A List of Important Fiction — The Bobbs-Merrill Company
It is fresh and spontaneous, having nothing of
that wooden quality which is becoming
associated with the term
“historical novel.”
HEARTS
COURAGEOUS
By HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES
“Hearts Courageous” is made of new material, a picturesque yet delicate style, good plot and very dramatic situations. The best in the book are the defence of George Washington by the Marquis; the duel between the English officer and the Marquis; and Patrick Henry flinging the brand of war into the assembly of the burgesses of Virginia.
Williamsburg, Virginia, the country round about, and the life led in that locality just before the Revolution, form an attractive setting for the action of the story.
With six illustrations by A. B. Wenzell
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
THE GREAT NOVEL OF THE YEAR
THE MISSISSIPPI
BUBBLE
How the star of good fortune rose and set and rose
again, by a woman’s grace, for one
John Law, of Lauriston
A novel by EMERSON HOUGH
Emerson Hough has written one of the best novels that has come out of America in many a day. It is an exciting story, with the literary touch on every page.—Jeannette L. Gilder, of The Critic.
In “The Mississippi Bubble” Emerson Hough has taken John Law and certain known events in his career, and about them he has woven a web of romance full of brilliant coloring and cunning work. It proves conclusively that Mr. Hough is a novelist of no ordinary quality.
—The Brooklyn Eagle.
As a novel embodying a wonderful period in the growth of America “The Mississippi Bubble” is of intense interest. As a love story it is rarely and beautifully told. John Law, as drawn in this novel, is a great character, cool, debonair, audacious, he is an Admirable Crichton in his personality, and a Napoleon in his far-reaching wisdom.
—The Chicago American.
The Illustrations by Henry Hutt
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
YOUTH, SPLENDOR AND TRAGEDY
FRANCEZKA
By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL
There is no character in fiction more lovable and appealing than is Francezka. Miss Seawell has told a story of youth, splendor and tragedy with an art which links it with summer dreams, which drowns the somber in the picturesque, which makes pain and vice a stage wonder.
The book is marked by the same sparkle and cleverness of the author’s earlier work, to which is added a dignity and force which makes it most noteworthy.
“Here is a novel that not only provides the reader with a succession of sprightly adventures, but furnishes a narrative brilliant, witty and clever. The period is the first half of that most fascinating, picturesque and epoch-making century, the eighteenth. Francezka is a winsome heroine. The story has light and shadow and high spirits, tempered with the gay, mocking, debonair philosophy of the time.”
—Brooklyn Times.
Charmingly illustrated by Harrison Fisher
Bound in green and white and gold
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A BRILLIANT AND SERIOUS NOVEL
CHILDREN OF
DESTINY
By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL
Author of Francezka and The Sprightly Romance of Marsac.
One of Miss Seawell’s most brilliant and serious works is this novel of Old Virginia. One lives again the patrician elegance of those mannerly times with all their freedom and all their limitations. In the midst of those quiet people—some rich in worldly goods, all rich in their birth and station—is born a man with the unrest of genius. Miss Seawell’s powerful delineations of this man’s character, her charming presentation of the old days, her sprightly humor, playing on the foibles of these early nineteenth century aristocrats, the tenderness and beautiful love of her heroine, show her as a brilliant writer and deep thinker. In none of her other books is her art so true and her touch so poised.
With six Illustrations by A. B. Wenzell and a
Cover in Blue and Gold.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A SPLENDIDLY VITAL NARRATION
THE MASTER OF
APPLEBY
A romance of the Carolinas
By FRANCIS LYNDE
Viewed either as a delightful entertainment or as a skilful and finished piece of literary art, this is easily one of the most important of recent novels. One can not read a dozen pages without realizing that the author has mastered the magic of the story-teller’s art. After the dozen pages the author is forgotten in his creations.
It is rare, indeed, that characters in fiction live and love, suffer and fight, grasp and renounce in so human a fashion as in this splendidly vital narration.
With pictures by T. de Thulstrup
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
WHAT BOOK BY A NEW AUTHOR HAS
RECEIVED SUCH PRAISE?
