Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1917 Books (continued 26)
Reading edition
Cath World 104:839 Mr ‘17 250w
Cleveland p37 Mr ‘17
Pittsburgh 22:135 F ‘17
Spec 118:568 My 19 ‘17 160w
LEAMY, EDMUND STANISLAUS. My ship, and other verses. *$1 Lane 811 17-30423
Many of the poems in this book were inspired by travel in far countries. The author is the son of an Irish patriot, and Katharine Tynan in her foreword says of him: “His father’s adventure was the one upon which so many have embarked, will embark—the great adventure for the Dark Rosaleen. The son’s adventure carries him over oceans and continents, but he has always the faithful, the untravelled heart that belongs by right to his father’s son.”
“Full of the spirit of youth and glowing with adventure.”
+ Lit D 55:62 D 8 ‘17 350w
“Mr Leamy sings sweetly his unaffected songs of gentle and kindly sentiment, old memories, wandering and the home-spirit, seen tenderly through mellowing mists of revery and dream.” M. T.
+ New Repub 13:353 Ja 19 ‘18 30w
“A collection of verse that seeks to translate the emotions aroused in the American by America herself.”
+ N Y Times 23:33 Ja 27 ‘18 350w
LE BAS, SIR HEDLEY FRANCIS, ed. Lord Kitchener memorial book. il *$2.50 Doran (*3s 6d Hodder and Stoughton, London) (Eng ed 17-12259)
This record of Lord Kitchener’s life is largely pictorial, altho tributes by men who were his friends and associates are included, also a complete record of his own speeches made during the progress of the war. The profits from the sale of the book go to the Lord Kitchener national memorial fund, which is devoted to the relief of disabled soldiers.
+ Boston Transcript p7 Ap 21 ‘17 450w
“This is not a biography, and yet in speech and picture it records the life of Kitchener from his boyhood until as field marshal his life ended.”
+ Lit D 55:37 S 15 ‘17 300w
“The volume’s first value is pictorial. The second value is personal.”
+ Outlook 116:75 My 9 ‘17 190w
R of Rs 55:666 Je ‘17 110w
+ Spec 118:241 F 24 ‘17 150w
LE BLANC, MAURICE. Golden triangle; the return of Arsène Lupin. il *$1.35 (1½c) Macaulay co. 17-2342
It is April, 1915, and Paris has her share of maimed soldiers. She also has still in her midst spies and plotters. It is around the efforts of one of these soldiers, Captain Patrice Belval, to free the woman he loves from the fate that threatens her that this story turns. But the plot is too intricate for the honest, impulsive captain to unravel. For “Little Mother Coralie” of the hospital wards is wife to the scoundrel financier, Essarès Bey, a Turk passing as an Egyptian and a naturalized Frenchman. The wealth of France is at stake. Therefore Arsène Lupin, under an assumed name, again appears upon the scene, and under his marvellous skill, the tangled web is made straight.
A L A Bkl 14:97 D ‘17
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
Bookm 46:347 N ‘17 40w
Boston Transcript p10 N 24 ‘17 270w
“The entire atmosphere is always tense, but so confused at times that there is difficulty in determining just what is what and who is who. ... The characters of the story are well done.”
+ — N Y Times 22:367 S 30 ‘17 320w
“One flaw in the story I must point out. It contains too much crime. Does Le Blanc confuse us connoisseurs with drunkards of crime who must have their dose increased in size with each chapter?” M. A. Hopkins
+ — Pub W 92:806 S 15 ‘17 450w
“It must be acknowledged that the book is more entertaining before Arsène Lupin appears like a god out of the machine to smooth all difficulties in almost too easy a manner.”
Spec 119:221 S 1 ‘17 40w
+ Springf’d Republican p15 S 30 ‘17 120w
LE BON, GUSTAVE. Psychology of the great war; tr. by E. Andrews. *$3 Macmillan 940.91 (Eng ed 16-23099)
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“Only for libraries making a very complete collection of war material.”
A L A Bkl 13:307 Ap ‘17
“The reader will find M. Le Bon’s argument saturated with loyalty, but not blindly; he will find running through it a sanity of comprehension that may lead to irrelevance but not to injustice; and he will observe a sincere objective intent. ... In view of the peculiarly meagre contributions that in any way illuminate the psychology of the war, and equally of the fact that so many writers admit and emphasize that the psychological causes are the significant ones, the essay of M. Le Bon attains an importance which his reputation presages and his performance confirms.” Joseph Jastrow
* + Dial 62:182 Mr 8 ‘17 1700w
“The title of this book does not convey a correct idea of its scope. It would probably be impossible for any living man to write a scientific psychology of the war, partly because psychology is not at present provided with the necessary principles and methods and partly because sufficient data are not yet available. ... This must not be taken to imply that the book is not valuable. It would be valuable if it were only as a collection of excerpts from newspapers, interviews, letters, and state papers. But it is more than this; it is an informing and stimulating book. I mean only that it is not what the author seemingly intends it to be, namely, an explanation of the war in terms of 330psychological laws. The author adds nothing in the present book to what he has already said on the collective mind.” R. B. Perry
+ — J Philos 14:527 S 13 ‘17 1400w
“What Gustave Le Bon writes is always worth reading. No man living knows more about the facts of social psychology, or builds more plausible hypotheses when facts are wanting. ... If the author could have written with scientific impartiality, he would have produced the most important rational work on the war that has yet appeared. Scientific impartiality, however, is not to be expected from a patriot whose country is agonizing under invasion. ... The scientific value of the first third of the book is sadly impaired by mystical contamination of rational conceptions.” A. S. J.
+ — New Repub 10:52 F 10 ‘17 1450w
N Y Br Lib News 4:7 Ja ‘17
LEDOUX, LOUIS VERNON. George Edward Woodberry: a study of his poetry. (Contemporary American poet ser.) $1 Poetry review co., 12 Chauncy st., Cambridge, Mass. 811 17-18966
“An interesting biographical essay on this great modern New Englander, on the influences that have governed him and made his poetry what it is, thoughtful, philosophical, cultivated and also very acutely felt. The book includes a good bibliography of all of Mr Woodberry’s writings.” (Ind) Mr Ledoux is vice-president of a firm of mining engineers and has published several volumes of poetry.
Ath p469 S ‘17 30w
+ Ind 90:553 Ja 23 ‘17 70w
+ Lit D 54:1787 Je 9 ‘17 620w
+ R of Rs 55:660 Je ‘17 40w
LEDWIDGE, FRANCIS. Songs of peace. *3s 6d Jenkins, London 821
“Last July there fell, fighting for world freedom in the ranks of the Royal Inniskilling fusiliers, the Irish poet who more than any other of recent years has won for himself a unique place in Irish (and incidentally English) letters. ... His work was introduced to the world by Lord Dunsany, who wrote the foreword to ‘Songs of the fields,’ a friendly office which he has again performed for ‘Songs of peace,’ Ledwidge’s last book. ... The poems in the new volume are more self-revelatory than those of ‘Songs of the fields.’ ... The influence of outward events is shown, not only in the tone of the poems, but in the names of the sections into which the slender volume is divided—At home, In barracks, In camp, At sea, In Serbia, In Greece, In hospital in Egypt. Despite stirring times and deeds, the poet’s thoughts turn constantly to Ireland, and his song is most often of her. For this reason Lord Dunsany names the new volume ‘Songs of peace,’ ‘in spite of the circumstances under which they were written.’”—Boston Transcript
+ Ath p593 D ‘16 60w
“Ledwidge is before all else the poet of Irish landscape. ... Not only does he give the physical appearance of Ireland, but the true inwardness of her landscape—the color, the scent, and the sound of his beloved land, that the Gael may feel a catch in his breath as he reads, and find his brain flooded with many memories. ... As a poet of nature, Ledwidge has imaginative power linking him with the great poets of the past. ... Yet he is in no sense imitative, he belongs to his own day and has a personality of his own.” N. J. O’C.
+ Boston Transcript p6 O 3 ‘17 1200w
+ Pratt p34 O ‘17 30w
“This is Mr Ledwidge’s second book, and it shows happily, if anyone doubted it, that his gifts and endowments are of the lasting order. He is a genuine poet; he raises common things above their commonness; he has the vision which perceives and makes beauty.”
+ Sat R 123:162 F 17 ‘17 520w
“Last week brought the news that the author of these ‘Songs of peace’ has been killed. ... No one can say what he would have been if he had lived. One cannot be confident about the promise of the queer tender beauty in these poems. ... But of the beauties there can be no doubt.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p391 Ag 16 ‘17 1050w
LEE, JAMES MELVIN.[2] History of American journalism. il *$3.50 Houghton 071 18-292
A comprehensive and authoritative history of American journalism prepared by the head of the New York university school of journalism. The text which runs through the following chapters is illustrated with reproductions of famous papers and cartoons: Precursors of American newspapers; The first American newspaper—the Boston News-Letter; Beginnings in colonies; Colonial period, 1704-1765; Revolutionary period, 1765-1783; Period of early republic, 1783-1812; First dailies and early party organs; Party press period, 1812-1832; Beginnings in states, 1783-1832; Beginnings of the penny press; Transition period, 1832-1841; Beginnings in states and territories, 1833-1873; Mexican war to Civil war period, 1846-1860; Civil war period, 1860-1865; Reconstruction period, 1865-1880; Period of financial readjustment, 1880-1900; Period of social readjustment, 1900-; Journalism of to-day.
“Unfortunately, Mr Lee thinks it necessary to belittle the work of his predecessor. Were Mr Lee’s own work absolutely flawless, this harsh judgment upon the work of his fellow journalist might be pardonable, but under the circumstances it seems peculiarly unnecessary and inconsiderate. The vast amount of information gathered by Mr Lee makes his volume undeniably of great value as a storehouse of facts. But as a history it contains many defects of arrangement and style. Its index is so incomplete as to be absolutely worthless.” E. F. E.
– + Boston Transcript p6 Ja 2 ‘18 1150w
“He has performed his task con amore, as his comprehensive work attests.”
+ Lit D 56:44 F 9 ‘18 370w
“A book of prime importance to all newspaper men who take an intelligent interest in their profession, of decided interest to the general reader on account of its lively style, and of real value to the student of American life because of its comprehensiveness and its presentation of the ethics as well as the annals of its subject.”
