New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-04
FICTION.
THE REPRINTS OF THE SEASON.

THE REPRINTS OF THE SEASON.
Uncle RENTS. HIS SONGS AND SAYINGS. BY
loci Chandler Harris. New and Revised Ed
ton with one Hundred illustrations by A. IS
Frost. New-York: ID. Appleton ana Co.
INC EDIYRURG BY Thomas Nelson 6sr Pass HeM w.
York: Charles scribner's Sons.
TWO on A TOwER-THE RETURN OF THE
NATIvE-THE MAYOR OF CASIERbhlIWSSIIifhh
b ThGmSs H aaG New Tf PTeaee
Harper & Brothers
MAID MARIAN-CROTCHET .CAsTl3E BY Thorn
as Love Peacock. One Volume; Illustrated by
George F saints5nry New-York Macmillan Z
oRMoNp BY Maria Edsew0Tth Igs'r rat lr by
T Tha Rchie New-York: Macmillan &
JACOB FAITHFUL. Ry CAPTAIN Marryat llins,
trated by II. N Brock W IN an lniLoduecu T
by David Hannay New-York: Macmillan az CO.
MR. MDsHIPMAN EASY By CAPTAIN Marry@rt,
ao-,aum. New-Yorl: c. p. Putnams Sons.
CHRISTIE TOMBSTONE. BY charles Readae With
Illustrations, New-York: Dodd Mead & CO.
~ James: Fontaipsblseau Eai'i IGN. TWO Volumes
THE TIRE MrsKETEFF RSn. BY fSandFs DIV BY
Maurice Lelo,r. TWO Volumes. New-fork; -
Appleton & CO.
THE WANDERING JEW. BY Eu s2:,. See Ill"y-
trated. Two Volumes New-lork; j. l.
NAISF BY Alphonse Daudet. llustrated TWO
Volumes. Faience Edition Ne"-No'k: !. J.
Crowe & CO.
1,AvR1rn Py Paul Marguer.te illustrated. Fal-
ence Edition. Newly ork: T. y. Crowel & co.
A LOVE EPISODE. BY Emile zolla. Translated,
pr Ernest Ni2etcliT. illustrated.
PHILADELPHIA: J. y. Lppncou Company.
The American novelist IS sometimes heard
observing that competition IS fierce between
himself and his English brother and it Is
limited occasionally that the latter should be
eyed askance by the American publisher, in
s.ead Of being sought out and bought out by
that sagacious person. Yet. If the new books
before us may be trusted, the real rival OF our
American writer of fiction Is the Frenchma7 or
the Englshman long dead and gone, or long
s,,co made more or less OF classic We have
only ono or two reprints Of English or Ameri-
can contemporaries to notice but there are
many volumes bearing the names of French
apd English authors not active in the field to-
dav This being the case our countr|men with
masterpieces growing in their minds may con-
.o,o themselves with the reflection that the
ono hook of American stories which reappears
.. ,bis neriod of publishing abundance Is
hooL 10 hold its own in any company. Uncle
Remus' could scarcely be called novel, but
It's author has proved within Its pages MS mas
,er,, Of the art Of fiction. throwing over the
ran, material Of the folklorist q glamour unique
l., u,ora,ura The old tales of the plantation
have never been told by others as Mr.. Harris
hos tol1 them lie wastes no words. Each
narrative Is to the point and so swift IN us
action uDon the risibilities OF the reader mat
one almost loses consciousness or the printed
,oao ord fancies ii is the voice Of the lovable
old darlley himself that steals across the senses
and brings mirth inextinguishable as It comes
In the long run however. one must come back
70 the mage. for there find new element
e. Tho history Of Brer Rabbit and his friends
the element which \. b. Frost has brought
into ,ba booy For the handsome new edition
,rougb. ont in one Well-printed octave by the
annlotons he has made over hundred IL
Illustrations. and every one Of them adds laugh
70 the ten which Mr.. Harris gives with each
episode lac recounts.
With both author and artist the pitch Is the
same gentle merry. we'll this side OF uprodr-
ious buresque. Both achieve this by the same
means by following the example OF Uncle
Remus himself and believing profoundly IN the
substance of their work Hence there Is I'M
utterable fun for the reader. but he never sus-
poets either Nj. hdETlS OF MI fi'"' Va "'N'
ately tampering with his credulity. The stories
may be impossible, but they are genuine TO the
core. 1t mir. Harris's invircibie veracity that
makes his book a masterpiece. The illusion Is
never lost for instant; the stories really take
the reader out OF himself and into new, de-
Nghtfui world That is triumph. and when it
Is achieved author may well rest on his
laures. 1t is pleasant to see that they are kept
so fresh in the present instance by public APP
preciat lion. There is a positive demand for an