WHAT MANNER
OF MAN
By EDNA KENTON
The novel, “What Manner of Man,” is a study of what is commonly known as the “artistic temperament,” and a novel so far above the average level of merit as to cause even tired reviewers to sit up and take hope once more.
—New York Times.
It will certainly stand out as one of the most notable novels of the year.
—Philadelphia Press.
It does not need a trained critical faculty to recognize that this book is something more than clever.
—N. Y. Commercial.
Note should be made of the literary charm and value of the work, and likewise of its eminently readable quality, considered purely as a romance.
—Philadelphia Record.
Literary distinction is stamped on every page, and the author’s insight into the human heart gives promise of a brilliant future.—Chicago Record-Herald.
The whole book is full of dramatic force. The author is an unusual thinker and observer, and has a rare gift for creative literature.
—Philadelphia Evening Telegraph.
“What Manner of Man” is a study and a creation.
—N. Y. World.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
DIFFERENT AND DELIGHTFUL
UNDER THE
ROSE
A Story of the Loves of a Duke and a Jester
By FREDERIC S. ISHAM
Author of The Strollers
In “Under the Rose” Mr. Isham has written a most entertaining book—the plot is unique; the style is graceful and clever; the whole story is pervaded by a spirit of sunshine and good humor, and the ending is a happy one. Mr. Christy’s pictures mark a distinct step forward in illustrative art. There is only one way, and it is an entertaining one, to find out what is “Under the Rose”—read it.
“No one will take up ‘Under the Rose’ and lay it down before completion; many will even return to it for a repeated reading”
—Book News.
“Mr. Isham tells all of his fanciful, romantic tale delightfully. The reader who loves romance, intrigue and adventure, love-seasoned, will find it here.”
—The Lamp.
With Illustrations in Six Colors by
Howard Chandler Christy
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A NEW NOTE IN FICTION
THE STROLLERS
By FREDERIC S. ISHAM
“The Strollers” is a novel of much merit.
The scenes are laid in that picturesque and interesting period of American life—the last of the stage coach days—the days of the strolling player.
The author, Frederic S. Isham, gives a delightful and accurate account of a troop of players making a circuit in the wilderness from New York to New Orleans, travelling by stage, carrying one wagon load of scenery, playing in town halls, taverns, barns or whatnot.
“The Strollers” is a new note in fiction.
With eight illustrations by Harrison Fisher
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
“NOTHING BUT PRAISE”
LAZARRE
By MARY HARTWELL CATHERWOOD
Glorified by a beautiful love story.
—Chicago Tribune.
We feel quite justified in predicting a wide-spread and prolonged popularity for this latest comer into the ranks of historical fiction.
—The N. Y. Commercial Advertiser.
After all the material for the story had been collected a year was required for the writing of it. It is an historical romance of the better sort, with stirring situations, good bits of character drawing and a satisfactory knowledge of the tone and atmosphere of the period involved.
—N. Y. Herald.
Lazarre, is no less a person than the Dauphin, Louis XVII. of France, and a right royal hero he makes. A prince who, for the sake of his lady, scorns perils in two hemispheres, facing the wrath of kings in Europe and the bullets of savages in America; who at the last spurns a kingdom that he may wed her freely—here is one to redeem the sins of even those who “never learn and never forget.”
—Philadelphia North American.
With six Illustrations by André Castaigne
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
“THE MERRIEST NOVEL OF MANY,
MANY MOONS”
MY LADY PEGGY
GOES TO TOWN
By FRANCES AYMAR MATHEWS
The Daintiest and Most Delightful Book
of the Season.
A heroine almost too charming to be true is Peggy, and it were a churlish reader who is not, at the end of the first chapter, prostrate before her red slippers.
—Washington Post.
To make a comparison would be to rank “My Lady Peggy” with “Monsieur Beaucaire” in points of attraction, and to applaud as heartily as that delicate romance, this picture of the days “When patches nestled o’er sweet lips at chocolate times.”
—N. Y. Mail and Express.
