The Alden Catalogue of Choice Books, May 30, 1889

“A book well worth reprinting in attractive but inexpensive style. More than any other, it laid the foundation of Bayard Taylor’s reputation as a traveller and writer. These chapters are written in a style of charming naïveté and freshness, giving the reader not the hackneyed views of an experienced and often cynical traveller, but the fresh enthusiasm of a generous, eager youth, visiting for the first time the countries of which he had long dreamed. In this respect this earlier book possesses charms which are denied the later volumes by the same author. One of the incidental but very real advantages of this book is to show on what a very small capital (Bayard Taylor started with only $140), a resolute, plucky American youth can spend two years in foreign travel, if he is willing to undergo some privations and hardships. It is a narrative of grit, pluck and endurance as well as of foreign travel. What was done in 1844 can be done in 1889 if one is equipped with the same fortitude and courage.” —Golden Rule, Boston, Mass.

A Book for Bible Readers

*Hurlbut. Manual of Biblical Geography. A Text-Book on Bible History, with Maps, Plans, Charts, Diagrams and Illustrations. By Rev. J. L. Hurlbut, D.D. Introduction by Rev. J. H. Vincent, D.D. Royal Quarto, 158 pages. Price. $2.75, reduced to $2.00 (50c);

“We predict for the Manual of Biblical Geography very great success. We have never seen anything comparable with it… We wonder how we ever did without it.” – Mrs. A. C. Morrow, Editor of The Illustrator, N. Y. City.

“Is an excellent book and should be in the hands of every Bible student.” – Rev. G. M. Milligan, Toronto, Can.

“I know of no book that so well condenses and groups just what ought to be known as a framework for all Bible study. To teach without such an atlas is to half do it.” – Rev. E. M. Hill, Montreal, Can.

“This is one of the handiest and most helpful of the helps that I have seen.” – Rev. P. S. Henson, D.D., Chicago, Editor Baptist Teacher.

“It will be of great service to teachers, pastors, and students of the Bible generally.” – Rev. Geo. C. Lorimer, D.D., Chicago.

“Cannot fail to be of great service to teachers and scholars of the Bible.” – Rev. C. S. Harrington, D.D., Middletown, Conn.

“Combines in a very high degree, convenience, accuracy, and completeness.” – Rev. Basil Manly, Louisville, Ky.

The Koran

The Koran of Mohammed. Translated by George Sale. 12mo., cloth, 336 pages, 60c. (20c);

The sacred book of the Mohammedans is not only a curiosity from a literary point of view, but is also useful in showing how far inferior to the Bible both in spirit and in teaching is the most popular substitute which man has ever offered therefor. It contains 114 chapters varying in length from a few lines to many pages. This is an excellent translation, is clearly printed on good paper and nicely bound in cloth. Costs but little and should be in every library. Will interest all intelligent readers.

The Talmud

Pick. The Talmud. What it is. By Rev. Bernhard Pick, Ph.D. Ideal Edition, cloth, 60c. (20c);

“It has proved a grateful task to wander through the mazes of the Talmud and cull flowers yet sparkling with the very dew of Eden. Figures in shining garments haunt its recesses. Prayers of deep devotion, sublime confidence and noble benediction, echo in its ancient tongue. Sentiments of lofty courage, of high resolve, of infantile tenderness, of far-seeing prudence, fall from the lips of venerable sages. No less practicable would it be to stray with an opposite intention, and to extract venom, instead of honey, from the flowers that seem to spring up in self-sown profusion.” —Edinburgh Review.

Pick. Apocryphal Life of Jesus. By Rev. Bernhard Pick, Ph.D. Ideal Ed., cloth, 50c. (20c); 14 oz – The Jews Since the Destruction of Jerusalem. Ideal Ed., cloth, 15c. (4c); 8 oz

A Grand Book FOR THE SONS OF The Grand Army

A large portion of the narrative and historical literature of the great civil war has a profound interest for every patriot as well as for every soldier. It tells of noble deeds performed by heroic men and furnishes us with some of the most sublime instances of bravery and fidelity of which there is either record or tradition. Among the books belonging to this class is one which is unique in its character, intense in its interest, and which stands in the front rank of works relating to the war. In a vivid manner it describes the inception and incidents of that most daring and brilliant exploit known as

The Great Locomotive Chase

Daring and Suffering. A history of the great Raid and Locomotive chase in Georgia in 1862. By William Pittenger. New edition, large 8vo, illustrated, cloth, $1.50, post-paid (60c)

– The same, cheap ed., the story complete but omitting documents, paper, 40c.; cloth, 75c., post-paid.

