“An entertaining sentimental novel.”
“The social philosophy with which the book abounds is rather vague and ill-defined but the general idea has promise.”
Bradley, A. C.Shakespearian tragedy: lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth.$3.25. Macmillan.
“We are impelled to state our belief that we have here a criticism which, in its combination of profundity and brilliance, of subtlety and balance, of eloquence of expression and exactness of thought, surpasses any comprehensive treatment of Shakespeare since the great critics of the romantic revival.” William Allen Neilson.
Bradley, Arthur Granville.Captain John Smith; with a map of the Powhattan district of Virginia. 75c. Macmillan.
Relying chiefly upon Captain Smith’s personal narrative, the biographer sketches Smith’s early career in the high seas, his coming to America, his adventures here among the savages and his explorations, his return to the Old world and his quiet life there, and the end of his busy life.
“Admirable little book.”
“The volume is to be commended.”
“With all the author’s credulity, however, we have in this work one of the best accounts of Smith’s life that has been written.”
“The whole story is agreeably told, and the book in every way pleasant to read.”
“Considering the range of the hero’s career and the advantages the subject affords, the book is astonishingly tame—but one may count it as a fairly truthful picture of the man as candid historians have come to see him.”
“Is undeniably interesting, but is extremely uncritical.”
“Forms one of the best of the ‘Men of action’ series.”
“Mr. Bradley tells the tale in a pleasantly ironic style, where enthusiasm for the subject is mingled with a sense of his amazing and whimsical fortunes.”
Bradley, Arthur Granville.In the march and borderland of Wales. **$3. Houghton.
In this volume “Wales and its people and the eastern counties of England are happily described.... The book treats not only of the Marches of Wales, but of the English counties bordering on the principality.... Wherever Mr. Bradley wandered, he made notes and studied local history—not merely the history that one finds in books, but the history that is handed down by word of mouth.... Odds and ends ... that make this story vastly interesting to read.... Mr. Bradley was accompanied by a sympathetic artist, Mr. W. M. Meredith, whose pictures are pronounced excellent and accurate by the author.... A good index completes the volume.”—N. Y. Times.
“Here is a long book, disfigured by blunders so numerous that they arrest the attention abruptly and make the act of reading far less agreeable than it ought to be.”
“He knows how to write and what to write.”
“For the average American reader the treatment is sometimes over-minute and leisurely.”
“Is a guide-book, a history, an atlas, and an appreciation of Wales, all in one.”
“The book is, we think, decidedly superior to the author’s two volumes of ‘Highways and byways’ and quite on a level with ‘Owen Glyndwr.’ Such slips notwithstanding, this itinerary is a brilliant piece of work for which all dwellers and tourists on the March should be duly grateful to the author.”
“Every page has some new and various interest. And the pleasantest part of the whole thing, perhaps, is the waiter’s own fresh, good-humored, kindly, enthusiastic spirit.”
Brady, Cyrus Townsend.My lady’s slipper. **$1.50. Dodd.
“Another charming love story.”
Brady, Cyrus Townsend.Patriots. †$1.50. Dodd.
“General Lee is the noble figure put upon a fitting pedestal in this romance of our Civil war. A tangled love affair straightens itself out by the simple device of mismatched lovers seeing their error and turning to their soul mates before it is too late.”—Outlook.
“The writer has, moreover, a pretty knack of working up his historical argument, and he has really read widely and wisely in American annals.” W. M. Payne.
“His last novel is, by all odds, the best he has ever written, but that is not saying enough to recommend it.” Mrs. L. H. Harris.
Brady, Cyrus Townsend.True Andrew Jackson. *$2. Lippincott.
The “True biographies” series aims at no formal biography in chronological order. In keeping with this purpose the author says, “here is an attempt to make a picture in words of a man; to exhibit personality; to show that personality in touch with its human environment; to declare what manner of man was he whose name is on the title page. Not to chronicle events, therefore, but to describe a being; not to write a history of the time, but to give an impression of a period associated with its dominant personal force, has been my task.” Thus the work is an intimate personal sketch of the man, based upon years of study.
“Mr. Brady seems to have placed a rather uncritical dependence upon Parton and the two recent biographies of Colyar and Buell, and to have wholly ignored the collection of Jackson papers in the Library of Congress, a collection that is unique for the vivid insight it gives into Jackson’s character.”
