Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1917 Books (continued 3)
Reading edition
+ R of Rs 55:552 My ‘17 130w
“Prof. Bang, in his chapter on ‘The trend of German thought,’ makes the absurd mistake—or else the translation does—of classifying Nietzsche with Treitschke and Bernhardi as prophets of German world-power. Otherwise his observations are apparently correct. ... The numerous examples cited give the book its value.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 Ap 2 ‘17 950w
“Dr Bang, who is a professor of the University of Copenhagen, and himself a distinguished theologian, has done well to publish this book. ... It is a valuable supplement to Professor Nippold’s book on German Chauvinism, which appeared shortly before the war, and to the similar collections made by Mr Alexander Gray in his three pamphlets, ‘The new leviathan,’ ‘The upright sheaf,’ and ‘The true pastime.’”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p630 D 28 ‘16 1200w
BANGS, JOHN KENDRICK. Half hours with the Idiot. *$1.25 (5c) Little 817 17-14182
“Readers of Bangs are familiar with the boarding house of Mrs Pedagog for single gentlemen, where the Idiot, the Doctor, the Poet, the Bibliomaniac, and Mr Brief, the lawyer, assemble daily for refreshments. Over the waffles each morning the Idiot discourses of some theme of timely interest, like Christmas shopping, the income tax, medical conservation, etc.”—Springf’d Republican
A L A Bkl 13:439 Jl ‘17
“Not quite so spontaneous in their humor as the breakfast-table talks in ‘Coffee and repartee.’”
+ — Cleveland p104 S ‘17 50w
“Mr Bangs gives no intimation in this volume that his humor is in danger of going stale or ceasing. It is in his usual style, only more so, which is good enough for most of us.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Je 24 ‘17 160w
BARBEE, LINDSEY. Let’s pretend. il. 75c Denison 812 17-19694
A book of fairy plays for children, provided with notes on costume and properties, stage directions, etc. Contents: The little pink lady; The ever-ever land; When the toys awake; The forest of every day; A Christmas tree joke; “If don’t-believe is changed into believe.” In some of the plays the number of characters is large, making them suitable for school entertainments where many children take part.
+ Ind 92:444 D 1 ‘17 30w
“A book of delightful children’s plays. ... They are merry and whimsical and carry their little sermons unobtrusively.”
+ R of Rs 56:444 O ‘17 40w
“The value of these plays is increased by practical directions for costuming, by stage directions and by other helps to production.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 D 20 ‘17 80w
BARBER, CHARLES H. Besieged in Kut and after. *5s Blackwood, London 940.91
“Major Barber records his journey from Basra up to Kut, then the return of the army from Ctesiphon, the long-drawn siege, the hopes and disappointments, the surrender, life as a prisoner in Baghdad, his exchange, and the passage down the river again to the familiar lower reaches—familiar, but already transformed by the preparations for the new advance—and then the farewell to ‘the desert land where we had left only two good years of our life, measured by the standard of time, but a good ten by those of our feelings.’ What those feelings were it is easy to guess, though the author wraps them all in their wonderful natural cover of the soldier’s courage and hopefulness and kindness.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
+ Sat R 124:312 O 20 ‘17 250w
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p371 Ag 2 ‘17 130w
“Major Barber’s book is a little epic. ... And it is none the less an epic for being in form an impersonal and matter-of-fact record of daily events. The sub-title might be ‘Endurance.’”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p374 Ag 9 ‘17 780w
BARBER, FREDERIC DELOS, and others. First course in general science. il *$1.25 Holt 502 16-17507
“This book is written for the American school child. It opens with the statement that ‘the primary function of first-year general science is to give, as far as possible, a rational, orderly, scientific understanding of the pupil’s environment to the end that he may, to some extent, correctly interpret that environment and be master of it. It must be justified by its own intrinsic value as a training for life’s work.’ Setting out with this idea, the authors take the various phenomena with which the child is likely to be confronted, and deal with them in a manner calculated to arouse his interest.”—Nature
“It covers somewhat the same field as Caldwell and Eikenberry (Booklist 11:299 Mr ‘15), but is, perhaps, more technical, fuller on physical science, heat, light, ventilation, and refrigeration, and contains less on biology and physical geography, has problems and exercises as well 28as more illustrations. ... A revision and enlargement of the author’s ‘Elements of physical science,’ published in 1906.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:379 Je ‘17
+ Ind 91:264 Ag 18 ‘17 120w
“Its facts in regard to physics and vital phenomena are carefully stated, and the many applications of elementary principles to human welfare are ingeniously and clearly presented.”
+ Nation 104:560 My 3 ‘17 150w
“Probably the best use of the book is as a teacher’s guide to give him ‘copy’ which he can work up and adapt to his own class.”
+ Nature 98:348 Ja 4 ‘17 400w
BARBER, HERBERT LEE. Story of the automobile; its history and development from 1760 to 1917; with an analysis of the standing and prospects of the automobile industry. il *$1.50 (2½c) Munson 629.2 17-16907
As one reads the sub-title of this book he wonders what Franklin had to do with the automobile. Specifically, the author accords Franklin, as the discoverer of electricity, the credit for the electrical automobile, and, in a more general way, shows that in his teachings of frugality and thrift he laid the cornerstone, 150 years ago, on which the superstructure of the automobile business has been erected. The 250 pages tell a concise story of the mechanical and commercial evolution of the automobile, its popularity and its democratization by Henry Ford. What will particularly interest makers and dealers is the analysis of the industry from a financial and investment standpoint, contributed by the Business Bourse International, Inc.
BARBUSSE, HENRI. Under fire; the story of a squad; tr. by Fitzwater Wray. *$1.50 (1½c) Dutton 940.91 17-23984
This book was first published in France, December, 1916, under the title, “Le feu,” and received the prize offered by the Académie Goncourt of Paris for the best book of the year. It has had a wide sale in France. The author is a French soldier who does not hesitate to relate the grim and sickening details of life at the front. He quotes a fellow-soldier as saying: “If you make the common soldiers talk in your book, are you going to make them talk like they do talk, or shall you put it all straight—into pretty talk?” And Mr Barbusse answers that he will not “put it all into pretty talk.” He has kept his word. The book is “not a chronicle, still less a diary, but combines pictures of men in masses, and of individual types, moralisings, impressions, observations, episodes, into a sort of epic of army life from the point of view of a private soldier.” (Bookm) And the soldier’s point of view on the war seems to be that while war has turned him and his fellows into “incredibly pitiful wretches, and savages as well, brutes, robbers, and dirty devils,” that, because they are fighting “for progress, not for a country; against error, not against a country” they must fight on until the spirit of war is slain, and, “there’ll no longer be the things done in the face of heaven by thirty millions of men who don’t want to do them.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:59 N ‘17
“Its realism is carried to the extent that some passages are more than merely painful to the reader: they are repellent. There is so much insistence upon the dirt, the vermin, the stench, and the sordidness in the battle zones, and so wrapped in a charnel-house atmosphere are many pages, that we think the artistry of the book has suffered in consequence. However, it is, we repeat, a remarkable production: and it must be admitted that this tale of soldiering in its grimmest and grimiest aspects is well worth reading.”
+ — Ath p470 S ‘17 170w
“The sub-title, the ‘Life of a squad,’ is somewhat misleading. There is much more than the life of a squad in this brilliant and varied narrative, which records or divines wide areas of experience.” F. M. Colby
+ Bookm 46:90 S ‘17 1250w
“In contrast to his book, the others seem like documents, or pious memorial volumes, or collections of extracts from the average war articles in the magazines. Whether this difference will appear to those who read it only in the present English version it is hard to say, for the translator has come down upon it rather heavily.” C. M. Francis
+ — Bookm 46:451 D ‘17 150w
“But a short time ago it would have been thought impossible that the war’s abominations could be restated with such force and vividness as to make them appear almost new to us, yet this is what has been accomplished here by a master hand exercising extraordinary gifts of expression with unrestricted freedom. The book is an achievement that will endure. If it reaches the huge sales here that are recorded of it in France, much credit will be due to the translator, who has done his work extremely well.”
+ Cath World 106:409 D ‘17 850w
“He is magnificently indifferent to the curious editorial taboo which results in the frigid brevity of the war dispatch and the inhuman abstractions of Mr Frank H. Simonds. To a man tremendously in earnest who wanted to make those at home see and feel the war—yes and smell it too—any squeamishness would naturally be a simple irrelevance. It would not be thought of, and M. Barbusse hasn’t thought of it. The result is a book of terrific impact, a horrible and fascinating document that brings one nearer to the desolation and despair of No Man’s Land than anything else I have read.” G: B. Donlin
+ Dial 63:455 N 8 ‘17 1550w
“Barbusse has the essentially French ability of creating atmosphere. The action moves in vivid patches and flashes of color against a gray background of mud and drizzling rain.”
+ Ind 92:561 D 22 ‘17 630w
“It is unnecessary to have been at the front to judge of M. Barbusse’s veracity. It is a book that is no more to be questioned than the diary of Captain Scott or the deathless pages of Tolstoy.” F. H.
+ New Repub 12:358 O 27 ‘17 1700w
“‘Under fire’ is an example of genre art, crude often, as Rodin’s casts are crude, as Millet’s paintings are crude. ... The greatest chapter in the book is the last called ‘The dawn.’” B. H.
+ N Y Call p14 N 25 ‘17 1550w
“M. Barbusse has succeeded in giving an unforgettable impression of the war as it exists, and in offering us a new point of view from which to consider it and its fighters.”
+ N Y Times 22:360 S 23 ‘17 700w
Pittsburgh 22:651 O ‘17 60w
+ Pittsburgh 22:748 N ‘17 70w
“Makes most other war books—barring perhaps Hugh’s letters from the trenches in ‘Mr Britling’ and Donald Hankey’s ‘Student in arms,’ first series—seem flat and soulless—merely pictorial, a kind of motion picture. We laugh with Empey in ‘Over the top,’ but here one doesn’t read to laugh.” Robert Lynd
+ Pub W 93:213 Ja 19 ‘18 600w
BARCLAY, FLORENCE LOUISA (CHARLESWORTH) (MRS CHARLES W. BARCLAY). White ladies of Worcester. *$1.50 (1½c) Putnam 17-29023
A novel which views such mediaeval matters as cloisters, feudal pomp and chivalry in the light of our twentieth century breadth of view. The hero possesses all the qualities of the knight of chivalry, its heroine is a cloistered maiden who humbly relinquishes her religious vows for love. But here is the modern note. The Bishop of Worcester not only brings the lovers together but in so doing voices the following sentiment: “Methinks these nunneries would serve a better purpose were they schools from which to send women forth into the world to be good wives and mothers, rather than storehouses filled with sad samples of nature’s great purposes deliberately unfulfilled.” The setting and atmosphere are true to the twelfth century.
