“The information is correct and modern; and the language is dignified and circumspect. Orthodox teachers and parents whose teaching of morality follows conventional lines would undoubtedly derive benefit from the method of presentation adopted, while no child could read the book without understanding something of the scientific method and what it has accomplished.”
“A vast amount of valuable information is included in the volume.”
“We began the book with misgiving, as the style seemed to foreshadow that lisping sing-song which is the form of address so often deemed appropriate in modern children’s books. But we proceeded with growing pleasure, and finally devoured all the wonders with relish. It is a delightful book. ... We may add as a parting criticism that we doubt whether it was well advised to include the picture of ‘what our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers looked like in the days when the ape-men were slowly changing into men.’”
WIDDEMER, MARGARET.Factories.*$1.25 Holt 811 17-23582
This book was first published in 1915 under the title, “Factories, with other lyrics”; and has been for some time out of print. The publisher states that the book has been reset for this new edition, and that the author has made some changes in the original text as well as added a number of new poems. The poems, with the exception of the title poem, are grouped under the headings: Poems of now; The wandering singer; Youth learns; Greek folk songs; Love songs; The border country.
WIDDEMER, MARGARET.Winona of Camp Karonya. il*$1.25 (1½c) Lippincott 17-28799
The story opens with the breaking up of camp and the return of the Camp Karonya girls to town. During the winter following they assume responsibility for a family of neglected children and plan a pageant, in addition to carrying on the usual Camp fire activities. The story has two mysteries, one concerning a lost boy, who seems to have strayed over from the war zone, the other connected with a lost baby.
“The main thing is less the plot than the atmosphere of unselfishness and right feeling with which, without sentimental strain, the writer surrounds her story.” J: Walcott
“The author of this book understands the Camp fire girl movement thoroughly. Her one endeavor throughout is to show the effect that Camp fire virtues have on a group of very healthy girls.”
“A nice, long worth-while story.”
WIDDEMER, MARGARET.Wishing-ring man.il*$1.35 (2c) Holt 17-25082
Joy Hayenith, nineteen and beautiful, is kept a child by her famous and egoistical grandfather, the poet. She meets a young doctor who finds out that Joy is longing for pleasure and adventure, and tells her that if she keeps on believing things will happen that very belief may bring her what she wants “like a wishing-ring.” In order to get permission to visit Phyllis and Allan Harrington, of “The rose garden husband,” Joy lies to her grandfather, telling him that she is engaged to the Harrington’s friend and neighbor, Dr John Hewitt. Hewitt appears on the scene unexpectedly and accepts the situation. The story goes on to picture the consequences of this word spoken in jest. All misunderstandings are finally cleared up, and the book ends happily.
“We enter the land of romance when we read one of these novels of Miss Widdemer’s. Reality is there too, but it is a guest rather than the ruler of the kingdom. The bits of humor help toward this perfect welding of romance and reality.” D. L. M.
“Margaret Widdemer has given us an impossible book—a naïve book—a book that reminds us, in its simplicity, of the days when we read and enjoyed ‘The five little Peppers,’” D: P. Berenberg
“A charming, slight little tale, written with vivacity and with ever-bubbling humor.”
“It is the purpose to make ‘The wishing-ring man’ a sequel to ‘The rose garden husband.’ But structural similarity makes this only a weak and frankly artificial echo of the other charming romance.”
WIER, ALBERT E.Grand opera with a victrola.*75c Appleton 782.1 16-4756
A book “containing the stories, the most popular music, and the Victor record numbers of Aïda, Faust, Carmen, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Cavalleria rusticana, Rigoletto, Il trovatore, The Bohemian girl, Tales of Hoffman, Hansel and Gretel, Lucia di Lammermoor; arranged for playing, singing and the selection of Victor records.”—N Y Br Lib News
WIERS-JENSSEN, HANS.Anne Pedersdotter.*$1 Little 839.8 17-24983
The author is a Danish dramatist. The English version of “Anne Pedersdotter” is by John Masefield. The play has been produced both in England and America. The action takes place in Bergen in the year 1574, and concerns a case of witchcraft in which Anne Pedersdotter, wife of Absolon Beyer, palace chaplain, is the central figure. The first three acts are laid in Absolon’s house, the last in the choir of the cathedral.