“Mr. Brady’s picture is neither true nor plausible.”
“There is too much quotation, and the result is too much like a scrap-book. Mr. Brady has made a closer study of Jackson than most of the recent authorities quoted by him, and his judgment, not theirs, should have been given.”
“The historical background is weak, and the forces which shaped the hero’s life are but half understood.”
“He is uncritical and undiscriminating in the use of material. The book is, of course, not faultless in accuracy of detail. He is always fair.”
“His work is further open to objection as ill-proportioned, abounding in extreme statements, and uncritical—defects which quite outweigh the considerations that it is vivacious, rich in anecdote, and thoroughly readable.”
“Little new knowledge is added to the work of previous biographers.”
“Most readers will be indebted to him for not a few facts that they could not have gleaned from a reading of Parton or any other of Jackson’s numerous biographers.”
“With laudable impartiality, but without much claim to clearness of arrangement or distinction of style, Mr. Brady has brought together a mass of facts which fairly justify the title of his book.”
Brady, Cyrus Townsend, and Peple, Edward Henry.Richard the brazen. $1.50. Moffat.
In this amusing comedy the vigorous hero, in the guise of a cowboy, rescues the heroine, who is the daughter of his father’s ex-partner in business, from a cattle stampede. Then he follows her to New York and, owing to a lucky accident, is enabled to masquerade as a young English earl and thus throw aside paternal prejudice and find time and opportunity to win the daughter. When all is explained the heroine does not regret her lost coronet but welcomes the discovery of her cowboy rescuer in the person of her audacious American lover.
“Clever and entertaining story.”
“The tone of this novel will not commend it to those who appreciate work of the first order.”
“A novel which makes good reading for a winter’s night, or, for that matter, for any time.”
Brain, Belle Marvel.All about Japan; stories of the sunrise land told for little folks. **$1. Revell.
“A pleasantly written book.”
“The book would have been much better if it had not been leveled down, and if it had been expurgated of most of its piety—not its religion.”
Brainerd, Eleanor Hoyt.Concerning Belinda.$1.50. Doubleday.
“Any one who has followed the diverting ‘Nancy’ through her various ‘misdemeanours’ and other sensations will not be disappointed in the new character Belinda.” G. W. A.
Brainerd, Eleanor Hoyt.In vanity fair: a tale of frocks and femininity.*$1.50. Moffat.
“A bright, chatty, and quite superficial account of certain phases of Parisian life, such as many newspaper people could throw off, and not a few could do better.” (N. Y. Times.) “She calls her views snapshots of the inner courts of Vanity fair, and the representation must be viewed entirely apart from any moral or ideal sentiment. Frocks, dining, races, sport, hunting, fashionable Paris in its most extravagant follies, with Americans following hard after, make up the record.” (Outlook.)
“The book, whether or not satisfactory as a whole, is entertaining.”
“The book of this season that most strongly commends itself as a gift to a traveler, especially to a woman, is ‘In vanity fair.’”
“Manages to treat a frail and trivial subject with much skill.”
“A very entertaining, gossipy book about French women.”
Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen.Main currents in nineteenth century literature.6v. v. 4 and 6. v. 4, *$3; v. 6, *$3.25. Macmillan.
Volume six deals with “Young Germany,” and covers the period lying between the Congress of Vienna and the great revolutionary years of the mid-century.
“The present volume is one of the most interesting and admirable in the series. It gives the author abundant opportunity for the display of his extraordinary psychological gifts.”
“It is difficult to keep within bounds our admiration for the energy, the insight, and the profound philosophical basis of this masterwork of criticism.”
“He wrote in the full tide of liberalism, and his opinions are manifestly colored by political affiliations, but he writes always with spirit. The translation in the present edition is idiomatic, and, so far as we have examined, accurate.”
“Miss Morison, who has translated the last three volumes of the series, is responsible for much of the interest of the book; her translation is easy and fluent, to a very large extent, throwing down the bars between a foreign writer and an English reader, and much of the book’s interest is due to her.”
“As a whole, the study shows literary insight, breadth of view, and treatment vitalized by deep human sympathies.”
Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen.On reading: an essay. *75c. Duffield.
Dr. Brandes answers the three questions why, what, and how to read, incidentally giving good advice on the subject of owning a library.
Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen.Reminiscences of my childhood and youth.**$2.50. Duffield.
