LITERARY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 60

LITERARY NOTES.

— Sir Walter Scott is almost as largely read now as ever, and it is- safe to predict that ho will be read far into the next century, when most, if not all, of our present-day writers will be entirely forgotten.— St Paul's. — It has always been understood ever since the most virtuous of authors, Sir Walter Scotl, denied, "with oaths and with curses," that ho was the author of the Waverley Novels that a writer has a right to tell any number of — shall we say? — "white lies" to conceal his identity. — Clement Shorter.

— Miss Kingsley, whose recent volume of "West African Studies" has attracted considerable attention, contemplates yet another visit to the Dark Continent. This time she is said to be going to work up the criminal law of the West African races, which sounds a rather dangerous subject, but when it is remembered that most of the various fetish customs are included under this heading, it will be seen that Miss Kingsley will have no difficulty in producing another interesting volume.

—Mr E. C. Oppenheim, of the Alpine Club, a climber of considerable skill, has just published a volume entitled "New Climbs in Norway," through Mr T. Fisher Unwin. The ascents were made in the Sondmore district, and included some "virgin peaks," or, at any rate some eminences whose conquest has not hitherto been recorded. Mr A. D. M'Cormick, the delineator of the Himalayas, contributes several full-page drawings, and there are also ieproductions from photographs.

— It has long been a conviction in certain circles that the "kailyard" school has nearly had its day. This would not seem to be the case, if ono may judge by some of the latest returns. Mr Crockett's "Red Axe" has sold to a greater extent than any of his works since "The Raiders"; and lan Maclaren's "Afterwards" has even bettered the circulation of so popular a book as "Kate Carnegie." The fact, of course, is that just as soon as a certain cultivated and literary public lias begun to weary of an author, a vast number of readers throughout the Englishspeaking world are beginning to find out that author's existence. — Clement Shorter.

— Another novel is announced from the pen of Mr Benjamin Swift, the clever Glasgow writer. This is entitled "Siren City" — Mr Swift's other books were, it will be recollected, "The Destroyer. and "The Tempter " — and will deal with the continual battle waging between Puritanism and Paganism. As the authoi writes to a friend: — "Puritanism is made, I think, to win the victory without any ambiguity. I have dreamed over this book a long time, but the mere mechanical work of putting it together I do very quickly. Human passion and emotion are rapid, and I think they should be rapidly portrayed. I hate long novels." — Two important works on Arctic exploration are to be published shortly. The first is entitled "With Nansen in the North," and gives the experiences of Lieutenant H. Johaneen, who, it will be remembered, was the solo companion of Dr Nansen in his journey across the ico towards the North Pole after leaving the Fram. Messrs Ward, Lock, and Co. will is^ue the volume accompanied with reproductions of over 70 photographs at a popular price. The second work consists of Mr Frederick G. Jackson's " A Thousand Days in the Arctic," which Messrs Harper and Bros, will bring out. It will bo in two handsome volumes, with numerous pictures from the author's photographs and from drawings by Mr Macbeth and otheiv.

-- Dwelling on plagiarism M Debehrt in a recent issue of tho Revue de 3 Revues made the somewhat &weeping assertion that all bucceFsful l'teraturo resulted from plagiarism, and cubstmtiatcd his statements by a goodly jvray of facf>. He pointed out in detail how Xadamo de Starl derived her ideas from Heino and Bastille : Victor Hugo found the fecrms of all his novels and plays in Maturin, Leon do Waitly, or TheiEEe ; Dumae ner«*

with Maquet to help him, was a literary highwayman, and his son followed in his footsteps. Flaubert's " Salammbo " is lifted bodily from a sixteenth-century romance. Sardou took "Marcelle" from Voltaire's " Tancrede " and Madame d© Teucin's " Siege de Calais."