“The story of the Andrews Railroad Raid must always be one of the most picturesque, thrilling and moving episodes of the rebellion, and though the facts were made public many years ago by the author of the work before us, this exhaustive, revised and expanded narrative, will be received with the hearty welcome it deserves. ‘Daring and Suffering’ is indeed a remarkable book, not only for its matter, but for the manner of its recital. It deserves to take its place with the most notable histories of imprisonment and escape.” —Tribune, N. Y. City.

A DARING ENTERPRISE.

“Every reader will agree with Gen. Joseph Holt that the expedition, in the daring of its conception, had the wildness of romance, ‘while in the gigantic and overwhelming results it sought to obtain it was absolutely sublime.’ An Atlanta paper said of the affair, a few days after its failure, that it was ‘the deepest laid scheme, and on the grandest scale, that ever emanated from the brains of any number of Yankees combined.’ Count de Paris says in his history of the civil war in America that, ‘despite its tragic termination, it shows what a handful of brave men could undertake in America.’ In truth, there is no parallel in history to this undertaking of Andrews in an enemy’s country.” —Commercial Gazette, Cincinnati, O.

“This is a narrative of one of the wildest and most thrilling adventures of the war.” The Evening Post, N. Y. City.

A VIVID PRESENTATION.

“The realism of the author reminds one of Tolstoi and his military pictures in the forms of both history and romance.” —The Eagle, Brooklyn, N. Y.

“So thrillingly and graphically told that the readers pulses tingle as his fancy accompanies this wild expedition.” —The Courier, Buffalo, N. Y.

“A vivid and authentic account of Andrews’ railroad raid – a most daring adventure.” —The News, Chicago.

THE SONS OF VETERANS

and, indeed, every American, young or old, should read this record of an heroic effort and the failure of a brilliant enterprise.

“‘Daring and Suffering’ should be read by every American boy that he may see what deeds of daring Americans will do for love of country.” —The Republican, Washington, D. C.

“This expedition has been so nearly forgotten that the public ought to be under great obligations to Mr. Pittenger for recording at length the bravery and endurance of those who participated in it. While such men exist the republic may never fear for its safety.” —The Sun, N. Y. City.

A COMPLETE AND ACCURATE RECORD.

“The author has consulted every available source of information, has gone repeatedly over the ground, explored the Government archives at Washington and files of Confederate newspapers, and obtained the assistance of survivors on both sides of the struggle. He is thus able to present a vivid, impartial and perfectly authenticated picture of the most romantic event of the civil war, the full story of which has never before been told.” The illustrations also add greatly to the interest and value of the work.

20 Popular Stories $1.00!

The Woman’s Story, as told by twenty famous American women, whose names are appended. Edited by Laura C. Holloway, with a biographical sketch and a fine portrait of each author. Large 12mo, cloth, $1.00 (30c):

Harriett Beecher Stowe.

Harriett Prescott Spofford.

Rebecca Harding Davis.

Edna Dean Proctor.

“Josiah Allen’s Wife.”

Nora Perry.

Augusta Evans Wilson.

Louise Chandler Moulton.

Celia Thaxter.

“Grace Greenwood.”

Abba Gould Woolson.

Mary J. Holmes

Margaret E. Sangster.

Oliver Thorne Miller.

Elizabeth W. Champney.

Julia C. R. Dorr.

Marion Harland.

Louisa May Alcott.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

Rose Terry Cooke.

