before completing their work, the book as it stands is one of great
value, and will doubtless find a place on the shelves of every
university library and of every scholar of the old Northern
literature. The translation is clear, direct, and simple, slightly
archaic as is right.”
+ + =Nation.= 81: 260. S. 28, ‘05. 2910w.
* =N. Y. Times.= 10: 577. S. 2, ‘05. 250w.
* “In this case the peculiar gifts of mediaeval temperament and
curious linguistic knowledge of the English translator have given us a
translation equally spirited and faithful on the whole, often very
near the picturesque quality of the original and yet good honest
idiomatic English prose.”
+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 627. N. 11, ‘05. 2020w.
=Villard, Henry.= Memoirs of Henry Villard, journalist and financier,
1835-1900. 2v. **$5. Houghton.
Henry Villard landed in New York in 1853, a mere boy, without friends,
money, or a knowledge of English. After suffering almost incredible
hardships, he finally succeeded as a journalist, representing the N.
Y. Tribune as war correspondent during the Civil war. His memoirs
contain valuable accounts of battles, estimates of the commanders, and
personal descriptions of Lincoln and others. Later he left journalism
for finance, attaining eminence in this calling also.
“What separates it from other books of its class is that it is a
characteristic illustration of American possibilities.” M. A. De Wolfe
Howe.
+ + =Atlan.= 95: 131. Ja. ‘05. 810w.
=Villari, Luigi=, ed. Balkan question. *$3. Dutton.
A symposium on the Macedonian question, past, present, and future. Its
object is to draw the attention of Englishmen to the situation in the
Balkans, to show that Turkey cannot be reformed from within and that
the time is ripe to bring about European control. There are chapters
by English writers on the various aspects of the problem, and by
French and Italian writers on the attitude and duty of their
respective countries.
=Critic.= 47: 410. N. ‘05. 460w.
“To be sure, it is a piece of liberal propaganda and tells only one
side of the story, but it is nevertheless a lucid explanation of a
very complicated situation.”
+ + — =Ind.= 59: 751. S. 28, ‘05. 540w.
“There is, in the book before us, considerable repetition, an
occasional contradiction, and some diversity, not only as to points of
view, but as to such minor matters as the spelling of geographical and
proper nouns.”
+ + — =Nation.= 80: 424. My. 25, ‘05. 1340w.
“It is a most informing and interesting volume.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 198. Ap. 1, ‘05. 650w.
“We know of no other volume exhibiting the subject so comprehensively
and so clearly from the pro-Macedonian standpoint.”
+ + + =Outlook.= 79: 757. Mr. 25, ‘05. 200w.
“Undoubtedly the most instructive two chapters are those by Mr.
Valentine Chirol and Mr. Bourchier.”
+ =Sat. R.= 99: 634. My. 13, ‘05. 1020w.
=Villari, Luigi.= Russia under the great shadow. **$3.50. Pott.
“Unless all the auguries should prove false, the war in the Far East
should mark the transition of Russia from the Middle ages to the
twentieth century, from the Eastern to the Western world, from
barbarism to civilization,” gives the keynote of Mr. Villari’s
optimism which characterizes this work, altho he brings the reader
face to face with the dark facts of present conditions. One of the
strongest chapters in the book is that in the industrial development
of Russia whose conclusion proves that “M. de Witte’s scheme of making
agricultural Russia an industrial country was a mistake both
politically and economically.” (Sat. R.)
“The book is so good that we find little to say about it. The only
point upon which we find Mr. Villari inclined to go wrong concerns the
defects of the Eastern church.”
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 747. Je. 17. 480w.
“If it does not claim to be a very profound study, it is,
nevertheless, a very pleasant book to read, and contains much
interesting, and even valuable information.”
+ + =Lond. Times.= 4: 222. Jl. 14, ‘05. 500w.
“Mr. Villari has written an excellent account of the Czar’s empire in
war-time.”
+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 542. Ag. 19, ‘05. 2310w.
“The work itself strikes us less as that of an observant traveller
than a compilation of material taken from well-known standard works.”
+ + — =Sat. R.= 100: 121. Jl. 22, ‘05. 700w.
“Is full of shrewd observation and vivid description, and is admirably
illustrated.”
+ + =Spec.= 95: 152. Jl. 29, ‘05. 130w.
=Villiers, Frederic.= Port Arthur: three months with the besiegers.
*$2.50. Longmans.
An English war correspondent’s story of three months with the Japanese
army before Port Arthur. It is a vivid and stirring account as far as
it goes, but unfortunately the author left the army two months before
the actual fall of the fortress.
“Mr. Villiers’ impressions ... form a series of word-pictures which,
although at times they are somewhat disjointed, make interesting
reading, and this, too, despite the irritating and frequently
recurring fact that unimportant and somewhat egotistical information
about the writer and his field companions is unnecessarily obtruded
upon the attention of the reader.”
+ + =Acad.= 68: 174. F. 25, ‘05. 550w.
“The text is brightly written, in a vein altogether cheerful.”
+ =Dial.= 38: 275. Ap. 16, ‘05. 150w.
“It is simply the diary of an experienced observer.”
+ + =Nation.= 80: 316. Ap. 20, ‘05. 3650w.
“It is as a study of human nature exposed to exceptional conditions
that it holds the interest of the reader from the first page to the
last.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 260. Ap. 22, ‘05. 760w.
“Taken only for what it claims to be—a picturesque, gossipy narrative
of personal observation and experience—the book is enjoyable.”
+ =Outlook.= 79: 653. Mr. 11, ‘05. 120w.
=Pub. Opin.= 38: 467. Mr. 25, ‘05. 690w.
“The narrative throughout is written with a cheerful good feeling and
fairness which command respect.”
+ + =Spec.= 94: 405. Mr. 18, ‘05. 130w.
=Vilmorin-Andrieux, et cie.= Vegetable garden. *$4.50. Dutton.
“The new issue of the English version of Mm. Vilmorin-Andrieux’
vegetable encyclopedia makes a volume of nearly 800 pages.... The book
shows its mixed origin inevitably: the general notes on culture are
chiefly founded on the practice of the Paris market-gardens; and these
are followed by directions in smaller type intended for British
conditions. There is bewildering choice of varieties of every root and
herb—French, German, Italian, or American.... The botanical and
historical information is rather disproportionate to the cultural
directions.... Small woodcuts illustrate the book.”—Sat. R.
+ + =Acad.= 68: 815. Ag. 5, ‘05. 190w.
+ + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 280. Ag. 26. 320w.
* “With Professor Bailey’s valuable ‘Cyclopaedia,’ and with this minor
cyclopaedia supplementing that, our gardeners, professional and
amateur, are well equipped.”
+ + =Nation.= 81: 472. D. 7, ‘05. 560w.
“The book will probably be of more value to the experienced gardener
than to the beginner.”
+ + =Outlook.= 81: 45. S. 2, ‘05. 50w.
+ =Sat. R.= 100: 155. Jl. 29, ‘05. 400w.
+ =Spec.= 95: 159. Jl. 29, ‘05. 250w.
=Vincent, Marvin R.=, tr. See =Dante, A.= Inferno.
=Vinogradoff, Paul.= Growth of the manor. *$2.50. Macmillan.
A volume based upon lectures given at Oxford in the summer of 1904,
and addressed primarily to students of general history. The author
gives a full treatment of manorial origins; he states in his preface:
“All periods of English history had their bearing on the life of the
manor. Some germs of manorial institutions may be found in the Celtic
age; the Roman occupation of the island had undoubtedly a powerful
influence on its economic arrangements; the old English period is
marked by the full development of the rural township; the feudal epoch
finds the manor at its height; the dissolution of the manor forms one
of the processes by which modern commercial intercourse was brought
about.”
“His method and the mastery of the details of his subject combine to
produce a notable book; but we confess to disappointment that he did
not pursue to a greater extent the test of comparative polity. Broad
as it is in outline, it is full to the highest degree of the most
valuable details. A mass of material brought together and classified
in a manner which must remain of permanent value.”
+ + + =Acad.= 68: 125. F. 11, ‘05. 780w.
“On the whole, Dr. Vinogradoff is not convincing in his argument.”
— + =Lond. Times.= 4: 322. O. 6, ‘05. 1050w.
“This power of brilliant scientific intuition in individual instances,
along with his vast general erudition, is what makes Vinogradoff so
admirable. He is preëminently a ‘case historian.’ But the power of
summation, of vividly portraying the march of change in its broad
currents, he does not possess.”
+ + — =Nation.= 81: 223. S. 14, ‘05. 1490w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 105. F. 18, ‘05. 330w.
“In handling a subject that promises so much Dr. Vinogradoff has
displayed an accuracy rare among holders of British professorships.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 315. My. 13, ‘05. 290w.
“Scholars will not find it easy to accept Dr. Vinogradoff’s
conclusions in full, but all will perceive in his treatise an
illuminating contribution to a difficult problem.”
+ + — =Outlook.= 79: 652. Mr. 11, ‘05. 300w.
“Dr. Vinogradoff in stating his case has also carefully set forth the
views of those who differ from him, and the result is a book of
singular value as well as of extraordinary fascination.”
+ + + =Spec.= 94: 594. Ap. 22, ‘05. 2250w.
=Vitelleschi, Marchesa.= Romance of Savoy. *$7.50. Dutton.
The romantic rise of the House of Savoy is sketched from its
subservient position under the insolent protection of the King of
France to an independent state worthy of the respect of the whole of
Europe. Two important personages are the center of development, Victor
Amadeus II., Duke of Savoy, and Anna Maria of Orleans, granddaughter
of Charles I.
“Certain peculiarities of diction betray deficient knowledge of
English on the part of the author or the translator, if it has been
found necessary to call in the latter.”
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 488. Ap. 15. 1800w.
“If she had not attempted to prove too much, to dwell too strongly on
the importance to Savoy of its connection with the Stuarts, her book
would have been more convincing.”
+ + — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 533. Ag. 12, ‘05. 1050w.
“She has been an industrious worker, and has unearthed from the papers
put at her disposition some interesting things relative to a
picturesque period in Italian history. She has also, however,
unearthed some things of rather doubtful permanent worth, and the
printing of these at times clouds the clearness of her narrative.”
+ + — =Outlook.= 80: 984. Ag. 19, ‘05. 280w.
=Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred.= Emile Zola, novelist and reformer. **$3.50.
Lane.
A life of Zola by his authorized translator, the son of one of his
first publishers. Zola’s school days at Aix, his youth in Paris, his
position with the publisher Hachette, his connection with the Dreyfus
episode, and the history of his writings, particularly the long
Rougon-Manquart cycle, are given in full. There is much of his
contracts with publishers and theatrical managers, and the business
detail incident to his work.
“Not one of the five hundred and fifty pages that make up this life is
out of place.”
+ + =Critic.= 46: 188. F. ‘05. 120w.
“In some respects Mr. Vizetelly’s ‘Zola’ is a satisfactory, and is
likely to remain for some time a definitive work. With regard to the
facts of Zola’s career there is probably no one capable of speaking
with more authority than Mr. Vizetelly. The book is unnecessarily
crowded with ‘shop.’”
+ + — =Ind.= 58: 266. F. 2, ‘05. 700w.
* “Tho wanting in conclusion and proportion, is likely to be for some
time an authoritative source for the facts of the novelist’s life.”
+ + — =Ind.= 59: 1162. N. 16, ‘05. 70w.
=Vizetelly, Francis (Frank) Horace.= Preparation of manuscripts for the
printer. *75c. Funk.
A series of directions to authors as to the manner of preparing copy
and correcting proofs with suggestions on submitting manuscripts for
publication.
* “It contains much useful information and sound advice from a man of
experience in the publishing world.”
+ + =Outlook.= 81: 837. D. 2, ‘05. 50w.
* “Altogether, this is likely to be a useful book.”
+ =Spec.= 95: 934. D. 2, ‘05. 130w.
=Von Horn, W. D.= See =Oertel, Phillipp Friedrich Wilhelm.=
=Vries, Hugo de.= Species and varieties: their origin by mutation;
lectures delivered at the University of California; ed. by Daniel
Trembly MacDougal. *$5. Open ct.
