Comment on New Books
Books of Reference. We cannot welcome the sixth and final volume of The Century Dictionary (The Century Co.) without expressing again our admiration at the administrative skill which has accomplished the great feat of carrying out the enterprise within the time set for it. In this respect it should be honorably bracketed with the English Biographical Dictionary. The present volume, which runs from Strub to Zyxomma, clearly closes the list of words, unless some one shall invent a word of which the first three letters shall be z y z. Now we look at it, we are not sure but this is a word itself. It looks as if it meant something. We present it to The Century Co. There is, besides, a List of Amended Spellings recommended by the Philological Society of London and the American Philological Association ; also a List of Writers Quoted and Authorities Cited in the Dictionary, — a very interesting list, and really serving quite well the needs of a brief biographical dictionary of authors, since each writer is characterized, and the date of birth and death given, or of birth alone. We are rather surprised to see references made to The Atlantic, when the name of the author of the article cited could readily be ascertained. With good judgment, a long list is given of the words beginning with un, which require no further elucidation. — Now that The Century Dictionary is completed, the reader who likes to take his dictionary serially, in order to linger over its attractions, may congratulate himself that the Oxford or New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Macmillan) still continues, and is likely to satisfy him for some time to come. Part VI., Clo— Consigner, is the latest to appear. Dr. Murray writes an interesting prefatory note, calling attention to the more important features of this particular part, such as the space occupied by the verb “ come,” which fills twenty-three columns, the largest space yet claimed by any word in the dictionary (The Century has six columns on the same word) ; the derivation and form-history of cockatrice, cockney, congeon, closh, clough, clow, comely ; the sense-development of such words as clerk, cloth, club, coal, coat, cock, cock-a- hoop, cock-sure, etc. ; the origin and early history of words lately incorporated in the language, as coach, coco, cocoa, coffee, colonel, cornet, communism. But these are features which characterize the entire work, and the reader never wearies of turning the pages of this dictionary, for it is at once an armory and a museum. — Literary Landmarks of Edinburgh, by Laurence Hutton. (Harpers.) Those who have read, or, what is still better, used Mr. Hutton’s Literary Landmarks of London will feel great confidence in the painstaking thoroughness of his Edinburgh researches, as well as in the accuracy of the notes gathered therefrom. In tracing the haunts and habitations of the writers of a period extending from Drummond of Hawthornden to Carlyle, the author must have been greatly aided by the pride and interest in their literary as well as their historic landmarks felt by all sorts and conditions of Scottish men. Mr. Pennell’s drawings really illustrate the work ; but the many portraits could well have been spared, as most of them only disfigure an otherwise attractive book. — The eighth volume of Chambers’s Encyclopædia (Lippincott) confirms our judgment that the plan adopted is resulting in an admirably proportioned work, midway between the treatise-cyclopædia and the dictionary-cyclopædia. The range of this volume is from Peasant Proprietorship to Roumelia, and, as before, subjects of peculiar value in the United States are treated freshly and carefully. Such are Rocky Mountains, Phonograph, Protection, which is from a friendly hand. Indeed, the conductors appear throughout to have pursued the policy of having a subject treated from the point of view of one who believes in it, with only now and then an adverse note. Thus, the article on Mormons was written by a Mormon ; and in this volume Roman Catholic Church is by a temperate priest of that church, and is revised by Cardinal Manning. It is a little surprising that the last named should have assented to the prefix “ Roman.” — A Dictionary of Thoughts, being a Cyclopædia of Laconic Quotations, from the best Authors, both Ancient and Modern, by Tryon Edwards. (Cassell.) The work is alphabetically arranged by subjects, and the compiler, besides bringing out subjects one would expect to find, has a knack at selecting some which were suggested, probably, by the quotations he had in hand, like Intentions, Vicissitudes, Suretyship. Apparently he collected his thoughts, sometimes from authors, sometimes from other collections, and then indexed them by the most readily suggested word. The book is a convenient one to have, and some of the thoughts from obscure authors are just as good as those from well-known ones.
