New-York tribune., 1908-05-23
BOOKS and AUTHORS.
Current Talk of Things Present
and to Come.

OF the experiences Of old travellers can
| never hear too much. Those which carry us
| back to the historic periods especially well
come for they are not only interesting in sub
stance but their very diction is apt to give them
| a peculiar charm. 1t is good news therefore,
| that Mrs Henry Gust is editing book, quantity
called Gentlemen Errant' In which will be set
| forth the travels and adventures of four noble
| men in Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth
| centuries. 1t seems that these four wandered
over the world in search of anything they could
find which was worth having. as. for example
wives. wealth, politics and war"
We may note by the way that the Macmillan
Company has lately imported the third and
fourth volumes completing Fynes Moryson's 8
Itinerary" the character of which was fully
illustrated In The Tribune when the earlier in
stalments We're issued. AS shown then. this
Elizabethan work is of the best included in
the beautiful series of reprints undertaken by
Maclehose, OF Glasgow. Moryson q sturdy
man of action and shrewd observer. There is
much that is valuable for the historian in his
description Of the rebellion in Ireland, which fills
a large part OF the third volume. and his mis-
celaneous travels full Of amusing matter.
His "Precepts for Travellers voluminous
and wise. He thought that the spring and
autumn were best for long journeys. 1t was
vice he had for the traveller:
In general. he must be warie not to shew any
quantity Of money about him, since Thieves
quire after the condition of passengers If his
journy be long; let him not tell (no not to his
thereof but rather from Cite to Cite professe
that he intends to go no further nth Suppose he
thence to Rome, it is all one as If he Showed his
@ since all fr tbn Eny he must have
more fit he should professe onely to goe for
and ' When he shall come thither, he shall either
perhaps have new consorts of his journy, or
there he met with letters. which force him 10
goe further.
Canny Fynes! He had another good idea,
which was that man, before setting forth,
should be reconciled to his enemies, that they
may practice i'll against him. his friends
in his absence, and that his mind may be more
regously composed against all events" There
is mere. much more, which 1t is beguling to
read and which would be glad to quote We
must add what we have said before, that the
volumes in this series are beautifully printed
and made
In the notes of conversations with Gladstone
at oxford in 1890, which have been printed IN
"Cornhill" and are to be made into a little book
there is a passage which piquantly illustrates
his atmosphere, so to say, as bookman His
passion for books is well known, but he was
not collector in the customary acceptation Of
the term The passage In question runs as fol-
lows:
The. rage for. early editions is wonderful; Now,
had a little book, a first edition of "Alastor,"
and some suggested to me that it was val
get which. who sent 1t to auction, and, after de-
Quoting the liberal commissions charged got a
check for fS 60 All. but burned my fingers
the other day: / bought little book, Sterlings
Poems for two guineas, and met friend after
wards who had got an equally good copy for Us
Early in June, Charles Scribner's Sons will
publish THE Book of Fish and Fishing" by
Mr. Louis Rhead. This is described as a COM
those who angle for all fishes in fresh and salt
water It is be abundantly illustrated from
the authors own drawings and it will be made
of q convenient size, by inches, that it
can easily be carried in the pocket
What is folk lore?" The question may seem |
easy TO answer until you have tried to answer /!
IT concisey and with accuracy. The subject |
does not appeal 20 every one, but sure |
that there are many readers who will be inter- !
ested to hear Mr.. Andrew Langs rough defini- |
,,or In the London morning Post he says:
7 have always understood folklore to mean the |
tradtionaI ancestral lore Of the folk, that is Of
the classes European society which used to be |
tiiiterate and keep up, by dint of tradition.
rcbsfn usages manners. rites beliefs. ballads,
stories and so forth, but little contaminated by
tho literature though frequently veneered by the |
AZ is we'll known the lore OF the folk Is rich in |
survivsIs of very archaic and even savage ideas.
msasss stories, and rites-whch are absent, In