“There is enough truth and enough originality in his interpretation of the Empire to have made his book an extraordinary one, if only he had not allowed this enthusiasm to get the better of his judgment. It brings out a phase of imperial politics too much neglected by past writers.” Frederic Austin Ogg.
“The whole book is worth reading as a sober and well-informed discussion of the great questions of world politics with which it deals.”
“A well-written work, Mr. Peel’s book is of value as developing a theory which, if acceptable only with obvious limitations, will assist to a clearer appreciation of some broad historical movements than has generally obtained.”
“The tale told is fragmentary and unconvincing, and has been better told before.”
“Mr. Peel has the sense of organic movement without which history is merely a dull chronicle of accidents; and he has also the gift of wide perspective. Our only criticism is that in his endeavour to be perfectly clear he sometimes is a little prolix, and that now and then he is carried by rhetoric into a slight overstatement. The matter is on the whole admirably arranged and attractively presented.”
Peet, Louis Harman.Trees and shrubs of Central park. $2. Manhattan press.
Mr. Peet says: “The purpose of this book is to put within the reach of the non-technical city nature lover a handy means of identifying trees and shrubs which he meets in his park rambles.” On sixteen maps covering the park, two thousand trees and shrubs have been plotted; a table accompanying the maps gives both the common and botanical names. There is also an index to the common names, wherein the number of the page, chapter, map and location is placed for quick reference.
“We cannot too much commend the fullness and accuracy of the lists which Mr. Peet here gives us.”
“It is not only a description of the trees, but is a real guide and companion, pointing out that which it describes in a manner that is wholly comprehensible to the reader. The text is lucid and readable.”
*“In every particular it is a handy and useful little volume.”
Pemberton, Max.Hundred days.†$1.50. Appleton.
Napoleon’s hundred days between Elba and Waterloo form the setting of this historical novel which exploits the adventures of a young Englishman and a French maid in the secret service of Napoleon. “Mr. Pemberton has borrowed the very lady who appears in Mr. Bernard Shaw’s ‘Man of destiny’—Mr. Shaw himself borrowed the lady from more or less authentic history—and provided her with adventures enough to fill the usual number of pages which, outwardly, at least, constitute a novel.” (N. Y. Times.)
“It is a stirring tale, and the characterization is skillful. Occasionally the author’s style fails him.”
“The story offers the conventional blend of fact and romantic fiction, is narrated in somewhat indistinct fashion, and proves but moderately exciting.” Wm. M. Payne.
“The story is stirring and the tale is picturesquely told; the plot is hackneyed.”
Pepys, Sir William Weller.Later Pepys; ed. with introd., by Alice C. C. Gaussen. 2v.*$7.50. Lane.
“The letters included in these two handsomely bound and finely illustrated volumes have been selected from the correspondence of Sir William Pepys between the years 1758 and 1825. Sir William Pepys was a descendant of the elder branch of the family to which Samuel Pepys belonged, and was generally well-known in the latter part of the eighteenth century as a friend, and in some cases the intimate, of distinguished literary characters of the period. His letters are therefore primarily of literary interest, very little reference being made in them to ordinary political or social conditions of the times, even the stirring events of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars receiving but scant notice.”—Am. Hist. R.
“The only direct historical interest is in the occasional references to contemporary historical writers and criticisms upon them. They frequently do present some striking incident, or some intimate characterization of figures in the field of contemporaneous literature. In this connection alone are they valuable for the student of history.” E. D. Adams.
“Sir William’s letters, though sometimes dull and prosy, often catch something of the vivacity of his correspondents, and those to his son in school and college are delightful.”
Perkin, Frederick Mollwo.Practical methods of electrochemistry.*$1.60. Longmans.
“After a general account of electrical magnitudes and units, measuring instruments, and electrolytic apparatus, the author gives practical instructions for electrochemical analysis.... The last and longest section of the book deals with preparative electrochemistry.... The references to original papers are numerous, and a convenient table of five-figure logarithms, with instructions for its use, is contained in an appendix.”—Nature.
