The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-11 00:00:00

ILLUSTRATED GIeT BOOKS.

(SECOND NOTICE.)
The Atlantic Telegraph. By W. H. Russell,
LL.D. ; illustrated by Robert Dudley. (Day and
Son, Limited.)—A magnificent commemoration is
here made of a very wonderful enterprise. An en-
terprise the hair-breadth failure of which is beyond
a thousand of the successes recorded in the History
of Science—and for this reason that it was a failure
auguring the all but certainty of eventual triumph
in the accomplishment of one of the most daring
undertakings ever adventured upon by civilised
man. " One touch of Nature makes the whole
world kin," said Shakspere. And in the flash
of the electric current we actually have the axiom
of the great Poet very wondrously realized and
magically illustrated. For, there, literally, is one
touch of nature that, in the twinkling of an eye, can
make, has made, is daily, hourly, momentarily
making, the whole world kin! Across continents—
under the depths of the ocean—along the fibrous
thread of a copper wire—at the thrill of an acid—
at the click of a needle—men, separated from each
other by the intervening distance of many thousands
of miles, converse with one another at pleasure by
that one touch of nature, vouchsafed to them through
the marvellous agency of the Electric Telegraph !
Among all the astounding wonders worked by the
agency of science, those embraced under the sugges-
tive title of Submarine Telegraphy are incom-
parably the most surprising in their character,
are the most completely captivating to the im-
agination of the civilised multitude. First and
foremost among the victories achieved 'by the pro-
moters of Submarine Telegraphy being, beyond all
possibEity of contradiction, that achieved in the
successful laying down of the Atlantic Cable be-
tween Europe and America, between Ireland and

Newfoundland ! For, let it never be forgotten that
the Miracle of that astonishing Victory of Science
has actually been accomplished ! It does not yet
remain to be accomplished for the first time—it has
absolutely been accomplished. Communications
have passed under the depths of the Atlantic
from Shore to Shore, to and fro, audibly in
the click of the needles, visibly in their
rapid deflections to the right hand and to the
left. The President of America and the Queen
of England have exchanged courtesies and assur-
ances of amity through this novel medium of com-
munication. And, although the channel of inter-
course thus marvellously opened for a while be-
tween the old world and the new was but sustained
for a very brief time intact—that channel, no matter
for how short an interval, has been opened. Along it
from shore to shore, from east to west, from west to
east, that most wondrous Touch of Nature has made
the Whole World Kin—will yet once more make it
kin anew, and the next time permanently, with
God's good blessing on man's resolute perseverance!
Another and a giant step towards that end is here
recorded with a luminous pen by the most gifted
and renowned of all Newspaper Correspondents !
By him whom we remember to have dubbed
in these columns of The Sun " CAPTAIN PEN," when
he was first making his reputation as The Times'
Military Correspondent out in the Crimea. Dr.
William Henry Russell has often before now written
of great events in a manner worthy of them, has
written of them nobly, graphically, eloquently, as
befitted the hand of CAPTAIN PEN in propria persona
—but he has never written more nobly, more
graphically, or more eloquently as the recorder of
Great Events than he has here done when recount-
ing the history of the last endeavour to lay the
gigantic cable of the Atlantic Telegraph.
Reading it, we cannot but most earnestly trust and
pray that the man who wrote this history of the all
but successful achievment of that greater enterprise is
yet destined, within a very few months more, to wit-
ness with his own eyes and to record with his own
hand, the triumphant accomplishment of what has
twice been adventured upon with such magnificent
audacity. That that deed will yet be done, and done
securely, we cannot but rest perfectly well assured.
Its accomplishment is simply a question of time.
If any doubts had still lingered in our mind upon
the matter before Dr.
.Russell's book was issued
from the press, those doubts, thanks to this
book, Dr. Russell has completely dissipated. The
narrative penned by him is, as a matter of
course, the dominant charm, attraction, and
glory of the volume. But the written narrative
itself so intrinsically alluring to the reader will be
found by him to have been enhanced in interest and
fascination by the adornments lavished upon it in
the issue of the work in the form cf this splendid
volume by the combined assistance of the subsidiary
arts.of the illustrator, the lithographer, the typo-
grapher, the paper manufacturer, and the very
bookbinder. It is a book worthy of its theme and
of its author—a gift-book not unworthy of the
timbre affixed to it as another of the splendid
volumes emanating from the Messrs. Day and Son's
establishment.

