Cloth,

A STUDY OF GENIUS. BY N. K. Royse. 312 pp. $1.25. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Company. 1891. Genius is always interesting, and this "Study of Genius," although containing nothing strikingly new, collates a number of scattered facts and anecdotes about great men, which make good reading. Perhaps the most interesting chapter to a literary worker is Chapter VII., "Genius and Labor," wherein the question whether the creations of Genius involve labor is discussed pro and con, and illustrated by examples from the great writers of the world.

E. A. T. OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES. By Brinton W. Woodward. 312 pp. Cloth. Lawrence, Kan.: Journal Publishing Co. 1890.

"Old Wine in New Bottles" is a happy title, and Mr. Woodward disarms his critics at once -if such there were- by saying that his essays do not pretend to be original. The book contains observations "on people and places, pictures and books." Books, or the writers of books, usurp the greater part of the volume. Some of the author's remarks, notably in "Two Schools of Fiction," are very bright and to the point, as when he likens the doubting Thomas of an editor who buys a poem nowadays to the hesitating lady whom he met in a picture store. She wanted to buy an etching, but she was afraid they would " 'go out!" "Was Burns Color-blind to the Sea?" is a striking and original essay, and the essay on "Balzac and Thackeray" shows real feeling and appreciation of these two great writers. E. A. T. GOOD-NIGHT POETRY. Compiled by William P. Garrison. Cloth, 70 cents. Boston: Ginn & Company.

143 pp. 1891.

"Wych Elm," a collection of poems, has picturesque touches here and there, as in "The Haunted Battlefield." The author shows a command of varied metres, and her rhymes, although not unusual, are usually perfect. Among the best poems are "Hide the Scars," "The First Kiss," and "When My Ship Comes In."

E. A. T. ANALOGICAL SYLLABIC SHORTHAND. Based on the Benn Pitman alphabet. By Francis H. Hemperley. 33 pp. Leatherette, 50 cents. Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Stenographer. 1890.

"Of making many books" on shorthand there seems to be no end. While systems as good as those of Pitman and Munson exist, there does not seem to be any adequate reason The for attempting to improve upon them. chief merit of this work is that it is modelled upon the Benn Pitman system, which has long been a standard.

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READING AND THE MIND, WITH SOMETHING TO READ. Fourth edition. By Rev. J. F. X. O'Conor, S. J. 58 pp. Paper, 25 cents. New York: D. P. Murphy, Jr. 1890.

Although this work, written by a Roman Catholic, is limited by the author's religion, it contains some useful hints regarding the selection of proper reading matter. The author speaks highly of Ruskin's style and enthusiasm: he shows wide reading and fair taste.

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ARCADE ECHOES. Selected Poems from the Virginia University Magazine, 1859-1890. Collected and arranged by Thomas L. Wood. 125 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1890. "Arcade Echoes" is a daintily-bound little book containing a number of short musical poems. "The Dog of the Louvre," a translation, is pathetic and well rendered. The lines "To a Mosquito form a bright parody of Burns, while "On a Picture of Mimaginative beauty and fine form. The students of the University of Virginia are to be congratulated upon this dainty little volume.

E. A. T.

has

THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF DANTE'S "DIVINA COMMEDIA." By W. T. Harris. 216 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1889.

Dante's great epic has had many commentators, but this attempt of Mr. Harris to give "The Spiritual Sense of Dante's 'Divina Commedia” is founded upon an ethical basis. The commentator attempts to explain the allegory in terms of morality, to show just why

Dante pictured these particular sins and their punishments, and to point out what relation the allegory bears to the life and times of the poet. The book is ethical in character, thoughtful and philosophic, but too didactic. As in Doré's illustrations, the poetic charm and beauty of the wonderful poem are lost, "the light that never was on sea or land." Instead, we have pictures of the horrors and sins of the “Inferno," unrelieved by poetic fancy. Nothing is left to the imagination; to try to analyze the beauty of the poem is like plucking out the heart of a flower. The most delightful parts of the book are the poetic translations of the "Purgatorio," by T. W. Parsons.

