LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1881. 



495 



monarch's letters and opinions, and goes quite 

 at large into a view of the men, manners, and 

 politics of his reign. The subject of the mem- 

 oir is of so unsavory a reputation that it is a 

 matter of regret to find so much time and labor 

 expended in preparing an account of his life 

 and excesses. Living statesmen appear hi Bar- 

 net Smith's " Life and Speeches of the Rt. 

 Hon. John Bright, M. P." (Hodder & Stough- 

 ton). This, like his previous work, "Life of 

 W. E. Gladstone," is a valuable and timely pro- 

 duction. An interesting contribution to bio- 

 graphical literature is the third and conclud- 

 ing volume of " The Letters of Charles Dick- 

 ens" (Chapman & Hall). Professor E. H. 

 Palmer does excellent service in giving anew 

 an account of the Caliph " Haroun Alraschid," 

 of " Arabian Nights " notoriety (Marcus Ward 

 & Co.). Numerous biographies of noted phi- 

 losophers are among the valuable productions 

 of the year. Professor Mahaffy's " Descartes " 

 (Blaakwood & Sons) is one of the best of thes3. 

 To the series in which it appears, "Philo- 

 sophical Classics for English Readers," belong 

 " Bishop Butler," by W. L. Collins, and " Bishop 

 Berkeley," by Professor Eraser. Both are 

 useful and well done. In another series, " Eng- 

 lish Philosophers " (Sampson, Low & Co.), 

 appear "Sir William Hamilton," by Professor 

 W. II. S. Monck; "Adam Smith," by J. A. 

 Farrer; "Hartley and James Mill," by G. S. 

 Bower; and "Bacon," by Professor Fowler, 

 the last being an unusually careful and satis- 

 factory work. Valuable additions also are 

 made to " English Men of Letters," in the vol- 

 umes of this year, viz., G. Saintsbury's " Dry- 

 dan " ; F. W. H. Myers's " Wordsworth " ; Pro- 

 fessor S. Colvin's " Landor " ; and Professor 

 Masson's " De Quincey " (Macmillan & Co.). 

 Nearly everything valuable in the department 

 of biography is republished in the United 

 States, and forms a part of American as well as 

 British literature. 



In the line of Travel and Adventure English 

 men and women have shown themselves to be 

 quite as active, daring, and persevering as their 

 transatlantic cousins. Lady Anna Blunt gives 

 " A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the Cradle of the Arab 

 Race," etc. (Murray), a very interesting and 

 instructive narrative of personal experiences 

 and keen, shrewd observation. " To the Cen- 

 tral African Lakes and Back " (Sampson, Low 

 & Co.), by Joseph Thomson, is a well-told 

 story, of both great interest in itself and also 

 of superior value for enlarging our knowledge 

 of the geography of Africa. G. B. Hill's vol- 

 ume, " Colonel Gordon in Central Africa, 

 1874-79 " (De La Rue & Co.), is a fitting trib- 

 ute to a distinguished philanthropist and trav- 

 eler in the dark regions of the world. One of 

 the most amusing books of adventure in the 

 year's list is T. F. Keane's " Six Months in 

 Mecca" (Tinsley Brothers). The writer is a 



Smng Englishman, who took the name of 

 ajj Mohammed Amin, passed himself off as 

 a believer, and enjoyed rare opportunities for 



seeing and hearing, under circumstances where 

 no avowed Christian would be tolerated for a 

 moment. The same writer's "My Journey te> 

 Medinah " is equally amusing, and displays an 

 energy, sang-froid, and power of description 

 that are almost irresistible. W. F. Rae, in his 

 " Newfoundland to Manitoba " (Sampson, Low 

 & Co.), furnishes a useful and attractive " Guide 

 through Canada's Maritime, Mining, and Prai- 

 rie Provinces." The accompanying maps and, 

 illustrations increase its value. Joseph Hat- 

 ton's " To-Day in America " (Chapman & Hall) 

 is lively and entertaining, as showing an intel- 

 ligent Englishman's views of matters and things 

 in the New World. Baron A. E. von Norden- 

 skiold's " The Voyage of the Vega round Asia 

 and Europe " (Macmillan & Co.), translated by 

 Alexander Leslie, furnishes the English reader 

 with the valuable results of the famous Swed- 

 ish navigator's labors in behalf of the literature 

 of travel and discovery. The engraved por- 

 traits, the very numerous illustrations, the 

 maps, etc., render these two volumes as unique 

 as they are serviceable. The Hon. H. N. 

 Shore's " The Flight of the Lapwing " (Long- 

 mans) is an account of a naval officer's jot- 

 tings in China, Formosa, and Japan. It is a 

 somewhat amusing book, but hardly anything 

 more. 



Under the general designation Language and 

 its relations we find about the usual activity 

 displayed. The first volume of " The Imperial 

 Dictionary of the English Language, a Com- 

 plete Encyclopedic Lexicon, Literary, Scien- 

 tific, and Technological " (Blackie & Son), by 

 John Ogilvie, LL. D., edited and enlarged by 0. 

 Annandale, M. A., appears somewhat late in 

 the year. The remaining three volumes are 

 promised in the course of 1882. So far as it 

 has gone it is a work of real merit and value 

 in English lexicography. Philology is much 

 enriched by " An English-Arabic Lexicon " (C. 

 Kegan Paul & Co.), by G. P. Badger, D. C. L. 

 It is a work greatly superior to any previous 

 attempt in this direction, and bids fair to re- 

 main a standard for many years to come. 

 Professor Jowett's " Thucydides," translated 

 into English, with introduction, marginal analy- 

 sis, notes, and indices (Macmillan & Co.), is 

 an admirable companion to his previous work, 

 the translation of Plato, and will make the 

 great Attic historian better understood and 

 appreciated than heretofore. In the same 

 class of works is F. H. Peters's " Nichoma- 

 chean Ethics of Aristotle " (C. Kegan Paul & 

 Co.) ; the translation as a whole is remarkably 

 well executed. Max Milller's " Selected Essays 

 on Language, Mythology, and Religion " (Long- 

 mans) are among the choicest of his previous 

 published essays in the four volumes called 

 " Chips from a German Workshop." The pres- 

 ent volume is full of interest and instruction. 

 The first volume of a "Dictionary of the 

 Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of 

 Great Britain," by two Scotch scholars, Messrs. 

 Halkett and Laing (Edinburgh, Paterson), 



