Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1920 Books (continued 21)
Reading edition
Ath p1153 N 7 ’19 460w
“Mr Hudson combines aloofness of attitude and a complete saturation with his subject. Rarely has a riper first novel appeared. It is solidly founded in its observation, built with a serene sureness of touch, careless of vain graces, disdainful of all appeals save that of its inner veracity.”
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Nation 110:859 Je 26 ’20 320w
“The very long book is much of it well done. Many of the numerous descriptions are good, and, in short, the author shows himself to be possessed of talent which it seems rather a pity that he should expend on relating the detailed history of a man who was not only a drinker and a gambler, but a sponge, a spineless parasite and cad, too feeble and too monotonous in character to hold the reader’s attention.”
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N Y Times p25 Ag 1 ’20 550w
“Three-quarters of the book is weak, trivial, negligible, and but for Virginia the rest would be the same. She alone is something more than an unpleasant hotel acquaintance. There is Virginia and one thing more, the last meeting between Richard and his father. This also, slight though it is, is touched with beauty.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p569 O 16 ’19 650w
HUDSON, W. H. Birds in town and village. il *$4 Dutton 598.2
20–2104
“Sketches of birds done with an intimate understanding of their habits and temperaments; chatty anecdotes and quaint legends, and the out-of-doors make this one of the author’s characteristically charming books. The first part is a revision of his earlier work, ‘Birds in a village,’ now out of print. Eight colored plates by E. J. Detmold.”—Booklist
“Vivid and fascinating descriptions of bird life.”
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Ath p1137 O 31 ’19 80w
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Booklist 16:227 Ap ’20
“Mr Hudson is not an ordinary writer nor his book an ordinary book about birds. One is at loss to decide which is the greater charm of the books, the author’s mastery of style or his knowledge of the birds which he describes and makes real.” J. C.
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Boston Transcript p6 Jl 28 ’20 730w
“This book is not so whimsical as Mr Hudson’s ‘The book of a naturalist.’ On the other hand, it is a closer and more charming study of natural history.”
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Outlook 124:431 Mr 10 ’20 80w
“The essays are delightful, even in tone, but with only occasional bits that are Hudson at his best.”
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Review 3:48 Jl 14 ’20 80w
“It is literary, of course: but the writing is based on solid fact, and though Mr Hudson is sensitive, he is not sentimental.”
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Sat R 129:107 Ja 31 ’20 400w
“The book is well worth reading.”
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Spec 123:774 D 6 ’19 100w
Springf’d Republican p10 Mr 19 ’20 280w
“Though some of Mr Hudson’s contentions appear disputable, this book is full of his unsurpassed perception and unique charm.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p583 O 23 ’19 1000w
HUDSON, W. H.[2] Birds of La Plata. il 2v *$15 Dutton 598.2
“The matter contained in this volume (which forms a companion to Mr Hudson’s famous ‘The naturalist in La Plata’) is taken from his ‘Argentine ornithology’ (1888–9), the matter contributed by the late P. L. Sclater, in order to make a complete list, being omitted along with the synonymy of the species described by Mr Hudson. Fresh species being continually added to the list, the work became out of date, the only thing of permanent interest being Mr Hudson’s account of the birds’ habits. There seems to have been no subsequent volume from any other source about Argentine birds.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
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Nation 112:47 Ja 12 ’21 70w
“The two volumes are packed full of the little delightful personal touches which make Hudson’s descriptions always a delight. In this book are traces of the carelessness which sometimes appears in Hudson’s writings. The color-plates by Gronvold add much to the beauty of the book, and although not so spirited as those of our own Fuertes they are beautifully done.” S: Scoville, jr.
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N Y Evening Post p3 Ja 29 ’21 1300w
“Though the book thus forms no inadequate guide to the birds of at least a large portion of the Argentine territories, it makes a direct appeal to many bird-lovers who may never hope to see any of the species here described in their natural haunts.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p715 N 4 ’20 1450w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p706 O 28 ’20 100w
HUDSON, W. H.[2] Dead Man’s Plack, and An old thorn. *$2.50 Dutton
20–23046
“‘Dead Man’s Plack’ is a story of a thousand years ago. The story is of Edgar the Peaceful, of Earl Athelwold, and of the beautiful Elfrida who so dreadfully became queen and again so dreadfully became queen mother, and is a simple, savage story of a simple, savage time. It is a happy fortune that has brought ‘An old thorn’ within book covers with ‘Dead Man’s Plack.’ This shorter story, which was originally published in The English Review a number of years ago, is probably the only narrative we have (the only one to Mr Hudson’s knowledge) which deals with ‘that rare and curious subject, the survival of tree worship’ in England. But it will live in the readers’ mind as a piteous and haunting human tragedy—the story of a young countryman who was hanged (and this was only a century ago) for stealing a sheep.”—N Y Times
“In ‘An old thorn’ Hudson is at his best. He moves to his conclusion with that sense of inevitability that is the core of tragedy.”
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Bookm 52:550 F ’21 140w
“And just as ‘Green mansions’ glows forever with the brilliance of the tropical forest, so here in ‘Dead Man’s Plack’ a Saxon England is recreated for us, and can never die. This new book of Hudson’s must have a permanent place in our libraries.”
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N Y Times p24 D 19 ’20 1050w
“There is a simple and plaintive charm in the narrative.”
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Outlook 127:110 Ja 19 ’21 50w
“Here are two short stories by Mr Hudson, good enough for most writers, but not his best. We could praise them for many things; if they were by an unknown writer we should be content to praise; we should even enjoy them more than we do now, knowing the other works of their author; but, as it is, we are perhaps a little ungrateful for their many beauties because we cannot refrain from asking why the short story, even in ‘El ombu,’ does not quite suit Mr Hudson’s genius.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p823 D 9 ’20 960w
HUEBNER, GROVER GERHARDT. Ocean steamship traffic management. *$3 Appleton 387
20–9794
The book is one of a series of manuals for instruction in the various phases of steamship business. Its object is to give in systematic order all the facts and activities that come within the range of the ocean shipping business, for the guidance of individual students studying by themselves and for use as a class text-book. The contents are divided into three parts: Part I: The traffic organization of ocean shipping; Part II: Ocean shipping documents; Part III: Ocean rates and regulation. There is an index.
“The material is exceptionally well arranged.”
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Am Econ R 10:595 S ’20 80w
“Well organized; written with clearness and precision.”
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Booklist 17:58 N ’20
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R of Rs 62:224 Ag ’20 40w
HUEBNER, SOLOMON S. Marine insurance. *$3 Appleton 368.2
20–16525
The volume is the first of a series of manuals designed to assist students training for the marine insurance, shipping and exporting business. It is adapted to the needs of beginners and does not aim to discuss highly technical or isolated aspects of the business, such as the specialist of long training may desire. Contents: Nature and functions of marine insurance; Types of underwriters; Types of policies; Analysis of the policy contract; Analysis of the perils covered; Total loss; General average; Particular average; Cargo insurance; Hull insurance; Freight insurance; Builders’ risk insurance; Reinsurance agreements; Marine underwriters’ associations; Rate making in marine insurance; Appendices (including specimens of the various types of policies); Index
Booklist 17:141 Ja ’21
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N Y Evening Post p9 N 6 ’20 140w
“His book is comprehensive and well written and should prove helpful to large numbers of the young generation in the country’s marine insurance offices.”
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Springf’d Republican p8 N 26 ’20 170w
HUGHES, ADELAIDE MANOLA. Diantha goes the primrose way, and other verses. *$1.35 Harper 811
20–6682
The title poem depicts in free verse the drama of a woman who, turning away from her husband-friend to passionate love, sees that love die and leave her desolate. She seeks comfort in work and in an hour of mortal agony grasps the protecting hand of that husband-friend. The other poems are grouped under the headings: Ceremonials, and Beloved objects.
Reviewed by R. M. Weaver
Bookm 52:61 S ’20 580w
Nation 111:247 Ag 28 ’20 50w
HUGHES, EDWARD ARTHUR. Britain and greater Britain in the nineteenth century. *$1.60 (1½c) Putnam 942.08
(Eng ed 20–3437)
A book written “for the general public, as well as for the upper forms of schools.” The author is assistant master at the Royal naval college, Dartmouth. Part 1, devoted to Great Britain and Ireland, consists of the following chapters: Introductory; England from Waterloo to the great reform bill (1815–1832); English politics from the great reform bill to the outbreak of the Crimean war (1832–1853); The condition of England 1815–1853; Foreign relations to the end of the Crimean war; Palmerstonian England; Ireland 1800–1866; England and Ireland 1868–1885; England and Ireland 1886–1906; Social movements (two chapters). Part 2 devotes a chapter each to Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India and Egypt, with a concluding chapter on The British empire. There is an index.
“On the whole it is the best short history of modern Britain that has appeared. But there is one serious defect that greatly impairs its usefulness. Not only is there no bibliography but there are no references whatever. Good as it is, it is not particularly dynamic or illuminating.” C. F. Lavell
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Am Hist R 26:133 O ’20 350w
“Despite the absence of personal bias, rigorously to be suppressed in a book like this, and the compression of a large subject into 300 pages, we read ‘Britain and greater Britain’ through from start to finish with unabated interest.”
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Sat R 128:491 N 22 ’19 1350w
HUGHES, GLENN. Broken lights. *$1.50 Univ. of Washington 811
20–11395
From the preface contributed to this collection of poems by Frederick Morgan Padelford, it is to be inferred that the poems were accepted by the English department of the University of Washington in lieu of a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts, on the ground that “the creation of art is at least as severe a test of culture and of refined and disciplined thinking as the ability to reason sagely upon the art created by others.” The poems are grouped under the headings; A garland for Euterpe; Remembrances: Eccentricities: Pro patria.
“Our ‘strong’ young poets will doubtless see too much of softly falling rain or gently moving cloud to please them in the volume, too much of Mother Nature and too little of human nature.”
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Boston Transcript p6 N 3 ’20 190w
HUGHES, RUPERT. Momma, and other unimportant people. *$2 (2c) Harper
20–20946
Thirteen short stories with the titles: “Momma”; The stick-in-the-muds; Read it again; The father of waters; Innocence; The college Lorelei; Yellow cords; The split; A story I can’t write; The butcher’s daughter; The quick-silver window; The dauntless bookkeeper; You hadn’t ought to. The stories have appeared in Collier’s and other magazines.
“If the people all belong to about the same class, the stories themselves are of very uneven merit, several of them being very good, while others are distinctly poor. The book gives, take it all in all, an accurate picture of certain phases of American life.”
