7–20882.
7–20882.
7–20882.
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An unbiased statement of the present social and political conditions in the Congo Free State. The author, in the course of a year’s travel of seven thousand miles, visited twenty-eight different tribes and found conditions much better than he had expected. His account is well illustrated by photographs of the natives.
“His book is a sane, calm statement of what he saw and understood on his Congo trip.”
“He gives the public a clearer statement of the actual state of things under the government of the Independent Congo State than has been afforded by any publication since the beginning of the controversy over alleged atrocities there.”
Stauffer, David McNeely.Modern tunnel practice. *$5. Eng. news.
6–7716.
6–7716.
6–7716.
6–7716.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“Within the limitations imposed by the size of the book and with the reservation noted above, the author has made a very creditable compilation of the recent periodical literature on the subject, which is presented in an acceptable manner and quite profusely illustrated.” F. Lavis.
*Stead, Richard.Adventures on high mountains. **$1.50. Lippincott.
“Boys will find a wide range of adventure to choose from in this volume, and should be able to form a comprehensive notion of the dangers that beset pioneers and travellers in the robber region of the Mexican mountains and the lofty peaks of Abyssinia.” (Spec.) “The compilation, beginning with Napoleon’s feat in crossing the Great St. Bernard, and, coming down to the eruption of Mont Pelée, includes many notable feats of climbing, as those of Tyndall on the Weisshorn and Mr. Whymper’s terrible experience on the Matterhorn, as well as less-known adventures in every part of the world.” (Ath.)
“The illustrations alone are sufficiently attractive to induce one to run through the 328 pages.”
“The book seems lacking in spirit, and yet Mr. Stead made the great rivers most interesting to us; it is too obviously a compilation.”
Stead, Richard.Adventures on the great rivers, romantic incidents and perils of travel, sport and exploration throughout the world. *$1.50. Lippincott.
6–45336.
6–45336.
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An interesting collection of adventures “in which figure a long line of heroes from the Abbé Huc down to the miners who rushed to Klondyke.” (Nation.)
“A chronicle irresistible to any boy with a soul for wild adventure and wilder beasts.”
“The author handles his material well. But his book would have been better had he been more fully acquainted with the literature of the topics he treats.” Cyrus C. Adams.
“Boy readers will find a kaleidoscope of brilliant and picturesque scenes from all lands collected for their benefit by Mr. Stead. And from all of them they will learn some healthy lessons which, we think, the author has striven to inculcate,—the value of coolness and steadiness, tact and patience, and that, as books should educate as well as recreate, is one of the good points of these twenty-nine stories of adventure and exploration.”
*Stead, William Thomas.Peers or people? the House of lords weighed in the balance and found wanting; an appeal to history. *$1. Wessels.
A three-part political monograph which urges that the hereditary chamber of the British parliament be replaced by some sort of senate which would be more responsive to popular will. The divisions of the study are The lords versus the nation, What the House of lords has done, and What must be done with the House of lords.
“There is far less of Mr. Stead than is usual in his political or social monographs; and were all of Mr. Stead discarded, the authorities he has drawn upon ... are brought together with much skill and care; and these alone would greatly help to an understanding of the problem.”
Stearns, Frank Preston.Life and genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne.**$2. Lippincott.
6–37623.
6–37623.
6–37623.
6–37623.
A biography which aims to supply more critical comment than is found in previous lives of Hawthorne. Eased somewhat on personal memories it “contains much interesting matter, and shows marks of faithful and loving labor; its citations and references and illustrations are varied and sometimes illuminating.” (Dial.)
“He does not seem to understand that unstinted praise of everything that Hawthorne wrote is not criticism.”
“Its style is rambling and diffuse—a fault not offset by any keenness of criticism in the chapters devoted to what he proclaims as the distinctive feature of his work.”
“The author of this new ‘Life of Hawthorne’ comes to his task with some advantages over the ordinary biographer and critic. To a keen sympathy and with vivid admiration of the genius of our one great romancer he adds some personal acquaintance with him and his surroundings.”
“In spite of all that has been published in the note-books, in Horatio Bridge’s memoirs, and in Julian Hawthorne’s biography, there are even new facts to be found here, some of which are interesting and valuable. But the best reason for reading the book lies in this—it furnishes a perfect example or what a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne should not be.”
*Stearns, Frank Preston.Life and public services of George Luther Stearns. **$2. Lippincott.
7–38430.
7–38430.
7–38430.
7–38430.
A full biography of Major Stearns who was “the Sir Galahad of the antislavery struggle.” It has been compiled partly from documentary evidence and partly from family traditions. It furnishes interesting sidelights on the civil war and its issues.
