Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1917 Books (continued 46)
Reading edition
+ School R 25:614 O ‘17 240w
WELLS, CAROLYN. Baubles. il *$1.25 Dodd 817 17-24883
This volume contains most of the poems included in “Idle idyls,” published by Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1900. Nineteen poems printed in “Idle idyls” have been dropped from and twenty-two new poems included in “Baubles.” While the new volume, like the old, is pictured by Oliver Herford, the thirteen full-page illustrations of “Idle idyls” do not appear in the new collection.
“The sparkle, the whimsicality of her nonsense, has dulled and deadened; the satirical lash has become thready, the vigor and snap gone when it comes into contact with the object.”
— Boston Transcript p6 O 10 ‘17 280w
WELLS, CAROLYN. Faulkner’s folly. *$1.25 (2½c) Doran
Eric Stannard, the wealthy successful portrait painter, was found murdered in his studio. His dying cry was heard by his guest, Mrs Faulkner, as she descended the staircase and at her command the footman entered and turned up the lights in the darkened room. The artist was seen seated, stabbed by an etching needle and at either side of him, fainting with terror and overcome with dread, were his wife and his model. Who committed the crime? Roberts, the detective, tried in vain to solve the mystery but Alan Ford succeeded.
“The latest of Carolyn Wells’s detective stories is especially baffling.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 D 1 ‘17 320w
“Cleverly contrived and worked out with ingenuity and ample resource.”
+ N Y Times 22:413 O 21 ‘17 500w
WELLS, CAROLYN. Mark of Cain. il *$1.35 (1½c) Lippincott 17-7931
This is another Fleming Stone detective story. A millionaire is murdered in Van Cortlandt Park, New York, and circumstances seem to point to his nephew Kane Landon, as the murderer. The fortune of the murdered man is left to his niece Avice Trowbridge on condition that she marry the millionaire’s lawyer and trusted friend, Judge Hoyt. But Avice loves Landon and she only consents to marry Judge Hoyt on condition that he obtains the freedom of Landon whether the latter is innocent or guilty. With the aid of the millionaire’s office boy who had done some private detective work and as a consequence had been kidnapped and imprisoned in the home of the lawyer who is the real murderer, Fleming Stone convicts the lawyer of his guilt, aids thereto being the dirk cane and the shoes worn at the time of the murder which he had left as evidence in his house.
“A crude thriller. It is carelessly written, with no skill in characterization or plot; its ingenuity is not above that inspiring the Sunday ‘feature 593story’; its humor is of the same quality as the ‘comic’ sheet and where the author would be exciting she is only lurid. It is shoddy.”
— Dial 62:484 My 31 ‘17 120w
“Although the solution of the mystery is not very plausible, and the reader who chances to be possessed of any degree of astuteness will have identified the murderer long before Fleming Stone appears upon the scene, the story holds one’s attention fairly well, and is not without ingenuity.”
N Y Times 22:74 Mr 4 ‘17 250w
“While the story is conventional of its kind, it is diverting.”
+ Springf’d Republican p19 Mr 25 ‘17 130w
WELLS, CLIFFORD ALMON. From Montreal to Vimy Ridge and beyond; ed. by O. C: S. Wallace. il *$1.35 (2c) Doran 940.91 17-29626
A series of letters written by a young Canadian officer to his mother and other members of his family, between November, 1915 and April, 1917. The mother died shortly after receiving news of her son’s death, so this book, edited by the writer’s stepfather, is a memorial to them both. The editor says, “To have used a heavy hand upon those letters, cutting out personal allusions, and the expression of opinion and criticisms which later might have been modified, would have been to rob them of much of their piquancy and human quality. That is why they are published as they were written.”
“There is as little personal animosity toward the enemy as in any of the accounts from the men who are doing the work. War is accepted, but it is recognized for what it is, a not very pleasant or glorious affair. The book is interesting for its revelation of the interests and the daily life of the soldier in action.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 D 22 ‘17 260w
“It has the quality of letters written to some one beloved, a touching and beautiful quality.”
+ N Y Times 22:546 D 9 ‘17 220w
WELLS, FREDERIC DE WITT. Man in court. *$1.50 (4c) Putnam 347 17-11929
The author is a justice of the municipal court of New York city and in this book he presents a series of sketches showing the actual procedure in a court of law. He explains the origin of many customs, and justifies some of the seeming injustices of court procedure, but, on the other hand, he shows how unsuited many practices are to modern conditions. A complete revision of the system is outlined in the final chapter in the form of a “look backward” from the year 1947.
“The humor is somewhat labored, but the explanations clear.”
+ — A L A Bkl 14:114 Ja ‘18
“The author unobtrusively reveals intimate experience with human beings, depth of psychological insight, broad sympathy, healthful humor; a desire for, a belief in, and a capability of bringing nearer, better things to come.” W. S. McNeill
+ Am Pol Sci R 11:592 Ag ‘17 200w
“The present author in knowledge of the subject is well fitted for his task. Unfortunately for so sincere and sane a work, the style lacks grace, and the argument drags at times. That the facts are interesting for all that, is no small tribute to the author.”
+ — Dial 63:114 Ag 16 ‘17 230w
+ Lit D 55:52 D 1 ‘17 110w
“If the author’s experience as a lawyer and a judge has induced the belief that our judicial system is a farce, it is easy to understand why he has published this volume. Such a system deserves the fate ascribed to it in the closing chapter. A careful study of this chapter, however, will lead most readers to the conclusion that the book is intended as a mere burlesque. Were the serious and sensible parts of the volume separated from the satirical, their publication would serve a useful purpose.”
– + Nation 105:229 Ag 30 ‘17 500w
+ N Y Br Lib News 4:87 Je ‘17 60w
+ N Y Times 22:201 My 20 ‘17 50w
“It would be well if more men of experience in responsible positions would write as frankly and good-humoredly concerning what they know best as Judge Wells has written about the courts. A book so tolerant and witty as this should have no little effect in promoting that good understanding between all parties that is most favorable to wise reform.”
+ No Am 205:807 My ‘17 750w
Outlook 115:761 Ap 25 ‘17 30w
“The business man sees great extravagance and waste of time in our courts of justice. Judge Wells admits the force of the criticism. In fact, he makes a better statement of the case than the business man himself could make, because he is in closer touch with the facts. At the same time the practising lawyer’s viewpoint is clearly understood by Judge Wells, and throughout the book he takes pains to present the lawyer’s side intelligently and sympathetically.”
+ R of Rs 55:669 Je ‘17 300w
“While the book is intended for the uninitiated, it is mighty useful reading for the average social worker, even those who are familiar with court procedure.” R. N. Baldwin
+ Survey 38:361 Jl 21 ‘17 170w
WELLS, FREDERIC LYMAN. Mental adjustments. il *$2.50 Appleton 130 17-16338
“Believing dynamic psychology, describing the conduct of mind from the standpoint of its adjustment to the world we live in, to be ‘the most truly cultural study,’ Frederic Lyman Wells of McLean hospital, Waverley, Mass., presents a large series of observations from normal psychology, psychopathology and anthropology. ... The preliminary discussion of mental adaptation is followed by chapters on use and waste in thought and conduct, symbolic association, the continuity of emotion, types of dissociation, mechanisms in dissociated ideas, experimental approaches and balancing factors. ... Dr Wells’s book is the fourth in the Conduct of mind series edited by Prof. Joseph Jastrow of the University of Wisconsin, who provides an introduction to the present volume.”—Springf’d Republican
“Any added insight into individual behavior clarifies social phenomena. Economic unrest, the rebellion of women against their ‘place,’ divorce, crime, prostitution, and insanity are all more fully comprehensible by reason of this book. On this basis it is permissible to classify the volume among the significant contributions to social psychology.” L. S. Hollingworth
+ Am J Soc 23:545 Ja ‘18 450w
“Dr Wells’s scheme is simple, though the details are far from clear. ... To speak of human motives in terms of physical forces has doubtless a pragmatic value; it is one of those devices common in supposedly scientific psychology. ... As applied to obsessions of the neurotic and insane it has a certain plausibility. But ... it is surely too much to ask that all of our views of life be based upon the external observation of minds confused and darkened.”
— Nation 105:154 Ag 9 ‘17 470w
“The discussion of ‘Types of dissociation’ is more clearly systematic than most of the rest of the book and is a valuable survey for the student, although perhaps somewhat heavily loaded with varieties and subvarieties for those readers who have but little concrete experience. ... Wells does, however, make it clear that the normal and the abnormal are made of much the same material, and his book, with its softened rendering of Freudian conceptions, will be a stimulus and a help along sane and useful lines.” Adolf Meyer
+ — Science n s 46:587 D 14 ‘17 1000w
+ Springf’d Republican p6 Jl 26 ‘17 430w
WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE. God, the invisible king. *$1.25 (3c) Macmillan 201 17-13406
The conception of God outlined in this book is essentially Wellsian. Yet Mr Wells writes in the belief that a new religion has already dawned on the world and that its followers are many, 594and without doubt there will be numbers of men and women outside the orthodox faiths who will find in his analysis much that corresponds to their own half formulated creeds. This new religion has no prophet or founder. It has no theory of the creation of the universe. It is purely empirical. “Modern religion bases its knowledge of God and its account of God entirely upon experience. It has encountered God. ... To find God is but the beginning of wisdom, because then for all our days we have to learn his purpose with us and to live our lives with him.” Mr Wells’s religion bears no relation to Christianity. It seems to be the negation of Christianity. “We of the new faith repudiate the teaching of non-resistance. We are the militant followers of and participators in a militant God. We can appreciate and admire the greatness of Christ, this gentle being upon whose nobility the theologians trade. But submission is the remotest quality of all from our God, and a moribund figure is the completest inversion of his likeness as we know him.”
A L A Bkl 13:426 Jl ‘17
Ath p303 Je ‘17 100w
“‘God, the invisible king,’ may be poor theology—it is—but it is real religion. Anybody can make fun out of the design of the vase in which this chrism of testimony is conveyed. But it seems to us that there should be joy among the angels of God for this novelist doing reverence to the ultimate reality.”
+ — Ath p346 Jl ‘17 230w
“Mr Wells rambles on and on, offering us always something to entertain, but scarcely anything to convince us of the certainties of religion. He blunders now and then, as when he speaks of atheism and agnosticism as synonymous, and he leaves us at the end exactly where we were at the beginning.” E. F. E.
