CHICAGO ITEMS. CHICAGO, August 12, 1896. It In twenty-five years the Chicago Public Library has grown to be an institution of great importance to the community. Its influence can be measured in some degree through the figures given in a recent report of the librarian, Mr. F. H. Hild, to the Board of Directors. announces that the circulation of books and periodicals during the past year was greater than that of any similar institution in the world. It amounted to 2,542,244. The home circulation of books showed an increase of 57,192 over the preceding year, reaching 581,436 from the main library, and 592,150 from the delivery stations. This valuable system of delivery stations originated in this library some ten years ago when the late Dr. W. F. Poole was librarian. It has proved to be of vast importance in bringing the books close to the people. Thirty-one such stations are now in operation in different parts of the city, and each one contains a reading-room with periodicals and some reference books, besides furnishing facilities for the exchange of books. Cards are issued at these places as well as at the main library, and books returned there are sent by wagon to the central building. There the lists enclosed are examined, and the books desired are then returned to the station designated. The system is simple in operation and has given satisfaction to thousands who would find it difficult to make many trips to the central library. The following table indicates the taste of the readers who patronize the circulating department. The proportion of fiction in relation to the rest has been considerably lessened during the last few years: No other library reaches this figure, the three which approach nearest it being those at Manchester, England; Boston, Massachusetts, and Birmingham, England. The number of books in the library is 217,203; but its quarters in the City Hall have been too cramped to permit many purchases. Large accessions will be made when the sumptuous new building is completed early next year. Herbert S. Stone and Company have just published a remarkable novel which has been making a stir in London of late. "Without Sin" is the work of Martin J. Pritchard, who has really evolved a new plot. It treats of a Jewess who is filled with reverence for her race and a belief in its great destiny. A resemblance that she bears to an old painting of the Virgin Mary arouses in her an engrossing interest in the story of the Mother of Sorrows. Yet she thinks with the Jews that a redeemer is yet to be born to their race; and her emotional imagination prepares her for the belief, which comes to her as she reaches womanhood, that she is the chosen among women. Her faith is so piteously strong that it forces her to restrain her mother-love because of her reverent adoration. But in his third year the boy who is to redeem the world is seized with fever, and over his bedside there is a lurid struggle between faith and fear. Only on the third day after his death does the mother's mind grasp the truth that her son is mortal. It is a daring tale, but the author has almost power enough to justify it. It is much to say of it that he maintains the high dignity of his Botticelli heroine. Only through a recurring fleshliness and in his occasional minute de scriptions of material things, as in the mis taken intermezzo," does he threaten to dis lodge her from her pedestal. With its serene, mediæval, unearthly figure surrounded by a crowd of modern worldlings, the book is like a painting of Jean Beraud. It The translation from Gabriele D'Annunzio, issued by the same firm under the title of "Episcopo and Company," is also just out. Terrible as it is, sensuous as it is, no one could deny that it is a consummate work of art. The thing is as real as though we had heard the man's recital, as vivid as though we had witnessed the horror of its climax. deals with degraded characters, but every one of them is alive. A tale of misery and suffering and cowardice, it is yet a tremendous piece of work which compels our admiration. The translation by Myrta L. Jones is skilfully made. Messrs. Stone and Company announce a new book by Maria Louise Pool, a rambling story called "In Buncombe County," and "The Fearsome Island," by Albert Kinross, which is told in a last century manner and is said to contain " good old-fashioned enchantments without any scientific pretext or explanation." The Chap-Book will publish a series of articles by Alice Morse Earle on "Curious Punishments of Bygone Days," which will be collected later into a book. It will also print three caricatures by Max Beerbohm of William Archer in worshipful attitude before a bust of Ibsen, Andrew Lang, and Bernard Shaw-all absurdly clever. The Chap-Book for August first is memorable because of a story by Octave Thanet, which is exquisitely sympathetic and tender-one of the few things that one cannot afford to miss. Miss Elizabeth S. Kirkland, who died in this city July 30th, was a woman of great force of character and a writer of ability. Most of her literary work was done for schools, and her long experience as an educator gave it peculiar value. She has published short histories of England, France, and English literature; and at the time of her death she had just finished a Short History of Italy," which A. C. McClurg and Company will publish. Last spring Miss Kirkland, with indefatigable energy, established a college settlement in a degraded part of this city, and she became deeply interested in the work that it entailed. She was a sister of Major Joseph Kirkland, the author of "Zury" and "The Captain of Company K," whose death a few years ago was so widely lamented. ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LEADING CONTENTS OF THE SEPTEMBER MAGA- Probably because differentiation has gone The Field Columbian Museum will be moved down town, as twenty acres in the new Lake Front Park have been granted as a site. It is understood that Mr. Marshall Field contemplates expending two million dollars upon the building and endowment, in addition to the million with which he made the museum possible after the Fair. The destruction of the old art building which is now the museum's home, is a sad pity, but it is doubtless inevitable. The staff with which it is covered is in itself evanescent. D. H. Burnham and Company will probably be the architects of equipment. Such a monthly will print the the new building. Mr. S. C. Griggs, the oldest publisher in Chicago, has retired from business because of ill-health. The stock was purchased by Scott, • Farman and Company. Years ago Mr. Griggs was an important figure in the book world here, but after the fire he gave up his retail trade and confined himself to publishing highschool and college text books. He has been a resident of Chicago since 1850. Way and Williams are now preparing a second edition of "A Mountain Woman," by Mrs. Elia W. Peattie. The book has been most fortunate in securing the appreciation of the public and the enthusiasm of the reviewEscondido. ers. Longmans, Green and Company will shortly publish a new story by Edna Lyall, entitled "The Autobiography of a Truth,' forming a companion volume to her previous work, "The Autobiography of a Slander." The motif of the story is the recent trouble in Armenia, and though the characters are fictitious, the incidents are based upon fact. Publishers' Weekly. On the other hand a journal like Cosmopolis presents articles which are not matched by any American magazine in their scope, range and results of technical scholarship which no American magazine would publish and few American scholars could contribute. The three English magazines, the Fortnightly, Contemporary and Nineteenth Century, to say nothing of the quarterlies, the French Revue des Deux Mondes and the Deutsche Rundschau are in advance of our corresponding magazines in their contributors and in the articles they present. The September Monthlies. The opening article in the Century is "Midsummer in Southern Spain," by Mrs. Elizabeth Robins Pennill, and describes a journey from Granada to Cordova, Seville, Cadiz and Gibraltar. Other illustrated papers are Henry Fairfield Osborne's description of some of the "Prehistoric Quadrupeds of the Rockies "; Thomas Dalgleish's account of his experiences as an Arizona miner in "The Gold-Fields of Guiana." The frontispiece is a portrait of the late Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a sketch of her appears by Richard Burton. In Harper's "First in Peace," as the title indicates, is an article about Washington. It is contributed by Woodrow Wilson and is profusely illustrated. The frontispiece is "Washington in the Garden at Mount Vernon,' drawn by Howard Pyle. Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer, Detective," is concluded. Langdon Elwyn Mitchell continues "Two Mormons from Muddlety." Other contributions are from Henry Childs Merwin, T. Mitchell Prudden, Theodore S. Woolsey and others. Rufus B. Richardson, who writes an article on "The New Olympian Games" in Scribner's has been for a year the director of the American school at Athens. Corwin Knapp Linson's series of pictures of the Olympian Games illustrates the article. Sport in an Untouched American Wilderness. by Frederic Irland, is an account of a month spent in the wilderness of New Brunswick, one of the seldom frequented game regions on this continent. 