=EDGEWORTH, Maria.= Scott, in his Preface to _Waverley_ (1829), speaks of “the extended and well-merited fame of Miss Edgeworth, whose Irish characters have gone so far to make the English familiar with the character of their gay and kind-hearted neighbours of Ireland.” And he continues: “Without being so presumptuous as to hope to emulate the rich humour, the pathetic tenderness, and admirable tact, which pervade the works of my accomplished friend, I felt that something might be attempted for my own country, of the same kind as that which Miss Edgeworth has so fortunately achieved for Ireland.” She came of an old County Longford family, but was born in England in 1767; her father was a landed proprietor at Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, whose life she afterwards wrote. Most of her long life was spent in Ireland. She came to know the Irish peasantry very well, though from outside, and also the country life of the nobility and gentry. She had much sympathy for Ireland, but was unable to understand that radical changes were needful if the grievances that weighed upon the country were to be removed. She died in 1849. The circulation of her books has been enormous, and they are still frequently reprinted both in these countries and in America.[4] Uniform editions of her works: (1) Macmillan, with excellent illustrations, 2_s._ 6_d._ and 3_s._ 6_d._ each; pocket edition, 2_s._, and leather, 3_s._ (2) Dent, in twelve vols., 2_s._ 6_d._ each, very tasteful binding, etched frontisp., ed. by W. Harvey. Messrs. Routledge also publish _Stories of Ireland_; introduction by Professor Henry Morley; 1_s._ [4] An able and certainly not over-enthusiastic estimate of Miss Edgeworth will be found in the DUBLIN REVIEW, April, 1838, p. 495, _sq._ ⸺ WORKS, collected in eighteen Vols. 1832. ⸺ TALES AND MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. Nine Vols. (LONDON). 1848. These were received with a chorus of praise by critics, such as Lord Jeffery, Lord Dudley, and Sir James Mackintosh. Scott called them “a sort of essence of common sense.” ⸺ CASTLE RACKRENT. (_Macmillan, &c._). (N.Y.: _Pratt_). 0.75. [1800]. A picture of the feudal gentry in the latter half of the seventeenth century, in the form of reminiscences by an old retainer of the glories of the family he had served. One after another, he tells the careers of his various masters, the wild waste and endless prodigality of one, the skinflint exactingness of another. There is no religious bias nor discussion of problems, the chief interest being the ingenuous and unquestioning devotion of the old servant and his quaint observations. The literary merits of the book are usually rated very high. ⸺ THE ABSENTEE. (_Macmillan, &c._). (N.Y.: _Pratt_). 0.75. [1809].