6–41017.
6–41017.
6–41017.
6–41017.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“This is one of the best nature-books we have had from America.”
“He has imagination and a keen sense of extracting the artistic from matters of fact, but he never allows these accomplishments to distort the truth.”
“This is a beautiful book, and good to read.”
Beeching, Rev. Henry Charles, and Nairne, Alexander.Bible doctrine of atonement. *$1. Dutton.
These six lectures, five of them by Dr. Beeching, were given in Westminster abbey. Three of them trace the idea of atonement as it appears in the Old Testament, and three treat the New Testament aspects of the subject.
“All [lectures] are interesting and easily read. Prof. Nairne’s lecture is a valuable piece of exposition, but is not such easy reading as the rest of the volume.”
“The treatment is popular, but in touch with the results of modern investigation.”
“When we get to what he rightly calls ‘the very centre of the subject’ ... we have a feeling of disappointment, a feeling that after all Dr. Beeching has failed to take us to the centre. We believe Dr. Beeching to be true and correct so far as he goes, but we believe that he has not gone far enough or deep enough; he has given us but part of the doctrine of the atonement.”
“A short book upon the atonement which shall be at the same time learned and popular, will, we are sure, be eagerly read by many persons whose views in regard to this difficult doctrine have become unsettled as a result of recent criticism. Such a book lies before us at the present moment.”
Beer, George Louis.British colonial policy, 1854–1865. **$2. Macmillan.
7–30451.
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A work which in presenting the British colonial policy from 1754 to 1765 covers the fundamental cause of the revolution. It is a work which “has not for its purpose the glorification of revolutionary patriots or motives, but which is content to view the facts of the period as facts.” (Ind.)
“We commend this book to persons who desire a fairer view of the ultimate causes of American independence.”
“This is a book that Fourth of July orators will have to reckon with, sooner or later.”
Beet, Joseph Agar.Manual of theology. *$2.75. Armstrong.
“Professor Beet’s ‘Manual of Christian theology’ expounds the views on the intermediate state which brought him into difficulty with the English Methodists some years ago, but otherwise it follows well-worn paths to conclusions which are now familiar and trite.”—Ind.
“Dr. Agar Beet’s is, no doubt, a good specimen of its class, but its main result is only to afford one more proof, if such were needed, of the futility of this kind of literature.”
“The value of Dr. Beet’s work—and it has considerable value—lies in its minute knowledge and skilful use of the words of the Biblical writers, and in the systematizing of the thoughts he finds in those words.”
“The religious tone of the treatise prevents it from being a dry compendium of proof-texts. But one who has accepted the historical method of studying the Bible will be unable to use the book for anything more than an expression of Dr. Beet’s own convictions.” Gerald Birney Smith.
“We cannot follow his expositions, but we may say that they are characterised by lucidity and moderation.”
Begbie, Harold.Penalty. †$1.50. Dodd.
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A story whose plot rests upon a woman’s determination to have a certain bishop reinstate her in English society. By means of the theft and later the loss of a certain book, she planned to show to the world that this bishop now aspiring to the archbishopric of Canterbury formerly belonged to a secret order that was proselyting for the Roman Catholic church. “There results a comedy of errors which in the end very narrowly escapes becoming a tragedy.” (Bookm.)
“A novel of unquestionable cleverness.”
“The welcome feature ... is a distinct originality of theme. Taken altogether, a very readable volume, full of veiled irony, and plainly written with a certain underlying seriousness of purpose.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
“The dignity and serious tone of the book make it quite worth while.”
Belcher, John.Essentials in architecture: an analysis of the principles and qualities to be looked for in buildings. *$2. Scribner.
“Everybody who wishes to be able to distinguish between a good building and a bad, to recognize at a glance the best and worst points of the houses he passes in the street, is under a debt of deep gratitude to Mr. Belcher.” (Acad.) “Dividing the work into four main parts, entitled respectively principles, qualities, factors, and materials, Mr. Belcher discourses pleasantly on each, illustrating the points he makes by reference to well-known buildings.” (Ath.)
“Uncompromising in his denunciation of vital defects, Mr. Belcher is as broad-minded as he is sound in his judgments, and his book is remarkably free from whims, fads, and that irrelevant mass of fuss and metaphysics which Ruskin in later years detected in his ‘Seven lamps.’”
