THE Christmas number of McCLURE's MAGAZINE has a special Christmas cover, designed by Charles L. Hinten, and contains pictures by F. S. Church, Charles Dana Gibson, Ernest G. Peixotto, Convin Knapp Linson, and other of the best-known artists, as well as reproductions of some famous paintings appropriate to the season. Kudvaril Kipling, An thony Hope, Charles A. Dana, Robert Barr, Ella Higginson, Bliss Perry, W. T. Stead, and the dis tinguished Asian Explorer. Dr. Sven Hedin, are among the contributors to the number.
WHAT SHALL WE
READ?
This column is devoted to brief notices of recent pub lications. We hope to make it a ready-reference column for those of our readers who desire f¡> in form themselves as /o the latest ami best new books. (Legal publications are noticed elsewhere.) A dainty little volume in which the reader is taken on a trip through a most delightful country is entitled Romance anil Reality of the Puritan Coast. ' Starting at the historic old town of Medford, the route follows the favorite " North Shore" of the Massachusetts coast as far as Cape Ann. This shore abounds in nat ural beauties, which are graphically described by the author, and at the same time lie has interwoven with the word pictures many historical facts and legends. The illustrations are beautiful, numbering nearly one hundred full-page plates and vignettes from pen and ink drawings by the author. The book is a delight to the eye and mind and eminently suited for a Christ mas present. A capital book for children, in fact for older readers as well, is Miss Belladonna* just issued byMessrs. Little, Brown & Co. The contents include eleven stories, brightly and amusingly written, and admirably illustrated, obetterbook for a Christ mas;rift to the little ones could be found. о Mrs. Goodwin, whose romances of colonial times are so well known, in her new novel, Flint,3 gives us a story of the present day, the scenes of which are laid in New York and at a New England seashore resort. The work is one of exceeding interest and well sus tains the established reputation of the author. There is a peculiar charm about Mrs. Goodwin's writings 1 ROMANCE AND KEALITV OF THE PURITAN COAST with many little pictures, authentic or fanciful. By Edmund H. Garrett. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1897. Cloth $2.00. Full Crushed Morocco, $4.50. 2 Miss BELLADONNA. A child of to<lay. By Caroline Ticknor. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1897. Cloth, fi. 50.
- FLINT: HIS FAULTS, HIS FRIENDSHIPS AND HIS FOR
TUNES. By Maud Wilder Goodwin. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1897. Cloth, $1.75.
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due to her fresh, unaffected and at the same time cul tivated style. We recommend the book to our readers as one which they will find decidedly worth the reading. No living man has had a wider or more intimate acquaintance with actors than M. Jules Claretie, the general manager of the Comédie Française, and in his "Brichanteaii" ' he portrays an actor enamored of his art, but who for various reasons has not achieved success — but he is a failure without melancholy or envy, an optimist failure. Hrichanteau is delightful because he is always treading the boards, and because he believes, in good faith, that his life is a drama in which he plays the principal part. Jules Claretie has grasped all the shades of character of his hero and has rendered them with great delicacy. The book is charmingly written, and will afford the reader thorough enjoyment. A collection of short stories by Miss White, entitled .•/ Brmvitini; Courts/lift, ' furnishes a verypleasant means for whiling away an idle hour. The title story, was, we believe, the author's first literaryattempt, and to our mind is the best of all her writings. The other contents of the volume include several stories which have not before appeared in print. Boys and girls who read Mr. Harris's " The Story of Aaron will be delighted to learn that the author has prepared a further treat for them in a storyentitled Aaron in the Wilihsooiis. :l This story gives the further adventures of "Aaron the Son of Ben AH" while he was a fugitive in the wild woods, and Timobon the black stallion, (".runter the white pig. Gristle the gray pony. Rambler the track dog, etc.. again display their friendliness to the poor hunted Arab. The book is beautifully illustrated, and it would be hard to find a more acceptable Christmas gift for children
NEW LAW-BOOKS.
A TREATISE ON THE LAW OF BAILMENTS, IN CLUDING CARRIERS, INNKEEPERS, AND PLEDGE. By JAMES SCHOULER, LL.D. THIRD EDITION. Little, Brown & Co. Boston, 1897. Law Sheep, So.oo. This new edition of what has long been consid ered the standard authority upon the law of Bail1 BRiciiANTEAf. Actor. Translated from the French of Jules Claretie. Little, lirown & Co., Boston, 1847. Cloth, $1.50. î Л BROWNING COURTSHIP, and other stories. By Kliza Orne White Houghton. Mittun & Co., Boston and New York, 1897. Cloth, #1.25.
- AARON IN THE WII.DWOODS. By Joel Chandler Harris.
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1897. Cloth, $2.00.
