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Boo&lovers Reading Clul 
 Hand -Book 
 
 MERICA 
 ACATIONS IN 
 UROPE 
 
 Mr. Frank R. Stockton 
 
 Miss Jeannette L. Gilder 
 
 Mrs. Mary Bradford Crowninshiele 
 
 Mr. George Ade 
 
 And Others 
 
/ / 
 
 ISSUED FROM THE PRESS OF 
 THE BOOKLOVERS LIBRARY 
 1323 WALNUT ST., PHILADELPHIA 
 
FRANK R. STOCKTON 
 
THE BOOKLOVERS READING 
 CLUB HAND-BOOK TO AC- 
 COMPANY THE READING COURSE 
 ENTITLED, AMERICAN VACATIONS 
 IN EUROPE 
 
 % 
 
 SEYMOUR EATON 
 
 Librarian 
 
 FREDERIC W. SPEIRS, Ph.D. 
 
 Educational Director 
 
 (7) 
 
THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 CONGRESS, 
 Two Coh£0 Received 
 
 NOV, 1 1901 
 
 COPYRIGHT ENTRY 
 
 CLASS £IXXg. No. 
 COPY B. 
 
 Copyright, 19CZ 
 The Booklovers Library 
 
AMERICAN VACA- 
 TIONS IN EUROPE 
 
 Course IF: Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 BOOKS SELECTED 
 
 FOR THIS READING COURSE 
 by 
 
 M R FRANK R. STOCKTON 
 
 (9) 
 
D9/o 
 
 .4 s- 
 
The BOOKS 
 
 HE following four books are supplied by 
 The Booklovers Library to Club Members 
 who have enrolled for Course IV ' . 
 
 I. FROM PONKAPOG TO PESTH 
 
 (Thomas Bailey Aldrich) 
 
 II. SAUNTERINGS 
 
 (Charles Dudley Warner) 
 
 ///. OUR HUNDRED DAYS IN EUROPE 
 
 (Oliver Wendell Holmes) 
 
 IV. GONDOLA DAYS 
 
 (F. Hopkinson Smith) 
 
 The course of reading as outlined in this hand-book 
 is based on these books. Suggestions for supplementary 
 reading will be found at the end. 
 
 (") 
 
AMERICAN VACATIONS IN EUROPE 
 
 TALKS to TRAVELERS 
 
 by 
 
 JEANNETTE L. GILDER 
 
 and 
 MARY BRADFORD CROWNINSHIELD 
 
 and 
 
 GEORGE ADE 
 
 These papers by Miss Gilder, Mrs. Crowninshield 
 
 and Mr. Ade have been prepared specially 
 
 for readers of this course. 
 
 EDITORIAL NOTES 
 
 by 
 Professor FRED LEWIS PATTEE 
 
 (»3) 
 
A WORD from THE DIRECTOR 
 
 UROPE is no longer terra incognita 
 to the cultivated American, and books 
 of travel of the old-fashioned, purely 
 informing type have lost their excuse 
 for being. Nevertheless, the trained 
 man of letters who chooses to take his 
 readers on a European ramble is sure 
 of finding a large party ready to be thus 
 personally conducted on a literary journey through 
 scenes which are already more or less familiar. 
 
 We asked Mr. Frank R. Stockton to select a 
 few books of this sort for the benefit of travelers, 
 
 05) 
 
A Word from the Director 
 
 past, present and prospective. Mr. Stockton s 
 eminent qualifications for making such a choice 
 are best represented by his own delightful sketches 
 of foreign travel. The selection demanded nice 
 discrimination. Mr. Stockton expressed the prin- 
 cipal difficulty when he wrote us: " There are so 
 many books of travel in which the author s per- 
 sonality obtrudes itself in front of the proper subject 
 matter of the work, that it is difficult to make a 
 selection from this class which will satisfy persons 
 who care ?nore for things in Europe than for the 
 men or women who have seen the things." 
 
 The books which were finally approved are pro- 
 ductions of two eminent authors of the past gener- 
 ation and two distinguished literary men of our 
 own day. They furnish collectively a comprehen- 
 sive view of the European countries most frequented 
 by Americans, as seen through the eyes of men who 
 report their observations and deductions in finished 
 literary style. 
 
 In response to our invitation to contribute a 
 suggestive paper to our handbook, Miss Gilder 
 has given us a delightful sketch of her experiences 
 in Europe, upon which she has based valuable hints 
 to prospective, travelers. Mrs. Crowninshield 's 
 advice to young girls who travel abroad is the 
 counsel of a woman who is almost as familiar 
 
 (16) 
 
A Word from the Director 
 
 with the standards of European society as with 
 those of her native land. Mr. Ade, whose great 
 success as a humorist has caused many readers to 
 overlook his more serious work, has contributed 
 some suggestions for the traveler which arc the 
 more effective because illuminated by fashes of 
 wit. 
 
 In planning this course we felt that it should 
 serve as pie as a fit reminiscence to those who have 
 traveled widely ; as stimulus and preparation for 
 those who are about to go abroad, and as a means 
 of general culture and delightful recreation for 
 those who must see Europe through the eyes of 
 others. 
 
 («7) 
 
The Idea of the Course 
 
 T is the dream of most Americans, and 
 happily one more easy of realization 
 with every passing year, to take, at 
 least once in their lives, a vacation in 
 Europe. It was not so very long ago 
 that a voyage across the ocean was the 
 central event of a lifetime. People 
 closed up their business affairs, made 
 their wills and left their families with 
 tearful farewells. When Irving and Willis and 
 Longfellow first went abroad the voyage con- 
 sumed five or six weeks. Today one may run 
 across the ocean, spend a delightful vacation amid 
 any scenes he may choose, return almost before 
 he has been missed by his friends and find his 
 pocketbook no more depleted than if he had 
 passed the time in an American summer resort. 
 When the old world was difficult of access 
 then it was that the book of travels in Europe 
 flourished. Irving began the series with his 
 Sketch Book and Bracebridge Hall. Then came 
 N. P. Willis who made the first sentimental grand 
 tour of Great Britain and the Continent, record- 
 ing it m .Pencilling s by the Way. Longfellow's 
 Outre Mer was in the direct line of succession. 
 He described it as "a kind of sketchbook of 
 scenes in France, Spain and Italy." "When a 
 
 (19) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 boy of ten years," he wrote, "I read Willis' 
 Pencillings by the Way as they appeared from 
 week to week in the country newspapers, and 
 the contemplation of these charming pictures of 
 scenery and society filled me with a thousand 
 dreams and inspirations." Thus it has been ever 
 since. To all refined Americans the old world 
 has ever been, even as it was to Longfellow, "a 
 kind of Holy Land lying afar off behind the blue 
 horizon of the ocean." 
 
 About the middle of the century every return- 
 ing traveler published his book until, in the words 
 of Aldrich, the beaten path of continental tour- 
 ing is "paved three deep with books of travel." 
 Bryant's Letters from Abroad, Hilliard's Six 
 Months in Italy, Taylor's Views Afoot, Mrs. 
 Stowe's Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, 
 Helen Hunt Jackson's Bits of Travel are among 
 the best of these earlier books of travel. 
 
 Of late there has been a very marked falling 
 off in the production of such books. Europe is 
 now so near and so many have seen it that the 
 temptation is a strong one to relegate all narra- 
 tives of travel among- its scenes to the shelf that 
 holds Mrs. Child's once popular Letters from 
 New York. Books of the type of Outre Mer 
 and Bracebridge Hall, however, are always wel 
 come. 
 
 The really valuable literature of European 
 
 travel separates itself into three classes : First, 
 
 
 
 (20) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 guidebooks pure and simple, like Baedeker for 
 example ; second, careful studies of special cities 
 and regions, like Hare's Walks in London or 
 Stanley's Westminster Abbey ; and third, books 
 of real literary merit, the brilliant and fascinating 
 records of ideal travelers, who are not content 
 with describing the mere chronology and cata- 
 logue of the journey, but make their books 
 almost as charming as the actual experience. 
 Such writers are indeed rare. 
 
 Our reading course deals only with the last 
 two varieties. Guidebooks are for the pocket, 
 to be consulted before the actual object ; the 
 second class of books is for careful perusal and 
 even study. He who goes abroad should pre- 
 pare himself fully before he starts. For instance, 
 he who is to visit Paris should carefully master 
 Hamerton's well known book or some other 
 authority, if he would get more than a mere 
 smattering of ideas about it. One can see only 
 what one is prepared to see. Books of the third 
 class, however, can be enjoyed without effort by 
 anyone at any time. Those who never expect to 
 cross the ocean can do an extensive amount of 
 fireside travel and find it extremely satisfying. If 
 they dream of sometime visiting the scenes de- 
 scribed, so much the better — the books are a 
 charming introduction to Europe. Even if they 
 are actually on board the steamer they can have no 
 better reading. They cannot know too much of 
 
 (21) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 the scenes they are to visit and it will add to the 
 effect of Naples or Venice if they have previously 
 seen them through the eyes of Aldrich or Howells. 
 The course, therefore, begins with these alto- 
 gether charming books of saunterings in Europe, 
 but it also indicates supplementary fields where 
 one may wander at will. 
 
 (22) 
 
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS TO 
 THE READER 
 
 /n the case of classics of travel so altogether 
 charming as those in our list, there is no better 
 suggestion than that the reader shall surrender 
 himself completely to the author's guidance and 
 ■mood. When one is journeying in pleasant com- 
 pany amid ideal landscapes in foreign lauds one 
 does not care to analyze emotions and take notes at 
 every step. He had much rather abandon himself 
 completely to the charm of the journey. However, 
 no true book can be skimmed over to advantage. If 
 it is worth reading at all it is worth reading care- 
 fully, even studiously. 
 
 I. From Ponkapog to Pesth — Sketches 
 
 of Travel. 
 The book is rather a collection of sketches and 
 studies than a book of travel. It is ranked in this 
 list simply because its sketches happen to deal 
 with European scenes. Such pieces as " A Visit 
 to an Old Gentleman" contain all the elements 
 necessary for a short story. There is not the 
 slightest attempt at chronological sequence. Each 
 
 (23) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 sketch is independent of the others. Note the 
 sparkling style of the book ; it is the same that 
 one finds in all of Aldrich's shorter pieces. Note 
 also the genuine wit and epigram everywhere 
 manifest. As he sits on the balcony, for instance, 
 he is serenaded by an organ man "holding in one 
 hand a long fishing line baited with monkey." 
 Whatever else the pages may be they are not 
 dull. They are the work of a rare story-teller 
 whose art brings the scene graphically before you. 
 There is no superfluous detail, no unnecessary 
 touch. The book is packed with rare information, 
 yet its primary object seems to be to entertain. 
 The chapter on beggars, for instance, reads like a 
 short story, yet what a fund of valuable informa- 
 tion. No one is prepared to visit Europe until 
 he has read it. 
 
 Note that the first merit of the book is literary. 
 It belongs on the same shelf with Hawthorne's 
 earlier sketches and studies. It is the work of a 
 brilliant wit and poet, one of the masters of the 
 American school of short story writers. Every- 
 thing is sharply cut like a cameo, without super- 
 fluous details, clean, clear, accurate. 
 
 II. SaunteHngS — Episodes of Travel. 
 
 This is a type of the impressionistic book of 
 travels. There is a slight thread of chronological 
 sequence, but it is very far removed from the diary 
 type of book or the mere collection of letters 
 
 (24) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 from abroad. The writer dwells upon only those 
 scenes and episodes that have particularly inter- 
 ested or impressed him. It is a kind of scrap- 
 book made up of the most notable passages from 
 the author's journal ; no particular attempt is made 
 to fill the gaps. 
 
 Note that Saunterings is the work of one who 
 does his own observing. It owes nothing to the 
 guidebooks. The style is not so brilliant and 
 witty as that of Aldrich. The book smacks more 
 of the notebook. It was evidently written on the 
 spot, with the eye upon the object. Aldrich's 
 sketches bear marks of careful polishing in the 
 study at home. Note how a quiet atmosphere of 
 humor pervades it. One does not laugh heartily 
 as he does when he reads Mark Twain, but he 
 finds himself often smiling serenely over the page. 
 The style is natural and readable. Where there 
 is action it moves rapidly. Even the dry informa- 
 tion, which the author in his preface disclaims 
 altogether, but which is none the less there and 
 in abundance, is made light and interesting. 
 
 The human interest is predominant. Ravenna, 
 odd as it is, is interesting to Warner chiefly be- 
 cause of its association with the lives of Dante, 
 Byron and others. He stands before a cathedral, 
 but he is attracted more by the picturesque beggar 
 in the foreground. Note how all unconsciously 
 Warner has put a wealth of autobiographical 
 material into the book. It is the work of a serene, 
 
 (25) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 kindhearted observer who has recorded his im- 
 pressions, chiefly of men and women whom he 
 met on his journey. 
 
