The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 13, 1896, Page 23

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1896. — LT “:uuq-‘-n“" ik N N“’l“ RO KIT-KATS DMUND GOSSE'S NEW BOOK OF DELIGHTFUL ABOUT MANY LITERARY CELEBRITIES All lovers of genial and appreciative literary criticism which is tempered by a fine discrim- ination will welcome Mr. Gosse’s ““Critical Kit~ Kats.”” We are glad 1o be told in the preface what the title signifies. It appears that ‘“kit- kat” was & term used in the last century to designate a half-length portrait—one which “emphasizes the head, yet does not exclude the hand.” Mr. Gosse has used the name very aptly in this connection. The essays in the volume concern both the head and hand—the life and works—ot the writers he discusses. Many of the sketches contain new material— personal reminiscences which no one writes more delightfully. Notably is this true of the article on Stevenson, which first appeared in the Century Magazine. The other essays were printed eriginally in English reviews and are new to many American readers. The opening essay on **The Sonnets from the Portuguese’ tells the story of how those finest of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems came to be written. It was during the happy time of their courtship that she put her love into words with an intensity few women poets have been sincere enough to express. The poems were not, however, shown to her lover until after their marriage; when, one morning, she slipped them into his pocket as he stood 1ook- ing out of the windo nd then fled from the room! The sonnets were such an intimate revela- tion of her own inner life at the time that she hesitated about having them published. But Robert Browning, considering them the great- est sonnets since Shakespeare’s, insisted upon their being given to the world. There was much uncertainty about a fitting title. “The name which was ultimately chosen, ‘Sonnets rom the Portuguese,’ was invented by Mr. Browning as an ingenious device to veil the true suthorship, and yet to suggest kinship with that beautiful lyric called ‘Catarina to Camoens,’ in which so similar a passion had | been expressed. Long before he ever heard of these poems Mr. Browning called his wife his ‘own little Portuguese,’ and so, when she pro- posed sonnets translated from the Bosnian, he, catching at the happy thought of ‘transiated,’ replied, ‘No, not Bosnian, that means nothing, but from the Portuguese! They are Catarina’s sonnets’ And so in half a joke, half a conceit, the famous title was invented.” A1l the tender pathos and beauty of that courtship is revived 1n the reader's mind by this sketch of Gosse’s. Robert Browning came into Elizabeth Barrett's life when she was long past her youtn; saddened by the loss of | her brother, and so broken in health that | death instead of love was her expected guest. All who have read the sonnets will recall tneir revealing sequence, her gradual yielding and turning from death to life and the final abandonment to a noble passion. That was, in truth, a union—as Mr. Gosse has so well ex- pressed it—“of two of the most distinguished spirits which our century has produced.” “Keats in 1894" follows next in Mr. Gosse’s volume. It is the address delivered by the author on the unveiling of the monument sent by the poet's American admirers. Mr. Gosse pays high tribute to Keats. The lovers of that poet who died so young, yet left work so perfect, will be glad to read these words, coming from one who is privileged to speak with authority: “Shall I say what will startle you if I confess that I sometimes fancy that we lost in the author of the five great odes the most masterful capacity for poetic expression which the world has ever seen 2’ Thomas Lovell Beddoes, the subject of the following essay. is probably little known to Americans, or only to some stray reader of “‘Death’s Jest-Book; or, the Bride's Tragedy.” He was an eccentric Englishman who lived in the early part of the century, the friend of Barry Cornwall, and a poet of some ability at a time when there was a déarth of great poetry in England. He found life profoundly un- satisfactory, and ended by taking himself out of it. A first attempt at suicide resulted in the amputation of one leg. His second at- tempt was successful. He Jeft a most extraor- dinary letter, containing, together with some practical directions, the following words: I ought to have been, among a variety of things, & good poet—life was too great a bore on one peg, and that a bad one.” The account closes with some fierce stanzas from “Death’s Jest- Book,” which Robert Browning *“almost ex- travagantly admired and was never weary of reciting.” Mr. Gosse recently edited & most attractive edition of Beddoes’ poems, which | was limited 10 500 coples in England and 500 tor America. All admirers of Omar Khayyam, and I doubt not they are legion, will be glad of the ac- count given here of his translator, Edward Fitzgerald, “one of the most recluse and se- questered 0f modern men of letters.” There was extremely little known until the publica- tion of his “Life and Literary Remains” (which Gosse reviews) of the personality of the man who made the old Persian poet’s verses vivid and living to nineteenth century conscious- ness. Perhaps no more wonderful translation was ever made. Indeed, it is often suspected that Fitzgerald’s version is more a creation then & translation. The philosophy of the form