“The well-balanced tone and insistence on practical efforts towards social ideals are commendable and ought to prove stimulating.” A. G.
“A valuable contribution toward the working out of a worthy philosophy of American life.”
“These interesting and timely lectures strikingly exemplify the author’s remarkable facility for brilliant generalization.” G. T.
MATHEWSON, CHRISTOPHER.Second base Sloan. il*$1.35 (2c) Dodd 17-13076
The scene of Mr Mathewson’s latest baseball story is a small town in Pennsylvania. Here Wayne Sloan, from Georgia, with his loyal friend, Junius Brutus Bartow Tasker, and his dog Sam, finds himself stranded. Wayne, who is now forced to make his way in the world, is handicapped by lack of training. Back home he had been brought up to be a gentleman. But he has pluck, and, much to the horror of his faithful colored friend, who has strict ideas as to social propriety, is ready to accept anything that offers. Finally June is established as bell-boy in a hotel and Wayne finds a position in a freight office. From playing ball with the men in the railroad yards, he advances to a place on a Y. M. C. A. team, and ultimately is offered an opening in professional baseball. The advisability of entering on this career is very carefully weighed before the step is taken.
MATTHEWS, BRANDER.These many years.*$3 (2½c) Scribner 17-25853
In this volume, Brander Matthews, critic, playwright, and professor of dramatic literature in Columbia university, who says that he “was born contented as well as cheerful,” tells the story of his life of almost sixty-five years, setting down “only the pleasanter memories.” The first chapter, The point of view, gives us some interesting reflections on autobiography. Some other chapters are: New York in the early seventies; Parisian memories; Early London memories (two chapters); and Criticism and fiction. In the last-mentioned chapter, Prof. Matthews expounds the underlying principle of the art of book-reviewing. There is no index.
“I fear that the author of ‘These many years’ has succumbed occasionally to the fallacy of assuming that the general reader was prepared to contribute to the consideration of his pages an exercise of visual imagination which is not necessitated by the facts set down. But the book, as a whole, is highly satisfactory.” Clayton Hamilton
“Unending delight is to be found in every line of this delightful autobiography.” E. F. E.
“If the reader is envious of the author’s fortune in knowing so many men of distinction, at least he may be glad that the privilege fell to a man who could write so charmingly about them.”
“‘These many years’ is every bit worth while reading.”
“Mr Matthews has never lost the enthusiasm, the impressionability, the precipitancy, or the occasional tenacity of youth. These characteristics give the stamp of individuality to his pages.” J. R. Towse
“Our autobiographer is first of all an American, then a New Yorker, then a cosmopolitan, but he is all these, and charmingly and convincingly, but least winningly a New Yorker. All the more because I say this, I must add that the chapters on New York literature and its members are of such unique value as to constitute an incomparable contribution to our literary history. It is such as no one could have written except one who was part of it and saw it all, and who with his greater love of literature still makes us realize that in New York it has always been not the superior but subordinate of journalism. That is saying it too rankly, and yet not unjustly.” W: D. Howells
Reviewed by Lyman Abbott
“But the work is a worthy memorial of a useful literary career. It is modest and unpretending, and is redolent of that graciousness which the literary world of New York has now seemingly lost.”
“Good reading for the young aspirant in authorship, both for content and style.”
MAUPASSANT, HENRI RENÉ ALBERT GUY DE.Second odd number; thirteen tales.*$1.25 (3½c) Harper 17-13186
Contents: Tony; Decorated; The colonel’s idea; The jewels; Fear; Two friends; Relics of the past; A question of diplomacy; Mademoiselle Perle; The madman; The home-coming; Passion; Grave-walkers. “The opening sketch of this volume, called ‘Tony,’ is quite noisome, and can amuse only the lovers of horseplay. ... ‘Two friends’ and ‘The colonel’s idea’ vividly record events and feelings of the German war of 1870, but they might have been the events and feelings of the German war of the present, they fit so well the facts now occurring.” (Introd.) Ten of the tales were translated by Charles Henry White and three by Virginia Watson. The introduction is by William Dean Howells.
