w Departure la Bonk Prices.
H
IOWARD WILFORD BE Li. of New
York has Inaugurated a radical
departure In the matter of book
LJ J prlcs- Tne Prnt method of
seisf determining; the price of a book
la a mystery of the trade. It la us uncer
tain aa the shifting winds. Mr. Bell pro
poses a definite basis as a selling price.
Every unit of twenty-five pages In a book
Is to cost 1 cent. The size of the book and
the binding determines the selling price.
For example, a book of 300 pages with
paper cover would cost IS cents. If clo'.h
binding is wanted 30 cents Is added to the
cost, and full leather 60 cents. The total
cost of a 800-page book, on the unit basis,
would te 12 cents with paper cover, 4
cents with cloth cover and 63 cents with
leather.
Sample volumes ihow a good quality of
paper, clear type and good prers work.
There is nothing cheap about the books
but the price. The firm proposes to put
on the market reprints of famous books
of every description.
History ns It la Writ. .
Critics are picking flaws In Senator
Hoar's "Autobiography of Seventy Tears."
The Philadelphia Ledger says the work la
notable in that it makes famous persons
heretofore obscure and Ignores persona
considered distinguished. In Mr. Hoar's
perspective, Worcester county, Massachu
setts, looms larger than many a common
wealth of the union. Adin Thayer, "a man
quite remarkable." "a big, striking, original
and picturesque figure in the history of
the commonwealth," gets three pages In
this autobiography. Dan Hill, "one of the
most remarkable men Worcester county
ever contained." Is given almost a page.
Benjamin II. Hill of Georgia, one qf the
most remarkable men that state ever con
tained, is honored by Senator Hoar with a
notice of exactly four lines. Benjamin H.
Brewster of Pennsylvania, one of the most
distinguished jurists In the union and at
torney general of the United States, es
capes Mr. Hoar's attention, though Elder
Brewster Is mentioned. Walter Q.
Gresham. another learned Jurist, and the
secretary of state in the second Cleveland
administration, contrives to get his name
Into the Index of Mr. Hoar's book, but not
Into the text of either volume a unique
distinction, to be sure! On page 481 of
volume ll may be read this entry:
"Gresham. Walter Q., II, 248." On turning
to the page Indicated. Judge Gresham's
friends will he Interested In reading. In the
chapter entitled "Silver and Bimetallism,"
these significant words: "They (the gold
monometalliste) justly maintained that, if
we undertook the unlimited coinage of sil
ver, and to make it legal tender, under the
Inevitable law long ago announced by
Gresham the cheaper metal, silver, would
flow Into this country," etc.
The Cap Fitted.
The seriousness of these proceedings
against a writer of fiction who dared to
put real and living persons In his book Is
in sharp contrast with the bouffe quality
of certain similar proceedings lately In
London, relates the New York Times' Sat
urday Review. An army officer. Major H.
F. Woodgatef published a novel called "The
New Books Dealing with
I ARBIZON DAYS." by Charles
I aJ I SpraKue SnUh. The design of the
' s author in producing this beautiful
book is best explained In his own
Introduction.
"A decade of years ago we pitched our
summer tent at Bourron, a little hamlet on
the borders of the forest of Fontainebleau;
or rather we occupied another's tent, for
our dwelling was a gray stone cottage
similar to that of the peasants our neigh
bors and friends. The forest Itself was
only a few rods distant and my study the
summer through was In the open air and
under the boughs of on f its noble trees.
Sitting at my neighbors' board when their
day's work was done, roaming the woods
in aU directions, searching out especially
the haunts of the artists, the months glided
sway all too fast. There were not hours
enough In which to write of all the artists
haunts I would have selected as themes.
These sketches are not art criticism, they
are but the chronicle of that summer. If
they mke clearer the relation between na
ture and art, suggest that art's alphabet is
everywhere awaiting only the seeing eye,
or if I havs been able to give again in part
the Inspiration obtained from that summer's
converse with the strong, this record of
Barbuson.Days will havs accomplished Its
purpose."