“The interest of the book lies less in the correctness or otherwise of the principles formulated than in the intimate view of architecture presented, which is not that of the historian or the art critic, but one of the practising architect.”
“Every line is pregnant with interest alike to the cultured general reader and to the professional student, whose attention is called to those first principles and ultimate ideals which he is apt to overlook in the maze of practical details.”
“One has only to regret the too obvious and every-day tone of the criticism. It is an odd fault to find with a book devoted to analysis—but one does really long for a little more subtlety, a little finer splitting of hairs, and here and there something unexpected.”
“It is as to contents only a fair average specimen of a class of historical ‘rewrite’ (to use a newspaper term) of which there has been an oversupply of late.”
Bell, Gertrude Lowthian.Desert and the sown; a record of travel from Jericho through the unfrequented parts of Syria to Antioch. *$5. Dutton.
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“The book describes the converse with all sorts of Syrians enjoyed by Miss Bell on a journey through the country east of Jordan to the Jebel-ed-Drûz, and thence, by Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, and Antioch, to the coast of Iskenderun.” (Ath.) “We get stories of shepherds and men-at-arms as they ‘passed from lip to lip round the camp fire, in the black tent of the Arab and the guest chamber of the Druze, as well as the more cautious utterance of Turkish and Syrian officials.’ She eschews politics, and points out that the wise traveller in Syria will avoid being drawn into the meshes of the Armenian question.... Much of her time was given to archaeological matters, but they are not her chief consideration in this book.” (Sat. R.)
“It is not too high praise to say that the book before us is the most charming addition to the literature of travel that has been published for many years—we had almost said, and we think we should be justified in saying, for many decades.”
“A most delightful account of travel in Syria in which the author shows a wide knowledge of desert lore and desert peoples, of archaeology and Asiatic politics, an unusual power of description, which, together with a keen sense of humor and fine dramatic touch, conveys the whole scene in a quite remarkable way.”
“But after a searching criticism this book remains one of the best of its kind that we have ever read. A valuable map is appended, but, alas! there is no index.”
“The author has made a distinct contribution to the literature of travel, and has put her name far up on the list of women who have written good travel-books.” H. E. Coblentz.
“One thing is wanting: Miss Bell has not sufficiently absorbed the medieval associations of Syria.”
“I cannot quote it all and unless all is quoted you have lost the better part.”
“A book of unusual atmosphere and charm.”
“A charmingly written, fully illustrated account.”
“An enchanting example of travel literature. To her power of describing scenery and people, and of recording the living talk of men who, though they belong to the wilderness, haveshrewd and capable brains, Miss Bell adds a wide knowledge of archaeology and a sound instinct for the politics of Asia.”
Bell, John Keble (Keble Howard, pseud.).The Smiths: a comedy without a plot. †$1.50. McClure.
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“It is a simple, agreeable story of the lives of two affectionate and well-behaved people from the day when they come back from their wedding journey and begin housekeeping in a snug suburban cottage, to the time when they become grandparents.”—N. Y. Times.
“Mr. Keble Howard has shown us again his keen insight into ordinary human nature and with his sympathetic touch has brought to the surface valuable jewels from unsuspected sources.”
“The record of two honest young people who marry on a small income and lead the uninspired life of the solid British middle class, may be quite as tiresome in print as it appears in its suburban villa.”
“Mr. Howard is not only in earnest, but he has also an old-fashioned, tender reverence which is refreshing at a time when that high quality has become somewhat rare. His people are fairly representative of the best members of that great, sterling middle class which at all periods has been the safeguard of English social life.”
“We are warned that the Smiths are neither superior nor fashionable, but it would have been more kind to warn us that they are absolutely uninteresting. We object to the inference that superiority and fashion are required in order to be interesting.”
“Many a person who is genuinely depressed by the mere sight of a suburb from a train-window, and who would be utterly bored by half an hour’s companionship with the Smiths in real life, will find himself oddly interested in Mr. Howard’s little story, until he comes to the love affairs of Phyllis, when the conversations become tedious.”
