“As usual, Mr Cannan has found plenty of spades here to be called by name, but we never suspect him of pursuing grossness for its own sake. The narrative is hardly a ‘story,’ it has no plot, and is most liberal of detail. It is, nevertheless, very artfully put together to an end far beyond that of naturalism in its raw phase—to the end of interpreting a human character in action upon a higher than animal plane.” H. W. Boynton
“One likes Mendel chiefly because it expresses valorously a sense of the primitive value of the fight that there is when one’s work and one’s love are made to use all the forces of one’s life. The book is not comfortable and acquiescent. It demands thoroughgoing and pugnacious protest. ... But one wishes Mr Cannan would write a little better. ... It tests one’s disposition toward Mendel to have its author give so little gratification to a taste for letters as a fine art.” Edith Borie
“A long step forward in fictional art has been taken by Gilbert Cannan in this new novel. He is best known to American readers as the translator of ‘Jean Christophe’ and as the author of ‘Old Mole,’ ‘Young Earnest,’ and ‘Three sons and a mother,’ as most of his long list of novels and plays have not been brought out in the United States.”
“The acrid savor of the Jewish race, their mounting egotism, their strange humility and ever-mastering desire for God, Cannan has pictured with sympathy and deep insight.”
“‘Mendel’ is a fearless piece of work. It has grip and power, shrewd observation, and clear-cut thought. Sloppiness, sentiment and gush—the three distinguishing traits of so many modern novels—are absent. The writer knows what he wants to say and knows how to say it. Mr Cannan works close to life. His book is realism, but realism of the right kind.”
“Besides theories on art, another preoccupation of Mr Cannan’s personages is sex. There is far too much talk about it; an exasperated consciousness of it pervades the book. ... So far we have said nothing of the honesty, the intelligence, the frequent and delightful pungency of the book. Mr Cannan has moments in which he lazily subsides into ineffective emphasis, or caricature, or cut-and-dried appreciations, and these moments are frequent enough to make ‘Mendel’ seem too long. But it almost continuously entertains, and we are not using the term in a trivial sense; it entertains because it provokes.”
CAPPEAU, MRS IDA MAY (JACK).Voyage to South America and Buenos Aires, the city beautiful. il $1.20 (4c) Sherman, French & co. 918 16-24332
A woman’s diary of a voyage to South America. On the voyage stops were made at Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santos, and brief glimpses of these cities are given. Most of the author’s time was spent in Buenos Aires and she writes with enthusiasm of the city and of the courtesy and kindness of its people.
“Only the fact that so few people find anything at all to say about South America makes Mrs Cappeau’s account appear of relative interest. ... A few of the photographs are excellent.”
CARBAUGH, HARVEY CLARENCE, ed. Human welfare work in Chicago. il*$1.50 (4c) McClurg 917.731 17-9261
The purpose of this book is to bring together information pertaining to the various activities in Chicago that come under the heading human welfare. These include music, art, education, philanthropy, etc. The editor is a member of the civil service board of South park commissioners; there is an introduction by John Barton Payne, president of the South park commissioners, and chapters are contributed to the book by other men directly engaged in special lines of work, among them Henry E. Legler, librarian of the public library. Contents: Art in Chicago; Chicago as a music center; The city’s public schools; The public library; Parks and boulevards; Public recreation; A summary of philanthropic work; Philanthropic work of religious organizations; Neighborhood work. There are a number of interesting illustrations.
“It is not until one comes upon the full list of municipal activities, as in such a volume as the present, that the scope and significance of that future are possible of realization. ... The volume contains much statistical information and is amply illustrated.”
“A valuable handbook for those interested in gaining an idea of the varied activities which a modern city carries on for the benefits of its citizens.”
CARMICHAEL, MARY H., comp. Pioneer days. il*$1.25 (3c) Duffield 973 17-13393
The author has collected these stories of pioneer days in the Mississippi valley from early histories and from lives of frontiersmen and pioneers written by contemporaries. Contents: Josiah Hunt—the Indian fighter; Maniac defender—a story of the border; Providential interference; Tom Higgins rescuing his comrade; A romance of pioneer life; Ham Cass and his vow; Capture and escape of Alexander McConnell; Charles Hess; Captain Hubbell defending his boat; Pioneer boys; James Moore’s captivity; Lewis Wetzel’s scout. The illustrations are from old prints.
