New-York tribune., 1907-12-19
Tbe Memoirs of Dumas, and Other
Books an Nezc Editions.

BY E NJ Naiter WIN en- introduction hy
fToaIisiece hnaffT Emo pp XII 40 The Macmillan
Company.
-,,F CRIMES OF URBAN GRANDTER AND
II l0THFRS BY Alexandra Dumas. Illustrated
I2n1o. pp. x;i, 472. The Macmillan Company.
when Alexandra Dumas was a young man in
paris ne counted Talma among his friends In
,ho second volume of his memoirs he tells the
tor, Of a visit he and Adolphe de Leuven paid
- the great actor only fortnight before his
a.a,h Talrna was studying Arnaulrs "Tibare"
., which he expected soon to appear. He was
cor, thin but this facte only gave him hope of
,-eater success in the forthcoming theatrical
re-foru,ance We'll my boys" he said to the
tvro pressing his hanging cheeks between his
hands won't these be just right for the part Of
old Tiberius?" The anecdote is interesting in
itself but we quote it chiefly for the Sd Ike Of the
comment added by Dumas: ''Oh! how great and
glorious a thing isl Il shows more devotion
than friend. is more faithful than a mistress.
more conscling than a confessor.' The words
sre characteristic. They breathe the spirit of
.he great rornancer's whole career. We are told
thai he had no style. and that he constantly
wrote for money. but he had. Just the same the
soul OF an artist.
The reader of his memoirs is bound to feel this
In the present instalment of Mr.. Walters new
translation the record still bears upon the youth
ful experiences of the writer in the provinces.
hllt Il carries him TO Paris IN due course. and
this means that il plunSes into the tale OF
that feverishly romantic career which, once
started. was without the glamour Of art.
Even in the early days of Villers-C Cotterets this
prodigal OF genius burning with curiosity
IS TO life and its mysteries. keen upon advent
ure and preternaturally quick to seize upon the
huulors Of the ordinary folk about him. 1t ali
made splendid material for copy" his aspira-
that actually happened to him, and when he
cane TO put il On paper we may be sure that
nothing he had to tell would lose in the telling.
Dumas is always the master Of narrative. His
anecdotes come into his pages as part and par
Gel of the broad history he has to relate. the
history Of a man deligiting in mankind We
must quote a souvenir of his theatrical init
nacies tale Of Lafond. of the Theatre
Francais:
He once came into the lGupge @ Of the .dr ThtStTe t
was often hissedl hurting on his car. .at',e 4
Lafonds trick of over-acting tolSoh putlel nm mn
self up; but II was too late La!ohd haa Le't4 ms
voice in the corridor lie made straight ior toiso
deIais accent Of which none bur those who have
heard and followed il coulG form an idea: they
cover himself. take YOU ofre . No 1 swear
Al Tight: 3,, ~ right, that E9s What was told
What is It, N Lafond?r
Act my part before me
I beg YOU 10 90 it, shall really be extremely
The deuce" said Colson. IF you really wish
yes. i do wish TT
Colson yielded, and began orosmane's trade .
and detained It from the first line 70 the last with
95oh s5e3I dgH o9 q mEa i1l2 We're ehae ecan a l
LafOnd listened TO the end with the deepest at
pressing his appreciation by frequent and OBVIOUS
,-op-o, 1,a7 finished
Why ever don't you ac: like that, dear fellow?
The public would not hiss you If you did,
The temptation is strong to go on indefinitely
quoting from Dumas the fragments which. like
the foregoing, enable to realize the tone and
temper OF the world in which he lived 1t was
a world Of hard work as he clearly shows. and
Of many a disappointment, but in the main a
world of pleasure and OF successful effort, the
world of an artistic temperament steadily ex-
panding and growing more potential The me-
moirs as they go and reveal the maturing
author grow the more vivacous. the closer
packed with readable matter. It is gratifying
that this new translation should have been
undertaken and that the successive volumes
should evidently be getting themselves printed
with little delay. We note with similar appre-
ciation the publication Of the second volume in
the new edition Of his Celebrated Crimes" In
this he treats of the history of Urban Grandier.
Derues. La Constantin, Murat. Karl-Ludwig
Sand. and the Man in the Iron Mask In these
pages, hack work though they were, he makes
We have said before, the dry bones live.
A classic of devotional literature is reprinted
il especially worthy form in the edition OF
Thomas q Kenpis which the buttons issue for
the HOLIDAYS. This volume is, indeed, well cal
chi, ted to rejoice its possessor always Surely
81 IS good to have The Imitation OF Christ
printed in a beautiful bold type. on stout paper
not with Illustrations in the usual sense, but
with here and there page decorated in colors
after the fashion of the nluminations OF the
Middle Ages This dition is as dignihed as II
is artistic. One or two other Christmas publ
cations Of religious character lie before US
The buttons print in convenient octave
sFhfllips Brooks" an abridguent by Ny Alex
ander Y. G. Allen OF his well known Lie ana
Letters" of the noted Boston churchman. Ihls
is particularly desirable volume IL gives III
concise form the story Of one OF the noblest OF
American preachers. man whose oeeos anu
whose personality brought inspiration 10 thou-
sands. In his biographer's afectionate pages iie
lives again to make his stirring appeal to teach
his precious lesson of character ana fdIth IA
The Story of Joseph" we have the tale as it Is
told IN The OLD Testament introduced with a
hrief scholarly and interesting essay by
Fletcher Harper Swift and with an apposite
PAPER on the land Of Joseph's soJourn oy Ueofse
Alfred williams This writer also suppAes' III
addition to his Egyptian notes. some cieNei
drawings in black and white and In coiors- me
Baker G. Taylor Company has prlnteo the oooh
IL clear type on good paper win uhteu ooi .
and has given IL a suitably decorative oiiloiiis'
From the Fleming H Reven Company comes d
picturesque scriptural tale BY James M -uu
iow. Jesse ben David: A Shepherd OF 0eti'ie