Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1917 Books (continued 44)
Reading edition
TUFTS, JAMES HAYDEN.[2] Our democracy; its origins and its tasks. *$1.50 (1½c) Holt 321 17-27649
A book for the citizen and the prospective citizen who may want to know better what his country stands for. The writer devotes himself less to the machinery of our government than to the principles and ideas which the machinery is meant to serve. The book is divided into two parts: The beginnings of coöperation, order, and liberty, and Liberty, union, democracy in the new world.
+ Am Pol Sci R 12:159 F ‘18 130w
“Excellent book ... in simple entertaining style.”
+ Cleveland p8 Ja ‘18 60w
TURNER, ALFRED. On falling in love, and other matters. il *$1.50 Dutton 824
“‘On falling in love and other matters’ contains twenty-seven little gossips in, one is tempted to say, Mr Francis Gribble’s boudoir—in other words, a quantity of very small talk about the amours of Byron, Burns, Keats, Shelley, etc., together with bits of innocent chit-chat on sundry literary topics. The frontispiece exhibits Lady Caroline Lamb in her page’s costume.”—Nation
“Although so much of the book is filled with well known facts and with old ideas, he infuses into it a tone of delicate sophistication, and quiet observation, which makes his essays pleasant if not inspiring reading.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Je 16 ‘17 270w
“The love affairs of poets have a special interest for Mr Alfred Turner, ... while he also contributes a number of short and scholarly essays on a wider variety of themes, well calculated to hold the attention of any fairly well-read person. Such chapters as ‘A plea for the minor poet,’ ‘The poetry of new lands,’ and ‘The importance of the right word’ illustrate Mr Turner’s fondness for thought and expression that lie off the main highways of literature.”
+ — Dial 63:535 N 22 ‘17 240w
“It is a good book for a somnolent lady resting her nerves in a hammock, with a box of bon-bons underneath the bough.”
Nation 104:763 Je 28 ‘17 80w
N Y Br Lib News 4:86 Je ‘17 130w
“The author is editor of the London Evening Times. The first half of the book follows ... the love affairs of poets. But Mr. Turner handles his subject delicately and interestingly, and no one can complain that the author has been in search of scandal. His faculty for pleasant research and his knowledge of literature are better displayed in the subsequent chapters, in which, while his subjects are seemingly chosen at random, he writes unaffectedly and in a hearty manner that help to disabuse the newspaper reading public of the idea that there is something formidable and forbidding in the best authors.”
+ Springf’d Republican p10 Je 21 ‘17 270w
TURNER, CHARLES CYRIL. Aircraft of today; a popular account of the conquest of the air. il *$1.50 Lippincott 629.1 17-2690
“Beginning with a résumé of ancient allusions to flying, and some of the earlier experiments and projects, the author follows with chapters on the balloon; the first airships and aeroplanes; the aerial ocean, and navigation of the air; the principles of mechanical flight; the sensations experienced during ballooning and flying; learning to fly; the first years of flying; modern airship theory; the first use of aircraft in war; the developments of aerial fighting during the present war; and flying developments to come.”—Ath
“A popular, complete, well illustrated account of aircraft.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:386 Je ‘17
“A welcome and useful book.”
+ Ath p540 N ‘16 140w
“The author has been very successful in an attempt to concentrate the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of space. Every page is full of facts, yet the book is quite readable and interesting. Much of the subject-matter will probably be new even to the great majority of experts.”
+ Nature 99:145 Ap 19 ‘17 900w
N Y Br Lib News 3:190 D ‘16
Pittsburgh 22:318 Ap ‘17
“An appendix contains aviation world records, vocabulary of aeronautical terms, French technical terms, tables, and a bibliography. Author is a lieutenant in British service, and has written other books on aeronautics.”
+ Quar List New Tech Bks O ‘17 90w
TURPIN, EDNA HENRY LEE. Peggy of Roundabout lane. il *$1.25 (2c) Macmillan 17-24817
Some of the characters from the author’s two earlier stories for girls, “Honey Sweet” and “Happy Acres,” reappear in this new book. The heroine is Peggy Callahan, who is called on to assume the duties of housekeeper while her mother goes to the hospital. Peggy doesn’t like housework and she had set her heart on winning a scholarship in school. Thru all her trials she has the sympathy and encouragement of her friend Anne Lewis. Peggy fails to gain the scholarship—but wins something better.
“An unusually wholesome and pleasant story. Close akin to the Alcott books.”
+ Ind 92:447 D 1 ‘17 60w
+ N Y Times 22:441 O 28 ‘17 150w
Outlook 117:475 N 21 ‘17 20w
TURQUET-MILNES, G. Some modern Belgian writers. *$1 McBride 839.3 (Eng ed 18-26090)
“Beginning with a discussion of ‘The renascence of Belgian letters’ the writer proceeds to a series of outlines of the work of Maeterlinck, Verhaeren, Rodenbach, Lemonnier, Eekhoud, Max Elskamp, Charles van Lerberghe, the 567Destrée brothers and Courouble, the whole being preceded with a brief prefatory note by Edmund Gosse.”—Boston Transcript
A L A Bkl 14:159 F ‘18
“Mr Turquet-Milnes relates the circumstances of the founding of La Jeune Belgique by Max Waller, and the gathering about him of a group of bold and original Belgian young men who brought new life to the literature of their country. ... Excellent survey of Belgian literature.” E. F. E.
+ Boston Transcript p7 Ag 15 ‘17 720w
Cleveland p119 N ‘17 50w
“Its chief virtue lies not so much in the consideration bestowed upon individual talent as in the synthetic treatment of the movement as a whole. Taken all together, this book is one of the most conscientious and sympathetic critical surveys I have read on any literature. Furthermore, the author writes in a style that is virile and positive, and has a command of his subject that is a joy in these days when every schoolteacher sets up shop as critic. He sees his men in relation to their environment, to the earth from which they sprang, and having both vision and scholarship, he is able to measure them with an eye that is unusually clear.” L: Galantiere
+ Dial 63:388 O 25 ‘17 1800w
“Instructive and intelligent little book for those who seek information on the subject.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p627 D 21 ‘16 40w
TUTTLE, MRS FLORENCE GUERTIN. Give my love to Maria. *$1 Abingdon press 17-12390
“Twelve short stories make up the pages of ‘Give my love to Maria.’ Several of these short stories won prizes offered by magazines [several years ago.]” (Springf’d Republican) “Contents: The story of the stories; Give my love to Maria; The French doll’s dowry; Idols of gold; As shown by the tape; Cupid at forty; A wingless victory; A successful failure; What doth it profit a man? Mademoiselle; Gentlemen unafraid; ‘Unto them a child.’” (N Y Br Lib News)
“Cleverness and insight they undoubtedly possess.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ag 4 ‘17 340w
“Pleasing tales.”
+ Dial 62:443 My 17 ‘17 170w
N Y Br Lib News 4:131 S ‘17 40w
“‘Give my love to Maria’ contains stories with excellent plots, but there is a crudeness in their execution.”
+ — NY Times 22:126 Ap 8 ‘17 280w
“The stories show originality and clearness, and some understanding of the human problem.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p15 S 16 ‘17 70w
TWOMBLY, FRANCIS DOANE, and DANA, JOHN COTTON, comps. Romance of labor. il *55c (1c) Macmillan 16-23236
The compilers have selected “scenes from good novels depicting joy in work.” They say in their preface: “Young people are to-day more earnestly than ever before seeking for light to guide them to the places in the workshops of the world for which they are best fitted. Surely some of that light can be found in descriptions of those workshops written by writers of insight and imagination, like our novelists. Hence this book.” Among the selections are: The diver, from “Caleb West,” by F. Hopkinson Smith; Reclaiming the desert, from “The winning of Barbara Worth,” by Harold Bell Wright; Pottery, from “Brunel’s Tower,” by Eden Phillpotts; Cigar making, from “V. V’s eyes,” by Henry S. Harrison; The stock-yards, from “The jungle,” by Upton Sinclair; The cattle drive, from “Arizona nights,” by Stewart Edward White.
A L A Bkl 13:360 My ‘17
+ Ind 91:35 Jl 7 ‘17 50w
“An ingenious selection and arrangement of scenes from novels which picture the real work of the world in various industries.”
+ R of Rs 56:442 O ‘17 20w
School R 25:143 F ‘17 50w
U
UNDERHILL, EVELYN (MRS STUART MOORE). Theophanies; a book of verse. *$1.50 Dutton 821 17-5732
“Mystic and philosopher, both characters definitely clothe themselves in Miss Underhill’s verse. She has written most often upon mysticism, but the mysticism which reveals itself in her verse is not of the character which contents itself with symbols or the undefined, but always into the midst of her visions breaks the mood of questioning, and she falls to analyzing. ... Even melting into each other as they do the moods are distinctly separate in origin and remain through her poems quite distinguishable.”—Boston Transcript
+ Ath p479 O ‘16 50w
“Though there are passages of very pure poetry here, it is her thought rather than her manner of expressing it which remains with us.” D. L. M.
+ Boston Transcript p8 F 7 ‘17 950w
“The poems on spiritual themes are not convincing, but ‘Any Englishwoman,’ altho it is a slight thing for so great a tragedy to inspire, seems to be as sincere as it is imaginative and well phrased.”
Lit D 54:714 Mr 17 ‘17 260w
“The austere note of distinction, restraint, and painstaking selection is its chief characteristic. ... That these poems will not appeal to the multitude is inevitable. They breathe and have their being in too fine an atmosphere for that. ... Despite popular criticism, in the proper meaning of the term, she is certainly not a mystic. Rather is she a rapt and adoring pantheist.”
+ N Y Times 22:241 Je 24 ‘17 380w
+ R of Rs 55:436 Ap ‘17 260w
+ Spec 118:339 Mr 17 ‘17 100w
“Mystic and mystical are terms that have long been in fashionable currency. ... Miss Evelyn Underhill has done more than any living English writer to redeem them and to clarify their true significance.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p499 O 19 ‘16 900w
UNDERWOOD, JOHN CURTIS. War flames. *$1.35 Macmillan 811 17-12602
The poems of this book are for the most part long descriptive or narrative pieces in free verse, grouped by countries, Belgium, Germany, France, England, etc. In a prefatory note the author acknowledges indebtedness to various books, magazines and newspaper articles “from which material for many of his poems has been adapted directly, in part.”