– + Boston Transcript p6 My 16 ‘17 1550w
“When one has finished reading this vague philosophy, one wonders if this feeble attempt of the perplexed, harassed Wells may prove a stepping-stone to true religion.”
— Cath World 105:832 S ‘17 250w
“Not only does Wells fail to content me with this report of the thoughts and things of my generation, but he seems to be ignorant of thoughts that were commonplace a generation ago. Oddly enough, he is not in the forefront of thought but is behind the times.” J: Macy
— Dial 63:13 Je 28 ‘17 2250w
“So far as Mr Wells confines himself to relating his own religious experience I treat every word he says with the profoundest respect, for I am certain that he is sincere. As a personal confession his book is a religious document of great value. But when the modern religion begins, through its mouthpiece, Mr Wells, to relate things about other religions, we have the right to be on our guard. The modern religion will have to be more correct, as well as more polite, in relating things about other religions, before the world will be willing to give due weight to what it relates about itself. Mr Wells has written a very provocative book about the least provocative of subjects—God. It is a tremendous theme, and the time is ripe for its reception.” L. P. Jacks
+ — Hibbert J 15:683 Jl ‘17 4400w
“Surely if the faith of Mr Wells is somewhat too narrow, if it includes too few articles of belief, it is exceptionally clear and profound in regard to what he does hold true.”
+ Ind 90:434 Je 2 ‘17 700w
“There is not a grain of humility in this new apostle. Standing in the midst of ‘Mars’ hill,’ he offers us now a copy of ‘God the invisible king,’ saying in effect: ‘Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.’ ... The fine and sound things in this book we have not much emphasized: exhortations to repentance, consecration, self-sacrifice, labor for the kingdom of God on earth. Mr Wells’s impression that they are new is as ‘curious’ as the modernity of Christ. They may be heard in any orthodox pulpit in the course of a month’s sermons—with due credit given for their origination. It is better for Mr Wells to think of them as of his own confection than for him not to think of them at all; but as a matter of fact the chief contributive element in his testament is his peculiarly sanguine and mellifluous, egotism and insolence. Why can he not occasionally acknowledge that an idea may be true and useful even though it has always been recognized as such?”
– + Nation 104:710 Je 14 ‘17 1400w
“Mr Wells’ God suffers inevitably from the limitations (manifest and obscure) of its creator. The God invented by him is in reality a sublimated and delicately disembodied, a finely spiritualized Mr Wells.” Sam Schmalhausen
— N Y Call p15 S 2 ‘17 1700w
“A sane, thoughtful, reasonable expression of a religion of the future, so different from the religions of the past that in many instances, it is difficult to find the points of contact of the new and the old.” Blanche Watson
+ — N Y Call p14 S 16 ‘17 1350w
Reviewed by Sam Schmalhausen
— N Y Call p15 S 23 ‘17 800w
“Written with the sincerity and simplicity of utter conviction. ... In precision of idea and clarity of statement, in keenness of insight and closely argued presentation it shows Mr Wells at his best.”
+ N Y Times 22:185 My 13 ‘17 2500w
Reviewed by Lawrence Gilman
No Am 206:123 Jl ‘17 3100w
“Mr Wells writes too much. He is not always sane in his judgments. He sometimes gives an impression of sensationalism. But he is always frank and, we believe, always sincere. ... The value of his book lies, not in its solution of religious problems, but in its recognition of the reality of religious problems and in its provocation to real and untrammeled religious thinking.”
Outlook 116:305 Je 20 ‘17 100w
Reviewed by Lyman Abbott
Outlook 116:398 Jl 11 ‘17 2600w
Pratt p8 O ‘17 40w
“With much iconoclastic fury he denounces Christianity and all its doctrines, revelling especially in those bitter asperities which have been the unfortunate accompaniment of religious controversy in all ages, but with an added modern vulgarity that is all his own.”
— Sat R 123:sup3 My 19 ‘17 1250w
“He has felt obliged to devote the greater part of his space to an attack upon other explorers in the same region; and here defect of knowledge and defect of sympathy have resulted in much unintentional false-witness and many deplorable lapses into bad taste. This we regret, because what Mr Wells has to say about his own religious experience might reach and profit many persons who are prejudiced against the writings of professional divines; but such people instinctively flee from theological hatred. It is specially to be hoped that before the next book comes out, Mr Wells will make himself acquainted with the view of the Old Testament held to-day in the Christian church.”
– + Spec 118:674 Je 16 ‘17 1450w
“The book delivers its message through the medium of a violent polemic against the Christian creed. The polemic is so inaccurate in historical statement that it helps rather than demolishes the things it attacks. Although the book is hastily and crudely done, it is not without significance. It is the record of experience, whether real or imaginary, an unfolding of how one who ardently disliked Christianity and all its teachings came, through the mind’s shifting to a deeper level to accept most of its tenets under a different name and in different terms.”
– + Springf’d Republican p6 S 3 ‘17 450w
“The great interest of his book consists in the reality and intensity of his effort to combine his own religious experience with a consistently biological conception of the universe. The effort fails, we think, but in its reality and intensity it reveals truth.”
The Times [London] Lit Sup p229 My 17 ‘17 4400W
595WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE. Italy, France and Britain at war. *$1.50 (2½c) Macmillan 940.91 17-5137
“One of the minor peculiarities of this unprecedented war is the tour of the front,” says Mr. Wells. His own taste of the experience came in 1916, after repeated refusals. Mr Wells didn’t want to go, but having gone he writes of the experience with characteristic frankness. He had been seeing the war as “something purposeful and epic.” He came back from the front with a revised view. “If I were to be tied down to one word for my impression of this war, I should say that this war is ‘Queer.’ It is not like anything in a really waking world, but like something in a dream. It hasn’t exactly that clearness of light against darkness or good against ill. But it has the quality of wholesome instinct struggling under a nightmare.” The book consists of three parts: The war in Italy (August, 1916): The western war (September, 1916); How people think about the war.
“Sane, philosophic and practical.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:310 Ap ‘17
Reviewed by F. F. Kelly
+ Bookm 45:184 Ap ‘17 500w
Boston Transcript p8 Mr 7 ‘17 1000w
“For the rest, Mr Wells exhibits the old passionateness and the old incapacity to understand anybody who holds opinions different from his present ones. Particularly blind is his discussion of the yielding pacifist and the conscientious objector, and particularly unintelligent his discussion of the ‘religious revival.’”
+ — Dial 62:445 My 17 ‘17 300w
+ Ind 90:35 Ap 2 ‘17 370w
“We find the first half of his story, dealing with actualities on the Italian and French fronts, in its remarkable exhibition of a gift for observation and vivid portrayal much more convincing than his comments on the psychological reactions of the belligerent nations to the war, or his own generalizations from the specific facts of modern combat.”
Nation 104:661 My 31 ‘17 350w
“No man, I think, has actually gone to the war, looked it so honestly in the face and brought back so much insight and wide-ranging practical speculation. ... The real genius of this book is that the immensity of what Mr Wells saw on his visit to the front set his mind working instead of striking it dumb. ... There is a phrase in this book which represents a piece of very great perception. Mr Wells speaks of the demilitarization of war. Some of us had already grasped the fact vaguely that there must be industrial back of military preparedness. We visualized it as ‘back of.’ But what the war on the west front seems to show is an irresistible industrialization of army management itself.” W. L.
+ New Repub 10:201 Mr 17 ‘17 850w
“Toward the end of the volume Mr Wells discusses the relation of this country to the war with, in some parts of it, keener insight and understanding than one often finds in any utterance from the other side of the Atlantic. But even he only dimly comprehends the purpose and meaning of the American policy.”
+ N Y Times 22:45 F 11 ‘17 700w
“The author gives us such pictures of the mountain warfare waged by the Italians and of the actual conditions of trench fighting in France, as we have had from no other source.”
+ No Am 205:627 Ap ‘17 800w
“We need not agree with all this to be interested by it. We wish we had room to quote the very remarkable analysis of the evolution of methods of attack. ... This analysis comes in the chapter called ‘The grades of war,’ and is the most acute thing we have read on the subject.”
+ Spec 118:302 Mr 10 ‘17 1200w
“The most valuable part of the book is probably the third section, ‘How people think about the war.’”
Springf’d Republican p6 Ap 17 ‘17 700w
“Stimulating as his views are, they would have carried more weight had there been some more recognizable relation underlying them. ... He carries us with him in many of his generalizations; but we part company with him when he affirms that the military expert is ‘a man trained to think of war as essentially an affair of cavalry, infantry in formation, and field guns,’ the implication being that it is only the civilian who understands modern strategy and its mechanical problems. ... If we understand Mr Wells rightly, the materials we should build with are laymen, democracy, and individual initiative; for his binding material he seems to be looking to mysticism.”
– + The Times [London] Lit Sup p89 F 22 ‘17 1150w
WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE. Soul of a bishop. il *$1.50 (2c) Macmillan 17-24100
We are introduced to the Bishop of Princhester, who has led a happy married life and whose London incumbency has brought nothing to disturb his conventional faith, just as he had settled in the industrial town of Princhester and, for the first time in his life, is “really in doubt about himself, about his way of living, about all his persuasions.” He realizes that the world is “extravagantly out of hand,” and that the church is “a tolerated thing”—a failure. This reacts upon him physically until he develops insomnia. The outbreak of the war steadies him temporarily, but he soon grows worse and goes to Dr Dale, who gives him a drug not in the pharmacopœia, the effect of which is to make him feel braced and uplifted, and to view life differently. Then comes his first vision when he talks with an angel and sees God. A second draught of the tonic brings a second vision, in which the angel shows him “certain signs of the coming of God.” Meantime, after a confirmation service where he speaks of his new faith, which is essentially that developed in “God, the invisible king,” he leaves the church and goes, with his family, into cramped quarters in London. Lady Sunderbund, an impossible American, tries to build him a temple, but he has come to feel that there can be “no specialized ministers of the one true God” and though tempted for a while to take, for the sake of his family, the salary offered by Lady Sunderbund, a third vision shows him that he must put God before his wife and children, and he decides that he cannot be “a professional religious man,” but must “write and talk as he can” of his [to him] new creed: “I believe in God, I believe in the immediate presence of God in every human life, I believe that our lives have to serve the kingdom of God.”
