i?9rNRLF FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS FOR THE YOUNQ A ORADED AND ANNOTATED LIST GEORGE E. HARDY REESE LIBRARY W/ n UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, i Received WAR 14 1 893 Accessions No. ^Olf-ah . Class No.. UBRACT 9CH0GI 0'l\ Committee. S. V. Arrow SMITH, J. W. Kenedy, The above report was unanimously adopted by the New Jersey State Teachers' Association, July 3, 1892. J. H. HuLSART, Secretary. CONTENTS Introduction, General Literature, Including Poetry, History and Biography, .... Geography, Travels, and Adventures, The Arts and the Sciences, . Fiction, Fairy Tales and Mythology, Miscellany, Index to Authors, PAGE 1 21 32 41 48 57 78 84 87 UNIVERSITY j Il^TRODUOTION One afternoon, some ten years ago, I was sitting in the class-room j)lanning the work of the morrow, when my glance fell upon a " Half-Dime Library " lying on the desk, which had been taken from one of the pupils during the course of the day. It was not the first of such pub- lications, probably by many hundreds, that had thus found their way into my hands to be afterward destroyed. Among my boys it was generally understood that all such literature when found in use during school-hours was contraband, and as such was subject to confiscation and destruction. Beyond this, little or nothing was done in school to prevent the reading of these books by the pupils, or to cultivate and direct their taste in reading. Indeed, if the truth were but known, it would have appeared that their teacher, in company with a goodly number of his guild, had much of secret sympathy with the ecstasies of admiration into which the youthful reader was so fre- quently thrown at the contemplation of the dazzling exploits of Mr. Deadwood Dick and other marauding gentry of the same adventurous turn of mind ; for had not we of an earher generation been devotees at similar shrines ? Certainly in my own case it was a fact beyond perad- venture that I had once been on terms the most intimate with crowds of the masterly creations of S^ivanus Cobb, Jr., of that erudite "Professor of History in the Uni- versity of Louisiana," William Henry Peck, and of Dr. 2 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS J. H. Robinson, the peerless author of "Nick Whiffles, the Trapper Guide of the Northwest," a most fascinating serial romance, whose enduring popularity was testified to by the fact that in my day alone it was repubhshed no less than three times in the columns of the New York Weekly. Eegularly every week in those Arcadian days If used to read the New York Ledger, the New York Weekly, the Boys' and Girls' Weekly, and less frequently, but jus'; as often as I possibly could, the Chimney Corner and the old Wavei^ley Magazine. Many were the delightful opportunities thus afforded me to bivouac on the bound- less plains of the Far West in company with dashing Ned Buntline ; tears a plenty I was always shedding ovei the woes of Lena Rivers and all the other depressing offsprings of Mrs. Mary J. Holmes' genius ; and iox more than six months at a stretch I had followed, in weekly instalments, the bewildering intricacies of " Out of the Depths," a powerful serial written by a most prO' lific yet blameless gentlewoman, she of the many initials, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth. Jack Harkaway, in school and out, was my idol, and J followed the astonishing career, from start to finish, oi that ingenious young gentleman with feelings of un- disguised admiration and envy. Serial literature did not, however, engross my entire leisure hours. Books that Dr. Johnson said could be held readily in the hand, possessed the same charm for me that they did for the doctor, and it was with pardonable pride that I could point to a muster-roll of several hundreds of Messrs. Munro's and Beadle's gray and terracotta covered publications, the chef d'oeuvres of which I had read and re-read many times. Often, w^hen stretched on my trundle-bed after having drunk deep at these Pierian springs, did I ponder in the stilly night on the practicabihty of an immediate entrance INTRODUCTION 3 upon the prosperous career which had given deathless fame to Claude Duval and Three-Fingered Jack ; and many were the solemn conclaves held by two other kin- dred spirits and myself over the feasibility of seizing a certain brick schooner, hailing from Haverstraw, but just then being peacefully unloaded at a North River pier. Having overpowered the crew we were to hoist the black flag, and sail away with, as well as I can remember, " a wet sheet and a flowing bowl " to the Spanish Main. We called ourselves at that time the " Mystic League," and had a most distressingly intricate series of passwords, grips, and all the other regulation paraphernalia of an oath-bound secret society, the degrees of which we "worked " just as seriously as certain grown-up men are doing to-day. Why we finally abandoned these deeds of high emprise, and accepted without a murmur the dreary monotony of our Jin-de-siecle realism, is not quite clear to me at this late day, although I have vague recollections of a serious rupture and subsequent strained relations, among the members of the " Mystic League," over the permanent location of our pirates' lair, and, incidentally, over the disposition of the captive crew. Two of us were unre- servedly of the opinion that every mother's son of the yet-to-be-captured crew — some five in number— should walk the plank, in the most approved manner, and then boldly flying the '' Jolly Roger," we should set out at once on a long cruise to the low latitudes in search of Spanish galleons, pausing on the way only long enough to pillage a few towns with Spanish names that we had discovered in an atlas of the West Indies. The other mem- ber of the " Mystic League," with a wisdom far beyond the years of a bloodthirsty boy of twelve, was strongly of the opinion that, having overpowered the crew, we should force them, at the revolver's mouth, to work the vessel ; 4 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS and in view of the uncertainty of Spanish galleons fre- quenting the Gulf of Mexico to the extent they did in the days of Sir Francis Drake and other licensed ruf- fians of the sixteenth century, he thought we had better establish our lair in the vicinity of Fort Lee, so as to be within easy-reaching distance of our homes should stress of fortune ever constrain us to resort to such a refuge. But while the rare pleasure of poking a flint-lock pistol into the faces of belated travellers on Hounslow Heath, or of notching on our rifles the number of redskins whom we were to send red-handed to the happy hunt- ing-grounds could no longer be ours, yet it must be confessed that happiness was still to be found in the stories of a brilliant galaxy of raconteurs, who kept on weekly tap much that made oar prosaic lives endurable. Roger Starbuck, Captain Ingraham, Oil Coomes, Bracebridge Hemyngs, May Agnes Fleming, were but a few of the literary luminaries in whose genial warmth we could " loaf and invite our