“Mr Evans Lewin’s book lacks the personal knowledge and individual feeling that give originality to Sir Thomas Holdich’s writing. Its strongest feature is its bibliography, and, indeed, the whole book smells somewhat of the lamp; yet the standpoint from which it is written fatally deprives it of authority and permanence. A history of German penetration in the Near East would be an intensely interesting sociological study; but Mr Lewin is not writing a history, he is making out a case. ... There is a great deal of excellent geographical analysis and solid historical information in Mr Lewin’s book.”
“An excellent and painstaking study of the Berlin to Bagdad project, the fullest and perhaps best balanced account of Pan-Germanism, which has so far appeared.”
“A scholarly and important contribution to the literature of the war and its causes.”
“The study throughout is comprehensive and penetrating and authorities are given for all important statements.”
“In this useful book Mr Lewin examines in detail the development of Germany’s ambitious designs on the Near East, typified in the phrase ‘from Berlin to Baghdad.’ Every one, we suppose, now understands the German desire to absorb the whole heritage of the ‘Sick man,’ but it is convenient to have the diplomatic and economic history of the German schemes during the last twenty years set forth in this readable form. Mr Lewin, we think, exaggerates English ignorance of pan-Germanism.”
“Mr Lewin is already known by his useful volume on the Germans in Africa; he has many qualifications for the task he has undertaken; he has great industry and wide reading, and, in particular, has a very thorough understanding of British colonial aims and interests. This latter quality is shown in the volume before us; by far the most valuable chapters are those on Asia Minor, and particularly on Persia. ... While, therefore, the book is of great value as regards the events in Asia, for an explanation of the real influences and character of German policy at home it is inferior to other recent works such as those of Dr Rose, or Dr Prothero’s very useful pamphlet, ‘German policy before the war.’”
LEWINSKI-CORWIN, EDWARD HENRY.Political history of Poland. il $3 Polish book importing co., 83 2d av., N.Y. 943.8 17-19703
“The author has sketched the history of the Polish state from its early beginnings to its disintegration, and has followed the fortunes of its scattered remnants down to the present day. The chapter on The Polish question and the great war contains information on the Polish legions and on the present attitude of Polish patriots towards Russia, Germany, and Austria not easily obtainable elsewhere. ... Dr Lewinski-Corwin believes that a free and republican Russia will make the reconstruction of Poland, as an independent state, in confederation with Lithuania and Ruthenia, a political possibility.”—Nation
“A chapter on the Polish legions and the attitude of the ‘patriots’ toward Austria, Germany and Russia is illuminating and gives information not easily accessible elsewhere.”
“The last two chapters, however,—dealing with ‘constitutional Russia and the Poles’ and ‘the Polish question and the great war,’—have decided value, not alone because they bring the story up to date, but because they show an unusually keen insight into the perplexities of the contemporary Polish problem.” F: A. Ogg
“Fully familiar with his subject. ... The interest of the volume is enhanced by numerous illustrations. ... The book might have gained in value by more careful proof-reading.”
“A great deal of space is given to the many efforts of Poland to free itself from Russian serfdom.”
“If due allowance is made for these limitations, Dr Lewinski-Corwin’s book takes its place as the best and most authoritative brief history of Poland now on the market.” C. J. H. Hayes
LEWIS, BURDETTE GIBSON.Offender and his relations to law and society. (Harper’s modern science ser.) il*$2 (1½c) Harper 364 17-10887
A work on prison reform and modern correctional methods by the Commissioner of correction for New York city. The book is made up of two parts, the first, Society and the offender, is a study of methods actually in use in various institutions. There are chapters on: The court and the offender; Classification of the offender; Probation and parole; The indeterminate sentence; Autocratic government and discipline; Other systems of government and discipline, etc. Part 2 deals with the prevention of crime and considers the different social forces which can be used to that end. There are several appendixes presenting interesting matter relating to prison practice, including among other items a Plan for the rational treatment of women convicted in the courts of the County of New York prepared by Katharine B. Davis.
