Comfort Found in Good Old Books

Daniel Defoe, the son of a butcher, was born in 1661 and died in 1731. Much of his career is still a puzzle to literary students because of his extraordinary passion for secrecy. He gained no literary fame until after fifty years of age, although he had written many pamphlets and had conducted a review which gave to Addison the idea of The Spectator. Defoe engaged in mercantile business and failed. He also wrote much for the Government, his pungent and persuasive style fitting him for the career of a pamphleteer. But his independence and his lack of tact caused him to lose credit at court and he fell back upon literature. He may be called the first of the newspaper reporters, before the day of the daily newspaper, and he first saw the advantage of the interview. No one has ever surpassed him in the power of making an imaginary narrative seem real and genuine by minute detail artfully introduced.

The English-reading public was captured by Robinson Crusoe. Four editions were called for in four months, and Defoe met the demand for more stories from his pen by issuing in the following year Duncan Campbell, Captain Singleton and Memoirs of a Cavalier. It is evident that Defoe had written these works in previous years and had not been encouraged to print them. Readers of today seldom look into these books, but the Memoirs are noteworthy for splendid descriptions of fights between Roundheads and Cavaliers, and Captain Singleton contains a memorable narrative of an expedition across Africa, then an unknown land, which anticipated many of the discoveries of Mungo Park, Bruce, Speke, and Stanley.

Defoe's other works are Moll Flanders, Colonel Jack, Roxana, and Journal of the Plague Year. Years ago I read all the novels of Defoe, taking them up at night after work hours. They are not to be commended as books that will induce sleep, because they are far too entertaining. Defoe's story of the great plague in London is far more striking than the records of those who actually lived through the terrible months when a great city was converted into a huge charnel-house by the pestilence that walketh by noonday. Pepys in his Diary has many passages on the plague, but these do not appeal to one as Defoe's story does, probably because Pepys did not have the literary faculty.

The three other stories all deal with life in the underworld of London. Defoe in Moll Flanders and Roxana depicts two types of the courtesan and, despite several coarse scenes, the narratives of the lives of these women are singularly entertaining. The only dull spots are those in which he indulges in his habit of drawing pious morals from the vices of his characters. From these stories one may get a better idea of the London of the early part of the eighteenth century than from books which were specially written to describe the customs and manners of the time, because Defoe regarded nothing as too trivial to set down in his descriptions.

Defoe wrote his masterpiece from materials furnished by a sailor, Alexander Selkirk, who returned to London after spending many years of solitude on the Island of Juan Fernandez. The records of the time give a brief outline of his adventures, and there is no question that Defoe interviewed this man and received from his lips the suggestion of his immortal story. But everything that has made the book a classic for three hundred years was furnished by Defoe himself.

The life of the story lies in the artfully written details of the daily life of the sailor from the time when he was cast ashore on the desolate island. Even the mature reader takes a keen interest in the salvage by Crusoe of the many articles which are to prove of the greatest value to him, while to any healthy child this is one of the most absorbing stories of adventure ever written. The child cannot appreciate Crusoe's mental and moral attitude, but the mature reader sees between the lines of the solitary sailor's reflexions the lessons which Defoe learned in those hard years when everything he touched ended in failure.

Jonathan Swift may be bracketed with Defoe, because he was born in 1667 and died in 1745, only fourteen years after death claimed the author of Robinson Crusoe. As Defoe is known mainly by his story of the island castaway, so Swift is known by his bitter satire, Gulliver's Travels, although he was a prolific writer of political pamphlets. Swift is usually regarded as an Irishman, but he was of English stock, although by chance he happened to be born in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and he had the great advantage of several years' residence at the country seat of Sir William Temple, one of the most accomplished men of his time.

There he was associated with Esther Johnson, a poor relation of Temple's who later became the Stella who inspired his journal. Swift, through the influence of Temple, hoped to get political preferment, but though he wrote many pamphlets and a strong satire in verse, The Tale of a Tub, his hopes of office were disappointed. Finally he obtained a living at Laracor, in Meath, and there he preached several years, making frequent visits to London and Dublin.

