7–14249.
7–14249.
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The pitiful tale of an insane patient’s life written by herself during her perfectly lucid moments. A joyless childhood, a lonely girlhood, and the speedy wrecking of the happiness that finally dawned for her, produce a wail on every page. It forms an intense human document.
“A weird tale, apparently half in and half out of the region of reality. It is quite as fantastic and as full of creepy horrors as such a tale might be expected to be.”
Barr, Robert (Luke Sharp, pseud.).Rock in the Baltic.50c. Authors and newspapers assn.
6–16737.
6–16737.
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“The ‘rock’ is used as a prison by those supposed monsters of iniquity the Russian Grand Dukes, and there, in process of time, two enthusiastic seekers for trouble, one a young Englishman and the other a titled Russian, are incarcerated. Finally they are taken away on a yacht, on which two American girls are conveniently placed.”—Ind.
“This is a commonplace book written in a commonplace way about commonplace people.”
“It is not often that the elusive grace and humor of modern girlhood are so well reproduced as they are in these pages.”
“Reads as if it had been written against time.”
Barrett, Howard.Management of children. *$2. Dutton.
7–29143.
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“Treats of the physical care of infants and children, in both disease and health, from the time of birth into and past the early teens. All of the usual problems of food, drink, clothing, and sleep, the ordinary diseases, contagious and other, to which children are liable; accidents, malformations, and many possibilities of unusual disease are discussed in a plain, common sense, untechnical way for the enlightenment and guidance of those who have the immediate care of the young.”—N. Y. Times.
“We offer our hearty congratulations to Mr. Barrett, and we may add, to those for whom he writes.”
Barrie, J. M.Little minister.$1.25. Crowell.
A thin paper edition with limp leather binding which contains a reproduced photograph of Maude Adams.
Barrington, Emilie Isabel (Mrs. Russell Barrington).Life, letters and work of Frederic Leighton.2v. *$10.50. Macmillan.
7–13427.
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“This work is said to have the approval of the family of the late President of the Royal Academy, and may be considered authoritative, if not official. A friendship existed between Frederick Leighton and the author for more than thirty years, and so the pages which deal with personal characteristics will be found peculiarly intimate.... The book includes Leighton’s diary, covering a period of fifty years, and among the mass of interesting correspondence incorporated is to be found a number of letters from George Eliot, Ruskin, Browning, Henry Greville, and Charles Dickens. Besides many of Leighton’s finest works reproduced especially for this publication are several fac-simile drawings and paintings never before published.”—N. Y. Times.
“Unsatisfactory as biography, these volumes are entirely valueless as criticism. Instead of disentangling the real merits of Leighton’s work from less admirable characteristics, Mrs. Barrington vaguely couples him with Phidias and the old masters, and urges claims so absurd as to tax severely the patience and perseverance of all educated readers.”
“It is disfigured by one or two hasty figures of speech ... and the printer’s reader has been unusually neglectful of his duties. It is a pity to leave such blemishes on a book of sterling value, indispensable to all students of modern English life and art.”
“Unfortunately Mrs. Barrington is not as skilful in arranging and adapting her material as she has been industrious in collecting it.” Edith Kellogg Dunton.
“Interesting as are many of Leighton’s letters, and multifarious as are the details with which the book is filled, the reader would have been able to gather a truer impression of Leighton, his development, his artistic character, and his work as an administrator if the biographer had been more rigorous in selecting and had been a better critic.”
“It cannot be called a worthy monument to its subject. Its author has little critical acumen or severity of taste; it is rambling and repetitious; padded with much matter of little interest as presented; marred by mistranslations of foreign tongues, misunderstanding of technical terms, faulty transcription of proper names, and careless proofreading.”
“On the whole the book disappoints one in the lack of letters from the interesting people Leighton knew. A more serious matter is the failure of the biographer to offer a plausible pen-portrait of Leighton, or even to allow him to describe himself.” Charles de Kay.
“Small points and insignificant matters are grossly inflated, but the real issue is never faced. The flawless impeccable Leighton remains so to the last, though we are not told why he was, or, what is rather more important, why he was really not so.” Christian Brinton.
Barron, Elwyn Alfred.Marcel Levignet. †$1.50. Duffield.
6–36038.
6–36038.
6–36038.
6–36038.
