Morning journal and courier., 1880-05-27
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
 Mir. Richard Henry Stoddard has been known for more than thirty years as poet and awriter for magazines, and he has great number of admirers who will welcome the complete edition of his poems just published by Charles Scribner's Sons. This book con- tains the Early Poems, Songs of Summer, I The Kings Bell, The Book of the East, Later Poems and The Hymns of the Mystics. Under these titles Mir Stoddard has arranged poems touching upon great variety of sub- jects. As on accomplished critic says: ''The charms of nature, all human emotions, death and life, romantic stories, single incidents, all sorts of gay and light or pensive fancies have found their singer in him. He has tried his graceful hand at the songs of the Arab and the Tartar, of Persia and China; he has written sonnets to his living friends, and has embalmed in memories those who have died. His verses have added to the pleasure of the world, and he has been faithful to the poetic gift which nature bestowed upon him." That MT. Stoddard well deserves the place in liter ature he has won will be felt by all who make themselves familiar with these poems. The book is handsome one. The printing is on very handsome paper and the binding is ar tistic For sale in this city by Judd the bookseller. "Reminiscences of an Idler,'' by Henry Wikoff, or, as he is more generally known, the Chevaher Wikof, is a very attractive and readable book. The author, in long life, has travelled over large part of the civilized world, and met and associated with multi tude of men and women of more or less re- nown in politics, letters and society on both sides of the ocean. Long periods of resi- dence abroad ripened acquaintances thus formed, and gave him opportunities of close observation which he seems to have i'm proved. His "reminiscences, however, are emphatically those of an idler, and lack the studious spirit of one who travels for deep- CT object than simply to see the world and be amused with it. But MT. Wikoffs education and intelligence give an appetizing flavor to the scenes he recalls and the pictures he draws of the persons and things he has seen; his style is sprightly and he invests even or dinary subjects with graceful interest, and his graphic descriptions of people familiar to the mass of readers only by their names and works are valuable. His account of his first meeting with Countess Guiccioli the mistress of Lord Byron, is one of the interesting parts of the book. The meeting occurred in the diligence for Boulogne while Wikoff was on his way from Paris to London. In the dili- gence, when he took his seat he found
 gentleman and lady. He had no oppor- tunity to the face of the lady until they stopped for dinner, but when he did see it he found it exceed ingly pretty. He says 'sHer blue eyes were full of archness and sparkled with in telligence. Her features were well shaped, her blonde hair being round her visage in ringlets. She was about medium height and perfect in symmetry. I fancied she was near thirty. Her manner, above all, was capti- vating and her voice completed the charm. The gentleman was tall and very erect. There was precision and celerity in every movement that indicated energy and well balanced mind" After dinner they resumed their places in the diligence, and after talking some time were gradually overtaken by sleep Mir. Wikotf says: ''As I was in the middle
 and had no place to repose on, my head
 toppled over, and strangely enough, it gravi-
 
 rested on her plump shoulder, which must have been a very soft pillow, for I slept soundly most of the night. In the morning she told me- with gentle smile, of the un- conscious liberty had taken, and I over
 flowed with apologies for my unintentional rudeness." The lady was the Countess Guiccioi and the gentleman the then famous Dr. Lardner. The book is good summer reading. For sale in this city by Judd the bookseller. |
 The Magazines.
 St. Nicholas for June has an outdoor, sum- mery character. Among it's striking features 1 is an account, by Oliver Thorne Miller, of | the Children's Aid Society's delightful chari- l ty, s'The Summer Home'' for poor city chil- | dren, at Bath l.. l., with seven pictures made | by Jessie Curtis from sketches taken on the | spot Another attractive paper is an article writ
 ten and copiously illustrated by MT. Daniel l c. Beard, clearly explaining to young people l
 ''How to Camp Out" cheaply, easily and | comfortably There are long installments of l the two serials, 'Jack and JilI,' by Louisa l M Alcott, with two fine illustrations by 1 Dielman, and s"The Fairport Nine" by Noah | Brooks, with pictures by Redwood. The | number contains five complete short stories. | Mrs. R. Swain Clifford contributes a fine pie | ture and a few paragraphs about some inter- l esting ducks called ssOld Squaws," whose l musical cry, 'tHe got no gun '" is said to be 1 irritating to sportsmen. Among the funny | things are the verses EtAh Lo,'' with two | comical pictures by Hopkins, and the curious |
 Chronicles of the Mo1bos'-a thick-witted l people living in Jutland-with three humor | ous illustrations by Frank Beard. Short l poems and bright pictures are scattered | through the number, and there is fulI-page illustration of curious modern head-dresses 1 of European men.
 The last number of Good Company has l stories by Miss Sarah o. Jewett, authoress of
 'Deephayen," !" Sydney Hall and others. Lord i Beaconsfeld's recent defeat at the polls lends special interest to Mir. George M. Towle's 1 sketch of his career, which gives much infor- nation about the late Premier. Science in High Latitudes has also timeliness in con-