A L A Bkl 14:99 D ‘17
“The lucidity of style characteristic of the creator of ‘Mr Britling’ is displayed to the full in the present story.”
+ Ath p529 O ‘17 140w
“However ineffectual his bishop may be, however vague and egotistical the Wellsian programme for a reborn world, we cannot doubt the sincere impulse of faith behind it.” H. W. Boynton
+ — Bookm 46:338 N ‘17 70w
“Mr Wells’s new consciousness of a spiritual force working in and for humanity is touchingly sincere; his belief that it is a new force is touchingly ingenuous. What he does not suspect, probably, is that his latest story is only a modification of all his other stories of protest, that his organised religion is only another convention to be done for; that his Bishop Scrope is merely another amiable little Mr Polly, born anew, this time, in the throes of a spiritual instead of a bodily indigestion; and that his new deity is simply an apotheosis of that eager, searching, dogmatic, well-disposed and unpractical personality, Mr H. G. Wells.” H. W. Boynton
– + Bookm 46:353 N ‘17 1150w
“Mr Wells’s descriptions of the bishop’s home and family lure the reader onward over his dreary passages of topsy-turvy Christianity, but he fails entirely when he offers us page after page of conversation in which Lady Sunderbund talks the most arrant nonsense and mangles the English language by omitting the letter r from every word she utters. ... We 596doubt if ‘The soul of a bishop’ will convince anybody, for it will disappoint both those who seek in it a novel and those who are looking for a sensible outlook into modern religion.” E. F. E.
— Boston Transcript p6 S 12 ‘17 1350w
“Mr Wells falls into the special error of his time and his school of thought—he identifies the mental with the spiritual. It is the workings of Scrope’s mind, not his soul, that we follow.”
— Cath World 106:695 F ‘18 350w
“Mr Wells has not only delivered a message of high inspiration, but has striven painstakingly to make the value of that message clear to all minds not sealed in with stupidity or intellectual arrogance.”
+ — Dial 63:402 O 25 ‘17 700w
“So far as its ideas are concerned, one would date it at about 1889, the year following the publication of ‘Robert Elsmere’; Mr Wells, one would say, is beginning to catch up with his ‘Victorians.’ Taken in connection with its two popular predecessors, however, it has still some contemporary reference.”
— Nation 105:401 O 11 ‘17 1300w
“‘The soul of a bishop,’ interesting as an exhibit, is of little account as a novel because it has nothing to do with a bishop or a soul. It merely presents the lively spectacle of a Mr Polly, or a Mr Britling, or a Mr Wells (what’s in a name?) waking to find himself attired in apron and gaiters, and making haste to get rid of them.” H. W. Boynton
— Nation 105:599 N 29 ‘17 200w
“The theme is handled by Mr Wells like a virtuoso. ... The bishop is a bleak creature, largely because Mr Wells invented him to fulfil a fictional purpose. Characterized with amazing cleverness, he is still essentially a bobbin on whom the religious thread is wound. The cordiality, the rushing sympathy and kindness and fellowship that religious men in Russian novels express in every relation, have no place in this egoist’s religious escape from neurasthenia.” F. H.
– + New Repub 12:223 S 22 ‘17 3150w
“Wells’ invariable craftsmanship is evident here, which gives life to an otherwise heavy theme. His conclusion can only be regarded by followers of the mental catalysis of this novelist as a further reaction.” Clement Wood
– + N Y Call p15 D 29 ‘17 260w
“It is rather a pity that a man who can tell so good a story as Mr Wells should allow himself to be ridden so hard by an idea. ... The marvel is that Mr Wells, with his ingenuity, skill, and sense of reality, should have used a means so theatric and so suggestive of the burlesque as a hashish trance to free the soul and stiffen the conscience of his hero. ... Equally repugnant to the sense of reality is a certain Lady Sunderbund, a gay and glittering, weird and wonderful piece of stage property. Never before has Mr Wells created anything in the human image quite so theatric, absurd, and impossible. Some one refers to her once as an American, and, judging by the marvelous dialect Mr Wells puts into her mouth, he meant such to be her nativity.”
+ — N Y Times 22:341 S 16 ‘17 1550w
“In ‘God, the invisible king’ he made a rhapsodic tract out of the essential philosophy of ‘Mr Britling sees it through.’ Now he has dramatized the tract, and in ‘The soul of a bishop,’ offers us ‘God, the invisible king’ in the shape of a fable addressed to the capacities of those who may have found the earlier exposition too unremittingly theological for comfortable digestion.” Lawrence Gilman
– + No Am 206:786 N ‘17 3100w
“The character of the bishop is wrought out with the author’s finest skill.”
+ — Outlook 117:219 O 10 ‘17 180w
“A brief, uncomplicated but very trenchant and stimulating bit of prose fiction—Wells in his newest vein at his best.” F. R.
+ Pub W 92:802 S 15 ‘17 500w
“We do not propose to discuss Mr Wells’s thesis; a large part of what he says has been for years a commonplace with educated people of all classes; but we may be allowed to remark on the workmanship of the book. Why did Mr Wells take as a subject the religious experiences of a devout member of the Church of England, a Bishop, too, when he obviously is unable to imagine the way in which the outward observances and daily duties and privileges of its communion mould the inner life and transform the experience of the Christian?”
— Sat R 124:228 S 22 ‘17 1150w
“The book has no psychological interest as a study in religious development. There is much more in it about the Bishop’s nerves than about his soul. Mr Wells gives us a very human picture of the home life at the Palace. There is an amusing caricature of the sentimental neophyte, a wealthy American widow. The reactions of this emotional lady on the Bishop’s family form the most natural element in the book.”
– + Spec 119:451 O 27 ‘17 1050w
“Mr Wells pretends to analyze the bishop’s soul minutely; but in so doing he does not scruple to resort to the most blatant artificialities. ... His sarcasm is biting; and his indictment of the church’s failure to live up to its opportunities, and, indeed to its fundamental purposes, is in many ways forceful.”
– + Springf’d Republican p15 S 30 ‘17 650w
“Right or wrong, profound or shallow, the book is interesting, and in nothing perhaps more interesting than in its showing of the difference that has been made by the war and its implied forecast of the social and religious life that is to follow the war.”
The Times [London] Lit Sup p438 S 13 ‘17 870w
WELLS, WARRE B., and MARLOW, N. History of the Irish rebellion of 1916. *$2.50 Stokes 941.5 17-707
“‘A history of the Irish rebellion of 1916’ is a practical and prosaic book, the work of men who wrote rather because the historical task appealed to them than because they found in the insurrection an attractive theme. It is stated that their purpose has been, in addition to narrating the events of the rebellion and showing their connection with the European war, to portray without criticism the conflicting ideals in present-day Ireland. ... The events leading up to the rising, the formation of the various patriotic societies and volunteer armies, the three-cornered debates about home rule, the long and complicated negotiations with England, the early experiences of the leaders of the rebellion, these things are stated. ... A valuable feature of the book is the appendix, containing the report of the Royal commission on the rebellion in Ireland, the military dispatches sent by Field Marshal French to the secretary of state for war, and from General Maxwell to Field Marshal French and to the secretary of state for war, and Roger Casement’s speech from the dock.”—N Y Times
A L A Bkl 14:91 D ‘17
“Valuable chiefly as a detailed contemporary record of incidents and events.”
+ Cleveland p138 D ‘17 30w
“It is apparent that the authors are not in sympathy with the ideals and methods of the Irish revolutionary leaders, and this fact causes them now and then to indulge in editorial comments of a somewhat cynical kind, out of harmony with the general nonpartisan historical attitude they assume.”
+ — N Y Times 22:262 Jl 15 ‘17 520w
“An accurate and comprehensive account.”
+ Pratt p43 O ‘17 20w
WELSH, JAMES C. Songs of a miner. *2s 6d Herbert Jenkins, London 821
“The author of these poems worked for twenty-four years as a miner; his verses were written at odd times during these years.”—N Y Call
Ath p362 Jl ‘17 160w
“Those pieces treating of his work are the least effective of the book. ... It is not labor speaking in terms of itself; it is labor 597speaking in terms of book-poetry. ... The songs are often melodious, but none is of the first rank.” Clement Wood
– + N Y Call p15 Jl 29 ‘17 410w
“‘The crusade of youth,’ which opens the book, is an ambitious poem in heroics, which does indeed show that Mr Welsh has a glow of imagination, a rich vocabulary, and a fine sense of cadence. But it is a literary exercise such as many have attempted before him; and it is sometimes grandiose and tricked out with unnecessary ornament. On the other hand, when he comes closer to earth and touches the realities of his life, as in ‘Labour’ and ‘The miner,’ he is apt to be prosaic and a trifle ‘Hyde-parky.’ ... He is really most successful in such touching little poems as ‘To a dead comrade’ and ‘To my wife,’ or in some of the Scottish dialect pieces.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p299 Je 21 ‘17 200w
WEST, ANDREW FLEMING, ed.[2] Value of the classics. *$1 Princeton univ. press 375 17-28345
“Once in a while, protest is uttered against excessive intellectual modernism. Such a protest is uttered in a collection of addresses and papers entitled ‘Value of the classics.’ It presents the addresses delivered at the Conference on classical studies in liberal education held at Princeton last year, together with an introduction by Andrew F. West, dean of the graduate school of Princeton university, and a series of brief statements upon the subject from lawyers, clergymen, physicians, editors, educators, and men in other walks of life. Among those who delivered the addresses recorded in the volume are President John Grier Hibben of Princeton university, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Dean Roscoe Pound of the Harvard law school, and Professor Lewellys F. Barker of Johns Hopkins.”—Boston Transcript
Boston Transcript p8 O 20 ‘17 490w
“The conference and this volume have done a great service for our cause. In these times, when classical teachers are so often called upon to give a reason for their existence, it is a fine thing to have ready at hand these manifold arguments and opinions. It is a book which no one of us can afford to be without.” M. N. W.
+ Class J 13:302 Ja ‘18 430w
“This volume is one not only to read but to ponder. It administers with artistic skill and completeness a body-blow to much of the crude and noisy theorizing about education that has lately been so much to the fore in this country.”
