The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-15 00:00:00

Ready for publication nn the 91st of March.
NATIONAL I L LUS TR ATE!) LIBRARY,
IY M'INTIILY VoLtnißS;
Ewen to contain Three IfLicidnd and Twenty Page!, and Silty

•
F.N.rasings.
PRICE LIALF-A-CROWN.—BE tUTIFULLY RUGS U.

TO THE READ'S° PUBLIC.

The age in which we livetv ementially of a reacryeaccharacter, and
the predominant principlr influencing all timers is a m tracd desire fur
cnu weal Cheapness. however, tetuo. hen found without excellence,
and hence thls propo•ithm to pudgy a delkiency At poise= eluting in
the popular literature of thin mono y.
For tome time pest the project•ee of he pr. rent undertaking have
felt interested in watching the result of an elotrintent rimultaneonsly
made by the Lydon, Edinburgh, and Dublin &ink Trades, and
having peen that cheap, and ccadonally indifferent literature, "got
up" in a most inferior trimmer, wit rill, they fri I soured that good
&Min selec•ed works, hiving the Additional advantage of
carious SLLt ..... too, being produced with the utrnont attention to
, general excellence, and punlislwd at the moderate price fined upon,
cannot fail to secure extensive patroarge trap the Reading Public.
This principle upon which they cat undertake to aupply good books
I at a low rate it that, being theinnelees the arrest. moo:etas, they

use enabled ;agave the public the c ■pence of all nermialh.tATS PROFIT.
As a practical esplaiat on of the aliove vitae, it in. the. doge, pro-
posed to publish, on thi. at of March nest, DIME SAMPLE
VOLUMES of the "NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY."
Thee votnnes old be wide.) different in character. in order that the
[tibiae may firm eUtlit idea oi tbe eat. nt and earb ty of the sr ries
generally. Afterwards, one volume will be issued monthly. Each
volume will timbale at least 3'o cm.wn leisvn imam, illustrated,
according to the requirements of the subject matter, by from 30 to
ISO il'.ustrations, and will hr strongly hound In o. namental cloth
board.. Thus, for thirty shill logs a year, in the course . f a abort
period, a library of great eat, nt and littered miy be formed, which
shall furnish materials fur inixruction and lIIROCMCIII during the
course of a lone life.
The chief advantages which this aeries of works will present over
all others -m re especial.y the closely prayed double column editions.
and the taw-fashioned, though equally otketiom.ble. shilling books,
senh their numerous errors, thin paper, and flimsy binding—are the
following :-
1 I. A carefull Reched Teat.
2. Judirioua F.aplan dory Foot-Note...
3. Engravings really i lietrating the Text.

11: A anillegibATyp!...,

S. Good Piper .al Pt iVing.
6. Strong and neat Binding.
A portion of the w mita hearted to be published under the title of
the "NATIONAL 11.I.V.TRATKI. 1.111.111 r" wilt 0111,111 t of carefully
edited reprints of such writers as pr. sent a trot vitality in their
Paltsw. irritating net ny of throe crest wa.terltiecrs of the human
mind, which, having survived twyond the generation for which they
were written, are now univi pally recognised as worthy to flourish so
long as the Snglish I. slather, and an at:go:UW.2nm with
which is inditirwrably necassary to all who pretend to a Lute for

English literature.
lite a. ties sill also comprise original woke, eaperislly written by
competent authors, upon a Isubjects of genital interest, extending to
those arising out of political movi-ments, or from social advancement,
which vai trryptently engrosa th•• notional attention. These latter
topics will be promptly beide(' ut that the purchasers of this Library
may be placed at • nee on a level with those who devote themselves to
the gathering such information In Watling the series, there will be
no formal ritourement ; but volumes 111 general literature, history,
biography, travels popul a rejoice, and fiction will follow each other;
the wh ,le comprising ouch a v..rie•y of Illuetrated Work. eyeball form
a complete and commodious Library for the lle cling Public.
Maury among those to whom this pro opeclus Is adtlresseri mast have
obeened that one great feature of the present period is the ousiveyance
of instruction by appe ding to the eye. It will be readily understood
that whole pages of irnrsat lye and Ins abstruse ,le,wliption* may be
condensed into an illustration to be comprehended at a gleam. Pte-
tares fix indelibly on the mind cireuto-hincre that might otherwise
escape the memory; and a Lvelin sy of attention is thus excited. and
a relief efforded to the mental revalues which ism agreeable to adults
rto children. There can be no doubt that the pencil re dettined for
the future to perform or or minent a part in our popular literature as
the pen, or that the difl4tion of knowle.lite has already been greatly
sagrneired by its powers.
If it be thought that the foregoing profeotions are too diffuse and
Sou difficult df accomplishment, it may be said teat the itresest i,iea
is strictly in accordance with the operation of the general progress of
literature, since it will be found that every generation has hail ate
want, similarly invented for. The present unit risking, however, is
wider in mope, more profound it- A.M. And more profane of its
embellishments, illustrations, and edultur, than any former pe.jrnt,
and la strictly in accordance with the antarirot progress that hos been
made in every deturtment of literature amt urn, mat taro mechanical
development*, durum the lard tomtit ..f this half-century.
Is carrying out their undertaking It will be the endeavour of the
moist:tore to bestow upon halt crown volumes for the many the same
typographical accuracy, and the same artistic elide y, hitherto almost
eselmively dyvotml W high-pt iced hoot.* tor the leer. Supported by
the tio.operation of the roolina public, no lain. will be soared to
provide every English home watt a complete treasury of knowledge
and mt., rtoinmeut in the volumes of the NA I ZONAL ILLUSTRATED
LIBRARY. . . .

Three specimen volumes will be publ.shed on the net March neat;
each vol. to ice 2e. Gd.
Odice, 199, Ntrand, Landon.

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