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THE NEW STYLE OF SKIRT.-The great dress-maker of ¿ The Soldier's Orphans. By Mrs. Ann S. Stephens. 1 vol., 18 Paris, our readers should known, is a man. To have their vo. Philada: T. B. Peterson & Brothers.-Our subscribers, dresses made by Mr. Worth is the ambition of everybody for 1866, are already familiar with this novel. It was one in the French capital who can afford it. Worth has just of the most popular we ever published in our Magazine; introduced an entirely new kind of skirt, one very long at and has been reprinted by T. B. Peterson & Brothers in the back, and very short in front. Skirts, which are made consequence of the great demand for it. A fiction may, with a petticoat to match, are only scalloped or vandyked sometimes, be popular without any particular merit ; but in the front; at the back the edge of the skirt falls in a we really think " The Soldier's Orphans" one of the best straight line over the petticoat. There is endless variety stories Mrs. Stephens has written ; and hence we are glad in the form of what are called dents in France, and for to notice the success of the work, because we think that which expression there is, we believe, no equivalent in success to be eminently deserved. The publishers havo English which expresses the meaning in a single word. issued the volume in a very neat style. By dents are understood the scallops, vandykes, and the Fairy Tales of All Nations. By Edward Laboulaye. three sides of a square, (styled battlements, ) into which it Translated by Mary L. Booth. With Engravings. 1 vol., has become the fashion to cut out the edges of all skirts 12 mo. New York: Harper & Brothers.-The author of and petticoats. There are, likewise, the large lozenge- this book, a member of the Institute of France, is also a shaped dents, the small and very pointed dents calledfolies, capital writer of fairy tales for children. We rank him, the round dents, more or less scalloped or hollowed out, in this latter respect, next to Hans Christian Andersen. (and when these last named are used, the trimming is The present collection was submitted to Mr. Laboulaye usually carried up to the center of the skirt ;) and, lastly, for his approval before its publication, and he declared there are the dents grecques. All the taste and fancy which himself highly satisfied with it. " The composition of the a dress-maker may possess are expended, now-a-days, on volume," he says, in a preface he wrote for it, " is excellent, the cut and trimmings of the skirt : but little attention is I shall take great pleasure in seeing myself in an apparently paid to the bodice, in the style of which there and American dress." The book is handsomely printed. is no change; in fact, many of the fantastic toilets, which Out of Town. By Barry Gray. 1 vol., crown 8 ro. New are in great demand at the present moment, are made without bodices to match, a chemise-russe, or a Garibaldi, York: Hurd & Houghton.-A very beautiful volume, with replacing the legitimate bodice. If a short dress is ordered, illustrations by Gignoux, Gifford, Beard, and others. The in either gros grain or velvet, then a low, square bodice, author is one of our most popular cotemporary writers. with braces to match the skirt, is made, and this is worn His "Matrimonial Infelicities," and his " My Married Life either over a high white bodice, or over a silk bodice of a at Hillside," were both capital books; and the present one totally different color. The most charming effects have is not a whit behind either of them. Indeed, in most rebeen obtained, in this very fantastic style of ladies' cos- spects, we prefer " Out Of Town." The humor of Barry Gray, and his love of nature, ought to make him, even withtume, by a skillful mixture of poplin and cashmere. out other qualities, a successful author. OUR CLUB PRICES.-As our club prices have been misunThe Poems of Alfred B. Street. 2 vols., 12 mo. New York: derstood by some subscribers, we recapitulate them here, Hurd & Houghton.-As a descriptive poet Mr. Street ranks viz : five copies for $8.00 ; eight copies for $12.00 ; or four- deservedly high. He is not a lyrist; he is not dramatic ; teen copies for $20.00 : with an extra copy, or other pre- he belongs to the school neither of Burns nor Shakspeare. mium, to the person getting up the club. In other words, But what Thomson was to English poetry, that, in a great whoever will send us five subscribers at $1.60 each ; or degree, Street is to American. His walk is not the highest; eight at $1.50 ; or fourteen at $1.43, shall be entitled to an but in that walk he has few superiors. We are glad, thereextra copy, or other premium, for his, or her trouble. This fore, to see so elegant an edition of his poems. The volumes last club of fourteen for $20.00 is the cheapest we have. are small octavos- the very size for handy reading; and These prices, compared with those of other magazines, are are beautifully printed on fine, pressed paper. astonishingly low. In fact, our full price to single subSt. Elmo. By Augusta J. Erans. 1 vol., 12 mo. New scribers, viz : $2.00, is cheaper than the lowest club price York: Carleton.-The author of this fiction is already known ofmany magazines not so good as this. to the public. Her " Beulah" had a very large sale before " THE PARLOR STAGE."-Under this title, Dick & Fitz- the war. Her " Macaria" was printed at Richmond, during gerald, of New York, have published a collection of cha- the war, and was subsequently, we believe, reprinted in rades and proverbs, intended for the drawing-room, or New York. We have not yet had time to peruse "St. saloon. S. Annie Frost, one of our own contributors, is Elmo," and therefore can only announce it; but it is said the author of the work. The charades require no expen- to be superior, in a literary point of view, to either of her former novels. sive apparatus of scenery or properties for their performRavel Story Books. 3 vols., 4 to. Philada: J. B. Lippinance. cott & Co.-We have here, in three thin quartos, illustrated A GOOD SEWING-MACHINE has come to be indispensable with colored engravings, the stories of " The White in every family. We hear, on all hands, the " Florence" Knight," " Mazuline," and " Jocko," as played by the called such. A lady writes to us, " It is the best thing Ravels. The stories are told in verse. The books are capital ones for children, and ought to have a large sale. .made in the sewing-machine line." Guy Hamilton. A Story of our Civil War. 1 rol., 8 vo. wwwwwww New York: The American News Company.-The authoress of this novel, Miss J. II. Mathews, is, we believe, a new REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS. candidate for literary favor. We bespeak for her a favorEssays on Art. By Francis Turner Palgrave. 1 vol., able hearing. 12 mo. New York: Hurd & Houghton.-These are capital Outpost. By J. G. Austin. 1 vol. 12 mo. Boston : J. E. essays. Mr. Palgrave believes that art has fixed principles, to the knowledge of which any person, not wanting in Tillon & Co.- A very readable story, by the author of natural taste, may attain. He is, undoubtedly, right. A " Dora Darling." We recommend it to the young folk. Lizzie Lorton, of Greyrigg. By E. Lynn Linton. 1 vol., careful study of this book, and an honest application of its principles, would do much to elevate art criticism, 8 ro. New York: Harper & Brothers.—A reprint of a late which, both here and in England, is at a very low ebb. English novel. The story is one ofmore than usual power.