+ Educ R 54:527 D ‘17 330w
N Y Times 22:477 N 18 ‘17 460w
WESTERGAARD, WALDEMAR CHRISTIAN. Danish West Indies under company rule (1671-1754) with a supplementary chapter, 1755-1917; with an introd. by H. Morse Stephens. il *$3 Macmillan 972.9 17-16559
Dr Westergaard is the son of a Danish family which emigrated to North Dakota and he is at present assistant professor of history at Pomona college, California. “Dr Westergaard tells the story of the settlement and administration of the Danish West Indies from 1671 to 1754, and in a supplementary chapter gives briefly their history from the middle of the eighteenth century to 1917, the date of their purchase by the United States. The historical perspective embraces European colonial expansion in the West Indies, covers the great romance of trade in St John, St Croix and St Thomas, dealings with pirates, the growth of agriculture, and the success of the island plantations in the days when ‘sugar was king.’ There is much about the slave trade and its attendant abuses and accounts of the insurrections of the negroes.” (R of Rs) The book has a ten-page bibliography.
“Among the most valuable chapters are those dealing with the economic life of the colony. The experiments with indigo and cotton, the export of valuable woods, the rise of the sugar-cane industry which, especially when war conditions made the prices for the staple rise, gave the islands their boom periods, all furnish interesting contrasts and parallels for students of the history of other West Indian colonies.” C. L. Jones
+ Am Pol Sci R 12:132 F ‘18 450w
“Dr Westergaard brings every element of knowledge, scientific training and personal sympathy necessary to the task he has set himself. And furthermore, he evidently possesses literary ability sufficient to remove his book from the class of dry reference works for library shelves, and to put it into a class of books that are not only commended, but really read. He has given us a work of serious and lasting value. The bibliography is of unusual value from the comments attached to each source of reference quoted.” G. I. Colbron
+ Bookm 46:211 O ‘17 1250w
“A valuable addition to Americana.”
+ Boston Transcript p10 O 13 ‘17 380w
“Prof. Westergaard began his work on some letters found in the Bancroft collection of the University of California and then went to Denmark and dug up the original records of the Danish West India and Guinea company, which no previous historian had touched. This fine piece of original investigation is too solidly packed with facts and figures to attract the general reader. But the volume is full of interesting and novel information.”
+ Ind 92:192 O 27 ‘17 430w
Lit D 55:40 N 17 ‘17 260w
“A feature of Dr Westergaard’s book, which should be of high value to the student, is a series of twenty-one appendices, wherein are given statistics, lists of governors and shareholders in the various companies, transcripts of the charters, financial statements, and other rare information derived from the Danish archives and now first made accessible to the general public. ... Two additional volumes are promised.”
* N Y Times 22:273 Jl 22 ‘17 1400w
+ Outlook 116:592 Ag 15 ‘17 80w
Pratt p44 O ‘17
“A brilliant piece of historical writing, particularly significant to students of American history.”
+ R of Rs 56:328 S ‘17 280w
St Louis 15:377 O ‘17 20w
“An elaborate and profound (the criticism might be made that there is a little bit too much of it!) historical work based on the Danish royal archives. ... Not the least interesting part of the book is the chapter devoted to the unsuccessful attempts by Prussians to colonize in the West Indies under the auspices of the grand elector of Brandenburg.”
+ Springf’d Republican p10 S 13 ‘17 450w
“It is very fortunate that Professor Westergaard has been able to place in the hands of the public an exhaustive and authoritative history of these islands from the beginning to the day of their transfer. His work is written in a clear and vigorous style, and is a valuable contribution to American historical literature. It is based on rich source material, and bears throughout the character of exact scholarship.” Knut Gjerset
+ Yale R n s 7:446 Ja ‘18 1200w
WESTERVELT, WILLIAM DRAKE, comp. and tr. Hawaiian legends of volcanoes (mythology). il *$1 (4c) Ellis 398.2 16-24113
The author is doing original research work in collecting and translating Hawaiian folk legends. This is the third volume resulting from his labors in this field. The legends associated with volcanoes which he brings together are excellent examples of primitive attempts to explain and interpret natural phenomena. T. A. Jaggar, jr., of the staff of the Hawaiian volcano observatory, contributes a foreword to the book, and at the close the author adds further information about the geologic history of the islands.
+ Nature 99:144 Ap 19 ‘17 200w
598
N Y Br Lib News 4:27 F ‘17
“William Drake Westervelt of Honolulu has added another to the valuable books containing those Hawaiian myths and folk tales that he has been so indefatigable in collecting and translating. He has rendered an inestimable service to science, for, largely through his efforts, we are promised a mythology of this part of the Polynesian race equaled in completeness by the known mythology of few primitive peoples.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 F 1 ‘17 400w
“This very pleasant little volume is illustrated with reproductions from photographs of the volcanoes of many lands; and there is one beautiful reproduction in colour of the hibiscus flower.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p113 Mr 8 ‘17 500w
WESTON, GEORGE. Oh, Mary, be careful! il *$1 (4c) Lippincott 17-26265
Aunt Myra knew all about men, the creatures! For she had been jilted by one of them in her youth. She had learned her lesson well, but to make it more impressive to other foolish and trusting women, she had collected every bit of evidence she could find in the newspapers. Her findings filled many large scrap books. These, together with her house, property and her fortune, she passed on to her niece Mary, with the condition that the girl should never marry. Mary, however, had some doubts as to Aunt Myra’s wisdom in the matter of men. She wanted to find out for herself. And as Aunt Myra had provided her with three practical tests, she knew how to go about it. The outcome is the theme of this story.
“The story is light but will be popular. Appeared in Ladies’ Home Journal.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:317 Ap ‘17
“Mr Weston has the faculty of adding just enough charm of style to his ephemeral plot to make the story amusing.”
+ Boston Transcript p8 Mr 7 ‘17 180w
“It is what the publishers quite appropriately term ‘a sweet story.’”
Dial 62:147 F 22 ‘17 110w
“A literary bonbon.”
Ind 90:87 Ap 7 ‘17 30w
+ Lit D 54:1855 Je 16 ‘17 180w
“Another contribution to the already abundant supply of heavily sugared, whipped-cream fiction. ... The author has made a determined effort to write in a light and amusing manner.”
N Y Times 22:122 Ap 1 ‘17 150w
Reviewed by Joseph Mosher
+ Pub W 91:583 F 17 ‘17 400w
+ Springf’d Republican p17 Mr 18 ‘17 250w
WEYL, WALTER EDWARD. American world policies. *$2.25 (2½c) Macmillan 327.73 17-6653
The war has destroyed American isolation. A new policy must be adopted. Shall it be nationalistic imperialism or internationalism? As the author sees it this is the choice offered. Part 1, Our idealistic past, is a discussion of the forces that have shaped our policies and ideals in the past. Part 2, The root of imperialism, is a study of industrial competition, the fight for world trade and the economic background of war generally. Part 3, Towards economic internationalism, offers a definition of dynamic pacifism and discusses some of the difficulties that must be faced if the second course is adopted. Today the nation stands in a position to contribute to the political progress of the world, says the author: “Either it can cling hopelessly to the last vestiges of its policy of isolation or can launch out into imperialistic ventures, or finally it can promote, as can no other nation, a policy of internationalism, which will bind together the nations in a union of mutual interest, and will hasten the peaceful progress of the economic and political integration of the world.”
“Of the many valuable books produced by the world-war there is perhaps none so admirably suited to the needs of the American public as this very able and readable volume by Dr Weyl. While the writer finds reason to believe that eventually the world may be organized for peace, his belief is not based on a blind optimism, nor does he seek to evade the gigantic problems of world-statesmanship that must be solved. His presentation of these questions in such a way as to challenge further interest and effort rather than to overcome the reader with dismay, is one of the distinct accomplishments of the book.” A. B. Hall
+ Am J Soc 23:256 S ‘17 750w
“A thoughtful and thought provoking presentation so concisely and clearly written as to be popular with readers having an interest in such subjects.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:430 Jl ‘17
“A critical, dispassionate, patriotic study of the fundamental economic, political, and social factors of which American policy must take account and from which it must spring. Mr Weyl’s grasp of the complex elements of the situation is admirable; unlike too many so-called students he studies the United States in the light of international relationships, of European history as understood in Europe, instead of dealing with international complexities on the basis of a history of American diplomacy unconsciously founded upon the fiction of isolation.” R. G. Usher
+ — Am Pol Sci R 11:573 Ag ‘17 450w
“The author is primarily an economist. This accounts for both the strength and the weakness of the book. Its weakness consists in the author’s tendency to interpret all international relations in economic terms. ... With this word of caution in mind, Mr Weyl’s book may be read with extreme profit and pleasure. ... He compels the reader to consider and ponder thoughtfully matters which most writers in this field have either ignored or failed to emphasize. ... The strength of this book lies in the overwhelmingly convincing manner with which the author demonstrates the absolute need of an ‘economic internationalism’ as the basis of world-peace.” P. M. Brown
+ Ann Am Acad 72:242 Jl ‘17 450w
“A book that will make for far-sightedness, for clarity of thought and sanity of judgment in the deciding of many of our problems, and the directing of our course.” F. F. Kelly
+ Bookm 45:185 Ap ‘17 400w
+ Boston Transcript p6 My 9 ‘17 400w
“The most impressive thing in his book is the analysis of imperialist forces, the sense he conveys of the vast sweep of the great modern populations in their push toward subsistence. He searches honestly for ‘antidotes to imperialism’ and has no smug ‘liberal’ illusions about the beneficence of a ‘liberal’ imperialism. This critical analysis is more valuable than anything he does specifically for American enlightenment.” Randolph Bourne
+ Dial 62:388 My 3 ‘17 700w
“Here we think is the weakness of his book. By keeping his eye on the evils that he finds in great individual wealth, he passes too lightly by the ideals of mankind and nations. ... Whatever may be thought the practicality of the international imperialism he favors as a substitute for national imperialism all will agree that Dr Weyl has written one of the most stimulating and enlightening books on our foreign policy that has been published during the war.”
+ — Ind 90:551 Je 23 ‘17 1150w
“It is unfortunate that Walter E. Weyl’s ‘American world policies’ was sent to the press before American participation in the war became a probability. His assumption that the United States would remain a neutral throughout the struggle gives to much of the discussion, especially in the final chapter, an almost absurd incongruity with all aspects of the situation as it has ultimately developed. The book, nevertheless, has great compensatory merits.”
