O
Reading edition
Oakley, E. Clarence.[7] Dyke’s Corners. $1. Badger, R: G.
9–14215.
A story which records the sleuth mission of a photographer’s “magic box,” an invention which when used with the camera lays bare in the resulting photograph the true character of the people reproduced. The villain is run to cover and the heroine’s secret is read by means of it.
“It is not remarkable. The literary world would not have suffered if it had never been written, and would pass away none the less happy (or miserable) by not reading it. But it is simple, in places charming.”
− + N. Y. Times. 14: 469. Jl. 31, ’09. 90w.
Obenchain, Eliza Calvert (Eliza Calvert Hall, pseud.).[10] Land of long ago. †$1.50. Little.
9–24960.
Another instalment of short stories constructed from material in the storehouse of Aunt Jane’s memory. In this volume the entertaining narrator of Sally Anne’s experiences gives her opinions among other things on the subject of modern divorce. She says: “The partin’ of husbands and wives is one new-fangled way I can’t git used to”; and quotes a good friend as saying: “If folks’d only forsake their sins as easy as they forsake their husbands and their wives nowadays, this’d be a sanctified world.” The stories are: A ride to town; The house that was a wedding bee; The courtship of Miss Amaryllis; Aunt Jane goes a-visiting; The marriage problem in Goshen; An eye for an eye; The reformation of Sam Amos; In war times; and The watch meeting.
“Quite equal to the earlier volume.”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 90. N. ’09. ✠
“Her recollections are both pathetic and humorous.”
+ Lit. D. 39: 635. O. 16, ’09. 230w.
“Tales that are brimming over with human nature.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 626. O. 23, ’09. 200w.
“Bubbling good humor is combined in a marked degree with an appreciation of nature, and with an insight into the fundamental spiritual qualities of the average man and woman.”
+ Outlook. 93: 276. O. 2, ’09. 150w.
Ober, Frederick Albion. Sir Walter Raleigh. (Heroes of American history.) **$1. Harper.
9–4550.
A concise, graphic sketch of Raleigh’s life, including the many romantic episodes that early take root in every school child’s imagination. Raleigh, the boy, courtier, promoter of discovery and colonization, sharer in the victory of the “invincible Armada,” the victim of Elizabeth’s wrath, discoverer of Guiana, and Raleigh accused of conspiracy and imprisoned are characterized true to history.
“He is graphic, and there is every effort to be accurate.” M. J. Moses.
+ Ind. 67: 1363. D. 16, ’09. 50w.
“Writing, with his customary fullness and picturesque knowledge.”
+ Nation. 89: 539. D. 2, ’09. 20w.
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 130. Mr. 6, ’09. 650w.
Oberg, Erik. Handbook of small tools, comprising threading tools, taps, dies, cutters, drills, and reamers, together with a complete treatise on screw-thread systems. $3. Wiley.
9–565.
“The first seven chapters are devoted to screw thread systems, methods and principles of thread cutting, threading tools, threading dies, hand, taper, tapper, screw machine taps, hobs and die taps and their principles of construction. These chapters form a valuable treatise on screw threads and are by far the most useful portions of the book. Chapters 8 and 9 are devoted to plain and side milling cutters and miscellaneous cutter information. Chapter 10 deals with reamers, and chapter 11 with drills, counterbores, hollow mills and lathe mandrels.”—Engin. Rec.
“It is unquestionably the best book that has appeared on the subject of small tools.” W: W. Bird.
+ Engin. N. 61: sup. 22. F. 18, ’09. 430w.
“The text is concise and clear. The book is one that should be in the library of every machine and tool designer as well as the expert tool-maker.”
+ Engin. Rec. 59: 111. Ja. 23, ’09. 300w.
O’Brien, Richard Barry.[7] Dublin castle and the Irish people. *7s. 6d. Paul (Kegan), Trench, Truebner & co., London.
9–22289.
“A condensed historical account of English administration in Ireland, with all its machinery and personnel, not omitting the ways in which it impinges upon the feelings of Irishmen.”—Nation.
“The subject is dry, yet the laboriously compiled information is shot through with flashes of national spirit and with stories to the point.”
+ Nation. 88: 384. Ap. 15. ’09. 100w.
“Prejudiced it is, frankly, but it cannot be called unfair, for it is full of documentary details, it is free from malice and intentional misrepresentation, it abounds in authentic statistics. Naturally it is a useful book, in which the whole Irish question is set forth as clearly as possible. It will take its place on the shelves of the student of contemporary history as an invaluable book of reference. But it is a book to be read, too. It is interesting and vivacious from the very first page.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 361. Je. 12, ’09. 900w.
“The book is most skillfully constructed, alike in its statements and its omissions, to appeal to the English Liberal mind. Mr. O’Brien is careful never to define his terms: his business is not to think clearly, but to write effectively, with an eye to people who never think.”
− Sat. R. 107: 631. My. 15, ’09. 1500w.
O’Brien, Mrs. Sibyl Wilbur. Life of Mary Baker Eddy. $3. Concord pub. co.
8–24841.
A sketch which defends Mrs. Eddy against the attacks made in the account of her life published in McClure’s magazine last year.
“Many of her statements are manifestly and sweetly false, but doubtless she is unaware of this. The worth of the book consists in the simplicity of the author’s faith, and in her ability, therefore, to present Mrs. Eddy in a character suitable to the belief of her ‘students.’”
− + Ind. 66: 100. Ja. 14, ’09. 640w.
“There is little doubt that such a biography will eminently satisfy hardened Christian Scientists. That it will have any effect in converting the unbelieving, or that it satisfactorily answers the disagreeable charges brought against Mrs. Eddy as the ‘mother’ of Christian Science is seriously open to doubt.”
