Chapter VIII: Lord Acton's List of the Hundred Best Books (2)

{243b} Foncin, Pierre (1841- still living). A French Professor of History; born at Limoges, and has long held important official positions in connexion with education. He has written many books, including an _Atlas Historique_. His _Essai sur le ministere Turgot_ appeared in 1876, and obtained a prize from the French Academy.

{243c} Burke, Edmund (1729-1797), the famous statesman, was born in Dublin and died at Beaconsfield, Bucks, where he was buried. His _Vindication of Natural Society_ appeared in 1756. Burke entered Parliament for Wendover in 1765, sat for Bristol, 1774-80, and Malton, 1780-94. His _Collected Works_ first appeared in 1792-1827 in 8 volumes, the first three of which were issued in his lifetime; his _Collected Works and Correspondence_ was published in 8 volumes in 1852, but the _Correspondence_ had appeared separately in 4 volumes in 1844.

{243d} Las Cases, Emmanuel Augustine Dieudonne Marir Joseph (1766-1842). Educated at the Military School in Paris but entered the French navy; emigrated at the Revolution; fought at Quiberon; taught French in London; published in 1802 his _Atlas historique et geographique_ under the pseudonym of "Le Sage." On his return to France he came under the notice of Napoleon, who made him a Count of the Empire and sent him upon several important missions. During the Emperor's exile in Elba he again went to England. He returned during the Hundred Days and accompanied Napoleon to St. Helena. Here he recorded day by day the conversations of the great exile. At the end of eighteen months he was exiled by Sir Hudson Lowe to the Cape of Good Hope. He returned to France after the death of Napoleon and became a Deputy under Louis Philippe. His _Memorial de Sainte-Helene_, published in 1823-1824, secured a great success.

{244a} Holtzendorff, Franz von (1829-1889), was Professor of Jurisprudence first at Berlin and afterwards at Munich, where he died. He wrote many books concerned with crime and its punishment, with the prison systems of the world, etc. His _Enzyklopadie der Rechtswissenschaft in systematischer und alphabetischer Bearbeitung_ was first published at Leipzig in 1870 and 1871.

{244b} Jhering, Rudolph von (1818-1892), was for a time professor at Basle, Rostock, Kiel and Vienna. His _Geist des romischen Rechts auf den verschiedenen Stufen seiner Entwickelung_ appeared in Leipzig between 1852 and 1865, and is counted a classic in jurisprudence.

{244c} Geib, Karl Gustav (1808-1864). An eminent criminologist. Was a Professor of Zurich and afterwards of Tubingen, where he died. Wrote many books, of which the most important was his _Geschichte des romischen Kriminalprozesses bis zum Tode Justinians_ in 1842. His _Lehrbuch des deutschen Strafrechts_ appeared in 1861 and 1862, but was never completed.

{245a} Maine, Sir Henry James Sumner (1822-1888). Jurist; born in Kelso, Scotland; educated at Christ's Hospital, London, and at Pembroke College, Cambridge; was Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cambridge, 1847- 54. In 1862 he became a legal member of Council in India and held the office for seven years. In 1871 he became a K.C.S.I. and had a seat on the Indian Council. In 1877 he was elected Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and in 1887 became Whewell Professor of International Law at Cambridge. He died at Cannes. His principal work is his _Ancient Law_: _its Connexion with the Early History of Society and its Relation to Modern Ideas_, first published in 1861.

{245b} Gierke, Otto Friedrich (1841- still living), was born in Stettin; was Professor of Law in Breslau, Heidelberg and Berlin successively. Served in the Franco-German War of 1870. His principal work, _Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht_, appeared in 3 volumes in Berlin, the first in 1868, the third in 1881.

{245c} Stahl, Friedrich Julius (1802-1861), was born in Munich of Jewish parents, died in Bruckenau. Held chairs of law and jurisprudence in Berlin and other cities, and wrote many books. His _Die Philosophie des Rechts und geschichtlicher Ansicht_ appeared at Heidelberg in 2 volumes in 1830 and 1837.

{246a} Gentz, Friedrich von (1764-1832). A distinguished publicist and statesman; born in Breslau, died at Weinhaus, near Vienna; studied Jurisprudence in Konigsberg. One of his earliest literary efforts was a translation of Burke's _Reflections upon the French Revolution_. Played a very considerable part in the combination of the powers of Europe against Napoleon in 1809-15. He was the author of many books. His _Briefewechsel mit Adam Muller_ was published in Stuttgart in 1857--long after his death.

{246b} Vollgraff, Karl Friedrich (1794-1863), was for a time Professor of Jurisprudence at Marburg, where he died. His two most important books were: (1) _Der Systeme der praktischen Politik im Abendlande_; (2) _Erster Versuch einer Begrundung der allgemeinen Ethnologie durch die Anthropologie und der Staats und Rechts Philosophie durch die Ethnologie oder Nationalitat der Volker_, published in 4 volumes in 1851 to 1855. It is in this last volume that a section is devoted to Polignosie.

{246c} Frantz, Konstantin (1817-1891). Distinguished publicist; born at Halberstadt and died at Blasewitz, near Dresden, where he made his home for many years. Was for a time German Consul in Spain. His great doctrine laid down in his _Die Weltpolitik_, 1883, was the union of Central Europe against the growing power of Russia and the United States of America. His _Kritik aller Parteien_ was published in Berlin in 1862.

{246d} Maistre, Joseph Marie Comte de (1753-1821). A distinguished French publicist; born at Chambery; studied at the University of Turin. Lived for some years at Lausanne, where he published in 1796 his _Considerations sur la Revolution francaise_.