“The present work consists of twenty-eight lectures arranged in six
groups. The first lecture is an introduction dealing with ‘Theories of
evolution’ and ‘Methods of investigation.’ ... The second division of
lectures (II.-IV.) deals with ‘Elementary species in nature.’ ... In
lectures V.-XV., the author presents the evidence to show that
‘varieties’ are produced either by the loss of some marked
peculiarity, or by latent characters becoming active, or by the
acquisition of others that are already present in allied species....
Lectures XVI.-XXIV. Although the author tested many species, only one,
the evening primrose, Œnothera, gave positive, mutating, results. He
finds that the various mutations obtained from this species take place
with a great degree of regularity. Very simple rules of general
validity, he assumes, govern the whole phenomenon.... Lectures
XXV.-XXVIII. There is selection of two kinds, between species and
between varieties.”—Philos. R.
“‘Species and varieties,’ then, within the field of natural science,
is clearly the book of the year. On the practical side it gives unity
and significance to the random observations of every lover of plants.
On the theoretical side, the work articulates with Mendel’s old
doctrine of the unit character, the heredity atom which either is, or
is not, and never splits in passing from one generation to the next.”
E. T. Brewster.
+ + + =Atlan.= 96: 683. N. ‘05. 850w.
“‘The greatest contribution since Darwin’ is the universal testimony.”
H. C. Cowles.
+ + + =Bot. G.= 40: 148. Ag. ‘05. 900w.
+ + + =Ind.= 58: 1187. My. 25, ‘05. 810w.
“The book is, considering its bulk, very free from misprints.” A. D.
+ + + =Nature.= 72: 314. Ag. 3, ‘05. 1560w.
+ + =Outlook.= 79: 605. Mr. 4, ‘05. 100w.
“Evidently the work of de Vries may well prove to be an epoch-making
contribution to the advance of knowledge.” Edward G. Spaulding.
+ + =Philos. R.= 14: 354. My. ‘05. 2760w.
+ + =Pub. Opin.= 38: 344. Mr. 4, ‘05. 970w.
“The great service of de Vries’s work is that, being founded on
experimentation, it challenges to experimentation as the only judge of
its merits. As to the literary qualities of the book, one has first to
praise the general method of exposition. It is quite a model.” C. B.
Davenport.
+ + + =Science=, n.s. 22: 369. S. 22, ‘05. 2800w.
W
=Wack, Henry Wellington.= Romance of Victor Hugo and Juliette Drouet.
**$1.50. Putnam.
A bundle of letters written to Hugo by Madame Drouet in 1851 and
discovered by Mr. Wack on a ramble thru the island of Guernsey, forms
the basis of this book. An introduction by M. François Coppée, the
story of the relations of the poet and Juliette for fifty years and of
the poet’s life at Hauteville house by Mr. Wack, and many
illustrations complete the volume.
Reviewed by Jeannette L. Gilder.
+ + =Critic.= 46: 509. Je. ‘05. 790w.
“His book is quite without adequate raison d’etre.”
— =Dial.= 38: 357. My. 16, ‘05. 530w.
“The introduction by François Coppée is especially interesting not
only on account of the view that it furnishes of Hugo as seen by an
enthusiastic young poet, but because of its literary excellence and
the charming delicacy with which he has related his experiences.”
+ =Ind.= 59: 42. Jl. 6, ‘05. 330w.
“One more superfluous example of literary indiscretion.”
— =Nation.= 80: 352. My. 4, ‘05. 200w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 140w.
“The literary value of this book lies in the charming introduction by
François Coppée; the human interest, in the conscientious work of the
author, who, however, is sometimes in danger of beating his gold leaf
out too thin.”
+ — =Outlook.= 79: 1061. Ap. 29, ‘05. 170w.
“Mr. Wellington Wack proves such a pretty apologist that we can easily
persuade ourselves that we are not reading scandal at all, but a
‘worthy literary record.’”
+ — =Pub. Opin.= 38: 836. My. 27, ‘05. 340w.
=R. of Rs.= 32: 124. Jl. ‘05. 90w.
=Wack, Henry Wellington.= Story of the Congo Free State. **$3.50.
Putnam.
“Social, political, and economic aspects of the Belgian system of
government in central Africa. After personal research among the
documents in the administration office, to which he was given free
access by the king of the Belgians, the author presents this volume as
a true and complete history of the affairs of the Congo Free State.
The work is profusely illustrated with characteristic
sketches.”—Bookm.
“His refutation of the British charges is so violent that, considering
the sources of his information, the argument is not convincing.”
+ — =Ann. Am. Acad.= 25: 595. My. ‘05. 180w.
“But apart from its value as a plea for the equity and wisdom of King
Leopold’s administration, the book has an interest which makes a
strong appeal to the general reader.”
+ + — =Cath. World.= 82: 126. O. ‘05. 620w.
“We heartily thank the author for the abundant documents, pictures,
statistics, appendices, and index even more than for his narrative,
which, while liable for discount as a statement of truth, is rich in
facts.”
+ + — =Critic.= 47: 96. Jl. ‘05. 440w.
“As a polemic it is plain that ... Mr. Wack writes from a prejudiced,
anti-British standpoint.”
— + =Ind.= 59: 390. Ag. 17, ‘05. 300w.
“The most interesting as well as the most trustworthy feature of the
book is its profuse photographic illustration.”
+ — =Nation.= 80: 276. Ap. 6, ‘05. 940w.
“Mr. Wack’s book, however, seems to be ‘the real thing,’ and is the
most complete work on the subject that has yet appeared.” James
Gustavus Whiteley.
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 129. Mr. 4, ‘05. 1710w.
“He makes it evident at the very outset that he did not approach his
task with an altogether unbiased mind. If his monograph fails as a
refutation, it is not, however without value as contributing useful
information in regard to the history and resources of the Free State.”
+ — =Outlook.= 79: 761. Mr. 25, ‘05. 280w.
+ — =Pub. Opin.= 38: 465. Mr. 25, ‘05. 970w.
=Waddell, Charles Carey.= Van Suyden sapphires. †$1.50. Dodd.
Miss Gwendolen Bramblestone, one of the guests, at Mrs. Van Suyden’s
country place for a week-end house party, becomes implicated in a
mysterious jewel robbery. The story follows her efforts to establish
her innocence and to recover the gems. Her Scotch lover, the
“gentleman burglar,” and an ex-jockey detective add to the plot and to
the character interest.
“Exceedingly interesting tale in spite of its thinning out toward the
end.”
+ — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 347 My. 27. ‘05. 560w.
“An absorbing story from start to finish.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 391. Je. 17. ‘05. 160w.
“The plot is most ingenious.”
+ =Outlook.= 80: 144. My. 13, ‘05. 130w.
=Waddell, Laurence Austine.= Lhasa and its mysteries; with a record of
the expedition of 1903-4. *$6. Dutton.
This detailed account of the expedition to Lhasa is written by the
chief medical officer of the military escort which accompanied Sir
Francis Younghusband. There is an historical introduction, and there
are diagrams, plans, maps, and illustrations from photographs taken by
the author.
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 423. Ap. 8. 2210w.
“His book is decidedly interesting. It contains a great deal of new
matter regarding the country. The author has seen a great deal, but he
does not impress us as a man of a scholarly, independent, and broadly
cultivated mind.”
+ + — =Nation.= 80: 484. Je. 15, ‘05. 2760w.
“In the matter of authoritative backgrounds, at all events, Col.
Waddell’s book on the Lhasa mission and its antecedents is the most
complete which has so far appeared.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 262. Ap. 22, ‘05. 1640w.
“Inferior in literary quality to both Mr. Landon’s ‘The opening of
Tibet’ and Mr. Candler’s ‘The unveiling of Lhasa,’ it deals with the
subject more broadly and intimately than either.”
+ + — =Outlook.= 80: 241. My. 27, ‘05. 1920w.
“We may therefore accept the statement made in ‘Lhasa and its
mysteries’ as an authoritative description, so far as opportunity
allowed, of the inner life of the people.”
+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 56. Jl. 8, ‘05. 1990w.
“He writes with clearness and grace, he has an eye for the picturesque
and curious, and he provides a variety of information in which every
type of reader may find something to his taste. The only blemish is an
occasional tendency to egotism.”
+ + — =Spec.= 95: 320. S. 2, ‘05. 1370w.
=Waddington, Mary Alsop King.= Italian letters of a diplomat’s wife.
**$2.50. Scribner.
The first part of the book gives an account of a visit to Italy in
1880, just after Monsieur Waddington had resigned the premiership of
France, while part 2, Italy revisited, depicts Rome twenty years
later, after Monsieur Waddington’s death, and describes a new pope and
a new king and queen. The letters give glimpses of society and
notables, of state and social functions, of Italian skies and gardens.
“We feel we cannot have too many books like this—the expression of a
cultivated, well-bred, cosmopolitan, and always kindly and
good-natured mind.”
+ + =Acad.= 68: 443. Ap. 22, ‘05. 1500w.
+ =Am. Hist. R.= 10: 938. Jl. ‘05. 60w.
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 494. Ap. 15. 770w.
“The present volume of Madame Waddington’s letters makes a most
interesting and intimate history of social life in Italy during the
past quarter of a century.” Jeannette L. Gilder.
+ + =Critic.= 46: 506. Je. ‘05. 780w.
“The book as a whole, though entertaining, hardly equals its
predecessor in interest.”
+ =Dial.= 38: 357. My. 16, ‘03. 460w.
“They are just such letters as one would like to get if he had a
friend at court, personal, chatty and unaffected.”
+ + =Ind.= 58: 1070. My. 11, ‘05. 170w.
“The book has its defects. But, after all, what we absolutely demand
in a book of this kind is that it shall be interesting; and
interesting the book is, and full of the atmosphere of Italy.”
+ + — =Nation.= 80: 418. My. 25, ‘05. 1270w.
“Mme. Waddington in Italy is not perhaps Mme. Waddington at her best.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 212. Ap. 8, ‘05. 1230w.
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 220w.
“What the later volume lacks in unity it amply makes up in variety.
Madame Waddington writes familiarly, but her books are singularly free
from trivialities and gossip, and one looks in vain for anything like
malice or scandal.”
+ + — =Outlook.= 79: 1014. Ap. 22, ‘05. 240w.
“Mme. Waddington’s book is among neither the best nor the worst of its
class.”
+ =Pub. Opin.= 38: 836. My. 27, ‘05. 330w.
+ + =Reader.= 6: 596. O. ‘05. 260w.
“The stream of pleasant babble flows along so easily and briskly and
vividly that only a veritable churl could refuse to be vastly
entertained.”
+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 186. Ag. 5, ‘05. 710w.
* =Wade, Blanche Elizabeth.= Garden in pink. **$1.75. McClurg.
“Best of All” was blessed not only with a fertile imagination but with
a husband, “The Other One,” who entered delightedly into all her
schemes, and together they turned an old fashioned Italian garden into
a pink garden filling it with all the things that bloom pink and
gazing at it thru rose colored glasses. Here they and Best of All’s
sister, called “The Prevaricator,” because she wrote stories, whiled
away much of a happy summer. A dozen garden photographs printed on
thin paper and mounted on separate pages, also various border designs
drawn by Lucy Fitch Perkins, and printed in pink and green, create a
real pink garden atmosphere.
* “A novelty in garden books.”
+ + =Dial.= 39: 385. D. 1, ‘05. 270w.
* “A charming volume.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 832. D. 2, ‘05. 210w.
* + =Outlook.= 81: 1038. D. 23, ‘05. 90w.
=Wade, Mrs. Mary Hazelton (Blanchard).= Coming of the white men: stories
of how our country was discovered. †75c. Wilde.
This is the first volume in a series known as “Uncle Sam’s old-time
stories.” It aims to interest young readers in the beginnings of
American history, and to arouse patriotism. The present narrative
covers the period from the time when the Norsemen set foot upon our
soil down to the establishing of the Maryland colony.
=Wade, Mrs. Mary Hazelton (Blanchard).= Ten big Indians. †$1. Wilde.
A companion volume of “Ten little Indians.” This sketch includes the
chiefs and leaders of the tribes from which the ten little Indians
were drawn. The qualities of the red men and the different periods of
American history and different sections of the country are represented
while the author shows that thru such means as bravery, oratory,
cunning and in a few instances kindness, these braves won power and
prominence.
=Wagner, Charles.= Busy life; or, The conquest of energy; tr. from the
French by G: Moorhead. 60c. Ogilvie.
