OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. Useful and economical volumes for the million-the first of which contains Home and Social Philosophy,' from Household Words, edited by Charles Dickens-a republication of the choice morceaux which have appeared in that work."-Boston Gazette. "Admirably adapted to alleviate the tedium of a long journey, or to amuse a vacant or a sick hour at home."-Boston Traveller. "The paper and print are good, and the form is convenient both for the traveller's pocket and to bind for the library. Each volume contains about 300 pages, and the price is only 25 cents. The first volume contains all of Dickens's valuable, pithy, and entertaining essays, which relate to social and domestic economy, and familiar illustrations of natural philosophy and kindred topics The plan is a good one, and will, beyond doubt, prove in the highest degree successful."-Troy Whig. "Very neatly printed with large type upon good paper; a book which will bear the wear and tear of half a dozen readings and then be worthy of good binding and a place upon the shelves. The covers are of a stiff pasteboard, and afford ample protection against even the abrasion which the volume would suffer in the pocket of a railroad or a stage-coach traveller. Of the matter in the present volume, it is needless to speak in eulogy. It has already its due place in public favor, and the collection of the several papers into a book will be welcomed by all."-Courier and Enq "A more delightful volume, for occasional reading by the fireside, or in the rail-car, cannc well be procured."-Commercial Adv. "Few enterprises of this kind present more attractive features at the outset than this of the Semi-Monthly Library.' The essays are pithy, entertaining, and valuable, and it will hardly be possible to select a greater variety of choice reading at so cheap a price as this and the subsequent volumes promise."-Hunt's Merchants' Mag. "The work is neatly printed, and is of a size suitable for binding, and the whole series will form a useful addition to the household library."-Brooklyn Journal. "The Library which Mr. Putnam proposes to issue semi-monthly, at 25 cents a volume-two numbers of which are now on our table is an undertaking which cannot be too highly commended. Such works at such prices afford the most satisfactory evidence that the day of trashy novels, printed in ophthalmic type, on dirty paper, has gone by, and that better taste and better books have succeeded, and that too, without increase of prices. Number One of this neat and elegant Library is entitled 'Home and Social Philosophy,' and is composed of selections from the Household Words of Charles Dickens. It is an admirable book, adapted to readers of various tastes and ages, and an excellent companion to the rail-car, the type being large, and the stories short. In No. 2, we have Whimsicalities,' by Thomas Hood, the wittiest of all writers, and the best of all philan thropists. A chapter from Hood is as good as a ride on horseback for the groaning dyspeptic, and better than volumes of philanthropy for the morbid misanthrope. In such a reading community as this, one would suppose that the publisher of such books, at such extremely low prices, would hardly be able to supply the demand."-Mirror. "We have here the second volume of this cheap series for travellers and the fireside. It is a volume from the pen of one who was unequalled in innocent, light-hearted mirth. But Hood was more than a mere jester, for there are often touches of heart which teach valuable lessons. The present work is illustrated with numerous wood-cuts. The volume is just the one to take up in a railroad car, with the advantage that the print is such as can be read with ease. Nothing but a very wide circulation can compensate the publisher for the exceeding cheapness at which these works are furnished."-Albany Express. "Thomas Hood, a most admirable fellow, with a warm heart, a sound head, a humor quaint and original, a disposition amiable and facetious, a boon companion, an honorary member of the Nox-Ambrosial Club. Hood has taste, feeling, and genius."-Blackwood. "One of the most original and powerful geniuses which ever was dropped by Faëry into infant's cradle, and oddly nursed up by man into a treasure, quaint, special, chameleon-colored in the changefulness of its tints, yet complete and self-consistent. Of all the humorists Hood was the most poetical. There is hardly a verse in which some touches of heart, or some play of fancy, did not beckon the laughing reader away into far other worlds than the jester's."-Extr. from Preface Нос |