New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-07-13
BOOKS AND AUTHORS.
Current Talk of Things Present
and to Come.

Three novels running serialIy through
American magazines may be expected in book
form this autumn They are Mrs Wharton's
Tho Fruit OF the Tree" which IS appearing In
Scrioner's'; Mrs. Burnett's The Shuttle"
which Is printed in The Century" and Miss
sinclairs The Hepmate." which is being pub
lished in The Atlantic"
Mr.. Galen Clark, the discoverer Of the Mari
posa Grove OF Big Trees. and for many years
Guardian OF the Yosemite Valley. has written a
volume on The Big Trees of California" He
publishes IL himself. at Yosemite Another
worker in the same field who brings out his own
book is Mr.. Romeyn B. Hough. OF Lowvile.
y. Y. His new work Is a Handbook of the
Trees OF the Northern States and Canada. East
OF the Rocky Mountains'
The dis,ressful circumstances which. accord
ing 10 yesterdays dispatches have oyertaken
Ouida, must be widely regretted In this coun-
try, where. throughout her long career. she has
had thousands of loyal readers Many of those
readers have unquestionably been drawn from
an undiscriminating public. They have admired
this novelist for her least admirable traits: for
the cruder elements IN her romantiCsm. the
fustian in her style the melodrama in her plots,
and in short. the touch OF eXaggeraton which
has often made her seem one Of the CharataDs
OF literature. But no one who thoughtfully con-
sders her books be blinded by their mere
tricious qualities 10 the streak of genius which
runs through them all. In this respect Ouda
has been endowed far beyond the measure Of the
average best seller" OF to-day.
She never a merely clever type. She wrote
with something like inspiration AbundautIy
possessed OF the narrative gift. aud with much
deeper insight into human nature than her su-
perfcial critics have been able TO perceive she
wont TO let her imagination go: and IL the
result often too garlsh and even sensa tional
IL was never, in essence. vulgar She too
sincere for that Her famboyanCies can be the
more readily forgiven too lnasmuch as they
were rlle outcome OF n genuinely romantic tenn
permanent. undlsciplined. but with something
gallant about IT, She has put delightful gusto
into her work. and. moreover. she has shown not
only explicitly In her miscellaneous writings
but In the broad drift of her stories. a love Of
I truth which by itself should her name to
be honored When this IS considered. and. with
IT, her generous passion for animals and her
humanitarian zeal generally. II seems peculiarly
deplorable that she should be allowed to suffer
from poverty IN her old age. The trifing pen
sion granted 70 her by the British government
ought not 10 be the last addition made TO her
resources. One service that. if rendered to her.
would also be q service to her readers, might
we'll commend itself 70 some American publisher.
This would be the opening Of an arrangement
with her for a collected edition of her writings.
With autobiographical introductions the volumes
would inmmedia tely yield substantial results.
In the series Of Studies in History. Economics
and Public Law" published by the Columbia
University Press, DR.. Preserved Smith has just
Issued n monograph "Luther's Table Talk: a
Critical Study" In II he presents the results
Of his investigation into the authorship. text
and credibity of the numerous incidents COL
lated in various books, commonly known as
''Luther's Familiar Dscourses," or "Luther's
Table Talk" He confines his task chiefly 70
scrutinizing the lives and records Of the great
reformer's twelve Boswels, and the manner in
which they compiled and published their jot-
tings. AS Luther's reputation rests largely upon
the sayings alleged to have been uttered by him,
DR. Smiths work should be welcomed by stu
dents OF church history. 1t contains mine Of
/ information about the biographers and their
original note books. An appendix contains =
voluminous catalogue of all original and other
early manuscripts and printed editions. and also
gives a table showing the relations of the orig
inal notes 10 one another and the way in which
they were combined by the editors
II is good news that among the books in prep
aration at the oxford University Press Is the
third volume of Professor Omans History Of
the Peninsular War" 1t will be published in
the autumn. The second volume. which brought
the narrative down TO the end OF the Talavera
campaign. September. 1919, was published In
1903 Professor Oman's work is OF the highest
interest and we look forward with keen SYM
pathy to the forthcoming volume.
An appeal has been issued, signed by DR.. Ma
haffy and other scholars. looking to subscrip-
lions toward the excavation Of Memphis. The
British School of Archaeology has undertaken the
task and needs support, which must surely be
forthcoming in view of the tremendous signih-
canoe of the enterprise which is thus indicated:
We have before the capital OF Egypt from
the foundation Of its monarchy, the greatest city
OF the most ancient culture the Mediterranean.
The splendor of its four great temples, even In
! their decadence struck the Greeks with awe. The
sites of those temples lie plainly before us amid
the ruins OF the city, and begin directly
70 uncover them. and 10 trace their long history
~ sir thousand years without needing any pre-
liminary research.
To clear the hundred acres occupied by this
mass of ruins IL Q task which must occupy many
years and II 10 estimated that $500 annually