Good Fiction Worth Reading.
A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in thefield of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of loveand diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest.
A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE. A story of American Colonial Times. By ChaunceyC. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis.Price, $1.00.
A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionaryscenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the trueAmerican to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after chapter,until the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. The lovestory is a singularly charming idyl.
THE TOWER OF LONDON. A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady JaneGrey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with fourillustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00.
This romance of the "Tower of London" depicts the Tower as palace,prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is themiddle of the sixteenth century.
The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey,and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notablecharacters of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest of thereader in the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending considerablyover half a century.
IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING. A Romance of the American Revolution. ByChauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J.Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery,and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit ofthe Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and We feel ourselves takinga part in the exciting scenes described. His whole story is soabsorbing that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As alove romance it is charming.
GARTHOWEN. A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo.with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
"This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid barebefore us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us somestrong points of Welsh character--the pride, the hasty temper, thequick dying out of wrath.... We call this a well-written story,interesting alike through its romance and its glimpses into anotherlife than ours. A delightful and clever picture of Welsh village life.The result is excellent."--Detroit Free Press.
MIFANWY. The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, 12mo.with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
"This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care toread. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, itis apparent at once, are as true to life as though the author hadknown them all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story isworked up in that touching and quaint strain which never growswearisome, no matter how often the lights and shadows of love areintroduced. It rings true, and does not tax the imagination."--BostonHerald.
DARNLEY. A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. ByG. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. WatsonDavis. Price, $1.00.
In point of publication, "Darnley" is that work by Mr. James whichfollows "Richelieu," and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing tothe advice and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we areindebted primarily for the story, the young author questioning whetherhe could properly paint the difference in the characters of the twogreat cardinals. And it is not surprising that James should havehesitated; he had been eminently successful in giving to the world theportrait of Richelieu as a man, and by attempting a similar task withWolsey as the theme, was much like tempting fortune. Irving insistedthat "Darnley" came naturally in sequence, and this opinion beingsupported by Sir Walter Scott, the author set about the work.
As a historical romance "Darnley" is a book that can be taken uppleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charmwhich those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James haveclaimed was only to be imparted by Dumas.
If there was nothing more about the work to attract especialattention, the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic"field of the cloth of gold" would entitle the story to the mostfavorable consideration of every reader.
There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the authorhas taken care to imagine love passages only between those whomhistory has credited with having entertained the tender passion onefor another, and he succeeds in making such lovers as all the worldmust love.
CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE. By Lieut. Henry A. Wise,U.S.N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J.Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarnswho delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can comethrough the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the seaand those "who go down in ships" been written by one more familiarwith the scenes depicted.
The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and whichwill be read with pleasure for many years to come, is "Captain Brand,"who, as the author states on his title page, was a "pirate of eminencein the West Indies." As a sea story pure and simple, "Captain Brand"has never been excelled, and as a story of piratical life, toldwithout the usual embellishments of blood and thunder, it has noequal.
NICK OF THE WOODS. A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. ByRobert Montgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J.Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life inKentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, longout of print, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realisticpresentation of Indian and frontier life in the early days ofsettlement in the South, narrated in the tale with all the art of apracticed writer. A very charming love romance runs through the story.This new and tasteful edition of "Nick of the Woods" will be certainto make many new admirers for this enchanting story from Dr. Bird'sclever and versatile pen.
WINDSOR CASTLE. A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII.,Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth,12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00.
"Windsor Castle" is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and AnneBoleyn. "Bluff King Hal," although a well-loved monarch, was none toogood a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantableacts, none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, andhis marriage to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The King's love was asbrief as it was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen,attracted him, and Anne Boleyn was forced to the block to make roomfor her successor. This romance is one of extreme interest to allreaders.
HORSESHOE ROBINSON. A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina in1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J.Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
Among the old favorites in the field of what is known as historicalfiction, there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americansthan Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story whichdepicts with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the colonistsin South Carolina to defend their homes against the brutal oppressionof the British under such leaders as Cornwallis and Tarleton.
The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread ofthe tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerningthose times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, isnever overdrawn, but painted faithfully and honestly by one who sparedneither time nor labor in his efforts to present in this charming lovestory all that price in blood and tears which the Carolinians paid astheir share in the winning of the republic.
Take it all in all, "Horseshoe Robinson" is a work which should befound on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertainingstory, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerningthe colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out oncemore, well illustrated, is something which will give pleasure tothousands who have long desired an opportunity to read the storyagain, and to the many who
have tried vainly in these latter days toprocure a copy that they might read it for the first time.
THE PEARL OF ORR'S ISLAND. A story of the Coast of Maine. By HarrietBeecher Stowe. Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.00.
Written prior to 1862, the "Pearl of Orr's Island" is ever new; a bookfilled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves aneweach time one reads them. One sees the "sea like an unbroken mirrorall around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr's Island," andstraightway comes "the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach,like the wild angry howl of some savage animal."
Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, whichcame into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel's wings,without having an intense desire to know how the premature budblossomed? Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of thecharacter of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amidthe angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother's breast.
There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than thatwhich Mrs. Stowe gives in "The Pearl of Orr's Island."
GUY FAWKES. A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Wm. HarrisonAinsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank.Price, $1.00.
The "Gunpowder Plot" was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, theKing and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, wasweak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme ofextorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. Intheir natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold spiritsconcluded to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters werearrested, and the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the otherprisoners with royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through theentire romance.
