LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2552, 28 August 1915, Page 9

LIBER'S NOTE-BOOK

Reviews of several novels 1 are "hold over until nest Saturday. NeM Munro. , { I have-long been-.an ardent admirer of the Scots novels of Mri Neil-Munro, tlie . author, of - those ' capital;,'-stories, "John Splendid" and ~ ;'.'Giliaii ' ; ;.the Dreamer, 1 ' and have'therefore' read.-rnth : special,intexesfc a. long article,on .Munro' and his wo&,'-.u!ncli.:.is D. :S. Meldrunv.to th'e July l .number: .of ''The Bookman" (Hodder and ,Stoughton).v Glaswegians, I; believe, syfiar' by •Mr. Munro as a correct' interpreter. «f ■ the local dialect and ihimour (see Mr Munrb's clever , little.hook,called "Erchie"), 'but personally I vote 'for Miv, Slump's: stories.;df ,the Highlands, such as "The Lost Pibroch" and the two .tovels ;mehtiofied-above. .Mr; Munro is a Glasgow journalist, and writes-regularly, for. the;,'"Eyraihg ;News'' iii ithat'. city. His . last story,'"'i%e New; Road,'' a'very fine book, was published a few months ~ ago. It should not be missed by discern- ; ing.'.novel.readers. . • -v" A Life of Swinburne. r ~ It will be good hews to, jihe'admirers i of' Swintuinei's poetij; that at; last we .' are to .have; a :really- adequate .biography . of.the author of "Atalanta;in;Calydon" and the yet more famous -."Poems, and Ballads." It,.used ,:to : be; thought; -that ; the ■ ipoet's ,most. intimate. and ; trusted , friend, the late Theodore Watts Dunton, would write the book;.'but(although he ' acted as Swinburne's ■' literary executor • 1 and had made a large number of -notes for such 'a work, ho never settled down i ■ to/fulfil7the.^task : '';';lt{.is'iMi/..'.Edxnuhd J Gosse who istowrite the: -new bio-. .1 grapby. Mr. Gosse knew both Swin- i burne and .- Watts-Diuiton intimately, 1 and has'given >uis; in;his "Portraits and 1 Sketches", (published a couple. of years ' or so. ago), the best half-length portrait, of : Swinburne;; that ■ wo shall probably .' ever get. He should do full justice to ;i bis subject.• It is not likely, however, ,i 'that 1 the ;biography ;will; be. published < until the war is over. A vast amount <1 of silly/and scandalous' nonsense has ;1 ■been written . about Swinburne. His 1 quite platonic . ' acquaintance, '-. for; 1 ' in- s stance, with the ;notorious Adah Isaacs f Menken, of "Mazeppa" fame, has been « woefully misrepresented; As a matter: of. i fact, for the. greater part of' his lifo Swinburne's delicate health forbade all 1 the; sensual extravagances" attributed to' t him by. certain imaginative and scandal- ,{ morigeririg _pehny-a : liners; ; Mr;_GoSse's ' I biography will, Ihope, dojustice to a t much-misrepresented and often' cruelly v caricatured writer. ; , Dickens and Leigh Hunt. i i An interesting' contribution to ,' the fi old, old controversy as to whether Charles Dickens was justified in carri- 1 caturing Leigh Hunt as Harold Skimpole," in "Bleak House" appears in Mr. -li Clement K. Shorter's always infornia- ' tive "Literary Letter" in "London I Sphere" of July 3. Mr.. Shorter, it t appears, recently purchased a hitherto I unpublished letter : from 'Dickens to Hunt. The letter, which I reprint" be- ( low, clearly relates to the Skimpole in- t cident: '> j , Gad's Hill Place, Highanj-by. 5 Rochester, Kent, June 23)1859. .' o My dear Leigh Hunt,—Believe ; " me, I havo not forgotten that matter, nor will I forget it.. To alter E ; the book _ itself, or to make any ( reference in t'he preface of the book I itself, would be to revive a., for- e i gotten absurdity, and to .'establish d the very association that is; to be denieL and discarded. ; In the mat- „ ter of the smitten cheek, I hold j . you to be thoroughly right in prin- v „ ciple. But bo sure tha:t you do not f, give importance to what is worth- , I, less and\ insignificant, or drag any ' obscure person or thing into your own light. That is always the risk when a man of your mark honours Grub Street with a book. —Affec- n tionately yours, Charles Dickeus. & CHARLES DICKENS. £ Hunt died on August 28, 1859, two months after the Tetter just quoted A was written... In "All the Year Round',' 0 for December 24, 1859,' Dickens wrote L of Hunt in the most kindly strain, but o the fact remains", • as: Mr. Shorter ,ie- p minds us, that lie'never offered "an ade- j< quate apology for what was a wild S caricature."- Mr. Shorter adds much J re