“He ends, by sheer tireless weight of creative energy, in overwhelming the reader physically rather than emotionally. ... Such work is valuable for its influence on the poetic consciousness of the age rather than for itself. It is the material for new poetic coinage. At the same time it would be unfair to Mr Underwood not to admit that he has written a vivid and suggestive book, even if it is not entirely successful as poetry.” Conrad Aiken
+ — Dial 63:56 Jl 19 ‘17 420w
“Mr Underwood has made prose poems, each one a realistic picture or story of the meaning of the great war in individual lives. They are very bravely and beautifully written, conceived with the utmost gravity and sincerity of spirit. No war book has seemed to me to possess a greater dignity.”
+ Ind 91:513 S 29 ‘17 350w
Pittsburgh 22:647 O ‘17 10w
568“There have been many books of war poems since 1914, but none so comprehensive, so athrill with the spirit that now animates America, the feeling that the cause of humanity and the divine principle of democracy are at stake, as ‘War flames.’ ... ‘The Marne,’ ‘The Lavoir,’ ‘Roads in France,’ and ‘Spring in Picardy’ touch the fount of the inspiration that gave the Marseillaise to Rouget de l’Isle.”
+ R of Rs 55:660 Je ‘17 170w
UNITED STATES. COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION. National service handbook. il gratis Committee on public information, Washington, D.C. 17-26652
“This book of two hundred and fifty pages is a highly condensed compendium of information. ... Some of the larger headings are the maintenance of standards of labor; welfare and philanthropic service at home; agencies for European war relief, the names and addresses of over a hundred being listed; religious organizations doing service; the capacities in which professional men and women can be of use; the financing of the war; the special impact of war on industry and commerce; agriculture and food supply; medical and nursing service—all this and more, besides full information as to the various lines of service in army, navy and aviation.”—New Repub
“The usefulness of the book for reference purposes in libraries and newspaper offices, and for any individual who has some service to offer and wishes to know where and how to present it can hardly be overestimated.” J. D.
+ New Repub 12:139 S 1 ‘17 440w
Pittsburgh 22:684 O ‘17 40w
UNTERMEYER, LOUIS. These times. *$1.25 Holt 811 17-10978
The poems of this book are arranged in groups: The wave; Thirteen portraits; Havens; Dick [six poems for a child]; Battle-cries; Youth moralizes; Two rebels. Many of them are reprinted from magazines, The Century, Yale Review, The Masses, The Poetry Review, and others.
“Rich in feeling but poor in artistry. Even when most successful he needs to concentrate and purify his verse and eliminate the dross from his metal. His ideas are bold, but he is too apt to philosophize and divagate, and mar his pictures with hasty, random strokes and coarse metaphors.” E: Garnett
– + Atlan 120:368 S ‘17 270w
“Perhaps the most arresting quality of Mr Untermeyer’s work—the more so because it is so rare in our twentieth-century singers—is its complete objectivity. There is nothing of morbid introspection. ... His outlook is essentially clear and wholesome.” R. T. P.
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ap 25 ‘17 1650w
“Mr Untermeyer’s ease in Delphi is comparable to that of some other persons in Zion. He profits by the restraints of brevity and the stanza; in space and freedom he unbends. He has a pleasant, buoyant lyric movement, rising sometimes to high resonance as in ‘Poetry,’ and his possession of the art that curves and crisps an epigram is demonstrated in ‘Faith,’ ‘A portrait,’ and ‘An old maid.’” O. W. Firkins
– + Nation 105:244 S 6 ‘17 420w
“One is grateful to Mr Untermeyer because he takes beauty into account, because he feels it, strives for it, and often, as he deserves, wins it for his own. For beauty too is grateful to Mr Untermeyer, one may fancy, and shines out through his work in many places. ... One trouble with Mr Untermeyer, indeed, is that he is not half enough content to be the good poet that he is. He is possessed of a gift and of a specialized, rather naïve philosophy of life, and his gift distinctly suffers for it. For life presents itself to him too much as being merely blind activity. ... Mr Untermeyer has fire, but it is not that which needs chastening. It is imagination he needs, the imagination of contemplation—the other half of poetry.” M. T.
– + New Repub 13:189 D 15 ‘17 1600w
“One section of the book, ‘Thirteen portraits,’ lives up to the promise of the former volume. ... Mr Untermeyer is at his happiest in the more formal rhymes. ... When we come to his attempts at polyrhythmic poetry, the less said the more charity.” Clement Wood
– + N Y Call p12 Ap 22 ‘17 1150w
“Mr Untermeyer’s clearest claim as a poet lies rather in a certain gray, flickering, now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don’t quality of imagination that flashes here and there upon his pages. It is the quality which made him so good a translator of Heine; possibly it is what makes him so delightful a parodist of other poets.”
+ — NY Times 22:287 Ag 5 ‘17 1000w
“The book is longer than his previous volume, ‘Challenge’ and has greater variety of contents. ‘Thirteen portraits’ are the best work in the book, for they afford the author a display of his technical gifts, his easy satire and cleverness of phrase. ‘Eve’ and ‘Moses,’ two pretentious poems in blank verse, are less satisfactory than the lyrics, which are beautiful and most melodious.”
+ — R of Rs 55:660 Je ‘17 100w
Springf’d Republican p13 Je 17 ‘17 300w
“Mr Untermeyer has included too much in ‘These times.’ The best of his volume has his well-known qualities—a trenchant expression, an intolerance of social injustice, and an exhilaration in the force and beauty of nature, the strength and beauty of human affection. But there are poems here which are journalistic; that is, they interest us for the moment and we never return to them. ... The poet has grown intellectually since his first volume.” E: B. Reed
+ — Yale R n s 6:862 Jl ‘17 200w
UPDEGRAFF, ALLAN. Second youth; being, in the main, some account of the middle comedy in the life of a New York bachelor. il *$1.35 (1c) Harper 17-12137
One can only believe that the rejuvenescence experienced by Roland Farwell Francis, somewhere between thirty and thirty-five, was in reality a first youth. Surely the deferential silk salesman as we first meet him, with his sideburns, gold-rimmed spectacles and black cutaway, had never been young. On Monday, March 13th, Mr Francis made an entry in his personal journal: “Noted another customer in particular to-day. Bought five yards of that new wild geranium.” Mr Francis had, as the note implies, noted other customers in particular, and he does not know at the time how very particular this one is to become, or that with the sale of five yards of the new wild geranium his youth is to begin. Mr Francis’s mild, but none the less amazing adventures will be followed with interest to their satisfactory close, when a feminine hand makes the final entry in the personal journal.
“Mr Updegraff’s first novel is so good that our first thought is one of wonder that he has kept us waiting all these years for it—years, to be sure, which have not been barren, for he has vitally aroused our interest by his poetry and his shorter fiction.” D. L. M.
+ Boston Transcript p6 My 5 ‘17 1400w
“In America we have not enough of this sort of light-handed humor. There is a touch of farce in the postulated situation, which you have to grant and are very willing to grant. Once that is granted or accepted, you move along in a romantic adventure which is conducted in the true spirit of comedy. The material is of the quality that ought to make good plays.” J: Macy
+ Dial 63:114 Ag 16 ‘17 120w
“It is all absurd enough if you choose to make it so, but in the performance it has touches of characterization and serious feeling which keep it clear of the farcical and fairly entitle it to esteem as a bit of graceful and sympathetic human comedy.”
+ — Nation 105:179 Ag 16 ‘17 200w
“It is as comedy that the story will most appeal—refined comedy of character, situation 569and manner, delicately portrayed and never lacking in genuine appreciation of the very things that are the subjects of its humor.”
+ N Y Times 22:186 My 13 ‘17 600w
+ Pittsburgh 22:751 N ‘17 20w
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Jl 1 ‘17 350w
USSHER, CLARENCE DOUGLAS, and KNAPP, GRACE HIGLEY.[2] American physician in Turkey. il *$1.75 Houghton 17-27881
“Dr Ussher went to Turkey about twenty years ago as a medical missionary. The call was sudden and urgent, but as soon as he could transfer his medical practice he sailed from Boston in the early spring of 1898, reaching Constantinople in June. His earlier experience had included the course in a theological seminary in Philadelphia and therefore he was as well fitted, if not better, for missionary work than many who are called upon to serve in that direction in foreign lands. After a period of travel, Dr Ussher established a hospital, hiring a private house for the purpose and being forced to overcome many obstacles. The closing chapters of this book tell of the massacres and deportations in Van and other provinces of Turkey.”—Boston Transcript
A L A Bkl 14:165 F ‘18
+ Boston Transcript p8 D 12 ‘17 1000w
“Contains illuminating information with respect to the operation of the Turks in Armenia during the early months of the war.”
+ N Y Times 23:59 F 17 ‘18 70w
+ Outlook 117:654 D 19 ‘17 30w
“Deserves wide reading on several counts.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 F 19 ‘18 490w
V
VACHELL, HORACE ANNESLEY. Fishpingle; a romance of the countryside. *$1.35 (3c) Doran 17-15975
Fishpingle, butler to Sir Geoffrey Pomfret, is the leading character in this story. He stands in close relation to the family, and is involved in the love affairs of Alfred, the first footman, and Prudence, the still-room maid, and of Lionel, only son of Sir Geoffrey, and Joyce, the parson’s daughter. The author tells us in his preface that there is an “obvious purpose underlying the adventures and misadventures of the story.” This purpose is to picture the type of country squire who is a “true lover of the soil but helplessly ignorant of its potentialities,” and to make clear that this type of man is likely to become extinct unless he justifies his claim to existence by sticking to the land and concentrating his undivided energies upon it. The author’s comedy, “Fishpingle,” was produced at the Haymarket theater in 1916.
A L A Bkl 14:28 O ‘17
“Those familiar with the comedy seen at the Haymarket theatre may remember that the piece was reviewed at some length in the Athenæum for June, 1916. Mr Vachell now provides people who do not or cannot go to a theatre with the opportunity of becoming acquainted with a modern Admirable Crichton.”
Ath p416 Ag ‘17 50w
“A bit of very British comedy based upon a rather flimsy and perfunctory mystery. It might make a good movie-play, and that is the best we can say for it.” H. W. Boynton
– + Bookm 46:341 N ‘17 60w
“All that can be seriously commended in ‘Fishpingle,’ besides the title, is the attempt, rather half-hearted, to discuss in fictional terms the problem of the passing of England’s landed gentry. Beyond that, it is simply a conventionally cheerful story of the variety termed pleasant.”
– + Dial 64:78 Ja 17 ‘18 90w
“A smooth piece of writing, the work of an expert but uninspired craftsman. The book is neither stupid not sensational. It is a novel for the middle-class mind.” Harry Salpeter
+ — NY Call p15 O 14 ‘17 1000w
“The tale is an interesting and a pleasant one, and it is told with a good deal of the charm that made ‘Quinneys’ so thoroughly delightful.”
