New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-25

Hsd the Amazonian ouser
Tb been = thee midst thy maiden n.s-,
tn III mat ladys Grenadiers:
In,Ioy had never nnoI,rred -,
" my lance to guard her wall
As Penthesiea BRAY.
lli,,oS ny maiden Gin her dreamsl.
TIsn she well might save
Ininough Achilles arnoonrr c,o,..
i'is' the glance of sain1acis.
.Tbo Ur christopher Benson reviyes Il,
>a'lohai Review that idea of an EpsI;sb
t,r.so an institution purely literary. Witch
Iari+, - 80 me prints of London with the reeu
60, VI me tides. What one desires" he saws
80 mat there should be something central ond
1'horItauTe-' This sort of thing in his on,n-
might tend to counteract the influence ot
a'e "annerisms and preiudices" It might
W 'heh again it might not The chancas y,ouId
;" ia'or OF the members of the academy
making nothing in English literature better hut
instead making themselves ridiculous r-b.-A
Is nothing esoteric about the theor, +t.+ 49,
genius Of the English people is against tba .,,o
III development of an academy This theory
really amounts to fact, plain unop The s,,rsoo
or things for all men 10 see.
MT Maurice Hewlett. If not exactIv q sno;lAd
Darling Of literature has at all events endowed
rather unusual good fortune When ba b.s,r
- "rl,e DOCKS the world was not, perhaps. as
06er 10 read them as it has since shown itself
10 be, but once his qualities became knovr,, he
received the most cordial approval We we'll
remember the occasion of his debut in this
country, with ''Earthwork Out of TUSCANY"
Inc merits Of that miscellany were instantly
recognized in The Tribune with as we had
reason TO know, very practical effects; copies
Vi the book were straightway in demand. But
1t needed the publication Of THE Forest Low
eIs 10 win the author wide audience. That
oe"ltchlng romance made him popular and
over since he has been sure of many readers.
More than that he has come to have his col
lectors. The first editions Of his books COM
mand a high figure, and complete set of them
is one of the prizes of the auction room. Finally
as though to set a conclusive stamp upon his
prosperity with the public his American pub
fishers, the Macmillan Company are bringing
out an edition de luxe of his complete works.
It will run to ten Volumes the first of which,
containing THE Forest Lovers" we have Just
received. The edition follows the style OF those
beautiful reprints Of Pater, Arnold Tennyson
and Fitz Gerald. which have taken rank among
the most thoroughly satisfactory publications of
the sort. A handsome type is used with special
paper, and the binding is Of delicate green silk,
with an artistic design stamped in gold upon
the back and upon side of the volume, the
medallion the side showing Mr. Hewlett'E
monogram. Few living authors can legtimate'y
be thus printed. It is absurd to lavish sumptu-
Gus paper print and binding upon novelist
simply because he is popular. But Mr.. Hewlett |
amounts to much more than the average best |
seller" To all of the qualities Of the romancer |
which he possesses, and without which we would |
have reason for being. there has been added !
the charm which rests upon genuine love of |
literature, true instinct for style. Take. for
example, 1.-The Forest Lovers" The choice Of |
this for the opening volume in the present edi~ |
ton well made. It reveals Mr.. Hewlett
a consummate story teller. It also reveals him |
as man 20 whom the old writer's are living |
forces as a man who has drunk deep of such |
springs as are found in Mallory and Chaucer.
The book took the town by storm because its
romantic incidents were handled with so much
point and with kindIing emo
ton, but 1t succeeded also because Of Its fine
literary quality. The man Of letters as well
as the lover of good stories rejoiced in It, and
both sorts of readers will be glad OF this stately
edition Of the authors complete works. The
volumes are to appear month by month. When
they are all printed when the novels and the
poems are all in this form, with "Earthwork
Out Of Tuscany and "The Tuscan Road" the
well proportional. oOtavos, cleaning in their
sylvan green and gold. will warm
The heart of every reader who watches con-
temporary literature for the things which prom
se to last.
Little by little the specious character Of Oscar
Vnde's writings is being found out. A French
nan the late Hughes Rebel, thought enough
II him to translate his Intentions" but he also
had the wit to see that he was not the original
hat he has seemed to be TO so many Of his
ARTISANS NJ. Rebel declared that I'm THE
Duchess of Padua" Wilde initiated Hugo and
;ardou; that IN The Portrait Of Dorian Grey
ia initiated Huysmans: that his poems were in
pired by the poems Of Swinburne, and that
ther things of his were likewise derived from
ther men. Taking up the parable. in a review
f the French volume, MT. Arthur Symons con-
inues in this wise:
wilde wrote much that true. and val
"a HE about art and the artist. But In everything
'n+hing which had been said before him. or
yhirh was not the mere wilful contrary OF what
I'D been said before him. In his devotion TO
,eau+v lie seemed to have given up the whole
rorId and vet what most tragic in the tragedy
rss that he had never recognized the true race
= heaIJtv He followed beauty, and beauty ned
ror1 him for his devotion was that IT the loVeE
'roIId of many conQuests. He was eager 70 Pro
ioj-o conquest. and too haSty TO dlStlnsulsh
&c ,raan beauty and beauty's handmaid. HIS praise
E-,,en he attempted to create beauty in words ne
escribed beautiful things. 'Salome' Is a cata-
Ogue.
Since Mr. Synons is himself a decadent' these
omissions are doubly significant. Perhaps by
nd nv all the decadents will realize the full
xtent of oscar Wildes Gneretriciousness