Chapter 116

7–26018.

Plot and action abound in this story of confused identity. In his college days, only four years past, the Reverend Harry Sanderson was known to his fellows as Satan Sanderson. There crosses his path one day an old associate, Hugh Stires, the degenerate son of St. James’ richest parishioner, and so closely resembling Sanderson as to cause all the trouble that ensues. The ghosts of the past appear, but are downed by the invincible might of the young rector. The degenerate weds the woman Sanderson loves, proves unworthy of her, and throws himself upon Sanderson’s mercy, and the latter in attempting to save him meets with an accident that robs him of his memory. The climax and the fall grow out of the confusion of identity that follows, and a ne’er-do-well’s one impulse of manhood.

“The thrills follow thick and fast as in melodrama by Theodore Kremer. They follow in good sharp English, moreover, with only occasional tiptoe reaches into preciosity.”

“Miss Rives writes well, though without much restraint upon her native luxuriance of expression, and with none whatever upon her imagination.”

Rix, Herbert.Tent and Testament; a camping tour in Palestine with some notes on Scripture sites. *$2.50. Scribner.

7–15906.

“This record of a camping tour in Palestine is from the hand of a scholarly and critical traveler.... Throughout a route which lay in part aside from the common track of tourists his interest in verifying Biblical sites and Biblical allusions fully justifies the title of his record.... The prolonged discussions required by controverted questions as to Nazareth, Bethlehem, Capernaum, and other localities are set off into appendices ... and the whole is indexed and illustrated.”—Outlook.

“A thoughtful, well-written, even learned work, far from the vain outpouring of the tourist. The narrative, though heavily charged with information, is wonderfully unembarrassed: and the word-pictures which abound are true to life.... We are sorry that Mr. Rix should have left so much perishable matter [Protestant theories with regard to holy places] in a work which has permanent interest.”

“The narrative is sufficiently enlivened with incident and anecdote to give it continuous interest.”

“His narrative of travel is that of an intelligent and well-informed traveller who went without prepossessions and was both able and willing to weigh evidence. His observations were careful. Now and then he is able to correct even so great an authority in Palestinian topography as Dr. George Smith.”

Roach, Abby Meguire.Some successful marriages. †$1.25. Harper.

6–37923.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“The author is evidently a close observer of human nature and a clever analyst.”

Roberts, Charles George Douglas.Haunters of the silences.$2. Page.

7–18302.

In the course of these eighteen short stories of the wild, Mr. Roberts not only introduces us to types of animal life in the earth’s silent places but takes us down into the depths of the sea to meet the orca, the shark, the narwhal, and the ocean cuttlefish.

“The book is very well worth buying and keeping for the illustrations alone, and again it is well worth buying and keeping even had it no illustrations. It will be a world dull of appreciation which does not recognize great qualities in this volume.”

“Charming stories of creatures of the air, the deep sea, of the northern forests and silent wastes.”

“The book is full of good reading, and it is well written.”

“It has remained for Mr. Roberts to crystallise into a series of brief and vibrant character-studies the really salient features of the horizonless life of the outer worlds.” Thomas Walsh.

“For this large-minded fairness, as well as for other reasons, the book belongs to the small but fortunately growing class of the best nature story-books.” May Estelle Cook.

“The stories are said to be in a line with accurate natural history. However, it is not concerning questions of observed facts so much as the interpretations that scientific men will have a quarrel with the author of this and with those of similar books.”

“It is the most ambitious work of the kind that Mr. Roberts has yet written, and deserves to be placed in the first rank of nature books.”

“Of these nature writers, as they have come to be called, Mr. C. G. D. Roberts ... is far the most charming, the most literary, the most interesting. As for the illustrations by Mr. Bull, they merit an article in themselves. It is difficult to see how they could be more full both of imagination and accuracy.” Hildegarde Hawthorne.

“He writes of his subjects with sympathy and imagination, while his descriptions of their ways and hunts are scientifically exact.”

“He talks about wild life from the standpoint of a man who knows it well and is also a writer of refinement and of literary instinct.”

Roberts, Charles George Douglas.Heart that knows. $1.50. Page.

6–30929.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

Roberts, Charles George Douglas.In the deep of the snow; il. by Denman Fink. †50c. Crowell.

