New-York tribune., 1908-01-25

! siDnate autobiography than the Steely
violence or novel with purpose.
The author of the book is one Leo Gilbert.
| The keeper of the Carlyle house at Chelsea is
| quoted by a writer in ''Harper's Weekly" as
| saying, apropos Of the Scotchman's study: I'm
! this room it was, sir that Mr.. Carlyle and Mr..
Tennyson spent long evening. each smokin'
| his pipe and neither Of them speakin' word.
And after three hours. when Mr.. Tennyson rose
| to go, Mr.. Carlyle said to him. It's a grand
! evenin' we've spent. Alfred, grand evenin'.'
And Mr.. Tennyson, he just said. too A grand
evenin',' went out"
| The Columbus Library of the International
! Bureau Of Republics at Washington now con-
tains about thirteen thousand volumes covering
"a great variety of commercial. historical and
general information concerning the different
American republics" It is intended, told,
to enlarge this library to the point of making it
! the most complete collection of Americana in
the world. a perpetual source of useful knowl-
edge. The bureau it should be added, has
| lately prepared for distribution a list Of the
| Latn-Amercan publications. historical and de-
! scriptive. TO be found in this memorial
library
Until the excavators of the great pre-Hel-
/ lenic sites In Crete have given their COM
| suits, readers must depend upon Professor Bur-
/ rows's book the subject, and upon Signor
| Angelo Mosso's ''Escursoni mel Mediterraneo e
| gil Scavi di Creta," English translation of
| which has just appeared. An English COM
mentator says of Mossos book: For instance,
| we learn that the so-called 'gesso duro' reiiefs
| of KnOssos are rather stucco relefs, since they
contain no sulphate OF lime. He notes that.
since the supposed bathrooms lined with
gypsum which dissolves in water, they more
probably something else-say chapels. Apropos
of the soluble gypsum and alabaster so much
used in these buildings, he warns of the i'm
pending dissolution of much Of the buildings
which have been recovered by the spade. And
a shower of rain enabled him to observe how.
after four thousand years, the drainage system
of pre-Hellenic palace still works perfectly
Mr. ". ]. Locke author of '"The Beloved
Vaga bond" and THE Morals of Marcus Or
dayne" has given up his professional work to
devote himself entirely to writing. He is
gagged in AIgiers upon new novel which is to
be published serially before it is issued in book
form. A uniform edition, in ten volumes, of Mr..
Locke's novels will be brought out by the
John Lane Company.
Pierre Lott is fifty eight years old this month,
and the anniversary has been celebrated in
way by the publication Of an English transla-
ton of his book lie Roman dun Spahi,' which
he first published in 1881
A literary drop curtain, in the shape of a
sham sampler. has been used for Peter Pan"
in London. On II apparently worked in
letters Of needle and colored thread, Dear Hans
Christian Andersen: Dear Charles Lamb: Dear
Robert Louis Stevenson: Dear Lewis Carroll"
There is entertaining article on the Aus
trian Emperor in 'CasseIrs Magazine"-one de-
failing some curious incidents of the interviews
which he SO readily grants TO his subjects:
Frequent slips Of the tongue such as Your Ex-
cellency." and even Mr. Emperor" are never
needed. of course; and to hear the old Emperor
experience probably unique in royal receptions
He drops INTO Hungarian for one set of subjects
Bohenlians; Italian, for the people round about
Trieste and the Adriatic seaboard; and so on.
The authoritative life of Henry Irving which
Mr.. Austin Brereton is writing will be brought
out next autumn. The actors have sup
piled all the records and other documents relat-
ing TO their father which they possess. An
cellent site, by the way, has been granted in
London for a statue of Irving
Women Of all Nations is the title Of a new
work announced by Cassen. 1t is to have numer-
it will be published in fortnightly parts.
MI. Layard. whose pompous announcement of
his discovery of the authorship of "Punch's'
poem the death of Lincoln has caused some
wondering amusement in those who never sup
posed there was any mystery about it, apparent
iy did not seek information from the only son
OF Tom Taylor. This gentleman has confirmed
in Notes and Queries" the fact of his fathers
authorship OF the lines, and he adds that the
family possesses a volume containing the ap-
preciative thanks of the United States govern |
ment Of the day for my fathers poem the |
death of the great President"
It is needless at this time OF day, Mr. Clement /
Shorter declares ITO emphasize the fact that |
Mr.. Hall Gaines work is quite remote from lit !
erature" And Mr.. Shorter goes properly 70 /
define literature that portion OF the worlds /
book production which by virtue of the genius /
or intellect combined with the style and individ- !
uality Of the writer is marked off by consen- |
sus of the literary judgment of succeeding gen. !
erations as worthy of permanent preservation" /
This truism-which it is we'll TO restate now
and then in this period of advertising pose-fur-
nishes the platform on which Nr Shorter de-
livers himself Of sound criticism on the ,
subject of the tiresome Mr.. Hall Gaines work
He insists that there is a huge public with
sound, healthy literary sense. and that there is
small army Of critics who are always opposed 10
view OF contemporary books. Never was sug
gestion foolish than this ever put into print
II is easv 10 read in the statement the suggestion
which Mr.. Hall Caine has made elsewhere that he
is confident because the public buy his books that
Those Of US who have read The Eternal City"
and The Christian know that these books are
not good that they hysterical, verbose full OF
claptrap, that they have no more relation 10 liter
ature than the fiction provided week by week for
cheap serial publications. Inc, people VINO ouE