New-York tribune., 1910-09-11
Gbe u;11ork 0ribn,t&
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER IL, l?lV.

err- that fearful wildfowI includes the en-
couroeoment- of fellowship and cooperation
AMONG those who are disinterestedly striving
for the perfection of English literature Inc
sublime Forty might Go worse than make
start by promoting new editorial sentiment
on the subject of that extremely uncertain
quantity. "hitherto unpublished matter 1t is
ohou, time for something to be done that would
abate the pomposty of the writer's VINO expect
every new document that they publish TO De
treated with profound respect Ihere Is noun
ing taIismanc about such document JUST pe-
cause it is new, but over and over again we are
asked TO regard a book as really valuable for
no other reason than that it contalns Hesn
matter though this may contribute aDsoluteiy
nothing TO better conception OF the Sup)ecI III
hand. We have not seen Mr.. John Ii. lnsrams
recent book on ChattertOn and accordingly
have no opinion on the authors claim that IL
is = study from original documents but we
m,,st hermit ourselves a smile over his lndlgna-
tion because two of his reviewers have not
seen eye to eye with him in the appraisal Oh
those documents. When "The Saturday Re-
view" asserts, OF the nearly three hundred
and fifty pages" Of his book, extremely Att'e
Of this has hitherto escaped publication, ne
retorts Il am quite prepared to prove IN
court OF law that this statement Is false. Anat
is all very well But we fancy that we Hno"
lust how the reviewer felt.
Some time ago we had occasion to notice a
paper by Mr.. Francis Grbbie In Ihe Eort
nightly in which he taversed the ue OF
.,Tourgenieff and touched upon the latters ad
ventures of the heart. Bringing IN the mover
lists relations with Nine. Pauline Vlardot-Gar-
cia he said 'It is not even known for certain
much OF the correspondence having been
srnpressed-whether he was ever, In the 1ull
sense of the word, her lover" We ventured
then to point out that there might be some
persons Indifferent to Mr. Gribble's specuia-
.tions and content to regard celebrated friend
shin without suspicion We are glad to see
our surmise confirmed by at least one lnuf
yi,ual "a welLinformed correspondent, VINO
knew the Viardot family" for he has sent 10
.srhe Fortnishtly" the following remarks:
/. Madame Viardot was married In 1S4o: Al
the time. therefore of her visit to St Petersburg
in 1916, when. apparently. Tourgenieh first maze M
her acquaintance. she had been he VIE VI 41-
~ % . There is no question that M. and Madame
Viardot enjoyed extremely happy niaIleo H.s
life and that she was held in very genera eS'1-
nation in Partisan society.
3. NJ. viardot himself was by no mean means "a
French Art. and held the important post Of
Director of the National Opera
T. Tourgenieff an exile from his own
country during the greater part OF his stay WIN
the Viardots, permission to visit Russia nor
having been granted until within lew y,i years oi
a home for q man who was homeless and WITH
out family.
5 Madame Viardot and her husband were the |
kindest friends that Tourgenien ever possessed,
and Madame Viardot, in particular exercised a |
most salutary influence on him. The incident |
of the throwing Of the ink-pot, to which MIR |
Gribble alludes, fully accounted for by the
aeonjziny nature Of Tourgenieff'S illness.
As the editor Of The Fortnightly" remarks,
we have here a very different picture from
that given by Mr. Gribble.
Is q suide-boOk literature? 1t certainly |
seems so to the reader immersed in volume
of Raedeker. At all events he must be dull Of
soul indeed who cannot on occasion get out OF
such book joy almost equal to that com
municated by poetry itself. However. we sup
pose that according to the conventions your
best of all guide-bocks is not precisely liter
ary masterpiece, and therefore the average |
author who is trying TO excel In fiction would
probably scorn the adviser who told him to go
and get job as cataloguer of towns and
villages, picture galleries and taverns, trout
streams and tramWay lines. Let him read Mr. |
Claude i. Benson's Concerning Guide Books, |
in the current number Of the "Cornhll Maga- |
zine" He admits that he has suffered trials |
and veXatiOn in his career Of guide writing.
But lie declares, 'it is a most healthy, enjoya-
ble and instructive occupation-at any rate, |