+ Outlook 118:66 Ja 9 ‘18 60w
LEE, JENNETTE BARBOUR (PERRY) (MRS GERALD STANLEY LEE). Green jacket. *$1.35 (2½c) Scribner 17-24273
This is an unusual kind of detective story. Millicent Newberry, a small woman with gray eyes and hair, who dresses in gray, and whom anyone passing in a crowd would not have noticed particularly, tired of detective work as done in Tom Corbin’s detective agency, because she came to see that “It isn’t commonsense to go on catching folks and locking them up forever, or for a little while—and then letting them run loose.” So she set up an agency of her own and took no cases except with a signed agreement that she should say what should be done with the criminal she caught. Milly solved the mystery of the Mason emeralds which had for two years baffled other detectives. It was her custom to knit when on a case, and the book takes its title from the green jacket she was knitting while she pondered on the mysterious disappearance of the emeralds.
A L A Bkl 14:97 D ‘17
“This story of Millicent Newberry is largely a thing of atmosphere, for it is the subtler realm of atmosphere that Mrs Lee finds the surest way to make her heroine real to us.”
+ — Boston Transcript p2 D 15 ‘17 1150w
Cleveland p128 N ‘17 60w
“Altho the author leads the reader to expect miraculous sleuth work on the part of Millie Newberry, one is sadly disappointed. The story 331is rather well constructed but there is not sufficient suspense to hold the interest.”
– + Ind 92:604 D 29 ‘17 60w
+ New Repub 13:sup14 N 17 ‘17 90w
+ N Y Times 22:367 S 30 ‘17 300w
LEE, ROGER IRVING. Health and disease; their determining factors. *$1.75 (1½c) Little 613 17-8216
The author is professor of hygiene at Harvard university and this book on preventive medicine is the outgrowth of lectures delivered to his classes. It is intended for the layman, whose duty it is to cooperate intelligently with health authorities in the prevention and control of disease. Dr Lee’s purpose is to give him a summary of the knowledge that has been gained by medical science, not omitting to point out the things that science has not yet learned and the fields that are still to be explored. There are chapters on: Heredity; Food; Air; The skin; Exercise and work; Light and the eyes; The hygiene of the teeth and the upper air passages; The hygiene of the mind and the nervous system; The communicable diseases; The air-borne diseases, etc. There is also a discussion of Occupational diseases and a chapter on The function of the board of health.
+ A L A Bkl 14:46 N ‘17
“Concise and easily readable. ... The volume constitutes a summary knowledge gained from scientific medicine in recent years, but there is an utter absence of technical matter so unwelcome to the layman.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Jl 3 ‘17 370w
+ Cleveland p110 S ‘17 20w
“There is nothing in the nature of ‘every-man-his-own-physician’ about this book. On the contrary, the reader of books like this will be very likely to learn when to send for the physician. ... There is a good index and the book is well printed.”
+ Ind 90:515 Je 16 ‘17 200w
“Now, as never before, such a work may helpfully serve employers who would understand the wisdom and gain of solving the health problems of their employees. It may even assist medical practitioners who would like a summary of preventive remedies.”
+ Lit D 55:33 Jl 14 ‘17 370w
+ R of Rs 55:556 My ‘17 90w
“It is a misfortune to use this phrase [’The air-borne diseases’] in any sense. ... Specially to be commended are the chapters on Alcohol, tobacco and the habit-forming drugs and on the Venereal diseases and sex-hygiene. ... It is to be most cordially recommended to the lay reader and might find a useful place as a text in a general elementary college course in hygiene and sanitation, and should certainly be on the desk of every teacher of biology and hygiene.” C. M. Hilliard
+ Science n s 45:463 My 11 ‘17 350w
“Sane, comprehensive, interesting and up-to-the-minute. One feels that, at last, the subject is set upright, solid, and on its feet.” G. S.
+ Survey 39:171 N 17 ‘17 200w
LEFEVRE, EDWIN. To the last penny. il *$1.35 (2c) Harper 17-10667
Tommy Leigh, newly graduated from college, is faced with the necessity of earning a living. Having grown up in the belief that his father is a rich man, the discovery that he must fend for himself comes as a shock. The severity of the blow, however, grows out of the suspicion that his father is not an honest man, that he has taken advantage of his position as a trusted bank employee to appropriate the funds that paid for his son’s education. Tommy’s first job takes him out to Dayton, Ohio, where he enters the employ of the Tecumseh Motor Company. The chief interest of the story is centered in Thompson, the head of this company and his business methods. At the end there is an adjustment between Tommy and his father and an explanation of the father’s motives.
“A good clean story. ... Appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:450 Jl ‘17
“A mechanical piece of work.” H. W. Boynton
– + Bookm 46:341 N ‘17 40w
“The story has already appeared serially in one of the well-known weeklies and will be a welcome addition to the summer library of novels. ... It is a book to help one as well as to amuse him.”
+ Lit D 54:1857 Je 16 ‘17 220w
“Entertaining, and exceptionally ingenious.”
+ N Y Times 22:134 Ap 15 ‘17 400w
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 29 ‘17 270w
LEGGE, THOMAS MORISON, and others. Origin, symptoms, pathology, treatment and prophylaxis of toxic jaundice observed in munition workers. *$2.50 Longmans 615.9
“Since the war a new occupational disease has been listed in the British factory inspection reports and has been added to those for which compensation can be claimed under the law. This is toxic jaundice, a form of poisoning caused by contact with the explosive trinitrotoluol, or triton, or TNT, to give it all its names. ... In 1916 there were reported in Great Britain 181 cases of toxic jaundice—the severe form of TNT poisoning—with 52 deaths. Milder forms need not be certified, but they are said to number about 30 times as many (some 5,400). ... As our output of munitions increases, TNT poisoning will inevitably increase unless we adopt the means of prevention worked out in England. This book is a mine of interesting information concerning this new and important industrial disease.”—Survey
“While much of it is very technical and of value only to physicians, there is a great deal for the lay inspector or welfare worker.” Alice Hamilton
+ Survey 38:533 S 15 ‘17 350w
LE GRAND, PHILIPPE E. New Greek comedy; with an introd. by J: Williams White. *$4.50 Putnam 882 17-21776
“Professor Legrand’s ‘Daos, tableau de la comédie grecque pendant la période dite nouvelle’ appeared in 1910 and immediately commanded the favorable consideration of classical scholars. Now Mr James Loeb, who had already translated Decharme’s ‘Euripides and the spirit of his dramas’ (1905) and Croiset’s ‘Aristophanes and the political parties of Athens’ (1909), has put us still further in his debt by providing an English version of Legrand as the concluding member of a trilogy of French works dealing with the history of ancient drama. ... With the idea of securing the attention of a wider public, not a little which would be of interest primarily to specialists has been omitted in the present edition. The translator’s preface states that the selection of passages for omission was made by the French author and that the bulk has thus been reduced by almost one-third.”—Class J
“Between the author and the translator every effort has been made to recommend this book to the general reader without taking away any part of its accuracy or its importance to the scholastic world.” D. L. M.
+ Boston Transcript p7 Jl 11 ‘17 900w
“One would be greatly mistaken if he concluded that the present version were rendered altogether suitable for the general reader, for Greek and Latin words, phrases, and sentences are left standing in the text with such frequency as to present a serious obstacle to all but the classically trained. ... It would have added considerably to the value of the book if the author or translator could have brought the bibliographical references quite up to date. ... I have tested the translation at numerous points and have found it uniformly accurate. ... The original edition had no index, but Professor Capps has supervised the compilation of an 332extensive index for the translation. ... The French edition was competently reviewed by Professor Prescott in Classical Philology, V (1910), 377ff.” R. C. Flickinger
+ Class J 13:77 O ‘17 1350w
“Although Legrand’s book is unquestionably the best available description of New comedy, it is at times tedious reading, in its English form, for the general student of literature. It is often unnecessarily profuse in arraying examples of a given phase of comedy; the French author’s style of exposition is sometimes clumsily mechanical; and in general a clear succinct statement of the essential features of content and form, described from the standpoint of a modern reader of ancient comedy, would serve much better the needs of the audience to whom Mr Loeb addresses his translation.” H: W. Prescott
+ — Class Philol 12:442 O ‘17 220w
“This book will be not only indispensable to the conscientious student of literary history, but of genuine interest to the intelligent general reader who might be repelled by the mass of technical material, wisely omitted in this case, which so many writers on classical subjects seem to think it ignominious to spare him.” E. D. Perry
+ Educ R 55:73 Ja ‘18 900w
“The ‘Daos’ of Prof. Legrand, which Mr Loeb now gives us in an excellent version, has not the characteristic French gift of brilliant generalisation. It is rather a book which appeals to the main trend of American scholarship, which is to gather up laboriously an infinite amount of small detail. ... It will be a bit stiff for the general reader who is in view, for it is thickly spread with the names of plays, which are usually fragments of plays, and dramatis personæ.”
+ Sat R 123:578 Je 23 ‘17 1350w
“M. Legrand is happy alike in his opportunity and in the use that he has made of it. ... To the general reader the omissions are no loss, while Mr Loeb’s English version shows that he himself is a master of the art which he has done so much to encourage.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p220 My 10 ‘17 2150w
LEIGHOU, ROBERT BENJAMIN. Chemistry of materials of the machine and building industries. il *$3 McGraw 660 17-11589
“A text-book for technical schools considering from the standpoint of the user the chemistry of water, fuels, refractory materials, iron and steel, nonferrous materials and alloys, foundry sands, building stones, lime and gypsum products, cement, clay and its products, paints, varnishes, lubricants, glue, rubber, insulating materials, etc.” (Cleveland) The author is associate professor of chemistry in the Carnegie institute of technology.
“The bibliographical footnotes and the lists of books and periodical references at the chapter endings make this an excellent reference for both the technical and the public library.”
+ Bul N Y Public Library 21:483 Jl ‘17 80w
Cleveland p113 S ‘17 50w
“There is a curious admixture of the scientific and the popular methods of treatment. The references are many and interesting, though it is to be doubted whether the technical student will be other than bewildered by their number, or the user of materials, seeking detailed information, will be less than exasperated by the glossing of facts indicated by their unceasing recurrence.”
+ — Engin News-Rec 78:603 Je 21 ‘17 150w
“Intended for students who have a knowledge of elementary general chemistry. ... An excellent reference for both the technical and the public library.”
+ N Y P L New Tech Bks p4 Ap ‘17 90w
“Useful work, including a wide range of materials and giving concise information much of which is not easily available elsewhere.”