Reviewed by Algernon Tassin
“It is a drama of great possibilities; but the tragic, unexpected climax will prevent it from ever becoming popular and makes it a play to be read rather than acted.”
“The trial scene for dramatic power must stand with the great scenes of modern drama.”
“Apparently the morbid horror of numerous situations is the only raison d’etre of the piece.”
WIGMORE, JOHN HENRY, ed. Science and learning in France; with a survey of opportunities for American students in French universities. il $1.50 Soc. for American fellowships in French universities, J. H. Wigmore, ed., 31 Lake st., Chicago; for sale by McClurg 378 17-26896
This volume of over 400 pages, the work of nearly 100 leading American scholars and members of college and university faculties, takes up some 22 subjects—medicine, engineering, philology, chemistry, geology, archæology, etc. The general editor is John H. Wigmore of Northwestern university, and associated with him as vice chairman of the Author’s committee is Charles H. Grandgent of Harvard university. “As stated in its preface, its purpose is to put before the American public the contributions of France in all fields of scientific knowledge, and to show her status in the forefront of the world’s progress, thus furnishing to American university students an incentive to pursue graduate work in France. Each chapter sets forth briefly for a particular field the notable achievements and eminent leaders of French scholarship during the past century; and the courses of instruction given now or recently at the French universities, especially at the University of Paris, with the facilities available for study and research. There is also an introduction, by President Emeritus Eliot of Harvard, on the intellectual inspiration of Paris and France.” (Cath World) “The first of the three appendices contains an article by James Geddes, Jr., which narrates the history of the intellectual sympathies and university relations between France and America. ... The other two appendices contain much practical information for students intending to take advanced work in France.” (N Y Times)
“No thinking person, however prejudiced, could read this record of scholarly and scientific accomplishment without realizing the sober intellectual power, the strong moral fibre of the French people, and no one who had grasped that fact before the war could have talked glibly, as many did, of France regenerated by the ordeal of battle.” C. H. Van Tyne
“As a handbook for American students who contemplate study abroad the book will be indispensable.” C: A. Ellwood
“The volume, besides being a revelation to most of us, is also a beautiful testimonial to the modesty of the French scholar who made so little effort to claim the applause of the world. The one criticism that can be made is that names occur to one’s mind constantly which might have been included. The chapter on law is too short.” Albert Schinz
“On the whole, the appreciation of Catholic scholars is just. ... There are occasional omissions of names which might be expected, such as Branly, of the Catholic institute of Paris, the discoverer of the principle of the wireless. ... The paper on religion deals almost exclusively with the history of religions, and is written with a carefulness apparently designed to avoid points of controversy. In the list of libraries, that of the Catholic institute of Paris should certainly have been mentioned, and even that of the Seminary of St Sulpice, which has a recognized standing.”
“There is not a hint of propagandist ardor in ‘Science and learning in France.’ Such ardor would be an insult to France, which needs no commendation beyond the simple record of achievement. Everywhere in this book western culture is recognized as international—a growth to which all the peoples have made important contributions. ... It is a compendious introduction to the intellectual world of France, intended to serve as a guide for students who may be planning to work for a doctorate abroad. But it should serve the broader purpose of acquainting the general public with the brilliant achievements of contemporary France. ... I think there is some need for Americans to read ‘Science and learning in France.’” C. H.
Reviewed by Ferdinand Baldensperger
“Such books as this will be especially useful in bringing Americans to realize the importance of a section of French life and effort of which too many have known little and thought less.”
“The publication of this book coincides with the establishment of an American university union in Paris, cementing the bond between American students and French universities.”
“Although the disparagement of German learning and research may be carried to absurd extremes in these days of war-time passions, this book should prove a valuable aid toward opening the treasure-house of French learning to the American students.”
