LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1890. 



493 



The following is the record of book production 

 in the United States during 1890, from the figures 

 of the " Publishers' Weekly " : 



LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1890. A 



falling-off in book-production was shown in 

 Great Britain during the year, which is attrib- 

 uted to the fact that newspapers, reviews, and 

 magazines minister more largely than ever to the 

 wants of the people. The decrease in the num- 

 ber of new books and new editions was about 

 the same as that shown in 1889 over 1888, 5,735 

 books being recorded in 1890 against 6,067 in 

 the preceding year. Of these, 4,414 were new 

 books, and 1,321 new editions. The increase in 

 special departments was found mostly in juve- 

 nile books, medicine and surgery, belles-lettres, 

 and miscellaneous works, and in a slight degree 

 in educational also, while the most marked de- 

 crease was in arts, sciences, and illustrated books, 

 which were but half the number of those pro- 

 duced in 1889. 



Fine Arts. " The Signification and Princi- 

 ples of Art" were set forth by C. H. Waterhouse 

 in a critical essay for general readers, and the 

 "Elementary Principles 1 of Ornament" by J. 

 Ward, in lectures at the Macclesfield School of 

 Art. The "Year's Art for 1890" was compiled 

 by Marcus B. Huish, who edited also the " Art 

 Journal," and " Art Annuals " included the life 

 and work of seven prominent native and foreign 

 artists. " The Magazine of Art " contained con- 

 tributions from William Michael Rossetti, F. G. 

 Stephens, Cosmo Monkhouse, and others, and 

 from David Croal Thomson came " The Barbi- 

 zon School of Painters," with 130 illustrations. 

 " Players and Playwrights I have known " was 

 the record of the English stage from 1840 to 

 1880, by John Coleman, in two volumes. Mrs. 

 Kendal's " Dramatic Opinions " were given in a 

 lively and entertaining manner, and J. A. Wheat- 

 ley made " Dramatic Studies : Six Plays." " Stage 

 Land," by Jerome K. Jerome, and " Music-Hall 



Land," by Percy Fitzgerald, relate to the same 

 art, and in this class may be placed " The Pas- 

 sion Play as it is played To-day, at Ober-Ammer- 

 gau, in 1890," by William T. Stead, giving the 

 German and English text, in parallel columns, and 

 illustrated from original photographs. " Genoa : 

 her History as written in her Buildings," was 

 the subject of five lectures by E. A. Le Me- 

 surier, and Henry Ernest Milner was an au- 

 thority on " The Art and Practice of Landscape 

 Gardening," and " Hand-made Laces " were stud- 

 ies from the South Kensington Museum, edited 

 by Alan S. Cole. Horatio F. Brown made a 

 historical study of "The Venetian Printing 

 Press," and Rev. H. W. Macklin of " Monumen- 

 tal Brasses." Mrs. Edmond R. Wodehouse pre- 

 pared an " Index to Grove's Dictionary of Music 

 and Musicians " of 179 pages, in three columns. 

 " The Gentle Art of making Enemies," by J. 

 McNeil Whistler, deals essentially with art top- 

 ics, while sumptuous volumes were " Relics of 

 the Royal House of Stuart," in a limited edition 

 of 500 copies, from drawings by William Gibb, 

 and " Royal Edinburgh," by Mrs. Oliphant, with 

 illustrations by George Reid, R. S. A. Greek 

 Pictures " and " London Pictures " were drawn 

 with pen and pencil respectively by J. P. Ma- 

 haffy, D. D., and Rev. Richard' Lovett, while 

 " Charing Cross to St. Paul's," by Justin Mc- 

 Carthy, had plates and vignettes from drawings 

 by Joseph Pennell. Other fine works were : " On 

 Service at Home and Abroad," by Major J. Percy 

 Groves, illustrations of soldier life by artists 

 famous for military pictures; "In Tennyson 

 Land," by John Cuming Walters ; and " London 

 Street Arabs," by Miss Dorothy Tennant, now 

 Mrs. Henry M. Stanley. The "Finger New 

 Testament," printed on Oxford India paper, was 

 at once a curiosity and a work of art. 



History. Vols. VII and VIII of " A History 

 of England in the Eighteenth Century," by Will- 

 iam Edward Hartpole Lecky, completed that 

 voluminous and valuable work, dealing princi- 

 pally with the relations of England to Ireland. 

 " Ireland under the Tudors," by Richard Bag- 

 well, also comes to an end in Vol. III. Part II 

 of J. M. D. Meiklejohn's " New History of Eng- 

 land and Great Britain " covered the period from 

 1509 to 1890, while Part I of " A Class-Book of 

 English History," by H. H. Curtis, took in that 

 between 55 B. C. and 1485 A. D. " The Indus- 

 trial History of England " was written by H. de B. 

 Gibbins, and " The Guild Merchant," by Charles 

 Gross, in two volumes, was a contribution to 

 British municipal history. Justin McCarthy's 

 " History of the Four Georges " received a sec- 

 ond volume, covering the period from Walpole 

 to Pitt (1733 to 1760), while Justin H. McCarthy 

 published two on "The French Revolution." 

 Vol. I appeared of "A Student's History of 

 England from the Earliest Times to 1885," by 

 Samuel Rawson Gardiner, and from the same 

 authority we have " The Constitutional Docu- 

 ments of the Puritan Revolution, 1628-1660." 

 The seventh series of " Cameos from English 

 History," by Charlotte M. Yonge, included the 

 rebellion and restoration, 1642-1678, and " Scot- 

 tish History from Contemporary Writers," edited 

 by G. Gregory Smith, covered " The Days of 

 James IV." "Ireland under Elizabeth and 

 James the First," as described by the contem- 



