New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-17
LITERARY NOTES.

LITERARY NOTES.
About Henry james. the novelist. there may be con
tending opinions; but there can be 10 differences
concerning his ab les In dealing with the men nc
ha, known the places lie has the books he ihs
read. In Ids paper on Lowell I'm the January Az
antic" ho is at his best the perfection OF MS 'as'e
the beauty OF his style were never moro farmohousl'
revealed. II Is refreshing TO see tie portrait Oh 'e
fasdious scholar set within frame so HUNG i'o
shows rs many sides Of Lowells personality nov
the lcns lovabl OF which Is that Of the poet found IN
his modest London lodgings I'm the summers after Ills
official mission ended. Here one could md iam al
home in the late afternoon, in his heightened citir'
with his cherished pipe. and his table piled mgh WIZ
books lIere he pr,csed little lestng ho'pltaIt'cS
for he was lrrepressibly aud amu'ingly hospitnblc
Whatever lc wa in hi, latest time, it wa, even IN
muficd mhscres Of govt with mastery Of laush'e"
and forgetfllness Nothing amused him more thai
for people TO dine with him. and few things. certainly
amused them much. His youth came back To Inn
not once for all but twenty times for every OCCASION
lic was certainty the most boy.sh OF learned doctors.
II would be hard TO find In the history Of 3" The
Atlantic much more brilliant number than the cur
rent Even Walter Cranes paper on the question
wa, i.,li~'A Appeals 10 Artists, viii ainlse uOso
who are patient enough 10 disregard its unpmctcaly
and ~ ab.udiy rs applied In any Way Ia American
lie. il j. a fact That There i suHcIlhS ""o"n
three or four special trades calllngs In TIN,
,ountry-tlIe sufferers being h. gey unua,urlized
foreigners but that there /, general misery In
AMERICA that /, Mr. Crane says he ha@ boon
told the free American like the free Enehshman
has not where 10 lay his head" j. simply NONSENSE.
The lat person who should Imagine That he knows any
thing about economic problems Is an artist Of VII
Crane, quality. There 1, something incNpre-siOb
comical to the practical man In the idea OF looking at
he ieS nj Count Leo IOlStOl.
Most OF tho verse Of the day IS nptly characterized
in sydney Dobells criticism upon Buwers attempts
n, poc,rv "Laborous calculation wrote Dobell To
, friend has almost stood for sight. but his maps ana
charts are not the earth and the heavens His vision
+, not a dream but a nightmare sou have ParnaSslS
before you the light that Oh sea or shore
1. WANTING. The whole reminds You OF n lunar
Iondscapc rocks and caves and 20 but no atmo
sphere II j. fairy land Travelled ~ dark
What Is perhaps result OF the Copyright act Is 10
be seen ia the Increased notice taken by foreign para
graplrrs of American literary news They are some
fines however gr1ieSqucly niSnformed As In the case
Of books almost entirely unknown In this country Vet
announced by them in London as having been Inc
crcacs, successes Of the book publShIn: season In
America.
Uncrlt - the verge of impOsslblity /, the task
Of forming a serious opinion regarding book tM't
II TAKES two 10 read the one Mr. Gllberts every
dny Young man." the other mathematician 10 the
tips Of his fingers and toes. with teeth for extracting
remote roots rs a pastime. and stomach TO enjoy
functions" before breakfast. such a book i " Tho
Life Eonance OF mn Agcbralst by George Wn>low
Pierce lBoston J. G Cupplcs.l =" will consult my
astronomer traveller once overheard onoihcr say
10 "a third-upon which hint The Tribune has consulted
It's astronomer who reports the mathematics as sound
and its every day Young man. who approves tho
~.fvl.g and
coua:ions worse than quadrac can /" made TO gu
in double harness TO complcatc the problem TO the
nth power as It were. the author has been AT the
pains OF contfving unnecessary new terror. very
Frnnkcnsicin among functions which he name, 1T {;
and thereon Pounds II brnndne science to be known
AS Alge0mety,7 being half Algebra. half Geometry.
Poor boys
BII, Mr. Fierce has fine sense OF humor. too, such
n, season. all things Ageomctry. and lie has IL
oboui him. az witness hi, story OF the school girl who
rcolccd In being able TO d. her sum "a great deal
harder way" This indeed. astronomer seems To
think the very point and kernel OF the geometry
Like The late Mr.. silns Wegg, also. the author now
and then drops into poetry In II friendly way :;
apparently that nothing may be wanting to compel
the classification Of his volume II fine caprice In
letters. Cross printed II L. by the way, rs though
In loving remembrance OF the famous carriers OF
Nalvollo
religously uolned woman who asked for some book
.. that treated on Genesis ana Exodus When told
that the Bible was the only boo, 0f which he knew
that cculi tell the story, she replied All right |
guess that H. the book \ gushing young lady with
eyeglasses called for The Red Letter by Thachcay,
instead OF UawthorIie's scarlet Letter. \ pucstl
cxy Inclined Young man wanted the lied Letter DAY
of John L. Sullivan instead Of StOddard. while several
have expressed a desire for the poetlcal aud prose
works OF Ibid \ young noticed wandering
from one room 10 ahothe'. When asked If Inc could 10
black's room. Many have nskcd where the ticket
office was located thinking they had got Into railway
depot
Mr.. Arlo Bates says in The Book Buyer that one
Of the leading writer's Of literary Boston had two
volumes Of manuscript poems sent IN by perfect
sirancers last week with requests for opinions and
the usual expressions OF ardent admiration of III,
unbapny authors own work of course the request
for opiuIonsn n;ennt the extraction from the great
man 81 some complm ntary sentences which might
he nscd TO move an obduratc publisher to present the
Mss TO the public. This /, business and smart :
and A is comforting to know that American authors
are less Welding than Of old TO these attacks. of
Mr. Ionrf low's kind heart and his keen realization
OF what was period Of struggle In the young Amer
lean uteratnre undue advantage often taken by
pushing authors
A collection n portraits of Dickens complete rs 1t
Is pos sible make It. is TO be brought out soon