“These criticisms are smartly done, and there is plenty of suggestion in most of them. They are well up to the average papers of the sort. Of the necessity for them in book form we are not so sure.”
“They are eminently readable; they are manifestly the result of very careful work; they are often marked by ingenuity and force. In his ‘Dedicatory letter’ Mr. Lord writes a little wildly.”
Lorenz, Daniel Edward.Mediterranean traveller. *$2.50. Revell.
“It has many illustrations, but is a heavy and cumbrous volume, decidedly inferior to Baedeker’s in compactness and arrangement.”
Lorenz, Hans.Modern refrigerating machinery; its construction, methods of working, and industrial applications; a guide for engineers and owners of refrigerating plants. *$4. Wiley.
“This book is based on ‘Neuere kuehlmaschinen’ ... and is systematically arranged in ten chapters, and the matter is treated in a clear and concise manner. Examples are used to demonstrate the application of the rules, and by this method, together with the great number of fine illustrations, even the inexperienced reader can find advice without waste of time. The metric system of weights and measures, as used in the German editions, is converted into the system customary in this country, so that no calculations are necessary.”—Engin. N.
“The success of this book must be attributed to the acknowledged competency of the author as well as to the fact that mathematical treatment is strictly eliminated. The characteristics of Prof. Lorenz’s work ... are impartiality and copiousness of practical information.” J. C. Bertsch.
Lorimer, George Horace.False gods.†$1.25. Appleton.
A reporter’s adventure prompted by a laudable greed for first-hand facts tingles with the excitement of Egyptian mysteries, statues that seem to possess human power, black cats, supposed crime, all animated and controlled by a beautiful woman. That he follows up the wrong train of evidences and makes false steps perturbs his soul but little, and he is soon back “again serving false gods.”
“Simpkins is well characterized and the story is rather clever in its way.”
“We can heartily commend Mr. Lorimer’s book as a stirring story to read at one sitting.”
Loring, Andrew, comp, and ed. Rhymer’s lexicon; with an introd. by George Saintsbury. *$2.50. Dutton.
“We commend this volume heartily to those who need such a book, and how innumerable are our poets our daily mail shows.”
Loti, Pierre, pseud. (Louis Marie Julien Viaud).Disenchanted; tr. by Clara Bell. †$1.50. Macmillan.
Awaking from the ennui and monotony of their surroundings the women of the harem are here portrayed with a thirst for knowledge a desire to let into their life-prisons the breath of a free world without any confining, artificial requirements. “We have no agonizing feeling that we are looking on at a bit of real life torn, raw and bleeding, from actual tragedy. It is sorrow and pain seen through a veiling yashmak, a tragedy in a dream.” (Ind.)
“M. Loti is gently sympathetic, writes charmingly of everything, paints delightful pictures, but suggests no remedy for sufferings.”
“Altogether ‘Disenchanted’ presents a very new view of the Turkish women.”
“The details of the picture are perfectly finished, as we expect of Loti, but there is a deep note of earnestness in his appeal that shows profound emotion.”
“This situation M. Loti has developed in a story of rare delicacy and beauty, full of refinement and feeling, and sketched in those sensitive colors, with that extreme sensibility of feeling, which have made him perhaps the foremost of impressionist writers.”
Lottridge, Silas A.Animal snap-shots and how made. **$2. Holt.
“No nature book has been written for a long time so comfortable in its general tone as Mr. Lottridge’s.”
“This author is a laureate of the lesser beasts.”
“A practical and convincing manual, easy to be used by any one wishing to follow the guidance of the author.”
Lottridge, Silas A.Familiar wild animals. *60c. Holt.
Sketches and pictures chosen from the author’s “Animal snapshots” to help stimulate school children in the direct observation of outdoor life.
Lounsberry, Alice.Wild flower book for young people. **$1.50. Stokes.
A little girl from the city tells in her own way about the beautiful things which she finds in the country when thru a spring, summer and autumn she wanders among woods, meadows and swamps. The flowers which interest herare those common thruout the Northeastern states, and she learns to love them, to call them by name, and hears many interesting stories about them from the friends who roam with her in the haunts of the wild flowers, the butterflies and the birds. There are many illustrations from photographs of flowers and children.
“A happy combination of story and botany, illustrated.”
“Will be not only a useful but an entertaining book to put in the hands of any child who loves the out of doors.”