E. A. T.

THE JUDGE. By Elia W. Peattie. 286 pp. Paper, 25 cents. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Company. 1890.

THE MARRIAGE of Gabrielle. By Daniel Lesueur. 278 pp. Paper, 25 cents. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Com⚫pany. 1890.

THE CHOUANS. By H. De Balzac. Illustrated. 423 PP. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Corpany. 1890.

It is a matter of regret to the lovers of good literature that such a sensational story as "The Judge," written in melodramatic style, with horrible details of murder, should have won the "first prize" offered by the Detroit Free Press. Much better, because constructed with French ideas of form, is "The Marriage of Gabrielle." The story is pleasantly told, the tone of the love-story is good and pure, and all ends happily.

It is scarcely necessary to praise "The Chouans," one of Balzac's most dramatic works, founded on historical facts. Those who have seen Modjeska act the striking part of the heroine, Mlle. de Verneuil, know how tragic and interesting a part she plays. The translator of "The Chouans," George Saintsbury, is well known as an eminent English scholar and literary critic, so that the book is not slip-shod in style. It is admirably printed with clear type, on good paper, with careful proof-reading, and characteristic illustration. It is to be hoped that Rand & McNally will issue more French novels of this style.

E. A. T.

JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MACLAY. Edited by Edgar S. Maclay, A. M. 438 pp. Cloth. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1890.

Dur

The careful student of American history will be much interested in this "Journal of William Maclay," which begins with the 24th of April, 1789, and ends on the 3d of March, 1791. ing this period, while history was making itself, Mr. Maclay, a pronounced Democrat, was in the senate, bitterly opposed to the Federalists. Every evening he wrote in his private journal, while hot from the debate, the scenes and events of the day, writing the more vividly and frankly, perhaps, because he did not expect his journal to be published. For the first time this

FOUR IMPORTANT FACULTIES AND How ΤΟ DEVELOP THEM. By Lucy Lee Ewing. 32 pp. Paper, Philadelphia: Published by the Author. 1891.

The "Four Important Faculties" are Perception, Memory, Reason, and Understanding. How to develop them is an important subject, which properly treated would include a whole work on psychology, like the massive and master-work of Professor James, of Harvard. The author has given a few hints which may be of value to those who have not time or patience to go carefully into the subject.

E. A. T.

FROM COLONY TO COMMONWEALTH. By Nina Moore Tiffany. 180 pp. Cloth, 70 cents. Boston: Ginn & Company. 1891.

The beginnings of the American Revolution are taken up in "From Colony to Commonwealth," which is designed for children of perhaps ten years of age. The book is written in simple and pleasant style, the illustrations are good, and the authorities consulted are standard. Good maps, too, make the work more valuable.

E. A. T.

SOCIALISM OF CHRIST. By Austin Bierbower. 202 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Chicago. Charles H. Sergel & Company. 1890.

This book attempts to prove that Christ was a socialist, and that he, or at least his followers, contemplated force in their proposed revolution, but that the later apostles veered from their earlier uncompromising democracy, and upheld the social systems of the day.

E. A. T.

DIANE. By Prosper Mérimée. 293 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago: Charles H. Sergel & Company. 1890. "Diane" is a strong story of love and war, written by a Frenchman, who has been pronounced the greatest master of style in this century. Mérimée is better known for his short stories and his charming letters "A une inconnue," but in this historical romance, which has been pronounced the best historical novel in France, he exhibits the strength which has led critics to compare him to Balzac and Théophile Gautier. The book may lack unity and forward movement in the earlier chapters, but the scene at midnight in the chamber of Diane, where her lover is surprised by the horrible noise of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and where the beautiful Catholic heroine hesitates between her love and her religion, is powerful and dramatic in the extreme. The

beauty of Mérimée's style is well reproduced by the translator, Mr. Saintsbury, who has also added to the interest of the romance by prefixing an admirable critical and biographical essay on the cynical, but talented, Frenchman.