7–21228.

A short Christmas story of the northern frontier in which a stout-hearted father takes a long snow-shoe journey to bring Santa Claus to his wilderness cabin.

Roberts, George Simon.Historic towns of the Connecticut river valley. Il. *$3.50. Robson & Adee, Schenectady, N. Y.

6–24568.

“The history of each town is given, some anecdotes of some of its distinguished sons and their careers told, old houses are described, landmarks pointed out, and places of historical interest shown. Pictures, too, are given of houses, sites of buildings, etc., and there are portraits, views of the town, etc.”—N. Y. Times.

“The towns are taken up one by one, in an order extending from the mouth of the river northward. There is, however, little other order; repetitions are frequent, and in the selection of information to be included or excluded no clear purpose appears beyond that of furnishing entertaining reading matter.”

“He writes pleasantly, but he has not written a chronicle, for he has written loosely. Names are spelled wrongly, dates are awry, and now and again some statement amazes those familiar with the old towns.”

“Its wealth consists mostly in the assembling of anecdotes, and of certain of the vital historical facts appertaining to each of the towns. A more analytic index would have greatly relieved the congestion of the text, and served to reveal its riches.”

“The volume is entertaining and authoritative.”

Roberts, Margaret.Saint Catherine of Siena and her times; by the author of “Mademoiselle Mori.” *$2.75. Putnam.

7–10561.

“St. Catherine, surnamed Benincasa, was born in the year 1348 when Siena lay in the grip of the black death, the daughter of a well-to-do citizen, a dyer by trade. She grew to be the peacemaker of Italy and the revered friend of popes and princes. The present narrative of her life, without being remarkable in any special way, gives a measurably adequate picture, as biographical pictures go, of this remarkable woman.”—N. Y. Times.

“We have already devoted a considerable amount of space to this inaccurate book only because it is about the worst specimen of its class which we have seen.”

“An excellent life of Saint Catherine written in a tone as far removed from blind enthusiasm as from faint-hearted apology.”

“Her pages present no evidence of her right to undertake the serious task in question; rather they give us reason to think that neither the faculty of clearly and logically presenting facts, nor the power of sympathetically appreciating Catherine Benincasa, has been granted to the saint’s latest biographer.”

“Miss Roberts ... brings a large store of knowledge and no small literary skill to her congenial task.”

“The way in which this new ‘Life’ of her absorbs one, seeming to transmit her force and charm, is the best proof of the author’s excellence. It would, indeed, be hard to find an historical biography better done.”

“Readable, vivacious life. References to volume and page of the works quoted are rarely given and, on the whole, one is forced to the conclusion that the historian’s well-documented life of St. Catherine is yet to be published. Throughout the book there are evidences of careless proof-reading.”

“The book, in short, is more interesting than informing. It fails to leave a distinct impression of St. Catherine.”

Reviewed by A. I. du Pont Coleman.

“For one reason or another, perhaps because of some rather lengthy sentences, the present book has not quite the romantic—one might almost say the dashing—interest of others on the subject. Still, the book given to us by the well-known and accomplished author of ‘Mademoiselle Mori’ has very great merits of its own, and it will be read with interest by all who love the Italy of the fourteenth century.”

Roberts, Morley.Flying Cloud: a story of the sea. $1.50. Page.

7–15115.

Young Jack, the greenhorn, at the opening of this tale leaves his school and his angry uncle and embarks upon the Flying Cloud to seek his fortune in Australia. But neither school nor uncle could have given him the training he received from the brown men of the crew, the two brave mates, the old Malay bo’s’n, and the captain, the victim of opium. It is a thrilling tale, the story of how Jack learned the ways of the sea and the seamen.

“We advise Mr. Roberts to let the sea alone for a while; he will only anger her by his florid compliments, and she has already a superfluity of verbose admirers. He can do better than this, and he might do excellent work if he were content to think a little more and write a great deal less.”

“As story pure and simple has faults. When warmed to his work, he throws aside all that is pretentious and mannered, sloughs his colloquialism as a writer, and deals in sound, moving, graphic English.”

“If the reader can once get over the rhapsodical opening chapters of this very good tale of the sea, he is probably in no danger of abandoning the gallant Flying Cloud.”

