Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1917 Books (continued 40)
Reading edition
+ Ann Am Acad 74:304 N ‘17 430w
“Those curious to know how the majority of their neighbors live will here find the loves, fears, joys and sorrows of the industrial family painted with a sympathy always vivid, yet refreshingly lacking in sentimentality.”
+ Cath World 106:264 N ‘17 350w
Cleveland p108 S ‘17 40w
“To the lay reader this is an uncommonly enlightening and suggestive book. ... It is written with eyes wide open to all the good that is in the possession of the town laborer and it is not engaged in the propaganda of any panacea or particular reform.”
+ Ind 91:74 Jl 14 ‘17 500w
“The attitude is one of warm-hearted intimacy with the class whose life is described, and considerable insight into that life is revealed. There is no doubt that the writer knows what she is talking about when she describes conditions.”
+ Nation 105:374 O 4 ‘17 260w
“Mrs Simkhovitch has imagination and fervor, as well as the power of creation. She has scored an indubitable success in bringing to bear on the subject a definite point of view, a well-formulated social ethics. She is on the borderline of socialism, but she will not take the next step.” D: Rosenstein
+ N Y Call p14 S 30 ‘17 1350w
Pittsburgh 22:690 O ‘17 40w
+ Springf’d Republican p6 Ag 9 ‘17 420w
“As a sketch of the right method of approach to community issues, it is a fresh and genuine contribution. To a great supporting circle of volunteers, contributors, kindred spirits, and to 514all the apprentices of social work, this book is among the few indispensable. Read with intervals of reflection, it will be like a professional course of the waters to many practiced members of the craft.” R. A. Woods
+ Survey 38:367 Jl 28 ‘17 1000w
SIMMONS, WILLIAM HERBERT.[2] Soap; its composition, manufacture, and properties. (Common commodities of commerce) il *85c (2c) Pitman 668 A17-1564
The author’s aim has been “to describe in as non-technical terms as possible, firstly, the relationship between fat, alkali, soap, and glycerine; secondly, the more important practical methods of soap manufacture; and, thirdly, the chief factors which determine the commercial value of soap.” (Preface) He points out that the use of glycerine in the manufacture of explosives has given rise to a new interest in its production and in its relations to fats and oils and the manufacture of soap. The final chapter is given to this subject.
Pittsburgh 22:759 N ‘17 40w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p420 Ag 30 ‘17 40w
SIMONIS, H. Street of ink. il *$3 Funk 072 17-17844
“H. Simonis, a director of the London Daily News, gives the public what is described as ‘an intimate history of journalism.’ Here, within the compass of 350-odd pages, are brief notes on about every daily and weekly paper of importance in England and on practically all of the principal [British] editors and publishers of today.”—Springf’d Republican
“A remarkably interesting and informing book. The writer’s fondness for illustrative anecdote contributes no little to the entertaining quality of his pages.”
+ — Dial 63:399 O 25 ‘17 190w
“Most entertaining and deftly drawn character sketches. The whole work teems with novel and captivating information imparted in a crisp, chatty style that makes it doubly readable.”
+ Lit D 55:36 S 29 ‘17 340w
“Such an encyclopedic effort, if successful, establishes naturally an excellent reference work. Mr Simonis’s effort is successful. He has a chapter on the press of France and the United States, another on ‘Some well known journals and journalists,’ one on ‘Old and new journalism.’”
+ N Y Times 22:313 Ag 26 ‘17 950w
Pittsburgh 22:772 N ‘17 50w
“Those who work for the press, on its literary or commercial side, know that the occupation is not so much of a mutual admiration society as Mr Simonis would have us believe, but they will read with amused interest his eulogistic notes on the various daily and weekly publications. He knows much more about the halfpenny papers and about their publishing and advertising staffs than about the weightier papers and the literary aspects of journalism as a whole. The numerous portraits in the book are, for the most part, not nearly so flattering as the letterpress.”
Spec 118:568 My 19 ‘17 320w
“Mr Simonis’s aim is to eulogize rather than criticize. Yet within the limits that he has set to his subject, he is a commentator who is shrewd as well as amiable. The wisdom of experience crops out in a hundred observations. Also, his information, wherever separable from opinion, is accurate.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p6 Je 18 ‘17 1350w
SIMS, NEWELL LEROY. Ultimate democracy and its making. *$1.50 (1½c) McClurg 321.8 17-13223
The author, who is professor of sociology and political science in the University of Florida, tells us that he has used much of the subjectmatter of this book in lectures delivered in and about New York city and in a classroom course. His purpose is to clarify “the meaning and aims of democracy.” He deals with ancient, modern, and “ultimate” democracy. “As conceived by him democracy is essentially a matter of equality, with liberty and fraternity as necessary expressions. It existed in the pioneer days of America, but has declined under the inequalities forced by our rapid industrial growth and under our wholesale welcoming of alien populations. This decline, he believes, is only temporary. Democracy will again come into its own when a program of four necessary changes has been fulfilled—economic equality; a eugenics to prevent inefficiency; a new type of sovereignty in which ‘the popular will causes the whole social organism to function for the good of all its parts’; and finally, ‘social equilibration,’ a process of so equalizing the various energies of the race that occasions for disturbances like wars between classes or nations will disappear.” (Survey)
“To the perennial discussion of democracy, what it is and what it means, the book is a useful and in some ways a noteworthy contribution.”
+ Am Pol Sci R 11:793 N ‘17 60w
“Professor Sims has written a thoughtful and spirited survey of significant tendencies and aspirations in American democracy.” L. P. F.
+ Ann Am Acad 74:301 N ‘17 260w
“It is asserted, but not proven, that the working classes of all countries are devouring economics, sociology, and philosophy—a fairly broad but unsupported statement.”
Boston Transcript p6 My 23 ‘17 380w
“Professor Sims is well read in the moderns, notably Giddings, Croly, and Veblen. ... Few will read Giddings, Croly, or even Veblen all through, and here is a way to supply the deficiency. Professor Sims quotes excellently.”
Dial 63:352 O 11 ‘17 130w
Ind 91:294 Ag 25 ‘17 90w
“An expression of an aspiring but timid radicalism.” Max Lustig
+ — N Y Call p15 Jl 1 ‘17 800w
+ N Y Times 22:436 O 28 ‘17 60w
“The mass of facts, figures, and sociological deductions brought together by Dr Sims from many sources evinces the fact that democracy is still in the making. The inferences he draws from the exhibit are misleading.”
— Outlook 116:626 Ag 22 ‘17 120w
Pittsburgh 22:830 D ‘17 110w
“A very readable book. ... The type of social stability which he hails as an ultimate solution is perilously akin, we cannot help thinking, to the pax Romana of old.” H: Neumann
+ — Survey 38:441 Ag 18 ‘17 480w
SINCLAIR, MAY. Defence of idealism; some questions and conclusions. *$2 Macmillan 141 17-21850
“In this book the author, from the idealistic monist’s statement, deals with pragmatism; with humanism and pluralism generally; with the vitalism of M. Bergson, with Samuel Butler’s pan-psychism, and with the new realism of Mr. Bertrand Russell and others. A noteworthy chapter is devoted to the new mysticism; and there are highly appreciative commentaries upon the writings of Sir Rabindranath Tagore. ... The book has no index.”—Ath
+ Ath p518 O ‘17 100w
“One cannot say that the logic is always sound. No; not always sound, but always keen, vigorous, lively, readable.” M. C. Otto
+ — Dial 63:582 D 6 ‘17 1000w
“A robust sense of the inevitableness of individuality runs through the book from beginning to end, and is the most obvious thing in it. ... The sympathetic reader will probably not fail to discern something of the sense of ‘a spirit home at last’ in the warm appreciation of the higher mysticism, and of Tagore. ... From various indications, one traces in her discussion of the new realists the marks of its being an afterthought; it is a very brilliant sudden sally, rather than the outcome of 515years of study. And indeed, if one were forced to offer a criticism of the work as a whole, it would be just this: that the book is not, to all appearance, the ripe result of a life study. No doubt the brilliant author would grow tired of philosophy long before she had given a lifetime to it. And that is perhaps the world’s gain. But at the same time, as we feel compelled to think, it is philosophy’s loss.” J. W. Scott
* + – Hibbert J 16:336 Ja ‘18 2050w
“Written with a most refreshing ease and freedom from technicality. Professional students cannot fail to regard such a book as a gratifying proof of the vitality of philosophy in this country.”
+ — Nature 100:342 Ja 3 ‘18 460w
“The charm of the book must be felt, indeed, by every reader who has the smallest drop of philosophy in his nature, and this charm is not in the least inconsistent with rigorous logic. Miss Sinclair has perhaps written more entertainingly about philosophy than any one since Plato; she has triumphed in the most difficult domain of literary art.”
+ — No Am 206:952 D ‘17 1250w
Outlook 117:308 O 24 ‘17 120w
“A notable contribution to modern philosophic speculation, well planned, well written, and well thought.”
+ — Spec 119:388 O 13 ‘17 1050w
“Miss Sinclair brings to bear upon these abstract studies the same keenness of insight that characterizes her studies of men. She is now delineating ideas, not persons. The book is not systematic, and it is not constructive, but it presents ideas, particularly critical ideas, which will set students to thinking.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p6 N 29 ‘17 850w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p407 Ag 23 ‘17 120w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p424 S 6 ‘17 2150w
SINCLAIR, UPTON BEALL. King Coal. *$1.50 (1½c) Macmillan 17-24400
What Upton Sinclair did for the stockyards in “The jungle,” he does for the unorganized coal mining camps in “King Coal.” There is a brief introduction by Georg Brandes, and a postscript of thirteen pages by the author giving his sources of information, etc. He tells us that most of the details of his picture were gathered in Colorado, which he visited three times during and just after the great coal strike of 1914-15. The greater part of the source material in print used was “sworn testimony, taken under government supervision.” The leading character in the book is Hal Warner, known as Joe Smith, a rich boy of twenty-one, still in college, who, as a result of arguments with an older brother as to the conditions in the coal mines, decides to work as a miner during his summer vacation that he may gain first-hand knowledge of the situation. He becomes first a mule tender and later a “buddy,” or miner’s helper. His rich and beautiful fiancée is lightly sketched in. “Red Mary,” a forceful young Irish girl at the camp, also falls in love with him, but the emotional is subordinated to the sociological interest in the story. “Joe” meets men of various nationalities, learns how the company has got into its clutch “all the legal, political and social safeguards of personal rights and social welfare”; and takes part in the fight for a check-weighman to guard against cheating, for various safety measures and for the right to form a union.
