco—the fatal, fragrant herb—on our literature."—Literary World.

"The merit of her book consists in the admirable clearness of her descriptions of faces. So vivid is the impression produced by them that she is able to dispense with illustrations, the reader using the faces of his acquaintances for that purpose. The classification, too, is good, although the astrological headings may be regarded by the profane as fanciful. Physiognomy may now be scientifically studied by means of composite photography."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"Mr. Sinnett's previous works on Esoteric Buddhism' and 'The Occult World' in some way prepare the reader for the marvellous psychological phenomena with which the present volumes abound, and which cannot fail to have an irresistible charm for all those who love the byways of speculation."—Literary World.

"There is, nevertheless, a weird attractiveness about 'United' which makes even the non-believer in theosophy loth to put down the book when once he has taken it up; while to the lovers of occult phenomena it will prove irresistibly fascinating."—Literary World.

"Literary ability is evident throughout the book."—St. James's Gazette.

"Mr. Sinnott has produced a novel, turning on psychic, mesmoric, and magnetic causes operating on English men and women of ordinary and very extraordinary types, and he has succeeded in making it of special interest for spiritualists, and readable by common people."—The Lady.

"It is even doubtful whether Mr. Sinnett will win one genuine convert to occultism by 'United'; but those who are occult already will take his powerful romance to their hearts; will pour out libations before him, and loudly cry 'Well done!'"—Court and Society Review.

"Over this thrice-silly subject the author has expended some most excellent writing, ideas equal in breadth and strength some of those of our best writers, pure English, and undeniable grammar."—The Whitehall Review.

"It would be difficult to point to a more earnest writer than Mr. Sinnett, and all he says invariably carries force and weight. . . . . The book has a power of its own which compels respect, and Mr. Sinnett is so much the same as he always is, so eager and sincere in expounding the mysteries in which he is a fervent believer, that one seems to be inspired with some of the curious fascination of his teaching. . . . . In spite of all the improbable and weird fancies which have to be accepted by the student of the occult religion, it should always be borne in mind that its tenets are eminently elevating and beautiful; that it appeals to the best side of our nature. . . . . But all is vague confusion to the uninitiated, and it has to be reluctantly admitted that if attracted one is sadly dazzled by the perusal of such a couple of volumes as 'United.' The purpose of 'United' is a good one; it is written with marked ability, and the story is pleasantly related in the happy vein of a characteristic author."—Morning Advertiser, Dec. 31st, 1886.

"It will be a most interesting study for every occultist to compare the doctrines of the ancient Hermetic philosophy with the teaching of the Vedantic and Buddhist systema of religious thought. The famous books of Hermes seem to occupy, with reference to the Egyptian religion, the same position which the Upanishads occupy in Aryan religious literature."—The Theosophist, November, 1885.