New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-01-26
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A RICH MEMORIAL.

A RICH MEMORIAL.
PORTFOLIO CT PLAYERS, with a Packet OF Notes
t1cTson. BY n. G. BuNSrE: y A. DiIllSx AZ Law :,
,rScr ~ fToN, BEssDfn MATTHEWS. ana VILLA"
Mf>TEs Ate. pr. ~. j. W. B"usou
TIE surptuous volume which lies before us,
In q dress Of Agurei dark blue silk and maroied
paper shct VITA gold, is memorial OF the oriiiiah'
dramatic company which Mr.. Aagustin Daiy mas
assembled IL his theatre Those who ar for'aha'e
enough 20 oitsin copy-thcy carnot DC mahs'
for only one hundred and ten copies nave oeeh
prilted-may pride themselves upon the P'SSes-
sion OF a most valuable record OF dls'lhSuishea
pcr;oa in our dramatic history. In his graceful
opd evmnathetie Introductory chapter on Our
S.arc Past and Present. Mr.. William Winter
n,oasapt,v protests against the too common as
sumntjon that all the good actors are dead, and
lndiest,s with his usual discrimination the place
which the best players Of to-day deserve to hold
among the great lights Of the profession the place
which they surely will hold when time adjusts
the balance Of fame. A collection like this port
folio which gives the portraits OF tile principai
members of our finest comedy company, with
sketches Of their and descriptions OF some
of their favorite parts, will be more and more
highly priced as years pass on; we may imaglne
how il will be sought after some day, If we think
what we would give now for parallel memorial
of the actors Of our youth and Of the past gener-
atoms Mr. DAILY has prepared his book with
lavish hberality and with exquisite taste. The
twenty-odd photogravurc plates include admirable
portraits Of Miss Rehan Mr.. John Drew, Mr.
Lewis Mr.. Fisher Mrs Gilbert, Miss Dreher
and the manager as well as several groups ana
character figures. The sketches and essays are
brief delicate, and appropriate. The text is oeau-
tfuily printed, on heavy linen paper, with proad
margins and shapely. well-proportioned page ana
the Trow Company, which performed the WORK, Is
Oh hp DFOductlOn
of the handsomest books issued from an American
press this many day.
MEMOIR or FLEMING JENRIN BY ROBERT Louis
STEVENSON. l2mo, PIP. 3O2. CHARLES Scrfohers o"as'
Mp Steyenson's memoir of Fleeuing JenlHn must
be Judged by O public to whom the subject oil IL
was practically unknown wholly upon its merits
There are no general "reminiscences aiioat to nnu-
nce the verdict preJudces or prepossessions he
biocrapher introduces his trals-Atlantic audience
to a new acquaintance, and the reception given to
the latter will depend upon his own qualities and
the skill and sympathy of the writer IN setting
them forth. This is obviously difficult position,
and II the hard conditions have been fulfilled the
result may be considered sufficient proof that the
memoir worth writing and that 1t has been
well written.
Yet this is not all. Fleming Jcnliin was man
whose life it is particularly difficult to describe
Of uncommon powers and sterling qualities en-
dowed with q remarkable energy and vitality, OF
fine Intellectual fibre and possessing personal at
fractions which brought him warm and constant
friends, he had nothing of thOso snowy attributes
which attract popularity, nor was there in his
career anything romantic, exciiing, unusual OF
sensational. He filed no high positions. lie
wrote no epoch making books. lie made no great
inventions. lie was not eloquent. nor epigram-
H. Ia orah not fnF
fame. He had strong prejudices and antipathies.
He repealed many people by his combativ We man
ncr. He was disputatious; not apparently nota-
bic for amiability, taciturn when not interested,
and perhaps apt to be considered morOSe. In short
o simple. matter-of-fact. clever but not brilliant
Englishman remarkable for his working powers.
known chiefly in engineering and scientific circles,
a good husband and father, a good son, a good
ncghbOr and stanch friend.
This is about how Fceming JenlSin appears when
reduced to his lowest denomination in the eyes of
strangers to his personality not very interest
ing or promising subject for biographical treat
ment, it might be concluded, and the conclusion
would be reasonable. Yet Mr.. Stevenson has
made SO close, sympathetic: luminous and keen a
study of this character that it is full of the pleas
ATTEST interest throughout. that the reader be-
comes concerned with the Jenkins family as an
old friend; that the various members of 1t appear
in their habits they lived and that the figure
of the homely, brany, vigorous downright eDGi-
stands out finally in so strong reliei that one
feels to know him through and through. Mr..
Stevenson has never done at once q stronger and
more delicate piece of work than this memoir.
Sometimes, indeed, it may be suggested that in his
sincere admiration and heroworship he has (of
course uncOnsCOusy) put somewhat OF his own
into the fineness OF the nature ascnbed so Loyalty
to his subject, but this is at most passing sur
mise, originating very likely in some of Those
anomalies of character which, though they are SO
common as humanity, yet offend the artificial and
conventional prescription that character must be
harmonious and self-cOnslstent
1t is one of the excelences Of Mr. Stevenson's
method that he does not attempt to reconcile these
dscords but simply records them as belongings
of his friend be taken into the general acc ,unt
There is no cOmmOner faults in the writing OF
biography than the unscentifc and mistaken en-
deavor TO change the actual appearance and inn
preston of the subject for the sake of acquittng
him Of all suspicion Of fickleneSs and variability
The tendency has its rise in vulgar error, Itself
growing out of the cOnceit Of mankind. The true
literary artist alone knows better than TO yield TO
IT, He strives to show every side Of the character
he is studying, and concerns himself solely with
the fidelity and force of his representations. This
is the course of Mr. Stevenson, and to it we owe
an essay in biography which deserves to be taken
rs model The memoir derives additional charm
from the authors style. which is picturesque, flu
ent, touched with bright fancy yet incisive and
nervous whenever force and emphasis are needed.
MI Stevenson made the acquaintance of Fleem-
Ing JenlIn when the latter was Professor of En-
cheering in the University of Edinburgh and the
author was according to his own account, very
lazy student there. The acquaintance. in
pected and in some respects untoward ways
ripened into friendship which proved lifelong,
and as the result of it the Professor of Engineer
ing has a place among @he worlds worthless which
he will keep so long there is any appreciation OF
literature or any skill extant TO discern the genu