souls." " Ah ! there were giants in those days," I sighed, as in my revery I watched the Homeric shades of these departed worthies stalk silently past me out into the vast beyond. Once these were thy gods, O Israel! But nowadays— e/iew, fugaces — the fickle world knows them not, and their works have long since passed into the limbo of for- gotten books. Such were my thoughts on that afternoon of long ago as my eyes fell upon the soiled and tattered " library " lying on my desk ; and I recalled with something akin to pain the eager face, and mute reproachful eyes of the little victim whom I had so ruthlessly despoiled of his literary treasure. So full of sympathy was I with the memories of my boyish past, that on this particular afternoon I did what I had not dreamed of doing in half INTRODUCTION 5 a score of years before-I picked up the tattered volume and addressed myself seriously to the task of reading it. It took me over an hour to read the book, and ''the long shadows of a late September afternoon were falling athwart the empty benches when I had finished the last words of the miserably printed pages. My whole temper and frame of mind had undergone a change in this time, and I now seemed to see shadows, longer and darker than those cast by the setting sun, falling across the Httle ones who on the morrow would fill those empty benches. For the first time I began to realize what a wretched change had been wrought since I was a boy in the char- acter of the reading matter offered to children. Then it was none too good, beyond a doubt ; but although ex- travagantly absurd and ludicrously improbable, ""l do not recall that it was ever meanly, pitifully vicious. In the story printed and purveyed especiaUy for youno- boys which I had just finished, I had read of nothing but vulgar descriptions of the sordid lives and experi"- ences of New York's - submerged tenth." The scene of the story was laid in and about the Bowery, and its characters lived, moved, and had their being in'the dens of vice that line the streets leading to that brazen thoroughfare. The hero was a profane, shoulder-hittino- tough with scarcely one redeeming quality, while the heroine was simply a prostitute, given at times to spasms of hystencal virtue. The other characters were selected from the motley crowds that throng the Bowery on any Satui^day night, and through all the scenes there stalked a vulgar caricature of an impossible detective. Farther examination of other - libraries " convinced me that such characters and incidents were no novelties in half-dime lit- erature. I could refer my readers to a score of such per- nicious volumes if I cared to give them and their villain- ous authors and publishers a gratuitous advertisement. 6 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS Not long afterward I entered my class-room during the noonday recess, and found one of my brightest boys, a precocious lad of twelve, so absorbed in the reading of a book as to be perfectly oblivious of my presence. Upon inquiry the interesting volume proved to be Eugene Sue's " Mysteries of Paris," which my pupil had procured from a well-known circulating library of the city, whence he had already obtained and read a most entertaining series of books, which included such ethical masterpieces as the younger Dumas' " Camille " and the "Mysteries of the Court of George IV.," by G. W. M. Reynolds, a sensational and erotic writer happily no longer in vogue. This is hardl}^ the place to elaborate on the many evils resulting from the reading of vicious literature. Instances of the mental and moral degrada- tion resulting from the reading of this literary garbage are unhappily only too frequent in every teacher's expe- rience. To measure the silent influence of such per- nicious reading is an impossibility ; for when youthful innocence has once been defiled by such vile productions, who can measure the gradual disintegration of character that follows the reading of foul literatui'e, as certainly as the night follows the day. Well may the Laureate sing : "Feed the budding rose of boyhood with tlie draiiicage of your sewer ; Send the drain into the fountain, lest the stream should issue " Do your best to charm the worst, to lower the rising race of men ; Have we risen from the beast, then back into the beast again ! " The following lay sermon which Mr. Justice Depue de- livered recently to the Essex County Grand Jury, con- vened in the Court of Oyer and Terminer at Newark, is valuable as the deliberate expression by a judicial ob- INTRODUCTION 7 server of the proceedings in our criminal courts, and as such is worthy of the careful attention of all thoughtful men and women, Avhether parents or teachers : " Gentlemen," said the learned Judge, " I desire to make a few observations in regard to a case that was tried here during the last term, a case in which a boy of the age of sixteen was convicted of murder in the first de- gree for killing a man whom he had attempted to rob. " The case has attracted a great deal of public atten- tion from the character of the literature in which that boy was educated — half-dime libraries. I never saw a copy of one until I saw it during the trial of the case, when several were produced. It is apparent that it is the most pernicious literature that can possibly get into the hands of children. Men would avoid it. " I am not aware of any law that would warrant the indictment of any of the books that I have seen ; but at the next term, if I can find any of those books that come within the scope of the law, I shall ask the Grand Jury to indict. *' I find from information that upward of twenty per- sons in this city are engaged in the sale of this sort of literature, and that it is sold to boys and girls — school- boys and school-girls. And I have also obtained an esti- mate from a very authoritative source of the relative ages of persons who are brought before our police courts for offences involving stealing, attempts to rob, and crimes of that character, and I will take the opportunity of mentioning the figures now : " Persons charged with larceny combined with break- ing and entering, or entering with intent — that is a high crime — under the age of 18 years, thirty per cent. ; be- tween 18 and 23, sixty per cent , making ninety per cent, ; over 23, ten per cent. For simple larceny which 8 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS involves the same grade of crime — being petty or grand larceny according to the amount — under 18, sixty per cent. ; between 18 and 23, thirty per cent. ; over 23, ten per cent. — cases of simple larceny being considerably the most numerous. " It is safe to say that of the persons charged with some form of stealing, over 60 per cent, are under the age of 18 years ! " Now, it is possible that there may be some method of controlling the sale of this literature, especially to children, by the powers that I understand are vested in the Board of Education. At all events, I desire to caU public attention to the subject, in order that public in- terest