396 



LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1892. 



hart, M. D., conclude the summary of books in 

 this department. 



Summary. The figures of book production 

 in the United States during 1892 are arranged 

 as follow by the " Publishers' Weekly " for com- 

 parison with those of 1891 : 



LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1892. The 



record of book production in England far ex- 

 ceeded that in our country during the year, 

 the number of new books (4,915) being in excess 

 of new works and new editions issued by Amer- 

 ican publishing houses. The total of 6,254 books 

 of both classes exceeds the 5,706 books of 1891 

 by 548, and the excess of entirely new books over 

 the previous year was 486. Of this number, 

 1,147 were new novels (against 896 in 1891), and 

 390 works of fiction passed through new editions. 

 A large increase was shown in miscellaneous 

 books, in those devoted to the arts and sciences, 

 and illustrated works, and more poetry and more 



Eolitical economy was served to the British pub- 

 c. Fewer juvenile books are noted (perhaps 

 for the reason that many of them were ranked 

 among works of fiction, for older readers), and 

 there was a falling off in history and biogra- 

 phy, in belles-lettres, essays, and law, while in 

 theology and medicine and surgery there was 

 but slight variation. Educational, classical, and 

 philological literature showed a difference of but 

 eight books, in favor of 1891. 



Biography. While fewer biographies were 

 published, those that saw the light were deeply 

 interesting, not only to English readers, but to 

 a large majority on this side of the water, who 

 when they threw off the government of the 

 mother country did not renounce the heritage 

 of her literature. Delightful "Gossip of the 

 Century," by the anonymous author of " Flemish 

 Interiors" and " De Omnibus Rebus" filled two 

 volumes, as did the " Diplomatic Reminiscences : 

 1837-1862" of Lord Augustus Loftus, whose 

 diplomatic career ran almost exactly parallel 

 with the fifty years of the Queen to her Jubilee, 

 and the notes and recollections of " An English- 



man in Paris," who withheld his name but gave 

 full and brilliant pictures of life in the gay city 

 in the reign of Louis Philippe and under the 

 Empire. "Roundabout Recollections" of John 

 Augustus O'Shea proved exceedingly entertain- 

 ing and amusing, and Mrs. George Augustus 

 Sala ' was equally happy in her portraits of 

 " Famous People I have met." The tenth and 

 last volume of " The Speeches and Public Ad- 

 dresses of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 

 M. P.," edited, with notes and introductions, by 

 A. W. Hutton and II. J. Cohen, was issued in 

 advance of the others, on account of the rele- 

 vancy of the subjects treated therein to the pres- 

 ent time. Vol. I of " Modern English Biog- 

 raphy," memoirs of persons who have died since 

 1850, by F. Boase, covered the names from A to 

 II, and "Our Great Military Commanders" 

 were sketched by Prof. Charles D. Yonge. Lit- 

 erary biography was particularly rich ; an im- 

 portant new addition was " Thomas Carlyle," by 

 John Nichol, in the " English Men of Letters Se- 

 ries," and Sir Charles Gavan Duffy also published 

 "Conversations and Correspondence with Car- 

 lyle," which go far to relieve the unpleasant im- 

 pression of the differences between the distin- 

 guished author and his wife. " Selections from 

 the Letters of Geraldine Ensor Jewsbury to Jane 

 Welsh Carlyle" were edited, it might be called 

 unscrupulously, by Mrs. Alexander Ireland, as 

 nothing would have been more repellent to the 

 feelings of the writer than such a betrayal of 

 the confidence of friendship. " The Life of Wil- 

 liam Cowper" was written by T. Wright. 

 "Memoirs of Charles Lamb," by Percy Fit /- 

 gerald, and " John Leech, his Life and Work," 

 came from W. P. Frith. The " Life and Letters 

 of Joseph Severn," the friend of Keats, we owe 

 to the poet William Sharp ; and " The Life and 

 Letters of Charles Samuel Keene, of ' Punch,' " 

 to George Somers Layard. "Student and 

 Singer " contained the reminiscences of Charles 

 Santley, and " Autobiographical Notes of the 

 Life of William Bell Scott," in two volumes, 

 were edited by W. Minto, a distinguishing feature 

 of the book being the fine illustrations from the 

 work of the artist and art teacher. Malcolm 

 Bell's record and review of "Edward Burne- 

 Jones " wasa beautiful and costly volume. " The 

 Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer," another 

 artist, were edited by A. H. Palmer. " Angelica 

 Kauffmann : A Biography," was from the pen of 

 Frances A. Gerard. The " Life and Works of 

 John Arbuthnot, M. D.," by George A. Aitken, 

 was the first biography ever written of the 

 literary physician, and attempted to settle the 

 many perplexing questions as to the authorship 

 of works attributed to him ; and " Letters, of 

 Samuel Johnson, LL. D.," selected and edited by 

 George Birbeck Hill, in two volumes, was ex- 

 ceptionally interesting in that it contained be- 

 tween 90 and 100 letters not previously pub- 

 lished. " The Life of Michaelangelo Buonarotti," 

 in two sumptuous volumes, with etched portrait 

 and 50 reproductions of the works of the master, 

 was the contribution of John Addington Sy- 

 monds. T. Bonner published a " Biographical 

 Sketch of George Meikle Kemp, Architect of the 

 Scott Monument, Edinburgh," Blanchard Jer- 

 rold's " Life of Gustave Dore " was published 

 seven years after it had been -written, and J. F. 



