Part 12
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ, THE CELEBRATED AGENT OF THE FRENCH POLICE.
“But it is not our province or intention to enter into a discussion of the veracity of Vidocq’s Memoirs: be they true or false; were they purely fiction from the first chapter to the last, they would, from fertility of invention, knowledge of human nature, and ease of style, rank only second to the novels of Le Sage. The first volume is perhaps more replete with interest, because the hero is the leading actor in every scene; but in the subsequent portions, when he gives the narrative of others, we cannot but admire the power and graphic talent of the author. Sergeant Bellerose is scarcely inferior to the Sergeant Kite of Farquhar; and the episodes of Court and Raoul, and that of Adele d’Escars, are surpassed in description, depth of feeling, and pathos, by no work of romance with which we are acquainted.”
_From the Boston Traveller._
“MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.--He who reads this book, being previously unacquainted with the mystery of iniquity, will find himself introduced at once into a new world: but it is a world which must be known only to be avoided. Never before was such a mass of depravity opened to the mind of inquiry in a single volume. It was well said by Byron, ‘truth is strange, stranger than fiction.’ Whoever passes through the details of this singular exposition, supposing it to contain correct delineations of fact, will be satisfied of the justness of this remark.
“The details of the varied scenes through which he has passed in private and public life, surpass all the creations of fancy, and all the delineations of fact, from the wonderful relations of the Arabian Nights to the renowned exploits of Mr. Lemuel Gulliver; and from the extraordinary sufferings and escapes of the celebrated Baron Trenck to the still more marvellous exploits of the famous Mr. Thomas Thumb.
“It would seem, on following this singular writer through his adventures, as if all the crimes of which human nature is capable, all the horrors of which the universe has heard, all the astonishing incidents which history can develope or imagination portray, all the cool-blooded malice of the assassin, and all the varied machinations of the most ingenious and systematic practitioners in the school of vice, in all its varied departments, had been crowded into the life of a single individual, or come beneath his cognizance. The lover of mystery, who delights to ‘sup upon horrors,’ the admirer of romance, who is pleased with the heightened pictures of the most fanciful imagination, and the inquirer into the policy of crime and its prevention, may here have their utmost curiosity satiated.
“Vidocq, during the early portion of his life, was personally initiated into all the mysteries of crime, and becoming afterward a pardoned man, and an active and successful agent of the French police in the city of Paris, ‘girt with its silent crimes,’ as well as its tumultuous depravities, becomes a fit person to delineate its scenes of vice, depravity, and guilt. His work is a study for the novelist, the annalist, the philosopher, and the Christian. But it is a work which should be read with a guarded mind; with a disposition to profit by its lessons, and to avoid scenes which have little enjoyment, and which invariably end in misery.”
* * * * *
In Two Volumes 12mo.
THE HAMILTONS.
By the Author of “MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS.”
“This is a fashionable novel, and of the highest grade.”--_Athenæum._
“Mrs. Gore is undeniably one of the wittiest writers of the present day. ‘The Hamiltons’ is a most lively, clever, and entertaining work.”--_Lit. Gaz._
“The design of the book is new, and the execution excellent.”--_Exam._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
FIRST AND LAST.
By the Author of “FIVE NIGHTS OF ST. ALBANS.”
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
A YEAR AT HARTLEBURY.
BY CHERRY AND FAIR-STAR.
“Most pleasant Cherry! most brilliant Fair-star! we hail ye and welcome ye both: agreeable and profitable will be the scenes you paint.--We cordially recommend ‘Hartlebury’ to our friends, convinced that our friends will be pleased and amused by its acuteness and variety.”--_New Monthly Magazine._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE WEST INDIA SKETCH-BOOK.
“The sketches are worthy of George Cruikshank.”--_Globe._
* * * * *
In Three Volumes, 12mo.
THE COQUETTE.
By the Author of “MISERRIMUS.”
“The ‘Coquette’ is a most amusing library book. Several of the characters are exceedingly well drawn: indeed, they are obviously sketches from life, and there is a sparkling vivacity throughout the whole work.”--_New Monthly Magazine._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE MISERIES OF MARRIAGE; OR, THE FAIR OF MAY FAIR.
By the Author of “PIN MONEY,” &c.
