“Of Lord Kitchener he says: ‘When he spoke his words were few and distinct. Some thought him cold-hearted, and so he was when he was dealing with incompetents and offenders. But his was a warm heart, all the same. He was the only man in England who used to greet me with, “Hullo, old man!” I used to feel that such a greeting meant that he thought me fit for my job.’”
“It contains too many technical and statistical passages to be read eagerly by the untraveled Englishman. It has no pretension to be a history of Australia; but it presupposes in the reader a considerable familiarity with that history, for it is mainly concerned with the mechanical progress of political measures and not with the physical and social conditions that made them opportune or expedient.”
REINHARDT, CHARLES WILLIAM.Lettering for draftsmen, engineers and students. 14th ed rev and enl il*$1 Van Nostrand 745 17-8375
“More than twenty years of use under all sorts of conditions have proved the value of Reinhardt’s ‘Lettering.’ ... In the preface to the first edition the author stated that, while there were then many books that dealt with ornamental lettering, there was none which treated the art ‘from a purely practical viewpoint.’ To make good so great a lack, he set forth simply and clearly a very practical method of producing most effective results in freehand lettering of working drawings. ... The present edition has been given ‘a more rounded aspect,’ to quote from the preface, by supplying such apparent omissions as an analysis of the Greek alphabet, methods of laying out and constructing titles and by adding some practice sheets.”—Engin News-Rec
REISS, RODOLPHE ARCHIBALD.Report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian army during the first invasion of Serbia; English tr. by F. S. Copeland. il 5s Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & co, London 940.91 (Eng ed 16-20123)
“This is a translation of the report submitted to the Serbian government by Dr R. A. Reiss, of the University of Lausanne. This material issaid to have been gathered on the spot during the months of September, October, and November, 1914.”—R of Rs
“The publication in this country of the work entitled ‘Austro-Hungarian atrocities’ is calculated to give a severe shock to those Englishmen who, whilst condemning and regretting Austrian policy, still preserve feelings of friendship towards the Austrians. It is a chronicle of horrors no less ghastly than that recorded by the responsible authorities of France, Great Britain, and Belgium who have inquired into the conduct pursued elsewhere by the ruthless and treaty-breaking ally of Austria.” [Earl of] Cromer
RELTON, HERBERT M.Study in Christology; the problem of the relation of the two natures in the person of Christ.*$2.50 Macmillan 232
“In ‘A study in Christology’ Dr H. M. Relton sets out the various ways in which men have attempted to describe the person of Christ, giving prominence to a theory propounded by Leontius of Byzantium in the first half of the sixth century. His contribution to the Christological problem is found in the doctrine of the Enhypostasia. ... Leontius offered the theory that the human nature of Christ was not without hypostasis, but became hypostatic in the person of the Logos. ... Dr Relton sets out the implications of this way of accounting for the person of Christ, and pleads that it answers to the demands of modern thought more successfully than various recent theories. ... The second part of the treatise deals with the analysis of human nature in the light of modern psychology and the analysis of the divine nature as manifested in revelation. The author then considers the relationship between the human and the divine as revealed by religious experience, and shows how this helps us to penetrate deeper into the mystery of the person of Christ. The third division of the book considers various modern attempts at Christological reconstruction.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
Reviewed by James Moffat
“As we should expect in a thesis approved for the D.D. degree in the University of London, the work is a learned and technical study in theology; but the problems discussed are stated with precision and clearness, and no reader interested in the subject with which it deals need fear that he may not be able to follow with advantage the arguments of the author.”