— There are hundreds of books that go through certain processes, that are read "by everybody who is anybody " for a definite period, and are read a little later by that larger world that does not write in tho newspapers, and seldom reads them. But it by no means follows that these books have been in any shape or form literary forces. "The Wide Wide World" and " Queechy " are cases in point. In the days of our grandfather they were read by everyone : they lißve, it is probable, an even larger circulation to-day, but it is not quite the same audience. The same applies to " John Halifax, Gentleman," a not too healthy book, which educated church and chapel-going people in the towns delighted to read when I was a boy. To-day that class reads Mrs Humphry Ward's books, and equally modern authors. " John Halifax," in the meantime, is being read by an audience in the country that would never have read it 20 years ago, an audience which would then have beeu shocked at the flattering picture of an actress even as great as Mra Siddons. But it is absurd to call such books as theso "literary forces." Tenuyson and Carlyle, Ruskin and Ibsen are literary forces — not second-rate novelists, however popular. — Clement Shorter.

— A bookseller's opinion oE a book may, be as instructive as a critic's, though the point of view is different ; and a letter which wo have received from a correspondent throws a certain amount of light on the subject : — "For reasons which concern no one but myself (writes our correspondent) I recently decided to get rid of a certain number of modern books, and a bookseller duly arrived to look at these and make an offer." "What I particularly want," he said, as he turned them over, are "red books." "What sort of books?" I asked. "Red books — chat ir, to say, books in red covers," was his reply. And he proceeded to explain: — "Of course, there are a few people who know about hooks, and insist on having the book they v/ant without reference to the colour of the binding ; but the great mass of our customers judge by appearances. Drab books and grey books and brown books they won't have anything to do with; greeu books will pass; blue books pell a shade belter ; but red books always find a market. You can have no idea unless you are in tho trade what a difference it makes to a book to be bound in red." We will admit that this is a trade secret of which we were not cognisant. — Literature.

— Authors have frequently tried to hidetheir identity under a norn de plume, but few of them have been so successful as the author of tho famous Junius letters, whoso cecret went with him to the c;rave 100 year 3 ago. The letters of Peter Plymlcy, which appeared in pamphlet form in the oarliei 1 part of this century, puzzled tho literary' world for uiuiy years, until Sydney Smith, tired of the mystery, published them in a book of his works, with this preface: — "The Government of that day took great pains to find out the author : all they could find was that they were brought to tho publisher by tho Sari of Lauderdale. Somehow it came to be conjectured that I was the author; I have always denied it, but, finding thai I deny in vain, I have thought it might be as well to include tho letters in this collection." Sir "Walter Scott kept hia " Waverley " secret remarkably well, considering that quite 20 of his friends knew it. For 13 years the reading world ppoke of the author of tho Waverley novels as "The Great Unknown." All that time Scott wrote books in his own name, kept up a hospitable house, acted as a clerk of session, and did so much that nobody dreamed of connecting him with "Waverley." But on February 23, 1827, the secret leaked out at a dinner the revelation causing immense excitement. Lord Meadowbank, the judge, asked Scott if he might break the news, and the author gave him permission to "do jusfc as you like." The judge worked up to the revelation in a little speech, proposing the health of "The Great Unknown," finishing up by saying. " I propose the health of Sir Walter Scott." Sir Walter was, of course, already very popular, and there was a wonderful scene when Lord Meadowbank sat down. Soon after, Sir Walter threw a note across the table to a friend, asking him: — " Why not confess something, too — say, the murder of Begbie? " and, a little lator, when someono spoke of " The Great Unknown," the author corrected him by calling out: — • " The Small Known, now, Mr Bailey."

— Discontent is a thorn on the rosebush of life.

— Some good resolutions are like blank cartridges — nothing comes out of them.

— His Experience. — " Ah," said the gushing spinster, " but you have never known, what it is to have loved and lost!" "I haven't, eh !" replied the male listener. " Well, I came pretty near it the time my first wife's father dropped every penny he had on a bogus gold mine just three days before our wedding."