“This collection of the best stories by twenty of the foremost American story-tellers is a happy idea, and it seems as if for a few hours of really enjoyable entertainment nothing better could be devised. There is a special charm about a good short tale, and these twenty samples of feminine literature afford a chance for interesting comparison of achievement in the same plane and with nearly similar opportunity. The sad, the gay, the sentimental, the horrible, the good, the real, are to be found in these pages viewed and dealt with in various ways; and none but writers of acknowledged ability are admitted to the group.” —Daily Alta Californian, San Francisco, Cal.

“Besides being enjoyable reading, it is a valuable book of reference for information concerning the most celebrated literary women of America.” —National Baptist, Philadelphia, Pa.

19 FINE PORTRAITS.

“A compilation of a score of stories written by noted lady authors on this side of the Atlantic has been prepared by Laura C. Holloway. This vivacious lady and charming author has written as an introduction to each story, a bit of the biography of each of her chosen lady writers; making her work still more interesting by prefixing a portrait to each – with the exception of one case, Mrs. Rebecca Harding Davis, who “won’t sit for anybody.” * * * How much of interest is added to a literary production – especially a woman’s – if one can see the author’s portrait too!” —The Times, Hartford, Conn.

“It is quite interesting and curious to see which of their own stories these Writers considered their best.” —The Homestead, Springfield, Mass.

20 Biographies of Famous Women.

“Among the many excellent books relating to women from the pen of this author, this is the most unique in its plan. It is a library in itself, a library affording the best specimens from all the leading lady authors of America. To enumerate the writers from whom the selections are taken, would be sufficient to awaken a desire to have the book, but when we add that there is a portrait of each of these famous authors except one, and that there is a biographical sketch of each written in Mrs. Holloway’s attractive style, the merits and value of the work will begin to appear.” —Farm, Field and Stockman, Chicago, Ill.

Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith, The Works of. Edited by Sir James Prior. In 4 vols., 12mo, $3.00 ($1.25);

The only edition embodying the full performances of and fairly exhibiting Goldsmith genius. Contains many and valuable additions to collections previously issued.

“Goldsmith, both in verse and prose, was one of the most delightful writers in the language. His verse flows like a limpid stream. His ease is quite unconscious. Everything in him is spontaneous, unstudied, unaffected, yet elegant, harmonious, graceful, and nearly faultless.” – Hazlitt.

“The ‘Traveller’ and the ‘Deserted Village’ scarcely claim any notice from me. They are in everyone’s hands; they live in everyone’s memory: they are felt in everyone’s heart; they are daily the delight of millions.” – Henry Neele.

“Sir, it is the great excellence of a writer to put into his book as much as his book will hold. Goldsmith has done this in his history. He has the art of saying everything he has to say in a pleasing manner.” – Dr. Johnson.

Vicar of Wakefield: Ideal Edition. Cloth, 25c. (11c); 10 oz

“The admirable ease and grace of the narrative as well as the pleasing truth with which the principal characters are designed, make the Vicar of Wakefield one of the most delicious morsels of fictitious composition on which the human mind was ever employed. We read the Vicar of Wakefield in youth; we return to it again and again, and bless the memory of an author who contrives so well to reconcile us to human nature.” – Sir Walter Scott.

She Stoops to Conquer: Ideal Edition. Cloth, 20c. (7c); 8 oz

She Stoops to Conquer. – “I know of no comedy for many years that has so much exhilarated an audience; that has answered so much the great end of comedy, making an audience merry.” – Samuel Johnson.

Life of Goldsmith: by Washington Irving. Elzevir Ed., gilt edges, 40c. (20c); cloth, 25c. (9c); 14 oz

“No poet’s letters in the world, not even those of Cowper, appear to us more interesting for the light they throw on the habits and feelings of the man who wrote them; and we think it will be also acknowledged that the simple gracefulness of their language is quite worthy of the author of ‘Wakefield.’” —London Quarterly Review.

“The $5.00 Edition of Irving’s Works arrived to-day; the type, binding, paper and printing are superb: the cheapest set of books I ever purchased. Accept our congratulations.” – W. H. Kelsey, Springville, W. T.

