The Bay State Monthly. Volume 2, No. 6, March, 1885

WIDE AWAKE "R." Illustrated, Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.75. Of all the annual WIDE AWAKE issues this is by far the most attractive, and when this is said it is hard to conceive what, more can be said in the way of praise. Its illustrations, which are all drawn expressly for its pages, represent the best work of the most prominent American draughtsmen, while no stronger show of names in the line of contributors has ever been presented by an American magazine. Among the strong features of the volume is Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's serial complete, A Brave Girl; Mr. Brooks' capital wonder-story, In No-Man's Land; Mr. Talbot's A Double Masquerade, and Rev. E.E. Hale's To-Day Papers. Either of these would alone be worth the price of the volume, but when added to them are the additional attractions in the way of brilliant short stories, breezy sketches of life indoors and out, chapters of biography and history, bits of description, poems, and essays, the volume becomes, a treasure-house seemingly inexhaustible in variety and contents. In turning over its pages the eye falls upon such names as Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney, Nora Perry, Sarah Orne Jewett, Sophie May, Mrs. M.H. Catherwood, Margaret Sidney, Mrs. Mulock-Craik, Celia Thaxter, Lucy Larcom, and others as well known in the annals of magazine literature. The volume is elegantly printed and beautifully bound.

HOW TO LEARN AND EARN. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. It is not often that one finds between the covers of any single book so much information so pleasantly given upon a special subject as in "How to Learn and Earn." The sixteen illustrated essays which make up the contents are descriptive of as many institutions in this country for the instruction of children and young people in the useful arts or professions. Some of them are institutions under the auspices of the State, like the academy at West Point and the Indian School at Carlisle, Pa.; one described is a school of reform; but most of them are the outcome of private benevolence or charitable and religious endeavor. Among the more notable of these are the Perkins Institution for the Blind at South Boston, the Boston Chinese Mission School, the cooking schools in various cities, the blind children's kindergarten, etc. Among the authors whose contributions are included are Amanda E. Harris, Ella Farman Pratt, Mrs. John Lillie, May Wager Fisher, Margaret Sidney and Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont.

IMITATIONS OF BABYLAND. The great reputation won during the past eight years by D. Lothrop & Co.'s unique and charming illustrated magazine and annual, BABYLAND, has induced certain publishers to attempt imitations under similar titles. The public should beware of these inferior imitations. The publishers deem it proper to inform the public that the only genuine BABYLAND invariably bears the imprint of D. Lothrop & Co. By noting this fact the dissatisfaction which follows the purchase of inferior imitations will be avoided.

DEAN STANLEY WITH THE CHILDREN. By Mrs. Frances A. Humphrey. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. In this tastefully printed volume are brought together five sermons to children, preached by Dean Stanley, prefaced with a biographical sketch by Mrs. Humphrey and with an introduction by Canon Farrar. Every reader knows what a charming man Dean Stanley was, and how ardently he loved children, and devoted himself to pleasing them. The sermons here given are full of exquisite tenderness, and form admirable models for discourses of like character. Canon Farrar says that there was not one sermon ever preached by Dean Stanley which did not contain at least some one bright, and fresh, and rememberable thing. His metaphors, his anecdotes, the invariable felicity of his diction, his historical, literary and biographical illustrations, his invincible habit of taking men at their best and looking out for the good in everything, the large catholicity which rose above the mean, squabbling of religious parties, the calm of spirit which seemed habitually to breathe in the atmosphere of whatsoever things are true, and pure, and lovely, and of good report, made him a preacher to whom one would rather listen than to any other living man. Mrs. Humphrey's sketch not only gives us an excellent idea of the man himself, but also tells us many interesting things about the great English public schools. The volume is well illustrated.