“It is not sensational, has some good characters ... and the whole is interesting and illuminating.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:63 N ‘17
+ Ath p596 N ‘17 140w
“‘King Coal’ is an absorbing story, as a story, and an exceedingly effective tract, as a tract. We do not doubt that its physical action is closely based on fact, but we do doubt whether, in making all his rich men fools or rascals, and all his poor men heroes or victims, he does not risk the defeat of his appeal to those of his audience who are unable to subscribe to the code of the screen.”
H. W. Boynton
+ — Bookm 46:338 N ‘17 190w
“Mr Sinclair is a born story-teller. He writes, to be sure, with a purpose, but he never lets this fact obtrude itself on the consciousness of the reader. His picture is so vivid, so full of color and breadth and movement, and so convincing that it has a value of its own quite apart from its propagandist purpose.” R. T. P.
+ Boston Transcript p6 O 10 ‘17 1350w
+ Cleveland p133 D ‘17 90w
“The novel-reader who chances to appreciate a really novel design in a work of fiction will like ‘King Coal’ both for its originality and its independence. The limitation of the book is its tendency to predetermination, its lack of curiosity and interest in keen ascertainments and differentiations, its apparent belief in formulas.” E. F. Wyatt
+ — Dial 63:587 D 6 ‘17 1300w
“None of the characters seems real, but is created by the author to illustrate his points or fill in the picture. But the underlying thought burns brightly and the author’s meaning is as clear as day. He has the power to interest, which always attends sincere purpose and thoughtful presentation.”
+ — Lit D 55:42 O 27 ‘17 400w
“No reader of this record will doubt the honesty of the chronicler’s opinion or the accuracy of his chosen facts, or will fail to see that the facts have been chosen and assembled somewhat carefully, in the light of that opinion, to ‘compose’ as strongly and effectively as possible. ... This story has far more balance and restraint than the writer has hitherto mustered: ‘The jungle’ is a lurid tract by comparison. It is an absorbing narrative, and it contains at least one strong and living piece of characterization, in Mary Burke. ... But for the rest the writer’s animus is over-plain.”
– + Nation 105:403 O 11 ‘17 650w
“Upton Sinclair slaps melodrama and sociology together so honestly as to make it easy for you to believe that ‘practically all the characters are real persons, and every incident which has social significance is not merely a true incident but a typical one.’ ... Yet ‘King Coal’ is an exceedingly vivacious narrative, boyishly sincere.” R. B.
+ — New Repub 12:359 O 27 ‘17 1400w
“Since ‘The jungle’ had its phenomenal success, Mr Sinclair has written nothing so good as this novel. The book presents a striking likeness to ‘The inner door’ by Alan Sullivan. Both deal with upper class men leading working class lives, and both portray their conversion. Of the two books, Mr Sinclair’s work rings truer.” D: P. Berenberg
+ — N Y Call p14 O 7 ‘17 430w
“Artistically, this new novel is a better piece of work than ‘The jungle,’ more compact, better constructed, with swifter, a more centralized purpose, while its picture of life in a great coal camp yields nothing to that portrayal of existence among the employes of the Chicago stock yards in vivid coloring, in understanding of racial types, and in the sincere and convincing quality of its setting. ... The introduction by Dr Georg Brandes is a distinct disappointment. At the least, the publishers of the book might have rectified its English.”
+ — N Y Times 22:354 S 23 ‘17 1200w
“So far as the manipulation of the vote is concerned, the documentary evidence given in an epilogue shows that Mr Sinclair is on strong ground. But viewed simply as a story it is vivid, exciting, and impressive.”
+ Spec 119:681 D 8 ‘17 630w
“The book is more than an exposure of certain outrageous industrial practices. It is an admirable study of human character and motives. For the most part the characters are genuine types.” J: A. Fitch
+ Survey 39:257 D 1 ‘17 460w
516“It is hard to interest oneself in his characters, for their actions are dictated to them by their creator for his own moral purpose. It is hard, too, to take Mr Sinclair’s facts as the basis for logical inferences, for they are mixed up inextricably with fiction—he insists on appealing to the mind and the emotions at once and the one appeal distracts attention from the other.”
– + The Times [London] Lit Sup p493 O 11 ‘17 780w
SINGMASTER, ELSIE (MRS HAROLD LEWARS). Long journey. il *$1 (2c) Houghton 17-6324
The journey of a little band of German pilgrims to America is the theme of this story. From the village that has been sacked and left destitute by the French. John Conrad Weiser and his children start on the long journey to the new home where freedom and peace are promised to all. First there is the journey down the Rhine, then the long and hopeless wait in England for the ships that the English queen was to provide. To young Conrad, thirteen years old, this delay is almost unbearable after all his dreams of the new land. The sight on the London streets of three scarlet-blanketed Indians revives his hope, and it is indeed thru these new friends that the German immigrants are granted their wish, passage to America. Here there are more hardships to be undergone, until the final stage of the journey, along the Mohawk trail, brings them home.
“For upper-grade and high-school children.”
A L A Bkl 13:408 Je ‘17
+ N Y Times 22:172 Ap 29 ‘17 120w
“The narrative is simple, pathetic, and human.”
+ Outlook 115:622 Ap 4 ‘17 40w
Pratt p52 O ‘17 10w
St Louis 15:378 O ‘17 30w
SINGMASTER, ELSIE (MRS HAROLD LEWARS). Martin Luther. il *$1 (3½c) Houghton 17-9137
Elsie Singmaster has written a popular life of Luther as a contribution to the literature of the four hundredth anniversary of the reformation. She says, “The volume contains no original material, but is intended to serve as an introduction to the longer, richer, and more scholarly records of a great life which abound and to the noble writings of the reformer himself.” Contents: Youth; Monk, teacher and preacher; The ninety-five theses and their effect; The primary works of the reformation and the diet of Worms; At the Wartburg and back in Wittenberg; Marriage and family life; The growing church; Last years and death.
“The author has used especially the work of Doctor H. E. Jacobs, Preserved Smith, and Heinrich Böhmer (p. 398) and quotes often from Luther’s own works.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:400 Je ‘17
+ Boston Transcript p6 My 23 ‘17 300w
— Cath World 105:258 My ‘17 500w
+ Cleveland p83 Je ‘17 60w
“Tho one could wish made more vivid the daily life of the plain folk of whom Luther was one, yet here is a swift, clear account of the causes of the great struggle, of the events of Luther’s life and his lovable personality, all to be read almost at a sitting.”
+ Ind 90:34 Ap 2 ‘17 70w
“The familiar tale is told with intelligence and in a simple and straight-forward fashion.”
+ Nation 105:515 N 8 ‘17 50w
“Miss Singmaster is herself the daughter of a Lutheran clergyman, and is an accurate student of the literature of her subject.”
+ R of Rs 55:667 Je ‘17 90w
“The book should be useful to those who have neither the time nor inclination to peruse the larger and heavier accounts of the German reformer’s career. It is really an excellent digest of them.”
+ Springf’d Republican p19 My 27 ‘17 120w
SIZER, JAMES PEYTON. Commercialization of leisure. (Present day problems ser.) *75c Badger, R: G. 790 17-11342
“This little essay calls attention to a serious problem in modern life,—serious despite its leisurely aspect. It brings forth the important consideration that amusement and recreation are among the prominent and essential affairs of men. Amusement has become a huge business. Leisure is in itself a value approaching the highest good. A successful democracy must make leisure possible for the largest numbers. It must provide ways of using leisure which will advance as well as content human beings. The statement made by Mr Sizer shows how far from such a condition the actual relation stands.”—Dial
Cleveland p115 S ‘17 20w
“The organization of leisure and recreation by the community is ably pointed out as one of the essential duties of the true democratic state.”
+ Dial 63:461 N 8 ‘17 140w
“Mr J. P. Sizer wastes much fire on that perennial target, the Puritan, on the Y. M. C. A. and on other activities, but his description of present conditions and plans for improvement are sane and inspiring.”
+ — Ind 91:137 Jl 28 ‘17 40w
SKINNER, ADA MARIA, and SKINNER, ELEANOR LOUISE, comps. Topaz story book. (Jewel ser.) il *$1.50 Duffield 17-24878
Into this book have been gathered stories and legends of autumn, Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving. Indian myths, folktales from other lands, and modern stories and poems are included. The contents are arranged under the following headings: Autumn stories and legends; Among the trees; Woodland animals; Harvest fields; Cheerful chirpers; All Hallowe’en; A harvest of Thanksgiving stories. The frontispiece is by Maxfield Parrish.
A L A Bkl 14:174 F ‘18
“An excellent compilation. ... There is plenty of wholesome fare in it for both tots and shavers, and nothing, or next to nothing, of the artificial ‘dope’ too frequently offered as a substitute and successfully passed off in the confusion of the market-place,—as, for instance, in too much of the material in ‘John Martin’s annual,’ and in all elaborate commercial juvenilism, under whatever name.” J: Walcott
+ Bookm 46:494 D ‘17 80w
+ Lit D 55:57 D 8 ‘17 70w
+ N Y Call p14 Ja 5 ‘18 50w
SKINNER, CONSTANCE LINDSAY. “Good-morning, Rosamond!” il *$1.35 (1½c) Doubleday 17-11791
Rosamond, the very young widow of an elderly and wealthy collector of antiques, was held in subjection by the two elderly servants who revered their master’s memory and who insisted that she do the same. On the morning of the day that Jemima and Amanda were called to their mother’s bedside, their mistress flew to her room, put on her gayest gown, dropped a courtesy before her reflection in the glass and said “Good-morning, Rosamond.” She was determined that this was to be her one wonderful day, and she was youthful enough to hope that her day might bring a fairy prince, altho where he was to come from in staid and settled Roseborough, was an unanswerable question. But strange things, of which the arrival of the desired young man was not the least surprising, were to happen during the twenty-four hours of Rosamond’s day.
“A sparkling, lightsome, exciting and charmingly written story.” E. Gates
+ Books and Authors Je ‘17 400w
“Perhaps the book may be described, with reservations and qualifications, as a Nova Scotian ‘Cranford.’ ... The setting is designedly, perseveringly idyllic, but the action tends to 517lapse from comedy to melodramatic farce. ... An independent system of illustrations by Thomas Fogarty will challenge attention.”
Dial 62:443 My 17 ‘17 200w
“The story is told with consummate literary art. It is joyous and buoyant, scintillant and sarcastic, cynical and sympathetic.”