Like Defoe, Swift wrote English that was modern in its simplicity and directness. He never indulged in florid metaphor or concealed his thought under verbiage. Everything was clear, direct, incisive. While Defoe accepted failure frankly and remained untinged with bitterness, Swift seemed to store up venom after every defeat and every humiliation, and this poison he injected into his writings.

Although a priest of the church, he divided his attentions for years between Stella, the woman he first met at Sir William Temple's, and Vanessa, a young woman of Dublin. He was reported to have secretly married Stella in 1716, but there is no record of the marriage. Seven years later he broke off all relations with Vanessa because she wrote to Stella asking her if she were married to Swift, and this rupture brought on the woman's death. Stella's death followed soon after, and the closing years of Swift were clouded with remorse and fear of insanity.

In Gulliver's Travels Swift wrote several stories of the adventures of an Englishman who was cast away on the shores of Lilliput, a country whose people were only six inches tall; then upon Brobdingnag, a land inhabited by giants sixty feet high; then upon Laputa, a flying island, and finally upon the land of the Houyhnhnms, where the horse rules and man is represented by a degenerate creature known as a Yahoo, who serves the horse as a slave. In the first two stories Gulliver's satire is amusing, but the picture of the old people in Laputa who cannot die and of the Yahoos, who have every detestable vice, are so bitter that they repel any except morbid readers. Yet the style never lacks clearness, simplicity and force, and one feels in reading these tales that he is listening to the voice of a master of the English tongue.

Bibliography

Notes on the Historical and Best Reading Editions of Great Authors

In this bibliography no attempt has been made to give complete guides to the various books. In fact, to give the Bible alone its due would require all the space that is allotted here to the thirteen great books discussed in this volume. All that has been attempted is to furnish the reader lists of the historical editions that are noteworthy, with others which are best adapted for use, as well as any commentaries that are especially helpful to the reader who has small leisure.

In securing cheap editions of good books the reader of today has a decided advantage over the reader of five years ago, for in these years have appeared two well-edited libraries of general literature that not only furnish accurate texts, well printed and substantially bound, but furnish these at merely nominal prices. The first is Everyman's Library, issued in this country by E. P. Dutton & Company of New York. It comprises the best works from all departments of literature selected by a committee of English scholars, headed by Ernest Rhys, the editor of the Library. Associated with him were Lord Avebury, George Saintsbury, Sir Oliver Lodge, Andrew Lang, Stopford Brooke, Hilaire Belloc, Gilbert K. Chesterton, A. C. Swinburne and Dr. Richard Garnett. The result is a collection of good literature, each volume prefaced with a short but scholarly introduction. The price is 35 cents in cloth and 70 cents in leather.

The other series is known as the People's Library, and is issued by the Cassell Company of London and New York. This Library is sold at the remarkably low price of 25 cents a volume, well printed and fairly bound in cloth.

THE BIBLE

The Bible is the one "best seller" throughout the world. Last year Bible societies printed and circulated 11,378,854 Bibles. The Bible is now printed in four hundred languages. Last year the British and Foreign Bible Society printed 6,620,024 copies, or an increase of 685,000 copies over the previous year. Even China last year bought 428,000 Bibles.

The first English translation of the Bible which had a great vogue was what is known as the Authorized Version issued in the reign of King James I. For centuries after the Christian Era the Bible appeared only in the Latin Version, called the Vulgate. As early as the seventh century English churchmen made translations of the Psalter, and the Venerable Bede made an Anglo-Saxon version of St. John's gospel. Toward the close of the fourteenth century appeared Wyclif's Bible, which gained such general circulation that there are still extant no less than one hundred and fifty manuscript copies of this version.