“The practical instructions are on the whole adequate and accurate, so that the student could acquire with little assistance a sufficient acquaintance with the working methods of electrochemistry. Whilst the book is satisfactory in this the most important feature, it shows in other respects many signs of hasty composition, which greatly detract from its value.”
Perrin, Raymond St. James.Evolution of knowledge.*$1.50. Baker.
In his review of philosophy the author compares the chief systems of ancient and modern thought, “the object being to measure the approach of each system to the goal of philosophy which is the demonstration of the unity of all things ... to demonstrate the fact that knowledge can be unified by co-ordinating the sciences.” Pt. I. deals with the pre-evolution period of Greece, England, Scotland, Germany and France; pt. II. discusses the evolutionary philosophy of Spencer and Lewes. The keynote of the treatment is that religious devotion and intelligence must develop together.
“In the demonstration of his thesis the author enters such a labyrinth of the metaphysical and mystical that we altogether refuse his lead.”
*“Interesting, if not quite fascinating.”
Perris, George Herbert.Russia in revolution.**$3. Brentano’s.
“Mr. Perris’s volume on ‘Russia in revolution’ is a sketch of the Russian revolutionary movement from about 1870 down to the present time. It consists chiefly of a series of short biographies of the principal leaders of the Liberal movement, together with a few chapters on the Russian government, and on the financial and economic conditions of the country.... The subject, however, is an interesting one, and the personal sketches and life stories of Stepniak, Volkhovsky, Dr. Soskice, Mark Broido, Mme. Kovalsky, and numbers of other revolutionists, often recounted in their own words, are significant and thrilling.”—Lond. Times.
“Is lively and interesting, but somewhat open to the charge that he fails to name a good many of his sources and some of his equally interesting rivals. Mr. Perris takes pains and knows his subject.”
“It cannot be said that the author has anything very new to tell us, and most of his information has been obtained at second-hand. He sees Russia only from the point of view of the extremists.”
“These quotations will serve to show M. Perris’s sincere effort to be fair and impartial, but the same paragraph furnishes two other quotations which equally well illustrate his defective vision in consequence of his prejudice against nearly everything in Russia in its present form.”
“The chief value of this book, however, lies in the personal (and frequently pitiful) records and brief autobiographies of the martyrs in the cause of Russian political liberty, and also in the miscellaneous data on topics which are not contained in Russian government reports.” Wolf von Schierbrand.
“No doubt the book is put together in an easy, entertaining fashion. Although from a non-revolutionary standpoint most of its deductions are untenable, the chapters touching upon the economic and political condition of the country are not without value and interest.”
“In arrangement it is not free from defects, particularly from a tendency toretraversethe same or similar ground; but this drawback is connected with what is perhaps Mr. Perris’s most distinctive claim on the attention of hisreaders,—his extensive and intimate acquaintance with Russian revolutionists, over a long period.”
Perry, Bliss.Amateur spirit.**$1.25. Houghton.
Six essays in which the author commends “combining the professional’s skill with the zest and enthusiasm of the amateur.” There are two chapters on the college professor, and one entitled “Hawthorne at North Adams.”
“There is a flavour of this conscious condescension in these essays, and it takes away from the charm which they possess in spite of it, charm both of phrase and anecdote. The ideas are not very subtle; nor have they any marked freshness; but to the main idea we heartily respond. Mr. Perry is not precise enough; he does not know that different things in life should be approached in a different spirit.”
“In spite of what we have just said, the quality of the best of the contemporary American essayists is rare; and outside Mr. Howells and Mr. Alden we know no one who possesses greater gifts of taste and style than Mr. Bliss Perry.”
*“No one wants to hear the crack of a whip in these leisurely papers, but there might be a little more mental activity without any sign of the strain.” F. M. Colby.
“To apply to him words of his own, he is one of the ‘speculative, amused, undeluded children of this world.’ Sanity, balance, kindliness, unite with insight and imagination to give his pages their peculiar charm.”
“The curious thing about Mr. Perry’s plea for The amateur spirit is that it should seem to slight so glaringly the virtue of the mean.”
“All the six essays in the volume have some reference to the working of the amateur spirit in the world.”
“The six essays in this volume are very pleasing examples of what American writers can do in this branch of literature.”
