LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1885. 



533 



William H. Ward, prefixed to an edition of 

 his collected poems. 



In autobiographies we have that of Andrew 

 J. Davis and " Platform Echoes," by John B. 

 Gough. In reminiscences of authors, " Bryant 

 and his Friends," by J. G. Wilson, and " Per- 

 sonal Traits of British Authors," edited by Ed- 

 ward T. Mason. 



The principal translations in this depart- 

 ment are Davilliers's " Life of Fortuny," Bour- 

 rienne's " Life of Napoleon Bonaparte," Ba- 

 court's "Souvenirs of a Diplomat," and the 

 " Memoirs of Karoline Bauer." 



Poetry. A few good books of poems are as 

 usual scattered among a great many that are 

 indifferent or trashy. Little has been pub- 

 lished by well-known poets. " Lyrics and oth- 

 er Poems," by Richard Watson Gilder; "Po- 

 ems," by William D. Howells ; and " Poems," 

 by W. W. Story, are in part made np of new 

 material. Mrs. Julia 0. R. Dorr has published 

 " Afternoon Songs," and Helen G. Gone " Obe- 

 ron and Puck." "A New- Year's Masque," by 

 Edith Thomas, has received the praise of the 

 critics. Other noteworthy volumes of verse 

 are : " An Irish Garland," by Sarah M. B. Piatt ; 

 "Agamemnon's Daughter," by Denton G. Sni- 

 der; "The Thankless Muse," by Henry A. 

 Beers; "Songs of the Silent World," by Eliza- 

 beth S. Phelps ; " City Ballads," by Will Carle- 

 ton; " Hidden Sweetness," by Mary Bradley; 

 " Pictures in Song," by Clinton Scollard ; " The 

 Gray Masque," by Mary B. Dodge ; " Verses," 

 by A. D. F. Randolph ; and " The New King 

 Arthur," by the author of "The Buntling Ball." 

 A complete collection of the poems of Sidney 

 Lanier has been made, and prefaced with a 

 sketch of his life. J. J. and S. M. B. Piatt 

 have sent out a pretty volume of verse for 

 the young people, "Children Out of Doors." 

 Other volumes of verse that have appeared 

 during the year are : " Poems, Original and 

 Translated," by Charles T. Brooks ; " Camp-Fire 

 and other Poems," by Kate Sherwood ; " Lays 

 of a Bohemian," by S. R. Sherwood ; " Elijah 

 the Reformer and other Poems," by G. L. 

 Taylor, D. D. ; " Verses of a Collegian," by E. 

 Gerstle ; " Hero and Leander," by 0. R. Zache ; 

 " Sir Cupid and other Poems," by E. Y. Co- 

 hen ; " Songs of All Seasons," by J. B. Ken- 

 yon ; " Home Blossoms," by E. A. Woodbury ; 

 " Rural Lyrics," by J. F. Simmons ; " Wind 

 and Whirlwind," by J. S. Blunt; " Fragments 

 froru an Old Inn," by Lillian R. Messenger ; 

 "Poems on Lake Winnipesaukee," by Julia 

 N. Stickney ; " Cromwell," by G. A. Town- 

 send ; "The Procession of the Zodiac," by 

 Margaret Johnson ; " Stray Thoughts," by Ma- 

 ria H. Parker ; " A Story of Psyche," by M. 

 E. Blanchard; "Lilith," by Ada L. Collier; 

 "Rustic Rhymes," by Mrs. E. T. Corbett ; 

 " Annabel and other Poems," by E. P. Aller- 

 ton ; "Up to the Light," by Sara H. Smith; 

 "Rhymes," by D. Robertson; "A Feather 

 from the World's Wing," by A. S. Logan; 

 " Ashes for Flame," by Mrs. C. D. Howe ; 



" Wishmaker's Town," by W. Young ; " Wash- 

 ington," by R. II. Ball; " Montezuma," by 

 H. H. Richmond ; and " The Inca Princess," 

 by Mrs. M. B. M. Toland. 



Ednah D. Cheney has compiled a book of 

 translations of Michel Angelo's poems, and 

 Leonce Rabillon has translated " Le Chanson 

 de Roland." Karl Knortz has edited a collec- 

 tion, " Representative German Poems," giving 

 the originals and selected translations. "A 

 Library of Religious Poetry " is edited by Dr. 

 Philip Schaff and Arthur Gilman, and " The 

 Boy's Book of Ballads" by T. D. English. 



Criticism and General Literature. In critical 

 work we find comparatively little. Richard 

 Grant White was engaged in revising various 

 magazine papers on Shakespeare when he was 

 stricken with his last illness, and these have 

 been collected under the title "Studies in 

 Shakespeare." Other books of more or less 

 value in Shakespearean study are : " Ecclesias- 

 tical Law in Hamlet," by R. S. Guernsey, argu- 

 ing a minute acquaintance in Shakespeare with 

 the laws of the Church regarding suicides, 

 from the scene of the burial of Ophelia ; " Ve- 

 nus and Adonis," by Appleton Morgan, a study 

 in the Warwickshire dialect ; " Shakespeare as 

 a Dramatic Artist," by R. G. Moulton ; "A 

 Concordance to Shakespeare," by W. H. D. 

 Adams, a concordance of phrases by their chief 

 words; and "What we really know about 

 Shakespeare," by Caroline H. Dall. 



George Eliot ranks next as a subject for 

 criticism. Miss Rose E. Cleveland's " George 

 Eliot's Poetry and other Essays" has had a 

 very large sale. Rev. C. G. Ames has written 

 of " George Eliot's Two Marriages," and fur- 

 nished an introduction to J. Crombie Brown's 

 " Ethics of George Eliot's Works." 



" The Genius and Character of Emerson " is 

 made up of the essays and poems read at the 

 Concord School of Philosophy in the special 

 course of 1 884, devoted to the study of Emerson. 



Edmund C. Stedman's " Poets of America " 

 is one of the most elaborate books of its kind 

 in existence ; it is a companion volume to his 

 " Victorian Poets," published in 1875. Prof. 

 Francis Bowen has written of the Bible as a 

 book for study, aside from religious considera- 

 tions, in " A Layman's Study of the English 

 Bible, considered in its Literary and Secular 

 Aspects." Rev. William C. Wilkinson displays 

 a capacity for minute criticism in his " Edwin 

 Arnold as Poetizer and as Paganizer." G. P. 

 Upton writes of " The Standard Operas," and 

 William Winter of " Henry Irving." " The 

 Enchiridion of Criticism," by W. Shepard, pro- 

 fesses to give the best criticisms on the best 

 authors in the department of belles-lettres. 



Miss Louise Imogen Guiney has published a 

 book of bright essays with the title " Goose- 

 quill Papers " ; Frederick Saunders, author of 

 " Salad for the Solitary," a collection entitled 

 "Pastime Papers"; and Miss Kate Sanborn 

 " The Wit of Women," and " Vanity and In- 

 sanity of Genius." 



