The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-05-14
BOOK TALK AND GOSSIP.
The Up-to- Date Literature Of
These Times.
WHAT BOOKSELLERS ARE SHOWING
DIR. Owen Presents New and Pecu-
liar Baconian Cipher-FiJnjc Van
salvcrda's Interesting Work ON
"Aeriai Navigation" Translat cd.

DR.. Orville w. Owens "Cipher Story
from shakespeare's plays Ia nothing II
| not interesting. While the decipherer has
| failed to tell US wher- be finds the varl-
Gus lines that have been woven into such
a remarkable narrative, the facts pre-
sented are so sensational and SO foreign
To history as we know 1t, that the reader
cannot fail to be interested even IL he Is
not converted to the truth OF the dis
| covery.
In this scheme Of cipher writing which
DIR. Owen claims TO have discovered it Is
| asserted:
| "a That Francis Bacon was the lawful
son of Elizabeth, Queen OF England, and
Robert Dudley, Earl OF Leicester; they
having been secretly married In the
Tower Of London.
CD That Francis Bacon, for the pur-
pose, of concealing the secret history Of
written for the benefit of pos
tcrity, wove the threads OF his cipher
| story through all the plays of Shakes
| peare, and, rs Bacon, in the cipher, says:
"Robert Green, George Peel aud Christo-
pher Msriowe's stage Plays; The Fairy
works OF Edmund Spencer the Anato-
my OF Melancholy of Robert Bur-
ton, the History OF Henry the Seventh,
the Natural History, the Interpretation
Of Nature, the Great Instaurat.on, ADJ
vancement of Learning, the DE Aug gment.s
works of our own"
Such statement in itself Is astonishing
enough to delight the most blase mind,
and there Is no question but that DIR.
Owen has kept his promise and has done
just what he has said he would do. The
told us just how it was done. II Is true we
know he has arranged Q big wheel in
which the detached leaves OF the plays
have been placed, but the reader OF DIR.
Ovens books would not know what to do
with the wheel II he had one in his own
library.
This is unfortunate, for the forty or
more new historical facts are important
enough TO be esta blished by actual proof.
They are far too important to be accepted
upon these mere statements that they have
been discovered in cipher story. What
were discovered and although DIR. Ovens
present work will unquestionably ca
sensation wherever 1t appears, II n
ing to the sensation that would b, "a
IL he should prepare . careful ara ysis
OF his cipher story and by showing how
ciphered the remarkable secret history
OF the life OF royalty in the time Of
Bacon, prove the truth Of his assertion.
Notwithstanding the fact that this has
not been done, however, the two volumes
that have already appeared are intensely
third and last volume with great antici-
pstions.
''SIR FRANCIS BACoS's CIPHER STORY
Discovered and Decipbe-ed by Oryille Owen.
Id. Detroit: Tie Howard publishing
Company, 1894. Ali booksellers have IL.
! :
The subject of "Aerial Navigation" is
hat ~
est interest to men OF science. While
invention has succeeded IN making use
of land and water for means of
travel no one has yet produced Q ma
chine that can be made to carry human
beings through the air. The balloon is
the nearest approach TO such an invention,
but the art OF balloDing must e-rerience
many Improvements before can
properly be regarded as a parl OF the
science OF aerial navigation.
Mr.. George e. Waring, Jr., OF Newport,
has just translated a work BY the distiu-
guished Dutch engineer, j. u. w. Fijnje
van Saiverda, that will be Of no little in
terest to those who have investigated the
subject. 1t is entitled 'Aerial Naviga-
tion" and IL a comprehensive summary
of the history OF the development of the
srt from the invention Of the balloon Of
Nontgolfler in 1.S.--a balloon which was
filed with heated air--down u the recent
Investigations OF Maxim, Langley and
Holland.
The author, as would be expected, an
ticipates sn early successful solution of
this unsolved problem of mechanical
flight, and he presents every possible
point OF evidence to sustain the conclu-
sions that he reaches.
The book . well translated by Mr.. War
ing, and is well illustrated by photographs
and plates, making work OF the greatest
value to those who are interested In this
problem, the solution Of which has baffied
many of the greatest scientists and in
ventors.
"AERrAL NAvIGATToS," by J @. w. Fiinje
van Salverda. Translated from the Dutch
by George +. Waring. Jr. New York: ID.
Appleton & o.. 1894 H. Gregory has it.
I Z I
Dorothea Gerard has written q number
OF light but interesting stories and
''The Rich Miss Riddell," which bos
MhiSsued ca !. nn ,tSy.n,lon Sy d. hPpie,G,, n ,Ss
rule. There is nothing original about the
story. The characters are very similar TO
these that we have met In her other
works of fiction and their actions, while
sometimes delightful, are not novel.
The rich Miss. Riddelf is a charming
character and the reader cannot help feet
ing admiration for her way to doing good
with the wealth that she has received.
In some respect, she Is rather
q remarkabl person and the extremely
commonplace people with whom she Is
thrown in contact only tend to make her
striking peculiarities more conspicuous.
Bertha Norberg ia one of the few people
In the story for whom we can feel any In
terest. The story. however, il entertain
ing and would be especially enjoyable II
read in hammock beneath the trees,
some hot, summer day.
THE RIcr Miss RrDpELT," by Dorothea
Gerard. New York: ID. Appleton & Co.. 1894.
III. Gregory. has IL.
"Treasure Island" by Robert Louis
Stevenson; "Hickory Hail." Mrs. r. -. T..
N. Southwortb; "Grandfather's Chair,n
Nathaniel Hawfhorue: "a Scarlet SIM