Chapter 8

6–23296.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“It would seem that certain statements in the study of the sources are entirely too dogmatic. The dissertation is a work that will prove of great value to students of Augustine, and there is thus the more reason for regretting the large number of typographical errors.”

*Annunzio, Gabriele d’.Daughter of Jorio: a pastoral tragedy; tr. by Charlotte Porter, Pietro Isola, and Alice Henry; with an introd. by Miss Porter. *$1.50. Little.

An authorized edition of D’Annunzio’s drama which presents with intense human touches a picture of patriarchal peasant life.

Appleton, Rev. Floyd.Church philanthropy in New York; introd. by Rt. Rev. D. H. Greer. *75c. Whittaker.

The author “has sketched briefly the history of the many Episcopal philanthropic institutions, and on the basis of extensive compilation of statistics he offers suggestions as to promising lines of future activity. The pamphlet is a convenient manual of information concerning a large class of remedial institutions, which have been supported with self-sacrifice and administered with efficiency.”—Nation.

“A valuable book of facts.”

Arabian nights entertainments: the thousand-and-one nights; tr. by Edward William Lane. 4v. ea. *$1. Macmillan.

The Bohn edition of the Lane translation. Professor Stanley Lane-Poole has edited the reprint, and has included about two-thirds of the whole number of tales belonging to the thousand and one nights, as well as Aladdin and Ali Baba which are not a part of the series in Arabic.

“Edited perfectly by Dr. Stanley Lane-Poole, with due care for the convenience of the general reader.”

“It is a scholarly translation and as complete as one can be that is intended for general circulation.”

“The translation of ‘Aladdin’ is sound and vigorous, and in every way more readable style than Lane had at his command. But there is one slip very strange in the past master in Arabic numismatics. Professor Lane-Poole does not seem to have recognized that the ‘Africa’ in this story means Tunis.”

Aria, Mrs. David B.Costume: fanciful, historical and theatrical; il. by Percy Anderson. *$2.50. Macmillan.

7–8553.

“This book is divided into twenty chapters, beginning with some description of costumes and the rudimentary expression of fashion in the classic times and coming down well into the days of the nineteenth century. Each century, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth, is discussed in a separate section. There are also chapters on the garb of peasants in different countries, on Oriental dress, on fancy dress, on the origin and development of the corset, on bridal dress and ceremonial costumes, on dancing dress in all countries, and on theatrical costumes.”—N. Y. Times.

“Mrs. Aria has fairly carried out the promise of her introductory note.”

“The text is often witty and always interesting. Mr. Anderson, the illustrator, can scarcely be overpraised for the excellence of his work.” May Estelle Cook.

“It is a pity that there is no index to what is primarily a book of reference.”

“Mrs. Aria is commonplace and somewhat inconsequent.”

“In short, the book is not a treatise on costume, nor is it of any historical authority; but it may be found suggestive.”

“A vast amount of information on sartorial affairs most charmingly expressed.”

“A considerable amount of painstaking research has been employed in making this book on dress, and Mrs. Aria presents the result in her animated style, lightened by little touches of humor and adorned with numerous flourishes of verbal ingenuity.”

Armitage, F. P.History of chemistry. *$1.60. Longmans.

“The story of some thousand years of almost fruitless labor, followed by two centuries of richest accomplishment.” “It is neither so comprehensive nor so interesting as Meyer’s ‘History of chemistry,’ but will serve its purpose in giving the student a background for his knowledge, and a realization of the difficulties experienced by generations of chemists in formulating the conceptions which now seem so simple and natural.” (Nation.)

“The book is well written and the details judiciously pruned.”

“Like most other histories of the science, this fails to connect with the science of the present day. The book might have been written ten or twenty years ago.”

“We are oppressed with the unscientific slapdash manner in which the author has approached the whole subject of the history of chemistry.”

Armour, Jonathan Ogden.Packers, the private car lines and the people. $1.50. Altemus.

6–20351.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“Though professedly an advocate’s presentations on these important questions, it gives the reader the impression of being more straightforward and reliable than much of the ‘unbiased and public-spirited’ criticism does.” William Hill.

“The book as a whole is not convincing.” Frank Haigh Dixon.

Arnim, Mary Annette (Beauchamp), grafin von.Fraulein. Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther. †$1.50. Scribner.

7–21365.

By the author of “Elizabeth and her German garden.” “A German girl writes from Jena to the young Englishman who is at first her lover, and subsequently, after he has broken off the engagement, her friend, and who finally puts an end to the friendship also by insisting on the impossible attempt at renewing their former relations.... Little detached incidents, reminiscences, reflections on life and literature, and so on, form the subject of the letters, which depend for their charm wholly on the personality of the writer.”—Ath.

