Boccaccio's Decameron; or, Ten Days'

Entertainment. Now fully translated into English, with Introduction by THOMAS WRIGHT, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. With Portrait after RAPHAEL, and STOTHARD'S Ten Copper-plates. Crown 8vo, cloth, extra gilt, 7s. 6d.

Booksellers, A History of. Full Accounts

of the Great Publishing Houses and their Founders, both in London and the Provinces, the History of their Rise and Progress, and of their greatest Works. By HARRY CURWEN. Crown 8vo, over 500 pages, with frontispiece and numerous Portraits and Illustrations, cloth extra, 7.5. 6.

"In these days, ten ordinary Histories of Kings and Courtiers were well exchanged against the tenth part of one good History of Booksellers."-THOMAS CARLYLE.

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Book of Hall-Marks;

or, Manual of

Reference for the Goldsmith and Silversmith. By ALFRED LUT. SCHAUNIG, Manager of the Liverpool Assay Office. Crown 8vo, with 46 Plates of the Hall-Marks of the different Assay Towns of the United Kingdom, as now stamped on Plate and Jewellery, 7s. 6d. *This work gives practical methods for testing the quality of gold and silver. It was compiled by the author for his own use, and as a Supplement to "Chaffers." 74 & 75, PICCADILLY, LONDON, W.

C

Boudoir Ballads: Vers de Société. By J. ASHBY STERRY. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, and gilt edges, [In preparation. Bret Harte's Complete Works, in Prose

65.

and Poetry. Now First Collected. With Introductory Essay by J. M. BELLEW, Portrait of the Author, and 50 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 650 pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

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COLMAN'S HUMOROUS WORKS.

Broad Grins. My Nightgown and Slippers,

and other Humorous Works, Prose and Poetical, of GEORGE COLMAN the Younger. Now first collected, with Life and Anecdotes of the Author, by GEORGE B. BUCKSTONE. With Frontispiece by HOGARTH. Crown 8vo, 500 pp., 7s. 6d.

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Conquest of the Sea: A History of

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MISS BRADDON'S NEW NOVEL.

Lost for Love: A Novel. By M. E..

BRADDON, Author of "Lady Audley's Secret," &c. Now ready, in 3 vols., crown 8vo, at all Libraries, and at the Booksellers.

"One of the best novels lately produced. In several important respects, it appears to us, Miss Braddon's recent works deserve the highest commendation."Illustrated London News.

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"Lost for Love' must be placed high among Miss Braddon's novels. It has a quiet power, which makes it attractive in a high degree."-Scotsman.

"Unaffected, simple, and easily written, it will disappoint Miss Braddon's early admirers, and please that which we hope is a wider public."—Athenæum.

Byron's (Lord) Letters and Journals, with Notices of his Life. By THOMAS MOore. A Reprint of the Original Edition, newly revised, complete in a thick volume of 1060 pp., with Twelve full-page Plates. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, 7s. 6d. "We have read this book with the greatest pleasure. Considered merely as a composition, it deserves to be classed among the best specimens of English prose which our age has produced. It contains, indeed, no single passage equal to two or three which we could select from the Life of Sheridan; but, as a whole, it is immeasurably superior to that work. The style is agreeable, clear, and manly, and, when it rises into eloquence, rises without effort or ostentation. Nor is the matter inferior to the manner. It would be difficult to name a book which exhibits more kindness, fairness, and modesty. It has evidently been written, not for the purpose of showing-what, however, it often shows-how well its author can write, but for the purpose of vindicating, as far as truth will permit, the memory of a celebrated man who can no longer vindicate himself. Mr. Moore never thrusts himself between Lord Byron and the public. With the strongest temptations to egotism, he has said no more about himself than the subject absolutely required. A great part, indeed the greater part, of these volumes consists of extracts from the Letters and Journals of Lord Byron; and it is difficult to speak too highly of the skill which has been shown in the selection and arrangement. It is impossible, on a general survey,t o deny that the task has been executed with great judgment and great humanity When we consider the life which Lord Byron had led, his petulance, his irritability, and his communicativeness, we cannot but admire the dexterity with which Mr. Moore has contrived to exhibit so much of the character and opinions of his friend, with so little pain to the feelings of the living."- LORD MACAULAY, in the Edinburgh Review.

Carols of Cockayne: Vers de Société

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Celebrated

Claimants, Ancient

and

Modern. Being the Histories of all the most celebrated Pretenders and Claimants from PERKIN WARBECK to ARTHUR Orton. Fcap. 8vo, 350 pages, illustrated boards, price 2s.

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The Law and the Lady: A Novel. By WILKIE COLLINS, Author of "The Woman in White." 3 vols., crown 8vo, 31s. 6d. [Shortly. Christmas Carols and Ballads. Selected and Edited by JOSHUA SYLVESTER. A New Edition, beautifully printed and bound in cloth, extra gilt, gilt edges, 3s. 6d.

