“If the success of a book of travels is to be measured by the travel-fever it excites in the veins of its readers, this volume should have a warm welcome.”
“And now we have found all the fault we care to find with this charming guide. To say that it ranks a long way after ‘The inland voyage’ is only to say that Stevenson is dead. We welcome in it a like sense of intimacy—it wears the face of a friend—it talks.”
*“Mr. Lucas makes no pretension to connoisseurship, but his untechnical remarks on pictures are nearly always interesting, and, to one reader at least, prove the most attractive part of his writing.”
“The fact is Mr. Lucas comes near being in his book exactly what one would like a well-informed and companionable fellow-traveler to be if one were seeing Holland with one’s own eyes.”
“In short the book is notable among books of travel and description for its readable qualities and discriminating and individual taste.”
*“A book of more than ordinary merit—a book with genuinely original qualities.”
“As we might have expected from his record, he neither bores nordogmatisesbut his book is full of information and not a little wise reflection.”
“It is as a critic of character and manners and a chronicler of art that Mr. Lucas interprets his function as a guide.”
Luccock, Rev. Naphtali.Royalty of Jesus and other sermons.*50c. Meth. bk.
Beauty of thought and simplicity of language mark these sermons which apply the teachings of Christ to the conditions of to-day under the titles: The royalty of Jesus; The fullness of Christ; The power of a surrendered life; The face of Jesus Christ; The brook in the way; The gospel for an opulent civilization; The cry of the disinherited; The song of Moses and of the Lamb.
Lucian (Lucianus Samosatensis).Work of Lucian of Samosata; trans, by H. W. Fowler, and F. G. Fowler. 4v.*$4. Oxford.
Four handy volumes in which the translators have happily rendered idiom by idiom and “literary allusions, quotations, and technicalities of law, philosophy, or art are neatly turned to apt analogues. They sound every note in Lucian’s compass, from the mock-heroic serio-satiric eloquence of the Nigrinus, the angry contempt of the False prophet and the Death of Peregrine ... to the solemn trifling of the Fly ... and the demonstration by Socratic induction in the ‘Parasite’ that dining out is better than dining.” (Dial.) The fourth volume contains a list of notes which explain all allusions to classical biography and mythology.
*“The renderings of Messrs. Fowler have all the ease and ‘élan’ of a work originally written in English.” R. Y. Tyrrell.
“Their translation is decidedly good; they have ventured on some daring modernisms, but these we can tolerate if only lightness is secured.”
“The translation is admirably executed in the freer manner of Jowett’s ‘Plato.’” Paul Shorey.
“The editors ... deserve high praise for the clearness and vigour of their translations.”
“This Fowler translation is a work of high art, for which its authors are to be thanked.”
“The translators have with admirable fidelity, vigour, and vivacity reproduced the writings of one whom such a critic as Erasmus reckoned not only among the most entertaining, but also the most instructive, of ancient authors.”
Lucke, Charles Edward.Gas-engine design.**$3. Van Nostrand.
“The book is divided into three parts: 1, Power and efficiency, with rules for deciding on the necessary piston displacement; 2, Stresses on the various parts of the engine and also with the various cylinder arrangements as affecting the turning effort and balance; 3, The necessary dimensions of the various parts to resist the stresses with both empirical and theoretical formulæ for the computation.”—Engin. N.
“It is a very notable addition to the literature on the gas engine.” Storm Bull.
Lützow, Francis, count.Lectures on the historians of Bohemia. Oxford.
The Ilchester lectures for the year 1904 “have their origin in a wish to do something for the Bohemian cause by illustrating before a foreign audience the wealth of Czechish traditions.... While Count Lützow alludes briefly to his contemporaries, the chief of his attention is devoted to the chronicles of the Middle ages and the era of the Reformation. Here the conditions fixed by a popular course of lectures compel him to be brief in his notice of all save the now famous authorities like Cosmas, Benes of Weitmil, Lawrence of Brezof, Sixt of Ottersdorf, and Paul Skála.... He gives us simply and tersely the results of the most recent research on technical points in conjunction with Palacky’s views on the larger issues.” (Nation.)
“The count, who is a master of our language, goes through the list of Bohemian historians, estimating their merits and furnishing characteristic extracts. These are translated into very clear and succinct English. Excellent book.”