A L A Bkl 14:129 Ja ‘18
29“The book, which is overloaded with sentiment, does not carry conviction.”
— Ath p679 D ‘17 90w
“Except for an occasional ‘methinks,’ and incidental allusions to palfreys and battlements, the cumbersome trappings of mediaevalism, the battles, the conclaves, the obsolete language, are absent from the book. It is rather in the substance of the story that the spirit of an earlier day is felt.” Joseph Mosher
+ Pub W 92:1375 O 20 ‘17 450w
“The story has an excellent plot, and is told with commendable restraint, and without the cloying sentimentality and wearisome artificialities characterizing so many of the author’s stories heretofore.”
+ Springf’d Republican p11 Ja 27 ‘18 300w
“A pleasing, sentimental romance. ... The whole is too obviously conceived in a modern spirit: we feel the medievalism is but stage scenery and the sentiments those of the twentieth century.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p530 N 1 ‘17 280w
BARKER, ERNEST. Ireland in the last fifty years (1866-1916). pa *1s 6d Oxford 941.5 (Eng ed 17-14126)
“The author begins with a survey of the period to which his book relates, and proceeds to discuss the Irish church and education, the agrarian question, and the government of Ireland. The latter part of the book deals with Ireland to-day. Mr Barker regards the rebellion of 1916 as ‘a rebellion of those extremists who have, during the last fifty years, found their enemies no less in the Home rule party of Ireland than in the British government.’”—Ath
Ath p203 Ap ‘17 70w
“This well-written pamphlet gives a dispassionate account of Irish affairs during the last half-century. ... We must demur to Mr Barker’s suggestion that the Unionist party has accepted Home rule. He should have explained more clearly the position of protestant Ulster, which is imperfectly appreciated by those who do not know Ireland and her history.”
+ — Spec 118:210 F 17 ‘17 90w
“Nor does he stop with the Church and Land acts—he goes on to discuss in some detail the whole agrarian problem in Ireland as the long series of Land acts has left it, with a peasantry relieved of ‘landlordism’ and turning to a variety of boards, departments, and associations for help and guidance in the new problems that confront them. This is the really valuable part of Mr Barker’s book, and it can be heartily recommended to all who wish to understand the present economic situation in Ireland.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p44 Ja 25 ‘17 650w
BARKER, GRANVILLE.[2] Three short plays. *$1 Little 822 17-30424
“Rococo,” the first of the three plays, written in 1912, is a farce-comedy with scene laid in an English vicarage. “Vote by ballot,” dated 1914, is a comedy of English politics. The third “Farewell to the theatre,” written in 1916, is a conversation between two persons, a man and a woman, the second of whom is leaving the stage after a long career.
“These plays are tempered with the thin, keen edge of Barker’s fastidious intellectualism. ... In this trifle [’Farewell to the theatre’], hardly a play, Barker is more the poet, or the symbolist, of ‘Souls on Fifth’ than the dramatist.”
+ R of Rs 57:109 Ja ‘18 190w
BARKER, HARRY. Public utility rates. *$4 McGraw 658 17-10566
“A discussion of the principles and practice underlying charges for water, gas, electricity, communication and transportation services.” (Sub-title) “After eight years of collection, comparative analysis and study the author has brought to fruition his effort to present “a comprehensive discussion of (1) such corporation and municipal activities as affect service and rates, (2) the trend of public opinion and court and commission decisions, and (3) the most important engineering and economic problems involved.” This he has done ‘in the hope’ that the mere presentation, in one volume, of the diverse phases of rate making may be of service in provoking thought—‘in spite of the inherent shortcomings of the text.’” (Engin News-Rec)
“Perhaps the most orderly and generally comprehensive of the many engineering treatises on valuation and rate making. ... The discussion is carefully balanced, and it offers many excellent criticisms and suggestions. The author appears public-spirited, with possibly an over-confidence that his own state of mind is that of public service corporation officials. If space permitted, many minor points might be profitably discussed or criticized.” J: Bauer
+ Am Econ R 7:636 S ‘17 140w
“In its good style and thoroughly readable quality, the book reflects the author’s experience as an editor of one of the most successful technical weeklies (Engineering News). Though it treats a highly technical subject, it does so in a manner to command the interest of the reader, introducing him with a brief and pertinent historic sketch to a logical presentation of the subject, adding breadth and perspective by a discriminating analysis of the essential differences in the rate-making problem of different utilities. Its chief value lies in the comparison of the differences in the nature and past solutions of the problem. ... It should be particularly helpful to the young student.”
* + Engin News-Rec 79:322 Ag 16 ‘17 1450w
N Y Br Lib News 4:90 Je ‘17
“‘What is needed to save the observer from being swamped with facts in decisions and froth in partisan theories is just such a clear and unbiased analysis as Mr Barker’s work. ... The volume is the result of painstaking editorial observation over a period of eight years. ... Where there are two sides to a question each is given a fair statement.’”
+ Pittsburgh 22:444 My ‘17 60w (Reprinted from Municipal Journal p539 Ap 12 ‘17)
Pratt p27 O ‘17
St Louis 15:171 Je ‘17
BARKER, W. H., and SINCLAIR, CECILIA, eds. West African folk-tales. il *7s 6d Harrap & co., London 398.2
These thirty-six tales are “based upon the folk-lore of the natives of the Gold coast.” (Ath) “The subject-matter has been obtained largely from native school teachers. ... Different versions of the same story have been collated, spurious additions discovered and discarded, and the common framework isolated and established. We are told that all the material thus collected will be available eventually for the use of the student of folk-lore; but in the meantime the authors have contented themselves with trying to interest a different and wider public in the subject by retelling the original basic stories as simply and directly as possible. ... [The book includes] the primitive version of a classic story which the negro slaves took with them across the Atlantic, and which emerged from the mouth of ‘Uncle Remus’ ... as the immortal adventure of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.” (Spec)
“A curious feature of the Gold coast folk-stories is the number of Anánsi or spider tales.”
+ Ath p463 S ‘17 150w
“The tales are mostly of the explanatory ‘Just-So’ type which Kipling popularized, and although they have none of Kipling’s wonderful power of personification or triumph of linguistic invention in the telling, they are quite as ingenious and convincing in substance. ... The illustrations are delicately and imaginatively drawn, and exactly right to convey the spirit of the letterpress and to stimulate the curiosity of a child.”
+ Spec 119:247 S 8 ‘17 800w
30“These West African stories do not ‘grip’ as some others of their kind succeed in doing. ... They are not as dramatic as some, nor are they so surprising. ... The human element is lacking to them also; they throw little light on the manners and customs of the story-teller and his friends. ... A word may be said in appreciation of the illustrations. Their white outline on black ground is most effective.”
– + The Times [London] Lit Sup p388 Ag 16 ‘17 900w
BARNARD’S Lincoln, the gift of Mr and Mrs Charles P. Taft to the city of Cincinnati. il *50c (6½c) Stewart & Kidd 17-21909
The most interesting contribution to this little volume is that of the sculptor, George Grey Barnard, who tells what the statue means to him and what he tried to make it express to others,—“Lincoln, the song of democracy written by God.” In addition the book presents various documents connected with the unveiling of the statue in Cincinnati: a poem by Dr Lyman Whitney Allen, the presentation address of William Howard Taft, and the speech of acceptance by George Puchta, mayor of the city. There are five illustrations from photographs, and one from an etching by E. T. Hurley.
Ind 92:384 N 24 ‘17 400w
N Y Times 22:476 N 18 ‘17 580w
“Mr Taft’s address is a broad and true appreciation of Lincoln’s character.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 N 18 ‘17 650w
BARNES, JOHN BRYSON (O. N. E., pseud.). Elements of military sketching and map reading. 3d ed rev il *75c (5c) Van Nostrand 623.71 17-14002
“The publication of this book was undertaken with a view of providing a textbook suitable for beginners in the subject of military sketching. To the original book has been added chapters on map reading and landscape sketching.” (Preface) The book is illustrated with diagrams and sketches accompanying the text and folding maps are provided in a pocket at the end.
N Y P L New Tech Bks p13 Jl ‘17
BARNETT, GEORGE ERNEST, and MCCABE, DAVID ALOYSIUS. Mediation, investigation, and arbitration in industrial disputes. *$1.25 (6c) Appleton 331.1 16-23810
“The book is based on a study of the activities of the American national and state agencies of mediation and arbitration. The elements of weakness in the present system are analyzed, and the necessary conditions for the successful working of such systems are set forth. After giving due consideration to the experience of other countries in dealing with the problem of industrial disputes, particularly to the Canadian experience under the law for the compulsory investigation of such disputes, the authors present a plan for the reorganization of the existing systems.”—N Y Call
Reviewed by E. L. Earp
+ Am J Soc 23:559 Ja ‘18 300w
“Authoritative study. Useful for debates.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:5 O ‘17
“The attitude of the authors is impartial and practical, and the treatment of the subject is scholarly. It might be wished that the results of the last three years be included in the book. The appendices contain the Newlands act and the recommendations of the Industrial commission on mediation, arbitration, etc.” J. T. Y.
+ Ann Am Acad 71:230 My ‘17 200w
Engin N 77:108 Ja 18 ‘17 130w
+ Ind 89:508 Mr 19 ‘17 150w
N Y Call p14 D 10 ‘16 80w
“This volume is one of rather more than ordinary value. ... As a historical study and book of reference, trade unionists and Socialists should find this book a valuable addition to their material on the highly important and timely subjects of which it treats.” C. M. W.
+ N Y Call p14 Mr 18 ‘17 300w
“The book is timely and useful, particularly in its tendency to convince the unions that they are too successful for their own interests in some respects. Partisanship may win a battle or two, but fairness is needed to win the campaign for public sympathy and support.”
+ N Y Times 22:270 Jl 22 ‘17 620w
Pratt p11 O ‘17 10w
“The authors of this book, who hold chairs, respectively, at Johns Hopkins and Princeton, submitted a report in June, 1915, to the United States Commission on industrial relations. The present volume is based on that report but illustrated material has been added and the statements have been brought down to date. In this form it is the best available discussion of the subject in English.”