Then came Tyndale, whose ambition was to make a translation that any one could understand. He said: "If God spare me life, ere many years I will cause the boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scriptures than you priests do." His version of a few books of the Bible was published first at Cologne, but its acceptance in England was greatly hindered by the translator's polemical notes. Tyndale was burned at the stake in Belgium for the crime of having translated the Bible into the speech of the common people. He will always be remembered as the pioneer who prepared the way for the Authorized Version.

After Tyndale came Rogers, who carried on his work as far as Isaiah. He was followed by Coverdale who wrote fine sonorous English prose, but was weak in scholarship. His translation was superseded by the Geneva Version, made in 1568 by English refugees in the Swiss city. The Geneva translation is noteworthy as the first to appear in Roman type, all the others being in black letter.

The King James Bible was first proposed at the Hampden Conference in 1604. The Bishops opposed the scheme, but the King was greatly taken with it, and in his usual arbitrary way he appointed himself director of the work and issued instructions to the fifty-four scholars chosen. One-third of these were from Oxford, one-third from Cambridge and the remainder from Westminster. They worked three years at the task and produced what is known as the Authorized Version. There seems to be a strong prejudice against King James because of his eccentricities, and most writers on the Bible declare that this version was never authorized by King, Privy Council, Convocation or Parliament. This is wrong, for King James authorized the book, and it owed its existence directly to him. Anglicans and Puritans in this famous Conference were bitterly hostile to each other, and if they had had their way we should never have had this fine version of the Bible. The King was president of the Conference, but the two factions were ready to fly at each other's throats over such questions as the baptism of infants, the authority of the Bishop of Rome and others. The King, however, brushed all these questions aside. He said that the Geneva Bible taught sedition and disobedience, and by royal mandate he ordered Bishop Reynolds and his associates to make the best version in their power. So the credit which the King received by having his name joined to the Bible was well deserved.

The King James Bible or the Authorized Version has had greater influence on the style of English authors than any other work, and it remains today a model of the simplest and best English, with few obsolete words. Out of the small number of 6,000 words used in the Bible, as against 25,000 in Shakespeare, not more than 250 words are now out of every-day use.

The best short essay on the Authorized Version is by Albert S. Cook, Professor of the English Language and Literature in Yale University (N. Y., G. P. Putnam's, 1910). This was originally contributed to the Cambridge History of English Literature, but in book form it contains some matter not printed in the History. Professor Cook shows that the King James Bible today contains fewer obsolete or archaic words than Shakespeare, and that this version put into the speech of the common people a score of phrases that now are scarcely thought of as purely Biblical, so completely have they passed into every-day speech. Among these are "highways and hedges," "clear as crystal," "hip and thigh," "arose as one man," "lick the dust," "a thorn in the flesh," "a broken reed," "root of all evil," "sweat of his brow," "heap coals of fire," "a law unto themselves," "the fat of the land," "a soft answer," "a word in season," "weighed in the balance and found wanting," and so forth.

Between the Authorized Version and the New Revised Version a number of individual translations appeared. The Long Parliament made an order in 1653 for a new translation of the Bible, and three years later a committee was appointed, but as Parliament was dissolved shortly after, the project fell through. The individual versions for a hundred years are not noteworthy, but in 1851 the American Bible Society issued a "Standard" Bible which it circulated for five years. It was simply the King James Bible free from errors and discrepancies. Another important revision was made by the American Bible Union in 1860 and a second revision followed in 1866. Its salient feature was the adoption of the paragraph form.

In 1870 a new revised version of the Bible, which should receive the benefit of the labors of modern scholars, was decided on. The Upper House of Convocation of Canterbury appointed a committee to report on revision. A joint committee from both houses a few months later was elected and was empowered to begin the work. Two committees were established, one for the Old and one for the New Testament. Work was begun June 22, 1870, but in July it was decided to ask the coöperation of American divines. An American Committee of thirty members was organized, and began work October 4, 1872. The English Committees sent their revision to the American Committee, which returned it with suggestions and emendations. Five revisions were made in this way before the work was completed. Special care was taken in the translation of the Greek text of the New Testament.

