LITERARY AFFAIRS IN BOSTON.

BOSTON, February 15, 1893.

NE of the interesting things which are forward in Boston just now is the construction of the statues of the typical man and woman of the time. Dr. D. A. Sargent, of the Hemen

way Gymnasium at Harvard, has for years been accumulating measurements of the students who have come to the College, to the Summer School and to the Annex. From these he has made up the average measurements of the typical man and the typical woman of the time, and upon these measurements he is having figures modelled. The work is being done by the sculptor Kitson and by Miss Theo Ruggles, to the latter of whom has been entrusted the female figure.

The figures will be of great interest to artists, but they will be of even greater interest and value to the ethnologist. "A hundred years from now," Dr. Sargent observed in speaking of the matter, "this will serve as a sort of base line by which to measure the physical advancement or deterioration of the race."

One can easily see that the importance of such a standard is great, and since it is done by thoroughly competent hands, it is of permanent and genuine value. As the measurements are made, moreover, its value is more than sectional.

This is, perhaps, not a literary item, and neither is the tremendous excitement which has swept through the community at the proposition to cut through Boston Common with electric-car tracks; but both are subjects in which literary folk are greatly interested. There are always those who are anxious to destroy all historic monuments; and when they are backed by the desires of a powerful corporation, as in this case, the fight has been a bitter one. It has been the feeling of those who fought for the preservation of the Common, however, that they were fighting for the whole country, and that the historic spot was too closely connected with the history of the whole land to make the question a local one.

The mention of historic themes reminds me

of the amount of discussion which has gone on during the last month in regard to the dates which it is proper to give as the beginning and close of the Renaissance. The Boston Art Students' Association, which gave so successful a costume festival three years ago at the Art Museum, is to repeat the experiment in April, and as it is necessary to take time for the costuming of the guests at such a gathering, it is important that all details shall be settled long beforehand. It is the aim to make the festival educational in theory and effective in practice; and the Spirit of the Renaissance is the thing which is to be illustrated this year. All the literary guild has been consulted, and whatever histories and historians were available have been consulted; but alas! no two authorities could by any possibility be made to agree in the broad proposition which it is necessary to lay down in sending invitations for the festival. There were those who said boldly that the historic question was of slight importance in comparison to the point when the most picturesque costumes were worn; but it is understood that the ground taken upon this bold proposition was that while such an evasion might be permissible in some unenlightened places, it was not for Boston to tolerate such frivolous inexactness.

The difficulty was, of course, that the different countries of Europe, with strange disregard to the resulting perplexity of Boston, had persisted in having their share of the Renaissance at different periods; and as it is manifestly too late to correct this, and as it was felt that to assign different dates to different countries would be too confusing, the whole matter obviously had to be compromised. In the end the conclusion was to fix upon 1400 as the beginning and 1650 as the end of the Renaissance period, an exception being made in favor of the Court of King René, where a premature and short-lived shoot of the Renaissance not only sprang up, but budded and flowered before the rest of Europe was even aware that it was proper to sow the seeds of this wonderful growth. It is in the clothes of this period, then, that we are to be instructed; and henceforth it is to be supposed that it will be possible to identify a genuine Bostonian by his faith that

the Renaissance began in 1400 and ended in 1650, although everybody, and most of all the committee themselves, is aware that nothing of the sort is true, and that the dates have been named largely as a matter of conveni

ence.

Mrs. Waters, who is so well known as Clara Erskine Clement, is to return to the fields of authorship where she has been so successful, and is engaged upon a work on Venice, which will be brought out as one of the sumptuous illustrated books of the next holiday season. It is some years since she has given us a book, her literary work having been chiefly confined of late years to occasional lectures, which have been, it may be added, sufficiently popular to justify her in taking to the lecture platform, did her inclinations lie in that direction.

Book collectors must be interested in the treasures which are brought to light in the cataloguing of the enormous accumulation of books which belonged to the stock of Burnham, the late dealer in antiquated volumes. His catacombs of old volumes beneath the Old South Meeting-house had never before been catalogued, and neither he nor anybody else

knew what he had. As an illustration of the condition of things there, it is stated that recently there were sold from the stock, for $1000, some books that had been counted as merely waste paper, and that after the sale it was found that they were worth five times that amount. Collectors will be able to fill many gaps in their collections from these books, now that it is known what there is here.

The uncertainties of the prices of books is illustrated by the purchase not long since, by a New York collector who happened to be in Boston, of a set of the '83 large-paper edition of Hawthorne. It was published at $56, and one bookseller offered him a set at $175, another wanted $225 for the same thing, with its original board covers enclosed in crushed Levant; while a third bookseller, who had not watched the market price on this particular book, turned out a set which he had stored away, and put it in with some other books at $100. The purchaser was probably better pleased than the bookseller would be if he knew the facts in the case, and was aware that

one of his brother dealers, to whom the buyer told the story, declared that he would gladly have given $150 for the set.

