“The new book is all of a piece; lifelike but not commonplace, exact but exalted; it gives work to the mind and arouses the emotions. Its structure is orderly and strong—preparation, catastrophe, resolution—and the author’s manner of expressing himself, though it wearies us with its trick of repetition, is here never smart nor feeble. He sees clearly and tells vividly.”
“This is a story which can hardly be taken lightly. It is composed with a deliberate and painstaking intensity. If the record is ‘not pleasant,’ neither is it morbid.”
“He has skill in the weaving of the tale, but he lacks deplorably in taste, in the sense of proportion which should unerringly choose and prune each incident with reference to its importance in the finished whole.”
“The subject is a delicate one, but handled with skill, and the characters are powerfully portrayed.”
“It gains in strength as it proceeds to a final solution.”
“When we have added that, in spite of its vigour, there is a certain metallic hardness in Mr. Maxwell’s style, and, at times, a certain undistinguished homeliness in his characters, we have said all that can be fairly urged in disparagement of a work which handles a difficult theme boldly and impressively, besides furnishing a welcome and striking proof of hereditary talent.”
Maxwell, W. B.Vivien. †$1.50. Appleton.
“Such a novel is like an oasis in a desert to a weary reviewer, and rewards him for much toiling through the arid wastes of popular story-telling.” Wm. M. Payne.
May, Florence.Life of Johannes Brahms.2v. $7. Longmans.
A life of Brahms “done with untiring faithfulness of a devoted student to a beloved master.” (Critic.) “It consists in the main, of the record of Brahm’s wanderings from place to place, of his peculiar family relationships, of the concerts which he gave, of the concerts which other people gave, of the order of appearance of his works and of contemporary criticism, mainly laudatory.” (Acad.)
“The biography within its limits, is a praiseworthy piece of work, and no doubt will remain the standard English life of the master. The author’s style is suitable enough to her subject. We cannot, however, altogether congratulate her on her translations.”
“Valuable as undoubtedly is the painstaking collection of data, the book is somewhat overweighted by detailed accounts of programs and the like ... that it is rather difficult for the reader to see Brahms the man in his proper perspective.”
“Her work is especially to be commended because she traces the history of the progress of Brahms’ music in England from 1867 ... down to the present day.”
“For readers of Max Kalbeck’s ‘Life of Brahms’ there is not much that is entirely new in the bulk of Miss May’s pages; but, pending the translation of that exhaustive work, American admirers will find here the most complete accessible depository of Brahms lore.”
“She is a passionate partisan of her subject, who is her hero. There is no other book in England in which the life of Brahms is so minutely recorded.” Richard Aldrich.
“Possibly Miss May has succeeded as well as is possible with so unpromising a subject. But profound musical insight she has not, and therefore a great part of her two volumes is of no interest to any living being.”
“She is far from allowing her admiration for the musician to blind her to his shortcomings as a man. Miss Florence May’s qualifications for her task are amply proved by the thoroughness of its execution.” C. L. G.
Mayer, Alfred Goldsborough.Sea-shore life; the invertebrates of the New York coast and adjacent coast regions. $1.20. N. Y. zoological soc. (For sale at N. Y. aquarium.)
The first volume in the “New York aquarium nature series.” “It describes the marine invertebrates of the region about New York, but on account of the wide distribution of this species, it is applicable to the Atlantic coast generally. Like the treatise by Dr. Brooks, this work is popular in character, and at the same time records the scientific observations of a professional zoölogist of the highest standing. It may be used as a reference book for visitors studying the collections of the New York aquarium.”—R. of Rs.
“Specialists may quarrel with some cases in the author’s nomenclature or seek more light on some of his statements, but all will agree that the book is a welcome addition to the literature of the seashore.”
“He is able to tell what he knows, and to make it interesting, too.”
“A perusal of the text leads to the conclusion that it combines interest with accuracy in an exemplary degree, and is well qualified to meet the requirements of the intelligent reader who may yet be without technical training in zoölogy.”
Reviewed by Mabel Osgood Wright.
“Dr. Mayer has succeeded in the difficult task of presenting in a readable and popular form a good deal of information regarding the habits and distribution of the lower marine animals of the coast of New York and of Long Island.” T. H. Morgan.
Mead, Charles Marsh (E. E. McRealsham).Irenic theology: a study of some antitheses in religious thought. **$1.50. Putnam.
“Professor Mead has undertaken to discuss some of the fundamental problems of theology with a view to making clear the ground upon which a sensible, reverent, and thoughtful Christian of the present day can stand.... The theological position is that of evangelical common-sense.... The ‘irenic’ character of the discussion comes from the fundamental position of the book, that the world of Christian thought, like the world of natural science, possesses a series of facts, which abide even though they cannot be wholly understood.” (Am. J. Theol.) “The principal themes on which he seeks to promote concord are the immanence and transcendence of God, the humanity and divinity of Christ, the sovereignty of God and freedom of man, and the various explanations of the atonement.” (Ind.)
