Text: H. C. Watson (?), Literary, Broadway Journal (New York), October 18, 1845, vol. 2, no. 15, p. ??

[page 379, column 1, continued:]

NEW WORKS LATELY RECEIVED.

Vathek. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author. No. 1 of the New Series of the Mirror Library. Published by Morris, Willis & Fuller. pp. 50. Price 25 cents.

We are very glad to see a new series of the Mirror Library, and to weleome Vathek in No. 1. The “biographical sketch of the author” however, is a misnomer; the gossiping recollections of Mr. Redding by no means form a biography, and we would be glad to see some of the productions of Beckford substituted in their place; the Memoirs of the Old Painters for instance. The biography of Beckford is a good subject for a philosophical or a fanciful writer, and it is a matter of surprise that none of his countrymen have yet made an attempt on his “life.” Mr. Redtling's recollections are very agreeable reading for hot weather, but he was too much impressed by the externals which surrounded Vathek to be able to form a cool judgment of his character. The book is neatly got up, of a size to correspond with the first series of the Mirror Library.