AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS

In One thick Volume of 1408 pages, crown 8vo, cloth extra, 7s. bd. THE READER'S HANDBOOK

OF ALLUSIONS, REFERENCES, PLOTS, AND STORIES.
WITH THREE APPENDICES.

BY REV. E. C. BREWER, LL.D.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

"Dr. Brewer has produced [in his READER'S HANDBOOK] a wonderfully comprehensive dictionary of references to matters which are always cropping up in conversation and in everyday life, and writers generally will have reason to feel grateful to the author for a most handy volume, supplementing in a hundred ways their own knowledge or ignorance, as the case may be. It contains the allusions, references, plots, stories, and characters which occur in the classical poems, plays, novels, romances, etc., not only of our own country, but of most nations, ancient and modern."-Times.

"THE READER'S HANDBOOK, by Dr. Brewer, is very carefully done, and cannot fail to be of great value to all readers, and still more to those who have to write."-Scotsman.

"THE READER'S HANDBOOK, by Dr. Brewer, is a welcome addition to our really handy reference-books. The appendices contain the dates of celebrated and well-known dramas, operas, poems, and novels, with the names of their authors."-Spectator.

"A very timely, taking, and useful book of reference."-Vanity Fair.

"THE READER'S HANDBOOK meets a want which every one, even of the thoroughly educated class, must often have felt. It would require a colossal memory indeed to dispense with Dr. Brewer's volume. The author of The Guide to Science' has gained a reputation for thoroughness. and a glance at THE READER'S HANDBOOK will convince any one that he has skimmed off the cream of many hundreds of volumes. Such a mass of the rare and recondite was surely never before got together in a single volume."-Graphic.

"Dr. Brewer's industry appears to be inexhaustible. He is nullis fessus laboribus, as Johnson wrote of Cave. There seems to be scarcely anything concerning which one may not 'overhaul' his READER'S HANDBOOK with profit. It is a most laborious compilation, successfully performed. Notes and Queries.

"A very handy companion to every reader, having a distinct value of no ordinary kind.”—Rock. "THE READER'S HANDBOOK, by Dr. Brewer, contains an immense amount of useful information, the outcome of vast and miscellaneous reading, put together in a concise and convenient form. To speakers and writers the book cannot fail to be of service."-Echo.

"To all engaged in literary toil we can cordially recommend this painstaking compilation as a most useful work to keep on their desks. Dr. Brewer has given to the world many useful books, but the literary section of it has not yet had to thank him for such a valuable gift as his READER'S HANDBOOK."-Globe.

"The best of all the books of the kind we have ever seen. Here we have brief but clear descriptions of plots of novels, plays, and poems, ancient and modern, and the characters moving amid these scenes, with life conveyed from the hands of the great masters of the art. It must have been the labour of many years."-Morning Advertiser.

"THE READER'S HANDBOOK, by Dr. Brewer, gives, in a succinct form, the result of an immense variety of study, so arranged as to be instantly available whenever wanted."-Daily

Chronicle.

"Will be of great value to authors, public speakers, and the general reader.”—Literary World. "To Mr. Sala's list of books for young journalists I would make one or two additions, notably THE READER'S HANDBOOK, by the Rev. Dr. Brewer, a book of great research and vast use."-The World.

"THE READER'S HANDBOOK, by Dr. Brewer, may be recommended to general acceptance, since there are few who will not save time and trouble by reference to its pages."—The Athenæum.

it

"We have tested THE READER'S HANDBOOK severely by looking out for various out-of-the-way personages and incidents, and have rarely found Dr. Brewer at a loss for accurate information. must be confessed that he has performed his difficult task admirably well."—The Academy.

"Invaluable as a book of reference."-The Oracle.

LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY, W.

WITH DATES

BEING THE THREE APPENDICES TO

"THE READER'S HANDBOOK"

66

be noger

BY THE REV.

E. COBHAM BREWER, LL.D.

TRINITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE

AUTHOR OF 'GUIDE TO SCIENCE" (THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTIETH THOUSAND)
HISTORY OF FRANCE" (TENTH EDITION); " HISTORY OF GERMANY'
'THEOLOGY IN SCIENCE" (EIGHTH EDITION); "READER'S HANDBOOK" (FOURTH EDITION)
'DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE" (SIXTEENTH EDITION)

" 66

A DICTIONARY OF MIRACLES; RULES FOR ENGLISH SPELLING;" ETC., ETC.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

LONDON AND BECCLES.

AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN BIBLIOGRAPHY, OR AUTHORS BY PEN, PENCIL, AND CHISEL.