"Cenotaph."—We are told that a cenotaph is a monument "in memory of one buried elsewhere"—otherwise, "an empty tomb." A recent number of a popular magazine contains an article on "Memorials of Edgar Allen Poe." When the author asked to be directed to the grave of the poet, the sexton pointed to the cenotaph of white marble in the corner at the intersection of two streets, and we are told that "the remains" were "transferred to this more conspicuous spot from the family lot in the rear of the church." Are not "high-sounding" words too often used without reference to their suitableness? Mr. Pecksniff called his daughter "a playful warbler,"—not that she was, we are told, "at all vocal," but that Mr. Pecksniff was in the habit of using a word that rounded a sentence well.
P. MCA. C.
East Bridgewater, Mass.
BOOK REVIEWS.
Letters of Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins. Edited by Lawrence Hutton. With Portraits and Fac-similes. 171 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1892.
The friendship between Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins began when Dickens was nearly forty, and Collins about twenty-five years of age. Ten years later the marriage of the daughter of Dickens to the brother of Collins cemented the intimacy then begun, and it continued unbroken until the death of Dickens, in 1870. Part of the familiar correspondence between the two men was printed in "The Letters of Charles Dickens"; but many more letters from Dickens were found after the death of Collins, and from these Miss Hogarth selected the specimens that make up the present volume. As Mr. Hutton says in his introduction: "They not only show their writer as he was willing to show himself to the man whom he loved, but they give an excellent idea of his methods of collaboration with the man whom he had selected from all others as an active partner in certain of his creative works." The replies from Collins cannot be printed, since it was Dickens' rule to destroy every letter he received, not on actual business. It is fortunate that his correspondents did not do the same with his letters, so great is the interest of everything that he put on paper: as Mr. Hutton happily puts it: "It is greatly to be regretted that he did not write letters to himself—like his own Mr. Toots—and preserve them all."
The letters included in the present volume are so interesting that the temptation is strong to reprint many extracts from them. They give charming glimpses of Dickens' personality, and illustrate the literary ideas and methods of work of two famous story-writers. Mr. Hutton connects the letters with all necessary explanations, and has performed his work as editor with admirable skill. A good portrait of Dickens, a better one of Collins, and some interesting fac-similes illustrate the book.
W. H. H.
Everybody's Writing-desk Book. By Charles Nisbet and Don Lemon. Revised and Edited by James Baldwin, Ph. D. 310 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1892.
In this handy little volume are combined instruction regarding composition, English grammar, and punctuation; a list of synonyms and antonyms; a list of forms of addresses; information about writing for the press, proof-reading, writing and printing papers and books; rules for pronunciation and spelling; rates of postage, etc. The book is a compilation rather than an original work, and its chief merit is that it puts together in a single volume a good deal of information of different kinds, not elsewhere to be found in one book. Its spelling list and its list of synonyms and antonyms are the parts most valuable for reference; while the parts devoted to composition and grammar may be studied with profit by those in need of such instruction. The chapter on "Writing for the Press" is short and weak, and the book generally is adapted for use rather by non-professional than by professional writers.