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N Y Times p19 N 14 ’20 580w
HUGHES, RUPERT. What’s the world coming to? il *$1.90 (1c) Harper
20–8631
Bob Taxter, coming home from the war, learns that he has inherited ten thousand dollars. His first thought is that now he will be free to marry April, the girl he has loved and quarrelled with since childhood. But he finds that April too has inherited money, a much larger sum than his own. He straightway sets about making more and turns his attention to oil. And quite opportunely Joe Yarmy and his sister Kate appear on the scene. The old homestead in Texas is all ready to gush oil. They need only capital. Bob bites, but April is sceptical. They quarrel and she returns his ring. Bewildered, Bob finds himself engaged to marry Kate. But there has been another sceptic, old Uncle Zeb, family retainer of the Taxters, now a “professor of vacuum cleaning.” It is he who thwarts the wedding plans, redeems the ten thousand dollars and the Taxter diamonds. This is the story, but the book abounds in an astounding array of other matters, doggerel verses current at the time, statistics, price lists, quotations from the Brewers’ board of trade, and the author’s opinions on prohibition and social conditions generally.
“The plot is fairly complicated, and interspersed with a very great deal of comment and of moralizing, some of which is worth reading, though most of it is exceedingly trite. The novel is inordinately long, but no doubt it will please Mr Hughes’s admirers.”
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N Y Times 25:280 My 30 ’20 1150w
“The story is a potpourri of post-war conditions and incidents loosely put together.”
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Springf’d Republican p9a O 17 ’20 190w
HUGHES, TALBOT. Dress design, il $4 Pitman 391
The book is one of the Artistic crafts series of technical handbooks edited by W. R. Lethaby, and is “an account of costume for artists and dressmakers.” (Sub-title) The object of the series is to encourage greater consideration for design and workmanship and the object of this particular volume is to emphasize the craftsman and artistic side of costume making and to “separate in some degree the more constant elements of dress from those which are more variable.” (Preface) Although cast into the form of history it is also a book of suggestions to modern dressmakers. The book is profusely illustrated with figures and full-page plates and a special feature has been made of supplying the maker or designer of dress with actual proportions and patterns, gleaned from antique dresses. Beginning with prehistoric dress, both male and female, successive chapters are given to the development of costume in the different centuries including the nineteenth. There is an index and a detailed list of patterns.
HULBERT, ARCHER BUTLER. Paths of inland commerce. (Chronicles of America ser.) il per ser of 50v *$250 Yale univ. press 380
20–4902
“Professor Hulbert is well equipped for writing the story of the early development of the transportation routes of the United States, for he has already published sixteen volumes on the pioneer roads and canals, based upon personal observation and firsthand study. In the monograph under review the author has brought together the best results of his earlier labors and woven them into a connected narrative of the part which trails, roads, canals, and natural waterways have played in our commercial development.”—Am Hist R
“The interest of the author in his subject has at times betrayed him into extreme forms of statement, but on the whole he has maintained a fair balance.” E. L. Bogart
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Am Hist R 26:145 O ’20 340w
“The progress both in historical scholarship and in the author’s knowledge is shown by a comparison of this mature and carefully wrought volume with the earlier ‘Historic highways of America’ published some fifteen to eighteen years ago by the same author. The enthusiasm has remained, and has deepened and broadened with the author’s enlarging acquaintance with the subject, until it has evoked a notable epic of transportation.” L. P. Kellogg
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Mississippi Valley Hist R 7:153 S ’20 550w
“An extremely readable volume.”
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N Y Times p16 O 31 ’20 130w
R of Rs 62:223 Ag ’20 50w
HUMPHREY, ZEPHINE (MRS WALLACE WEIR FAHNESTOCK).[2] Sword of the spirit. *$2.50 Dutton
20–8516
“The novel begins with the marriage of a young couple well endowed with this world’s goods, who are ardently infatuated with each other. Every one looks upon it as a most desirable match in every way, and at first the young husband and wife are superlatively happy. Then the little rifts begin to appear. The girl is of a very spiritual nature. The husband lives upon a distinctly lower level, is frankly material in his enjoyment of life. The climax comes with some riotous living on his part, which includes too much toying with the wine cup. The barrier that has grown between them seems impassable, and wreckage threatens their marriage. The situations and developments by which the author chastens and humbles both of them and finally brings them together again are plausible and emotional.”—N Y Times
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Booklist 17:158 Ja ’21
“Miss Humphrey has shown no lack of temerity and assurance in handling the things of the spirit; but in so doing she has merely revolved around her subject without ever really grappling it. The novel, as a whole, is neither pleasing nor convincing.”
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Cath World 112:544 Ja ’21 330w
“It is, perhaps, in construction and development and emotional tensity the best work she has yet done. There is, indeed, much fine and keen perception of spiritual beauty throughout the book.”
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N Y Times 25:23 Jl 18 ’20 380w
HUMPHREYS, ELIZA M. J. (GOLLAN) (MRS DESMOND HUMPHREYS) (RITA, pseud.). Diana of the Ephesians. *$1.75 (1c) Stokes
20–2263
The hero of this story is the incarnation of egotism, self-conceit and arrogant, heartless megalomania. She is a Greek girl of doubtful parentage, her father an Englishman. Claiming the guardianship of an English professor she comes to England at the age of seventeen, consumed with ambition to become a great writer and under the delusion of being the daughter of some great personage. Rough-shod she walks over everybody in the home that has received her; wheedles herself into the good graces of an old lord; has a brief but dazzling and artificial career and sinks into oblivion as the bubble of her genius bursts and the true secret of her humble origin is revealed.
Ath p1386 D 19 ’19 40w
“The story is well written and entertaining, but endows the girl with improbable power.”
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Booklist 16:281 My ’20
“The leading character, though exaggerated and decidedly bizarre, is interesting and keeps the reader wondering what she will find to do next. The novel is interesting, and its plot is more than a little out of the ordinary.”
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N Y Times 25:164 Ap 11 ’20 400w
“The story’s rapid action, its multitude of interesting detail, and the singular character of the heroine engage the reader’s attention throughout 500 closely printed pages.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a S 12 ’20 330w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p754 D 11 ’19 250w
HUMPHREYS, ELIZA M. J. (GOLLAN) MRS DESMOND HUMPHREYS) (RITA, pseud.). Truth of spiritualism. *$1.25 Lippincott 134
20–7778
“‘Rita’ has closely examined the different phenomena of spiritualism, with the result that she believes it does reveal more than the church has told us as to the condition of the departed; and that, though not ‘an orthodox religion,’ it is ‘the root and source of all religions.’”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“Rita’s denunciations will hardly make much difference, especially as they are often more eloquent than intelligible.”
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Ath p1301 D 5 ’19 60w
“A maze of vague, incoherent, unproven assertions, a jumble of rambling nonsense, of stuffy, sickly sentimental Raymondiana, interspersed with impassioned tirades against Christianity as seen through the spectacles of ignorance, prejudice, and calumny, and hovering above all this the arrogant, self-canonized opinion of Mrs Humphreys, run amuck among truths beyond its grasp and appreciation, ignorant, irrational, defiant, indecent and sacrilegious.”
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Cath World 111:553 Jl ’20 320w
“The converted will no doubt read her disquisition with pleasure; but it cannot be said to add anything of importance to the controversy.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p783 D 25 ’19 60w
HUNEKER, JAMES GIBBONS. Bedouins. il *$2 (5½c) Scribner 780.4
20–5751
Some of Mr Huneker’s bedouins, in this collection of essays, are real and some are fictitious. A number of the essays are devoted to Mary Garden, whom the author admires as a “wonderful artiste” and an “extraordinary woman,” others to Debussy, Mirbeau, George Luks, Chopin, Caruso, Anatole France. All partake of the nature of extravaganzas, particularly the fiction. The book falls into two parts: Mary Garden, and Idols and ambergris. Under part 1 some of the titles are: Superwoman; The baby, the critic, and the guitar; The artistic temperament; The passing of Octave Mirbeau; Anarchs and ecstasy; Caruso on wheels; A masque of music. Among the contents of part 2 are: The supreme sin; Venus or Valkyr? The cardinal’s fiddle; The vision malefic.
“We find Mr Huneker unreadable. It is not only the rush and freshness of his style, which has all the marvellous energy of a woman in hysterics, that we find unendurable, but we can attach no meaning to what he says.”
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Ath p145 Jl 30 ’19 280w
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Booklist 16:270 My ’20
“He has a marvellous power of suggesting, of stimulating, of suddenly burbanking widely separated notions and as suddenly dissociating them. As some one said about him, his brilliancy and versatility hide his profundity. ‘Bedouins’ is a book without a desert.” B: de Casseres
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Bookm 51:231 Ap ’20 900w
“James Huneker’s writing is full of sound and fury but it signifies a good deal. His criticism is backed by a real knowledge of most of the arts in most of the centuries.”
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Ind 102:373 Je 12 ’20 120w
“Maeterlinck wrote: ‘I have marvelled at the vigilance and clarity with which you follow and judge the new literary and artistic movements in all countries.’ ‘Bedouins’ is a new illustration of this vigilance and clarity. His pages on Anatole France, though different in style, are worthy of being included in Henry James’s little read but wonderful book on ‘French poets and novelists.’” H: T. Finck
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N Y Evening Post p13 My 8 ’20 580w
“Mr Huneker is, to me, the greatest master of English prose living today, and ‘Bedouins’ shows no weakening of his hand.” B: de Casseres
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N Y Times 25:144 Mr 28 ’20 1000w
“Mr Huneker’s enthusiasm and good nature win acceptance for his literary caprices; he is always to be distinguished from his imitators of the Mencken-Nathan order.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a Ap 11 ’20 650w
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p515 Ag 12 ’20 1450w
Reviewed by M. F. Egan
Yale R n s 10:187 O ’20 250w
HUNEKER, JAMES GIBBONS. Steeplejack. 2v il *$7.50 Scribner
20–16114
“Mr Huneker has been for many years one of the best known of the music and dramatic critics in New York. These volumes give an entertaining running account of his relations with musicians, artists, men and women of the stage, and authors, both here and in Europe.”—R of Rs
“Whatever the talk, the brilliant style, the startling paradoxes, and the individuality of the writer’s reactions make it interesting.”
