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LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1884. (FICTION.) 



Marion Crawford, " A Roman Singer " and 

 "An American Politician." The former was 

 a striking love-story freshly treated, but in the 

 latter the author tries his skill with much less 

 successful hand in describing and satirizing po- 

 litical life and methods in the United States. 

 Charles Egbert Craddock (the pen-name of Miss 

 Mary N.Murfree) became widely known through 

 the story, u Where the Battle was Fought," 

 with its realistic descriptions of mountain-life 

 and peculiar Southern types. Mrs. Helen Hunt 

 Jackson's "Ramona" was a picture of life in 

 southern California, noticeable as a protest 

 against the treatment of the Indian. Miss 

 Maude Howe's "The San Rosario Ranch" was 

 a less tragic picture of rural Californian life. 

 " The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys," by Rich- 

 ard Grant White, was a bright satire on English 

 misconception of Americans; and George Par- 

 suns Lathrop produced a spirited picture of 

 Newport fashionable life in "Newport." Ju- 

 lian Hawthorne was represented by " Beatrix 

 Randolph," "Archibald Malmaison," and "No- 

 ble Blood," none of which was peculiarly no- 

 ticeable. Among the novels of special merit 

 was " The Making of a Man," a posthumous 

 work by Rev. Wm. M. Baker, a book of more 

 than ordinary cleverness. As even more no- 

 ticeable than this may be mentioned Howe's 

 " Story of a Country Town," one of the most 

 successful " first " books of recent years, which 

 was distinguished by its vivid realism and 

 power to make ordinary things attractive. Ed- 

 gar Fawcett's society novels, "The Adventures 

 of a Widow " and " Tinkling Cymbals," were 

 not devoid of interest, though burdened with a 

 labored style and some what forced satire. An- 

 other of this author's novels, " Rutherford," was 

 reprinted from an earlier edition. Miss Sara 

 Orne Jewett's "Country Doctor" attracted 

 deserved attention by its nice characterization 

 and delicate touch. A novel of great length 

 by Admiral David D. Porter was issued in se- 

 rial monthly parts, the revival of an old form 

 made famous by Dickens and other writers of 

 half a century since. This was entitled " Allan 

 Dare and Robert Le Diable " and was of a very 

 romantic and sensational character. The well- 

 known popular writer E. P. Roe was repre- 

 sented in "Nature's Serial Story" and "A 

 Young Girl's Wooing." Noticeable work in 

 fiction was done by Dr. William A. Hammond, 

 the well-known specialist in nerve-diseases, 

 and by Dr. Weir Mitchell. The former, in 

 "Lai" and "Doctor Grattan," not only found 

 an effective vehicle forphysiological theories, but 

 succeeded in telling striking stories. Dr. Mitch- 

 ell's "In War Time " made a distinct impres- 

 sion as a strong exhibition of character analy- 

 sis. N. C. Kouns followed up the success of 

 "Arius the Libyan" with "Dorcas," a story 

 of early Christian life in Rome. A clever 

 story of Southern life in the early part 

 of the century was told in Johnson's 

 " Old Mark Langton " ; and another still more 

 noticeable delineation of old Southern life was 



given in "The Entailed Hat;" by George Al- 

 fred Townsend, the scene being laid in Mary- 

 land and Virginia, and turning largely on the 

 kidnapping of negroes. Additions to the " No- 

 name Series" were "Almost a Duchess" and 

 " Diane Coryval," both of them tales of French 

 life. The " American Novel Series " was be- 

 gun early in the present year, and included 

 several works of interest (the best of them 

 being the first two named) : Arlo Bates's " The 

 Pagans," Miss Compton's "Esther," "A Lat- 

 ter-Day Saint," "Stratford by the Sea," and 

 " Among the Chosen." Robert Grant's novel, 

 " An Average Man," attracted some attention, 

 and J. S. of Dale justified an earlier success, 

 " Guerndale," in " The Crime of Henry Vane." 

 "Vestigia," by Miss Julia Fletcher, was a 

 story of recent Italian life, marked by vivid 

 description and good delineation of character. 

 Other works of some interest were "Phoebe," 

 by the author of " Rutledge " ; Miss Johnson's 

 "Fainalls of Tipton," Mrs. Kirk's "A Mid- 

 summer Madness," Miss Townsend's "But a 

 Philistine," Miss Amanda Douglass's " Out of 

 the Wreck," Edward Everett Hale's "Fortunes 

 of Rachel," Picard's "A Matter of Taste," and 

 Orpheus C. Kerr's story of Borneo under the 

 regime of Rajah Brooke, entitled " There was 

 once a Man." Many volumes of short stories 

 were issued, such collections having been the 

 fashion with publishers. These were Henry 

 James's "Tales of Three Cities," W. H. Bish- 

 op's "Choy Susan," Bret Harte's "On the 

 Frontier," Joel Chandler Harris's "Wings," 

 G. P. Lathrop's "True," Deming's "Tomp- 

 kins," Miss Sally McLean's "Some Other 

 Folks," Charles Egbert Craddock's "In the 

 Tennessee Mountains," Frank Stockton's " The 

 Lady or the Tiger," Sherwood Bonner's " Su- 

 wanee River Stories," and eight volumes of 

 " Stories by American Authors," the latter be- 

 ing the supposed best short stories published 

 in the American magazines during the last 

 twenty years. Among American reprints of 

 English books there were a good many strik- 

 ing novels. Those specially worthy of men- 

 tion were William Black's "Judith Shake- 

 speare " ; Anthony Trollope's " An Old Man's 

 Love," and Charles Reade's "A Perilous Se- 

 cret," both posthumous works ; Wilkie Collins'8 

 " I Say No " ; Blackmore's " Tommy Upmore," 

 a parliamentary satire ; Florence Warden's (a 

 hitherto unknown writer) "House on the 

 Marsh," " At the World's Mercy," and "Del- 

 dee," all of them books of strong sensational 

 interest and of large sale; Hugh Conway's 

 "Called Back" and "Dark Days," the former 

 of which in popularity was one of the leading 



novels of the year, both published in the 

 Tour Series"; Jessie Fothergill's 



Leisure Hour 



"Peril," published in the same series; Mrs. L. 

 B. Walford's "The Baby's Grandmother," one 

 of the most charming novels of recent years; 

 "The Millionaire," published anonymously, 

 but afterward acknowledged by Louis J. Jen- 

 nings, the Anglo- American journalist, the hero 



