CHAPTER IX. · 6

ASPASIA.-A Romance, by Robert Hamerling, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in two vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75.

“We have read his work conscientiously, and, we confess, with profit. Never have we had so clear an insight into the manners, thoughts, and feelings of the ancient Greeks. No study has made us so familiar with the age of Pericles. We recognize throughout that the author is master of the period of which he treats. Moreover, looking back upon the work from the end to the beginning, we clearly perceive in it a complete unity of purpose not at all evident during the reading.”

“Hamerling’s Aspasia, herself the most beautiful woman in all Hellas, is the apostle of beauty and of joyousness, the implacable enemy of all that is stern and harsh in life. Unfortunately, morality is stern, and had no place among Aspasia’s doctrines. This ugly fact, Landor has thrust as far into the background as possible. Hamerling obtrudes it. He does not moralize, he neither condemns nor praises; but like a fate, silent, passionless, and resistless, he carries the story along, allows the sunshine for a time to silver the turbid stream, the butterflies and gnats to flutter above it in rainbow tints, and then remorselessly draws over the landscape gray twilight. He but follows the course of history; yet the absolute pitilessness with which he does it is almost terrible.”—Extracts from Review in Yale Literary Magazine.

“No more beautiful chapter can be found in any book of this age than that in which Pericles and Aspasia are described as visiting the poet Sophocles in the garden on the bank of the Cephissus.”—Utica Morning Herald.

“It is one of the great excellencies of this romance, this lofty song of the genius of the Greeks, that it is composed with perfect artistic symmetry in the treatment of the different parts, and from the first word to the last is thoroughly harmonious in tone and coloring. Therefore, in ‘Aspasia,’ we are given a book, which could only proceed from the union of an artistic nature and a thoughtful mind—a book that does not depict fiery passions in dramatic conflict, but with dignified composure, leads the conflict therein described to the final catastrophe.”—Allgemeine Zeitung. (Augsburg).

William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York.

ELIZABETH; or the Exiles of Siberia.—From the French of Mme. Sophie Cottin, one vol. Paper, 25 cents. Cloth, 50 cents.

“A new edition of the English translation of that famous old story ‘Elizabeth; or the Exiles of Siberia,’ which used to be the standard French reader in private schools, where many a tender-hearted school-girl cried not only over the hard task of rendering the difficult French phrases into her own tongue, but also over the misfortunes of this generous-souled heroine. There are few French tales so full of deep pure feeling as this, by Mme. Sophie Cottin (born 1773, died 1807), and although it seems almost too well known to create a fresh sensation, it will always be one of the few books that mothers can safely place into the hands of their young daughters, knowing at the time that the perusal of them will not only amuse but waken tender and generous feelings in the young heart, that perhaps needed a story like this to make them spring into life.”—Albany Times.

ELIANE.—A Novel, by Mme. Augustus Craven, from the French by Lady Georgiana Fullerton, in one vol. Paper, 50 cents. Cloth, 90 cents.

“It is not only pure, but is, we believe, a trustworthy description of the dignified French life of which it is a picture. ‘Eliane’ is one of the very best novels we have read for one or two seasons past”—The American Literary Churchman, Baltimore.

“‘Eliane’ is interesting not only because it is such a record of the best kind of French life and manners as could only have been written by a person thoroughly at home in the subject, but also because of the delicate drawing of character which it contains.”—London Sat. Review.

RANTHORPE.—A Novel, by George Henry Lewes, in one vol. Paper, 40 cents. Cloth, 75 cents.

“There is a good deal of wisdom in it that is not without its use.”—Popular Science Monthly.

“‘Ranthorpe’ is a reprint of a novel written in 1842, by George Henry Lewes, the well-known husband of George Eliot. It belongs to the psychological class, and is keenly introspective throughout. The style is well adapted to the work, displaying the versatility of a mind whose natural bent was towards metaphysics and the exact sciences.”—Montreal Star.

William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York.

GEORG EBERS’ ROMANCES & BIOGRAPHIES COMPRISING: AN EGYPTIAN PRINCESS, TWO VOLUMES THE BRIDE OF THE NILE, TWO VOLUMES THE BURGOMASTER’S WIFE, ONE VOLUME SERAPIS, ONE VOLUME THE EMPEROR, TWO VOLUMES UARDA, TWO VOLUMES HOMO SUM, ONE VOLUME THE SISTERS, ONE VOLUME A QUESTION, ONE VOLUME A WORD, ONLY A WORD, ONE VOLUME LORENZ ALMA-TADEMA, ONE VOLUME RICHARD LEPSIUS, ONE VOLUME