+ Evening Ledger [Philadelphia] My 5 ‘17 400w
“Constance Skinner, the poet of Indian life, has written a farce comedy in novel form.”
Ind 90:594 Je 30 ‘17 60w
“It is just a bit too preposterous to be as amusing as it might easily have been. It has been dramatized and, we fancy, is better as a play than a novel.”
N Y Times 22:183 My 6 ‘17 150w
“Miss Skinner tells a pleasing story of no importance, in the course of which she mildly satirizes life in a small community. The work is artificial and forced in places, but the dialog is bright and skilful.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p15 S 30 ‘17 230w
SKINNIDER, MARGARET. Doing my bit for Ireland. il *$1 Century 941.5 17-16337
A spirited, frankly partizan account of the Dublin insurrection of 1916, by a school-teacher who took an active part in the rising, was wounded, but escaped imprisonment, and came, some months later, to America. An appendix of nearly fifty pages gives the street songs in vogue in Dublin at the time of the insurrection.
A L A Bkl 14:21 O ‘17
“One of the chief virtues of Miss Skinnider’s simple recital is that it makes the Irish revolutionists live for us, especially their executed leaders, so that the Irish question presents itself as an essentially human problem, and the rights of small nations changes from a battle cry to a demand for constructive thought.”
+ Dial 63:218 S 13 ‘17 250w
“A courageous, romantic, naïve story.”
+ Ind 92:260 N 3 ‘17 70w
“A striking contribution not only to an understanding of the spirit which led to the Easter rebellion, but, since the writer is confessedly a suffragette, we think also to the strange and baffling spirit of the militant women. Neither so full nor so striking as other narratives lately published. The book is largely about the authoress herself, and its particular value lies in the glimpse it affords of the character of herself and her comrades in the cause. ... More than once she indicates that the stories of Belgian atrocities pale beside the work of the British during the terrible fortnight, but the examples afforded are not convincing.”
+ — Nation 105:150 Ag 9 ‘17 850w
“The little volume is intensely readable and well calculated to beguile an idle hour, though it hardly can be regarded as an authoritative narrative, the writer having, apparently, an overload of imagination and a rather scant supply of reasoning power.” Joshua Wanhope
– + N Y Call p14 Jl 1 ‘17 600w
+ N Y Times 22:262 Jl 15 ‘17 130w
SKRINE, JOHN HUNTLEY. Survival of Jesus. *$2 Doran 232 17-14227
“In the twenty-six chapters of this book the author discusses the nature of the man Christ Jesus, the atonement, and the theology of the future. Regarding telepathy, or thought-transference, as a fact, a vera causa, he considers its bearing upon religion, and puts forward a hypothesis of faith-transference or ‘faith-conference.’ Briefly, this hypothesis is that ‘Jesus in the days of His flesh made atonement for men, His contemporaries, by the impartment to them of the life unto God through the medium of a telepathy of spirit.’” (Ath) The author is a clergyman of the Church of England.
Ath p407 Ag ‘17 100w
“The book is beautiful to those who think they understand it, vague to others, and charming in a way to most.”
+ – Bib World 50:256 O ‘17 130w
“The author of this striking book has done a brave thing, and many who may not be able to follow his guidance will be grateful for his boldness.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p292 Je 21 ‘17 1150w
SLADEN, DOUGLAS BROOKE WHEELTON. Douglas romance. *$1.35 Brentano’s (Eng ed 16-19956)
“An historical novel of the present day, ‘The Douglas romance,’ derives its fantastic plot and its kaleidoscopic multitude of cleverly presented characters, men and women of unusual and interesting types, from those still fertile fields of romance, the theatrical world and the European war. It tells of the fortunes of the last heirs of the Scottish earldom of Douglas, the ultramodern descendants of the Black Douglas of ballad fame. ... The war is presented through the points of view of the heroine’s two lovers; one a hero of the trenches, the other the leader of a spectacular attack on a German stronghold. The vivid picture of London in war-time is not the least interesting part of the story.”—Boston Transcript
“Many aspects of theatrical life are shown, perhaps an unnecessary number of unpleasant ones. However, here as elsewhere throughout the book we are disposed to forgive much for the sake of the throng of characters of many types and classes.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 O 21 ‘16 270w
“The tale, from first to last, although lacking in subtle distinctions and delicacies, is interesting.”
+ — N Y Times 21:537 D 3 ‘16 260w
“Partly historical and partly romantic, with a dash of triviality. ... In the concluding chapters the author interjects some thrilling war pictures and scenes of heroism on the battlefield which saves the story from tedium.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p19 Mr 25 ‘17 270w
SLOCUM, STEPHEN ELMER. Elements of hydraulics. 2d ed rev and enl il *$2.50 McGraw 621.2 17-1800
“In the second edition the author has revised his text and added much of value. In Part 1, ‘Pressure of water,’ is added a chapter on strength of pipes under internal pressure. ... In the second part, ‘Flow of water,’ the author has revised considerably the chapter dealing with weirs. ... The chapter on the influence of bends and elbows on the flow has also been rewritten and much new matter added. ... The older chapter on backwater has been eliminated entirely and new matter substituted. ... The chapter on turbines and their appurtenances was unusually good in the first edition, but the author has nevertheless revised it and added much new matter. The paragraphs on water hammer have been rewritten and a chapter on surge tanks added. As in the former edition, the last pages are in the form of an appendix containing tabulated hydraulic data. Two new tables have been added, one on the discharge from wood-stave pipe and the other on submerged weir coefficients, so that there are now 22 tables covering 35 pages.”—Engin Rec
“The appearance of Professor Slocum’s second edition in a few months after the appearance of the first edition seems to indicate the success of his idea, which was to break away from academic presentations of pure theory in order to secure the interest of the student and to visualize the abstractions that once were too exclusively dealt with.”
+ Engin N 77:435 Mr 15 ‘17 160w
Reviewed by A. G. Hillberg
+ Engin Rec 75:234 F 10 ‘17 670w
518SLOSSON, EDWIN EMERY. Six major prophets. il *$1.50 Little 920 17-13229
A companion volume to “Major prophets of to-day.” “Whoever dies without recognizing the prophet of his time dies the death of a pagan,” says a Mohammedan proverb. To escape this fate, Mr Slosson selected the twelve men of his own time to whom the title of prophet seemed most aptly to apply. He has visited and interviewed each of them and made a study of their works. The results are set forth in these two volumes for the benefit of others. The six men of the second volume are, George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, G. K. Chesterton, F. C. S. Schiller, John Dewey and Rudolf Eucken. The original articles, which appeared in the Independent, have been amplified for book publication.
“Informal, good for study clubs. Annotated lists of suggested books.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:400 Je ‘17
Boston Transcript p6 My 2 ‘17 1250w
Boston Transcript p7 My 16 ‘17 650w
+ Ind 91:71 Jl 14 ‘17 270w
“Probably the essay on Eucken would have been different in tone had it been written today. Mr Slosson has preferred to let it stand as he originally wrote it for the Independent, a sort of ante-bellum view of German philosophy. If the present book is sometimes less pungent in style than Mr Slosson’s earlier expositions, he has still accomplished his purpose. He can be informative without even skirting dulness.”
+ New Repub 11:116 My 26 ‘17 400w
“To a marked degree he succeeds in writing interestingly for those readers who have no need to be informed. His intention, he points out, is exposition rather than criticism. But much of very keen and readable criticism his book does contain.”
+ — N Y Times 22:355 S 23 ‘17 1400w
“Sparkling and ingratiating essays. Each discussion is made more illuminating by a brief bibliographic commentary.” Algernon Tassin
+ Pub W 91:1321 Ap 21 ‘17 600w
+ R of Rs 56:104 Jl ‘17 120w
SLOSSON, PRESTON WILLIAM. Decline of the Chartist movement. (Columbia univ. studies in history, economics and public law) pa *$2 Longmans 342.4 16-25227
“Mr Slosson’s title, ‘The decline of the Chartist movement,’ does not quite adequately describe his book. Such a title suggests a study of the movement only from the failure of the great petition of 1848. Mr Slosson’s best work, it is true, is of the years that followed the fiasco of the Kennington Common mass-meeting of 1848. But his story of the movement as a whole is singularly complete and quite comprehensive. ... Clearness both of statement and of reasoning are also obvious when Mr Slosson is discussing to what extent greatly improved industrial conditions after 1848 accounted for the disappearance of the Chartist movement, and again when he is examining the advantages, direct and indirect, that accrued to the wage-earning classes of England in the last half of the nineteenth century from the Chartist agitation of 1837-1854.”—Am Hist R
“Dr Slosson writes with a breadth of view and grasp not always found in doctoral theses.” H. E. Mills
+ Am Econ R 7:606 S ‘17 380w
“If there were no other book on Chartism in existence, Mr Slosson’s study would serve most students of English political movements of the nineteenth century. It certainly would serve to the full those students who are already familiar with industrial and social conditions in England from the American revolution to the first decade of Queen Victoria’s reign. Clearness of presentation is the characteristic of Mr Slosson’s work.” E: Porritt
+ Am Hist R 22:651 Ap ‘17 310w
“Particularly of value as regards the treatment of the causes which led to the decline of the movement, and for its examination of some of the distinctly beneficent results that indirectly accrued to the working classes in England from a movement that many students of English history are inclined to regard as a complete failure. If it had stood alone—if it had not been accompanied by Mr Rosenblatt’s book, and Mr Faulkner’s study of the attitude of the churches toward Chartism and also of the attitude of the Chartists towards the Established church—Mr Slosson’s well-written and admirably arranged monograph would have filled the hiatus in the literature of political movements in England in the nineteenth century that had existed for nearly sixty years.” E: Porritt
+ Am Pol Sci R 11:340 My ‘17 650w
“Mr Slosson’s history of Chartism will rank with the best contributions of American scholars to the literature of English political movement in the nineteenth century, and also with many of the best contributions to this literature from the pens of English historians.” E: Porritt
+ Ind 89:232 F 5 ‘17 200w
“The relation of the movement to industrial depression is analyzed ably and in detail by both Mr Rosenblatt and Mr Slosson. This analysis is by far the most satisfactory feature of their works.”
