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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c61485 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68988 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68988) diff --git a/old/68988-0.txt b/old/68988-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 468805e..0000000 --- a/old/68988-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1175 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of On reading in relation to literature, -by Lafcadio Hearn - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: On reading in relation to literature - Atlantic readings, number 17 - -Author: Lafcadio Hearn - -Release Date: September 14, 2022 [eBook #68988] - -Language: English - -Produced by: hekula03, Thomas Frost and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON READING IN RELATION TO -LITERATURE *** - - - - - - ATLANTIC READINGS - - NUMBER 17 - - ON READING IN RELATION - TO LITERATURE - - BY - LAFCADIO HEARN - - [Illustration] - - The Atlantic Monthly Press, Inc. - BOSTON - - - - - _Copyright, 1921, by_ - THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS - - - - -As the term approaches its close, I wish to keep my promise regarding -a series of lectures relating to literary life and work, to be given -independently of texts or authorities, and to represent, as far as -possible, the results of practical experience among the makers of -literature in different countries. The subject for this term will be -Reading--apparently, perhaps, a very simple subject, but really not so -simple as it looks, and much more important than you may think it. I -shall begin this lecture by saying that very few persons know how to -read. Considerable experience with literature is needed before taste -and discrimination can possibly be acquired; and without these, it is -almost impossible to learn how to read. I say _almost_ impossible; -since there are some rare men who, through a natural inborn taste, -through a kind of inherited literary instinct, are able to read very -well even before reaching the age of twenty-five years. But these are -great exceptions, and I am speaking of the average. - -For, to read the characters or the letters of the text does not mean -reading in the true sense. You will often find yourselves reading words -or characters automatically, even pronouncing them quite correctly, -while your minds are occupied with a totally different subject. This -mere mechanism of reading becomes altogether automatic at an early -period of life, and can be performed irrespective of attention. Neither -can I call it reading, to extract the narrative portion of a text from -the rest simply for one’s personal amusement, or, in other words, -to read a book “for the story.” Yet most of the reading that is done -in the world is done in exactly this way. Thousands and thousands of -books are bought every year, every month, I might even say every day, -by people who do not read at all. They only think that they read. -They buy books just to amuse themselves, “to kill time,” as they call -it; in one hour or two their eyes have passed over all the pages, and -there is left in their minds a vague idea or two about what they have -been looking at; and this they really believe is reading. Nothing is -more common than to be asked, “Have you read such a book?” or to hear -somebody say, “I have read such and such a book.” But these persons do -not speak seriously. Out of a thousand persons who say, “I have read -this,” or “I have read that,” there is not one perhaps who is able to -express any opinion worth hearing about what he has been reading. Many -and many a time I hear students say that they have read certain books; -but if I ask them some questions regarding the book, I find that they -are not able to make any answer, or at best, they will only repeat -something that somebody else has said about what they think that they -have been reading. But this is not peculiar to students; it is in all -countries the way that the great public devours books. And to conclude -this introductory part of the lecture, I would say that the difference -between the great critic and the common person is chiefly that the -great critic knows how to read, and the common person does not. No man -is really able to read a book who is not able to express an original -opinion regarding the contents of a book. - -No doubt you will think that this statement of the case confuses -reading with study. You might say, “When we read history or philosophy -or science, then we do read very thoroughly, studying all the meanings -and bearings of the text, slowly, and thinking about it. This is hard -study. But when we read a story or a poem out of class-hour, we read -for amusement. Amusement and study are two different things.” I am not -sure that you all think this; but young men generally do so think. As a -matter of fact, every book worth reading ought to be read in precisely -the same way that a scientific book is read--not simply for amusement; -and every book worth reading should have the same amount of value in -it that a scientific book has, though the value may be of a totally -different kind. For, after all, the good book of fiction or romance or -poetry is a scientific work; it has been composed according to the best -principles of more than one science, but especially according to the -principles of the great science of life, the knowledge of human nature. - -In regard to foreign books, this is especially true; but the advice -suggested will be harder to follow when we read in a language which is -not our own. Nevertheless, how many Englishmen do you suppose really -read a good book in English? how many Frenchmen read a great book -in their own tongue? Probably not more than one in two thousand of -those who think that they read. What is more, although there are now -published every year in London upwards of six thousand books, at no -time has there been so little good reading done by the average public -as to-day. Books are written, sold, and read after a fashion--or rather -according to the fashion. There is a fashion in literature as well as -in everything else; and a particular kind of amusement being desired by -the public, a particular kind of reading is given to supply the demand. -So useless have become to this public the arts and graces of real -literature, the great thoughts which should belong to a great book, -that men of letters have almost ceased to produce true literature. When -a man can obtain a great deal of money by writing a book without style -or beauty, a mere narrative to amuse, and knows at the same time that -if he should give three, five, or ten years to the production of a -really good book, he would probably starve to death, he is forced to -be untrue to the higher duties of his profession. Men happily situated -in regard to money matters might possibly attempt something great from -time to time; but they can hardly get a hearing. Taste has so much -deteriorated within the past few years, that, as I told you before, -style has practically disappeared--and style means thinking. And this -state of things in England has been largely brought about by bad habits -of reading, by not knowing how to read. - -For the first thing which a scholar should bear in mind is that a book -ought not to be read for mere amusement. Half-educated persons read -for amusement, and are not to be blamed for it; they are incapable -of appreciating the deeper qualities that belong to a really great -literature. But a young man who has passed through a course of -university training should discipline himself at an early day never to -read for mere amusement. And once the habit of the discipline has been -formed, he will even find it impossible to read for mere amusement. -He will then impatiently throw down any book from which he cannot -obtain intellectual food, any book which does not make an appeal to -the higher emotions and to his intellect. But on the other hand, the -habit of reading for amusement becomes with thousands of people exactly -the same kind of habit as wine-drinking or opium-smoking; it is like a -narcotic, something that helps to pass the time, something that keeps -up a perpetual condition of dreaming, something that eventually results -in destroying all capacity for thought, giving exercise only to the -surface parts of the mind, and leaving the deeper springs of feeling -and the higher faculties of perception unemployed. - -Let us simply state what the facts are about this kind of reading. A -young clerk, for example, reads every day on the way to his office -and on the way back, just to pass the time; and what does he read? A -novel, of course; it is very easy work, and it enables him to forget -his troubles for a moment, to dull his mind to all the little worries -of his daily routine. In one day or two days he finishes the novel; -then he gets another. He reads quickly in these days. By the end of the -year he has read between a hundred and fifty and two hundred novels; -no matter how poor he is, this luxury is possible to him, because of -the institution of circulating libraries. At the end of a few years -he has read several thousand novels. Does he like them? No; he will -tell you that they are nearly all the same, but they help him to pass -away his idle time; they have become a necessity for him; he would -be very unhappy if he could not continue this sort of reading. It is -utterly impossible that the result can be anything but a stupefying of -the faculties. He cannot even remember the names of twenty or thirty -books out of thousands; much less does he remember what they contain. -The result of all this reading means nothing but a cloudiness in his -mind. That is the direct result. The indirect result is that the mind -has been kept from developing itself. All development necessarily -means some pain; and such reading as I speak of has been employed -unconsciously as a means to avoid that pain, and the consequence is -atrophy. - -Of course this is an extreme case; but it is the ultimate outcome of -reading for amusement whenever such amusement becomes a habit, and -when there are means close at hand to gratify the habit. At present in -Japan there is little danger of this state of things; but I use the -illustration for the sake of its ethical warning. - -This does not mean that there is any sort of good literature which -should be shunned. A good novel is just as good reading as even the -greatest philosopher can possibly wish for. The whole matter depends -upon the way of reading, even more than upon the nature of what is -read. Perhaps it is too much to say, as has often been said, that -there is no book which has nothing good in it; it is better simply -to state that the good of a book depends incomparably more for its -influence upon the habits of the reader than upon the art of the -writer, no matter how great that writer may be. In a previous lecture I -tried to call your attention to the superiority of the child’s methods -of observation to those of the man; and the same fact may be noticed -in regard to the child’s method of reading. Certainly the child can -read only very simple things; but he reads most thoroughly; and he -thinks and thinks untiringly about what he reads; one little fairy -tale will give him mental occupation for a month after he has read it. -All the energies of his little fancy are exhausted upon the tale; and -if his parents be wise, they do not allow him to read a second tale, -until the pleasure of the first, and its imaginative effect, has begun -to die away. Later habits, habits which I shall venture to call bad, -soon destroy the child’s power