Houghton, Mifflin & Co.'s Literary Bulletin. with a graphic force which sets the whole magnificent Orientalism of the surroundings clearly before the reader; while the men and women whose action is portrayed are human beings of like passions and weaknesses with ourselves, yet differentiated skillfully and consistently in accordance with the demands of their age and environment." The Boston Traveller pronounces the novel "one of great brilliancy, power, and absorbing interest," and says “there can be little question that the extraordinary popularity of Ben Hur' will be rivaled by The Master of the Magicians.'" In marked contrast to this is Mr. Bret Harte's latest story, A Waif of the Plains. The Portland Transcript describes it quite effectively as follows: "Bret Harte at his worst is charming; at his best he is inimitable and delightful. In his new story, A Waif of the Plains,' he is not altogether the one or the other, but he is interesting, and even in this slight sketch we recognize a master-hand in pathos and humor by turns — or in an exquisite blending of both. Mr. Harte cannot do without his highminded villain, under any circumstances, and we have him here in the person of Colonel Hamilton Brant, alias Tom Flynn, the gambler and outlaw of Deadman's Gulch, and companion of Shasta Jim,' 'Shortcard Billy,' the 'Dook o' Chatham Street,' and the Livin' Skeleton.' On the other hand we have the boy hero, Clarence Brant, the good Father Sobriente and Susy, and the journey across the plains painted in the glowing and sombre tints that make the strong contrasts that Mr. Harte so loves to produce, and which have for his readers a continual fascination." Still another type of story is The Mistress of Beech Knoll, by Clara Louise Burnham, whose "Next Door" has been so popular. The Boston Journal says: “A well-written novel, without a purpose or even with a suggestion of a 'moral,' is almost a surprise in these days of didactic English and American fiction; yet The Mistress of Beech Knoll' not only affords this novelty, but gives so much pleasure from its ease and naturalness that the reader forgets that he is not being instructed while he is entertained. The book is frankly a love story, or more properly three love stories, since there are three sets of lovers, whose course in the little village of Snowdon, near Boston, is watched with interest." Yet another species of novel just published is Jack Horner, by Mrs. Mary S. Tiernan, author of "Homoselle." The New York Tribune thus describes it: "Jack Horner' is a Southern novel of the war period. The scene is laid principally in Richmond, and many interesting and apparently truthful pictures are presented of life in the Confederate capital at that time. The straits to which the people were reduced for the luxuries, comforts, and often the very necessaries of life; the gay and defiant mood in which they faced these embarrassments; the odd ways in which all, but especially the women, contrived to invent some kind of substitute for the real things which could not be obtained; the pervading "make-believe " convention under which everybody acted, pretending not to perceive that what purported to be coffee was burned barley or wheat, that what purported to be wine was some mysterious and indescribable concoction, that the costumes of the grandmothers, resurrected from lumber closets and attics, were entirely in the prevailing fashion; that, in short, nothing had deteriorated in the condition of Richmond society-all this is very amusing, and strongly reminds one of the behavior of the old French noblesse in the prisons of the Revolution ;" and it closes by saying "the novel is marked by a fine discrimination, graphic description, and lively movement.' The Boston Times commends both the transparent simplicity and the temper of this novel, remarking that "unlike many so-called stories of the war, it displays neither sectional bias nor factional purpose." And it adds that "the story will serve as a well-designed and thoughtfully-colored illustration to the most interesting chapter in our national history." One of the most engaging new books for summer reading is Miss Jewett's Tales of New England, which contains eight of the best stories culled from her several delightful volumes. To all of these stories might fitly be applied the remark which the New York Tribune made concerning a story by Miss Jewett in a recent member of The Atlantic. It spoke of it as "the one perfect bit of fiction of the month," and added "perfect because it is a cameo of characterization with no line amiss; because her characters develop themselves before us so naturally and clearly that we seem to see and hear them for ourselves and almost forget that they are an artist's illusions." This book is peculiarly suitable for reading aloud, as indeed all of Miss Jewett's books are. Special attention is invited to the fifty-eight volumes of good summer reading in the Ticknor Paper Series, and to the score or more already issued in the Riverside Paper Series, which will have two fresh numbers each month during the season. Harvard Graduates whom I have known. Under this title Rev. Dr. A. P. Peabody has grouped papers on eminent graduates of the famous University. The subjects of these reminiscences and characterizations are: Joshua Fisher, Nathan Dane, John Pierce, John Pickering, William Wells, William Jenks, Daniel Appleton White, Rev. Charles Lowell, Rev. Ichabod Nichols, President James Walker, Jared Sparks, Samuel Atkins Eliot, George Burrell Emerson, Stephen Salisbury, Nathaniel Wood, Nathaniel Silsbee, Cazneau Palfrey, Samuel Hurd Walley, Stephen Minot Weld, and Increase Sumner Wheeler. An appendix contains tributes to the first two presidents of the University, Henry Dunster, and Charles Chauncy. As Dr. Peabody is equally wise and kind in his judgments, this book has much interest on account of its descriptions and recollections of illustrious men, and is delightful for its sincere kindliness of spirit. Good Books for Reading Aloud. One of the shortest cuts to popularity is to be a good reader, to have something good to read, and to read aloud. Such a man can feel himself growing visibly in the regard of the piazza, or the parlor, or the grove, in the summer; and to aid him and gratify his auditors, we indicate a few books which may contribute