“Mrs. Gore certainly stands at the head of the female novelists of the day. But we subjoin the opinion of Mr. Bulwer.”--_U. S. Gazette._
“She is the consummator of that undefinable species of wit, which we should call (if we did not know the word might be deemed offensive, in which sense we do not mean it) the _slang_ of good society.
“But few people ever painted, with so felicitous a hand, the scenery of worldly life, without any apparent satire. She brings before you the hollowness, the manœuvres, and the intrigues of the world, with the brilliancy of sarcasm, but with the quiet of simple narrative. Her men and women, in her graver tales, are of a noble and costly clay; their objects are great; their minds are large, their passions intense and pure. She walks upon the stage of the world of fashion, and her characters, have grown dwarfed as if by enchantment. The air of frivolity has blighted their stature; their colours are pale and languid; they have no generous ambition; they are _little people_! they are fine people! This it is that makes her novel of our social life so natural, and so clear a transcript of the original.”--_The Author of Pelham._
* * * * *
In One Volume, 12mo.
SOME PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF SIR PUMPKIN FRIZZLE, K. C. B. AND OTHER TALES.
“Decidedly one of the most amusing productions of the year. In addition to the adventures of _Sir Pumpkin_, there are several capital stories, which cannot fail to be popular.”
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
ADVENTURES OF GILBERT GURNEY.
BY THEODORE HOOK, Author of “SAYINGS AND DOINGS.”
* * * * *
In One Volume, 8vo.
MEMOIRS OF THE BEAUTIES OF THE COURT OF CHARLES THE SECOND.
BY MRS. JAMESON.
Author of “DIARY OF AN ENNUYEE,” “CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN,” &c.
“NEW WORK.--Messrs. Carey & Hart, Philadelphia, have in press a popular book, ‘The Beauties of the Court of King Charles the Second,’ written by Mrs. Jameson, whose father had been employed by the princess Charlotte to paint cabinet pictures of those too celebrated ladies. The princess died before they were completed, and the consequence was, they were never paid for. The circumstances of the family required some use should be made of the paintings to produce a remuneration; and Mrs. Jameson undertook the delicate task of the letter press, the portraits being engraved in the highest style of art. The London copy costs about twenty-five dollars: the American edition will be an octavo without the portraits. Nell Gwynn, the Duchess of Hamilton, &c. are not unknown characters in history. Mrs. Jameson has executed her department in a remarkably graceful manner.”--_Journal of Belles Lettres._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
SYDENHAM; OR, MEMOIRS OF A MAN OF THE WORLD.
“The work before us is one of the most powerful of its class; it bears intrinsic evidence of a new writer. The portrait of Brummel, the ‘arch dandy,’ is excellent, and all the scenes in which he is engaged are managed with skill and tact. There is, in fact, sufficient material in this book for three or four novels.”--_New Monthly Magazine._
“Each of these volumes is in fact a separate work--each in a different style and spirit--each aspiring to a different fame in composition. ‘Sydenham’ is a capital work, which, without the trouble of puffing, must make a great stir in the upper and political circles.”--_London Lit. Gaz._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
ALICE PAULET; BEING A SEQUEL TO “SYDENHAM; OR, MEMOIRS OF A MAN OF THE WORLD.”
By the Author of “SYDENHAM.”
“Two most amusing and clever volumes, decidedly improvements on their predecessors. The great characteristic of this work is its good sense.”--_London Literary Gazette._
“Conceived and sketched in the very spirit of Hogarth.”--_Courier._
“Great strength of mind, knowledge of the world, and acquaintance with the higher circles of society, are visible in every page.”--_Cheltenham Chronicle._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
TRAVELS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF PERU; INCLUDING A YEAR’S RESIDENCE IN POTOSI.
By EDMUND TEMPLE, Kt. of the Royal and distinguished Order of CHARLES III.
“These travels in Peru will long maintain their reputation for the accuracy of detail, the spirit of the style, and the utility of the information they contain. The professional matter is very valuable.”--_Bulwer’s New Monthly Magazine._
“There is much to instruct, and a great deal to amuse. Amid the details of personal adventures, there is a great deal of shrewd and strong observation.”--_London Monthly Magazine._
“We have met with no volumes of travels in that country with which, upon the whole, we have been so much pleased as the one before us.”--_Baltimore Gazette._
“This is an instructive and entertaining work.”--_National Gazette._
“This book is one of the most entertaining that has been issued from the press for some time.”--_Pennsylvania Inquirer._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
RECORDS OF TRAVELS IN TURKEY, GREECE, &c. IN THE YEARS 1829, 1830, AND 1831; AND OF A CRUISE IN THE BLACK SEA, WITH THE CAPTAIN PASHA.
