Chapter 19

20–8431

“This book is primarily a psychological study and yet it is full of biographical detail related to the career of Mark Twain, and supplements the biography written by Mr Paine. It should be stated, however, that Mr Brooks did not undertake this task in the spirit of a chronicler. He started, rather, with the aim of offering a logical explanation of Mark Twain’s well-known tendency to pessimism.” (R of Rs) “The main idea in the book is that Mark Twain’s career was a tragedy—a tragedy for himself and a tragedy for mankind. Everyman who does not live up to his highest possibilities is living in a state of sin. Mark Twain was, therefore, one of the chief of sinners, because his possibilities were so great and he fell so short. There were two villains in Mark Twain’s tragedy—his mother and his wife. His mother was more eager to have him good than to have him great; his wife wanted him to be a gentleman. Between them they tamed the lion and made him perform parlor tricks. This hypothesis is worked out by Mr Brooks.” (N Y Times)

“Having set up his theory, everything in the humorist’s career is made to contribute to it in the most plausible, ingenious, and stimulating way; the book is so able and interesting that to read it is a delight. Yet, for me, as I strive to realize Mark Twain, remembering the man and reading the author to find the man, the result is not satisfactory, nor do I think Mr Brooks has penetrated to the heart of the secret. He has succumbed to the danger which always confronts the thesis-maker who has to subdue data so that they may buttress his belief.” R: Burton

“Not only a subtle psychological study of one of the most prominent figures in the life of the past century, but also a valuable acquisition to the essay realm of American history.”

Reviewed by R. M. Lovett

“This ‘Ordeal’ is so brilliant a book and comes so near the truth in its general outlines that it seems almost an excess of seriousness to point out certain excesses of seriousness into which Mr Brooks has been carried by his ardor for the dignity of the literary profession. But it should be pointed out that his criticism is very far from being disinterested. He means to bring an adequate indictment against the sort of society which discourages and represses a man of genius.” C. V. D.

“Unfortunately Van Wyck Brooks took Mark Twain’s humorously megalomaniac utterances for serious expressions of a megalomaniac soul, and, as it seems to me, utterly missed the most promising lead in his mountain of ore. But there were riches enough for his purpose, nevertheless.” Alvin Johnson

“Many books have been written about Mark Twain; but with the exception of Paine’s biography this work by Mr Van Wyck Brooks is the most important and the most essential. Whether one agrees with Mr Brooks’s thesis or not—and I do not—one must admire and one ought to profit by the noble and splendid purpose animating it. It is a call to every writer and to every man and woman not to sin against their own talents.” W: L. Phelps

“While Mr Brooks is in no sense an artist in words, he is a dramatic expositor, and he owns a thesis which attracts to its defense an inspiritingly large number of crisp facts and observations. His book will interest and serve even the unbeliever.”

“Mr Brooks seems to have adopted a thesis which he feels bound to support by ingenious and plausible argument. As a clever and brilliant application of critical methods to a literary career, the book has few equals in American literature.”

“Although it is easy to dissent from Mr Brooks’s interpretation of Clemens’s biography, the book aims to provide something of the serious criticism which is so essential not only to American letters but to American culture. It is somewhat overtheorized and finespun. The ideas would be clearer if the book were more condensed in expression and data.”

BROWER, HARRIETTE MOORE.[2]Self-help in piano study. il *$1.50 Stokes 786

20–17977

The book is in two parts: Practical lessons in piano technic and Plain talks with piano teachers and students. It consists of reprinted matter from the Musical Observer and Musical America in the form of brief essays, many of them written in response to requests from teachers and students. Among the chapters of Part 1 are: The principles of piano playing; The beginner; Use of wrist and arms; Scale playing. Part 2 has talks on: On teaching; Laying the foundation; Points on technical training; Touch and tone, etc.