“His logic is characteristically keen, his thought and style admirably direct and lucid. The book is a contribution to critical theology of seriousness and worth, and is adapted to render useful service to many students, younger as well as older. It treats of high themes in a worthy manner, with unfailing concern for clearness of thought, tolerance of divergent opinion, and inclusive recognition of the many-sidedness of truth.” James Hardy Ropes.
“The author’s keenness and argumentative skill must be recognized.”
“Whatever dissent at these and other points Dr. Mead’s argument may elicit the irenic spirit pervading it is auspicious for the larger ultimate agreement toward which Christian thought is moving on.”
Meakin, (James Edward) Budgett.Life in Morocco and glimpses beyond; with 24 il. *$3. Dutton.
“The work is more than a merely descriptive narrative of a highly interesting country and people. It is a valuable commentary upon a civilization which, by reason of its nearness to Europe and its historic link with Spain, possesses more than the usual interest for students of the Orient.”—Lit. D.
“It will be apparent then, that ‘Life in Morocco’ is something in the nature of a scrapbook of notes. Upon the whole and in view of the existence of Mr. Meakin’s triology, we cannot say that the work of rescuing these papers from their admittedly ephemeral form was particularly worth doing.”
“Barring a few unlucky wanderings into Arabic, its pictures and impressions, dashed in, it is true, in a broad exclamatory style, are very vivid, interesting, and substantially correct.”
“The author loves his subject; he knows it, and though he has already written three weighty tomes upon Morocco, he yet finds much unknown to the unswinkt tourist, with which to delight. Perhaps this is the best of his work upon the Moors and their land. Throughout the book journalese is veilless and shameless, though in reproducing the sayings of the people he often reveals that he appreciates their grave and sententious style.”
Meakin, (James Edward) Budgett.Model factories and villages. $1.90. Wessels.
“Mr. Meakin’s book is divided into two parts, the first section dealing largely with the elementary efforts made by manufacturers whose buildings were situated in the centres of cities toward ameliorating the conditions of light, air, sanitation, dining facilities, and recreation; and with the efforts, more inherently successful, of those who had recognized the underlying principle that cheap land, away from the heart of the city, in a district that might be suitably surrounded by the homes of the workingmen, was the essential for real improvement.... The second half of Mr. Meakin’s book deals with ‘industrial housing,’ and ... illustrates the success which manufacturers have had, in their various and varied schemes, toward surrounding their workshops with ideal villages. The whole book is strongly indicative of the trend towards co-operation that modern industry is taking.”—Dial.
“Mr. Meakin’s object in this interesting presentation of the efforts towards ‘ideal conditions of labour and housing’ is frankly propagandist.”
“Contains an immense amount of information, both interesting and instructive, in regard to the progress made during the past century in matters referring to the welfare of the laborer and artisan.”
“Mr. Meakin’s book is a very interesting one, and much might well be said in praise of the painstaking way in which the author has assembled his material.” Ernest R. Dewsnap.
“It will be useful, too, to serious students of economic and industrial conditions as by far the most comprehensive account of such institutions that has yet appeared.”
“There is no good reason for the annoying division of the inadequate index into two parts.”
“Mr. Meakin has done a most excellent work in showing how the best and most paying labor is that of healthy and happy workers, and his book deserves the careful study of all employers.”
Meigs, William Montgomery.Life of Thomas H. Benton. **$2. Lippincott.
“The biographical appeal of the book does not quite bear the accepted relation to the historical.” M. A. De Wolfe Howe.
Meiklejohn, John Miller Don.English language: its grammar, history and literature. *$1.20. Heath.
A revised American edition of Professor Meiklejohn’s work incorporates into it the latest results of modern scholarship.
“In its present form will be found more valuable than ever before.”
Mencken, Henry Louis.George Bernard Shaw; his plays. $1. Luce, J: W.
An attempt “to bring all of the Shaw commentators together upon the common ground of admitted facts, to exhibit the Shaw plays as dramas rather than as transcendental treatises, and to describe their plots, characters, and general plans simply and calmly, and without reading into them anything invisible to the naked eye.”
“The writer of the present volume does little more than give us a résumé of the plays and novels. Mr. Mencken’s English is rather too colloquial for elegance. Nor can we admire the tone of the biographical note.”
“It is well written and informing.”
“It is not necessary to accept the estimate of Mr. Shaw which Mr. Henry L. Mencken places upon him in this volume in order to get some value out of his arrangement of Mr. Shaw’s plays, and the opinion which he gives regarding them.”