of really attentive reading. But let us -now take the case of a professional reader, a scientific reader; and -we shall observe the same power, developed of course to an enormous -degree. In the office of a great publishing house which I used to -visit, there are received every year sixteen thousand manuscripts. All -these must be looked at and judged; and such work in all publishing -houses is performed by what are called professional readers. The -professional reader must be a scholar, and a man of very uncommon -capacity. Out of a thousand manuscripts he will read perhaps not more -than one; out of two thousand he may possibly read three. The others -he simply looks at for a few seconds--one glance is enough for him to -decide whether the manuscript is worth reading or not. The shape of a -single sentence will tell him that, from the literary point of view. As -regards subject, even the title is enough for him to judge, in a large -number of cases. Some manuscripts may receive a minute or even five -minutes of his attention; very few receive a longer consideration. Out -of sixteen thousand, we may suppose that sixteen are finally selected -for judgment. He reads these from beginning to end. Having read them, -he decides that only eight can be further considered. The eight are -read a second time, much more carefully. At the close of the second -examination the number is perhaps reduced to seven. These seven are -destined for a third reading; but the professional reader knows better -than to read them immediately. He leaves them locked up in a drawer, -and passes a whole week without looking at them. At the end of the -week he tries to see whether he can remember distinctly each of these -seven manuscripts and their qualities. Very distinctly he remembers -three; the remaining four he cannot at once recall. With a little -more effort, he is able to remember two more. But two he has utterly -forgotten. This is a fatal defect; the work that leaves no impression -upon the mind after two readings cannot have real value. He then takes -the manuscripts out of the drawer, condemns two (those he could not -remember), and re-reads the five. At the third reading everything -is judged--subject, execution, thought, literary quality. Three are -discovered to be first class; two are accepted by the publishers only -as second class. And so the matter ends. - -Something like this goes on in all great publishing houses; but -unfortunately not all literary work is now judged in the same severe -way. It is now judged rather by what the public likes; and the public -does not like the best. But you may be sure that in a house such -as that of the Cambridge or the Oxford University publishers, the -test of a manuscript is very severe indeed; it is there read much -more thoroughly than it is likely ever to be read again. Now this -professional reader whom we speak of, with all his knowledge and -scholarship and experience, reads the book very much in the same -way as the child reads a fairy tale. He has forced his mind to exert -all its powers in the same minute way that the child’s mind does, to -think about everything in the book, in all its bearings, in a hundred -different directions. It is not true that a child is a bad reader; the -habit of bad reading is only formed much later in life, and is always -unnatural. The natural and also the scholarly way of reading is the -child’s way. But it requires what we are apt to lose as we grow up, -the golden gift of patience; and without patience nothing, not even -reading, can be well done. - -Important then as careful reading is, you can readily perceive that it -should not be wasted. The powers of a well-trained and highly educated -mind ought not to be expended upon any common book. By common I mean -cheap and useless literature. Nothing is so essential to self-training -as the proper choice of books to read; and nothing is so universally -neglected. It is not even right that a person of ability should -waste his time in “finding out” what to read. He can easily obtain -a very correct idea of the limits of the best in all departments of -literature, and keep to that best. Of course, if he has to become a -specialist, a critic, a professional reader, he will have to read what -is bad as well as what is good, and will be able to save himself from -much torment only by an exceedingly rapid exercise of judgment, formed -by experience. Imagine, for example, the reading that must have been -done, and thoroughly done, by such a critic as Professor Saintsbury. -Leaving out of the question all his university training, and his -mastery of Greek and Latin classics, which is no small reading to -begin with, he must have read some five thousand books in the English -of all centuries--learned thoroughly everything that was in them, the -history of each one, and the history of its author, whenever that -was accessible. He must also have mastered thoroughly the social and -political history relating to all this mass of literature. But this -is still less than half his work. For, being an authority upon two -literatures, his study of French, both old and new French, must have -been even more extensive than his study of English. And all his work -had to be read as a master reads; there was little more amusement in -the whole from beginning to end. The only pleasure could be in results; -but these results are very great. Nothing is more difficult in this -world than to read a book and then to express clearly and truly in a -few lines exactly what the literary value of the book is. There are -not more than twenty people in the world who can do this, for the -experience as well as the capacity required must be enormous. Very few -of us can hope to become even third or fourth class critics after a -lifetime of study. But we can all learn to read; and that is not by any -means a small feat. The great critics can best show us the way to do -this, by their judgment. - -Yet after all, the greatest of critics is the public--not the public -of a day or a generation, but the public of centuries, the consensus -of national opinion or of human opinion about a book that has been -subjected to the awful test of time. Reputations are made not by -critics, but by the accumulation of human opinion through hundreds of -years. And human opinion is not sharply defined like the opinion of a -trained critic; it cannot explain; it is vague, like a great emotion of -which we cannot exactly describe the nature; it is based upon feeling -rather than upon thinking; it only says, “we like this.” Yet there is -no judgment so sure as this kind of judgment, for it is the outcome of -an enormous experience. The test of a good book ought always to be the -test which human opinion, working for generations, applies. And this is -very simple. - -The test of a great book is whether we want to read it only once or -more than once. Any really great book we want to read the second -time even more than we wanted to read it the first time; and every -additional time that we read it we find new meanings and new beauties -in it. A book that a person of education and good taste does not care -to read more than once is very probably not worth much. Some time ago -there was a very clever discussion going on regarding the art of the -great French novelist, Zola; some people claimed that he possessed -absolute genius; others claimed that he had only talent of a very -remarkable kind. The battle of argument brought out some strange -extravagances of opinion. But suddenly a very great critic simply put -this question: “How many of you have read, or would care to read, one -of Zola’s books a second time?” There was no answer; the fact was -settled. Probably no one would read a book by Zola more than once; and -this is proof positive that there is no great genius in them, and no -great mastery of the highest form of feeling. Shallow or false any book -must be, that, although bought by a hundred thousand readers, is never -read more than once. But we cannot consider the judgment of a single -individual infallible. The opinion that makes a book great must be the -opinion of many. For even the greatest critics are apt to have certain -dullnesses, certain inappreciations. Carlyle, for example, could not -endure Browning; Byron could not endure some of the greatest of English -poets. A man must be many-sided to utter a trustworthy estimate of many -books. We may doubt the judgment of the single critic at times. But -there is no doubt possible in regard to the judgment of generations. -Even if we cannot at once perceive anything good in a book which has -been admired and praised for hundreds of years, we may be sure that by -trying, by studying it carefully, we shall at last be able to feel the -reason of this admiration and praise. The best of all libraries for -a poor man would be a library entirely composed of such great works -only, books which have passed the test of time. - -This then would be the most important guide for us in the choice of -reading. We should read only the books that we want to read more than -once, nor should we buy any others, unless we have some special reason -for so investing money. The second fact demanding attention is the -general character of the value that lies hidden within all such great -books. A great book is not apt to be comprehended by a young person -at the first reading except in a superficial way. Only the surface, -the narrative, is absorbed and enjoyed. No young man can possibly see -at first reading the qualities of a great book. Remember that it has -taken humanity in many cases hundreds of years to find out all that -there is in such a book. But according to a man’s experience of life, -the text will unfold new meanings to him. The book that delighted -us at eighteen, if it be a good book, will delight us much more at -twenty-five, and it will prove like a new book to us at thirty years -of age. At forty we shall re-read it, wondering why we never saw how -beautiful it was before. At fifty or sixty years of age the same facts -will repeat themselves. A great book grows exactly in proportion to the -growth of the reader’s mind. It was the discovery of this extraordinary -fact by generations of people long dead that made the greatness of such -works as those of Shakespeare, of Dante, or of Goethe. Perhaps Goethe -can give us at this moment the best illustration. He wrote a number of -little stories in prose, which children like, because to children they -have all the charm of fairy tales. But he never intended them for fairy -tales; he wrote them for experienced minds. A young man finds very -serious reading in them; a middle aged man discovers an extraordinary -depth in their least utterance; and an old man will find in them all -the world’s philosophy, all the wisdom of life. If one is very dull, -he may not see much in them, but just in proportion as he is a superior -man, and in proportion as his knowledge of life has been extensive, so -will he discover the greatness of the mind that conceived them. - -This does not mean that the authors of such books could have -preconceived the entire range and depth of that which they put into -their work. Great art works unconsciously without ever suspecting that -it is great; and the larger the genius of a writer, the less chance -there is of his ever knowing that he has genius; for his power is less -likely to be discovered by the public until long after he is dead. -The great things done in literature have not usually been done by men -who thought themselves great. Many thousand years ago some wanderer -in Arabia, looking at the stars of the night, and thinking about the -relation of man to the unseen