New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-11-25
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY.
REPRINTS OF CLASSICS FOR THE HOLI-
DAYS.

IutnamS Sons -
P'q FERNE or &N EEA ASGN \ E NaM
CA Part THt FEsH1TEsE - M4H ClEN AT
FiKASS;E Asp ENdLASP3 . p n Ssn,S XoR XrM
H His1aFy na r' H. VITA usa!ions GsiayS
Vols / and IT, pr. XIV, 49, XVII $50 Boston
Little Brown co. r,.
MS cAiE'Ep FREDERiCK TIE GREAT Vol.
VIII.-LATTER DAY pAMpHLEIS s,a ny iV WoIs
XIX and Xxx w. 800; Y. 355. Charles Sc''o"e'
Sons. ,,,..
A CuiID's HISTORY OF ENGLAND. by C ,ranS
DicEens With Illustrations from fn"'9 y aph'
bv Clifton johnson. octave pp. XIV -" io"s"
ton. Alifilin & Co
We hear great deal about the oahs'ia ~
a romantic rewriting Of history. Ihis Is y"
ago AS Mr. Frederic Harrison was po'h'i's o"'
the other day Of original documents al" ="
method IL the treatment of the past "io'7
entlAc" than picturesque. The gooa historian -
asked 10 sacrifice not only picturesiu'"V"9 "u'
,,,,,o, interest TO an ideal that if +: is scientific
&c also pedantic and utterly DEPRESSING D"' -
tho midst Of our owlish rreoccupations we ma
time most Of US to read the romantic historians
and 20 love them Who would neglect to r'ad
Froude because every dahster of the sch'oI mas
had his fling at that historians methods? Ana
who would he Indifferent to Washington nv
irr,s tranemutations Of facts more or less inert
sure Washington Irving had a keener scent for
MATTERS If fact than Froudc; but his great
merit which is also the great merit of the Eng
lehman IS that he regarded facts as the materiA
=, which 10 rear a free and warm conception
=, tho broad subject with which he was dealing
Wo are provoked TO these reflections by the
r,,,icotior Of n new holiday edition OF The
Adventures Of Captain Bonneville. This work
Ions frankly on another mans manuscript; Du'
{, has all Of the vitality and charm OF an original
narrative nv n man Of genius The exciting IN
c,dents. the rude bat fascinating conditions inc
bonoalv vet often heroic and always genuine
tvpes Of the Far West in its day Of strong aWaH-
enin-s are here made tangible. The reader gets
faithful account Of a vanished time. and ne
gets also the imperishable romance. we ad-
miro the method Of the Putnams In their re-
nuhlication of Irvings works Bringing them
on, one by one at yearly intervals. they have
the time and they employ the expedients to give
each work a really handsome form This
pawnoe Edition of the Bonneville book with
tie artistic and opposite illustrations. Its dainty
decorative borders and its stout paper ana plhu-
ing deserves an honorable place upon the book
lovers shelves
There has never been any satisfactory eA-
rlanatlon offered Of the non-appearance or
frst-rate edition Of Parkman's works; but now
that We hold the first volumes Of such an edition
IN our hands We are too delighted to waste
much energy on the hating enterprise or the
publishers They have, TO atone for their long
neglect. printed Parkran in perfect FORM Law
,shing upon him beautiful presswork, fine illus
traiions and most tasteful binding That the
books are light in the hand and present clear
.4~,, o.rl.- ~ ING
cause our historian is not merely an authority
To keep for purposes Of reference alone; he Is
an imaginative word painter. to be read for the
sheer pleasure Of reading him. 1t was his dis
tinction to get at the truth unerrngly and to
as authoritatively present IT, but he saw the
early discoveries and explorers. the settlers and
soldiers who followed them: the whole fabric.
in fact from which our civilization has been de-
veloped with a sympathy and enthusiasm that
prevented his ever losing sight Of what was
most alive and interesting in their personalities
and deeds He brought TO the unfolding OF his
story an admirable style. His prose has ANNA
ton. color and sometimes grace. He never
hesitated 10 follow the ramihcalions Of his
theme into byyays Of an older mode Of thinking
as witness this fragment the Newfoundland
fishing banks:
on this dim verge Of the known world there
were other pc-ils than those Of the waves. The
rocks and the shores Of those sequestered seas
had so thought the VOyaeers other tenants than
the seal the Walrus and the screaming sea-
FOWL. the bears which stole away their fish b.
fore their eyes and the wild natives dressed
in scalskins. Grifiins-sO ran the story-infested
the mountains Of Labrador. Two islands north
Of Newfoundland were given over to the hends
from whom they derived their name. the Isles
Of Demons An old map pictures their occu-
pants at length-ievils rampant with wings
and all he.
din Of their Internal orgies and woe 70 the sailor
or the fisherman who ventUred alone into the
haunted woods.
OF the Centenary Edition If the works OF
Carlyle We have spoken 50 freQuentl; in terms
Of praise. it has travelled on toward the
;hiriieth and last volume. that we need add
little now within ten volumes Of the end We
may simply reterate our cordial approval Of the
manufacture Of the books and Of Mr.. Trails
tactful introductions He does not allow his
lively sympathy for his author 10 pervort his
Judgment. and while recall words Of genial
enthusiasm in his PREDATORY pages 10 some Of
the earlier volumes especially TO those of
strictly historical character like The history Of
Frederick. VIC observe that he approaches the
Latter Day Pamphlets" with a fitting sense Of
their defects. Even tho safer Carlylean gener-
alities. ne declares. the TRADES at largo
against democracy. vigorous. eloquent. grimly
comic as they often are. impress one less than
usual The note is forced: the prophet is too
wildly excited there is Il suggestion Of panic in
his utterances; ana We could almost guess
without examining dates. that these warning,
were uttered while tho events Of 1913 were stn
fresh In the writer's mind" II is a little dis
concerting that the volume Of which these words
give a truthful impression should he preGxel
hN la rofs ,rl
man with white hair and an aspeci which. #
not exactly benign. is. az all events chastened
and peaceful.
Their arc even good Dickensites who viii ad-
nit that "Childs History Of England" is not