PRESS NOTICES OF THE FIRST EDITION. 'Here is a mass of letters on all sorts of subjects by all sorts of writers. We have the grave, the gay, the lively, the severe. The reader can hardly open a page without finding something curious, or amusing, or edifying; and though the book is, from the very nature of things, not one to read through at a sitting, it is an excellent book for dipping into every now and then.'-ATHENÆUM. 'No one who takes the slightest interest in English history, English literature, or in human nature, can fail to receive increase of delight from the perusal of this volume. . Mr. Scoones's editorial apparatus is excellently calculated to assist the enjoyment of a singularly enjoyable book-a book that Chesterfield would, we think, have included among his ideal books for spare half-hours." PALL MALL GAZETTE. 'Mr. Scoones's compilation is a very interesting book, and one which, as affording a bird's-eye view of English epistolary literature, is really without a rival.' DAILY NEWS. 'A rarely happy combination of the interesting and valuable. Whether it be regarded as typical of individual character, or as displaying the manners of past times, the collection is admirable. The author has shown an excellent discrimination, whilst the little headnotes, which serve to introduce and explain the letters, are models of perspicuity. All is good, and Mr. Scoones has given us the most attractive literary treasure-house whose riches have been unlocked to us for many a long day.' WORLD. 'It was a happy thought which suggested to Mr. Scoones the compilation of the present volume, in which he has brought together with very great judgment and taste a series of most interesting and valuable specimens of letter-writing during these four centuries.' NOTES AND QUERIES. London: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & Co., 1 Paternoster Square. |