New-York tribune., 1899-03-26
TWO rluous PARISIAy BooKSHors.

,ui,pF.,v DrSPRIT' MERY'S "MERiINo' -
ANECDOTES or FIAUBERT AND OTHERS.
yulcs Clarctic in The Athen@um.
Two wears ago at Berlin | was struck by th'
vc,uc # these brasseries mtcaniqucs. in Whlci
, ..tnnncrs can find always ready, by pressing
luton various forms OF pork ana peer Al u,
time va y people leave ia" theatres lhr so
shat givcg you Il sausage for ieW pIehhlES j.
literally t)ken by storm. The automatic res
.arrart ": s one of tlS, successes OF the Bruss''
exhibition; il ought certainly 10 Dc acciiihdlHV'
y Paris and Paris herself has given IL an cN
qusitc forI J. turning out these mover pars VIZ
decorations on n white ground which seem u
suggest 50, ,o Trianon for eating. N'ahlach' az
Mime de i'ompadour's This is ali very wei
lut want in automatic rcircshcrS ol this SOL
n centre II information for the mind. The ston
ach of Paris is interesting certainly, bul I.'
brain is more 50. We want bureauN esprit IL IL
which Wc can keep UP with the events 81 lh' u"9
while we turn over q book not from tH' prs
ana skim with a rapid finger the first pages o
its contents. Everybody cannot climb up ui'
steps of the "Tcmps Office or =" lhlo 'h'
Figaro" newspaper to get jhe news n po"r
dcpartmcnt where one could talk would make q
dclightful salon on the same floor in which any
one provided that hc was anybody. might ~ i
up with the news Of the day ard supply h''
have known such places. and the l.ibrari'
Nouvelle was one OF them. 1t revolutloniIcd th'
Boulevard dcs Italiens when Bourdilliat openc,
il toward 1913 or 1SlA, publishing with lnn1 =
confines which were well printed on So"'
paper and selected with judgment small mas
torpicces like the "GTaZicila' OF iamartlh" "l
The "Larme du Diabe" Of Th"op1ilc FduurI
not to mention the BalZac for - SOUS. Grad
ualy the ground floor Of the iibraiIl" NouNelI'
became salon where, especially al l'! th' I'M"
tres one went 10 talk. Paris mad tnfh very
witty r0camholcS. fanciful and parddoNIcal pc'
plr who in pcriuatctic fashion paraded IN" as
phalt and delivered their muts- worthy OF Snrr'
idan or Chamfort-tO the gasbuIners or th'
stars.
M6ry. the poet Of Marseilles. clad in thai
chilly kind Of wrap like an AndaldSlan cap'
which used to be called, according 10 IT'S cut
Talma or Il Raglan Gn memory OF the tFlmch)
came there one day, shiyering. and sad; we
ought to be served with merlino!' And he eX-
plained that mcrlinO was "A dish less common
place than bouon. less heavy than chocolate
less inspd than milk, less syrnpy than "rS'a'
ard a sustaining food for the Partisan after the
theatre which did not give him indigestion
"Ony" he added with roGuish grimace' IN,
composition Of merlino is no longer known ana
some restaurant-kcepcr ought to discover ms
unpublished dish" Merry is dead and merllno
has not been discovered
How often behind the crowds Of books piled
up in the shop Of Bourdilliat-later 70 be bought
and occupied by Michael LtVy-have heard the
conversations. the literary passages at arms. oi
these excellent takers of the past When Alex
andre Dumas returned from Naples-whcre
after collaborating with Auguste Maquct he had
partnercd Garibaldi-camc into the Lbralrie
Nouvelle he used to fiji it with the gay tones of
his voice. 1t penetrated there like a torrent %
life The De GOncOurt brothers all observation
and hnesse, were almost suffocated by il. jules
fdgeted with yexation his mustache curled up
like that of Arams, and Edmond kept still
silent as AthOs before the bOisterOus. colossal
father of The Musket teers.' 'Jc maine pas les
gross gloires" said Edmond Dc Goncourt
| was destined 10 find them all again in a
bOokshOp Of the boulevard which was for time
a brilliant rival to the Lihraire NOuYele. 1t
was at the corner of the Rue Nivienne. at the
place now occupied by "A bureau de change. with
a blackboard giving the movements Of the
BOursc-a bookshOp founded by NM LacroiX.
VerbocckhOven ct Gle, then famous for having
bought with banknOtes the "Mis@rahlcs" Of
Victor Hugo.
| remember seeing, the day after the battle OF
Forbach. the great old Gustave Flaubert com
ing to the Librairie Lacrox to take leave Of
RenOul. the excellent manager whom was to
meet several years later AT the home Of NJ. II.
Floury. Poor Flaubert. quite put out Of cOun-
tcnanCc, had nevertheless but one idea-tO take
10 the soldiers cap and rife. and defend Roucn.
Some weeks later he an officer of the Ma
tional Guard. Francs TireUrs. in Nor
mandy and his delight to make night rounds
like Rambrandt.
one eyening-it was the 9th If June 1850 the
day Of the battle Of SOlferino- Maxine du Camp
who told me the story. entered the I.ibrairie
NOuvelle for some echoes Of the Italian cam
paign and the cannon laundering down there
He rushed in fever Of excitement into the ccle-
the piles Of books. Edmond and Jules dc Con
court. We'll" said ne. anXiously what is the
news" The news is" answered Edmond that
this rot Fanny is already in its fourth edition.
Look"
And he showed him angry Ernest Feydeau's
novel. published by Amyot.