Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

Sir William Temple, 1628.

His Life and Times, with his unpublished Essays and Correspondences, by R. P. Courtenay, 2 vols. 8vo, $5 00.

Wood, 1632.

It

He wrote "Athenæ Oxonienses," an exact history of all the writers and bishops who have had their education in the University of Oxford from 1500 to 1690, &c., &c., &c. is an invaluable work, both as respects biography and bibliography, and should be in every English library.-Dibdin. 2 vols. folio, $8.00.

James II., 1633.

Clarke's Life of James II., from authentic sources. 2 vols. 12mo, $2,50.

Strype, 1643.

A voluminous contributor to English biography; he wrote the Lives of Cranmer, Parker, Grindal, &c., &c.-Enc. Am. He is the most valuable contributor to ecclesiastical history and biography that ever appeared in this country.-Chal

mers.

Stanley, 1644.

His "History of Philosophy," containing the lives and opinions of philosophers of every sect, is a composition of great acknowledged merit.-Blake.

He brought a good deal from an almost untrodden field.— Hallam.

$750.

Duke of Marlborough, 1650.

Memoirs by William Coxe, with his Original Correspondence. An elaborate and valuable work.

3 vols. 4to, 1817-19.

Ben Jonson, 1674.

His works, with Notes and a Biographical Memoir of his Life, by Barry Cornwall,

8vo, $5 50.

Wesley, 1703 (Southey's Life of).

Few persons, we think, could have been found better qualified for this undertaking than Mr. Southey, as, in the collection of his facts and the comparison of his evidence, he has displayed his usual industry and discrimination; his narrative, as to the faithful record of singular and important occurren

ces, can hardly fail to be read with interest and instruction, even by those who are little inclined to concur in his sentiments on Christian doctrine or ecclesiastical policy.-Quart.

Rev.

2 vols. 8vo, $3 00.

William Pitt, 1708.

His Life, by Rev. F. Thackeray, 2 vols. 4to, London, 1827. The narrative between the reported speeches, which latter form a great proportion of the work, goes forward in a plain, straight road; and the style, although not very ornate, is too good to provoke fastidiousness, and too clear to produce embarrassment. As an honest chronicler, he quietly and unpretendingly conducts us from one event to another, and seldom interrupts the continuous chain by digressive remarks. -Am. Quart. Rev.

Johnson, 1709.

His "Lives of English Poets," with an occasional exhibition of political bias and strong prejudices, form a valuable addition to British biography and criticism.-Enc. Am 75 vols. 12mo, $50 00.

Turgot, 1727.

Condorcet's Life of Turgot.

Burke, 1730.

Among the many biographies of him, that by J. Prior, Esq., is by far the most accurate and complete.-Penny Cyc. 2 vols. 8vo, 1826.

Fuseli, 1739.

His Life and Writings, by John Knowles. These volumes are perhaps the most valuable, as regards the fine arts, ever published in England. They must be invaluable to the student, and to the innumerable lovers of whatever is great and beautiful in art, and cannot be too highly estimated as a guide for the collector of works of the old masters.— Monthly Rev.

3 vols. 8vo, $7 00.

Nichols, 1744.

Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, 9 vols. 8vo, $54 00, London, 1812-16. A highly important and interesting work.-Penny Cyc.

Sir William Jones, 1746.

Teignmouth's Life of.

Canova, 1757.

The biography is a judicious, unpretending narrative of the leading incidents in a life of exclusive and untiring devotion to art, and of which the best and only faithful record is to be found in the productions of the artist.-N. Am. Rev.

Cicognara, 1758.

"History of Modern Sculpture." Although fastidious criticism has taxed it with some defects, it is undeniably a performance of great research and erudition.-Penny Cyc.

[blocks in formation]

This individual will be known by name to a very small portion of our readers, though an abler, braver, more accomplished, or more high-minded officer never trod the deck of a British ship. Captain Smyth has rendered a service to his profession and his country by publishing the memoirs of his friend.-Quart. Rev.

8vo, London.

Ecclesiastical Biography, by Dr. Wordsworth, 1770.

"Lives of Eminent Men connected with the History of Religion in England from the Commencement of the Reformation to the Revolution." It is a valuable work.

Lives of the Novelists, by Walter Scott, 1771.

The author writes like a quiet, sober, sensible sort of a man, too rational to suffer himself to get in raptures about anything, and too little of a coxcomb to affect a fervour that he does not feel. It almost seems, while we are reading these volumes, as if we are admitted into the intimate and unreserved society of their celebrated author, and hear him expatiating at his ease on the subject of those writings, with whose merits and whose faults he was alike familiar.-N. Y. Rev. 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1825.

Sir W. Scott, 1771.

Life of, by Lockhart. (See third part.)

Sir Humphrey Davy, 1778.

A very correct account of his life is by Dr. Davy.-Penny Cyc.

Life of Black Hawk.

This book is a curiosity, an anomaly in literature. It is the only autobiography of an Indian extant. It is an autobiography of a wild, unadulterated savage, gall yet fermenting in his veins, his heart still burning with the sense of wrong, the words of wrath and scorn yet scarce cold upon his lips, and his hands still reeking with recent slaughter.-North

Am. Rev.

Napoleon (Sir Walter Scott's Life of).

A work of partial views, and executed with too little care and research to add to the brilliant reputation of the author.Enc. Am.

Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain, with Biographical and Historical Memoirs, by Edmund Lodge, Esq. A work of considerable value.—Penny Cyc.

8vo, $5.

Emma Roberts's Memoirs of the Rival Houses of York and Lancaster.

Historical and biographical. Full of interesting and valuable matter.

2 vols. 8vo, $6 00, London, 1827.

Biographie Universelle.

We have no English biographical dictionary to be compared with this great work. Among its contributors, above 300 are the names of the most eminent French writers.Penny Cyc.

26 vols. 8vo, $100, Paris, 1812-28.

Gorton's Biographical Dictionary.

(See third part.)

Blake's Biographical Dictionary.

Sir Egerton Brydges's Imaginary Biography. 2 vols. 12mo, $2 25, London, 1834.

Landor's Imaginary Conversations.

VII. GEOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, AND VOYAGES.

Eratosthenes, 230 B.C.

He gained great renown by his investigations of the size of the earth. Of his geographical works, which were long in high repute, the scattered remains were collected and published by Leidel.-Eschenburg.

Goett., 1789, 8vo.

Strabo, 19 A.D.

His Geography is a rich store of interesting facts and mature reflections, and of great utility in the study of ancient literature and art; it contains descriptions of particular countries, their constitutions, manners, and religion, interwoven with notices of distinguished persons and events.-Esch. Best edition, Paris, 1816-19, 4 vols. 8vo.

Diodorus, first century.

(See his History.)

Pausanias, second century.

His work "Itinerary of Greece" is full of instructive details for the antiquarian, especially in reference to the history of art, as the author makes a point of describing the principal temples, edifices, statues, and the like.

Best edition, Siebelis, Greek and Latin, Leipzig, 1822–28, 5 vols. 8vo. English translation, Th. Taylor, London, 1793. 3 vols. 8vo.

Marco Polo, thirteenth century.

He not only gave a better account of China than any previously afforded, but likewise furnished an account of Japan, of several islands in the East Indies, of Madagascar, and of the coast of Africa.-Enc. Am.

1556, Paris, 4to.

Mandeville, fourteenth century.

A celebrated English traveller. He visited the greater part of Asia, Egypt, and Libya, making himself acquainted, according to his own account, with many languages, and collecting much information, true and false.-Enc. Am.

8vo, $2 25.

« ForrigeFortsett »