J Pol Econ 25:635 Je ‘17 190w
Springf’d Republican p6 Jl 18 ‘17 140w
“On the whole, great accuracy and most scrupulous references to the sources mark all three volumes.” I. C. Hannah
+ Survey 38:288 Je 30 ‘17 250w
SMART, WILLIAM. Second thoughts of an economist; with a biographical sketch by T: Jones. *$1.40 Macmillan 330 16-15824
“In this little book, which marks the close of his most active and productive career, Professor Smart has undertaken a review of the salient facts of economic life as they appear when seen by the light of a warm enthusiasm for worthwhile living against the background of his more formal economics. He has returned to certain Ruskinian questionings and disparagings of industrialism and treats of these things with a freedom which he apparently felt one cannot exercise when one is preoccupied with being an economist. ... The book is, in fact, his philosophy of economic responsibility.”—J Pol Econ
“While noble in its tone aspiration, charming in its statement, and sound enough so far as it goes, it must be said that the book does not add to its author’s reputation.” H. E. Mills
+ Am Econ R 6:876 D ‘16 750w
+ Ath p318 Jl ‘16 1450w
“There is little in the book which was not pretty definitely present in his previous volumes. Its special interest consists in that it enables one to appreciate the influence of certain assumptions which controlled his thinking. ... The memoir seems to me exactly suitable and in place. All former students of Professor Smart will be grateful to Mr Jones for so admirable a sketch of one who was so kindly and so fascinating a man and probably also one of the very greatest teachers of economics the country ever produced.” M. W. Robieson
Int J Ethics 27:244 Ja ‘17 1650w
“Precisely because of this breadth of view, the book seems admirably adapted to introduce the subject of economics to beginners. Economic doctrines appear here vividly as very real things. Advanced readers will find its tone genially lucid rather than keenly penetrating, and humanitarian rather than iconoclastic.” J. M. Clark
+ J Pol Econ 25:402 Ap ‘17 900w
Pratt p8 Jl ‘17
Sat R 122:277 S 16 ‘16 450w
+ Spec 117:190 Ag 12 ‘16 430w
* + The Times [London] Lit Sup p279 Je 15 ‘16 900w
519SMIDOVICH, VIKENTII VIKENT’EVICH (VIKENTY VERESÁEV, pseud.). In the war; memoirs; tr. by Leo Wiener. (Slavic translations) *$2 (1c) Kennerley 947 17-12165
An account of the Russo-Japanese war by a Russian surgeon who accompanied the troops. The narrative opens with the announcement of war, and is carried on in the following chapters: On the way; In Mukden; The battle of Sha-ho; The great stand: October to November; The great stand: December to February; The Mukden engagement; On the Mandarin road; Wandering; In expectation of peace; Peace; Home again. The translator associates the author’s name with that of Vereshchágin as a depicter of the grimness of warfare, calling the book, “the most complete analysis of the ingloriousness of war yet obtained.”
“It is a revolting picture from first to last, with such a morbid insistence upon the known cruelties and the heedlessness to human suffering that one feels compelled to doubt, at times, the motive of the author. ... The judicious reader will reserve the right to question not only the author’s motive in some of the cases but also the truth of some of the happenings to which he gives credence.”
— Boston Transcript p6 Ap 25 ‘17 280w
“A vivid, artistically proportioned account written in the characteristically Russian spirit of patience and understanding. ‘No one but a Russian could have presented such a calm, dispassionate and utterly damning record of graft, incompetence and lack of morale. The book will serve to make the over-optimistic realize the magnitude of Russia’s problem in building up a democracy.’”
+ Cleveland p82 Je ‘17 80w
Ind 91:77 Jl 14 ‘17 50w
“Veresaev is well known as the author of the ‘Memoirs of a physician’ and of many stories and essays. A realist of Tolstoy’s school, he succeeds in drawing gripping pictures in a sincere and reserved manner. As a physician, Veresaev had a rather limited field of observation, but even through his narrow prism he was able to behold an appalling picture of human masses being abused, neglected, demoralized, and senselessly slaughtered, through the whim, carelessness, greed, and ignorance of their superiors.”
+ Nation 105:227 Ag 30 ‘17 320w
“What war can do to even the greatest of men is shown here in a realism which would be merely revolting if it were not for the note of bitterness and irony that gives an undercurrent of clear criticism to the sluggish and sickening stream of war’s horror.”
+ New Repub 10:sup20 Ap 21 ‘17 350w
N Y Br Lib News 4:77 My ‘17
SMITH, ALICE RAVENEL HUGER, and SMITH, DANIEL ELLIOTT HUGER. Dwelling houses of Charleston, South Carolina. il *$6 Lippincott 975.7 17-29203
“This book is the story of Charleston told in pictures of its houses and streets and in word-sketches of the interesting, historical, and personal incidents associated with them. In order to convey the quality of the place as a whole, the authors selected those houses which best showed the distinctive evolution of architecture in Charleston, with all its details in the way of fireplaces, paneling, doorways, and furniture. In so doing they have called up a vivid picture of old Charleston life, its history, and the ways of its people generations ago. There are, in all, 128 illustrations from drawings by Alice R. Huger Smith, from photographs, and from architectural drawings of Albert Simons.”—Lit D
“The book has evidently been compiled with care, it contains drawings and documents of great interest, yet somehow it conveys a sense of opportunities unfulfilled, of curiosities unrewarded. This is because it is not so intelligent and authoritative architecturally as it is historically.”
+ — Dial 63:590 D 6 ‘17 650w
Lit D 55:51 D 8 ‘17 130w
N Y Br Lib News 4:182 D ‘17 50w
“The very beautiful book about ‘The dwelling houses of Charleston’ carries between its covers a real treasure of interest, historical, biographical, and architectural.”
+ N Y Times 22:482 N 18 ‘17 80w
+ Outlook 117:575 D 5 ‘17 120w
“After all it is to architects and house lovers that his book will make its strongest appeal.” Ruth Stanley-Brown
+ Pub W 92:1386 O 20 ‘17 590w
+ R of Rs 57:103 Ja ‘18 120w
SMITH, MRS BERTHA (WHITRIDGE). Only a dog. il *$1 (10c) Dutton 940.91 17-5815
“Only a dog” is a little story of the war. The Irish terrier, who tells his own story, had had a happy home life with a French family until the Germans came. He escaped the fate that overtook his master’s family and found refuge with one of the British regiments. A kindly Tommy became his new master and to him the dog remains faithful even after death. A note says that the story is based on a true incident. The proceeds from the sale of the book are to be devoted to relief work.
+ Boston Transcript p8 Ap 14 ‘17 130w
+ Cath World 105:126 Ap ‘17 110w
“‘Only a dog,’ in its tenderness and its simplicity, is exquisite.”
+ N Y Times 22:80 Mr 4 ‘17 400w
“By a Montreal writer.”
Ontario Library Review 1:121 My ‘17 90w
+ Springf’d Republican p8 Ap 20 ‘17 180w
SMITH, EDGAR FAHS. Life of Robert Hare, an American chemist (1781-1858). il *$5 (3c) Lippincott 17-18697
Robert Hare, inventor of the calorimotor and the oxyhydrogen blowpipe, who, “for half a century was considered an unimpeachable authority in chemical research” (Boston Transcript) was born in Philadelphia in 1781, and from 1818-1847 was professor of chemistry in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. This life is written by Provost Smith of the University of Pennsylvania, himself a chemist, for students of chemistry. The story is “told largely by Hare himself in a series of unpublished letters, and in other documents which were practically buried in forgotten journals and pamphlets.” (Preface) The frontispiece is a colored reproduction of the oil portrait of Hare in the University of Pennsylvania. There are four other illustrations.
Reviewed by W. D. Bancroft
+ Am Hist R 23:437 Ja ‘18 410w
“Through what the author terms the second period of Hare’s activity (1818-1847), the book is extremely technical, requiring advanced chemical knowledge for its complete comprehension.” H. S. K.
Boston Transcript p6 Je 20 ‘17 700w
R of Rs 56:440 O ‘17 60w
SMITH, ELVA SOPHRONIA, comp. Mystery tales for boys and girls. il *$1.50 Lothrop 808.8 17-23758
Miss Smith of the Carnegie library of Pittsburgh has selected a number of the stories and poems of mystery that are suitable for older boys and girls. They are stories of “ghosts and haunted houses, hidden treasure and strange enchantment.” It is suggested that librarians and teachers will find the collection useful in meeting the demand for Hallowe’en stories. Among the selections are Poe’s “Gold-bug,” Lord Macaulay’s “Last buccaneer,” Keats’ “La belle dame sans merci,” Goethe’s “Erl-king,” Irving’s “The haunted house,” Scott’s “Alice Brand,” Coleridge’s “Ancient mariner” and Hawthorne’s “Gray champion.” Among more recent selections are a story by Selma Lagerlöf and a poem by Alfred Noyes.
520“Good for Hallowe’en, an excellent collection for about the eighth grade.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:137 Ja ‘18
Reviewed by J: Walcott
Bookm 46:499 D ‘17 150w
“A combination of thrills and good literature.”
+ Cleveland p3 Ja ‘18 40w
+ N Y Times 22:441 O 28 ‘17 100w
“The selections are admirable, and boys and girls of a suitable age will find the book a most convenient means of acquainting themselves with some of the best imaginative writing in the English language.”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 D 1 ‘17 100w
SMITH, EPHRAIM KIRBY. To Mexico with Scott; letters of Captain E. Kirby Smith to his wife; ed. by Emma Jerome Blackwood; with an introd. by R. M. Johnston. il *$1.25 Harvard univ. press 17-22326
“In the war between the United States and Mexico (1845-1847), which followed on the annexation to the States of Texas and the dispute with Mexico as to the boundary of the new state, Captain Kirby Smith fought first under General Taylor and then under General Scott. His letters ... provide a close chronicle of events, with here and there a note on the habits of the people or the scenery.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“A valuable addition to the first-hand literature of the Mexican war. The reader of these, as of all other such documents, must ask himself here and there whether the writer was in a position to know the truth of what he believed and said, and by doing so will avoid accepting some errors.” J. H. Smith
+ Am Hist R 23:438 Ja ‘18 730w
“Good letters are the best of reading, and Captain Smith had the gift of letter writing. Now and then one gets a glimpse into the very depths of the soul of the man. Mr Johnston’s introduction is a valuable contribution to the book.” F. W. C.