+ N Y Times 22:322 S 2 ‘17 550w
“There are two delightful characters in this book—the old-time English country squire and his butler. ... Apart from these two characters the story is hardly equal to many of Mr Vachell’s previous admirable novels.”
+ — Outlook 117:100 S 19 ‘17 70w
“Sounds a warning to English landholders that they must modernize their methods of farming on scientific lines, or be ‘scrapped.’ The serious note, however, is submerged in a charming story, in which the author creates another delightful character somewhat after the type of the quaint Quinney. But the serious note is not so completely hidden that the indictment of antiquated farming methods in England can not be readily discerned. The story ranks with the author’s best.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 N 25 ‘17 350w
VAIZEY, JESSIE (BELL) (MRS GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY) (JESSIE MANSERGH). Betty Trevor. il *$1.25 (2c) Putnam
A story for girls. Betty is an English girl, daughter of a busy London doctor, and one of a big family of brothers and sisters. The Trevors live in an old-fashioned house on Brompton square. At the opening of the story they are new to the neighborhood and are finding their chief amusement in inventing romantic life histories for their neighbors. One of these is the “Pampered Pet,” a young girl of Betty’s age who appears to have too many of the good things of the world. But on nearer acquaintance she proves to be anything but the little snob they have pictured her. As the young people grow older they accept responsibilities and find their places in life. It is one of those stories that are on the borderline between girls’ books and grown-up novels.
“It has more substance, better character drawing than is commonly found, a somewhat romantic plot and very real human interest.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 F 28 ‘17 100w
“A clean, wholesome little volume.”
+ N Y Times 22:138 Ap 15 ‘17 200w
VALLINGS, GABRIELLE. Bindweed. *$1.50 (1c) Dodd (Eng ed 17-5403)
Eugénie Massini, a young girl with a beautiful voice, attracts the notice of Mme Périntot, a teacher of singing, who interests herself in the girl and offers to take her as a pupil. But she encounters the opposition of Eugénie’s aunt, a harsh peasant woman, who lives in fear that the girl may follow in the footsteps of a wayward mother. But, learning that the girl is already in danger from the attentions of Gaston Hypolite, an opera singer, she puts her under the wise care of Mme Périntot. Gaston, however, is not to be put off. He persists, with no other intention than that of making Eugénie his mistress. In the meantime the aunt, from long brooding on the girl’s possible fate, has gone insane. She attempts revenge on Gaston. From this experience he emerges a wiser man, and, having been won over to Eugénie’s own high conception of love, asks her hand in marriage.
“This new writer shows no mean power of characterization, inherited no doubt from her Kingsley ancestry. She can also create atmosphere and steep her readers in scenes from life. The development of her theme, on the other hand, reveals little deep truth and thought.”
+ — Ath p482 O ‘16 90w
“‘Pamela,’ warmed up in the French fashion and boiled down to one-fourth of its traditional length. ... The book promises no great distraction 570for those readers who care to have their authors look upon life neither through a rose- nor a yellow-tinted medium.”
— Dial 63:74 Jl 19 ‘17 90w
“The author is apparently familiar with certain phases of French life and her dialogue is often good, but lack of skill in the handling of the novel as a whole combines with its too great length to make it drag badly and fail to hold one’s interest.”
– + N Y Times 22:211 My 27 ‘17 420w
VANDERBLUE, HOMER BEWS. Railroad valuation. (Hart, Schaffner and Marx prize essays) *$1.50 Houghton 385 17-10693
A scientific study of one of the big problems before the Interstate commerce commission. It is not only a study in the economics of railroads but also a study in the economics of the distribution of income. Contents: Valuation and regulation; Physical valuation—“Cost of reproduction”—Land; Physical valuation—“Cost of reproduction”—Capital goods; Physical valuation—Unimpaired investment; The intangible elements of “fair value”; The return to the railroad; Bibliography; Index.
“Mr Vanderblue’s scientific study is a masterful resumé of varied, undigested, unassimilated, and discordant views and data, but it does not clear the atmosphere nor lift the smoke of battle.” A. M. Sakolski
+ — Am Econ R 7:632 S ‘17 800w
A L A Bkl 14:43 N ‘17
Cleveland p80 Je ‘17 20w
“This book deals perforce with many legal problems of the past, and Dr Vanderblue covers these phases in a clear and praiseworthy manner. The unfortunate point is that the entire work appears colorless. It is a pity that Dr Vanderblue has not given a more individual treatment embodying his own ideas on a subject so much in the public mind. The present work is rather on the order of a summary of what has been accomplished.”
+ — Dial 63:217 S 13 ‘17 350w
“The book is non-partisan in its attitude toward the problem, but highly technical and not to be recommended for popular reading.”
Ind 91:31 Jl 7 ‘17 130w
“The analysis of the principles of valuation for rate-making is the most complete, most closely reasoned, and altogether the best general exposition of the subject extant. The most important contribution of the work is its criticism of the practices of valuation. The author, however, radically overestimates the importance of the inevitable inaccuracy.” S. H. Slichter
+ — J Pol Econ 26:98 Ja ‘18 500w
“An interesting and valuable piece of criticism of a destructive kind. ... The available material has been well digested and its presentation is lucid and concise. Nevertheless, we cannot but wish that the author had introduced his discussion of detail by a positive and constructive statement of fundamental principles.”
+ — Nation 104:657 My 31 ‘17 700w
N Y Br Lib News 4:91 Je ‘17
VAN DYKE, HENRY. Fighting for peace. *$1.25 Scribner 940.91 17-30303
“Dr Van Dyke last spring resigned his position as minister to the Netherlands and Luxemburg, which he had held for four years, in order to be free to come home and write for the enlightenment of his fellow-countrymen of the doings of Germany as he had seen and known them. This book is one of the results of that action. Parts of it have appeared in recent numbers of Scribner’s Magazine, but to these he has added chapters on the causes of the war and the kind of peace for which we are fighting.”—N Y Times
A L A Bkl 14:125 Ja ‘18
“No contribution to the literary or strictly informative output of the war has been read with keener interest.” F. P. H.
+ Boston Transcript p9 N 24 ‘17 930w
“There is not much that is new in Dr Van Dyke’s account of the coming and the conduct of the war, but what he tells of the things he saw himself—and he saw much—has the interest of personal experience and the weight of personal indictment.”
+ N Y Times 22:492 N 25 ‘17 700w
“To anyone who may be in doubt about the anomaly of fighting for peace we strongly recommend Dr Van Dyke’s volume.” A. O.
+ Pub W 92:2026 D 8 ‘17 440w
“Dr Van Dyke speaks with no uncertain note.”
+ Springf’d Republican p13 D 30 ‘17 250w
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p51 Ja 31 ‘18 980w
VAN DYKE, HENRY. Red flower. *50c Scribner 811 17-31290
“Dr Van Dyke’s experience as minister to Holland made him as it were a spiritual eyewitness to the inner consciousness of the war on both sides, and what this little book presents is a kind of verse report of what he felt rather than saw. ... Slender as this collection is, it is well defined in grouping, and through ‘Premonition,’ ‘The trial by fire,’ ‘France and Belgium,’ ‘Interludes in Holland,’ to ‘Enter America,’ he strikes the salient notes of the war from its beginning to his return home in the spring of this year. The little book is a memorial of the poet’s experience with the effect of this war upon his spirit and lays stress upon those notes that have a moral and national righteousness in the conflict.”—Boston Transcript
A L A Bkl 14:159 F ‘18
+ Boston Transcript p9 D 5 ‘17 800w
+ N Y Times 23:39 F 3 ‘18 90w
“Some of the most melodious lyrics given us by Dr Van Dyke’s ripened and finely tempered poetic talent are in this little book. Notable among them are: ‘The bells of Malines,’ and ‘The Oxford thrushes.’”
+ R of Rs 57:105 Ja ‘18 100w
VAN KLEECK, MARY. Seasonal industry. il *$1.50 (3c) Russell Sage foundation 331.4 17-14558
In her investigation of the millinery trade in New York city Miss Van Kleeck “has penetrated to the one all-effecting aspect of the industry—its ‘appalling irregularity.’ ... In view of the constant depression upon wages by unemployment, the keen competition of a trade attracting a tremendous supply of labor, and the unorganized state of the industry (some slight attempt to unionize the workers is now being made), Miss Van Kleeck urges public control of the industry through the establishment of a minimum wage board and describes the beneficial results of such a system in Victoria. Around the central fact of the seasonal character of the millinery trade Miss Van Kleeck groups many interesting and valuable details. ... Throughout the study, comments by the workers themselves and pictures of their struggle to make both ends meet illuminate ‘dry-as-dust’ statistics.” (Survey) There are many tables, four appendices, and a number of illustrations.
Reviewed by Edith Abbott
Am J Soc 23:552 Ja ‘18 160w
A L A Bkl 14:152 F ‘18
“Miss Van Kleeck brings a point of view and a directness of attack to her field of study which make her conclusions convincing. Especially is this true of her demand for some sort of effective public regulation of the trade in the interest of the welfare of the workers.”
+ Dial 63:349 O 11 ‘17 170w
“Miss Van Kleeck’s exhaustive survey of enough facts to justify valid general conclusions becomes almost meticulous in its conscientiousness. Comparative tables and charts and median curves, all the technical instruments of the newer and more scientific method of sociological investigation, abound. ... The main outlines of the condition in the trade emerge with sharp enough emphasis to give the general reader a correct orientation. And 571for the special student there are the intricate and innumerable details. ... It is a real labor of love, the kind that is always distasteful to the easy theorizer. ‘A seasonal industry’ is a piece of first-class investigation and analysis.” H. S.
+ New Repub 12:55 Ag 11 ‘17 900w
Pittsburgh 22:666 O ‘17
“Noteworthy for the amount of up-to-date information it contains regarding an industry of which comparatively little is known outside the ranks of the workers employed in it.”
+ R of Rs 56:440 O ‘17 50w
“Part of the study was begun as early as 1908, when the Committee on women’s work was connected with the Alliance employment bureau. Later when the committee became a department of the Russell Sage foundation it directed the inquiry into the millinery trade for the Factory investigating commission of New York. Although the material has apparently been brought down to date, the interviews with employers and employes were held between 1908 and 1912, and the payroll study was made in 1914. Delays in getting the data into print somewhat invalidate the use of the statistics for present quotation.” M. C.