seems strikingly modern. Still we re- member that agnosticism and mysticism have existed in all ages, though we are prone to think that our doubts are receut inventions of the ““Time-Spirit.”” Fitzgerald was a country gentleman in easy circumstances. He wrote in a leisurely, dilettante sort of way, never urged by pecuniary want cr the desire for fame. He wasan intimato friend of Tenny- son, of Thackeray and of Carlyle, and his let- ters contain many pleasant reminiscences of these great writers, who visited him in his country home. ‘After a little desultory literary work, which he could hardly escape consider- ing his intimates, he took up the study of Persian. He tried his hand first at trenslating Jami and later Omar’s *Rubai- yat.” The latter, written in a more orthodox age than our own, he had some difficuity in geiting printed, and there was not the slight- est sale for the poem. Ruskin wrote the au- thor a letter of praise, which tor some mys- terious reason reached him only after ten years. Outside of his personal friends the poem received mot the slightest recognition until Dante Gabriel Rossetti discovered it and Swinburne came forward in “the gen- erous race to make the poem appreciated at its proper value.” It is amazing to read of the early lack of apprecistion which met this work, when one remembers the countless and beautiful editions of Omar Khayyam which abound the world over to-day. Edward Fitzgerald died in June, 1883, a week after Tennyson had written’ to him the dedication of his “Tiresias.” The sketch of Walt Whitman is one of the most charming in Gosse’s volume. He treats the subject witha delightful touch of humor. He confesses to not being & Whitmanite. But he was much in- terested on the occasion of a visit he made the poet in his dreary lodging at Camden during his own recent trip to America. “I knocked at this dreary little two-story tenement-house and wondered what was going to happen. A melancholy woman opened the door. It was t00 late now to go away. But before I could speak a large figure hobbling down the stairs called out in & cheery voice, ‘Is that my friend?” Suddenly by I know not what mag- netic charm all wire-drawn literary reserva- tions faded out of being and one’s orly sensa- tion was of gratitied satisfaction at being the “friend’ of this very nice old gentieman.” He goes on to speak of their conversation and the charm of Whitman's rare sincerity. The delightful reminiscences are mingled with criticism, which I venture to think is among the most sane and unprejudiced of any that haye been given us on this subject. “I am inclined to admit that in Walt Whitman we have just missed receiving from the New World one of the greatest of modern poets, but that we have missed it must &t the same time be acknowledged. But there isone condition which distinguishes art from mere amorphous expression; that condition is the result of a process through which the vague and engag- ing observations of Whitman never passed. He felt acutely and accurately, his imagina- tion was purged of external impurities, he lay spread abroad in a condition of literary solu- tion. But there he remained, an expanse of crystallizable substances, waiting for the structural change that never came; rich above almost all his coevals in the properties of poetry, and yet, for want of a definite shape and fixity. doomed to sit forever apart from the company of the poets.” Theessay on Tolstoi isinteres:ing and sugges- tive, though one might fancy the subjectal- most written out. Christina Rossetti possesses great interest for all lovers of that melancholy afid fascinat- ing Pre-Raphaelite. Mr. Gosse places her sonnets above those of her brother. He makes atrifiing error in the statement that “Gabriele Rossetti married the daughter of another Italian exile, G. Polidori, Lord Byron's ph: sician,” thus making that wayward ana un- bappy gentleman, who, in despair oyer gaming losses, ended his life by poison, the poet's grandfather. John William Polidori, who iraveled with Lord Byron, was in reality Christina Rossetti’s uncle, being her mother’s brother, as we learn from the recent ‘‘Letters of D.G. Rossettl.” The mistake is of small importance, yet friends of the gifted brother and sister are glad to feel that the shame and sorrow of that wasted life was not their direct inheritance. of the days of the germ and the first Pre- Raphaelite fervor, which flowered out in the poems of William Morris, Thomas Woolner, Swinburne and the Rossettis, the author says: ‘‘In the extremely rare gift of song-writing Miss Rossetti has been singularly successful Of the poets of our timeshe stands next to Lord Tennyson in this branch of the art, in the spontaneous and complete quality of her lieder, and in their propriety for the purpose of being sung.” Gosse holds that Christina Rossetti and Fitz- gerald were the two poets who most influenced Swinburne’s style.* The author’s personal re- collections of Christina Rossetti are interesting. He speaks of the extreme tendernessof her conscience and tells of his difficulty in getting her to sign a petition against the destruction of apartof the New Forest, which Mr. Swin- burne had promised to put his name to if Christina Rossetti would do the same. At last she was so far persuaded of the in- nocence of the protest that she wrote Chr; she then stopped, dropped the pen and said, very earnestly: “Are you sure that they do not propose to build churches on the land ?” After along time I succeeded in convincing her that such a scheme was not thougnt of, and she proceeded to write istina G. Ros— and stopped again. “Nor schoolhouses?’