is 1\. -pl? FROM THE INCOME OF THE FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND THE BEQUEST OF . Librarian of the University 1868-1883 1905 . B..2?H:.'35S: asMH , ': The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the catl No. and give to the librariani . ^Fh 2-i^ ;&H HOME USE RULES. All 'books must be returned at end of col- lege year for inspec- tion and repairs. V V Students must re- ^ - turn all books before leaving town. Officers , -J. ,,,,, , should arrange for ^' Uil fiS the return of books wanted during their 1 1 absence from town, I, niu »«•IV^A • Boo^sis needed by more than one person are held on the reserve . list. Volumes of periodi- - - dais and of pataphlets are in AUG f t92g - held the library as much as possible. , For special purposes Borrowers should '•"'"JIIN 7 mm ityxn ^°^ ^^^ their library / titjU privileges fojrthe bene- fit of other persons. — Books of special i'gl a^^^ag^a 'tM *'^y^^"^ value and gift books, when th^ giver wishes it, are not allowed tp circulate. Readers are asked 'i to report all cases of books marked or muti- lated. Do not defacf books by marks and writing. Cornell University Library PR 99.N64 A bookman's letters. 3 1924 013 356 146 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013356146 A BOOKMAN'S LETTERS Works by W. Robertson NicoU SONGS OF REST. Sixth Edition. 2s. 6d. JAMES MACDONELL, JOURNALIST. Third Edition. 6s. LITERARY ANECDOTES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. By W. Robertson Nicoll and Thomas J. Wise. 2 Vols. LETTERS ON LIFE. By Claudius Clear. Forty-fourth Thousand, is. net. THE DAY BOOK OF CLAUDIUS CLEAR. Third Edition. 3s. 6d. IAN MACLAREN. The Life of the Rev. John Watson, D. D. With Portrait. Fifth Edition. 6s. MY FATHER. An Aberdeenshire Minister, 1812-1891. Third Edition. 2s. THE ROUND OF THE CLOCK. With Illustrations by George Morrow. Third Edition. 6s. THE PROBLEM OF EDWIN DROOD. Third Thousand. 3s. 6d. net. LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON A BOOKMAN'S LETTERS BY W;^^ROBERTSON NICOLL FOURTH EDITION '^l n HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO MCMXIII t\x^ ^^s% TO SIR GEORGE RIDDELL PREFACE This volume is, in the main, a selection from some hundreds of similar letters contributed to the British Weekly under the general title ' The Correspondence of Claudius Clear,' and addressed to a large popular audience interested in books and authors. I am deeply indebted to my colleague in the editorship of the Bookman, Mr. A. St. John Adcock, and other friends, for their kindness in helping me to choose from such a mass of material. Some pages are included from contributions to the North American Review, Blackwood's Magazine, and the Contemporary Review. Hampsteab, Nov. 1913. CONTENTS CHAT. PAQB I. MEMORIES OF (i) . MEREDITH . .1 II. MEMORIES OF MEREDITH (ii) ... 9 in. THE SIX BEST BIOGRAPHIES . .17 IV. THE CENTENARY OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1903) 26 V. THE SECRET OF EMERSON . , . .43 VI. WAS THACKERAY A CYNIC ? . .51 ' ' Vn. THEIR LIGHT ON TERESINA . .59 VIII. THE CONVERSATION OF EDMUND BURKE . 68 IX. PROFESSOR DAVID MASSON . .75 X. LETTERS OF SAMUEL BROWN TO GEORGE GILFILLAN 86 XI. THAT THE BEST LETTERS ARE WRITTEN BY THE MORTALLY WOUNDED . .97 XII. GEORGE AUGUSTUS SIMCOX . 105 Xin. THE TROUBLES OF THE ESSAYIST . 114 XIV. LORD ROSEBERY's LITERARY METHOD . 121 XV. THEODORE WATTS-DUNTON . • 131 A BOOKMAN'S LETTERS CHAP. XVI. MEDICATED LITEBATUEE : JOHN BROWN AND 139 OUVER WENDELL HOLMES . • 147 XVII. SIR WALTER BESANT . Xyill. GRAVY ..... 156 • 164 XIX. JANE AUSTEN . XX. THE ROMANCE OE A STILL LIFE, WITH A NOTE ON JANE AUSTEN .... 172 XXI. EDWARD FITZGERALD AND BERNARD BARTON . 183 XXII. WHY DID SHAKESPEARE RETIRE TO STRATFORD- ON-AVON ? . 192 XXin. THE LETTERS OF CHARLES LEVER . .199 XXrV. DR. RICHARD GARNETT . 207 XXV. LEARNING TO READ .... 216 XXVI. THE PLEASURES AND ADVANTAGES OF RE- READING ..... 226 XiiVII. ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE . 235 XXVIII. STRANGER THAN FICTION . 255 XXIX. THE TEXT OF POETS : A. CORRECTION CORRECTED 264 XXX. FREDERICK GREENWOOD . 272 XXXI. ON THE TENDERNESS AND COURAGE OF JOHN RUSKIN ..... 281 XXXII. GEORGE GISSING .... 288 CONTENTS xi OHAP. PAGE xxxiii. MR. Balfour's pixEA for cheerful books . 297 THE art of the REVIEWER XXXIV. (i) SEVEN WAYS OF REVIEWING . 806 XXXV. (ii) ON literary gossip and the eighth WAY OF reviewing . 315 XXXVI. ROBERT BUCHANAN .... 823 XXXVn. LAFCADIO HEARN : AN UNCONVENTIONAL LIFE 381 XXXVm. A NEW CRITIC MR. JOHN BAILEY . 840 XXXIX. THE novelist's LIFE .... 848 XL. AN IDYLL OF OLD DEVONSHIRE . 