Menpes, Dorothy.Brittany.*$6. Macmillan.
“It is a book which would lie gracefully, among other choice and useless knick-knacks, on any drawing room table.”
Meredith, George.Works. New pocket ed. 16v. ea. $1. Scribner.
Fourteen volumes of fiction, one of short stories, and one of poems make up the pocket set of Meredith’s works.
“They are engaging and companionable little books.”
“It is good to have such books as this and its fellows in convenient and inexpensive form.”
“The publishers have done well by the novels and by the reader.”
Meredith, Owen, pseud. (Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton).Letters personal and literary of Robert, Earl of Lytton, (Owen Meredith); ed. by his daughter, Lady Betty Balfour. 2v. $5.50. Longmans.
“The volumes form no crude collection of miscellaneous letters, but an arranged and orderly display of correspondence that illustrates the many sides of a most remarkable man.” (Acad.) “Not content with stringing her father’s letters together with the usual matter-of-fact commentary, she has thrown into her narrative much literary and personal feeling.” (Ath.) The letters form an instructive narrative of the events of his life throwing light upon his literary work, his diplomatic career, and especially his much discussed policy as Viceroy of India.
“This is one of the most interesting books of the season. She has produced a work even more interesting than a ‘Life’ would have been.”
“Lady Betty Balfour was not born a Lytton for nothing. She has a style, and her reading has been wide.”
Merejkowski, Dmitri Sergeitch.Peter and Alexis; tr. by Mr. Herbert Trench. $1.50. Putnam.
“Peter and Alexis” is the last of Merejkowski’s trilogy, “The Christ and the anti-Christ,” the other two being “The death of the Gods,” and “The forerunner.” It deals with a purely Russian theme. “While it incidentally exhibits Russia and all classes and conditions of Russians at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it centres around one of the most piteous examples to be found in all history of what is ever a moving and a piteous theme—the gradual alienation of son from father, and father from son.... On the one side looms Peter the Great, the master-worker, building Russia with his own hands; half man, half were-wolf.... On the other side is Alexis, the weakling, the victim of fate, naturally affectionate, but utterly inadequate.” The volume closes with a description of his journey back to Russia and the horrible death awaiting him.
“It is clear that the translator has spared no pains to reproduce the difficult, heavily laden atmosphere of the tragedy in which Merejkowski deals for the first time with a purely Russian theme, and he appears to succeed admirably.”
“Of the version itself we can say that it is conscientiously executed and very readable.”
“It is a powerfully impressive study of unlovely characters among revolting conditions.”
“This work is possibly richer in material than either of its predecessors, but its construction is so hopelessly chaotic as to preclude any serious claim to consideration as a work of art.” Wm. M. Payne.
“As a work of art ... measured by its own intrinsic exigencies, it is defective, tho as a poignant, brutally strong portrayal of character, and relentless group of big tho elusive forces, it is the performance of a literary Achilles whose weakness was not in his heel, but in his head.”
“Nothing is so powerful in the book as the character studies.” Stephen Chalmers.
“It is tumultuous, turgid and sometimes prolix, while the rhapsodical final chapter is all but unintelligible.”
“Both shocks through its horror, and grips through its power; it is an eloquent book by a sterling artist.”
Merington, Marguerite.Captain Lettarblair: a comedy in three acts written for E. H. Sothern; arranged from the prompt book used in the original Lyceum production. $1.50. Bobbs.
An old estate which has brought grief to the hero’s father and which has been inherited by the heroine without his knowledge, complicates their love affairs for three acts, and while the heroine is, unknown to her, pressing the hero for money on an old debt in order that she may secretly enrich him, the hero in despairand bankruptcy goes off to India and a rival forges his name and receives the heroine’s gift. In the course of the clever dialogue all this is gracefully untangled, and all ends happily for them and for the four minor characters whose love affairs furnish much humor thruout the play.
“Already a little old-fashioned in the ingenuousness of some of its devices, ‘Captain Letterblair’ yet retains much of the freshness and buoyancy that made it the success of a season nearly fifteen years ago.”
“The play reads well and its cleverness is as scintillating in print as it is in spoken words.”
Merington, Marguerite.Scarlett of the mounted.†$1.25. Moffat.
“The reader will be interested in this northern mining district which ‘contains an unsurveyed number of square miles and crooked inhabitants,’ according to ‘Scarlett of the mounted,’ who has come with the law behind him to establish some kind of order. The heroine of the story is the daughter of an old miner, a supercilious young lady decidedly bettered by her sojourn at the mines. And the plot is brought to a happy ending after various ingenious complications.”—Outlook.
