From the N. Y. Times. This work has been done so well that it could hardly have been done better. It shows throughout knowledge, taste, discriminating judgment, and, what is rarer and of yet higher value, a sympathetic appreciation of the poet's moods and purposes. From the Pacific School Journal, San Francisco. This edition of Shakespeare's plays bids fair to be the most valuable aid to the study of English literature yet published. For educational purposes it is beyond praise. Each of the plays is printed in large clear type and on excellent paper. Every difficulty of the text is clearly explained by copious notes. It is remarkable how many new beauties one may discern in Shakespeare with the aid of the glossaries attached to these books.... Teachers can do no higher, better work than to inculcate a love for the best literature, and such books as these will best aid them in cultivating a pure and refined taste. From the Christian Union, N. Y. Mr.W. J. Rolfe's capital edition of Shakespeare... by far the best edition for school and parlor use, We speak after some practical use of it The notes are brief but useful; and the necessary expurgations are managed with discriminating skill. in a village Shakespeare Club. From the Academy, London. Mr. Rolfe's excellent series of school editions of the Plays of Shakespeare. they differ from some of the English ones in looking on the plays as something more than word - puzzles. They give the student helps and hints on the characters and meanings of the plays, while the word-notes are also full and posted up to the latest date. ... Mr. Rolfe also adds to each of his books a most useful "Index of Words and Phrases Explained." PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. Any of the above works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the SELECT POEMS OF THOMAS GRAY. Edited, with Notes, by WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M., formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illustrated. Square 16mo, Paper, 40 cents; Cloth, 56 cents (Uniform with Rolfe's Shakespeare.) Mr. Rolfe has done his work in a manner that comes as near to perfection as man can approach. He knows his subject so well that he is competent to instruct all in it; and readers will find an immense amount of knowledge in his elegant volume, all set forth in the most admirable order, and breathing the most liberal and enlightened spirit, he being a warm appreciator of the divinity of genius.-Boston Traveller. The great merit of these books lies in their carefully edited text, and in the fulness of their explanatory notes. Mr. Rolfe is not satisfied with simply expounding, but he explores the entire field of English literature, and therefrom gathers a multitude of illustrations that are interesting in themselves and valuable as a commentary on the text. He not only instructs, but stimulates his readers to fresh exertion; and it is this stimulation that makes his labor so productive in the school-room.-Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston. Mr. William J. Rolfe, to whom English literature is largely indebted for annotated and richly illustrated editions of several of Shakespeare's Plays, has treated the "Select Poems of Thomas Gray" in the same way -just as he had previously dealt with the best of Goldsmith's poems.~ Philadelphia Press. Mr. Rolfe's edition of Thomas Gray's select poems is marked by the same discriminating taste as his other classics.-Springfield Republican. Mr. Rolfe's rare abilities as a teacher and his fine scholarly tastes enable him to prepare a classic like this in the best manner for school use. There could be no better exercise for the advanced classes in our schools than the critical study of our best authors, and the volumes that Mr. Rolfe has prepared will hasten the time when the study of mere form will give place to the study of the spirit of our literature.-Louisville CourierJournal. An elegant and scholarly little volume.-Christian Intelligencer, N. Y. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW York. Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. SELECT POEMS OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Edited, with Notes, by WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M., formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illustrated. 16mo, Paper, 40 cents; Cloth, 56 cents. (Uniform with Rolfe's Shakespeare.) and The carefully arranged editions of "The Merchant of Venice other of Shakespeare's plays prepared by Mr. William J. Rolfe for the use of students will be remembered with pleasure by many readers, and they will welcome another volume of a similar character from the same source, in the form of the "Select Poems of Oliver Goldsmith," edited with notes fuller than those of any other known edition, many of them original with the editor.—Boston Transcript. Mr. Rolfe is doing very useful work in the preparation of compact hand-books for study in English literature. His own personal culture and his long experience as a teacher give him good knowledge of what is wanted in this way.