men who were anxious to extend the benefits of the Mendelssohnian Reform to the masses at large'. This literature ran parallel with the fresh impulse to publications in the Hebrew language, and some of the earliest of the new school of Jargonists were also good writers of Hebrew. Twenty years later the educational purpose was not so much lost sight of as subordinated to the purpose of art. Poetry, drama, novels, popular science, translations all multiplied.

"Now, there can be no doubt that Yiddish literature has received scant justice. It is not so easy to see, however, how it could be otherwise. Mr. Wiener says that the attack on jargon, while justifiable in Germany, and I should add, in any country where the Jews enjoy equal rights and where the language of the land can be easily acquired, loses all reasonableness when transferred to the Jews of Russia, Poland and Roumania, 'where it forms a comparatively uniform medium of intercourse between five and six millions of people'. There is much virtue in this adverb 'comparatively'. Moreover, this, as Dr. Wiener rightly sees, is not a justification for preserving the language. But it is a motive for studying its products, as Dr. Wiener does in so charming a style. The Yiddish folk-lore and folk-song, the poets and the prose writers whom Dr. Wiener passes in review are all, whether products or producers, intensely interesting. The reader of this notice will derive much pleasure from a perusal of Dr. Weiner's able book, full to the brim with facts well arranged and intrinsically valuable. The author adds a Chrestomathy, in which many selected passages are printed and also translated. Altogether Dr. Wiener's is one of the freshest and most desirable publications about the Russian Jews that have recently come before the public. The work is issued by Scribners of New York. It should be a very popular book."

The Newly Created "Immortel ".-The following are the works of M. Henri Lavedan, the new member of the Académie Française:

"Les Beaux Dimanches," "Leur Beau Physique," "Leur Coeur,” "Une Cour," "La Haute," "Inconsolables," "Les Jeunes," "Le Lit," "Lydie," "Les Marionnettes," "Nocturne," "Nouveau Jeu," "Petites Fêtes," ," "Petites Visites,"" Reine Janvier," "Leurs Sœurs," " Sire," "Le Vieux Marcheur". And the plays: "Les Deux Noblesses," "Le Prince d'Aurec," "Une Famille".

Public Appreciation of Mr. Passmore Edwards' Benefactions. It is not given to every man to witness in his own lifetime the public appreciation of his labours. Mr. Passmore Edwards is a fortunate exception, for on the 20th of April a bust of this public benefactor was unveiled in the Hoxton Branch of the Shoreditch Library, by Mr. S. G. Porter, J.P. Mr. Passmore Edwards contributed £9450 and over 1000 volumes to this institution. At present it contains 13,680 books, which, during the past year, had been asked for no less than 142,316 times, while 3600 persons read the newspapers in the reading-room. In acknowledging the compliment, Mr. Passmore Edwards said that the most important department of a public library was the reading-room. He went to the library near his residence with the object of seeing the newspapers, but so popular were the daily journals that he had often to wait a considerable time before he could get a glimpse at any one paper.

Early History of the South African Republic.-Under the title "Fifty years of the History of the Republic in South Africa (17941845)," by J. C. Vogt, Mr. Fisher Unwin is publishing an exceedingly interesting and able contribution to a period of South African history, concerning which very little is known. The author, who is a Boer, has

been engaged for seven years upon the work, in which he gives a most graphic and detailed narrative of the events which brought about the establishment of the Republic-first, to the south of the Orange River, in the eastern half of what was then the Dutch East India Company's Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and afterwards, east of the Drakensbergen and north of the Orange River. The origin of the Africander nation is explained. The early history of the Republic, up to the time of the British annexation of Natal and the re-crossing of the Drakensberg-the first half-century of the struggle for self-government and for independent national existence-is dealt with and fully described.

Celtic Literature of Ireland.-Dr. Hyde is (remarks the Chronicle) no doubt our greatest authority on the Celtic literature of Ireland. For years he has been at work upon a book dealing with Irish literary history from the earliest times to the present day. It was finished recently, it makes 650 pages of print, and it will be published forthwith by Mr. Fisher Unwin. The Anglo-Irish writer does not come into the book at all. There is, however, an occasional reference to the neglectful way in which England treated many of her early poets, in contrast to the attitude of the Irish clans towards their own bards. The history is necessarily learned, yet it has been cast in a popular style.

Tolstoi's Literary Methods.-A writer in the Arena-Mr. Charles Johnson to wit-has recently been describing the literary methods of Count Tolstoi. Mr. Johnston's article is inspired by a Russian article in the Russian Review. In his technical method, says the Russian writer whose words are translated, Count Tolstoi is like one of the great painters of old. After forming the plan of his work, and gathering a great number of studies, he begins with a charcoal sketch, so to speak, and writes rapidly, not thinking of details. What he writes in this way he gives to Countess Sophia Andreëvna to copy out, or to one of his daughters, or to one of his intimate friends, to whom this task may give pleasure. Lyof Nicolaievitch, Count Tolstoi, generally writes on quarto paper, of rather poor quality, in a big, rope-like handwriting, writing about twenty pages a day, amounting to some four or five thousand words. When the clean copy of his manuscript makes its appearance on the writing-table, Count Tolstoi begins at once to work it all over again. But it still remains very much of a charcoal sketch. The manuscript is quickly dotted over with corrections, alterations, interlinear additions; at both sides, above and below, appear new thoughts and phrases, with inversions and transferences of sentences from one page to another. The whole is copied out again, and once more subjected to exactly the same process. A third time exactly the same thing happens. Some chapters Count Tolstoi has written more than ten times. At the same time he pays almost no attention to details of wording, and even feels something like repugnance to everything closely clipped in art. All that often dries up the thought, and blunts the impression," he says. According to the article, moreover, the severest critic with whom Tolstoi has to deal is his wife, who "expresses her opinion without the slightest softening or circumlocution". Possibly she thinks that with so many unqualified admirers her husband stands in need of a severe critic.

66

Love of Reading.—Everybody thinks he is very fond of reading, and everybody, or nearly everybody will tell you that he or she loves nothing so much as reading, only there is so little time for it. Whenever you hear a person say that, you may be quite sure that he knows not the love for a book, and that the hunger and thirst for reading which marks the genuine lover of books is wanting. When there is this

genuine passion you never hear any talk about time. The time makes itself. Our lives may be busy ones, our hours may be long but there are many odd moments wasted, which, gleaned up and turned to mental improvement, such as books afford, would assist us in becoming much more useful members of society. It is true of the busiest life, that after making all deductions for necessary rest and relaxation, there is still time to be found for reading. How often we hear librarians say that there are so many things to be done, so many wheels to keep going, that there is no time for reading-even the reviews. Would it not under those circumstances be better to have fewer wheels to tend-to leave out one or two-so to have more time to give to reading. Many of us are woefully ignorant of the resources of our own libraries, the consequence is we labour at a disadvantage, and spend time fruitlessly where knowledge of the authorities would help us materially in our work.

Ralph Waldo Emerson.-Seventeen years have elapsed since Emerson died, and although he may not be the potent literary force today that he was twenty years ago, yet his ethical teaching is as badly needed as ever. Emerson was one of the three representative names of New England transcendentalism- Emerson, Thoreau and Walt Whitman. Each differed from the other; each supplemented the other's work. All three had a common point of view, one and all were hopeful idealists who sought to transform daily life by widening its activities, and giving a new significance to the most trivial acts. Emerson was the central figure of the transcendental movement, of which, as one writer has said, Whitman was the body, Thoreau the imagination, and Emerson the intellect. The calm judicial spirit which infused all Emerson's writings give a particularly valuable quality to his criticism on men and things. Emerson held that books were valuable rather for the mood they inspired in one, than for the actual matter they contained, and that without doubt is the only way in which properly to appreciate the writer, the anniversary of whose death has just been celebrated. A new edition of the sage's essays, edited by Mr. Arthur Humphrey's has just appeared. The essays cannot be too widely known, for even if it be true, as some one has said, that Emerson was not exactly a thinker, he had detached thoughts which many have found quickening and fruitful. He may not supply a philosophy of life, but he helps us to construct one.

Omar Khayyam.-Of the Golden Treasury edition of "The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám," more than 10,000 copies have already been sold. One disadvantage of the publication of this edition, says The Academy, is the destruction of the tidy little business done for many years past by an old scribe living in Leicester, who made with his own hands laborious copies of the Rubáiyát, and sold them at a shilling a piece to budding radicals.

The Prophet without Honour in his own Country. The Omar Khayyam Club held its quarterly dinner at Frascati's Restuarant last week, with Mr. L. F. Austin, the President, in the chair. Dr. Richard Garnett and Mr. William Watson were among the guests. Sir George Robertson, the Vice-President, writing from Rawal Pindi, stated amongst other things that from conversations he had recently had with learned Persians he gathered that nobody in Persia cared anything about Omar Khayyám, and humorously suggested that the quatrains of Fitzgerald should be translated back into Persian for the enlightenment of the benighted dwellers in that land.