+ Boston Transcript p7 D 1 ‘17 460w
+ Dial 64:31 Ja 3 ‘18 210w
“The ‘Letters of Capt. Smith’ are full of interest and form an important sidelight of history. But they are unfortunate in their editor who has not proved himself a big enough man to keep his very questionable political ideas out of an historical work.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p8 S 12 ‘17 470w
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p494 O 11 ‘17 80w
SMITH, FRANK WEBSTER. High school; with an introd. by J: Calvin Hanna. *$2 Sturgis & Walton 370.9 17-287
Believing that the high school is “the determining factor in American school life,” Mr Smith attempts to study the origins and tendencies of secondary education. “In the superintendence of public schools, in teaching and supervision in high school and academy, in the training of high school teachers in normal school and university department of education, and in supervision of and participation in the training of high school graduates for teaching in elementary schools, he has had opportunity to observe the work of the high school from various angles.” (Author’s preface) The first 292 pages cover the period from primitive times to the nineteenth century, including a chapter on “Jesus, teacher—new principles of education.” Two chapters are then given to the high school in the nineteenth century, one to the development of secondary education in the United States, and one to a review of the evolution of secondary education from different view points. The last three chapters treat of the high school of the twentieth century. A graphic summary is inserted just before the nine-page bibliography.
“The relation between the educational institution and the economic and social conditions is emphasized consistently, and there is brought together a wealth of illustrative material.”
+ Ind 90:253 My 5 ‘17 160w
+ N Y Times 22:297 Ag 12 ‘17 90w
SMITH, SIR FREDERICK EDWIN. Destruction of merchant ships under international law. *$1.75 Dutton 341.3 (Eng ed 17-17631)
“The British Attorney-General presents the perplexing question of merchant ships’ status in war time. He first discusses enemy merchantmen, and goes into the question of visit and search, seizure and destruction, examining the various points in the light of former decisions on similar cases. He then considers neutral merchantmen, and their position under the customary law. He bases his findings on the practice that obtained in the Russo-Japanese war, and was later modified by the discussion at the Second Hague conference, and the Declaration of London.”—Cath World
“Does much to clarify this very difficult problem, and gives a comprehensive, trustworthy basis for the many decisions that must be made at the close of the war.”
+ Cath World 106:112 O ‘17 130w
“In days when enemy ships are being fired upon in neutral waters, when new measures of naval warfare interfering with neutral rights are assumed to be legal in spite of unquestionable and unanimous authority directly to the contrary, when the rights of neutrals are entirely disregarded in the attempt of belligerents to exercise full military power, a book setting forth what was international law on one phase of belligerent operation, without considering the complications of the whole situation, is not very valuable; and when it is written by a man of the brilliance and standing of Sir Frederick Smith, one is inclined to regret the fact that more originality and vigor are not in evidence.”
– + Nation 105:222 Ag 30 ‘17 900w
Pittsburgh 22:836 D ‘17 40w
“It is well that there should be available such a sober and well-reasoned remembrancer of German sea crime as this little book, which the Attorney-General states is prepared largely from the notes of Dr Coleman Phillipson, who has already written admirably of the problems of international law arising out of modern warfare. ... There is no page which cannot be understood by the lay reader. ... It reduces a mass of international law almost to syllogistic form in language that is wholly free from pedantry and ambiguity.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p185 Ap 19 ‘17 570w
SMITH, GERALD BIRNEY, ed. Guide to the study of the Christian religion. *$3 Univ. of Chicago press 207 16-24312
“A dozen scholars, all excellent authorities in their respective fields, have joined in producing this ‘Guide’ under the general editorship of Professor G. B. Smith of the University of Chicago. Their primary purpose has been, to help students to understand the meaning of the various aspects of education for the Christian ministry. They have also wished to help pastors to keep in sympathetic touch with the latest scholarship. But so largely has the Christian religion been shaped by its history, so largely must the explanation of its various features rest on historical study, that nearly two-thirds of the book is historical in character.” (Am Hist R) Among the contributors are Shailer Mathews, J. M. P. Smith, E. D. Burton, S. J. Case, F. A. Christie, and George Cross.
“May well be invaluable to many an historical professor or student. ... The statements are clear, comprehensive, and judicious. The successive essays are kept remarkably uniform in method and in texture. Frequent brief bibliographies at the end of sections—perhaps two hundred of them—describe the books most 521useful to readers of the classes for whom the manual is designed. The book is well conceived and well executed.”
+ Am Hist R 22:694 Ap ‘17 280w
“‘A remarkably comprehensive work, surveying almost the entire field of the material of the curriculum of the theological seminary and showing the present-day general situation in theological education.’”
+ A L A Bkl 13:286 Ap ‘17 (Reprinted from Religious Education 12:65 F ‘17)
“Of the thirteen authors ten of them are connected with the University of Chicago.”
Boston Transcript p7 Je 27 ‘17 450w
SMITH, GRAFTON ELLIOT, and PEAR, TOM HATHERLEY. Shell shock and its lessons. (Manchester univ. publications) *$1 Longmans 17-25982
“This brief book is described by the authors as a ‘simple non-technical exposition of the ascertained facts of that malady, or complex of maladies, for which we have adopted the official designation “Shell-shock.”’ ... The authors rely on data which came from France, Russia, and Germany, as well as our own army, and which fortify their own experiences and conclusions. They end with a chapter on the need for reform of the British attitude towards the treatment of mental disorder.”—Sat R
“Suggests methods for the treatment not only of this condition but of similar nervous conditions in time of peace. ... ‘The civilian should be offered the facilities for cure which have proved such a blessing to the war-stricken soldier.’”
Nation 105:276 S 6 ‘17 330w
“It would have been more accurate, we think, to have called it ‘war-shock,’ for the conditions described have been witnessed in cases that have not been to the front. The reviewer is scarcely in agreement with the authors, who adopt so wholeheartedly the exclusively emotional origin of shell-shock as against the physical origin. That shell-shock is entirely of psychic origin and can be overcome by psycho-therapeutics is too sweeping a statement.” Robert Armstrong-Jones
+ — Nature 100:1 S 6 ‘17 2050w
Pittsburgh 22:771 N ‘17 40w
“Though the book inevitably involves some knowledge of psychology, it is clearly written, and popular enough to refer to Sherlock Holmes, Bernard Shaw, and the author of ‘Erewhon,’ ... The various means of treatment are lucidly described, and the moral objections to psychological analysis are fairly considered. The corrections throughout the book of the casual views and suppositions of the public on mental cases of difficulty deserve a wide circulation.”
+ Sat R 124:70 Jl 28 ‘17 300w
Spec 118:40 Jl 14 ‘17 130w
“The authors do not agree with Dr Eder (of the Malta hospitals) and the extreme school of the psycho-analysts. Nor do they agree with the ‘materialistic’ school. They advocate the use of a common-sense combination of methods, and especially of persuasion by the physician and suggestion when the patient is in the waking state. Especially do they advocate a better education of the physician in psychology. The latter part of the book is devoted to this advocacy and to an indictment of our asylum system. The book is exceedingly interesting—and, best of all, optimistic. It is well written and quite untechnical.”
+ + — Spec 119:218 S 1 ‘17 1400w
Reviewed by Gertrude Seymour
Survey 39:170 N 17 ‘17 750w
“What the authors press for is clinics attached to general hospitals and to medical schools, to which patients in the early stages of mental disturbance may go without legal formalities and free from the stigma attached to an asylum. The Psychopathic hospital at Boston, Mass., and other similar institutions in the United States and elsewhere are quoted as examples to be followed.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p299 Je 21 ‘17 180w
SMITH, HARRY BRADLEY. Establishing industrial schools; with an introd. by C: A. Prosser. (Riverside educational monographs) *60c Houghton 371.42 16-20752
“Concrete and practical methods of determining what sort of industrial and trade schools are needed in our large industrial communities are considered by Harry Bradley Smith, director of industrial education in the New York state college for teachers. ... While the greater part of the work is devoted to the problems of the survey for vocational education, the author with commendable foresight has included in addition a closing chapter full of information and suggestions as to the steps to be taken and the best ways of getting such things as a proper course of study, advisory committees and trade agreements.”—Springf’d Republican
A L A Bkl 13:386 Je ‘17
“Contrives to be concise without being obscure, and matter-of-fact without being dry-as-dust.”
+ Nation 105:129 Ag 2 ‘17 230w
“The monograph is really a primer full of valuable information for any person interested in the new and difficult problem of getting the right kind of vocational education started in a community.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 29 ‘17 140w
SMITH, JAMES HALDANE. Economic moralism. il *$1.75 Macmillan 330 17-14559
“This is an ‘essay on constructive economics’ which may interest those who concern themselves with theoretical or economic utopias. ‘Economic moralism’ is equally opposed to capitalism and to socialism. It demands on one hand that all individuals shall be assured equal opportunity by the state—the organized people—owning and working the land and industries, and asserts that rent, interest, and profit are usury and have no ethical justification; and, on the other hand, it vigorously opposes the socialist principle of free supply of the wants of the individual at the public expense. The ‘moralist’ principle is that of collecting from each individual the cost of what is actually supplied to him.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
Reviewed by E. L. Earp
Am J Soc 23:414 N ‘17 500w
“If all his book had been as interesting to us as is this chapter [on interest] we should have been hard put to it to find a limit to our notice. ... In his second part he outlines plans for initiating and carrying out what he terms ‘economic moralism.’ We find ourselves so little in sympathy with his idea of coercive action by the state that we admit difficulty in judging his proposals on their intrinsic merits.”
Ath p272 Je ‘16 1100w
“The book is characteristic of the present tendency of economic theory. It contains many original contributions in thought and is interesting and suggestive throughout.” R. W.
Boston Transcript p7 My 2 ‘17 600w
“No references are given for any passages quoted: and much later and better work both in ethics and in economics is hardly given the place one would expect. For surely Herbert Spencer is easily shown to be deficient, without the principles of ethics being more clear on that account. And a far graver deficiency in Mr Smith’s book is that the principles of ethics are neither stated nor proved.” C. D. Burns
— Int J Ethics 27:249 Ja ‘17 350w
“On the whole, the work is ingenious as well as serious, and will prove interesting and stimulating to anyone interested in the constructive literature of extreme radicalism. Many of the assumptions in regard to human nature, its capacities and adaptabilities, and the like, are of the usual socialistic type and will appeal to nonsocialists as unwarrantable in the absence of more proof than is offered.” F. H. Knight
+ — J Pol Econ 26:99 Ja ‘18 600w
N Y Br Lib News 3:106 Jl ‘16
522“It is very creditable of him to think so hard; but he cannot make economic moralism intelligible.”
