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GOOD FICTION WORTH READING.
A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the fieldof historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love anddiplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest.
DARNLEY. A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. By G.P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis.Price, $1.00.
In point of publication, "Darnley" is that work by Mr. James which follows"Richelieu," and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing to the advice andinsistence of our own Washington Irving that we are indebted primarily forthe story, the young author questioning whether he could properly paintthe difference in the characters of the two great cardinals. And it is notsurprising that James should have hesitated; he had been eminentlysuccessful in giving to the world the portrait of Richelieu as a man, andby attempting a similar task with Wolsey as the theme, was much liketempting fortune. Irving insisted that "Darnley" came naturally insequence, and this opinion being supported by Sir Walter Scott, the authorset about the work.
As a historical romance "Darnley" is a book that can be taken uppleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm whichthose who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have claimed wasonly to be imparted by Dumas.
If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial attention,the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic "field of thecloth of gold" would entitle the story to the most favorable considerationof every reader.
There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author hastaken care to imagine love passages only between those whom history hascredited with having entertained the tender passion one for another, andhe succeeds in making such lovers as all the world must love.
CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE. By Lieut. Henry A. Wise, U.S.N.(Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis.Price, $1.00.
The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarns whodelight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can come throughthe medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the sea and those"who go down in ships" been written by one more familiar with the scenesdepicted.
The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and whichwill be read with pleasure for many years to come, is "Captain Brand,"who, as the author states on his title page, was a "pirate of eminence inthe West Indies." As a sea story pure and simple, "Captain Brand" hasnever been excelled and as a story of piratical life, told without theusual embellishments of blood and thunder, it has no equal.
NICK OF THE WOODS. A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By RobertMontgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis.Price, $1.00.
This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life inKentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long out ofprint, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic presentation ofIndian and frontier life in the early days of settlement in the South,narrated in the tale with all the art of a practiced writer. A verycharming love romance runs through the story. This new and tastefuledition of "Nick of the Woods" will be certain to make many new admirersfor this enchanting story from Dr. Bird's clever and versatile pen.
For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by thepublishers