Steel, Flora Annie.Sovereign remedy.†$1.50. Doubleday.
6–26482.
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“Two young men, a clerk from a Midland city and an uncomfortable millionaire ... meet a beautiful girl, who has been brought up by a philosophic grandfather in seclusion.... Both fall in love with her, and she falls in love with the millionaire, Lord Blackborough, but, being afraid of love, she marries the other, for whom she has only a humdrum liking. Lord Blackborough continues to make ducks and drakes of his fortune, while the other, Cruttenden, becomes the hard commercial money-spinner. Aura, his wife, is at first fascinated by domesticity, but she is soon repelled by the heartlessness of prosperity, and begins to turn to her first love. She is killed accidentally in his company, and he, too, mad with grief, dies in the ward of a workhouse infirmary with the words of Eastern mysticism on his lips.”—Spec.
“Is essentially a good story, witty and poignant, and full of interesting modern people; but it is almost intolerably sad.”
“The chief fault to be found with ... ‘The sovereign remedy,’ is that, out of a rather confusing number of characters, it seems impossible to determine which one she herself was personally interested in, and which she meant the reader to regard as the leading parts. This confusion mars what would otherwise have been a book of considerable strength.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
“Mrs. Steel is so wise a woman and so admirable a writer that her work always gives pleasure of a refined sort, but the present story offers only a pale reflection of the power displayed in her novels of Indian life.” Wm. M. Payne.
“The book is a beautiful story, beautifully told. It emerges quite evidently from a full mind, a wide experience and an appeased and noble outlook upon life.”
“There is a certain literary distinction in Mrs. Steel’s new story which lifts it well above the novels of the hour.”
“The actual story told is so unimportant and uninteresting that a novelist of her competence would hardly have written it without ulterior motives; and one is driven, therefore to search for symbolism, and to find it, though the relation between the symbol and the thing symbolized is not invariably clear.”
“Lavishness, in fact, is the note of the whole story.”
“A most unusual and interesting novel. Few are the occurrences to be measured beside the sort of thing that really happens; few characters are at all like any one meets in life. Much of the action, too, is quite inexplicable. It is to the credit of Mrs. Steel’s art that as we read we believe—the incredulities come with the backward look.”
“She comes to her task with a mind well furnished, with a habit of skilled observation, and with the wide outlook of one who has in the fullest way lived threescore years.” Louise Collier Willcox.
“It is hard to say whether the frank improbabilities of the story—though they are heaped together in the opening pages till they look like an intentional signal—and the high-pitched (not to say melodramatic) key of much of the action, are intended to emphasise the strain of mysticism and the occult which runs through the book and to put the reader in tune with immaterial influences, or—a thing scarcely to be thought of in Mrs. Steel’s hands—are merely structural mishaps. Again, it is difficult to decide whether the frequent reflections on modern developments of social order are the prepossessions of a reformer forcing their way through the story at almost every turn, or are the main moral of which the fiction is only the vehicle.”
“The truth is that Mrs. Steel has attempted to write a tale of Eastern mysticism in an irrelevant setting. She has moments of great power and beauty, but they serve only to accentuate the weakness of the main theme. One exception, indeed should be made, for the picture of the revival in the village is done with remarkable skill.”
Steele, Francesca Maria (Fanny) (Darley Dale, pseud.).Naomi’s transgression. †$1.50. Warne.
A wealthy Australian Quaker at his death leaves his large fortune to his daughter Naomi on condition that she marries her London cousin Robin. If he refuses she is to have the fortune; if she refuses, it goes to him. Naomi’s friend, Kitty Marvin, goes to London in her place crudely impersonates the Quakeress and antagonizes Robin who becomes engaged to another girl. When the deception is discovered the complication is all that any weaver of plots could wish, and its untangling is deftly accomplished.
Stein, Evaleen.Gabriel and the hour book.$1. Page.
6–25686.
6–25686.
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6–25686.
“The story of a little Norman boy in the time of Louis XII., who went daily to St. Martin’s abbey to help the monks who made the wonderful illuminated books.... He worked with one of the monks who was the most skilful of them all on an hour book which the king wanted as a gift to his bride.... Finally a little prayer to the king which he put into the book brought great good fortune.”—N. Y. Times.
Steiner, Bernard Christian.Maryland during the English civil wars. pa. 50c. Johns Hopkins.
7–11189.
7–11189.
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7–11189.
pt. 2.Beginning with the events of the year 1643 the second part of this monograph takes up Maryland’s narrative and examines it in detail down to the famous Act concerning religion enacted by the Assembly of 1649.
