THE lady who calls herself "John Oliver Hobbes" has just given to the world the text of her extremely clever comedy, The Ambassador, presented for the first time (as everybody knows) in June last at the St. James's Theatre. It comes to us in all appropriate elegance of type, paper, and binding, with a portrait of Mr. George Alexander (disguised as "Lord St. Orbyn," but looking, nevertheless, pretty much like the Mr. George Alexander of ordinary life), and with a preface in which the authoress lays down some general ...
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THE lady who calls herself "John Oliver Hobbes" has just given to the world the text of her extremely clever comedy, The Ambassador, presented for the first time (as everybody knows) in June last at the St. James's Theatre. It comes to us in all appropriate elegance of type, paper, and binding, with a portrait of Mr. George Alexander (disguised as "Lord St. Orbyn," but looking, nevertheless, pretty much like the Mr. George Alexander of ordinary life), and with a preface in which the authoress lays down some general propositions about the Drama. These prefaces -- these more or less critical expositions by the practitioners of the fine arts -- are always a trifle dangerous. They suggest a suspicion in the artists' mind that their work does not quite explain itself, and I think we may agree with Mr. Henry James that this "accident is happiest when it is soonest over; the shortest explanations of the products of genius are the best, and there is many a creator of living figures whose friends, however full of faith in his inspiration, will do well to pray for him when he sallies forth into the dim wilderness of theory." But though these prefaces may be dangerous, they seem to be popular just now, for I observe that artists so variously gifted as Mr. John Davidson and Mr. Henry Arthur Jones have quite lately been using the same device for the better guidance of ordinary hasty critics. In the instance before us, the "accident" -- if it be over -- has been faced with a promptness and ran through at a speed on which the friends of "John Oliver Hobbes" may well congratulate her. This is (if I mistake not) her first Comedy, and she has yet to give us her first work in the Tragic Drama, concerning which she lays down the revolutionary theory (as it must surely be called) which I have italicized above. So much for her promptness. Of the speed at which the danger has been passed need only say this: that her preface -- though full of material for thought -- scarcely extends to three pages. -- The Speaker , Vol. 18
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Good. Tanning to spine, fading to boards, general shelf wear. Cover art by Aubrey Beardsley. Pages/boards clean, NO foxing, binding sturdy. Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled.
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