LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1879. 



547 



their summer's mooting have been published 

 in Boston by tho American Institute of In- 

 struction. 0. F. Adiims, Jr., lias published 

 essays on " Tho Public Library and the Com- 

 mon Schools " (Boston, Estes & Lauriat). The 

 theory of tuition according to the laws of the 

 mind is discussed in " Education as a Science," 

 by Alexander Bain (D. Appleton & Co.), re- 

 printed for tho " International Science Series." 

 Ernst Haeokel's "Freedom in Science and 

 Teaching" (D. Appleton & Co.) is his famous 

 assertion of tho rights of science insured by 

 the German Constitution, in reply to the warn- 

 ings of Virchow. The text-books for school 

 use are improving in range and quality. Sev- 

 eral publishing houses vie with each other in 

 producing excellent books of this class; and 

 educators and writers of ability are devoting 

 their talents more and more to the preparation 

 of school-books. Nevertheless a movement 

 has commenced in some of the States in favor 

 of official text-books. Many of the popular 

 scientific manuals of small size which are issu- 

 ing in series and singly from the press are well 

 adapted for text-books, and are often used for 

 tho purpose. 



In the field of Literary History and Criti- 

 cism^ Professor Moses Coit Tyler's important 

 work on the " History of American Litera- 

 ture " (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is the most nota- 

 ble production of the year. The first two vol- 

 umes only bring the subject down to the year 

 1765. The author endues the literature of tho 

 American colonies with a charm and interest 

 which as literature purely it lacks entirely, by 

 tracing through it the germination and devel- 

 opment of American ideas. Only in the high- 

 est reaches, and as the latest product of the 

 most modern mental methods and discipline, 

 has it been possible to write the intellectual 

 history of an age or race ; and the effort of 

 Professor Tyler to deal with the evolution of 

 American social and political thought, ani- 

 mated as it is all through with a contagious 

 enthusiasm, can not fail of an elevating and 

 broadening influence on national education. 

 " Some Newspaper Tendencies," by Whitelaw 

 Reid (New York, Henry Holt & Co.), is a clear 

 and practical explanation of the practice and 

 purposes of American journalism. " Studies 

 in German Literature " (G. P. Putnam's Sons) 

 consists of a course of lectures by the late Bay- 

 ard Taylor on the classical authors of Germany 

 and the early periods of her literature. Hos- 

 mer's u Short History of German Literature " 

 (St. Louis, G. I. Jones & Co.) is a well-written 

 and comprehensive survey of the chief cur- 

 rents of German thought and literature. 



Tho growing interest of the public in Es- 

 thetics is satisfied by a number of books of 

 high character. " Conversations on Art Meth- 

 ods," by Thomas Couture (G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons), is a translation by S. E. Stuart of a book 

 which has exerted considerable influence on 

 contemporary art. Another book which marks 

 a great development in art thought and meth- 



od is " Ruskin on Painting," containing the 

 pith of his " Modern Painters," published in 

 D. Appleton & Co's " Handy-Volume Series/' 

 Eugene V6ron's "^Esthetics" (Philadelphia, 

 J. B. Lippincott & Co.), translated by W. II. 

 Armstrong, is an exposition of the principles 

 of reform* in art and of revolt against the rigid 

 rules of French classicism, and an appeal in 

 favor of the liberal catholicity advocated by 

 Viollet-le-Duc. Anthony's American edition 

 of Jacob von Falke's " Art in the House," with 

 notes by Charles 0. Perkins (Boston, L. Prang 

 & Co.), is an illustrated work on decorative 

 art, which, as might be expected from its Ger- 

 man source, suggests a wider range of decora- 

 tive conceptions, derived from the more com- 

 prehensive study of the history of ornament in 

 all times and countries, than the numerous 

 treatises which have their source in the late 

 movement in decorative art in England, which 

 has also spread to America ; the work of the 

 German professor is also interesting as a histo- 

 ry of domestic architecture and ornament from 

 ancient times down to the present. Seeraann's 

 " Illustrations of the History of Art," an ex- 

 tensive German pictorial work, has been re- 

 produced by L. Prang & Co. of Boston. Among 

 the literary outcroppings of the recent popular 

 interest in the ornamental arts is an illustrated 

 volume by Jennie J. Young on " The Ceramic 

 Art " (New York, Harper & Brothers) ; it is a 

 book of peculiar interest, in that it shows the 

 history and condition of the American produc- 

 tion in the potter's art. A technical work on 

 the same subject, entitled " A Practical Treatise 

 on China-Painting in America " (New York, , 

 John Wiley & Sons), has for its author Camille 

 Piton of the National Art-Training School in 

 Philadelphia. " Bibelots and Curios " (D. Ap- 

 pleton & Co.) is a manual for collectors by Fred- 

 eric Vors. S. G. W. Benjamin's " Art in Amer- 

 ica " (Harper & Brothers) is a critical and his- 

 torical sketch of the development of the fine 

 arts in the United States. Helmholtz's discov- 

 eries in acoustics and their bearing on musi- 

 cal art are ably discussed in William Pole's 

 " The Philosophy of Music " (Iloughton, Os- 

 good & Co.). 



The present activity of thought upon sub- 

 jects relating to Politics and National Economy 

 manifests itself in numerous productions by the 

 pen. " A True Republic," by Albert Stickney 

 (Harper & Brothers), is a treatise on American 

 politics, and an appeal for certain constitution- 

 al changes for the purpose of avoiding the evils 

 resulting from party conflicts and the spoils 

 system. "A Proposal for a Reform in the 

 Federal Executive," by Mortimer G. Tibbits, 

 favors a responsible executive chosen by Con- 

 gress (New York, Brentano's Literary Empo- 

 rium). Sir George Campbell's "White and 

 Black " gives the opinions of a member of the 

 British Parliament on the negro question formed 

 during a visit to America (New York, R. Worth- 

 ington). The question of civil-service reform, 

 viewed in the light of British example, is pro 