The reader follows this autobiography in the spirit of its synthetic presentation. Especially interesting is the transitional period when the formative forces became apparent, when religious, philosophical, and social ideas were vaguely demonstrating a resolving principle. It is a thoroughly subjective sketch, and its introspective character appeals rather to the philosophical student than the casual reader.
“Perhaps the most notable characteristic of the book is the address with which the writer manages to convey the impression of his own personality and at the same time to suggest the influences of his early environment.”
“What the most famous critic has to tell us is of interest in view of his position and personality, and it is charmingly told.”
“The vigor and the vitality which characterize his treatment of other writers are equally characteristic of this account of his own career, and in part even to the most trivial happenings a high degree of interest.” Wm. M. Payne.
“A two-fold value may be attached to this work. It is a piece of self-revelation by a master of psychological analysis, and it is a picture of events and personages prominent on the page of European history in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, seen through the prism of a very rich temperament.”
“The translation of the book is, unfortunately, not very good. Not only is Brandes’s nervous, individual style entirely lost, but the translator shows lamentable ignorance of idiomatic English.”
“While there is little in the narrative that is of permanent value, it is an interesting exercise to assume the writer’s point of view, and look out of the windows he opens toward the world of social, artistic, and literary movement.”
Breal, Auguste.Velazquez, tr. by Mme. Simon Bussy. *75c; lea. *$1. Dutton.
“He has plenty of enthusiasm in his heart, but he writes with moderation, and his little book forms an almost ideal introduction to the study of Velasquez.” Royal Cortissoz.
Breasted, James Henry.Ancient records of Egypt: historical documents from the earliest times to the Persian conquest, collected, edited and translated with commentary. 5v. ea. *$3. Univ. of Chicago press.
A five volume work which when completed by the last volume next fall will constitute a full and reliable source book of Egyptian history. The work is intended as a companion to the author’s “History of Egypt,” and in scope covers chronologically arranged inscriptions from the earliest records to the final loss of Egyptian independence by the Persian conquest.
“The general arrangement of the work seems excellent, and Dr. Breasted’s translations leave nothing to be desired.”
“The series is admirably planned and executed and promises to be of immense value to all workers in these lines.”
“No student of ancient history can be satisfied without access to this important work.”
“When the promised index to these translated records has been issued, Professor Breasted may be cordially congratulated on having begun and ended a great task, by the successful accomplishment of which he has put the study of Egyptian history on an entirely new footing.” F. Ll. Griffith.
“Such source-books are invaluable to the student of Egyptian history.” Ira Maurice Price.
“The fullest as well as the most vivid and interesting that has ever been written.” F. Ll. Griffith.
“It is time that such a work as this by Professor Breasted were provided.”
“Professor Breasted has accomplished a very difficult task never before accomplished, and one which is greatly to the credit of himself and of the Chicago university.”
“The whole series of volumes is indispensable not only to the Egyptologist but also to the historian, and will be found interesting even by ‘the general reader.’”
Breasted, James Henry.History of Egypt from the earliest times to the Persian conquest. **$5. Scribner.
“This book fills a great want. The writer seems to me to view Egypt too often not as a critic but as an over-enthusiastic lover and admirer, a fault rather general with the older school of Egyptologists. The treatment of the transliteration of Egyptian names, abounding in unwarranted innovations and inconsistencies, is hardly suited to a popular work.” W. Max Müller.
“Pitfalls have been avoided by Dr. Breasted, and in the result, and subject to the caution we have indicated, his book is the best so far at the disposal of the general reader.”
“The best single-volume history of Egypt yet published. The work is intended for the general public rather than the specialist.”
“Professor Breasted has shown remarkable skill in weaving together the scattered fragments of information that we possess covering the whole period of his treatment; and the result is a vigorous, popular, and highly interesting narrative account—even though sometimes severely condensed—of the political, religious, and social life of the ancient Egyptians.” Ira Maurice Price.
“He has, in a word, and without abating a jot of authority, invested the most arid as well as the most intensely human topics of Egyptology with a fresh interest. To us its most serious defect lies in the unduly high valuation of the influence of the Nile valley people on the earliest civilization of Southern Europe.”
“His style ... is singularly vigorous and lucid. Professor Breasted never forgets that his book is a history and not an archaeological treatise, and this is one of his great merits.”