+ — Survey 38:370 Jl 28 ‘17 820w
VAN LOAN, CHARLES EMMETT. Old man Curry. il *$1.35 (2c) Doran 17-25513
Stories about horses and horse racing make up this volume. The publishers announce that it is the first of a series by the author “dealing with the major sports of American life.” Old man Curry, a veteran horseman, with a faculty for adapting the wisdom of Solomon to his own ends, is the central character in the stories. Contents: Levelling with Elisha; Playing even for Obadiah; By a hair; The last chance; Sanguinary Jeremiah; Eliphaz, late Fairfax; The redemption handicap; A morning workout; Egyptian corn; The modern judgment of Solomon.
“Holds interest both because of the well depicted action of the race track, and the astute quaintness of the principal character. It is a story men will like.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:171 F ‘18
“They will find appreciation with devotees of the track and the paddock, as they have all the excitement and the dash of life on the turf.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 O 10 ‘17 150w
Cleveland p3 Ja ‘18 60w
“Not since David Harum delighted his country-wide audience with the garnered wisdom of the rustic world have we had a hero whose talk was such a mosaic of wise saws.”
+ N Y Times 22:390 O 7 ‘17 200w
VAN SCHAICK, GEORGE GRAY. Top-floor idyl. il *$1.50 (1½c) Small 17-23651
“David Cole, who tells the story, is a middle-aged bachelor, a writer, quite content with his modest room on the top floor of Mrs Milliken’s boarding house, near Washington square, and his friendship for Frieda Long, an artist and a spinster, fat, good-heartedness personified. One day, however, it chances that the room across the hall from David’s is engaged by the young American widow of a French soldier killed in the battle of the Marne. Her baby arrives before it is expected, and David ... interests himself in the welfare of the young mother and her little Paul. ... Of course there is a love story, and everything comes out splendidly in the end.”—N Y Times
“Will be popular.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:63 N ‘17
“Mr Van Schaick’s new novel is a sort of fairy tale with the ogres and witches left out. With a single exception every character in the book of any importance—the baby included—is as good as gold. Some of them are considerably better. ... Touches of fun do much to relieve its sentimentality.”
+ — N Y Times 22:388 O 7 ‘17 300w
VAN TESLAAR, JAMES S. When I was a boy in Roumania. (Children of other lands books) il *75c (3c) Lothrop 17-13431
After coming to America, the author studied in the University of California, completed a medical course, and is now a practicing physician. In this book he has written the story of his boyhood for American children. He writes of: How the Roumanians dress; Play time; Life in the hills; Taming the forces of nature; Out-of-door amusements; The Roumanian’s national pastime: dancing; Roumanian music, etc.
A L A Bkl 14:29 O ‘17
“Gives a clear picture of Roumanian national life.”
+ Cleveland p127 N ‘17 20w
Ind 92:448 D 1 ‘17 30w
+ St Louis 15:401 N ‘17 30w
“This book, though written especially for the young, will give any reader an adequate idea of the habits, methods of study, amusements of the people of this once happy land.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 D 1 ‘17 110w
VAN VALKENBURGH, AGNES, comp. Selected articles on military training in schools and colleges, including military camps. (Debaters’ handbook ser.) *$1.25 (1½c) Wilson, H. W. 355.07 17-9594
The material in this debaters’ handbook considers the question: “Resolved: That a system of compulsory military training in schools and colleges should be adopted by the United States.” It consists of brief, bibliography and selected reprints. In the section devoted to General discussion various plans for military training, including the Swiss and Australian systems are outlined. Affirmative and Negative discussion follows. At the close there is a small group of articles concerning military camps.
“A timely volume.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:334 My ‘17
“This book will prove of considerable value, as the compiler has introduced much of the wisest theory that has been expressed on both sides of the question.”
+ Boston Transcript p13 Ap 7 ‘17 250w
Cleveland p54 Ap ‘17 10w
+ Ind 90:127 Ap 14 ‘17 30w
“The compiler has been commendably impartial.”
+ Nation 105:155 Ag 9 ‘17 90w
N Y Br Lib News 4:58 Ap ‘17
Pittsburgh 22:327 Ap ‘17
“Topic leaves room for another book on the general question of compulsory military training and compulsory service. The London Nation can be drawn upon for eloquent arguments against conscription.”
Springf’d Republican p17 Mr 18 ‘17 60w
“Miss Van Valkenburgh’s selection of material covers a wide range, from publications of the United States war college to educational journals and soldier’s notes. It seems to be a trifle weak on suggestions of methods for getting the good of military training without the bad, that is, on a strong program of physical education.” W. D. L.
+ — Survey 38:372 Jl 28 ‘17 120w
“The section discussing military training camps will be specially useful.”
+ Wis Lib Bul 13:154 My ‘17 70w
VAN VALKENBURGH, AGNES, comp. Selected articles on national defense; v. 2, including compulsory military service. (Debaters’ handbook ser.) *$1.25 (1½c) Wilson, H. W. 355.7 17-12949
“Volume one of ‘National defense,’ compiled by Corinne Bacon, was published in September, 1915, and was followed in January, 1916, by ‘Advance sheets’ of volume two. A small portion of the material in the ‘Advance sheets’ is reprinted here, notably the president’s message to Congress, December 7, 1915. ... The questions of aviation and submarine warfare are 572considered here only incidentally, and the allied topics of military training in schools and colleges and non-resistance are omitted altogether since handbooks have been published on these subjects. Since the question of compulsory military service is of especial interest at present, this phase of the subject has been selected for the brief.” (Explanatory note)
“Has a very complete and partly annotated bibliography (34p.).”
+ A L A Bkl 13:378 Je ‘17
“Most useful.”
+ Ind 90:127 Ap 14 ‘17 30w
“A desirable addition to the table of readers who wish to hear both sides of a first-class social question and keep abreast of the deeper current of daily events.” W. E. K.
+ Survey 38:370 Jl 28 ‘17 190w
Wis Lib Bul 13:154 My ‘17 50w
VAN VECHTEN, CARL. Interpreters and interpretations. *$1.50 (2c) Knopf 780.4 17-29869
A collection of papers by the author of “Music and bad manners” and “Music after the great war.” Some of them are reprinted from the Bellman, the Musical Quarterly, and other periodicals. The papers are divided into the two groups suggested by the title. The interpreters comprising the first group, are Olive Fremstad; Geraldine Farrar; Mary Garden; Feodor Chaliapine; Mariette Mazarin; Yvette Guilbert; and Waslav Nijinsky. Among the essays included as Interpretations are The problem of style in the production of opera; Notes on the “Armide” of Gluck; The importance of electrical picture concerts; Why music is unpopular. In “The great American composer,” another essay of the group, the author makes a spirited plea for appreciation of ragtime. In “Modern musical fiction,” he reviews recent novels on musical themes.
Cleveland p11 Ja ‘18 40w
“Mr Van Vechten’s most pronounced opinions seem to be on the favorable arena which the ‘movies’ offer for good symphonic programs, and on the duty of the American composer to build his art on the indigenous raciness of Irving Berlin rather than on the classic forms. He is no more explicit than the other critics, however, as to how the composer is to use this material. ... The proportion between scholarship and thought is not maintained. In the present book there might be more of the latter commodity.”
– + New Repub 13:sup18 N 17 ‘17 180w
“All who enjoy a discussion of things and people musical from the human rather than the academic standpoint will find much to interest them in ‘Interpreters and interpretations.’” Lavergne Miller
+ N Y Call p15 D 29 ‘17 330w
VAN VECHTEN, CARL. Music and bad manners. *$1.50 Knopf 780.4 16-23824
“The title essay of this little volume is a running commentary on the personal peculiarities of certain great musicians. Of more permanent value is the chapter on ‘Spain and music,’ which is said to be the first attempt in English to classify and describe Spanish music and composers.” (R of Rs) Other papers are, Music for the movies, Wagner’s ideals, The bridge burners, A new principle in music, Leo Ornstein.
“Excellent essays in musical criticism, popular but scholarly, and distinguished by clarity and humor. The monograph on Spanish music is a specially valuable study in a little known field.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:208 F ‘17
“The description of Spanish dance music and dances is exceedingly interesting as well as enlightening, and the whole chapter has a distinct value in acquainting the reader with the musical progress of a musical people whose records are nowhere adequately presented in English. ... It is impossible to test the theories and suggestions in these essays by any chemistry or mechanics. Their soundness or unsoundness can only be eventually a matter of history. But the essayist has his eyes turned in a promising direction, and his views will meet the approval of many close students of modern music.” Russell Ramsey
+ Dial 62:21 Ja 11 ‘17 1650w
+ Lit D 54:567 Mr 3 ‘17 130w
“Carl Van Vechten is fundamentally and whole-heartedly progressive. ... One of his longest essays, and the one most interesting to the general reader and music lover, ‘The bridge burners,’ is largely a refutation of Richard Aldrich’s criticisms, published in the New York Times. ... Last in the series is a sketch of Leo Ornstein, which throws new light on the psychology of that remarkable genius.” La Vergne Miller
+ N Y Call p14 F 25 ‘17 800w
Pittsburgh 22:317 Ap ‘17
+ R of Rs 55:219 F ‘17 50w
VANZYPE, GUSTAVE. Mother Nature; Progress; two Belgian plays; tr. by Barrett H. Clark. *$1.25 Little 842 17-28823
There is an eight page introduction by the translator on Gustave Vanzype and the modern Belgian drama. In this Mr Clark states that “Vanzype believes that dramatists ought to use the stage as a pulpit.” “Mother Nature” (“La souveraine”) deals with the yearnings of a disappointed wife for motherhood. “Progress” (“Les étapes”) shows the struggle between succeeding generations; how the rising generation must always attack what the preceding generation seems to have established. It is the story of a family in which father, son-in-law, and grandson are all doctors. Both plays are said to have been successfully produced in Belgium.
“The first play is artificial; the second is much more moving and its theme seems to work out naturally in the conflict of characters and events.”
+ — Cleveland p6 Ja ‘18 100w
“Vanzype is said to be one of the most successful of his fellow-dramatists in depicting the character of the modern Belgian, and his plays, therefore, give an insight into the hearts and souls of the little nation whose heroism has won the admiration of the world.”
