The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-23
THE FIELD OF LITERATURE.


few issued this week that win find an abiding
place. The great majority of them are intended
for the holiday trade, ana depend more on bind
ing or illustration, or both, than on literary
merit Bot in this the bookbinders and printers
OF to-day seem bent on excelling all who have
preceded them. and the result is that the libra
rles and tables of the land are being packed and
pied with volumes of remarkable beauty, and
the popular taste is being so educated that it is
well nigh impossible for inferior work to find
sale.
In this direction, Messrs. White, Stokes and
Allen. New York, THE Bowen Merrill Company,
i1dianapolisl, take the lead this year In addi
ton to quite number of fine volumes in po
etry, romance and science, they have prepared
an edition de luxe of Recent American Fitch
ings already alluded to in this paper. Of these
fve copies will be proofs on yellum, accom-
panied by proofs on Japan paper, and will
be sold at $l25 per copy OF
satin proofs there will be fifteen
copies at 500 each; of imperial Japan proofs,
twenty copies at $50 each; of Japan proofs, sixty
copies at $50 each, and of a cheaper edition,
larger number of copies at $40 each. The volume
consists of twenty plates of etchings by as many
American artists, with sketch of each and of
the picture submitted. The text, by j. r. w.
Hitchcock, begins by presenting q short history
OF the development and progress of the art of
etching in America, which is very interesting
account to lovers of etching as well as to
etchers themselves. The list of plates and
artists is as follows: "A Breton Courtyard
by J. S. King; Christmas Eve" by w. FL.
Shelton, "a Seaside Residence" by Henry
Farrer; "a Morning Walk" by Hamilton
Hamilton; "Moonlight at Low Tide" by j.
C. Nicon; 1.-THE Ducks Paradise" by Charles
Volkman; Grandpa" drawn by Hugo Kauff-
man, etched by Catherine Levin; "Goats," by
j. A. S. Monks; Beach at Gloucester, Mass"
by Kruseman Van Elten; 1.-THE Mandolin
Player" drawn by Fortuny etched by ]. j.
Callahan
OF these Shelton's Christmas Eve" is one of
the most effective, representing battery squad
mounted ard drawing Christmas green's to camp
on gun carriage the contrasted ideas Of peace
and war being brought into striking iuxtaposi-
ton. Yet the conception is a thoroughly nat
ural one. Grandpa" presents fine old gentle
man, trife too dgnifed. perhaps, to invite in
timacy, yet by no means frgid. ''The Goats"
presents hillside cot with flock of animals |
of that name, making their way |
up to it. The landscape is fault |
less, bat the effect is that |
Of an ordinary engraving, robbing it of that |
something that is the soul of the etching. The |
coast scene, by Van Elten is one of the most |
effective of the collection, the perspective being
particularly fne On the whole, however, this |
book will prove disappointing at first sight. |
Public taste has not been educated to that nice |
discernment necessary to appreciate these things.
The fauit-the fault Of not catching ready |
approval and populsrity-lies more in |
the subjects chosen, we apprehend. than
in the manner Of treatment. However, since |
the appeal is made not to the hoi polloi, but to |
the cultured, this magnificent publication must |
prove success. With the character of his |
readers in view, the author has hesitated to use
the technical terms pertaining to the art Of etch
ing, but has entered briefly into the manner of |
treating each plate. The book, therefore, will
be valuable to such as love the art in all its de-
tails.
By far the finest volume of travels, blended
with the history of the country visited, is pub
lished j. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia.
1.-THE Bowen-M Merrill Company, Indanapolis.) by
Joseph Moore, jr., F. r. Ct. S., emitted "The
Queens Empires or Ind and Her Pearl" 1t is
an account of tour through British India, made
in 1881 1882 The value of the book as histori-
cal contribution is greatly enhanced by the illus
trations, fifty in number, made by the phototype
process, and in every respect presenting all the
characteristics of Photographic The subjects for
illustration have been wellchosen, and the book
in every respect is one that the reader will want
to possess.
Another book, in the same line, only less ele-
CANT but of greater size, is issued by Harper &
Brothers New York (TheBowen-Merrill Com
pany, Indianapolis entitled Lebanon Damascus
and Beyond Jordan" tits the work of William M.
Thompson, D. D., who for forty five years was a
missionary in the region he describes. There
are twenty-three full-page engravings, two
large maps and some one hundred and forty
smaller illustrations. This is one of the most
comprehensive and reliable histories of that
region ever given to the reading public.
White. Stokes & Allen also offer to the trade
some very fine work in the way of flower print
ing for books for the holidays. Their Flowers
from Sunlight and Shade" collection of poems
from American writers. has been most artistic
ally illustrated by Susie Barstow Shielding, and
the twelve plates in colors, representing the
most attractive of American field flowers, are
each very fine works of art. handsome gift
book.
The same firm has published what is called
'Flower-Songs Series" These are similar
in text and illustration to the volume mentioned
in the preceding paragraph, but are bound in
satin finished cloth, tied with ribbons.
In the same line though for juveniles. and
less artistic the same house publishes Rose
buds" by Virginia Gerson, a collection of catch
ing verse and pretty pictures, prepared by the
photographic process.
Some one has suggested the idea of perpetu-
ating the illustrated humor of "Iifen a very