# The Knickerbocker/Volume 13/Number 5/Literary Record

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LITERARY RECORD.
Law and Equity Reporter.—Messrs. Halsted and Voorhies, Law Booksellers, of this city, have issued proposals for publishing, by subscription, a periodical now in course of successful publication in London, entitled The Jurist. It will be issued from the American press under the title of 'The Jurist, or Monthly Law and Equity Reporter.' The work has been in operation for the past two years, and its importance and usefulness are evident from the extensive patronage it continues to receive. The main object of the Jurist is to furnish the profession with a complete series of all the decisions in the several Courts of Common Law and Equity, at a much earlier day than through the medium of the regular Reports, viz: The cases decided in the House of Lords, Privy Council, Lord Chancellor's Court, Rolls Court, Vice Chancellor's Court, Exchequer in Equity, Court of Queen's Bench, Queen's Bench Bail Court, Court of Common Pleas, Court of Exchequer, Court of Review, etc., etc, all fully and accurately reported by eminent barristers, engaged expressly to prepare the decisions for this work. Through the medium of the Jurist, the members of the profession will be put in possession of all the decisions of the several Courts of Common Law and Equity, from eighteen months to two years earlier than they appear in the regular Reports. As the cost of this publication is trifling in comparison with the great expense of the original Reports, the experiment will doubtless meet with the support it merits. In addition to the Reports of Cases, the Public General Statutes, affecting the law either in principle or administration, with notes, will appear long prior to the publication of the usual collection of Statutes. Original articles will also appear from time to time, containing information on Conveyancing, Pleading, Practice, and Evidence, as well as occasional discussions on legal subjects of doubt and difficulty. As a useful appendage, an Annual Digest will be added, containing all the cases reported during the year, together with a table of cases, index to the whole work, etc. As soon as a sufficient number of subscribers are obtained, the work will be put to press, commencing with the decisions since the first of January, 1839, and published regularly once a month; each number will contain from seventy-five to one hundred pages octavo, and put up in such a manner as to be sent by mail to any part of the United States and Canada. The terms are seven dollars per annum, in advance.
'The Lady's Book,' a monthly publication, issued in Philadelphia, under the editorial supervision of Mr. Louis A. Godey and Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, is one of the best as well as cheapest works of the kind in the country. We learn from the 'New-York Mirror' that it has a circulation of more than fourteen thousand copies, a number considerably more than double that of any similar periodical for females in the United States. The gentleman editor, who is also the publisher, has the merit of writing good English; and the talents of Mrs. Hale, who is aided by some of the best male and female pens in the Union, need no encomium or blazon. The work is beautifully printed, and frequently embellished with fine engravings, including new prints of the fashions, in their season, elaborately colored, and all engraved expressly for the work. Mr. Israel Post, in the Bowery, is the agent for the 'Lady's Book' in this city.
'The Christian Offering' is an annual for churchmen, edited by the Rev. John W. Brown, A. M., a work 'devoted to the cause of Christ and the Church, and one of the leading objects of which is, to hold up the claims of Christian education.' It is issued, for this year only, without the usual accompaniment of engravings to the letter-press. Many of the contributions are of a high order of merit, and are derived from well-known sources. We observe, in a hurried glance through the volume, articles by Rufus Dawes, Mrs. Sigourney, Rev. Calvin Cotton, Mrs. Embury, and the Editor, with several others, of more or less note. The volume is very neatly executed.
​The Pictorial Edition of Shakspeare.—It would be quite impossible, we think, to do the literary reader a more gratifying service, than to advise him touching the merits of a rich and rare work, that is being published, in numbers, in London, by Messrs. Charles Knight and Company, and Wiley and Putnam, and in this country, by the American branch of the last-named firm. We allude to the superb Pictorial Edition of Shakspeare, of which five numbers have already appeared, containing 'Two Gentlemen of Verona,' 'King John,' 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Love's Labor Lost,' and 'King Richard Second;' each play occupying a 'Part.' The text is the most approved and authentic extant; the notes embrace every subject that appears necessary to be investigated, for the complete information of the reader; various readings and glossarial notes are presented at the foot of each page, with ampler annotations at the end of every act. Numerous fine engravings on wood, by the most eminent artists in England, present us with the antiquarian scenes and costumes, which represent the realities upon which the imagination of the great bard must have rested. When to these rare merits is added the recommendation of fine white paper, large and clear type, and beautiful printing, we have said enough to induce all tasteful lovers of Shakspeare and of art, to make themselves rich with the purchase, at a moderate price, of this truly noble work.
