New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-16
Dickens at Christmas in Book
and Picture.

anu fICtuTe.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS. BY
John Forster. With 90 portIdlA' is
SMILES and other illustration. VI
Jected. arranged and annotated oye p
w Natz. In two volumes. Lat se o -
pp' xxxiv. 4Sl: XVI. 5A. The BAKER {"
Taylor Company
THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS.
Centenary Edition. IN thirty-si1 VOL
,,rnee illustrated. Charles Scrloner
sons.
THE pOSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE
PICKWICK CLUB. By Charles DlCh,
ems illustrated by Cecil Adm IN
Two volumes. 40. PIP x Az K ''''
L. T.. Dutton e. co.
TIE Personal HISTORY OF r pAviD
sOPPERFIELD. BY Charles DICK Ls'
Illustrated iu color by FRANK KEY ho'u .
y T. small 4to. Dp- 5s2 Hoooer O.
>toughton.
TALE OF TWO CITIES, BY Gnarie T.,
Dickons with twenty illustrations hn al y
color by Sep. 4. scott. Inv inv pp' ''
Boston. Little, Brown 90
crpisTNAN CAROL BY Charles
Dickens. with Illustrations oy a. II
Michael 40. up. JIG. The george H.
Doran Company
4 CHRISTMAS CAROL. By Charles aaTd7s
Dickens. Now. illustrated n E,,e go =
gueClft =
Everett limo. pp. l67. Thomas l.
Crowell & Co.
rHE CHIMES. BY Charles Dickens, Illus ,,,l,,
trated by Frederick simpson CoeuIn'
emo. pp xii. lS9. G.. i. Putnams sons
SCENES FROM DICKENS. For Drawing
Room and Platform Acting A9 qSL,,as,
by Guy PSrtwee;s EdiieG D 4,aies by
Edward Handley-Read. limo, pp' XII
81 f. T. Dutton < Co
The Dlckensian Is in luck this year.
az course. the works Of the great novel
ist are always with Us. and every Christ
mas witnesses the publication Of two or
three OF them I'm holiday editions. But
tho approach Of his centenary naturally
gave a special impetus 20 The prepara-
ton Of attractive reprints, and as the
foregoing list well shows, goodly num-
Der OF these are already TO hand. 1t Is
with 2 peculiarly affectionate interest
that one contempiates these books. In
all that wonderful galaxy Of noveIists
Of genius which we owe TO the VIC
torian era there is none who so warns
the heart as does the master who was
born a hundred years ago. on Friday
February Z. 1872.
4 new edition Of Forster's Life was
inevitable at this time, but we hardly
expected one so altogether delightful as
that which Mr.. Matz has prepared In
TWO noble volumes. This is the more IN
sratiating. too. because familiar text
has been let alone. AS Mr.. Matz says.
new material has been accumulated
happens. IL is a book which one reads
not simply as a record, but for its own
sake Forster passionately loved his
friend. and he had fortunately genu-
Inc literary gift OF his own. He MADE
classic Of the biography, painting por-
trait which will be forever cherished
10th for it's truthfulness and for its in
trinsic charm. il anything was needed
10 heighten its perfection It was the pic
torial accompaniment that Mr.. Matz has
provided and on which his publishers
have lavlshed the utmost care. seeing TO
IL that the reproductions have been
beautifully made.
These pictures extend, as it were.
every answer that Forster gives to the
questions Of the reader. What was the
novelists personal appearance at this or
that stage Of his career? Scores of por-
traits are here 70 show US What did
his friends look like? Their portraits,
too. are given. What Of the houses he
lived in. the buildings in which he APP
peared as lecturer. the scenes in Eng
land or elsewhere identified with spe-
clally interesting moments in his life?
There are pictures Of them all. How
were his books published and illustrated
Facsimiles Of cOlors and drawings soor
satisfy our curiosity. in the same way
We may study his handwriting at differ
ent periods In short, an immense
amount of what Forster describes is in
these volumes made doubly tangible
And many OF these souvenirs have a still
wider significance, as in such a drawing
as that which Thackcray humorously
made, showing Dickens driving off into
Cornwall with Forster. Maclise and Stan
field. How this little sketch carries us
back into the very heart Of the novel
lists circle, We feel its movement AMI
breathe its atmosphere. That is the SER
vice rendered by this reprint Of Forster.
II gives us a beloved book in perfect
form and establishes us with more of
reality than ever in the company Of the
master and his friends.
Another important tribute to the round
ing out of Dickens's hundred years is
that embodied in the Centenary Edition
Of his works ROW being put forth by the
ScTibners The two volumes containing
tho Miscellaneous PAPERS and the
Plays and Poems are all that lie be-
fore us at the moment, and we have
commented upon many of their thirty
four predecessors. but II is fitting that
We should note here the general char
scteristics Of this excellent reprint. II
is packed with the famous old illustra-
ticns by Cruikshank Phz Leech and
the rest, admirably reproduced The
typography is clear and handsome and
the paper light I'm weight and pleasant
nnnKC AnJn ,IIDl iNATInho