may be aroused to protect young people from this class of literature. K any case had been brought before me and I had opportunity to look it up, I should have asked you to stay longer, inasmuch as I consider this a matter of so much public importance. But a great deal may be done from the publicity w^hich may be given to the facts I have mentioned, especially in bringing the matter to the attention of all who are interested in chil- dren ; and you all know they are to be the men of the next generation. " I hope that the remarks I have made will not fail to be a subject-matter of attention by the next Grand Jury." As one result of my excursion into modern literature for children, I set to w^ork at once to build up a class li- brary and through it to make an effort to direct the pupils' reading. Eealizing from the outset that the secret of the success of all such wretched stories as the " library" I had JQst read was due as much to the rapidity of their action and the frequency and exciting character of their dialogue as to anything else, I deemed it best at the out- set to substitute the works of Oliver Optic, Harry Castle- INTRODUCTION 9 mon, and Horatio Alger, Jr., with their wholesome tone and quick succession of incidents, for the lucubrations of "Peter Pad," " Old Sleuth," " Cap Collier," and the other distinguished members of the " half-dime " fraternity. It was not long before the other teachers of the school fell in line with this idea : St. Nicholas and Harper's Young Folks were also procured, and in an encouragingly short time a better, and just as interesting a literature, was eagerly sought and enjoyed by hundreds of our pupils. In the course of a few years my little class library of not quite a hundred books became the nucleus of the li- brary of my present school, numbering now over five hun- dred volumes. By having boys of various ages through- out the school write criticisms of new books along certain lines — a suggestion which I borrowed from the "Colum- bian Reading Union " of New York — by closely watching the volumes called for, by noting the predilection of certain grades for certain books, and by dint of persist- ent questioning of the boys themselves, I gradually got to know something of the tastes and preferences of boys, and to reahze fully the inestimable value of a well-selected and judiciously handled school library, not only as an important factor in class-work, but also, what is of far greater importance to the community and the State, as a most effective aid to the building of character. In 1889 an opjDortunity was offered me of putting the knowledge thus obtained to some practical use outside of my own school. In July of that year I was invited to read a paper on " The School Library " before the New York State Teachers' Association convened in Brooklyn. One result of the reading of this paper was the immedi- ate formation in the Association of a "Committee on Reading," which was to report on the condition of read- ing in the public schools, and to offer such suggestions 10 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS as would tend to its improvement. As chairman of this Committee I made my report to the Association at its meeting in Saratoga in the following year, and two thousand copies, under the title of " What Shall our Children Eead ? " were distributed by the Executive Committee throughout the State. Before the Convention adjourned the following resolution had been adopted : ''Resolved, That a Committee on Literature be ap- pointed by the President for a term of three years. The duties of this Committee shall be to prepare suitable graded lists of proper reading matter for children, to review current juvenile works, to prepare and circulate leaflets on reading for the young, and to aid in ever}- way this Association in its efforts to cultivate in our young people the taste for the reading of good hterature." I was again honored by the Association in being made chairman of the " Committee on Literatm-e," and at once set to work upon the task of preparing the graded hsts mentioned in the resolutions. The scheme was an am- bitious one, and the attempt to realize it soon disclosed the fact that much more time and labor were involved in the preparation of the list than would appear at first sight, as all who have ever attempted the preparation of similar lists can testify to their sorrow. On January 1st, I mailed five hundred copies of the following circular to all the leading hbrarians, publishers, and school superintendents throughout the country, and notices of it appeared in most of the principal educa- tional journals : " The New York State Teachers' Association, in its efforts to offer some effective resistance to the rapidly in- creasing supply of worthless publications purveyed es- mTRODUCTION 11 pecially for children, has organized a ' Committee on Literature,' which will hereafter take its place as one of the standing committees of the Association. The com- mittee will devote itself to the cultivation in our young people of the taste for good literature ; its present ' plan of campaign ' is to increase and multiply in every way the child's opportunities for reading the best books. In the development of this plan the committee has in view : 1st, The preparation of leaflets on reading for the young. 2d, The formation and proper use of school libraries. 3d, The reviewing and classifying of recent juvenile w^orks. 4th, The preparation of lists of suitable books — books of fiction, history, travel, biography, and popular science — so classified that the busy teacher will be enabled to select at a glance choice reading matter for each of his school grades. " To complete the programme thus outlined is a work too ambitious for the committee to attempt at present. As an initial step the committee proposes to issue, in time for the next Convention, a little book, in which an effort will be made to classify some of the works of literature according to the standards of grading now in current use in the schools, and thus furnish to teachers a list of literary masterpieces w^hich can either sei*ve as reading matter for their classes or be used as alternates with the regular reading-books of the grade. '' Such a list of books has already been prepared, and it is now deemed advisable to subject this list to an ex- tanded comparison with other lists for the purpose of perfecting it, and also of including in it as many addi- tional books as may be practicable. The method of grad- ing adopted in this list is that followed in the ordinary series of School Readers, and books will be classified as alternates for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Eeaders. 