Peters, John Punnett.Early Hebrew story: its historical background.**$1.25. Putnam.
“The substance of the book was delivered as lectures on the Bond foundation at Bangor theological seminary in November, 1903.... In chap. 1, ‘Introductory: literary and archæological,’ the author gives a simple, yet clear, sketch of his conception of the literary origin of the early books of the Bible, and a general view of the history of Palestine before the Israelitish occupation.... In chap. 2, ‘The formation of Israel: The origin of the twelve tribes,’ the view that a group of Aramean tribes settled among and absorbed tribes already resident in Canaan is worked out with considerable detail. In chap. 3, ‘The patriarchs and the shrines of Israel,’ it is pointed out that the stories of the patriarchs cluster about certain shrines.... In chap. 4, ‘Survivals—legendary and mythical.’ Dr. Peters gathers together a considerable residuum of material, which remains after one has subtracted from the patriarchal stories the elements representing tribal movements and sanctuary traditions, and in which survivals of myths or legends are probably to be found. Chap. 5, ‘Cosmogony and primeval history,’ deals with Gen., chaps. 1-11, which is analyzed into its various elements.... Chap. 6, ‘The moral value of early Hebrew story,’ forms a fitting climax to the whole.”—Bib. World.
“The book is written for the ordinary reader of the Bible, is unencumbered by erudite notes, is written in a clear and attractive style, and can be strongly recommended to the untechnical reader, who desires to learn how critical study affects the early books of the Bible. The book throughout bears evidence of wide reading. The marvel is that in such a work, where evidence is often scanty and much has to be supplied from analogies often remote, one finds so little from which to dissent. The work merits high praise and deserves a wide recognition.” George A. Barton.
“The book is uncommonly readable.”
“We can very heartily recommend the book. It is thoroughly readable, pre-eminently scholarly and entirely trustworthy; it is replete with valuable archæological knowledge; it has all the marks of an accomplished exegete, and its conclusions are in harmony with those of many able scholars of the present day.”
*“Wealth of archaeological information lends special value to Dr. Peters’ scholarly ‘Early Hebrew story.’”
*Peters, Madison Clinton.Jews in America: a short story of their part in the building of the republic; commemorating the 250th anniversary of their settlement. $1. Winston.
The author has prepared this volume for popular use and states in his preface: “It is a book of facts rather than opinions.... The book is written with the hope that it may modify the views which the Gentile world holds with regard to the position of the Jew, and the author’s fervent prayer is that its facts may lead Christians to grant to the possession of the Jew the mental, moral, social and spiritual qualifications which history affirms.” To this end he has set forth facts culled from various sources showing the part which the Jew played in the discovery of America, in pre-revolutionary settlements, in the wars of the republic, American politics, finance, arts and sciences. There are also chapters upon The number of Jews in the United States, Characteristics of the Jews, and Anti-Semitism in America. The volume is illustrated with photographs of Jews prominent in various professions.
*Peters, Madison Clinton.Will the coming man marry? and other studies on the problem of home and marriage. $1. Winston.
Under such titles as: How to be happy though married; Why so many divorces? The ideal wife; The duties of a husband; Money and matrimony; The culture of the child; The home and the higher education of women; Woman’s rights; and Good mothers the makers of great nations, Dr. Peters emphasizes the serious side of matrimony, gives good advice to both husband and wife, and discusses education, deplores modern extravagance, and makes many suggestions, which, if followed, will help to make daily life easier and more worth while to both the married and the unmarried.
Peterson, Maude Gridley.How to know wild fruits: a guide to plants when not in flower, by means of fruit and leaf; il. by Mary Elizabeth Herbert.**$1.50. Macmillan.
“We have examined every one of the 80 woodcuts in this volume, and must pronounce them correct and helpful ... while descriptions of three hundred fruit-bearing plants are careful and scientific enough, and a key will send the botanist to the order and species, the plants are arranged for the use of the casual student by the color of their fruits.”—Ind.
*“This study opens to amateurs a new and comparatively unfamiliar field and one in whichthe writers of botanical handbooks have heretofore made few contributions.”
