Vol 04 - REMARKS CATALOGUE OF COMMENTARIES.

REMARKS CATALOGUE OF COMMENTARIES. THIS Catalogue is compiled for the use of ministers of average attainmentand the brief reviews are written from that standpoint. Other useful listhave been published, specially those by Darling, Orme, and HartwelHome, but these are not easily procurable, and are not quite what ineeded; and therefore as the furnishing of the Pastors’ College Librarnecessitated a Catalogue, and afforded an opportunity for purchasinbooks, the present work has been produced. Few can conceive the amounof toil which this compilation has involved, both to myself and mindustrious amanuensis, Mr. J. L. Keys. In almost every case the bookhave been actually examined by myself, and my opinion, whatever it mabe worth, is an original one. A complete list of all comments has not beeattempted. Numbers of volumes have been left out because they were noeasily procurable, or were judged to be worthless, although some of botthese classes have been admitted as specimens, or as warnings. The titles have been abbreviated to gain space, but it is believed that ievery case they are full enough for recognition. The pt. ices, which relatto second-hand books, have been placed as proximate valuations, and haveither been taken from actual invoices, and catalogues, or have been kindlfilled in by the aid of various booksellers, to whom we tender our thankfor the kindly interest they have taken in this work. Prices vary accordinto the condition of the book, the binding, the ever-changing demand, anthe bookseller’s mode of trade. The abbreviation S stands for second-hand. That mark is not inserted where the date is remote, and where the price caonly refer to second-hand copies, since there are no others. The reader will please observe that the books most heartily recommendeare printed in the largest type with the remarks in italics. Good, but morordinary, works are in medium type, and the least desirable are in thsmallest letter. Thus we hope the eye will be caught at once by volumebest worthy of attention.

Latin authors are not inserted, because few can procure them, and fewestill can read them with ease. We are not, however, ignorant of their value.

Hosts of family Bibles, discourses, and paraphrases are omitted, becausthey would have wasted our limited space, and we could only havadmitted them by raising the price of our book, which we resolved not tdo, lest it should be out of the reach of men of slender incomes. The firsvolume of this series^f35has had so excellent a circulation that we are ablto issue this second one, although we know from the nature of the worthat its sale will, in all probability, never cover the cost of production. Wgive the labor to our brethren freely, only wishing that we could with iconfer upon our poorer friends the means of purchasing the choicest of thcomments here mentioned.

It is to be specially noted, that in no case do we endorse all that anauthor has written in his commentary. We could not read the workthrough, it would have needed a Methuselah to do that; nor have wthought it needful to omit a book because it contains a measure of erroprovided it is useful in its own way; for this catalogue is for thoughtfudiscerning men, and not for children. We have not, however, knowinglmentioned works whose main drift is skeptical, or Socinian, except with purpose; and where we have admitted comments by writers of doubtfudoctrine, because of their superior scholarship and the correctness of theicriticisms. we have given hints which will be enough for the wise. It isometimes very useful to know what our opponents have to say. The writers on the Prophetical Books have completely mastered us, anafter almost completing a full list we could not in our conscience believthat a tithe of them would yield anything to the student but bewildermenand therefore we reduced the number to small dimensions. We reverencthe teaching of the prophets, trod the Apocalypse, but for many of thprofessed expounders of those inspired books we entertain another feeling. May God bless this laborious endeavor to aid his ministers in searching thScriptures. If Biblical studies shall be in any measure promoted, we shall bmore than repaid.