+ N Y Times 22:578 D 30 ‘17 190w
R of Rs 57:109 Ja ‘18 90w
VEATCH, ARTHUR CLIFFORD. Quito to Bogotá. il *$3 Doran 918.6 17-15087
“In ‘Quito to Bogotá’ A. C. Veatch, who is a well-known British engineer, and the author of several books of travel, gives a narrative of a trip over the Andes from the capital of Ecuador to that of Colombia. His traveling companion was Lord Murray, a Scottish peer, who furnishes a readable introduction to the main work.”—N Y Times
“Holds more interest to the man planning an actual journey in the country or who is considering it as a field for commercial enterprise than to the arm chair traveler.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:165 F ‘18
“His is the careful study of a trained traveller, geographer and geologist, and it is prepared with a sympathetic touch that must please all lovers of these northern regions of South America.” T: Walsh
+ Bookm 46:606 Ja ‘18 330w
“Its business basis doubtless explains the lack of personal element in the book, altho that, too, lies often in the personality of the writer. Long, technical, and comprehensive narrative.”
+ — Lit D 56:36 Ja 26 ‘18 300w
“The author makes you see what meets his own eye, and you have the benefit of the deductions from what he sees in addition.”
+ N Y Times 22:312 Ag 26 ‘17 500w
Outlook 116:376 Jl 4 ‘17 100w
573VEBLEN, THORSTEIN B. Inquiry into the nature of peace and the terms of its perpetuation. *$2 (2c) Macmillan 327 17-16855
Professor Veblen has extended the investigation into the nature of peace begun by Immanuel Kant “into a field of inquiry which in Kant’s time still lay over the horizon of the future.” He says “The intrinsic merits of peace at large, as against those of warlike enterprise, it should be said, do not here come in question. That question lies in the domain of preconceived opinion, so that for the purposes of this inquiry it will have no significance except as a matter to be inquired into; the main point of the inquiry being the nature, causes and consequences of such a preconception favoring peace, and the circumstances that make for a contrary preconception in favor of war.” Contents: Introductory: On the state and its relation to war and peace; On the nature and uses of patriotism; On the conditions of a lasting peace; Peace without honour; Peace and neutrality; Elimination of the unfit; Peace and the price system. In chapter 3, On the conditions of a lasting peace, the imperialistic aims of Germany and Japan are examined. In the next chapter, Peace without honour, the beneficial results of non-resistance as exemplified in China are discussed. In the last chapter the author comes to what is to him the heart of the matter, the menace to peace inherent in the capitalist system.
“Among books [dealing with the problem of readjustment after the war] there can be found few if any manifesting a deeper penetration or a more impartial treatment of the mode of securing a permanent peace and of the obstacles which lie in the way of it than this volume by Professor Veblen. It is a dispassionate, objective, and uncompromising treatment of a most important subject. It is written in an attractive style. Droll humor lights up a page now and then, and in the treatment of the foibles of men and nations there is the trenchant irony that is characteristic of the style Veblenesque.” I. W. Howerth
+ + — Am J Soc 23:408 N ‘17 2200w
A L A Bkl 14:40 N ‘17
Cleveland p131 D ‘17 30w
“Mr Veblen’s manner of writing is symphonic; what he repeats is not repetition in the common sense of the word; no idea is quite the same after he has stated it twice or even three times. The theme may be the same, but the complex working out of the theme gives it the value of an entirely new composition. Above all there stands a masterly intellect, holding the various strands of fact and thought securely in its grasp and weaving them into patterns of compelling truth.” M. S. Handman
+ Dial 62:514 Je 14 ‘17 1700w
“Written in the author’s usual flowing and ironical style, always crisp though often wordy. The reader who has plenty of time will enjoy reading all that Mr Veblen has to say; the hurried reader will gather all that Mr Veblen means by skipping the last half of nearly every paragraph. ... Perhaps the most interesting thing in his book is the very definite set of peace terms which he proposes.”
Nation 105:14 Jl 5 ‘17 1100w
“Thorstein Veblen is an American, was graduated from an American university, in the ‘eighties, and has been teaching in American universities ever since. ... It is hard intellectual labor to read any of his books, and to skim him is impossible. ... This new book of his, finished February, 1917, is, so far as I know, the most momentous work in English on the encompassment of lasting peace. ... The recommendation of Mr Veblen is not merely the recommendation of a great philosopher of industrialism. It is not his relentless logic alone that elevates him. It is the democratic bias which ‘The nature of peace’ indicates.” F. H.
+ New Repub 11:113 My 26 ‘17 2050w
“The work abounds in the peculiar quiet irony that marks many of his previous works, notably the famous ‘Theory of the leisure class.’ The reasoning is the dialectic method applied by Marx and other great socialist writers, and in this method Veblen is a past master.” J. W.
+ N Y Call p14 Jl 1 ‘17 800w
“It is only when one reaches the final phase of Mr Veblen’s argument that one clearly perceives that the whole work is, in effect, a bitter criticism of the existing social order. Yet, at lowest, Mr Veblen’s analysis is clarifying and his warnings are well-timed.”
+ — No Am 206:633 O ‘17 1500w
Pittsburgh 22:701 O ‘17 40w
“It may be urged against his latest book that it is little more than an elaborate statement of orthodox socialism, and so perhaps it is.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Je 3 ‘17 1150w
“This book is written for the student; no concessions are made to the general reader in the way of index or manageable chapter-divisions. The compensation will be found in a lucidity of exposition, wealth of vocabulary and epigrammatic crispness which mark all Dr Veblen’s works. The book will do much to stimulate American and English readers to clearer thinking on the task now confronting world-statesmanship.” Bruno Lasker
+ Survey 38:554 S 22 ‘17 1050w
“We have seldom read a book written in a style so repellently ponderous.”
— The Times [London] Lit Sup p383 Ag 9 ‘17 70w
VENIZELOS, ELEUTHERIOS. Greece in her true light; tr. by Socrates A. Xanthaky and Nicholas G: Sakellarios. $2 Sakellarios and Xanthaky, 56 W. 30th St., N.Y. 949.5 16-25135
The book consists of “a collection of speeches of M. Venizelos. These speeches of a man who is not only the greatest statesman of Greece, but one of the greatest statesmen of his generation, aim to express the policy and situation of Greece in the world war.” (Educ R) “For the greater part the work deals with the events of the past two years. We have in full the two memoranda of advice addressed by Mr Venizelos to King Constantine, and the expounding of his policy before the Greek parliament. Also an address drawn up by Venizelos and adopted by the people at Athens in August of the present year for presentation to the king. Well condensed chapters in the book tell of the public career of Venizelos, his share in the work for the union of his native island Crete with Greece, his part in national Greek politics, leading the reform movement in Athens, his statesmanship in making possible the alliance of the Balkan states, his share in the London conference after the war with Turkey, his work in preparing Greece for the second Balkan war and his representing Greece at the Bucharest conference after that war.” (Boston Transcript)
Boston Transcript p6 Ja 13 ‘17 350w
“A human document of exceptional importance and fascinating interest. ... The translation has been excellently done.”
+ Educ R 54:422 N ‘17 80w
VERDAVAINE, GEORGES. Pictures of ruined Belgium; 72 pen and ink sketches drawn on the spot by L: Berden. *$3 (3½c) Lane 940.91 17-25516
Monsieur Verdavaine is art critic of the Independence Belge. “The text, printed in French and English on opposite pages, embodies the facts ascertained after careful investigation by official inquiry, and no attempt has been made to exaggerate them; and equally plain and straightforward is the story told by the illustrations, which consist of drawings made from photographs by Monsieur Berden, an architect by profession, who spent eighteen months in going from place to place gathering material for this record of German barbarity.” (Int Studio) The translation is by J. Lewis May. The book is dedicated to the relatives of Miss Cavell and Captain Fryatt.
A L A Bkl 14:90 D ‘17
574“A terrible book. It is like a new canto of the ‘Inferno.’ Every page contains a heart-clutching horror. There is no attempt at fine writing; it is a plain narrative of the campaign of frightfulness waged by the German general staff. The illustrations have a sort of kinship with the famous engravings of Piranesi. They have only one artistic fault, and that is that too many details are introduced. Mr May’s translation is admirable. It deserves to be read by all lovers of decency and fair play.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 D 26 ‘17 710w
Int Studio 62:81 Ag ‘17 150w
“Beautiful and moving book.”
+ Lit D 55:52 D 8 ‘17 110w
+ Outlook 117:521 N 28 ‘17 40w
R of Rs 57:215 F ‘18 40w
“To any one who remembers Louvain or Dinant, M. Berden’s admirable drawings of their ruins will be inexpressibly painful. M. Verdavaine’s narrative of the massacres and outrages committed by the Huns is as temperately phrased as any right-minded man could make it.”
+ Spec 118:675 Je 16 ‘17 170w
“M. Verdavaine drew from official records the story of those fateful weeks in 1914. If one lacks full measure of indignation, horror, or information as to the tragedy, it is here in abundance.”
+ Springfield Republican p15 D 1 ‘17 200w
“For a simple, almost matter of fact narration of a series of crimes, this one can be recommended to the general reader. He will find in it plenty of murder, arson, and ingenious cruelty—things the Anglo-Saxon discusses without blushing; but M. Verdavaine, perhaps warned by his publisher, has almost entirely suppressed reference to sins against chastity, to sadistic manifestations, and to the perfectly authenticated orgies of filth indulged in by the invaders of Belgium and northern France. The charge is, therefore, not complete; but it is enough.” C: C. Clarke
+ Yale R n s 7:428 Ja ‘18 850w
VERHAEREN, ÉMILE. Afternoon; tr. by C: R. Murphy. *$1 Lane 841 17-7037
A translation of “Les heures d’aprés-midi.” Like the volume preceding it, “The sunlit hours,” it is a book of love songs. Love has come to its full maturity, fulfilling its early promise, as the midsummer garden, pictured in one after the other of the poems, fulfils the promise of spring.
+ Cleveland p65 My ‘17 60w
“Surely no translation will satisfy those who can appreciate the original. Take, for instance, this verse: ‘Je te regards, et tour les jours je te découvre.’ Mr Murphy renders Verhaeren quite literally: ‘And when I look at you I make discoveries,’ but the abyss that separates poetry from prose lies between the two. Still, frequently the translator catches the true rhythm of the original.”
