Chapter 89

6–29521.

Leisurely wanderings thru the Loire country have made possible in this sketch more of atmosphere and historic setting than conventional rambles usually permit. It is Touraine’s feudal and Renaissance châteaux that chiefly occupy the author. Blois, with its counts who rivalled in power and wealth the churchmen of Tours and the dukes of Brittany, Cambord with its master-builders’ massive art, Amboise, the rival of the capital in cradling the thought and action of fifteenth and sixteenth century monarchs, are described, with many another château, in the light of their monumental glory. The volume is handsomely illustrated.

“It is a pity that Mr. Miltoun should continue to present his material in so disorderly a form. His arrangement lacks both method and sequence, and his style has a qualified and uncertain ring that is very annoying.”

“Old Touraine ... is here vividly portrayed with brush and pen.”

“Thus we have in this book, a series of personal impressions unrolled like a panorama, the course of which is stayed from time to time, while author and artist bring up something from the past which may pleasurably instruct without a too heavy laying on of archæology, history or architectural technique.”

“Both in pictures and text much of interest and value is furnished.”

“This is a pretty and attractive but rather confusing book. Though very pleasant reading, the book as a whole, rather lacks proportion, repetition is not absent, and the wanderings become a little bewildering.”

Mansfield, Milburg F. (Francis Miltoun, pseud.).Rambles on the Riviera: being some account of journeys made en automobile and things seen in the fair land of Provence; il. by Blanche McManus. $2.50. Page.

6–29989.

Not a book of historical or archaeological importance, not a conventional book of travel or a “glorified guide book,” but a record of personal observations on the picturesque, romantic and topographical aspects of the French Riviera proper.

Reviewed by William Rice.

Mantle, Beatrice.Gret: the story of a pagan. †$1.50. Century.

7–29091.

An Oregon lumber camp furnishes the setting of this story whose young heroine is more the daughter of the camp than of her selfish father who spends his wealth in the cities and returns home now and then to nag and to criticise the unrestrained manner in which his wife is bringing Gret up. The wild free life of the camp, Gret’s unthinking joy in its content suffer never an interruption until love comes when she is changed into a thoughtful woman.

“A sterling book unmarred by convention.” Frederic Taber Cooper.

“With so much of the smart and the tailormade in our fiction, it is a pleasure to come now and then upon a novel which holds one such human breathing creature as Gret.”

“But vivid as Gret’s personality is made and absorbing as is the story of her triumphs, there is never a moment when either gets out of the realm of romance into commonplace reality.”

“Altogether the story has a refreshing novelty, and is well worth reading.”

*Marble, Annie Russell.Heralds of American literature: a group of patriot writers of the revolutionary and national periods. *$1.50. Univ. of Chicago press.

The aim of this book is to recount in detailed study, and largely from original sources, the lives and services of a group of typical writers during the pioneer days of national growth, who revealed the standards and aspirations of their time, and who announced the dawn of a national literature, although their own products were often immature and crude. The group includes Franklin, Francis Hopkinson, Philip Freneau, John Trumbull, a group of Hartford wits, Joseph Dennie, William Dunlap and Charles Brockden Brown.

Marchmont, Arthur Williams.By wit of woman.†$1.50. Stokes.

6–16736.

“Given the ingredients of the girl, the prince, the kingdom-in-the-mountains, garnished with palaces, gold-laced officials, and highly spiced with an unprincipled lady spy, one can stir together a romantic pudding that is sure to appeal to the average appetite.... The author ... has sought to do nothing more than to turn out precisely such a readable yarn.”—N. Y. Times.

“A novel devoid of evidence of artistic ambition.”

“Obviously one need claim nothing strikingly new for the book.”

Marchmont, Arthur Williams.In the cause of freedom; with a front. in colors by Archie Gunn. †$1.50. Stokes.

7–16375.

“A travelling Englishman comes upon a Polish maiden, in the company of a notorious conspirator, both pursued by the police, in a village of Russian Poland. The conspirator is dispatched early in the game, and the maiden is left on the Englishman’s hands. Being highspirited and impressionable, the Englishman is nothing loth to accept the charge, and the pair lead the police a merry chase all the way to Warsaw, where the action culminates in street riots and other forms of excitement.”—Dial.

Reviewed by Wm. M. Payne.

“The pages fairly sizzle with excitement from beginning to end.”

“If our credulity had not been strengthened by much similar strong food, it would be overtaxed to learn of the succession of hairbreadth escapes and gallant rescues credited to Robert Anstruther, the hero. But, if we must read these romances, it is less fatiguing to believe than to question.”

