NOTES IN SEASON. ASH-WEDNESDAY, opening Lent, comes this year on February 26th. Now is the time, therefore, to stock up in the literature of the Lenten season.

Robert Carter & BROS. have in preparation a new volume of sermons for children, by Rev. W. W. Newton, called "The Wicket Gate." It will be ready, with illustrations, early in March.

CASSELL, PETTER & GALPIN issue this week the interesting popular work on "Decisive Events in History," by Thomas Archer, pictures of great events takingly written and illus trated by excellent full-page wood engravings in outline.

events, and the excellent index, the book is sure of a wide sale.

A. D. F. RANDOLPH & Co. have in prepararation "The Ages before Moses," a volume of lectures on the book of Genesis, by the Rev. Dr. J. Munro Gibson,-part of a series on the Pentateuch, which Dr. Gibson is now in course of delivering on Sunday afternoons in Farwell Hall, Chicago. Rose Porter's new story will be called "In the Mist." This house has a decided novelty for Easter in preparation.

MACMILLAN & Co. have just ready the volume of "Miscellanies, Political and Literary," by Grant Duff, including his essay called "A Plea for a Rational Education," and other Fortnightly papers; the searching volume of Thos. M. Herbert, "The Realistic Assumptions of Modern Science Examined ;" and a new edition of J. J. Murphy's "Habit and Intelligence," a series of essays on the laws of life and mind, of which the first edition appeared ten years ago. The new one has been so much changed that the author considers it practically a new work.

JOHN WILEY & SONS are so far advanced on their new edition (subscription) of Ruskin, previously announced, that they hope to issue the first volume of "Modern Painters" about March Ist. The edition will be in octavo, on extra paper, with plates and woodcuts carefully copied from the English edition. Each chapter will have an ornamental head- and foot-piece. The "Stones of Venice" and "Seven Lamps" are to follow the five volumes of "Modern Painters." All these works, in their original form, are out of print abroad, and it is understood that Mr. Ruskin declines to permit their reissue.

D. APPLETON & Co. have nearly ready the new work by Rev. Cunningham Geikie, whose "Life of Christ" was so well received, on "The English Reformation," a volume making an incisive attack on Romanism and Ritualism and containing a special preface aimed at American phases of high-churchism; the Rev Geo. D. Boardman's promised book on "The Model Prayer;" a little manual for collectors of" Bibelots and Curios," by Mr. FredericVors, of Tiffany & Co., who is a leading expert in his knowledge of ceramics and the like; an important work on Health, and how to promote it," by Prof. Richard McSherry, M.D., a distinguished Maryland authority; and, in the Handy Volume Series, a new story by Miss C. M. Yonge, called the "Disturbing Element."

GINN & HEATH have nearly ready, especially for school use, but good for everybody, a new edition of Hamlet" with copious notes by Rev. H. N. Hudson. These embody the studies of years, and cannot fail to be of great value, inasmuch as Mr. Hudson is one of the first of living Shakespeare scholars.

HENRY HOLT & Co. furnish Fanny Kemble's "Records of a Girlhood" with a most novel and attractive binding, a patterned design printed in white on cloths of rich color, giving a very beautiful effect. With this binding, the lovely portrait, the fascinating sketches of people and

Persia" and a new edition of "Zophiel," written about a half century ago by Maria Brooks, whom Southey named "Maria del Occidente." At that time Southey pronounced it

the most original poem that this generation has produced." The forthcoming issue is edited by Mrs. Zadel B. Gustafson, whose " Meg" was recently published. Another little book that will make some talk is announced for the same time. It is called "At the Back of the Moon; or, Observations of Lunar Phases," by A. Lunar Wray, and is a versified satire on American politics, religion, and science-with special reference to Boston. It is very thinly disguised, will be easy to read, and will furnish a good topic of conversation in a week or two.

Ben Cramer, working jeweller: a tale for boys and girls. N. Y., Pott, Young & Co., [1879]. 238 p. S. cl., *$1.25. An unusually well-written story, the central interest being a cleverly-managed family secret; it opens in Florence, Italy, and is then transferred to England; the chief characters are two quaint little English children, who, with their young Italian friends, are graphically presented; full of incidents that will especially interest young people. Braithwaite, Rob. (ed.) Life and letters of W: Pennefather. N. Y., Rob. Carter & Bros., [1879] 15 536 p. O. cl., $2.50.

Born in Dublin, 1816-died 1873; minister of the church of England; account of his labors in Ireland, Scotland, and lastly in England, where he was, for nine years previous to his death, incumbent of St. Jude's, Mildmay Park, London.

Burnett, Mrs. Frances Hodgson. Lindsay's luck a love story. Reprinted from Peterson's Magazine, for which it was originally written. Phila., T. B. Peterson & Bros. [1879]. 20-192 p. sq. S. pap., 25 c.