“It has all the old grace and vivacity, and is free from the suspicion of coldness and heartlessness that occasionally dashed our enjoyment of her earlier books. Her letters are invariably piquant and entertaining, and we may add that they contain much excellent advice and criticism.”

“It is not very much of a story, but that doesn’t greatly matter, because it is Rose-Marie who really interests us all the while, and because her letters are the most delightful compound of bourgeois realism, sentimental fancy, and delicate humor.” Wm. M. Payne.

“Fraulein Schmidt is a distinct acquisition.”

“It is written with the author’s usual charm.”

“As a work of fiction, the book deserves particular notice for distinction of manner, acuteness of view, and, above all, for the refreshing spirit that animates each letter from the first to the last.”

“Why should we read—with various degrees of pleasure it is true—a whole volume of her meditations which are without form, often shallow, sometimes slipshod, and never inspired? But she writes so freshly and sensibly and happily that to ask for a closer attention to these matters would be like asking a thrush, for example, to whistle a Bach fugue.”

“These letters while slight, make a thoroughly acceptable bit of summer diversion.”

“There are many exquisite passages and there is never anything that is commonplace, never a platitude.”

“Apart from the fun of the book, which may seem somewhat less than usual in the work of this writer, there is really a heart story dealt with in an unusual and unexpected way, while the comments of the quiet but proud Anglo-German Rose-Marie on literature and life are in themselves pungent and discerning.”

“Rose-Marie is the only correspondent worth mentioning who has appeared in fiction since [Glory Quayle], and she is of much finer spiritual fibre, of as much charm and of a better brain-capacity.”

“Thedénoûmentwill not conciliate sentimentalists, and we are by no means sure that it is in strict accordance with experience, but it has both logic and justice to commend it.”

Arnold, Charles London.Cosmos, the soul and God: a monistic interpretation of the facts and findings of science. **$1.20. McClurg.

7–12983.

The author’s all-inclusive philosophy is developed along the following line: “Starting with the established facts of science, seeking the causes of manifested phenomena, tracing the causal series to the very limits of scientific investigation, inevitably finding at the limits of the physical process an effect for which the physical cause can be discovered, and driven to attribute such effect to some agency outside the world of sense, I reach at length the inevitable conclusion that there is a world of which this physical process came, upon which it rests, by which it is energetically sustained; in a word, that the present world is but the phenomenal representation of the forms of cosmic energy.”

Arnold, William Thomas.Roman system of provincial administration to the accession of Constantine the Great; new ed. rev. from the author’s notes by E. S. Shuckburgh. *$2. Macmillan.

7–7171.

A revised edition of a work that is strong in its treatment of the functions of the general and local governments in the provinces, the strong and weak points of Roman rule, the development of imperial policy and the influence of expansion upon domestic politics. An index, a map, and a bibliography are included in the revised edition.

“It was a great loss to scholars that Arnold did not live to revise his work in the way in which he probably would have wished to revise it. More to be regretted still is the editor’s failure to study the great system of Roman military roads, and to make such a résumé of the work of the Limes commissions in Germany and Austria as Koremann has lately drawn up.” Frank Frost Abbott.

“It would be easy to suggest further improvement. With the substantial merits of the first edition, students of Roman history are well acquainted; and they will find the present volume even more serviceable. In its field it has no rival in English.”

“Artifex” and “Opifex,” pseud.Causes of decay in a British industry. *$2.50. Longmans.

7–28991.

A discussion of the English fire-arms industry by two manufacturers who know their subject in all the aspects of its rise and decline. “They see the manufacturer who has brought his craft to the highest pitch of perfection struggling in vain to maintain his position, borne down by the burdens and obstacles which have been placed upon him and are not counterbalanced by any assistance such as his competitors receive.” (Lond. Times.) “The authors claim that the two big causes for the falling off in this trade are: (1) The policy of the English government in not protecting in any way the industry; and (2) the reluctance of the British manufacturer to enter into competition with the so-called ‘modern business methods’ of foreign manufacturers.” (Engin. N.)

“This remarkably well-written book, though without doubt prejudiced and partial in many of its statements, will repay the time and trouble of reading.”

“It may be that in some matters they are not quite at the center of the subject, and incline to make more of their difficulties than of their own defects ... but their analysis of the condition of the trade and the causes which have brought it about cannot be ignored by anyone who has any respect for facts.”

“It should be read and read again by the workmen of England.”

