New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-14
NOTES FROM ABROAD.
NJ FRENCH BOOKS, AUTHORS AND EDITORS.

he anal
been freshly made in France, ana saleN Sep' ''"'
o.. q ,hot Of NJ. Georges Ohnei. His first novel.
Scrc, FAMINE" was the of last year and is
49,, IN ts seventeen edition, or thereabouts.
pramatizcd and put on the stage of the Gymnase IN
1ssr Il was still being played when came to Parls
Wool ago "ie MaItre dc Forges" is NJ Ohnets
latest story and already much too long before the
public to De spoken of as novelty. COPIES NO" "'-
ta,noble at the booksellers are of the hity-eightn
edition and this is to be put TO me cic,lV
both of the author and the pnOuc' t"i
tins second novel is much less 0Dlecl'oha''e
boo, from the moral point of view thah the n'S''
Strike out one sc,ne. and IL might almost Do pun
Ished IN England itself That scene n"hapP"S' .
rot the worst part OF the book, II you i"oh Nv 10
Iitoro,,. ,oerits only. II is disfgured bv sensa-
,ioual incident at the end. worthy oniY OF 'he Io'o
Ct Martin or the Ambigu. Down 10 that point nc
strnctnr, Of the tale is solid AMI honest ann wth
hot ito MaIrc dc FORCES "iscertainly the
bo.t niece of recent French hction that has come
fr.,, any writer not yet admitted into the mont
rank OF his contemporaries
In the continued popularity of NJ. A'phonse
Doudet's " NUlua Roumo stan" may be found PROOF
Of fine attraction which political carica'ure has Tor
the general reader even in the DOMAIN OF hction'
where pohtics have no particular business. ms
hook. too has run through some seventy edi1ions
in fen months Of which quite half must nave o"eh
reGuired TO satisfy French curiosity ABOUT ihe sup
posed portrait of NJ. Gambetta. Portrait properly
so-ralled there is none but Numa is sort o. "'li-
betta through the lookme-glass-hke ana mike
his original in about equal proportions CiitlcS
nrorounc d the book Gull on lis
first appearance; its success was less
randi than its predecessors, or some OF them. bu'
no book of NJ AlphOnse Daudet IS likely TO long
neglected Great living novelietS are not numerous
even in France. and as a writer VI. Alphonse Daudet
stands surely at the head OF all his competitors ID
debcacy of finish. in sureness Of touch IN minute
occpr,cv of observation III the general mastery OF
the mystery Of his craft, he has hardly a rival oI
This generation. One unusual honor has already
come to him. His SORES are being relssued IN what
in Enoland is commonly called a library edltioh
here \ deGnitiye edition. Ii IS, on the whole
too monumental; the sort of book one bad ralnrr
establish in state on one shelves than hold I'D one
hand after dinner. The volumes appear Il al fato
consistent with tine dignity of the edition. Begun
n wear AGO but two have yet been pu1lisaed; max
ing one novel and half The eislreness OF the
French publisher beats anything known. IL was
Int last wear tnlt W. JOuaust couid MAKE up HIS
mind to send out the fourth and concluding voiume
Of the "Montaigne," OF which the first appe area
some ten years before.
Itis difficult must admit. to find any one book
OF mark which is absolutely new ; or even JIG
enough to excuse ones saying much aDoht
II Al. Victor Hugo's "Torquemada has already
made the circuit of the world yet Tue
French pnbHc has not demanded the usual number
of editions There is reason enough apart irom lit
erarv reasons. why they should not. "TOrQuemlta -"
is not fresh work bat an old One-though that 70
many people would be rather recommendation
than an objection. 1t is q thin book and not dear,
but if will shortly reappear in its proper place II
the collected editions of VI. Victor HugoS WORKS
and the French though more of book-buyIne
peonle than the English, do not particularly care l"
bly the same book twice over. NJ victor
Hugo. | was glad to hear OF as IN good health
ana in the country; guest of NJ. Paul Menrlce'
who has been for quarter OF
century OF so something like an honorary secretary
70 the great Frenchman-if Mr. Matthew Arnoid
will allow one to call him so. Mr.. Arho4d9 us
like 10 Hugo increases, and only the other day he
allowed himself describe the veteran poet dram
atist and novelist as half genius, half chariatan.
Bnt that is a dispute which Mr.. Matthew Arnold
and Mr. Swmburne may be left ohght out between
them. The popular feeling in England ten years
ago was clearly on Mr. ArnOld's side. NJ Hug0s
romances were a good deal read IN bad transIa-
fions but NJ. Hugo WAS not popular author WIN
the English. It is singular" said friend OF his
who knew England well. Hugo is not liked IN
England and of all French writer's his genius mas
most in common with the English"
Knight cite Messrs. Hachottes editions of " Les
Grands Ecrivains as examples of that slowness IN
the French publisher which just now mentioned
Their Moere is still uniini9hed; so Is the La
Rochefouc,uld D; of saint Simon " but three vol
umes have appeared of the thirty or forty which
are TO be devoted to the writings of the most brill
tl,o Pascal NJ.
Fanpere's hands and the first volume is not yet In
nrint The seventh volume of &" Cardinal de Ret2 ="
came out q fortnight ago, anticipating the
sixth And so on. But the excuse
in these cases is that they editions upon hlch
every resource of study and literary skill Is IaV-
ished TO which learned devote years OF patient
labor and which are likely, when once hnlohed' To
supersede at least to the real student all other ed-
tions The Mime. dc Sevign6," the " Racine" the
"Coneille," the LA Bruyere," which have been
completed, leave little to be desired or done Tor
these authors. At the same time. most book-buyers
and readers would prefer that their acquisition
should be of to themselves rather than their
executors The preference is not an unreasonable
one. and Messis Hachette would do well, and NJ.
Regnicr. tho genial Editor of the whole SERIES
would do well, So far as circumstances may permit,
10 take note Of this natural lmpatience.
NJ AdOlphe BelOVs ne" eIoiS, u" po'OH0 VI"
Madame Y ." is a sImal example of the truth that
dirty books are commonly dull. Ii was Nestor
Rodueplan, think who observed that novels or
tins sort were chiefly remarkable for lagabric@.
Notbing could be less like literature than NJ.
Belot's STYLE formed as it is, on the model of the
notice court reporter with its thnness and its httle
lets of spurious smartDess. But there can DO no
doubt of tae commercial success OF such books.
Nj Be!ots last performance is but lately out, ana
the copy bought "a / left London was of the
tbrticth edition. | read it on the Channel and
pitcbed 1t overheard when had done. with strong
- 1 nhn,,ld havn dnne heiter To nil oh IL