+ Nation 105:19 Jl 5 ‘17 200w
“It is this quality of self-restraint, combined with his great ability to think and write clearly, interestingly and convincingly, that distinguishes 599Dr Weyl’s volume. ‘American world policies’ is an exceedingly valuable aid to the intellectual preparedness of American statesmen and laymen alike in this time of international crisis.” R. W. Bruère
+ New Repub 10:327 Ap 14 ‘17 1750w
“As a statement of the contradictions and entanglements of present world capitalism, and the relation of the United States to these the work is an important one and will repay careful reading.” James Oneal
+ N Y Call p15 My 20 ‘17 900w
“It deserves careful consideration. More than any other writer, he tries to make an intelligible statement of the real causes of the war.”
+ N Y Times 22:129 Ap 8 ‘17 1050w
“Chiefly a discourse upon how war may be prevented and how America may help to prevent it. Mr Weyl analyzes keenly and his explanation of causes is better worth reading than most of what has been written on this subject; but he leans rather to the side of economic fatalism and his conclusions are not of the most hopeful sort. ... After finishing Mr Weyl’s exceedingly clear and interesting analysis of world politics, one may feel that the most important conclusion reached is that no ultimately satisfactory adjustment between industrial nations can be reached upon purely economic principles.”
+ No Am 205:622 Ap ‘17 1400w
Pratt p10 O ‘17 50w
“Deserves a wide reading. Here, for one thing, we have an analysis of the ‘preparedness’ movement from a man who writes with a desire to get beneath appearances. ... Mr Weyl’s remedy for imperialism is both dynamic pacifism and internal reform. Here one may think that the author takes too narrow a view. ... Mr Weyl goes farther than British socialists are willing to do in attributing the present war to economic causes.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p6 Mr 7 ‘17 1100w
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p251 My 24 ‘17 160w
“Mr Weyl is not always impartial and not always accurate.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p374 Ag 9 ‘17 2150w
WHARTON, MRS EDITH NEWBOLD (JONES). Summer. *$1.50 (3c) Appleton 17-17516
Life was dreary as winter in the New England village of North Dormer. Especially was it dreary to Charity Royall, the young girl whom Lawyer Royall and his wife had brought down as a child from “the Mountain,” the desolate settlement where law and order, mind and morals were as nothing and lawlessness and sensuality were everything. Charity thought the Mountain spelled freedom, though the villagers spoke of it with a shudder. Her life was to sit in the village library to which no one ever came, and to share the home of the old lawyer, whom she had cause to mistrust, and who was stern and lonely after his wife’s death. But one day Lucius Harney, the young architect, came and changed the greyness of her life into the brightness of summer. Lucius was of the kind that takes all and gives nothing and after he had gone Charity knew that she was to pay the price. Then the old lawyer, knowing, through the sins of his own past life, how bitter that price would be, went through the ceremony of marriage with her, that the village gossips should have nothing upon which to feed. And Charity and the lawyer both found that goodness is greater than evil.
“In externals this is a simple variety of a common theme. But it is a thoroughly individualized version of the old story, and a small masterpiece of refined and economical art.”
+ Ath p597 N ‘17 90w
“Mrs Wharton has often been accused of bitterness; let her critics note that the whole effect of this powerful story hangs upon our recognition of the power of simple human goodness—not ‘virtuousness,’ but faithful, unselfish devotion of one sort or another—to make life worth living.” H. W. Boynton
+ Bookm 46:93 S ‘17 420w
“Where in New England did Mrs Wharton unearth the scene and the people for her latest novel?... But reputation has its value, and ‘Summer’ will undoubtedly be sought because it is her latest novel. And that there is something in it worth while because it is Mrs Wharton’s cannot be denied.” E. F. E.
– + Boston Transcript p6 Jl 25 ‘17 1800w
“Mrs Wharton has failed in ‘Summer.’ It is a wonderfully well-written book so far as the marshaling of words and phrases goes. The art of the author is revealed in her remarkable sustaining of the element of suspense; she puts off the catastrophe with consummate skill. And yet, all this is, somehow, mere art: artifice, not life. Was Charity real to Mrs Wharton? She is not to us: there are only one or two vague moments when we feel with her at all.”
– + Cath World 106:127 O ‘17 600w
“A dreary and rather cold-blooded study, handled with Mrs Wharton’s usual finesse.”
– + Cleveland p104 S ‘17 70w
“The combined power of impartial contemplation and sympathy makes the genius of Thomas Hardy and it makes the genius of Mrs Wharton as it is found in ‘Ethan Frome’ and ‘Summer.’” J: Macy
+ Dial 63:161 Ag 30 ‘17 1350w
“‘Summer’ reënters the field in which, with ‘Ethan Frome,’ Mrs Wharton produced her single masterpiece. If she does not here duplicate or rival that amazing feat, it is because the new matter falls short of the old in tragic force and conclusiveness. We believe in Royall, and we believe in Charity. But we do not believe in the young Lothario or in the various tricks of coincidence with which the integrity of the action is vitiated.”
+ — Nation 105:124 Ag 2 ‘17 530w
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
Nation 1 5:600 N 29 ‘17 80w
“It is not a repellent story, but is essentially an empty one, and suggests too often the failings of a person who is capable of going slumming among souls.” F. H.
– + New Repub 11:311 Jl 14 ‘17 1500w
“Never has Mrs Wharton done anything more delicate, more exquisite, than the pen pictures of the New England countryside with which this book abounds. Of the sure and delicate analysis of Charity’s changing and developing emotions, as of the chiseled beauty of the style, it is unnecessary to speak; these are things which in connection with Mrs Wharton’s work may be taken for granted. ‘Summer’ is not in any way a big book; it ranks with its author’s lesser tales, not with ‘Ethan Frome’ or ‘The house of mirth’ and their fellows.”
+ — N Y Times 22:253 Jl 8 ‘17 1250w
Reviewed by Lawrence Gilman
+ No Am 206:304 Ag ‘17 1700w
– + Outlook 116:522 Ag 1 ‘17 50w
Pittsburgh 22:650 O ‘17 70w
“The characters seem drawn in the flat; they are two-dimensional so far as their emotions go. All the joy and pleasantness and tenderness has been extracted from their lives with a hand so skilled in literary portraiture that the sentences bite like the acids of the etcher.”
– + R of Rs 56:333 S ‘17 380w
+ Sat R 124:352 N 3 ‘17 100w
“Where Mrs Wharton fails is in preparing us for such an end to the episode. She does not convince us either that the lawyer would have married Charity at that moment or that she would have married him, even in a temporary fit of bewildered despair.”
– + Spec 119:389 O 13 ‘17 630w
“The story is brilliantly conceived, with many tense passages and is striking in its portrayal of diverse human passions, but its conception of New England character is that of a ‘literary,’ even a romantic, visitor.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p15 Ag 5 ‘17 490w
“Anyone who cares about the way in which a pen is handled should take this book and read, and read again, such pages as those which record the excursion to the country town for the 600Fourth of July celebration, or the girl’s visit to the insinuating lady-doctor, or the wild night-piece of the funeral on the mountain.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p464 S 27 17 770w
WHEELER, EVERETT PEPPERRELL. Sixty years of American life, Taylor to Roosevelt, 1850 to 1910. il *$2.50 Dutton 329 17-3602
“This book is not a volume of personal or social memoirs. It is true that the author has much to say of the great figures in the country’s history during these sixty years. He has, for example, an interesting chapter on ‘Presidents I have known,’ and another on ‘Changes in sixty years.’ And scattered throughout his record are many delightful personal touches, that seem to slip in almost unaware. But the book as a whole is a study of political activity. Mr Wheeler has taken an especially important part in the work of civil service and in tariff reform. He has always been, as well, intimately concerned with the municipal problems of New York city government. And these are the matters that, readably and in valuable detail, are emphasized in his book.”—N Y Times
+ A L A Bkl 13:335 My ‘17
+ Boston Transcript p6 F 17 ‘17 700w
“The chapters on the tariff and on municipal reform appeared in the New York Evening Post and the Outlook.”
+ Cleveland p71 My ‘17 40w
+ Ind 91:76 Jl 14 ‘17 50w
“An inspiring book it is in every way, breathing through its five hundred pages an unshaken loyalty to the principles of democratic government, yet demonstrating how much one man can do, through inconspicuous channels, towards making that scheme of government measure up to its ideals.”
+ Nation 104:582 My 10 ‘17 280w
N Y Br Lib News 4:39 Mr ‘17
“Offers a valuable and unusual addition to our knowledge of our country’s internal history.”
+ N Y Times 22:49 F 11 ‘17 600w
Pittsburgh 22:685 O ‘17 70w
+ R of Rs 55:444 Ap ‘17 120w
St Louis 15:154 My ‘17
“One wishes that Mr Wheeler had injected more of that fervor of impressionistic memory that made the late Justin McCarthy’s ‘Reminiscences,’ for instance, such delightful reading. The reprinting of bits of speeches in themselves lend little color to the relation of the struggle for civil-service reform in which Mr Wheeler was so eminently engaged. ‘Presidents I have known’ is disappointingly most impersonal.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p17 Je 3 ‘17 300w
WHEELER, WILLIAM REGINALD, ed. Book of verse of the great war. *$2 Yale univ. press 821.08 17-30693
“During the past two years and a half the compiler of this volume has resided in Europe, America and Asia and has endeavored to choose the most worthy expressions of sentiment concerning the war which have come from these three continents.” (Editor’s preface) He has excluded those poems which seemed inspired by the extreme animosities of the war, holding to this principle in the hope that the book “may contribute in some small measure to a renewal of the fellowship of the universal community of mankind.” Among the poets represented are: Laurence Binyon, Dana Burnet, Emile Cammaerts, Gilbert Frankau, John Galsworthy, W. W. Gibson, Thomas Hardy, W. M. Letts, Josephine Preston Peabody, and Rabindranath Tagore. There is a foreword by Charlton M. Lewis, professor of English literature at Yale.
A L A Bkl 14:159 F ‘18
Cleveland p5 Ja ‘18 130w
“The principles of selection shown in this collection are judicious, but it is to be regretted that the poems for the most part chosen have appeared in another book which is less expensive, easier to hold and more attractive to the eye.”
