The Portland daily press., 1891-09-01

OF Harper's Magazine. Mr.. Warner adorns
everything he touches. and the essays in this
volume are models of literary composition,
| while at the same time their hints and sing.
| gestions are Of much intrinsic value.
First Lessons in Arithmetic, including the
fundamental rules. BY Andrew j. Rlnkoff,
A. NJ, LID. New York: American Book
Company. Price So cents.) This is essen
TALLY pupils book, and is devoted to pro-
ducing clear, accurate and rapid work in the
four fundamental rules: Addition, Subtrac-
ton, Multiplication and Division, and to
training the pupil In the proper applica-
tion OF these processes. The book Is divided
into three parts. Part dealing with num-
bers not greater than ten, Part with num-
bers exceeding ten and less than one hun
dred, and Part 8 with numbers greater than
100. The book appears to be well calculated
to serve Its purpose, which is to train chill
dren to reckon rapidly and accurately.
The Principles of Agriculture for Com
mon Schools. By L. o. Winslow, A, M.
New York: American Book Company.
| Price 60 cents.) The book is designed pri-
marily for use in the public schools, and con.
| tains no difficulties too great for ordinary
pupils of twelve or fourteen years. The
scope OF the book Is we'll shown by the chap
tiers. which are Substance of the Earth"
Land and Water" "The Atmosphere"
"Plants." Fertilizers" Cultivation" "Ani-
mails" The book is provided with a CLOS
sary and index, and contains page of valu-
| able suggestions to teachers.
The Leaf Collectors Handbook and Her.
barlum. An Aid In the Preservation and in
the Classification Of Specimen Leaves of the
Trees of Northeastern America. By Charles
5. Newhall, author Of The Trees of North
eastern America. Illustrated. (New York !:
G. p. Putnam's Sons; Portland: Loring,
Short q HARMONY This is volume of great
value to the leaf collector. By its aid the
characteristic leaves of the trees can be clas-
| sified and pressed, the illustrations and
directions making 1t an easy task. There
are one hundred and sixteen illustrations,
each representing the outline and frame
work of a distinct species of leaf. BY COM
pairing the species with the illustration it
will be easy for the person without special
knowledge on the subject to recognize to
what tree 1t belongs. Opposite each page
of Illustrations is blank page on which the
specimen corresponding to the illustration
may be pasted and preserved.
A Puritan Pagan. A Novel by Julien
Gordon. Mrs. Van Rensselaer, Cruger, who
writes under the above pen name, has been
made the subject of good deal of recent
literary comment Mr.. Hazeltine's estimate
of her in an article in the North American
Review will be recalled with interest.
Whether most readers will accord her the
position of the strongest woman novelist
and the most brilliant-in America today, or
nor, the fact remains that her boldness,
subtlety of psychological insight and power
| of character drawing stamp her as an author
| Of unusual merit and of striking gifts. A
| Puritan Pagan begins with matrimony,
| where works of fiction usually end. While
not book to put into the hands Of young
people or to recommend to the immature
| MIND the trend of the story is to the right,
| and 1t more than teaches morality, il drives
| 1t home, as do Adam Bede and a few other
stories of similar power. Former works are
A Diplomats Diary, A Successful Man,
Mile. Reseda, and Vampires. Mrs. Cruger's
home is in New York.
The first edition of A Puritan Pagan was
exhausted In one week, and a third is now
in preparation. New York: d. Appleton
& Co.; Portland: Loring. Short & HARMONY
Iduna and Other Stories by George A. Hib-
bard is make up Of various fancies or odd
suggestions, each woven into a tale or mar
| rative. Mr.. Hubbard writes WELL He has
| good many ideas and he expresses himself
| with originality. Here and there the tragic
chord is struck as in The Woman in the
Case. and Papoose, while The Dragoness
furnishes not little food for thought
Iduna. Would Dick do That? and In Maiden
Meditation. are more artificial and for that
| reason take far less hold than their COM
panion pieces. upon the imagination. The
lover of short stories will find in this volume
a new gendre to add to his list of fayorites.
New York: Harper Is Brothers; Portland:
| Loring, Short & Harmon.
The Price of .Coronet or Jeanne Berth
out, Countess de Mercoeur, adapted from
the French Of Perre Sales by Mrs. Benz amin
Lewis. The story herein related is of a
| young nobleman of extremely weak charac-
ter, who obtains rich wife by giving a bond
OF 100000 francs to the titled intriguers who
shall secure his bride for him, through very
vain and silly mamma 1t happens that the
young girl so selected and deceived is in all
respects beautiful and charming and at once
wins her husbands love and admiration
totally Ignorant as she is, that anything save
love for her. governed him in his choice.
The story Is rather sparkling, and of quick
movement. Something too much Of super
fiuous ceremony gives at times an amusing
French tone to Its pages. The translation is
careless In small point, but smooth enough
| to satisfy novel readers in general. New
| York: Cassell Publishing Co. Price S1.O0)
So small has been the supply of new nov
els and good novels, during the summer
| months that Cassell deserves word Of
| special praise for his recent paper covered
| volumes, fifty cents in price, which fill the
| demand to an unusually satisfactory degree.
| Among them are, Old Raclot's Million from
the French of Emile Richebourg. adapted by
| Mrs. Benjamin Lewis; Moors and Christians
and Other Tales from the Spanish of Alar-
con, translated by Mary j. Serrano; The
Wedding Ring. Tale of Today by Robert
Buchanan; An Artist, from the French of
Madame Jeanne Mairet by Anna Dyer Page !;
| Grandson Mather or an account of the for
tunes of Mr.. and Mrs. Thomas Gardiner by
Henry Hartand Sidney Luska), and Ward
McAllister's Society AS 1 have Found It.
Old Raclots Million is clear and simple in
the telling and good story when told.
Alarcon's short storiesare remarkablyIine !;
they are as foreign to an American palate as
ripe olive. Their quality is both dramatic
and poetical. The recent death of the au-
thor lends special interest to these tales.
Buchanna's, The Wedding Ring is a sensa-
tional novel with all the accoutrements-an
old fashioned villain and adventure galore
A style and finish, which show literary
ability save 1t from freshness.
An Artist is a story of even tenor, we'll
constructed. interesting and vivacious. 1t
impresses the reader as the work of a trained
mind and its character drawing is out of the
In nf ~