13 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS " The great practical importance of such a graded list must be recognized by every parent, teacher, and libra- rian who has given the matter any serious attention. It is in consideration of this fact that you are earnestly re- quested to co-operate with the committee by sending to its chairman, at your earliest convenience, any list of books, graded or otherwise, which you have found ser- viceable in this work, together with such hints or com- ments as your experience may suggest. "Corresi3ondence is cordially invited, and all contribu- tions will be promptly acknowledged.'' Something less than ninety answers were received, a disappointing result when the importance of the work and the number of circulars sent out are borne in mind. About twenty lists came to hand, some few of which were excellent, while most of the others were almost valueless for the end in view. Fortunately, the plan of the list had been completely outlined, and the largest part of the work accomplished before the circulars were sent out ; otherwise the long and tedious task of compil- ing this list could not have been finished in time for the Convention. JVleagre and disappointing as were the returns, it is but fair to state that much valuable assistance was re- ceived from some of my correspondents and their lists, and I take this oj^portunity of thanking them all again for their courtesy and trouble. The general plan attempted in this list is an experi- mental one, no previous list, to my knowledge, ha^"ing been prepared on exactly the same lines. The grouping of subjects under the seven general headings of " Arts and Sciences," "Fairy Tales and Mythology," "Fiction," " General Literature, including Poetry," " Geograj^hy, Travel, and Adventure," "History and Biography," and INTRODUCTION 13 ^'' Miscellany," while not entirely new is yet an attempt to simplify and group related subjects. For instance, biographies and historical works are grouped together, and under the heading of "Fiction" are included all those stories which in many lists go masquerading un- der the title of " Historical Fiction." Under the several subdivisions of each general heading the titles of the books are arranged alphabetically, thus insuring a ready reference to them, excepting in the case of " History and Biography,'"' where a chronological arrangement has been attempted. The most important feature of the list is the effort that has been made to apportion all the books classified to a definite grade of class-work, based on the one stand- ard of grading uniformly recognized throughout the United States. The plan attempted in some lists of grading books according to the ages of the supposed readers seems to me to be a defective one, inasmuch as it is the most common of all class-room experiences to discover that there are precocious lads of ten, and dolt- ish dullards of sixteen, with a most exasperatingly un- even variety of intellectual ups and downs between these age limits. The method of grading followed in this list is far from being a hard-and-fast one. An ex- amination of the seven and a half years' course of study provided for the New York schools will show how elastic such a scheme of grading really is. For instance, in this course of study we find the Third Header prescribed for the second term of the third year of school, and also for the first and second terms of the fourth year of school ; the Fourth Reader is prescribed for both terms of the fifth year and for the first term of the sixth year, and so on, different reading-books being required, however, for each term. The task of assigning the books to their respective 14 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS grades has been a very trying one. The great majority of the volumes graded I have personally examined and listed ; a few I have taken on the recommendation of those in whose judgment I have had confidence, while the others have been examined under my direction by methods referred to elsewhere. The work of selection has been made in a most catholic spirit ; it may be that some of my more austere critics in glancing over the books listed will pronounce it too catholic. Such a criticism in these days of varied tastes is preferable to the statement that the range of books listed has been confined within too narrow limits. My own personal preference would incline me to a much smaller Hst ; but the views of many of my correspond- ents have led me to extend the list to its present num- ber. When my list was almost completed, I discovered by correspondence with some of the publishers that cer- tain books I had listed were no longer obtainable, that is, they were out of print, and could not be easily ob- tained from the pubUshers, or in the retail stores. The accessibility of the books in such a list as I was making, struck me as a very practical consideration, and when I had completed the list I submitted it to Mr. J. N. \ying, of Charles Scribner's Sons, who very kindly went over the entire MS. and indicated for me all the books that could no longer be readily obtained through the regular channels of trade. This will explain in part why certain books are not here listed which many, no doubt, will expect to find, and also why some of the old favorites of twent^^-five years ago find no place in this Hst of to-day. And yet with all these precautions, it is not to be ex- pected that the list will prove either a perfect or a com- plete one. Five hundred books are a large number to handle personally, much less to examine critically, and it INTRODUCTION 15 would not be sui'prising to find that some errors had managed to creep in. The compiler of this list has been mindful that his first duty is to the purchaser, and therefore he has in- variably given the preference, wherever he has know^n it to be possible, to the cheapest and the best edition of the volume listed. As the list is largely intended for secular schools^ no book avowedly sectarian in the narrow sense has been admitted, although the compiler knows that some of the very best books for children — and he has two of these particular books in mind — are to be found among denominational publications. Most of the lists that I have seen are " top heavy," or abnormally developed on certain sides ; in a Hst lying before me the lower grades have not more than a dozen books of all kinds assigned them, while the High- School grades are made up of about all the general publications of certain enterprising publishers. In the following hst care has been taken to assign about the same number of volumes to each of the general divi- sions, excepting the department of " Fiction," where the manifest impossibility of such a course needs no ex- planation. Sympathizing with the needs of the younger children I have always, wherever possible, assigned to the lower or intermediate grades the larger number of books. As the Sixth Reader is not generally used throughout the schools, the comparatively few books listed under this heading can be used either in grades using the Sixth Eeader or in the advanced Fifth-Reader grades. The value of such a list as the present one can be determined only by practical experience. Certainly, among teachers who have neither the time nor the op- portunities to read and grade our juvenile literature, there is a constantly increasing demand for guide-hsts, 16 