WILBUR, MARY ARONETTA.Child’s religion.*$1 (4c) Houghton 377 17-9361
A series of papers on the religious training of children, some of them reprinted from the Churchman. The author’s attitude is expressed in a quotation from another religious teacher: “You cannot give your children religion; that is not your province. Your work is to keep the child in position before God.” Contents: A child’s religion; The child and the church; Children and missions; The song and the child; The child and his book; On telling Bible stories; A Sunday-school teacher’s biography; The childlike teacher; The old Bible and the new child.
WILCOX, EARLEY VERNON.Tropical agriculture.*$2.50 Appleton 630 16-22335
“The author has had in mind the general reader in writing this work, not the farmer of the tropics. ... Climate, soil, agricultural methods, live stock and economic conditions are briefly discussed. The larger part of the volume deals with a description of the nature, source and commercial importance of about 350 tropical products, including sugar cane, nuts, fruits, starchy foods, tobacco, fiber plants, rubber, gum, drugs, tans, dyes, spices, flavorings, perfumes, oils, timber and woods.”—Ann Am Acad
“Good illustrations and a bibliography of books and periodicals. For reference rather than for general reading.”
“He is especially clear in discussing economic conditions not to overestimate the opportunities for the small farmer but shows that it is the large owner who reaps his profit from low-priced labor or the middle man who has made great profits. ... The appendix, with reviews of the literature related to the subject, and a full bibliography of the periodicals from all parts of the world, are especially good.” C. W. Larson
“Dr Wilcox, who is now an administrative assistant in the States relation service of the United States Department of agriculture, was for six years in charge of the Hawaii experiment station. His book is the first real American contribution to cover the whole subject of crops, cultural methods and live stock in the tropics.”
“The opening chapters on tropical climate, soils, agricultural methods, etc., might with great advantage be carefully revised and reconsidered. ... The reader is disappointed to note a lack of proportion, an utter disregard of uniformity in treatment, and an entire absence of method—qualities essential in a book of reference. The plates serve a pictorial rather than a practical purpose. ... The book, as it stands, cannot become a textbook for either the merchant or the student. It needs drastic revision.”
WILD, LAURA HULDA.Evolution of the Hebrew people and their influence on civilization.*$1.50 (1½c) Scribner 220.9 17-24078
The author is professor of biblical history and literature in Mt. Holyoke college, and this book is the result of several years of teaching pupils “who come to college with no adequate conception of what the Bible stands for.” It is a work for beginners and attempts “to relate Bible study to the great fields of knowledge that command a modern student’s attention, to show something of the fascination of Bible study pursued in this way, and to leave a positive conviction of the surpassing value of the great prophetic thoughts handed down to us.” (Preface) The book is divided into five parts: The cultural background of Hebrew life; A sketch of the development of religious ideas; The influence of physical environment upon the development of the Hebrew race; Israel’s economic and social development; The place in world thought of the great Hebrew prophetic teachers. There are two maps, a bibliography and an index.
“The book ought to serve its purpose well. It does not make too great demands of the beginner. It meets him at least half-way. It ranges about freely through the whole biblical world seeking out the interesting and attractive spots and finding them.”
“There is much interesting and valuable material in the book.”
WILDE, PERCIVAL.Unseen host, and other war plays.*$1.25 Little 812 17-25290
These five one-act plays survey the present war from many angles. The “Unseen host” is based upon the legend of the “Angels of Mons”; “Mothers of men” is an interview between two women whose sons are at the front; “Pawns” is the story of some Russian and Austrian peasants living as neighbors on the frontier and summoned to mobilize, quite ignorant of what mobilization means; “In the ravine” is a conversation between an Italian professor of biology and an Austrian forger, who have been fighting on the heights; and “Valkyrie” is a conversation on the battlefield between two wounded officers, one German and the other British and a common soldier.
