New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-21
LITERARY NOTES.

have been publishing. have olsCoNeieu 81 HioNh
new material 10 put into their twelfth ana last
--o,,,,,a +hat tbev cannot find room therein for
the index Accordingly II will be issued IN
senarste volume running TO about two hundred
psges When this edition was projected IL was
announced that it would not incluoe hazhtts
Life of Napoleon" The editors are faithful to
their prospectus, but, fortunately they nave
decided 10 reprint the book in question In three
volumes uniform with the collected Works"
Somewhat belated in the holiday season. OUT
nevertheless very welcome. is the group OF FOUR
volumes with which G. p. Putnams Sons pesih
a new uniform edition Of the writings OF the
late Sir Leslie Stephen. These four are gwen
10 his Hours in a Library" which is 10 say 10
some OF the happiest pages he ever wrote AS
an essayist Stephen carried down into our own
day something of the quality which we assocl-
ate more particularly with an earlier genera
ticn. He lacked Lambs charm. as he lacheu
De Quincey's whimsicality and elOquence' put
he shared their love of literature and their nuel-
ity 10 a high standard OF criticism. 1t was not
fn his disposition TO be precious" or self-in-
po-tan. It never occurred TO him that TO be
morbid was TO be strong" Choosing topics
nearly always of permanent interest. the novels
Of De Foe Richardson, Scott. Hawthorne or
Balzac; the writings Of Sir Thomas Browne
Lander Horace Walpoe or DR.. Johnson. he ex-
amined them with scrupulous care. worked out
his ideas upon them in leisurely FASHION ana
stated his conclusions with delightful urbanity
II he did not have many flashes or inspiration
he had the steady glow which belongs TO analy-
sis not only searching but sympathetic Above
all he had the sense of letters, the feehhg Tor
books which Is born in man and cannot by
any artificial process be acquired. He gave MS
readers good literary talk, serious, wholesome
illuminating, and sometimes distinguished In
his books sound tradition survives, well calcu-
sta REIN SP o
ceit and superficiality characteristic Of so many
Of our recent oracles, and We rejoice in the APP
pearance Of this collected edition. 1t appears
in admirable form. The volumes are of con-
venient size. they contain good paper and press
work, and the binding Of green cloth stamped
in gold is a once serviceable and in the best
possible taste
Print collectors interested in literary por-
traits have an opportunity TO obtain remarka-
bly, good version of Whistler's Carlyle In the /
wood engraving of that painting just made by
Mr. Henry Wolf. The subject a difficult
one TO attack. Whistler's tone constituted one
of the subtlest phenomena in modern art. He
made it seem simplicity itself, yet it was al
ways an affair of the most delicate modula-
rions In the presence of which any engraver
might easily despair Mr.. Wolf has solved the
trroblem where the Carlyle" is concerned by
preserving great purity in his own tones. The
blacks are deep. but clear and transparent /
THE grays do not show a single muddy passage /
lie has handled the fine drawing III this famous
profile with notable precision, and at the same
time has avoided the danger of showing the
figure too much in silhouette. Indeed, one Of
the great merits OF this engraving is the manner
sn which the figure in it is detached from the
background. Mr. Wolf is a skilled craftsman
and he has worked IN this instance with true
instinct for the style Of his original He has
put notable plate his credit.
The papers on the topogra phical history of
certain famous writers which Mr.. William Sharp !
recently contributed 70 The Pail Mall Maya /
zine" have been brought together in a hand .
somely made quarto entitled Literary Geogra- I
ply Imported by Charles Scrbner's SOns) .
They enthusiastic discursive. anecdOtic
and on the whole entertaining Mr. Sharp
freely quotes from the writings of his authors
and freely introduces any bit Of personalia
that promises 10 enliven his text. All Is grist
that comes to his mill. For example, he ends
his chapter on 'Dickens-Land" in this fashion,
wonder If any Of my readers has attempted a
foreign Dickens collection" IN mt of alteration
jransIa;ions that daunted me-many French and a
lev German ] expected hailed gladly Portu-
friend Ch,izzlewIt and welcomed an Italian edition
Of some Of the Sketches Of Boz under the title
I'll Mistero d Orazio Sparkns' But when il came
20 Polish and Russian faltered. | had indeed. al
havn" arrived .Pickwfck'' yclept .'Jdtog af pix
WIKI lb'ns' For moment rallied, but mys-
tery in Muscovite finished Even long afterward
knew no return Of the craze, when friend
ne from Prague horrid looking imprint of
intimation that "Cvrcek Krbu' was the Czech for
The Cricket on the Hearth"
have not regret say yet had time to read
'CVTcek u krbu."
Mr. Sharp covers range that is wide-per-
haps too wide. It is difficult 10 understand the
critical hypothesis on which a writer describing
the literary geography Of men like George Mere
dith, Dickens Scott and Thackeray could in
Guide in his book account of "Aylwin-Land"
As novelist Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton has
no business in the same galley with the masters
just named. 1t good idea on the other
hand. 10 expand the series so as to embrace q
chapter on the Lake Of Geneva, with its mem
cries Of Gibbon and a hundred others This has
enabled the author TO bring his volume to a close
with some Of his most amusing pages. From
beginning TO end he has the advantage that &C
crues from a rich body Of illustrations Mr.
William Hydes landscapes. Mr. Muirhead Bones
drawings Of Edinburgh and Mr.. Greiffenhagen's
studies Of scenes in the lake district are the
most artistic OF the original contributions In
ADDITION to these. there are many half tones
from historic portraits and from photographs
DR.. George c. Williamson's History Of Por
trait Miniatures" in two sumptuous folios has
already been reviewed in The Tribune The
Macmillan Company. which publishes the work
also brings out for less ambitious libraries an
inexpensive volume by the same author entitled
How 10 Identify Portrait Miniatures" II is
practical little handbook IN which the author
surveys with brevity the masters treated in his