Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-08
BOOK BROWSINGS BY PAUL PRY.

No one could be more felicitous of ex-
preston or happy III the delicacy of touch
than was the late Eugene Field when he
wrote that labor of love over which he
had pondered for so many years, THE
Love Affairs of Bibliomaniac." Mr..
Field was browser among old and sec
| ond-hand books, and the fancy of collect
ing books merely to crafty ones person.
al vanity, he tells us, will presently de-
velop into a love for the pursuit, and that
they will eventually become collectors in
the better sense, Just as a man who
takes pleasure in the conquest of fem
mime hearts invariably finds himself at
last ensnared by the very passion which
he has been using simply for the gratln-
cation of his vanity" ~
1.-The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac'
Is composed of essays upon literary ana
bookish subjects, and is one OF the TWO
last books upon which Mr.. Field was at
work when he died. In fact, the night
before he died Mr.. Field wrote the last
chapter in the Love Affairs and the
verses supposedly contributed by Judge
Methmen's friend. with which the chapter
ends, were the last words written by Eu-
gene Field.
ION the table, folded and sealed, were
the memories of the old man upon whom
the sentence of death had been pro-
nounced On the bed, in the corner OF
the room, with one arm thrown over his
| breast and the smile of peace and rest
on his tranquil face, the poet lay. All
around him, on the Shelves and in the
| cases, were the books he loved so we'll
| Thus writes the brother of the lamented
poet in the preface of this book.
y
| The admirers of Eugene Field and of
the dewy freshness of his works Will in
| stinctively feel that this little volume is
| photographed. We have long since
| learned that he was an omniverous read
err of fiction, poety, folklore and classi-
cal mythology, and throughout these
pages breathes a plea for the fairy I'M
agination in literature which is so strong
ly characterized In many of his children
poems MY first love-" he tells US, was
the New England Primer" but then as
ISOLATED with this dear first love was
the ineffaceable memory of Captivity
Waite, who introduced me to the primer
| that day in the springtime of sixty-three
years ago" And then, Il shall not say
| that Robinson Crusoe' supplanteo the
primer in my affections; this would not
be true / prefer to say what is the
truth; 1t was my second love-" Soon af-
| ter as birthday present, there came
from "Uncle Cephas" to the youthful
lover Grimm's Household Stories, and
his fervent and fond heart succumbed to
| a third love.
| With a lightness and gracefulness of
touch that somewhat recalls the refiec-
| tive musings of Agnes Repplier in those
| seductive essays, I'm the Dazy Hours,
| he writes of 1.-THE Luxury of Reading in
| Bed" how the fondness and love of
books do impregnate each page as with
| the incense of devoted heart, and with
a sweet simplicity born of this devotion,
| he tells of the luxurious habit of reading
| books even as one walks by day. rms,
| you remember, was the custom or the
| genial DIR. Johnson, and it is recorded
| that "he presented curious spectacle
| indeed for his short-sghtedness COM
PEELED him to hold the volume close to his
| nose. and he shuffied along rather than
walked stepping high over shadows and
| stumbling over sticks and stones But
| Eugene Field carried his weight of cru
| dition lightly and gracefully, and ever
| and anon peeps out the caprice ana
| whimsical fancy of the inner nature OF
the poet. With 'Yseult Hardynge was
associated the pleasing memory or one
| of the bibliomaniac's many loves, ana OF
I her he writes: II have limited at the hor
ror of the fate which befell Yselt Har-
| dynge in the seclusion of Mr. Henry
| Boggs' Lincolnshire estate. Mr.. Henry
| Boggs knew nothing of romance, and he
| cared less. He was wholly incapable OF
| appreciating a woman with dark, glor1-
Gus eyes and an expanding soul. I'll war
rant me that he would at any time glad
ly cave traded 'DeCameron' tor copy
| of The Gentleman Poulterer' or for a
| years subscription to that gruesome
monument to human imbecility, London
| Punch.
"Ah, Yseult hadst thou but been
| book"
Among the pages of this book are inter
| spersed short poems, which blossom SO
| frequently in Mr. Fields prose; and In
| one essay on booksellers and Printers"
while Illuminating over unfortunate and
distressing mistakes of printers, he gives
! the following
II Is frightful to think
What nonsense sometimes
| They make of ones sense,
| And what's worse, OF one rhymes.
| n was only last week,
| In my ode upon spring, =
Which l meant to have MADE
| most beautiful thing,
| When talked of the dewdrops
From freshly blown roses,
| The nasty things made II
| From freshly blown noses.
II nan,orest's Is portrait of Ella Hig
| ginson. an American poet and short story
| writer. She Is young woman, wife OF
| Russell C. HigginsoD, descendant or
| one of the first settlers OF New england.
| From her far western home on Puget
| sound Mrs. Higginson sends some OF the
brightest short stories now written, niied
| with the breath of the new world.
!
Andrew Lang. in his Gossip for the
Month in England" among other good
| things saws: Miss Corelli has managed
To be a good deal talked about by dint
of not sending her new books to the re-
1 views 1t appears that the public loves,
| while too many critics, i hear, contemn
the romances of this author. Not having
i been successful in my efforts to read Miss
! ConrelIi on the sorrows of Barabbas and
satan. and other publishers, side Meth
err with the critics nor the public 1t
might be wise to suggest TO Mr.. Lang,