Of the literary Notes and emendations of the present edition, we have already expressed our opinion by the selection of several of them for the pages of the MIRROR; and in the progress of the publication, we shall endeavour to award similar justice to each of the works. In the _Athenaeum_, of August 5, the presumed profit on the whole edition is estimated at £100,000.! The calculation of the sale of 12,000 of each work is a reasonable one, and splendid as, in that case, the reward will be, the reading-public will be the gainers. * * * * * THE FAMILY LIBRARY. _HISTORY OF THE JEWS._ We scarcely know how to do justice to the high character of the series of volumes now publishing under this denomination. In printing and embellishment they take the lead of the Periodical Works of our day, (and some of these are extremely beautiful,) while their literary worth is even of superior order. Although they are matter-of-fact works--as in history and biography--they are not mere compilations of dry details and uninteresting lives; but they are so interspersed with new views, and the facts are so often re-written, that the whole have the appearance of original works. Excellent principles, and economy of cost are, likewise, two important points of their recommendations; for many works which have already appeared on the same subjects, have been deformed by party spirit, and written to serve a sect, or are so expensive as to be purchaseable only by the wealthy ranks, and scarcely accessible by the middle classes of society; whereas the Family Library is published at a rate within the reach of two-thirds of the reading public, who may therefore possess what they read, and appreciate the value of these volumes as works of reference and authority. The division of the series which has called forth this notice, is No. 5, or the first volume of the _History of the Jews_, to be completed in three volumes, by the Rev. H.H. Milman, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and the author of the splendid poem--The Fall of Jerusalem; and judging by the portion before us, this work will form one of the most attractive in the whole series. In proof of this it would be easy to select many passages which are beautifully picturesque; a few, however, will suffice: