Genoa the Superb.-As Columbus is the dominating figure, just now, in the minds of men and women, a work which warmly and graphically presents the biographical, historical, artistic, literary and scenic points of interest with which the magnificent city of his birth is invested seems conspicuously in harmony with the prevailing sentiment. Such a work is "Genoa the Superb," by Virginia W. Johnson, prepared on the same plan as her "Lily of the Arno" of last year, with which it is also uniform in general appearance. A series of impressions are offered in its chapters, such as would come to a highly cultured and artistic nature, in the midst of the clustered reminiscences of many centuries. The city of Genoa as it is today forms a picturesque sketch in the series. Its vast shipping interests crowding the Mediterranean at its feet with hundred of vessels from all the nations of the world, its great commercial prosperity, the remarkable beauty of its parks, palaces and cathedrals of modern architecture, would alone make it one of the most interesting cities of Italy. But it possesses a past unusually rich in romantic elements, upon which the writer has not failed to bestow study and research. Through her vivid descriptions we are carried back to the Genoa of four hundred years ago, where the young Columbus spent his boyhood, his figure becoming again a living presence in her quaint old streets, as he paces them thoughtfully and discontentedly, his eyes turned to the new world. The many photogravures which illus. trate the volume are printed in excellent style from photographs which, taken in Genoa, reproduce the many beauties of "the city of Columbus." One representing a magnificent monument in white marble, raised to the memory of Columbus by Charles Albert of Savoy, is the Mecca of all patriotic American tourists. The cover is very elegant in white vellum with stampings in blue, red and gold,'and is protected in the Italian style by red slip covers. A companion volume to "The Lily of the Arno," published last season. (Estes & Lauriat. $3.).

The Story of Columbus." The initial volume of a series to be known as The Delights of History is another contribution to the voluminous literature of the Columbus year, and may be described as a household product," says the N. Y. Tribune, "since the father has edited a work written by one of his daughters and illustrated by another. The motive of this new life of Columbus is to embody the results of recent research and investigation, and at the same time to condense the material and to present it in a popular, entertaining form. Mrs. Seelye has succeeded in making an interesting story without having recourse to the discredited fables and spurious fictions which converted the earlier lives of Columbus into romances. She has endeavored to paint the hero of the sea in his real colors. Mrs. Seelye's book, while designed for less mature minds than Dr. Adams' recent ad mirable biography of Columbus, is pleasing in its general effect and reveals the results of painstaking and conscientious study." The book has upwards of one hundred illustrations, many of them copies of well-known pictures. (Appleton. $1.75.)

In the Levant.-Charles Dudley Warner's book of seventeen years ago, "In the Levant," has been brought out in two-volume form, similar to the holiday editions of Hawthorne's "Marble Faun" and "Our Old Home." For frontispiece it has a portrait of the author, and each volume contains a dozen excellent photogravures made from selected photographs. New plates have been made for the edition, and a fine quality of paper has been used. The binding comb nes olive with turkey red, and a shield is entirely in turkey red. The head and tail pieces are taken from the Pickering designs. The author visited the East a year ago and, in a brief preface, notes some of the changes which have occurred since his former visit. These are not only the changes produced by the war between Turkey and Russia, but those which have given the country better roads and hotels, established better financial ways and made for the ultimate emancipation of women. Mr. Warner's delightful book is now made newly attractive. It must have won already many thousands of readers, and the old readers as well as the new will find the two volumes as interesting as they are beautiful. "Either as a guide-book or as a souvenir of travel," says the Boston Beacon, "the new illustrated edition of Charles Dudley sincere appreciation, while the vividly written narrative of personal experiences and observation in the East will have enhanced attractions for the stay-at-homes because of the beautiful illustrations with which it is now provided. Mr. Warner deservedly holds high rank as a descriptive writer. He is quick in catching details of local color; his comparisons are always suggestive; and he has a very entertaining fund of genuine Yankee humor at his command, which he draws upon freely, yet never in a way to weary the most fastidious reader. Mr. Warner's humor is at its freshest in this description of the delights and disappointments of a visit to the Holy Land. Underlying all his fun are very noble thoughts on true religious feeling. The work makes a fitting companion to the illustrated edition of Hawthorne's Marble Faun,' brought out in similar style last year by the same publishers." (Houghton, M. 2 v., $5.)

Warner's 'In the Levant' cannot fail to find

1

At the Beautiful Gate, and Other Songs of Faith. "This is a collection," says the N. Y. Observer, "of such of Miss Larcom's lyrics as are of an especially serious and devotional character, some, but not all of which, have appeared in the Household Edition of the author's poems published about ten years ago. About a third of the number have been written since that publication appeared, and some are now for the first time in print. There are many very sweet hymns in this collection, and all are of a character calculated to refresh and profit the spiritual nature of the devout reader." The pretty little book is worthy to rank with the sweet singer's preceding collections, "The Unseen Friend," and "As It Is in Heaven," and to those already in possession of the former treasures will be a very welcome keepsake. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.)

