*“We recall no edition of Charles and Mary Lamb’s ‘Tales from Shakespeare’ comparable at all points with that just issued by Jack in London.â€
*“This is a handsome book, worthy in form of its contents.â€
*Lamb, Osborn Rennie.Essay on the drama. $1. Ames & R.
This essay which discusses the drama in its various phases is developed under the divisions Criticism is not analysis; The aesthetic essential in drama; The play of the people; Sympathy as a dramatic force; The dramatic power of terror; Humor in drama; Reflective thought in drama; and Scenery and music in drama as an aid to the creation of atmosphere. The essay may prove suggestive to dramatic critics, and it will certainly help the average reader to form his own opinions and to challenge the “misstatement and false argument†so often found in newspaper criticism.
Lamb, Osborn Rennie, and Dixon, H. Claiborn.Iberian: Anglo-Greek play. $1.50. Ames & Rollinson press.
Following the ancient dramas in unities of time, place and theme, “The Iberian†combines in a one-act play “the beauties of the ancient Greek drama with those of the modern romantic play, so as to adapt the same to the stage and scenario of to-day.†Athens is the scene of the play, 435 B. C., the time.
Lamia, pseud.SeeAustin, Alfred.
Lamprecht, Karl Gotthard.What is history? Five lectures on the modern science of history; tr. from the Germ. by E. A. Andrews,**$1.25. Macmillan.
One of these lectures was first given at the Congress of arts and sciences in St. Louis, and the other four at the sesquicentennial of Columbia university. The subjects treated are Historical development and present character of the science of history; The general course of German history from a psychological point of view; The translation to the psychic character of the German present; Universal mechanism of psychic periods of transition; Psychology of the periods of culture in general; and Problems of universal history.
“‘What is history?’ is throughout suggestive and provocative, though the work of translation has not been skilfully performed; indeed, the English version is in one or two passages unintelligible.â€
“The translation inevitably suffers from such conditions. In spite of them it gives us a rendering which is clear, readable, and reliable for sense, and which is a useful contribution toward an English terminology of the subject. Many inexcusable inaccuracies in detail occur, however.†Asa Currier Tilton.
“Unfortunately the book abounds in abstruse terminology borrowed from psychology and kindred sciences.â€
“Mr. Andrews has done his work well, and made a good rendering.â€
“Throughout, indeed, the translation scarcely helps to clear up the obscurities of the original.†A. G.
“Professor Lamprecht has a clumsy method of presentation ... and he adds to the difficulty by much elusiveness of demonstration and by an awkward terminology. Professor Lamprecht’s method may be good psychology, it certainly is not history.â€
“If well translated, they would constitute a very stimulating volume.â€
“There is a meaning, we doubt not, in his words, but it is very hard to get at.â€
“Their appeal is to the student of the science of society rather than to the historian proper.â€
Lancaster, G. B.Sons o’ men.†$1.50. Doubleday.
A collection of short stories which “deal with the men who herd and shear the sheep in South New Zealand and save them from storm and snow at the cost of hardships scarce endurable. At times, too, the native plays a part.†(R. of Rs.)
“Through such books hope grows less forlorn.â€
*“Lively reading—and informative as well.â€
“Mr. Lancaster reaches a high level of excellence in ‘The story of Wi.’â€
Lancaster, R. V.Creed of Christ: a study of the Gospels. 60c. Presbyterian com.
The author states in his preface, “I have caught a glimpse of Jesus from what, to me, is a fresh viewpoint,†and this he voices in his book, which is divided into two sections: The introduction, and The creed. Under the latter head he discusses, The scriptures; God; Satan; Sin; Redeemed men; The kingdom; The second coming; The final glory, and Kindred subjects.
“His volume is careful, painstaking, conscientious, but without insight or imagination, and so without literary quality.â€
Landon, Percival.The opening of Tibet. $3.80. Doubleday.