 III. Our Hundred Days in Europe. 
 
 — A Narrative of Travel. 
 
 Holmes' book is an excellent example of a 
 consecutive narrative of travel. It begins by 
 telling fully the object of the trip, then it goes 
 straight on and describes it day by day. The 
 great danger in this variety of composition is, of 
 course, the almost irresistible temptation to dif- 
 fuseness. One cannot tell everything. This 
 danger Holmes cleverly avoids ; the book if any- 
 thing is too short. He was nearly eighty when 
 he wrote it and the pen of age is not apt to over- 
 run limits. Moreover, unlike most travelers, 
 Holmes had a governing principle to guide him 
 in his sightseeing. He wished chiefly to visit 
 those places which had impressed him during his 
 first sojourn in Europe a half century earlier. 
 The book is therefore curiously and charmingly 
 double in its perspective. 
 
 To recall old impressions was the first desire 
 of the author ; to see men and women was the 
 second. He cared very little for the miscella- 
 neous sight-seeing that chiefly charms young trav- 
 elers. The book is a picture-gallery of notables, 
 full of glimpses of English customs in the best 
 circles. One main object of the volume was to 
 
 (26) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 return thanks to kind friends abroad and to 
 answer questions of kind friends at home. The 
 primary object, therefore, was a narrow one. 
 Everywhere we see Holmes ; he is as much in 
 evidence as the England he is visiting. On 
 every page we find his sparkle and wit, his wis- 
 dom and epigram, his fund of pertinent reminis- 
 cence, apt quotation, brilliant analogy, everything 
 that goes to make up that charming combination 
 that we associate with the name of the genial 
 autocrat. 
 
 It might seem, then, that as a mere record of 
 travel, the book, in the words of Stockton, would 
 not "satisfy persons who care more for things in 
 Europe than for the men and women who have 
 seen the things." But it certainly does not harm 
 a book to be full of a delightful personality, and 
 if it takes us into circles where only the few are 
 admitted, so much the better for the average 
 reader. Our Hundred Days is a really valuable 
 book of travels. Its descriptions and characteri- 
 zations are brief and clear ; its fund of observation 
 is large ; its point of view is remarkable, and its 
 enthusiasm and zest are certainly of the kind that 
 is contagious. 
 
 IV. Gondola Days An Idealization of 
 
 Travel. 
 Gondola Days is the book of an artist and 
 dreamer, one who seeks the most romantic spot 
 
 (27) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 in Europe and surrenders himself without reserve 
 to the sensuous delight of the place, " the Venice 
 of light and life, of sea and sky and melody." It 
 is the very antipode of the guidebook type of 
 literature. It has not a single trace, as Warner 
 sometimes has, of the iconoclastic Yankee spirit 
 illustrated in Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad. It 
 attempts no history, save vague legends ; it gives 
 no systematic attention to description ; it is bound 
 by no more rules than is the tramp Luigi whom 
 it characterizes. It is a summer book, a poet's 
 book. Every romantic element is made the most 
 of; every illusion is magnified; everything com- 
 mon or squalid or ridiculous is looked at until 
 it is transfigured. 
 
 Note first that it is an artist's book. Form, 
 color and picturesque detail predominate. Note, 
 too, the limpid English, the wealth of epithets, 
 and the marvelous atmosphere of dreamy, sen- 
 suous content that Moods the book. As to 
 whether he has idealized his Venice one who has 
 never been there must read Howells and others 
 to judge. The book marks one extreme ten- 
 dency of works of travel ; Innocents Abroad 
 marks the other. The abandon of the book, its 
 enthusiasm, its romance, are certainly contagious. 
 The reader lays it down with a wish himself to 
 enter upon an indefinite career of gondola days. 
 
 (28) 
 
TOPICAL OUTLINE 
 
 OF THE COURSE 
 
 (=9) 
 
TOPICAL OUTLINE 
 
 F THE C U R S E 
 
 1. The Voyage. 
 
 Holmes, 9-18. 
 Warner, vii-xii. 
 
 2. England. 
 
 Holmes, 18-160, 178-208. 
 
 Liverpool, 18, 179; Chester, 18; Epsom, 31; 
 Windsor, 47; Isle of Wight, 68; Cambridge, 71 ; 
 Oxford, 79, 86; Stratford-on-Avon, 90; Bath, 
 105; Stonehenge, no, 113; Salisbury, 108, 116; 
 Brighton, 132. 
 
 3. London. 
 
 Holmes, 23-31 ; 40-47; 50-68; 135-160; 178-180. 
 Westminster Abbey, 29, 59 ; Houses of Parlia- 
 ment, 52, 63; Chelsea, 136; British Museum, 
 151 ; The Temple, 153. 
 
 Warner, 3-8. Paris and London. 
 
 Aldrich, 165-194. Smith, a study of the typical 
 London valet. 
 
 4. Scotland. 
 
 Holmes, 82-86. Edinburgh. 
 
 5. Paris. 
 
 Holmes, 161-178. 
 Warner, 3-17. 
 
 Paris and London, 3-8; Paris in May, 9-13; 
 
 An Imperial Review, 14-17. 
 
 (30 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 6. The Low Countries and The Rhine. 
 
 Warner, 21-45. 
 Amiens, 21 ; Bruges, 23 ; Ghent, 27 ; Antwerp, 
 28 ; Amsterdam, 30 ; Cologne, 37 ; the Rhine, 40 ; 
 Heidelberg, 43. 
 
 7. The Alps. 
 
 Warner, 49-82. 
 
 Berne, 50; Freiburg, 54; Leman, 56; Chamouny, 
 61 ; Baths of Leuk, 76. 
 
 8. Bavaria. 
 
 Warner, 85-156. 
 
 Augsburg, 88 ; Nuremberg, 92 ; Munich, 96. 
 Aldrich, Munich, 35, 36. 
 
 9. Ravenna. 
 
 Warner, 1 71-185. 
 
 10. Rome. 
 
 Warner, 189-196. Palm Sunday in St. Peter's. 
 Aldrich, 73-1 15. A Visit to the Pope. 
 
 11. Naples. 
 
 Warner, 199-208. An ascent of Vesuvius. 
 Aldrich, 119-161. On a Balcony. 
 
 12. Sorrento. 
 
 Warner, 211-289. 
 Villa Nardi, 216; Capri, 268. 
 
 (32) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 13. Venice. 
 
 Smith, 1-205. 
 The Riva, 28 ; San Marco, 42 ; The Fisherman, 
 85 ; A Gondola Race, 101; Cafes, 116; Markets, 
 136; Legacies of the Past, 155; Street Life, 
 176 ; Night in Venice, 197. 
 
 14. General Topics. 
 
 Holmes, 182-208. General observations on Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Aldnchy 15-69. 
 
 Days with the Dead, 15-36; Beggars, 39-51; 
 Ways and Manners, 55-69. 
 
 3E 
 
 (33) 
 
How to Enjoy a Holiday 
 
 Abroad: J Ten- Minute Talk 
 
 by JEANNETTE L. GILDER 
 
 (35) 
 
How to Enjoy a Holiday 
 
 Abroad: A Ten- Minute Talk 
 
 by JEANNETTE L. GILDER 
 
 Miss Jeannette Leonard Gilder is a member 
 of a notable literary family, being a sister of the 
 late William H. Gilder, Arctic explorer and writer, 
 and of Richard Watson Gilder, editor of The Cen- 
 tiny. Joseph B. Gilder, her younger brother, 
 has been co-editor of The Critic with Miss Gil- 
 der since its inception in 1881. After general 
 journalistic experience on the Newark Morning 
 Register and the New York Tribune, she became 
 literary editor, and afterwards musical and drama- 
 tic editor, of the New York Herald for six years. 
 She was associated for some time with her 
 brother in the editorial department of The Cen- 
 tury, then called Scribner* s Monthly. In addition 
 to her editorial work on The Critic, Miss Gilder 
 has edited Representative Poems of Living Poets, 
 American and English ; with Helen Gray Cone, 
 Pen Portraits of Literary Men; and with Joseph 
 B. Gilder, Authors at Home. Her novel, Taken 
 by Siege, appeared in 1S97, followed three years 
 later by a humorous sketch of her own childhood, 
 The Autobiography of a Tomboy. Her dramati- 
 zation of Quo Vadis had a successful run at the 
 Herald Square Theatre New York. She has 
 since made several other dramatizations. 
 
 IT was in 1886 that I took my first vacation — the 
 first in nineteen years. I had been working 
 very hard, newspaper work principally, and I felt 
 the need of rest and chano-e. It had been the 
 dream of my life to go abroad. It had also been 
 
 (37) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 the dream of my friend, Clara Louise Kellogg, to 
 go with me when I went. Europe was an old 
 story to her. It was all new to me and she 
 wanted to see how I took it. I am afraid I took it 
 too quietly at times and that she thought by my very 
 quietness that I was unappreciative. The truth 
 is I was "too full for utterance." I remember 
 my first visit to Westminster Abbey. I stood 
 silent, awed, thrilled by memories. "Why don't 
 you say something ; one might think that you didn't 
 appreciate it," said my friend. "One would be 
 wrong, then," I replied, "for I think 'tis 'sweet 
 pretty.' ' She never asked me again what I 
 thought of such scenes and places but let me en- 
 joy them in my own way. I might "gush " over 
 a hallowed spot after I had passed from under its 
 direct influence, but when I stood in the shadow 
 of its memories I thrilled silently. 
 
 It is a mistake to try to see everything in 
 Europe during one short trip. One should spend 
 weeks in Paris, London, Rome and Florence. 
 Although I have been in Europe several times 
 since my first visit I have not been to Italy. I 
 am saving that for a time when I have months to 
 devote to it. I like to become intimately 
 acquainted with great cities — to know London 
 and Paris as well as I know New York. The 
 only way to do this is to spend weeks in wander- 
 ing through their streets — in living as though one 
 belonged there. Of course, one must see the 
 
 (38) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 famous historical monuments in great cities, but 
 not as a sightseer. I avoid guides as I would 
 avoid the plague. When I go to Westminster 
 Abbey or the Tower of London I drop in as a 
 Londoner might. I stroll through the parks, sit 
 in the courtyard of the Temple, lunch at old 
 restaurants, wander through picture galleries, 
 gaze in at shop windows, ride on "bus" tops and 
 live the life of the native. The consequence is 
 that I know London and Paris as well as I know 
 New York ; better perhaps, for I have other 
 things to do when I am in New York and cannot 
 give much of my time to wandering about. 
 
 If a person can only make one visit to Europe 
 in the course of his life-time I should advise him 
 to see as much as he can in a short time, but not 
 too much. I recall perfectly the appearance and 
 character of towns that I spent only a day in ; 
 Antwerp, for instance. I arrived there in the 
 morning of one day and went away on the after- 
 noon of the next, and yet I have a vivid recollec- 
 tion of the Plantin Museum, the Cathedral, with 
 its Rubens paintings, the City Hall, the tree- 
 lined streets, and the little world's fair with its 
 miniature "Midway" that was being held outside 
 the walls of city. 
 
 I took a friend to Paris once for three days. 
 She had never been there before and she did not 
 know when she might go again and she had only 
 three days. 
 
 (59) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 "What can I see in three days?" said she. 
 "It is hardly worth while going." 
 
 "You will see more in three days than you will 
 forget in thirty years, if you leave it to me," 
 said I. 
 
 We went, and I proved my case. We had 
 three nights as well as three days. The first 
 night we went to the Theatre Francais ; the 
 second, to another theatre, and the third we gave 
 to a dinner party. Instead of trying to see all 
 the pictures in the Louvre, I took her to see my 
 favorites among the Titians, Velasquez and Mu- 
 rillos. We did not waste time in looking at 
 miles and miles of "stone gals," but worshiped 
 at the shrines of the Venus of Milo and Winged 
 Victory. We gazed with awe into Napoleon's 
 tomb and let the little old man at the door of 
 Notre Dame swish us with holy water. We 
 lounged along the quays and bought old books 
 for twice their value ; we walked in the shadow 
 of the walls of the Sorbonne. We drove in the 
 Bois and we lunched and dined at restaurants 
 that the tourist knows not of. At the end of 
 the third day we went back to London. 
 
 " Was it not worth while to have spent three 
 days in Paris?" I asked. 
 
 "I feel equal to writing a book on the manners 
 and customs of the Parisians," was the reply ; 
 "but you must admit that there is much in hav- 
 ing a guide who can show you the things you 
 
 (40) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 want most to see without loss of time." I made 
 the admission. 
 
