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LITERARY NEWS.

-Frequent inquiries have reached us as to a

s work called "The Broad Stone of Honor," which has been mentioned once or twice in this paper. The full title of the book is, "The Broad Stone of Honour; or, Rules for the Gentlemen of England." The first edition, in one volume, was issued in 1822, and is known as the First Protestant Edition. The second, issued in 1823, is known as the Second and Enlarged Protestant Edition. In the years 1828-48 a third edition appeared under this title: "The Broad Stone of Honour; or, The True Sense and Practice of Chivalry. In Four Parts: Godefridus, Tancredus, Morus, and Orlandus." This is known as the First Catholic Edition, and is comprised in four volumes. A second Catholic edition was issued a little later, in three volumes. The author, Kenelm Henry Digby, wrote the book at the age of twenty-one years; he afterwards became a convert to Roman Catholicism, and found it necessary to make radical changes in the book. It is a study of the age of chivalry, rich in learning, and animated by a singularly devout and lofty spirit. It is a remarkable fact that the principal biographical dictionaries, Rose's and Thomas's, do not even mention the author's name; in Allibone's Dictionary, there is not a word of personal description, only a few lines of critical opinions upon the book.

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BERNARD QUARITCH'S RECENT PURCHASES.

8597 DIGBY (Kenelm Henry) The Broad Stone of Honour, or the True Sense and Practice of Chivalry, in three parts: Godefridus, Tancredus, and Morus, (Catholic edition), 3 vols. small 8vo. gilt cloth, uncut, 368

1844-46-48

Sold separately are :-TANCREDUS-MORUS, each 10s-Preparing for press a reprint of the ORLANDUS,” uniform with the above. Only 250 copies will be printed. The author's greatest work; originally written at twenty-one years of age, reprinted with changes and additions one year later; and finally given to the world in its complete form between 1829 and 1848, after he had embraced the ancient faith of Europe, and thereby found himself obliged to make considerable alterations in the text. The product of a highly sensitive and graceful genius, richly stored with learning, it stands in the same relation to the History of Chivalry, as works of Mr. Ruskin to the History of Art. No ancient romancer, nor yet Mr. Tennyson in our own time, has ever painted Knighthood in such beautiful shape and delicate colouring; and the enthusiasm which breathes throughout the work, reveals the nature of the author himself as identical with the type that he portrays. In spite of the vast knowledge of olden times and media:val literature, which is visible in every passage of his book, there is no mouldiness of antiquity, no dust or rust, on the mirror of his intellect; his style is simple and unaffected; and to any mind, in which high and noble thoughts can ever harbour. the reading of the Broad Stone of Honour will be as delightful and full of charm as the Earlier Romances of Chivalry. 8598 DIGBY (Sir Kenelm H.) MORES CATHOLICI, or Ages of Faith, 11 vols. 12mo. bd. VERY SCARCE, £7. 10s

1831-42

“That delightful writer, who has collected like a truly pious pilgrim, the fragrance of ancient times; whose works I should certainly recommend to the English Aristocracy, and Irish, too."--Archbishop of Trans.