The Children's Catholic Magazine, sent us, as we infer, by its editor, the Very Rev. Felix Varela, would seem to contain many useful and pleasing selections, and brief original varieties. The work is not now before us, having been mislaid; but we remember an intention, as we perused it, to advert, in case we mentioned the work, to a leaven of intolerance, which we encountered in an original fragment touching the Catholic religion, wherein it was assumed, that all who opposed it, were lost to every sense of virtue, and were influenced solely by worldly or selfish motives. This idea of exclusive holiness, has doubtless done more injury to the cause of religion, in engendering bitterness and strife between christians of different modes of belief and worship, than any other cause whatever. Let us commend to our reverend contemporary the kindly and tolerant tone of that worthy protestant, but worthier christian, Sir Thomas Browne, who, in allusion to the forma and symbols of the Catholic faith, so much denounced by his fellows, observes: 'At the sight of a cross or a crucifix, I can dispense with my hat, but scarcely with the thought or memory of my Saviour. I could never hear the Ave-Maria bell, without an elevation. While the worshippers directed their devotions to her, I offered mine to God.' Such is the enlarged spirit which should animate the bosom of every religious man, be his creed what it may.
Resuscitated Melodies.—Monsrs. Davis and Horn have recently republished, in a collected series, six melodies, the words by Col. G. P. Morris, and the music by Charles E. Horn, Esq, entitled the Northern, Southern, and Western 'Refrains,' 'Meeta,' 'Love, Honor, and Obey,' and 'The Ball-Room-Belle.' We thank the accomplished vocalist and composer for expressing in his preface the views we have always maintained, in relation to the amalgamation of what is termed 'science' and 'execution' with simple melodies. Mr. Horn informs us, that the airs of the South partake greatly of the Scotch character; and of the appropriate feeling which enters into this delightful description of music, he has shown an adequate appreciation, in his 'Meeta,' a melody of singular sweetness and pathos. Beautifully printed, with tasteful title-pages, these simple airs need no encomiums of ours, to secure to the publishers a remunerating sale, and to Mr. Horn incentives for perseverance in his acceptable labors.
'The British Partizan, a Tale of the Times of Old.'—A small volume of an hundred and fifty pages, thus entitled, reaches us from the press of Mr. William Thompson, Augusta, Georgia. We gather from the preface that it was originally published as a prize tale in the 'Augusta Mirror,' and that it is the first literary effort of Miss M. E. Moragne, of South Carolina. We have perused 'The Partizan' with a ​good degree of gratification, and pronounce it, as the production of a young and inexperienced writer, highly creditable to her talents. Her descriptions of scenery and limnings of character are spirited and natural, and she has an eye for unforced dramatic effects, in the disposition of her incidents, which are mainly drawn from history and real life. We commend the little book, therefore, to our readers, for many positive as well as negative merits, and as better worth perusal than one half of the republications of trans-atlantic fictions, the labors of small minds, and written by the score for the London market.
New Journals, Magazines, etc.—A new daily journal, of the penny class, has recently appeared, under the editorial direction of Mr. H. Hastings Weld, entitled 'The Morning Dispatch.' It is a well-filled and beautifully printed sheet, worth at least four times its price, not less on account of the quality than the quantity of its original and selected matter. 'Colman's Monthly Miscellany' is the title of a periodical, which is announced to appear in June. Mr. Colman will be aided in the direction of the work, by Messrs. William Cutter and Grenville Mellen, both of Maine. Our readers will remember a pleasant poem by the first-named gentleman, entitled 'The Tell-tale Face,' which appeared a few months since in the Knickerbocker, and they will deem it sufficient assurance, that the writer lacks neither taste nor talent. Mr. Mellen has been long before the public as a writer, and his poetry is well known. The work will be vended, by the single number, at fifty cents each; yearly subscription, six dollars.
'The Western Tourist.—This is an excellent work in its kind, which has recently been issued by Mr. J. H. Colton, Broadway. Its title-page will indicate its merits to the reader: 'The Western Tourist and Emigrants' Guide, with a compendious Gazetteer of the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and the Territories of Wisconsin and Iowa, being an accurate and concise description of each state, territory, and county, and an alphabetical arrangement of every city, town, post-office, village, or hamlet; the county in which they are situated, their distance from the capital of the state, and from Washington city; describing, also, all the principal stage-routes, canals, rail-roads, and the distances between the towns. Accompanied with a correct map, showing the lines of the United States' surveys. By J. Calvin Smith.'