Theology, Religion, and Ethics. In that important undertaking, the International Theological Library, edited by Professors C. A. Briggs and S. D. F. Salmond (Scribners), the first volume is An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, by S. R. Driver. The author calls attention to the limits set to his task, since he is not dealing with the theology, or the history, or even the study of the Old Testament. The brevity of the papers on the separate books, also, was the result of spatial limitations. It should be said that the literature is treated from a scholar’s point of view, and there is scarcely any æsthetic consideration. The book will be found a succinct aid to the student through its close analyses and its bibliographical suggestions. — Sermons, by Frederic Henry Hedge. (Roberts.) Though most of these sermons are independent of time and place, it would have added to the interest of the volume if they had been dated. The sermon, for instance, on The Gospel of Manual Labor, — when was it preached ? Was Dr. Hedge an early advocate of training to manual labor, or a tardy prophet after the fact ? Everywhere there is a note of freshness, of vigor, of comprehensiveness, which we do not doubt characterized Dr. Hedge in his early as in his later days, yet we wish The Broad Church had been dated. — The Supreme Passions of Man, or The Origin, Causes, and Tendencies of the Passions of the Flesh : Setting forth the Results of Scientific Inquiries into the Appetites of Mankind, and the Passions which they Excite ; a Study of the Crimes of the Flesh and the Efforts of Christianity to Maintain Purity ; an Essay on the True Causes of Drunkenness, and the only Way to Prevent this Evil ; Observations on the Relation of Vice to the Laws of Nations ; and Existing Educational Systems. By Paul Paquin. (The Little Blue Book Co., Battle Creek, Mich.) So far the title page of this little papercovered book. The circus hardly corresponds to the poster. After so loud a promise, it is a little disappointing to find the main performance in the injunction, Eat less. — Application and Achievement, Essays, by J. Hazard Hartzell. Edited by his Sons. (Putnams.) Nine essays with Emersonian titles, Genius, Character, Manners, Adversity, and the like. There is a rhetorical showiness about the essays which gives them the air of having once been declaimed with considerable energy. Amid the din of the resounding words we detect the sound of excellent sentiments, but we think there would be more force if there were less racket. — The Natural History of Man, and the Rise and Progress of Philosophy, by Alexander Kinmont. (Lippincott.) The reissue of a volume of lectures delivered fifty years or so ago by a Scotchman who came to this country as a young man, embraced the doctrines of the New Church, and established himself as a teacher and preacher in Cincinnati. He was a vigorous thinker and speaker, and his writings show a singular admixture of shrewdness and mysticism.— The Business of Life, by the Author of How to be Happy though Married. (Scribners.) A series of inexpugnable moral observations on conduct, made lively reading by the pepper of anecdote. Let the world resolve itself into a mammoth Sunday-school concert and listen to this easy talker. — Evolution, its Nature, its Evidences, and its Relation to Religious Thought, by Joseph Le Conte. (Appleton.) A new edition of a striking book which appeared three years ago. The chapter on the relation of God to nature viewed in the light of the evolution doctrine is especially interesting. — Mind is Matter, or The Substance of the Soul, by “William Hemstreet. (Fowler & Wells.) The author hopes by his work to strengthen faith in immortality, but he stands upon a risky platform when he asserts : “ On the materiality of electricity stands or falls the immortality of the soul. Within two years this will be universally accepted.” — Thomas Carlyle’s Moral and Religious Development, a Study, by Edward Flügel. Translated from the German by Jessica Gilbert Tyler. (M. L. Holbrook & Co., New York.) A mosaic of Carlyle’s utterances, systematically arranged and consistently connected by the essayist. — The Crisis in Morals, an Examination of Rational Ethics in the Light of Modern Science, by James Thompson Bixby. (Roberts.) Mr. Bixby spends his strength mainly in controverting the views of Mr. Herbert Spencer ; but he does not confine himself to destructive criticism, for he essays a more constructive statement, which is interesting and effective. The conception which he presents of man as a conscious part of the universal organism is far more stimulating than the individualism which lies at the basis of Mr. Spencer’s creed. — The Story of the Childhood and Passion of the Lord Jesus, the Saviour, in the words of the Evangelists and Traditions, by John M. Klüh. (gift! La Salle Street, Chicago.) The peculiarity of this little work, apart from the fact that the compiler has picked and chosen from the apocryphal gospels to suit himself, lies in its typography, which is in an “ alfabet of forty-five letters,” and looks as if there had been a bad case of pi. — A Treatise on Wisdom, by Pierre Charron, paraphrased by Myrtilla H. N. Daly. (Putnams.) A reproduction, in convenient shape, of the substance of a famous work by a contemporary of Montaigne, in which the attempt was made to reduce the conduct of life to a systematic form, in which religion should play the part of an are light, illuminating, but not warming.