New-York tribune., 1904-09-25
Gbe Nem'2DoGds gJribrrste
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER rs. 1904.

'Pcnsees" of Pascal with the original manu-
script and has published new edition OF the
classic in three imposing volumes IN theSe
volumes the editor has given bis erudltloh Tree
Hay, an indulgence for which MT EuIhuhu
Gosse who is otherwise sppreciatye or the
work mildly takes him to task "The text
lie SAYS. "is almost lost In the apparatus Oh
nrefaces. notes and doubtful readings
As we turn the pages a question will obstinately
nrotrude itself: What would Pascal himself
baye said to all this iabor7 Can we doubt
that he would have hated and despiSed II! HOW
would he have thought that all TINS apparatus
helped on the eternal conquest between Grace
Di;;ne and human win7 Would not Pascal
lave been the first to exclaim. with disgust
Lc Moi est haiSSdbLe, at the sight of all TINS
Domp and parade OF scholarship around the
fragments which he scribbled on MS knee
racked by the burning headache and tormented
ly the haIlucinations of hungerT questions
like these answer themselves Except in so far
as his vanity is ticfled, great writer is con-
ccivable as really approving in his heart this
fearful and wonderful mode Of reintroducing
= work OF his to the world. Yet 1t would be
idle to deny the value to scholarship OF labors
such as those Of Professor BrunschvieS. The
simplest way out of the difficulty would seem
to be for the editor of classic to print two
editions of it, one containing all his notes and
other apparatus, the other nothing save the
text In this way the scholar and the layman
would both be provided for, and the spirit Of
the dead authors work would not be violated
One OF the publishers of England has recently
been unburdening himself on the subject OF his
business. IL Is a good business. of that he has
no doubt whatever, but Ii has It's drawbacks.
This is no news. Every one must know that
for single great success, bringing In huge
profits to author and publisher. there are bound
TO be good many losses Scores of books pub
lished every year only just pay their own ex-
penses, and In many cases they fail TO do even
that. These facts are to be explained largely,
OF course, by the character OF the books in ques-
ton But our publisher raises another question
when he says: Few people realize how short
the life OF an average book is. Fifteen years
ago you could count on its existence for two or
three years. Now three books out of every four
are as dead as mutton In three months" Yet.
as we have noted more than once In dealing
with this very phenomenon, these books that
die soon often deserve to have their exist
prolonged. 1t Is the superabundance of
books that is responsible. How earth is
anything that is not masterpiece to survive
when the presses go off like minute guns year
in and year out, dlscharging new books at the
head Of the devoted reader so rapidly that he is
left in breathless despair of ever looking
through more than a fraction of the volumes
which he would really like to examiner The
situation has It's advantages. It means that
carloads of trash go practically unread But
we must continue TO deplOre the injustice done
to many a creditable piece of writing through
the pressure of business competition
The choice OF Mr.. Graham Balfour as the
bi0grapher Of Stevenson in place of the latter's
friend, Sidney Coivin, has once more become
subject for discussion. Mr.. III. B. Watson
happened to print some remark I'm reference to
il. whereupOn Mrs. katherine Osbourne wrote
TO him. saying: "rhe change in Stevenson's
bioaraphcr was necessitated by Mfr. Colyin him
self He had In his possession, lent him by
the Stevenson family, letters, diaries, private
papers and detailed accounts of interesting in
cidents between four and five years without
any result" UncOnsciOusly Mrs Osbourne rati-
EeS what we have all along maintained in this
matter The posture of affairs indicated by
her letter is significant of the haste with which
a celebrity is nowadays made the hero of
biography. We all remember the late William
Ernest Ilenley's outburst when the official bog-
raphy Of his old friend appeared, that outburst
so scandallzing TO all good Stevensonians and
80 refreshing to entirely disinterested readers
Perhaps II Steyenson's memory had been left
TO itself Il little longer there would have been
no occasion for snOrts of disapprOval from Mr.
Henley or any one else. Mr.. Bafour's book
might have taken, then, a somewhat different