— fluctuating with tremulous seruple. - Atlength she finished the signature and I carried the parchment off to claim the fulfillment of Mr. Swinburne’s promise. Gosse speaks of her secluded life and of her death in December, 1894, when, “after prolonged suffering, borne with infinite patience, this great writer, who | was also a great saint, passed into the region of her vision.” The next essay is a portrait of Lord de Tabley, who died less than a year ago and who is too little known to American readers. He was of a shy and sensitive temperament, and was discouraged at the lack of the recognition he so nearly achieved in his youth. A few years before his death, at 60 years of age, he blossomed forth with a new volume, “Poems, Dramatic and Lyrical,” by which he is mainly known to readars to-day. The sketch of Toru Dutt, the remarkable young Hindu girl who died so young, but leit work of such perfection in both French and English, is full of most romantic and touching interest. ' M. Jose-Maria de Heredia next invites our attention. “In 1866 he was one of that happy band of lyric boys who started the Parnasse Contemporain, that germ of France.” He was one of the founders of the “Parnassian” school of poetry, and is to-day & member of the academy. Perheps the most valuable essay, in point of information, in the volume is the ome on Walter Pater. Little has hitherto been known of the private life and character of this writer of great prose. By far the most delightful sketch in the book is the one on Stevenson. The charm of that man’s personality seems to pervade every- thing that has been written about him. It 1s hard to even think about Stevenson quite calmly. A sort of intoxication seems to radiate from the pages of his books—the in- toxication of pure beauty. One is conscious of being hardly sane enough to be un- prejudiced. I have noticed thatall readersare either Stevenson lovers or haters. On those that “can’t bear Stevenson’ heaven have com- passion and let them never know their 1oss! Mr. Gosse touches mostly upon his youth— those days before he was famous, or Mr. Gosse either. The lad used to visit the struggling young reviewer, who had married on a -smalt income and large hopes. The exigencies of the situation prevented the Gosses from entirely furnishing their house. “The one person who thoroughly approved of our great, bere, absurd drawing-room was Louis, who very earnestly dealt with us on the immorality of chairs and tables and desired us to sit, as ne delighted to sit, upon hassocks on the floor. Nevertheless as armchairs and settees straggled into existence he handsomely consented to use them, aithough never in the usual way.” * * * “A very few of us were convinced of his genius; but with the excep- tion of Leslie Stephen, nobody of editorial status was sure of it.”” What an attractive picture of Stevenson it is. With his high spirit of courage and gayety against that background of ill health. No writer is closer to the heart of his generation than Stevenson. We feel that Mr. Gosse’s essay ends with fitting words. “He became the most exquisite English writer of his generation; yet those who lived close to him are apt to think less of this than the fact that he was the most unselfish and the most lovable of human beings.” GRACE 8. MUSSER. ORI “The Epistolary Flirt,” by Esmerie Amory,is promised by Way & Williams, October 15. The book is & satire upon platonic friendships. AR BIRTHDATY. BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI. My heart is like a singing bird . Whose nest is In a watered shoot; My heart is like an apple tree ‘Whose boughs are bent wi h thick-set fruit; My beart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in & halcyon sea: My heart is gladaer than all these Because my love is come to me. Raise me & dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dves; Carve it in doves and pomegranates, And peacocks With a hundred eyes: Work it in gold and silver grapes, In leaves and silver fleur-de-lis; Because the birthday of my life 1s come, my love is come to me. FROM THE PORTUGUESE BY ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. How do Ilove thee? ] et me count the ways— Llove thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul cap reach, when feeling out’of light For the ends of being and ideal gra 1 love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need. by sun and candle light 1 love thee freely, as men strive for right; 1 love thee purely, as they turn from praise; Tlove thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs and with my childhood’s faith; I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints—I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! and 1f God choose I shall but Jove thee betier after death. After some delightful memories | AT REST. “There Is silence in the cottage, For the toiler's tasks are o'er, Weary eyes have drooped in slumber That will open nevermore; ‘White, cold hands are softly folded On the pallid dreamer’s breast, And the angels hover nigh her, For her heart is stilled—at reat. Rest, for the hours are gone. And now the time bas come when thou canst lie “Tranquil, peaceful 'neath God's starry sky. Rest on, thou heart, rest on. Lo, the thin, worn hands were tired; They had labored on =0 long, And the eyes were dimmed with weeping O'er the world's dark sin and wrong, And the heart was weary—weary With its sorrows cruel and deep. Now its cares are all forgotten In that calm, unbroken sleep. Sleep, sleep thou, wearied one, Life’s long. dull day has died within the west, 1ts changeful hours, is lingering moments done. Sleep, sleep, In soft, sweet rest. E. B. C. DREAM-PEDDLERY. BY THOMAS BEDDOES. 