− + N. Y. Times. 13: 596. O. 24, ’08. 1000w.
Ogden, Henry Neely. Sewer construction. $3. Wiley.
8–29346.
“This volume is not intended to discuss sewer design, but is written to supplement an earlier work on that subject by the same author. Beginning with an interesting chapter on the manufacture of terra-cotta pipe, the author discusses at length the construction of brick and concrete sewers, manholes, catch-basins, siphons, screens, bell-mouths, foundations, house connections and other such details of sewerage 335work. Drawings and descriptions of existing structures are given, and the effectiveness of these designs in meeting actual conditions after several years’ service is discussed.”—Engin. Rec.
“There are comparatively few errors in the text. This book is written primarily for the student and the engineer confronted with these problems for the first time; but in spite of the elementary nature of much of the subject matter, it is a book which engineers who have been designing and building sewers for many years can well afford the time to read, and should have at hand for reference.” H. P. Eddy.
+ − Engin. N. 60: sup. 689. D. 17, ’08. 250w
“A book which gives an excellent and comprehensive view of current practice in the construction of sewerage systems. The chapter on screens might have been enlarged to advantage by reference to sewage screening in Germany.”
+ − Engin. Rec. 58: 595. N. 21, ’08. 320w.
“Outstanding features of the book are the large number of well-produced diagrams and drawings, illustrative of a great variety of constructional work carried out in various towns in America, and the numerous references, which the engineering student will find very useful.” E: Ardern.
+ Nature. 80: 5. Mr. 4, ’09. 130w.
O’Higgins, Harvey Jerrold.[12] Old Clinkers: a story of the New York fire department. †$1.50. Small.
9–27992.
Thru several thrilling experiences on the fire-boat Hudson, the author traces the struggle of Captain Keighley, “Old Clinkers,” the commander of the boat, to keep the crew from “playin’ politics,” a game that was threatened by the formation of a “benevolent association” known as “Jigger jumpers.” The captain’s clean stand is revealed in the following: “Here’s the firemen—the same breed as the policemen—an’ yuh never hear a word against ’em. Why? ‘Cause our work’s too hot fer a grafter—an’ too hot fer a politician—an’ too hot fer a ‘Jigger,’ unless he’s a fireman first an’ a ‘Jigger’ after.”
“The book is remarkably well done, with bits of penetrative psychology here and there, enjoyable alike for their terseness and their truth.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 768. D. 4, ’09. 260w.
Olcott, William Tyler.[11] In starland with a three-inch telescope: a conveniently arranged guide for the use of the amateur astronomer. **$1. Putnam.
9–27584.
A handbook whose convenience of arrangement is its chief claim to usefulness. The author “has found by experience that what the student most needs when he is observing with the telescope, is a page to glance at that will serve as a guide to the object he desires to view, and which affords concise data relative to that object. The diagrams therefore direct the student’s vision, and the subject matter affords the necessary information in each case.”
“A little book that will prove very convenient to the amateur astronomer, even if equipped with nothing better than a good opera-glass.”
+ Dial. 47: 340. N. 1, ’09. 50w.
“Many books have been written on the subject, but none are quite as convenient for the student’s practical needs as the one lately compiled by William Tyler Olcott. The latter part of the book ... contains many valuable hints for the observer.” Mary Proctor.
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 671. O. 30, ’09. 320w.
Old masters: one hundred examples of their work chosen from European galleries and reproduced in colour, with notes on the pictures. 2v. *$8. Dutton.
W9–250.
A hundred colored reproductions of pictures by the old masters of Holland, Flanders, Germany, Italy and England, with explanatory text.
“We have no doubt that this book will achieve the object which the publishers have in view.”
+ − Ath. 1909, 2: 368. S. 25. 850w.
“To possess these treasures is a delight, but to possess them in a setting that destroys whatever of excellence the reproduction has attained is a tragedy. Much might be said of the quality of the reproduction, but these prints do not stand on their merits; they fall by the serious error which the publisher made in mounting them on gray paper. As a matter of fact, these reproductions are not above the average either in fidelity to the originals or in intrinsic beauty.”
− + Ind. 66: 588. Mr. 18, ’09. 450w.
“Considering the good quality of the reproductions, the work is remarkably cheap.”
+ Int. Studio. 36: 338. F. ’09. 150w.
“The results as a whole have been remarkably successful and the collection is very instructive and interesting. The text is unusually adequate. The commentator has occasionally been unable to resist the temptation to gush, which has overcome so many art critics. But the pictures are the thing.”
+ − Nation. 87: 638. D. 24, ’08. 270w.
“The accompanying notes are informing and are written in a dignified style, and the truly sumptuous volumes are valuable material for the most ambitious art library.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 48. Ja. 23, ’09. 220w.
“The notes on the pictures are concise, but with considerable information of the kind which stimulates to further study in the biographies of the artists represented, and in the histories of national and international art.”
+ Outlook. 91: 335. F. 13, ’09. 120w.
Old yellow book; source of Browning’s The ring and the book in complete photoreproduction; with tr., essay, and notes by C: W. Hodell. *$7. Carnegie inst.
8–24883.
A photo-facsimile copy of the original “square old yellow book” in “crumpled vellum” from which Browning gathered material for his great poem, “The ring and the book,” and which he bequeathed to Balliol college, Oxford.
Ath. 1908, 2: 396. O. 3. 1100w.
“Mr. Hodell writes a fascinating essay of comparison between the source and the artproduct, the whole being concluded by topical notes, 541 in number, the result of much scholarly and painstaking research.” A. B. McMahon.
+ Dial. 45: 344. N. 16, ’08. 1700w.
“Unfortunately the accredited expositor has in this instance brought to his task a quite uncommon ignorance of the three languages that might have been helpful to him and his readers.” L. F. Peirce.
