NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION OF ROBERT BROWNING'S POETICAL WORKS. 'An edition which in every point of excellence will satisfy the most fastidious taste.'-THE SCOTSMAN. In 2 vols. large crown 8vo. Bound in cloth, gilt top. With a Portrait Frontispiece to each volume, 7s. 6d. per volume. THE COMPLETE OF ROBERT BROWNING. Edited and Annotated by AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, Q.C., M.P., An edition has also been printed on Oxford India paper. This EDITOR'S NOTE. ones, This edition of Mr. Browning's poems and plays makes no pretence to be critical. One of the most useful of the Shakespearian commentators, Mr. Theobald, has observed that the science of criticism, so far as it affects an editor, is reduced to three classes: 'The emendation of corrupt passages, the explanation of obscure and difficult ones, and an inquiry into the beauties and defects of composition.' Happily there are no corrupt passages in Browning, but undoubtedly there are some obscure and difficult although the reader will often be surprised to find how frequently obscurity and difficulty will be dissipated and removed by a careful study of the context. So, too, Browning has his beauties and defects of composition; but neither his beauties or defects of composition, nor the obscurities and difficulties of particular passages, are here discussed or explained. All that has been done is to prefix (within square brackets) to some of the plays and poems a few lines explanatory of the characters and events depicted and described, and to explain in the margin of the volumes the meaning of such words as might, if left unexplained, momentarily arrest the understanding of the reader. That some easy words have been explained and some hard ones left alone is more than likely, since, on such a subject, no standard exists either of information or of ignorance. Mr. F. G. Kenyon has been kind enough to make the notes for The Ring and the Book,' but for the rest the Editor alone is responsible. The edition is a complete one, containing all Mr. Browning's regularly published plays and poems from Pauline (1833) to Asolando (1889). In the arrangement of the contents a chronological order has as far as possible been observed; but as Mr. Browning himself rearranged some of the smaller poems regardless of their dates of publication, his publishers have not felt themselves at liberty in these cases to adhere to chronology. In all the poems the poet's latest readings have been followed. From the GLOBE:- Not only a cheap, but a handy, useful, and eminently presentable edition. . . . Altogether a most satisfactory and creditable production, calculated to be of service alike to the public and to the fame of Browning.' ... From the CHRISTIAN WORLD:-'A great treat for Browning lovers of limited incomes. We expect the publication will be one of the most popular literary events of the season. From the SPEAKER:-'Handy in form, compact in arrangement, and presents to the reader an admirable combination of close packing of matter with clearness of type. London: SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 Waterloo Place, S.W. POPULAR NOVELS. Each Work complete in One Volume, crown 8vo. price Six Shillings. CLEG KELLY, ARAB OF THE CITY. By S. R. CROCKETT, Author of ' The THE SOWERS. By HENRY SETON THE WHITE COMPANY. By A. CONAN DOYLE. Seventeenth Edition. MARCELLA. By Mrs. HUMPHRY WARD. Fifteenth Edition. ROBERT ELSMERE. By Mrs. HUм PHRY WARD. Twenty seventh Edition. THE HISTORY OF DAVID GRIEVE. By Mrs. HUMPHRY WARD. Ninth Edition. GERALD EVERSLEY'S FRIENDSHIP; a Study in Real Life. By the Rev. J. E. C. WELLDON, Head Master of Harrow School. Fourth Edition. THE WARDLAWS. By E. RENTOUL ESLER, Author of The Way they Loved at Grimpat' &c. Crown 8vo. 6s. KATE GRENVILLE. 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The purpose of this book is to give a description of European Mineral Waters and Spas and to indicate the complaints for which the Waters are likely to prove beneficial. THE BROWNINGS FOR THE YOUNG. Edited by Frederic G. KENYON, late Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Small fcp. 8vo. cloth, Is. ; or with gilt edges, Is. 4d. THE APOSTOLIC GOSPEL. With a Critical Reconstruction of the Text. By J. FULTON BLAIR, B.D. 8vo. 12s. 6d. RENAISSANCE FANCIES AND STUDIES: being a Sequel to 'Euphorion.' By VERNON LEE, Author of 'Euphorion, Antique and Mediæval in Renai sance' &c. Crown 8vo. 6s. net. HYPNOTISM, MESMERISM, AND THE NEW WITCHCRAFT. By ERNEST HART, formerly Surgeon to the West London Hospital, and Ophthalmic Surgeon to St. Mary's Hospital. Second Edition, Enlarged, with Chapters on The Eternal Gullible,' and Note on 'The Hypnotism of Trilby.' Crown 8vo. 5s. JOHANNESBURG IN ARMS, 1895-6. Being the Observations of a Casual Spectator. By CHARLES G. THOMAS. 8vo. 2s. 6d. With Illustrations. Crown OFF THE MILL. By the Right Rev. G. F. BROWNE, D.C.L., Bishop of Stepney. With 2 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. FIFTY YEARS; or, Dead Leaves and Living Seeds. By the Rev. RECOLLECTIONS OF A MILITARY LIFE. By General Sir JOHN With Illustrations by the London: SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 Waterloo Place. THE CHEAPER ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THE WORKS OF W. M. THACKERAY. Sets in cloth, £4. 118.; or 26 Volumes, crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. handsomely bound in half-morocco, £8. 8s. Containing nearly all the small Woodcut Illustrations of the former Editions, and many new Illustrations by eminent Artists. This Edition contains altogether 1,773 Illustrations. Specimen Illustration from the Cheaper Illustrated Edition of W. M. Thackeray's Works. OTHER EDITIONS OF MR. THACKERAY'S WORKS. THE STANDARD EDITION. 26 vols. large 8vo. 10s. 6d. each. This Edition contains some of Mr. Thackeray's Writings which had not previously been collected, with many additional Illustrations. 24 vols. large crown 8vo. handsomely bound in THE LIBRARY EDITION. cloth, £9; or half-russia, marbled edges, £18. 138. With Illustrations by the Author, Richard Doyle, and Frederick Walker. The Volumes are sold separately, in cloth, 78. 6d. each. THE POPULAR EDITION. 13 vols. crown 8vo. with Frontispiece to each Volume, scarlet cloth, gilt top, £3. 5s and in half-morocco, gilt, £5. 108. **The Volumes are sold separately, in green cloth, 58. each. THE POCKET EDITION. 27 vols. in cloth, with gilt top, 1s. 6d. each; or in paper cover, 1s. each. The Volumes are also supplied as follows:THE NOVELS. 13 vols. in goldlettered cloth case, 218. THE MISCELLANIES. 14 vols. in gold-lettered cloth case, 218. London: SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 Waterloo Place. |