Turning the page we find entitled. "A
Group, of Jules Dupre." Tho group Is of
three gnarled and ancient trees, fronted
by an open green, and with a background
of low shrubs and undergrowth. A dreamer
lies at the foot of the central giant and his
dream penetrates to the Intelligence of the
sympathetic mind without the necessity
of words. The engraving la on of many
choice reproduction of the paintings of the
masters.
Tie frontispiece is ' head of Millet la
Anecdotes of Literary Workers
Unwritten Commandment," In which he
portrayed a woman of wicked ways so
graphically as to make his book unlit read
ing for polite persons. A Mrs. Wallis was
bold enough to declare that the portrayal
of this perronage was a libel upon herself
and she tegan suit for damngos. The pre
siding justice chaffed her for putting on
a cap which fitted her when she might
have honorably avoided defaming her own
character; the defendant swore lils per
somgei were all "puppets," the crowd In
the court room was clearly In sympathy
with 'the novellnt, and when the foreman
of the Jury announced by mistake a ver
dict for the defendant he was roundly
cheered. But the verdict was for the plain
tiff, who receive! damages to the amount
of 8125. While the result Is likely mate
rially to aid the author of the novel, which
was not widely known beforehand, but will
now be eagerly bought by the curious and
unrTHcrlmlnallng readers of fiction, It
lrates the woman In a much wor.ce posi
tion than before.
Tennyson's Weakness.
"I had the good fortune to know some
very eirlnent, authors and can give them
n vry ecent character," writes Sir Leslie
8 ephen In the Atlmtlc. "If they suffer a
little from the author's dlseisc self-con-s-tousn-s
and vanity they often take It
In a mild form; Tennyson was, perhaps,
an fnstirce. Many years ago I paid some
l-lt to Freshwater, then for alas! It
has ben grievously Injured by the growth
of the umiM watering-place surroundings
the Ideal p'ace for the poet of 'In Memo
rlam.' It Is still, however, 'close to the
et'ge of a nob down,' and the old girdle
of woods, round which cockneys used to
warder In hopes of a glimpse of tho barn,
s'I'l enclose? the r'cturesiue lawn and gar
dens to which the fortunate few found ad
mission and might listen to Maud or an
Idyll, gaining new force from the Hps of
the author. In my day a little group of
reverent ndmlrers was generally gathered
there to render acceptable homage. It
was ImposMb'e for the cynic not to catch
a certain comic ride to the proceedings
though, of course, It was very wrong. I
remember a dinner from which I fled pre
cipitately In company with a man highly
distinguished in official life and sol'd lit
erature. Such a steam of Incense
creates a rather unwholesome atmosphere
for a man -of specially sensitive nature.
Tennyson perhaps suffered a little. He
had a right to complain If a certain article
In a popular newspaper contained, aa he
told u, three lies about him In one col
oran, but I did not want to hear the state
"rnent repeated dally for a week."
Balsae's Plan Didn't Work.
When Miss Marie Manning, author of
"Judith of the Plains," was a girl at
boarding school, she and her "chum" de
termined to devote their lives to the pur
suit of literature. They decided to follow
the plan of Balzac namely, to eat a
substantial dinner In the evening and re
tire at once to sleep until midnight. Upon
the stroke of that hour they would rise
and devote the rest of the night to labor,
thus securing the most quiet hours for
sepia colors.
Mr. Smith devotes twenty-four pages to
descriptions and reminiscences of the for
est itself, a poetic, artistic and accurate ac
count of Its subtle beauties of tree and pool
an sunlight falling through the leaves.
Then follow biographies of Millet, Carot,
Rousseau, the Bay re, acoompaned by coplea
of the choicest work of each. He dwells
with ' loving appreciation and tender
sympathy on the forest experiences of each
and to him who loves the good, the true, the
beautiful the book will prove a source of
unmixed delight.
Superbly bound in cloth It extends to
232 pages of elegant hand made paper.
No more appropriate gift might cement
the friendship of book lovers than
Barblxon Days. A Weasels A Company,
Publishers.
