400 Notices of Books. [July? 



The Life of Alexander von Humboldt. Compiled in Commemo- 

 ration of the Centenary of his Birth, by J. Lowenberg, 

 Robert Ave-Lallemant, and Alfred Dove. Edited by 

 Prof. Karl Bruhns, Director of the Observatory of Leipzig. 

 Translated by Jane and Caroline Lassell. 2 vols. Long- 

 mans, Green, and Co. 1873. 

 This work is divided into four parts : the first and second, by 

 Julius Lowenberg, treat of the youth and early manhood of 

 Humboldt, and of his travels in America and Asia ; the third, 

 by Robert Ave-Lallemant, gives an account of his sojourn in 

 Paris from 1808 to 1826 ; and the fourth, by Alfred Dove, 

 describes the incidents of the meridian and decline of his life, a 

 time included between 1827 and 1859. 



It is difficult in a review to give even a skeleton biography 

 of a man whose life was extraordinarily eventful. One does not 

 know where to begin or where to end. The man possessed a 

 mind of such fertility and such power of thought that he was 

 eminent in almost every subject that he handled, and the mighty 

 extent of his knowledge is altogether surprising. He was in 

 every respect an intellectual giant. 



The difficulties of compilation have, in this instance, been 

 considerably increased by the singular modesty of Humboldt. 

 He was unwilling to furnish any letters or other documents 

 which could throw light upon his life and labours. In his will, 

 dated May 10th, 184.1, he writes — " I request that my dear rela- 

 tives and friends will endeavour to prevent the appearance of any 

 biographical notice of me, or laudatory article, in either the 

 Staatzeitung or other public journal over which they can exercise 

 any control. I have also drawn up a letter for transmission to 

 the Institute at Paris, requesting that the eloge usually delivered 

 upon the death of a foreign associate may be omitted in my 

 case." Since the death of Humboldt several small memoirs have 

 appeared : this, however, is by far the most complete biography 

 of him which exists ; the information has been drawn from 

 every available source, and these are numerous, for Humboldt 

 was a great correspondent. His letters are often of great 

 interest and value ; among them are thirty addressed to 

 Gauss, thirty to Karsten, and no less than three hundred and 

 thirty to Encke. 



Alexander von Humboldt was the son of Maior von Humboldt, 

 and was born on September 14th, 1769 ; in which year also were 

 born Napoleon, Cuvier, Chateaubriand, Canning, and Wellington. 

 He was well educated at home by various tutors, and attended 

 lectures on Philosophy and cognate subjects ; he also studied 

 drawing, and the arts of etching and engraving on copper. He 

 was fond of collecting botanical and other specimens, and of 

 classifying them. It is strange that neither Alexander nor his 

 brother William had the smallest taste or liking for music ; the 