BROWER, HARRIETTE MOORE.Vocal mastery. il *$3 Stokes 784.9

20–19844

This book is composed of a number of talks with famous singers with a view to obtaining “their personal ideas concerning their art and its mastery, and, when possible, some inkling as to the methods by which they themselves have arrived at the goal.” Among those interviewed are Enrico Caruso, Geraldine Farrar, Amelita Galli-Curci, Giuseppe de Luca, Luisa Tetrazzini, Antonio Scotti, Reinald Werrenrath, and Sophie Braslau. A group entitled, With the master teachers, includes David Bispham, Oscar Saenger, Herbert Witherspoon, Yeatman Griffith, and J. H. Duval. Twenty photographs illustrate the book. Miss Brower is author also of “Piano mastery,” a book of similar purpose for pianists, and other books for musicians.

BROWN, ABBIE FARWELL.Heart of New England. *$1.50 Houghton 811

20–16517

This collection of poems is a tribute in verse to the Pilgrim tercentenary, taking the reader from the Pilgrim’s separation from old England, to the present generation’s reunion thru the war. The first group of poems deals entirely with New England and some of the poems are: Pilgrim mothers; Pirate treasure; Grandmother’s house; Grandmother’s garden; Pine music; The blazed trail. The second group contains war songs, among them: Peace—with a sword; From the canteen; Prayer for America. The book ends with The rock of liberty: a Pilgrim ode, 1620–1920.

“Many who cannot find pleasure in more daring modern poets should find contentment in the work of Miss Brown. When much of today’s poetry is forgotten her verse will wait for him who wishes to know the true New England.” N. J. O’Conor

BROWN, ALICE.Homespun and gold. *$2 Macmillan

20–19504

“‘Homespun and gold’ is an appropriate title for Miss Alice Brown’s new collection of stories, considering the homely material she has used and the glint of hope that persists in an atmosphere of impending tragedy. The people and scenes are all of New England, and the situations deal with the suppressed desires, the thwarted hopes, and the hated sacrifices made lovable, of a people in whom the Puritan tradition is not entirely dead.” (Freeman) Contents: The wedding ring; Mary Felicia; A homespun wizardry; Red poppies; Ann Eliza; The return of father; The deserters; The house of the bride; A question of wills; A brush of paint; The path of stars; The widow’s third; White pebbles; Confessions; Up on the mountain.

“Because they describe life rather than interpret it they fail to move one profoundly. The reader closes the book impressed with its sustained excellence; the sure touch of an experienced craftsman is apparent on every page, but it throws no clear light upon the enigma of human destiny.” L. M. R.

“Taken together, they form an interesting picture of New England village life. It is a picture far less grim than some others we have seen.”

“They are humorous, human, and true.”

“There is very little description in any of the stories—dialog is used almost wholly and this aids in the sharp differentiation of the characters. A homely idiom, fast becoming obsolete, adds to this effect.”

BROWN, ALICE.Wind between the worlds. *$2 (2c) Macmillan

20–11071

In various ways the characters of this story are interested in the life hereafter and in communication with the dead; and the reactions on the living, when the quest becomes too ardent, constitute its moral. A bereaved mother, one of whose sons has been killed in the war, pins all her faith to automatic writing, in the hope of getting a message from him. Her relations with her husband become strained, her nerves threaten to give way. Her secretary, who practices the writing, has through it so lost her grip on the higher potentialities of life, that she no longer discriminates between genuine and fraudulent practices. A scientist has taken the matter up from the scientific side and from seeking communication with his dead wife has been led deeper and deeper into his investigations, and becomes almost crazed and totally irresponsible. For love of him his daughter surrounds herself with a fabric of lies from which only the love of an unusual, divining young man and her father’s death, extricate her. For the bereaved mother and her family the situation is saved by the penetrating wisdom of an old woman.

“Written with characteristic deftness and charm.”

“In ‘The wind between the worlds’ Miss Brown has, despite the intricacy of her theme, sacrificed neither her story to her problem, nor her problem to her story. Devotees of the cult doubtless will not approve of it, for its hints at fraud will seem to them to be unjust, and it suggests little sympathy on the part of the novelist with the cause they have so near at heart. To others, however, it will appear as a sensible and skilfully imaginative exposition of a vital subject.”