“Mr. Landon gives in ‘The opening of Tibet,’ an account of Lhasa, the history of Tibet, the folk-lore and manners of the Tibetans, and the present relations with the rest of the world, with which he became acquainted as the representative of the London Times with the mission sent by the British government to Lhasa. The book is profusely illustrated with reproductions of photographs and sketches and maps.†(N. Y. Times). An introduction is provided by Col. Younghusband, who headed the mission to the Forbidden land.
“The book is ponderous in size, wide in its scope and interesting reading. Including the numerous appendices, the range of information extends from the frogs and fishes of the country to the folklore, art, religion and amazing priest-craft of the people.â€
“Regrettable that some errors of fact and date should have crept into the earlier and historical pages of the work.â€
“Fine descriptive writing, indeed, is characteristic of Mr. Landon’s work throughout.â€
“His style is a model for the writer of travel books.†W. E. Griffis.
“Is a virile and picturesque narrative of great general interest. All in all, it is a welcome addition to the annals of travel and exploration.†H. Addington Bruce.
“Mr. Landon has the genius of the true reporter for weaving a large amount of detail in an interesting ‘story,’ but he gives no map or index.â€
“The work is conceived on broader lines, historically and philosophically, than the rival volume of Mr. Candler.â€
“A characteristically British presentation of a most interesting and somewhat delicate subject. The vast amount of information whichMr. Landon has collected ... This is not a solemn book altogether.â€
“The Tibetan expedition was fortunate to have with it a writer so competent to do justice to its romance, so sympathetic towards Tibetan life, so eagerly inquisitive and retentive of impressions, and above all, the possessor of a style so dexterous and graceful.â€
Landor, Arnold Henry Savage.Tibet and Nepal.*$5. Macmillan.
“In his book, Mr. Landor tells about a second journey to Tibet. He describes the natives, their costumes, and religion, and the country through which he passes, besides recounting adventures on the way. He has provided numerous colored and black-and-white pictures, being reproductions of sketches made on the spot. These illustrations are portraits of the native men, women, and children, scenery, churches, animals, &c. In the opening chapter the author writes of his preparations for this visit.â€â€”N. Y. Times.
“This odd, unsatisfactory and fascinating essay. The present writer can only say that for his part, he believes his author to be sincere and correct, and one of the pluckiest, truest-hearted and most enterprising men in the world to boot.... One of the cleverest, too, for the drawings in colour and black and white display a very acute artistic sense and an exquisite perception of the beauty and grandeur of mountain scenery.â€
“It is difficult to take Mr. Landor seriously, and we find it impossible to follow his tour geographically.â€
“The illustrations with which Mr. Landor has liberally besprinkled the story of his achievements are even more astonishing than the text.†H. Addington Bruce.
“Apart from some apparent faults, the book is decidedly agreeable and even exciting reading, and presents in many ways an intimate picture of the life of the Tibetans and their innumerable curious customs. The colored pictures are striking and effective.â€
“It is a weird and fascinating story, told in the author’s best vein.â€
“He traveled only on the outskirts of the country, and he makes some obvious mistakes; but he writes with an assumption of the highest expert knowledge. This swashbuckling air does not reassure the reader; but when it comes to climbing snow mountains our imagination falters far behind him.â€
Lang, Andrew.Adventures among books.*$1.60. Longmans.
Seventeen essays are collected in this volume. Adventures among books, Recollections of Robert Louis Stevenson, Rab’s friend, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mr. Morris’s poems, Mrs. Radcliff’s novels, A Scottish romanticist of 1830, The confessions of St. Augustine, Smollet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The paradise of poets, Paris and Helen, Enchanted cigarettes, Stories and story telling, The supernatural in fiction, An old Scottish psychical researcher, The boy.
“It holds the sound criticism which proceeds from good taste and wide knowledge, though it is so lightly presented as to seem mere butterfly work.â€
“But one forgives Mr. Lang his little affectations for the sake of his delightful humor, his literary touch, and his real bookishness.†Jeannette L. Gilder.
“Those who have a taste for books about books will hunt long before they will find one more tickling to the palate than Mr. Lang’s ‘Adventures among books.’†Percy F. Bicknell.
