New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-12
LITERARY NOTES.

r,ca vnore bvsterical masazne 10 to be announced
this time as coming from San Francisco. 1t 70
called The Lark" 1t 10 printed far enough away
from here, but Il seems to have been conceived ~
q region even further or, In realm 20 remote
from the moorings Of intelligence that the pamphlet
seems neither fsh. flesh. fowl nor good red herring
Perhaps there turks double meaning IN The
Lark" Perhaps It II one-fourth monthly pefiodi-
cal and three-fourths an escapade The idea GER
taIny suggested by the ridiculous picture OF an in-
furiated COW, plunging toward q figure which might
be a human being but looks like boojum The
lines that accompany this sketch equally indie
alive of an intention to be as frocsome az POSI-
ble II never saw a purple COW. ] never hope 10
see one But I tell you anyhow, Ia rather
see than be one"
After that It seems incredible that Mr.. Bruce Per'
ter and Mr.. Gelett Burgess mean TO be taken seri-
ous,v But the "serious' verses which these edi-
tors include in their production and the serious
prose are worse than the doggerel, 80 we must
suppose that they In earnest. They have PRINT
ed their bantling on thin brown paper with mucn
fastidousness as to makeup and type. ana Tor
supplement they give a reproduction OF the femovs
portrait OF Pico della Mirandola in Florence TO
all of which we can only observe that The Lark"
ought really to be called THE Goose
The last number Of THE Yellow Book" has de-
parted widely from the eccentric character WHICH
made It notorious from Its birth 1t mas IN
measure avoided printing pictures and storiss mere
" for the purpose Of distressing and mystfying the
reader Mr.. Beardsley is absent. Temporarily az
least and II the magazine Is not remarkably ahjes
II at any rate shows signs OF sanity Can II be that
all It's early Haunting OF the fantastic was only
clever scheme Of advertising. and that. having
made itself talked into a circulation. II II going
to settle down In conventional respectabiity! DO.
what IL to become OF the faddists who took Ill the
grotesqueness seriously as a new dispensaton In
iiteratureeand art?
Our English cousins may some day cease telling
US that whatever Ii raw and capricious IN DOCKS
finds reader audience here than with them Ger
tainly nobody could have worked on successive
numbers Of THE Yellow Book" here at 81 70 were
Il a native product. Nobody ever bought II except
to see what London's latest fad was Our own
apostles Of precousness cut an exceedingly smaIN
figure except seen across the WAFER ih"eeo|
they complain that the average American 10 pro-
vInciai In his allegiance to classics IT has always
been Englishmen and not Americans VINO nave
pushed forward crude essays and outlandsh verso
as the flower OF Western culture and lectured US On
not appreciating our own untutored genius.
Daudet's visit to London Is a matter OF interest
70 Americans as well TO the Engishmen ne V
preparing TO study. He Ii widely read here. and u
will be highly divertng 10 zee what the Frehen
Dickens as he has been called. makes OK Engnsn
life He Is to see II largely through the eyes OF
Henry James, who Is his cicerone on this tour, ana
Is a penetrating observer and he will surprise the
believers In his talent II he allows the proposes
sions OF hfs guide to his conception OF En8lisn
life into an artificial mould. Daudet, py the way
is much puzzled at the comparison 80 often maze
between Dickens and himself. In the main he does
not see the point And he Is hardly to be blamed
The resemblance is there, but Is not often seen ana
never in a way to prove very conspicuous. me
great talent Of Daudet Is so peculiarly Provencai'
SO completely his own, that to carry the French
English parallel very far Is TO be discounted 70
q critical sense. .
The Columbia College Library will certainly be
favorite resort for the future historian what the
New-York Historical Society and the Library Com
pany of Philadelphia have been as repositories OK
contemporary records Of the Revolution. Columbia
will be for the history OF the Civil War; The eish-
ty-nine volumes Of newspaper clippings which COM
prise the Townsend Library OF War Records doubt
less contain a vast mass OF useless matter about
utterly unimportan persons and things; out II also
has much which will be Of inestimabIe value. In
getting together raw material for history there 70
no chaff. Everything Is grain. The present can
not tell what seemingly Insignificant item VIII be
the key to solve some problem of the future The
good indexer Is he who helps one TO ma the tnine
he never dreams anybody will care to KNOW ana
the good compiler takes the same attitude to~aI"
his materials. We cannot have too many records
saved
Mr. Froude had among his virtues one for which
even his worst detractors must praise him. HIS
books invariably set people to talking thinking
when they appeared. His last volumes have been
no exceptions to the rule. The lectures on Erasmus
proved Immensely fructifying. and now the work on
English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century" Is caus-
ing every student Of English history to look up his
authorities. Partly this Is occasioned by Frouoes
avowed purpose OF sending his readers to verify
his facts. Partly It Is because In revivtn6 the
glamour of Elizabethan naval exploits Froude
- fho h1
in English literature. For those in America who are
eager follow his direction We wish TO call aten-
ton once more to the invaluable publications OF the
Hakluyt Society.
That disnterested organization is indefatigaols
In Its work among narratives OF old English voy-
ages and twice a year 1t brings out some fascinat-
ing book long ago buried In the British Museum
or at oxford some other centre OF book hoard.
ing. The work chosen Is always one that Is otner
wise inaccessible to the general reader and Is even
beyond the reach OF the collector The editing 10
done by an authority who writes also a valuable In
PRODUCTION for the book. Membership In the society
involves the payment Of an infnitesmai sum- and
besides bringing the subscriber the two new books
published annually. II places at his disposal at
moderate sum nearly all Of the works issued BY the
society from It's inception many years ago.
What Mr. George Meredith thinks OF himself 10
admirably shown by the following letter. lately
sold at auction In London Il must thank you for
the compliment implied In your letter TO me. But
II must be q predspostion OF yours In my favor
that ranks me among celebrities for am not one:
and. let me add, entertain dread Of the honor
Detailing same. They. however have the conscious
ness OF worth which enables them to support their
head In my case there would not be such sus-
tanment Believe me that / do appreciate your
kind intentions"
The novel which s. II. Crockett Is writing has
for hero a Highlander exiled In Holland. and IL 70
be called "Lochinvar."
There Is TO be much new matter In the book about
Dante Gabriel Rossetu which the painter-poet's
brother is about to publish. One would be glad
to know that It IL to present this man OF genius
in q light less weak and morbid than that In which
he has heretofore appeared.
NJ. Paul Bourget has changed the title OF his