NOTICES OF EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE. "A more charming book, fresh with the fragrance of the country air and musical with the rustle of insect wings, is not likely to be seen often. In the clearness of its type, the beauty of the illustrations, and the whole manner of its presentment, the "Episodes" fairly gives the laural to its tasteful and enterprising publisher."-Lit. World. There is a moral, we may say a religious lesson, inculcated in every chapter of this book."-Watchman and Reflector. "The style is easy, flowing, natural, and happy. The ideas are such that the reader will arise from their perusal, a wiser and a better man.'"-Courant, "We defy any one to rise from its perusal, without thanking the book for many new ideas, added to one's previous stock of information, as well as feeling better and more kindly disposed, for the lessons of humanity and benevolence it teaches."-Bost. Courier. "A most attractive work to all ages, for while it is amusing and playful in its language, it is replete with valuable information. It might be called Science made pleasure, or Fact made fanciful. A finer specimen of typography is rarely seen, and we commend it to all those who would see in nature constant illustrations of the power and goodness of its great Creator."-Newark Daily Advertiser. "Wonderfully beautiful, graceful, and entertaining. Children can read it with understanding, and be enraptured by it; and this is no small thing to say of a work not especially intended for juveniles."-Ontario Repository. "By a happy combination of taste and knowledge-science and poetry, with anecdote and description, the naturalist and the mere reader for amusement are equally gratified. It is a book for the library,-and just the thing as a companion for a journey, or the winter evening fireside. It is well adapted for the sick-chamber too, and the weary invalid as he reads may fancy that he smells again the sweet fragrance of spring flowers, and listens to the hum of a bright summer's day; and, not least of all, the tendency of these beautiful volumes, is to elevate our conceptions of the grandeur and love of the Almighty Creator."-Old Colony Memorial. "This is a work of rare and varied beauties. It is beautiful within and without; beautiful in conception and in execution; beautiful as it comes from the hands of the author, the engraver, the printer and the binder."-Albany Argus. "This is one of the most tasteful books of the season, very entertaining and amusing, and at the same time the work of an accomplished naturalist."-Christian Register. "The author has availed himself not only of the greater abundance of material which the summer months supply, but also of the brighter hues afforded by the summer sunshine, for the enrichment of his glowing descriptions, which become gorgeous while reflecting a parti-colored glory that eclipses the splendor of Solomon."-Journ. of Com No work published during the year, has received so extensive and favorable notices from the British Quarterlies and Newspapers as the Episodes of Insect Life. A few are here given as specimens of the whole. "The whole pile of Natural History-fable, poetry, theory, and fact-is stuck over with quaint apothegms and shrewd maxims deduced, for the benefit of man, from the contemplation of such tiny monitors as gnats and moths. Altogether, the book is curious and interesting, quaint and clever, genial and well-informed."-Morning Chronicle. "We have seldom been in company with so entertaining a guide to the Insect World."-Athenæum. "Rich veins of humor in a groundwork of solid, yet entertaining information. Although lightness and amusement can find subject-matter in every page, the under current of the "Episodes" is substance and accurate information."-Ladies' Newspaper. "A history of many of the more remarkable tribes and species, with a graphic and imaginative coloring, often equally original and happy, and accompanied both by accu rate figures of species, and ingenious fanciful vignettes."Annual Address of the Presi dent of the Entomological Society. "This second series of "Episodes" is even more delightful than its predecessor. Never have entomological lessons been given in a happier strain. Young and old, wise and simple, grave and gay, can not turn over its pages without deriving pleasure and information."-Sun. "The headpiece illustrations of each chapter are beautiful plates of the insects under description in all their stages, capitally grouped, and with a scenic background full of playful fancy while the tailpieces form a series of quaint vignettes, some of which are especially clever."- Atlas. "The book includes solid instruction as well as genial and captivating mirth The scientific knowledge of the writer is thoroughly reliable.— Examiner. THE WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE: WITH NOTICES OF HIS LIFE AND GENIUS, BY J. R. LOWELL, N. P. WILLIS, AND R. W. GRISWOLD In two Volumes, 12mo., with a PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR. PRICE, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. "The edition is published for the benefit of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Maria Clemm, for whose sake we may wish it the fullest success. It however, deserves, and will undoubtedly obtain, a large circulation from the desire so many will feel to lay by a memorial of this singularly-gifted writer and unfortunate man."-Philadelphi. North American. "Poe's writings are distinguished for vigorous and minute analysis, and the skill with which he has employed the strange fascination of mystery and terror. There is an air of reality in all his narrations-a dwelling upon particulars, and a faculty of interesting you in them such as is possessed by few writers except those who are giving their own individual experiences. The reader can scarcely divest his mind, even in reading the most fanciful of his stories, that the events of it have not actually occurred, and the characters had a real existence."