+ Pittsburgh 22:668 O ‘17 90w
Pratt p23 O ‘17 40w
LEONARD, MARY FINLEY. Ways of Jane; a story with which the wise and prudent have no concern. *$1.25 (2c) Duffield 17-8350
This is the story of Jane and her friends on Sycamore street and of certain other people who live in the more aristocratic Kenton place. Jane is seven years old and she lives with Angela, her aunt, who is young and lovely and who writes reviews of books to help with the family living. Jane has a part in the reviewing, too, placing large blue penciled R’s on the paper jacket of each book as it leaves Angela’s hands. Jane’s best friend is Miss Goldie, the little dressmaker who shares her belief in fairies and ogres. Her next best friend is David. David is a young man who lives in Kenton place, but Jane does not recognize class distinctions and this does not interfere with their friendship. There are other pleasant people in the story and before the end of it Jane’s faith in fairies, yes, and in ogres, too, is vindicated.
+ A L A Bkl 13:404 Je ‘17
“A very slight, rather pleasant and somewhat long-winded little story.”
+ — N Y Times 22:218 Je 3 ‘17 140w
“Although Jane is a juvenile, the book is not.”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 Jl 15 ‘17 180w
+ Wis Lib Bul 13:158 My ‘17 40w
LEONARD, STERLING ANDRUS. English composition as a social problem. (Riverside educational monographs) *70c (2c) Houghton 808 17-5148
The idea that lies back of this monograph is expressed by Dr Suzzallo in his Editor’s introduction: “Most self-expression is for the purpose of social communication. We express ourselves in the presence of other people to gain appreciation or stimulation and to influence and control others. Our whole use of language has a social setting.” The author has worked out this idea in a plan for composition teaching in grades and high school. Four chapters discuss: The sources of composition projects in child-activities; The social group as an agent in expressional development; The organization of ideas; Evolution and attainment of expressional standards.
A L A Bkl 13:294 Ap ‘17
“Stimulating, somewhat technical.”
+ Cleveland p72 My ‘17 70w
+ Dial 62:316 Ap 5 ‘17 180w
N Y Br Lib News 4:46 Mr ‘17
Pittsburgh 22:646 O ‘17 60w
Pratt p17 O ‘17 60w
Reviewed by E. F. Geyer and R. L. Lyman
+ School R 25:606 O ‘17 90w
LESLIE, SHANE. Celt and the world. *$1.25 (3½c) Scribner 940 17-7029
The present war is termed a Teutonic family split. The real point at issue is, Which of the two imperial branches of the Teutonic family shall rule the sea. The theme of the book is the relation of Celt and Teuton in history, with special reference of course to the relation of England and Ireland. Between Germany and Ireland, there can be little in common is the author’s conclusion. “The fortunes of Ireland are with the Anglo-Celtic empire, though the reactionary English element has by unwisdom obscured the path.” Contents: The Aryans and their religion; Celt and Teuton; The conversion of the Celt; The holy Aryan empire; The Aryan dispersion; A view of Irish history; The Teutonic family split.
“Not only from the standpoint of history is his book interesting, but he has built up an argument which is certainly thought-provoking.”
+ Boston Transcript p14 Ap 7 ‘17 220w
“Though entertainingly written and abounding in literary charm, the study will prove a disappointment to most readers. They will naturally expect an illuminating study of the influence of one of the world’s great races on 333its general trend of events, but they will find instead an opportunist brief born of the present war.”
Cleveland p81 Je ‘17 80w (Reprinted from America)
“Pre-supposes a ‘well-read’ reader and a receptive mind. To many the sketch of Irish history will be the most interesting thing in the book; and the praise heaped upon the Celtic hero, Daniel O’Connell, will find few critics. Mr Leslie surely knows his subject.”
+ Cath World 105:823 S ‘17 340w
“An essay on European development from an unusual angle—from the angle of a student who remains rather aloof from the achievements of the two imperial branches of the Teutonic stock—the German and the Anglo-Saxon. Mr Leslie’s ideal of European union is one from which Europe seems to have decisively departed—a union under the presidency of pope and emperor. ... Now that the dominant Aryan people, the Teutonic, are wasting themselves in fratricidal conflict, the menace of Asia becomes more positive, more immediate. That is the thesis of ‘The Celt and the world.’” Padraic Colum
Dial 62:435 My 17 ‘17 900w
+ — Nation 105:73 Jl 19 ‘17 400w
“Both learned and brilliant—a rare combination today.”
+ N Y Times 22:225 Je 10 ‘17 400w
St Louis 15:186 Je ‘17 20w
Letters from a French hospital. *$1 (4c) Houghton 940.91 17-15442
A series of letters written to her people at home by an English girl nursing in France. They range in date from July 31, 1915 to September 17, 1916. For the most part they are concerned with the every day duties and routine of hospital service, but now and again there is a reflective sentence that reveals the writer’s character. “I never for a moment wanted the Boches to win, but I just can’t want them killed,” she writes. At another time she tells that she has just motored over to the Spanish frontier where she stood on the border and “looked longingly over into peace.”
“American women who are looking forward to hospital service during the war cannot fail to be interested in these unusual letters.”
+ R of Rs 55:669 Je ‘17 30w
“The letters are an interesting revelation of all the unconscious little heroisms that are part of the daily life near any great fighting front.”
+ Springf’d Republican p19 Je 10 ‘17 220w
“Pictures conditions similar to those described in ‘Mademoiselle Miss,’ and the writer displays many of the same qualities, which led to success despite her lack of training.”
+ Wis Lib Bul 13:185 Je ‘17 50w
LETTS, WINIFRED M. Hallow-e’en, and poems of the war. *$1.25 Dutton 821
“Most of the war poetry has had in it more or less of the clangor of battle, the exaltation of spirit that fills the soldier at the firing line, the gay comradeship of the march. But these poems are mostly from the point of view of the home-staying ones and are full of the tender reverence of these for the soldier fighting and dying, of compassion for the bereaved at home, and of admiration for the courage with which they bear their losses and sorrows.”—N Y Times
“A somewhat different touch marks these war poems in comparison with most of the war poetry the last two or three years have brought forth—a touch that perhaps can be best described as the priestly touch of understanding and compassion and healing.”
+ N Y Times 22:234 Je 17 ‘17 530w
“Contains many fine poems, several of which have received praise on previous publication in English magazines. ‘Hallow-e’en, 1915,’ ‘He prayed,’ and ‘The spires of Oxford,’ have a rare quality and deserve a place among the best expressions of the war spirit in poetry.”
+ R of Rs 56:105 Jl ‘17 50w
“Miss Letts never strikes a wrong note or plucks needlessly at our heartstrings, and if there is little gaiety in her new volume, there is no wantoning with sorrow.”
+ Spec 118:76 Ja 20 ‘17 200w
LETTS, WINIFRED M. Spires of Oxford, and other poems. *$1.25 Dutton 821 17-24170
“The majority of the poems in this volume were published in 1916 under the title ‘Hallow-e’en and poems of the war.’ The verdict of the public, as shown by continual requests for permission to republish, is that ‘The spires of Oxford’ is the most important poem in the volume—and therefore in issuing a new edition with several new poems, we bow to this verdict and give ‘The spires of Oxford’ its place in the forefront of the volume.” (Publishers’ note) Contents: Poems of the war; Ad mortuum; Miscellanea.
“They have a felicity of expression, variety, distinction, a touch of dramatic fervor and a genuineness of feeling which make them appealing.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:86 D ‘17
“These war poems one may read through with responsive interest, but with no keen poignancy, except on one occasion. That exception is in the verses called ‘What reward?’ ... The poems in the other two groups of Miss Letts’s volume show her, I think, in a better poetic light. ... The work is always clear, sometimes vivid, always cleanly wrought.” W. S. B.
+ — Boston Transcript p6 S 19 ‘17 500w
+ Cath World 106:402 D ‘17 90w
“Contains some poems on the war which we should be sorry to have missed.”
+ Ind 92:63 O 6 ‘17 120w
“There are many noble war-poems in Miss Letts’s book, but the part of it which impresses us most is that containing poems personal in theme. Miss Letts’s chief claim—and a strong claim it is—upon the affections of those who care greatly for poetry is the group of poems called ‘Ad mortuum.’”
+ Lit D 55:34 O 6 ‘17 850w
“They are primarily poems—buoyant with beauty, full of fresh visions of loveliness, warm and human and sweet. The war poems are dignified and reveal an occasional flash of understanding that is all too unusual in war verse.” Clement Wood
+ N Y Call p15 O 21 ‘17 470w
+ N Y Times 22:566 D 16 ‘17 230w
“The poem from which the book takes its title is an outstanding example of war verse, notable for its simplicity and feeling. ... Almost equally affecting is ‘Halloween, 1915.’”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 S 24 ‘17 280w
LEUBA, JAMES HENRY. Belief in God and immortality; a psychological, anthropological and statistical study. *$2 (2c) Sherman, French & co. 218 17-54
The author says, “In an earlier book [’A psychological study of religion,’ 1912] I have considered the origin, the nature, the function, and the future of the belief in what I have called ‘personal’ gods. The present volume is a similar study of the belief in personal immortality.” Part 1 treats of The two conceptions of immortality: their origins, their different characteristics and the attempted demonstration of the truth of the modern conception. This part also includes an examination of the studies of the Society of psychical research. Part 2 presents a statistical study of the belief in a personal God and in personal immortality in the United States. Part 3 treats of the present utility of the beliefs in personal immortality and in a personal God. The author is professor of psychology at Bryn Mawr college.
“The author presents a somewhat detailed study of the belief in God and a future life as it appears in primitive religions and in the modern world of educated men and women. The treatment is extremely suggestive and illuminating. The conclusion is that these beliefs, 334having in the minds of people today little or no relation to the conduct of life, may well be discarded in favor of more practical moral teachings. The book deserves careful reading on the part of all religious and social workers.” Irving King
+ Am J Soc 23:129 Jl ‘17 550w
“It is a pleasure to find, as one does in Leuba’s work, a really fresh presentation and something like an original point of view. Professor Leuba has put in his debt all those who have the welfare of religion at heart by showing them that the situation is really much more serious than most of them had supposed.” J. B. Pratt
+ Am J Theol 21:629 O ‘17 1650w
A L A Bkl 13:425 Jl ‘17
+ Ath p94 F ‘17 100w
“Rarely, if ever, has the distinction between two quite different conceptions of personal immortality been so successfully elaborated.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 Mr 24 ‘17 150w
“There are few subjects as to which statistics can be more meaningless, and that is saying a great deal.”
