Nineteen Thousand Sets Sold in England.

Manawatu Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 7276, 28 August 1901, Page 2

Nineteen Thousand Sets Sold in England.

There have for some years been various collections of selected literature on the ina'ktst, not a few of them excellent so far as they go ; but nothing on so large a scale has till now been attempted as that which the London Standard put on tho market la&fc year— the " Library of Famous Literature " — and of which over 19,000 sets were sold in a few months.

Tho work, which is in twenty handsome volumes, is stated on the title page to consist of " Selections from the World's Great Writers,- A.ncient, Medieval, and Modern, with Biographical and Explanatory Notes, and Critical Essays by many Eminent Writers." The general editor is Dr Richard Garnett, 0.8., of British Museum fame, and seldom has an oditor had the assistance of so able a staff of colleagues as con~ tributes. The "Library" has been prepared by the most competent hands, by men whose whole life work has been a development of that keen judgment and critical insight necessary for the production of such a " Library." Every walk of literature has been covered, and the result is a series ot volumes reaching in the aggregate to no fewer tbaa 10,000 pages of large clear type The contents are so varied as is the literature itself, and its scope is truly coterminus with that of the world of letters. Tho coloured plates running through every volume form one of the most notable features of the " Library." They have been gatherad from rare sources, and comprise some of the most exquisite specimens of the antique art ot book illumination which flourished centuries ago, when books were made by hand, and tho transcription of a single volume often reprasonted the labour of years. What sucb a work really is and means may be more readily imagined than described.

Those who put in their applications at once will receive their books promptly, as a supply is carried in Wellington temporarily. The offer will remain open but a short time. Particulars as to prices and terms will ba found in another column.