IT IS THE CHRISTMAS TIME. By Miss Mulock, with Twelve Ideal Christmas Hymns and Poems. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $2.50. Nothing more exquisite in the way of a Christmas presentation book, or one better adapted to the spirit of the holiday season has yet been presented to the public than the volume before us. Printed in large, clear type, on the heaviest of paper, with broad white margins, and a series of twenty illustrations by famous American and foreign artists, engraved in the highest style of art, it forms a book of exceptional beauty, and one of which the publishers may well be proud. The opening poem, Miss Mulock's "Hymn for Christmas Morning," is followed by Naham Tate's "While Shepherds watched their Flocks by Night," a hymn which has held place in the hearts of the people for nearly two hundred years; Wesley's stirring hymn, "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing;" Herrick's "Star Song;" Bishop Heber's "Epiphany"—

Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning;

Keble's "Christmas Hymn;" The Rev. E.H. Sears's "Angel's Song;" William Drummond's "The Angels;" George MacDonald's "Babe Jesus;" James Montgomery's "Christmas Vision;" Wordsworth's "Christmas Carol," and Whittier's "Christmas Carmen." All those diverse in form and expression, breathe the one pure spirit of Christmas tide.

AMERICA. Our National Hymn. With Twelve other Patriotic Poems. Illustrated. By Rev. S.F. Smith, D.D. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $3.00. For the past two or three years there has been a strong demand for a new edition of this unique and elegant volume, which was originally published in 1879. The publishers have responded to the call by its reissue the present season, the work being extended by the addition of twelve new poems, all upon patriotic themes. The words of America, were written fifty-two years ago, while the author was a theological student at Andover. An American gentleman, who had spent some time in Germany, on returning home brought with him a number of books used in the German schools, containing both words and music. These were presented to Lowell Mason, who placed them in the hands of the young student, asking him to translate anything he might find worthy, or to furnish original words to such music as might suit him. In the collection was the air—unknown at that time to Americans—to which Dr. Smith set the words now so widely known and sung. There was not the slightest idea on his part that he was producing a national lyric, but it caught the popular taste at once, and every year has fixed it more firmly in the hearts of the people as an expression of patriotic feeling. It was first sung at a children's festival at Park Street Church, July 4, 1832, and very soon found its way into district schools, Sabbath-schools, concerts and patriotic gatherings throughout the country. Some years ago a delegation from the Boston Board of Trade sung it together at the summit of the Rocky Mountains. It has been used at the celebration by Americans of the national holiday in nearly every country on the globe, and served during the war to brace the hearts and stimulate the courage of our soldiers in camp and hospital and in prison. The author's college friends for more than fifty years made it the first song sung at their annual class dinner.

The poems which are added in the present edition include among others, "The Pilgrims," written some years ago for Forefathers' Day; "The Flag;" "Washington;" "The Student Soldiers;" "The Sleep of the Brave;" "Decoration Day;" "Abraham Lincoln," and "My Native Land." They are all imbued with the fervent spirit of patriotism and represent a high poetic standard. The volume is splendidly illustrated by Harry Fenn, Robert Lewis, and other artists of reputation.

MY CURIOSITY SHOP. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.25. The little boy or girl who finds this book by the bedside Christmas morning, ought to be supremely happy. From cover to cover it is filled with the most delightful stories and rhymes and pictures, all written and drawn expressly for little readers, and by those who love them, and understand their likes and dislikes.

WIDE AWAKE. Bound volume for 1884 Boston: D. Lathrop & Co. Price 4.00. Newspapers all parts of the country have repeatedly given the first place in American periodical literature for the young to WIDE AWAKE. Among its contributors are the very best and brightest writers in America and England, and many of its articles are the same that give reputation to Harper's and the Century. Indeed, nothing better has ever appeared in either of these periodicals than some of the full page illustrations which have found place in WIDE AWAKE within the past two or three years. The list of writers who are regularly employed include the best names in our literature. It is by the liberal outlay of money on the part of the publishers, coupled with the determination to have the best at any price, that WIDE AWAKE has reached its present high position. The present volume, which includes the twelve numbers of the present year, is, in general excellence, an improvement upon all preceding issues. It is a library in itself, and will be a source of perennial pleasure to readers of all ages.

OUR LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN. 1884. Illustrated. Boston. D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. This beautiful annual comprises the twelve numbers of the year just closing, and will make an admirable present for the little members of the household. Its stories are just such as they will read with delight, while the illustrations make them double attractive.

