General Books

MOUNT ST. MICHAEL, NORMANDY. The interest attached to this extraordinary place is of so popular a character as fully to justify its introduction to our pages. It is situate at the southern extremity of the ancient province of Normandy, a district of considerable importance in the early histories of France and England. The "Mount" is likewise one of the most stupendous of Nature's... more...

THE HUNDRED DAYS. PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. That period of history between the 20th of March and the 28th of June, 1815, being the interregnum in the reign of Louis the Eighteenth, caused by the arrival of Napoleon from Elba and his assumption of the government of France, is known as "The Hundred Days." It is as interesting as it was eventful, and has been duly chronicled wherever facts have been... more...

AGRARIANISM. If we can believe an eminent authority, in which we are disposed to place great trust, the oldest contest that has divided society is that which has so long been waged between the House of HAVE and the House of WANT. It began before the bramble was chosen king of the trees, and it has outlasted the cedars of Lebanon. We find it going on when Herodotus wrote his History, and the historians... more...

The Nursery. PREMIUM-LIST FOR 1876. For three new subscribers, at $1.60 each, we will give any one of the following articles: a heavily gold-plated pencil-case, a rubber pencil-case with gold tips, silver fruit-knife, a pen-knife, a beautiful wallet, any book worth $1.50. For five, at $1.60 each, any one of the following: globe microscope, silver fruit-knife, silver napkin-ring, book or books worth... more...

OLD COVENT GARDEN. The notoriety of Covent Garden is of too multifarious a description to render the above illustration uninteresting to either of our readers. It is copied from one of Hollar's prints, and represents the Garden about the time of Charles II., before its area had been polluted with filth and vegetable odours. The spot was originally the garden belonging to the abbot of Westminster,... more...

NOBODY'S DOG. NLY a dirty black-and-white dog!You can see him any day,Trotting meekly from street to street:He almost seems to say,As he looks in your face with wistful eyes,"I don't mean to be in your way." His tail hangs drooping between his legs;His body is thin and spare:How he envies the sleek and well-fed dogs,That thrive on their masters' care!And he wonders what they must... more...

The Fortune Playhouse   The Engraving represents one of the playhouses of Shakspeare's time, as the premises appeared a few years since. This theatre was in Golden Lane, Barbican, and was built by that celebrated and benevolent actor Edward Alleyn, the pious founder of Dulwich College, in 1599. It was burnt in 1624, but rebuilt in 1629. A story is told of a large treasure being found in digging... more...

KEW PALACE. Innumerable are the instances of princes having sought to perpetuate their memories by the building of palaces, from the Domus Aurea, or golden house of Nero, to the comparatively puny structures of our own times. As specimens of modern magnificence and substantial comfort, the latter class of edifices may be admirable; but we are bound to acknowledge, that in boldness and splendour of... more...

CHAPTER V.MRS. GARNETT'S ROCKERS. I had plenty of time for such introspective thoughts as these during my brief railway journey, and before my luggage and I were safely deposited at 35, Queen's Gate. Again I rang the bell, and again the footman in plush and powder answered the door, but this time there was no hesitation in his manner. "Miss Fenton, I believe," he said, quite civilly.... more...

CASTLE OF THE SEVEN TOWERS AT CONSTANTINOPLE 1. Triumphal Arch of Constantine. 2. First Tower of the Pentagon. 3. First Marble Tower. 4. Second Marble Tower. 5. Angle of the Pentagon with the fallen Tower. 6. Double Tower. 7. Dedecagonal tower. 8. Square Tower of entrance to the Prison. 9. Round Tower falling to decay. 10. House of the Aga, &c. 11. Garden of the Aga's House. 12. Cemetery of... more...