{247a} Donoso Cortes, Jean Francois (1809-1853). A famous Spanish publicist; born in Estremadura; played a considerable part in Spanish affairs under Marie-Christine and Queen Isabella. Was for a time Spanish Ambassador to Berlin, and later to France, where he died in Paris. He wrote much upon such questions as the Catholic Church and Socialism.

{247b} Perin, Henri Charles Xavier (1815- ), a Belgium economist, born at Mons; became an advocate at Brussels and also Professor of Political Economy in that city. His book _De la Richesse dans les Societes Chretiennes_ appeared in Paris in 2 volumes in 1861.

{247c} Le Play, Pierre Guillaume Frederic (1806-1882). Born at Honfleur. He directed the organization of the Paris International Exhibitions of 1855 and 1867. He wrote many books. His _La reforme sociale en France deduite de l'observation comparee des peuples Europeens_ was published in two volumes in 1864.

{247d} Riehl, Wilhelm Heinrich (1823-1897). A well-known author; born at Biebrich-am-Rhein, died in Munich. He was associated with several German newspapers, and edited from 1848 to 1851 the _Nassauische Allgemeine Zeitung_, from 1851 to 1853 the _Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung_, and afterwards became a Professor of Literature at Munich. In 1885 he became the director of the Bavarian National Museum. He wrote many books, the one referred to by Lord Acton having been published in 1851 under the title of _Die burgerliche Gesellschaft_.

{248a} Sismondi, Jean Charles Leonard Sismonde de (1773-1842), the distinguished historian of the Italian republics, was born at Geneva of an Italian family originally from Pisa. He resided for a time in England. His famous book the _Histoire des Republiques Italiennes de Moyen-Age_ appeared between 1807 and 1818 in 16 volumes. His _Etudes sur les Constitutions des Peuples Libres_, was one of many other books.

{248b} Rossi, Pellegrino Luigi Odoardo (1787-1848). An Italian publicist; born at Carrara. Keenly sympathized with the French Revolution and served under Murat in the Hundred Days, after which he fled to Geneva. In later years he became a nationalized Frenchman, occupied a Chair of Constitutional Law, and finally became a peer. As Comte Rossi he went on a special embassy to Rome. He was assassinated in that city during the troubles of 1848. His _Traite du Droit Constitutionnel_ appeared in 2 volumes.

{248c} Barante, Aimable Guillaume Prosper Brugiere, baron de (1782-1868), historian and politician, was born at Riom. He was made a Counciller of State by Louis XVIII in 1815, and a peer of France in 1819. He was elected a member of the French Academy in 1828. Under Louis Philippe he became Ambassador first at Turin and afterwards at St. Petersburg. After the revolution of 1848 he devoted himself entirely to literature. He wrote many historical and literary studies, and translated the works of Schiller into French. His _Vie politique de Royer-Collard_ has several times been reprinted.

{249a} Duvergier de Hauranne, Prosper (1798-1881), was a distinguished French publicist, born at Rouen. He was parliamentary deputy for Sancerre in 1831 and took part in most of the political struggles of the following twenty years. He was exiled from France at the time of the _Coup d'Etat_, but returned during the reign of Napoleon III. Henceforth he devoted himself exclusively to historical studies. His _Histoire du gouvernement parlementaire en France_, published in 1870, secured his election to the French Academy.

{249b} Madison, James (1751-1836). The fourth President of the United States; born at Port Conway, Virginia. Acted with Jay and Hamilton in the Convention which framed the Constitution and wrote with them _The Federalist_. He had two terms of office--between 1809 and 1817--as President. He died at Montpelier, Virginia. His _Debates of the Congress of Confederation_ was published in Elliot's "Debates on the State Conventions," 4 vols., Philadelphia, 1861.

{249c} Hamilton, Alexander (1757-1804). A great American statesman, who served in Washington's army, and after the war became eminent as a lawyer in New York. He wrote fifty-one out of the eighty-five essays of _The Federalist_. He was appointed Secretary of the Treasury to the United States in 1789. He was mortally wounded in a duel by Aaron Burr in 1804. His influence upon the American Constitution gives him a great place in the annals of the Republic.

{249d} Calhoun, John Campbell (1782-1850). An American statesman; born in Abbeville County, South Carolina and studied at Yale. As a Member of Congress he supported the war with Great Britain in 1812-15. He was twice Vice-President of the United States. He died at Washington. A _Disquisition on Government_ and a _Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States_ were written in the last months of his life. His _Collected Works_ appeared in 1853-4.

{250a} Dumont, Pierre Etienne Louis (1759-1829). A great publicist; born in Geneva, and principally known in England by his association with Bentham, to whom he acted as an editor and interpreter. Lived much in Paris, St. Petersburg, and, above all, in London, where he knew Fox, Sheridan, and other famous men, and taught the children of Lord Shelburne. Dumont's _Sophismes Anarchiques_ appears in Bentham's _Collected Works_ as _Anarchical Fallacies_.

{250b} Quinet, Edgar (1803-1875). French historian and philosopher; born at Borg and died in Paris. His epic poem of _Ahasuerus_ was placed upon the Index. Of his many books his _La Revolution Francaise_ is the best known. It was written in Switzerland, where he was an exile during the reign of Napoleon III. He returned to France in 1870.

{250c} Stein, Lorenz von (1815-1890). Writer on economics, studied in Kiel and in Jena. In 1855 he became Professor of International Law in Vienna. He wrote books on statecraft and international law. His work entitled _Der Sozialismus und Kommunismus des heutigen Frankreich_ appeared in Leipzig in 1843.

