“Some of the minor characters are sprightly and amusing, and the hero is always virile.”
OPPENHEIM, JAMES.Book of self.*$1.50 Knopf 811 17-13552
“In ‘The book of self’ James Oppenheim tilts against the flesh and the devil in a series of poems that are put forth as intimately related to the struggle America is undergoing and from which a new national life shall emerge. The poems are divided into three sections: ‘Self,’ a revelation of a man’s life, his desires, ambitions, and hopes; ‘The song of life,’ a history of youth’s encounter with life, and ‘Creation,’ the drama of cosmic life unfolding through the individual life of man.”—R of Rs
“Greater restraint in production and a sharper focus of theme, to obviate the cosmic tendency of his mind,—these are necessary to the artistic side of Mr Oppenheim’s work; but we are not disposed to cavil at the poet who makes us think, nor who in his highest moments stirs us with something of the fire of Hebraic prophecy.” J. B. Rittenhouse
“There is in it something of the intense striving for truth of the scientist who will use every means of experiment to discover if his conclusions are trustworthy. With just such seriousness has Mr Oppenheim delved into the deeps of consciousness to learn the secrets of life.” D. L. M.
“The book is a great, though an uneven, volume.” Clement Wood
“Vigor is his characteristic mark—vigor of thought, vigor of phrase; and, though there are undoubtedly many who, like the present reviewer, totally disagree with his thought and his message, there can be no question as to the power with which that thought and that message are presented. ... Whitman is the antecedent from whom he chiefly derives—in his rhythm, his democracy, and his unfettered naturalism. Indeed, it is matter of regret to us that in this last respect he only too closely resembles his prototype, and that like him he too often permits his splendid powers to run in praise of a perilous and devouring animalism.”
“A remarkable and virile book that voices the under-currents of revolt and flings aloft the banners of the ultimate triumph of spirit over materialistic forces. The rhythmic quality of the poetry is inferior to ‘Songs for a new age,’ however, and more frequent melodic lines would improve the scaffolding that upholds the thought.”
ORCHARD, WILLIAM EDWIN.Necessity of Christ.*$1.25 Dutton 232 17-13313
“The view propounded by Dr Orchard is that modernism in philosophy and religion confirms the position of Christ as held by the historic Christian faith; that He is shown to be necessary to thought, religion, Christianity, personality, society, and to God; and, lastly, that the application of the faith to modern problems is subversive of the old order of things—indeed, that the Athanasian creed, thought to be ‘the last bulwark of things as they are,’ has been found to ‘read more like the first charter of socialism.’”—Ath
“Not since the days of the schoolmen has there been closer or more subtle reasoning in matters of theology and Christian relationships than is found in this little book. ... Orthodox in creed, fearless in criticism, constructive as well as iconoclastic, this diatribe will be sure to arouse thought even when it fails to command assent.”
“The author is too vague and indefinite to be convincing, and his statement that the old evidences for the divinity of Christ are now presented in a way which only stimulates revolt, is unproved.”
“We greatly recommend this very original little book to those who are interested in modern theology.”
ORCHARD, WILLIAM EDWIN.Outlook for religion.*$1.50 Funk 17-31685
“Dr Orchard stands to-day at the head of the non-conformist pulpit of England. ... He thinks it necessary to face and state a calm and dispassionate diagnosis of present conditions in the church and the world. This diagnosis he undertakes, and then suggests the remedy for the condition he finds. The present volume has twelve chapters in three parts—The question of the hour, The cry of the times, and The hopeof the age. The conditions are: skepticism and materialism overabundant, a confused and apathetic church, a Christianity that has wandered far from application to life of the Sermon on the Mount, and consequently has largely lost its power. Sectarianism is one of the outstanding evils to be abolished. Dr Orchard stands for ‘a social and international application of Christianity in a new catholicism.’”—Lit D
“Dr Orchard’s writing is tense and highminded as ever.” James Moffat
ORCUTT, WILLIAM DANA.[2]Burrows of Michigan and the Republican party; a biography and a history. 2v il*$6 (3½c) Longmans 17-29460
The subject of this biography, who was born in 1837, entered national public life in 1872 when he was elected to Congress as a member of the House. In 1895 he was elected to the Senate, and represented his state in that body up to 1911. These two volumes are taken up almost wholly with his public career and his relation to his party. Four chapters of volume 1 are given to his early life and his service in the Civil war. The McKinley bill, Reciprocity, The Wilson bill, Currency, Mormonism and the Smoot case are matters made the subject of special chapters.
