The times., 1899-01-15
LITERARY NOTES.


The work OF Oliver Herford has steadily
grown in popularity during the last few
years. A pen drawing of himself, by this
clever Illustrator, is to be found in the
January Book Buyer.
The Omar Khayyam craze seems to be
increasing. 1t is estimated that there are
more than 500 Omar Khayyam clubs in
America. There is no knowing what may
happen to the members of these clubs. for
the Persian poet is not one of those who
give their treasures to the multitude 1t
Is safe TO say that about nine out of ten OF
the people who are industriously study
ing him will arise from the task with
bad headaches. while the one-tenth who
really delight in the rhythmical beauty and
mystic philosophy of the Fitzgerald poem
will never go near the clubs. skeptical
book reviewer has evolved this bit OF
dOggerel on the subject:
There was an old person of Ham
Who weared of Omar khayyam.
Fitzgerald" ;" said he
..Is as right as can be;
But this Club and these 'yersiOns'-O DAM
Crude, but also shrewd.
4 curious new romance is announced BIZ
NJ. F. Mansfield G. Co. The author is G.
Firth Scott, the title is THE Last Lemu-
rian," and 1t is described as a weird and
thrilling story OF mystery, romance and
adventure in the wilds of Westralia, with
an account of the death of Bunyip and the
destruction OF the strange race of people
called the Lemurians.
little book by Rev. Sydney Strong, in
tended for the use of small boys, is call
ed Uncle Sydney's Log School, by Un-
Gle Sydney, who was once boy, who has
a boy and who is still boy" The ex-
pianation OF the title is shown in a little
picture which heads each talk, "a small
and interested boy sitting easily on one
end Of log, the teacher on the other"
Cpcn the back cover, in facsimile of Tn
Gle Sydney's writing, this description of
the modern American boy is found:
Ny idea Of boy:
lie is half angel and half animal.
lie is wide awake all night camping out but
falls asleep in church. He is superstitious, giving
dandeon three puffs 10 see if his mother wants
him. lie carries lucky stone in his pocket He
cures warts by burying the dishrag. Burnt CORK
feathers, pins fathers barn make whole days
show.
He stones the dogs but will work for hours
over dog that limps with broken leg to the
back door No kinder heart ever cared for A
motherless lamb. He disturbs family worship, but
who makes think more of heaven when he
kneels and prays?
lie is kali angel and half animal.
Joel Chandler Harris has created new
character, Aunt Minervy Ann" one of his
inimitable plantation types. She will be
pictured by A. B. Frost.
new writer likely to become popular
in America is William Charles Scully,
magistrate of Pondoland, whose work has
attracted the favorable attention of Rud-
-a~I gtrIt +.
been practically brought up among South
African races, and has no small reputation
of his own, as the author of Between Sea
and Sand and several other books
A comicaI anecdote about Conan Doyle
comes from over the water. In little
Irish town there is a convent ruled by
somewhat dim-eyed Mother Superior.
Looking for something to read aloud to
her girls she found a book which she
thought was written by Canon Doyle, a
dignitary of renown in those parts. When
the opening chapters were read aloud the
making stirred the hearts of all the
novices and scandalized the sisters. Then
1t was discovered that the name on the
title page was Conan instead of Canon.
But the Mother Superior said that the
bookseller was pious man, and now that
the book had been bought and PAID for it
would be wastefui not to read il to the
end, Question: Was ii economy. or was
it the fascination of Mr.. Doy.e's admi-
rable style, which caused this decision?
Bob Son of Battle" is a dog story
recently published by the Doubleday &
Mcclure Company, and said to be one of
the best stories OF animals yet written.
Ii is by Alfred Ollivant, and in England ii
goes by the name of Ovid Bob. Again one
is tempted 10 inquire why so many pic
turesque titles are changed for common
place or misleading ones when the tooxs
Cross the Atlantic?
Somebody has just dragged out of OBJ
livIon and published the letters and verses
of a man who lived some fifty years ago,
and was educated. There ought to be
law against publishing mans CORE
spondence and his blunders after he is
dead and laid in dust. The correspondence
Of Rufus Griswold is picture OF q GER
tain phase of would be literary society in
this country, in the early forties. 1t was
not the society of the Tltans-Emerson,
Holmes, Lowell. Longfellow and their
clan-it was another sort of society. some
thing like that which met at Mrs. Leo
Hunters. One of the verses perpetrated
by the poet thus ruthlessly exposed is as
follows:
Many mellow Cydonian suckets,
Sweet APPLES, anthosmial, divine.
From the ruby trimmed beryline buckets
Star-gcmrned, lily-shaped, hyaline;
Like the sweet golden goblet found growing
ON the wild emerald cucumber tree,
Rich, brilliant, like chrysoprase glowing,
Was my beautiful Rosalie Lee.
A portrait of George Gissing, author OF
The Unclassed," Born in Exile etc,
appears in this months Critic. Mr.. Giss
ing's work is not very well known in this
country. He has taken up the work which
Dickens Loft and is dnins, Il in different