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Booklist 17:69 N ’20
“His book is the romance of the year.” B: de Casseres
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Bookm 52:267 N ’20 800w
“Mr Huneker is seen in his confessions as a very human being, rich in experience and mellow in philosophy. His narrative becomes by turns merry, stinging, meditative, instructive; but never dull, hypocritical, or self-laudatory. He has performed a difficult task with the utmost skill, albeit with no dainty hand.” Margaret Ashmun
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Bookm 52:346 D ’20 140w
“Through all the disjointed mass of youthful recollection Mr Huneker has never been dull. Only when he gets onto the current era, in volume two, does his blast of steam become inconsequential. He pounds his fists, strikes his favorite pose, gesticulates and roars; but when he discusses his contemporaries—puff; his charm is gone. His autobiography as well as his career is for the most part distinctive, versatile, individual.” J. B. A.
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Boston Transcript p6 N 10 ’20 1350w
“It is easily the non-fiction book of the year in this country, where there are so many persons and so few individuals. It is the challenge of a cultured superman to his generation. And withal a profoundly human book.” B. D.
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N Y Times p8 S 12 ’20 2000w
“In a less ebullient individuality the cultivation of the ego would make for boredom; in the case of Mr Huneker a conscious and concentrated development of personality has enriched our insight into contemporary peregrinations of the spirit.” L. R. Morris
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Outlook 126:469 N 10 ’20 1650w
“The first impression left by this stimulating and quite unconventional autobiography is that of a personally conducted tour thru the literary and artistic ‘Who’s who?’ of the past fifty years. One’s second thought is an involuntary wish, not that Mr Huneker’s life had been less rich in varied scenes and privileged friendships, but that he had given us a narrower and more selective perspective. Yet it would be the sheerest ingratitude to imply that other methods and proportions would have made a better book.” F: T. Cooper
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Pub W 98:662 S 18 ’20 500w
Reviewed by E. L. Pearson
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Review 3:292 O 6 ’20 450w
“‘Steeplejack’ should appeal to anyone who cares to recall the artistic, musical, literary, and journalistic history of America in the past thirty years.” E. L. Pearson
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Review 3:314 O 13 ’20 140w
“Both volumes well repay perusal.”
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R of Rs 62:447 O ’20 50w
“It is a gay, happy, animated recital, not of high importance as intellectual biography, but preserving a good many recollections worth preserving and giving a full-length picture of a temperament which the reader will agree with possessor in calling more continental than American. ‘Steeplejack’ takes us to three cities—Philadelphia, Paris and New York. Will one’s taste be indictable for dulness if it selects Philadelphia as the most interesting?”
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Springf’d Republican p8a S 19 ’20 1700w
HUNGERFORD, EDWARD.[2] With the doughboy in France. il *$2 (2c) Macmillan 940.477
20–20074
“A few chapters of an American effort” the author calls this book, meaning the work of the Red cross, which seemed to him such an outpouring of affection, of patriotism, of a sincere desire to serve, as he had never before seen. It is not a consecutive narrative but a series of descriptions, well illustrated, under the headings: America awakens; Our Red cross goes to war; Organizing for work; The problem of transport; The American Red cross as a department store; The doughboy moves toward the front; The Red cross on the field of honor; Our Red cross performs its supreme mission; The Red cross in the hospitals of the A. F. F.; “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag”; When Johnny came marching home; The girl who went to war.
“If one desires to know what our Red cross men and women did for their country, he will find the story here.” E. J. C.
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Boston Transcript p10 D 8 ’20 580w
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N Y Times p13 Ja 30 ’21 700w
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R of Rs 53:223 F ’21 140w
“The method of the book is to recount in a chatty, journalistic way the general experiences of the Red cross, and, incidentally, of the armies. The total effect, unfortunately, is of triviality.”
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Springf’d Republican p8 Ja 13 ’21 180w
HUNT, H. ERNEST. Self-training. *$1.25 (3c) McKay 131
(Eng ed SG19–89)
In laying down the lines of mental progress it is the object of the book to teach men how to become master workmen in the art of living by building up correct dominant ideas into the subconscious. He describes the important part played by the subconscious mind, how our health and our activities are constantly under the control of an accumulated stock of ideas and how this stock of ideas can in turn be controlled by a conscious effort of the will. Contents: The nature of mind; Mind at work; Thought and health; Suggestion; Training the senses; Memory; The feelings; Will and imagination; The machinery of nerves; Extensions of faculty; Self-building; The spiritual basis.
“Good for the discouraged person who is capable of taking himself in hand.”
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Booklist 16:326 Jl ’20
HUNTER, GEORGE MCPHERSON. When I was a boy in Scotland. (Children of other lands books) il *$1 (4c) Lothrop 914.1
20–7945
The author, who is now a clergyman in the United States, writes of: The place where I was born; My schools and school-teachers; Our games and play; Tales of my grandfathers; High days and holidays in Scotland; Days on the beach and among the heather; Tramps in and around Glasgow, etc. The last chapter tells how he went to sea, returned to Glasgow university, and then came to America.
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Booklist 16:353 Jl ’20
“To read this book is not only to know a real Scotch lad but to learn many things in a pleasing way.”
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Boston Transcript p5 D 24 ’20 180w
HURLEY, EDWARD NASH. New merchant marine. il *$3 (3½c) Century 387
20–11687
This is the second volume in the Century foreign trade series. The author was formerly chairman of the United States shipping board and has written “The awakening of business” and other books. In the present work he sketches the history of American shipping but devotes most of his space to future problems of foreign trade. Among the chapters are: Our past glories on the sea; Organization of the United States shipping board; Preparing for ship construction under war conditions; Methods by which tonnage was acquired; The new merchant marine; American commerce in the western hemisphere; American commerce in Australia and the Far East; The economical operation of ships; Reaction of ships upon national industries; Americanization and re-orientation. The book is illustrated, has two appendices and an index.
Booklist 17:53 N ’20
R of Rs 62:224 Ag ’20 110w
“The book contains a wealth of timely suggestions and detailed instruction in practice and methods.”
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Springf’d Republican p8 N 26 ’20 190w
HUSBAND, JOSEPH. Americans by adoption. il $1.50 (4c) Atlantic monthly press 920
20–10511
The volume contains biographical sketches of nine prominent, foreign-born “Americans by choice” with an introduction by William Allan Neilson, himself a foreigner, and president of Smith college. He holds that what men want most is “to count among their fellows for what they are worth.” That America is giving its citizens of foreign birth this opportunity is the underlying reason for the book. Each sketch is accompanied by a portrait and the subjects of the sketches are: Stephen Girard; John Ericsson; Louis Agassiz; Carl Schurz; Theodore Thomas; Andrew Carnegie; James J. Hill; Augustus Saint-Gaudens; Jacob A. Riis.
“An interesting addition to any public or high school library.”
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Booklist 17:69 N ’20
“Mr Husband’s book, however flowery some of its phraseology may be, is yet a trumpet call.” E. F. E.
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Boston Transcript p6 Jl 7 ’20 1100w
“Now, I am convinced that these interesting records will ‘inspire,’ in the matter of Americanism, only those who are inspired already. Mr Husband does not seem to realize, in the first place, that it is quite impossible for people nowadays to admire very greatly such heroes as Stephen Girard, James J. Hill and Andrew Carnegie. It is an old fallacy of ours to suppose that we alone have produced men of this kind. But Mr Husband makes a virtue of every accident.”
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Freeman 1:382 Je 30 ’20 1600w
“This little volume, beautifully introduced by W. A. Neilson, should have its worthy place in any bibliography of Americanization.”
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N Y P L Munic Ref Lib Notes 7:55 N 17 ’20 80w
“The book is highly appropriate as a high-school reader or reference book.”
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School R 28:636 O ’20 90w
“The book is based on pure fiction, so far as America is concerned. In the first place, since the constitution does not provide for conferring the freedom of the nation on foreigners, there are no ‘Americans by adoption.’ Mr Husband’s portraiture is rather in keeping with the ideas propounded by Mr Neilson in the preface; his heroes are made to look like ‘Efficiency Edgar.’” B. L.
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Survey 45:401 D 11 ’20 480w
HUTCHINSON, EMILIE JOSEPHINE. Women’s wages. (Columbia univ. studies in history, economics, and public law) pa *$1.50 Longmans 331.4
19–18237
“This book, submitted as a doctor’s thesis to Columbia university, is a painstaking, clearly written analysis of the wages of women and the factors affecting them. Nearly half the space is given to a discussion of minimum-wage legislation and its possibilities. Trade unionism and vocational training are included with minimum-wage laws as the chief methods of raising the present low standards. The facts presented are drawn almost exclusively from reports prepared before the war, and although occasional references are made to the work of women during the war, and their position after it, the discussion seems not to have been influenced by the changes in the aspects of labor problems since 1914.”—Am J Soc
“The postponement of the publication of this useful laboriously prepared study makes the data seem curiously obsolete.” Edith Abbott
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Am Econ R 10:609 S ’20 450w
“It is unfortunate that certain old opinions, which have never had satisfactory statistical proof, such as ‘from five to seven years is the average length of the girl’s wage-earning life,’ are repeated without supporting evidence. As a history of data and opinions before the war the book is useful, and with the persistence of many of the same tendencies in women’s work, it will have continued value.” Mary Van Kleeck
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Am J Soc 25:497 Ja ’20 200w
Booklist 16:262 My ’20
“‘Women’s wages’ is encouraging in its wholesome lack of optimism.”
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Nation 110:662 My 15 ’20 220w
“A unique and much needed piece of work.” Signe Toksvig
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New Repub 21:84 D 17 ’19 1200w
“This admirable study digests with fairness and with intelligence the available data concerning women’s wages in this country. The book she has produced excellently covers its field.” W. L. C.
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Survey 43:781 Mr 20 ’20 300w
HUTCHINSON, HORATIO GORDON. Portraits of the eighties, il *$4 Scribner 920
(Eng ed 20–22470)
“Since the Right Hon. George W. E. Russell has himself written about so many of his contemporaries, it is fitting that he should hold the place of honor, with a frontispiece portrait, in Mr Hutchinson’s ‘Portraits of the eighties.’ After this introductory chapter dealing with Mr Russell we are given a graphic series of pen portraits of men of such diverse interests as Gladstone, John Bright, Parnell, General Gordon, Archbishop Temple, Professor Huxley, William Morris Swinburne, George Frederick Watts, Sir W. S. Gilbert, Oscar Wilde and W. G. Grace, Mr Hutchinson’s survey of English personalities extending thereby from statesmanship to cricket-playing.”—Boston Transcript
“There are too many (over 30) portraits and groups attempted in these 300 pages; comparatively few lines can be given to each, and Mr Hutchinson is not master of the economy of telling and characteristic strokes. The fortuitous medley of the scrap-book may, however, afford entertainment, and even a degree of instruction.” F. W. S.
