BOOK II.--SPECULATIVE.--Instrumentalities. Mind. Genesis.
Metamorphoses.
"This book of practical and speculative essays invites us to the sunshine, the delightful atmosphere, 'the cool retreats,' and the quiet of the country."--_Cincinnati Chronicle._
"Like 'Walden,' it will be bought and read, year by year, by the select few for whom it was written."--_Hartford Courant._
"This book addresses us in a tone of remarkable serenity and repose, strangely contrasting with the lively bustle of the age and land we live in."--_New York Times._
"The moral qualities of Mr. Alcott have probably more to do with the secret of his influence than his peculiar mental endowments. Every page of his writings evinces a singularly pure and unworldly character. They appear more like leaves torn from some fragrant antique volume, than the products of this competitive, rapacious age. They transport us to some peaceful island beyond the reach of the ambitions and rivalries of the day. He lives in a serene atmosphere, free from all secular perturbations. No earthly stain discolors the spotless whiteness of his soul. It is no wonder that he is listened to in speechless reverence by an esoteric circle, and that his words are clothed with an authority beyond the power of gaudy rhetoric or purely intellectual demonstration."--_New York Tribune._
1 vol. 16mo. Cloth, gilt top, $1.50; with photographic title and portrait, $2.00; same, gilt edges, $2.50.
_Sold everywhere. Mailed, postpaid, by the Publishers,_
ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.
"MAKE THEIR ACQUAINTANCE; FOR AMY WILL BE FOUND DELIGHTFUL, BETH VERY LOVELY, MEG BEAUTIFUL, AND JO SPLENDID!"--_The Catholic World._
LITTLE WOMEN. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. In Two Parts. Price of each $1.50.
"Simply one of the most charming little books that have fallen into our hands for many a day. There is just enough of sadness in it to make it true to life, while it is so full of honest work and whole-souled fun, paints so lively a picture of a home in which contentment, energy, high spirits, and real goodness make up for the lack of money, that it will do good wherever it finds its way. Few will read it without lasting profit."--_Hartford Courant._
"LITTLE WOMEN. By Louisa M. Alcott. We regard these volumes as two of the most fascinating that ever came into a household. Old and young read them with the same eagerness. Lifelike in all their delineations of time, place, and character, they are not only intensely interesting, but full of a cheerful morality, that makes them healthy reading for both fireside and the Sunday school. We think we love "Jo" a little better than all the rest, her genius is so happy tempered with affection."--_The Guiding Star._
The following verbatim copy of a letter from a "little woman" is a specimen of many which enthusiasm for her book has dictated to the author of "Little Women:"--
----March 12, 1870.
DEAR JO, OR MISS ALCOTT,--We have all been reading "Little Women," and we liked it so much I could not help wanting to write to you. We think _you_ are perfectly splendid; I like you better every time I read it. We were all so disappointed about your not marrying Laurie; I cried over that part,--I could not help it. We all liked Laurie ever so much, and almost killed ourselves laughing over the funny things you and he said.
We are six sisters and two brothers; and there were so many things in "Little Women" that seemed so natural, especially selling the rags.
Eddie is the oldest; then there is Annie (our Meg), then Nelly (that's me), May and Milly (our Beths), Rosie, Rollie, and dear little Carrie (the baby). Eddie goes away to school, and when he comes home for the holidays we have lots of fun, playing cricket, croquet, base ball, and every thing. If you ever want to play any of those games, just come to our house, and you will find plenty children to play with you.
If you ever come to ----, I do wish you would come and see us,--we would like it so much.
I have named my doll after you, and I hope she will try and deserve it.
I do wish you would send me a picture of you. I hope your health is better, and you are having a nice time.
If you write to me, please direct ---- Ill. All the children send their love.
With ever so much love, from your affectionate friend,
NELLY.
_Mailed to any address, postpaid, on receipt of the advertised price._
ROBERTS BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, _Boston_
AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL. BY LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With Illustrations. Price $1.50.
"Miss Alcott has a faculty of entering into the lives and feelings of children that is conspicuously wanting in most writers who address them; and to this cause, to the consciousness among her readers that they are hearing about people like themselves, instead of abstract qualities labelled with names, the popularity of her books is due. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are friends in every nursery and schoolroom, and even in the parlor and office they are not unknown; for a good story is interesting to older folks as well, and Miss Alcott carries on her children to manhood and womanhood, and leaves them only on the wedding-day."--_Mrs. Sarah J. Hale in Godey's Ladies' Book._
"We are glad to see that Miss Alcott is becoming naturalized among us as a writer, and cannot help congratulating ourselves on having done something to bring about the result. The author of 'Little Women' is so manifestly on the side of all that is 'lovely, pure, and of good report' in the life of women, and writes with such genuine power and humor, and with such a tender charity and sympathy, that we hail her books with no common pleasure. 'An Old-Fashioned Girl' is a protest from the other side of the Atlantic against the manners of the creature which we know on this by the name of 'the Girl of the Period;' but the attack is delivered with delicacy as well as force."--_The London Spectator._
"A charming little book, brimful of the good qualities of intellect and heart which made 'Little Women' so successful. The 'Old-Fashioned Girl' carries with it a teaching specially needed at the present day, and we are glad to know it is even already a decided and great success."--_New York Independent._
"Miss Alcott's new story deserves quite as great a success as her famous "Little Women," and we dare say will secure it. She has written a book which child and parent alike ought to read, for it is neither above the comprehension of the one, nor below the taste of the other. Her boys and girls are so fresh, hearty, and natural, the incidents of her story are so true to life, and the tone is so thoroughly healthy, that a chapter of the 'Old-Fashioned Girl' wakes up the unartificial better life within us almost as effectually as an hour spent in the company of good, honest, sprightly children. The Old-Fashioned Girl, Polly Milton, is a delightful creature!"--_New York Tribune._
"Gladly we welcome the 'Old-Fashioned Girl' to heart and home! Joyfully we herald her progress over the land! Hopefully we look forward to the time when our young people, following her example, will also be old-fashioned in purity of heart and simplicity of life, thus brightening like a sunbeam the atmosphere around them."--_Providence Journal._
_Mailed, postpaid, on receipt of the advertised price, by the Publishers_,
ROBERTS BROTHERS, _Boston_
"MISS ALCOTT IS REALLY A BENEFACTOR OF HOUSEHOLDS."--_H. H._
LITTLE MEN: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. With Illustrations. Price $1.50.