+ — Springf’d Republican p13 Ja 20 ‘18 130w
WHERRY, EDITH. Wanderer on a thousand hills. *$1.40 (2c) Lane 17-11706
The first part of this story tells the tragedy of little Tung Mei, Winter Almond. An only child, she had been educated by her father in defiance of Chinese custom. But the only fate for a Chinese girl, even one who can read the classics, is marriage, and marriage means slavery under the domination of a mother-in-law. In bearing a girl child, Tung Mei is disgraced. She is held responsible for her husband’s sudden death, her baby is murdered and she is driven out into a storm. The second part of the story begins with her finding of little Carl Osborne, the child of missionary parents. Like herself he is lost in the storm, and Tung Mei in her distraught state looks on him as a gift from heaven to assuage her woe. She brings him up as her own, and it is not till he reaches young manhood that he learns that he is not of Chinese birth. He tries unsuccessfully to adapt himself to foreign ways, and later becomes the fanatic known as the wanderer on a thousand hills.
“A grievous and dismal tale with hardly any relief and with extreme attention paid to the particulars of Chinese superstition and the delusions of Chinese fanaticism.”
— Boston Transcript p6 Je 20 ‘17 100w
+ Dial 62:528 Je 14 ‘17 50w
“The book has dramatic quality and atmosphere.”
+ Ind 90:295 My 12 ‘17 160w
“It shows, as did ‘Kim,’ that a story, void of the master passion, may yet command a breathless interest. ... As we read, we are conscious of more than intellectual enjoyment; we are tarrying a while at the Interpreter’s house.”
+ N Y Times 22:183 My 6 ‘17 500w
“By a Canadian writer—the wife of a Montreal physician.”
+ Ontario Library Review 1:121 My ‘17 70w
“A tragic and often painful story.”
Outlook 116:74 My 9 ‘17 60w
“Interesting psychological study contrasting the oriental and western ideals.”
+ Pratt p32 O ‘17 10w
“The story intimately pictures the human side of the Chinese, and should go far in helping the unprejudiced westerner to a truer understanding of these people. These pictures contain, perhaps, more than a dash of idealism, suggested by the author’s obviously sympathetic attitude.”
+ Springf’d Republican p13 Je 17 ‘17 500w
WHETHAM, CATHERINE DURNING (HOLT) (MRS WILLIAM CECIL DAMPIER WHETHAM). Upbringing of daughters. *$1.75 (2c) Longmans 173 17-28870
This book by an Englishwoman has chapters on: The creation of the home; The life of the family; Household duties; Health; Dress; Outdoor life and games; General education; Scholastic instruction; The arts; Holidays and entertainments; Books to read; Money matters; Professions for daughters; Conduct; Religion; The abdication of the parent. The discussions touch on many other subjects than that suggested by the title, altho the author writes always from the viewpoint of a housewife and mother. On matters pertaining to education, professional careers for women, etc., she is conservative.
“Concerning education she would, no doubt, be classed by many as a hopeless reactionary. But Mrs Whetham’s restatements are of the kind that make old things new. ... Though the book is close, earnest reading, it is neither heavy nor pedagogic; it appeals to all who take interest in intelligent defence of the standards by which alone any true progress has been or ever can be made.”
+ Cath World 105:833 S ‘17 300w
601WHIPPLE, GEORGE CHANDLER. State sanitation; a review of the work of the Massachusetts State board of health, 1869-1914. 2v *$2.50 Harvard univ. press 614.09 (17-13246)
Two volumes devoted to this subject have been issued. The first volume “is in two parts. Part 1 first sketches the early history of public health work in Massachusetts to the beginning of the board in 1869. It then outlines the history and the work of the board and its divisions, including the world-famous Lawrence experiment station for the study of water purification and sewage treatment and the engineering work of the board. There is also a chapter of biographical sketches; a chapter on the state department of health, 1914-16, and one on state sanitation in general. Part 2 is an able condensation of the lengthy ‘Report of the Massachusetts sanitary commission of Massachusetts’ which under the leadership of Lemuel Shattuck worked out a detailed plan for a ‘sanitary survey’ of the state—really a scheme for state and local health work.” (Engin News-Rec) “The second volume contains in some cases reprints and in other cases abridgments of the more important articles or studies which have appeared in the publications of the Massachusetts state board of health during the past forty-seven years. Included also are chronological abstracts of the board’s annual reports.” (Am Pol Sci R) “Extracted from the 1878 report of the board is a paper entitled ‘The filtration of potable water,’ written by Prof. Wm. Ripley Nichols. This is one of many classics on water and sewage treatment which are reprinted in full or abstract in this volume.” (Engin News-Rec)
“Professor Whipple’s keen eye for the things that are interesting has enabled him to make his book readable throughout. That it will be of great service to special students of the subject is beyond question.”
+ Am Pol Sci R 11:791 N ‘17 170w (Review of v 1)
“Many of these writings represent pioneer achievement in the domain of public health administration, and taken as a whole they afford an interesting history of the stages through which that science has developed during the last half century.”
+ Am Pol Sci R 12:158 F ‘18 90w (Review of v 2)
“An interesting and stimulating record of American progress in state and municipal sanitation and preventive medicine.”
+ Dial 63:165 Ag 30 ‘17 230w (Review of v 1)
“Professor Whipple is rendering a notable service. The pleasurable task he is doing so well is one for which he is well qualified through long acquaintance with members of the board and of its staff and through service on the Massachusetts public health council since 1914.”
+ Engin News-Rec 79:130 Jl 19 ‘17 300w (Review of v 1)
+ Engin News-Rec 80:130 Ja 17 ‘18 450w (Review of v 2)
“A book of general as well as technical interest.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 O 15 ‘17 400w (Review of v 1).
WHITE, ALBERT CLEMENT, ed. Little book of Irish verse. *60c Dutton 821.08
“The profits from the sale of ‘A little book of Irish verse’ are destined to add to the comfort of Irish troops, wounded or in the field. Tho this collection cannot bear comparison with that in Yeats’s ‘Book of Irish verse,’ it still contains verses by some of the best Irish poets of the day. Irish war poems are in evidence, but not less so lyrics on themes quite unconnected with the present conflict.”—Ind
+ Ind 89:196 Ja 29 ‘17 100w
“Mr White, who is editor of the Ulster Guardian, has made careful selection from the verse of some of the best known of the modern Irish poets and in the main, as has been suggested, has chosen poems with a war-time theme.”
+ Springf’d Republican p6 Ja 30 ‘17 250w
WHITE, VILLETTE HUTCHINS.[2] Mental control of the body; or, Health through self-conquest. *$1 (4c) Clode, E: J. 131 17-21698
Aims to show the way to bodily healing thru an intelligent understanding of a few basic facts, a vital faith in the possibility of cure and a disciplined will to realize upon that faith. It differs from Christian science healing in its conscious effort to treat disease as a reality—to be met by bringing all the bodily forces and functions under one’s control thru the will. The writer once establishing the theory of her health scheme proceeds to give a simple practical method of application by which the reader may find health.
WHITE, WILLIAM ALANSON.[2] Mechanisms of character formation. *$1.75 (3c) Macmillan 130 16-22292
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“On the whole, Dr White’s book shows wide learning and offers much interesting material, but lacks logical coherence and exactness of terminology and is marred occasionally by slovenly English. In spite of its subtitle, ‘An introduction to psychoanalysis,’ it hardly meets that need as successfully as Hitschmann’s ‘Freud’s theories of the neuroses,’ recently made accessible to English readers, neither does it possess the incisiveness and clarity of Professor Holt’s brilliant little book, ‘The Freudian wish.’ The chief attraction of the book is the note of broad and sympathetic humanism running through it.” J: M. Mecklin
+ — J Philos 14:715 D 20 ‘17 750w
“We have apprehended no real ‘message’ in this book, either to the medical student or to the general reader; it seems to us to get nowhere in particular.”
– + Nation 104:584 My 10 ‘17 200w
“The criticism which applies to all Freudian psychologists applies to the present author as well. They assume much and interpret much on slender evidence.”
— Springf’d Republican p6 O 30 ‘17 200w
“Its teaching is rather obscured than clarified by the vague philosophy of life and of the universe which the author, in common with many of the school, delights in spinning about the facts of their practice.” R. S. Woodworth
– + Survey 38:361 Jl 21 ‘17 110w
WHITEHEAD, HENRY, bp. of Madras. Village gods of South India. il *85c Oxford 229 17-3158
“This is the first of a series of small volumes dealing with the Religious life of India, under the editorship of Mr J. N. Farquhar, literary secretary, Y. M. C. A. in India. The volume under review is by the Bishop of Madras. ... He shows how the village gods symbolize the facts of village life, and suggests the hypothesis that the form of their worship, viz., animal sacrifice, is a survival of totemism from a time when the people lived a nomadic life. ... The fact that women perform so much of the agricultural work among primitives suggests an explanation for the fact that the majority of the South Indian deities are female.”—Bib World
“Gives a mass of new material for the study of comparative religion.” W. D. S.
+ Am J Theol 21:157 Ja ‘17 200w
“The book is deserving of a hearty reception by students of the history of religion.”
+ Bib World 49:48 Ja ‘17 200w
“It is a needed volume, handy, straightforward, and not antipathetic.”
+ Lit D 54:913 Mr 31 ‘17 140w
“A glossary of Indian terms, a list of gods, male and female, and a geographical index to the ethnological divisions, all provided with diacritical marks, promise well for the series.”
+ Nation 103:615 D 28 ‘16 400w
+ Spec 117:136 Jl 29 ‘16 140w
“Mr J. N. Farquhar is entirely competent. Successive volumes, some in preparation and 602others in projection, are to be written by authorities who have every reason and opportunity for full investigation upon the spot.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p412 Ag 31 ‘16 90w
WHITING, LILIAN. Adventure beautiful. il *$1 (2c) Little 134 17-25596
The author has taken Charles Frohman’s words: “Death is the most beautiful adventure in life,” for the text of her first essay. The present appalling sacrifice of life leads her to look for spiritual compensations and to contemplate the possibility of immortality and its evidences. The remaining essays of the book are: The reality of the unseen; Twenty years in retrospect; Some psychical experiences; Powers of the ethereal body; The nature of the ethereal world; Creative agencies of the spiritual life; Make room for happiness; Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
“Miss Whiting has made a genuine contribution to the discussion of a theme which must more and more command the world’s attention.”
