New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-04-30
LITERARY NOTES.


fascinating Chapters in Popular Natural History"
Is in the press of T. Whitaker. 1t is to be illus
trated.
Mrs. Gladstone makes modest appearance as n
writer In little volume entitled Healthy Bed
rooms and Nurseries"
The Harpers are bringing out Mr.. Curtis's Grafton
on Wendell Phillips.
Mr. Watts who for the past ten years has been
engaged in transating Don Quixote into Enghsh'
Is now I'D Spain, where he has lately been enter
tanned in quaint fashion by NJ and Mdme. &c
Riafo All the materials of the feast, the china,
glass, plate, the embroidered tahe-cloth' even the
nenu, were of the time of Cervantes In an adJoih-
inc room were 70 be seen two hundred editions OF
Don Quixote from the first, Ill 1908, to that MUS
trated by Dor6.
Roberts Brothers have brought ont in plump
volume the memoirs of Margaret Flu Ter Ossoil' as
contained in her own autobiography and IN the
sketches of Emerson, Claiming and James Freeman
Clarke. A portrait is prefiXed to this volume.
The "Vestiges of the Natural History OF Gre
ationr the famous book which was pupIlshed
anonymously forty years ago which was ATTRIBUTED
TO various distinguished scientific men, ana
was bitterly attacked chiefly on religious grounds,
has long been out of print. Since its hTst puOhca-
ton "a 600 copies have been sold, four editions De-
ing published within seven months new edition
is now announced. and in its Introduction
written by Mr. Alexander Ireland is given the name
Of the author. Ii was Dr. Robert Chambers, EdlIor
of ChambpSs Journal, and author of many bIograPh-
cal historical and archaeological works Only
four persons have known the secret of the author
ship two of these being the authors brother the
late Ir. William Chambers and Mr.. Ireland. Up
TO the end of his life in May last, the former was
unwilling that the secret should ever be dlYulged
and he urged Mr. Ireland. the surviving hoiuer
of it, TO allow 1t to fall into oblivion-a request
with which the latter could not comply. Now that
the elder brother has passed away, Mr. Ireland con
sders it a duty to the memory OF Robert Chambers
TO place on recOrd-whle 1t is still IN his power 10
do so-the fact that to him the world was lnueo'eI
for that remarkable work which was the 1ore-
runner of Darwin's Theory of Evolution ana Oh
which Darwin himself says: d" In its later editions
il did excellent service in this country IN ealing
attention to the subject in removing prejudice, and
in thus preparing the ground IoI the receP'lo-l -
analogous VIEWS"
A new editiOn-the fOuTth-of the "Globe FRO
nouncing Gazetteer " Edinburgh; Oliver Boyd;
New-York c. ?. Putnam's sons, has just ar-
peared For this edition of an exceedingly useful
work every article has been revised, statistics
have been corrected, and material added.
DIR. Schaf has just issued the fourth edition of
his "Creeds of Christendom y Qiarpers, y. u,
$ yolsL and second edition of his " Companion to
the Greek Testament and the English Version =
Harpers l VOL. 1851, both with considerable adj
dItlons and various improvements He Is also pre-
parng an elaborate Appendix to the second volume
of his revised Church History published 1888, on
the newly discovered " Teaching of the Apostles
which Will contain introduction, text and critical
notes and will be sold separately at cost for those
who already have the second volume.
Robert Buchanan says that Charles Reade abom-
mated fine writing caring little, moreover, for the
literature of pure Imagination Writing TO Blu
chanan on the subject of poetry, he said: q" Even
Tennyson. to my mind, is only prince of poet
asters. | think with the ancients, in whose view
the Poetic Majores were versifers who could tell a
great story in great verse; and adOrn it with great
speeches and fine descriptions; aud the Poetic
MiuOres were veTsicrS who could do all the rest
lust as we'll but could not tell great story. In
short look on poetry as fiction with the music OF
words. But divorced from fiction, do not much
value the verbal faculty, nor the verbal music. And
believe this is the popular instinct, too, and that
smuscal story-teller would achieve an incredible
popularity Redcchisse, y! Would have gone III for
this myself long ago, but can only write doggerel'
Example