"A publishers' notice prefixed to each volume states that 'one
thousand copies of this edition have been printed and the type
distributed. No more will be published.' Although some of these works
are now easily obtainable in a cheap form, good editions are rare and
eagerly sought by those who make any pretence of making a library.
Here is an opportunity of securing as choice an edition as can be
desired at a comparatively low price, the value of which will be
enhanced before long by its scarcity."
The Times.
"Prettily printed and prettily illustrated, these attractive volumes
deserve their welcome from all students of seventeenth century
literature."
The Daily News.
"The merit for modern readers of these old stories lies partly in
their inexhaustible wit, their knowledge of human nature, which
never grows stale, and partly in their pictures of the old reckless
life of Spain. A typical example of these novels is the fictitious
autobiography of Guzman d'Alfarache, the Spanish rogue, written by
Matthew Aleman at the beginning of the seventeenth century."
Daily Telegraph.
"A handy and beautiful edition, in twelve volumes, of the works of
the Spanish masters of romance calls for a word of acknowledgment
from all who desire to see the lights of foreign literature fitly
presented to the notice of English readers. We may say of this
edition of the immortal work of Cervantes, that it is most tastefully
and admirably executed, and that it is embellished with a series
of striking etchings from the pen of the Spanish artist, De Los
Rios. . . . Those who have already made acquaintance with these
masterpieces of exotic humour will need no encouragement to send them
once again to a fountain from which such pure enjoyment is to be
derived, and in so acceptable a shape as Messrs. Nimmo & Bain have
provided."
The Scotsman.
"What man of middle age is there, who has been a reader of books, who
does not look back with pleasure to his first acquaintance with 'Don
Quixote' or the 'Adventures of Gil Blas'? If he has been a wise man
of equal mind, he has gone further afield in these romances, and has
made acquaintance with 'Asmodeus,' 'The Bachelor of Salamanca,' and
other works of a like kind. They have been read by many thousands of
British readers, and they will be read by many thousands more. . . .
What the reading public have reason to congratulate themselves
upon is, that so neat, compact, and well-arranged an edition of
romances that can never die is put within their reach. The publishers
have spared no pains with them. It has already been said that Mr.
Saintsbury has written a prefatorial notice of Le Sage; a similar
work has been done by other hands in the case of Cervantes. It is
satisfactory to find publishers turning their attention to the
reproduction, in worthy form, of classic fiction; and the hope may be
entertained that in this case the enterprise will meet with merited
reward."
Westminster Review.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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