— Gambling, or, Fortuna, her Temple and Shrine, the True Philosophy and Ethics of Gambling, by James Harold Romain. (The Craig Press, Chicago.) First the publisher says he himself is no gamester, but he is greatly impressed by the author’s sincerity. Then the author dedicates his book to the Hon. John Cameron Simonds, but hastens to relieve the dedicatee of any opprobrium ; “ that gentleman is not a gamester, nor in sympathy with the pursuit.” A Preface follows, then an Introduction, and now the author sounds a trumpet note and marshals all the worshipers of Fortuna, from Great Cyrus, who founded the Persian monarchy, to a host of votaries in America, including Jerry McKibben and the lamented Broderick. At last he settles down to his task, which is to prove that gambling is an ineradicable, fundamental trait of human nature, which may be regulated in its expression by the laws of the state, but must not be condemned by the moralist as wrong. The author’s logic and rhetoric perform some surprising feats.
Education and Textbooks. The Modalist, or The Laws of Rational Conviction, a Textbook of Formal or General Logic, by Edward John Hamilton. (Ginn.) The author adopts the title which he gives his book on the ground that the reintroduetion of modality is characteristic of the new logic, which he upholds. It will be seen, therefore, that he is not content with the limitations of pure logic, but undertakes to include the processes of thought which follow the relations of contingency and of necessity. Dr. Hamilton’s metaphysical studies have predisposed him, we think, to a greater refinement of terminology than is quite desirable in a college textbook. —A Short History of German Literature, by James K. Hosmer. (Scribners.) A revised edition of a well-accepted book. Professor Hosmer’s catholicity of taste and his strong active interest in the heroic element give his book at once a wide range and a hearty personality, which take it out of the class of mere compendiums. — A Primary Word Book, embracing Thorough Drills in Articulation and in all the Difficulties of Spelling and Sound to be met with in Primary Reading, by Sarah E. Buckbee. (Heath.) It strikes us that there are two capital faults in this book : one that it proceeds too rapidly for the ready intelligence of children, the other that it pursues too closely an analytic method. We suspect that not enough is made, in our earliest primary books, of the child’s interest in his work, and that many difficulties could be overcome if they were incidental to the subject matter, and not made too absolute.—The third book of Harper’s School Speaker, edited by James Baldwin (Harpers), contains miscellaneous selections in verse and prose, grouped under the heads of Life, Nature, Labor, Recreation, Duty, Aspiration, Retrospection, and Resignation. The editor has aimed, apparently, at variety, without much regard to the declamatory element, and with no special consideration for the literary value of his selections. The sentiments are all fine, however, and there is a dash of fun in the book.—Elementary English, prepared with Reference to the Regents’ Examinations in the State of New York, by John D. Wilson. (Bardeen.) So far as conventional forms are treated, this handbook is well enough ; but as a textbook dealing with principles, and intended to give the elements of English grammar, it appears to be an offering on the altar of Cram. — The Study Class, a Guide for the Student of English Literature, by Anna Benneson McMahan. (McClurg.) An interesting and sensible little book, since its author is strongly possessed with the notion that the most important thing in the study of English literature is to know, not to know about, books ; and she studiously bears in mind that knowledge is power only so far as through it the mind is trained to use. The practical service of the book is in the outlines which it offers for the study of the English drama, Shakespeare, Browning, English poetry, and the English essay. It ought to be of special value to literary clubs which intend honest work. — Manual of Plane Geometry on the Heuristic Plan, with Numerous Extra Exercises, both Theorems and Problems, for Advance Work, by G. Irving