“A detective story laid in Paris and including all the elements needed for profound sensation. The author is skilled in keeping apparently tangled threads in his hands, and unties several hard knots with all the ease of a practiced novel writer.” (Outlook.) “The hero is a sortof modern Cyrano de Bergerac.... He isbon vivant, editor, amateur detective, student of life as it is lived. His kinship with Cyrano is sentimental.” (N. Y. Times.)
“A refreshing variant on the old detective story. To readers of a certain vein, in fact, ‘Marcel Levignet’ will furnish a particularly agreeable light evening’s pastime.”
“The tone of the story is essentially French—sentiment, situation, and characters, and most especially the climax.”
“As fantastic as the generality of detective stories, ‘Marcel Levignet’ differs from said generality in being readable by grown-up persons.”
Barry, Richard Hayes.Events man; being an account of the adventures of Stanley Washburn, American war correspondent. **$1.25. Moffat.
7–15132.
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In which Mr. Barry records some of Mr. Washburn’s adventures on a newspaper dispatch-boat between Corea and Port Arthur during the first part of the war between Russia and Japan.
“The story is rich or tiresome in detail, according to taste, but is an exciting picture of conditions in war time on the water around Port Arthur.”
“The book has evidently been written in a great hurry, not even time enough having been given to have the chapter headings all spelt correctly.”
“The author indulges himself in a diction so plentifully sprinkled with slang that it often becomes unintelligible to the reader accustomed to ordinary English. It is a story full of dogged perseverance and unbounded pluck, and it was well worth telling.”
“On the whole the good ‘stuff’ ... far outweighs the bad. The story is a bit of real life; vivid, strong and picturesque. It remains to be recorded that the proof reading of the volume is unbelievably bad.”
“Mr. Barry may always be counted upon for graphic power.”
Bartholomew, John George, ed. Atlas of the world’s commerce. *$8. Scribner.
A new series of maps, with descriptive text and diagrams showing products, imports, exports, commercial conditions, and economic statistics of the countries of the world, compiled from the latest official returns at the Edinburgh geographical institute.
“So excellent is the idea, and so good the execution by devices of colorings and diagrams, that whoever wants information of this description can hardly be directed to a better source for satisfaction. This cordial recognition of the volume’s merits must be accompanied with regrets that the figures are some years old, and that all figures of this sort are incomplete and contradictory.”
Barton, Clara.Story of my childhood. 50c. Baker.
7–35389.
7–35389.
7–35389.
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A simply told story of the childhood of Clara Barton, which is really written for the school children of the country after repeated appeals from them for bits of her early life.
“Is as wonderful as its writer: it is extremely interesting, and yet it hardly touches on those aptitudes and activities that all the world associates with her remarkable personality.”
“Will be found interesting to all persons who have followed her beneficent career.”
Barton, George.Mystery of Cleverly. 85c. Benziger.
7–19594.
7–19594.
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A story in which the example of the hero finally wins to a manly life a good-for-nothing son of an indulgent father.
Barton, James Levi.Missionary and his critics. **$1. Revell.
6–43768.
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In which the author has brought together a “large number of testimonies favorable to missions and missionaries from witnesses of competence and character.” (Ind.)
“It deserves a place among the books of reference found in every well-furnished editorial library. It is not only an enlightening but a thoroughly interesting book, and greatly needed also.”
“Rev. James L. Barton has admirably infused into readable form the opinion of different nationalities, particularly in the Orient, as to the worth of Christian missions.”
Barton, Mrs. Marion T.Experiment in perfection. †$1.50. Doubleday.
7–11589.
7–11589.
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The story of a young woman “of great beauty, much intensity of character, and an unfortunate penchant for logic on all occasions, who starts out with the idea that all she needs to round out her life to perfection is one woman friend and one man friend, both, of course absolutely without the flaws to which human flesh is commonly heir.” Her perfection system has its vulnerable points, and is mutilated in part by an estrangement, an unfortunate love affair, and a second marriage.
“About the best that can be said for it is that its author possesses the story-telling instinct without the still more important possession of a story worth telling.”
“The working out of the story shows skill and insight, and the reader is always interested. But there is a repellant hardness in Persis, and certainly an improbability in the episode upon which the friendship between the girls hangs.”
Bashford, James Whitford.China and Methodism. *35c. West. Meth. bk.
7–524.
7–524.
7–524.
7–524.
