Text: C. F. Briggs (?), Literary, Broadway Journal (New York), February 22, 1845, vol. 1, no. 8, p. ??

[page 125, column 2, continued:]

NEW ILLUSTRATED WORKS.

THE DEVOTIONAL FAMILY Bums, by the Rev. Alexander Fletcher, A. M., author of the Guide to Family Devotion, Scripture History, &c., containing the Old and New Testaments, with explanatory notes, practical observations, coptius marginal references, &c., every part embellished a ith a highly finished engraving, on steel, including views of the principal places Ines-tinned in Scripture, from drawings taken on the spot. New York, R. Martin & Co., 26 John street. Part 1st. Price 25 cents.

WE believe this to be the cheapest and most elegant edition of the Bible which has been published in this country. The paper and letter. press are both of the highest order, and the embellishments, though copied from pictures which are almost universally known, are executed in a style of art to make them acceptable, even to those who already possess copies of them from other sources. The views to be given in future numbers, from drawings by Catherwood and Bartlett, will constitute the chief pictorial value of this splendid edition of the Bible. We have always regarded any efforts of the imagination, whether executed by the pen or pencil, as sadly out of place on the page of Holy Writ, and we should, therefore, look with as little favor upon the Moses, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in this initial number, as upon the devotional reflections appended to each page, by the Reverend editor. The majority of Bible readers think differently, we believe, and to them the reflections and the embellishments of this edition, will be alike acceptable, while the real illustrations, the actual views of Bible-places, will be acceptable to all. Our remarks are intended to apply solely to the principle of Scriptural illustrations, and not to the merits of those referred to, which are of the highest excellence per se, and quite beyond the reach of criticism at this day.

We cannot claim any particular national credit for the excellence of this work, for the greater part of it is of foreign manufacture. It is not, however, a whit the less valuable on that account. The paper is manufactured in this country, expressly for the work, and several of the forth-coming designs will be from the burin of Smillie, who stands at the very head of landscape engravers of the present day. Altogether, it is a work of great beauty, and we trust that the enterprising publishers will find a profitable sale for it, as we have little doubt of their doing.

The Apocrypha, we understand, will be published in a separate part, but uniform with the others, so that subscribers may take it, or not, at their discretion.