The times., 1899-07-23

| ently the evil days came-vaSt sums lost
in Jamaica through depreciation in the
value OF his estates, and lawsuits resulting
therefrom, led Beckford to sell Fontbili at
| n ridiculous price and to retire TO Bath
| broken in health and fortune.
Here he spent the rest of his days n re-
| cluse, shut up with his books and his fan
cies. One commodious house would not suf-
flee to hold his treasures, SO those on either
| side were purchased one being connect
ed with covered way on the second floor,
| which can still be seen. His passion for
building unassuaged, Beckford erected n
great tower on the hill a mile above his
! house wherein to study. and when he died
! his remains were laid above the ground
at the foot in a granite sarcophagus which
/ was prepared during his lifetime. The
| property was then sold for tea garden,
but his daughter, the Duchess of Hamilton,
repurchased it and to save it from desecra-
! tion gave it to the rector of Walcot as q
! cemetery. The tower has just been re-
paired and it is once more possible to enjoy
| the wonderful view from the summit,
which is $50 feet above the sea level.
| Two volumes of Wagner's letters to Otto
! Wessendonek and Emil Henckel have been
translated for the Wagner Society by Ash
ton Ellis.
The first five volumes OF the Beacon
Biographies. edited by NJ. A. DeWolfe
Howe, has just been published by Small,
| Maynard &c Co. This group consists of the
biographies of Phillips Brooks, David G..
| Farragut, Robert E. Lee, James Russell
Lowell and Daniel Webster. Among the
forthcoming biographies now in prepara-
| tion may be mentioned those OF John
James Audubon, by John Burroughs: Ed
win Booth, by Charles Townsend Copeland; ;
John Brown, by Joseph Edgar Chamherlin; ;
Aaron Burr, by Henry Childs Merwin;
James Fenimore Cooper, by w. B. Shu-
brick Clymer; Nathaniel Hawthorne, by
Mrs. James T Fields, and Benjamin
| Franklin, by Lindsay Swift.
Seumas MacManus is now at his home
in Ireland, where he is writing novel
dealing with contemporary Irish life and
character. and collection of his folklore
| tales entitled in Chimney Corners with
some remarkable pictures in color by
Pamela Edman Smith, is announced for
fall publication by the Doubleday G. Nc
Clure Company.
1t may be said of Edwin Markham, au-
thor of THE Man With the Hoe" that, in
one respect, he is like Byron; he reached
fame apparently at a bound. A few
months ago he was almost unknown; now
it is reported that his book is not to be
found at the booksellers because they
have sold all the copies they had and can
not yet obtain more from the publishers.
In reality, however his genius has been
slow in, growth, for he is nearly fifty years
old, and his famous poem was the out
growth of many years Of broodir over Mil
let's great picture and all that 1t
| implied. He has been an occasional but
not a prolific contributor to the maya
zines. and his life has been spent in study
and in teaching. By birth he belongs to
Oregon and by residence to California. 1t
may be interesting to some of his readers
to know that his fathers ancestor. Col.
William Markham was a cousin of William
Penn, ara came to this country as PENIS
secretary, while his mothers family, the
Winchells, were distinguished in the his
tory OF Connecticut as early as the seven
teenth century, and some of them helped
to build up Ann Arbor University. Mr.
Markham himself spent his boyhood on
California cattle ranch, his sole COM
panions being his widowed mother and
a deaf-and dumb brother. He has been
farmer, a collegian, and blacksmith. He
is now principal of the Observation School
of the University of California. 1t is re-
freshing to read his comment on his sud-
denly acquired fame:
In the old days obscurity did not distress me;
in these days notoriety does not disturb me.
have tried to build my life upon a foundation
deeper than these chances and changes of time.
Praise always humbles me. Man is but an organ
through which the Higher Power acts. Ii a
man does good work, the joy Of it is his, but
the glory is Gods.
The Messrs. Appleton, publishers of the
| Town and Country Library, announce the
publication of new library in paper 10 be
called Appleton's Popular Library. 1t will
contain fiction, adventure, etc. That 1t
will not be limited to fiction is shown by
the character of the first issue, which will
be of F. T. Bullen's Cruise of the Cacha-
lot" which Will appear in this library in
paper.
Among the important new books to be
published shortly by the New Amsterdam
Book Company are Mr.. Francis H.
Groomes new work on the Gypsies, "Gyp-
sy Folk Tales" and r. Nisbet Bain's "Pu-
pills of Peter the Great" historic study of
the dark period of Russian history.
Frenchman has just succeeded in
translating la Dame Aux Camelfas" into
the Mandarin dialect under the title of
THE Lady with the Tea Flowers; a Study
OF Partisan Manners" So great has been
its success that leading native paper in
Shanghai has offered a good round sum
for the serial rights.
number of rare and curious photo
graphs is not the least interesting feature
OF Among the Himalayas," Just publish
ed by the New Amsterdam Book Com
pany. 'fhe book was written by Major L.
A. Waddell Of the British army. He spent
fourteen years exploring the Roof of the
World" and has given us many new and
interesting facts of this stupendous range.
"The Barbarian and Others" by an au-
thor called Bedloe Mendum, is a story
based upon the idea used by Voltaire in
his "Zedig"-to regard with eyes unprej-
udiced by place of birth; to remember
nation. But while Zedig is a Babylonian
stranger TO the country called Vulgaria,
naive Celestial. The book is published by
F. Tennyson Neely.
C. P Putnam's Sons will publish in the
fall work by Charles Neufeld, describ-
ing his experiences while "A Prisoner OF
the Khaleefa Twelve Years Captivity at
Omdurman."
Messrs. D. Appleton G Co. have become
the publishers of Gilbert Parker's novel,
The Pomp of the Lavilettes.'
Mr.. Hereford B. George, author of Bat
ties of British History" has written new
work entitled, "Napoleon's Invasion OF
Russia" The book presents full account
of the greatest aud most disastrous militia
ry undertaking in history. The cause OF
the war and the relations of the European
powers are dealt with, and are illustrated