RENDALL, VERNON HORACE.London nights of Belsize.*$1.40 (2½c) Lane 17-20181
This story deals with “the unraveling of mysteries and the detection of crime by the non-professional expert,” but “Christopher Belsize was much more than a criminal investigator. He was a millionaire, to begin with. He was also a scholar, deeply versed in oriental lore; a collector, bibliophile, and a purchaser of libraries, who kept his purchases dark; and, for the rest, a young man who loved to play the part of Haroun-al-Raschid, and was possessed with a faculty of accurate and precise deduction which was indistinguishable from clairvoyance. He was recklessly generous, magnanimous, and (incidentally) benevolent. ... Being destitute of ordinary ambition, Christopher’s motive was rather the desire to ‘live dangerously.’ He asked for trouble, but he was so magnificently equipped that he seldom came to grief. Besides, on the advice of his eccentric uncle, he had practised revolver-shooting to good purpose, and—also on the advice of that mysterious relative—he had made a devoted slave of his body servant, Smith, an ex-burglar and pugilist.” (Spec)
“The good detective story is never out of style, but ‘The London nights of Belsize’ is even better than good, for it is different.”
“The author has a wit and originality of his own. His book is ingenious, imaginative, whimsical. Conceived on popular lines, it is written with the fastidious taste of a scholar.”
“‘Belsize as a commentator’ is a tour de force of ironic criticism at the expense of Sherlock Holmes. But, on the whole, we like him best when he is most irresponsible, as in the delightful extravaganza of ‘The young man and the “happy” shop’—an admirable satire on the gullibility of the reading public and the methods of reviewers; or ‘The post-prandial peculiars,’ in which Belsize, disguised as a working man, is entertained by a millionaire. ... Mr Rendall has proved that the charm of sensational fiction is greatly enhanced when the author possesses style, scholarship, and wit. The stories in themselves are not above the comprehension of the average reader, but the literary bravura of their presentation will attract an esoteric audience. In fine, Mr Vernon Rendall has killed two birds with one stone.”
“He becomes too much of the detective and too little of the adventurer and taster of life. ... Belsize is too good for the work to which Mr Rendall has put him, difficult and dangerous though that may have been.”
RESSÉGUIER, ROGER MARIA HERMANN BERNARD, graf.Francis Joseph and his court. il*$2.50 (2½c) Lane 17-30309
The author of the memoirs from which Mr Herbert Vivian has made selections is the son of Francis Joseph’s court chamberlain. His mother had been a lady in waiting to the Empress Sophia, mother of Francis Joseph, and some of her stories of earlier court life are embodied in these memoirs. The tragedy of Maximilian I and the mysterious death of Archduke Rudolph are among the subjects covered.
“Those who had previously retained any optimistic illusions about the high family of Hapsburgs, of which the Emperor Francis Joseph was the decorative head, are doomed to lose them after reading the data Mr Vivian has selected.” F. B.
Retreat from Mons.*50c (4c) Houghton 940.91 17-19810
This brief but detailed and somewhat technical account of the “Retreat from Mons” is apparently the first of a series of little books on the Operations of the British army in the present war. Field-Marshal French, in his preface, points out that the demoralization which usually accompanies a retreat was conspicuous by its non-existence.
“The author has been careful to put down as fact only what has been proved upon reliable authority to be true. In this way he leaves the controversy which rages concerning the early weeks of the war, to the controversial, and his summary of the facts will not be inconsistent with history as it is finally written.”
“Beneath the superstructure of official facts one glimpses heroism and sacrifice the details of which will never be known, but which distinguish the retreat above many engagements that history will note more carefully.”
“The semi-official little volume admits records are still clouded concerning the actions of Maroilles and Le Cateau.”
“It is solely a military history and so makes no account of picturesque incidents or pathetic or tragic happenings.”
REY, JEAN ALEXANDRE.Range of electric searchlight projectors; tr. by J. H. Johnson. il $4.50 Van Nostrand 623.731 ES17-91
The translator in his preface points out that there is no modern and original work in English treating the subject covered by this book. The present importance of the subject has induced him to make a translation of this French work for the benefit of English readers. The author’s introduction says, “I have endeavoured to sum up the methods for range measurement, and, with the assistance of much information not previously published, the solution of the problem if not entirely elucidated, is at least advanced from a practical point of view.” The subject is treated in two parts: Illumination by electric searchlight projectors; Range of electric searchlight projectors. The French bibliography is included and the work is indexed.