“To many of our readers we can best convey an impression regarding the style and quality of his work by stating that it resembles a compressed Wattenbach with an element of current political interest added.”
Lyall, Sir Alfred Comyn.Lord Dufferin, the life of the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava.*$7.50. Scribner.
The life of a man to whom fate gave great opportunities, and who was big enough to handle and hold them. He was a central figure in many of the political events of the last half of the nineteenth century, he served as Governor-general of Canada, Viceroy of India, Ambassador to St. Petersburg, to Constantinople, Rome and France. This biography is compiled from his journal, his letters, and the recollections of his friends.
“But the real value of the book lies in the information it supplies in regard to the great movements in foreign and colonial politics thathave been going on during the last thirty years.”
“Making every deduction for the imperfections inseparable from even the best biographies, one reaches the conclusions that here a really great subject has been treated both adequately and effectively.” Lawrence J. Burpee.
*“His book is frank yet discreet, and marked in all its parts by delicacy of perception.”
Reviewed by Joseph O’Connor.
“What is to be regarded as the official biography. It is official also in its discreetness—a discreetness at times carried to extremes, dimming perception—and in the highly eulogistic tone maintained throughout. It may safely be said that Sir Alfred, while presenting a work obviously open to criticism, has also presented one of direct value to the historical student, and of interest to the general reader.”
“Sir Alfred Lyall seems to us to have chosen the best way in which to tell the story of Lord Dufferin’s life.”
Lydston, G. Frank.Diseases of society.**$3. Lippincott.
“A study of social conditions in this country. The police criminal, the anarchist, and the large number of moral and physical law-breakers are here discussed. The author also deals with such questions as the oppression of wealth, the rights and wrongs of organized capital and labour, the negro question, and the offences of society at large. The book is well illustrated.”—Bookm.
“The style, although brilliant at times, is open to much criticism. It is verbose, often disconnected and rambling. In spite of many blemishes the book is of great value. With the general thesis of the book and a large percentage of the conclusions, the reviewer is in hearty sympathy and heartily commends it to students of social problems.” C. Kelsey.
“His examination of the question of crime seems exhaustive, his inferences inevitable.” Albert Warren Ferris.
“While here and there is much that is interesting, although at times crudely presented, the author like many others who write upon the subject errs in trying to prove too much from insufficient premises and newspaper gossip, and this is especially true when he treats of craniometry and physiognomy.” Allan McLane Hamilton.
“It has not the air of a serious book of science, and indeed contains here and there a misplaced facetiousness.”
“As monographs the parts are incomplete, and the whole is neither sufficiently unified for the ordinary reader, nor clearly cut for the student. Nor is the style attractive.”
“This is really a study of the vice and crime problem from a medical standpoint.”
Lyle, Eugene P.Missourian.†$1.50. Doubleday.
Mr. Lyle finds material for his first story within the tottering Empire of Maximilian. The hero is one of Jo. Shelby’s band who, refusing to surrender after the fall of the Confederacy, offered their services to Maximilian in Mexico. Din Driscoll, Missourian, Confederate officer, the “storm center” in every fight, and the exquisite, capricious Jacquelin d’Aumerle, secret emissary of Napoleon on business of state, figure almost grotesquely in a series of thrilling adventures which result from defending each other from intrigue and death. In the end this airy coquette of two imperial courts chooses to find her happiness within the confines of a shut-away Missouri farm.
*“The fact is Mr. Lyle has been absorbed by his material, instead of absorbing it.”
“Here, for instance, is an example of literary over-seasoning, which, far from being exceptional, is fairly characteristic of the book’s style.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
“We should be grateful to Mr. Lyle for having given in this novel a new and adequate setting for the American hero of love and war.”
“Yet, dramatic, picturesque, brilliant in attack and technique as the book undoubtedly is, the interest in it is largely spectacular.”
“It is crude enough in certain details, but its reading leaves no doubt as to the fact that Mr. Lyle possesses extraordinary vision and power to communicate what his imagination sees.” L. L.
*“Admirably fresh and lively tale.”
“The history is accurate, but unimportant; the romance is of vast importance and fairly accurate.”
Lyman, Olin Linus.Oliver Hazard Perry and the war on the Lakes. $1.25. Amsterdam.