curious information on the Hunt-Dick-ens questions in tho "Literay ,Letter" .from which I have taken the letter printed above, and those interested in either Dickens or Hunt should not fail to secure a copy of _ "The Sphere" which contains Jiis, article. Dickens and Sala. Mention ;of the Dickens-Leigh Hunt letter published in "The Sphere" reminds mo that in "Certain Reminiscences," which Richard Whiteing, the veteran English journalist, "and author of that famous, book, "No. Five, John iStreet," is contributing to ; the New York "Bookman,". appears an interesting reference to Dickens and Sala. The latter was, it may be remembered, a regular and - valued contributor to "Household Words," of which. Dickens was the, editor. All the articles were: unsigned, ■ and there can be little doubt that Sala became, after a while, rather hurt at Dickens getting credit for articles written by G.A.S.' This jealousy found curious exposition at the dinner ;gjyen to "Boz" on the eve of his 6econd vast to America, in 1867. Whiteing, who was present, makes the following reference to the function:— '■. i !' Ik ' was , a - Sphering. of the notable persons of the time, and it filled the great' hall at the Freemasons' Tavern .to the , full. Buhver occu- • pied the-chair, and other figures now- seen as in a dream, were Maclise, the painter j: Henry Thompson, ■ the famous surgeon; Jacob Omnium, the 'indefatigable writer of letters to the 'Times' on every topic under . the sun; to say nothing of hundreds that have faded from mem- ; ory, as nearly all Have faded from . : public life. Praise of the guest of the evening was. : of course on every; • .tongue, but when it came to the: itom of his services to 'the' public' as ... the founder of 'Household Words,' arid as a contributor of, the best to. its pages, Sala, who had been per- ' fectly : abstemious and alert during tllio evening, as though awaiting.the.:. : ' honourable mention of his own name,' . began'to dissent with an ominous . growl. It • was'.understood to sig- . nify that the best hi that periodical was from his own pen; He had , / certainly done well'for it, with many • an article of. marked brilliancy and , ■ diarm.; - But the.growl was'discori-cert-ing for all that, especially, as it grew deeper and deeper, ti'l it ' '£• seemed to betoken some peculiarly , alarming] escape,, from the. . zoo. 1 ..' Friendly ! keepers, however,. were,. \ happily at hand to persuade hira< -, to compound the'matter by. an oc- . - casional croan." ..... 1 ■■'... .Sala may have been specially grumpy on that famous occasion, but in his collection,of Dickensiana, "Liber" possesses a copy of a .leading article oil "Boz" written, byv G.A.S. in. the "Daily Tele-' graph," and although the,utmost praise is given ,tb'. Diokens as ail. editor,' there is not even' the .slightest .reference to any . jealousy on.i the" part of. .tlie' costributors to "Household Words.'' . Stray leaves. ' . . Clever lan Hay (lan Hay Reith), the author of ."A Man's ; (Man)" . "Pip,!' "The: Safety Match," and so many other delightful 'bbbks, : /is. at _ tlie front with one of tho Scottish'fegiments. ; Readers of. Mr. Hornung's "Raffles" , stories'.'will be to hear: that lie has lost- a son, SeMnd-Lieutenant Arthur Horhung,. who was killed recently whilst fighting in Flanders. Ho ' was the novelist's only son, and a liephew of Sir' Arthur Conan .Doyle. '~, - It is some time now, since we, had a r.ovel'from 'Mr.' Somerset Maugham, who lias for the past.'few, years been mainly prominent' -as ,va'•"playwright, _ -'Mr: Maugham is jiirnr, .returning ;tp'.'.his> old role of novelist. 'His' new story, "Of Suman Bondage," is announced by an American publisher.