Steiner, Edward A.On the trail of the immigrant.**$1.50. Revell.
6–39003.
6–39003.
6–39003.
6–39003.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“Most interesting as to the telling, accurate as to facts, based upon personal experience and investigation.”
“This volume is easily one of the most interesting, accurate and important discussions of the immigrant yet produced in this country.”
Reviewed by Arthur B. Reeve.
“Professor Steiner’s social studies of Jew and Slav are especially valuable; and his reasoning throughout is clear and incisive. The volume is written in popular style, but by no means lacks scientific interest.”
*Stejneger, Leonhard Hess.Herpetology of Japan and adjacent territory. $1. Supt. of doc.
7–35282.
7–35282.
7–35282.
7–35282.
With a number of changes in established nomenclature Dr. Stejneger has treated the reptiles of Japan, the Liu Kiu, neighboring islands, and a large portion of the mainland devoting particular attention to geographical distribution.
“A valuable systematic monograph.”
“His manner of simplifying descriptions, interspersing paragraphs helpful to the novice, besides giving some attention to habits, produces a work of far broader use and interest than a strictly technical compilation.” Raymond L. Ditmars.
Stelzle, Rev. Charles.Messages to working men. **50c. Revell.
6–20202.
6–20202.
6–20202.
6–20202.
A plea for the church as a means of economic and social betterment. The “messages” aim to bring the workingmen and the church into closer relation by solving through brotherly love the economic and social problems which are in reality moral and religious questions.
“Mr. Stelzle delivers this message in a very pleasing manner. His language is simple; his style spirited. He deals with familiar things in a familiar way. The fatal error of the book is just in this air of reality and sanity. It imparts this air to a statement and solution of the problem altogether too simple.” R. F. Hoxie.
“Their outstanding characteristics are sound sense, a broad humanity, and insistence on personal loyalty to Christ.”
Stephen, Sir Leslie.Essays of Sir Leslie Stephen, literary and critical. Authorized American ed. 10v. ea. *$1.50. Putnam.
v. 6.English literature and society in the eighteenth century.
The sixth volume in this series includes the Ford lectures for 1903, which deal more with the literature of the period than with society. “Society is only dealt with in just so far as the poetic and prose writers expressed it, or in so far as it affected them.” (N. Y. Times).
“The lectures ... do not exhibit Stephen at his best. The subject was one with which he was thoroughly familiar; it afforded him opportunity for many passages of shrewd comment and keen analysis. And yet the whole is not so thoroughly knit together and so happily phrased as the work of his prime.”
“Sir Leslie Stephen ... has written them in a much more entertaining style than that in which the average professor delivers the average lecture.”
*Stephen, Sir Leslie.Science of ethics; 2d ed. *$2.50. Putnam.
W 7–196.
W 7–196.
W 7–196.
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Starting from the utilitarian theory, the author’s aim is to “lay down an ethical doctrine in harmony with the doctrine of evolution.”
“Sir Leslie Stephen, not disdaining any homely illustration that occurs to him, makes the study of ethics as delightful a pursuit as Bagehot made economics or as Prof. James makes psychology.”
Stephens, Robert Neilson, and Westley, G: Hembert.Clementina’s highwayman: a romance. $1.50. Page.
7–27613.
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The highwayman is a young lord whose fortune has been squandered in his absence by a rascally steward. He takes a dare to be a highwayman for a night for the spice of adventure there is in it, and gets himself into no end of trouble. The situations growing out of the wager make a lively little comedy of errors leading up to a romance whose course is interrupted by an unconscionable eighteenth century beau.
“Clementina is fascinating, her highwayman acts up to his part in fine style, and, incidentally, the reader gains many a realistic glimpse of the strenuous thing life was for even a plain citizen in the days of George II.”
Sterling, Sara Hawks.Queens’ company: a story for girls. †$1.25. Lippincott.
7–31224.
7–31224.
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The queens are the much loved teachers in a girls’ boarding school and the company consists of a group of fun loving girls of boarding school age. The story centers about the production of an amateur “As you like it” and there is much wholesome human nature in the tale.
*Sterns, Justin.Song of the boy. 15c. Ariel press, Westwood, Mass.
The first note struck in the poem is that of “vivid glorification of the joys of healthy youth—wrestling, skating, diving, rowing, climbing, running, jumping, the subtler joys of the senses, the pleasures of the fresh fancy and imagination, of young sympathy and friendship.... Then other voices are heard. Death, the World, the Flesh, the Devil, address themselves to the boy, suggesting the pleasantness of the Primrose path and the wisdom of plucking roses while one may. Finally Love speaks in the crucial strophe of the poem.” (Nation.)
“Shows a wholesome, fine poetic imagination.”
“The piece has its faults; it would have gained by some revision and excision by an occasional refining of phrase, but as a whole it is a telling expression of the perennially pagan spirit of youth and of an admirable promise.”
Stevens, George Barker.Christian doctrine of salvation. **$2.50. Scribner.
5–32666.
5–32666.
5–32666.
5–32666.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“We doubt whether, with all his learning and his keenness to press home every point of vantage, he can be awarded many of the spoils of victory. But in saying this we do not wish to deny the interest and importance of his work from a historical point of view. It is a learned study in some of the by-paths of religious thought and belief.” W. H. Drummond.
Stevens, Horace J.Copper handbook, v. 6. $5. Stevens, H. J.
“This volume covers the entire subject of copper, its history, biography, metallurgy, finances, and statistics.”—R. of Rs.
“In general, the descriptions are well written, and many of them are not only readable but in some parts highly interesting.”
“The frankness, honesty and sincerity of the comments on copper-producing mines is perhaps the most valuable characteristic of the book, although the typographical arrangement is unusually helpful in making the contents accessible.”
Stevenson, Burton Egbert.Affairs of state.†$1.50. Holt.
6–34368.
6–34368.
6–34368.
6–34368.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“It makes a pleasant comedy.” Wm. M. Payne.
“It is easy reading, and the events are such as to hold the attention.”
“Novels of diplomacy must be very good to be tolerable, and Mr. Stevenson has not the equipment necessary to make his treatment of continental politics convincing.”
Stevenson, Burton Egbert.That affair at Elizabeth.†$1.50. Holt.
7–34779.
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A strange confusion in the relationship of a beautiful girl, who disappears mysteriously on her wedding day, and the man whom she was to have married is made clear in the course of this story by the young lawyer, Lester, and Godfrey, the reporter. Both hero and heroine are mistaken as to their real parents so that when the puzzle is but half solved it leaves them brother and sister. This makes a doubly thrilling tale which holds the reader’s interest through murder and mystery to the last page.
Stevenson, Richard Taylor.John Calvin; the statesman. *$1. West. Meth. bk.
7–14592.
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A volume in the “Men of the kingdom” series, which treats of Calvin the man and the statesman, rather than of Calvin, the theologian.
Stevenson, Robert Louis.Sea fogs: with an introduction by Thomas R. Bacon. **$1.50. Elder.
7–33227.
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The initial volume in a series to be known as “Western classics.” Here Stevenson describes the rolling in of the sea fogs over the valley until his mountainside became a lone sea-beach. It is a beautiful picture all done in silver-gray.
Stewart, Charles D.Partners of providence. †$1.50. Century.
7–12003.
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7–12003.
In the vernacular of the rover, Sam Daly recounts his “rolling-stone, happy-go-lucky” experiences mainly on “Mississippi river steamboats and the rafts and landings alongside from Cairo to New Orleans.” Sam’s partners are his dog Rags and Clancy, the expert “tosser” of hot rivets into a bridge-builder’s bucket. They run the round of chance, sometimes are masters of fate, often a prey to it, but are ever cheerful philosophers.
“Mr. Stewart forces his tale, and lets it meander over a course as long as his river, and as crooked.”
“Perhaps the worst fault of the book is that, paradoxically enough, the spirit of pure fun holds sway too completely.” Ward Clark.
“Has given a new boy to literature for Sam Daly is not a Tom Sawyer by any means; he has a personality all his own, and a most attractive one.”
“There is not a false note, a sentence out of key, or—rare finality in books of popular humor—one second of doubtful taste.”
“The book is refreshing and delightful beyond adequate expression in critical prose.”
“It is a book to read, not hurriedly, but a bit at a time.”
Stickney, Albert.Organized democracy. **$1. Houghton.
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“The author has endeavored to present an impartial and dispassionate statement of political affairs as they exist to-day, to call attention to certain definite imperfections in the machinery of election, and to suggest remedies looking to vital reforms, which would bring the administration of government in line with the ideals of the founders of the democratic state.”—Lit. D.
“His book is suggestive and valuable in parts. In other parts it is full of repetition and lacking in clearness.”
“The suggestions of reform are for the most part fragmentary and not sufficiently worked out to give the reader any adequate conception of their value or lack of it.”
“We fear that Mr. Stickney is too optimistic, and too little appreciative of the difficulty in this country of achieving reforms by wholesale; but his shrewd observations and obvious seriousness make his book not uninteresting.”
Still, Alfred.Polyphase currents. $2.50. Macmillan.