“This new marine tale by Mr. Morley Roberts has the tang of authentic brine and the swift pulse of life in it.”

Roberts, Morley.Painted Rock, tales and narratives of Painted Rock, South Panhandle, Texas, told by Charlie Baker, late of that city and also of Snyder, Scurry county. †$1.50. Lippincott.

A collection of ten short stories dealing with the citizens of Painted Rock, their “histories and their affairs.” There is a good deal of bloodthirsty revenge portrayed, and life seems to be cheap. The realism and its primitive setting will no doubt prove fascinating to people who look for the kernel of humanity amongst the waste of savagery.

“Mr. Roberts’s intimate knowledge of Texas and its people enables him to reproduce both the atmosphere and the personalities of that strange country.”

“This sort of record will ... always be interesting to English readers.”

“Mr. Roberts seems to have caught most admirably the spirit of the southwest, its ethics, its code of manners, and, best of all, its inimitable breeziness of speech.” Frederic Taber Cooper.

“The stories (of the familiar Alfred Henry Lewis stuff) in the present volume seem hardly up to Mr. Roberts’s mark.”

Roberts, Theodore.Red feathers. $1.50. Page.

7–26602.

A story of the Island of Newfoundland before it had a name, of the days when chiefs and their warriors made prayers to the sun, the winds, the frost and the stars, when magicians were abroad in the land, evil as well as good ones, practicing their witchery to terrorize or to bless their tribes.

“Mr. Roberts who has much real knowledge of Indian lore, tells his story in a delightful way that will please both little people and adults.”

*Roberts, William.Sir William Beechey. (Library of art.) *$2. Scribner.

W 7–140.

The honesty of the work of Beechey is emphasized in this study. “The task of tracing out the identity of Beechey’s sitters, which included most of the celebrities of his time has been pursued by Mr. Roberts with most patient industry and he has unearthed a mass of information of great value to future biographers. He sifts out carefully different versions of the same period of the artist’s life, and gives the evidence in their favour without insisting on the acceptance of one or the other.” (Acad.)

“The book was well worth publishing for its information not only about Beechey but about many of his distinguished contemporaries.”

“This expanded catalog of the work of that rather commonplace portraitist is both commonplace and dull.”

“Mr. Roberts’s monograph is expository rather than critical, and particular interest attaches to the chapter of forty pages in which he gives a series of extracts from Beechey’s account books.”

Robertson, Alexander.Discourses on the history, art and customs of Venice. *$3. Scribner.

A group of discourses which contain interesting information as to the religion of the early Venetians. The volume “is remarkable for two things—its seventy-three half tones reproduced from some of the most attractive photographs that we have yet seen of modern Venice and the attempt of the author to read into Venetian monuments Presbyterian texts as to their inspiration, building, and perpetuation.” (N. Y. Times.)

*Robertson, Archibald Thomas.Epochs in the life of Jesus: a study of development and struggle in the Messiah’s work. **$1. Scribner.

7–35611.

“These lectures, delivered at a Missouri summer assembly in 1906, present in popular form the main facts of Jesus’ life. The writer seeks to give ‘a straight-forward constructive discussion of the career of Jesus as set forth in the Gospels’ putting the emphasis upon the pivotal points in the movement of Jesus’ ministry, and avoiding critical discussion.”—Bib. World.

“The point of view is conservative.”

Robertson, James Peter.Personal adventures and anecdotes of an old officer. **$3.50. Longmans.

An octogenarian’s reminiscences of deathdealing adventures. In spite of the fact that his mother predicted early death unless he reformed, Colonel Robertson is hale and hearty at the age of eighty-four. “The volume is full of good stories, telling anecdotes, gallant exploits and hair-breadth adventures, related in a manner which at once fascinates and compels admiration for the old officer and his comrades. Like Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir John French, and Sir Henry Hildyard, Colonel Robertson was a middy before he took to soldiering, and a love for the sea and life afloat bore fruit in many stirring episodes in his subsequent career, while to the credit of the seaman’s instinct thus early imparted may be placed that readiness of resource so frequently exhibited during the vicissitudes of his military life.”—Acad.

“Our readers will find it as exciting as any adventure story, and described with a naturalness and simplicity as delightful as they are unusual.”

“An eminently readable and entertaining book.”