“The translation is spirited but too much in the United States idiom.”
“‘The second odd number’ is bound to cause some disappointment. ... Three or four of the stories now given—‘The jewels,’ ‘Grave-walkers,’ ‘Passion,’ perhaps ‘Decorated’—may have been excluded from the earlier list because of the greater reluctance to deal frankly with sex matters, but most of them were probably omitted for other reasons as well. ... Perhaps the tale that in proportion and restraint comes nearest to ‘The necklace,’ ‘The coward,’ and ‘A piece of string’ is ‘Two friends.’”
“The present ‘Odd number,’ issued by the same publisher, has been made to match the original as to color and size and the design of its back. It has even an amiable and slightly perfunctory introduction by Mr Howells. But of the thirteen tales only two or three are worthy to be placed among that first thirteen. ‘Two friends,’ ‘Relics of the past,’ and ‘Mademoiselle Perle’ are touched with human sympathy; the rest have the acrid flavor, the brutal or fleering tone of the unfortunate genius who, not soon enough for his own comfort, found his own way out of a despicable world.”
MAVOR, JAMES.Government telephones.*$1 Moffat 384 16-24693
“In ‘Government telephones’ Prof. James Mavor of the University of Toronto gives a history and critical examination of the experience of Manitoba, Canada, with the public ownership and operation of the telephone system of the province. The early development of the service was promoted by the Bell company, beginning about thirty-five years ago. The government purchase was made in 1908 and Prof. Mavor contends that his thorough examination of the government’s work shows indubitably that the public ownership has been a practical failure.”—Ind
“One cannot but wish that he had outlined something of a constructive program. Beyond indicating faith in regulation and private ownership, and condemning public ownership, in general terms, he does not point a way out. And the Manitoba which he pictures needs help.” H. B. Vanderblue
“In view of the fact that he cites only the figures most favorable to his contention, and neglects to mention the others, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he is more interested in making out his case against public ownership than in making known the whole truth. In short the book as a whole, regarded as an argument against public ownership, is unconvincing; but it is not without value as a record of certain mistakes which governmental telephone administrations, like private companies, would do well to avoid.” A. N. Holcombe
“The study of this one experiment should prove enlightening to all who are personally or academically interested in the problems of state ownership.”
“Although notably one-sided, the general impression created by the book is that, measured by business standards, government telephones in Manitoba were a failure. Whether there were any compensating advantages, such as are alleged by many to result from operating a postal service at a loss, the method of the author is not of the sort to show.”
“Strangely enough, the author holds that these defects cannot be eradicated. They are necessary accompaniments of government ownership! A surprising induction without confirmation.”
“While written in an admirable style and well arranged, the book fails fully to convince the analytical reader.” W. J. Donald
“Much has been written concerning the experiment of Manitoba in the public ownership of telephones, but Prof. James Mavor’s Government telephones’ is the most searching andcomplete analysis of the results. The confidence of the reader in the findings would be greater if it were not evident from several passages that the author on general principles is completely opposed to government conduct of industries.”
MAXWELL, CHARLES ROBERT.[2]Observation of teaching. (Riverside educational monographs)*70c (3c) Houghton 371 17-25130
This manual, an outgrowth of the author’s work as supervisor of the training school of the Whitewater (Wis.) normal school, is designed “for the use of students in training, for the use of teachers who are desirous of analyzing the various elements in the teaching process, and for the use of other persons who are interested in the observation of teachers at work.” (Preface) Contents: The nature of the problem; The purpose of observation; The value of observation; The teacher; The pupils; The lesson procedure; The development lesson; The drill lesson; The review lesson; The lesson for appreciation; Questioning; Class management; The physical features of the schoolroom.
