Appendix. By Major Dixon Denham and Captain Hugh Clapperton, the Survivors of the Expedition. Boston. Cummings, Hilliard, & Co. 8vo. pp. 431.

Tales round a Winter Hearth. By Jane and Ann Maria Porter. 2 Vols. in 1. New York. J. & J. Harper. 12mo. pp. 296.

The Boyne Waters. A Tale. By the O'Hara Family. New York J. & J. Harper. 12mo. pp. 285 and 288. The Spectator; with Volumes. New York.

Notes and a General Index. Complete in Two S. Marks. pp. 414 and 434. Damon and Pythias. A Tragedy. In Five Acts. By R. Shiell, Esq. Poems; by Bernard Barton. Boston. Munroe & Francis. 18mo. pp. 324.

The Character of Julius Cæsar; a Debate. By James Sheridan Knowles, Glassgow. Boston. Wait, Greene, & Co. 12mo. pp. 52.

The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare. In 10 Vols. With the Corrections and Illustrations of Dr Johnson, G. Steevens, and others. Revised by Isaac Reed, Esq. New York. Collins & Hannay. 12mo.

Aladdin. A Fairy Opera. In Two Acts. By George B. Soane, B. A. New York. E. M. Murden. 18mo. pp. 75.

Adventures of a Young Rifleman, during the late Wars of Spain and Portugal. Written by Himself. Edited by Goethe. Philadelphia. H. C. Carey & I. Lea. 12mo.

Continental Adventures. A Novel. 3 Vols. Boston. Wells & Lilly. 12mo.

A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Physic. By George Gregory, M. D. With Notes and Additions, adapting the work to the Practice of the United States, by Nathaniel Potter, M. D. and S. Calhoun, M. D. Philadelphia. Towar & Hogan.

The Beauties of Sir Walter Scott and Thomas Moore, Esq., selected from their Works; with Historical and Explanatory Notes. Philadel phia.

PROPOSED WORKS.

It is proposed to publish in New Orleans, THE CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE. BY GEOFFROY DE VILLE-HARDOUIN, Marshal of Champagne. Translated by A. DAVEZAC.

In his general Prospectus of the work the translator speaks as follows.

There exists no English translation, I believe, of the Conquest of Constantinople; and the silence of Gibbon, who sometimes cites the text, and and at others translates the original, warrants this conclusion.

This translation will be prefaced by a concise history of the Crusades, which preceded that of the French and Venetians. A rapid sketch of those memorable expeditions, too short to fatigue those who have studied the eventful history of the middle ages, and yet sufficiently full to present a general view of that epoch, will give additional interest to the narration. This will be followed by a short biography of Ville-Hardouin. I remember, that, after perusing the history of the Conquest of Constantinople, I felt solicitous to be informed of the subsequent estinies of the Chronicler-of the Daring Knight—who had hurled the gauntlet

of defiance at the feet of an Emperor, seated on his throne, and surrounded by his guards and courtiers, and that obsequious train of slaves and eunuchs, the inseparable attendants of oriental greatness. I have thought that the result of my researches would gratify the curiosity of those readers who might feel the same

desire.'

CAREY & LEA, Philadelphia, will publish, in March, the first number of a new periodical Journal, to be entitled THE AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW.

'Their design is national, as far as it can be so extended. For that object, impartiality, as well as breadth of survey and variety of subject, will be invariably studied. In Philadelphia, the aid of many gentlemen of superior ability and scholastic and scientific acquirements, has already been secured; but as it is desired to bring into action talent and knowledge wherever situated, contributions are invited from writers throughout the Union, to whom personal application may not be made; and the publishers pledge themselves to pay liberally for such articles as shall be inserted in the work. The duties of editorship will be confided to a gentleman of high literary reputation.

With regard to the subjects which are embraced in the design of the American Quarterly Review, its title and the common and known contents of the existing models bespeak them sufficiently. Preference must be given to works and materials, to principles and opinions, especially interesting and useful to our own country, whether they be of domestic or foreign origin. Mere party or local politics, polemical theology, involving injurious and irritating imputations, and whatever tends to disturb essential morals, fundamental Christian faith, or republican theory, will be rigorously excluded. As the work is not meant to be devoted to the views or favorite ends of any member or section of the Union, neither will it be to any exclusive or partial doctrines in any of the admitted subjects. The utmost latitude of opinion and discussion will be allowed, that is compatible with the limits, temper, and general merit to be required in each article. The resources and connexions of the proprietors are such, as to place within their reach copious information of the contemporary literature and public concerns of the principal countries of Europe and America; and they will sedulously avail themselves of all the means of the kind, which they can command, for the enrichment of the Review. They scarcely need to add, that the work will be truly American in spirit and drift; patriotism, alert, emphatic, resolute, militant even under certain circumstances, is a trait which should distinguish it and every similar production of this country.'

S. G. GOODRICH, Boston, will shortly publish, ELEMENTS OF MINERALOGY, adapted to the Use of Seminaries and Private Students, 1 Vol. 8vo. By J. L. Comstock, M. D.

The WORKS of HANNAH MORE, complete in 2 large Vols. 8vo. with a Portrait, and an original Sketch of the Life of the Author. Also preparing for Publication, The WORKS of CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN, with a SKETCH of the LIFE of the AUTHOR.