“The student will look in vain for any other one work so well adapted as this volume is to give him his first broad ideas and impressions of the beginning of civilization and of the great general tendencies of social evolution which have been exemplified in the development of all peoples ancient and modern.” Franklin H. Giddings.
“Little seems to have escaped his notice, and the story is put together out of it in a pleasant and readable way.”
Brennan, Rev. Martin S.What Catholics have done for science: with sketches of the great Catholic scientists. 3rd. ed. $1. Benziger.
A general refutation of the two wide-spread notions that when a man devotes himself to science, he must necessarily cease to be a Christian and that the Catholic church is hostile to scientific progress.
Brent, Rt. Rev. Charles Henry.Adventure for God; six lectures delivered in 1904. **$1.10. Scribner.
Bishop Brent of the Philippine islands appeals to the intellect, thru the imagination in his six lectures, The vision, The appeal, The response, The quest, The equipment, and The goal.
“Bishop Brent outlines in vivid, effective form the impetus, character, and purpose or goal of the active Christian life. The style is vigorous and direct and the thought is practical and helpful.”
Bridges, Robert (Droch, pseud.).Demeter: a mask. *85c. Oxford.
“In ‘Demeter’, a masque written for and acted by the ladies of Somerville College, Oxford, the author tells the old tale of the rape of Persephone, of Demeter’s quest for her, and of her return as queen of Hades, to live in this world only during the flower-time. His variation upon the simplicity of the tale is his mystical account of Persephone’s experiences in the nether-world, where she learns the hidden darkness of evil.”—Spec.
“The verse throughout is extraordinarily interesting, and there is much to rank with the best of modern verse, both in its novelty and in its excellence.”
“It is but fair to observe that correctness and decorum usually attend the march of Mr. Bridges’s metrical battalions.” Edith M. Thomas.
“He had things that were worth saying and he has said them; but they are not the mighty things that Milton had it in him to say, nor has he the organ voice at the sound of which all other voices know that their part is silence.”
“The versification, where he is content to be normal, is easy and flowing, the diction graceful and worthy of the subject, but the beauty of the myth is too often overlaid with philosophisings which are not startlingly original.”
“In the main the verse has that grave perfection of form which Mr. Bridges almost alone of the moderns can achieve.”
Bridgman, Raymond Landon.World organization. 50c. Ginn.
“The present volume is an important contribution to the literature of peace and progress. In it Mr. Bridgman discusses the subject of world organization in the clear and able manner of one who has thoroughly mastered his theme.” (Arena.) The chief subjects discussed are: The world constitution, The world legislature, The world judiciary, The world executive, World legislation already accomplished, World business now pending. Forces active for world unity, and World organization secures world peace.
“It is an important contribution to the literature that makes for a permanent upward-moving civilization.”
Brierley, J. (“J. B.,” pseud.).Eternal religion. **$1.40. Whittaker.
Making use of the “heritage of the past centuries, with their vast endeavors after ultimate truth, and at the same time of a scientific method for assaying their results” the author first sets forth principles, necessary to an understanding of the theme as a whole, then deals with some of the leading positions of Christianity, and devotes the succeeding chapter to application of religion, as he expounds it, to some of the prominent present-day problems.
“In Mr. Brierley’s treatment of his subject, breadth and discrimination are equally apparent. For all religious teachers, and for any who are perplexed with religious problems, it would not be easy to find a more stimulating and helpful book.”
“We have read this book with much interest and with frequent agreement. On the other hand, we find much that is impossible to accept.”
Briggs, Charles Augustus.Critical and exegetical commentary on the book of Psalms. 2v. v. I. **$3. Scribner.
“This volume includes the introduction to the entire Psalter and the Commentary on Pss. 1–50.... Especial attention is given in the commentary to the poetical form, each psalm being translated with the due attention to the parallelism and recognition of the strophic structure. The critical position of the author might be called conservative in these days when many interpreters are denying the existence of pre-exilic psalms in the Psalter.”—Bib. World.
“The introduction is full and thorough, packed with learning.”
“His work upon it is not likely to be excelled in learning, both massive and minute, by any volume of the ‘International series,’ to which it belongs.”
“Dr. Briggs’s introduction is a monument of industry and learning.”
Brinkmeyer, Rev. Henry.Lover of souls: short conferences on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. *$1. Benziger.
Nineteen helpful conferences which treat from a Roman Catholic standpoint of: Devotions in the church, Love manifested in creation, The exceeding great reward, The memorial, The bread of life, The sacrifice, Reparation, The malice of sin, The satisfaction for sin, and other kindred subjects.
