LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1884. (BIOGRAPHY, POETRY, FICTION.) 



447 



collection of historical essays; Dr. Hedge's 

 "Atheism in Philosophy" is theological and 

 philosophical. The " Essays and Leaves from 

 George Eliot's Note-Book," Walter Besant's 

 " Art of Fiction," T. Hall Caine's " Cobwebs 

 of Criticism," Hamerton's " Human Inter- 

 course," Miss Hamlen's "Chats," and Rev. 

 Minot J. Savage's " Man, Woman, and Child," 

 are cast in a less serious vein. 



Biography. Perhaps the fullest department 

 in literature in, the production of the year was 

 that of biography, important both for subject 

 and author in many marked instances. The 

 English translations of Nohl's Lives of Liszt 

 and Wagner were valuable contributions to 

 musical history, as was also Mailland's " Life of 

 Schumann," in the series of " Great Musicians." 

 Hodder's " Life and Times of Simon Peter " is 

 a somewhat remarkable effort ; the reformer 

 Wycliffe had two biographies published dur- 

 ing the year one by Losarth, being translated 

 from the German by Dr. Stoughton, the other 

 by Mr. J. L. Wilson, a Scotch- American. Mr. 

 Bell's translation of Goethe's "Early and Mis- 

 cellaneous Letters," Dr. Evans's "Memoir of 

 Heine," and Nevinson's " Herder and his 

 Times," illustrate German literature. Mr. 

 Courthope's "Addison," Dean Church's "Ba- 

 con," and Mr. Traill's "Coleridge," are addi- 

 tions to the series of "English Men of Let- 

 ters." Benham has edited an edition of " Cow- 

 por's Letters," and a new "Life of Sydney 

 Smith," by Reid, has been published. Mr. 

 Froude's " Carlyle in London " completes this 

 writer's contribution to the biography of his 

 great subject. Among less important person- 

 ages whose lives have been sketched, are 

 Charles Whitehead* by IT. T. Mackenzie Bell, 

 under the title of "A Critical Monograph," 

 and "Hablot K. Browne," whose "Life and 

 Labors" have been written by D. C. Thomp- 

 son. Lord Brabourne has edited the " Letters 

 of Jane Austen," the " Complete Works of 

 Mrs. Bray "have appeared in a new edition, 

 with her "Autobiography," edited by Mr. 

 Kempe, and the " Tales, Poems, and Essays " 

 of Mrs. Barbauld, and of Jane and Ann Tay- 

 lor, have been brought out by Mrs. Grace A. 

 Oliver. Her Majesty Queen Victoria has pub- 

 lished her "More Leaves from the Journal 

 of a Life in the Highlands," the " Story of 

 the Princess Alice" has appeared, and Dr. J. 

 B. Williams, Physician Extraordinary to the 

 Queen, has published " Memories of his Life 

 and Work." The " Biography of Arminius 

 Vambery," written by himself, and 0. W. D. 

 L'Estrange's "Life of Brig.-Gen. Maclver" 

 are two instances of more adventurous lives. 

 Moritz Busch's "Bismarck" attracted gener- 

 al criticism, and Robertson's " Life of John 

 Bright," and Archibald Forbes's " Biography 

 of Chinese Gordon " are among the impor- 

 tant works in this class. Col. ChaillS Long's 

 "Three Prophets" includes the latter, with 

 El Mahdi and Arabi Pashi for the other two. 

 Gordon's " Letters from the Danube, the Cri- 



mea, and Armenia," and " Reflections in Pales- 

 tine," throw still further light on the life and 

 character of the great soldier. "The Life of 

 F. D. Maurice" and "Dr. Mozley's Letters" 

 are to be named in English biographical litera- 

 ture ; and so are the " Croker Papers," the 

 second series of " Extracts from the Diary of 

 Henry Greville," Robert Harrop's "Political 

 and Critical Study of Lord Bolingbroke," Mr. 

 Osmond's " Lord- Advocates of Scotland," the 

 " Autobiography of the Earl of Malmesbury," 

 the " Life of the Hon. M. Elphinstone," and 

 the Lives of u Sir Henry Cole " and " General 

 Sir George Napier " completing this subject. 



Poetry. The new publications in this de- 

 partment present very little of importance. 

 Robert Browning's "Ferishta's Fancies" and 

 Swinburne's u A Midsummer Holiday " are the 

 most noteworthy books, after which come Phil- 

 ip Bourke Marston's " Wind Voices," Cholmon- 

 deley Pennell's "From Grave to Gay," Lewis 

 Morris's "Songs Unsung," Lang's "Ballades 

 and Verses Vain," and Michael Field, a new 

 writer, with "Fair Rosamond." 



Fiction. In this department, while no re- 

 markable work appeared during the year, the 

 field has been fairly filled by some of the great- 

 er and very many of the lesser British novel- 

 ists. A posthumous work by Anthony Trol- 

 lope, "An Old Man's Love," Charles Reade's 

 " Perilous Secret," and Wilkie^Collins's " I say 

 No," are not novels of the highest rank, though 

 of the greatest names. Mr. William Black's 

 "Judith Shakespeare" and Mr. Blackmore's 

 "Tommy Upmore" are among the second 

 rate. "Called Back," "Dark Days," and a 

 collection of short stories, " Bound Together," 

 introduced Mr. Hugh Conway (a pseudonym) 

 to the English-speaking public, and produced 

 a sensation far in advance of their literary 

 merit, due to their sensational and melodramat- 

 ic character. "The House on the Marsh" and 

 " At the World's Mercy," published anonymous- 

 ly, attracted considerable attention for similar 

 reasons Mr. Robert Buchanan produced " New 

 Abelard" and "Foxglove Manor." Mr. R. L. 

 Stevenson's " Treasure Island " created some 

 excitement in literary circles, and Mr. Clark 

 Russell's latest sea-stories, " Jack's Courtship " 

 and " John Holds worth, Chief Mate," sustained 

 his reputation in his peculiar line. Ouida's 

 " Princess Napraxine," Robinson's u A Fair 

 Maid," Miss Yonge's " The Armorer's Appren- 

 tice," Mrs. Lang's "Dissolving Views," Mr. 

 Anstey's " The Giant's Robe," Mrs. Walford's 

 " The Baby's Grandmother," a charming story, 

 Mrs. Mulock-Craik's u Miss Tommy," founded 

 on fact, Mrs. Oliphant's "01<1 Lady Mary," 

 a clever ghost-story, and "Laddie," and "Miss 

 Toosey's Mission " complete the list of British 

 fiction for 1884. 



Medicine. A number of really important 

 works on medical science appeared during the 

 year, and the list of new editions is larger than 

 usual. Sir Henry Thompson published "Tu- 

 mors of the Bladder " and " Lectures on some 