“A good library book for sixth grade.”
“There might have been a more careful editing of the contents; one is led to infer that scissors and paste-brush were the only utensils in use.”
CARNOVALE, LUIGI.Why Italy entered into the great war. il $2.50 Italian-American pub. co., 903 Michigan boulevard bldg., Chicago 940.91 17-21996
“The author, an Italian living in Chicago, writes this book to defend his country from the charges ... that Italy had been guilty of treachery in declaring void the treaty of the Triple alliance and that she entered the war first because she had been bought by English and French gold, and secondly because she was eager to acquire territory (Trieste and Trent) ‘which by hereditary divine right was the possession of the Hapsburgs.’” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) “The first part deals with recent history—with the relations between Italy and Austria for the past century. ... The second part comprises a longer historical retrospect—one of two thousand years—and is designed to prove the essentially Italian character of the borderlands in dispute between the two countries. The third part gives an account of the diplomatic doings which immediately preceded the declaration of war—a complete and compact presentation of the actual documents. The fourth part gives the reasons which justified Italy in breaking with the Central powers and in joining France and England.” (Dial) The book is printed in two languages. “The English text fills the first three hundred pages, and the whole is then presented in Italian in the second half of the book.” (N Y Times)
“One feature of the book is a plate giving in facsimile the famous ‘Tavola Clesiana,’ a bronze tablet which was discovered at Cles, in mid-Tyrol, in 1869. This tablet contains a decree of the Emperor Claudius, A.D. 49, determining the essentially Italian character of the inhabitants of that region. ... Mr Carnovale, who has a reputation as a journalist both in Italy and America, is one of the younger school of radical reformers. He is against not only the papacy but also the house of Savoy; and against not only the house of Savoy but also the capitalistic forces which ... often take an undue part in originating and in furthering wars.”
“Readers who wish to preserve a judicial attitude will need to be on their guard against the author’s point of view. And one cannot refrain from marveling that so ardent a patriot should choose to live in a country of which he has such a low opinion as he expresses of America.”
CARPENTER, FORD ASHMAN.Aviator and the Weather bureau. 2d ed il 25c; free to libraries San Diego chamber of commerce, San Diego, Cal. 629.1 17-25375
“This little booklet consists of a brief but comprehensive account of the history of aviation as it is associated with southern California and of a syllabus of lectures delivered at the War department school of aviation at San Diego on practical meteorology as applied to aviation. There is also an interesting narration of weather study from an aeroplane, including the details of the author’s first ascent, and, finally, an account of the present active coöperation between aviators and the United States Weather bureau.”—Nation
“Contains a considerable number of interesting illustrations.”
CARPENTER, WILLIAM BOYD.Further pages of my life. il*$3.50 Scribner (*10s 6d Williams & Norgate, London) 17-14124
“The ways of man and the shortcomings of clergymen, the life of the rural vicarage and the personalities of several English leaders in letters, religion and affairs, are revealed by Dr W. Boyd Carpenter in a second volume of reminiscences. It is a companion to his ‘Some pages of my life,’ and it is written in the same informal, companionable and entertaining manner. Neither is it in any sense a biography, for Dr Carpenter is content merely to set down a few glimpses of life and people as he has encountered them during a long career of clerical activity. After having served as bishop of Ripon from 1884 to 1911, he is now sub-dean and canon of Westminster.”—Boston Transcript
“There are many good stories of all sorts—humorous, strange, and grim—in this variegated chronicle.”
“Few people write a sequel to an autobiography which is more interesting and important than the first book. But this is the case with ‘Further pages of my life.’ ... Every clergyman should read the chapter on the bishop’s experiences with the clergy of his diocese. ... The book, as a whole, is delightful reading. ... Bishop Boyd Carpenter is able to tellthings which have never before been revealed. This is especially true in his chapter on King Edward VII.”
“A fascinating volume.”
