The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-06-23
WESTERN CULTURE.
A JUST ESTIMATE BY A CAREFUL OBSERVED


Charles Dudley Warner in an article on the
Great West. in the current number of Hdr-
per's Magazine. says:
1T might be an indication of no value (only
of the taste of individually that books should
be the principal IA ors at fashionable ger
man. but there is a bookstore in the city whose
evidence cannot be 8. aside, by reference to
any freak of fashion. McClurg's bookstore
is very extensive establishment in all de-
partments publishing, manufacturing re-
failing, wholesaling and importing. In some
respects it has not its equal in this country.
don or New York, will find there a stock, con-
stantly sold and constantly replenished, of
books rare, curious, interesting, that will sur
prise him. The general Intelligence that sus-
tains stock of this variety and magnitude
must be considerable, and speaks of taste
for books with which the city has not been
of books for themselves, which makes posi-
BILE this rich corner of rare and imported
books at McClurgs. would be noticeable in
any city,
Speaking of which the Chicago Tribune
takes occasion to remark:
Let those who can forthwith contradict
Mr.. Warner about the superiority of book
selling. the accessibility of books in Chicago,
and the standard of taste that has long pre-
vailed here. especially as proven by the i'm
portation of English books. In publishing
Chicago has also attained distinction, OF
course there will be smiles and gentle insinu-
ations about Dragging. But how shall we get
subscription book publication we are second.
But what of the flavor of the higher ltera-
ture? 1t was McClurg that printed the Amer
lean edition-indeed. two editions-of Whar-
toms .Sappho" in Greek and English, and the
West took its full half of it. Tne same house
has in press series of studies of the great
bers of the French Academy, directors and
editors of leading periodicals, and literateurs
like Jules Simon, Jules Lemaitre. and Taine.
1t successfully introduced an edition de luxe
NJ ia q LIST
Biart's Ate cs, Cumberlands Queens High
way Victor Hugo's Shakespeare, Karr's
Alaska, Liddons Re BILE. Saintsbury's English
Prose; and it announces this week Shelley,
the Man and the Poet from the French of
Rabbe translated by Mrs. Cashe Hoey Its
imprint carries the dignity and insures the
success, which are associated with the most
conservative houses in the United States, and
it is undeniable that it imports more and
higher foreign works than any of its eastern
contemporaries,
We would most heartily endorse these re-
marks of the Chicago Tribune; but in review
ing Messrs. McClurg & Co.'s catalogue of pub
LEGATIONS we confess we might perhaps have
been tempted to emphasize different list of
books. We could not have forgotten Arnold's
Life of Lincoln by all odds the best COM
pendious history of this gre at Western Amer
ican-nor Baldwin's most charming Book
Lover" accepted even in London as an
authoritative and seductive guide to the best
literature; nor Uptons STANDARD Operas"
"Cantatas," and "Oratorios," conceded to be
the best works ever written on the subjects
of which they treat; nor Miss Fay's unique
and delightful book on Music Study in Ger
many" nor Mrs. Griswold's "Home Life of
Great Authors" a book in its way without
rival; nor Miss Kirkland's and Mrs. Starrett's
most admirable books for girls and young
women. All of these are original American
copyright books, and are as well the work
Western Authors. Most of all we should not
have forgotten the wonderful series of histori-
cal novels, translated from the Swedish of To-
pelius. brought out by this hOuse-a series of
romances so noble in sentiment, so brilliant ia
description, so thoroughly artistic in treat
ment, and in a word so fascinating that they
can never have too wide a circulation es-
pecially among the young.
Perhaps, after all, Mr. Warner is really only
waking us up to a just realization of our own
strides in the direction of letters and culture.