“This book will be of most service to the prospective teachers in our normal schools and schools of education. It will be helpful to the supervisor in that it analyzes the qualities of teaching and the important aspects of school procedure that ought to be uppermost in the mind of the supervisor in his observation work.” H. O. Rugg
MAXWELL, CONSTANTIA.Short history of Ireland.*80c (2c) Stokes 941.5
A short history of Ireland dealing mainly with political events. The author’s purpose has been “to present a clear and impartial account of the chief features of Irish history,” and she has purposely left social and economic questions, and matters of mythology and literature out of her scheme. Contents: Early Ireland; The Norman invasion and settlement; The decline of English power and advance of the Celts; The Tudor conquest and the plantation of Ulster; The rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian settlement; The war of the revolution; Ireland under the old colonial system—the period of Protestant ascendancy; Ireland since the Union. The volume is provided with maps and plans. The author is lecturer in history in Trinity college, Dublin.
“A convenient, not very sympathetic, introductory manual.”
“The author doubtless has marked opinions on the many problems which have faced Ireland since it became a homogeneous nation, but she keeps them religiously to herself. One of the great merits of this history of Ireland is its absolute fairmindedness.”
“Miss Maxwell’s book is, however, little more than a syllabus, and in such a work it is difficult to indicate the full meaning of every event. Again, too, her matter-of-factness becomes slightly arid.”
MAXWELL, WILLIAM MOREY.If I were twenty-one; tips from a business veteran. il*$1.25 (3½c) Lippincott 658 17-29211
If you were twenty-one again and had life before you what would you do? This question is answered for the youth of the land, out of the experience, long and successful, of a man who sees the human and humorous side of things as well as the serious and problematic. There is moderation in his counsel. He avoids extremes. He advises a young man not to become a specialist. He believes that the future will demand all-around business men. If he were twenty-one again he would do a great deal of reading, would take counsel of men who have made a failure of life and would approach a career gradually, not taking a salaried position under twenty-five. Contents: If I started again; Finding your place in life; Self-esteem and self-confidence; Getting a job; Handling men; Employing men; The dishonesty of honest men; The amateur ad. writer; Writing a business letter; Do figures lie?
“Because Mr Maxwell’s volume is amusing, that fact does not prevent it from containing many neat little truths.”
“Almost every page gives amusing and instructive anecdotes from the author’s experience, and the style is quite remarkable for a man who does not profess an overfondness for the literature the professors say we must read if we would write well. One can quite honestly tell any young beginner in business to study this book, even if he has to pawn his coat to get it.” Frank Fitt
“His book is full of suggestions, not in the shape of formal advice, of which a superabundance has already found its way into books designed for young and inexperienced business men, but in crisp, humorous paragraphs, the nub of which is likely to stick in the mind.”
MAY, MAX BENJAMIN.Isaac Mayer Wise. il*$2 (2½c) Putnam 17-6906
The subject of this biography is called the founder of American Judaism. When he came to America in 1846 he found the Jews scattered and unorganized. Their religious life was “an intolerable imitation of that which existed in the old ghettos of Europe.” It seemed to him that if Judaism was to survive in America “it would be necessary not only to Americanize the Jew, but also his Judaism.” He made this his life work. His biography has been written by his grandson, Max B. May, judge of the Court of common pleas, Hamilton county, Ohio. The author has allowed Dr Wise to speak for himself as much as possible, quoting from his writings in The Occident, The Israelite, and other papers.
“What is significant, what really stands out in the whole biography, is how definitively the reform movement in Judaism is a social and political movement and how little it is a genuinely religious movement.”
“For American Hebrews, especially those who belong to the ‘Reformed’ school, the biography of this distinguished leader by his grandson will have intense interest. ... For the Gentile, on the other hand, there is less to attract him, so absorbed is the interest in things Jewish. Moreover, the din of arms and clash of conflict, the reiteration of the word attack, are so incessant that he might rise from its perusal with prejudice either created or intensified”
“Judge May has refrained, purposely, from discussing Dr Wise as theologian and writer. Yet, there was need for such a work as Judge May has written. It portrays chiefly the personal side of Dr Wise, his descent and ascent; it depicts the heroic struggle of his career. It is not written in a cold, critical tone, but with warmth, con amore; and in the case of a man who was above all a great personality, this, no doubt, is the best means of approach and appreciation. ... The attractive form of the book, with four portraits of Dr Wise, will add to the pleasure of reading it.” H. G. Enelow
MAYO, KATHERINE.Justice to all. il*$2.50 (2½ c) Putnam 353.9 17-6231
The author has written an account of the Pennsylvania State police. This force is organized to promote state-wide order, to give sparsely settled country districts the same policeprotection as that provided in large cities. The author cites many instances of services of this kind, but by far the larger portion of her book is given to the activities of the State police in mining communities in time of labor disturbances. Her many quotations show that from its beginning the organization has had the support of the press and the opposition of organized labor. Theodore Roosevelt writes an introduction to the book.
