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ERICAN LOCAL COLOR IN THE BRITISH ISLES

Lawson, Jr.

Committee swvn en 525633 -YW . 12/1 il

ABSTRACT

The reception In various foreign countries of the work of major American writers like Emerson, Whitman, and Twain has been the subject of scholarly inquiry. The present stu­ dy is an extension of this approach to some minor American authors whose work, even among critics, is assumed to be in­ digenous and national. The investigation both makes clear a foreign image of America and helps us to understand what, in their time, the local color writers were. Both the na­ ture of the British reception of these writers and the rea­ sons for it are treated. The approach here has been to examine the contemporary reputations in the British Isles of American local color writers from four broad geographical areas—the Far West, the Midwest, the South, and New England. The particular writers studied include Joaquin Miller, Helen Hunt Jackson, Mary Hallock Foote, Edward Eggleston, John Hay, James Whit­ comb Riley, Will Carleton, Alice French, George Washington Cable, Mary Murfree, Thomas Nelson Page, Joel Chandler Har­ ris, Mary E. Wilkins, and Sarah Orne Jewett. Bret Harte, the subject of this sort of inquiry elsewhere, is also re­ ferred to at times, and reviews of his work appear in the annotated bibliography with which the work concludes. Mostly from English periodicals, the more than three- hundred annotated reviews and articles appearing in the bib­ liography were taken as the indicators of taste for a signi­ ficant segment of the British public. This bibliography is not only the basis for the present study, but might also be considered an independent work. It collects sources hither­ to not brought together and examined. Among the conclusions of this study was that frequent­ ly the section of America treated by a local color writer affected his fame abroad. For example, Joaquin Miller, the Far Western writer, was often praised more for his subject matter than for his treatment of it. Writers about unfamil­ iar regions were apt to attract British reviewers. On the other hand, writers from long-settled areas of America were generally less well-received} the reviewers tended to write less about the section and more about the work itself. De­ spite these variations in approach, British reviewers gen­ erally appreciated all the American local color writers, and the study demonstrates that these writers had English repu­ tations not previously suspected. 111

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ...... 1

THE APPEAL OF THE EXOTICi FAR WESTERN AMERICAN LOCAL COLOR...... 8 Joaquin Millen "The Buffalo Bill of Poesy"...... 9 Helen Hunt Jackson and Mary Hallock Foote, Indians and Miners...... 2?

THE LIMITS OF NOVELTY: THE RECEPTION OF MIDWESTERN LOCAL COLOR WRITERS...... 37 Edward Eggleston« Backwards Society ...... •••.•«33 John Hay« The Pike County .41 James Whitcomb Riley and Will Carleton, Down Home ...... « • • ...... 45 Alice French, Setting and Dialect .49

THE ROMANCE OF THE TRADITIONAL, SOUTHERN LOCAL COLOR ...... 54 George Washington Cable, Dialects and "Races"...... 55 Mary N. Murfree, The Folk of the Mountains ...... 60 Thomas Nelson Page, Partisan Regionalist...... 63 Joel Chandler Harris, The Negro and the Plantation...... 65 iv

CHRONICLES OF SMALL BEER: NEW ENGLAND ...... 74 Mary E. Wilkins» The Dally Round ,»••,•»••••••••••• »75 Sarah Orne Jewett: True Artistry and "Decaying Villages" ...... 80

CONCLUSION ...... 87

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 90

OTHER WORKS CONSULTED ...... 133 INTRODUCTION

Among the American books read by the people of the British Isles—years after Sydney Smith questioned whether anyone did—were those by the so-called "local color" writers. Both the verse and the fiction of this American "school" found a ready audience in the British Isles. Not only were these writers known to the English, Irish, and Scotch, they also became the subjects of much critical discussion. That the critical treatments of the fiction and verse were so universally favorable attests both to the difference between the critical stances of England and America and to the difference a hundred years makes in a reading public’s attitude. Several local color writers were very popular in the British Isles when they were not in the United States; reputations in some cases persisted there long after they had waned in this country. Examining the reasons for these attitudes not only defines the bases of criticism, but fixes, in an historical context, the nature of the subjects of criticism. The case of the reception of American local color writers in the British Isles is especially interesting because their sort of regional writing was supposedly an indigenous 2 production of their sections of the nation. How could regional American prose and verse, replete with local character types and dialect, be interesting to, or even communicate to, an English readership of which at least one member spoke of the difficulty of understanding regional English writing?^ What salient aspects of

American local color appealed to the British, and what were the reasons for this appeal, are two questions that must be answered in explaining this circumstance. Although much more time can be spent speculating on the second of these interrelated questions, most of the following pages are concerned with these queries. As a preliminary to this investigation, a definition of what is here meant by American "local color" should be proposed. Following the usual delimitations of the term, local color is taken to include one type of writing in America which sprang into importance in the years immediately following the Civil War. It first became influential and popular in 1870, with the rise to fame of Bret Harte. The turn of the century is a convenient but necessarily very approximate date for the decline in the prominence of local color. By this time, the popularity of the genre had markedly dwindled and its place was increasingly being taken by other kinds of writing. 3 The great bulk of local color was in the form of the short story. This fact is partly attributable to the impetus and encouragement given those who wrote shorter pieces by contemporary American magazines. Novels and a poetry which was almost always in a humorous vein were nevertheless by no means unknown. Local color was, in addition, one type of postwar realism, "if realism be 2 defined as a graphic delineation of actual life." Besides the sometimes surface aspects of local color like florid description of scenery and the reproduction of a regional dialect, there was ideally also a deep-seated concern for one’s area. This facet of local color is aptly summarized by a modern American critic of Mary E. Wilkins: "it can be understood to denote not merely surface aspects of a story but also an impulse, a sensi­ bility, an attitude toward a particular moment in the 3 development of a traditional culture." The approach in this study will be to examine, under four regional headings, the British conceptions of American local color writers and writing: the Far West, the Midwest, the South, and New England. This organization presents some problems. The English did not usually consider, for example, all Southern regional writers to be necessarily part of a "school," nor, indeed, to have more to do with each other than any of them had to do with, say, a Western 4 writer. In addition, local color was not always the product of a part of the country as broad as the "South." Thus Joel Chandler Harris was a writer of middle Georgia and George Washington Cable of Louisiana, or even of Creole life in New Orleans. Yet these writers’ broader regional settings were pertinent to / most English reviewers. The order in which the four sections are arranged reflects a general progression which existed for contemporary foreign readers, from those areas of America least known about to those most known about. This order is notably apropos since to many of the critics the setting of a story was at least as striking as the author’s treatment of it. On this level, the stranger lands seemed to them to be much the more exciting and, therefore, noteworthy. With the Inescapable oversimplification, then, and with the above qualifications and others which will become evident in the following pages, these are the general outlines of this investigation. The specific writers discussed here were chosen for several reasons. First of all, they came from all parts of the country. English reviews of their work were either significant enough or numerous enough to warrant discussion Although there were many other local color writers, these are taken as representative. One difficulty with examining the reviews of the writers who were selected was that, 5 in addition to their regional writings, they also wrote other sorts of books. John Hay, for one example, wrote a book about Spain. The reviews of all these works appear in the bibliography and are referred to in the text when comments in them are obviously pertinent to the author’s local color fiction or verse. It should be noted that there is no full-length treat­ ment here of Bret Harte, who was probably the most influ­ ential, and certainly the most popular, of the American local color writers. The reason for this is that Harte could be himself the subject of a lengthy study on this 4 front—and is. At the same time, comments about Harte are made where appropriate in this study. Also, the reviews of Harte‘s works which I have been able to uncover do appear in the bibliography. The quality of the reception accorded the local color writers in the British Isles in this work is adjudged for the most part by the comments about them which appeared in late Victorian and in Edwardian periodicals. Most of these were English, rather than Scotch, Irish, or Welsh periodicals. The comments were usually reviews of the various books of the American writers. The journals from which the articles, essays, and reviews come exhibit a wide variation in terms of their readership and their make-up. Included are dailies, weeklies, and monthlies. 6 Some of the writings about the local authors are not much more than notices of publication; some are thorough essays. There is also a wide range of the powers of perception of the reviewers. A significant variety of approach and opinion is thus shown. I use direct quotations a great deal for the sake of letting the reviews speak for them­ selves and of indicating the tone of the British writing. Following the expository section of this study is an annotated bibliography in which I also, at times, reprint verbatim statements of the British. This compilation can be considered an independent work; it has entries for all the items I found, not just for those referred to in the text. Also listed are critical works consulted for this study. 7

Notes

■^Review of The Golden Year by James Whitcomb Riley, ed. Clara E. Laughlin, Ihe Academy, 17 December 1898, p. 472. 2Harry R. Warfel and G. H. Orians, eds., Amerlcan Local Color Stories (New York: American Book Company, 19^+1 J. p. x. ^Edward Foster, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (New York: Hendricks House, 1958), p. 66. ^See Donald E. Glover, "The Later Literary Career of Bret Harte: 1880-1902," Diss. Virginia 1965; Dominic Vincent O’Brien, "Bret Harte: A Survey of the Criticism of His Work (1863-1968)," Diss. Pennsylvania 1968, and an M. A. thesis by Charles La Costa Crane. Also see the forthcoming University of Southern California disserta­ tion on Harte by Linda Barnett and the Fall, 1972, number of Amerlcan Literary Realism for bibliographies of writings about Harte. 8

CHAPTER I

THE APPEAL OP THE EXOTIC: FAR WESTERN AMERICAN LOCAL COLOR

The last half of the nineteenth century saw the advent of the first important writers from the American West. To Americans in the 1860’s and 1870’s the work of these new writers from the Far West was very striking. For its subject matter if for nothing else, the fiction, fiction­ alized autobiography, and verse of Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Joaquin Miller and others was widely known. These authors from a strange land in some cases became quite popular. Although they certainly were not without literary talent, their fame seemingly often depended as much on their subject matter as upon their purely literary accomplish­ ments. Both manner and matter, of course, had to be dealt with by the critical reader. Even so, the fact of the West and, now, of the Western writer was what was new and therefore problematical. It is well known what Americans made of these facts. Bret Harte, originally from New York, had an almost gala progress to the East after his initial success as a writer. Highly lucrative editorial positions were offered him. Later, Harte and 9 his fame went to Europe. X

Joaquin Miller: "The Buffalo Bill of Poesy"

If the East knew little about the West, Europe knew less. Nevertheless, several Western writers enjoyed great popularity in Europe. Never as popular as Harte, Joaquin Miller, "the poet of the Sierras," like some other Americans, became a well known American literary figure by way of England. The story of Miller in the British Isles and his popularity there furnishes an interesting illustration of how literary reputations are affected by the nationalities of writer and reader. A key is also furnished to the bases of British criticism and to their concept of the West. In addition, his career is striking to us because of the vast difference between his fame in 1872 and that in 1972. In 1876 one critic hailed him as second only to Whitman among American poets.Five years earlier another English reviewer had called him "the most remarkable narrative poet 2 that America has yet produced." Very popular early in his career, Miller’s renown, unlike that of some other nine­ teenth century American writers whose receptions in England have been the subjects of scholarly inquiry (Emerson, Whitman, and Twain, for example), has so steadily and continuously dwindled that his name has become an obscure one. 10 Born Cincinnatus Heine (or Hiner) Miller in the Middle West, his family early in the poet’s life migrated to the Far West. The Far West, especially California, was to become the locale of the writer’s "local color" verse 3 and prose. The poet’s adopted name is Itself Western. His life as miner, friend and foe of Indians, journalist, and Judge acquainted him with much of the romantic, and romanticized, West. Miller was for a time associated with the literary circle in San Francisco which also included Charles Warren Stoddard, Ina Coolbrith, Bret Harte, and Mark Twain. So imbued did he become both with the West and with a largely Eastern concept of the Westerner that he perhaps began to play a role. Joaquin Miller actually was a miner and Indian fighter at various times, but he was also enough of a poseur that when he went to London in the early 1870’s to peddle his poems in the literary capitol of the world he retained the external trappings of a Westerner. The sight of Joaquin Miller, repleat with flowing hair, bearskin cape, sombrero and topboots—chatting with Browning and the Pre-Raphaelites-- must have been rather striking. Miller succeeded in selling both himself and his poems. After failing to find a publisher in London for several months, he finally pawned his watch to have one hundred copies of his poems printed anonymously under the title 11 Pacific Poems. Miller and his work were instantly sensations. An expanded and revised edition of the book was soon published by a more important publisher. This time, Miller signed his name to Songs of the Sierras—and, on Paternoster Row, Joaquin Miller became in I87I the "Poet of the Sierras. " The numerous favorable reviews of this and subsequent works appearing in English periodicals of the time praise both qualities of Miller as a writer and qualities which we now see to be more or less common to American local color as a "school." To the English, Miller was a great original. Not only did he make use of a little-known region in new ways, he himself was an actual Westerner. The fact that Miller played up to their stereotype and had actually "been there" Impressed the English. His distinctively American qualities were taken as his strong points. The reviewer for the Dublin University Magazine, referring to American poetry, in I876 wrote: "The assimilative ‘British element’ denounced by Walt Whitman has proved 4 inimical to original and masculine composition." He goes on to say that two unimitative American poets were gaining a steadily growing following among English readers—Whitman and Joaquin Miller. At least when writers like Miller were concerned, the critics, far from damning a possible provincialism, lauded work whose 12 Indebtedness to English models was not readily apparent. The critics’ dwelling upon the reality of Miller’s experience is especially apparent in their reviews of Miller’s partially fictionalized prose account of his life with the Indians in California, Life Among the Modocs. A point is made of his actually having known Indians and having "lived among them for years.Yet the originality that the reviewers found in Miller was not limited to noting that he was a real Westerner. He had an artistic newness as well. "Mr. Joaquin Miller had derived undoubted originality and wealth of description from his North American origin, from the vast region which he has traversed, and which he describes with enthusiastic reiteration; but though he has made literary capital out of his surroundings, they have only served to colour and enrich a vivid imagina­ tion and a descriptive power that were not dependent on them."6 ,"The book Modocs is very pleasant reading, and principally because the writing is so original and so 7 unlike other books of the kind." Miller’s advent as a writer was hailed as the coming "of an altogether new personality." The influential Blackwood’s Magazine, reviewing Miller’s first volume, also made this point; "All this warmth and glow of diction, and the almost wild force of realism in it, seems to us another proof that it is a new spring which has bubbled up with a rush in the 13 somewhat flat and tame plains of literature in America.”9 For many of the reviewers of Miller’s verse and prose the local quality of his "local color" was of prime importance. Apart from any consideration of the author’s life or unique literary gifts, these critics found in Miller’s work the depiction of a land interesting in and of Itself. Almost always those works having to do with the American West were preferred to those set elsewhere.^ The attractions of novelty and legend combined to create an interest in England for the American frontier. Miller "has borrowed his colours from a tropical sun—his shadows from mountain sides and the depths of awful forests. He sings of the warm love of Indian women—and shows us that in the Far West today chivalry and romance mean exactly what they meant when knights in armour fought and loved. Instead of saying that Miller is an accomplished poet from America, George Francis Armstrong in 18?1 said that "Joaquin Miller is the first real poet to whom Western America has given birth." In short, many found Miller’s work as noteworthy for its subject matter as for its purely literary strengths. This attraction that the local, the land of America, held for the English--one might take for granted—would have made for a warm reception of the work of any of those American writers who drew upon regional materials. Here, 14 the specific American region made a difference. Although it is true that, in the main, the reviews of all these writers were favorable, the Westerners were welcomed in ways and for reasons that the Easterners or Southerners were not. That is, the fact of being Western and writing about the West was itself a selling point. The West was the most ‘'foreign" and mysterious of American lands; one had more to learn about it. If the West did not yet have romance, it did have strangeness. The Gold Rush had begun less than twenty-five years earlier. Whereas the master of the plantation and the Yankee were familiar figures, the mountain man and the miner were not. Before concluding an article about Life Among the . Modocs, the reviewer for the Spectator notes: "We have confined ourselves to that general effect of Mr. Joaquin Miller’s book which he seems to have chiefly in view, and we have said nothing of the rich and picturesque delineations of character, incident, and scenery which the reader will find in profusion, and which alone furnish ample matter for a separate study.Not only was Miller’s treatment seen as picturesque, but "character, incident, and scenery,“ per se, were as well. Other things being equal, the interest of the English increased in proportion to the unfamiliarity to them of the region of America being written about. In one way, this was a favorable 15 circumstance, making for the success of Western writers. The phenomenal popularity of Bret Harte is partly to be accounted for in this way. 14 Taken from an artistic point of view, this state of affairs was probably some­ times a hindrance. The Western local color writers were not held to an extremely exact verisimilitude. When the difference between fact and fiction was not fully known, fiction could be indulged in without fear of reprimand. A complete and truthful recreation of the spirit of place was made more difficult. Americans, as Leslie Fiedler, referring to Walt Whitman, has said, begin to play up to the roles created for them in the minds of Europeans. The English were surprised when Bret Harte first went to England, dressed in the latest and most fashionable clothes. "Men see," observed D. H. Lawrence, "what they want to see: especially if they look from a long distance, across the ocean, for example. Even though the truth about VZestern life was not known, certain things were expected of a Westerner. Writers like Harte and Joaquin Miller enjoyed great fame partly because the region which was the backdrop for their works was one just beginning to be known about, and exploited for literary purposes. Indications that this sort of orientation obtained for many of Miller’s reviewers can easily be multiplied. Chamber's Journal found in Songs of the Sierras, "written," 16 as Miller says, "on the rough edges of the frontier, amid the scenes described," two virtues: the poems were "good," and "upon subjects about which civilized persons know nothing.The same book, said another reviewer, is "a genuine native production of those glowing and wealthy wilds of which we know so little." Among other virtues, wrote the author of a general article on Miller in 1876, 19 is the "grandeur" of Miller’s subject. The word "picturesque" was frequently used to describe Miller’s 20 depictions of the West. This use of the word is indicative of the admiration bred by unfamiliarity. Miller’s work was, of course, also judged according to other criteria. His more specifically literary accomplishments were discussed by almost all the reviewers. Here, the criticism can only be considered as applicable to Miller himself. Whereas the critics* ideas about originality and about concern with place are ones which can be seen as having to do with a number of "local color" writers, especially Western ones, ideas about method are necessarily ones more closely tied to the individual writer. The English had much to say about Miller’s verse techniques and his uses of description, setting, and character. The overall impression that Miller’s writings made was, as we have seen, very great. Various critics noted 17 a number of literary qualities. His work was almost always found striking for its "vigour," "passion," or "fervour." These very general terms to describe the prose and poetry recur in the criticism. Several techniques were seen to have led to this overall effect. Miller was thought to be capable of very powerful description, especially of external nature. "The faculty of transmitting direct and vivid impressions of outward 22 nature " —"The descriptions," said Vanlty Fair, "are full of freshness, and make one fancy one sees quite clearly what he describes.At least three periodicals mention Miller as having "painterly" powers of description. As the reviewer for the New Monthly Magazine said when discussing the many "beautiful pictures" in the poem "Isles of the Amazons": "Mr. Miller ought to be a mine of wealth to painters, from whom we sometimes hear com- 24 plaints of a difficulty in obtaining subjects." Other periodicals spoke of his "graphic, brilliant strokes" and of his fine "word-painting.This concern with the depiction of the land can no doubt not be separated from the English concern with the land itself. In any case, they were persuaded of the fidelity of Miller’s pictures, and their ideas about that land were partially formed by him. Finally, whether Miller popularized the West or the West popularized Miller is probably not an elther/or 18 proposition. Both questions can be answered in the affirmative. Miller’s verse was found by many critics to be melodious and marked by a richness of diction. In some of his work, he was found capable of sustaining a force­ ful narrative. One reviewer said that, among Americans, Miller was unsurpassed "in magnificent breadth and gorgeous brilliance of description, in uncloying richness of diction, in force and simplicity of narrative, in passionate earnestness and masculine vigour. ” A poem in * 26 Songs of the Sierras was noted for its "rich melody." The Examiner in 1875» discussing The Ship in the Desert, mentioned some "discordant combination of words" and "inadequate adjectives," but went on to say that "these are only noticeable because the rest is good, and because 27 so talented a writer should aim at perfection of manner." Another reviewer wrote of Miller’s "stirring and melodious „28 song." Not all the reviewers were so admiring of Miller’s capabilities as a poet. Especially after his first volume, many critics found fault with his story-telling ability and with his use of language. Although much was praised, the writers for some journals made more of Miller’s faults. They thought his poetic uncouthness was less excusable than his personal. The London Times observed that Miller’s 19 versification in The Ship in the Desert was "flowing and graceful, though occasionally disfigured by a too uncouth colloquialism"--"rare freaks of imperfect , 29 taste in an otherwise very striking poem." The Spectator saw "much work roughly, some incorrectly done."^0 Fraser’s Magazine mentioned the poet’s "poetic lawlessness."31 One reviewer complained of Miller’s interrupting an exciting narrative with 12 misplaced episodes. The critic for the Dublin University Magazine pointed out that Miller did not excel "in skilful construction of plot and arrangement of incident*”33 Vaguene S3 "i 71 con­ ception and execution" was the principal failing that the Athenaeum, which reviewed several of Miller’s books, found in The Ship in the Desert.3^ The same book was said by the Times to be "strung together on a slight and rather obscure story."33 This criticism was also brought to Miller’s novel about Americans in Rome, The One Fair Woman.3& The reviewer for Dark Blue made a criticism that readers today would be liable to share: "False and even ludi­ crous rhymes" were numerous; awkwardly phrased and unscan- able lines abounded. Such "tricks of style" as allitera­ tion were too frequently indulged in. 37 "While, however, 20 skilfully avoiding the use of hackneyed tropes and metaphors, he continually makes his own hackneyed by repetition” was a complaint about Songs of the Sierras.Although much could be forgiven because Miller was impetuous, the untutored genius from the frontier, many criteria for proper execution in writing were still held to. Even when the flow of the writer’s fertile invention was praised, his technical blunders were still noted. Miller’s powers of characterization were mentioned less frequently than his powers of description. Even so, more than one periodical called attention to this "sympathy with both nature and man."39 One critic called