A book of moral teaching intended to instill into the minds of the
readers the desire for the real things of life, among which there is
none comparable to energy, which is virtue itself, stimulating in us
and in others, life, joy, and hope.
* =Wagner, Charles.= Justice; tr. from the French by Mary Louise Hendee.
**$1. McClure.
“‘A disposition to unfairness, bad faith, and evil speaking, is abroad
in every field,’ says the author in his preface, ‘and a matter over
which men do not contend at daggers drawn, is hard to find.’ To
counteract this evil, the little book teaches the lesson of sweet
reasonableness and Christian charity.” (Dial.) The contents include:
The birth of righteousness; Dominion and voluntary service; Mine and
thine; Science and faith; The love of country—Humanity; The
churches—The church—Religious justice; Society and the individual
social justice; The religious conception of work.
* “Fluent and apparently careful translation. These new chapters
contain little that is essentially new to those familiar with the
volumes that have preceded.”
+ =Dial.= 39: 244. O. 16, ‘05. 320w.
* + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 636. S. 30, ‘05. 650w.
=Wagner, Charles.= My appeal to America; being my first address to an
American audience. **50c. McClure.
An appeal for active goodness and the “simple life,” with an
introduction by Dr. Lyman Abbott, and notes and appendices. The
profits of the book are to go to a fund to furnish a site for a church
of which Mr. Wagner is to be the pastor.
“In remarkably lucid English, occasionally quaint, and always naïvely
serious, even when expressive of a saving sense of humor.”
+ + =Outlook.= 79: 706. Mr. 18, ‘05. 120w.
=R. of Rs.= 31: 383. Mr. ‘05. 60w.
=Wagner, Charles.= On life’s threshold: talks to young people on
character and conduct; tr. by Edna St. John. **$1. McClure.
“In talking to young people ... is it necessary to ... be genuine,
direct and simple. In this respect these talks are excellent, and can
profitably be studied as models by many of our preachers and teachers.
The ethical instruction is developed by a process of reasoning instead
of being based on dogma and authority, and is not even very definitely
Christian, so there ought not to be any objection to the use of the
book in the public school of any locality.”—Ind.
“Pastor Wagner’s power lies in the fact that he is not ashamed to put
commonplaces in plain language.”
+ =Ind.= 58: 729. Mr. 30, ‘05. 140w.
“The volume is a careful guidebook to everyday life.”
+ + =Reader.= 6: 478. S. ‘05. 220w.
“Another little volume of thought-provoking, cheerful philosophy.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 512. Ap. ‘03. 100w.
=Wagner, Richard.= Selections from the music dramas of Richard Wagner;
arranged for the piano by Otto Singer. $1.50. Ditson.
A late addition to the “Musician’s library.” The excerpts are not
difficult for the amateur and include representative parts of eleven
operas from “Rienzi” to “Parsifal.”
+ + + =Dial.= 38: 422. Je. 16, ‘05. 90w.
“The Wagner book is altogether the most satisfactory collection of
excerpts from the works of that musical Titan that we have ever seen.
The selection is wise and comprehensive. Mr. Aldrich’s preface is all
that such a foreword should be.”
+ + + =Ind.= 59: 393. Ag. 17, ‘05. 90w.
=Wagner, Richard.= Richard Wagner to Mathilde Wesendonck; tr. by W.
Ashton Ellis. $4. Scribner.
“The world is indebted to Mathilde Wesendonck for two great
achievements—she inspired the composition of ‘Tristan and Isolde,’ and
she thereby forced the composer to defer the completion of the ‘Ring
des Nibelungen’ until his powers were in their full maturity. This
remarkable collection of letters, first published after the death of
the lady, which took place in 1902, is another fruit of their
relationship. What the nature or that relationship was, we do not
propose to discuss.... Its only importance for us consists in its
artistic results.”—Lond. Times.
“No lover of the greatest modern master of music should fail to read
them.” Jeanette L. Gilder.
+ + + =Critic.= 47: 216. S. ‘05. 1050w.
“If the work has been performed conscientiously,—that is, if there has
been no improper discrimination in the selection from private
correspondence, nothing omitted which would tend to develop the real
character of the man,—the plan is unobjectionable, even admirable, as
it brings the man himself very near to the reader.”
+ + =Dial.= 39: 118. S. 1, ‘05. 520w.
“To Mr. Ashton Ellis’s fashion of translating we cannot altogether
reconcile ourselves. The translator, however, deserves the greatest
praise for the careful way in which he has annotated the letters and
for the interesting dissertations which he has prefixed and appended
to them.”
+ + — =Lond. Times.= 4: 174. Je. 9, ‘05. 2150w.
“The peculiarities of Wagner’s style are to a considerable extent
reflected in the English version.”
+ + =Nation.= 81: 126. Ag. 10, ‘05. 790w.
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 369. Je. 10, ‘05. 240w.
[Mr. Ellis] “produces English prose that is as gnarled as Wagner’s
German. It is not often that the inner workings of genius have been so
illumined.”
+ + — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 624. S. 23, ‘05. 670w.
=R. of Rs.= 32: 255. Ag. ‘05. 60w.
=Wakefield, Frank H.= Marriage—limited. $1.50. Neale.
The setting of this story is in a future time when a seven year
marriage contract is in vogue. This contract may be renewed at its
expiration, or the parties to it may form new contracts. No one may
marry more than five times, and all children are brought up and
educated by the state. The plot concerns a murder and a robbery and
some clever detective work, but these things seem commonplace, and it
is the unique state of society that is exciting.
=Walker, Ernest.= Beethoven. $1. Brentano’s.
The third volume in “The music of the masters” series is a Beethoven
handbook which gives a sketch, with suggestive motives, of his
principal compositions, including choral music, vocal music, stage
music, orchestral works, solo instrument music, chamber music, and
piano-forte music. The closing chapter gives a composite view of his
music as a whole, showing both his creative genius and reflected
qualities.
“The author has confined himself to criticism which is often of a very
striking and suggestive kind.”
+ + + =Lond. Times.= 4: 235. Jl. 21, ‘05. 600w.
“On the whole one must admit him to be a sane and safe guide and
suggestive withal.”
+ =Nation.= 80: 464. Je. 8, ‘05. 150w.
“On the whole, Mr. Walker’s analyses and discussions are enlightened
and sympathetic.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 355. Je. 3, ‘05. 440w.
=Wallace, Alfred Russel.= My life: a record of events and opinion. *$6.
Dodd.
“No one would guess this to be the work of an octogenarian.... There
is no sign of diminished vigour, whether in the earlier part, which is
written almost entirely from memory, or in the latter, which is
largely devoted to a trenchant defence of socialism, spiritualism, and
other darling fads of his old age. The book may be divided into four
sections, which will doubtless appeal with varying force to different
readers. First we have boyhood and adolescence—the student; then the
famous expeditions to South America and the Malay archipelago—the
naturalist and collector; thirdly, the scientific and literary work at
home, the intercourse and correspondence with eminent
contemporaries—the evolutionist; lastly, the struggle with economic
problems of modern life—the socialist and reformer.”—Lond. Times.
“Dr. Wallace has been his own recording angel, and those who peruse
the record cannot but pronounce it well and truly written.” W. P.
Pycraft.
+ + =Acad.= 68: 1119. O. 28, ‘05. 1870w.
* “Mr. Wallace’s narrative in other words, can hardly be called a
model of conciseness. Still its wonderful candour wins ample
forgiveness for its prolixity.”
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 2: 649. N. 11. 1040w.
“He writes with the crystalline simplicity that belongs to a sincere
and candid mind, that invests even trivial things with interest, and
continues to charm when wit and fancy, unless they be of a very high
order, seem faded or forced.”
+ + + =Lond. Times.= 4: 348. O. 20, ‘05. 2550w.
“While we fully recognize the very extensive variety and importance in
many respects of Dr. Wallace’s career we cannot but think he has
followed an undesirable precedent in rivalling Spencer’s
self-expansiveness. We cannot imagine any reader who will not find the
greater part of it worth the reading.”
+ + — =Sat. R.= 100: 526. O. 21, ‘05. 1670w.
=Wallace, Dillon.= Lure of the Labrador wild. **$1.50. Revell.
The account of an exploring expedition into the unknown wilds of
Labrador in the summer of 1903. The trip was undertaken by Leonidas
Hubbard, jr., who perished from hunger and exhaustion, the author and
a half-breed Cree Indian as guide. The story is a pitiful one of
hardship and disappointment. The party set out with inadequate
provisions, and an insufficient knowledge of the country, and having
caught but a glimpse of Lake Michikaman, ragged and starving they were
forced to turn back; winter closed in upon them, Hubbard succumbed,
and Wallace barely escaped with his life. The story is told simply and
graphically, and the author while depicting its horrors admits that he
still feels the lure of the wild saying: “The smoke of the camp-fire
is in my blood. The fragrance of the forest is in my nostrils. Perhaps
it is God’s will that I finish the work of exploration that Hubbard
began.” There are a number of illustrations from photographs and three
original and accurate maps.
“It is one of the most interesting accounts of exploration we have
seen.”
+ + =Ann. Am. Acad.= 25: 596. My. ‘05. 70w.
“Seldom has a story of hardship bravely endured been told so
movingly.” J. B. G.
+ + =Critic.= 46: 472 My. ‘05. 210w.
=Nation.= 80: 256. Mr. 30, ‘05. 910w. (Condensed narrative.)
“It is a homely and pitiful story of enterprise, disappointment, and
starvation. Its manifest moral is that it does not do to start wrong
if you would go exploring.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 98. F. 18, ‘05. 1620w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 170w.
“It is a wonderfully interesting record, told in a simple and
straightforward manner.”
+ =Outlook.= 79: 706. Mr. 18, ‘05. 220w.
+ =Pub. Opin.= 38: 717. My. 6. ‘05. 180w.
“Presents, in a graphic, literary style, the tragic story.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 381. Mr. ‘05. 160w.
“It is a vivid, painful, and admirably written account of an exploring
expedition into that inhospitable wilderness.”
+ + =Spec.= 94: 918. Je. 24. ‘05. 340w.
=Wallace, Sir Donald Mackenzie.= Russia. $5. Holt.
An entirely new and much enlarged edition of a work first published in
1877. It has been revised and in great part rewritten, bringing the
history of Russia and her people down to May 1905. The noblesse, and
the policy of the central government receive adequate treatment, while
the story of the lower classes, the traders, parish priests, peasants,
burghers, cossacks, and serfs, their life, customs, local government,
religion, and the great national movements which affect them, is told
in detail and in the light of a full knowledge derived from long
residence among them.
“The book has thus been brought up to date, without sacrificing any of
its wisdom, or the political insight and the sane and temperate views
which have continued for a quarter of a century to give it a leading
value.”
+ + + =Acad.= 68: 719. Jl. 8, ‘05. 190w.
“The most important part of the new book consists in the account of
the revolutionary movement and in the general considerations contained
in the last chapter. Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace writes with real
information, and is, alone among the hosts of writers on Russia whose
books are just now coming out, to be trusted as a man of authority.”
+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 37. Jl. 8. 1990w.
“It covers a much broader field than M. Ular even thinks of
attempting.”
+ + =Critic.= 47: 410. N. ‘05. 230w.
“As a masterly attempt to facilitate one nation’s understanding of
another, ‘Russia’ stands in the same class as Mr. Bodley’s ‘France’
and Mr. Bryce’s ‘American commonwealth.’”
+ + + =Lond. Times.= 4: 205. Je. 30, ‘05. 2940w.
“A book of extreme value on a remarkably difficult subject has been
rendered invaluable nay, indispensable—for those who wish clearly to
understand present conditions and future possibilities in the realm of
the Tsar.”
+ + + =Nation.= 81: 170. Ag. 24, ‘05. 1110w.
“Almost every subject is treated of in a method in keeping with its
nature.”
+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 603. S. 16, ‘05. 1150w.
“Is the finished product of a man who in every respect is competent to
deal in a masterly manner with his subject.”
+ + + =Pub. Opin.= 39: 446. S. 30, ‘05. 170w.
“The work is a large and exhaustive one. It is regarded by many
Russians as the best work about their country ever written by a
foreigner.”
+ + + =R. of Rs.= 32: 510. O. ‘05. 190w.
+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 341. S. 9, ‘05. 1480w.