+ R of Rs 55:220 F ‘17 60w
St Louis 15:47 F ‘17
“The classifications in the book are admirably arranged, and its conclusions and recommendations are clearly set forth. It is somewhat unfortunate, however, that a book dealing with such an important problem does not contain more vitality. On the whole, the monograph is to be heartily recommended to everyone interested in social readjustments for its careful analysis and its timely suggestions.” H. W. Laidler
+ — Survey 39:45 O 13 ‘17 740w
BARR, MRS AMELIA EDITH (HUDDLESTON). Christine, a Fife fisher girl. il *$1.50 (1½c) Appleton 17-22293
The scene is laid in the little fishing village of Culraine, Scotland, some seventy years ago. Christine’s parents are hard-working, upright, shrewd, deeply religious fisher-folk, whose great ambition is to educate their son, Neil, as a dominie. With the help of Christine, who is intellectually the abler of the two, Neil prepares for the university, but chooses the law instead of the church, and while taking from his parents and Christine all that they can give, grows more and more forgetful and neglectful of them. The tragedy of the ungrateful son is balanced by the love story of the dutiful daughter, whose chief admirers are Angus Ballister, a gentleman, and Cluny Macpherson, a fisherman. The end of the story leaves her not only a happy wife, but a successful authoress.
A L A Bkl 14:129 Ja ‘18
“A love story of characteristic sweetness and charm.” H. W. Boynton
+ Bookm 46:340 N ‘17 40w
“Age can not wither nor custom stale Mrs Barr’s infinite variety. Her writing days have spanned many generations yet no more vigorous character has been given novel readers this year than her Christine.”
+ Boston Transcript p7 O 3 ‘17 270w
“One carries away from this story a pleasant impression of fresh breezes, of a people strong and upright and generally goodhearted. ‘Christine: a Fife fisher girl,’ is a novel which will be warmly welcomed by Mrs Barr’s many admirers.”
+ N Y Times 22:333 S 9 ‘17 700w
“As heretofore, the story betrays a high moral tone, which makes her novels well-nigh unique among the light fiction of the present day.”
+ Springf’d Republican p13 D 16 ‘17 220w
BARR, MRS AMELIA EDITH (HUDDLESTON). Joan. il *$1.50 Appleton 17-3151
“Mrs Barr has gone to the mining region of Yorkshire for her latest novel, and has drawn a clear and convincing picture of the mining folk and the industry. A very different affair is Yorkshire mining from mining here in America, and in a foreword Mrs Barr explains the root of this difference. It lies chiefly in the fact that the miners in England are sons of the soil, men who have grown to maturity in the neighborhood 31in which they work, and who have followed their fathers ‘down pit.’ ... There is plenty of romance in the new story by a born writer of love stories, Joan being a winsome lass, with spirit and courage and beauty. Her fate is a man some years older than herself, and there is wealth and splendor, too, and many happy occurrences. Each character is well visualized; there is a human directness in Mrs Barr’s writing that becomes more pronounced as time passes.”—N Y Times
A L A Bkl 13:401 Je ‘17
Boston Transcript p8 F 21 ‘17 500w
“Pleasing in its freshness and sincerity and especially interesting as the work of an author in her eighty-sixth year, who in this book is depicting the scenes with which she was familiar in her girlhood.”
+ Cleveland p33 Mr ‘17 70w
+ N Y Times 22:59 F 18 ‘17 650w
BARRETT, SIR WILLIAM FLETCHER. On the threshold of the unseen. 2d rev ed *$2.50 Dutton (*6s 6d Kegan Paul, London) 134 17-29365
“Sir William Barrett, who was for many years professor of experimental physics in the Royal college of science for Ireland, was one of the principal founders of the Psychical research society in 1882, and his interest in and close attention to the subject has been continuous for over forty years. In 1908 he published a book (written many years previously) containing his critical investigations under the title ‘On the threshold of a new world of thought.’ His present publication is in the nature of a new edition of that work, including fresh evidence (obtained independently of any professional mediums) as to survival after death. The book is in six parts. It opens with general matter on psychical research and the objections of science and of religion. Part 2 discusses ‘the physical phenomena’—rappings, levitations, &c. ... Canons of evidence, mediumship, the subliminal self, &c., are then discussed. Part 4 collects particulars of apparitions, automatic writing, and other evidence of survival. Part 5 deals with clairvoyance, trance phenomena; considers difficulties; and advances various corrections and suggestions; and in Part 6 the deeper aspects of the matter are explored—the lesson of philosophy in the interpretation of nature; the mystery of personality; reincarnation; the implications of telepathy.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) Sir William Barrett is also the author of the volume on “Psychical research” in the Home university library.
Ath p406 Ag ‘17 50w
“It seems impossible for any reasonable man to dispute the case for further study, philosophic and scientific, of the evidence so far collected, and admirably presented in the volume here reviewed.” T. W. Rolleston
+ Hibbert J 16:172 O ‘17 1700w
“The author has passed the psalmist’s warning milepost of threescore and ten, but his handling of evidential matter and his discussions in this volume show that his mind is still keen and fresh and has lost none of its habitual scientific method and temper. ... He discusses most interestingly his idea of an unseen world evolving in harmony with our own. This idea, it is apparent, is closely akin to that of a finite, evolving God which has been developed by philosophical writers from Kant down to William James and has just had forceful presentation by H. G. Wells. But Sir William nowhere intimates perception of the kinship of the two ideas.”
+ N Y Times 22:281 Jl 29 ‘17 1150w
“What is of most immediate interest at the present moment is his account of certain very recent personal experiments conducted with well-known amateurs.”
+ Spec 118:612 Je 2 ‘17 1150w
“The present short volume presents evidence and considerations on the spiritualist side with a welcome absence alike of credulity and of rhetoric.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p251 My 24 ‘17 300w
“The chief interest of this book, primarily a clear and temperate presentation of the case for scientific spiritualism, is its suggestion that there is such a thing as a scientific spirituality. ... It is another matter when we can feel that the slow patient gropings of science are inspired by a spiritual aim. ... It is this that Sir William Barrett, like Sir Oliver Lodge, does not neglect. He keeps the reader aware that psychical research is the beginning of an attempt to test an intuition of reality. This is a real meeting ground for discussion.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p280 Je 14 ‘17 950w
BARRIE, ROBERT. My log. il *$2 Franklin press 17-22077
“Robert Barrie was fortunate in having a father able to give him advantages in youth that many never attain to. When he was nearing the age of twenty-one he had his heart set on a bigger boat than those he had been sailing, and ‘the governor’ had the $2000 ready for it, but asked the boy to go around the world instead. He accepted on condition that his brother of seventeen should go with him, and that trip, which lasted well past a year, is the main part of ‘My log,’ written thirty years later for a birthday gift to ‘the governor.’ ... Paris bulks large in the later chapters, the Paris of the studios.”—Springf’d Republican
“He brings back a life, seemingly as far removed from us today as that of the moyen age. A life whose freedom from wars and rumors of wars seems now well-nigh incredible. Of those moyen days Mr Barrie is delightfully reminiscent, rambling along from one subject to another, in the friendliest of ways which renders negligible any ‘barrier of limit,’ and makes the reader a ‘comrade of the road.’”
+ Boston Transcript p7 S 12 ‘17 450w
“The book has its entertaining aspects, but as a whole belongs to the class of autobiographies which are more interesting to the author’s own personal friends and to himself than to the public at large.”
– + Outlook 117:64 S 12 ‘17 40w
“Mr Barrie is a good raconteur and while his father and friends will appreciate the book more than anyone else, it has merit and style; and its make-up is such as one might expect in a gift from one maker of fine books to another.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p8 O 11 ‘17 180w
BARRON, CLARENCE WALKER. Mexican problem. il *$1 (4c) Houghton 917.2 17-20844
Mr Barron, for ten years reporter on the Boston Transcript, is now manager of the Wall Street Journal, Boston News Bureau and Philadelphia News Bureau. He is also the author of “The audacious war” and “Twenty-eight essays on the Federal reserve act.” He went to Mexico to study the oil situation and found in that situation the solution of the Mexican problem, which he had “failed to find in railroad, agricultural or mining development.” The result of his observations is embodied in this book, the greater part of which “is devoted to an account of the development of the oil industry in Mexico, to its various conflicting interests, and to the influence and work of Edward Doheny, the man who ‘has always stood by’ and who is as much concerned with the social as with the commercial problem of Mexico.” (Boston Transcript) There are a number of illustrations from photographs, and, at the end, a map showing the lands of the Mexican petroleum company. The preface is by Talcott Williams.
Am Econ R 7:840 D ‘17 30w
A L A Bkl 14:52 N ‘17
Am Pol Sci R 11:794 N ‘17 40w
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ag 15 ‘17 450w
Cath World 106:392 D ‘17 200w
Cleveland p123 N ‘17 40w
32“Granting that all the facts are so stated by Mr Barren, that he is not far out of the way in his deductions, and that his little book is worthy of attention, he but touches the surface of the Mexican problem as it exists to-day.”
– + Dial 63:400 O 25 ‘17 450w
“Mr Barron writes himself down as 100 per cent plutocratic, and even Prussian in his outlook upon life. ... Mexico is a great country. Mr Barron looks at it only as a means of getting oil for American and foreign capitalism. Mexico has been in disorder for years. He wants tranquility. And he has written this book as a means of arousing American public opinion to consent to intervention in the unhappy nation to the south.” W: M. Feigenbaum
— N Y Call p15 S 30 ‘17 480w
“Mr Talcott Williams’s preface is only some twenty-five pages in length, but it compacts the thought and experience of a lifetime by a man with peculiar opportunities for a just judgment upon conditions like Mexico’s. ... Both Mr Barron and Mr Williams draw an attractive picture of the Mexican people.”
* N Y Times 22:305 Ag 19 ‘17 1350w
“Supplies fresh and valuable information on the petroleum industry in the Tampico-Tuxpan oil fields.”
+ Pittsburgh 22:759 N ‘17 60w
“This book supplies fresh and valuable information concerning one major economic interest in Mexico—petroleum. But quite outside its purview lie four others—agriculture, mines, rubber, henequen. It surveys with some degree of intimacy five to ten thousand square miles of territory. Mexico has over 750,000. No reader of the volume can afford to forget these limitations. Within them it is an excellent piece of work. ... Mr Barron is sympathetic in his attitude toward the Mexican people ... but rather sharp with the Mexican government. He is also impatient with Washington.” G. B. Winton
+ Survey 38:551 S 22 ‘17 410w
BARROW, GEORGE ALEXANDER. Validity of the religious experience. *$1.50 (2c) Sherman, French & co. 201 17-13311
As a preliminary study in the philosophy of religion, the author makes an examination of religious experience. He accepts religious experience as a fact, as something which happens. He says, “In raising the question of validity, whatever we may mean, we do not mean to question the fact of its existence or what its existence includes. We do not ask whether any given case of religion is or is not a true religious experience. We are concerned only with the form of the religious experience and the questions we ask are questions of possibility and of implication. Our analysis is therefore to be an analysis of concepts.” The book consists of seven lectures delivered originally at Harvard university. Contents: The problem of a philosophy of religion; Religion real and unique; The source of religion; The test of religion; Human and superhuman; Personality; A foundation for theology.