“It would be misleading to say that the story is one for mature minds, for the plot is extremely harmless.”
“A fairly good story.”
“Miss Merington’s skit fails to convince. Still, it is written light-heartedly, and that is something.”
Merriam, George Spring.Negro and the nation; A history of American slavery and enfranchisement.*$1.75. Holt.
Strong pro-negro feeling is shown thruout this volume, which beginning with the growth of slavery in America, traces the history of the black race in our country down to the present day. All the events in our national life which had to do with slavery are carefully considered, while chapters are devoted to the leading men both white and black whose influence has helped to mold the black man’s destiny. It is a comprehensive study, written in an interesting style and leading logically up to the conclusion that the solution of the race problem lies in dealing with each man according to his merits, regardless of color, and leaving the ultimate relation of the races to nature and the sovereign powers.
“The author’s general knowledge of ordinary historical facts seems, on the whole, adequate, but some mistakes have crept in. The negro is present only as a lay-figure. The style is terse and interesting, and the book has a good index.” Carl Russell Fish.
“That tendency to idealize the negro which has been the bane of almost every northern writer on the negro question since the publication of ‘Uncle Tom’s cabin,’ is not wholly absent from this book, in spite of its sane and judicious spirit. On the whole, however, the book is to be commended as another evidence that the time has arrived when the negro question can be approached by writers in both sections in an impartial and scientific spirit.” Charles A. Ellwood.
“The treatment of reconstruction is at once the freshest and most systematic part of the book.” H. Paul Douglass.
“A history of the growth of the negro problem distinguished throughout by fairness.”
“This real value lies in the new point of view from which the negro is studied.” W. E. Burghardt Du Bois.
“The historical portion of the work is decidedly open to criticism.”
“It does not approach the degree of completeness which severe condensation might accomplish, even within the limit of its four hundred pages, nor is it to be followed safely either in its statements of facts or in its estimates of men and events.”
“The last fifty pages will be of most interest to the reader who desires to enlighten himself upon the negro question as it is with us today.”
“The author, who studies his subject almost altogether from the historical standpoint, has not, it is true, grasped his opportunity in all its fulness. Nor is his narrative wholly exact. But it is so vivid and forceful, and the point of view maintained is so essentially just as to carry conviction and prepare the reader for candid consideration of the ameliorative suggestions proffered in the closing chapters.”
“Considering that the author so seriously endeavors to give an impartial treatment, to maintain a fair attitude, one regrets that he did not see fit to base his work upon a thorough investigation of the subject.” Walter L. Fleming.
“The criticisms which may be made upon this volume are concerned largely with the proportionate attention given to different topics. Although, therefore, the volume is not a new study and brings no new facts to our notice, it deserves careful attention because of the impartial way in which the author has gathered the facts and told the story.” Carl Kelsey.
Mertins, Gustave F.Storm signal. $1.50. Bobbs.
“Is an intensely dramatic and exciting story of a negro uprising in the South. Is a work that is bound to foment racial hatred and to arouse the evil passions of both whites and blacks. Its influence cannot be other than unfortunate.” Amy C. Rich.
“Mr. Mertins, in fact, comes very near being a real novelist. The artist has used the problem to make his drama, and has not made his drama to exploit the problem.” H. I. Brock.
“While his work is far from convincing, it is of value in laying emphasis on aspects of the question which the advocates of municipal ownership are prone to forget.”
Merwin, Samuel.Road builders.†$1.50. Macmillan.
Reviewed by Mary Moss.
Merzbacher, Gottfried.Central Tian-Shan mountains, 1902–1903: published under the authority of the Royal geographical society. *$3.50. Dutton.
The scientific geographer supplements the work of the earlier travellers by filling in, corroborating, and correcting their information. Such a work is this which appeals especially tothe student of geology and glaciers. The author says “In this [preliminary] report I have endeavoured more particularly to embody observations on the present and past glacier conditions of the Tian-Shan, and on peculiarities in the physical features of its valley formations; subjects to which, throughout the expedition, my attention was especially directed. On the other hand, in order not to give the report a compass which would retard its publication, botanical, zoological, and climatological observations will have to be almost wholly omitted.”
“A defect of the volume is the transliteration of native names.”
“Doctor Merzbacher’s book, preliminary report though it be, [is] one for the specialist rather than for the general reader.”
“The book is a contribution of importance to the literature of the mountains, and fills a great gap in mountain geography.”
“Is a worthy record of scientific work carried out under great difficulties. The author is to be warmly congratulated.”
“The geological detail is so generally diffused on most pages and the treatment of the subject is so largely technical that the book lacks desirable elements of popularity. Dr. Merzbacher’s first-rate piece of work has set the standard high for later explorers, and his book is worthy of the scientific labors which he carried out under such trying circumstances.” Cyrus C. Adams.