+ Boston Transcript p9 D 5 ‘17 300w
+ Lit D 56:36 Ja 26 ‘18 130w
“Miss Whiting has much to say of the sort of spiritualism taught by Professor Hyslop. With this spookery she mingles fragments of mysticism caught from anywhere in the Orient. The effect of the mixture upon one soul at least is not exalting, but there are readers who enjoy Miss Whiting’s rhapsodies more than does this reviewer.”
— Nation 105:517 N 8 ‘17 200w
“One can hardly lay down her book without feeling more hopeful of happiness in the world beyond.”
+ N Y Times 22:498 N 25 ‘17 400w
WHITING, LILIAN. Canada, the spellbinder. il *$2.50 Dutton 917.1 17-22084
“A brief survey of the ‘creative forces’ of Canada, those explorers, missionaries, adventurers, pioneers, traders, scientists and statesmen who from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries have explored and developed her picturesque and fruitful domains, is followed by detailed studies of various localities.” (Boston Transcript) “Beginning with ‘Quebec and the picturesque maritime region,’ Miss Whiting travels slowly westward, describing the chief cities, the summer resorts, visiting Cobalt and the silver mines, and so going on through Winnipeg and Edmonton to the western coast. There is a chapter on ‘Prince Rupert and Alaska,’ and another describing the journey from Prince Rupert by way of Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle to San Francisco, where another section is devoted to Canada in the Panama-Pacific exposition.” (N Y Times) “There is a chapter on the poets of Canada, C. G. D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, W. H. Drummond, and others.” (Spec) “The book incorporates portions of Miss Whiting’s articles which appeared in the Sunday Springfield Republican in 1916.” (Springf’d Republican)
A L A Bkl 14:57 N ‘17
“The interest of this readable volume is increased by numerous fine illustrations in colour and monotone.”
+ Ath p315 Je ‘17 40w
“Miss Whiting reviews for us not only the development of those Canadian cities and provinces of which we already have a superficial knowledge, but also such places as Winnipeg and Prince Rupert.”
+ Boston Transcript p6 Ag 1 ‘17 420w
“She lacks great power of description, but to offset this, falls back upon scores of writers and poets who have written of the scenes she visits.”
+ — Cath World 106:546 Ja ‘18 90w
+ Cleveland p12 Ja ‘18 40w
“Lilian Whiting’s enthusiasm of spirit and glow of language are at their usual high level in ‘Canada the spellbinder.’”
+ — Nation 105:18 Jl 5 ‘17 180w
+ N Y Times 22:236 Je 17 ‘17 250w
Pittsburgh 22:677 O ‘17 70w
+ Spec 118:593 My 26 ‘17 70w
“A very happy specimen of globe-trotting literature taken in serious vein. ... Journalists and readers who are interested in journalism will note with special attention Miss Whiting’s comment on the founder of the Toronto Globe.”
+ Springf’d Republican p10 O 4 ‘17 480w
WHITMAN, SIDNEY. Things I remember. *$2.50 (3½c) Stokes 17-8078
The subtitle describes this book as “The recollections of a political writer in the capitals of Europe.” The author was for many years special correspondent for the New York Herald. His recollections go back to the early nineties. Among other things he writes of: Vienna; Salonica and Constantinople; The Spanish-American war; Bismarck’s death; Warsaw in revolt; Berlin during the Algeciras conference; W. T. Stead; James Gordon Bennett.
A L A Bkl 13:352 My ‘17
+ Pittsburgh 22:406 My ‘17 50w
“Mr Whitman, well known for his travels over Europe and his intercourse with great and formidable people for the benefit of the ‘New York Herald,’ has revived some of his memories in a pleasant and easy narrative. ... We have much to learn concerning Germany, and Mr Whitman is well qualified to teach us.”
+ Sat R 122:461 N 11 ‘16 750w
“A most interesting book, and one which deserves the attention of all those who desire to understand the inner working of German policy.”
+ Spec 117:554 N 4 ‘16 750w
“One of the best books of memoirs which have recently appeared.”
+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p494 O 19 ‘16 650w
WHITTON, FREDERICK ERNEST.[2] History of Poland from the earliest times to the present day. *$3 Scribner 943.8
“Major Whitton traces the record of ‘the most unfortunate and not the least noble of European peoples,’ the rise and fall of their great kingdom. Naturally our interest centres in events since the beginning of the famous partitions, and in the fate of Poland under Russian, Prussian, and Austrian rule. The story of the partitions is told in detail, with significant sketches of the characters of the rulers involved—Catherine the Great of Russia, first Frederick the Great and then Frederick William of Prussia, and first Maria Theresa and then Francis of Austria.” (N Y Times) “In his story of the famous partitions Colonel Whitton follows Lord Eversley fairly closely, but he has been preserved by study of the cold-blooded ‘Cambridge modern history’ from being too pronounced a partisan of the Poles. He is fully alive to the weak points in their national character and to the viciousness of their system of government.” (Spec)
+ Ath p531 O ‘17 220w
“His narrative is interesting, readable, and to the point. But the book suffers from two weaknesses—a marked insufficiency of dates and a remissness in dealing with the life of the common people.”
+ — Ath p585 N ‘17 570w
Boston Transcript p6 Ja 16 ‘18 490w
“‘A history of Poland’ is not only a presentation of valuable and pertinent facts, but is written with a simplicity and vividness that make the book thoroughly interesting.”
+ N Y Times 23:2 Ja 6 ‘18 360w
“He would, we are sure, lay no claim to be an original historian; he has not added anything to the sum of knowledge. Nevertheless, we can cordially recommend his book.”
+ Spec 119:358 O 6 ‘17 820w
“The author gives a clear but not very well balanced account of the Polish kingdom under its successive monarchs. It must be confessed, 603that the earlier part of the book is unsatisfactory, especially chapters 1 and 3, and contains actual mistakes. The best part of Major Whitton’s book is certainly its later portion.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p511 O 25 ‘17 1500w
WHITTON, FREDERICK ERNEST. Marne campaign. (Campaigns and their lessons) maps *$4 (5c) Houghton 940.91 17-24849
For years before the outbreak of the European war, Major Whitton points out in his preface, military experts of all countries had been considering the problem of handling the huge armies which a modern war would demand. In the campaigns of the Marne theories were put to a practical test, and it is from this point of view, that of military strategy, that the battle is here studied. “The battle of the Marne furnishes the military student with a signal example of the strategical counter-attack on a great scale.” Eight folding maps are provided at the end and there is a bibliography.
A L A Bkl 14:91 D ‘17
“Will be useful to civilian and military readers alike. Eight clear maps illustrate the book.”
+ Ath p260 My ‘17 140w
“The book contains an excellent map of the alignments of the armies, numbered according to their corps, divisions and brigades upon the most reliable up-to-date information.”
+ Ind 91:477 S 22 ‘17 170w
“The present volume tells this story in a particularly masterly manner, and is perhaps the best documented and most circumstantial account of the great battle. None, in fact, that has been issued is comparable to it, except Mr Belloc’s volume of about a year ago.”
+ Lit D 55:38 O 13 ‘17 580w
N Y Times 22:323 S 2 ‘17 250w
+ R of Rs 56:213 Ag ‘17 130w
“He is clear and concise, and his book gives a much better general impression of the battle of the Marne than any other we know.”
+ Sat R 123:284 My 24 ‘17 250w
“A very useful and well-written narrative. There have been two rival theories of the Marne. The common view is that General Maunoury’s flank attack on the Ourcq upon General von Kluck, who commanded on the German right was the deciding factor. Major Whitton adopts this theory, and supports it by a good deal of evidence.”
* + Spec 119:143 Ag 11 ‘17 1350w
“Considering that Major Whitton’s narrative is built throughout of similar and not more stable material, we are half inclined to mourn over the labour which he has expended upon it. For the author has not done his work ill. He writes good, clear, and vigorous English; and his summary of the military and naval resources of the combatants and of the operations preceding the battle of the Marne is, so far as his information goes, terse and pointed.”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p195 Ap 26 ‘17 1450w
WHYTE, ADAM GOWANS. World’s wonder stories. il *$1.75 (2½c) Putnam 500 18-2983
A book of rather miscellaneous information about the universe, together with a discussion of ethical problems, designed for young readers. Contents: How was the world made? Where did the plants and animals come from? Nature’s family tree; Who was the first man? Who was the greatest grandfather of creation? Where did all the religions come from? Where did the Bible come from? Where did right and wrong come from? How do things happen? There are many illustrations.
“It is that rare thing, a book written for children without being in some sense written down to them,—and therefore a delight to the reader of any age.” J: Walcott
+ Bookm 46:497 D ‘17 120w
Ind 92:449 D 1 ‘17 30w
“The information is correct and modern; and the language is dignified and circumspect. Orthodox teachers and parents whose teaching of morality follows conventional lines would undoubtedly derive benefit from the method of presentation adopted, while no child could read the book without understanding something of the scientific method and what it has accomplished.”
+ Nature 98:208 N 16 ‘16 160w
“A vast amount of valuable information is included in the volume.”
+ Springf’d Republican p8 D 21 ‘17 110w
“We began the book with misgiving, as the style seemed to foreshadow that lisping sing-song which is the form of address so often deemed appropriate in modern children’s books. But we proceeded with growing pleasure, and finally devoured all the wonders with relish. It is a delightful book. ... We may add as a parting criticism that we doubt whether it was well advised to include the picture of ‘what our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers looked like in the days when the ape-men were slowly changing into men.’”
+ — The Times [London] Lit Sup p609 D 14 ‘16 380w
WIDDEMER, MARGARET. Factories. *$1.25 Holt 811 17-23582
This book was first published in 1915 under the title, “Factories, with other lyrics”; and has been for some time out of print. The publisher states that the book has been reset for this new edition, and that the author has made some changes in the original text as well as added a number of new poems. The poems, with the exception of the title poem, are grouped under the headings: Poems of now; The wandering singer; Youth learns; Greek folk songs; Love songs; The border country.
WIDDEMER, MARGARET. Winona of Camp Karonya. il *$1.25 (1½c) Lippincott 17-28799
The story opens with the breaking up of camp and the return of the Camp Karonya girls to town. During the winter following they assume responsibility for a family of neglected children and plan a pageant, in addition to carrying on the usual Camp fire activities. The story has two mysteries, one concerning a lost boy, who seems to have strayed over from the war zone, the other connected with a lost baby.
