The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-31

victim And, indeed, il is justhere that
the book S greatest weakness appears.
for there is an overbaIancing of this
element that is hardly to be endured.
The sketches taken together have a
propensity to destroy each other by
their own morbidness. They deal too
much with, the horrible TO be pleasant
reading, and should be taken in small
quantities and some of them not at all,
for at times the author loses control
of the red horse of horror and the sto-
ries become inhuman and grotesque. AS
a whole, the book is more remarkable
for it's fierce realism and unrestrained
strength than for its niceness or re-
tinement, and we recommend it to those
who do not mind the shrek of shell.
the smell Of blood and terrors worse
than theSs-for the war horrors of Mr..
Crane are many times strained in
comparison with those Of the Tales OF
Soldiers and Civilians.
('Tales OF Soldiers and Civilians" by AM
brose Bierce. American Publishers Cor
poration. New York. 50c.)
In the Tales of Languedoc," by Sam
uel jacques Brun, we have valuable
addition to the folk lore of France. a
professor in Leland Stanford university,
surrounded by the spirit of the West
sui nous lliHlSeII Suril
of the fireside. tales of his native
South. Personally and lovingly he
handles them as things belonging to
his own youth. Whatever" he says IN
his perface, may have been the origin
in common folk lore, they formed an
important part of the conviviality of
the ancestral hearth from an early
date, and for several generations have
taken on the personality of the differ
ent narrators, so that in their present
form | have, come to regard them as
my heritage that has brought with it
a responsibility in view of succession;
for to survive in a new world and with
a new generation, oral tradition must
take on a permanent form, verbal mar
re- tion must be written, and the vernac-
ular find an equivalent in the colo
uuiaI expression of another language"
To appreciate how we'll Mr.. Brun has
fulfilled the conditions of his rich heri-
tage it is only necessary to go forth IN
search of adventure with the Ihree
Strong Men" to attend in spirit the
Marriage Of Monsieur ArcanVel, on
to follow the fortunes and misfortunes
of "Mesti Rege."
The tales are written with a simple,
child-like direotness and force, retain
ing, though told in another tongue, the
atmosphere of the land of DC.
The volume is an attractive example
of the bookmaker's art, and by no
means the least part of our interest is
centered in the fortunate illustrations
by Mr.. Ernest PeiXottO-fOrtunate be-
cause they SO fully mirror the spirit OF
the times and place. The charming
pictures themselves have suffered by
over reduction, and those of us who are
familiar with Mr.. Peixotto's splendid
covers for the Lark cannot but re-
greet the greater directness and force.
not to speak of the added fitness and
quaintness, the later method of repro
duction would have given to the artist s
rendering Of the Tales of LanguedOc.'
(''Tales of Languedoc" by Samuel Jacques
Brun. 81. VIM Doxey, publisher
Wcrdsworth's prelude or Growth of
a Poets Mind" has been placed among
the Temple classics. This insures its
appropriate setting; and the linen
paper, flexible cover and general ele~
gance in makeup are as charming as
we found them in the same edition of
Shakespeare The red binding Of the
latter has given place to dull green,
and the frOntispiece is an etching from
Robert Haydens superb portrait of
Wordsworth.
Temple edition Of Wordsworth's 1.-The
Prelude Growth Of a Poets Mind. :" The
Macmillan company. publishers, Soc For sale
II.
pany).
The Macmillan company has already
done much toward placing in the hands
of pupils desirable editions Of Chaucer
To these they have now added selec-
tiOns from cChaucer's '"Canterbury
Tales" edited by Hiram Corson, profess
scr of English literature in Cornell
university In the selections, the aim
has been to represent Chaucer at his
best, both as a story teller and as a
poet, so besides the prologue and sew
eral complete tales that are given, Sc
lectiOns of extreme poetic value are
made from tales not in these days to
be placed in the hands of young
students.
(''Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales Edited by Hiram Corson. The Mac
milan company. 90c. For sale by the st.
Book and Stationery company
with Maceo in Cuba" is the title of an
interesting book just from the pen of Franc
R. E. Woodward, the Minneapolis boy who
made a record in Cuba which Minnesotans
papers all over the United States, and, in
fact, all over the world. contained daily &C
counts of his adventures, the news of his
capture. the report of his supposed death
while fighting by the side of Jose Marti, the
fact that he was sentenced to death, and his
escape from the Spaniards finally ending in
his escape from the island on British
steamship. 1t has Just been placed on sale
at the book department of s.. E. Olson & Co.
Inasmuch this is the first book of the kind
which has been published. telling the truth
about the war in Cuba and written by a
person who knows whereof he speaks, it will
undoubtedly have large sale and be the
sensation of the day. For interest and enter
tainment it rivals the books of Conan Doyle
and Stanley Weyman.