E

Earle, Mrs. C. W.Letters to young and old. *$2.50. Dutton.

Letters such as Mrs. Earle has been accustomed to write to her friends and family are here collected into a volume which covers a wide field of interest. The seven sections include letters from Germany, letters upon gardening, health, diet, children, art, and life in general.

“Altogether, it is a delightful, gossiping olla podrida.”

“Here is a novel and clever idea in bookmaking.”

“Those who liked her three books of potpourri will find it interesting, but no one to whom the three former volumes did not appeal should even try to read this one.”

East, Alfred.Art of landscape painting in oil color. *$3. Lippincott.

“Mr. East has not attempted in this book to write of landscape painting in its elementary stages. His aim has been rather to give the already qualified student an insight into certain truths which have been revealed to him in his own practice of the art. To correct a false attitude towards nature, and to help the reader to understand the importance of technique, has been the aim of this book. It is illustrated by eight landscapes and a page of studies of effects in colour, and many halftone pictures, chiefly from the painter’s works; also an admirable selection from those pencil sketches in which he excels.”—Int. Studio.

“The letterpress is somewhat elementary. The book is redeemed, however, by a genuine love for the subject.”

“We cannot think of any painter who could be a better guide than Mr. East. He is not contemptuous of the beginner, and he has a literary faculty which enables him to explain his meaning very clearly.”

“This work should be of great use to many a student, amateur and artist. Mr. East writes with distinctness, and has the power of making his reader understand clearly the various processes, mental and technical, which he uses for the construction of a landscape.”

*Eastman, Charles Alexander.Old Indian days.†$1.50. McClure.

7–33219.

The chivalry of the Indian warrior and the womanliness of the Indian woman are subjects which Mr. Eastman sets forth with authority and sentiment. In an idealized sense his tales become more “than mere narrations of savage exploits and records of the legends and traditions, beliefs and practices, of a primitive people.” (Outlook.)

“We feel personally grateful for the refreshment afforded by more than one exquisitely idyllic tale among the dozen, or so in his volume.”

*Eckstorm, Mrs. Fannie (Hardy).David Libbey, Penobscot woodsman and river-driver. *60c. Am. Unitar.

7–23501.

Another figure for the galaxy of “true American types.” David Libbey is a Maine woodsman who “met all the demands of son, husband, father, brother, friend, citizen and soldier, and yet had time for self-education, for æsthetic culture, and for the exercise of a talent by no means meagre.”

Eddy, Arthur Jerome.Tales of a small town by one who lived there. †$1.50. Lippincott.

7–30989.

The small town element is here in the fact that every one knows the business of everyoneelse be it the lawyer who connives to secure the drunkard’s farm through his wife before she has actually determined on a divorce suit, or the adventurous young minx with the peroxide hair who flirts with her uncle and her staid next door neighbor to the distress of their wives. The stories are interesting although not wholly pleasing for the admirable traits of the villagers are subordinated to their unlovely ones.

Edwardes, Marian, comp. Summary of the literatures of modern Europe (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain); from the origins to 1400. *$2.50. Dutton.

7–20970.

“The work is essentially an annotated and classified bibliography, with references to the most authoritative scholarly discussions of the writings included. It presents an immense mass of historical and critical information in a form that is both compact and convenient for use.”—Dial.

“In spite of these ... defects ... the compilation is distinctly serviceable. With careful revision it might be made indispensable.”

“Enough has been said, we believe, to show how defective this work is, notwithstanding its occasionally useful citations of recent literature.”

“A very careful and painstaking work, and should be found useful by students.”

Edwards, A. Herbage.Kakemono: Japanese sketches. *$1.75. McClurg.

7–29123.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“A complete view of Japan, the book does not give; the unpleasant features are left for others to portray. But that omission makes it the more agreeable to read.”

“A series of slight sketches, more ambitious than successful.”

Edwards, Matilda Betham-.Literary rambles in France. il. *$2.50 McClurg.

7–36931.

Miss Betham-Edwards, who gave us a few years ago “Home-life in France,” now gives equally intimate glimpses of the personality of some of the French men and women of letters. Some of the suggestive chapter headings are: Flaubert’s literary workshop, On the track of Balzac—Limoges. The genesis of Eugènie Grandet, In the footsteps of George Sand, Brantôme and The story of the Marseillaise.

