The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 22, 1897, Page 23

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 22 'yO studants of contemporary litera- ¢ o ture there exists no more prom- o .y\Amn and interesting figure than | Dr. Conan Doyle. Apart from the fact that he has never published a work un- worthy of being read, he is absolum"‘ unique in his manner of work. He con- | tinually keeps us guessing and on the gui | vive for what he will do next. His repu- tation made from the Sherlcck Hoimes| series of detective stories and from his pseudo-medical sketches has been con- firmea and sustained in other branches of | tion writing with specimens cf which | his readers are familiar. There were those who were unkind enough to openly hint that he bodily appropriated plots of his earlier work from ile yoriau. | Dr. Doyle has never taken the trouble to vindicate himself publicly, preferring to let his versatility as manifested in stories based on other themes do this for him. And right we!l has the vindication fol- lowed. Dr. Doyle’s late: (Appleton’s), illustrates what said his remarkable v k, “Uncle Bernac we have | tility | and ability to handle any theme, no mat- | ter how nparently foreign to his style. | The book somewhat on the lines of| “Rodney ” is a far more pow- | erful work than was the chronicle of the | lat 1s of George IIL It treats of that | perio the history of Europe when | poleon had proclaimed himself Em- | peror of the French and was vroccmi:nf:i to dictate to the powers. The TUncle | cof the tale is a figurehead, and is | ced merely as & peg upon which to | me interesting pen victures of the | ttie Corporal. The book under review is written in the on, and it 1s the nephew of Uncle | who has a tale to tell. This the opening of the story has « le from France on account | ot the republican tenaencies exhibited by 1 family. He is suddenly summoned | rom the small Kentish village, wherein | he has taken up his abode, to enter the service of Napoleon. He comes to France to the headquarters of the commander of | a grande armee. Here is his first glimpse of the man of desti There was a pale lumi e which drew the eye dress mi osity about his ivory | estof & hu be the There be was, avy-shou!dered fig the red coilar and ecu his sword with the gilt hiit iell scabbard. His hed was owing his thin hairofa ruddy tnut Under one arm was the flat | ed hat with the two-penny tricolor rosette which was already reproduced in his pictures. In his right hand he held » Jittleriding switeh | with & metal head. He waiked stowly for- ward, his face immutable, his eyes fixed stead- ily beiore him, ification of Destiny. uncovered, sh color. L’homme de fer. So is Napoleon strled by contemporary writers, and after read- ing Dr. Doyle’s account of his daily life one is bound to admit that the characteri- zation is an excellent one. He ate irregt larly and slept at odd moments. Amuse- me in the ordinary acceptation of the term, he had none, and one sympathizes | with poor, abused Josephine, for being tied to such an abnormal husband. His work was never acne. To quote his secre- tary, De Meneval: He ¢ as he can talk, and 1g. “Now, Meueval, shall stop here and have & good nigh And then, just as am congratula! myself, he adds, “And we shall continue with the dictation at 3 to-mor- row morning. he means by a good night’s rest. But has he no hours for his meals, Monsieur e Meneva!? he has hours, but he will not ob- ve them. You s at it is already long after dinner-time, and he has gone to his re- view. f the review something else will probebly take up his atiention, and then tomethiug else, unt suddenly in the even- ill occur to hi at he has had no “My dinner, Constant, this instant!” e will ery, and poor Constant has to see that it is there. ctates as g he never repests ar says he sudden] It is interesting, it is wonderful, to read of this man of the century, whose brain was as he nimself described it, *‘full ot Iittle drawers” containing data upon eve conceivable subject relating to the empire, whose dominant personality was felt by the meanest scullion or drummerboy in nis army, entering upon a discussion with the head of his household with regard to | petty items of expenditure for domestic purposes. Nothing illustrates with greater force the ‘“infinite capacity for taking | pains’’ possessed by him. With the soul | of a poet and the mind of a man of busi- | ness of the first order, is it to be wondered | at that Napoleon was considered by his enemies to be dangerous to the world?| We quote: ! It is my desire to be economical at home so | 8s to make a good show abroad,” said he. | “For myself, when 1 had the honor to be & sub- | lieutenant I found that I could live very well upon 1200 francs a year, and it would be ro | hardship for me to go back to it. This extrav- | agance of the palace must be stopped. For example, I see by your accounts that 155 cups of coffee are drunk & day, which, with sugar st 4 francs and coffee at 5 {rancs a pound, come to 20 sous a cup. The stable bills are 8150 too high, At the present price of fodder 7or 8 fraucs a week should be enough for each horse in a stable of 200. Iwill not have any waste at the Tuileries. And this, after discussing army and naval estimates running into the hun- dreds of thousands! Verily, after the gentle Louis, France asked and received a man capable of more than merely carrying eight yards of ermine with dig- nity, or of riding after a stag in the forest of Fontainebleau. An amusing incident in Dr, Doyle’s his- torical novel is the small encounter of tongues between Napoleon and his Minis- ter Talleyrand. The first Minister of En- rope, as is testified to by many a historical anecdote, was ready of speech to a remark- able degree, and one of his few titles to | respect is the fact that ne always met | Napoleon upon equal terms and never" fuwned upon him nor flattered him. In | the present instance Napoleon is sounding | his attaches as to what action they would | acrity that he forsook his master. be remembered. to his account, however, take in the event of his exile. To Talley- rand he remark “You would change very quickly to anew master as you have changed from an old one. You have & genius, you know, for adapting yourself.” " wYou think I wou'd desert you, sire, if your enemies offered me more than you have given | me?” “I am perfectly sure you would.” “Well, really, I cannot answer for myself, sire, natil the offer has been made; but it will have to be & very large one. You sce, apart from my very nice hotel in the Rue St. Floren- tin and 200,000 francs or so which you are pleased 10 allow me, there is my position as | Really, sire, un- | less they put me on the throne I cannot see | the first Minister in Europe. how I can better my position.” ‘No. I think I have you pretty safe,” said | Napoleon, looking hard at him with thought- ful eyes. His mistrust of Talleyrand was justi fied, as is well known from history. The astute diplomatist wanted little urging to become a renegade, and it was with al- 1t will that he was a strong advocate of the free- dom of the French press, to which Na- poleon was strenuously opposed, “An editor | Whatis he?” asked Napoleon. “A dirty man with a pen in & back office. And he will talk hike one of the great Powers of Europe. 1 have had enough of this ireedom of the press. There are some who would like to see it establisned in Paris. You are among them, Talleyrana. for any paper at all except the Moniteur, by which the Governmeut may make knowu its | decisions to the people.’” The narrative leaves Napoleon encamped upon the northern coast of France, pre- pared to invade England. The atiempt was abortive, but the inner thoughts of the daring conqueror, who was prepared to give Scotland aad Ireland s:parate con- stitutions and to legisiaie for the middle classes at the expense of the rich, thus creating a following, are well pictured to us by his latest chronicler. We welcome the effort of Dr. Doyle to branch out in the line of literature so successfully fol- | lowed by William Harrison Ainsworth, It | and wish him success in his venture. will takea few good books like **Uncle Bernac” to remove the taste of the dime novel imparted by Mr. Sheriock Holmes, and to give his creator a reputation asa romantic historian rather t an as an imi- tator, no matter how accomplished, of Emile Gaboriau and his school. Exasver Evzas. HISTORICAL BOOKS OF THE YEAR. One of the interesting discussions at the late meeting of the American Library Association in Philadelphia was the one on the historical books of the year, led by J.N. Larned, who has recently rexigned as superintendent of the Buffalo Public Library. This is a subject upon which Mr. Larned is well qualified to spesk, for he 1s 8 broad-minded librarian in the e of the word. What he says upon the subject of history and historical works is gen- erally well worth corsideration. Mr. Larned has given special at:ention to historical beoks | for many years. ing the discus: ion, Mr. Larned said stood history in its broad meaning to vel and blography. He did rot here had been ihe usual amount of aportaut historical writings during the year. Omit biography and travel, e remarked, and it would be a very slender l!st. The first book which he mentioned was Lecky's “Political Value of History,” distincuy one of great value, he believed, and one which presents | very clearly and accurstely some important ideas with regard to the influence which the study of history should have upon our views and opinions, which combats, on the one hand, the Carlylean herc-worship, which would mske cverything of personal influence in history, and, on the oiher, the Bu theories, which would reduce personsi in- fluence to nothing, and make all historical movements a matter of mech "s and mathe- matics. “This book,”” he concluded, “is a very valuable and important correction of those extremely wrong theories in two direc- tions.”” Andrews’ ¢‘His ern Europe” he considered very valuable, for e resson that it goes over the ground which Fife traversed in a different way, andina wey which is both interesting and instruetive, dealing with the history of Europe as a whole, gathering up the events which influenced Europe at large during the important h 1t of the present century,into one large view, instead of following them chronologi- cally in the history of each distinct nation. Poultney Bigclow’s work rather tae style of journalism. A similar remark was applied to Andrews' “His- tory of the Last Quarter Century in the United States.” Mr. Larned rated it superior to the same author’s two-volume history of the Uni~ ted States, although partakiug rather of the caaracter of journalism than of permanent histors. Arber’s “Story of the Pilgrim Fathers” was favorably noticed as the most important book of recent times connected with early New England history. In treating of Burgess' Middle Period,” in the American History Series, Mr, Larned said 1t was “a very difficnlt book to read; at least, I have found it so, and I have known others who have found it so, becrase the style is bad, but the matter of the history is, generally speaking, very good. It is open to the criticism, perhaps, that there is a little leaning backward in the attempt to be very impartial, as between North and South, as between slavery and anti-slavery; almost 10 the prejudice of the anti-slavery view some- times; but still, it is an honest attempt to deal fairly with those great questions, and I be- lieve, on the whole, it deals with them more fairly than any other work I know of, or more thoughtfully, more fully and instruetively. " Mr. Larned expressed doubts whether Ed- ard Eggleston’s “Beginnings of a Nation” quite comes up to the expectations formed of | it on its appearance. The chapter dealing with Roger Williams and the early history of Rhode Island he cor.sidered, however, the best treatment of that subject he knew of. Under biography Sloane’s “Life of Napoleon” and Mshan’s “Life of Lord Nelson” were ranked as almost the two most important his- torical books of the year. Mr. Larned spoke of the translations of the Jesuit Relations, now being published under the guidance of Reuben Goldthwaiies, sec- retary of the Wisconsin Historical Society, us one of the important publications of the year, and in the general discus- sion Vice-President James K. Hosmer said: “It is likely to bricg great 1ame to Mr. Gold- thwaites and is going 10 be & work of the very first historical importance, recognized, I think, as such all over the civiiized world. Mr. Larned #lso paid a worthy tribute to the For my pariIsee no need | torical Development of Mod- | firs | “History of the German | | Struggle for Liberty” was termed a plece oft him a phenomenal reputation. into prominence. # A GONAN Although still a young man, his s Dr. A. Conan Doyle, whose remarkable work, ‘“Uncle Bernac,” is noticed on this page, is regarded as one of the most successful writers of contemporary fiction. His “* Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ™ will be remembered as having first brought him historical romances have earned for | fac-simile edition of the manuscript Bradford | history, which has just been restored to | America. “Generally speaking,” ne added, | "t seems to me that it is a little questionable to make fac-similes. 1 doubt & good deal the expediency of such a work as that undertaken | by B. F. Stevens—the production in fac-simile to & very great extent of a vast amount of dip- | lomatic correspondence by statesmen mot very distinguished; but in the case of a work Like the Bradford manuscript it is well worth | while to have it in fac-simile.” ONE OF Z0QLA’S. HIS EXCELLENCY—By Emile Zola. New York: The Macmillan Company. Price §1 50. There are few writers about whose Works o h anextreme divergence of opinion exists as concerning the novels of Emile Zoia. By | some his stories are set down &s beiug 5o bad | asto Jeserve a total taboo, beceuse however accurately and skiilfully he may portray cer- | tain phases of hie it s held that these ugly realities are not proper for the uses of artand should be as far as possible shut outof the thoughts. Others regard him ss not only a wonderful master in the art of legitimate | realism but as one who by his rare powers of | picturing vice wields an influence for the im- | proving of morals. A friendly eritic, speaking of the fact that Zola had becn called a “cac- tus,” says that the comparison was a very happy one, ‘“for I defy anybody, even the smuggest of hypocrites, to read M. Zola's ! works without some prickings of conscience.” The present work is a political novel with the scene laid in the time of Napoleor I1I, and it does not contaln much that would offend | even a fastidious moral refinement. In the description of the women who play & conspicu- ous part in the political game of the period there 1s a taint of the coarseness that the very name of Zola suggests. It is neither en- nobling 1or pleasing to guze on the portraits | of such creatures, and the sensual side of life appears to deliberately obtrude itself upon the reader’ s attention, while the writer is prudent enough to keep safely within the limits of de- cency. of prominent people of the time, and the prin- cipal incidents are very close to the historic iacts. One of the best pieces of art in the novel is the description of a horsewhipping, delivered half in piay and half in earnest by a voung woman to & man whose wooing she had challenged, and piquancy is given to the story by & hunt in the preface that this very adventure was experienced by the Emperor nimself. BY A BLIND AUTHOR. THE GENESIS OF SHAKESPEARE'S ART— By Kdwin James Dunning. Eoston: Lee & Shepard. Price $2. The sonnets and the poems of the Bard of Avon have b2en given most elaborate and Joving study by this writer, whose blindness, coming upon him in middle life, forced his re- tirement from active duty in his protesslon and led him to seek solace for his misfortune and occupation for his mind by committing to memory the masterpieces of his favorite authors. After memorizing large portions of the plays of Shakespeare his attention was callea to the sonnets, and he became so en- amored of them that he learned the whole 154 of these by heart. As a resultof this familiarity with these products of the great genius he thinks he has discerned a unity of thought and purpose running through the whole, and in these pages of rather closely printed exposition has attempted with con- Tne characters of the book are counterparts | siderable ingenuity and eloquence to make out his case. The central idea of the book is that the youth addressed throughout the sonnets with | such glowing admiration is a purely imagin- | ary character—his ideal and his muse—who | was to him, as Beatrice is said to have been to Dante, “the inspiration of his geniusand the | soul of his poetic life.” | The author’s study of “Venus and Adonis’ convinced hiia that the poem was an allegory with his muse for subject. There is the same idea often expressed in the sonnets that | genius must not be permitted to die without | creating something that will perpetuate itself | to the delight ot the worid. In the case of | this poem the theory that the amatory verses | are intended to convey some profoundly | figurative meaning wiii be found by many | more difficult to accept than in the explana- tion of the sonnets. | Probably tne most just adverse criticism that conld be made on tne evidently careful, work of this enthusiast is that it is too long strung out. True or mistaken, the idea is & | pretty one and forcefully pur, but to elaborate | the single thoughtto the extent of & good-sized | volume is perhaps more than it 1s worth. Condensed into & booklet, the conception would have been of more value to the literary | world. 1t is not likely that any lovers of | Shakespeare’s works would have taken the sonnets so literally #s to suppose they con- tained a record of the gross folly of the poet. However, for those who have leisure to ex- haustively study the king of literature this blind man’s loving appreciation of him, “with | ;hat inner eye which no calamity could darken,” will be an ald to see beauties other- wise overlooked. THE MOTTOES OF MEN. Are there ever people who, adopting a motto, keepup toit? Mr. Stead has been trying to collect the mottoes of leaaing English people, literary and other, addressing them directly with *‘Please return by post, and find stamp inclosed.” Mr. Rhodes’ reply was: Iam sorry I cannot send you, as desired, my motto. The reason is { distike making pubiic my secret thougnts, and 1 do not care to have my | name subscribed to what might be termed a flabby epigram. Mr. Zangwill says: 1 cannot recollcct ever having been helped most by any particular saying, quotation or pas- sage. Mr. Burnand is more general: Except, perhaps, *Do unto others as you would | they should do to you,” { am not aware of any wiprecept, saylug, verse, teXt or quoiation” thut I have found particuiarly useful. Ihave seen them up as “ornamental” in roOms where lexts and mottoes were used for decorative purposes. As a rule, I shouid say texts do serve decoratively. Mr. Gladstone declined in this way: Very regretfully I find myself unable to comply with your request, as It would expose me 10 the peckings and ravages of & multitude of birds of prey which are Always striviog to peck me in pleces. Mr. Labouchere was ready enough to for- ward his pet motto, which was: Tell the truth and shame the devil. That was & fine one, but not precisely a motto, sent by a rear-admiral: The frontlers of England are the coasts of the enemy. This idea of Holman Hunt's is admirable: £ 1t nas always been a pain to me that s0 much of personal display that cannot be avolded has to be made by an artist in the present day. Miss Ellen Terry’s reply (from “John Ingle- sant’’) was very grandiloquent indeed: Nothing but the Infinite pity is sufficient for the Infinite pathos of human life. That was a blessed speech Sir Walter Scott | made, and it was almost his last word. He had no motto, but he did his best to be honest in this world: For myself, my dears, I am unconscious of ever having done any man an ivjury, or omitted any fair means of doing any man a beaefit. We should sav that Mr. Burnana's answer wes an excellent one, Mottoes are “decora- tive” things generaily, and we rarely live up to them. Yet the miser adheres closely to this one: Take everything: give nothing. “The aevil take the hindmost” is the policy of many. THE LOTOS LIBRARY. MRS. CRICHTON'S CR; snder. Philadelphia: J Price 76 cents. A 1ittle pocket-size novel, bound in buckram and decorated with lotos leaves. It tells the oft-repeated story of & man in love with an- other'’s wife. The woman is ill treated and unhappy, and the husband js absorbed in a craze for money-getting. The story is pure, and lover and loved are noble in their sffection. The tale is of mediocre merit, but differs from the usual novels of this type by having a heroic instead of a happy ending. A NOVEL FOR THE POCKET. THE TOUCHSTONE OF LIFE—By Ella Mac- Msahon. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Com- pany. A long contest in love and politics between two brothers—the elder illegitimate and the younger an Earl—ends at last in the mutual recognition of each other’s merits. The char- acter of the elder brother, Clay Ivor, is an un- usually strong one, ana is well drawn. The touchstone of life referred to is love, and the woman in the case decides that both men haa loved her truly, ana she declares, “Love is the test—the true touchstone.’” ABOUT EVOLUTION. ON THE OUTER RIM: STUDIES IN WIDER EVOLUTION—By George E. Wright. Chicago: Alfred C. Clark. An eighty-six page booklet which argues that evolution if true must be universal Hence man will continue to improve until he reaches intellectual and spirituai perfection. In s chapter on the religion of the future the author says that it will be so tolerant “that notonly will it recognize the good in other religious systems, decadent though they may be, but it will not hesitate to incorporate into itself the most valuable of the iruths they dis- covered.” LOVE AND PHILANTHROPY. DEAR FAUSTINa—By Rhoda Broughton. New York: Appleton & Co. Kor sale in this City by Wiltiam Doxey, Palace Hotel. = Price 50 ceus. A story in which the incidentsin the lives of people laboring in various schemes prompted by the love of humanity in general ere ming.ed with the romance of the love of man and woman for each other. The book opens with a satirical account of how a mother, carried away with the wish 1o do something for the so-called emancipation of her scx, un- naturally neglects her children. There is nothiag speeially clever in the work, ITOR—By Mrs. Alex- . Lippincott Company. HERE AND THERE. Mark Twain has left London onm a visit [ the Continent. Mr. Ruskin’s health has improved, and he is interesting himseli in the publication of the scape painting. Sarah Grand ison the warpath again,and her forthcoming novel will not oniy be “a study of & woman’s |ife from the cradle to the grave,” but the subject of heredity will be seriously dealt with. Alas, alas! Another problem novel, just when we deemed the cult had died a natural death. Heinemann of London witl publish the book. The passion for pamphlet magazines has reached Eogland. In the Awti-Philistine, Messrs. J. & H. Crowley, of London and Edin- burgh, much attention is being paid to Ameri- can writers. Selections from the work of Eugene Field, Ambrose Bierce, Stanley Water- loo, Opie Read and Percival Poliard are ap- pearing in the pages of this periodical. A Queen’s barber is certainly a somebody, and M. jean Leonard was Marie Antoinette’s coiffeur. Necessarily M. Leonard was a master friseur and gossip, M. Teixeira de Mattos | has translated the memoirs of the barber, and the volume will be illustrated. Marie An- toinette, en peignoir, poor lady, must have been charming. William Black has been coaxed out of his view.” He has confessed that he is nota great admirer of the “ka rd school,” and says, “When they deseribe heather as bloom ing in the spring I give them up. characterizes as delightful. The circumstance that M. Zola and the late Henri Meilhac began life in a similer capa- city is nou very well known. They were both, as youths, e.aploved in the shop of the famous Parisian Hatchee & Co. Meilhac’s work consisted of from the shelves, Zola’s i packing them up. In a letter to one of the London papers, Miss lder, writing sbout large sums paid to Eng: lish authors by American publishers, says “I do not think that our pubiishers are in addresses delivered by him at Oxford on lana- | shell and put through the “ordeal by inter- | He ad- | mires J. M. Barrie’s work, however, which he | booksellers and publishers, Messrs. | climbing the ladders and fetching the books | any mood to take plunges in the dark, They have done eunough of this sort of thing. The head of onme of our largest firms seid to me recently that he in- tended 10 pay no more fancy prices for names, and, what was more, he did not intend to buy any suthor’s manuscript until he had seen it. A wise conclusion, i | rived avafter some sad experiences.” Newsnaperdom, ha: 1 who does not appreciate the paper and who writes in the foliowing fervid fashion order- ing the discontinusnce of it: you to stop my paper i want you to stop it {am | ketting enough of your scheme to make me take your paper i state once more i don t want your dog gon old paper the post Mrs. has noti- fied you and she has got record of it and if you don’t stop the dam thing i will give yous piece of my mind. Stop that paper i haven't taken home none of them out of the ofes.” Some one has been collecting specimens of odd edvertisements in Chicago. ‘‘Get your daily bread from this wagon” is on & baker's cart. “Our bicycle ambulance will call for crippled wheals,” reads a sign. A shoestore advertises, “Quality, all kinds; prices, your kind.” A knowing druggist has this piacard in the window: ‘‘Come in—buy & stamp, wait for the car, or consult the directory.” *“The One-Arm Laundry is on the South Side. will shake you for the drinks” is a saloonist’s announcement. An undertaker has a sign in his window proclaiming the fact that he hasa good line of caskets on hand, and that he gives | 10 per cent off for cash Sixty-1wo years have passed since Mrs. Fel- icia Dorothea iemans, the poetess, passed away, and Liverpool is now considering the A prize fund for Iyrical poetry probably will Do raised and given in trust to University | College of that city. It might be more appro- priate to erect a tablet to Mrs, Hemans' mem- ory in the little Church of St. Anne’s, in Dub- lin, where she les burled. In fact, says the Philadelphia Record, Liverpool is doing a gratultous deed in establishing this fund, for Mirs. Hemans thought the Liverpudlians of her own day stupid and provincial. Though born there, her father wasan Irishman and | her mother a German. She spent her child- hood in wild Wales and her happier agein Sdinburgh and Dubiin. But whatever the memoriel may be, or wherever located, it will <‘ be a pleasant tribute of posterity wo the singer of “Casabianca,” The Lost Pleiad” and “The Pilgrim Fathers.” A feature of Professor Drummond’s charac- ter, which has been missed by many who have given an estimate of the men, was his humor, says a wnter in The Bookman. There wasa stately gravity sbout him, which kept out- siders from seeing the playful side of his nature, yet he was fond of little practical jokes, and could hoax his friends to perfec- ton, An old student friend of his relates that the last time he saw him was at & dinner to which they had been invited to meet a Lon- don celebrity, who was to address & meeting afterward. Drummond came over to his friend and whispered, “Do you waat to go to this meeting?”’ He shook his head a little and then said, with a touen of mischief in his eye, “We'llrun.” They took an early oppor- tunity, when everybody was attending to the celebrity, Yo slip out, and went along to Drum- mond’s house with the glee of two schoolboys playing truant. Drummond enjoyed tne es- cape hugely, and chuckled with glee over the, joke they had played on the celebrated man. They had got his honey, he said, without his sting. In a recent issue of Colliers Weekly, to which he contributes an interesting depart- ment, Mr. Edgar Saltus laments the increase “long since done its worst to discourage the collecting of books. The trouble, according to him, is that in the multiplicity of books we have almost lost the habit of reading, and quite lost the desire for collecting. There are published in this country, he says, five novels s day; of these a hundred live three months; fifty, six months, and two reach the ripe old age of one year, The proportion of other works that are pun- lished and live is not much greater. To such an extent even,” he continues, “does mortal- ity prevail among them that it is difficult to thumb the anuual catalogue of American Literature without comparing it to a fat Hic Jacet, = cemetery of epitaphs of dead, decomposed, {utile and 1orgotten efforts.” Why does Mr. Saltus blsme the publisners for this unhappy state of things? They are not coaxing people to write books. In fact, ac- cording to some wonld-be authors, they stand at the gate with drawn sword to cut down the literary aspirant when he shows his head, re- versing the familiar saying by proving the sword to be mightier than the pen, cems to me, and one ar- | “We | erection of a local memorial in her honor, | sadiy, feeling that there was no nelp for it, | or, The Big Strike on Heavy Tree Hill.” of the publisher’s trade, which he says has'/ The editor of the Louisiana (Mo.) Press, says | t least one subseriber | | livpe Gille. “Pryson 1 rote | | | LITERARY NOTES. “Opals,” by Olive Custance, is the latest vol- ume of verse published by John Lane. Henry M. Blossom Jr., the author.of “Check- s, is in the Adirondacks working at his new story. Mr. Meredith’s volume of selected poems will be issued shortly. In some cases the author has revised his verse, A new and cheap edition of Professor Drum- mond’s “The Ascent of Man”” has been pub- 1ished in England by Messrs. Hoader & Stough- ton, Ouida is still hard at work. We have head “The Masserenes.” Now comes ‘‘Le Seive,’ and in a short time Ouida’s “Altruist” will appear. The Zola Publishing Company, Ironwood, Mich., announces a “Dictionary of Classical and Foreign Quotations, Words and Phrases,” by F. Russell Harr, J. B. Lippincott Company has secured the American hook rights of Conan Doyle's new s10/y nOW ruuning serially n she Strand Mag azine, entitled “The Tragedy of the Korosk Ginn & Co. have in preparation “Specimens of the pre-Shakesperian Drama,” edited, with an introduction and notes, by Joun Matthew Manley, assistant professoc in Brown Univer- sity. John Lane has just published & “Jubiles Greeting at Spithesd to the men ot Greater Britain” by Theodore Watis-Dunton, with its dedication to our great contemporary-writer of patriotic poetry, Aigernon Charles Swine burne. Under the editorship of Percy Fitzgerald wa are to have a new edition of Boswell’s “Life of Johnson.” The volume will be royal octavo. A unique feature will be a biographical dic- tionary of every rerson mentioned by Bos- well. Thomas Whittaker announces the book for the 1st of Septembe; The Book Buyer, pubiished by Charles Serib- ner's Sons, New York, has just completed its fourteenth volume. Itisan admirable maga- zine for all who are desirous of keeping paca with modern literature and are at the same time capable of appreciating well-written no- 1ces of books of the past. It is said that Hail Caine spent months in studying what may be termed subterranean London in order 1o obtain material for & por- tion of his new romance, “The Christian.” The titles of the four parts into which the story is divided are: “The Outer World,” “The Religious Life,” “The Devi’s Acre” and “Sanctuary.” Boussod, Valadon & Co. have just issued the sixth and concluding fascicule of the +1897 igaro-Salon,” with deseriptive text by I'h The full-page colored plate ac- companying tnis part is a reproduction of Francois Lafor’s painting entitled “Declara- tion de Guerre entre le Rolde France et 'Em- pereur d’Autriche, en 1792, A new collective edition of the complete works of James Whitcomb Riley will be 1ssued by the Scribner’s in the autumn, similar in form to the editions of Kipling, Barrie and Eugeue Field. The first volume of this new “Homestead Edition,” with a photogravure portrait of the author for frontispiece, will bs published in October and the set will be com- | pleted in ten or twelve volumes. Me srs. Methuen will issue in October the first volume of Mr. Oman’s “History of the Artof War,” says the London Athenmum. It will cover the period from tne fall of the Ro- man Empire to the commencement of the gen- eral use of gunpowder in Western Europe, The first battle dealt with will be Adrianople (378) and the last Navarette (1367). There will appear later & volume dealing with the art of war among the ancients, and another covering the fifteenth, sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries. A. C. McClurg & Co. will publish in the fall Miss Marguerite Bouvel's new book, “A Littls House in Pimlico”; a new book by Miss Eliza- beth Wormeley Latimer, ‘‘Spain in the Nine- teenth Century,” and a new book by Lieuten- ant Herbert H. Sargent, entitied ‘‘The Cam- paign ot Marengo.” They have also in prepara- tion a companion volume to the fine limited edition of Mme. de Sevigne's letters, the title of which the publishers are not yet prepared to announce. Like its predecessor, the new volume will be of very daiaty character in all points of manufacture, and embellished with photogravure portraits and views. Andrew Lang’s annual Christmas volume will this year be entitled “The Pink Fairy Book.” Itwill have numerous fllustrations drawn by H. J. Ford. Mr. Lang is editing for Longmans, Green & Co. a series of selections from the poets. Each volume will contain “that portion of the works of the writer which in critical opinion most deservesimmortality.” The first volume will be “Wordsworth," illus- trated by Alired Parsons, and subsequent Dbooks will contain selections from Scott, Cole- ridge, Byron and other poets. The annoancement of a new novel by Bret Harte has become familiar reading, but one thing which should give his admirers as much satisfaction as Mr. Harte and his publishers doubtless derive from it is less generally known, This is the fact that his popularity, as manifested in seles, remains unbroken. For each new book that he writes there is the same sure demand as for the last. This time the new story is to be called “Three Partners It was announced for publication in the spring, but has been unavoidably delayed, and is now just ready. The Macmilian Company announces an at- tractive holiday book entitled ‘‘Singing Verses for Children.” It will contain a group of eighteen songs set 1o music ana illustratea. They are designed to b2 sung by children as ‘well as to children, and will be brought out in & way that will attract both musicians and children, who will find in it a beautiful picture ook with simple musicand verse of attractive rhythm. The verses are by Lydia Avery Coonley. The Macmillans have also in preparation the “Story of Gladstone's Life,”” by Justin McCarthy., This has been running serially in the Outlook and will be ready for book publi- cation within the coming month. There is no man or woman who d0es not re- member “The Night Before Christmas,'’ but without knowing who wrote those famous verses. The G. W. Dillingham Company, New York, announces for immediate publication “The Night Before Christmas,” first issued in 1823, with a history of the origin ot the poem. a fac-simile of the original manuscript, to- gether with an introductors sketen of the author, Dr. Clement C. Moore, by William §. Pelletresu. The same company hasalso ready Rdward W. Townsend’s “Near a Whole City Full” °with filty drawings by F. A. ankivell. Any book by the author of “Chim- mie Fadden” will be In esger demand. Tue other publications by the Dillingham Com- pany will be “The Worst Boy in Schooi,” “Paul Ralston,” by Mary J. Holmes, and May | Agues Fleming’s “Wedded for Pique.”