“It meets a want, and we are glad to recommend it as a useful guide.”
“As a help to the beginner and a means of stimulating observation it may be commended. It is well got up, remarkably free from misprints, appropriately illustrated, and provided with an index of vernacular names and one of the Latin designations of the plants described.”
Petrie, William Matthew Flinders.History of Egypt from the XIXth to the XXXth dynasties. (History of Egypt, v. 3.)*$2.25. Scribner.
“This is not a work on manners and customs or religion, but is purely history, very largely original and representing the author’s own researches and conclusions.... The period covered in this volume extends from the beginning of the nineteenth dynasty, about 1300 B. C., the most brilliant period in Egyptian history, to 342 B. C., when the last native king of the thirtieth dynasty lost the throne, and the rule passed over to the Persian Ochus. This period is illustrated by 161 pictures of monuments, mainly halftones, with all the known cartouches.... When we remember that the period treated covers the entire relation of Israel to Egypt, from Abraham to Jeremiah, the value of the volume to biblical students is obvious.”—Ind.
“His English is still slipshod. The lists of the monuments of every king, with provenance and abiding place, that he gives will be extremely useful to students; and for the care and pains that he has bestowed on their compilation all Egyptologists should be grateful.”
“We may not always assent to his conclusions and combinations, but the archæological facts on which they are founded are stated without omission or bias, and the conclusions themselves are often brilliant, usually ingenious and always stimulating.”
Pettit, Henry.Twentieth-century idealist.†$1.50. Grafton press.
“The heroine, who ‘loves and seeks the truth for its own sake,’ is a young and charming girl. She has her own ideas of the ‘true’ faith, and tells them to those who argue with her. Adele Cultus, her parents, and her friend, join two gentlemen in a trip to the Orient. Paul Warder falls in love with the heroine. Together they visit the many interesting places, and finally come to understand each other very well.”—N. Y. Times.
“This novel ... is probably an attempt to write biography in the form of fiction. It is an introspective, retrospective, meditative, idealistic tale.”
Peyton, William Wynne.Three greatest forces in the world, and the making of Western civilization, pt. I, The incarnation.*$1.40. Macmillan.
“This trinity of forces is constituted, says the author, by the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.... In the present volume, limited to the first of the triad, he insists at length on the extension of virgin generation from the lower creation, as in bees, to the higher creation, as in the virgin birth of Christ.”—Outlook.
“While the author is a man of considerable originality and independence of thought he is too much lacking in critical judgment and too fond of large sounding generalities to make his work of value.”
Pfleiderer, Otto.Early Christian conception of Christ; its significance and value in the history of religion.*$1.25. Putnam.
“An expansion of a lecture delivered by the author before the International theological congress at Amsterdam, in September, 1903.... The book has been divided into five chapters—‘Christ as son of God,’ ‘Christ as conqueror of Satan,’ ‘Christ as a wonder-worker,’ ‘Christ as the conqueror of death and the life-giver,’ ‘Christ as the king of kings and lord of lords.’”—N. Y. Times.
*Phelps, Albert.Louisiana; a record of expansion.**$1.10. Houghton.
“It has been Mr. Phelps’s effort in this latest addition to the ‘American commonwealths’ series to give a broad survey setting forth Louisiana and its place in the development of the United States.” (Outlook). “The fortunes of Louisiana under French and Spanish rule are described in the first half of the volume, and its history as part of the United States forms the second half of the volume.” (N. Y. Times.)
*“While the specialist may not find much that is new in this work, it has for the general reader the advantage of being based upon the sources, and is not a mere compilation.”
*“From the narrative standpoint little fault is to be found, the style being graceful and flowing and the interest unfailingly sustained.”
Phelps, Charles Edward Davis.Accolade.†$1.50. Lippincott.
In this story of the fourteenth century “the hero, son of a worthy Englishman, being kidnapped into France by a ship’s captain, betakes himself to Italy, wins a knighthood through gallantry, and returns to his native England with wealth and honor just in time to prevent his sweetheart from entering a convent for lack of him. The poets are reverenced in the persons of Chaucer and Petrarch, and it is from a careful study of the writings of the former that the rather difficult and multifarious dialects of Mr. Phelps’s book are constructed.... The rudeness of the England of the period and the refinement of Italy serve as foils, each for the other, and the whole tale is in the nature of a treasure house for the student of customs.” (Dial.)