-Philadelphia Ledger. "We need not say that these volumes will be found rich in intellectual excitements, and abounding in remarkable specimens of vigorous, beautiful, and highly suggestive composition; they are all that remains to us of a man whose uncommon genius it would be folly to deny."-N. Y. Tribune. "Mr. Poe's intellectual character-his genius-is stamped upon all his productions, and we shall place these his works in the library among those books not to be parted with."-N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. "These works have a funereal cast as well in the melancholy portrait prefixed and the title, as in the three pallbearing editors who accompany them in public. They are the memorial of a singular man, possessed perhaps of as great mere literary ingenuity and mechanical dexterity of style and management as any the country has produced. Some of the tales in the collection are as complete and admirable as anything of their kind in the language."Military Review. "A complete collection of the works of one of the most talented and singular men of the day. Mr. Poe was a genius, but an erratic one-he was a comet or a meteor, not a star or sun. His genius was that almost contradiction of terms, an analytic genius. Genius is nearly universally synthetic-but Poe was an exception to all rules. He would build up a poem as a bricklayer builds a wall; or rather, he would begin at the top and build downward to the base; and yet, into the poem so manufactured, he would manage to breathe the breath of life. And this fact proved that it was not all a manufacture-that the poem was also, to a certain degree, a growth, a real plant, taking root in the mind, and watered by the springs of the soul."-Saturday Post. "We have just spent some delightful hours in looking over these two volumes, which contain one of the most pleasing additions to our literature with which we have met for a long time. They comprise the works of the late Edgar A. Poe-pieces which for years have been going the rounds of the press,' and are now first collected when their author is beyond the reach of humar praise. We feel, however, that these productions will live. They bear the stamp of true genius; and if their reputation begins with a 'fit audi. ence though few,' the circle will be constantly widening, and they will retain a prominent place in our literature."—Rev. Dr. Kip For Schools, Academies, and Self-Instruction AMERICAN THE DRAWING-BOOK. BY JOHN G. CHAPMAN, N. A. THIS WORK WIll be published in PARTS; in the course of which- PRIMARY INSTRUCTIONS AND RUDIMENTS OF DRAWING: DRAWING FROM NATURE-MATERIALS AND METHODS: PAINTING IN OIL AND WATER COLORS: THE PRINCIPLES OF LIGHT AND SHADE: EXTERNAL ANATOMY OF THE HUMAN FORM, AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY: THE VARIOUS METHODS OF ETCHING, ENGRAVING, MODELLING, Etc. Will be severally treated, separately; so that, as far as practicable, each Part will be complete in itself, and form, in the whole, "a Manual of Information sufficient for all the purposes of the Amateur, and Basis of Study for the Professional Artist, as well as a valuable Assistant to Teachers in Public and Private Schools;" to whom it is especially recommended, as a work destined to produce a revolution in the system of popular education, by making the Arts of Design accessible and familiar to all, from the concise and intelligible manner in which the subject is treated throughout. The want of such a work, has been the great cause of neglect in this important branch of education; and this want is at once and fully supplied by the AMERICAN DRAWING-BOOK: upon which Mr. CHAPMAN has been for years engaged; and it is now produced, without regard to expense, in all its details, and published at a price to place it within the means of every one. The Work will be published in large quarto form, put up in substantial covers, and issued as rapidly as the careful execution of the numer ous engravings, and the mechanical perfection of the whole, will allow Any one PART may be had separately The DRAWING COPY-BOOKS, intended as auxiliary to the Work, in assisting Teachers to carry out the system of instruction, especially in the Primary and Elementary parts, form a new and valuable addition to the means of instruction. They will be sold at a cost little beyond that of ordinary blank-books. CHAPMAN ON PERSPECTIVE BEING PART III. OF THE AMERICAN DRAWING-BOOK. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. "The nation may well be proud of this admirable work. In design and execution, the artist has been singularly felicitous; and nothing can surpass the beauty, correctness, and finish of style, in which the publisher has presented it to his countrymen. The book is strictly what it claims to be-a teacher of the art of Drawing. The method is so thorough, comprehensive, and progressive; its rules so wise, exact, and clearly laid down; and its classic illustrations are so skilfully adapted to train the eye and hand, that no pupil who faithfully follows its guidance, can fail to become, at least, a correct draughtsman. We have been especially pleased with the treatise on Perspective, which entirely surpasses anything that we have ever met with upon that difficult branch of art."-Spirit of the Age. "Perspective, is one of the most difficult branches of drawing, and one the least susceptible of verbal explanation. But so clearly are its principles developed in the beautiful letter-press, and so exquisitely are they illustrated by the engravings, that the pupil's way is opened most invitingly to a thorough knowl edge of both the elements and application of Perspective."