— Educ R 54:316 O ‘17 40w
“The book is exceedingly interesting, but far from convincing, when one realizes that the conclusions are based merely upon questionnaires sent to interested persons of the college world.”
Ind 90:439 Je 2 ‘17 50w
“The reader of this study can but be impressed with the fact that in this book is discussed with the fair spirit of critical inquiry a subject that in recent literature has been even unscrupulously handled.” J. R. Kantor
+ Int J Ethics 27:396 Ap ‘17 500w
Nation 104:496 Ap 26 ‘17 350w
N Y Br Lib News 4:41 Mr ‘17
LEVI, N. Jan Smuts; being a character sketch of Gen. the Hon. J. C. Smuts, K. C., M. L. A., minister of defence, Union of South Africa. il *$2.50 Longmans 17-15584
“General Smuts, leader of the British forces against the Germans in German Southeast Africa, has gone to England as a member of the British Imperial war cabinet. ... He is one of the really interesting personalities of this far-flung war. And in a book, written by a South African neighbor, presumably for South African readers in the first place, and then for Britons in general, the author of the present volume has offered a real contribution to the knowledge of the world at large. ‘Jan Smuts’ is, as the title page states, a character sketch rather than a biography. It is written with great simplicity, out of a heart-felt admiration, with the utmost sympathy and the most intimate knowledge both of the man himself and of the circumstance and the events of his life.”—N Y Times
“The work gives one the flavor of South Africa. It is not only the racy English idiom enlivened with fresh South African phrases, nor the imagination that loves to play with odd figures of speech drawn from the author’s own experience; it is the insight into the Boers, the sympathetic insight of a man who has seen a wider world only to estimate his own better. Few men in their lifetimes have been so fortunate in their biographers as General Smuts.” Wallace Notestein
+ Am Hist R 23:434 Ja ‘18 450w
+ — Dial 63:348 O 11 ‘17 330w
“Seems to lack those picturesque features and that broader humanity with which we associate General Botha.”
+ — Ind 91:293 Ag 25 ‘17 150w
“It is exceedingly interesting. ... The last sentence is all the more interesting in connection with a statement quoted from A. G. Gardiner of the London Daily News that Jan Smuts is ‘the most considerable figure in Greater Britain.’”
+ N Y Times 22:200 My 20 ‘17 520w
“His biography is doubly worth while; it describes both an interesting individual character and the recent development of South African economic, social, and political conditions.”
+ Outlook 116:232 Je 6 ‘17 70w
* Spec 118:365 Mr 24 ‘17 1500w
“His style is dreadful. ... Yet Mr Levi has his merits. He is ingenuous and kindly. His knowledge of facts is accurate, his judgment of political opponents not usually overharsh, his reverence and affection for General Smuts himself very genuine and very obvious. His book, at least, comes pat to the moment. ... People in this country might do much worse than get it and read it. It will, at least help them to understand the elements of South African politics and the position of the Botha government.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p140 Mr 22 ‘17 430w
LEVINE, ISAAC DON. Russian revolution. il *$1 (2½c) Harper 947 17-15056
This work by the foreign news editor of the New York Tribune has chapters devoted to: A century of struggle for freedom; Russian autocracy and the great war; Russian democracy and the great war; The birth of social Russia; The Duma and social Russia; The democratization of the army; The rule of Goremykin; The dark forces; Working for Prussianism; A traitor to democracy; The crisis; Rasputin and Protopopov; The revolution; The fall of czarism; The new Russia; The future. Summarizing the contents, the author says, “The first six chapters of this book give a general survey of the forces that underlay the revolution. The following six chapters deal with the events in the thirty months preceding it. The last four chapters cover the revolution proper and its possibilities.”
“Very interesting and compact.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:445 Jl ‘17
Ath p530 O ‘17 200w
“A clear-cut and sober analysis.” Abraham Yarmolinsky
+ Bookm 46:483 D ‘17 100w
“It is a thrilling story and it is so well presented on the whole that one forgets the aberrations of the author’s English style.” N. H. D.
+ + — Boston Transcript p6 Jl 25 ‘17 850w
“Presents information which is not easily obtainable elsewhere.”
+ Cleveland p138 D ‘17 40w
Dial 64:36 Ja 3 ‘18 90w
+ Ind 91:31 Jl 7 ‘17 150w
“Although he has leavened the mere literal record with competent and sometimes illuminating interpretation, Mr Levine does not attempt to give more than a hasty journalistic summary. Yet even in so slight a book the author is compelled to devote over two-thirds his space to an analysis of the governmental disorganization, chicanery and almost open treason which made the drama of March, 1917, inevitable.”
+ New Repub 12:56 Ag 11 ‘17 600w
“The book as a whole is fascinating. But one chapter of it, because of its unusual character, may be mentioned, that dealing with Rasputin.” Frank Macdonald
+ N Y Call p14 Jl 22 ‘17 600w
“Tells in crisp, journalistic style, and with a full sense of its amazingness, this latest romance of human freedom. The author draws from a full and deep knowledge of Russia; he is able to sum up the salient facts leading gradually and surely to the revolution without wasting time or losing the reader’s attention.”
+ N Y Times 22:221 Je 10 ‘17 1500w
Pittsburgh 22:679 O ‘17 70w
+ Pratt p44 O ‘17 10w
“By all odds the most journalistic and vivid of the presentations of the motives and forces that are energizing the Russian national movement. ... Mr Levine’s terse and graphic narrative of Petrograd’s days of transition from absolutism to modern democracy can hardly be surpassed.”
+ R of Rs 56:101 Jl ‘17 250w
335“Much of what he says should be common knowledge, and if it is not his book should help in making it so.”
+ Springf’d Republican p8 Je 26 ‘17 100w
“The personalities of Sturmer, Rasputin, Protopopov, the Tsaritsa, and other pro-Germans are clearly brought out.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p413 Ag 30 ‘17 950w
LEWIN, PERCY EVANS. German road to the East. *$2.50 Doran 327.4 (Eng ed 17-9488)
“An account of the ‘Drang nach Osten’ and of Teutonic aims in the Near and Middle East. It discusses the political and economic causes which underlie the Eastern question, the problems of the Balkan states and Russia, the position of Persia and the probable result of British occupation of Bagdad.”—A L A Bkl
“Interesting in connection with Naumann’s ‘Central Europe’ (Booklist 13:247 My ‘17) and Gibbons’ ‘New map of Europe’ (Booklist 11:258 F ‘15). Well documented with a selected classed bibliography (8p).”
+ A L A Bkl 13:445 Jl ‘17
“Mr Evans Lewin’s book lacks the personal knowledge and individual feeling that give originality to Sir Thomas Holdich’s writing. Its strongest feature is its bibliography, and, indeed, the whole book smells somewhat of the lamp; yet the standpoint from which it is written fatally deprives it of authority and permanence. A history of German penetration in the Near East would be an intensely interesting sociological study; but Mr Lewin is not writing a history, he is making out a case. ... There is a great deal of excellent geographical analysis and solid historical information in Mr Lewin’s book.”
– + Ath p24 Ja ‘17 650w
“An excellent and painstaking study of the Berlin to Bagdad project, the fullest and perhaps best balanced account of Pan-Germanism, which has so far appeared.”
+ Cleveland p85 Jl ‘17 50w
“A scholarly and important contribution to the literature of the war and its causes.”
+ Lit D 55:36 S 15 ‘17 750w
N Y Br Lib News 4:60 Ap ‘17
“The study throughout is comprehensive and penetrating and authorities are given for all important statements.”
+ N Y Times 22:306 Ag 19 ‘17 150w
“In this useful book Mr Lewin examines in detail the development of Germany’s ambitious designs on the Near East, typified in the phrase ‘from Berlin to Baghdad.’ Every one, we suppose, now understands the German desire to absorb the whole heritage of the ‘Sick man,’ but it is convenient to have the diplomatic and economic history of the German schemes during the last twenty years set forth in this readable form. Mr Lewin, we think, exaggerates English ignorance of pan-Germanism.”
+ — Spec 117:706 D 2 ‘16 250w
“Mr Lewin is already known by his useful volume on the Germans in Africa; he has many qualifications for the task he has undertaken; he has great industry and wide reading, and, in particular, has a very thorough understanding of British colonial aims and interests. This latter quality is shown in the volume before us; by far the most valuable chapters are those on Asia Minor, and particularly on Persia. ... While, therefore, the book is of great value as regards the events in Asia, for an explanation of the real influences and character of German policy at home it is inferior to other recent works such as those of Dr Rose, or Dr Prothero’s very useful pamphlet, ‘German policy before the war.’”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p482 O 12 ‘16 2000w
LEWINSKI-CORWIN, EDWARD HENRY. Political history of Poland. il $3 Polish book importing co., 83 2d av., N.Y. 943.8 17-19703
“The author has sketched the history of the Polish state from its early beginnings to its disintegration, and has followed the fortunes of its scattered remnants down to the present day. The chapter on The Polish question and the great war contains information on the Polish legions and on the present attitude of Polish patriots towards Russia, Germany, and Austria not easily obtainable elsewhere. ... Dr Lewinski-Corwin believes that a free and republican Russia will make the reconstruction of Poland, as an independent state, in confederation with Lithuania and Ruthenia, a political possibility.”—Nation
A L A Bkl 14:54 N ‘17
“A chapter on the Polish legions and the attitude of the ‘patriots’ toward Austria, Germany and Russia is illuminating and gives information not easily accessible elsewhere.”
+ Cleveland p138 D ‘17 60w
“The last two chapters, however,—dealing with ‘constitutional Russia and the Poles’ and ‘the Polish question and the great war,’—have decided value, not alone because they bring the story up to date, but because they show an unusually keen insight into the perplexities of the contemporary Polish problem.” F: A. Ogg
+ — Dial 63:583 D 6 ‘17 670w
Lit D 55:39 S 15 ‘17 280w
“Fully familiar with his subject. ... The interest of the volume is enhanced by numerous illustrations. ... The book might have gained in value by more careful proof-reading.”
+ — Nation 105:298 S 13 ‘17 240w
“A great deal of space is given to the many efforts of Poland to free itself from Russian serfdom.”
