Atherton, Gertrude Franklin (Frank Lin, pseud.).Bell in the fog, and other stories.†$1.25. Harper.
Ten stories which deal with both the natural and the supernatural. Besides the title story they include: ‘The striding place,’ ‘The dead and the countess,’ ‘The greatest good of the greatest number,’ ‘A monarch of a small survey,’ ‘The tragedy of a snob,’ ‘Crowned with one crest,’ ‘Death and the woman,’ ‘A prologue (to an unwritten play),’ ‘Talbot of Ursula.’
“The stories are not bad, considered as magazine stories. They show, most of them, something of Mrs. Atherton’s characteristic qualities—a certain rough power of presentation and an insight into character, especially feminine character. But there is no unifying thought running through all this miscellany. In some we are taken to that mysterious borderland, the ‘great pale world.’ But Mrs. Atherton’s art is not delicate enough for such a theme; neither, to speak plainly, is her mastery over the English language sufficient.”
“All are characterized by the sort of passionate virility, the picturesque materialism, with which Mrs. Atherton’s previous books have made us familiar. Its faults are want of balance, judgment and restraint.”
“The dominant note of the book is—uncanny. The stories, needless to say, are told by one who can tell them well, but they are the result of introspection rather than of observation.”
“The method is careless, there is no delicacy of touch, and the dialogue in almost all the stories is preposterous.”
“[The first is] a charming tale, having that touch of the occult always so fascinating—a faraway suggestion of Poe’s ‘Lady Ligeia.’ The other nine stories vary in everything save in the artistic manner of their handling.... Like Mr. Howells, Mrs. Atherton gives such imaginings the perfect touch by leaving everything vague and unexplained, and by placing them in a setting of real people and thingsthrown upon her canvas with her own surpassing skill.”
“If anyone can tell what they are all about or why they were written it is Mr. James, and professional ethics will probably seal his lips.”
Atherton, Gertrude Franklin (Frank Lin, pseud.).Travelling thirds.†$1.25. Harper.
Mr. Moulton, the reader for a publishing house, with his wife and two daughters, who have become accustomed to a literary atmosphere, and his niece, Catalina, a madcap California girl, decide to tour the continent. The story concerns the romances which they meet with and the grand passion which comes to Catalina, who finally quarrels with her relatives and is left the sole interest of the closing pages of the book. The story derives its name from the fact that the party traveled third class thru Spain.
*“The story as a story is of no importance. As an invitation to travel in Spain it is persuasive and alluring.”
*“Can scarcely be considered with its writer’s more serious work.” Olivia Howard Dunbar.
Athlete’s garland. Rice, W., comp.**80c. McClurg.
The compiler has gathered together from many sources, verses relating exclusively to athletic sports. There are no restrictions as to authorship, and the volume includes translations from Homer, Pindar and Virgil, verses by Byron, Swinburne, Emerson, Stevenson, Kipling, Whitman and many others, and several anonymous selections.
“Good taste and judgment characterize this selection throughout.”
Atkins, James.Kingdom in the cradle. $1.25. Pub. house of M. E. church S.
After a preliminary discussion of the problems confronting the Christian world, the author shows that ultimate spiritual triumph will result only from proper “growth of the seed.” Chapters follow outlining the course of child development spiritually, including Christ’s doctrine of the child and the kingdom, The child as the subject of religious education, The church and the home, The child in the home and The Sunday school as a field of training.
Atkinson, Edward.Facts and figures: the basis of economic science.**$1.50. Houghton.
“In a volume published under the title ‘Facts and figures,’ Mr. Edward Atkinson has collected several essays on the protective tariff and the cost of war and warfare.”—R. of Rs.
Reviewed by Winthrop More Daniels.
“It may also be doubted whether the science of economics will be greatly advanced by papers which the author admits were sent to press without such complete revision and condensation as would have been suitable.” Arthur B. Woodford.