“The story of ‘The Smiths of Surbiton’ is not told with any distinction of literary style or any subtlety in the analysis of the human heart. The want of literary artifice in the treatment makes it therefore obvious that the approval with which the book has been greeted is due solely to its subject.”
Bell, Lilian.Why men remain bachelors, and other luxuries. **$1.25. Lane.
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A group of half humorous half philosophical essays which deal with such subjects as The management of wives, The management of husbands, The luxury of being stupid, How men propose, The broken engagement, Modern mothers, etc.
“These very personal little essays are amusingly frank, and clever in a journalistic way, but they have none of that delicacy of form—and spirit—which pleases the artistic sense.”
Bell, Malcolm.Old pewter. (Newnes’ lib. of the applied arts.) *$2.50. Scribner.
W 6–139.
W 6–139.
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Contains little if any new information but deserves recognition on account of the numerous carefully chosen illustrations.
“His various brief chapters show a considerable mastery of, and love for, his subject. One of the weak points of the letterpress is the ‘Useful books of reference,’ a list which occupies only a single page immediately before the index. The only works named in this insignificant list that deal with church pewter are wrongly cited.”
“Treats its subject very successfully.”
Bell, Nancy R. E.Historical outskirts of London. **$2. McClure.
“Mrs. Bell conducts her readers on a tour of the places situated on the fringe of London, recalling the historic associations in which they abound and noting the changes they have undergone down to the present time when these once isolated hamlets and townships have become practically merged in the great metropolis.” (Int. Studio.) Highgate, Hampstead, Woolwich, Epping Forest, Epsom, Fulham, Hammersmith, Greenwich and other places are described with interesting anecdotes of people whose history is associated with them.
“The general reader should be glad to have so much put before him in a compact and readable form. The ‘proofs’ have occasionally been badly read.”
“The book should not fail to stimulate interest in these time-honoured spots.”
Bell, Nancy R. E. Meugens (Mrs. Arthur George Bell) (N. D’Anvers, pseud.).Picturesque Brittany; il. in col. by Arthur G. Bell. *$3.50. Dutton.
6–35603.
6–35603.
6–35603.
6–35603.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“The charm of her writing entirely dispels from her pages, full of carefully-acquired information as they are, that suggestion of the guide-book which is not always inseparable from works of this kind.”
“The truth is that writers like Mrs. Bell do not possess a tithe of the information necessary to draw a real picture of Brittany.”
Bellamy, Charles Joseph.Wonder children, their quests and curious adventures. †$1.50. Macmillan.
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Here are quests that frequently terminate where the rainbow touches the earth, and which permit the wanderer children to open the bags of gold and live in peace forever after.
“The material is not new and the use of it is not marked by any especial charm.”
Belloc, Hilaire.Hills and the sea.*$1.50. Scribner.
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“Mr. Belloc’s book opens with one marvelous sea voyage and ends with another, while the intervening pages are occupied with observations of places and persons encountered along untraveled paths of England, France, Spain, and countries which are not named and whose identity only the initiated can recognize. There is information, too, strewn through these pages—information that some day may serve as footnotes to more serious and less personal books of travel.”—N. Y. Times.
“It is in tense narration, touched with fantasy, that his strength lies.”
“None the less, if not wholly a satisfactory book, this is a book that is filled with a fine spirit and has no slovenly writing in it, and has many passages of pellucid and admirable prose often direct and simple as Bunyan’s. At its best ... it has radiance and gusto, both very rare qualities, and a pleasant wayside Borrovian flavour.”
“The book abounds in sweetness and light, and one must be something more than human or something less not to find therein some congenial and sympathetic message—possibly many.”
“It is because these sketches contain so much good matter that their failings are worthy of note. The faults are mainly faults of manner, and it must be admitted that as the excellencies seem for the most part due to French influences, the badnesses are solidly Britannic.”
“He has none of the serious and brooding passion of Mr. Conrad. He sneers at all that he does not understand, whereas the other writer is reverently silent. He postures and swaggers, and, for all his hatred of imperialism, betrays much of the boastful ‘mafficking’ spirit which he repudiates. He falls into mannerisms and catch-words which weary us from their repetition. And yet he has the charm against which all criticism is powerless.”