Green’s Brilliant History

Green’s Larger History of the English People. 5 vols., 16mo, illustrated with about 100 fine engravings: half Morocco, $3.50 ($1.00): the same without illustrations, Elzevir Edition, cloth, $2.25 (40c); half morocco, $2.75 (60c);

Green’s History as above, in one vol., 8vo, without illustrations, cloth, $1.25 (35c):

A copy of this magnificent work should be in every home in which the English language is spoken.

“No man can claim to be thoroughly posted on English history unless he has read Green. The enthusiasm and painstaking accuracy of the author, and the luminous style in which he writes, stamp the history as a classic. Every man who has Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins will be thrilled through and through by the author’s tribute to the race. It will live long as the most attractive of the numerous English histories” —Cen’l Baptist, St. Louis.

“In many respects the most satisfactory History of England that has yet been written. It is certainly wonderfully cheap.” —The North American, Philadelphia.

“Is recognized by scholars as the best complete modern History of England in existence. Its finish of style removes it from the catalogue of books of reference, and makes the study of it a delight.” —Press, St. Paul, Minn.

“Green’s History is one of the most brilliant and thoroughly valuable historical works which has appeared in many years. Fairly ranking with Macaulay’s great work in the absorbing interest of its narrative, it excels that in adaptation to popular needs, in that it covers the entire period of English history from the earliest to modern times, instead of a brief period as does Macaulay.” —Methodist Recorder, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grace Greenwood’s My Pets, cloth. 30c. (10c): 10 oz Stories for Home Folks, cl., 40c. (15c); 14oz Travel and History, cl., 30c. (10c); 12 oz Stories from Famous Ballads, cl., 30c. (10c); 10 oz

A Great French Novel

The Immortal. By Alphonse Daudet. 12mo, cloth, 60c. (20c);

“It is a satire on the famous company of the ‘Immortals,’ and any one who reads it, will discover the peculiar talents of the author. He has a very retentive memory, and extraordinary powers of description. He gives to his heroes and heroines a life-like reality, so that the reader is carried right on into the turmoil of their existence. Daudet makes his characters perform the most merciless and pitiless actions, and his powers of description are so vivid, that the reader moves on with it all, in spite of himself. Get a copy of the book and test the truth of this assertion.” —The School Journal, N. Y. City.

“The book springs out of Daudet’s unquestionable and irrepressible genius; he dips his pen, not in malice, but in a literary inspiration which delights all Europe and America.” —The Church Year, Jacksonville, Fla.

“The book is a fierce onslaught on the French Academy, but exhibits the best traits of its accomplished author, a man who is never dull and has most extraordinary powers of description and character drawing, his stories always offering not puppets, but men and women moving before one’s eyes.” —Christian Intelligencer, N. Y. City.

A Great Russian Novel

Gogol. Taras Bulba, translated by Jeremiah Curtin, cloth, 60c. (20c);

“This thrilling Cossack tale is put into English by Jeremiah Curtin, with a ‘dedication’ to Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, in which is set forth the fact (as shown by correspondence between Napoleon III. and Alexander II.) that France and England had agreed to recognize the Southern Confederacy, and were only kept from it by Russia’s friendliness to us. The preface by the translator, too, is full of historic interest, preparing the reader to understand the story of old Taras.” —Christian Standard, Cincinnati.

“Although the reader may not admire all the traits of character of old Taras Bulba, he will become so interested in the story at the very beginning that he will not be willing to lay the book down until completed. The whole volume is so full of valuable information that no one can afford not to read it.” —The Democrat, Madison, Wis.

“A more romantic and profoundly interesting recital has not come to our notice that involved Russian politics and character and Polish patriotism and devotion. Gogol is entitled by this work to rank with Turgenieff, and while he is not the philosopher that Tolstoi is, nor a man of such learning, he is worthy to be his contemporary and is equally graceful and vigorous in his style.” —Record-Union, Sacramento, Cal.

“This singular story is full of graphic touches. Now they paint the squalor of the Jews’ quarter in Warsaw, now the fierce combat of half savage men, now the flower-strewn steppes, and now the deepest, tenderest passion of the human heart. The translator does not exaggerate in his praise of Gogol’s work.” —Christian Cynosure, Chicago.

