New-York tribune., 1902-12-04

contributed In a voumnous store OIL notes liie
points of variation are recorded. But PROFESSOR
Harrison's industry has not stopped at TINS
The long biography in his first volume is fol-
,ou,ea b1- an annendix containing Poes auto
biogra phicaI memorandum Mrs Cien1n pi
ace 70 the CriswoId edition Of the works Grls-
v,,1d,s oti+uarv Of Poe, from The Tribune, ana
other contemporary articles by n T. "lliia'
Lowell P P Cooke, J. R. Thompson ana deolSe
r. Graham There is an index to the olosraPnS
and another to the appendix In the hrs' oh '
suoceedine FIVE volumes which are devoted 10
the tales, there are thirty pages on roe iace
in American Literature by MT r1hliii va
Wright Mabie. The seventh Volufne' hlleu VIZ
~. -,oa,,s has an introduction by Charles W.
Kent In an appendix the poems "hlch nav
been attributed to Poe are collected, with da'a
-oI..in, +o the John Neal episode and the con-
+roversv over Poe and Chivers- For both 'ne
tales and the poems teXtual notes nave peeh
nrovided bv Mr. r. a. Stewart professor mar
rison himself writes the Introduction 10 'he slA
volumes containing Poe's fugitive crluclsn' ne
nerforrns the same office for the three Voluihes
that follow, containing the Essays, Mlscei-
Ianiesr' -Iiterati," "Autography, MarSl'ia-
lia- and Eureka" affxing to the last OF lhese
a full photography and a general index IN MS
last volume he brings together the letters Will
ton nv Poe or received by him. This volume
also has an index
Professor Harrison obviously owes much to
.ho 1abors of his predecessors. Whether he has
eariouslv improved upon any of them or not Is
another question. His one special achievement
ne signalizes in these words: I'm the realm OF
criticism the present edition may be SAID TO oner
q Poe altogether new 1t challenges comparl-
son with other editions in the sure confluence VI
its belief that never before has the real POE
the critical Poe-been presented to the puohc-
This is a serious claim, which not every sIuoehI
of Poe NAV be inclined to take seriously IL we
ACCEPT the hypothesis that every scrap OF an
au+bor,s. writing is indispensable to the ap-
praisaI of his genius, Professor harrison mas
rendered a service to Poe and his readers But
while II may be as useful as 1t is interesting TO
study, say, one of his poems in the making we
o.nnot feel that anything is added TO our knowl-
e6Fe of his character as a critic by the waits
end stravs which this editor has dug cut or oo-
Iivion. On the other hand, there are always
curious readers TO whom there is pecuilar at
traction In the turning over of mlnutl@ III lne
history of a famous writer's work, and not only
for them but for the students who are slao 10
have all Of a mans writings on the shelf for ref-
erence even If 1T means little or nothing 10 'hel
snnreciation Of him, this edition VIII De Wei
come 1t is. after all, a mine OF raw material
The "RiverdaIe" edition of the writings OF
Bret Harte is based on that for Which l''e au
thor himself provided an Introduction ana
glossary in 1891. At that date fourteen VOL
,n,es contained the work he wished to preserve
hut he was writing steadily down TO the time oi
his death. Two volumes have been added anu
presurna bly,, one two others Will appear 50
that his readers may possess his last stories
and his second series Of Condensed Novels III
volumes uniform with those of the present set
he liph a
ann,eciatio1 of Bret Harte's work which had
been shown freely for many years before his
death and then eliminated in a remarkable
hurst of eulogy, to read again his account OF
the difficulties encountered by "The LUCK OF
Roaring Camp before it struggled INTO print
The ,oune woman who served as proofreader
nm the staff of 1.-The Overland Monthly" was so
impressed by what she considered the inpro-
priety of the tale that she could hardy De IN
duced to read it TO the end. Even when the au-
thor bewtldered half out OF his senses. submit
ted the story to three gentlemen of culture
and experience" he met with anything but the
encouraeeme7 ut he confidently expected. Ulti-
mately. however, the troublesome tale appeared
,r the magazine for which it written; it ap-
nesred without ernendation, omission, altera-
t;on or apolosv" and We know the result
Voices were uplifted here and there in COM
n1aint but Harte found syrnpathizers. too, and
he stuck TO his position He was faithful 10 IL
all his life long. which Is, perhaps, one reason
why his work wears so we'll. why, as we turn
the pages of this new edition, we are tempted
again and again to pause over Old 1aVorltes'
The occasion renews ones impression of that
evenness almost amounting TO a phenomenon
which characterizes Bret Harte. He fell oeloW
his standard no doubt, when he wrote Gaprlei
conroz" hut that was because he stepped for
frrtI crha nd
in this work laid out larger scale than
chat m which he was accustomed, there are
episodes fragments in which he is very much
himself His short stories practically all bear
the test of rereading as do most of his poems.
The publishers have not attempted to illustrate
this edition, the only plates being two portraits
prefixed to the first and twelfth volumes re-
spectively. The books are substantially mace
The type is clear and the paper is excellent
The binding is OF cloth, with no decoration be-
yond the title on the back, and facsimile or
the authors signature, stamped in gold on the
front cover The form is q convenient octave,
light in the hand. Altogether we have here as
durable and as comely edition for the library
as could be desired
The ''wayside" edition Of Hawthorne. in thir-
teen pocket volumes, resembles the edition of
Harte in the simplicity and good taste with
which it has been produced. The type is par
ticularly satisfactory, being uncommonly gen
erous in size, considering the small dimensions
of the books. If the edition has defect, it is
due to the cutting down of the page. At the
bottom and at the sides there is margin enough,
but the titles of the stories come too near the
top On the other hand, it must be remembered
that this is pocket edition, meant for very
practical use, and that it is published at a very
modest price In view of these facts.