 If one's time is limited and one wants to make 
 the most of it I would suggest seeing some of 
 the famous small places of England and working 
 up to London as the grand climax. If you land 
 at Liverpool, shake its dust from your heels at 
 the earliest possible moment and board the train 
 for Chester. If you get there in time to have a 
 fresh water bath before dinner, so much the 
 better. Stroll a bit through the streets near 
 your hotel if you have time, then dine as you 
 never dined before and be happy. Everything 
 will be new to you ; the huge joints of beef and 
 mutton wheeled to your place that you may point 
 out your favorite cut, the potatoes boiled to melt- 
 ing, the broad beans — a new dish to you — the 
 long salad leaves that you dip in salt and eat 
 with the cheddar, the deep-dish pie, or gooseberry 
 fool, if it be in season. It will all taste so good 
 and so un-American, particularly the bread, which 
 is rather heavy and ugly looking as compared 
 with our own, which after all is French and not 
 our own. But you will get to liking it before 
 you leave England. You will like it best of all 
 when cut thin and spread with fresh butter, un- 
 salted, I mean, and eaten with your tea. Don't 
 waste your time in bed, but be up with the lark 
 and walk around Chester on the walls, stopping 
 to smell the hawthorn blossoms and to gaze over 
 
 (40 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 the English meadows, so much greener than ours 
 that you would know that you were not in Amer- 
 ica if only by that greenness. Your delight in Ches- 
 ter will be exquisite, for it will be your first sight of 
 an old English town. With its picturesque archi- 
 tecture, the houses with their timbered gables, 
 its arcades, its antique furniture — some of it, I 
 regret to say, made while you wait, — it is all as 
 you dreamed it would be. 
 
 From Chester press on to Leamington and 
 make that your headquarters for drives or bicycle 
 rides to Stratford-on-Avon, Kenilworth, Warwick 
 and Broadway in Gloucestershire, if you have the 
 time. 
 
 After you have saturated yourself with the his- 
 tory and the beauty of these places, take the train 
 for Oxford. It will probably not be term time, 
 but if you do not see men in cap and gown you 
 will see them in flannels. Oxford will give you 
 one of your greatest sensations. It is the oldest 
 looking city in England and brimful of memories. 
 The blackened facades of the colleges look as 
 though each student, as he passed from under the 
 portals, had turned back and dashed a bottle of 
 ink upon it's walls. One of the most impressive 
 occasions of my life was wandering through the 
 quadrangles of Magdalen College one summer 
 evening three or four years ago. It was not my 
 first visit to this famous seat of learning, but 
 there was something in the long twilight of this 
 
 (42) 
 
<t 
 
 American Vacations in Europe 
 
 particular evening, the ivy-covered towers, the 
 silence, the memories, that made a never-to-be- 
 forgotten picture. 
 
 From Oxford it is not more than an hour by 
 rail to London and you arrive in this great city of 
 the world with a mind prepared. Once there stay 
 till you know it well. Ride in its penny busses, 
 in its penny boats, but don't ride in its tramcars 
 unless you wish to lose all the patience you may 
 possess. Perhaps you will never have occasion to. 
 There are not many of them fortunately. Do not 
 confine your walks to Bond Street and Piccadilly 
 and your driving to Hyde Park, but explore side 
 streets and blind alleys, first inquiring as to their 
 safety. If you are out on some occasion when 
 there is a crowd, have a care how you elbow your 
 way into it. A London crowd is a thing to avoid ; 
 but if you are unfortunate enough to get wedged 
 into one, faint, then you are sure to be carried out 
 and taken to a place of safety. Do not miss a 
 Lord Mayor's show, and if you can see the King 
 on some state occasion you will be repaid for 
 your trouble. The red and gold coaches, the out- 
 riders, the postilions take you back to fairyland 
 and you involuntarily look about you for Cinde- 
 rella and Prince Charming. Of course, you will 
 acquire the tea habit while you are in England, 
 but you will cast it aside when you return to 
 America if you are wise. There is something in 
 the climate of England that calls for tea at five 
 
 (43) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 o'clock, and the call is loud, for everyone hears it 
 and no one, from the girl in the shop to the min- 
 ister of state, turns a deaf ear to the welcome 
 sound. If you can possibly do so, have tea at 
 least once on the terrace of the House of Parlia- 
 ment — tea and strawberries, if they be in season. 
 You will never forget the sensation of sipping tea 
 to the accompaniment of Big Ben's deep-toned 
 clanging, with members of Parliament and hand- 
 some women in their smartest gowns around you, 
 the Thames at your feet and St. Thomas's Hos- 
 pital in the distance. There is never a day, never 
 an hour spent in London that has not its own 
 peculiar interest. The longer you stay there, the 
 more its greatness will be borne in upon you. 
 Paris is fascinating, you love its gaiety, its air of 
 perpetual merrymaking ; but for solid, never- 
 ending delight London is the city of the world. 
 
 (44) 
 
The AMERICAN GIRL 
 
 ABROAD: A TALK 
 
 by MARY BRADFORD CROWNINSHIELD 
 
 (45) 
 
The AMERICAN GIRL 
 
 ABROAD: A TALK 
 
 by MARY BRADFORD CROWNINSHIELD 
 
 Mrs. Crovvninshield, a direct descendant of 
 Governor William Bradford, is the author of 
 several poems, sketches, books of travel, novels 
 and stories for children. Her first juvenile book, 
 All Among the Lighthouses, was based upon 
 actual experience gained while her husband, Cap- 
 tain Crowninshield, was Inspector of Lighthouses. 
 In following the fortunes of her husband — formerly 
 commander of the Maine, and now head of the 
 Bureau of Navigation in Washington — Mrs. 
 Crowninshield has found much of the material so 
 skilfully interwoven with her stories and sketches. 
 Among her best-known books are Latitude 19° : 
 A Romance of the West Lndies ; Where the 
 Trade Itfnd Blows ; The Archbishop and the 
 Lady and Valencia's Garden. 
 
 With reading of European travel there arises 
 the desire to become one of the vast 
 number of Americans who take their vacation 
 each year in this way. It has been made so easy 
 now for those who wish to cross to England, 
 France, Italy or Germany that many young per- 
 sons so take their summer outino-. I know of 
 four young girls who are planning a two weeks' 
 stay in England and France. This two weeks 
 comes out of their one month's vacation, for they 
 are in office in Washington, and when they have 
 
 (47) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 taken their month they have exhausted all their 
 leave for the entire year. Someone said to them 
 in my hearing : 
 
 " But you do not speak the language. How 
 can you go to Paris ? " 
 
 "I can say ' cocker?" returned the spokes- 
 woman of the party cheerfully, "and ' combien! ' 
 
 The other three looked up at her with faith shin- 
 ing in their eyes, secure in her power to pilot her 
 little band through the quicksands of European 
 travel. 
 
 They have laid out their tour in the most con- 
 tracted and economical way. They take a week 
 to go, a week to return, and stay ten days in 
 England and five days in France. They have 
 made routes for themselves and intend visiting 
 thejardin d? acclimatation and Versailles in one 
 and the same day. If you consult the map of 
 Paris and its environs you will see how satisfac- 
 tory this would be ! They are going for rest. 
 The week in which they cross will be a week of 
 rest if they use it in the right way ; but I fancy 
 that the two weeks of their stay will enforce 
 another rest-cure, not only on board ship but 
 after their return home, when comes the steady 
 grind again. One can but feel sorry for them. 
 Thirsting to see the wonders of the old world, 
 with limited means and restricted time, they can 
 get but a whiff of the greenery of England, a 
 glance at the hedgerows of France, before they 
 
 (48) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 must take passage for home. To all such per- 
 sons my advice would be — rest quietly at home 
 until you can go untrammeled and free from care 
 and worry. That which you see so hurriedly 
 will only make you long- for more, and your trip 
 will give you no rest and no pleasure, only dis- 
 appointment. Then, too, my young friends have 
 calculated what they will spend ; hut I am afraid 
 that they are to meet with disappointment, for I 
 have always found it a good rule to make a 
 liberal allowance for everything that I can think 
 of, add a third more, and not feel sure then of 
 accomplishing the trip for the stipulated sum. 
 
 The courage, self-reliance and dignity of our 
 American girls abroad are undeniable ; but there 
 comes a time when that self-reliance is taxed to 
 its utmost limit, and our girl wishes that she had 
 not felt quite so sure of herself. I remember 
 when we were traveling many years ago noticing 
 an American girl who seemed very much alone. 
 We were crossing the Channel by a most uncom- 
 fortable route, that from London to Rotterdam. 
 I noticed that the girl spoke to no one, and that 
 no one spoke to her. After arriving at Rotter- 
 dam we took an afternoon train for Berlin. 
 There was the girl again on the train, apparently 
 alone, but not lonely, for she read, wrote in her 
 little diary and smiled brightly when the guard 
 spoke to her, but shook her head for reply. 
 Evidently she understood nothing of the lan- 
 
 4E (49) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 guage. She did not seem anxious as to her 
 journey, and as she did not speak to me I did not 
 force myself upon her but waited and watched 
 for the time when she should need help. We 
 arrived at a small station where we were to 
 chancre cars. When we had done so, acrain the 
 girl was in our compartment, and then for the 
 first time a little of her American confidence 
 seemed to have deserted her. She arose and 
 came to the place where I was sitting ; she bent 
 over me and held out her open hand and said, 
 
 "Will you kindly tell me what that is called? " 
 I looked into her palm and saw a small piece 
 of German money. 
 
 "That," said I, "is a five groschen piece.'' 
 
 "It is a little uncomfortable for me," said the 
 girl. "Things have not turned out as I expected." 
 
 "Can we help you in any way?" I asked. 
 "Where are you going? " 
 
 "I am going to Hanover," said the girl. "I 
 have had rather an uncomfortable experience. I 
 am going to school in Hanover. My aunt in Lon- 
 don was to take me over. I came out under the 
 care of some friends and found my aunt very ill, 
 the house all in confusion, and no place for me. 
 My uncle evidently wished to get rid of me — he 
 is only my uncle by marriage — and so, seeing the 
 way he felt I said I could cross alone. My uncle 
 said that he had heard a great deal of the indepen- 
 dence of American girls and he had no doubt that 
 
 (So) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 I could. He then asked my aunt for the address 
 of the school. She pointed out the address in her 
 book and I copied it down. Now the unpleasant 
 part of it is, I have lost the address and don't 
 know a word of the language." 
 
 "But," I said, "you will reach Hanover in the 
 middle of the night. You cannot stay there alone 
 under such circumstances. Come with us to 
 Berlin. There we will see the American consul 
 and he will telegraph to the consul in Hanover to 
 meet you on your return. In that way you will 
 be safe." 
 
 "Oh ! I am safe enough," smiled the girl. "It 
 will be all right." 
 
 " But what do you expect to do ? " said I. " How 
 find your school ? " 
 
 "Why I shall just take a cab and drive around 
 to all the schools and ask if I am expected." 
 
 "And how are you going to do that if you do 
 not know a word of the language ? " This seemed 
 to strike her as a reasonable objection. 
 
 " Can't you tell me what sentence I must say ? " 
 she added. "Write it down for me, there's a 
 dear, and I will get it by heart." 
 
 I wrote the desired sentence on a leaf of my 
 diary, but I begged her that, if she would not 
 continue on to Berlin with me, she would go to 
 an hotel, pass the night there, find the American 
 consul the next morning, and telegraph to her 
 aunt in London for the address of the school. 
 
 (50 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 This seemed a solution of the difficulty of which 
 she had not thought, and she promised me and 
 kissed me goodbye, looking back at me linger- 
 ingly, for she felt, I knew, that she was parting 
 from her only friend. I have often wondered 
 what became of that young girl; whether her 
 American independence carried her through her 
 troubles. 
 
 The American girl should remember when she 
 travels that she has taken upon herself a great 
 responsibility, not only to keep for herself the re- 
 spect of those whom she meets, but for her country 
 as well. Many a girl who goes abroad and never 
 intentionally does anything that could be called 
 wrong makes herself conspicuous or noticeable ; 
 and that is always a pity for a young girl alone. 
 In fact, no young girl should be alone in a strange 
 land no matter how well able she may feel to take 
 care of herself, for our free ways do not obtain 
 in Europe ; and where they are not usual they are 
 misunderstood. Unforeseen circumstances occur 
 when it is important to have a friend to consult 
 or the protection of an older woman. 
 