Life Among the Modocs a "contribution to the knowledge of human nature In some of its most peculiar conditions."hO Several other reviewers were less laudatory. Miller, one said, is "clearly unable to develop a character dramatically." 4l Another was confused about who was the 42 pursuer and who the pursued in The Ship in the Desert. Elsewhere, one of Miller’s weaknesses is found to be in "subtle analysis of character.Thus, many of the readers for the periodicals considered characterization in Miller’s work to be not very accomplished. In those cases where favorable mention was made, almost always character was linked with setting. Western character was praised less for its being convincing than for its 21 being Western. When the local nature of the character was not considered., criticism of characterization tended to become harsher. Two critics of Songs of the Sierras found Miller’s delineation of female character marred by too close an liii imitation of Lord Byron. This comparing of Miller with an English author was another approach used in discussing Miller’s work. Despite the general view that Miller was a great original, many critics pointed out similarities between him and other poets. They also at times speculated upon which writers might have influenced Miller. In general, imitation of other poets was taken to be a circumstance that Miller would do well to avoid. Much of his value was grounded upon his uniqueness. The New Monthly Magazine, for example, carried an article on Miller in 1873 which pointed out ’’the danger of imitation, which might possibly arise from an attempt to emulate contemporary poets.The sources they proposed are quite interesting and furnish another Indication of what

X- the English saw in the American writer. Byron was most frequently cited when the question of imitation or influ­ ence arose. As we have seen, sometimes the reference was to Miller’s mode of characterization having been Influenced by Byron. More often, the references to Byron were more vague. Miller being said to have many ’'Byronic mannerisms” 22 46 is almost the extent of specificity in the reviews. Otherwise, it was mentioned that Miller was "clearly an admiring disciple" of Byron and that he is "evidently a 47 disciple of Byron." ' George Armstrong, in Dark Blue, maintained that, especially for a young poet like Miller, great originality could coexist with similarity to another writer. Consequently, he did not emphasize the notion of 48 some other critics of Miller’s dependence on Byron. Noting that many of Miller’s early English readers wanted a completely new note in poetry, the reviewer for The Academy in 1898 mentioned the slight disappointment at the time when it was discovered that "the child of the untrammelled West was found to have read his Byron to some purpose. He did not utter the spontaneous and barbaric yawp that was wished."^ Thus, a possible literary debt that Miller owed was noted by many of the critics who, for the most part, saw his use of the source to be not conducive to his fullest development as a writer. The names of other writers, in addition to Byron’s, were also coupled with Miller’s. The work of a closer contemporary of Miller was frequently compared to that of the American poet. Six reviewers of Miller’s work mentioned Swinburne. Again, at times the specific point of the comparison was not made. For example, The Athenaeum’s reviewer drew attention to Miller’s 23 ’’augmenting appreciation of Mr. Swinburne."^ Two

reviewers found in Songs of the Sierras close similarities to Swinburne’s metrical effects.The Influence of Browning and of Rossetti was pointed out in other per- <2 iodicals. The only American, besides Bret Harte, who was seen to be comparable to Miller was Walt Whitman. They were considered to share a refreshing originality. One reviewer, however, said that Whitman commonly was too ’’isolated and erratic,’’ "whether his peculiarities are due to excess of eccentricity or to want of education. The English critics, then, in varying degrees shared the opinion of one of Miller’s earliest reviewers: "The man of the New World, inheriting our language, inherits also our history, traditions, religion, modes of thought; and these no physical peculiarities of country are influential enough to countervail. Probably the principal trend in all the English criticism of Joaquin Miller's works in the nineteenth century was from an initial enthusiasm about them to a complacent reference to them as not having fulfilled the author’s early promise. His popularity and fame decreased as the years went on in much the same way as did Bret Harte*s. They mined the same vein too long. As we have seen, the subject matter of the Western writers was frequently the cause of their reputation. When writers 24 like Harte and Miller continued treating the same content in the same ways, the public and the critics soon were reading books which no longer seemed novel to them. It was, for this reason, a case of lack of improvement in the writers seeming to be a regression "in their abilities. Perhaps the reviewer for The Spectator, writing about Miller’s Songs of the Sunlands in 1873, was speaking more truth than he knew when he said of the book that ’’the tone seems to us, indeed, less genuine and spontaneous; but this may be only because we were already in some degree familiar with It. a reviewer of The Ship in the Desert found a positive worsening in Miller’s talents as a versifier.56 As early as 1876 we find a critic stating that Miller at first received "an unreasonable amount of praise," but "now receives equally unreasonable blame." Although his work had not improved, the writer considers this an excessive reaction.Two years later a reviewer for the same magazine said much the same thing. After the first "hysterical" reception of Miller in England, we are now, he wrote, having forgotten Miller’s eccentri­ cities, capable of a greater objectivity. No longer do the English reprimand "ignorant" America for not recog­ nizing this "genius." He goes on to say that Miller does have ability, and the sense to perceive the richness of his area for poetic treatment. "But his capacities were 25 scarcely equal to the grandeur of the undertaking, and he failed where Bret Harte succeeded. Where Bret Harte failed Mr. Miller certainly does not succeed."3a & late article on Miller is retrospective: "Nearly five-and-twenty years ago a great wave of enthusiasm swept from London to the Golden Gate of San Francisco, proclaiming that a new poet had been born."39 It yet remains that the contemporary reaction to Miller’s work was, on the whole, favorable. Despite his declining fame in the last two decades of the century, many continued to think highly of him. Although throughout his career he was treated as a Western American writer, his reputation was not dependent upon his having been viewed as what has been called a "local color" writer. Miller’s Western quality was striking to the English, but no affinity was seen between this quality and the treatment of the local by an American Southerner or Easterner. Local color was not seen as a "school." For the Americans themselves, of course, local color was not a self- conscious movement. The English were impressed by the difference between the Western writers and other American writers nonetheless. "In the writings of Mr. Bret Harte, Colonel John Hay, and Mr. Joaquin Miller, we have the nucleus of a native West American literature, strikingly different in many respects from that of the Eastern 26 States” and "racy” of the Western soil.&O No matter what he does in later volumes, wrote a critic of Songs of the Sierras, Miller will always be read if the newly settled 61 American West continues to be of interest. Perhaps a sound way to get a sense of the contemporary reputation of Joaquin Miller in Great Britain, and the reasons for it, would be to consider the following two representative passages, one from an early review of Miller, the other from a late review. First, the New Monthly Magazine in 1873: "Our deliberate opinion, after a perusal of all that is contained in both books is this—that Joaquin Miller is the most remarkable poet that America has yet produced. To maintain that position he will do well, we think, not to yield too much to the modern influences on poetry. Let him be true to the beautiful wild scenes and traditions of his native land, and he will be sure of a delightful audience—for he possesses the one gift without which all others are to ZL p the poet valueless—genius." The reviewer for The Academy in 1898 took a backward glance: "Nearly thirty years ago London literary society was amused by the apparition of Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras. In sombrero and serape, with unshorn locks, and riding boots reaching to his waist, this child of the West cut a sufficiently picturesque figure among our own decorous 27 •biled shirt* bards. He came, he saw, and In the main he conquered. He had detractors, it is true, but the late Lord Houghton stood his friend, and not a few persons bought his poems, and many young men quoted them and dreamed of emigration; and then the Buffalo Bill of poesy vanished as suddenly as he had come.’’^3

Helen Hunt Jackson and Mary Hallock Foote: Indians and Miners

At least two other writers who employed Far Western settings and characters should be mentioned here. Writing ten or fifteen years in the wake of the initial success of Miller and Harte, Mary Hallock Foote and, especially, Helen Hunt Jackson enjoyed a measure of popularity in the British Isles. I have been able to locate a number of reviews of books by both these women writers. Most fre­ quently noted works were The Led Horse Claim (I883) by Mrs. Foote and Mrs. Jackson's Ramona (1884). In these and other novels the English found some qualities which they had earlier discovered in the writings of other Western American writers. This fact again makes clear the English liability in this area to find what they were looking for (or at least to emphasize it) as much as to look objectively at what was actually there. That is, the artistic achievements and inner consistencies of the 28 works were at times ignored and extraneous matters dwelt upon. For example, when an English reviewer of Ramona states that its "scenes are laid in one of earth’s most 64 picturesque spots, sun-bathed California," we know that his own concept of California has influenced him equally as much as Mrs. Jackson’s descriptive passages. He wants to describe California. Only partially was Mrs. Jackson’s Ramona read as it was intended to be, a fictionalized version of her A Century of Dishonor (1881). Although Mrs. Jackson con­ ceived of the novel as a tract condemning the policies of the United States government towards the Indian, the English reviewers concentrated more upon the story’s locale and its portrayal of Western character types. Indian character, for example, was seen as striking, apart from any consideration of the social or political problems of the Western tribes. Although both the dramatic situation and the understanding of "human nature" presented in the book were noted, emphasized as much was the specific milieu in which the tale transpires.^5 if, for Mrs. Jackson herself, the plea for the Indians did at times seem to become subordinate to the romantic love story, what became of greatest interest was the universal and pathetic theme. The English were so absorbed in the scene per se that they perhaps underestimated the importance 29 of other elements in the novel. If they lost track of the propaganda, they did not forget the presence of Indian characters. Indicative that the same orientation was sometimes prevalent toward Mrs. Foote’s work is a reference in a review of John Bodewin* s Testimony to "types of character. Mrs. Foote thought she was creating charac­ ters, not "types of character." One of the factors which conditioned this typicality for the English was the region­ al setting. If a character functions within the world of a Western book, it need not be mentioned further that the native character is Western. The regions where these characters act, think, and speak had, as we have seen, a great attraction for the English. The reviewers of Ramona dwelt upon "the great Mexican estates" and the "Californian scenery." ' Zeph, instead of being a story set in Colorado, was automatically r o "a tale of Colorado life." A mining camp in Colorado was a "good setting for the love story" in Mrs. Foote’s 69 The Led Horse Claim. This scene was "graphically drawn," to use the words of the reviewer for the Spectator. The same reviewer affirms that when American novels "take for their subject the new life in the Far West, there is no end to the possibilities of romance and novelty to be found in them."7° Seemingly the only danger in this novelty was excess. As the reviewer for another periodical 30 said of Mrs. Foote’s The Chosen Valley, one must he "willing to wade through much uninteresting and, to the lay mind, unintelligible talk about canons and dams and irrigation."?1 The scene had to be familiar enough to be understandable, unfamiliar enough to be interesting. Next to this interest in the local and the local character, the critics were most concerned with the emotions evoked in the novels of these two writers. Both wrote fiction notable for its "sentiment," its pathos, and its humor.?2 Although Mrs. Foote and Mrs. Jackson were not simply capitalizing on Bret Harte’s fame, Harte’s stories too consisted of various blendings of the humorous and the pathetic. Oddly, perhaps, no mention was made of this fact. Even when the reviewer was discussing the literature of the Far West, the comparison with Harte was not made. Despite their Far Western settings and the pathetic and humorous stories, these were simply other books about the West. There were, of course, significant differences. Humor is usually more prevalent in Harte’s stories than in Joaquin Miller’s, Mrs. Foote’s or Mrs. Jackson’s. The latter two set their novels in Colorado or southern California; Harte, usually in northern California. None­ theless, it is rather striking that the only mention of Harte in reviews of these two women novelists was made by way of contrast. All these regional writers were not 31 thought of as subscribing to a single creed, as, indeed, they did not. Although the West of these various authors attracted readers, they were not considered members of any particular ’’school” nor followers of Bret Harte. The materials of the several Western writers had to be con­ vincing, simply, for one of their books to be well received. At least in the British Isles, the possibility of the existence of several ’’Wests” was real. 32

Notes

^■"Joaquin Miller,” Dublin University Magazine, January 1876, p. 94. 2"Joaquin Miller’s Songs of the Sierras," Fraser’s Magazine, September 1871» p. 355. ^Named after the colorful Mexican bandit, Joaquin Murietta. 0. W. Frost, Joaquin Miller (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc, 1967). p. 27. 4Dublin University Magazine, p. 90. 3"Books Reaj and Others,” rev. of Life Among the Modocs, Vanity Fair, 13 September 1873» P* 92. Also, Rev. of LiX®. Among the Modocs, The Examiner, 2 August 1873» p. 7867 ^Rev. of The Ship in the Desert, The Examiner, 2 October 1875» p. 114. Also see "A Singer from the Far West}” rev, of Songs of the Sierras, Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, 5 August 1871. p. 490. 7Van!ty Fair, p. 92. See also Fraser’s Magazine, pp. 354-55. p George Francis Armstrong, "Mr. Miller’s ’Songs of the Sierras,’” Dark Blue, 2 (1871). 125. 9Rev. of Songs of the Sierras, Blackwood’s Magazine, October 1871. p. 434. lORev. of Songs of Far-Away Lands, The Athenaeum, 19 October 1878, p. 490. ■^"Joaquin Miller’s Poetry," rev. of Songs of the Sunlands and Songs of the Sierras, New Monthly Magazine, July 1873» P. 59. 12Park Blue, p. 120. ^■3Rev. of Life Among the Modocs, The Spectator, 9 August 1873. p. 1016. See also rev. of First Families of the Sierras, The Spectator, 6.’November 1875i p. 1394. 33 l2|T have located over one hundred reviews and articles about Bret Harte appearing in the British Isles during his lifetime. ^«images of Walt Whitman,” in Leaves of Grass One Hundred Years After, ed. Milton Hindus (Stanford, CaTi- fornia, 1955). PP« 55-73« ^studies in Classic American Literature (New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1964), p. 50. Originally published in 1923. ^Chambers’s Journal, p. 487.

18 Blackwood’s Magazine, p. 430. ^Dublin University Magazine, p. 94. 20The word was used at least five times in reviews of Miller. 21Rev. of Songs of the Sierras, The Spectator, 8 July 1871. p. 832; Dublin University Magazine, p. 91;

t'lq e -«», . 48 , -E* 1w xa k- * . ' 431. 22The Spectator, p. 833« 2^Vanity Fair, p. 92. See also rev. of Songs of the Sierras, The Athenaeum, 3 June 1871. p. 681, and The Examiner, p. Il4. 2^New Monthly Magazine, p. 65. 25Dublin University Magazine, p. 92; Chambers’s Journal, p. 488. 2^Dublin University Magazine, p. 93« 2?The Examiner, p. 114. 2^Chambers’s Journal, p. 490. 29fiev. of The Ship in the Desert, The London Times, 16 October 1875. P« 4. 3^The Spectator, p. 833« ^Fraser’s Magazine, p. 3^6. 34 32ibid., p. 351. 33»jOaquin Miller,” p. 90, 3^»Mr. Miller’s New Poem,” rev. of The Ship in the Desert, The Athenaeum, 10 July 18?5» p. 45. 3^The London Times, p. 4. 3ÒRev. of The One Fair Woman, The Athenaeum, 25 March 1876, p. 422. 3?Park Blue, p. 123» 38The Athenaeum, 3 June 1871» p. 681. 39Rev. of Songs of the Sun-Lands, The Spectator, 14 June 1873» p. 768. ^Ofiev. of Life Among the Modocs, The Spectator, 9 August 1873, p. 1016. ^3-The Athenaeum, p. 681. ^2Rev. of The Ship in the Desert, The Athenaeum, 10 July 1875, p. 45? ^Dublin University Magazine, p. 90. 44

CHAPTER II

THE LIMITS OF NOVELTY: THE RECEPTION OF MIDWESTERN LOCAL COLOR WRITERS

Local color writers from what we now call the Midwest were writing at an early enough date that they too were generally considered Western. Even to most people in the Eastern United States the geography and the life of the region were unfamiliar to the largest part of even the population of the United States. This quality of the novel was even more striking when seen from a trans­ atlantic point of view. With greater distance, larger and larger details merge into a single configuration. Every place on the thither side of Ohio was "West.” To British eyes, both Bret Harte and Edward Eggleston were "Western” writers, although Harte wrote of California and Eggleston, at first, of Indiana. As a result, some of the qualities which the Far West held for the English were also held by a more Eastern West. Midwestern terrain, characters, language, and ways of life alike possessed the attractions of the new. Still, this was all a matter of degree. Some reviewers were not much impressed by the settings of Eggleston’s novels. They did not, at least, go out of 38 their way to draw attention to the circumstance of the Midwestern locale. Distinctions did, however, exist in the English mind; the Far West and the Midwest were not precisely the same for them. The Midwestern local colorists were not always popular and praised because of their subject matters—as one feels was frequently the case with the Far Westerners. Yet the fact that the Midwesterners were in a measure "Western" and therefore fresh and new was important enough that this circumstance furnishes us a ground for explain­ ing English attitudes.

TP >3 uCxnctx U. ±2.