The brief career of Commodore Perry (1785-1819), midshipman, lieutenant, commander of Lake Erie, and the American squadron in the Mediterranean is given in this volume which is “a eulogy rather than a biography.” (N. Y. Times.)
“As an elementary history the book is good. It should make rather a good ‘reader.’ Mr. Lyman has padded his book tremendously, and has indulged in ‘fine writing’ of the worst sort. The author is very chary of dates.”
Lynch, Frederick.Is life worth living?**30c. Crowell.
A new volume in the “What is worth while series.” A message of comfort showing that life in God’s world is truly worth living, that there is but one answer to the question for those who believe in the life eternal.
Lytton, Lord Bulwer-.Last days of Pompeii.$1.25. Crowell.
Uniform with the “Thin paper classics,” this pocket volume is printed on opaque “Bible” paper in large clear type, is bound in limp leather, and contains a frontispiece of the author.
Maartens, Maarten (J. M. W. van der Poorten-Schwartz).My poor relations.†$1.50. Appleton.
Fourteen unpleasant stories of life in a little Dutch village, where the people are degraded and low in mind and morals. In “The mother” Mary Quint vainly struggles to help her son conquer his inherited love of drink. “Jan Hunkum’s money,” “Fair lover,” “The summer Christmas,” “The notary’s love story,” “The banquet,” and the rest, are all horridly true, and are told in a vivid style that makes them almost too real.
“The book is as oppressive as a nightmare.”
“Most of the fourteen stories herein told are pathetic almost to tragedy.”
“All the stories, while not calculated to make one laugh, will undoubtedly keep one’s interest alive.”
“It would be hard to name a book in which the characters are so uniformly disagreeable as in this collection of short stories.”
“One may go so far as to compare them to De Maupassant’s though hardly to that master’s best.”
Mabie, Hamilton Wright.Fairy tales every child should know.**90c. Doubleday.
Twenty four “once upon a time” fairy tales collected from various countries to amuse and stimulate the imagination of the child of today. They include such familiar stories as, Hans and Gretel, Ali Baba, The golden goose, One eye, two eyes, three eyes, Blue beard, Red riding hood, The ugly duckling, Tom Thumb, Jack the giant killer, Jack and the bean stalk, and Puss in boots.
“In one respect the book appears to us defective, in that it does not state by whom the particular version of each of these child classics was written.”
*Mabie, Hamilton Wright,ed.Myths every child should know: a selection of the classic myths of all times for young people.**90c. Doubleday.
“This volume is uniform with ‘Fairy tales every child should know.’ It collects for children’s reading and for school use sixteen myth-stories which belong to the world’s literature and appeal to the young imagination. Hawthorne’s ‘Wonder-book’ and ‘Tanglewood tales’ furnish half the material.... Charles Kingsley’s ‘Greek heroes,’ Mr. Brown’s ‘In the days of the giants,’ Mr. A. J. Church’s ‘Stories from Homer,’ Mr. Mabie’s ‘Norse stories,’ and Miss Emerson’s ‘Indian myths’ are the other sources. Mr. Mabie furnishes an introduction.”—Outlook.
*“We could wish that Mr. Mabie had put his interesting preface before a more consecutive and less heterogeneous collection.”
*“They are rather stiffly told and frequently the style is too difficult and elaborate to be easily understood by children.”
McAlilly, Alice.Hilda Lane’s adoptions. $1.50. Meth. bk.
Hilda Lane, kept from the man she loves for twenty years by a war time misunderstanding, adopts a sturdy waif named Robert, and a negro girl, Liberty, and educates them. Liberty grows up to offer her life to white fever sufferers, and Robert, on the eve of a successful career and engaged to marry a lovely southern girl, discovers that there is negro blood in his veins and nobly consecrates his life to the uplifting of the black race. The book is chiefly occupied with the negro question.
McAlilly, Alice.Larkins wedding. $1. Moffat.
“An apotheosis of good nature and neighborly kindness. A worthy washerwoman related grammatically to Mrs. Partington arranges the wedding of her daughter. The respect both have won in their town inspires the interested villagers of higher social position to make the pathetic efforts of Mrs. Larkins turn out a happy success. A change in bridegrooms adds to the general jollity, and the two Larkins, mother and daughter, disappear in a haze of prosperity and sentiment.”—Outlook.
