6–41738.
6–41738.
6–41738.
6–41738.
“In the early chapters on the development of the house, domestic architecture is shown to be closely allied to the larger problems of state and nation.... Chapters on house planning, construction, decoration and furnishing, and the care of the house follow, and from them may be obtained much useful information. Throughout the book emphasis is laid upon appropriateness, beauty and simplicity of form and color. The book is suggestive to the home builder; plans, materials and cost and the various subdivisions of these are taken up concisely. The home-operator will find here definite suggestions concerning fabrics and furnishings, their cost and durability.”—Ann. Am. Acad.
“Valuable because of its consideration of basic principles, and of conditions attainable by the average householder.”
“For its size this little book contains a great deal of that which tends to raise the standards of the householder and to make the home the real center of national life which the author claims should be its real purpose.”
Bevier, Isabel, and Usher, Susannah.Home economics movement, pt. 1. *75c. Whitcomb & B.
7–5679.
7–5679.
7–5679.
7–5679.
A three-part discussion including Home economics in agricultural colleges and state universities, Cooking schools, and Home economics in the public schools.
Bible. Gospel of Barnabas; ed. and tr. by Lonsdale and Laura Ragg, with a facsimile. *$5.25. Oxford.
This manuscript was probably written in the middle of the sixteenth century. It is a “rather careless sixteenth century copy, made by a Venetian scribe, of an earlier and apparently Tuscan document.”
“The editors deserve the greatest praise for the thoroughness and skill with which they have performed their task. They have been extremely careful in editing the text, and they havesupplied an excellent translation, for it is accurate and reads as if it were an original work. They have also written a good introduction, which contains all the information that the reader requires.”
“It is to be said that the gospel is interesting reading not only because of its doctrines, as, for example, the view that Paul wrongfully teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus disclaimed Messiahship, that Mohammed is Messiah, not only because of the restraint manifested in the story of the virgin birth, but also because of the positive beauty of some of its sayings and parables.”
Bielschowsky, Albert.Life of Goethe; tr. by W. A. Cooper. 3v ea. **$3.50. Putnam.
v. 2.This volume covers the period from the Italian journey to the War of liberation, 1788–1815, comprising the last two chapters of the first volume and the first twelve of the second of the German edition.
“Mr. Cooper is an American, and he writes ‘American,’ or, at any rate, a dialect of the Anglo-Saxon tongue, which is often forcible and picturesque, but is quite as often not pure English.” Rowland Strong.
“Though Bielschowsky displays remarkable skill in interweaving critical analysis with personal details concerning the poet, yet one who is unfamiliar with the actual works will probably find the chapters devoted to them a trifle dull. After all, these defects are really exaggerations of a good quality—the desire to enter into full sympathy with and understanding of Goethe’s point of view.”
“In general it seems that here there is a marked improvement [in the translation]; it is very faithful and at the same time the English is usually free from the influence of the foreign idiom. Occasionally the rendering does not allow for the difference in the connotation of the same word in the two languages.”
“It is to begin with, erudite; one feels confident that the author has sifted the enormous mass of material accumulated about every step of Goethe’s career. In the metaphysical parts it is excellent, almost impeccable. We commend heartily the translation of this work and recognize its undoubted value; but we must add frankly that it is in no sense of the word in the tradition of great literature.”
Reviewed by J. Perry Warden.
“The work lacks the supreme test of the biographer as interpreter. In this respect this ‘Life of Goethe’ remains incomplete, but in all else it is a masterly production. Crowning merit of a notable achievement, the biography, with all its scholarly thoroughness, is yet even better adapted to the needs of the general public for which it has been primarily written than to those of the special student.” A. Schade van Westrum.
Bierer, Everard.Evolution of religions. **$2. Putnam.
6–42349.
6–42349.
6–42349.
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“The particular animus of the author is against the doctrine of the trinity, which assumes altogether too large a place in his survey of the development of religious doctrines.”—Putnam’s.
“Is amateurish in character, unreliable in statement of fact, incomplete in outlook, and disproportionate in consideration of the phenomena under discussion.”
“Shows an excellent spirit, and the greater part of its material is taken from good sources. The title, however, is too large for the contents, and the book suffers somewhat from the author’s insufficient acquaintance with the general history of religions.”
