The New York herald., 1878-02-25

only roarangeo Ous 10 great part reWrotes 'houeYs
I'LL" for the STAGE ras been initiated. Inths YER
sion edited by Mr. Winter there Is attempt to i'm.
provo The quality of the work sho desire seems
to have been SIMPLY to adapt the play the rcquve
ments Of the modern stage In Its original form u 10
uudeniably too long for representation. Condensa-
tion therefore necessary. bus Interpolation.
Mr. Winter has omitted only those limos which
least essential to the action and TO the understanding
OF the play. Under the circumstances Of the cass
II would nave been difficult 10 make the required
changes with less dstriment 10 the original text.
In shortening the play some arrangement OF acts
and soenes has effected. The whole number OF
scenes has boen reduced. but thore acts In
stead OF 1--we. Enoh however IL considerably shorter
than in the original. and, as performed by Mr. Booth,
the intermssions are very brie Mr. Winter Ger.
tanly is wrong In believing Richard not TO have
been s'des.itute OF human feeling" ''subtle, com.
pick and brilliant, " be was, beyond sdoubt, ana bis
character has been so described by Shakespeare but
there is not line the play itself which would lead
inier that was Otherwise than 'dostitute oi
human feeling" Nor Is Mr.. Booths impcrsonaticn
the character anywhere sofsned by trace Of ten.
derness eeng except by that OF supernatural foa,
the night before his DEATH Mr. Winter is deserving
praise having adhered almost literally to this rus
tnrous snout, and the result Of his work Thoroughly
satisfactory. His "prompt book" 10 made more in
teresting by appendix several pages In length.
This little volume Is ocsutiiui sPo5imeu OF tne
printer's art
RoLvs's sHAKEsf9ARI.
OF Shakespeare literature where II from the handa
of intelligent men We cannot have too much. Any
thing that keeps the interest In the immortal drama
tist fresh in minds is welcome, therefore We ac-
knowledge with pleasure tho service Mr.. William J.
Role is doing IN his editions OF Shakespsares plays,
published by Harper & Brothers. The latest
addition 10 This series "Henry "" in the
a tI,asS SwsaI Nd
care conspicuous in the previous Volumes II Is the
authors aim to give in concise form all tho comments
Of former editors that seemed Of any real value or IN
terest; In other words, 10 prepare what may be
called popular .'variorum" edition for the general
reader and student In Mr.. Rolfe's Introduction we
have history Of she play with It's historical sources
and critical commentA Al the back OF the book
there hity-sx pages of notes and three closely
printed pages 81 an indsx OF the words explained.
The form Of the play here given IL from the nrst
iolio edition OF l62a Ne library OF shaksspsarsapa
viii bs complete without Mr., Rolfs's handy little vol.
umes and those admirers Of Shakespeare who have
neither the time the opportunity 10 study his va
rous Commentators Will fnd hsre IN nutshell
their most important points.
LITERARY CHIT-CHAT.
A London agency has been started which undertakes
authorship IN wholesale way. II VIII furnish COM
odteS, tragedies, boIHloues uAt0tsb anu ShT1utMhn
stories on the shortest notice
The first appearance Of Shakespeare In Platdeutseh
Is the 'Mery Wives Of windsorm recently translated
The great civil service question has received .
positive contribution In Mr.. H. Lathams book, ION
tho Action OF Examinations Considered ~ Means Of
Selection"
Cardinal Manning publishes his ssrrus Story Of the
Vatican usoiL" which the Londsn critics cay bears
frequent traces OF hssty writing
Mr. Charles H. Eden has published In London 'sThe
Fifth Continent" being succent and admirable 60
count Of Australia and The adjacent islands.
Dr. W. B. Carpenter under tho head Of ''Psyoologi-
cal Curiosities OF Oredulity comes TO the rescue Of
science against Mr.. Wallace the spirtuasts and
shows that the evidence favor OF olarvoyants has
been rejected after full investigation by the French
Academy.
We are promised translation In English Of Jacob
Grimm's great work. ''Dsutsohe Nytholosie"
Macmillan L Co. will publish the lie Of George
Combe, In TIVE volumes. By Mr. Charles Gibbon.
Combs's eConsutat,ou Of Man" has been translated
iuao SIX languages and 10000 copies were sold Ia
England.
..rhe Irishmau in Canada" By Nicholas Flood
Dawn, just published by Low 4 Co., London, shows
the distinguished part which Irshmen have played in
the settlement Of Caaada we'll In It's military
and political history.
Professor Vcitch has given instructive study OF
obscure literature his book, History and Poetry
| OF the Scottish Border - just ont st Glasgow.
The hitherto unprintsd works Of wyclins are In the
spress OF the Early EaGiish Text Society.
Professor A. j. schem in preparation book on
| tho Turco-R war;
| Mr.. A. NJ Powslls now book on Estate Regulation
| Of Vice" includes . summary of the international
Congress held Geneva last year for discussion Of
| this subject.
| There are nine county superntendents Of
| schools In Illinois who are women
Professor Huxley's recent lecture TO workingmen
On how to educate for handicran published IN the
March Fppwlar Scsencs Monthly.
| ssThe Labor Problem In the United States" is the
title OF pamphlet issued by .. J. Carson Co.
| David A. Wells will discuss the ''Elements Of Ma.
t,oual Wealth. In the next number Of the Interna.
tional Rev,ey showing the relative incomes and saw.
ings Of tho United States and other countrcs
In the March number Of the North American Repiew
| the subject Of "Eternai Punishment" will be dis
cussed by Dr.. Noah Porter, Presbyterian; Rev, o.
B. Frothlpgham, Frothinshamite; Hev. Henry W.
Bellows, Unitarian; Very Rev. Thomas s. Preston,
Roman Catholic; Rev. william r. Williams, Bsptis.,
| and Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer, Universalist.
.srhe Life Of General Albert Sidney johnston by
| bis son, is in preparation by the Appletons.
"Raymonde," by Andre Tneuriet, will be the next
volume in Appleton's collection Of foreign authors
G. p. Putnam's Sons have IN preparation series Of
volumes issued under the title Of "Current Dis.
cussons" rhoy will be made up Of the essays oi spe
cial note and permanent Importance upon the ques.
ons Of the time that have been recently contributed
to leading English periodicals BY representative writ
ers and thnksra II will be prepsFpd under she edi.
| torial supervision Of Edward I. Bsfaingama
The most important book OF the month 10 Lsokys
History or England the Eighteenth Century, pub.
lished BY D. Appleton Co. This same Arm publish
"The Ancient Lie History OF the Earth,"a oompre.
hensive outline OF the principles aud leading facts Of