+ N Y Times 22:330 S 9 ‘17 370w
Pittsburgh 22:679 O ‘17
“If due allowance is made for these limitations, Dr Lewinski-Corwin’s book takes its place as the best and most authoritative brief history of Poland now on the market.” C. J. H. Hayes
+ — Survey 39:298 D 8 ‘17 800w
LEWIS, BURDETTE GIBSON. Offender and his relations to law and society. (Harper’s modern science ser.) il *$2 (1½c) Harper 364 17-10887
A work on prison reform and modern correctional methods by the Commissioner of correction for New York city. The book is made up of two parts, the first, Society and the offender, is a study of methods actually in use in various institutions. There are chapters on: The court and the offender; Classification of the offender; Probation and parole; The indeterminate sentence; Autocratic government and discipline; Other systems of government and discipline, etc. Part 2 deals with the prevention of crime and considers the different social forces which can be used to that end. There are several appendixes presenting interesting matter relating to prison practice, including among other items a Plan for the rational treatment of women convicted in the courts of the County of New York prepared by Katharine B. Davis.
“The book is open to criticism because of the inadequate development of part 2 on the prevention of crime. The common-sense point of view, the thoroughly socialized legal attitude, and the new illustrative material from the author’s experience are the strong points.” E. S. Bogardus
+ — Am J Soc 23:553 Ja ‘18 180w
+ A L A Bkl 13:428 Jl ‘17
Boston Transcript p6 Ap 18 ‘17 550w
+ Cleveland p108 S ‘17 60w
“Neither reactionary nor sentimental.”
+ Ind 91:292 Ag 25 ‘17 120w
“The great merit of this book is the humanity and intimacy, the familiarity of detail and truthfulness, with which it treats of four complicated aspects of society’s dealing with the wrongdoer.”
+ Nation 104:734 Je 21 ‘17 1700w
336“Mr Lewis combines idealism with common sense. ... The volume is sound in its philosophy, shows in the author both a practical familiarity with present methods and an intelligent reading of history and is to be heartily commended to all those who are interested in the problem.”
+ Outlook 116:451 Jl 18 ‘17 150w
Pittsburgh 22:533 Je ‘17 100w
Pratt p10 O ‘17 20w
“It is refreshing to find an administrator so alive to the modern scientific study of the individual delinquent and to the need for individual treatment. Mr Lewis’s approach to his subject is for the most part liberal and scientific; his information goes far beyond the files of his own department. ... The book is not as fluent in style as Wines’ ‘Punishment and reformation,’ but it supersedes that volume for the student of penology today.” W. D. Lane
+ Survey 38:531 S 15 ‘17 600w
LEWIS, SINCLAIR. Innocents. il *$1.25 (3c) Harper 17-24286
The author calls this “a story for lovers,” “a tale for people who still read Dickens and clip out spring poetry, and love old people and children.” (Introd.) It is the story of the later years of Mr and Mrs Seth Appleby, who, though they were born in New York city, and had lived there upward of sixty years, were “rustic as a meadow-ringed orchard.” After their daughter has married a prosperous druggist in a small New York town, “Father,” who has clerked for many years in Pilking’s shoestore on Sixth avenue, decides to give up his job, and, with the help of “Mother,” opens a tea-room in an old farm house on the cliffs at Grimsby Head, Cape Cod. Why the venture fails, how the old couple take to the open road and how they finally make a place, and that no mean one, for themselves in Lipsittsville, Indiana; instead of living with their eminently respectable daughter who is always trying to make them over, is sympathetically told by Mr Lewis.
“An entertaining and amusing variant of the typical love story.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:60 N ‘17
“It is in spite of his ingenuity, not because of it, that the reader keeps on believing in Father and Mother, the devoted and the irrepressible.” H. W. Boynton
– + Bookm 46:340 N ‘17 170w
“The characterization rings true, but the adventures, especially the long tramp from city to city, are pleasantly improbable.”
+ — Cleveland p132 D ‘17 60w
“The facile smartness of phrases, the essential flimsiness, of Mr Lewis’s latest book presents a spectacle made all the sadder by the traces of a better self revealed in it.”
– + Dial 63:531 N 22 ‘17 550w
“We wonder if the publishers really agree with the notice-writer that the book is ‘a tender romance of an American Darby and Joan?’ Sentimental farce would come nearer the mark.”
— Nation 105:540 N 15 ‘17 260w
“Preposterous but rather amusing story.”
+ — New Repub 13:sup16 N 17 ‘17 140w
“In some of his former stories Mr Lewis has shown a peculiar understanding of the gray, limited lives of the small work people of a big city and of the meaning to them of their possible pleasures, dreams, and temperamental expressions. In ‘The innocents’ he gives full rein to this faculty, with the result that the intimate and full-length picture of Mr and Mrs Seth Appleby, otherwise ‘Father’ and ‘Mother,’ is very touching, very charming, and so simple and true in all its essentials that even when the story is at its most audaciously romantic pitch it is still plausible.”
+ N Y Times 22:365 S 30 ‘17 600w
“The story as a whole is a delightful picture of mutual love and courage, that floats like a fresh breeze over the reader’s consciousness, jaded with the conventional romances of the day.”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 D 23 ‘17 310w
LEWIS, SINCLAIR. The job. *$1.35 (2c) Harper 17-6323
A story of modern business and of a woman’s place in business life. Una Golden, who comes from Panama, Pa., to New York, is an ordinary girl, with blond hair and eye-glasses. The story covers ten years of her life, from 1905 to 1915, from the age of twenty-five to thirty-five. In that time she studies at a “commercial college,” holds various jobs, and lives the life of a working girl, in boarding house, “home,” and light-housekeeping flat. Midway in this period she finds the job getting on her nerves, and takes the way of escape offered, marriage. But marriages made from that motive start with a handicap, and Una’s is a failure. She returns to the job with new resolution, determined to conquer. She does, becomes a successful business woman, and then begins to consider the possibility of a second marriage in which conflicting claims of home and a career are both to be satisfied.
“Some of the episodes of her unfortunate marriage may be considered too frank and sordid but they are not the main interest, while the story leaves one with more confidence in the women who are beginning to realize the possibilities of ‘the job.’”
+ A L A Bkl 13:355 My ‘17
“What justifies the book, in the end, is not its ‘idea,’ or its incidental cleverness, which is notable, but its portrait of a woman. Una Golden is—herself.” H. W. Boynton
+ Bookm 405:316 My ‘17 750w
“To say that Mr Lewis’s novel is aggressively modern is not to say more than truth. It expresses the American spirit of this very day and hour.” E. F. E.
Boston Transcript p8 Mr 10 ‘17 1400w
Dial 62:313 Ap 5 ‘17 140w
“One may discern here a sermon preached, a plot more or less arranged. But there is no escaping the sincerity and originality of the central portrait. As a person, theories apart, Una Golden rings true.”
+ — Nation 104:433 Ap 12 ‘17 470w
“Sinclair Lewis has one attribute of genius—sympathetic insight. ... He has not only made a woman who works for her living the central figure of his story, he has insisted on doing so without sentimentality or melodrama or false pathos. He has kept the spotlight of the novelist on her without giving her a spotlight-life.” F. H.
+ — New Repub 10:234 Mr 24 ‘17 1250w
“The story of the girl who for one reason or another goes into business has been told many times; but very, very seldom indeed with even one-half the convincingness which this author has managed to give to his history of Una Golden. ... Sane, generous, well balanced, above all, real, it interprets by presenting this world as it is.”
+ N Y Times 22:82 Mr 11 ‘17 1050w
“The story is a serious, if gloomy, study. It has no light phases. ... In its main details the story rings true, considering the character concerned, but it is unpleasant.”
Springf’d Republican p17 My 27 ‘17 450w
“The story reads like a true one but is hardly pleasing enough to attract the ordinary novel-reader.”
Wis Lib Bul 13:126 Ap ‘17 70w
LIBBY, WALTER. Introduction to the history of science. il *$1.50 (2c) Houghton 509 17-8227
“This book is intended as a simple introduction, taking advantage of the interests of youth of from seventeen to twenty-two years or age (and their intellectual compeers) in order to direct their attention to the story of the development of the sciences. ... It is a psychological introduction, having the mental capacity of a certain class of readers always in view, rather than a logical introduction.” (Preface) 337Contents: Science and practical needs—Egypt and Babylonia; The influence of abstract thought—Greece: Aristotle; Scientific theory subordinated to application—Rome: Vitruvius; The continuity of science—the medieval church and the Arabs; The classification of the sciences—Francis Bacon; Scientific method—Gilbert, Galileo, Harvey, Descartes; Coöperation in science—the Royal society, etc. The closing chapter is a discussion of science and democratic culture. The author is professor of the history of science in the Carnegie institute of technology, Pittsburgh.
“A little book on a big subject in excellent English. [The relations of science] to other fields of man’s life—education, war, religion, industry, travel, philosophy, art, ethics, and democracy—are well touched upon, and the closing chapter deals chiefly with Matthew Arnold and Nietzsche. It contains many interesting facts that will be new to most persons, and also a number of passages that set one thinking. Many history teachers might broaden their view of the past by perusing this volume.” Lynn Thorndike
+ + — Am Hist R 23:125 O ‘17 720w
A L A Bkl 14:10 O ‘17
Cleveland p108 S ‘17 20w
+ Dial 62:487 My 31 ‘17 600w
“Breathes on every page the tolerant, generous, objective spirit of science. But Dr Libby is no narrow champion of scientific as opposed to literary culture, and he recommends systematic teaching of the sciences in relation both to the daily work and to their historical and cultural antecedents.’ It is on account of its broadening and stimulating cultural influence that this fine work of Dr Libby’s is to be recommended. It should find a place, if not always in the curriculum, certainly in the library, of every high school, normal school, and college in the land.” Cephas Guillet
+ Educ R 54:192 S ‘17 600w
+ Educ R 54:531 D ‘17 80w
“We have long needed a systematically organized and clearly written history of science for the college student and the layman who is not taking active part in the development of any one of the sciences. Professor Libby’s new book is probably the first contribution in this field.”
+ El School J 17:610 Ap ‘17 350w
“Professor Libby has divided his purpose in such a way as to obscure and to break the thread of his subject. He, apparently, tries to compress into one small volume a résumé of the history of all the sciences from the earliest times. In addition to this almost hopeless task, he wishes to attract and to influence the youth by showing the nobility of science. He also wishes to exalt the national spirit, and he does it by devoting whole chapters to Franklin and Langley, which compels him to compress or to omit many of the really great achievements in science. As a textbook, the work is of value in spite of this confusion. In the first place, there are almost no others available, and in addition Professor Libby has been accurate and his style is readable.”