“Sir Donald Wallace writes of modern parties with a serene
impartiality, and a clearness and fulness which are only too rare in
works on the subject. We may differ from the author’s conclusions, but
we are compelled to respect them; and since he gives his data frankly
and fairly, he provides the reader, if he be mistaken, with materials
for an independent judgment.”
+ + =Spec.= 95: 152. Jl. 29, ‘05. 1030w.
=Waller, Mary Ella.= Daughter of the rich. †$1.50. Little.
A favorite among young readers whose popularity demands a new edition
to which Ellen Bernard Thompson has contributed six full-page
illustrations.
=Waller, Mary Ella.= Sanna. †$1.50. Harper.
“The heroine is the center of an admiring circle of homely Nantucket
folk, one of the vivid blossoms that glow in the fresh salt breezes.
Each character in the story is distinctly individualized, and humor
and pathos mingle in their shrewd talk. Somewhat apart, but always
sympathetic with the village people, are the members of the Torrence
family, within whose bounds are found the seeds that ripen into
tragedy and give a dramatic touch to the well-managed plot.”—Outlook.
=Ind.= 59: 209. Jl. 27, ‘05. 150w.
“The author’s art falls below her invention. Nevertheless, ‘Sanna’ is
a well-written, wholesome, breezy tale.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 319. My. 13, ‘05. 360w.
“Altogether this is a novel quite above the average in construction
and sustained interest.”
+ + =Outlook.= 80: 143. My. 13, ‘05. 110w.
* =Wallis, Louis.= Egoism: a study in the social premises of religion,
$1. Univ. of Chicago press.
The author discusses the proposition that “egoism is the only ‘force’
propelling the social machine,” which thesis he demonstrates by
evidence drawn from biblical history; he further maintains that the
historical criticism of the Bible must be made in the light of
sociology; finally, he shows the practical bearing of this on the
present social problems.
=Walpole, Horace.= Letters chronologically arranged and ed. with notes
and indices, by Mrs. Paget Toynbee. 16v. ea. *$2; set, *$32. Oxford.
Twelve of these sixteen volumes have been published to date. They
contain the letters in as complete form as possible, giving four
hundred letters not included in the “Latest edition of collected
letters,” and which have never before been printed. There is
additional annotation and an exhaustive index. The edition is
illustrated by fifty portraits in photogravure, and three facsimiles
of original letters.
=Acad.= 68: 195. Mr. 4, ‘05. 1210w. (Review of v. 9-12.)
“It is sufficient to say that there is no indication that the editor
has become weary in her work, for the foot-notes still contain ample
information and represent much labor.”
+ + =Am. Hist. R.= 10: 708. Ap. ‘05. 110w. (Review of vols.
IX-XII.)
“The value of Mrs. Toynbee’s work ... does not lie in fresh
discoveries so much as in the patient devotion with which she has
sifted and sorted the whole correspondence. The notes ... are
unobtrusive, and admirable in clarity and conciseness, and, as editing
goes, this collection of letters could not be bettered.”
+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 1: 40. Ja. 14. 1440w. (Reviews vols. IX.-XII.)
“It is superfluous to repeat how eminently Mrs. Toynbee’s edition of
Walpole overtops all others. To render it supremely enduring it needs
but one addition ... a companion volume of annotations. Mrs. Toynbee’s
too chary annotation is always pertinent.”
+ + + =Nation.= 80: 231. Mr. 23, ‘05. 1810w. (Review of vols.
IX-XII.)
“This edition of Mrs. Paget Toynbee’s is as complete as possible, and
otherwise as pleasing and attractive as an edition can be made.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 140w.
* + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 898. D. 16, ‘05. 170w. (Review of v. 13-15.)
“If these letters, then, have not all the airy volatility and gay
sparkle of Walpole’s earlier days, it is still astonishing how he
retains his freshness and wit, and these volumes yield to none in
their interest.”
+ + =Spec.= 94: 748. My. 20, ‘05. 2060w. (Re-review of v. 9-12.)
=Walpole, Spencer Horatio.= History of twenty-five years, 1855-1881. 2v.
$10. Longmans.
The author, who held official positions in the war and post-office
departments from 1858 to 1899, is the only English writer who has had
the advantage of being in active service in Downing street while
engaged in historical research. “The better acquainted a student is
with the other histories of the middle years of the nineteenth century
the greater is his indebtedness to Sir Spencer Walpole for the many
little asides in which he introduces new material, based not on books,
official or non-official, but on his own personal experience, and on
information which he acquired first hand during his long and
distinguished career in the British civil service.... His history
covers Europe, and to a large extent the United States, as well as the
United Kingdom and the over-sea possessions of Great Britain. He cites
an authority for every statement he makes; and his authorities,
appended as foot-notes, show that there are few sources—British,
American or European—on which he has not drawn.... The first hundred
pages in the second volume are devoted to the War of the rebellion and
to the attitude of England to the Federal and Confederate
governments.” (Ind.)
“The style is commonplace and diffuse. At times it is wordy in the
extreme. The marshaling of all this material has been excellently
managed.”
+ + — =Ind.= 58: 436. F. 23, ‘05. 900w.
* =Walters, Henry Beauchamp.= History of ancient pottery, Greek,
Etruscan, and Roman; based on the work of Samuel Birch. 2v. *$15.
Scribner.
“The first adequate treatment the history of ancient pottery received
was in the two volumes of Dr. Samuel Birch, published in 1857....
Since Birch’s death, in 1885, so much new material has been gathered
that a further revision of his work has been demanded.... The results
of this revision and extension of Dr. Birch’s work are two sumptuous
volumes of considerably more than five hundred pages each, well
provided with indexes, and bibliographies.” (Dial). “We have ... in
the two volumes seventeen chapters devoted to Greek vases and their
decoration, and one chapter devoted to ‘Etruscan and South Italian
pottery’; five chapters on Roman pottery, by which is meant the
pottery of Italy under the Roman rule; and, finally, brief mention of
earthenware found in Britain, Gaul, and Germany, but evidently of the
Roman Imperial epoch.... There are sixty-nine plates and many are in
color.... There are, moreover, two hundred and fifty text
illustrations.”—Nation.
* “Mr. Walters has provided us with an instalment which is likely for
many years to prove a most valuable work of reference for those
branches of the subject which he includes in his survey. Almost every
page attests the care and thoroughness with which published
authorities have been consulted.”
+ + =Ath.= 1905. 2: 475. O. 7. 890w.
Reviewed by Arthur Howard Noll.
* + + =Dial.= 39: 301. N. 16, ‘05. 1280w.
* “The new publication is practically a complete summary of everything
now known of classic ceramic art, no source of information, English or
foreign, having been neglected.”
+ + + =Int. Studio.= 27: 88. N. ‘05. 470w.
* + + =Nation.= 81: 283. O. 5. ‘05. 1530w.
* “Other and more expensive volumes have surpassed it in beauty of
illustrations; none in its exhaustive and logical treatment of ancient
pottery and the true and complete meaning of the fragments which have
come down to us.”
+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 862. D. 2, ‘05. 450w.
* “The defects in these volumes arise principally from the narrow
outlook with which they are written. Upon the whole, it is perhaps
surprising that the attempt to condense so vast an accumulation of
material into the form of a handbook has been so nearly crowned with
success; especially as it has been made at a moment when the questions
of the early history of the art are yet in solution and cannot be
summarised without danger.”
+ + — =Spec.= 95: 613. O. 21, ‘05. 1300w.
=Waltz, Elizabeth Cherry.= Ancient landmark. †$1.50. McClure.
A romance of Kentucky which deals with the question of divorce. There
is a much-abused heroine, the object of a husband’s violence when the
drug habit is upon him, into whose head never entered the idea of
divorce. “But Lucien Beardsley arose upon the horizon. A Virginian by
birth, a cosmopolitan by education, a man of modern ideas.... Lucien
found in the unhappy Dulcie a cousin many times removed, and undertook
to champion her cause, to upset the ancient landmark, to establish the
new custom of divorce, and to launch the grief-stricken Dulcinea upon
a new and glittering sea of happiness.” (N. Y. Times.)
* + =Ind.= 59: 1229. N. 23, ‘05. 150w.
“Mrs. Waltz is a born writer of sensational fiction, and carries her
reader triumphantly through scenes that would be intolerable from a
less vigorous hand.”
+ — =Nation.= 81: 368. N. 2, ‘05. 340w.
“Many of the personages are drawn with vitality.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 650. O. 7, ‘05. 300w.
“An exciting story from start to finish.”
+ =Outlook.= 81: 380. O. 14, ‘05. 50w.
Wampum library of American literature; ed. by Brander Matthews. **$1.40.
Longmans.
These three volumes form the beginning of a series which when
completed will illustrate the development of the various forms of
American literature. Each volume treats of a single species, tracing
the evolution of this definite form and presenting in chronological
sequence typical examples chosen from the writings of American authors
born prior to 1850. Volume I, “American short stories,” edited by
Charles Sears Baldwin, contains a comprehensive introduction, and
selected stories which he divides into two periods, the “tentative”
and the “new form.” Under the former are selections from Irving,
Austin, Hall, and Pike; under the latter, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Poe,
Willis, Kirkland, O’Brien, Hart, Webster, Taylor, Bunner, and
Frederic. Volume II, “American literary criticism,” edited by William
Morton Payne, deals with the development of the critical spirit in
American literature. The introduction shows literary insight and
critical ability and ranks with the essays which follow. The essays
selected are entirely upon literary themes, and include selections
from Dana, Ripley, Emerson, Poe, Ossoli, Lowell, Whitman, Whipple,
Stedman, Howells, Lanier, and James. Volume III, “American familiar
verse,” edited by Brander Matthews, who is also editing the edition as
a whole, contains a, lengthy introduction which defines Familiar verse
as—“the lyric of commingled sentiment and playfulness, which is more
generally and more carelessly called vers de société.” A rather
catholic choice of authors follows—Freneau, J. Q. Adams, Moore,
Irving, Bryant, Halleck, Drake, Whittier, Longfellow, Holmes, Saxe,
Lowell, Stoddard, Stedman, Aldrich, and many others.
“Two compilations, which are fitted to serve a good purpose in advance
English classes.”
+ + =Cath. World.= 80: 832. Mr. ‘05. 390w. (Reviews vols. I. and
II.)
“If the succeeding volumes are as capably edited as the three now
published, the series will prove of great value in the historical
study of our literature. From the character of these three volumes it
is evident that the series when complete will place in their proper
proportions the successive steps in the evolution of these distinct
literary forms. The one unfortunate feature in the general plan of the
library is the arbitrary restriction which prohibits a selection from
any ~living~ American writers whose birth has occurred since December
31, 1850.” W. E. Simonds.
+ + + =Dial.= 38: 13. Ja. 1, ‘05. 1350w.
“The ~genre~ of familiar verse is so well adapted to this particular
purpose, and Mr. Matthews has shown such skill in selection, that his
own volume will probably bear the test of time as the standard
anthology. The value of the illustrative material in the others is
more doubtful.” G. R. Carpenter.
+ + =Educ. R.= 29: 424. Ap. ‘05. 490w. (Reviews vols. I.-III.)
=R. of Rs.= 31: 250. F. ‘05. 290w.
=Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (Mrs. Herbert D. Ward).= Trixy. $1.50.
Houghton.
This story, which is a dramatic argument against vivisection, has for
its heroine Trixy, a performing French poodle, who, barely escaping
death on the dissecting table, confronts the accused physician in
court. The human interest centers about this young scientist who loses
the affections of the woman he loves, and eventually his own life, by
his experiments. A young lawyer, an active defender of little dogs and
kittens, wins the hand of the girl who could not trust herself to the
vivisectionist.
“Clever artist as she is, we are not prepared to say that she has
avoided many an ignominious descent into the pathetic.”
+ — =Cath. World.= 80: 833. Mr. ‘05. 290w.
“We do not propose to consider it as a story, but as a tract, for that
is what it is chiefly in the author’s mind. In this case ... we
question whether the charity which she gives to beasts does not make
her forget the charity due to human beings. But Mrs. Ward goes so far
as to make a superstitious use of natural scenery to enforce her
warning against vivisection.”
+ — =Ind.= 58: 99. Ja. 12, ‘05. 850w.
=Ward, H. Marshall.= Trees: a handbook of forest botany for the
woodlands and the laboratory. 6 vol. ea. *$1.50. Macmillan.
