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"A foremost place in the boys' fiction of the season must be given to _Grettir the Outlaw_."--_Globe._
"Is the boys' book of its year. That is, of course, as much as to say that it will do for men grown as well as juniors. It is told in simple, straightforward English, as all stories should be, and it has a freshness, a freedom, a sense of sun and wind and the open air which make it irresistible."--_Scots Observer._
BY PROFESSOR CHURCH.
_TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO:_
Or, The Adventures of a Roman Boy. By Professor A.
J. CHURCH. With 12 full-page Ill.u.s.trations by ADRIEN MARIE. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $150.
Prof. Church has in this story sought to revivify that most interesting period, the last days of the Roman Republic. The hero, Lucius Marius, is a young Roman who has a very chequered career, being now a captive in the hands of Spartacus, again an officer on board a vessel detailed for the suppression of the pirates, and anon a captive once more, on a pirate s.h.i.+p. He escapes to Tarsus, is taken prisoner in the war with Mithradates, and detained by the latter in Pontus for a number of years.
"Adventures well worth the telling. The book is extremely entertaining as well as useful: there is a wonderful freshness in the Roman scenes and characters."--_Times._
"Entertaining in the highest degree from beginning to end, and full of adventure which is all the livelier for its close connection with history."--_Spectator._
BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
"Mr. Fenn is in the front rank of writers of stories for boys."--_Liverpool Mercury._
_d.i.c.k O' THE FENS:_
A Romance of the Great East Swamp. By G. MANVILLE FENN. With 12 full-page Ill.u.s.trations by FRANK DADD. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $150.
A tale of boy life in the old Lincolns.h.i.+re Fens, when the first attempts were made to reclaim them and turn the reedy swamps, and wild-fowl and fish haunted pools into dry land. d.i.c.k o' the Fens and Tom o' Grimsey are the sons of a squire and a farmer living on the edge of one of the vast wastes, and their adventures are of unusual interest. Sketches of shooting and fis.h.i.+ng experiences are introduced in a manner which should stimulate the faculty of observation and give a healthy love for country life; while the record of the fen-men's stealthy resistance to the great draining scheme is full of the keenest interest. The ambushes and shots in the mist and dark, the incendiary fires, the bursting of the sea-wall, and the long-baffled attempts to trace the lurking foe, are described with Mr. Manville Fenn's wonted skill in the management of mystery.
"We should say that in _d.i.c.k o' the Fens_ Mr.
Manville Fenn has very nearly attained perfection.
Life in the Fen country in the old ante-drainage days is admirably reproduced. . . . Altogether we have not of late come across a historical fiction, whether intended for boys or for men, which deserves to be so heartily and unreservedly praised as regards plot, incidents, and spirit as _d.i.c.k o' the Fens_. It is its author's masterpiece as yet."--_Spectator._
_BROWNSMITH'S BOY._
By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. With 12 full-page Ill.u.s.trations by GORDON BROWNE, in black and tint.
Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $150.
The career of "Brownsmith's Boy" embraces the home adventures of an orphan, who, having formed the acquaintance of an eccentric old gardener, accepts his offer of a home and finds that there is plenty of romance in a garden, and much excitement even in a journey now and then to town. In a half-savage lad he finds a friend who shows his love and fidelity princ.i.p.ally by pretending to be an enemy. In "Brownsmith's Boy"
there is abundance of excitement and trouble within four walls.
"_Brownsmith's Boy_ excels all the numerous 'juvenile' books that the present season has yet produced."--_Academy._
"Mr. Fenn's books are among the best, if not altogether the best, of the stories for boys. Mr.
Fenn is at his best in _Brownsmith's Boy_. The story is a thoroughly manly and healthy one."--_Pictorial World._
"_Brownsmith's Boy_ must rank among the few undeniably good boys' books. He will be a very dull boy indeed who lays it down without wis.h.i.+ng that it had gone on for at least 100 pages more."--_North British Mail._
BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
"Mr. Manville Fenn may be regarded as the successor in boyhood's affections of Captain Mayne Reid."--_Academy._
_QUICKSILVER:_
Or a Boy with no Skid to his Wheel. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. With 10 full-page Ill.u.s.trations by FRANK DADD. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $150.
Dr. Grayson has a theory that any boy, if rightly trained, can be made into a gentleman and a great man; and in order to confute a friendly objector decides to select from the workhouse a boy to experiment with.
He chooses a boy with a bad reputation but with excellent instincts, and adopts him, the story narrating the adventures of the mercurial lad who thus finds himself suddenly lifted several degrees in the social scale.
The idea is novel and handled with Mr. Manville Fenn's accustomed cleverness, the restless boyish nature, with its inevitable tendency to get into sc.r.a.pes, being sympathetically and often humorously drawn.
"_Quicksilver_ is little short of an inspiration.
In it that prince of storywriters for boys--George Manville Fenn--has surpa.s.sed himself. It is an ideal book for a boy's library."--_Practical Teacher._
"Mr. Fenn possesses the true secret of producing real and serviceable boys' books. Every word he writes is informed with full knowledge and, even more important, quick sympathy with all the phases of youthful life. In _Quicksilver_ he displays these qualities in a high degree."--_Dundee Advertiser._
_DEVON BOYS:_
A Tale of the North Sh.o.r.e. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. With 12 full-page Ill.u.s.trations by GORDON BROWNE. Crown 8vo, cloth elegant, olivine edges, $150.
The adventures of Sep Duncan and his school friends take place in the early part of the Georgian era, during the wars between England and France. The scene is laid on the picturesque rocky coast of North Devon, where the three lads pa.s.s through many perils both afloat and ash.o.r.e.
Fishermen, smugglers, naval officers, and a stern old country surgeon play their parts in the story, which is one of honest adventure with the mastering of difficulties in a wholesome manly way, mingled with sufficient excitement to satisfy the most exacting reader. The discovery of the British silver mine and its working up and defence take up a large portion of the story.
"We do not know that Mr. Fenn has ever reached a higher level than he has in _Devon Boys_. It must be put in the very front rank of Christmas books."--_Spectator._
"An admirable story, as remarkable for the individuality of its young heroes--the cynical Bob Chowne being especially good--as for the excellent descriptions of coast scenery and life in North Devon. It is one of the best books we have seen this season."--_Athenaeum._
BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