CARR, JOSEPH WILLIAM COMYNS.Ideals of painting. il*$2 (2c) Macmillan 759 17-8604
The purpose of this book is “to assist those students who desire to obtain a general view of the movement of painting from the time of Giotto to the present day; and to compare and contrast the spiritual ideals that have been pursued and perfected in the work of separate schools labouring under the dominating impulse supplied by individual genius.” The first two sections of the book deal with The ideals of Italy and Venice and the north. The remainder consists of chapters devoted respectively to the ideals of Flanders, Germany, Holland, Spain, France and England. There are a number of illustrations, and an index that seems to be complete.
“The illustrations are numerous and well chosen.”
“Well arranged material.”
“There is any amount of interesting detail, comparison, analysis, and assertion; but no pattern of a theory of life, related in specific ways to the theories of life of the others, emerges for any one of these lands.”
“Nearly everything he says is interesting, and his characterization of particular painters is often admirable. Of course, there are what must appear to another critic faults of proportion and of accent. His greatest critical weakness seems to us to be a lack of complete understanding of the possibilities of light and shade. The greatest drawback of Mr Carr’s book is his style. He is not master of the vivid phrase or the illuminating word. His wordiness and repetitiousness make hard reading, and it is to be feared that few readers will be sufficiently persevering to discover how much better his thought is than it sounds.”
“The present book reflects to a degree the crowding of thoughts and impressions arising in the presence of so multitudinous a subject, and it lacks distinction of proportion.”
“The text is set forth with the same charm as characterized the author’s previously most lately issued volume, ‘Coasting Bohemia.’”
“Will give the veriest tyro in art the ability to appreciate and to criticise intelligently the paintings of the various schools.”
“The history of art is now so specialized that to be adequately furnished at every point is scarcely possible to a single man. How can any one student know as much as Morelli or Mr Berenson about the Italians, as much as Dr Bredius or Dr de Groot about the Dutch, and as much as a dozen other experts about the French, German, Spanish, and English painters? Mr Carr would have replied that he made no such pretension. ... To sum up, we have found this book interesting and suggestive and based on a sound foundation of knowledge. It is a pity, however, that the proofs were not more carefully read.”
CARRINGTON, FITZROY.Engravers and etchers. il $3 Art institute of Chicago 760
“This volume, with its 133 illustrations, embodies six lectures delivered under the auspices of the Scammon foundation at the Art institute of Chicago by the curator of prints at our own [Boston] art museum. The chapter titles will give an adequate idea of the ground covered: German engraving: from the beginning to Martin Schongauer; Italian engraving: the Florentines; German engraving: the master of the Amsterdam cabinet and Albrecht Dürer; Italian engraving: Mantegna to Marcantonio Raimondi; Some masters of portraiture; Landscape etching.”—Boston Transcript
“He scarcely touches on contemporary artists of the needle and burin, and he dwells lovingly on Dürer and Rembrandt. ... This necessarily limits the interest of the book principally to those that know little or nothing of these arts. Neither does he go into the technicalities of the processes engaged in them. His book is to be especially recommended to young amateurs. ... Most of the reproductions of the works of Schongauer, Mantegna, Raimondi, Nanteuil, Daubigny, Corot, Haden and other masters represented, are admirably clear and satisfactory.” N. H. D.
“The last lecture, dealing with landscape, is perhaps the best in its directness and unity, and the tribute to Dürer’s little-realized importance in this field is noted with pleasure by the reviewer. As to the illustrations, regrets concerning the havoc with lines played by the half-tone screen are of course unavoidable. And one may at least question whether the irritatingly glazed and malodorous paper used throughout the book is necessary. Mr Paff’s bibliographical lists, obviously not intended to be complete, are helpful.”
“In its agreeable blending of technical discussion with discriminating feeling the book is an excellent aid to appreciation.”
“For the needs of persons to whom engravings and etchings are an unexplored region of art there is no better book. It is beautifully printed and contains 133 well-executed illustrations.”
