The San Francisco call., 1904-04-07
Lnerarr Chat.

themselves to their author, Chaucer
found himself called upon In his rune
ton Of poet 10 the court-tor Mhlch
tradition saws he received daily
pitcher Of wine and various other per
quisites-to celebrate in verse the De
trothal Of King Richard III ana Anne
OF Bohemia. He was working at tnat
period uDon his 'Troilus ana Cres-
evde." and of course was obhged TO
Law that remarkable poem aside IN
compliance with the royal command
But the result Of this step into the
realms Of eoithalamia was by no
means perfunctory. for in The Parle-
rnent Of Foules,T Chaucer gave 10 the
F,nglisb-spealzing world a flight OF
fancy which has not lacked imitators
during the five centuries Of its exist
ence. Its motive was the assembling
Of birds on ST. Valentines day, and its
theme their debate as TO which one Of
her suitors was most worthy OF the
beautiful "formell-eagle, in which
guise was represented the prospective
bride of England's monarch, who fig
,lres as the royal eagle" 1t is this
poem which is brought TO our
present and immediate attention by
It's Issue aE LLlt AcNNSN fp-----~ 49,
Riverside series Of limited editions. 1t
reveals itself to the casual eye as one
OF the best most artistic and hand
soonest examples Of modern Dooh-
making prepared under the direction OF
Mr.. Bruce Rogers. and a close eNaml-
nation simply intensifies and deepens
the impression made by first glance
al its pages. The volume forms thin
octave Of twenty-seVen pages, ana IN
general appearance is designed as an
imitation of the French Gothic books
OF the fifteenth century, the printing
being done from fac-simile Gothic type
procured in Paris. 1t is printed on
unbleached handmade paper with
fabricated page numbers, initial letters
and paragraph marks, the two main
divisions OF the poem being indicated
bv two Illuminated initials printed in
blue and heightened with gold. The
binding is in vellum boards, with the
title stamped in gold.
Fxceut in the manner Of its telling
and il the style Of its English verse
The Parlement of Foules" is, of
course. no. wholly original with Chau-
Ger. II owes something. perhaps, TO
the "Parlemens des OiseauX' of Marie
De France. and woven into its fanci-
rul conceits are ideas from the SOM
MUM Scipicnis of Cicero, description
Of the Garden OF Love from the 'Te-
seide" OF Boccaccio, and an account
OF Nature and her birds taken from
the Planctus Naturae Of Alain de
rIsle. There are also suggestions OF
Dante i'm the poem. but despite these
borrowings from foreign sources and
alien languages, il is as thoroughly
Cshaucerian and English as are the
Canterbury Tales. and as clearly in
dicative Of its authors progress in
knowledge and art
The lyf 50 short. the craft so long to lerne.
Thassay so sharp. 50 hard the concuerynge.
These lines have become a part of
proverbial English speech and no
matter how often one may have read
the poem with which they open. one
will be certain 10 read il at least once
more in this unique edition. Every
page Of the volume suggests the early
days Of English literature and the
hours when the art of printing was,
although in its infancy, an art prac-
ticed for its own and for beauty's sake
more than for the vulgar spreading
broadcast Of printed sheets Of paper.
To turn the pages of The Parlement
Of Foules'' in its present guise is
something to be anticipated with es-
pecial pleasure by every genuine bib
liophile. The text OF which there are
fourteen manuscripts and one printed
edition lCaxtOn's) in existence that
serve as authorities more or less COM
plete. is in this instance based on the
manuscript. Gg. AZ in the Cambridge
University library. Three hundred and
twenty-five copies only have been
printed.
The different phases through which
the American novel has passed during
recent years are vividly described in
an article by Robert Bridges in Col
lier's Weekly March 12). 1T is a
very big country" he observes. .,and
the appetite for fiction seems to be as
big as the country. Millions of peo-
pie must be fed with it and the pur-
veyOrs Of fiction, like expert cooks
are put to ii to invent new dishes
Some one concocts new and tooth
some appetizer and straightway il be-
-oInes the fashion. Then all the minor
pastry cooks roll up their sleeves and
try 10 initiate IT," We quote further:
More than a decade ago the State
novel became popular and we had
novels Of Virginia, louisiana, Geor-
gia. Kansas, Canforna-and so on
through the States and Territories
Then race element was introduced
in dialect form. and negroes, creoIes
Hoosiers, Yankees. Cinnamon. Irish
men. Tsgoes and 'Greasers all found
themselves speaking strange and out
landish tongues in the pages of flc-
ton.
When the confusion OF tongues
grew oppressive the great American
business sense asserted itself and mer
and women were revealed in fiction az
affected by the idols of the market
place For time the broker wal
the reigning hero--cool. resourcefu
and impudent. Then the miner (coal
iron and gold) furnished a melo-
dramatic element which was sure Il
suIminate in strike. We had these
fovels with every variety of back.
ground. from the oil regions of Penn