LITERATURE AND ART.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11520, 3 November 1900, Page 4 (Supplement)

LITERATURE AND ART.

" A new Study of the Sonnets of Shakespere" is the title of a book prepared by Mr. Parke Godwin, the American who edited Bryant's poems.

Mr. E. A. Vizetelly is preparing an English version of a new work on Japan, by Mr. I. Hitomi, a distinguished Japanese publicist, who is now a delegate at the Paris Exhibition.

The Amherst papyri are making their appearance. The first instalment of the Egyptian papyri came out recently, and Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt have printed, at the Clarendon Press, the first part of the GreekThe volume is limited to theological tracts.

The biography of the late Dr. RobertWallace is nearly ready,'and will shortly be published bv Messrs. Sands. It will be the joint work of Dr. William Wallace, of Glasgow, and Sheriff Campbell-Smith, of Dundee. The volume will contain a fragment of autobiography.

"The Victorian History of the Counties of England" will run to' 160 volumes and cost £252. Single histories will, of course, be obtainable. The first volume will be Hants. Some of the counties will run to several volumes. Messrs. A. Constable and Co. are the publishers.

The tradition date of Chaucer's death is October 25. 1400. This is the date on his tomb in Westminster Abbey. The 500 th anniversary of his death will be celebrated on October 25. The British Museum have already thrown open their collection of Chaucer relics in the King's Library.

I Commerce and Christianity" is the title of a book now on the press, and shortly to be published Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., in England, and in America by the Macmillan Publishing Company of New York. It is by the author of "Life in our Villages," 'The Social Horizon," and " Evil and Evolution." Mr. George Manville Fenn has explained to the readers of Chums some of his methods of working. Occasionally he dreams part of a story, and he wakes up and exclaims: — "Oh, that will do capitally for to-morrow." Then he goes to sleep, and usually forgets all about it. He does not believe in sticking to a story too long; he writes quickly when he is in the mood, but if he were to sit up all night he would get " pumped out," and would be incapable of writing for two or three" days. Among the autumn announcements of Mr. I. Fisher Unwin are " The Unpublishe 1 and Uncollected Poems of William Cowper," edited by Thomas Wright; and "The Jew in London : A Study of Racial Character and Present-day Conditions," by C. Russell and H. S. Lewis, with an introduction by Canon Barnett; and a preface by the Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P. The last volume will contain an important map specially designed for the work. Mr. Frederick W. Myers, the President of the Society of Psychical Research, is going to bring out a volume on " Human Personality after Death." Mr. Myers has long had a hankering after ghostly vistations, and has spent trouble and time in trying to test the evidence for apparitions. Among other subjects treated of in his book are, it seems, hysteria, genius, sleep, dreams, hypnotism, crystal-gazing, automatic writing, trance, possession, and ecstasy. Captain M. S. Welby, of the 18tb Hussars, whose death from his wounds in South Africa has just been announced, will be remembered chiefly by the general public for his travels in Tibet and Abyssinia. On finishing the former journey he wrote his experiences, which were published by Mr. Fisher Unwin under the title, " Through Unknown Tibet." This book, which contains a portrait of Captain Welbj, is profusely illustrated with photographs and maps, and as it deals wi£n China and India .as well as Tibet is likely to have a special interest just now, apart from the melancholy interest it will possess for the author's friends, J