+ — Dial 62:486 My 31 ‘17 250w
“This man adds another to the immortal line of great witnesses who emerge at intervals to abash our skepticism with fresh proofs that loftiness and ardor, that purity and rapture, may interfuse in a passion which they combine to ennoble.” O. W. Firkins
+ Nation 105:175 Ag 16 ‘17 240w
+ R of Rs 55:438 Ap ‘17 50w
“Carried away by the impetuous flow of this thought and emotion, he can paint a picture with the care, restraint, and the precision of the Parnassians.” E: B. Reed
Yale R n s 6:860 Jl ‘17 400w
VERHAEREN, ÉMILE. Love poems; tr. by F. S. Flint. *$1.25 Houghton 841 17-17076
“The cycle is strung on the thread of a life’s long experience. ‘The shining hours,’ ‘The hours of afternoon,’ ‘The hours of evening,’ are the divisions into which the poems are grouped. ... The imagery of the cycle is that of the garden, loved, sheltered, beautiful, with its roses, its ponds, its lilies, the garden of the glowing summer, of the autumn, still loved when winter comes.”—N Y Times
A L A Bkl 14:16 O ‘17
“In spite of the impressiveness, the fine rhetoric and dramatic force of the four poetical dramas, there is a charm about the verse of Verhaeren, which lingers longer and holds us more intensely than do the plays. A cycle of his love lyrics has been translated by Mr Flint, who also translated ‘Philip II.’” D. L. M.
+ Boston Transcript p6 S 12 ‘17 190w
“Translations in poetic prose of the author’s ‘Heures claires’ and ‘Les heures aprés midi,’ poems of serene and spiritualized beauty, picturing the joys of wedded love against the background of a beautiful garden. They have also appeared in the more satisfactory verse translations of Charles R. Murphy as ‘The sunlit hours’ and ‘Afternoon.’”
+ — Cleveland p105 S ‘17 50w
“These poems are exquisite—not only in the sense of a fair jeweled loveliness, but in a tenderness, a depth, a universal beauty and reality that make the most-sought-for words about them seem but trivial things. How much music of phrasing may be lost in [the prose] translation, those of us who read them only in English cannot know; but the beauty of their expression, in word and in image, of deep and exquisite human feeling, is here in the English version.”
+ N Y Times 22:335 S 9 ‘17 1000w
+ St Louis 15:335 S ‘17 20w
VERRILL, ALPHEUS HYATT. Book of camping. il *$1 (2c) Knopf 796 17-18605
Contents: Camps and camping; How and where to camp; Camp housekeeping; Trailing and tramping; How to trap and why; Emergency hints. The illustrations show forms of blazes, how to make moccasins, camp furniture, etc.
“Aims to supply the beginner’s need for a primer in woodcraft, and in the main it succeeds in its purpose. Especially valuable for its practical hints about camp sites, camp housekeeping, cooking, and accidents. To [the old woodsman] the directions for homemade traps and moccasins are reminiscent of the days when he really believed all that was set forth in Dan Beard’s ‘American boy’s handy book.’ This fault—the fault of telling how to make clumsy things that can better be bought—often gets into ‘how-to’ books.”
+ — Dial 63:116 Ag 16 ‘17 170w
+ Ind 91:297 Ag 25 ‘17 60w
“Up-to-date, practical book based on a wide knowledge of camping. Contains almost everything a camper would want to know.”
N J Lib Bul p7 Ap ‘17 19w
St Louis 15:372 O ‘17 40w
Springf’d Republican p15 Ja 13 ‘18 50w
VERRILL, ALPHEUS HYATT.[2] Book of the West Indies. il *$2.50 Dutton 917.29 17-29601
“Mr Verrill in his ‘Book of the West Indies’ has a chapter upon our lately acquired Virgin Islands. He is enthusiastic over the beauty and the fascination of these islands, their possibilities as health resorts and their future as producers of sugar cane and bay rum, and in commerce. His volume of nearly 500 pages is appropriately named ‘The book of the West Indies,’ for no such comprehensive and thoroughgoing account of the archipelago has hitherto been attempted. The author carries you from island to island, big and little alike, and describes the scenes, the people, the manners and customs, the climate, sandwiches in an outline of the history, tells of the commercial and industrial possibilities.”—N Y Times
Reviewed by A. M. Chase
+ Bookm 46:335 N ‘17 70w
“It is a book that a traveler can use as a guide book, a man of business as a source of 575information and a general reader for the pure pleasure of its colorful and informative narrative.”
+ N Y Times 22:579 D 30 ‘17 260w
“The book is well worth while.”
+ Outlook 117:575 D 5 ‘17 40w
“A good description of the Islands, with so much of history as is requisite to meet an intelligent traveler’s demands for information.”
+ R of Rs 57:219 F 18 ‘20w
VICKERS, LESLIE. Training for the trenches; a practical handbook based upon personal experience during the first two years of the war in France. il *$1 (4c) Doran 355 17-17549
Captain Vickers is lecturer on trench warfare, Department of military service, Columbia university and late lieutenant of the Seaforth Highlanders. He states that he “intends this little book primarily for the use of those who are civilians in the process of becoming soldiers.” It includes chapters on: Health; Disease; Vermin; Protection of trenches: Artillery fire; Gas and liquid fire; The attack; Equipment for the field, etc. There are helpful full-page illustrations.
Cleveland p103 S ‘17 40w
“The book ought to be read by every American soldier, present and prospective, who crosses the ocean to fight for liberty. No man in preparation for that duty could be given a more useful gift or one that, provided its advice be heeded, would be more likely to increase his value as an efficient soldier.”
+ N Y Times 22:264 Jl 15 ‘17 130w
Pittsburgh 22:697 O ‘17 60w
St Louis 15:359 O ‘17 20w
“A practical manual based upon personal experiences of the first two years of the war. Capt. Vickers devotes considerable space to the all-important question of health.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p6 S 5 ‘17 100w
VINOGRADOV, PAVEL GAVRILOVICH. Self government in Russia. *$1.25 Dutton 947 (Eng ed 16-12746)
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“The author, a Russian professor at Oxford, exiled for his liberal views, is an eminent authority on Russian institutions, and these lectures take on an added significance in view of recent events.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:348 My ‘17
“Had we more generally known the facts given in this book, we should have understood how the revolution came about and why it was so orderly and effective.” S: N. Harper
+ Dial 63:23 Je 28 ‘17 1050w
“No living man has a firmer grasp upon the political history of the Russian people or could display greater skill in making it clear, within such brief compass, to English readers.”
+ Nation 104:194 F 15 ‘17 370w
“The announcement of a book, on Russia, by the versatile Russian scholar, who is also our leading authority on English legal and social history, may raise more expectation than it can well fulfil. For it is not a thorough treatise that the author of ‘Villainage in England’ has here attempted, but rather a few popular lectures aiming to give us a general outline of the great changes in the legal status of the Russian masses.”
+ New Repub 10:276 Mr 31 ‘17 380w
VIVIAN, HERBERT. Italy at war. il *$2.50 Dutton 940.91 17-21932
“Mr Vivian is an English traveller who happened to be in France on the Italian border at the outbreak of the war.” (Boston Transcript) “His book is a collection of thumbnail sketches of the Italian people in relation to the war, not an account of the campaigns of the Italian army. Thus he relates experiences before Italy decided to throw in her lot with the Allies; gives brief descriptions of the King, General Cadorna, and prominent politicians; and devotes short sections to the special qualities of the various kinds of troops in the Italian army, and incidents in some of the battles. The illustrations enable the reader to appreciate the enormous difficulties overcome by the Italians in their mountain offensive.” (Ath)
Ath p368 Jl ‘17 100w
“The chapter entitled, ‘The preliminary war’ is an account of the work of the German spy system in Italy in the years of peace preceding the war. ... The author knows how to tell his story. Nothing worth while escapes him. His sense of humor is always in evidence when needed. He senses the significant things and describes them in an interesting way.” F. W. C.
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ag 18 ‘17 670w
“This is a different sort of book from Mr Alexander Powell’s volume of the same name and approximately the same date of publication. The Italian people’s attitude to the great issues of the day is presented with the insight and the accuracy of one familiar with the ways of the common folk and speaking their language. Noteworthy is the author’s emphasis upon the too little suspected perpetration of Austrian atrocities. Frightfulness he shows to be not exclusively a Prussian product.”
+ Dial 63:399 O 25 ‘17 190w
“This volume of impressions has little in common with Mr Powell’s ‘Italy at war.’ Mr Vivian is noticeably lacking in the perspective of the war critic; but he is an earnest observer of the beauty and life of the new Italy. ... There is some justification for the uncomfortable feeling the author betrays of having chronicled too many trivialities.”
– + N Y Times 22:345 S 16 ‘17 600w
Outlook 117:26 S 5 ‘17 70w
“His work is quite different from that of such observers of the conflict as Mr Julius Price and Mr Sidney Low. It conveys less information on great matters, but it is more intimate in tone, and also more amusing and the records of conversations with people of no importance are really convincing and entertaining. The picture of the thrilling days immediately preceding Italy’s entrance into the war is especially graphic.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p278 Je 14 ‘17 850w
VIZETELLY, FRANK HORACE. Desk-book of twenty-five thousand words frequently mispronounced. (Standard desk-book ser.) $1.60 Funk 421 17-10175
“The title of this volume by the managing editor of the New standard dictionary ... is obviously taken from Phyfe’s earlier book in the same field. It is somewhat misleading, as the vocabulary includes many words that are not mispronounced, but differently pronounced. ... The publishers’ advertisement states that the book indicates the correct pronunciation of English words, foreign terms, Bible names, personal names (Vizetelly is included), geographical names, and proper names of all kinds current in literature, science and the arts. Words which are likely to prove stumblingblocks are also included. A unique and valuable feature is the appending in many cases of orthoepic and historical notes or of quotations illustrating usage.” (Springf’d Republican) “In an entertaining preface the doctor pays respect in truly Shavian style to the self-satisfied class, both here and abroad, who know ‘that the pronunciation they have is the best which exists.’” (Lit D)
“A useful dictionary, presenting some original features. So far as our tests permit us to judge, the pronunciations indicated are, for the most part, such as would generally be accepted by English orthoepic authorities. ... In a deskbook, such as this, we doubt the usefulness of many of the references to obsolete forms of pronunciation adopted by Walker and other early lexicographers; and the employment of two keys to pronunciation is, we think, unnecessary and confusing. ... We disagree with some of the remarks in Dr Vizetelly’s introduction.”
+ Ath p306 Je ‘17 200w
+ Ind 90:353 My 19 ‘17 40w
576“A careful study of his work should do much toward the standardizing of modern English pronunciation.”
+ Lit D 54:1268 Ap 28 ‘17 520w
“In the pronunciation, the preference of the leading dictionaries for nearly two hundred years are given. An indispensable addition to the slender collection of reference books which must be kept within easy reach. There is brief definition of hundreds of words but recently come into use in science and the arts. Dr Vizetelly has for many years been a foremost authority in English orthoepy.”