Arlo Bates.

ABOUT AND BOOKS AUTHORS. "Primary Convictions," a discussion of the fundamental truths of religion, by Dr. William Alexander, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, will be published this month by the Harpers.

The late T. W. Parsons's incomplete translalation of Dante, including the Inferno and the Purgatorio and a large part of the Paradiso, will be published this month by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

A new volume in the Great Educators Series, "Abelard; and the Origin and Early History of Universities," by Jules Gabriel Compayré. Rector of the Academy of Poitiers, France, will be published soon by the Scribners.

An effort is making in Cambridge and Boston to purchase "Elmwood," Lowell's home, about fifteen acres of land and the colonial house, as a

public park. The estate is valued at $100,000), and if $50,000 can be raised by private subscription, it is hoped to induce the city of Cambridge to appropriate the other half.

The Scribners have in press three books peculiarly appropriate for the spring season. "Homes in City and Country" consists of the series of popular articles which have appeared in Scribner's Magazine on the architectural, horticultural, financial and other aspects of homemaking. The papers are by such high authori

ties as Russell Sturgis, the late John W. Root, Bruce Price, Donald G. Mitchell, Samuel Parsons, Jr., and W. A. Linn. They are fully and handsomely illustrated. Landscape gardening as an art in its application to country places is the subject of a valuable and entertaining book by Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer; and finally Mrs. William Starr Dana as the writer of the text and Marion Satterlee as the maker

of the exquisitely delicate and beautiful drawings, are the authors of a book called "How to Know the Wild Flowers." It is planned on the same lines as the popular "Our Common Birds and How to Know Them" and has one hundred illustrations.

U

ENGLISH NOTES.

LONDON, February 5, 1893. P to the present time-at least up to the moment I am writing-the office of Poet Laureate has not been filled. Every one agrees that Mr. Swinburne is the man for the post, but it is said he would not undertake it were it offered to him. In that case probably the vacancy will remain unfilled. Doubtless there is a change coming over the general taste in matters poetical. Possibly Tennyson was well-nigh the last of the lengthy poets, and it was only his great genius and his matchless mastery of rhythm and diction that made his longer poems popular. Indeed, in future days Tennyson will be loved for his lyrics and worshipped for his shorter pieces, which will doubtless endure to the end of all time. People are beginning to acknowledge now—they have always felt it, but never dared to say so beforethat long poems are a terrible infliction, and it is only genius--which, by the way, very seldom exists among poets-can make pages and pages of blank verse endurable. In times gone by, if a poet was mystic and obscure in his meaning, and carried on his mysticism and obscurity for many thousand lines, people pretended they liked him. But they do not even pretend now; the age for Wordsworth-andwater, for Southey-and-skim-milk has altogether passed away, and the singers of short, crisp, bright songs, which embody the poetry of the present age-and there is plenty of poetry in the present age-are likely to be the most popular.

By the way, I wish some one would write the history of the booming for the Laureateship. It has been the most amusing thing known in London for many a day. If the world were to hear all about it, they would probably be mightily astonished. Possibly the most sensible suggestion was to convert the post into a College of Bards, just as we have a College of Arms, then all national events, all great victories, all public rejoicings, would be at once properly celebrated, with the regularity of a newspaper. This strikes me as being a really

common-sense view to take of the subject. We should institute a school of practical poets who would be of considerable service to the State. Doubtless this notion would shock those who believe in inspiration. I must candidly say I do not. I think a poet of the present day should have a good deal of the journalistic quality about him and be able to sing on any subject at a few moments' notice.

The latest most gigantic success in illustrated journalism, the Daily Graphic would appear to possess the most light-hearted staff in London. The other evening they held their third birthday dinner. Mr. Lucien Wolf made a most admirable chairman, and well-nigh all the principal members of the staff were present. A notable feature of these gatherings is that the oratory is judiciously confined to a couple of speeches, and the remainder of the evening is devoted to song, music and general entertainment. In this direction the staff showed themselves as skilful as they have proved to be with pen and pencil in the more serious business of their most popular daily paper. The invitation cards and menus were admirable in design, and what was called the "Dictionary of Diography," which was presented to each guest, proved to be a most entertaining little volume. This consisted of lives of the members of the staff, more or less authentic, with illustrations. This was throughout written in excellent taste and full of humor. A limited number of copies were subsequently sold at a shilling, but these were eagerly snapped up, and the little work is not to be had now for love or-what is far more powerful in the present day-money. It has already become very rare.

