The Evolution of a Wife.

The Evolution of a Wife, a Romance in Six Parts, by ELIZABETH HOLLAND.

The life-story of Marie de Hauteville, a young girl of n.o.ble Swiss family. It contains many charming pictures of Conventual and village life in the Bernese Oberland, with a strong love interest of the non-modern school. 398 pages, large crown 8vo, cloth, Second Edition, 6s.

"There is an extraordinary genius in 'The Evolution of a Wife.' In calm and masterful handling, searching insight, and bold imaginative outlook, this romance ranks among the finest first books of all the novelists. In the delicate manner of Flaubert, without comment, and with a powerful ma.s.sing of scenes, the auth.o.r.ess advances to her climax; and one lays down the book feeling that certain impressions will not efface themselves."--_Yorkshire Post._

"Marie is delightful, with her many lovers and the pathetic little vanities that make her innocence anything but insipid. She is absolutely realisable; and not she alone. The little Swiss town and its inhabitants live at once in the reader's eye."--_Sat.u.r.day Review._

"A remarkable story, alike in plot and character. It makes an impression that here and there reminds us of the art and the pa.s.sion of Charlotte Bronte's works."--_Scotsman._

The Pa.s.sion for Romance.

The Pa.s.sion for Romance. By EDGAR JEPSON, Author of "Sibyl Falcon."

Describes the remarkable love affairs of Lord Lisdor, a young and susceptible n.o.bleman of wealth and leisure. 378 pages, large crown 8vo, cloth, Second Edition, 6s.

"'The Pa.s.sion for Romance' is, at the least, recommended by that air of novelty so welcome to all, but to none more than to the professional novel-reader. The hero--the main feature of the story, as he has a right to be--is treated from a refreshingly new standpoint. He is a new sort of hero as well as a fresh specimen in individuals: neither villain, saint, nor martyr, but simply a possible human being with some strong characteristics. The vain quest and the yearning for fulfilment are told with delicacy of touch, some sense of humour, and absolutely without sickly sentiment or morbid pa.s.sion. Is not this enough to prove that we do not speak of the novel of the common or British type?"--_Athenaeum._

"It is a long time since we have had a new sensation in fiction. It has come at last. The author of 'The Pa.s.sion for Romance' is a novelist with a style that is distinguished, and--rarissimus inter raros--Mr. Edgar Jepson is also a writer who has something new to say. Apart from the literary merit of the work, there is the story; and to say that there is nothing in fiction with which that may be compared is to acknowledge at once its originality."--_Morning._

Saint Porth.

Saint Porth. The Wooing of Dolly Pentreath. By J. HENRY HARRIS. A homely tale of life and love in a Cornish village. 320 pages, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 6s.

"A Cornish tale of remarkable picturesqueness, altogether natural and touching, full of quaint pictures of a marvellously decorative people."--_Sat.u.r.day Review._

"Written with singular sympathy, earnestness, and gentle humour.

The scene is laid on the Cornish coast, and Mr. Harris paints for us the splendours of that gorgeous seascape in the manner of one who feels to the full its peculiar fascination, and to whom the character of the dwellers on its sh.o.r.e appeals with a familiar charm. The delicate and precious aroma of romance perfumes every page of 'Saint Porth,' and lends to this homely, unpretentious tale a value and an interest that are too often lacking in novels of a more ambitious scope."--_Speaker._

"Of the many efforts which writers have made during recent years to portray various phases of Cornish life, this, to our mind, represents one of the most successful."--_West Briton._

"However crowded the novel market may be, there is always room for such refreshing little idylls as 'Saint Porth'--a simple tale, simply told in delightfully breezy style."--_Birmingham Gazette._

Paradise Row.

Paradise Row, and some of its Inhabitants. By W. J. WINTLE. A series of powerfully painted sketches of North Country life. 240 pages, crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 3s. 6d.

"To adequately express the power and the pathos of these simply told sketches, is quite beyond the scope of a review, for they rouse all that is best and all that is most sacred in our common humanity, making us feel more than the grandest rhetoric could, the brotherhood of man. Some of the characters are real heroes, and one rises from the perusal of the book with a greater respect for the men who devote their lives to Christian work in the noisome dens of our populous places, and with a large hope for the ultimate redemption of mankind."--_North British Daily Mail._

"This is a volume of sketches of North Country life, very vigorously drawn, and full of pathos well relieved with humour. It shows throughout a large power of sympathy and great breadth of thought."--_Spectator._

"We commend this book as both literature and life. Those who wish to know how the poor live and love cannot do better than read 'Paradise Row.'"--_Methodist Times._

"The work of a deep thinker and a cultured writer."--_Black and White._

b.u.t.terfly Ballads.

b.u.t.terfly Ballads and Stories in Rhyme. By HELEN ATTERIDGE. With Sixty-five Ill.u.s.trations by GORDON BROWNE, LOUIS WAIN, H. R. MILLAR, and others. 142 pages, foolscap 4to, designed cover, cloth gilt, gilt edges, 3s. 6d.

"These real ballads are very clever indeed; we feel sure 'Ethelinda Gray' and 'The Boy that went to Sea' will live in the upper circles of juvenility for many a long day. 'The Doll's Dance' ought to be as widely read and as keenly appreciated as 'The b.u.t.terfly's Ball and the Gra.s.shopper's Feast,' which was the delight of the children of fifty years ago. The ill.u.s.trations are numerous and admirable."--_World._

"A delightful collection of stories in verse for little ones. It is exactly what it professes to be, and does not indulge in metaphysics for infants, and every little one who has the good fortune to have the volume given it will be happy for a long time."--_St. James's Gazette._

"'b.u.t.terfly Ballads' are by no means inappropriately named. They are light and bright, and go fluttering along easily. The ill.u.s.trations are specially clever; the dogs, the children, and the old folks are all full of character and spirit."--_Times._

"Will speedily be learned by heart, and repeated in the firelight to a breathless audience."--_Lady._

The English Stage.

The English Stage. Being an Account of the Victorian Drama, by AUGUSTIN FILON. Translated from the French by FREDERIC WHYTE, with an Introduction by HENRY ARTHUR JONES. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.

"This large and painstaking volume will certainly interest all who follow theatrical matters. We welcome it as an interesting and valuable record."--_Times._

"That the writings of that acute French critic, M. Filon, on 'The English Stage' have been creditably translated and published in this country, is a subject of congratulation. The completeness with which this observer in a foreign land has mastered his subject is surprising, and adds much force to the penetrating and suggestive criticisms with which the book abounds. Altogether the work, written as it is in spirited and captivating style, is one that can be perused with pleasure by all cla.s.ses of readers."--_Morning Post._

"One of the most entertaining, appreciative, discriminating, and instructive of recent books upon the English stage."--_New York Nation._

"No student of the theatre should miss reading 'The English Stage,'

and it should be bought, not borrowed from the library, for it is essentially a book to dip into again and again. It is full of interesting facts as to the recent history of the drama in this country."--_Black and White._

Verdi: Man and Musician.

Verdi: Man and Musician. His Biography, with Especial Reference to his English Experiences, by F. J. CROWEST, Author of "The Great Tone Poets."

With Photogravure Frontispiece of Verdi, and several full-page Portraits. The only recent and authoritative English Biography of the famous Composer. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.

"As the author of this highly interesting volume rightly says, Verdi bibliography, particularly that in England, is not extensive, but he has made an important addition, a book that should be read by all admirers of the Italian composer. It is enriched with several well-executed portraits, and is fully indexed."--_Athenaeum._

"A most interesting work. Did s.p.a.ce permit, we could quote at length from this delightful book; but as it is, we must leave it to the reader to pick and choose for himself."--_Weekly Sun._

"A book full of interest both to musicians and laymen, embellished with a speaking likeness of Verdi as a frontispiece. A distinct and valuable addition to the scant Verdi literature in this country."--_Manchester Courier._

"An excellently-written and faithfully-compiled history of the rise and progress of a great composer, studded with gems of anecdote, and teeming with an appreciation that will find an echo in the heart of every lover of opera who reads it."--_Birmingham Gazette._

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