“Although its author, under his limitations as a layman in the subjects of his criticism, takes himself rather too seriously, the book is written with a sincere interest for a devoutly spiritual religion, and for this is commendable.”
Bigelow, Edward Fuller.Spirit of nature study: a book of social suggestion and sympathy for all who love or teach nature. **$1. Barnes.
7–14642.
7–14642.
7–14642.
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“A book of social suggestion and sympathy for all those who love or teach nature.” It is intended to strengthen faith in outdoor education.
“In which the author has many effective and deserved flings at the stupidity and inanity of much that passes for the study of nature in schools and elsewhere.” George Gladden.
“[Suggestions that are] sensible enough, and their light personal style would make them effective as informal talks at a teachers’ institute but they cannot be regarded as permanent contributions to the over abundant literature of the subject.”
“The ear-marks of the pedagogue are rather too prominent for the most enjoyable reading.”
Bigelow, John.Peace given as the world giveth. **75c. Baker.
The author writes out of the fulness of a long experience in state craft and diplomacy. He views the Portsmouth peace conference in the light of an “international calamity,” and makes a plea for the “righteousness and wisdom” of war.
“A remarkable historical document.”
Bindloss, Harold.Cattle-baron’s daughter.†$1.50. Stokes.
6–34082.
6–34082.
6–34082.
6–34082.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“There is some good character drawing but the book cannot lay claim to artistic merit.”
Bindloss, Harold.Dust of conflict; with il. in color by W. Herbert Dunton. †$1.50. Stokes.
7–7189.
7–7189.
7–7189.
7–7189.
The stormy period just preceding the Spanish-American war furnishes the setting for this story. The hero, “hurried out of England under a cloud,” is wrecked on the coast of Cuba, and in that country becomes a leader of some insurrectionists. “Peril, disaster, and rescue chase each other in such quick and picturesque succession as to give the impression of a grown-up boy’s book.... The military conflicts carry more conviction than the moral one which sets the story in motion.... Yet the moral dilemma is well enough as a means of sending the hero to Cuba and the Cuban part is admirably successful.” (Nation.)
“Not particularly well written but rather lively in interest.”
“It is a rattling good story, told briskly and with zest. It lacks subtlety, and is not notable for refinement of diction; but it also lacks dull pages.”
“It would be hard to find a book which is so complete a satire on all the faults of the so-called ‘novel of adventure.’ For the sort of book this present volume typifies there is no legitimate use in literature. Probably it will sell very well, however.” J. Marchand.
“A story which is rich in dramatic interest, and which exhibits remarkable powers of characterization and description.” Wm. M. Payne.
“Though of little artistic merit, is exhilarating reading.” Herbert W. Horwill.
“The many-sided struggle in Cuba constitutes the strongest part of the novel. In the main, the characters stand well apart from one another, and firmly on their own feet as well.”
“It is a rattling good story exceedingly well told.”
“The book is well written and brisk.”
Bindloss, Harold.Mistress of Bonaventure.*$1. Fenno.
Cattle raising in the Northwest, its difficulties and the dangers from man and nature that beset it, is the burden of this tale. The Canadian mounted police figure in the story which combines love, adventure and practical business. In the end the railroad penetrates that wild country and it finds the rancher hero successful both in love and labor and the frank little mistress of Bonaventure happy in her hero and her prairies.
Bindloss, Harold.Winston of the prairie.†$1.50. Stokes.
7–29150.
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The hero of Mr. Bindloss’ story of the Canadian northwest is a young man under unjust suspicion of murder who has traded names with a man of low caliber and who when he wishes to return to his own name finds it stained with crime. This “impersonation of another man leads to exciting complications, and it is difficult to see how he is going to extricate himself from the false position in which he is placed. But his services to the little farming community, which he teaches to win prosperity out of seeming disaster, are so substantial that when the hour of disentanglement comes, he both clears his name and finds condonation for his deception.” (Dial.)
“In the wheat-raising region of western Canada, Mr. Bindloss has found a field almost as virgin to the novelist as to the agriculturist, and so subdued it to his purposes that his work will not easily be matched.” Wm. M. Payne.
“His doings are sufficiently thrilling to while away some dull hours, but the book is not well enough written to commend itself to a reader of particular taste.”
