The standard life of Charlotte Bronte until fifteen years ago was Mrs. Gaskell's, one of the most appealing stories in all literature. Clement K. Shorter's _Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle_ is now indispensable because of the mass of facts that the author has gathered in regard to the life of the sisters in the lonely parsonage and their remarkable literary development. Augustine Birrell has written a good short life of Charlotte, while A.M.F. Robinson (Mme. Duclaux) has a volume on Emily Bronte in the Famous Women series. T. Wemyss Reid was the first writer to make original research among the Bronte material and his book, _Charlotte Bronte--A Monograph_, paved the way for the exhaustive study of this strange family of genius by Clement Shorter. Other books that give much original material are _The Brontes in Ireland_, by Rev. Dr. William Wright, and _Charlotte Bronte and Her Sisters_, by Clement Shorter. Mr. Shorter also in _The Brontes--Life and Letters_ gives all of Charlotte's letters in the order of their dates. GEORGE ELIOT The first collected edition of George Eliot's works was brought out in 1878-1880 in London and Edinburgh. Many editions have since appeared in England and in this country, the best one being the English Cabinet edition, published by A. & C. Black. The standard life of George Eliot is _George Eliot's Life as Related in Her Letters and Journals_, edited by her husband, J.W. Cross, who served for ten years as curate of Haworth. Leslie Stephen has written a remarkably good short life of George Eliot in the English Men of Letters series. Among critical articles on George Eliot may be mentioned Henry James in _Partial Portraits_; Mathilde Blind, _George Eliot_; Oscar Browning, _Life of George Eliot_ in Great Writers series; Dowden, _Studies in Literature_; Oscar Browning, _Great Writers_; Mayo W. Hazeltine, _Chats About Books_; R.H. Hutton, _Modern Guides of Religious Thought_; R.E. Cleveland, _George Eliot's Poetry_; Frederic Harrison, _The Choice of Books_ and Sydney Lanier, _The Development of the English Novel_. RUSKIN The great edition of Ruskin is the Library edition by E.T. Cook and A. Wedderburn, begun in 1903. It is splendidly illustrated and is a superb specimen of book-making. English and American editors of Ruskin are numerous.