“At present Pennsylvania alone has a State police (in her case the word constabulary is a misnomer); the story of its work, which has carried admiration wherever known, is here told with accuracy, detail, and color.”
“Not once in the book is the workers’ side of the case brought to light. Not once is the legal right of self-defence upheld. Not once is the inalienable right to protect one’s home recognized.” F: P. Burdick
“Her account is so humanly interesting because she has written—and written well and eloquently—out of full knowledge.”
“A narrative recording the exploits of disciplined efficiency is always fascinating. This one is particularly so; some of the chapters of the book are hero-stories and some are first-rate detective stories. The book is aimed at the general reader: it is interesting enough to be read purely for pleasure; and it should exert a considerable influence.”
“Numerous vivid accounts of engagements between the police and criminals are given. ... Other descriptions pertain to the chasing and capture of murderers, the breaking up of the vicious black-hand gangs which terrorized the mining sections, the ridding of the countryside from Sunday ‘keg parties’ that generally wound up in crime, the disruption of the anarchistic ‘I. W. W.s’ when that sect attempted to put out of existence the United mine workers’ union.”
MEAD, DANIEL WEBSTER.Contracts, specifications and engineering relations. il*$3 McGraw 620.03 16-20301
“A complete outline of professional conduct in engineering relations from hunting a ‘job’ to drawing a contract is set forth in this work for the benefit of the college student. The book, however, has a much wider application than educating the engineering student, since it would seem that others besides undergraduates could pursue further the study of engineering contract preparation with benefit to themselves and their clients. ... The work is a good summary of technical literature on this subject to date, and contains an extensive bibliography, including many references to articles in current engineering journals.”—Engin News-Rec
“Comprehensive text-book.”
“So far as the subject of contract writing is concerned, the book is to be preferred to any work published in recent years.”
MEADE, ALWYNE.Modern gasworks practice; with an introductory note by Stanley H. Jones. il*$7.50 Van Nostrand 665.7 17-21116
The author states that since no general work of reference covering modern gasworks practice exists, he has attempted to remedy the deficiency. He says, “It must be realized at the outset that so far as the principles and practice of modern gas-making are concerned no single individual can lay claim to omniscience. ... No pains have, however, been spared to develop the book essentially on the ideas of the practical man, whilst every precaution has been taken to avoid inaccuracies. ... Nearly every chapter has been submitted for suggestions to an expert in the particular branch with which it deals.” Among the subjects covered are: The planning and laying out of gasworks; Foundations, gasworks’ buildings, etc.; The horizontal retort bench; The control of horizontal retort settings; Vertical retorts and chamber ovens; Refractory materials; The mechanical handling of materials; Electrical plant in gas works; Gas-making and other coals. The author is lecturer in gas engineering and allied subjects to the London county council.
MEANY, EDMOND STEPHEN, ed.Mount Rainier, a record of exploration.il*$2.50 (2½c) Macmillan 917.97 16-23519
A collection of historical and scientific papers bearing on Mount Rainier, or, as some of the authors prefer, Mount Tacoma. Edmond S. Meany, the editor, is professor of history in the University of Washington and president of the Mountaineers. The first paper is a reprint of Captain George Vancouver’s account of his discovery of the mountain in 1792. Other papers of historical interest are: First approach to the mountain, 1833, by William Fraser Tolmie; First recorded trip through Naches pass, 1841, by Lieut. Robert E. Johnson; Tacoma and the Indian legend of Hamitchou, by Theodore Winthrop; First attempted ascent, 1857, by Lieut. A. V. Kautz; First successful ascent, 1870, by General Hazard Stevens. Later papers deal with the rocks, glaciers, flora, etc.
“With admirable judgment all these reports and records of exploration and scientific study have been arranged chronologically. ... These collected papers, though written strictly from a scientific point of view, include much of popular interest. Especially attractive are the stories of the various successful ascents of the mountains.”
“When it is remembered that Mount Rainier national park is visited annually by increasing thousands of tourists, the far-reaching interest in such a book as this will be readily appreciated.”
“Especially replete with information concerning the origin of place names in the Mount Rainier region.”
“A volume of great interest and value to every lover of adventure, or student of history. At the end of the book is a complete and very valuable list of the flora of Mt Rainier.”
MEARS, MADGE.Candid courtship.*$1.40 (1½c) Lane 17-23340
“Joan Allison and Colin, her brother, who is a doctor, live in a boarding house. Another occupant, Stewart Austen, falls in love with Joan, and is refused when he proposes to marry her, on the ground of a bit of philandering he has committed in his youth, about which he tells her frankly. Colin, meanwhile, has succumbed to the friendliness of Val Carruthers, a tawdry, kindly light of love, married to a veterinary, who has been one of his patients. They decide to leave England together and, just as they are off, Colin leaves a note to this effect for his sister. Joan turns to Austen for help, they discover the couple’s destination, pursue them in a hired motor car, get lost in a fog and, after having been obliged to spend the night together in the car, they arrive early in the morning at a hotel—a most compromised pair. ... Austen offersto take all the blame for the episode, but Joan, whose viewpoint on the question has been reversed, refuses to do this and ends by proposing to him and being accepted.”—N Y Times
“This is a very amusing little story and Miss Mears handles it for all the fun there is to be had. Her conversation is decidedly clever, her situations are funny, and her sense of comedy so good that she can make the most of her opportunities. Apparently she is well up on the thoughts and ideas of modern England—feminine England in particular—and the satire is as bright as it is good-natured.”
“The characters of both Colin and Austen, in different ways, lack the vigour and the knowledge which would have given balance to this careful study of young womanhood; they are figures not in a world of men but in a world of women.”
“Mechanical World” pocket diary and year book for 1917. il 40c Norman, Remington co. 621.08
“In this, the thirtieth annual issue, several new features have been introduced. In particular, attention is directed to the section on Steam and the steam engine, which has been very largely re-written. ... New tables have been introduced giving dimensions of piston rings, governors, etc. ... A new section on The heat treatment of steel has been introduced. ... Many new illustrations have been introduced, while the book generally has been subjected to a thorough revision.” (Preface)
MEEK, ALEXANDER.Migrations of fish. il*$4.50 Longmans 597 F17-152
“Mr Meek has written a scholarly and exhaustive work on the migration of fish. As the director of the well-known Dove marine laboratory at Cullercoats, he has a first-hand acquaintance with the subject.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) “An introduction treats of tides, tidal and ocean currents, geological changes, nomenclature, and the literature of the general subject. Then follow thirty-two chapters dealing with various groups of fishes, from lampreys and sharks to toad-fish and anglers. Finally, we have twenty pages of general considerations and conclusions.” (Nation)
“Handling in masterly fashion a subject of intense scientific interest and of vital commercial importance, Alexander Meek has spared no effort to elucidate every phase of the matter and to make the most of our present knowledge. His arrangement is clear and concise.”
“Notwithstanding what we have criticised as faults of commission or omission in this substantial work, it is one which no one interested in fishery science or desirous of an up-to-date grasp of some of the phenomena underlying practical fishery questions can afford to overlook.”
“The director of the Cullercoats marine laboratory has put together in this solid and valuable book all that is known as to the migrations and distribution of fish, taken class by class.”
“A mine of information and will be of the greatest use to all who are engaged in researches into the marine food supply of the nation. It is well illustrated, well written, and, whilst doing justice to other workers, shows a competent degree of criticism. It also has what all good books should have—a thoroughly good index.”
