Books of the Month

Literature and Criticism. Mr. Palgrave’s now classic Golden Treasury of the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language has received a continuation, embracing selections from the works of recent and living English poets, by John Foster Kirk. (Lippi i matt.) Mr. Kirk, in his admirable preface, shows that he clearly apprehends the limitations which Mr. Palgrave accepted ; he has not touched the original work, but has simply added a fifth book, which represents the lyrical work of the last half century, and is dominated by Tennyson. Since Wordsworth closed Mr. Palgrave’s book, we have here the next great poetic epoch; for Mr. Kirk has disregarded Mr. Palgrave’s rule to admit the work of the dead only. The book contains only English verse, and is a valuable sequel. —A Day in Athens with Socrates (Scribners) is a little volume consisting of translations from the Protagoras and the Republic of Plato. The translation is in excellent English, and an interesting introduction brings the subject of the work out of the range of bare scholasticism into that of current thought. — A curiosity of literature appears in Brinton’s Library of Aboriginal American Literature, under the title, of The Güegüence, a comedy-ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish dialect of Nicaragua, edited by Daniel G. Brinton (Philadelphia). Mr. Brinton says that it is the only specimen known to him of the native American comedy. As the great progenitor, therefore, of American humor, it ought to receive careful attention; and such it would seem to need before the humor can be discovered. It is rough horse-play and certainly very curious, while the liberal annotations and vocabulary of the editor supply all necessary help to those who would make a serious study of it. — In the Riverside Literature Series (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.), W. C. Gannett has prepared a helpful little Studies in Longfellow, outlines for schools, conversation classes, and home study. Mr. Gannett works upon a plan which he has already tested, and his manual will be found of essential service to those who make a study of poetry, and do not merely entertain themselves with it.

Science and Philosophy. Where did Life Begin ? is a question asked by G. Hilton Scribner (Scribners), and answered by him in a brief monograph to the effect that it began in the Arctic zone; “and now,” he closes, “cold and lifeless, wrapped in her snowy winding sheet, the once fair mother of us all rests in the frozen embrace of an ice-bound and everlasting sepulchre.” The book is a small one, and is written so clearly and even picturesquely that one at all interested in such subjects will not lay it down until he has finished it.

History and Politics. O Abolicionismo, by Joaquim Nabuco (Abraham Kingdon A Co., London), deals with the subject as related to Brazilian history.— Anecdotes of the Civil War in the United States, by Brevet Major-General E. D. Townsend (Appleton), is an entertaining collection of stories, told in a simple, unaffected manner in print by one who has told them often by word of mouth. The absence of egotism on the part of the narrator adds to the general air of truthfulness. — The History of Democracy considered as a party name and as a political organization, by Jonathan Norcross (Putnams), is an arraignment of the Democratic party in the United States, with scarcely a reference to the fundamental article in the Democratic creed, state-rights, and certainly with no examination of it.—Mrs. Darling’s Letters (John W. Lovell Co., New York) is a collection of letters written by Mrs. Flora Adams Darling, who will be recognized as having made persistent claims upon the United States for losses incurred during the rebellion. The letters, addressed to Judge Norton and various people, not only cover the matter of her claim, but relate many personal adventures before, during, and after the war.— A Sketch of the Life and Times and Speeches of Joseph E. Brown, by Herbert Fielder (Springfield Printing Co., Springfield, Mass.). This is a conglomerate volume, which belongs here rather than under biography. It begins with a description of Georgia. followed by a chapter of reminiscences by Mr. Brown, who was governor of Georgia, Governor Brown’s early life is sketched, apparently by Mr. Fielder; and then there comes the bulk of this large volume in the shape of documents, letters, and narratives, relating chiefly to the Confederate movements so far as Georgia was concerned. An appendix gives Governor Brown’s speeches when U. S. Senator. The book contains material for history.

Biography. A Memorial, with Reminiscences, Historical, Personal and Characteristic, of John Farmer, A. M., is the title of a little volume in which an old friend, John Le Bosquet, has portrayed the New Hampshire antiquarian in an affectionate and interesting manner. He is not above telling the color of Dr. Farmer’s trousers, but with all the homeliness of the reminiscences there is also a tender and true perception of the nobility of the character.

Poetry. Those who like snatches of poetry from unexpected sources should possess themselves of a little volume, Rhymes of a Barrister. (Little, Brown & Co.) It has only eighty pages, can be read in less time than the evening paper takes, and will leave upon the ear the pleasant music of some melodious songs, some clever bits of translation, and some deft lines. — Mr. George Lunt’s Poems (Cupples, Upham & Co.) are set to a variety of keys, and have a freedom and ease which make them easily read, He is a somewhat belated singer, one feels constrained to say, coming in these latter days with his unhappy views of a nation which has staggered through a civil war and is hard at work upon many designs of national wellbeing. Not that poetry is not sometimes good for reproof, but Mr. Lunt’s reproving poetry seems aimed at retrospective evils. — The Nazarene, by George H. Calvert. (Lee & Shepard.) — The Happy Isles and other Poems by S. H. M. Byers (Cupples, Upham & Co.), is a tasteful little volume of agreeable poems, in which the sentiment is unstrained and the measure is musical for the most part. — A Royal Pastoral, and other Poems, by John Gosse (E. & J. B. Young & Co.,New York), is a medley of poems, religious, satirical, sentimental, didactic, lyrical, humorous, in which the author lets loose his mind, not especially freighted with wisdom or poetry.

Hygiene and Domestic Life. Voice, Song, and Speech, a Practical Guide for Singers and Speakers, from the combined view of Vocal Surgeon and Voice Trainer, by Lennox Browne and Emil Behnke (Putnams), is an octavo volume, illustrated by wood-engravings and photographs, in which the two authors, representing the two sides of the subject, have united to give the physiological foundation and the experimental application. — For Mothers and Daughters, a manual of hygiene for women and the household, by Mrs. E. G. Cook, M. D. (Fowler & Wells), contains the customary admonitions and advice. — A Bachelor’s Talks about Married Life and things adjacent, by William Aikman (Fowler A Wells), is a series of chapters upon the minor morals of the home, sensible though rather wordy.

Art. Mr. Edward Armitage’s Lectures on Painting, delivered to the students of the Royal Academy, have been published (Putnams), and have the attractiveness which belongs to the half-formal, half-familiar talk of an artist of experience. Mr. Armitage mingles history, criticism, and practical advice. It is a pity that so agreeable and otherwise useful a book should lack an index.

Fiction. Jackanapes, by Juliana Horatia Ewing, with illustrations by Randolph Caldecott (S. P. C. K., London, E. & J. B. Young & Co., New York), is a mannered and yet sincere little story of English village life at the close of the last century. It is a trifle, less than fifty pages, but written with great care. — Topelius’s Surgeon’s Stories (Jansen, McClurg & Co.) is continued by the publication of the Times of Charles XII. The fiction by which a family group listens to stories and interrupts them with questions gives a continuity to the series, but somewhat interferes with the flow of the narrative.—Hope’s Heart Bells, a romance by Mrs. S. L. Oberhaltzer (Lippincott), is a story of which the characters are for the most part Quakers, but the Quaker element scarcely goes beyond the use of thee. A parcel of boys and girls are shaken together, and after some three hundred pages come out young men and young women, but some juvenile traits cling to them. — Under the title of The Crusaders (Peabody, Macey & Co., New York), Emma R. Norton has written a story of the Women’s Temperance movement of 1873-74,which is in the main a series of conversations between women engaged in the crusade and the men whom they attempted to influence. It is, from its nature, a very religious work.—Morning News Library is the title of a fiction series issued by J. H. Estill, Savannah, Georgia; the eighteenth number is entitled The Rescue, a Virginia story, by Miss Janey B. Hope; the Virginia is that of the middle of the last century. — In Harper’s Franklin Square Library the latest numbers which we have received are All in a Garden Fair, the simple story of three boys and a girl, by Walter Besant; A Noble Wife, by John Saunders; Adrian Bright, by Mrs. Caddy; A Great Heiress, by R. E. Franc illon; Jenifer, by Annie Thomas; Annan Water, by Robert Buchanan; An April Day, by Philippa Prittie Jephson; Round the Galley Fire, a collection of sea sketches and stories; and The Millionaire.

Books for Young People. The Boys of ThirtyFive, a story of a seaport town, is a bright reminiscence, thrown into boy-story form, of Portland, under the disguise of Landsport, by E. H. Elwell (Lee & Shepard). One does not need to have been a Down-Easter to enjoy the rough heartiness of the book.—Aunt Charlotte’s Stories of American History, by Charlotte M. Yonge and H. Hastings Weld (Appleton), is a series of stories in which the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and other American states are run together in a queer fashion. The Aunt follows commonly received authorities and the Church of England in her treatment of the country. The book is colorless rather than impartial, but it has the advantage of being written in good English. It would not be difficult to follow after and show where the Aunt has been misled, but the general truthfulness is of the most account.