“To the student of American history during this vital and highly dramatic period, Mr Orcutt’s work will be of distinct value; for his endeavor to explain the conditions leading up to every important act of his hero involves either a clear statement of facts with a very broad bearing on the national life, or a suggestive grouping of those of minor consequence which will indicate to the student the direction in which it might be profitable to continue a search.”
“In freely using the public utterances of Senator Burrows, Mr Orcutt has wisely followed the best writers in another branch of literature, whose characters are left, as far as possible, to reveal themselves in dialogue. To these utterances in and out of the national capitol we must refer the reader who seeks to obtain an adequate idea of the senator from Michigan as a constructive statesman and an orator of rare gifts.”
ORCZY, EMMUSKA (MRS MONTAGU BARSTOW), baroness.Sheaf of bluebells.*$1.35 (1½c) Doran 17-17973
For her latest novel of the Napoleonic era, the author devises a tense situation. The story opens with the return to France of Mme. la Marquise de Mortain and her son Laurent. Altho she returns by the decree of the emperor, she does so with full intent to plot against the “Corsican upstart.” In this design she must take account of Ronnay de Maurel, her son by a former marriage. Ronnay de Maurel has been brought up by an uncle and has absorbed his simple democratic ideals. He dresses like the workmen in his own foundries and makes no pretence to knowledge of the world. But he has fought at Austerlitz and has received the “grand eagle” at the hands of his emperor. It is part of the mother’s purpose to win over this son, that his wealth and his iron foundries may be devoted to the service of the king. In this she has at first the aid of her niece, Fernande de Coursan, but the time comes when Fernande can no longer go on with the part she is cast to play.
“Interesting, if you like historical romances.”
“The plot is ingenious, and is well worked out.”
“This new novel is full of excitement in event, of rich color in background, of real interest in character presentment.”
“The action is lively, and the local scenes are admirably done.”
“An historical tale worthy of this spirited romancer.”
“Unhappily Baroness Orczy not only uses as a medium a kind of highly coloured cinematography, but employs tricked-out puppets instead of living mimes for her dramatis personæ.”
ORVIS, JULIA SWIFT.Brief history of Poland.*$1.50 (2c) Houghton 943.8 16-22948
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“Among the short histories of Poland that we now possess in English (Morfill’s, Bain’s, Phillips’s), Miss Orvis’s work seems to the reviewer by far the best. ... The book is, in general, accurate and scholarly. It is to be regretted, however, that the author’s spelling of Polish names is often incorrect. ... Some errors of fact have crept in here and there. ... The account given of the migrations of the early Slavs is open to grave objections, and the author’s description of the appanage system of the twelfth century would apply to Russia much better than to Poland. ... Such errors, however, are not sufficiently common to mar seriously what is, on the whole, a very interesting and praiseworthy historical work.” R. H. L.
“Compact, popular and readable.”
“The writer shows herself to be not well acquainted with the history of the Catholic church in the few passages in which she touches on ecclesiastical matters.”
“Significant not only for its information about Poland itself, but for the suggestions and allusions that show the development of the present problems of Eastern Europe and the place of Poland and the Slavs in the life of Europe as a whole.”
“Just the thing for readers who want to read up on a confusing section of European history. Comes down to the present day.” P. B.
OSBORN, EDWARD BOLLAND.Maid with wings, and other fantasies, grave to gay.*$1.25 (2½c) Lane 824 17-29645
A collection of short stories and sketches. In the title piece, a scene on the firing line, with Joan of Arc appearing to a wounded British soldier is described. Several of the others are related more or less closely to the war. One of a quite different type is the account of the simplified spelling conference, a protest meeting of the English words with the Rev. Mr Damn presiding. Canada is the scene of several of the sketches. They are reprinted in part from the Morning Post of London.