“Miss Lounsberry is at her best when her method is clear and concise, and her touch is not perfectly adapted to the form she chooses here, although a great deal of interesting and useful information is thus conveyed in simple language.”
“Is poorly written. If a book of this kind were as clearly written as Gertrude Smith writes her child fiction it would have, we believe, increased value, for the pages contain many items of information profitable to childhood.”
Lounsbery, G. Constant.Love’s testament: a sonnet sequence. **$1.25. Lane.
Eleven groups of six sonnets each classified under, love, absence, passion, doubt, philosophy, content, separation, solitude, reconciliation, jealousy and retrospect.
“A few of these sonnets have merit. The pity is that they are submerged beneath a mass of tedious commonplace.”
“The author knows a great deal about the use of words and the management of the sonnet-form, but of the use of love and the management of life, she seems deplorably ignorant.”
“There is much excellent poetry in Mrs. Lounsbery’s volume.” Wm. M. Payne.
“There is little fault to be found with the facility of the verse.”
“A collection of sonnets of real poetic strength and beauty.”
“To write a multitude of sonnets on love a man must have a greater subtlety of thought and feeling than falls to the author’s share.”
Lowell, James Russell.Fireside travels; with introd. by William P. Treat. 35c. Crowell.
Uniform with the “Handy volume classics.”
Lowery, Woodbury.Spanish settlements within the present limits of the United States: Florida. 1562–1574. **$2.50. Putnam.
“Really interesting book.”
“One of the most valuable and interesting of recent works on the early discovery and settlement of our national territory.”
“Mr. Lowery’s book is the most accurate and scientific account yet written upon this subject.”
“A voluminous appendix, exceedingly important for the many difficult historical and geographical problems treated, completes the documentary material contained in the numerous footnotes. They bear witness to the conscientious manner in which Mr. Lowery has undertaken and carried out his task.”
Loyson, Mme. Emilie Jane (Butterfield) Meriman (Mme. Hyacinthe Loyson).To Jerusalem through the lands of Islam, among Jews, Christians, and Moslems. $2.50. Open ct.
Lubbock, Basil.Jack Derringer: a tale of deep water. †$1.50. Dutton.
“‘The notorious Yankee skysail-yard clipper “Silas K. Higgins” the hottest hell-ship under the stars and stripes,’ ... furnishes the setting for this story which ... is a thrilling romance of the life lead by ‘shanghaied’ and other seamen in more or less lawless conditions. Brutal officers, mixed nationalities in the seamen, fightings, murderings, wreckings, and a fight with albatrosses provide plenty of exciting episodes before Jack Derringer reaches a peaceful haven with the woman he loves. Jack is a roving Englishman and his greatest chum is a certain cowboy who is ‘shanghaied’ on the ‘Higgins’ and plays an important part in the development of the story.” (Sat. R.)
“Mr. Lubbock has not ‘composed’ his picture at all. There is little perspective about it, and the very energy and knowledge which he brings to bear upon every detail sometimes confuse the general effect.”
“Lacks only the art of the finished craftsman to make of it a veritable epic of the sea.”
“Mr. Lubbock is a descriptive writer with little skill in the arts of construction and arrangement. The plot, or groundwork of his book, is slight and conventional.”
“The thing has all the elements proper to a sea story of the old school. And it is not bad of its kind.”
“Unwholesome and uncomfortable novel. Vulgarity and cheap melodrama run riot.”
“It is a spirited, interesting romance. But we should like that glossary.”
Lucas, Charles Prestwood.Canadian war of 1812. *$4.15. Oxford.
It has been the mission of Mr. Lucas to assist President Roosevelt and Captain Mahan in redeeming the history of the war of 1812 alike from “prejudiced treatment and undeserved neglect.” Mr. Lucas views the war from the Canadian standpoint and “the book is in the strictest sense ‘an installment of Canadian history,’ as Mr. Lucas calls it. The sources, in the main, are official dispatches. Slight use has been made of autobiographies, vindications, and ephemeral literature, like Hull’s ‘Memoirs,’ Wilkinson’s ‘Memoirs,’ and Armstrong’s ‘Notices of the war.’ The narrative, so far as it deals with upper Canada, is full and satisfactory. The same can hardly be said of the treatment which lower Canada receives.” (Nation.)
