LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1891. 



Oliver Optic his "Annual." "The Del 

 Treasury,' by William I'ittinger, comprised a 



.I'M) questions, with notes and arguments; 



l.iimiil of Railroads of the I'nited 



for Iv.U " completed the twenty-fourth 



f the work ined I iy II. V. I'.M.r, whoso 



:nl Annual Numberof Poor's Hand-book of 

 urities for 1N!H " wiis issued. 

 Tin- (iast-l'aul Directory of Bankers and At- 

 torneys mid IM^e-t>of the Laws" proved use- 

 ful to many. \ ol. XV of " Appleton's Annual 



paxlia" for tho year 1890 was sent out, 

 and \ i'ls. V mid VI completed the great work of 

 the "Century Dictionary." Among other note- 

 worthy books of reference that appeared were 

 - An Elementary Latin Dictionary, ' by Charlton 

 T. Lewis, and the ninth enlarged edition (which 

 he intimates is the 1'mal one) of John Bartlctt's 

 admirable - Familiar Quotations." 



The following are the figures of book pro- 

 duction in the United States for the years 185)0 

 and 1891, as arranged for comparison under spe- 

 cial classifications by tho " Publishers' Weekly " : 



LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1891. 



About the same number of books were produced 

 during the year as in 1890 ; the total of new 

 books, in all departments, exceeding by 15 the 

 record of the previous year, while new editions 

 -lightly fewer. The falling away was in 

 divinity and sacred literature (about 10 per cent.), 

 in belles-lettres and essays, in classical and 

 school books, and in the fine arts and illus- 

 trated volumes. The estimate of about four 

 novels for every working day (1,216 in all, of 

 which 896 were new) includes a large collection 

 of juvenile books, between which and fiction in- 

 tended for older people the border line is grow- 

 ing yearly less defined. In travel and biography, 

 in law books and in poetry, the increase was de- 

 cidedly marked. Works on medicine and sur- 

 gery were less numerous, while miscellany, in- 

 dnding pamphlets, held its own. 



Biography. The most important contribu- 

 tion to literary biography made during the year 

 was " The Life and Letters of Robert Brown- 

 ing." in two volumes, by his intimate friend Mrs. 

 Sutherland Orr, which, falling short as it does of 

 our desires and expectations, is nevertheless valu- 

 able. " Browning as a Philosophical and Religious 

 Teacher " was also studied by Prof. Henry Jones. 

 Mrs. Margaret 0. W. Oliphant supplied a"" Mem- 



oir of the Life of Lauren Oliphant nnd of 



Alien Oliphant, his Wile," in two vo. 



" Letters <,f Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins" 



Were ediled I'V I.aWP-||ee lluM..|i: 1''.' , , I . | . , (I. 



Kit ton portrayed "Charles Dickens by IVn nnd 

 Pencil"; and Percy Fit/herald gave " Tl. 

 torv of Pickwick' in addition to publishing 

 "The Life of .lames Boswi-11," in two volumes. 

 Mrs. Annie K. Ireland attempted, without signal 

 success, to add to our knowledge of " The I 

 Jane Welch Carlyle," reviving a painful story. 

 "Swift, the Mystery of his Life and Love." by 

 James Hay, was foolish and pretentious; while in 

 the "Great Writers Series" tho "Life of W. M. 

 Thackeray "was ably written by Herman Merivale 

 and Frank T. Marzials. " J)f. John Brown and 

 his Sister Isabella" were sympathetically treated 

 by E. T. McLaren ; Elizabeth Wordsworth contri- 

 buted a monograph on " William Wordsworth " ; 

 and from Bishop Charles Wordsworth .came 

 " Annals of my Early Life, 1806-'46," entertaining 

 in the highest degree. Another interesting vol- 

 ume was " Richard Redgrave, It. A., C. B. : a Mem- 

 oir compiled from his Diary," by his daughter, 

 MissF.M Redway. " Later Leaves" was the title 

 of further reminiscences by Montagu Williams, 

 while " A Publisher and his Friends," being the 

 memoir and correspondence of the late John 

 Murray, with an account of the origin and prog- 

 ress of the house, in two volumes, and "Jas- 

 min : Barber, Poet, Philanthropist " were two 

 exceptionally attractive emanations from Dr. 

 Samuel Smiles. " Letters of John Keats to his 

 Family and Friends" were edited by Sidney 

 Colvin, and "Select Passages from the Letters 

 of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu " by A. R. 

 Ropes. " Early Days recalled," by Janet Ross, 

 and " Early Papers and Some Memories, 1850- 

 '70," by Henry Morley, contain agreeable remi- 

 niscences. Three volumes are filled with the 

 diary and letters of "Madame D'Arblay," edited 

 by her niece, Charlotte Barrett; and "Mrs. 

 Thrale, afterward Mrs. Piozzi " was a sketch of 

 her life and passages from her diaries edited by 

 L. B. Seeley. " Charles Stewart Parnell : a 

 Memory," by T. P. O'Connor, was remarkable 

 for its rapid accomplishment, having been writ- 

 ten and published within a week; and other 

 volumes dedicated to political leaders are : "Sir 

 Robert Peel in Early Life, 1788-1812; as Irish 

 Secretary, 1812-'18 ; and as Secretary of State, 

 1822-'27," edited bv Charles Stuart Parker, 

 M. P. ; " Sir Robert Peel," bv Justin McCarthy, 

 M. P., in the " Series of Prime Ministers of 

 Queen Victoria," the sixth number of which was 

 "The. Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone," by 

 George W. E. Russell ; " Peel," again, in the 

 " Series of Twelve English Statesmen,'" this time 

 by J. R. Thursfield; "The Rt. Hon. Arthur 

 MacMurrough Kavanagh," by his cousin, Sarah 

 L. Steele, and from papers chiefly unpublished ; 

 and an " Anecdotal Life of Sir John Macdonald," 

 by E. G. Biggar. l% A Life of Love and Duty " 

 was a memoir of Commodore Goodenough edited 

 by his widow, and " Memorials of Rev. John 

 Frederick Stevenson " were prepared by his wife. 

 " George Gilfillan " was the theme of anecdotes 

 and reminiscences bv David Macrae; Arnold 

 White edited "The Letters of S. G. O."<K<v. 

 Lord Sidney Godolphin Osborne), in two volumes ; 

 "Tho Naturalist of Cumbne: a True Story, 