“The story is told with many touches of humor.”
Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st baron.Essays; ed. by Lady Trevelyan. $6. Putnam.
These six compact little volumes contain nothing but the text of the essays and preface as edited by Lady Trevelyan, the author’s sister. There are several illustrations in each volume—mainly engravings and portraits.
“Edition is as satisfactory for the purposes of the reader of Macaulay as a modest man can desire, handy enough to permit you on occasion to put a volume in your coat pocket and take it with you upon a journey, yet entirely fit for the library shelves. For it sacrifices to compactness not size of type (and the eyes of the reader) but an easily dispensable surplus of margin.”
“Admirably planned for thoroughly comfortable reading, and to take up small space in a library. For a good edition which meets all the requirements of the average reader, and of a size which makes it possible to carry the volumes about when one travels, we do not recall a better edition than this.”
Macbean, L., and Brown, John.Marjorie Fleming.**$1.40. Putnam.
The famous account of “Pet Marjorie” by Dr. John Brown is here reprinted, with much later information and her journals and letters hitherto unpublished. There are fourteen illustrations, including pictures of the little girl taken alone and with Scott.
*“We commend this book, sure that it will become a precious possession.”
“Should be welcomed by all admirers of Dr. Brown’s earlier story of her.”
McCall, Sidney.Breath of the gods.†$1.50. Little.
Little Yuki, a samurai’s daughter, the last of her honorable race, has been educated in Washington and returns to Japan with the American minister to Tokio, his wife and daughter. Her story is the story of the heart of Japan, the nobility, the love of country, the cruelty; and when she tramples on her own love and the love of the young Frenchman, Pierre, and marries Prince Haganè at the command of her father and the call of her country, she typifies the cheerful sacrifice of the individual to the system, which is, perhaps, the keynote of Japan. The time is that of the present war with Russia, the tragedy is horrid and occidental.
“‘The breath of the gods’ is one of the most artistic novels of the year. We doubt if any American writer has given us a truer or more intimate insight into the life and the spiritual and intellectual concepts of the Japanese than has the author of the ‘Breath of the gods.’”
“The genre painting, although too crowded with details, is good; but the end is disappointing.”
“In her work one sees an unbounded admiration of traits not fully comprehended, rather than a keen and sympathetic understanding of the Japanese ideals and their visible exponents.”
“Putting aside the truth or improbability of the story, the book is interesting in all parts and thrilling in some.”
“‘The breath of the gods’ is worthy of the author of ‘Truth Dexter.’”
“As a story the book is written in a somewhat hectic and turbulent fashion, and its early promise is hardly fulfilled by the melodrama of its conclusion.”
McCarthy, Justin.History of our own times. v. 4 and 5. ea.*$1.40. Harper.
“These two volumes conclude the ‘History of our own times,’ begun by Mr. McCarthy some twenty-five years ago. The five volumes taken together cover the entire reign of Queen Victoria.... This work ... is rather a series of essays than a continuous history. All of the important events of the period come in for consideration. The greatest of these for the empire at large was the Boer war.... The interest and value of these volumes rests upon the fact that they are the work of a man who knows intimately what he is writing about.”—N. Y. Times.
“Looking at the work as a whole, we can only describe it as glib, fluent, popular—not by any means as a thoughtful and far-reaching study of men and the events of our time, and of the tendencies of those great movements which they have generated.”
*“But Mr. McCarthy is always readable, and the entertaining quality of his work will undoubtedly be of value in bringing to the negligent reader some familiarity, at least, with the main features of later English politics.” E. D. Adams.
“It does not read like the work of a man behind the scenes, or tell us anything that we have not already read in the newspapers. Mr. McCarthy writes without any sense of proportion, and freely scamps the essential in order to make room for padding. All that can truthfully be said is that Mr. Justin McCarthy has the trick of being mildly readable even when he is platitudinous and obvious.”
“He tells the story in a simple, intelligible way. He is never dry, tedious, discursive, labored, or involved. It is not adverse criticism to say that he has not written a weighty history.”
“He is always interesting, and though sometimes gossipy and sometimes affected by personal prepossessions, he writes with singular fairness of temper. His history is journalistic rather than scientific.”
*“It is very interesting and of considerable use to students of recent events.”