1¢ there were dreams to sell What would you buy ? Some cost a passing bell; Some a light sigh, That shakes from lite's fresh crown Only e rose leat down, It there were areams to sell, Merry and sad to tell, And the crier raug the bell, What would you buy? A cottage lone and still, ‘With bowers high Shadowy, my Woes to still Until Idle. Such pearl from 1ife’s fresh crown Fain would T shake me down Were dreams to have at will This would best heal my iil, This wonid I buy. But there were dreams to sell 111 diast thou buy; Life is a dream they tell, Waking, to die. Dreaming a dream to prize Is wishing ghosts to rise, And, if 1 had the spell To call the buried well, Which one would 17 If there are ghosts 1o raise What shal [ call, Out of hell’s murky haze, Heaven’s biue pall? Raise my loved, long-lost boy To lead me 10 his joy— There are no ghosts to raise, Out of death leads no ways, Vain isthe call; Know'st thou not ghosts to sue No love thou hast, Else lie as 1 will do, And breathe thy 80 out of life’s fresh crown Fall like rose leaf down, Thus are the ghosts to woo: Thus are all dreams made true, Ever to last! BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTL 0 roses for the flush of youth, And laurel for the perfect prime; But pluck an ivy branch for me, Grown old before my time. O violet s for the grave of youth, And bay for those dead in thelr prime; Glve me the withered leaves T chose Before in the old time. FROM THE PORTUQUESE BY ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING. First time he kissed me he but only kissed The fingers of this hand wherewith I write, And ever since it grew more clean and white. Slow to world’s greetings: quick with 1ts “Oh, lis When angels speak A ring of amethyst 1 could not wear here plainer to my light Than that first kiss. The second passed in height The first and sought the forehead, and half missed, Half falling on the ha'r, Oh, beyond meed ! That was the chrism of love with love's own crown, ‘With sanctitying sweetness did precede. The third upon my lips was folded down In perfect purple state. Since when, indeed, I have been proud and said, “My love, my own.” THE MIND. Alss, though sweet and much, this 1s not all That heavenly joy could be could I but choose; For, drifted on the storm, the flowers lose Their path and may 'mid ugly briars fall; And. always on the ground, their joy must pall. No, let me as & bird with morning's dews Arise each lovely day, and let the muse Of rapturous song be in my heart to call Forth joy and life 1n every woeful breast; Give me the wings, volition’s slaves, to bear Me ever where the summer’s day may be. What though I've knowledge none, 'twill be a rest To lay the burden down In God’s sweet air To live and sing for all eternity. From ~Out of & Silver Flute,” by PRILIP VER- RILL MIGHELS. MORNING SERENADE. (From the French of Victor Hugo.) BY TORU DUTT. Still barred thy doors '—the far East glows, The morning wind blows fresh and free; Should not the bour that wakes the rose Awaken also thee? No longer eleep, Ob, iisten now! 1 wait and weep, But where art thon? All 100k for tnee, Love, Light and Song; Light in the sky, deep red above, Song In the lark of pinion strong And in my heart true Love. No longer sleep, Ob, listen now! 1 wait and weep, But where art thou? Apart we miss our nature’s goal, Why strive to cheat our destinies? ‘Was not my love made for thy soul? Thy beauty for mine eyes? No longer sicep, O, listen now! I wait and weep But where art thou? ¥ price. cloth, $1. This is ““The Life and Speeches of William Mc- Kinley, Citizen, Soldier, Congressman, Gover- nor and Presidential Candidate.” It is the third “Life of McKinley’’ received thus far since the opening of the campaign. Itembraces & com- plete reportof the St. Louis convention, and con- tains also a brief sketch of Garret A. Hobart, the Republican candidate for Vice-President. Mr. Andrews very appropriately dedicated his book “to those who have toiled on the field of battle and in the arts of peace to build this Nation.” In the narrative the author has sought to draw inspiration from the character of his subject. There is no effusive eulogy, and the story is as straightforward as the man. The career of a country boy is tollowed through schooldays into the fields of battle, where he was destined to win re- nowsx, back to his books and that great strife of civil !ite in which also he has been ecrowned with well-earned laurels, till at last he stands before his fellow-citizens asking a further pleage of confidence. It is the story of the rise of “‘One of the People.”” The coverisof a beautiful and happy design, bearing the em- blems of patriotism and prosperity; the flag and shield-and bird of protection, and the horn of plenty that will shed its rich store under the sound policy represented by William McKinley. TO REDUCE THE WAGES. THE FREE COINAGE PROBLEM. By Lewis N. Dembitz. New York: Present Problems Publ ishing Company. In this little work the author discusses the silver question from both the Kansas and the Colorado points of