+ − Mod. Philol. 6: 487. Ap. ’09. 4000w.
“The plan of the work can be heartily commended. In his essay Mr. Hodell has summed up the substance of the matter with considerable skill, although not every one will go with him in his excessive admiration for Browning, or set the emphasis just as he sets it.”
+ − Nation. 88: 198. F. 25, ’09. 1350w.
“Seeing that a few blemishes, due to creases in the original book, have been removed, and that the pages have been re-numbered, it seems a pity that the present book was not properly guillotined before being issued to the public.”
+ − Nature. 79: 279. Ja. 7, ’09. 150w.
“It is quite as noteworthy mechanically as for its scholarship and the enthusiasm of its maker.”
+ + N. Y. Times. 13: 507. S. 19, ’08. 750w.
336“It would be impossible to exaggerate the great interest of this publication. The duty of reviewers obliges us to state that such parts of the translation from the Italian as we have examined—and among them the love-letters—bristle with curious, almost inexplicable, errors and defects.”
+ + − Sat. R. 107: 16. Ja. 2, ’09. 1050w.
Oldmeadow, Ernest J.[7] Antonio. **$1.30. Century.
9–19188.
A story of struggle and sacrifice in which a young monk is the heroic figure. On the day that the monasteries of Portugal were suppressed and the monks sent from them, Father Antonio makes a vow to devote his life to the restoration to power of his order. That he may earn money to buy back the monastery from the government he serves an apprenticeship to an Oporto wine merchant, becomes invaluable to his employer, and finally achieves the first step toward the success of his plan. Hand in hand with his struggle to free himself from the clutch of usurers is the strife between the man and the monk over the love of a girl.
“A strong and delicately wrought story and a picture of a modern Catholic saint fit to hang beside Carmichael’s ‘Life of John William Walshe.’”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 56. O. ’69. ✠
“The literary craftsmanship and imaginative contents of this long novel are both of a high order.”
+ Ath. 1909, 2: 8. Jl. 3. 140w.
“A work of fiction with a spiritual appeal.”
+ Atlan. 104: 686. N. ’09. 210w.
“Obviously, the story has numerous faults. Yet these objections are more than counterbalanced by the welcome fact that here is a book not written in accord with any of the popular formulas.” F: T. Cooper.
+ − Bookm. 29: 644. Ag. ’09. 470w.
“Is of fascinating interest.”
+ Cath. World. 90: 102. O. ’09. 550w.
“One of the most masterly and moving books of fiction that are often to be met with.” W: M. Payne.
+ Dial. 47: 181. S. 16, ’09. 400w.
“A striking effort of the imagination, sustained to the end.”
+ Ind. 67: 549. S. 2, ’09. 170w.
“A story touched with an unusual charm and revealing literary skill far beyond the average.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 429. Jl. 10, ’09. 520w.
“The accounts given us in this book of Antonio’s financial difficulties are rather tedious and a little confused. The end, however, if not quite convincing, is at any rate interesting.”
+ − Spec. 103: 210. Ag. 7, ’09. 150w.
Olin, Helen Remington.[10] Women of a state university: an illustration of the working of coeducation in the middle West. **$1.50. Putnam.
9–28280.
Nowhere has coeducation flourished as it has in the middle west. The author’s investigations have been pursued in the University of Wisconsin, where, during the past forty years, all of the typical middle west conditions favoring coeducation have been called into existence. The author uses Wisconsin’s history as an illustration of the higher education of women in public as opposed to private institutions, and she shows the relation of this education to public service, and its claim to public support.
“The book as a whole will command the attention of college women and educators.”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 122. D. ’09.
Oliver, Samuel Pasfield.[8] Life of Philibert Commerson; ed. by G. F. Scott Elliot. *10s. 6d. Murray, John, London.
9–29831.
The first biography of Philibert Commerson published in English. His expeditions in the interests of science are the most interesting part of the sketch. “Had Commerson lived, he would have left a name second only to that of Linnæus among the eighteenth-century naturalists, for besides his vast knowledge he had a rare insight into the interrelations of animals and plants in nature, and their dependence on, and adaptation to, local geological and physical conditions. He was too clearly an evolutionist, and with his vast knowledge and extraordinary personality might well have changed the history of biology by causing the acceptance of that idea even in the eighteenth century.” (Nature.)
“We commend this book, which sympathetically relates the incidents of his life, to all who care to read of noble, self-sacrificing work, for Commerson may be described as a martyr in the pursuit of botanical science.”
+ Ath. 1909, 2: 335. S. 18. 350w.
“Commerson was indeed a great man, and his life is ably and attractively pieced together by the late Capt. Oliver from evidently very fragmentary material. Undue stress is laid throughout on Commerson’s qualities as a collector as compared with his qualities as a great thinker.” J. S. G.
+ − Nature. 80: 430. Je. 10, ’09. 770w.
Spec. 102: sup. 642. Ap. 24, ’09. 280w.
Omar Khayyam.[10] Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; rendered into English verse by E: Fitzgerald; ed., with introd. and notes by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson. *$2.50. Macmillan.
A beautifully illustrated edition of the Rubaiyat with whose text has been included a scholarly introduction and helpful notes by the lecturer in Persian in the University of Cambridge.
+ Dial. 47: 462. D. 1, ’09. 60w.
“Is edited with a greater scholarship than the other [new editions].” W. G. Bowdoin.
+ Ind. 67: 1357. D. 16, ’09. 90w.
Nation. 89: 570. D. 9, ’09. 50w.
On the gridiron, and other stories of outdoor sport, by Jesse Lynch Williams, S. Scoville, jr., J. Conover, W. J. Henderson, and Paul Hull.[11] (Harper’s athletic ser.) †60c. Harper.
