The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-07-12 00:00:00

reversed it.

Alfred the Great : His Life and Anglo-Saxon Works.
London : Henry G. Bohn.

The history of this volume possesses an interest,
from the circumstances under which its execution
was undertaken and achieved, and from the fact
that to a foreigner we owe this tribute to the worth
of the greatest of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers.
Dr. R. Pauli, a German, conceived the plan of the
work at Oxford, in the November of the eventful
year 1848, at a time when German hearts were
trembling for the safety of their fatherland. A
daily visit to the Old Bodleian Library was resorted
to by Dr. Pauli, as the best means of dissipating
the gloomy thoughts engendered by the news from
his beloved country; and it was in the midst of
these that he studied, as a starting-point in English
history, the struggles and victories of Alfred of the
West Saxons. Not, however, till two years had
intervened did the work appear ; and although it
was written by a German, and for Germans, we
believe that the present translation by Mr. Thorpe
is well warranted. Tho ctylo of Oho book io oacy,
fluent, and graceful. We may be disposed to find
fault occasionally with the critical part of the work,
but there the author, probably, did not satisfy him-
self. To Dr. Pauli we owe a deep debt of gratitude
for the justice he has done our greatest king, and
for the sincere love with which he has evidently
entered upon the task of placing Alfred's life before
his countrymen.
The publisher has appended to the life one of
Alfred's greatest works—his version of Orosius,
with a literal English translation, and an Anglo-
Saxon alphabet and glossary. Believing, as we do,
that the students of England are not sufficiently
directed to drink at the pure " well of Saxon unde-
filed,"—and that the study of Saxon is quite as
necessary as the study of Latin to him who would
write the English language with propriety and
strength,—we cordially thank Mr. Bohn for the
present re-publication of Orosius, the work of our
great West-Saxon monarch, which most loudly
called for a new edition, not only on account of its
scarcity and cost, but also because of the glaring
inaccuracies, both in the text and the translation,
of the only existing edition, that published in 1823
by the Hon. Daines Barrington.

The Tranderer, by A. Fesca.—Oh! would I were yon
silver moonbeam, by Redwitz.—" Die Throne,"
by G. Hazel. London : Cramer, Beale, and Co.
Three songs from the German adapted to the
English version, and constituting a very attractive
auxiliary to our vocal literature.

Stella Polka—Stella Waltz. London : Jullien.

Two contributions to modern dance music by
Charles Henry Compton, a young composer, who
not only displays considerable genius, but gives
goodly promise of future excellence. The Polka is
sweetly pretty, and the time well marked for
dancing, and the Waltz contains some charming
passages which cannot fail to render it a favourite.

L'Art du Chant applique au Piano. London :
Cramer, Beale, and Co.

A series of twelve pieces, consisting of airs from
various operas by eminent composers, arranged by
the celebrated Thalberg, whose name is a sufficient
recommendation of its merits, and forming delightful
exercises for the piano-forte. It contains composi-
tions by Weber, Beethoven, Mozart, Bellini, Mer-
cadante, Meyerbeer, Rossini, &c., and the prevail-
ing feature lies in the vocal part, of which the
notes are printed larger than those of the accom-
paniment, in order to be more readily distinguish-
able, so that the performer may strike them clearly
and distinctly. This series will be welcomed by all
lovers of good music as a really invaluable addition
to their repertory, and at the same time be of
eminent service to the student.