Kennerley, New York.] Any biography of Whitman which reveals a large
understanding of his big poems of personality is notable. De Sélincourt
proves in his closing sentence that he knows his subject, for it is the
clearest and best characterization of the poet that has ever been
written: "He rises ... above nationality and becomes a universal figure:
poet of the ever-beckoning future, the ever-expanding, ever-insatiable
spirit of man."
Socialism: Promise or Menace? by Morris Hillquit and Rev. Dr. John A.
Ryan. [The Macmillan Company, New York.] A sophomoric debate between two
dogmatists that ran in Everybody's Magazine. One instinctively feels
that two evils are guised as panaceas and he will have neither of them.
The church, of course, has the last word--in the book.
Penrod, by Booth Tarkington. [Doubleday, Page, and Company, New York.]
At rare intervals we have a book on boys that holds the genuine boy
boyeousness. The Real Diary of a Real Boy captivated us with the story
of big little boys in a village; The Varmit told us of the irresponsible
capers of little big boys in "prep" school; and now we have Penrod, in
which Mr. Tarkington tells us much--well, of just boys.
Joseph Pulitzer: Reminiscences of a Secretary, by Alleyne Ireland.
[Mitchell Kennerley, New York.] An extraordinarily interesting piece of
Boswellizing.
Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, by Rabindranath Tagore. [The Macmillan
Company, New York.] A quiet essay full of the queer charm of conquered
strength memorable for at least one splendid sentence: "... life is
immortal youthfulness, and it hates age that tries to clog its
movements." But Tagore is vying too much with Tango just now among
people who can neither orient nor dance.
The Meaning of Art, by Paul Gaultier. Translation by H. & E. Baldwin.
[J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.] What is art? This book gives
the best answer that we have read, but when the author is psychological
he is wrong, in most cases. He has a rare faculty of compelling one to
read between his lines, and argue things out with oneself.
The Deaf: Their Position in Society, by Harry Best. [Thomas Y. Crowell
Company, New York.] An astonishing compilation of facts and figures by a
social economist who makes a morbid subject interesting to a healthy
citizen unafraid of truth about life.
Hail and Farewell: Vale, by George Moore. [D. Appleton & Company, New
York.] A completion of the most fascinating autobiography in the English
language.
American Policy: The Western Hemisphere in Its Relation to the Eastern,
by John Bigelow. [Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.] Cautious
discussions that respect diplomatic red tape interest patriotic pedants
but bore personalities who are concerned with bigger things than
national policies.
The Fortunate Youth, by William J. Locke. [John Lane Company, New York.]
Has all the Locke charm--and all the Locke prettinesses. The dish has
been served so often that it has become a bit tasteless. Most accurately
described as the kind of story whose heroine is always called "princess"
and whose hero rises from the slums to make flaming speeches in
parliament and achieve the "Vision Splendid." It will probably run into
ten editions and bring much joy.
The Wonderful Visit, by H. G. Wells. [E. P. Dutton and Company, New
York.] A reprint of a story published in 1895 which shows Mr. Wells in
the very interesting position of groping toward his present altitude.
Sweetapple Cove, by George Van Schaick. [Small, Maynard, and Company,
Boston.] The kind of sweet, gentle love story that a publisher would
rather discover than anything Ethel Sidgwick could write. We searched in
vain for just one page to hold our attention.
Idle Wives, by James Oppenheim. [The Century Company, New York.] Despite
a narrative style that at times fairly suffocates with its emotionality,
Mr. Oppenheim has put up a very strong case for the woman who demands
something of life except having things done for her.
Bedesman 4, by Mary J. H. Shrine. [The Century Company, New York.] The
outline is traditional: an English peasant boy makes his way through
Oxford, becomes a brilliant historian and a "gentleman," and marries a
"lady." But the treatment is fresh and delightful; there is something
real about it.
Over the Hills, by Mary Findlater. [E. P. Dutton and Company, New York.]
