The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-01-20 00:00:00

rt VII.,

to notice our
that could not come in, in exact chronological order. But
the History of the town is completed, and brought down
to so recent a period as the Queen's visit in October last.
We beg to congratulate Mr. Baines on the success with
which he has performed the task, thus far, which he un-
dertook ; and to the successful completion of which his
very name was a favourable omen. He will excuse us
for requesting that at the end of Part VIII. there may be
a copious alphabetical Index, referring to all the matter in
the volume. It will add materially to the intrinsic excel-

.tions, anc

other matter

lence of the work,
arrangement of it is

nd to its practical usefulness. The
oublesome, but the labour is mecha-

finical, and could readily be completed by another hand

Among the INCOMPLETE PUBLICATIONS, the first that
No. I. of Scripture Readings by Dr.
are taken from the Old Testament,

fOTtleti to band

Cumming

and form a

sort of running commentary on the chapters

read at the

Scottish Ch

he officiates. If con-

tinued regularly throuell, ti

y will form a brief and inte-

resting c,

ntary on a book or on several books ; if

they take up the lessons read in the Established Chu'rch
simply or inclusively, they will be useful to a larger circle
of readers ; but if they are sketches of chapters here and
• there at random, they will be of comparatively little use.
—Nos. I. and H. of Mervyn Clitheroe are before us, the
commencement of a new novel by Harrison Ainsworth.
It is in the usual style of the novels which aro issued in
numbers, exciting and captivating ; with two extravagant
etchings in each number.—Lewis Arundel, by Frank Fair-
legh, has reached No. XIV., though how far that may be
from the close it is impossible to say. It contains several
passages of much interest, and the usual ability shewn in
his previous works.—The Daltons, by Lever, appears to
be deficient in matter, having only 22 pages in No. XXI.
It is in the author's usual style and manner, and the etch-
ings are executed with rather more than the usual amount
of care.—The Country House No. 11., the " Piggery,"
(Charles Knight,) follows the " Poultry Yard," which
was the first of the series. We do not know much about
swine, but the information is full, and apparently collected
and arranged with great care. Apropos, we took the

previous number to our country quarters, where poultry
are well understood ; and the writer would have been
much gratified by the comments elicited from those who
are judges.—Knight's Pictorial Shakspere, No. xxviii.,
Henry VI. Part 3, and No. xxix., King Richard 111., re-
quires no comment, except that we have examined the
printing and woodcuts with care, and find no deterioration.—
The Companion Shakspere is a new issue, and commences
with King John. The plan is to give the commentary
and notes, at the side, riot at the bottom. They
meet the eye almost like the marginal readings in a
Bible; and as the blank verse allows sufficient space on
the page, it is, if not an improvement, an interesting va-
riety. In addition to the annotations, a blank space is
occasionally filled up by a pretty little woodcut, so that it
is a sort of miniature pictorial edition.—The Half Hours
from English History, No. xxii., illustrate part of the
civil war period, and the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry
VIII. Of course Shakspeare and other well-known au-
thorities are drawn upon largely.—The Girlhood of
Shakspeare's Heroines approaches the close of the se-
ries ; the present is Viola the Twin. Mrs. Cowden
Clarke is a remarkable woman. Her Concordance to
Shakspeare is a monument of patient labour, such as few,
men or women, have ever reared ; so that perhaps we
look with a partial eye upon any production of her pen.

Of the ordinary SERIALS, the Home Circle, edited by
Pierce Egan, contains an interesting frontispiece, title, and
contents, with the usual amount of varied matter.—The
National Temperance Chronicle (Tweedie, Wellington-
street North, London), edited by a clergyman, is surely
the cheapest magazine in the world ; and what is more, it
is a thoroughly good one.—Hogq's Instructor contains a
portrait and biographical sketch of Neil Gow, the cele-
brated fiddler of nearly a hundred years ago, whose
" Farewell to Whiskey" is perhaps the best known of his
productions on this side of the Border. There is much
besides that is interesting, including the essay by our
friend Pcedeutes on " True Blue."—Chambers's Edin-
burgh Journal completes Vol. XVI.—We read Dickens's
Household Narrative as eagerly as any production of the
month, though we cannot always agree with the spirit
which the Editor infuses into his narratives. 'We admire
the order, and condensation, of which it is so remarkable
an example.—The Household Words are better known,
and the extra number for Christmas which this part con-
tains is worth the price of the whole.—We have received
No. I. of a New Medical Dictionary for the People, but
we cannot judge of an animal by merely looking at the
point of its nose.—The Protestant Magazine is interest.
ing, especially in these days of aggression and controversy.
Its table of contents is excellent, but we have not had lei-
sure to peruse the articles.—The Ladies' Own Book,
Part IX., is evidently not intended for us to read, as we
have not the honour to belong to that sex. We ventured
at a peep, however, and found an interesting print con-
taining numerous specimens of crotchet-work, as well as
woodcuts on the same interesting subject.—Lastly, Punch
for the month, which it is hardly necessary to notice, as
everybody has seen the numbers in their weekly issue.

The ALMANACS on our table are only a small portion
of those ordered ; but the rest will probably-come to hand
by and by. The Illustrated L Almanac we gave
away ; and when a • • ook becomes an interesting