Kansas City daily journal., 1896-11-02
ON OUR BOOK TABLE,
WHAT IS PRESENTED BY THE PUB
LIsHERS THIS WEEK.
The Result of Literary Work as
Shown by the New Books That
Are On the Publishers'
Shelvcs-Literary Notes.

"A History of France" By Victor Duruy.
OF the French academy. Abridged and
translated from the seventeenth French
edition, by Mrs. NJ. Carey, with an intro
ductory notice and a continuation to the
| year 1896 by ]. Franklin Jameson, Phi. D.
Andrew d. White, ex-president of Cornell
university. and formerly minister to
Germany and Russia, declared Duruy's to
be the best of all short summaries of
French history. President C. X. Adams
does not hesitate to say that it is beyond
| question the best history Of France ever
! published in the small space of two vol
umes.'
1t became popular and passed through
| nearly a score of editions. Mrs. Carey
| translated it in 1889, and it Immediately
| took its place as. a standard work Pro
| fessor j. Franklin jameson, who, with
singular skill and fairness, brought down
| the narrative to the year of its first pub
| lication in this country, has performed the
same labor for the present edition, so that
| it is perfect up to date, and covers the
| latest developments of the now firmly
| established republic. the Illustrations are
| carefully selected and well reproduced.
| Well printed and handsomely bound. the
| two volumes are valuable addition to
| any library. Two volumes. Price per set.
$500. 7. Y. Crowell & Co., New York and
Boston
"Kate Carnegie" BY Ian Maclaren. This
! is Ian Maclaren's first long novel, for 1t
| is hardly fair to class BESIDE the Bonnie
| Brier Bush" as Eovel. The scene Of this
| story is 'Drumtochty" and many of the
| characters in the "Ronnie Brier Bush"
| and Days of Old Lang Syne' reappear in
! its pages. He tells the story of the strong
| and simple love of Carmichael. Covenant
| ing minister, and Kate Carnegie, a girl of
| Jacobite descent, and the stress between
| their mutual love on the one side, and
| their political and religious differences on
the other furnishes material for a story
| full of delightful situations In which the
authors power to move the readers SYM
pat1es and to appeal to his sense of hui
NOR is as great as ever. Those, however.
who come to it expecting n story, or
"novel," will be disappointed, for 1t is
| really nothing more than series Of most
delightful sketches of the characters in
Drumtochty, but as such is a noteworthy
contribution to literature. In 1t the au-
thor's power to depict the humorous, the
whimsical and the pathetic is, we think,
as great as In any of his other works.
Price s1.50. Dodd, Mead & Co.. New York.
"Shakespeare's Heroes on the Stage" By
Charles F.. l.. Wingate. This is a COM
panion volume to Mr. Wingates "Shake-
speare's Heroines on the Stage" 1t covers
a different series of plays-"Othello," king
Lear" "The Merchant Of Venice" Cor
iolanus" Macbeth" Hamlet and "Rich-
ard III The different actors who have
personated the characters of these seven
plays in former and in recent times make
list of almost 200, many of them the
brightest stars in the theatrical frma-
ment.
"This book, like the 'Heroines.' is not in
tended exclusively for the professed lovers
of theatrical literature. 1t is written with
the hope of entertaining the masses of
people who read Shakespeare's works and
see them played and who would naturally
feel interested In knowing how the great
actors of the past and present. in En-
gland and America, have interpreted the
famous characters on the stage"
In this object Mr.. Wingate has succeeded
admirably. The book is full of piquant
anecdotes and out-of-the-way information
and the story is told in charming style
that carries the reader along irresistbly.
1t will be a great help to students of the
stage and especially to those who like to
have knowledge Of the characteristics Of
actors, with a view to intelligent under
standing of those who undertake these
great roles at the present time The IL
lustrations are, many of them, taken from
very rare old prints and add greatly to the
value of the book. Price 500. T. Y. Crow
ell & Co., New York and Boston.
'The Metropolitans." BY Jeanie Drake.
This is a good natured satire on New York
society," besides being a novel of considera-
bic diversity of plot. The title is justified
by the typical character OF the hero, the
heroine and most Of the minor characters.
A brilliant and gifted young man, who has
been meanly deprived OF his Inheritance,
wins his way to success as a composer and
gains his reward as a lover by dropping
his idle associates and accepting the gospel
tcsI I0i TV1n N
New York city, but the author has intro
dmced decided novelty in shifting the
scene during an important part of the de-
velopment of the plot to the Arctic re-
gions Here the hero's character is finally
rounded, out by the hardship and privation
that necessarily accompany life in an Es-
kimo iSloo The dramatic element OF this
portion of the story Is intensified by the
presence amid these uncongenial surround-
ings of a beautiful Hungarian singer, who
has helped the hero's operas into popular
favor, 1t can be seen from this bare out
line of the plot, which onnits many OF the
salient points so as not to destroy the read
er..s zest that Miss Drake has avoided
backneyed incidents and ventured into new
fields. Price, $1.25 The Century Company,
New York.
.-Tecumseh's Young Braves" By Ev-
erett T, Tomlinson. Mr.. Tomlinson SHIFTS
the scene of action. in this new volume in
the "JTar of 1872 Series, taxing up the
story of the Greek war. bringing his read
orc into a. closer knowledge of one OF the
hrayest of historical Indian characters.
Stories of the Indians. especially that OF
T,acuuseh have always been of intense IN
terest. and become doubly SO when present.
ed in this authors attractive style. HIS
treatment of the Indian story is such that
the hook can be placed in the hands of our |
young people without a fear that they will |
he induced to start for the West to emil |
late the heroic deeds of Old Tippecanoe |
and Kit Carson. Not but that the book |
contains enough exciting incident and ad- |
venture to satisfy anyone, but 1t is also |
true to the history of those stirring times, !
which has been much neglected hitherto |
nv o,,r story-writers. The lesson conveyed |
by the story is one which should be i'm |
pressed upon every young American Lee |
&, Shepard, Boston. Bryant & Douglas, |
Kansas City. Price, $780,
"Household Stories" From the collec- |
ton of the Brothers Grimm. Translated |
nv Lucy Crane. Folklore societies and |
delving individuals are doing their best to |
rescue from oblivion the relics Of that vast /
literature OF legend and fairy tale which |
passed from generation to generation by |
word of mouth long ere the invention of |
printing, Among the earliest investiga-
tions were the Brothers Grimm. those in
defatigable German barons who put the |
whole apparatus of their learning at work |
TO trace the best and most authentic ver-
sions Of stories older than civilization. The
existence of many of these folkstories in
widely remote lands proves their antiquity. |
Their vitality proves their inherent charm.
A vast collection was made of them, and |
<~nr CT fNr