Midwestern material was particularly strange and new when it had principally to do with village or rural life. The growing Western urban centers were much like Eastern cities; the country folk and their civilization were more specifically local. One of the most important postbellum writers who made use of these local materials was Edward Eggleston. A pioneer in literary realism and social history as well as in local color, Eggleston was self- conscious in his choice of subject matter. Western life has, or should have, he said, as valid a place in literature as New England life.1 Several English reviewers had much to say about Eggleston’s material and his treatment of 39 it—this despite the fact that one reviewer found the Illinois society depicted in The Graysons unexciting and another wrote of Eggleston’s language as ’’inelegant by the standard of Thackeray, or ungrammatical by the standard of a Board School primer.”2 The name of George Eliot, not Thackeray, was invoked in a review of Eggleston’s Roxy. Eggleston’s talents, said this critic, are here represented by a work which, if not so accomplished as Middlemarch, is superior to Scenes of Clerlcal Life. The ’’scene” which Eggleston depicted is an accurate picture of an American village. A Welsh acquaintance of the reviewer attests ”to the truth of what we may call Mr. Eggleston’s local colour.” ’’The Methodists of the backwoods are not unlike their brethren in Britain."3 Here, the regional in English writing is compared to regional American writing, the local retaining its Importance. On the other hand, another critic of Roxy feared that no one could thoroughly appreci­ ate "Roxy who is not acquainted with the peculiar nature of that country life in the United States which it describes.”^ Apparently for this writer, a parallel sort of life in England could not be found. The Hoosier School-Master, emphasized the reviewer for the Examiner in 1872, describes life in those same ’’back-country districts of the Western States” where the author himself spent a 40 considerable period of his life.3 It is a rare review which attacks writers like Eggleston for dwelling, in The Graysons, "with complacency upon the petty and monoton­ ous details of small sections of their vast society. Much more representative critiques of that novel deal with its being "a very truthful, as it is certainly a very graphic, picture of rural life in central Illinois a generation ago."7 These opposing points of view, of course, result from the critics1 conception of regional materials and their usability in fiction. Yet another reviewer of the novel gives the more common attitude: "He sticks to men and things in Illinois which he knows thoroughly; and so long as he finds in Illinois materials for books like The Graysons, no sensible reader will wish Q him to seek fresh woods and pastures new." The reviewers of Eggleston’s novels concerned them­ selves with the characters he pictured as well as the land. Sometimes the characters and the land are parts of one concern, a concern for the regional type or the provincial society: "The society of Flat Creek, which he has here depicted, is not attractive, but it is exceedingly picturesque."9 As we have seen, the picturesque quality of American local color was, to British minds, often the cause of its being attractive. Local color could be both attractive and picturesque. Other reviews deal with 41 Eggleston’s conception of Individual characters. Nancy and Twonnet, in Roxy (a novel “unusually successful in Great Britain, in sales as well as in critical opinion"-^), and Phillida Callender, in The Faith Doctor, were singled out for praise.The Spectator found in The Faith Doctor both "excellent social sketches, and more than one character drawn with a delicata skill which would do credit to any writer of fiction." Vanlty Fair likewise saw a talent in Eggleston for portraying both character types and individuals. The minister and Twonnet, said this reviewer of Roxy, are fine creations, as are the gossips in the novel and the Yankees—"as different from the sawdust figures in ’Martin Chuzzlewit' as live creatures usually are from marionettes.’’^3

John Hay: The Pike County

The two elements of Eggleston’s fiction already discussed were those aspects of his work toward which the English reviewers principally directed their attention. Other characteristics of his work were mentioned by a few critics. Eggleston’s concern with religion, in Roxy, was noted^^, as was his use of humor^ and dialect^ other works. The role of humor and dialect was seen by the British to loom much larger in the verse of another early local color writer. Writing about a region a little west 42 from Eggleston’s, John Hay became quite popular as early as Eggleston (both the Pike County Ballads and The Hoosier School-Master were published in 1871). In a review of Joaquin Miller’s Songs of the Sierras, a writer for the Examiner in 1871 grouped Hay with Miller and Bret Harte. They constituted, as before mentioned, "the nucleus of a native West American literature, strikingly different in many respects from that of the Eastern States, and with this very promising characteristic, that its authors almost exclusively devote their talents to the illustration of their own region and time, and of the society in which their lives have been spent. Besides being another indication of the British concept of the separateness of Western American literature, and its importance, this statement shows Hay to be, for the British, a major writer of the region. Again, the possibility that the materials, not the talents, of the Western writers have caused their fame is contemplated: "Undoubtedly the humorous poems of Colonel Hay and Mr. Bret Harte owe much of their attractiveness to the in­ herent and intense picturesqueness of the pioneer life they describe, but it cannot be denied that both of these writers possess peculiar qualifications for representing that life in original and highly artistic literary forms.Looking back, a reviewer for the London Times 43 in 1897 stated that when the Pike County Ballads were written and became popular in America and in England, "Mr. Bret Harte had not yet made the rough and ready scenes and language of the Western ’bar* the common pro­ perty of the race. Concerning himself with Western language and humor, a writer for the Athenaeum made an even stronger statement: were American humorists "to write in what we might call Queen Victoria’s English, they would have no readers; but only let them put their thoughts into dialect English, and they will at once obtain dollars Of) and laudation." Perhaps this idea was corroborated by another reviewer, who was "struck by the marked superiority of the four ballads written in the dialect of the Pike County, compared with any of the forty other ’pieces’ in English."21

Other critics discussed Hay’s humor and use of dialect more specifically. Among American writers, here was "a new and true humorist" comparable to Josh Billings or Artemus Ward. Another reviewer found in Hay’s book "the special cynicism of American humor" which treats "with a certain grim familiarity and audacity the most serious and even awful scenes and topics, not necessarily irreverently...at least with a startling self-possession and absence of that self-abasement and self-humiliation which a like spiritual faith generally implies in the old world. !'2^ The 44 appointment in 1897, by President McKinley, of Hay to the position of Ambassador to Great Britain was the signal for other treatments of Hay as a literary man as well as a statesman. The reviewer for the Spectator wrote that "the fact that Colonel John Hay’s reputation here is due to our appreciation of his peculiarly American humour and peculiarly American audacity of imagination may make a

o/l difference in his favour." On the same day, another reviewer concluded that "Col. Hay’s Pike County Ballads alone convict him of being a poet and a humorist. ,,23

These ways of looking at Hay were the principal ones for the English reviewers. Beyond these approaches were the usual general comments attesting to the "graphic," O A the "fresh and vigorous" quality of the work. ° The Examiner, for example, carried a review which stated that "the Pike County works are dramatic, direct, forcible, and graphic utterances, full of local colour, and instinct with local sentiment."2? In addition, Western society and individual character were commented upon. The Examiner article went on to mention the "mixture of despera­ tion and lawlessness" in Harte’s and Hay’s depiction of "border society in America."28 There could be little doubt, said a reviewer of Hay’s book on Spain, Castilian Days, that the author of the Pike County Ballads "would describe with spirit and originality his impressions of 45 any country or people that fell under his observation.” 29 The Spectator found these Western folk all as "‘peart and 30 chipper and sassy’" as Little Breeches. Thus, although Hay as he grew older became less proud of the Ballads, it was the work by which he was principally known in England. Twenty-six years after it appeared, when Hay was appointed ambassador in 1897, magazines still referred to this early volume. After a long and distinguished career as a politician and writer of more "literary" works, this humorous Western book in dialect was remembered. Hay himself probably winced when, after he received the important ambassadorial post, a reviewer for the Academy wrote of one of the Pike County Ballads as "that curdling Wild West ballad of whisky and death."3^

James Whitcomb Riley and Will Carleton: Down Home

Critical comment about two other Midwestern poets illustrates further what we could call "the limits of novelty." That is, there were apparently both minimal and maximal limits to the attractions of the new, the unknown. This concept is implicit in several reviews of the regional writing of Will Carleton and of James Whitcomb Riley. These two Midwestern dialect poets, with their country and village settings and their sentiment and nos­ talgia, will be treated together here. They shared certain 46 traits and the English saw some of these common charac­ teristics. Writing of a Will Carleton poem about moving from one house to another, a reviewer for Chambers1s Journal pointed out that "the external circumstances are somewhat different to those with which we in England are familiar." "None of our readers have probably lived in a log-hut"; "•bears and wild-cats are not our only neighbors." But the reviewer adds that some of his readers "must have moved from one house to another" and that except for a few external circumstances "the whole picture might stand for a ’flitting* in Scotland, or ’changing house’ in England."-^2

Shared experience, despite superficial differences, is what made the Carleton poem meaningful. If the differences were more than superficial, the work, of course, would not have spoken to the English. This is actually the case at times. A reviewer of Riley’s Poems Here at Home stated that, because of the dialect employed in the poems, "few, if any, English children will understand them readily enough to take delight in them. Local writers, to be well received, had a barrier to overcome. A special effort had to be made to understand them. One reviewer saw this problem even for English literature: "if English people refuse to read William Barnes of Dorset­ shire and Edwin Waugh of Lancashire, it is hardly to be V? expected that they will be very strenuous in reaching for the works of the Hoosier bard."34 The problem had perhaps as much to do with the differences between sections as with the differences between America and the British Isles. Provincial writing could not readily be understood by a cosmopolitan nor, what was more commonly the case, by someone from another province. At the same time, as we have seen, a limited novelty was applauded. The English were apparently more given to excusing the strangeness of the romantic Far West than that of the Midwest. We can understand, said a reviewer of Riley’s The Rubaiyat of Doc Slfers, this book more completely because its scene is more familiar to us—a New England village. "This very fact renders it, however, superficially less attractive. What we know is not so interesting as what is new. At other times the reviewers wrote more specifically of these writers* use of dialect. Carleton’s Farm Festivals, for example, was said to have "no small merit o A of a glossarial nature.Riley, along with Bret Harte and John Hay, said a writer for the Spectator, has "achieved a real success in this form of verse." Doc Slfers is distinctly accomplished "as a work of dialect 37 poetry." Other reviewers found in Riley a writer primarily noteworthy for his use of dialect.3& The writer 48 who spoke of the difficulties English children might have in understanding Riley likened the use of American dialect to a sauce which gives "relish to any sort of material. " Although Riley usually employs it skilfully, he, "in common with many other writers in dialects, relies a little too much on the virtues of the dialect sauce, seeming at times to have allowed it to conceal from himself more than it does from his readers that what he is saying is in itself but trite and talkative, not worth the skill bestowed upon it."39 Thus, for at least this reviewer, dialect could be faulted both for covering up a lack of substance and for being so unfamiliar that it did not communicate. The fact that these claims are quite unjust is, I think, partially attributable to the writer’s being English. That a dialect is unfamiliar is no criticism of it. To say that a writer "covers up" a lack of important subject matter through the use of dialect is to conceive of divided aims in the local writer which are not there. That is, the artistic idea and the expression of the idea are not separable. Had the English been closer to the local color writer they could have seen more clearly both accuracy in the use of dialect and its naturalness as the expression of writers vitally interested in their various regions. 49 The other traits which the English reviewers found in Riley and Carleton had not specifically to do with their qualities as local color writers. Both poets’ homeliness, pathos, and simplicity were noted. 40 One writer compared Carleton to George Crabbe in the wisdom 41 and emotion of his pictures of village life. As far as technique is concerned, the same critic (contrary to what we probably think of Carleton) wrote of his not 42 "straining after effect." In addition to his humor, Riley was thought Interesting for the melody of his verse and for his adept description. 43J It remains that the major approaches to these two writers were related to their status as users of local materials.

Alice French: Setting and Dialect

The local qualities of another Western writer were also dwelt upon by English reviewers. In reviews of a few books by Alice French (who wrote under the pseudonym "Octave Thanet”) the English critics wrote more about her settings than about her ideas or artistry. For instance, the short story "The First Mayor" was "a singularly vivid sketch of the feverish life of a mushroom Western town.” Alice French knew her area of the country, its speech habits, and its character types. She was "particularly happy in dealing with the manners and superstitions of the negroes, whose quaint turns of speech she reproduces with a 50 44 fidelity worthy of ’Uncle Remus* himself." (The writer does not explain his authority in making this last judg­ ment. ) Another collection of Midwestern short stories by Alice French was found to contain clever dialogue. As in the other volume, the use of dialect was noteworthy. Just as one of Riley’s books was assigned a warning, so was Alice French’s The Heart of Toll: "it is possible that English readers will find some difficulty with the dialect and phraseology."^3 For the uninitiated some of the indigenously local aspects of regional writing, no matter how authentic, could present obstacles to under­ standing. Nonetheless, English reviewers considered Miss French capable of "excellent" 46 writing and writing deserving "to be better known in the country than it Is."*? 51

Notes

1"Preface," The Hoosier School-Master (New York: Hill and Wang Inc., 1957)» p.~"xiii. 2Rev. of The Graysons, The Athenaeum, 12 January 1889, p. 49; Rev. of Roxy, The Athenaeum, 14 September 1878, p. 336. ^Rev. of Roxy, Vanity Fair, 28 September 1878» P. 175. ^Rev. of Roxy, The Examiner, 26 October 1878, p. 1366. 3"Life in the Western States," rev. of The Hoosier School-Master, Twain’s Roughing It and Innocents at Home, The Examiner, 6 April 1872? p. 36*2. 6The Athenaeum, 12 January 1889, p. 49. ?James A- Noble, rev. of The Graysons, The Academy. 24 November 1888, p. 334. ®Rev. of The Graysons, The Spectator, 24 November 1883, p. 1643. 9The Examiner, 6 April 1872, p. 362. -^William Randel, Edward Eggleston (New Haven, Conn.: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1963)» p. 114. l-j-The Examiner, 26 October 1878, p. 1367; The Athenaeum, l4 September 1878, p. 336; rev. of The Falth Doctor, The Athenaeum, 5 December 1891, p. 759. l2Rev. of The Faith Doctor, The Spectator, 19 March 1892, p. 408. ty Fair, 28 September 1878, p. 175. l^Vanity Fair, p. 175; The Examiner, 26 October 1878, p. 13S77 l^Rev. of The Graysons, The Athenaeum, 12 January 1889» p. 49; The Spectator, 19 March 1892, p. 408. 52 ^■^Rev. of Roxy, The Athenaeum, 14 September 1878, p. 336; The Academy, 24 November 1888, p. 334. l?The Examiner, 11 November 1871, pp. 1122-24. ■^»colonel Hay's Pike County Ballads,” The Examiner, 25 November I87I, p. 1170» ^Rev. of Pike County Ballads, 18 March 1897, p. 7. 2^Rev. of Pike County Ballads, The Athenaeum, 23 September 1871, p. 395» 21The Examiner, 25 November 1871, p. 1170. 22The Athenaeum, 23 September 1871, PP- 394-95. 2^Rev. of Pike County Ballads, The Spectator, 29 July 1871, p. 918. 2^"The New United States Ambassador," The Spectator, 27 February 1897, p. 298.

25mThe New United States Ambassador as Man of Letters," The Academy, 27 February 1897» p. 259. 2^The Spectator, 29 July 1871, p. 919; The Athenaeum, 23 September l3?l7 p^ 395; The Examiner. 25 November 1871» p. 1170. 2?The Examiner, p. 1170. 28The Examiner, p. 1171. 2^The Spectator, 17 February I872, p. 216. ^Rev. of Pike County Ballads, 29 July 1871» p. 918. ^The Academy, 27 February 1897, p. 259« 32Rev. of Farm Ballads, Chambers * s Edinburgh Journal, 50 (1873), pp. 619-20. 33Rev. of Poems Here at Home, The Athenaeum, 3 March 1894, p. 276T 34i»The Hoosier Poet, " The Academy, 1? December 1898, p. 472. 53 33Rev. of The Rubaiyat of Doc Slfers, The Spectator, 26 February 1898» p. 304. 36james Davies, rev. of Farm Festivals, The Academy, 24 September 1881, p. 233» 3?Rev. of The Rubaiyat of Doc Slfers, 26 February 1898, p. 304. 3®Rev. of Old-Fashioned Roses, The Spectator, 8 February 1890, p. 212; The Academy, 17 December 1898, p. 4?2. 39Rev. of Poems Here at Home, The Athenaeum, 3 March 1894, p. 2757 ^The Athenaeum, 3 March 1894, p. 276; The Academy, 17 December 1898, p. 473; Chambers1s Sdlnburgh Journal, 50 (I873), p. 618; The Academy, ¿4"September 1881, p. 232. 4^»An American Crabbe," Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, 50 (1873). PP. 618-20. 42 Ibid,; p- 619, 43-rhe Spectator, 8 February 1890, p. 212; A. R. Wallace, "The ’Leonalnie’ Problem," The Fortnightly Review, 1 April 1904, p. 708. 44Rev, of otto the Knight, The Athenaeum, 20 Febru­ ary 1892, p. 241. ~ 43Rev. of The Heart of Toll, The Athenaeum, 5 August I899, p. 189.' ^The Athenaeum, 20 February 1892, p. 241.

4?The Athenaeum, 5 August 1899» p. 189. CHAPTER III

THE ROMANCE OF THE TRADITIONAL: SOUTHERN LOCAL COLOR

Southern writers and writing had been familiar to the English for years even before the Civil War. As with the New England authors, and to a lesser extent with those of the Midwest, the American local color writer of the South was not discovering and exploiting a region which was almost simultaneously being physically discovered. There­ fore, one does not expect a critic during the heyday of local color fiction to concern himself with the attributes themselves of the materials of the Southern writer. For, as we have seen, the attractions of the unknown made for a great Interest in the geographical areas of those writers from newly settled States and territories. If, for instance, a reviewer was discussing the portrayal of the Old Dominion in a book by Thomas Nelson Page, he would already have known something about both the region itself and about earlier literary treatments of it. A work could be criticized for its lack of verisimilitude. Although this seldom happened among the English reviewers of the time, the possibility did exist. One of the 55 reasons that it did not happen apparently has to do with the fact that the South, even though it was known about general­ ly, seemed to the English much more instinct with romance than, say, New England. Also, the Southerners frequently wrote about particular and obscure parts of the South. The margin of the unrealistic and of sentiment could be played upon by the Southern writer to some effect. This circum­ stance is particularly pertinent to the present discussion because English critics were apt to single out in American local color the elements of the pathetic and the romantic. In this respect Southern poetry or fiction was unique among regional writing. The appeal of Far Western local color, as we have seen, depended partially upon a romance that was only made possible by novelty; but Southern literature possessed both the charms of romance and of a storied past. The South was thus considered a region of no little interest. This concern was, of course, heightened by the attention focused on the South by the advent of the Civil War. The writers after the War had two Souths, Old and New, to contend with. All this was of interest to the English reviewer of Southern postwar American local color.

George Washington Cable: Dialects and "Races11

One of the chief attractions, for the English critics, 56 of the Southern local color writer most frequently reviewed by them—George Washington Cable—was that he wrote about a particular part of the South which was, in fact, little known about in England at the time. From the evidence, Louisiana, New Orleans, and Creole life were first made real to them by Cable. Several critics even discussed Cable’s local setting without mentioning that it was in the South. The circumstances of the specific locale were, with some justice, considered more important than its general Southern quality. Frequently, this point of view of some of the critics takes the form of references to Cable’s use of dialects. "Mr. Cable is really a master of the art of transliteration of dialects," said, for example, one reviewer.1 Another found in Dr. Sevier "admirably rendered broken English of the French Creoles, as also of the 2 Germans, Italians and Irish who figure in his scenes." A third thought that "we seem to hear their quaint pathetic 3 speech, in broken English and no less broken French." All these reviewers recognized that Creole speech was not wide­ spread in the South. Several of the critiques of Cable’s books mention the dialects by way of saying that they make 4 his stories difficult to understand. One reviewer adds that the dialects are difficult "especially for an Englishman. Dialect was not the only aspect of Cable’s subject 57 matter which the critics concerned themselves with. Some reviewers noted that Cable illustrated well the different characteristics of the "races’' of Louisiana. The Westmins­ ter Review in 1885 carried an article which contained the statement that "all these diverse races are well imitated, not only in their speech, but in their bodily and mental peculiarities and tricks.A reviewer in 1897 maintained that Cable’s primary accomplishment was that he had "enshrined the old Creole life." The Bookman’s critic in the following year thought the charm of Cable’s work was o principally due to its pictures of the Creoles. A reviewer in 1887 said that in "Madame Delphine" we get to know the "very natures" of the French Creoles.9 Other writers saw in Cable’s pages vivid portraits of Negroes and quadroons as well.1^ Old New Orleans as a whole is taken to be Cable’s real province by two critics.1'1’ A

review of Madame Delphine which appeared in the Athenaeum aptly sums up this approach to Cable: They are stories of the Old Creole times, the scenes being laid in and about New Orleans. The people, the way of life, the accessories., are all unfamiliar; but Mr. Cable has the power of making them distinct, real­ izable, and attractive, and this is done without any show of labour.I2 This power of Cable is the basis for what two writers about him described as his originality and freshness. 13 Only three reviewers found Cable primarily a writer 58 about the South as a whole. The first of these discussed Cable as the Southern regional representative of what was becoming in America a unique, independent, and truly l4 •’national school of novel writing. ” The Athenaeum’s reviewer in 1884 stated that Cable had ’’discovered something altogether fresh in the New World” and that he was ’’a thorough Southerner’’ despite his ’’artistic judgment” being objective.13 & critic for the London Times, in an article reprinted in The Critic, welcomed Cable to England as ”an American novelist, widely known and admired for his clever studies of southern life.Nevertheless, the English did not in the main consider Cable a spokesman for the whole South or for a peculiarly Southern point of view. Cable’s treatment of his subject matter, his art and technique, was also thought important by many reviewers. Several called him a writer of power, whose work was ’’lively,” ’’concise," or "vivid." 1 Dr. Sevier was, in the -I Q mind of one critic, "a carefully wrought story." Other reviewers spoke of John March as illustrating a "lavish and often masterly workmanship" and of Cable's "delicate art. The Southerner’s style was lauded by a few commentators. A reviewer for the Spectator found The Creoles of Louisiana "adorned with all the graces of Mr. Cable’s graphic style."2® Strong Hearts, in 1899» was said to be written in an "exquisite crystaline style."21 Character!zation 59 was viewed, as one of Cable’s strengths in three or four significant reviews. Bonaventure, in the novel of that title, was praised as a "beautiful conception."22 Many of the characters of John March were considered fine creations 23 by a reviewer for the Bookman. In the opinion of the Athenaeum, the characters of Dr. Sevier were "varied, distinct, and original." All these treatments of this aspect of fiction are from the point of view of the artistic rendering of character, not from that of the regional believability of the particular character. Other than these various ways of looking at Cable’s art are 25 several references to his powers of description and of his ability to evoke pathos in stories."“ One reviewer found Cable unique in being able to combine a realistic and literal approach with an underlying idealism. 27 Negative criticism of Cable included statements that 28 Dr. Sevier was too monotonously sad^ and that several of his works were badly plotted. 29 In conclusion, a few other judgments--some concurring with most modern criticism—might be referred to here. Two writers felt that Cable’s masterpiece was his early Old Creole Days. Another thought The Grandisslmes "one of the great American novels. Several reviewers noted and praised Cable’s abilities as a dramatic reader, 32 especially upon the occasion of his visit to England. 60 In sum, most of the English critics would have agreed that George W. Cable’s works "deserve to be better known even than they are" and that "he has the command of a territory which in his skilful hands and with his charm of manner well repays cultivation."33 The uniqueness, to the English, of his art and territory is further emphasized by the critic who said in 188? that Creole life "is a subject which he has made his own, and in which he is unapproachable." 34

