All Meredithians must possess George Meredith, Some Characteristics, by Richard Le Gallienne.  The book is a complete and excellent guide to the novelist and the novels, a sort of Meredithian Bradshaw, with pictures of the traffic superintendent, and of the head office at Boxhill.  Even Philistines may be won over by the blandishments of Mr. Le GALLIENNE, from whom I learn, by the way, that GEORGE MEREDITH is “the HARVEY of the Ego,” and that he is not ADRIAN HARLEY.  I hear, also, that “daily, from one quarter or another, come critical cuff and kick, to impress upon a numb public the latest example of its immemorial purblindness.”  And the Baron adds this cufflet to the rest.  Mr. JOHN LANE has added a Bibliography, which is a model of minute industry.  So here’s to the book of RICHARD and JOHN.

Among the Arts for obvious reasons not known to Ancient Greece is The Art of Cooking by Gas.  In a little book under this title, published by CASSELL, Mrs. SUGG has undertaken to disclose its mysteries, and set forth its attractions.  No one could be better qualified for the task, since Mrs. SUGG is the wife of WILLIAM SUGG of Charing Cross, who has thrown more light on Modern London than CAMDEN did on its ancient ways.  Cooking by gas, Mrs. SUGG shows, is cleaner, cheaper, more convenient, and more artistic than the older style.  So widely is the practice now established, that gas-cooking apparatus are made to suit all conditions of life, from the kitchen of the Grand Hotel to the “Little Connaught,” which you can (if you like) carry about in your waistcoat-pocket; yet when properly extended it will roast fowls, and small joints, grill chops, steaks, and fish, boil eggs, and vegetables, and keep a large family in hot water.  “To gentlemen residing in Chambers, or those reading for the Bar,” Mrs. SUGG writes of another treasure, “this little kitchener with the two grillers will prove a great boon.”  If Sir HENRY JAMES had really been going to the Bench, he could not have done better than study this book, and set himself up with a “Little Connaught” or a “Double Griller.”  Since that is not the case, it may be asked, Would they be worth the LORD CHANCELLOR’s attention?  We unhesitatingly reply, “Why, Sugg’nly!”

“Are you asleep, BUCHANAN?” inquired ARCHER.  This is the first sentence of a shilling novel, by BUTIFFE SKOTTOWE, with a very sensational picture on the cover.  I “read no more that day,” but closed the book, dreading lest, of the two figures on the thrilling frontispiece, one should be the BUCHANAN, and the other the only ARCHER in the world of Ibsenish proclivities.

THE BARON DE BOOK-WORMS & CO.

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STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS IN A THEATRE.—­Mr. NORMAN FORBES opens the Globe.  The seats are so constructed, that they can be taken outside the theatre.  Also, any person who has purchased a numbered seat need not come to the theatre to occupy it.  The seats are so made as to be equally comfortable for big and little persons—­for the former, they can be let out.