357 memories of mark RUTHERFORD XLI. (i) THE MAN AND HIS BOOKS . 864 XLII. (ii) THE EARLY LIFE OF MARK RUTHERFORD . 376 XLHI. (iii) MARK RUTHERFORD AS A POLITICIAN . 387 XLIV. (iv) MARK RUTHERFORD AS A CRITIC . 398 XLV. (v) THE SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF MARK RUTHER- FORD .... 405 XLVI. ROBERT BURNS . .418 XLVII. HOME FROM THE HILL . 417 XLVni. THE ACACIAS OF LAUSANNE . 419 INDEX ..... 429 MEMORIES OF MEREDITH (i) The beginning of my love for Meredith was on this wise : My father was a subscriber to a Uterary journal, long dead, called the Critic. He had preserved many of the old numbers, and I found them delightful reading. Some of the most eager and generous spirits of the time were contributors, and there was much about new poets and reformers and the coming dawn, all written in the optimist spirit of the early fifties. Mr. W. M. Rossetti reviewed in the Critic Mr. Meredith's first book, the poems of 1851. He had the wisdom to quote ' Love in the Valley,' which he justly called a very charming, rhythmical, and melodious poem. But Mr. Rossetti, if I remember rightly, thought the heroine brainless. Since then a similar objection has been brought against the ' May Queen.' It may frankly be admitted that neither of the girls had been to Girton nor could by any stretch of imagination be described as American. Every boy finds out some lyrics which he takes ' to his heart, and Love in the Valley ' was chosen by me, along with Sydney Dobell's ' In the hall the coffin waits and the idle armourer stands,' Alexander Smith's ' The Garden and the Child,' and some of Tennyson's. Tennyson read the lines in the Critic, and said he could not get them out of his head, such was their magical music and melody. The poem, in fact, has its sure place in the golden A 2 A BOOKMAN'S LETTERS scriptures of love. It should be reprinted in its original form, with the lines which Meredith added after publication, but never gave to the public. There is a copy of the 1851 book, interleaved with notes and cor- rections and additions by the author, which ought to be published in its completeness. The 1851 volume did not miss its mark altogether, but it had no such reception as Alexander Smith's poems were accorded when they were published at the same time in the Critic. In the fifties people bought poetry, but they did not buy Meredith. Alexander Smith, as Lowell said, was ' launched as I have seen boys launch their little vessels, with so strong a push as to run wholly under water.' With characteristic generosity and high-hearted- ness, Meredith swelled the chorus of praise. He did so though he saw his own little craft go down, while his brother poet's were riding prosperously on. There is evidence to show that the 1851 volume was much nearer Meredith's heart than might be imagined. From that day I watched every allusion to Meredith, and took such means as were at my command to get hold of his books. The 1851 volume escaped me, but I procured for one and sixpence The Shaving of Shagpat, and also I got Modern Love for two shillings. These books I studied earnestly till I thought I understood them, and I am still of opinion that whoever understands The Shaving of Shag- pat, Modern Love, and Evan Harrington knows a great deal of Meredith's inner mind. The Shaving of Shagpat had one strong admirer at least. It used to be considered the main business of critics to pursue with their little watering-pots the prairie fire of popularity. They may do little, perhaps they may even pour oU on the flame, but the fire bums MEMORIES OF MEREDITH 3 out in due time. There was no need for any one to attempt staying the popularity of The Shaving of Shagpat, for it had very little. George Eliot was at that time emerging from the obscurity of a reviewer, and writing her first story. The Sad Fortunes of Amos Barton. She compared Shagpat to Beckford's Vathek, which Byron admired so much, and said she had received more pleasure from The Shaving of Shagpat than from its popular predecessor. She thought George Meredith's book might have been called ' The Thousand and Second Arabian Night.' Not that it was an imitation. It was a worthy following which came from genuine love and mental affinity. But George Eliot acutely remarked that Meredith had no wish to study the popular mood, and she was right, for the first edition of Shagpat was sold as a remainder, and nine years elapsed before a second edition was issued. The next book of Meredith's I got hold of was Farina, a book hideous in its outward appearance, and, on the whole, disappointing in its contents.