A ROMANCE IN SONG. Heine's Lyrical Interlude. Translated by Franklin Johnson, Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $3.00. The best of the modern German song-writers is unquestionably Heine, and thousands who know and sing his verses even in their translated form can testify to their exceeding sweetness and to their strange insight into the passions and emotions that stir the human heart. Especially is this true of the sixty brief poems which he published in 1823 under the somewhat singular title of "A Lyrical Interlude." What gives them special interest is the fact that they are genuine records of his own feelings and experiences. Heine was engaged to be married to his cousin, whom he loved deeply and ardently. She broke her vows and married another, and Heine carried through life an unhealed spiritual wound. In the translation of these songs Mr. Johnson has been peculiarly successful, while in all cases retaining the original measure of the songs, he has endeavored to make an exact rendering of the thought rather than to be literal. And yet in some cases he is both, as for instance in the much quoted Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne, and Nacht lag auf meinen Augen. The publishers have done their part to make the volume outwardly attractive. It is printed on heavy paper, is beautifully illustrated and handsomely bound. Coming at this season it makes an appropriate gift book.

ANNA MARIA'S HOUSEKEEPING. By Mrs. S.D. Power. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. Of all the books that have been written about housekeeping there have been few that have treated the subject in a practical, common sense manner, and this is decidedly one of the best of the few. The suggestions and directions contained in its pages are given in a pointed, straightforward manner, and appeal at once to the good sense of all housekeepers who will save themselves an infinity of trouble and worry and fret by giving them the consideration they deserve. The twenty-four chapters of the book deal with different subjects, the all-important one, "How to make Housework Easier," properly taking the lead. Other chapters which we especially commend to housekeepers are those headed "A Good Breakfast," "A Bill of Waste," "A Comfortable Kitchen," "Blue Mondays," "Over the Mending Basket," and "Helps that are Helps." There is not a chapter, however, but contains advice which, if heeded, would save ten times the cost of the book in a year, to say nothing of the time and trouble saved.

MATTHEW ARNOLD BIRTHDAY BOOK. Edited by his daughters, Miss L. and K. Arnold. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. This beautiful little volume resembles in its general plan other birthday books, the usual blanks being left for autographs. The selections have been made with great care, and under the direct supervision of Mr. Arnold himself, who contributes besides, an introductory poem, which is reproduced in fac simile.

A DOUBLE MASQUERADE. By Charles R. Talbot. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.25. Mr. Talbot's reputation as a writer of brilliant stories for young readers is well established. Few have been more successful in striking the popular vein. The Juvenile libraries are rare that do not contain some one or other of his books, and happy the boy or girl who possesses them all. "A Double Masquerade" is a romance of old Revolutionary times in Boston, in which historical characters take part. It is a careful study of the events of those days, and the young reader will get a clearer idea from its pages of the struggle between the colonies and Great Britain, and of the men on both sides who were leaders in the Revolutionary movement, than from mere statistical and documentary history. One of the features of the volume is a description of the battle of Bunker Hill, which a critic has pronounced to be "one of the most graphic and telling accounts ever written of that famous conflict." It is splendidly illustrated by Share, Merrill and Taylor.

YOUNG DAYS. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $.75. This very attractive volume is made up of instructive stories for children, entertaining rhymes and verses, and most delightful pictures.

CAMBRIDGE SERMONS.

Few publications of like character have ever been received with a greater degree of favor, than the volume of sermons by Rev. Alexander McKenzie, D.D., of Shepard Memorial Church, Cambridge, Mass., published under the above title by D. Lothrop & Co. The following expressions of opinion in letters to the publishers, are indicative of the general sentiment concerning them.

Rev. Geo. L. Prentiss, D.D., Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Union Theological Seminary, New York City, says:

"The Cambridge Sermons have both refreshed and edified me in a high degree. They are full of spiritual power and light and sweetness. I have read them with real delight."