“‘Mother of men’ and ‘Pawns’ are both powerful, thoroughly realised achievements. He displays no weakness anywhere, is rich in dramatic device, nervous yet natural in dialogue, frugal in means, strong in concentration.” Algernon Tassin
“His new volume shows growth in Mr Wilde, especially in his understanding of the springs of human emotion. Of the new series the title play, a fine and effective use of the legend of the angels at the battle of the Marne, is the best, but he almost duplicates the success of this difficult piece of work in his German version of a similar theme, ‘Valkyrie.’ Taken together these are the finest dramas the war has inspired in America.” Williams Haynes
“The point of view is cosmopolitan rather than simply patriotic, and the dialogs between enemies who have found out that, after all, they share a common humanity light up the tragedy and absurdity of war with far greater skill than any deliberately purposed pacifistic play could hope to attain.”
WILKINS, ERNEST HATCH; COLEMAN, ALGERNON, and HUSE, HOWARD RUSSELL.First lessons in spoken French for men in military service.*50c Univ. of Chicago press 448 17-19499
“The purpose of this book is to help men in American military service (1) to understand what may be said to them in French; (2) to make themselves understood in French; (3) to understand printed French. The facts and words of French are presented consistently in terms of sound. ... For the representation of the French sounds we have used a set of phonetic symbols for which we claim at least the merit of simplicity. It coincides to a considerable degree with the set used in Grandgent’s ‘Short French grammar.’ We have deliberately ignored certain differentiations in sound which are commonly taught, and whichshould be taught under normal circumstances. ... The words chosen for the word-lists have been selected with reference to the particular needs of men in the service.” (Preface)
“An excellent textbook for oral work. Word lists and order of the lessons are well chosen. Index and table of word lists, no vocabulary.”
WILKINSON, ANDREWS.Boy holidays in the Louisiana wilds. il*$1.50 (2c) Little 17-24284
This book will introduce new types of adventure to northern boy readers. Capturing alligators, hunting the marsh lynx, and fishing in the bayous of lower Louisiana are the pastimes of its three young heroes. Woven in with the recital of their real exploits are the tales told by Uncle Jason, tales of the Uncle Remus variety, with such titles as, The wise coon that got away, How the squirrel-jay war began, How Mr Turkey Buzzard became bald. There are also attractive pictures of home life on a big plantation and descriptions of the country bordering the lower Mississippi.
“Children who love Uncle Remus’s stories will be glad of Andrews Wilkinson’s ‘Boy holidays in the Louisiana wilds’ with its effective pictures.”
“Their adventures are entertaining, and there are good descriptions of southern scenery and life. But this is a book of stories rather than adventure, and the interest centers in Uncle Jason, a second Uncle Remus.”
WILKINSON, MRS MARGUERITE OGDEN (BIGELOW),[2]comp. Golden songs of the Golden state.*$1.50 McClurg 811.08 17-31452
A California anthology. There are included in it poems by California writers and by others who have fallen under California’s charm. The compiler says, “I have felt that in a sense California belongs to us all—not only to the native sons and daughters, but to the many who have been refreshed and strengthened and healed by sojourning there. ... But whenever it has been possible I have given the preference to poems by western poets who have made their reputations in the West or who are now living there and definitely associated with the West.” The book is made up of three parts: Pioneer voices; Voices of the great singers; Living voices.
WILLCOX, CORNÉLIS DE WITT.War French.*75c Macmillan 448 17-24091
The author, a colonel in the United States army, is professor of modern languages at the West Point military academy. Contents: Part 1, The French language; part 2, The French army; part 3, Passages for translation into English. About fifty pages of part 1 are devoted to the verb. A few pages of vocabularies and conversations follow. The army information in part 2 is also followed by vocabularies and conversations. Following part 3 are French-English and English-French vocabularies.