Metcalf, H. B., comp. Gems of wisdom for every day. **$1. McClurg.
For each day in the year the compiler has chosen a quotation culled far from the beaten paths of his predecessors and the result is an attractive little volume of interesting and more or less “unfamiliar quotations.”
Metchnikoff, Elie.Immunity in infective diseases; tr. from the French by Francis G. Binnie. *$5.25. Macmillan.
“The present translation of Prof. Metchnikoff’s work has been admirably carried out by Mr. Binnie.”
“It will be popular, too, for it contains important details in the history and development of the most interesting chapter in modern pathology.”
“His marshalling of the multitudinous details is masterly and so lucid that any one who knows the meaning of the words can follow it with ease. And these qualities are enhanced by the true scientific spirit and scrupulous fairness with which arguments are handled.”
“The volume is fascinating reading, and any one who first dips into it will in all probability do more, and study it deeply. It forms a complete statement of the phagocytic hypothesis, and a masterly summary of the whole subject of immunity up to 1902.” R. T. Hewlett.
“The book is a classic and we owe the translator a heavy debt for making it an English one. We can give him no higher praise than by affirming that there is nothing in the diction of the text to suggest its alien origin.”
Meyer, Hugo Richard.Government regulation of railway rates; a study of the experience of the United States, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Australia. **$1.50. Macmillan.
“Very one-sided and, so far as our railway conditions come into consideration, often absolutely untruthful representations.” A. v. d. Leyen.
“Unfortunately the author is temperamentally a doctrinaire and an advocate. His book evinces a great amount of study, but the results of his labor are greatly injured by the author’s unscientific spirit.” Emory R. Johnson.
“Mr. Meyer’s book fully deserves first rank among the plentiful literature now appearing in behalf of the railway side of the rate-regulation controversy.”
“Despite the wealth of erudition paraded in the footnotes, the cautious reader puts the treatise down, unsatisfied, incredulous.” Winthrop More Daniels.
“As a statement of the difficulties of government rate-making the book could hardly be excelled; but as a treatment of the whole problem of railway rates it has notable weaknesses.”
“The author has produced a remarkably clear and forcible book upon a very involved and difficult subject. The boldness of his opinions and the vigor of his criticisms will very likely bring down upon his head the denunciation or more than one person to whom his opinions are politically distasteful, but it will be much easier to denounce him than to answer him.” Blewett Lee.
“His statements are supported by a formidable array of statistics, and while it is obvious that he has overlooked or inadequately considered some of the vital points at issue, his book is useful if only for calling attention to certain objections which the advocates of municipal ownership are for their part prone to forget, but which must be met.”
“Notwithstanding the hard work which the volume embodies, the final verdict must be that it is the plea of the advocate, not the deliverance of the impartial judge.”
“The book adds nothing to the theory of transportation. Its only service is in its statement of the problem.” Henry C. Adams.
Meyer, Hugo Richard.Municipal ownership in Great Britain. **$1.50. Macmillan.
The second of a series of four books on public regulation of industry. The object is “to show how deplorably belated is Great Britain with regard to street car traction and electric lighting in comparison with the United States; to condemn all who have been directly or indirectly connected with municipal ownership in England; and to glorify company control of public utilities as it exists in American cities.” (Ind.)
“However much one may differ from the conclusions reached in this book, every student of the subject must feel indebted to the author for the clear summary and quotation which he has given of the opposing arguments urged at each stage of legislation and the changes that were made from time to time in the laws and their execution, and for his interesting statistical comparisons between English and American developments.” Edward W. Bemis.
“Notwithstanding that partisanship, the weakness of some of his arguments and the many phases of the subject which he leavesuntouched ... we commend Professor Meyer’s book to all who wish to look at the other and generally unpopular side of municipal ownership. It is certainly a notable addition to the short list of anti-municipal-ownership books.”
“It is so obviously a long-distance view, that a reading of Mr. Meyer’s book suggests that he has never been in England or Scotland. Mr. Meyer shows himself ignorant of English municipal history.”
“If intellectual tolerance is not one of the merits of the book, moral earnestness is; and the work is one that cannot be lightly answered.”
“Mr. Meyer sets himself a task, and it has been performed once for all it seems to us.” Edward A. Bradford.
“It is mainly historical, and will be found a useful compilation by those who wish to know the legislative and administrative course of events.”
Meynell, Everard.Giovanni Bellini. $1.25. Warne.
A late addition to the “Newnes art library.” The author says that Bellini “was fortunate in his age.... The years spanned by his life spanned most significant years in the history of painting, and, riding as he did on the crest of the wave of change and development, his work is the illustration and commentary of sixty pregnant years.” It is the analysis of these forces as they became an integral part of artists’ expression that the author deals with.