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS as many of our State Superintendents of Instruction can testify. Nor is the need less great among parents. America is a nation of readers ; but an examination of the book-stores, the circulating libraries, and the news- stands — which latter are in too many instances no longer either safe or respectable places for children to visit or purchase papers — will show that when the majority of our grown-up people read anything beyond the j^eriodi- cals and the newspapers nine-tenths of what they read is simply trash. Worthless literature is the curse of the child's intellect and the bane of the child's morals, yet it has the market ; and its widespread distribution and rapid sale are striking testimony alike to the deteriora- tion of the popular taste and to our defective scheme of elementary education, which concerns itself with teach- ing the child how to read and gives no thought to what he reads. It was the contemplation of the vast amount of desultory, undirected, and unrestrained reading of what Mr. Frederick Harrison has called " the poisonous exhalations of mere literary garbage and bad men's worst thoughts " that drove him to exclaim that he " could almost reckon the printing-i3ress as among the scourges of mankind." In these days of rapid multiplication of books it is idle on our pari, if not indeed ridiculous, to be forever saying to children : " Don't read this ! " " Don't read that ! " This constantly increasing chorus of " Don'ts " exasperates a child, and to my way of thinking has often the effect of di'iving him to the very danger we would have him avoid. It is much more pleasing to him, and as an expedient much more successful, to say, "Read this," instead of the rasping " Don't read that." Chil- dren who can read, must read ; and they are after all so ver}^ dependent and imitative that they will read nine- tenths of the books we recommend to them ; and INTRODUCTION 17 since it is not altogether in our power to destroy the glittering temptations which allure them to the reading of trash we should increase and multiply our coimsels for reading the best books. To start a child right in the matter of reading, to advise and mark out a course for him, to furnish him with carefully selected lists of books of the right kind, is to give him an education and to put him in the possession of a moral and intellectual ideal. Such a list does the present one hope to be. The importance of a child's early reading can scarcely be overestimated. In that curious and very amusing series of papers on " How I was Educated," that ran through the Forum Magazine some years ago, I find Mr. Andrew D. "White making this statement : " Much reflection on my experience has convinced me that some kindly direction, in the reading of a fairly scholarly boy, is of the utmost importance, and never more so than now, when there are so many books pressing for atten- tion." The character and tone of all the books listed in the following pages are bright and healthy ; and on the score of cleanliness and purity the severest critic will find in none of them anything to condemn. The question, how- ever, arises, whether, when we have provided wholesome and stimulating reading for children, we have accom- plished all the good that was possible to have been done ? Do all the clean and wholesome books for children that are literally flooding the market tend to the healthy de- velopment and training of the child's imagination, and to the right cultivation of his mental growth ? There are many censors who complain that the good accom- pHshed by this harmless reading matter is but a nega- tive one at best, and that with it there has come a de- struction of the virile taste that once characterized the reading of children. This, however, is too large a ques- tion to enter into here, and I must content myself with 18 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS presenting two of Mr, Eiiskin's rules, Tvhicli can be safely used as a standard by which teachers and parents can test any book they may wdsh to give to children : " The best romance," says Mr. Ruskin, " becomes dangerous if by its excitement it renders the ordinary course of life uninteresting, and increases the morbid thirst for scenes in which we shall never be called to act." And again he writes : " Whether novels or poetry or history be read, they should be chosen not for their freedom from evil, but for their possession of good." GEOEGE E. HARDY. Grammar School No. 82, Seventieth Street and First Avenue, New York City. LIST OF BOOKS Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons are prepared to sup- ply any booh included in this list. When books marked Net are to be sent by mail post- age must be added. In ordering do not fail to quote prices, stating that the books are from this list. Liberal discounts will be grunted to libraries and reading clubs on all boohs ex- cept those marked Net. All books mentioned in this list are bound in cloth, except when otherwise stated. Correspondence solicited. GENERAL LITERATUEE, INCLUDING POETRY THIRD-READER GRADES. A Child's Garden of Verses. — R. L. Stevenson. Pp. 101. Charles Scribner's Sons. Boards. 1.00. A more than ordinarily interesting volume of poems relating to child- life. The imagination and thoughts of children herein find a most poetic and exquisite setting. Open Sesame. — Vol. I. Edited by B. W. Bellamy and M. W. Goodwin. Illustrated. Pp. 316. Ginn & Co. Net, .75. Postage, .15. Good, clear type and fine illustrations, as well as a discriminating taste on the part of the editors, characterize this volume of prose and poetical extracts adapted to the tastes of children from four to ten years old. Poetry for Children. — Edited by Samuel Eliot. Illus- trated. Pp. 327. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Net, .80. Postage, .08. The former superintendent of the Boston schools ought to make a suc- cessful pui-veyor of literature for children. In this collection he presents one hundred and fifty poems for their instruction and edification. Khymes and Jingles. — Maiy Mapes Dodge. Illustrated. Pp. 255. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1.50. The editor of St. Nicholas has herein presented a large number of chil- dren's poems, some of which we have the authority of the contemporary press for saying are '' without rivals in our language." Songs and Rhymes for Little Ones. — Edited by Mary J. Morrison. Pp. 234 G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1.50. An anthology of poems for and about children, selected with much good taste and discrimination. 