 For the portraiture of the Daisy Miller type of 
 girl I can never forgive her author, because for- 
 eigners take such presentment by an American 
 author as a type of the American girl ; whereas 
 she is only a type of a type. I have seen such a 
 girl myself, I must confess, but she is not usual 
 even in tourist-ridden Europe. The sort of girl 
 
 (52) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 who calls out of windows or into windows ; who 
 persists in going to the office of the hotel instead 
 of calling a servant ; who knows the hotel clerk, 
 discovers his name, and calls him Mr. Blank after 
 the first day — such a girl does much to lower 
 American young womanhood in foreign eyes. In 
 Europe the quiet, reserved tourists are not noticed, 
 while the boisterous hoyden gives cause for much 
 horrified remark. 
 
 Sometimes an anecdote, if not the most digni- 
 fied way of carrying one's point, may be the most 
 convincing way. An instance occurs to me. We 
 were living one summer at a little town on the 
 lake of Constance. Sitting one morning on the 
 balcony of my room overhanging the piazza, I 
 was attracted by the approach of some hand- 
 somely dressed women. They had left the boat 
 and were walking towards the hotel. Their ap- 
 proach was announced by their voices which were 
 so loud as to carry to the spot where I sat. The 
 one in advance was leaning on the arm of a man 
 much younger than herself to whom she seemed 
 devoted. She was a woman of perhaps forty 
 years of age ; her companion a youth of twenty- 
 five or thereabouts. The young man seemed 
 uneasy and kept glancing over his shoulder at 
 the very pretty young girl who was following. 
 She also was leaning on the arm of a man, a be- 
 whiskered, beringed Italian, who looked closely 
 into her pretty eyes and paid her marked 
 
 (53) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 attention. From his language I soon found him 
 to be the courier. Now a traveler engages 
 a courier as he does a servant, depends on him 
 to engage his rooms, check his trunks, and pays 
 him when he leaves his service. The older 
 woman engaged a table and proceeded to order 
 lunch, the courier sitting down with the women 
 as familiarly as did the younger man. There 
 were other people sitting about taking coffee or 
 wine at small tables, so that I could not feel that I 
 was eavesdropping in listening to this strange 
 quartette. I cannot remember all the conversa- 
 tion, nor would I repeat it if I could; but the tenor 
 of it is shown by a remark made by the young girl. 
 Her mother had risen to leave and was paying" 
 for the refreshments, when I heard the girl say in 
 distinct tones : 
 
 "Mr. Ravello, you are a fraud. Do you know 
 what that means ? " The Italian placed his large 
 dark hand over his spacious breast and said, half 
 bowing : 
 
 "No, Mees, I know eet not." 
 
 " Mommer," called the girl to the elder woman, 
 "isn't Mr. Ravello a fraud? He lets you pay for 
 the lunch when you gave him the money to pay 
 for the trip," and then she laughed shrilly and 
 discordantly. 
 
 They descended the steps again, the mother 
 taking the arm of the young man, the girl leaning 
 upon the arm of the Italian courier. Some charm- 
 
 (54) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 ing English friends of ours were the witnesses of 
 this episode. They came to us afterward, saying, 
 
 "We had heard that American girls are free in 
 their manners, but we never believed it until now. 
 I suppose she is a type. I see now where Daisy 
 Miller came from." 
 
 To my assurance that I had never seen such a 
 girl before they only laughed and shook their 
 heads. 
 
 "Ah, yes, that is all very well, and you do 
 right to defend your own people ; but we see 
 now what your novelists mean when they write of 
 such girls." And then followed what I am sure no 
 one of the better class of Americans would be 
 guilty of saying, even if he thought it. 
 
 " But I suppose you have lived abroad so long 
 
 that ," implying that before we came to Europe, 
 
 in our own wild untrained state, we too might have 
 laughed discordantly, associated with the courier 
 and used American slang in conversation with 
 him — which all goes to show how little, after all 
 these years of intercourse, our friends across the 
 water know of the ways and manners of goqd 
 society in our great republic. 
 
 So many tales have been told of the ignorance 
 of foreigners as to our status and condition at 
 home that repetition here is hardly necessary 
 or interesting. They are beginning to find out 
 now that we have not always lived in trees or in 
 bamboo huts in the woods. It is an old story but 
 
 v55; 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 a fact that occurred when I lived there, that some 
 natives of Vienna, asking some young men to 
 "speak a little American for them," they replied 
 in what children call pig-latin, saying at the same 
 time that their father was a chief, and that some- 
 time they would " come around in their national 
 dress and do a war dance." This they did later, 
 tomahawks, feathers, warwhoop and all, much to 
 the delight of the simple Germans, who said 
 wonderingly to each other, "It is strange that 
 they are so white ; but I believe that they have 
 lived so long in Europe they have become 
 bleached." They then asked if we used bows and 
 arrows in the Civil War — which they called "the 
 war between North and South America." 
 
 I well remember, when taking a trip on the 
 Lake of Lucerne, the appearance on the deck of 
 the small steamer of a party of English people. I 
 will not insult my English friends by saying that 
 they were a type of the English whom we are 
 accustomed to meet. The man was of the middle 
 class, probably off for his holiday, and his woman- 
 kind were enjoying it with him as much as they 
 were capable of enjoying anything which they did 
 not in the least understand. They had no idea 
 where they were going nor where they had come 
 from except that it was primarily England, and 
 they were all longing in their inmost souls to get 
 back as fast as possible to that sacred soil. They 
 intruded themselves upon us as they would not 
 
 (56) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 have dared to intrude upon their own country 
 people, for there is no one whom the sturdy Briton 
 so repudiates and eschews when traveling on the 
 continent as his own countrymen. Their island 
 is small and proximity may be dangerous. These 
 persons sidled up to us and began to ask us 
 questions, when a gentleman of our party, 
 anxious to draw them away from us, began to 
 answer them and tell them tales that belong more 
 to fairyland than to any other. The good natured 
 pater familias, dressed in an astounding suit of 
 what they call over there "dittos," said : 
 
 "I suppose you're h' Americans ? " to which 
 our friend replied gladly that he was. And then 
 the stranger remarked : 
 
 "I suppose you think nothing of riding fifty 
 miles to breakfast with a friend." 
 
 "Oh, yes," said his listener, "I should think a 
 great deal of it." 
 
 "Well, now, that's queer," said the stranger. 
 "I have an uncle in Rio and he thinks nothing of 
 riding out to his brother's place before breakfast, 
 and that's fifty miles away. Where do you hail 
 from ? " 
 
 "From New York," answered our friend. 
 
 "Any shooting?" 
 
 And then followed a description of the fine 
 sport one has in standing in a window on Fifth 
 Avenue or Broadway and picking off the bears 
 and buffaloes as they run down the streets, which 
 
 (57) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 would have done credit to a Munchausen. My 
 friend told his story with great solemnity and the 
 cockney accepted it with equal seriousness. Of 
 course, I thought it all wrong that the stupid 
 man should be so misled, and expressed myself 
 to that effect later ; but our friend seemed to con- 
 sider himself quite justified in deceiving a person 
 who had no more interest in a country where the 
 people speak his own tongue than to know so 
 little about its locality, its ways, the ways of its 
 people, or their manners. 
 
 I remember that when a lady asked me if I had 
 ever traveled in a Pullman car (they had just 
 placed poor copies of them upon some of the 
 French roads) I answered that I had never ridden 
 in anything else, which was a little bit of Amer 
 ican brag, for I remember quite well the old- 
 fashioned cars. She then remarked, "That is 
 strange because they were invented in England." 
 Also, according to her, the sewing machine, the 
 telegraph and the mountain railway which runs 
 up the Righi were all of European invention. 
 When I told her that the Righi railway in which 
 we were descending at the time was copied after 
 our own Mount Washington railway, she shook 
 her head pityingly and said that she had taken 
 me for a well informed person but — a silence 
 which implied that she had found her mistake. 
 It requires a great deal of patience and polite- 
 ness to get along with persons like this ; to keep 
 
 (58) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 their respect and your own. But this is only 
 one side of European travel. 
 
 One great benefit, it seems to me, of European 
 travel lies in the fact that one takes more exercise 
 than at home. We rise early in some little Swiss 
 hotel, neat and clean, if plain, the food whole- 
 some and well served. We go into the breakfast 
 room and partake of the simple meal composed 
 of honey, eggs, bread and coffee ; and then we 
 start, alpenstock in hand, for some wooded walk 
 or some glacier not too far away, for there are 
 places where these wonders of nature are within 
 easy distance of the hotel. The invigorating 
 climb, the scramble down the moraine which 
 forms the sides of the great frozen torrent, the 
 stepping out carelessly — for the American girl is 
 as independent as if upon her own icy lake or 
 skating pond until seized by the careful guide and 
 told of the danger should one make a misstep. 
 Whereupon he holds her hands firmly within his 
 grasp and proceeds with measured and careful 
 pace across this mystery of chasms great and 
 small, where one can hear the water tinkling- 
 away in the darkness below. And then the home 
 coming, perhaps late in the afternoon, when the 
 sun is setting behind the snow peaks, throwing 
 upon them the red light of the after-glow ; the 
 peasant Mddchcns yodling far overhead on the 
 mountain tops, answering each other from height 
 to height or calling a welcome from the attic 
 
 (59) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 rooms of the hotel to the approaching strangers ; 
 the bare, open hall where we leave our alpen- 
 stocks, each handle burned in with our names 
 and the ascents which we have made ; the well 
 earned rest, and then the early evening meal ; the 
 wandering out afterward to a sort of under- 
 ground room where the tragers or guides sur- 
 round a bright fire and tell blood-curdling stories 
 or relate hair-breadth escapes, enough to chill 
 the backbone of the uninitiated ; the charming 
 Swiss songs sung with precision and melody, 
 whose words, however, will not always bear 
 translation, a case where ignorance is bliss. 
 
 Ah ! how delightful ; and the question is, what 
 shall one choose ? Swiss mountain and valley ; 
 the sail over the lagoons of that city of the sea, 
 Venice ; the Alhambra, and the Generaliffe of 
 Granada, brought into notice again by one of our 
 own authors ; the pyramids and the green Nile with 
 its waterfalls and stretch of historic sand ; sunny 
 France and its lovely historic country ; Austria 
 with its music and beer ; Germany with its music 
 and beer ; or England with its charming open 
 country, always in full dress, its crowded cities, 
 its Piccadilly of which there is but one in all the 
 world ; or shall it be Ireland or Scotland with 
 their wild beauty of moor and fell, crag and 
 peak? 
 
 My advice to you is, if you can travel but lit- 
 tle, read lavishly and generously ; choose your ob- 
 
 (60) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 jective point ; go there in the most direct way ; 
 and, when you have reached your goal, enjoy 
 yourself to the top of your bent — exhaust your 
 stamping ground and your subject together. 
 Listen not to the voice of the charmer who is 
 always reminding you, when you confess to not 
 having seen certain points of interest, "There! 
 you have missed the finest thing in Europe," and 
 who would lead you astray, only to find someone 
 else in the new place to which you go who will 
 also tell you of some other chimera further along 
 the road. Be content with what you have, see all 
 that you can, and, when your vacation is over, 
 come home to think over its pleasures and pre- 
 pare by more reading and intelligent thought to 
 visit, another happy year, some new and strange 
 country which will be as much of a recreation to 
 you as the place to which you went on this sum- 
 mer's vacation. 
 
 (60 
 
HOW TO TRAVEL 
 IN EUROPE: Some 
 Suggestions by george ade 
 
 (63) 
 
HOW TO TRAVEL 
 IN EUROPE: Some 
 
 Suggestions by george ade 
 
 George Ade, the author and newspaper man, 
 is a native of Indiana, where he was born at the 
 close of the Civil War. College bred and widely 
 traveled he evinces his patriotism by an intelligent 
 comparison of American and foreign institutions, 
 humorously exposing the weak points of his 
 countrymen and defending their strong ones. In 
 addition to his newspaper work on the Chicago 
 Record, lie has written several books, of which the 
 best known is Fables in Slang. As might be in- 
 ferred from the title of this book, his style is that 
 of the humorist-moralist, appealing to his readers 
 through the vernacular of the street. The great 
 popularity of the Fables proves the author's claim 
 to a distinct place in contemporaneous literature. 
 
 A journey through Europe has no terrors ex- 
 cept to the American who is about to 
 undertake it for the first time. For him to strike 
 boldly through the Latin countries with no lan- 
 guage at his command except English and hardly 
 any traveling experience to guide him through 
 the strange lands seems a very large undertaking. 
 The difficulties and hardships of travel are always 
 exaggerated in prospect. In retrospect they seem 
 trivial and are found to have given color and 
 variety to the vacation wanderings. They provide 
 the traveler with something to talk about during 
 
 5E (65) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 the long winter nights at home. Who would 
 enjoy a tour unbroken by good natured conflicts 
 with guides, cabbies and porters ? If traveling 
 were a mere dull routine, there would be no op- 
 portunity to sharpen the wits. 
 