'Country Roads" and how they can be made beautiful is discussed by Frank French. In the Atlantic attractive features are found in Frederick J. Turner's discussion of the western problem; Booker T. Washington's history of the Tuskegee Institute and description of his work there; Charles Dudley Warner's Story of Uncle Tom's Cabin "; Johu B. McMaster's timely article on presidential elections and Bradford Torrey's description of A Day's Drive in Three States "-namely, North and South Carolina and Georgia. Notable among the story writers for the number are Kate Douglas Wiggin, Mary Hartwell Catherwood, Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry James, Lillie B. Chace Wyman and Kate Chopin. "The A poem by Rudyard Kipling on 'Eathen" opens McClure's. A portrait of Abraham Lincoln is frontispiece, while the series of Lincoln articles has for its subject "Lincoln's Last Speech." Will H. Low contributes another paper on "A Century of Painting" with usual illustrations. Mrs. Elizabeth Whitman Morton, wife of Dr. W. T. G. Morton, tells of her husband's heroic battle for a new idea, namely, painless surgery, in an article entitled "The Discovery of Anæsthesia." Among the complete stories are "In the Time of the Sweetbrier," by Harriet Prescott Spofford; "A Sea Change,' by Morgan Robertson; "The Extreme Edge of Hazard," by Clinton Ross. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps contributes a chapter of reminiscences on Gloucester fishermen. Among the continued articles in the Strand "From Behind the Speaker's Chair," viewed by Henry W. Lucy "The Adventures of a Man of Science," considering the question "Ought He to Marry Her? by L. T. Meade and Clifford Halifax; "Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of Their Lives, including Sir T. C. O'Brien, Bart, Lady Henry Somerset, Sir Benjamin Baker and John Ruskin; and "An African Millionaire," by Grant Allen. An article on photo In the Cosmopolis for August, Frederic Harrison contributes an article on "The True Cosmopolis," setting forth a scheme whereby the chief tongues of Europe-English, French and German-welcome a new organ for the inter-communion of ideas in three languages and of various interests. "The Comité de Salut Public in the Light of Recent Documents," is contributed by Oscar Browning; "The Globe and the Island," by Henry Norman. Among the French contributions are "Lettres Inédites," by Ivan Tourguéneff, and Le Levre à Paris, " by Emil Fauget; in German, In der Schule des Lehens," by Max Burckhard. Alice Ewing Lewis writes about the White House in Munsey's. Accompanying are latest portraits of President and Mrs. Cleveland; also exterior and interior views of the White House. Among the distinguished people found in the "Public Eye" department are Lady Jeune, James K. Jones, U. S. Senator from Arkansas; Rev. John Lindsay Withrow, a Presbyterian leader; Rev. William H. Milburn, the "Blind Chaplain of Congress"; Dr. Charles C. McCabe, the new bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The departments Types of Fair. Women, "Artists and Their Work, "The World of Music," and "The Stage" are attractive from a photographic standpoint. The current issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly is particularly brilliant. Among the contributions that will attract special notice are "Colonial Dames and Their Daughters,' by Sally Nelson Robins, illustrated with many old portraits; the second paper of Colonel Garnett's description of General Lee's part in the battle of Gettysburg; "The U. S. Lighthouse Establishment," by Joanna R. Nicholls, describing the buildings, vessels and buoys in our waters; "The War in Cuba," by Frederick A. Ober, giving an account of the battles and progress of the struggle for independence. "Hadj Ano" is a story of adventure appearing in the August number of Badminton Magazine, by R. S. S. Baden-Powell. Other articles are found on "Baseball in England," "Night Shooting in India," "Wild Stag Hunting," "Shark Fishing, A Letter to Lady Beginners of Cycling," and "Cricket. 66 To the Pall Mall, H. Morse Stephens contributes the first paper on Marat, of French Revolution fame. "Schlangenbad" is an article written and illustrated by W. Biscombe Gardner; "The Shaman's Grave, an Alaskan Legend," by Arthur Villiers. There are several stories, complete and continued, and two photogravures which add much to the appearance of the issue. An article by Lucinda B. Chandler advocating the claims of Anna Ella Carroll to being "The Woman that Saved the Union," appears in current issue of Godey's. An illustrated article on "American Political Caricatures and Cartoonists"; an investigation of "Entailed Poverty" and a study of the five typical poster Frances Aymar Mathews concludes her story," Clinton Place." The Ladies' Home Journal opens with an article by Stephen Fiske, on the "Personal Side of Dickens," with a portrait of Dickens at his desk. A new department is devoted to famous women. J. William Fosdick writes entertainingly about his work as a fire-etcher. "This Country of Ours," series, conducted by Benjamin Harrison, has for its subject "Three Departments of the Government. Robert J. Burdette is characteristic in "Marketable Men and Women," "Modes of Dressing the Hair," and Suitable Mourning Costumes " are described by Isabel A. Mallon. Both articles are illustrated by Elizabeth Shippen Green. The closing instalment of Mackey's "Life of Robert E. Lee" appears in Peterson's, and