Scene laid in England; the hero, Robert Lindsay, is a high-spirited, clever young American who wins the love of a titled lady.

Clark, F. B., jr. Manual of the law of crimes and criminal practice. Montgomery, Ala., Joel White, 1879. 710 p. 8°. shp., $7. .

Clark, Mrs. S: (ed.) Memorials from journals and letters of S: Clark; with an introduction. N. Y., Macmillan, 1879. 35+ 337 p. por. 12°. cl., *$2.25. Coleman, W: D. The case of W: D. Coleman. Richmond, Va., West, Johnston & Co., 1879. 110 p. 8°.

25 C.

pap.,

Cummins, Mrs. G: D: Memoir of G: D: Cummins, first bishop of Reformed Episcopal Church; by his wife. N. Y., Dodd, Mead

& Co., [1879]. 544 p. por. O. cl., $2.50. The subject of this memoir was born in Smyrna, Del., 1822, and died 1876. Account of his life and labors for the church in Norfolk, Richmond, Washington, San Francisco, his visits to New York and Conferences, etc.

Cuthbert, J. H. Life of R: Fuller.

N. Y.,

Sheldon & Co., 1879. 325 p. por. D. cl., $1.50.

Born in Beaufort, S. C., 1804-died 1876; for many years pastor of the Baptist church, Beaufort, and afterwards of the Seventh church, and Eutaw-Place church, Baltimore, Md.

Drone, Eaton S. Treatise on the law of property in intellectual productions in Gt. Bt. and the U. S., embracing copyright in works of lit. and art, and playright in dramatic and musical compositions. Bost., Little, Brown & Co., 1879. 54 + 774 p. O. shp., $6. Contents: Origin, nature, history of literary property; common-law property in unpublished works; what may be copyrighted qualities essential to copyright; in whom copyright will vest; statutory requisites for securing copyright; transfer of; agreeinents between authors and publishers; piracy; abridgments, translations, and dramatizations considered with reference to piracy; remedies in law and in equity for infringement of copyright; jurisdiction of the U. S. courts; common-law playright in unpublisned dramas; what is a dramatic composition within the meaning of the statute; statutory playright in dramatic and musical compositions; infringement of playright. A clear, comprehensive view of theory and practice, with full index

to cases.

Duff, Mountstuart E. Grant. Miscellanies, political and literary. N. Y., Macmillan, 1878. 8+ 315. p. 8°. cl., *$3.

Dunman, T: A glossary of biological, anatomical and physiological terms. N. Y., Appleton, 1879. 161 p. 12°. cl., $1.

Feuillet, Octave.

Count de Camors, the man of the second empire; tr. from the French. Phila., T. B. Peterson & Bros., [1879]. 6388 p. sq. S. cl., $1.25; pap., 75 c.

Inside view of the corrupt state of fashionable Parisian society under the second Napoleon; Camors, offered as a typical Frenchman of his day, is young, rich, handsome, and gifted; his numerous intrigues furnish material for the story and the development of his character, of which a careful study is made.

Finley, Martha.

Signing the contract, and what it cost. N. Y., Dodd, Mead & Co., [1879]. 5-340 p. D. cl., $1.

The story of a mother who is forced, through poverty and sickness, to yield up her child to another's care-their separate lives are related, and how, after many years and many trials, they are re-united. American in scenes and characters, and of the present time.

Gréville, Henry (pseud.)

Philomène's mar

riages: a novel; with a preface to her Amer. readers; tr. from the French by Miss Helen Stanley. Phila., T. B. Peterson & Bros., [1879]. 11-324 p. S. cl., $1.25; pap., 75 c. French life in Normandy and Paris; descriptions of everyday incidents, simple pleasures and duties in the lives of peasants and plain country people; Philomène, the heroine, a not very young widow of a sea-captain. Moral unexceptionable. Author, in preface, gives some account of herself, and claims that her book describes French life as it actually

is.

Herbert, T: Martin. The realistic assumption of modern science examined. N. Y., Macmillan, 1879. 11 + 460 p. 8°. cl., *$8.

Hill, D: J. Washington Irving. N. Y., Sheldon & Co., 1879. 234 p. por. S. (American authors.) cl., $1.

First volume of a new series, designed to furnish, in cheap and popular form, a personal, literary, and anecdotal biography of leading American authors; full and complete, and also compact for quick reading; each volume will have a steel-plate portrait of subject. This volume based chiefly on Pierre Irving's "Life." Has chronology of Irving, and index to names.

Hope, Ja. Barron. Under the empire; or, the story of Madelon. Richmond, Va., West, Johnston & Co., 1879. 216 p. 12°. pap., 50 c.

Kent, W: Strength of materials; reprinted from Van Nostrand's Magazine. N. Y., D. Van Nostrand, 1879. 139 p. T. (Van Nostrand's sci. ser., no. 41,) bds., 50 c.