MEEKER, JAMES EDWARD.Life and poetry of James Thomson (B. V.). il*$1.75 Yale univ. press 17-7035
“This little book will bring nothing new to students of Thomson’s work, but it may well prove a useful introduction for those not fortunate enough to have secured Salt’s biography of the poet. Mr Meeker disclaims any ambitious purpose; he has made a compendium, largely from the studies of Salt and Dobell, now become rare. He adopts a rigid chronological order in the discussion of the poems, which he uses as an interpretative commentary of the biography. He quotes generously from the poems, and has chosen characteristic extracts from the letters and the journal cited by Salt.”—Dial
“Mr Meeker’s book is clearly and entertainingly written; and he did well in his account of such a life as Thomson’s to adopt the method, as he tells us, of ‘using his poems and his prose chronologically as a key to his inner development.’”
“Has the considerable merit of brevity and is written in a style perfectly clear though quite lacking in distinction. It brings out no new facts of the poet’s life, and, so far as mere biography goes, will not replace the works already published. Nor can it be said that the critical parts of Mr Meeker’s commentary rise much above the common-place.”
“Despite the crudities of the book, the central figure stands out strongly, a figure strangely kin to our own Poe, and England’s dead youth, Chatterton; and as such it is worth while.”
“Of value for its appeal to general interest.”
MEIGS, WILLIAM MONTGOMERY.Life of John Caldwell Calhoun. 2v il*$10 (3½c) Neale 17-24427
John C. Calhoun was born in 1782. He entered public life at an early age, coming into prominence in 1807 at the time of the “Leopard” and “Chesapeake” affair. He was a member of Congress during the War of 1812, and a strong advocate of relentless prosecution of the war. He became a dominant figure in the storm and stress period that followed, standing out staunchly against abolition and for states rights. His life all but spans the period between the Revolution and the Civil war, and any account of it must be a contribution to national history as well as to biography. The author has based his work on original sources, having access to many new letters and papers. Volume 2 contains the index.
“May be accepted as the long-desired complete and impartial life of the great nullifier.”
“The powerful yet pathetic personality of Calhoun has never been so adequately portrayed as in the present biography. It is not only a history of the man, but one of his times.”
“Mr Meigs is a Pennsylvanian, born since Calhoun’s death and free from the prejudices of the long period during which controversies in which the South Carolinian was identified divided public opinion in this country. His work as a biographer has been scholarly and thorough to a degree, and as a record of the public career of the South’s greatest statesman, this volume leaves little to be desired.”
MEIKLE, WILMA.Towards a sane feminism.*$1.25 (4c) McBride 396 (Eng ed 17-21128)
Miss Meikle’s argument is “that a dependent class must become economically influential before it can hope for political power” (Dial), therefore women should enter commerce andbusiness on a large scale. Feminist leaders, and militant suffragists in particular, come in for much criticism, yet the author believes that “without the nomadic life of the suffragists a mentally healthy womanhood could hardly have been evolved from the mentally anæmic ‘lady’ of the last generation.” Political enfranchisement, however, is far less important than “the reformation of the domestic relations of women, of their relation to their husbands, and their relation to their children and their work.” Political freedom will follow upon economic freedom. “Economic independence is vitally necessary for women in order that the full beauty of home life may be secured.” Other factors that will help to secure this are early marriages, less rigid marriage laws, and state aid in bringing up children. The fundamental, ultimate problem is the problem of sex. It must be solved “by attempting to balance the fiercest claims of the body with the mind’s ultimately stronger hunger for romance.”
“Written for England but applicable in many of its ideas to women anywhere. Thought provoking and to many, irritation-provoking.”
“There is a frankness throughout the book which leaves no unpleasant taste in the mouth even after the chapter in which sex is discussed.”
“The author does not preach suffrage especially. Her attitude seems to be rather that of Lincoln toward abolition. If she can save women without getting a single vote she will do it. But she thinks that the vote will help her to gain her objects.” I. W. L.