+ N Y Times 22:461 N 11 ‘17 460w
“Examination of the work will quickly prove its great value. The introductory material might well be printed and cast broadside in pamphlet form as an aid to the correction of the habit of slovenly speech.”
+ R of Rs 56:331 S ‘17 90w
+ Springf’d Republican p10 My 17 ‘17 500w
VOGT, PAUL LEROY. Introduction to rural sociology. il *$2.50 Appleton 630 17-18829
The author was formerly professor of rural economics and sociology in the Ohio state university, and is now superintendent of the department of rural work of the Methodist Episcopal church, and editor of “The church and country life.” Because over half of our rural population live in communities of less than 2,500, because the village is the “natural center of rural life,” because conditions in the country must be understood if the drift to the cities is to be adequately controlled, and because “the relation of the small community to the growth and ideals of the urban community makes an understanding of rural life and ideals imperative to the one responsible for leadership in urban life,” Mr Vogt has written this book. The field chosen covers rural life in the United States, and “particularly those conditions to be found in the great agricultural sections of the Central valley,” because in this area are to be found both the system of diversified agriculture and the intensive culture resulting from the increase of population. Six of the twenty-eight chapters are on the village, two on the rural church, two on rural health, two on farmers’ organizations, and one on the county fair. Questions, references, and topics for research have been added at the close of each chapter.
“We have here sociological materials, typical data, suggestively rich fields for further exploration—leads rather than actual veins; indications rather than fixed conclusions. Some of these data are original and thought-provoking as, for example, the chapters on Population movement and Rural morality. Some are not sufficient for generalization; notably, those dealing with the land question, tenancy and farmers’ organizations. The chapters on the village are a distinct contribution to sociological literature. The book is well written with a fresh, virile, optimistic pen. Because of its basis of fact, its general freedom from dogmatic statement, its constructive intent, its modest claims and its virility, this is the most valuable book dealing with rural sociology the reviewer has read.” A. E. Cance
+ Am Econ R 7:843 D ‘17 730w
“A real contribution to the literature on rural life. The author places the emphasis on the fundamental problems. The chapter on ‘Rural morality’ is a valuable contribution because it is based upon the author’s research studies. His data refute the generalized statements that have been made by writers who are not hampered by facts. His studies show that the open country is still morally cleaner than the village or city.” E. L. Holton
+ Am J Soc 23:417 N ‘17 430w
“Though based upon a thorough knowledge of rural life and problems, its chief value lies in its organization of material.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:117 Ja ‘18
“Professor Vogt has attacked the problem from an angle not as yet popular in the study of the American farm. He has presented it as a series of relations and reactions influencing our entire national existence. It is important to the nation as well as to the farm that a high rural civilization be maintained, and that we understand the forces operative within it. Professor Vogt has set himself the task of meeting his subject in a purely scientific spirit. His appeal is almost defiantly to the brain alone.”
+ Ind 92:487 D 8 ‘17 310w
+ Nation 105:271 S 6 ‘17 520w
“Furnishes an enlightening array of information upon the improvement of farming methods, the labor question, the tenancy question, health, morality, politics, education, religion, and the general social structure of rural communities.”
+ Pittsburgh 22:831 D ‘17 60w
“The author has been at great pains to make his work as accurate and comprehensive as possible. In both respects he has succeeded admirably, and that, too, without becoming tedious. A feature of the book especially worthy of notice is the thorough discussion of the relation of the village to the life of the open country. The most important omission is the failure to discuss the eugenic problems of the rural population and to give more attention to the natural movements of population due to the varying birth rates and death rates in different groups and in different sections of the nation.” W. S. Thompson
+ — Science n s 46:24 Ja 4 ‘18 390w
“A somewhat laborious study of conditions in the rural communities of the West. ... Its generalizations outweigh its store of information, though one should add that its conclusions are sound enough.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p15 Jl 29 ‘17 100w
“Professor Vogt has laid the foundation of a study of the village for which we have been waiting. ‘Rural sociology’ presents two methods of study of the material—analysis and idealization. Under the former method, for which the writer displays uncommon ability, is the treatment of the Land question, Means of communication, Farmers’ labor income, Health-physical, Health-mental, and the Church. ... The method of idealization is not so satisfactory. There are two final chapters, the first of which contains rare and new material on Rural morality and Social organization. ... The writer is a man with an open mind, a fine hand for details, a capacity of delicate weighing of evidence and the ability to present his conclusions without dogmatism and in inspiring completeness.” W. H. Wilson
+ + — Survey 38:533 S 15 ‘17 500w
W
WADDINGTON, MARY ALSOP (KING) (MRS WILLIAM HENRY WADDINGTON). My war diary. il *$1.50 (1½c) Scribner 940.91 17-23949
Mme Waddington is the widow of a French statesman and ambassador, and author of “Letters of a diplomat’s wife” and other books on France and Italy. Her diary covers the period from August, 1914, to October, 1916, and tells of her activities during the war, of the German occupation of her château at Mareuil, etc.
A L A Bkl 14:56 N ‘17
“Vast as will be the accumulation of war literature when the great struggle is over, Madame Waddington’s contribution will occupy by right a place of distinction, as affording illumination of a unique character. The book is necessarily personal, yet it is most attractively free from any touch of self-importance.”
+ Cath World 106:697 F ‘18 140w
Cleveland p118 N ‘17 70w
“An entertaining account of how the French aristocracy have fared during the war. The big Frenchmen of the war, the great statesmen 577and generals, do not appear to have been on Madame Waddington’s calling list. These today are of first interest.”
+ — Ind 92:342 N 17 ‘17 130w
“A volume which all friends of France as well as all who seek a knowledge of the inner facts of the war will turn to with eager interest.”
+ Lit D 55:52 D 8 ‘17 130w
“Mme. Waddington’s vantage point of observation, so to speak, is unusual; and with the charm and sincerity of her literary style we have had opportunity ere this to become acquainted.”
+ N Y Times 22:573 D 23 ‘17 650w
“Her style is at once simple, easy, vivacious. She outlines her portraits and paints her pictures with appealing directness. ... Particularly notable are her tributes to Ambassador Herrick.”
+ Outlook 117:143 S 26 ‘17 110w
“Mme Waddington by reason of her position in diplomatic life is well able to form some enlightening opinions as to the real motives of French statesmen, but her book is singularly free from such revelations. ... She tells her story with simplicity, and occasionally repeats, but she is to be thanked for not dwelling on the depressing side of events. ... Nothing especially new or significant of French life and thought is contributed by the book.”
– + Springf’d Republican p6 S 17 ‘17 320w
WADDINGTON, SAMUEL. Some views respecting a future life. *$1.25 (6½c) Lane 218 17-17191
“In this comely book, which is at once a personal statement and an anthology of what has been said on the question of immortality by sages and others, ancient and modern, Mr Waddington has written his ‘Religio poetæ.’ His own position, defined already in many sonnets and other poems, is the reasoned one of the agnostic.” (Ath) “The greater part of the book is devoted to a survey of what has been written upon the subject by modern philosophers, poets, and scientists. Shelley, Swinburne, Nordau, Haeckel, Huxley, Mill, Darwin, Spencer, Rossetti, Sir Oliver Lodge, F. W. H. Myers, Clough, Emerson are only a few of the many from whom he quotes or to whose beliefs he refers.” (N Y Times)
Ath p246 My ‘17 260w
Ind 91:514 S 29 ‘17 70w
+ N Y Times 22:305 Ag 19 ‘17 580w
Reviewed by Bishop Frodsham
Sat R 123:370 Ap 21 ‘17 210w
WADSLEY, OLIVE. Conquest. il *$1.40 (1½c) Dodd A17-1640
The hero of the story is a little gamin from Paris who begins his conquest of London at the age of ten. He passes from one odd job to another until he is taken on as a helper in a gymnasium. This chance occupation is the making of Bill Achat. He learns to reverence bodily perfection, becomes a boxer and finally a prize fighter, white champion of the world. He is introduced into London society, and the latter portions of the book are taken up with his love for Alexa Castlemayne. She is older than he and of a different social world, but they find their happiness in one another.
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
Bookm 46:341 N ‘17 60w
“There are good bits of characterization in ‘Conquest,’ and an authentic air of sophistication and interest regarding prize-fights and sporting-events surprising in the work of a woman author—even a British one.”
+ Dial 63:597 D 6 ‘17 90w
“There is keen charm in the portions that show Bill fighting and lying for a roll, and kissing a maternal demi-mondaine for a franc. ... It is regrettable that Miss Wadsley does not keep to this pitch throughout, instead of falling into commonplace.”
+ — N Y Times 22:388 O 7 ‘17 300w
WADSLEY, OLIVE. Possession. il *$1.35 (1c) Dodd 17-6113
An unusual friendship existed between the little girl of eight and the boy of eighteen. Both were friendless in London. Valérie’s father had deserted her unceremoniously. Blaise was a stranger, looking for work. So they adopted one another. This relationship lasted up to the time Val was seventeen. Then Blaise woke up and found that she was grown-up, that she was very beautiful, and that he loved her. For his own sake as well as her own, he sent her away to Paris. The separation proved disastrous, for Val too began to realize that she was grown-up. She meets another man, and marries him. The romance is short-lived and she turns back to Blaise for protection, but since she fails to tell him the truth, a strained situation results.
“It is rather a headlong tale; that is, told with enough swiftness and enough high coloring to make it seem, in a day of comparatively leisurely and detailed novel-writing, an uncommonly near approach to the good old ‘intense love-story.’ Along the way, Miss Wadsley has given the novel certain modulations and graciousnesses that will serve to redeem it, at least in part, for her more discriminating and experienced readers.” F. I.
+ Boston Transcript p8 F 21 ‘17 600w
“The earlier part of the book marks its writer as one of more than average talent and imagination. ... The novel remains, in spite of expectations unfulfilled, more than relatively good.”
+ — Dial 62:147 F 22 ‘17 250w
“While reading ‘Possession,’ we forget who or what we are, how or when the book is written, and live wholly in the life of Valérie Sarton.”
+ — N Y Times 22:89 Mr 11 ‘17 350w
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Ap 1 ‘17 350w
WÄGNER, WILHELM. Asgard and the gods; adapted by M. W. Macdowall; and ed. by W. S. W. Anson. il *$2 Dutton 293
“A complete English account of the religious beliefs and superstitions of the old Northmen, myths and stories of the gods, of the creation of the world, of Odin the father of the gods, of the Ases, the Golden age, and on through all the splendid legends to Ragnarok, the ‘twilight of the gods.’” (R of Rs) This volume is a reprint of an edition first published in 1880 and again in 1882. There is an introduction which deals with what is known of the history of these legends.
