The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-12-10
NEW PUBLICATIONS,

A Sketch of Chester Harding. Artist,
drawn by his own hand and edited by his
daughter. Margaret E. White. fn"osTon:
Hougbton Miffiin &C.,; Portland: Loring,
Short g. Harmon. IL is interesting operuse
the pages of this memorial for several
reasons. The thoughtful reader who knows
anything Of the progress of art in this
country will note its changed conditions, as
between that date and this and can contrast
our portrait painters of to-day with those of
seventy-fve years ago. In addition to this
general object in reading the sketch, will be
the attraction of the personal element con-
tanned In it. Mr.. Harding was marked
figure in Boston circles in 1880 and received
adulaton from high quarters. The story of
his self-made success is a striking one, and
the account Of his constant travels is fresh
and entertaining. The club which enrolled
among its members, Harding, James K.
Mills, Nat P. Willis, Horace Mann, DIR. S
g. Howe, Charles Sumner, Edw. G. Loring
and j. T. Reed must have been "a club as
was CLUB" Mr.. Harding was remarkable
for his manly beauty, and was some six feet
he had the Inmate gentlemanliness" which
placed him on an equality with every circle
of rank and talent in which he moved He
was one of the leading portrait painters of
his day and counted among his subjects
many distin guished men in this country and
abroad. The book containg pbotogravure
reproductions from his own paintings, two
of himself and two of Mrs. Harding. This
sketch of his life, prepared for his children
and called by him his "egotistography" and
prefacsd by an introduction of few pages
by his daughter. makes no pretention to
literary style and is slight in character, but
will prove interesting from the reasons we
have mentioned.
Lille of Arthur SchopeDhauer by w. Wal
lace Thyte's. Professor of moral Philosophy
Oxford, London: Walter Scott; New York:
A. Lowell & Co. This is one of the Great
Writers" series, of which already goodly
number have been published. In convenient
shape, excellenty written and carefully
edited we have brief life of the noted Ger
man philosopher. The author, in modest
PREDATORY note. refers to his use of the bio
graphical materials supplied by Gwinner and
Fraenstadt from which any life of Schopep-
hauer must be drawn to some extent and
hints at the fact that recent transations fur
nish readers with abundant opportunity to
consult Schopenhauer's writings directly, If
they wish SO to do. The present volume is a
scholarly and satisfactory piece of work.
News from Nowhere by William Morris, is
called by the author of "The Earthly Para
dse," Utopian romance. 1t belongs to the
Belamy branch in literature If one likes
to go to sleep in 1890 and wake in 1890, or to
read about somebody who has taken nap of
that Van Winkleian space five times over,
here is the opportunity. To the adherents of
the sentiment ''life not as 1t is but as 1t ought
to be-" This new setting forth of the doc
trine of the impossible-possible will be well
come. Like the work of other idealists who
would .evel society distinctions and shame
conventionality into vital warmth and love,
this narrative contains many inspiring
thoughts. The matter of divorce Is rather
curiously handled to be sure. The story is
more poetlcal than Looking Backward"
but not SO direct; no doubt the authors in
tention was less practical and more allegori.
cal In its outline ands expression. Morris
likes to call it a vision not dream, this
seership of the remote future, and indeed an
epoch of rest" it may we'll be termed, as
one energies from its pictured tranquility
into the rush and competition of life to-day.
Boston: Roberts Brothers; Portland:
Stevens g. Jones.)
My Uncle Benjamin. By Claude Tillier.
Translated from the French by Benjamin
r. Tucker. Boston Benz. r. Tucker.) The
colored print with which this viyacious tale
opens represents poncle Benjamin, with
cooked hat and slanting sword, which latter
bravely holds out the scarlet satteen coat-tails
by grasp of the left hand. knee breeches,
buckled shoes and be-ribboned cue. The
wineglass is held aloft and prepares us for
an introduction to this parsonage. The
translator of Uncle Benjamin thinks he has
unearthed treasure trove and given to the
public work of genius. Rollicking and gay
the story undoubtedly is, and Is has a certain
snap of its own by virtue of its lack of self
consciousness, but those readers who think
the Rabelaisian style in literature must be
marvelously witty in order to keep 1t sweet
will perhaps hardly fall in with thetransla.
tors enthusiastic view. The sketch is of
the fashion of Munchausen and Don Quixote
blended and will find its audience. Are we
ourselves stupid or are trough on rats" and
la grippe anacronisms In Uncle Benjamin?
Walford. By Ellen Olney Kirk. Boston:
Houghton, Mffiin &c Co.; Portland: Lor-
ing, Short & Harmony Margaret Kent and
Queen Money are remarkably good stories,
and this autnor has an unusual quality in
her works of fiction; she combines rich COL
oring and luxurious fancy with purity of
tone and moral strength. 1t is good plan
not to abandon all the sensuous efforts to a
class of writers who misuse them. The
beautiful child and the more beautiful
mamma are favorite figures with this writer,
but Walford, while it pictures these charac-
tiers varies from its forerpnner very dis
tinctly, it has greater variety and more
movement. The plot is somewhat sensa-
tiOnal, but practical detail relieves that, and
the story will rank among the widely read
and enjoyed novels of the season.
Diana's Livery. BY Eva Wilder Nicolas
son. New York Harper & Brothers; Port
land: Loring, Short & Harmony A dis
mantled Shak'r village in Kentucky Is
taken as the scene of this story, and very
vigorous story 1t is, though open to criticism
in certain directions. The conversation of
the Shaker brethren and sisters seems to us
jarrinRly worldly in tone and unnecessarily
coarse, and a lack of refinement Is apparent
the book, at times atom ed for BY
elevation of feeling. Keen analysis and
quick knowledge of human nature exist. and
Kassou Is creation of genius.
The sad tragedy of the story is lightened by
parallel happy love affair.
The Doctors Dilemma. by Hesba Strettop,
has all the accoutrements and trappiDgs of
sensational novel. Here are the parts of
the story taken up and told In autobiography
cal form by its hero or heroine; here is the
ABUSED young wife exiled in poverty, and
mere are love affairs of double complications
on all sloes and among several pairs of peo-
PIE. fet the story is by no means the the.
atrlcai affair that this would indicate. for II
Is saved from tawdriness by unmistakable
talent. The scenes are laid in the Chon,oI
Islands, and later London and Franco Tha
incidents are so grouped as to hold the Of,
tentiOn with some little stimulus NJ e eno AZ
ment, and the character drawing has q
sturdy and independent quality Of itO n as,
New York Dodd, Mead & Co: Porti Hw9
Stevens 81 J0nes.)