It is a clouding of the
crystal--a diversion of the reader's mind from the matter to the
manner, from the author's subject to the author himself.
No, I have not the Edinburgh edition. If you think of a
presentation--but I should be the last to suggest it. Perhaps on the
whole I would prefer to have him in scattered books, rather than in
a complete set. The half is more than the whole of most authors, and
not the least of him. I am sure that his friends who reverenced his
memory had good warrant and express instructions to publish this
complete edition--very possibly it was arranged before his lamented
end. Yet, speaking generally, I would say that an author was best
served by being very carefully pruned before being exposed to the
winds of time. Let every weak twig, every immature shoot be shorn
away, and nothing but strong, sturdy, well-seasoned branches left.
So shall the whole tree stand strong for years to come. How false
an impression of the true Stevenson would our critical grandchild
acquire if he chanced to pick down any one of half a dozen of these
volumes! As we watched his hand stray down the rank, how we would
pray that it might alight upon the ones we love, on the "New Arabian
Nights" "The Ebb-tide," "The Wrecker," "Kidnapped," or "Treasure
Island." These can surely never lose their charm.
What noble books of their class are those last, "Kidnapped" and
"Treasure Island"! both, as you see, shining forth upon my lower
shelf.
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