+ Dial 64:114 Ja 31 ‘18 200w
Ind 92:448 D 1 ‘17 30w
“The digest of Dr Wägner’s original work is so excellent that for the new generation there is probably nothing better.”
+ Lit D 55:41 N 3 ‘17 200w
+ Outlook 117:100 S 19 ‘17 50w
R of Rs 56:553 N ‘17 90w
WALDO, FULLERTON LEONARD.[2] Good housing that pays. il $1 (5c) Harper press, 1012 Chancellor st., Philadelphia 331.8 17-28206
A study of the work of the Octavia Hill association of Philadelphia, from 1896 to 1917. The foreword says, “The pages that follow describe the effort of a thoughtful group of Philadelphians to provide cleanly homes and a healthy environment for families in modest circumstances or in self-respecting poverty. This effort has outgrown the stage of experiment, but it never will deny new light nor wholly abandon, however it may adapt, the ideals that are Octavia Hill’s own spiritual legacy.” A sketch of the life and work of Octavia Hill constitutes chapter 1. There are numerous pictures and plans. The by-laws of the association and various tables are given in an appendix, with the index following. 578“The story of the Octavia Hill association of Philadelphia is almost a history of the housing movement in that city, and shows the excellent work of women in this field.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:152 F ‘18
“Live and interesting, with practical, frank detail on both the business and the human side, which will make the book of value to other workers.” E. W. Dinwiddie
+ Survey 39:326 D 15 ‘17 430w
WALKER, HENRY FRANCIS BELL. Doctor’s diary in Damaraland. il *$2.10 (4c) Longmans 940.91 (Eng ed 17-28629)
“The author of this book volunteered as a medical officer in General Botha’s force which, by its dashing strategy and its great physical endurance, conquered German South-west Africa between March and July, 1915. He does not give a formal history of the campaign, but describes his own experiences in the rear of the army, with an occasional illuminating note on the course of the fighting.”—Spec
Dial 64:81 Ja 17 ‘18 250w
“All who wish to know the realities of war should read his very readable book. ... He has a good word for the Germans wherever it is deserved; and, generally, he extenuates nothing, makes no complaint, and sets down naught in malice. He deals only with what came under his own view, the grand tour of his own ambulance, not attempting to describe military movements or battles. His narrative is relieved by excellent descriptive touches, which make the God-forsaken country very real.”
+ Nation 105:348 S 27 ‘17 770w
+ N Y Times 22:357 S 23 ‘17 430w
Pittsburgh 22:827 D ‘17 60w
“Dr Walker is eminently observant and has a keen eye for military tactics as well as natural history and geology. He has provided a detailed map of one attack, but a larger one covering the range of country he went over would have been a useful addition to his book. ... The book is well printed and has a few good illustrations, but it ought to have had an index as well.”
+ — Sat R 124:110 Ag 11 ‘17 900w
Spec 118:616 Je 2 ‘17 180w
“He is coldly fair to the Germans, giving instances of their cruelty, but allowing them whatever credit may be their due for establishing well-planned and well-organized towns in places where no one would want to live.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p207 My 3 ‘17 950w
WALKER, STUART. Portmanteau plays. il *$1.50 Stewart & Kidd 812 17-13266
Stuart Walker has been actor, stage manager and general director for Belasco. In 1914, he conceived the idea of the Portmanteau theater which has a small stage, simple scenery, and unique lighting effects. The present volume includes four of the plays given at this theater: The trimplet; Nevertheless; The medicine show; The six who pass while the lentils boil. There is a forty page introduction by Edward Hale Bierstadt, and an appendix giving “The repertory of the Portmanteau theater in the order of production.”
+ A L A Bkl 14:16 O ‘17
“The little plays lack the beauty in strangeness of Lord Dunsany’s contributions to the Portmanteau répertoire but they are of distinct interest as a new art form based on a naïve convention.”
+ Cleveland p105 S ‘17 80w
“This book is more than a collection of highly diverting little plays. It is the record of an astonishing experiment in the American theatre.” H. K. M.
+ New Repub 13:222 D 22 ‘17 1000w
N Y Br Lib News 4:86 Je ‘17
“Of the four plays, ‘Six who pass while the lentils boil’ is undoubtedly the most successful from both a literary and a dramatic point of view.”
+ R of Rs 56:444 O ‘17 300w
“Mr Walker’s plays make very pleasant reading, but they do not portend any romantic renaissance. ... The novel settings that Mr Walker has devised for his charming playlets have probably much more to do with his success than any real desire on the part of the public for poetry and fantasy on the stage.”
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Jl 1 ‘17 460w
WALLACE, DAVID DUNCAN. Government of England; national, local, and imperial. *$2 (2½c) Putnam 342.4 17-25776
The author is professor of history and economics in Wofford college. He states that his book is intended for the general reader desiring “a brief, untechnical account of the British government” and for college classes where the time “is too limited for an extended treatment of so large a subject.” Prof. Wallace has attempted “to describe the English government as it is without distracting the reader with a long account of how it came to be what it is.” (Preface) Book 1 deals with The central government; book 2 with The local government; book 3 with The empire and colonies; book 4 with Social and political characteristics. The author has constantly “kept in mind the resemblances and contrasts between the government of England and that of our own country.” (Preface) “In the chapter on ‘Lessons England can teach us,’ the author dwells upon the greater flexibility of the English constitutional system. ... Other lessons concern the budget system, popular regard for law, and a civil service test in character and ability in addition to the applicant’s ‘immediate preparation.’” (Bookm) There is a reading-list of two pages and a table (tipped in before the index) to aid in understanding the court system.
“The chapter on ‘Aristocracy and democracy’ clarifies a subject rather indistinct to Americans who have not observed English society at close range. ... In the hands of instructors capable of supplementing it with an additional fund of historical illustration, this capitally written treatise should serve as an attractive text for college and university classes.” L. E. Robinson
+ Bookm 46:270 N ‘17 370w
“He certainly does not misinterpret our history, when he declares that the highest intellectual effort in the United States has been consumed, not in proving that measures are good or bad, but that they are constitutional or unconstitutional. He makes a strong argument for a closer coöperation of the legislative and executive departments.” F. B. N.
+ Boston Transcript p8 O 27 ‘17 670w
WALLACE, DILLON. Arctic stowaways. il *$1.25 (2c) McClurg 17-29730
Alfred Knowles and his friend Harry Metford were in danger of arrest for running a man down while speeding their automobile. Alfred had at first insisted that they turn about and take their medicine, but had weakly yielded to Harry’s desire for escape. So it was that they happened to take temporary refuge on board a schooner, to be carried out to sea. The vessel is a whaler, one of the last of her line, and the boys’ pleading and threats and offers of payment are of no avail. The boat is bound for the Arctic, and they must go with her, working their passage. Their experiences are not unlike those of Harvey Cheyne, of “Captains courageous,” and they learn the same lesson. The biggest of their adventures comes when they are cast adrift on the ice, to fend for themselves along a barren coast.
+ Springf’d Republican p13 D 16 ‘17 150w
WALLACE, EDGAR. Kate plus 10. il *$1.35 (3½c) Small 17-23650
The author of “The clue of the twisted candle” has here given us another detective story. It moves around the great strokes planned by Kate Westhanger, the brains of 579the criminal gang in Amberscombe Gardens—a locality known to the London police as “Crime street”—and the efforts made by Michael Pretherston, the Scotland Yard detective, to outwit her. Kate had inherited power of strategy and also a tendency to crime. She had been trained by her uncle to be a thief on a great scale. Michael, who had great ability and a very pretty wit of his own, was filling the years in which he awaited his succession to the peerage in ways in which he could use his natural talents. Both were in the game for the excitement of it. How Kate used her wit, charm, and beauty and how Michael faced her at every turn; what the great coup was and how it ended; with other matters which pertain to life in English society furnish two hours of entertaining reading.
A L A Bkl 14:63 N ‘17
“An unusual combination of light humour and thrilling mystery.” H. W. Boynton
+ Bookm 46:342 N ‘17 10w
Cleveland p128 N ‘17 60w
WALLACE, EDNA KINGSLEY. Feelings and things; verses of childhood. *$1 Dutton 811 16-24229
“One feels in reading these poems that Miss Wallace is writing from within out; she is not portraying childhood as she sees or remembers it, but interpreting it as she still feels it. In her choice of subjects and language, she is always well within the mood and psychology of her subject. In this slender book are to be found the vaguely defined imaginings, the sudden sharp impressions, the bubbling excitement and joyousness of childhood. Even the rhythm of the lines has the hop-skip-and-jump gaiety, the pause of perplexed wonder, and the sudden, ecstatic crescendo of discovery.”—Dial
“They are slightly reminiscent of Stevenson and will be even more appreciated by grownups than by the children themselves.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:408 Je ‘17
“These verses are distinctive and individual, and because of their authenticity and lyrical quality must take a high place in the literature of childhood.”
+ Dial 62:110 F 8 ‘17 150w
+ — NY Times 22:401 O 14 ‘17 90w
+ Springf’d Republican p15 S 30 ‘17 120w
WALLACE, WILLIAM KAY. Greater Italy [1858-1916]. *$2.50 (3c) Scribner 945 17-13590
“I would attempt to trace in this volume the rise of the kingdom of Italy among nations, with more particular emphasis on the part played by the people of Italy in the affairs of the world during the past three decades. ... I have sought to lay particular stress on the relations of Italy with the Central powers, to trace the course of Italian policy in its dealings with Vienna and Berlin, and to show how the ‘mariage forcé’ of Rome and Vienna, brought about by the arbitrariness of Berlin, could not fail to end in disaster.” (Preface) Contents: The achievement of unity; Formative forces; The Triple alliance; The period of retrenchment; The dictatorship of Giolitti; The Libyan war; Economic development; The Vatican and the Quirinal; Italy and Germany; The problem of the Adriatic; The days of neutrality; Italy at war. The author writes of the war from personal observation. The book is provided with three maps.
A L A Bkl 14:21 O ‘17
Ath p475 S ‘17 130w
“A businesslike and straightforward book, which is not, strictly speaking, a history, but a series of studies on the rise of a united Italy and on an important aspect of Balkan diplomacy. The title of the book hardly describes its contents. The narration of the peaceful penetration of Italy by Germany is most remarkable reading, and it differs from some other recent descriptions of the process in general by its restraint and balance. The story is perhaps more impressive on that account.”