Belloc, Hilaire.Historic Thames.*$6. Dutton.
“Mr. Belloc ... severely avoids the Thames of the pleasure seeker, and deals almost exclusively with the place of the river in the topographical and commercial system of early England, as well as incidentally, but at great length, with the dissolution of the Thames-side monasteries. From this branch of his subject he is lead, by digressions worthy of Victor Hugo, to the family history of the Cromwells. Mr. Belloc writes as an anti-Protestant, and even gives some slight colour to the popular belief that a curse follows the possessors of abbey lands.”—Ath.
“With all its faults of omission ‘The historic Thames’ is a thoughtful and stimulating essay—in the strict usage of the word. The publishers have made a bad mistake in sending out this volume without maps or plans. No good word can be said of the illustrations; many of them are very badly drawn.” W. T. S.
“Mr. Belloc’s letter-press may disturb the ordinary Thames public, and is perhaps too good for its place. The drawings have little or nothing to do with it, and are chiefly of scenes attractive to the artist, without special connexion in his mind with history.”
“In spite of the evident efforts to the contrary he becomes involved in the tangle of the Thames’s history with that of England and ends in a tedious recital of the destruction of the monasteries, which has little to do with his subject.” May Estelle Cook.
“Naturally his book will call down reprobation from certain high quarters, but it can not by any one be denied the qualities of interest and vivacity.”
“While he has performed his task with thoroughness and conscientiousness he has missed, whether purposely or not, it is impossible to say, the tone of romance and æsthetic delight which one naturally expects with this subject.”
“Mr. Belloc’s book is a serious contribution to history. The illustrations are very attractive, but they do not illustrate the book, and they are arranged, or scattered about, with a more than usually provoking irrelevance.”
Bement, Alburto.Peabody atlas: shipping mines and coal railroads, in the central commercial district of the United States, accompanied by chemical, geological and engineering data. $5. Peabody coal co., 125 Monroe st., Chicago.
Maps 7–25.
Maps 7–25.
Maps 7–25.
Maps 7–25.
In which are set forth conditions in the coal-carrying railways and their relations to the coal mines. “The atlas contains some valuable information and illustrations on smokeless furnaces and smoke prevention, analysis of combustion gases and improvements in boiler designs.”—Engin. N.
“To the investigator in this field, the statistics of the various bituminous mines and contributing railways throughout the central states, which is given in this atlas, should be of as great value as they also are to the various dealers for whom the book will serve the purpose of a trade directory.”
Benham, W. Gurney.Book of quotations: proverbs and household words. $3. Lippincott.
A collection of quotations from British and American authors, ancient and modern, with many thousands of proverbs, familiar phrases and sayings, from all sources, including Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and other languages.
“The collection shows an advance on those available, including material from more recent authors, and from some now adorning or amazing the world with their pens. A fairly thorough search has convinced us of the general suitability and accuracy of the English section. The section of miscellaneous quotations and other odds and ends is good, but we are unable to praise the various lists of foreign quotations.”
“We know of no other book of the kind that contains so much matter, and we can heartily recommend it as an addition to the reference shelf.”
“Upon the whole, while it is not to be expected or desired that the new book will supersede the old [Bartlett], it may very conveniently supplement it, and is very well worth having, if one may say so without applying to it the only real test, that of habitual use.”
“A slight examination will show that a good deal of original research has been employed in the work. The arrangement, classification, and indexings of the book are all commendable.”
Benjamin, Charles Henry.Machine design. *$2. Holt.
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“A text-book for the use of students, and while very useful for that purpose is not complete enough for the requirements of the practical designer.... The principal things in the book which are valuable are the results of experiments performed on various springs, journals, fly-wheels, etc.”—Engin. N.
“It has the fault that is common to most books bearing its title; that is, it covers only a small part of the subject.” Amasa Trowbridge.
“The faults of the book are faults of omission rather than of commission; to a large extent the matter given is original and cannot fail to be of great value to designers of machinery. The analytical treatment of some of the problems dealt with is both new and ingenious. We have noticed a few slips, but they are mostly unimportant.”
Benjamin, Charles Henry.Modern American machine tools. *$5. Dutton.