tle piece in Russian literature, even among those of Karamzin himself, which can surpass the gloomy grandeur of the terrible description given in Vol. 5 (one of those still untranslated) of the great military butchery at Borodino, where 100,000 men perished in one day for the possession of a tiny hamlet of twenty-three huts, which any passenger along the Mojaisk highroad might almost pass unnoticed were it not for the striking monument on the ridge just above it.

But, however much we may admire the power with which our author sets forth his peculiar historical views, it is impossible to feel a shadow of sympathy with those views themselves. He is, in fact, a stanch disciple of that new school of criticism which (as an eminent satirist has very aptly observed) "turns all history into an almanac," and supposes all great political changes to be merely recurring phenomena, as inevitable and as completely beyond human control as the succession of the seasons. (Gottsberger. 2 vols., $1.50; Harper, pap., 25 c.)

"A Conventional Bohemian."

From the Boston Traveller.

Few novels of the day are so peculiarly adapted for dramatization as "A Conventional Bohemian," by Edmund Pendleton. It is full to repletion of incident and situation. It is curiously void of atmos. phere, so to speak,-of that literary art that makes a scene a picture; and the characters are as wholly undefined as are those which the dramatic artist is to fill with his own personality. The characteristics are given of the various personages that make up the "Conventional Bohemian," but there is no sequence of character development; no perfection of the scenes; no elaboration that makes a story seem chapters out of life. The book is indeed a singular creation. It has evidence of fertile invention, of an insight into character, of a capacity for working up intense situations, and such a story, worked out by a literary artist, would have been a great work. It is a book that touches depths of life. Constance Camp bell, left orphaned at 14, is adopted by a good, but eccentric spinster aunt, Miss Mary Campbell, marries Eugene Frere, a man of French descent, who "had lived in New Orleans many years before going to New York, where, having decided literary ability, he secured a responsible position on a leading newspaper. . . . He had all a Frenchman's superficial politeness, and even more than average insincerity, and was both attractive and brilliant in conversation. Unlike most of his nation he was a hard drinker, but so wonderful was his physique that though he had been a dissipated man for years, few knew it. After a wild night with boon companions he would come down to a late breakfast as fresh and blooming as the rose which invariably adorned his buttonhole. This was the man Constance married.

The poor

girl thought she knew him. His popularity, his celebrity, as an author, his personal magnetism, these beguiled her. Making the fatal mistake of her

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The

life she accepted Eugene for what he was not. gloss was veneer; the gold was but gilding. She thought she loved when she was only captivated and | her imagination pleased." Eugene Frere has a cousin, Angele Wentworth, who is a born intrigeante, and on her machinations the story turns. Frere goes off on a yachting tour, and is supposed to be drowned. Austin Villars, the " Conventional Bohemian" of the story comes into her life. They love each other; but Angele Wentworth, fascinated by Mr. Villars, determines to be his wife, and the plotting and intrigues that at last bring about this result would do credit to the invention of Wilkie Collins. Her last throw of the card proved successful. Villars was about sailing for Europe. He had bidden Angele farewell. Announcing that she was going to Boston on an evening train, she was driven instead to his studio in New York. The charwoman admitted her, and concealing herself behind a screen to await his coming she planned a dramatic effect. An extraordinary scene ensued on Mr. Villars' arrival, and his very virtues-his manly honor and chivalry-lent themselves to her scheme on the ground of saving her good name. They were married the next mornning. The subsequent denouement is too intricate to be outlined. The story is one full of dramatic effects, and would lend itself well to the stage. (Appleton. $1.25.)

Two College Girls.

From the Boston Traveller.