22 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS FOURTH-READER GRADES. A Book of Verses for Boys. — Edited by W. E. Henley. Pp. 364. Charles Scribner's Sons. ^ 1.25. One hundred and twenty-six of the most spirited poems in the English language, from Shakespeare to young Mr. Kipling, are here gathered to- gether under the title of " Lyra Heroica." Being a Boy. — Charles Dudley Warner. Illustrated. Pp. 244. Houghton, Mfflin & Co. 1.25. An amusing and sympathetic study of boy life. Good-Night Poetry. — Compiled by W. P. Garrison. Pp. 143. Ginn & Co. Net, .60. Postage, .06. An attempt at ethical teaching in a unique way. The "Good-Night" thoughts of a child— thus the author — offer — the most decisive moments for its moral nurture : hence this volume, whose selections are intended to occupy the child's thoughts prior to his entrance into the land of Nod. Child Life in Poetry. — Selected by J. G. "^Tiittier. Il- lustrated. Pp.263. Houghton,"^ Mifflin & Co. 2.00. One hundred and thirty-nine poems are here presented, prefaced with an introductory essay by Mr. Whittier. The selections are made in a sym- pathetic and catholic spirit. Child Life in Prose. — Edited bv J. G. Whittier. Illus- trated. Pp. 301. Houghton,' Mifflin & Co. 2.00. A volume of stories, fancies, and memories, having child-life as their theme. A valuable book for school reading. Children's Hour and Other Poems. — H. W. Longfellow. Pp. 74. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Litera- ture Series, No. 11.) Paper. Net, .15. Postage, .02. Twenty selections in poetry and prose from Longfellow's works, accom- panied by a biographical sketch and notes. Heroic B.\i.lads. — Edited bv D. H. Montgomery. Pp. 319. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children) Boards. Net, .40 Postage, .07. As good as any and, for the price, better than most collections of stir- ring English verse. GENERAL LITERATURE 23 Lay of the Last Minstrel. — Sir Walter Scott. Pp. 144. Ginn&Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .30. Postage, .05. Personal experience has demonstrated the fact that there is no better or more interesting alternate for the Fourth Reader than this beautiful mediseval tale of the Scottish borders. Open Sesame.— Vol. 11. Edited bv B. W. Bellamy and M. W. Goodwin. Illustrated. Pp. 376. Ginn & Co. Net, .75. Postage, .15. This volume is intended for children from ten to fourteen years old. The very best things for children in our language are to be found in its pages. Poetry for Children. — Charles and Mary Lamb. Pp. 224. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1.00. The lovers of the gentle Elia — and who are not his lovers ? — will rejoice at this collection of his poems and those of his sister " Bridget " finding its way into the hands and hearts of our children. Poor Richard's Almanac and Other Selections. — Benja- min Franklin. Pp. 88. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Literature Series, No. 21.) Paper. Net, .15. Postage, .02. Ko better presentation of utilitarian morals, of honcsty-is-the-best- policy ethics, is to be found than in these quaint, worldly-wise papers of Franklin. Sketch-Book. — Washington Irving. Pp. 119. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .25. Postage, .06. Six well-chosen selections from the larger volume constitute this little volume's claim to popular recognition. Stories from Old English Poetry. — A. S. Richardson. Illustrated. Pp. 281. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1.00. Chaucer, Spenser, Greene, Shakespeare, and Lyly are drawn on for the material of these short stories and sketches, some nineteen in all. FIFTH-READER GRADES, Ballads and Lyrics. — Edited by H. C. Lodge. Pj). 394. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1.00. A collection covering the period from the days of " Chevy Chace" to our own time, with brief biographies of the poets mentioned. 24 FIVE HUNDBED BOOKS Children's Treasury of English Song. — Edited by F. T. Palgrave. Pp. 346. Macmillau & Co. Net, .50. Postage, .08. That this volume is compiled by the scholarly editor of the " Golden Treasury " is pj'ima facie evidence that the collection is one of great merit, as indeed it is. Children's Garland. — Edited by Coventry Patmore. Pp. 344. MacmiUan & Co. Net, .50. Postage, .08. Nearly all the genuine poetry of the best poets is to be found between the covers of this book. Mr. Patmore has taken as his touchstone for this collection the fact that each of his selections has actually pleased intelligent children. Children's Stories in English Literature, — Henrietta C. AV right. Pp. 345. Charles Scribner's Sons. Two volumes. Each, 1.25. From Taliesin to Shakespeare and thence to Tennyson is a long liter- ary journey ; Miss Wright is credited with having made it an attractive and profitable one in these two volumes. Courtship of Miles Standish. — H. "W. Longfellow. Pp. 72. Houghton, ^Mifflin & Co. (Eiverside Literature Series, No. 2.) Paper. Net, .15. Postage, .02. Earl of Chatham. — Lord Macaulay. Pp. 110. Effing- ham Maynard & Co. (Enghsh Classics, Nos. 94 and 95.) ' Boards. Net, .20. Postage, .04. The second essay on Pitt the elder, with an introduction and notes by O. A. Lester. Essay ON Lord Clive. — Lord Macaulay. Pp. 86. Effing- ham Maynard & Co. (Enghsh Classics, Nos. 73 and 74.) Boards. Net, .20. Postage, .04. An abridgment of the famous essay, omitting those passages which are not especially interesting to American readers. rrhere is a new series on the rulers of India, published by Macmillan ti Co., very cheap and very good.) GENERAL LITERATURE 25 Ev.\NGELiNE. — H. W. Longfellow. Pp. 104. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Literature Series, No. 1.) Paper. Net, .15. Postage, .02. Contains a portrait and biographical sketch of the poet and an his- torical introduction to the poem. Hamlet. —William Shakespeare. Edited by Brainerd Kellogg. Pp. 234. Effingham Maynard & Co. Net, .30. Postage, .03. Edited for school use, with portrait, introduction, and expurgated text. Hiawatha. — H. W. Longfellow. Pp. 184. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Literature Series.) Boards. Net .40. Postage, .06. Julius C^sar. — "William Shakespeare. Edited by Rev. H. N. Hudson. Pp. 205. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .45. Postage, .05. This volume has been carefully edited and annotated for school use. Lady of the Lake. — Sir Walter Scott. Pp. 219. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .35. Postage, .09. In the good old days it was not unusual to find children of twelve years memorizing page after page of this unequalled picture of the Scottish Highlands. Personal experience has demonstrated that it can be most proiitably used even in a Fourth-Reader Grade. Lays of Ancient Rome. — Lord Macaulay. Pp. 107. Effingham Maynard & Co. (English Classics, Nos. 76, 77.) Boards. Net, .20. Postage, .04 Contains four of these "Lays" — "Horatius," "Battle of the Lake Regillns," "Virginia," and the "Prophecy of Capys " — with the original preface and introductions to the poems. Gray's Select Poems. — Edited bv W. J. Rolfe. Illus- trated. Pp. 143. Harper & Brothers. Net, .56. Postage, .07. 26 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS Goldsmith's Select Poems. — Edited by W. J. Kolfe. Il- lustrated. Pp. 144. Harper & Brothers. Net, .56. Postage, .07. Selections from the works of these two great writers with sketches of the poets' lives, the whole accompanied by introductions and notes, Maemion.