9–25182.
These sixteen stories of college and preparatory school life deal with football (under the old rules), hockey and other winter sports or amusements and show the boy in those moments which make for victory or defeat in both score and character building.
On track and diamond, by George Harvey, Van Tassel Sutphen, James M. Hallowell, J. Conover, and S. Scoville, jr. (Harper’s athletic ser.) †60c. Harper.
9–10040.
A book which gives intimate pictures of “the struggles and triumphs of baseball, the cinderpath, the river, and the tennis-court at school and college.” Its spirit is that of clean, wholesome, live sportsmanship.
“Bright stories ... full of spirit and fair play.”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 5: 192. Je. ’09.
“The yarns themselves, without being remarkable, are of the kind which a boyish reader may well find both entertaining and—moral. One suspects that the moral idea was somewhat prominent in the compiler’s mind.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 216. Ap. 10, ’09. 200w.
O’Neill, Rose Cecil (Mrs. H. L. Wilson).[8] Lady in the white veil; with il. by the author. †$1.50. Harper.
9–12877.
“A young man just landed after a long sojourn abroad stands mooning before his old 337home in Stuyvesant square. A lady in a white veil emerges from the supposedly deserted house beckons him into her carriage, and drives him off into a tangle of fun and mystery.... A lunatic, with the engaging habit of locking people in cellars and closets; a fat Uncle Dodson, who plays the violin and rather fancies himself as a Sherlock Holmes; an ingenious gamin, and a lost Titian figure in the story. It is excellent fooling, and as a mystery story which does not take itself seriously very good reading, indeed for the dog days.”—N. Y. Times.
“It must be regretfully stated that she has written a very poor book. It is quite impossible to discover why such a book should have been written at all.” G. I. Colbron.
− Bookm. 29: 641. Ag. ’09. 340w.
“We have not had a story with more illusive charm, that was more innocent, or tearfully witty, since ‘The loves of Edwy.’”
+ Ind. 67: 423. Ag. 19, ’09. 80w.
“The author has a spontaneous humor which is most diverting, and while her characters are not particularly true to any accepted theories of human nature, they are very amusing and likable.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 337. My. 29, ’09. 180w.
Oppenheim, Edward Phillips.[6] Governors. †$1.50. Little.
9–14415.
An intrepid, unconquerable magnate of finance lays a trap for four of his millionaire friends by getting them to attach their signatures to a paper which will render them parties to an illegal conspiracy. When they waken to the real import of what they have done they make a desperate attempt to steal the document. A daughter and niece of the original conspirator play neat hands in a game that turns into one of hearts.
“He fails to convince us of the reality of the atmosphere of American frenzied finance in these pages.”
+ − Ind. 67: 40. Jl. 1, ’09. 120w.
“In the interval one learns much about Americans and American affairs which will be considered new and curious even to the natives. He is a born story-teller. His characters say and do things, and there is no dullness anywhere.”
+ − N. Y. Times. 14: 379. Je. 12, ’09. 160w.
“The interest is kept at a high pitch, although the situations are not always convincing.”
+ − N. Y. Times. 14: 406. Je. 26, ’09. 170w.
Oppenheim, Edward Phillips.[10] Jeanne of the marshes. †$1.50. Little.
9–26148.
A lively tale of love and intrigue in which the hero masquerades as a Norfolk fisherman, while the heroine, young, beautiful and suffering from ennui out of all keeping with her youth, takes his measure and finds that he tallies with her idea of a man. While their affairs are shaping themselves along unconventional lines the younger brother of the masquerader is playing host to the girl’s step-mother and other Londoners among whom a conspiracy shapes itself and in which an underground passage plays an important part.
Oppenheim, Edward Phillips. Missioner. †$1.50. Little.
7–41581.
A young man who determines to devote his money and his time to philanthropic work selects for the field of his service a model English village, the possession of a young woman of social prominence. He is repulsed by her, and ordered out of the town, when suddenly she is fascinated by his manliness and earnestness. Shadows of her past life cross the path of their romance, but they are dispelled and happiness is the final portion.
“Not since Mr. Oppenheim wrote ‘A prince of sinners’ have we read so excellent a story from his pen. True, ‘The missioner’ is inferior to the earlier work, but the hero is a character much stronger and more convincing than have been most of his predecessors.” A. C. Rich.
+ Arena. 41: 605. Ag. ’09. 340w.
“Is vivacious in dialogue, and full of scenes bright and sometimes lurid.”
+ Ath. 1908, 1: 601. My. 16. 100w.
“Mr. Oppenheim’s character drawing is not very careful; but he does not leave us time to reflect on this drawback. And he deserves the praise of always inculcating morality, though the ideals of some of his good people are not always sufficiently strict in detail.”
+ − Cath. World. 88: 839. Mr. ’09. 380w.
“The story, as a whole, leaves the impression that a more leisurely handling would have resulted in better work.”
− + Nation. 88: 143. F. 11, ’09. 260w.
“Should please his old admirers and make for him new friends.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 19. Ja. 9, ’09. 230w.
Oppenheim, James.[10] Doctor Rast. $1.50. Sturgis & Walton.
9–24254.
The author’s first book of fiction. It is set in the Ghetto and portrays the influence of a young Hebrew doctor upon varying types of his people. Mr. Oppenheim seems near by kin to Israel Zangwill, not only in nationality but in ideals, sentiments and estimates of practical service.
“The author’s style is too exuberant, but his pathetic and humorous sketches are brimming over with real life.”
+ − A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 92. N. ’09. ✠
“The book is an epic of the modern doctor, the large-hearted fighter of the modern city-battle.” Graham Berry.
+ Bookm. 30: 393. D. ’09. 830w.