There are no new things to say about a Findlater novel. They are always
good.
Sunshine Jane, by Anne Warner. [Little, Brown, and Company, Boston.]
Jane has our own theory that one can get what he wants out of life if he
wants it hard enough. Though we don't advocate some of her "sunshine"
sentimentalities.
The Full of the Moon, by Caroline Lockhart. [J. B. Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia.] As superfluous as The Lady Doc. Those people who are
always asking why such books as The Dark Flower should be written ought
to turn their questioning to things of this type.
The Congresswoman, by Isabel Gordon Curtis. [Browne and Howell Company,
Chicago.] The tale of an Oklahoma woman elected to congress which closes
with a retreat--though not an ignominious one--to a little white house
with a fireside and a conquering male.
The Last Shot, by Frederick Palmer. [Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.]
A war novel without a hero by a man who has experienced many wars.
The Women We Marry, by Arthur Stanwood Pier. [The Century Company, New
York.] One of the most amateurish attempts to meet the modern demand for
sex stories that we have seen.
A Child of the Orient, by Demetra Vaka. [Houghton Mifflin Company, New
York.] A blend of Greek poetry and Turkish conquest and American
progress in autobiographical form, by the Greek woman who wrote
Haremlik.
Anybody but Anne, by Carolyn Wells. [J. B. Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia.] A mystery story of which the most fascinating feature is
the architect's plan of the house in which it takes place.
The Flower-Finder, by George Lincoln Walton; with frontispiece by W. H.
Stedman and photographs by Henry Troth. [J. B. Lippincott Company,
Philadelphia.] Worth owning if merely for the end-papers which literally
lead you into a spring woods. A comprehensive pocket guide to wild
flowers.
Prisons and Prisoners: Personal Experiences of Constance Lytton and Jane
Warton, Spinster. [George H. Doran Company, New York.] As Lady Lytton,
an enthusiastic convert to militant suffrage, the author received
courteous treatment in prison; disguised successfully as a middle-class
old maid she was handled shamefully. Everyone who doubts the martyrdom
or the intrepidity of the suffragettes ought to read this record.
Women as World Builders, by Floyd Dell. [Forbes and Company, Chicago.]
Birdseye views of the feminist movement by a literary aviator whose
cleverly-composed snapshots actually justify his cocksure audacity.
Women and Morality, by a mother, a father, and a woman. [The Laurentian
Publishers, Chicago.] Men and immorality discussed bravely by two women
and a man, without the artistic justification of "getting anywhere."
Karen Borneman and Lynggaard & Co., by Hjalmar Bergström, translated
from the Danish by Edwin Björkman; The Gods of the Mountain, The Golden
Doom, King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior, The Glittering Gate, and
The Lost Silk Hat, by Lord Dunsany; Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen, with
introduction by R. Ellis Roberts. [Mitchell Kennerley, New York.] New
volumes in The Modern Drama Series.
What Is It All About? A Sketch of the New Movement in the Theatre, by
Henry Blackman Sell. [The Laurentian Publishers, Chicago.] The "art
theatre" is explained illuminatingly for those who are vague about the
movement. Condensed, to the point, and really informing.
The Beginning of Grand Opera in Chicago (1850-1859), by Karleton
Hackett. [The Laurentian Publishers, Chicago.] Mr. Hackett is a man of
ideas and he might have written an interesting book by taking "grand
opera in Chicago" as his theme. Instead, he has done a hack job with its
early history and been given the distinction of tasteful binding and
printing.
Tuberculosis: Its Cause, Cure, and Prevention, by Edward O. Otis, M.D.
[Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York.] A revised edition of an old,
popular book "for laymen." Abounds in hard, cocksure rules that, if
followed, ought to discourage any germ whose host could outlive it. A
valuable work for persons who must have a definite programme to guide
them in fighting an always individualized disease.
Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, classified and arranged
so as to facilitate the expression of ideas and assist in literary
composition, edited by C. O. Sylvester Mawson. [Thomas Y. Crowell
Company, New York.] A revised edition in large type on thin paper.
Richard Wagner: The Man and His Work, by Oliver Huckel. [Thomas Y.
Crowell Company, New York.] Between W. J. Henderson's characterization
of Wagner as "the greatest genius that art has produced" and Rupert
Brooke's as an emotionalist with "a fat, wide, hairless face" there
ought to be a man worth biographies ad infinitum. Dr. Huckel's is simply
a clear condensation for the general reader of standard biographical
material, and is worth while.
The Book of the Epic: All the World's Great Epics Told in Story, by H.
A. Guerber; with introduction by J. Berg Esenwein. [J. B. Lippincott
Company, Philadelphia.] The most satisfying compilation in the field
that has ever been offered to the young student or general reader.
The Practical Book of Garden Architecture, by Phebe Westcott Humphreys.
[J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.] A weighty chronicle of garden
architecture, observations in many lands and under many conditions. "A
pick up and browse" book for the nature lover, with delightful
illustrations and much interesting general data of sunny gardens, cobble
walls, and running streams.
I am that which unseen comes and sings, sings, sings; which
babbles in brooks and scoots in showers on the land, which the
birds know in the woods, mornings and evenings, and the
shore-sands know, and the hissing wave.--Walt Whitman.
Letters to The Little Review
A. S. K., Chicago:
With your permission I shall try to explain why I am not enthusiastic
about the second issue of your magazine:
The crime of the April issue lies in the fact of its closely following
(chronologically) the issue of March. In the beginning you appeared to
us as a prophet, and we wistfully listened to your unique message; now
you have degenerated into a priest, a dignified station indeed, but
don't you think there are already more priests than worshippers in our
Temple? If you are going to be "one of many" I question the raison
d'être of THE LITTLE REVIEW.
Your debut was a revelation, a new word, a rejuvenating breeze in the
tepid atmosphere of our periodical press. It was a wonderful number, all
fresh and beautiful; even the one or two grotesque pieces that had
smuggled in drowned in the mass of splendor, just as the heavy colors of
the rainbow soften in the powerful symphony of the spectrum.
Now, frankly, would you sign your name under every article of the April
REVIEW? I hope not! You have turned your temple into a parliament of
dissonances; you have admitted Victorian ladies and sentimental
crucifiers of Nietzsche; you have even polluted your pages with an
anti-Bathhouse tirade! Then that cacophony of personal letters: I
blushed at the sight of these tokens of familiarity and tappings over
your shoulder on the part of the benevolent readers. I wished to shout
to the Misses Jones to keep off the altar, lest they besmirch your white
robe with their penny compliments and saccharine effusions.
I could hardly make myself believe that this irritating copy was THE
LITTLE REVIEW.
Pardon this frankness. But I wish you success, not popularity.
Mary W. Ohr, Indianapolis:
Let me tell you how much pleasure you have given me in the second issue
of your magazine. You are certainly to be congratulated upon having the
initiative to start anything so great as this.
I have reserved writing to you until now, for I wished to avoid the
appearance of trying to tear down or discourage an effort that was so
much bigger than anything I could ever achieve. Your article on The Dark
Flower made me feel that possibly intolerance might be your stumbling
block, and that your youth and enthusiasm might lead you into many
pitfalls that might not be for the betterment of your work. But this
number has made me your equal in enthusiasm, and I believe THE LITTLE
REVIEW is here to stay.
Verne DeWitt Rowell, London, Ontario:
THE LITTLE REVIEW is a whirlwind surprise. There is nothing like it in
America. I am glad to see you playing up Nietzsche. Over here in this
little town we have a Nietzschean vogue, and we are all delighted. Truly
the intellectual center of America has shifted westward. To be sure, New
York has The International; but Chicago has THE LITTLE REVIEW, The
Trimmed Lamp, and one or two other magazines of real literature. Then
there is Burns Lee's Bell Cow in Cleveland. Nietzsche is coming into his
own at last. Wishing every success to THE LITTLE REVIEW, which is one of
the two best magazines in America (the other is Current Opinion).