Atkinson, Fred Washington.Philippine islands.*$3. Ginn.
“The material for this book was gathered by the author when he was at the head of public education in the Philippine islands. Its information is of the encyclopaedic sort, conveyed clearly and pleasantly. About a quarter of the book is given to a brief summary of the geography and history of the islands. The rest of the book is devoted to an account of the people and the conditions under which they live. The author’s views of the character of the people and of the proper mode of government for them are in harmony with the present administration. The book is illustrated with half-tone reproductions of photographs.”—Outlook.
“It is a sort of popular presentation of the subject that the ordinary reader will find intelligible.”
*“Professor Willis and Doctor Atkinson complement each other’s work. Profit may be drawn from both books. More specifically, however, we are compelled to admit that Dr. Atkinson is too complaisant as to present administrative tendencies.”
*“Of recent publications on the Philippines, one of the most useful from the point of view of the general reader is the work by Fred W. Atkinson.”
Atkinson, George Francis.College textbook of botany.*$2. Holt.
In expanding his elementary botany of 1898 into a college text, Prof. Atkinson leaves many chapters on the physiological part practically untouched, while others are thoroughly revised especially on the subjects of nutrition and digestion. One subject elaborated for the purpose of bringing it abreast of the times is morphology of fertilization in the gymnosperms and angiosperms. Chapters on the classification of algæ and fungi, and on ecology have also been changed and added to. The treatment falls into five parts, Physiology, Morphology and life history of representative plants, Plant members in relation to environment, Vegetation in relation to environment, and Representative families of angiosperms.
“Professor Atkinson has covered the whole general field in a way that indicates an unusually wide familiarity with the various divisions of the subject.” J. M. C.
“It is certainly an excellent text-book for a general introductory course in college.”
Atkinson, Thomas D.English architecture. $1.25. Dutton.
The author aims to give the mere elements or grammar of the great subject of English architecture. There are chapters on Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance art, on churches, monasteries, and houses; each subject is treated historically. A conclusion deals with the French influence. There are 200 tiny illustrations.
“Succinct outline to the vast subject of English architecture, on its structural and what may be called its actual aspects.”
“This book is notably sensible in its historical and critical remarks.”
Auchincloss, W. S.Book of Daniel unlocked.*$1. Van Nostrand.
A new edition of this study of the book of Daniel which shows the sidereal year to be God’s own standard of time and thereby “vindicates the statements of Daniel and fixes on them the seal of truth.” The text of the book of Daniel is given, interspersed with comments in red.
“Is an interesting specimen of ingenious exegesis.”
*Austin, Alfred (Lamia, pseud.).Garden that I love.*$2. Macmillan.
A new edition of the poet laureate’s sketches and poetical essays first published ten years ago. “This is an illustrated edition, the pictures being reproductions in colour of work by Mr. George S. Elgood, R. I. These are sixteen in number, and are for the most part what we may call ‘flower landscapes.’ ... But whatever their character, the pictures are most attractive.” (Spec.)
*“The binding is not wholly to our taste.”
*“The color designs of George S. Elgood, R. I., are quite out of the common—exquisite, indeed; and in the end the purchaser may prefer them to the touch-and-go discursiveness of the text.”
*“This edition is illustrated in color with drawings that are as delightful as the text.”
Austin, Alfred (Lamia, pseud.).Poet’s diary. $2. Macmillan.
“Italy and things Italian—a fertile theme—are the principal topics discussed; and well does the diarist know his Rome and Florence.... Changing one word of the poet’s warning to orators, we may say, ‘The gift of diary-writing, like the gift of writing mellifluous poetry, is a sorry and dangerous one unless inspired, sustained and restrained by ‘Reason in her most exalted moods.’’”—Dial.
“Dexterously spinning out sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph with a facile grace of composition, a deft interweaving of literary allusion and quotation, a ready succession of pleasing ideas, that cannot but excite our admiration. The diarist’s manner is winsome, and it seems ungracious to damn his book with faint praises; but not even the most gifted of us, not even a poet laureate, can always attain perfection.”