The new novel entitled "Two College Girls" is one that will undoubtedly receive great attention, from the fact that it has a value wholly aside from the usual literary value of fiction. It marks an era in American literary art, for this reason,-that it deals with the new conditions of the life of American girls. It is astounding that our novelists do not, as a class, begin to recognize the picturesque possibilities of the new kind of heroine,-of the college-bred young woman, and the girl who plots, and plans, and longs for the higher education; of the girl whose parents deny themselves all possible expenditure that she may go to Wellesley or to Smith; of the maturer student, who earns a modest sum by teaching or by writing, and gives herself a season of study at the Annex. Now in all this new life of the higher education and of the entrance on professional careers,― on medicine, journalism, science, or the artistic or literary life,-in all this new world in which the girl of to-day lives there is a fresh field for romance. There is a scope and possibility that offer all the elements of that great American novel for which we wait. And still our fiction writers go on giving us Lily Coreys and Irene Laphams and fair barbarians. The author of "Two College Girls," which Messrs. Ticknor & Co. publish to-day, has entered upon this new field for imaginative writing, and the suggestive style of the work will be found most stimulating and gratifying among the new works of fiction. (Ticknor. $1.50.)

The Literary News.

MARCH, 1886.

PRIZE QUESTIONS.

REVISED RULES.

THE object of the Prize Questions is to encourage a comparing of notes," especially on subjects relating to literature, and to make such "comparing" interesting and instructive by introducing the element of competition. We desire and invite all readers of the LITERARY NEWS to answer these questions, as the number of competitors adds to the interest of competitors and readers.

There are two kinds of Prize Questions, viz., the regular Prize Questions on the Books of the Month, and miscellaneous Prize Questions on subjects that are attracting attention at the moment, or have been suggested by subscribers or readers.

The main object of the LITERARY News is to aid in the dissemination of good literature; and to further this object, the prizes are awarded in books only. They are selected by the winner, and we desire, if possible, to have them bought at the local bookstore, or from the bookseller who supplies the LITERARY NEWS. There are five prizes (amounting to $12 on each question), distributed as follows: $4, $3, $2.50, $1.50, $1, for the five winning answers. The following rules must be observed:

1. Contributions and titles must be written legibly and in ink, on one side of the paper only. (Use postal-card if possible, and answer each prize `question on separate postal-cards or slips.)

2. Full name and address of competitor must be given in every instance (ladies should add Mrs. or Miss to their names). The name of the bookseller who sends the LITERARY NEWS should be written clearly on every answer submitted.

8. Every reader is requested to compete, and no restrictions are placed in the way of consultation or exchange of information. Members of the same family, however, must not present the same votes on any individual book.

4. It has also been found expedient to establish a rule to grant one prize only to the same person or to a member of the same family within a space of four months. No one, however, will be excluded from competition, and honorable mention will be made of all successful competitors.

5. Immediately on the publication of the decisions, purchase orders on their booksellers will be sent to the winners who receive the LITERARY NEWS from booksellers; and those who subscribe direct are requested to send, as soon as possible, the name of any bookseller on whom they desire an order. prefer in such cases that the books should be taken from the local bookstore. The value of the books will be reckoned at the retail price of the publishers.

We

6. All inquiries concerning the Prize Questions should be addressed to MRS. F. LEYPOLDT, 31 and 32 Park Row, New York.

There was a great deal of interest shown in the question, and more lists were sent than at any time during last year, except in the case of the quotations from Dr. Holmes (Prize Question No. 106). None of the competitors have reached the maximum of 316, but several have come very near it. The highest count is 307, and gives the first prize to Miss F. Davis, East Machias, Me. The second prize is taken, with a count of 301, by Dascom Greene, Troy,

The

The

N. Y. The third count is 300, reached by A. H. Votaw, Westtown, Pa. (who is ruled out, as he takes prize on 'Books of the Month" in this issue). next count, 295, is reached by Miss L. J. Daggett, Albany, N. Y., and Edward P. Greene, Philadelphia, Pa., who divide the third and fourth prizes. next count, 281, is reached by four competitors, Miss Mary Yawger, Union Springs, N. Y.; Mrs. L. Immen, Grand Rapids, Mich.; J. T. Millikin, Illiopolis, Ill., and F. D. Fish, Brooklyn, N. Y., who must each take the fourth part of the last prize as a souvenir of success, and try very soon again for more substantial honors. The lowest count was 65.

Prize Question No. 126.

Subject: FAVORITE

NOVELS.

CHARACTERS IN HOWELLS'

Robert Fenton, Woman's Reason.
Silas I apham, Rise of Silas Lapham.
Theodore Colville, Indian Summer.
Tom Corey, Rise of Silas Lapham.
Walter Libby.

Waters, Indian Summer.