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Genuine Oxford Teacher's Bible" is too well Oxford Bibles and Books of Devotion.-" The known to need a word. It always makes a useful Christmas gift and can be had in bindings that Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ," make it a very rich gift as well ($1.25-$20). Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying," and Kebles' Oxford paper and make ideally lovely books Christian Year" are also printed on the famous ($1.25-$2.50). Of "Prayer-Books and Hymnals" there is the usual and endless supply in every imaginable style of binding. The silver-mounted examination can give any one an adequate idea hymnals are specially festive-looking, and only of the very beautiful things these books represent in their rich and tasteful dress. (Nelson.)

The World's Best Hymns.-This is a collection of favorite sacred poems and hymns in the English language, with which some translations are included and which have been preceded by an introduction by Prof. J. W. Churchill. This attractive volume contains 200 pages of hymns, together with 40 full-page illustrations by the favorite artist, Louis K. Harlow, the illustrations being chiefly landscapes with borders of flowers. The book has been choicely printed at the University Press, Cambridge, in the finest style, with black-letter headings, etc. (Little, Brown & Co. $1.50; China silk, hand-painted, $2.)

Dorothy Q.-This is a companion volume to "The One-Hoss Shay," published last yearjust as pretty, yet wholly different. Besides Dorothy Q.," the handsome volume contains A Ballad of the Boston Tea-Party" and "Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle," three of Oliver Wendell Holmes' most popular poems. They are arranged in a chronological order, and all belong to a period which Howard Pyle, who is the artist, is particularly happy in portraying. The hundred designs he has made include delightful pictures of Colonial and Revolutionary life and exquisite decorative borders for almost every page. The frontispiece is a charming portrait of" Dorothy Q.," the ancestress

WATCHING THE BATTLE FROM THE STEEPLE.

From "Dorothy Q." (Copyright, 1892, by Houghton Mifflin & Co.)

The

of Dr. Holmes, to whom the poem was addressed. It has been the aim of the publishers to make this a specially elegant volume. book opens well; the printing is faultless, and the binding is new and in keeping with the whole spirit of the volume, Mrs. Henry Whitman having made for the cover some very artistic designs. Take the work altogether, with its spirited and refined text, its charmingly piquant sketches of old-fashioned types, its delicate and appropriate borders, and graceful head and tail pieces, and it is certainly one of the most interesting of the holiday volumes. There is an exquisitely printed édition de luxe, limited to two hundred and fifty copies, with a frontispiece in photogravure, and the decorative borders in colors. It is bound in vellum and gold, in a new style peculiarly suited to the old-time decorations of the book. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.50; edition de luxe, $5.)

Nature and Elements of Poetry.-Edmund Clarence Stedman has collected in a substantial volume entitled "The Nature and Elements of Poetry "the series of lectures delivered by him in 1891, in the initial course of the Percy Turnbull Lectureship of Poetry at Johns Hopkins University. The lectureship was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull to commemorate the name of their son, Percy Graeme Turnbull, who died in 1887. "In conformity with the terms of the gift," says the Boston Gazette, "we are told, a course of lectures is to be delivered annually by some maker or critical student of poetry. Mr. Stedman says in his interesting and scholarly introduction: There is no good reason, I think, why both the essence and the incarnation of poetry may not be considered as directly as those of the less inclusive and more palpable fine arts. At all events, an attempt is made in this volume to do that very thing.' The general subject is considered under the following heads: Oracles, Old and New,' What Is Poetry?' Creation and Self-Expression,' 'Melancholia,' 'Beauty,' 'Truth,' Imagination,' The Faculty Divine: Passion, Insight, Genius, Faith." A copious index adds materially to the value of the work for consultation by the student. In his conclusion the author remarks: The study of poetry has stimulated other literary researches. Yet the best thing that I or any one can say to you under these conditions is that a breath of true poetry is worth a breeze of comment; that one must in the end make his own acquaintance with its examples and form his judgment of them. Read the best; and not the imitations of imitators.' The book is a helpful and inspiring one that every lover of literature should place in his library." (Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.50.)

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Longmans, Green & Co.'s Publications.-There are half a dozen volumes of excellent fiction on this firm's list, which will prove a boon to the many lovers of good stories. The Autobiography of a Slander," Edna Lyall's strong story, is brought out in a holiday edition with twenty characteristic illustrations by Lancelot Speed ($1.50); "After Twenty Years" is a volume of excellent short stories by Julian Sturgis ($1); Mrs. Walford has a pretty love-tale, dealing with "The One Good Guest' at an English country house ($1); "Beggars All," Mrs. Dougall's forceful story of social conditions, is brought out in a sixth edition ($1); and "The New Eden" is a new story by C. J. Cutliffe Hyne ($1); while those who seek amusement will find abundant ond series of those delightful scenes and diasatisfaction in Anstey's "Voces Populi," a seclogues first written for readers of Punch ($1.75).

