New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-11-27
NOTES ON BOOKS.
AMERICAN HUMoRIsTs AND ENGLISH PUB
LISTERS.

tfhp& NN I.ONDON, November ..
~, ,,ro;s,s bo,l, IN American Bumorlsts" has
made Its appearance in Lonuoh win .uo hnp.'"t '.
A1os,rs Chatto a. Wndus. The humorists are
wasb,nptou Irving, Oliver Wendell Holiness James
pnss.l, Lowell Artemus Ward Mark Twain and
Ret Harte. Mr. Haweis sets forth with charaoter-
,stio modesty his title to publish a work on TINS
,a,o, subiect Thackeray. he tells us IN his froI-
ace. delivered lectures on English Humors's, anu
aftcrward made them into booS,-wny shoulu ho'
I the Rev. ii. II. Haweis, NJ. A. author OF " music
orc Moralsr Current Coin" and other rivals 10
aVan,ty Fair" and Henry Esmond." do the
.sme thing. and "plead Thackerays example Ill
my favor"f r..,
ersv will give you a sufficient taste OF MS genius
Nowhere in the lectures on English huuhor's's
vouId Won be likely TO find such an exposition ol
vb.t ur Uaveis calls the rccreative use Oh WIZ ID
,h;s. w. oil reuuire to unwind ourselves anu
vit il one of the most powerful unwihoe's' Noi
,s II EASY to call to mind III Thackeray any oA
amples of intellectual acuteness Ike those s"ppou
bv Mr. Haweis in his inquiry into the nature vi 'ho
faculty on which he discourses. MIR. Haweis ah'
alvzesv w.t. and finds that 1t always lnVoiVes an
exsggeration "a reversal of ideas, glimpse VI 'ue
inconrruous or the impossible" For examples vi
wit he gives q mouse rs big as q mouse III ps"'o
mime which is n certain success; the clowh
who ..vs ~ n Groom exercising his horses, " 1t IS
.s,oni.hinp what YOU can learn insects; inc
showman who pronouuces a skull to be the reai
tnIl of the poet Burns when he was littie Doy'
These ale three out of his five examples. Oho "
The other two is a mere play upon words-DioN'n''
lady who went home in flood OF tears anu eou.'u
chair The last is the description OF inc clooouiio
rho,ivsd +. sixty miles from any water and seventy
miles from any land" And that is tho contribution
OF the Rev. Mr.. Haweis to the analysis OF VIII
American humoI (Mr. Hawes occasionally us
,inpnishes between humor and wit but as often
oonfounds them has the honor OF an analysis 10 IL
self. The peculiarIties of American humor are
6rst the shock between Business and PIety;
seco,d. tho shock Of contrast between the
sboricinal and the Yankee; lastly |" tho shocK VI
contrast between the bigness of American nature
and the smalness Of European nature or as lot inc
matter of that. Human Natne Itself ontS'ue
America This is what the audiences of the Royal
Institution were privileged TO listen to anu the rest
of the would is now privileged to read >,
Mr. Hawes is eulogstic enough; praises MS
American bumorists as well as he knows how; and
has the most cheerful confidence IN the Value Oh MS
,,anegyr:cs But he is best when critical; when lie
Finds Mr. Loyers style to DO s!ovenly and his essay
IN Shakespeare to he very good and clear especially
the remarks on Heninge and COndell" Perhaps
few more acute and elegant judgments are 10 oe
found in literature than the remark that IN the
Ucathen Chinee Mr. Bret Harte suddenly strikes
lie and finds his element But for Nj. Hawels we
might never ha We known that " lie" was Mr. Bret
Harte's element. Nor should we have guessed M
oided that while Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes loves
fact he often "sautes with awe the superior angel
f ima,inotion and docs not forget amidst the iron
tvrannies of experimental philosophy and the ire
mendous Empire of tho Senses the insolube myS-
fiery and immense SUI remacy OF the Soul.
1t is fair to Mr. Hawcls to say that lie is nos al
WAYS so splendid in style rs THIS. lie Is more COM
monty fIppaut, and affects a prickly snartnesS Oh
diction Lest mis- sentences should miss their quo
effect he prints the shortest OF them IN separate
paragraphs In typographical appearance his pages
hear a resemblance to the pages of some modern
French writer's. Mr.. Haweis has perhaps Initiated
them. but he omitted to take note of she fact that
by these breaks the writer's who use them Indicate
n division Of the sense or transitcn In thoushU.
But many pages of Mr.. Haweiss book may hen
estly he praised in high terms 1t contains very
copiUus quotations
The new edition OF Lorna Doone" (Lessrs.
samnson Low & Co.. is an illu.tration Of the in
difference of publishers to tue tastes and wants OF
,be readipg community. Who cares to have novel
IN n large 0uarto volume Of five or six hundred
,agesP Not those who want to read IL surely. But
there are buyers as we'll as readers. Some years
apo we we're all congratuatng ourselves that we
did not live in the daysOf our great grandiathers,
hoD huu folios were the fashion. But the foshiOn
has come in come in with huge new fortunes and
huge new houses, with huge picture galleries and
libraries for which the vanity OF the poSsessor de-
nands huge pictures and huge books. This present
example uf publishers efforts to crafty this demand
Is printed on paper of superfne glossnsss dis
tressing 10 the eyes ntype too small for the space
In whichit is set stretching across the broad ex-
nanse of paper in lines which il is fatigue to fol-
low to the end There are illustrations of several
degrees of goodness. and a cover on the front SIDE
of which the title of the book. already sufficiently
announced on the back, sprawls in fancy letters,
with .p-gs of ornamentaton. On the whole, a
piece of book making false in taste as it is ambi-
tiOus
One of the oldest Shakespearean announcements
ever made-and there nave been many odd Shake
spearcan announcements appears V ith the lmDTlnt
OF Mr. W Paterson, Edinburgh bookseller and
puJlisher. Mr.. Paterson is going to give to the
world another reprint of the First Folio OF 1923.
II is not quite clear that one is wanted Three re-
productions already in existence; one published
m 1907; Mr. Booths in 1864. to the accuracy of
which the editors of the Cambridge Shakespeare
have borne testimony; and Mr. Staunton's photo
7incorrauhic facsimile All of these are prccurable
The earliest is not very correct and Mr. StauntOn
is dear but Booths can be bought for few dollars
Mr. Paterson, however has cOncei, ed the notion Oi
an edition which shall have some luxury about it,
and the authority of tradition as well He speaks
of the folio as the original text 1t is for some playa
and for others 1t is not OF all existing editions II
is about the last to which modern who wishes to
read Shakespeare would haveIecourse. Its value II
critical But il is to be illustrated with etch-
ings aud for the illustration of the greatest Eng
lsh writer his latest publisher goes to France. NJ
Pile designs and VI. Monies etchcs them. Every
one eau form his own estimate of the extent To
zxlinh thia Ercnch work Is NkslY to . illnstrafe y