NATURE;

OR,

THE POETRY OF EARTH AND SEA.

Delsons Art Gift-Books.

AN ENTIRELY NEW SERIES OF FIRST-CLASS AND RICHLY ILLUSTRATED

WORKS ON PHYSICAL SCIENCE.

THE BIRD. By JULES MICHELET, Author of "The History of France," &c. Illustrated by Two Hundred and Ten exquisite Engravings by GIACOMELLI. Imperial 8vo. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold. Price 10s. 6d. Morocco elegant, 215.

NATURE; or, The Poetry of Earth and Sea. From the French of MME. Michelet. upwards of Two Hundred Original Designs by GIACOMELLI, Illustrator of "The Bird." Imperial 8vo. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold. Price 12s. 6d. Morocco elegant, 258.

With

THE MOUNTAIN. BY JULES MICHELET, Author of "The Bird." With upwards of Sixty Illustrations from Designs by PERCIVAL SKELTON and CLARK STANTON. Imperial 8vo. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold. Price 10s. 6d. Morocco elegant, 218.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE OCEAN.

From the French of ARTHUR MANGIN With One Hundred and Thirty Illustrations by W. FREEMAN and J. NOEL. Imperial 8vo. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold. Price 10s. 6d. Morocco elegant, 215.

THE DESERT WORLD; or, The Scenery, Animal and Vegetable Life, and Physical Character of the Wildernesses and Waste Places of the Earth. From the French of ARTHUR MANGIN. By the Translator of "The Bird," by MICHELET. With One Hundred and Sixty Illustrations by W. FREEMAN, FOULQUIER, and YAN'DARGENT. New Edition, Revised. Imperial 8vo. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold. Price 10s. 6d. Morocco elegant, 218.

EARTH AND SEA. From the French of LOUIS FIGUIER. Translated, Edited, and Enlarged by W. II. DAVENPort Adams, Illustrated with Two Hundred and Fifty Engravings by FREEMAN, GIACOMELLI, YAN'DARGENT, PRIOR, FOULQUIER, RIOU, LAPLANTE, and other Artists. Imperial 8vo. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold. Price 10s. 6d. Morocco elegant, 21s.

T. NELSON AND SONS, LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK.

WITH TWO HUNDRED DESIGNS BY GIACOMELLI,
ILLUSTRATOR OF "THE BIRD,"

ENGRAVED BY ROUGET, BERVEILLER, MÉAULLE, PANNEMAKER,
JONNARD, WHYMPER, EVANS, PATERSON, ETC.

LONDON:

T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;

EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.

1872.

THE volume now before the reader was written expressly for its English Publishers by Madame Michelet, and would have been produced at an earlier date but for the interruption caused by the Franco-Prussian War, and, afterwards, by the illness of M. Michelet. It is not for the Translator to take upon himself the critic's office, but he cannot refrain from expressing his conviction that it is distinguished by a peculiar delicacy of sentiment and poetry of feeling, and that many of the descriptive passages are remarkable both for truth and brilliancy. In the following pages Madame Michelet reviews almost every aspect of "Nature," and presents a series of pictures which are seldom deficient in boldness of outline and warmth of colouring.

The Illustrations were also designed expressly for the Publishers by M. Giacomelli; already favourably known to the British public by his share in the preparation of Gustave Doré's "Bible," and by his exquisite Illustrations of "The Bird." Their conception and execution have occupied him for upwards of two years; and he wishes it to be stated that he has bestowed upon them his best and most conscientious efforts, and is willing to rest upon them his future reputation as an artist. Their variety and excellence cannot fail to be recognized by the connoisseur, and they have been engraved