“Mrs. Stuart’s humor, is, for once, overcast by pathos. ‘The river’s children’ is a pearl brought up by a diver, who knows the waters; one that will gain luster as receding years carry farther and farther back, the superstitions, the romance, the melodies that have gathered around the great river.”
Stuart, Ruth McEnery.Second wooing of Salina Sue and other stories,†$1.25. Harper.
Six short stories of negro life in the far South, entitled, The second wooing of Salina Sue; Minervy’s valentines, Tobe Taylor’s April foolishness; Egypt; Milady; The romance of Chinkapin castle.
“All the sketches are written in her touching, witty style.”
“She knows well how to best bring to the surface the exquisite humor and pathos of plantation life.”
“If Mrs. Stuart strikes no fresh notes in this latest volume, she shows no sign of flagging interest in her themes, or of decline in the naturalness and interest of her style.”
Stubbs, Rt. Rev. William, bishop of Oxford.Letters of William Stubbs, bishop of Oxford, 1825-1901; ed. by William Holden Hutton.*$4. Dutton.
A volume of letters which show the great bishop and learned historian to have been a man of genial personality and keen wit.
“It is to be hoped that, faithfully as Mr. Hutton has executed his task,—and his interspersed matter is illuminative and indispensable to the best enjoyment of the letters,—that a fuller, more formal biography of Bishop Stubbs may some day be written.” Percy F. Bicknell.
“His intercourse with leaders or his church and nation is revealed in these letters, in which his personal characteristics as a Christian pastor, an ecclesiastical statesman, a scholar, a wit, a friend, combine in the portrait of a strong, sincere, and faithful man.”
*Sturge, Ernest Adolphus.Spirit of Japan. The Yurskusha, Tokyo. For sale by author, 101 Scott St., San Francisco.
A Californian’s book of verse devoted to the spirit, legends, historical events, flowers, trees, birds and scenery of Japan.
Sturgis, Howard Overing.Belchamber.†$1.50. Putnam.
Lord Belchamber, heir to an old name and to an old estate, is shy, sickly and good, quite out of place in his high position, in an idle and fashionable world, and wishes to renounce it for settlement work. His dissipated brother’s marriage to a vulgar variety actress recalls him to his duty, to his mother and to his name. He is caught by the first clever woman who sets her cap for him and marries her with tragic results.
“‘Belchamber,’ in short, has at once the faults and the freshness of the novelist who has told little but observed much; faults of construction and perspective ... and freshness of sensation and perception.” Edith Wharton.
“Admirably well-written book.” Witter Bynner.
“There is nothing amateurish about either style or construction.” Wm. M. Payne.
“There is nothing hopeful or right in the book.”
“There is a sort of old-fashioned touch about some of it, and now and then a suggestion of Thackeray.”
“Neither strength nor style is lacking in this quite remarkable analytical study.”
“It is a wonderfully well written book, so well written that the wonder grows that the author should have chosen such a malodorous subject.”
“‘Belchamber’ is a disagreeable, morbid and decidedly clever novel of aristocratic English life.”
Sturgis, Russell.Appreciation of pictures.**$1.50. Baker.
A purely artistical standard of judgment from which to grasp the great arts of design has been defined by Mr. Sturgis in his volumes devoted to sculpture, architecture, and now to pictures. In the present field the work of producing grows complex as “in the matter of picture-making there is the transference of actual form and of appearance of form, to a flat surface.” The subject is treated historically and from the critic’s standpoint, whereas Mr. Poore’s “Pictorial composition” in this same “Popular art series” treats pictures from the artist’s point of view. There are many illustrations reproduced from rare paintings.
*“The pictures are carefully and thoroughly explained, and much unconscious like or dislike of a picture is accounted for by the clear reasoning.”
*“Is a good, helpful and instructive book by an authority whose long and careful study of the arts has equipped him with a wealth of knowledge.”
*“Mr. Sturgis’s book is much the more stimulating to one already possessing some knowledge of the subject; Mr. Caffin’s will perhaps be more useful to the beginner. Both will help in the spreading of some notion of what art is.”