Mary N. Murfree: The Folk of the Mountains

Another Southern writer of local color fiction who was reviewed to a significant extent in England was the Tennessean, Mary N. Murfree. Her tales of the mountains and mountaineers were often highly thought of. In assessing her accomplishment, several English critics compared her to Bret Harte. Although Miss Murfree was usually considered the lesser artist in these comparisons, the juxtaposition itself of their names indicates a high regard for her. A writer for the Academy, for example, said in 1884 that Miss Murfree’s stories "bear a resemblance to Bret Harte’s short stories; indeed, there are one or two worthy of him."35 These similarities seen between regional writers did not result from a perception that the writers considered themselves consciously parts of a "movement." 61 The English simply saw that here were two writers who shared something in their techniques and in the quality of their subject matters. They were both generally considered fine writers, "Charles Egbert Craddock" to a lesser extent than Harte. It is at first rather striking that Mary Murfree was often both praised and blamed on the same basis. These grounds have to do with the descriptions in her books. At times her scenery and her description of nature was lauded (it is not always possible to determine whether the reviewer is attracted by the settings of her stories or by her descriptions of them—or both). Several critics called attention to the force of her descriptions of external nature, particularly of her ability to evoke the very atmosphere of the mountains. This setting, they maintained, is graphically and vividly presented.3® Other reviewers noted fine descriptive passages but went on to criticize the overall effectiveness of her descriptions. These critics held that Murfree erred on the side of effusiveness. She was found to describe at too great a length and too floridly.37 Sometimes, they said, she interrupted exciting narratives with description that was over-written in any case.3a Thus, although the settings of Miss Murfree‘s works Interested the English, many thought she blundered in portraying them by.misplacing 62 her descriptions or by going too far quantitatively. Both these criticisms, if true, would mean that the setting becomes to that extent extraneous. One reviewer disagreed with this notion and had very high praise for Murfree, saying that "it is not given to many to convert scenery into a perfectly fitting and harmonious background for character, and to inform it with the spell of inevit­ ability. "39 This is about the highest possible praise for the function of setting in a local color story, and a judgment which we would now be more apt to make of a writer like, say, Sarah Orne Jewett. On bases other than setting, some writers in England found the stories of Miss Murfree "bright with local ilQ colouring." A critic for the Athenaeum thought Murfree had a well-deserved popularity for her "pictures of these mountains and the mountaineers," "both a new region and 4l an unknown people." A second reviewer considered that her "sketches of scenery, character, and life, all harmonising with each other" surpassed "anything of the 4-2 kind that has yet come from America." Other critics, 43 too, referred to her sense of the picturesque. v Numerous reviewers concerned themselves with the characters of Miss Murfree*s tales. Most of these have positive comments about Murfree*s ability to create a character. The usually homely characters of her books t>3 44 45 were said by the critics to be original, well-drawn, 46 interesting, and illustrative of their author’s insight 47 into human nature. The dialect these people use in Murfree’s books was, when it was mentioned at all, usually considered difficult and an obstacle to a complete under- 48 standing of the work, especially for an Englishman. This idea was sometimes held by those who nonetheless thought her use of dialect authentic. Besides an occasional statement that some of her 49 works did not remain interesting throughout, almost all judgments about Murfree’s art in other areas were favorable. Her stories were found well-told,clever,'’1 fresh and original."“ The usual comments were made about the happy depiction of humor and pathos.33 From the time of the publication of In the Tennessee Mountains Miss Murfree had 54 a substantial following in England. She herself wrote of the enthusiastic welcome there of The Raid of the Guerrilla^3 and of the "highest commendation" accorded In the Clouds.3& Her popularity has since, thus, waned not only in America, but in England as well.

Thomas Nelson Page; Partisan Regionalist

The regional characteristics of the work of Thomas Nelson Page were those traits of his writing of greatest interest to the English reviewers. The tales of this 64 third. Southern local color writer, a Virginian, were also quite well received, in England. These tales were praised for many of the same reasons as were those of Mary Murfree. Leading characters were found "interesting"^? Or "admir­ able. "3^ As with Murfree’s work, the dialect was singled out for comment and considered difficult39—"a strange language, chiefly consisting of apostrophes."^® Some

reviewers thought Page’s portrayal of Negro characters was perceptive, even though they were the characters whose jargon was sometimes found almost incomprehensible.^

A writer for The National Observer in 1894 lauded Page for having "much ability and knowledge of the Virginian life and character." c Other critics agreed with this view: "he is likely to take honours as a delineator of old provincial life in the Southern States of America."63 Part of this reaction had to do with an

interest, among some of the reviewers, in Virginia per se, based upon its romantic and picturesque aspects. Judg­ ments about a writer who described an area intrinsically appealing tended to be more favorable than they otherwise would be. In addition to this praise of Page’s powers of observation of his subject, some critics saw in Page a sectionalism not so innocent and innocuous as that of most local color writers. These reviewers thought that Page portrayed the South in the way of an avid partisan 65 and glorifier. 6-5

Other, not necessarily regional, characteristics of Page’s work were also pointed out. About his artistry there was not a great deal of agreement. Red Rock, for instance, was found, by two critics, to be well-written, on the one hand, 66 and badly told, on the other. 67' 68 Different books were variously rated on this score. Page’s,style was praised by two reviewers. 697 Besides the omnipresent references to pathos and humor, a final significant statement by one writer about Page’s art was 70 that he had great originality. Perhaps some knowledge of John Pendleton Kennedy and John Ssten Cooke in England limited the number of critics who concurred in this judg­ ment.

Joel Chandler Harris: The Negro and the Plantation

By the time of the middle years of the career of Joel Chandler Harris apparently enough postwar Southern regional writing had reached England that among some readers a point of near satiation had been reached. In any case, by 1884 one critic was saying that "it is possible to have too much of a good thing, and we have had a very great deal of the ’Uncle Remus’ sort of thing."?1 In 1898 a writer for the Athenaeum stated that "some can and some cannot have too much of a pretty good thing."?2 A Plantation Printer 66 was criticized by a third critic as a slight story "with a few stray negroes and jargoning dashed in here and there for the sake of local colour.it seemed that the tastes of some people dictated against the continued success of this kind of regional writing. Nevertheless, Harris was 74 among some of the English reviewers found "delightful" and original. 75 Almost all the critical commentary about Harris’s tales had to do with their regional character. Nights wlth Uncle Remus was lauded as "fully as good as those which first obtained a reputation for Uncle Remus, and perhaps the background of negro character on which they ni. are painted for us, is even more admirably brought out."fW Two other reviewers also called attention to Harris’s portrayals of Negro character.?? A central interest in

his tales was elsewhere thought to be the regional and nQ sometimes racial dialect which he presented. Still other writers felt that a major aspect of the stories was their humor. 79 All these elements of Harris’s fiction are not, of course, separable in his work itself. They are parts of his total perception of his part of Georgia. Different aspects of his work merely seemed most striking at the time to his various English critical readers. This, it goes without saying, could be stated of the critical views of any of the Southern local color writers. 67 Yet their whole milieu and their treatment of it in fiction was what initially was of most importance for the English reviewers. Some attempt at defining their Southernness was central in many of their arguments. 68

Notes

^Rev. of Dr. Sevier, The Athenaeum, 22 November 1884, p. 657. ^Rev. of Dr. Sevier, Westminster Review, January 1885, p. 293. 3Rev. of Madame Delphine, Carancro, and Grande Pointe, Westminster Review, September 188?, p. ?S4. ^The Athenaeum, p. 657; rev. of Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War, The Athenaeum, 14 "July 1894, p. 57; rev. of John March, Southerner, The National Observer, 6 April 1895, P. 557. ^Rev. of Bonaventure, The Spectator, 26 May 1888, p. 727. ®Rev. of Dr. Sevier, Janaury 1885, p. 293. 7"Mr. G. W. Cable," The Academy, 12 June 1897» p. 15. ^A. M., rev. of The Grandissimes, June I898, pp. 72- 73. . • 9Rev. of Madamp Delohine, Westminster Review, September 188?, p. 784. lOujyir. G. W. Cable in London," The Academy, 7 May 1898, pp. 497-98; Bookman, pp. 72-73« ^iRev. of Dr. Sevier, Westminster Review, January 1885, p. 293; "Two Prefaces by Mr. Barrie," The Academy Supplement, 4 June I898, p. 604. 12The Athenaeum, 13 August 1881, p. 203. 13"American Novels," The London Times, 26 September 1882, p. 4; George Saintsbury, rev. of Bonaventure, The Academy, 19 May 1888, p. 340. ^»American Novels," The London Times, 23 September 1882, p. 4. i^Rev. of Dr. Sevier, 22 November 1884, p. 657* 69 16»]vjr< Cable in England," 11 June 1898, p. 387. ^Rev. of John March, Southerner, The Bookman, May 1895, P* 56; rev. of The Creoles of Louisiana, The Specta­ tor, 5 September 1885, PP« 1172-72; rev. of Madame Delphine, The Athenaeum, 23 July 1887, p. 115; rev. of The Cavalier, The Athenaeum, 16 November 1901, P« 658. -^The Athenaeum, 22 November 1884, p. 657* ^Rev. of John March, Southerner, The Bookman, p. 56; "Mrs. G. W. Cable," The Academy, 12 June 1897» P* 15* 2®The Spectator, p. 1172. 21 "Mr. G. W. Cable’s New Book," The Bookman, June 1899, p. 77* 22The Spectator, 26 May 1888, p. 727. 2^The Bookman, May 1895» p. 56. 2^The Athenaeum, p. 657. 25 * xxc v • ux rifetu. feting? vex mm? > hcoummo usi no v x

32»Nr. g. W. Cable," The Academy, 12 June 1897» p. 15; W. Pett Ridge, "Mr. G. W. Cable and his Passon Jones," The Bookman, June 1898, pp. 64-65; "Mr. Cable in England," The Critic, 11 June I898, p. 387. 33Rev. of Bonaventure, The Athenaeum, 7 July 1888, P. 33. 34 J Rev. of Madame Delphine, Westminster Review, September 1887» p. 784. 33jas. Purves, rev. of In the Tennessee Mountains, 19 July 1884, p. 39. See also C. E. Dawkins, rev. of The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Academy, 31 October 1885» p. 28?; rev. of The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Athenaeum, 9 January 1885T p. 6 J; rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Athenaeum, 8 February 1890, p. 1?6. 3^The Academy, p. 28?; Hamilton Aide, rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Nineteenth Century, December 1889, pp. 994-9?; rev. of In the Stranger People1s Country, The National Observer, 16 January 1892? pp" 228-29. 3?Jas. Purves, rev. of In the Tennessee Mountains, The Academy, 19- July 1884, p. 39; The Nineteenth Century, pp. 994-97; rev. of The Juggler, The Spectator, 9 July 1898, p. 52. 3^Rev. of In the Stranger People1s Country, The Athenaeum, 19 December 1891» p. 83O; The National Observer, pp. 228-29. 39Rev. of His Vanlshed Star, The Athenaeum, 17 November 1894, p. "672. 4°The Academy, p. 39. 4^-Rev. of The Story of Old Fort Loudon, 10 June 1899. p. 720. 42C. E. Dawkins, rev, of‘ The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Academy, 31 October 1885, p. 287. 43v/illiam Sharp, rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Academy, 27 April 1889, p. 2841 rev. of The Juggler, The Spectator, 9 July I898, p. 52. ^C. E. Dawkins, rev. of The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Academy, 31 October 1885» p. 287; rev. of The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Athenaeum, 9 January 1886, p7 53. 71 ^3Rev. of In the Stranger People’s Country, The National Observer, lè January 1892, p. 228. 46Rev. of His Vanished Star, The Athenaeum, 17 November 1894, p. ¿72. ^Hamilton Aide, rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Nineteenth Century, December 1889, pp7 994-97; rev. of The Juggler, The Spectator, 9 July 1898, p. 52. 43Rev. The prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Athenaeum, 9 January 1886, p~ 65 ; William Sharp, rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Academy, 27 April 1889» p~ 204; rev. of In the Stranger People ' s Country, The Athenaeum, 19 December 1891, pï 830. 49The Nineteenth Century, p. 995; rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Athenaeum, 8 February 1890, ' p. 176rev o7 His Vanished Star, The Athenaeum, 17 November 1894, p. 6?2. 30jas. Purves, rev. of In the Tennessee Mountains, The Academy, 19 July 1884, p. 39; rev. of The Story of Old Fort Loudon, The Athenaeum, 10 June 1899, p. 720. ^Ifhe Spectator, p. 52. 32æhe Academy, p. 39; rev. of The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, The Athenaeum, 9 January 1586, p. 65; The Nineteenth Century, p. 997; rev. of In the Stranger People1s Country, The Athenaeum, 19 December 1891, p. 83O; mention of Miss Murfree in another review, The Academy, 27 February 1897, p. 260; rev. of The Story of Old Fort Loudon, The Athenaeum, 10 June 1899» P* 720. 33jas. Purves, rev. of In the Tennessee Mountains, The Academy, 19 July 1884, pp. 39-40; William Sharp, rev. of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove, The Academy, 27 April 1889» p7 284; The Nineteenth Century, p* 994; rev. of In the Stranger People’s Country, The National Observer, Î6 January 1§92, p. 22b’;' rev. of His Vanished Star, The Athenaeum, 17 November 1894, p. 672. 34gdd Winfield Parks, Charles Egbert Craddock (University of North Carolina, 1941), p. 171» 35parks, p. 225. 36parks, p. l4ln. 72 3?Rev. of Red Rock, The Athenaeum, 11 February 1899» P. 176 3SRev. of In Ole Virginia, The London Times, 1 January 1902, p. 5» 3^The London Times, p. 5; rev. of In Ole Virginia, The Athenaeum, 4 January 1902, p. 16. 60Rev. of In Ole Virginia, The Athenaeum, 17 August 1889, p. 220. 6-IThe Athenaeum, p. 220; rev. of On Newfound River, The Athenaeum, 15 August 1891, p. 220. ^2Rev. of The Burial of the Guns, 29 December 1894, P. 192. k^The London Times, p. 5; rev. of Gordon Keith, The Athenaeum, 29 August 1903, p. 281. 64-Rev. of Red Rock, The Spectator, 28 January 1899, p. 139; rev. of In Ole Virginia, The Athenaeum, 4 January 1902, p. 16; rev. of Gordon Keith, The Athenaeum, 29 August 1903» p. 281. 6-5 The Spectator, p. 139; rev. of Red Rock, The Bookman, April*1899, p. 23. k^Rev. of Red Rock, The Athenaeum, 11 February 1899» p. 1?6. 6?The Spectator, p. 139. 68Rev. of On Newfound River, The Athenaeum, 15 August I89I, p. 220. See also rev. of Blsket and other Stories, The Athenaeum, 2 April 1892, p7 434; rev. of The Burial of the Guns, The National Observer, 29 December 1894, p. 192; rev. of In Ole Virginia, The Athenaeum, 4 January 1902, p. 16. 69ihe National Observer, p. 192; The Athenaeum, p. 16. ?^Rev. of In Ole Virginia, The London Times, 1 January 1902, p. 5« ?^Rev. of Mingo, The Athenaeum, 2? September 1884, p. 401. 73 ?2Rev. of Aaron In the Wilderness and Sister Jane, 20 August 1898, p. 252. ?3The National Observer, 30 April 1892, p. 617» "^Rev. of Uncle Remus and his Friends, The Athenaeum, 20 May 1893. p. 63$? ?^Rev. of Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, Literary World, April l88l, pp. 250-52; rev. of Nights with Uncle Remus, The Spectator, 12 January 1884, pp. 53- 547”

?6The Spectator, p. 53- ??Rev. of Mingo, The Athenaeum, 27 September 1884, p. 401; rev. of Aaron in the Wilderness and Sister Jane, The Athenaeum, 20 August TH98, p. 252. ?^Rev. of Mingo, The Athenaeum, 27 September 1884, p. 401; rev. of Little' Mr. Thlmblefinger and his Queer Country, The Athenaeum, 16 February 1§95, p. 2l4. , _ y World, p. 250; The Spectator, p. 53; rev. of Aaron in the Wilderness and Sister Jane, The Athenaeum, 20 August 1898,"p. 252. CHAPTER IV

CHRONICLES OF SMALL BEER: NSW ENGLAND

To a much greater extent than in any other area of the United States, the local writing of New England was praised or criticized by the English for reasons not having to do with its regional characteristics. Where no special interest could be imparted to a work by its setting merely, it was apparently thought that a greater literary sophistication was needed in the work. It was

unOu&u ’arv uuuxu axxu. suuulu. uatvs vxic yxaCc ux cut exotic background and scenery in those fictions whose settings were both commonplace and lacking in the charms of the new and unknown. As a critic of Mary E. Wilkins wrote in 1891, "it needs no common artist to impart an interest to the chronicling of small-beer.”1 At the least, we do see that the English in their critiques of works by local color writers of New England concentrate more on characterization than on setting and the description of scenery. For many reviewers, the literary talent alone of the American writer of this region seemingly had to offset the combined appeal of setting and whatever talent possessed by the writer of, say, the Far West. This 75 despite the fact that explicit comparisons between authors of the areas were seldom made.

Mary E. Wilkins : The Dally Round

The writer of New England at the time who principally was found to be "no common artist" was Mary E. Wilkins (I use her maiden name since her significant early work was written before she was married, in 1902.) Although reviews at times called attention to the settings of her books, they did so as often as not to point out that such a place as New England seemed devoid of any real excite­ ment or romantic interest. Sometimes it almost appeared that the English critics were lauding her stories despite their settings. When the reviewer was not centrally concerned with the region in which the story took place, he often discussed the possible general applications of the work. Witness the statement of a reviewer of A Far-away Melody: It is this spiritual insight and transmuting power which distinguish these little stories of village life in New England from any similar recueil that we have met with. In them, grinding poverty, sick­ ness, decrepitude, and even personal uncomeliness, g are transfigured, and invested with tender romance. Earlier in the essay the critic had said that Miss Wilkins had "no need of rich settings nor attractive accessories" because she writes of "the elementary and all but universal experiences of life."3 This praise is based upon a 76 perception that the writing transcends the local, not that it exploits and revels in the fact of its setting. Praise based upon the latter would have been laudation enough for Bret Harte. Here, the circumstance of the locale alone was not seen as a sufficient basis for praise of a New Englander. What the writer could do with his materials was considered more Important. Many other reviews were concerned with the dreariness of New England life. Miss Wilkins’s power was often seen to lie in her ability to bring out "the poetry latent in 4 everyday occurrences." The everyday occurances themselves of New England were not effusively dwelt upon. As a perhaps extreme example of this, note a reviewer for the London Times writing of "that unlovely life, which must have been intensely depressing when it was not disagreeably exciting." He even adds that "it must have been no unpleasant sensation when there was a fear of the township being rushed by Indians."^ Several other critics of Miss Wilkins pointed out the unexciting and homely quality of New England. Given her subject matter, Wilkins was almost universally applauded for the thoroughness of her knowledge of New England life. Primarily, she was praised for her delineations of the New England character. More than any other writer, she was found to understand the idiocyncracies 77 of the New England temperament In many of its aspects. "She has studied her New England folk," said one reviewer, "to the marrow of their bones." Three reviews treated Wilkins’s local characters from the point of view of what the most substantial of these essays called the "ossifica­ tion of the will."8 This facet of the native folk is seen to be intrinsic to their characters and to be part of their Puritan heritage. It was said to consist in the inability of a person to act or to change his mind once he has made up his mind about something. At times, this sort of set will is considered almost perverse—"even when the mind which conceived its hasty resolves is convinced of its own error, it seems hardly more able to reverse its decision" (this particular reviewer finds this preferable to the modern urban tendency toward "changeableness").