“They are very high class work of the moment rather than work of a permanent quality.â€
“Mr. Lang’s account of his own ‘adventures among books’ is full of teaching and attractiveness. So indeed are all the papers that make up this volume.â€
Lang, Andrew.History of Scotland from the Roman occupation. V. 3,*$3.50. Dodd.
The period covered in the third volume of Mr. Lang’s history begins with the accession of Charles I., and continues to the end of Argyll’s rising, 1625-1688. “With always interesting details, he carefully considers successively the Protestant disruption, the riot in St. Giles’s church and its consequences, the bishops’ war, the Scotch invasion of England, the relations of the commonwealth to Scotland, finally the restoration.... It is true that the period was one of theological, political, and physical conflict, measured by the battles of Aberdeen, Auldearn, Alford, Kilsyth, Carbinsdale, Dunbar.... But out of the general swaying, struggling mass of men rise certain commanding figures who receive characteristic treatment from Mr. Lang—Hamilton, Montrose, Charles the First, Sharp, Argyll, Cromwell.†(Outlook).
“If the present volume maintains the standard of excellence set by its predecessors it does not escape the shortcomings that characterized them. The proportion is occasionally obscured and the connection of events lost sight of, by the inclusion of details which although interesting are unrelated. The disposition of the material and the general structure of the volume are, on the other hand, excellent; and some of the characterizations—notably those of the two Argylls, Montrose and Archbishop Sharp—are altogether vital and admirable.†Gaillard Thomas Lapsley.
“The impression received from this work is that the author is not attempting to write a formal history of Scotland, but is rather using the materials he has collected and studied to test the accuracy of earlier works by well-known authors. The result is that while those who are intimately familiar with the details of Scottish history will find Mr. Lang intensely interesting as a critic and as a shrewd investigator, uncovering new sources of information, the ordinary reader must frequently be puzzled to understand the connection and relation of events. But in respect to exact statement of doubtful events at least, Mr. Lang’s work is a fine example of modern scholarship, being based on a careful analysis of the documents and other sources available for the study of Scottish history.â€
“He is, as usual, at his best in appreciations of character, and, as usual, he sees important points which have generally been ignored. His work suffers somewhat from its great accuracy in points of detail. Mr. Lang has gone to the original sources, and ... he has thrown fresh light on many obscure topics, and he has brought a sane and enlightened judgment to bear on the numerous controverted issues in his story.â€
“He takes little or no thought about style, but simply jots down the facts in a succession of short sentences. The modern passion for scrutinizing all the sources and presenting their results in the most plain and summary fashion has seized and carried away this accomplished man of letters. The chief blemish of the book is the spirit in which it is written. We might have expected Mr. Lang, in dealingwith men and events that lie two centuries and a half behind him, to show that calmness and detachment which befit the philosophic historian. The best parts of his book, and certainly the most readable, are those which describe the campaigns of that brilliant leader [Montrose].â€
“It is less frequently relieved by what Stevenson termed its author’s ‘incommunicable humour.’ There is, further, in this volume a good deal more than we have noticed before of Mr. Lang’s ‘perversity.’â€
Lang, Andrew.John Knox and the reformation.*$3.50. Longmans.
In his account of the life of John Knox, Mr. Lang has endeavored to get behind enveloping traditions and reveal the real man. He criticises Knox’s history carefully and disagrees with it. He gives much Scottish history and an interesting account of Knox’s struggle with Mary Stuart and his onslaught upon Mary of Guise in which is much gentle irony.
“Even in exposing the enormities of John Knox he keeps his literary temper, and instead of breaking the reformer’s head with a bludgeon, gently pricks him with the pin-point of his scorn.â€
“The book is exceedingly lively in tone and style, but is, we think, rather spoilt throughout by the apparent desire to make points.â€
“But because the work is as true and impartial as it is, it is the best life of Knox we have.â€
“Mr. Lang writes as a man of letters, without much respect for popular traditions or what the elders consider orthodoxy. He goes not only to the sources, but back of tradition, even to the intensely human John Knox. Lang makes Knox not less great, but more human.â€
“From the beginning to the end of his book, Mr. Lang employs all the resources of his literary art, irony, denunciation, special pleading, to discredit the great Reformer.†Charles H. Cooper.