Lovers of muslo and art will be very
much interested in the book of "Muslo in
Art," by Luna May Ennis, who says that
her object "was to suggest an outline a
starting point at least, for further study,
to all lovers of muslo and art." Briefly
she has given us the story from Apollo
and the 'great god Pan" down through
the Christian centuries. She gives us an
opportunity to study for ourselves the im
portant part muslo has played In all ages
in youth, Jn love, In patriotism and in
worship. The book Is Illustrated with
thirty-three excellent reproductions of
celebrated paintings. Including Barrlas
Death of Chopin," "Burna-Jones,"
"Golden Stairs" and "St. Cecilia," by fivs
different artists of great note. The book
is furnished with a bibliography and Index
of the authors mentioned. L. C Page St
Company are the publishers.
The Art of the Pittl Palace," by Julia
de Wolf Addison, is one of the books of
work. The plan worked admirably so far
as eating the dinner was concerned. They
then retired. An hour passed. Then a
voice broke the silence. "Are you asleep?"
"No," was the reply, "can't." Another
hour passed. "Are you asleep?" said the
rolce again, softly. "No, can't close my
eyes," come the gloomy reply. At mid
night, however, they arose, and prepared
for the night's labor. But they had
scarcely arranged their writing materials
and clad themselves appropriately than
they Immediately became too sleepy to
work. "Are you awake?" said the voice
again. "Yes, but I can hardly keep my
yes open." "Let's go to bed." "Very
well." And the two discouraged litterateurs
retired to the slumbers of the young and
healthy. Thus Balsae's plan failed.
Getting;. Local Color.
Some years ago when Richard Harding
Davis penetrated the transmisslsslppl re
gion to gather material for his book. "The
West troin a Car Window." he stopped
over in a small Indian Territory town
where he was assured there were extensive
local color deposits. Proceeding along the
street he met two men, apparently Just
In from some ranch. They were tall, un
tamed, intoxicated and "bad." Placing a
hand of sise on Mr. Davis' shoulder one of
them said:
"Young feller. Is there a Jail In this yere
town where they lock up men?"
Mr. Davis saw his best chance of avoid
ing trouble was to meet the man on his
own ground, so he looked up and said
carelessly:
"Guess not. I've been hers two days
and I"
"There ain't none, then," broke In the
man, with tremendous thump on the
author's back. "You'd 'a' been In It 'fore
this time if there was!" And they passed
Joyous?y on. leaving Mr. Davis with an
other lube of the desired local color.
A Venerable Optimist.
In his "Autobiography of Seventy Years"
Senator Hoar of Massachusetts takes a
bright and cheerful view of the world's
future, combining the hopefulness of the
boy and the wisdom of the sage and phil
osopher. He Bays: "The lesson which I
have learned In life, which is Impressed on
me daily, and more deeply as I grow old,
la the lesson of good will and good hope.
I believe that today la better than yester
day, and that tomorrow will be better than
today. I believe that in spite of so many
errors and wrongs, and even crimes, my
-countrymen of all classes desire what is
gocd, and not what is evil."
Treasures of the Vatican.
Pope Pius X Is earning the gratitude of
scholars by continuing the policy of Leo
XIII In respect to the archives In the Vati
can. In receiving Dr. Pastor the other day
he announced his Intention of granting all
competent Investigators, regardless of na
tionality oi" religion, free access to all docu
ments In the archives. Apropos, It may be
mentioned that Padre Bofflto has Just un
earthed In the Vatican a valuable manu
script of the early fourteenth century. It
Is an astrological manuscript of Francesco
Stabllt, or, aa he was popularly styled.
Cecco d'AscolI, the contemporary and emu-
Fine Arts
the season which will be very much ap
preciated by lovers of art The Pittl gal
lery at Florence Is one of the interesting
art museums of Interest to tourists and art
lovers, containing many of the world fa
mous pictures. The book contains an In
telligent and systematic description of the
pictures of the gallery, room by room,
with forty Illustrations, including Ave Ma
donnas. The book is good for reference
as well as contemplation. A short history
of the building of the palace, as well as of
Its owners, Is Included. I C. Page St Co.
are the publishers.
Pointed Paragraphs
No man Is in business for himself If he is
married.
A poor excuse is better than none If it
goes with the boss.
The ticker doesn't tell everything that
happens In Wall street.
Champagne drinking affects the eyes; It
makes $5 look like 80 cents.
A man is sometimes known by the things
he might havs dons but didn't.
Too often the man who pushes himself
alo ig in the world shoves others aside.