“Has all of the good qualities in its sixty-five illustrations and clear text that have placed its companions on so firm a basis.”
Michelson, Miriam.Anthony Overman. †$1.50. Doubleday.
“The community, the editorial office, labor, capital, the reformer, the journalist, the ‘essentially feminine’ woman, the doctor, the striker, the scab.... This is the inventory of the chief comments of ‘Anthony Overman.’ The hero is a renascent Daniel Deronda, with a modern as well as a racial difference; the heroine a ‘yellow woman journalist.’ Such elements must needs strike fire when they meet, and the story deals with their interaction and final ... reconciliation.... The way of the altruist is to talk pages about himself, and Anthony is no exception; but he is a fine embodiment of the passion for doing good and of the suffering over others’ pain.”—Nation.
“There is slight spontaneity in the telling of the story; the fun is feeble; the slang is dreary. Miss Michelson has done better work and we trust that she will do so once again.”
“One of the most original of recent novels. Its characteristic is a determination to see things as they are. The point of view is saliently modern, not boastfully so; felt naturally not thrust out as a rock of offence.”
“Not dull as a story and decidedly edifying as a study.”
“All of the characters are superficial and paper-y—and dull.”
Michelson, Miriam.Yellow journalist. †$1.50. Appleton.
Miss Michelson’s San Francisco heroine is quite as much a girl of mettle as was Nancy of “In the bishop’s carriage.” The “gay, emotional, unscrupulous little girl-reporter, listening at doors, lying, cheating, keen as a rat terrier, looks upon life as war. She bows to a code of strictly professional ethics, but it sanctions behavior of which you cannot approve.” (Atlan.) “Her quest for ‘copy’ brings her into intimate relations with public and private scandals, family quarrels, divorce cases, and murders. The unscrupulous methods which she pursues in the attempt to score a ‘beat’ for her paper are hardly less repellent than the details of the cases themselves.” (Outlook.) In the end she “gives it all up to marry the reporter that she had always secretly admired, although professionally they were at swords’ points.” (Dial.)
“Miss Michelson is as popular, as ‘catchy’ as ragtime.” Mary Moss.
“There are just a few writers who have succeeded in reducing to paper the atmosphere of a newspaper office ... and Miriam Michelson must be numbered among them.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
“Miss Michelson is possessed of a very vivacious and snappy style, that may make her work entertaining to those who can stand yellow journalism unexcused by daily news.”
“A clever, readable story.”
Mifflin, Lloyd.Collected sonnets of Lloyd Mifflin; revised by the author. *$2.60. Oxford.
“Contains three hundred or more pieces of unusual merit.” P. H. Frye.
“There can be no doubt, in the presence of this collection, that he has given proof of a true poetic gift, and made a considerable contribution to American literature.” Wm. M. Payne.
“Sonnets of a very high order of merit—a remarkable exhibition for any poet.”
“The most fertile and workmanlike sonneteer of the day.”
Mifflin, Lloyd.My lady of dream. *75c. Oxford.
A volume of love lyrics of fragile charm, also a number of sonnets, in all of which the author has “sought to apostrophize in an elusive way that Spirit which has ever been very dear to me and at whose feet I have offered many years of my life.”
“The author does better with the stately movement of the sonnet than with the freer utterance of song. He has not the gift of liquid melody, whatever others he may have.” Wm. M. Payne.
“A collection of love lyrics informed with that pleasantly sentimental fluent lyricism with which Mr. Mifflin’s readers are familiar.”
Mighels, Philip Verrill.Chatwit, the man-talk bird; il. by the author. †$1.50. Harper.
“The book purports to tell the tale of a talking magpie, ‘whose loosened tongue and human inclinations gat wrath in the breasts of the West-land animals,’ and of course that wrathengendered ten thousand woes, and sent many souls of brave birds and animals across the Styx before their natural time.”—Nation.
“Rather different from the ordinary animal story.”
“We should hardly be willing to put the present volume in the hands of a child without impressing upon his mind emphatically the fact that real birds and animals never, never act as here represented.”
“Children will find it captivating.”
Mighels, Philip Verrill.Crystal sceptre. †$1.50. Harper.
A young American while on a balloon-trip meets with an accident which leaves him on an unknown island among an unheard-of race of black creature whom he dubs “missing links.” His battles with ourangs, his tiger hunt with poisoned arrows of his own manufacture, his discovery of “the goddess,” and the perils incident to his fleeing with her back to civilization can satiate a large adventure appetite.
“This is a glorified dime novel of the blood-and-thunder genre. Will prove none the less interesting to the audience which the book aims to reach.”