CARROLL, ROBERT SPROUL.Mastery of nervousness based upon self reeducation.*$2 (3c) Macmillan 616 17-18704
Dr Carroll tells us that “nervous health is a mental state, not a physical condition,” although “physical disturbances play a large part in the production of nervousness.” For instance, food intemperance, which in America is “almost universal,” is “a larger factor in producing the damage which results in defective nervous offspring, than any other single cause.” The earlier chapters of the book take up various types of nervousness, discuss “eating errors” and “eating for efficiency,” and point out the benefits of work and play. Later chapters deal with mental and moral self-reeducation under such headings as: Tangled thoughts; Emotional tyranny; Clear thinking; Moulding the emotions; The fulfilment of self, etc. Dr Carroll believes that nervousness is to be mastered by diet, exercise and training of the will, rather than by drugs.
“A most helpful popular treatise.”
“An abundance of useful information and wholesome advice is presented by Dr Carroll.”
CASALIS, ALFRED EUGÈNE.For France and the faith. il*60c (3c) Assn. press 940.91 17-24722
This book is made up of fragments of letters written to relatives and intimate friends by Alfred Eugène Casalis who was born of missionary parents in South Africa, was a student in the theological seminary of Montauban, France, when the war broke out, volunteered and fell in battle at the age of nineteen. The letters are translated by W. E. Bristol. In an introductorypage John R. Mott says: “The English edition has helped many a soldier of Britain to live his life and to fight his battles on the higher levels.”
CASTLE, AGNES (SWEETMAN) (MRS EGERTON CASTLE), and CASTLE, EGERTON.Wolf-lure. il*$1.50 Appleton 17-24204
“The strange, barbaric title of this latest adventure story by these popular authors amply suggests the wild, exotic scenes enacted about Castle Rozac of Guyenne, not long after the old French régime came to an abrupt downfall under the ‘Corsician upstart.’ The tale consists of the reminiscences of an elderly Englishman, who in youth wandered into this out-of-the-way part of France for the sake of historical study and research. The action, which is extravagant, though doubtless appropriate to the times and the setting, takes one into the midst of a passion-haunted castle, into the territory of a race of ruffians and counterfeiters, and even down to the subterranean caves in the back waters of the Tarne.”—N Y Times
“Romantic and rather long.”
“Needless to say of a work from these experienced hands, it is a vigorous and finished story of its kind.” H. W. Boynton
“The color and romance of the story give us the Castles at their best; and the character of Louvecelle, the heroine, is touched with spirit and charm.”
“‘Wolf-lure’ is the work of specialists in their field. ... Having chosen their atmosphere, they breathe it easily; and they are seldom to be caught napping (there are a few modernisms in the dialogue of the present story) in matters of detail.”
“The story is surprisingly void of really ‘palpitating moments.’ This is due, perhaps, to a certain loquacity on the part of the narrator that detracts from the point and force of the tale.”
“The story is not always quite probable, but it holds the reader’s attention closely.”
“We have no objection to fantastic invention in stories of this kind, but if they are put in an historic setting the setting should be true to history.”
“The tale has many exciting moments; but these come in the latter half of the book, and it needs some perseverance to win through to them.”
CASTLE, WILLIAM ERNEST.Genetics and eugenics; a text-book for students of biology and a reference book for animal and plant breeders. il*$1.50 Harvard univ. press 575.6 16-25200
“The first part of Prof. W. E. Castle’s ‘Genetics and eugenics’ is devoted to the larger subject of genetics, especially in its relation to the theory of evolution, and the smaller second part is given over to the discussion of the ‘agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations, either physically or mentally.’ Most emphasis is laid, of course, upon the fundamental studies of Lamarck, Darwin, Weismann, and Mendel, but the very latest researches are also considered.”—Nation
“This is a welcome addition to the rapidly growing list of books which set forth the newer results and problems of biology and show their application to human life. Moreover, it is well illustrated. ... The volume will be of great interest and value to laymen as well as biologists; indeed, we may assume that the latter know the facts now.” Carl Kelsey
“The reader will find here a summary of the subject that will put him fairly in touch with the best of contemporary thought on such matters as the inheritance of acquired characters, biometry, the mutation theory, unit characters, sex-linked and other kinds of linked inheritance, inbreeding and crossbreeding. ... As regards human inheritance, Professor Castle agrees neither with Pearson, who denies Mendelianism, nor with Davenport and Plate, who are enthusiastic for unit characters, but adopts a more eclectic view.”