Brinton, Davis.Trusia: a princess of Krovitch.†$1.50. Jacobs.
Of the same old ingredients, an obscure corner of Europe, a revolution, a beautiful and throneless princess, and an adventurous American, the author has made a stirring and interesting tale. He carries his readers and his hero in a touring car from a New York club to Krovitch, an ancient kingdom on the borderland of Russia, where there is bloodshed and treachery, war and intrigue, in plenty. There the hero’s valet becomes a king, and the hero wins the love of a princess, Trusia, who after all is better fitted to be the wife of a wealthy New Yorker than mistress of a crumbling medieval castle.
“The proceedings are by turns stirring, comic, and pathetic. If there were less real gore and real killing it would read like unstaged extravaganza. Even as it is it seems widowed without light music.”
“There are plenty of exciting incidents, which begin with the first page and end with the last, and they are woven together with a fair amount of skill into a plot that is coherent and sufficiently reasonable.”
Brooke, Stopford Augustus.On ten plays of Shakespeare. *$2.25. Holt.
“To the reader who has thought much about Shakespeare and is not new to Shakespearian criticism the book is disappointing in its meagreness. The author, while not going beyond what has been said by his predecessors, writes almost as if he had had none.”
Reviewed by William Allen Neilson.
“It is marked throughout by thorough scholarship, keen critical acumen, and refined taste.”
“To make us see more in Shakespeare, that is the writer’s desire. There have been few books so single-minded as this.” Edward E. Hale, jr.
“His inferences are generally reasonable, and his statements of facts accurate. But it is not clear that any very definite addition has been made by the publication of this book to the common stock of knowledge.” R. W. Chambers.
“They consist mainly of moral and esthetic commonplaces interrupted by occasional flashes of original insight.”
“The remaining plays chosen by Mr. Brooke are treated with equal individuality and insight, and with a finish and charm of style which would render the volume eminently readable, even to a jaded student of Shakespeare.” Jessie B. Rittenhouse.
“Unhappily Mr. Brooke’s insight and sympathy appear to be in an inverse ratio to the importance of the subjects on which they are exercised.”
“They are all the product of a fresh and imaginative mind, alive to all the subtle influences of poetry, and capable of conveying its impressions to others. Perhaps the best of all are those upon ‘As you like it’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet.’”
Brookfield, Charles, and Brookfield, Frances.Mrs. Brookfield and her circle. 2v. **$7. Scribner.
“The work of the editors is well done, and the book is sure to take its place among remembered annals of the Victorian period.” H. W. Boynton.
“Are quite as interesting as any other Brookfield volumes that have been published; and this is paying them the highest compliment.” Jeannette L. Gilder.
“There are fifteen portraits, all remarkably good; so good in fact as to give a value to the book in spite of the lack of judgment and good workmanship which characterize the editing.”
“It is really in these letters that the claim of the book to be here noticed lies, for the connecting paragraphs and the descriptions of the principal personages which come from the pens of the two compilers, are done in a somewhat loose and careless fashion, which shows itself even in the numerous misprints or misspellings of proper names we encounter.”
“The letters speak for themselves and are so complete in their reflection of the times and the people they represent that the slender thread connecting them is hardly more than a placing in order.”
Brooks, Hildegard.Larky furnace and other adventures of Sue Betty. $1.25. Holt.
Sue Betty worried about things in the nighttime and as a result she had many surprising adventures. She followed the larky furnace that went out nights and discovered what a really giddy creature he was, she met a pirate in the lighthouse where she went to see her cousin do light housekeeping, she rode delightedly on a saddle-moose, she interviewed the editor of the powder magazine in behalf of her uncle’s rejected manuscript, and she did many other interesting things all of which are found in this volume.
Brooks, William Keith.The oyster; a popular summary of a scientific study. *$1. Hopkins.
“The book is of great interest as a contribution to both natural and industrial history.”
“This book is interestingly written and well illustrated.”
Broughton, Rhoda.Waif’s progress. $1.50. Macmillan.
Brown, Alice.County road. †$1.50. Houghton.
“The thirteen stories that make this volume are excellent reading. Most of them are set in the kitchens and dooryards of New England houses; nearly all are enveloped in the young green of spring, and every one deals with a human predicament.”—Nation.
“There is no abatement of cleverness and there is an increase of rational motive, which both go to make a heartily agreeable volume.”
“Those to whom the stories are new have a rare pleasure before them. Those who have lingered lovingly over the tales as they appeared in the magazines will rejoice in their possession in permanent form.”
“They pass through pleasant places, they are free from haste, and they are frequented by quaint, simple, original people.”
Brown, Alice.Court of love. †$1.25. Houghton.
The Court of love “where everybody has what he likes and likes what he has,” was naturally looked upon by the world as a lunatic asylum, but it was merely the whim of a girl who had not found happiness and who wished to make other people happy. Julia Leigh’s unrestrained hospitality involves her in strange complications not of her planning, but by her fantastic masque she succeeds in re-uniting her best friend to a forgetful husband, in restoring a lost child to its uncle, in giving a burglar his deserts, in providing a real vacation for a houseful of strangers, and finally in securing for herself her heart’s desire. The whole is a pretty farce-comedy.
“No outline of its plot—if there be such a thing about it—could convey the least sense of its bubbling humor and joyously riotous course.” W. M. Payne.
“It has the piquancy of plot and an ease of expression that are refreshing.”
“The plot is merry and farcical, quite absurd in fact, but some of the characters are cleverly amusing. On the whole, however, the little play is not up to the author’s usual high standard.”
Brown, Alice.Paradise. †$l.50. Houghton.
“It is a story of strong human interest, tender and humorous, and in its peculiar way strangely attractive.”
“The larger relations of life, with which the book professes to deal, it handles, after all, rather half-heartedly; its real delight lies in the pages of humorous observation, its delineations of eccentric character. Miss Brown has done bigger and more enduring work.”
Brown, Anna Robeson (Mrs. C. H. Burr, jr.).Wine-press. †$1.50. Appleton.
Reviewed by Mary Moss.
Brown, Arthur Judson.New forces in old China: an unwelcome but inevitable awakening. **$1.50. Revell.
“The most obvious omission is that of the vital matter of education, but with the help of the index even this defect may in a measure be supplied.”
Brown, Charles Reynolds.Social message of the modern pulpit. **$1.25. Scribner.
The Lyman Beecher lectures on preaching delivered at Yale during 1905–6. “The burden of the lectures is that it is the chief duty of the clergy, at least in the present situation, to inculcate true principles of social action and become leaders in the work of social reconstruction.” (Nation.)
“His appeal is rarely to facts of personal observation or to what might be called the original documents of sociological controversy, but is commonly to writers whose entire fairness and inerrancy have yet to be proved.”
“Vitalized throughout by a strenuous moral tone, insisting on the supremacy of spiritual ends and values, these lectures are characterized also by the breadth of view and sanity of judgment which comes of long and friendly contact with the interests both of trade and unionists and capitalists in California.”
“The man who thinks that the message of Christianity is an academic discussion of theological matters would do well to read this volume. For every clergyman the reading of it is a duty.”
Brown, Horatio Robert Forbes.In and around Venice. *$1.50. Scribner.
“Other books may tell us much of Venice; Mr. Brown gives us Venice from the Venetian point of view.”
“Justifies all expectations. He does not write simply of its picturesque aspects. He is learned in all the lore of the region, historical, geographical, practical and artistic.”
Brown, John A. Harvie-.Travels of a naturalist in northern Europe: Norway, 1871, Archangle, 1872, Petchora, 1875. il. 2v. *$20. Wessels.
These two volumes contain the journals which Mr. Harvie-Brown, “an accomplished ornithologist and enthusiastic faunist,” kept from day to day during the expeditions to Norway, Archangle and Petchora. “The real value and purpose of the book, however, lie in the observations of the author and his companions on bird and animal life,—observations that are minutely correct and scientific, and will be of interest to those deeply versed in bird and animal lore.” (Dial.)
“The book is rather one for a naturalist’s library than for general reading, yet there are many passages of character and travel which no reader could fail to appreciate.”
Reviewed by H. E. Coblentz.
“There are some instructive notes on the habits both of birds and men, for all of which one is grateful, wishing only that there had been more of this wheat and less of the journalistic chaff.”
Brown, Marshall, ed. Humor of bulls and blunders. **$1.20. Small.
