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LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1879. 



novelists, who draw their inspiration from the 

 well-spring of nature and model their dramatic 

 personages after social types actually observed. 

 In a new edition of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," con- 

 taining also a bibliographical account of the 

 work and its translations in all the literary 

 languages of the world, Mrs. Stowe gives a 

 simple and touching recital of the genesis of 

 this epochal book in her mind. " The Lady of 

 Aroostook," by W. D. Howells (Houghton, Os- 

 good & Co.), is one of the most noteworthy 

 novels which have been produced in the United 

 States ; it is more rounded and more artisti- 

 cally complete than the preceding works of the 

 author, and is characterized in a fuller measure 

 by the fine qualities which distinguish his style, 

 refined humor, well conceived and finely sus- 

 tained characters, bright, incisive strokes of 

 characterization, shrewd observation of life and 

 manners, and a fine appreciation of assthetic 

 propriety. In two novels by Henry James, Jr., 

 "The Europeans" and "Daisy Miller," his 

 favorite study of contrasted types of character, 

 developed under the variant social conditions 

 of Europe and America, is still his theme, han- 

 dled with the dramatic consequence in charac- 

 ter-drawing, the gleaming wit, and the finished 

 neatness of style which make his sketchy 

 stories finished products of novelistic art de- 

 spite their scanty and poor materials. "An 

 International Episode " is another recent study 

 in the same limited field of observation, even 

 slighter in dramatic construction and thinner 

 in substance than its predecessors. Frances 

 Hodgson Burnett, who in a former work has 

 depicted life among the humble classes in Lan- 

 cashire with great force, originality, and nat- 

 uralness, now appears with a fresh novel of 

 similar character, and not behind her former 

 writings in truthful character-drawing and 

 dramatic force. Three of Mrs. Burnett's earlier 

 stories, "Kathleen Mavourneen," "Theo," 

 I' Pretty Polly Pemberton " (J. B. Lippincott), 

 it was an injustice to reprint after her riper 

 and better work. " Airy Fairy Lilian " (J. B. 

 Lippincott) is an exhilarating novel of the light- 

 est kind. George W. Cable's "Old Creole 

 Days" contains several novelettes by a new 

 author, which are saturated with the local color 

 of scenes fruitful of materials for romance ; the 

 Creole life is treated with artistic instinct and 

 affords a fascinating story. " Signer Monal- 

 dini's Niece " (Roberts Brothers), one of the 

 numerous class of cosmopolitan novels, written 

 by an American resident in Rome [Miss M. A. 

 Tincker], is still one of the best constructed 

 and most workmanlike stories in the " No 

 Name Series." "As it may Happen" (Porter 

 & Coates) is a novel of American scenes con- 

 taining some strong realistic touches. "The 

 Colonel's Opera Cloak," a number in the second 

 " No Name Series " (Roberts Brothers), is a 

 lively and laughable storv. " Detmold, a Ro- 

 mance," by W. H. Bishop (Houghton, Osgood 

 & Co.), belongs to the better class of American 

 novels ; the characters are clearly outlined and 



well developed, the dramatic theme original 

 but not extravagant nor unpleasant, and the 

 style refined and correct. " Modern Fishers of 

 Men " (D. Appleton & Co.) is a faithful study 

 of life in a small American town. " A Gentle 

 Belle," by Christian Reid [Francis S. Fisher], 

 is one of Appleton's " Handy-Volume " books. 

 " Colonel Dunwoddie, Millionaire " (Harper & 

 Brothers), is a realistic picture of life in the 

 Southern States. Charles Scribner's Sons have 

 published Frank R. Stockton's laughable stories 

 of ' Rudder Grange." " Tales of Table Moun- 

 tain " (Houghton, Osgood & Co.) are some of 

 Bret Harte's later short stories. " Gordon Bald- 

 win ; The Philosopher's Pendulum ; Liquid- 

 ated ; The Seer " (D. Appleton & Co.), are four 

 international stories whose scenes and charac- 

 ters are taken from the various countries where 

 the author has resided; they are well con- 

 ceived and possess strong and good qualities. 

 Hjalmar H. Boyesen's "Falconberg" is an 

 idealized story, whose characters are Nor- 

 wegian emigrants, in which the virtues of the 

 Scandinavian character and the sentiments of 

 American liberty are gracefully and eloquently 

 depicted. A romance by F. Hassaurek, " The 

 Secret of the Andes " (Cincinnati, Robert Clarke 

 & Co.), presents with historical fidelity the con- 

 dition of the Peruvians after the conquest and 

 their longings and struggles for liberty. An- 

 other historical romance, " The Puritan and 

 the Quaker" (G. P. Putnam's Sons), is a well- 

 written picture of life in old New England. 

 " Captain Nelson " (Harper & Brothers) is a 

 tale of colonial times by the well-known anti- 

 quary and historian, Samuel Adams Drake. 

 The following may be mentioned among the 

 other successful novels of the year : " The Un- 

 known City," by "W. F. "Washburne (Jesse 

 Haney & Co.); "The Felmeres," by Sada 

 Elliott (D. Appleton & Co.) ; " Di Cary," by 

 M. Jacqueline Thornton (D. Appleton & Co.); 

 Bertha M. Clay's " Lady Damar's Secret " (G. 

 W. Carleton & Co.) ; Miss Susan Warner's " My 

 Desire," a story of the present (Robert Carter 

 & Brothers) ; " The Breton Mills," by Charles 

 J, Bellamy (G. P. Putnam's Sons); "An Ear- 

 nest Trifler " (Houghton, Osgood & Co.) ; 

 " His Majesty, Myself" (Roberts Brothers' "No 

 Name Series"). 



Translations and adaptations from the lead- 

 ing Continental novelists, as well as all the 

 more popular novels which the numerous 

 novel-writing profession in the British Isles 

 produce, are required to satisfy the large capa- 

 city of the American public for this class of 

 literature. The more important translated 

 novels offered to the public during the year are 

 as follows: "The Maid of Stralsund," by the 

 masterly Dutch novelist De Liefde (New York, 

 Dodd, Mead & Co.); "A Thorough Bo- 

 hemienne," by Mme. Charles Reybaud, one of 

 the " New Handy- Volume Series " (D. Apple- 

 ton & Co.) ; Henry Greville's [Mme. Durand's] 

 " Bonne-Marie " and " Philomene's Marriages " 

 (Philadelphia, T. B. Peterson & Co.), the scenes 