— Sir Walter Scott. Pp. 92. Effingham May- nard & Co. (English Classics, Nos. 81 and 82.) Boards. Net, .20. Postage, .04. Another volume that can alternate easily with the Fourth and Fifth Readers, and, as the tradesmen say, "give satisfaction every time." The poem has been slightly condensed by its editor, Mr. Dalgleish. Merchant of Venice. — William Shakespeare. Edited by Rev. H. N. Hudson. Pp. 115. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .25. Postage, .05. The text edited and annotated especially for school use, with Charles Lamb's prose version of the story. Macbeth. — William Shakespeare. Edited hj Brainerd Kellogg. Pp. 158. Effingham Maynard & Co. "^ Boards. Net, .30. Postage, .04. Edited and annotated for school use. Open Sesame.— Vol. HI. Edited by B. W. Bellamy and M. W. Goodwin. lUustrated. Pp. 361. Ginn & Co. Net, .75. Postage, .15. This volume is intended for children over fourteen. The best of Eng- lish literature finds place in this beautiful book. Poems of Adelaide A. Procter. — Pp. 247. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1.00. Of the minor poets whose songs gushed from their hearts, no one appeals more successfully to children than does Miss Procter. Rab and His Friends.— John Brown, M.D. Pp. 28. Effingham Maynard & Co. (English Classics, No. 52.) Stiff paper. Net, .10. Postage, .02. A most convenient edition of Dr. Brown's masterpiece. GENERAL LITERATURE 27 Roundabout Papers. — Wm. M. Thackeray. Pp. 48. Effingham Maynard & Co. (EngHsh Classics, No. 50.) Paper. Net, .10. Postage, .02. Six selections from the above essays, including "Round the Christmas Tree " and '' De Juventute." Sir Roger de Coverley. — Joseph Addison. Pp. 51. Ef- fingham Maynard & Co. (English Classics, No. 18.) Stiff covers. Net, .10. Postage, .02. Addison's genial creation should be known and welcomed by every English-speaking child. Stories from the Greek Tragedians. — Rev. Alfred J. Chui'ch. Illustrated. Pp. 257. Dodd, Mead & Co. 1.50. The "Seven against Thebes," "Antigone," " Iphigenia in Aulis," are Bome of the tragedies here told in prose. Selections from Ruskin. — Edited by Edward Ginn. Pp. 148. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .30. Postage, .08. On various subjects, but chiefly on "Reading," with a sketch of Mr. Ruskin s life. Select Poems of Robert Browning. — Edited by W. J. Rolfe and H. E. Hersey. Pp. 200. Harper & Brothers. Net, .56. Postage, 07. A scholarly selection of the most intelligible of Browning's poems. It is well for teachers to remember that many of Browning's lyrics appeal strongly to the juvenile heart. Story of the Iliad. — Rev. A. J. Church. Illustrated. Pp. 314. Macmillan & Co. 1.00. In which the author recites the story of this grand epic in a prose style which is almost Homeric in spirit, if not in letter. Its literalness is not the least of its charms. Story of the Odyssey. — Rev. A. J. Church. Illustrated. Pp. 306. MacmiUan & Co. 1.00. Thousands of children who will never read the originals will, through these volumes, carry away with them much of the spirit of the original poems. 28 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS Sunshine in Life. — Collected by F. P. Lee. Pp. 405. G. P. Putnam's Sons 1.50. A collection of poems of the highest literary merit, intended primarily for the reading of "King's Daughters." This anthology is notable for its selection of poems of perfect form and pure sentiment. The Boy's Percy. — Edited by Sidney Lanier. Illustrated. Pp. 440. Charles Scribner's Sons. 2.00. A collection of old war ballads, romances of adventure and love, col- lated from Bishop Percy's " Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," the whole modernized sufficiently to be understood by young people. Tales feom Shakespeaee. — Charles and Mary Lamb. Pp. 310. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Childi-en.) Boards. Net, .40. Postage, .10. Perhaps the best introduction to the reading of Shakespeare— Avho by the way is not relished by children to the extent that some would have ua believe — that a child can have. Two Years before the Mast. — Kichard H. Dana, Jr. Pp. 470. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1.00. A classic description of sailor-life fifty years ago on a voyage around Cape Horn, to and from San Francisco, and round about California. The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi. — Translated by A. L. Alger. Pp. 228. Koberts Brothers. 1.00. A series of beautiful legends about the saintly Francis which were handed down by word of mouth till about five hundred years after his death, since which they have been preserved in written speech unto our own day. Tennyson for Young People. — Edited by W. J. Rolfe. Illustrated. Pp. 120. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. .75. Select poems from the Laureate's verse, edited with notes and an in- troduction especially for young people. The Blue Poetry Book. — Edited by Andrew Lang. Illus- trated. Pp. 351. Longmans, Green & Co. 2.00 A collection of poems which pleased the editor in his youth, and which are fitted to live, as Theocritus said, " on the lips of the young." Wordsworth for the Young. — C. M. St. John. Illus- trated. Pp. 153. D. Lothrop & Co. 1.25. The "Poet of Nature " is here introduced to the young through the medium of some of his most beautiful verse. GENERAL LITERATURE 29 The Young People of Shakespeaee's Drama. — Amelia E. Barr. lUustrated. Pp. 258. D. Appleton & Co. 1.50. Several of Shakespeare's plays are here adapted for children's re ^diaof, accompanied with prose introductions and interesting historical sketches. SIXTH-READER GRADES. Adventures or Telemachus. — Fenelon. Translated bj Dr. Hawkeswortb. Pp. 559. Hougbton, Mifflin & Co. 2.25. It is a matter of much regret that this classic masterpiece of the illus- trious Archbishop of Cambray is not more read among our young people than it is. In it are set forth the adventures of Telemachus in search of his father, Ulysses. Alcestis. — Eurii^ides. Englisb version, by Kev. E. Pot- ter. Pp. 45. Effingbam Maynard & Co. (Englisb Classics, No. 62.) Stiff paper. Net, .10. Postage, .02. Alcestis, the wife of Admetus, offers up her life for that of her hus- band. Hercules, who has become aware of the tragedy, defeats Death aud restores Alcestis to her delighted husband. This little volume con- tains also a portrait and a biographical sketch of Euripides, Antigone. — Sopbocles. Englisb version, by Tbomas FranckHn. Pp. 50. Effingbam Mavnard & Co. (Englisb Classics, No. 63.) Stiff cover. Net, .10. Postage, .02. With portrait and biographical sketch of Sophocles. It is altogether probable that the Athenians of the fifth century before Christ looked i;pon the character of Antigone as "the gem of the Athenian stage." Her popularity among the cultured people of modern times is almost as great as it was in the days of Sophocles. Both these booklets contain brief descriptions of the Grecian mythology, the Greek play, and the Greek theatre. Cato, a Tragedy. — Josepb Addison. Pp. 75. Effing- bam Maynard & Co. (Englisb Classics, No. 92.) Stiff paper. Net, .10. Postage, .02. Although infrequently acted in our day, yet "Cato" has been pre- sented in almost every continental language of Europe. Don Quixote. — Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Trans- lated by Jarvis. Illustrated. Pp. 377. George Kout- ledge & Sons. 1.00. A classic that the world will not willingly let die. 30 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS Development of Old English Thought. — Brotlier Azarias. Pp. 216. D. Appleton & Co. 1.25. A thoughtful and authoritative sketch " of the growth and development of Old English Thought, as expressed in Old English Literature, from the first davi^nings of history down to the Norman Conquest." Essays of Elia.