260
NOTES AND QUERIES. LIO s. x. SEPT. 26, im
acceptance of such matter. We regard as sonud
his position that but little added to " the Thacke-
rayan canon" since 1886 is of much value. The
arrangement here adopted is not to begin with
- Vanity Fair,' but to snow the gradual advance of
the great writer from various reviews, miscellanies, and stories of minor length to the longer novels. This is by far the best pln, and the vivid Intro- ductions supply a picture of the growth of Thacke- ray's style and outlook, with reasons for the critic's preferences or objections. Incidentally we get a good deal of discussion of manners social and gastronomical, for the Professor is an accomplished student of life as well as letters.
The Introduction to the second volume, * The Paris Sketch Book and Art Criticisms,' shows that he is by no means a blind admirer of his author. He recognizes that unfairness which was to find a more pronounced form in ' The Eour Georges,' but we do not think he successfully refutes the accusation that Thackeray is " John Bullish."
The third volume, which includes ' Catherine,' gives us the one shock among the Professor's judg- ments. He prefers that sordid story to 'Barry Lyndon,' arid compares its opening chapters to the work of Scott and Fielding. Still, he admits that he has " never been able exactly to understand the precise point of view from which it was written." As the author himself frankly informed his mother that it was " a mistake all through," we need have no qualms about considering it as an inferior piece of work. In this Introduction the Professor refers neatly to Thackeray's habit of leaving " home to write at the club, the club to write at Brighton, Brighton to write at Paris." Here and elsewhere there is a display of erudition in abundant allusions which will puzzle anybody who is not well read, and the style of the critic is full of words and phrases which strike us as occasionally somewhat strained, if not unnecessary. Prof. Saintsbury has so much to say, arid is in such a hurry to say it, that his writing has little of the easy flow we expect from an old hand. But we can tolerate much from one so well equipped and full of matter.
The fourth volume contains ' The Great Hoggarty Diamond' (an admirable story which we find praised as it deserves) and some lesser things, including a severe and amusing notice of the misrepresentation of ' Nicholas Nickleby ' in France.
In the next volume ' The Irish Sketch Book' is the chief item, but the reader will also find various contributions to The Foreign Quarterly Review, unearthed by Mr. Robert S. Garnett, and published by him in 1906 in ' The New Sketch Book ' as I 'Thackeray's. With all the contents of that reprint Prof. Saintsbury is, we are glad to observe, not I satisfied. It is supported by some flimsy argument ; indeed, he notes, "There is, so far as I know, no direct external evidence " of the authorship of these pieces. Of Thackeray's journalistic work in 1842 and 1843 it is remarked : " He has not got rid wholly he never, as has been said, got rid wholly, though he did so to a much greater extent of the inequality and flightiness of his literary judge- ments."
In the sixth volume * Barry Lyndon ' is the main thing, and this is considered elaboratelv in the Introduction, out of which we select the following passage :
"There can be no doubt in fact it is agreed that he took ' Jonathan Wild ' in no slavish sense
as a model. But in doing this he hampered himself
enormously by making it an autobiography. You
can make a man represent himself as a scoundrel
or a fool or both : the authors of the * Satyre
Menippee ' had done it, Butler had done it, Thacke-
ray himself has done it here with great success in
parts. But it is a frightful strain : and it is a great
question whether it can possibly be done on a very
large scale without ' incompossibility.' Whether
the actual Barry of the story sibi constat is a point
upon which, I suppose, opinions may differ."
This interesting passage is in some ways beyond the ordinary reader, unless he has taken of late to reading harder than he used.
This sixth volume being somewhat devoid of illustrations, we are presented with a considerable number of miscellaneous drawings by Thackeray which are new to a collected edition of his works. The best of these are from the store preserved at Charterhouse School. Some of them figure in pur own study in reproductions due to The Greyfriar, the excellent Charterhouse school magazine ; but they will be new, and we think delightful, to most readers. In this section will be found examples of Thackeray's small, upright hand, which is a marvel of neatness and compression. Every volume issued has a frontispiece, the fourth presenting the well- known group of Fraserians by Maclise, while the others give various views of the great author him- self. In one matter of practical convenience we venture to think that this otherwise impeccable edition might be improved. At the beginning of each volume, facing the half-title, is a list of the contents of the entire seventeen volumes to be issued, but it seems to us a little odd that neither on the binding outside nor on either of the title- pages is any indication given of the number of the volume. The binding is tasteful, and two colours, red and green, are available. We believe that an issue in leather may also be obtained.
We must call special attention to the following
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ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.
To secure insertion of communications corre spondents must observe tnt* following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate."
F. J. F. Forwarded.
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