LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 155, 1 July 1911, Page 14

LITERARY.

, A copy of the very rare first edition . of Browning's "jPauline," 1833, was sold . the other day for £162. In 1904 Mr i Dykes- Campbell's- presentation copy from the author brought £300. A new novel of political life in Wash- ' ington is contemplated by Mrs. Gertrude ! Atherton, who intends to make studies 1 in the capital next winter. Kew types of legislators have arisen since the novelist described "Senator North." It appears that the prose text in the promised history of England for which Mr. Kipling ie partly responsible de the I work of Mr. C. L. Fletcher. The twentythree poems have been written by Mr. Kipling. A volume of "Memoirs Relating to the Empress Josephine" by Mademoiselle Georgette Ducrest, is in the press of the Sturgis-Walton Company. The events narrated therein took place between 1800 and 1814. I English Dickens lovers wall have an opportunity this month to indulge their sentiment. Bleak House at Broadstairs, a dwelling much cherished by Charles Dickens and in which 'he is believed to have written almost the whole of "David Copperfleld," is to be sold then. It is an attractive house with pleasant gardens. ; I i Lady Clifford (Mrs. de la Pasture) has | a new novel almost ready for publication. It is called "Master Christopher," and is the story of a brother and sister who, in consequence of the separation of their parents, have been brought up apart. The figure of Napoleon may again be i observed stalking through the literary vista. Much unpublished material from his pen has lately been found in the archives of the French War Office, and Colonel Picard, of the French General Staff, is now engaged in editing it. The first volume is nearly ready for publication. An edition in English will be issued in America in the autumn by Dufiield and Co. Thorns Armstrong, an English painter and art director, who died the other day, was in his youth one of the group of art students in Paris which included Whistler and Dv Maurier. il is said ■that he always refused to admit that Trilby herself was drawn from life or that any friend or acquaintance could have suggested to Dtf Maurier more than a few unimportant characteristics. The remarkable Huth Library will be sold as promptly as possible, the collection of autograph letters and documents being the first section to be dispersed early in June. There is a wonderful group of royal letters, beginning with a full page one from the hand of Mary's Queen of Scots. This, by the way, is particularly valuable, for one of the same length brought last summer the sum of £700. A cypher is enclosed in this epistle addressed to Chateauneuf, for, I says Mary, "a prisoner has everything to fear." She adds: "I am content to die or be imprisoned for this religion, . but I do not want to expose the flock of the faithful to danger for love of mc." An expression of joyous triumph is in ' the letter in which Queen Katharine Parr apprised her brother of her promotion to the throne: "I thought meet to give you this advertisement, and to require you to let mc some time hear of your health, as friendly as you would have done if God and His Majesty had not called mc to this honour, which, I assure you, shall be much to my comfoTt.—July 20, 1543." Mr John Masefield, in "The Street of To-day" (Unwin's Colonial Library), ■ writes a novel packed with suggestive : commentary on modern life and thought. The author's sympathy seems with . women in the modern strife of sexes; I he stresses the value of their "refining" influence; yet the motive of his story is i the evil tihat insufficient womanhood may i bring to a man's life. Man and woman : begin as passionately as Richard Foverel and Rhoda, with a chorus from natural history made rather comic by the stac- , eato that Masefield cultivates: Shyly a star or two crept to silver ' upon the sky. An owl floated down the valley like a great moth. Bats . were aloft. Their chittering sounded. A late blackbird carolled: I "Lionel." "Yes, beloved." "You care, Lionel?" "Rhoda, beloved Rhoda. I love you, Rhoda." "Isn't it wonderful, Iionel?" "Yes, beloved. Oh, Rhoda, Rhodu, Rhoda, you are bea-uti-i ful. Rhoda." "Ah." "Kiss mc, Rhoda." "My Lionel." We print this deliberately in order to 1 attract the library ladies, since Masefield ' deserves readers. That, in the end, i ' Rhoda is found throwing Lionel's dress j ■ clothes into the fireplace will surprise no- I • body. And there is a great deal to bf said in Rhoda's excuse. 'The Street of To-day" 'has a great deal of modern merit. . ! ■ It is stated that Dt. Owen, the Michigan man who is exploring the bed of the . River Wye for Bacon relics, believes that ' he was predestined to do this work, his , name being set forth in the Baconian ■cipher scroll. He now declares that ' there are sixty-nine boxes hidden in the' supposed cache under the river bed and that these "boxes contain the following objects: ; ) The original manuscripts in Bacon's haud- , writing of all tie Shakespeare plays. The original manuscripts of the works of ' Marlowe, Greene and Peele, whose names Dr. Owen's cypher declares mask the writ- j ; ln£S of Bacon. The manuscript of Spenser's "Faerie | Queen," another of Bacon's works. ' The manuscript of Burton's "Anatomy of i Melancholy." The manuscripts of Bacon's works which he published under his own name. Diaries con tain ins the history of the Court of France, to which Bacon was at taihed. Queen of Scots. Important Masonic docnments, the full nature of which cannot be published. The great seal which Bacon had made for himself as King of England, bearing the words, "Franeiseus Del Gratia Angllae, Franciae, Hibcrniae Rex, Fidei Defeusor." The proofs that B.icon was all- that he claimed to be—nnmely, the rightful heir to the throne. The proof of the marriage between Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Leicester, which the title pages of many books of the period hint at in emblems. The head of William Shakespeare. The head of Shakespeare is there, because, .according to Dr. Owen, he black- ! mailed Bacon and was murdered by the latter and Ben Jcmson in a Stratford lane. The most extraordinary thing about this particular episode in the Shakespeare-Bacon fantasy is that many . sane minded men have been interested in his project, . J