WILLIAMS, ALBERT RHYS.In the claws of the German eagle.il*$1.50 (3c) Dutton 940.91 17-12508
The entertaining quality which this book of war-time adventures undoubtedly has, is due largely to its revelation of the author’s personality. He writes with humor and sympathy, and without prejudice. “To myself,” he writes, “out of these insights into the great calamity, there has come reinforcement to my belief in the essential greatness of the human stuff in all nations. Along with this goes a faith that in the new internationalism mankind will lay low the military Frankenstein that he has created, and realize the triumphant brotherhood of all human souls.” The book consists of four parts: The spy-hunters of Belgium; On foot with the German army; With the war photographers in Belgium; Love among the ruins. The author is the socialist pastor of a church in East Boston who was traveling in Europe when the war broke out. His articles on the war were first contributed to the Outlook.
“The volume before us, however, has some noteworthy differences from the general run. In the first place, the author was not a professional war correspondent when the war began. Hence his narrative possesses a certain freshness of outlook and naiveté of presentation. Secondly, as he tells us, ‘there is no culling out of just those episodes which support a particular theory, such as the total and complete depravity of the German race. ... So I am not to blame whether those episodes damn the Germans or bless them. Some do, and some don’t. What one ran into was largely a matter of luck.’ There is a very human note running through the book.”
“A vividly interesting account.”
“Accounts of frightfulness might have added to the attractiveness of his story for those who enjoy shuddering, but Mr Williams finds himself unable, as an eye-witness, to record any such atrocities, and so very wisely leaves them for others to write down. Yet it is no flattering picture he paints of German conduct in Belgium.”
“His book is worth more than a dozen snap-shot records.”
“The book is gossipy, interesting and good humoured, though by no means flippant in tone, and the writer seems unprejudiced and fair to all around.” Joshua Wanhope
“We need more social passion of the sort that flames through every word that Williams has written. This alone can lead us out of the wilderness in which we wander.” Irwin Granich
“Unlike many historians of the early days of the war, Mr Williams has kept his emotions well under control.”
“An eminently readable, rather humorous and certainly very human book.”
WILLIAMS, BLANCHE COLTON.Handbook on story writing.*$1.50 Dodd 808.3 17-31454
Among the many handbooks on short story writing, the author has found none which gives the amateur the guidance he needs in matters of construction. In her experience as teacher of English in Hunter college and in conducting extension classes in story writing at Columbia, she has worked out a series of fundamental principles which have proved to be of definite practical aid to her students. These principles she has incorporated in this book. As the main purpose of the work is to emphasize construction, four of its chapters are devoted to Plot. Others consider The point of view, Characterisation, Dialogue, The emotional element, Local colour and atmosphere, etc. The works of master short story writers, including many present-day writers, are freely drawn on for illustrative material. Each chapter is followed by exercises, suggestions for reading, etc. Bibliographies and index come at the end.
“One of the two best text-books available for the student of short-story writing.” E: J. O’Brien
WILLIAMS, CHARLES DAVID.Christian ministry and social problems.*$1 (3c) Macmillan 261 17-18971
The author is the Episcopal bishop of Michigan. He discusses in this book “the demands upon religion and the opportunities of ministers brought about by the new social conscience, the present unjust distribution of wealth, and the attempts on every hand to devise schemes of justice rather than charity.” (Ind) “This book is the fourth in the series, Church principles for lay people, being issued by certain members of the American Episcopal church to present constructive thought on current theological and social questions.” (Springf’d Republican)
“Many a sectarian minister will want to come under the authority of this Episcopal bishop long enough to read this little book, and many more need to.” L: A. Walker
“Presents clearly and forcibly the principles underlying the Christian minister’s relation to the social problem.”
“An able summing up of the relations of the church to economic and labor problems. ... The bishop is a disciple of Rauschenbusch and a distinct radical in his social thinking.”
Reviewed by Graham Taylor
WILLIAMS, CLEMENT CLARENCE.Design of railway location. il*$3.50 Wiley 625 17-5561
“A study of the physical and economic conditions that control the location of railways in order that their operation may be at maximum safety and efficiency. Attempts to set forth principles rather than to describe practice. Considers economic features, with some attention to estimates and costs. Deals pretty fully with surveys and with operating conditions as influencing railway location.”—Pittsburgh
“May be read with profit by anybody interested in the problems of railway economics.” T. W. V. M.