The Toilers of the Field.-Every word that can be gathered of the writings of Richard Jeffries is precious to those who count his books among the intimate friends of their quiet dressing-gown and slippers hours of undisturbed delight. In this handsome volume we again hear him speak of the farmer at home, the laborer's daily life, field-faring women, an English homestead, John Smith's shanty, Wiltshire laborers and other themes dear to his heart, such as the coming of summer, the golden-crested wren, an extinct race, etc. Many of these papers appeared in Fraser's Magazine in 1874, long before Jeffries had reached the zenith of his fame, and many of the others were given the public as letters to The Times and also in the pages of Longman's Magasine. In

this volume, offered to be put beside those already on your shelves, is a frontispiece that is the reproduction of a photograph of the bust of Jeffries in Salisbury Cathedral, the work of Mrs. Thomas. Bound in green cloth with light green title and with perfect print and fine paper this book speaks loudly to hearts of book-connoisseurs. (Longmans, G. $1.75.)

Attractive Books in New Bindings.-The following volumes are offered in sets in the new forget-me-not binding, with back and half sides of white vellum cloth stamped with forget-menots in blue and gold, with lettering stamped in an ornamental panel and with outer half sides of pale blue silk: "The Poems of Thomas Gray' and "Wordsworth's Grave" "Lucile" and "Heine's Book of Song ;" Rab," and Lamb's "Tales from Shakespeare;" "Heroes and Hero Worship" and "Sartor Resartus" (ea. $1.25). "Rings and Love-Knots," by Samuel Minturn Peck, and William Watson's "Wordsworth's Grave" appear in the 16mo series of poets and can be had in orchid and other bindings. (Stokes. $1-$3.)

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Zahm's Sound and Music.—Few besides special students realize what wonderful discoveries have been made within the past few years in the realm of sound. Yet the brilliant achievements in the science of acoustics equal those in electricity or chemistry. To make new application of a famous sentiment of Cicero, "All departments of knowledge have a common bond and are united by a sort of blood relationship." The service which Professor Zahm has rendered to all intelligent readers, especially to music-lovers, by this delightful, popular, yet rigidly scientific work, cannot fail of immediate and hearty recognition. The adoption by the author of a colloquial form of address, the lavish use of illustrations, and his own genial personality combine to make his pages doubly attractive. Profusely illustrated. (McClurg. $3.50.)

99 Methods of Utilizing Boiied Beef.-The intimate connection between bouillon and a dinner of boiled beef is not so obvious in this country as in France, the land of wise and delightful kitchen thrift. Nevertheless, the recipes contained in the volume published under the above title may be of value to the American housewife in the suggestion of a variety for the table, as well as a suggestion for rendering palatable 'that which is perhaps too frequently rejected as unfit for food. Modern science has shown that heat coagulates the nourishing elements of beef, a very slight amount only being dissolved even when the water is heated gradually. The bouillon is a stimulant to the system and a palatable dish, but the despised bouilli is still valuable as a food, and needs only to have some degree of flavor restored to it to make it acceptable to the taste. The 99 recipes given supply that need. The number 99 seems at first glance peculiar, but the bright Frenchwoman who furnishes the preface humorously states that the hundredth recipe was not supplied because readers were to have the delight of inventing it themselves. Almost 99 more recipes are suggested by the book, and these methods of preparing boiled beef can be used to advantage in disguising almost any kind of cold meat, and letting the most exacting fathers and husbands think they are having something thoroughly new and very appetizing

instead of meeting their scowling looks while assisting at the obsequies of Sunday's roast. These recipes have been prepared by Babet, the great French chef, and his original recipe for stewing chicken has also been included. The publishers have made a neat oblong book in board covers, ornamented with cooks and saucepans. Every recipe occupies a separate page, and the page facing is left blank for additional inventions. A most acceptable though inexpensive Christmas souvenir can be found in this practical help for good housekeepers. (Ireland. 75 c.)

What One Can Do with a Chafing-Dish.The recipes for handling boiled beef presuppose practical knowledge of the technique of the kitchen, but this little book describing the possibilities of the chafing-dish is specially adapted to amateurs. Mrs. H. L. Sawtelle takes her readers into her most secret confidence and lets them profit by her experience in preparing appetizing dishes from all kinds of food, ranging from clams, oysters and lobsters to various rechauffes of fish and a capitolade of turkey, describing an astonishingly long array of dainty dishes that can be prepared without the heat book accompanied by the chafing-dish described and disorder of a kitchen range. This little would make a useful and original present for larder to spend his evenings within college walls, some student starting away from his mother's or for some young bridal couple trying to make believe they have an unseen kitchen. The chafing-dishes can be had in agate or nickel ware and range in price from $1.75 as far as one cares to go. Many nice little suppers can be much less than the same would do in a restauprepared after concerts or theatres that cost rant and can be eaten in dressing-gown and slippers. (Ireland. 75 c.)