“But what separates Mr. Lang from his colleagues in this literature is a marked lack of sympathy with the public life of his subject. That he writes a charming book is a matter of course.â€
“Mr. Lang has studied his subject as few of the more solemn of his biographers have, and exhibits in his entertaining book a very human, powerful, and not unlikable Knox.â€
“It would command universal admiration (out of Scotland general assent) if it were not for a satirical style, which hardly befits history.â€
*Lang, Andrew.Oxford.*$1.50. Lippincott.
“This edition has fifty illustrations reproduced from drawings or etchings by J. H. Lorimer, Alfred Dawson, Toussaint, Brunet-Debaines, Ernest Stamp, Lancelot Speed, T. H. Crawford, R. K. Thomas, and Joseph Pennell, and there are one or two rather charming drawings to which no artist’s name is given. The book itself is too well known to need discussion now.â€â€”Acad.
*“The present edition makes a very pleasant gift-book.â€
*Lang, Andrew,ed.Red book of romance.**$1.60. Longmans.
“‘All the stories were done by Mrs. Lang out of the old romances,’ says the editor, who proffers excellent advice as to what should be read, being the sworn foe of the youthful prig. Mr. H. J. Ford has provided alluring illustrations, some of which are full of bright color. The stories come largely from the North, which produces, perhaps, the best romances in the world; but we have also ‘The tale of the Cid,’ ‘Don Quixote’s homecoming,’ ‘Cupid and Psyche,’ ‘Guy of Warwick,’ and others.â€â€”Ath.
*“It is full of the kind of entertainment always provided by its compiler.â€
*“No better reading for the young will be found among this year’s Christmas books.â€
*“The book is rich in appearance and varied in contents.â€
*“The stories are all told by Mrs. Lang and are in a graceful easy style, except for a trick of generalization in a would-be humorous fashion, and occasional unpleasant affectations.â€
*“A fine book for a holiday gift either for a youngster, or an old person with a young heart.â€
*“Mrs. Lang has written the stories out of the old romances and has done it admirably.â€
Lankester, Edwin Ray.Extinct animals.*$1.75. Holt.
“A peep at the strange and wonderful history of extinct animals†thru which the author hopes to awaken in young people an interest in its further study. The volume embodies a corrected shorthand report of a course of lectures adapted to a juvenile audience given by the author during the Christmas holidays, 1903-4 at the Royal institution, London. The lantern slides used in the lectures have been converted into process blocks to illustrate the volume, there are over two hundred illustrations and drawings, many of which are from photographs of specimens in the Natural history museum.
*“It may safely be said that since the days of that ‘most delightful collector and explorer of the earth’s crust, Dr. Gideon Mantell,’ there has been published no book on this subject combining so successfully the virtues of accuracy and attractiveness.â€
“We give the book a hearty welcome, feeling sure that its perusal will draw many young recruits to the army of naturalists and many readers to its pages.â€
“It is well adapted to arouse the interest of adult as well as youthful minds in a fascinating branch of study.â€
“Appealing chiefly to young people ... the author adopts an easy, somewhat conversational style, as free as possible from unnecessary technicalities. But simple and elementary though the book is, it is by no means confined to matter already well known even to scientific readers.â€
Larned, Josephus Nelson.Seventy centuries of the life of mankind. 2v. $4.50. C. A. Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass.
“These volumes are evidently intended for the general reader who wishes an intelligent grasp of the broad outlines of general history....The biographical prefaces to each period are unique and useful, the index is good, the illustrations are chosen with discrimination.â€â€”Ind.
