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LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1884. (LANGUAGE, HISTORY.) 



literary world, and there were fewer and less 

 important books published in 1884 than usual. 



Fine Arts. Particularly meager is the list of 

 works in this department. Marion Kember's 

 "Guide to Decorative Art," Hodson's "His- 

 torical and Practical Guide to Art Illustra- 

 tion," Grove's "Analytic Essays on Beetho- 

 ven's Nine Symphonies," Graves's " Dictionary 

 of Artists who have exhibited at the Principal 

 London Exhibitions from 1760 to 1880," Lof- 

 tie's " Essay on Scarabs," Sanders's " Carved 

 Oak Wood- work in the Houses and Furniture 

 of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries," 

 and Solon on "The Art of the Old English 

 Potter " these are the most notable books of 

 the year in this direction. The finely illus- 

 trated edition of Sterne's " Sentimental Jour- 

 ney," and Dicksee's " Romeo and Juliet," are 

 to be mentioned among the artistic holiday 

 volumes, and Austin Dobson's " Thomas Be- 

 wick and his Pupils," and Robbins's transla- 

 tion of Gosse's " Life of Frornentin," among 

 the art biographies. 



Language and Literature. In the general di- 

 rection indicated by this classification there 

 have been some important publications. The 

 " Bibliography of Printing " of Bigmore and 

 Wyman has reached its second volume and the 

 letter S, and will be completed in the third 

 volume. Hawkins's " Titles of the First Books 

 printed in Europe up to the Year 1600," and 

 the British Museum catalogue of books "Print- 

 ed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of 

 Books in English, printed abroad, up to the 

 Year 1640," are valuable additions to practical 

 bibliography. Dr. Murray's new "English 

 Dictionary," Stormouth's " New Dictionary of 

 the English Language," and the first part of 

 the " Dictionary of National Biography," are 

 valuable additions to their class of literary con- 

 veniences. McCallum's " Studies in Low and 

 High German Literature," Gelvart's "Folk- 

 Lore of Modern Greece," and Laf cadio Hearns's 

 " Stray Leaves from Stray Literatures," may 

 be inserted in this class. So may not im- 

 properly the Greek and Latin classics : Chin- 

 nock's translation of the " Anabasis," Wilstach's 

 " JEneid," and Palmer's "Odyssey." 



Dante's "Inferno" has been translated by 

 Sibbold, and Tasso's " Jerusalem Delivered " 

 by Sir J. K. James. There were new editions 

 issued of the works of Marlowe, Dryden, Bur- 

 ton, Pepys, Keats, and Shelley. Francis T. 

 Palgrave's charming little edition of Keats de- 

 serves especial mention. Another edition of 

 this poet is by Arnold, and still another by 

 Lord Houghton, while his " Letters " appeared, 

 edited by Speed. The edition by Montague of 

 " Bacon's Essays," Myers's " Selections from 

 Milton's Prose," Ainger's " Miscellaneous Writ- 

 ings of Charles Lamb," the "Sonnets of Words- 

 worth," by Archbishop Trench, " Selected 

 Poems of Tennyson," by Rolfe, "The Prin- 

 cess," by Rolfe and Dawson, the " Wit, Wis- 

 dom, and Philosophy of Richter," in English, 

 and a fine edition of " Jane Eyre," complete 



the works in general literature. In the way of 

 literary criticism, there were " Shakespeare's 

 Predecessors," by Symonds ; " The Prologue and 

 Epilogue in English Literature from Shake- 

 speare to Dryden," by " G. S. B."; "Shake- 

 speare," by Prof. Hales ; and Hudson's " Words- 

 worth." 



History. Dr. A. H. Sayce has prepared a 

 scholarly and useful little monograph in his 

 "Ancient Empires of the East," and " Babylo- 

 nian Life and History " have been treated by Mr. 

 Budge, while Sir C. H Rawlinson has published 

 the second part of the fifth volume of his "Se- 

 lections from the Miscellaneous Inscriptions of 

 Assyria and Babylon." The third volume has 

 appeared of the series, by George Stephens, of 

 the " Handbooks of the Old Northern Runic 

 Monuments of Scandinavia and England," and 

 " Scotland in Pagan Times," by J. Anderson, 

 completes the list in ancient history. More 

 recent, yet hardly modern, is the " History of 

 English Goldsmiths and PI ate- workers," by 

 Chaffer. General English history furnishes 

 the first four books of William of Newburgh's 

 "Historia Rerum Anglicarum," edited from 

 the MSS. of the Rolls; the tenth volume of 

 the " Calendar of State Papers," Brewer's 

 " The Reign of Henry VIII," Paul Friedmann's 

 "Life of Anne Boleyn," Percy Fitzgerald's 

 "Life and Times of William IV," the "Fac- 

 similes of Irish Manuscripts," edited by J. T. 

 Gilbert, have been completed, and J. R. 

 Green's noteworthy " Conquest of England " 

 has appeared. "A Study of Ireland in the 

 Seventeenth Century," by Mary Hixon, and W. 

 A. O'Connor's " History of the Irish People," 

 are important additions to the bibliography 

 of this subject. Sir Alexander Grant's history 

 of '* The University of Edinburgh's Three Hun- 

 dred Years " is a valuable addition to the his- 

 tory of education in Scotland. In special his- 

 tories, we have Mr. J. H. Skene's "With Lord 

 Stratford in the Crimean War," M. Taine'a 

 fourth and concluding volume of his work on 

 " The Revolution," Lady Jackson's " Court of 

 the Tuileries," M. de Maupas's " The Famous 

 Coup d'tat," Gindeley's "History of the 

 Thirty Years' War," and Holmes's " Account 

 of .the Indian Mutiny." A new " History of 

 Prussia," by Herbert Tuttle, extends to the 

 accession of Frederick the Great; and there 

 were published Boulger's " History of China," 

 Rusden's "History of Australia," Justin Mc- 

 Carthy's " Short History of Our Own Times," 

 the " Russian War in Turkomania," by Gen. 

 Grodekoff, Col. Malleson's " Battle-Fields of 

 Germany," Lieut.-Col. King's "Famous and 

 Decisive Battles of the World," two works on 

 the " War in the Soudan," by Hon. J. Col- 

 borne and Bennett Burleigh, and a brief essay 

 by Atkinson on " The Reading of History." 



Essays. Among the essays of the year, quite 

 the brightest and most original and graceful 

 were those published under the title " Obiter 

 Dicta," anonymously, and reprinted by Messrs. 

 Scribner. Vernon Lee's " Euphorion " is a 