“An exciting tale of ingenious fashioning.”
“Will prove decidedly entertaining to the average boy.”
Mighels, Philip Verrill.Dunny: a mountain romance. †$1.25. Harper.
Sylvia Weaver, to pay a debt of gratitude to a mountaineer who had been a benefactor to her and her brother Dunny, crosses the continent from the east to the Sierras to wed the man. Her only picture of him is constructed from an almost ancient photograph and a package of letters. This story tells of her heart struggles to render justice to Jerry Kirk and to crush her love for his rival. It tells also of Jerry’s big-hearted renunciation and heroism; while Dunny with child-like buoyancy is the central spirit and peacemaker.
“The story has its vein of humor, too.”
Mighels, Philip Verrill.Ultimate passion: a novel. †$1.50. Harper.
“With some rawness of execution, Mr. Mighels, in ‘The ultimate passion,’ shows welcome vitality, and also introduces a real innovation.” Mary Moss.
Miles, Henry.Later work of Titian. $1.25. Warne.
“This one volume in a series of twenty on painters past and present, contains sixteen pages of sanely written comment, description, and biography concerning Titian, preceded by a photogravure frontispiece and followed by sixty-four full-page half-tone illustrations.... Here the author has written modestly and directly, but the half-tones fall below the average level.”—Critic.
“Quite a find to the man looking for quantity rather than quality in reproductions of Titian’s work.”
Militz, Annie Rix.Primary lessons in Christian living and healing. $1. Absolute press.
A text-book of healing by the power of truth as taught and demonstrated by the Master. The book is not purely a Christian science study.
Mill, Hugh Robert.Siege of the South pole. **$1.60. Stokes.
The latest issue in Dr. J. Scott Keltie’s “Story of exploration series.” The author tells of the beginnings of speculations by the ancients concerning this section of the world, and, follows the thread of exploration thru the ages down to the twentieth century. All the attempts to reach the South Pole are recorded from Captain Cook in 1775 to Nordenskjöld in 1903.
“Dr. Mill’s book does for Antarctic exploration what General A. W. Greely’s ‘Handbook of Arctic discoveries’ does for the history of exploration at the North pole, and that it does equally well.” H. E. Coblentz.
“It is convenient for reference and also very readable as narrative of heroic endeavors and many failures.”
“A book that deserves wide circulation.”
“His book is not only a larger monument of learning but also a more entertaining composition than the works on the same topic of Herr Fricker and Mr. Balch.”
“Of its substantial accuracy there can be no doubt.”
“The book is as interesting as it is instructive.” J. W. G.
“There is an inevitable monotony to the book, which will limit its reading to scientific readers in great part.”
Mill, John Stuart.Subjection of women; new ed.; ed. with introductory analysis by Stanton Coit. *40c. Longmans.
“John Stuart Mill’s argument against ‘The subjection of women’ has unfortunately not yet become needless, and is reprinted in cheap form, with an introduction by Stanton Colt to serve as a weapon in the present conflict.”—Ind.
“The present editor has prefaced to the essay a lucid analysis that will be of service to the reader, who, without it, might have some difficulty in following the course of thought which frequently, almost imperceptibly, glides from one point of view to another.”
Millar, A. H.Mary, queen of Scots. *$1. Scribner.
“The book is, in the main, a careful and not too detailed presentation of facts.”
Millard, Thomas Franklin Fairfax.New Far East; an examination into the new position of Japan and her influence upon the solution of the far eastern question, with special reference to the interests of America and the future of the Chinese empire. **$1.50. Scribner.
Mr. Millard “would lead us to feel that the Japanese have been overrated; that they have received too much sympathy, especially fromAmerica; that they need now not sympathy, but cold scrutiny; that they are an increasing commercial menace to our trade with Asia; that in the administration of Manchuria they will not accomplish what might have been done by Russia; finally, that in China they have been behind the American boycott, and were the secret instigators to the opposition manifested towards the American construction of the Canton-Hankau railway.”—Outlook.
“Of the many books and papers that have been published lately on the present topic, none can compete with this one in interest or as a course of intelligent information and temperate opinion upon what is undoubtedly one of the great crises in the history of mankind.”
“He appears throughout to write with judicial freedom from partisanship, and aims to fortify his conclusions by a fair statement of what can be said on both sides of controverted questions.”
“There is hardly one word of Mr. Millard’s comment on the treatise that commands assent. Any such argument as that which Mr. Millard puts forth is unworthy of serious attention.”
“The author does not often leave the reader in doubt concerning his meaning; but in numerous instances the phrasing might have been improved.” George R. Bishop.
“Mr. Millard’s book is timely because Americans need to have their eyes wide open as to what is going on in the Far East, but his criticisms will seem to many unjustly prejudiced.”