“The author has a vivid descriptive touch, which makes ‘The million-pound eight,’ a futurist picture of the prize-ring, readable in spite of its feeble climax. A Roman patriot dying at Cannae; a squad of pacifists waiting at Heaven’s gate, while the real peacemakers, the soldier and the sailor, are welcomed by the King in person; and things like the meeting of spelling-reformers, are done with actuality, though the manner has had more attention than the matter, and the style is a clever blend of jauntydeshabilleand fine writing.”
“Yet for the most part the book does not thrill. The two wounded soldier pieces, ‘The maid with wings,’ and ‘The silver eagle,’ arenot quite up to the required level of human pathos. The only clever article in the volume is that entitled the ‘Fighting generation.’”
“This rare and invaluable art of being able to give the force and interest of an essay without the well-known deadening process so much favored by essayists, is perhaps the most admirable of all Mr Osborn’s gifts.”
“The range of subjects is bewildering in its variety, and Mr Osborn’s attitude is in the main more provocative than persuasive. But he is a stimulating companion, and, whatever his theme, he enriches it with curious lore set forth in an incisive and picturesque style.”
“All are clearly the work of a practised writer—of one who has profited by his familiarity with classical and French models to present what he has to say in a form to be read with pleasure and to be understood at sight, and who can assume a cheery and justified confidence in his power to entertain even when an amateur would have thought the material too thin to be worth working up.”
OSBORN, HENRY FAIRFIELD.Origin and evolution of life; on the theory of action, reaction and interaction of energy. il*$3 (5½c) Scribner 575 17-25802
Professor Osborn is research professor of zoology at Columbia university, president of the American museum of natural history, and author of “The age of mammals,” “Men of the old stone age,” etc. In the present volume, we have his Hale lectures, delivered before the National academy of sciences, Washington, D. C., in April, 1916. The author believes that although “we know to some extent how plants and animals and man evolve, we do not know why they evolve,” and that our failure “to make progress in the search for causes” is chiefly because naturalists “have attempted to reason backward from highly complex plant and animal forms to causes,” whereas we should reverse the naturalist’s point of view, and “think from energy forward into matter and form.” “In these lectures we may take some of the initial steps toward an energy conception of evolution and an energy conception of heredity and away from the matter and form conceptions which have prevailed for over a century. The first half of this volume is therefore devoted to what we know of the capture, storage, release, and reproduction of energy in its simplest and most elementary living phases; the second half is devoted to the evolution of matter and form in plants and animals, also interpreted largely in terms of energy and mechanics.” (Preface) There is an appendix and a bibliography.
Reviewed by Archibald Henderson
“In presenting his own theory, the ‘energy conception,’ the scientist makes no claim of actual discovery in this field of the causes of life and evolution. ... The energy conception of the origin and evolution of life is as yet in its infancy, ... but it may be claimed for the theory of action, reaction and interaction that it brings us ‘somewhat nearer to a consistent physicochemical conception of the original processes of life.’”
“Dr Osborn’s introductory discussion of his problem is extremely well designed to clear away all false or confusing implications that might hamper one in endeavoring to grasp the constructive part of the work. Besides being a striking contribution to the theory of the origin of life embodying all that is soundest in modern thought and research, this book of Dr Osborn’s gives a fascinating account of the prehistoric condition of the earth.”
“It is well to be cautious in statement about any contemporary book; and yet it is difficult not to speak of Henry Fairfield Osborn’s ‘Origin and evolution of life’ as one of the great scientific books, as a book that is permanent in the sense that Darwin’s and Huxley’s books are permanent.” Theodore Roosevelt
“If, as contemplated, he is able in the near future to add a treatise on the evolution of prehuman ancestry, he will have produced a trilogy far more fascinating than anything in the realm of fiction.” J. Stanley-Brown
“Prof. Osborn’s praiseworthy system of using many tables and plates to explain points in his volumes has been followed in the present work, and adds much to the lucidity and value of the book.”
O’SHAUGHNESSY, EDITH LOUISE (COUES) (MRS NELSON O’SHAUGHNESSY).Diplomatic days. il*$2 (2c) Harper 917.2 17-30372
Mrs O’Shaughnessy’s second book antedates “A diplomat’s wife in Mexico.” That volume covered the rise and fall of Huerta; this one goes back to 1911 and 1912 when Diaz gave place to Madero. As in the first book, the story is told in letters written to the author’s mother.