view, the Kansas motive being explained as that of paying of present debts with cheaper dollars than those made of 23.22 grains of fine gold, or which are equal to them in value. The Colorado standpointis the belief that free coinage in the United States would greatly enhance the demand for silver, and thus its price. After giving a his- tory of silver coinage in this country, the au- thor comes to the conclusion that all the tarift acts and the navigation laws dwindle into nothing compared to what the free silver men ask—*'a decree which enters every man’s till or pocket, and cuts in half every silver dollar, fifty-cent piece, quarter, dime, nickel or cop- per, every treasury note, silver certificate or bank note, which enters every counting-house, and cuts in two both debtor and creditor bal- ances on every ledger; which compels every workingman to whom a month’s wages is due to accept 52 per cent in full of his claims.” FINANCE AND FREE COINAGE. GIVING AND GETTING CREDIT. By Fred- erick B Goadard. New York: F. Tenn:son Neely, publisher. For sale by William Doxey; cloth, 12mo; price §1. Mr. Goddard has written for business men a book in which will ve found much valuable in. formation and many useful, practical sugges- tions which commend themselves to the thoughtful consideration of those to whom the volume is particularly addressed. The author’s own views and comments on current financial conditions merit careful attentlon. Stress is laid on the subject of the general need of a. uniform bankrupt law in this coufitry, and the passage by Congress of the Torrey bill 1s strongly advocated. The speculations on the underlying causes of panics since 1814, which | are shown to have been equal in number in civilized countries, and practically simul- taneous, are interesting. The proximate cause of the panic of 1893 is put down as distrust of S e the stability of the currency. The author is, | however, an extremist in his opposition to bimetallism,and that he is a gold monometal- list of the uncompromising kind will appear from these expressions of his: “Silver is an old and faithful servant, but commerce has outgrown its use, exceptasa subsidiary coin. That the great nations will unite fo reinstate it is altogether improbable. Bimetallism has become a ‘back number.” For the United States alone to sanction free and unlimited silver coinage at any ratio with gold which the friends of silver would ap- prove would be to open upon the countrya Pandora’s box of evils.” DEMOCRACY'S CHAMPION. BRYAN, SEWALL AND FREE SILVER. By Richard L. Metcalf. San Francisco: Whitaker & Ray Company, publishers. “The Life and Patriotic Services of Hon. William J. Brysn, the Democratic candidate for President of the United States, together with & sketch of Arthur Sewall, Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate, and & number of articles bearing on the money question,” makes up this volume of 500 pages. The author, who belongs to the staff of the Omaha World-Herald, says he claims no literary merit for the book. “It goes to the public,” he avers, “as the simple and hastily written life history of one who, unsided by inherited wealth or environment other than that of the great common people with whom he has cast his lot, has risen from obscurity to world-wide fame.” The volume is profusely illustrated, and contains, among other things, the full text of the Chicago convention speech which hypnotized the delegates and wou the Presi- dential nomination for William J. Bryan. FACTS ABOUT MONEY. SOUND AND SOLID MONEY—A Symposium of the Greatest Statesmen and Philosophers of the Age on the )oney Question. New York, F. Tennyson Neely, publisher. cents. In this book are contained conclusive argu- ments by William McKinley, William C. Whit- ney. John Sherman, Thomas F. Bayard, Grover Cleveland, John G. Carlisle, Garret A. Hobart, Thomas B. Reed, Andrew Carnegie and others. Not the least powerful presentation of facts and convincing deductions are from the works of Alexander Hamilton,Secretary of the Treas- ury under Washington, and of Robert Morris, who shows the differences in monometallist standards. Heresies of the campaign are punctured and free-silver perils graphically depicted. The book opens with the following bibhcal injunctions, which fix the money sit- u Paper; price 50 ation : “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. “Thou shalt not have in thy house divers ‘measures, a great and a small. “But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, & perfect and just measure shalt thou have.”—Deuteronomy xxv:13, 14, 15. SATIRES ABOUT MONEY. ORRIBLE CRIME. By Alexander P. Hull. Au‘iw York: Present Problems Publishing Com- pany. This embraces several clever satires on the OLITICS AND FINANCE—Books That . Treat on Subjects of General Interest to the Intelligent Voter of the Republic—A New Life of the Nation’s Favorite Son, William McKinley money question. The *horrible crime” re- ferred to is “the demonctization of iron 2200 years ago.” The author declares it to have been an incaleulable loss to mankind; tells about the ruinous fall of prices, and insists | career with the distinet project of making lit- that the free coinage of iron at 16 to 1 with gold is the only remedy and entirely practi. csble. “Our Government can do anythin, he maintains. “No fear of a pig-iron basis. Free coinage of iron would give us higher prices and wages and plenty of money.” “The Free Coinage Problem” ana ‘A Hor- rible Crime” are Nos. 1 and 2 of a penny magazine, “Present Problems,” containing popular,_discussions on the money question from a sound-currency standpoint. ABOUT FREE SILVER. FREE SILVER. By C. M. Stevans. New York, F. Tennyson Neely, publisher. Paper; price 50 cents. This is one of the campaign handbooks of the Bryan tree-silver wing of the Democratic party. The author has already written up the lives of Bryan and Sewall. The object of the book seems, in large measure, to be to array labor against capital and the poor against the wealthy. Right alougsice of this book comes one that refutes the Bryanese arguments. It is called: el e Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson, president-general of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, has written a preface to the mew “Century Book of Famous Ameri- cans,” which is soon to be published by the Century Company and issued under the au- spices of the Daughters. The September number of the North Ameri- can Review contains an attractive essay by Dr. J. H. Girdner upon “The Plague of City Noises,” which will appeal forcibly to all suf- fering from the wear and tear, the jarring and pain produced by thisbane of modern city life. Those who have become interested in the affairs of Spain during her recent misfortunes will be interested in the announcement by the Macmillan Company of a volume of his- torical studies, entitled “The Year after the Armada.” The writer is Martin A. S. Hume, author of “The Covrtships of Queen Eliza- beth.” The Roycroft Printing-shop, at East Aurora, N. Y., announces an authorized edition of “On Going to Church,” by G. Bernard Shaw. The book is printed on Dekel edge paper, Romanesque type and Kelmscott initials. There was also printed of the same work twenty-five copies on Japan vellum that have been hand aecorated in water colors by Bertha C. Hubbard. ° Among the theological books announced by the Macmillan Company is an interesting volume by the. Rev. J. E. C. Welld, D.D., en- titled “The Hope of Immortality.” It is not intended, however, especially for theologians, but, on the contrary, is for those who, without such pretenstons, have yet deep thoughts ana feelings about religion and a desire to face the facts of human nature and hife. Way & Williams bave In preparation & volume of stories of the Chicago slums, by I. K. Friedman, entitled *The Lucky Number.” Mr. Friedman has made a study of the slums of Chicago, which enabled him to understand the motives that lay behind such dramatic incidents as he describes. He does not occupy himself so much with the petty details of a situstion as with the romance of i, its sig- YPEE-—-THAT WONDERFUL ROMANCE OF THE SOUTH SEAS, AND A GLIMPSE OF THE MAN WHO WROTE IT TYPEE, a Real Romance of the Sonth Seas, by Herman Melville. Published by the American Publishers’ Corp .ration, 3:0-318 Sixth avenue, New York. Price 50 cents. The American Publishers’ Corvoration is making a wise move by reissuing in popular | form Herman Melville’s sterling romances. Of these, “Typee’” is considered by competent critics to be the best. Its publication at this time would seem to betoken areturn on the Dart of the reading public to s taste for more healthy varieties of literature than those with which it has lately been supplied. Itisa fact (to our discredit be it recorded) that famous books of travel, which for generations formed the bulk of our libraries, are relegated to the topmost sheives—honored as classics, but un- dusted and unread. *“Typee” made its appearance in 1846. Its publication in numerous editions has been at- tended with so much success, both in England | and America, that a short biographical note of | its author may be.of interest. Herman Melville was born in New York on August 1, 1819. Shortly after the aeath of his father in reduced circumsiances necessi- tated the removal of his mother and the family of eight brothers and sisters to the village of Lansingburg, on the Hudson River. There | Herman remained until 1835. A roving dis- | position, combined with an inborn love of & nautical life, led him to ship as cabin-boy in a vessel trading between New York and Liver- pool. On this trip he visited London, after- ward returning to America on the same ves- sel. “Redburn: His Fiist Voyage,” published in 1849, was the direct result of his experi- ences. Bétween 1837 and 1840 Melviile occupied himself with schoolteaching. For his work in this direction he was remunerated with tne sum ot “six dollars per quarter and board.” Then the nomadic instinct broke outin him again. His biographer, “Arthur Steadman, is of the opinion that a perusal of Richard Henry Dana’s “Two Years Before the Mast” | was the cause of this second outbreak. He | shipped in the whaler Acushnet, bound for | the Pacific Ocean and the sperm fishery. Mel. ville decided toquit the vessel atthe Mar- | quesas Islands. The story of “Typee” begins et this point, and the immense influence his whaling cruise had upon him can best be de- scribed in his own words: “If Ishall ever deserve any real reputein that small but high-hushed world I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if hereaffer I shalldo anything tnat on the whole &man | might rather have done than to have left un- | done * * * then here I prospectively | ascribe all the homor and the glory to whaling; fora whaleship was my Yale Col- lege and my Harvard.” The sequel to “Typee” was named by Melville “Omoo.” Like