NOTICES OF LITTELL'S LIVING AGE. 



Barnstable (J8s.) patriot. This republica- 

 tion is one of the best, if not the very best, reprint of 

 foreign literature which is offered to the American 

 public. The pages of this valuable magazine are 

 filled with judicious selections taken chiefly from 

 the oldest, most popular and talented of the foreign 

 periodicals : they are enriched also with selections 

 from American authors and miscellaneous publica- 

 tions, which give to them much spirit and variety. 

 It is a synopsis of the best productions of many of 

 the finest transatlantic writers of the day, and, as 

 representing the present expression and progress 

 of European and American literature, it is a com- 

 pilation of more than ordinary or transient merit. 



of Commerce, Weto Yorfc Cittj. 

 Its contents consist for the most part of articles 

 extracted from the foreign periodicals of the day ; 

 but its selections, instead of being confined exclu- 

 sively to the elaborate essays of Quarterly Reviews, 

 embrace within their range the lighter literature of 

 the " Monthlies/' and even of the most valuable 

 weekly newspapers. Occasionally, too, we are 

 pleased to notice extracts from the columns of lead- 

 ing American papers, whose editorials are fre- 

 quently worthy of a more permanent existence, 

 than can be secured to them by the issues of an 

 ephemeral press.- An agreeable variety is thus 

 given to the pages of Littell ; and hence it becomes 

 in reality, what its name purports, a correct 

 daguerreotype of the living age. It is, at once, 

 "popular" in character, and, at the same time, 

 well adapted " to raise the standard of public 

 taste." 



' (17t.) 35aale. In looking over its 

 pages, one can hardly repress a feeling of amaze- 

 ment at the amount, variety and richness of its con- 

 tents. It is confined to no particular theme, and is 

 bound to the maintenance of no exclusive party, 

 sect, or school of philosophy. The selections are 

 made and arranged with great discrimination ; so 

 happily blending the grave and the gay, that the 

 reader, no matter what his taste, so it be cultivated, 

 will find much to commend. It contains weekly 

 copious extracts from the standard foreign reviews, 

 magazines and newspapers, culled with rare taste 

 and judgment by the industrious editor, thus present- 

 ing, in a condensed form, much highly interesting 

 and valuable information, to which many might 

 otherwise be denied access. Philosophy, History, 

 Biography, Fiction, and Poetry, each, in turn, claim 

 the attention of the delighted reader. We know 

 of no periodical published in this country, possess- 

 ing so many attractions for an intelligent, educated 

 family. 



(lit.) JB^lt.LittelVs Living 

 Age has been received, and read with much inter- 

 est and profit to ourselves.'* It is truly a valuable 

 work. Much has been said in praise of this 

 periodical, and we can assure those who are not 

 familiar with it, that report has not exaggerated its 

 merits. 



O^t.) journal. There is probably 

 no one periodical publication in the world, that 

 contains so rich', extensive, and valuable a variety 

 of contributions. 



American Courier, tyljilz. We really think, 

 if " our million" knew the peculiar excellence 

 of " LittelVs Living Age," its terms, &c., they 

 woold render an additional printing machine neces- 

 sary to supply the demand. 

 12 



Aunt's iHercljants' iHasajint. Mr. LittelJ 

 the editor and proprietor of this work, may be> 

 regarded as the pioneer in re-producing in these 

 United States the choicest literature of England. 

 He started nearly, if not quite, a quarter of a cen- 

 tury ago, the first journal of foreign literature ; 

 and if his taste, zeal, and industry had been prop- 

 erly appreciated, he would (if it were possible 

 for one of his tireless energy and activity) have 

 retired, ere this, on a well and honestly earned for- 

 tune. A cotemporary, C. Edwards Lester, Esq., 

 the editor of the " Gallery of Illustrious Ameri- 

 cans," in his " Fly-Leaf of Art and Criticism,'' 

 pays a high but well merited tribute to Mr. Littell 

 and his " Living Age," which we take great pleas- 

 ure in transferring to the pages of the Merchants' 

 Magazine, with our unhesitating assent to the just- 

 ness of our cotemporary's criticism : 



" LITTELL'S LIVING AGE. This best of all 

 the Eclectics has nearly reached its three hun- 

 dreth number, and from week to week its appear- 

 ance is looked for with interest by more readers of 

 taste and intellectual culture than any other heb- 

 dominal in the country. Mr. Littell was the foun- 

 der of this school of publications. His Museum of 

 foreign Literature was for twenty years the chief 

 medium through which the periodical literature of 

 Europe was diffused through America. The Liv- 

 ing Age has existed about six years, and during 

 that period it has gained a wider circulation, and 

 become a far more valuable work. It exceeds all 

 similar publications, in being a weekly, in the liv- 

 ing and electric spirit of its articles, in their 

 immense volume and variety, and in the punctu- 

 ality of its appearance. If an extraordinary arti- 

 cle comes out in Blackwood, or any of the great 

 reviews, his readers are sure to be among the first 

 to get it. Any number of the Living Age is relia- 

 ble reading to slip into the pocket for a leisure 

 evening, a steamboat, or a railway car, and if there 

 has been a change in it, it has steadily been grow- 

 ing better from the beginning. The twenty-two 

 bound volumes of this work contain more LITERA- 

 TURE than has ever been crowded into the same 

 space, and as a reference book, or one for family 

 reading, make up a richer, racier, and a more 

 varied library than can be had for the same expense 

 in any form." 



33anjjor (ifce.) Bemocrat. This charming 

 and ever popular weekly periodical, makes its 

 appearance regularly ; and keeps up its character 

 with unabated impartiality and taste. We cannot 

 too warmly press this excellent serial upon the con- 

 sideration of every admirer of solid and instructive 

 reading. 



3SatJ) (jffte.) Bads &pberttser. Littell's Liv- 

 ing Age comes to us with unvarying regularity. 

 It contains about all that is worthy of preservation 

 in the reviews and literary publications of the day. 

 We repeat what we have before said, that in Teal 

 worth it is of more value than all the other maga- 

 zines in the country. 



Wetoport (3&. .) StDberttser. It contains a 

 variety of exceedingly entertaining 'matter, which 

 is as diversified as one could wish. We are con- 

 stantly alluding to this valuable work, as contain- 

 ing the best selections from the English and Ameri- 

 can periodicals, and are anxious to see it in the 

 tands of all our readers. 