“Pleasant but hardly as interesting as the first book.”
“Her interesting pages, somewhat pedantically sown with foreign phrases, throw many lights and shades over the turbulent events of which she was an eye-witness, and give her book permanent importance as contemporary history.”
“If her descriptions were not so sketchy they would be fascinating.”
“There is much important and interesting political comment in her pages and many anecdotes of a sort that only a diplomat’s wife could tell. ... Chiefly significant, however, is the light she throws on the somewhat perplexing career of Madero.”
“The book would be better if it were not so long. Some of the family details could be omitted to the strengthening of the whole. ... Her style is sometimes pretentious, but on the whole it is pleasing, appreciative, expressive of a keen observation and an eagerness to study the conditions of the country. ... The illustrations by Ravell—dreamy photographs of Mexican scenes and buildings—are very beautiful.”
“The charm of Mexico seen at its best is here graphically presented.”
OSTROVSKII, ALEKSANDR NIKOLAEVICH.Plays; a tr. from the Russian; ed. by G: Rapall Noyes.*$1.50 Scribner 891.7 17-24532
Ostrovsky belongs to the central decades of the nineteenth century, the period of Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. In his dramas, however, as the editor points out, he dealt with a phase of Russian life untouched by them, the life of the merchant class. His plays are of varied character, but his real strength, Mr Noyes continues, “lay in the drama of manners, giving realistic pictures of Russian life among the Russian city classes and the minor nobility.” Four examples of these realistic dramas are given in this volume, with the titles: A protégée of the mistress; Poverty is no crime; Sin and sorrow are common to all; It’s a family affair—we’ll settle it ourselves.
“Ostrovsky’s vast work is the most national manifestation of the dramatic genius of his race. He created the Russian drama of manners.” Abraham Yarmolinsky
“‘It’s a family affair’ is a keen-edged portrayal of the low standard of Russian commercial morals in the 50’s. ‘A protegé of the mistress’ shows how the serfs were subject to the caprices of irresponsible owners and, like Turgenieff’s ‘Sportsman’s sketches,’ helped to forward the movement for emancipation.”
“As histories of Russian manners during the years immediately preceding and following the emancipation of the serfs, and as masterpieces of characterization, these plays have much to give the American student of the drama, even through the medium of an inadequate translation.”
“The translation, racy, colloquial, yet never falling into the error of modern American (or English) slang that has marred some recent translations from the French, is excellent reading.”
“Although Ostrovsky’s eye for the dramatic is subdued, and there are barren passages, his plays depict bitingly the crude, grasping traits of the Slav merchant class. The strongest play of the four is ‘A protegé of the mistress.’”
O’SULLIVAN, VINCENT.TheGood girl. new and rev ed*$1.50 Small 17-23647
“Vendred, a man of some inherited means, leading the life of a blameless man about town, falls in love with Mrs Dover, ... a singer of high quality, married to a soldier of fortune, and choosing to live shabbily and hand-to-mouth with him rather than to take the fame and wealth which await her as a professional singer. ... Of this household Vendred in due time becomes the chief support; and in the end his good nature is carried to the point of marrying the insignificant daughter of the house, which clinches his position of provider for the whole tribe. The little wife loves him, and is more than worthy of him, but her mother ... has conceived one of her earthy passions for him, and easily annexes him as a lover when her chosen moment comes.” (Bookm) The book was first published in England in 1912. This authorized American edition has been revised and corrected by the author.
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
“‘The good girl’ was originally published in England and warmly appreciated there before Mr O’Sullivan’s own American countrymen had ever heard of the author. ... It is certain that an American novelist of power is disclosed in ‘The good girl,’ which the fugitive essays that Mr O’Sullivan has had published here in magazines hardly justified us in expecting. There is a massiveness and veracity of portraiture in this novel, blended with a sudden illuminating humor—the indubitable mark of real insight and creative force. The character studies are miles away from the conventional brisk American impressionism. Unfortunately, the accent of ‘The good girl’ is wholly antebellum, in the sense that we all seem to have passed beyond the mood in which love-stories of this peculiar type would meet with a response.”