“The book will not be found particularly easy for the untechnical reader, but the charts and tables are of exceptional value, although their use is not always quite obvious without pretty careful study of the text. The volume is certainly a most timely one and should prove invaluable to students of artillery practice.”
“Altogether this is a very valuable and practical book. ... Mr Johnson has done his work of translation well.”
“The work will prove of great value to engineer officers.”
REYNOLDS, GERTRUDE M. (ROBINS) (MRS LOUIS BAILLIE REYNOLDS).Castle to let.*$1.35 (1c) Doran 17-23550
A wild and romantic spot in Hungary is the scene of this story. Camiola France, a young English girl, has come to the place to visit a school friend. It is far off the beaten track of travel, and its one tourist hotel had been closed some years before after the inexplicable disappearance of a party of guests. There are weird tales afloat of a dragon—and there is an old prophecy concerning a fair-haired dragon slayer that seems about to be fulfilled. These mysteries fascinate Camiola, and as she is mistress of her own fortune, she promptly leases the ancient mountain castle that has stood empty for years, invites to it a party of her friends, and starts to investigate the mystery. The fair-haired young guide who acts as her companion in her search begins shortly to have for Camiola a personal interest. She is amazed at herself, and ashamed—but all this, as it happens, is part of the working out of the prophecy.
“The book is well written, the descriptions of scenery are good, and there is plenty of interest in the characters.”
“It is a book entirely of incident—a thriller for the movie-minded.”
“A delightfully romantic story.”
“Mrs Reynolds very skilfully balances the reader’s interest between the romance, which is of the conventionally unconventional sort, and the other elements of the situation.”
RHODES, JAMES EDWARD.Workmen’s compensation.*$1.50 Macmillan 331.25 17-18174
“This book sets forth in a style which can be easily understood by any intelligent reader the development, in this country, of the movement for compensating workmen who suffer accident in industry. It describes also the basic principles underlying compensation insurance. Inasmuch as the problems resulting from industrial accidents arose in Europe much earlier than in this country, a summary is presented, at first, of the distinctive features of the English and German methods of handling the question. This is followed by a discussion of the development of the agitation in the United States, covering the first decade of the twentieth century. ... In the appendix is found an outline of the history of the movement which resulted in the laws of New York state, the standards for sound workmen’s compensation laws recommended by the American association for labor legislation, and a brief digest of the various laws in force in each state at the end of 1916. At the close of each chapter there is a list of references covering the literature upon the main topics discussed, and at the end of the volume is a general bibliography of ten pages.” (Nation) “The author is a claim examiner in the compensation and liability department of a large insurance company.” (R of Rs)
“The demand for a concise and logical account of the movement for workmen’s compensation, and of the principles involved, is not adequately met by this volume; though its excellent forward-looking spirit, its satisfactory index, and its pretty full bibliography combine with the presentation of much material of interest and value to offset in a large degree the defects noted.” L. D. Clark
“Because of the simple non-technical presentation of the subject the book is well suited both for the student who wants a general survey of the history and principles of workmen’s compensation without too much local and detailed study, and for the special student who needs a guide for further reading and research.” R. W: Foley
“No better or more readable summary of the whole subject can be found anywhere than that which this volume places at the disposal of its readers.”
“This book presents a careful statement of the background and fundamentals of compensation and of its present status in the United States which should be useful as a basis for more detailed study or for a general survey of the problem. Particularly valuable are the illustrative cases and the brief digest of the essential points of laws now in force.” R. H. B.
“The book will be found extremely useful by the reader who desires to get a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the essentials of workmen’s compensation. Chapter 6 on the constitutionality of compensation legislation is a good example of the author’s ability to present clearly within a brief compass all the important elements of a complex situation.”