Q It is a kind of "self-predestination." Another reviewer found this trait a distorted form of will, "a great inflexibility that signifies not power to do what they dislike, but impotence to do what they both desire and approve.A third critic called this New England attribute a "fetish worship of will. Characterization was seen by the English as Wilkins’s forte whether or not they dwelt upon the local nature of her people. Most often they did not. She was considered to have "a real insight into the vagaries of human nature 78 q p and character." Almost all the reviewers mentioned her ability to create memorable characters. Usually the praise was rather vague and general. Sometimes, however, the critic described Wilkins’s powers of making convincing certain types of human beings. Thus, she was viewed as very understanding 'of the characters of children13 and of middle-aged women. One reviewer maintained that Wilkins's uniqueness and originality depended upon her having made these women the heroines of her stories: "whoever heretofore brought tears to the eyes over the small trials, the little heroisms and silent sorrows of old maids and hardworked wives?n1^ Another saw her

as "the prose laureate of middle age, mediocrity, and the trivial round."1-’ Three other critics made approximately

the same point.Miss Wilkins was elsewhere found adept at making convincing characters who were more often than not repressed, commonplace, obscure, and whose lives were made up solely of the monotonous details of the daily round of living.1? Other aspects of Miss Wilkins’s work did not interest her English critics as much as did characterization. The reviewers usually treated these other qualities of her work in a general way. Several critics wrote that she -l o had great skill and power of observation. She was also found capable of fine descriptions of "a firm and cameo- 79 like clearness."1^ Two writers praised her ability to on describe natural scenery. Only a single mention was made of her use of dialect.2^ Perhaps this last fact is indicative of the English tendency not to be overly excited by the distinctly unromantic New England setting and circumstances. Finally, Miss Wilkins's technical capabilities were for the most part not found wanting. She was, for instance, lauded for her style and workmanship. Her workmanship, said one reviewer, "is singularly careful and often 22 beautiful. ’’ A reviewer of Madelon spoke of her "distinc- 23 tion of manner." J The strength of her style was generally O/l seen to depend upon its simplicity.*"' What was called the "baldness" of her narratives was not a criticism of them. Several of the writers saw the effectiveness of her portrayals of uneventful lives; despite their lack of incident, the stories were thought well-told. J General negative criticism of Wilkins’s work most commonly came on two fronts. A number of her novels were found lacking and led some critics to the conclusion that she was much better in short forms than in the novel. Also, a few reviewers thought that Wilkins’s powers lessened with the years and that she fell increasingly into a too fixed manner. 27' Mary Wilkins’s art was, otherwise, almost always 80 considered a model for good writing. Famous Englishmen like Conan Doyle and Walter de la Mare praised Mary 28 Wilkins’s work. Most of the English who wrote about her would certainly have agreed with the statement of the critic who said in 1898 that she had "few failings in her sincere and genuine art." This same critic also pointed out that a "strict limitation of range may be urged against 29 her, but Miss Austen is liable to the same Impeachment."

Sarah Orne Jewett: True Artistry and "Decaying Villages"

The other New England local color writer to be treated here is Sarah Orne Jewett of Maine. In general, this short story writer and novelist was considered by the English a lesser Mary E. Wilkins. Certainly she was much less frequently reviewed than Miss Wilkins. Two critics made explicit comparisons between the authors. The two women writers were seen to share several charac­ teristics of subject and technique, but Wilkins was almost always found the superior of Jewett. For example, Miss Jewett’s Tales of New England were described in 1893 as "a very good second to Miss Wilkins’s admirable tales like ’A Humble Romance,’ ’A Far-away Melody,’ and ’A New England Nun.’" This same critic goes on to say that Jewett tends to portray a less severe sort of existence 81 than Wilkins and one which seems at times as much like England as like New England.3® A reviewer of The Queen’s

Twin made the same point and added that Miss Jewett dwells less upon the past than Miss Wilkins. 31 As with the reviews of Wilkins, there is little continual calling attention to the New England setting in those of Jewett. Only an anonymous reviewer in 1894 and Edward Garnett specifically mention"the thoroughness of the author’s knowledge of the "decaying villages" 32 of New England. Books by Jewett, if found truthful, were usually found revelations of life in general, not of New England life in particular. Among the English, Sarah Jewett’s major literary accomplishment was her powers of characterization. Again, the parallel with Wilkins is evident. Jewett’s characters, when they were mentioned at all, were described as delightful and well-drawn.33 The dialect of her characters was noted by a few reviewers. One said that all her 34 characters talked the same. Another thought the Irish- 35 American dialect difficult in The Queen's Twin. Miss Jewett also came in for her share of negative criticism. A Country Doctor, especially, was found imperfect. Two reviewers argued that its plot was poorly constructed, digressive, and did not sustain the reader's interest. The Athenaeum critic also felt that Jewett 82 failed by, "making a story the vehicle for her ideas on things in general."3? The plots of The King of Folly

Island and Tales of New England were also considered less than perfect.38 one of the reasons for these criticisms

(and for the fact that Jewett was not widely reviewed) probably has to do with what the Academy reviewer spoke of in an 1888 review. He attacked Jewett for being too modern and "arty." Recognizing her fine craftsmanship, at the same time he found her work not agreeable to his rather old-fashioned tastes. The "slice of life" which was a Jewett story left out "the beginning, or the end, or both"—all of which he demanded be present for the sake of a tale’s clarity.39 The high place among the local color writers now held by Sarah Jewett was not possible for many readers until a change had taken place in the standards of literary judgment. As an indication of the best that was said of Miss Jewett, we might well examine Edward Garnett’s essay about her which appeared in 1903. This article is both very thoughtful and was written late enough that we get a view of the whole of the significant part of Jewett’s career. Garnett begins by saying that not enough attention had been paid her work and that she "can be ranked second only to Hawthorne In her interpretation of the spirit of New England soil."^® Although he notes the humor in her 83 stories, Garnett finds most striking the "spirituality" in them.Only about thirty of Jewett's short stories, plus "The Country of the Pointed Firs," says Garnett, are inspired work. Almost all of it, however, he describes as artful in a sometimes not very "Puritan" way: "a clearness of phrase almost French is allied indeed to her innate precision of language. Her gift for characteriza- tion is exceedingly subtle, but neither rich nor profound." 42 Other famous English writers also praised Sarah Jewett's work, among them Mrs. Humphrey Ward, George du Maurier, and Rudyard Kipling.Thus, in this area of American litera­ ture, credit was sometimes given for literary qualities as well as for American ones. 84

Notes

^Rev. of A New England Nun and other Stories, The Spectator, 3 October 1891, pp. ""44'9-50. ^Westminster Review, August 1890» p. 215» ^Westminster Review, p. 215. ^Rev. of Young Lucretia, The Athenaeum, 12 November 1892, p. 662. ^Rev. of Silence and other Stories, 10 September 1898, p. 4. ^"Mary S. Wilkins,” The Bookman, December 1891, pp. 102-103; rev. of Silence and other Stories, The Spectator, 23 July 1898, p. 121; rev. of The Givers, The Bookman, September 1904, p. 215. ?S. L. Gwynn, rev. of Pembroke, Edinburgh Review, April 1898, p. 392. 8”The Ossification of the Will," rev. of A Far-away Melody, The Spectator, 2 January 1892, pp. 11-12. 9The Spectator, p. 11. lORev. of Pembroke, The Spectator, 23 June 1894, p. 858. -^Edinburgh Review, p. 393. ^2Rev. of A New England Nun and other Stories, The Spectator, 3 October 1891", " p. 449. l^Rev. of Young Lucretia, The National Observer, 5 November 1892, p. 639. l4ii^ary g. Wilkins," The Bookman, December 1891» p. 102. ^The National Observer, p. 639. l^Rev. Of jane Field, 'The Athenaeum, 7 January 1893, p. 14; Edinburgh Review, pp. 392-96; rev. of The Jamesons, The Spectator, 14 October 1899, pp. 535-36. 85 -^Rev. of Young Lucretia, The Athenaeum, 12 November 1892, P« 662; rev. of Jane Field, The Bookman, January- 1893, P. 129; rev. of Jane Field, The Athenaeum, 7 January 1893. P. 14. 18Rev. of A New England Nun and other Stories, The Athenaeum, 18 July I89I, p. 93; rev. of Jane Field, The Athenaeum, 7 January 1893, P* 14; rev. of The Portion of Labor, The Athenaeum, 4 January 1902, p. '12. ^Rgv. of Silence and other Stories, The Bookman, August I898, p. 13&. 2®Rev. of Madelon, The Saturday Review, 4 July 1896, p. 16; rev. of Jerome, The Athenaeum, 20 November 1897, p. 706. 21Rev. of A New England Nun and other Stories, The Spectator, 3 October 1891, p. 450. 22Rev. of Madeloft, The Bookman, June 1896, p. 84. Saturday Review, 4 July 1896, p. 16. 2^Rev. of Young Lucretia, The Athenaeum, 12 November 1892, p. 662; rev. of Silence and other Stories, The Spec- tator, 23 July 1898, p. 121; rev. of The Givers, The Book­ man, September 1904, p. 215« ^^The Athenaeum, p. 662; rev. of The Love of Parson Lord, The Athenaeum, 28 April 1900, p. 527; rev. of Under­ studies, The London Times, 1 June 1901, p. 13; rev. of The Givers, The Athenaeum, 2 July 1904, p. 13. 26Rev. of Pembroke, The Athenaeum, 9 June 1894, p. 739; rev. of Jerome, The Athenaeum, 20 November 1897» p. 706; rev. of The Portion of Labor, The London Times, 26 December 1901, p. 11. See also rev. of Jane Field, The Athenaeum, 7 January 1893, P* 14. 27fiev. of A New England Nun and other Stories, The Athenaeum, 18 July 18 91» P» 93; rev. of A New England Nun and other Stories, The Spectator, 3 October 1891, p. 449? rev. of Jane Field, The Athenaeum, 7 January 1893, P* 14. 28sd.ward Foster, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (New York; Hendricks House, 1956), p. 131; Walter de la Mare, rev. of By the Light of the Soul, The Bookman, March 190?, P» 269. 86 29s. L. Gwynn, rev. of Pembroke, Edinburgh Review, April 1898, p. 396. ^The Spectator, 2 September 1893» P» 308. 3-IThe Athenaeum, 28 April 1900, p. 527. 32Rev. of Deephaven, The Athenaeum, 10 February 1894, p. 178; "Books Too Little Known: Miss Sarah Orne Jewett’s Tales," The Academy and Literature, 11 July 1903» PP* 40-41. 33Rev. of A Country Doctor, The Spectator, 18 October 1884, pp. 1378-79; rev. of The King of Folly Island, The Athenaeum, 13 October 1888, p. 481; rev. of Deephaven, The Athenaeum, 10 February 1894, p. 178; The Academy and Litera­ ture, pp. 40-41. 34The Athenaeum, p. 178. 33ihe Athenaeum, 28 April 1900, p. 527• 36fiev. of A Countr?/ Doctor, The Athenaeum, 30 August 1884, p. 272; The Spectator, pp. 137^-79• 3?The Athenaeum, p. 272. 38James A. Noble, rev. of The King of Folly Island and Other People, The Academy, 18 August 1888, p. 100; rev. of Tbe King of Folly Island, The Athenaeum, 13 October 1886,'.. p. 481; "Miss Jewett’s Tales of New England,11 The Spectator, 2 September 1893» P» 308. 39James A. Noble, p. 100. 40"Books Too Little Known: Miss Sarah Orne Jewett’s Tales,” The Academy and Literature, 11 July 1903, p. 40. 4lGarnett, p. 40. 42Garnett, p. 41. 43john Eldridge Frost, Sarah Orne Jewett (Milford, New Hampshire: The Cabinet Press, i960), pp. 127-28, 141. 87

CONCLUSION

Several ideas have been suggested by this investigation. Besides the opinions of the British toward particular American local color writers, which have already been indicated, a few other of their notions about what local color writing actually was will be mentioned here. First of all, local color was never considered a school or movement of any formal kind. Of course, it was not. Even the term "local color" itself was not usually used until relatively recently. Although the English employed the term, they had no idea of thereby making connections among regional writers from all over the United States. One American writer vividly portrayed his area and therefore had strong "local colour." Another, from a second area, might also be seen as adept at "local colouring." We later readers have called all these writers local color writers, not the English or the sectional writers themselves. The phrase simply is now applied in a different way than previously. The critics from England, Scotland, and Ireland to various degrees did, however, see in the genre a shared interest in the regions of America. Criticism in the British Isles was often not very 88 sharply focussed. That is, at times the reviewers seemed to be praising or blaming a writer for his accomplishment itself, at other times for his subject matter. There was at times a lack of the perception that a writer does not have complete control over what he writes about, even if he is not a thorough-going realist. The author’s experi­ ence must necessarily dictate something of his subjects. It was, as we have seen, almost taken as praise of Joaquin Miller’s abilities that he wrote about the Wild West. This tendency led frequently to an overestimation of those writers from the more picturesque parts of the country. Romantic treatments of whatever area were, in any case, praised as often as realistic ones. Thus Bret Harte was usually ranked above Sarah Orne Jewett, a hierarchy which we today would reverse. And when the romance and newness were becoming old, the enthusiasm for local color began to diminish. The foregoing pages, representing an organization and investigation of a large quantity of materials, have been an original contribution toward defining the varying fortunes of American local color in the British Isles. As far as I can determine, never before have these articles and reviews been uncovered and examined. The broad outlines of the sort of study here presented leave opportunities for more specific studies in the same general area. For 89 example, a gathering of all publication records and notices of publication would indicate something about the popular reception of American local color. A more lengthy study might begin by locating all reviews of any one local color writer—reviews appearing in newspapers and journals perhaps available only in English libraries. A related topic would be to investigate the reputation of the American local color writers in some other foreign countries. The breadth of the influence of local color could by all these means be more accurately assessed. A final conclusion coming from this study is that American local color writing, despite its seeming foreign­ ness to an Englishman, was very interesting to many people in the British Isles.and apparently did communicate very well. The truth of this statement is attested to by the wide and generally favorable reception accorded the local color writers in the British Isles. This reception became a basis for the making of an image of America as it was being created in foreign minds. It has also enabled us to identify that image. A great number of the people of these countries were made cognizant of new aspects of existence and literature in the United States. The multiplicity of American life had been discovered once again. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Far West

Bret Harte

Anon. Review of The Luck of Roaring Camp. The Examiner, 3 December 1870, p. 775» Explains that "tales, long or short, that explain the customs and institutions of people out of England are al­ ways interesting, even if, as tales, they have no merit." The author's pictures of the rough Western community, how­ ever, indicate that they have "both literary merit and lo­ cal interest." ____ , "Our American Letter." The Athenaeum, 14 January I87I, P • 49 • One sentence reference to Harte, stating that he and such men as Lowell and Holmes could found "a really hu­ morous paper." ____ . Review of The Heathen Chinee, and other Poems, mostly humorous. The Examiner, 1 April 1B7I, pp. 3^1-42. Does not join in widespread American and English praise of Harte. Book found to be inferior to The Luck of Roaring Camp—"neither very humorous nor at all poetical." ____ . "The London Spectator on Bret Harte." Every Saturday, ?7 May 1871» pp. 486-87. The English journal lauds the title poem of The Hea­ then Chinee as Harte's best. Poet seen as adept in evok­ ing pathos and sustaining a narrative. Harte a humorist capable of sound characterization (likened to Dickens). . Review of The Heathen Chinee, and other Poems. The Athenaeum, 27 May I87I, p. 653« Harte's humor and pathos noted. His use of dialect considered a strong point of his verse. . Review of Sensation Novels Condensed. The Athenaeum, 1 July 1871, PP. 11-12. Harte's cleverness praised as well as his good taste in combining ridicule and praise of the novelists he treats. 92 Anon. Review of Sensation Novels Condensed and Lothow. Vanity Fair, 15 July 1871, p. 12. First book noted for its "admirable imitations," latter for being "an extremely funny little satire." ____ . "American Lights: Bret Harte." Cope’s Tobacco Plant, August 1871, p. 199» Like the other Americans Lowell, Ward, and Twain, Harte is seen as modern, new and original. The Luck of Roaring Camp is found most admirable for its showing the good in the characters described, Sensation Novels Con­ densed for its humor, Poems for their blend of pathos and humor. ____ , Review of The Luck of Roaring Camp and other Sketches. Blackwood’s Magazine, October I87I, pp.' 422-30. Harte’s work seen to represent, finally, something new and distinctively American in literature. Harte’s California ("wild, rude, unlovely"), says the reviewer, is based on conquest, not on an older civilization, and is "a whole new and strange world." The stories them­ selves are considered striking and very accomplished. ____. Article on Joaquin Miller. Blackwood's Magazine, October 1871, p. 430. Brief reference to Harte. ____ _. Article on Joaquin Miller. The Examiner, 11 November 1871, PP. 1122-24. Mentions Harte. . Article on John Hay. The Examiner, 25 November I87I, pp. 1170-71. Reference to Harte. ____ . Review of Stories of the Sierras. The Spectator, 7 December 1872, pp. 1557-5$. Finds Harte’s genius consists in "strange incidents of the wildest life" told with simplicity, lack of sen­ sationalism, and with great powers of observation and description. ____ . "Bret Harte." Temple Bar, 39 (1873?), 257-65. Quotation-filled praise of Harte’s "freshness," his humble characters, his humor and pathos. ____ . Review of The Little Drummer. The Athenaeum, 22 February 1873, p. 245’. Described-as a children’s story with a melodramatic major character, badly told. 93 Anon. Review of Complete Works. The Athenaeum, 8 March 1873, P. 305. Discusses Harte as the major humorist and poet from the Far West. His humor seen to be representatively American in its exaggeration, common sense, and melancho­ ly. Interesting comment illustrative of the attraction of local color: "his Sensation Novels. good as they are, are not Far-Western, but merely American." ____ . Article about Joaquin Miller. The Spectator, 9 Au­ gust 1873, PP. 1016-17. Brief reference to Harte. ____ . Review of Echoes of the Foot-Hills. The Athenaeum, 20 February 1875, p. 254. Harte found noteworthy both for his pictures of goodness in seemingly savage societies and for his com­ mand of language. Best work seen to be that which con­ tains "the humorous, the grim, or the grotesque." . Review of Idylls of the Foothills. Vanity Fair, 1 May 1875, p. 2^77 High praise for both the prose and poetry in this volume. ____ . Article about Joaquin Miller. The Spectator, 6 No­ vember 1875, PP» 1394-95» Mentions Harte briefly. ____ . Review of Gabriel Conroy, Part I. The Examiner, 20 November 1875» P. 1313. Views Harte as a very graphic writer, capable of fine observation and description. . Review of Wan Lee, the Pagan. The Examiner, 15 April “1^76, pp. 437-367“ Lauds Harte for his pictures of wild Western charac­ ter and society. Turner, Matthew F. "Artemus Ward and the Humorists of Amer­ ica." New Quarterly Magazine, April 1876, pp. 198-220. Nine pages, with lengthy quotes, on Harte. With Twain, Harte seen as "more or less" an imitator of Arte­ mus Ward and one who laid bare the goodness in the hearts of the population of lawless Western settlements. Harte’s work considered strong and original despite much poor writing. 94 Anon. Review of Gabriel Conroy. The Athenaeum, 3 June 1876, p. 762. Notes Harte’s polish, power of description, and knowledge of local and human character, but finds this novel deficient in characterization and lacking some­ what in freshness. ____ . Review of Gabriel Conroy. The London Times, 21 June I876, pp. 5-5» Argues that this book falls short, in characteri­ zation and plot, of Harte’s shorter works. Does praise the "graphic" pictures of Western life and Harte’s humor. ____ . "An Epic of the West," review of Gabriel Conroy. The Examiner, 29 July 1876, pp. 856-57» Despite some good characterization and description, Gabriel Conroy found to be not as accomplished as the author’s short stories. . Review of Gabriel Conroy. The Spectator, 21 October 1876, pp. 1314-15» . Lauds Harte as superior in his native humor to Ar­ temus Ward or Mark Twain. This particular novel found weak in characterization and plot, a little better in Its humor and pathos. ____ . Review of Thankful Blossom. The Examiner, 24 Febru­ ary I877, p. 244. Although "graceful" and "picturesque," Thankful Blossom is found not to fulfill the author’s potential, ____ . Review of Two Men of Sandy Bar. The Examiner, 10 November 1877» pp. 1431-32. Attacks the play. Finds a redeeming feature in Colonel Starbottle, but otherwise the work is consi­ dered lacking in sustained creative effort and firm plot. ___ Article about Joaquin Miller. The Examiner. 26 October 1878, p. 1366. Mentions Harte. . "Mr. Bret Harte." The Athenaeum, 1 February 1879, PP. 152-53. General article apparently written because Harte had recently lectured in London. Largely biographical. Praises Harte as not just a Western humorist but as a true artist. (Mentions a recent Servian translation of six of his tales). 95 Anon. Review of An Heiress of Red Dog and other Tales. The Athenaeum, 22 March 1679, p. 375. States that the society depicted by Harte is bru­ tal but striking. Stories set outside California found ’'commonplace." ___ Review of The Twins of Table Mountain. The Athenaeum, 6 September 1879, P* 302. Catagorizes the short book as up to Harte’s usual standard. Cites a few vivid scenes and one character. Lang, L. B. Review of Jeff Briggs * Love Story. The Aca­ demy. 6 March 1880, p. 174. Summary of the story; describes three of the char­ acters • Anon, Review of Collected Works. The Academy, 4 December 1880, p. 401. Notes the contents of volumes two and three of the collected works and attests to Harte’s great popularity. Critisizes Harte’s humor for being at times drawn out "too thin." Van de Velde, M. S. "Francis Bret Harte." Belgravia, 45 /.» no* n \ non \ i UUi f / j Lauds Harte’s pictures of the Far West and its people, but finds an underlying universal truth in them. Anon. ' Review of Complete Works. The London Times, 10 Jan­ uary 1881, p. 4. Discusses Harte’s use of the Far West, his success, his dramatic power and skill. Finds that Harte is at times too moralistic and has become a self-imitator in certain later works. . Review of Complete Works. The Athenaeum, 19 March 1881, p. 390. Faults the organization of the collection. Harte’s skill, humor, and popularity noted, although Harte is said to have written much poor work and to be frequently imitative of Thackeray and, especially, Dickens.- _ __ . Review of Flip and other Stories. The Athenaeum, 26 August 1882, p. 269. Volume is found clever and better than some other works by Harte. Otherwise Harte is seen to have done nothing new here. 96 Anon. "Bret Harte," review of Flip and other Stories. The Spectator, 30 September 1ÔÔ2, pp. 1257-59» Weighs Harte’s accomplishment as a writer of short stories. States that in other cases novel writing is usually necessary for a lasting reputation. _ ___. Review of In the Carqulnez Woods. The Spectator. 1 September 1883, pp. 1128-29. Argues that the best thing in the book is its gra­ phic description of scenery. Characterization is des­ cribed as sketchy. Notes that the society portrayed, with its complete freedom, proves that license is not a promoter of virtue. Smith, G. Barnett. Review of In the Carqulnez Woods. The Academy, 1 September 1883, p. l42. Also lauds the author's "vivid description and strong local colour." Does cite two well-individualized characters• Anon. Review of In the Carqulnez Woods. The Athenaeum, 15 September 1KH3, p." 334. Attacks the book on all fronts.