“Edward Garnett says that ‘The good girl’ entitles its author to a place among the first twenty American novelists. ‘The good girl’ is a story of marked skill in character delineation, and of equally marked unpleasantness. ... A thoroughly ugly and depressing story.”
O’SULLIVAN, VINCENT.Sentiment.*$1.50 (3½c) Small 17-29624
The scene of this story by the author of “The good girl,” is laid mainly at “The Firs, Palebrook, Hampshire,” the home of William’s Aunt Laura. The book deals with the love affairs of four young people, and is dependent for interest on characterization rather than plot. The main characters are William Spring, the self-satisfied but good-hearted clerk, who takes his bearings by the woman of thirty-five or forty years ago, and fails to understand the modern girl; Stephen Ruggles, the ambitious lawyer, whom “thirty-five years with an eye kept exclusively on his own interest had tempered,” and who, in his dealings with women, “had always kept the master-hand” until Penelope swept him off his feet; Penelope Hazard, of the “amber-colored hair,” the “lithe, panther-like grace,” and the “incalculable moods”; and Sabina Moll, the heiress with the “blunt little face,” who “had moved along from the cradle protected by a body-guard of guineas” and who had “that indefinable air of sureness and, small as she was, of command ... which accompanies great wealth.”
“In short, the book has no sound action; it tells nothing about anybody or anything; it is the kind of whimsical skit that will pass readily enough for a ‘novel,’ but collapses outright if you try to take it as a story.” H. W. Boynton
“‘Sentiment’ seems like the work of a talented but not assured craftsman.”
“It appears that Mr O’Sullivan was born in America, but his twenty years of English breeding have placed him definitely with a British group of sardonic realists, of which Mr John Cowper Powys and Mr Louis Wilkinson are prominent members. Mockery is their forte, mockery of usages, of philosophies, of faiths—particularly, of course, the faith which is called love. ... In ‘Sentiment’ we are vouchsafed no saving draught of honest feeling.”
“‘Sentiment’ thus becomes two stories in one, written in different emotional keys. The ridiculous situation of William, or the intrigue of the siren Penelope, would each have made a charming story. Woven together, their incongruity is glaring, and betrays an inexpertness of construction on the author’s part, which we should not expect from one who comes from England with a reputation like Mr O’Sullivan’s.”
“The people in the book are all real and very cleverly studied.”
OSWALD, JOHN CLYDE.Benjamin Franklin, printer. il*$2 (4c) Doubleday 17-3050
The author is editor of the American Printer and a collector of Frankliniana. He has written a life of Franklin, dealing primarily with his activities as a printer, “using the word in the sense which it possessed in his time, when it included printing, editing, publishing, and advertising.” The author says further, “As to the physical structure of the volume, it has been the aim to make it conform typographically somewhat nearly to the style of the books printed by Benjamin Franklin. He had positive ideas as to bookmaking. ... and we have endeavored to produce a book that would meet with his approval could he have opportunity to pass judgment upon it.” The copyright in the book is held by the Associated advertising clubs of the world.
“Of Franklin as a real printer, journalist, and almanac-maker there was little to tell that was new without a somewhat technical and bibliographical investigation of the subject, or, at least, a careful study of the Franklin manuscripts. This Mr Oswald does not appear to have done, or he could hardly have failed to discover the important series of letters from James Parker to Franklin, which have been printed in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts historical society. ... Mr Oswald has compiled a popular account of Franklin, and the many illustrations give his volume a value apart from the text; but he has hardly scratched the surface of the subject.”
“Especially interesting are the many facsimile reproductions of pages from books and newspapers, title pages, advertisements, designs, printed by Franklin.”
“Should prove of extreme interest to printers throughout the country.”
Out of their own mouths.*$1 Appleton 940.91 17-24873
“Utterances of German rulers, statesmen, savants, publicists, journalists, poets, business men, party leaders and soldiers.” (Sub-title) The book is based in part on a French compilation, “Jugés par eux-mêmes,” published in 1916. A Swiss work, compiled by S. Grumbach, has also been drawn on, and other new matter has been added. The A. L. A. Booklist states that the work duplicates some of the material in Bang’s “Hurrah and hallelujah” and Archer’s “Gems (?) of German thought.” There is an introduction by William Roscoe Thayer.