{251a} Lassalle, Ferdinand (1825-1864), the famous social democrat, was of Jewish birth; born at Breslau. He took part in the revolution of 1848 and received six months' imprisonment. He was wounded in a duel at Geneva over a love affair and died two days later. His _System der Erworbenen Rechte_ appeared in 1861.

{251b} Thonissen, Jean Joseph (1817-1891). A distinguished jurist; born in Belgium. He studied at Liege and in Paris; became a Professor of the Catholic University of Louvain; afterwards became a Minister of State. Of his many works his _Socialisme depuis l'antiquite jusqu'a la constitution francaise de 1852_ is best known.

{251c} Considerant, Victor (1808-1894). Born at Salins, and, after the Revolution of 1848, entered the Chamber of Deputies. He crossed to America to found a colony in Texas, but ruined himself by the experiment. He returned to France in 1869. He was the author of many socialistic treatises.

{251d} Roscher, Wilhelm (1817-1894), economist, was born in Hanover. Held a chair first in Gottingen and afterwards in Leipzig, where he died. His _Geschichte der Nationalokonomik in Deutschland_ appeared in Munich in 1874.

{251e} Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873), the famous publicist and author, was born in London, and educated by his father, James Mill (1773-1836). He served in the India Office, 1823-58; he was M.P. for Westminster, 1865- 68. His works include the _Principles of Political Economy_, 1848; the _Essay on Liberty_, 1859, and the _System of Logic_, which first appeared in 1843.

{252a} Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834), poet and critic, was born at Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire; educated at Christ's Hospital, London, and at Jesus College, Cambridge. In the volume of _Lyrical Ballads_ by Wordsworth of 1798 Coleridge contributed the _Ancient Mariner_, and he was to make his greatest reputation by this and other poems. His best prose work was his _Biographia Literaria_ (1817). His _Aids to Reflection_ was first published in 1825.

{252b} Radowitz, Joseph Maria von (1797-1853). A Prussian general and statesman; born in Blankenberg and died in Berlin. Fought in the Napoleonic wars and was wounded at the battle of Leipzig. Afterwards served as Ambassador to various German Courts. He wrote several treatises bearing upon current affairs, and his _Fragments_ form Vols. IV and V of his _Collected Works_ in 5 volumes, which were issued in Berlin in 1852-53.

{252c} Gioberti, Vincent (1801-1852). An Italian statesman and philosopher; born in Turin, where he afterwards became Professor of Theology. Was for a time Court Chaplain, but his liberal views led to exile, and he retired first to Paris, then to Brussels. Afterwards became famous as a neo-Catholic with his attempt to combine faith with science and art, and urged the independence and the unity of Italy. His _Jesuite moderne_, published in 1847, created a sensation. After some years of home politics he was appointed by King Victor Emmanuel as Ambassador to Paris. It is noteworthy in the light of Lord Acton's recommendation of his _Pensieri_ that his works have been placed on the Index.

{253a} Humboldt, Friedrich Heinrich Alexander Baron von (1769-1859), the great naturalist, was born and died in Berlin, and studied at Frankfort- on-the-Oder, Berlin and Gottingen; he spent five years (1799-1804) in exploring South America, and in 1829 travelled through Central Asia. His _Kosmos_ appeared between 1845 and 1858 in 4 volumes.

{253b} De Candolle, Alphonse de (1806-1893). The son of the celebrated botanist, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, and was himself a professor of that science at Geneva. His _Histoire des sciences et des savants depuis deux siecles_ appeared in 1873.

{253c} Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882), the great naturalist and discoverer of natural selection, was born at Shrewsbury, where he was educated at the Grammar School, at Edinburgh University, and at Christ's College, Cambridge. His most famous book, _The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection_, was first published in 1859.

{253d} Littre, Maximilien Paul Emile (1801-1884), the famous lexicographer whose _Dictionnaire de la langue francaise_ gave him a world-wide reputation. He was born in Paris. He associated himself with Auguste Comte and the _Positive Philosophy_, and contributed many volumes in support of Comte's standpoint.

{253e} Cournot, Antoine Augustin (1801-1877). Born at Gray in Savoy; wrote many mathematical treatises. His _Traite de l'enchainement des idees fondamentales dans les sciences et dans l'histoire_ was published in 2 volumes.

{254} This was a most comprehensive addition, and fully makes up for the abrupt termination of the list of the hundred best books with two omissions. The omission of the book numbered 88 will also have been remarked. There are probably a hundred "Monatschriften der Wissenschaftlichen Vereine" or magazines of scientific societies issued in Germany. Sperling's _Zeitschriften-Adressbuch_ gives more than two columns of these.

{260a} The Bible can be best read in paragraph form from the Eversley edition, published by the Macmillans, or from the Temple Bible, issued by J. M. Dent--the latter an edition for the pocket. The translation of 1610 is literature and has made literature. The revised translation of our own day has neither characteristic. Something can be said for the Douay Bible in this connexion. It was published in Douay in the same year as the Protestant version appeared--1610. Certain words from it, such as "Threnes" for "Lamentations" as the Threnes of Jeremiah, have a poetical quality that deserved survival.

{260b} The Iliad may be read in a hundred verse translations of which those by Pope and Cowper are the best known. Both these may be found in Bohn's Libraries (G. Bell & Sons); but the prose translation for which Mr. Lang and his friends are responsible (Macmillan) is for our generation far and away the best introduction to Homer for the non-Grecian.

{261a} Under the title of "The Athenian Drama," George Allen has published three fine volumes of the works of the Greek dramatists.

