Some of the subjects, especially several of
those showing the famous "Snake Dance,"
are unique, the Indians generally objecting
to the photographing of some of the cere-
moriy. The book is interesting as a fairy
tale and valuable for its accuracy as well. A
valuable bibliography is also included. (Lit-
tle, Brown & Co. $2.)
She Who Hesitates.
A BRIGHT invention of the troublous days
in Europe when Charles xii., Peter the Great
and Augustus, King of Poland, tried to ab-
sorb the several nationalities each into his
own kingdom. For political reasons the Rus-
sian Emperor had determined that his son
Alexis should marry the Princess Charlotte
of the House of Brunswick. To prevent this
the Swedish potentate had planned to hire a
French adventurer to make the Princess
Charlotte love him and refuse to marry for
political reasons only. The adventurer's for-
mer history had brought him into contact
with a very clever woman, who in her turn
helps him in his multitudinous trials as suitor
for the love of the princess, both before and
October, 1903]
THE LITERARY NEWS.
291
after the ceremony that makes her the wife
of the Russian brute, who fears no man but
his despotic father.
The story has breathless flights from one
supposed refuge to another. Everywhere the
indefatigable French hireling, now an ardent
lover, turns up in the nick of time. Incident-
ally many strange Russian customs of three
centuries back are described, and a good idea
is given of the hardships and dangers and
also of the delights of travel before the days
of anything more swift than royal coaches
and fine horses. Bobbs-Merrill Co. have luck
in finding interesting tales. Their imprint
means entertainment. The author is Harris
Dickson, author of "The Wild Wolf's Breed."
(Bobbs-Merrill Co. $1.50.)
The Middle Course.
"The Middle Course," by Mrs. Poultney
Bigelow, concerns itself with a beautiful Lon-
don society woman whose husband is unsym-
pathetic and even brutal, and who becomes
sensationally involved, although innocent,
with a much lionized sculptor through a jeal-
ous woman's malicious gossip. By this story
Mrs. Bigelow at once attains a very high
place as a writer of smart fiction. The hero-
ine was a woinan who "had fed her mind on
visions of love," innocent enough, but ener-
vating and dangerous. There is an accurate
description of New York in the story : "A
place that is not over comfortable for the
rich and quite impossible for the poor. One
must be either a millionaire or a pauper to
From "The Middle Course,'
Copyright, 1903, by The Smart Set Pub. Co.
'she was dressed in the fashion of the day-after-to-morrow-
FOR which she did NOT MEAN TO PAY TILL TitE DAY AFTER THAT/'
292
THE LITERARY NEWS.
[October, 1903
Courtesy o Little, Brown & Co.
LAURA E. RICHARDS.
live there. What strikes me as remarkable,
whenever I go back, is the number of well-
dressed women. Hardly any one looks
dowdy, and yet one knows that they are not
all rich. You can't conceive how grotesque
it is to see women in beautiful gowns hang-
ing on to a strap in an electric tram car, lia-
ble to be sent at any moment into the laps of
strange men, who do not get up to give them^^
a seat."
"The Middle Course" is a really fine story
of very unusual obstacles to a happy union
between two lovers. The problem is a pretty
one and is well worked out. The novel is il-
lustrated in tints by C. B. Currier. (Smart
Set Pub. Co. $1.50.)
Practical Journalism.
This is eminently a practical book, and it
might well serve, if not as a text-book, at
least as "assigned reading," in Mr. Pulitzer's
School of Journalism. There is a certain
fascination about the profession of journal-
ism which extends beyond the actual work-
ers, and we have no doubt that the general
public will be interested in this account of
the methods actually employed in great news-
papers for gathering, editing, and printing
the news. Less attention is given to the
higher part of newspaper work the leading
of public opinion, the interpretation of the
world's progress, and the instilling of princi-
ples of justice and honor. The points touched
upon by the author are numerous, and include
such widely separated things as the function
of the copy-reader, women in journalism,
making newspaper illustrations, the Sunday
supplement. Associated Press methods, the
market for jokes, punctuation, writing adver-
tisements, editing a country paper (we are
glad to see under this head the sub-title
"Violent Partisanship Unprofitable"), and a
hundred other points of workaday interest,
(Appleton. $1.25.) Outlook.
Eleanor Dayton.
The opening chapter gives a hint of the
main current of Eleanor Dayton's life.
Eleanor and her aunt are in Paris at a pri-
vate view in the studio of a celebrated painter,
wh^n the Emperor Napoleon iii. appears.
A portrait of Eleanor is among the pictures
on the wall, and the Emperor is seized with
a fancy to compare the original with the por-
trait. The imperial verdict is that the painter
has caught the expression that the beautiful
young girl would wear only after she had
passed through some great tragedy. The re-
mainder of the story has to do with the
working out of the tragedy and its effect on
the character of Eleanor. The book has been
written with exceptional care and with an
eye single to the one idea that the author has
had in mind, an idea that can be best ex-
pressed in the words of the dying nun Rosa-
lie : "Life is a mystery, and there are only
two keys to it. One is love, the other is sac-
rifice. The first is the golden one and the
other is only silver. But both unlock the
door. Everything else merely bolts it tight-
er." (Lane. $1.50.) Public Opinion.
'^^ <C-^*'>^&*' *:
1 _
^
From "In Happy HoUow." CopTright, 1903, by
H. T. Coates 4 Co. '
I MAKE YOU A PREFERRED CREDITOR.
October, 1903]
THE LITERARY NEWS.
293
Jewel : A Chapter in Her Life.
Clara Louise Burnham, author of "The
Right Princess" and "Miss Pritchard's Wed-
ding Trip," has written another delightful
story with all her special charm.
Discontent brings out many contrasts that
Mrs. Burnham uses with great skill. Her
life in this utterly strange environment, where
her only Science friend is her doll, her con-
tact with the medical profession, and her
From ''Jewel : a Chapter in rfer Life."
Copyright, 1903, by Houghton, Mfflin & Co
HE HAD ASKED HER TO SING.
Jewel is a thoroughly happy, human, lova-
ble little girl of eight, who is sent from her
home in Chicago to stay for a few weeks
with her rich grandfather in the East, while
her mother and father are on a business trip
in Europe. The relations between father and
son have been strained, and Jewel has never
seen her grandfather. She has been brought
up wholly under Christian Science influences,
and her sudden introduction into a Castle of
unconscious influence upon the strangely, as-
sorted household, form the substance of the
book. Though Jewel is always the central
figure, the story is quite as much concerned
with older people, and is constantly brimming
with the humor and brightness that contribute
so much to Mrs. Burnham's popularity. The
Misses Cowles have furnished some delight-
ful illustrations. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
$1.50.)
294
THE LITERARY NEWS.
[October, 1903
The Heart of Hyacinth.
"The Heart of Hyacinth/' by Onoto
Watanna, is a Jananese love story, more like
"A Japanese Nightingale" than "The Wooing
of Wistaria," as it has no historical element.
It is the romance of Komawaza and Hyacinth.
Komawaza is the son of a Japanese rnother
and English father; Hyacinth, an American
little girl born in Japan and reared by Kom-
awaza's widowed mother, the quaint and
faithful Madame Aoi. In the village of Mat-
sushima the little boy and girl grow up to-
gether, until Koma is sent to England to
school in fulfilment of his father's dying
wishes. When he returns, after four years,
little Hyacinth, who is thoroughly Japanese,
scarcely knows him in his European clothes.
Their friendship begins anew, but no longer
on the same childish basis. It is not till later,
atter Hyacinth has escaped marriage with
a Japanese, and until the mystery of her birth
has been cleared, that the two realize their
love. The story is characterized by the same
dainty comedy and tender sentiment that
made "A Japanese Nightingale" so charming.
"The Heart of Hyacinth" is beautifully
bound in lavender cloth, with gold and col-
ored cover decorations. There are full-page
pictures in color and drawings in tint on
every page by Japanese artists. The book is
made with uncut edges and gilt top and is
sold in a decorated, tinted box. It is un-
doubtedly one of the handsomest volumes of
fiction issued this year. (Harper. $2.)
From "Tennessee Todd." Copyright, 1903, by A. S. Barnes & Co.
HER FIRM HAND ON THE WHEEL.
October, 1903]
THE LITERARY NEWS.
295
Courtesy of C. M. Clark Publishing Co.
MISS FRANCES PARKER.
Author of "Marjie of the Lower Ranch."
Ferns.
Comparatively few amateur botanists pay
any attention to the ferns, being content to
pass them by with the remark that "they are
very difficult to study." This is to a certain
extent true, for it is not always easy to obtain
specimens in the proper condition for identifi-
cation by the ordinary keys, all of which are
based on the fructification. During a large
part of the year their study is impossible,
except to one already somewhat familiar
with the genera. For nearly ten years the
author has been interested in the stalks of
ferns, and in 1894 began to study them com-
paratively, and succeeded in working out an
analytical key, based upon their characteris-
tics, which included thirty-three species then
known to occur near Baltimore. This was
so favorably received by amateur botanists
that it was thoroughly revised and enlarged
in icx)i. It seemed advisable to write a
"popular" manual based on this key and il-
lustrated by photographs of all the species.
In using the key it is unnecessary to have the
ferns in fruit, and even small plants of large
species can be identified by means of it,
which is an advantage over other analytical
keys.
The illustrations are from original draw-
ings and photographs. The latter speak for
themselves, the series showing the typical
fruit-dots of the genera being, it is believed,
unique. The same is true of the pictures
showing the development of the sporelings,
the walking-fern, and the bulbiferous blad-
der-fern. The chapter on Fern Photography"
gives a full account of the methods employed.
For fourteen years the author has kept
in touch with many of the ferns "in the
field," and with six or eight exceptions has
specimens of every species and variety de-
scribed. The book is not a mere compilation
from others, but embraces the results of gen-
eral observations or special studies, and sug-
gestions for further investigation are made
here and there.
296
THE LITERARY NEWS.
[October, 1903
The book is intended to cover the same
territory as Gray's "Manual." All the ferns
in the Northeastern States are described and
illustrated.
It may be thought that scienific terms have
been used too freely (though not exclusive-
Schumann.
If Schumann were still living, he would not
be quite as old as Pope Leo xiii. was at
his death. Yet Schumann seems to belong
to a musical epoch decidedly removed from
our own times. Such a fact illustrates how
From C. E. Waters' "Ferns.'
Copyright, 1903, by Henry Holt & Co.
VIRGINIA CHAIN-FERN.
ly), but any one who wishes to go beyond
this book will soon need to know the mean-
ing of all we have used and many more.
They are most easily learned a few at a time.
The best excuse for using them is that they
are more exact than ordinary language.
(Holt.) Campbell E. Waters, in Preface.
very much alive the art of music is, and how
great is the need of restraint in passing judg-
ment upon contemporary composers. Of
sanity in judgment Schumann himself was a
conspicuous example. Unlike most creative
geniuses, his critical faculty was keen. His
j-'dgment was never v.arped by professional
October, 1903]
THE LITERARY NEWS.
297
i' liiniiinitjjjjjfijjijjij iijJjJijjjjijiiJiijj Ui^'i
From " India, Past and Present."
Copyright, 1903, by Henry T. Coates & Co.
MASSIVE INDIAN ARCHITECTURE.
jealousy; that ignoble trait was incompat-
ible with his unselfish character. Mendels-
sohn, so much unlike him in temperament,
he greatly admired ; and Brahms, when a
youth of twenty, he recognized as a young
eagle. If he failed to appreciate wholly the
genius of Wagner, it was due largely to the
fact that Wagner's artistic virtues are quite
as much dramatic as musical, while Schu-
mann's canons of judgment, as well as his
genius, were not at all dramatic, but dis-
tinctly musical. There are few composers
whose personalities are as winning as Schu-
mann's. His dignified reticence, in marked
contrast to the sentimental demonstrative-
ness commonly supposed to belong to the
artistic temperament, his strong but well-
governed emotional nature, his generosity,
his courage, his fidelity to friends, his devo-
tion to his wife, his cultivated mind all
these indicate how wholesome he was and
how purely a matter of physical frailty was
that insanity which brought upon him his
untimely end. This biography is a pleasant
one, appreciative rather than critical. To
characterize the peculiar quality of Schu-
mann's music is quite as difficult as to de-
scribe in words the peculiar timbre of the
oboe. The biographer does not succeed, at
any rate, in doing this in the part of the
biography that relates to his compositions;
but she has succeeded in the rest of the book
in making, without any special distinction in
style, a readable account of the man. This
volume is one of the best in the series on the
Master Musicians. (Button. $1.25.) Out-
look.
Shadow of Victory,
Myrtle Reed's romance, besides its other
merits, is opportune, for Chicago, which has
grown up on the site of Fort Dearborn, is at
this moment preparing to celebrate the cen-
tennial of its foundation. The central inci-
dent in the story is the abandonment of the
fort at the outbreak of the war of 1812, when
most of the garrison lost their lives in an In-
dian massacre. Two, however, survive the
capricious heroine of this story and the lover
v.hom she finally chooses. To them is al-
lotted the task of continuing the battle with
the wilderness where it was interrupted by
the outbreak of the war. It is a good story
from first to last, and the glimpse it gives of
the pioneers who broke the way for the
westward expansion of the United States is
not the least of its praiseworthy characteris-
tics. This and one or two other recent novels
suggest that our story writers are awakening
298
THE LITERARY NEWS.
