New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-01
LITERARY NOTES.

unpublished photographic letters Of Washington which
IS unrvalled in extent and interest
That the increasing issue of books In paper covers
has had the result of increasing the sales inc stae
ment of The American Bookseller 1t @ids 'h"'
81 far II believes that the change Is to the advantage
Of the booksellers the large sale OF the cheap ed
tlons compensatcs for the smaller Margins WIN
bound books the publisher has double Droht' MS Own
nrodt as publisher and a second one on the budihs
The comfort OF a paper.c0vcred volume Is that 1t Is
sae,er TO carry and TO rcad and If It Is worth preserving
II deserves good binding II IS probable men, ua'
tbe change 10 paper covers viii In the long ln Do 10
the advantage of the skilled bInder'
The charming lines in which Mr. Whittier and Mr.
stedman celebrated last week the eighte'h birthday
of Dr. Holmes should be put on record In THIS coiun
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
on His 5Oth Birthday.
Climbing the path that leads back nevermoe'
wc heard behind his footsteps and his cheer;
Now face TO face we greet him, standing here
Upon the lonely summit of Fourscorc.
Welcome 10 us DER whom the heightened day
Is closing and the shadows deeper grow,
His genial presence like an afterglow
Following the jus: vanishing away.
Long be It ere the Table shall be set
For the last breakfast Of the Auocrat,
And Love repeat with smiles and Gears thereat
His own sweet songs, that time shal not lorse~
waiting with him the call to come up higher,
Life Is no. less tho heavens are only higher!
sth No. &c, 1880. JOHN u. VIZ iii'"'
FROM EDMUND CLARENCE sTEDMAN'
Ergo Iris"
Weary at length of the ancestral gloom
The sclf-same drone, the pa'ter of duil pens
Nature sent Iris OF the rosy plume,
Fearing TO Holmes her woodworking ienst
Grateful he gave his dearest child her name
I,t the shrewd East with laughter love and tears
Babe halt the sun-and all aglow with fame
His rainbowed fancy now the world enspheres.
New-York, Aug. 90 t. - o
The first edition of Byron's rare Waltz Of 1913
was bought not long ago by London bookseller lor
$3.50.
"openlnq the OYSTER is the odd title Of book
announced by A. c. McCurg IL Co.. OF Chicds"~ ~
has curious theme, too-the experience vi WV
youpg men who leave NewYork, afoOt anu Poh"lioS'
under wager TO visit forty cities i'll all quarters VI
the globe and return IN five years. They WIN 'her
wager.
4 series of memorable poems, essays anu sholt
stories issued in handsome and convenient lorn' W."
doubtless be welcomed by all who love books as pos
sessions aud as gifts; but might not the futha',iS
have found better title for this series than The
rather old fashioned one OF L" Literary Gems
The gentle and hieh-mnded little lady known "a
edited by her daughter. Margaret HOwitt. II VIII
soon be published In this country by Honghon'
Mtlin Il Co.
milan Hawthorne. replying to the request OF
BcforI's Magazine to mention his favor'e NOVELS
says
our intellect has nothing to do with our Hikes ara
dslikcs and il IS not brains IN book tha ahcs r
care for H. but the nature and temperament Nor are
my favorlte books those thatas the phrase lsapPea
III Lave nf m /
exist There are hours In which enjoy Mllton Dane
or Wordsworth but most Of the time Wish 20 oe Hn
fort fom the historical works of DR. Francis Rabeais
and from fat roast pork with onions but Cannot cannot
Borrow's Iavengro' well anything, or better;
There man in IT, Then Trsla%neys hecorms 0n
book has been written like all Thackeray put
some pages Cof course ever so much better than
others In fact It Is inaccurate to talk OF liking any
whole book; likes certain pages or passages here
and there and loves the book for their sake like
ali Balzac but none OF him better than Couslne
TetteS Dumas the elder-any OF his D'Artagnsn ro-
names and parts Of Monte Crsto7 are unspeakaoly
iitable Dumas fls-I like HIS Dame aux Por esq
best am always ready to reread George sand 5
g Mauprat7 or Homme de Neige' Ike Bacon as l
ipcln6e the whole eamut from high to low and there
H. no mood OF mine to which something OF his IS not
vi when cannot find exactly what best suits me
down TO the very core in Swcdenborg. inc whole
secret Of human Rs. peioe swift Fielding smoet:
and sternc But Will not continue this enumeration.
I Pesides morrow might make our dlHcient ou''
II e needless to say that l dote the work of con-
temporanes.
Mr. Edgar Fawcett in responding to the same ques-
ton writes in a somewhat pcsslmlsiic vein;
your question Is hard one for me to answer De De
cause nv loves are mostly memories, and now read
fiction TOO anly ally TO secure IRON H. the ENJOY
which II gave me IN the past recall loving scott
. Nonasteryr and Abbott greatly-m0re so, NUN,
than / did any of h other works, Iiui"els " NY
G"~oi +" ast of the BarOnsH "Rienzi.' Lanoni,
and several moro by this author, | plzed OF old;
though think Il would be case OF Illus Ons perues
shood / din into any Of them to-day. 1hackeray
never appealed To me; j could not sympalhLe WIN
his method Of stopping the Story 10 moraEe' aIG ~
1orobt him deficient a. we'll In tho two qualities most
necessary for novelist Imagination and ls'lon
"bnsincssr which | have heard many clever nau
/ and Touan rave over. II seems TO me simply the
stIicai ard tswdry. The novels Of Dickens which
1roio of Two CItfs parbarous tho Oh nj henss
style ofen was. believe HIM the 5reatcst OF al
novclists who have ever wilton IN Engllsh. IInl
pppuis and also his Phineas Phnn.1 Miss Mac
Kenze - The Three Clerks and one or two Others
but the mechanical aud unatmospherlc nature o. hl'
later Years There. 7 don't think ! can recoec
any more great favortes Of mine-perhaps hal
omong modern noyclIsts-thosc who are living and
/ wiling today 7 consider American fiction In
Nealtior an1 thriller state than e., English ams1e
| gush and hysterla Of Mr. George Merelhh, ~ such
novel as @The Ordeal Of Richard Fevercl' Is 10 b.
talent w Wins e GgnTy q from the contrast
| personally Conducted a volume containing Franz
r. stockton's narrative for young people of his ex
periences in Europe. Is announced by The Book
| Buyer" II will have many Illustrations by JOSEPH
| Pennsll. A. Parsons and Others