4 HURST AND BLACKETT'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS, QUEEN OF FRANCE, CONSORT OF HENRY IV., AND REGENT UNDER LOUIS XIII. BY MISS PARDOE, Author of "Louis XIV. and the Court of France, in the 17th Century," &c. SECOND EDITION. 3 large vols. 8vo., with Fine Portraits, 42s. “A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful, impulsive, earnest, and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done justice to by a female pen, impelled by all the sympathies of womanhood, but strengthened by an erudition by which it is not in every case accompanied. In Miss Pardoe the unfortunate Queen has found both these requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the attractiveness of romance with the reliableness of history, and which, taking a place midway between the 'frescoed galleries' of Thierry, and the 'philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,' has all the pictorial brilliancy of the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the other."—Daily News. "A valuable, well-written, and elaborate biography, displaying an unusual amount of industry and research."-Morning Chronicle. "A careful and elaborate historical composition, rich in personal anecdote. Nowhere can a more intimate acquaintance be obtained with the principal events and leading personages of the first half of the 17th century." ."-Morning Post. "A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange vicissitudes of romance been more intimately blended with the facts of real history than in the life of Marie de Medicis ; nor has the difficult problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the graphic power of dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss Pardoe's admirable biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly sustained interest; as a historical record of the events of which it treats, its merit is of no ordinary description."—John Bull. "A life more dramatic than that of Marie de Medicis has seldom been written; one more imperially tragic, never. The period of French history chosen by Miss Pardoe is rich in all manner of associations, and brings together the loftiest names and most interesting events of a stirring and dazzling epoch. She has been, moreover, exceedingly fortunate in her materials. A manuscript of the Commandeur de Rambure, Gentleman of the Bedchamber under the Kings Henry IV., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV., consisting of the memoirs of the writer, with all the most memorable events which took place during the reigns of those three Majesties, from the year 1594 to that of 1660, was placed at her disposal by M. de la Plane, Member of the Institut Royal de la France. This valuable record is very voluminous, and throws a flood of light on every transaction. Of this important document ample use has been judiciously made by Miss Pardoe; and her narrative, accordingly, has a fulness and particularity possessed by none other, and which adds to the dramatic interest of the subject. The work is very elegantly written, and will be read with delight. It forms another monument to the worthiness of female intellect in the age we live in."-Illustrated News. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIRS OF THE BARONESS D'OBERKIRCH, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE COURTS OF FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND GERMANY. And Edited by Her Grandson, the COUNT DE MONTBRISON. The Baroness d'Oberkirch, being the intimate friend of the Empress of Russia, wife of Paul I., and the confidential companion of the Duchess of Bourbon, her facilities for obtaining information respecting the most private affairs of the principal Courts of Europe, render her Memoirs unrivalled as a book of interesting anecdotes of the royal, noble, and other celebrated individuals who flourished on the continent during the latter part of the last century. Among the royal personages introduced to the reader in this work, are Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, Philip Egalité, and all the Princes of France then living-Peter the Great, the Empress Catherine, the Emperor Paul, and his sons Constantine and Alexander, of Russia-Frederick the Great and Prince Henry of Prussia-The Emperor Joseph II. of Austria-Gustavus III. of Sweden-Princess Christina of SaxonySobieski, and Czartoriski of Poland-and the Princes of Brunswick and Wurtemberg. Among the remarkable persons are the Princes and Princesses de Lamballe, de Ligne and Galitzin-the Dukes and Duchesses de Choiseul, de Mazarin, de Boufflers, de la Vallière, de Guiche, de Penthièvre, and de Polignac-Cardinal de Rohan, Marshals Biron and d'Harcourt, Count de Staremberg, Baroness de Krudener, Madame Geoffrin, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, and Necker-with Count