Binns, W. Moore.First century of English porcelain. *$12.50. Lippincott.
6–33521.
6–33521.
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6–33521.
After outlining clearly the leading principles of connoisseurship “Mr. Binns relates with great minuteness the story of the evolution of English porcelain, beginning with the foundation of the first factory at Stratford-le-Bow, and passing thence to consider in chronological order the various establishments which in course of time brought the art to a perfection that aroused the admiration even of the most exacting foreign critics, and also of those later manufactories in which was inaugurated the inevitable decadence.” (Int. Studio.) The work is made complete by a chronological schedule of English ceramics and an index.
“The book will be prized as a real art treasure by its fortunate possessors, quite as much as for its store of information.”
“A work that will be of great value to collectors and connoisseurs, as well as to all who are interested in what may be called the human side of every successful national industry.”
“While essentially for the collector, the book is written in general, popular phrasing, and the techniques of the art, and some of its secrets are revealed in a pleasantly instructive manner.”
“The historical side of Mr. Binns’ book is sound as far as it goes; the author has digested a certain number of text-books, and reproduces facts with a commendable air of spontaneity. There are some serious omissions in Mr. Binns’ history.”
Birch, Mrs. Lionel.Stanhope A. Forbes, A. R. A., and Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, A. R. W. S.; with 8 reproductions in color and 32 other il. *$1.50. Cassell.
6–45369.
6–45369.
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A monograph from the standpoint of personal friendship on two living artists. It reflects the characteristics of two personalities and the environment in which their work has been done.
“Contains a concise and interesting record, pleasantly tempered by anecdote, of the lives and various works of the two painters of whom it treats.”
“There is, indeed, not one dull page in the book, and the numerous illustrations are thoroughly representative.”
“She deserves her readers’ thanks for having filled the record carefully, while avoiding the reproach of overexcitement and an exaggerated sense of the import of her task.”
Birdseye, Clarence Frank.Individual training in our colleges. **$1.75. Macmillan.
7–18833.
7–18833.
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A study of a college student’s problems from the standpoint of the graduate. In his discussion the author deplores the loss of the direct personal influence exerted by professors and instructors over the students of fifty years ago. He deals with the fraternity question and its related problems.
“His book shows more knowledge, clearer vision, deeper devotion, and more rational hope regarding the American college, than any other book we know of.” Edward O. Sisson.
“Upon his own ground the place in our educational machinery which the Greek letter fraternities have already taken and the higher place which, thru the influence of their alumni, they may be made to take, on this ground, Mr. Birdseye speaks with the authority of the constructive reformer and for this reason, if for no other, his book deserves and should receive the careful study of every man who has at heart the welfare of the American college.” F. P. Keppel.
“The book is too long-drawn out, and in parts is repetitious; but it contains much important material in the form of documents and reports, as well as of the author’s own observations.”
“To make his study effective, the author undertakes to enter the student’s college home life. He searches diligently for facts and deals frankly and candidly with the facts as he finds them.”
Birukoff, Paul.Leo Tolstoy, his life and work. v. 1. **$1.50. Scribner.
6–22384.
6–22384.
6–22384.
6–22384.
Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.
“If we are to take ... [the translation] seriously as an attempt to give English readers as intelligible a narrative as that enjoyed by readers of the original, we have to point out that the work has been carelessly done, and that the English reader often finds himself mystified where the Russian finds himself enlightened. When in his old age Tolstoy tells us what he thinks we ought to know of his reminiscences, no one has any right to interpose between him and the English reader. Least of all, has anyone a right to do this anonymously and secretly.”
Bishop, Emily M.Seventy years young, or The unhabitual way. *$1.20. Huebsch.
7–20745.
7–20745.
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A sensible outlook on life whose purpose is “‘to put it into the heads’ of its readers that they can add (1) life to their years and (2) years to their life.” The keynote is the admonition to “keep out of ruts.”
“A very suggestive, thought-provoking volume.”
Bisland, Elizabeth.Life and letters of Lafcadio Hearn.2v. **$6. Houghton.
6–44374.