*“We are sorry that we cannot say that it is even a good book of reference, for Mr. McCarthy is not methodical enough, nor detailed enough, nor accurate enough to make himself an authority on facts. The English is slovenly.”
McCarthy, Justin.Irishman’s story,**$2.50. Macmillan.
An autobiography giving the author’s experiences in newspaper work, his visits to America, and his parliamentary career (1879-1902), covering the Parnell period with its sudden close and the breaking up of the Nationalist party.
“Historical students who may turn to either of these volumes will be compelled continuously to keep in mind the nationality and political environment of the writers; for with both Davitt and McCarthy every Irishman on the popular side is a patriot, an orator, or a statesman.”
“A record sufficiently varied and full of incident to have a sure claim on public interest. It would rank with such a narrative as Mr. Riis’s rather than with literary autobiographies, or with intellectual documents like Spencer’s account.” H. W. Boynton.
“A delightful melange of reminiscence, description, autobiography and anecdote, and will be read with genuine enjoyment.”
“From first to last these autobiographical chapters have a charm.”
McCarthy, Justin Huntly.Dryad.†$1.50, Harper.
“The hero is the son and heir of Duke Baldwin of Athens, who ruled near the close of the thirteenth century. The heroine, Argathona, is a dryad, who remained in the Eleusinian wood after the gods departed. There are numerous adventures—joustings, conspiracies, battles, enchantments—related with cheerful disregard of everything except the interest of the reader.”—Pub. Opin.
“He has not succeeded in creating the right atmosphere. Mr. McCarthy has found a beautiful theme and in spite of his cleverness has handled it so roughly that he has deprived it of its external charm and has not developed the possibilities of its inherent beauty”
“Mr. McCarthy must be congratulated on having so deftly handled the supernatural that one hardly feels the impossibility of Argathona.”
“Decidedly the best that Mr. McCarthy has done.”
“A very readable tale after its own unreal fashion.”
“Selecting a somewhat vague historical period, he devises an impossible plot, worked out by impossible characters. A rather pleasing piece of make-believe.”
“It may be said indeed that he has woven in this story a tapestry whose grace of design and exquisite harmony of color all lovers of this kind of story will approve. There is something Tennysonian in the silken softness of his style and in his imagery.”
“The story is told with Mr. McCarthy’s usual verve and lightness.”
“Mr. McCarthy contrives to get a real touch of poetry into his descriptions of the forest.”
McCarthy, Justin Huntly.Lady of Loyalty house.†$1.50. Harper.
“A story of Cromwell’s time, with the brilliant Lady Brilliana Harby as the storm centre. Dangers without end beset the lady and her admirers true and false, the whole ending happily when the clang of wedding bells replaces the clash of swords.”—Critic.
“A pretty tale and a merry one. This is mostly a skipping, happy-go-lucky story, a seventeenth century scherzo.”
“Is a brisk and breezy romance. There is little or no attempt at historical accuracy or minute coloring, a fact that is quite refreshing. Mr. McCarthy is content to tell a swift and fascinating story, in which effort he succeeds thoroughly.”
McCaul, Ethel.Under the care of the Japanese war office. $1.50. Cassell.
An English woman’s account of her recent visit to Manchuria to inspect the work of the Japanese Red cross society. Their efficient system is given in detail and there are many incidents and descriptions typical of the land and the people.
“Gives many interesting glimpses of the kindly side of war.”
“Miss McCaul is an honest, straightforward writer, and her book is a tonic.”
“The practical advantages to be derived from a study of the volume under review cannot be questioned.”
“Her letters here collected have in them much of interest, but are overloaded with too detailed narrative of personal experiences.”
“Unpretentious, but able and interesting little book. It contains much that is valuable to a student of military medicine.”
McClain, Emlin.Constitutional law in the United States.*$2. Longmans.
“This text book on American constitutional law is published in the “American citizen” series, edited by Prof. Hart.... The classical bibliography and references at the beginning of each chapter together furnish opportunity for a more extended study of the subjects dealt with in the text.... The volume is divided into eight parts ... first ... the System of government.... Part II. explains how the government is organized. Parts III., IV., and V. deal with the nature and scope ... of the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches of the government; Part VI. concerns itself with the relations of the states to each other and to the federal government. The last two parts are on the relations of the individual to the government and on civil rights.”—N. Y. Times.