 So the first duty of the American traveler is to 
 follow the sensible advice of the menticulturists, 
 " Don't worry." It is wonderful how much need- 
 less fretting and how many ridiculous apprehen- 
 sions and misapprehensions can be put into a 
 journey if the traveler is inclined to conjure up 
 trouble ahead and take the dismal view of every 
 situation. The disasters of the fussy traveler are 
 always in the future tense. They seldom mate- 
 rialize. Today he is happily settled in a good 
 hotel, the weather is perfect and the sightseeing 
 is profitable ; but no doubt the hotel will over- 
 charge him and possibly he may miss the train 
 tomorrow and it seems probable that he will be 
 insulted and badgered by the customs officers at 
 the next frontier, to say nothing of the dangers 
 of losing his tickets, having his baggage stolen 
 and encountering bad weather. Happy the trav- 
 eler who can carry with him the spirit of philosophy, 
 the disposition to "take things as they come" 
 and the sense of humor with which to regulate 
 his impatient wrath. 
 
 The traveler ou^ht to understand in advance 
 that there has grown up in Europe an inter- 
 national system of transportation and that in all 
 
 (66) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 touring- countries there are excellent facilities for 
 moving travelers from one place to another in 
 comfort, providing them with something to eat 
 and giving them a good room every night. If 
 the traveler will put his faith in this system and 
 accept its benefits and not try to revise it or regu- 
 late it, he will find that he can travel in Europe 
 with a minimum of friction. If he allows himself 
 to be irritated into a chronic condition of fault 
 finding and tries to superintend all the details that 
 should be left to experienced servants and 
 employes, he will simply keep himself in a temper, 
 and after his trip is ended he will be able to look 
 back over the route and know that all his nervous 
 precautions were unnecessary. Every excitable 
 traveler should remember that thousands of his 
 bewildered countrymen wander throughout Europe 
 every summer, and we never hear of one being 
 lost, strayed or stolen. The grand tour is a 
 beaten path protected by walls, marked by sign- 
 posts in all languages, with an eating station 
 every twenty paces and a guide always at your 
 elbow. 
 
 As for the English language (which all of us 
 understand even if we do not speak it to the 
 satisfaction of our British cousins), the traveler's 
 task in these days is to get away from it. Half 
 the world is studying English and practicing on 
 tourists. In 1898 I made a business trip across 
 southern Europe to Constantinople and returned 
 
 (^7) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 by way of the Mediterranean and I found only one 
 hotel in which English was not spoken. It was 
 in Belgrade. As for the show places of the con- 
 tinent, and the traveler naturally puts these into 
 his first itinerary, the American moves from one 
 to another, pleasantly saluted in his own tongue at 
 every town. There is no denying that the 
 pleasure of travel is greatly enhanced by a work- 
 ing knowledge of French or German or, better 
 still, both ; but no one need repine on crossing a 
 frontier because he does not speak " the language 
 of the country." Soon he will master the sign- 
 language, which is the same everywhere, and he 
 will find so much English in unexpected places 
 that after a few days the phrase-book, which was 
 to have been his ready resort, will be put away 
 and forgotten. 
 
 In these days it is no more a feat to go around 
 the world than it is to travel from Chicago to 
 Denver. It takes longer, that is all. The rail- 
 way and steamship lines have learned to move 
 and transfer passengers without demanding any 
 cooperative ingenuity on their part. The methods 
 are the outgrowth of experience and cannot be 
 altered to suit the whim or caprice of every dys- 
 peptic who happens to use the line. So don't 
 waste your time in hunting for defects in the for- 
 eign way of handling travelers. You will find 
 them, but after you have found them and abused 
 them what good has been accomplished ? And 
 
 (68) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 remember that there are other points of view. 
 Above all, remember that what is a new and 
 almost terrifying experience to you is an old, old 
 story to these common carriers. If you will only 
 trust them and give your whole attention to 
 the mere fun of travel, they will put you into 
 the right carriage and take you to the town 
 marked on your ticket and deliver you safe with 
 all your effects. So, don't worry. I really be- 
 lieve that the pleasure of a vacation trip in Europe 
 could be increased fourfold if the traveler were 
 to force himself to pass all the petty and harass- 
 ing details over to servants who have to be tipped 
 and who might as well be given an honest oppor- 
 tunity to earn their tips. When you go to Europe 
 don't put in all your time studying complicated 
 time-tables and investigating hotels. The result 
 will be headache and confusion of mind. It is 
 possible to make a journey in Europe one long, 
 nerve-racking task. You may have to welcome 
 the ocean voyage as an opportunity to rest. 
 
 Railway travel in Europe may not be as lux- 
 urious as it is with us, but there are more elab- 
 orate precautions for avoiding accidents and 
 preventing mistakes. When one is traveling in 
 a strange country the feeling of security is more 
 to be desired than the " de luxe" comforts of our 
 gaudy fliers. At a railway station in almost any 
 European country it is practically impossible to 
 select the wrong train or get into the wrong com- 
 
 (69) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 partment. You must show your ticket before 
 you are permitted to go on the station platform. 
 The omnipresent porter leads you to your train 
 and finds a place for you and puts your baggage 
 in the racks. The chances are that before the 
 train starts, a guard will come to the compart- 
 ment and look at your ticket in order to make 
 assurance doubly sure. To cap all these various 
 precautions, the destination of each car is indi- 
 cated by bold signboards. Therefore the new and 
 doubting traveler in Europe may be assured that 
 the actual difficulties of railway travel are mostly 
 imaginary. Discomforts there are, if one has to 
 ride all day or all night in the little box-like com- 
 partments ; but unless the traveler is racing for a 
 record he will do well to break his journey so 
 as to avoid night rides. Sleeping cars are few 
 and the tariff is high, and besides when you are 
 in a bunk you miss the panoramic view of the 
 country. 
 
 The experienced travelers poke more or less 
 fun at the " personally conducted tours." There 
 are disadvantages and also certain compensating 
 advantages in being taken under the wing of an 
 agent. If one does not choose to move about in 
 a drove and be a part of an imposing parade, 
 perhaps he would do better to " flock by himself." 
 But if his time is limited and he would avoid the 
 details of bargaining and "booking," he can 
 travel with a party and thereby escape the im- 
 
 (70) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 aginary difficulties and dangers to which some 
 reference has been made. 
 
 At the risk of repeating what is contained 
 in the red guidebook, it may be necessary to add 
 something in regard to tickets, luggage, tips and 
 the hotel system. The most convenient tickets 
 for European travelers are those issued by the 
 well-known tourist agencies. It is just as well to 
 buy your tickets for the continent before you 
 leave London. Each ticket is printed in English 
 on one side and indicates the towns at which you 
 will be permitted to break your journey. The 
 tourist agent binds these tickets into a convenient 
 little book. If you change your plans and do not 
 carry out the full itinerary at first outlined, the 
 uncanceled tickets are returnable. If your route 
 is not definitely planned, you may buy your tickets 
 one or two at a time as you move about on the 
 continent, for there is a Cook or Gaze office in 
 every important town. The advantage in buying 
 of an English agent is that you avoid the waits 
 and the crowds at the stations. Furthermore the 
 English-speaking young man at the agency can 
 give you valuable hints as to the selection of 
 routes and good trains. Occasionally the traveler 
 can get cheaper rates than those regularly offered 
 by Cook and Gaze, but even the " circular tick- 
 ets" of Italy and the thirty-day excursion tickets 
 of Switzerland, crood on all roads and on all 
 
 O 
 
 trains, may be obtained through the English 
 
 (7i) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 agencies. An economical traveler may take a 
 third-class ticket in England. On the continent 
 second-class is Lfood enough for those who do 
 not insist on avoiding fellow travelers. In the 
 southern countries, Italy and Spain, the traveler 
 should go first-class if he feels that he can af- 
 ford it. 
 
 If you are going on a hurried summer trip 
 through several countries do not take any trunk 
 with you. A Saratoga trunk is a veritable white 
 elephant to the European traveler. Of course, 
 if you expect to remain several weeks in each 
 important town and permit your tour to extend 
 itself leisurely over many months, then you will 
 need your "boxes." But if you are to fly from 
 one place to another and "do" a half dozen 
 countries in a half dozen weeks, take the advice 
 of innumerable sufferers and "travel light." In 
 these days of creature comforts and "dressing 
 for dinner," many people, and the members of 
 the fair sex in particular, have a horror of " living 
 in a hand-bag." But the hand-bags of Europe 
 are huge and elastic affairs. They are put into 
 the railway compartments and taken out again by 
 obliging porters, and broad racks are especially 
 provided for them. The traveler with only hand 
 luggage saves time and money and escapes many 
 vexations. One must " register " his trunk and 
 pay an extremely high "excess" charge. The 
 usual allowance is only fifty-four pounds. At 
 
 (72) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 frontier and terminal stations, where there are 
 customs examinations, the traveler actually must 
 wait hours at times for his heavy luggage to be 
 delivered and examined. Therefore, if you ex- 
 pect to cover a great deal of ground within a short 
 period, leave your trunks in London or Paris and 
 carry as few impediments as possible, never for- 
 getting the time-honored injunction in regard to 
 medium weight garments. 
 
 The tip system of Europe is the source of many 
 small annoyances to the American traveler. If 
 he permits himself to brood over the injustice of 
 the demands made upon him and makes a Quixotic 
 resolve to readjust the whole system on a basis of 
 equity, then he is in for an irrepressible conflict 
 with all the polite beggars who depend on foreign 
 travel. The American does not fancy the idea of 
 giving a tip to some one who has performed no 
 real service for him, neither does he understand 
 why an American should be expected to pay twice 
 as much in gratuities as a Frenchman or a Ger- 
 man. For instance, the porter, or "usher," who 
 carries the hand lug-orag-e from the bus or cab to 
 the railway carriage receives from one of his own 
 countrymen for this helpful performance the 
 equivalent of two cents in our money. The 
 American, in a spirit of easy generosity, gives the 
 man the equivalent of five cents, whereupon the 
 disappointed and almost heartbroken porter pleads 
 for an equivalent of ten cents, intimating, by 
 
 (73) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 means of the sign language, that he has perma- 
 nently injured his spine in lifting the heavy bags, 
 also that he is dying of hunger, also that ten cents 
 is the regular charge. Now if you yield to his 
 wheedling entreaties and he goes away chuckling, 
 you have the humiliating knowledge that you are 
 a fool. On the other hand, if you repulse him 
 unkindly you find yourself in a heat and you are 
 in no mood for a cheerful journey. Occasionally 
 an American, wise in his own conceit, decides that 
 he will give the same tip that is given by the 
 native of the country. He will demonstrate to 
 the underling that he is familiar with the schedule 
 of tips and is not to be imposed upon. This 
 solution is beautiful in theory but has a vital weak- 
 ness from the fact that the porter has come to 
 know Americans. I have tried it. Once I eave 
 an Italian facchino two copper coins for bring- 
 ing my luggage to the car and putting it in the 
 rack. He looked at the pitiful sum in amazement 
 and began to weep. Then he started in to plead. 
 I could not solve his delivery but I knew it was 
 the story of the down-trodden toiler, so I gave 
 him a silver piece in order to assuage his grief 
 and he was all sunshine in a moment. He went 
 away very blithely and I have no doubt that he 
 boasted for many days of how he "worked the 
 Americano." It is almost impossible to give 
 sensible advice on the subject of tipping. After 
 all, it is a question of courage. We know in 
 
 (74) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 what manner we ought to regulate our tipping, but 
 when we are confronted by the smiling and coax- 
 ing waiters, boys, chambermaids, "boots" and 
 portier, we weaken on our stern resolutions and 
 exceed the appropriation. When three of us were 
 traveling together we took turn about in acting 
 as cashier. At each hotel we would decide to tip 
 only those servants to whom we were actually 
 under obligation. And when it came to a settle- 
 ment, the cashier always admitted that he had 
 tipped too many employes, but they came at him 
 and stood in line and what was he to do ? Clever 
 mendicants ! They have learned the weakness 
 of the American. He does not wish to appear 
 'stingy." So as to tipping — for you must tip — 
 distribute your small change so as to satisfy your 
 conscience and avoid friction, but as you value 
 your self-respect and peace of mind, never con- 
 descend to quarrel over so trivial a matter. 
 
 As to hotels, your guidebook and your suave 
 manager will always name the hotel to be selected 
 at your next destination. No doubt the omnibus 
 will be waiting- at the station. Remember two 
 things which also are time-honored instructions : 
 inquire the rate in advance and do not order 
 "extras," unless you are indifferent as to the 
 amount of the bill. 
 