powers that shaped the world, uttered all -his heart in certain verses that have been preserved to us in the Book -of Job. To him the sky was a solid vault; of that which might exist -beyond it, he never even dreamed. Since his time how vast has been the -expansion of our astronomical knowledge! We now know thirty millions of -suns, all of which are probably attended by planets, giving a probable -total of three hundred millions of other worlds within sight of our -astronomical instruments. Probably multitudes of these are inhabited by -intelligent life; it is even possible that within a few years more we -shall obtain proof positive of the existence of an older civilization -than our own upon the planet Mars. How vast a difference between our -conception of the universe and Job’s conception of it. Yet the poem of -that simple-minded Arab or Jew has not lost one particle of its beauty -and value because of this difference. Quite the contrary! With every -new astronomical discovery the words of Job take grander meanings to -us, simply because he was truly a great poet and spoke only the truth -that was in his heart thousands of years ago. Very anciently also -there was a Greek story-teller who wrote a little story about a boy -and girl in the country, called _Daphnis and Chloe_. It was a little -story, telling in the simplest language possible how that boy and -girl fell in love with each other, and did not know why, and all the -innocent things they said to each other, and how grown-up people kindly -laughed at them and taught them some of the simplest laws of life. What -a trifling subject, some might think. But that story, translated into -every language in the world, still reads like a new story to us; and -every time we re-read it, it appears still more beautiful, because it -teaches a few true and tender things about innocence and the feeling -of youth. It never can grow old, any more than the girl and boy whom -it describes. Or, to descend to later times, about three hundred years -ago a French priest conceived the idea of writing down the history -of a student who had been charmed by a wanton woman, and led by her -into many scenes of disgrace and pain. This little book, called _Manon -Lescaut_, describes for us the society of a vanished time, a time when -people wore swords and powdered their hair, a time when everything -was as different as possible from the life of to-day. But the story -is just as true of our own time as of any time in civilization; the -pain and the sorrow affect us just as if they were our own; and the -woman, who is not really bad, but only weak and selfish, charms the -reader almost as much as she charmed her victim, until the tragedy -ends. Here again is one of the world’s great books that cannot die. -Or, to take one more example out of a possible hundred, consider the -stories of Hans Andersen. He conceived the notion that moral truths and -social philosophy could be better taught through little fairy tales -and child stories than in almost any other way; and with the help of -hundreds of old-fashioned tales, he made a new series of wonderful -stories that have become a part of every library and are read in all -countries by grown-up people much more than by children. There is in -this astonishing collection of stories, a story about a mermaid, which -I suppose you have all read. Of course there can be no such thing -as a mermaid; from one point of view the story is quite absurd. But -the emotions of unselfishness and love and loyalty which the story -expresses are immortal, and so beautiful that we forget about all the -unreality of the framework; we see only the eternal truth behind the -fable. - -You will understand now exactly what I mean by a great book. What -about the choice of books? Some years ago you will remember that an -Englishman of science, Sir John Lubbock, wrote a list of what he called -the best books in the world--or at least the best hundred books. Then -some publishers published the hundred books in cheap form. Following -the example of Sir John, other literary men made different lists of -what they thought the best hundred books in existence; and now quite -enough time has passed to show us the value of these experiments. They -have proved utterly worthless, except to the publishers. Many persons -may buy the hundred books; but very few read them. And this is not -because Sir John Lubbock’s idea was bad; it is because no one man can -lay down a definite course of reading for the great mass of differently -constituted minds. Sir John expressed only his opinion of what most -appealed to him; another man of letters would have made a different -list; probably no two men of letters would have made exactly the same -one. The choice of great books must, under all circumstances, be an -individual one. In short, you must choose for yourselves according to -the light that is in you. Very few persons are so many-sided as to -feel inclined to give their best attention to many different kinds of -literature. In the average of cases it is better for a man to confine -himself to a small class of subjects--the subjects best according with -his natural powers and inclinations, the subjects that please him. And -no man can decide for us, without knowing our personal character and -disposition perfectly well and being in sympathy with it, where our -powers lie. But one thing is easy to do--that is, to decide, first, -what subject in literature has already given you pleasure; to decide, -secondly, what is the best that has been written upon that subject, -and then to study that best to the exclusion of ephemeral and trifling -books which profess to deal with the same theme, but which have not yet -obtained the approbation of great critics or of a great public opinion. - -Those books which have obtained both are not so many in number as -you might suppose. Each great civilization has produced only two or -three of the first rank, if we except the single civilization of the -Greeks. The sacred books embodying the teaching of all great religions -necessarily take place in the first rank, even as literary productions; -for they have been polished and repolished, and have been given the -highest possible literary perfection of which the language in which -they are written is capable. The great epic poems which express the -ideals of races, these also deserve a first place. Thirdly, the -masterpieces of drama, as reflecting life, must be considered to belong -to the highest literature. But how many books are thus represented? -Not very many. The best, like diamonds, will never be found in great -quantities. - -Besides such general indications as I have thus ventured, something may -be said regarding a few choice books--those which a student should wish -to possess good copies of and read all his life. There are not many of -these. For European students it would be necessary to name a number of -Greek authors. But without a study of the classic tongues such authors -could be of much less use to the students of this country; moreover, -a considerable knowledge of Greek life and Greek civilization is -necessary to quicken appreciation of them. Such knowledge is best -gained through engravings, pictures, coins, statues--through those -artistic objects which enable the imagination to see what has existed; -and as yet the artistic side of classical study is scarcely possible -in Japan, for want of pictorial and other material. I shall therefore -say very little regarding the great books that belong to this category. -But as the whole foundation of European literature rests upon classical -study, the student should certainly attempt to master the outlines of -Greek mythology, and the character of the traditions which inspired the -best of Greek literature and drama. You can scarcely open an English -book belonging to any high class of literature, in which you will -not find allusions to Greek beliefs, Greek stories, or Greek plays. -The mythology is almost necessary for you; but the vast range of the -subject might well deter most of you from attempting a thorough study -of it. A thorough study of it, however, is not necessary. What is -necessary is an outline only; and a good book, capable of giving you -that outline in a vivid and attractive manner would be of inestimable -service. In French and German there are many such books; in English, I -know of only one, a volume in Bohn’s Library, Keightley’s _Mythology -of Ancient Greece and Italy_. It is not an expensive work; and it has -the exceptional quality of teaching in a philosophical spirit. As for -the famous Greek books, the value of most of them for you must be -small, because the number of adequate translations is small. I should -begin by saying that all verse translations are useless. No verse -translation from the Greek can reproduce the Greek verse--we have only -twenty or thirty lines of Homer translated by Tennyson, and a few -lines of other Greek poets translated by equally able men, which are -at all satisfactory. Under all circumstances take a prose translation -when you wish to study a Greek or Latin author. We should of course -consider Homer first. I do not think that you can afford not to read -something of Homer. There are two excellent prose translations in -English, one of the Iliad and one of the Odyssey. The latter is for -you the more important of the two great poems. The references to it -are innumerable in all branches of literature; and these references -refer usually to the poetry of its theme, for the Odyssey is much more -a romance than is the Iliad. The advantage of the prose translation -by Lang and Butcher is that it preserves something of the rolling -sound and music of the Greek verse, though it is only prose. That -book I should certainly consider worth keeping constantly by you; its -utility will appear to you at a later day. The great Greek tragedies -have all been translated; but I should not so strongly recommend these -translations to you. It would be just as well, in most cases, to -familiarize yourselves with the stories of the dramas through other -sources; and there are hundreds of these. You should at least know -the subject of the great dramas of Sophocles, Æschylus, and above all -Euripides. Greek drama was constructed upon a plan that requires much -study to understand correctly; it is not necessary that you should -understand these matters as an antiquarian does, but it is necessary -to know something of the stories of the great plays. As for comedy, -the works of Aristophanes are quite exceptional in their value and -interest. They require very little explanation; they make us laugh -to-day just as heartily as they made the Athenians laugh thousands -of years ago; and they belong to immortal literature. There is the -Bohn translation in two volumes, which I would strongly recommend. -Aristophanes is one of the great Greek dramatists whom we can read over -and over again, gaining at every reading. Of the lyrical poets there -is also one translation likely to become an English classic, although -a modern one; that is Lang’s translation of Theocritus, a tiny little -book, but very precious of its kind. You see I am mentioning very -few; but these few would mean a great deal for you, should you use -them properly. Among later Greek work, work done in the decline of -the old civilization, there is one masterpiece that the world will -never become tired of--I mentioned it before, the story of _Daphnis -and Chloe_. This has been translated into every language, and I am -sorry to say that the best translation is not English, but French--the -version of Amyot. But there are many English translations. That book -you certainly