A — X A x i ~ ** * X Mx''KT mv» o Ano/Î ornir 1 O Till vr • /ilblGAC CX U. v i’iCXi J 1 1 QU • x y w vu-uj 1884, pp. 39-40. Brief reference to Harte. . Review of On the Frontier. The Athenaeum, 9 August 1884, p. 173» These stories praised for their effective use of detail in scene and character, until their sometimes puzzling conclusions. Purcell. E. Review of By Shore and Sedge. The Academy, 18 July 1885, p. 40. States that Harte has a fine knowledge of humanity. Anon. Review of By Shore and Sedge. The Athenaeum, 25 July 1885, p. Hl. Catagorizes the three stories in the volume as all very different but all very good. Purcell, E. Review of Maruja. The Academy, 10 October 1885, P. 235. Maruja judged not superior to earlier works by Harte. Purcell again praises parts of the book, but finds in it the framework of a longer novel the neces­ sary details of which were never filled in. 97 Anon. Article about Mary Murfree. The Academy, 31 October 1885, p. 28?. Short reference to Harte. ____ . Review of Maruja. The Athenaeum, 7 November 1885, p. 603. Treats the book as an effective picture of old Spanish life in California that is somewhat spoiled by the intrusion of supernatural elements. ____ . Article about Murfree. The Athenaeum, 9 January 1886, p. 65. Mentions Harte. ____ . "The Works of Bret Harte." Westminster Review, January 1886, pp. 71-83. Examines several of Harte’s books and stories. Finds him deficient in the kind of sustained effort re­ quired in writing a novel. Otherwise, Harte is seen as a characteristically American writer who excels in e- voking pathos and humor, in using dialect, and, especial­ ly, in writing with originality and simplicity. . Review of Snowbound at Eagle's. The Athenaeum, 13 AM'sIC**AX . x1 I 1 QCC. States that the effect of the story lies in its contrast between civilization and the wild life. The book is marked by its happy descriptions of landscape, its characterizations, and the economy of its writing. Littledale, Richard. Review of Snowbound at Eagle's. The Academy, 27 March 1886, p. 215. Judges the book to be inferior to some earlier stories by Harte. The ability to picture scenery vi­ vidly and an intimate knowledge of American types are seen to be trademarks of Harte. Mentions that Harte is at his best in shorter sketches. Anon. Review of Poetical Works. The Spectator, 5 June 1886, pp. 754-55. Harte described as above the ordinary as an American humorist. American humor seen as "the application of verbal wit to the old English love of practical joking." ____ .. Article about Mary Hallock Foote. The Academy, 19 June 1886, p. 430. Passing reference to Harte. 98 Sharp, William. Review of Devil's Ford. The Academy, 26 26 February 1887, p. 144. Devil’s Ford found up to Harte’s usual standard only in certain passages. Anon. Review of Devil’s Ford. The Athenaeum, 26 February 1887, p. 286. Treats the book favorably? it is not one of his best stories only by the high standard he himself has set. Ranking, B. Montgomerie. Review of A Millionaire of Rough and Ready. The Academy, 9 July 1687, p. 22, With its characterization and its dramatic quality, this book is found one of the best that Harte has done for several years. Anon. Review of The Crusade of the Excelsior. The Athenaeum, 30 July 1887, p. lTC Attacks the book for being told Ineffectively and for being tedious. It is dismissed as "Mr. Bret Harte’s first complete failure." Sharp, William. Review of The Crusade of the Excelsior. The Academy, 30 July 1887, p. 67. The reviewer points out Harte’s faculty for invention and his literary tact, saying that this novel is far bet­ ter than Gabriel Conroy. This despite the fact that Harte’s "unrivalled" pictures of the West are noted to be usually in the form of short sketches. Anon. Review of A Phyllis of the Sierras and A Drift from Redwood Camp 0 The Athenaeum, 25 February l68"8, p. 240. Phyllis considered flawed by Harte’s inadequate knowledge of English life in a novel based upon the con­ trast between English life and Western American life. The second story called slighter but in its way faultless. Noble, James A. ■ Review of A Phyllis of the Sierras and A Drift from Redwood Camp. The Academy, 3 March 1888, p. 148'." Although charming in parts, Phyllis Is seen as a failure because Harte unsuccessfully attempted "to com­ bine his own peculiar methods with those of Mr. Henry James." A Drift considered "much more characteristic and much more pleasing." 99 Sharp, William, Review of The Argonauts of North Liberty, The Academy, 23 June l88&7""p. 428. In the mind of this reviewer, the Connecticut set­ ting and a few somewhat unbelievable characters do not prevent this story from being a thrilling romance. Anon. Article about Edward Eggleston. The Athenaeum, 12 January 1889, p. 49. Brief reference to Harte. . Review of Cressy. The Athenaeum, 26 January 1889. p. 114. Cressy described as another example of the author’s humor and vivid picturing of California life. This par­ ticular story, says the reviewer, shows signs of care­ ful workmanship. Sharp, William. Review of Cressy, The Academy, 23 Febru­ ary 1889, p. 128. Views Harte as better in writing "episodes" than "romances," Cressy, even so, is found fresh and enjoy­ able . Anon. Review of The Heritage of Deadlow Marsh and other Tales. The Athenaeum, lo November 1^89» pp. "668-69• The four stories are criticized for being neither very satisfactory nor characteristic. The critic states that the tales are often affected and lack vi­ gor, that only infrequently do they recall Harte’s "own peculiar gift of mixing the humorous, the pathetic, and the tragic." Cotterell, George. Review of The Heritage of Deadlow Marsh. The Academy, 16 November 1889, P. 316. States that Harte portrays men better than women. These tales considered full of the author’s old fresh­ ness and vividness. Anon. Article about Mary Murfree. The Athenaeum, 8 Febru­ ary 1890, p. 176. Mentions Harte. ____ . Review of A Waif of the Plains. The Athenaeum. 29 March 1890, pp. 4oi-O2. Faults the story for being tedious, despite some good descriptive passages. Classifies the tale as not among Harte’s best work. 100 Anon. Review of A Waif of the Plains. The Spectator, 26 July 1890, pp. 121-22. Compliments Harte for showing "no sign of having exhausted either his materials or his skill in dealing with them." A Waif singled out for its characterizations and its vividly wrought scenes. . Review of A Ward of the Golden State. The Athenaeum, 15 November 1890, p. 35l. This book is not considered one of Harte’s best, but nonetheless better than most contemporary fiction. It is described as full of humor and pathos, with an interesting plot. Most readers, says the reviewer, like Harte best when he sets his stories on the out­ skirts of civilization. __ Review of A Sappho of Green Springs and other Tales. The Athenaeum, 21 February 1891, P» 245. Lauds Harte for continuing to do his best "in a field where he has no competitors." Description, char- acterization, and skilled use of language are found the strong points of this volume. ___ _. The National Observer, 2 May I89I, p. 621. Uq XT> Cf*A

Review of A First Family of Tasajara. The National Observer, 19 December 1891, p. 129. Although "amusing, exciting, and well-written," the book is not catagorized as one of Harte’s best. ____ . Review of A First Family of Tasajara. The Athenaeum. l6 January 1892, p. Ô2. The author’s simplicity, "his great powers of des­ cription, of sketching character, of pathos, and of hu- > mour, all governed by his strong artistic reserve" are pointed out as Harte’s strong qualities. ____Review of A First Family of Tasajara. The Spectator, 30 January 1892, p. 142. Views the book as not very characteristic of Harte, nonetheless a very good one. Mentions Harte’s large au­ dience and the possible influence of Howells on the pre­ sent book. ____ . Review of Colonel Starbottle's Client. The National Observer, 12 March 1892, p. 439. Finds the book mediocre. 101 Anon. Review of Colonel Starbottle *s Client. The Athenaeum, 26 March I892, p. 401. The volume is attacked on several grounds as not up to Harte’s usual standard. Notably, his mannerisms are said to have approached trickery. ____ . "A Californian ’Colonel Newcome.’" The Gentleman’s Magazine, July 1892, pp. 107-08. This reviewer finds no loss of in Harte’s writing through his career. His humor, his tenderneds, his use of local color, his drawing of character and especially his originality are singled out for praise here. Thack­ eray seen as an influence on Harte. Harte, Bret. "My First Book." The Idler, 1 (1893?), 552-61. Harte himself recounts the circumstances of the pub­ lication of his first book. Anon. Review of Susy. The Bookman, February 1893, p, 162. Susy judged one of Harte’s best recent books. The title character is found a very truthful creation. _ , Review of Susy. The Athenaeum, 4 March 1893, P» 277< Lauds characterization, plot, and the sketches of local life and scenery—all this with Harte showing "no sign of diminishing artistic craftsmanship." ____The National Observer, 31 March 1894, p. 510« Passing reference to Harte. Discovers an influence of Harte on Harold Frederic. ____ . Review of Clarence. The Athenaeum, 28 September 1895, p. 414. Clarence said to illustrate its author’s astute ob­ servation. ____ . Review of In a Hollow of the Hills. The National Observer, 14 December I895, p. 147. Description of nature and the portrayal of the ma­ jor male character viewed as the best things in this "fascinating little number." Mentions that the "VZestern local colour, of course, is unimpeachable." Sharp, Luke and G. B. Burgin. "Francis Bret Harte." The Idler. 4 (1896?), 301-11. Two "interviews" of Harte. The first is an imagi­ nary one picturing Harte as a wild VZestern character? the second one apparently a real one, with Harte appear­ ing as a well-dressed, sophisticated man. Reflects Bri­ tish stereotyped notions of the Far VZest. 102 Anon. Review of In a Hollow of the Hills. The Athenaeum, 4 January 1896, p. 14. Generalizes about Harte’s facility in short forms, his limited range but fine workmanship. In a Hollow described as marked by precision in the description of character and of scenery and in the striking contrasts shown of life in the West. ____ . Review of Devil’s Ford. The Bookman, October 1896, p. 20. In his invention of incident and his paintings of character, Harte praised for not having abused a long reputation. Only for losing some of his clarity as a storyteller is he critisized. __ _. Article about John Hay. The London Times, 18 March 1897, P. 7. Brief reference to Harte. ___ . Review of Three Partners. The Athenaeum, 9 October 1897, P. 486. Notes that the dialogue and setting are up to the old standard, but that the plot and some of the charac­ ters are not. . Review of Three Partners. The Spectator, 30 October 1897, P. 603. Sees a falling off of Harte’s talents. However, the reviewer also says this is perhaps partially due to the audience’s satiety with his work. The present book, Instead of being, like Harte’s earlier work, brilliant and pathetic, is found a tawdry romance, . Review of Tales of Trail and Town. The London Times, 20 April 1898, p. 4. Mentions its sound description of external nature but treats the book as not one of Harte’s best. . Review of Some Later Verses. The Spectator, 11 June 1898, pp. 830-31. Discusses the volume in the perspective of Harte’s whole career: "even if Mr. Bret Harte's great creations are not quite as young and vigorous as they were, we ’still may look on them with kindness,' and they can still make us laugh and admire." . Review of Some Later Verses. The Athenaeum, 30 July 1898, p. 157. This review also pictures Harte as a writer who has lost some of his early power. States that the author is still best in the spheres of local color, and humor. 103 Howells, W. D, "American Letter: the Nature of American Literary Criticism." Literature, 22 October and 5 No­ vember 1898, pp. 378-79?~424-25. Howells writes in this English journal of the his­ tory and nature of American criticism, mentioning Harte’s work on the Overland Monthly. Anon. Review of Stories in Light and Shadow. The Athenae­ um, 31 December 1898, p. 928. Although some careless writing is pointed out in this book, Harte is here considered the best writer in the field of the Far Western short story. __ Review of Stories in Light and Shade. The London Times, 21 February 1899, p. 13» Harte’s sheer story telling ability is seen as a welcome relief from psychological and pessimistic wri­ ters. Stories found weak at times in its characters and generally in those stories not set in California. . Review of Mr. Jack Hamlin’s Mediation. The Spectator, 9 December 1899, P» 877» This reviewer thinks the present stories lack the incisiveness of Harte’s earlier work. They are still X. - UUilS lUCi'CU. uu nave, iivw o v ox y VliU OC4U. V//X p U w.1 setting; and characters. ____ . Review of Mr. Jack Hamlin’s Mediation. The London Times, 23 February 1900, p. 3« Praises the book on all fronts. . "Bret Harte." The Academy and Literature, 10 May 1902, p. 484. Review published shortly after Harte’s death. Ex­ amines his whole career and finds him best in his early work, in prose, and in the short story. There has been no writer since the 1870’s, says the reviewer, "to start such raptures as these stories stirred in us," Watts-Dunton, Theodore. "Bret Harte." The Athenaeum, 24 May 1902, pp. 658-60. Compares Harte, on some points, favorably to Dick­ ens and concludes that Harte’s reputation will be a lasting one. Summarizes the writer’s achievement: "Bret Harte had the great good fortune to light upon material for literary treatment of a peculiarly fresh and a peculiarly fascinating kind, and he had the ar­ tistic Instinct to treat it adequately." 104 Douglas, Janies. "Bret Harte." The Bookman, June 1902, pp, 92-94. Significant essay on Harte’s work and. reputation. Finds the American author not to present tastes because his romance is unmixed with realism. Concludes that there were two major reasons for Harte’s great early reputation: the contemporary demand for sentiment, and the novelty of his characters and scenes. States that Harte was a follower of Dickens and that one of his pos­ itive accomplishments was his humor in verse. Unlike most of the critics, this one saw no diminution in the writer’s talent: "Bret Harte did not change: we changed." Anon. Review of On the Old Trail. The Bookman, July 1902, pp. 144-45. Sees a continuing vigor in Harte’s work and finds this book characteristic. Whitten, Wilfred. "Bret Harte in Big." The Bookman, May 1903, pp. 64-66. Much of this article is a critique of T. Edgar Pemberton’s Life of Bret Harte. Comments on Harte him­ self include statements that he was a superb delineator of local life and universal human nature. Van de Velde, M. S. "Bret Harte: First and Last Tales of the Argonauts," The Gentleman's Magazine, December 1903, pp. 535-44. Analyzes the types of characters in Harte’s work. Harte’s early success said to be partially attributable to the fact that he invested with romance an absolutely new world. Points out the injustice of many criticisms of Harte. Mentions that he was attacked both for con­ tinually treating the same material and for not setting his stories in the land he knew best. Draws attention to the fact that "Bret Harte has had both the instanta­ neous recognition of his talent and the disadvantage of being constantly compared with himself." Chesterton, G. K. "The Ways of the World: Bret Harte." Pall Mall Magazine, 27 (1904?), 428-32. Chesterton treats Harte as basically a humorist who told the truth about his area of the world. Prais­ es Harte’s unique sort of humor and his powers as a pa­ rodist. 105 Joaquin Miller