“It is an able, fresh, vigorous treatment of the subject, handled with assurance and with considerable novelty in method.”
“Covering in a cursory way so vast a field, the book is necessarily in many respects unsatisfactory. It has, however, the decided merit of containing a selected general bibliography, topical bibliographical references for each chapter, an analytical table of contents, and a fairly satisfactory index.”
“The volume is very well adapted either for private reading or for classes of civics or history in our schools.”
“The clear arrangement and concise style, the subordination of detail, and the avoidance of a mere mechanical order in the presentation of topics save it from stereotyped formality or dull abstruseness. On the whole, we should expect to see McClain supplant Cooley to a considerable extent in the schools and colleges.”
McClellan, Elizabeth.Historic dress in America, 1607-1800; with an introd. chapter on dress in the Spanish and French settlements in Florida and Louisiana; il. in color, pen and ink, and half-tone by Sophie Steel,**$10; hf. lev. or mor.**$20. Jacobs.
“The work begins with the time of the earliest Spanish occupation of the continent, and concludes with the opening of the nineteenth century. Within this period the dress of men and women, nobles, commoners, and soldiers, is minutely described, the illustrations being from contemporary prints, old portraits and similar authentic sources.”—Reader.
“The text is accompanied by excellent illustrations. Its attempt at completeness and the care used in arrangement suggest that its greatest value is as a book of reference. Therefore it is a matter of regret that references for the large number of quotations are not more frequent.”
“This exhaustive and well illustrated volume on the American dress of the past should hold a position among the most authoritative works on the subject.”
*“A valuable book of reference.”
“Nothing approaching the completeness of the present work has yet been offered.”
McClure, Alexander Kelly.Our presidents and how we make them. $2. Harper.
The present revised edition brings this book of reference down to date. An account of the Roosevelt-Parker campaign is given with a narrative of its various conventions.
“As a whole this is a convenient and reasonably accurate handbook of American national politics, and only here and there does the author make a statement that seems questionable.” H. T. P.
“All these summaries, if not very critical in tone, are readable and to the point.”
“It is not only a valuable record, but also interesting history.”
“The style remains involved and awkward and the diction careless.”
McCook, Rev. Henry Christopher.Senator: a threnody.**$1.25. Jacobs.
This poem is a tribute to Marcus Hanna, written by a life-long friend. It is divided into five parts: A prologue of a life; Village scenes; Transformed villagers; A plea for immortality; and The life beyond.
“All conducted with a skill evidencing considerable homiletic experience.”
McCrackan, William Denison.Fair land Tyrol.**$1.60. Page.
An enthusiastic description of “happy Tyrol,” in which are mingled beauty of landscape, and quaint peasant charm: the toymakers and innkeepers of to-day: the patriots and minnesingers of yesterday. The traveller is shownwhere to find interesting sights and scenes and is given a knowledge of the part that he may understand the Tyrolese of the present. The illustrations are reproduced from photographs.
“The book is readable and interesting.”
“A pleasant account of one of the most delightful of European districts.”
“Readable for itself, and giving an excellent notion of the country, the book is also usable side by side with a guide book, as an intelligent and interesting description of the principal places in the country.”
“As a whole his book is disappointing, childishly enthusiastic, and not at all convincing as either guide book or account of travel in the Tyrol. It is full, however, and one will not go astray in following Mr. McCracken as a guide.”
“There is no distinction about the style, which is sometimes slipshod.”
McCracken, Elizabeth.Women of America.**$1.50. Macmillan.
As a result of several years of observation of the American woman as she is found in the large towns and small all over the United States, Miss McCracken gives her to us in all her phases, the professional woman and the club woman; her ideals and her achievements.
“This misleading book.... Harmfully sentimental spirit in which the fourteen articles ... are written. No information is offered to the seeker after fact; and for the theorist there is no basis of discussion. The book is simply a rambling series of unilluminating anecdotes, strongly personal without being strongly vital in tone.” O. H. D.
“The book is often unjust in its criticism, fulsome in its praise, illogical in its attempts at argument. It could not be called a serious contribution to sociological literature, partly because it is a vitascope of photographs from a car window instead of the careful canvasses of a Millet, who has known his subjects long, and loved them well.”
“The book has far too wide a title.”