“The book is carefully documented in relation to legal decisions.”
Reviewed by E. S. Gray
“The book is a most timely contribution to the literature of workmen’s compensation, and will be welcomed by a wide range of readers, including business men, students, and teachers of insurance, and intelligent general readers, as well.”
“The book can be heartily recommended to any serious minded wage-worker who wants toget a clear idea of the possibilities of social legislation as demonstrated in one, perhaps narrow, branch of it.” R.
“One valuable chapter deals with the social aspects. This will appeal to the non-technical reader by its method of treatment.”
“Mr Rhodes takes an extremely broad subject and skilfully condenses it into compact form.”
“Mr Rhodes has filled a timely need. ... However, in valuing his discussion of state and stock company insurance, the author’s insurance connections must be borne in mind.” Irene Sylvester
RHODES, JAMES FORD.History of the Civil war, 1861-1865.*$2.50 (1c) Macmillan 973.7 17-30046
Not a condensation of the author’s three volumes on the Civil war in his “History of the United States” but a fresh study which makes use of the large amount of material on that period which has come to light in recent years. Good maps and an index are included with the text.
“An excellent and readable history.”
“The student of war politics and of mid-century American diplomacy will find much to interest him in several of the chapters, for the volume is not, as its title might imply, a mere narrative of military operations. It is a discussion of national life in all its phases during a great and critical period of American history.”
“Like its predecessors, it is unusually well provided with a list of the best authorities, an ample table of contents, and a very complete index. In general, Mr Rhodes’s historical work has the distinction of frequent citations from the sources interwoven with his text, and a style uniformly clear, dignified and familiar.” L. E. Robinson
“Dr Rhodes here and there writes of certain episodes in greater detail than before; but in other places his lack of such detail is disappointing.”
“The necessity of compression in putting the history of the Civil war into a single volume has made impossible the extensive use of [the method employed in his larger work]. But the author’s notable faculty of summarizing without leaving out the spirit, the life, and the color of events, and the fact that he wrote out of a reservoir of knowledge of just such intimate revelations of the life of the time infuse his narrative with unusual power to re-create the time of which he writes.”
“We now have in one volume of moderate compass, handsomely printed, a work on the Civil war which contains precisely what every American should know, presented with scholarship and yet always in readable style and manner.”
“The author everywhere shows the most absolute impartiality. ... Mr Rhodes writes in his usual clear and pleasing style.”
RICE, ALICE CALDWELL (HEGAN) (MRS CALE YOUNG RICE).Calvary alley.il*$1.35 (1½c) Century 17-26784
Nance Molloy lived with Mr and Mrs Snawdor, her step-father and step-mother, in Calvary alley, near the cathedral. The book tells how she grew up, how she became successively a “finisher” of pants, a factory hand, a companion to an old lady, a chorus girl, a stenographer, and a trained nurse, and how she fell in love with one of the two men who cared most for her—Dan Lewis, the factory hand, and “Mac” Clarke, whose father owned the bottle factory. Two older men who influence her life are Uncle Jed, her self-appointed guardian, and old Mr Demorest, who played the violin and taught Nance to dance.
“A pleasing story, with nice human touches that will make it popular.”
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
“Not since Mrs Wiggs has Mrs Rice given us a book so rich in her warm humanity, her whimsicality and her catholic fondness for varieties of types as we find ‘Calvary alley.’ Yet it hints of bigger things than did Mrs Wiggs.” D. L. M.
“The story is interesting, wholesome, and very likable.”
“While ‘Calvary Alley’ has no very serious pretensions and is written in a light and entertaining style, it does sincerely reflect a certain phase of American life.” M. G. S.
“Mildly humorous, less crude, in its optimism than is most of its author’s work, and has quite a good deal of variety in its scenes and characters. Mrs Snawdor, Nancy’s stepmother, is a real and entertaining person.”
