LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1862. 



549 



John Hill Burton, enriched with an introduc- 

 tion and notes by Richard Grant White ; the 

 ' Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry, 1 ' by the vener- 

 able Isaac Taylor, with a biographical intro- 

 duction by William Adams, D.D. ; " Two 

 Friends,'' by the author of "The Patience of 

 Hope ; " two more volumes by " The Country 

 Parson," and J. C. Jeaffreson's " Book about 

 Doctors." 



Of the 138 volumes of novels published in 

 1862, only 3-i were by American authors; but 

 some of these possessed a high degree of 

 merit, and attained a large sale. Remarka- 

 ble success was achieved by the work of a 

 new author, "Among the Pines," by Ed- 

 mund Kirke, a description of Southern planta- 

 tion life, and the hopes, aspirations, and plans 

 of the slaves for the attainment of free- 

 dom. In graphic power and fidelity to nature, 

 it was pronounced by some critics equal to 

 ' ; Uncle Tom's Cabin," though lacking some- 

 what, perhaps, in the artistic ability of that 

 work. Mrs. Stowe's two novels. ''Agnes of 

 Sorrento" and "The Pearl of Orr's Island,'' 

 met with a hearty and not undeserved wel- 

 come ; the posthumous novels of Major Theo- 

 dore Winthrop (a young officer of great prom- 

 ise, who fell at Great Bethel in the summer of 

 . "Cecil Dreeme," "John Brent." -Edwin 

 Brothertoft." and the "Canoe and Saddle," were 

 also favorably received. Among other novelists 

 of known reputation, Marion Harland's (Mrs. 

 Terhune) "Miriam," Richard B. KimbalTs 

 " Undercurrents of Wall Street, a Romance of 

 Business," Mr. A. S. Roe's %> Like and Unlike," 

 "Sutherlands."' by the author of "Rutledge," 

 Mrs. C. H. B. Richards' ("Mrs. Manners") 

 " Springs of Action," Mrs. Mary A. Denison's 

 11 The Master," and Mrs. E. D." E. X. South- 

 worth's "Broken Engagement" "Hickory Hall," 

 and "Love's Labor Won,'' all attained" a fair, 

 and some of them a large, measure of success ; 

 while among the new aspirants for fame, as 

 writers of fiction, Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard 

 ("wife of the poet, R. H. Stoddard), in her " The 

 Morgesons," and the authoress of " Margaret 

 Howth, a Story of To-Day," were received 

 with great favor. Others, as, for instance, T. 

 B. Aid rich (already favorably known as a poet), 

 in his " Out of his Head, a Romance ; '' Kina- 

 han Cornwall!*, in his " Pilgrims of Fashion; " 

 E. S. Gould, in his "John Doe and Richard 

 Roe, or Episodes of Life in Xew York ; " 

 Virginia Townsend, in her " Amy Deane, and 

 other Tales," and one or two others, though 

 perhaps not less deserving than those named 

 above, did not achieve such marked success. 



The most remarkably successful novel of 

 the year, all things considered, was Victor 

 Hugo's " Les Miserable*." It was at first pub- 

 lished here in five volumes, in an American 

 translation, and subsequently the five volumes 

 bound in one. After some months a reprint 

 of an English edition, somewhat abridged, was 

 put upon the market, and the sales of the two 

 editions reached, before the close of the year, 



about 50,000 copies. Some of the reprints of 

 English and French novels have been very 

 favorably received ; among these may be men- 

 tioned Bulwer ("A Strange Story"), "Chron- 

 icles of Carlingford," Wilkie Collins (" After 

 Dark," "Sister Rose," ' : The Yellow Mask.'' 

 - Stolen Mask." and " Hide and Seek "), author 

 of Margaret Maitland (" Last of the Morti- 

 mers," and " Lilliesleaf "), Chas. Lever (" Bar- 

 rington "). Miss H. Martineau (" The Woman I 

 Loved and the Woman who Loved me''). Miss 

 D. M. Mulock (" Mistress and Maid, a House- 

 hold Story"). Charles Reade ( -; The Cloister and 

 the Hearth"). Geo. A. Sala (" Seven Sons of 

 Mammon,'' and "Two Prima Donnas"). An- 

 thony Trollope ("Orley Farm," "The War- 

 den," " Barchester Towers." and "The Strug- 

 gles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson"), " Why 

 Paul Ferroll killed his wife." Mrs. Henry 

 Wood ("The Channin<rs." "The Mystery," 

 "The Heir to Ashley," and "Earl's lleir"), 

 Miss Yonge (" The Young Stepmother, or a 

 Chronicle of Mistakes"), W. M. Thackeray 

 (" The Adventures of Philip on his Way through 

 the World "). Mrs. S. C. Hall (" Can Wrong be 

 Right?") Gustave Aimard (-The Trail Hunt- 

 er," "Flower of the Prairie," "Pirates of 

 the Prairies," and " Indian Scout "). Alexander 

 Dumas (' Andre de Taverney." " Castle of 

 Souday," and "Twin Lieutenants"), Balzac 

 (' Eugene de Grandet "). Madame Emile de 

 Girardin (" Marguerite, or Two Loves"). Of 

 far higher character than these, and belonging 

 rather to the class of allegories than novels, is 

 the Countess de Gasparin's " Vesper." Among 

 new editions of standard novels, we have the 

 beautiful household edition of Dickens, of 

 which 15 volumes, comprising "Dombey," 

 "Martin Chuzzlewit." " Barnaby Rudge." and 

 " David Copperfield," have appeared during 

 the year. Miss Jane Austen's works, complete 

 in 4 volumes, in uniform style, comprising 

 "Emma," "Mansfield Park." "Sense and Sen- 

 sibility," "Persuasion," "Pride and Preju- 

 dice," and "Worthanger Abbey." 



The year was not prolific in poetry of a high 

 character. Only three volumes of considera- 

 ble size and containing new poems of merit, 

 appeared. These were Bayard Taylor's "Po- 

 et's Journal and Autobiography ; " Thomas 

 Buchanan Read's " Wagoner of the Allegha- 

 nies : a Poem of the Days of '76." and Rev. T. 

 H. Stockton's " Poems with Autobiographical 

 and other notes." A few short poems or col- 

 lections of lyrics, mostly called forth by the 

 war, such as G. W. Hewes' " Ballads of the 

 War ; " " Rhymed Tactics/' by " Guv. ; " ' Ri- 

 fle Shots at Past and Current Events; " "Mid- 

 night Chimes : or. the Voice of Hope ; " Medi- 

 tations and Hymns," by X.: "The Flying 

 Dutchman," by'j. G. Saxe ; and " The Branch ; 

 a Sacred Poem, and other Poems." have also 

 made their appearance, but have generally ex- 

 cited little attention. The poems of O. "W. 

 Holmes. Longfellow, Bayard Taylor. Tennyson, 

 and Mrs. Barrett Browning, have been collect- 



