66 Letter on Affairs in General. ‘[SuLy, 
Italian ones ; andsevery thing that was worth translating in the Italian 
Novelists had found its way into translation long before Mr. Roscoe took 
them in hand. There is a book, however, just published by Colburn,— 
«The Political Primer,’—that is entertaining and clever. I don’t like 
‘cutting pieces out of other men’s books, or else I should like to have a 
“bit or two of it. ‘ 
“It is curious to observe, by the way, what a change has been silently 
taking place in the arrangements of our literary “ trade” within the last 
few years. The price of books has become so enormous, and the readers 
who cannot pay enormous prices so many, as to make the received chan- 
nel now of reading, the Circulating Library. The increased. business.of 
the circulating libraries, and the immense number of new books which 
they have to buy, has doubled, and in some cases trebled, the charges 
of such establishments. In the mean time, the business of “reviewing,” 
as far as applied merely to the giving anidea of new and valuable books; 
which was once of great value to the highest periodical publications, is 
completely cut up by the literary news-writers, who come out every 
Saturday, some of them almost with reprints of very popular and cele- 
brated works. I recollect, when the “ Tales of the Crusades” was 
blished, one of these papers advertised that it gave twenty-two columns 
of extract from the first tale! This was about as much as many people 
would want, and without having the book at all. Some of these people, 
when matter run short, “ continue” a work from week to week. Other 
speculators make up threepenny publications, openly, out of the maga- 
zines and higher periodicals: and there are rogues who absolutely 
reprint papers, verbatim et literatim, under fresh titles. And yet, with 
all, writers were never paid so highly as they are now.—See art. Book- 
Trade. ; 
Air-balloons have begun “ running for the summer.” I often hear 
people wonder how mere mountebanks,—stolid villains, without an 
atom of qualification of any order,—marry women with large fortunes, 
or otherwise fall into’ estates of five thousand pounds a year? I saw an 
air-balloon “bill” stuck up against a wall yesterday, about two “ladies” 
who were going on a visit to the clouds—a “ Mrs. Graham,” and a 
«“« Miss Stocks”—which illustrates the problem curiously. “ Miss 
Stocks,” who, a year ago, was maid-servant to a gingerbread-baker in 
the City Road, went with the usual rabblement to see an unfortunate 
man of the name of Harris go up ina “ balloon” from the tea-gardens 
of the Eagle Tavern; and, seeing a placard pasted up, that “ an oppor- 
tunity now offered for any lady or gentleman to ascend,” &c.; and 
taking it for granted that those who made balloons gave “ opportuni- 
ties to ascend” free of expense, she took a fancy that she should like 
to see the moon closer than she had done theretofore ;—and accord- 
ow, by a curious conspiracy, as it were, of ciréumstances, “it, 
happened, that the air-balloon ‘proprietor himself, who was pretty rear: 
e his first experiment alone, he actually closed with her 
al ne ees ee 
