Text: Edgar Allan Poe (?), Literary, Broadway Journal (New York), December 13, 1845, vol. 2, no. 23, p. ???, col. ?

[page 355, column 1, continued:]

The Artist, The Merchant, and The Statesman. By C. E. LESTER. Vol. 2. New York: Paine & Burgess.

This, the concluding volume of Mr. Lester's entertainingbook, has less unity of purpose, but greater variety of incident and anecdote, than the first. It is pervaded by a spirit of nationality which cannot be too highly commended — although the author errs in supposing that the objects for which he contends have not been urged upon the attention of the country in various quarters, with great zeal and uniformity, and for a long period of time. It is true, however, that the fruits of this exertion are only now making themselves apparent.

Mr. Lester has a heart for good and great things, as he proves by the warmth with which he addresses himself to the consideration of such men as Michael Angelo, Galileo, and Benjamin West. The paper on the Quaker painter is the most characteristic in the volume. That on British Berkeley, an early friend of America and a true prophet of her greatness, is equally marked and excellent.

This second volume is embellished by a well-executed steel engraving, the head of Americus Vespuccius. There are also wood-cuts of Galileo and Tycho Brahe.