E. A. T. IPHIGENIA, A LEGEND OF THE ILIAD, AND OTHER POEMS. By A. R. Darrow. 97 pp. Stiff paper. Buffalo: The C. H. Sherrill Company. 1888.

"Iphigenia" is unfortunately written in the classic, heroic couplet, which is now quite out of favor. Though Pope selected it for his translation of "The Iliad," nothing could more poorly reproduce the simplicity and free, flowing sweep of Homer's onward lines. By the selection of the same medium, Mr. Darrow has lost the breadth of form and beauty of the Greek tale he tries to reproduce, though the couplet is well handled.

E. A. T.

THE HUMBOLDT LIBRARY. Nos. 130 and 131. The Origin of the Aryans. By Dr. Isaac Taylor. Illustrated. 498 pp. Nos. 132 and 133. The Evolution of Sex. By Professor Illustrated. 295 Patrick Geddes and J. Arthur Thomson. pp. No. 134. The Law of Private Right. By George H. Smith. 92 pp. Nos. 135, 136, 137, and 138. Capital. By Karl Marx. 506 pp. Paper, 30 cents each. No. 139. Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning Conductors. By Gerald Molloy, D. D., D. Sc. Illustrated. 62 pp. No. 140. What is Music? With an Appendix. By Isaac L. Rice. pp.

60

No. 141. Are the Effects of Use and Disuse Inherited? By William Platt Ball. 58 pp. Paper, 15 cents each. New York: The Humbolt Publishing Company. 1890.

"The Humboldt Library," which is to be commended for its careful selection of good scientific literature carefully printed, comes out in a new and pleasing cover. Perhaps the most popular of the works above-named is "The Origin of the Aryans," by Dr. Isaac Taylor. The origin is traced by ethnology instead of the evidence of language, which Max Müller employs, and, guided by this evidence, a European origin is traced for the Aryan race. Evolution of Sex" is a thoughtful biological essay founded on the latest facts relating both to the vegetable and animal kingdom. In "What is Music?" is found an interesting discussion of Herbert Spencer's theory set forth in "The Origin and Theory of Music." "Das Kapital" of Karl Marx, which has been ably edited by Frederic Engels, is often called

"The

on the Continent "The Bible of the Working Class." The author has made a life-long study of the economic problems and conditions of England. Startling light is thrown on childlabor, on the "prolongation of the workingday," and the contrast between time-wages and piece-wages. Marx's book is that of a careful thinker; his conclusions seem forced by the logic of inevitable facts, and the emotions do not dominate the brain. It is a book well worth study by those who are interested in the struggle between labor and capital.

E. A. T.

A WASHINGTON BIBLE-CLASS. By Gail Hamilton. 303 PP. Cloth. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1891.

With Gail Hamilton as chairwoman, Bible talks were held in Washington before a Bibleclass first composed of the daughters and wives of cabinet officers and senators, and finally of the men themselves, as well as their families. Much interest was shown, and "A Washington Bible-class" is merely the bright report of the talks and discussions over the interesting questions of theology. The miracles are explained, and difficult questions are discussed in Miss Dodge's spicy and decided way. Though it is a theological work, there is not a dull page in the book.

BOOKS RECEIVED:

E. A. T.

[All books sent to the editor of THE WRITER will be acknowledged under this heading. They will receive such further notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of the magazine.]

10 cents.

Paper, 10 1891.

JUST LANDEd. Puck's Library, No. 41. 30 pp. Paper, New York: Keppler & Schwarzmann. 1890. CHOW CHOW. Puck's Library, No. 42. 30 pp. Paper, 10 cents. New York: Keppler & Schwarzmann. 1891. COLD DAYS. Puck's Library, No. 43. 30 pp. cents. New York: Keppler & Schwarzmann. DREAMY HOURS. By Franklyn W. Lee. 80 pp. Stiff paper. St. Paul, Minn.: Sunshine Publishing Co. 1890. MACAULAY'S SECOND ESSAY ON THE EARL OF CHATHAM. With Notes and a Sketch of Macaulay's Life. By "D. H. M." 91 pp. Paper. Boston: Ginn & Company. 1890. HER BROTHER DONNARD. By Emily E. Veeder. Illustrated. 274 pp. Cloth. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1890.

