New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-07
THE HOLIDAY MAGAZINES.
THEIR NEW PLACE IN CURRENT L1TERA-
T1JRE-How THEY HAVE CONQUERED
1.-THE PASSING OF THE
npVIOIIS

1.-THE PASSING OF THE
OBVIOUS.
On the outside. to begin with, they are oet'e
than they ever were before. In fact the maya
zine cover nowadays is labored over as If 1t were
a leather binding. to go permanently INTO ever
oer,,eman's library" and at Christmas time thf
artists do their prettiest- Few OF t'es'
MONTHLY periodicals, it Is true. cling to theii
t.u,liar dress THE Cosmopolitan is the same
,r Dacember as In June. THE Pail Mali
"s.naa,h not with the months THE Atlantic
Ga as sedate as ever But "Harper's' has ne"
design on its front this MONTH ana W.
sr,ist,c one It is. too drawn by Mr. Kenyon Con-
~. oo,,ar a, .McClure's" is embellished with
graceful figure. rendered by Mr.. Hinton II
',-,,.,x ro,s t,nts and "Scribner's" carries on
IN. nine ribbon with a cover by MI Ma%heiu
,,.u-,sh which ,s a little gem OF quaint humor'
opainter design and quite Irresistible Color IL.
uo NV. enumerated all this bravery OF
.xternel aspect and turn to the gooo 'h"e'
.,.h,, ue notice first that the latter are even
=. ,,o, thu covers admirable. without relei
.,oa N their appositeness to the month' i"e'0
v.rs ,uu NJ the spirit Of Christmas are "'
~. .oue time we'll enough made as we ha'e
s,n..a N he preserved on library Shelves Ahe
.,..r,s ~ the magazines wear largely ieSla
- M, ,bav have virtues Independent OK the
season.
r,,s 4. IN fact. the most refreshing c'rcu'i'-
~ =" y. noted in our holiday periodicals
They are no longer the gaudy magazines ."A'
80 t.u,,ar a decade ago. when every eo''or
-.s.,.a hound TO fling holly berries on every
80 rooe of the periodical under his charse
nrhsv contain Christmas stories, but they oo'i
tain much else Take "Harper's' TOT e~arhpie
49,. y.,sran OF the lot. Save for the cover the
I,.,.uher number might have been prepared
,o- erv other month Of the year. The reaoer
who puts II aside now Ind takes II up again
IN Nav will find that 1t has not grow" e'"'e
Mr. Davis will be as interesting theh do TIC
now In describing the incidents OF lhe 0uee
I,huee Mr.. Owen Wister. delighting the reader
-, ri. "Destinv at Drybone" the latter taxes
a. fresh from the press. will provide an equai
delight next summer The profoundly interest
,ng naper on George William Curtis at Concord
nv Mr. Cooke. has q biographical significance
,hat will last. We doubt II the long poem oy
General Lew Wallace. THE Wooing OF MAI
katoon." will wear we'll 1t Is not eoiryhs' "
"a not musical or charming. now. But we ha's
said enough to show that this number mas oeeh
made with an eye for intrinsic value; there Is
nothing adventurous about 1t, ana we must
add that in 50 producing the periodical the Eo'-
tor navs a compliment to his public He knows
that in its innermost heart that pubic ooes ho'
relish being treated like a child. 1t wants
CHRISTMAS number to be good. because 1t wants
a good magazine at all times Of the year Ac-
.ord,ne,v wa have q number that makes a suffi-
Client concession to the season In its cover, and
then proceeds to interest people in the usual
,eeitimate fashion. "Harper's" is typical OF us
CONTEMPORARIES They are all free from that
note of puerile straining after effect which used
10 spoil the magazines with every anniversary
Of festal sort.
The reader who notices. however, that the
Christmas magazines are particularly rich on
the pictorial side may be reminded that this is
onlv a seeming The plain truth is that the art
DEPARTMENTS Of the great illustrated magazines
do uncommon work all the year round Ihe
Century" is brilliant with Its group OF engrav-
inrs by Timothy Cole after the paintings OF
Thomas Gainsborough, but that group Is. after
all. part Of d series. The long article In this
number Of THE Century" BY Mr.. Riis, on Merry
Christmas In the Tenements." has sociological
value impressive at any time. This article. by
the way has some capital Illustrations by MT
Jay Hambidge. He is accurate and picturesque
a companionabe realist. like Mr.. Rlis himself
who is always serious. but never too serious 10
be readable This number Of THE Century
contains some good biographical matter. chiefly
relating to Edwin Booth and Tennyson. but 1t
has some good fiction also. notably the horse
stories by David Gray. writer not hitherto
familiar to the public. Fiction. Of course is al
ways to the front, and in this bundle OF holiday
magazines there Is enough Of 1t to last reader
for week We have noted Mr.. Wister and Mr.
Gray. "McClures' and THE Pail Mall" both
rejoice in the opening chapters Of Rupert OF
Hentzau," Anthony Hopes sequel to his "Pris-
oner Of Zenda," and both magazines, not content
with this entertaining fragment. surround 1t
with short stories. "McClure's'' gives double
measure, the number opening with new tale
Of Indian life by Mr.. Kipling. in which young
Engiishman figures picturesquely THE Tomb
Of His Ancestors lie curious tale. in some ways
one Of the oldest Mr.. Kipling has written. He.
1t may be noted in passing. Is very much in evil
dence at this time. contributing to "Scribner's"
and to "St. Nicholas we'll as to "McClure's"
We have already touched upon these various
performances Of his, and may pass to other mat
ters In "Scribner's" there is a great deal else.
Mr.. Monkhouses paper on Sir Edward J. Poyn-
ter gives a full and sympathetic account Of an
important IL not brilliant figure in English
art Mr.. Taylor's poem. THE Posing of
Vivette," Is not Of much consequence. but We
are grateful to 1t for having provided an excuse
for the Illustrations by Mr.. Wenzell. These are
fascinating designs. and they have not only been
engraved with brilliancy by Florian. the French
engraver. but the printing Of them. in tints has
been accomplished with extraordinary effect
This is an episode for the magazine to be proud
Of "A Guilty Conscience" one of a consider
able group Of good short stories. is also some
thing that calls for congratulations The fort
unes Of Mrs Buckingham's boarders-and pies
In this tale, are calculated to make the reader
chuckle as long as memory holds. THE Cosmo-
politan" has been printed In numbers better than
the December one 1t has some fairly interest
ing contributions but nothing remarkable THE
Bookman" provokes the same observation
though as regards its cover It makes an excel
lent appearance.