The author has prepared this series as a text-book for all who need a
guide to their studies. The text is clear and simple and each volume
is provided with diagnostic tables devised for use in the field. The
series includes, Birds and twigs; Leaves; Flowers and inflorescences:
Fruits and seeds; Seedlings; and The habit and conformation of the
tree as a whole.
“The book has evidently been compiled with great care. Its value,
then, to the student, forester or other, is beyond question.”
+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 280. Ag. 26, 480w. (Review of v. 3.)
“The book is not only an excellent text-book In forest botany, but is
a capital study in pedagogy as well.”
+ + + =Nation.= 80: 414. My. 25, ‘05. 420w. (Review of v. 2.)
“Is, like the earlier volumes in the series, thoroughly interesting
and accurate.”
+ + + =Nation.= 81: 360. N. 2, ‘05. 100w. (Review of v. 3.)
“The work will be found indispensable to those students who wish to
make an expert study of forest botany. At the same time it is
expressed in language so clear and devoid of technicalities that the
amateur who wishes to know something about our trees and shrubs will
find this one of the most useful guides to which he can turn.”
+ + + =Nature.= 71: 291. Ja. 26, ‘05. 620w. (Reviews vols. I. and
II.)
“There is also a very useful and exhaustive index at the end of the
book.”
+ + + =Nature.= 72: 482. S. 14, ‘05. 410w. (Review of v. 3.)
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 437. Jl. 1, ‘05. 270w. (Review of v. 3.)
=Ward, H. Snowden.= Canterbury pilgrimages. *$1.75. Lippincott.
“The interest of the book centers around two great tragedies: the fall
of Thomas the archbishop, and the fall of Thomas the martyr. These are
bound up with a part of a still greater tragedy: the collapse of a
grand religious movement, which, with all its human imperfections and
short-comings, had done a noble work for those who had needed it most,
the poor, the weak, the suffering.” The text has been improved by many
illustrations of churches, shrines and relics, and sketches of the
“pilgrims’ way.”
+ + =Critic.= 47: 479. N. ‘05. 130w.
“Altogether it is an interesting excursion through historical lore for
the illustration of a significant feature of mediaeval English life
that Chaucer has kept in permanent remembrance.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 620. S. 28, ‘05. 840w.
=Ward, John.= Our Sudan: its pyramids and progress. *$8.40. Scribner.
The author gives his reader the privilege of skipping the letterpress
and looking at his seven hundred illustrations. This picture book of
Soudanese snap-shots is accompanied by chapters “which give
interesting if not exactly novel, accounts of events and sundry
episodes in the story of the African continent during the last fifty
centuries, combined with details of explorations and military
expeditions to remote spots during the last fifty years.” (Sat. R.)
“There can be no doubt of its interest or its future popularity.”
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 557. My. 6. 430w.
“It is pieced together in so haphazard a manner and with such contempt
for all sense of proportion that it can hardly be viewed as a serious
guide to anybody. Mr. Ward makes many needless mistakes.”
— — + =Sat. R.= 100: 23. Jl. 1, ‘05. 1160w.
+ + =Spec.= 94: 559. Ap. 15, ‘05. 210w.
=Ward, Mary Augusta Arnold (Mrs. Thomas Humphry Ward).= Marriage of
William Ashe. †$1.50. Harper.
A novel presenting the political and social order existing in London a
hundred years ago. William Ashe, a rising young statesman of English
solidity and force, falls in love with Lady Kitty, beautiful,
eighteen, just released from a French convent, and neglected by a
mother of doubtful reputation. He marries her and she leads him gayly
from one scandal to another, ridiculing his influential friends,
making enemies of the prime minister, Lord Parham and his wife, and
capping all by writing a bitterly real satire upon the social set in
which her marriage has placed her. A fragile, captivating creature of
varying moods, with an hereditary moral madness in her blood, she
holds our interest, excites our pity, and dominates the book. But
there are other characters; William’s mother, the strong aristocratic
Englishwoman, Mary Lyster, cold, narrow, and selfishly hard, and
Geoffrey Cliffe—a villain with a dash of genius, whose power over
Kitty began with her desire to penetrate the secret history of a man
whose poems filled her with a thrilling sense of feeling and passion
beyond her ken.
“It is one of the best that Mrs. Humphry Ward has written, the chief
fault of it being the wearisome middle. The work is not organically
built up, and though the interest revives towards the end we still
feel that the book is imperfect. One can well understand that it would
have been twice as good if Mrs. Humphry Ward possessed the saving gift
of humour, but she takes many things in life and particularly her own
sex much too seriously.”
+ + — =Acad.= 68: 227. Mr. 11, ‘05. 1570w.
“It is not in any real sense a remarkable book. There is little or
nothing in it that has not been given before both by the writer
herself and by others. The hand of the experienced literary artist is
visible—too visible in fact.”
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 332. Mr. 18. 730w.
“Considered not as a problem, but simply as a study in
incompatibility, ‘The marriage of William Ashe’ is a piece of subtle
and delicate workmanship.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
+ + — =Bookm.= 21: 269. My. ‘05. 500w.
“In spite of its lack of humor the book is never dull.” C. Harwood.
+ =Critic.= 46: 472. My. ‘05. 640w.
“The interest of the work is sustained, rising to an effective
dramatic climax, and subsiding into the pathos of a closing scene of
deathbed repentance and forgiveness.” William Morton Payne.
+ + =Dial.= 38: 389. Je. 1, ‘05. 310w.
“The first and most obvious complaint is against the strange and
confusing method with which Mrs. Ward uses the motive of her story.”
Herbert W. Horwill.
+ + — =Forum.= 37: 100. Jl. ‘05. 1470w.
“It must be admitted that ‘The marriage of William Ashe,’ which is her
latest, is likewise her strongest book. As usual in Mrs. Ward’s
stories, as the end approaches, the interest proportionally deepens.
The outcome is unpredictable. Never was the advantage of Mrs. Ward’s
method of composition more fully demonstrated than in ‘The marriage of
William Ashe.’ The crisis is balanced with absolute nicety: the weight
of a hair will turn the scales. The minor characters of Mrs. Ward’s
story are drawn with subtlety and power. All in all, ‘The marriage of
William Ashe’ is to be regarded as an achievement of consummate art.”
C. H. Gaines.
+ + + =Harper’s Weekly.= 49: 392. Mr. 18, ‘05. 2060w.
“It is in the adequate presentation and interpretation of Lady Kitty
that the author has achieved probably her greatest success as a
literary artist.”
+ + =Ind.= 58: 668. Mr. 23, ‘05. 1290w.
* “Is the most notable book of the year, and will perhaps be the only
one to survive.”
+ + =Ind.= 59: 1152. N. 16, ‘05. 160w.
+ — =Nation.= 80: 336. Ap. 27, ‘05. 1710w.
“Like a rich personality ‘The marriage of William Ashe’ yields itself
more and more, as one knows it better. It reveals new depth and beauty
with each reading; one appreciates how superbly the author has
triumphed over unusual difficulties of situation and of character; and
with what noble conclusions she has charged a story which might easily
have sunk into a moral morass. Its place is with the books that do not
die. Its author stands among the few living writers of fiction to whom
the Immortals have passed the torch.” M. Gordon Pryor Rice.
+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 146. Mr. 11, ‘05. 1680w.
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 389. Je. 17, ‘05. 200w.
“One of those solid, thorough, able and workmanlike novels in which
Mrs. Ward has dealt with some of the most serious matters of
experience and has proved her right to claim a first position among
the novelists of the day. The story needs condensation in the closing
chapters, and suffers from lack of humor.”
+ + — =Outlook.= 79: 771. Ap. 1, ‘05. 300w.
+ + =Pub. Opin.= 38: 549. Ap. 8, ‘05. 400w.
“The book expresses, doubtless, the flower of her talent. It is full
of sweet flavors. It has literary beauty of a high order. ‘The
marriage of William Ashe’ is not a great story or a vigorous one. It
is an absorbing one.”
+ + — =Reader.= 5: 783. My. ‘05. 920w.
“Is one of the few stories of which a measure, at least, of endurance
may be predicted.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 756. Je. ‘05. 350w.
“The book, in short, has the drawbacks not only of a ~roman à clef~,
but of a composite photograph. The most attractive and brilliant of
all of Mrs. Humphry Ward’s novels. The fine literary quality of her
work remains, the reader is once more charmed by the restrained
eloquence of her descriptions, and impressed by the penetrating
analysis of characters so essentially complex as those of Lady Kitty
and Geoffrey Cliffe. But along with these familiar excellencies one
notes a marked improvement in technique, a livelier movement in the
handling of incident and dialogue,—in short, a greater ease, skill,
and charm in presentation.”
+ + — =Spec.= 94: 443. Mr. 25, ‘05. 2020w.
=Ward, Wilfrid Philip.= Aubrey de Vere. *$4.60. Longmans.
A memoir, based on his unpublished diaries and correspondence of
Aubrey de Vere by his literary executor. The story of a long and
rather uneventful life is told largely by the Irish poet himself,
revealing his own mind and temperament, and giving graphic
descriptions of contemporary great men, Gladstone, Wordsworth,
Tennyson, Newman, Browning. His gradual change of religious belief
which brought him from the English church to Rome, his work during the
famine of 1846-7, and the service done for Ireland by his voice and
pen, are given in detail.
“The editor has based his work on diaries and letters, and has spread
a feast for the lover of literature where no crude surfeit reigns.”
+ + =Critic.= 47: 189. Ag. ‘05. 180w.
“Sufficient to give a true picture of the man himself. Yet not the
least of the reader’s reward comes from his more intimate knowledge of
a pure and unselfish life, lived largely in the service of his
fellows; a poet who here reveals himself most fully as the patriot and
friend.” Clark S. Northrup.
+ + =Dial.= 38: 7. Ja. 1, ‘05. 1760w.
“The literary workmanship is all that could be desired.”
+ + =Int. Studio.= 25: sup. 39. Ap. ‘05. 360w.
“Quite sustains his reputation as a master in the difficult and
delicate art of the biographer.”
+ + =Spec.= 94: 290. F. 25, ‘05. 1680w.
=Warden, Florence.= House by the river, $1. Ogilvie.
A thrilling story of mystery and intrigue which turns on the theft of
curios and paintings from a valuable collection. The owner himself is
in the conspiracy to defraud an insurance company.
=Ware, William.= Aurelian, a tale of the Roman empire in the Third
century. $1.50. Crowell.
The Luxembourg library offers in single volume edition, handsomely
bound and fully illustrated, some notable work of fiction that ranks
among the world’s masterpieces. “Aurelian” is one of the four late
additions to this series.
=Warner, Anne.= See =French, A. W.=
=Warner, Charles Dudley.= Complete writings; * ed. by Thomas R.
Lounsbury. 15v. ea. $2. Am. pub. co., Hartford, Conn.
The complete works of Charles Dudley Warner, with a biographical
sketch appear in this handsome “Backlog” edition. “The volumes are of
the right size, simply bound, the paper and the typography expressing
the high quality of the work which this set of books preserves in
permanent form.” (Outlook.)
+ + + =Critic.= 47: 583. D. ‘05. 160w. (Review of v. 12-15.)
+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 463. Jl. 15, ‘05. (Review of v. 9-15.)
* “Everything has been done by the publishers of this edition to give
Mr. Warner’s work the dignity and refinement of form which it
deserves. Professor Lounsbury contributes to the series a biography
which is characteristically clear, vivacious, and illuminating.”
+ + + =Outlook.= 80: 440. Je. 17, ‘05. 970w.
=Warner, George H.= Jewish spectre. **$1.50. Doubleday.
The author strips himself entirely of race prejudice and almost
whimsically creates from myth, from history, from literature and
present day tendencies a composite Israel stamped with characteristics
of imagination and fact. “The reader does not at once find out what
the ‘spectre’ is. At first it seems to be a spectral fear that the Jew
is to crowd out all competitors in the struggle for existence....
Later it comes out that the really troublesome ‘spectre’ in the
writer’s mind is the domain of religious speculation.” (Outlook.)
* =Critic.= 47: 581. D. ‘05. 25w.
* “Mr. Warner negatives too much and constructs too little.” Edith J.
Rich.
+ — =Dial.= 39: 302. N. 16, ‘05. 1360w.
“The merit of the book is that it sincerely attempts to put into a
single volume a literary view of a very difficult subject.”