A. D. 2000. By Lieutenant Alvarado M. Fuller. Illustrated. 415 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago: Laird & Lee. 1890. OLIVER CROMWELL. A Drama. By Thomas Nield. 168 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: The Argyle Press. 1890. A FLUTTERED DOVECOTE. By George Manville Fenn. Illustrated. 284 pp. Paper, 50 cents. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1890.

MARGUERITE. By George De Peyrebrune. Illustrated. 258 pp. Paper, 75 cents. Cloth, $1.25. New York: Belford Company. 1890.

THE THREE SCOUTS. By J. T. Trowbridge. 383 pp. Paper, 60 cents. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1890.

THE AMERICAN PRINTER. A Manual of Typography. By Thomas MacKellar, Ph. D. Seventeenth edition. 383 pp. Cloth, $2.00. Philadelphia: The MacKellar, Smiths, & Jordan Company. 1889.

RHYMES OF CHILDHOOD. By James Whitcomb Riley. 186 pp. Cloth. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Company. 1891. UNDER ORDERS: THE STORY OF A YOUNG REPORTER. By Kirk Munroe. Illustrated. 348 pp. Cloth, $1.25. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1890.

OPEN SESAME. Edited by Blanche Wilder Bellamy and Maud Wilder Goodwin. Volume III. 361 pp. Cloth, 90 cents. Boston: Ginn & Company. 1891.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

How Clipping Bureaus May Serve Authors. In re-reading the October WRITER to-day, I for the first time noticed one point in Fannie Edgar Thomas' article on "Unbusiness-like Methods of Editors." She very justly complains that "some papers have a habit of printing articles without one word of advice to the writer, who is expected to watch every copy published and use the printed article as a bill," failure to present which means failure to receive payment; she further animadverts on "the tax of watching the daily columns of half a dozen papers all over the states." But there now exist several clipping bureaus, which offer to supply notices and items on any subject, gathered from thousands of papers and magazines, with name and date of publication attached, for an average price of five cents a clipping. Why should not an author, pending the happy time when editors shall live by the golden rule, in struct one of these bureaus to send to him or her everything printed by him or her in certain papers? Any business-like person knows that it is the commonest of things to have to pay for the collection of just debts, and five cents is surely not a heavy tax. I own I have never tried this plan, but I shall — if ever I write for enough papers to make it worth while.

FORT SCOTT, Kan.

G. L. H..

TWELVE GOOD RULES FOR REVIEWERS. Brander Matthews. Reprinted from Christian Union in America for January 1. Book ILLUSTRATION. Charles C. Marble. American (Philadelphia) for January 10.

JACOB A. RIIS. Reprinted from Christian Union a American (Philadelphia) for January 10.

METHODS OF LITERARY CRITICISM. Arlo Bates. Reprinted from Book Buyer in American (Philadelphia) for January 10.

GEORGE MEREDITH. Newsdealer for January 15.

AUTHORS' BLUNDERS. Reprinted from London Society in Public Opinion for January 10.

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES. President Timothy Dwight Forum for January.

IS VERSE IN DANGER? Edmund Gosse. Forum for January.

AMERICAN HYMNOLOGY.-II. American (Philadelphia) for January 3.

THE LOTUS SYMBOLISM IN HOMER, THEOCRITUS, MOSCHUS, TENNYSON, AND BROWNING. Literary Digest for January 3. SIR WALTER SCOTT'S JOURNAL. W. Fraser Roe. Reprinted from Temple Bar in Toronto Week for January 2. HENRY SCHLIEMANN DEAD. Kate Field's Washington for January 7.

AN OPENING FOR A NEW PERIODICAL (The Waste Basket). Edward Ingle. Kate Field's Washington for January 7. ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES IN WINTER. Justin Winsor. Nation for January 8.

MOULTON'S ANCIENT CLASSICAL DRAMA. Nation for January 8.

SHORT STUDIES IN LITERATURE (De Musset and Geoffrey of Monmouth). Hamilton N. Mabie. Christian Union for January 8.

CHAUCER. Blanche Wilder Bellamy. Christian Union for January 8.

THE EDUCATION OF GENIUS. James Sully. English Illustrated Magazine for January.

BOOK-BINDING. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson. English Illustrated Magazine for January.

RUDYARD KIPLING'S POEMS. Literary World for January 3. CARAN D'ACHE. Charles Seymour. Epoch for January 2. THE FIRST SONNET IN ENGLAND. Sarepta." Queries Magazine for January. SIDNEY LANIER. G. D. Black. Belford's Magazine for January.

GEORGE D. PRENTICE. Junius Henri Browne. Belford's Magazine for January.

OMAR KHAYYAM. Richard H. Stoddard. Belford's Magazine for January.

THE LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF CALIFORNIA. Gertrude F. Atherton. Cosmopolitan for January.

TEACHING GOOD POETRY. Annie J. Willis. Journal of Education for December 25.

CALL OFF RUDYARD KIPLING.

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT.

ica for December 25.

America for December 25. Maurice Thompson. Amer

WALTER SCOTT'S GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER. Reprinted from New York Tribune in the Critic for December 13.

THE ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN ESTRANGEMENT. Reprinted from Leisure Hour (London) in the American ( Philadelphia) for December 27.

THE STORY AS AN EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE. Kate Douglas Wiggin. American (Philadelphia ) for December 13. JOURNALISM IN JAIL. An ex-Convict. Reprinted from North American Review in Printers' Ink for December 24. THE ART OF AUTHORSHIP. M. W. Hazeltine. New York Ledger for January 3.

SIR THOMAS WYATT AND HIS POEMS. George Lyman Kittredge. Modern Language Notes for January.

SOME LATER TRANSLATIONS OF GOETHE'S FAUST. W. P. Andrews. Christian Register for January 15. EARLE'S ENGLISH PROSE. Nation for January 15. SONG-WRITING.

Reprinted from London Athenæum in

IDEAS AND EDITORS. National Journalist for January. ORIGINAL COVER DESIGN BY ALICE C. MORSE. American Bookmaker for January.

A Prince of CRITICS (Georg Brandes). H. H. Boyesen. Christian Union for January 24.

GEORGE BANCROFT. Nation for January 22. PRACTICAL TALKS ON WRITING ENGLISH. - Part I. Professor William Minto. Chautauquan for February.

HEROES AND HEROINES IN FICTION. Maurice Thompson. America for January 15.

GETTING OUT A PAPER. Charles Matthews. Reprinted from Chicago Daily News in Printers' Ink for January 21. MR. H. O. HOUGHTON ON AMERICAN LITERATURE. Publishers' Weekly for January 17.

THE BRAYTON IVES COLLECTION.

January 17.

Publishers' Weekly for

NEWS AND NOTES.

An able article on the life and work of the late George Bancroft appeared in Harper's Weekly for January 21. A portrait of the great historian, from the painting by Gustav Richter, accompanied the article.

Miss Natalie L. Rice, whose bright story, "A Crack in a Window," appears in the New Year's Youth's Companion, is the daughter of Rev. Charles B. Rice, the pastor of the historic First Parish Church in Danvers, and is an artist of some ability.

whose Jessie C. Glasier, the "Gaining Heights" is winning favor with critics and reviewers, is a young girl but little out of her teens, as well as the youngest member of the Woman's Press Club of Cleveland, her home. Inheriting a literary taste and tendency both from her father, a young minister, long since dead, and her mother, herself a well-known writer, Miss Glasier has already made her name familiar to the readers of St. Nicholas and numerous other periodicals in which her stories and sketches have from time to time

appeared. A residence of seven years in Washington and the friendship of such writers as Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnet have removed all trace of provincialism from her style, and supplied her with the local color she has so effectively made use of in this her first book, concerning which the Boston Traveller says: "It is not overpraise to say that it takes high rank among the publications of the present

time."