+ — Nation 105:274 S 6 ‘17 500w
“One of the most effective pieces of scientific popularization it has ever been my good fortune to read. Prof. Libby has a power of presenting clearly ideas often difficult from their inherent abstractness that has rarely been equalled save by men of genius like Huxley and Galton. He has obviously an intimate acquaintance with his subject, and he has a singular success in communicating his enthusiasm. His book is, on the whole, conceived in admirable perspective. It has exactly the right amount of biographical material to give it the genuine touch of living personality.” H. J. L.
+ New Repub 12:23 Ag 4 ‘17 2000w
N Y Br Lib News 4:76 My ‘17 130w
“With an undercurrent of philosophical speculation, the treatment is rather biographical, typical scientists being selected to illustrate the attitude and the methods of the scientists, as well as the principles developed and applied.” B. C. Gruenberg
+ N Y Call p15 S 16 ‘17 270w
+ N Y P L New Tech Bks p19 Jl ‘17 60w
St Louis 15:361 O ‘17 40w
LIDDELL, ROBERT SCOTLAND. On the Russian front. il *8s 6d Simpkin, London 940.91 (Eng ed 16-15304)
“Mr Liddell saw the great Russian retreat of last summer in a double capacity: he was a member of the seventh group of Polish Red cross volunteers, and also the correspondent of the Sphere; that is to say, he took part in the events described in the book, and he recorded them before his impressions became blunted. ... It is a depressing story that Mr Liddell has to tell—a story of crippled men, of gutted buildings, and of refugees, flying one with his drawing-room suite on a cart, another with a couple of canaries in a cage, several with nothing but some potted plants. But the Russian soldier is not depressed; his comment is ‘Neechevo’—‘It is nothing.’”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
N Y Br Lib News 3:168 N ‘16
“Every page in this book was written amid the routine of danger, a battle thundering quite close at hand, and a drama of mingled sweat and blood and dirt coming with the stricken, whose uncomplaining courage was an awful monotony of silent anguish.”
Sat R 122:299 S 23 ‘16 1200w
Reviewed by the Earl of Cromer
Spec 117:551 N 4 ‘16 1600w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p317 Jl 6 ‘16 650w
LIEBKNECHT, KARL PAUL AUGUST FRIEDRICH. Militarism. *$1 (2c) Huebsch 172.4 17-26892
A fearless arraignment of autocracy which cost Liebknecht his freedom and resulted in the suppression of his book. It is a clear statement of the principles and convictions of the man who has so courageously led the struggle against militarism in Germany. He points out that militarism in its four-fold development is the offspring of capitalism; “militarism for abroad,” navalism, colonial militarism and “militarism for home.” He shows that all of the policies of the militaristic system serve the exploiting interests of the ruling classes of capitalism instead of furthering economic development in conformity with the duties and interests of civilization. Militarism obstructs class consciousness, turns the army into a handy, docile effective tool, while distorting the reason and narcotizing the soul. Thruout the discussion the point of view of the proletariat is kept—of the under-dog against whom the army is a weapon along the path of economic struggle.
A L A Bkl 14:76 D ‘17
“Herr Liebknecht assails the past record of militarism socially, politically, economically, historically, and statistically, with true German thoroughness.” C. H. P. Thurston
+ Bookm 46:290 N ‘17 40w
Dial 64:115 Ja 31 ‘18 620w
+ New Repub 13:sup18 N 17 ‘17 160w
“The book is chiefly of historical interest, since the world war is so changing world ideas. ... But the book is interesting and timely for the light it throws on the pre-war Germany and for the illumination it makes of the character of Karl Liebknecht.”
+ — N Y Times 22:395 O 14 ‘17 900w
“The fact that Dr Liebknecht’s ‘Militarism’ was suppressed and the author put in prison for his daring criticism of the German military system would assure it a cordial welcome in the United States even were the book not so abundantly able to stand on its own bottom. ... Yet be warned that Dr Liebknecht measures us along with other countries and finds us, well, not absolute perfection. He lists us and our methods along with other nations and their 338methods with a horrid impersonality that intimates that we are just like other folks.” M. A. Hopkins
+ Pub W 92:811 S 15 ‘17 850w
“While the book perhaps overemphasizes the part played by the class struggle in creating modern armaments, its words deserve the most careful heeding.” H: Neumann
+ — Survey 39:471 Ja 26 ‘18 630w
“Interesting at the present time, but not essential in small libraries.”
+ Wis Lib Bul 14:29 Ja ‘18 50w
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Uncollected letters; now first brought together by Gilbert A. Tracy; with an introd. by Ida M. Tarbell. il *$2.50 Houghton 17-28895
Three hundred letters which Lincoln wrote for the greater part from 1858 to 1861 most of which have never been published before. Tho many of them are brief each has the stamp of Lincoln individuality; and covering, as they do, a great range of interests they furnish a sidelight on the character of Lincoln which no student can overlook. There are legal letters, letters that bear upon the period when Lincoln was competing with Douglas for the senatorship, and letters that reflect his life and relations with friends, all of them giving ample illustration “of his cleverness, his fairness and continued zest in the political game.” The collector of the letters was a clerk in the War department from 1863 to 1868 during which time he grew to love and revere the great emancipator. “Mr Tracy has crowned his life long devotion to Abraham Lincoln with a noble gift to the people of the country.”
Reviewed by L. E. Robinson
+ Bookm 46:595 Ja ‘18 330w
“In spite of the scarcity of allusions to his domestic life it is profitable to get such glimpses as are revealed in the collection. ... It must be said that a considerable portion of these letters have no connection with the great service and life of Lincoln, but relate to commonplace and routine matters. Many are not worth preserving except for their autographs. It is regrettable that classification and topical headings are lacking, though the index is complete and satisfactory.” H. S. K.
+ — Boston Transcript p8 O 31 ‘17 1250w
“That many are inconsequential does not discount the value of the entire collection. As a whole they shed strong light upon Abraham Lincoln’s life.”
+ Lit D 55:43 D 1 ‘17 110w
+ Nation 105:569 N 22 ‘17 950w
“Many of the pieces are of little moment, except that, as Miss Tarbell says in her preface, ‘Nothing that he wrote is without importance’”
+ — N Y Times 22:445 N 4 ‘17 1050w
+ — Outlook 117:475 N 21 ‘17 110w
LINCOLN, JOSEPH CROSBY (JOE LINCOLN, pseud.). Extricating Obadiah. il *$1.50 (1½c) Appleton 17-25818
Cape Cod, of course. A simple story scheme that runs something like this: Obadiah Burgess inherits a house and twelve thousand in cash. He had formerly been a cabin boy and had gone to sea with Captain Noah Newcomb. At the time of his prosperity his old captain, now retired, is touring Cape Cod and is laid up for motor repairs in Obadiah’s town of Trumet. Obadiah had indulged in a good deal of talk about his wealth and excited the cupidity of a dealer in antiques who begins a systematic and apparently successful campaign to relieve Obadiah of his wealth. Worried, Obadiah appeals to his old friend. After the captain finds that about a dozen are taking part in weaving a net around Obadiah he turns to a task quite similar to putting together a picture puzzle. He lists his pieces, gets their number, and puts them together to the amazement of Obadiah and the discomfort of his culprits.
“Full of Cape Cod dialect and humor.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:97 D ‘17
+ Cleveland p132 D ‘17 50w
+ Dial 64:78 Ja 17 ‘18 90w
“The author’s versatility is equal to any difficulty and he evolves plots, inner plots, and counter-plots. He makes impossible and exaggerated facts seem quite plausible.”
+ Lit D 55:51 D 29 ‘17 210w
“The simple little story is familiar and commonplace but it is a fairly entertaining tale, nevertheless.”
+ N Y Times 22:484 N 18 ‘17 270w
“Again we have racy dialogue, honest fun, and clever situations.”
+ Outlook 117:386 N 7 ‘17 30w
“The plot is not a very heavy one, but who reads a Lincoln novel for the plot alone! One reads it for genial old tars like Captain Noah, for rascally old skinflints like Balaam Griggs, for Serepta Hatches, keeping tabs on how many times Mary Barstow’s beau calls, for salt water vocabularies, for glimpses of Cape Cod’s sandy marshes and for mental whiffs of stiff sea breezes.” R. D. Moore
+ Pub W 92:1374 O 20 ‘17 450w
“In the new story there is a well-sustained plot in addition to a new group of familiar character types. The story is in Mr Lincoln’s best vein, which spells unadulterated diversion.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 O 28 ‘17 350w
LINCOLN, NATALIE SUMNER. Nameless man. il *$1.40 Appleton 17-24163
“Beginning with an argument about the yellow peril, this novel of murder and intrigue attempts to prove its actuality. Between California and Washington, in diplomatic circles and social life, the mystery runs, implicating white men as well as Japanese. And mingled with the adventure of seeking the fomenter of plots and murderer of innocent men is the never-failing love interest, as troubled as it is true.”—N Y Times
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
+ Bookm 46:342 N ‘17 40w
“Abundant thrills mark the progress of the tale.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 N 21 ‘17 160w
“Although the facts as they are ultimately disclosed seem incredible, and the characters are stereotyped ones, the excitement of unraveling the tangled threads and of having the sport of detection keeps interest awake.”
+ — N Y Times 22:414 O 21 ‘17 170w
“If the reader dismisses the mischievous political innuendoes he may enjoy a diverting mystery tale.”
– + Springf’d Republican p19 O 14 ‘17 110w
LINDSAY, NICHOLAS VACHEL. Chinese nightingale, and other poems. *$1.25 Macmillan 811 17-25832
The first collection of Mr Lindsay’s poems to appear since the “Congo” volume. There are five groups: The Chinese nightingale, awarded the Levinson prize in 1915, is alone in the first group; in the second are a half dozen poems under the heading, “America watching the war”; the third includes poems grouped under “America at war with Germany”; the fourth is a collection of “Tragedies, comedies and dreams”; while the fifth is a group of “Poem games” all of which have been successfully illustrated in pantomime. The aim of the poem game is to abolish orchestra and piano, replacing them with the natural meaning and cadences of English speech which, the author claims, can convey poetic ideas faster than musical feeling.
A L A Bkl 14:121 Ja ‘18
“Whatever Vachel Lindsay does, one feels the sincerity and the strong native impulse back of it. He is a vitalising force in modern poetry, having at once the social vision and the knowledge that it cannot be realized apart from beauty. Technically he has widened the outposts of poetry, and we may look to him to annex a still wider demesne.” J. B. Rittenhouse
+ Bookm 46:576 Ja ‘18 590w
339“It is disappointing to regard Mr Lindsay in ‘The Chinese nightingale and other poems,’ taking an attitude below the ‘Congo’ volume, and levelling, in the group, the ‘General William Booth’ column. ... In ‘America watching the war’ ‘The tale of the tiger tree’ finely illustrates the tapering of Mr Lindsay’s imaginative power into a mannerism; it is all here, the kind of incisive exploration in vision which Mr Lindsay takes to particularize a simple and impressive fact, but the kind of familiarity which envelopes it, takes away the thrill of emotion that we do feel in ‘The Chinese nightingale,’ and in the poems of the two earlier volumes. Mr Lindsay can never fail to be interesting, seductively arresting, exhilarating, in his own strange and individual way. ... The new art, or combination of arts, which Mr Lindsay has devised in ‘The poem games,’ is, apart from ‘The Chinese nightingale,’ the most interesting feature of this new book.” W. S. B.
– + Boston Transcript p9 N 3 ‘17 750w
+ Cleveland p4 Ja ‘18 90w
“Any admirer of Lindsay will observe with distrust this growing insistence on the sermonizing feature of his work.” L: Untermeyer
– + Dial 63:633 D 20 ‘17 1050w
“Of all the American poets to whom the epithet ‘modern’ has been applied Nicholas Vachel Lindsay has struck the most distinctively American note.”
+ Lit D 55:36 D 15 ‘17 1000w
New Repub 13:353 Ja 19 ‘18 60w
“The book does not lift his place in American poetry; its crudities are more noticeable, as this is a third book; but the spontaneous soil-taste of some of the poems cannot be gainsaid, nor his ability to weave garments of fantastic wonder, to please childlike hearts forever.” Clement Wood
– + N Y Call p14 D 8 ‘17 670w
“For beauty and vigor the title poem is unsurpassed in modern poetry.”
+ R of Rs 57:106 Ja ‘18 80w
LINTIER, PAUL. My .75; reminiscences of a gunner of a .75 m/m battery in 1914; from the French; with a preface by Frances Wilson Huard. *$1.35 (2½c) Doran 940.91 (Eng ed 17-24670)
A dramatic story of France from the days of mobilization to the battles on the Aisne. The author, twenty-three at the time of his death, has not only furnished the world with a first hand account, clear and gripping, of the important events ending at the Marne and the Aisne but has prepared a human document which will show the ages to come the heroism of souls as they reacted to the stupendous demands of the field of honor. “The admirable patience, the great good humour, the intelligent cleverness and heroic devotion together with the plain, simple courage, all the deep-rooted, undreamed of qualities of the French race, are to be found within its covers, making it a monument to stoic virtue.” (Preface)
“It is the work of a fine, eager spirit and it is well done, clear, vivid, unpretentious. No one can deny that he had the gift of narration. But it is promise, not fulfilment, after all.” C. M. Francis
+ — Bookm 46:450 D ‘17 270w
“The book is an important document because the two qualities of the French race are here found, intellectual cleverness and simple courage.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 D 29 ‘17 330w
“Amongst the appalling number of war books ‘My .75’ stands out. Plainness of language and matter of fact descriptions go to make the book distinctive.”
+ New Repub 13:387 Ja 26 ‘18 100w
“There is pathos, romance, and history in the proper degree. There is just enough of each to make the work comprehensive. Paul Lintier has that fine combination of delicacy and strength, so characteristic of Balzac, De Musset, and Bordeaux. It is an exceptional book and should live in the hearts of those who love France and in the minds of those who love good literature.”
+ + N Y Times 22:441 O 28 ‘17 140w
“It is the work of an acutely observant and sensitive mind. On one page the author puts down horrors and outrages with downright realism; on another he reveals the power of rumour or the glory of a country luxuriant in natural beauty. ... The candour of the writer is remarkable.”
+ Sat R 123:553 Je 16 ‘17 400w
Spec 119:770 D 29 ‘17 100w
“His book should live, however, for a long, long time, because of its single truthfulness and sincerity, because of its vivid pictures of the French army in the early part of the war. The spirit shown by Lintier in his diary was the spirit of his comrades—of France. Every detail, no matter how ghastly, bears the stamp of truth.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 N 26 ‘17 300w
LIPPINCOTT, HORACE MATHER. Early Philadelphia; its people, life and progress. il *$6 Lippincott 974.8 17-28902
“This book endeavors to name and describe all the leading characters and the various social, financial, and patriotic organizations, giving portraits and reproductions of people and places, buildings and bridges and parks, in such a way as to offend none and please all, at least all whose names and interest are included. It is a sort of book of heraldry for all the substantial and socially fit of the present day. If you are a Philadelphian and have ancestors who counted in the city of Franklin, this book will give you name, business, and standing.” (Dial) “Mr Lippincott begins with a sketch of and tribute to the founder of the city and carries the record down to and beyond the middle eighteenth century.” (Springf’d Republican)
“Other little matters of this sort might be found, but so many errors have been contained in other books about the times (notably ‘Hugh Wynne’), concerning Quaker traits and local geography, that these seem trivial, and one gets a very fair picture of old scenes and manners from Mr Lippincott’s book. The style is clear and the selection of subjects well proportioned.” I: Sharpless
+ — Am Hist R 23:416 Ja ‘18 530w
+ — Dial 63:593 D 6 ‘17 350w
+ Outlook 117:576 D 5 ‘17 60w
“Naturally and logically, a great part of the volume is devoted to a description of the Philadelphia Quakers. Other elements in the city’s growth receive due attention, and there is an interesting treatment of the German and Scotch-Irish migrations into what was then the wilderness.”
+ R of Rs 57:103 Ja ‘18 90w
“Mr Lippincott has not written a classic account of Philadelphia life. But his sketchy pages are readable and informing and are suitably flavored with quotations from contemporary documents.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 O 7 ‘17 550w
LIPPMANN, JULIE MATHILDE. Mannequin. *$1.30 (3½c) Duffield 17-12389
A case of mistaken identity is the basis for this story. A rich and idle young woman is taken for one of the mannequins in a dressmaking establishment. The mistake is made by Mrs Jerome-Jarvis, an autocratic society leader, who had engaged the real mannequin as a companion on a yachting trip. Elizabeth Tiernan finds herself hustled without ceremony aboard the great lady’s yacht, and thinking it a joke that can be explained in the morning, she keeps silent. But by morning the joke has been carried beyond her control. She scents a mystery, and by making a few errors in judgment on her own account, adds to the confusion.
Boston Transcript p6 My 2 ‘17 200w
“This new book by the author of ‘Burkses’ Amy’ and ‘Martha-by-the-day’ is one of those 340tales which, being possessed of an utterly preposterous plot, require the lightest and deftest kind of handling. Such stories need wit, and debonair, irresponsible gayety; they must froth and sparkle, if they are not to be merely silly. And ‘The mannequin’ reminds one very much of lukewarm ginger ale—entirely flat and insipid.”
— N Y Times 22:218 Je 3 ‘17 230w
“The situation develops into a hilarious farce, with ludicrous misunderstandings and cross purposes. The heroine is always charming and sprightly, and the story affords amusement.”
Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 8 ‘17 150w
LIPSON, EPHRAIM. Europe in the nineteenth century; an outline history. il *$2 Macmillan 940.9 (Eng ed 17-859)
“The author, already known by his ‘Introduction to the economic history of England: middle ages,’ now provides a history of Europe from the fall of Napoleon to the present time.” (Ath) “In the preface to the book now under review Mr Lipson lays claim to a certain originality, at least of presentment. He has, he says, ‘discarded the traditional method of writing European history from the standpoint of international politics in favour of a method of treatment which gives a concise and connected account—analytical rather than narrative—of the internal development of the chief European states after the fall of Napoleon.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup)
“The brevity of the book, as compared with other recent discussions of the same subject has been brought about by some notable omissions. Substantially no space is given to England or to minor states like Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries; the industrial revolution and, in general, the social and economic parts of the story, are given only slight attention—much less than in most of the later books; little emphasis is placed upon European history since 1870, except as connected with the outbreak of the war. ... An extremely pleasant characteristic of the book is the calm, historical temper with which Mr Lipson approached those parts of his subject that deal with the present war. ... As an example of the book-maker’s art, the volume reflects war conditions in the unsubstantial character of the binding. There are no bibliographies and the index is inadequate. The maps do not compare favorably with the best of recent publications on nineteenth-century Europe.” C: R. Lingley
+ — Am Hist R 22:852 Jl ‘17 650w
“Of particular importance are the chapters on ‘The reform movement in Russia, 1815-1916,’ and ‘The growth of the German empire, 1815-70.’ ... Mr Lipson gives a clear account of the achievement of the political unity of Italy. ... The maps in the volume can be commended. Altogether, Mr Lipson has produced a valuable summary of modern European history, treated in a somewhat novel manner.”
+ Ath p437 S ‘16 250w
“The chapter on the Balkan States will probably be the most valued by the ‘general readers’ for whom the book is intended.” G. B. H.
+ Eng Hist R 32:157 Ja ‘17 50w
N Y Br Lib News 4:15 Ja ‘17
“From the point of view of the general reader one capital defect of Mr Lipson’s method is that it necessarily takes too much knowledge for granted. ... In general, apart from this defect, the chapters dealing with the internal developments of the states are clear and accurate, though following in the main conventional lines. ... His chapter on the Reform movement in Russia is particularly interesting, especially the account of the effects of the industrial revolution which followed the emancipation of the serfs and the introduction of railways. But here again the bias that makes him defend the Commune makes him less than fair to autocrats. ... Not all the chapters reach the high level of that on Russia. The least satisfactory perhaps is that on the Balkan States.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p470 O 5 ‘16 1300w
LISTER, CHARLES ALFRED. Charles Lister; letters and recollections. il *$3.50 Scribner 17-13304
“This volume, which serves as a memento to his son, Lord Ribblesdale has compiled out of letters written to his family and friends by Charles Lister, to which are added a memoir by the father, and recollections of the son by Sir Rennell Rodd, under whom the young man served in the British embassy at Rome before the war, and others. Charles Lister took part in the Gallipoli campaign, where he was wounded three times, and died from the effects of the last wound in August, 1915, at the age of 28. ... The letters begin five years before the opening of the war and relate his doings, observations, and thinking during a holiday in Germany, his two years of service at Rome with the British embassy, a trip to India and Constantinople, and then take up his experiences on the expedition to the Dardanelles. These last compose the bulk of the book.”—N Y Times
“Unusually readable letters.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:58 N ‘17
+ N Y Times 22:130 Ap 8 ‘17 200w
Pratt p48 O ‘17 30w
+ Spec 118:45 Ja 13 ‘17 1500w
“There is never a trace of the junker spirit, never a word about the glory of war. There is hardly any self-consciousness. The book is a continuous revelation of charm, high spirits and character: also of a young man’s alert-minded and fruitful reaction to the various phases of his experience in the 20th-century English world.”
