The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-12-08
CURRENT LITERATURE REVIEWED.

Hunted" While recent years have not pro-
duced a George Eliot, or a Thackeray. or \
Hawthorne. they have produced a wonderful
number Of clever writer's. masters OF good
style and possessorS CT considerable 1ma&-
NATIVE power. Among the TRANSACTIONS OF
the year. the principal one is Zola's La
Dor" Maxim Gorky's "Foma Gordyeen" Is
a picture OF vileness and iniquity which no
Anglo-Saxon should want to read. 1t can
yield neither pleasure nor profit
Next in fiction in popularity. because Il
has the charm Of personality, comes b-
ography. and the past year has produced
some notable works in that line. Promi-
nent among them are Balfour's Life Of
Robert Louis Stevenson" presenting wildly
the personal side OF the writer. For the
same reason praise can be given to Scud-
der's Life Of James Russell Lowell" On
OF the striking books Of the year was Rose
bery's Napoleon: The Last Phase"
issued this year-one by J. H. Rose and the
other by Thomas Z. Watson. The latter is
a decidedly interesting book, as any one
will be likely to decide who has read his
History of France" h personal ele-
ment, which makes SO strongly for interest,
~ographies. Two exceedingly interesting au-
photographers have been published this year:
Up From Slavery" by Booker T. Wash
ington. and The Making Of an American"
by Jacob A. Riis. In both cases there Is
the added interest Of a study OF sociology
cal conditions. Readers who are fond Of
studying great men in their intimate per-
sonal lives will find much interesting read
ing in the Love Letters Of Bismarck and
OF Hugo" The Private Life Of the Queen"
written By her 0on-in-law, the present
Duke of Argyll, must necessarily give q
more faithful likeness OF the Queen as q
woman than could possibly be written by
2nVhndv alSa AnnShaH 1fo ~ NlDtNrla -,
Holmes. also appeared this year. Mention
must also be made Of McCabe's Peter Abe
lard" an interesting and authoritative ac-
count Of Abelard and the incidents which |
have made him one OF the famous figures
Of history.
Eggiestons Transit Of Civilization From
England to America" Is worthy of spe- !
cial mention. Professor james K. Hosmers
Short History of the Mississippi Valley
VIII surely find readers in st. Louis, both |
because OF the interest OF the subject and |
the name Of the author. who was for many |
years a resident Of the city; and this re-
vival OF interest in the early events in the |
history Of the Louisiana Purchase g.. !
has doubtless produced Noah Brooks,s rois
ume, First Across the Continent" which |
presents In more popular form the account
OF the Lewis and Clark expedition. The ]
great political problems that have been !
brought before the world by recent events =.
are discussed in c. F. Randolph's Law
and Policy OF Annexation" which treats of
a question upon which a Supreme Court de-
cision has recently been made. Naturally, |
the various wars that have been carried on
the last few years brought forth a number
Of books. a few Of which are valuable-some
worth reading. while the majority
are simply an attempt to take advantage Of
the opportunity. Justice has been. to some
extent. done to the Chinese. but the most of
the accounts regarding the Boer war are
written by Englishmen. and from a purely
point of view.
Among the books on China are Doctor
Lore Of Cathay'' and China in
Commissions" by Arthur H. Smith. Mr..
Smith writes from an intimate knowledge
of China. gathered during a thirty years
there. An interesting series of
books appeared the past year dealing with
the life Of the people Of different countries.
Thus far the series include Dawson's Ger
man Life In Town and Country" French