New-York tribune., 1869-05-24
srCFNT BEaLIsH LrTERATuRB.
,,1ov orR OWN ooRREsPoHDBNTi

LONDON April 2 lsoS-
NJ.ssrg Macmillan's list of books published oy
fbeir own house during March is very strong ohe'
Iincludes 25 separate works, of which some deserve
mueh fuller notice than shall attempt TO give
Them in letter The first the list Is Irving IN
.ols of Oay Times lS37-1SG9, book the ments OF
which every oth alist is sure to have discovered ior
himself before thu Those who want their lniolma-
on condensed aud easy of rapid reference are never
moro M n loss than when they have to search Tor the
facts of what is called contemporary history ~ is
distractng TO look through new spapel Mes ana tue
annual eycopedias are only too apt to omit the pre-
,ise foet or class of facts yoI want Mr.. Irving
had the happy idea of collecting adurnal OF events
Ioeial and political which have happened in or had
r,lation TO the kingdom of Great Britain from the
accession of Queen Victoria to the opening Of the
present Parliamentp The advantage which his
book has over the annual register kind of publication
h IN the number Of years covered in this single vol
ume while yet no variety of facts is excluded Those
matters which used to be reckOnod beneath the dig
nifty of history but which modern historians value,
Sle here to be had in profuson The history OF pop
ulDr movements of reforms of legislation, ana even
Of individuals. may be followed in these pages WIN
great convenience, and sometimes with surpi'si
results MIR Irving has given wide Interpretation
TO that part Of his title which seems to CONNIE i''9
chronicle to such matters as had relation 70 Ul,".
Britain In one sense or another most thlhgS thaU
occur in one country do have relation to the interests
of another. Turning over only It" pages @ nliu
for instance the resolution OF congress III io0''
against The recognition of foreign empire IN Mex
leo. the capture of Fort Pillow by Forrest VINO
massacres the greater portion OF lhe Ieueiu sa-
80 - tbo wilderness battles beginning May s, the
deatb of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Marshal PesSier,
She nominations of President Lincoln and of Gen.
Mcclellan the attack on Petersburg, ana so on Inc
perfornanoes of Blondn on tight rope at the Crys,
Ia Do1aa shp pp
Rtriple supplement- to The Times, dinner by the
fisbmonPeTs TO The Prince Of Wales, an lnuqdauonl
EtShehiCd, and the capture OF Mr. Jefferson DAVIS.
ave recorded with equal impartiaity There IS, ih-
deed no fact small or so great that the CURIOUS m
guTer may not hope 10 find 1t embaimed IN MI II IL
Wings volume. The work covers ~ closely printed
pages with so pages OF index added This, Willch
ought to be the best is the least satisfactory pa oi
the book. It's discrepancies may perhaps De snpPIeu
In forthcoming second edition, the trs5 having Deeh
exhausted a week OF two since ,
Wallace's The Malay Archiptlago in two vol
umes has been much praised, among others ny so
high an authority Sir John Lubbock VINO thlhHs i
ii tentitled TO rank among the best OF modern pooAa
Paigraves The House Of Commons is reprint Of
three lectures to- the Regate South Park NIrAInS
mems Club. Mr. PalRave has pIIacuc;al pI; EnSTu a. M
edge of his subject from ten }eals service IN me
Journal Office of the House. lie has dealt WIN ~ IN
spTactical way, describing in style perhaps i.tio
inrbat famous assembly its debates incidents IN us
history the functions and authority OF the cpeaker
the Reporters Gallery, and many othel matters
which n man is glad to have information about:
rood MANY preeedents will be fOund for doings
which have been supposed peculiar to that 0ihef
IInuse which meets not in London but in Washing
ton Filhbusterng, Tor instance, lle lhlhg, IL hoO
HE name-occasonal hOurshes. In 1T5l, 20 mem
bers compelled % divisions in q single session last
ing 70 hours, and IN 1859. nine voters against ~
insisted ON taking 1G divisions ON single stage 9l
the Copyright bill. On the other hand MI
PagraVe insists that self laUdauOu puls oil the ma
tion's glory, never hear; members are not prone
TO sound the praises Of the British Lion; they 90 nor
flourish the flag that braves the battle or offer to die
upon the altar OF the G0nsntutl0n.' is IIele any
place where they dOl When news reached England
ofthe assassination Of President Lincoln MEIaigaye
tells Us that during all that day DO one could l0ok
at the House and doubt, merely from ITS look, that
some terrible event had happened, so quieteG were
the footsteps overcast the face of every member
Ia what different mood the House more often Hnds
itself is shown by the declaration of OCOnncll that
he would not be put down by "beastly believing"
and of Mr.. Burke that he would not be silenced by
such " yelpmg," by the lI-treatment OIL palcei ol
In the same months list is included The House Of
Austria during The Thirty Years Da, being two re-
Inarkable lectures by 4. W. Ward, delivered at the
Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh. The OJUd
Spectator IS reprint OF seuts OF university papers
which had singular success as they first appeared,
and which sketch features OF Oxford ilte from an
undergraduates point OF view lhey nave an m
ambitious limitations which are sometimes presented
tOtbe public genuine samples. book which the
children All admired IN English. Ahc6S Adre"t"8 ~
WondeTlaRd has the unusual distinction Of appear
ing in a German dTeSs-Stlll from the same house.
The translation Of the Agricola and GeImania Of
Tacitus, by Messrs Church and Brodrbb, appears ln
new and cheaper edition, which ought 20 make this
very scholarly bit of work known as widely among
general readers as 1t is already by the select NJ.
GuizOt's ST. Louis and CdrH appears as the 9TH vol
ume of the Sunday Library. For people who think
good weekday books are not equally good Sunday
reading, this Library will supply want Tie
character Of the volumes which have already been
published is very far above the level Of
the common Sunday-schOOl literature which
fourisbes here and IN America-a kind
of literature which always seemed 10 me pcen-
harly fit for those solemn people whom Theodore
Parker used 10 describe suffering from
"Rg-pdiey.7 Sir Samuel Bakers Cast UD bg tie Seq
has reached a second edition. OF Mr. Dilke's GTtater
Britain the third thousand is selling, and II is
mark Of the difference between the book trades OF
England and America that a circulation OF two or
three thousand copies for book OF that character is
here reckOned great success The style and puce
OF publication are of course 10 be taken into ac-
connt. / believe the American reprint OF Gro1tT
Britain by LippincOtt is single volume, and sells
for two dollars. The original edition Is in two hand
some OctavOs illustrated and equipped with maps,
and sold for 2os., equal to about nine OF what you
call dollars in these days
As a lover of handsomely printed books have
pleasure in adding that Messrs. Macmilan's publca-
tions are always issued in tasteful style and are
often of great typographical beauty. There is,
think at this moment, 30 other house in London
which pays 50 much attention to the external ap-
peaTance of its works G. W. S.