“The book shows the most careful study and great painstaking, and abounds in varied adventure.”
“It cannot be said that the mantle of the old storyteller has descended upon the modern.”
“At times the Chaucerian English in the sprightly conversations daunts even the conqueror of polyglot dialect, but the real interest of the tale carries him safely through to the satisfactory final scenes.”
*Philippi, Adolf.Florence; tr. from the German by P. G. Konody.*$1.50. Scribner.
“In commendably brief space the author givesus a comprehensive survey of Florentine history, the part played by all its leading citizens both in politics, literature, and art, the origin of all its important buildings, with extensive architectural notes about them and excellent illustrations of its churches, palaces, groups of sculpture, altar-pieces, frescoes, and noteworthy details.” (Nation.) There are 170 illustrations. The lives of the Florentine painters and descriptions of their principal works are also given making the volume a good supplementary guide book for the artistic traveler.
*“The book suffers from being crudely translated from the German.”
Phillips, David Graham.Deluge.†$1.50. Bobbs.
The hero of Mr. Graham’s story is as intrepid in love as in battling against Wall street magnates. Simply stated, he is a man who won’t be downed,—in the world of finance when a power rises against him he hunts for a tiger to fight the bull, and in the battle with giants, makes his escape; as for his romance, he quietly determines to marry a girl in a social world above him, carries his point, and then proceeds to win her love.
*“As usual, he has written a readable story, but its extravagance deprives it of any claim to be taken seriously.”
“If the author, as one must infer, intended that we should admire Blacklock, he is likely to be disappointed.”
Phillips, David Graham.Plum tree.$1.50. Bobbs.
A story of the tree of political plums. A young country lawyer is driven by poverty to accept an assemblyman’s salary from the hands of a “boss,” and when his conscience forces him to vote against a bad bill he is thrown out of office. He becomes a reform county prosecutor, but fails in re-election and accepts a position as lawyer for the power company which he had been actively fighting. He makes a rich but loveless marriage, becomes a United States senator, and in the end, looking back upon the seething furnace of corruption thru which he has passed, finds comfort in the love of the girl he had renounced in his days of poverty.
“It is in our judgment far and away the most important novel of recent years, because it unmasks present political conditions in a manner so graphic, so convincing and so compelling that it cannot fail to arouse the thoughtful to the deadly peril which confronts our people.”
“This novel is definitely better than its predecessors, even though its author has not even yet progressed very far in the art of portraying women.”
*Phillips, David Graham.Reign of gilt.**$1. Pott.
“This work consists of a series of brilliant essays dealing with the overshadowing questions of the hour—Plutocracy and Democracy. The first half of the volume deals with plutocracy.... Such subjects as Plutocracy at home, Youth among the money-maniacs, Caste-compellers, Pauper-making, The made-over White house, and Europe laughs, are discussed.... The second half of the volume is entitled ‘Democracy.’ In this division Mr. Phillips considers such subjects as The compeller of equality, Democracy’s dynamo, A nation of dreamers, Not generosity, but justice, The inevitable ideal, Our allies from abroad, The real American woman, and The man of to-day and to-morrow.”—Arena.
*“Therefore, we say that he who loves the republic should buy, read and circulate ‘The reign of gilt.’ The more such books are circulated, the more certainly and swiftly will come the democratic reaction for which we are all striving.”
*“It is a most vital subject, and one upon which Mr. Phillips speaks earnestly and with an iteration almost Rooseveltian.”
Phillips, David Graham.Social secretary.†$1.50. Bobbs.
The delightful story of the daughter of an old Washington family, who undertakes to carry a western senator’s wife to the top of the official-social wave, and succeeds. Incidentally she is rewarded for her service by a large salary and—something more. The various types of people found in the struggle for social and political supremacy at the national capital are well and amusingly drawn.
*“It is not up to the level Mr. Phillips has maintained in his latest works.”