 The American in Europe must learn to bargain. 
 Do it good-naturedly and do it before the com- 
 modity is delivered and then there will be less 
 
 (7S) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 complaint as to extortion. The traveler is ex- 
 pected to inquire the price of whatever he intends 
 to purchase, whether it be a cab ride, the use of 
 a room at a hotel or a work of art. If he fails 
 to inquire the cost but orders offhand, there is a 
 natural supposition that he is willing to pay any 
 price the vender may name. It is dangerous to 
 foster this impression. 
 
 <==^+^sJ>J? (^ *—*- 
 
 (76) 
 
Stimulative Questions 
 
 hese q uestions are ?tot 
 merely a kind of exami- 
 nation paper after the 
 completion of the book; 
 their objeEl is rather to 
 open up felds of thought and to stimu- 
 late the reader to think for himself 
 A single question will sometimes suggest 
 lines of thinking that will make clear 
 large areas of a subject which might 
 otherwise have remained vague and un- 
 satisfactory. If possible the reader 
 should write out his answers to the ques- 
 tions, since this is the most certain means 
 of avoiding hasty and superficial thinking. 
 
 (77) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Me??wranda : 
 
 (78) 
 
STIMULATIVE QUESTIONS 
 
 FROM PONKAPOG TO PESTH. 
 
 1. What was the author's object in writing this 
 book ? 
 
 2. What are its literary merits ? 
 
 3. What characteristics may be found in it that are 
 in all of Aldrich's works ? 
 
 4. What evidences of the author's brilliant wit ? 
 
 5. What has most interest for him, picturesque 
 humanity, natural scenery, or historic structures ? 
 
 6. What particularly skilful touches in the way of 
 description or characterization ? 
 
 7. What traces of irony ? 
 
 8. What particularly original and illuminating epi- 
 thets and comparisons ? 
 
 9. In what way is the book helpful ? 
 
 10. How does it differ from the ordinary book of 
 travels ? 
 
 SAUNTERINGS. 
 
 1. What was the author's object in writing the 
 book ? 
 
 2. To what extent is the chronology of the journey 
 indicated ? 
 
 3. What glimpses of Warner's personality ? 
 
 4. Would the book be valuable as a traveler's hand- 
 book ? 
 
 (79) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Memoranda ; 
 
 (80) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 5. What appeals most to Warner — form, color, his- 
 toric associations, present customs, picturesque peculiar- 
 ities, human sympathies ? 
 
 6. What appeals least ? 
 
 7. Do you find any trace in the book of Warner, the 
 philanthropist and reformer ? 
 
 8. Do you find any monotony in style or matter ? 
 
 9. In what ways does Saitntcrings differ from Al- 
 drich's book ? 
 
 OUR HUNDRED DAYS IN EUROPE. 
 
 1. What was the primary object of the journey and 
 of the book ? 
 
 2. What stamps it as an old man's book ? 
 
 3. Are there any signs of garrulity or undue remin- 
 iscence ? 
 
 4. Do you find any traces of egotism ? 
 
 5. Is it wholly free from the romance and glamor 
 that usually marks the young man's book ? 
 
 6. What parts read like pages from the Autocrat 
 series ? 
 
 7. Why does so little of Paris appear ? 
 
 8. What element is added by the daughter's diary ? 
 
 9. Are there in it any traces of the guide-book 
 manner ? 
 
 10. Do the general reflections and observations at 
 the close strike you as particularly valuable ? 
 
 6e f8i) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Memoranda; 
 
 (82) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 gondola days. 
 
 1. Summarize the author's idea of the book as re- 
 vealed in the preface. 
 
 2. Do you think the author's picture overdone ? 
 
 3. In what way is the book poetic ? 
 
 4. Is there an element of monotony after a time ? 
 
 5. Why does the author delight in such characters 
 as, for instance, Luigi ? 
 
 6. Does his delight in humanity spring from the 
 same source as Warner's ? As Holmes' ? 
 
 7. What evidence that the author was an artist ? 
 
 8. Do you think the book records the author's ex- 
 perience of Venetian life, or only his fleeting moods ? 
 
 9. Do you find any traces of sparkle of style, wit 
 and epigram as in Holmes and Aldrich ? 
 
 10. What is the chief value of the book ? 
 
 (*3) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Memoranda ; 
 
 (84) 
 
Topics for Special Papers 
 
 AND FOR OPEN DISCUSSION 
 
 i. Reading as a preparation for travel. 
 
 2. Varieties of books of travel. 
 
 3. The decline of the book of travel. 
 
 4. The use of guidebooks. 
 
 5. The Venice of Smith, Howells, Mark Twain and 
 Ruskin. 
 
 6. Holmes as a traveler. 
 
 7. Charles Dudley Warner and his influence. 
 
 8. Is European travel bringing to America danger- 
 ous ideals and customs ? 
 
 9. Points of similarity between Holmes and Aldrich. 
 
 10. Requisites for a good narrative of travel. 
 
 11. What is to be the future of American travel in 
 Europe ? 
 
 12. Why has Spain always been so peculiarly attrac- 
 tive to American travelers and writers ? 
 
 13. Does the American pell-mell habit of "doing 
 Europe " in a few weeks tend to make us a superficial 
 people ? 
 
 14. The financial aspect of a summer in Europe. 
 
 15. What class of books of travel is now alone ac- 
 ceptable ? 
 
 16. The sentimental era of American travel in Europe. 
 
 17. The influence of Mark Twain on the literature of 
 European travel. 
 
 (85) 
 
Selected Criticism 
 
 NOTEWORTHY OPINIONS 
 OF DISTINGUISHED TRAV- 
 ELERS AND CRITICS 
 
 [87; 
 
Selected Criticism 
 
 Ainsworth R. Spofford. 
 "Among the books which combine entertain- 
 ment with information the best narratives of trav- 
 elers and voyagers hold an eminent place. In 
 them the reader enlarges the bounds of his horizon 
 and travels in companionship with his author all 
 over the globe. While many, if not the most, of 
 the books of modern travelers are filled with petty 
 incidents and personal observations of no import- 
 ance, there are some wonderfully good books of 
 this attractive class." 
 
 Washington Irving. 
 "I have never yet grown familiar enough with 
 the crumbling monuments of past ages to blunt 
 the intense interest with which I at first beheld 
 them. Accustomed always to scenes where his- 
 tory was, in a manner, anticipation ; where every- 
 thing in art was new and progressive and pointed 
 to the future rather than to the past ; where, in 
 short, the works of man gave no ideas but those 
 of young existence and prospective improvement, 
 there was something inexpressibly touching in the 
 sight of enormous piles of architecture gray with 
 antiquity and sinking to decay. I cannot describe 
 the mute but deep felt enthusiasm with which I 
 
 l«9) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 have contemplated a vast monastic ruin like Tin- 
 tern Abbey, buried in the bosom of a quiet valley 
 and shut up from the world as though it had ex- 
 isted merely for itself; or a warrior pile like Con- 
 way Castle standing in stern loneliness on its 
 rocky height, a mere hollow yet threatening 
 phantom of departed power. They spread a grand 
 and melancholy, and to me an unusual, charm 
 over the landscape ; I for the first time beheld 
 signs of national old age and empire's decay and 
 proofs of the transient and perishing glories of 
 art amidst the ever springing and reviving fertility 
 of nature. 
 
 "I was continually coming upon some little 
 document of poetry in the blossomed hawthorn, 
 the daisy, the cowslip, the primrose, or some other 
 simple object that has received a supernatural 
 value from the Muse. The first time I heard the 
 song of the nightingale I was intoxicated more 
 by the delicious crowd of remembered associations 
 than by the melody of its notes ; and I shall never 
 forget the thrill of ecstacy with which I first saw 
 the lark arise almost from beneath my feet and 
 wing its musical flight up into the morning sky. 
 
 "In this way I traversed England, a grown up 
 child delighted by every object great and small 
 and betraying a wondering ignorance and simple 
 enjoyment that provoked many a stare and smile 
 from my wiser and more experienced fellow 
 travelers." 
 
 (90) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 Charles F. Richardson. 
 "When Outre Mer appeared in 1834 and 1835 
 European travel was still uncommon among Amer- 
 icans. A few more ambitious graduates were able 
 to put "Ph. D. Gott." after their names, and an 
 occasional George Ticknor could boast the ac- 
 quaintance of the leaders of contemporary English 
 literature. But a trip to Britain or the Continent 
 was so rare that it was frequent to follow it by a 
 bit of book making generally of the rhapsodical or 
 diaristic style. Nearly all of these early books ol 
 travel have gone to the oblivion they richly de- 
 served after performing their humble work of in- 
 struction or amusement. Outre Mer was a vol- 
 ume of a different class. It has lived and is still 
 occasionally read ; it would doubtless have kept a 
 place in literature even had it not boasted the 
 name of an author afterwards famous in other and 
 higher work." 
 
 John Nichol. 
 "The Americans have no good book about 
 England. . . . Mrs. H. B. Stowe's good humor 
 is as shallow as Mr. Trollope's acerbity. Of her 
 Sunny Memories we remember nothing but an 
 abortive attempt to describe the Atlantic, the 
 hackneyed Melrose by moonlight, and the author's 
 self-gratulations on the open doors of aristocratic 
 philanthropists. . . . Similarly Mr. N. P. Willis, 
 running across the sea, returned with jottings 
 
 (9 1 ) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 from the conversation in the saloons of 'the charm- 
 ing Countess of B .' His Pencillings by the 
 
 Way has no more relation to an adequate account 
 of the countries visited than the sketches in a 
 schoolgirl's portfolio to an authorized geological 
 chart. Washington Irving was a ' spirit of an- 
 other sort.' Half a European by residence, he 
 liked our country, and having opportunity to study 
 it, made himself familiar with our manners ; but 
 his purpose did not lead him to abstract inquiry 
 or analysis, and he confined himself mainly to 
 pleasant literary and local reminiscences. 
 
 "The least satisfactory of the two foremost 
 American prose writers of recent years are those 
 connected with their English experiences. Every 
 chapter of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Old Home ex- 
 hibits his delicate grace and quiet subtle thought. 
 He carried with him across the Atlantic a series 
 of picturesque photographs of English cities old 
 and new — of bright young Leamington and musty 
 Warwick, of Litchfield Market-Place, of Norfolk 
 Boston with its minster bell, of Blenheim Park 
 and Alloway Kirk, of Greenwich Hospital with 
 its Trafalgar memories — many a vivid glimpse of 
 squalid poverty and superabounding wealth ; but 
 his retiring nature sought out dim alleys and 
 woodland ways or loitered within the shadow of 
 gray cathedrals, and his book, as a whole, says 
 little of England as a whole. . . . Seven 
 years earlier Emerson's English Traits was pub- 
 
 (92) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 lished, and in spite of much that is true and tell- 
 ing in its keen and polished epigrams, it showed 
 how deceptive the impressions derived from a 
 brief sojourn in our country are apt to be." 
 
 JJL 
 
 Charles F. Richardson. 
 " Holmes deems nothing human foreign to him, 
 therefore he works in many fields. . . . Upon 
 American literature he has made his own mark 
 and the mark is deep and characteristic and 
 readily recognizable, whether it be in prose or 
 verse, in humor, satire, story or essay. In what- 
 ever Holmes writes these qualities are recogniz- 
 able : good sense, though the reader may disagree 
 with him ; good humor, though the writer be ter- 
 ribly in earnest ; and an alert mind." 
 
 Hamilton IV. Mabie. 
 "In a country like our own, born full-grown in 
 a sense, culture must find its material to a con- 
 siderable extent in the experience and achieve- 
 ments of older races, and from the beginning 
 American literature has been the interpreter of 
 the ripe past to the ripening present, and popular 
 education has been largely aided by assimilation 
 of the best things in the older civilization. Irving 
 with sensitive and delicate skill sketched the 
 background of European life and habit against 
 
 (93) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 which the stir and vitality of the new metropolis 
 of the new world were set. Longfellow recalled 
 to the memory and imagination of the youngest 
 of peoples the poetry and legends of older races; 
 in neither case was there any loss of originality 
 for Irving created for us two charming legends, 
 and Longfellow gave us two traditions full of in- 
 sight and tender portrayal of the earlier history 
 of the continent. This faculty of assimilation 
 Mr. Warner possessed. He was an eager 
 traveler and a born observer, and he came at a 
 time when Americans were oroing- out of them- 
 selves to see the world and to understand their 
 own place in it. Mr. Warner's roots were deep 
 in the soil of the new world and he carried a very 
 independent mind abroad ; but he had a tolerant 
 temper, the tastes and charity of a man of the 
 world and the receptivity of nature which loves 
 excellence and is quick to recognize it wherever 
 it discloses its presence. 
 