The. Official Record of. the New Zealand International Exhibition of Arts and Industries, held at Christchureh in 1906-7, with a descriptive and historical account by Mr. J. Cowan, has just been, issued. Mr. Cowan has done his work very thoroughly. The book gives a covnplet e description of the preparations for the great show, with many illustrations, depicting the exhibition and all who were concerned in carrying it out. There are views of Christchurch, and of the various courts and side-shows of the Exhibition. A very instructive chapter is devoted to the Maoris and South Sea Islanders, in which the writer exhibits an intimate and sympathetic appreciation of the qualities of the race, whose display of national customs formed one of the most attractive features of the , Show. An excellent account is also given of the art gallery and its treasures, together with a detailed list of the exhibits in all the courts. The book, ■which extends to 470 pages, will form a permanent record of this important national enterprise. Messrs Mocmillan are issuing immediately Dγ Thomas Hodgkin's new book, "The Trial of Our Faith," which consists mainly of lectures delivered to fellowmembers of the Society of Friends. The beautiful "Maison dcs Muaiciens," at Rheims, a thirteenth century building, the facade of which is adorned with five admirable statues, has at last been acquired for the city. Some years ago the house narrowly escaped being taken : down, stone by stone, in order to be rej constructed by an American purchaser jon the other eide of the Atlantic. The I fact that it was the property of two ■ owners, who were unable to agree as to its sale, averted this danger. In 1005 a j parts of the building was purchased by i subscription, and recently the society known as "Les Amis dv vieux Rheims," Iby purchasing the other half of the j house, assured it for the city. The wonderful Bible of thirteenth cen tury Prance, a MS. containing five thousand painted medallions, is to be issued by the French Society for the Reproduction of M6S. The first volume of this MS. is in the Bibliotheque National, the second volume in the Bodleian, and the third in the British Museum. This will be the French Society's first publication; the MS. will fill four volumes, The first publication of the Prussian I Historical Institute in Rome is to be a reproduction of another Bible. This is the "Manfred Bible," a codes in the Vatican. The Piazza delle Erbe, at Verona, so recently menaced, if not with destruction, at least with the loss of its original character and picturesque charm, owing to the proposed erection of modern buildings, has fortunately escaped the threatened danger and has been declared a national monument, which means that it will now be preserved antaofc and secured against vandalism in the future. In the biographical supplement to Coleridge's "Biographia Literaria," which Mr. Arthur Turnbull has lately completed and published in the Bohn series, have been inserted all the available nonMwpyright. letters of Coleridge, with other biographical matter explaining the letters. The supplement was originally prepared by Henry Nelson Coleridge and his wife Sara, and Mr. Turnbull believes that it was' the intention of the former "to string all Coleridge's letters available on a slim biographical thread, and thus produce a work in which the poet would' have been made to tell his own life." This intention ■was not fully carried out, but Mr. Turnbull's additions have, he thinks, contributed to produce "as faithful a picture of the Poet-Philosopher Coleridge as can be got anywhere, for Coleridge always paints his own character in his letters." An interesting discovery was recently made in the University Library, St. Andrew's. Dr. Schaails, the German lecturer, while reading a French book of •the sixteenth century, noticed that the binder had pasted on the back and covers of the book some fragments of an old French poem. He loosened them and removed the glue, and, putting together the pieces, found that he had some handsome fragments of the old French chanson, "Le Roman de Girard de Viane." The language and the script' testify that the manuscript was written between 1250 and 1300. Mr. James Milne reports that 117,000 sets of "Gladstone's Life," by Lord Morley, have been sold, and that the receipts from the sales total £105,200. "Why, it may be asked, has the 'Gladstone' had so large and enduring a sale, and why does it promise to keep on selling? The answer, big and large, is that it is just Gladstone; that it is the life of the biggest personality England! I has known for long. But that general j answer covers a variety of reasons; the ! close affectionate hold Gladstone had ! upon the hearts of the people; the wide range of his interests, from politics to , theology, from poetry to finance, whereby he touched every book reader somewhere; and yet again, in the happy good fortune of having his friend, Lord Morley 3 for biographer." The Coronation number of the " Pali Mall" magazine contains much interest- ( ing information with regard to the ceremonies attending the crowning of the I King and Queen of England. Mrs. A. Murray Smith contributes an article on the religious meaning of the service at Westminster Abbey, which is illustrated by pictures of the Abbey and of the vestments worn at the Coronation. Lt.General Sir Robert S. Baden-Powell, in an article entitled, '"Be Prepared!" I graphically describes many interesting i incidents in connection with the siege of I Mafeking, and in the wilds of Africa. He says: "The increase of civilisation tends more and more to destroy manliness and character. Tubes, travns and taxis don't tend to harden us. Paid football, cinemas and test watches are making us into a nation of lookers-on, instead of leaders in enterprise, where of old we used to show the way. Where formerly we were the explorers of NorthWest passages and inventors of steam and telegraph, to-day we leave it to other nations to discover North Poles, invent motor-ears and aeroplanes, and excel in what were originally our national games. , ' He goes on to say that the characteristic British grit is still with us, and in the "school of the wild" of our oversea frontiers it receives its ! highest development. "In the Boy Scouts," he adds, " we are endeavouring I to bring something of this training of | the backwoods and the seas into the edu- ' cation of the rising generation of our. towns." The number 'contains a .good i collection of short etories by popular writer* J