“His work will satisfy the scholar, but it is too ponderous and heavy for the average reader. If his thesis could be set forth in half the words and in more popular style it would insure itself of wider reading.” G. F.
+ — Boston Transcript p6 S 19 ‘17 470w
“The effort, unusual in these days, to determine the real by analysis of the mere form of experience, produces here, as it has so often done, abstractness of treatment and dryness of style.” G: A. Coe
– + Educ R 54:523 D ‘17 400w
N Y Br Lib News 4:117 Ag ‘17
BARRY, WILLIAM FRANCIS. World’s debate; an historical defence of the Allies. *$1.25 Doran 940.9
“The peace of Westphalia, the execution of Charles I, Washington, Napoleon, the Vatican council, not to speak of the real protagonists, Bismarck and the German emperor, the Boer war, Queen Victoria, and President Wilson all contribute to Dr Barry’s picture of ‘The world’s debate,’ which we need not say is the debate between civilization and kultur, between the Catholic Christian ideal of France and England and the heathenism of Prussia.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) The author says, “‘Autocracy in its assault on democracy was my subject; but my hope was to prove by facts and history two things: first that absolute power is doomed ... and, in the second place, that democracy and Christianity ought to recognize each other as by origin and spirit of the same nature.’” (The Times [London] Lit Sup Ag 23 ‘17)
“The whole method of handling bears the stamp of originality. When the historian combines with scientific exactness the imagination of the poet and the vision of the preacher he holds a powerful weapon with which to drive home truth.” A. M.
+ Boston Transcript p6 N 14 ‘17 750w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p407 Ag 23 ‘17 50w
“Dr Barry is a pleasant guide; often rambling and discursive, with no very deep display of learning, he gives us his interpretations of the moral of modern history, and from time to time illustrates his story by the personal reminiscences which make the book resemble a pleasant conversation.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p411 Ag 30 ‘17 850w
BARTLETT, FREDERICK ORIN. Triflers. il *$1.40 (2c) Houghton 17-10201
A man and a woman, Americans, who meet by chance in Paris, decide in a most commonsense and business-like way to marry. They have known one another for ten years altho they have seen little of one another. The serious responsibilities of marriage are distasteful to both of them, but the marriage they agree upon is to have no responsibilities. Marjory, for her part, desires freedom. The working out of the experiment is the theme of the story. Their meeting with an old lover of Marjory’s induces the two triflers to look at life seriously. By this time too they have fallen deeply in love with one another.
“Brightly written and entertaining in its way.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:401 Je ‘17
“Having begun with an arbitrary and improbable, if not impossible, situation, the author is at some pains to motivate fully the rest of his tale. He has succeeded in tracing real character development, and has subordinated circumstances to it in a large measure.” R. W.
+ — Boston Transcript p8 Ap 14 ‘17 440w
“Mr Bartlett has so much skill and charm, his style is so clear and pleasing that some day he will surely write a less trifling book.”
– + Dial 62:528 Je 14 ‘17 100w
Nation 105:16 Jl 5 ‘17 130w
+ N Y Times 22:214 Je 3 ‘17 280w
“A somewhat improbable romance. ... The book is hardly on the level with Mr Bartlett’s ‘Wall street girl,’ which was notably original and true to life.”
– + Outlook 115:710 Ap 18 ‘17 80w
“The reader is not denied a happy ending, but the suspension of interest coincides with the interjection of the false note.”
– + Springf’d Republican p17 My 6 ‘17 280w
BARTLEY, MRS NALBRO ISADORAH. Paradise auction. il *$1.50 (1c) Small 17-23973
The influence of one gracious and beautiful woman on the lives of four young people is the central theme of this story. “Darly,” so called from her son’s childish name for her, had been a famous English actress in her youth, but she had given up the stage and had come to a small American city in order to give her child a simple and wholesome bringing up. His playmates from childhood, Paul and Natalie Kail and Molly Brene look up to Darly as 33Jack himself does. Paul and Molly marry early but Natalie, who loves Jack, and Darly, his mother, suffer together the pain of seeing him marry a shallow, flippant little parasite who is destined to make marriage a mockery. It seems for a time that the mother’s life of sacrifice has been in vain; but it has not, and not only Jack, but the others as well, find, even after her death, that their destinies are shaped by her ideals.
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“We follow the separate destinies with an interest which does not wane through a long story.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ag 18 ‘17 300w
“It is a rather futile and exhausted subject, handled in a manner that is skilful, though lamentably typical of modern magazine fiction.”
– + Dial 64:78 Ja 17 ‘18 60w
+ Ind 91:188 Ag 4 ‘17 70w
“Though the novel is much too long, it holds the reader’s interest fairly well. The people are real with a possible exception of the somewhat too remarkable and admirable Darly.”
+ — N Y Times 22:222 Je 10 ‘17 430w
“The characters move without artificial stimulus. This is particularly true in the cases of the actress-mother and the son’s parasitic wife. The dialog is spontaneous.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p15 Ag 26 ‘17 500w
BARTON, BRUCE. More power to you. *$1 (2½c) Century 170 17-23552
Fifty editorials from Every Week which are really sermonettes. They are tiny doses of American idealism offered to business men who are in danger of sacrificing home life, friends, books, even dreams on the altar of business success. The writer shows that many a man has, as a by-product of his building, strengthened the character and lifted the ideals of hundreds of his associates, and helped in the regeneration of entire communities. There is some good advice concerning how to achieve that by-product.
A L A Bkl 14:38 N ‘17
“Mr Barton has the honest American respect for material ‘progress’ and business ‘success.’ But he is not sentimental on the one hand or materialistic on the other. ... ‘More power to you’ is a stimulating, vigorous, wholesome little book.”
+ N Y Times 22:347 S 16 ‘17 400w
St Louis 15:386 N ‘17 20w
“It is a little book that bids us stop for a moment and examine our rushing world. It is a book of simple aphorisms phrased so cleverly that the advice is often concealed for the moment by the sugar coating.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 N 4 ‘17 160w
BARTON, GEORGE AARON. Religions of the world. (Handbooks of ethics and religion) *$1.50 Univ. of Chicago press 209 17-20653
The author is professor of biblical literature and Semitic languages in Bryn Mawr college, Pennsylvania. The book “opens with an outline of primitive religions, and then, having stated the main elements of religion in Babylon and Egypt, goes on to deal with the religion of the ancient Hebrews, Judaism, and Mahommedanism. The next section of the book is concerned with Zoroastrianism, from which it passes to the religions of India, China, and Japan. Chapters on the religions of Greece and Rome follow, and the book closes with a section on Christianity.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) “At the close of each chapter supplementary readings are given. These are divided into two classes, one for extended work, and one for those who have but a limited time to give to the subject. At the end of the volume there are lists of books on special subjects for the teacher, topics for study, and an ‘outline of a book to be written by the student.’ There is a good index.” (Boston Transcript)
+ A L A Bkl 14:148 F ‘18
“The volume is meant to be a textbook, and as such it is admirable.”
+ Boston Transcript p7 Ag 15 ‘17 480w
“His work is colored throughout by the conviction of the Protestants that man is saved by faith alone; his book is little more than a summary of the views which various peoples have entertained in regard to God, the soul, immortality, and so on.”
— Dial 64:74 Ja 17 ‘18 850w
Ind 91:293 Ag 25 ‘17 90w
“An admirable text-book for the study of comparative religions. Without being controversial it is animated throughout by the characteristic spirit which recognizes that pagan religions are the product of the soul’s quest after God.”
+ Outlook 117:309 O 24 ‘17 60w
“A terse, well-written text-book packed with the facts concerning the great religions of the world.”
+ R of Rs 56:329 S ‘17 80w
“Valuable to all who want a concise and accurate survey of the ideals and growths of the religious systems of the world. ... The book fills a real need in the popular religious literature of the day.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 Ag 17 ‘17 300w
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p408 Ag 23 ‘17 180w
BARTON, GEORGE EDWARD. Re-education. *$1 (7c) Houghton 362 17-31277
A fearless analysis of the institutional system of the United States by a business man and for business men. The writer believes that there are some fundamental weaknesses or fallacies in our present system of dealing with education, sin, insanity and disease. He bases objections to the existing institutional system on the failure to do more than prevent, during the period of incarceration, the act of which the prisoner or patient has been guilty. He would build up a system of re-education which would make producers of inmates of institutions with an increase of efficiency. The thought underlying the inquiry and arraignment emanates from the best social theory of the day.
BASHFORD, HENRY HOWARTH. Songs out of school. (New poetry ser.) *75c Houghton 821
There is a note of quiet happiness in this small book of poems. Even “The vision of spring, 1916,” the one piece in the book that touches on the world tragedy, speaks with the voice of hope. Other poems are, The high road, Little April, Litany in spring, Lullabies at Bethlehem, Cradle songs, River songs.
“A small collection of verses, most of which appeared in the Spectator, the Nation, the Outlook, and Country Life.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:389 Je ‘17
+ Ath p478 O ‘16 30w
+ Boston Transcript p6 Mr 21 ‘17 140w
“There are serious and elegant poems which comport themselves becomingly, but the zest of the book lies in the pattering and twittering verses which in five or six instances overleap that elusive but difficult barrier that divides mere attractiveness from authentic charm.” O. W. Firkins
+ Nation 104:710 Je 14 ‘17 180w
“The difference between a minor and a sub-minor poet is something to be felt rather than explained, yet there is a definite line between. ... Mr Jeffers is a conventional minor poet; Mr Arensberg is an unconventional one; we catch, out of the corner of our eye, a glint of wings, spite of the manifest failures of each. Mr Bashford, on the other hand, without a failure to his credit, is distinctly a sub-minor. ... The trouble with his verses is that they lack something vital, a distinctiveness, a tang, the scent of personality.”