“The authors’ knowledge of the history of their own trade enables them to set out facts that must be new to most of us, but we are not convinced by the economic reasoning which they very modestly and temperately seek to base thereon.”

As the Hague ordains: journal of a Russian prisoner’s wife in Japan. il. **$1.50. Holt.

7–16757.

The diary of the half English wife of a Russian officer. When word comes that her husband has been wounded and taken prisoner by the Japanese she goes to him from St. Petersburg, and from the viewpoint of a nurse in a military hospital learns how, “human, Christian and civilized” is the Japanese treatment of the Russian prisoners. The contrast between the courage and cleanliness of the Japanese and the filth and boorishness of the Russians breaks down the barriers of her prejudices.

“Perhaps gratitude has somewhat overdrawn the picture, but even so, one prefers this theory to the only possible alternative one, which would suggest that this wholly delightful book is altogether a work of the imagination.” A. Schade van Westrum.

“The ‘diary,’ which was demonstrably written after the facts which it forsees with remarkable clearness, makes vivacious reading, and there are bits in it of the traditional Japan of fine pottery and miniature gardening which are distinctly charming.”

“Perhaps no book has as yet described the Russian prisoner’s life in Japan so graphically and so entertainingly as this book. The thought it sets forth is distinctly masculine, thinly guised in feminine expression. Is it too hasty to suspect that it was really written by some war correspondent, perhaps an American?” K. K. Kawakami.

“The picture is one full of human interest of a varied range.”

“It holds a tremendous human interest.”

Ashley, Percy W. L.Local and central government: a comparative study of England, France, Prussia, and the United States. *$3. Dutton.

7–466.

This book “is written from the professorial point of view—that is to say, it is not a study at first hand of the working of institutions in the countries named, but in the main a statement of facts compiled from authorities. As such it forms a text-book for political students and a hand-book of reference for teachers, administrators, publicists and politicians.” The three divisions of the work are “the organization of local government in each country ... the historical development of local administration in England, France and Prussia ... the juridical aspects of local government and the relations between local institutions and the central authority in the same country.”

“The literary effect of the work is successful; the elementary exposition is not unduly encumbered, and the chapters dealing with history and with legal relations are given a perfectly definite purpose. There is, even for a work of this kind, too large a number of technical inaccuracies.” Willard E. Hotchkiss.

“The author is accurate and impartial: his work seems to have been slow, and some parts of the book are out of date. Few other faults could be found in Mr. Ashley’s studies. The volume is of high merit, and should be bought and kept for reference. The index is good.”

“It speaks highly for Mr. Ashley as a lecturer that he has produced so readable a volume out of material which in less able hands would have sufficed only for a dry compendium or a useful text-book.”

“It is no easy task to deal clearly, yet in sufficient detail, with all these matters in the moderate compass of the present volume, and it cannot be said that Mr. Ashley has been entirely successful. A certain political bias is discernible here and in other ‘obiter dicta.’”

“Mr. Ashley provides us with an accurate account of the administration, local and central, of England,—a subject which is often little understood even by those who take official part in it. In conclusion, we would specially recommend the chapter on ‘The control of local finance,’ a matter of very vital importance today.”

Askew, Alice, and Askew, Claude Arthur C.Shulamite. †$1.50. Brentano’s.

The Boer country furnishes the scene of a story which forces to the front of its little stage a hard-hearted, narrow-minded old Boer nearing seventy years, Deborah, his child wife, and a young English overseer. The latter’s courtesy and respect, unknown to the girl heretofore, awaken her to sense the sordidness of her lot, and arouse in her a love for the Englishman. To save the girl’s life, he kills the husband, actuated only by the chivalrous motives. When Deborah understands that he will wed the girl awaiting him in England, she resolves to say the word that shall put him into the hands of the authorities and result in his death.

“While it has its obvious shortcomings, it is not a book to be lightly laid aside or quickly forgotten.” Frederic Taber Cooper.

“A story which with all its power, lacks grip, because it does not bring conviction with it. It is nevertheless, a striking piece of work, intensely dramatic, sure of a widening circle of interested readers.”

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin.Ancestors.†$1.75. Harper.

7–30866.

A rising English politician suddenly finds himself put out of the race in the House of commons by coming into a peerage with its accompanying seat among the lords. A young American girl, a distant cousin, with ambitions and temperament akin to his own urges him to start life all over in her own California. “Once safe in California, the story proceeds breathlessly. Notwithstanding all the descriptions, all the lenses which have been turned on that exotic city, [San Francisco] she still is able to give a picture of untarnished freshness. The story reaches its climax in the dramatic scenes of the San Francisco earthquake.” (Nation.)