ought to read. About the Latin authors, it is not here -necessary to say much. There are very good prose translations of Virgil -and Horace, but the value of these to you cannot be very great without -a knowledge of Latin. However, the story of the Æneid is necessary to -know, and it were best read in the version of Conington. In the course -of your general education it is impossible to avoid learning something -regarding the chief Latin writers and thinkers; but there is one -immortal book that you may not have often seen the name of; and it is -a book everybody should read--I mean the _Golden Ass_ of Apuleius. You -have this in a good English translation. It is only a story of sorcery, -but one of the most wonderful stories ever written, and it belongs to -world literature rather than to the literature of a time. - -But the Greek myths, although eternally imperishable in their beauty, -are not more intimately related to English literature than are the -myths of the ancient English religion, the religion of the Northern -races, which has left its echoes all through our forms of speech, even -in the names of the days of the week. A student of English literature -ought to know something about Northern mythology. It is full of beauty -also, beauty of another and stranger kind; and it embodies one of the -noblest warrior-faiths that ever existed, the religion of force and -courage. You have now in the library a complete collection of Northern -poetry, I mean the two volumes of the _Corpus Poeticum Boreali_. -Unfortunately you have not as yet a good collection of the Sagas and -Eddas. But, as in the case of the vaster subject of Greek mythology, -there is an excellent small book in English, giving an outline of all -that is important--I mean necessary for you--in regard to both the -religion and the literature of the Northern races, Mallet’s _Northern -Antiquities_. Sir Walter Scott contributed the most valuable portion of -the translations in this little book; and these translations have stood -the test of time remarkably well. The introductory chapters by Bishop -Percy are old-fashioned, but this fact does not in the least diminish -the stirring value of the volume. I think it is one of the books that -every student should try to possess. - -With regard to the great modern masterpieces translated into English -from other tongues, I can only say that it is better to read them in -the originals, if you can. If you can read Goethe’s _Faust_ in German, -do not read it in English; and if you can read Heine in German, the -French translation in prose, which he superintended, and the English -translations (there are many of them) in verse can be of no use to you. -But if German be too difficult, then read _Faust_ in the prose version -of Hayward, as revised by Dr. Buchheim. You have that in the library; -and it is the best of the kind in existence. _Faust_ is a book that a -man should buy and keep, and read many times during his life. As for -Heine, he is a world poet, but he loses a great deal in translation; -and I can only recommend the French prose version of him; the English -versions of Browning and Lazarus and others are often weak. Some -years ago a series of extraordinary translations of Heine appeared in -_Blackwood’s Magazine_; but these have not appeared, I believe, in book -form. - -As for Dante, I do not know whether he can make a strong appeal to you -in any language except his own; and you must understand the Middle Ages -very well to feel how wonderful he was. I might say something similar -about other great Italian poets. Of the French dramatists, you must -study Molière; he is next in importance only to Shakespeare. But do not -read him in any translation. Here I should say positively, that one -who cannot read French might as well leave Molière alone; the English -language cannot reproduce his delicacies of wit and allusion. - -As for modern English literature, I have tried in the course of -my lectures to indicate the few books deserving of a place in -world-literature; and I need scarcely repeat them here. Going back -a little further, however, I should like to remind you again of the -extraordinary merit of Malory’s book the _Morte d’Arthur_, and to -say that it is one of the very few that you should buy and keep and -read often. The whole spirit of chivalry is in that book; and I need -scarcely tell you how deep is the relation of the spirit of chivalry to -all modern English literature. I do not recommend you to read Milton, -unless you intend to make certain special studies of language; the -linguistic value of Milton is based upon Greek and Latin literature. -As for his lyrics--that is another matter. Those ought to be studied. -As there is little more to say, except by way of suggestion, I think -that you ought, every one of you, to have a good copy of Shakespeare, -and to read Shakespeare through once every year, not caring at first -whether you can understand all the sentences or not; that knowledge can -be acquired at a later day. I am sure that if you follow this advice -you will find Shakespeare become larger every time that you read him, -and that at last he will begin to exercise a very strong and very -healthy influence upon your methods of thinking and feeling. A man does -not require to be a great scholar in order to read Shakespeare. And -what is true of reading Shakespeare, you will find to be true also in -lesser degree of all the world’s great books. You will find it true of -Goethe’s _Faust_. You will find it true of the best chapters in the -poems of Homer. You will find it true of the best plays of Molière. You -will find it true of Dante, and of those books in the English Bible -about which I gave a short lecture last year. And therefore I do not -think that I can better conclude these remarks than by repeating an -old but very excellent piece of advice which has been given to young -readers: “Whenever you hear of a new book being published, read an old -one.” - - - - - ATLANTIC READINGS - - -Teachers everywhere are cordially welcoming our series of _Atlantic -Readings_; for material not otherwise available is here published -for classroom use in convenient and inexpensive form. In most cases -the selections reprinted have been suggested by teachers in schools -and colleges where a need for a particular essay or story has been -urgently felt. Supplied for one institution, the reprint has created an -immediate market elsewhere. - -The Atlantic Monthly Press most warmly invites conference and -correspondence that will suggest additions to this growing list. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: On reading in relation to literature</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Atlantic readings, number 17</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Lafcadio Hearn</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 14, 2022 [eBook #68988]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: hekula03, Thomas Frost and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON READING IN RELATION TO LITERATURE ***</div> - - - - -<div class="bbox automargin" style="max-width:33em; width: 90%;"> -<p class="ph p180">ATLANTIC READINGS</p> - -<p class="ph p110"><span class="smcap">Number 17</span></p> - -<h1 class="p2">ON READING IN RELATION <br /> -TO LITERATURE</h1> - -<p class="ph p3 mb4">BY<br /> -<span class="p130">LAFCADIO HEARN</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter image_1" id="image_1"> - <img class="w100" src="images/image_1.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="ph p120 p4">The Atlantic Monthly Press, Inc.<br /> -BOSTON -</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop full" /> - - -<p class="center break"> -<span class="italic">Copyright, 1921, by</span><br /> -THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="full x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<p>As the term approaches its close, I wish to keep my promise -regarding a series of lectures relating to literary life and -work, to be given independently of texts or authorities, -and to represent, as far as possible, the results of practical -experience among the makers of literature in different -countries. The subject for this term will be Reading—apparently, -perhaps, a very simple subject, but really not so -simple as it looks, and much more important than you may -think it. I shall begin this lecture by saying that very few -persons know how to read. Considerable experience with -literature is needed before taste and discrimination can -possibly be acquired; and without these, it is almost impossible -to learn how to read. I say <em>almost</em> impossible; since -there are some rare men who, through a natural inborn -taste, through a kind of inherited literary instinct, are able -to read very well even before reaching the age of twenty-five -years. But these are great exceptions, and I am speaking -of the average.</p> -</div> - -<p>For, to read the characters or the letters of the text does -not mean reading in the true sense. You will often find -yourselves reading words or characters automatically, even -pronouncing them quite correctly, while your minds are -occupied with a totally different subject. This mere mechanism -of reading becomes altogether automatic at an -early period of life, and can be performed irrespective of attention. -Neither can I call it reading, to extract the narrative -portion of a text from the rest simply for one’s personal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> -amusement, or, in other words, to read a book “for the -story.” Yet most of the reading that is done in the world -is done in exactly this way. Thousands and thousands -of books are bought every year, every month, I might even -say every day, by people who do not read at all. They only -think that they read. They buy books just to amuse themselves, -“to kill time,” as they call it; in one hour or two -their eyes have passed over all the pages, and there is left in -their minds a vague idea or two about what they have been -looking at; and this they really believe is reading. Nothing -is more common than to be asked, “Have you read such a -book?” or to hear somebody say, “I have read such and -such a book.” But these persons do not speak seriously. -Out of a thousand persons who say, “I have read this,” or -“I have read that,” there is not one perhaps who is able to -express any opinion worth hearing about what he has been -reading. Many and many a time I hear students say that -they have read certain books; but if I ask them some questions -regarding the book, I find that they are not able to -make any answer, or at best, they will only repeat something -that somebody else has said about what they think -that they have been reading. But this is not peculiar to -students; it is in all countries the way that the great public -devours books. And to conclude this introductory part of -the lecture, I would say that the difference between the -great critic and the common person is chiefly that the great -critic knows how to read, and the common person does not. -No man is really able to read a book who is not able to express -an original opinion regarding the contents of a book.</p> - -<p>No doubt you will think that this statement of the case -confuses reading with study. You might say, “When we -read history or philosophy or science, then we do read very -thoroughly, studying all the meanings and bearings of the -text, slowly, and thinking about it. This is hard study.