N Y Times 22:257 Jl 8 ‘17 180w
+ Outlook 115:116 Ja 17 ‘17 180w
34BASSETT, JOHN SPENCER. Middle group of American historians. *$2 (2½c) Macmillan 928 17-2031
The “middle period” of which the author writes is not exactly defined. Its beginning is placed at some time following the close of the War of 1812, its ending at the time when the scientific spirit gained dominance over the patriotic school of historical writing. 1884, the year of the founding of the American historical association, is suggested as the closing date of the period. The author’s purpose is to treat of the men who were writing history during this time, Jared Sparks, George Bancroft, Prescott, Motley, and Peter Force. There is an introductory chapter on Early progress of history in the United States, and a concluding chapter on The historians and their publishers.
“His chapters on Sparks and Bancroft make the largest contribution of fresh material, for many unpublished passages are drawn from the Sparks manuscripts in the Harvard college library, and still more from the Bancroft manuscripts in the keeping of the Massachusetts historical society.” M. A. DeW. Howe
+ Am Hist R 22:879 Jl ‘17 650w
A L A Bkl 13:304 Ap ‘17
+ Boston Transcript p6 F 24 ‘17 120w
“A distinguishing characteristic of the work is that it has to do with historians rather than with history: the author is far more interested in the men themselves and in their activities than he is in the books they wrote. ... The book is itself a piece of careful research rather than a contribution to historical criticism or the history of ideas; and taken for what it is, it will be found, by professional historians at least, and one would think by a rather wide reading public as well, a very useful book and an extremely interesting one.” Carl Becker
+ Dial 62:301 Ap 5 ‘17 1800w
Eng Hist R 32:460 Jl ‘17 70w
+ Lit D 54:2000 Je 30 ‘17 430w
“The book is eminently readable and is valuable for its appreciation, sympathetic and yet critical, of the men who made this middle period a golden age of historical writing in the United States.”
+ Nation 104:631 My 24 ‘17 900w
+ N Y Times 22:143 Ap 15 ‘17 450w
Pittsburgh 22:209 Mr ‘17
St Louis 15:119 Ap ‘17 50w
+ Spec 118:417 Ap 7 ‘17 130w
“Offered as the understudy of a more elaborate work which the author hopes to produce if the future favors.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Je 24 ‘17 720w
BASSETT, LEE EMERSON. Handbook of oral reading. *$1.60 Houghton 808.5 17-2347
“This book is the outgrowth of several years of classroom instruction and practice based on the theory that effective oral expression is the result of clear thinking.” (Preface) The first of the three parts into which the book is divided is devoted to the problem of thought-getting and to the modulations of the voice that serve to make meaning clear to others. Part 2 is devoted to the problem of the imaginative and emotional response to thought. The technical problems of tone production are treated in part 3. The book is well supplied with illustrative material. The author is associate professor of English at Leland Stanford Junior university.
“Sensible ideas, well expressed. Everts’ ‘The speaking voice’ (A L A Catalog 1904-1911) will be sufficient in the average library.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:389 Je ‘17
Cleveland p122 N ‘17 50w
“Good selections, a clear statement of principles, and a full outline for teachers.”
+ Ind 91:234 Ag 11 ‘17 30w
St Louis 15:183 Je ‘17 10w
“The high-school teacher of public speaking will be interested in this book, which sets forth very forcibly the principles of natural oral expression. ... The book might be more attractive to the high-school student if more of the selections were from contemporary literature.” E. F. Geyer and R. L. Lyman
+ — School R 25:608 O ‘17 100w
Springf’d Republican p8 Ap 25 ‘17 150w
BASSETT, SARA WARE. Story of sugar. il *75c (2½c) Penn 17-16751
Uniform with the stories of cotton, gold and silver, lumber, wool, iron, leather and glass. It is written for boys and girls from seven to twelve and has a thread of plot upon which hang bits of true information about the history and manufacture of sugar. A real sugaring-off in the maple woods, a visit to a sugar refinery, and another to a candy factory are narrated with emphasis on the processes that children can readily grasp. The sport and adventure intermingled are wholesome, the sort that live boys and girls have a big appetite for.
+ Outlook 117:574 D 5 ‘17 60w
+ Springf’d Republican p15 D 1 ‘17 100w
BASSETT, SARA WARE. Wayfarers at the Angel’s. *$1.25 (3½c) Doran 17-28601
This is another Cape Cod story by the author of “The taming of Zenas Henry.” A wooden angel, long ago a ship’s figurehead, guards the door of the “straggling house on the bluff, half buried in vines and flowers,” which is the home of three bachelors; John Bartlett, retired captain of the life-saving station; Timothy Talbot, with his Civil war relics and his seven pairs of shoes, which he wears in unvarying rotation, and David Furber, the happy-go-lucky sailor lad whom the life-savers have rescued from a foundering barque, and who after being wrecked twelve times, has now elected to stay ashore. Into this household comes Ann, who is “better’n a trained nurse, she’s a born one,” to nurse David through a fever, and life becomes a different thing to all three men. It also changes greatly for Ann, whom one of the three persuades to stay with him always as “angel of the grey house—a sight better one than that wooden image over the door.”
“The little tale is slight, but rather pleasant. There are some amusing bits, and only one disagreeable character in the book, all the rest being virtuous to a degree.”
+ N Y Times 22:442 O 28 ‘17 150w
“Sara Ware Bassett writes another buoyant ‘Cape’ story which nowise infringes upon the rights and prerogatives of Mr Lincoln.”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 D 23 ‘17 290w
BASSETT, WILBUR.[2] Wander-ships; folk-stories of the sea, with notes upon their origin. *$1.50 Open ct. 398.2 17-27992
“The book under the above title—‘Wander-ships’—is a small collection of some of the stories about wonderful and strange ships that have been reported as sailing the seas, from and to no port or haven. ... To further emphasize the stories, for the benefit of the student of such literature, copious notes on the various tales are appended. ... The volume is something of an encyclopædia on the subject of ghostly craft and vessels, the origin and voyages of which are lost in the shades of earliest tradition.”—Boston Transcript
“The several tales are interesting, whether the reader is or is not familiar with such ‘yarns,’ and the volume is a distinct contribution to the literature of the sea.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ja 5 ‘18 280w
“The work is a very unusual one, but will be a source of delight to those who love to dig down into fundamentals, for even if the superstitions of past ages are taken as the subject, the work is in itself essentially a scientific one.” J. W.
+ N Y Call p14 D 29 ‘17 800w
Outlook 118:31 Ja 2 ‘18 70w
35BATCHELDER, ROGER. Watching and waiting on the border. il *$1.25 (3c) Houghton 355.7 17-13927
The author writes of his experience on the Mexican border with one of the Massachusetts regiments of the National guard. His first purpose is to answer the many questions asked him since his return: “Was it hot down there?” “What are the Mexicans like?” and so on. His second is “to show, by narrating the story of the mobilization and the subsequent service of the National guard, how pitifully incompetent and unprepared it was and is, to form the reserve military force of the United States.” The book has an introduction by E. Alexander Powell.
A L A Bkl 14:17 O ‘17
Cleveland p116 S ‘17 40w
“While Private Batchelder is frankly outspoken in discussing these questions, he writes with the good sense and judgment born of experience. As a record of personal service in what may fairly be termed a hard country physically, his book is well worth reading by every recruit as a helpful guide to his duty and conduct.”
+ Ind 91:108 Jl 21 ‘17 300w
N Y Br Lib News 4:102 Jl ‘17
Pittsburgh 22:684 O ‘17 40w
Pratt p45 O ‘17 40w
“To those interested in military life with just a dash of adventure thrown in there is an especial appeal in ‘Watching and waiting on the border.’”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 Ag 26 ‘17 130w
BAYLEY, WILLIAM SHIRLEY.[2] Descriptive mineralogy. il *$3.50 Appleton 549 17-21365
This work, prepared as a textbook for students, is designed to give “a comprehensive view of modern mineralogy rather than a detailed knowledge of many minerals.” The author says, “It does not pretend to furnish a complete discussion of the mineral kingdom, nor a means of determining the nature of any mineral that may be met with. The chapters devoted to the process of determinative mineralogy are brief, and the familiar ‘key to the determination of species’ is omitted. In place of the latter is a simple guide to the descriptions of minerals to be found in the body of the text.” The three parts of the book are devoted to: General chemical mineralogy; Descriptive mineralogy, and Determinative mineralogy. Lists of minerals are given in appendixes; also a list of references. Hintze’s “Handbuch der mineralogie” has been drawn on for matter in the text, and “Mineral resources of the United States” has been used as a basis for the statistics. The author is professor of geology in the University of Illinois.
+ Pittsburgh 22:814 D ‘17 80w
BAYLISS, WILLIAM MADDOCK. Physiology of food and economy in diet. *65c Longmans 613.2 Agr17-520
“‘The physiology of food and economy in diet’ is a rather academic manual which has arisen, Professor Bayliss tells us, from a course of lectures given at University college, London, in November, 1916. ... After a brief résumé of the problem as a whole, Professor Bayliss studies the uses of food, the classes of foodstuffs, the question of quantity, accessory factors, digestibility, alcohol, vegetarianism, exercise, the value of cooking, characteristics of certain articles of diet, and possibilities of economy. As a general summary of his directions, he concludes with the aphorism, ‘Take care of the calories and the protein will take care of itself.’”—N Y Times
“The American reader will perhaps turn with especial interest to the study of the work of the Commission for relief in Belgium as an example of good food ministration and control.”
+ N Y Times 22:395 O 14 ‘17 150w
Pratt p19 O ‘17
St Louis 15:327 S ‘17 10w
“In a hundred pages he presents in clear, concise and fascinating language the fundamental principles of nutrition. Bayliss, though noted for his work on the secretory glands and not recognized as an expert on nutrition, has nevertheless written with the appreciative touch characteristic of the master mind.” Graham Lusk
+ Science n s 46:18 Jl 6 ‘17 50w
+ Spec 118:520 My 5 ‘17 180w
Bayonet training manual used by the British forces. (Van Nostrand’s military manuals) il *30c Van Nostrand 355
This pocket manual is a reprint of material which appeared in the Infantry Journal for May, 1917. The copyright is held by the United States Infantry association. The preface states that the instructions are from the latest British training manual (1916), and that they are based on experience in accordance with which the forces are now being trained.
