The Anaconda standard., 1899-03-20
WEEKLY BOOK REVIEW
Literature, Poetry, Philosophy
and Art Discussed.
REALISM AND ROMANCE
Brief Mention of Some of the More No
table Works on the Shelves of
the Butte Free Public
..-... Library.

OF much interest to many of our read
ers will be found the volumes Of the
American Amateur Photographer" for
1897 and 1898. Photography is a subject
of great and growing Importance, and
our people have not been backward in
recognizing the recreative and artistic
value of the science. The two volumes
| just mentioned contain in popular
style much information concerning the
recent developments in this line of art.
OF late years there has been consider
| able discussion in the literary press re-
specting the so-called realistic and ro-
| mantle schools of literature. Very few
people have understood the controver-
| sy, but ignorance has rather increased
| than decreased the popular interest.
| Prof. Henry A. Beers. in his History
of English Romanticism in the Eight
eenth Century" has dealt with tkis sub
| ject not only with reference to litera-
| ture, but in its connection with the 9TH
er fine arts. He has done much to clar-
F.! ify the somewhat misty conceptions
| that prevail and we hope he will con-
tinue his study, as he intimates he may,
into the field Of the present century.
Most treatises on psychology, however
interesting they may be, are of a decid-
| eoly tlltoietlGdl IidtutG. l. Ill otihSi Nt-S
is C. B. Burrs primer of Psychology
| and Mental Disease for Use in Train
ing Schools for Attendants and Nurses,
| and in Medical Classes"
"The Christmas Book Shelf is an an
nual illustrated summary of the output
of literature For those who are inter-
ested in the progress of recent years
the volumes from 1893 to 1898 will prove
attractive.
Occasional Papers, by r. w.
Church, is collection in two volumes
of valuable essays-literary, historical
and miscellaneous-whic have appear
ed at long intervals during the past
half century. in the Guardian, the
| Times and the Saturday Review.
In the Ladies' Home Journal library
has recently been issued very small
book of suggestions for Church So
ciahles and Entertainments"
The authoritative life of "Alphonse
| Daudet" is written by his son, Leon
Daudet, and contains a considerable
contribution on THE Daudet Family"
by Ernest Daudet the brother of the
distinguished author.
Great Men at Play" by T. F. This
Itleton Dyer, is a book of decidedly orig
inal nature. The various chapters con-
tanned in the two good-sized volumes
are devoted to the amusements, from
smoking to prize fighting, in which
have INDUCED the great men of history
which chapters are copiously illustrated
by anecdotes of the idols of civilza
ton, whose leisure hours have been de-
| voted to the pastimes discussed.
The Art Interchange needs no COM
mendation to those of our patrons who
| are interested in the recent develop
| ment of decorative and other home arts.
| The binding of the numbers for 1898
makes five bound volumes, embracing
the years from 1894 to 1898 inclusive,
which are available for the use Of our
| readers.
THE Years Art compiled by A. c.
| r. Carter, is one of those annual peri
odcals which are numbered so asto give
the impression at the time of their issue
that they are a prophecy of the future
in the lines of which they treat, but
which in reality are record of the year
preceding the date on the title page
| This device deceives nobody at the time
| when the publishers are looking for
large sales, and is a cause of much con-
| fusion to those who consult the back
numbers. But the annual summary of
progress in the fine arts is helpful to
many, and we are glad to mention the
| library has the volumes summarizing
the record for the years 1895, 1896 and
1898, the date of the volume in each
| case being just one year later than the
one of which the book treats.
Among the famous biographical col
| lections published in recent years, the
numerous autobiographies of the his
torian Edward Gibbon have held high
| place. They reveal the careful scholar
| ship, the wealth of diction ana tho
charm of style that characterize his
monumental decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire" but like the decline
| and Fall they are too extensive to suit
| the taste of the general reader in this
| busy age. Hence the abridgement of
| the autobiographies, which bears the
| title of memoirs of the Life and Writ
| ings of Edward Gihbon,' by Oliver
Farrar Emerson, is a very acceptable
| addition to our shelves.
| In the early half of the present CEN
| tury there was a great interest mani
| Tested in what some people maintain is
| a useful science, and others have al
| ways declared to be fanciful delusion.
But there are indications that the sub
| ject is now being revived and 1t has al
! ways been cherished by a select few.
| The best known old book in this line is
| Human Science: or, Phrenology," by
| Q. S. Fowler. and the most up-to-date
| and fullest discussion is contained in a
| System of Practical and Scientific
Physiognomy; or, How to Read Faces"
| by Mrs. Mary Olmstead Stanton.
'Oid Violins," by H. r. Haweis. is a
| compact and perspicuous account of
| the history and characteristics of the
| famous Instruments. which more than
any other appliances of their art have
excited the enthusiasm and appealed to
the Imagination of musicians. Besides
| the regular text the book contains a list
| of makers of violins and a biography of
the subject. The volume is one of the
useful collector series,'' of which at
present we have only one other volume,
| the Coin Collector" by W. c. Hazlitt,
but which promises in the future many
books equally interesting topics.
Ex-President Thomas Hill of Harvard
university has written a small treatise
called PHILOSOPHY Higher Than Sci
| ence." which we commend to the stu
| dents among our patrons.
| In our article on the best books of 1898
| we mentioned the poetical works of
Richard Hovey as having received the
| highest commendation of literary crit
| les. The books he has so far issued are
| Along the Trail: Book of Lyrics"
and three volumes discussing the old
Arthurian legends. of which Tennyson
made such good use in his "Idylls of
! the King" This group of three volumes