New-York tribune., 1875-11-29
BOSTON LITERARY NOTES.
U.MERToN's NEW BOOK.

"THE SYLVAN YEAR: JHE NOTEBOOK of RAoUL
prpoIss BY PHILIP GILBERr HAMERToN-A
STUDY OF NATURE-THEoRIEs ABOUT ART
ETCHINGs.
lrRoM A REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TfiE TRiBoNtl
BosroN, Nov. 25.-Witb every successive
hook nv Philip Gilbert HameFton his American audience
becomes larger and appreciative HIS h'enecu'i
life has been one Of the best read and most oHeh
ouoted hooks Of the years and the quiet chaI
of his syle has its way 10 more cofdaI appeo'
tion than almost any lsterday English essaSis' h"
ceived among The public will be glad 10 near n''
Roberts BROTHERS have nearly ready holiday pook ny
Mr. Iamerton, entitled " The Sylvan Year Inc No'e
nook OF Raonl Dubois" This volume is illustrated
with 20 etehings by the author and other artist"
Every accessory Of fine paper, clear prln anu ua"s
cover goes make this issue one OF the dahtcst :" ~
season. and the etterprcss Is quite worthy OF 'e ho
a, Tins receives The OF story Is very slender
,ust mere vehicle the thoughts ana fances auu ss
cestions with which the pages crowded Raou Du-
bos who is ostcnsbly the stOryeller has lost III 'ne
co-Prllssian war all his family except one son'
Alexis Spent with grief, the father longs 1of 'hc hea
ing influences of naturefor sylvan solitude shaed ny
s boy who all he has left TO love- SO ne goes 10 an
old family estate-le Val sGnte Vero'fq"e-an aooue
in the heart of the between the Nneiands Oh
Burgundy and the course Of the River Lore lhere
were about 400 acres of woodland the estate ana the
house stood some seven miles from The nearest P"plo
road II consisted Of the remains Of monastc estao
lis ~. IL.
queathng the place the influence Of qmet rehsous
feeling in harmony with the surrounding seclusion.
In this sheltered homo RaOul and lis boy passen teH
"sylvan Year" The record Of daily experience OF
resfu communion with nature and close observation OF
her moods is quiet tale indeed but one fuh OF singular
charm. lesson Of peace was not Tor Dnpos one vi
forsetfuness As le says, why should We cndeavor 10
foreetl Do we not wrong the dead when we dismiss
their memory disturbing and importunateT r but
he resolved TO be always busy since employment which
necessary 10 ALL 10 none SO necessary as 10 oSc
who have to bear some poignant constantly recurring
sorrow. He determined 10 devote one year 10 com
panlonshp With his boy aud instruction which should
be- "a much finer and complete than that OF the
schools as q fathers love is warmer than a
teachers duty. Dubois accordingly arranged pro
arammc which IL would require the utmost
industry TO carry out. Besides readhg Win
his SON. they were collect heIbarum tonelude the
emit fora of this great woodland property ana to MAKE
nm album OF etching, which should illustrate everything
OF interest on the estate. The book comprises the ac
count Of this wear of daily wandcrings in search oI
beauty To artists II will De invaluable FOL 1t VIII ed
cate them IN the habit of minute observation No writer
50 detects the changing expression IS well as the lea"
tlres AZ Mother Nature, does II S0srton He knows
The color OF every twg and leaf every bit OF moss or
Iche the formation of every rock No hight or shade
OIL the face Of the day escapes his ano0ted Vsloh-hc
sees the soul things well the surface ana he mas
the rare art TO in spre for the time being with the
r1ft of his own cairyoyance.
one Of Hamertons art theories is that nature should
not he copied bnt ilcazed H says that the coloring
q; nature is not always good available for art, any
more than all the plants for food and II Is one OF 'he
first results Of culture in artist when he Is able 10 per
cciye this II mere fanaticsm TO speak OF the 1or-
titon arrangements OF color which occur In natural
scenery as examples Of divine art which II is mpiety TO
citcisc The truth is that artistic color is as far re-
,ved from natural color as artistic composition Is from
natural composition. aud II viii be found on nvesuga-
ton impossible 10 produce fine color by simply copying
nature. finds materials IN nature, but She "s 10
choose them as we choose mushrooms for the table, ana
ii she he not careful in her selection it is at her own
great peril Summer, and not Spring, Mr.. Hamertoh
thinks is the landscape painters time of harmony
Late Summer when peasants 90 othe haryest heidS
and bone with songs in the W9rn,oneu % mei9@ low
tulness OF their foliage.
Yet, he adds:
Spring has its own charms; especially for Young peo-
ne who have IL within their breasts think perhaps,
a. get older and are saddened ny the gl9Haer & SN
perenccs OF life that the recurrence oi ,c
veiy much We know well the limits on year. now
alterward can he done in il while 1t lasts We thn1 OF
the other springs that now lie far D,hno US ai LOW we
lost them IN vain pleasures or Yroless Ia9or iqa' ses
10 MS stin vain Spring l. much rather tue season
Of poets than OF painters NLai GeilShle Us III t"c
hope Than any visible reality There l. sonnet ne IN me
sofness of tne air N NE men eet e 'hf n @ t
caTesses and consoles after the rigorous MtcAs oI
/ Is
winch comes them with thousand howerS, WIN inc
songs birds, with puler brighter Isht, anu AAVn IT,
freslmeut that il Is lihe a fountain OF J0HreHce
Ihave no space 10 dwell the exquisite touches which
portray in this volume the changing aspects OF the
sylvan year There ia page two about the hoarrost
of February which delicate that cannot pass II by
that hoar-fr frost which needs for its perfection
calm so perfect that ship with all her sails would
sleeD 1tiopess npon the sea IL also low cloud
upon the earth, whose waely particles OF hollow spheres
or whatever in theiI infinite hteness te{ may Ge may
fal and sef slowly in the stiffness Of the night, and
freeZe and fasten the tinest point they touch Not
once in dozen Winters does this fairy bmldnS prosper
10 ITS completion but when the time il come, ana me
fairies arc permitted do their work without any dis
turhsnoe from great, strong gods OF the tempest OF
me Tays Of fai-sTting Apollo, hcn strange eneln,-
meut desccnds upon the forest and a fragile beauty
clothes IL 50 fragile tha; the aghing OF Dlld VIII
shatter il, OF the wind from his rapid wings.
The twenty etchings in this volume are extremely
beautiful Eight Of them by Hamcrtcn, himself; the
others by Greux LancOn HedOuin Leeux, and Massard
Most OF the pictures choice bits Of landscape; but
there is peasant girl by Grcux which Is very striking
She site in harvest heldere reapcrs in the back
ground; but she down among her sheaves, her
head resting on her idle hand aud some unexplained
sespair broodpg in her duSky eyes. L. c. NJ
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LITERARY NOTES.