New-York tribune., 1903-06-13
ENGLISHt LITERATURE
4 Nesr Illustrated Work of Ret
erence.

ENGLISH LITERATURE. Al illustrated ReG9rg
In -Four Volumes Vel. l. From the BeEillLlIe.S .t
70 the Age of Henry VIII by Ricnafo 70 8nbnson
BY Edmund Gosse. Hon. NJ A OF, OF 1T1inoy IN Nv
sss: xii ss1 The Macmillan Company
The new survey of English literature whlch
DR.. Garnett and MIR. Gosse have prepared pro.
roises to supply. when completed. resume OF
the suhiect excellent in some respects II not IN
o+hers The first and the third volumes whlch
lie before us, both have points OF h'eres'
though they are not by any means OF equa
,,,arir The excellence which they have IN coih
man is that which consists in q really uselu
i,od,- Of Illustrations. These include repro
,iuctfons IN color of old Illuminated manuscripts
facsimiles Of written pages or letters views
taken from old prints; portraits reproduced IroH"
engravings and paintings; facsimlles OF utie
napes. and divers ether things. Mechanically
some Of The illustrations-which are so nunler-
ous that scarcely page is without one or more
are as good as they could possibly BE- Whlie
,,,hars we had almost said. are as bad as they
could possibly be
ra+ ,,s sneak Of the good ones first. A striking
exan,ple is provided in the frontispiece 10 Ihe
first volume. a reproduction in colors from the
FlIesmere MSS at Bridgewater House OF the
eouestrian portrait of the poet The color print
ing has been beautifully done. In the second
volume the best plates the full page PORTRAITS
IN nhotocravure The reproduction OF High
rnore's portrait Of Richardson is partlcuiarlS
ene On the other hand the smaller portraits
nrinted in the text in both volumes are oi'e"
,,or,r noor. thew are taken from good originals.
b,,+ tbe reproductions are inadequate Inc por-
trait in the first volume of John Fisher Bishop
% Rochester from the drawing by Holbein, IN
.b. british Museum is a fiat libel on that beau
-s4,,1 souvenir of the great German draughls-
man The unsatisfactory quality of many OF the
illustrations is the more vexatious when we con-
slider that. for the sake of the half tones useo-
the book has been printed on heavy caIenoereu
naper. After struggling wearily with the TWO
,o1,,,,,ee inst issued we had the curiosity to put
them in the scales. They weigh SIX pounuS
eacht While putting such a premium Oh tne
perusal OF this work the publishers might al
,eas+ have renaid the reader by making the illus
trations uniformly good
turning to the purely literary side Of the pub
Tcation. we find Dr. Garnett fulfilling admlrably
.b. duty of the popular historian His hrst
cban+ers dealing with the obscurer phases Of his
s,,t1ect are commercially free from obscurlty
or nedartrv and in the long stretch OF narra-
five through which the reader has to pass before
reaching the last chapter, and the dawn OF the
Tudor age, there is nothing to fatigue HIM On
The contrary DR. Garnett handles even ms uIS
est subjects with certain warmth OF leellHt-
which makes him very beguiing. lie 1oAo"S d
convenient scheme. His broadly descriptive anu
critical account is framed as TO be reao DIV
itself The biographies of the more important
80, are interpolated in smaller type. What We
,,alue most in DR.. Garnett's volume is the at
,,,osnbere of knowledge with which 1t is filled
II. writes out of full mind offering obviously
reasoned judgments. and in style he is at once
oo+t, a.7a dignifed The transition from ms
,,o,as IN Mr. Gosse's is a little disconcerung-
Iauntily stating in his preface that II the
work of certain authors is not recoroeu' IL -
not that their merit has been neglected, but thal
the exigencies Of space have been tyrahllical'
Mr. Gosse proceeds with a light heart 10 skeuch
,he memorable ages of Dryden. Pope and John-
son with glibness and superhciality whlch one
expects only in the most casual KIND OF manual
se has strong views to express. it is true. now
and then. as particularly, in the case Of Milton S
urose but the general Of his remarks is that
of +be faci1e pedagogue. OF Milton. for exam
nle ne saws that between the years 1851 and
1887 he contributed to English literature about
two thousand of the most exquisite the most
perfect. the most consummately exquisite verses
which are TO be discovered in the language
eu-ift is one of the most singular and most
original figures that history has produced
DR. Johnson is mot the greatest writer. inueed.
in English literature, but perhaps lfe InoSl hldS-
sive figure Of a man OF letters" TO Edward
Gibbon who timidly deprecated comparison with
Robertson and Hume, criticism is steadily
awarding place higher and higher above them.
He is, indeed, one of the great writers OF the
century. one Of those VINO exemplify in the finest
way the signal merits of the age in which he
fourished The book by which he mainly sur
wives the vast Decline and Fail Of the Roman
Funpire' began TO appear in 1116 and was not
completed until 11SS." And so on and so on, III
the comfortable vein Of the writer who has all
the commonplaces of the textbooks at the tips
of his fingers but has not an original thought
or q felicitous turn Of speech with which to en-
bellish his store of no doubt unimpeachable in
formation. If there is single piquancy in the
volume it is TO be found in the passage relating
10 Sir Thomas Browne and that VI could well
spare as one Of the least apt remarks the
author Of the "Religio Medici" which We have
ever encountered. Supported by his exquisite
ear" says NJ. Gosse, Browne permits himself
audacities. neologisms abrupt transitions, which
positively take away breath. But while We
watch him thus dancing the tightrope Of
style. we never see him fall; if he lets go his
footing in one place. it is but TO by
his agility in leaping TO another" Sir Thomas
Browne as tightrope dancer in the sphere Of
style is indeed a novel figure. Mr.. Gosse's vol
urne in short, is superficial and scrappy; it is
thin and commonplace where DR.. Garnett's is
thorough and individualized.