“There is in the text a praiseworthy lack of inconsequential and irrelevant detail, an efficient segregation and sequence of the subject matter and a careful consideration of its expressed purpose. The book as a whole is an excellent compilation of the essentials governing most modern theories and practices on the subject, as generally adopted by a profession. The personality of the author appears strongly and in a practical manner. The book should serve more than its immediate purpose and may well be in the library of every student of the subject, whether in or out of college.” M. P. Paret
“Based upon notes used in the author’s classes in the University of Kansas. Although ‘the basic idea ... has been to explain and develop underlying principles rather than to describe current practice,’ the work should prove valuable to practicing engineers as well as to students. The appendix covers specifications for the formation of the roadway. Many useful diagrams.”
WILLIAMS, CORA LENORE.Creative involution; with an introd. by Edwin Markham.*$1.50 Knopf 513.8 16-22289
“In this little volume of 200 pages Miss Williams endeavors to show the need and to set forth the outlines of a new system of philosophy—which is to say a new explanation of the processes of life and of their causes. She finds the theory of evolution sufficient up to the present time, when man has made almost complete his conquest of the physical world by the process of development along the lines of differentiation. Now, if he wishes to carry still further that development it is necessary for him to work out and accept a new process, that of integration, which Miss Williams calls involution. And in the inter-relation of these two, evolution and involution, she thinks is to be found ‘a nexus of sufficient strength to bridge not only the chasm between the inorganic and the organic realms, but the far greater chasm between the organic and psychical.’”—N Y Times
“Miss Williams seems to have discovered this entirely by herself and she thinks that her discovery is new. She has been so overwhelmed by it that she has acquired a mystic regard for it. She calls it ‘creative involution’ and opposes it to ‘creative evolution,’ in a language which is involved, obscure, dithyrambic, sacerdotal.”
“Such books as this can only do harm, and harm of the worst sort, for they urge us to throw off restraint and they diminish our ability to distinguish between what we can and what we cannot know. For example: Mr Edwin Markham is pleased to write an introduction, and just see what nonsense he turns up when he hoes in these fields of four dimensions. ... Brave words and high praise but nonsense! Mr Markham has not the faintest conception of what is meant in mathematics by hyperspace, and his ‘cosmic currents’ remind one irresistibly of Mr Don Marquis’s ‘Hermione!’”
“Miss Williams has been a member of the mathematical faculty of the University of California, and is an authority upon that science.”
“One wishes that the author had given her book more definitely the form of a critique rather than that of a series of aphorisms and inspirations; that she had more plainly delimited her thesis and had taken more pains to ‘distinguish away’ false or misleading interpretations of her leading ideas. But the book is stimulating.”
WILLIAMS, MRS HATTIE PLUM.Social study of the Russian German. il pa 75c Univ. of Neb. 325.7 17-27036
This work “embodies the results of a study undertaken under the auspices of the Department of political science and sociology in the University of Nebraska. The 6500 ‘Russians’ of Lincoln, Nebraska, are really Germans, ignorant of the Russian language, whose ancestors, a century and a half ago, settled in two Volga provinces. Thence, after various guaranteed liberties were withdrawn, they proceeded, in the years following 1870, to migrate to America, settling in Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. The main period of their immigration began in 1898. On the basis of a canvass and of local records, Mrs Williams describes the character of their settlement in Lincoln, their families and their vital statistics in two chapters which she expects to extend into a book.”—Am Pol Sci R
Reviewed by R. F. Foerster
“This is an excellent and exact study of what might be called the double-hyphen immigrant. ... A large amount of well-balanced material has been collected displaying customs, vital and social statistics, and tendencies. ... One cannot help being somewhat disappointed because the study is essentially objective. Familiar as the author is with the people themselves, the reader does not get inside them so as to see their psychological life.” H. A. Miller
“Both sympathetic and scholarly. ... Mrs Williams has done an extremely useful piece of work; one of the best things of the kind we have seen.” I. C. Hannah
WILLIAMS, J. E. HODDER, ed. One young man.*75c (3c) Doran 940.91 17-14140
“The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk.” (Sub-title) The book is made up of short chapters telling of the experiences of the one young man in camp, on active service, etc. There are many quotations from his letters.