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> -But when we read a story or a poem out of class-hour, we -read for amusement. Amusement and study are two different -things.” I am not sure that you all think this; but young -men generally do so think. As a matter of fact, every book -worth reading ought to be read in precisely the same way -that a scientific book is read—not simply for amusement; -and every book worth reading should have the same amount -of value in it that a scientific book has, though the value -may be of a totally different kind. For, after all, the good -book of fiction or romance or poetry is a scientific work; it -has been composed according to the best principles of more -than one science, but especially according to the principles -of the great science of life, the knowledge of human nature.</p> - -<p>In regard to foreign books, this is especially true; but the -advice suggested will be harder to follow when we read in a -language which is not our own. Nevertheless, how many -Englishmen do you suppose really read a good book in English? -how many Frenchmen read a great book in their own -tongue? Probably not more than one in two thousand of -those who think that they read. What is more, although -there are now published every year in London upwards of -six thousand books, at no time has there been so little good -reading done by the average public as to-day. Books are -written, sold, and read after a fashion—or rather according -to the fashion. There is a fashion in literature as well as -in everything else; and a particular kind of amusement being -desired by the public, a particular kind of reading is -given to supply the demand. So useless have become to -this public the arts and graces of real literature, the great -thoughts which should belong to a great book, that men -of letters have almost ceased to produce true literature. -When a man can obtain a great deal of money by writing a -book without style or beauty, a mere narrative to amuse, -and knows at the same time that if he should give three,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> -five, or ten years to the production of a really good book, he -would probably starve to death, he is forced to be untrue to -the higher duties of his profession. Men happily situated in -regard to money matters might possibly attempt something -great from time to time; but they can hardly get a hearing. -Taste has so much deteriorated within the past few years, -that, as I told you before, style has practically disappeared—and -style means thinking. And this state of things in -England has been largely brought about by bad habits of -reading, by not knowing how to read.</p> - -<p>For the first thing which a scholar should bear in mind is -that a book ought not to be read for mere amusement. -Half-educated persons read for amusement, and are not to -be blamed for it; they are incapable of appreciating the -deeper qualities that belong to a really great literature. -But a young man who has passed through a course of university -training should discipline himself at an early day never -to read for mere amusement. And once the habit of the -discipline has been formed, he will even find it impossible to -read for mere amusement. He will then impatiently throw -down any book from which he cannot obtain intellectual -food, any book which does not make an appeal to the higher -emotions and to his intellect. But on the other hand, the -habit of reading for amusement becomes with thousands of -people exactly the same kind of habit as wine-drinking or -opium-smoking; it is like a narcotic, something that helps -to pass the time, something that keeps up a perpetual condition -of dreaming, something that eventually results in destroying -all capacity for thought, giving exercise only to the -surface parts of the mind, and leaving the deeper springs of -feeling and the higher faculties of perception unemployed.</p> - -<p>Let us simply state what the facts are about this kind of -reading. A young clerk, for example, reads every day on -the way to his office and on the way back, just to pass the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> -time; and what does he read? A novel, of course; it is very -easy work, and it enables him to forget his troubles for a -moment, to dull his mind to all the little worries of his daily -routine. In one day or two days he finishes the novel; then -he gets another. He reads quickly in these days. By the -end of the year he has read between a hundred and fifty and -two hundred novels; no matter how poor he is, this luxury -is possible to him, because of the institution of circulating -libraries. At the end of a few years he has read several thousand -novels. Does he like them? No; he will tell you that -they are nearly all the same, but they help him to pass -away his idle time; they have become a necessity for him; -he would be very unhappy if he could not continue this sort -of reading. It is utterly impossible that the result can be -anything but a stupefying of the faculties. He cannot even -remember the names of twenty or thirty books out of -thousands; much less does he remember what they contain. -The result of all this reading means nothing but a cloudiness -in his mind. That is the direct result. The indirect result is -that the mind has been kept from developing itself. All development -necessarily means some pain; and such reading -as I speak of has been employed unconsciously as a means -to avoid that pain, and the consequence is atrophy.</p> - -<p>Of course this is an extreme case; but it is the ultimate -outcome of reading for amusement whenever such amusement -becomes a habit, and when there are means close at -hand to gratify the habit. At present in Japan there is little -danger of this state of things; but I use the illustration -for the sake of its ethical warning.</p> - -<p>This does not mean that there is any sort of good literature -which should be shunned. A good novel is just as good -reading as even the greatest philosopher can possibly wish -for. The whole matter depends upon the way of reading, -even more than upon the nature of what is read. Perhaps<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -it is too much to say, as has often been said, that there is no -book which has nothing good in it; it is better simply to -state that the good of a book depends incomparably more -for its influence upon the habits of the reader than upon the -art of the writer, no matter how great that writer may be. -In a previous lecture I tried to call your attention to the -superiority of the child’s methods of observation to those -of the man; and the same fact may be noticed in regard to -the child’s method of reading. Certainly the child can read -only very simple things; but he reads most thoroughly; and -he thinks and thinks untiringly about what he reads; one -little fairy tale will give him mental occupation for a month -after he has read it. All the energies of his little fancy are -exhausted upon the tale; and if his parents be wise, they do -not allow him to read a second tale, until the pleasure of the -first, and its imaginative effect, has begun to die away. -Later habits, habits which I shall venture to call bad, soon -destroy the child’s power of really attentive reading. But -let us now take the case of a professional reader, a scientific -reader; and we shall observe the same power, developed of -course to an enormous degree. In the office of a great publishing -house which I used to visit, there are received every -year sixteen thousand manuscripts. All these must be -looked at and judged; and such work in all publishing houses -is performed by what are called professional readers. The -professional reader must be a scholar, and a man of very -uncommon capacity. Out of a thousand manuscripts he -will read perhaps not more than one; out of two thousand -he may possibly read three. The others he simply looks at -for a few seconds—one glance is enough for him to decide -whether the manuscript is worth reading or not. The shape -of a single sentence will tell him that, from the literary -point of view. As regards subject, even the title is enough -for him to judge, in a large number of cases. Some manuscripts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> -may receive a minute or even five minutes of his attention; -very few receive a longer consideration. Out of -sixteen thousand, we may suppose that sixteen are finally -selected for judgment. He reads these from beginning to -end. Having read them, he decides that only eight can be -further considered. The eight are read a second time, much -more carefully. At the close of the second examination the -number is perhaps reduced to seven. These seven are destined -for a third reading; but the professional reader knows -better than to read them immediately. He leaves them -locked up in a drawer, and passes a whole week without looking -at them. At the end of the week he tries to see whether -he can remember distinctly each of these seven manuscripts -and their qualities. Very distinctly he remembers three; -the remaining four he cannot at once recall. With a little -more effort, he is able to remember two more. But two he -has utterly forgotten. This is a fatal defect; the work that -leaves no impression upon the mind after two readings cannot -have real value. He then takes the manuscripts out of -the drawer, condemns two (those he could not remember), -and re-reads the five. At the third reading everything -is judged—subject, execution, thought, literary quality. -Three are discovered to be first class; two are accepted by -the publishers only as second class. And so the matter ends.</p> - -<p>Something like this goes on in all great publishing houses; -but unfortunately not all literary work is now judged in the -same severe way. It is now judged rather by what the public -likes; and the public does not like the best. But you may -be sure that in a house such as that of the Cambridge or the -Oxford University publishers, the test of a manuscript is -very severe indeed; it is there read much more thoroughly -than it is likely ever to be read again. Now this professional -reader whom we speak of, with all his knowledge and scholarship -and experience, reads the book very much in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> -same way as the child reads a fairy tale. He has forced his -mind to exert all its powers in the same minute way that the -child’s mind does, to think about everything in the book, -in all its bearings, in a hundred different directions. It is -not true that a child is a bad reader; the habit of bad reading -is only formed much later in life, and is always unnatural. -The natural and also the scholarly way of reading is -the child’s way. But it requires what we are apt to lose as -we grow up, the golden gift of patience; and without patience -nothing, not even reading, can be well done.