In 1881 the Revised New Testament appeared. Orders for three million copies came from all parts of the English-speaking world. The Revised Old Testament appeared in 1885. The preferences of the American Committee were placed in a special appendix in both books. In 1901 the American Committee issued the American Standard Revised Version, which is in general circulation in this country.

The tercentenary of the King James Version was celebrated in March, 1911, and it brought out many interesting facts in regard to the book that has been one of the chief educational forces in England and in all English-speaking countries since it was issued.

Among the famous Bibles are the Gutenberg Bible, which was the first to be printed from movable types; the "Vinegar" Bible, because of the printer's misprint of vinegar for vineyard; the "Treacle" Bible, which owed its name to the phrase "treacle in Gilead" for "balm in Gilead"; the "Wicked" Bible, so called because the printers omitted the "not" in the Seventh Commandment.

Of famous manuscript Bibles may be named the Codex Alexandrinus, presented by the Sultan of Turkey to Charles II of England, and the Codex Sinaiticus, discovered in a monastery on Mount Sinai by the great Hebrew scholar, Tischendorf.

Dr. Grenfell, who has made an international reputation by his work among the fishermen of Labrador and by his books on the Bible, suggests that the Scriptures should not be brought out with any distinctive binding. He believes the Bible would gain many more readers if it were bound like an ordinary secular book, so that one could read it on trains or boats without exciting comment. His suggestion is a good one and it is to be hoped it will be acted on by Bible publishers. Anything that will help to make people read the Bible regularly deserves encouragement.

One of the best Bibles for ordinary use is The Modern Reader's Bible, edited with introduction and notes by Richard G. Moulton, Professor of Literary Theory and Interpretation in the University of Chicago. The editor has abolished the paragraph form and he has printed all the poetry in verse form, which is a great convenience to the reader. It makes a volume of 1733 pages, printed on thin but opaque paper. (New York: The Macmillan Company. Price, $2.00 net.)

The Soul of the Bible (Boston: American Unitarian Association) is the very best condensation of the Scriptures. It is arranged by Ulysses G. B. Pierce and consists of selections from the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. The editor has brought together parts of the Bible which explain and supplement each other. The result is that in five hundred and twenty pages one gets the very soul of the Bible. Nothing could be better than this book as an introduction to the careful reading and systematic study of the Bible, which is the best means of culture of spirit and mind that the world affords.

SHAKESPEARE

The first folio edition of Shakespeare was published by J. Heminge and H. Condell in 1623. A copy of the first folio is now very valuable. A reprint of the first folio was issued in 1807 in folio. The first photolithographic reproduction was brought out in 1866. The first folio text is now being brought out, with a volume to each play, by the T. Y. Crowell Company of New York.

Four folio editions were brought out in all, the last in 1685.

Of the famous editions may be mentioned Rowe's, the first octavo, in 1709; Alexander Pope's in 1723; Theobald's in 1733; Warburton's in 1747; Dr. Johnson's in 1765; Malone's, the first variorum, in ten volumes, in 1790. The first American edition was issued at Philadelphia in 1795. Among modern editions may be mentioned Boydell's illustrated edition in 1802; Charles Knight's popular pictorial edition in eight volumes in 1838; Halliwell's edition in sixteen volumes from 1853 to 1865; Dyce's edition in 1857; Richard Grant White's edition in twelve volumes, published in Boston (1857-1860).

The most noteworthy edition issued in this country is Dr. H. H. Furness' variorum edition, begun in Philadelphia in 1873 and still continued by Dr. Furness' son. A volume is devoted to each play and the various texts as well as the notes and critical summaries make this the ideal edition for the scholar. The Cambridge Edition, edited by W. Aldis Wright in nine octavo volumes, is the standard modern text. This text is also given in the Temple Edition, so popular with present-day readers, issued in forty handy sized volumes with prefaces and glossaries by Israel Gollancz. The expurgated text edited by W. J. Rolfe has been used generally in schools, as also the Hudson Shakespeare, edited by Rev. H. N. Hudson.

