New-York tribune., 1910-12-17
WELL TRIED FICTION.

for the work, personal impressions very
cleverly set forth.
WELL TRIED FICTION.
DESPERATE REMEDIES. A Novel BY
Thomas Hardy. Frontispiece. 12mo, PIP.
viii. AS. Harper & Bros.
DEEPHAVEN- BY Sarah orne Jewett-
Frontispiece. 16mo. PIP. 254- The Hough-
ton Miffiin Company.
SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH
r. NJ BY Z. G. Somerville and Mar
tin Ross. With illustrations by F. E.,
sonervile. New Edition. limo. pp.
Viii. 500. Longmans. Green & Co.
THE STORY OF COSTA BERLING. BY
Swedish. By Pauline Bancroft FIach.
illustrated Edition. with thirty-two
pictures from original drawings by
try of the story on the cover. Crown
svo.- pp. y. AS. Boston: Little, Brown
At this season of the year there are.
as we have often remarked. no books
which it is more gratifying to commend
than those which are unmista ka.bly
meant to outlast the holidays High up
among such publications should be
placed the good reprints of the best
fiction. The Thin Paper Edition of
Hardy's novels offers a case in point.
We record above only one of the vol
mes issued by the Harpers. but the
edition includes. of course, all of the
suthor's other works In a good clear
type, on thin but substantial paper, with
the familiar map of "Wessex" inserted
at the back, and with a tasteful binding
Of red cloth delicately stamped in gold,
this set OF pocket volumes is nothing
less than boon. Hardy long since took
his place among the classics Even in
Desperate Remedies" which is not one
of his masterpieces. he showed himself
something of the master. and in the
books that followed he emerged the full
statured man of genius we know This
is an edition to place beside cherished
volumes of TnacKeray. Dickens and
Ralzac.
1t is N not quite such imposing COM
pany that the late Sarah Orne Jewett
is to be found, yet we are not sure but
that her writings have, in their way, as
secure a place. In "Deephaven.' in "A
Country Doctor" and in all the rest of
her gentle narratives. she portrayed the
life of New England with a penetration
and an art not to be bettered by any Of
her contemporaries. though these have
included some novelists of rare gifts.
Tie Houghtons have done well to issue
a collected edition of her Stories and
Tales in seven pocket volumes, pro-
yided with agreeable frontispieces and
printed in Simple but dainty fashion.
Miss Jewett always had numerous and
loyal readers. and many of them will
be glad Of this convenient reprint.
Those VINO delight in fiction that roll
licks and shakes with laughter will take
unto themselves the new edition Of
"fscome Experiences Of An Irish r. NJ, y
and its three companions, the Further
Experiences Some Irish Yesterdays
ard All on the Irish Shore" Every
now and then we have occasion to speak
a hearty word for the authors Of these
ini,ritable sketches. That word cannot
i,e too often repeated. Between the joy
OF the hunt and the uproarious fun OF
irish life, the painters Of FURRY Knox,
Mrs Knox of Aussolas. Maggie Kane,
and a hundred other irresistible types.
attain TO a pitch of blissful merriment
that has never been beaten by novelists
dealing with the unhappy island. The
wise reader will make a note of this new
edition.
The continuance Of the grip which
Selma Lagerlof's work has upon her
readers lies, perhaps, most Of all in its
atmosphere II is saturated with the
spirit of Scandinavia with that Of the
Sagas. and of the Northern realists who
in the closing years of the last century
commanded a hearing III international
letters. It is remote from us as is the
country itself and the melancholy soul
of IFS T,eople II stands alone, refusing
to re classified by school or genre. The
Illustrations made for the new holiday
edition Of THE Story of Costa Beriing'
are as truly of Scandinavia as the text
which they reflect SO strikingly in many
of it's nhases. Mr. PAUL. is of the school
~ his country and mis- day, the present.
This reprint does not sin in the direc-
tion of over elaboration and costliness
ia napar or binding, but it makes good
onnearance. Our only regret is that the
publishers have not taken advantage OF
rhe opportunity to provide the story with
new introduction.