elegantly embellished works for the
holiday season. Among others, an edition, in octavo, of Miss Fenimore
Cooper's charming _Rural Hours_, embellished by twenty finely-colored
drawings of birds and flowers; _The Picturesque Souvenir_, or Letters
of a Traveler in Europe and America, by Bryant, embellished by
a series of finely-executed engravings; and _The Alhambra_, by
Washington Irving, with designs by Darley, uniform with the splendid
series of Mr. Irving's Illustrated Works, some time in course
of publication. We have also seen a specimen copy of a superbly
illustrated edition of _The Pilgrim's Progress_, printed on
cream-colored paper, as smooth as ivory; and the exquisite designs by
Harvey, nearly three hundred in number, are among the most effective
ever attempted for the elucidation of this first of all allegories.
Professor Sweetser's new work, _Menial Hygiene_, or an Examination of
the Intellect and Passions, designed to illustrate their Influence on
Health and the Duration of Life, will be published in the course
of the present month. Professor Church's _Treatise on Integral and
Differential Calculus_, a revised edition; _The Companion_, or _After
Dinner Table Talk_, by Chelwood Evelyn, with a fine portrait of Sydney
Smith; _The History of Propellers, and Steam Navigation_, illustrated
by engravings: a manual, said to combine much valuable information on
the subjects, derived from the most authentic sources, by Mr. Robert
MacFarlane, editor of the _Scientific American_; and Mr. Ridner's
_Artist's Chromatic Hand-Book, or Manual of Colors_, will also be
speedily issued by the same publisher. Mr. Putnam's own production,
_The World's Progress, or Dictionary of Dates_, containing a
comprehensive manual of reference in facts, or epitome of historical
and general statistical knowledge, with a corrected chronology, &c.,
is expected to appear in a few weeks. Mr. Theodore Irving's _Conquest
of Florida_ is also in progress.

* * * * *

It is said that Meyerbeer has already completed a grand opera with the
title of _L'Africaine_, and is now engaged on a comic opera. This is
probably nothing more than one of the trumpets which this composer
knows so well how to blow beforehand. Meyerbeer is not greater in
music than in the art of tickling public expectation and keeping the
public aware of his existence.

* * * * *

The _Lorgnette_ has just appeared in a v