-The Congregationalist, Boston. Mr. Rolfe has prefixed to the Poems selections illustrative of Goldsmith's character as a man, and grade as a poet, from sketches by Macaulay, Thackeray, George Colman, Thomas Campbell, John Forster, and Washington Irving. He has also appended at the end of the volume a body of scholarly notes explaining and illustrating the poems, and dealing with the times in which they were written, as well as the incidents and circumstances attending their composition. - Christian Intelligencer, N. Y. The notes are just and discriminating in tone, and supply all that is necessary either for understanding the thought of the several poems, or for a critical study of the language. The use of such books in the schoolroom cannot but contribute largely towards putting the study of English literature upon a sound basis; and many an adult reader would find in the present volume an excellent opportunity for becoming critically acquainted with one of the greatest of last century's poets.-Appleton's Journal, N. Y. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. AFTERNOONS WITH THE POETS. By C. D. DESHLER. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 75. This pleasing work is made up of citations from the poets, accompanied with easy and familiar discussions of their merits and peculiarities. Seven afternoons are thus agreeably occupied, and take the shap: of as many interesting chapters. The participants are the "Professor' and his pupil, who are represented as on terms of the utmost intimacy, and express their sentiments to each other with perfect freedom. *** Mr. Deshler has happily selected the sonnet, and confined his view of the poets to their productions in this single species of verse. ***The author's extensive research has been accompanied by minute scrutiny, faithful comparison, and judicious discrimination. His critical observations are frank, honest, good-natured, yet just, discreet, comprehensive, and full of instruction. It would be difficult to find a volume that in so small a compass offers equal aid for the cultivation of literary taste, and for reaching an easy acquaintance with all the great poets of the English tongue. The style is pure and transparent, and though colloquial in form, it is exceedingly correct and elegant, embodying every chaste adornment of which language is capable.-Boston Transcript. A very unconventional and pleasant book.-N. Y. Herald. The substance of the book is decidedly meritorious, far better than most of the criticism published in these days. It shows careful study, extensive reading, a nice taste and discrimination, and also a genuine appreciation and insight which are rare.-N. Y. Evening Express. A volume of much literary interest, and is very pleasantly written.*** Mr. Deshler's discussions of literature are extremely interesting. *** It will be a source of enjoyment to all who have a taste for poetry, and can appreciate the highest triumphs of poetic art as displayed in the sonnet. -Hartford Post. We have to thank Mr. Deshler for a collection of some of the most exquisite sonnets in the English language, with an animated, appreciative, and suggestive comment which shows a fine poetical taste and is an interesting and instructive guide in a charming field.—N. Y. Mail. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above work by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. SELECT POEMS OF ROBERT BROWNING. Edited, with Notes, by WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M., formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass., and HELIllustrated. 16mo, Paper, 40 cents; (Uniform with Rolfe's Shakespeare.) OISE E. HERSEY. Probably no critic yet has gone to the heart of Browning's true significance as does Miss Hersey. There is something in the fineness of her insight and her subtle, spiritual sympathy that truly interprets him, while others write in a more or less scholarly manner about him. Miss Hersey's work indicates the blending of two exceptional qualities—the poetic sympathy and the critical judgments. She feels intuitively all the poet's subtle meanings; she is responsible to them by virtue of temperament; yet added to this is the critical faculty, keen, logical, and constructive.-Boston Traveller. To say that the selections have been made by Mr. Rolfe is to say that they have not only been made by a careful and accurate scholar, but by a man of pure and beautiful taste. The Notes, which fill some thirty pages, are admirable in their scope and brevity.-N. Y. Mail and Express. ... We can conscientiously say that both the arrangement of the selections and the fulness, as well as the illuminating character, of the annotations are all that the most exacting taste could require; and the whole work is well fitted to charm the poet's established admirers, and to awaken in others who have not been among these a new sense of Browning's strength and beauty as a writer.-Hartford Times. ... The "Select Poems of Robert Browning" is a marvel of industrious editing, wise, choice, and excellent judgment in comment. An introduction, a brief account of Browning's life and works, a chronological table of his works, and a series of extracted critical comments on the poet, precede the series of selections. Besides these there are at the end of the book very extensive, valuable, and minutely illustrative notes, together with addenda supplied by Browning himself on points which the editors were unable fully to clear up.-N. Y. Star. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW York. HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above work by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. |