New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-12-06
Gbe NetniWork Gribarors
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1903.
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.

whole, the favorable expectations of 1t that
have been entertained 1t diners from previous
seasons in ways in which thoughtful observers
would have it differ. In the first place the
gaudy and ephemeral gift book has completely |
disappeared IS place has been taken not
simply by the handsome illustrated folio deal |
ing with serious subject, usually artistic, In
a serious manner, but by the work of permanent
value in the field of biography or that of his
tory The classical or semi-clasSical reprint Is,
MS we have already had occasion to point out
more conspicuous than ever. Best OF all
juvenilia, though not by any means neglected,
does not loom so large upon the horizon Time
was when books for children were published
in such numbers as to swamp nearly every h1ng
else Now the furry seems somewhat to have
subsided-and without detriment to the inter
ests Of the youngsters The general excellence
Of the books Of the season is meeting, we
gather with full appreciation. In fact, hnanclal
conditions, which seem to be curtailing expend]
lures in some quarters, have, Ii anything,
beneficial effect upon the book trade since
Christmas gifts within its limits make, as one
authority has expressed it. "a good show and
at the same time are not, in the main, costly.
The establishment of a literary periodical
written and edited exclusively by laymen must
be only a question Of time There is place
waiting for it. and the shrewd individual who
takes the initiative in the enterprise will make
his fortune. Nothing could be more amusing
than a journal devoted to the exposure Of tho
faIIacies of literat. The latter are always pratt
ing of what 1.-THE public" and 1.-The average
reader" feel and think and want What do they
really know about tit We have asked that
question over and over again, but we are driven
to ask it once more by the divagations Of ME-
Cosmo Hamilton, who, in THE Academy" de-
monstrates with vast complacency that 1.-The
novel OF conversation is of all novels the most
difficult to write and the most difficult to read,
and cheerfully assumes that 1.-The average
reader who likes lots of conversation, does not
like the novel Of conversation unless the con-
versation is utterly commonplace" Do ask
for an example? Mr. Hamilton has it pat to
the moment pointing out that the elder Dumas !
has wide popularity and that his books reek |
of conversation that is neither brilliant nor
Ifeke" We suppose we ought to be con-
vinced but somehow Mr.. Hamilton only sue
ceeds in persuading US that his contention Is |
absurd. Good conversation in fiction is as sure
of an audience as bad conversation in the same
place and in both audiences you will find 1.-The |
public and "the average reader"
In view Of the experience OF Lieutenant Os-
sketched some of his comrades in his novel I'm !
a Little Garrison Town." Germany certainly |
seems, as was said in these columns last Sun
day, an uncomfortable place to live in for the |
German author. The literary warriors sentence |
to six months Imprisonment and dismissal from |
the army is rendered particularly astonishing |
by the fact that in the same week a sergeant !
in the Germany Army who had tortured G93 !
recruits was punished with only twelve months |
imprisonment and the loss of his stripes. But
outside Of Germany authors also have their !
woes. Witness a recent episode in England /
Some time ago Major Arthur GrifIiths wrote a |
book called 1.-The Mysteries Of Police and
Crime In it he repeated certain we'll known !
facts, but an eX-detective officer involved in /
those facts carried. author and publisher into |
court to meet charge Of libel. The jury found
a verdict for the defendant, so it might seem
that authorship in this at least had nothing |
of which to complain Yet it had undoubtedly |
4 grievance in the premises, the grievance Of |
the man who is obviously within his rights but |
who is exposed by the law of libel in England to !
all manner of Inconvenience and expense the |
moment he steps outside the sphere of magma !
ton and puts his foot the solid ground Of
fact We have sympathy for the writer who |
misuses his privileges, but it does seem as |
though he ought to be protected from suits of q |
certain Anxt-