“The book is open to criticism because of the inadequate development of part 2 on the prevention of crime. The common-sense point of view, the thoroughly socialized legal attitude, and the new illustrative material from the author’s experience are the strong points.” E. S. Bogardus
“Neither reactionary nor sentimental.”
“The great merit of this book is the humanity and intimacy, the familiarity of detail and truthfulness, with which it treats of four complicated aspects of society’s dealing with the wrongdoer.”
“Mr Lewis combines idealism with common sense. ... The volume is sound in its philosophy, shows in the author both a practical familiarity with present methods and an intelligent reading of history and is to be heartily commended to all those who are interested in the problem.”
“It is refreshing to find an administrator so alive to the modern scientific study of the individual delinquent and to the need for individual treatment. Mr Lewis’s approach to his subject is for the most part liberal and scientific; his information goes far beyond the files of his own department. ... The book is not as fluent in style as Wines’ ‘Punishment and reformation,’ but it supersedes that volume for the student of penology today.” W. D. Lane
LEWIS, SINCLAIR.Innocents.il*$1.25 (3c) Harper 17-24286
The author calls this “a story for lovers,” “a tale for people who still read Dickens and clip out spring poetry, and love old people and children.” (Introd.) It is the story of the later years of Mr and Mrs Seth Appleby, who, though they were born in New York city, and had lived there upward of sixty years, were “rustic as a meadow-ringed orchard.” After their daughter has married a prosperous druggist in a small New York town, “Father,” who has clerked for many years in Pilking’s shoestore on Sixth avenue, decides to give up his job, and, with the help of “Mother,” opens a tea-room in an old farm house on the cliffs at Grimsby Head, Cape Cod. Why the venture fails, how the old couple take to the open road and how they finally make a place, and that no mean one, for themselves in Lipsittsville, Indiana; instead of living with their eminently respectable daughter who is always trying to make them over, is sympathetically told by Mr Lewis.
“An entertaining and amusing variant of the typical love story.”
“It is in spite of his ingenuity, not because of it, that the reader keeps on believing in Father and Mother, the devoted and the irrepressible.” H. W. Boynton
“The characterization rings true, but the adventures, especially the long tramp from city to city, are pleasantly improbable.”
“The facile smartness of phrases, the essential flimsiness, of Mr Lewis’s latest book presents a spectacle made all the sadder by the traces of a better self revealed in it.”
“We wonder if the publishers really agree with the notice-writer that the book is ‘a tender romance of an American Darby and Joan?’ Sentimental farce would come nearer the mark.”
“Preposterous but rather amusing story.”
“In some of his former stories Mr Lewis has shown a peculiar understanding of the gray, limited lives of the small work people of a big city and of the meaning to them of their possible pleasures, dreams, and temperamental expressions. In ‘The innocents’ he gives full rein to this faculty, with the result that the intimate and full-length picture of Mr and Mrs Seth Appleby, otherwise ‘Father’ and ‘Mother,’ is very touching, very charming, and so simple and true in all its essentials that even when the story is at its most audaciously romantic pitch it is still plausible.”
“The story as a whole is a delightful picture of mutual love and courage, that floats like a fresh breeze over the reader’s consciousness, jaded with the conventional romances of the day.”
LEWIS, SINCLAIR.The job.*$1.35 (2c) Harper 17-6323
A story of modern business and of a woman’s place in business life. Una Golden, who comes from Panama, Pa., to New York, is an ordinary girl, with blond hair and eye-glasses. The story covers ten years of her life, from 1905 to 1915, from the age of twenty-five to thirty-five. In that time she studies at a “commercial college,” holds various jobs, and lives the life of a working girl, in boarding house, “home,” and light-housekeeping flat. Midway in this period she finds the job getting on her nerves, and takes the way of escape offered, marriage. But marriages made from that motive start with a handicap, and Una’s is a failure. She returns to the job with new resolution, determined to conquer. She does, becomes a successful business woman, and then begins to consider the possibility of a second marriage in which conflicting claims of home and a career are both to be satisfied.