*“Mr. Sturgis has filled the requirements of the situation fully.”
Sturgis, Russell.Appreciation of sculpture.**$1.50. Baker.
To provide a popular work which at the same the student was the prevailing idea in Mr. Sturgis’s“How to judge architecture.” In the same time maintained high standards of criticism for manner, he now offers a work on sculpture, in which he treats the subject in the light of both its architectural and monumental value, dwelling upon the history, the characteristics of the principal schools, and the criticism of standard works; all of which study presents principles of analysis and criticism to be employed in understanding other sculpture. The book is valuable for the student, the traveler and the general reader.
Reviewed by Wm. Walton.
“With the exception of the omission of some interesting technical explanations, which Mr. Sturgis better than most could have given us, the book is a very good and helpful one, and much more instructive as to the difference between good and bad works than the same author’s previous volume on ‘How to judge architecture,’ to which this is a companion.”
“The book is one that will unfailingly bring to its readers both profit and pleasure.”
Sturgis, Russell.Interdependence of the arts; Scammon lectures, The art institute of Chicago, 1904.*$1.75. McClurg.
Six lectures and 100 illustrations make up this book. Modern judged by ancient art is treated in lectures 1 and 2, first under Representation and sentiment, and second under Decorative effects. The other subjects are—The industrial arts in which form predominates, The industrial arts in which color predominates, Sculpture as used in architecture, and Painting as used in architecture.
“The writer’s views on these subjects are sound, if pedantic and not altogether new; they might have been placed in a form rather more readily understood, for one may turn many pages before he gains any idea of what the author is ‘getting at.’”
“Reads rather like the slightly revised report of extempore talks than like a formal treatise.”
*Sturgis, Russell.Study of the artist’s way of working in various handicrafts and arts of design. 2v.**$15. Dodd.
In this “treatise on the ways in which the artist’s conceptions are formed and take visible shape,” Mr. Sturgis “gives a brief description of the technique of all the arts practised by man or savage down to the nineteenth century ... and even includes in a chapter on the ‘Ignored fine arts’ some discussion of fireworks and illumination, costume, the dance and stage-setting.” (Int. Studio.) There are one hundred and nineteen illustrations.
*“Though the work is copious, each department is despatched succinctly without overburdening detail and not without occasional expression of personal judgments and speculation.”
*“A comprehensive work.” C. de K.
Sturmsee: man and man; by the author of Calmire. † $1.50. Macmillan.
The author’s economic theory is that the workingman gets as large a share of the wealth he helps to produce as he actually earns. His story deals with many characters in many classes of society but chiefly with a young German doctor who loves a princess, comes to America, begins at the bottom and becomes reform governor of a western commonwealth; and with the romance of an idle leader of cotillions, and the intense daughter of a plain, blunt manufacturer of tinware.
“In the hands of a great writer it might have been a great book, because the purpose in it is that of painting the manners of men. But then the author launches into deep waters where he is not at home.”
*“There is too much social philosophy in the book to interest the general reader of fiction. Yet, on the whole, ‘Sturmsee’ abounds in lessons of healthy conservatism and conveys much social information.”
“It is not entirely without interest as a story, but it is essentially a book of discussions to which a conversational and picturesque form of exposition gives point and animation.” Wm. M. Payne.
“It is informed with learning and reflection, and its plan is studiously developed. Yet it would be a mistake to call it a novel.”
“The people in the book ... have (for Utopians) an appeal remarkably human. And not merely human, but romantic. The author never gets down from his hobby. He is always intent to teach you wisdom and demolish economic fallacies.”
“Has handled his material well or ill according as his readers expect sociology or fiction, for there is something of both and not enough of either.”
Sudermann, Hermann.St. John’s fire; tr. by Grace E. Polk. $1. H. W. Wilson co.
One of three translations of strong new foreign plays appearing in America in the last three years, the other two being Edith Wharton’s translation of Sudermann’s “Joy of Living,” and Coleman’s translation of Maeterlinck’s “Monna Vauna.” The dramatist uses an old German peasant custom of lighting bonfires and dancing round them on St. John’s eve as an allegorical background for his play. The custom dates back to heathen times, and the author in working out his plot makes the fires symbolize the outburst in the human soul, after Christian centuries, of the wild yearnings and primeval passions of the unregenerate man.