“It is long, but contains a good deal—sometimes vividly said—concerning institutions and people that should interest not merely novelreaders but also thoughtful persons in both countries.”

“The story is made fairly tedious by endless passages of analysis and discussion, and its inordinate length is not justified by a corresponding richness of invention and imagination. Of its style there is not much to say. It exhibits rawness rather than refinement, and is almost wholly devoid of charm.” Wm. M. Payne.

“The contrast between the English and their American cousins is shrewdly drawn, sophisticated and as lacking in kindness as one may expect from an author who places wit before humor, and who is incapable of understanding the pathos of being human either in this country or in England.”

“We can only touch upon the comparatively minor characters. Lady Victoria Gwynne, half great lady, half libertine, is perhaps the only failure. The whole execution is carried as far as anything that Mrs. Atherton has yet attempted.”

“That Mrs. Atherton’s manner at times is somewhat rough cannot be denied. Thoughtful she is, and in a way penetrating, though quite without subtlety and grasping things more violently than is always to the taste of the over sensitive.”

“Clever dialogue, sharp analysis, and unexpected turns of plot place it in Mrs. Atherton’s best vein.”

“Most of the characters ... have one phase in common. They are self-conscious and analytical. They see themselves, as it were, in a mirror, and it is with their eyes fixed on the reflection that they move. It is, then, the thinker in her reader that Mrs. Atherton arouses. Her descriptive powers are strong and individual. She gives us pictures of London, of San Francisco, and of the death throes of that city vivid as paintings, startling as a vitascope. She is not so happy in conveying an effect of the cataclysm on the people. They remain too self-conscious, they converse too much, they see themselves experiencing the experience.”

“If only her technique of construction equalled her frank and clear-eyed understanding of human nature she might be unhesitatingly placed very high among the exponents of the best realism.” Frederic Taber Cooper.

“Admirable and distinctly entertaining story.”

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin (Frank Lin, pseud.).Rezánov; il. in water-colors. 50c. Authors and newspapers assn.

6–42373.

A historical romance of the early days of California, which chiefly concerns Rezánov, a Russian diplomat, and Concha Arguello, daughter of the Commandante of the Presidio. “Amid the splendidly picturesque environment of the same California landscape which Belasco recently has turned to such excellent use in his play a ‘Rose of the Rancho,’ the story marches vigorously to its predestined close and the proud Russian succumbs to fever and privation on his return from an adventurous expedition.” (Cur. Lit.)

“Is not the most interesting of Mrs. Atherton’s books: it is, however, in our opinion, the best written and the most carefully studied work of hers which we have had the pleasure of seeing.”

“If Mrs. Atherton has not succeeded in making [the lovers] absolutely alive to us, she has invested their love story with unusual charm and interest.”

“A story which is, in many respects, conventional and—for all its heroics—rather lifeless.”

“There are qualities in ‘Rezánov’ that we are accustomed to admire in Mrs. Atherton’s work, the vivid characterisation, the colour and beauty of the setting, the especial charm of the Californian atmosphere, but it is very far from being a great book, or even a first-rate book of its kind, clever as it undeniably is.”

“With these deductions, there is much to admire in her spirited reconstitution of life on the Pacific coast a hundred years ago.”

*Atkey, Bertram.Folk of the wild. il. †$1.50. Lippincott.

“A book of the forests, the moors and the mountains, of the beasts of the silent places, their lives, their doings and their deaths.”

Audubon, John Woodhouse.Audubon’s western journal: 1849–1850.*$3. Clark, A. H.

6–6244.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“We are somewhat surprised that a geographic expert like its editor, Professor Frank H. Hodder, should have allowed the path of the party in 1849 to be recorded upon a base map that could not possibly have been accurate at a period earlier than 1853.”

Auerbach, Berthold.On the heights; translated from the German by Simon A. Stern. $1.50. Holt.

A new edition of this ever interesting tale of German life in court and cottage.

“No feature of Auerbach’s literary mastership is more admirable than the delicacy and ingenuity with which he has woven the fortunes of the royal house of Bavaria into the fabric of his great novel ‘Auf der hohe.’ The untangling of this complicated web adds zest to both history and fiction.” W. H. Carruth.

Aurelius Antoninus, Marcus.Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus; tr. by George Long. 35c. Crowell.

Uniform with the “Handy volume classics.”

Austin, Mrs. Mary Hunter.The flock; il. by E. Boyd Smith. **$2. Houghton.

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