</p> - -<p>Important then as careful reading is, you can readily perceive -that it should not be wasted. The powers of a well-trained -and highly educated mind ought not to be expended -upon any common book. By common I mean cheap and -useless literature. Nothing is so essential to self-training as -the proper choice of books to read; and nothing is so universally -neglected. It is not even right that a person of ability -should waste his time in “finding out” what to read. -He can easily obtain a very correct idea of the limits of the -best in all departments of literature, and keep to that best. -Of course, if he has to become a specialist, a critic, a professional -reader, he will have to read what is bad as well as -what is good, and will be able to save himself from much -torment only by an exceedingly rapid exercise of judgment, -formed by experience. Imagine, for example, the reading -that must have been done, and thoroughly done, by such a -critic as Professor Saintsbury. Leaving out of the question -all his university training, and his mastery of Greek and -Latin classics, which is no small reading to begin with, he -must have read some five thousand books in the English of -all centuries—learned thoroughly everything that was in -them, the history of each one, and the history of its author, -whenever that was accessible. He must also have mastered -thoroughly the social and political history relating to all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> -this mass of literature. But this is still less than half his -work. For, being an authority upon two literatures, his -study of French, both old and new French, must have been -even more extensive than his study of English. And all his -work had to be read as a master reads; there was little more -amusement in the whole from beginning to end. The only -pleasure could be in results; but these results are very great. -Nothing is more difficult in this world than to read a book -and then to express clearly and truly in a few lines exactly -what the literary value of the book is. There are not more -than twenty people in the world who can do this, for the -experience as well as the capacity required must be enormous. -Very few of us can hope to become even third or -fourth class critics after a lifetime of study. But we can -all learn to read; and that is not by any means a small -feat. The great critics can best show us the way to do -this, by their judgment.</p> - -<p>Yet after all, the greatest of critics is the public—not -the public of a day or a generation, but the public of centuries, -the consensus of national opinion or of human opinion -about a book that has been subjected to the awful test -of time. Reputations are made not by critics, but by the -accumulation of human opinion through hundreds of years. -And human opinion is not sharply defined like the opinion -of a trained critic; it cannot explain; it is vague, like a great -emotion of which we cannot exactly describe the nature; it -is based upon feeling rather than upon thinking; it only -says, “we like this.” Yet there is no judgment so sure as -this kind of judgment, for it is the outcome of an enormous -experience. The test of a good book ought always to be the -test which human opinion, working for generations, applies. -And this is very simple.</p> - -<p>The test of a great book is whether we want to read it -only once or more than once. Any really great book we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -want to read the second time even more than we wanted -to read it the first time; and every additional time that we -read it we find new meanings and new beauties in it. A -book that a person of education and good taste does not -care to read more than once is very probably not worth -much. Some time ago there was a very clever discussion going -on regarding the art of the great French novelist, Zola; -some people claimed that he possessed absolute genius; -others claimed that he had only talent of a very remarkable -kind. The battle of argument brought out some strange extravagances -of opinion. But suddenly a very great critic -simply put this question: “How many of you have read, or -would care to read, one of Zola’s books a second time?” -There was no answer; the fact was settled. Probably no one -would read a book by Zola more than once; and this is -proof positive that there is no great genius in them, and no -great mastery of the highest form of feeling. Shallow or -false any book must be, that, although bought by a hundred -thousand readers, is never read more than once. But -we cannot consider the judgment of a single individual infallible. -The opinion that makes a book great must be the -opinion of many. For even the greatest critics are apt to -have certain dullnesses, certain inappreciations. Carlyle, -for example, could not endure Browning; Byron could not -endure some of the greatest of English poets. A man must -be many-sided to utter a trustworthy estimate of many -books. We may doubt the judgment of the single critic at -times. But there is no doubt possible in regard to the judgment -of generations. Even if we cannot at once perceive -anything good in a book which has been admired and -praised for hundreds of years, we may be sure that by trying, -by studying it carefully, we shall at last be able to feel -the reason of this admiration and praise. The best of all libraries -for a poor man would be a library entirely composed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> -of such great works only, books which have passed the test -of time.</p> - -<p>This then would be the most important guide for us in -the choice of reading. We should read only the books that -we want to read more than once, nor should we buy any -others, unless we have some special reason for so investing -money. The second fact demanding attention is the general -character of the value that lies hidden within all such great -books. A great book is not apt to be comprehended by a -young person at the first reading except in a superficial way. -Only the surface, the narrative, is absorbed and enjoyed. -No young man can possibly see at first reading the qualities -of a great book. Remember that it has taken humanity in -many cases hundreds of years to find out all that there is in -such a book. But according to a man’s experience of life, -the text will unfold new meanings to him. The book that -delighted us at eighteen, if it be a good book, will delight us -much more at twenty-five, and it will prove like a new book -to us at thirty years of age. At forty we shall re-read it, -wondering why we never saw how beautiful it was before. -At fifty or sixty years of age the same facts will repeat -themselves. A great book grows exactly in proportion to -the growth of the reader’s mind. It was the discovery of -this extraordinary fact by generations of people long dead -that made the greatness of such works as those of Shakespeare, -of Dante, or of Goethe. Perhaps Goethe can give us -at this moment the best illustration. He wrote a number of -little stories in prose, which children like, because to children -they have all the charm of fairy tales. But he never intended -them for fairy tales; he wrote them for experienced -minds. A young man finds very serious reading in them; a -middle aged man discovers an extraordinary depth in their -least utterance; and an old man will find in them all the -world’s philosophy, all the wisdom of life. If one is very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> -dull, he may not see much in them, but just in proportion -as he is a superior man, and in proportion as his knowledge -of life has been extensive, so will he discover the greatness -of the mind that conceived them.</p> - -<p>This does not mean that the authors of such books could -have preconceived the entire range and depth of that which -they put into their work. Great art works unconsciously -without ever suspecting that it is great; and the larger the -genius of a writer, the less chance there is of his ever knowing -that he has genius; for his power is less likely to be discovered -by the public until long after he is dead. The great -things done in literature have not usually been done by -men who thought themselves great. Many thousand years -ago some wanderer in Arabia, looking at the stars of the -night, and thinking about the relation of man to the unseen -powers that shaped the world, uttered all his heart in certain -verses that have been preserved to us in the Book of -Job. To him the sky was a solid vault; of that which might -exist beyond it, he never even dreamed. Since his time how -vast has been the expansion of our astronomical knowledge! -We now know thirty millions of suns, all of which are probably -attended by planets, giving a probable total of three -hundred millions of other worlds within sight of our astronomical -instruments. Probably multitudes of these are inhabited -by intelligent life; it is even possible that within a -few years more we shall obtain proof positive of the existence -of an older civilization than our own upon the planet -Mars. How vast a difference between our conception of the -universe and Job’s conception of it. Yet the poem of that -simple-minded Arab or Jew has not lost one particle of its -beauty and value because of this difference. Quite the contrary! -With every new astronomical discovery the words of -Job take grander meanings to us, simply because he was -truly a great poet and spoke only the truth that was in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> -heart thousands of years ago. Very anciently also there was -a Greek story-teller who wrote a little story about a boy and -girl in the country, called <cite>Daphnis and Chloe</cite>. It was a little -story, telling in the simplest language possible how that boy -and girl fell in love with each other, and did not know why, -and all the innocent things they said to each other, and how -grown-up people kindly laughed at them and taught them -some of the simplest laws of life. What a trifling subject, -some might think. But that story, translated into every -language in the world, still reads like a new story to us; and -every time we re-read it, it appears still more beautiful, because -it teaches a few true and tender things about innocence -and the feeling of youth. It never can grow old, any -more than the girl and boy whom it describes. Or, to descend -to later times, about three hundred years ago a French -priest conceived the idea of writing down the history of a -student who had been charmed by a wanton woman, and -led by her into many scenes of disgrace and pain. This little -book, called <cite>Manon Lescaut</cite>, describes for us the society of a -vanished time, a time when people wore swords and powdered -their hair, a time when everything was as different as -possible from the life of to-day. But the story is just as true -of our own time as of any time in civilization; the pain and -the sorrow affect us just as if they were our own; and the -woman, who is not really bad, but only weak and selfish, -charms the reader almost as much as she charmed her victim, -until the tragedy ends. Here again is one of the world’s -great books that cannot die. Or, to take one more example -out of a possible hundred, consider the stories of Hans Andersen. -He conceived the notion that moral truths and social -philosophy could be better taught through little fairy -tales and child stories than in almost any other way; and -with the help of hundreds of old-fashioned tales, he made a -new series of wonderful stories that have become a part of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> -every library and are read in all countries by grown-up -people much more than by children. There is in this astonishing -collection of stories, a story about a mermaid, which I -suppose you have all read. Of course there can be no such -thing as a mermaid; from one point of view the story is -quite absurd. But the emotions of unselfishness and love -and loyalty which the story expresses are immortal, and so -beautiful that we forget about all the unreality of the -framework; we see only the eternal truth behind the fable.