{261b} Dryden's translation of Virgil has been followed by many others both in prose and verse. There was one good prose version by C. Davidson recently issued in Laurie's Classical Library. An interesting translation of Virgil's _Georgics_ into English verse was recently made by Lord Burghclere and published by John Murray. The young student, however, will do well to approach Virgil through Dryden. He will find the book in the Chandos Classics, or superbly printed in Professor Saintsbury's edition of _Dryden's Works_, Vol. XIV.

{261c} There have been many translations of Catullus. One, by Sir Richard Burton, was issued by Leonard Smithers in 1894. In Bohn's Library there is a prose translation by Walter K. Kelly. Professor Robinson Ellis made a verse translation that has been widely praised. Grant Allen translated the Attis in 1892. On the whole, the English verse translation by Sir Theodore Martin made in 1861 (Blackwood & Son) is far and away the best suited for a first acquaintance with this the 'tenderest of Roman Poets.'

{261d} Horace has been made the subject of many translations. Perhaps there are fifty now available. John Conington's edition of his complete works, two volumes (Bell), is well known. The best introduction to Horace for the young student is in Sir Theodore Martin's translation, two volumes (Blackwood), and a volume by the same author entitled _Horace_ in "Ancient Classics for English Readers" (Blackwood) is a charming little book.

{262a} Dante's _Divine Comedy_ as translated by Henry Francis Cary (1772- 1844) has been described by Mr. Ruskin as better reading than Milton's "Paradise Lost." James Russell Lowell, with true patriotism, declared that his countrymen Longfellow's translation (Routledge) was the best. Something may be said for the prose translation by Dr. John Carlyle of the _Inferno_ (Bell) and for Mr. A. J. Butler's prose translation of the whole of the _Divine Comedy_ in three volumes (Macmillan). Other translations which have had a great vogue are by Wright and Dean Plumptre. The best books on Dante are those by Dr. Edward Moore (Clarendon Press). Cary's translation can be obtained in one volume in Bohn's Library (Bell) or in the Chandos Classics (Warne).

{262b} I contend that while most of the poets are self-contained in a single volume, Shakspere's plays are best enjoyed as separate entities. Certainly each of them has a library attached to it, and it is quite profitable to read Hamlet in Mr. Horace Howard Furness's edition (Lippincott) with a multitude of criticisms of the play bound up with the text of Hamlet. But Hamlet should be read first in the Temple Shakspere (Dent) or in the Arden Shakspere (Methuen). To this last there is an admirable introduction by Professor Dowden.

{262c} Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ should be read in Mr. Alfred W. Pollard's edition, which forms two volumes of the "Eversley Library" (Macmillan). The "Tales" may be obtained in cheaper form in the _Chaucer_ of the Aldine Poets (Bell), of which I have grateful memories, having first read "Chaucer" in these little volumes. The enthusiast will obtain the Complete Works of Chaucer edited for the Clarendon Press by Professor W. W. Skeat.

{263a} FitzGerald's _Omar Khayyam_ can be obtained in its four versions, each of which has its merits, only from the Macmillans, who publish it in many forms. The edition in the Golden Treasury Series may be particularly commended. The present writer has written an introduction to a sixpenny edition of the first version. It is published by William Heinemann.

{263b} Goethe's _Faust_ has been translated in many forms. Certainly Anster's version (Sampson Low) is the most vivacious. Anna Swanwick, Sir Theodore Martin and Bayard Taylor's translations have about equal merit.

{263c} Shelley's _Poetical Works_ should be read in the one volume issued in green cloth by the Macmillans, with an introduction by Edward Dowden, or in the Oxford Poets (Henry Froude), with an introduction by H. Buxton Forman, but perhaps the best edition is that of the Clarendon Press with an introduction by Thomas Hutchinson. Mr. Forman's library edition of _Shelley's Complete Works_ is the desire of all collectors.

{263d} _Byron's Poetical Works_, edited by Ernest Coleridge, form seven volumes of John Murray's edition of Byron's _Works_ in thirteen volumes. There is not a good one-volume Byron. I particularly commend the three- volume edition (George Newnes).

{264a} Wordsworth may be read in his entirety in the sixteen volumes of _Prose and Poetry_ edited by William Knight in the Eversley Library (Macmillan). The same publisher issues an admirable _Wordsworth_ in one volume, edited, with an introduction by John Morley. But the first approach to Wordsworth's verse should be made through Matthew Arnold's _Select Poems_ in the Golden Treasury Series (Macmillan).

{264b} _Keats's Works_ are issued in one volume in the Oxford Poets (Froude), and in five shilling volumes by Gowans and Gray of Glasgow. Mr. Buxton Forman's annotations to this cheap edition exceed in value those attached to his more expensive "Library Edition," which, however, as with the _Shelley_, in eight volumes, is out of print.

{264c} The four volumes of Burns, with an introduction by W. E. Henley, are pleasant to read. They are published by Jack, of Edinburgh. The best single-volume _Burns_ is that in the Globe Library (Macmillan), with an introduction by Alexander Smith.

{264d} There is no rival to the one-volume edition of _Coleridge's Poems_, with an introduction by J. Dykes Campbell, published by Macmillan. Mr. Dykes Campbell's biography of Coleridge should also be read. The prose works of Coleridge are obtainable in Bohn's Library. The fortunate book lover has many in Pickering editions.

{264e} _Cowper's Complete Works_ are acquired for a modest sum of the second-hand bookseller in Southey's sixteen-volume edition. The two best one-volume issues of the _Poems_ are the Globe Library Edition with an introduction by Canon Benham (Macmillan), and _Cowper's Complete Poems_ with an introduction by J. C. Bailey (Methuen). The best of the letters are contained in a volume in the Golden Treasury Series, with an introduction by Mrs. Oliphant. _The Complete Letters of Cowper_, edited by Thomas Wright, have been published by Hodder & Stoughton in four volumes.