12 mo. Beautifully illustrated and bound.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A VIVACIOUS ROMANCE OF REVOLUTIONARY DAYS
ALICE of OLD
VINCENNES
By MAURICE THOMPSON
The Atlanta Constitution says:
“Mr. Thompson, whose delightful writings in prose and verse have made his reputation national, has achieved his master stroke of genius in this historical novel of revolutionary days in the West.”
The Denver Daily News says::
“There are three great chapters of fiction: Scott’s tournament on Ashby field, General Wallace’s chariot race, and now Maurice Thompson’s duel scene and the raising of Alice’s flag over old Fort Vincennes.”
The Chicago Record-Herald says:
“More original than ‘Richard Carvel,’ more cohesive than ‘To Have and To Hold,’ more vital than ‘Janice Meredith,’ such is Maurice Thompson’s superb American romance, ‘Alice of Old Vincennes.’ It is, in addition, more artistic and spontaneous than any of its rivals.”
VIRGINIA HARNED EDITION
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A STORY BY THE “MARCH KING”
THE
FIFTH STRING
By JOHN PHILIP SOUSA
The “March King” has written much in a musical way, but “The Fifth String” is his first published story. In the choice of his subject, as the title indicates, Mr. Sousa has remained faithful to his art; and the great public, that has learned to love him for the marches he has made, will be as delighted with his pen as with his baton.
“The Fifth String” has a strong and clearly defined plot which shows in its treatment the author’s artistically sensitive temperament and his tremendous dramatic power. It is a story of a marvelous violin, of a wonderful love and of a strange temptation.
A cover, especially designed, and six full-page illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy, serve to give the distinguishing decorative embellishments that this first book by Mr. Sousa so richly deserves.
With Pictures by Howard Chandler Christy
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A GOOD DETECTIVE STORY
THE
FILIGREE BALL
By ANNA KATHERINE GREEN
Author of “The Leavenworth Case”
This is something more than a mere detective story; it is a thrilling romance—a romance of mystery and crime where a shrewd detective helps to solve the mystery. The plot is a novel and intricate one, carefully worked out. There are constant accessions to the main mystery, so that the reader can not possibly imagine the conclusion. The story is clean-cut and wholesome, with a quality that might be called manly. The characters are depicted so as to make a living impression. Cora Tuttle is a fine creation, and the flash of love which she gives the hero is wonderfully well done. Unlike many mystery stories The Filigree Ball is not disappointing at the end. The characters most liked but longest suspected are proved not only guiltless, but above suspicion. It is a story to be read with a rush and at a sitting, for no one can put it down until the mystery is solved.
Illustrated by C. M. Relyea.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
A VIVID WESTERN STORY OF LOVE
AND POLITICS
The 13th DISTRICT
By BRAND WHITLOCK
This is a story of high order. By its scope and strength it deserves to be spoken of as a novel—and that word has been very much abused by hanging it to any old thing. It is a wonderfully good and interesting account of the workings of politics from before the primaries on through election, with a splendid love story also woven into it.
One would think for instance, that it would be impossible to give an account of a “primary” and keep it interesting; it is natural to suppose a writer would become entangled with the dull routine of it all, but he does not, he makes it interesting. He shows the tricks, the heat, the passion, the tumult; the weariness and stubborness of a dead lock. The descriptions of society life in the book are equally good.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis
THE TRIUMPH OF FORGIVENESS
THE LOOM
OF LIFE
By CHARLES FREDERIC GOSS
Author of “The Redemption of David Corson.”
In “The Loom of Life” Dr. Goss has written a powerful book, filled with the poetry and tragedy of life. It tells a novel and impressive story in a style marked by a charming felicity of expression.
The story, which has an epic broadness and strength, is of a young girl who revenges a wrong done to her with life-long persecution. Finally, however, she is forced to realize that on earth peace and happiness can be obtained only by forgiveness.
“Mr. Goss’ splendid powers have been demonstrated afresh. This book alone is strong enough, big enough, important enough, enough suggestive and informing, to make a reputation for any one.
“He has already a large audience created by his earlier book, ‘The Redemption of David Corson.’ The new book will at once find favorable and eager readers.”
—The Living Church.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis