464 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1880. 





Hartford, and Edinburgh. Henry Wikoff's 

 " Reminiscences of an Idler " is a sprightly, en- 

 tertaining narrative of a careless life of social 

 pleasure and adventure (New York, Fords). 

 Jane Grey Swisshelm has published a volume 

 of personal recollections under the title of 

 " Half a Century " (Chicago). " Elihu Bur- 

 ritt," edited by Charles Northend (New York, 

 Appletons), is an account of a man who de- 

 serves to be remembered as a philanthropic 

 agitator, though more famous in his day as a 

 self-taught linguist. The " Recollections and 

 Opinions of an Old Pioneer " is an interesting 

 account of early California life, by P. II. Bur- 

 nett, the first Governor of the State (New 

 York, Appletons). 



Literary History and Criticism have re- 

 ceived many excellent contributions. Her- 

 mann Grimm's " Life and Times of Goethe " 

 has been translated by Miss S, H. Adams (Bos- 

 ton, Little, Brown & Co.). The translation of 

 the correspondence of Catherine Elizabeth 

 Goethe, mother of the poet, with her son and 

 others, made by Alfred S. Gibbs (New York, 

 Dodd, Mead & Co.), has proved a popular 

 book. Dr. Scherr's critical and historical bi- 

 ography of Schiller has been translated by 

 Elizabeth McClellan (Philadelphia, Kohler). 

 " Studies in German Literature " is a series of 

 lectures by Bayard Taylor, which, although 

 written for delivery before students, reveal 

 throughout his unlimited knowledge of litera- 

 ture and his rare critical insight (New York, 

 Putnams). "Madame de Stael," by Abel 

 Stevens (New York, Harpers), is a thorough 

 and well-sifted collection of all facts which 

 are connected with the life of this famous 

 woman, and is an exceedingly interesting work. 

 "Aspects of German Culture," by Granville 

 Stanley Hall (Boston, Osgood), is an analysis 

 of contemporary life and thought in Germany 

 by the keen observer who has written on Ger- 

 man subjects for the New York " Nation." 



"Shakespeare: A Biographic and ^Esthetic 

 Study," is a gracefully written essay, speculat- 

 ing on the life and character of the great poet 

 (Boston, Lee & Shepard). " Shakespeare's 

 Morals " is another reflective essay, in which 

 the moral convictions of Shakespeare are de- 

 duced from his writings, by Arthur Gilman 

 (New York, Dodd, Mead & Co.). The " New 

 Variorum Edition of Shakespeare," which is 

 being prepared by Dr. Horace Howard Furness 

 (Philadelphia, Lippincott), is the work of an 

 accomplished scholar possessing fine critical 

 discernment, and, what is equally important, 

 an accurate appreciation of the taste and de- 

 mands of the public in an edition of Shake- 

 speare. Henry James's study of Hawthorne, 

 which has provoked many strictures and vari- 

 ous comments, is very conscientiously thought 

 out and characteristic of the author. Eugene 

 Lawrence's series of "Literature Primers" 

 (New York, Harpers) closes with the " Primer 

 of American Literature." " Great Authors of 

 All Ages " is an imperfect and careless com- 



pilation, but contains selections from a large 

 number of writers, especially in English litera- 

 ture, by S. Austin Allibone (Philadelphia, Lip- 

 pincott). Rev. E. Cobham Brewer's " Reader's 

 Hand-Book" (Philadephia, Lippincott) is a 

 handy reference volume containing the names, 

 fictitious, historical, and legendary, which are 

 common subjects of allusions and parallels in 

 fine literature, and giving epitomes of the plots 

 of dramas and fictions, and other such literary 

 information. 



A posthumous volume of " Essays and Criti- 

 cal Notes" by Bayard Taylor, published by 

 Putnams, contains confidential revelations of 

 the professional life of an author following 

 high ideals of art, but forced to descend to 

 more remunerative work. Among the other 

 books of essays and literary criticism the fol- 

 lowing are noticeable : " Self-Culture," by 

 James Freeman Clarke (Boston, Osgood); 

 Frederick Metcalfe's " The Englishman and the 

 Scandinavian " (Boston, Lothrop), a study of 

 the ancient Norse literature; Bartol's "Prin- 

 ciples and Portraits " (Boston, Roberts) ; and 

 Professor Francis Bowen's "Gleanings from a 

 Literary Life " (New York, Scribners). 



Two volumes of social essays may be se- 

 lected for notice : " Penciled Fly-Leaves," con- 

 sisting of essays on familiar, every-day Amer- 

 ican subjects conceived in a poetic spirit, by 

 John James Piatt (Cincinnati, Clarke) ; and 

 " Causerie " [by William A. Hovey], in which 

 are preserved some excellent specimens of the 

 kind of bright newspaper-writing which is too 

 good to serve for a moment's entertainment 

 and then be cast aside, as is usually the fate of 

 such literature, however elegant and fine (Bos- 

 ton, Roberts). 



In poetry there have been but few note- 

 worthy publications, and none of extraordi- 

 nary excellence. "Ultima Thule," by Henry 

 "Wadsworth Longfellow, and "The Iron Gates, 

 and other Poems," by Oliver Wendell Holmes 

 (Boston, Houghton), contain recent and before 

 uncollected poems. A collection of the poems 

 of Richard Henry Stoddard has been issued by 

 Scribners. " Hesperus and other Poems " is 

 a collection from one of the junior poets, 

 Charles De Kay (New York, Scribners). Susan 

 Coolidge has a collection of " Verses " (Boston, 

 Roberts). The "Poems" of George Arnold 

 are published by Osgood & Co. A collection 

 of Lucy Larcom's poetry is entitled "Wild 

 Roses of Cape Ann and other Poems " (Bos- 

 ton, Houghton). Mrs. Anne Field's poems 

 on classical themes are given in a collection 

 named "Under the Olive" (Boston, Hough- 

 ton). "Echoes of Haifa Century" is a collec- 

 tion of the poems of William Pitt Palmer (New 

 York, Putnams). "All Round the Year" 

 is the title of a budget of new poems by 

 Elaine and Dora Goodale (New York, Put- 

 nams). "The Microcosm and other Poems" 

 is an elegantly printed volume of poetry, bv 

 Dr. Abraham Coles (New York, Appletons). 

 The collection of the poems of Frank O. Tick- 