Miller, Cincinnatus Heine (Joaquin Miller, pseud.).Building of the city beautiful. **$1.50. Brandt.
In form this work is “a romance embodying the author’s visions of the city of God that is to be, for the realization of which Jew and Christian join heart and hand. In substance it is a sketch of the social Utopia which in the coming age will be based on Jesus’ foundations, as given in the Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount.... The spiritualized affection of a noble man for the noblest of women ... runs through the whole, and ‘the City beautiful’ at last appears in form as transcendently ideal as that in the Apocalypse. Taken as a whole, this work, whose chapters are each introduced by an appropriate poem, is a prose poem on the evil that is, and the good that is to come.”—Outlook.
“Considered as a romance of love and service, this story is as unique in literature as it is fascinating in its influence over the cultured imagination. To us no social vision has yet appeared that is so profound in its philosophy, so rich in most vital truth, as this master-creation of our poet of the Sierras.”
“The contents do not live up to the title of the little volume.”
“A work which in thought and art shows its author at his best.”
“A thought-provoking volume, written in Joaquin Miller’s best style.”
Miller, Elizabeth Jane.Saul of Tarsus; a tale of the early Christians; with il. by Andre Castaigne. †$1.50. Bobbs.
Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome and Damascus furnish a setting for this tale of the days following the crucifixion. Saul of Tarsus, Stephen, Agrippa and the emperors Tiberius and Caligula are drawn with a touch faithful to the thought, manners and customs of the times and enlivened by the author’s vigorous imagination.
Miller, James Russell.Beauty of kindness. **50c. Crowell.
A thoughtfully written and charmingly illustrated study of kindness.
Miller, Rev. James Russell.Christmas-making. **30c. Crowell.
A little volume in the “What is worth while” series. Mr. Miller makes an appeal for the right sort of Christmas observance in the heart and in the home.
Miller, Rev. James Russell.Heart garden. *65c. Crowell.
Dr. Miller’s message on the subject of the heart garden makes a plea for keeping the human heart clear of weeds and full of sweet and beautiful plants and flowers.
Millet, Jean Francois.Drawings of Jean Francois Millet: 50 facsimile reproductions of the master’s work with an introductory essay by Leonce Benedite. *$20. Lippincott.
Fifty of Millet’s drawings reproduced in photo-lithography by the Hentschel-colortype process place within the reach of artists and students examples of a great master’s work at a moderate price. “This half-hundred of drawings confirms the reiterated proof that it was not the indignant fire of a prophet that burned in Millet, but the steadfast warmth of a brother of men. The introduction by Léonce Benedite sums this clearly and gracefully. It is well, too, to place the work, as has been done here, with regard to contemporaries and to remind us that Millet excelled by worth, not novelty.” (Int. Studio.)
“A book of drawings such as this offers ... a better opportunity of understanding Millet’s genius than is to be found in the study of his paintings, and an opportunity, moreover, still needed, for Millet, with all his reputation, has not had the study he deserves.”
“A volume that can fitly be described as distinguished. With fine appreciation, the exceptional figure of the master is set before the reader, special attention being given to his relation to the ideals current in his day.” Frederick W. Gookin.
“M. Benedite has dealt with his material in such a manner as to invest even hackneyed details with fresh charm, for he calls up many a vivid picture of Millet at every stage of his career, as well as of those amongst whom his lot was cast.”
“The publication carries the stamp of authentic value.”
“The frontispiece represents the famous ‘Angelus’ and quite fails to translate its proper colors. As to the other plates, one feels as if the originals were before one. This is one of the finest art books of the season and is all the more welcome because Millet is better known by his oils than his drawings yet in them we seem to get closer to the man and thepurposes that guided him in art.” Charles de Kay.
Millikan, Robert Andrews, and Gale, Henry Gordon.Laboratory course in physics for secondary schools. 40c. Ginn.
The fifty carefully arranged experiments which fill this little volume have been chosen with two aims in view, to make a continuous and inspiring laboratory study of physical phenomena; and to reduce apparatus to its simplest possible terms and yet to present a thoro course in laboratory physics. The experiments do not presuppose any previous study of the subject involved, or any antecedent knowledge of physics.
Mills, Lawrence Heyworth.Zarathushtra, Philo, the Achæmenides and Israel: being a treatise upon the antiquity and influence of the Avesta, delivered as university lectures. *$4. Open ct.
The first half of his book is given to a study of the Old Persian inscriptions as compared with those sections of the Bible concerned with the proclamation of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. The second half of the volume is devoted to the Avesta and its influence on the Jews of the exile. The final section discusses the debt of Judaism to the Avesta.