488 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1886. 



the same category may be mentioned an edi- 

 tion of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," 

 smaller and less costly than the first. 



Frederick Crowninshield's "Mural Paint- 

 ing " is noteworthy in every sense as a strictly 

 American art publication of practical utility, 

 the author being among the most accomplished 

 of contemporary mural painters. 



" Stories of Art and Artists," by Clara Ers- 

 kine Clement, was among the few art-books of 

 the year designed especially for juvenile read- 

 ers, but of permanent value to any one. " Youth 

 in Twelve Centuries" is another "Juvenile," 

 containing twenty- four ideal portraits of youth- 

 ful race-types of both sexes. The context is 

 furnished by "M. E. B." (Mrs. M. E. Blake) in 

 the shape of short poems, one for each of the 

 pictures. 



"Notable Etchings by American Artists," 

 with an essay by Ripley Hitchcock, records 

 the progress in this country of this deservedly 

 popular branch of fine art. " American Art " 

 is a collection by S. R. Koehler, of twenty-five 

 paintings, or rather of reproductions thereof, 

 by American artists. They were selected with 

 commendably good taste from the best public 

 and private American collections. The same 

 writer and critic published "Twenty American 

 Etchings " in a handsome folio edition limited 

 to three hundred and fifty copies. The con- 

 text is mainly biographical. 



Margaret E. Sangster contributes the poetry 

 to accompany the lovely child-pictures collected 

 by Frank French in " Home Fairies and Heart 

 Flowers." 



" Idyls and Pastorals " is the title of a hand- 

 some folio containing a collection of Celia 

 Thaxter's poems written expressly for this 

 volume, which is richly illustrated with photo- 

 gravures from the work of American and for- 

 eign artists. 



Kenyon Cox's illustrations of Rossetti's " The 

 Blessed Damosel " afford an excuse for repub- 

 lishing that unique poem in a superb folio ; and 

 the same may be said of Abbey's drawings for 

 " She Stoops to Conquer." 



Fidelia Bridges's "Bird-Song Series" carries 

 her charming studies of American song-birds 

 into a permanent shape with appropriate poeti- 

 cal selections. 



Irene Jerome repeats in " Nature's Hallelu- 

 jah " her success of " One Year's Sketch-Book." 

 Poetical selections serve for context. 



*' Happy Hunting-Grounds " includes many 

 of W. Hamilton Gibson's best essays, with great 

 store of his matchless illustrations. The vol- 

 ume is uniform with " Pastoral Days." 



Travel. There was not during the year a 

 very large increase in the number of important 

 books of travel. Persia was treated by two 

 Americans : S. G. W. 3enjamin from the dip- 

 lomatic and consular standpoint, and James 

 Bassett from that of a missionary. The first 

 is entitled "Persia and the Persians," and the 

 second, "Persia, the Land of the Imams." 

 This last covers a period of pioneer explora- 



tion. Other contributions to Asiatic and Ori- 

 ental travel are G. C. Pearson's " Flights in- 

 side and outside Paradise by a Penitent Peri " ; 

 Mrs. C. A. Mason's "Etchings in Two Lands"; 

 A. C. Maclay's "Budget of Letters from Ja- 

 pan"; Edwin Joshua Duke's "Along River 

 and Road in Fuh Kien, China " ; and Mary L. 

 Cort's " Siam, or the Heart of Farther India." 



From Americans in England and on the 

 Continent we have " The Chronicle of the 

 Coach," by John Denison Champlin, Jr., be- 

 ing the clever record of a four-in-hand trip 

 through some of the finest English counties, 

 and " The Dark City," namely, London, by Le- 

 ander Richardson. A well-conceived tale of 

 travel is "Two Pilgrims' Progress," with illus- 

 trations by the author, Joseph Fennel! , one of 

 the pilgrims. The other pilgrim was Mrs. 

 Pennell, and their means of transit was a tri- 

 cycle. 



F. Hopkinson Smith is as happy with his 

 pen as with his pencil, and the genial spirit 

 with which he has written and illustrated 

 " Well-worn Roads of Spain, Holland, and 

 Italy " shows what can be done with old ma- 

 terials when they are treated con amore. 

 " Carlsbad and its Environs " by J. Merrylees, 

 "The Land of the Czar and the Nihilist," by 

 James Monroe Buckley, and " Consular Rem- 

 iniscences," by Horstmann, close the list. 



"In the Bush and on the Trail " is a French- 

 man's narrative of actual American adventure. 

 A similar book, by Achilles Daunt, is a tale of 

 exploration and adventure entitled " With Pack 

 and Rifle in the Far Southwest." 



A new and revised edition of Dr. Thomp- 

 son's "The Land and the Book " deserves 

 mention among new publications. 



" Choson : The Land of Morning Calm," is 

 by Percival Lowell, late foreign secretary to 

 the Corean embassy. The book is the result 

 of a long residence in Corea, one of the few 

 remaining quarters of the globe with whi 

 American readers are unfamiliar. 



Central and South America receive th 

 share of attention from several Northern tra 1 

 elers, namely, Helen J. Sanborn, in " A Winter 

 in Central America " ; Solomon Bulkley Grif- 

 fin, in "Mexico of To-day"; James W. Wells, 

 in "Three Thousand Miles through Brazil"; 

 E. J. M. Clemmens, in " The La Plata Coun- 

 tries of South America." 



Books have been published concerning the 

 different parts of the United States as follow : 

 "Our New Alaska," by Charles Hallock, and 

 " Our Arctic Province Alaska and the Seal 

 Islands," by Henry W. Elliot. Both are ex- 

 ceedingly entertaining books. " Southern 

 California" is described by T. S. Van Dyke; 

 and " H. H.," in her posthumous " Glimpses of 

 Three Coasts," touches upon California and 

 Oregon as well as upon Sweden and Norway 

 and Great Britain. G. W. Wingate's " Through 

 the Yellowstone Park on Horseback " adds to 

 our appreciation of that wonderful region. 

 " The Winnipeg Country," anonymously pub- 





