The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-01

entity quite as well as on any day during
| the fall months. and neither he nor any
| member of his family had the slightest
premonition that deatn was hovering
about the household. The next day, though
feeling indisposed, he was at times up
and about, always cheerful and full of
| that sweetness and sunshine which In his
last years seem now to have been the
preparation for the life beyond. He spoke
of the chapter he had written the day
| before. and 1t was then that he outlined
| his plan OF completing the work. One
chapter only remained to be written. and
| 1t was to chronicle the death of the old
bibliomaniac, but not untN he had unex-
pectedly fallen heir to very rare and
| almost priceless copy of Horace. which
4 acquisition marked the pinnacle OF the
| book hunter's conquest True to his love
4 for the Sabine singer. the western poet
characterized the immortal odes OF twen-
ty centuries gone the great happiness Of
| bibliomania."
The Philistine In literature. according to
| Elbert Hubbard. IL he ''who seeks 10
express his personality In his own way"
| He Is one who brooks no let nor him
| drance from the tpstaffs of letters, who
| creating nothing themselves yet are will
| ing for u consideration to show others
how. These men strive hard to reduce
| all life to u geometrical theorem and its
| manifestations 10 al alseDTdlc
| But life Is greater than a college professor.
and so far its mysteries. having given the
| slip to all creeds are still at large. My
| individual hazard at truth Is as legitimate
as yours. The self-appointed beadles OF
| letters demand that we shall neither smile
nor sleep while their Presiding Elders
| drone, but we plead In the Worlds Assize
for the privilege Of doing BOTH In case
this privilege were given. would 1t not
cease to be Interesting to be Philistine?
4 Tolstol Is now writing a new novel, The
| theme of which has attracted wide atten-
ton and caused considerable comment In
his own country. II deals with the life CT
| Siberian convicts and shows that moral re-
genration is not impossible even under the
worst conditions, provided love in its mos!
| unselfish form Is present to guide and
| comfort the victims. According to reports
| In the Russian press, the heroine OF the
| new novel is a young woman unjustly ac-
| cused Of having poisoned rich merchant
with whom she lived In Illicit relau ions,
while the hero is the foreman of the jury
which convicts the woman. This foreman
| falls In love with the supposed murderer
| and follows her to Siberia. Whatever the
| artistic merits of this new story may
prove to be, it's moral will b, essentially
| the same as that Of master and Man"
|
Rudyard Kipling is writing a play. the
| central figure of which Is Nautch girl.
Dr. 8. Weir Mitchell IL at work upon a
new novel; which he will soon have ready
for publication.
| In the fall of 1895 America publishers
| sent out 700 new books exclusive of ju-
venile literature and unimportant trash.
Nine. Calmann-Levy, widow of the FAM
Gus Parisian publisher, has bought Ernest
| of ii to the state.
| The translation OF Ben Hur' into
Arabic was the last work done by DR..
| Van Dyck, who was the Oldest American
missionary In Syria.
DIR. George Brandes' book on Shakes
peare, which Is called AN Exhaustive
Critical Biography" Is on the Macmillan
press and win soon be published., - .
1t took 1000 copies Of Rudyard Kipling's
new Jungle Book" to satisfy the first de-
mand In America and England. Another
| large edition Is now on the presses.
|. More copies OF "Trilby" were sold in 1895
than In 1894, the year of Its publication.
"The Marian" win not begin in Harper's
| until late In the year. Mr.. du Maurier has
not delivered the manuscript as yet.
Nine. Sarah Grand's American publish
ers not only paid her London publishers,
Heinemann, but they paid her a 10 per
cent. royalty. which is not much as royal
ties go these days, but 1t brought her in
more than $4,000.
The concluding volumes of the Barras
memoirs will appear in the early spring.
They are more personal than are the vol
umes which have already appeared. They
cover the period between the return OF Ma
poleon from Italy to the restoration.
Paul Verlaine's posthumous works will
be published In lie Livre Posthume,"
now In press. This volume will contain
the first act Of a tragedy entitled "Vive
lie Role" and a few leaves Of prose, where
In the poet noted Incidents Of his painful
life.
Miss Beatrice Harraden's new novel is
called "Hilda Stafford The first Install
ment will appear in Blackwood's Maga-
zine early this year. The scene Is laid In
California and the story Is said to be the
best which has come from the author Of
"Ships That Pass in the Night
Robert Louis Stevenson's romance "The
Suicide Club" which has never been pub
lished separately in America, will soon be
brough. out In the Ivory" series by
Charles scribners Sons. Mrs. Stevenson,
In recent letters complains bitterly that
her husbands friends have FASTENED to
sell his private letters and publish them
without her approval.
Dickens considered David Copperfield"
his best novel. In conversation he once
declared that next to 1t In originality came
| tne I-lckWICk f>dpeTS tNem ''Oll-
yer Twist" waiter in a country inn
once brought him "Dombey and Son" to
read, not knowing, of course, who he was.
He said he read q few chapters but could
get up little interest
]. NJ. Barrie Is more conscious of his
limitations than are some Of his fellow
workers of the period. At the repeated so
lIcitation of his journalistic friends he con-
sented some time ago to write the life OF
the late Alexander Russell Of the Scots
man, but he Immediately relnquished the
task when he perceived that biographical
writing lay altogether outside his particu-
lar sphere of work.
W. Roberts says that of the 1890 books
printed before the beginning of the six
teenth century mot more than 300 are of
any Importance TO the book collector" Of
the 5000 published in the seventeenth GEN.
tury. mot more than perhaps fifty are
now held in estimation" and Of the $1,000
published in the eighteenth century mot
more than 800 are considered worth re-
printing, and not more than 500 are sought
after.
Felix Gras, a leader among the Felibres
Of Provence. has written a historical rO-
nance "The Reds of the Midi" dealing
with peasant life In the south of France
before the revolution, the march of the
Narseilles battalion to Paris, the storm
ing of Versailles and the Terror. The
story so impressed Mr.. and Mrs. Thomas
A. Janvier. who are the authors friends
and neighbors at Saint-Remy. that they
arranged with him for translation from