“THE LIBRARY OF FAMOUS LITERATURE.”

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 12 August 1901, Page 4

“THE LIBRARY OF FAMOUS LITERATURE.”

De Quincey once entered upon a calculation of the number of books a studious man might expect to read in a lifetime, if he gave up to literature the days which most men are compelled to devote to sterner labours. The figures were disappointingly meagre; and although it is true that the English Opium Eater omitted to make proper allowance for the great things which can he accomplished by the judicious exercise of the art of skipping, the fact remains that not even the most assiduous or the most leisured can hope to make acquaintance with one-tenth of tho hooks they desire to read. The hooks which one “ought to read” may, perhaps, bo left out of account, since the miscellaneous wanderer into the broad field of literature is under no obligation to acquaint himself with all the masterpieces of letters as is incumbent upon the professional critic. Great hooks are often little read. The scanty leisure of the average man of cultivated tastes is absorbed by the endeavour to “keep abreast” of contemporary additions to the hook-shelves, by the rereading of a few old favourites, or by the pursuit of some special line of literary inquiiy. Moreover, the masterpiece is not always readily accessible. And, indeed, the tired man, who comes home at night with perhaps only an hour to spend with a book, may be forgiven for not at-, tempting to make a collection even of the immortals of his own tongue. He finds that the serious pursuit of literature is difficult, if not impossible, to him. What he needs, indeed, is rather an Anthology than a library proper, the opportunity to pick and choose, to pursue where fancy suggests orpersonal interest dictates, But an Anthology

which shall take a wide view of literature, which shall embrace the old and the new, which shall reproduce the universal language of genius in all ages, under all conditions, and under all forms of achievment has never before been attempted. Such an attempt lias now been made, and an announce-

ment we publish this morning bears witness to its extent and thoroughness. “ The International Library of Famous Literature ” is an endeavor to present, in a compact form, the cream of all literature. It is a great undertaking, and its success in England has been the event of the past publishing season. The general Editor of the “'Library ” is Dr Richard Garnett, C. 8., who to an encyclopaedic knowledge of books acquired in his long service in the Reading Room of the British Museum, adds a critical skill and an enthusiasm for letters which have already made many charming contributions to contemporary literature. No man could be better equipped for a task so delicate and so difficult. lie has been assisted in his

labours by M. Leon Tallcc, the erudite Librarian of the Bibliotheque Nationale, who has not only brought the fruit of his specialised experience, but lias also enriched the Library by the contribution of an admirable study of French literature. Professor Brandi, who occupies the Chair of Literature in the Imperial University of Berlin, has also been associated with Dr Garnett

in the preparation of the Library, and has written, for the fourth volume of the work, a study of “The Main Currents of German Literature.” Mr Donald G. Mitchell, who is, perhaps, better known under his familiar pseudonym of “Ik Marvel,” is responsible for those sections of the work which deal with that American literature which, in a good deal less than a working century, has added so extensively to our book shelves. The plan of the work is simplicity itself. The twenty volumes of “The L . brary of Famous Literature” contain th t best parts of each author’s work, not a ragged extract, but a carefully-chostn complete picture in that author’s typical style —enough for half-an-hour’s reading, enough so give the reader the desired sense of an intellectual change of air. More than a thousand of these examples are offered in a handsome and convenient form. Nor is the result a mere compromise. The best thing an author ever wrote is, for the purpose of occasional reading, better than the whole body of his work, since it enables the reader to get at the essence of his creation, without losing time under the straw and chaff which form a part of even the most precious literary growths. The “Library,” in short, endeavors to do the reader’s “skipping” for him, perhaps to do it more judiciously than he could himself, and, in any case, to do it intelligently and with insight. Of so voluminous and so many sided a work it is obviously impossible to give a detail account, but an examination of the volume shows that Dr Garnett and his associates have exhibited very considerable ingenuity in the selection and arrangement of their material. The index to the twenty volumes shows that more than three hundred of the

most famoms poems, and more than four hundred of the best stories, are included in this Anthology, which also contains the best of the world’s store of travel and adventure, philosophy and science, wit and humour, letters, journals, and memoirs. Five hundred full-page illustrations, printed apart from the letterpress, on enamelled paper, add to the beauty and interest cf the volumes. In addition to an original series of portraits of authors in these homes, these illustrations include a number of coloured reproduc-

tions of illuminations from rare mediaeval manuscript?!. Examples of this often delightful form of art are seldom to be found in books designed for the general reader, and they have a peculiar interest and value. The only certain knowledge we have of the Middle Ages is derived from the carefully painted designs with which the

monks enriched their manuscript books of devotion, and the Editors of the

Library have done well to include

these p ates among their illustrations. The twenty volumes contain ten thousand pages of the best work that has

been done in literature since men first struggled to give literary form to their traditions, their fancies, and

their invention from the most ancient fragrant «f an Egyptian papyrus down to the contemporary work of the American humourist. But these twenty volumes contain, aleo, some notable contributions to criticism in the shape of a series of original Essays which, if not exactly a guide to all literature, f Tin a' least a serious conliibutiou to its study. Thu*, to raentio only a se-tae-ion of these chapters, M. iLeon Yallee writes upon‘French Literature,’ Dr Alois Brandi upon “The Main Current of German Literature,” Professoi Pasquale Aillarl upon “The Italian Renaissance,” Dr Edward Dowden upon “Characteristics of Elizabethan Literature.” Dean Farrar imon ‘The Literature of Religious Criticism,” Mr Edmund Cos e upon “The Appro* ciation of Poeiry.” S r Walter lb sant upon “Novels that have made Hisbmy,” Piofessor J P Mahaffy upon “The Literature of History,” MPaulßomget

upon “The Critical Essay in France,” Mr Henry James upon “The Future of

the Novel,” Mr Bret Harteupon “The Rise of the Short S|ory,” Mr Maurice Maeterlinck upon ‘The Modern Grama,’ Mr Andiew Lang upon “The Progress of LiDratuie in the Nineteenth Century,” M Biunetiere wiites on “French Poetry in the Nineteenth Gintury,” and M Emile Zola upon “Tim Naturalist Scl) ol of Fiction in Fmc .” To the work of each author is app aided a hri'-fuseful biographyand bibliography; while ihe index, winch contains more than leu thousand entr e/, nppetrs to be singularly completed and well arranged. And it is not the least

recommendation of this “ Library of Famous Literature,” that its volumes, although containing five hundred pages each, are free from the too frequent disadvantage of excessive weight. Their lightness, indeed, makes them singularly pleasant to handle. This, however, is merely a mechanical advantage, convenient, perhaps, but not everything, The essential is that the volumes do achieve that which they' set out to accomplish. The creative work of all times and all peoples is there represented with a fulness and ess altogether surprising.