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Ath p830 Je 25 ’20 550w
“The book is full of important facts brought together in an accessible form. But Mr Hutchinson has little penetration and suffers in any comparison that is drawn between his work, which may be admitted to be good, and the work which is entitled to be called excellent of some recent writers.” Theodore Maynard
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Bookm 51:682 Ag ’20 650w
“As an abstract and brief chronicle of its decade, Mr Hutchinson’s book fulfils the promise of its title.” E. F. E.
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Boston Transcript p6 Jl 7 ’20 1350w
“The book does not possess the brilliant style or keen analysis of Mr Strachey’s ‘Eminent Victorians,’ but is discriminating and, if not characterized by any remarkable insight is generally fair in its judgment.”
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Outlook 125:541 Jl 21 ’20 60w
“Mr Hutchinson is an impressionist, working with a broad and sometimes rather careless brush, yet seldom failing to make his portrait live. A gentle judge of the private characters of his subjects, he is a circumspect critic of their public activities.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p299 My 13 ’20 1350w
HUTTEN ZUM STOLZENBERG, BETTINA (RIDDLE) freifrau von. Happy house. *$1.75 (2c) Doran
20–1214
Happy house the young bride called her new home, but it soon became a euphemism. Violet Walbridge slaved with her pen to give without stint to a worthless husband and a large thoughtlessly exacting family. As the quality of her novels is falling off into mere rubbish, and with it the quantity of her income, a young journalist discovers her rare character as a woman. He also falls in love with her youngest daughter but the course of his true love does not run smoothly. During his devious courtship of Grisel, his friendship for his would-be-mother-in-law becomes a rejuvenating elixir for the latter and enables her to write a real true-to-life modern story, that reinstates her in the good graces of her publishers.
“A pleasant character study of an interesting group.”
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Booklist 16:281 My ’20
“The plot itself might well have been composed by its heroine.” M. E. Bailey
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Bookm 51:204 Ap ’20 400w
“In ‘Happy house,’ Baroness von Hutten has written a story which should not by rights be readable, but into which she has managed to infuse a certain amount of vitality. It is a ghost but there are moments when its gestures are sufficiently life-like, and despite its rattling bones we follow its motions.” D. L. M.
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Boston Transcript p8 My 29 ’20 450w
“As a whole, the book is decidedly pleasing and out of the ordinary.”
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Cath World 111:407 Je ’20 210w
Cleveland p50 My ’20 50w
Lit D p97 S 18 ’20 2650w
“‘Happy house’ is a quiet little story of the domestic type, but Oliver Wick and Violet Walbridge make it worth while.”
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N Y Times 25:116 Mr 14 ’20 600w
“The novel is entertaining rather than deep.”
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Outlook 124:562 Mr 31 ’20 60w
“Towards the end of the book a few incredible things happen, but one forgives these in gratitude for the careful and convincing character drawing.”
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Sat R 129:41 Ja 10 ’20 220w
“In the tragedy of a once popular novelist, who has become something of a fallen star, and in the very casual way in which, even when her star was at its zenith, she has always been regarded by her own family, there are great possibilities. But the Baroness von Hutten scarcely makes the most of it, and dares so little to rely on it that she introduces two sub-plots which, though mechanically linked with this main theme, have no artistic bearing upon it.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p769 D 18 ’19 280w
HUTTEN ZUM STOLZENBERG, BETTINA (RIDDLE) freifrau von. Helping Hersey. *$1.90 (2c) Doran
20–26758
A book of collected short stories from the pen of this author of many popular novels. The title story is a study of two women, mother and daughter, in their relation to one man, an American, who at first misjudges both and is later led to reverse his opinions. First place in the collection is given to Peterl in the Black forest, a sketch written in 1913 with all the marks of a study from life. The other titles are: In loving memory; Ker Kel; Mrs Hornbeam’s headdress; The common man’s story; The iron shutter; Two Apaches; The principino; Three times; A Berlin adventure.
“Slight but entertaining.”
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Booklist 17:33 O ’20
“It is decidedly agreeable to find such a variety of stories bound in one volume by one author.”
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Boston Transcript p6 Ag 7 ’20 360w
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Outlook 125:507 Jl 14 ’20 40w
“The Baroness von Hutten’s latest collection of tales displays, as it were, her familiar super-mediocre versatility. And yet to me the most distinguished pieces of writing in the volume are the plotless sketches, ‘Ker Kel,’ a little picture of Brittany, and ‘Peterl in the Black Forest.’” H. W. Boynton
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Review 3:502 N 24 ’20 100w
HUXLEY, ALDOUS LEONARD. Leda. *$1.50 Doran 821
20–16190
In this collection of poems the title poem describes the Olympian love episode with singular beauty of diction as well as mundane realism. The other poems, some of which are poetic prose, all betray more or less of sardonic humor, as when the poet suddenly finds himself sobered from the “intoxicating speed” of the merry-go-round when he perceives “a slobbering cretin grinding at a wheel and sweating as he ground, and grinding eternally.” Some of the other titles are: The birth of God; Male and female created He them; Life and art; First—Second—Fifth—and Ninth philosopher’s song; The merry-go-round; Last things; Evening party; Soles occidere et redire possunt.
“We cannot accept it. The elements that Mr Huxley has desired to combine, the precious esoteric beauty and the ugliness which were to be blended into a new comprehensive beauty in whose light nothing should appear common or unclean, are still as unmixed as oil and vinegar. If Mr Huxley wishes to be judged, he should elect to be judged, not by ‘Leda,’ nor by any of the shorter poems in this book, but by ‘Soles occidere et redire possunt.’ As for two-thirds of the shorter pieces, we think he would have been well advised never to print them.” J. M. M.
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Ath p699 My 28 ’20 1500w
“Aldous Huxley exposes the fallacy that the imagination needs any special material in which to exercise the creative spirit of poetry. His book opens with a successful and beautiful poem on a mythical legend. The book closes with an elegy for a friend lost in the war, and here the elements are, one might say, sardonically modern, the very naked realities of life gathered up and fused with a temper that makes the spirit of poetry no less golden than the substance in the more remote Hellenic rumor of the seduction of Leda by Zeus in the form of a swan.” W: S. Braithwaite
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Boston Transcript p4 S 4 ’20 1850w
“When he is complaining or mocking Mr Huxley can rise to real heights of bombast; at such times he writes good mouth-filling stuff with a little of the Elizabethan spirit, but with more acidity. It is for his satires, then, that he is to be valued, rather than for any gropings toward a philosophy; for his prose poems as long as they are satires; for ‘Soles occidere et redire possunt’ as long as it remains a criticism and a complaint. Most of his other work must be disregarded.” Malcolm Cowley
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Dial 70:73 Ja ’21 1100w
“Mr Huxley has neither the courage to love his themes for their own sakes nor the imagination to get the better of them; therefore, he is not a poet, although every line of his book displays a determination to write something better than the conventional prettifications which people usually call poetry.” J: G. Fletcher
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Freeman 2:141 O 20 ’20 680w
“In ‘Leda’ he offers a volume that will, with all probability, be quite the most unique and interesting addition to the sum total of English poetry for the year. Indeed, it is a book that is unapproached in certain of its manifestations.” H. S. Gorman
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N Y Times p24 S 19 ’20 1250w
HUXLEY, ALDOUS LEONARD. Limbo. *$1.75 Doran
20–12115
A book that introduces a new English satirist. It opens with Farcical history of Richard Greenow, a curious tale of dual personality. The shorter pieces that follow are: Happily ever after; Eupompus gave splendour to art by numbers; Happy families; Cynthia; The bookshop; The death of Lully.
“‘Limbo’ is startling because it is young and sophisticated, ironic and malicious, delicately and forcefully written—qualities rare enough in the work of old masters, but apparently upsetting to critical standards when found in a first book. ‘Happily ever after’ is the masterpiece of the collection.” E. P.
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Dial 70:107 Ja ’21 100w
“The one story that must be taken seriously in Aldous Huxley’s collection ‘Limbo’ is ‘The farcical history of Richard Greenow.’ Always the reader should bear in mind that the tragedy of Richard Greenow is as poignant as its humor is pungent, and that below the surface mockery lies a seriousness indicative of that most tragical of all causes of tragedy—social ignorance.”
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Freeman 1:501 Ag 4 ’20 240w
“Mr Huxley has fulfilled the promise that he intimated in his earlier books to the few who knew him, and demonstrated that he is one of the finest writers of prose in England today. He is finished and fastidious, sophisticated and diverting, an authentic figure of some actual importance and with many potentialities. That he must take a decided place among the younger contemporary writers in England is without doubt.” H. S. G.
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New Repub 24:172 O 13 ’20 1550w
“In lines, sometimes in paragraphs, and in general atmospheric suggestion, there appears to this reviewer a likeness between Mr Huxley and Max Beerbohm. The mental attitude of the two men is dissimilar in many ways. But through them both runs that great streak of urbanity, of sophistication, of what might almost be termed jadedness at times. ‘Limbo’ is a book of definite promise and of a certain achievement.”
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N Y Times p28 Ag 15 ’20 650w
“Mr Huxley has a very readable and diverting narrative style, a style with journalism in the first story and literature in the second, and with full permission, but no obligation, to the reader to climb the stairs. Mr Huxley’s low estimate of human nature does not tame the effervescence of his spirits.”
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Review 3:111 Ag 4 ’20 300w
“The death of Lully is the only story in which it may occur to the reader that after all Mr Aldous Huxley is sometimes actuated by the ideals and sympathies which move ordinary human beings.”
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Spec 124:494 Ap 10 ’20 140w
“The most remarkable story in the book is ‘The farcical history of Richard Greenow.’ There is a blunt boyish ring to this which oddly enough induces the uncanny effect that many writers wallow in melodrama to obtain. But Mr Huxley’s product is uneven. ‘Happily ever after’ is as humdrum as the preceding story is distinguished.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a S 5 ’20 460w
“Instead of saying that there are seven short stories in ‘Limbo’ which are all clever, amusing, and well written, and recommending the public to read them, as we can conscientiously do, we are tempted to state, what it is so seldom necessary to state, that short stories can be a great deal more than clever, amusing, and well written. There is another adjective—‘interesting’; that is the adjective we should like to bestow upon Mr Huxley’s short stories, for it is the best worth having.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p83 F 5 ’20 800w
I
IGLEHART, FERDINAND COWLE. Theodore Roosevelt: the man as I knew him. il $1.50 Christian herald pub.