Elementary and practical information for manufacturers and users of materials of construction, concerning proper methods of testing, etc.

Lubbock, Sir J: Prehistoric times, as illustrated by ancient remains and the manners and customs of modern savages. New ed. N. Y., Appleton, 1879. il. 8°. cl., $5. Morris, R: Elementary lessons in historical English grammar, cont. accidence and word formation. N. Y., Appleton, 1879. 254 p. 12°. cl., $1.

Murphy, Jos. J: Habit and intelligence: a ser. of essays on the laws of life and mind. 2d ed., rev. and mostly re-written. N. Y., Macmillan, 1879. 39+ 583 p. il. 8°. cl., *$5. Prescott, G: B. The speaking telephone, electric light and other recent electrical inventions. New ed. N. Y., Appleton, 1879. 616 p. il. 8°. cl., $4. Proctor, R: A. The moon: her motions, aspect, scenery and physical conditions. New ed. N. Y., Appleton, 1879. il. 12°. cl., $3.50.

Rogers, H: Raymond. New and original theories of the great physical forces. [Published by the author.] Dunkirk, N. Y., C. K. Abel & Son, 1878. 107 p. D. cl., $1.25; pap., 60 c. Treating of light, heat, gravity, winds, sun-spots, sounds, etc., and explaining all phenomena from a wholly new and original standpoint. He refers all physical forces to one origin, a vito-magnetic power current through the universe, of which the earth is one of the originating centres. Schoyen, David Monrad (ed.) Lovbog for Hvermand en Oversigt over den amerikanske Civil-og Privatret. Chic., J: Anderson & Co., 1878. 320 p. D. cl., $1.25.

Sherman, J: Selected speeches and reports on finance and taxation, from 1859 to 1878. N. Y., Appleton, 1879. 8°. cl., $2.50. Spender, Emily.

A true marriage: a novel. N. Y., Harper, 1879. 78 p. sq. Q. (Franklin sq. lib., no. 39.) pap., 15 c.

Out of the line of the regulation novel; dealing with social problems, and questions of woman's work and her sphere, in a thoughful, refined manner; scenes and characters English; latter from the higher classes; details experience of one of heroines as an hospital nurse. Wostenholme, Jos. Mathematical problems on the first and second divisions of the schedule of subjects for the Cambridge mathematical tripos examination. 2d ed., enl. N. Y., Macmillan, 1878. 10 + 480 p. 8°. cl., *$6.

MACMILLAN & Co., N. Y.

J. ANDERSON & Co., Chicago. Schoyen, Lovbog for Hvermand........

D. APPLETON & Co., N. Y. Dunman, Glossary of biological, etc.,

terms.

.$1.25

1.00

Herbert, Realistic assumption of science examined....,.

3.00

8.00

Murphy, Habit and intelligence, 2d ed.... 5.00 Wostenholme, Mathematical problems, 2d. ed......

T. B. PETERSON & BROS., Phila.

6.00

4.00

3.50

2.50

DODD, MEAD & Co., N. Y. Cummins, Memoir of G: D: Cummins.... 2.50 Finley, Signing the contract....

.1.25

1.50 1.00

1.00

HARPER & BROS., N. Y. Spender, A true marriage (F. S. L., 39). ..

15

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, Phila.

On Deafness, Giddiness, and Noises in the Head. By Ed. Noakes, M.D. 8°. Ill.

The Laws of Therapeutics; or, the Science and Art of Medicine. By Jos. Kidd, M.D.

POTT, YOUNG & CO., N. Y.

Manchester Sermons. By the Rev. W. J. Knox Little, M.A. 12°.

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, N. Y. Whittaker's Handy Classical Dictionary. (By arrangement with the publishers.)

W. WOOD & CO., N. Y.

Manual of Diseases of the Throat and Nose. By Morel Mackenzie.

Lexicon of Terms used in Medicine and the Allied Sciences. (Based on Mayne's Lexicon.) Edited by Mr. Power and Dr. Sedgwick. 8°.

Van Name and Vogel's Analysis of the Urine. Tr. by Drs. Wood and Cutter. 8°.

| William's Principles of Veterinary Medicine. 8°. William's Veterinary Surgery. Ill. 8°. Guttmann's Methods of Physical Diagnosis. 8°. Prize Essays on Surgical Anatomy and Surgery. By Wyeth. Ill. 8°.

PUBLISHERS' PRIORITY CLAIMS. From the New York Commercial Advertiser for the week ending February 4. JANUARY 31.

Harper & Bros. :-Within Sound of the Sea.-Cordelia. -Stray Sheep.-Life of Charles Lever. - Afghanistan and the Afghans, by H. M. Bellew.-A Marked Life.. The Wish of His Life.-Fetterless, though Bound Together. The Freemason's Daughter. - A Marriage of Conscience.-The Pope and the King.-A Beleaguered City. The Bachelor -Sweet Sleep.-Phoebe's Fortunes. -Paolo Gianini.-My Friend and My Wife.