“Since the beginning of the present century, when genetic research passed from the province of the amateur to that of the professional, Prof. Castle has been recognized as one of the most active workers on these lines. A book embodying his outlook after years of teaching and research is sure of a welcome from all who are interested in these matters. ... The amount of ground covered involves a condensed treatment of many important questions, and though this need not be a drawback to the student whose reading is supplemented by lectures, it makes it rather a difficult book for the average reader. ... The treatment of eugenics is eminently sane.”
CASTLE, WILLIAM RICHARDS, Jr.Hawaii past and present. rev and enl ed il*$1.50 (3c) Dodd 919.69 17-5138
The first edition of this book was published in 1913. The addition of a chapter on The army and navy in Hawaii is the most noticeable change in the second edition. Other chapters have revisions, bringing them down to date.
“A descendant of the earliest white families to settle in the Hawaiian Islands, Mr Castle is well fitted by long acquaintance with the people and their life and customs to write sympathetically and intelligently concerning them.”
“A valuable book that purports to do a great deal and accomplishes it.”
CATT, MRS CARRIE (LANE) CHAPMAN, comp.Woman suffrage by federal constitutional amendment.(National suffrage library) $1.30 (8½c) National woman suffrage pub. co. 324.3 17-4988
This little book does not argue the question of woman suffrage. The justice, necessity and inevitability of suffrage for women are taken for granted. “The discussion is strictly confined to the reasons why an amendment to the federal constitution is the most appropriate method of dealing with the question.” Contents: Why the federal amendment? by Carrie Chapman Catt; State constitutional obstructions, by Mary Sumner Boyd; Election laws and referenda, by Carrie Chapman Catt; The story of the 1916 referenda, by Carrie Chapman Catt; Federal action and states rights, by Henry Wade Rogers; Objections to the federal amendment, by Carrie Chapman Catt.
CATT, HEINRICH ALEXANDER DE.Frederick the Great; the memoirs of his reader (1758-1760); tr. by F. S. Flint; with an introd. by Lord Rosebery. 2v il*$7.50 Houghton (Eng ed 17-11818)
“The translation constituting the bulk of these important volumes has been made from the French text published from the manuscript in the Prussian state archives. ... As reader and librarian to the king, with whom he was on terms of intimacy, Catt had ample opportunityof observing and becoming conversant with the sovereign’s character, and he recorded Frederick’s sayings as faithfully as Boswell noted down for posterity those of Johnson. The result is that Henri de Catt’s memoirs, though almost devoid of literary merit, have preserved for us a picture which it is scarcely too much to affirm gives a better idea of the man than does even Carlyle’s monumental work.”—Ath
“During the bitter years 1758-1760 Catt kept a very brief diary of all the conversations and journeys with the king. Many years later he artistically amplified the diary into ‘Memoirs.’ ... The former, not here translated, consists of disconnected jottings and is wholly without literary form. It is of much value, however, to the meticulous biographer of Frederick, because of its unvarnished accuracy. The ‘Memoirs,’ on the other hand, put together in pleasing narrative form, have doubtless much greater interest for the general reader, but are not quite so trustworthy. Admitting, however, that there is a mixture of ‘dichtung und wahrheit’ in the ‘Memoirs,’ they nevertheless give a generally veracious, favorable, and intensely human picture of a really great man.” S. B. Fay
“The book is of great interest, and has appeared opportunely.”
“A document of great human interest, a faithful portrait of a monarch working at concert pitch with an intensity and application truly marvelous, Catt’s memoir is of even greater value as the chronicle of the sowing of a seed which only now has reached its sinister harvest. ... The translator has done a difficult work well. The original ‘abounds in solecisms and faults of style’; the translation has both character and lucidity. The work will join that company of distinguished biographies which is as exclusive as the host of ordinary biographies is numerous.” R. W.
“Carlyle, in writing his life of Frederick, would have been only too delighted with these memoirs, had he been acquainted with them. They would have formed a welcome oasis in the desert of Dryasdusts against whom he loved to fulminate.”
“Mr Flint has given us a text in good idiomatic English. ... One of the most interesting features in the ‘Memoirs’ is the light they throw on the relations of Frederick and Voltaire.”