19–14241
“This life by Dr Iglehart is written from one predetermined viewpoint. He recognizes the strong religious convictions of Roosevelt and working from this fact he has interpreted his entire life as the life of a man all of whose actions are dominated by his religious life.”—Boston Transcript
“The book is very unevenly written. It is exceedingly entertaining in parts, while elsewhere the author has allowed his easy rhetorical English to run away with him. It is equally true there are parts of the book which will not fit in very easily with the general idea of Roosevelt’s personality.”
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Boston Transcript p6 F 11 ’20 160w
Nation 109:688 N 29 ’19 220w
“A badly arranged mixture of eulogy, biography, and anecdote; but, for him who will dig for it, it contains much that is interesting, notably in regard to Roosevelt’s religious views.”
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Outlook 126:292 O 13 ’20 200w
R of Rs 62:419 O ’20 950w
Springf’d Republican p10 My 4 ’20 180w
ILCHESTER, GILES STEPHEN HOLLAND FOX-STRANGWAYS, 6th earl of. Henry Fox, first lord Holland, his family and relations. 2v il *$12 Scribner
(20–4450)
“The title of Lord Ilchester’s book is a misnomer. It will suggest to most people a book of private life and family gossip. But not one twentieth part of what he has written is occupied with these things. What he has given us is far nearer being a political history of England from 1739, when Henry Fox obtained his first office, that of surveyor of the works, till his death in 1774. Of course, the history is primarily a biography. But during at least the first five-and-twenty of these thirty-five years Henry Fox played an important part, either as one of the principal actors or as a spectator on whom the principal actors were obliged to keep watchful eyes, in nearly all the changing scenes of ministerial tragedy and comedy. Lord Ilchester has had access to a great deal of material which has never been used before. Letters and papers at Holland House, at Melbury, at Bowood, and elsewhere have provided a mass of evidence, much of it in Henry Fox’s own hand, as to his motives and opinions at various points in his career. Occasionally they enable Lord Ilchester to correct the statements or judgments of previous historians. But on the whole they only fill out the old picture, without altering its main lines.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“Lord Ilchester’s volumes are strictly a biography. One might feel at times that Fox’s associates are little more than shadows in the background of the hero’s portrait; but the character and activities of the statesman himself are interestingly unfolded on almost every page. The subject is also presented with studied impartiality.” T. W. Riker
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Am Hist R 26:87 O ’20 750w
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Ath p206 F 13 ’20 1700w
“Amongst historians, Macaulay, Lord Fitzmaurice, and Lord Roseberry, have written these thirty years down to the bone. Even his exceptional sources of information have not enabled Lord Ilchester to tell us anything new about Henry Fox or his contemporaries of sufficient importance to justify this biography; and we must be forgiven for saying that Lord Ilchester’s skill and style as a narrator only suffer by comparison with the great writers we have mentioned.”
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Sat R 129:163 F 14 ’20 650w
“The memoir is most interesting and valuable. It not only throws new light on Fox himself and on the early days of his unlucky son, Charles James Fox, but it also illustrates from another standpoint the difficulties—admirably described by Lord Roseberry in his ‘Chatham’—which Pitt had to surmount before he could become minister in the crisis of the Seven years’ war.”
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Spec 124:211 F 14 ’20 1450w
“The book is well written and well arranged. The writer knows his subject and his period and can use his knowledge effectively.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p73 F 5 ’20 3650w
In the mountains. *$1.90 (3c) Doubleday
20–19505
The scene of the story is a little house in the Swiss Alps, to which an English woman, in some more than ordinarily tragic sense, bereaved by the war, comes to forget her sorrow. It had been her home in happier days and is to her a house of memories, but the story, which starts out with every indication of tragedy, turns out after all to be a very pleasant little comedy. The change comes with the appearance of the two uninvited guests, Mrs Barnes and Mrs ‘Jewks.’ They bring diversion. provocation and eventually healing. The story of the mistress of the house is only suggested but that of Dolly. Mrs ‘Jewks,’ which Mrs Barnes strives so faithfully to hide, is fully revealed and it is Dolly, whose name should be spelled Juchs, who is the book’s real heroine. The story is interspersed with comments on life and books.
“She has a delicate pen that lovingly shapes her phrase, and an instinct that keeps it true to experience. Perhaps the most interesting thing about her equipment, her composition, her make-up, is the slight instability in the mixture of her elements. She is profoundly a sentimentalist, and her sentimentality keeps jumping out in spite of all the ironical detachment she can muster against it.” K. M.
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Ath p272 Ag 27 ’20 550w
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Booklist 17:116 D ’20
“There is distinction, delicacy, and deft handling throughout. ‘In the mountains’ may not command a large number of readers, it will have value, however, in selective readers’ eyes.” R. D. W.
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Boston Transcript p8 O 16 ’20 520w
“Remarkable for its sweet and gay philosophy of life, keen sense of humor, novel turns of thought and great facility of expression. Thought to be by the author of ‘Elizabeth and her German garden.’”
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Cleveland p105 D ’20 50w
“It is the author’s wayside observations and the unexpected utterances of the other characters that count so mightily. The story is simple enough; it is the way it is told that is so engrossing.” W. A. Dyer
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N Y Evening Post p14 O 23 ’20 580w
“Whoever she may be, the author of ‘In the mountains’ writes in a finished style that almost precludes the possibility that her present book is her first.”
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N Y Times p24 O 3 ’20 500w
“Both widows are, in their different ways, triumphs of characterisation, but the preeminence must certainly be assigned to Mrs Barnes. The devastating influence which genuine unselfishness, not qualified by intelligence, can exercise on the happiness of others is illustrated by her example with unsurpassable delicacy and sureness of touch.”
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Sat R 130:242 S 18 ’20 680w
Spec 125:439 O 2 ’20 40w
“Told with an unaffected simplicity which is apparently artless, its charm and sweetness steal upon the mind as with the spell of a delicate September day that suddenly surprises by its summery heat and power.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p551 Ag 26 ’20 1000w
“Dolly, the younger of the two (she is forty), is something delightfully new in heroines and the study of Mrs Barnes, as an example of the tyranny of unselfishness, is a skillful piece of analysis.”
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Wis Lib Bul 16:194 N ’20 180w
INCHBOLD, A. CUNNICK (MRS STANLEY INCHBOLD). Love and the crescent; a tale of the Near East. *$1.25 (1c) Stokes
20–11299
The scene of the story is laid in an Armenian village during the war. It relates the trials of a beautiful girl, daughter of a distinguished Armenian physician, and her family and tells of horrors, flights, deportations, miraculous rescues, heroic defences and Veronica’s final reunion with her French lover and their safe arrival in France. The deep-dyed villainy of a German consul is dressed up in suitable romantic garb in contrast to which the Turk appears as a humanitarian.
“In the portrayal of some of the characters, sometimes in the description of a scene, or again in the narrative which carries the story on, the author frequently drops into conventional, mechanical methods, and so lowers the grade of what would otherwise be a very excellent novel. But even so its construction is good, its movement rapid, its story interest well maintained, and its varied scenes are full of life and color that seem true and are certainly very interesting.”
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N Y Times 25:29 Jl 18 ’20 460w
“There are incidents in abundance. But Mrs Inchbold has not been entirely successful in blending them into a clear-cut story. The characters seem to walk mechanically across the pages, and there is scarcely one of them that at the end the reader feels he knows as a real live human being.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p58 Ja 30 ’19 110w
INGALESE, RICHARD. History and power of mind, new and rev ed *$2.50 (3c) Dodd 131
20–10777
The book is the second printing of a collection of lectures on occultism and the power of the mind. The author asks the reader to hold himself agnostically until the course is finished holding in mind always that if occultism is true it can be demonstrated, for truth is always demonstrable. The book commends itself to the investigator of psychic phenomena and of mental therapeutics and the ground covered is well indicated in its table of contents, viz: Occultism: its past, present and future; Divine mind: its nature and manifestation; Dual mind and its origin; The art of self-control; The law of re-embodiment; Colors of thought vibration; Meditation, creation and concentration; Lesser occult or psychic forces and their dangers; Hypnotism, and how to guard against it; Higher occult or spiritual forces and their uses; The cause and cure of disease; The law of opulence. There is an index.
INGE, WILLIAM RALPH. Outspoken essays. *$2.25 (*6s) Longmans 204
20–18249
“The dean of St Paul’s has reprinted in this volume ten articles from the reviews, three dealing with patriotism, the birth-rate, and the future of the English race, and seven with ecclesiastical questions. To these he has prefixed an essay on ‘Our present discontent.’”—Spec
“He writes as powerfully and learnedly almost as Swift. He is also as skilful and as unfair a controversialist as Swift. In ‘The future of the English race’ he handles the results of modern ethnological research with easy mastery, and it is only the most careful of readers who will observe what a hiatus lies between the well-marshalled facts and the conclusions that insidiously follow.”
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Ath p1167 N 7 ’19 250w
“Among Dr Inge’s many virtues, which include critical acuteness, epigrammatic power and a remarkable ability to be fair to persons as distinct from causes that offend him, must be reckoned his fearlessness.”
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Ath p1253 N 28 ’19 1400w
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Booklist 17:49 N ’20
“What, however, makes his writing so intolerable is his patronizing way and his spirit of hauteur, as he stands aloof and with the unction of superiority passes judgment on men and things in the dogmatic spirit which he censures in others. Whatever may be said about his interpretations, we must recognize in him a prophet of candor, who utters the burden of truth with sublime disregard to personal consequences.” O. L. Joseph
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Bookm 51:237 Ap ’20 700w
“This book is replete with worth-while observations by a man of the world, able to see weak points, yet genially willing to accept conditions as in a large measure inevitable.”
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Boston Transcript p7 Mr 13 ’20 300w
“There is so much excellent modern rationalism in Dean Inge’s commerce with facts and tendencies that one cannot well forgive him for living emotionally in the dingy atmosphere of the century-old Malthus.”
