LITERARY AND ART NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXI, Issue 7178, 1 March 1884, Page 3

LITERARY AND ART NOTES.

Three thousand is the cost of the ccl ssal statue of Bir William Wallace, about to be erected in the Duthie Park, A statue of Mr Gladstone was unveiled at the Liberal Club room, London, on Dec. 12. Earl Granville delivered a strong personal eulogium on the Premier. The sale of Franz Hals’ famous picture of the Meisje to the Baroness Rothschild, of Frankfort, for £IO,OOO, aroused great indignation in Holland, it being thought monstrous that it should be allowed to go out of the country, Rosa Bonheur, the distinguished French animal-painter, has been seriously ill. It is said that the malady from which she suffers is cancer, and that her condition is serious enough, to demand the constant attention of her physician. It is hoped, however, that the greatest danger has been passed; but in any case the patient cannot be convalescent for some time to come.

Mr Bernard Quaritch has in preparation, under the direction of Mr George William Reid, F.S.A., the late keeper of the prints and drawings in the British Museum, some fac-simile reproductions in photo-intaglio, by Mr Alfred Dawson, of the,.works of the Italian engravers of the fifteenth century* Mr Vanderbilt, the American million** aire, is said to have. given the painter Meissotiier a commission for a picture upon a military subject, the price to be £40,000. The size of the work ig strictly specified. It is to be 18ft by 12£t. A society which is likely to find much scope for action is the Society de St. tnc, which has been constituted in Paris. It consists of artists, and its object is to prevent the sale of worthless pictures bearing forged signatures of famous painters, ft is proposed to register works and affix a seal to them by which their authenticity will be guaranteed. Mr Charles T. Newton, the keeper o£ Greek and Roman antiquities, has completed the arrangement of the new gallery at the British Museum. It contains the marbles of the Mausoleum, formerly scattered throughout the collection, but now for the first time brought together. The Venus of Milo vdll not be seen by visitors to the Louvre for some months. The dampness of the room which it of lateoccupied has necessitated alterations, and meanwhile the statue, in three fragments, is deposited on a bed of straw.

AMONGST THE BOOKS, It is not often I read books of travel, bnt last week I got through two, and enjoyed them both thoroughly. One was Mr Gilmour’s “Among the Mongols/' and theother a cheap edition of the “Voyage of the Vega.” The former seemed to me specially entertaining, and being by a missionary may be put into anybody'shands without fear. Talking of cheap editions, be sure (if you haven’t already seen it) to procure a copy of the new issue of Lady Blomfield's “ Eemiaiscences of Court and Diplomatic Life.” It was the great book of last London season, and run through six editions in the expensive form. Another cheap re-issue that has had a prodigious sale, is the “ Eecollections of a Literary Life,” by Mary Eussell Milford,, nor must I omit to mention “ Memories of Old Friends from the Journals of Pox of Penjerrick,” which is now obtainable for 6s.

Mrs Lynn Linton’s new novel “ lone ” is a love story of profound intensity and tragic power, but few will lay it down without a feeling of satisfaction that they have got to the end. The heroine, lone, bears a strong family likeness to far abler creations of this author; to wit Lizzie Lorton and Leam Dundas. She is a most disagreeable female, either sensuously affe -j----tionate or stormily jealous, and when, after leading her husband a rare life, she stabs him in a fit of passion, one feels that next to committing suicide she has done himthe greatest kindness within her power. “ Annan Water,” Eober t Buchanan’s latest effort is written on the same lines as a “ Child of Nature,” but will not compare with “God and the*Man”or “The Shadow of Sword.” A dull book on the whole.

The programmes issued by the leading magazines for 1884 are now out. Temple Bar will, as usual, be specially strong in fiction. Miss Fothergill (whose “First Violin 55 and “ Kith and Kin 55 were such popular stories) once again supplies the principal serial, a romance entitled “ Peril,” and an anonymous writer has in preparation a novel called “ Zero.” The Gentleman’s will also rely on an anonymous work. It has been christened “ Philiotia, 55 and is attributed to Mr Laurence Oliphant. “The Lovers 5 Creed, 5 ' by Mrs Cashel Hoey, will be the piece de resistance of Belgravia ; and Wilkie Collins is writing a sensational story styled, “ I say No, 55 for Time. Longman’s of course continues Clark EusseU 5 s “Jack's Courtship, 55 which so far has disappointed everybody; and Harper’s hope to make a hit with William Black 5 s Elizabethan romance, “ Judith Shakespeare. 55 The English Illustrated Magazine retains its reputation as an admirable sixpenno’th, in so far as the illustrations are concerned, but the letterpress is still a touch too heavy for the general The sixpenny Comhill, on the contrary, continues to improve steadily. Some of the short stories in the first volume (which is now published at .4s 6d, and contains an admirable selection of miscellaneous reading) are exceptionally clever, and have been most favorably noticed by the Westminster and other reviews. Charles Eeade will fir ish a new 3-vol novel this month. He has sold it to the Tillotsons, of Bolton, who are. arranging with a comprehensive syndicate of newspapers for the publication of the story in weekly portions. Miss Braddon primarily issues all her novels in this way nowadays. The principal serial in Cassell’s Magazine for the coming year is “ Within the Clasp, 55 a story of the Yorkshire Jetfinders, by John Berwick Harwood, and Good Words will rely on Miss LinskilPs “ Between the Heather and the Northern Sea, 55 and Miss Sarah Tytler 5 s “ Beauty and the Beast. 55 To the January number of the latter magazine Princess Beatrice contributes a paper. The two books that everybody is reading just now are “ John Bull and His Island, 55 an English translation of the enormously • successful French brochure by Max 0 5 Eell (the now de plume of a g entleman who is the French master at St Paul 5 s School), and “ Don 5 t, 55 a funny little p&nphlet published in America. “ John Bull and His Island 55 was issued on Dec. 10, and on Dec. 13 the whole of the first edition of 10,000 copies had been sold out. It contains a number of the queerest mistakes about England, but is in the main so shrewd, witty and caustic, the reader cannot help laughing and feeling entertained.

Mrs Oliphant’s new story, “ Hester/’ will be one of the most popular novels of the winter. It is a great advance on “ Sir Tom ” and the “ Ladies Lindores,” and contains some grand shades of character. I have not enjoyed one of her works so thoroughly for_ a> longtime. Belgravia tor January contains a complete story by Wilkie Collins, called “ She Loves and Lies/ 1 and the same author's new romance “Isay No!” is to run through London Society , as well as The People, and a number of provincial weeklies. “ Heart and Science ”is out in the popular 3s 6d form, and “Healey,” an early story of Jessie Fothergill's, has been added to the six shilling green series. These are both readable, but by no means exceptional novels. If you want to be thrilled by a short and strange tale buy the Comhill magazine for January, and read " J. Habbakuk Jephaon’s Statement. 1 # The author's name has not leaked oidl but most po<jple attribute it either Julian Sturgis or James Payn.