Cagliostro, Mesmer, Vestris, and Madame Mara; and the work also includes such literary celebrities as Voltaire, Condorcet, de la Harpe, de Beaumarchais, Rousseau, Lavater, Bernouilli, Raynal, de l'Epée, Huber, Göthe, Wieland, Malesherbes, Marmontel, de Staël and de Genlis; with some singular disclosures respecting those celebrated Englishwomen, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, and Lady Craven, Margravine of Anspach. "The Baroness d'Oberkirch, whose remarkable Memoirs are here given to the public, saw much of courts and courtiers, and her Memoirs are filled with a variety of anecdotes, not alone of lords and ladies, but of emperors and empresses, kings and queens, and reigning princes and princesses. As a picture of society anterior to the French Revolution, the book is the latest and most perfect production of its kind extant; and as such, besides its minor value as a book of amusement, it possesses a major value as a work of information, which, in the interest of historical truth, is, without exaggeration, almost incalculable."-Observer. "Thoroughly genuine and unaffected, these Memoirs display the whole mind of a woman who was well worth knowing, and relate a large part of her experience among people with whose names and characters the world will be at all times busy. A keen observer, and by position thrown in the high places of the world, the Baroness d'Oberkirch was the very woman to write Memoirs that would interest future generations. We commend these volumes most heartily to every reader. They are a perfect magazine of pleasant anecdotes and interesting characteristic things. We lay down these charming volumes with regret. They will entertain the most fastidious readers, and instruct the most informed."-Examiner. "An intensely interesting autobiography."-Morning Chronicle. "A valuable addition to the personal history of an important period. The volumes deserve general popularity."-Daily News. "One of the most interesting pieces of contemporary history, and one of the richest collections of remarkable anecdotes and valuable reminiscences ever produced."-John Bull. 6 HURST AND BLACKETT'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN EUROPE: CONSTITUTING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN, DENMARK, NORWAY, AND ICELAND, WITH COPIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED HISTORIES, ROMANCES, POPULAR LEGENDS AND TALES, OLD CHIVALROUS BALLADS, TRAGIC AND COMIC DRAMAS, NATIONAL SONGS, NOVELS, AND SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF THE PRESENT DAY. They BY WILLIAM AND MARY HOWITT. 2 vols. 21s. 'English readers have long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. have now increased our obligations by presenting us with this most charming and valuable work, by means of which the great majority of the reading public will be, for the first time, made acquainted with the rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin is lost in antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness Knorring, the prose and poetic writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland are here introduced to us in a manner at once singularly comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have old ballads and fairy tales, always fascinating; we have scenes from plays, and selections from the poets, with most attractive biographies of great men. The songs and ballads are translated with exquisite poetic beauty."-Sun. "A book full of information-and as such, a welcome addition to our literature. The translations-especially of some of the ballads and other poems-are executed with spirit and taste."-Athenæum. SCENES FROM SCRIPTURE. BY THE REV. G. CROLY, LL.D. 10s. 6d. "Eminent in every mode of literature, Dr. Croly stands, in our judgment, first among the living poets of Great Britain-the only man of our day entitled by his power to venture within the sacred circle of religious poets."-Standard. “An admirable addition to the library of religious families.”—John Bull. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MISSIONARY. BY THE REV. J. P. FLETCHER, Curate of South Hampstead. Author of "A Two Years' Residence at Nineveh." 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. "A graphic sketch of missionary life."-Examiner. "We conscientiously recommend this book, as well for its amusing character as for the spirit it displays of earnest piety."-Standard. "This book will interest a large multitude of readers. There are abundant passages which will amuse, and studies of individual character which will be recognised as drawn from life."-Globe. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 7 ས MILITARY LIFE IN ALGERIA. BY THE COUNT P. DE CASTELLANE. 