New-York tribune., 1902-05-10
ROCKS AND AUTHORS
-rpRENT TALK OF THINGS PRESENT
AND TO COME.

Miss Marie Van Worst, author OF Phlllp Long
.,-stb' Just published by the Harpers, will sail
- Europe next week for prolonged stay.
ehs will go direct to Paris, which city she con-
-,,ers her home. Miss Van Worst intends rest
= from literary work for at least six months.
:. ts her intention to pass the autumn in Italy.
7he American Men Of Letters Series" pub
,,sbsd by Houghton, Mfan & Co, is a rare ex-
ar,rle Of persistence in literary undertaking.
The series was projected and begun by James
= ryelds the friend Of Dickens and Thackeray
- TowelTs successor on The Atlantic" 1t
as continued by Charles Dudley Warner, and
= his death passed on to Horace r. Scudder,
.bo died leaving it unfinished. Despite the
.,a+hs Of successive editors, however, the series
tos gone on. and the publishers now announce
.,s rapid progress toward completion. The pres
ent wear viii see volumes on Hawthorne, by
gorge E yyoodberry; Longfellow. by Thomas
wentworth Hisginson, and Whittier. by George
Carrenter. Other volumes in preparation
.rs IN Motley by Edward G. Bourne; Parkman,
ny Henry y. Sedgwick, jr.; Whitman. by John
,surroughs and Holmes. by owen Wister. The
fmthcorning life of Longfellow by Colonel Hig-
stnson is likely be especially interesting on
+be personal side; for Colonel Higginson having
married the niece Of the first Mrs. Longfellow
has had access to letters throwing much light
anon Iongfellow's early married life.
T. is not much a secret that f. T. Ware, the
,swlv appointed Commissioner Of Pensions, is
,be author Of The Rhymes of Ironquin," and
N that extent is an addition TO the literary men
,rbo are now prominent at Washington in
,;onal politics His name, however, does not
ennear on the title page of the book. and will
not on the new edition of it which the Putnams
ere going 10 publish In its first form, which
has gone through ten editions The Rhymes of
7ronouiu" was published in Topeka. Kan. The
New-York edition viii have certain additions
and will he subjected TO the authors revision
The proper condition Of the edges Of books
is co rlonlentous a matter TO the collector that
3, Is not a little amusing to learn Of the be-
,irbted state that prevails in some quarters.
The following letter was received by a publish
,ng house in this city from man identified
with 2 large business establishment in Cali
for,ia. Il was accompanied by a diagram eN-
bibiting the cause Of the distress;
7 received YOUR book to-day and was surprised
,,non oreninc il that il was not completed You
surely could not have examined II very care
fully or you would not have shlpped II 10 me.
Won will see by the aEram that have roughly
made that-the leaves of the book are ragged,
not having been cut of at the top nor ule sldeS
-be Same being stil in the rough; just the way
4 came from the hindery. As ii is, do not
tnov- what to do with il. ! paid you your
a
fAej able 10 prepay the eXpressage you ought
70 make the same right ] hope you VIII give
this matter your attention ana Iet me near
from you. Aside from the binding the oook Is
all right.
This question Of margins" said the recipient
Of the complaint is curious one, When you
come 10 think Of IT, OF the three kinds OF mar
gins that modern bookbinding presents-the un-
cut where the pages arc not divided, the uncut
&c
sharplv trimmed-the trimmed edges are doubt
less The most convenient: yet few books. COM
,7arativelv Of the better class are sold with such
edges: and Of the magazines. it is mostly only
the copies that are sold on the newsstands that
are 50 treated. Personally, in book. IKE
The feeling Of the rough edge and there are even
q good many people who prefer the pages not
separated. on account Of the luxurious feehhg II
gives Of being the first visitors to them ms
is quite apart from the enormous increase ol
the value OF rare books bestowed by uncut
pages which can be noted in any sale. A col
lector viii pay a great addition to the price OF
such book to get a copy with the pages un-
onene5- # is oufte apart from any literary SEN
1irnent only an element in that realization OF
value that tells him that it viii always pay 10
buy books in the most perfect condition from
the biIlouhile's point of view. If a man would
bring ne a copy of the first folio Of Shake
Epeare in the original binding, and with the pages
nncut-tboreb We do not know whether the
hook was originally made in that way-I could
almost afford TO give him blank check
The first volume in the Macmillans long eN-
pected American Sportsman's Library makes
its appearance this week. 1t is the Nolume on
The Deer Family" in which President Roose-
velt is one of the colaborators, treating OF lhe
blacktaI and Whitehall deer, the elk ana tne
anteloTe from the point Of view or pIaclIea'
sportsman IN the same volume H. u. STONE
writes Of the moose and caribou, and i. = an
Dyke Of the Pacific Coast variety OF the niack-
tail deer. The book has large number OF Illus
trations 10y Carl Runzius.
Mrs Edith Wharton Will have a short story
called The Quicksand" in the June "Harpers''
and Professor Richard T. Ely viii have an arti-
Gle describing An American Industrial Expert
nent~ namely. the town of Pelzer, 5. c., said
10 be the most successful Of such cooperative
towns in the United States. This will be the
first Of a number Of articles practical eco
nomic topics that Professor Ely viii contribute
10 the magazine
Little Memoirs Of the Nineteenth Century
IS a companion 10 the Little Memoirs of the
Eighteenth Century" by the same author, who
writes under the name Of George Pastor II Is
collection of discussions on minor celebrities
whose experiences seem 10 illustrate the life,
more specially the literary and artistic life, OF
the first half Of the century. and who of late
years at any rate have not been overwhelmed
by the attentions Of the minor bographer. The
ESSAYS are about Hayden, Lady Morgan, y. P.
Willis Lady Hester Stanhope. Prince Pucker-