“Once in a great while one runs across a truly vital heroine in fiction—a girl who lives and moves like a real being. Such a heroine is Nance Molloy.”
RICE, CALE YOUNG.Trails sunward.*$1.25 Century 811 17-10356
This new volume of poems has a brief preface in which Mr Rice discusses recent trends in poetry. “Never has poetry tried so hard to be prose as at the present time in America,” he says, and he adds that the apparent revival of interest in poetry may be of brief duration. “No poetic public will long give attention to a realism which makes the mistake, common to all shallow realism, of neglecting passion, imagination, charm and nearly all the permanent qualities of any true poetry.” Among the poems included in the collection are: The trail from the sea; The chant of the Colorado; Mountains in the Grand Canyon; Hafiz at forty; a group of Songs to A.H.R., and a group of “Metaphysical sonnets.”
“Even in our day Mr Rice has the eccentricity of writing like a gentleman. ... I rarely use the term ‘sublimity,’ yet in touches of ‘The foreseers,’ particularly in its cavern-set opening, I should say that Mr Rice had scaled that eminence.” O. W. Firkins
“The years have increased his power to write exceptionally beautiful lyrics of perfect melody.”
“In a day of petty heresies, Mr Rice stands forth as a declared champion of orthodoxy.”
RICE, GRANTLAND, ed. Boys’ book of sports. il*$2 (1½c) Century 796 17-25763
The selections in this volume have been chosen “from the best sporting stories that St Nicholas has produced in the last twenty years.” They include descriptive articles, among them a series on baseball by Billy Evans, a special article on pitching by Christy Mathewson, articles on football by Parke H. Davis, golf by Francis Ouimet, and tennis byJ. Parmly Paret. In addition there are short stories by Leslie W. Quirk, Ralph Henry Barbour and others.
“Boys of ten to any age will enjoy this collection.”
“It is an encyclopedia, a treasury of outdoor tactics and accomplishment. Everything you want to know about things in the open, from fishing to aeroplaning, is here.”
Reviewed by H. B. Nagler
RICE, GRANTLAND.[2]Songs of the stalwart.*$1 Appleton 811 17-29998
The author who is known as a writer on outdoor sports appears in this book of poems in a new guise. Songs of somewhere back; Songs of courage; Songs of the off-trail; Songs of the game; and Songs above the drumfire, compose the contents. There is an appreciative foreword by Irvin S. Cobb.
“One would almost say that his art, simple, glowing and precise as it is, was altogether too fine for some of his themes and subjects; but this is not so, because nothing is too common for the spirit of poetry to light and reveal. This book is literature, an honor to the man who made it, and a delight to the reader who receives it. And Mr Rice stands quite alone in his achievement.” W. S. B.
“Irvin Cobb writes: ‘One of these days they are going to elect a successor to the late James Whitcomb Riley as the most typical writer of homely, gentle American verse. I have my candidate picked out. His name is Grantland Rice.’”
RICE, WILLIAM NORTH.Return to faith, and other addresses.*75c Abingdon press 16-23597
“This slim little book, five addresses in all, taking title from the first, [does not present] the return to faith as due to many remarkable verifications in newly found records, of old traditions, nor to geological evidence that the biblical order of creation, interpreting a ‘day’ as this or that number of thousands of years, is now found scientific, nor to any similar finding of pseudo-scientific abracadabra. The return to faith is due to a belief in the man Jesus.”—Dial
“Dr Rice represents the higher religious convictions of most liberal Christians. His book is remarkable for the unconditional and intelligent acceptance of science with all its implications. There is no string either to his science or to his religion.”
RICHARD, PAUL.To the nations.*$1 (8c) Pond 172.4 17-10558
This little book, translated from the French, with an introduction by Rabindranath Tagore, sets forth a view of the war as a conflict which the old social order is waging against itself. “The war has a purpose, even if the belligerents have none. It has a purpose to which none of them would care to attain, but which all will be forced to realize at last. This purpose is very simple: the old evil must be destroyed down to its root, the old foundations of the life of the people must be torn up, and replaced by the foundations of a better and truer civilization.” Revolutions are predicted for every country in Europe, altho the author hesitated to say which would be first. In the second part of the book he discusses the new ideals that must guide the reorganized nations.
RICHARDS, H. GRAHAME.Shadows.*$1.40 (1½c) Dodd
The novel ends under the shadow of the war, and the later chapters are in striking contrast to the peaceful scenes of the beginning. A quiet neighborhood in Wales is the setting. A small group of children, with Hilda and Gwaine Brennan and Ronald Clinton as its center, are the characters. Hilda is the beautiful one of the two, but Ronald never wavers in his devotion to Gwaine, his little comrade. There is a long separation, however, when, after a disagreement with his grandfather, he goes to London to earn his living as a writer. The war comes and he enlists as a private and the reconciliation with his grandfather and his return to Gwaine come only after the fierce and bitter experiences of the first months of the war. These scenes are made very real, and Hilda’s fate, a minor incident in the tragedy, helps bring home the far-reaching consequences of war.
“In later chapters of the book we have some of the most vivid descriptions of battle which have found their way into fiction. It is first hand description, we imagine.”
“One of those books which just fail to attain excellence—and only just. A few improvements and it would become a really notable novel. There is in it much of charm, of feeling, of human quality. ... But every now and then comes a false note, a note which jangles, jarring upon the reader’s every nerve.”
RICHARDS, MRS LAURA ELIZABETH (HOWE).[2]Abigail Adams and her times.il*$1.35 Appleton 17-30245
“Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, and hence the first mistress of the White House. But even if she had never had a part in official life, she was one of the most interesting women of her time and well deserves a biography. Mrs Richards tells the story of her childhood and later life from the diaries and letters that were written by her, and which deal with much of the real history of the period. Mrs Richards is a daughter of the late Julia Ward Howe.”—R of Rs
“A fascinating story of colonial times; fascinating to those who are interested in the details which make up the major part of all human lives, but are absent from most histories. The author has shown both skill and discretion in keeping herself in the background and composing her story mostly of the diary of the husband and the letters of the wife. The biography is almost an autobiography.”
“The book is offered as of special interest to girls; it surely has the qualities of a successful appeal to a far larger constituency.”
RICHARDS, MRS LAURA ELIZABETH (HOWE).Elizabeth Fry—the angel of the prisons. il*$1.25 Appleton 16-19822
“How Elizabeth Fry by the simplest beginnings wakened England at the commencement of the last century to the horrors of the prison system is told by Laura A. Richards in a short life written for girls. The ‘angel of the prisons’ was one of a noted family, the Gurneys of Earlham, ‘gay Quakers’ whose household of young folk was a merry one.” (Ind) “The book is largely composed of extracts from the journals of Elizabeth Fry and her sisters, which account for the vividness of the picture it gives.” (Survey)
“The pleasant style of the connecting narrative and the vitality and humor of the originalmaterial will establish this biography as a rival of the author’s ‘Florence Nightingale’ in its interest for young people.”
“An inspiring book.”
“The utter inability of the reader to tell how much of this book is fact and how much is Mrs Richards’ is its chief defect. My guess is that it will entrance many a child and tell him absorbing things that he will not learn in his school history.” W. D. L.
“A popular, entertainingly written biography, designed for young girls. It is, however, less suitable for the youthful than for the adult mind because of the introspective nature of Mrs Fry’s journals, and the unfamiliar people and customs to which there is frequent reference.”