+ =Ind.= 59: 991. O. 26, ‘05. 530w.
“A sort of hotch-potch of anecdote and quotation, legend and fact,
held together by a strain of comment, now ironical, now impassioned,
which is not likely to convince, but is generally diverting.”
— =N. Y. Times.= 10: 617. S. 23, ‘05. 350w.
“The book is cleverly written, and makes many good hits at shining
marks of folly; but that it is, as announced, ‘an extraordinary’ book,
except in wrongheadedness, does not appear.”
+ — =Outlook.= 81: 334. O. 7, ‘05. 300w.
“Yet with all it is a strangely suggestive book, reassuring to any man
who feels that America is becoming the New Jerusalem, full of careful
study and hasty deduction, full of leads which the author does not
work to a conclusion, full of surprises and odds and ends of valuable
information—and full of contempt.”
+ — =Pub. Opin.= 39: 602. N. 4, ‘05. 430w.
=Warner, Horace Everett.= Ethics of force. 50c. Pub. for the
International Union by Ginn.
This little volume contains, in revised form, a series of five papers
read before the Ethical Club of Washington, D. C., just prior to and
after the Spanish war. The titles of the papers are The ethics of
heroism, The ethics of patriotism, Can war be defended on the
authority of Christ? Can war be defended on grounds of reason? and
Some objections.
“Although the book is somewhat academic in tone, it is worth reading.”
+ + =Cath. World.= 82: 118. O. ‘05. 370w.
“This is the sort of a thoughtful volume on the subject that should be
placed on the reading-lists of our public schools.”
+ + =Pub. Opin.= 39: 414. S. 23, ‘05. 340w.
=Warwick, Charles Franklin.= Mirabeau and the French revolution.
**$2.50. Lippincott.
“This is the well-written story of the most extraordinary character of
the most extraordinary scene in the drama of modern history, the
storm-center of that scene till his death.”—Outlook.
“It has all the failings and the qualities of the writing of the
enthusiastic amateur.”
+ — — =Acad.= 68: 778. Jl. 29, ‘05. 690w.
“It is neither a satisfactory biography of Mirabeau, nor a clear,
sound and well connected synthesis of the early Revolution.” Fred
Morrow Fling.
— — =Am. Hist. R.= 11: 157. O. ‘05. 950w.
“Considered as reading matter, the book offers nothing new.”
+ — =Bookm.= 22: 86. S. ‘05. 270w.
“We learn nothing new about Mirabeau or the French revolution; the
style is sometimes absurd.”
+ — — =Critic.= 47: 192. Ag. ‘05. 130w.
=Dial.= 39: 119. S. 1, ‘05. 250w.
“Has neither scholarship nor style to recommend it. The style of the
book is melodramatic.”
— — — =Ind.= 59: 817. O. 5, ‘05. 320w.
“It would be a mistake, however to dismiss it as of slight worth. It
has some very positive merits. The task of exploring the voluminous
literature treating of the French revolution is no light one, and Mr.
Warwick must be credited with having considerably facilitated the
exploration in respect to the period he reviews.”
+ + — =Lit. D.= 31: 498. O. 7, ‘05.
+ + — =Lit. D.= 31: 498. O. 7, ‘05. 320w.
“Apart from a certain number of verdicts upon individual characters,
his text contains little that is distinctive. On the other hand it is
of much higher quality than most of the illustrations which accompany
it. The book is undeniably amateurish.”
+ — =Nation.= 81: 242. S. 21, ‘05. 410w.
“There is no great distinction in his style, little compelling fire in
his accounts of people and events; not much subtlety in his judgments.
He is sometimes prolix and sometimes repeats himself. Clarity and
intelligibility are the merits of the book; and they are valuable
qualities.”
+ + — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 340. My. 27, ‘05. 1850w.
“Mr. Warwick has made effective use of the best authorities in his
account both of the tragic scene and of the masterful actor.”
+ =Outlook.= 80: 246. My. 27, ‘05. 50w.
“Mr. Warwick faces his subject fairly.”
+ =Pub. Opin.= 39: 26. Jl. 1, ‘05. 270w.
“It has the distinctive merit of being at once a biography and a
history,—a graphic narrative of events not less than a just, adequate
and exceptionally suggestive estimate of a great historical figure.”
+ + =Reader.= 6: 597. O. ‘05. 200w.
“An incisive study of the part played by Mirabeau in the French
revolution.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 32: 124. Jl. ‘05. 80w.
“Mr. Warwick’s book on Mirabeau is passable enough. But it contains
absolutely nothing new in fact so far as we have observed, and it is
certainly not distinguished for form or point of view or imagination.”
+ — =Sat. R.= 99: 849. Je. 24, ‘05. 260w.
=Washburn, William Tucker.= First stone, and other stories. $1. Fenno.
These seventeen short stories are as varied in tone as in subject. One
is a dramatic scene in the rooms of a danseuse, another is a story of
Madagascar, a third treats of Mormonism, and a fourth concerns a most
unfaithful wife.
=Washington, Booker Taliaferro.= Tuskegee and its people: their ideals
and achievements. *$2. Appleton.
A volume prepared by the officers and former students of the normal
and industrial institute at Tuskegee, Ala., under the editorial
direction of Booker T. Washington, who writes an introduction. The
problem of negro education is treated from the inside by the
intelligent negro. Seventeen autobiographical sketches are furnished
by Tuskegee graduates who are now following various occupations.
“It is an unanswerable argument against the critics of the Tuskegee
movement in particular and of the education of the negro in general.”
+ + + =Nation.= 81: 41. Jl. 13, ‘05. 1190w.
“If the stories are marked by a complacency pardonable under the
circumstances, and if they fail to prove quite all their authors think
they do prove for negro progress, yet they are not uninstructive.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 465. Jl. 15, ‘05. 400w.
“The writing is unpretentious and therefore the more forcible.”
+ =Outlook.= 80: 936. Ag. 12, ‘05. 180w.
* =Washington, George.= Washington: principal state papers, $1. Century.
This volume in the “Thumb nail” series “is uniform with the early
copies of this series which is a small vest-pocket edition richly
bound in embossed leather. This volume contains W. E. H. Lecky’s
famous essay on ‘The character of Washington’ taken from his ‘History
of England in the eighteenth century,’ ‘Washington’s farewell address
to the people of the United States,’ his ‘Address to the officers in
1783,’ his ‘Circular letter addressed to the governors of all the
states on disbanding the army,’ his ‘Farewell orders to the armies of
the United States,’ and his ‘Inaugural address to both houses of
congress.’”—Arena.
* + =Arena.= 34: 665. D. ‘05. 290w.
* “Excellent in point of literary discrimination and value.”
+ =Pub. Opin.= 39: 731. D. 2, ‘05. 100w.
=Washington, George.= Washington and the West. **$2. Century.
A volume which contains the diary kept by Washington in September,
1784, during his journey into the Ohio basin in the interest of a
commercial union between the Great lakes and the Potomac river. Mr.
Hulbert’s commentary shows Washington to be an active, wide-awake
practical man of affairs which is a little-known and less-appreciated
phase of his character.
* “It is a valuable addition to the literature dealing with
Washington, the man and the statesman.”
+ + =Arena.= 34: 663. D. ‘05. 410w.
* “An interesting and valuable book, somewhat too strongly colored by
certain prejudices which affected the editor from the beginning of his
task.”
+ + — =Nation.= 81: 446. N. 30, ‘05. 480w.
“Mr. Hulbert’s notes, therefore, are as interesting to read as the
diary.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 743. N. 4, ‘05. 460w.
“This is a valuable portrait of Washington in an aspect comparatively
disregarded hitherto, a portrait drawn by himself.”
+ + =Outlook.= 81: 432. O. 21, ‘05. 200w.
+ =Pub. Opin.= 39: 634. N. 11, ‘05. 250w.
* + + =R. of Rs.= 32: 756. D. ‘05. 110w.
* =Wasson, George Savary.= Green shay. †$1.50. Houghton.
“The scene of action ... is almost entirely on the shore and in the
harbor, though the strenuous life of the open sea is always in the
background exerting its powerful influence on the actors and the
drama. The author is attempting to show the evil ways into which many
of the fishing communities have fallen, and their need of moral and
spiritual help.”—Outlook.
* “The thread of the story is not very distinct. The humor of the book
is good, however, though here and there a little underdone, in
seasoning and overdone in cooking.”
+ — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 876. D. 9, ‘05. 170w.
* “As a tract the book makes a strong appeal; as a story it limps a
little and lacks freshness of conception and treatment; as a portrayal
of character it is delightfully quaint and humorous.”
+ — =Outlook.= 81: 710. N. 25, ‘05. 120w.
=Waters, N. McGee.= Young man’s religion and his father’s faith. **90c.
Crowell.
Eight practical talks which endeavor to reconcile the old thought and
the new. On the ground that altho our conception of the Bible has
changed and broadened the book itself is the same, the author declares
that the young man who believes in the theory of evolution and
questions the infallibility of the Bible differs from the faith of his
fathers only in nonessentials and that altho our creeds may be new
they seek to define the ways of the same loving God.
* =Waters, Thomas Franklin.= Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay colony;
with seven appendices. *$5. Ipswich historical soc., Ipswich, Mass.
The author states in his preface: “I have tried to tell accurately but
in readable fashion the story of the builders of our town; their homes
and home life, their employments, their Sabbath keeping, their love of
learning, their administration of town affairs, their stern delusions,
their heroism in war, and in resistance to tyranny.” Ipswich was a
typical New England town founded in 1623, and this detailed history
has been prepared largely from original town documents, facsimiles of
several of which are given.
* “Takes its place in the front rank of its class, and can hardly be
praised too highly for diligent research, candor, taste, style, and
construction.”
+ + =Nation.= 81: 429. N. 23, ‘05. 820w.
* “An interesting history of an interesting New England town.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 666. O. 14, ‘05. 590w. (Review of pts. 1 and
2.)
* =Watkinson, William L.= Inspiration in common life. *35c. Meth. bk.
A series of helpful suggestions which prove that every man’s possible
happiness is the direct outgrowth of the appreciation and development
of his hidden worthiness. The volume is uniform with the “Freedom of
faith” series.
=Watson, Edward Willard.= Old lamps and new, and other verses; also, By
Gaza’s gate, a cantata, $1. Fisher.
Under the divisions, Old lamps and new, and A forgotten idyl, the
author gives us dainty verses, nearly all of which sing of love; some
of the gladness of it, some of its pathos. By Gaza’s gate—a cantata,
closes the volume. It is sung by Samson, Delilah, and a chorus; the
words are based on the text of the Polychrome Bible.
=Watson, Henry Brereton Marriott.= Hurricane island. $1.50. Doubleday.
A young English doctor tells the story of his experiences on the yacht
of a German prince. The prince, accompanied by his sister, is eloping
with a French actress; they all bear assumed names, but the crew
discover the truth, realize that there is great treasure stored in the
hold, and mutiny, bloodshed and murder follow. The whole account is
exciting, but hardly cheerful, save for the love story of the doctor
and the princess.
“The thing is done with such an air of assurance, the characters are
so carefully developed and sustained, that we accept it all, in a
spirit of meek credulity, and even after a period of sober second
thought admit that it is one of the best sustained stories of rattling
adventure that has appeared in many a month.” Frederic Taber Cooper.
+ + =Bookm.= 21: 184. Ap. ‘05. 370w.
“This is a very stirring story, and is almost as good as Robert Louis
Stevenson could have made it.” William Morton Payne.
+ + =Dial.= 38: 388. Je. 1, ‘05. 190w.
“Has skilfully combined all the ingredients that go to make what boys
pronounce a ‘rattling good story.’”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 132. Mr. 4, ‘05. 240w.
“For literary qualities it is vastly inferior to Mr. Watson’s
‘Galloping Dick,’ but as a lively story of action it is exciting even
if improbable.”
+ =Outlook.= 79: 253. Mr. 11, ‘05. 60w.
“It is ridiculous, impossible, and altogether unallied to anything
that any of us is acquainted with in this severely practical world;
probably it is for that reason that it is so absorbedly interesting
for a quiet evening.”
+ =Pub. Opin.= 38: 392. Mr. 11, ‘05. 210w.
“Is a capital romance of love and piracy ... and delightfully
related.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 762. Je. ‘05. 70w.
* =Watson, Henry Brereton Marriott.= Twisted eglantine. †$1.50.