“The documentary value of this little book lies wholly in the vision of utter devotion to country and cause that made of a mere human cog in a British mercantile house a fearless agent in England’s great war machine.”
“His story is of special interest because it is that of a man not a fighter by nature.”
“It was the Y. M. C. A. that introduced him to the sporting side of life. The book is a genuine tribute to a fine organization.”
“Almost a typical transcription of what has been the lot of thousands of other ‘young men.’”
WILLIAMS, LAURENCE FREDERICK RUSHBROOK.Four lectures on the handling of historical material. (Allahabad univ. Dept. of modern Indian history publications)*$1 Longmans 907 17-31913
“The object of this volume is to make the reader realize the nature of the special training of the modern historical student, and the reasons which make this training necessary. The first two lectures discuss in detail the classification of historical material. The third indicates the pitfalls in the path of the historian. ... The fourth lecture treats the problem of personality in history. ... The author holds the chair of modern Indian history in Allahabad university.”—Cath World
“These lectures were written for audiences consisting partly of Indian students, and partly of the general public. ... It is patent that the author is concerned rather with the impression his special audience was to receive than with the adequacy of his lectures as an examination of the problems of historical method. ... The omission, from his list of non-official sources, of newspapers and of literature, which is essential for the inner, ‘spiritual’ history of a people, is to be regretted. The difficulties of the historian in controlling his bias and in marshalling his evidence ought not to have been expounded without a setting forth of the scientific method of determining particular facts, so well known to students of Langlois and Seignobos. ... The foot-notes lack date and place of publication and usually the full name of the author. Lecture 3 warns against incomplete references and improperly charges German scholars with making them (p. 67).” G. C. Sellery
“It is impossible in three lectures to range, however superficially, over all history, and the confusion which the method excites is worse confounded by a singularly irrelevant fourth lecture on personality in history.” G.
“Able lectures on modern historical methods.”
WILLIAMS, STANLEY THOMAS.Richard Cumberland; his life and dramatic works. il*$3 (3c) Yale univ. press 17-25291
Richard Cumberland, poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, whose sensitiveness led Sheridan to caricature him as “Sir Fretful Plagiary,” possessed, according to Dr Williams, “a personality real, vital and unique in the history of English letters.” “Sources for this life have been found in the collections of plays, memoirs, diaries, and letters in the Yale and Harvard university libraries, and in original manuscripts of Cumberland in the British museum. Material has been drawn directly from the ‘Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, written by himself,’ published in 1806, and from Mudford’s ‘Life of Richard Cumberland,’ which appeared in 1812, one year after the death of the dramatist. ... The bibliography of eighteen pages contains a complete record of authorities used but does not attempt a compilation of the innumerable editions of Cumberland’s fifty-eight plays.” (Preface) There are several illustrations, the frontispiece is a portrait of Cumberland from the original painting by Romney in the National portrait gallery.
“A valuable contribution both to the history of the drama and to the personal records of English literature.” E. F. E.
“This is rather a long book to be all about ‘poor old Cumberland’ will be the first thought of those who take it up; but when it has been read it does not seem so long as was expected. Dr Williams believes ‘that the real interest of his book lies less in the plays than in the personality of their author,’ and he is right.”