“The main thing is less the plot than the atmosphere of unselfishness and right feeling with which, without sentimental strain, the writer surrounds her story.” J: Walcott
+ Bookm 46:499 D ‘17 140w
“The author of this book understands the Camp fire girl movement thoroughly. Her one endeavor throughout is to show the effect that Camp fire virtues have on a group of very healthy girls.”
+ Lit D 55:60 D 8 ‘17 33w
“A nice, long worth-while story.”
+ N Y Times 22:466 N 11 ‘17 120w
WIDDEMER, MARGARET. Wishing-ring man. il *$1.35 (2c) Holt 17-25082
Joy Hayenith, nineteen and beautiful, is kept a child by her famous and egoistical grandfather, the poet. She meets a young doctor who finds out that Joy is longing for pleasure and adventure, and tells her that if she keeps on believing things will happen that very belief may bring her what she wants “like a wishing-ring.” In order to get permission to visit Phyllis and Allan Harrington, of “The rose garden husband,” Joy lies to her grandfather, telling him that she is engaged to the Harrington’s friend and neighbor, Dr John Hewitt. Hewitt appears on the scene unexpectedly and accepts the situation. The story goes on to picture the consequences of this word spoken in jest. All misunderstandings are finally cleared up, and the book ends happily.
A L A Bkl 14:99 D ‘17
604“We enter the land of romance when we read one of these novels of Miss Widdemer’s. Reality is there too, but it is a guest rather than the ruler of the kingdom. The bits of humor help toward this perfect welding of romance and reality.” D. L. M.
+ Boston Transcript p9 O 27 ‘17 780w
“Margaret Widdemer has given us an impossible book—a naïve book—a book that reminds us, in its simplicity, of the days when we read and enjoyed ‘The five little Peppers,’” D: P. Berenberg
— N Y Call p15 N 11 ‘17 460w
“A charming, slight little tale, written with vivacity and with ever-bubbling humor.”
+ N Y Times 22:397 O 14 ‘17 320w
“It is the purpose to make ‘The wishing-ring man’ a sequel to ‘The rose garden husband.’ But structural similarity makes this only a weak and frankly artificial echo of the other charming romance.”
– + Springf’d Republican p17 D 9 ‘17 200w
WIER, ALBERT E. Grand opera with a victrola. *75c Appleton 782.1 16-4756
A book “containing the stories, the most popular music, and the Victor record numbers of Aïda, Faust, Carmen, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Cavalleria rusticana, Rigoletto, Il trovatore, The Bohemian girl, Tales of Hoffman, Hansel and Gretel, Lucia di Lammermoor; arranged for playing, singing and the selection of Victor records.”—N Y Br Lib News
A L A Bkl 13:388 Je ‘17
N Y Br Lib News 4:73 My ‘17
St Louis 15:173 Je ‘17
Wis Lib Bul 13:62 F ‘17 70w
WIERS-JENSSEN, HANS. Anne Pedersdotter. *$1 Little 839.8 17-24983
The author is a Danish dramatist. The English version of “Anne Pedersdotter” is by John Masefield. The play has been produced both in England and America. The action takes place in Bergen in the year 1574, and concerns a case of witchcraft in which Anne Pedersdotter, wife of Absolon Beyer, palace chaplain, is the central figure. The first three acts are laid in Absolon’s house, the last in the choir of the cathedral.
Reviewed by Algernon Tassin
+ Bookm 46:349 N ‘17 110w
Cleveland p135 D ‘17 50w
“It is a drama of great possibilities; but the tragic, unexpected climax will prevent it from ever becoming popular and makes it a play to be read rather than acted.”
+ — New Repub 13:sup16 N 17 ‘17 210w
“The trial scene for dramatic power must stand with the great scenes of modern drama.”
+ R of Rs 57:109 Ja ‘18 150w
“Apparently the morbid horror of numerous situations is the only raison d’etre of the piece.”
— Springf’d Republican p17 N 18 ‘17 220w
WIGMORE, JOHN HENRY, ed. Science and learning in France; with a survey of opportunities for American students in French universities. il $1.50 Soc. for American fellowships in French universities, J. H. Wigmore, ed., 31 Lake st., Chicago; for sale by McClurg 378 17-26896
This volume of over 400 pages, the work of nearly 100 leading American scholars and members of college and university faculties, takes up some 22 subjects—medicine, engineering, philology, chemistry, geology, archæology, etc. The general editor is John H. Wigmore of Northwestern university, and associated with him as vice chairman of the Author’s committee is Charles H. Grandgent of Harvard university. “As stated in its preface, its purpose is to put before the American public the contributions of France in all fields of scientific knowledge, and to show her status in the forefront of the world’s progress, thus furnishing to American university students an incentive to pursue graduate work in France. Each chapter sets forth briefly for a particular field the notable achievements and eminent leaders of French scholarship during the past century; and the courses of instruction given now or recently at the French universities, especially at the University of Paris, with the facilities available for study and research. There is also an introduction, by President Emeritus Eliot of Harvard, on the intellectual inspiration of Paris and France.” (Cath World) “The first of the three appendices contains an article by James Geddes, Jr., which narrates the history of the intellectual sympathies and university relations between France and America. ... The other two appendices contain much practical information for students intending to take advanced work in France.” (N Y Times)
“No thinking person, however prejudiced, could read this record of scholarly and scientific accomplishment without realizing the sober intellectual power, the strong moral fibre of the French people, and no one who had grasped that fact before the war could have talked glibly, as many did, of France regenerated by the ordeal of battle.” C. H. Van Tyne
+ Am Hist R 23:391 Ja ‘18 1300w
“As a handbook for American students who contemplate study abroad the book will be indispensable.” C: A. Ellwood
+ Am J Soc 23:412 N ‘17 350w
A L A Bkl 14:78 D ‘17
Am Pol Sci R 12:155 F ‘18 100w
“The volume, besides being a revelation to most of us, is also a beautiful testimonial to the modesty of the French scholar who made so little effort to claim the applause of the world. The one criticism that can be made is that names occur to one’s mind constantly which might have been included. The chapter on law is too short.” Albert Schinz
+ — Bookm 46:445 D ‘17 3050w
“On the whole, the appreciation of Catholic scholars is just. ... There are occasional omissions of names which might be expected, such as Branly, of the Catholic institute of Paris, the discoverer of the principle of the wireless. ... The paper on religion deals almost exclusively with the history of religions, and is written with a carefulness apparently designed to avoid points of controversy. In the list of libraries, that of the Catholic institute of Paris should certainly have been mentioned, and even that of the Seminary of St Sulpice, which has a recognized standing.”
+ Cath World 105:840 S ‘17 390w
“There is not a hint of propagandist ardor in ‘Science and learning in France.’ Such ardor would be an insult to France, which needs no commendation beyond the simple record of achievement. Everywhere in this book western culture is recognized as international—a growth to which all the peoples have made important contributions. ... It is a compendious introduction to the intellectual world of France, intended to serve as a guide for students who may be planning to work for a doctorate abroad. But it should serve the broader purpose of acquainting the general public with the brilliant achievements of contemporary France. ... I think there is some need for Americans to read ‘Science and learning in France.’” C. H.
+ Dial 63:159 Ag 30 ‘17 1350w
Reviewed by Ferdinand Baldensperger
+ Nation 106:37 Ja 10 ‘18 2600w
“Such books as this will be especially useful in bringing Americans to realize the importance of a section of French life and effort of which too many have known little and thought less.”
+ N Y Times 22:277 Jl 29 ‘17 1800w
“The publication of this book coincides with the establishment of an American university union in Paris, cementing the bond between American students and French universities.”
+ Outlook 117:103 S 19 ‘17 320w
605“Although the disparagement of German learning and research may be carried to absurd extremes in these days of war-time passions, this book should prove a valuable aid toward opening the treasure-house of French learning to the American students.”
+ Springf’d Republican p8 N 23 ‘18 280w
WILBUR, MARY ARONETTA. Child’s religion. *$1 (4c) Houghton 377 17-9361
A series of papers on the religious training of children, some of them reprinted from the Churchman. The author’s attitude is expressed in a quotation from another religious teacher: “You cannot give your children religion; that is not your province. Your work is to keep the child in position before God.” Contents: A child’s religion; The child and the church; Children and missions; The song and the child; The child and his book; On telling Bible stories; A Sunday-school teacher’s biography; The childlike teacher; The old Bible and the new child.
A L A Bkl 13:379 Je ‘17
N Y Br Lib News 4:95 Je ‘17
+ R of Rs 55:553 My ‘17 40w
WILCOX, EARLEY VERNON. Tropical agriculture. *$2.50 Appleton 630 16-22335
“The author has had in mind the general reader in writing this work, not the farmer of the tropics. ... Climate, soil, agricultural methods, live stock and economic conditions are briefly discussed. The larger part of the volume deals with a description of the nature, source and commercial importance of about 350 tropical products, including sugar cane, nuts, fruits, starchy foods, tobacco, fiber plants, rubber, gum, drugs, tans, dyes, spices, flavorings, perfumes, oils, timber and woods.”—Ann Am Acad
“Good illustrations and a bibliography of books and periodicals. For reference rather than for general reading.”
+ A L A Bkl 13:339 My ‘17
“He is especially clear in discussing economic conditions not to overestimate the opportunities for the small farmer but shows that it is the large owner who reaps his profit from low-priced labor or the middle man who has made great profits. ... The appendix, with reviews of the literature related to the subject, and a full bibliography of the periodicals from all parts of the world, are especially good.” C. W. Larson
+ Ann Am Acad 70:319 Mr ‘17 480w
“Dr Wilcox, who is now an administrative assistant in the States relation service of the United States Department of agriculture, was for six years in charge of the Hawaii experiment station. His book is the first real American contribution to cover the whole subject of crops, cultural methods and live stock in the tropics.”
+ Boston Transcript p7 Je 20 ‘17 200w
“The opening chapters on tropical climate, soils, agricultural methods, etc., might with great advantage be carefully revised and reconsidered. ... The reader is disappointed to note a lack of proportion, an utter disregard of uniformity in treatment, and an entire absence of method—qualities essential in a book of reference. The plates serve a pictorial rather than a practical purpose. ... The book, as it stands, cannot become a textbook for either the merchant or the student. It needs drastic revision.”