Appleton.
“A fascinating story of the time when George IV. was Prince of Wales.
The leading man character is another Beau Brummel, quite well drawn;
the freshness, beauty, and grace of the heroine are deftly impressed
upon the reader.” (Outlook.) “Sir Piers had no scruples in asking
Barbara Garraway, the Hampshire squire’s daughter, to be his mistress;
when he found that he had misread her character, he had no scruples in
carrying his efforts to make her his wife to the point of abducting
her to his country seat.” (Lond. Times.)
* “The Beau is the book, and our interest in the book ceases when the
Beau begins to prance like any sensational hero.”
+ — =Acad.= 68: 927. S. 9, ‘05. 460w.
* “The book thus falls somewhere between the mere romance and the
novel of character. The period is well realized; the story is
interesting and exciting; but this painful sounding of a shallow type
delays its movements, and forbids the happy surrender of judgment
which is the condition of enjoying a romance.”
+ — =Lond. Times.= 4: 287. S. 8, ‘05. 400w.
* “Mr. Marriott Watson has put his best work into ‘Twisted eglantine,’
and has scored a distinct triumph in Sir Piers Blakiston—an
achievement, we should imagine, of no small difficulty.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 783. N. 18, ‘05. 400w.
* “It has passages which may be distasteful to some readers.”
+ — =Outlook.= 81: 684. N. 18, ‘05. 50w.
=Watson, Thomas Edward.= Bethany: a story of the old South. $1.50.
Appleton.
Bethany, a village in middle Georgia, is the scene of a novel which
describes southern life during the period immediately preceding and
during the earlier years of the Civil war. The author is a well-known
writer of both biography and history and his present work is almost an
autobiography, for he tells of the old South as he knew it in his
boyhood. The greater part of the book is taken up with the comparison
of Toombs and Stephens, their characters and the issues for which they
stood. The slavery question is discussed freely, but while showing a
burning loyalty to the South, there is no bitterness toward the North.
“A novel of a rambling sort, although the element of truth is much
larger than the element of invention. The fire-eating southerner has
not often been exhibited, in either history or fiction, more
truthfully and vividly than in the present work. We fear that Mr.
Watson is still sadly in need of reconstruction.” W. M. Payne.
+ — =Dial.= 38: 127. F. 16, ‘05. 480w.
“Is scarcely a novel at all. It is history localized and presented
from the deliberately provincial point of view. Is probably more
nearly veracious than any picture of southern life ever given by a
southern author. It is a brilliant interpretation, based upon
impressions received with the vividness of adoring youth, and written
out with the restraint and judgment of a mature mind. Mr. Watson’s
literary style is not always good, is often too insolently local in
phrasing, but it is always graphic and honest.”
+ — =Ind.= 58: 209. Ja. 26, ‘05. 600w.
=Watson, William.= Poems; ed. by J. A. Spender. 2v. *$2.50. Lane.
In this new edition of his works, the author “has made several
alterations, even in his greater poems, changes which tend undoubtedly
to perfect the original. The two volumes before us are not large,
though they contain a good many poems not to be found in the
‘Collected works.’” (Spec.) The poems are critical, philosophical, and
political.
+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 328. Mr. 18. 2460w.
* “This is such an edition of a poet’s work as one usually waits for
till the author has ceased to be, or at least to write.”
+ + =Critic.= 47: 584. D. ‘05. 160w.
* “An edition that is nearly all that could be wished.”
+ + =Nation.= 81: 506. D. 21, ‘05. 640w.
“We would make but one censorious comment. The political verses should
have been kept out.”
+ + — =Spec.= 94: 217. F. 11, ‘05. 1370w.
* =Watson, William.= Prayer, *35c. Meth. bk.
In this little volume uniform with the “Freedom of faith” series, the
author discusses the nature, purpose, conditions, difficulties, and
gain of prayer.
* =Way, Thomas R. and Dennis, G. R.= Art of James McNeill Whistler: an
appreciation. $2. Macmillan.
A third and cheaper edition of a book which “contains chapters on
Whistler’s various styles and subjects, with many illustrations, some
of them in color, and a single chapter on the artist as a writer. It
is not a life of Whistler; it is an appreciation merely.”—N. Y. Times.
* “The new edition is an excellent compact little book, not differing
except in outward details from its predecessors.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 471. Jl. 15, ‘05. 260w.
* “Their method is rather eulogistic than critical.”
+ — =Outlook.= 80: 690. Jl. 15, ‘05. 30w.
* =R. of Rs.= 32: 640. N. ‘05. 80w.
=Wayne, Charles Stokes.= Prince to order. †$1.50. Lane.
A young Wall street broker, Carey Grey, wakes up one morning to find
himself in Paris with a new name, new friends, and his black hair and
beard bleached yellow. It develops that he has come under the power of
an old phrenologist and chemist who is passing him off as the crown
prince of the small kingdom of Budaria, whose king is dying. Grey has
come to himself because the old scientist’s power is weakened by a
fatal illness, but he keeps up the delusion in order to trap the other
conspirators. The complications are many; Grey learns that he has been
forced to embezzle from his own New York firm while under this strange
influence and his friends believe him dead and dishonored; it is only
after many adventures that he vindicates his honor, and re-wins his
American fiancée.
“Its treatment lacks distinction, but the tale has one or two features
of originality. It is not a bad specimen of its class: lively,
entertaining and tolerably ingenious.”
+ =Ath.= 1905, 1: 778. Je. 24. 290w.
“Here we have still another modification of the Zenda story and one
which shows ingenuity.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 198. Ap. 1, ‘05. 420w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 393. Je. 17, ‘05. 120w.
=Pub. Opin.= 38: 714. My. 6, ‘05. 150w.
“The colors in which this comedy are dressed are over strong, but the
comedy itself is fairly consistent and interesting.”
+ — =Reader.= 6: 474. S. ‘05. 180w.
“The initial idea in this story is quite promising. The book is
amusing.”
+ =Sat. R.= 100: 25. Jl. 1, ‘05. 300w.
* =Webster, Jean.= Wheat princess. †$1.50, Century.
The wheat princess, an American girl whose father has cornered the
wheat market, is living with her aunt and her uncle, who is a
philanthropist, in an old villa on the outskirts of Rome. The wheat
famine tells heavily upon the Italian peasants; the newspapers blazon
her father’s name, the peasants rise in hot indignation, with cries of
“Wheat! wheat!” and her uncle, who has given so much for them, is
besieged in his luxurious villa. In the end the Americans, their
altruistic plans laid low, return to America, but the troublous times
among the poor of Italy have brought to the big hearted wheat princess
the love of her uncle’s friend, the man who has shared his unselfish
dreams.
* “An entertaining and well-written story upon somewhat novel lines.”
+ =Outlook.= 81: 684. N. 18, ‘05. 100w.
* “Strong, graphic, truthful.”
+ =Pub. Opin.= 39: 796. D. 16, ‘05. 160w.
=Webster, John.= White devil and The duchess of Malfy; ed. by Martin W.
Sampson. *60c. Heath.
A volume of the Belles-lettres series. The play-wright’s two
masterpieces, “The white devil,” and “The duchess of Malfy,” in
critical text with the original spelling. An introduction and critical
notes are included among the editorial helps.
=Weingartner, (Paul) Felix.= Symphony since Beethoven; tr. by Maude
Barrows Dutton. $1. Ditson.
This book about modern symphonies, by the conductor of the Berlin
royal symphony concerts, and of the Kaim orchestra, is in its second
German edition. “He holds that no other symphonies comparable to those
of Beethoven in lofty grandeur, deep significance and perfection of
beauty, have ever been composed.... He has small praise for the
successors of the god of his idolatry in the symphony: a kindly word
for Schubert, Mendelssohn, Bruckner; condemnation for Schumann and
Brahms; mere cursory mention of Tschaikoffsky, Dvorak, Rubinstein,
Borodin, Raff, Goldmark, Saint-Saens, César Franck and Sinding ...
Favoring criticism on Berlioz and Liszt for their symphonic poems....
Discussion of Richard Strauss, whose earlier tone-poems the author
says he admires, but whose later, and greater works he cannot
appreciate.” (Ind.)
“An interesting and stimulating essay, albeit so short as to be
fragmentary in parts. The translation of this essay into English was
worth while, but one regrets that it was not more skilfully done.”
+ — =Ind.= 58: 43. Ja. 5, ‘05. 300w.
“A sympathetic study.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 30: 761. D. ‘04. 100w.
=Weir, Irene.= Greek painters’ art. *$3. Ginn.
“This book aims to bring together as much information as possible from
ancient and modern literature, from the reports of archæologists, and
from the study of specimens in museums and elsewhere, in regard to all
that relates to color as used by the Greek painters of old. The book
is amply illustrated.”—Outlook.
“Miss Weir possesses a delightful enthusiasm for the Greek painters’
art, supported by knowledge of ancient and modern archæological
writings as well as familiarity with art works.”
+ =Dial.= 39: 20. Jl. 1, ‘05. 150w.
— =Ind.= 59: 40. Jl. 6, ‘05. 340w.
“A decidedly interesting if somewhat formal story of the least
generally comprehended of the arts of Greece.”
+ =Int. Studio.= 25: sup. 89. Je. ‘05. 290w.
“A curiously offhand and chatty book upon one of the most difficult
subjects known to the archæologist.”
+ + =Nation.= 80: 312. Ap. 20, ‘05. 390w.
“It is a most important addition to the popular literature of the
subject. Its scheme is as original as it is entertaining.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 276. Ap. 29, ‘05. 590w.
+ + =Outlook.= 79: 1059. Ap. 29, ‘05. 390w.
“Miss Irene Weir has ... rendered art students an incalculable service
in giving them the advantage of the new light which modern discoveries
have thrown upon the lost art of Greek painting.”
+ + =Pub. Opin.= 38: 835. My. 27, ‘05. 300w.
“Although we have to recognize how little we know, we are able to find
an account of that little in the present volume.”
+ =Spec.= 95: 261. Ag. 19, ‘05. 150w.
=Weiss, Bernard.= Religion of the New Testament; tr. from the Germ. by
G: H. Schodde. *$2. Funk.
The object of the book is “to give a ‘brief but clear’ answer to the
question, what is the religion of the New Testament?... The book is
divided into three parts. In part I, Dr. Weiss describes the
suppositions or conditions of the redemption described in the New
Testament. In part II, he discusses the redemption in Christ proper.
Here the subjects discussed are the redemptive acts of God. In the
third part he treats of the realization of redemption in the
individual and in the congregation, in the present and in the world to
come.”—N. Y. Times.
“With all his splendid exegetical and critical qualities, Professor
Weiss does not write in the spirit of the historian. But this is the
only serious general criticism one feels compelled to pass upon what
is, in fact, a remarkably able work.” S. M.
+ + — =Bib. World.= 26: 392. N. ‘05. 620w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 153. Mr. 11, ‘05. 280w.
“As an exegete Dr. Weiss excels. Men of all schools will find
something to learn from it.”
+ + =Ind.= 58: 1478. Je. 29, ‘05. 250w.
“His treatment of the subject is thoroughly objective, and strongly
conservative. A somewhat less close adherence to the style of the
original would have made many sentences of this translation easier
reading for the unlearned, for whom the author intended it.”
+ + =Outlook.= 79: 708. Mr. 18, ‘05. 240w.
=Wells, Amos Russell.= That they all may be one. **75c. Funk.
A plea that Christ’s wish that “His followers might be kept from
schism, and that His church might be maintained in perfect unity,” may
be realized in the unification of denominations. To this end the
author advocates union Bible schools and pastorates, and under such
chapter headings as, Working together; The search for truth; Churches
and men; Church union and patriotism, he finally arrives at, The
united church of Christ.
“It is not so incoherent as its typographical form would indicate.”
+ — =Outlook.= 81: 530. O. 28, ‘05. 20w.
=Wells, Carolyn.= Dorrance domain; a story. †$1.50. Wilde.
Four energetic Dorrances left to the care of their Grandmother
Dorrance once wealthy, now skilfully supporting a large family on a
small annuity, bemoan their boarding house existence which seems an
unbearable hardship after the free life in their Fifty-eighth street
home. A part of the Grandfather’s legacy was the Dorrance domain, a
rambling summer hotel, which was not easily disposed of and which
these daring children propose opening and running for a season. The
success of their scheme and the enjoyment which the novel experiment
afforded them are told in Miss Wells’ usual sprightly and humorous
manner.