-;' It is said to be a detailed picture of the 'life of a'Teal man of' the pTesont time: • . - - ■ •' Tho .Tilly number.: of v"Tlie';British Review" ~ (Williams: .and, 'Norgate) always excellent.-value' for. - the readers' shilling, is specially 'strong in articles.on' the wan- poein. "Spring," by, Eden Philpotts, is also a notable, feature, >and the clever young,'lrish writer, Padraic Cfelum,,.draws, an inter-' esting .comparison' between the Irish; stories, ~of-.' Maria ; Edgeworth: nnd cer- ! ' twin of Tiirgeiev's studies, of Russian life.' . ..... ~ .. ' : .Besides, the' special article on, Neil Munro, alluded '• to : under' -a separate heading, • the July number of • "The - Bookman 1 / (Hodder , and Stoughton) , contains, articles ion Rupert." Brooke's "Last Poems",' (by Francis Bickley)/ John Galsworthy's satires (bv B. E/, Roberts); - Rabindrnth:: : Tagore,. .. the Indian poet by Richard Curie), arid others. The:. portrait :.in "The Bookman" Gallery, is Sir James Yoxall, M.P. Those who enjoyed Mrs. John Lane's olever . book, "According to ! Maria," : will be:glad to hear'that Mrs. Lane is , about, to, give, us.somo. more ' satirical sketches in' ; the same happy vein. The •• title will be "Slaria AHain.'' ■ • . Air. Grant-Richards, the ipublisherjuthor, whosei "Caviare". and ."Valentine;" espaciallv ' the formers-were so 1 popular, will shortly. publish a third novel from his own'.pen..' But if all,the , mblisliers. start writing' liovels, /What ivill:'.beoome'.of the'''ordinary; novelists' ■ n'ho, are nofc: publishers? . , •'. A -new edition; in. two .volumes, .'of ; 'The'.Poems: of HenryYaughan,"' whei , pas a contemporary of' Herrick, : but . rhose verse was ' conspicuously chastp, i ?yen! deeply'religious in tone, has just i jeen published' at the' Clarendon Press, i t is a library edition for rich book-, i overs and scholars. With most of us' 1 i little of. Tausrhaii "would,' I : fancy,' . ;o a long way.,- is,a capital little' ' edition, in two volumes, at Is. 3d. each, ] a.the New Bohn Library:. ( "Last Pages. from a Journal," by fork Rutherford (Milford, ,4s.' 6d.), is •ho last book we shall have ,from the 1 ion of the'late Mr. Halo "White. The wok is edited by his widow. The' conents .deal-very, largely, if not, wholly, rith ethical and religious questions. . Those 1 who read ~ and .enjoyed Mr. Jpmpton Mackenzie's fine novels, "Car; lival' and' "Sinister' Street," ' will be ;lad to : know that ; a now story, from lis' pen,- entitled "Guy and Pauline," s due in London next month. ■ i . Methuens have added to their, excel- ; nit little " shilling 'library a volume of , 'Pickings from Belloc."' Mr. E. V. jucas, who is skilled in the art of seleoion, edits tlie volume, concerning which j hope to write in a future issue. Mr. Belloc is re-publisliing (with j )onstablp's) a series of "Essays on > far." One essay in particular. "The lilitary Argument for and. Against ] Military Service in the Particular Case v f Great Britain," should be of special. 3 itcrest just now. V ■ ' I "George Birmingham" (Canon S larinay is • publishing next month <■ through Methuen's) a new story' of < rish life," entitled "Gossamer." The i irlier stage of the war is the period 1 lealt 'with. Maurice Maeterlinck, the distinguishd : Belgian author ,visited London in " uly. A reception-in his honour was J iven at Ap'sley House, when the poet- 1 üblisher gave a short lecture, and his 5 'ifo, Mdllo. Georgette Leblanc,. sang - nd gave readings from her husband's forks. Sir Arthur Quiller Couch's ("Q.'s") j ew story, "Nicky Nan, Reservist," de- 3 cribes how /tlie outbreak of war sur- l] rised a Cornish village, and tested the I aalitv of . its inhabitants. Good reprints.—A new edition of iiiatolo France's delightful story, "TIIO ! rimo of Sylvostre Bonnard" (John C ane, Is. 3d.), Conan Doyle's "Hound li f .the Baskcrvilles," and tho late Alp, house Couilander's capital story of lurnalistic life, "Mightier than the S word,"'in Nelson's Sevenpehny, Libiry, are threo attractive titleg.