Rev. Edward B. Coe, D.D., pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City, writes:

"It is a volume which it will do any man good to read, as a broad, fresh, eminently spiritual presentation of Christian truth. Coming from under the shadow of a great university, these sermons are not scholastic, but in the best sense popular and practical. They show unusual felicity of statement and illustration, and are thoroughly alive, with a keen sensibility to the thoughts and the wants of living men. Quickening and suggestive to the mind, they have the rarer power of touching chords of feeling which few preachers reach."

Rev. Cephas B. Crane, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Boston, says:

"The excellence of these sermons is manifold. They are such sermons as the distinguished preacher is in the habit of giving to his people, sermons for instruction and help, and not exceptional sermons for conspicuous occasions.

"They are structural; but the beams and braces are out of sight. They are living things supported and shaped by their skeletons, not caged in them. Remarkable for scope and freedom and boldness, they are guided in all their movement by the spirit of the Sacred Word. They both stimulate thought and invigorate faith. Fresh and fragrant and breezy, one delights himself in them as in a garden in a June morning. From their exquisite diction one might almost infer the graceful elocution of their author. They are sermons to which the reader will often return." (12mo, $1.50.)

A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

The following brief extracts from the large number of favorable notices of this valuable book show the great cordiality with which it has been received.

"We have nothing as good."—N.Y. Independent.

"The most attractive."—Boston Literary World.

"Nothing better."—Boston Transcript.

"Valuable as a book of reference."—Pittsfield Eagle.

"Its accuracy will stand."—Boston Transcript.

"Easy and readable style."—Boston Journal.

"Graceful style … Marvellously full … Animation of the book is a still greater marvel."—N.Y. Independent.

"Will be read in all sections of the country with equal interest and esteem."—The South.

"The author writes with entire candor in regard to the history of the secession movement, and yet there is nothing in his history that can properly give offence to the readers in any section of the country."—The Capitol, Washington.

"The tone of the book is candid and impartial."—Boston Journal of Education.

"Probably the most intensely national of American histories."—The Star, N.Y.

"The style is cultured, and therefore simple and expressive."—Detroit Post and Tribune.

"The chapters form pleasing and finished pictures."—The Standard, Chicago.

"Interesting and instructive."—The Gazette, Barre, Mass.

"Admirably written."—Boston Herald.

"In the front rank." Star, N.Y.

"His [the author's] name is a household word."—The Globe, Portland, Me.

"Enough incident and romance."—Chicago Inter-Ocean.

"Sustains the already established reputation of the author."—Pittsfield Eagle.

"A book of rare interest and value."—Herald and Presbyter.

"A noble picture of the grand American movement."—N.Y. Home Journal.

"The cream of the complete history."—Inter-Ocean.

"A good book and very readable."—Morning Star.

"An interesting volume."—Sabbath Recorder.

"Concise, authentic and thoroughly impartial."—Ansonia Sentinel.

"Worthy of all commendation."—Golden Rule.

"It has a backbone."—Boston Herald.

"Pleasing in style, judicious in selection of material, thorough in his investigations, impartial in spirit, the author wins the reader's sustained attention and cordial approval."—Golden Rule, Boston. Boston, D. Lothrop & Co., Publishers. 12mo, cloth, $1.50; crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, $2.50.

D. Lothrop & Co. are publishing some excellent juvenile books at low rates. They are written by the best authors, and are intended to supplant the dime novel and Buffalo Bill style of juvenile books. These publishers deserve the thanks of parents and guardians.—Buck's County Intelligencer, Doylestown, Pa.

