THE WRITINGS OF JOHN FISKE.
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
_LARGE-PAPER EDITION. Limited to 250 copies. 4 vols. 8vo, $16.00, net._
This work forms the beginning of Mr. Fiske"s history of America. It is, perhaps, the most important single portion yet completed by him, and gives the results of vast research.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
The reader may turn to these volumes with full a.s.surance of faith for a fresh rehearsal of the old facts, which no time can stale, and for new views of those old facts, according to the larger framework of ideas in which they can now be set by the master of a captivating style and an expert in historical philosophy.--_New York Evening Post_.
The freshness and vivid interest of the narrative and the comprehensive generalization which springs naturally from the author"s plan of a large work on American history, of which the two volumes now published are no more than a third or a fourth part, make it a book of new and permanent interest.--_Springfield Republican_.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES
If this admirable volume (Fiske"s "Civil Government") can be fairly taught to our rising generation, the future, we believe, will show that Mr. Fiske has never done more useful work than in its preparation.--_The Congregationalist_ (Boston).
THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 1783-1789.
The author combines in an unusual degree the impartiality of the trained scholar with the fervor of the interested narrator.... The volume should be in every library in the land.--_The Congregationalist_ (Boston).
An admirable book.... Mr. Fiske has a great talent for making history interesting to the general reader.--_New York Times_.
THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND;
It deals with the early colonial history of New England in the entertaining and vivid style which has marked all of Mr. Fiske"s writings on American history, and it is distinguished, like them, by its aggressive patriotism and its justice to all parties in controversy....
The whole book is novel and fresh in treatment, philosophical and wise, and will not be laid down till one has read the last page, and remains impatient for what is still to come.--_Boston Post_.
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
John Fiske"s "War of Independence" is a miracle.... A book brilliant and effective beyond measure.... It is a statement that every child can comprehend, but that only a man of consummate genius could have written.--Mrs. CAROLINE H. DALL, _in the Springfield Republican_.
The story of the Revolution, as Mr. Fiske tells it, is one of surpa.s.sing interest. His treatment is a marvel of clearness and comprehensiveness; discarding non-essential details, he selects with a fine historic instinct the main currents of history, traces them with the utmost precision, and tells the whole story in a masterly fashion. His little volume will be a text-book for older quite as much as for young readers.--_Christian Union_ (New York).
OUTLINES OF COSMIC PHILOSOPHY
"You must allow me to thank you for the very great interest with which I have at last slowly read the whole of your work.... I never in my life read so lucid an expositor (and therefore thinker) as you are; and I think that I understand nearly the whole, though perhaps less clearly about cosmic theism and causation than other parts. It is hopeless to attempt out of so much to specify what has interested me most, and probably you would not care to hear. It pleased me to find that here and there I had arrived, from my own crude thoughts, at some of the same conclusions with you, though I could seldom or never have given my reasons for such conclusions."--CHARLES DARWIN.
This work of Mr. Fiske"s may be not unfairly designated the most important contribution yet made by America to philosophical literature.--_The Academy_ (London).
DARWINISM, AND OTHER ESSAYS.
If ever there was a spirit thoroughly invigorated by the "joy of right understanding" it is that of the author of these pieces. Even the reader catches something of his intellectual buoyancy, and is thus carried almost lightly through discussions which would be hard and dry in the hands of a less animated writer.... No less confident and serene than his acceptance of the utmost logical results of recent scientific discovery is Mr. Fiske"s a.s.surance that the foundations of spiritual truths, so called, cannot possibly be shaken thereby.--_The Atlantic Monthly_ (Boston).
THE UNSEEN WORLD,
To each study the writer seems to have brought, besides an excellent quality of discriminating judgment, full and fresh special knowledge, that enables him to supply much information on the subject, whatever it may be, that is not to be found in the volume he is noticing. To the knowledge, a.n.a.lytical power, and faculty of clear statement, that appear in all these papers, Mr. Fiske adds a just independence of thought that conciliates respectful consideration of his views, even when they are most at variance with the commonly accepted ones.--_Boston Advertiser_.
EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST.
Among our thoughtful essayists there are none more brilliant than Mr.
John Fiske. His pure style suits his clear thought. He does not write unless he has something to say; and when he does write he shows not only that he has thoroughly acquainted himself with the subject but that he has to a rare degree the art of so ma.s.sing his matter as to bring out the true value of the leading points in artistic relief. It is this perspective which makes his work such agreeable reading even on abstruse subjects, and has enabled him to play the same part in popularizing Spencer in this country that Littre performed for Comte in France, and Dumont for Bentham in England. The same qualities appear to good advantage in his new volume, which contains his later essays on his favorite subject of evolution.... They are well worth reperusal.--_The Nation_ (New York).
MYTHS AND MYTH-MAKERS.
Mr. Fiske has given us a book which is at once sensible and attractive, on a subject about which much is written that is crotchety or tedious.--W.R.S. RALSTON, in _Athenaeum_ (London).
A perusal of this thorough work cannot be too strongly recommended to all who are interested in comparative mythology.--_Revue Critique_ (Paris).
THE DESTINY OF MAN,
Mr. Fiske has given us in his "Destiny of Man" a most attractive condensation of his views as expressed in his various other works. One is charmed by the directness and clearness of his style, his simple and pure English, and his evident knowledge of his subject.... Of one thing we may be sure, that none are leading us more surely or rapidly to the full truth than men like the author of this little book, who reverently study the works of G.o.d for the lessons which he would teach his children.--_Christian Union_ (New York).