“This is a capital book, and an agreeable surprise. ... Catt is the soul of sincerity and straightforwardness; but Catt soon perceives that a little of the truth goes a long way, and it is amusing to see him reflecting how far he can venture to go in the criticism of bad verses and other of Frederick’s indiscretions.”
“As Lord Rosebery says in his introduction, this is a very human book. Frederick the Great, Prussia’s only really able king, has been eulogized and criticized in hundreds of volumes, but we have never read anything giving so simple and homely a picture of him as that drawn by his admiring Swiss reader.”
“The ‘Memoirs,’ which are now for the first time translated from the original French, present a very remarkable picture of one side of the great king. They extend over two years only, but those two years include the crisis of the Seven years war. ... The translation, which is admirably done, is introduced by Lord Rosebery in a preface which brings out the full difficulty of the enigma which the character of Frederick presents.”
“Catt’s memoirs approach Boswell’s ‘Johnson’ and Busch’s ‘Bismarck’ in their intimate revelations, and, for those who read only English, furnish an excellent supplement to Carlyle’s fervid and memorable epic.” A. L. Cross
CAULDWELL, SAMUEL MILBANK.Chocolate cake and black sand, and two other plays. il*$1.50 Putnam 812 17-16753
The three plays in this book were written by the author for the entertainment of his own children and the amusement of his friends. The author’s preface says “These plays are distinctly a domestic product intended for home consumption. The family hearthstone finds its place in the foreground of the stage setting. The living-room is transformed into the orchestra and the hall staircase answers all the purposes of the gallery. Little if any stage scenery is required, except such as can be found in the cellar or garret of any well-regulated family.” Mrs Cauldwell, who has edited the plays for publication after her husband’s death, says that they are offered to all who are interested in amateur performances in the home. The title play and the one following, “The undoing of Giant Hotstoff,” are dream plays. The third, “The invention of the rat trap,” is a “romantic historical drama.”
“Very whimsical and gay.”
“They are stronger dramatically than most plays for young actors.”
CHAMBERS, ROBERT WILLIAM.Barbarians.il $1.40 Appleton 17-28656
“The story is a group of episodes, each narrating the fate of one of eight men who sail for Europe together on a mule-laden steamer ‘in quest of something they could not find in America—something that lay somewhere amid flaming obscurity in that hell of murder beyond the Somme—their soul’s salvation, perhaps.’ They are ‘fed up’ with America’s holding aloof from participation in the struggle. Several of the men take service in the French army and Mr Chambers follows each to his dramatic end. ... Mr Chambers displays bitterness and abhorrence of Germany’s military conduct and employs strong terms in characterizing it.”—Springf’d Republican
“Tales that, if not inspired, are honestly felt and written, and not merely manufactured for an audience or an effect.”
“Mr Chambers expresses much contempt and disapproval of the government of the United States because it did not enter the war at the beginning. Whatever may have been one’s personal opinion upon this matter in former months, such piled-up objurgations in the pages of fiction at this time are in offensively bad taste, to say the least.”
“Too bad that the author could not resist the temptation to play up the usual suggestive moments! As a matter of fact, however, they do not particularly detract from a work of great vividness.” E. P. Wyckoff
“The episodes are adroitly conceived and related with grim vividness and feeling.”
CHAMBERS, ROBERT WILLIAM.Dark star.il*$1.50 (1c) Appleton 17-13501
A Russian princess, a German prima-donna and the young daughter of an American missionary are characters in this war-time romance. As a child in Turkey, Rue Carew had played with the wonder box that had been the property of Herr Conrad Wilner. It held, along with the figure of a Chinese god and other treasures, a series of maps and plans. Years after when she is studying art in Paris, under the protection of her friend, the Russian princess,Rue learns how important these old sketches are. A cable despatch to her childhood friend, Jim Neeland, in America, sends him up to her old home in the Catskills to find the box, which he is instructed to bring at once to Paris. But someone is there before him; the German singer also knows of these plans of the fortifications of the Dardanelles. This is only the beginning of the series of adventures in which he becomes involved and from which, being an American with a touch of Irish blood, he comes out victorious.
“Sensational, but almost without any cloying sentimentality. Appeared in the Cosmopolitan.”