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Dial 68:540 Ap ’20 100w
“The chief paradox of all is that a scholar whose culture is as broad as the world should have sympathies even narrower than his native island. The masterpiece of the whole volume is the attack on the ‘Anglican Catholic’ party in the Established church. In all the controversy that has raged since the Tracts for the Times, there has never been so witty and so merciless a diatribe as that in which the author exposes the pretensions of the Anglican Catholics.” Preserved Smith
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Nation 110:729 My 29 ’20 1050w
“Here, as a free-lance, as a critic of life, men, morals, institutions, dress, foods, the labor party, political economy and literature, Dean Inge is his true and powerful self. The scholar, the citizen and the preacher blend, and the acute observer joins them.” D. S. M.
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New Repub 24:197 O 20 ’20 2600w
“Whatever may be thought of his scepticism and of his own attempt to rise through doubt to a position of inexpugnable faith, his destructive analysis of the various other attempts of the sort is the work of a master hand. The religious papers in this volume display what is rare in contemporary English literature, a highly trained philosopher in the pulpit. Dean Inge has written a remarkable book.”
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Review 2:396 Ap 17 ’20 1400w
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Spec 123:663 N 15 ’19 150w
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Springf’d Republican p8 D 13 ’19 580w (Reprinted from The Times [London] Lit Sup p621 N 6 ’19)
“It is a work of rare excellence and importance. We have failed if we have not made clear that it contains a mature and comprehensive Christian philosophy. It shirks no difficulties, concedes nothing to popular sentiment, has the sternness of Jewish prophecy.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p621 N 6 ’19 2050w
INGERSOLL, ERNEST. Wit of the wild. il *$2 Dodd 591.5
“This collection of sketches deals for the most part with familiar birds, animals, fish, and insects—the weasel, wasp, copperhead, whip-poor-will, and a score of others. It ranges widely from menhaden and muskrats to tree toads and the Portuguese man-of-war.” (N Y Evening Post) “There are chapters on animals that advertise, animals that wear disguises, animals that form partnerships with other animals, animals that set traps and animals that bluff.” (N Y Times)
“It is popular natural history at its best. The book is abundantly and excellently illustrated.”
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N Y Evening Post p26 O 23 ’20 160w
N Y Times p10 O 10 ’20 500w
INGPEN, ROGER, ed.[2] One thousand poems for children. *$2.50 Jacobs 821.08
20–19453
This is a revised and enlarged edition of a former volume of “a choice of the best verse old and new” (Sub-title) which aims to provide poetry that is both pleasant to read and profitable to remember. The selection is graded according to the ages of children, ranging from the very little tot to the average child of fifteen and the poems are grouped under the headings: Rhymes for little ones; Cradle songs; Nursery rhymes; Fairy land; Fables and riddles; The seasons; Fields and woods; Home; Insects, birds and beasts; Humorous verse; Poems of patriotism and history; Ballads; Girlhood; Poems of praise; Miscellaneous. There are indexes of authors, first lines and titles.
INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT. COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. Report on the steel strike of 1919; with the technical assistance of the Bureau of industrial research, N.Y. *$2.50 Harcourt 331.89
20–16529
In this report by the Commission of inquiry of the Interchurch world movement, the basic facts of normal steel employment conditions are presented with the commission’s findings from a Christian viewpoint. These findings justify the strike in its central phase and substantiate the claim that conditions after the strike have remained the same—a situation characterized as a state of war that threatens the industrial peace of the nation. The first two chapters dwell on the inauguration of the inquiry, its scope and method, its conclusions and recommendations and on the general ignorance of the real conditions. The rest of the contents are: The twelve-hour day in a no-conference industry; Wages in a no-conference industry; Grievances and control in a no-conference industry; Organizing for conference; Social consequences of arbitrary control; Concluding (Christian findings); Appendices and index.
“The report is a challenging document and raises fundamental questions concerning industrial relationships which need to be raised.” G: M. Janes
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Am Econ R 10:877 D ’20 1900w
Booklist 17:13 O ’20
“One of the most important documents in the history of American industry. The report is crowded with revealing statistics and other important information, but its supreme value proceeds from the fact that its conclusions have been reached by investigators appointed by organizations that are ordinarily anything but friendly to labour.” W: Z. Foster
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Freeman 2:44 S 22 ’20 850w
“This report is a splendid example of scientific investigation in a field where prejudice and hysteria make rational judgments difficult. This work is invaluable.” James Oneal
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N Y Call p11 D 12 ’20 370w
Reviewed by L. K. Frank
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Pub W 98:663 S 18 ’20 260w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p655 O 7 ’20 90w
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Wis Lib Bul 16:232 D ’20 90w
“If we had greater faith in the efficacy of education by coercion we should like to make two books compulsory reading for every clergyman, newspaper editor, politician, and employer in the United States. These two books are ‘The great steel strike’ by W. J. Foster and ‘The steel strike of 1919,’ the report of the Interchurch world movement’s commission.”
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World Tomorrow 3:349 N ’20 560w
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF WOMEN PHYSICIANS. Proceedings of the international conference of women physicians. 6v $3; ea 75c Womans press 613
20–15934
The proceedings of a conference held under the auspices of the National board of the Y. M. C. A. in New York city, Sept. 17–Oct. 25, 1919. “The conference met in response to a conscious need on the part of the women physicians in America for free discussion of those problems that relate to the maintaining and improving of health by education and other constructive means.... The word ‘health,’ was to be taken in its fullest sense as meaning the well-being of the entire personality.” (Preface) The proceedings, issued in six volumes, contain the addresses of distinguished physicians and specialists, men as well as women, bearing on all aspects of the subjects of health of women and children, sex and marriage, social morality, etc. The six volumes are devoted to: General problems of health; Industrial health; The health of the child; Moral codes and personality; Adaptation of the individual to life; Conservation of the health of women in marriage.
“Both the physician and the layman can profitably read these discussions.”
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N Y P L Munic Ref Lib Notes 7:39 O 20 ’20 110w
IRWIN, FLORENCE. Poor dear Theodora! *$1.75 (2c) Putnam
20–6636
Theodora has race but no money. Her genteel family has all the pride of their poverty and Theodora shocks them by breaking away to earn her own living. She goes through a variety of experiences from companion to an invalid old lady and mother’s helper in a feminist’s household to war-worker. She has been dismissed from her first position because the old lady suspects her favorite nephew of being in love with her. She becomes engaged to a “newly rich” philanderer and breaks it off before it is too late. At last true love “will out” like murder and the old lady receives her with open arms. Incidentally the book abounds in reflections on current opinions, tendencies and fads.
“Theodora appeals to us, because of the sturdy independence of her mind and her conduct. Her natural individuality is developing. The novel excels in the delineation of character types.” D. L. M.
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Boston Transcript p8 Mr 20 ’20 950w
“The story is well written and will be enjoyed by those who care for this sort of fiction. Its chief fault is its length, which exceeds 400 pages.”
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N Y Times 25:168 Ap 11 ’20 600w
Spec 125:539 O 23 ’20 60w
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p442 Jl 8 ’20 170w
IRWIN, WALLACE ADMAH (GINGER, pseud.). Suffering husbands. *$1.75 (1½c) Doran
20–10767
A collection of short stories, first copyrighted by the Curtis Publishing Company. Contents: All front and no back; Monkey on a stick; Peaches and cream; Thunder; The goat; The light that paled; Free; Gasless Sunday; Mother’s milk.
Booklist 17:33 O ’20
Outlook 125:615 Ag 4 ’20 30w
IRWIN, WALLACE ADMAH (GINGER, pseud.). Trimmed with red. *$1.75 (2c) Doran
20–6843
A farcical story involving parlor Socialists and society Bolshevists. Rosamonde Vallant, the young and beautiful wife of a middle-aged and choleric husband, has just gone thru a course in esoteric eastern philosophy and wearying of it, has turned to revolution. Her cousin, Emily Ray, who is in love with Oliver Browning, uses Rosamonde’s house as a convenient meeting place. Oliver is a soldier who has been wounded in the service of his country, but alas the wound had come from the kick of an army mule and Aunt Carmen refuses to see him in a romantic light. Emily becomes deeply involved in bolshevist plots and a revolutionary professor falls in love with her, but she returns in the end to Oliver and his mules.
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Booklist 16:348 Jl ’20
Reviewed by R. M. Underhill
Bookm 51:443 Je ’20 60w
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Boston Transcript p8 S 15 ’20 370w
“Pure farce, but most of it is really funny.”
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Ind 103:323 S 11 ’20 40w
“He had a ‘grand and glorious’ opportunity to create another droll classic out of the materials used in this book. He did make an attempt in this direction—an attempt that is well worth reading. Measured by what it might have been, however, the book is a failure.” Ralph Cheyney
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N Y Call p10 Jl 18 ’20 550w
“Though the book is much too long and its humor of the most obvious kind, it is amusing, and no more absurd than the idiotic antics it is intended to caricature.”
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N Y Times 25:310 Je 13 ’20 450w
“Mr Irwin injects a lot of fun into his tale.”
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Springf’d Republican p9a Ag 15 ’20 190w
ISE, JOHN. United States forest policy. *$5 Yale univ. press 634.9
20–8898
“After an interesting historical account of forestry in the United States, the author discusses the development of an interest in forest conservation, the legislation dealing with the forests and the many unwise laws under which the forest lands have been stolen or the forests destroyed.” (Springf’d Republican) “Dr Ise shows how intricately the utilization of this great branch of natural resources has been bound up with the nation’s commercial development.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup)
“Thoroughly documented. Better for reference than for reading.”
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Booklist 17:58 N ’20
“Books like this by Mr Ise will contribute to the growth of public sentiment. Perhaps it is not too much to expect that professional historians may sometimes hear about it and include instruction in this phase of our economic history.” C: A. Beard
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Nation 112:187 F 2 ’21 480w
“A well written and nontechnical book.”
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Springf’d Republican p10 S 24 ’20 260w
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p480 Jl 29 ’20 460w
IVES, HERBERT EUGENE. Airplane photography. il *$4 (3½c) Lippincott 778
20–7599
Although airplane photography is of military origin, it has been the writer’s endeavor to treat the subject as a problem of scientific photography applicable to mapping and other peace-time pursuits. “It is assumed that the reader is already fairly conversant with ordinary photography. Considerable space has indeed been devoted to a discussion of the fundamentals of photography, and to scientific methods of study, test, and specification. This has been done because aerial photography strains to the utmost the capacity of the photographic process, and it is necessary that the most advanced methods be understood.” (Preface) 208 illustrations help to elucidate the text and there is an index.
Booklist 16:268 My ’20
“While not pretending to be exhaustive, it offers much interesting and useful information.”