 "He had the air of a man who had been accus- 
 tomed to the best society among books and men. 
 His sanity and poise reflected a wide contact with 
 the world ; he was tolerant of everything except 
 vulgarity, sham and cheapness. His ease of 
 manner suggested liberal opportunities and an 
 ample background of social and intellectual life. 
 His humor was the free play of a nature which 
 felt itself at home in the world and qualified to 
 compare varying standards of action, diverse 
 
 (94) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 ideals of manners and types of character. The 
 specific qualities of his work in all forms were 
 sanity, ease, and humor." 
 
 JUL 
 
 William Dean Hoxvells. 
 "It has sometimes seemed to me as if fortune 
 had given to me a stage-box at another and 
 grander spectacle, and I had been suffered to see 
 this Venice, which is to other cities like the pleasant 
 improbability of the theatre to every-day, com- 
 monplace life, to much the same effect as that 
 melodrama in Padua. I could not, indeed, dwell 
 three years in the place without learning to know 
 it differently from those writers who have described 
 it in romances, poems, and hurried books of travel, 
 nor help seeing from my point of observation the 
 sham and cheapness with which Venice is usually 
 brought out, if I may so speak, in literature. At 
 the same time it has never lost for me its claim 
 upon constant surprise and regard, nor the fasci- 
 nation of its excellent beauty, its peerless pic- 
 turesqueness, its sole and wondrous grandeur." 
 
 " So if the reader care to follow me to my stage- 
 box, I imagine he will hardly see the curtain rise 
 upon just the Venice of his dreams — the Venice 
 of Byron, of Rogers, and Cooper ; or upon the 
 Venice of his prejudices — the merciless Venice of 
 Darii and of the historians who follow him. But I 
 
 (95) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 still hope that he will be pleased with the Venice he 
 sees ; and will think with me that the place loses 
 little in the illusion removed ; and — to take leave 
 of our theatrical metaphor — I promise to fatigue 
 him with no affairs of my own, except as allusion 
 to them may go to illustrate life in Venice ; and 
 positively he shall suffer no annoyance from the 
 fleas and bugs which in Latin countries so often 
 get from travelers' beds into their books." 
 
 Mark Twain. 
 " One lingers about the cathedral a good deal 
 in Venice. There is a strong fascination about it, 
 partly because it is so old and partly because it is 
 so ugly. Too many of the world's famous build- 
 ings fail of one chief virtue — harmony ; they are 
 made up of a methodless mixture of the ugly and 
 the beautiful. This is bad, it is confusing, it is 
 unrestful. One has a sense of uneasiness, of dis- 
 tress without knowing why. But one is calm 
 before St. Mark's, one is calm within it, one would 
 be calm on top of it, calm in the cellar ; for its 
 details are masterfully ugly. No misplaced and 
 impertinent beauties are intruded anywhere, and 
 the consequent result is a grand, harmonious 
 whole of soothing, entrancing, tranquilizing, soul- 
 satisfying ugliness. One's admiration of a perfect 
 thing always grows, never declines ; and this is 
 the surest evidence to him that it is perfect. St. 
 
 (96) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 Mark's is perfect. To me it soon grew to be so 
 nobly, so augustly ugly that it was difficult to stay 
 away from it even for a little while." 
 
 Lee Meriwether. 
 
 "The first-class tourist may see the beauties of 
 a country's landscapes and scenery from the 
 window of a palace car, but his vision goes no 
 further — does not penetrate below the surface. 
 To know a country one must fraternize with its 
 people, must live with them, sympathize with 
 them, win their confidence. High life in Europe 
 has been paid sufficient attention by travelers and 
 writers. I was desirous of seeing something of 
 low life. I donned the blouse and hob-nailed 
 shoes of a workman and spent a year in a Tramp- 
 Trip from Gibraltar to the Bosporus. . . . 
 
 "The first day or two — feet blistered, muscles 
 swollen, limbs stiff and tired — the novice is apt to 
 become disheartened. My second day out from 
 Naples was rainy ; the twenty-five-mile walk of 
 the preceding day had made great blisters on my 
 feet. When I limped into a village inn about 
 dark, weary and soaked, I would have taken to 
 the railroad, had there been one, and ended my 
 pedestrian trip then and there. Fortunately the 
 nearest railroad station was fifteen miles distant. 
 In two or three days the blisters disappeared, the 
 soreness of the muscles abated and I felt thor- 
 oughly happy. 
 
 7E (97) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 " Only he who has tried it can appreciate the 
 independence of a walking tour. You make your 
 own time schedule — come when you please and go 
 when you please. That old castle on the hill to 
 the right looks interesting. From the train, if 
 seen at all, it is only a glimpse ; but the pedes- 
 trian sallies gaily forth, ascends the hill at leisure, 
 rummages among the ruins, clambers over the 
 walls, and sees a hundred objects of which the 
 traveler who is hurried from point to point never 
 even dreams." 
 
 E. L. Godkin. 
 
 "There is probably no American who has risen 
 above very narrow circumstances who does not 
 go to Europe at least once in his life. There is 
 hardly a village in the country in which the man 
 who has succeeded in trade or commerce does 
 not announce his success to his neighbors by a 
 trip to Europe for himself and his family. There 
 is hardly a professor or teacher or clergyman or 
 artist or author who does not save out of a salary 
 however small in order to make the voyage. 
 
 "Americans who go to Europe with some 
 knowledge of history, of the fine arts, and of 
 literature all recognize the fact that they could 
 not have completed their education without going. 
 To such people travel in Europe is one of the 
 purest and most elevating of pleasures, for Europe 
 contains the experience of mankind in nearly 
 
 (98) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 every field of human endeavor. They often, it is 
 true, come back discontented with America, but 
 out of this discontent have grown some of our 
 most valuable improvements — libraries, museums, 
 art galleries, colleges. What they have seen in 
 Europe has opened their eyes to the possibilities 
 and short-comings of their own country." 
 
 Frank R. Stockton. 
 " Both Americans and English, like all patriotic 
 people, believe their respective countries to be 
 the best in the world, and many of them consider 
 it necessary, when they are traveling, to show 
 this. Persons like these, however, be they 
 American or English, do not belong to the better 
 class of travelers. The more we travel and the 
 more we see of other nations, the better we be- 
 come acquainted with their merits and virtues. 
 Their oddities and their faults naturally are the 
 first thing's which strike our attention ; but if we 
 have seen nothing but these, it is a proof either 
 that we have not traveled enough or that we are 
 not qualified to travel with advantage. The more 
 the right kind of an American journeys the more 
 he is likely to be satisfied that he is an American ; 
 but the better he becomes acquainted with other 
 nations, and learns not only to avoid their faults 
 but to imitate their virtues, the greater advantage 
 he is to his own country." 
 
 L.oFC. (99) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Franklin Matthews. 
 "There have been many estimates published of 
 the amount of money Americans spend on their 
 trips abroad. Taking the second class travelers 
 into consideration with the first cabin travelers I 
 am of the opinion that six hundred dollars is about 
 the average expenditure on the trip ... A 
 large sum is expended every year in Europe in the 
 purchase of clothing. I think, however, that this 
 does not average more than one hundred dollars 
 for each passenger. Considerable money is 
 spent in the purchase of souvenirs, but this prob- 
 ably does not exceed twenty dollars on the aver- 
 age for each traveler. Those who have been in 
 Europe before spend almost nothing for souvenirs 
 on the following trips. Still when one thinks of 
 the army that goes to Europe every year an ex- 
 penditure of six hundred dollars for each person 
 amounts to an enormous sum. For the 100,000 
 who crossed in 1895 this would amount to $60,- 
 000,000. That sum in my estimation represents 
 about what Americans pay for the satisfaction of 
 crossing the ocean and spending more or less 
 time in sight-seeing in Europe." 
 
 (IOC) 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY BOOKS 
 
 Outre Mer. By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1835. 
 
 A sentimental journey by a young poet. Full of 
 generous appreciation and romantic touches. " I 
 have traversed France from Normandy to Navarre, 
 smoked my pipe in a Flemish inn, floated through 
 Holland in a Trekschuit, trimmed my midnight lamp 
 in a German university, wandered and mused amid 
 the classic scenes of Italy, and listened to the gay 
 guitar and merry castanet on the borders of the 
 blue Guadalquivir." 
 
 Views Afoot. By Bayard Taylor. 1855. 
 
 The record of a two years' saunter through Europe by 
 a young poet whose entire expenses for the period 
 were $472 all earned on the road. The tour in- 
 cluded Ireland, Scotland, England, Holland, Ger- 
 many, Bohemia, Switzerland, Italy and France. 
 
 English Traits. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1856. 
 
 A book embodying Emerson's observations during 
 his several visits to England, " the notebook of a 
 philosophic traveler." It records visits to Coleridge, 
 Carlyle and Wordsworth, but the greater part is 
 abstract : race, ability, character, wealth, etc. A 
 searching analysis and very valuable. 
 
 Our Old Home. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1863. 
 
 Selections from Hawthorne's Notebooks while he 
 was consul at Liverpool. Full of charming pictures. 
 Treats among other things of " My Consular Ex- 
 
 (101) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 periences," " Warwick," " Old Boston," " Haunts of 
 Burns," " English Poverty," etc. He has himself 
 described it as "a few of the external aspects of 
 English scenery and life, especially those that are 
 touched with the antique charm to which our coun- 
 trymen are more susceptible than are the people 
 among whom it is a natural growth." 
 
 Venetian Life. By William Dean Howells. 1867. 
 
 Venice from the standpoint of one who made it his 
 home for three years. It gives the everyday life of 
 the city apart from the romantic glamor, which, how- 
 ever, it does not ignore. " Such value as my book 
 may have is in fidelity to what I actually saw and 
 knew of Venice." 
 
 Italian Journeys. By William Dean Howells. 1867. 
 
 A kind of extension of Venetian Life. It records 
 the author's excursions to Padua, Ferara, Genoa, 
 Pompeii, Naples, Rome, etc. He knows Italy thor- 
 oughly and writes in a bright, witty way about it. 
 
 English Notebooks. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. 
 1870. 
 
 Full of fragmentary descriptions and records. Haw- 
 thorne roamed much over England and he observed 
 keenly. He usually saw the fantastic and pictur- 
 esque, especially in humanity. 
 
 French and Italian Notebooks. By Nathaniel 
 
 Hawthorne. 1871. 
 
 Does for France and Italy what Our Old Home and 
 the English Notebooks do for England. Full of 
 graphic description. 
 
 (102) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 
 Castilian Days. By John Hay. 187 1. 
 
 A careful study of Spanish life and scenes written 
 while the author was secretary of legation at Madrid. 
 It does for Spain what Venetian Life does for Venice 
 A vivid picture, " the work at once of the shrewd 
 social observer and the imaginative poet." 
 
 Bits of Travel. By Helen Hunt Jackson. 1872. 
 
 A series of letters written during a tour of the Con- 
 tinent. Bright and vivacious. " A volume of keen 
 and amusing sketches of German and French expe- 
 rience." — A. R. Spojford. 
 
 Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. 
 
 By Robert Louis Stevenson. 1879. 
 The author takes a journey for his health through 
 the mountains of southern France. The book is one 
 of Stevenson's best, full of sparkling humor, poetry, 
 lively description, and characterization. 
 
 A Tramp Abroad. By Mark Twain. 1880. 
 
 Though generally regarded, as most of Mark Twain's 
 works are, as pure fun, this book is genuinely helpful. 
 It is an excellent preparation for travel on the con- 
 tinent. The chapter on the German language is a 
 classic. 
 
 The Land of the Midnight Sun. By Paul 
 
 Du Chaillu. 1881. 
 
 Summer and winter journeys through Sweden, 
 
 Norway, Lapland and northern Finland. Well 
 
 illustrated. 
 
 (103) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Seven Spanish Cities. By Edward Everett Hale. 
 
 1883. 
 
 Madrid, Cordova, Toledo, etc. A charming prepara- 
 tion for a visit to Spain. 
 
 A Roundabout Journey. By Charles Dudley 
 Warner. 1883. 
 
 A book much like Saunterings, dealing almost wholly 
 with the western shores of the Mediterranean, 
 France, Sicily, Malta, Morocco, Spain. Nearly half 
 the book describes journeys in Spain. 
 
 The American Four-in-Hand. By Andrew 
 
 Carnegie. 1883. 
 
 Describes a coaching trip from Brighton to In- 
 verness. People and places by the way entertain- 
 ingly treated. 
 
 A Little Tour of France. By Henry James, Jr. 
 1884. 
 