“If one can forget the shoddiness of the material there are several virtues that might be pointed out. The book will undoubtedly please disciples of the formula school of fiction.” H. S. G.

“The ‘plot portion’ of the story is the weakest part of it. There are times when it seems manufactured. But the character drawing is admirable. That the novel is admirably written and the atmosphere of Boston, where the scene is laid, excellently reproduced, of course goes without saying.” L. M. Field

“The love-plot is singular, but not convincing or quite well managed.”

Reviewed by H. W. Boynton

“Madame Brooke, the grandmother of the dead boy, is much the most interesting and unconventional character in the book, and in her the author depicts an exclusively American type.”

“The technique is admirable; but the breath of life is rarely present. The characters are intellectually conceived, the story is original, the psychology shows insight; there is capital description, reasonably good dialogue, situations both interesting and dramatic; the tale moves without faltering; and yet, the breath of life being absent for the most part, the story is unreal.”

BROWN, SIR ARTHUR WHITTEN, and BOTT, ALAN JOHN.Flying the Atlantic in sixteen hours. il *$1.50 (4c) Stokes 629.1

20–8254

In this account of the prize-winner in the first competitive flight across the Atlantic, in a Vickers-Vimy machine. Sir Arthur Brown says: “We have realized that our flight was but a solitary fingerpost to the air-traffic—safe, comfortable and voluminous—that in a few years will pass above the Atlantic ocean.” The last three chapters of the book are devoted to a discussion of aircraft in commerce and transportation. Contents: Some preliminary events; St John’s; The start; Evening; Night; Morning; The arrival; Aftermath of arrival; The navigation of aircraft; The future of transatlantic flight; The air age; illustrations.

“One leaves the book with the sensation of having been in the midst of remarkable accomplishment.” D. L. M.

BROWN, DEMETRA (VAKA) (MRS KENNETH BROWN), and PHOUTRIDES, ARISTIDES, trs. Modern Greek stories. (Interpreters’ ser.) *$1.90 (3c) Duffield

20–26756

The book has a foreword by Demetra Vaka describing the emotional and intellectual history of the Greeks from the time they lost their independence to the Turks in 1453 to the present. Modern Greece, she says, owes her independence and inspiration to her poets and other writers and Mount Olympus, by becoming the stronghold of the outlaws and insurgents against Turkish rule, became in a new sense a sacred mountain. Of the authors of the eight stories selected for the volume, all but three are still living. The stories are: Sea; The sin of my mother; The god-father; Mangalos; Forgiveness; Angelica; A man’s death; The frightened soul; She that was homesick.

“All these stories are pervaded with a fatalism, a sombreness, a prepossession unredeemed by that super-sight that we associate with the Greeks of old. If they are exact transcriptions of the instincts and beliefs of the Greek people of today they have far to go before the heights are reached.” B. D.

“Without awakening at any point intense curiosity or poignant interest they hold the attention by their sincerity, truth, simplicity, and an indefinable democratic and human tone. They are admirably translated in pure idiomatic English.”

“Charming tales. The stories are fascinating in their strange beauty.”

“These stories are beautiful as literature; they are fascinating as documents of a people’s inner life.” B. L.

BROWN, EDNA ADELAIDE.That affair at St Peter’s. il *$1.75 (4c) Lothrop

20–7761

This story is told by Preston Perrin, the junior warden of St Peter’s, a church in the suburban town of Hollywood. The tale has to do with the theft of St Peter’s communion plate between two morning services on a June Sunday. Various persons had access to the safe where the silver was kept, including Sophie Dennison, whom no one, least of all, Preston, could connect with such a crime, Thompson, the organist, Anna, a Girl’s friendly girl, and of course the rector. Fred Farrell. A detective is called in, but his conventional methods prove little. Finally, the silver is returned and the affair is explained very naturally and credibly, the whole excitement lasting less than a week.

“The book is old-fashioned, but—its mystery appearing early—will be finished if started.”

“A very interesting and well written story. All characters are attractive and a spice of love-making, withal, completes the value of the work as a story of human interest.”