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Cleveland p88 O ’20 30w
“This thorough technical treatise may be used as a practical manual for class or self instruction.”
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Outlook 124:431 Mr 10 ’20 50w
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Spec 124:625 My 8 ’20 130w
IVEY, PAUL WESLEY. Elements of retail salesmanship. *$2.25 Macmillan 658
20–3332
“Professor Ivey explains to the student first that he should know the goods that he intends to sell, and gives many useful hints as to the character of this knowledge. Next he expatiates on the necessity of his knowing and studying his customers. He picks out the elements of personality which make a successful salesman; these include enthusiasm, honesty, tact, courtesy, promptness and cheerfulness. He describes in detail the selling processes as well as store systems and methods, warning the student against many common errors and slips.”—N Y Evening Post
“An interesting and practical book for department store classes. Addressed to more mature minds than Norton [‘Text book on retail selling’] and more concerned with psychological principles.”
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Booklist 16:265 My ’20
“The information is put clearly and intelligently and the book is a good one of its kind.”
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N Y Evening Post p13 My 8 ’20 150w
J
JACKSON, ABRAHAM VALENTINE WILLIAMS. Early Persian poetry. il *$2.25 Macmillan 891.5
20–7452
“From the beginnings down to the time of Firdausi” (Sub-title) is the ground covered by this book, which aims “to give succinctly the main outlines of the several early periods, ... and to illustrate, by translations made from the original Persian, the characteristics of the various authors.... Many of the citations are only small fragments of verse from Persian poets so long dead that they have been evoked almost as shades from the far-distant past.... Some of the reliques of their works, however, are longer and have a fuller metrical tale to tell. The episode of Suhrab and Rustam, moreover, is a well-known classic in literature.” (Preface) Contents: Persian poetry of ancient days; The new awakening of Persian song after the Muhammadan conquest; the Tahirid and Saffarid periods; Rays from lost minor stars: earlier Samanid period; Rudagi, a herald of the dawn; Snatches of minstrel song; from the later Samanid period to the era of Mahmud of Ghaznah; Dakiki; The round table of Mahmud of Ghaznah: court poetry; Firdausi, and the great Persian epic; The Shah-namah; some selections translated; Epilogue. There are illustrations, a list of works of reference, a list of abbreviations, an alphabetical list of poets, a note on Persian pronunciation and an index.
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Booklist 17:61 N ’20
“Much as we must admire Professor Jackson’s zeal and fervor ... yet one can not but feel a sense of disappointment at the amateurishness of some of his versions, with their often clumsy use of ‘did’ and their woodeny structure.” N. H. D.
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Boston Transcript p7 Jl 10 ’20 650w
“Professor Jackson has added immeasurable value to his book by a large number of original translations that are skillfully done and still retain poetry in their phraseology. The author’s hope of carrying on his work is commendable, and it is to be desired that circumstances make it possible.”
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N Y Times 25:16 Je 27 ’20 200w
JACKSON, BENNETT BARRON, and others, comps. Thrift and success. il *$1.25 Century 331.84
19–12737
A compilation arranged by the superintendent and two teachers of the Minneapolis public schools. “Several selections are devoted to the general aspects of thrift, but the editors have wisely included a considerable number of selections describing such thrift agencies as savings banks, farm mortgages, postal savings banks, life insurance, and government bonds. The opportunities for wise investment, as well as the necessity for saving, are thus brought clearly to the reader’s attention. The book includes several little plays which teach a thrift lesson. There are, too, inspiring talks intended to stimulate children to make a success of themselves. A number of biographical sketches of prominent Americans of the past and present are included.” (Survey)
“A valuable occasional reader or teacher’s manual.”
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Booklist 16:151 F ’20
“All the selections teach definite, crisp lessons, and teachers interested in thrift instruction will find the book extremely suggestive.” G: F. Zook
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Survey 42:760 Ag 23 ’19 140w
JACOBS, EDWIN ELMORE.[2] Study of the physical vigor of American women; pref. by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. $1.50 Jones, Marshall 612
The author presents the results of some statistical studies made among college women. The outcome of the study is to show “that there is no real evidence of the decline in the physical vigor of the women of America.” And arguing that “the male half of the population of a country can neither be very far ahead or behind the female part in its general health,” he holds that his conclusions may apply to the population as a whole. The investigation was carried out along four lines: fertility, longevity, anthropological measurements and women’s athletics. There is a five-page list of references.
Booklist 17:99 D ’20
JACOBSEN, JENS PETER. Niels Lyhne; tr. from the Danish by Hanna Astrup Larsen. (Scandinavian classics) $2 (2½c) Am.-Scandinavian foundation
20–1700
A novel by the author of “Marie Grubbe.” It has been called a spiritual autobiography and in her introduction the translator sketches the relation of the novel to Jacobsen’s own life. It is the story of a dreamer who always falls short in his contacts with reality. Niels Lyhne’s mother spends her life in one long day dream, broken by disillusionments from which she hastens to take refuge in still further dreams. The infusion of this temperament in her son, though mixed with his father’s sterner stuff, renders all his efforts futile. The story opens with a beautiful account of Niels’s childhood with its friendship for two boy companions, and is carried through two love episodes, and a short period of happy marriage to his death in the war of 1864.
“The novel has the quality of a late autumn afternoon, a windless, tranquil hour of waiting, when both strong desire and strong regret are absent, and when in a mood of reverie and forgiveness we let the world glide from us. A sense of something honey-sweet, faded, and delicate pervades it. How deeply Jacobsen was the literary artist the Larsen translation unfortunately little reveals. Though it is more faithful to the original than the general run of translations to which we here in America have become accustomed, its prosiness and stiffness, its air of being all too patently the translation, prevent it from representing Jacobsen quite fairly.” Paul Rosenfeld
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Dial 68:644 My ’20 2150w
“The account of Niels Lyhne’s boyhood has a depth of insight even in matters of sex that is rare in the romance writers. Later the narrative seems a little hurried and huddled as though vitality to exhaust his subject had gradually failed the author. But this uncommonly sensitive translation of a memorable book is cordially to be welcomed.” L. L.
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Nation 110:sup488 Ap 10 ’20 200w
JAMES, GEORGE WHARTON. New Mexico; the land of the delight makers. (See America first ser.) il *$5 Page 917.89
20–6434
This is the third book about the southwest, a land he knows intimately, that Mr James has contributed to this series. California and Arizona were the subjects of the first books and he has found in New Mexico a theme of equal interest. As set forth in the long subtitle the aspects of New Mexico covered include “the history of its ancient cliff dwellings and pueblos, conquest by the Spaniards, Franciscan missions; personal accounts of the ceremonies, games, social life, and industries of its Indians; a description of its climate, geology, flora and birds, its rivers and forests; a review of its rapid development, land reclamation projects and educational system; with full and accurate accounts of its progressive counties, cities and towns.” Two interesting chapters deal with literature and art and among the illustrations are a number from paintings by artists of the Taos colony. There is a bibliography and the book is indexed.
“Like others of the series, a beautiful picture book.”
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Booklist 16:309 Je ’20
JAMES, HENRY. Letters of Henry James. 2v il *$10 Scribner
20–6773
In editing these volumes of letters, Mr Percy Lubbock has had a wide field for selection. For, as he says of Henry James, “He was at all times a copious letter-writer, overflowing into swift and easy improvisation to his family and to the many friends with whom he corresponded regularly. His letters have been widely preserved, and several thousands of them have passed through my hands, ranging from his twenty-fifth year until within a few days of his last illness.” (Introd.) In addition to the introduction which opens volume 1, the editor has contributed brief illuminating prefaces to the sections into which the volumes are divided. These divisions, for volume 1, are: First European years: 1869–1874; Paris and London: 1875–1881; The middle years: 1882–1888; Later London years: 1889–1897; and Rye, 1898–1903. Volume 2 comprises: Rye: 1904–1909; Rye and Chelsea: 1910–1914; and The war: 1914–1916. Notes are often provided for individual letters and an index adds to the value of the admirably edited work.
Reviewed by Sydney Waterlow
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Ath p537 Ap 23 ’20 2350w
“The portrait they paint of the novelist and his surroundings is so clear that the editor has needed merely to add here and there a prefatory note. These and the introduction are finely appreciative and adequate.”
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Booklist 16:279 My ’20
“The editor, Mr Lubbock, has compassed a dangerous undertaking in his selection and, while he offers many letters which illustrate the social side of his hero, he justly lays stress on the inclusion of literary themes. These letters bid fair to become a classic in English literature.” J. G. Huneker
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Bookm 51:364 My ’20 2700w
“Throughout them we find an abundance of literary comment upon his fellow writers which is pungent and vigorous, even if not always convincing.” E. F. E.
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Boston Transcript p10 Ap 10 ’20 1500w
Reviewed by Gilbert Seldes
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Dial 69:83 Jl ’20 3700w
“Mr Lubbock tells us that James left behind him scarcely a document that revealed any trace of the origins of his work. Of the origins of his spirit, his point of view, he yields us scarcely more in the way of documentary evidence. One apprehends him here indeed in certain aspects of intimacy as the son, as the brother, as, if not the friend, at least the fellow-artist, as, perhaps most warmly, the uncle. It is only—only—as the man that he foils our question.” V. W. B.
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Freeman 1:164 Ap 28 ’20 1700w
Lit D p89 Jl 10 ’20 3450w
“All the more, however, finding him thus restricted as to race and sympathies and images, do we find ourselves admiring the magnificent passion with which he worked at his art. His famous prefaces to his novels and tales are accepted as an indispensable handbook to the art of fiction. No less may his letters be considered indispensable to those serious students and fellow-artists who wish to observe a genius massively revolving and tirelessly experimenting.” C. V. D.
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Nation 110:690 My 22 ’20 2000w
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Nation [London] 27:178 My 8 ’20 1550w
“I am brash enough to venture the prediction that the best book of Henry James’s, the one with the widest appeal, the one with the most permanent interest, the one most easily read, is not to be found among those which he wrote for publication, but is this collection of his correspondence. What these letters bring before us vividly is a warm-hearted James, devoted to his family and dowered with the gift of friendship.” Brander Matthews
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N Y Times 25:151 Ap 4 ’20 2750w
“Whatever has been deleted does not harm that which gives pleasure and delight, surprising us by the clarity and directness of its style and by the warm sentiment of its friendship.”
