LITERATURE, AMKRICAN, IN 1891. 



uTi-:i:.\rniK. AMKRICAN, IN 1891. 



|irii(lucii(tn in the " Copyright Year." as it 

 \\n>. U-en railed, tin- Intenia'ional Copyright bill 

 into effect .Inly 1. 1H1, reached 4,liHT) vol- 

 ume-, about mi.' hmnlivtl more than in the pre- 

 iu:,' year, and wa-- wry nearly the same as that 

 -'I. Mut new editions and translations are 

 included in this inniiIxT with the new books. 

 Fiet i< in was, as usual, the -most largely repre- 

 seiitcd. and in the higher class of books science 

 was perhaps the poorest. Few notable books 

 ntained in any department except that of 

 biography. It is interesting to note, from the 

 summary given by the "Publishers' Weekly," 

 that the increase in literature and the book trade 

 in the 1'nited States during the past decade is 

 not more than five times that of the population, 

 while for the thirteen years preceding 1853 it 

 was precisely double that amount, the increase 

 in the production of books being 800 percent, 

 and that of the population not 80 per cent. 

 Special lines of study from standard authorities, 

 a< in the Chautauqua and Epworth circles, and 

 the growing influence of newspaper and periodi- 

 cal literature, is believed to nave much to do 

 with the tendency toward a decrease in the new 

 and original work offered to the public. 



Biography. This is in some respects the 

 fullest and most interesting class of books pub- 

 li<hed during the year. In all, 218 were recorded. 

 Vols. IX and X of "The Writings of George 

 Washington," edited by Worthington C. Ford. 

 brought the work nearer to completion, as did 

 Vol. II of "The Writings and Correspondence 

 of John Jay, First Chief Justice of the United 

 States." the" editor of which is Henry P. Johns- 

 ton. William Wirt Henry began a new biog- 

 raphy of his grandfather, in three volumes, in 

 1890, the second of which appeared in 1891, 

 the title being " Patrick Henry : Life, Corre- 

 spondence and Speeches," and the material in 

 great, measure new. "The Financier and the 

 Finances of the American Revolution," by Will- 

 iam Graham Sumner, in two volumes, was the 

 first attempt at a fitting monument to the gen- 

 ius of Robert Morris, to whose financial opera- 

 tions, in the words of a distinguished historian, 

 " Americans owed, and still owe, as much ac- 

 knowledgment as to the negotiations of Benja- 

 min Franklin or even the arms of Washington." 

 "John Winthrop. First Governor of the Massa- 

 chusetts Colonv," by Joseph Hopkins Twichell, 

 the " Life of Francis Higginson," by his de- 

 scendant, Thomas Wentworth Higginson. "Cot- 

 ion Mather," by Barrett Wendell, "Thomas 

 Hooker," by George Leon Walker, and the 

 "Life of General Houston." the gallant Texan 

 Governor, by Henry Mrucp. all belong to the 

 series of " Makers of America," while " The Life 

 and Times of John Dickinson, 1732-1808," by 

 c. -I. Stille, was an important contribution. 

 Vols. I, II, and V of " Chronicles of the Build- 

 ers of the Commonwealth," historical charac- 

 ter studies by Hubert Howe Bancroft, appeared 

 somewhat irregularly in order but full of inter- 



est and instruction, as was also the volume of 

 "Literary Industries" which tcIN the .-lory of 

 the great work of the "History of the Pacific 

 States." One of the most important ami timely 

 books of the year was Justin Win.-or's "Chris"- 

 topher Columbus, and how he Kei -rived and 

 Imparted the Spirit of DNcowry." "Bio- 

 graphical Sketches of the Delegates from Geor- 

 gia to the Continental Congress" were made by 

 Charles C. Jones. Jr., and Louis Henry Boutell 

 printed privately an i essay on "Alexander Ham- 

 ilton, the Constructive Statesman." In the se- 

 ries of " American Statesmen " " Lewis Cass " was 

 from the pen of Andrew C. McLaughiin. "Gen- 

 eral Andrew Jackson,' Hero of New Orleans and 

 Seventh President of the United States," was the 

 subject of a volume by Oliver Dyer, while the 

 "Journal of William "Maclay, United States 

 Senator from Pennsylvania, 1789-1791," was 

 published for the first time, edited by Edgar S. 

 Maclay. It is esteemed of the highest value as 

 giving insight into the early workings of Con- 

 gress. " Governor William Smith of Virginia " 

 was a memorial volume by J. W. Bell. " Recol- 

 lections of President Lincoln and his Adminis- 

 tration," by Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden, is a 

 work of the Register of the Treasury during the 

 exciting period of the war. and from CarlSchurz 

 came an essay on "Abraham Lincoln." Charles 

 Wallace French also treated " Abraham Lincoln, 

 the Liberator," in the Series of " American Re- 

 formers." "The Life and Letters of Gen. 

 Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson)," by his 

 wife, Mary Anna Jackson, had an introduction 

 by the Rev. Henry M. Field. " Midshipman 

 Paulding," in the " Young Heroes of our Navy " 

 series, was by Molly Elliot Seawell, and from 

 Major John G. Bourke we have a stirring volume, 

 " On the Border with Crook." Eugene Coleman 

 Savidge, M. D., wrote the "Life of Benjamin 

 Harris Brewster." In the "American Reform- 

 ers" series we have "Frederick Douglass : 'the 

 Colored Orator," by Frederic May Holland ; 

 "William Llovd Garrison, the Abolitionist," by 

 Archibald H. firimke : and " Dr. S. G. Howe, the 

 Philanthropist," by F. B. Sanborn ; while some- 

 what in line with the same are a second series of 

 " Speeches, Lectures, and Letters," by Wendell 

 Phillips, and "The Biography of Dio Lewis, 

 A. M., M. D.," prepared, at the desire and with 

 the co-operation of his wife, by Mary F. East- 

 man. "The Biography of Kphraim McDowell, 

 M. D., 'The Father of Abdominal Surgery,'" 

 was written by Mary Young Ridenbaugh. The 

 " Autobiography. Diary, and Correspondence of 

 James Freeman Clarke " was edited by Edward 

 Kwrctt Halo, and a library edition was made of 

 the " Life and Works of Horace Mann," by his 

 wife, in five volumes. Frances Anne Kemble 

 added Further Keeords, 1848-1883." to those 

 of her girlhood and later life, already given to 

 the world, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (Mrs. 

 Herbert D. Ward) contributed a memoir of her 

 father, "Austin Phelps." "Recollections and 

 Impressions, 1822-1890," by Octavius Mrooks 



