Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-03-07
ed by those who are enthusiastic in
praise of the Russian novelist.

Ibsea. again. The "Ibsen insanity
long ago ran its course. and II was
never as virulent in America as in
England, yet it has lett effect in 10th
countries. Those who maintained
J their independence of judgment can
look back with some complacency. but
with never-ending wonder. upon the
days when the Ibsen cult was at its
/ height. For the time literature was
| merely Ibsen; there was but one lit
eTatuTe, and Ibsen was its prophet.
His influence even penetrated the do
nestle life; wives were reused to en-
thusiasm and emulation by The Dolls
House, and determined that they
would no longer submit to the treat
ment Of their husbands. Asked to de
fine the particular treatment Of which
they complained, they usually took
refuge in generalities, averring that
they would not be made dolls of" In
sObcr earnest, there can be little
doubt that the Ibsen cult did actual
domestic injury,
Yet to one who examined Ibsens
works without prejudice, those works
were so crude as to be almost puerile
Such a play as The Dolls House, if
written by an American or English
man, would have been Kissed from
the stage for its dreariness, even had
a manager been found so foolish as to
produce it. But it came with the
stamp Of foreign approval, as well as
the charm of novelty; Ibsen was a
Norwegian and great among the Nor
wegians, and therefore to adopt and
worship him proved broad culture.
That which comes in unfamiliar 'guise
must be good; omne ignotum pro mag
nifco. Such was the course of
thought.
1t must not be supposed that
claim that in English literature alone
is to be found the best Such claim,
if anyone were so foolish as to make
it, could not be sustained for a single
instant. In my remarks on the sub
ject have cOnfided myself to the de-
partment of fiction; but even here
there are great names to be found in
my contention is that the writings of
these men are not equal to those of
Our own writer's for our reading.
There is such a thing as a national
taste in literature, and to disregard
the prOmptings Of that taste is to in
cur risk of rightful accusation of at
fectatiOn. It is conceivable that Eng
fish and Americans may fiercely dis
pute among themselves concerning
the relative merits of Dickens and
Thackeray, Meredith and Hardy. Ma
RE COrelli and Archibald CIavering
Gunter, but it is not so conceivable
that those nations should honestly pre-
fer to any of the first four. at least, a
type of literature which appeals to no
sense of national humor, character or
conditions, and which is in method no
further advanced than were the pro-
auctions Of Fielding and Richardson.
Note and Comment.
The index of books at the British
museum, says the st. James Gazette,
is at last complete, after 20 years of
hard work. When the printing of the
great catalogue began in 1881. the
manuscript catalogue then used con-
tanned 100000 references to about
half as many books-cross titles ac-
counting for the difference between
the figures. Since then something
like half a million new books have
been received at the museum. their
r,Vv l.,
10000. The preparation of the print
ed catalogue has, of course, been enOr-
mOusly expensive. It was hoped at
the start TO reduce the cost by issuing
it to subscribers, and for yearly sub
scription of So les a subscriber re-
ceived all the parts published in the
year. AS the number of volumes is
sued annually, however, rose from Is
to 30, while the subscription remained
the same, the price of each volume
fell from the low sum Of As Sd to Is
4d and the revenue from this source
has not been great. Only about $50
copies of each issue are printed, and
only about so are circulated-half of
them given away. In all there are
over 600 volumes of the catalogue, con
tanning the titles of 100000 books.
The subject index will be the great
| task of the British museum in the new
century. 1t is to be commenced at
once, but will not be ready for Is years
at least.
| The Echo de la Semaine prints two
unpublished letters from Stevenson to
NJ. Gausseron. who had undertaken to
translate the New Arabian Nights.
The first is mere note offering assist
ance on the proof-sheets, the second is
a very touching word of coincidence to
NJ. Gausseron on the death of his lit
tie son. Stevenson, himself sadly re-
duced in health and spirits, writes
from his exile on the Riviera:
January 20, 1SS3.-Dear Sir: | am
afraid Of intruding, and at such mo-
ment all consolation is vain. How
ever, it may be soothing to reflect
that if it was written in the book of
| destiny that you were to lose your
| little child, it was better for YOU to
lose him early, before life had rem
dered him dearer to you, and before it
could have been possible to add re-
morse to your grief. | am IKE a blind
man in speaking of these things. for |
| nave never known what mourning is.
and the state of my health permits
me to hope that 1 shall carry this good
fortune unbroken to the grave. But
have done what is perhaps, I imag,
inc III my ignorance, almost as hard
to endure. | have outlived my own
merits in the eyes of more than one