“Though not free from defects, a splendid instalment of Canadian history.”
“Mr. Lucas possesses to a remarkable degree the judicial temperament which is necessary for an historian whose subject is steeped in controversy.”
“Is always temperate and fair-minded.”
“His tone throughout is discriminating, and though admiration for the courage of the loyalists may be said to dominate the narrative as a whole, it does not lead to special pleading on their behalf or wilful detraction from the merits of their opponents.”
“These maps are not so clear for study of different regions of the theatre of conflict as are those scattered through Mr. Henry Adams’s volumes. The narrative, too, lacks the verve and animation which that of Mr. Adams exhibits. But it is clear and unambiguous.”
“His chapters contain evidence of much patient research, and the elaborate details which he has collected have been carefully pieced together and lucidly arranged. Undoubtedly they supply the student of war with a much-needed work. To the general reader it will inevitably seem dull.”
Lucas, Edward Verrall, comp. Friendly town: a little book for the urbane. $1.50. Holt.
This anthology is a companion volume to “The open road.” The London of playhouses, taverns, cards and music, as well as of sobriety and sentiment is revealed in glints. Mr. Lucas “begins with winter and Christmas poems. Sections follow with such characteristic headings as Friends and the fire, Four-footed friends, The play, The tavern, Good townsmen, and The post. We find ‘inter alia,’ prose of Pepys, Boswell, Lamb, George Meredith; verse sentimental by Thackeray, cheerful by Henley, and the grace of the ‘Greek anthology’ as retained by the skill of Mr. Mackail.” (Ath.)
“Is, without qualification, a most delightful and attractive book.”
“There is actually no index, either of authors or of first lines.”
“A real invention marks ‘The friendly town.’”
Lucas, Edward Verrall.Life of Charles Lamb. 2v. *$6. Putnam.
“Fitly complements his admirable edition of the ‘Works and letters.’” H. W. Boynton.
“As Mr. Lucas has shown himself to be the ideal editor and annotator in his recently-published seven-volume edition of Lamb’s works, so here he demonstrated his unequalled qualifications as a compiler of all discoverable material bearing on the life-history of his chosen author. A few slight errors of execution, amid so much excellence of design, may be noted for correction in a second edition.” Percy F. Bicknell.
“Never has more elaborate care been manifest in biography than under Mr. Lucas’s most patient superintendence and competent companionship. The one defect that must be mentioned ... is the insistent preoccupation with Lamb’s enslavement to drink and tobacco.”
“Every shred of available material that may throw the faintest light upon the poet or his associates is turned and returned, until there remains apparently little or nothing to be unearthed in future.”
“Mr. Lucas writes in the long run with more light than warmth.”
“Will be a mine of riches for those who care for one of the most interesting groups of writers of the last century.”
Reviewed by Sidney T. Irwin.
“His book is a noteworthy contribution to literary memorabilia.”
Lucas, Edward Verrall.Listener’s lure: a Kensington comedy. †$1.50. Macmillan.
The story of “how Lynn Haberton was in love with his ward and secretary, Edith Graham, but thought he was too old and dry for her; how he sent her to London as companion to a charming old lady surrounded with cranks; how every man she met proposed to her, and in the end how she married her guardian” (Acad.) is told by means of a general correspondence among a group of people attached to the chief characters.
“You can turn back again and open where you will, sure of finding something amusing or interesting, some clever touch of character or some shrewd piece of wisdom.”
“Mr. Lucas seems to have been afraid to trust to his own design, and to have borrowed the sentiment of his book from conventions. He is, however, full of wit and wisdom.”
“A bit of good comedy.”
“Especial joy may be found in these pages by any American who knows England and her people.”
“In his hands the form so familiar to our fathers affords opportunity for reflection on many subjects, for much clever comment on people and society, and for a very pretty play of wit; and the story goes on its way to a happy ending, as it ought.”
“Attractive as are the characters in the book, the main interest lies in the delightful things that are said by the way. Mr. Lucas is essentially an essayist.”
“‘Listener’s lure’ is the work of a genuine humorist who is not afraid on occasion to be serious; it has lent freshness and charm to a mode of narration which too often makes for irritation; and it is marked by that enviable quality of sympathy which makes a friend of every reader.”
Lucas, Edward Verrall.Wanderer in Holland.*$2. Macmillan.
