The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 13, September, 1835Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 13, September, 1835
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
will esteem such a work as the Naval History of Great Britain the less
for being written by a denizen of any region under the sun.
* * * * *
_The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1836. Edited by Miss
Leslie. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey and A. Hart_--We are really sorry
that we have no opportunity of noticing this beautiful little Annual
at length, and article by article, in our present number: and this the
more especially as the edition is even now nearly exhausted, and it
will be hardly worth while to say any thing concerning the work in our
next, by which time we are very sure there will not be a copy to be
obtained at any price. The Gift is highly creditable to the enterprise
of its publishers, and more so to the taste and talents of Miss
Leslie. This we say _positively_--the ill-mannered and worse-natured
opinion of the Boston Courier to the contrary notwithstanding. Never
had Annual a brighter galaxy of illustrious literary names in its
table of contents--and in no instance has any contributor fallen below
his or her general reputation. The embellishments are _not all_ of a
high order of excellence. The Orphans, for example, engraved by Thomas
B. Welch from a painting by J. Wood, is hard and scratchy in manner,
and altogether unworthy of the book--while the head of the child in
the Prawn Fishers, engraved by A. W. Graham from a painting by W.
Collins, R.A. has every appearance of a cabbage. But the portrait of
Fanny Kemble by Cheney, from Sully, is one of the finest things in the
world, notwithstanding a certain wiriness above the hair. The likeness
is admirable--the attitude exquisite--and the countenance is beaming
all over with intelligence. The gem of the book, however, is the
Smuggler's Repose, engraved by W. E. Tucker from a painting by J.
Tennant. We repeat it, this is absolutely a gem--such as any Souvenir
in any country might be proud to possess, and sufficient of itself to
stamp a high character upon the Gift.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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