The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-03-30
BOOK TITLES.

book. The titles, indeed. Of current
novels offer a curious field for study.
Bulwer's cOnceit Of startling the reader
with a question has been followed by a
feg writers in fought we TO Visit
her " why did he not die " "Can
you Forgive her " rs he POpinjOy -
etc. But terse quotation more or
less apt, is the favorite device at pres
ent. Shakespeare has been largely drawn
up0n-especially by Mr.. H0wells.
who found The Undiscovered COun-
try and g. Counterfeit Presentment'
in Hamlet, A Foregone Conclusion
in Othello. "A Woman's Reason in
Two Gentlemen Of Verona. A Sea
Change in The Tempest. and "a Mod
ern Instance in As You Like It. The
latter play also furnished Thomas Har-
dy with Under the Greenwood Tree, -
aud Katherine King with The Rut BILE
Reputation. Hamlet gave Mrs. Alex
auder Her Dearest Foe. and Mrs.
Oliphant The Primrose PATH Othel-
10 suggested % Rhoda Broughton her
Not Wisely but too Well, and to Rice
and Besant Tine Seamy Side" while
Mary Cecil Hay went TO Venus and
Adonis for the absurdlty Of Bid me
Discourse.
Airy Fairy Llliaun and Rare Pale
Margaret are from Tennysou. Far
from the Madding Crowd from GRAY s
Elegy. Coming IhrO' the Rye. My
Heart is in the Highlands" and The
Wooing OF" from Burns, "One of
Three" and Red az a Rose is She from
the Ancient Mariner. Il have Lived and
Loved" from Schiller.
The Bible has been put to the same
base uses in "A Brother to Dragons. -
in IAN Eye for an Eye in Visited
on the Children. in "Cometh up as a
Flower in Unspotted from the
World" in Thinking Cymbals,' 10
Far above RObies. IN "Reaping the
Whirlwlnd The Book Of Common
PRAYER has ben land under contribution
in The Quick or The Dead - and 'All
Sorts ana Conditions of Men.
Popular songs have furnished their
due quota. as Love Finds Out the
WAY. - In SILK Attire. Aud Lang
Syne. and proverbs or proverbial ex
pressions have proved an apparently in
exhaustible mine. a few familiar spe
cimens will have 10 suffice: A Nine
DAYS Wonder Look Before You
Leap. He that viii Not When He
Nav. WHO Breaks PAYS. Cruel as
the Grave. Charles Reade apparently
set the fashion for thi, in Never too
Late to Mend. and twice he returned
TO the same source of inspiration IN
Love Ne Little, Loye.Ne Long and
Put Yourself in His Place.
MANY of the above titles. it will be
seen. are only vaguely descriptive: ,
their apposifeness can only be recOgnlz-
ed after reading the novel. TO the un-
Initiated they suggest nothing. 10 ex
IRENE cases. as the WOoing OF, they
are so general that they would fit ans
other novel as well. So. too, would
Love Young Dream. or "A Pair OF
Blue Ewes. or Saints and Sinners.
or .Elrthliugs, - or Warp and Wool, D.
or hundred Others.
When an author returns to the old
device OF using his her0s or his hero
Inc S name, he taxes his ingenuity. not
indeed like Dickens and SmOliet. to
make IT, outre or extrayagant, but TO give
il a high and noble sound-in this re
spect initiating Ihackeray and Buiwer,
whose Pendennis, Henry EsmOnd. Ken.
elm Ctiliingly and G0dolphin are mas
terpieces OF nomenclature. Robert
Elsmere." John luglesant." Lorna
Doone. - Aurora Floyd. 1.-The Schon-
berg Gotta Family "R0derick Hud.
son are excellentin their several ways.
Sometimes be goes TO the other ex-
IRENE. and by the severest simplicity
makes his book stand out conspicuous
in the crowd. Mr.. Smith and Mr..
Isaacsn are cases IN point
Names Of places. as for instance.
imaginary towns Ia which the scene Is
laid. or the hereditary estate of the
hero. are treated in the same way, but
this device is at least as old as "Wuther-
ing Heights" which in itself Is an
evolution from such titles as kenilworth
and the Castle of Ouanto. Wuthering
Heights is excellent in its way. and has
not been surpassed by any Of its success
sors. not by East Lynne. nor
q" Audley Court nor BLEAK House, "
nor Dorchester Towers nor " Mid
dlemarch. - Sometimes, instead Of
the pane Of an imaginary place des-
cription Is substituted. as The House
of the Seven Gables. - The Small
House az Arlington. An excellent
effect is often gained by coupling the
heros name, nickname, office, or des-
cripiion with the place be inhablts :
Mcleod Of Dare. 1.-THE Monarch of
MluciDg Lane. n"Tde Duchess of Rose
mary Lane, The Luck Of Roaring
Camp. THE Lady OF the Aroostook, ~
The Vicar OF BalhsmptoD. or course.
these are all natural evolutioDs from
such simple germs as The Vicar of
Wakefield
Here are some titles that refuse TO be
classified. aud are therefore all the more
excellent. which have always struck
the writer 3s remarkably felicit0us'
AN Earnest Tfiher. HIS Majesty
/ Myself, THAT Lass o. Lowrie S. \
Fair Barbafian, The Gold of Chicka'
rec. - One summer. Green Pasture:
aud Piccadilly.n King solomon II
Mines - The Initials. Lost Sir Mas
singbird The Man Without Coun
try These are all fairly descriptive
they attract attention at once. they sug
gest something, they not only keep thu
word Of promise to the ear. but also (
the mind. Only little lower in ranl
come T. T. Roe's titles. which were al
ways happy. especially Barriers Burn
Ell Away. ""He Fell In Love With III
Wife ,"-A Face lllumined. and Hi
Sonbre Rivals" One OF the secrets Q
that writers popularity lay 10 such q
tl,sas these.-Willam 5. Walsh.
MoIHERs'' PROM DICKENS.
You are a student of Charles pics