“The text is literary, chatty, easily read and quickly enjoyed.”
Lucas, Edward Verrall.Wanderer in London. **$1.75. Macmillan.
“Mr. Lucas ... gives us his own London. A very odd place it is, full of odd characters, odd animals, odd entertainments, odds and ends of every description. The ordinary ‘sights’ do not belong to it.” (Lond. Times.) “He knows andtells all the associations of localities; he takes one into a hundred odd corners; he is in sympathetic touch with living Londoners of all classes and occupations. The fascination of London, he tells us, that which the traveler must come to see, is London men and women, her millions of men and women.” (Outlook.)
“The book abounds in out-of-the-way bits of information. The digressions are entertaining. The index is unsatisfactory.”
“Past and present are allied with the strongest ties of association and charm of literary treatment.” Wallace Rice.
“Londoners ... are all writ down by their fellow-citizen with a charm, a sympathy, a friendly enthusiasm that will go far to make them forget the misplaced compassion of country folk.”
“A well-qualified personal book.”
“To read ‘A wanderer in London’ is like taking long tramps through all parts of the city with a companion who knows all the interesting things and places and people and has something wise or gay or genial to say about all of them.”
“Mr. Lucas spends proportionately too much time in the picture galleries. One can hardly hope to find a better way of reviving impressions and seeing things in a new setting than through this cheerful and friendly volume.”
“Mr. Lucas’ wanderings will very likely be popular. There is so much in them that gives pleasure to the many who read everything except literature.”
Luccock, Naphtali.Royalty of Jesus. *50c. Meth. bk.
A group of eight sermons preached by the pastor of the Union Methodist Episcopal church of St. Louis, teaching that “through free intelligence, an enlightened conscience, a righteous will, and a heart aglow with love, Christ lives and reigns in human affairs.”
Luce, Morton.Handbook to the works of William Shakespeare. $1.75. Macmillan.
“A series of introductions to the separate works, taken chronologically, fills the bulk of the volume, the remaining contents being chapters of history, biography and bibliography, with discussions of Shakespeare’s art, philosophy and metrics.” (Dial.) “Mr. Luce’s volume is something more than a handbook; it is a criticism and an esthetic too. Not only does it contain all the generally accepted facts with regard to Shakespeare, together with the general consensus of critical opinion, but it also propounds a number of original or at least novel, ideas and dramatic theories of its own.” (Ind.)
“Has collected a good deal of value as to the sources of the plays and poems, the extant testimony concerning them, and the circumstance of their appearance. He has not the gift of arrangement. The compiler does not apparently know, what true conciseness (a quality essential in a single book about the whole of Shakespeare) means.”
“The book is prepared with knowledge and judgment, and seems to be, with the possible exception of Professor Dowden’s similar work, the best single volume available for a fairly close and detailed study of the poet. Certainly, the amount of matter packed within a small compass is remarkable.”
“It is suggestive, stimulating and to the lover of Shakespeare, thoroly readable.”
“Seems to be accurate in statement and sound in its literary judgments, generally speaking. The author’s plan leads to a good deal of repetition, which might have been avoided by a better arrangement.”
“Mr. Luce is no blind worshipper, and his criticism is of excellent quality. He has laid students of Shakespeare under very considerable obligations.”
Lucian (Lucianus Samosatensis).Work of Lucian of Samosata; trans. by H. W. Fowler, and F. G. Fowler. 4v. *$4. Oxford.
“The versions are very readable and at the same time bear comparison with the Greek text.” John C. Rolfe.
Ludlow, James Meeker.Sir Raoul: a tale of the theft of an empire. †$1.50. Revell.
“‘Sir Raoul,’ is a story of the fourth crusade, and of its diversion, through Venetian intrigue, from its primary object to the raid upon Constantinople, which resulted in the brief restoration of the Emperor Alexius, the temporary union of the Greek and Roman churches, and the establishment of the Latin empire of the East under Baldwin.... Mr. Ludlow’s hero is a youthful knight of the Black forest, who suffers disgrace early in his career, and is given out for dead, but who in reality remains very much alive and participates, under an assumed name, in the exciting happenings with which the romance is concerned.”—Dial.
“The interest is sustained at a high pitch throughout, and the author’s knowledge of his subject seems to embrace both the broad historical issues of the period and a diversity of curious matters of detail. A neat and pointed style provides the story with an added element of attractiveness.” Wm. M. Payne.