BROWN, EVERETT SOMERVILLE.Constitutional history of the Louisiana purchase, 1803–1812. $2.50 Univ. of Cal. 973.4 A20–742

“The purpose of this monograph is to discuss the most important of the constitutional questions which arose as a consequence of the purchase of Louisiana, and to show how the statesmen and legislators in charge of affairs at that time interpreted the constitution in answering those questions. Much has been written on the Louisiana purchase but no connected narrative of its constitutional aspects has hitherto appeared.” (Preface) The author has confined his study principally to the lower part of the province, that organized as Orleans territory and afterwards admitted as the state of Louisiana. He has utilized much hitherto unpublished material. There is a bibliography of thirteen pages, in which this material, together with published works, is cited. An appendix reproduces the Senate debate on the Breckinridge bill in 1804, and the volume is indexed. It is published as volume 10 of the University of California publications in history, of which Herbert E. Bolton is editor.

“Dr Brown has covered a wide range of manuscript and printed material, and handled it with a just sense of proportion and a keen scent for the significant. I do wish, however, that aspirants for the three magic letters would not be so oppressed by the solemnity of their quest as to neglect the light and humorous aspects of their subject.” S. E. Morison

“A careful and elaborate monograph.” H. E. E.

BROWN, GEORGE EDWARD. Book of R. L. S.; works, travels, friends, and commentators. il *$2.50 (3c) Scribner

20–6150

A book of Stevenson miscellany, alphabetically arranged. “The chief aim of this book is to provide a commentary on his works as far as possible from Stevenson’s own standpoint by showing the circumstances in which they were written, their history in his hands, and his judgments on them.... The scheme of the volume also embraces references to members of his family, and to his more or less intimate friends as well as the places directly associated with his wandering life.” (Preface) The comments vary in length from brief paragraphs to several pages. Subjects covered more or less at length include the Appin murder, on which “Kidnapped” was based; “The black arrow”; Alan Breck; “Catriona”; Father Damien; Dedications; “Kidnapped”; Samoa; San Francisco; In the South seas; and “Treasure island”; and there are also notes on Barrie, Meredith, Kipling, Sidney Colvin, and others. The book has eight illustrations and is indexed.

“The arrangement is handy for reference, and the information sufficiently attractive to repay one who dips into the book for pleasure.”

“Raises the question of how long Stevenson will survive segmentation, mutilation for mottoes, and vivisection in calendars, without impairment of his literary vitality. This volume, fortunately, is a dictionary rather than a dissection.”

“Once you have braced yourself and plunged in, an encyclopedia is delightful reading and so is this ‘Book of R. L. S.’”

“Unless some one does the same thing better, the book will stand; it need fear no rivalry, so far as ready reference is concerned, from more brilliant narratives. Minor shortcomings are offset by his general accuracy and good sense.”

“‘A book of R. L. S.’ is a good compendium of everything that is worth knowing in the life of Stevenson.” B: de Casseres

“Contains a valuable index.” D. K.

“It seems a little odd to find all sorts of information about Stevenson, his friends, and critics arranged under alphabetical headings, as if he were a cookery book or a postal guide. We have at this date quite enough books about Stevenson, and we hope that this will be the last for some time to come.... While Mr Brown’s industry is remarkable, his criticism is not always of the kind we regard as useful.”

“A pleasant and informing study. The arrangement which is so convenient for reference, interferes very little with the book’s readability.”

“The reader is made to feel an intimate acquaintance with that very remarkable author and man.”

“The book serves also as a bibliography, with notes of the values of first editions.”

BROWN, IVOR JOHN CARNEGIE.[2]Meaning of democracy. *$2 McClurg 321.8

(Eng ed 20–4617)

“The lecturer of Oxford tutorial classes attempts to show what democracy implies. He recognizes that the word has come to mean nothing. Having accepted the principle of equality, as the basis of a division of power, he proceeds to outline representative government. He finds in this inevitable delegation of power, three main problems; the demand for general education to make articulate public opinion, the machinery for translating this public opinion into practice and in the third place, the need of curbing those elected to office, so that they will not forget the source of their power.”—Boston Transcript

“An excellent little book.”

“Ivor Brown’s ‘The meaning of democracy’ warms the heart with the new vision of education—education where teacher and students meet as equals.” A. Yezierska

“It is more human, more readable, and more thought-provoking than nine out of ten of the treatises on the same general lines with which it has been our rather arduous privilege to grapple. This is because Mr Brown is neither very whole-hearted nor, happily, very consistent about his self-imposed task. The terrible series of definitions by which he is going to fathom the last recesses of the democratic idea loses itself, like certain eastern rivers, in the desert during the course of the first few chapters; and we can bear with the loss.”

BROWN, NELSON COURTLANDT.Forest products. il *$3.75 Wiley 674

19–15703

A book by the professor of forest utilization, New York state college of forestry. “Some idea of its scope may be obtained from such chapter headings as the following: Wood pulp and paper; Tanning materials; Veneers; Slack and tight cooperage; Naval stores; Wood distillation; Charcoal; Boxes; Cross ties; Poles and piling; Mine timber; Fuel; Shingles; Maple syrup and sugar; Rubber; Dye woods; Excelsior and cork. Under each topic the character and source of the raw material, the tree species involved, the processes of manufacture, the marketing, the utilization, and values are discussed. Whenever any attempts have been made toward standard specifications and grading of the products, these are given in considerable detail. Statistics of production in the United States or of importation from other lands are arranged in convenient tables, and still more important for the scientist is the bibliography which is appended to each chapter.” (Bot Gaz)

“Attractive in appearance, well illustrated, and carefully organized.” G: D. Fuller

BROWN, ROBERT NEAL RUDMOSE.Spitsbergen. il *$5 Lippincott 919.8

20–7933

“This book, from the pen of a British explorer, meets the new demand for information about the mineral resources of this Arctic archipelago, and at the same time gives a good account of the history, exploration and animal and plant life of the country. The author discusses the three ways suggested for settling the political status of Spitsbergen—partition, international control by two or more nations, and annexation by one or other nation. He rejects the first two propositions as not feasible and concludes that the islands should be annexed by either Great Britain or Norway, the choice to be submitted to the League of nations and decided by a mandate to one or other of these powers.”—R of Rs

“Dr Rudmose Brown is a geographer of repute with considerable scientific attainments, whose work in the Antarctic has won recognition, and in this volume he has given us a valuable, lively and most interesting account of the Spitsbergen archipelago. He writes with a restrained enthusiasm inspired by a genuine love of these wild regions which compels our interest.” L. C.-M.

“Since the book was finished before the government of the country was settled it is slightly out of date in this, but is chiefly valuable for the details of history and economic resources.”

“The book states the problem clearly and contains numerous helpful maps and illustrations.”

“Dr Rudmose Brown gives a map showing the principal mining estates according to nationality, but no map showing the distribution of coal, and no geological map. This last seems a curious omission and certainly is a regrettable one. His book may be recommended to the general inquirer and especially to the tourists and health seekers.”

“An interesting and useful book.”

“This is one of those commendable volumes which entertains while it informs the reader.”

BROWNE, EDWARD GRANVILLE.[2]History of Persian literature under Tartar dominion (A. D. 1265–1502). il *$14 Macmillan 891.5

21–509

“The literature of Persia has found a most able and enthusiastic interpreter in Professor Edward G. Browne, of the University of Cambridge, who has already published two exhaustive volumes entitled ‘A literary history of Persia,’ bringing the subject down to the middle of the thirteenth century. Now comes a third, covering the period from 1265 to 1502. It is practically a continuation, if not so in name and form, of the other two standard volumes.” (Nation) “The period dealt with begins immediately after the terrible Mongol invasion under Hulagu, includes the conquests of the redoubtable Tamerlane, and ends with the appearance of the great Shah Ismail, the founder of the Safawi dynasty, as the saviour of his country.” (Spec)

“It must be confessed that it is not easy reading. He could hardly expect it to be a popular piece of literature. But what a glorious feast it provides! He has indeed performed a great and needed work in interpreting this fine people to modern readers.” N. H. D.

