‘A ray of hopefulness is stealing again into English poetry after the twilight greys of Clough and Arnold and Tennyson. Even unbelief wears braver colours. Despite the jeremiads, which are the dirges of the elder gods, England is still a nest of singing-birds (_teste_ the Catalogue of Elkin Mathews and John Lane).’--Mr. ZANGWILL in _Pall Mall Magazine_. ‘All Messrs. Mathews & Lane’s Books are so beautifully printed and so tastefully issued, that it rejoices the heart of a book-lover to handle them; but they have shown their sound judgment not less markedly in the literary quality of their publications. The choiceness of form is not inappropriate to the matter, which is always of something more than ephemeral worth. This was a distinction on which the better publishers at one time prided themselves; they never lent their names to trash; but some names associated with worthy traditions have proved more than once a delusion and a snare. The record of Messrs. Elkin Mathews & John Lane is perfect in this respect, and their imprint is a guarantee of the worth of what they publish.’--_Birmingham Daily Post_, Nov. 6, 1893. ‘One can nearly always be certain when one sees on the title-page of any given book the name of Messrs Elkin Mathews & John Lane as being the publishers thereof that there will be something worth reading to be found between the boards.’--_World._ [Illustration] Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE Printers to Her Majesty TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Perceived typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.