New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-04

FrOst'S drawings are so suPeiidtiNe'! b"ou' >"
,nexpressibly funny. that they promise to make
this the standard edition Of standard book
A new edition in thin quarto OF Mr.. Pages
touching little sketch Of Southern lfe his deli
cateIy drawn "Unc Ednburg." appears this
season II Is a less noticeable performance than
either "Marse Chan" or "Meh Lady" but it be-
longs in the same category with these for ten
derness and originality and we are glad 70 re-
cord its appearance in form uniform with those
stories. sympathetcally illustrated.
We have spoken Of the paucity Of recent Eng
lish fiction among the new and more or less
elaborate editions brought out with the APP
proacn Of holiday season. The single English
author presented could hardly lack cordial
welcome Mr.. Hardy Is ike some OF his greater
countrymen in that his novels would be read
were he from Bosnia Peru. and the new uni
form edition Of his works Is boon for which his
admirers will be thankful Three volumes of It
have reached us. devoted respectively TO "The
Return of the Native" Two on Tower" and
THE Mayor OF Casterbrdge." The volumes are
published in octave. are clearly and nicely
printed excellent paper. are bound I'm
peculiarly refined and attractive covers Of
simple design and quiet color. and are en-
bellished each with a frontispiece etched by Mr.
Macbeth Raeburn.
For each volume Mr. Hardy furnishes a new
preface No special comment is called forth by
this last addition save in the case Of Two on a
Tower" which the author insists is character
lied by as 'scrupulous propriety' as some of its
detractors thought It lacked when published
thirteen years ago. Certainly to read this book.
as to read any Of its authors works. Ia to be
made more humane, TO be touched to synpa by
g. III
edition Of Mr. Hardy is possibly due to the par
ticular fame which has come to him since the
publication OF Tess" but we prefer to regard it
merely as a testimony to the sterling qualities OF
an author who from fir,t to last has lived on a
high plane and put his heart into his work
Whether or not Mr. Hardy has genius may some
day be disputed. but there can be no question
among Intelligent people Of the profound human
passion which animates his picturesque and
noble pages.
From Mr. Hardy we must turn back 70 num-
Der Of his predecessors. and though 1t is difficult
to leave him. 1t must be confessed that it Is
pleasure 10 take up again some Of the older Eng
lish novels lately reissued The volume which e
published by the Macmllans with both Maid
Marian" and "Crotchet Castle between its COW
ers might well provoke to genial periods the dis
introduction Thomas Love Peacock is minor
classic, but he is a classic. all the same and
what Mr. Saintsbury finds to say OF him in judi
cious but warm approval must find echo in
the heart OF every reader whose taste is proof
against Peacocks eccentrclt!es His very de-
fects are regarded, after a while. with something
Of affectlonate Indulgence. They are interviewed
with a debonair and engaging whmsicality.
Maid Marian" might have been made a little
more sweetly pastoral and the satir.cal flavor OF
"Crotchet Castle Is not always free from
somewhat acrid tang. with which Peacock was,
in the MAN. apt to dispense; but neither work IS
without charm Of fantastic note at once in
genous and spontaneous. The reader may not
care to go through either production twice. but
once having read them he will remember them
with pleasure. In the present edition, too. he Will
find the illustrator +. r. Townsend bearing
him helpful company. Mr.. Townsend draws well
and in these spirited designs he has drawn with
striking insight into his author.
The same may be SAID Of Carl Schlosser,
whose pen has been employed in the adornment
of the new edition of "Ormond." brought out
by the Macmillans Indeed, for certain SOL
idity and finish these pictures perhaps
tie most conspicuous yet reproduced in the
series Of which the edition in question forms
part Mr.. Schlosser seems to have got close TO
Miss Edgeworths spirit. and. above all. to
have caught that reserve OF manner which be
longs to her most Characteristic pages. Like
Miss Edgeworth, too Mr. SchlOsser keeps a
free hand for all his moderation. and has pro-
duced in figures Ike the "Madamoiselle ora
ley" which faces page 50. a strain OF char
acter quite exceptional in recent illustration.
The pictorial side Of this edition deserves spe-
ca praise Mrs Ritchies brief Introduction
viii also be valued. She gives some entertain
ing notes which will be proftaby read, espe-
caly in those passages which relate to her
authors method. Miss Edgeworth was firm
in her conviction that THE processes OF com
bination, generalization. are best carried on
in the head" that the imagination is superior
to mVltitudes of notes, and Mrs Iitche en-
forces the fact with a quotation which it would
be interesting TO give in this place were II not
too long In substance. 1t demonstrates that
when she trusted to her genius Miss Edge
worth was right. and when she went to mere
notes" she was if not wrong. at least not
half 50 safe. In "Ormond" she trusted to both.
but chiefly to her imagination, and, therefore,
her work though uneven, Is. on the whole,
well filed with life to-day.
1t is curious to pass from the more or less for
nal texture OF Miss Edgeworths tale to the
breezy, vigorous pages Of Jacob Faithful But
Marryat for all his heartiness Of feeling and raci
ness Of language. wrote for an audience whlca
knew we'll the difference between coarseness and
everyday incsiveness of speech. HIS dialogue
and mis- incidents are more or less Of homespun
sort, yet they never offend. and his delightful
narrative falls readily into line with those other
novels published by the Macmilans which we
have mentioned. Mr. Brock illustrates this vol
ume and Mr. David Hannay writes the predatory
| half-dozen pages Neither could help warming to
! his task. for Marryat Is full Of go; he wrote
good, sound. exhilarating stories. and every re-
/ print Of him is a welcome addition to tho stream
OF wholesome books in circulation. We do not
mean by this to hint that Marryat Is chiefly use
/ fu as a tonic On the contrary he Is 10 be read
for the pure pleasure 6f IT, The peculiar charm