"Esop's Fables. Illustrated with One Hundred
and Ten Engravings. (Frederick Warne and Co.)—
In the mere getting of it up this little volume could
hardly have been rendered more charmingly at-
tractive than it has been by the combined ingenuity
of printer, bookbinder, and embellisher. As to the
letterpress contents of the book, however, we can
only regret that less pains had been taken. We
mean in the touching of it up, so as to " point the
moral," if not also to " adorn the tale," of each
successive fable. If only these " Fables of lEsop "
had been translated literally, verbatim et literatim,
nothing added, nothing modified ! Instead of
which, we must needs have the suggestiveness of
the little narratives utterly spoilt in some instances,
very considerably marred in others, byobeing com-
mented upon, or morally enforced in their applica-
tion, and all this, as it certainly appears to us, most
unnecessarily. It is as if the editor of the volume, while
recognising in the immortal Fables of the greatest
as well as the oldest of the Fabulists—that wise and
witty l'Esop who was the precursor of our more
modern Gays and Lafontaines—that the editor, we
say, while recognising in these world-famous " Fables
of Esop " so many Wise Saws, must needs take it
into his head that they would be comparatively
worthless unless very pointedly applied, or enforced;
by the tacking to them so many Modern Instances.
We regret the superfluous labour thus devoted to
the literary adornment of the present volume, be-
cause we cannot but see in it as a whole one of the
loveliest editions of 2Esop for a long while given to
the world—the loveliest edition of all in a form
so popular and accessible. Beast and bird, and fish
and reptile—symbolised externally in the four cor-
ners of the binding—lion, dove, eel, lizard, horse
and ass, wolf and lamb, frog and ox, dog and
cat, snake and peacock, ape and fox, here they
all are vividly brought before us in the prettiest
little vignette wood-cut embellishments—croaking,
quacking, hissing, bellowing, warbling, bleeting,
roaring, twittering, cooing, screeching, lowing, gib-
bering, neighing, barking, purring the wit and wis-
dom, breathed to all time, to all countries, to all
generations through their wonderful Imaginary
Conversations ! Upon the whole, this charming
Illustrated Edition of isop's Fables command—in
spite of the exceptions to it we have here felt con-
strained to take almost in spite of ourselves—our
heartiest admiration, constituting, as it does, as ele-
gant an epitome as could reasonably be wished of
the sage and shrewd imaginings of the world's most
renowned and cherished Fabulist.

Illustrated Book of Trades. (George Routledge
and Sons.)--Having examined very carefully the
whole of this goodly volume, we hesitate not one
instant to pronounce it, in our opinion, the most
instructive and entertaining " Book of Trades" ever
published. Through its pages we take a survey, a
rapid but by no means a superficial survey, of the
industrial labours of the great warkers in the hive
of modern civilisation: Turning over its pictured
leaves, we note successively the tools and occupa-
tions of—

"Butcher and baker
And candlestick-maker!"
One after another, we are introduced to all the

more important and essential toilers and moiler
in the workshops and factories of the world.
Besides such all-important personages as the Black-
smith and the Carpenter, as the Bricklayer and the
Farrier, and so forth—almost we had said, in the
words of the old nursery rhyme---

Tinker, Tailor,
Soldier, Sailor,
Apothecary, Ploughboy, Thief!

Only that the jemmy, the centre-bit, and the crow-
bar, familiar to the skilled hands and secretive
pockets of the Burglar or Housebreaker hardly, Of
course, fall within the category of the industries here
illustrated and explained for the delight of our more
inquiring youngsters. Hardly an adult amongst us,
however well instructed in regard to the varied occu-
pations of our working population, but might—net
without delight to himself—extend the range of his
knowledge by a glance through the " Book of
Trades," as those trades are herein revealed to us,
lucidly explained, and profusely illustrated.
Cervantes' Don Quixote. Illustrated. (George
Routledge and Sons).—Newly translated into Eng-
lish by Charles Jarvis, and very humorously illus-
trated by John Gilbert, the immortal masterpiece
of Cervantes Saavedra is here issued anew from the
press for the delight of all the lovers of extravagant
comicality and innocent irony who care, for half a
dozen shillings, to adorn their bookshelves with a
really exquisite version of one of the greatest works
in imaginative literature. Translated into all modern
languages, published in every conceivable form,
printed one while for the value of a mere song,
another while in an edition de luxe not unworthy Of
being swathed in silk, velvet and morocco, em-
blazoned with gold, and encrusted with
precious stones the history of Don Quixote
of La Mancha, has within the last three hun'
dred years achieved for itself a world-wide re'
nown and popularity. Among the most renowned
creations of the fancy in all literature are the gaunt
figure of the Don himself, the podgy form of his
almost yet more ridiculous Esquire, Sancho Faille
to wit, and the scarecrow anatomy of the Peerless
Knight's destrier Rosinante. Among the most well
known incidents in fiction, are such incidents as
those related of Don Quixote in regard to his
laughter-moving assault upon the Wine-skins, and
his equally laughter-moving battle with the Wind'
mills. The statuary and the painter in various ages
and in different countries have vied with each other
in realising, in regard to Don Quixote and his ad-
ventures, the breadth of their humour and the
height of their extravagance. But among all the
tributes that have thus abundantly been offered to
the genius of Cervantes, as that genius is mani-
fested in his immortal masterpiece, the most pre-
cious to his fame, as affording appreciable
guarantees for its perpetuity, are the popular,
cheap, and elegant reprints of Don Quixote, that
have of late years been following each other from
the press with such marvellous rapidity. Conspi'
cuously taking its place among the cheapest and
most elegant, as also, we doubt not that time Will
prove, among the most popular of these one-
volumed reprints, when it comes to be known/
is the one volumed edition here given to the public,
at what might almost be called a mere nominal
price, by a firm of popular publishers equally
well-known and appreciated as such, upon boa'
sides of the Atlantic.

