When Mr. Murray commenced that admirable series of _Guides_ which form the indispensable companion of those restless spirits who delight with each recurring summer-- "To waft their _size to_ Indus or the Pole," he first sent his Schoolmaster abroad; with what success those who have examined, used, and trusted to his _Continental Handbooks_ best can tell. Whether Mr. Murray is now actuated by a spirit of patriotism, or of moral responsibility under the remembrance that "charity begins at home," we neither know nor care; since our "home-staying" friends, as well as all who visit us, will benefit by the new direction which his energy has taken. Among the first fruits of this we have Murray's _Handbook for Modern London_, which did not need the name of our valued contributor MR. PETER CUNNINGHAM at the foot of its preliminary advertisement to show the mint in which it was coined; for it is in every page marked with the same characteristics, the same laborious research--the same scrupulous exactness--the same clear and distinct arrangements, which won such deserved praise for that gentleman's _Handbook for London, Past and Present_. Any visitor to London, be he mere sight-seer or be he artist, architect, statist, &c., will find in this neatly printed volume the most satisfactory replies to his inquiries. _The Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum, being a Description of the Remains of Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian and Etruscan Art, preserved there_, by W. S. W. Vaux, _Assistant in the Department of Antiquities_, has been compiled for the purpose of laying before the public the contents of one department of the British Museum--that of antiquities--in a compendious and popular form. The attempt has been most successful. Mr. Vaux has not only the advantage of official position, but of great practical knowledge of the subject, and abundant scholarship to do it justice; and the consequence is, that his _Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum_ will be found not only most useful for the special object for which it has been written, but a valuable introduction to the study of Early Art.