to their entertainment. One of the best of the new books is Mr. Story's Conversations in a Studio, which treat in an informal and delightful way of "judgment in pictures, and of the shifting of taste and opinion as to classic or modern painters; the dress of society in its relation to the human form; Shakespeare's preeminence among the dramatists as to insight into human nature and poetic expression, and the resemblances between him and Marlowe; the songs of lyric-writers and play-rhymes of children; the attainment of ideals in a man's work; the rewards of writers and artists in Greek and Roman days; mistakes in English, Americanisms, and a just and carefully worked out natural argument for the pronunciation of Latin; an elaborate system of anatomical proportion in sculpture that Mr. Story claims much for and professes to be that to which he adheres; the mnemonic gift in individuals; longevity; the hopeless superficiality of the French as artists, whereof Mr. Story is fully persuaded; a sharp arraignment of German criticism on Shakespeare, and of Goethe as a poet; and so into a variety of subjects, taken up now with a paragraph and now with pages, until the end of the second volume comes before one is prepared or pleased." Another excellent book for this purpose is Mr. Russell's In a Club Corner, full of apt quotations, anecdotes, and pertinent comment. The San Francisco Bulletin remarks: "The author of 'A Club of One' impressed many of his readers as the brightest and most original genius who appeared among bookmakers last year. His latest work is much in the style of the former one. . . . All the results of his wide and discursive reading are laid under contribution. He brings his illustrations and apothegms from the ends of the earth. . . . Books of this kind can be read and reread with additional zest. There are few books now coming from the press that will abide that test. of the few." This is one Other good books for reading aloud are Mr. Gosse's essays on Browning, which contain not a little information about the poet's earlier years as well as delightful talk about his character and poems; Mr. Torrey's admirable out-door books, "A Rambler's Lease" and "Birds in the Bush." Out-Door Books. It is needless to suggest that summer is peculiarly the time for reading such books as those of Thoreau and John Burroughs; Olive Thorne Miller's and Bradford Torrey's careful and interesting observations on birds; Susan Fenimore Cooper's pleasant volume "Rural Hours," describing scenes and seasons about Cooperstown; Herbert Milton Sylvester's "Homestead Highways" and "Prose Pastorals"; and Charles G. Whiting's collection of thoughtful essays, "The Saunterer," which the London Spectator commended warmly. Of course people who are thinking of spending any part of the summer camping out should read "The Shaybacks in Camp," a book equally readable and full of information; and "Tenting on Sandy Beach," which mingles a story with its interesting account of a summer outof-doors. Biographies. — Several noteworthy biographies have appeared lately, which may fitly be commended for Summer reading, such as Lodge's "George Washington," Morse's "Benjamin Franklin," and Pellew's "John Jay," all in the series of American Statesmen; Mr. Bigelow's excellent "Life of Bryant," in the series. of American Men of Letters; the "Reminiscences of Montagu Williams," the eminent London barrister; and, though not a new one, the "Life of Agassiz," now issued in a single volume. The Riverside Library for Young People. For those young folks who have not yet read the eight books now published in the Riverside Library for Young People, these small but interesting volumes may be heartily recommended for summer reading. They include Mr. John Fiske's admirable account of "The War of Independence," Mr. Scudder's fresh and engaging "Life of Washington," Miss Merriam's excellent descriptions of "Birds through an Opera Glass," Miss Bamford's bright book on insects taken in trips "Up and Down the Brooks," Mr. Greene's informing book on "Coal and the Coal Mines," Miss Larcom's delightful and interesting autobiographical sketch, "A New England Girlhood," with two books just added, "Java: The Pearl of the East," by Mrs. S. J. Higginson, who has had long and intimate knowledge of Java; and "Girls and Women," by E. Chester, who from full observation and experience as a teacher has written a book at once thoroughly readable, wise, and judicious. It should be in every household so fortunate as to have any girls. Mr. Woodberry's Poems. The unanimity and discriminating character of the praise given Mr. Woodberry's North Shore Watch are very unusual. The Hartford Courant remarks: "The reserve, the scholarship, and the excellent taste that make his Life of Edgar A. Poe the best ever published of that author are all felt in every line of this charming volume." THE COAST. NOVA SCOTIA, THE MAINE COAST, AND MT. DESERT. NEW HAMPSHIRE. ISLES OF SHOALS. MASSACHUSETTS Gloucester. Salem. Marblehead. MASSACHUSETTS The South Shore. NANTUCKET. BUZZARD'S BAY. FOR ALL SHORES. Over the Border. The Seaport Towns of Nova Scotia, with a chapter on Mt. Desert. By Miss E. B. CHASE. Illustrated and with Map. Square 8vo, $1.00. Deephaven. A Story of a Maine Seaport. By SARAH ORNE JEWETT. 18mo, $1.25. The Story of a Bad Boy. By T. B. ALDRICH. Illustrated. The Isles of Shoals. An Historical Sketch. By JOHN SCRIB- Wild Roses of Cape Ann, and Other Poems. By LUCY LAR COM. 16mo, $1.25. An Old Maid's Paradise, and Burglars in Paradise. The Madonna of the Tubs. By Miss PHELPS. A Study of Gloucester life. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50. Jack the Fisherman. By Miss PHELPS. A Study of Gloucester life. Illustrated. Square 12mo, 50 cents. A Half Century in Salem. By MARIANNE C. D. SILSBEE. 16mo, $1.00. Old Salem. By ELEANOR PUTNAM [Mrs. Arlo Bates]. 16mo, $1.00. History and Traditions of Marblehead. By SAMUEL ROADS, Marblehead Sketches. Ten Pictures of Marblehead in photo- Tenting at Stony Beach. "Camping Out" on the South Shore. By MARIA LOUISE POOL. 16mo, $1.00. 16mo, $1.25. Colonial Times on Buzzard's Bay. By WILLIAM ROOT BLISS. For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price by the Publishers, HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 4 PARK ST., BOSTON; 11 EAST 17TH ST., NEW YORK. |