Baron Munchausen's Adventures. Illustrated by
Gustave Dore. (Cassell, Petter, and Galpin).—S°
magnificent an edition of Baron Munchausen
believe has never before made its appearance. ill
its splendour and in its very dimensions it is upon
par with the Baron's own adventures. Dominie
Sampson, and no one else, might define it ad°'
qnately in a word—speaking of it (as it deserves to
be spoken of) as—•" Pro-digious !" It takes us back
to the almost forgotten age of folios and quartos.
It is, in the mere binding of it, glowing with gold and
clad in scarlet, Its own narrative, as we all knout,
is written currente calamo throughout. But the
author, whoever he was, has here at length found
his match in his illustrator—that indefatigable, ill'
exhaustible, bizarre, outra, wierd, fantastic, gro-
tesque of the pencil, M. Gustave Dore to wit. Who
killed Cock Robin ? is a query the answer to which
is much better known than that other far mere
problematic question as to Who wrote " Baron
Munchausen ?" Whoever he was he certainly
evidences such a marvellous capacity for pulling the
long bow, that he at least, if no one else could,
must surely have been able, had he taken it in hand'
to have bent the bow of Achilles as easily as though
it had been the merest willow-switch! Daudo niaY
have been matchless as an eater of oysters—but, 13
the author of " Baron Munchasen" there Ives!'
Crammer, if you will ! Surely in one sense w°
greatest Story-Teller in the world! A writer wh°
must, beyond any doubt of it, have drawn his 10'
guage—among all our lexicographers—not fr°lll
Johnson, or from Webster, or from Ogilvy, but
.
(exclusively) from—Walker I If only as synib°ll;
tally suggestive in the sound of it, his favourite
musical must certainly have been the bile;
If any wanderer over the earth ever came 1101'; I
again with what is called Travellers' Tales, he di"
If any voyager over the seas ever evinced a capsell
for spinning yarns, here was the man ! Such poi'
tentous mendacity the world has never witnessed 3:4
that which enables Baron Munchausen to take 11.,‘
stand, like a Colossus, upon the borderland betvreeP
the Sublime and the Ridiculous.

court
gi4 I
aim

HER MAJESTY•

• --411.-

OSBORNE, WednesdaP,o
The Queen, with Princess Hermann of Hohenboo
and Princess Leiningen, drove out yesterday in
carriage and four, attended by Colonel the Hon. A.
Hardin ge. . A
Princess Helena rode on horseback, aceompa,,nleP
by Prince Arthur and Prince Hermann' of Pr
henlohe.
eo
Prince Arthur, attended by Major Elphinst°lll„
returned to-day to the Ranger's House, Greenwich
park.

_
The Prince and Princess of Wes at
Holkham.

HOLKHAM, WednesdaPfa,
The efforts of the Earl of Leicester and his eint
cient staff of keepers to provide excellent sport 'v
the Prince of Wales, supplemented, as they weref,liiie
equally strenuous exertions on the part a v a
tenantry-, have been very successful, and such a ilee,
of game as there was yesterday morning in the Pre,
serves was never known at Holkham on anY Prfor
vious occasion. The shooting was arranged
Tuesday and Thursday ; and on Tuesday oin
when the sport was opened, only the exceeclinda
high wind militated against the sport, and tbil
course told against the statistics of the bag Bald
made up ; still the shooting was exceedinglY
The shooting party comprised his Royal Wt'
r,
ness the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Leices tbe
Major G. H. Grey, the Duke of Roxburghe' of
Marquis of Bowmont, Earl Spencer, the Ear
Dunmore, Lord Suffield, Viscount Powerscoui,,
Viscount Hamilton, M.P., lion. T. De Grey, 1‘,1;no.
lion. Edward Coke, Hon. Colonel Coke, "i;el
Captain Elphinstone, Admiral Sir Henry J.
J.
Sir Edward Kerrison, Captain Stephenson; bcori
Powell, and Mr. E. Tredcroft. After lane tbo
her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales;-,a(11
Countess of Leicester, Lady Anne Coke, '1,50
Gertrude Coke, the Countess of Morton, the Pile••
-Or
of Roxburghe, the Countess of Dunmore, tbo
countess Powerscourt, and Lady Suffiel
td join"
re t°'
royal and distinguished sportsmen in he eor
and remained until the close of the day. 15
S
The West Norfolk hounds will 'meet at --t0
tbst
Farm,. Burnham, on Friday, and it is expected rcs of
the visitors at Holkhani will join in the pleasll-
the chase.

ancl
His Excellency the Prussian Arnbassad°r, r
the Countess Bornstorff entertained.last evening at di'lltiTvea
the Lord Chancellor and Lady Cranworth, the .0.3;;i• 1,1
mCountess de Grey, the Right. Hon. Charles P. "iTiele,
Sir James and Lady Hogg and Miss Hogg, Mr' house
M.P., &c., at the 'Prussian Embassy on Carltonet
terrace. The Count and Countess Be'rustorff had 5 °lc
party after dinner