“The tales which make up this volume represent one of the most successful types of magazine story.”
+ Nation. 89: 461. N. 11, ’09. 300w.
“Mr. Oppenheim is well dowered with the emotionalism and the idealism of his race, and he has given them stirring expression in the character of Doctor Rast, and in the power and majestic beauty of many of his word-pictures of East Side hearts and lives.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 595. O. 9, ’09. 200w.
Orcutt, William Dana. Spell. †$1.50. Harper.
9–2773.
Florence furnishes the setting for this story whose scenes are enacted during the honeymoon of a young scholar and his “society girl” wife. The interest centers in a literary undertaking in which the husband’s collaborator is an intellectual young woman, the friend of the wife. The wife’s devotion to her husband and loyalty to her friend suffer no diminution even tho she recognizes the affinity which is creating for her friend a spell which cannot be resisted. At the point of sacrificing herself for her husband’s and her friend’s happiness she learns that the former’s love for her had never wavered, and that the friend had idealized a master-spirit that had departed at the book’s completion.
“The ‘spell’ is fairly convincing, the ending satisfactory and the intellectual atmosphere and conversation pleasing.”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 5: 92. Mr. ’09. ✠
“A pleasant story, which might find its place, not unworthily, on the shelf with other Italian stories by let us say, Richard Bagot and Marion Crawford.” F: T. Cooper.
+ Bookm. 29: 410. Je. ’09. 1400w.
“The novel is well written, and exhibits both artistic feeling and delicate analytical power; its chief fault is that it lacks sufficient substance for a novel of its length.” W: M. Payne.
+ − Dial. 46: 265. Ap. 16, ’09. 230w.
“But the fact remains that their sorrows and their joys leave us rather cold, because after all 338they are merely the joys and sorrows of some of the author’s friends and not of our own.” Philip Tillinghast.
+ − Forum. 41: 617. Je. ’09. 500w.
“It is unfortunate that the theme of this well-written story is so limited in its appeal. The descriptions, especially of the Laurentian library, are redolent of actuality, but the psychology of the principle characters is at times tangled to the point of tedium.”
− + Nation. 88: 337. Ap. 1, ’09. 230w.
“There is a great deal of conversation, and much of it is neither especially interesting in itself nor of vital importance to the story. Most of it also is so dignified in manner and so precise in expression as to lack the quality of naturalness. But an air of erudition and refinement pervades the book and gives it a distinction not often found among American novels.”
+ − N. Y. Times. 14: 88. F. 13, ’09. 460w.
No. Am. 189: 921. Je. ’09. 180w.
O’Reilly, Michael Francis (brother Potamian), and Walsh, James J.[9] Makers of electricity. *$2. Fordham univ. press.
9–22923.
A biographical history of electricity for whose preparation the controlling idea has been to provide brief yet reasonably complete sketches of the lives of the great pioneer workers in electricity. These men are: Peregrenus, and Columbus, Norman and Gilbert, Franklin, Galvani, Volta, Coulomb, Hans Christian, Oersted, André, Marie Ampère, Ohm, Faraday, Clerk Maxwell, and Lord Kelvin.
“The biographical plan which the authors have adopted enables them to combine in pleasing and harmonious form three important fields of knowledge: science, history, and religion.”
+ Cath. World. 90: 386. D. ’09. 580w.
Orr, James. Resurrection of Jesus. *$1.50. West. Meth. bk.
9–7108.
A restatement of the grounds of belief in the fact of the resurrection made in view of the “changed form of assault on this article of Christian faith in recent years.” The chapters discuss the present state of the question as compared with the past, the nature of the resurrection as miracle, the gospel narratives and critical solvents; the credibility of the witness—the burial, the Easter message, and the post-resurrection; the significance of the appearances—the risen body; the apostolic church—visional and apparitional theories; neo-Babylonian theories—Jewish and apocryphal ideas; and doctrinal bearings on the resurrection.
“We have sometimes found ourselves differing seriously in opinion from Professor Orr. But with the thesis that is set forth in the volume before us we are in entire agreement.”
+ − Spec. 101: 550. O. 10, ’08. 340w.
Orrock, John Wilson.[8] Railroad structures and estimates. *$3. Wiley.
9–11747.
Covers briefly the estimates pertaining to the general subjects that enter into the practice of the average railroad engineer. “There is given a summarized description of numerous railway structures, with the information as to costs, weights and quantities of material, etc., and in some cases particulars as to the items and unit prices upon which the costs are based. In many cases a lump sum is given for total cost; in others, there is a cost per unit (per square foot for buildings, or per lineal foot for trestles of varying heights, etc.).” (Engin. N.)
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 47. O. ’09.
“A large part of the contents deals with subjects of direct interest to engineers of all branches, architects, and contractors, and the work will prove as valuable to them as it will to the particular class for which it has been primarily prepared.”
+ Engin. D. 5: 665. Je. ’09. 200w.
“The book relates largely to Canadian practice (and presumably Canadian prices). The book is a very useful one (in spite of its weak point in the omission of matter on estimating), but the user should thoroughly appreciate the necessary limitations of any book dealing with the ‘uncertain quantity’ of prices and costs.”
+ − Engin. N. 62: sup. 6. Jl. 15, ’09. 820w.
“The book is a timely one, of value not only to the young engineer, but to the older practitioner. This work is, therefore, a pioneer in this line and should be in the hands of anyone interested or engaged in railroad construction.”
+ Engin. Rec. 60: 167. Ag. 7, ’09. 440w.