THE GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES. No collections of modern poetry have obtained or held public favor so securely as those included in the Golden Treasury Series, a new edition of which has just been issued by the house of D. Lothrop & Co. These various volumes made their appearance in England at intervals, the first—which gave the series its name—having been compiled by Francis Turner Palgrave, an English author of exquisite taste and judgment. The Ballad Book, compiled and edited by the poet, William Allingham, followed. Later appeared The Book of Praise, edited by Roundell Palmer, made up of selections from the best English hymn writers, and about the same time a fourth volume, Religious Poems, an admirable selection of poems of religious life and sentiment, was added to the series. For a time the English edition only was obtainable in this country. Later the Messrs. Lothrop issued an American edition from new English plates, and have since added to the series Marmion, The Lady of the Lake, Tennyson's Poems, Lays of Ancient Rome, Pilgrim's Progress, and Minds and Words of Jesus. These words which were originally issued at $3.00 a volume are now brought out in popular form, elegantly printed on the best paper, beautifully illustrated and handsomely bound, the price reduced from $3.00 to $1.25 a volume. The series contains the very cream of English poetical literature, no writer of note from the time of Shakespeare to the present being unrepresented. For a choice holiday present to a lady, nothing is more fitting or acceptable.

BOYS AND GIRLS' ANNUAL FOR 1885. Edited by William Blair Perkins. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $2.50. This collection of instructive, and interesting stories, sketches, poems, biographies and papers in natural history constitutes in itself an entire library. The entire make up is of the most perfect character, and it is evident that no pains or expense has been spared to make this volume every way worthy of the enterprising publisher whose name it bears, and the host of merry, happy children, who are destined to delight in its pages. It is a fitting prelude to the holiday season, and sets a high mark for other publishers to follow. It is one of the books that we delight to heartily commend, for its intrinsic value is equal to its exquisite beauty. It is just the book to head the children's Christmas list.

ÆSOP'S FABLES. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.00. These stories, though they were told more than two thousand years ago, and have been printed in hundreds of different editions, still retain their pristine charm, and the children of to-day read them with the same pleasure that they did centuries ago. The present is a cheap, well-printed edition, profusely illustrated, and the juveniles will find its contents just as enjoyable as if they were enclosed in the costliest covers.

LITTLE FOLKS IN PICTURE AND STORY. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.00. If the little people of the household do not fall in love with this charming collection of stories and pictures they must be very hard to suit. It would be hard to imagine a more attractive feast than the publishers have here spread for them, or one so thoroughly adapted to their tastes. There are stories about cats, stories about dogs, stories about pigs, and stories about almost everything that can be thought of to amuse very little readers, and the pictures are every bit as charming as the stories.

CHAUTAUQUA YOUNG FOLKS' ANNUAL. The "Chautauqua idea"—which is to place educational advantages within easy reach of the multitudes so far as the young are concerned—is happily realized in the annual publications bearing the above title.

A variety of subjects, knowledge of which is of vital importance to the future success of the young, have been treated by famous writers especially selected for the work, and treated in such a manner as to educate, while affording delightful entertainment. To illustrate in the present volume for 1884, the third of the series, there are delightful lessons in Natural History, and on the care of Flowers and Plants, and instructive facts as to Food and Drink; faithful and suggestive sketches of Noted Men, showing how honorable success has been won in business, literature, science, art, and public life; chapters in History, and a score and more of fascinating stories and sketches relating to a great variety of important subjects.

If it were not for the suggestion of heaviness attached to the name, we might call these volumes table cyclopedia, which in truth they are, full of the most valuable information, but as equally full of fascination and interest for all readers.

Owners of No. 3 of this Chautauqua series will not rest satisfied until they possess Nos. 1 and 2. No. 1 contains the famous "Stories of Liberty," in which some of the brightest American writers recount the efforts by which freedom has been won. In No. 2 can be found the valuable papers by Dr. D.A. Sargent (of Harvard University) nowhere else published. Every boy in the land should have copy, and set up his own gymnasium. Papers on the use of the Microscope, on methods in Housekeeping, and lessons in the Useful Arts also appear in these volumes.

It will be seen that the material in these annuals is of the best, which could not fail to be the case when prepared by such writers as Arthur Gilman, Sarah K. Bolton, Dr. D.A. Sargent, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Margaret J. Preston, Amanda B. Harris, Dr. Felix L. Oswald, Ernest Ingersoll, and others of equal repute. The present volume contains seven series of articles, with numerous choice illustrations. Published in quarto size, handsome cloth binding, and sent to any address for $1.50.