LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1886. 



487 



well-nigh forgotten his existence. " The Life 

 and Campaigns of Major-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart," 

 the Confederate cavalryman, is among the 

 best of the many similar narratives from the 

 Southern side that have appeared since the 

 civil war. It is by Major McClellan, a member 

 of Stuart's staff. 



Poetry. The venerable John G-reenleaf 

 Whittier heads the list of poets with his 

 " Saint Gregory's Guest." The quaint quality 

 of his clear-cut verses contain many sugges- 

 tions of the old vigor. " H. H.'s " " Sonnets 

 and Lyrics " are probably the last verses that 

 we shall see from her pen. Celia Thaxter's 

 " Cruise of the Mystery " ; Mrs. Sarah M. B. 

 Piatt's "In Primrose Time"; Margaret J. 

 Preston's " For Love's Sake " ; Nora Perry's 

 "New Songs and New Ballads" ; Mrs. Whit- 

 ney's " Holy Tides " ; Elizabeth Akers's " The 

 Silver Bridge " ; Josephine Pollard's " Vagrant 

 Verses"; Margaret Deland's "Old Garden"; 

 Anna Katharine Green's "Risifi's Daughter," 

 are among the best works from feminine pens. 

 From 0. P. Cranch, who, if not in the same 

 generation with Whittier, is at least older than 

 most of our present writers, we have " Ariel 

 and Caliban." Edar Fawcett heads the 

 younger men with "Romance and Revery," 

 marked by his usual incisive wit and clever 

 versification. Clinton Scollard's " With Reed 

 and Lyre"; "In the King's Garden," by 

 James Berry Bensel ; Peck's rollicking " Cap 

 and Bells," and "In Bohemia," by John Boyle 

 O'Reilly " ; " Children's Ballads from History 

 and Folk Lore " is a selection from the pages 

 of li Wide-Awake" of much that is best in verses 

 and pictures. M. A. Lathbury is the author 

 of "From Meadow-Sweet to Mistletoe," an 

 artistically illustrated book for American chil- 

 dren. " Flowers from Dell and Bower " con- 

 tains enough original American work, although 

 Shakespeare is represented, to justify its men- 

 tion in this department. A new and complete 

 edition of Longfellow's works, poetry and 

 prose, is among the year's additions to the 

 Riverside list. " The Minute-Man," commem- 

 orative of the Concord fight, is by Margaret 

 Sidney (Mrs. Hester Lothrop), illustrated by 

 Sandham. " Bye-o-Baby Ballads," by 0. Stu- 

 art Pratt, with its colored illustrations, was 

 among the holiday novelties. " Three Kings " 

 is a Christmas ballad, by Mary Leland Mc- 

 Lanathan, illustrated by Rosina Emmet. But 

 the list of poets, more or less known to the 

 public, must of necessity be cut short. 



Of compilations there are several, some of 

 the best being Browne's " Bugle Echoes " and 

 Frank Moore's " Son2;s and Ballads of the 

 Southern People, 1861-1865," wbich repre- 

 sent the popular songs of both sides during 

 the civil war. In " Humbler Poets," Slason 

 Thompson has brought together a large num- 

 ber of literally " fugitive " pieces from news- 

 papers and periodicals, many of which have 

 the mark of genuine poetry. " Through the 

 Year with the Poets " is edited by Oscar Fay 



Adams, who also published a noticeable vol- 

 ume of original poems, entitled " Post-Lau- 

 reate Idyls." The "Poems" of Florus B. 

 Plimpton, " The Poetical Works of Benjamin 

 F. Taylor," Baxley's "Temple of Alanthus" 

 and H. Bernard Carpenter's " Liber Amoris " 

 may conclude the list. 



Criticism and General Literature. Shakespeare 

 still occupies a large share of the attention of 

 critics and commentators. Indeed, there are, 

 as yet, no indications that he will ever be 

 dethroned. We have, besides new editions, 

 " Shakespeare and Spanish Prototypes " and 

 " Shakespeare Society," by A. R. Frey ; "Au- 

 thorship of Shakespeare," by N. Holmes; 

 "Shakespeare's England," by William Winter; 

 " Shakespeare's Female Characters," by Edgar 

 Fawcett; and "Familiar Talks on some of 

 Shakespeare's Comedies," by E. W. Latimer. 

 The New York Shakespeare Society has begun 

 the publication of its papers, and the formation 

 of Shakespeare clubs is of frequent occurrence 

 wherever there is a literary circle. 



Next to Shakespeare, Browning is perhaps 

 the most popular subject of study. u Brown- 

 ing's Women," by Mary E. Burt; " An Intro- 

 duction to the Study of Robert Browning's 

 Poetry," by Hiram Corson; and a volume of 

 " Outline Studies" of the same, from the Chi- 

 cago Browning Society. Prof. Rolfe has aided 

 in this direction by his " English Classics." Dr. 



F. H. Hedge's " Hours with the German Class- 

 ics " is a work of permanent value for conscien- 

 tious students of German ; and a volume equal- 

 ly worthy, in a different line, is G. W. Cooke's 

 " Poets and Problems." Andrew Lang's " Let- 

 ters to Dead Authors," Abba Gould Wool- 

 son's " George Eliot and her Heroines," and 



G. Lansing Raymond's " Poetry as a Represent- 

 ative Art," are excellent guides to study in the 

 directions indicated. 



The list of books on general literature may 

 fitly conclude with W. F. Dana's " Optimism of 

 Ralph Waldo Emerson," which is, in fact, the 

 Bowdoin prize essay on that subject. 



The year has seen the publication of a large 

 number of books bearing directly or indirectly 

 upon art. Some of them are careful studies 

 in the different departments, others are books 

 of reference, others are reprints of standard 

 works for the sake of new illustrations, and 

 still others are prepared as a frame for some 

 particularly good artistic work. The most 

 important general work on art and artists that 

 has been published in America is the superb 

 " Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings," edited 

 by John Denison Champlin, Jr. Two volumes 

 were brought out during the year, and two 

 more will shortly follow. 



Among the most attractive of the art publi- 

 cations is " A Book of the Tile Club," to which 

 members of that famous association have liber- 

 ally contributed with pen and pencil. A de 

 luxe edition of one hundred copies, printed on 

 Japanese paper and signed by the artists, was 

 prepared for temptation of rich collectors. In 



