The morning journal-courier., 1908-11-12
MAGAZINE WRITING AND THE NEW
 I,rL,R \ III E l., Rl. IInnrt. AIllla Al :

MAGAZINE WRITING AND THE NEW
 LITERATURE. By Henry Mills AL
 den. Cloth, untrlmmed edges, gilt
 top; s2 net. Published by Harper &
 Brothers, New York.
 One of the richest of the literary productions of the season is this crit ical volume by Henry Mills Alden, for forty years editor of Harper's MaEa- zine, on the subject of Magazine Writ ing and the New Literature The au- thority and pleasure which work of this sort contributes 10 modern com mentary arc genuinely rare. It Is not critique of the style and mater ial of magazine. but Is devoted to a consideration of general magazine in- fuence during the last two centuries, and is concerned also with the sig ntfcant development in the sensiblity of the public during that time. Mir. Alden has always written with rare personal touch, and he has here SO rich a field that the readers interest becomes very keen.
 The book gives an account of the influence of periodicals during the last two centuries and of the important relationship to tho magazine of sig nifcant writers during that time. AL though the manner of presenting the material Is informal, a strong organic unity binds the work into solid body of criticism. The critic, the student, and the casual reader will alike well come and enjoy 1t.
 In these twenty-five essays we find a. series If discussions of such topics as Eminent Authors in Journalism" ,"' "Prizes of Authorship" "The Ddactic Era" The First Realism" The De- parture from the Victorian Era" and '"The Inexplicable Idealism." In every case the author lays more stress upon life than upon literature, and empha- sizes the thought that we arc living in & real world. Both reveal, as the years progress, development and ad- vance. What its possibilities are" he says, "wnen this attitude reaches it's consummation by a universal accept. ance, no one can predict Present ac- complishments are at least interesting enough to figure expectation, at the same time guarding us against the il- lusory hope of ever again behOlding the kind of greatness displayed by the overshadowing might of past ex- ampars" In answer to the question What is reality?" MT Alden re- marks Everything in the world, and fin our life is coming to be interesting to us only as seen plain. We cherish 1ynnuYIo,lun thnn escaping as far as we may, the tyran- ny of our intellectual concepts and fancies and the entanglements and pitfalls into which our sophistlcation betrays us. Science, fin it's quest of reality, has registered the general pro- gress toward emancipation. PhilOso- phy is followed by the example of science, The enlargement of literature, like fits enrichment, must be through the truth, which discloses the real value of our earthly existence, and experience In their living terms, and which give to common things and associations their full meaning, in- vesting them with their natural pAtnOs and with the romance formerly assoc cIated mainly with what was alien and remote. A new and higher kind of curiosity has been awakened and de- velopcd which the stories Of old tray- elers like Marco Polo could not satis- fy--a curiosity concerning intimate things Our prospective is changed, diminishing the entertainments due to distance a3 the microscope has out