“Miss Polk’s translation is at once faithful to the spirit and letter of the original, and to the idiom of our own tongue. It is neither slavish nor careless.” Mary Gray Peck.
Suess, Eduard.Face of the earth (Das antlitz der erde); tr. by Hertha B. C. Sollas, 5v. v. I.*$8.35. (*25s.) Oxford.
Volume I. of a five volume edition. “Vol. I., which contains four maps and fifty other illustrations, is divided into two parts. Part I. deals with ‘The movements in the outer crust of the earth’—floods, cyclones, seismic areas, dislocations, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.; Part II. is devoted to ‘The mountain ranges of the earth’—the ‘Northern foreland of the Alpine system,’ ‘The trend-lines of the Alpine system,’ ‘The basin of the Adriatic,’ ‘The Mediterranean,’ the Great desert plateau, the Indian mountains, the mountains of South America, the Antilles, North America, and the mountains separating the continents.” (N. Y. Times.)
“The English version faithfully follows the original, and supplies adequate renderings of the German technical terms.”
“No work on geology since the day of Lyell’s ‘Principles’ has exerted so profound an influence upon geological thought as has Suess’s ‘Antlitz der erde,’ and no one has mastered the broad geographical facts that are associated with the science of the earth, the world-concept, in a manner at all comparable with his presentation.”
“Excellent translation of the first volume of the work.” J. W. G.
Super flumina: angling observation of a coarse fisherman,**$1.25. Lane.
“A volume on the art of Isaak Walton.... Among the topics discussed by the ‘fisherman’ are ‘Dashing dace,’ ‘Perches and plants,’ ‘A charge of pike,’ and ‘The club of melancholy.’”—N. Y. Times.
“The book might be summarized briefly as a modern and more erudite revival of Izaak Walton, so gentle and so humane is its attitude towards the finny tribe, so liberal and comprehensive its learning.”
“Is a book to irritate the curious rather than to please the well-informed or to instruct the ignorant. There is a great deal in this book that the learned angler (the appeal is to no other) may enjoy in spite of its overload of learning.”
Sutro, Emil.Duality of thought and language: an outline of original research. $1.50. Physio-psychic society.
“The author professes to have made the discovery that there are two voices in man, the one of the larynx and the other of the œsophagus; and that these two possess unique relation to the ‘soul’ element of speech. Tortuous and commonplace repetitions and variations of this theme make up the volume.”—Dial
“Has no claim to consideration except as an example of the confusion which may be the fruit of interest and enthusiasm unfortified by appreciation of what scientific investigation is or what it has accomplished.”
Sutro, Theodore.Thirteen chapters of American history, represented by the Edward Moran series of thirteen historical marine paintings.**$1.50. Baker.
Full-page reproductions of Edward Moran’s thirteen famous paintings with a descriptive essay upon each picture, an introduction and a brief biography. Portraits of the artist and his wife, as painted by their nephew, Thomas Sidney Moran, are also given.
“Thirteen excellent half-tone reproductions of scenes connected with the history of the United States by the late well-known marine painter, Edward Moran, coupled with an interesting descriptive essay and prefaced by a careful biography of the artist.”
“One of the most important books of the late Edward Moran was the series of thirteen marine paintings descriptive of important events in American history. They constitute a collection of impressive beauty, aside from their function of illustrating some of the most striking phases of American history.”
“The text ... is rather injudicious in tone.”
“This series of historical pictures is thus of graphic interest to young and old. It has been a happy idea to reproduce them in a book and to accompany them with descriptive essays.”
*Suyematsu, K., baron.Risen sun.**$3. Dutton.
In this collection of addresses, articles, and letters Baron Suyematsu gives to the western world “an impression of Japan both new and authoritative ... he ... has cleverly entitled the book, not ‘The land of the rising sun,’ but ‘The risen sun.’”(Outlook.)
*“‘The risen sun’ would gain in historical accuracy if a perhaps natural bias—or, should we say predisposition?—were eliminated.”