-Home Journal. "It treats of Perspective with a masterly hand. The engravings are superb, and the typography unsurpassed by any book with which we are acquainted. It is an honor to the author and publisher, and a credit to our common country."-Scientific American. "This number is devoted to the explanation of Perspective, and treats that difficult subject with admirable clearness, precision, and completeness. The plates and letter-press of this work are executed with uncommon beauty. It has received the sanction of many of our most eminent artists, and can scarcely be commended too highly."-N. Y. Tribune. "This present number is dedicated to the subject of Perspective-commencing with the elements of Geometry-and is especially valuable to builders, carpenters, and other artisans, being accompanied with beautiful illustra tive designs drawn by Chapman, and further simplified by plain and perspicuous directions for the guidance of the student. Indeed, the whole work, from its undeviating simplicity, exhibits the hand of a master. We trust this highly useful and elevated branch of art will hereafter become an integral portion of public education, and as it is more easily attainable, so will it ultimately be considered an indispensable part of elementary instruction. Its cheapness is only rivalled by its excellence, and the artistic beauty of its illustrations is only equalled by the dignified ease and common sense exemplified in the written directions that accompany each lesson.-Poughkeepsie Telegraph." "The subject of Perspective we should think would interest every mechanic in the country; indeed, after all, this is the class to be the most benefited by sound and thorough instruction in drawing."-Dispatch. "Permit me here to say I regard your Drawing-Book as a treasure. I was a farmer-boy, and it was while daily following the plough, that I became ac quainted with the first number of Chapman's Drawing-Book. I found in it just what I desired-a plain, sure road to that excellence in the Art of Arts, that my boyish mind had pictured as being so desirable, the first step toward which I had taken by making rude sketches upon my painted ploughbeam, or using the barn-door as my easel, while with colored rotten-stone I first took lessons from Nature. I am now at college. I have a class at drawing, and find in the several numbers I have obtained, the true road for the teacher also."-Extract from a letter recently received. W. F. P. NAPIER, C.B., COL. 43D REG., &c. HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THE PENINSULA, AND IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, FROM THE YEAR 1807 TO 1814. Complete in one vol., 8vo. Price Three Dollars. "NAPIER'S history is regarded by the critics as one of the best narratives that has recently been written. His style is direct, forcible, and impetuous, carrying the reader along often in spite of himself, through scenes of the most stirring interest and adventures full of excitement. Many of the most distinguished and remarkable men of European history figure in these pages, and are sketched with great distinctness of outline. Napoleon, Wellington, Sir John Moore, Ney, Murat, and others, are the characters of the drama which Napier describes."-Evening Mirror. "WE believe the Literature of War has not received a more valuable augmentation this century than Col. Napier's justly celebrated work. Though a gallant combatant in the field, he is an impartial historian; he exposes the errors committed on each side, refutes many tales of French atrocity and rapine, and does not conceal the revolting scenes of drunkenness, pillage, ravishment, and wanton slaughter, which tarnished the lustre of the British arms in those memorable campaigns. We think no civilian chronicler of the events of this desperate contest has been so just to the adversary of his nation as has this stern warrior."-Tribune. "NAPIER'S History, in addition to its superior literary merits and truthful fidelity, presents strong claims upon the attention of all American citizens; because the author is a large-souled philanthropist, and an inflexible enemy to its ecclesiastical tyranny and secular despots; while his pictures of Spain, and his portrait of the rulers in that degraded and wretched country, form a virtual sanction of our Republican institutions, far more powerful than any direct eulogy."-Post. "THE excellency of Napier's History results from the writer's happy talent for impetuous, straight forward, soul-stirring narrative and picturing forth of characters. The military manœuvre, march, and fiery onset, the whole whirlwind vicissitudes of the desperate fight, he describes with dramatic force."-Merchants' Magazine. "THE reader of Napier's History finds many other attractions, besides the narrative of battles, marches, plunder, ravages, sieges, skirmishes, and slaughter-for he learns the dreadful evils of a despotic government-the inherent corruption of the entire system of European monarchies-the popular wretchedness which ever accompanies the combination of a lordly, hierarchical tyranny with the secular authority, and the assurance that the ev tinction of both are essential to the peace and welfare of mankind. All these lessons are derived from Napier's History, which, in connexion with its literary excellence, and the accuracy of its details, render all other recommendations utterly superfluous. It is a large, neat, and cheap volume." L. I. Star EDWARD GIBBON. HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE; A new edition, revised and corrected throughout, preceded by a Pref ace, and accompanied by Notes, critical and historical, relating prin cipally to the propagation of Christianity. By M. F. GUIZOT, Minis ter of Public Instruction of France. In two vols., 8vo. Price Five Dollars. |