New-York tribune., 1870-08-15
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

k1JIBONrr'S DICTIONARY OF AUTHORS.
. cprTrCAI, DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LITGRA- |
TURB AND BRITISH ANp AMERlUAN p AHnoiS AZ sln RS
1S22 j. b. Lippincott q Co.
II is about sixteen wears since Dr. Allihone took
out q copyright for the work now before u.s. and
eleven years since the FIRST volume appeared with
the imprint Of a Philadelphia firm which has now
retired from business. We do not know how long
time had previously been spent in the collection oi
materials nor how long Il VIII probably requi'V "
complete the third ana last volume wilson is uhu'i
stood to be nearly finished. We nave l
doubt, however, that the iudeiaueaoie ' %
piler has devoted nearly quarter "l - -
tnry of loving labor to his stupehuou[o 70, u, =,
No pecuniary compensation wIil'h no = ,tI;u,,
obtain can reward him for such an he
Int he viii have the satisfaction oi io'-,'G o,-d |
has conferred lasting bcneit upo" So y - |
-. 20 I,tts and erected q monument o4 h'el".S
industry Of which the country n"S '''N
nroud No dictionary OF the authorh VI any
- e,ro been undertaken on SO grand q sV"''~
a.; 1;,,,od IN take in everybody nom the o"N"
F TncIisb literature to the present hour .he h'.s
=. ,lI as the dead. the obscure autnor WlAae seil-
- IL dror,. stiIl-born from the press as well as
tb, in1nortals who have made the glory "l t'e il-
elish language. OF the more Important "a 'l'"'''
takes 70 give biographical particulars; oI '' ma
i,ritv if presents the judgnents OF conlt'eh'
II
of their works. With this great mass OF mteigehoe
Or Allib5ue has interniuglcd multitude Oh per
tinen+ reflections miscellaneous remarks, anN feieI-
Does n hooks more or less closely connected IN SUD
iect with tlc book under notice All tins gls'n'tc
work We believe DR.. Allibspe has done alone OF Win
no other assistant than his wife as auaiueslS lie has
searched dictionaries, encyclopedias publishers '"'
aIocues and photographers manuals ne mas ran
sacked libraries and he has hunted through the
=. mari
than his iudeeout; for il must be obvious that no
ono man. in IN years now allotted to an average
human life, can do this work with either complete
ness or accuracy We doubt whether II can properly
he done AT all in a single generation. \ tul de-
tionarv Of English and American authors should oe
the growth Of many years the product oI repeated
reyisions and amendments, and OF the pans Oh sue
cessive editors and correctors As the basis Tor such
a work Dr. Ahbone's three volumes Will serve adj
,nir,llv The wonder is not that be should have
committed a few mistakes. hut rather that he has
NOT committed morc-uot that he has overlooked
some of the less important names, but that the ols-
sions are after all OF so very htuc consequence
Some of the longer articles in this second volume
are marvcls of CompTehenSiYCnesS. tnoei INC uue
"Shakcspcar.7 for example, d.. Alibcne gives no
fewer than 20 Of his generous pages containing a
greater wealth of bibhographical lore Shake
speriana. &C. &c. than can be found il any other
siuae publication. Besides an alphabetical arrange
ncUt OF all the plays with account of the diner
ert forms i'm which each has appeared there Is lu
bhliopraJhical catalogue of Gj collected editions,
about 90 tran,ations into foreign languages and t4
works included under tie general head o1 Ni'aN'-
su.rilna among which the curious student viii find
complete guide to the Ireland torgeues' the ColneF
controversy. music for the plays, and the Shake
spcrian eccs madricgls &c. which have been
separately published. There . copous selection
from critlizns on the poet, and twelve columns are
given up TO an alphabetical index Of editors, COM
meutators. tanslators, &c. No other article IN the
volume is on so grand a scale as this, but many
others are remarkably comprehensive and interest
N ing. Those Oh Lonpfenow, Macaulay, Macintosh,
Milton Pope. and Swift excellent specimens.
twill disappoint many 10 find that the earlier por-
tiops of the second volume were finished and laid
away thirteen years ago, and have not beenreNlsed
Macauay for instance is represented as slli living
so is Walter Sewage Landor; so Is John Leech, o1
whom we are told that " he is now employed upon
the illustration of The Train" Indeed 1t is not until
we have gone about One-thrd through the Yolsme
that we encounter except here and there. any date
more recent tlan 1857 but get gradually to 1859
before we reach the last page 1t takes great while
10 test the accuracy Of book Of this kind but so
fan as we have vet been able to judge can safely
pronounce tic second volume more correct than tie
first Alexander W. Kmgiake is omitted and the
authorship Of Eothcn' is attributGt to his cousin,
John Alexander ,Kinglake. Henry Kingsley is
omitted Dr. Livingstone has a mentions so brief and
unsatisfactory that it is little better than none.
Henry c. Lea is omitted 4 reference is attempted
70 the Mary Queen of Scots controversy under the
head OF Mary, but it is absmdly incomplete.
Martin Mar-frelate" is transformed into Mar
Prelatc Martin, and Martin Mar-SiXtus' suffers
from similar inversion. Mr. Mcriyales History
Of the Romans under the Empire is quoted by the
extraordinary title Of History OF Rome under the
Romans" James ClarenceMngan is not mentioned
asa poct but appears twice as the editor OF Ger
man Anthology. namely once in his properpsace and
apaiD under the name of "MaHean.' The curious
statement is made about MIS- c. NJ Kirkland that
"a residence Of tlro or HrCe dcys at Detroit and its
vicinity gave this lady that intimate knowledge OF
Western manners which, under the name OF Mrs.
Mary Clavcrs she has communicated to large circle
of readers" These errors, however yenial and it
is very much to Dr.. Allibones credit that in turning
over four OF five hundred pages Of this second
volume. we have marked few things for corec-
ton Instead of searching for mistakes prefer TO
congratulate him upon bis achievement and hope
that he may long enjoy the honor ii is certain to
bring him.
Bishop Kip contributes to 1.-The September
number of PetGu'S Magazine pleasant sketch Of "New-
York sCcety IN the Olden Time, when the original first
familes. Butch, Huguenot and English, maintained
srisocrltc state before the revolution and the progress
Of commerce had filed the town with pnchbeck com
mercial gentry and nonreGir riches. Tie Bishop,
descendant Of the favored upper class whose gloes lie
can lust remember looks back with mild regret TO the
good old times when it seems TO him that life
much gentler and manners much more cOurtly
than in these degenerate days but other perhaps,