FEMALE CHARACTERS. Clara Kingsbury, Modern Instance. Egeria Boynton, Undiscovered Country. Florida Vervain, Foregone Conclusion. Grace Breen, Dr. Breen's Practice. Helen Harkness, Woman's Reason. Imogene Graham, Indian Summer. Irene Lapham, Rise of Silas Lapham. Kitty Arbuton.

Kitty Ellison.

Leslie Bellingham.

Lydia Blood Lady of the Aroostook. Marcia Hubbard. Modern Instance.

Mrs. Bowen, Indian Summer.

Mrs. Lapham, Rise of Silas Lapham.

Mrs. Sewell.

Olive Halleck, Modern Instance.

Penelope Lapham, Rise of Silas Lapham.
Rachel Woodward.

Prize Question No. 128.
Subject: SELECTIONS FROM NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.
Select from any of Nathaniel Hawthorne's works a
quotation not exceeding forty words and submit.
Please mention the book where quotation occurs.
Answers due March 20.

Prize Question No. 130.

Select from Section C (Books for the Young) the six volumes that have pleased you most in the lists of 1885. Please be careful to state in which month the book was noticed. Answers due April 20.

Catholic World, "A Plea for the Indian," by H. V. R.-Century, "The Strength and Weakness of Socialism," by W. Gladden; "Castelar, the Orator," by Wm. J. Armstrong; Reminiscences of Castelar," by A. A. Adee.-Eclectic, "Darwinism and Democracy," by W. S. Lilly; "Government in the United States," by G. Bradford; "My First Imprisonment," by Wm. T. Stead.-Forum, "Shall our Laws be Enforced?" by Howard Crosby.-Popular Science, "Discrimination in Railway Rates," II., by G. L. Lansing.

RELIGIOUS AND SPECULATIVE.-Catholic World, "The Churchman.'"-Century, "Christian Union," by H. Crosby and A. A. Hodge.-Forum, "Is Romanism a Baptized Paganism?" by R. H. Newton; "The Coming Man," by Wm. A. Hammond; My Religious Experience," by M. J. Savage.—Popular Science, Proem to Genesis; Reply to Prof. Huxley," by Wm. E. Gladstone.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL.-Forum, "Science and the State," by Alexander Winchell.

SHORT STORIES.-Atlantic, "A Brother to Dragons."-Catholic World, "Answered at Last," by A. M. Clarke.-Century, "John Toner's Experiment," by Margaretta W. Kernan.-Eclectic, "A Strange Temptation;" "On the Verge of a Tragedy," by George Austin.-Harper's, Brief-as Woman's Love," by Brander Matthews.-Lippincott's, Perchance to Dream," by Brander Matthews.

SPORTS AND AMUSEMENTS. Lippincott's,SongGames and Myth-Dramas at Washington," by W. H. Babcock.

FRESHEST NEWS.

W. H. LAWRENCE & Co., of Denver, Col., who published last year a unique bookiet entitled "Christmas Greeting," printed on card-board, and illustrated with groups of dried native flowers, have been encouraged by its success to prepare a similar volume suited to the Easter season.

GEORGE R. LOCKWOOD & SON have prepared for the Easter season a series of Parchment Dainties, similar to those they issued for Christmas and New Year. This series comprises "Poems for Easter,' by Frances Ridley Havergal; "Easter Bells," and "Spring Flowers for Easter."

BAKER & TAYLOR have just published "A History of the United States in Chronological Order from the Discovery of America (1492) to 1885, including notices of manufactures as they were introduced; of other industries; of railroads, canals, telegraphs, and other improvements; of inventions, important events;" etc., by Emery E. Childs.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & Co. have just issued Bret Harte's "Snow Bound at Eagle's," a school edition

of Richard Grant White's "Words and Their Uses,' and a new edition, uniform with the Riverside Aldine Series, of Mrs. Jameson's "Sacred and Legendary Art," and a new volume of verse by Whittier, containing the poems he has written since the publication of "The Bay of Seven Islands" in 1883; also a new library edition of Macaulay's complete works.

D. APPLETON & Co. have just ready "The Aliens," by H. F. Keenan, author of "Trajan;" "We Two," by the author of Donovan;" Discussions on Climate and Cosmology," by James Croll;" Class Interests," by the author of "Conflict in Nature and Life;" and Mammalia and their Relation to Primeval Times," by Oscar Schmidt. They have also in preparation Creation; or, Evolution," by George Ticknor Curtis; "The Development of the Roman Constitution," by Ambrose Tighe; and "A History of Education," by Prof. E. V. N. Painter.

44

CASSELL & Co. will publish at once a new novel by Sidney Luska, entitled "Mrs. Peixada;" "Adam Hepburn's Vow," a novel by Miss Swan; and in the

National Library, Walton's "Angler" and "A Man of Feeling," by Mackenzie. They will publish shortly an interesting Oriental story, by Evan Stanton, entitled Ruhainah: a Story of Eastern Life," the scenes of which are chiefly those of harem life in Central Asia, and in April they will issue the volume of "Representative Poems," promised last fall.

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS have just ready Professor G. L. Raymond's work on "Poetry as a Representative Art," which, the author states, is only one of a series of essays intended to present art in all its aspects; a work on "The Adirondacks as a Health Resort," showing the benefit to be derived by a sojourn in the Wilderness in cases of pulmonary phthisis, acute and chronic bronchitis, etc., edited and compiled by Dr. Joseph W. Stickler; and a popular edition of Anna Katherine Green's "Hand and Ring." A. C. MCCLURG & Co., Chicago, have in press for immediate issue an entirely new edition of "Woman in Music," by Mr. George P. Upton, author of "The Standard Operas.' The great part of the original edition, together with the plates, was destroyed very shortly after publication, so that the work was but little known. The present edition is largely rewritten, and contains a considerable amount of entirely new matter. It is issued in response to a growing demand for the book in musical circles, and also because of the fact that it has recently been tauqua Musical Reading Clubs. It will be made in placed upon the list of books prescribed for the Chau

very pretty and attractive style and sold at one dollar, just half the price of the original edition.

HARPER & BROS. have in press a volume on "Manual Training," by Charles H. Ham, which has special reference to industrial education as carried on in the Chicago Manual Training School, and other like institutions. They have just issued an important monograph by the historian, George Bancroft, entitled "A Plea for the Constitution, Wounded in the House of its Guardians," said to be an elaborate argument against the legal-tender decision expressed by the Supreme Court on March 3, 1884, in the case of Julliard vs. Greenman. They have also just ready a new edition of Cross's "Life of George Eliot,' containing new and important information concerning the novelist's change of religious belief in 18411842, and recollections of her life at Coventry. They will soon publish an important historical work on the Indians, entitled "The Massacres of the Indianapolis, who has given a large amount of time Mountains." The author is Mr. J. P. Dunn, Jr., of and labor to the study of the subject. The book will be profusely illustrated.

TICKNOR & Co. had hoped to celebrate the seventy-ninth anniversary of the birth of the poet Longfellow-February 27-by issuing his biography on that day. They will issue in a few weeks a volume dation from Mr. E. C. Stedman. It is entitled "The whose contents have already received high commenSaunterer," and is by Mr. Charles G. Whiting, the literary reviewer of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican. "Mr. Whiting," says the Boston correspondent of the New York Evening Post, "is a hard-working journalist, conscientious and of remarkable capacity for doing much without breaking down. He has always, in some unaccountable way, preserved a fund of freshness and zest, and once in a while the Republican readers will find an editorial on nature, something fit to the season, which is as cheery as sunshine would be in this drenching rain that is flooding everything to-day. This volume will include the best of these editorials and some of his poems. Mr. Whiting is fond of pedestrianism. On foot he has traversed most of Berkshire County and climbed her high hills. With this 'saunterer' for a companion, the reader may expect to see nature with new eyes."

A-Fiction, Poetry, and the Drama.

FICTION.

FARGUS, F. J., ["Hugh Conway," pseud.] A cardinal sin: a novel. Holt. 16° (Leisure hour ser.) $1; pap., 30 c.

"Stories by Hugh Conway continue to appear

BRADSHAW, ANNIE. A crimson stain. Cassell. (Cassell's rainbow series) pap., 25 c.