+ Springf’d Republican p19 Mr 25 ‘17 1150w
“Lord Ribblesdale has done his work as editor with detachment and restraint. With abundance of material, he has managed to keep the book comparatively small and altogether interesting.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p7 Ja 4 ‘17 1150w
LITCHFIELD, GRACE DENIO. Song of the sirens. *$1 Putnam 811 17-11825
Ulysses is made the hero of this poem. In rhymed couplets and regular measure the author tells the story of the perilous passage of the Sirens’ rock, with Ulysses lashed to the mast and vainly demanding release from his unheeding seamen. One of these is singled out from the rest, the youngest and least of the rowers, who suffers in his master’s agony.
“The book stands out among this season’s volumes of verse as a work of much more than passing interest and value. It is unfortunate that none of our magazines had an editor sufficiently enlightened to discover ‘The song of the sirens’ and print it as a serial.”
+ Lit D 54:1861 Je 16 ‘17 750w
LIVESAY, FLORENCE RANDAL, tr. Songs of Ukraina; with Ruthenian poems. *$1.50 Dutton 891.7 17-26397
“This collection of the songs of the essentially poetic and musical ‘Little Russian’ people is divided into parts according to subject—Cossack songs, Wedding songs, etc., the longest section being Folk songs; and the poems by Fedkovich (1834-1888) having a place by themselves.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
+ A L A Bkl 13:392 Je ‘17
+ Ath p543 N ‘16 60w
“The translations, though not ideal, are lively and spirited. It is a book which every lover of poetry will prize.” N. H. D.
+ Boston Transcript p8 F 3 ‘17 800w
Cleveland p134 D ‘17 90w
“The translations into English are excellent.”
+ N Y Times 22:287 Ag 5 ‘17 150w
341“The translator is a Canadian—her home is in Winnipeg. ... These folk songs of the ‘forgotten kingdom of Ukraina’ have come down through singing centuries and hold in them the history of the most artistic of Slav people.”
+ Ontario Library Review 1:112 My ‘17 60w
“The gloom and toil of the Russian peasant pervades these poems, and it must be said that in some cases they seem hampered by faulty translation.”
Outlook 115:116 Ja 17 ‘17 50w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p527 N 2 ‘16 40w
LIVINGSTONE, RICHARD WINN. Defence of classical education. *$1.40 (2c) Macmillan 375 (Eng ed 17-12623)
“A main contention, in this able defence of the humanities in education, is that a nation can be ‘scientific,’ though compulsory classics are the staple of its secondary education, and though the majority of its youth is trained in classical schools. Particulars are given to show that German secondary education is far more classical than ours. A caution is conveyed against the mistake of supposing that we are simply suffering from the predominant position of classics in our public schools, and that we have only to expel them in favour of physical science and modern languages ‘to be cured of all our ills.’ It is admitted by the author that we need more physical science in industry and elsewhere; but it is pointed out that our real weakness is a national indifference to knowledge. Cogent presentations of the case for Greek and the case for Latin are embodied in chaps. 3 and 4; and an effort is made later to combat the idea that the classics can be studied satisfactorily in translations. The last chapter contains suggestions for reforms.”—Ath
“The title of the book may, we fear, militate against its usefulness and have the tendency of warning off the general reader, who may regard it as the work of a specialist. ... ‘A defence of classical education’ is admirably adapted, by its absence of technicalities, its infectious enthusiasm, and its clear and graceful style, to appeal to that growing public which is ready to know more of this new learning.”
+ Ath p24 Ja ‘17 1050w
+ Ath p37 Ja ‘17 170w
“This book is, unfortunately, based upon two misconceptions, both of which are common amongst classicists. ... The title of the book is a misnomer, for the work is not a defence of classical education at all. ... As a plea for the retention of classics in a general scheme of education, the book is excellent. Where Mr Livingstone is dealing with facts he is on safe ground, and the majority of the work is a ‘hymn of praise’ which is wholly admirable. His assumptions, however, are nearly always erroneous, and his conclusions illogical; one cannot help thinking that a little knowledge of scientific method would have saved him from many pitfalls.”
– + Nature 99:1 Mr 1 ‘17 900w
“The questions most frequently asked are these: Why should the classics have a place in our education? Why should they not be confined to a few specialists? Why should they not be entirely replaced by our own and other modern languages, literatures, and history? To these inquiries Mr Livingstone wisely devotes the greater part of his book. ... We are glad to see that Mr Livingstone ends with some excellent suggestions for reform in classical teaching, more attention to ‘realien,’ and less prominence for the purely linguistic side.”
+ Sat R 123:41 Ja 13 ‘17 1100w
“Mr Livingstone has written a charming book. The beauty and solid worth of the best Greek and Latin authors are admirably described in his main chapters. But while we sympathize heartily with his reverence for the classics, we cannot help remarking that he does not really face the question whether they can be read with profit in translations.”
+ Spec 118:174 F 10 ‘17 900w
“Among these fixed points which are emerging, the central one, and the most important, is the growing conviction that the aim of education is neither literary culture nor scientific acquirement, neither technical skill nor commercial aptitude, but the creation and diffusion of citizenship in its full sense. ... Mr Livingstone’s volume is a statement, satisfactory in its fullness, excellent in its sanity and moderation, of the reasons for holding that, here and now, the study of the classics has a necessary and important place in such an education.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p30 Ja 18 ‘17 2650w
LIVINGSTONE, WILLIAM PRINGLE. Mary Slessor of Calabar: pioneer missionary. 6th ed il *$1.50 Doran 16-22663
“The heroine was a Scotch girl born amidst the humblest surroundings and conditions, which made her at fourteen and for fourteen years a millworker in the city of Dundee. ... From her early childhood she was interested in the missionary efforts along the old Calabar coast, and here from 1876 until her death in 1915 she carried on, often alone and in the midst of danger, a pioneer work for the reclamation of the savage tribes. This well written memoir, based chiefly upon her many letters, gives the reader a striking picture of the barbarous life and customs of the natives of Calabar and shows the uplifting power of civilization.”—Ind
+ A L A Bkl 13:350 My ‘17
Cleveland p106 Ag ‘16
“One of the most fascinating missionary biographies ever written. It has the romance of heroism and adventure, the vitality of vigorous achievement, the freshness of pioneering in a land of strange peoples and weird customs.”
+ Ind 88:327 N 20 ‘16 150w
N Y Br Lib News 3:91 Je ‘16
“Has had the unusual experience for a biography—and especially that of a foreign missionary—of being among the ‘best sellers.’ In its first months it is already in its fourth edition, and well it may be, for rarely has a life been lived so full of romance, of heroism, and at the same time of absolute sincerity and simplicity.”
+ Outlook 115:194 Ja 31 ‘17 2750w
+ Pittsburgh 22:526 Je ‘17 60w
Pratt p45 Ja ‘17
LIVINGSTONE, WILLIAM PRINGLE. Story of Mary Slessor for young people; a true story of adventure, heroism and faith. il *$1 Doran 17-4476
“The natives of Africa knew the heroine of this true story by the name of ‘The white queen of Okoyong.’ Her real name is Mary Slessor, and this is her biography. It is written for children, and tells the whole life history of the brave Scottish missionary whom the Presbyterian church sent out to Africa in 1876. From that date until her death in 1914 Miss Slessor acted as friend, teacher, minister, doctor and officer of the law to the savages in the then uncharted wilds of Calabar.” (Boston Transcript) Mary Slessor is one of the “Heroines of service” about whom Mary R. Parkman writes in her book of that title.
+ A L A Bkl 13:454 Jl ‘17
“This book ought to fire the imagination and direct the activities of boys and girls until they shall become in turn such workmen as Mary Slessor was in the realm of unselfish service.”
+ Bib World 50:315 N ‘17 90w
“The account throws many sidelights on African customs and institutions.”
+ Boston Transcript p7 Jl 3 ‘17 160w
LOCKE, WILLIAM JOHN. Red planet. *$1.50 (2c) Lane 17-26481
Grief-stricken with the sudden news of the death in action of his only son, Sir Anthony Fenimore turns to take his place as chairman of a war committee with the words: “The boy didn’t shirk his duty. Why should I?” This opening incident is the keynote of the book, which is a story of England in war-time, a story of high courage and of homes made desolate. It is told by Major Meredyth of the regular army who, invalided since the Boer war, 342could, at first, only watch those activities in which he longed to join. But, in the end, he, too, finds his place and can say: “I, too, am a man of the great war. I have lived in it, and worked in it, and suffered in it. So long as one’s soul is sound—that is the great matter.” His work had been the helping to keep sound the souls of those about him in the little south of England town in which he lived, and, in particular, to aid as only a brother officer could, Leonard Boyce, in his tragic struggle between his better and his lower nature. It is this struggle for self-mastery, fought out in South Africa, in England, in the trenches, that forms a background for the incidents of the book, and it is Betty Fairfax, type of all true women in the war, who gives charm and heart to the tale. Locke, the romancer, is no longer romancing. He is telling spiritual truth.
“Well written, full of good character sketches and will be popular. Appeared in Good Housekeeping.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:450 Jl ‘17
+ Ath p528 O ‘17 110w
“‘The white feather’ might have better suggested its central motive, for the chief figure in the action is an English officer with a lifelong strain of cowardice to fight down and conceal. ... A piece of clever claptrap. Any war might have served as the background.” H. W. Boynton
— Bookm 45:645 Ag ‘17 650w
+ Boston Transcript p6 Jl 11 ‘17 1300w
“Written with much skill, timely to the very minute, and full of human appeal. Mr Locke has succeeded, in his portrayal of Boyce, in giving a living character to literature. The conclusion is an artistic blunder, as well as distasteful from the moral point of view.”
+ — Cath World 106:110 O ‘17 600w