we speak as a casual to find GRISI and

defects, was to have been expected: but go and see the laborious eight-years' effort of a child of genius (following in the foot-steps of great and daring minds before him) to represent the sublimest scene that mortal has never beheld, nor can see and live.' - - MR. S. S. SOUTHWORTH, known also, and perhaps more familiarly known, to the public, as 'JOHN SMITH, JR., of Arkansas,' will commence the publication, nearly simultaneously with the issue of our present number, of a weekly journal, to be called 'The Porcupine.' Its quills will not be without point, nor will they not be pointed' at political and other abuses which have obtained, and do still obtain, in our national and inferior councils and governments. Mr. SOUTHWORTH's is a most industrious pen, and his experience is wide and varied. If 'practice makes perfect,' he will have at least one quality of that much desiderated public functionary, a perfect editor. His new journal has our best wishes for that success which we are confident it will deserve. It was an era in the Musical Drama in New-York, to find among ussummer-visitor to the recherché 'platforms' of the town MARIO the first singers in Europe-in our midst; giving forth in full volume the 'most sweet voices' that have attracted the admiration of royalty, nobility, and commonalty of the Old World. And here they are, to secure the admiration of a republic that combines all these classes in one unanimous whole. It is Genius which does this: GENIUS, which is of no country, of no language, of no creed. If our metropolitan or transient readers should desire to appreciate what we would convey, let them hear GRISI and MARIO. We have nothing more to say,' nor will they. One has but to hear them- not to talk of them. FIELD, of the St. Louis Theatre, a good writer, actor, and manager, is about to bring out at his flourishing house a new play, by the author of 'Ingomar,' entitled ' Griselda.' Judging from an extended notice of the play in The Republican' daily journal of St. Louis, we may predict for it undoubted success. The language is spirited, and the action stirring and dramatic. Mr. FIELD is to produce it with an excellent cast and ample accessories. 'P.'s 'Essay on the Spiritual' is not at all improved by his emendations: contrariwise, they even darken by words what before was not 'argument.' He reminds us of the Scotch commoner who asked SHERIDAN how he got rid of his Irish brogue, as he wished to avoid his own Scotch accent: 'My dear fellow,' said SHERIDAN, 'do n't attempt any such thing. The House listens to you now because they don't understand you; but if you become intelligible they will be able to take your measure!' WHO is the anonymous author of 'Leather Stocking and Silk, a Story of the Valley of Virginia?' It is one of the cleverest novels of the season, and is meeting with most deserved We shall have more to say of it hereafter. The Brothers HARPER are the publishers.

success.

-

THE PUBLISHER would respectfully refer the reader to the Advertisement of the Knickerbocker Gallery,' on the second page of the cover of the present number. The work is to be sold entirely by subscription; and he would request its friends to send in their names without delay. It will contain forty-eight fine engravings on steel, and be enriched with the original contributions of the most eminent writers in America. It is intended.that in its execution it shall not be surpassed by any similar work ever issued from the American press.

"This neat volume of 269 pages is the most entertaining book for 'Western life' and human nature in general, that we have read for many a day. The names are fictitious; but it is plain to see that the characters are drawn from real life by one who has seen the men and women he describes with so much piquancy, humor, and spirit. Mr. Riley has a keen eye for the ludicrous, the quaint, and the characteristic, and reproduces them on paper with remarkable fidelity and force. We hope he will write many more books as pleasant and wholesome as 'Puddleford and its People.'"-Burlington Sentinel.

"This is a story of Life in the West. Life where small bonnets and patent leathers are never seen; where humanity oozes out in the manner which comes easiest, and men and women pray to a better deity than Fashion. Its characters are most queer customers; many of them much too queer to justify the supposition of an archetype; and yet the author so besprinkles them with nature, that whether they lived or not one must believe them real. The man who fathers this book has humor in him, and never opened his eyes to dyspepsia or jaundice. We advise those who are in the habit of wrinkling their foreheads, to take a trip to Puddleford through this easy and admirable medium. We promise them a smooth brow when they arrive at their journey's end."-Buffalo Morn. Express. "It will create many a smile in its readers. There is no malicious scandal in it, but a quiet, genial satire that expends itself sometimes upon the expectations and disappointments of fastidious Eastern people visiting the West. It has a number of characteristic illustrations."-Hartford (Conn.) Courant.

"Puddleford is a township of the Far West, though its precise locality has not yet been ascertained. It would, doubtless, be difficult to find its name on the most improved map of the United States. Still its veritable history is recorded in this volume. Its leading people have sat for their likenesses, which are here given to the life. They may be recognized at once. Now and then the frisky pen of the writer runs into caricature, but usually, his portraits are faithful as daguerreotypes."-N. Y.

Tribune.

"The author's characters are skillfully depicted, not in tediously elaborated essays, but by a few happily chosen words which place all their salient points within the scope of a single glance, and in less than no time you know them like a book. So with his pictures of scenery, they are not produced by the slow process of painting, but are daguerreotyped as by a flash of sunlight."-Commercial Republican, Toledo, Ohio.

"This is an original work of great humor and 'showing off' some of the characteristics of certain classes of the American people, with the greatest possible success."-Troy Budget, N. Y.

"Puddleford and its people' is one of the most amusing books of the season. Not satirical after the manner of the Potiphar Papers,' or the 'Fudge Family,' it is yet full of racy humor, which will make a 'hit' where it was designed, while at the same time the reader's face is kept in a broad smile from the caricatures and fancy depicted on every page."-Morning Register, Sandusky, Ohio.

"Puddleford, now first introduced to the public in this volume, seems to be a town in the extreme far West, which contains some noted characters; noted hereafter if not hitherto, by the place they occupy in the volume before us. If the auther will not apologize, we shall not for him, but shall insist in holding him responsible to the letter for all ribs that may burst by force of laughter over his history of Puddleford. Those who will venture with the above caution, to learn of Puddleford and its people, can do so by getting the book."-Daily Union, Rochester, N. Y.

"Each character is an original, quaint, and not in the least tame. They are people who have 'come up' like wild burdock and elbowed their way to the distinction which this author has conferred upon them. 'Squire Longbow is a type of a class of home-made Justices of the Peace, such as we read of. lke Turtle is a lawyer of the most natural growth, and those who have never known ‘Jim Buzzard, who wouldn't allow the doctors to get any of their stuff down his throat, and if he couldn't stand it as long the agur, would give in,' should at once be introduced to that stubborn personage. Sonora Brown, Aunt Graves, and the Citizenesses' of Puddleford sat for their pictures to this artist, and he has drawn them to the life."-Daily Democrat, Rochester, N. Y.

"Whoever has lived in the West, has seen Puddleford; its Tavern, 'Squire Longbow, Ike Turtle, Bates, and other characters, which appear in the ludicrous scenes enacted in Puddleford; and which are narrated by the author with a witticism equal to Dickens, the well-known English author. It is a work which will be read and appreciated by every one."-Western Chronicle, Centreville, Wis.

"This is a book of life in the backwoods; sometimes very natural in its descriptions of incident and character, and sometimes exaggerated, yet always interesting. The work follows the village of Puddleford, and all its interests and concerns through its infancy, and through the marvellous changes introduced by the passage of the railroad through the town."-Republican, Springfield, Mass.

"This is a humorous description of a Western village with broad caricatures of its principal inhabitants, in Church and State. The minister, deacon, chorister and choir, justice of the peace, shopkeepers, etc., etc. We prescribe the preparation as an infallible cure for ennui and the blues."Boston Traveller.

“A bookful of fun, and in interest as sustained as so frolicksome a book can be. There was no need of an apology, the writer in his preface need not have apologized for having none to make for writing his book. Puddleford could not do without a scribe, and it would be wicked not to print its records."-Daily Times, N. Y.

"A capital mirth-provoking volume which we commend to all hypochondriacs and lugubrious people, who fret about the times or the weather, instead of shaking their sides and giving their cheeks a holiday. The author has a rich vein of fun in his composition, and his satire is sometimes as subtle as Swift's, sometimes as broad as 'broad Scotch.' Buy the book, and take it with you during the dog days to Nahant, or the notch,' and if you can get through its kaleidoscopic views of Puddleford and its politics, its social wars, educational efforts, trainings, philanthropy, and camp-meetings without cracking a rib or two, you are made of sterner stuff than flesh and blood."-Yankee Blade, Boston.

Art and Literary Association,

Organized for the encouragement and general diffusion of Literature and the Fine Arts, on a new and original plan.

This new Association is designed to encourage and popularize the Fine Arts, and disseminate pure and wholesome literature throughout the country. For this purpose a Gallery of Art is to be permanently founded, which will each year contain a choice and valuable collection of Paintings, Statuary, &c..

FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION.

The Association will also publish and issue to its members each year, the best literature of the day. consisting of the most popular Monthly Magazines, Reviews, and Pictorial Library Works.

The Officers of the Association for 1854, have the pleasure of announcing that the subscription books for the current year are now open, and the first annual distribution of Works of Art, contained in the above Gallery, will take place in January next, on which occasion there will be distributed among the members of the Association, free of charge, several hundred superb Works of Art, among which will be the original and world-renowned statue of HIRAM POWERS,

purchased at an expense of over five thousand dollars, also a large and choice collection of magnificent Oil Paintings. consisting of the best productions of celebrated American and Foreign Artists, among which are the works of SONTAG, MEEKER, READ, KENSETT, GRISWOLD, CLOUGH, FRANKENSTEIN, and other eminent American Artists, which, with the constant additions made through an Agent now in Europe, will render this by far the most complete Gallery of Art in the United States. The Literature published for disseminating among the members of the Association for 1854, will consist of the following Monthly Magazines, Reviews, &c., viz:-HARPER'S MAGAZINE, PUTNAM, MAGAZINE OF ART, BLACKWOOD. GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK, GRAHAM'S, and

KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE;

Together with the following Quarterly Reviews, reprinted in New York, viz:-WESTMINSTER, LONDON QUARTERLY, NORTH BRITISH, and EDINBURGH REVIEW.

The Associaton is open to all. Any person may become a member on the payment of $3, which entitles him to membership and any one of the above Magazines or Reviews, for one year, and also to a free ticket in the annual distribution of Statuary, Paintings, &c. All persons who take five memberships are entitled to any five of the Magazines, one year and six tickets in the distribution.

The wide-spread fame of the above Periodicals renders it needless to say anything in their praise; as it is conceded that, as literary organs, they are far in advance of any others in the world. The Publishers' prices of each of which is invariably three dollars a year; thus by becoming a member of this Association, it secures to all the two-fold benefit of three dollars' worth of sterling literature, and a ticket in the distribution of the most magnificent collection of choice Works of Art in the country, equal to that of the old American Art Union.

The Gallery of the Association is located at Sandusky City, where SUPERB GRanite Buildings have been erected for it, and in whose spacious Saloon the whole collection of Paintings and Statuary will be exhibited. The nett proceeds derived from the sale of memberships, will be devoted expressly to the purchase of Works of Art for the ensuing year.

ALL PERSONS desiring to become members, can have the Magazine commenced with any month they choose, and rely on its being mailed to them promptly on the first of every month, direct from the NewYork aud Philadelphia Publishers. BACK NUMBERS, furnished if desired.

The increasing interest felt in the advancement of the Fine Arts warrants the belief that this Association will, WITH THE POWERFUL AID OF LITERATURE, BECOME AT ONCE UNIVERSALLY POPULAR, as it not only cultivates and encourages the Fine Arts, but disseminates sterling literature throughout the land, thereby adapting itself to the present wants and tastes of the American people, enabling both rich and poor to make their homes pleasant and attractive, by the aid of Sculpture, Paintings, and the best reading matter which the wide range of American and Foreign Literature affords. A few of the peculiar advantages derived by joining this Association, are

1st. All persons get the full value of their subscription at the start, in the shape of sterling Magazine Literature.

2d. They are at the same time contributing toward purchasing choice Works of Art, which are in turn to be distributed among themselves free of charge;

3d. Each member is also indirectly encouraging and patronizing the Arts and Artists of the coun try, disbursing many thousands of dollars through its agency.

4th. Those who purchase Magazines at Bookstores, will observe that by joining this Association, they receive the Magazine, and Free a Ticket in the annual distribution, all at the same price THEY NOW PAY for the Magazine alone.

Books are open to receive names at the Eastern office. New-York, or Western office, Sandusky. Persons remitting funds for membership, should mark letters, Registered.", and state the Month with which they wish their Magazines to commence, and also their Post-office address in full, on the receipt of which a certificate of membership, together with the Magazine desired, will be forwarded to any part of the country.

Offices of the Association, at the Knickerbocker Magazine office, 318 Broadway, New-York, and at N5. 166 Water street, Sandusky, Ohio. Address, (at either office,)

C. L. DERBY, Actuary C. A. & L. A.,

OF THE

KNICKERBOCKER GALLERY,

A Miscellany of Literature and Art.

IN ONE SPLENdid 8vo vol., COMPRISING ORIGINAL LITERARY PAPERS BY THE MOST EMINENT LIVING AMERICAN AUTHORS, WITH

FORTY-SEVEN PORTRAITS ON STEEL,

FROM ORIGINAL

PICTURES.

1

A COMPLIMENTARY TRIBUTE TO LOUIS GAYLORD CLARK, ESQ., FOR TWENTY YEARS EDITOR OF THE KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE.

CONSIDERING that LOUIS GAYLORD CLARK has been, for the unexampled period of twenty years' Editor of a leading Literary Magazine in this country; that his labors meanwhile have been con stant, arduous, and ill-requited; that they have been eminently creditable to his abilities and char acter, and of great service to the Country in developing its intellectual resources, several of his friends met together last December to devise some suitable plan for tendering to him a substantial COMPLIMENTARY BENEFIT, in all respects appropriate for the Literary Class to offer, and for him to receive. The result was a project for publishing such a work as is above described; and upon submitting the plan to WASHINGTON IRVING, FITZ-GREENE HALLECK, HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, and other Literary men of the United States, it received their cordial approval; so that the Committee having the matter in hand are able to announce for the ensuing season a LITERARY SOUVENIR, beyond all parallel in the eminence of its writers, and in mechanical execution equal at least to any similar production ever issued from the American press. The collection of Portraits of American writers will be far more complete than any hitherto attempted.

THE KNICKERBOCKER GALLERY

will be published, under the direction of the Committee, by MR. SAMUEL HUESTON, 348 Broadway, New-York, and will be ready for delivery to subscribers in November next. Subscribers will receive the first impressions of the plates, and the series will possess a value much beyond the cost of the volume. The entire profits of the work will be invested for MR. CLARK.

JOHN W. FRANCIS,
FREDERICK W. SHELTON,

RUFUS W. GRISWOLD,
RICHARD B. KIMBALL,

GEORGE P. MORRIS.

THE Publisher has the pleasure of announcing as contributors to this Literary Testimonial, WASHINGTON IRVING, WILLIVM CULLEN BRYANT, FITZ-GREENE HALLECK, NATHANIEL P. WILLIS, REV. GEORGE W. BETHUNE, D.D., HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, DONALD G. MITCHELL, HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, JOHN G. SAXE, GEORGE LUNT, REV. FREDERICK W. SHELTON, RICHARD B. KIMBALL, GEORGE P. MORRIS, HENRY J. BRENT, DR. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, J. M. LEGARE, WILLIAM PITT PALMER, CHARLES F. BRIGGS. HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT, Rev. SAMUEL OSGOOD, EPES SARGent, Alfred B. STREET, GEORGE H. BOKER, GEORGE H. CLARK, R. H. STODARD, J. L. MCCONNELL, THEODORE S. FAY, J. RUSSELL LOWELL, CHARLES G. LELAND, DR. THOMAS WARD, JOHN T. IRVING, P. HAMILTON MYERS, T. B. THORPE, HENRY T. TUCKERMAN, RALPH ROANOKE, GEORGE D. PRENTICE, SAMUEL S. Cox, FREDERICK S. COZZENS, W. H. C. HOSMER, JAMES T. FIELDS, R. S. CHILTON, PARK BENJAMIN, GEORGE WOOD, HON. R. T. CONRAD, BAYARD TAYLOR, DONALD MACLEOD, and others.

ALL the subscribers and readers of the KNICKERBOCKER are hereby authorized and requested to act as agents for this book. It will be seen that the expense of such a work must be very great, and the only way to make it profitable is by a large sale. The publisher hopes for the active cooperation of Editors and publishers with whom we exchange. The price of the volume will be FIVE DOLLARS per Copy, in elegant cloth binding, gilt edges; and in Turkey extra, SEVEN DOLLARS. All subscriptions payable on delivery of the work. Those who wish the work, and who may feel interest enough in its success to get some of their friends to take it, will confer a special favor by sending the names as early as possible, that the publisher may be able to judge how many to print for the first edition.

The KNICKERBOCKER GALLERY will be sold only by SUBSCRIPTION and by AGENTS. AGENTS Wanted in every city, town and village in the United States, to whom a liberal discout will be made. Please apply for terms, &c., post paid, to