Mollie Levin, Chicago:
The formal bow that THE LITTLE REVIEW made to the public in its first
issue violated tradition beautifully by doing what formal bows never
do--really mean something. It is glorious to be young and enthusiastic,
and still more so to be courageous; and whatever goes into THE LITTLE
REVIEW in that spirit is admirable, regardless of any reader's personal
judgment.
It's good, too, to have used THE LITTLE REVIEW: It makes me think of a
child--beautiful in its present stage and with promise of infinite
fulfillment.
Marie Patridge, Clearfield, Pa.:
I've been tremendously interested in the second issue. It seems to me
your critic is wrong in speaking of juvenility or the restrictive tone
of the magazine. It's exactly that which gives THE LITTLE REVIEW an
excuse for being, that it is not like all other magazines with their
cut-and-dried precision and their "Thus saith the Lord" attitude toward
things.
As time goes on I think it will be wise to enlarge the scope--more of
drama, more of music, more of world politics and science. You will thus
get away from the aesthetic tendency which your critic mentions.
I enjoyed the Wells discussion so much. And yet Miss Trevor doesn't
advance any real arguments. It's very easy to call people muddle-headed
and vaguely sentimental, but an appeal to the upbuilding of character
isn't slushy. I'm inclined to agree with "M. M.," though I'd like to
hear an advanced--not a hysterical--argument on the subject. I'm willing
to be convinced of the other side, but assuredly it would take something
stronger and sterner and more logical than Miss Trevor.
[The suggestion about enlarging our scope is one we hoped no one
would make until we had done it, that being the plan closest to
our hearts. We can only explain our shortcomings in this regard
by referring to a homely but reasonable saying about not being
able to do everything at once.--THE EDITOR.]
Mabel Frush, Chicago:
You have invited frank criticism, and that is my reason for not writing
at first: I could not accept it all. In the first place, regarding
Paderewski. Do you never find him a bit over-powering; do you never feel
that a trifle more restraint might give greater strength? In Grieg, for
instance, does he carry you up into the high places, give you that
impression of unlimited space, rugged strength, and wild beauty? Is he
not too subjective?
I quite agree with you as regards Chopin and Schumann. There he is
satisfying. His interpretations carry a quality that other artists
sometimes treat too lightly; forgetting "a man's reach must exceed his
grasp," and so sacrificing the greater to the lesser in striving for
perfection. Impotency is the price of ultra-civilization.
Your comments on temperament are interesting, but I feel you are not
quite fair in your comparisons. Is not Paderewski's genius largely a
racial gift? To me all Russian (or Polish) art--both creative and
interpretative--possesses the flame of the elemental, that generative
quality which marks the difference between technical perfection and
living, breathing, throbbing art. Appreciating that "all music is what
awakens in you when reminded by the instrument," he strives for but one
thing: an emotional releasement that results in a temperamental orgy
which leaves his hearers dazed, lost in the labyrinth of their own
emotions.
As for Rupert Brooke's poetry, I regard him as decadent--at least too
much so to be really vital. Perhaps my vision is clouded, but I could as
easily conceive of Johnson worshipping at the shrine of Boswell as of
Whitman liking Brooke. Now and then he impresses me as being effete, and
I can never separate him from a cult, though I do delight in some of his
poems.
Mrs. William H. Andrews, Cleveland:
May I put in my little word and wish you all good speed, editor of THE
LITTLE REVIEW?
You evidently live in the clear blue sky where fresh enthusiasms rush on
like white clouds bearing us irresistibly along. Life grows even more
vivid under such stimulating courage and pulsing optimism.
