New-York tribune., 1903-02-08
Gbe Nem'21oGk grahna1es
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY s, 1903.

1,bere is 70 be chroncled a literary lind OF
came jnterest-an unpublished and incomplete
nocm by Byron. 1t comprises ABOUT i'V iihe"
arranged in ten stanzas. 1t is poiitical satlle
md IFS title is The King OF HumbuSs. We
Ore told that it was discovered among tne 'oii'
Snondence of an intimate TREND anu coleSe
,.,,nanion of Byron, and CONSISTS Oh the oiiSi
,,s ,Y;ns on which the poet made rough draft
.o,,orad with emendationS and with notes OF
;1oos which he intended to incorporate IN his
yerses and of a smell scribbling book III Whlch
he made a fair copy. A complete facSlihiie Is ~
ne published in April in volume Win Hotes'
critical and descriptive The reason Ior pun
cation which is advanced Is tlat lhls lacsihihe
will give IAN interesting demonstration VI
pvr,r,s methods of working" Fudge" is
inst answer TO this absurdity IhlS Is d ia'oi
ito nIea for the issue of a catchpenny device
The student of Byron who is not able 10 ac
ouirn from the twelve volumes OF his poetry
ard ,rosn in the Coleridge-ProtherO edition
which Murray in London and the scrlbners III
EnvYorE are now bringing to completion, Il
notion of what Byron's methods OF WofhihS
uore would better devote himself TO the STUDY
Of Martin Tupper. 1t is a cruelty to great
poet's memory to publish 4 thing which ms
own competent judgment left unpublished; anu
II is q warning to future great poets 10 give
away no MSS. to friends.
contributor TO THE Chicago Dial" who is
much discoura ged by the parlouS state OF our
literature says that while 'the dramatlsts Oh
the Continental countries teyen the smaller
Cnes) are trying to give their work the stamp
,f vital truth. our own writers in these fields
are chiefly concerned with entertainment, anu
arc content to be merely graceful or clever.
In
permits such qualities to become more than
adiuncts in its task is the victim OF dry rot
which threatens its very existence Another
nessimist-enshrined in The Atlantic de
clares that "it is high time that American fic-
ton wake up and interpret life as it is in this
country life in its process of becoming, of
transformation; American life. the American
reality with its various foreign ingredients and
qualifications. this life awaits its literary inter
prefer" We can sympathize with both COM
plainants but we do not why either of
them should be seriously discouraged. Tile
truth il that while they both have grounds for
dissatisfaction in the immense amount Of work
produced in this country, that is merely grace
full or clever, or Ingenious it is a mistake to
attach very great Importance to this minor lit
craturc. 1t is bound between covers, it is sold
at a price, and it is read, but all the time its
zeal status is that of the undergraduates essay,
il is the material on Which the recruits in an
army trying their teeth. To be sure it is
a great bore to many of us. but it is undOubt-
Cdly serving modest purpose as a kind of fer
tilizin@ product. Our innumerable writers are,
50 to say, preparing the soil
In note on another page, some account is
given Of a new Library of Noble Authors"
series of reprints in which divers classics are to
be given luxurious form. Many a publisher of
late years has learned TO appreciate the poten-
tiiiitifs II enterprises of the sort. but in one