How to Form a Library, 2nd ed

Memoirs of Commines.

L'Abrégé de l'Histoire de France, par Bossuet.

The Revolutions of Italy, by Denina.

The History of Spain, by Ascargorta.

History of Charles V., by Robertson.

History of England, by Hume.

Europe in the Middle Ages, by Hallam.

Ecclesiastical History, by Fleury.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Gibbon.

Manual of Ancient History, by Heeren.

Tacitus (Complete), the Translation of Dureau de la Malle.

Herodotus and Thucydides, in 1 vol.

Plutarch's Lives, translation of Dacier.

Cæsar's Commentaries, and Arrian's Alexander, in 1 vol.

Voyage of Anacharsis, by Barthelemy.

History of Art among the Ancients, by Winckelmann.

Treatise on Painting, by Leonardo da Vinci (in Italian).

Memoirs on Music, by Grétry.

IV. Synthesis. (Thirty Volumes.)

Aristotle's Politics and Ethics, in 1 vol.

The Bible.

The Koran.

The City of God, by St. Augustine.

The Confessions of St. Augustine, followed by St. Bernard on the Love of God.

The Imitation of Jesus Christ, the original, and the translation into verse, by Corneille.

The Catechism of Montpellier, preceded by the Exposition of Catholic Doctrine, by Bossuet, and followed by St. Augustine's Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount.

L'Histoire des Variations Protestantes, par Bossuet.

Discourse on Method, by Descartes, preceded by the Novum Organum of Bacon, and followed by the Interpretation of Nature, by Diderot.

Selected Thoughts of Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Pascal, and Vauvenargues, followed by Conseils d'une Mère, by Madame de Lambert, and Considérations sur les Mœurs, par Duclos.

Discourse on Universal History, by Bossuet, followed by the Esquisse Historique, by Condorcet.

Treatise on the Pope, by De Maistre, preceded by the Politique Sacrée, by Bousset.

Hume's Philosophical Essays, preceded by the two Dissertations on the Deaf, and the Blind, by Diderot, and followed by Adam Smith's Essay on the History of Astronomy.

Theory of the Beautiful, by Barthez, preceded by the Essay on the Beautiful, by Diderot.

Les Rapports du Physique et du Moral de l'Homme, par Cabanis.

Treatise on the Functions of the Brain, by Gall, preceded by Letters on Animals, by Georges Leroy.

Le Traité sur l'Irritation et la Folie, par Broussais (first edition).

The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte (condensed by Miss Martineau), his Positive Politics, his Positivist Catechism, and his Subjective Synthesis.

Paris, 3 Dante 66 (Tuesday, 18th July, 1854).

    Auguste Comte,
    (10 rue Monsieur le Prince).

This is an interesting list as having been compiled with special thought by a celebrated man, but in many of its details it is little likely to find acceptance with the general reader. It seems rather odd to an Englishman to find the Princess of Cleves included, while Shakespeare is only to be found in a selection of his plays. It is not Comte's fault that science has not stood still since 1854, and that his selection of books is rather out of date.

A list of a hundred good novels is likely to be useful to many, but few lists would be open to more criticism, for readers differ more as to what constitutes a good novel than upon any other branch of literature. The following list was contributed by Mr. F.B. Perkins to the Library Journal (vol. i. p. 166). The titles are very short, and they are put down in no particular order. Most of us will miss some favourite book, but two people, Mr. Perkins says, have agreed on this list within four or five items. He says he was tempted to add a few alternatives, as Amadis de Gaul, Morte d'Arthur, Paul and Virginia, Frankenstein, Rasselas, etc.

Don Quixote.

Gil Blas.

Pilgrim's Progress.

Tale of a Tub.

Gulliver.

Vicar of Wakefield.

Robinson Crusoe.

Arabian Nights.