A book of fun primarily designed to amuse, and negatively to suggest the importance of clear expression and simplicity of style. There are educational, parliamentary, political, and typographical bulls and blunders, there are humorous arraignments of advertisements, epitaphs, and letters, and there is comedy in careless sentence structure, punctuation and wrong use of words.
“A merry book, a book full of mirth-provoking passages. He seems to have captured everything in his line.”
Brown, Vincent.Sacred cup. †$1.50. Putnam.
“The title refers to the sacrament of the Communion. The central characters are a gentle clergyman, a young man, and a young woman.... Before the story opens a man has seduced a village girl, who dies after giving birth to a child. The child is brought up in the clergyman’s house, a fact which scandalizes many people. Presently the vicar hits upon the identity of the child’s father, who becomes engaged to the Lady Bountiful of the district. There comes a day when the vicar feels obliged to refuse to administer the sacrament to this unconfessed sinner, and upon that action the whole book hinges.”—Ath.
“We have found the novel extremely interesting, for the plot is well worked out and the characters are clearly developed.”
“The conclusion is ineffective, and, notwithstanding a certain cleverness, the novel cannot be called a success.”
“This is altogether the best piece of fiction written by Mr. Brown.”
“It may be occasionally dull, but it is never cheap; while in conception it is tender, and even noble, and it yields passages of real delicacy and sensitiveness to spiritual beauty.”
“There is decided ability and moving power in the scenes when the quiet, timid little rector stands true to his religious conviction and sacrifices his interests and his human ties.”
“The story is lacking in many essential elements of strength, as well as in a completely balanced development of the characters.”
Brown, William Garrott.Life of Oliver Ellsworth. **$2. Macmillan.
“Besides being a biography and concerned particularly with the career of Ellsworth, the book also presents a picture of life in New England in Colonial times—the life of the people, picturesque scenes, and many episodes.” (N. Y. Times.) “Much hitherto unpublished material is brought to light, the arrangement is as a rule excellent, and the impression left is that of a clean cut portrait of a fine old Connecticut and American patriot.” (Outlook.)
“I cannot venture to say that it is absolutely free from error, for I have not scrupulously sought for blunders; but those I have noticed are trivial. The book is well written because the English style is clear, straight-forward, and simple, not over-elaborated or striving for effect.” A. C. McLaughlin.
“Much information which is not readily, if at all to be found elsewhere.”
“A clear and sane account of a worthy patriot and jurist is given by a practiced historian in this volume.”
“The life story [is] ... unfolded clearly and in an interesting way. At times Mr. Brown troubles himself overmuch about petty details, and at others betrays an undue enthusiasm for his hero. But his work—which is based on original research and makes available not a little hitherto unpublished material—has the signal merit of affording a better insight not alone into Ellsworth’s character and activities, but into the temper of the times in which he lived.”
“His biographer, accordingly, finds a dearth of material, and is forced to rely much upon that indispensable and most dangerous faculty of the historian—imagination. As a judicious and sympathetic study of a notable American statesman and jurist, the volume is heartily to be welcomed.”
“In William Garrott Brown’s book on his life and works the treatment is as ample as could be desired, if, indeed, it be not a trifle too detailed for easy reading.”
Brown, William Haig.Carthusian memories and other verses of leisure. *$1.60. Longmans.
“A little volume of occasional and other verses by the late head master of Charterhouse, collected by his daughter. These verses represent some of the thoughtful hours of ease crowning days of toil, and reflect a gentle, kindly man whether in serious or more humorous moods.... These pages contain no mere jingling rhymes, although they show the light touch of an accomplished versifier, the work being invariably easy and natural. Dr. Haig Brown is equally at home in English or Latin, French or Greek or German.... The many specimens of prologues for Old Carthusian theatricals show a pen as facile as that of Dryden, and the four-foot rhyming Latin lines, might have come from a skilful mediaeval monk.”—Ath.
“There is in all these sets of verses ... a warmth of heart and an affection ... for the school over which he reigned for thirty-four years together with a quiet sense of fun.”
“A congeries of scholarly good things.”
“The general reader will find the book not without a peculiar charm, which it derives less, perhaps, from its graceful art than from its attractive humanity.”
Brown, William Horace.Glory seekers: the romance of would-be founders of empire in the early days of the Southwest. **$1.50. McClurg.