Great Statesmen

International Statesman Series. Biographies of great social and political leaders. Edited by Lloyd C. Sanders. Cloth, per vol., 75c.; reduced to 60c. (15c):

1. Lord Beaconsfield. By T. E. Kebbel.

2. Viscount Palmerston. By Lloyd C. Sanders.

3. Prince Metternich. By G. B. Malleson.

4. O’Connell. By J. A. Hamilton.

5. Lord Bolingbroke. By Arthur Hassall.

6. Sir Robert Peel. By F. C. Montague.

This series presents in a concise and eminently readable form biographical sketches of the great leaders in the political history of the world. It will cover ancient as well as modern times and will include the representative men of all prominent nations. These books contain about 225 pages each, bound in uniform style, and are very cheap.

“The volumes and the series have particular reasons to engross the attention of students, among general readers; and it may safely be predicted that the series will afford quite as intelligent and clear a view of the course and expression of English politics as can be secured without long and laborious search of many and more or less conflicting volumes. The books are models in typographical qualities, and are inexpensive.” —Boston Globe.

CIVILIZATION

The Beginnings of Civilization. By Prof. Charles Woodward Hutson. Ideal Ed., cl., 60c. (20c);

“To-day the secrets of prehistoric humanity lie beneath the surfaces of language and archæology. We gaze into the depths and see the objects lying along the bottom, but we do not all see alike. Perhaps we are not yet acquainted with the media through which we look. Whether we are contented or not to take as final the present conclusions of any one of the various schools of archæologists, it remains that the facts or data are intensely interesting. Touching the origin of man, it is probable that we shall never be able to determine from the Bible or from ethnology whether all men sprang from one pair or from many; and salvation does not depend upon a decision. Whether, with the Duke of Argyll, we believe humanity to have retrogressed as a result of the Fall: whether with the Jews of the Talmud and Book of Zohar, we suppose that man was created first as a beast, and after ages received the spirit by the breath of God; or whether we hold man to be the result of natural selection and survival of the fittest acting as forces upon some protoplasmic blobs of jelly, we shall never get beyond conjecture. These questions Professor Hutson has ignored as vain and profitless. In his volume he has succeeded in condensing and including more learning, philosophic thought, and curious and significant data than it has been our fortune to behold these many days. His object is to take up the prehistoric ages of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Hittites, Phœnicians, Hebrews, Assyrians, Teutons, Etruscans, Hellenes, Kelts, Hindus, Chinese, Slavs, etc.; and, broad as seems the field, he has not contented himself with easy and vague generalizations, but by a concise and compact style, has been able to introduce a great number of data. Small as this book is, we can hardly trust ourselves to express our sense of its value, lest we seem to exaggerate.” —The School Journal, N. Y. City.

Artistically, it is, perhaps, the finest product of The Literary Revolution

FLORIAN’S FABLESFinely Illustrated Edition

The FABLES of FLORIAN. Translated into English verse by Gen. J. W. Phelps, late member of the Vermont Historical Society, author of “A History of Madagascar,” etc. With numerous very fine illustrations by J. J. Grandville. Elegantly bound in fine cloth, gilt edges, ornamented, price $1.15

The above described work is presented to our patrons with an unusual degree of pleasure, and some pride. The fables are good reading – old and young will be delighted with them; they are worthy of place by the side of Æsop’s and La Fontaine’s; the illustrations are simply superb, true to the text, supplementing and enforcing the teachings of the author, and true to art, original, graphic, and charming.

“Of all the collections of Fables which have appeared since La Fontaine, that of Florian is, beyond dispute, the best. It is also, of all the works of the author, that in which his talent as a writer and as a poet shows to the greatest advantage. In regard to merit of originality, the author avows himself that he has put under contribution all his predecessors; Æsop, Pilpay, Gay, and above all, the Spanish poet Yriarte, who has furnished him the most pleasing apologues. It is worthy of remark that in this kind of literature, whose object is no less to instruct than to please, Florian has one advantage over La Fontaine, that of being in general better adapted to the unaffected simplicity of childhood.” —Grand Dictionnaire Universel du xixe. Siècle.