BY ADOLPHUS SLADE, ESQ.
“One of the most valuable and interesting works which has yet been placed in our hands, on the domestic state of Turkey.”--_Monthly Review._
“We do not know when we have met with two volumes more amusing--they are full of highly entertaining and curious matter.”--_Court Jour._
“The work before us supplies the best description of this remarkable nation.”--_Courier._
“One of the most amusing and interesting of oriental travellers, none having ever equalled him in a thorough knowledge of the true state of society, and the true character of the Turks.”--_Spectator._
“We can warmly recommend this book for perusal, it is not only very amusing but very valuable.”--_Metropolitan._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
TRAITS AND STORIES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY
FIRST SERIES.
“Admirable--truly, intensely Irish: never were the outrageous whimsicalities of that strange, wild, imaginative people so characteristically described; nor amidst all the fun, frolic, and folly, is there any dearth of poetry, pathos, and passion. The author’s a Jewel.”--_Glasgow Journal._
“To those who have a relish for a few tit-bits of _rale_ Irish story-telling,--whether partaking of the tender or the facetious, or the grotesque,--let them purchase these characteristic sketches.”--_Sheffield Iris._
“The sister country has never furnished such sterling genius, such irresistibly humorous, yet faithful sketches of character among the lower ranks of Patlanders, as are to be met with in the pages of these delightful volumes.”--_Bristol Journal._
“This is a capital book, fall of fun and humour, and most characteristically Irish.”--_New Monthly Magazine._
“Neither Miss Edgeworth, nor the author of the O’Hara Tales, could have written any thing more powerful than this.”--_Edinburgh Literary Gazette._
* * * * *
In two Volumes, 12mo.
TRAITS AND STORIES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY.
THIRD SERIES.
“This work has been most extravagantly praised by the English critics: and several extracts from it have been extensively published in our newspapers. It is altogether a better work than any of the kind which has yet appeared--replete with humour, both broad and delicate--and with occasional touches of pathos, which have not been excelled by any writer of the present day. An Edinburgh critic says that ‘neither Miss Edgeworth, nor the author of the O’Hara tales, could have written any thing more powerful than this.’”--_Baltimore American._
* * * * *
In two Volumes, 12mo.
PIN MONEY;
BY MRS. CHARLES GORE,
Authoress of “HUNGARIAN TALES,” “POLISH TALES,” etc.
“Her writings have that originality which wit gives to reality, and wit is the great characteristic of her pages.”--_Bulwer’s New Monthly Magazine._
“Light spirited and clever, the characters are drawn with truth and vigour. Keen in observation, lively in detail, and with a peculiar and piquant style, Mrs. Charles Gore gives to the novel that charm which makes the fascination of the best French memoir writers.”--_London Literary Gazette._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE STAFF-OFFICER. OR, THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. A TALE OF REAL LIFE.
“The web of life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together; our virtues would be proud if our faults whipped them not, and our crimes would despair if they were not cherished by our virtues.”
BY OLIVER MOORE.
“We are prepared to admit that our extracts do not do justice to the work: the writer’s power is in discriminating _female_ character; but as he judiciously makes it develope itself by incident, to illustrate this would require scenes and pages to be transferred to our columns. As a whole, this novel will be read with interest: it is light and pleasant; with many very natural scenes, many excellent and well-drawn characters, and without one line or word of affectation or pretence.”--_Athenæum._
“This is a most entertaining work: it is written with great spirit, elegance, and candour. The delineation of character (particularly that of many distinguished individuals officially connected with Ireland during the Pitt administration) is skilfully and vividly drawn; and the multifarious incidents--several of which are of a highly _piquant_ description--are given with a tact and delicacy creditable to the judgment and talent of the author. We can say with truth, that we have fairly gone through this tale of real life without being cloyed or wearied for a single moment; but that it excited, and kept up, an interest in our minds which few volumes designed for mere amusement have been able to inspire.”--_Brighton Herald._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS.