— Sat R 122:277 S 16 ‘16 500w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p226 My 11 ‘16 180w
SMITH, JOHN TALBOT. Parish theatre; a brief account of its rise, its present condition, and its prospects. *$1 Longmans 792 17-30252
A wide chasm exists between the damning of the theatre by Christians in 1850 and the staging of plays by church folk which led up to the branch of the amateur drama known as the parish theatre. The spanning of that chasm has been a part of the evolution that has developed a social conscience. In this small volume we are told specifically of the growth of the parish theatre, its aims and service. The parish play demands a parish hall, a pastor manager, or a substitute, the right kind of play and an audience. The institution to be built up must work “quietly and gaily in the shadow of the church towards the redemption of an art which commerce enslaves for the sake of profit, and the Puritan leaves in the gutter for the sake of righteousness!” A list of one hundred plays suitable for this kind of production is given.
“We predict a heavy demand for this practical and valuable little book. For a good many years Father Smith has been the foremost Catholic spokesman for the drama in America.”
+ Cath World 106:550 Ja ‘18 360w
SMITH, JOHN THOMAS. Nollekens and his times, and memoirs of contemporary artists from the time of Roubiliac, Hogarth and Reynolds to that of Fuseli, Flaxman and Blake. 2v il *$7.50 Lane 709.42 16-23956
Joseph Nollekens was a portrait-sculptor of the eighteenth century. He was born in 1737 and died in 1823. His biography written by his contemporary, John Thomas Smith, keeper of prints and drawings in the British museum, was published in 1828. Wilfred Whitten, who now edits the work, calls it “a great lucky-bag of detail for students of London topography and of the practice of the arts in London from Hogarth to Blake.” The author, he says, “is essentially a gossip.” His idea of literary form “is to let one thing lead to another, with unlimited licence to revert, to anticipate, and to go off at a tangent.” Eighty-five illustrations add to the interest of the two volumes.
“Appended to the biography is a volume of a similar type containing sketches of artists and other contemporaries. ... After the second edition, 1829, the book dropped out of sight until, in 1895, Edmund Gosse edited the portion of the book relating to Nollekens. The present edition, by Wilfred Whitten, covers the entire work and is enriched by very careful and very full notes.” J. T. Gerould
+ Bellman 22:274 Mr 10 ‘17 600w
+ Boston Transcript p9 D 9 ‘16 800w
“He has left us a vivid picture of an interesting age. Nollekens and his friends have long been known to connoisseurs of art and literature. It is to introduce them to a wider circle of readers that the present handsome edition has been issued, an edition copiously illustrated with rare drawings of old London and with reproductions of water-colors and engravings of worthies of the period.”
Dial 62:29 Ja 11 ‘17 350w
“Service to the antiquarian interested in ‘old London’ and in the Europe of that age is uniquely rendered by the rich foot-notes of the edition, involving much patient research.”
+ Lit D 54:263 F 3 ‘17 350w
“The average reader will balk at the enormous quantity of oddities—literary, artistic, and personal—which Smith many years ago collected, and will question seriously whether, instead of two large volumes one small volume would not have been all that was needed of this material.”
Outlook 115:74 Ja 10 ‘17 100w
“Of interest to all who love the flavor of a past age. While it is written with a pleasant touch of formality, its character is primarily that of gossip, but it is gossip like Pepys’s, that never grows dull.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 D 18 ‘16 650w
SMITH, JOSEPH SHUTER. Trench warfare; a manual for officers and men. il *$1.50 (6c) Dutton 355 17-16322
“Lieutenant J. S. Smith is an American who enlisted at the beginning of the war with a Canadian regiment. He has been at the front ever since, and so has seen and taken an active part in the entire development of the trench system. Two years ago he was given a commission in the British army and is now fighting ‘somewhere in France’ as an officer in a famous British regiment. He describes with full technical detail the principles, rules, and methods for the location and construction of the three complete lines or systems of trenches that are called for by the new plan of warfare, explains methods of drainage, and the making of obstacles and entanglements. There are sections also upon bombs and bombing which classify and describe all the kinds of bombs that are used at the front, upon gas warfare, sniping, care of rifles, duties of an officer, prevention of frostbite and trench feet, and other matters.”—N Y Times
A L A Bkl 14:43 N ‘17
+ — Engin News-Rec 79:127 Jl 19 ‘17 340w
“There is so much of value to the student officer condensed within a small space, that we can but note the chapters, location of trenches, trench drainage, and training as of particular importance. ... Numerous diagrams are helpful by way of clearer explanation.”
+ Ind 91:72 Jl 14 ‘17 130w
“An admirable little manual for the men to whom trench warfare is as yet only a name.”
+ New Repub 12:140 S 1 ‘17 500w
“The work seems to be strictly a technical war manual, and no doubt has considerable value for that purpose, for if American soldiers do go into the trenches in any numbers, this information will prove most valuable in saving many lives that would otherwise be lost in discovering the most efficient trench methods.” J. W. D.
+ N Y Call p14 Jl 1 ‘17 200w
“Although it is intended to be a practical handbook the non-military person who wants to know more about such matters as dugouts and revetments and grenades and tear bombs than it is possible to learn from the newspapers will find the book easy and interesting to read.”
+ N Y Times 22:264 Jl 15 ‘17 480w
“The information contained in this work must sooner or later be mastered by every American officer and private who is to serve in France.”
+ R of Rs 56:326 S ‘17 80w
SMITH, LOGAN PEARSALL. Trivia. il *$1.25 (5½c) Doubleday 824 17-28834
A book of thoughts and impressions, inspired by sights and scenes in rural England and in London. Some of the brief essays and sketches, which run to little over a page in length, were privately printed at the Chiswick press in 1902; others have appeared in the New Statesman and the New Republic. The author is an American who has lived much abroad. He has also written a life of Sir Henry Wottan, a book of short stories about Oxford, and a volume on the English language for the Home university library.
“Little essays, often provoking, like scraps of good talk overheard and lost—they give one a sense of the whimsical and perilous charm of daily life, with its meetings and words and accidents.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:87 D ‘17
523“I know of nothing since Lord Bacon quite like these ineffably dainty little paragraphs of gilded whim, these rainbow nuggets of wistful inquiry, these butterfly wings of fancy, these pointed sparklers of wit.” E. F. E.
+ Boston Transcript p9 O 20 ‘17 1400w
+ Cleveland p134 D ‘17 50w
“Some of the little sketches are rather too ‘precious’; occasionally there is a veritable descent to flatness.”
+ — Dial 64:155 F 14 ‘18 220w
“Some of the numbers are in the nature of prose poems, somewhat in the manner of the vers-librettists, but better than the run of such things. ... It is a pretty book in form, sad and wise in its contents, and sometimes exquisite.”
+ Nation 105:517 N 8 ‘17 140w
SMITH, ONNIE WARREN. Trout lore. il *$2 (5c) Stokes 799 17-10443
A series of papers on trout and trout fishing by the angling editor of Outdoor Life. The chapters were written originally for that magazine and are reprinted with slight revisions. The author says of the book, “This is primarily a popular description of the ways of the eastern brook trout, though nearly everything set down here as true of the eastern fish may roughly be applied to his western relatives.” Among the chapters are: A page of natural history; Nuptial dress and etiquette; Comparative merits of char and salmon trouts; Trout and the weather; Fly-fishing for trout; A dissertation upon the dry fly; Bait-fishing for trout; Trout of the little brooks; The trout of the lakes. There are twenty-four illustrations from photographs.
“Delightful illustrations from photographs.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:13 O ‘17
“An interesting feature of the book is the classification of trout according to habitat. In the chapter on ‘The trout in the pan’ are some promising recipes for brook-side cooking that tempt to experiment this spring.”
+ Dial 62:406 My 3 ‘17 250w
“He writes with charm upon an old theme, and fearlessly raises many debatable questions.”
+ Nation 105:491 N 1 ‘17 270w
N Y Br Lib News 4:76 My ‘17
“Readable even for the rank amateur.”
+ R of Rs 55:666 Je ‘17 80w
SMITH, WALTER ROBINSON. Introduction to educational sociology. (Riverside textbooks in education) diags *$1.75 (1½c) Houghton 370.1 17-14234
The author, who is professor of sociology and economics in the State normal school at Emporia, Kansas, approaches educational problems from a new point of view. He says that in the past education has been too much of an isolated institution. “In the past our schools have drawn their inspiration more largely from their own traditions than from their social environment.” Books on education have been written from the psychological and individual rather than from the social and sociological viewpoint. His aim in this book has been “to make a preliminary application of the uses to be made of the group unit in educational theory and practice.” The book is divided into two parts: Sociological foundations, and Educational applications. Selected references follow each chapter.
“The treatment is sane. The style is clear. A wide influence is predicted for the book.” F. R. Clow
+ Am J Soc 23:271 S ‘17 630w
“As a textbook in educational sociology it will fill a much-needed place in the training of teachers in the broader aspects of the educational problem.” J. P. Lichtenberger
+ — Ann Am Acad 74:305 N ‘17 310w
“Dr Smith’s book is the most conspicuous contribution to the literature of this subject that has yet appeared. If one were to offer a criticism it would be that the work lacks philosophy.” R. L. Finney
+ — Educ R 56:169 F ‘18 1000w
“It seems to us the best single book now available as a textbook in social education or educational sociology.”
+ El School J 18:74 S ‘17 290w
Ind 91:296 Ag 25 ‘17 80w
“His sociological bibliography is not very extensive. ... The book has in it a great deal that is true and useful, and is well written, for the most part. Very likely it will help a number of educators to realize that education is not an isolated institution. But it does not drive compellingly to the point, as such a book must do, even though elementary, if it is going to attract attention to a novel point of view.”
+ — Nation 105:271 S 6 ‘17 430w
Reviewed by W. D. Lane
+ Survey 39:148 N 10 ‘17 600w
SMUTS, JAN CHRISTIAAN. War-time speeches; a compilation of public utterances in Great Britain. *75c (3c) Doran 940.91 17-23463
“As a former antagonist of those who are now its comrades in arms, General Smuts can criticize the British commonwealth—as he calls it in preference to empire—with something of detachment. ... Throughout his speeches he stresses the fact that Great Britain is a congeries of separate nations. He says the federal principle, as elaborated by us for instance, cannot work. Liberty and complete local sovereignty can alone hold the commonwealth together. Imperial conferences for foreign affairs, of an advisory order and preferably continuous, will bind each part of the commonwealth to every other part in a net light as air legally, constitutionally, yet tenacious as steel in actual practice.” (New Repub) These speeches were delivered in Great Britain in 1917 in connection with the session of the Imperial war cabinet and Imperial war conference.