the first it is a record of adven- ture in the South seas. After staying at Hono- lulu for four months, during which time he was employed as a clerk, our suthor joined the crew of the American frigate United States, which reached Boston in October, 1844. The narrative of his experiences is to be found in “White Jacket; or, The World in & Man-of- War.” 1t will thus have been seen that of Melville's four most important books three are directiy autobiographical and one partly so. It isnot 10 be supposed that he entered upon a nautical erary capital out of it. And it is well that he did not, for this insured a freshness of style that would have been impossible under other | circumstances. i “Typee” was completed in 1845. The manu- seript was handed to a brother of Melville, with instructions to submit the same to the late John Murray, who immediately accepted it. Its publication followed shortly after, and was attended with much success. The lecture platform claimed much of Mel- ville's attention during the years 1857 and | 1860. He lectured in cities as widely apart as Montreal, Chicago, Baltimore snd San Fran- cisco, reaching the latter place in 1860, after a trip ‘round the Horn." Among the many famous authors who were in communication with Melville at one time or the other may be mentioned W. Clark Rus- sell, Nathaniel Hawthorne (who was his neigh- bor for some veurs) and Richard Henry Stod- dard. Clark Russell, in particular, found much to excite his admiration in Melville’s work. An extract from one of Melville’s letters will serve to show how the readers of England re- garded Melville's writings: “Your reputation here is very great. It is hard to meet & man whose opinion as a reader is worth having who docs not speak of your work in such terms as he might hesitate to employ, with all his patriotism, toward many renowned English writers.” Coming from such a source, this was praise indeed, and it should be noted that Melville’s increased reputation in England at the period of this letter waschiefly owing to a series of articles on his work written by Russell. Melville died at his home in New York City in September, 1891. Numerous and lengthy reviews of his life and work were published in the American press at the time. Of “Typee” it can only be said that it was regarded as a classic immediately on its ap- pearance, and there can be no doubt that it will continue to hold its place as such. In charm of description it can be compared to that friend of our boyhood, “Robinson Crusoe.” Possessing as he did a pen that was both virile and facile, the death of Herman Melville was & loss to American letters, his influe nce upon which was at one time so marked. SASTaeeE AN ISLAND OUTCAST. AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS. By Joseph Conrad. New York: D. Appleton & Co., pub- lishers. kor sale by William Doxey; price 50 cents. Here, indeed, is a charming work, wherein we breathe the languorous air of the mys- terious isiands set amid the far Eastern seas. Itis issued in “Appleton’s Town and Country Library,” and is & book worth while reading. 1t is & delight to sail with the author on the olden sea, and to listen to his eloquent scorn of the sea of to-day. “The old sea; the sea of many years ago, whose servants were devoted slaves and went from youth to age or to a sudden grave with- out needing to open the book of life, becaus they could look at eternity reflected on the | element that gave the life and dealt the death. Like a beautiful and unscrupulous woman, the sea of the past was glorious in its smiles, irresistible in its anger, capricious, enticing, illogical, irresponsible; a thing to love, a thing to fear. It casta spell, it gave joy; it lulled gently into boundless faith; then with quick and ceaseless anger it kided. But its paper, cruelty was redeemed by the charm of its inserutable mystery, by the immensity of its promise, by the supreme witchery of its possivie favor. Strong men with child- | like hearts were faithful to it, were content to live by its grace, to die by its will. That was the sea before the time when the French mind set the Egyptian muscle in motion and pro- duced a dismal but profitabie ditch. Thena | gTeat pall of smoke sent out by countless steamboats was spread over the restiess mirror of the Infinite. The hand of the engineer tore down the veil of the terrible beautyin order that greedy and faithless landlubbers might pocket dividends. The mystery was destroyed. Like all mysteries, it lived only in the hearts of its worshipers. The hearts changed; the men changed. The once loving and devoted serv- ants went out, armed with fire and iron, and conquering the fear of their own hearts, be- came a calculating crowd of cold and exacting masters. The sea ol the past wasan incoms parably beautifl mistress, with inscrutable 1ace, with cruel and promising eyes. The sea of to-day is a used-up drudge, wrinkled and defaced by the churned-up wakes ot brutal pro pellers, robbed of the enslaving charm of its vastness, stripped or its beauty, of its mystery and of its promise.” A BATCH OF LOVE LEITERS. LOVE IN LETTERS. Illustrated in the cofre- spondence of eminent persons. By James Grant Wilson, D.C.L. New York: G. W. Dillingham Company. For sale by the San Francisco News Company, 206 Post street. We have it on the authority of Emerson that “All mankind loves a lover.” This statement might be modified by some latter-day misogy- nist with the qualifying