The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-01-11
NEWS OF THE BOOK WORLD
THE UNEASY j, CHAIR

THE UNEASY CHAIR
Place Amos Bronson A}cott Expected to
Have In Heaven; A RItsofs Gossip from Re-
becca Harding Davis New Rook.-An
amusing story, quite characteristic of the
BOOK, is told by Rebecca Harding Davis
OF Amos Bronson Alcott In her new book,
ana consequently very entertaining read
ing. Mrs. Davis, speaking of a CONVEX
sation with Emerson, SAYS:
He told me, II asked AIcott the other day
what he would do when he came to the gate, and
St Peter demanded his ticket, What have you
TO snow !, TO Justify your right to live? said.
Where IS your book your picture2 You have
done nothing IN the world No. The said, but
somewhere on the hill up there will be Plato
and Paul and Socrates talking, and they will
say se a An aa over here's. we want him with
head, he was right! Alcott was right
1t was Emerson also who said to Mrs.
Davis: 5s5
''Why? Thoreau? HeShesitated, thinking, 60
ing apparently to the bottom of the matter, and
said presently: Henry often reminded me Of
animal in human form He had the eye of
bird, the scent of dog, The most acute, deli.
cate 1ntelligence-but no SOUL No. he repeated.
shaking his head with decision, ''Henry could
not have had human SOUL .a..
Two such glimpses of the kind Of mate
rial enc finds in Mrs. Davis book should
be enough to tempt almost any reader of
books. These two come from the por-
ton under the head of Boston in the Six
ties One will find just as catching"
reading under any of the other heads,
anecdote after anecdote Turing one on
from page to page until the book is fin
ished with regret; yet with satisfaction,
for thereafter one will know where he
may find reading that will bear second
| ~, vivid Stt,cr - y
ton Is the section on ."The Civil War
Mrs. Davis, lived in West Virginia during
the war, and was near. enough to the front
to see phases of the war which people
farther north or farther south had no OPP
portunity of knowing anything about
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston; $1.25 net
Shakspere Treasure Found.-The Lon
don Morning Leaders Copenhagen CORE
spondent reports today the discovery at
Lund, Sweden, of a book containing the
text of Shaksperes .Titus Andronicus, -
printed in London in 1894. The Oldest
edition hitherto known is the 1900 quarto.
| Epigrams About Woman.-You can
| draw almost any sort of an epigram about
woman from Woman and Her Wits, a lit
tie book of eptgrams on woman, love and
| beauty" collected and edited by G. F.
4 Monkshood. The reason for the infinite
variety of ep1gram is found. no doubt, in
| the Infinite variety of woman. It is a
rather striking fact that Of the great mum
Der of sayings in this book, sayings uttered
with all the assurance of finality almost
all are by men. That. would, perhaps, be
a more interesting collection which would
contain only epigrams on woman by
women. We await its production with
| interest.
I H. M. Caldwell company, New York
a $4,000 Book.-The copy of the I.atr
Psalter Of 1859, which was sold in London
IN the Sotheby auction rooms on Satur.
day, Dec. 10, realized the large sum OF
$4,000 which is remarkable as being the
second highest price ever given at auc.
ton for printed book, says the New Yorl
| Times Saturday Review. The record price
Tor book printed with movable types i!
84,950, given in the same rooms, Dec. 10
1884, at the Sir John Ha y'ford Thorolt
sale, for another and slightly finer copy O
the same work, the second book printed
with date at the worlds first printtns
press. =. ....s
The e4,950 copy remained in the DOS
session of its purchaser, the late Bernard
Quar1tch, Tor long period, and wa
11nally sold after his death to J. Pierpon
morgan. Twelve copies, perfect and i'm
perfect, are now known of the Psalter O
1859, Of which an edition of twenty copie
was printed byaFust eand Schoeffer at tn
expense Of the Carthusian monastery O
st. James, near MentZ. ,- = .r.
The copy just sold for $4,000 was dis
, covered in 1887 by M. .Alois Berger in tn
? library OF Count Wilhelm Won Westerholt
Gysenberg, in the castle of Freienthun
near Klagenfurt, in Carinthia It cam
into that famiy's possession on the disso
luton OF the monastery of St. James +
1881. The bidding for this remarkabl
typographical treasure started at tn
: sotheby sale at s1,0OO, and at $4,000
, was sold to Baer & Co. of Frankfort. til
under bidder being Bernard Quaritch, tn
son OF the Napoleon of rare book deal
ers," who twenty years ago paid e4e5
for the costliest book in existence.
Story Of Spy Of the Frontier.-Richar
Norvell is such a remarkable young mar
that' IN the reading Of the 321 pages 9
re'ice Constant, his feats on one page ar
Forgotten In the revelations Of the mex
r Yet from just what sources William {
Sprague the author, drew for the define
, atlon or his hero it would be difficult t
. judge. Perhaps he went back to Falsta1
. or t1ud1bras for one side Of his chara etc
and then added all the valor of the con-
OF King Arthur to make up for any def
cheney or courage. However, the compoun
makes the hero very estimable youn
man, put not one that we should hay
thought General Washington would hay
employed on such difficult errand as tn
spying out OF the situation in the Detro
settlement, Altho Norvell eventually es
2 capes with his information, it is not unt
+ ne has made his presence known an
!, given his enemies every chance in II
u world to discover him.
s In love he is much more successful III.
g IN diplomacy. Either the straightforwa :
v honesty OF his nature or touch of melf
. drama compels the love. of Felice Cor
stant, the exiled French girl, and Dor
y cameron the belle Of Detroit The hapn
k solution OF the difficulty lies in the fat
that one of the two must be his siste
Only on the last page is the myster
solved. '''oi
however, as before said, the fascinatio
. Oh the story lies not in the hero's loves {
e ~ MS success. It is not due to the a,
o tlor style, the plot, or by any 9th,
# Standard by which we are accustomed ,
: 9udge. 1t lies In the number Of times th.
y me young man says the wrong thing
is the wrong place. When the book clos.
n WIN the suggestion that "they lived ha,
piiy ever afterward," the idea forces !
sen upon the reader that it was not
neipmeet that the ''hero" should Ia,
- taken unto himself, but guardian.
- freoerlck A. Stokes company. New york. e. <
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