Marden, Orison Swett.Optimistic life; or, In the cheering-up business. **$1.25. Crowell.

7–27001.

Thirty-eight chapters of optimistic wisdom which constitute what might be termed the “scriptures of the toilers.” The keynote is the higher success, and Mr. Marden points out howand when it may be discovered in all phases of business. He discusses such subjects as business integrity, the need of proper vocations, leaving one’s troubles at the office, the difference between work and drudgery, the cost of an explosive temper, and the habit of not feeling well.

*Marden, Philip Sanford.Greece and the Aegean islands.**$3. Houghton.

7–36985.

A book of travel and description which will serve as a guide to many who have the Grecian archipelago in view and as a book of reminiscence to all who have taken the journey. Entering Greece by “the front door of the kingdom”—by way of the Piræus—the tour includes Athens, Delphi, Mycenæ, Nauplia, Epidaurus, Olympia, and among the islands, Delos, Samos, Cos, Cnidos, Rhodes, and others. The book is handsomely illustrated.

Markham, Sir Clements Robert.Richard III, his life and character reviewed in the light of recent research; with a portrait and a map. *$3.50. Dutton.

7–10996.

In which the character of Richard III is rehabilitated, and this last of the Plantagenets is made to appear as “a good son, a devoted husband, and a loving father;” in which it is affirmed “that he cherished his relatives, was a kind and trusty friend, and an honorable and magnanimous foe.” (N. Y. Times.) The defense goes to prove that the two sons of Edward IV. did not die in the reign of Richard III. but survived until after the accession of Henry VII.

“He seems to imagine that to repeat a statement over and over again makes it true, and that citations from earlier writers take the place of original documents.”

“The reasoning that Sir Clements Markham uses is very ingenious but hardly convincing, and he does not improve his case by attempting in his closing chapter to show that Mr. Gairdner is inconsistent in his portrayal of Richard.” N. M. Trenholme.

“His book is ingenious, bright and readable; he marshals his arguments cunningly, and he scores some good points. But it is not too much to say that he approaches the whole subject in the spirit of an advocate, and consequently his essay can hardly be considered a serious addition to historical literature.”

“Had Sir Clements been content to show that the allegations of Tudor historians were in some matters unfounded, we might have been more ready to accept a verdict of not proven on the serious charges; more than this he has not after all been able at the best to establish.” C. L. Kingsford.

“Shakespeare students as well as those interested in English history cannot afford to neglect the volume. It is based upon critical research, and makes out a strong case against Henry.”

“He has shown us how very uncertain any verdict must be, and he has done good service in sweeping away many of the myths with which Tudor prejudice and falsehood have obscured the reign of Richard III.”

“If he could have imposed upon himself something of the cynical temper and cool judgment with which Horace Walpole, first of Richard’s defenders, wrote his ‘Historic doubts,’ his book would have been doubled in value to the general reader.” Florence Finch Kelley.

“Sometimes the chain of argument is really pitiable. That most fallacious method of writing history is adopted, that of treating official versions and transparent pretexts as actual facts.”

“Though we judge him to have failed in his main contention, the author has painted a vivid picture of the epoch between the battles of Northampton and Bosworth; he has bestowed the skill of a trained geographer in elucidating the topography of Towton, and Wakefield, and Barnet; and he was swept into limbo a mass of crude absurdity.”

Marks, Edward C. R.Mechanical engineering materials: their properties and treatment in construction. 60c. Van Nostrand.

“A very useful little volume of information on methods of manufacture, properties and tests of steel, iron, copper and the various copper, manganese, tin and aluminum alloys used, for the most part, in machinery.”—Engin. N.

“The one criticism of this book is that the author has selected a too pretentious title.”

*Marks, Mrs. Mary A. M.England and America. 1763–1783. 2v. *$6. Appleton.

7–34222.

Something of the spirited attitude which Mrs. Marks assumes toward her work is summed up in the statement that her book is the Tory reaction against the monopoly of office by the Whigs and the consequences of that reaction, the loss of American colonies and an addition of £129,000,000 to the national debt. “The years covered by this history are those in which the final effect of the causes of the American movement toward independence are studied, as well as the conduct of England brought to face the new situation. A characteristic of the book, its determining characteristic, is that it keeps to the point of view of the time and the point of view of the English.” (N. Y. Times.)

