THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION have a work that will prove of great interest to Bible students in "Tent and Saddle Life in the Holy Land," a description of a journey through the lands of the Bible by three clergymen, told by Dr. David Van Horne, of Philadelphia. Many travellers have gone over these pathways and have given valuable descriptions of the country and its inhabitants, yet these new observers give new views and shed fresh light upon the teachings of the Scriptures. Rev. Edwin W. Rice, one of the travellers, who has done such splendid Sunday-school work, has added critical notes which add greatly to the value of the book to advanced readers. Many of the illustrations are taken from Schaff's "Bible Dictionary," and lend additional interest to the work. Dr. Van Horne is the author of The Mountain-Boy of Wildhaus," "A Life of Ulric Zwingli," etc.

THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY have a work of great interest that, though hardly a holiday publication, is sure of many eager buyers and readers, in George A. Shaw's "Madagascar and France." The social, moral and spiritual condition of the people of Madagascar during the past twenty-five years is treated exhaustively by the Rev. Mr. Shaw, who lived among them for many years as missionary. Churches and schools are now liberally sustained. The present sovereign is an earnest Christian woman, and her government is administered justly and wisely. Mr. Shaw gives a full account of the attempts of France to seize the island, during which he was first imprisoned and then expelled. The book is fully illustrated, and furnished with excellent maps. To the Floral Gem Series have been

added "His Abiding Presence," by Helen P. Strong, and "Walks with Jesus,' by Mrs. S. J. Brigham, printed on fine paper, with elegant ribbon-tied covers, in ten colors.

D. APPLETON & Co. cater for a public that reads systematically throughout the year, and akes advantage of the holiday season to pick out

some well-loved favorites to please the known tastes of friends, regardless whether the volume be gotten up in alligator or satin, illuminated, nickel-plated or embossed covers, and whether its pages are full of illustrations, or merely enriched with the best thoughts of writers. They have a work of peculiar interest in S. S. Frackelton's "Tried by Fire," which does not relate the many aches caused by the arrows of Cupid in the heart of some romantic woman, but is liter ally a description of the artistic decoration of china and pottery, which is literally "tried by fire" to perpetuate its many beauties. The author's name is connected with one of the largest decorative establishments in the land, and he writes of what he knows intelligently, and in a most interesting way. The house has now ready the first volumes in the series of English Worthies, treating of "Charles Darwin," in the words of Grant Allen, and of the "Duke of Marlborough,' in the critically appreciative style of George Saintsbury. The biographies in this series are to deal with Englishmen of distinction and influence in military, naval, literary, ecclesiastical and scientific circles. They are under the general direction of Mr. Andrew Lang, and, as far as planned, will include sketches of Richard Steele,' by Aus

tin Dobson: "The Duke of Wellington," by R. Louis Stevenson; "Sir Walter Raleigh," by Edmund Gosse; "Ben Jonson," by J. A. Symonds, etc. They have also a number of desirable gift-books of previous years, a list of which will be found in their advertisement on another page of this issue.

A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON have a pretty giftbook for a person of literary tastes in "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe, with a historical and critical commentary by John H. Ingram, who also gives the genesis and history of the poem, as well as a number of translations and parodies. The volume is printed on a paper made especially for the work and bound in white parchment. For

ess, and dear old Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. These plates are reproduced in photogravure, on India paper, size 20x141⁄2 inches, and put up in a portfolio. They have also prepared a low-priced series of gift-books in what they call Cassell's Popular Illustrated Series, comprising "Forging the Anchor;" Goldsmith's "Deserted Village; Milton's "L'Allegro ;" and Wordsworth's "Pastoral Poems, Ode on Immortality, and Lines on Tintern Abbey." These are all issued in a new and neat style of binding, and are fully and appropriately illustrated. In poetry they have a unique gift in "Representative Poems on Living Poets," edited by Jeanette L. Gilder, with an introduction by George Parsons Lathrop. The volume contains selections from the works of nearly one hundred and fifty poets, selected by the authors themselves, and is illustrated with twenty portraits and the autographs of all the poets represented. They also have the very handsome miniature edition of Shakespeare's Works, Milton's, Wordsworth's, Scott's, Hood's, Burns's, Byron's, Sheridan's and Goldsmith's Poems. These issues are beautifully printed on fine paper, in small but perfectly legible type, are bound in a variety of styles, and put up in cases and boxes that range from ordinary cloth to the most expensive leathers. "Oberon and Puck," poems grave and gay, by Miss Helen Gray Cone, concludes their gifts in this direction. They also have the annual volumes of the Magazine of Art, which during 1885 has been more interesting than ever before; of the Quiver and of the Family Magazine, all of which are fast winning hosts of admiring readers among their American cousins.

A. L. CASSINO has prepared a new and improved edition of the dainty little volume entitled

Beacon Lights for God's Mariners," a selection of edifying texts from the Scriptures and the poets, compiled by Elizabeth N. Little, author of the "Pansy Text-Book." The volume is exquisitely printed, and has fresh illustrations designed by the compiler, printed in colors. The cover, in silver, has an artistic and appropriate stamp, and is tied with a silken cord. For a description of "Ruling Lights," a calendar designed by Miss Little, we refer the

reader to the department of specialties under the heading of "Calendars."

THE CENTURY Co. have only one important work of an illustrated character, "Essays on the Art of Pheidias," by Charles Waldstein. Students of Greek art and archæological scholars will find much that will especially interest them in this elegant volume. In a series of nine essays are considered the various investigations and discoveries relative to Pheidias's work in the Parthenon. Five of the essays deal with separate portions of the sculptures, while others are of a general character, discussing the methods of the study of archæology and the spirit of the art of Pheidias. The concluding essay considers the influence of the work of Pheidias upon the Attic sculpture of the period immediately

succeeding the age of Pericles. Many plates and wood-cuts illustrate and elucidate the text. The author is Director of the Fitz-William Museum and Reader cf Classical Archæology in the University of Cambridge. "William Lloyd Garrison," the story of his life, by his sons, W. P. Garrison, literary editor of the Nation, and F. J. Garrison, must always remain the standard history of the anti-slavery movement. The two volumes that have been published deal with the most dramatic and stormy period of the great abolitionist's life. They tell the story of the agitation and bloodshed that led to the wiping out of the great stain upon our good name as a nation as it can be told from no other source. This earnest and often sad recital can scarcely be recommended as a Christmas book or as an illustrated holiday work, though it does contain twenty portraits of exceptional interest-but all tastes are not suited with the ephemeral literature and decorative volumes supposed to be characteris tic of the season. A new edition for the trade of "Sports with Gun and Rod" at a reduced price has been prepared. It contains the same illustrations as the édition de luxe, and is in every way an attractive work. The elegant bound volumes of The Century Magazine possess a richness and a distinctive character of their own, that make them unique Christmas gifts. They come to us again this year full of stories by the most celebrated writers, and embellished by some of the most beautiful cuts that are seen in any of the illustrated works. Both their literary and art value recommend them to the special attention of all buyers.