seventh instalment of John Howard Brown's "American Naval Heroes." Margaret Gwendoline O'Brine writes about "Rugby, an English Public School" and E. Benton Stew "Training School of the N. Y. Fire Department.' Α Elizabeth Phipps Train, author of "A Social Highwayman," writes the novel "A Marital Liability," appearing in Lippincott's. The opening scene is laid in the confines of prison walls where the prisoner is about to be released from a ten years' confinement which he had suffered to avoid disclosing the criminality of his wife. The story however has a happy ending. A. L. Benedict writes a description of the "Life of a Medical Student "; John A. Cockerill, How to Conduct a Local Newspaper "; Theodore Stanton, "Advantages of International Exhibitions." 66 Out of the Way Corners in Westminster Abbey," by Max Bennett Thrasher, has prominent place in St. Nicholas. In it attention is drawn to points of interest not seen by the ordinary tourist. Agnes Repplier contrasts school-life of a hundred years ago with that of to-day. W. S. Harwood contributes a sketch of Joseph Francis, the founder of the life-saving service. The complete and continued stories are varied and interesting. The leading features of the Penny Magazine are The Vocal Nocturne," by Herbert D. Ward; Through a Glass Darkly," by Melville Philips; When the Tzar is Crowned,' by Frances Aymas Mathews. Other contributions from Jeanette S. Benton, and Myrtle Reed, and a number of well selected poems complete the number. Another sixpenny London monthly is announced, the Temple Magazine in the conduct of which Mr. F. A. Atkins and Mr. Silas K. Hocking are to be associated. Mr. Silas Hocking, of whose novels over a million copies have been sold, will begin a new serial story in the first number, which is to appear in September; and among other attractive contributors with whom arrangements have been made are Ian Maclaren, S. R. Crockett. A. T. Quiller-Couch and Gilbert Parker. Dean Farrar has been engaged to write ten articles on "Men I Have Known," which will include Tennyson, Browning, Matthew Arnold, Carlyle, Thackeray, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Lowell, Kingsley, Huxley, Darwin, and other dead celebrities. BEST SELLING BOOKS. Fiction must look to its laurels. Books on the money question are receiving large attention. While doctrinaires of the different schools may ruthlessly class clashing arguments as fiction, still the reading goes on. Zealots and statesmen and zealous laymen are having their say. But one novel has exceeded in sales a quintette of the " money books" at Wanamaker's, while five of the twelve leaders in the Coates' list are along the same line. At Wanamaker's, City Hall Square: "The Damnation of Theron Ware," by Harold Frederic, $1.20. "Coin's Financial School," by W. H. Harvey, 20 cents. At Henry T. Coates and Company's, 1326 Chestnut Street: "The Damnation of Theron Ware," by Harold Frederic, $1.20. "The Crimson Sign," by S. R. Keightley, $1.10. Mrs. Gerald," by Maria Louise Pool, $1.10. "Mistress Dorothy Marvin," edited into English by J. C. Snaith, 75 cents. "An Adventurer of the North," by Gilbert Parker, $1.00. "Briseis," by William Black, $1.35. "History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom," by Andrew Dickson White," $3.75. At J. B. Lippincott Company's, 715, 717 Market Street: "A Singular Life," by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 90 cents. "The Damnation of Theron Ware," by Harold Frederic, $1.20. "Briseis," by William Black, $1.35. 66 Madelon," by Mary E. Wilkins, 90 cents. "An Army Wife," by Capt. Charles King, 90 cents. "Venus and Cupid," by the author of "The Fight at Dame Europa's School," 75 cents. "The Crimson Sign," by S. R. Keightley, $1.10. "A Marriage by Capture," by Robert Buchanan, 57 cents. "Weir of Hermiston," by Robert Louis Stevenson, $1.10. "In Light of the Goddess," by Harriet Riddle Davis, 57 cents. Guy Boothby has in preparation a volume of short stories, to be entitled "Bushigrams.' The Italian Crown Prince has written a novel in which his own romantic experiences are said to be chronicled. The Prince often contributes short poems and sketches to Italian journals, always writing under a pseudonym. Great Thoughts. Skeffington and Son will publish this month a book by Miss Marie Corelli, entitled "The Murder of Delicia." Also a volume of Fifty Years' Reminiscences" by the veteran conductor, Signor Arditi, illustrated with photographs, autograph letters, etc., of celebrated composers. London Publishers' Circular. =R. D. Blackmore says he had offered his famous novel, "Lorna Doone," to nineteen publishers before it was taken. When brought out it fell flat, but soon after came the marriage of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lorne, and society people, thinking Lorna somehow had something to do with Lorne, bought the book, read it and liked it, then recommended it to their friends. Current Literature. |