Hopkins. (Heath.) — Dr. Pick’s Method Applied to Acquiring the French Language, by E. Pick. (Bardeen.) Dr. Pick relies chiefly on association of ideas for getting the student along ; his scheme being to introduce him to French words and forms chiefly through the association with the corresponding English words and forms. After eight lessons of picked-up language there is an exercise in grammar, and then a parallel version of Charles XII. in French and English. The method supposes an express train of thought. — Introduction to Modern French Lyrics, edited, with notes, by B. L. Bowen. (Heath.) Besides national and revolutionary songs, Béranger, Lamartine, Hugo, Musset, Gautier, furnish most of the material. — Goethe’s Hermann und Dorothea has been edited for school use by Professor W. T. Hewitt, of Cornell. (Heath.) The introduction is especially helpful, and there is a well-studied bibliography, as also notes. — A Brief Spanish Grammar, with Historical Introductions and Exercises, by A. Hjalmar Edgren. (Heath.) —The Antigone of Sophocles, with an Introduction, Notes, and Appendix, for the Use of Students in Colleges, by Milton W. Humphreys. (Harpers.) Seventy-eight pages of introduction, forty-eight pages of text, two hundred pages of notes.— Handbook of Psychology, Feeling and Will, by James Mark Baldwin (Holt); completing the author’s work, the previous volume having taken up Senses and Intellect. There is a physiological basis, but the author by no means confines his discussion to this side, and, in his orderly way, constantly rises to the consideration of ideal conditions.— The Province of Expression, a Search for Principles, underlying Adequate Methods, of Developing Dramatic and Oratorio Delivery, by S. S. Curry. (School of Expression, Boston.) A freely written, suggestive, and sound book, which ought to do much toward preventing the mistaking one form of art as art exclusively. The remarks of the author on reading aloud are admirable, — A series of University Extension Manuals, edited by Professor William Knight, of St. Andrews (Scribners), has been projected, of which four volumes thus far have been issued. It is a little hard to find a common character, and this we think is due to the somewhat varied nature of university extension work. Thus, The Use and Abuse of Money, by W. Cunningham, is a well-thought-out scheme for presenting to the mind the problems. of society as they are grouped about the industrial life of man. It is not a manual of political economy so much as a study of capital and labor, from the point of view of the man who looks about him in the community, and seeks to resolve the complex relations into some definite, intelligible law which shall be in accord with human nature. It is a book full of suggestiveness, by an open-minded man. The Philosophy of the Beautiful, by the editor of the series, bears the sub-title Outlines of thc History of Æsthetics, and the subject is treated with such careful chronological regard that the last chapter, on The Philosophy of America, has three sub-divisions : 1815 to 1849, 1867 to 1876, 1880 to 1890. The book is scarcely more than a catalogue raisonné of the literature of the subject, and would, we should think, be almost useless to any ordinary student, except as a convenient work of reference. The Fine Arts, on the other hand, by G. Baldwin Brown, shows a studied attempt to bring the development of the arts into obedience to the laws of the mind as systematized by psychology. The concrete examples save it from a too abstract and remote interest, and there are passages full of interest which appear to be taken from the author’s lectures to his classes. The book ought to be of service in giving students a notion of the essential in the fine arts. English Colonization and Empire, by Alfred Caldecott, is more in the nature of an analysis of history. It is an essay, expanded by specific examples, and furnished with summaries and systematic statements. We should say of all these books that they do not especially lend themselves to what is known as the seminary system, but are the individual persuasions of the writers set forth systematically for the benefit of their disciples. The bibliographical apparatus is not extensive.— The Volta Bureau of Washington sends us an interesting brochure on Helen Keller. It is further described as a souvenir of the first summer meeting of the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. The most noticeable feature of this somewhat ungainly quarto is the reproduction of the girl’s letters. Taken with the narrative of her brief education, they are simply wonderful ; and one almost hesitates to draw the inference that what was possible in her case is possible generally with blind deaf mutes. It would seem as if this child were exceptionally gifted ; yet the record is one of immeasurable encouragement.
History and Biography. The third volume of John Bach McMaster’s A History of the People of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War (Appleton) is especially interesting from the period it covers ; for it treats of Burr’s intrigue, of the embargo, and of the beginning of the war of 1812. Following his well-determined plan, Mr. McMaster devotes much space to a pictorial view of Louisiana, and in particular New Orleans, and to a summary of commercial, industrial, and social growth in the early years of the century. He draws his material from a great variety of sources, and, by his rapid transitions, whisks the reader from one interesting scene to another. We are glad to see that he has suppressed to a considerable extent his tendency to rhetorical antithesis, and gets rid of his unfortunate habit of mere verbal transition and connection. The book is a storehouse of curious facts, and gives an interior view of our history vouchsafed nowhere else so fully. —The History of Modern Civilization, a Handbook based upon M. Gustave Ducoudray’s Histoire Sommaire de la Civilisation. (Appleton.) The translator, whose name is not given, advises the reader that the book is rather an adaptation than a translation, since it was necessary “not only to omit much and to correct freely, but also to fill numerous and extensive gaps in " the author’s “knowledge of England and other countries.” With a free hand, the author seeks to give a rapid survey of the great national, religious, industrial, and social forces which have changed the face of Europe since the advent of Christianity. It appears to us that too little stress is laid upon the enormous change brought about by the addition of a new continent to the habitable globe. —Life and Letters of Joseph Hardy Neesima, by Arthur Sherburne Hardy. (Houghton.) We have delayed too long in calling attention to this remarkable book ; but it is one which must continue to be an inspiration to all who would apprehend anything of that spirit which makes Christianity something more than a religion of Western races. The story of this young Japanese is like a romance in its early passages ; like the tale of a hero and great patriot in its close. It throws light upon the fundamental qualities of the Japanese character, and gives a foretaste of the addition which Japan is to make to the conception of a universal faith. — History of the People of Israel, from the Time of Hezekiah till the Return from Babylon, by Ernest Renan. (Roberts.) The third in the series, to be followed, in the author’s plan, by a fourth, bringing the history up to the appearance of the Christ. Under his handling, Judaism becomes the protest of the spiritual forces in men against the material, and the hope of humanity is found imbedded in the lofty utterances of the prophets. The poetic in Renan becomes thus interpretative of a nation which, in spite of the arrest of its continuity, indeed because of it, is one of the distinct forces in current history. His search for the elemental principle makes his history, therefore, something more even than a philosophical study ; it is itself a piece of poetizing, the record of insight; and, with something of the prophetic impulse, he is constantly seeing the past in the present. — I he Swiss Republic, by Boyd Winchester. (Lippincott.) It is the institutions rather than the history of Switzerland, except as contained in them, that engage Mr. WinChester’s attention, and naturally he views his subject somewhat in comparison with our own public life. He brings into convenient form much interesting information respecting the political situation in Switzerland, but bis historical judgments appear not to be the result always of close study of authorities. — Historical Essays, by Henry Adams, (Scribners.) Nine papers covering a tolerably wide range of topics in American, English, and French history. Mr. Adams writes always with a confidence which springs from close acquaintance with his authorities and a positive temper. It is to be regretted that men of his equipment and capacity are not more frequent, both in administrative circles and in the scarcely less formative positions offered by the higher journalism. — Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, by Newell Dunbar. (Cupples.) An enthusiastic, hearty little book, written calamo currente apparently, but not lacking in discrimination and clearness of judgment. The author seems to have caught something from his subject. There are several views of Trinity Church, exterior and interior, as well as a vignette portrait.
Books for Young People. The Cruise of a Land Yacht, by Sylvester Baxter. Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. (Authors’ Mutual Publishing Co., Boston.) Under this title Mr. Baxter has given a lively and interesting narrative of a trip to Mexico in a private car. He has devised a party of young people with pretty clearly marked surface peculiarities, but the substance of his book is in the description of life in the southwest. Mr. Bridgman has drawn a number of sketches, and altogether the book affords young readers a very agreeable introduction to Mexican scenery, life, and antiquities. — The Story of the Odyssey and The Story of the Iliad, by Alfred J. Church. (Macmillan.) Each of these stories occupies a volume. Mr. Church has told them with a directness and straightforwardness which show that he has read his Homer to good purpose. Perhaps it is inevitable, indeed we are not sure that we would wish it otherwise, but he has given a touch of remoteness, not by the use of archaisms, but by a certain formality of English. — Chatterbox for 1891, edited by J. Erskine Clarke. (Estes & Lauriat.) The great characteristic of this work is that, though called an annual, it is a perennial. It makes no possible difference whether this conglomeration of picture and moral anecdote is read in one year or another, or not at all.