RICHARDS, MRS LAURA ELIZABETH (HOWE).Pippin, a wandering flame.il*$1.40 Appleton 17-9251
“Pippin is, indeed, a queer name for a boy, but, inasmuch as he has never known any other, that is the only one he is called. His story is the unusual one of an orphan boy, brought up in the underworld, instructed in all its vices by expert teachers, and his ultimate imprisonment for three years. The larger part of the book is concerned mostly with Pippin after his release from prison, where he has gotten religion and ‘found the Lord.’ His genial personality, brought out by the humane and intelligent prison chaplain, and his beautiful singing voice win for him many kind, helpful friends and a lovely bride. The story ends just as it should, with Pippin and his bride sitting down with friends to a merry wedding breakfast.”—N Y Call
“Pleasant and harmless.”
“Of Mrs Richards’s many charming stories none is more so than this. Its unquenchable optimism and sincerity warms one’s heart.”
“While this book may be read and appreciated by adults, we feel reasonably sure that it will appeal greatly to thirteen or fourteen year old youngsters, who will follow the experiences and successes of the hero, Pippin, with much interest.” M. G. S.
“The book is cheery and sweet without being sentimentalized. It is a ‘story,’ of course—not a piece of ‘gripping realism.’ But as a story it is wholesome and often unusual, and it is thoroughly readable.”
“The spirit of moral uplift runs riot in ‘Pippin.’ The story is told in a partly illiterate jargon that frequently wearies the reader, and with an excess of sentimentality. But Pippin’s adventures have a measure of interest, and his optimism is engaging.”
RICHARDSON, DOROTHY M.Pilgrimage: Backwater.*$1.35 Knopf
“In ‘Backwater’ Miss Dorothy Richardson continues the life story of a young English girl which she began in ‘Pointed roofs.’ Miriam Henderson was then—many years before the war—a teacher in a German school in Hanover. She is now home in England. She is just eighteen, ‘has put up her hair to-day’ in preparation for her career as a resident governess in a school for the daughters of gentlemen. ... Miriam’s is not a very large world, with its family of sisters, their chaff and slang and raptures, their music and books and friends and lovers. ... Nor is there much incident in it—the last gay little dance before the crash, the few weeks’ seaside holiday at Brighton, the visit to the Crystal palace on firework night, and the raw, noisy, suburban routine at Wordsworth house. ... Miss Richardson’s tacit but essential assumption is that life is an intensely real and rich, a desperately complex and wonderful, experience, however commonplace its circumstances may be.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“Miss Richardson promises to be a writer of unusual power, a little too consciously clever, perhaps, but one to whom we may look for work of real value.”
“Our interest in the book, which is considerable, would be increased if it were more coherent. The author has a curious gift of vision, and it is this that makes her heroine real and attractive, in spite of whimsies. ... The author’s subtlety is over-strained now and again, but it includes some acute criticism of life.”
“This novel is a piece of the purest and, in a sense, barest impressionism. If in its steady obedience to its chosen truth it fails, as we think it will sometimes fail, to convince its readers of its verisimilitude, then so far that impressionism has defeated itself. ... But such systematic sincerity as Miss Richardson’s is a profound and affecting thing to share in.”
RICHARDSON, HENRY HANDEL, pseud. (MRS JOHN G. ROBERTSON).Fortunes of Richard Mahony.*$1.50 (1c) Holt 17-23332
“This is a study of a man of reserved, though lovable disposition. We first meet him as a storekeeper in Ballarat [Australia] during the gold craze. Later he makes a success as a doctor; and finally we leave him on his way to England, still in search of an environment suited to his character.” (Ath) “The English edition, issued by William Heinemann, who has evident and steadfast faith in this writer, indicates that Henry Handel Richardson is the author of ‘Maurice Guest’ and ‘The getting of wisdom,’ and that ‘The fortunes of Richard Mahony’ is only the first novel in a series; Book 1 of ‘Australia Felix.’” (Bookm)
“Good descriptions of Australia sixty years ago.”