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N Y Times 25:191 Ap 18 ’20 380w
“For half a century Henry James poured himself out to his friends in letters that are matchless for their prodigal and eager flow of sympathy, their inexhaustible kindliness, their ample and exquisite tenderness, their beautiful generosity. These letters are priceless.” Lawrence Gilman
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No Am 211:682 My ’20 3000w
“We have joked so long about the obscurity of his style as a novelist that this conception of him has become a habit with us. But now that his letters are published, we must alter our portrait.” M. J. Moses
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Outlook 125:167 My 26 ’20 2200w
“He has been fortunate in an editor who understands and relishes the peculiarities of the case. There is one general criticism to be made of the exhibition. The letters seem to have been edited, perhaps unconsciously, to emphasize the completeness of James’s English adoption.” S. P. Sherman
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Review 3:706 Jl 7 ’20 2350w
“We can only warn the reader who takes up these remarkable volumes that he will not find in them pretty anecdotes or gossip about notabilities: but he will find much excellent criticism and psychology, and he will find copiously and minutely displayed an intellect massive and yet subtle, and a character as nobly dignified as it was humanly attractive.”
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Spec 124:691 My 22 ’20 1500w
“One of the many rich interests of these volumes is to discern the reflection of the person written to, in the letter written.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a Je 6 ’20 1400w
JAMES, HENRY. Master Eustace. *$2 (3½c) Seltzer
“The five stories in this volume, together with the four included in ‘A landscape painter,’ appeared originally in American periodicals, but for some unknown reason were never issued by Henry James in book form in this country. The present volume, along with ‘A landscape painter,’ makes accessible to the American public the nine short stories of Henry James which hitherto have been accessible only in English editions of his works.” (Preface) The five stories, all written later than “A landscape painter” are: Master Eustace; Longstaff’s marriage; Théodolinde; A light man; and Benvolio.
“It is not to be imagined that because the stories in this collection are primarily concerned with the interplay of character they are slow-moving narratives, with a tendency to be diffuse. On the contrary, they are well-knit and direct in conception, and executed with richness, deftness in phrase and mood, and a quiet but keen wit.” Lisle Bell
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Freeman 2:381 D 29 ’20 540w
“No one need look for masterpieces among tales that Henry James declined to put between covers. The poorest inclusion in the book, and one of James’s very poorest bits of writing, is ‘Theodolinde.’ The book is valuable but not invaluable.”
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N Y Evening Post p17 D 4 ’20 320w
“They are written in a style transparently clear and straightforward, and are decidedly romantic in substance and form. Nothing in this book is equal to the stories in the preceding volume.” W: L. Phelps
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N Y Times p2 D 12 ’20 160w
JAMES, HENRY DUVALL. Controllers for electric motors. il *$3 Van Nostrand 621.317
20–174
“A treatise on the modern industrial controller, together with typical applications to the industries.” (Sub-title) The volume consists of articles originally published in the Electric Journal, with the addition of some new material. Partial list of contents: Introduction; Historical; Design details: How to read controller diagrams; Methods of accelerating motors; Starting characteristics of motors with different methods of control; Methods of speed control and dynamic braking; Direct current magnetic contactor controllers; Alternating current controllers; Resistors; Protective devices. There are 259 illustrations and an index.
Booklist 17:99 D ’20
JAMES, WILLIAM. Letters. 2v il *$10 Atlantic monthly press
20–23198
“It is, naturally enough, less the scientist and thinker than the man which is revealed in ‘The letters of William James,’ now edited, with all the necessary explanatory material by his son Henry James. This is as everybody should wish. For he was one of the greatest Americans in personal qualities as well as in powers of mind and these letters reveal him as he was. The energy and range of his mind and the prodigious richness of his personality are truly revealed in these two volumes. There are not a few valuable critical comments—such as his estimate of Santayana’s ‘Life of reason’—which are not otherwise accessible to the public, and there are no end of vivid impressions brilliantly or tenderly phrased.”—Springf’d Republican
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Booklist 17:152 Ja ’21
“These letters—arranged in two comely volumes by the sure and skilful hand of William James’s son—are full of wise and occasionally profound little annotations upon contemporary American life and manners. They will be treasured for the simple and delightful bits of self-revelation that they afford.” H: H. Lappin
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Bookm 52:557 F ’21 1150w
“Letters rarely disclose so much of a man in his entirety as do these. They are eloquent in manner and equally eloquent in their self-revelation. They are not merely ‘The letters of William James’; they are the record of an epoch in the history of philosophy and the chronicle of a notable family.”
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Boston Transcript p10 D 8 ’20 2150w
“Although the correspondence with his colleagues all over the world will be perhaps most eagerly read, the family letters are the most beautiful. But there are some letters which should never have been printed. In moments of heat and irritation James said things about persons he met and even about his colleagues at Harvard, which should not have been preserved in cold type.” W: L. Phelps
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N Y Times p2 D 12 ’20 1650w
“Whether we are seeking enjoyment or mental and spiritual uplift, we may approach these letters with assurance.” Joseph Mosher
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Pub W 98:1894 D 18 ’20 470w
“As there has been no other American, and indeed, no other man, like William James, so there can never be another collection of letters like his, full of a unique and precious personality. All who care for genius in its most human and most winning manifestations will find the book a treasure-house.”
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Springf’d Republican p7a D 12 ’20 2600w
JASTROW, MORRIS, jr. Book of Job; its origin, growth and interpretation. *$4 Lippincott 223
20–27474
The author regards the Book of Job as the most celebrated of the books of the Bible and the literary masterpiece of the Old Testament, and the object of the present volume is to aid in the better understanding and appreciation of the original, which has hitherto been blocked by defective translations and insufficient consideration of its composite authorship. The contents of Part 1, The origin, growth and interpretation of the Book of Job, are: The folktale of Job and the Book of Job; The three strata in the Book of Job; Changes and additions within the original Book of Job; How a skeptical book was transformed into a bulwark of orthodoxy; The Book of Job as philosophy and literature. Part 2 is then devoted to a new translation of the Book of Job, with plentiful annotations.
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Booklist 17:138 Ja ’21
“The work shows wide scholarship and in many passages the new version is impressive and beautiful. Yet, after all is said, in spite of the incorrectness of the King James version, in which, according to Dr Jastrow, one line in ten is wrong, one cannot help liking its style better than that of the new version.” N. H. D.
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Boston Transcript p3 D 8 ’20 1150w
“Professor Jastrow’s view will have to overcome not only traditional prejudice but also strong emotional attachment to the older view. But his volume is one which students of the Bible cannot ignore.”
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Outlook 126:767 D 29 ’20 380w
“This is a vastly interesting and important book, and it isn’t a book for preachers only, but for everybody who makes any pretence at all to an interest in good literature.” R. S. Lynd
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Pub W 98:1892 D 18 ’20 330w
JASTROW, MORRIS, jr. Eastern question and its solution. *$1.50 (6c) Lippincott 327
20–7859
The author holds that the problems of the Near East will continue to be a menace to the peace of the world until they are properly settled; that they cannot be properly settled without the cooperation of America, that America can only help by avoiding two contingencies—political complications and the dispatching of a large army across the sea—that mandatories involve both these contingencies and that the only satisfactory solution lies in the creation of international commissions. The last chapter is devoted entirely to a discussion of this solution. Contents: The failure of European diplomacy in the Near East; The present situation; Mandates not a solution of the eastern question; Internationalism as a solution of the eastern question; Insert map of Europe after the great war.
Booklist 16:299 Je ’20
“The fact that Professor Jastrow’s scheme has not been adopted does not in the least detract from its merits, in these days of flux and change; and a book like his is well worth while, if it helps to educate public opinion in this country on a question that involves us all, whether we like it or not.” C. R. H.
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Freeman 2:282 D 29 ’20 210w
“Optimism breeds optimism. Idealism is contagious. Such noble faith as Dr Jastrow’s is a real world asset.”
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N Y Times p4 Ag 15 ’20 600w
Outlook 125:507 Jl 14 ’20 50w
Reviewed by M. H. Anderson
Pub W 97:1293 Ap 17 ’20 250w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p406 Je 24 ’20 170w
JAY, WILLIAM. War and peace. *$1 Oxford 341.6
20–3783
As one of its publications the Carnegie endowment for international peace has issued a reprint of “War and peace,” published in 1842, with an introduction by James Brown Scott. William Jay, the author, was the son of John Jay, who helped frame the first peace treaty with Great Britain. Of his plan for maintaining peace, Mr Scott says, “Starting from the premise that we are free agents, that war is an evil, William Jay maintains that the extinction of other evils shows that war itself may be eliminated by the gradual growth of a public opinion against it and by the creation of agencies which nations can create and use just as individuals have created and used them.” The plan he outlines involves the creation of an international tribunal with power to arbitrate.
“The book still has its importance, and the plan proposed has in fact made its way into many treaties.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p243 Ap 15 ’20 120w
JEAN-AUBRY, G. French music of today; tr. by Edwin Evans. (Lib. of music and musicians) *$2 Dutton 780.9
(Eng ed 19–17080)
“The first two sections deal with French music and German music and The French foundations of present-day keyboard music. Among the composers touched on in two sections called Studies and physiognomies and Sketches for portraits are Massenet, Debussy, Roussel, Chabrier, D’Indy, Chausson, Duparc, Dukas, Ravel, and de Sévérac. A section on Music and poetry contains essays on Baudelaire and music and Verlaine and the musicians; the concluding section is on French music in England; and to this little volume M. Gabriel Fauré adds a preface.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) “Only the first chapter of the book is new, the others ranging over various periods, and in some cases dating as far back as 1906 and 1907, when the modern French achievement was virtually an unknown quantity in England.” (Ath)
“Makes up in enthusiasm what it lacks in clarity.”
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Ath p114 Mr ’19 60w
“M. Jean-Aubry is one of those enthusiastic apologists who almost disarm criticism by their sheer ingenuousness. Were it a volume of recent production, and a serious attempt at criticism, one would indeed be compelled to call his judgments in question on almost every page. A pamphlet which was opportune in 1909 may be rather tiresome ten years later.” R. O. M.
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Ath p757 Ag 15 ’19 550w
“The critical judgments of some of the older chapters and the propagandist tendency make the book somewhat untimely.”
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Booklist 16:231 Ap ’20
Brooklyn 12:13 O ’19 30w
“M. Jean-Aubry has given us the point of view of the modern French composer toward his art. The value of this contribution alone more than offsets any charge of propagandism that the book may bring forth, a charge that is partially refuted by the very fact that much of its contents was written long before the war.” Henrietta Straus
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Nation 110:527 Ap 17 ’20 650w