“She gives with perfect success the atmosphere of the places and people that she writes about. That is, we imagine, all that she set out to do, and in any case all that was needed.”

“Is in our opinion one of the best of her long series of monographs on French life and scenery. Her tendency to facile literary allusion takes her readers far from the scene she is describing. This is destructive of the French atmosphere which ought to characterize her books of travel.”

“It is a pleasure to discover that [it] belongs, not to the appalling multitude of ‘popular guides,’ but to the small and delightful company of artistic and illuminating travellers’ sketches. They have, in the first place, the note of spontaneity.”

“There never was a more staunch champion of Protestantism than Miss Betham-Edwards; and we take leave to think that a writer who hardly acknowledges any other religion in France cannot be said to know France thoroughly.”

Edwards, Owen.Short history of Wales.*75c. Univ. of Chicago press.

A brief history of only a little over a hundred pages for those who have never read any Welsh history.

“The pages on Wales at the present time are unquestionably the most interesting. The style is simple, lucid, and picturesque. Those for whom the book is primarily intended—readers ignorant of Welsh and Latin—will be led to knowledge of pleasant paths.”

“His attitude is still that of the North Walian. Despite such trifling blemishes the book is excellent.”

Edwards, William Seymour.Through Scandinavia to Moscow.**$1.50. Clarke.

6–37647.

Entertaining observations made by Mr. Edwards as he and his bride traveled in five weeks thru Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, to St. Petersburg and back to London by way of Berlin, Hamburg, and Amsterdam. The account is given in the form of letters written by the author to his father and is illustrated with snap shots taken en route.

“The personal touches and impressions—interesting incidents well told—make an unusually attractive account of a traveler’s experiences. Here and there an occasional careless statement threatens to shatter the reader’s faith in the accuracy of the book as a whole. On the whole the book is worth reading. Its story is pleasantly told, with many interesting items well worth remembering.”

“Commonplace in many respects.”

“A simple, straightforward account.”

Eeden, Frederik van.Quest.$1.50. Luce, J. W.

7–15321.

The symbolism which abounds in this book reminds one of Ibsen. A little boy seeks diligently from fairy guides a solution to the riddle of the universe and its manifold manifestations. As he grows older his desire for understanding is no less keen but for the fairy thoughts of imagination are substituted the troll-ideas of grotesque human realities. Finally among the sordid commonplaces he falls in with a companion who is a “modern reincarnation of the Christ.” There is a very human love tale, the romance of the imaginative Johannes and Marjon, a little circus girl.

“A remarkable work of sustained fancy, the book presents no new ‘Weltanschauung,’ it brings no new message. Dr. van Eeden has dreamt a dream, he has not seen a vision. The translation is on the whole, admirable.” A. Schade van Westrum.

“‘The quest’ as a romance is, by reason of its loose construction and its generally feeble character drawing, a negligible quantity. As a work of philosophy it is suggestive, but tautological and obscure. As a social study on the other hand, it possesses exceptional value; is, in fact, one of the most comprehensive arraignments of the hypocrisy and corruption of the age that has yet been written.”

“There is much jog-trot indeterminate narrative as well as much didacticism, in the third part.”

“The things that hold and charm are the glimpses of the quaint mind of ‘de kleine Johannes’—little John—the scenes from Dutch life, the pictures of the mountebanks’ way, the hints of things good and bad that stirredour little John; the flights of fancy, now gracious and now horribly gruesome; the homely simplicity of the narrative of the hero’s love affairs. Almost equally pleasing is much of the homelier satire. But there is other satire that falls dully on the mind like the rhapsodies of Markus the prophet.”

“Weary wastes of long-drawn-out commonplace separate the brilliant and beautiful passages. Pages of puerile, pottering pedantic dialogue that might have stepped out of a Rollo book discourage the interest. The result is a work diffuse and discursive—not to say sprawling—and obscure.” Alvan F. Sanborn.

“The writer’s intentions are obviously excellent and his philosophy sound. To Dutch readers his performance is doubtless excellent as well, but to us it is so involved, prolix and tiresome as to be absolutely impossible. The barriers between our minds and his book are quite impassable.”