</p> - -<p>You will understand now exactly what I mean by a great -book. What about the choice of books? Some years ago -you will remember that an Englishman of science, Sir John -Lubbock, wrote a list of what he called the best books in -the world—or at least the best hundred books. Then some -publishers published the hundred books in cheap form. -Following the example of Sir John, other literary men made -different lists of what they thought the best hundred books -in existence; and now quite enough time has passed to show -us the value of these experiments. They have proved utterly -worthless, except to the publishers. Many persons -may buy the hundred books; but very few read them. And -this is not because Sir John Lubbock’s idea was bad; it is -because no one man can lay down a definite course of reading -for the great mass of differently constituted minds. Sir -John expressed only his opinion of what most appealed to -him; another man of letters would have made a different -list; probably no two men of letters would have made exactly -the same one. The choice of great books must, under -all circumstances, be an individual one. In short, you must -choose for yourselves according to the light that is in you. -Very few persons are so many-sided as to feel inclined to -give their best attention to many different kinds of literature. -In the average of cases it is better for a man to confine -himself to a small class of subjects—the subjects best<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> -according with his natural powers and inclinations, the subjects -that please him. And no man can decide for us, without -knowing our personal character and disposition perfectly -well and being in sympathy with it, where our powers -lie. But one thing is easy to do—that is, to decide, first, -what subject in literature has already given you pleasure; -to decide, secondly, what is the best that has been written -upon that subject, and then to study that best to the exclusion -of ephemeral and trifling books which profess to deal -with the same theme, but which have not yet obtained the -approbation of great critics or of a great public opinion.</p> - -<p>Those books which have obtained both are not so many in -number as you might suppose. Each great civilization has -produced only two or three of the first rank, if we except the -single civilization of the Greeks. The sacred books embodying -the teaching of all great religions necessarily take place -in the first rank, even as literary productions; for they have -been polished and repolished, and have been given the highest -possible literary perfection of which the language in -which they are written is capable. The great epic poems -which express the ideals of races, these also deserve a first -place. Thirdly, the masterpieces of drama, as reflecting -life, must be considered to belong to the highest literature. -But how many books are thus represented? Not very many. -The best, like diamonds, will never be found in great -quantities.</p> - -<p>Besides such general indications as I have thus ventured, -something may be said regarding a few choice books—those -which a student should wish to possess good copies of -and read all his life. There are not many of these. For European -students it would be necessary to name a number of -Greek authors. But without a study of the classic tongues -such authors could be of much less use to the students of -this country; moreover, a considerable knowledge of Greek<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> -life and Greek civilization is necessary to quicken appreciation -of them. Such knowledge is best gained through engravings, -pictures, coins, statues—through those artistic -objects which enable the imagination to see what has existed; -and as yet the artistic side of classical study is scarcely -possible in Japan, for want of pictorial and other material. -I shall therefore say very little regarding the great books -that belong to this category. But as the whole foundation -of European literature rests upon classical study, the student -should certainly attempt to master the outlines of -Greek mythology, and the character of the traditions -which inspired the best of Greek literature and drama. -You can scarcely open an English book belonging to any -high class of literature, in which you will not find allusions -to Greek beliefs, Greek stories, or Greek plays. The mythology -is almost necessary for you; but the vast range of the -subject might well deter most of you from attempting a -thorough study of it. A thorough study of it, however, is -not necessary. What is necessary is an outline only; and a -good book, capable of giving you that outline in a vivid -and attractive manner would be of inestimable service. In -French and German there are many such books; in English, -I know of only one, a volume in Bohn’s Library, Keightley’s -<cite>Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy</cite>. It is not an expensive -work; and it has the exceptional quality of teaching in -a philosophical spirit. As for the famous Greek books, the -value of most of them for you must be small, because the -number of adequate translations is small. I should begin by -saying that all verse translations are useless. No verse -translation from the Greek can reproduce the Greek verse—we -have only twenty or thirty lines of Homer translated -by Tennyson, and a few lines of other Greek poets translated -by equally able men, which are at all satisfactory. -Under all circumstances take a prose translation when you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> -wish to study a Greek or Latin author. We should of course -consider Homer first. I do not think that you can afford -not to read something of Homer. There are two excellent -prose translations in English, one of the Iliad and one of the -Odyssey. The latter is for you the more important of the -two great poems. The references to it are innumerable in -all branches of literature; and these references refer usually -to the poetry of its theme, for the Odyssey is much more a -romance than is the Iliad. The advantage of the prose -translation by Lang and Butcher is that it preserves something -of the rolling sound and music of the Greek verse, -though it is only prose. That book I should certainly consider -worth keeping constantly by you; its utility will appear -to you at a later day. The great Greek tragedies have -all been translated; but I should not so strongly recommend -these translations to you. It would be just as well, in most -cases, to familiarize yourselves with the stories of the dramas -through other sources; and there are hundreds of these. -You should at least know the subject of the great dramas -of Sophocles, Æschylus, and above all Euripides. Greek -drama was constructed upon a plan that requires much -study to understand correctly; it is not necessary that you -should understand these matters as an antiquarian does, -but it is necessary to know something of the stories of the -great plays. As for comedy, the works of Aristophanes are -quite exceptional in their value and interest. They require -very little explanation; they make us laugh to-day just as -heartily as they made the Athenians laugh thousands of -years ago; and they belong to immortal literature. There -is the Bohn translation in two volumes, which I would -strongly recommend. Aristophanes is one of the great -Greek dramatists whom we can read over and over again, -gaining at every reading. Of the lyrical poets there is also -one translation likely to become an English classic, although<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> -a modern one; that is Lang’s translation of Theocritus, a -tiny little book, but very precious of its kind. You see I am -mentioning very few; but these few would mean a great -deal for you, should you use them properly. Among later -Greek work, work done in the decline of the old civilization, -there is one masterpiece that the world will never become -tired of—I mentioned it before, the story of <cite>Daphnis and -Chloe</cite>. This has been translated into every language, and I -am sorry to say that the best translation is not English, but -French—the version of Amyot. But there are many English -translations. That book you certainly ought to read. -About the Latin authors, it is not here necessary to say -much. There are very good prose translations of Virgil and -Horace, but the value of these to you cannot be very great -without a knowledge of Latin. However, the story of the -Æneid is necessary to know, and it were best read in the -version of Conington. In the course of your general education -it is impossible to avoid learning something regarding -the chief Latin writers and thinkers; but there is one immortal -book that you may not have often seen the name of; and -it is a book everybody should read—I mean the <cite>Golden -Ass</cite> of Apuleius. You have this in a good English translation. -It is only a story of sorcery, but one of the most wonderful -stories ever written, and it belongs to world literature -rather than to the literature of a time.</p> - -<p>But the Greek myths, although eternally imperishable -in their beauty, are not more intimately related to English -literature than are the myths of the ancient English religion, -the religion of the Northern races, which has left its echoes -all through our forms of speech, even in the names of the -days of the week. A student of English literature ought to -know something about Northern mythology. It is full of -beauty also, beauty of another and stranger kind; and it embodies -one of the noblest warrior-faiths that ever existed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> -the religion of force and courage. You have now in the library -a complete collection of Northern poetry, I mean the -two volumes of the <cite>Corpus Poeticum Boreali</cite>. Unfortunately -you have not as yet a good collection of the Sagas and Eddas. -But, as in the case of the vaster subject of Greek mythology, -there is an excellent small book in English, giving an -outline of all that is important—I mean necessary for you—in -regard to both the religion and the literature of the -Northern races, Mallet’s <cite>Northern Antiquities</cite>. Sir Walter -Scott contributed the most valuable portion of the translations -in this little book; and these translations have stood -the test of time remarkably well. The introductory chapters -by Bishop Percy are old-fashioned, but this fact does -not in the least diminish the stirring value of the volume. I -think it is one of the books that every student should try to -possess.</p> - -<p>With regard to the great modern masterpieces translated -into English from other tongues, I can only say that it is -better to read them in the originals, if you can. If you can -read Goethe’s <cite>Faust</cite> in German, do not read it in English; -and if you can read Heine in German, the French translation -in prose, which he superintended, and the English -translations (there are many of them) in verse can be of no -use to you. But if German be too difficult, then read <cite>Faust</cite> -in the prose version of Hayward, as revised by Dr. Buchheim. -You have that in the library; and it is the best of the -kind in existence. <cite>Faust</cite> is a book that a man should buy -and keep, and read many times during his life. As for -Heine, he is a world poet, but he loses a great deal in translation; -and I can only recommend the French prose version -of him; the English versions of Browning and Lazarus and -others are often weak. Some years ago a series of extraordinary -translations of Heine appeared in <cite>Blackwood’s Magazine</cite>; -but these have not appeared, I believe, in book form.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p> - -<p>As for Dante, I do not know whether he can make a -strong appeal to you in any language except his own; and -you must understand the Middle Ages very well to feel -how wonderful he was. I might say something similar about -other great Italian poets. Of the French dramatists, you -must study Molière; he is next in importance only to Shakespeare. -But do not read him in any translation. Here I -should say positively, that one who cannot read French -might as well leave Molière alone; the English language -cannot reproduce his delicacies of wit and allusion.