{265a} _Crabbe's Works_, in eight volumes, with biography by his son, may be obtained very cheaply from the second-hand book seller. With all the merits of both _Works_ and _Life_ they have not been reprinted satisfactorily. The only good modern edition of _Crabbe's Poems_ is in three volumes published by the Cambridge University Press, edited by A. W. Ward.

{265b} The best one-volume _Tennyson_ is issued by the Macmillans, who still hold certain copyrights. The Library Edition of _Tennyson_, with the Biography included in the twelve volumes, is a desirable acquisition.

{265c} Not all the sixteen volumes of the Library Edition of _Browning_ pay for perusal. The most convenient form is that of the two-volume edition (Smith, Elder & Co.), with notes by Augustine Birrell.

{265d} _Milton's Poetical Works_ as annotated by David Masson (Macmillan) make the standard library edition, and the same publishers have given us the best one-volume _Milton_ in the Globe Library, with an introduction by Professor Masson, Milton's one effective biographer.

{266a} _The Arabian Nights' Entertainments_ is first introduced to us all as a children's story-book. Tennyson has placed on record his own early memories:--

"In sooth it was a goodly time,
For it was in the golden prime
Of good Haroun Alraschid."

But the collector of the hundred best books will do well to read the _Arabian Nights_ in the translation by Edward William Lane, edited by Stanley Lane Poole, in 4 volumes, for George Bell & Sons.

{266b} The most satisfactory translation of Cervantes's great romance is that made by John Ormesby, revised and edited by James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, published by Gowans & Gray in 4 shilling volumes.

{266c} _The Pilgrim's Progress_ is presented in a hundred forms. The present writer first read it in a penny edition. It should be possessed by the book-lover in a volume of the Cambridge English Classics, in which _Grace Abounding_ and _The Pilgrim's Progress_ are given together, edited by Dr. John Brown, and published by the Cambridge University Press.

{266d} Schoolboys, notwithstanding Macaulay, usually know but few good books, but every schoolboy knows Defoe's _Robinson Crusoe_ in one form or another. The maker of a library will prefer it as a Volume of Defoe's _Works_ (J. M. Dent), or as Volume VII of Defoe's _Novels and Miscellaneous Works_ (Bell & Sons). There are many good shilling editions of the book by itself, but Defoe should be read in many of his works and particularly in _Moll Flanders_.

{267a} As with _Robinson Crusoe_, _Gulliver's Travels_ can be obtained in many cheap forms, but it is well that it should be obtained as Volume VIII of _Swift's Prose Works_, published in Bohn's Libraries by George Bell & Sons. There has not been a really good edition of Swift's works since Scott's monumental book.

{267b} _Clarissa_ should be read in nine of the twenty volumes of Richardson's Novels, published by Chapman & Hall--a very dainty well-printed book. "I love these large, still books," said Lord Tennyson.

{267c} The greatest of all novels, _Tom Jones_, is obtainable in several Library Editions of Fielding's _Works_. A cheap well-printed form is that of the _Works of Henry Fielding_ in 12 volumes, published by Gay & Bird. Here _The Story of Tom Jones a Foundling_ is in 4 volumes. The book is in 2 volumes in Bohn's Library--an excellent edition.

{267d} Johnson's _Rasselas_ has frequently been reprinted, but there is no edition for a book-lover at present in the bookshops. It is included in _Classic Tales_ in a volume of Bohn's Standard Library. The wise course is to look out for one of the earlier editions with copper plates that are constantly to be found on second-hand bookstalls. But Johnson's _Works_ should be bought in a fine octavo edition.

{268a} Goldsmith's _Vicar of Wakefield_ should be possessed in the edition which Mr. Hugh Thomson has illustrated and Mr. Austin Dobson has edited for the Macmillans. There is a good edition of Goldsmith's _Works_ in Bohn's Library.

{268b} Sterne's _Sentimental Journey_ is also a volume for the second- hand bookstall, although that and the equally fine _Tristram Shandy_ may be obtained in many pretty forms. I have two editions of Sterne's books, but they are both fine old copies.

{268c} There are two very good editions of Peacock's delightful romances. _Nightmare Abbey_ forms a volume of J. M. Dent's edition in 9 volumes, edited by Dr. Garnett; and the whole of Peacock's remarkable stories are contained in a single volume of Newnes' "Thin Paper Classics."

{268d} Sir Walter Scott's novels are available in many forms equally worthy of a good library. The best is the edition published by Jack of Edinburgh. The Temple Library of Scott (J. M. Dent) may be commended for those who desire pocket volumes, while Mr. Andrew Lang's Introductions give an added value to an edition published by the Macmillans, Scott's twenty-eight novels are indispensable to every good library, and every reader will have his own favourite.

{268e} Balzac's novels are obtainable in a good translation by Ellen Marriage, edited by George Saintsbury, published in New York by the Macmillan Company and in London by J. M. Dent.

{269a} A translation of Dumas' novels in 48 volumes is published by Dent. _The Three Musketeers_ is in 2 volumes. There are many cheap one volume editions.

{269b} Thackeray's _Vanity Fair_ is pleasantly read in the edition of his novels published by J. M. Dent. His original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co., issue his works in many forms.

{269c} The best edition of Charlotte Bronte's _Villette_ is that in the "Haworth Edition," published by Smith, Elder & Co., with an Introduction by Mrs. Humphry Ward.