*“Altogether Baron Suyematsu’s book is a valuable contribution to history.”
*“The book is a superb piece of polemic, with a refreshingly cool and judicial temper like Franklin’s and with eloquence that reminds us of Beecher.”
*“The book is somewhat disjointed, patently showing that it is not a unified production. But its text is alike interesting and valuable.”
*“The Japanese sun is certainly risen, but when in future, distinguished authorities, such as Baron Suyematsu, relate the story of her progress they will better attain historical truth, if they give some credit where credit is so justly due.”
Swan, Helena.Girls’ Christian names their history, meaning, and association. $1.50. Dutton.
The author “has undertaken to give the origin of the baptismal names of women common in English-speaking countries, and to each name to add references as to its associations and history.” Her “method of treating a name is to give what she declares are its derivatives, then its derivation in the form of a statement; then to tell of the distinguished women who have borne it, and to give the titles of books wherein the name appears.”—N. Y. Times.
“A book of considerable interest, though of no importance. She has evidently brought more enthusiasm than judgment to her task.”
Swedenborg, Emanuel.Four doctrines with the nine questions; tr. by John Faulkner Potts. Am. Swedenborg.
The first volume in a new translation of Swedenborg’s theological writings. “The four doctrines,” first published at Amsterdam in 1763, include the following: I., The doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, followed by the nine questions, relating to the Lord, the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit; II., The doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Holy Scripture; III., The doctrine of life for the New Jerusalem from the ten commandments; IV., The doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning faith. The volume is supplied with full tables of contents, and an index to Biblical texts.
“A new translation by a competent scholar. In paper, typography, and binding the volume is all that a library edition should be.”
Sweet, Frank Herbert.Hobby camp. $1. Pilgrim press.
Kitty, a stenographer with an artistic temperament, is given a vacation by her employers and spends it in Hobby camp with Mrs. Rounds, whose hobby is doughnuts; Zeke, her son, the hobby boy; two college fellows who collect bugs and things; and Mr. Bailey who is writing a woodsy book. They all have adventures, especially Zeke, but the most wonderful things happen to Kitty, for she finds recognition for her drawings and wins the love of a great bear and—someone who is not a bear.
Swift, John N., and Birge, William S.No surrender. $1.50. Broadway pub.
The story of a “strange voyage in a strange country,” which narrates the stirring adventures of the purloined “Dona Inez,” under her piratical crew. These unlawfully minded seamen undergo almost every experience in the gamut of marine catastrophe while one of its former officers is speeding overland to head off disagreeable contingencies with the Chilean naval department.
Swift, Jonathan.Journal to Stella, together with other writings relating to Stella and Vanessa; with the notes of Sir Walter Scott.*$1.25. Scribner.
Swift’s well-known classic is the latest issue in the “Caxton series.” “The compact size, limp lambskin binding, light paper, large clear type, and photogravure frontispiece give an excellent example of modern progress in bookmaking.” (Critic.)
Swinburne, Algernon Charles.Love’s crosscurrents. $1.50. Harper.
A revived and rechristened work which some years ago appeared in the “Tatler.” “The situation which Mr. Swinburne presents to us is that of four cousins, brought up more or less together, two of whom are women and are married. With each is in love the brother of the other, and behind them all is the old Lady Midhurst, aunt of one pair and grandmother of the other, who plays the part of a shrewd and ill-natured Greek chorus.... The book is a study in calf-love, yet with something noble behind it; and the background is one ofdreary country life, worldliness, and cynical old age.” (Spec.)
“A book so studded with quips and witticisms will always repay reading. There is no cleverness shown in bringing the dramatic episodes to a clear and sharp point, and the discrimination between one character and another is so slight as to be almost imperceptible.”
“The prose is among the best that the poet has achieved. It would be hard to exaggerate the concision, the polish, and the perfect prose-rhythm of these letters. The letters as a whole are pungent satire on British morality, its sensual sentiment, and its capacity for whitewashing the moral sepulchre.”
“It is pure comedy, both high-spirited and restrained, both caustic and tender.” Olivia Howard Dunbar.