“The arrangement of the work is not striking and the impressions conveyed are not clear cut. He has made remarkably discriminating use of excellent and recent materials available in English.â€
*“Makes the serious error of a chronological arrangement regardless of the logical sequence of events, and he divides time into periods measured by the lives of great men—a method destructive of real historical unity.â€
“Unlike most abridgments, it is extremely readable, and is well calculated to stimulate the beginner to further inquiry. When all is said, however, the excellencies of the work outweigh its defects.â€
Larson, Laurence Marcellus.King’s household in England before the Norman conquest. 50c. Univ. of Wis.
A monograph submitted for the degree of doctor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. First comes a discussion of the relations of the king and his nobles, the eorls, gesiths, and thegns; then the various officers of the royal household, the king’s reeve, seneschal, butler, chamberlain, staller, and house-carls are considered and the development of their offices is traced.
“Exhibits much more originality and power of research than the average doctoral thesis, it also displays a linguistic equipment and a lucid style. He has carefully exploited charters, laws, chronicles, sagas, lives of saints, and poetic monuments in quest of evidence bearing on his subject; and the result is a substantial contribution to our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon institutions.†C: Gross.
“Is an admirable study of a subject beset with great difficulties. Dr. Larson deserves warm praise for the skill which he has shown.â€
Latham, Charles.Gardens of Italy: a series of over 300 illustrations from photographs of the most famous examples of Italian gardens, with descriptive text by E. March Phillipps. 2v. $18. Scribner.
“A pair of very sumptuous folio volumes containing the collected series of photographs of Italian gardens by Mr. Charles Latham.... These fine photographs have more than an artistic charm; one dwells on them all with delicious memories.†(Lond. Times.) “As a photographer of architecture, and especially of gardens, Latham stands among the ablest.... Some descriptive text by E. March Phillipps accompanies the pictures. It is of a gossiping, semi-historical sort.†(Nation.)
*“He who has never seen them will find the present treatment at once comprehensive and suggestive.â€
“The value of such a splendid collection of photographs as Mr. Latham’s is so evident, and the expense of securing them so great, that it is much to be regretted, that they should not be accompanied by plans.â€
“Miss Phillipps brings to her descriptive text those elements of knowledge which are most conducive toward a pleasant and worthy realization of her work.â€
*“The text leaves somewhat to be desired; there is in it much too little of the noble art of landscape gardening.â€
Laurvik, John Nilsen, tr. SeeMichaelis, Karin.
Laut, Agnes Christina.Pathfinders of the West.**$2. Macmillan.
This volume “tells the story of the men who discovered and explored the great Northwest. First among the explorers of the land west of the Mississippi the author places Pierre Radisson, claiming precedence for him over Marquette, Joliet, and La Salle.... The discovery of an account of Radisson’s voyages, written by himself, the authenticity of which has been generally admitted by scholars, has induced the author to popularize the story of his life in the West and rescue his name from oblivion.†(Cath. World.) There are many illustrations, an historical appendix and an index.
“But whatever we may decide as to Miss Laut’s theory as to the Mississippi and Lake Superior discoveries, two facts remain: first, Radisson and Groseillers were pathfinders—in the real sense—to Hudson Bay; and, secondly, the author has made a readable translation of much of Radisson’s narrative.â€
“More absorbing than the most thrilling romance of imaginary heroes.â€
“Her work is not merely authentic, and founded, as history must always be founded, on the original documents, but it is vivified by the touch of an artist.†Lawrence J. Burpee.
“Asks us to readjust our notions of the early history of the western United States. Miss Laut is doing a work which deserves well of historians in following up to their sources the stories and traditions of the Western history of our country and retelling the stories in her characteristically clear style.â€
Lawson, Publius Virgilius.Bravest of the brave. Captain Charles de Langlade. $1.50. Log cabin inn, Menasha, Wis.
Altho the hero of this sketch fought upon the other side in the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary war, he compels the interest of Americans as a great French-Canadian pioneer. The account of some of the “ninety-nine battles, skirmishes and border affrays†in which he took part is stirring.
