The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-24
SOME NEW BOOKS.
Major Putnam's "Reminiscences
Completed.

INV uN'pi'S hl'IIltdI ShetCH UODk
published by GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM In
1914 with the title Memories of My
Youth was. with its r~ecollections of
tho wanderjahre in Europe and Of
service in the civil war, n fine book:
and It's present sequel, Memories Of a
Publisher. IS6j-l9I5 Putnams) liz a
finer one. Major Putnam's new vol
urn is an encyclopedia Of English
and American ~anccdute. new and sin
timate." but not all literary: n NIT
scum Of curiosities Of political inc
business life in New York in n past
that Is with amazing swiftness grow
ing into antiquity. Not consecutively
biographical. what is lost i'm the man
ner is abundantly compensated in the
richness Of the material. 1t has the
style" that is not coded in the books
of rhetoric: a glow from within. But
this quality disappears with the last
chapter. made up of the authors per-
sonal and journalistic correspondence
on the European war.
From September. 1SG2. to September,
1865. the author was in the army at
the South. When he returned to New
York his father. George =. Putnam.
who was then Collector of Internal
Revenue in the Eighth New York dis
trict. needed his help in the conduct
or tho publishing business. and also
mad him a deputy collector. In the
latter capacity he recalls signing a
receipt to 4. T. Stewart for n war time
income tax payment of more than
s225,000. showing that the Stewart in
Gonna fnr tSnl t,,ttSs hnxsa loa,, not lagS
than $2.25O.0OO. MY signature"
Major Putnam notes facetiously. has
never been worth so much since
In 1866 there was "a revival Of busi-
ness activity. but the MONEY was not
in the hands of book buyers. People
who a fixed Incomes payable in the
legal tender Of the day. retired mer-
chants, beneficiaries of trusts and
others, suffered curtailment OF income
with the falling of Of purchasing
power in legal tender paper dollars:
n the riches. people who
a made fortunes out of shady war
contracts or speculation in pork, were
not easily reached by publishers OF
standard literature. With genial
philosophy Major Putnam notes that
II sales were disappointing. there was
'"is one ONSET Oh that out
,v.s "e'' nut 'e"'p'eu 10 'hNaue the
T."
''"@. "''""i su" NJ close
"""s W ,"e nh"st
'" '' ""s' ai's'hs tnef'
- Imam N"''iS' plytn'' iark"
Goodwin. Stodman. Baydrd Taylor. DR..
.'dn,N '''oer ana isichard Henry
"toouaTd' VI IT. Lieoer' outstanding
".''''.'H "l ln'Ii'aiF matters tecnni-
va y" '".'H'''' veteran oi Lisny ana
So"'i'''r vi resuiations Tor the United
STATS army '"c "''"r says:
lie was fu'Iy conscious Of his own abil'-
" :" ''.. .nht ne was a citizen OF
cor,,r ,r,, ,hs an,o W
question on his lIps .Xow. friend p,,.
nam. and YOU Putnam. Jr. who I'm your
opinion is the most conceitei man at this
lime In our country" ] saw by the ex-
press,o" o' W. la'hers ''ce th"t IN" I'M
- ,n,n' 80 ",a ~ u ssme - 'na'
could ba-1,v .neal o,. onr ,hou.,,s
Ldeber then vent on with tho theory ,h,,
the conccitcd cuiprit was Salmon = Chase.
II New York Of the late .sOs seoms
antiuuated to-day. il was even then
changing from the o,iet nroyiucjalitv
OF times. CanitoI was ha-
ginning to concentrate. interests" 10
form. There was a great increase in