“Miss Meikle’s sharp and witty criticism is directed neither against men nor against the unawakened woman, but against feminist leaders and types and trends themselves. ... The family’s sacredness is undermined by her idea that ‘motherhood is one of the most casual of all relations.’ ... Her book is immensely capable and provocative. It is so novel in its scathing wit and its high good humor of irreverence that I can imagine it taken with some resentment by the more studious American feminists. Fortunately the discussion is of England, and there is admiring comment on women’s social and public achievements in the United States.” Randolph Bourne
“The criticisms of the Pankhurst psychology, and the snobbish, pretentious fraud of the higher education for women at the older universities, are admirable and much to the point. The style is clear and terse, with a graphic pictorial quality, but Wilma Meikle should beware of facile antitheses and off-hand dogmatism. She often sacrifices accuracy to effect.” F. W. S. Browne
“One wonders much where Miss Meikle obtained all of her remarkable assortment of misinformation about affairs in the United States.”
“Her plea for restricting the size of the family is distinctly unpatriotic in such times as these, and her sneers at religion and good breeding in a chapter on ‘The Break-up of the lady’ are in the worst possible taste.”
MELISH, JOHN HOWARD.Franklin Spencer Spalding, man and bishop. il*$2.25 (2c) Macmillan 17-14393
Franklin Spencer Spalding, Bishop of Utah, died in 1914. This story of his life is written by the rector of Holy Trinity church, Brooklyn. The biography begins with an account of Frank Spalding’s boyhood. He was eight years old when his father was appointed missionary bishop of Colorado, and his early years were thus spent in surroundings similar to those which were to be the scenes of his manhood labors. Subsequent chapters are: Frank Spalding, Princeton ‘87; The choice of a profession; Theological student; Jarvis Hall days; The parish house; Spiritual growth; His approach to the social problem; Called to be a bishop; The church in Utah; Salt Lake City; Mormonism; Begging east and west; The church in the mining camp; The church and socialism; Man among men; Manoach.
“In Mr Melish’s well told story of this earnest life we get no sectarianism and much discussion of the practical problems now before the church and before society, and much shrewd advice to the missionary.”
“A helpful book for college men considering the question of a life calling, for ministers affected with excessive prudence and laymen who do not appreciate the work of a true minister. Socialists will find the chapter on the church and socialism almost as illuminating, perhaps, as the average churchman.” L: A. Walker
“The story of his life and work which Mr Melish has put together will help to preserve his memory and will prove inspiring to all who labor in hard places. It is also worthy of consideration as an answer to the overworked argument that the Episcopal church, cares little for social righteousness and those who labor with their hands.”
Reviewed by Graham Taylor
MELVILLE, NORBERT JOHN.Standard method of testing juvenile mentality by the Binet-Simon scale; with the original questions, pictures and drawings; a uniform procedure and analysis. il*$2 Lippincott 371.9 17-13701
This standard method of testing juvenile mentality by the Binet-Simon scale is prepared by the director of the psychological laboratory, Philadelphia school of pedagogy, and is based on experiments conducted by the author in public schools in Philadelphia, and other cities. These investigations, which have involved the training of several hundred co-workers, have demonstrated the necessity and practicability of standardizing each detail of procedure. Some of the questions that are given attention for the first time are: “With what tests should the examiner begin? Which of two alternative questions should be first employed in a given case? Under what conditions may a test be repeated? By what precise standards shall we decide whether responses in such tests as the definitions should be credited at age six or age nine?” Part 1 is devoted to General procedure in gathering and analyzing the data; Part 2 to Uniform method of applying the Binet-Simon scale (Final revision by Binet and Simon, 1911). William Healy, of the Juvenile psychopathic institute of Chicago, writes an introduction for the work.
“The standard method developed by the writer of this manual is well characterized as provisional.’ We should note, however, that at the same time it is the outcome of more detailed research and gives more adequate attention to details of mental testing than does any such manual which we have yet seen.”
“Part 2 provides, in form convenient for use, all the printed materials necessary for the tests. This is in itself a distinct service to Binet test-users.” M. R. Trabue
“It is essentially a guide to practice, and as such may be warmly recommended.”