Anon. Review of Songs of the Sierras. The Athenaeum, 3 June 1871, pp. ¿80-81. Although Miller is found, in the main, original, this critic says that no American poet can be complete­ ly outside the influence of English literary traditions. More particularly, Miller's characterizations, versifi­ cation and figures of speech are criticized; his des­ criptions found often very graphic. . Review of Songs of the Sierras. The Spectator. 8 July 1871, pp. 832-347 Despite some crudeness in execution, Songs is des­ cribed as vigorous, original, and uniquely American. Lauds Miller's descriptions, characters, and myth-making powers, ___ "A Singer from the Far West," review of Songs of the Sierras. Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, 5 August 18 71, pp. 4Ô7-90. Found just as much worthy of praise as his versifi­ cation and description is the fact that Miller's sub­ jects are novel, ____"Joaquin Miller's Songs of the Sierras.e Fraser's Magazine, September I87I, pp. 346-55« Concludes with the following comment about Miller: "but Mr. Miller must not believe his work to be more than well begun. His philosophy is still crude, his dramatic power ill-disciplined, his poetic expression unequal, his rhythm irregular; above all, he has as yet only pleased, it remains to be proved whether he can elevate, us. Yet, even if he fails to fulfill this, the poet's highest mission, we cannot but pronounce him to be, with all his shortcomings, the most remarkable narrative poet that America has yet produced," ____ , Review of Songs of the Sierras. Blackwood's Maga­ zine, October 1871, pp. 430-34, The power, fervor, and originality, as well as the new subject matter of Miller are praised. ____ . Review of Songs of the Sierras. The Examiner, 11 November 1871, PP. 1122424. Also finds in Miller great skill and power, and a poetry "racy" of the Western American soil. 106 Armstrong, George Francis. "Mr. Miller’s ’Songs of the Sierras.*" Dark Blue, 2 (1872?), 120-28. This reviewer is struck both by the novelty of Miller's subjects and by his vivid picturing of them. Notes as well Miller’s blunders in technique. Anon. Review of Songs of the Sun-Lands. The Examiner, 3 May 1873, PP. 45^59. Although Miller still has a unique subject and treatment of it, much of Songs is attacked as common­ place, ___ Review of Songs of the Sun-Lands. The Spectator, 14 June 1873, pp. 763^69. Contains significant comment on Miller’s English reputation: "the tone seems to us, indeed, less genuine and spontaneous; but this may be only because we were already in some degree familiar with it." ___ "Joaquin Miller’s Poetry," review of Songs of the Sierras and Songs of the Sun-Lands. New Monthly Maga­ zine, July 1873, PP. 637 Both Miller’s materials and his treatment of them are found very striking. He is enjoined to remain ori- — A —.I X ** A Fav» AAXX1CVX CX11U. UU a-VVAU. V•- X■ l‘K • z 4A...... vlciPi TA l...... AA^nlinWo x V V A 1 A TII.r Av* *4 +V• Vx “ I A VrfT a. he has true genius and originality and is "the most re­ markable poet that America has yet produced." ____ . • Review.of Life Among the Modocs. The Examiner, 2 August 1873, PP* 785-86. This book is described as "picturesque" even though the critic does not pretend to judge the accu­ racy of the narrative. Not only the story itself but also the picturing of Indian life and character and the plea for the race are admired. . Review of Life Among the Modocs. The Athenaeum, 9 August 1873» P • 168. Attacks the book for having a sensational title and for not really throwing any light on the history of the Indians. ____ . Review of Life Among the Modocs. The Spectator, 9 August 1873, p. 1013? Notes the author’s depiction of a singular aspect of American society. Also lauds "the rich and pictur­ esque delineations of character, incident, and scenery." 107 Anon. Review of Life Among the Modocs. The London Times, 15 August 1873. p. 7. Miller's sympathy for the Indians is mentioned and Life is found in the main "pleasant reading." . "Literary Gossip." The Athenaeum, 30 August 1873. p. 278. Reference to Miller. Criticizes him for being rude towards the Athenaeum reviewer of Life Among the Modocs. __ "Books to Read and Others," review of Life Among the Modocs. Vanity Fair, 13 September 1873» P* 92. Treats the book as primarily a very original sort of tract on Indian ways and problems. The narrative Is minor. ____ . "Mr. Miller's New Poem," review of The Ship in the Desert. The Athenaeum, 10 July 1875» P» 45. The Ship considered weak in characterization, vague, and narked by no growth in the author's mastery of tech­ nique • ____ . Review of The Ship in the Desert. The Examiner, 2 October 1875. p. Il4. Some unevenness in execution is noted, although most of the book is found good. ___ Review of The Ship in the Desert. The London Times, 16 October 1875» p".”47 Miller is seen to have a genuinely American talent, generally graceful versification, and great powers of observation and description. ____ . Review of First Families■of the Sierras. The Spec­ tator, 6 November 1875», PP* 1394-95» Bret Harte found to be Miller's superior in humor as well as in his "sense of beauty." ____ , "Joaquin Miller." Dublin University Magazine, Jan­ uary 18?6, pp. 90-95» The originality of Miller's works are praised and the critic states that "in magnificent breadth and gor­ geous brilliance of description, in uncloying richness of diction, in force and simplicity of narrative, in passionate earnestness and masculine vigour, Joaquin Miller is unexcelled by any transatlantic writer." 108 Anon. Review of The One Fair Woman. The Examiner. 18 March 1876, p, 326. Points out that Miller now receives an unreason­ able amount of blame, whereas he at first was praised inordinately in England. States the Miller’s works do have merit but that they have not improved. . Review of The One Fair Woman. The Athenaeum, 25 March I876, pp". 4-21-22. Argues that there are fine passages in this book but that otherwise "there is no plot, no action, and no character, and it is not a novel." . "Books to Read, and Others," review of The One Fair Woman. Vanity Fair, 20 May I876, p. 303. Faults the book for being vague and absurd. __ Review of Songs of Far-Away Lands. The Athenaeum, 19 October I878, pp.“789-90. Begins with a summary of Miller’s English reception. Finds the present book marked both by the author’s usual strengths and usual weaknesses. ____ . Review of Songs of Far-Away Lands and Songs of the Sierras. The Examiner, 2o October 1878, p” 1366. Like the preceding article, this one mentions Mil­ ler’s early "hysterical reception" in England. The critic says that Miller’s talents can now be seen more objectively, that he has some ability and the sense to exploit his unique subject matter. Compares him unfa­ vorably with Bret Harte. ___Review of Memorle and Rime. The Athenaeum, 13 Sep-- tember 1884, pp. 331-32. Because of much didacticism and false sentiment, this book viewed as good only in parts. Partington, J. H. E. "Joaquin Miller at Home." Black and White, 1 July 1893, PP* 12-14. Relates the circumstances of the author's visit with Miller at Miller’s home in California. Anon. Review of The Building of the City Beautiful. The Bookman, February 1895, p. 158. Characterization in The Building of the City Beau­ tiful is faulted. 109 Anon. ’’Joaquin Miller, the Poet of the Sierras." The Aca­ demy, 26 June 1897» p. 24. Notes the enthusiastic welcome Miller received in London in the early 1870's, describes his California home, and quotes from Miller's sketch about his first meeting with Robert Browning. . "Joaquin Miller, Browning, and the Prince Imperial." The Academy, 12 February 1898, pp. 181-82. Recounts the nature of the early reception of Mil­ ler in England and finds fallings in even this early and very popular work.

Helen Hunt Jackson

Anon. Review of Ramona. The Athenaeum, 20 December 1884, p. 802, Considers the main interest of the book to be the Indians and their being dispossessed. Notes also its pathos, sentiment, and description of California scen­ ery. ____ , Review of Ramona. The Spectator. 14 February 1885, pp. 221-22. Recounts at some length the plot of the novel and treats the book's pathos, characters, humor, and its depiction of the plight of the Indians.

C.j, M. "Mrs. Jackson." The Athenaeum, 29 August 1885, p, 271. Article called forth by Mrs. Jackson's death. Des­ cribes her as mainly a defender of the rights of North American Indians. Smith, G. Barnett. Review of Zeph. The Academy, 6 March 1886, p.162. This unfinished "little tale of Colorado life’’ is . seen to contain true pathos and insight into human na­ ture. The book also said to give an "aspect of the wo­ man question." Anon. Review of Zeph. The Athenaeum, 10 April 1886, pp. 485-86. Praises the volume on the same grounds as the above Academy reviewer. 110 Anon. Review of Zeph. The National Observer, 9 April 1892, p. 543. The story is found effective in its humor and pa­ thos, in its characterization, and in its use of the Missouri dialect. ____ . Review of Ramona. The Bookman, December 1914, p. 94. Retells the plot and notes the novel’s tender love story and its setting in picturesque California.

Mary Hallock Foote

Anon, Review of The Led-Horse Claim. The Athenaeum, 9 June 1883, p. 726. Centers on the sentiment and the Colorado setting of the story. ____ Review of The Led-Horse Claim. The Spectator, l4 February 1885, pp. 219-21. Praises Foote’s originality and perception of hu­ mor and pathos. Calls attention to her description of the sometimes picturesque mining camps of the Far West. Littledale, Richard. Review of John Bodewin’s Testimony. The Academy, 19 June 1886, p.' 430. Characterization seen as more important in the book than "local colouring and dialect." Anon. Review of The Chosen Valley. The Athenaeum, 1 April 1893, P. 406. Although there is some weakness in characterization, the novel is described as, on the whole, "a good story, rather spoilt by an excess of technical details and a tendency to rambling." Ill Midwest

Edward Eggleston

Anon. "Life in the Western States," review of The Hoosier School-Master. The Examiner, 6 April 1872, pp. 361-62', Says that Eggleston exhibits great power and skill in his depictions of the picturesque society of Flat Creek. . Review of Roxy. The Athenaeum, 14 September 1878, P. 336. Complains about the uncouth dialect of Roxy but finds a worthwhile plot and some good strokes in char­ acterization. ____ . Review of Roxy. Vanity Fair. 28 September 1878, p. 175. Argues that if Roxy is not as good as George Eliot’s Middlemarch, it is better than Scenes from Clerical Life. Mentions especially Eggleston’s knowledge of his scene and his insight into character. ____ . Review of Roxy. The Examiner, 26 October 1878, pp. 1366-67. Politics and religion are,found to be the greatest forces operative in the novel. Although some of Roxy * s characters are praised, the reviewer says that its set­ ting is one of those American villages which have "a singular monotony and colourless unpoetic dulness." _____, Review of The Shawnee Prophet. The Examiner, 14 Au­ gust 1880, p. 979. This child's history, written with Lillie Eggleston Seelye, is considered very accurate, useful, and readable. ___ Review of The Rival Warriors and The Mexican Prince. The Athenaeum, 29 October 1881, p. 561. Also written with Mrs. Seelye, these books are here attacked for emphasizing the wrong historical facts, for their dullness, and for seemingly being written in a too condescending tone for a supposed audience of children. 112 Noble, James A. Review of The Graysons. The Academy, 24 November 1888, p. 334. The Grays ons is lauded as "a decidedly interesting novel, and it gives one the impression of being a very truthful, as it is a very graphic, picture of rural life in central Illinois a generation ago." Anon. Review of The Grays ons. The Spectator, 24 November 1888, p. 1643. The subject of the novel Is one which the reviewer finds Eggleston knows well; he goes on to say that the book is "bright and most refreshing." ____ . Review of The Graysons. The Athenaeum, 12 January 1889, p. 49. Even though The Graysons is classified as a fine novel its author is accused of faults which he is said to have in common with most American novelists: a self- consciousness in the matter of style, dwelling on mono­ tonous details of provincial life, and a "dreary uni­ formity of appreciation"_of American humor. ____ . Review of The Faith Doctor. The Athenaeum, 5 Decem­ ber 1891, p. 759. The heroine is seen as the major interest in the novel, which the critic says enhances Eggleston's repu­ tation. . Review of The Faith Doctor. The National Observer, 19 December 1891, pp. 128-29. Attacks the novel for being boring and much below the level of the author's earlier work. . Review of The Faith Doctor. The Spectator, 19 March 1892, p. 408. Recounts the plot of The Faith Doctor and finds much sound characterization; also praises its style, humor, and pathos. ____ , Review of The Beginners of a Nation. The Athenaeum, 7 August 1897, p. 190. This book of pure history is said to be "very care­ fully composed," "and the story is told with admirable brevity." ___ Review of The Trans i t of Civilization. The Athenaeum, 25 January 1902, pp. 109-10. Another historical work, this volume is here con­ sidered trustworthy and readable. 113 John Hay

Anon. Review of Pike County Ballads. The Spectator, 29 July 1871, pp.“917-19. Comments on the poems' grim and sometimes cynical American humor and says that the poems "are full of sharp, graphic touches, which bring the vividest scen­ ery, physical and moral, before your eyes." ____ . Review of Pike County Ballads. The Athenaeum, 23 September I87I, pp. 394-95. Complains of having an overdose of dialect poems from America but finds vigor in these particular ones. ____ . Article about Joaquin Miller. The Examiner, 11 No­ vember 1871, pp. 1122-24. Brief mention of Hay. ____ . "Colonel Hay’s Pike County Ballads." The Examiner, 25 November 1871, pp. 1170-71• Cites Hay’s humor and says that the Pike County dialect poems are superior to the others, that they are "dramatic, direct, forcible, and graphic utterances, iUlj. u± luuai uuxuuri . Review of Castilian Days. The Spectator, 17 Febru­ ary 1872, pp. 216-17. In this review of a book about Spain the critic feels that the author of the Pike County Ballads could hardly write anything lacking in spirit and originality. ____ . Review of Castilian Days. The Athenaeum, 24 Febru­ ary 1872, pp. 234-35. Hay viewed as a shrewd observer in this non-local color work. ____ . "A New American Novelist," review of The Bread-win­ ners . The Saturday Review, 2 February 1884, pp. 154-55» Characterization seen to be the strong point of this sociological novel. ____ . "The New United States Ambassador as Man of Letters," The Academy, 27 February 1897, PP» 259-60. Recalled at this time, the Ballads are considered fine humorous verse. 114 Anon. "The New United. States Ambassador." The Spectator, 27 February 1897, p. 298. Discusses Hay's literary career, principally as the author of the Pike County Ballads, and concludes that his "reputation here is due to our appreciation of his peculiarly American humour and peculiarly American auda­ city of imagination." . Review of Pike County Ballads. The London Times, ~T3 March 1897, p. 7. The Ballads are classified as Hay's best work and their early success in England is noted. ___ . Review of Castilian Days and Poems. The Spectator, 38 August 1897, PP. 276-77. Review of new editions of these works. ____ , Article about Bret Harte. The Athenaeum, 24 May 1902, pp. 658-60. Passing references to Hay.

James Whitcomb Riley

Anon. Review of Old-Fashioned Roses. The Spectator, 8 February 1890, pp. 211-12. Draws attention to the humor, melody, and dialect of the poems. . Review of Poems Here at Home. The Athenaeum, 3 March 1894, p. 276.' The use of dialect and humorous versification :.ir­ is seen at times extraneous to the subject matter— "like a sauce—when there is no meat." . Review of "Leonainie." The Bookman, December 1894, p. 74. Reprints "Leonainie" and explains the Poe hoax, ____ . Review of The Rubaiyat of Doc Slfers. The Specta­ tor, 26 February 1898, p.. 304. The fact that the poem is set in New England is said to make it superficially less interesting, because that area does not possess the attribute of novelty. Finds Riley (along with Lowell, Harte, and Hay) very successful as a writer in dialect. 115 Anon. "The Hoosier Poet," review of The Golden Year. The Academy, 17 December 1898, pp. 472-73» Argues that an obstacle in the way of fame for a writer who uses dialect is that others do not necessa­ rily know his jargon. Maintains that this holds also for the English reception of regional English writers. Further, Riley is described as a "poet of homeliness and tenderness." Wallace, A. R. "The ’Leonalnie• Problem." The Fortnightly Review, 1 April 1904, pp. 706-11. Explains the "Leonalnie" hoax. Praises "Armazindy."

Will Carleton

Anon. "An American Crabbe," review of Farm Ballads. Cham­ bers *s Edinburgh Journal, 50 (1873?)» ¿18-20. Carleton is described as a writer "who possesses the pathos and simplicity of our own Crabbe, and des­ cribes village life, as it is, with an equal fidelity." Davies, James. Review of Farm Festivals. The Academy, 24 Praises Carleton's homely pictures of farm life and his use of dialect.

Alice French

Anon. Review of Expiation. The Athenaeum, 9 August 1890, p. 189» A measure of descriptive power is seen the major strength of this tale of Arkansas. . Review of Otto the Knight. The Athenaeum, 20 Febru------âry 1892, p. 24Ï7------French praised for her knowledge of her area and its characters and dialect. ____ . Review of The Heart of Toll. The Athenaeum. 5 Au­ gust 1899, P» 189» Despite some difficult dialect, the dialogue Is found clever and the story well-written. 116 The South

George Washington Cable

Anon. Review of Madame Delphine. The Athenaeum, 13 August 1881, p. 203. High praise for the books “the people, the way of life, the accessories, are all unfamiliar? but Mr. Cable has the power of making them distinct, realizable, and attractive, and this is done without any show of labour." _ __ • "American Novels." The London Times, 23 and 26 Sep­ tember 1882, p. 4 and p.-77 Cable said to have brought to the South that sort of local writing which was forming the basis of a truly American literary art, true to the region, spontaneous, and original. ____ . Old Creole Days in list of recent novels. The Athe­ naeum, 12 May 1683, p. 601. Notice of publication of Old Creole Days.

A ovm 09 VovâwXo?» • Review of Dr. Sevier. The XX V U i t A, VZ » VUÀk/wl 1884, p. 657. Finds in Dr. Sevier sound plot and characteriza- tion. Also praises Cable’s originality, his objective view of North and South, and his use of dialect (even though the last "makes the book a little hard to read"). . Review of Dr. Sevier. Westminster Review, 67 (Jan­ uary 1885), 293. Considers the book to have less charm than Old Creole Days. Although scene and character are in the main well drawn, the novel is too "persistently and mo­ notonously sad." ____ , Mention of Cable’s definition of a Creole word. Westminister Review, 67 (April 1885), 572. One-line reference. ____ . Review of The Creoles of Louisiana. The Spectator, 5 September.18677 pp. 1172-73«- Recounts the history of Louisiana as depicted in Cable’s book and finds it interesting for its own sake. Also draws attention to Cable’s "graphic style" and his "lively and entertaining pages." 117 Anon. Review of Madame Delphine, Carancro, and Grande Pointe. The Athenaeum, 23 July 1887, p. 115» "Madame Delphine" considered the most affecting of the stories, although all are "concise and vivid." ____ . Review of Madame Delphine, Carancro, and Grande Pointe. Westminster Review, September 1887, p. 784. Views Cable as the best writer on his particular, subject. His Creoles are well-drawn and the pathos in his stories is central to all of them, although here there is an undue and almost morbid exalting of self- sacrifice. Saintsbury, George. Review of Bonaventure. The Academy. 19 May 1888, p. 340. Despite Cable’s wonted subject matter, this book is seen to have an originality which seems more common to Southern writers than to Northern. The local quali­ ty of the novel is the principal basis for praise: "the charm of the book lies rather in its succession of bright and masterly sketches of manners, dialogue, and scenery, than in any sustained interest of character or story." Anon. Review of Bonaventure. The Spectator. 26 May 1888, p. 727. Cable is lauded for being both literal and poetic, realistic and idealistic. Mentions that the dialect is difficult, especially for an Englishman. . Review of Bonaventure, The Athenaeum, 7 July 1888, P. 33. States that, in his place, Cable is a fine writer, although this book is not one of his best. ____ . Article about Edward Eggleston. The Athenaeum, 12 January 1889, p. 49. Short reference to Cable. . Review of Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War. The National Observer, 12 May 1894, p. 668. Notes the human interest in the volume. . Review of Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War. The Athenaeum, l4 July 1894, p. 57» The book said to have intrinsic merit, even though, because of its subject and use of slang, it is probably more pertinent to Americans than to the English. 118 Anon. Review of Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War. The Spectator, 22 September 1894, p, 381. Summarizes the contents of the volume and notes the great amount of literature based upon incidents of the Civil War. ____ . Review of John March, Southerner. The Athenaeum, 30 March 1895, p, 4o6. Attacks the novel on the grounds of its "jerky" language and its too complicated plot. Says that there are some good things about love in the book. ____ . Review of John March, Southerner. The National Ob­ server, 6 April 1895, p. 557. John March criticized for its too difficult dia­ lect and its tedious narrative. ____ . Review of John March, Southerner. The Bookman, May 1895, P. 58. The part of the plot about land difficulties in the South is considered too technical to be easily un­ derstood, Otherwise Cable is praised for his charac­ terizations, his "masterly workmanship" and his "un­ doubted power." _ ___. "Mr. G. W. Cable." The Academy, 12 June 1897, P, 15« Lauds Cable’s work and calls attention to other of his activities, such as his encouragement of home cul­ ture clubs. . "Interview with Mr. G. W. Cable." The British Weekly, 5 May 1898. Written on the occasion of Cable’s visit to England. . "Mr. G. W. Cable in London." The Academy, 7 May 1898, pp. 497-98. Reprints the British Weekly interview of Cable in which he answers questions about his writing and his public readings. Old Creole Days called a "masterpiece" in the introduction to the interview. Ridge, W. Pett. "Mr. G. W. Cable and his Passon Jones." The Bookman, June 1898, pp. 64-65. High praise of Cable’s powers as writer and as dra­ matic reader. M., A. Review of The Grandlsslmes. The Bookman, June 1898, pp. 72-73. Calls the book "one of the great American novels" and notes its strengths, especially the character Aurore. 119 Anon. "Two Prefaces by Mr. Barrie." The Academy Supple­ ment , 4 June 1898, p. 604. Reprint of "about half" of James M. Barrie’s pre­ face to a new English edition of The Grandlsslmes. ____ . "Mr. Cable in England." The Critic, 11 June 1898, p. 387. Says that Cable is "widely known and admired for his clever studies of southern life" and lauds his dra­ matic readings, Howells, W. D. "American Letter» the Politics of American Authors." Literature, 16 July 1898, pp. 41-42. Briefly notes that Cable had become politically quite liberal and therefore unsympathetic to many white Southerners, Anon. Article about Thomas Nelson Page. The Bookman, April 1899, p. 23. Calls Cable and Page "the two spokesmen for the Southern cause in imaginative literature." ____ . "Mr. G. W. Cable's New Book," review of Strong Hearts. The Bookman, June 1899» p. 77«

XP-» CnA Uk/ Xl.o V* r* U*5A» V A VOA-X** *x+x --4X <►-?> 4v" •f *-« 1V IVmILTHTIIP -V*» 4 ’7 O C— Vxx «— Aw’/—mxx*« tents of Strong Hearts and calls it a "gem among books." ____ . Review of The Cavalier. The London Times, l4 No­ vember 1901» p. 13» Says that Cable is a worthy writer, although the critic also faults this book for having an unnecessarily complex plot. . Review of The Cavalier. The Athenaeum, l6 November 1901, p. 658. Finds some vivid description in the novel but a too complicated plot. Like the immediately preceding review, notes that Cable's sympathies are with the South. ____ . Article about Thomas Nelson Page. The London Times. 1 January 1902, p. 5» Brief reference to Cable. 120 Mary Noallles Murfree

Purves, Jas. Review of In the Tennessee Mountains. The Academy, 19 July 1884, pp. 39-70. Despite a sometimes difficult dialect, the book is found well-told and "bright with local colouring, and vivid with dramatic interest." Parks, Edd Winfield. Charles Egbert Craddock. University of North Carolina, 1941. Pp. llln and 171. Mentions that In the Tennessee Mountains was sold to an English publisher in 1884 and that it gained cri­ tical recognition for its author in that country. Dawkins, C. E. Review of The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains. The Academy, 31 October 1885» p. 287• High praise for the novels "as a series of posi­ tively lurid sketches of scenery, character, and life, all harmonising with each other—for it can hardly be called a novel—The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains surpasses anything of the kind that has yet come from America."

