F. MARION CRAWFORD'S NOVELS.
Reading edition
12MO. BOUND IN CLOTH.
WITH THE IMMORTALS.
Price, $2.00.
Altogether an admirable piece of art worked in the spirit of a thorough artist. Every reader of cultivated tastes will find it a book prolific in entertainment of the most refined description, and to all such we commend it heartily.—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.
GREIFENSTEIN.
Price, $1.50.
"Greifenstein" is a remarkable novel, and while it illustrates once more the author's unusual versatility, it also shows that he has not been tempted into careless writing by the vogue of his earlier books.... There is nothing weak or small or frivolous in the story. The author deals with tremendous passions working at the height of their energy. His characters are stern, rugged, determined men and women, governed by powerful prejudices and iron conventions, types of a military people, in whom the sense of duty has been cultivated until it dominates all other motives, and in whom the principle of "noblesse oblige" is so far as the aristocratic class is concerned, the fundamental rule of conduct. What such people may be capable of is startlingly shown.—New York Tribune.
SANT' ILARIO.
A SEQUEL TO "SARACINESCA."
Price, $1.50.
The author shows steady and constant improvement in his art. "Sant' Ilario" is a continuation of the chronicles of the Saracinesca family.... A singularly powerful and beautiful story.... Admirably developed, with a naturalness beyond praise.... It must rank with "Greifenstein" as the best work the author has produced. It fulfils every requirement of artistic fiction. It brings out what is most impressive in human action, without owing any of its effectiveness to sensationalism or artifice. It is natural, fluent in evolution, accordant with experience graphic in description, penetrating in analysis, and absorbing in interest.—New York Tribune.
A CIGARETTE-MAKER'S ROMANCE.
Price, $1.25.
It is a touching romance, filled with scenes of great dramatic power.—Boston Commercial Bulletin.
It is full of life and movement, and is one of the best of Mr. Crawford's books.—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.
The interest is unflagging throughout. Never has Mr. Crawford done more brilliant realistic work than here. But his realism is only the case and cover for those intense feelings which, placed under no matter what humble conditions, produce the most dramatic and the most tragic situations.... This is a secret of genius, to take the most coarse and common material, the meanest surroundings, the most sordid material prospects, and out of the vehement passions which sometimes dominate all human beings to build up with these poor elements scenes and passages, the dramatic and emotional power of which at once enforce attention and awaken the profoundest interest. —New York Tribune.
MR. ISAACS.
A Tale of Modern India. Price, $1.50.
If considered only as a semi-love story it is exceptionally fascinating, but when judged as a literary effort it is truly great.—Home Journal.
Under an unpretentious title we have here the most brilliant novel, or rather romance, that has been given to the world for a very long time.—The American.
No story of human experience that we have met with since "John Inglesant" has such an effect of transporting the reader into regions differing from his own. "Mr. Isaacs" is the best novel that has ever laid its scenes in our Indian dominions.—The Daily News.
A work of unusual ability.... It fully deserves the notice it is sure to attract.—The Athenæum.
A story of remarkable freshness and promise, displaying exceptional gifts of imagination.—The Academy.
DR. CLAUDIUS.
A True Story. Price, $1.50.
An interesting and attractive story, and in some directions a positive advance upon "Mr. Isaacs."—New York Tribune.
"Dr. Claudius" is surprisingly good, coming after a story of so much merit as "Mr. Isaacs." The hero is a magnificent specimen of humanity, and sympathetic readers will be fascinated by his chivalrous wooing of the beautiful American countess.—Boston Traveller.
ZOROASTER.
Price, $1.50.
The novel opens with a magnificent description of the march of the Babylonian court to Belshazzar's feast, with the sudden and awful ending of the latter by the marvelous writing on the wall which Daniel is called to interpret. From that point the story moves on in a series of grand and dramatic scenes and incidents which will not fail to hold the reader fascinated and spell-bound to the end.—Christian at Work.
The field of Mr. Crawford's imagination appears to be unbounded.... In "Zoroaster" Mr. Crawford's winged fancy ventures a daring flight.... Yet "Zoroaster" is a novel rather than a drama. It is a drama in the force of its situations and in the poetry and dignity of its language, but its men and women are not men and women of a play. By the naturalness of their conversation and behavior they seem to live and lay hold of our human sympathy more than the same characters on a stage could possibly do.—The Times.
A TALE OF A LONELY PARISH.
Price, $1.50.
It is a pleasure to have anything so perfect of its kind as this brief and vivid story.... It is doubly a success, being full of human sympathy, as well as thoroughly artistic in its nice balancing of the unusual with the commonplace, the clever juxtaposition of innocence and guilt, comedy and tragedy, simplicity and intrigue.—Critic.
SARACINESCA.
Price, $1.50.
His highest achievement, as yet, in the realms of fiction. The work has two distinct merits, either of which would serve to make it great,—that of telling a perfect story in a perfect way, and of giving a graphic picture of Roman society in the last days of the Pope's temporal power.... The story is exquisitely told.—Boston Traveller.
One of the most engrossing novels we have ever read.—Boston Times.
MARZIO'S CRUCIFIX.
Price, $1.50.
Now this is brought out in this little story with the firmness of touch, a power and skill which belong to the first rank in art.... We take the liberty of saying that this work belongs to the highest department of character painting in words.—Churchman.
"Marzio's Crucifix" is another of those tales of modern Rome which show the author so much at his ease. A subtle compound of artistic feeling, avarice, malice, and criminal frenzy is this carver of silver chalices and crucifixes.—The Times.
THE WITCH OF PRAGUE.
A FANTASTIC TALE.
With numerous Illustrations by W. J. Hennessy.
Price, $1.00.
"The Witch of Prague" is so remarkable a book as to be certain of as wide a popularity as any of its predecessors. The keenest interest for most readers will lie in its demonstration of the latest revelations of hypnotic science.... But "The Witch of Prague" is not merely a striking exposition of the far-reaching possibilities of a new science; it is a romance of singular daring and power.—London Academy.
KHALED:
A TALE OF ARABIA.
Price, $1.25.
The story is powerful; it is pervaded by fine poetic feeling, is picturesque to a remarkable degree, and the local color is extraordinary in its force and truth. Of the many admirable contributions to the literature of fiction that Mr. Crawford has made, this book is, on the whole, the most artistic in construction and finish, and the thorough artist is apparent at every stage of the story. His plot is intensely dramatic, but he has never permitted it to sway him to the extent of slighting any of the more minute details under the impulse of merely telling what he has to tell. He holds his theme firmly in hand and controls instead of being controlled by it. The characters have been drawn with the greatest care and stand out in bold relief and fine contrast. The atmosphere of the East is in every page, in every utterance.—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.
Throughout the fascinating story runs the subtlest analysis, suggested rather than elaborately worked out, of human passion and motive, the building out and development of the character of the woman who becomes the hero's wife and whose love he finally wins being an especially acute and highly-finished example of the story-teller's art.... That it is beautifully written and holds the interest of the reader, fanciful as it all is, to the very end, none who know the depth and artistic finish of Mr. Crawford's work need be told.—The Chicago Times.