“A book of this sort then should find its best value in suggesting methods of cost estimation, and in analyzing the constituent parts of costs. This book is somewhat uneven from this standpoint, some chapters having the elements of cost well classified, while others are very general, as in the costs of tunnels where a short table of costs per lineal foot is quoted from Drinker’s rather ancient treatise. The criticism applies perhaps to the difficulty of the subject rather than to inferiority of treatment.” C. F. Allen.
+ − Science, n.s. 30: 411. S. 24, ’09. 500w.
Osborn, Chase Salmon.[6] Andean land (South America). **$5. McClurg.
9–14200.
Two volumes based upon widely sought information which tells in simple manner “some things of South America and the people that vitalize its thirteen countries and that give routes of travel and such suggestions as the author found valuable in travelling in South America from Panama to Patagonia and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.” The work is fully illustrated.
“The book is encumbered with guide-book statistics and, on account of recent progress, the travel information is somewhat out of date, but the remarks on South American trade are worthy of especial note.”
+ − A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 47. O. ’09.
“They are decidedly not up to the standard of recent books on South America, being neither so entertaining as Ruhl’s ‘Other Americans,’ so informing as Martin’s ‘Five republics,’ or so accurate as Keane’s ‘South America.’ As an aid to travellers, however, the work is of doubtful value. Mr. Osborn’s remarks on our trade with South America are important and deserve to be widely read.”
− + Nation. 89: 104. Jl. 29, ’09. 400w.
“When he gets down to the subject proper of his book Mr. Osborn skips from one topic to another with such abruptness and frequency that one is tempted to suspect that his volumes are almost a literal transcription of his notes.” Forbes Lindsay.
− N. Y. Times. 14: 479. Ag. 7, ’09. 650w.
“He has written a work intended for the general reader, for the tourist, and for the business man, who wishes to understand the South American markets.”
+ − Outlook. 93: 8. S. 4, ’09. 500w.
+ − R. of Rs. 67: 201. Jl. 22, ’09. 160w.
Osborne, William Hamilton. Red mouse. †$1.50. Dodd.
9–559.
This story which starts out to be a melodramatic tangle of intrigue ending in murder develops into a story of the “plots and counter-plots of New York practical politics.” A district attorney engages “in a determined effort to close up a huge gilded gambling house that is protected by a powerful ward boss. The incidents of the story dealing with this struggle 339furnish a graphic picture of the way in which law, politics, and personal interests sometimes get tangled up in New York.” (N. Y. Times.)
“One of the easiest books to riddle with criticism. But it is not nearly so easy to lay it aside unfinished if one has once given it a fair chance to grip the interest, for it is a real story and the work of a man who possesses the real knack of telling a story.” Rupert Ranney.
+ − Bookm. 28: 598. F. ’09. 840w.
“The general verdict will doubtless be that it does not contain a dull page and, regarded merely as a means of recreation, fulfils its mission to the letter.”
+ Lit. D. 38: 390. Mr. 6, ’09. 210w.
“The conventionality of the characters alone would not much matter, since the story has a good deal of life, but the conventionality of the point of view is tiresome.”
− Nation. 88: 256. Mr. 11, ’09. 200w.
“Although it deals with matters of sensational character, the author has handled them with a restraint and a sense of artistic values that put the story above the average of current novels. [The political part] of the novel is very well done, indeed, compact, cleverly knit together, vivid, convincing. The love story is not so well handled, for the author has not succeeded in making either the prosecutor or his lady love attractive.”
+ − N. Y. Times. 14: 32. Ja. 16, ’09. 270w.
Osbourne, Lloyd. Infatuation. (Eng. title: Harm’s way.) †$1.50. Bobbs.
9–7335.
An impressionable young daughter of a railroad president returns to New York after a season in Washington with a belt full of scalps, not in the least daunted to number among them the scion of an old Washington family and a baron. She discovers her real idol on a cheap theater stage, becomes infatuated, runs away with him, marries him and thru her wit, loyalty, common sense and courage arouses the manliness in him; develops him out of the common into the sphere of higher art, and brings about a reconciliation with an infuriated father.
“Looked at as a study of the actor’s life, with all its weaknesses of character, trials, troubles, bohemianism, and grubbiness, the novel must be pronounced successful.”
+ − Ath. 1909, 2: 91. Jl. 24. 130w.
“It is unfortunate that a book with many good qualities should be marred as this is by more than a suspicion of vulgarity, and by something less than the strictest artistic probity. Here he had a subject worthy of his best efforts, and he has shirked the hard work of following it through honestly to the end.” Ward Clark.
+ − Bookm. 29: 406. Je. ’09. 950w.
“The story is not remarkable. It is what the story means that is worth while. In all probability he has hit upon the real explanation of why more bad men are not reclaimed in marriage and why so many good ones turn bad in it.”
+ Ind. 66: 761. Ap. 8, ’09. 700w.
“Mr. Osbourne’s assumptions are false, his presentation of the facts of life is false, and his conclusions the falsest of all the whole misrepresenting tale.”
− + N. Y. Times. 14: 150. Mr. 13, ’09. 300w.
“Phyllis Ladd is really two persons in Mr. Osbourne’s literary hands and neither person is very convincing. Occasionally it would seem that the author has tried to sail nearer to the ‘shores of impurity’ than was very necessary or artistic.”
− + R. of Rs. 40: 124. Jl. ’09. 100w.
“Mr. Osborne has a bright and easy way of writing, a facility in the rendering of dialogue and a knack of individualising his people, and these keep us entertained, though we should prefer to have them exercised over a less well-worn theme.”
+ − Sat. R. 108: 233. Ag. 21, ’09. 230w.
Osgood, Irene. Servitude.[5] †$1.50. Estes.
8–20137.