"The gods are to be congratulated upon the success of the Alcott experiment, as well as all childhood, young and old, upon the singular charm of the little men and little women who have run forth from the Alcott cottage, children of a maiden whose genius is beautiful motherhood."--_The Examiner._
"No true-hearted boy or girl can read this book without deriving benefit from the perusal; nor, for that matter, will it the least injure children of a larger growth to endeavor to profit by the examples of gentleness and honesty set before them in its pages. What a delightful school 'Jo' did keep! Why, it makes us want to live our childhood's days over again, in the hope that we might induce some kind-hearted female to establish just such a school, and might prevail upon our parents to send us, 'because it was cheap.'... We wish the genial authoress a long life in which to enjoy the fruits of her labor, and cordially thank her, in the name of our young people, for her efforts in their behalf."--_Waterbury American._
"Miss Alcott, whose name has already become a household word among little people, will gain a new hold upon their love and admiration by this little book. It forms a fitting sequel to 'Little Women,' and contains the same elements of popularity.... We expect to see it even more popular than its predecessor, and shall heartily rejoice at the success of an author whose works afford so much hearty and innocent enjoyment to the family circle, and teach such pleasant and wholesome lessons to old and young."--_N. Y. Times._
"Suggestive, truthful, amusing, and racy, in a certain simplicity of style which very few are capable of producing. It is the history of only six months' school-life of a dozen boys, but is full of variety and vitality, and the having girls with the boys is a charming novelty, too. To be very candid, this book is so thoroughly good that we hope Miss Alcott will give us another in the same genial vein, for she understands children and their ways."--_Phil. Press._
A specimen letter from a little woman to the author of "Little Men."
June 17, 1871.
DEAR MISS ALCOTT,--We have just finished "Little Men," and like it so much that we thought we would write and ask you to write another book sequel to "Little Men," and have more about Laurie and Amy, as we like them the best. We are the Literary Club, and we got the idea from "Little Women." We have a paper two sheets of foolscap and a half. There are four of us, two cousins and my sister and myself. Our assumed names are: Horace Greeley, President; Susan B. Anthony, Editor; Harriet B. Stowe, Vice-President; and myself, Anna C. Ritchie, Secretary. We call our paper the "Saturday Night," and we all write stories and have reports of sermons and of our meetings, and write about the queens of England. We did not know but you would like to hear this, as the idea sprang from your book; and we thought we would write, as we liked your book so much. And now, if it is not too much to ask of you, I wish you would answer this, as we are very impatient to know if you will write another book; and please answer soon, as Miss Anthony is going away, and she wishes very much to hear from you before she does. If you write, please direct to ---- Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Yours truly, ALICE ----.
_Mailed to any address, postpaid, on receipt of the advertised price, by the Publishers_,
ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON
Transcriber's Note -Italic text displayed as _text_. -Silently changed mismatched single/double quotes. -The typesetter varied usage of "'T is" and "'Tis". I have changed all occurrences to the latter. -The typesetter indicated elliptical breaks between paragraphs and stanzas with a row of dots. I have indicated these with a row of five mid-line dots. -Change the ligature [oe] to "oe". -Page 192: For the paragraph starting "One's foes...", I moved the final quote to the end of the paragraph. I found this quoted in two other sources: "An Oracle of our Day," _The Century: A Popular Quarterly,_ Vol. 5, 1873, p. 517, and Franklin Benjamin Sandborn and William Torrey Harris, _A. Bronson Alcott: His Life and Philosophy_, Vol. 2, 1893, p. 411. -Spelling and word usage retained as they appear in the original publication, except as follows:
PAGE FROM TO v Crashaws's Ideal Woman Crashaw's Ideal Woman 67 winters' prime winter's prime 136 he is an antedote he is an antidote 144 metaphysical renasissance metaphysical renaissance 153 system and termology system and terminology 163 commending absoluteism commending absolutism 164 conspire in the fulfiment conspire in the fulfilment 184 indigo, vermillion indigo, vermilion 190 she becomes petulent she becomes petulant 203 returning to consciousnsss returning to consciousness 238 revelations and arcanas revelations and arcana