Sociology and Political Economy. The Corporation Problem ; the Public Phases of Corporations, their Uses, Abuses, Benefits, Dangers, Wealth, and Power, with a Discussion of the Social, Industrial, Economic, and Political Questions to which they have given rise. By William W. Cook. (Putnams.) Mr. Cook draws his illustrations largely from the history of railroads, and seeks to show the relation of corporations to politics. Although he discusses at some length the subject of state socialism in its relation to corporations, especially railroads, he appears to ignore the more pressing problems of municipalities and corporations closely connected with them as tested by socialistic theories. — The Divine Order of Human Society, by Robert Ellis Thompson. (John D. Wattles, Philadelphia.) In eight lectures, Professor Thompson treats, under the light of existing problems, of the family, th nation, the school, and the church. There is a unity in his conception and a logic in his method which give his book an unwonted value ; for he is possessed by a large idea, and the practical character of his mind leads him to apply this idea in a way to correlate many facts which are liable to an isolated and fragmentary treatment. — Mr. John Rae’s Contemporary Socialism (Scribners) has passed into a second and revised edition, in which he has taken the opportunity afforded to bring the subject as nearly up to date as may be, though Socialism, like Electricity, makes history faster than historians can record it. The enlargement is seen particularly in the chapters on Russian Nihilism and The Progress and Present Position of Socialism. The book is now unquestionably tlie most comprehensive and intelligible analysis of the subject at the disposition of the English-reading student. — A Directory of the Charitable and Beneficent Organizations of Boston, together with Legal Suggestions, etc., prepared by the Associated Charities. (Damrell & Upham, Boston.) A most thoroughly prepared book, and surprising, to any but the few initiated, by its revelation of the intricate network of aid in which society stands enmeshed. Indeed, a careful examination of the book furnishes a cross-section of the city life of the greatest service to the student of contemporary conditions. The work is of first importance to any one who is bewildered by applications for aid which lie beyond his personal power to satisfy.— Principles of Political Economy, by Charles Gide, Translated by E. P. Jacobsen. (Heath.) Professor Clark, of Smith College, who introduces this book briefly to American readers, calls attention to the interest which attaches to a book written in France, translated in England, and published in America. It may be added that the notes supplied by James Bonar, of England, contain references to American writings on the subject. Mr. Gide has an open mind and a judicial temper, so that the reader comes to listen to him with close attention ; for he sees that he is in the hands of an impartial student, and not of a doctrinaire or special pleader.
Nature, Science, and Travel. Geodesy, by J. Howard Gore, in the Riverside Science Series (Houghton), is a compact statement of a subject which, under its title, is less likely to attract readers than when this title is expanded. In brief, then, Mr. Gore, starting with an account of some of the primitive notions regarding the earth, and the crude measurements of the size of the globe, proceeds with a good historical sketch of the successive scientific processes by which accurate measurements were obtained, and gives finally a rapid survey of the present operations in the great nations of the world. He writes out of a full knowledge, and yet with a clear conception of masses as well as details, so that the reader has to thank him for an admirable and readable summary. — The fourth volume of Garden and Forest (Garden and Forest Publishing Co., New York), covering the year 1891, has the same high character as its predecessors. The magazine meets the needs of an increasing number of persons, those who have not only a love of nature, but leisure to cultivate their affection. The work is of peculiar interest to those who are so fortunate and so wise as to have a summer home in the country. The correspondence is often very suggestive, and there is a refreshing absence of petty personalities. Public action bearing upon the preservation or the destruction of forests is carefully watched, and the journal has thus a very distinct value. —Schliemann’s Excavations, an Archæological and Historical Study, by Dr. C. Schuchardt. (Macmillan.) The translation of a German work which sets forth in orderly fashion the latest results of Schliemann’s excavations, as well as condenses and systematizes the accounts of the earlier explorations. There is an introduction by W. Leaf, and a brief but interesting chapter