writer of note on legal and other subjects, as well as a statesman of renown, was one of the most active leaders in promoting his country’s progress at the time of his death, in 1905, though he had already passed his seventieth year. The present director of the National Library, though still one of the younger generation in spirit and sympathy, published his first book, _Anales de la Inquisicion de Lima_, forty-five years ago, and was at that time already prominent in political affairs. As consul to Brazil, secretary to President Balta, and Senator of the republic in three legislatures, he early proved himself one of the most brilliant young men of the nation, and when he went abroad in 1865 after leaving Brazil, his genius shone with lustre in the highest intellectual circles of Europe. The fame of Ricardo Palma rests chiefly on his masterpiece, _Tradiciones Peruanas_, the only literature in existence which gives local color to the history of the viceroyalty in Peru, and preserves for posterity the very life and essence of its fascinating social annals. The Lima of the _Tradiciones_ has survived the change of government and, though one no longer sees the viceroy and his court, it is still possible to visit many places made familiar by Dr. Palma’s stories. The charming Limeña does not now appear in _saya y manto_, it is true, but she is as clever and bright as of old; the Franciscan friar is still in evidence, and the little _zambo_ wears the same contented countenance that distinguished his ancestors a hundred years ago; the Indian is sad and patient, as the author of _Tradiciones_ paints him. The characters that live and move in Ricardo Palma’s book are real and immortal. Up to the present time no other author in America has been able to paint such vivid and intimate pictures of colonial times. The work was originally published in six volumes, in 1870, though many editions have since appeared, and a new volume has recently been added, entitled _Ultimas Tradiciones Peruanas_. Ricardo Palma is a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, the Hispanic Society of America, and other leading historical and scientific societies of Europe and America. The author of the present work has just completed the translation of _Tradiciones Peruanas_ into English.