{269d} Charles Dickens' novels, of which _David Copperfield_ is generally pronounced to be the best, should be obtained in the "Oxford India Paper Dickens" (Chapman & Hall and Henry Frowde). A serviceable edition is that published by the Macmillans, with Introductions by Charles Dickens's son, but that edition still fails of _Our Mutual Friend_ and _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, of which the copyright is not yet exhausted.

{269e} Anthony Trollope's novels are being reissued, in England by John Lane and George Bell & Sons, and in America in a most attractive form by Dodd, Mead & Co. All three publishers have a good edition of _Barchester Towers_, Trollope's best novel.

{269f} Boccaccio's _Decameron_ is in my library in many forms--in 3 volumes of the Villon Society's publications, translated by John Payne; in 2 handsome volumes issued by Laurence & Bullen; and in the Extra Volumes of Bohn's Library. There is a pretty edition available published by Gibbons in 3 volumes.

{270a} Emily Bronte's _Wuthering Heights_ forms a volume of the Haworth Edition of the Bronte novels, published by Smith, Elder & Co. It has an introduction by Mrs. Humphry Ward.

{270b} Charles Reade's _Cloister and the Hearth_ is available in many forms. The pleasantest is in 4 volumes issued by Chatto & Windus, with an Introduction by Sir Walter Besant. There is a remarkable shilling edition issued by Collins of Glasgow.

{270c} Victor Hugo's _Les Miserables_ may be most pleasantly read in the 10 volumes, translated by M. Jules Gray, published by J. M. Dent & Co.

{270d} Mrs. Gaskell's _Cranford_ can be obtained in the six volume edition of that writer's works published by Smith, Elder & Co., with Introductions by Dr. A. W. Ward; in a volume illustrated by Hugh Thomson, with an Introduction by Mrs. Ritchie, published by the Macmillans, or in the World's Classics (Henry Frowde), where there is an additional chapter entitled, "The Cage at Cranford."

{270e} The translation of George Sand's _Consuelo_ in my library is by Frank H. Potter, 4 volumes, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.

{270f} Lever's _Charles O'Malley_ I have as volumes of the _Complete Works_ published by Downey. There is a pleasant edition in Nelson's "Pocket Library."

{271a} Macaulay's _History of England_ is available in many attractive forms from the original publishers, the Longmans. There is a neat thin paper edition for the pocket in 5 volumes issued by Chatto & Windus.

{271b} For Carlyle's _Past and Present_ I recommend the Centenary Edition of Carlyle's _Works_, published by Chapman & Hall. There is an annotated edition of _Sartor Resartus_ by J. A. S. Barrett (A. & C. Black), two annotated editions of _The French-Revolution_, one by Dr. Holland Rose (G. Bell & Sons), and an other by C. R. L. Fletcher, 3 volumes (Methuen), and an annotated edition of _The Cromwell Letters_, edited by S. C. Lomax, 3 volumes (Methuen). No publisher has yet attempted an annotated edition of _Past and Present_, but Sir Ernest Clarke's translation of _Jocelyn of Bragelond_ (Chatto & Windus) may be commended as supplemental to Carlyle's most delightful book.

{271c} Motley's _Works_ are available in 9 volumes of a Library Edition published by John Murray. A cheaper issue of the _Dutch Republic_ is that in 3 volumes of the World's Classics, to which I have contributed a biographical introduction.

{271d} For many years the one standard edition of _Gibbon_ was that published by John Murray, in 8 volumes, with notes by Dean Milman and others. It has been superseded by Professor Bury's annotated edition in 7 volumes (Methuen).

{272a} Plutarch's _Lives_, translated by A. Stewart and George Long, form 4 volumes of Bohn's Standard Library. There is a handy volume for the pocket in Dent's Temple Classics in 10 volumes, translated by Sir Thomas North.

{272b} Montaigne's _Essays_ I have in three forms; in the Tudor Translations (David Nutt), where there is an Introduction to the 6 volumes of Sir Thomas North's translation by the Rt. Hon. George Wyndham; in Dent's Temple Classics, where John Florio's translation is given in 5 volumes. A much valued edition is that in 3 volumes, the translation by Charles Cotton, published by Reeves & Turner in 1877.

{272c} Steele's essays were written for the _Tatler_ and the _Spectator_ side by side with those of Addison. The best edition of _The Spectator_ is that published in 8 volumes, edited by George A. Aitken for Nimmo, and of _The Tatler_ that published in 4 volumes, edited also by Mr. Aitken for Duckworth & Co.

{272d} Lamb's _Essays of Elia_ can be read in a volume of the Eversley Library (Macmillan), edited by Canon Ainger. The standard edition of Lamb's _Works_ is that edited by Mr. E. V. Lucas, in 7 volumes, for Methuen. Mr. Lucas's biography of Lamb has superseded all others.

{272e} Thomas de Quincey's _Opium Eater_ may be obtained as a volume of Newnes's Thin Paper Classics, in the World's Classics, or in Dent's Everyman's Library. But the _Complete Works_ of De Quincey, in 16 volumes, edited by David Mason and published by A. & C. Black, should be in every library.

{273a} William Hazlitt never received the treatment he deserved until Mr. J. M. Dent issued in 1903 his _Collected Works_, in 13 volumes, edited by A. R. Waller and Arnold Glover. Of cheap reprints of Hazlitt I commend _The Spirit of the Age_, _Winterslow_ and _Sketches and Essays_, three separate volumes of the World's Classics (Frowde).

{273b} George Borrow's _Lavengro_ should only be read in Mr. John Murray's edition, as it there contains certain additional and valuable matter gathered from the original manuscript by William I. Knapp. The Library Edition of Borrow, in 6 volumes (Murray), may be particularly commended.

{273c} Emerson's _Complete Works_ are published by the Routledges in 4 volumes, in which _Representative Men_ may be found in Vol. II. Some may prefer the Eversley Library _Emerson_, which has an Introduction by John Morley. There are many cheap editions of about equal value.

{273d} Lander's _Imaginary Conversations_ form six volumes of the complete _Landor_, edited by Charles G. Crump, and published in 10 volumes by J. M. Dent.

{273e} Matthew Arnold's _Essays in Criticism_ is published by Macmillan. It also forms Vol. III of the Library Edition of his _Works_ in 15 volumes. A "Second Series" has less significance.

{273f} _The Works of Herodotus_, published by the Macmillans, translated by George C. Macaulay, is the best edition for the general reader. Canon Rawlinson's _Herodotus_, published by John Murray, has had a longer life, but is now only published in an abridged form.

{274a} James Howell's _Familiar Letters_, or _Epistolae Ho Elianae_, should be read in the edition published in 2 volumes by David Nutt, with an Introduction by Joseph Jacobs.

{274b} _The History of Civilization_, by Henry Thomas Buckle, is in my library in the original 2 volumes published by Parker in 1857. It is now issued in 3 volumes in Longman's Silver Library, and in 3 volumes in the World's Classics.

{274c} _The History of Tacitus_ should be read in the translation by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodripp. It is published by the Macmillans.

{274d} _Our Village_, by Mary Russell Mitford, is a collection of essays which in their completest form may be obtained in two volumes of Bohn's Library (Bell). The essential essays should be possessed in the edition published by the Macmillans--_Our Village_, by Mary Russell Mitford, with an Introduction by Anne Thackeray Ritchie, and one hundred illustrations by Hugh Thomson.

{274e} Green's _Short History of the English People_ is published by the Macmillans in 1 volume, or illustrated in 4 volumes. The book was enlarged, but disimproved, under the title of _A History of the English People_, in 4 volumes, uniform with the _Conquest of England_ and the _Making of England_ by the same author.

{275a} Taine's _Ancient Regime_ is a good introduction to the conditions which made the French Revolution. It forms the first volume of _Les Origines de la France Contemporaine_, and may be read in a translation by John Durand, published by Dalby, Isbister & Co. in 1877.

{275b} _The Life of Napoleon_ has been written by many pens, in our own day most competently by Dr. Holland Rose (2 vols. Bell); but a good account of the Emperor, indispensable for some particulars and an undoubted classic, is that by de Bourrienne, Napoleon's private secretary, published in an English translation, in 4 volumes, by Bentley in 1836.

{275c} _Democracy in America_, by Alexis de Tocqueville, may be had in a translation by Henry Reeve, published in 2 volumes by the Longmans. Read also _A History of the United States_ by C. Benjamin Andrews, 2 volumes (Smith, Elder), and above all the _American Commonwealth_, by James Bryce, 2 volumes (Macmillan).

{275d} _The Compleat Angler_ of Isaac Walton may be purchased in many forms. I have a fine library edition edited by that prince of living anglers, Mr. R. B. Marston, called The Lea and Dove Edition, this being the 100th edition of the book (Sampson Low, 1888). I have also an edition edited by George A. B. Dewar, with an Introduction by Sir Edward Grey and Etchings by William Strang and D. Y. Cameron, 2 volumes (Freemantle), and a 1 volume edition published by Ingram & Cooke in the Illustrated Library.

{276a} There are many editions of Gilbert White's _Natural History of Selbourne_ to be commended. Three that are in my library are (1) edited with an Introduction and Notes by L. C. Miall and W. Warde Fowler (Methuen); (2) edited with Notes by Grant Allen, illustrated by Edmund H. New (John Lane); (3) rearranged and classified under subjects by Charles Mosley (Elliot Stock).

{276b} Of _Boswell's Life of Johnson_ there are innumerable editions. The special enthusiast will not be happy until he possesses Dr. Birkbeck Hill's edition in 6 volumes (Clarendon Press). The most satisfactory 1 volume edition is that published on thin paper by Henry Frowde. I have in my library also a copy of the first edition of _Boswell_ in 2 volumes. It was published by Henry Baldwin in 1791.

{276c} The best edition of Lockhart's _Life of Scott_ is that published in 10 volumes by Jack of Edinburgh. Readers should beware of abridgments, although one of these was made by Lockhart himself. The whole eighty-five chapters are worth reading, even in the 1 volume edition published by A. & C. Black.

{276d} _Pepys's Diary_ can be obtained in Bohn's Library or in Newnes' Thin Paper Classics, but Pepys should only be read under Mr. H. B. Wheatley's guidance. A cheap edition of his book, in 8 volumes, has recently been published by George Bell & Sons. I have No. 2 of the large paper edition of this book, No. 1 having gone to Pepys's own college of Brazenose, where the Pepys cypher is preserved.

{277a} Until recently one knew Walpole's _Letters_ only through Peter Cunningham's edition, in 9 volumes (Bentley), and this has still exclusive matter for the enthusiast, Cunningham's Introduction to wit; but the Clarendon Press has now published Walpole's _Letters_, edited by Mrs. Paget Toynbee, in 16 volumes, or in 8. Here are to be found more letters than in any previous edition.

{277b} _The Memoirs of Count de Gramont_, by Anthony, Count Hamilton, can be obtained in splendid type, unannotated, in an edition published by Arthur L. Humphreys. A well-illustrated and well-edited edition is that published by Bickers of London and Scribner of New York, edited by Allan Fea.

{277c} Gray's _Letters_, with poems and life, form 4 volumes in Macmillan's Eversley Library, edited by Edmund Gosse.