“Delicately fanciful, and deeply spiritual besides, ‘The quest’ merits wide attention.”

Eggleston, George Cary.Jack Shelby; a story of the Indiana back-woods. †$1.50. Lothrop.

6–20455.

An exciting tale of the adventurous pioneer days of 1836.

“Not well written, but gives an interesting, and probably accurate picture of pioneer life.”

“Is of a good kind and well done.”

Eggleston, George Cary.Love is the sum of it all: a plantation romance. il. †$1.50. Lothrop.

7–32710.

A plantation romance whose scene is laid in Virginia following the reconstruction period. “Warren Rhett, the hero, is a young Virginian, enlightened, enfranchised, energized by education in the north and a cosmopolitan experience as a bridge builder, not solely as the lover of the good and beautiful heroine.” (N. Y. Times.) The heroine is the daughter of a sculptor; the love-making is uninterrupted in Warren’s step-mother’s home where he is recuperating and incidentally rescuing the plantation from decay and bankruptcy.

“On the whole, the book is wholesome as well as pretty. If there is not a deal of excitement in it, there is plenty of suggestive observation.”

“As a social critic, Mr. Eggleston has nothing new or important to say. He does not even say what he has to say well. As a novel it is impossible to praise it.”

Elbe, Louis.Future life in the light of ancient wisdom and modern science. **$1.20. McClurg.

6–9285.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

Eldridge, William Tillinghast.Hilma; il. by Harrison Fisher and Martin Justice. †$1.50. Dodd.

7–9545.

“This book belongs in that class of which Anthony Hope’s ‘Prisoner of Zenda’ is the prototype. A brave and resourceful American is thrown into the dynastic plots of a petty imaginary nation in eastern Europe, and plots and counterplots develop in rapid and thrilling succession. One does not need to guess that the American foils the political villains who try to keep Princess Hilma from her throne, nor that he loves the beautiful young queen, and that both sacrifice love to duty.”—Outlook.

“The author has studied the ‘Prisoner of Zenda’ carefully, and has tried to produce another one; even the ‘Dolly dialogue’ form of conversation is attempted. The result written in American language is terrible.”

“Perhaps above the average of its kind.”

“Nobody needs quarrel with the story merely because it is an imitation. The important thing is that it is a good one.”

“The story is told in nervous and sometimes ungrammatical English, and its nomenclature rivals that of ‘Graustark’ for weirdness.” Wm. M. Payne.

“A particular trouble is that the dialogue ... is tremendously labored and disconcertingly pointless. The author, with all the industry and good will in the world, lacks both the necessary invention and the highly desirable knowledge of the hearts of men and women.”

“The tale is built up in a workmanlike way, and has a reasonable number of thrills and sudden turns.”

Eliot, Sir Charles Norton E.Letters from the Far East. *$2.40. Longmans.

7–30811.

“This volume consists of letters originally published in the Westminster gazette during a recent visit to China and Japan, undertaken with the special object of studying the languages and creeds of those countries and the development which Buddhism has undergone.”—N. Y. Times.

“The volume is one of singular interest, but displays a fanciful and slightly paradoxical intellect. The author’s reflections upon Mohammedanism and his panegyric on Hinduism will startle readers, but provoke reflection to a higher degree than do most works of travel.”

“Among the chapters on China those descriptive of Canton, Peking, and Chinese literature will be found particularly entertaining. The value of the book would have much increased by an index. There are sixteen illustrations, very good reproductions of photographs.”

“A studious and thoughtful examination of many sides of Far Eastern thought and life, written by a thoroughly competent observer. The book has not yet been written about Far Eastern matters that does not challenge criticism or controversy on points; but it is rare to find one so little provocative in that respect and so greatly instructive as this collection of letters.”

“Among the numerous works that have been devoted of recent years to the problems of the Far East, his unpretentious little book takes a very high place.”

Eliot, Charles W.Four American leaders.*80c. Am. Unitar.

6–42960.

Commemorative addresses on Franklin, Washington, Channing and Emerson, which present the four Americans from the point of view of their intellectual contributions in shaping the political, moral, and intellectual trend of the Republic.

“Inspiring addresses.”