“The work has been done with care and fairness, and the book is of interest, and should be useful for reference.”
“A reading of it is enough to awaken in one a veritable hymn of hate against Germany.”
“Such a volume is also a great convenience when one wants to refer to some significant utterance. But we hope no German will take the hint and compile a volume of what our Fourth of July speechers and newspapers have said of America’s superiority and manifest destiny.”
“We doubt whether all the case is apt to be presented fairly in this manner. It is so easy to omit, and it may often seem most proper to omit a great deal favorable to the enemy, but not pertinent to the point to be proved. The loud utterances of the rash and irresponsible are more apt to be taken than the calmer sayings of the moderate. ... Nevertheless, we think such an enterprise is worthy and useful, for our people cannot understand too clearly the evil against which we make war.”
“This well-arranged collection is most instructive, and deserves to be widely read.”
OWEN, CAROLINE DALE (MRS CHARLES H. SNEDEKER).Seth Way. il*$1.50 Houghton 17-31029
A story of the New Harmony community, Robert Owen’s experiment in communal living in Indiana. With a few exceptions the characters are real people. The hero, Seth Way, is modelled after Thomas Say, the zoologist, altho the author has made him a younger man and has given him a different early environment and woven for him an original romance. Early in the story there is a touching picture of the meeting between the uncouth, unlearned mountain boy, and William Maclure, the geologist, and of the awakening of the boy’s desire for knowledge. Maclure takes the boy under his protection, and gives him his start in scientific training. One of the important incidents of Seth Way’s association with the New Harmony community is his long journey from New York in company with Jessonda Macleod, who comes to the settlement as music teacher. Out of this grows his romance. Jessonda is interesting as a forerunner of the high-minded, independent woman of today.
“A delightful, leisurely story.”
“Next to interpreting the present, there is no finer task for our novelists than the rescuing and embodiment in fiction of such episodes of our American past. It was worthy of Cooper and of Hawthorne; Mr Howells, the other day, gave a fine example of it in ‘The leatherwood god,’ beside which ‘Seth Way’ quite deserves to be placed.” H. W. Boynton
“The tale is slight in plot, extremely leisurely in movement, and considering the variety and colorfulness of its historic background, rather surprisingly lacking in both those qualities. However, the picture of this early experiment in community living is not uninteresting.”
“Its picture of pioneer days in the Ohio valley is vivid and thoroughly interesting.”
OWEN, MARGARET B.Secret of typewriting speed.*$1 (4c) Forbes 652 17-24985
In this book the author, who is champion typist of the world, shares with others some of the secrets of her success. One of these, and the one she considers most important is “perfect rhythm.” Among the chapters are: Typewriting success; Getting ready for work; Perfect rhythm; Weak fingers; Memory and concentration; Expert exercises; Practice paragraphs; Eliminating lost motion; Transpositions; Punctuation. One of the later chapters describes a speed contest.
“Miss Owen has turned out a clear, practical guide to a subject on which she has so good a right to speak.”
OXENHAM, JOHN.“All’s well!”*$1 Doran 821
A volume of poems called forth by the war. Those in part 1, “All’s well,” deal directly with the conflict. One of these is the hymn “For the men at the front,” several million copies of which have been sold. Part 2, “The king’s high way,” is made up of poems in which religious sentiment predominates. Here too the influence of the war is evident. In the poems as in the foreword to the volume the author pleads for a future that shall repair the past.
“A book of popular, sentimentally religious verse, a hymnal of consolation for those whom the war has stricken.”
“Among these poems is the famous ‘Hymn for the men at the front,’ of which over five million copies have been sold and the proceeds devoted to the various funds for wounded soldiers. The majority of the other poems are distinctly religious in character, full-bodied of faith and inspiring in triumphant spirituality.”
OXENHAM, JOHN.Vision splendid.*$1 Doran 821 17-13962
The author of the hymn “For the men at the front,” whose verse has touched some millions of lives, sends out words of courage, comfort and consecration for those who are fighting for liberty, who “out there” “have been in the sweep of the Reaper’s scythe,—with God,—and Christ,—and hell.” The key-note of the volume is in its title poem: