New-York tribune., 1901-11-23
ROCKS AND AUTHORS.
,prNr TALK ABOUT THINGS PRESENT
AND TO COME.

Hundred Years for 'The Outlook"
0. - .hat the good man can look back upon SO
~ wears Of personal experience; but he has
,rb diaries and letters of mis- father and
" sfather both men of prowess with the pen.
= Tye~ he says. lin large. old fashioned
=. which is crowded from cellar to attic
~. letters and other manuscripts. with pam
x,e+s and newspapers Here are the diaries
"a correspondence Of my own generation. OF
- fathers and mothers and CT their fathers
~ "a mothers. Boxes. drawers. cabinets. secre
.1-;es closets, full Of your uncle's papers, or
s~o-- gTandfather's.' or his
,,s,v brsy men OF affairs. soldiers and sailors
..rs shown an unsuspected talent for author
.s,,-Grant, for example; and many other men
.so might be supposed to have at least the
.,,u+v 10 tell a plain story have failed COM
,..,v therein. It is recorded of Speke. the ex-
,o-er and discoverer Of the sources Of the Nile.
.ho+ he went through such misery in trying to
.-i+e out the narrative Of his journey that the
.o-t was taken out Of his hands, his rough
,o,es being put in shape and used by well
.-nogn literary man.
=, his forthcoming book. Types of Naval
o@cars" Captain Mahan deals with six British
ssmrals, Nelson not being among them Why
fr1f q
erswers thus n his preface: Among general
.ss,r-s. land and sea, the group to which Nelson
.s,ones defies exposition by a type, both be-
rss Il is so small In aggregate numbers, and
sense the peculiar eninence Of the several
anhe-s-the erninence of genius-so differ
.,.istes each from his fellows that no one among
them can be said to represent the others Each
g. the supremacy Of his achievement. STANDS
slone-aIone, not only regarded as towering
.bore a brilliant surrounding of distinguished
,onoyers but alone even contrasted with the
other great ones who in their day had a ike
eunreuacy Such do not in fact form class
because though certain community OF ioeas
and principles may be traced IN their acuons,
their personalities and methods bear each Inc
stamp Of originality in performance: and where
orssinality is found, classification ceases to ap-
,lv. There is a company, it may be, but not
class
Though Sir Richard Burton died some years
sgo the MSS he left behind him are not yer
su published. A number of these have peeh
included in e forthcoming volume. whlcn VIII
hear the title arWanderings in Three Cont
neuts." The period covered by these records is
from 1853 TO 1870.
An English critic declares that the main
stream OF opinion about r L. Stevenson as
writer has for many years had its source among
his personal friends and his friends friends to
au of whom he had become greatly endeared;
and he ADDS: cit does not follow that their
prafse has been too loud, but one is continu-
ally led 70 suspect it. and the question will
have to be thrashed out However. there Is no
hurry"
An old friend Of Ruskin has arranged Tor an
odd memorial Of the author of the stones OF
Venice" He has presented to the Ashmolean
Natural History Society ''Ruskin Plot"-a bit
sf property near Abingdon, consisting OF about
Eve acres Of woodland, marsh. bog and water,
and containing many rare local specimens Of ami
mai and vegetable life The idea is to preserve
It for all tine in its natural condition as place
Of sympathetic observation. II is an idea en-
hently pleasant. poetical and practical
G. P Putnam's Sons have completed report
Of their publications of the year, showing
total Of 122 volumes published exclusive OF spe-
cial subscription editions OF this number %
were fiction % art and general science, 70 MS
tory and biography. Q religious, 8 poetical, and
81 general literature. Of the latter subdivision
Is are volumes which might be classed as
standard works There were two surprises dur
ing the year in the way Of books which circu-
and authors One of these was 1000 Words
Often Mispronounced,' by w. H P. Phyfe,
which has sold more than 5000 copies The
pther is a poetical work. which has had the
phenomenal run Of 5000 copies-Drumnnond'
The Ha bitant."
The Fordham Monthly (st. Johns College,
has for the last two years been publishing
series Of articles on college recollections, writ
fan oI5 of he
of these appeal to many other readers than the
comparatively small circle of alumni to which
they are primarily addressed. The papers
the college life Of John La Fargo, John Hassard.
snd other men of prominence now appearing In
The Monthly from the pen Of 7. B. Connery,
formerly manager of The Herald are inter
esting instalments of an interesting feature Of
college journalism
Some OF the most artistic work of the famous
Piantin Press, at Antwerp, has been placed on
exhibition in this city by Houghton, Miffiin &
20. For d number Of years after the death OF
the great printer the press remained In the
hands of the family, who conducted the bust
ness with much the same skill as he had shown.
In 1876, through the intervention Of the Belgian
government the city OF Antwerp came into
Possession Of the premises and all comprised
them. and the present Plantin- -Moretus Mu-
Eum was founded
Christopher Plantin, founder of the press. was
porn in Tours and first came TO Antwerp in
io4s. For some years he worked book
onoes and worker in leather. but in 1885 he
became printer, a trade he had followed in
us youth The press that made him known
was founded on the Fridaymarket in 1916. He
'esan very modestly. but his work soon at
uacsed attention. and he was frequently able
publish many fifty volumes a year.
iost every book was a masterpiece, and there
e as many as fifteen hundred of them.