The best concordance for many years was that of Mary Cowden Clarke, first issued in 1844. The concordance by John Bartlett was published more recently.

The best biography of Shakespeare is by Sydney Lee, in a single volume, A Life of Shakespeare. (New York: The Macmillan Company.)

Other interesting books that deal with the playwright and his plays are Shakespeare's London, by H. T. Stephenson; The Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist, by George Pierce Baker; Shakespeare, by E. Dowden; Shakespeare Manual, by F. L. Fleay; The Text of Shakespeare, by Thomas R. Lounsbury; Shakespearean Tragedy, by A. C. Bradley, and An Introduction to Shakespeare, by H. N. McCracken, F. E. Pierce and W. H. Durham, of the Department of English Literature in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. This is the most valuable book for a beginner in the study of Shakespeare.

A valuable book for the reader who cannot grasp readily the story of a Shakespeare play is Stories of Shakespeare's Comedies, by H. A. Guerber. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1910.) The best book for the plots is Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.

If you are interested in the subject look up these books in any good library and then decide on the volumes you wish to buy. Never buy a book without looking it over, unless you wish to court disappointment.

The Shakespeare-Bacon controversy was first touched upon by J. C. Hart in The Romance of Yachting, issued in New York in 1848. Seven years later W. H. Smith came out with a work, Was Bacon the Author of Shakespeare's Plays? In 1857 Delia Bacon wrote the Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded. She created a great furore for a time in England but interest soon declined. In recent years the principal defender of the theory that Bacon wrote the plays of Shakespeare was Ignatius Donnelly of Minneapolis, who wrote two huge books in which he developed at tedious length what he claimed was a cipher or cryptogram that he had found in Shakespeare's plays, but he died before he cleared up the mystery or gave any adequate proofs.

GREEK AND ROMAN CLASSICS

The versions of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are numerous but most readers who do not know Greek prefer the prose rendering of the Iliad by Lang, Leaf and Myers and the prose version of the Odyssey by Butcher and Lang. In language that is almost Biblical in its force and simplicity these scholars give far more of the spirit of the original Greek than any of the translators in verse. Chapman's Homer is known today only through the noble sonnet by Keats. It has fine passages but it is unreadable. Cowper's Homer in blank verse is also intolerably dull. The best blank verse translations are by Lord Derby, William Cullen Bryant and Christopher P. Cranch.

For supplementary reading on Homer these works will be found valuable: Jebb, Introduction to Homer (Glasgow, 1887); Matthew Arnold, Lectures on Translating Homer; Andrew Lang, Homer and the Epic (London, 1893); Seymour, Introduction to the Language and Verse of Homer (Boston, 1889); Professor J. P. Mahaffy's books on ancient Greece and Greek life will be found helpful.

Virgil's Æneid has been translated by many hands. Dryden produced a fair version and William Morris, Cranch, Conington and others have written excellent translations. Conington furnished a good translation in prose.

Jowett's translation is the standard English version of Plato, while good sidelights on the author of the Republic and Phædo may be gained from Emerson's essay on Plato in Representative Men and from Walter Pater's Plato and Platonism.

Professor A. J. Church's The Story of the Iliad and The Story of the Æneid while intended for the young will appeal to many mature readers.

No translation of Horace has ever been perfectly satisfactory. The quality of the poet seems to elude translation. Some of the most successful versions are Conington, Odes and Epodes (London, 1865); Lord Lytton, Odes and Epodes (London, 1869), and Sargent, Odes (Boston, 1893); supplementary matter may be found in Sellar's Horace and the Elegiac Poets (Oxford, 1892).

Short sketches and critical estimates of all the great Greek and Latin writers may be found in The New International Encyclopedia (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1904.). These are written mainly by Harry Thurston Peck, for many years Professor of Latin in Columbia University and conceded to be one of the best Latin scholars in this country. They give all the facts that the general reader cares to know with an excellent bibliography of each writer.