474 LITER ATUKE, BRITISH, IN 1882. 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1882. 



by Dr. W. W. Hunter, is regarded as a full and 

 exhaustive account of that important portion 

 of the British Empire. Mr. C. A. Fvffe (the 

 first volume of whose work was noticed last 

 year) has continued his labors on " The Histo- 

 ry of Modern Europe " with much success. It 

 promises, when completed, to become a stand- 

 ard history of the period to which it is devoted. 

 Messrs. Gairdner's and Spedding's " Studies in 

 English History " (Edinburgh, Douglas), are full 

 of suggestive and interesting matter. The 

 year has also been noted for numerous re- 

 publications and new editions of histories and 

 biographies ; such as, Dr. Lingard's " History 

 of England," Guizot's "History of France," 

 eight vols., Thiers's " History of the French 

 Revolution, 1789-1801," five vols. ; "The Life 

 and Speeches of the Right Hon. John Bright," 

 Bishop Wordsworth's " Greece, Pictorial, De- 

 scriptive, and Historical," Sir G. W. Cox's 

 " Mythology of the Aryan Nations," " The Life 

 of Richard Cobden" (Chapman & Hall), SirE. 

 Creasy's " The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the 

 "World," and " History of the Ottoman Turks, 

 from the Beginning of their Empire to the Close 

 of 1878 " (R. Bentley & Son). To these add, 

 for general use, the enlarged, corrected, and 

 revised edition of Haydn's "Dictionary of 

 Dates, relating to all Ages and Nations " (Ward, 

 Lock & Co.). 



JUVENILE WORKS and TALES are very nu- 

 merous this year, many of them of superior 

 quality, and many also of only moderate value. 

 In number they are almost, if not quite, double 

 those published in 1881. On the other hand, 

 that kind of fiction, usually designated as nov- 

 els, is less in quantity than last year; but, 

 whether it excels in quality or not, is not quite 

 clear. A few only of these can here be named. 

 Mr. T. Hardy's " Two on a Tower " (Sampson 

 Low, Marston & Co.) is unique and slightly 

 fantastical. W. Besant's " The Revolt of Man " 

 (W. Blackwood & Sons) is undoubtedly clever 

 and amusing in these days of disputed sover- 

 eignty between man and woman. Mrs. M. O. 

 W. Oliphant's " In Trust, the Story of a Lady 

 and her Lover " (Longmans & Co.), fully meets 

 the expectations of her admirers. Mr. Buchan- 

 an's "God and the Man" (Chatto & Windus) 

 is, as might be expected from the title, rather 

 startling, but the writer works out his theme 

 with power and skill beyond what is usually 

 met with in novels. Mr. Shorthouse's "John 

 Inglesant " (Macmillan & Co.) has met with 

 very general favor, and is regarded as one of 

 the ablest books of the year. So, also, Georg 

 Ebers's new novels, "Only a Word," and 

 " The Burgomaster's Wife" (same publishers), 

 translated by Clara Bell, are held to be equal 

 to his former work, " The Egyptian Princess." 



The sciences of LAW and MEDICINE have re- 

 ceived their usual share of attention. The for- 

 mer need not be dwelt upon here, as books 

 of this kind are generally of local character 

 and importance. A number of valuable pub- 

 lications in medicine, surgery, etc., appeared, 



and new and enlarged editions of standard 

 works have been published. Dr. Tidy's "Le- 

 gal Medicine, including Evidence," Part I 

 (Smith, Elder & Co.), is new, and treats of an 

 important topic. Dr. H. A. Reeves's "Human 

 Morphology, a Treatise on Practical and Ap- 

 plied Anatomy," volume i (same publisher), is 

 much esteemed, as is also Dr. Aitken's "Out- 

 lines of the Science and Practice of Medicine " 

 (C. Griffin). Dr. J. D. Macdonald, of the 

 British Navy, has furnished an excellent work 

 entitled " Outlines of Naval Hygiene " (Smith, 

 Elder & Co.). Dr. Gamgee's " Vivisection and 

 Human Surgery " (J. A. Churchill) has reached 

 a second edition ; and Dr. W. Turner's "Intro- 

 duction to Human Anatomy " (A. & C. Black) 

 appears in a new edition. The great " Dic- 

 tionary of Medicine," by various eminent writ- 

 ers, edited by Dr. Quain, maintains its position 

 in the esteem of medical men. Watts's well- 

 known and valuable "Dictionary of Chemis- 

 try, and the Allied Branches of other Sciences" 

 (Longmans &Co.), has a supplement furnished, 

 containing important discoveries in 1879-'80 ; 

 the w r ork is complete in nine volumes. 



In conclusion, it may be stated that, as was 

 predicted last year, the American fashion of 

 cheap issues of books, in various departments 

 of literature and science, has made its way in 

 England to a large extent. " Sixpenny " liter- 

 ature is markedly on the increase, and not only 

 novels and tales are issued in this form, but 

 works of value and high character. Its ulti- 

 mate effect, however, whether for good or ill, 

 remains to be seen, and, if any are alarmed at 

 the prospect, they may take comfort in the be- 

 lief that the conservative character of the Brit- 

 ish way of looking at things will keep publish- 

 ers from going too far, or risking too much, in 

 this direction. 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1882. 

 The record for the year evinces about the 

 same activity in the several branches of litera- 

 ture as in previous years. A brief resume, 

 without going into details, will make this 

 plain. We begin, as heretofore, in alphabet- 

 ical order of countries. 



BELGIUM. Works referring to the history 

 of the country rank first both in number and 

 importance. M. Poullet's "Histoire Politique 

 Nationale " traces the origin and history of 

 the institutions of the Netherlands before the 

 French Revolution. Volume I comes as far as 

 the fourteenth century. M. Nameche's " Cours 

 d'Histoire Nationale " has reached its ninth vol- 

 ume, which gives the history of the beginning 

 of the reign of Charles V. Local histories are 

 numerous too numerous to give even the ti- 

 tles. They show much activity and research 

 on the part of the writers, and are creditable 

 to the people who encourage and support such 

 studies. The "Bibliotheca Belgica," of Van- 

 derhagen, is making steady progress. A na- 

 tional "Bibliography" (1830-'80) has been 

 commenced, valuable documents have been 

 printed, and the very instructive "Report of 