“Not since Robert Chambers’s early novels has he given us so absorbing a story of adventure as that which he has woven about ‘The dark star.’ In it he gains back the power which made him a magician in the realm of adventure stories, but which has so often been lost sight of in his later novels.” D. L. M.
“A lava-spouting, rambunctious, movie-play kind of an entertainment. ... But Mr Chambers never forgets the marshmallows, and the dainty makes its appearance, as luscious as ever, at the proper time.”
“This is not only a very stirring tale, but is the best-written novel Mr Chambers has produced since the outbreak of the war.”
CHAMPION, JESSIE.Jimmy’s wife.*$1.25 (2c) Lane 17-2485
When they separated, Jimmy’s wife had exacted from him a promise. He was never to recognize her should they meet in public. This much of his story Jimmy tells to Rev. and Mrs Horace Venn when he comes to live in their parish, and Mrs Venn, who tells the story, begins immediately to take an interest in Jimmy’s wife. She has reason to believe that one of two women is the lady in question. But which? Circumstances point sometimes to one, sometimes to the other. At the end the war breaks in on the events of the story, as it does in so many English novels of the day. It helps to solve the problem of Jimmy and his wife without in any way curbing the sprightliness of the narrative.
“There are clever touches, evidently from close observation of real life. The author is smart, but not truthful, in the scenes wherein she presents the daily conversation in the rector’s family life. ... The principal blemish of the book is the writer’s evident satisfaction in her own mental dash and alertness.”
“The dominant situation resembles that of Mr Hay’s very clever tale of ‘The man who forgot.’ The conversations are the strong point of the novel.”
CHAMPNEY, ELIZABETH (WILLIAMS) (MRS JAMES WELLS CHAMPNEY), and CHAMPNEY, FRÈRE.Romance of old Japan. il*$3.50 Putnam 398.2 17-30304
Colorful, atmospheric, this volume which is uniform with “Romance of old Belgium” traces the legends of the flowery isles—“traces the floating bubbles of romance which reveal the deeper tide of history.” There are the legends of the age of mythology, of mediæval days and of later times, legends in prose and verse with illustrations that bear out the spirit of the tales. The most tangible chapter of the book is the closing one, “Notable examples of Japanese architecture,” contributed by Frère Champney who is an acknowledged authority on the subject.
“It is not a scholarly work in any sense. The authors are careless of or indifferent to sources, and they handle their material with a romantic disregard for anything save its lurking charm. To this uncritical attitude is attached the further fault of a too unselective catholicity.”
“Both in text and illustration this volume well carries out its authors’ aim.”
“Lastly come the more modern romances suggestive of ‘Madame Butterfly.’ These tales lose something of the romantic reality and flavor of their precursors ... partly because the materialistic present seems to render ridiculous the sweetly appropriate actions of a halo-ed past when life was poetry, before a sense of humor had been born.” Ruth Stanley-Brown
“The volume is a pleasant doorway into the literature of old Japan.”
“It is a pleasantly got up book, well illustrated, and by no means as lengthy as the number of its pages might imply.”
CHAN, SHIU WONG.Chinese cook book. il*$1.50 Stokes 641.5 17-25804
More than one hundred tested recipes of palatable Chinese dishes, explicit enough for every housewife and practicable for the restauranteur. Aside from the novelty of the dishes, the recipes are to be recommended for the success they achieve in furnishing a desirable mixed diet. One feature that recommends itself to housewives who are practicing Hoover restraint and economy is the substitution of peanut oil for butter.
“The directions are so explicit that a woman with little experience can follow them.”
