The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-03-14
LITERARY NOTES.

\ portrait of Hawthorne not hitherto
known to his admirers is to appear in the
forthcoming volume of Memoirs of Haw-
thorne." by his daughter, AIRS. Lathrop.
The life OF Tennyson. on which his son.
the present lord. has been for some time
at work, has now gone TO the press. II
is To be published in two good-sized volumes
in the autumn.
Mr.. Clark Russell offers curious note
on the ways of printers. They can never
be trusted. he says, with the language OF
the sea. There the author has TO see TO
his proofs with microscope.
The manuscripts OF w. ID. Howells
said TO be always crossed out and rewritten
many times even those of his simplest
sketches and short stories. The fact ex-
cites some surprise, since Mr.. Howells Is
prolific writer.
Ouida has written a new novel in which
she is said to have reverted TO her earlier
style. She makes her principal character
become millionaire in America. and then
describes him as attempting TO buy his way
into English society.
Mr.. Benson. OF ''Dodo" fame. is holding
the wing of the flying moment and writing
with the other hand novel of Greek life
of Greece at the time of her struggle with
the Turks seventy years ago. Ii Is To be
published as a serial before coming out In
book form
The scholars who are making the great
oxford English dictionary began work
some thirty years ago and have got far
enough along TO have practically finished"
ID. AT this rate ii is almost a question
whether they can keep up with the changes
in the language.
a new one-voume edition of Boswelrs
Johnson now preparing in London under
the editorship Of Mr.. Percy Fitzgerald. is
To have feature unknown hitherto I'm the
literature of the subject. There is To be a
biographical dictionary of all the names
mentioned in the Life
Poes alleged declaration that 1.-The
Raven the greatest poem that ever
was written does not strange TO say. seem
altogether unreasonable to one of the most
intolerant of the London criticS-the man
of the ST James's Gazette. He quotes the
poets assertion and adds " The Raven
is certainly unique. and Poe's joy i'm having
given birth to it was justified. even If the
expression is exaggerated.
At a banquet recently given by the
American students i'm Paris. and presided
over by Mr. Eustis, the United States min
lister. NJ. Lavisse paid this compliment to
the teaching of the classics in this coun-
try: The instruction of antiquity is so we'll
provided for i'm your country that the day
will perhaps come when European stu
dents wishing 10 find all the means for the
study of Greece and Rome united. Will
cross the Atlantic.
]. NJ Barrie is being hit hard across the
knuckles for daring TO write a biography
of his mother. though no one is complaining
because Edward Gibbon has recently been
found to have written seven biographies OF
himself. The critics may he right in say
ing that it is an enormous presumption for
Mr. Barrie to Imagine that anybody cares
to read his estimate of the particularly
nice old lady who bore him. says the Ma
tional Magazine but even so il is more
laudable than for him to have written pref
ty things about other mems wives. as some
of those who are rebuking him have done.
Furthermore. il is not an unpleasant novel;
~ for man to have enough pride In his
mother to frankly acknowledge the same.
We have had Hardy on the Wessex peas
| ant and it is only fair that should
| have the Wessex peasant on Hardy. says
| the New York Posts book reviewer. The
| following story which has been going the
| rounds of the English press gives the view
| of the writer by the man who is written
about: A visitor to Wessex inquired of an
| old man if he knew Hardy. and received
| the following delicious bit of deprecia-
| ton in answer: oh the written chap.
| I've read some of his works They gay It's
| a gift. Seems to me tits just writen'-just
| sitten' down an written. and not doen'
| nothen' at arl- What doe do, j ask zee?
Here be i dozen more proper work than
| Hardy ever did. an they don't tark about
| ]. an say There's great chap. like they
do about e