Cruikshank's Comic Almanack. Complete in Two SERIES: the FIRST from 1835 to 1843; the SECOND from 1844 to 1853. A Gathering of the BEST HUMOUR of THACKERAY, HOOD, AYHEW, ALBERT SMITH, A'BECKETT, ROBERT BROUGH, &c. With 2,000 Woodcuts and Steel Engravings by CRUIKSHANK, HINE, LANDELLS, &c. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, two very thick volumes, 15s.; or, separately, 7s. 6d. per volume.

The "Comic Almanacks" of George Cruikshank have long been regarded by admirers of this inimitable artist as among his finest, most characteristic productions. Extending over a period of nineteen years, from 1835 to 1853, inclusive, they embrace the best period of his artistic career, and show the varied excellences of his marvellous power. The late Mr. Tilt, of Fleet Street, first conceived the idea of the "Comic Almanack," and at various times there were engaged upon it such writers as THACKERAY, ALBERT SMITH, the Brothers MAYHEW, the late ROBERT BROUGH, GILBERT A'BECKETT, and, it has been asserted, Toм HOOD the elder. THACKERAY's stories of "Stubbs' Calendar; or, The Fatal Boots," which subsequently appeared as "Stubbs' Diary;" and "Barber Cox; or, The Cutting of his Comb," formed the leading attractions in the numbers for 1839 and 1840.

THE BEST GUIDE TO HERALDRY.

Cussans' Handbook of Heraldry; with Instructions for Tracing Pedigrees and Deciphering Ancient MSS.; also, Rules for the Appointment of Liveries, &c., &c. By JOHN E. CUSSANS.- Illus trated with 360 Plates and Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt and emblazoned, 7s. 6d.

This volume, beautifully printed on toned paper, contains not only the ordinary matter to be found in the best books on the science of Armory, but seve ral other subjects hitherto unnoticed. Amongst these may be mentioned:-1. DIRECTIONS FOR TRACING PEDIGREES. 2. DECIPHERING ANCIENT MSS., ILLUSTRATED BY ALPHABETS AND FAC SIMILES. 3. THE APPOINTMENT OF LIVERIES. 4. CONTINENTAL AND AMERICAN HERALDRY, &C.

NEW AND IMPORTANT WORK.

Cyclopædia of Costume; of Costume; or, A Dic

tionary of Dress, Regal, Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Military, from the Earliest Period in England to the reign of George the Third. Including Notices of Contemporaneous Fashions on the Continent, and preceded by a General History of the Costume of the Principal Countries of Europe. By J. R. PLANCHÉ, F.S.A., Somerset Herald. This work will be published in Twenty-four Monthly Parts, quarto, at Five Shillings, profusely illustrated by Plates and Wood Engravings; with each Part will also be issued a splendid Coloured Plate, from an original Painting or Illumination, of Royal and Noble Personages, and National Costume, both foreign and domestic. The First Part is just ready.

IN

N collecting materials for a History of Costume of more importance than the little handbook which has met with so inuch favour as an elementary work, I was not only made aware of my own deficiencies, but surprised to find how much more vague are the explanations, and contradictory the statements, of our best authorities, than they appeared to me, when, in the plenitude of my ignorance, I rushed upon almost untrodden ground, and felt bewildered by the mass of unsifted evidence and unhesitating assertion which met my eyes at every turn.

During the forty years which have elapsed since the publication of the first edition of my "History of British Costume" in the "Library of Entertaining Knowledge," archæological investigation has received such an impetus by the establishment of metropolitan and provincial peripatetic antiquarian societies, that a flood of light has been poured upon us, by which we are enabled to re-examine our opinions and discover reasons to doubt, if we cannot find facts to authenticate.

That the former greatly preponderate is a grievous acknowledgment to make after assiduously devoting the leisure of half my life to the pursuit of information on this, to me, most fascinating subject. It is some consolation, however, to feel that where I cannot instruct, I shall certainly not mislead, and that the reader will find, under each head, all that is known to, or suggested by, the most competent writers I am acquainted with, either here or on the Continent.

That this work appears in a glossarial form arises from the desire of many artists, who have expressed to me the difficulty they constantly meet with in their endeavours to ascertain the complete form of a garment, or the exact mode of fastening a piece of armour, or buckling of a belt, from their study of a sepulchral effigy or a figure in an illumination; the attitude of the personages represented, or the disposition of other portions of their attire, effectually preventing the requisite examination. The books supplying any such information are very few, and the best confined to armour or ecclesiastical costume. The only English publication of the kind required, that I am aware of, is the late Mr. Fairholt's "Costume in England" (8vo, London, 1846), the last two hundred pages of which contain a glossary, the most valuable portion whereof are the quotations from old plays, medieval romances, and satirical ballads, containing allusions to various articles of attire in fashion at the time of their composition. Twenty-eight years have expired since that book appeared, and it has been thought that a more comprehensive work on the subject than has yet issued from the English press, combining the pith of the information of many costly foreign publications, and, in its illustrations, keeping in view the special requirement of the artist, to which I have alluded, would be, in these days of educational progress and critical inquiry, a welcome addition to the library of an English gentleman J. R. PLANCHÉ.

74 & 75, PICCADILLY, LONDON, W.