New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-07

ar tiIERICA TO TIMES LONG SUBSEQUENTLY,
TIE PRESENT ~ JOHN D. SHERWOOD. WIN
original Illustrations by Harry scratehly l2mo PIP
$40 Fields, Osgood Go. .....
We hardly know whether to admire the boldness
of an author who counts upon his ability 10 aihuSe
the public through volume OF five huhuie" M"
fifty pages of deliberate popularity, or 10 leei nun az
his annarent estimate of the feebeness of the puDlc
intellect The book should be very iuh"y one III
deed if its length and its subject were to be !nsueu
Mr. Shervood's resume of the history Of America
may be intended either rs pure piece OF 1un IoE
which the narrative ID only excuse IN when case
is too LONG and too solid it may be an attempt
10 make history attractive by decking 1T with the
flowers of wit, in which case 1t Is not soma
enough. and the number of facts is alto
eether out Of proportion TO tho number OF
words The author has perception OF
some of the grotesQue features of American life, ana
betroys at times knac ut epgrammatic expression,
which If not genuine wit, comes very near It. vi
Laaor he has lite Of the peculiarly racy American
humOr which gives such rich flavor TO the writings
Of Artemus Ward, Mark Twain. and few others.
he has no conception at ALL His talent for being
amusing consists in the possession Of an ineXhaust-
Die fund Of metaphor, and an occasional inspiration
of puus but we do not find these gifts sufficient
to illumine whole volume, for the puns are mid,
inofensive little creatures. never those superlatVe
monsters which we call lawful" and "s Shameful"
and wit which consists in metaphor is the kind OF
wit Of which one soonest grows tired. Hero is an
extract which illustrates both Mr. Sherwoods styles
of joking
Sir Walter Raleig's name must always burn brightly
IN American history, for his discovery OF tOhnE ma
feYial the James River But his fame needs no pubs
before his death. Another Important af!cr
occurred I'm connection with American discoveries.
against Plymouth Rock struck its tiny anchors In IT, and
with Yankee enterprise climbed oil over H. covering is
o6olaff
flowers, with which also slrang up tanS1nS. Mouu
owths, all of which have since been DRIED ana t
great attention. much sncezing some sneeng, aud ge
use handkerchief preserve the odOr Of or prevent
American history. The last discovery which we shall
mention that Of Hudson who brought 10 ient
ed by woods and other poisonous growths'
OF the landing of the Pilgrims he speaks rs fol-
lows:
The soil upon which they settled bore more charters,
Indian arrows and gravestOnes than pumpkins OF corn
Gnd even years after the landing We are told thaI
the stock hand OF the latter Was so small taS Oy
winch since great Rebellion, seems incredibly small
T%s he G H, anp %GG Syarno Sa
was but little meat be sced-deer being scarce and
he pned aud died. Cape Cod was not lar dis
taut but the emigrants being without boats The s,
especially without potatoes, were poor picking lew
years later. however, aud there were large nshlhg
parues MADE up when noo OiR ,ooH y, ' tTa a
Vineyard, at the time Of which We speak, Aune 50 AlSi
known set their faces against the cup. as they did
against Kissing The modern Of DuX-bury, which
nudges Plymouth the east, was then too yoniE TO
alord much game, for the long reaches OF Mles
standlsh, who obliged to content himseH Win sueh
small shooting as the Narragansetts Afforded
These are perhaps, as favorable samples OF the
quality of the book select and most of our
READERS will probably agree with US in thinking that
very little of it goes great way. The illustrations
by Harry Scratchly are better than the text, for
many of them are inspired by the true spirit Of fun
.y,,r NJ, ono ArTD
AND ILLUMINATED. Royal 40. London and New
York: Macmillan & Co.
The elegant gift-book whose title We have quoted
above has the charm not only of beauty in execution
but of novelty indesgn. It's remarkable example
of the perfection to which the art Of chromOthog-
raphy, as applied TO boOk-ustration, has been
brought in Great Britain. We have here what is
virtually an album of richly colored pictures which
at first view might almost be taken for paintings III
oil Each leaf OF the book is thick tile leaf Of
photograph-album, and the Illustrations arc sunk III
a deep indentaton, like passe-partout The twelve
pictures are from sketches taken in the East by IL
l. IIcEniry, and most Of them are highly character
Istic. They include the merchant man seeking
Roodly pearls" the woman with the measure Of
leaven the sower casting his seed the prodigal son
III the arms of his father; the two men who "went
up into the temple to pray, the one Pharsee and
the other publican !" the good Samaritan the enc
my sowing tares while the husbandman was asleep
the wise and foolish virgins; the Good Shepherd
the fishermen sorting their fish the marriagefeasi
which certain king made for his son and Dives nj
supper, with Lazarus at the gate. There is also O
frontispiece in the same style, representing the
Saviour teaching the multitude. Excellent as most
Of these are, they to taste surpassed by the
richly illuminated texts the pages facing the pic
lures. The designs are uniformly graceful and beau
Efully varied, and the details executed with the
greatest delicacy. The Illuminated borders for these
texts are copied from the Breviario GIimani in St
Marks Library at Venice.
THE GATES AJAR. by ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS
with Illustrations by Jessie Curtis Small itO PIP
24s. Fields OsgOOd & Co.
This fine edition of one of tho most popular o.