New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-25
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE WORKS OF ISAAC DisRAELI, with view OF
the writings and life Of tho author, hy his son;
london edition: o vols, including Curioses Of Lit
erature. vols; Caamtes aud Qnarrsls Of Antnorsa
Characters, vol, The Literary Character ana LIZ
tory OF Men OF Gesius vol; crown s'o' new
A. c. Armstrong q son.
1T was Lord Byron who said he had read the works
sf the elder Dsrae oftener than those of any other
Author. They possess charm that half century
and attempts at imitation have not impaired, and
remain as Lord Beacon s6ed says in the life or hs
father the literary miscellany Of the English speak
inc people Disrae has had few detractors. aud the
time has passed for controversy over his merts as
purveyor of anecdotal literature. "Curiosities Oh
Literature" and the kindred volumes are counted
smonc the necessaries of literary life, and IN tins
world it is b sitter 10 be necessary than perfect
Isaac Disraeii was the prince of compilers. When
young he wrote verses which "eIe soo'
enough to make Sir Walter Scott declare ne nisn'
have been an English poet if he had perseyered'
His commercial pareut was horrilcd by his attempt
60 court the muses., and he was sent abroad 10
see life and the error of bis weys, as many diiier-
emily infatuated lovers have been. He csme home
onlv partjaly cured But he owed the great success
of his prose writings as much TO his poetic taste ana
love of form as to his aborious insnctswhich we're
those of literary antquary. Besides he was sihgu-
lary free from prejudices Of all kinds and Judgsu
lmpartially il sometimes falsely For these gcod
oualities in writer whose aim was to please and
instruct all kinds of readers he was indebted party
70 his pecuniary independence and more. prooaoiy,
60 his Hebrew origin. He cared very little ior inc
few surviving preadices of his own race ana VIe"eu
with equal curiosity and humor the ldioSyhclacies
OF other races.
+ Occasionally he seems TO DO largely indebted ioI
the pleasing diversity of his STYLE to the strength OF
his impressions of the author on wholnhe last levied
Tor materials Sometimes the Indebtedness Is
greater In his chapter on Arosto and lasso. three
of the five pages are word for word literal transa-
lion of GOethe's description of the songs OF the
Venetian eondoers. Hero he omits also the FORM
nifty of quotation marks but introduces the transa-
lion by saying, An anonymous gentleman las
greatly Obliged with his account OF the recitation
of these poets by the gondoliers." Possibly he was
the victim of some practical joker, but since inc
opening lines of Goethes description oecnr
In perfect eraness little further up the page, the
reader is left in doubt as to the exact part the
anonymous gentleman had in writing the whole
chapter
One NAV trace in the elder Disrael the same taste
for surprising phrases that appears so markedly in
the SON Few literary sons survive the fame OF
literary father Circumstances OF education may
give the son different tastes and new point OF view
But those spiritual and mental qualities which de-
termine the Individuality Of the man are apt to be
transmitted aud appear in the writings OF the son
ne an echo more or less faint Lord Beaconsheld was
fortunate in his literary father, aud ought to feel
grateful that he sought fame in usefulness rather
than in theexercSe OF the creative faculty. But II
Is safe to say that the works OF the father viii be re-
printed long after the "Vivian Greys" and " En-
dyrnious" of the son have been purified OF vanity by
the paper mill. The "Cnriosities of Literature ."
serve writer's as a gentle stmulant, and have done
much toward making the reading habit general. 1t
Is the merit of this edition that it is attractive
and yet within the means OF nearly everybody and
II is uniform with the "standard edition" OF Lamb
md Uallam.