clause that the worid loves him up to the point where he puts pen 10 paper. The reading of a love-letter by a third and disinterested party is invari- ably followed by a diminution in the sympa- ihy expressed for the swain. But despite this, there can be no doubt that there has alwsys been considerable vogue for vclumes of loves letters. Of all forms of epistolary correspond- ence these have received the most attention. James Grant Wilson of New York has lately published a collection of letters written by some of the world's celebrities. Herein are included specimens of the correspondence of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the Marquis and Madame de Sevigne, Charles II, Swift, Steele, Pope, Sterne, Dr. Johnson, Goethe, repys, Nelson, Burns, Napoleon and Jose- phine, Sir Walter and Laay Scott, Welster and Keats. This list ot notables will suffice to give the reader an idea of the scope of the work. All these letters, however, ure not the letters of lovers. Many of the personages enumer- atea would hardly suggest themselves to the mihd of the reader as admirers of femininity. For instance, we cannot conceive Alexander Pope appearing in any such role. Physically disfigured as he was his advances to the beautiful Lady Montague could only have merited the fate they encountered. His presumption was rebuked and thenceforward he became, in the words of his biographer, “her bitter and unscrupulous foe, degrading himself by indulging in mean and coarse abuse of the woman at whose feet he once knelt, conduct unworthy of a gentleman.” Very interesting is the correspondence of Dean Swift. Much has been wriiten to show that he whose name holds a place in English literature as the creator oi Lilliput and Brob- dingnag will be remembered to an equal degree for his execrable treatment of Varina, Stella and Vanessa. To the second of these, his legal and affectionate wife, he was particularly cruel; and yet it was to her he addressed those witty and complimentary lines on her birthda; Stella this day is thirty-four (We shan’t dispute a year or more); However, Stella, be not troublea, Although thy size and years are doubled Siuce first I saw thee at sixteen, The brightest virgin on the green; So little is thy form declined, Made up so largely is thy mind. 0, would it please the gods to split Thy beauty, size, and years and wit! No age could furnish art a pair Of nymphs so graceful, wise and fair; With half the luster of your eyes, ‘With half your wit, your years and size. And theu before ii grew too late, How should I beg of gentle Fate, (That either nymph might have her swain) To split my worship, 100, in twain, ‘While the matter contained in the volume under review is of counsiderable value, it is to be regretied that the work is so cheaply printed. A little more attention to technical detail would make books of this kind of more worth in the library. Will Carleton’s “The Old Infant and Simi. lar Stories,” published recently by the Messrs. Harper, is the first prose work from the poet’s pen. *‘The Joy of Life” is the title of a new novel by Miss Emma Wolf of San Francisco, author of “Other Things Being Equal” and *A Prodis gal in Love:’ It is now in the press of Messrs, A. C. McClurg & Co., New York. Mr. du Maurier is said to have got a higher price for the MS. of “Trilby” than most authors get for the serial rights in a novel. The London Fine Arts Society preserves it in a locked glass case. Itis written in the hand. writings of all the members of the author'’s family. The Roycroft Printing Shop of East Aurora, N. Y., announces a companion volume to its edition of “The Song of Songs: Which Is Solo- mon’s’—viz., “The Journal of Koheleth: Be- ing & Reprint of the Book of Ecclesiasts, With an Essay by Elbert Hubbard.” Seven hundred copies will be printed on Holland hand-made paper, and twelve on Japan vellum from type. R. D. Blackmore is reported by Current Literature as saying that he haa offered his famous novel, *Lorna Doone,” to nineteen publishers before it was taken. When brought out it fell flat, but soon after came the mar- riage of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lorne, and society people, thinking Lorna somehow had something to do with Lorne, bought the book, read it and liked it, then recommended it to their iriends. Mr. Emerson said, ‘Next to the originator of a sentence is the first guoter of it.”” The Cen- tury Company will publish in October a unique book entitled, “Quotations for Occa sions,” a collection of about fifieen hundred. clever and appropriete quotations from Shake- speare and many other writers, intended for use on dinner menus, invitations, concert programmes, etc. It is said to be an extremely clever collection, so bright and readable that it may be picked up with enjoymentatany time. The September Cosmopolitan, as if to show what a magazine can do, gives four completa stories in a single number, by such noted authors as Frances Courtenay Eaylor, Maurice Thompson, Gertrude Hall and John J. a’Becket, Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Lew Wallace, Francisque Sarcey, I. Zangwill, Agnes Repplier, Norman Kerr, M.D., H. C. Chatfield- Taylor, William Eleroy Curtis, Robert E. Stra- horn, Colonel Tillman and Ruth McEnery Stuart are also among the contributors to this one issue of a magazine that is sold for 10 cents. Among other writers, too, is Camille Flammarion, who has an article on “The Won- deriul New Eye of Science.”