New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-03
NEW PUBLICATIONS..

FIRST n venture and, il may be confessed, douo''u
one seems from all appearance to be wei sea'e"
in the saddle and in good heart for long journey
IFS purpose NAV be described aiming 10 carry the
ordinary publishers Journal" Reader, IL
brary Table," called by whatever name 10 III.
twentieth power, and to realize II possiDie 'ne u'
of those Who at home or In England, nave "lsnoN
10 keep us informed of what passes each Hon'" !"
the hoax ppbnshers' world. and not in one region
only of that world but in all its parts III huss'a'
italy and SPAIN as we'll III Germany france
r,clond and the United States. Desirable as IL Is
felt IN he and never more so than in this age OF
enor,,ons hook production, TO have the world OF
r,ad-rs well informed of what is going on III
their domain the undertaking has thus far seemed
too difficult to be seriously undertaken.
The Ucstrinsfer Recietc at time gave full
aud oenerous record of the books published during
tbe onarter in Europe Great Britain and the United
States and the task, almost beyond the naturai
limits of such journal, was 80 well performed as
to make the horieW essential to readers on account
of that norton of its contents alone But. after ALL
this was only an episode; and beside that the heteW
itself being decidedly docrinGre in its character
aud devoted to radical views of an advanced type
for that time at least the books selected for par
,;cnlar notice were naturally such made for the
couse 10 which the Rerietc was devoted, and there
was Tins necessarily perhaps, shade of PARTISAN
shin IN the character of the chronicle when made
II less useful than II might have been. we must
not however allow ourselves TO so much as seem
unfra;eful 10 what was. at the time we remember
IT, treasure of rich aud varied. earnest and learned
comment on the literary production OF the year.
Pint with this exception, we do not know where
the task BOW attempted by lie Ltwe has been so
much as begun. The information here brought
together into one review must hitherto nave peeh
sought tor separate journals devoted TO the va
ricns subjects about which human Interests gather,
and the historian, the political economist the theo-
logan. the art student the student of literature,
the man Of science must each rely upon the journal
d.votol To his own pursuit for information as 10
VAT was going Oh in his particular field. Nor was
filr information obtained in this way either COM
pjete or entirely Trustworthy. The German jour
nails were pretty to be very full and accurate
in news of W hat was doing III Germany and per
hans III France, but the French journals were good
for nothing outside of France, and France" was,
and is TOO often. with Frenchmen. geographical
term ior Paris" while the English journals were
useless for any other country than England, ana
nor exhaustive III their record of what was going
pu even there. 1t Is perhaps not saying too much
to assert that where all were doing little and
dong it 50 ill the American journals dtd as well as
apv Not z few of our scientific and elig1Ous jour
nails have kept their readers well informed to
Europcan AS well as home publications in their sew
eral fields a fact which perhaps explained by the
nrce. ;ity that exists III America of satisfying an
army of readers drawn from more natondhtles
than are TO be found represented III any
other country.
But now lie Lirre attempts TO supply the want
Ing piece in the amOry of encyclopedias dc
6onaries and books of reference of all sorts with
which the modern student goes out to battle. The
form OF the journal is fair octave of about one
hundred and fifty pages, but at the very start we
are met by one of those oddities of arrangement
which seem inscparable from works undertaken by
specialists. They their subject TO that ex-
tent that they come to think the ordinary dress of
the world not good enough for their darling. Thus
instead of printing his journal throughout on one
sort OF paper and numbering the pages consecuively
from tie beginning of each volume to the end OF
IT, we have the first half of each monthly number
prlptcd on thick white, ribbed linen paper with
urtrmmed edges while the rest of the number IS
nrnted IN smaller type on velOwlsh cotton paper,
of good enough quality perhaps, but much inferior
TO the other and each of these parts has Its own
Imagination. On examination 1t appears that the
subjects treated the first fifty or SO pages
relating to the photography of the past, b6ho9rd-
pLie oRo;cppe being of more distinctly literary
character are supposed to have permanent interest
and 10 he more suitable for binding by themselves
while the second part is looked upon as of more
Temporary and fugitive interest and perhaps not
worth preserving. This arrangement OF things
seems 10 us unreasonable and awkward. Each part
of the journal has its value, and they go very well
together There cOuld be no objection to printing
tie two parts on dierent paper, but the difference
in the paginatiOn is troublesome.
From the first number the reader may get general
notion of the ground the new journal attempts to
cover In the first division ibliOgraphle
Ancicnne-we find the following su6j cts treated:
"BrOn TAYLOR and his Dramatic Library" by Paul
IqcrOix; photography in England" by Fernand
Druiou misleading title, since the writer conhnes
BIS remarks to the labOrs of one person IN England
" no has amused himself with the rather unproht-
able task of collecting the titles of all the books
published in England whose iDdecency has brought
them under the ban of the law. Ire Acddemy IN
reviewing this periodical on its first appearance
smoke of this article with some feeling. as both un
necessary in itself raking up disagrecabe subject
quite unit for good company. and as unjust to
English scholarship And indeed the title is as in
Appropriate as would be that of Politics in America
for an article Oh the dOings of the lewd fellows of
the baser sort who run Taamany Hall. ala
Peljure Ilustrfc" IS the title of an article by
Joanncs Guigard in which the coats-of-arlns,
ciphers monogramS. shields. found on various spec-
mems of fine book binding given to their proper
Owners The figures that illustrate the article are
accompanied by brief explanatory and biographical
notes. Gustayc Brunei writes an interesting notice
of Octave Delepieue, a bibliopolist, and the com
piler of many books of curious research, with whom
NJ Brunei was himself intimately associated, the
two friends producing several books in common
which were signed with their united initials, q. b.
o. ID. DelcpieTe was born III Bruges in 1902. and
nc II, ,lia until hon
the then Belgian Minister Plenipotentiary, NJ. Van
de Viewer. made him secretary of legation, and, on
the death of the Belgian Consul General appointed
HIM 10 fiji the vacant place. Delcpierre passed
the remainder OF his life in London. where be died
In Is1N He was twice married bis first wife was