“A wildly imaginative historical novel, in which the author presents her conception of the slavery to which Christians were subjected in Algiers in the early years of the nineteenth century. It deals chiefly with the Captain of the brig Stella Marina, which, while proceeding from Leghorn to Barcelona in the spring of 1815, is captured by a Barbary pirate, and with an American girl, who, at the time the Captain begins his servitude, is residing temporarily in Algiers in the house of the British consul.”—N. Y. Times.
“The author fails to produce a real human character or characteristic.”
− Ath. 1908, 2: 122. Ag. 1. 200w.
“Even a sensitive reader who would shudderingly put this book aside, half read, must feel that Irene Osgood is an author whose future work is to be watched with interest.” F: T. Cooper.
+ − Bookm. 29: 401. Je. ’09. 420w.
“Reads as if it had been written during her senior year at a young lady’s seminary.”
− Ind. 66: 1344. Je. 17, ’09. 70w.
“Whoever takes the story seriously will become greatly excited as he reads of the adventures and hardships the Captain and the beautiful American undergo; those who do not take the story seriously will get their money’s worth out of it in the form of amusement with its weird plot, its bizarre characters, its uncanny situations, and other outputs of the author’s untrained and untrammeled fantasy.”
+ − N. Y. Times. 14: 297. My. 8, ’09. 130w.
O’Shea, Michael Vincent.[12] Social development and education. *$2. Houghton.
9–26315.
“The object of the present work is to reconcile these two methods [the Rousseau method of unrepressed development of individuality and the Locke method of parental authority] so as to produce the best result. The child is to be trained and restrained but not stunted or tyrannized over. Professor O’Shea divides his work into two parts in the first of which we find a profound and detailed analysis of ordinary child nature, with its inherent passions and predilections, good and bad. In the second, part of the treatise the education of the child is taken up from a national, social, and educational standpoint.”—Lit. D.
“A valuable study of child nature which should appeal to all those charged with the care and culture of young people.”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 6: 123. D. ’09.
+ Lit. D. 39: 636. O. 16, ’09. 400w.
“Among those who would be interested in such a book as Professor O’Shea’s there are many who are specially interested in the training of children in school.”
+ Outlook. 93: 878. D. 18, ’09. 290w.
Ostrom, Henry. Crisis in church work. *50c. West. Meth. bk.
8–29366.
“The nature of the crisis and its contributing causes are discussed in this book, and an attempt is made to discover the ‘lost key’ to successful church work. The discovery is ‘Evangelism.’ Revivalism receives considerable attention, and its relations to organization and inspiration are set forth. A chapter is given to the Experimental religion. The viewpoint of the book is religious not social.”—Ann. Am. Acad.
“The author has missed a splendid opportunity to analyze more comprehensively the crisis in the church through his failure to consider that want of confidence which depends upon the social lethargy of the church. A more adequate presentation of the subject is greatly to be desired.”
− Ann. Am. Acad. 33: 462. Mr. ’09. 100w.
340Ostwald, Wilhelm.[11] Fundamental principles of chemistry: an introduction to all text-books of chemistry. *$2.25. Longmans.
9–15888.
“An attempt to set down in exact and formal, but as far as possible, non-technical, language those fundamental laws or principles which are manifested in chemical phenomena, as they are at present known; according to its subtitle it is an Introduction to all text-books of chemistry; it is especially a guide to the teacher, but it is equally useful to all who wish to acquire a philosophical knowledge of the subject. It presupposes but a little knowledge.... The subjects are treated in a severely logical manner; definitions are given first, and the terms thus defined are always used with rigid adherence to these meanings.”—Engin. N.
“It will serve only for those already possessing a wide knowledge of physics, and a good deal of chemistry.”
+ Ath. 1909, 2: 561. N. 6. 530w.
“It is clear and attractive in style, and is well adapted to clear the mind of many vague and indefinite notions. The book is to be commended to all who wish a fundamental knowledge of chemical principles, and will prove a permanent aid to the right interpretation of many chemical and physical phenomena.” A. H. Sabin.
+ Engin. N. 62: sup. 34. O. 14, ’09. 1450w.
“It is a very remarkable work, full of suggestions and inspiration. The book is a guide for the teacher or advanced student rather than an introduction for beginners. But, in its way, it is a masterly work.”
+ Engin. Rec. 60: 672. D. 11, ’09. 330w.
“It is one of the most satisfying of all the writings of this prolific author in the field of physico-chemical science. Every candidate for the doctorate would profit by its reading. Every modern teacher will recognize its value and see that a copy is in his library.”
+ Nation. 89: 364. O. 14, ’09. 160w.
Oswell, George Devereux. Sketches of rulers of India. 4v. ea. *70c. Oxford.
9–12402.
“These biographical essays are studies in the military and administrative history of India from Clive to Mayo. As is said in the prefaces, they are based on well known larger biographies, many of which are included in the ‘Rulers of India’ series.” (Am. Hist. R.) In the first volume are included sketches of the principal figures of the Mutiny era: Dalhousie, Canning, the Lawrences, Clyde, Strathnairn, Mayo, Nicholson, and Havelock. The second volume treats of “The Company’s governors” from Clive and Hastings to Colvin. The third deals with the period 1786–1856, during which India was freed from the anarchy which had prevailed for centuries thru the raids of wars between the states. The fourth treats of famous Indian incidents from the reign of the Buddhist monk and emperor, Asoka, to the Sikh ruler, Ranjit Singh.
“Mr. Oswell’s work will have small value for the investigator or for any well-informed reader of Indian history. It may be questioned whether Forrest’s investigations have been utilized by the author. Such comments, however, should not obscure the real value of these volumes, which is considerable. They are excellent studies in hero-worship for the boy who has or ought to have an interest in the history of the British empire; and teachers of modern history will gladly add these books to their lists of collateral reading for undergraduate classes. Taken as a whole there is a lack of discrimination in the estimates made; but the author’s point of view is clear. He writes for the most part as the enthusiastic defender of the group of brilliant men whom he has selected.”
