The herald., 1897-07-11


It has been said that Of the making
Of books there is no end, and while the
enormous output Of new publications
upon every topic of imaginable and ap-
parently unima ginable kinds has grown
to such an extent that it is fairly impos-
sible for the average reader to obtain
more than superficial acquaintance
with the issues of the day. the publish
ers are exerting their ingenuity in pro-
ducing new editions of standard works
with which to please the taste of book
collectors.
There is hardly an author of any note
or . work of any prominence which has
not been reintroduced to the public in a
new dress and. perhaps, with illustra-
tions by artists of today, and with notes
by eminent scholars. Even Shake
speare. the various editions of whose
plays are seemingly without end, is be-
ing issued afresh in the Variorum Edi-
tion, into which has been gathered all
together with the careful restoration of
~ much of the cobwebs of antiquity as
1t has been found possible to conserve.
Handy volume editions of the separate
plays Of the great poet are also now to
be had at a very trifing cost, but yet
printed in the best style and on beauti-
full paper. In addition. the publication
Of handy volume editions of the sepa-
has been begun.
1t has long been felt that the study
OF Shakespeare has been prosecuted to
such an extent as to impair the popular
dty that might have been achieved by
the writings of his contemporaries and
immediate successors, if equal care had
been taken to bring them before the pub
lie. Messrs. Macmillan & Co., the Eng
lish publishers. have. therefore, taken
in hand the arduous task of preparing a
new edition Of the English dramatists,
which is intended to be a complete Sc
ries of the English drama from its be-
L
carry out this purpose, they have en-
gagged the services of Charles Mills Gay
ley. professor of language and literature
at the University Of California, and that
gentleman. having obtained fourteen
months leave of absence, has just TAX
en- up his temporary residence in London
and will spend much of his time at OK
ford. Cambridge and the Scottish univer-
stiles in the preparation of the work in
trusted to his care. Professor Gayley
will have the assistance Of number of
professors, to be chosen by himself, and
there is no doubt that the result of his
labors will be a most important contri-
button to literature. Mr.. Gayley will
be remembered in Los Angeles for the
course OF lectures and readings given
by him a few years ago, under the aus
Comedy. from Shakespeare to Sheri-
dan" His lucid style, engaging manner
and thorough acquaintance with his SUBJ
ject will be fresh in the minds Of all who
has broad, logical. comprehensive
grasp and the ability to make his mean
ing clear to others without launching
into too much of tedious detail and di-
gressive discussion.
While the work done by Coleridge, Gif-
ford, Dyce, barley, Leigh Hunt and 9TH
ers, in editing the works of the old dram
attsts, is entitled to profound recogni-
tion, their labors indeed affording the
best knowledge we have up to the pres
ent time of this large field of literature,
yet there is no doubt that the time is now
ripe, In view of the advance that has
been made in literary criticism and the
increase of our knowledge of the period
covered by these writer's, for such new
and comprehensive work as that which
Professor Gayley has undertaken to ac-
complish. Its completion will mark an
era in the history of dramatic literature.
4 + 4
"A French critic of some note has un-
dertaken to say in dogmatic fashion
that the craze for comic opera will die
out-in fact, that it is already doomed
I'm the past few years" he says, there
has not been a single comic opera pro-
duced that has been a genuine success
The reason Is obvious: In the first place,
the musical element is lacking; there
is nothing to take the place of the tune
full bright little ditties that marked the
success of the old productions The
supply seems to be exhausted and can
not be refreshed without resorting 10
plagiarism: good librettists are scarce,
aud even good music without a good IL
bretto cannot make an opera of lasting
merit"
There is too much truth in Mr.. Brune-
there's remarks for them to be entirely
pleasing to the composers and libret-
fists OF today. At the same time, as has
been already pointed out in reply to
the above caustic criticism, the object
or's remarks apply with particular force
to his own country, and he is wilfully
blind to the works of Sullivan, Strauss,
Suppe and others of their respective
schools The growth Of comic opera in
America has been encouraged by the
evident taste of the public for that class
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