The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-29
l. the Public Indifferent to Good
Books?

Writing in the Atlantic MonthIy on
",The Reading Of Books Nowadays" Mr..
GEORGE +. BRETT. the head in this couu-
try of a famous publishing house. con-
I cludes from various facts. from his
own observations and from the unsuc-
cess Of cheap editions OF certain vol
umcs on serious themes. with the
query which he modestly makes per
sonal 10 himself bur which has oc-
Cured 10 many others. "as to whether
books in these days have not lost the
preeminence they formerly enjoyed as
the principal, and for many people the
only. means of Willing away plea sanity
or instructiyely THE unoccup!ed hours
Of life" He looks back 10 his youth in
England and here in the late sos and
early EOS days before the devil wagon.
when croquet and archery prevailed !:
when 'ba seball was Il real game not u
business" when the tarantella had not
stung the feet Of the whole universal
Yankee nation.
After he went into business THE young
folks his companions were reading
such books as DARwfN's Origin OF Spe.
cies.' PROCToR's Other Worlds Than
ours. GREENS short History Of thp
English People aud many others Of
similar character" They discussed
them. bought them even. The forma-
tion of Libraries was encouraged by
parents and WAS the fashion among
Mr. BEETI'S friends. He thinks that
they were not different in their Ia stcs
from other young people and from
older people.
In the sos there was robustrr
than the modern habit:
'BcRiuning about the middle OF the last
century We lind works on popular science.
such as HUGH MILIERs Footprints of the
Creator and The Testimony OF the
Rocks, in great demand these We're to
he found in every household rs was also
MARTIN TUPPER's 'Proverbial Philosophy
which had an extraordinarily wide sale
over 10000 copies having been sold in
the United States alone Works on phi
losophy ana religion were also in vogue
among them christianity the Logic of
N''iN''i' ~ iitNNi JAMtS inc ldlHtT,
which was widely read"
We had SUPPOSED rhat the ideas II
the elder HENRY JAMES. perhaps tho
most brilliant and original of a famous
family, never found much popular ne.
ceptancc, The Tuppcrian craze can
hardly he said to indicate any sense
of literature among the devoteeS Later
the excellent Dr. HOLLANDS muse en-
rnp,ured large and virtuous audience.
Everybody 10 his taste. but If our young
cNperinenters. our futurists. basters,
Founders and vOrticists don't ind--and
probably don't want-n crowded audi
encc. Is not the standard of poetical
taste much higher and more cXucting
than II was fifty or even twenty-five
years ago?
GREENS History" In its first form
is much more Interesting" and "excit-
ng" than most novels The date (1S74)
brings us near that Of the introduction
OF lawn tennis into America, the period
Of Intercollegiate football ami athletics
generally, the passion for exercise AMI
outdoor life ana the god OF the car,
who Is supposed with other causes 70
har" w"an"d $" many We'll to do Ameri-
cans from books. by the way. one OF
the clcvcreSt ~ thinkers and writer's.
the late SAMUEL BrrIER. prctends to
admire the British patriclnns because
they never read.
Mr., BRITT deplOrrs as 50 many libra,
rims do, the concentration OF 50 much
Of the reading habit or nmusemcnt Of the
community on fiction. hut even here
has there MOI been u gain? Among Mr.
HRtrrs fellow students Mt the College
of the City of New York there must