The first issue in the series, which justifies its name of "rainbow" by brilliancy and profusion of color. The story is laid in Spain and England during the closing days of the last century. The author has almost given away the plot in the preface, but we refrain from doing so here, as the story is worth reading, giving a truthful description of the national prejudices on which the plot hinges. "The sins of the father shall be visited on the children" sums up the exciting story. There is a vivid description of the plague in Venice.,

Gazette.

FENN, G. MANVILLE. Morgan's horror: a romance of the West countree. Cassell. 16° (Cassell's rainbow ser.) pap., 25 c.

The author of "Poverty corner," " Sweet Mace,"

DAUDET, ALPHONSE. Stories of Provence; from the French by S. L. Lee. Harper. 16° (Harper's handy ser.) pap., 25 c.

Under the title of Stories of Provence,' Miss S. L. Lee has translated Alphonse Daudet's Lettres de Mon Moulin.' Some of these short stories, like 'Father Gaucher's elixir' and 'Maitre Cornille's secret,' are well-rounded and finished works of art; others are scraps fallen from a busy workman's bench. They cannot fail to interest a large circle by their light and graceful touch, which the translator has very well preserved."-N. Y. Commercial Adver tiser.

DODGSON, C. L., ["Lewis Carroll," pseud.] A tangled tale, with 6 il. by A. B. Frost. Macmillan. 16° $1.50.

ECKSTEIN, ERNST. The Chaldean magician: an adventure in Rome in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian; from the German by Mary J. Safford. Gottsberger. 16° pap., 25 c.

"Tells a brief but interesting story in a very effective manner, and with great skill in the reproduction of the local color and the manners and customs of Rome in the third century. The plot, though simple, is highly romantic, and is admirably adapted to the antique setting in which it is placed. The translation has been made with spirit and idiomatic force.' -Boston Gazette.

EDWARDES, Mrs. ANNIE. A Girton girl: a novel. Harper. 4° pap., 20 c.

Two cousins with similar names and initials, a jealous wife, a designing woman, and several unintentional blunders throw a once happy household into a sad state of demoralization. The scene is laid on the island of Guernsey, the hero, Gaston Arbuthnot, being an artist who has married a beautiful dressmaker, upon whom society turns its back. His cousin, Geoffry Arbuthnot, is tutor to a young girl who desires to fit herself for college. The story is brightly told, and keeps up the interest to the end.

the presence of a storm at sea, but this feeling is dispelled gradually as the storm clears, and gives place to curiosity as to the fate of Robert Fleming, and pity for sweet Gillian Dane, bereft of a lover, and goaded into a marriage with Morgan Preiss; here the interest becomes concentrated in the crime of Morgan, and the retributive law which caused Morgan Preiss to be haunted until death with the horror of his own act.

GENONE, HUDOR, [pseud.] Inquirendo Island. Putnam. 12° $1.50. Noticed elsewhere in this issue.

GREVILLE, HENRY, [pseud for Mme. Alice Durand].

Markof: the Russian violinist; from the French by Miss Helen Stanley. [New issue.] Peterson. 12 $1.50. First published in 1879. HOPKINS, TIGHE. 'Twixt love and duty: a novel. Harper. 16° (Harper's handy ser.), pap., 25 c.

Marian Dean is the victim of circumstances, which cause a tough struggle in her heart 'twixt love and duty. She only learns of an unusual sacrifice made for her, by an intimate friend that she respects and trusts, after she has discovered she loves and is loved by "another." The story is English, opening in a little country town, and afterward changing to the Continent. The character sketching is excellent. HOWELLS, W. D. Indian summer. Ticknor. $1.50.

12°

Noticed elsewhere in this issue. JACOB Schuyler's millions. Appleton. 12° pap., 50 c. "A novel, of which the author's name is not given, tells a very dramatic story with power and skill. It deals mainly with the inheritance of a vast fortune, for the disposition of which a will which cannot be found is known to exist. The unearthing of this will, and the schemes to which its discovery gave birth, form the principal interest of the plot, which is ingenious in construction, uncommonly exciting, and highly effective in the telling. The characters are sketched with much force, and in the case of the gypsy rascal, with genuine strength and vividness."-Boston Gazette.