“Some of the episodes of her unfortunate marriage may be considered too frank and sordid but they are not the main interest, while the story leaves one with more confidence in the women who are beginning to realize the possibilities of ‘the job.’”
“What justifies the book, in the end, is not its ‘idea,’ or its incidental cleverness, which is notable, but its portrait of a woman. Una Golden is—herself.” H. W. Boynton
“To say that Mr Lewis’s novel is aggressively modern is not to say more than truth. It expresses the American spirit of this very day and hour.” E. F. E.
“One may discern here a sermon preached, a plot more or less arranged. But there is no escaping the sincerity and originality of the central portrait. As a person, theories apart, Una Golden rings true.”
“Sinclair Lewis has one attribute of genius—sympathetic insight. ... He has not only made a woman who works for her living the central figure of his story, he has insisted on doing so without sentimentality or melodrama or false pathos. He has kept the spotlight of the novelist on her without giving her a spotlight-life.” F. H.
“The story of the girl who for one reason or another goes into business has been told many times; but very, very seldom indeed with even one-half the convincingness which this author has managed to give to his history of Una Golden. ... Sane, generous, well balanced, above all, real, it interprets by presenting this world as it is.”
“The story is a serious, if gloomy, study. It has no light phases. ... In its main details the story rings true, considering the character concerned, but it is unpleasant.”
“The story reads like a true one but is hardly pleasing enough to attract the ordinary novel-reader.”
LIBBY, WALTER.Introduction to the history of science.il*$1.50 (2c) Houghton 509 17-8227
“This book is intended as a simple introduction, taking advantage of the interests of youth of from seventeen to twenty-two years or age (and their intellectual compeers) in order to direct their attention to the story of the development of the sciences. ... It is a psychological introduction, having the mental capacity of a certain class of readers always in view, rather than a logical introduction.” (Preface)Contents: Science and practical needs—Egypt and Babylonia; The influence of abstract thought—Greece: Aristotle; Scientific theory subordinated to application—Rome: Vitruvius; The continuity of science—the medieval church and the Arabs; The classification of the sciences—Francis Bacon; Scientific method—Gilbert, Galileo, Harvey, Descartes; Coöperation in science—the Royal society, etc. The closing chapter is a discussion of science and democratic culture. The author is professor of the history of science in the Carnegie institute of technology, Pittsburgh.
“A little book on a big subject in excellent English. [The relations of science] to other fields of man’s life—education, war, religion, industry, travel, philosophy, art, ethics, and democracy—are well touched upon, and the closing chapter deals chiefly with Matthew Arnold and Nietzsche. It contains many interesting facts that will be new to most persons, and also a number of passages that set one thinking. Many history teachers might broaden their view of the past by perusing this volume.” Lynn Thorndike
“Breathes on every page the tolerant, generous, objective spirit of science. But Dr Libby is no narrow champion of scientific as opposed to literary culture, and he recommends systematic teaching of the sciences in relation both to the daily work and to their historical and cultural antecedents.’ It is on account of its broadening and stimulating cultural influence that this fine work of Dr Libby’s is to be recommended. It should find a place, if not always in the curriculum, certainly in the library, of every high school, normal school, and college in the land.” Cephas Guillet
“We have long needed a systematically organized and clearly written history of science for the college student and the layman who is not taking active part in the development of any one of the sciences. Professor Libby’s new book is probably the first contribution in this field.”
“Professor Libby has divided his purpose in such a way as to obscure and to break the thread of his subject. He, apparently, tries to compress into one small volume a résumé of the history of all the sciences from the earliest times. In addition to this almost hopeless task, he wishes to attract and to influence the youth by showing the nobility of science. He also wishes to exalt the national spirit, and he does it by devoting whole chapters to Franklin and Langley, which compels him to compress or to omit many of the really great achievements in science. As a textbook, the work is of value in spite of this confusion. In the first place, there are almost no others available, and in addition Professor Libby has been accurate and his style is readable.”