“The startling exploits with which the book is packed ... make the ordinary sensational novel seem tame in comparison.”

“Something exciting, of one sort or another, happens in nearly every paragraph. And it is all told with a naive sort of charm, in blunt, simple, and straightforward statement, with no more attempt at literary embellishment than you would find in a Quartermaster’s report. And the narrative gains much in interest and dignity by this soldierly simplicity in the telling of it.”

“Colonel Robertson writes with energy and natural force, and his anecdotes are lively as his adventures.”

“Colonel Robertson leaves us with a most agreeable impression of soldierly qualities.”

Robertson, John Mackinnon.Short history of free thought, ancient and modern.2d ed. 2v. *$6. Putnam.

W 7–14.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“On the whole this is an excellent book, and yet it has one characteristic—for the author perhaps, an unavoidable one—that may limit its usefulness. It is written with a purpose additional to the scientific recording and explaining of facts, namely, to spread free-thought as above defined.” Carveth Read.

“He writes in narrative style and enlivens his thesis with humor.”

“It is desirable to caution the unwary reader against accepting too confidingly his conclusions; but the skill with which he marshals the luminous points in a difficult subject is worthy of all praise.” Edward Fuller.

Robertson, Louis Alexander.Through painted panes, and other poems. *$1.50. Robertson.

7–16926.

Consists chiefly of poems reprinted from earlier volumes, the plates of which were lost at the time of the San Francisco destruction. “Resurgam,” a new poem of the collection, grew out of the earthquakes ravages, and contains a prophecy for the rearing of earth’s fairest city where the old one stood.

Robins, Elizabeth (C. E. Raimond, pseud.).The convert.†$1.50. Macmillan.

7–35623.

“The convert” is not merely a novel, it is a strong plea for woman’s suffrage. The work of the suffragettes of London with their open air meetings in squares and on wharfs crowded with rude and unsympathetic mobs is glaringly described until the heroine, if not the reader, is drawn over to them and their cause. The heroine, now a splendid woman moving in society’s inner circle, was, when a young girl, deceived by the man she loved and led to sacrifice the child which was to have been hers. Now, with this burning loss in her heart and the cause of down trodden woman strong in her soul, she meets the man once more and, closing the past forever, gives him to the girl he now loves but asks in return his help in the cause, that by helping other women he may expiate his guilt toward one.

“Extremely clever and well written.”

“The play was said to have had its dramatic movements; but the novel is one long welter of talk.”

“A sterling example of the bigger, worthier sort of book.” Frederic Taber Cooper.

“With the fullest admiration for much that is good in ‘The convert,’ we regard it as an opportunity missed, not only by Miss Robins the novelist, but by Miss Robins the advocate of female suffrage.”

“It is a strong book in many senses of the word. It is difficult, however, to speak of ‘The convert,’ as a novel. The conditions portrayed in the book, however, are British rather than American, and thus in this country ‘The convert’ will make its appeal to the critical judgment more as a work of fiction than as a brilliant and possibly accurate account of a burning political question.”

“An interesting book written with skill.”

“Its weakness as a novel lies in the fact that this girl had such an extraordinary past that she is not a typical figure.”

“Successful as a story it is not, and it may be doubted whether is makes any serious contribution to the literature of the struggle.”

Robinson, Charles Mulford.Modern civic art. **$3. Putnam.

3–13052.

Descriptive note in December, 1905.

Reviewed by Lewis E. Palmer.

Robinson, James Harvey.Readings in European history. Abridged ed. *$1.50. Ginn.

6–6250.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

Robinson, William.English flower garden and home grounds. 10th ed. *$6. Scribner.

A volume of nearly a thousand pages which sets forth the design and arrangement shown by existing examples of gardens in Great Britain and Ireland, followed by a description of the plants, shrubs for the open-air garden and their culture.

“To those who love to plan their own pleasure-grounds and make their own choice of plants, this is one of the best treatises within reach. It is moreover, written in such a pleasing style that it might even serve to wean from idleness those who now depute to professional gardeners the task of selection and care of plants.”

“Exhaustive, detailed authoritative, and immensely practical, this book is one that has come to be regarded as indispensable to every man having such a piece of work in hand.”

Robinson, William.Garden beautiful: home woods, home landscape. *$4. Scribner.

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