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“Less than one-fifth of this work contains the record of Hearn’s life. The rest is pure Hearn—even more intimate than the books he has written, dealing with the themes which always moved his imagination. His strange origin, his troubled boyhood and years of apprenticeship, his pursuit of the weird, the exotic among tropical peoples, and finally his departure for Japan in 1890 resulting in permanent expatriation, are recorded in more or less brief compass.” Lit. D.
“The facts of his later life Miss Bisland tells with exactly the brevity and precision with which such facts should be told. Indeed, it is a pleasure to feel that too much praise cannot be given for the ability and reverence with which she has done her work.”
“It is certain that no letters reveal more vividly or subtly the inner feeling—the essence, one might say—of the writer, than do these.”
Reviewed by Paul S. Reinsch.
“Perhaps the worthiest thing to say of these two volumes of some nine hundred pages is that there is not a page too much. Indeed, one page more would have been welcome—containing a bibliography and a glossary of Japanese words.”
“It is certain, at any rate, that this vivid, affectionate, one might almost say motherly, record of Hearn’s fugitive and feverish life affords a view of him in more illuminating consonance with the quality of his work than any that has been offered by his friends of his own sex.” Ferris Greenslet.
Reviewed by Harrison Rhodes.
“It would be impossible to give in a few words any adequate impression of the rare quality of the letters that make up the larger part of this book. It is impossible to read them and not feel acquainted with the writer—with the real man behind the mask.” Frederick W. Gookin.
“No reader of Hearn’s books can do without this work.”
“In these days when our shelves are crowded with trivial biographies, it is rare to come across a book so full of human interest, so suggestive, so valuable as a contribution to history as the ‘Life and letters of Lafcadio Hearn.’”
“Of the biographical chapters, it is possible to speak with praise, while admitting considerable reservations. Unquestionably these letters of Hearn’s are among the most interesting that have appeared for a number of years—probably the most valuable since the publication of FitzGerald’s.”
“The most entertaining, self-revealing, even fascinating literary correspondence published since the death of Robert Louis Stevenson.” James Huneker.
Reviewed by Olivia Howard Dunbar.
“His letters are good to read because they are hearty, spontaneous, lacking in all those reticences and poses with which we are familiar in the correspondence of literary persons of minor note.” H. W. Boynton.
Bittinger, Lucy Forney.German religious life in colonial times. **$1. Lippincott.
7–12674.
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An interesting account of the general course of ecclesiastical life among the Germans in America during the Colonial era. The subject is treated under the headings, The Separatists, The church people, The Moravians, The Methodists, The German churches during the Revolution, and it is dealt with in a purely historical manner.
“Her work shows much care and pains, and full sympathy with its subject.”
Bjorling, Philip R., and Gissing, Frederick T.Peat: its use and manufacture. **$2. Lippincott.
A practical account of the different methods of preparing peat for commercial purposes and the uses to which peat can be applied. A subject which is claiming more attention as the American coal supply diminishes.
“It is doubtful if there is possible a more comprehensive view of the field in a small volume than is given in this one. The material is of course largely compiled, but with more detail than one would think possible.”
Black, Rev. Hugh.Listening to God: Edinburgh sermons. **$1.25. Revell.
6–42404.
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Brief sermons by the professor of practical theology in Union seminary.
“The sermons are not brilliant, but they are manifestly the expression of the personality and experience of the preacher. And that after all is the only preaching that counts.” Theodore G. Soares.
“The sermons are full of ideas, without being in the least sensational, and cannot fail to stimulate thought.”
“Some of them put fresh points to their texts, and all of them are characterized by simplicity, earnestness, and moral vigor.”
Blackmar, Frank Wilson.Economics; new ed. *$1.40. Macmillan.
7–12998.
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A new edition which extends bibliographies and brings its tables down to date.
“In preparing his book on economics, the author has obviated both of these general criticisms by stating his problems in a clear and interesting manner, and by placing on the market a text book which is both elementary enough and cheap enough to be accessible to average beginners.”
“Beyond being simply and well written, the book is without any very marked distinguishing characteristic. Its presentation of the doctrine of socialism in chapter 8 is excellent.”
“The whole is a moderate and common-sense exposition of the subject, not always set out in the happiest terms.”
Blair, Emma Helen, and Robertson, James Alexander, eds., and trs.Philippine islands, 1493–1898.55 v. ea. *$4. Clark, A. H.