The world is indeed wonderful if we but live it passionately, as did
Jean Christophe and Antoine, leaping forward, breasting the waves, with
music in the soul. My ears are singing with the third movement of
Tschaikowsky's immortal Pathetique, which to me, in larger part, so
belies its name.
Hail to THE LITTLE REVIEW! May it dart "rose-crowned" along its shining
way, emblazoning the path for many of us.
Mary Carolyn Davies, New York:
I have just finished reading THE LITTLE REVIEW from cover to cover, and
much of it twice over.
Thank you for loving the things I love, and thank you for being young
and not being afraid to be young! This is such a good day to be young
in!
With all good wishes for the success of THE LITTLE REVIEW (though it
needs no good wishes, for it cannot help succeeding).
P. H. W., Chicago:
The article on Mrs. Meynell in your April issue sounded a little curious
in its surroundings, as it was a piece of pure criticism and THE LITTLE
REVIEW is the official organ of exuberance. It is the only one, in fact,
and it is a good thing to have such an organ.
The "Best Sellers"
The following books, arranged in order of popularity, have been the
"best sellers" in Chicago during April:
FICTION
Diane of the Green Van Leona Dalrymple Reilly & Britton
Pollyanna Eleanor H. Porter L. C. Page
Inside the Cup Winston Churchill Macmillan
The Fortunate Youth William J. Locke Lane
Overland Red Anonymous Houghton Mifflin
T. Tembarom Frances H. Burnett Century
Penrod Booth Tarkington Doubleday, Page
Laddie Gene Stratton-Porter Doubleday, Page
Chance Joseph Conrad Doubleday, Page
Pidgin Island Harold McGrath Bobbs-Merrill
The Devil's Garden W. B. Maxwell Bobbs-Merrill
Quick Action Robert Chambers Appleton
Sunshine Jane Anne Warner Little, Brown
Light of the Western Stars Zane Grey Harper
Cap'n Dan's Daughter Joseph Lincoln Appleton
The Woman Thou Gavest Me Hall Caine Lippincott
Daddy-Long-Legs Jean Webster Century
World Set Free H. G. Wells Dutton
The After House Mary R. Rinehart Houghton Mifflin
Miss Billy Married Eleanor H. Porter L. C. Page
Flying U Ranch B. M. Bower Dillingham
Ariadne of Allan Water Sidney McCall Little, Brown
Anybody but Ann Carolyn Wells Lippincott
Rocks of Valpre E. M. Dell Putnam
White Linen Nurse Eleanor Abbott Century
When Ghost Meets Ghost William DeMorgan Holt
Dark Hollow Anna Katherine Greene Dodd, Mead
The Forester's Daughter Hamlin Garland Harper
Peg o' My Heart Hartley Manners Dodd, Mead
Passionate Friends H. G. Wells Harper
Martha by the Day Julie Lippman Holt
Westways S. Weir Mitchell Century
Gold Stewart E. White Doubleday, Page
Valley of the Moon Jack London Macmillan
Home Anonymous Century
It Happened in Egypt C. M. & A. M. Williamson Doubleday, Page
The Treasure Kathleen Norris Macmillan
Witness for the Defense A. E. W. Mason Scribner
Iron Trail Rex Beach Harper
Friendly Road David Grayson Doubleday, Page
NON-FICTION
Crowds Gerald S. Lee Doubleday, Page
What Men Live By Richard C. Cabot Houghton Mifflin
Modern Dances Caroline Walker Saul
Gitanjali Rabindranath Tagore Macmillan
Autobiography Theodore Roosevelt Macmillan
The press of my foot to the earth springs a hundred
affections.--Walt Whitman.
I ... am he who places over you no master, owner, better, God,
beyond what waits intrinsically in yourself.--Walt Whitman in
Leaves of Grass.
Where The Little Review Is on Sale
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. E. P.
Dutton & Co. G. P. Putnam's Sons. Brentano's.