THE SPIRIT OF THE BORDER. A Romance of the Early Settlers in the OhioValley. By Zane Grey. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J.Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
A book rather out of the ordinary is this "Spirit of the Border." Themain thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravianmissionaries in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is givendetails of the frontier life of those hardy pioneers who broke thewilderness for the planting of this great nation. Chief among these,as a matter of course, is Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, andat the same time the most admirable of all the brave men who spenttheir lives battling with the savage foe, that others might dwell incomparative security.
Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian "Villageof Peace" are given at some length, and with minute description. Theefforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never havebeen before, and the author has depicted the characters of the leadersof the several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself will beof interest to the student.
By no means least among the charms of the story are the vividword-pictures of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintingsof the beauties of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests.
It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can byit, perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willinglybraved every privation and danger that the westward progress of thestar of empire might be the more certain and rapid. A love story,simple and tender, runs through the book.
RICHELIEU. A tale of France in the reign of King Louis XIII. By G. P.R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis.Price, $1.00.
In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, "Richelieu," and wasrecognized at once as one of the masters of the craft.
In this book he laid the story during those later days of the greatcardinal's life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while itwas yet sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanicoutbursts which overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmostwave of prosperity. One of the most striking portions of the story isthat of Cinq Mar's conspiracy; the method of conducting criminalcases, and the political trickery resorted to by royal favorites,affording a better insight into the state-craft of that day than canbe had even by an exhaustive study of history. It is a powerfulromance of love and diplomacy, and in point of thrilling and absorbinginterest has never been excelled.
ROB OF THE BOWL. A Story of the Early Days of Maryland. By John P.Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis.Price, $1.00.
This story is an authentic exposition of the manners and customsduring Lord Baltimore's rule. The greater portion of the action takesplace in St. Mary's--the original capital of the State.
The quaint character of Rob, the loss of whose legs was supplied by awooden bowl strapped to his thighs, his misfortunes and mother wit,far outshine those fair to look upon. Pirates and smugglers did Robconsort with for gain, and it was to him that Blanche Werden owed herlife and her happiness, as the author has told us in such anenchanting manner.
As a series of pictures of early colonial life in Maryland, "Rob ofthe Bowl" has no equal. The story is full of splendid action, with acharming love story, and a plot that never loosens the grip of itsinterest to its last page.
TICONDEROGA. A Story of Early Frontier Life in the Mohawk Valley. ByG. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. WatsonDavis. Price, $1.00.
The setting of the story is decidedly more picturesque than any everevolved by Cooper. The story is located on the frontier of New YorkState. The principal characters in the story include an Englishgentleman, his beautiful daughter, Lord Howe, and certain Indiansachems belonging to the Five Nations, and the story ends with theBattle of Ticonderoga.
The character of Captain Brooks, who voluntarily decides to sacrificehis own life in order to save the son of the Englishman, is not amongthe least of the attractions of this story, which holds the attentionof the reader even to the last page.
Interwoven with the plot is the Indian "blood" law, which demands alife for a life, whether it be that of the murderer or one of hisrace. A more charming story of mingled love and adventure has neverbeen written than "Ticonderoga."
MARY DERWENT. A tale of the Wyoming Valley in 1778. By Mrs. Ann S.Stephens. Cloth, 12mo. Four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price,$1.00.
The scene of this fascinating story of early frontier life is laid inthe Valley of Wyoming. Aside from Mary Derwent, who is of course theheroine, the story deals with Queen Esther's son, Giengwatah, theButlers of notorious memory, and the adventures of the Colonists withthe Indians.
Though much is made of the Massacre of Wyoming, a great portion of thetale describes the love making between Mary Derwent's sister, WalterButler, and one of the defenders of Forty Fort.
This historical novel stands out bright and pleasing, because of themystery and notoriety of several of the actors, the tender lovescenes, descriptions of the different localities, and the struggles ofthe settlers. It holds the attention of the reader, even to the lastpage.
THE LAST TRAIL. A story of early days in the Ohio Valley. By ZaneGrey. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price,$1.00.
"The Last Trail" is a story of the border. The scene is laid at FortHenry, where Col. Ebenezer Zane with his family have built up avillage despite the attacks of savages and renegades. The Colonel'sbrother and Wetzel, known as Deathwind by the Indians, are thebordermen who devote their lives to the welfare of the white people. Asplendid love story runs through the book.
That Helen Sheppard, the heroine, should fall in love with such abrave, skilful scout as Jonathan Zane seems only reasonable after hisyears of association and defense of the people of the settlement fromsavages and renegades.
If one has a liking for stories of the trail, where the white manmatches brains against savage cunning, for tales of ambush andconstant striving for the mastery, "The Last Trail" will be greatly tohis liking.
THE KNIGHTS OF THE HORSESHOE. A traditionary tale of the Cocked HatGentry in the Old Dominion. By Dr. Wm. A. Caruthers. Cloth, 12mo. Fourpage illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
Many will hail with delight the re-publication of this rare and justlyfamous story of early Am
erican colonial life and old-time Virginianhospitality.
Much that is charmingly interesting will be found in this tale that sofaithfully depicts early American colonial life, and also here isfound all the details of the founding of the Tramontane Order, aroundwhich has ever been such a delicious flavor of romance.
Early customs, much love making, plantation life, politics, intrigues,and finally that wonderful march across the mountains which resultedin the discovery and conquest of the fair Valley of Virginia. A rarebook filled with a delicious Savor of romance.
BY BERWEN BANKS. A Romance of Welsh Life. By Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo.Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.
It is a tender and beautiful romance of the idyllic. A charmingpicture of life in a Welsh seaside village. It is something of aprose-poem, true, tender and graceful.
For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price bythe publishers, A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52-58 Duane St., New York.
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