The Portland daily press., 1882-12-09
Recent Publications..

than this, it would be hard to imagine or exc
cute. Herrick, the genial, graceful singer of
the seventeenth century, left behind no less
than thirteen hundred poems, many of them
mere snatches of song, but fresh, varied and
natural as the notes of wild birds. His range
of voice was very great; he was capable of Be-
we're and lofty verse or of the verieet dainty
triae of ballad sung to a lady's eyebrow.
From the wealth of material that lay before him
for choice in illustration Mr.. Abbey has chos-
en- little capriciously it may be, but with true
artistic instinct. The general tone of the vol
June, is gay, witty, picturesque, with an at
mospbere of pleasant gardep-close of old-time
England, where the apple.boughs hung above
velvet grass and the light leaves moved to let
the sun sift through their shadow. Mr.. Alb
beys illustrations catch the spirit Of the verses
they accompany; his treatment is varied, imag-
NATIVE and particularly harmonious with the
dainty and charming touch, the genuine fire
and precision of the poets work.
New England Bygones By e. III. Arr.
ELLEN FL. Rollins.) Introduction by Gail Ham
ilton. philadelphia: J. P. Lippipcott & Co.;
Portland: Loring, Short aud Harmony A
most beautiful memorial of the author, whose
literary gift was So direct and characteristic an
expression of herself that a. personal interest
attaches to all that she wrote Her sketches of
the New England of forty years ago are at
once imaginative and full of detail. Mrs. Rol-
Inns was singularly sensitive to the impression
and spirit of what she saw, and not less accur-
ate and clear-sighted in description. In her
hands, the homely cares, the plain ways and
speech of New England, took color and piclrr-
esque quality, without losing reality. How ell
evated and charming she herself was, it is pos
siole in part to infer from her own writings;
still more from the very striking and sincere
memoir of her, from the pen of Gail Hamilton.
The illustrations by many noted artists are,
with few exceptions, admirable. To the
older members of families, wto can
look back to a something more print
tive time of New England, this will
be peculiarly acceptable volume. The homes,
the simple festivals the yearly round of work
in bayfield,, harvesting at apple-pariDg or
quitting, the staid sweetness of country
Sunday, the silent, remote pathos of an old
burial ground. or the eloquence and gossip Of
the village and shop smithy, are described and
pictured in sympathet c, delicate and effective
fashion. 1t is book written with intense
though restrained feeling, and will not fail TO
win more than common response. 1t was
good thought to reprint these sketches as the
fttest praise of their writer.
The Deserted Village By Oliver Goldsmith.
Illustrations by Hammett Billings (Phila-
delphia; Porter & Coates; Portland: Bailey &
Noses.) This standard poem appears in hol-
day edition with tastefully designed cover, gilt
edges, excellent type and paper and numerous
iluasl atiols.
Home Life in the Bible. By Henrietta Lee
Palmer. Boston: J. r. Osgood & Co ; Port
land: Loring, Short & Harmon . In this vol
ume, which with its many illustrations, excel
lent type and rlch and substantial binding is
very suitable for holiday gift, Mrs. Palmer
has collected and arranged in competent
and industrious manner variety Of informa-
ton concerning the domestic customs OF the
Hebrews of Bible times Their homes, furnl-
ture and household utensils, the education oil
their children, their music, worship and cere-
monials are described fully and agreeably 1t
is work of real worth, and will greatly assist
the reader to form a clear idea of the daily life
of Palestine.
Poems of Life and Nature. By Mary Glenn
mer. Boston: j. R Osgood & Co.; Portland:
Loring, Short q Harmony Mrs Clemmer has
some share of the poet gift. not especially dis
tinct in quality or spontaneous in expressions
but always earnest, and often graceful and eff
farti Ch.4 lie ant fo OIL, i'm b1r bau
which is matter of temperament, choice, or
both together. Her handling of metres and
rhymes is sometimes careless and incorrect.
But the faults one instinctiveiy finds with her
verse are lack of atmosphere and of motion;
and too elaborate literary effects. Her poems
are. however, thoughtful and often strong, and
will appeal to the liking of many readers,
and some passages of genuine poetic beauty
could easily be selected from among them.
Little Sister. No Name Series. Boston
Roberts Brothers; Portland: Loring, Short &
Harmony This is one of the freshest, most
wholesome and worth while OF the series Of
novels to which it belongs 1t is somewhat
uneventful story, but it never falls into stagna-
ton or over-suDtle analysis. The heroine is
one of those unsel6sh, practical and sweet
women of which every neighborhood needs.
and usually possesses, at least one; aud her ro-
nance is told, very pleasantly. In the love
stories which run side by side with hers, sue
plays beuehcent part; and some very kind y
and practical hints to young housekeepers are
for a Christmas gift, aud will not be- laid aside
after the first reading.
Towhead. By Sallie Pratt Mclean. (Bos-
ton: A. Williams & Coz The talent ana H.
terest which readers of Cape COD Folks Will
expect 10 find in a new novel by the same au-
thor, exist here in greatly diminished degree
Cape Cod Folks was, although faulty work
and lacking IN many traits which are essential
to lasting success, an unusually striking and
amusing story. In the later work the faults
have developed disproportionately; and the
vivacity appears forced, while the sketches, or
rather caricatures, of character do not impress
the reader with their truth or possibility as
did, for instance, Grandma and Grandpa S,i-
GER in Cape C.d Folks. Miss Mclean seems
at present 10 mistake eccentricty for individ-
But the most serious fault of her work is its
lack of human feeling, for which theatrical
pathos is sometimes substituted This hard
ness was felt in the earlier novel in various in
stapces, notably in the heartless fashion in
which the young sailors death was recorded |
by the heroine, who had engaged to marry
him and should supposedly have felt some
thing more instead of less than the common |
pity and tenderness of an acquaintance. Miss |
Mclean gets up some very moist and rhapsodi- |
cal scenes when it occurs to her to move her |
readers to tears after the peremptory fashion |
Of the Colonel in Patience, "weep, weep, all |
weep!' But where an author would natu- /
rally be touched with sympathy for the people |
she has copied from nature or even imagined, |
the re seems to be an utter heartlessness. This |
want of genuine feeling and an accompanying |
desire for effect and to raise laugh, and he |
superficial if keen observation, will, unless |
some extraordinary change in Miss McLeap's |
literary nature takes place, ensure lamen table |
failure as a novelist. Shevis bright ready, has
enough descriptive power and cleyerness, but
fails in the sympathetic sincerity which is the
core of the literature that lasts.