New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
AvoTyrrp life OF COLIMBUS.

THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. Ey Elizabeth Esse-ton
seclyo. Edited by E1wmd Esgleston. ILLUSTRATED
by Allegro Eggleslon l2uo, %. 800 Nc" 1oi" :
ID. App!atOp ~ Company.
This is another contribution TO thc VolumhouS
literature of The Columbus year. and may D.
described a. a household product since the iatAef
has edited worl, written By one Of his daughters
and ,llustratcG by another. 1t is book pre-
cminenNy adapted TO the requirements o. super
fetal readers and especially young people and b.
that END it is profusey illustrated ana wiz"
greater industry than discretion. Il WIS hardy
necessary, ia order to populaizc III" book %
introduce microscopic vistas Of Genoa, SaNoh''
Salamanca, Cadiz, Lisbon and Seville, or sucA
impossible marine views as the shipwrcck AMI the
bcan-drawing on ColUmbuss slip. Or 50 cI'He 1t
bit of composition rs the Mosquito Coast Hlu9H"-
ton. There j. some good drawing III the liIu7T"-
tons, but not few could have been o'hlt'eu
altogether TO great advantage. one HuhN''
illustrations were not required for WORK oi
tl,is size and better results would have bFcn
secured with lalc the number, but Of superior
execution and finish Illustrators have much 10
do with educating tie eyes ana tastes OF young
readers and they ought not 10 be encouraged u
multiply drawings, but 10 concentrate lhcii o"Hi
upon u few good subjects.
The motive Of this new life Of Columbus j. 70
enbodv the results Of recent research and IN
material aud to present it in popul&T. enter
t,ininr form. Originality was impractical" after
Nayarrete, Harrsse, Staclieno and WinSor had
conducted their exhaustive investigations, bnt
critical faculties were required for rejection Oh
nony of fhe myths Of the old SCHOOL OF blOgraPler'
and also for avoidance of that tone OF d"tracupa
which pervades tho recent literature OF tho Sud
ject. learned and scholarly as the bulK o. IL L.
Mrs. Seelye las succeeded in makinS al interest
ing story without having recourse to the us
credited fables and spurious fc'loas which con-
verted the earlier live. Of Columbus INTO ro-
names Shc lac ondeayored TO paint the nero
Of the sea, not in the dark hucs OF posslmiSuc
SUSPICION and c1strust, nor in tile 1ancnui
masquerade Of romanticism and creduIlW, put IL
his real colors Dr. Eggieston, in his excellent
Introduction to the work, justliies large dTs'e"
OF enthusiasm and admiration for nan "h''
while not in odvaDce OF his age Ii other respects
rad the imagination TO pla4 aid tho hoidness 10
carry out a VOYAGE in sonrca of land t. the west
ward This is ;hc rational view Of the c!l'u%c-
ter Of Columbus which is taken IN these pages
He vos superstitious, ambitious, 2TarlclouS OF
wealth. oovetous Of power ana mScrHpui'us III
methods but lie also rendered to the "oria the
greatest service possible at Tie time IL which lie
lived.
II is only necessary to illustrate tie methods Of
work which deals with familiar subject as TIE
life and discoveries Of Columbus II opens WIN
comprehensive chapter upon the travels OF the TooS
in the East and the famous b0Ol. which Marco nc
tatcd III prison 10 a companion ms Is the proper
;,trodnctior for work on this subject, since 1t
was the reading of that wondrOus tale about inc
rcalm of Kublai Khan and the mysterious Island,
Cipanso. which undoubtedly inspired the magma
tion Of the great navigator anl carried HIM from
court to court to beg royal assistance for his west
ward VOYAGE Sir John ManGevillcs travels arc
dismissed in TWO short sentences. bat thIS hOoN had
also great influence in affecting the discOvcler
fortunes as was plainly shown by the lah'asuc
theories which he formed respecting the shape oil
the earth and the original sito Of the Garden oil
Eden when lie found the main land Of South Amer
lea al Para These two books of mcdiaeVal traFel
had more 70 do with determining The celebrated
voyases of discovery than the speculations of as
tronomers like Toscaneli Their influence upon the
mind of Columbus is clearly defined in Mrs. See
lyes chapters.
The yicissitudes hardships and disappoin'mcnts
OF Columbus after his great service had been rem
Gercd 10 The world are recounted with simplicity
ana 80 sylnpatheticalIy as to excite compassion.
This is perhaps the most practical method Il
counteracting the detracton and unreasonable H.
tolerance Of modern scholarship. There IS pathoS
in tlat career of cumulative misfortune ana
thwar,ed ambition that disarms criticism ani SOFT
cns tie heart. Columbus ID represented III these
PAGES "a az once modern man in lls discovery OF
a new hemisphere, a child Of the middle ages IN
lis fancy for turning tie profits Of his voyages
toward a cr,srdo TO rescue the Holy ScpulcATe
AID disappointed dreamer condemned TO injustice
and poverty vet bearing the lngratltIdc Of courts
and the hatred Of rivals with fortitudc and hero
ism While lie struggling with his rebsious
colony in HispaniOia NascO d2 Cana had found his
way 70 Calcutta b. rounding The Cape Of Good
Hop, and ksd returned to Lisbon laden VITA the
wealth OF the East. and CabIal. sailing with
feet of thirteen sail the same course hod been
blown by 4 hurricane 10 Brazil and had offered
valid warrant for the modern historians con-
lecture that America would have beca discovered
even if tie Santa Maria and her sister csravals
had never left Paios While others were sue
oc-Gings Columbus seemed to have failed. The
consciousness that he had done something grcS5
which was 20 make his name immortal al
most the only consolation Of his declining years.
1t was prophetic intimation that Justice would III
timatcly he done TO the nan who had thought out
he western voyage by himsclf,an had accomplished
d gleat work for future generations
Mrs Scelyo's beck, while designed for less ma
turc minds than Dr. Adams recent admirable BIZ
osraphy of Columbus. is pleasing in It's general
conscientious study. While it does not rank with
more thorough works already accepted as standard
authorities. it is IN entertaining and instructive
vsluae for your readers