+ − Am. Hist. R. 14: 607. Ap. ’09. 500w. (Review of v. 1 and 2.)
“A wise choice of interesting incidents and anecdotes gives a vivid personality to the subjects of the various sketches. Considering the educational aim of the work it is strange that none of the volumes contains maps or indexes.”
+ − Nation. 88: 195. F. 25. ’09. 600w. (Review of v. 1–4.)
“Some of these names mean but little to the average reader. This is all the more reason why books of this kind are welcome.”
+ Spec. 101: 951. D. 5, ’08. 150w. (Review of v. 1 and 2.)
Otis, Alexander.[5] Hearts are trumps: a novel of love and laughter. $1.50. McBride, J:
9–10042.
A rollicking comedy which has its beginning in a New York newspaper man’s swapping identities with a clergyman. An exchange of berths results in Basil Plympton’s sleepily donning the clergyman’s clothes and being hurried out into the night at the wrong destination, conducted to a country home in the Berkshires and precipitated into a remarkable series of happenings involving a sermon and the marriage of the daughter of the house to a scoundrelly actor. He himself, hero and defender, falls in love with the girl, weds her, then finds himself in the unique position of performing a mock ceremony between his wife and the actor whose rascality he later exposes. Humorous incident abounds with no end of surprises and complications.
“A pleasant comedy of errors.”
+ Ind. 66: 1344. Je. 17, ’09. 160w.
“Is very lightweight reading. The situations arising from these conditions are as artificial and story-bookish as the conditions themselves.”
− N. Y. Times. 14: 293. My. 8, ’09. 160w.
N. Y. Times. 14: 377. Je. 12, ’09. 200w.
Otis, Edward Osgood.[9] Great white plague, tuberculosis. **$1. Crowell.
9–24474.
A practical, popular consideration of tuberculosis intended mainly for the enlightenment of the layman. It presents in untechnical language the important aspects of the plague in the light of present-day knowledge. The author gives its causes and results; tells what action is being taken to stamp it out; shows what part the individual may take in the crusade against it; and gives the patient specific directions for eating, sleeping, breathing, and daily habits and exercise.
“It would have been more effective in some places if it had illustrations, and the economic basis for the conflict with disease might have been more fully treated. But on the whole it is an excellent book for the purpose.” C. R. Henderson.
+ − Am. J. Soc. 15: 420. N. ’09. 80w.
Ind. 67: 1207. N. 25, ’09. 150w.
+ − R. of Rs. 40: 638. N. ’09. 150w.
“To present a summary of the world’s knowledge of tuberculosis in such delightful form is no easy task. To write a summary so concisely and intelligently and so clearly that even a school child can read and understand is a more most difficult task. For the performance of this most difficult task Dr. Otis is to be highly congratulated.” L. R. Williams.
+ Survey. 23: 247. N. 20, ’09. 1300w.
Otis, William Bradley.[7] American verse, 1625–1807: a history. **$1.75. Moffat.
9–7329.
“Includes all important American verse from the ‘Nova Anglia’ of William Morrell, in 1625, to the publication of the ‘Columbiad,’ in 1807.... Dr. Otis has grouped the verse of this period under five main chapter headings—Historical verse, Religious verse, Political and satirical verse, Imaginative verse, and Translations. The chapter on Political and satirical verse is subdivided into Political satire, Social 341and personal satire, and Patriotic verse, while the chapter on Imaginative verse is treated as Narrative, Pastoral, and Descriptive, and as Moral and Didactic.”—N. Y. Times.
“Valuable for special students for its bibliographic data but not recommended for the average public library because of its limited scope and the several works already in use that are more popular and cover a larger field.”
+ − A. L. A. Bkl. 5: 177. Je. ’09.
+ Ann. Am. Acad. 34: 187. Jl. ’09. 180w.
+ Dial. 47: 52. Jl. 16, ’09. 60w.
“Dr. Otis, in his history, has given the first thorough study of seventeenth and eighteenth century American verse. That which makes the book of special value is the fact that it is not an anthology, but is an interpretative study, through the literature of the time of political, religious, and social conditions.”
+ N. Y. Times. 14: 143. Mr. 13, ’09. 750w.
“A valuable study of early literary conditions.”
+ Outlook. 92: 422. Je. 19, ’09. 120w.
Owen, Frank Allen.[8] Dyeing and cleaning of textile fabrics: a handbook for the amateur and the professional; based partly on notes by H. C. Standage. $2. Wiley.
9–5485.
A useful handbook containing recipes for numerous processes that may be attended to in the home including dyeing, bleaching, cleaning and renovating.
“Clear, well arranged and provided with a good, full index.”
+ A. L. A. Bkl. 5: 178. Je. ’09.
“It is a matter for regret that the book should have been published in its present form. It contains many trustworthy and useful recipes for the removal of stains, the cleaning of gloves, etc., but these are associated with so much useless and even misleading matter that their value is greatly discounted.” W. M. Gardner.
− + Nature. 81: 5. Jl. 1, ’09. 200w.
Ozaki, Yei Theodora.[12] Warriors of old Japan, and other stories. **$1.25. Houghton.
9–29630.
Who shall say how much in these tales Madame Ozaki, wife of the Mayor of Tokio owes to her English education, how much to her Japanese story-telling gift and how much to the fascination of Japanese folk-lore, legendary history, fairy tales and myths? All, however, become assets in these stories of valor, conquest, loyalty and faith which are told with simple directness of narrative peculiar to Japanese tales.
“They appeal to children and to the student of folk-lore alike.”
+ Lit. D. 39: 1078. D. 11, ’09. 120w.