“The speeches show the breadth and depth of view of General Smuts, but as reading matter some of the book is disappointing, because the repetition of expression which is often an asset in a speech is not so in printed form.”
+ — Ath p409 Ag ‘17 40w
“England has need to-day of a man of this type, one who is under the fringe of her robe, yet near enough the edge to feel and comprehend the just criticism of men on the outside. Smuts is direct, superbly logical, human and prophetic. That is a good deal to say of a man, but it is true in this case.” S. A.
+ Boston Transcript p10 D 5 ‘17 470w
“The tone of the speeches is admirably fair.”
+ New Repub 13:sup16 N 17 ‘17 140w
SNAITH, JOHN COLLIS. The coming. *$1.50 (2c) Appleton 17-24695
“Accepted at its surface value, ‘The coming’ is a portrayal of what might be expected to happen if the Second Advent were to take place to-day in England. The scene is an English village, very insular and stereotyped in customs and opinions. In this village is a young carpenter of scanty education and frail health—in fact an epileptic, and reputed to be of weak mind. He hears inner voices, and relates how the spirit of Goethe has visited him at night and asked him to join in prayer for stricken Germany. All this so shocks the good vicar of the village that he feels it his duty to take action ... and has the man committed as a dangerous lunatic. ... While shut up in the insane asylum, the new Messiah writes his message to the world in the form of a drama entitled, ‘The door,’ which is accepted enthusiastically by a little American Jew, the head of a syndicate of fifty theaters, who, after reading the manuscript, is so miraculously wrought upon that for the first time in his life he is indifferent to profit and loss. The play is a phenomenal success; it is translated into all the European tongues; it brings all nations successively to a realization 524of the error of their ways; the Nobel peace prize is awarded to the author, but when the commission arrives to confer it he is already dead.”—Pub W
A L A Bkl 14:63 N ‘17
“The opening scene, with its atmosphere of wonder, is more impressive than the later action, which is too neatly contrived, and, in its madhouse episodes, borders perilously upon the ridiculous.” H. W. Boynton
– + Bookm 46:338 N ‘17 80w
“It is impossible to take ‘The coming’ seriously. ... It is an absurd commingling of farce and melodrama. It brings to the reader absolutely no conviction of its reality.” E. F. E.
— Boston Transcript p6 S 22 ‘17 1250w
“It is utterly unconvincing. The incidents are forced and strained, and the characters, who are vague throughout, seem mere lay-figures for the working of the plot. As a novel ‘The coming’ is an unsatisfying and unimportant performance, but as an indication of spiritual unrest it has significance.”
– + Cath World 106:411 D ‘17 300w
“The least favorable thing that can be said about ‘The coming’ is that the personages in whom the ideas are embodied are not sufficiently specific and individual. ... The essential ideas are good, and at present it is real service to have presented them in an attractive way.” J: Macy
+ — Dial 63:345 O 11 ‘17 1450w
“Mr Snaith’s sincere and interesting novel is somewhat weakened by this serious misconception of the personality of the Messiah.”
+ — Ind 92:259 N 3 ‘17 340w
“Unluckily for the effect of the story, it is too patently ingenious. This is not a theme for cleverness. It is a theme of unfathomed possibilities, but one thing, at least, is clear: they will never be realized, or approach realization, by such means as Mr Snaith has at his command.”
— Nation 105:456 O 25 ‘17 340w
New Repub 13:sup14 N 17 ‘17 180w
“In so far as Mr Snaith is an iconoclast, he is delightful; his satiric portrayal of the vicar as a representative of modern society is the artistry of a skilled workman. The book is flimsily constructed and cumbersomely written. It has all the disadvantages of a mongrel religious essay-novel. The warp of theology and woof of novel produces a cloth neither commendable as an intellectual contribution, much less as a thing of beauty.” H. J. Szold
+ – N Y Call p14 N 11 ‘17 700w
“Written in a style delicate, subtle, often beautiful. ... The exceedingly difficult subject is handled with delicacy and considerable skill.”
+ N Y Times 22:353 S 23 ‘17 1300w
“We should not quarrel, however, with anyone who chose to say that in this singular and touching book—that is in the main so shrewd, so witty, so astringent, so deeply pitiful, of so level a gaze, so true a vision—there are passages of an unpersuasiveness that are hard to forget.” Lawrence Gilman
+ — No Am 206:948 D ‘17 1350w
“As a piece of literary art the book is remarkable.”
+ Outlook 117:386 N 7 ‘17 110w
“To many readers there are numerous incongruities which cross the boundary of irreverence—the epilepsy, the patronizing and ever-recurrent phrase, ‘He’s a dear fellow,’ the conception of Divinity in the role of a playwright. Furthermore there is a lack of inspiration verging upon the commonplace in the conversation of the central character, with the exception of his frequent quotations from the Bible. ... In conclusion, one wonders whether the author himself realized how very pro-German his special brand of pacifism sounds.” Calvin Winter
— Pub W 92:802 S 15 ‘17 850w
R of Rs 56:555 N ‘17 350w
“Recognizing the difficulties of handling such a plot, one cannot deny that Mr Snaith has developed it with taste and restraint. The story does not, however, touch the high standards as a novel attained in the author’s previous stories. The influence on Mr Snaith of ‘The servant in the house’ and ‘The passing of the third floor back’ is apparent.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p15 Ja 13 ‘18 500w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p516 O 25 ‘17 590w
SNEATH, ELIAS HERSHEY, and others. Religious training in the school and home. *$1.50 Macmillan 377 17-24241
This manual for parents and teachers has been written in connection with the preparation of the two series of books known as “The golden rule series” and “The king’s highway series.” It may be used independently however. It is based on a similar manual, “Moral training in the school and home,” six new chapters having been added, certain portions omitted, and the remainder revised. Chapters discussing the importance of religious training and considering aims and method are followed by others devoted to: The bodily life [2 chapters]; The intellectual life; The social life [6 chapters]; The economic life; The political life: The æsthetic life. Suggestions for the children’s reading follow each chapter and at the close there is a bibliography for teachers.
“The book is good, but not so good as one has a right to expect from the scholarship and experience of the authors.”
+ — Educ R 56:173 F ‘18 50w
“In a useful way it correlates what has been written and said on the subject in recent years.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 O 21 ‘17 230w
SNEDDEN, DAVID SAMUEL. Problems of secondary education. (Riverside textbooks in education) *$1.50 (2c) Houghton 379.17 17-4796
“The conflicts regarding educational aims, characteristic of much of the current discussion, center largely about the high school. Professor Snedden considers these in ‘Problems of secondary education,’ a series of twenty-five ‘letters’ to superintendents, college presidents, principals and teachers. The restatement of aims in terms of concrete purposes of obvious value to men and women living today, and the adaptation of materials and methods to the attainment of these aims, constitute the text of these articles.”—Ind
A L A Bkl 13:430 Jl ‘17
“Where Dr Snedden is critical, one follows him in hearty agreement. He touches, with a gentle pertinence that even high-school teachers should understand, these sterile attitudes and outworn notions that must be made over. It is only when he becomes dogmatic that one finds fault. Dr Snedden’s conviction of the necessity of separating cultural and vocational education will certainly be shared by few educational progressives.” Randolph Bourne
+ — Dial 62:303 Ap 5 ‘17 1350w
“The book will be of real service to those concerned with the readjustments taking place in our educational systems.”
+ Ind 90:253 My 5 ‘17 90w
Nation 104:543 My 3 ‘17 270w
N Y Br Lib News 4:73 My ‘17
Pittsburgh 22:434 My ‘17 60w
Pratt p12 Jl ‘17 50w
“What we need at this juncture is a clear statement of the aims that underlie the changes that are taking place. Dr Snedden’s ‘Problems of secondary education’ is a forceful and comprehensive statement of these aims. Not the least interesting part of this book is the introduction by Mr Cubberley, editor of the ‘Riverside textbooks in education.’” F. W. Johnson
+ School R 25:370 My ‘17 1150w
Reviewed by W: A. Aery
+ Survey 39:148 N 10 ‘17 110w
525SNELL, ROY JUDSON. Eskimo Robinson Crusoe. il *$1 (4½c) Little 17-28598
The story of Kituk, a little Eskimo lad, who is cast adrift on an ice floe. Kituk is the proud possessor of three Eskimo dogs, and he has also as a pet a white bear that he has tamed. These four animal friends are with him when he finds himself drifting out into Bering sea, and in all his adventures they are his faithful companions and helpers.
“Here is the note of extravagance that little people love rather than the air of truth. But with its amusing illustrations of animals in action it will please those for whom it is intended.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p13 D 16 ‘17 50w
SNORRI STURLUSON. Prose Edda; tr. from the Icelandic, with an introd. by Arthur G. Brodeur. $1.50 Am.-Scandinavian foundation 839.6 16-22078
“‘The prose Edda’ is a Scandinavian classic [of the early thirteenth century], and one of the greatest. It has found a very skilful and sympathetic translator in Dr Brodeur. His version contains all of the ‘Gylfaginning’ and all of the Skaldskaparmal (the poesy of the skalds). It is the first translation in English which contains all of the second part. Dasent renders only the narrative passages of this portion.”—Nation
“The Library of Congress enters this book under Edda Snorri Sturlusonar.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:303 Ap ‘17
“This should attract three classes of readers, students of Scandinavian history, myth and literature; lovers of folklore and the primitive simplicities in language and literature; and poets.”
+ Ind 89:118 Ja 15 ‘17 50w
“Not only in respect of completeness, but in respect of accuracy and spirit, Dr Brodeur’s translation ought to supersede the other English ones.”
+ Nation 104:683 Je 7 ‘17 90w
N Y Br Lib News 3:182 D ‘16
SNOW, WILLIAM LEONARD, ed. High school prize speaker. *90c Houghton 808.5 16-20119
A book of selections adapted for use as readings. The preface says that they are selections that have taken prizes at the J. Murray Kay prize-speaking contests held annually at the Brookline (Mass.) high school. Among them are such old favorites as “The death of Steerforth,” “My double and how he undid me,” “How ‘Ruby’ played,” and “Lasca.” Among the newer selections are Robert Haven Schauffler’s “Scum o’ the earth,” Alfred Noyes’ “The highwayman,” and stories by Myra Kelly, Jack London, Joseph C. Lincoln and others.
“The collection, as a whole, is judicious, being diversified, and combining things old and modern.”
+ Springf’d Republican p15 F 4 ‘17 120w
Wis Lib Bul 13:157 My ‘17 90w
SOLANO, E. JOHN, ed. Field entrenchments; a manual of trench warfare based on official manuals. il *$1 National military pub. co. 355
This book reprinted from the second (1915) London edition, is said to have been “written by an engineer officer attached to the Imperial general staff,” who prefers to remain anonymous. It covers Spadework for riflemen; Hasty fire-cover; Fire-trenches; Communications; Concealment; Obstruction, and Shelters. There are eighty-seven illustrations.
+ A L A Bkl 14:113 Ja ‘18
“Copious illustrations, diagrams, and plans clarify the text.”
+ N Y Times 22:379 O 7 ‘17 150w
Soldier of France to his mother; letters from the trenches on the western front. $1 (2½c) McClurg 940.91 17-17991
An English edition of this work, translated by “V. M.,” was issued under the title “Letters of a soldier, 1914-1915,” with an introduction by A. Clutton-Brock. The translation for the American edition has been made by Theodore Stanton, who contributes an introduction, which is, he says, in part a paraphrase of the original French preface by André Chevrillon. The letters were written by a young French soldier who was in the war from its beginning up to April 6, 1915. Since that date he has been “missing.” An unusual spiritual comradeship existed between son and mother, and his letters to her reveal a soul sensitive to all the moods of nature and to loveliness in all forms. “Whatever happens, life has had beauty for me,” were his last written words.
A L A Bkl 14:55 N ‘17
“These letters contain many passages and ideas of unusual beauty.”
+ Ath p412 Ag ‘17 110w
“Though pantheistic in its tenor, there is nevertheless a strong, earnest religious note in these letters. Though written from day to day in the trenches they nevertheless form a progressive whole like the stanzas of a poem. And exceptionally commendable is the translation of Mr Stanton. He has succeeded in carrying beauty from French into English, a task not always successful.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ag 29 ‘17 470w
“Expressing the mental and spiritual reactions of a highly-strung nature, the letters are too abstract to be popular, but they form one of the most remarkable literary expressions of the war and are of the stuff which lasts.”
+ Cleveland p1 Ja ‘18 120w
“It must be a source of great comfort to the mother to feel that, after all, her son achieved in these letters something like complete artistic expression of his noble nature, to know of the wide recognition they have had in France, and to learn that now they are given in English to America, which needs their lesson and their inspiration.”
+ Dial 63:279 S 27 ‘17 380w
“Characterized by a grave and touching spirituality and an exceptionally deep filial affection.”
+ Pittsburgh 22:683 O ‘17 40w
“One feature of ‘Letters of a soldier’ is his adoration of his mother. ... He is, perhaps, typically French in his powers of artistic vision; but he is neither French nor English in the most striking side of his book. He belongs to the rare order of philosophers who can reach serenity in a world of horrors. ... He had got beyond the idea of personal success: ‘To a child in a game it is a fine thing to carry the flag; but for a man it is enough to know that the flag will yet be carried. And that is what every moment of great august Nature brings home to me!’ ... This is the most remarkable book of its kind we have seen lately.”
+ + Sat R 124:69 Jl 28 ‘17 440w
“All through his reasoning is different from that of the British soldier, though the results are the same. Mr Clutton-Brock says: ‘It would hardly be possible for any Englishman to ignore the war so resolutely, to refuse any kind of consent to it; or, if an Englishman were capable of such refusal, he would probably be a conscientious objector. We must romanticise things to some extent if we are to endure them; we must at least make jokes about them; but if a thing is bad to a Frenchman, it is altogether bad; and he will have no dealings with it. He may have to endure it; but he endures gravely and tensely with a sad Latin dignity, and so it is that this Frenchman endures the war from first to last.’ ... In the writer of these letters love of beauty passes insensibly into his religion. His power of wrapping himself round with serenity as with a cloak when he has gazed on a hill 526bathed in colour or on a flower growing in the mud is remarkable. If his religion is far from orthodox, it is real.”
+ Spec 119:117 Ag 4 ‘17 1200w
“All but two or three of the letters are addressed to his mother; and they are letters which, as Mr Clutton-Brock points out, no son would have been likely to write to his mother in any country but France. ... His letters tell very little of the actual operations of war. ... The interest of the book is independent of anything described or related. One reads it chiefly for the self-revelation of an unusual and fascinating personality. The writer is evidently one of the last men to whom soldiering would have appealed as a career. ... His natural outlook is almost as pacific as that of Mr Ramsay MacDonald.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p315 Jl 5 ‘17 630w
SOLOGUB, FEODOR, pseud. (FEDOR KUZMICH TETERNIKOV). Created legend; auth. tr. by J: Cournos. *$1.35 Stokes 17-24700
“A powerful, deeply symbolical, and most original story, which has as a background the abortive Russian revolution of 1905. The hero is a poet with a vision of a less chaotic and more beautiful world than that in which he lives, and the heroine dreams of a day of freedom.” (Ath) “In this book many strange things come, now one and now another, into view. There are political meetings and riots, with hideous tales of Cossacks and official brutality; there is an attack upon the heroine by tramps; there are school inspections; there are spies, seedy villains, and many kinds of ruffians. There are mysterious children, of whom it would be futile to ask whether they are ‘alive’ or ‘dead’; there is a grove of Hellenic culture and nudity in a forest. ... The unity lies beneath the events and beneath the characters. It lies in the ideas, the philosophy ... for the yearning dreams of genius.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup)
+ Ath p47 Ja ‘17 60w
“Some will say, with the police captain of the story, that Sologub writes every-day pornography, masquerading under high-sounding names. But even those who make such a foolish judgment will discover that Sologub did create a picture of Russia and Russian life, the outlines of which not even time can soften or cause to fade.” H. S.
+ New Repub 12:25 Ag 4 ‘17 1000w
“No greater contrast to ‘Tales of the revolution’ than ‘The created legend’ could be imagined. It is a symbolist novel; in it revolution is poetized, apotheosized, frequently, we regret to feel, sentimentalized. Many of the scenes in the tale are bathed in an atmosphere of delicate and clear beauty. Yet, every now and then we feel a decadence, a hint of decay, beneath the beauty. With all his fairy-tale simplicity, Sologub belongs to an older, a more sophisticated, a less healthful tradition than does Artzibashef.”
+ — N Y Times 22:249 Jl 1 ‘17 550w
“‘The created legend’ is a little unfortunate in other respects than its ugliness. In his introduction Mr John Cournos tells us that the ‘legend’ embraces more books than this that he has newly translated, and that the original title of this member of the series is ‘Drops of blood.’ Moreover, the Russian means not ‘the created legend,’ but ‘the legend in the course of creation.’ ... There is more of magic in Sologub’s touch, perhaps, than in that of any among the modern Russian novelists whose work is becoming known in England. If this novel sometimes hurts with deliberate brutality it does more than heal the injuries.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p511 O 26 ‘16 1000w
Some imagist poets, 1917; an annual anthology. *75c Houghton 821.08 (15-8258)
Six poets are again represented in the third annual volume of imagist verse: Richard Aldington, H. D., John Gould Fletcher, F. S. Flint, D H. Lawrence and Amy Lowell. Amy Lowell’s contribution to the volume is the series known as “Lacquer prints,” adapted from the Japanese. John Gould Fletcher contributes a notable poem on Lincoln.
A L A Bkl 14:16 O ‘17
“In the ‘Imagist anthology’ the work might almost be interchangeable, and one closes the book with a purely composite sense of it. Not that the composite technique lacks its individuality, one has a distinct impression of imagism as a cult, but the majority of the poems might be signed by the same name for all the impression they convey of the personality, the differentiating self, of the writer.” J. B. Rittenhouse
+ — Bookm 46:438 D ‘17 900w
“Richard Aldington has a finer group of poems in this year’s anthology than the other two; this is also true of the poems by John Gould Fletcher and F. S. Flint. ... Imagism is an art-method which, expressing substance according to the degree of talent in the poet, is, though a younger, an accepted member in the verse forms of poetry. The survival of the ‘Some imagist poets’ anthology to a third annual issue is a good proof of its importance and influence.” W. S. B.
+ Boston Transcript p9 Ap 14 ‘17 1350w
“The little group remains the same, whether in composition or in spirit. Nor is the offering of 1917 very different from that of 1916. ... The war is heard throughout the present volume: in Aldington’s ‘Field manœuvres,’ in Fletcher’s ‘Armies,’ a sombre yet vivid thing, and in Flint’s concern with ‘Searchlight’ and ‘Zeppelins.’” H: B. Fuller
+ — Dial 63:271 S 27 ‘17 850w
“I recommend in ‘Some imagist poets’ the courage of its brevity. For the rest, the work follows its type—oracular, crepuscular, spectacular.” O. W. Firkins
– + Nation 105:597 N 29 ‘17 60w
+ R of Rs 56:105 Jl ‘17 100w
“Mr Fletcher’s ‘Lincoln’ and one Whistler-like impression of ‘Moonlight’ make his selections foremost in the book. H. D. and F. S. Flint are least interesting. H. D.’s ‘Pygmalion’ has thought, but it is weakly expressed. D. H. Lawrence and Amy Lowell have added little to their reputations. Lawrence in ‘Terra nuvo’ adding mysticism to an apparent trial at the Dantesque. Amy Lowell is quite disappointing.”
– + Springf’d Republican p13 D 30 ‘17 850w
SOMMERS, CECIL.[2] Temporary heroes, il *$1.25 (2c) Lane 940.91 17-27944
Letters from the western front to “The only ‘Phyllis,’” written “from all kinds of places, mostly unpleasant, in all weathers, chiefly rain, and at all sorts of odd times.” The period covered is from February, 1915, to July, 1916, and the grim happenings of those months, such of them as fall within the experience of this Scottish trooper, are none the less grim because of the punch which is put into the narrative. Neither rain, mud, plagues of the trenches, nor the crumpling up by shell fire can down his wit and sturdy courage. It is the invincible hero of Ypres and the Flanders front whom we see here; yet he, too, had a vulnerable heel. For we leave him after sixteen months taking sketchy account of passing days, on a Red cross barge able only to reiterate, “Isn’t it a terrible war?”
+ A L A Bkl 14:163 F ‘18
“Of books about the war there have been many, but few as likable as this modest collection of letters. Mr Sommers possesses a keen sense of humor; no bit of comedy escapes him, and he relates all sorts of tales, and gives them many clever touches of his own. Even when the joke is at his own expense he enjoys it. Long before the book ends the reader has come to have a very genuine liking for this young writer, a liking which is enhanced by the delightfully comic little sketches with which he has illustrated his letters.”