“The technique is somewhat imperfect, but the manners, the superstitions, the barbarism, of the time are faithfully portrayed. The plot is ingenious, the action vigorous, the turning-points extraordinary.”
Lützow, Francis, count.Lectures on the historians of Bohemia. *$1.75. Oxford.
Reviewed by A. W. W.
Lyle, Eugene P.Missourian.†$1.50. Doubleday.
“Mr. Lyle possesses true creative vision and power.”
“The details of this book are so complex as very often to be tedious. The book will be read only for its historical interest.”
Lyman, Henry Munson.Hawaiian yesterdays. **$2. McClurg.
Chapters from a boy’s life in the Sandwich Islands in the early days. The boy is the son of a missionary and was born in Hilo in 1835. His sketch, autobiographical in nature, is set in the primitive surroundings of pioneer life, and touches upon his education, upon the possible stimulation to piety and scholarship, uponadventures in this ocean country, upon the tropical splendors and upon the civilization among the natives.
“From cover to cover the book is entertaining.” Percy F. Bicknell.
“Some interesting reminiscences, tho too largely of a personal nature.”
“It is a work that charms and attracts.”
“Our chief criticism is that the narrative seems to terminate somewhat abruptly, leaving the curiosity and interest it awakens not wholly satisfied.”
“These reminiscences throw not a little light on religious, educational, and political conditions during the troublous period of Hawaiian history.”
Lyman, Olin Linus.Micky: a novel. $1.50. Badger, R: G.
Michael O’Byrn, a tattered knight of the road, saunters into the office of the Daily courier importuning the city editor for a chance to show his mettle. From the first “write-up”—a dramatic portrayal of a slum fight—Micky scores triumphs. His special task becomes that of unearthing the corrupt schemes of a political boss and a group of graft-practicing associates. Tho success is his, the bitter consequences of his yielding to a fondness for drink, together with the tragic ending of his brief romance compel him to cut himself adrift and once more became a wanderer.
“There is a great deal of the ‘atmosphere’ of newspapers in the book, and considerable of the ‘chaff’ and back talk supposed to exist among ‘the boys,’ which is all more or less according to truth.”
Lynde, Francis.Quickening.$1.50. Bobbs.
Under the narrow religious influence of his mother, young Tom Jeff, with the quicker blood of his non-religious father flowing fast in his veins, tries hard to make of himself a minister, and failing, finds in his father’s iron business a broad field of action. But he grounds his life upon those early material teachings and becomes thru struggle and temptation a true hero worthy of Ardea’s love, a conqueror of circumstance and of himself. The characters of the fiery old Major to whom the north is still the enemy’s country, of young Farley, who is almost too conventional a villain, and of the mountaineers and ironworkers who play a large part in the story are strongly drawn.
“There is some admirable character drawing and there are some very graphic and life-like scenes, but for the general novel reader perhaps the greatest charm will be found in the exciting and dramatic situations of the story.”
“The story is pleasant and genuine.” Wm. M. Payne.
“Considering all, Mr. Lynde has not done ill.”
“Has something of a swing.”
“More than usual skill in analysis of motive and description of complex character is to be found in this tale of modern life.”
“It is a distinctly human, veracious, and altogether readable story.”
Lyon, D. B.Musical geography. $2 per doz.; ea. 25c. Wilson, H. W.
“A little musical geography with sense and song to bind hard names in silver chains for boys and girls,” which was first published in 1851 is here rejuvenated and retold.
Lyttleton, Rev. Edward.Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. *$3.50. Longmans.
“The book, as Mr. Lyttleton tells us in the preface, is not a complete work, for it deals only with the actual precepts recorded in the three chapters of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Scarcely anything is said about such controversial subjects as the relation between the Matthoean and Lukan reports; nor does it touch on critical and textual questions except when they seem to be bound up with the interpretation of the words. It is ‘intended for those thoughtful students who wish to get hold of the meaning of the words as they are handed down.’”—Int. J. Ethics.
“These studies are the work of a clear, strong thinker, who is in deep sympathy with his subject.” David Phillips.
“The writer’s method is a little diffuse, a little wanting in the power to grip a thought with a terse expression. For the high earnestness of the book there can be nothing but praise; but Mr. Lyttleton must be content to compress his material.”