“From materials in the possession of the Wisconsin historical society, and from other sources, Mr. Lawson has constructed a most interesting sketch of this ardent pioneer and fighter.â€
Lawson, Publius Virgilius.Prince or creole: the mystery of Louis Seventeenth. $1.50. G. Banta pub. co.
An attempt to prove that the late Rev. Eleazer Williams, who devoted his life to missionary work among the Indians, was really the boy king, son of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, and that instead of dying in the Temple prison, Paris, he was sent to America where he grew up as the son of a half-breed.
“He has not marshaled his evidences; his brief is a hodge podge; his statements, made with much éclat, are unsubstantiated by references. He has not even the grace of style to make his book interesting.â€
“If he does not succeed in winning his readers to his way of thinking, Mr. Lawson may at least take to himself the credit of having recounted, in an entertaining way, a narrative of high interest altogether apart from that naturally attached to historical mysteries.â€
Leach, Albert Ernest.Food inspection and analysis, for the use of public analysis, health officers, sanitary chemists, and food economists. $7.50. Wiley.
“The foregoing title very well describes this book written by one of America’s analysts of longest experience in this field of chemistry.... Food inspection, its principles and the precautions necessary in its conduct are ably, though briefly discussed.... The mass of information gathered in American laboratories together with the more recent developments in European food inspection, ... the author has ably systematized and condensed.... Nearly two hundred carefully compiled tables of composition are given, and upward of fifty tables showing the physical characters, chemical constants, etc., of food constituents, are introduced.... The worker in the field of food chemistry will find of great value the list of bibliographic references with which each chapter closes.â€â€”Science.
“Few American contributions of importance seem to have escaped his notice. No important class of foods has failed to receive careful consideration. As a guide to special analytical methods the work is no less valuable. In literary style, the book is clear and concise. There are a few striking omissions. All considered, however, this book is the best manual on its special subject in the English language, possibly in any language.†William Frear.
*Learned, Arthur G.Eve’s daughters: epigrams about women from world-wide sources. Compiled by a mere man and portrayed by A. G. Learned. $1.75. Estes.
“These epigrams, made by men concerning women and compiled by ‘a mere man,’ include wise and witty sayings from the works of such men as Goethe, Hugo, Cervantes, Tolstoy, Emerson, Shakespeare, Euripides, Thackeray, Ruskin, Byron, Bourget, Maupassant, and many others ... about the widow, the coquette, the flirt, the debutante, the prude, the summer girl, and the best and highest type of womanhood as well. The work is designed as a gift-book, and is beautifully illustrated by Mr. A. G. Learned with delicate marginal line drawings, and more elaborate full-page designs.â€â€”N. Y. Times.
*“The epigrams contained herein are famous; the numerous illustrations are not.â€
*“The volume belongs to the large class of pretty and amusing gift-books which are intended not for systematic reading, but for pleasant companionship in an idle hour.â€
*“The epigrams have been chosen with considerable judgment.â€
*“The selection of the quotations has been carefully made.â€
Ledoux, Louis Vernon.Songs from the silent land.**$2. Brentano’s.
An attractive little volume which contains about forty poems on such subjects as life, love, nature, and thought.
“All may be said to be ‘sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,’ rather than to evince any novel or original thought on the author’s part. Yet the verse itself is at least of average merit.â€
“These two examples show Mr. Ledoux to have refined sensibilities and something of the poetic vision; and they are fairly representative of a body of work that is finished in execution and uniformly pleasing.†Wm. M. Payne.
“Mr. Ledoux’s poems strike a pure and high note.â€
Lee, E. Markham.Tchaikovsky. $1. Brentano’s.
The second volume in the “Music of the masters†series. Mr. Lee’s exposition at no time loses sight of the object of the series which is helpfulness to the “plain man,†and in so doing he analyses, summarizes and holds up to broad day the vitalizing facts of Tchaikovsky’s musical genius. The symphonies, chamber music, orchestral works, piano-forte music and songs are discussed in turn with illustrations of the principal themes.
“His criticism is searching and candid as well as sympathetic, and his descriptions are picturesque.†Richard Aldrich.