A brief outline which will enable American Methodists to understand the problem which confronts them and to make preparation for a suitable participation in the centennial celebration of the founding of Protestant missions in China which will occur in Shanghai, April 25 to May 6, 1907.
Bashore, Harvey Brown.Outlines of practical sanitation, for students, physicians, and sanitarians. *$1.25. Wiley.
6–33610.
6–33610.
6–33610.
6–33610.
Improved sanitation with regard to habitations; water, milk and food supplies; the collection and disposal of waste; schools and cars. There are chapters on vital statistics, municipal, rural and suburban sanitation, and personal hygiene.
“Clear, convincing, and simple; but, covering as it does so wide a range of subjects in 198 pages, is of course, only suggestive.”
“Within the limits indicated by its sub-title, this is one of the best and most practical books on sanitation that has ever come to our attention. Perhaps it is surprising that in attempting to cover so wide a range of subjects in a popular manner, more slips and questionable statements were not made.”
“The book should be found useful as a means of imparting sound ideas of the laws of healthy living to teachers and citizens.”
Baskerville, Beatrice C.Polish Jew: his social and economic value. *$2.50. Macmillan.
7–15500.
7–15500.
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Eight years’ residence and study in Poland lie back of Miss Baskerville’s presentation of the Jew of that country. She throws light upon the Polish Jew immigrant by revealing the conditions of his native economic and social environment.
“The author is very frankly unfavorably impressed by the Jews, and, although it is to be hoped she has exaggerated the dark side of the situation, her volume is of great importance. The style is good and the thought clear.”
“Such a book as this deserves a hearty welcome, and for valuable matter contributed on Poland—a country very little known—it may be classed with that of Dr. George Brandes, which appeared a short time ago.”
“Would have enhanced value if the author ... would have shown more sympathy with the population she describes.”
“It is so obvious that she knows a great deal that we cannot help regretting a certain lack of clearness in the impression which her book produces. It would almost seem as though Miss Baskerville had unconsciously written rather for a Polish than for an English public.”
“The substantial truth is there, but it is truth without sympathy, and with much distortion. By itself the volume would be open to severe censure on the point; but as a study of the restless Hebrew energy that is so active in stirring Slav indifference and hesitation towards fruitful action, it serves its purpose.”
“What she has to say is, in the first place, interesting in itself. In the second place it can hardly fail to throw light upon some of the problems which immigration (too rapid for easy digestion by our own not too settled civilization) is fastening upon the United States.”
“Her immediate contact with the representatives of parties, as well as with actual facts and events in Poland, enables the writer to speak with authority.”
“An elaborate, dispassionate study.”
“It has the very rare merit among its contemporaries of being impartial both from a Russian and a Jewish standpoint. From a political point of view, in connexion with the present struggle of revolutionary parties for power, the chapters on the strikes and the Bund contain facts little known outside Russia; facts particularly instructive for the serious and unprejudiced reader.”
Bastian, Henry C.Evolution of life. *$2.50. Dutton.
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“A detailed and somewhat belated statement of his side of the controversy over the spontaneous generation of life, which followed the publication, in 1872, of his book on ‘The Beginnings of life.’”—Dial.
“Ingenious and striking some of the new experiments cited certainly are; but it will be very difficult to find any biologist who will be convinced that theydemonstratethe truth of the conclusion drawn from them by Dr. Bastian.” Raymond Pearl.
“With practically all the eminent bacteriologists of the world flatly denying such a postulate of spontaneous generation, we can only add, in deference to Dr. Bastian’s evident sincerity, that his experiments must be at fault in some way; there is some loop-hole unguarded.”
“It is impossible not to admire the author’s strong desire to get at the truth, the courage of his convictions, and his incomparable good humour.” J. A. T.
Batcheller, Mrs. Tryphosa Bates.Glimpses of Italian court life: happy days in Italia adorata. **$4.80. Doubleday.
6–41530.
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“Dedicated by permission to Queen Helena, this sumptuous book is a worthy record of an American woman’s visit to Italy, of her experiences in aristocratic social circles of Rome, and of her impressions of the natural and artistic wonders of the Peninsula. Her story is told in letters written to friends at home, a literary form well adapted to books of this kind, and giving opportunities for naïve description and impressions caught on the wing.”—Lit. D.
“The personal note is therefore strong, and the narrative is rambling, informal, and thoroughly readable.”