BEACH, HARLAN PAGE. Renaissant Latin America. il $1 (2c) Missionary educ. movement 266 16-22287
“An outline and interpretation of the Congress on Christian work in Latin America, held at Panama, February 10-19, 1916.” The author has prepared a condensed account of the congress, quoting as largely as was consistent with his purpose from speeches and reports. Contents: The story of the Congress; Re-discovering Latin America; Interpretation, message, method; Latin Americans and education; Leaves for the healing of nations; The upbuilding of womanhood; The Latin evangelical churches; The home fulcrum; Unity’s fraternal program; Congressional addresses; Aftermath and estimates.
“The volume is interesting from beginning to end and for the busy reader meets an urgent need.” J. W. M.
+ Am J Theol 21:480 Jl ‘17 90w
“Much suggestive and stirring material is contained in this condensed review of Christian work.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Mr 3 ‘17 300w
“The exchange of ideas was noteworthy as delegates were present from nearly all over the world, and from these workers Dr Beach has collected a most interesting fund of facts.”
+ Ind 90:257 My 5 ‘17 60w
“While the enthusiasm of the author for the South Americans carries him perhaps a little too far, yet the book is well worth reading.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 8 ‘17 140w
BEACH, REX ELLINGWOOD. Laughing Bill Hyde, and other stories. il *$1.35 (1c) Harper 17-30123
The title story is a tale of Alaska, so is the one following, “The north wind’s malice.” Among the others, several are stories of business, one is a newspaper story. Some of the titles are: His stock in trade; With bridges burned; With interest to date; The cub reporter; Out of the night; The real and the make-believe; Running Elk; The moon, the maid, and the winged shoes; Flesh. The book is printed without table of contents.
“He excels in one kind of fiction which is purely American: the business story.”
+ Boston Transcript p7 D 22 ‘17 300w
“There is nothing particularly original or striking in any of these tales, but many of them will no doubt furnish amusement for an idle hour. They are written in Mr Beach’s well-known and rather agreeable style.”
+ — N Y Times 22:516 D 2 ‘17 800w
BEALS, MRS KATHARINE (MCMILLAN). Flower lore and legend. *$1.25 Holt 716.2 17-23777
The author has brought together a store of miscellaneous information—myth, legend, and fancy, with quotations from poetry,—connected with thirty-five of our common flowers. Chapters 36are given to the snowdrop, arbutus, crocus, narcissus, dandelion, violet, pansy, mignonette, buttercup, etc.
A L A Bkl 14:75 D ‘17
BEAN, C. E. W. Letters from France. il *5s Cassell & co., London 940.91
“Mr Bean, war correspondent for the Commonwealth of Australia, has not attempted to narrate the full story of the Australian imperial force, but gives graphic accounts of the first impressions of some of the Australians in France, of their life in the trenches and in billets, of the share of the Australians in the Somme advance and in the fighting at Pozières, and of their bravery at Mouquet Farm.”—Ath
Ath p420 Ag ‘17 110w
“The simple, easy style of these letters shows us clearly what the Australians have done in France.”
+ Sat R 123:552 Je 16 ‘17 1050w
“It is a wonderful story, and it is told with great spirit. Mr Bean warns his readers that the Australian troops hate to be called ‘Anzacs,’ just as they hate being called ‘Colonials.’”
+ Spec 118:675 Je 16 ‘17 120w
BEARD, FREDERICA, comp. Prayers for use in home, school and Sunday school. *60c Doran 248 17-24844
The author has assembled a number of prayers for children and young people. In those for little people she appeals to the child’s natural love of rhythm and repetition. Those for older boys and girls are drawn from many sources and are characterized by a spirit of reverence. They are arranged in four groups: Prayers for little children; Prayers for boys and girls; Prayers for young people; For use on special occasions.
“A beautiful collection.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:73 D ‘17
“Tho not many are adapted to use in public schools, in private schools, in the home and Sunday school, they would provide splendid suggestive training.”
+ Ind 91:354 S 1 ‘17 60w
Ind 92:449 D 1 ‘17 30w
BEAUFORT, J. M. DE. Behind the German veil; a record of a journalistic war pilgrimage. il *$2 (2c) Dodd 940.91 17-14977
Before going to Germany in 1914 as the representative of a London newspaper, the author had spent three years in journalistic work in New York, and he acknowledges a debt of gratitude to his American training. He is a Hollander by birth and parentage and as a boy was sent to school in Germany. His sympathies, even before starting on his mission to Germany, were strongly pro-Ally. He says, “I started on my mission and entered Germany with as far as possible an open mind. I could not honestly say at that time that I hated the Germans; I merely had no use for them.” All his experiences within the German empire intensified his feeling. The book consists of four parts: General impressions; My trip to the eastern front and visit to Hindenburg; An incognito visit to the fleet and Germany’s naval harbours; Interviews.
“He relates his experiences and impressions in journalistic and entertaining fashion.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:17 O ‘17
“The style in which the book is written is not attractive, but the matter is undeniably of interest.”
+ — Ath p204 Ap ‘17 170w
“The material is interesting but the writer dilates rather too freely on his own shrewdness and ‘nerve.’”
+ — Cleveland p101 S ‘17 60w
“If there is anything ‘Behind the German veil’ which is particularly worth disclosing, it has not been revealed by J. M. de Beaufort.”
— Nation 106:70 Ja 17 ‘18 160w
“Offers some of the most interesting firsthand accounts that have come out of Germany. ... Mr de Beaufort writes vivaciously, although somewhat garrulously, and his book is full of interesting matter of much importance for Americans if they would understand the German spirit. He was in Europe as the correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph.”
+ N Y Times 22:215 Je 3 ‘17 600w
Pittsburgh 22:680 O ‘17 20w
+ R of Rs 56:107 Jl ‘17 90w
BEAVERBROOK, WILLIAM MAXWELL AITKEN, 1st baron. Canada in Flanders. maps *1s 3d Hodder & Stoughton, London 940.91
The second volume of the official story of the Canadian expeditionary force covers the period between September, 1915, and July, 1916. For an account of the first volume consult the Digest annual, 1916, under Aitken, Sir William Maxwell—the name of Lord Beaverbrook before he was raised to the peerage.
“The descriptions of the dash and vigour of the Canadian troops are graphic and inspiring.”
+ Ath p258 My ‘17 70w
St Louis 15:417 D ‘17 20w
“Lord Beaverbrook’s second volume concerning the Canadians, which is written by him as the Canadian ‘Eyewitness,’ contains a most readable and workmanlike account of the long and bitter struggles first at St Eloi and then at Hooge, in the Ypres Salient, which ended a fortnight before the battle of the Somme began.”
+ Spec 118:675 Je 16 ‘17 120w
“It is difficult to conceive of anything more likely to stimulate zeal and efficiency than volumes of this kind. The general public cannot master an official dispatch, so long after the event, without considerable explanatory notes and plans. The whole scheme of the volumes at present issued is to present a coherent account of an action as a whole, and at the same time to signalize individual acts of gallantry.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p110 Mr 8 ‘17 600w
BECHHOFER, C. E., ed. Russian anthology in English. *$1.50 Dutton 891.7 A17-1637
“Translated extracts in verse and prose from twenty-five authors (of whom only one, Volynsky, is new to English readers), with some ballads and folk songs.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
A L A Bkl 14:119 Ja ‘18
“This collection of extracts from Russian verse, drama, and prose is too fragmentary to be satisfying. In some of the examples, such as the excerpt from ‘The idiot’ by Dostoevsky, the absence of context makes for obscurity and a sense of incompleteness. Other examples are enjoyable, such as Gogol’s idyllic ‘Old-world gentle-folk,’ ‘The death of Ivan’ by Alexis Tolstoy, Pushkin’s poem ‘The three sisters,’ Leo Tolstoy’s thoughtful criticism of Maupassant, and the slyly humorous sketch by Chekhov, ‘A work of art.’ Many prominent modern Russian authors are represented, though we miss the names of Gorky, Grigorovitch, Artsibashev, and Sologub.”
+ — Ath p360 Jl ‘17 100w
+ — Boston Transcript p7 N 3 ‘17 230w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p214 My 5 ‘17 20w
BECKLEY, ZOË, and GOLLOMB, JOSEPH, comps. Songs for courage. *$1 Barse & Hopkins 821.08 17-15993
Courage is one of “the subjects made prominent by the war” to which librarians are officially advised to give special attention in book selection. In this collection of over 100 titles we find the old favorites, such as Henley’s “Invictus,” Sill’s “Opportunity,” Matthew Arnold’s “Self-dependence,” together with the work of more recent writers.
Cleveland p121 N ‘17 50w
37“Many old favorites are here. ... There are also many unworthy verses. The inferior verse far outranks the worthy. And it is surprising to note how many of the poems of revolutionary courage are missing.” Clement Wood
+ — N Y Call p14 Je 24 ‘17 120w
BEECROFT, WILLEY INGRAHAM, comp. Who’s who among the wild flowers and ferns. new and combined ed il *$1.50 Moffat 582 A17-406
“The outstanding feature of the work and the one which commends it to the ordinary student, is that a person need not be a botanist to use Mr Beecroft’s guide.” (Springf’d Republican) “The flowers are classified by colors, as in most volumes of the kind, and under, the name of each flower ample description is detailed for identification. There are blank pages for notes.” (Boston Transcript)
A L A Bkl 13:361 My ‘17
+ Boston Transcript p13 Ap 7 ‘17 150w
“The inclusiveness of ‘Who’s who among the wild flowers and ferns’ will rightly make it a popular guide.”
+ Ind 91:109 Jl 21 ‘17 40w
“While scientific and accurate, it is entirely untechnical.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ag 29 ‘17 130w
BEER, GEORGE LOUIS. English-speaking peoples; their future relations and joint international obligations. 2d ed *$1.50 (2c) Macmillan 327.73 17-17291
Mr Beer was formerly lecturer in European history at Columbia university, and is the author of “The old colonial system, 1660-1754,” etc. He recalls in his preface Admiral Mahan’s essay of 1894 entitled “Possibilities of an Anglo-American re-union,” and goes on to say: “What in 1894 was unripe and academic, has today become urgent and practical.” A series of notes is appended which furnish a running bibliography to easily accessible and non-technical literature. Some of the material in the book appeared originally in the Political Quarterly, New Republic, and elsewhere.
+ Am Econ R 7:840 D ‘17 60w
+ A L A Bkl 14:112 Ja ‘18
Ath p463 S ‘17 60w
“Valuable as the author’s opinions are, it is no discourtesy to him to say that the facts, figures, and references appended to the book in some forty pages of ‘Notes’ are in some respects even more valuable; for facts on these contentious subjects are often ignored and sometimes very difficult to get at, and Mr Beer has a genius for relevant documentation.”
+ Ath p505 O ‘17 1600w
Cleveland p138 D ‘17 60w
“Mr Beer’s argument is logical and forceful. He has scrupulous regard for the facts of history and economics; his views are the outcome of a lifetime of study of British imperial and colonial affairs and of international politics. Many, perhaps most, of his readers will shrink from his conclusions. But no one will be justified in withholding from this book the tribute of candid and thoughtful consideration.” F: A. Ogg
+ Dial 63:520 N 22 ‘17 1100w
Ind 92:60 O 6 ‘17 70w
Reviewed by Sinclair Kennedy
J Pol Econ 26:101 Ja ‘18 470w
“The valuable references and notes are sure to be of immediate help to every thoughtful reader interested in this absorbing and timely question.”
+ Lit D 55:45 O 13 ‘17 300w
“The volume is easily one of the most weighty pieces of writing about the war that has yet appeared in this country, and should be widely read.”
+ Nation 105:322 S 20 ‘17 560w
N Y Br Lib News 4:133 S ‘17 30w
“A factor of the first importance in the molding of public opinion in this country. ... In three remarkably thoughtful concluding chapters Mr Beer discusses the predominant factors in the unity of English-speaking peoples, the economic possibilities in co-operation, and the community of Anglo-American policy toward China and Latin America. The chapter on the growing economic interdependence of the world is, in particular, closely reasoned.”
+ N Y Times 22:356 S 23 ‘17 1200w
“Without necessarily giving full credence to ideas that are indeed but tentatively advanced, one may affirm that ‘The English-speaking peoples’ is a statesmanlike book. In its grasp of the ends to be wished for, in its perception of present realities, and in the caution of its conclusions, Mr Beer’s book differs essentially and completely both from those forecasts of the future which are more or less frankly utopian and from the desperately opportunistic proposals which the present world-crisis has called forth from certain would-be practical idealists. Although his style is of the plainest (in both senses of the word), the author possesses an unusual power of extracting fundamental truths from a great mass of conflicting facts. ... The book will prove valuable for its broad and illuminating criticisms of such general ideas as that of nationality, and of such programmes or proposals as pan-Americanism and the League to enforce peace.”
+ + No Am 206:478 S ‘17 950w
Outlook 117:64 S 12 ‘17 150w
“He states his arguments cogently, but without heat, and fortifies every position he takes up with a full reference to facts and authorities. We regret only that in the effort to be at once condensed and accurate he has allowed his style to become, at times, so abstruse and technical as to prevent his volume from appealing to the widest possible public.”
+ — Spec 119:sup472 N 3 ‘17 800w
“We are bound to demur to his too facile assumption of the abandonment of free trade by Great Britain.” R: Roberts
Survey 38:549 S 22 ‘17 650w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p395 Ag 16 ‘17 50w
“It is one of the best, most original, and judicious attempts to construct out of the political anarchy of these times new organizations. ... Mr Beer modestly describes his book as a livre de circonstance dealing with an unpredictable future. It is in reality a valuable addition to political science. ... This book, with its earnest appeal for support to a permanent, loosely knit association between Great Britain and the United States, is to be welcomed by every one who has at heart the ideals which these two countries represent.”
+ + The Times [London] Lit Sup p422 S 6 ‘17 620w
“The book is the work of a scholar, and it is, as scholars say, thoroughly documented. But it is not primarily addressed to scholars, and it is not a dry-as-dust performance. It is addressed to thinking people who are ready to consider seriously and with care the duty of the nation in this great crisis, and it abounds with fresh suggestions and arguments which are bound to excite interest and open new channels of thought.” G. B. Adams
+ Yale R n s 7:416 Ja ‘18 1200w
BEERS, HENRY AUGUSTIN. Two twilights. *$1 Badger, R: G. 811 17-25112
“This volume includes selections from two early books of verse, long out of print; a few pieces from ‘The Ways of Yale’; and a handful of poems contributed of late years to the magazines and not heretofore collected.” (Preface) The author has been professor of English literature in Yale university since 1880.
BEITH, JOHN HAY (IAN HAY, pseud.). All in it; “K (1)” carries on. *$1.50 (2½c) Houghton 940.91 17-29361
This is the continuation of “The first hundred thousand,” promised us by Captain Beith. “‘The first hundred thousand’ closed with the battle of Loos. The present narrative follows certain friends of ours from the scene of that costly but valuable experience, through a winter 38campaign in the neighbourhood of Ypres and Ploegsteert, to profitable participation in the battle of the Somme.” (Author’s note) Captain (now major) Wagstaffe and Private (now corporal) Mucklewame reappear in this volume.
“Told with the same humorous turns and descriptions that made the first book so readable.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:88 D ‘17
“Bit by bit Major Beith pieces together the tale of the fighter in the present war. He does not minimize its horrors, but he does not over-emphasize them. Through his entire story runs an undercurrent of optimism.” E. F. E.
+ Boston Transcript p8 N 7 ‘17 1500w
Cleveland p130 D ‘17 60w
Ind 93:128 Ja 19 ‘18 50w
“Ian Hay’s own narrative is full of the brightest humor, not untouched with an equally bright cynicism. ... And yet it would be a grave mistake to assume that because he writes brightly, and often humorously, Major Beith’s is a ‘light’ book. It is far from that. ... In ‘All in it’ the heroism is present always. The terrible things are not glossed over.”
+ N Y Times 22:462 N 11 ‘17 750w
+ Outlook 117:520 N 28 ‘17 100w
+ Springf’d Republican p11 Ja 27 ‘18 580w
BEITH, JOHN HAY (IAN HAY, pseud.). Getting together. *50c (6½c) Doubleday; Houghton 940.91 17-6208
In this little book, Captain Beith, who has been lecturing in the United States, attempts to bring Briton and American to an understanding of one another. He answers some of the questions that have been put to him: How about that blockade? What are you opening our mails for? Would you welcome American intervention? etc.
“Appeared in the Outlook, F 7 ‘17.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:345 My ‘17
+ Cath World 105:843 S ‘17 180w
+ Cleveland p102 S ‘17 50w
“A sincere and fine-spirited effort to explain misunderstandings between the citizens of Britain and the United States.”
+ N Y Times 22:45 F 11 ‘17 800w
Reviewed by Joseph Mosher
Pub W 91:593 F 17 ‘17 350w
“His brief account of the voluntary help rendered by America to the Allies before she came into the war will surprise many people. ... His manly and sensible little book should do good.”
+ Spec 118:678 Je 16 ‘17 140w
“Ian Hay’s little essay in Anglo-American propagandism will not increase his literary reputation. ... There is no need of a presentation of the case of the Allies to intelligent Americans, and this book is not so conceived as to win over old-fashioned Yankees who entertain animosity toward Great Britain. The softness of the language defeats its own purpose.”
– + Springf’d Republican p15 Mr 4 ‘17 400w
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p203 Ap 26 ‘17 220w
BEITH, JOHN HAY (IAN HAY, pseud.). Oppressed English. *50c (6½c) Doubleday 941.5 17-18156
The author of “The first hundred thousand” and “Getting together,” a Scotsman, has some witty and practical things to say on the world attitude toward the “English” as distinct from the “British” people. He writes: “In the war of to-day, for instance, whenever anything particularly unpleasant or unpopular has to be done—such as holding up neutral mails, or establishing a blacklist of neutral firms trading with the enemy—upon whom does the odium fall? Upon ‘England’; never upon France, and only occasionally upon Great Britain. ... On the other hand, ... a victory gained by English boys from Devon or Yorkshire appears as a British victory, pure and simple.” The fourth and fifth chapters make clear some of the answers to: “Why can’t you people settle the Irish question?”—the claims of the Nationalists, the Unionists, and of the Sinn Fein being put side by side for study by outsiders.
“Good-natured, humorous, but very lucid explanation of the Irish question.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:18 O ‘17
+ Cleveland p131 D ‘17 70w
“As is apt to be the case with a book of this kind, Mr Hay’s desire to make his humorous periods leads him sometimes to sacrifice the exact truth. He exaggerates the idiosyncrasies of the Englishman to make his satire carry over. Once you have forgiven that, however, you find the little book pleasant reading.”
+ — Dial 63:461 N 8 ‘17 190w
“The Irish rebellion was not made in Germany. It was made in England, and not a little part of it was made by just such dunderheads as Captain Beith, with their inaccurate talk of beneficences that were never really conferred and freedom that never existed.” F. H.
— New Repub 13:188 D 15 ‘17 1400w
“As a specimen of dry Scotch humor carrying with it a large volume of matter for serious consideration, Mr Hay’s little book is unrivalled in its way, though it is, perhaps, not exactly the ‘sense of humour’ that is likely to appeal to ardent Irish patriots. ... The book contains much matter of considerable interest to Americans, for the author has much more than an ordinary grasp of the psychology of the peoples he deals with in this little volume.” J. W.
+ N Y Call p14 Jl 15 ‘17 650w
Pittsburgh 22:674 O ‘17 70w
Pratt p46 O ‘17 20w
St Louis 15:379 O ‘17 10w
“An amusing comment on British characteristics.”
+ Springf’d Republican p10 O 4 ‘17 300w
BEITH, JOHN HAY (IAN HAY, pseud.). “Pip”; a romance of youth. *$1.50 (2c) Houghton 17-9709
A happy story of irresponsible youth. Half the book is taken up with the schoolday adventures of the young hero. Pip is a valiant cricketer and when he leaves school he becomes something of a nation-wide figure. The death of his father sends him into the world to earn his living. He does so for a time as a chauffeur. There is a girl in the story, of course. Pip met her first as a friend of his sister’s, when she was sixteen. She is older and so is he when the book closes, ending with a golf match that decides an important matter for Pip.
+ A L A Bkl 13:354 My ‘17
“Up to the outbreak of the war Ian Hay was known in this country as the author of six books, all of them fiction. ... Prior to these, however, he had written another book. Its title is ‘Pip.’ ... Its understanding of childhood, youth and early manhood is keen, its ability to make the most of the zest of delicate comedy is complete.” E. F. E.
+ Boston Transcript p6 Mr 17 ‘17 1500w
+ Lit D 54:1089 Ap 14 ‘17 200w
“Captain Beith writes with genial humor, and his account of the making of Pip into a man, and a man who is a thorough Englishman, is likely to bring many a smile to the face of his reader. Having been, in the days before the war, a schoolmaster himself he knows much about the life of British schools and the character of the men who conduct them.”