“To students of history this book should be invaluable; it puts things in a clear, simple light, and is the work of one who has made careful research into the records of the period.”

“A spirited piece of work, to which much conscientious search has been devoted and which displays sobriety of judgment in dealing with the motives of individuals placed in desperate circumstances. Though Miss Marks as a rule writes clearly, if rather colloquially, she is guilty of an obscure allusion or two.”

“She has produced a book which is very readable and interesting in spite of obvious faults. The style, which is equally free from the dignity which was formerly and the dullness which is now thought appropriate to history, is too often careless and even slipshod. The arrangement is not happy. There is a disregard of proportion and not seldom a superfluity of unimportant detail. It is the most serious defect of the book that the author writes throughout as a partisan.”

“It is apparent that this work violates the most fundamental requirements of modern scholarship. Nor is it in minor points more satisfactory. Gross blunders, glaring inconsistencies and ill-considered conclusions abound. While the narrative is lively, its style is more undignified than that usually countenanced by the Muse of history.”

“Thoroughness, fullness, and fairness are the distinctive characteristics [of the book] which into the bargain is written with a keen senseof the dramatic value of the great events of twenty years whose history she narrates.”

“Miss Marks has studied the period thoroughly, and her work can hardly fail to take a permanent place among the authorities on the subject.”

Marriott, John A. R.Life and times of Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland. *$2.25. Putnam.

7–25683.

“Mr. Marriott has not only written a life of the young statesman whose career and character inspired one of Matthew Arnold’s most brilliant essays, but he has also given us a masterly treatise upon one of the most absorbingly interesting periods of English history,” (N. Y. Times) viz., “the times of Laud and of Strafford, of vexed issues in church and state, of the petition of rights and the grand remonstrance.... Among the most charming of his chapters are those describing Falkland’s existence before the revolution, in his well-loved home at Great Tew.” (Lond. Times.)

“Mr. Marriott has done a real service in conveying to us in a volume of absorbing human interest so much of the vital charm and personality of the man. He has managed in masterly fashion to disentangle the real points at issue. He has given us an estimate of Falkland’s character that bears the impress of truth.”

“In the industrious and sympathetic analysis of Falkland himself, of his character and the part he played, Mr. Marriott’s work appears to us to suffer from the fact that he sets out with a strong preconception, a preconception founded, no doubt, upon close and loving study before he began his book.”

“This is a delightful book, on a delightful subject. Mr. Marriott is a historian of the new school in so far as he is a student and scholar; but, unlike many of his contemporaries, not so far as to be a scientific pedant. He never forgets the importance of the personal element, and is a painter no less than a critic.”

“The facts are well presented, the characters clearly drawn, but the transmuting skill is not present that would make literature of one of the richest themes in English history.”

“May well be deemed a representative type of the highest literary scholarship of our time.”

“There is thus ample reason for the biography now written by Mr. J. A. R. Marriott. It is not a book of inspiring interest.” H. Addington Bruce.

“We have no fault to find with Mr. Marriott’s graceful biography of one of the most interesting figures in a fascinating age except the air of confessorship and greatness eclipsed by a conspiracy of detraction which he throws around the ‘apostle of moderation and martyr of the via media.’”

“In pleading the claims of Falkland to consistency and foresight he has produced a sober and well-balanced study of those times, so sorely out of joint, against which his hero was doomed to struggle in vain.”

Marsh, Harriet B.Point of view in modern education. 60c. Public school.

“Consists of a collection of lectures delivered before Mothers clubs. It is an attempt to state in simple concrete terms the changes in ideas in education brought about by fundamental, philosophical, scientific, social and religious thought.”—Bookm.

“Despite the naïve manner in which most complex problems of science, of ethics, or of social, practical or economic relationships are settled, the lectures are at least suggestive and give a point of view of education differing from the formal and mechanical one.”

“There is much sound advice and instruction in these pages, which will repay the study of a teacher.”

Marsh, Richard.Who killed Lady Poynder? †$1.50. Appleton.

7–26342.

“‘Who killed Lady Poynder?’ is a story of nearly 130,000 words, constructed on the principle which has produced so many rattling stories in the past, that of supplying really damning evidence against every person, male or female, who has any connection with the plot at all. Lady Poynder was shot in her own house in London. The author’s ingenuity is expended in showing how many persons had or might have had the opportunity and motive for the murder.”—Nation.

“Granting one tremendous coincidence—a coincidence of coincidences, in fact—the reasoning is plausible and the tale entertaining enough. But in respect to method it is a horrible example of the effect of trying to put a novel of mystery and a novel of manners between the same covers.”