“A very useful and practical work.” Alexander Johnson
MENCKEN, HENRY LOUIS.Book of prefaces.*$1.50 (3c) Knopf 810.4 17-28839
The first two-thirds of this volume by the editor of the Smart Set discusses the work of Joseph Conrad, Theodore Dreiser, and James Huneker. The last third deals with Puritanism as a literary force. Here Mr Mencken discusses both the “Puritan impulse from within,” which “has been a dominating force in American life since the very beginning” and the “genesis and development” of the “Puritan authority from without”—the “organization of Puritanism upon a business and sporting basis.” Mr Mencken is out of sympathy with “this moral obsession,” as he calls it, which sets American literature “off sharply from all other literatures.”
“They abound in clever phrases and quick turns of thought.”
“Few have dared to suggest so clearly the exact ways in which the present-day Puritans have laid a numbing hand on art and the manner in which their work has been done.” D. L. M.
“He has all the raw material of the good critic—moral freedom, a passion for ideas and for literary beauty, vigor and pungency of phrase, considerable reference and knowledge. Why have these intellectual qualities and possessions been worked up only so partially into the finished attitude of criticism?” Randolph Bourne
“Here are vital appreciations, here are pungent bits of writing that interpret in terms of the classic realism, romanticism, naturalism, and what not, without the heavy professorial pedanticism.” F. J. K.
“Mr Mencken is an intelligent man with a certain gift of phrase, and if he were content to be a critic, and not so often an apologist for the nasty, and if he only wrote in earnest, instead of being provocatively flippant and cynical, his mind might count in the critical councils of the hour. He writes entertainingly, but without special penetration, about Conrad. ... Mr Mencken does not merely rant against the Puritans. ... He does see that there was a moral elevation in Puritanism, though he apparently does not sympathize with a morality that subordinates the personality to a spiritual ideal—that, in other words, has the same aim as art. ... Pithy and nettling persiflage is the final judgment that one must pass on Mr Mencken’s book.”
MENZIES, AMY CHARLOTTE (BEWICKE) (MRS STUART MENZIES).Memories discreet and indiscreet. il*$5 Dutton 17-30307
“This is a book of reminiscences of the interesting people whom the author met in the course of a wandering outdoor career as the wife of an army officer in India, Egypt, and England. She tells many new stories about celebrities as widely separated as Cardinal Manning and Lord Cardigan, Parnell, Father Stanton, Melton Prior, and Fred Burnaby; and she draws an unconventional sketch of a side of Lord Kitchener’s character not generally presented to the public. She gives, also, some fresh details of the famous ride to Kandahar and the Majuba Hill disaster, but serious information is not her forte.”—Spec
“An easy, intimate account of the life and achievements of those well-known to fame, told with a style and ease of manner that gratify our interest and curiosity.”
“In her lighter moods she is always entertaining; she avoids malicious scandal, and leaves on the reader’s mind the impression of a very attractive personality, sweet-tempered, broad-minded, and unselfish, more devoted to living than to literature.”
“The writer is a plucky, versatile, travelled woman; an entertaining conversationalist who writes as she talks.”
MEREDITH, CHRISTABEL M.Educational bearings of modern psychology. (Riverside educational monographs)*60c (2c) Houghton 370.1 17-715
This work by an Englishwoman, is an application of some of the principles of modern psychology to elementary education. The aim of the book is “to give a brief account of some portions of recent psychological work which have had and are likely to have a special influence on education. Part 1 is concerned mainly with genetic psychology: instincts, the growth of habit, and the effect of environment and suggestion. ... Part 2 is concerned with some special studies in educational psychology and in particular with experimental work.” (Preface) Dr Henry Suzzallo, in his introduction says, “The compass of the work is small, but a fine discrimination in choice and organization has made brevity a virtue unaccompanied by its usual shortcomings.”
“Within her limits Mrs Meredith has done distinctly useful work, choosing her topics with discretion and treating them in a competent and serviceable way. ... The final chapter on adolescence contains wisdom for parents as well as for teachers.”