“One of the most effective pieces of scientific popularization it has ever been my good fortune to read. Prof. Libby has a power of presenting clearly ideas often difficult from their inherent abstractness that has rarely been equalled save by men of genius like Huxley and Galton. He has obviously an intimate acquaintance with his subject, and he has a singular success in communicating his enthusiasm. His book is, on the whole, conceived in admirable perspective. It has exactly the right amount of biographical material to give it the genuine touch of living personality.” H. J. L.
“With an undercurrent of philosophical speculation, the treatment is rather biographical, typical scientists being selected to illustrate the attitude and the methods of the scientists, as well as the principles developed and applied.” B. C. Gruenberg
LIDDELL, ROBERT SCOTLAND.On the Russian front. il*8s 6d Simpkin, London 940.91 (Eng ed 16-15304)
“Mr Liddell saw the great Russian retreat of last summer in a double capacity: he was a member of the seventh group of Polish Red cross volunteers, and also the correspondent of the Sphere; that is to say, he took part in the events described in the book, and he recorded them before his impressions became blunted. ... It is a depressing story that Mr Liddell has to tell—a story of crippled men, of gutted buildings, and of refugees, flying one with his drawing-room suite on a cart, another with a couple of canaries in a cage, several with nothing but some potted plants. But the Russian soldier is not depressed; his comment is ‘Neechevo’—‘It is nothing.’”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“Every page in this book was written amid the routine of danger, a battle thundering quite close at hand, and a drama of mingled sweat and blood and dirt coming with the stricken, whose uncomplaining courage was an awful monotony of silent anguish.”
Reviewed by the Earl of Cromer
LIEBKNECHT, KARL PAUL AUGUST FRIEDRICH.Militarism.*$1 (2c) Huebsch 172.4 17-26892
A fearless arraignment of autocracy which cost Liebknecht his freedom and resulted in the suppression of his book. It is a clear statement of the principles and convictions of the man who has so courageously led the struggle against militarism in Germany. He points out that militarism in its four-fold development is the offspring of capitalism; “militarism for abroad,” navalism, colonial militarism and “militarism for home.” He shows that all of the policies of the militaristic system serve the exploiting interests of the ruling classes of capitalism instead of furthering economic development in conformity with the duties and interests of civilization. Militarism obstructs class consciousness, turns the army into a handy, docile effective tool, while distorting the reason and narcotizing the soul. Thruout the discussion the point of view of the proletariat is kept—of the under-dog against whom the army is a weapon along the path of economic struggle.
“Herr Liebknecht assails the past record of militarism socially, politically, economically, historically, and statistically, with true German thoroughness.” C. H. P. Thurston
“The book is chiefly of historical interest, since the world war is so changing world ideas. ... But the book is interesting and timely for the light it throws on the pre-war Germany and for the illumination it makes of the character of Karl Liebknecht.”
“The fact that Dr Liebknecht’s ‘Militarism’ was suppressed and the author put in prison for his daring criticism of the German military system would assure it a cordial welcome in the United States even were the book not so abundantly able to stand on its own bottom. ... Yet be warned that Dr Liebknecht measures us along with other countries and finds us, well, not absolute perfection. He lists us and our methods along with other nations and theirmethods with a horrid impersonality that intimates that we are just like other folks.” M. A. Hopkins
“While the book perhaps overemphasizes the part played by the class struggle in creating modern armaments, its words deserve the most careful heeding.” H: Neumann
“Interesting at the present time, but not essential in small libraries.”
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM.Uncollected letters; now first brought together by Gilbert A. Tracy; with an introd. by Ida M. Tarbell. il*$2.50 Houghton 17-28895
Three hundred letters which Lincoln wrote for the greater part from 1858 to 1861 most of which have never been published before. Tho many of them are brief each has the stamp of Lincoln individuality; and covering, as they do, a great range of interests they furnish a sidelight on the character of Lincoln which no student can overlook. There are legal letters, letters that bear upon the period when Lincoln was competing with Douglas for the senatorship, and letters that reflect his life and relations with friends, all of them giving ample illustration “of his cleverness, his fairness and continued zest in the political game.” The collector of the letters was a clerk in the War department from 1863 to 1868 during which time he grew to love and revere the great emancipator. “Mr Tracy has crowned his life long devotion to Abraham Lincoln with a noble gift to the people of the country.”