These true stories which read like romance are mainly of men who “standing on the rugged confines of civilization in America at an early period of our national life, sought distinction by attempting to hitch their wagons to the star of empire.” Here are recorded Wilkinson’s “treasonable enterprise,” “Citizen” Genet’s undertakings, disgrace of Senator Blount, Burr’s arrest, Philip Nolan’s expedition to Texas, the Magee expedition to Texas and Mexico and other glory-seekers’ efforts to invade the Southland.
“The book is well done and is interesting.”
“Mr. Brown narrates the facts fairly enough, but still with that due regard for the picturesque which the subject seems to demand.”
“The stories are worth re-telling, and the author tells them most interestingly.”
“He has also sacrificed critical caution to the desire to be entertaining, and his work is further marred by a flippancy of style strangely out of keeping with the theme and in itself conducing to weaken any claim his book may have to serious consideration.”
Browne, George Waldo.St. Lawrence river: historical, legendary, picturesque. **$3.50. Putnam.
“It is in delineating the picturesque that Mr. Browne is at his best, but even here we usually have rhapsody rather than sane description. It would be tedious even with space at one’s disposal to point the dozens of mistakes in the book. Enough has been written to show that Mr. Browne was not equal to the task before him.”
Browne, Nina Eliza, comp. Bibliography of Nathaniel Hawthorne. *$5. Houghton.
The initial volume in a series of bibliographies of prominent fiction writers. The author, the secretary of the American library association publishing board, has spent sixteen years upon her task, and has included entries of everything that can be found in print by and about Hawthorne, with references also to all the articles that were called forth by the recent Hawthorne centenary.
“The book is comprehensively arranged, and the items for the most part very completely covered, so that the volume stands as a genuine contribution to bibliographical literature, and must prove invaluable to the Hawthorne student.”
“Miss Browne has done a remarkably good piece of work in her bibliography of Hawthorne.”
Browning, Oscar.Napoleon: the first phase: some chapters on the boyhood and the youth of Bonaparte, 1769–1793. *$3.50. Lane.
“He has carefully gathered the necessary materials and arranged them in excellent order forthose to whom French books are sealed. The digest, too, is fair and discriminating.”
“Does not claim to be more than a summary of MM. Chuquet and Mason’s works on Napoleon’s early years.” L. G. W. L.
Browning, Robert.Select poems; arranged in chronological order, with biographical and literary notes by Andrew Jackson George. $1.50. Little.
Browning, Robert.Selected poems; with biographical sketch by Charlotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke. $1.25. Crowell.
Browning in the “Thin paper poets” edition is a companion for daily walks, easily pocketed. The fact that Charlotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke contribute the biographical sketch vouches for its literary quality and authoritativeness. The frontispiece is a reproduction of his last photograph made in 1889.
Browning, Robert.Selections from Browning; ed. with introd. and notes by Robert Morss Lovett. *30c. Ginn.
A collection for the person who has not read Browning. The order in which they would easily appeal to such a reader has been followed, giving first poems of action and narration; second, poems of places; third, love poems; and fourth, poems of character.
Bruce, William Samuel.Social aspects of Christian morality. *$3.50. Dutton.
Believing that the social problems are at the foundation personal and moral problems, the author would solve them “in accordance with the principles of justice and equity.” He discusses the following subjects: Scope and method of social ethics. Christian ethics, The family, Marriage, Family life and relationships, The state, The national state, State intervention, The civic power, The Christian state, Public morality and the state, The social mind and the press, Ethics of war, Ethics of art, Science and Education.
“Dr. Bruce cannot be said to have made any real contribution to the discussion of his theme.”
“Simplicity, practicality, and sedate strength characterize these lectures.”
Brummitt, Daniel B.Epworth league methods. *$1. Meth. bk.
“The Epworth league movement is here set forth with such attention to detail that the book will be found a working hand-book, sufficient to give every chapter a complete and not easily exhausted scheme of work, with most of the plans worked out in full,” and it will be of interest and value to the thousands of young people of the Methodist church who are enrolled under the league’s banners thruout the United States.
Bryan, William Jennings.Letters to a Chinese official: being a western view of eastern civilization. **50c. McClure.
Written by way of reply to the “Letters from a Chinese official” by Mr. Lowe Dickinson. They have grown out of Mr. Bryan’s recent travels in the Orient, and discuss such subjects as Chinese civilization overrated, Western civilization underrated, The folly of isolation, Labor-saving machinery, Government, The home, Without a mission, and Christianity versus Confucianism.