“Takes its place by the side of the two earlier volumes as a masterpiece of sound scholarship and critical judgment.” A. V. W. Jackson

“The volume, in short, is worthy of its distinguished author, and sheds a flood of light on an epoch with which even experts are unfamiliar.”

“His treatment of the subject is so direct and so clear that the general reader would never suspect that the ground traversed is mostly new ground, and that the sources both for the history and for the literature are for the most part contained in unpublished manuscripts.”

BROWNE, ROBERT T.Mystery of space. *$4 Dutton 114

19–18843

“It is Mr Browne’s belief that mankind has entered upon a new era in the development of intellect and that new powers of perception and understanding are unfolding in the most advanced members of the race. ‘The intellect’, he says, ‘has but one true divining rod, and that is mathematics,’ and he brings forward his mathematical evidence to prove his contention. He discusses also the genesis and nature of space, devotes a chapter to an exposition of the fourth dimension, another to discussion of non-Euclidian geometry and traces the growth of the notion of hyperspace.”—Springf’d Republican

“The greatest of all latter-day books on space. It is written by a mathematician, a mystic and a thinker, one who, endowed with a tremendous metaphysical imagination, never lets go any point of the threads of reality. Lucid and logical, with a pen that never falters, Mr Browne advances steadily from page to page upon the fortresses of science.” B: de Casseres

“It is excessively irritating that writers on this subject either choose or are forced to employ a vocabulary and a style which are repellent to the reader, and to mix the significant and insignificant into an almost inextricable tangle. Careful and prolonged searching brings forth the fact that Mr Browne has a definite and interesting thesis.” L: T. More

“As offering to the reader very intelligible and significant, not to say impressive intimations and conceptions of that larger universe in which we live and move and have our being, and of which we are hardly aware, ‘The mystery of space’ presents an admirable idea, in its clear and well-considered resumé of facts.” Lilian Whiting

BROWNRIGG, SIR DOUGLAS EGREMONT ROBERT.Indiscretions of the naval censor. il *$2.50 (4c) Doran 940.45

20–7998

The author was chief censor at the British admiralty during the war. He writes of: The establishment of the naval censorship; How the news came of the battles of Coronel and the Falkland islands; Problems of publicity and propaganda; The battle of Jutland; The death of Lord Kitchener; Educating the public; Co-operation with other departments; Zeebrugge and the censorship; Authors, publishers and some others; Press men of allied countries; Visitors to the Grand fleet; Artists and the naval war; Censoring naval letters; Wireless and war news; Odds and ends; A censor’s “holidays”; Last days of the censorship. The illustrations are grouped at the end and there is an index.

“Admiral Brownrigg has many amusing stories to tell as well as many momentous topics to discuss.”

“Anyone who expects Sir Douglas Brownrigg’s ‘Indiscretions of the naval censor’ to be indiscreet will be disappointed. Where the Admiral does become interesting is in his intimate account of life at that ramshackle building known as the British admiralty.”

“The grave question of the proper relation to be observed in time of war between the truth, the state, the public, and the press scarcely obtrudes its chilly presence into the warm stream of anecdote which courses through these pages.”

“The book is breezily written and as entertaining as it is genuinely informative.”

“Admiral Brownrigg has command of a straightforward, telling style. His book is full of humour, good spirits, and the kind of information which only he is in a position to impart.”

BRUNNER, MRS ETHEL (HOUSTON).Celia and her friends. *$1.25 Macmillan

“Seven short sketches of London society fill 150 small pages of ‘Celia and her friends’ in which Ethel Brunner presents a bright and benevolent heiress, attended most of the time by a clever bachelor, who fain would change his state and hers, and assisted in the various chapters by a supporting cast of more or less merit.”—Springf’d Republican

“As a picture of one phase of idle London life, there may be some interest, but it has been so much better done by other writers that it fails to impress one.”

“The dialog is full of repartee not overdone. The book isn’t meant to be deep; whimsical, frivolous, entertaining, would describe it better.”

BRUNNER, MRS ETHEL (HOUSTON).Celia once again. *$1.80 Macmillan

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