“We are not going to hail Mr. Swinburne as a great novelist on the strength of this performance, but may fairly call it a clever, almost brilliant piece of work in a difficult form.” Wm. M. Payne.
“They will add nothing to Mr. Swinburne’s fame.”
“For our part, better than the story, better even than the incisive prologue, we love the dedication with its rioting periods and its kingly courtesies.”
“As a love-story, the book is entirely ineffective. The style is not peculiarly Swinburnean, but it is naturally more vigorous, more telling than is common with writers of modern fiction.”
“An agreeable kind of old-fashioned love story is involved in ‘Love’s cross-currents.’”
“While there is hardly a sentence which we cannot read with pleasure for its literary savour, its prim ironic elegance, there is not a page which we turn with the faintest thrill of curiosity.”
“As a novel, indeed, the book has many faults. There are too many characters, and their relationships are too complex, for the brief introduction to give the reader any clear grasp of the situation.”
Swinburne, Algernon Charles.Selected poems, ed. by William Morton Payne. Heath.
A volume in section VI. of the “Belles-lettres” series. The eighty poems selected are printed complete and classified under the headings: odes, poems of paganism and pantheism, selections from Songs before sunrise, lyrics, sonnets, personal poems, and metrical experiments, imitations, and parodies. An introduction, a chronological list of writings, an index of first lines and full notes are included.
“In form and method Mr. Payne’s introduction must be pronounced a model. The selection of poems could hardly be improved upon.”
“It is as good an anthology of Swinburne as we can expect during the poet’s lifetime. The notes are exactly what the reader desires and needs.”
*Swing, David.Truths leaf by leaf, with a characterization by Newell Dwight Hillis, and introd. by Frank Wakeley Gunsaulus; also a poem by Dr. Gunsaulus; ed. by Sophie Burt Kimball. $1.50. S. B. Kimball, Chicago.
“When proceedings against David Swing for heresy resulted in his quitting the Presbyterian church, thirty years ago, and forming the Central Congregational church in Chicago, it was a clear gain both for preacher and people. His sermons, attractive in their breadth of view and depth of feeling, and distinguished by their literary quality, drew congregations with an unusually large proportion of men, and were regularly printed in his weekly paper, the ‘Alliance.’ The present volume draws its contents from ‘his most mature and last unpublished writings.’ Characterizations of the beloved preacher by his like-minded successors, Drs. Hillis and Gunsaulus, supply the personal element required for an adequate memorial.”—Outlook.
*“Beauty, spirituality, the value of high ideals in life and thought, fill these inspiring pages.”
*Swingle, Calvin F.Modern locomotive engineering, with questions and answers. $3. Drake, F: J.
A plain practical treatise on the construction, care and management of modern locomotives. “The book is presented in an attractive form in flexible covers. The print is large; the illustrations, of which there are many, are clear, simple, and yet comprehensive.” (Engin. N.)
*“Mr. Swingle has combined between the covers of one book not only much that has been treated of in the many smaller books, but he has also presented considerable other valuable matter in an original and interesting manner.” Arthur M. Waitt.
Sylvestre, Joshua, ed.SeeChristmascarols, ancient and modern.
Symonds, E. M. (George Paston, pseud.).*B. R. Haydon and his friends.**$3. Dutton.
“Haydon was a man much talked of in his day but little mentioned in our own. As a critic, despite his own sharply cut individuality, his egotism and vanity stood in the way of a proper perspective of men and things. As a painter he had undeniable power, and he used it with knowledge; he was a painter who thought.... The present well-printed volume ... helps more clearly to realize Haydon’s excellencies and limitations.”—Outlook.
*“Miss Symonds is rather too cold a biographer.”
*“As a book about art, even about the art of a singularly arid time in an arid country George Paston’s Haydon has little value or interest to-day. For its ‘collections and recollections,’ George Paston’s volume is pleasant reading.”
*“With such a subject, then, Mr. Paston could not write a dull book, and his ‘Life’ of Haydon does not contain a page that is not alive with a grim comedy or poignant with a yet grimmer tragedy.”