WILLOUGHBY, WILLIAM FRANKLIN, and others. System of financial administration of Great Britain.*$2.75 Appleton 336.42 17-8477
“This report is the result of an investigation made in Great Britain in the summer of 1914 by the authors acting as an unofficial commission, and is now published by the recently established Institute for government research [incorporated March 10, 1916]. It presents a detailed and somewhat technical account of the administrative procedure in the United Kingdom in connection with the preparation of estimates, the action thereon in Parliament, the disbursement of public funds, the treasury control over expenditures, the audit of public accounts and the system of financial reports. This is based on a close study of official documents and reports, especially the report of the Select committee on national expenditure (1902), and the report of the Select committee on estimates (1912).” (Ann Am Acad) The compilers are William F. Willoughby, constitutional adviser to the Chinese republic and professor of jurisprudence and politics at Princeton; Westel W. Willoughby, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins, and Samuel McCune Lindsay, professor of social legislation at Columbia. President Lowell of Harvard writes an introduction. Four appendices give acts, forms, etc.
“It must not, however, be inferred that merely because the book is dry as dust it is not, also, to use a phrase common with reviewers, ‘an indispensable work of reference,’ It brings together, in handy compendium form, a large amount of data not readily accessible elsewhere. The materials are well arranged and easy to find, and the standing of the authors is a guarantee of accuracy.” C. C. Plehn
“The movement for the establishment of a budgetary system at Washington has now given Great Britain the fullest and most serviceable treatise on its financial system it as yet possesses. In thus characterizing the Willoughby-Willoughby-Lindsay report it may be said at once that the writer of this note is not overlooking Hilton Young’s admirable monograph on ‘The system of national finance.’ But Young covers much more ground than Willoughby,Willoughby and Lindsay. ... Their book is concerned only with the appropriation of money by parliament, and with the system that the House of commons has devised and perfected since the beginning of the nineteenth century—chiefly in the years from 1834 to 1866—for controlling the expenditure of money that has been voted for the various services of the state.” E: Porritt
“This study should be of great value in working out improved budget and finance methods in this country. In the conclusions, the report calls attention to some fundamental factors which have been hitherto almost ignored in most of the writings on these subjects. ... Serviceable as is this report, it is in some respects open to criticism.” J: A. Fairlie
“The details relating to estimates, voting of moneys, auditing, etc., are set forth accurately, and conclusions are drawn with more or less reference to our own situation. The volume is an important and timely contribution.”
“An admirably lucid volume which sets a high standard for the series it inaugurates. ... One can only say that no better account of the subject exists. It is not, of course, an exciting volume; though it is fully as clear as the subject allows. It is perhaps defective, though the authors admit the presence of this characteristic, in its analysis of the financial system in relation to the House of commons. It does not, as I think, allow sufficiently for the important fact that much of the success of the system is dependent thereon.” H. J. L.
“Though in some respects slightly less detailed than Colonel Durell’s ‘Principles and practice of the system of control over parliamentary grants’ the American work is perhaps even more valuable to the general reader because it brings to bear an outside light upon our internal problems. ... Its three authors ... have produced a volume which ought to be of real public service on both sides of the Atlantic.”
“Proclaimed as the first authoritative detailed account of the system of financial administration of Great Britain. ... The plan of the work is admirably simple.”
“For American students, however, ‘The financial administration of Great Britain’ will be superior to Young’s volume because of its many references to American practice and its conclusions in the way of lessons the United States may learn from Great Britain.” H. A. Millis
WILLSIE, HONORÉ MCCUE (MRS HENRY ELMER WILLSIE).Benefits forgot.il*75c (7½c) Stokes 17-24971
The publishers state that this “story of Lincoln and mother love” is “true in fact.” The greater part of the book deals with the boyhood of Jason Wilkins, son of a poor Methodist circuit-rider and a mother who loved to read and was willing to sacrifice all she had that her boy might get his medical education. He repaid her devotion by neglect. Finally he entered the Civil war as army surgeon. His mother, hearing nothing from him for months, supposed him dead and wrote to President Lincoln for information. Lincoln had young Wilkins arrested and brought to Washington. The last chapter gives the conversation between the two.
“With the obvious intention of pointing a moral as well as writing an entertaining short story, Mrs Willsie has succeeded admirably in both endeavors.”
“Fine, true picture of mother love and sacrifice.”