“‘Maurice Guest’ and ‘The fortunes of Richard Mahony’ are two books that discriminating readers should know, and ‘Henry Handel Richardson’ is a name that, long since known on the continent, through the various translations of ‘Maurice Guest,’ should not any longer be unknown to America.” Edna Kenton
“The faults and merits of ‘The fortunes of Richard Mahony,’ are so evenly balanced that it is not nearly so distinguished as if it were a little better or a little worse. ... There are few stories beyond those of the ‘Boy bush-ranger’ type which deal with life on the Ballarat goldfields in the ‘50s; so Mr Richardson’s treatment of this subject in the manner of the twentieth century realist is by no means unacceptable on the score of novelty. Richard Mahony is himself a creation to be proud of, a character but never a caricature.” J. F. S.
“As a satire, in historical perspective, on the pedestrian soul of the mid-Victorian young gentleman, it would be fairly amusing. But its author is not satirical.”
“It is a strictly realistic piece of work, conscientious, carefully wrought; of plot it has very little, and there is no very especial drama of character. ... They are real people who move through Mr Richardson’s pages, and the events which occur are simple and natural. ... It must be admitted that at the end one has the feeling of having traveled a long way without getting anywhere in particular. But the road has its attractions.”
“The author reminds us again and again of the late William de Morgan, with his inconsequence, his eye for the apparently trivial that counts for so much in life, his flashes of humour, and his occasional fragments of excellent narrative. ... He shows wonderful insight into character, and he describes the Australian scenery and the rude conditions of those days as vividly as if, like Richard Mahony, he hated them. ... In Mahony’s circle Mr Richardson gives free rein to his comic sense.”
“Takes one or two daring plunges into the slough of naturalism. These spots remain red on the memory of the reader in rather unpleasant contrast to the sleepy flatness of the rest of the tale. ... As a series of character sketches, ‘The fortunes of Richard Mahony’ is excellent. Indeed, Mr Richardson is often successful in arousing that sense of exasperation which is the test of good character drawing.”
“Very long, never for a moment exciting, and continuously interesting. ... The novel gives the impression of a large grasp on life and a steady hand.”
RICHARDSON, ROBERT CHARLWOOD.West Point. il*$2 (3c) Putnam 355.07 17-25795
This “intimate picture of the National military academy and of the life of the cadet” is by the late assistant professor of English at West Point, now a captain in the United States army. The first two chapters give a brief history of the academy. The appendix, which is reprinted from the Official register of the United States military academy, 1916, gives information relative to the appointment and admission of cadets. There is a foreword by Major-General Hugh L. Scott.
“Mr Richardson does not give all his pages to war. The peculiar charm of life at West Point is not forgotten, and traditions and customs receive ample space. The beauty of the buildings, the loveliness of the setting, are competently handled. The illustrations are many and well chosen.”
“Exactly the book for the boy seeking an appointment.”
“This interpretation, drawn from the author’s own experience and from many conversations with cadets of to-day, is exceedingly well done, and makes the book valuable to all loyal Americans.”
“It is regrettable that the author makes no mention of the important contribution of West Point to engineering and scientific education. It is perhaps not generally knownthat for twenty-two years (1802-24), the Military academy was the only technical school in this country. ... Its graduates, in civil life or in the army, built most of our early railroads, ran our surveys, constructed our canals, lighthouses, and public buildings. ... A more intangible want will be felt in reading the book by those who know the academy well. ... The graduate will not quite feel that it breathes the living, exultant, fighting spirit of his Alma mater.” S. C. Godfrey, Major, Corps of engineers
RICHMOND, GRACE LOUISE (SMITH) (MRS NELSON GUERNSEY RICHMOND).Brown study.il*$1.25 (4c) Doubleday 17-11704
The minister of a rich and aristocratic church, ordered to take a rest, does so in an out of the way corner of the city, where he can live in close neighborliness to the poor and lowly. The story tells of his life among his new friends, of his decision to remain with them, and of the choice a beautiful girl makes between her love for him and a worldly career.