JULY 16, 1866. Milton House, Ludgate Hill, London, January 1, 1866. ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CURRENT LITERATURE. SAMPSON LOW & CO. beg to call attention to the following works published by them, of especial value to persons interested in the purchase of English and American Books, at home or abroad: THE PUBLISHERS' CIRCULAR, AND GENERAL RECORD OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN LITERATURE; giving a Transcript of the Title-page, Number of Pages, Plates, Size, Price, and Publisher's Name of every Work published in Great Britain, and every Work of interest published abroad, with Lists of all the Publishing Houses. Published regularly on the 1st and 15th of every Month, and forwarded post-free to all parts of the world on payment of 8s. per annum. THE ENGLISH CATALOGUE OF BOOKS: giving the Date of Publication of every Book published from 1835 to 1863, in addition to the Title, Size, Price, and Publisher, in One Alphabet. An entirely New Work, combining the Copyrights of the "London Catalogue" and the "British Catalogue." One thick volume of 900 pages; half morocco, 45s. ** Supplements for the Years 1864 and 1865, uniform, continue this work to the present date, 3s. 6d. each. INDEX TO THE SUBJECTS OF BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM DURING TWENTY YEARS-1837-1857. Containing as many as 74,000 References, under subjects, so as to insure immediate reference to the books on the subject required, each giving Title, Price, Publisher, and Date. Two valuable Appendices are also given -A, containing full Lists of all Libraries, Collections, Series, and Miscellanies; and B; a List of Literary Societies, Printing Societies, and their Issues. 1 vol. royal 8vo.; morocco, £1 6s. Volume II., from 1857, in preparation. THE AMERICAN CATALOGUE; or, English GUIDE TO AMERICAN LITERATURE: giving the full Title of original Works published in the United States of America. With comprehensive Index. 8vo., 2s. 6d. Supplementary Lists sent regularly to purchasers of American books every month. THE HANDY-BOOK OF PATENT AND COPYRIGHT LAW, ENGLISH AND FOREIGN. By JAMES FRASER, Esq. Post 8vo.; cloth, 4s. 6d. A CONCISE SUMMARY OF THE LAW OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH COPYRIGHT LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW. BY PETER BURKE. 12mo., 5s. THE STATIONER AND FANCY TRADES REGISTER. A medium of Trade Communication and Advertising Circular for Stationers and Paper Makers, Printers and Bookbinders; Music, Toy, and Piano-forte Dealers and Manufacturers, and all persons interested in the Fancy Trades. Price 7s. per annum, post free. SAMPSON LOW & CO. undertake the selection and forwarding of New Books immediately on their publication, and can offer special facilities to Merchants, Shippers, and Booksellers abroad, in obtaining their orders promptly executed in Books, Maps, Stationery, Music, and other branches of the business. London: SAMPSON LOW, SON, & MARSTON, ENGLISH, AMERICAN, AND COLONIAL BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS, Milton House, Ludgate Hill. GEORGE W. CHILDS, PUBLISHER, Nos. 628 & 630, CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA. AGENTS IN EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE. TRÜBNER & CO., 60 Paternoster Row, London. F. A. BROCKHAUS, Leipsic. FREDERIC MÜLLER, Amsterdam. GUSTAVE BOSSANGE & CO., 25 Quai Voltaire, Paris ALBERT DETKEN, Naples. HENRY LEMMING, 9 Calle de la Paz, Madrid. GEO. N. DAVIS, 119 Rua Direita, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Agent for South America. A. ROMAN, San Francisco, California, Agent for the Pacific Coast. STEPHENS & CO., 10 Calle Mercaderes, Habana, Agents for the West Indies. Subscriptions or Advertisements for the "American Literary Gazette" will be received by the above Agents, and they will forward to the Editor any Books or Publications intended for notice. AUGUST 1, 1866. OUR CONTINENTAL CORRESPONDENCE. We have had an odd lawsuit brought by M. Méry, a well-known writer, for the recovery of an inkstand which was triply valuable: It was made of gold and silver; it was a masterpiece of Froment-Meurice; it was given him by "La Presse." As he tells all the circumstances of the case in a letter addressed to his lawyer, I cannot do better than lay it before you : 1 $405 (the $5 were for exchange), payable at La Vieille Montagne's office in the Rue Richer, M. de wrapped my inkstand in the first object he laid hands on; he likewise took a collection of very valuable jewels belonging to Henri Didier, and the latter's promissory note for $1,000, and he carried everything to M. G. This is the truth, neither more nor less. I have found a way of being astuter than everybody; it is by telling the truth always. Losses by gambling, which have been numerous in my life, have always had one good thing about them for me: they have made me, who was born a lazy fellow, an energetic worker. I would never have written one-quarter of my works but for gambling; so my readers are the only unhappy people. I set to work to write two novels for 'La Presse,' an immense play in five acts and in verse, Le Chariot d'Enfant' for the Odeon, and a comedy in three acts and in verse-Le Vrai Club des Femmes'-for the French Comedy, without including a daily feuilleton, which M. de Girardin asked me to write on my return to Paris. When my promissory note fell due in April, when nobody paid, not even the princes of finance, I paid my promissory note for $405, to the astonishment of the cashier of La Vieille Montagne. The truth was, I was very anxious to recover possession of my inkstand. I sent my paid promissory note to a mem ber of my family at Marseilles, and requested him to take possession of my inkstand. What was my stupefaction when I was told my inkstand, without. my knowledge and according to M. G's declaration, guaranteed a debt due him by M. de the agent of La Vieille Montagne! Then began a series of travels, visits, letters, protocols, meetings, and consultations which were to last seventeen years. Had I employed the time I have lost by these various incidents in writing, I should have earned four times M. de 's debt. But I would never agree to pay what I do not owe, and even now, could I get my inkstand by paying one single cent for it, I would refuse to give it; because it would be admitting an unjust claim. Shrinking as I always have done from a lawsuit, I began to hunt for M. de the only man who could be of service to me in this matter. M. de had disappeared. A deceived hope always succeeded to a new hope of finding him. M. Deforges, likewise one of the higher functionaries of the War Office, exhausted his kind feelings towards me in hunting for this eternally absent gentleman. All were in vain. M. Camoin de Vence tried to arrange matters amicably. M. G-persisted in his refusal. His brother spoke of a great many things which had nothing in the world to do with the question. M. Camoin de Vence ended the interview by shaking my hand and saying: 'You must find M. de · I again set to work to discover him. I have always been puzzled to solve a mystery which was as great as M. de -'s whereabouts. I said to myself: M. G— is worth $500,000 or $600,000. He has in his hands an object valueless to him. Were he to melt it, he would get only $40 from it. Would he sell it, he would find no purchaser, because my name is engraved on it. I have sworn upon my honor, had I Cræsus's fortune, I would not give one cent to recover possession of my pawn. M. de has probably died of his wounds in some foreign land. So what is the mystery which keeps this inkstand, which he can turn to no use, in the hands of the wealthy lender? At last, at the end of seventeen years, Providence intervened, nearly on the very eve of the trial of the cause. A letter fell from the sky to me, signed by M. de Tolle et lege, my dear defender. I have just seen poor M. de Quantum mutatus! He is the father of a "I am detained at Paris by inexorable duties. I have promised to give lectures at the Salle Valentino for the Literary Men's Society's Funds. In winter poor brethren must be aided. They do me the honor to think me useful for the work. I bow and obey. And M. Perrin, the manager of the opera, has asked me to write a book' for the illustrious author of Trovatore,' who has been good enough to accept me as a co-laborer. He is daily expected in Paris. You see these are serious obstacles which will prevent my going to Marseilles to attend to my lawsuit. In my long literary life I have a thousand times had the opportunity of bringing important lawsuits which I must unquestionably have won. I have invariably refused to move in the matter. One single time a co-laborer and friend dragged me into a contest before the Committee of Dramatic Authors, whose President was M. Melesville. Before this committee I madeit was a thing unprecedented-an argument in favor of my adversary, and I made him win his claim against me. My friend was for a long time angry with me for my defection, and the amount involved was no trifle; it was a large sum of money-copyright on a play which had run one hundred times. M. Melesville addressed me the most flattering compliments, and ordered this unprecedented event to be recorded in the proceedings of the society, and placed in its archives, Rue St. Marc 30. This inscription is to be found on the inkstand which the managers of 'La Presse' offered me in 1844: "The Managers of La Presse to M. Méry, in token of his talents and character. One values such a certificate. It is a small domestic monument. It should be recovered at once if any fatal circumstance wrests it from one's hands. We were in January 1848. I had the misfortune to lose at the Commercial Club, Marseilles, a large sum of money. I paid everything in cash except $400, which was a debt of honor payable the next day. The 24th February was nigh at hand. Money was scarce. 