“The book would have been improved by more careful editing.”
“Of special interest and value are her comments on and appraisement of the various vocal teachers in the eternal city.”
“The personal tone is so strenuously evident throughout that it becomes wearisome. The book is ingenuously written.”
Bates, Arlo.Talks on teaching literature**$1.30. Houghton.
6–37886.
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“Talks founded on lectures delivered before the Summer school of the University of Illinois in 1905. Concerns the problems, conditions, and some difficulties of the subject, the inspirational use of literature, the study of prose and of the novel, criticism, literary workmanship, literary biography, and voluntary reading.”—A. L. A. Bkl.
“It is a very interesting and suggestive book, and we particularly recommend to the teachers into whose hands it falls the chapter which tells how Blake’s ‘Tiger’ was brought by theauthor within the comprehension of a boy of eight. We have rarely seen as sensible a book upon the subject with which it deals.”
“The suggestions and criticisms contained in this volume will be found extremely helpful to school and college teachers of English subjects.”
“The virtue of Professor Bates is that his remarks and experiences are always copious and illuminating. As such, the book should be read by every teacher, if for no other reason than the fresh and invigorating common-sense with which Prof. Bates approaches his subject. It is not an easy book, however. Occasionally Prof. Bates’s earnestness leads him to fall into a mild fremescence of style not good for clearness. But mainly the book is excellent.” William T. Brewster.
“The points about which those in the main agreeing with Professor Bates are most likely to feel a little dissatisfied with the book are his suggestion that vocabulary be studied independent of context, and his failure to recognize in his discussion, though he doubtless recognizes in his own mind, the difference between the psychology of the adolescent and that of the child.” William Morse Cole.
Bates, Carroll Lund.The Master; a rosary of Christian verse, il. $1. Badger, R. G.
7–7479.
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Sixteen poems whose themes are drawn from incidents in the life of Christ.
“Some fairly good and illustrated by well-chosen half-tones.”
Bates, David Homer.Lincoln in the telegraph office. **$2. Century.
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Mr. Bates was manager of the War department telegraph office from 1861 to 1866. This book is one of reminiscences in which Lincoln plays an important part, being an almost daily visitor to the office where cipher despatches were sent and received during the war.
“His account of happenings in the telegraph-office during the strenuous days of the war is Well ordered in arrangement and simply and naturally written.”
“It cannot be said that Mr. Bates’s book of reminiscence is very important, but it is certainly fresh and original, and contains not a few incidents of Washington life and some stories about Lincoln himself which are decidedly worth preservation.”
“Aside from the revelations that he makes of Lincoln’s relations with the military telegraph corps during war time, Mr. Bates imparts in his books a great deal of information concerning important military movements.”
Bates, Katharine Lee.From Gretna Green to Land’s End: a literary journey in England.**$2. Crowell.
7–32870.
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In which the author visits the Border, the Lake country and the heart of England and reviews, with many a fresh allusion, the connection which historic places have with tradition, story and song. The work is based upon wide reading and careful observation.
“A book that readers who look forward to a trip abroad will enjoy and that returned travellers will thoroughly appreciate.”
“As she hurls herself through the length and breadth of England, easily making two moves to any other pilgrim’s one, she pours out a lively stream of fact and comment that keeps the reader amused and only too well instructed. The information, literary and historical, is thoroughly got up.”
“She has a keen sense of the picturesque and the worth-while, and she knows well how to find color in what might appear but gray to others.”
Battersby, Harry F. P.Avenging hour. †$1.50. Appleton.
6–37929.
6–37929.
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6–37929.
A novel which involves an unusual treatment of a man’s seduction of the wife of another. “We follow the progress of this rapid lovemaking not only without disgust but with entire sympathy. The man and woman we feel are not mad or bad but only intensely human—winning personalities of great charm. The author has managed to convey a sense of that intuitive power which in a flash makes people recognise their true affinities.” (Sat. R.)
“The teller of this story disguises its essential repulsiveness by a skillful use of the casuistry of sentiment and the grace of literary composition.” Wm. M. Payne.
“The book has many good points, but unfortunately they do not counteract its unpleasant features.”
“Mr. Battersby has done a daring and remarkable thing and his book should place him high among contemporary novelists.”
Baxter, William, jr.Switchboards for power, light and railway service, direct and alternating current, high and low tension. $1.50. Derry-Collard co.