— Charles Lamb. Pp. 347. Cliarles Scribner's Sons. .75. There is no more delightful mental pabulum for children of Fifth- Reader Grades than most of these charming essays. Essay on Man. — Alexander Pope. Pp. 64. Effingham Maynard & Co. (English Classics, Nos. 83, 84.) Boards. Net, .20. Postage, .04. A carefully annotated edition of this famous poem. Imitation of Christ. — Thomas a Kempis. Translated by Richard Challoner, D.D. Pp. 481. Benziger Brothers. .40. A world-classic that is usually mutilated in the various editions offered for sale in the book-stores. This edition is complete as a Kempis wrote it. It is an epitome of spiritual consolation and wisdom that is sur- passed only by the Bible itself. In Memori am.— Alfred Tennyson. Pp. 63. Effingham Maynard & Co. (English Classics, No 57.) Stiff paper. Net, .10. Postage, .02. A condensation of the longest and the greatest elegiac jjoem ever published in the English language. It is Tennyson's most characteristic and distinctive poem, written in the full maturity of his poetic and in- tellectual power. Representative Essays. — Edited by G. H. Putnam. Pp. 395. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 2.00. Twelve masterpieces from Irving, Lamb, Carlyle, Gladstone, etc. The Birds and the Knights. — Aristophanes. Translated by Erere. Pp. 281. George Routledge k Sons. (Morley's Universal Library.) .40. An interesting picture of old Greek life may be gleaned from the lines of this classic comedy. The Golden Legend. - -H . w. Longfellow. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Series.) Boards. Postage, .06. A beautiful dramatic poem for s study ir I the upper grades, GENERAL LITERATURE 31 Pp. 196. Literature Net, .40. The Holy Grail and Sir Galahad. — Alfred Tennyson. Pp. 44. Effingham Maj^nard & Co. (English Classics, No. 9L) Stiff paper. Net, .10. Postage, .02. Two exquisite poems that every cultured teacher should introduce to his or her pupils. Selections from Fenelon. — Pp. 194. Roberts Brothers. .50. A volume of meditations and pictures that will appeal to the more mature and serious-minded of our children as well as to grown people. Shakespeare's England. — William Winter. Pp. 270. Macmillan & Co. .75. A sympathetic and almost sentimental pilgrimage to the home and haunts of the Bard of Avon. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY SECOND-READER GRADES. BOOKS IN ONE SYLLABLE. History or the United States. — Helen W. Pierson. Illustrated. Pp. 190. George Koutledge & Sons. Boards. 1.00. Lives of the Presidents of the United States. — Helen W. Pierson. Illustrated. Pp. 193. George Eout- ledge & Sons. Boards. 1.00. Heroes of History. — Agnes Sadlier. Illustrated. Pp. 234. George Routledge & Sons. Boards. 1.00. Elsewhere under "Fiction" we have expressed our opinion of books in one syllable. These books are all printed in large type. FOURTH-READER GRADES. Old Testament Stories. — Pp. 100. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Literature Series, No. 46.) Paper. Net, .15. Postage, .02. Sacred history from the dispersion at Babel to the conquest of Canaan is here told in the language of the Scriptures. Xerxes. — Jacob Abbott. Blustrated. Pp. 302. Har- per & Brothers. 1.00. Alexander the Great. — Jacob Abbott. Illustrated. Pp. 278. Harper ct Brothers. 1.00. Julius C^sar.— Jacob Abbott. Illustrated. Pp. 278. Harper & Brothers. 1.00. The above biographical histories are printed and bound uniformly, and in addition to the illustrations each contairiB numerous maps. Three generations of Americans, among the most distinguished of whom may be counted President Lincoln, have testified to the general excellence of these little volumes. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 33 Plutaech's Ln^Es. — Translated by Arthur H. Clongh. Pp. 333. Ginn & Co. (Classics for Children.) Boards. Net, .40. Postage, .14 A selection of seven biographies, beginning with Themistocles and ending with Caesar, made from Clongh's larger work, with an abridgment of Clongh's Life of Plutarch. No more vivid and striking series of biog- raphies have ever been written than these of Plutarch. Alfred the Great. — Thomas Hughes. Pp. 334. Mac- millan & Co. 1.00. An interesting historical sketch of England in the ninth century. Historic Boys. — E. S. Brooks. Illustrated. Pp. 259. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 2.00. As its name indicates, this volume occupies itself with the doings of some twelve historic youths, ranging from Marcus, the boy magistrate of Rome, who flourished circa A. D. 137, to Van Rensselaer, the boy patroon, who lived in 1777. Historic Girls. — E. S. Brooks. Illustrated. Pp. 233. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 2.00. The story of the lives of one dozen girls, ranging from Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, about 26o A. P., to Ma-ta-oka — so the author '' hyphenates " her— the higii-cheek-boned daughter of Pow-ha-tan. Peter Stuyvesant.— John S. C. Abbott. Pp. 362. Dodd, Mead & Co. 1.25. Paul Jones.— John S. C. Abbott. Pp. 359. Dodd, Mead & Co. 1.25. Daniel Boone.— John S. C. Abbott. Pp. 331. Dodd, Mead & Co. 1.25. These three volumes are written in a clear and picturesque style, and illustrate certain periods of the development of America not frequently dwelt on by other writers. Life of Benjamin Franklin. — An Autobiography, with Portrait. Pp. 311. Ginn & Co. (Classics for ChH- dren.) Boards. Net, .40. Postage, .14. The life of a distinguished American patriot, and a shrewd, kindly man withal, told in his own words, and continued by another's hand to the time of his death. 34 FIVE HUNDRED BOOKS EuLES OF Conduct. — George Washington. Pp. 106. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Riverside Literatiu-e Series, No. 24.) Paper. Net, .15. Postage, .02. A diar}^ of rules, journeys, adventures, and farewell addresses. The recent tracing of these famous rules to the writings of a distinguished Jesuit has given them to-day a " contemporaneous human interest." Boston Town. — Horace E. Scudder. Illustrated. Pp. 243. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1.50. The story of the history and traditions of Boston, told simply for chil- dren by the accomplished editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Tkue Stories feom New England Histoey. — Nathaniel Hawthorne. Pp. 154. Houghton, Mifflin