Introduction to the Study of Irish History. The current number of the Irish Literary Society Gazette contains the interesting news

that the society has succeeded in forming an Irish Text Society, and is pushing forward with the arrangements for the publication of a work on the authorities of Irish history, following the same general plan as that adopted by Messrs. Gardiner and Bass Mullinger in their "Introduction to the Study of English History". The subscription to the society (7s. 6d. per annum) is payable at the beginning of each year. This will cover the cost both of the annual publications and of any extra volumes that the society may publish from time to time.

Patent Specifications. It may be that some of our readers are not yet aware that by a recent arrangement advance sheets of abridgement volumes in compilation can be placed at the disposal of the public. A new series of 146 abridegment volumes, containing classified abridgements of all specifications dated within the period 1897 to 1890, is now being compiled, and the first sheets of the larger volumes in the series are already being struck off. Libraries wishing readers to have access to these classified abridgements at the earliest possible time, instead of waiting as heretofore for the publication of the complete volumes, may have the advance sheets supplied in the weekly parcel of specifications by applying to the Comptroller-General of Her Majesty's Patent Office.

Shakespeare's Handwriting.-A little pamphlet on "Shakespeare's Handwriting," extracted from Mr. Sidney Lee's "Life of Shakespeare," has been issued by Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. It consists of facsimiles of the only extant specimens of Shakespeare's handwriting that are of undisputed authenticity-namely, five autograph signatures. Shakespeare wrote very badly. His own treatment of his name was so careless that every variety of spelling it can find sanction in these five signatures-except, of course, as one of our contemporaries points out, the variety that resorts to B-a-c-o-n.

Dean Milman's Life.-The publication of the long-expected life of Dean Milman, the greatest ecclesiastical historian which this country has produced during the present century, by his son, Mr. Arthur Milman, is at last promised.

We have reason to believe that it will contain a good deal of interesting correspondence between the dean and not a few of the leaders of thought of his day, both in the Church and in the general world of literature. It will also afford abundant proof that large and devout congregations assembled at popular services under the dome of St. Paul's, were not so unknown in his day as some who evidently do not realise the truth of the adage that “self-commendation is of little avail" would have us believe.

Manual of Cataloguing.-We are pleased to welcome Mr. J. H. Quinn's "Manual of Cataloguing," which has just been published by the Library Supply Co. (price 5s.). The volume is well printed, and to judge from a very hurried glance, promises to supply a long-felt want. It does not profess to be a comprehensive treatise on the art of cataloguing; the compiler's modest aim has been to furnish practical assistance to those engaged in public library work. We shall review the volume at length in a subsequent issue, but in the meantime most heartily commend the volume to our readers. We may have to disagree with the compiler on certain not very vital points, but on the essentials we shall be in accord.

Codex Bezæ Cantabrigiensis.-Commenting upon the sumptuous facsimile edition of the Greek and Latin MS. of the Four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, known as the "Codex Bezæ Cantabrigiensis,"

which has just been issued in two noble volumes and is before us, The Academy very pertinently remarks:

"Students who have hitherto had to journey to Cambridge to consult this priceless possession will be able to examine it under more favourable conditions; while the preservation of the text by facsimile makes it possible to view the decay of the original with more equanimity. The facsimile was made by M. Dujardin, of Paris, by the process known as heliogravure, and it has been completely successful. Mr. Scrivener, in 1864, wrote of Beza's gift to the university, that although it might seem less ancient than three or four other extant copies of the New Testament, it is in respect to modifications of the inspired text which it exhibits more interesting and remarkable than any other document of its class."

Cheap Literature.-Talking of sixpenny reprints, Literature remarks: The perfection of cheap publishing was attained during the years 1848-51 after the passing of the Copyright Act, by Lord Langdale and Sir Antonio Panizzi, who between the years in question issued a number of farthing periodicals, and many farthing "brochures" have been issued in our time, though only for the sake of making prospective claim to a chosen title which might otherwise have been seized. The Landgale-Panizzi ventures consisted of "The Elf," published in 31 numbers in 1848; "The Fairy," in 18 numbers, 1848-9; and "Works of the Mite," in 78 numbers, 1849-51. Each number was issued at a farthing, though the circulation must have been very restricted, for the full set of 127 numbers or parts is scarcely to be met with or heard of at the present day.