SPECIMENS of AMERICAN POETRY, with CRITICAL and BIOGRAPHI→ CAL NOTICES.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

No. LV.

NEW SERIES, NO. XXX.

APRIL, 1827.

ART. I.-Coleccion de los Viages y Déscubrimientos, que hicieron por Mar los Españoles desde Fines del Siglo XV, con varios Documentos inéditos concernientes á la Historia de la Marina Castellana y de los Establecimientos Españoles en Indias, coordinada é ilustrada por DON MARTIN FERNANDEZ DE NAVARRETE. Madrid, 1825. Tom. I. Viages de Colon: Almirantazgo de Castilla.-Tom. II. Documentos de Colon y de las primeros Poblaciones. [8vo. PP. CLI. 455 and 455.]

THIS work is the commencement of a projected series of publications concerning the voyages and maritime discoveries of the Spaniards. It is published under the patronage of king Ferdinand; and in this respect, if in no other, would deserve to be considered a remarkable book. We are not prone to expect from that unhappy prince at any time, and least of all, in the present distracted state of his kingdom, any very enlightened acts for the promotion of learning. The occurrence of a prominent exception to the illiberal policy, which is accustomed to sway his counsels, is therefore in itself a political phenomenon of considerable interest. And the exception was most wisely chosen, as constituting a truly acceptable addition to our literary treasures, a durable monument of Spanish greatness and power, and a work containing attractive instruction for the inhabitants of both hemispheres.

in

Spain, amid the ruins of her magnificent empire, stripped of those mighty colonial possessions, which were at once her pride and her shame, her glory and her disgrace, the source of all her riches and the instrument appointed to work her downfall, Spain still appears to derive a melancholy gratification from contemplating the fortunes and elucidating the history of her lost America. Under the auspices of that proud and bigoted, but chivalrous and highminded nation, it was the destiny of Columbus to discover the New World; and its history is therefore inseparably associated with her language and literature. We must look to that language for the only original and perfectly authentic records of the splendid achievements of the great navigator, as well as for the knowledge of later events in the history of this continent. The prolific invention of the Spanish people poured forth, in the days of their greatest glory, a golden tide of poetry, of romance, of productions every branch of letters; but afterwards, when the influence of superstition fettered their genius, it luxuriated the more richly in those directions, where its efforts were still unchecked. Hence their literature abounds in works on the early history of the New World. Not a few of the adventurous voyagers and undaunted soldiers, who first explored this continent, and bore the Spanish arms in triumph over its broad expanse, were themselves accomplished writers, who described their own fortunes and the exploits of their compatriots in the frank, simple, and engaging style of brave men, schooled in the toils of the camp and the vicissitudes of active life. Most of the narratives thus composed were published by their authors, and became the foundation of digested history in after times. But others of still greater value, not having been originally written for the press, remained long in manuscript. Among the rest, the Spanish historians have continually referred to contemporary accounts of the voyages of Columbus, which were thus known to be still in existence, but lay buried in the archives of the state or of noble families, accessible only to the researches of a few favored individuals. These precious documents are now rescued from obscurity, and perchance from speedy destruction, by the publication before us, of whose contents we propose to give a cursory account.

Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, the editor of the work, holds a respectable office in the marine department of state. The design of his compilation appears to have grown out of a

plan, originated in 1789, for the establishment of a nautical library and repository of manuscripts relative to the marine, at Cadiz. Señor Navarrete then received a commission from Charles the Fourth to explore the archives and libraries of the kingdom, both public and private, for the purpose of collecting exact and authentic copies of whatever should be deemed suitable for the abovementioned object. His researches began at Madrid, in the royal library, the archives of the noble houses of Santa Cruz, Villafranca, Medina Sidonia, and Infantado, and the libraries of St Isidore, and the Escurial. Afterwards he extended his inquiries to other places, particularly to the various public registries in Seville, and the famous archives of Simancas, so jealously closed against the industry of Robertson, and where Muñoz found the most valuable and abundant materials for his unfinished history of the New World. He was very successful, too, in the discovery of letters and other documents concerning Columbus, many of them in his own handwriting, preserved in the archives of his descendant and family representative, the duke of Veragua. These investigations were frequently interrupted, either by reason of the official duties of Señor Navarrete, or still more in consequence of the protracted civil and foreign wars by which his illfated country has been so cruelly agitated. He resumed his labors, however, from time to time, as circumstances would permit, and, during the prosecution of his original design, was induced by the great historical value of the documents he collected, to undertake the present publication.

In respect to the order of arrangement in his compilation, Señor Navarrete has pursued a very natural and proper course. Columbus being the first navigator into the waters of the West, and having discovered the New World, and thus given impulse, direction, and dignity to the maritime enterprises of the Spaniards, his voyages and the documents relating to his personal fortunes, his family, and the primitive establishments in America, justly occupy the first place in this great national work. Following the order of discovery, the third volume is to comprise the early voyages to the Spanish Main and to Florida, the fourth the conquests of Cortez, and the rest, in succession, the expedition to the river of La Plata, and the straits of Magellan, to Chile, Peru, and California, to the South sea and the Asiatic islands. Of the competency of the editor to pursue the laborious track thus marked out, the volumes already printed fur