482 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1883. (GENERAL LITERATURE.) 



& Co.) : " Poems for Children," by Celia Thax- 

 ter (Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.) ; " Calumet of 

 the Coteau," by P. W. Norris (J. B. Lippincott 

 & Co.) ; and the Memorial edition of Bryant's 

 poems, edited by Parke Godwin (D. Appleton 

 & Co.). Among the numerous anthologies 

 published may be specially mentioned " Eng- 

 lish Verse," edited by Linton and Stoddard, 

 in five volumes (Charles Scribner's Sons), with 

 a prefatory essay by Stoddard ; _" Fair Words 

 about Fair Woman," edited by O. B. Bunce 

 (D. Appleton & Co.) ; u Palgrave's Golden 

 Treasury," revised and brought down to date 

 by John Foster Kirk ; and "Surf and Wave," 

 by Anna L. Ward (T. Y. Crowell & Co.). 



Productions of English poets reprinted by 

 American publishers included several works 

 of superior worth and beauty. Robert Brown- 

 ing's u Jocoseria" (Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.) 

 was an excellent sample of his strong dramatic 

 genius. Owen Meredith's " Poems and Lyrics 

 of the Joy of the Earth " (by the Earl of Lyt- 

 ton) ranks well with his best work, and Edwin 

 Arnold's " Indian Idyls " (Roberts Brothers) 

 was one of the leading poetical productions of 

 the year. In these idyls the author gave a 

 noble English setting to many of the tales 

 and legends given in the "Mahab-harata," the 

 well-known cycle of Sanskrit poems. Edmund 

 Gosse's " On Viol and Flute " (Henry Holt & 

 Co.), and Austin Dobson's " Old World Idyls 

 and other Verses " (Scribner & Welford) were 

 marked by the delicate and dainty touch char- 

 acteristic of these poets. " Mano," by Rev. 

 Richard Watson Dixon (George Routledge & 

 Sons), was a poetical history of the time of the 

 close of the tenth century, relating the adven- 

 tures of a Norman knight, and possessed a 

 quaint interest. Algernon Charles Swinburne's 

 " A Century of Roundels " (R. Worthington) 

 displayed all of this well-known poet's charac- 

 teristic melody of form. 



General Literature. In general literature, in- 

 cluding literary history, critical essays, and 

 literary miscellany, were several notable pub- 

 lications. Sidney Lanier's "English Novel" 

 (Charles Scribner's Sons) sketched the evo- 

 lution' of modern fiction from early literary 

 forms. " Development of English Literature 

 and Language," by Prof. A. H. Welsh (S. C. 

 Griggs & Co.), was a contribution to literary 

 history showing painstaking industry. M. W. 

 Hazeltine's " Chats about Books," essays re- 

 printed from the New York " Sun " (Charles 

 Scribner's Sons), was a volume of noteworthy 

 criticism. In " The Reading of Books," by 

 Prof. Charles F. Th wing (Lee & Shepard). much 

 valuable suggestion was given. John F. Genung 

 made a contribution to critical literature in 

 Tennyson's "In Memorflam, its Purpose and 

 its Structure" (Houghton, Mifflin, &Co.). Oli- 

 ver Wendell Holmes appeared in a fresh vol- 

 ume (Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.), " Pages from 

 an Odd Volume of Life, a Collection of Essays, 

 1857-1881." " Books and how to use them," 

 by J. 0. Van Dyke (Fords, Howard, & Hulbert), 



was a valuable manual of advice to readers and 

 students. Joel Benton's " Emerson as a Poet " 

 (M. L. Holbrook & Co.) was a study of the 

 poetry of the "great transcendentalist " by an 

 enthusiastic admirer. In " Pen Pictures of 

 Modern Authors " and " Pen-Pictures of Vic- 

 torian Authors " (G. P. Putnam's Sons), W. 

 Shepard sketched the lights of modern English 

 literature. Prof. 0. E. Norton edited the " Car- 

 lyle-Emerson Correspondence " (James R. Os- 

 good & Co.), a book fascinating to all those 

 interested in literature. James E. Freeman's 

 " Gatherings from an Artist's Portfolio in 

 Rome " (Roberts Brothers) embodied the more 

 notable experiences of many years of foreign 

 life. Brinton's "American Hero-Myths" was 

 a contribution of value to the ethnology and 

 history of North America prior to the coming 

 of the white man. " Games and Songs of 

 American Children," by W. W. Newell (Har- 

 per & Brothers), is worthy of attention for its 

 interesting treatment of a novel subject. The 

 second volume of Baldwin's "An Introduction 

 to English Literature " effectually carries out 

 the plan of the first. James Jackson Jarves's 

 " Italian Rambles " (G. P. Putnam's Sons) was 

 an attractive study of Italian art, life, and lit- 

 erature. One of the interesting books of the 

 year was Josiah Quincy's " Figures of the Past, 

 from the Leaves of Old Journals " (Roberts 

 Brothers). Other books of interest were Ar- 

 thur Penn's " Home Library " (D. Appleton 

 & Co.), Wheeler's " By- Ways of Literature," 

 " The Modern Sphinx," by M. J. Savage (George 

 H. Ellis), " The Battle of the Moy, or How Ire- 

 land regained her Independence " (Lee & 

 Shepard), " Short Studies in Literature," by 

 A. P. South wick, A. M. (Eldredge & Son\ and 

 " A Lost Function in Romance," by Carroll 

 Bryce (G. P. Putnam's Sons). 



The list of reprints of important English 

 books is quite rich in noteworthy titles. 

 Among these may be specially noted Ashton's 

 " Humor, Wit, and Satire of the Eighteenth 

 Century," " Early English Literature," by 

 Bernhard Ten Broek (Henry Holt & Co.); 

 "Characteristics," by A. P. Russell (Hough- 

 ton, Mifflin, & Co.) ; " Classical and Modern 

 Essays," by F. W. H. Myers (Macmillan & 

 Co.) ; " Colin Clout's Calendar," by Grant Al- 

 len (Funk & Wagnalls) ; " English Literature 

 in the Eighteenth Century," by Thomas Sar- 

 gent Parry (Harper & Brothers) ; "Asbjorn- 

 sen's Folk and Fairy Tales," translated by H. 

 L. Brockstad (A. C. Armstrong & Son); Prof. 

 Thistleton Dyer's "Folk Lore of Shakespeare" 

 (Harper & Brothers); "Heroes and Kings, 

 Stories from the Greek," by Rev. Alfred J. 

 Church (Scribner & Welford) ; " In Strange 

 Company," by James Greenwood (Scribner & 

 Welford) ; " Landmarks of English Litera- 

 ture," by Henry J. Nicholl (D. Appleton & 

 Co.); Lord Bacon's "Promus of Formularies," 

 edited by Mrs. Henry Pott (Houghton, Mifflin, 

 & Co.) ; Buckland's " Story of English Litera- 

 ture," Wagner's "Epics and Romances of the 