[October, 1903
From " Parsifal." Copyright, 1903, by T. Y. Crowell & Co.
PARSIFAL.
to the fact that the early history of our own
land has by no means been exhausted by the
romancers who have from time to time drawn
their materials from its most stirring and
heroic periods. (Putnam. $1.20.) Public
Opinion.
Parsifal.
Lovers of opera, drama and poetry alike
will welcome this the first worthy English
version of "Parsifal" as retold by Oliver
Huckel. Wagner's spiritual music-drama
has been so long kept in the seclusion of its
Bayreuth stage that very few are familiar
with it, although it has recently been the
topic of widespread discussion on both sides
of the Atlantic. The present publication is
greatly welcome, therefore, and increasingly
so when it is found on examination to be
worthy of its noble theme.
The words of an opera contained in its
libretto are so generally imperfect "literal"-
translations couched in faulty English, that
it is a genuine relief to find a version of one
with literary merit in it. This text of "Par-
sifal" is more than a mere translation. It is
a highly poetic paraphrase preserving the
spirit of the original and adding charm of its
own to the English setting. Mr. Huckel is
an Oxford and Berlin scholar, who has made
a special study of the opera at Bayreuth. He
has retold its story in spirited blank verse
which, we believe, must rank with the best
recent poetic achievement.
As to "Parsifal" itself, the theme is one of
rare and appealing beauty. It is not only the
last and loftiest work of Wagner's genius,
but also one of the few great dramas of
modern times a drama which unfolds strik-
ing and impressive spiritual teachings. The
legend of the Holy Grail is interwoven with
medieval thought and superstition, yet its
significance is modern and universal. What-
ever else it may mean, we see that Parsifal
the guileless one is Purity ; Kundry, Wicked-
ness ; and the wounded King Amfortas, Hu-
m.anity. "One cannot read the drama," says
a critic, "without a thrill, without a clutching
at the heart, at its marvellous meaning, its
uplifting and ennobling lessons."
The typography and workmanship of the
volume are in keeping with its contents. The
special type designs in black and red, and
characteristic illustrations by Stassen, aid in
making the book a pleasure to the eye.
(Crowell. 75 c.)
Memoirs of George Elers.
The "Memoirs of George Elers," edited by
Lord Monson and George Leveson Gower
(William Heinemann : London), affords a
glimpse of army and society life in the Eng-
land and India of a hundred years ago. Cap-
tain Elers was in the Twelfth Regiment of
Foot, and though he saw no actual service of
any account, his career was so typical of the
army officer in India that the historic worth
of these memoirs is as valuable as their
human interest is rich and entertaining. "The
MS. of these memoirs," Lord Monson tells
us, "was found in the library at Burton Hall
by my relative, Mr. George Leveson Gower,
to whom I am also indebted for his assist-
ance in preparing this volume for publication ;
and as they seemed to me to present a truth-
ful and interesting picture of life in society
and in the army at the end of the eighteenth
and at the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
tury, I decided on publishing them." Elers
was very intimate with the Duke of Welling-
ton in his early days when he was Colonel
Arthur Wellesley; Maria Edgeworth, the
novelist, was a cousin of the captain ; and the
Prince of Wales, afterward George iv., was
a boon companion in those days of military
dandies. Miss Edgeworth, it appears, read
October, 1903]
THE LITERARY NEWS.
299
the manuscript of these "Memoirs." "Your
affectionate letter and entertaining history,"
she writes in one of her letters, "pleased and
interested all this family very much, my dear
Cousin; and I thank you for the trouble you
took in writing it to me." The letters of
Miss Edgeworth are taken up for the most
part with matters of family genealogy, but
this passage, written in 181 1, is of literary
interest :
"As you are so good to take an interest
about my works, let me beg that you will take
the trouble to deny my being the author of
the 'Match Girl,' or of 'Tales of Real Life,'
which I hear somebody has published in the
name of Mrs. or Miss Edgeworth. There is
also a person who takes the name of Theo-
dore Edgeworth, and published the 'Ship-
wreck.' We know nothing of it or of him.
All our works are published by Johnson.