Austin, Martha Waddill.Tristam and Isoult. $1. Badger, R: G.
“Instead of the German legend which pictures the character of Mark as a mild, noble, benign old man,” Mrs. Austin uses the text of Mallory which views King Mark as a “base, crafty, false-hearted scheming coward,” and “tells how, wearied in the struggle against Mark’s unremitting treachery Sir Tristam after the vile betrayal and battle behind the chapel on the rocks, in which he came so near to losing his life, bore Queen Isoult into her Launcelot’s country, and there lived with her in the castle of Joyous Garde.”
Austin, Mary. Isidro.†$1.50. Houghton.
“A tale of love and spring in Old California,” and of Isidro, whose proud determined father had vowed his son to the church while still in his cradle. The boy on his way to begin his novitiate with the fathers of St. Francis, meets a shepherd lad who proves to be “the one woman in the world.” He suffers hardships thru a series of adventures into which a delightful old priest, a fugitive, and a halfbreed of wild passion and heroic spirit enter.
“The story is well imagined and told with a delightful swing in a style that is vigorous, though at times too mannered.”
“Mary Austin has achieved that admirable success, which is none too common, of telling a romantic tale with such vivid realism, a tale of bygone years with such graphic assurance of detail, as to make even the most melodramatic of her episodes seem quite within the range of credibility.” F. T. Cooper.
*“Is a masterpiece in the particulars of literary style, and time-old spirit.”
“That language has a character of its own and a fitness to the honorable service of the romance of old California. Mary Austin has the gift of the witchcraft of romance.”
“Not a great piece of fiction, but carefully written, and presenting interesting types of character well-drawn, and a charming background of landscape.”
“A novel that will have a permanent place, not as a masterpiece, but as a well-wrought story of another ‘phase of American existence that, within the touch of present time, has passed away.’”
“Aside from the considerable charm of the story, the account given of the relation existing between the missions and their converts, and of the breaking up of these religious settlements, is well worth while.”
“The story is pleasantly told with a wealth of local colour, and will please lovers of romantic adventure.”
Auto fun.**$1. Crowell.
A collection of drawings and skits, jibes and jests taken from “Life.” The artists contributing are Gibson, Kemble, Cushing, Bayard Jones, C. F. Taylor, and others. It is a novelty and sure to please the motor car devotees.
“The level of these caricatures is uncommonly high in respect of invention and artistic technique.”
Avery, Elroy McKendree.History of the United States and its people. In 12 vol. Vol. 1., $6.25. Burrows.
Mr. Avery aims to cover the entire ground of American history from the earliest records to the present time. It is intended as a popular history, but there is supplied an abundance of bibliographical data which all students and those who wish to pursue historical investigations will find particularly useful. The maps, also, are more satisfactory than those which commonly appear in American works of this character. The style is easy, flowing, sometimes conversational. Graphic anecdotes or storiettes enliven the serious matter. Among the features demanding special praise the technical make-up must not be forgotten. The size is convenient, the paper excellent, the type clear and large, and there is a broad margin with notes.
“Both in statement and conclusion, furthermore, the text is generally in accord with the best literature of the subjects treated. Some obscurities, errors, and other defects have escaped detection.” William R. Shepherd.
“While the style has a certain pleasing smoothness, the reluctance of the author to interrupt this compels him to fail, at crucial points, to state explicitly what he is talking about, and the result for the reader is perplexity. Our verdict regarding Dr. Avery’s bibliography must also be that it might be improved.” Edward S. Corwin.
“We incline to the belief that on the whole no treatment of the period of discovery has been more satisfactorily prepared. If the succeeding volumes equal in excellence the present book, this history will be the best completehistory of our country yet written.” Amy C. Rich.
“In a general way Dr. Avery is fully abreast of modern scholarship. Of really serious errors in the book there are none. The great weakness of the book lies in the absence of page references. Dr. Avery’s style of writing is smooth and flowing. It is altogether too flowery either for a permanent classic or for a serious piece of historical work.” Anna Heloise Abel.
“The advance sheets have been submitted to special students on the subjects treated. But they could not, without rewriting his book, correct his point of view. Rarely takes the trouble to come to a conclusion of his own. On the whole the book is well and attractively written and is accurate as to fact.”
*“While accuracy of detail has been secured thru several revisions by specialists, the emphasis is bad and the literary style is often stilted.”
“Dr. Avery’s text stands well the test of critical examination. The narrative ... is systematically compressed, but it is well proportioned, and gives evidence throughout of careful use of authorities and of intelligent and restrained judgment. From a literary point of view, the history is eminently readable, though the style shows a tendency to ornateness.”
“Reasonably full, critical, and even iconoclastic in many respects. To judge then, from vol. I. this history bids fair to become popular in the best sense of the term. It is certainly not dry—parts of it reading like a stirring romance. Now and then he goes perhaps a trifle too far in his impartiality.”
“He is, then, accurate. He is also the possessor of a very agreeable style.”
Reviewed by H. Addington Bruce.
B., T.Upton letters.**$1.25. Putnam.
“To those of us who, with Stevenson, pray for the quiet mind, ‘The Upton letters’ by ‘T. B.’ are a help in that direction. Simple and natural, sane and human, these reflective utterances on literary, moral, and educational themes, and on the commonplaces of daily life, have the charm that belongs to the genuine expression of a good mind and heart. They are the letters of a master in an English public school to a friend (’Herbert’) sojourning in Madeira for his health; and they run through the year 1904, being brought to a close by the friend’s death.”—Dial.
“For all its timidity the book is a bugle-call.”
“The comments on certain aspects of modern life are always very readable, sometimes valuable; but the book is notable mainly for its poetical outlook and unfailing facility of expression.”
*“The book is delightful enough to stand on its own merits.” H. W. Boynton.
“It is an intimate narrative, but the intimacy is of a highly self-respecting sort, and the picture of the writer which the book leaves upon the reader’s mind is very winning.”
“The little volume will create no sensation (heaven forbid!), but it will greatly content a choice few among the readers of books.”
*“The letters are truly literature, and every page gives evidence of broad and careful scholarship, wide reading and a soul concerned with high and serious things. As a whole the volume is intensely satisfactory and is one that may be read and read again by those who care to think and know how to think.”
“‘The Upton letters’ makes excellent quiet reading for those to whom such a mind as the author’s is attractive.”
“These letters depend solely upon their intrinsic merit. This is unquestionably high. Without literary affectation, the style is that of a literary man.”
“Barring a slight stiffness and an occasional assumption of weariness and ennui, the letters are as good as anything of the kind that have appeared since Huxley’s were given to the world.”
Bacon, Benjamin Wisner.Story of St. Paul.**$1.50. Houghton.
This book is the outgrowth of a series of university extension lectures delivered at Providence, R. I., and New Haven, Conn. It is a comparison of the accounts of the life of St. Paul, as found in the acts and the epistles, and Professor Bacon’s object is to point out the differences in these two sources in order that the records may later be harmonized.
“Excellent book.”
“Although intended for popular reading, is less a life of the great apostle than a critical inquiry into the disputes and controversies connected with his life.”
*“Is the clearest and ablest presentation of this subject yet made by an American.”
“A misnomer. It should rather be called A study in St. Paul, for Dr. Bacon is a critic rather than a historian. Certainly his mind is analytical rather than dramatic. For the student who desires to get the latest information which a fearless and reverent scholarship has to give respecting our sources of information concerning Paul and his Epistles, we know of no book better than this volume of Dr. Bacon, but it is distinctly the work of a student, and requires for its appreciation a student’s thoughtfulness.”
“Although this is in the province of criticism, Professor Bacon’s treatment is of a popular nature. His book is, indeed, a union of constructive biography and scientific criticism.”
“Dr. Bacon observes carefully and writes well; but he seems to us to be constantly getting a little more out of the text than is warranted; while the amount and complication of the alterations made in the history by ‘Luke’ (as he is called, in inverted commas) form a very serious objection to his theory.”
“His book will make the student think, and so far will be of service; but he is not a safe guide.”
Bacon, Dolores M., ed. Diary of a musician.†$1.50. Holt.
A record of the experiences, hopes, and longings which lie all the way from the depths to the heights of a genius’ career. Short, terse sentences that sum up a heart full of joy or anguish, characterized all thru by Bohemian irresponsibility,are no more brief than were the moods of this interesting Hungarian. With all his musical power, he is human enough to say: “I adore my father; but who could keep faith with his father when such a woman smiles.... It is Marie Alexeievna. There is no superior allegiance.”
“A decidedly clever and piquant tour de force. In very few books is the note struck at the beginning successfully kept up to the end, as here. Of its not ambitious order, the book is admirable.”
Bacon, Edgar Mayhew.Narragansett bay; its historic and romantic associations and picturesque setting.**$3.50. Putnam.
This sumptuous volume is “illustrated by the author’s sketches and a few photographs, and is well indexed. As the title implies, it is a collection of superficial descriptions and colonial legends woven into readable form.” (Nation.)
“Is a worthy successor to the author’s attractive work in a similar style on the Hudson river.”
“The book is chiefly deficient in failing to show the powerful influence of the bay on the social and economic development of the state. The volume contains many egregious lapses from fact.”
Bacon, Gertrude.Balloons, airships and flying machines.*50c. Dodd.
“The plainest narrative of a balloon trip told strictly from the airman’s point of view, in perfect equanimity, never mounting into any purple clouds, never soaring above any reader’s head, but sticking to the terra firma of plain fact, makes a far stronger impression upon the imagination than in any other style it ever could.” (Nation.) Such a narrative is Miss Bacon’s.
“Is a little triumph, due to a bright fresh mind drawing from the headwaters of information ideas that sparkle with genuine interest in the subject, which is allowed to run on in its own natural babble.”
“Her story is well told, and, as technicalities are avoided, is interesting as well.”
Baddeley, St. Clair.Recent discoveries in the Forum. $1.25. Macmillan.
Books and pamphlets have appeared in great numbers furnishing technical details, measurements, etc., of the “revelations of pick and spade” about this historic site. “But the average English or American traveler has very much needed a smaller work, of equal accuracy but more popular and practicable, as a guide among these new-old stones and pillars and pavements. Such a book is now to be had in Mr. Baddeley’s ‘Recent discoveries.’ The author has been in close touch with all the work as it went on, and fortunately has seen fit to give us many incidents of the eventful days, and illustrations showing the scenes of transition.” (Dial).
“He is wanting in style and scholarship; almost every page is disfigured by odd mistakes in English or inaccuracies of reference.”
“The book is interesting beyond the rule of guide books.”
“The expression is so poor that one rarely reads so small a book with such great difficulty.”
Baedeker, Karl.London and its environs: a handbook for travellers.*$1.80. Scribner.
“The fourteenth edition, fortified with four maps and twenty-four plans, its list of the principal streets, public buildings, etc. The total bulk has been but slightly increased. It is almost a pity that these successive editions could not graphically record the chief changes in the general aspect of the metropolis, which of late have been as imposing as they are extensive.”—Nation.
Baedeker, Karl.Northern France: handbook for travellers.*$2.10. Scribner.
“A new edition (the fourth) of this well-known handbook, brought up to date with such revision regarding hotels, routes, and places of interest to travelers as has been made necessary by the changes of the last four or five years.”—Outlook.
Bagley, William Chandler.Educative process.*$1.25. Macmillan.
A lucid exposition of the basal principles of pedagogy with illustrative matter showing the limits and methods of the application. “Its fundamental theses are, that the function of the educative process is to secure the transmission to each generation of the experience of the race, and that its end in view is to secure the development of socially efficient individuals—an end inclusive, as here defined, of livelihood, knowledge, culture, harmonious development, and morality.” (Outlook.)
“His exposition of the responsibilities and duties of parents and teachers can be accepted with little or no reservation, but some of his illustrative statements and subsidiary generalizations are open to question.”
“All in all, it must be considered one of the best contributions of its kind to the literature of educational theory and should find an extensive use as a text-book in normal schools and colleges for covering the ground of general method.” Guy Montrose Whipple.
“While Dr. Bagley is mainly concerned to teach the principles of pedagogy he has not failed in adequately illustrating the limits and methods of their rational application.”
“In spite of these and some other less important mistakes and misplacements of emphasis, the book is a fresh, stimulating and generally correct organization of the principles of education.” Wilbur S. Jackman.
*Bagot, Richard.Italian lakes; painted by Ella Du Cane, described by Richard Bagot.*$6. Macmillan.
“In the pages of this beautiful book there have been gathered enough pictures of the Italian lakes ... to make those who read ... realize at least somewhat of the wonderful beauty of the lakes of Italy, even when they have not seen them.” (Ind.) “The lakes of Como, Lugano, Lecco, Maggiore, Orta, Isco, and others of northern Italy are described and painted.”—N. Y. Times.
*“The illustrator ... has given us a series of pictures which, though quite pretty, do not help the reader to realise the general character of the North Italian lakes. The material with which Mr. Bagot had to deal was far too extensive for the space at his disposal; and on the whole he has made a wise selection.”
Bagot, Richard.Passport.†$1.50. Harper.
“Mr. Richard Bagot has written a stirring melodrama of love and intrigue. He has laid on his colours with a trowel. He gives us the lovely maiden wooed by the handsome lover whose suit is forbidden by the stern stepmother. He tells of wicked priests, cynical and scheming villains, faithful servants, secret hiding-places and sliding panels—all the stock-in-trade of regulation melodrama.... The scene of the book is laid in Rome and the ‘local colouring’ is admirable.”—Sat. R.
“It is a pleasure to read so well-conceived and well executed a tale as this. This is a book that will certainly bear reading twice.”
“Frankly, the story makes rather better reading than an epitome of it would warrant one to expect.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
*“A conscientious, elaborate and able narrative. Within certain limits, ‘The passport’ may be honestly commended.”
“The characters in ‘The passport’ stand out very well in the Italian ‘atmosphere’ which Mr. Bagot has the secret of portraying.”
“The book is one of much interest.”
“Is unusual in the strength of its plot and the artistic and continuous development of the story. Here, as in former books, Mr. Bagot occasionally offends the taste of his readers quite unnecessarily.”
“But he writes well and picturesquely and his characterization, although totally devoid of subtlety, abounds in cleverness.”
*Bailey, Carolyn Sherwin.Peter Newell Mother Goose.†$1.50. Holt.
A prose Mother Goose which contains some of the old rhymes as Debby, “a real little girl with gingham aprons and stubby shoes and sunbonnets,” hears them in her wanderings among the Gooselanders. She meets the same old people of Gooseland: Dame Trot; Wee Willie Winkie; Jack Horner; Bo Peep; Simple Simon; and all the rest, but they are modernized and made almost too commonplace for imaginative children. There are twenty-two illustrations by Peter Newell.
*“The text rings so true in spirit that one cannot tell which way first to look, at the printed pages or at the woodcuts. All in all the combination forms a most happy volume for children.”
*“Altogether a very excellent Peter Newell book with a good story to picture.”
Bailey, Liberty Hyde.Outlook to nature.**$1.25. Macmillan.
“The outlook to nature is, of course, the outlook to optimism, for nature is our governing condition and is beyond the power of man to modify or to correct.... The outlook to nature is the outlook to what is real and hearty and spontaneous.” The author applies the foregoing text to the four essays: The realm of the commonplace, Country and city, The school of the future, and Evolution: the quest of truth.
“They exhort to public-spirited endeavor in the cause of rural education and they tend to foster a wholesome love of the soil and to replace the restlessness and discouragement of the country-bred boy and girl with a reasonable contentment and an impulse to improve existing opportunities.”
“Some of the passages are delightful. Nor is it a one-sided view of life that is presented.”
*“If there is nothing altogether new in the book, there is nothing that is not sensible, and very little that is not also inspiring.”
“His exhortations ... are hearty, spontaneous, and optimistic, and full of the love of nature which he wants all the world to share.”
Bain, Alexander.Autobiography.*$5. Longmans.
“The autobiography, as Professor Bain left it, ended with an account of the events of the year 1890; a supplementary chapter, relating to the last thirteen years of his life, has been added by his literary executor, Prof. W. L. Davidson. The chief feature of interest in this volume is its clear and candid account of the stages in the writer’s mental growth, under the circumstances of the time.” (Int. J. Ethics). His early religious life was one of unrest and doubt, but coming under the influence of Comte’s teachings, he soon rejected all theology, and found himself a thorogoing empiricist. His greatest originality lies in the realm of analytic psychology, and his works on this subject are among the classics. In logic, he was a close follower of Mill, also his two volumes show some important advances on the Mill method. In ethics, too, he is consistently empirical and utilitarian, believing that “General happiness or welfare is a sufficient statement of the final end.”
“The plan is logically formed and elaborately carried out.”
“Will undoubtedly be a disappointment to the reader who is looking for literary charm or for any strong infusion of human interest. It is a dry, concise chronicle, in which first place is given to facts about the writer’s own scientific activity and published work—professedly a record of his intellectual history first of all.”
“Curious lights are also thrown on the past history of university education in Scotland. Specially attractive is the account given in the first two chapters of the way in which the difficulties of the author’s early education were overcome, and of the manner in which his native intellectual tendencies began to show themselves.” S. H. Mellone.
“The autobiography is much too long. What is really valuable in it is overlaid by a multitude of details which can interest but few.”
Bain, F. W.Digit of the moon, and other love stories from the Hindoo.$1.50. Putnam.
“A digit of the moon,” “A heifer of the dawn,” “The descent of the sun,” and “In the great God’s hair” are four stories found in this volume, translated and adapted from the Hindoo by one who professes to have received the manuscript from a Brahman. “They possess a somewhat greater refinement, according to Western notions, than one often finds in tales of Oriental life and love as told by Orientals.” (Outlook.)
“The fascination of the stories lies in their almost hypnotic slowness of movement, their lavish use of color, and the delicate mixture of wit and sentiment that animate them.”
“The native atmosphere has been rather cleverly caught, and the author has adopted several Hindu tricks of story-telling. Many persons will deem his stories charming. At any rate, they are touchingly sentimental and written in extra-florid English.”
“The stories have an undeniable charm both of matter and of language.”
“Are characteristically Eastern in delicacy, tenderness, vividness, gorgeousness of imagination, and floridity of language.”
“Mr. Bain has made us all his debtors by presenting us with this book.”
Bain, Robert Nisbet.First Romanovs, 1613-1725.*$3.50. Dutton.
An account of “the rise of socialism in Russia in its early days, coming down to the end of the reign of Peter the Great. So far as we know, the book takes new ground in that it is less a history of war and political convulsions than of the underlying conditions—social, racial, and moral as well as political—which give shape and form to the Muscovite civilization. Dramatic episodes and incidents have large place in the narrative.... There are several portraits and maps.”—Outlook.