How to Form a Library Part 14

The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte (condensed by Miss Martineau), his Positive Politics, his Positivist Catechism, and his Subjective Synthesis.

Paris, 3 Dante 66 (Tuesday, 18th July, 1854).

AUGUSTE COMTE, (10 rue Monsieur le Prince).

This is an interesting list as having been compiled with special thought by a celebrated man, but in many of its details it is little likely to find acceptance with the general reader. It seems rather odd to an Englishman to find the _Princess of Cleves_ included, while Shakespeare is only to be found in a selection of his plays. It is not Comte's fault that science has not stood still since 1854, and that his selection of books is rather out of date.

A list of a hundred good novels is likely to be useful to many, but few lists would be open to more criticism, for readers differ more as to what const.i.tutes a good novel than upon any other branch of literature. The following list was contributed by Mr. F.B. Perkins to the _Library Journal_ (vol. i. p. 166). The t.i.tles are very short, and they are put down in no particular order. Most of us will miss some favourite book, but two people, Mr. Perkins says, have agreed on this list within four or five items. He says he was tempted to add a few alternatives, as Amadis de Gaul, Morte d'Arthur, Paul and Virginia, Frankenstein, Ra.s.selas, etc.

Don Quixote.

Gil Blas.

Pilgrim's Progress.

Tale of a Tub.

Gulliver.

Vicar of Wakefield.

Robinson Crusoe.

Arabian Nights.

Decameron.

Wilhelm Meister.

Vathek.

Corinne.

Minister's Wooing.

Undine.

Sintram.

Thisdolf.

Peter Schlemihl.

Sense and Sensibility.

Pride and Prejudice.

Anastasius.

Amber Witch.

Mary Powell.

Household of Sir T. More.

Cruise of the Midge.

Guy Mannering.

Antiquary.

Bride of Lammermoor.

Legend of Montrose.

Rob Roy.

Woodstock.

Ivanhoe.

Talisman.

Fortunes of Nigel.

Old Mortality.

Quentin Durward.

Heart of Midlothian.

Kenilworth.

Fair Maid of Perth.

Vanity Fair.

Pendennis.

Newcomes.

Esmond.

Adam Bede.

Mill on the Floss.

Romola.

Middlemarch.

Pickwick.

Chuzzlewit.

Nickleby.

Copperfield.

Tale of Two Cities.

Dombey.

Oliver Twist.

Tom Cringle's Log.

j.a.phet in Search of a Father.

Peter Simple.

Mids.h.i.+pman Easy.

Scarlet Letter.

House with the Seven Gables.

Wandering Jew.

Mysteries of Paris.

Humphry Clinker.

Eugenie Grandet.

Knickerbocker's New York.

Charles O'Malley.

Harry Lorrequer.

Handy Andy.

Elsie Venner.

Challenge of Barletta.

Betrothed (Manzoni's).

Jane Eyre.

Counterparts.

Charles Auchester.

Tom Brown's Schooldays.

Tom Brown at Oxford.

Lady Lee's Widowhood.

Horseshoe Robinson.

Pilot.

Spy.

Last of the Mohicans.

My Novel.

On the Heights.

Bleak House.

Tom Jones.

Three Guardsmen.

Monte Christo.

Les Miserables.

Notre Dame.

Consuelo.