Opinions should be formed with great
caution and changed with still greater cau
tion. A woman win forgive a man almost any
thing except his failure to ask to be for
given. If a music teacher can't make anything
aise out of the voice of an heiress he can
make money.
During the courtship a mac tells a woman
he can't live without her, but after mar
riage be often discovers that he can't live
with her.
lator of Dante. Stabllt has been suppose
to have left behind him only two writings,
and the third now discovered Is ex pooled
to throw much light on the career of the
writer, who In 1337 was broken on the
wheel tn Paris as a heretic
Death Creates No Room.
The death of a famous writer has in
years past nearly always led to a revival
of Interest In his books. Today this Is not
the case. That, at any rate, is the con
clusion of the editor of the Academy and
Literature, who says In the current num
ber: "A careful analysis of the book
sellers' returns show, for Instance, that
the English sale of Zola's novels remained
practically unaffected by the sudden and
trai;ic death of their author. More recently
the sair.e phenomena was noticed In con
nection with the decease of Mr. Henley.
And I hear this week that the death of Mr.
Lccky. which, of course, was noticed and
lamented nil over the world, produced no
effect whatever upon the sale of his books."
Notes.
According to a recent dispatch from Rus
sia Count Tolstoy has written a treatise
on Shakespeare. In this, It Is said, he
orl'lclsei the works of the dramatist
"rathe- pdvtrsely."
Colonel Genre" B. MoClellan, the newly
elected mayor of New York City, has writ
ten n book entitled "The dinarchy of
Ven'.c" w'.Meh is to be published next
spr.ng y Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
A rather queer literary coincidence Is
that a day or two after the publloRtlon of
Hli: Carman's new volume of poems, "The
PIpet of Pan," Mrs. t'raigle copyrighted
her litest ily called "The Flute of Pan."
Wllh the sa'e of "Naulahka" the last
hope that the Kip trigs will ever return to
live ,n the land of the Halestlera has van
ished. New Kngand will still have to de
pend upon indigenous growths to supply
material tor its literary industries.
"He '.hrew away the stump of his after
lunchena cigar with a gesture of pleased
relaxation." says one of our delighting no
tion writers. Now, why doesn't he go on
and tell ts about his performances with
till trothilk? Nothing can equal the ele
gance of the stories of today.
Fleming H. Revell Company reports sec
ond e.Hlions of "The nominee of Uallln-pe-."
by R-swell Field; "Eleanor Lee."
Mrs. Bangster's new romance of married
life; "West Point Colors," by Anna B.
WirtiT, nnd "The Flame of Fire," by Jo
seph Hicklng.
O. P. Putnam's Sons have issued the six
teenth and last part of the "Talmud Dic
tionary," edited by the late Prof. M.
Jastrow. This book brings to completion
a work which will, it I thought, be ac
cepted general'y as a distinctive monu
ment to the schnliuship. Industry and nub
ile tplrit of its odltor.
Houghton, Mifflin A Co. have reissued In
two teautil'ul volumes John Flake's
"Dutch and Quaker Colonies In America."
Peter Ktuyvesant 3 face greets one who
opens the r rat volume, William Penn's the
second. Other illustrations are admirable,
contributing not a little, as they do, In
making the work attractive from every
viewpoint.
In a novel Just Issued by a London pub
lisher Frank Richardson, the author,
makes his characters utter these more or
Iishs philosophical observations: "Most
men are honest, three things make them
otherwise woiren, poverty and ambition."
"A handsome old man looks as if he had
a past and behavea as though he were sure
of a future." "A mistress' secrets are the
most valuable of a maid's perquisites."
"No man worth the buying can be bought."
Mr. John Morley Is to visit the United
States next year, coming to deliver an ad
dress at the opening of the Technical col
lege at Pittsburg in October, 1904. It is to
be hoped that he will find It agreeable to
make other public appearances In this
country, which he has not visited for more
than thirty years. A lecture on Gladstone
by Mr. Morley would take the country by
storm, and he would be sure of appreci
ative audiences If he would speak on lit
erary topics.
WHEN IN DOUBT..
As to what to give
for Xmas j j
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Quest of the Golden Girl Checkers
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