{277d} You can obtain Southey's _Nelson_, originally written for Murray's Pocket Library as a publisher's commission, in one well-printed volume, with Introduction by David Hannay, published by William Heinemann. It should, however, be supplemented in the _Life_ by Captain Mahan (2 volumes, Sampson Low & Co.), or by Professor Laughton's _Nelson and His Companion in Arms_ (George Allen).

{277e} Moore's _Life and Letters of Byron_ is published by John Murray in 6 volumes. It is best purchased second-hand in an old set. Moore's book must be supplemented by the 6 volumes of _Correspondence_ edited by Rowland Prothero for Mr. Murray.

{278a} Sir George Trevelyan says in his _Early History of Charles James Fox_ that Hogg's _Life of Shelley_ is "perhaps the most interesting book in our language that has never been republished." The reproach has been in some slight measure removed by a cheap reprint in small type issued by the Routledges in 1906. The reader should, however, secure a copy of the first edition, 2 volumes, 1857. Professor Dowden, in his _Life of Shelley_, 1886, uses the book freely.

{278b} "What is the best book you have ever read?" Emerson is said to have asked George Eliot when she was about twenty-two years of age and residing, unknown, near Coventry. "Rousseau's _Confessions_," was the reply. "I agree with you," Emerson answered. But the book should not be read in a translation. The completest translation is one in 2 volumes published by Nicholls. There is a more abridged translation by Gibbons in 4 volumes.

{278c} _The Life of Carlyle_, by James Anthony Froude, which created so much controversy upon its publication, is worthy of a cheap edition, which does not, however, seem to be forthcoming. The book appeared in 4 volumes, _The First Forty Years_ in 1882 and _Life in London_ in 1884. It had been preceded by _Reminiscences_ in 1881. Every one should read the _Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle_, 3 volumes, 1883. All the 9 volumes are published by the Longmans.

{279a} Samuel Rogers' _Table Talk_ has been given us in two forms, first as _Recollections of the Table Talk of Samuel Rogers_, edited by Alexander Dyce, 1856, and second as _Reminiscences of Samuel Rogers_, 1859. The _Recollections_ were reprinted in handsome form by H. A. Rogers, of New Southgate, in 1887, and the material was combined in a single volume in 1903 by G. H. Powell (R. Brimley Johnson). I have the four books, and delight in the many good stories they contain.

{279b} _The Confessions of St. Augustine_ may be commended in many small and handy editions. One, with an Introduction by Alice Meynell, was published in 1900. The most beautifully printed modern edition is that issued by Arthur Humphreys in his Classical Series.

{279c} Amiel's _Journal_ is a fine piece of introspection. A translation by Mrs. Humphry Ward is published in 2 volumes by the Macmillans. De Senancour's _Obermann_, translated by A. E. Waite (Wellby), should be read in this connexion.

{279d} _The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius_, translated by George Long, appears as a volume of Bohn's Library, and more beautifully printed in the Library of Arthur Humphreys. There are many other good translations--one by John Jackson, issued in 1906 by the Clarendon Press, has great merit.

{279e} George Henry Lewes's _Life of Goethe_ has gone through many editions and remains a fascinating book, although it may be supplemented by the translation of Duntzer's _Life of Goethe_, 2 volumes, Macmillan, and Bielschowsky's _Life of Goethe_, Vols. I and II (Putnams).

{280a} _The Life of Lessing_, by James Sime, is not a great biography, but it is an interesting and most profitable study of a noble man. Lessing will be an inspiration greater almost than any other of the moderns for those who are brought in contact with his fine personality. The book is in 2 volumes, published by the Trubners.

{280b} You can read Benjamin Franklin's _Autobiography_ in 1 volume (Dent), or in his Collected Works--_Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin_, edited by his grandson, William Temple Franklin, 6 volumes (Colburn), 1819. There have been at least two expensive reprints of his _Works_ of late years.

{280c} _The Greville Memoirs_ were published in large octavo form in the first place. Much scandal was omitted from the second edition. They are now obtainable in 8 volumes of Longmans' Silver Library. They form an interesting glimpse into the Court life of the later Guelphs.

{280d} It has been complained of John Forster's _Life of Charles Dickens_ that there is too much Forster and not enough Dickens. Yet it is the only guide to the life-story of the greatest of the Victorian novelists. Is most pleasant to read in the 2 volumes of the Gadshill Edition, published by Chapman & Hall.

{280e} _The Early Diary of Frances Burney_, afterwards Madame D'Arblay, edited by Annie Raine Ellis, has just been reprinted in two volumes of Bohn's Library (Bell). We owe also to Mr. Austen Dobson a fine reprint of the later and more important _Diaries_, which he has edited in 6 volumes for the Macmillans.

{281a} The _Apologia pro Vita Sua_ of John Henry Newman is one of the volumes of Cardinal Newman's _Collected Works_ issued by the Longmans. It is the most interesting, and is perhaps the most destined to survive, of all the books of theological controversy of the nineteenth century.

{281b} There is practically but one edition of the _Paston Letters_, that edited by James Gairdner, of the Public Record Office, and published by the firm of Archibald Constable. The luxurious Library Edition issued by Chatto & Windus in 6 volumes should be acquired if possible.

{281c} _The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini_ is best known in the translation of Thomas Roscoe in Bohn's Library. Mr. J. Addington Symonds, however, made a new translation, issued in two fine volumes by Nimmo.

{281d} The _Religio Medici_ of Sir Thomas Browne can be obtained in many forms, although the well-to-do collector will be satisfied only with the edition edited by Simon Wilkin. The book is admirably edited by W. A. Greenhill for the "Golden Treasury Series."