 Picturesque, in the author's well-known sparkling 
 style. 
 
 A Tramp Trip : How to See Europe on 
 
 Fifty Cents a Day. By Lee Meriwether. 1886. 
 
 Gives the side of European life not generally seen 
 by those who keep in the beaten tracks. The au- 
 thor's object was to study labor conditions, and the 
 book accordingly gives graphic pictures of the pov- 
 erty and hard toil of the lower classes. 
 
 (104) 
 
American Vacations in Europe 
 Cathedral Days : A Tour through Southern 
 
 England. By Anna B. Dodd. 1887. 
 
 A six weeks' driving tour through the south of Eng- 
 land. Full of chat, dialogue, fun and holiday spirit. 
 Fully illustrated. 
 
 Personally Conducted. By Frank R. Stockton. 
 
 1889. 
 
 Written as a juvenile but a book of value to all who 
 approach Europe for the first time. Entertaining 
 and instructive. 
 
 Scrambles among the Alps. By E. Whymper. 
 1871. 
 
 Holiday ascents, chiefly of the Matterhorn. 
 
 Books for Travelers. 
 
 In the Book Buyer, volume 14, page 484. The best 
 recent bibliography of the books of travel useful to 
 those contemplating a trip abroad. 
 
 (105) 
 
Twenty-Five Reading Courses 
 
 No. i— PROBLEMS IN MODERN DEMOCRACY 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are ex-President Cleveland; Woodrow Wilson, Professor 
 of Politics, Princeton University ; Henry J. Ford, author of Rise 
 and Growth of American Politics; and Henry D. Lloyd, author 
 of Newest England. The books for the course are selected 
 by Mr. Cleveland. 
 
 No. 2— MODERN MASTERS OF MUSIC 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are Reginald de Koven, Dr. VV. S. B. Mathews, editor of 
 Music ; James G. Huneker, editor of Musical Courier ; Henry 
 E. Krehbiel, musical critic New York Tribune; dnd Gustave 
 Kobbe", author of Wagner's Life and Works. The most attrac- 
 tive reading course ever offered to lovers of music. 
 
 No. 3— RAMBLINGS AMONG ART CENTRES 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are F. Hopkinson Smith, Dr. John C. Van Dyke, Dr. 
 John La Farge, President of the Society of American Artists ; 
 Kenvon Cox and Dr. Russell Sturgis. The handbook is 
 attractively illustrated. Mr. Smith and Dr. Van Dyke are 
 responsible for selecting the books to be read. 
 
 No. 4— AMERICAN VACATIONS IN EUROPE 
 
 This course is the next best thing to going abroad oneself. 
 Among the contributors to the handbook are Frank R. Stockton, 
 Jeannette L. Gilder, editor of The Critic; Mrs. Schuyler Crown- 
 lnshield and George Ade. The handbook has a fine portrait 
 frontispiece. 
 
 No. 5— A STUDY OF SIX NEW ENGLAND CLASSICS 
 
 The books for this course are selected by Dr. Edward 
 Everett Hale. Among the contributors to the handbook are 
 Dr. Hale, Julian Hawthorne, Mrs. James T. Fields and Dr. 
 Edward Waldo Emerson. Dr. Emerson is a son of Ralph Waldo 
 Emerson. This is one of the most attractive courses in the 
 entire series. 
 
 No. 6- SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH KINGS 
 
 The plays are selected for this course by H. Beerbohm 
 Tree, the well-known English actor, and the books to be read 
 in connection with the plays are selected by Sir Henry 
 
 (109) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Irving. Among the other contributors to the handbook are Prof. 
 Edward Dowden, acknowledged the greatest Shakespearean 
 scholar of Great Britain, Dr. Hiram Corson, of Cornell Univer- 
 sity; Dr. William J. Rolfe and Dr. Hamilton W. Mabie. The 
 handbook is very attractively illustrated. 
 
 No. 7— CHARLES DICKENS: HIS LIFE AND WORK 
 
 Among the contributors to the delightful handbook accompany- 
 ing this course are George W. Cable, the well-known novelist; 
 Irving Bacheller, author of Eben Holden; Andrew Lang, the 
 distinguished English writer ; Amelia E. Barr, the novelist ; and 
 James L. Hughes, author of Dickens as an Educator. The 
 books to be read are selected by Mr. Cable and Mr. 
 Bacheller. The handbook is beautifully illustrated. 
 
 No. 8— CHILD STUDY FOR MOTHERS AND TEACHERS 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are Margaret E. Sangster, Nora Archibald Smith, Anne 
 Emilie Poulson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Lucy Wheelock 
 and Kate Gannett Wells. Mrs. Sangster selects the books to be 
 read. 
 
 No. 9— INDUSTRIAL QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 
 
 The following distinguished writers on economic problems 
 contribute to the handbook accompanying this course : Presi- 
 dent Jacob Gould Schurman, of Cornell University ; Jeremiah 
 Whipple Jenks, Professor of Political Science, Cornell University ; 
 Richard Theodore Ely, Director of the School of Economics, 
 Political Science and History, University of Wisconsin ; Sidney 
 Webb, Lecturer London School of Economics and Political 
 Science, Member London County Council ; and Carroll Davidson 
 Wright, United States Commissioner of Labor. 
 
 No. io— FLORENCE IN ART AND LITERATURE 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are William Dean Howells, Dr. Russell Sturgis, Frank 
 Preston Stearns, author of Midsummer of Italian Art, Life of 
 Tintoretto, etc.; Dr. William Henry Goodyear, Curator Fine Arts 
 Museum of Brooklyn Institute; and Lewis Frederick Pilcher, 
 Professor of Art, Vassar College. The handbook has some 
 attractive illustrations. 
 
 No. ii— STUDIES OF EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS 
 
 The books have been selected specially for this course by the 
 Rt. Hon. James Bryce, of the English House of Commons, and 
 the Hon. Andrew D. White, United States Ambassador to Ger- 
 
 (iio) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 many. Among the other contributors to the handbook are Jesse 
 Macy, Professor of Constitutional History and Political Science, 
 Iowa College; and John William Burgess, Professor of Political 
 Science and Constitutional Law, and Dean of the Faculty of 
 Political Science, Columbia University. 
 
 No. 12— FAMOUS WOMEN OF THE RENAISSANCE 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are Col. Thomas Went worth Higginson, Margaret Deland 
 and Charlotte Brewster Jordan. The handbook has several 
 very interesting illustrations. 
 
 No. 13— THE MODERN CITY AND ITS PROBLEMS 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are Dr. Frederic W. Speirs ; Dr. Albert Shaw, editor 
 of The Review of Reviews ; Bird S. Coler, Comptroller of the 
 City of New York, author of Municipal Government ; and Charles 
 J. Bonaparte, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the 
 National Municipal League. The books are selected by Dr. 
 Speirs. 
 
 No. 14— STUDIES IN APPLIED ELECTRICITY 
 
 This is without exception the most attractive and the most 
 helpful reading course ever offered to students of electricity. 
 Thomas A. Edison selects the books specially for these studies. 
 Among the other contributors to the handbook are Dr. Edwin 
 J. Houston, Dr. Elihu Thomson, Carl Hering, Ex-President of 
 the American Institute of Electrical Engineers ; and Arthur V. 
 Abbott, Chief Engineer of the Chicago Telephone Company. 
 
 No. 15— FIVE WEEKS* STUDY OF ASTRONOMY 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are Charles A. Young, Professor of Astronomy, Prince- 
 ton University ; Sir Robert S. Ball, Professor of Astronomy, 
 Cambridge University, and Director of Cambridge Observa- 
 tory, England ; Camille Flammarion, founder of the As- 
 tronomical Society of France, and author of Marvels of tfh? 
 Heavens, Astronomy, etc.; George C. Comstock, Director of 
 Washburn Observatory, University of Wisconsin ; and Harold 
 Jacoby, Professor of Astronomy, Columbia University. The 
 study programme includes contributions from the most famous 
 astronomers of England and France. 
 
 No. 16— RECENT ENGLISH DRAMATISTS 
 
 Lovers of the best modern dramas will find much pleasure in 
 these studies. Among the contributors to the handbook are 
 Brander Matthews, Professor of Literature, Columbia University; 
 
 (in) 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 Dr. William Winter, Dramatic Critic for the New York Tribune ; 
 Dr. Harry Thurston Peck, Editor of The Bookman; Louise 
 Chandler Moulton ; and Norman Hapgood, the well-known 
 writer of dramatic criticism. The handbook has some interest- 
 ing illustrations. 
 
 No. 17— STUDIES IN CURRENT RELIGIOUS THOUGHT 
 
 The books are chosen for the course by Dr. Lyman Abbott 
 and Dr. Washington Gladden. Among the contributors to 
 the handbook are Dr. Samuel D. McConnell, Rector of Holy 
 Trinity Church, Brooklyn ; President William DeWitt Hyde, of 
 Bowdoin College ; Dr. Amory H. Bradford, Editor of The 
 Outlook ; Dr. Henry Collin Mmton, of San Francisco Theological 
 Seminary, late Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly ; 
 Dr. H. W. Thomas, Pastor of the People's Church, Chicago; 
 and Dr. Theodore T. Munger, Pastor of the United Congrega- 
 tional Church, New Haven. For clergymen and laymen who 
 wish to stimulate the growth of a theology which is in harmony 
 with the best thought of the time we recommend this handbook 
 and this reading course. 
 
 No. 18— THE GREATER VICTORIAN POETS 
 
 The books are selected for this course by Thomas Bailey 
 Aldrich. Among the other contributors to the handbook are 
 Thomas R. Lounsbury, Professor of English, Yale University; 
 Dr. T. M. Parrott, of Princeton University ; and Marie Ada Moli- 
 neux, author of The Phrase Book of Browning. 
 
 No. 19— OUT-OF-DOOR AMERICANS 
 
 Among the contributors to the handbook accompanying this 
 course are John Burroughs, Ernest Seton-Thompson, President 
 David Starr Jordan, of the Leland Stanford Junior University ; 
 Ernest Ingersoll and Hamlin Garland. Lovers of nature will 
 find delight in the outlines and recommendations of this course. 
 
 No. 20— THE WORLD'S GREAT WOMAN NOVELISTS 
 
 Mrs. Humphry Ward, the well-known English novelist, is the 
 first contributor to the handbook accompanying this course. 
 The other contributors are Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, Mary 
 E. Wilkins, Agnes Repplier, Katherine Lee Bates, Professor of 
 English, Wellesley College; and Oscar Fay Adams. The hand- 
 book contains some interesting illustrations. 
 
 No. 21— AMERICAN FOUNDATION HISTORY 
 
 Hon. Henry- Cabot Lodge selects the books for this course. 
 Among the other contriixitors are Albert Bushnell Hart, Pro- 
 fessor of American History, Harvard University ; John Bach 
 
 (112) 
 
 W 98 
 
The Booklovers Reading Club 
 
 McMaster, Professor of American History, University of Penn- 
 sylvania ; Reuben Gold Thwaites, Secretary of the State Histori- 
 cal Society of Wisconsin, author of The Colonies ; Paul Leicester 
 Ford, author of Janice Meredith; and Andrew Cunningham 
 McLaughlin, Professor of American History, University of 
 Michigan. 
 
 No. 22— STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERARY LIFE 
 
 Professor Barrett Wendell and Professor Lewis E. Gates, of 
 Harvard, and Dr. Horace E. Scudder, late editor of The Atlantic 
 Monthly, contribute to the handbook accompanying this course. 
 For a brief stimulative and instructive course in American litera- 
 ture nothing better could possibly be offered. 
 
 No. 23— STUDIES IN RECENT FRENCH FICTION 
 
 Alc6e Fortier, Professor of Romance Languages, Tulane 
 University of Louisiana, has chosen the books for this reading 
 course. Among the contributors to the handbook are the three 
 distinguished French writers, Edouard Rod, Ferdinand Bru- 
 netiere and Paul Bourget, and the notable American critic, 
 Dr. Benjamin W. Wells, author of Modern Trench Literature and 
 A Century of French Literature. 
 
 No. 24— THE ENGLISH BIBLE : HOW WE GOT IT 
 
 The contributors to this course include President William R. 
 Harper, of the University of Chicago ; John Franklin Genung, 
 Professor of Rhetoric, Amherst College ; William Newton Clarke, 
 Professor of Christian Theology, Colgate University; and Richard 
 G. Moulton, Professor of English Literature, University of 
 Chicago. The handbook is a very interesting and instructive 
 volume in itself. 
 
 No. 25— THE MECHANISM OF 
 
 PRESENT DAY COMMERCE 
 
 In Preparation. The books are selected by the Hon. Lyman 
 J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
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