“The best novel of the season--a faithful, exact, and withal spirited picture of the aristocracy of this country--an admirable description of what is called high life, and full of a more enlarged knowledge of human nature.”--_Spectator._
“A very lively and amusing panorama of actual life.”--_Lit. Gazette._
* * * * *
In one Volume, 12mo.
CARWELL,
By Mrs. SHERIDAN, Author of “AIMS AND ENDS.”
“A story which for minute fidelity to truth, for high tragic conception, both of plot and character, has few equals in modern fiction.”
“But everywhere you see that rarest of all literary beauties, a beautiful mind--an intimate persuasion of the fine and great truths of the human heart--a delicate and quick perception of the lovely and the honest--an intellect that profits by experience, and a disposition which that experience cannot corrupt.”--_The Author of Pelham._
* * * * *
In one Volume, 12mo.
THE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK.
“It is very clever and very entertaining--replete with pleasantry and humour: quite as imaginative as any German diablerie, and far more amusing than most productions of its class. It is a very whimsical and well devised jeu d’esprit.”--_Literary Gazette._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE INVISIBLE GENTLEMAN.
By the Author of “CHARTLEY,” “THE FATALIST,” etc. etc.
“It is a novel which may be termed the whimsically supernatural.”--_Athenæum._
“The present narrative is one of the most entertaining fictions we have met with for a long time; the idea is very original, and brought into play with a lively air of truth, which gives a dramatic reality even to the supernatural.”--_Literary Gazette._
“The adventures follow each other with delightful rapidity and variety; occasionally there is a deep and thrilling touch of pathos, which we feel not a bit the less acutely, because the trouble and wo of the parties have originated in the familiar and somewhat laughable act of pulling an ear.”--_Court Magazine._
* * * * *
In one Volume, 12mo.
LEGENDS AND TALES OF IRELAND
BY SAMUEL LOVER.
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
FIVE NIGHTS OF ST. ALBANS.
“Some man of talent has taken up the old story of the Wandering Jew, to try what he could make of a new version of it. He has succeeded in composing as pretty a piece of _diablerie_ as ever made candles burn blue at midnight. The horrors of _Der Freizchutz_ are mere child’s play compared with the terrors of the Old Man or the demon Amaimon; and yet all the thinking and talking portion of the book is as shrewd and sharp as the gladiatorial dialogues of Shakspeare’s comedies.”--_Spectator._
“A romance, called the ‘_Five Nights of St. Albans_,’ has just appeared, which combines an extraordinary power of description with an enchaining interest. It is just such a romance as we should imagine Martin, the painter, would write; and, to say the truth, the description of supernatural effects in the book, fall very little short in their operation upon different senses of the magical illusions of the talented artist.”--_John Bull._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE CONTRAST
A NOVEL.
By EARL MULGRAVE, Author of “MATILDA,” “YES AND NO,” etc.
“‘Yes and No’ contained the best _tableaux_ of actual--human--English society in the nineteenth century, of any novel we know of. The same characteristics that distinguished the most agreeable novel are equally remarkable in its successors.”--_Bulwer’s New Monthly Magazine._
“‘Contrast’ cannot fail to prove interesting.”--_Court Journal._
“These volumes possess the rather uncommon merit of a very interesting story. The design is to paint a man whose strong feelings are curbed by an over-fastidiousness--what the French so happily term unhomme difficile.”--_London Literary Gazette._
“Messrs. Carey and Hart have republished, in two neat volumes, Earl Mulgrave’s novel of the ‘Contrast,’ which has been so favourably received in England. It is said to be one of the best novels of the kind, that has issued from the press for years.”--_Philadelphia Inquirer._
“‘Pelham,’ and ‘Yes and No,’ are perhaps the only paintings of the present time which are drawn with the accuracy of knowledge, and the vivacity of talent. Were we to be asked by a foreigner to recommend those novels which, founded on truth, gave the most just delineation of the higher classes in England, it is to the above mentioned works we should refer. _The present volumes, however, are an infinite improvement on their predecessor._”--_London Literary Gazette._
* * * * *
In One Volume, 8vo.
MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL NEY, COMPILED FROM PAPERS IN THE POSSESSION OF HIS FAMILY.
The work has been put together under the direction and management of the Duke of Elchingen, Marshal Ney’s second son, who has affixed his signature to every sheet sent to press.
“They may be regarded as the Ney Papers, connected together by an interesting biography; the anecdotes with which they are interspersed have plainly been collected with great pains from all the early friends of that illustrious warrior.”--_Blackwood’s Magazine._
“The memoirs before us are founded upon the papers and documents which he left behind him at his death, consisting of anecdotic and biographical fragments, accounts of his divers missions and campaigns, and the substance of many extraordinary secrets intrusted to him as a general and a statesman. All these materials throw great light upon the history of the French empire, as the details given in the memoirs possess the strongest interest.”--_Pennsylvania Inquirer._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE BLACK WATCH.
BY T. PICKEN.
By the Author of the “DOMINIE’S LEGACY.”
“One of the most powerful and pathetic fictions which have recently appeared.”--_Times._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
ALLEN BRECK.
BY GLEIG.
Author of the “SUBALTERN.”
“The most striking production of Mr. Gleig.”--_U. S. Journal._
“One of the most powerful and highly wrought tales we ever read.”--_Edinburg Review._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
ROMANCE OF ANCIENT HISTORY EGYPT.
“One of the best productions of the present day.”--_New Monthly Mag._
* * * * *
In One Volume, 12mo.
LIFE OF A SUB-EDITOR.
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE OXONIAN; OR, SKETCHES OF SOCIETY AT OXFORD.
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
NIGHTS-AT-MESS.
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
LIFE OF A SOLDIER.
BY A FIELD-OFFICER.
“A narrative of twenty-seven years’ service in various parts of the world, possessing all the interest of the wildest fiction.”--_Sun._
* * * * *
In One Volume, 12mo.
BIOGRAPHY OF EXTRAORDINARY PAINTERS.
By the Author of “VATHEK.”
* * * * *
THE HIGHLAND SMUGGLERS.
BY J. B. FRAZER.
Author of the “KUZZILBASH.”
* * * * *
SKETCHES ON IRISH HIGHWAYS.
BY MRS. S. C. HALL,
Author of “SKETCHES OF IRISH CHARACTER.”
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE PURITAN’S GRAVE.
By the Author of the “USURER’S DAUGHTER.”
“If we were to point out one romance of the day which more than another would become a Christian pastor to write, it is this last production of Mr. Scargill’s. It is written in a subdued and gentle spirit of faith and charity. It is pregnant with unaffected piety: passion there is not in it; but there is the presence of a quiet and deep love; that blessed spirit walks, breathes, and has its being throughout the whole book.... The reader must be prepared for the absence of exciting events; his mood must be in harmony with the work: he must read slowly, pencil in hand, to mark the holy and eloquent passages that occur. He must consider himself reading a tale which, without the pedantry of a preacher, is suffused with the spirit of some beautiful homily. He will feel, as he proceeds, no very exciting interest; no hurried emotion: but when he has closed the last page, he will find his soul insensibly soothed, and, as it were, _Christianized_ over.”--_The Author of Pelham._
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, 12mo.
THE BABOO; AND OTHER TALES DESCRIPTIVE OF SOCIETY IN INDIA.
“The Baboo is not only an interesting novel, but a clear and clever sketch of society in Calcutta. The writer has been trained in a good school; there is an impress of truth throughout, which shows that the author was drawing from nature, not from fancy.”--_Spectator._
“We conscientiously and heartily recommend this very superior work to the notice of the public. It is a delightful Indian companion to the Don Quixote of Spain, the Gil Blas of France, and the Hajji Baba of Persia; and quite equal to them all.”
“This work is second to none in graphic powers. The Baboo himself is a perfect study. It is founded on facts, and true to nature; and altogether a work of no common order.”--_Metropolitan._
* * * * *
IN PREPARATION,
THE GIFT; A CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S PRESENT, FOR 1836.
Edited by MISS LESLIE, author of “PENCIL SKETCHES,” &c.
The publishers have the promise of articles from many of the most popular authors of the day. The ILLUSTRATIONS are in the hands of some of the most eminent engravers, and no expense will be spared to render the work in every respect equal to the foreign productions of the same class.
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In Two Volumes, 12mo.
MAKANNA; OR, THE LAND OF THE SAVAGE.
“One of the most interesting and graphic romances it has been our lot to read for many a year.”--_Athenæum._
“There was yet an untrodden land for the writer of fiction, and the author of ‘Makanna’ is its discoverer.”--_Atlas._