It is with the greatest regret that I chronicle the death of my old friend, Captain Hawley Smart. Since his first novel, “Breezie Langton," which brought him into notice, he has held his own as a popular novelist, and in his particular line he had no competitor, and there seems to be no one likely to fill his place. Hawley Smart, in his bright, breezy, healthy, dashing stories always knew what he was writing about. If he did not happen to be fully acquainted with his subject he made himself so before putting pen to paper. When he wrote

"Broken Bonds" he lived at Weymouth for months, and made himself thoroughly familiar with the inside and outside of Portland prison and the manners and customs of prisoners and warders. The book alluded to is so exact and so truthful in all its details that it has had a steady sale in Weymouth ever since it was published. Indeed, it is as necessary for the visitor to this pleasant seaside resort as writing paper or the local guide. Since his marriage Captain Smart has resided much out of London, but at one time there were few people more popular at the "Rag," the Garrick and the Beefsteak Clubs. He had travelled much in his time, and had a vivid recollection of what he had seen. A man of vast and varied information, a true friend and a gallant gentleman, he will be even more missed in certain private circles than among the thousands of those who never saw him, but took the keenest delight in his excellent stories.

There seems to have been of late a rage for creating a fictitious Dickens-London, and I believe Mr. Charles Dickens has recently written an exhaustive article on the subject in one of the American papers. We who know our Dickens geography accurately can afford to smile at this recent craze, but there are plenty who do not, and it seems too bad that they should have their sympathies awakened by houses and quarters and persons that were never in any way connected with the great novelist. The latest invention with regard to this matter is that the "Black Jack," now about to be pulled down in Clare Market, was the public house described as the Magpie and Stump" in Pickwick. It has been truly said by an authority on these matters that if you sail closely by the Dickens chart you cannot go wrong, and if you read the text carefully you will see it is quite impossible that this tavern can be the same as that where Mr. Pickwick found Mr. Lowten presiding at an harmonic meeting. It is difficult to understand on what grounds the fiction was first started. The "Black Jack” must have existed as a tavern for well-nigh two hundred years, and was a favorite resort of Joe Miller, of jest-book notoriety. It was at one time known as "The Jump," on account of a famous leap made from

Black-and-white artists ought to be making fortunes, for the channels for this work are everywhere increasing. The latest candidate for public favor will be The Sketch, conducted by Mr. Clement J. Shorter, the editor of the Illustrated London News, and issued from the office of that journal. Those who know what Mr. Shorter has accomplished with regard to the last-named paper can imagine what he will achieve for the new-comer. It will consist of fifty-two pages the size of the World, it will be profusely illustrated and contain many novel features, and will probably be published before these lines reach you. J. Ashby-Sterry.

Among the important books which the Harpers have in press for publication this month are: 'Picture and Text," a series of papers by Henry James on Abbey, Reinhart, Sargent and other American illustrators and painters, with illustrations; "Whittier: Notes of his Life and of his Friendships," by Mrs. James T. Fields, with illustrations : Recollections of Hawthorne," by Horatio Bridges; Mr. Howells's novel, “The World of Chance," and, in the Black and White Series, "The Japanese Bride," by Naomi Tamura.

"Straight Sermons," by the Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, is the title of a volume of ten sermons of singular frankness and force, which are in preparation for publication by the Scribners. The same firm has in press two other religious works, "Christ in Modern Theology," by Principal A. B. Fairbairn, D.D., of Oxford, and "Present Day Theology," by the late Professor Lewis F. Stearns, D.D., with a memoir of the author by Dr. George L. Prentiss and a preface by Professor George P. Fisher, both of whom highly commend the work. A second edition is also announced of the Rev. Dr. W. R. Huntington's "The Peace of the Church."

ALTHOUGH French book lovers have been indicating their possession of volumes by what we now know as ex-libris for more than

three hundred years, the term exlibris has not yet been ad

mitted to French dictionaries and, oddly enough, no word or phrase corresponding with the English "book-plate" has been coined by the French. Perhaps this omission is due to the absence in Paris of any society of collectors of ex-libris, such as exists both in Berlin and London, and to the consequent lack of a general agreement among them as to the term to be used in describing a mark of ownership of a book. This state of things is the more singular because there are many enthusiastic collectors of ex-libris in Paris whose common interests would seem to call for some sort of an organization for the study of the histori

* FRENCH BOOK-PLATES. An Illustrated Handbook for Students of ex-Libris. By WALTER HAMILTON. Cr. 8vo, $2.75, net. Macmillan & Co.

cal, literary, artistic, heraldic and other aspects of the subject.

According to Mr. Hamilton's volume,* the first French dated ex-libris, that, as stated in the article on English book-plates last month, of Charles d'Alboise of Autun is a plain label bearing the inscription printed in movable type: "Ex bibliothecâ Caroli Albosii E. Eduensis. Ex labore quies, 1574." The heraldic plate, with more or less embellishment, allegorical and pictorial, flourished up to the