Reviewed by L. E. Robinson
“In spite of the scarcity of allusions to his domestic life it is profitable to get such glimpses as are revealed in the collection. ... It must be said that a considerable portion of these letters have no connection with the great service and life of Lincoln, but relate to commonplace and routine matters. Many are not worth preserving except for their autographs. It is regrettable that classification and topical headings are lacking, though the index is complete and satisfactory.” H. S. K.
“That many are inconsequential does not discount the value of the entire collection. As a whole they shed strong light upon Abraham Lincoln’s life.”
“Many of the pieces are of little moment, except that, as Miss Tarbell says in her preface, ‘Nothing that he wrote is without importance’”
LINCOLN, JOSEPH CROSBY (JOE LINCOLN, pseud.).Extricating Obadiah. il*$1.50 (1½c) Appleton 17-25818
Cape Cod, of course. A simple story scheme that runs something like this: Obadiah Burgess inherits a house and twelve thousand in cash. He had formerly been a cabin boy and had gone to sea with Captain Noah Newcomb. At the time of his prosperity his old captain, now retired, is touring Cape Cod and is laid up for motor repairs in Obadiah’s town of Trumet. Obadiah had indulged in a good deal of talk about his wealth and excited the cupidity of a dealer in antiques who begins a systematic and apparently successful campaign to relieve Obadiah of his wealth. Worried, Obadiah appeals to his old friend. After the captain finds that about a dozen are taking part in weaving a net around Obadiah he turns to a task quite similar to putting together a picture puzzle. He lists his pieces, gets their number, and puts them together to the amazement of Obadiah and the discomfort of his culprits.
“Full of Cape Cod dialect and humor.”
“The author’s versatility is equal to any difficulty and he evolves plots, inner plots, and counter-plots. He makes impossible and exaggerated facts seem quite plausible.”
“The simple little story is familiar and commonplace but it is a fairly entertaining tale, nevertheless.”
“Again we have racy dialogue, honest fun, and clever situations.”
“The plot is not a very heavy one, but who reads a Lincoln novel for the plot alone! One reads it for genial old tars like Captain Noah, for rascally old skinflints like Balaam Griggs, for Serepta Hatches, keeping tabs on how many times Mary Barstow’s beau calls, for salt water vocabularies, for glimpses of Cape Cod’s sandy marshes and for mental whiffs of stiff sea breezes.” R. D. Moore
“In the new story there is a well-sustained plot in addition to a new group of familiar character types. The story is in Mr Lincoln’s best vein, which spells unadulterated diversion.”
LINCOLN, NATALIE SUMNER.Nameless man. il*$1.40 Appleton 17-24163
“Beginning with an argument about the yellow peril, this novel of murder and intrigue attempts to prove its actuality. Between California and Washington, in diplomatic circles and social life, the mystery runs, implicating white men as well as Japanese. And mingled with the adventure of seeking the fomenter of plots and murderer of innocent men is the never-failing love interest, as troubled as it is true.”—N Y Times
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
“Abundant thrills mark the progress of the tale.”
“Although the facts as they are ultimately disclosed seem incredible, and the characters are stereotyped ones, the excitement of unraveling the tangled threads and of having the sport of detection keeps interest awake.”
“If the reader dismisses the mischievous political innuendoes he may enjoy a diverting mystery tale.”