'Twas already scared. A young and brilliant officer, M. de had long been at Marseilles. His wounds had procured the Cross of the Legion of Honor for him, but they had likewise compelled him to retire from the army. He represented at Marseilles the famous zinc-mining company known as La Vieille Montagne, which has a great deal of business to do with M. G——. At the same epoch of time there was likewise at Marseilles a young man, one of my friends, Henri Dider, who is now a deputy and the possessor of a large fortune. He likewise required money. M. de said to us: I already owe a great deal of money to M. G, and I dare not ask him to lend me any more; but I can propose to him to lend money to you, if you will give him good security.' M. de saw M. G- at once, for there was no time to lose. The latter asked pawns and bills payable at short time. Neither M. Didier nor I saw M. G during the negotiations. I saw M. Gfor the first and last time in the office of M. Camoin de Vence, the crown advocate, some five or six years ago. I carried the inkstand given me by 'La Presse' in a hack to M. de- -'s lodgings. The pawnbroker had offered to lend me $40 on it. I wrote a promissory note for AUGUST 1, 1866. large family. He lives in a chamber of an un-nounces the publication of a great work by the furnished lodging-house. He is bedridden, and Emperor Maximilian, "My Life." This is a sort of ill with his wounds and misfortunes. He has re- literary fraud. The work is simply a cheap reprint cently been exposed to twenty-seven degrees below of the journals of the voyages made at different zero on the furthest banks of the Danube. He is times by the then Archduke Maximilian. They an old man, though only forty. M. G may are written in German, and form 9 vols. 8vo.; they therefore indulge in little hope of recovering his were printed at the Imperial Library of Vienna, and debt from this gentleman. He may obtain all in- never published. He gave them to members of his formation on this subject, Boulevard I family and some of his most intimate friends. The persist in my oath. M. G-may, therefore, keep Leipzig publisher has managed to get hold of a copy my inkstand in his possession forever if, which is of these volumes. They are published with the a thing impossible, I should lose my suit. There author's name, and it is said against the Emperor's is a third mystery which I submit to your sagacity, wishes. . The municipal authorities of Vienne my dear lawyer. M. G had in his possession a (Isère County) have determined to present a silver great many valuable jewels which were the pledge vase to M. Ponsard, who lives in the neighborhood to secure Henri Didier's debt of $1,000. Why did of that town. The vase has just been made by one M. G- restore to M. Didier the jewels which had of our most skilful silversmiths. The bowl of the no name, and keep my inkstand which bears my vase is supported by a sort of antique tripod, and name and has no intrinsic value? There is no 'be- is surrounded by figures which represent "Lucrèce," cause' to this 'why.' Both of our transactions Agnes de Meranie," "Ulysse," and other works of were conducted on the same day, at the same hour, M. Ponsard. A few days ago a vintner's wife and through the agency of M. de Whatever appeared as a witness at the bar of one of our this epistolary argument may lack you will find in courts, and upon being asked her name declared your heart; it will be the victorious supplement. herself Mme. Durand, by birth Alexandrine de BruTake care to secure good luck in his native city to lard de Genlis. In reply to a question put by the the writer who, alone of all Marseillais' Parisians, court, she said she was a descendant of Mme. de has for forty years always spoken in a filial manner Genlis. The Duchess d'Abrantes' daughter is a of Marseilles. Yours, etc. MERY." mantua-maker. M. Thiers' sister keeps a boarding-house. I add to this letter M. Méry gained his suit. The court ordered the inkstand to be returned to him within fifteen days under pain of $1200 damages, Here is a letter addressed by M. Victor Hugo to M. Lacaussade, who recently published a critical article in the "Revue Française" on M. Hugo considered as a poet : 66 It is stated the French Government contemplate sending a scientific expedition to Armenia. The Venerable M. Dulaurier has been offered the command of the expedition, and it is said he will accept it despite his great age, delicate health, and weak eyes, and, I may add, despite the fact that this dis"SIR: I knew and I highly appreciated the poet de Hell their lives. The expedition will be absent tant and perilous voyage cost Schultz and Hommaire in you. You reveal the critic to me. Oue is worthy of the other. One feels in what you write you Persian Armenia, will repair to Jerusalem to study a year, and after exploring Russian, Turkish, and have practised the great art. I have just read your the numerous interesting MSS. contained in St. admirable