MR. WELLS has a new volume of collected Prefaces coming out this week,
with an Introduction and an Epilogue by Sir HARRY JOHNSTON. It will be
remembered that in _Joan and Peter_, a comparatively early work of
Mr. WELLS--it was published, if our memory serves us, before the
Armistice--handsome acknowledgment was made of Sir HARRY JOHNSTON'S
administrative ability and high aims; and it is pleasant to know that
in the long interval that has elapsed nothing has occurred to modify
their mutual admiration.
* * * * *
The firm of Black and Green will shortly publish Lord DYSART'S
monumental monograph on _China Tea: the Universal Antidote._ Lord
DYSART establishes the remarkable fact that the word "dyspepsia" was
practically unknown until the introduction of Indian and Ceylon tea.
Mr. WELLS, who contributes an illuminating Preface, points out that
the troubles of Russia are entirely due to the cutting off of the
supplies of caravan tea from China (the leading Bolshevists prefer
vodka to tea in any form) and the consequent recourse to inferior
synthetic substitutes. The rival merits of cream, milk and lemon are
carefully discussed both from the gustatory and hygienic standpoint,
Mr. WELLS pronouncing in favour of lemon, in which idiosyncrasy
he resembles Mr. CONRAD and Mr. GALSWORTHY. The volume is richly
illustrated with pictures of rare tea-pots, tea-caddies and samovars,
and contains a set of humorous verses dedicated to the author by Mr.
T. LEIF JONES.
* * * * *
The Right Hon. REGINALD MCKENNA'S new book, _The Proud Podsnaps_,
will be his first novel, and we hear it is to be humorous. His
distinguished relative, Mr. STEPHEN MCKENNA, Mr. WELLS and Mr. HERBERT
JENKINS have all written encouraging Prefaces to it; and Master
ANTHONY ASQUITH has added two essays on commercial aviation and a
couple of brilliant caricatures of Mr. LLOYD GEORGE and Mr. WINSTON
CHURCHILL.
* * * * *
Mr. HAROLD BEGBIE'S _Life of the Kaiser_ is already far advanced, but
he has laid it on one side in order to collaborate with Sir ARTHUR
CONAN DOYLE in the authoritative biography of Sir OLIVER LODGE. It
is understood that of the chapters dealing with the physiognomy
and phrenological aspect of the subject Mr. HAROLD BEGBIE will be
exclusively responsible for those on the frontal regions of Sir
OLIVER'S cranium, while Sir ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE will devote himself to
the occipital Hinterland. In this way it is hoped that the whole
area, which is enormous, will be adequately covered. The book will be
published by Messrs. Odder and Odder at 10s. 6d.; but a limited
number of copies, with special tambourine and planchette attachments,
will be available at £2 2s.
* * * * *
To the list of biographies of the PRIME MINISTER already published or
in contemplation there remains to be added one by an author who veils
his identity under the pseudonym of "Mount Carmel." It will bear the
title, _Lloyd George_--_Saint or Dragon_? and will be prefaced by an
introduction by Mr. Stickham Weed, in which that eminent publicist
discusses the antagonism of the Celtic temperament to Jugo-Slav
ideals. The book will be published at Fontainebleau.
* * * * *
The new Cardiff firm of Jenkins and Jones announce a novel from the
pen of Mr. Caradoc Blodwen, who had to fly from his native village
last year owing to the realistic picture he gave of local life in _The
Home of the Squinting Widows_. It is to be called _Taffy was a Thief_;
and those who have had the privilege of seeing early copies of the
book, which Mr. Blodwen wrote during his seclusion amongst the Hairy
Ainus, describe it as lurid in the extreme.
* * * * *
Mr. Cuthbert Skrimshanks's new novel is being looked forward to
expectantly by those who admire the vital and distinguished artistry
of his work. The author, it will be remembered, was employed in a firm
of ginger-beer bottlers before he took to literature, and Mr. WELLS,
who contributes a Preface, dwells happily on the stimulating and
phosphorescent quality which his literary work owes to his employment,
and contrasts it favourably with the flatness of Eton "Pop."
* * * * *
Yet another Shakspearean volume, which promises to be of engrossing
interest, has been written by Lord BLEDISLOE. It is to be called
_Bacon and Hamlet_, and Sir THOMAS LIPTON has contributed an
Introduction, in which the organisation of the food supply in the
Elizabethan age is exhaustively described. This exhaustive work, which
is dedicated to General STORRS, the Governor of Jerusalem, will be
published by Messrs. FORTNUM and MASON.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Nurse (reproachfully)._ "WHO DIDN'T FOLD UP HIS
TROUSERS WHEN HE WENT TO BED?"
_Tony_. "I KNOW. ADAM. I CAN ALWAYS GUESS THESE SUNDAY RIDDLES."]
* * * * *
"C'EST LA GUERRE."