“While the book contains suggestions apt to stir up antagonism in certain minds, and while we are made to feel that the author’s sympathies are at times misplaced and that he lacks something of the spirit of the true prophet, we must confess to the beauty of his style, his true sense of proportion and his fine analytical powers within certain limitations.” Robert E. Bisbee.

“We have rarely read a book which could inspire a more profound respect for what is lastingly noble in humanity than this.”

“These papers are written—all of them—in the lucid, direct and vigorous style which we have come to associate with their author, and will be sure of the careful and respectful attention to which everything that comes from his strong, well-disciplined, well-stored and independent mind is entitled.” Horatio S. Krans.

Eliot, Charles W.Great riches. **75c. Crowell.

6–34713.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“President Eliot may be a great executive officer, but we cannot count him among great and true thinkers.”

“It treats a topic of unmistakable importance and large public interest in a spirit of sane and hopeful Americanism.”

“The economic analysis seems to be faulty. The writer assumes that the riches of to-day are of a new kind, which carry with them no visible responsibility.”

Eliot, George.Romola; historically il. and ed., with introd. and notes, by Guido Biagi. 2v. *$3. McClurg.

6–42367.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“The illustrations, 160 in all, are well reproduced. Furthermore, they are for the most part adequately described, and in every case are, for their own sakes, worth possessing; but many of them are wholly irrelevant, or are made so by being recklessly misplaced.”

“The letter-press is excellent, and the whole work has a scholarly character.”

Elkington, Ernest Way.Savage South seas; painted by N. H. Hardy, described by E. Way Elkington. *$6. Macmillan.

A volume whose text and illustrations are devoted to the native peoples of British New Guinea, the Solomon islands and the New Hebrides. The text “describes the appearance, customs, habits, characteristics and prospects of the savage natives, with some account of their past history, shows how little real impression the missionaries have made upon them, tells what the islands offer to the white man who is willing to work, and succeeds fairly well in giving an idea of the subtle charm which the South Sea islands can exercise over the Anglo-Saxon.” (N. Y. Times.) The illustrations “representing every phase of native life, industries, amusements, and religious ceremonies, as well as the pile houses and the scenery, enable one very vividly to realize it.” (Nation.)

“It is the most beautiful of the ‘colour books’ that we have seen, and excels the majority of them by far in the excellence of its letter press.”

“It is a good book of a bad kind—the usual kind; there are hundreds of the sort, but few, we may add, so well executed, for the author has avoided many faults into which he might have fallen—the enthusiasms, the prolixities, and the vulgarities which are common to the kind.”

“The authoritative tone and the evidently intimate knowledge of native customs are proof positive of something beyond a cursory observation of life among the islanders.”

“In this book the illustrations so far exceed the text in importance and quality that little need to be said concerning the latter, which contains many inaccuracies and misprints, is written in poor English, and generally falls far below the level of other volumes contained in this series.” C. G. S.

“It is written entertainingly, with plenty of anecdote interspersed.”

“The artist has given us many accurate drawings of the genuine native in his appropriate setting. Nor does he sacrifice accuracy of detail for mere pictorial effect; thus the student may feel confident in trusting his details of ornament, dress, house-structure and the like, indeed in some instances new facts are incidentally given to the student in the plates. The letterpress is a chatty compilation of no value to the serious student, as it is full of mistakes of various kinds and there is no evidence that Mr. Elkington has visited the places of which he writes.”

*Elliot, George F. S.Chile: its history and development, natural features, products, commerce, and present condition; with an introd. by Martin Hume. *$3. Scribner.

A history of Chile with full description of existing conditions. “Mr. Scott Elliot deals principally with the romantic history of his favourite republic. The adventures of President O’Higgins and of Cochrane have formed the theme of many well-told tales. O’Higgins was the natural son of Ambrose Higgins, Marquis de Osorno, Viceroy of Peru.” (Ath.)

“The illustrations are selected with but slight regard for the text, and in several cases are put where they mar the author’s work. Those who wish to know the natural features and economic conditions of the country will be able to learn more than they can carry away in their minds, for Mr. Elliot is a naturalist as well as an observer of industrial and political phenomena. Of the historical portion of the work we must be content with saying that the author does not seem to us to do justice to the work of the church in Chile.”

Elliott, Delia Buford.Adele Hamilton. $1.25. Neale.

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