and profound essay on my poetical works. I disagree with you on more than one point; but I James' Convent. New regulations have been am charmed, touched, and at times stirred to ra- sive system of thieving and laceration of volumes adopted at the Imperial Library to check the extenvishment by the many lofty qualities of philosopher and artist displayed by you in these few pages. the outskirts of Paris, and nineteen books belongcarried on there. A man died recently in one of You have two great qualities without which no mind is complete. I mean contemporary sentiment ing to the library were found in his possession. and eternal taste. You understand the nineteenth During last December fifty volumes are known to century, and you understand the ideal. Hence your more cannot be discovered yet. Volumes four times have been stolen from the library, and how many power as a critic, your penetration as an artist, People nowadays talk a great deal of taste, and stolen have been four times purchased and placed those who talk of it most are those who have least in the library, and after all have been stolen again. of it. They are engrossed by a local and ephemeral given out to the public in the reading-room of the be interesting to note the number of volumes They cannot appreciate what I have just called library. Fewer books are given out on Saturdays eternal taste. Therefore in the name of Boileau than any other days; for instance, Saturday, 26th they emasculate Horace, and in the name of Racine May, 562 books were given out; Friday, 25th, 673; they deny Eschylus. To bring back literature from this false taste to the true taste which goes from Aristophanes to Shakspeare, and from Dante to Molière, is the office of a mind like yours. Who says office, says mission; who says mission, says duty. Continue your great work to advance the ideal. I thank you for myself, and applaud you for taste, the French taste of the seventeenth century. all. VICTOR HUGO." It may Monday, 21st, 662. These are the new regulations: write his name and address; on this ticket the libraEach visitor receives a ticket on which he must rian writes the title of all the works given to him, librarian writes the title, number, and size of the and he effaces them as the works are returned; the volumes delivered; but before the visitor can get a single volume, he must write on another ticket (one for each work wanted) the name of the author, the title, place, and date of publication, and size of the work, and the name and address of the visitor. When the latter receives the works, the librarian copies the second on the first ticket. When the visitor has completed his investigations he carries the volumes back to the librarian, who stamps the first ticket "returned." On leaving the room the first ticket is surrendered to the janitor. This system is entirely too complicated. martine has begun to write his Memoirs; they will form twelve volumes, and be published three at a M. de La AUGUST 1, 1866. Do printed in a neat form, on card paper, and in plain type; and are arranged in such a manner, that any one may, at a glance, discover the particular item upon which he wishes to be informed. CALLAGHAN & CUTLER, publishers, Chicago, Ill., announce as in press and nearly ready, a "Treatise on the Mechanics' Lien Law in the United States," by Louis Houck, Counsellor at Law. time; he will be his own publisher.... M. Victor Hugo's publishers, MM. Lacroix & Verboeckhoven, retire from trade the 1st July with filled pockets; it is said they have cleared, from the more recent works of M. Victor Hugo alone, no less than $360,000. M. Poupart Davyl, the printer, has purchased their good-will, and contracts with authors. He is already in negotiation with M. Victor Hugo for a novel in ten vols., just completed, and entitled " Ninety"THE Great Exodus, or Annals of the Freedmen," Three." M. Hugo asks $100,000 for it. is the title of a work by Rev. Thomas W. Conway, you remember the laugh excellent Mr. G. P. Put-late Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bunam raised when, among various particulars of his experience as a publisher, he told how a young fel-reau in Louisiana, to be published in Boston by Gould & Lincoln. Mr. Conway was connected with low wished $1000 for a poem in a few stanzas? MM. the army from the outbreak of the war to its close, Firmin Didot & Co. complain this week of young and in this work has essayed to give a complete authors' wild hopes. They frequently receive stories which are worth at most $10, and for which the history of that feature of the government policy which related exclusively to the emancipation of authors ask $4000 by return mail. the slaves. He quotes the opinions of other Commissioners of the Freedmen's Bureau, and of all the NOTES ON BOOKS AND BOOKSELLERS. G. S. military commanders who interested themselves in the advancement of emancipation. THE first number of a new Anthropological Jour HURD & HOUGHTON have secured the plates of the various belles-lettres, writings of Hon. John P. Kennedy, and have just issued a new edition of them in six volumes, uniform and in good style.nal, in quarto, edited by A. Ecker and L. LindenMr. Kennedy is one of the standard American writers, and his books have been some time out of print. The set includes Mr. Kennedy's very spirited and popular. Revolutionary novel "Horseshoe Robinson;" his well-known "Life of William Wirt;" "Rob of the Bowl;" "Swallow Barn;" and "Annals of Quodlibet." PEASE & PRENTICE, 82 State Street, Albany, N. Y., have issued "The Early Jesuit Missions in North America, compiled and translated from the letters of the French Jesuits, with Notes. Illustrated with the map of North America prepared by them. By the Right Rev. Wm. Ingraham Kip, D. D., Bishop of California, Honorary Member N. Y. Historical Society." In the notice prefixed to the volume, the publishers say: "This work was first published in 1845. It was the first time this chapter of history had been placed before the public in this country, and it met with a hearty reception. Having been out of print for many years, the publishers think they are performing an acceptable service to the public in issuing this new edition." The volume is a small quarto, and exhibits in a marked degree those mechanical excellences for which the press of Mr. Munsell, of Albany, is so justly distinguished. An index accompanies, the volume. CLARKE & Co., of Chicago, have announced that the "History of Abraham Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery," by the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, which the author has been a long time engaged upon, will be ready early in fall. It will be an octavo of about six hundred pages. THE Forty-Second Cincinnati Trade Sale will take place on Monday, 24th September next, at the Rooms of S. G. Hubbard, 21 West Fifth Street, Cincinnati. No effort, we believe, will be spared to render this Trade Sale a success. The advantages it offers to our Eastern publishers, importers, and manufacturers to bring their goods to the notice of the trade in the West are not likely, we think, to be overlooked. We trust that the results to the trade, both in the East and the West, will prove eminently satisfactory. Catalogues and circulars will be forwarded to any of the trade on application to Mr. Hubbard. We have received from the publishers, T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 306 Chestnut Street, a copy of the "Stamp Duties imposed by Act of Congress, July 13th, 1866," and which are to take effect August 1st, 1866. These "stamp duties," which affect almost every man in the community, are schmidt, has appeared at Brunswick, Germany, under the title of "Archiv für Anthropologie: Zeitschrift für Naturgeschichte und Urgeschichte der Menschen." THE introductory chapters of Henry Kingsley's new novel, "Silcote of Silcotes," appear in the number of "Every Saturday" for July 28th. The readers of "Geoffry Hamlyn" and "Ravenshoe" will receive this announcement with pleasure. A SERIAL novel by Hon. Mrs. Norton, "Old Sir Douglas," begun some time ago in "Macmillan's Magazine," and copied in several American periodicals, has been broken off and is to remain a fragment. No cause is assigned for the interruption. MR. WINTER JONES has succeeded Mr. Panizzi as principal librarian of the British Museum. Mr. Jones has for several years filled the post of keeper of the printed book department of the British National Library, a position in which he will probably be succeeded by the present assistant keeper, Mr. Watts. London publishers, have entered into an agreement IRISH IN AMERICA.-Messrs. Longman & Co., the with Mr. John Francis Maguire, author of "Rome and its Rulers," "Life of Father Mathew," &c., to produce a work upon the Irish in America, which he proposes to write. Mr. Maguire is member of Parliament for Cork, has thrice been mayor of that city, and is principal proprietor and editor of the "Cork Examiner," the principal journal there, issued tri-weekly, on the ultra-liberal side. THE HANDY-VOLUME "SHAKSPEARE."-This is the name of a new edition of Shakspeare, the pure text without notes-Shakspeare, and nothing but Shakspeare-in shilling volumes, each containing three plays. It is issued by Bradbury & Evans, the publishers and proprietors of "Punch." THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE NON-TEUTONIC.-A vol ume has just been published in London entitled "The British People, or the Non-Teutonic Origin of the English People and Language Completely Demonstrated." It is put forth as a "reply to the dogmatic theories propounded on the Ethnology of the Isles by Germanic and Germanizing writers." The work is anonymous. DOCTORATE OF LITERATURE.—This is the name of a new academical degree created by the University of London, and appears more appropriate, when conferred upon a man of letters, than that of Doctor of Laws. |