“A promising situation, surely, for a vigorous minded novelist, and Mr. Richard Marsh is quite equal to it in the remainder of the book.”

Marshall, H. E.Island story: a child’s history of England; with col. pictures by A. S. Forrest. *$2.50. Stokes.

7–35150.

A child’s history of England to be placed not at the lesson-book end of the shelf, but with “Robinson Crusoe” and the like,—so the preface suggests.

“The especial value of this book is that the stories include legendary as well as historical events. Well written, though with no particular quality of style; beautifully made as to paper and print, but illustrated by poor colored pictures.”

“It is not a history, if by that we mean facts and dates alone, but if we want motives as well, and the personality of the chief actors, then this thick ornamental book accomplishes its aim admirably.”

“It is eminently readable, a success, we would say, in what looks much easier than it is, telling a story in simple words.”

*Marshall, Herbert Menzies, and Marshall, Hester.Cathedral cities of France.*$3.50. Dodd.

7–32829.

A finely illustrated book of French cathedral cities which serves to enlighten the stay-at-home tourist and to refresh the memory of one who has covered the ground.

“Is one of the best of its class. [The authors’] very lack of familiarity with the country might make their original notes of travel the more valuable, as they are evidently intelligent as well as artistic observers.”

“The author seems oppressed by the weight of her authorities.”

“Her knowledge of architecture is singularly accurate and discriminating.”

“The writing is simple and dignified; the pictures are in some cases clear and attractive, but in others show that blotchy, messy surface which is still the bane of most color printing.”

“The pictures have a charm of their own, even to those who are familiar with the most famous of the buildings with which they deal in so original and unconventional a way.”

“The authors of this book have been more successful than many of their predecessors. They have lingered in the localities and have fortified their observation, by some study of what others have written. Unfortunately, though they always indicate quotations, they by no means always mention whence they came. We regret that Mr. Marshall’s great skill as a draughtsman is often neutralized by the failure of the medium he has chosen to convey what he was clever enough to perceive.”

Marshall, John.Constitutional decisions; ed. by Joseph P. Cotton, jr. 2 v. ea. *$5. Putnam.

5–39509.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“A compilation of the constitutional decisions of Marshall is well worth the making. It seems captious to mention two typographical errors—in volume one, page 255, where, ‘1858’ is printed for ‘1758,’ and in volume two, page 1, where ‘1875’ appears instead of ‘1775.’” Frederick C. Hicks.

Marston, Edward.Fishing for pleasure and catching it, and two chapters on angling in North Wales, by R. B. Marston. *$1.25. Scribner.

6–34385.

“The book is quite varied in its contents, turning aside from the author’s own angling experiences to extracts from the nature books of William J. Long, paraphrases of portions of ‘The song of Hiawatha,’ and other not very intimately related subjects.”—Nation.

“Readers who know how pleasantly Mr. E. Marston can write need not have his new volume any further recommended.”

Marti, Karl.Religion of the Old Testament: its place among the religions of the nearer East. (Crown theological lib., no. 18.) *$1.25. Putnam.

7–37540.

“A sketch giving a bird’s-eye view of the development of Israel’s religion in its relation to other religions of western Asia. The point of view is that of the historical school of which Marti is a leading representative.”—Bib. World.

“An interesting and suggestive sketch.”

“The novice will scarcely appreciate the skill with which Professor Marti has selected salient facts and the features which need to be kept prominent, and avoided confusing the learner by a mass of details.”

“It is a pity that so good a book should be published without an index.”

“It is a valuable contribution to a great theme by one who has devoted his life to its study. Not only the general reader, for whom it is especially intended, but the theologian will learn not a little from its pages.”

Martin, Benjamin E., and Martin, Charlotte M.Stones of Paris in history and letters.$2. Scribner.

6–35587.

A new edition of a book which traces the history and letters of Paris thru its structures. There are numerous illustrations from photographs.

“An entirely admirable book.” Harriet Waters Preston.

“The streets of Paris have also been carefully scanned and a most entertaining story has been created out of the assembled material and has been skillfully synthesized.”

“In all essential respects the work holds its own.”

“We have a good deal more of the real social and political history of the French capital than is found in many a more pretentious historical work.”

“The charm of these records is unquestionable, and for this reason, as we have said before, the faults in their construction may be overlooked.”

Martin, George Madden.Abbie Ann. †$1.50. Century.

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