LINDSAY, NICHOLAS VACHEL.Chinese nightingale, and other poems.*$1.25 Macmillan 811 17-25832
The first collection of Mr Lindsay’s poems to appear since the “Congo” volume. There are five groups: The Chinese nightingale, awarded the Levinson prize in 1915, is alone in the first group; in the second are a half dozen poems under the heading, “America watching the war”; the third includes poems grouped under “America at war with Germany”; the fourth is a collection of “Tragedies, comedies and dreams”; while the fifth is a group of “Poem games” all of which have been successfully illustrated in pantomime. The aim of the poem game is to abolish orchestra and piano, replacing them with the natural meaning and cadences of English speech which, the author claims, can convey poetic ideas faster than musical feeling.
“Whatever Vachel Lindsay does, one feels the sincerity and the strong native impulse back of it. He is a vitalising force in modern poetry, having at once the social vision and the knowledge that it cannot be realized apart from beauty. Technically he has widened the outposts of poetry, and we may look to him to annex a still wider demesne.” J. B. Rittenhouse
“It is disappointing to regard Mr Lindsay in ‘The Chinese nightingale and other poems,’ taking an attitude below the ‘Congo’ volume, and levelling, in the group, the ‘General William Booth’ column. ... In ‘America watching the war’ ‘The tale of the tiger tree’ finely illustrates the tapering of Mr Lindsay’s imaginative power into a mannerism; it is all here, the kind of incisive exploration in vision which Mr Lindsay takes to particularize a simple and impressive fact, but the kind of familiarity which envelopes it, takes away the thrill of emotion that we do feel in ‘The Chinese nightingale,’ and in the poems of the two earlier volumes. Mr Lindsay can never fail to be interesting, seductively arresting, exhilarating, in his own strange and individual way. ... The new art, or combination of arts, which Mr Lindsay has devised in ‘The poem games,’ is, apart from ‘The Chinese nightingale,’ the most interesting feature of this new book.” W. S. B.
“Any admirer of Lindsay will observe with distrust this growing insistence on the sermonizing feature of his work.” L: Untermeyer
“Of all the American poets to whom the epithet ‘modern’ has been applied Nicholas Vachel Lindsay has struck the most distinctively American note.”
“The book does not lift his place in American poetry; its crudities are more noticeable, as this is a third book; but the spontaneous soil-taste of some of the poems cannot be gainsaid, nor his ability to weave garments of fantastic wonder, to please childlike hearts forever.” Clement Wood
“For beauty and vigor the title poem is unsurpassed in modern poetry.”
LINTIER, PAUL.My .75; reminiscences of a gunner of a .75 m/m battery in 1914; from the French; with a preface by Frances Wilson Huard.*$1.35 (2½c) Doran 940.91 (Eng ed 17-24670)
A dramatic story of France from the days of mobilization to the battles on the Aisne. The author, twenty-three at the time of his death, has not only furnished the world with a first hand account, clear and gripping, of the important events ending at the Marne and the Aisne but has prepared a human document which will show the ages to come the heroism of souls as they reacted to the stupendous demands of the field of honor. “The admirable patience, the great good humour, the intelligent cleverness and heroic devotion together with the plain, simple courage, all the deep-rooted, undreamed of qualities of the French race, are to be found within its covers, making it a monument to stoic virtue.” (Preface)
“It is the work of a fine, eager spirit and it is well done, clear, vivid, unpretentious. No one can deny that he had the gift of narration. But it is promise, not fulfilment, after all.” C. M. Francis
“The book is an important document because the two qualities of the French race are here found, intellectual cleverness and simple courage.”
“Amongst the appalling number of war books ‘My .75’ stands out. Plainness of language and matter of fact descriptions go to make the book distinctive.”
“There is pathos, romance, and history in the proper degree. There is just enough of each to make the work comprehensive. Paul Lintier has that fine combination of delicacy and strength, so characteristic of Balzac, De Musset, and Bordeaux. It is an exceptional book and should live in the hearts of those who love France and in the minds of those who love good literature.”
“It is the work of an acutely observant and sensitive mind. On one page the author puts down horrors and outrages with downright realism; on another he reveals the power of rumour or the glory of a country luxuriant in natural beauty. ... The candour of the writer is remarkable.”