Lee, Rev. Frank T.Bible study popularized.*$1.25. Winona pub.
“The first chapter in this book is devoted to general information about manuscripts and translations, and closes with commendation of the American revision. A chapter on personal Bible study follows. The rest of the book is taken up with illustrations of different methods of Bible study—by books, by historic periods, by characters and incidents—and a concluding chapter on expository preaching.â€â€”Bib. World.
“The style is simple and clear, although the range of subjects required too much condensation. The critical standpoint is quite conservative. The historical sketches are compiled from ordinary sources.†Charles Richmond Henderson.
Reviewed by Irving F. Wood.
Lee, Robert Edward, Capt.Recollections and letters of General Robert E. Lee, by his son.**$2.50. Doubleday.
“The author allows Gen. Lee’s letters, written to his most intimate ones, to form the body of the book. As these letters were written without any idea of their being made public, this book turns the light on the man as he really was.†(Ind.) “The hero of the Confederacy, seen through the eyes of his youngest son, stands forth a living personage, a kindly husband and father no less than an ideal commander, not unduly elated by victory, nor unduly cast down by defeat.†Some of the chapters are devoted to “Services in the United States army,†“The confederate general,†“The army of northern Virginia,†“Fronting the army of the Potomac,†“The surrender,†“A private citizen,†“President of Washington college,†“The idol of the South,†“Lee’s opinion of the late war,†“An ideal father,†and “The reconstruction period.â€
“Such comments as Captain Lee has added are delightfully told and in perfect good taste. The style is simple, but betrays a practiced hand.†John R. Ficklen.
Reviewed by M. A. DeWolfe Howe.
“A true representation of himself. The book does not attempt to exalt Lee.â€
*“A charming work, which should be read by every Northern man who finds himself intolerant of southern heroes.â€
“The story is gentle and soothing, and it will not disappoint those who may wish to forget the horrors of war and the screech-owls of peace.â€
“One cannot read this book without being convinced of the man’s disinterested motivesand nobility of character, nor can we wonder that he developed qualities of leadership.â€
“If we must look elsewhere for a proper appreciation of the soldier, we cannot read these Recollections without gaining a clearer knowledge of the dignity and kindliness which distinguished the private citizen.â€
Lee, Sidney Lazarus.Great Englishmen of the sixteenth century.**$1.75. Scribner.
The contents of this volume are based on a series of eight lectures delivered at Lowell Institute, Boston, in the spring of 1903. After an opening chapter on the Renaissance in England, “he has vivified the personalities of these half-dozen men,—More, Sidney, Raleigh, Spenser, Bacon and Shakespeare,—and has made them show forth almost the entire activity of the age.†(Dial).
“It contains no original discoveries, no profound generalizations, no subtleties of criticism. But it gives the results of sound scholarship and sound common sense in a dry but pleasant way. Perhaps the best essays in the book are those on More and Bacon.â€
“With commendable fairness and conscientious criticism Mr. Lee has handled the virtues and the weaknesses of his subjects. This volume of essays is a valuable addition to literature on the subject.â€
“The versatility of the intellect and the imagination of their age was never better shown than in this charming account of these five men.â€
“The book is no mere rehashing of the commonplace. Mr. Lee endeavors to place these men before us in the light of their personal environment as well as in the greater light of their relation to their time.†J. W. Tupper.
“Delightfully written biographies ... prefaced by the best sketch of the intellectual spirit peculiar to the sixteenth century which we remember anywhere to have read.â€
“One great merit of the book is the catholic sympathy it displays with minds of very different types.... The admirable marshalling of the facts.â€
Lee, Vernon, pseud. (Violet Paget).Enchanted woods, and other essays on the genius of places.*$1.50. Lane.
A “rag-bag of impressions†the author calls her “pilgrimage through the open and hidden ways where, without any noisy calling, the Genius loci meets her. In Italy ... at every time of year; at Pisa, Ravenna, Venice; among Tuscan churches in summer ... in the last fir-woods of the Apennines ... she sees what Keats might have seen.†(Spec.)