2 vols. 21s. "We commend this book as really worth perusal. The volumes make us familiarly acquainted with the nature of Algerian experience. Changarnier, Cavaignac, Canrobert, Lamoricière, and St. Arnaud are brought prominently before the reader."-Examiner. "These volumes will be read with extraordinary interest. The vivid manner in which the author narrates his adventures, and the number of personal anecdotes that he tells, engage the reader's attention in an extraordinary manner. The sketches which the Count gives of the French leaders convey to us a very accurate idea of some of the most remarkable military celebrities who have figured in the recent political events in France - Changarnier, Bugeaud, Lamoricière, Cavaignac, Canrobert, Bosquet, among many others. It would be difficult to point out a chapter that has not its peculiar charms."-Sunday Times. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ENGLISH SOLDIER IN THE UNITED STATES' ARMY. 2 vols. 21s. "The novelty characterising these interesting volumes is likely to secure them many readers. In the first place, an account of the internal organization, the manners and customs of the United States' Federal Army, is in itself, a novelty, and a still greater novelty is to have this account rendered by a man who had served in the English before joining the American army, and who can give his report after having every opportunity of comparison. The author went through the Mexican campaign with General Scott, and his volumes contain much descriptive matter concerning battles, sieges, and marches on Mexican territory, besides their sketches of the normal chronic condition of a United States soldier in time of peace."-Daily News. HISTORY OF THE BRITISH CONQUESTS IN INDIA. BY HORACE ST. JOHN. 2 vols. 21s. "A work of great and permanent historical value and interest."-Post. "The style is graphic and spirited. The facts are well related and artistically grouped. The narrative is always readable and interesting."-Athenæum. HISTORY OF CORFU; AND OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS. BY LIEUT. H. J. W. JERVIS, Royal Artillery. 1 vol., with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. "Written with great care and research, and including probably all the particulars of any moment in the history of Corfú."-Athenæum. 8 HURST AND BLACKETT'S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF GENERAL SIR HARRY CALVERT, G.C.B. and G.C.H., LIEUT.-GOVERNOR OF THE ROYAL HOSPITAL, CHELSEA, DURING THE WAR IN FLANDERS AND HOLLAND IN 1793-4; WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING HIS JOURNAL DURING THE CLOSE OF THE AMERICAN WAR. EDITED BY HIS SON, SIR HARRY VERNEY, BART. 2 vols. 8vo. COLONEL LANDMANN'S ADVENTURES 66 AND RECOLLECTIONS. 2 vols. 21s. 'Among the anecdotes in this work will be found notices of King George III., the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, Clarence, and Richmond, the Princess Augusta, General Garth, Sir Harry Mildmay, Lord Charles Somerset, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Heathfield, Captain Grose, &c. The volumes abound in interesting matter. The anecdotes are one and all amusing."-Observer. "These Adventures and Recollections' are those of a gentleman whose birth and profession gave him facilities of access to distinguished society; and the interest of the volumes will be found to consist in anecdotes and recollections relating to individual members of that society. Colonel Landmann writes so agreeably that we have little doubt that his volumes will be acceptable. They partake, to some extent, both of the good and bad qualities of Horace Walpole and of Wraxall."-Athenæum. ADVENTURES OF THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS. SECOND SERIES. BY WILLIAM GRATTAN, ESQ., LATE LIEUTENANT CONNAUGHT RANGERS. 2 vols. 21s. "A pleasant book, which will be read with avidity by all true soldiers, especially those of this chosen regiment. We feel sure that every regimental library will have its Connaught Rangers.'"-Daily News. "A first series of the adventures of this famous regiment made so favourable an impression on the public, that the author has thought it advisable to enlarge his original work with this second series, in which he extends his narrative from the first formation of the gallant 88th up to the occupation of Paris by the English army. All the battles, sieges, and skirmishes, in which the regiment took part, are described either from the observation of the writer or the memoirs and memoranda of other officers. The volumes are interwoven with original anecdotes, and details of various occurrences that give a freshness and spirit to the whole. The stories and the sketches of society and manners, with the anecdotes of the celebrities of the time, are told in an agreeable and unaffected manner. In fact the work bears all the characteristics of a soldier's straightforward and entertaining narrative."-Sunday Times. |