Iao +■ ZUlUlii il^vxonr.r flvvoQ 1 WO . The Athenaeum, 9 January l676, p. 65« Original characters, racy phrases, and a vigorous freshness are found to make the novel a fine one despite some difficult dialect and a too long story. Parks, Edd Winfield. Charles Egbert Craddock. University of North Carolina, 19717 P. l4ln. Quotes a letter by Miss Murfree in which she men­ tions that In the Clouds "met with the highest commen­ dation both in America and England." Sharp, William. Review of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove. The Academy, 27 April 1889, p"«" 284. Says that Miss Murfree writes good dsecriptions of scenery, although she over-does it at times. Some of the dialect is considered hard even for an American. Judges that this book is the writer’s best—"in colour and picturesqueness it is certainly a brilliant piece of work," 121 Aide, Hamilton. Review of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove. The Nineteenth Century, December I8B9, pp, 994-97• Although sound in most of its descriptions and characterizations, humorous and original, the book is found too long. Mentions the difficulty of the dia­ lect used and the fact that the last part of the book is superior to the first. Anon. Review of The Despot of Broomsedge Cove. The Athenaeum, 8 February 1890, p. 176. The novel is compared unfavorably to Bret Harte’s work. ____ • Review of In the Stranger People’s Country. The Bookman, December~T691, pp. 111-12. Treats principally the characters of the book} finds their motives well analyzed and the story a fascinating one. ____ • Review of In the Stranger People's Country. The Athenaeum, 19 Dec ember 1091, P « 830. The story viewed as clever and original, although over-written in many passages. « Review of In the Stranger People's Country. The National Observer, 16 January I892, pp." 228-29. Argues that Miss Murfree has great narrative power and humor and that her faults (a sometimes too- thorough analysis of character and a propensity to use description almost for its own sake) are attribu­ table to the public's demand for local color. ____ . Review of In the Stranger People's Country. Westminster Review, February 1892, p. 223. Sees the book as very romantic, "a sort of me­ dieval episode enacted in our own time." Considers several characters quite striking. ___Review of His Vanished Star. The Athenaeum, 17 November 1894, p. ’672/ Lauds not only the book’s characters and descrip­ tion but also says that the scenery is a "perfectly fitting and harmonious background for character." Parks, Edd Winfield. Charles Egbert Craddock«, University of North Carolina, 1941.' pp7 l63-647 Discovers that Miss Murfree’s English reception was perhaps not as enthusiastic as her American oneo 122

Anon. Article about Hay. Academy, 27 February 1897» P* 260. Mentions that the novel is powerful, original, and impressive. ____ . Review of The Juggler. The Spectator, 9 July 1898, p. 52. Finds a sense of the picturesque and an insight into character in Miss Murfree*s work, but complains of a stark contrast between "literary” reflective passages and realistic dialogue—"a sort of blend of Mr. Henry James’s later manner and the purple patches of the Daily Telegraph." ____ • Review of The Story of Old Fort Loudon. The Athe­ naeum, 10 June 1899, p. 720. Praises Miss Murfree's skill, charm, and popular­ ity. Treats her as a writer who opened up a new area of America for literature. Parks, Edd. Winfield. Charles Egbert Craddock. University of North Carolina, 1941. p. 225. Quotes a letter by Miss Murfree in which she men­ tions that she received many letters from England about her stories written in 1909.

Thomas Nelson Page

Anon. Review of In Ole Virginia. The Athenaeum, 17 Au­ gust I889, p. 220. The major obstacle to the enjoyment of the tales is said to be the Negro dialect in which they are written, "a strange language, chiefly consisting of apostrophes." ____ . Review of On Newfound River. The Athenaeum. 15 Au­ gust 1891, p0 220. Notes the humor, dialect, and artlessness of the novel• ____ . Review of Elsket and other Stories. The Athenaeum, 2 April 1892, p. 434. Finds that the collection has great variety and is well-written. _ __ . Review of Elsket and other Stories. The National Observer, 30 April I892, p. 617. The title story is considered the best in the vol­ ume, having "true pathos." 123 Anon. Review of The Burial of the Guns. The National Ob­ server, 29 December 1894, p. 192. Praises the volume for its simple and. distinctive style and for its exhibiting a thorough knowledge of Virginian life and character. ____ . Review of Red Rock. The Spectator, 28 January 1899, P. 139. The reviewer’s major complaints are about the char­ acter of the hero and the loosely knit plot. Notes that Page’s political bias comes through in the novels "we cannot wholly acquiesce in Mr. Page's persistent glori­ fication of the patrician South as a faithful present­ ment of events before and after the war." ____ 0 Review of Red Rock. The Athenaeum, 11 February 1899, p. 176. Describes the book as not so much a plotted novel as "a picture of the Southern states after the war." Says that the book is well-written and its characters interesting, although sometimes stereotyped. ____ . Review of Red Rock. The Bookman, 16 April 1899, p. 23. Along with Cable called one of "the two spokesmen for the Southern cause in imaginative literature," Page is praised for writing a book full of humanity, humor, and pathos. The critic qualifies Page's picture of na­ tional life by saying that "he has revealed the best of the South and generally the worst of the North." . Review of In Ole Virginia. The London Times, 1 Jan­ uary 1902, p. 5, col. 4. Again with Cable, Page is seen as "likely to take honours as a delineator of old provincial life in the Southern States of America." ____ . Review of In Ole Virginia. The Athenaeum, 4 January 1902, p. 16. Lauds the simple style, the narrative lines, and the use of dialect—even though it is at first difficult —in these stories. Says that Page knows the South well. . Review of Gordon Keitho The Athenaeum, 29 August 1903, P. 281. Maintains that although Page is a good story-teller, here he is sadly prolix«, Notes his apparent lack of knowledge of English society and the effectiveness of of his portraits of the South. 124 Joel Chandler Harris

Anon. Review of Uncle Remus» His Songs and His Sayings. Literary World, April 1881, pp. 250-52. Finds in the volume "a vein of humor, which to our­ selves—and we doubt not to English readers generally— is entirely new, and which is at once amusing and inter­ esting, in a very high degree." ____ . Review of Nights with Uncle Remus. The Spectator, 12 January 1884, pp. 53-54. Significant essay pointing out the humor, skill, and originality of this book and Harris’ first. Says the tales are fine in their revelations of Negro life and character as well as in their animal fables., ____ • Review of Mingo. The Athenaeum, 2? September 1884, p• 401• States that the public has perhaps become satiated with "the Uncle Remus sort of thing." ____ . Article about Alice French. The Athenaeum, 20 Feb­ ruary 1892, p. 241. Brief mention of Harris. ____ . Review of A Plantation Printer. The National Obser- ver, 30 April 1892, p. 617. A Plantation Printer judged not very weighty: "no­ thing more than the history of a good little boy with a few stray negroes and jargoning dashed in here and there for the sake of local colour." ____ . Review of Uncle Remus and his Friends. The Athe­ naeum, 20 May 1893, P» 634. Classifies the book as not superior to his previous one. Thinks the animal stories the best things in the volume. ___ Review of Little Mr. Thlmblefinger and his Queer Country. The Athenaeum, 16 February 1895, P» 214'. Argues that the book is inferior to Uncle Remus* tales, that Brer Rabbit is not as representative or charming as earlier, and that the book loses by its lack of Negro dialect. ____ . Review of Sister Jane: Her Friends and Acquaintan­ ces . The Literary World, 26 February 1897» PP» 191-92. Cites Harris’ authenticity as a Southern writer: "Mr. Harris writes too feelingly not to have lived among the scenes and the situations he depicted-. 125 Anon. Review of Aaron In the Wilderness and Sister Jane. The Athenaeum, 20 August 1898, p. 252. Aaron is found more characteristic than Sister Jane. The critic complains that Harris cannot tell a story skillfully and that some people are tiring of his sort of writing. Concludes that Harris’ reputation rests upon his early success. 126 New England

Mary E. Wilkins

Foster, Edward. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. New York» Hen­ dricks House, Inc., 1956. P? 89. Says that Wilkins* works were read on the continent, and that The Critic wrote in I89O that "there is some­ thing like a craze in England over Mary E. Wilkins." Anon. Review of A Far-away Melody and other Stories. Westminster Review, August 1890, pp. 215-137 With her insight into universal experiences Wilkins is seen to give significance to her stories despite the fact that her settings are not exotic and her characters very unromantic. ____ • Review of A New England Nun and other Stories 0 The Athenaeum, 18 July 1891, pp. 93-947" Criticizes Wilkins for falling into a fixed manner and for sometimes developing characters beyond the point where they further the human interest of the stories. ____ • Review of A New England Nun and other Stories. The Spectator, 3 October 1891, pp. 449-50. Although chronicles unexciting lives and reproduces uncouth dialect, Miss Wilkins is praised for her insights characterization, and style. ____ . "Mary E. Wilkins." The Bookman, December 1891» pp. 102-03. States that Wilkins knows the New Englander very well, especially middle-aged women. Adds that the wri­ ter's power more than compensates for the commonness of her materials. ____ . "The Ossification of the Will," review of A Far-away Melody. The Spectator, 2 January 1892, pp. 11-12. Interesting thesis about many of Miss Wilkins’ New England characters» "there is such a thing as self- predestination, and when that self-predestination takes a hasty and inconsiderate form in a man whose power of setting himself in motion is a great deal larger than his power of arresting his course when he sees it to be going wrong, we have precisely that lrresistable momentum of distorted volition which Miss Wilkins gives us so sin­ gularly a powerful a picture." 127 Anon. Review of Young Lucretia. The National Observer, 5 November 1892, p. 639» Says that this book shows Wilkins to be as accurate an interpreter of childhood, as of adulthood In its more ordinary aspects. ____ . Review of Young Lucretia. The Athenaeum, 12 Novem- 1892, p. 662. Maintains that the author's strength lies in her delicate and simple stories and style, which bring out "the poetry latent in everyday occurrences.’’ . Review of Jane Field. The Bookman, January 1893. p. 129. Criticizes Jane Field for showing lives so complete­ ly limited and events so melancholy that the story be­ comes monotonous and the misery seems gratuitous. . Review of Jane Field. The Athenaeum, 7 January 1893, p. 14. Finds the novel not so accomplished as some other of the author's tales of obscure and ordinary lives. Surmises that the characters are not easily identified with and that perhaps Miss Wilkins is best in the short story. ____ . Review of Jane Field. The National Observer, 14 January 1893, p. 220. Considers Jane Field another illustration of Wil­ kins’ knowledge of New England life and of her insight into character. ____ . Article about Jewett. The Spectator, 2 September 1893, p. 308. Sarah Jewett described as second to Miss Wilkins in writing tales of New England. ____ . Article about The Honorable Stanburg. The National Observer, 21 Apr i 1 "i$94, p. 590. Reference to Wilkins. ____ . Review of Pembroke. The Athenaeum, 9 June 1894, p. 739. Maintains that Wilkins is better in shorter forms than in the novel. ____ . Review of Pembroke. The Spectator, 23 June 1894, pp. 858-59. Calls Pembroke the best of Miss Wilkins' works to date. Discusses primarily the author's delineations of society and individual character, especially those char­ acters who have set wills. 128 Anon. Review of Madelon. The Bookman, June I896, p. 84. Views the novel as a powerful one marked by fine workmanship. Even though the characters and story are more exotic than in earlier tales of New England by the author, says the book is an excellent one. ____ . Review of Madelon. The Saturday Review, 4 July I896, pp. 16-17. Attacks the book mainly on the grounds of its poor characterizations, improbable melodramatic plot, and lack of sense of style. Attributes the decline in Madelon from the high level of the author’s earlier work to her being misled by the seeming success of the inept "The Long Arm•" ____ . Review of Jerome. The Spectator, 30 October 1897, p. 604. Welcomes Jerome as a return to Miss Wilkins* usual subject matter, although her plot here is sometimes slow. ____ . Review of Jerome. The Athenaeum, 20 November 1897» p. 706. Although at times a little monotonous, the reviewer also says of Jerome that it is "nearly up to par of Miss Wilkins's previous fine work." Gwynn, S. L. Review of Pembroke. Edinburgh Review, April 1898, pp. 392-96. Notes that will and conscience are the controlling factors in the lives of the author’s New England charac­ ters and finds "few failings in her sincere and genuine art," Howells, W. D. "American Letter: Puritanism in Fiction.” Literature, 14 May 1898, pp. 563-64. Howells conjectures about the influence of Puritan­ ism on the New Englander and says that Miss Wilkins’s stories are marked by a close fidelity to New England character. Anon. Review of Silence and other Stories» The Spectator, 23 July 1898, pp. 120-21. Lauds the author's "delicate studies, at once ro­ mantic and homely, of the still life of rural New Eng­ land ." ____ g Review of Silence and other Stories. The Bookman, August 1898, p. 138. Views this collection as illustrative of an Increase in Miss Wilkins’s powers; praises her descriptions and her effective use of pathos and humor. 129 Anon. Review of Silence and other Stories. The London Times, 10 September 1898j p. 4, col. 6. Concerned more with the boring and "unlovely life" of New England than with Miss Wilkins's particular tran­ scripts of that life. ____ . Review of The Jamesons. The Spectator, 14 October 1899, pp. 535-367 Primarily a plot summary which concludes that "al­ together this Is a delightful little book, abounding by turns in humorous, tender, and shrewd sayings." ____ . Review of Love of Pars on Lord. The Athenaeum, 28 April I9OÓ, p. 527. Plot, characterization, and humor are singled out as strong points of the collection. ____ . Review of Love of Pars on Lord. The Bookman, May 1900, p. 62. Finds that this volume is comparable to Wilkins's earlier books and that she has not yet exhausted her New England materials• • Review of Heart's Highway. The Athenaeum, 20 Octo- Uer 1900, p. 5687 Set in seventeenth century Virginia, this book is found by critic to be interesting, and its setting and characters imaginatively well-constructed. ____ . Review of Understudies. The London Times, 1 June 1901, p. 13, col. 3. Compares Miss Wilkins to Mrs. Gaskell and says that although her materials are not exciting she is original and unique. ____ . Review of The Portion of Labor. The London Times, 26 December 1901, p. 11. Recounts the plot and says that the story is too long, although there is some sound characterization. ___ _. Review of The Portion of Labor. The Athenaeum, 4 January 1902, p. 12. Much like the previous review, finds some tedium but much interesting. Watts— Dunton, Theodore. "Bret Harte." The Athenaeum, 24 May 1902, p. 659. "There are no more exquisite stories in the world than those of Miss Wilkins." 130

Anon. Review of The Givers. The Athenaeum, 2 July 1904, p. 13. Considers The Givers on a par with Mrs, Freeman’s earlier work. ____ . Review of The Givers. The Bookman, September 1904, P. 215. Mrs. Freeman’s "finished simplicity of style" and "emotional power" come in for high praise. Foster, Edward. Mary E, Wilkins Freeman. New York»: Hen­ dricks House, Inc., 1956. P? 131. Conan Doyle reported to have called Pembroke "the greatest piece of fiction since The Scarlet Letter." De La Mare, Walter. Review of By the Light of the Soul. The Bookman, March 1907» p. 269. De La Mare lauds Mrs. Freeman’s caharacter sketches and her charm as a writer. He also takes notice of "her very wide reputation." Foster, Edward. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. New York» Hen­ dricks House, Inc., 1956. Pp. 179 and 183. Reprints part of an article about Wilkins which appeared in the New York Herald. Max Pemberton states that the English had "always been ready to place her among the first of American realists." Also, a state­ ment by a representative of Harpers calling attention to Wilkins's significant English following.

Sarah Orne Jewett

Anon. Review of A Country Doctor0 The Athenaeum. 30 Au­ gust 1884, p. 272, Criticizes the novel for having a muddled plot. Inappropriate descriptive digressions and "making a story the vehicle for her ideas on things in general" are also found failings of the work. . Review of A Country Doctor. The Spectator, 18 Octo­ ber 1884, pp. 1378<9. Recounts the plot of the book and concludes that it is an uncommon and original novel. Nan’s career and re­ fusal to marry seen as the major interest in the story. Mild criticism of the plot for being slow moving at times. 131 Noble, James A. Review of The King of Folly Island and Other People. The Academy, 18 August 1888, p. 100. Although considered very able, the volume is found too arty and modern. The stories are criticized for being episodes, slices of life, whose antecedents and consequences we know nothing about. Anon. Review of The King of Folly Island. The Athenaeum, 13 October 1886,' pT 481. Also finds fault with Miss Jewett’s method. Des­ pite writing well and creating individualized characters, she is viewed as "sadly wanting in the gift of construc­ tion, and seems to come to an end without knowing what she was driving at." ____ . "Miss Jewett’s Tales of New England." The Spectator, 2 September 1893, p. 30&. Considers Miss Jewett second to only Miss Wilkins as a writer about New England and compares the two at some length. States that Jewett seems more English, sometimes reminding one of Mrs. Gaskell, than the more specifically New English Wilkins. ____ . Review of Deephaven. The Athenaeum, 10 February

-X, fink7~r , p • 1jl ol fl ■ Praises characterization in the volume while men­ tioning that the people in it tend all to speak alike. ____ . Review of The Queen’s Twin. The Athenaeum, 28 April 1900, p. 527. Finds Miss Jewett less severe and less preoccupied with the past than Mary E. Wilkins. Otherwise, they are both seen to be of the "New England school," Wilkins be­ ing perhaps the more able in constructing stories in­ geniously. . Review of The Tory Lover. The Bookman, December 1901, p. 99. Classifies The Tory Lover as a fine historical no­ vel, treating rather romantically characters and inci­ dents connected with the American Revolutionary War. Frost, John Eldridge. Sarah Orne Jewett. Milford, New Hampshire: The Cabinet Press, 19607 Pp. 127-28, 141. Mentions that Kipling and other English writers admired Miss Jewett's work. 132 Anon. Review of The Tory Lover. The London Times, 14 De­ cember 1901, p. 9» Argues that the author falsifies the historical character of John Paul Jones. Garnett, Edward. "Books Too Little Known» Miss Sarah Orne Jewett’s Tales." The Academy and Literature, 11 July 1903. PP. 40-41. Major analysis of the nature of Miss Jewett’s ar­ tistic accomplishment. Maintains that in her best work Jewett approaches greatness. Notes a "peculiar spirit­ uality" and feminine quality to her work and ranks her second only to Hawthorne in the "interpretation of the spirit of New England soil." OTHER WORKS CONSULTED

Butcher, Philip» George Washington Cable, New York« Twayne Publishers, Inc.,1962, Cousins, Paul M. Joel Chandler Harris « A Biography. Baton Rouge, Louisiana« Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Foster, Edward. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. New York« Hendricks House, Inc., 1956. Frost, John Eldridge. Sarah Orne Jewett. Milford, New Hampshire« The Cabinet Press, i960. Gohdes, Clarence. American Literature in Nineteenth Cen­ tury England. New York« Columbia University Press, ÏW. Gross, Theodore L. Thomas Nelson Page. New York« Twayne Publishers, Inc,, 1967. Martin, Jay. Harvests of Change « American Literature 1865°!916. Englewood Cliffs. New Jersey« Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1967« Nevins, Allan. The.Emergence of Modern America, I865-I878. New Yorks The MacMillan Company, 1927» O’Connor, Richard. Bret Harte« A Biography. Boston« Little, Brown, 1966. Parks, Edd Winfield. Charles Egbert Craddock. University of North Carolina Press, 19Ï1 • Randel, William» Edward Eggleston. New York« Twayne Pub­ lishers , Inc •, 1963. Spencer, Benjamin T. "Regionalism in American Literature," in Regionalism in America, ed» Merrill Jensen. Madison, Wisconsin« University of Wisconsin Press, 1951» Stewart, George R. Bret Harte » Argonaut and Exile. Port Washington, New York« Kennikat Press, 1959«