CHANNING, EDWARD.History of the United States. 8v v 4*$2.75 Macmillan 973 (5-11649)
v 4“This history deals with the period from 1789-1815, when Federalists and Republicans were the dominant political parties. Earlier volumes deal with the planting of a nation in the new world (1000-1660), a century of colonial history (1660-1760), and the American revolution (1761-1789). Eventually there will be eight volumes. ... The work represents an effort to search out the truth of statements of earlier writers, to analyze anew original material and to turn fresh light upon a period that is little understood by the average American and even among specialists is a subject of dispute and much disagreement. The notes and bibliography are especially valuable.”—Springf’d Republican
“The discriminating reader will note the success with which Professor Channing solves his problem of writing a new book which is not merely a re-statement of what he wrote in the twelfth volume of the ‘American nation.’ It does not seem extravagant to say that for the period with which this volume deals Professor Channing must be regarded as having set a new light in the historical heavens in the United States which none of his successors will ignore. The most important general feature of the volume is that the author irons out the New England crimps that have long been noted in the history of this period. ... By a fresh examination of documents, with his mind divested of the ideas that he got from the older books, he composes his own narrative in which appears no sectional bias of either conscious or unconscious origin.” J: S. Bassett
“Special mention should be made of those chapters which deal with the organization of the new federal government, the rise of political parties, and the downfall of federalism.”
“Professor Channing’s work is a little difficult to appraise justly. It is substantial, informing, and useful; one could not well afford to leave it off one’s shelves. Yet there is little, if anything, new in it. Perhaps this is as it should be in such a work. Nor are there new interpretations or evidences of very keen insight. ... Still if this work fails to show, as one might wish, the evolution of society in America, the meaning of events, and the influences of ideas, it is a useful reference work, an ever-ready friend in time of need, which all who are interested in American history should hasten to buy.” W: E. Dodd
“Valuable as Professor Channing’s work is, and indispensable as it is bound to become to the student of the history of the United States, we still think that the historian who performs his function rightly must deal not only with facts, but also with ideas, institutions, and the operation of historical and social forces, and must include the interpretation of evidence among his necessary attributes.”
“The reader will be mistaken if he comes to the conclusion that he might as well turn back to his Hildreth and Schouler. Not so. Professor Channing does not write with the scissors and paste pot. He turns every topic over and views it in the light of the last results of historical research. ... There are many such judgments in Mr Channing’s pages, judgments that betray penetration and that long thoughtfulness which mark the true scholar off from the cheap critic and cheaper chauvinist. They betray also a mind of great natural powers, which, had it been devoted to a different type of historical construction, could have contributed still more to our understanding of the early phases of American politics.” C: A. Beard
“Of all the American historians with whom we are acquainted, he is the most supremely dispassionate and impartial.”
“The work is not easy reading, but it is not designed for popularity. Rather does it meet the needs of the student who would go into the complex currents of that day in search of a better understanding of the beginnings of this government.”
CHAPIN, ANNA ALICE.Greenwich village.il*$2.50 (3½c) Dodd 974.71 17-30045
In spite of “our great streets, hemmed by stone and marble and glittering plate glass, crowded with kaleidoscopic cosmopolitan traffic, ceaselessly resonant with twentieth century activity,” Father Knickerbocker still “has a sanctuary, a haven after his own heart, where he can still draw a breath of relief, among buildings small but full of age and dignity and with the look of homes about them; on restful, crooked little streets where there remain trees and grassplots; in the old-time purlieus of Washington square and Greenwich village!” Browsing among Manhattan’s oldest records the writer has gleaned history, tradition and romance from the records that hold immortal the quaintest section of New York. She has also caught in her pages the magic of the village that holds Bohemia under its spell today. It is a very personal and careful handling of the personal soul of the village that has engaged the author of “Wonder tales from Wagner.”
“Miss Chapin has diligently assembled all the points of interest in this holiday volume, to which Allan Gilbert Cram contributes sixteen full-page illustrations. They have produced a charming memorial of one of the most interesting spots in America.”
“An interesting and attractive book. The author has studied her subject with care and in detail, and the artist has made charming drawings of the Washington arch and Milligan place, of Jefferson market and old St John’s. The book is pleasing, too, in its binding and general makeup.”
CHAPIN, CHARLES VALUE.How to avoid infection. (Harvard health talks)*50c Harvard univ. press 614.4 17-7060
“The present essay is one of a series of lectures sent out from the Harvard medical school on subjects of general medical interest. In this booklet [of 88 pages] Dr Charles V. Chapin tells us ‘How to avoid infection’ in terms that all can understand and in ways that all can follow. A discussion of bacteria and bacterial diseases is followed by a clear and concise statement of the more simple means at our disposal of safeguarding our health from the more prevalent troubles, especially those connected with the public drinking cup and public towel.”—Springf’d Republican