New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-30
LITERARY NOTES.
A book on Mr.. Theodore Watts-Dunton is to
be published. We wonder why.


The new novel which Mr.. Cutclife Hyne will
bring out within a few weeks is expected 10
have some of the characteristics of MS Wen
known Captain Kettle" stories 1t VIII De
called. from the hero, McTodd
Judge Condo Williams. who for a time served
under Blowitz on the staff of The Times IN
Paris, is publishing book Of "reminiscences
One of the stories in it is the following about M
de BlOWitz:
He strongly objected to the idea that The
Times possessed any representative in Paris
himself but he at the mercy Of the
other two of us for his English. And when
one occasion. wishing to our press ticket
for the tribune at Longchamps for some pur-
pose of his own he told me that he would take
my Sundays duty as racing reporter upon him
self, the result was disastrous For, as is re-
corded in little book of mine, Journalistic
Jumbles.' published some fifteen years ago by
Field e. Tuer, the eminent one confused the
names of the prOgenitors of the competing
steeds with those of their jockeys. and wired
the winners to our esteemed journal as having
been ridden by their own sires!
Copies of the periodical entitled ''Undergradu-
ate Papers," of which four numbers appeared
during 1891 and 1858, very rare and fetch
high price in the auction TOom because in them
Mr. Swinburne began his literary career
copy has fetched as much as $50 The other
day in London the purchaser of 4 bundle of
miscellaneous items at auction room paid
seven shilings for it, and presently discovered
that it contained this Swinburnian treasure. He
was book seller. and he at once sold his copy
of the Undergraduate Papers to another book
seller for t3O, proceeding to take holiday
the strength of his bargain.
Signor Alexander Luzio Director of the Royal
Archives of Mantua and Signor Rudolph Renter.
Professor in Ordinary of Romance PhilolOgy in
the University of Turin, have written letter
to The Athenaum.' in which they charge with
plagiarism Mrs. Julia Cartwright ADV, author
of Isabella d'Este. Warehouses of Mantua."
They accuse her of appropriatng in this work
with the greatest ease the fruit of
search and of our studies" and continue in
this wise:
1T is we'll known that for about twenty years
we have devoted ourselves to the study of the
marquisate of Mantua in itself and in it's rela-
lions to other States with all the care required
by the most splendid and most representative
feminine figure which the Italian Renaissance
can boast. Our work, up to now, consists of
fourteen articles and studies. some of which
reached the Importance and size of a volume,
such as the study regarding 'MantOva and Ur-
binO' and that on the Culture and Literary At
tainments of Isabella which appeared in the
Historical Journal of Italian Literature from
1899 till 1908. We did not abstain from men
tiOning and from repeating that the GROWING
end and aim of this work, enriched by numerous
documents, was to be Il complete Life OF that
celebrated lady. But to this Mrs Ady paid
attention. In 1899 she published a volume
Beatrice dEste formed almost entirely with
the documents contained in our article entitled
of the Relations of Isabella d'ESte with LOdO-
vicO and Beatrice Sforza, as we have already
observed in the Historical Journal XXXNI,
273-4. This admonition of ours was in vain
Mrs. Ady brought out book on lisa bella, which
is, three-quarJerS of it, ours.
"She not only reproduces the documents dis
covered by us and transcribed at the cost of
much time and trouble, but also apprOpriateS
our historical and critical observations, and
uses the results of our erudition, repeating CT
tatiOns from books which often she has not
even seen. If she refers to us sometimes, 1t is
only as an astute means of hiding from the
reader the hundred other occasions on which she
despOils without mentioning the fact. Her
book is purely and simply a counterfeit, which
to the superficial public may seem clever, but
which seems gross to the student, who at
perceiVes that the author knows nothing of
Italian historical literature has made per-
sOnal reSea rch loses her way soon our
guidance is wanting wiz, in the periods of the
life of Isabella which we have not yet treated),
and always works at second hand
I'VE should certainly be justified in going to
law; but every will understand how many
and how great would be the difficulties of such
a suit before the ordinary courts, especially be-
fore foreign judges. We prefer to denOunce the
fact before the tribunal of public opinion.
"a minute demonstration Of the plagiarism
would be too long. For the present it will suf-
flee that invite all competent people to COM
pare writings with Mrs Ady's work. certain
as we are that this comparison will clearly prove
the truth of our assertions
Mr. Andrew Lang, in the essay on Dumas
which he recently wrote to be printed with THE
Three Musketeers'' in the edition of the
nOvelist's works, has implied that Dumas could
not follow predetermined plot and plan"
This leads Nj. H. \. Spur, who wrote life of
Dumas last year. to send a letter to THE Acad-
envy and Literature" saying:
AS he was at pains constantly to state,
Dumas elaborated his plots in his head before
ever putting pen to paper. To this he says L