“Mr. Phillips’s airy tale is a fascinating one, and, perhaps, if one looks closely, he may find beneath the daintily flavored meringue some food for thought.”
*“Besides the froth there is some really admirable character drawing in the story.”
“The story is distinctly clever and humorous.”
Phillips, E. C.SeeLooker, Mrs. Horace B.
Phillips, Henry Wallace.Plain Mary Smith: a romance of Red Saunders.†$1.50. Century.
Red Saunders’ first appearance as the principal figure in a long story will delight readers who have known his sturdy traits and original humor in short story fiction. Not being able to stand up under the indignities heaped upon him by a father who “felt some scornful toward the Almighty for such a weak and frivolous institution as Heaven,” the lad when eighteen runs away to sea; and on board the Matilda bound for Panama, he meets Plain Mary Smith—plain only in name. How he enters into her romance only as the champion of the real lover, and how he fights Panamans at the close of a lively revolution with quart cans of tomatoes are phases of a humorously interesting tale.
“Adventures follow one another swiftly, and Red Saunders relates them all with wit and vigorous bad grammar.”
“In the relation of the narrative there is much of the humorous whimsicality of subject and style which has distinguished Mr. Phillips’s shorter stories. Yet there is also a regrettable thinness.”
Phillips, Stephen.Sin of David.**$1.25. Macmillan.
This three act drama, is not biblical, altho it is founded on an action analogous to that of David to Uriah, the Hittite. The play opens in the army of Cromwell and proceeds during the course of the English civil war. It is the story of the love of Sir Hubert Lisle for the wife of a Puritan captain, the crime which madetheir marriage possible, and their punishment.
“It is, however, creditable accomplishment, and up to the level of Mr. Phillips’s previous work.”
“‘The sin of David’ is even cleverer than ‘Herod’ and ‘Ulysses’ in its superficial dramatic quality, its superficial poetry. But the true dramatic fire is not in it.” Ferris Greenslet.
“To one who has read all four plays of Mr. Phillips it appears unhappily evident that The sin of David is inferior in movement to Ulysses, even as this must rank below Herod, nor is it equal in pathos to Paolo and Francesca. There are passages in the play which would drag in presentation.” Louis H. Gray.
“Has the fine literary qualities we associate with the name of the author. But as an acting play it can have at best a success of esteem, for while there are some strong and moving scenes in it, the general air is of the closet rather than the stage.” J. B. G.
“The verse is dignified and filled with a haunting melodious charm.”
“A play better calculated to ‘place’ him critically than any of its predecessors. The chief impression made by it is that it is the product of a moderate poetic faculty guided by an industrious and self-poised intelligence.”
“As a play it ranks lowest in the four plays Mr. Phillips has written; this position it maintains as a poem. The work is deftly knitted together; it has beauty of form, if not many beauties of line; but it has no great situations.”
Phillips, Thomas W.Church of Christ, by a layman.*$1. Funk.
This volume is the result of a layman’s investigation of religious truth from heathen, Jewish and Christian standpoints. Under two general divisions, The history of pardon, and Evidence of pardon and the church as an organization, it makes a plea for unity, sets forth the original phases of Christianity, reviews all cases of pardon in the New Testament, and compares Jesus with other religious teachers.
*“The author sketches the history of Christianity with all the assurance of ignorance and then with equal assurance expounds his own theological views.”
Phillpotts, Eden.The farm of the dagger. $1.50. Dodd.
A story of a family feud in Dartmoor, early in the nineteenth century. The hero is an English gentleman, and a captured American plays an important role in the exciting tale, which ends in the sacrifice of the parents and the happy union of the lovers.
Reviewed by W. M. Payne.
Phillpotts, Eden.Knock at a venture.†$1.50. Macmillan.
Sketches of Dartmoor men and women told largely in dialect. There is grim humor and homely tragedy, there are three cornered love affairs and affairs with more corners, there are old men and young, but all are real. The stories include, The mound by the way, The crossways; Corban; A pickaxe and a spade; and Benjamin’s mess.
“Mr. Phillpotts writes always picturesquely, and often with surprising vividness.”
“Written in a light vein for the most part, yet laden also with a certain quaint and primitive philosophy.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
“He knows his people and presents them to us with truth and vigour. There are no false notes. The last touch is wanting, the spell that can send a glow of life and beauty over every page; and they remain readable stories, lively and convincing, but not very new.”
“Dartmoor sketches in sombre shades, and excellent of their kind. There is a suggestion of Hardy, too, without Mr. Hardy’s later morbidness.”
“Taken as a whole, the volume leaves a delightful impression of quaint character, soft dialect, and exuberant but not grotesque fancy.”
Phillpotts, Eden.Secret woman. $1.50. Macmillan.
This is another story of Dartmoor, and the Dartmoor peasants the author knows so well. After twenty years of married life, Anthony Redvers, the father of the two grown sons, finds relief from the temperamental coldness of his wife, in an intrigue with an unknown woman. The discovery, the revenge of the wife and the beautiful devotion of the younger son fill out the plot.
“It is a remarkable novel, a living, breathing piece of work.”
“Is constructed on what is almost a Sophoclean scale. Mr. Phillpotts moves simply among primitive emotions, and moves with great natural insight. He has psychological subtlety, and he has great tenderness. He has a sense of the dramatic which materially assists him. Too much praise cannot be given to the author for his handling of this big theme. The characterization is always good, and sometimes more than good.”
“Those who care to read literature and not mere books will find what they want in this great novel.” Charlotte Harwood.
“A study that rivals ‘The scarlet letter’ in earnestness and psychological penetration.” Wm. M. Payne.
“The psychology of a weak man and a strong woman is etched with the hand of a master.”
*“‘The secret woman’ is a great story of the wrong kind.”
“Mr. Phillpotts’s strongest story. A tragedy as grim and inexorable as any ever told by ancient Greek. He knows his Devon peasants, and it is with humility that we enter one or two protests against his portrayal. One may wish the theme less painful, our keen joy in the perfection of literary workmanship less marred by the continual constriction of heart to which the author compels us. It is not only its author’s masterpiece, but it is far in advance of anything he has yet written—and that is to give it higher praise than almost any other comparison with contemporary fiction could afford.”
“A book of unusual power and passion—by far the best work in fiction that Mr. Phillpotts has put forth within the past two or three years. There are at least four characters in this book that are original in conception, carefully consistentthroughout, and subtle in their psychological development. Altogether the situation is as strange as it is compelling in its force, and it is handled with skill and vigor. In all, this is a grim but forceful romance.”
“It is a story of terrible frankness, dealing without evasion with the elemental forces of the human tragedy, but without morbid interest or curiosity, and binding the penalty to the sin.”
“Assuredly the best novel of Mr. Eden Phillpotts.”
“His themes are simple, but they are far too heavily orchestrated. Thus his style, though marked by fine descriptive passages, threatens to become laboured and ornate, and is occasionally disfigured by recondite epithets and literary preciosities. He seems to us to err by the artificial and deliberate invention of incidents designed to enhance the tragic quality of the narrative, by a piling up of the agony which defeats its own aim, and suggests the element of gratuitousness where all should march inevitably to the crowning catastrophe.”
Picard, George H.Bishop’s niece,†$1.25. Turner, H. B.
“Although the comic element is the last that one expects in a story of ‘mixed marriages,’ that is to say of matrimonial alliances between Catholic and Protestant, it is really very droll, thanks to the demure eccentricity of his pacific Lordship, the Bishop of Isle Madame, and the contrasted orthodoxy of his brother, a domineering layman.”—N. Y. Times.
“A neat piece of literary workmanship.”
“The little story shows ingenuity, a quaint humor, and some pretty fancies.”
“Is a well-balanced little conceit with delicate and simple humor.”
Pidgin, Charles Felton.Little Burr: the Warwick of America. $1.50. Robinson-Luce.
A book which deals with the youth of Aaron Burr, and his career in the Revolutionary war. It tells of his marriage, chronicles the birth of his daughter Theodosia, and thruout contradicts all accepted ideas of his character by presenting him as a noble gentleman, true to his ideals and the victim of unmerited social and political ostracism.
“Is not very coherent as fiction.”