FEBRUARY 4.

Harper & Bros. :-The Last of Her Line, by the author of "St. Olave's."-Cordelia.-Phoebe's Fortunes.Within Sound of the Sea.

portant factor in social progress, and that such missionary work is not without pecuniary return. And we mean to preach more from this general text, because if certain faults publishers

see in retailers can be cured, there will be much more chance to cure the evils charged against publishers by retailers.

UNDER the guise of premiums "given away to every subscriber to this magazine," a concern in Chicago advertises in many of the papers various gift enterprises that tell their own story on their face. We have had the pleasure of refusing several advertisers of this kind recently; it is a wonder that any respectable papers-the religious press, in particular-should lend themselves, as many have done, to such devices of the enemy as these.

THE Academy, noting that the recent cheap edition of Herbert Spencer's essays on "Education" has had a successful sale in England, adds: "There is no truth in the statement which has appeared in some American newspapers that Mr. Spencer proposes to publish his other works in a similar form. We may take this opportunity of correcting the prevalent opinion that Mr. Spencer's works have a larger circulation beyond the Atlantic than in this country. As a matter of fact the actual number sold in America is

considerably less than here; and the pecuniary return to the author is out of all proportion smaller." We believe it is nevertheless true that the greater part of the early practical en couragement of Mr. Spencer came through his American publishers.

WE present herewith, instead of a contemplated review of our own (which, however, we may give later), the admirable review of that most important volume, Drone on Copyright, from the New York Tribune, evidently from the pen of Dr. Ripley. Mr. Drone is himself a literary workman of experience, for some years connected with the editorial work on Appleton's Cyclopedia, and he has been a careful student of the subject of literary property; his book is likely to win acceptance as the most accurate and satisfactory authority on the subject. The review which we print has an interest of its own, apart from its valuable summary of the book, as an example of the school of criticism of which Dr. Ripley is the acknowledged leader,-which tells what an author means to do rather than what the critic thinks he ought to mean to do, which gives a summary of a book without detracting from its interest to the reader, and which is as ready to find virtues as to pick flaws.

DRONE ON COPYRIGHT.*

(From the N. Y. Tribune, Jan. 31, 1879.) It is rarely that one of the legal publications the title-page of this volume possesses the deof the distinguished house whose name is on gree of popular interest which may justly be challenged by the present work. Of a truly exhaustive character, it is a treatise embracing every topic connected with the right of literary property, and hence it is of no less importance to the writers and publishers of books than to members of the legal profession. Especially to the American public, in which almost every member of the community is a reader, and more or less largely a buyer, of books, the questions here discussed present an attraction intimately related to the interests and pursuits of daily life.

The

The existing law of copyright is marked by signal confusion and doubt. It has grown up from the exigencies of the occasion, and has often been the production of persons with but a limited knowledge of this branch of jurisject, extending over a period of a hundred and prudence. The English statutes on the subfifty years, are but a tissue of many-colored patchwork. The fourteen acts now in force, which have beee passed at various times from 1735 to 1875, are of so loose and ambiguous a character that often the law can be determined only with the greatest difficulty, and sometimes its meaning defies all legitimate rules of legal interpretation. In the United States the legislation has been of a better character, though not free from defects which have been blindly copied from the English law. decisions of the courts, in many cases, are marked by the imperfections of the acts. Opinions not only wrong in principle but without binding force as authorities have been followed as supposed precedents. If such decisions, which, it must be admitted, comprise comparatively few of the cases, are recognized, they are yet so numerous, and sometimes so plausible, as to affect the whole body of the law of copyright, and place the rights of authors in perpetual confusion and uncertainty. In the opinion of the author, it is the duty of the juridical writer to set forth the true principles which govern the law. He cannot, indeed, decide upon the construction that should be given to statutes; but he may point out their true meaning when wrongly interpreted, and when this has been done the judicial correction of the error will only be a question of time. The writer of a treatise must give the law as he finds it. But he cannot always do this by simply recording the decision of the courts. Jurisprudence is a science based on principles as well as precedents. The law is finally to be determined by the former rather than the latter. This is the point of view which Mr. Drone has adopted in the composition of the present treatise. He gives, in the first place, the law as it has been judiciously interpreted, however erroneous the interpretation may be; but at the same time he permits no decision to pass unnoticed, believing it to be erroneous; giving a full exposition of the facts, principles, and authorities which bear on the

* Drone, Eaton S. A treatise on the laws of property in intellectual productions in Great Britain and the United States, embracing copyright in works of literature and art, and playright in dramatic and musical compositions. Bost., Little, Brown & Co., 1879. 55+774 P. O. shp., $6.