+ N Y Times 22:93 Mr 18 ‘17 500w
+ Outlook 115:622 Ap 4 ‘17 60w
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 22 ‘17 250w
“As a school story it is inferior to ‘David Blaize,’ and the detailed descriptions of cricket contests are beyond the American reader, but it is nevertheless a story of decided interest.”
+ Wis Lib Bul 13:126 Ap ‘17 50w
39BELL, ARCHIE. Trip to Lotus land. il *$2.50 (4c) Lane 915.2 17-30747
The author outlines a six-weeks’ itinerary for the tourist to Japan, and states that his purpose is to convey to the reader something of the joys that such a tour holds for a traveler. He says that the book is not a guide book. “Mr Terry’s ‘Japanese empire’ and the excellent publications of the Imperial Japanese government railways” supply that need, and his pleasant narrative account of his own travels will serve to supplement them. Yokohama, Kamakura, Miyanoshita, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagasaki and Nikko are among the points visited. There are over fifty illustrations.
Reviewed by A. M. Chase
+ Bookm 46:335 N ‘17 40w
“Both instructive and entertaining.”
+ Lit D 56:40 Ja 12 ‘18 170w
+ N Y Times 22:579 D 30 ‘17 100w
“[Fulfills its purpose] admirably both in text and illustrations.”
+ Outlook 117:615 D 12 ‘17 60w
+ R of Rs 57:219 F ‘18 50w
BELL, FREDERICK MCKELVEY. First Canadians in France; the chronicle of a military hospital in the war zone. il *$1.35 (2½c) Doran 940.91 17-28775
Colonel Bell, attached, as medical director, to the first contingent of Canadian troops overseas, was detailed to found a Canadian hospital near Boulogne. He chronicles the progress of that undertaking among the heterogeneous lot of men whom “the hammer of time,” with many a nasty knock, welded together. The quality that made Colonel Bell the one force that held the boys together is responsible for the grip the book gets on the reader. It is a simple recital of every day routine, without central theme or plot, told in a realistic, colloquial, normal, human fashion with an eye keen to every humorous incident that livened camp monotony.
“The writer confesses to a flavor of romancing in his story, but the reader will not feel like criticising this or seeking too closely the line between fact and imagination.”
+ Boston Transcript p9 N 10 ‘17 400w
“Clever characterization, and many amusing anecdotes.”
+ Cleveland p130 D ‘17 30w
+ Ind 93:128 Ja 19 ‘18 170w
“Certainly, this excellent book should be read. It is so human.”
+ N Y Times 22:448 N 4 ‘17 700w
Outlook 117:387 N 7 ‘17 30w
BELL, JOHN JOY. Kiddies. *$1.50 (2½c) Stokes
A collection of seventeen stories about children by this well known Scottish humorist, author of “Wee Macgreegor.” That young hero appears in several of the stories. Among the titles are: Habakkuk; Little boy; Some advantages of being an aunt; The good fairy; Mr Logie’s heart; An early engagement; Silk stocking and suedes; The ugly uncle.
“The stories are canny and full of dry humor and quaint pathos.”
+ Ind 92:604 D 29 ‘17 200w
N Y Br Lib News 4:63 Ap ‘17 50w
“The humorous tales are, generally speaking, the best, the serious and pathetic ones being somewhat conventional and oversentimental.”
+ — NY Times 22:500 N 25 ‘17 240w
+ Outlook 117:475 N 21 ‘17 20w
BELL, JOHN JOY. Till the clock stops. *$1.35 (2c) Duffield 17-5450
The clock, with its diamond-studded pendulum, stood in a secluded house in Scotland. It was guaranteed to go for a year and a day after the pendulum was set in motion—that being done on the death of its owner Christopher Craig. It was in some way to watch over the green box full of diamonds and the other fortune reserved for Christopher’s nephew, Alan Craig, supposedly lost in the Arctic. Its enemy was Bullard, London member of a South African mining syndicate, who knew of the existence of the diamonds and its guardians were a dense green liquid with which the case was partly filled, placed over the ominous word “Dangerous,” Caw, the faithful servant of the dead man, and Marjorie Handyside, the daughter of a doctor and neighbor. How these and others played their respective parts, and the surprise in store for all when the clock stopped make a thrilling tale. The writer is the author of “Wee MacGreegor.”
A L A Bkl 13:401 Je ‘17
“The story is well planned, and full of excitement and suspense up to the last chapter.”
+ Ath p101 F ‘17 30w
+ N Y Times 22:110 Mr 25 ‘17 250w
Outlook 115:668 Ap 11 ‘17 20w
“A melodrama full of alarms and surprises.”
Spec 118:241 F 24 ‘17 7w
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 8 ‘17 210w
“Mr J. J. Bell may have had the cinematograph in mind in writing ‘Till the clock stops.’ Hidden diamonds form the mainspring of the story, and propel it forward mechanically through its allotted span; and one can imagine the pistol shots, explosions, and so forth which arise out of the search for them being reduced to a series of highly effective pictures.”
The Times [London] Lit Sup p44 Ja 25 ‘17 200w
BELL, JOHN KEBLE (KEBLE HOWARD, pseud.). Gay life. *$1.30 (2c) Lane 17-6536
A happy and wholesome story of theatrical life. The author has written it to counteract some of the sensational ideas that prevail concerning the stage. Jilly Nipchin is an attractive and impudent little Cockney who determines to put her twin gifts, mimicry and an agility in turning handsprings, to use on the stage. Her family is in need, and Jilly chooses this way of helping them. The story follows her progress with a traveling company in the provinces, in the music halls, in a repertory company, and finally takes her to America. The hero, Ed Chauncey, the world’s greatest equilibrist, is as worthy in his way as is Jilly.
+ Ath p414 Ag ‘17 90w
“The wholesome story shows a thorough knowledge of the external life of the stage, but not very deep understanding of universal human nature. The author is a theatrical manager and producer, and the editor of the Sketch, a semi-theatrical publication.”
Cleveland p63 My ‘17 70w
“The thorough knowledge of the stage and of all things stagey which the author obviously possesses apparently does not include the capacity for understanding the forces that underlie the struggles and the successes of its workers. ‘The gay life’ is superficial, occasionally clever, and of fleeting value.”
— Dial 62:247 Mr 22 ‘17 110w
+ Ind 90:84 Ap 7 ‘17 100w
“The novel is clever, amusing and graphic in its account of stage life, though developed in a somewhat jerky manner. The theme recalls certain of Leonard Merrick’s delightful tales, and of course this story suffers from the comparison, but it is an entertaining piece of work, with an attractive, very human heroine and several interesting and well-drawn characters.”
+ N Y Times 22:69 F 25 ‘17 350w
“The book on the whole is pleasant reading.”
+ Spec 119:169 Ag 18 ‘17 30w
“Mr Howard weaves a colorless romance into the narrative, but Jilly’s adventures and high spirits hold the attention without outside aid.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p17 D 9 ‘17 220w
40“It is a jolly tale, an amusing tale, a good-natured tale. There is general truth in portions of his book, which the tale as a whole lacks.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p334 Jl 12 ‘17 500w
BELL, JOHN KEBLE (KEBLE HOWARD, pseud.). Smiths in war time. *$1.40 (2½c) Lane 17-30282
This story, by the author of “The Smiths of Surbiton,” “The Smiths of Valley View,” etc. is written in a lighter vein than most of the novels dealing with England in war-time. It tells us how Mr Smith, aged seventy-three, and his devoted wife, tried to help their country; how they rented their pleasant villa at Surbiton and attempted to live in a cottage; how they decided to dismiss Edith, one of the three maids who kept them so comfortable; how Mr Smith tried to observe a meatless day and fell into temptation; how he tried to drill for home service; and how “young George,” the Smith’s idolized grandson, was “reported missing” but returned in safety by aeroplane to his anxious relatives.
“The book is written with a thoroughly delightful mixture of humor and pathos; if we laugh at Mr Smith, it is very tenderly, and we are all the fonder of him for his whimsies and absurdities, just as his wise, sweet wife was. They are people we are glad to know, quiet, simple, human, ‘ordinary,’ and very lovable people, with something big and fine in them underneath it all.”
+ N Y Times 22:475 N 18 ‘17 550w
“A charming story; an epitome of the spirit that is making the sacrifices and upholding the nation’s determination that the sacrifices shall not be in vain.”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 D 23 ‘17 300w
BELL, RALPH W.[2] Canada in war-paint. il *$1.25 Dutton 940.91 17-13337
“‘Canada in war paint’ is a series of sketches, mostly of the humorous type, of the Canadian forces across the water. Its author, Capt. Ralph W. Bell, dedicates its pages to the ‘officers, N. C. O.’s and men of the 1st Canadian infantry battalion, Ontario regiment,’ of which he is a member. He has striven to portray types rather than individuals, or as he himself puts it in the preface to give ‘vignettes of things as they struck me at the time, and later.’”—Springf’d Republican
“Among the brightest and most cheerful of the war stories from the men at the front is this crisp and relishing offering. Only a small portion is devoted to the rough and cruel side.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 N 10 ‘17 150w
“Captain Bell writes light-heartedly, and makes the best of the everyday events of life in the war zone, in the somewhat fragmentary jottings which he calls ‘Canada in war paint,’ but there is pathos, too, intermingled with the humor of his book.”
+ Sat R 123:556 Je 16 ‘17 310w
+ Springf’d Republican p6 D 28 ‘17 130w
BELLAMY, FRANCIS R. Balance. il *$1.35 (1c) Doubleday 17-4706
The author has told the true story of S. Sydney Tappan, playwright, who in the later days of his fame was made the subject of an adulatory biography. To the author, the hero is always Sammy Tappan, never S. Sydney. He was always Sammy to Carrie Schroeder too. When Sammy went to New York to win fame, Carrie remained at home in Melchester, but because she was a modern young woman, requiring a purpose in life, she went into a settlement. In the settlement Carrie came face to face with reality. She learned many things, one of them that men do not throw dynamite for the fun of it. From this background she goes to see Sammy’s first play, his brilliant, shallow and suggestive “Lady in the lion skin.” The shock of this play to her newly awakened social conscience and the hopelessly diverging viewpoint which it discloses leads to the break between her and Sammy. It is not bridged until Sammy, thru suffering and defeat and personal contact with the monster, Poverty, learns to see things as she does and to use his talent for better ends.
“Above and beyond the story itself, it is the fine spirit of humanity pervading the book that makes it notable. It is free from didacticism and sermonizing; it presents no programme, but it is lighted with the flame of a great conviction and charged with human sympathy and emotion.” J. T. Gerould