The American Joe Miller, is a collection of two hundred and nineteen pages of original American facetiæ, gleaned from the periodicals and journals of the day, and issued from the press of Messrs. Carey and Hart. There is a good degree of humor in the volume. We could not help observing, that the fragments of Philadelphia origin have due credit, while the sources of those from other regions are less generally indicated. Something less than a dozen are taken from this department of the Knickerbocker, and all without acknowledgment of any kind. There is credit given, indeed, in one instance, to an extract from another quarter, an anecdote of Ollapod's; but the interpolations and alterations which have been volunteered in it, make the exception an aggravation of the first-named offence.
The Poetic Wreath.—This neat volume deserves commendation, both in respect of its contents and its garb. It consists of select passages from the works of English poets, from Chaucer to Wordsworth, alphabetically arranged. The selections are made with taste, and evince feeling in the compiler, who has wisely shunned that vague, airy nothingness, which the men who write, perhaps, call poetry, but which has nothing of inspiration or of heart about it. The book is from the press of Lea and Blanchard, who have also just issued an English novel, in two volumes, entitled Horace Vernon, or Fashionable Life, which opens well, but which we have not perused as yet, for deliberate judgment.
​'The Layman's Legacy.'—This is a well-printed volume, of four hundred pages, from the press of Mr. P. Price, Fulton-street, and contains 'twenty-five sermons, on important subjects, by Henry Fitz.' It will be admitted, even by those who oppose his doctrines, that the style of the author is clear and vigorous, and that he writes with fearlessness and candor. 'Having shown no respect for the errors of others,' he says, 'equal justice demands that no respect shall be shown to mine. If I have offered error under the garb of truth, strip the monster, and show him in his true colors. No one can rejoice more than myself at such an exposure.' A portrait of the author forms the frontispiece of the volume.
Explanatory.—It has been rendered proper, we may suppose, indeed, important, for us to state, that the elegiac stanzas in our March number, from the pen of D. D. Barnard, Esq., of Albany, were sent us by a personal friend of the writer; himself a poet, and a very model of care and correctness; who assured us, in an accompanying note, that they were faithfully transcribed from the original copy, which we were left to infer was a recent production. It is scarcely necessary to say, that the lines were wholly unsolicited. We have little inclination, and less occasion, to mendicant poetical contributions, of a kindred stamp, from any quarter. It remains, therefore, but to affirm, that the stanzas in question were printed verbatim from the signally legible MS. of our correspondent; if we except, in a few of the earlier impressions of a large edition, a typographical error of a single letter, in one short word, made in correcting the final revise, after the proof-sheet had passed from the hands of the editor; an error, it should be added, so palpably accidental, that any reader, of common sense, could not fail to detect and correct it, in a moment. Since the foregoing was in type, we have been authorized to state, that the lines referred to, were copied without the slightest alteration or omission, of any kind, from the author's Ms.
To Correspondents, Literary and Private.—We must crave the indulgence of many correspondents, several of them, as they are well aware, favorites with us, and with our readers. Previous arrangement, an aim at variety and contrast, with unexpected circumstances often, known only to the editor, serve to retard the publication of articles which have been gladly accepted. Our private correspondents, likewise, must bear with us yet a little. We have found it impossible, owing to most pressing avocations, as well as temporary illness, to answer a moiety of the letters, some from old and highly-valued friends, which we have received during the last two months.
General Woodhull.—Those of our readers who are interested in the story of our revolution, will receive with pleasure an exculpation of one of its heroes and martyrs from a serious charge, which had its origin in misapprehension, and not injustice. We have been shown a letter from Chief Justice Marshall, upon whose testimony the accusation in question was based—namely, neglect in guarding the Bedford Road, at the battle of Long Island—wherein the distinguished author of the Life of Washington expresses his sincere regret that he had been led into error in a matter of so much importance. This letter, with relevant matters of interest, will appear in the Knickerbocker for June.
The Engraving, executed on steel, which accompanies the present number, will not escape the attention, nor fail, as we think, to elicit the admiration, of the reader. The artists, to whose skill must be awarded the praise due to its production, are too well known to require praise at our hands. Although we do not promise, yet we have great pleasure in giving, such specimens of art to our readers; even while we rely upon excellence in other and more important respects, to maintain and enhance the reputation of the Knickerbocker.
⁂ Brief notices of the following works, although in type, are necessarily omitted: 'The Virginia Lyceum,' 'Coghlan's Latin Grammar,' 'Percy,' 'Gems from the Mount,' 'Dictionary of the Church,' 'The Cabinet Minister,' 'Paschal Bruno,' 'Combe's Lectures,' 'Idler in Italy,' etc.