The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-31

J. Fenimore Cooper Sa7. Leo Tolstoi e92.
+, NJ. Crawford 3S4, Thomas b. Aldrich
5lg, Walter Scott 37s, WiISie Collins 8T2;
EuFnund About 800, Mayne Reid S5f, Benz
lamln Dlsrael 34l, f. II. Burnett S3l,
Charles Reade $50, Charles SeaSer S2S,
James Payn S26, Walter Besant BIS, J. T.
1rowbridge 3l6, Grant Allen 9lS, c. d.
warner JOB, Sophie May 296, Rudyard
hlpllng 295, Jules Verne 293, Lew Wallace
PSI Hugh Conway Ssa. Louisa MuhIbaclx
261, Oliver Wendell Holmes ri, Voltaire
2.O, John Strange Winter III, A. S. Hardy
S0O, w. .. Stoddard Pa, Anthony Tr0llope
255, Edward Yates $50, Paul du -Chaillu
S4S, Erckmann-Chatrian pa, Oliver Optic
242, etc
Down at the bottom Of the list are such
names as Owen Meredith aud Nine. de
oGael' Inc most popular books are Hugo's
| Les Mlserables,n Bellamy's Looking
Backward, " Dickens oliver Twist, and
Eliot's Adam Bede,p each Of these hav-
ing been selected l04 times. The Scarlet
letter" was read l03 times, tom
! Browns Schooldays,'' 'sTvanhoer and
Robert Elsmere" lO2, Arabian Nights"
lOl, Last Days of Pompef" and Aldrichs
Marjorie Daw' 100, Never Too Late to
Mend" gS, TON Brown at Oxford" %,
"Rlse of Silas Lapham, !" Rob Roy" and
Robinson Crusoen "a, The AutocrsAr of
the Breakfast Table" 81 ~ THE Last
OF the Mohicans" and "Pickwick Pa
| pers" 30, Mark Twain's Tramp Abroad"
and Observation-Disclosures J'SWaterloo"
81. Then comes u curious bunch-"All
Sorts and Conditions Of Men, "Mr.
Barnes, of New York" Count of Monte
Cristo' !" Uncle Toms Cabin Around
the World in Eighty Days" Mid
ulemarch," Little Lord Fauntleroy, {"
Three Guardsmen" and David Copper
field" each of which was thumbed SO
times; Hugo's "Toilers of the Sea" 81,
Conway's called Back As, Gunther's
| Mr.. Potter of Texas As, ''Twenty Years
After" paul Clifford" "Guy Manner
ing" liking Solomon's Mines" ''Felix
Holt" John Halifax, Gentlemau,'
Yankee at King Arthur's Court'' "A
times each, The following were each
taken out 80 times: Howells, "Two
! Gentlemen of b." Ohnets master of
the Forges," j. Hawthorne's "Garth,"
Crawford's "Mr. Graves" About's MAN
with the Broken Ear,'' Clusters "Boots
and Saddles Lever 8 ''Charles O'Mal-
ley" and Bret Harte's "Waif of the
Plains.r Ii
If similar tables could be pronounced
from all the prisons in this state they
would doubtless show iflclira tons not
quite so gratifying for the reformatory
is primarily an educational prison. Even
here it is to be doubted if the authorities
are doing right by placing in an inmates
hands book like Paul Cliford.''
| A number of able men have written
about the French criminal and his tastes
literary and artistic, Among these are
Able Crozes, M. Jolly and M, laurent.
According to M, dolly the favorite authors
| are Dumas, RoSsetti, George Sand and
| Tolstoi-Dumas being faciIe princeps.
Dumas fills is also popular. The restless
ness and braggadocio Of the elder Dumas
chief characters are, no doubt, the means
| of popularizing his works among the
prisoners. The contrast between the
monotony of prison life and the
adventurous career of the hero
of the novel is another cause
Of the popularity of thes enovelists.
The poetry of Francois Villon is very
popular; this is not to be ascribed so much
to any poetioal taste in the prisoners as to
the fact that Villon vas d criminal, if
| there ever was one While the master
pieces of Corneille, Racine and MoIiere
weary the majority of the prisoners, lie
Grand Testament" of Yillon is read with
avidity
The delight Of the French female pris-
| oners is the works of Voltaire- histories,
biographies, poems, etc. What causes
this attraction would be difficult thing.
to say. Henri Conscience finds many
readers among the same class of prisoners.
AS rule, however, the books ia demand
among the women prisoners are innocent
| tales of love, but the comments on the
margin are too often of nature that is
far from innocent. se. -.f.t
Quite frequently among the 2 per cent.
classically educated are men. who not only
display tiue taste in selecting their read
ing matter, but also considerable literary
ability. The first name that comes to
mind is that of Francois Yillon, men
toned above. sa,.t. tb.t@
Nearer to our time is I, G, Wainwright.
Although murderer and thief, he was
the friend of Lamb. Hazlitt edited his
essays and criticisms, which were pub
lished in two volumes. Dickens Hunted
Down" and Lytton's 'Lucretia'' are both
founded on the exploits of the noted Grim
inal. Eugene Aram is another interest
ing literary criminal whose life furnished
the novelist's pen with a theme. In our
own day we have notab bic example,, Mrs.
Harris thought there was sufficient merit
in her sons work to warrant her publish
fishing his life, Letters and POEMS"