</p> - -<p>As for modern English literature, I have tried in the -course of my lectures to indicate the few books deserving of -a place in world-literature; and I need scarcely repeat them -here. Going back a little further, however, I should like to -remind you again of the extraordinary merit of Malory’s -book the <cite>Morte d’Arthur</cite>, and to say that it is one of the -very few that you should buy and keep and read often. The -whole spirit of chivalry is in that book; and I need scarcely -tell you how deep is the relation of the spirit of chivalry to -all modern English literature. I do not recommend you to -read Milton, unless you intend to make certain special studies -of language; the linguistic value of Milton is based -upon Greek and Latin literature. As for his lyrics—that is -another matter. Those ought to be studied. As there is little -more to say, except by way of suggestion, I think that -you ought, every one of you, to have a good copy of Shakespeare, -and to read Shakespeare through once every year, -not caring at first whether you can understand all the sentences -or not; that knowledge can be acquired at a later day. -I am sure that if you follow this advice you will find Shakespeare -become larger every time that you read him, and -that at last he will begin to exercise a very strong and very -healthy influence upon your methods of thinking and feeling. -A man does not require to be a great scholar in order to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> -read Shakespeare. And what is true of reading Shakespeare, -you will find to be true also in lesser degree of all the world’s -great books. You will find it true of Goethe’s <cite>Faust</cite>. You -will find it true of the best chapters in the poems of Homer. -You will find it true of the best plays of Molière. You will -find it true of Dante, and of those books in the English Bible -about which I gave a short lecture last year. And therefore -I do not think that I can better conclude these remarks -than by repeating an old but very excellent piece of advice -which has been given to young readers: “Whenever you -hear of a new book being published, read an old one.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> - -<p class="ph p150">ATLANTIC READINGS</p> -</div> - - -<p>Teachers everywhere are cordially welcoming our series -of <cite>Atlantic Readings</cite>; for material not otherwise available -is here published for classroom use in convenient and inexpensive -form. In most cases the selections reprinted have -been suggested by teachers in schools and colleges where -a need for a particular essay or story has been urgently -felt. Supplied for one institution, the reprint has created -an immediate market elsewhere.</p> - -<p>The Atlantic Monthly Press most warmly invites conference -and correspondence that will suggest additions to -this growing list. It is of course apparent from the titles -below that the material is chosen only in part from the files -of the <cite>Atlantic Monthly</cite>.</p> - - -<p>The titles already published follow:—</p> - - -<table class="autotable automargin"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">1. THE LIE</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Mary Antin</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2. RUGGS--R.O.T.C.</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By William Addleman Ganoe</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">3. JUNGLE NIGHT</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By William Beebe</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">4. AN ENGLISHWOMAN’S MESSAGE</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Mrs. A. Burnett-Smith</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">5. A FATHER TO HIS FRESHMAN SON</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Edward Sanford Martin</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">6. A PORT SAID MISCELLANY</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By William McFee</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">7. EDUCATION: THE MASTERY OF THE ARTS OF LIFE</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Arthur E. Morgan</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">8. INTENSIVE LIVING</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Cornelia A. P. Comer</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">9. THE PRELIMINARIES</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Cornelia A. P. Comer</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">10. THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By William James</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">11. THE STUDY OF POETRY</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Matthew Arnold</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">12. BOOKS</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Arthur C. Benson</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">13. ON COMPOSITION</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Lafcadio Hearn</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">14. THE BASIC PROBLEM OF DEMOCRACY</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Walter Lippmann</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">15. THE PILGRIMS OF PLYMOUTH</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Henry Cabot Lodge</td> -<td class="tdl">25c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">16. AFTER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Professor Frederick J. E. Woodbridge</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">17. ON READING IN RELATION TO LITERATURE</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 3em;">By Lafcadio Hearn</td> -<td class="tdl">15c</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p class="center"><span class="italic">We are constantly adding new titles to this series</span></p> - -<p class="center p1_5"><span class="italic">Address The Educational Department</span></p> - -<p class="center p1_5"> -<span class="p120">THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, <span class="smcap">Inc.</span></span><br /> -8 ARLINGTON STREET, BOSTON (17)<br /> -</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></p> - -<p class="p150 ph mb0" id="ATLANTIC_TEXTS">ATLANTIC TEXTS</p> -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="italic">TEXTBOOKS IN LIBRARY FORM</span></p> - -<hr class="r10" /> - - -<table class="autotable automargin" style="max-width: 40em;"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">ATLANTIC CLASSICS, <span class="italic">First Series</span></td> -<td class="tdr">$1.50</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">ATLANTIC CLASSICS, <span class="italic">Second Series</span></td> -<td class="tdr">1.50</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">Both volumes collected and edited by -<span class="smcap">Ellery Sedgwick</span>, -Editor of the <cite>Atlantic Monthly</cite>.<br /> -For classes in American literature.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">ESSAYS AND ESSAY-WRITING</td> -<td class="tdr">1.25</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">Collected and edited by -<span class="smcap">William M. Tanner</span>, University of Texas.<br /> -For literature and composition classes.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">ATLANTIC NARRATIVES, <span class="italic">First Series</span></td> -<td class="tdr">1.25</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">For college use in classes studying the short story.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdl">ATLANTIC NARRATIVES, <span class="italic">Second Series</span></td> -<td class="tdr">1.25</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">For secondary schools.<br /> -Both volumes collected and edited by <span class="smcap">Charles Swain -Thomas</span>, Editorial department of the Atlantic Monthly Press, and -Lecturer at Harvard University.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdl">ATLANTIC PROSE AND POETRY</td> -<td class="tdr">1.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> - -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">Collected and edited by <span class="smcap">Charles Swain Thomas</span> and <span class="smcap">Harry G. -Paul</span> of the University of Illinois.<br /> -A literary reader for upper grammar grades and junior high schools.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">THE PROFESSION OF JOURNALISM</td> -<td class="tdr">1.25</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">Collected and edited by <span class="smcap">Willard G. -Bleyer</span>, University of Wisconsin.<br /> -For college use.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY AND ITS MAKERS</td> -<td class="tdr">1.00</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">M. A. DeWolfe Howe</span>, -Editorial department of the Atlantic Monthly Press.<br /> -Biographical and literary matter for the English class.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">WRITING THROUGH READING</td> -<td class="tdr">.90</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Robert M. Gay</span>, Simmons -College.<br /> -A short course in composition for colleges and normal schools.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS: The Principle and the Practice</td> -<td class="tdr">2.50</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">Edited by <span class="smcap">Stephen P. Duggan</span>, -College of the City of New York.<br /> -A basic text on international relations.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">THE LIGHT: An Educational Pageant</td> -<td class="tdr">.65</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Catherine T. Bryce</span>, Yale -University.<br /> -Especially suitable for public presentation at Teachers’ Conventions.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">PATRONS OF DEMOCRACY</td> -<td class="tdr">.80</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Dallas Lore Sharp</span>, Boston -University.<br /> -For classes interested in discussing democracy in our public schools.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">AMERICANS BY ADOPTION</td> -<td class="tdr">1.50</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Joseph Husband</span>.<br /> -For Americanization courses.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">THE VOICE OF SCIENCE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE</td> -<td class="tdr">2.00</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;">Collected and edited by <span class="smcap">Robert E. -Rogers</span> and <span class="smcap">Henry G. Pearson</span>, -Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="r10" /> - - -<p class="center mb2"> -<span class="p120">THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, <span class="smcap">Inc.</span></span><br /> -8 ARLINGTON STREET, BOSTON (17)</p> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph">Transcriber’s Note</p> - -<p>On page 22, the “15c” which appears opposite title 17 was moved opposite the name of the author, rather -than that of the book title, to match the other items in the table. -Otherwise, as far as possible, the original text was maintained.</p> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON READING IN RELATION TO LITERATURE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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