The Portland daily press., 1891-05-06
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

The Autobiography of the Earth, by Rev.
ID. N. Hutchinson. New York: ID. Apples
ton q Co.; Portland: Loring, Short & Har.
mon) This book is a popular account of
geological history and is written in style
SO clear, accurate and comprehensive that 1t
cannot fail to interest the general reader.
The author seems thoroughly familiar with
MS subject and has struck the happy mean
between scientific pendantry and unscien-
tihc, slovenliness. In striving to make the
DOCK popular he has not sacrificed accuracy
and substance to picturesqueness and form.
Inc DOCK is well Illustrated and on the
Wnole, most successful venture In n field
wnere failure is not uncommon.
Inc Lily OF the Valley by Honore de
Balzac. Boston: Roberts Bros; Portland:
Loring, Short & Harmon. Balzac's ad-
mirers VIII welcome the latest Of Miss
Wormley's translations. One says with
each new volume "This is the strongest of
Balzac's novels" but there is ever new
strength and power, the same deep probing
OF the weaknesses of humanity, the same
wonderful portrayal of some glaring vice.
In the Lily of the Valley Balzac uses his pen
to lay bare the horrors of the marriage sys-
tenn prevailing in France. A lovely girl is
sacrificed in marriage to man morally and
physically diseased in order to satisfy the
ambition OF her family. The result is
tragedy such as Balzac alone could deyelope,
and bring to its CHASTITY climax.
Following close upon the Lily of the VAL
ley comes the translation of Balzac's Ursula
as relief to the narrowing tragedy which
precedes 1t. Its pure, wholesome sentiment.
quaint pictures of provincial life and mas
terly delineations of character recall other
works OF the author, and yet it stands apart
by certain delicacy of treatment and COM
position. which makes it a fit book to be
placed in the hands of those whom Balzac
had in mind when he dedicated 1t to his
niece. Mile. Sophie Surville. to whom he
says: sit Is true pleasure, my dear niece,
to dedicate to you this book, the subject and
details of which have won the appreciation,
so difficult to win. of young girl to whom
the world is still unknown, and who has
compromised with none of thelofty prinei-
pies of sanity education. Young girls are
indeed formidable public, for they ought
not to be allowed to read books less pure
than the purity Of their souls; they are for
hidden certain reading, just as they are care
fully prevented from seeing social life as 1t
is" Ursula is book that will appeal to a
much larger class than that above indicated.
Purity, sweetness, strength and beauty are
all combined in its production and these are
elements which appeal to the world at large
in any work Of art. OF the value of the
translation 1t is hardly. necessary to speak
as each new volume of the series Demon
strates Miss Wormley's Exceptional talents
in this difficult kind of work.
A Christian Woman, by Emilia Pardo Ba-
zan. translated by Mary Springer, has, with
a good deal Of sprlghtly recital, an undoubted
merit of its own in its life like drGmatis per-
some. There is no question about the men
and women in the story: they are human
beings, never lay figures. But the book is
not an agreeable one nor eleyating in Its
tone. Its ending is weak, and one is lett to
efface from his recollection the morality of
the ouly person in the story who laid claim
to virtue. Still it is Spain, not New Eng
land; and standards are raised somewhat
like country's flag, differing for each race
and people. We are Inclined however, to
call this pretty low to the ideal anywhere.
New York: Cassell Publishing Company;
Portland: L0ring, Short & Harmon. Price
$100)