Vaughn & Gomme. M. J. Whaley.
Wanamaker's.
Chicago: The Little Theatre. McClurg's.
Morris's Book Shop. Carson, Pirie, Scott &
Co. A. Kroch & Co. Chandler's Bookstore,
Evanston. W. S. Lord, Evanston.
Boston: Old Corner Bookstore. C. E. Lauriat
& Co.
Pittsburg: Davis's Bookshop.
Springfield, Mass.: Johnson's Bookstore.
Cleveland: Burrows Brothers. Korner & Ward.
Detroit: Macauley Bros. Sheehan & Co.
Minneapolis: Nathaniel McCarthy's.
Los Angeles: C. C. Parker's.
Omaha: Henry F. Keiser.
Columbus, O.: A. H. Smythe's.
Dayton, O.: Rike-Kummler Co.
Indianapolis, Ind.: Stewarts' Book Store.
The New York Store.
New Haven, Conn.: E. P. Judd Co.
Portland, Ore.: J. K. Gill Co.
St. Louis, Mo.: Philip Roeder.
Seattle, Wash.: Lowman, Hanford & Co.
Spokane, Wash.: John W. Graham & Co.
Hartford, Conn.: G.F. Warfield & Co.
Philadelphia: Geo. W. Jacobs & Co. Leary's
Old Bookstore. John Wanamaker's.
Rochester, N. Y.: Clarence Smith.
Syracuse, N. Y.: Clarence E. Wolcott.
Buffalo, N. Y.: Otto Ulhrick Co.
Washington, D. C.: Brentano's.
St. Paul: St. Paul Book & Stationery Co.
Cincinnati, O.: Stewart & Kidd.
My First Years as a Frenchwoman 1876-1879
BY MARY KING WADDINGTON, author of "Letters of a Diplomat's
Wife," "Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife," etc.
$2.50 net; postage extra.
The years this volume embraces were three of the most critical in
the life of the French Republic. Their principal events and
conspicuous characters are vividly described by an expert writer
who was within the inmost circles of society and diplomacy--she
was the daughter of President King of Columbia, and had just
married M. William Waddington, one of the leading French
diplomats and statesmen of the time.
Notes of a Son and Brother
BY HENRY JAMES.
Illustrated. With drawings by WILLIAM JAMES.
$2.50 net; postage extra.
Harvard, as it was in the days when, first William, and then
Henry, James were undergraduates, is pictured and commented upon
by these two famous brothers--by William James through a series
of letters written at the time. The book carries forward the
early lives of William and Henry, which was begun in "A Small Boy
and Others," published a year ago. Among the distinguished men
pictured in its pages are John LaFarge, Hunt, Professor Norton,
Professor Childs, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a close friend
of Henry James, Senior.
The American Japanese Problem
BY SIDNEY L. GULICK.
Illustrated. $1.75 net; postage extra.
The writer believes that "The Yellow Peril may be transformed
into golden advantage for us, even as the White Peril in the
Orient is bringing unexpected benefits to those lands." The
statement of this idea forms a part of a comprehensive and
authoritative discussion of the entire subject as set forth in
the title. The author has had a lifetime of intimacy with both
nations, and is trusted and consulted by the governments of each.
The Influence of the Bible upon Civilisation
BY ERNEST VON DOBSCHUTZ, Professor of the New Testament at
the University of Halle-Wittenberg, and now lecturing at
Harvard as exchange professor of the year
$1.25 net; postage extra.
This is an attempt to answer by the historical method the great
question of the day: "How can Christianity and civilisation
advance in harmony?" The writer simply follows the traces of the
Bible through the different periods of Christian history--a task
which, singularly enough, has hardly ever before even been
attempted, and never before successfully or even thoroughly done.
Hebrew and Babylonian Traditions
BY MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH.D. Professor of Semitic
Languages in the University of Pennsylvania
8vo $2.50 net; postage extra.