It is always a subject of gratification to us when we see cheap yet handsome reprints of our standard authors; for no better proof can be given of the increase among us not only of a reading public, but of a public who are disposed to read well. It is therefore with no small pleasure that we have received from Mr. Routledge copies of his five shilling edition of _The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, from the Text, and with the Notes and Glossary of Thomas Tyrwhitt, condensed and arranged under the Text_. It is obvious that considerable labour has been taken by the editor in its preparation, for he has not contented himself with merely transferring the contents of Tyrwhitt's Notes and Glossary to their proper places beneath the text; but has availed himself of the labours of Messrs. Craik, Saunders, Sir H. Nicolas, and our able correspondent A. E. B., to give completeness to what is a very useful edition of old Dan Chaucer's masterpiece. We have to thank the same publisher for a corresponding edition of Spenser's _Faerie Queene_; so that no lover of those two glorious old poets need any longer want a cheap and compact edition of them. BOOKS RECEIVED.--_History of the Guillotine, revised from the Quarterly Review_, by the Right Hon. J. W. Croker, which forms the new part of Murray's _Railway {456} Reading_, is not only valuable as a _precis_ of all that is known upon this very obscure subject, but for all its illustration of the difficulty of arriving at historical truth.--_A Love Story; being the History of the Courtship and Marriage of Dr. Dove of Doncaster_, that delightful episode in Southey's most delightful book, _The Doctor_, forms Part L. of Longman's _Traveller's Library_.--_The First Italian Book_ appears a very successful attempt on the part of Signor Pifferi and Mr. Dawson W. Turner to furnish a companion to the _First French Book_ of that accomplished scholar, the late Rev. T. K. Arnold. * * * * * BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE. TORRIANO PIAZZA UNIVERSALE DI PROVERBI ITALIANI. London, 1668. Folio. BIBLIOTHECA TOPOGRAPHICA BRITANNICA. Vol. IX. ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. 7th Edition. Vol. XXII., Part 2. EXAMINER (Newspaper), No. 2297, February 7, 1853. WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE: A Biography, by Charles Knight (First Edition). *** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, _carriage free_, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street. Particulars of Price, &c. of the following Books to be sent direct to the gentlemen by whom they are required, and whose names and addresses are given for that purpose: CHAPMAN'S ARCHITECTURIAE NAVALES MERCATURIAE. 1768. Folio. Published in Sweden. Wanted by _Robert Stewart_, Bookseller, Paisley. * * * * *