“His book should live, however, for a long, long time, because of its single truthfulness and sincerity, because of its vivid pictures of the French army in the early part of the war. The spirit shown by Lintier in his diary was the spirit of his comrades—of France. Every detail, no matter how ghastly, bears the stamp of truth.”
LIPPINCOTT, HORACE MATHER.Early Philadelphia; its people, life and progress. il*$6 Lippincott 974.8 17-28902
“This book endeavors to name and describe all the leading characters and the various social, financial, and patriotic organizations, giving portraits and reproductions of people and places, buildings and bridges and parks, in such a way as to offend none and please all, at least all whose names and interest are included. It is a sort of book of heraldry for all the substantial and socially fit of the present day. If you are a Philadelphian and have ancestors who counted in the city of Franklin, this book will give you name, business, and standing.” (Dial) “Mr Lippincott begins with a sketch of and tribute to the founder of the city and carries the record down to and beyond the middle eighteenth century.” (Springf’d Republican)
“Other little matters of this sort might be found, but so many errors have been contained in other books about the times (notably ‘Hugh Wynne’), concerning Quaker traits and local geography, that these seem trivial, and one gets a very fair picture of old scenes and manners from Mr Lippincott’s book. The style is clear and the selection of subjects well proportioned.” I: Sharpless
“Naturally and logically, a great part of the volume is devoted to a description of the Philadelphia Quakers. Other elements in the city’s growth receive due attention, and there is an interesting treatment of the German and Scotch-Irish migrations into what was then the wilderness.”
“Mr Lippincott has not written a classic account of Philadelphia life. But his sketchy pages are readable and informing and are suitably flavored with quotations from contemporary documents.”
LIPPMANN, JULIE MATHILDE.Mannequin.*$1.30 (3½c) Duffield 17-12389
A case of mistaken identity is the basis for this story. A rich and idle young woman is taken for one of the mannequins in a dressmaking establishment. The mistake is made by Mrs Jerome-Jarvis, an autocratic society leader, who had engaged the real mannequin as a companion on a yachting trip. Elizabeth Tiernan finds herself hustled without ceremony aboard the great lady’s yacht, and thinking it a joke that can be explained in the morning, she keeps silent. But by morning the joke has been carried beyond her control. She scents a mystery, and by making a few errors in judgment on her own account, adds to the confusion.
“This new book by the author of ‘Burkses’ Amy’ and ‘Martha-by-the-day’ is one of thosetales which, being possessed of an utterly preposterous plot, require the lightest and deftest kind of handling. Such stories need wit, and debonair, irresponsible gayety; they must froth and sparkle, if they are not to be merely silly. And ‘The mannequin’ reminds one very much of lukewarm ginger ale—entirely flat and insipid.”
“The situation develops into a hilarious farce, with ludicrous misunderstandings and cross purposes. The heroine is always charming and sprightly, and the story affords amusement.”
LIPSON, EPHRAIM.Europe in the nineteenth century; an outline history. il*$2 Macmillan 940.9 (Eng ed 17-859)
“The author, already known by his ‘Introduction to the economic history of England: middle ages,’ now provides a history of Europe from the fall of Napoleon to the present time.” (Ath) “In the preface to the book now under review Mr Lipson lays claim to a certain originality, at least of presentment. He has, he says, ‘discarded the traditional method of writing European history from the standpoint of international politics in favour of a method of treatment which gives a concise and connected account—analytical rather than narrative—of the internal development of the chief European states after the fall of Napoleon.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup)
“The brevity of the book, as compared with other recent discussions of the same subject has been brought about by some notable omissions. Substantially no space is given to England or to minor states like Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries; the industrial revolution and, in general, the social and economic parts of the story, are given only slight attention—much less than in most of the later books; little emphasis is placed upon European history since 1870, except as connected with the outbreak of the war. ... An extremely pleasant characteristic of the book is the calm, historical temper with which Mr Lipson approached those parts of his subject that deal with the present war. ... As an example of the book-maker’s art, the volume reflects war conditions in the unsubstantial character of the binding. There are no bibliographies and the index is inadequate. The maps do not compare favorably with the best of recent publications on nineteenth-century Europe.” C: R. Lingley
“Of particular importance are the chapters on ‘The reform movement in Russia, 1815-1916,’ and ‘The growth of the German empire, 1815-70.’ ... Mr Lipson gives a clear account of the achievement of the political unity of Italy. ... The maps in the volume can be commended. Altogether, Mr Lipson has produced a valuable summary of modern European history, treated in a somewhat novel manner.”
