The herald., 1897-10-31

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read any but famed books. Never read any
| thing but what you like"
| This latter saying is equivalent to say
| ing that we must not be the slave of books,
nor read certain ones to have the ability
| 10 tax them over, for reading is only q
means to an end. Stick by standard au-
thors, for here one is safe. All else is more
or less experiment. unless acknowledged
| current favortes may be excepted. Read
something good every day. and commit
more or less to memory, if possible. AS
| to buying buy only standard authors, and
| III good binding, for these are treasures.
On the whole, this is little volume to
De commended to all book lovers.
NEAR A WHOLE CITY FULL. By Ed
ward W. Townsend, author of "A
Daughter of the Tenements," "Chim-
mic Fadden," etc. G. w. Dillingham;
| d Co.
This volume contains near score of
short stories and sketches by Mr.. Town
send, most of them being descriptive of
| life in "lower' New York. as his other
| books have been. They range from the
| young thief Larry, who became king OF
| the green goods men, to the lighter gossi ip
| OF Major Max about society people. The
most touching of the stories is 'The Rose
of the Tenderlon." 1t is entertaining in
its way but could be spared without any
loss to literature or morals.
4 y y
MURIELL.A, OR LIE SELVE. BY "Oui-
da.' l.. C. Page & Co., Boston
| This is a tale of crude cruel old Italy.
or in the fashion of the old times, when
one feared the stiletto much more than
now, and there was more filth and suualor
IN the narrow streets and alleys of the
old cities. Muriella is q maiden cold and
| Indifferent to most things about her, but
| exalted in her love and admra ton for a
! youthful follower of the doctrines of Tol-
stoy. One is in doubt at the end whether
she is made really great character but
certainly she is an interesting one, and
| though the story has some almost uncanny
| phases, and has an unpleasant If not sor-
roWful ending, it shows much of that rare
| power that has madeEts author famous
and so will be sought and read with inter-
est.
THE COUNT OF NIDECK From the
French of Erckmann-C Chatrian. By
Ralph Browning Fislie. Illustrated. L.
c. Page & Co., Boston.
Here is a handsome volume with type
| good Tor the eyes, and generous margins
good for old fashioned folk And 1t is an
old-fashioned story of the times that We're
full OF happenings and that had fewer spec
| ulations and studies than our own times
| We confess to a liking for a story of this
sort, that grows out of the world about
and represents the time and the place. The
! itrckmann-Chatrian productions We're
| never the rage, not even at the best, but
| they We're always accounted good and
| the fair critic must write them down good
today The mad count, mad once a year,
< 1nctC twill it,,-
the half legend style adopted in which to
depict his malady and the way he was
finally saved lends attractiveness to the
story. a very faithful but not very he
roic lover of the counts daughter comes
to his own at the last, and the two live
happily, let us hope and believe. He who
wants straight romance can safely try this
| THE RING AND THE BOOK BY Robert
Browning. From the authors revised
text, edited with Biographical and Crit
ical Notes and Introduction by Char
lotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke edit
ors of his 'Poet Lore" Svo. xlvix4S1
pp., portrait and 16 illustrations, cloth
gilt top. $780, 7. Y. Crowell & Co.
Brownins's great poem, "The Ring and
/ the Book has been well compared to a
Gothic cathedral. Here" says the critic
James Thompson, eve find the soaring
towers and pinnacles, the multitudnous
inches with their statutes, the innumera-
| Die intricate traceries, the gargoyles wildly
! grotesque: and, within, the many colored
/ light through the stained windows. with
the red and purple of blood predominant,
! the long, pillared, echoing aisles, the altar
| with its piteous crucifiX and altar piece
| of the Last Judgment, the organ and choir
pealing their "Miserere" and "De Profun-
dis" and "In Excelsis Deo," the side chap
md fac 1- 1,n fn, f;f,,
| carvings, the tombs with effigies sculp-
| tured and supine; and, beneath yet another
chapel, as of death, and the solemn sepul-
| chral crypts. The counterparts of all these,
| I dare affirm, may veritably be found in
| this immense and complicate structure,
whose foundations are so deep and whose
crests are so lofty. Only as a Gothic ca
thedral has been termed petrified forest
we must image this work a vivified
cathedral. thrilling with hot sweet life
through all its marble nerves."
1t is indeed q noble volume that these
| publishers have given us, and the plan of
| it cannot be too highly commended. There
! is no use in saying that Browning isl not
enigmatical, for he is; and it takes study
study deep and long-to master the mean
| ing of this poem. The Introductory notes.
| so full and satisfying, by the editors of
Poet Lore" will be found of ncalculabe
| help to the student. We have never seen
any Introductory work better DONE and one
| fails to see how it could have been spared.
| 1t does help solve the enigmas: it does clear
away the mists and make it possible for
| the average reader to interpret the great
| creation. The biography, too. is exceed
| ingly valuable, as is the appendix.
= + 4
| IDLE HOURS IN A LIBRARY. BY Will
| lam Henry Hudson. professor of Eng
lsh litera ture, Stanford university; au-
| thor of "The Philosophy of Herbert
| Spencer" Studies in Interpretation"
| etc. 250 pages, printed on Dickinson ST.
Albans laid paper, fcap.. vo, CLOTH
gilt top, s1,25. Contents: Samuel
Pepys and His Dairy" 'London in
Shakespeares Time" 1.-TWO Novelists
| of the Restoration "rhe Bohemians
| of the Latin Quarter" William Doxey,
San Francisco.
| This book will be eagerly sought by Cali
fornians, for they have natural pride in
the work Prof. Hudson is doing for litera-
| ture in the state. while among the colleges
| of the whole land he is known as a delight
| full essayist and lecturer in college courses
and in the university extension work. H
| brings to any literary undertaking a mind
| rich in preparation. "Idle Hours must
| have a charm for the general reader and
| a distinct value for the student. The book
| is now ready for delivery. A further notice