The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-06-18
LITERARY NOTES.

There is one sentence in Robert Grants
new book. THE Orchid" which has been
quoted by nearly every reviewer in this
country, and has stirred up discussion
from one end of the land to another.
II is the summing up of the whole stua-
ton by Mrs Cunningham, where she fin
ally decides to lay aside her scruples and
go to the reception of the twice married
Lydia Arnold Maxwell pencer-"Whch
goes to prove, my dear" she says, that
the only objectionable social sin In this
country is to lose ones money. Nothing
else really counts" In that biting SEN
tence Judge Grant has stated a condition
which the story, which is as powerful
as it is amusing, goes far to prove, and
a condition that seems to be accepted,
whether resentfully or phllosophically, as
a fact.
The first piece of fiction that was ever
offered in printed form to the Samoans
was Robert Louis Stevensons story Of
THE Bottle Imp" The idea of the story,
Mrs. Stevenson says In her introduction
to island Nights Entertainment" in the
new biographical edition of Stevenson,
was suggested to Stevenson by a melo-
drama which was founded on an old Ger
man legend. The similarity of the legend
to the Hawaiian folk stories struck Stew
enson particularly, and he wrote the story
| especially to appeal to the naive mind.
The tale was translated by a missionary
into the Samoan tongue and published
serially in the 'Sulu," under the title Of
| 20 lie Fangu Aitu." The circulation of
the paper Immediately arose to an enor-
nous extent and the popularity of the
| story among the Samoans was unlimited
| A strong belief remained in the island
that The unopened bottle still existed and
was safely slowed away in Stevenson S
house.
Three other volumes of this biographical
| edition viii be published early in June,
! THE Wreckers" 1.-The Inland Voyage"
and Familiar Studies of Men and Books" y
! The Macmillan company are issuing
India paper editions of Scott, Thackeray
| and Dickens, uniform with their series
of Illustrated pocket classics The aver
age extent of these volumes Is 700 pages,
and their average thickness fve-eighths
| of an inch. In the series the Waverly
| Novels will be issued In a red binding,
the works of Dickens in green, and those
of Trackery in blue All the books to
appear in the series will be obtainable
both in cloth and in leather. The first
four volumes published in the series are
| 'Picl1wick Papers," VANITY Fair"
"Oliver Twist" and "Pendennis." Each
volume is a reprint of the first edition
with all the original Illustrations
The most remarkable letters which
have appeared for years have just been
published under the title of Richard
Wagner to Mathilde Wesendoncl1, trans
lated from the German by William Ash
| ton Ellis They are the letters that
Wagner wrote to Frau Wesendonck dur
| ing the period of the conception and
creation of Tristan and Isolde" and in
deed for years afterward and they show
| far beyond anything ever published be-
| fore Wagners inner life and feeling
! during that most interesting period of his
career. The story of this important epi-
| sode of his life has been told before, but
never fully and accurately. Here we
| have the original documents themselves
and they are certainly one of the most
remarkable publications of recent years.
The Smart Set announces many attrac-
tive literary features for its summer num-
/ bers The novelties In the July, August
| and September issues will be written by
| three of the most distinguished American
| women authors-Gertrude Anterior, Mrs
| Burton Harrison and Molly Elliott Sea-
| we'll Mrs. Athertons story, which will
open the July number, is called "Ten
| Travelling Thirds" and Is a delightful