"I send you an Epigram of my father's
upon certain fashionable Scotch marriages
and divorces." (It was the days of Gretna
Green.) "The lines have been attributed in
England to Sheridan, and have been sent as
Sheridan's by different people back from Eng-
land to Ireland. My father thinks it a high
honor to have anything of his writing at-
tributed to so accomplished and witty a
writer :
"To ready Scotland boys and girls are carried
Before their time, impatient to be married.
Soon wiser grown the selfsame road they run
In eager haste to get the knot undone.
The indulgent Scot, when English law too nice is,
Sanctions our follies first and then our vices."
(Appleton. net, ^3.) Harper's Weekly.
The Vagabond.
Frederick Palmer's story is the first novel
of a man already distinguished as a corre-
spondent, and known to many readers by a
series of strong short stories. "The Vaga-
bond" is a novel into which the Civil War
enters largely, though both the character of
its plot and its chief strength are determined
not so much by this as by the individuality
of its hero a memorable character whose
"search for a mountain, a mine, and a girl"
is strenuous and concentrated enough to belie
his ironical nickname. The peculiar vivid-
ness of his pictures of the war and of the
men of the Volunteer Army are characteris-
From " Forensic Quotations." Copyright, 1903, by J. F. Taylor & Co.
DANIEL WEBSTER.
30U
THE LITERARY NEWS.
[October, 1903
tic of Mr. Palmer, whose fighting has about
it neither nonsense nor exaggeration. The
book is illustrated by Harrison Fisher. (Scrib-
ner. $1.50.)
Life of Leo XIIL
MoNSiGNOR O'Reilly's life of the late Pope
may be regarded as official, as the author
was summoned to Rome by Leo xiii. and
appointed by him to do this work, which
occupied eight years of a residence in the
Vatican. The biography is being published
both in French and English. It is instructive
and informative throughout, but is popular in
character ; it treats of the Pope, not only as a
justly exalted Pontiff, but also as a distin-
guished statesman and scholar. The book's
appearance at this juncture is timely. It will
command reading from many Protestants as
well as Roman Catholics ; indeed, the whole
world is interested to know more exactly and
intimately about the life and work of the
lamented Leo xiii. Being in one volume,
not too heavy for the hand yet with excellent
prmt and capital illustrations, this work is
likely to make a wider popular appeal than
the forthcoming long biography, official also,
a work which will be sought for by students.
According to a despatch from Rome, Pope
Leo some time since commissioned Count
Soderini to write his life for publication one
year subsequent to his death, and gave to
him free access to the secret archives of the
Vatican. It is stated that Count Soderini has
nearly completed the work, which will com-
prise four volumes, and that the last volume
in particular will contain some important
documents now for the first time published,
including letters from King Victor Emmanuel
and Mazzini to Pope Pius ix., giving a
novel view of the history of the Papacy's loss
of temporal power. (Winston. $2.so-$5.)
The Outlook.
lura E. Richards' " Ihe Golden Windows." Copyright, 1903, by Little, Brown & Co.
HER GOOD ANGEL.
October, 1903]
THE LITERARY NEWS.
301
Gorge.
GoRGO is an historical romance dealing with
that most thrilling period of ancient history,
the Periclean age of Athene. The character
naming the book is a charming girl, daugh-
ter of a Spartan chief, born abroad, but
reared in Laconia. Xo her, in the springtime
of youth, comes young Theramenes, the
Athenian, on an embassy, and, as the result
of a playful wager made by their elders, the
two are matched in a wrestling-game, in
which Gorgo, by virtue of her bewitching
beauty and Spartan training, comes off vic-
tor. But she loses her heart to the young
Athenian, as he does his to her, and before
they part they vow eternal devotion to each
other, and Theramenes is pledged to come to
Gorgo whenever she may call. Then follow
separation and years of bitter warfare waged
between their respective countries. At last,
when Gorgo bids him come, Theramenes
obeys, and carries off his oath-bound bride
from Sparta, in defiance of proud Lysander,
the future conqueror of Athens, who claims
her as his own. The story is replete with the
most animated battle scenes. Never before
has the conflict of phalanx or trireme been
so adequately treated. But the greatest varie-
ty of scenes and incidents is included in the
volume, the delineations of the stormy Athe-
nian assembly and the grim Ephors of Sparta
being no less striking and realistic than the
war pictures. Famous men of antiquity, such
as Socrates and Alcibiades, represented in
the story, obtain an extraordinary degree of
naturalness and human interest without any
sacrifice of historic impressiveness. The
reader will find the romance fascinating and