“The chapter on the Balkan States will probably be the most valued by the ‘general readers’ for whom the book is intended.” G. B. H.
“From the point of view of the general reader one capital defect of Mr Lipson’s method is that it necessarily takes too much knowledge for granted. ... In general, apart from this defect, the chapters dealing with the internal developments of the states are clear and accurate, though following in the main conventional lines. ... His chapter on the Reform movement in Russia is particularly interesting, especially the account of the effects of the industrial revolution which followed the emancipation of the serfs and the introduction of railways. But here again the bias that makes him defend the Commune makes him less than fair to autocrats. ... Not all the chapters reach the high level of that on Russia. The least satisfactory perhaps is that on the Balkan States.”
LISTER, CHARLES ALFRED.Charles Lister; letters and recollections. il*$3.50 Scribner 17-13304
“This volume, which serves as a memento to his son, Lord Ribblesdale has compiled out of letters written to his family and friends by Charles Lister, to which are added a memoir by the father, and recollections of the son by Sir Rennell Rodd, under whom the young man served in the British embassy at Rome before the war, and others. Charles Lister took part in the Gallipoli campaign, where he was wounded three times, and died from the effects of the last wound in August, 1915, at the age of 28. ... The letters begin five years before the opening of the war and relate his doings, observations, and thinking during a holiday in Germany, his two years of service at Rome with the British embassy, a trip to India and Constantinople, and then take up his experiences on the expedition to the Dardanelles. These last compose the bulk of the book.”—N Y Times
“Unusually readable letters.”
“There is never a trace of the junker spirit, never a word about the glory of war. There is hardly any self-consciousness. The book is a continuous revelation of charm, high spirits and character: also of a young man’s alert-minded and fruitful reaction to the various phases of his experience in the 20th-century English world.”
“Lord Ribblesdale has done his work as editor with detachment and restraint. With abundance of material, he has managed to keep the book comparatively small and altogether interesting.”
LITCHFIELD, GRACE DENIO.Song of the sirens.*$1 Putnam 811 17-11825
Ulysses is made the hero of this poem. In rhymed couplets and regular measure the author tells the story of the perilous passage of the Sirens’ rock, with Ulysses lashed to the mast and vainly demanding release from his unheeding seamen. One of these is singled out from the rest, the youngest and least of the rowers, who suffers in his master’s agony.
“The book stands out among this season’s volumes of verse as a work of much more than passing interest and value. It is unfortunate that none of our magazines had an editor sufficiently enlightened to discover ‘The song of the sirens’ and print it as a serial.”
LIVESAY, FLORENCE RANDAL, tr. Songs of Ukraina; with Ruthenian poems.*$1.50 Dutton 891.7 17-26397
“This collection of the songs of the essentially poetic and musical ‘Little Russian’ people is divided into parts according to subject—Cossack songs, Wedding songs, etc., the longest section being Folk songs; and the poems by Fedkovich (1834-1888) having a place by themselves.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“The translations, though not ideal, are lively and spirited. It is a book which every lover of poetry will prize.” N. H. D.
“The translations into English are excellent.”
“The translator is a Canadian—her home is in Winnipeg. ... These folk songs of the ‘forgotten kingdom of Ukraina’ have come down through singing centuries and hold in them the history of the most artistic of Slav people.”
“The gloom and toil of the Russian peasant pervades these poems, and it must be said that in some cases they seem hampered by faulty translation.”