devoted to a sketch of Schliemann’s life. Maps, plans, and woodcuts furnish the book fully, and the general reader will find the work a convenient resumé of excavations which practically inaugurated a new era of Hellenic study. — Annual Report of the New York Forest Commission for the Year ending December 31, 1890. (James B. Lyon, printer, Albany.) About half this volume is taken up with a catalogue of maps, field notes, surveys and land papers of patents, grants, and tracts situate within the counties embracing the forest preserve of the State, and there are other documents pertaining to the work of the commission ; but there is beside much interesting reading for all who are concerned in forestry. A force of firewardens has been established, with good results, and special attention is given to the really national subject of the preservation of the Adirondacks. — The Story of the Hills, a Book about Mountains, for General Readers, by Rev. H. N. Hutchinson. (Macmillan.) The author assumes an ignorance of geologic terms on the part of his readers, and seeks to translate a scientific description of mountain form and mountain building into familiar language. He has in his mind travelers in Switzerland or the Scotch and English mountain districts, and undertakes to make intelligible to them the movements of nature which have resulted in the objects they see. The book is liberally illustrated.
Literature and Criticism. The twentieth volume of The Century covers the months from May through October, 1891 (The Century Co.), and reminds one anew of the admirable work which the magazine is doing in familiarizing multitudes of homes in America with forms in pictorial art which lie beyond the scope of common experience and observation. We doubt not that every great work of the Italian masters which Mr. Cole has engraved is looked upon in the original, and will continue to be looked upon in the future, by many Americans with an interest greatly exceeding that produced by other works of art not thus made familiar. This is but one feature in the humanizing work which this great magazine is accomplishing. — A graceful paper on James Russell Lowell was read at the eighteenth annual dinner of the Harvard Club of San Francisco, by George B. Merrill. The writer takes the diplomatic correspondence of the government and draws off some juicy sentences from Mr. Lowell. — In McClurg’s tasteful reprints (A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago) we note, in addition to those heretofore mentioned, Moore’s Lalla Rookh, Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History. The special merit of these editions, aside from the graceful form of the books, lies in the editor’s reserve. Wherever the author has provided a preface or notes, this apparatus is given, and thus some interesting matter is revived ; but the editor himself refrains from loading the books with his own writing. — The Uncollected Writings of Thomas De Quineey, with a Preface and Annotations, by James Hogg. (Macmillan.) Mr. Hogg, who was De Quineey’s publisher at one time, has collected in two volumes considerable matter not to be found in the latest edition, that by Masson. The papers sometimes complete articles already published in the American (Riverside) edition, as in The English in China ; but sometimes the same matter reappears under another title, as in Suetonius Unravelled, which in the Riverside edition is Ælius Lamia. To the lover of De Quincey there is little in these two volumes which will not be welcomed. —In the neat little Knickerbocker Nuggets Series (Putnams), three volumes are devoted to Stories from the Arabian Nights, selected from Lane’s version by Stanley Lane-Poole. To our surprise, we find that All Baba, though included, is not properly a portion of the real Arabian Nights. The scholarly spelling fiend has invaded this sacred inclosure, also, with his ’Als-ed-din and his ’Efrit, and other severe orthographic prigs.
Art. A book well worth reissuing was Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Discourses, and the reprint is in excellent style (McClurg), with Notes and an Historical and Biographical Introduction by Edward Gilpin Johnson, and copies, of varying degrees of excellence, from Sir Joshua’s portraits. The discourses themselves are full of strong sense, and an insight which sometimes struggles against English insularity. The introduction is interesting and discriminating.— Recent numbers of L’Art, semimonthly (Macmillan), have etchings after Carolus Duran, L. J. R. Collin, J. Trayer, an interesting series of charcoal sketches by Charles Jacquo in a paper devoted to him, a well-illustrated continued paper on the Spitzer Museum, notes on recent public sales in London and Paris, and the customary chronicles. The standard of L’Art is that by which one must measure most publications of its class.