* “Miss Wells is just the writer to make it the kind worth reading.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 895. D. 16, ‘05. 120w.
=Outlook.= 81: 575. N. 4, ‘05. 40w.
=Wells, Carolyn.= Patty in the city. †$1.25. Dodd.
The friends of “Patty at home” will find her quite as delightful to
know amid the conditions of New York life, where “she resides in an
apartment overlooking Central park, attends a fashionable school,
makes new friends, and keeps her old ones.” (Outlook.)
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 648. S. 30, ‘05. 220w.
+ =Outlook.= 81: 578. N. 4, ‘05. 70w.
* =Wells, Carolyn.= Satire anthology. **$1.25. Scribner.
“Beginning with the ancients (Aristophanes, Horace, and Juvenal) ...
the selections work down to such very modern exemplars of the species
as Mr. Owen Seaman and Mr. Gelett Burgess. Sprinkled through the list
of authors we note such out-of-the-way names as those of Ruteboeuf,
Abraham à Sancta Clara, Villon, and Béranger. The collection is,
however, mainly one of English verse, from the Elizabethans on.”—Dial.
* “The selections, from innumerable authors, have been made with
skill; but certain of the pieces from very minor modern authors might
have been spared in favor of some omitted bits from Lowell and Holmes,
both of whom are rather inadequately represented.”
+ + — =Critic.= 47: 584. D. ‘05. 150w.
* “May safely be depended upon to provide both amusement and
instruction.”
+ =Dial.= 39: 450. D. 16, ‘05. 100w.
* “It is ungracious to find fault where there is so much of good. We
are glad to get the anthology as it stands.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 905. D. 16, ‘05. 610w.
* “Contains most of the representative and well-known bits of this
sort of literature.”
+ =R. of Rs.= 32: 640. N. ‘05. 70w.
=Wells, Carolyn, and Taber, Harry Persons.= Matrimonial bureau. †$1.50.
Houghton.
The story of a girl who, weary of “waiting for the prince,” sees her
maid happily married thru the agency of a matrimonial bureau, and
decides to start one of her own. She invites a cousin, who invites a
friend, who invites another friend, and they all stay all summer.
Everybody falls in love at cross purposes, a beautiful stranger
arrives to confuse confusion, and it is all very complicated and
amusing, but is untangled in the end.
“The efforts of a New England spinster to be a machine god are amusing
and some of the conversations hang together well.”
+ =Critic.= 46: 564. Je. ‘05. 70w.
“We have never read a more improbable tale, and not often one that so
completely failed to amuse.”
— — — =Nation.= 80: 378. My. 11, ‘05. 220w.
“The small volume is packed with jokes of the kind visible without a
glass.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 203. Ap. 1, ‘05. 40w.
“Here and there are some love scenes very human, very delicately
wrought. Briefly, ‘The matrimonial bureau’ is like the ‘Summer girl,’
passing fair, fair but passing.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 214. Ap. 8, ‘05. 330w.
“It is an excellent book for summer reading, being as light as air.”
+ — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 392. Je. 17, ‘05. 130w.
“A book of the slightest sort, hardly comedy, more accurately
described perhaps as a summer farce.”
+ — =Outlook.= 79: 1014. Ap. 22, ‘05. 80w.
“As a literary soufflé, light, well-flavored and well-browned, this
little story will be a tasty addition to the midsummer feast of
reading.”
+ =Reader.= 6: 359. Ag. ‘05. 190w.
=Wells, Herbert George.= Kipps: a monograph. †$1.50. Scribner.
“An uneducated, awkward, and uncultivated clerk in a London draper’s
establishment suddenly has a large fortune left him, attempts to get
into high society, is made use of and swindled right and left, but
finally has the courage to break away, to marry the girl of his
choice, even though she be a servant girl, and to live his own life.
In the end fortune smiles on him a second time, but now in moderation,
and he is left a happy, contented husband and father; and, by a twist
of Mr. Wells’ whimsical fancy, is made the proprietor of a bookshop
which he manages on the theory that ‘one book is about as good as
another.’”—Outlook.
“The book, in fact, has a purpose, but that purpose is not allowed to
interfere with its vivacity; and ‘Kipps’ is, indeed, the most amusing
book and at the same time the tenderest book that Mr. Wells has ever
written.”
+ + =Acad.= 68: 1129. O. 28, ‘05. 900w.
* “He has set aside the speculations of scientific imagination, and
deals with warm human life to-day. This is the work which was designed
for him in the end, and we cannot doubt that he will continue to
devote himself to it.”
+ =Ath.= 1905, 2: 681. N. 18. 650w.
“Deals with his subject in a strong, broad manner, intensified by his
understanding of such detail of life as the minor incidents of retail
trade.”
+ =Critic.= 47: 478. N. ‘05. 50w.
+ =Ind.= 59: 1113. N. 9, ‘05. 220w.
“The merit of the novel, however, is not in the story, but in the
observation. He never, for a single page, fails to be amusing.”
+ + — =Lond. Times.= 4: 358. O. 27, ‘05. 780w.
“Is a humorous story, but it is not a trifling one, and though it
deals largely with humble folk, it has to do, in a broad and forceful
way, with much of the seriousness of life.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 649. O. 7, ‘05. 500w.
“The story in its substance is rather sordid and dull.”
+ — =Outlook.= 81: 382. O. 14, ‘05. 170w.
“Kipps, indeed, carries a social question to be long pondered, and the
author’s side-talks are an important contribution to the old but
never-ended discussion.”
+ + =Pub. Opin.= 39: 633. N. 11, ‘05. 290w.
* “Is another triumph in the art of presenting character.”
+ =R. of Rs.= 32: 759. D. ‘05. 100w.
* “Mr. Wells, as usual, writes cleverly, brilliantly, wittily.”
+ =Sat. R.= 100: 658. N. 18, ‘05. 820w.
* “We have found Kipps in many ways the most human and sympathetic of
Mr. Wells’s stories.”
+ =Spec.= 95: 718. N. 4, ‘05. 1060w.
=Wells, Herbert George.= Modern Utopia. *$1.50. Scribner.
Mr. Wells departs from the Utopia-makers of the past in that his
Utopia is a world-state using a universal language. The author deals
“with strictly modern and current conditions, and imagines a new state
of society, whose social basis has been improved and whose social
problems have been settled.” (N. Y. Times.)
“Seems to us to mark an advance even on the high level of excellence
which Mr. Wells had before attained.”
+ + =Acad.= 68: 414. Ap. 15, ‘05. 1290w.
* “We can discover nothing in this sample, however, that goes beyond
good-natured satire of conditions which none would be so poor as to
defend.” A. W. S.
+ =Am. J. Soc.= 11: 430. N. ‘05. 250w.
“There has been no work of this importance published for the last
thirty years.”
+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 1: 519. Ap. 29. 2450w.
“The form he has chosen for ‘A modern Utopia’ is exceedingly
unfortunate. The essay appended ... is a contribution of real value to
the theory of thinking and written in a style as witty and original as
that of Professor James.”
— + =Ind.= 58: 1307. Je. 8, ‘05. 740w.
“Mr. Wells meant this work as a very serious one. Many readers of it
will find its perusal trying, and will fail to realize, as proper
compensation for the task of reading the same, whatever grist it
offers for the mind.”
+ — =Lit. D.= 31: 427. S. 23, ‘05. 990w.
“Mr. Wells’s Utopia is far the most interesting, imaginative, and
possible of all the Utopias written since the inventions and
discoveries of science began to colour our conceptions of the future.”
+ + =Lond. Times.= 4: 144. My. 5, ‘05. 1650w.
“In the present book Mr. Wells has become still more moderate and
practicable and hopeful, without in the least derogating from his
ingenuity and originality.” F. C. S. S.
+ + =Nature.= 72: 337. Ag. 10, ‘05. 1280w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 313. My. 13, ‘05. 300w.
“It is carefully thought out and reasoned, and holds together much
better than the ideal commonwealths imagined by his predecessors.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 342. My. 27, ‘05. 1340w.
“The method of presentation adopted is exceedingly happy.”
+ + =Outlook.= 80: 345. Je. 3, ‘05. 310w.
“It is an admirable piece of literature and a book of unlimited
suggestiveness. As literature and as philosophy, ‘A modern Utopia’ is
Mr. Wells’ masterpiece.”
+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 764. Je. ‘05. 220w.
“The book, both in matter and in form, has been carefully studied and
thought out. Mr. Wells’s book seems hardly likely to rank as, or to
remain, a classic Utopia.”
+ =Spec.= 95: 610. O. 21, ‘05. 2040w.
=Wells, Herbert George.= Twelve stories and a dream. †$1.50. Scribner.
In this volume of stories Mr. Wells “has but rarely any prophetic or
scientific axe to grind. His stories deal with the marvelous under
many aspects, but always in the light of his half-joyous,
half-whimsical humor.” (R. of Rs.)
“None of them is equal to the best of his former tales, but there are
some that are very amusing and some quite gruesome.”
+ — =Ind.= 58: 1308. Je. 8, ‘05. 100w.
“Enough have surely been mentioned to show the varied entertainment
which Mr. Wells offers and to indicate our opinion that he has never
offered any better.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 327. My. 20, ‘05. 590w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 395. Je. 17, ‘05. 200w.
“In at least half of these stories Mr. Wells is seen at his best.”
+ =Outlook.= 79: 1062. Ap. 29, ‘05. 160w.
“‘Twelve stories and a dream’ will not lower Mr. Wells’ reputation as
an imaginative writer, which his previous volumes probably did.”
+ =R. of Rs.= 31: 763. Je. ‘05. 80w.
=Welsh, Charles=, ed. See Famous battles of the Nineteenth century.
=Wendell, Barrett.= Temper of the 17th century in English literature.
**$1.50. Scribner.
“Prof. Barrett Wendell, of the English department at Harvard
university, has gathered his lectures on English literature, delivered
on the Clark foundation at Trinity college, Cambridge (1902-‘03), into
a volume.... These are the first regular lectures concerning English
literature ever given by an American at an English university.
Together, they are practically a literary study of the age of Dryden.
The purpose in these lectures was, he declares, to indicate the manner
in which the national temper of England, as revealed in
seventeenth-century literature, ‘changed from a temper ancestrally
common to modern England, and to modern America, and became, before
the century closed, something which later time must recognize as
distinctly, specifically, English.”—R. of Rs.
“Prof. Wendell is always interesting, whether we agree with him or
not, and the Clark lectures ... have much good matter in them, with
perhaps as much that is by no means so good.”
+ + — =Critic.= 47: 92. Jl. ‘05. 190w.
“Smoothness of style ... Though this volume is of such high merit that
it will take a place at once as one of the recognized authorities on
its subject, it is not likely that all its positions will be accepted
without a demur.” Herbert W. Horwill.
+ + — =Forum.= 36: 407. Ja. ‘05. 1970w.
“The title of this book is more philosophical than the contents
warrant; instead of obtaining one final impression, we remember the
separate remarks—often wise, suggestive and illuminating—on separate
authors.”
+ + =Ind.= 58: 1016. My. 4, ‘05. 260w.
=R. of Rs.= 31: 250. F. ‘05. 130w.
“Its author seems wholly destitute of any pretension to critical
discernment. The diction and style, as might be expected, are on a par
with the rest of the book. It is scandalous that a great university
like Cambridge should tolerate such standards of information and
criticism as this volume exhibits.”
— — — =Sat. R.= 99: 704. My. 27, ‘05. 1960w.
=Wertheimer, Edward von.= Duke of Reichstadt. **$5. Lane.
Dr. Wertheimer’s monograph on the Duke of Reichstadt makes use of a
vast deal of new biographical material. The study covers the political
setting of the life in detail, painstakingly going over the whole
piece of statecraft involved in Napoleon’s Austrian marriage, dwelling
at length upon the influence which the alliance exerted upon the
policy of Napoleon and of his opponents. The short uneventful life of
Napoleon’s son is of less interest than the stirring history which the
father tried to shape for the glory of a permanent kingdom. “It is to
the fact that he was his father’s son that the fame of the Duke of
Reichstadt is due ... the shadow of a great name surrounds him, and
historical writers record and discuss his every act as if he had been
a real king, instead of merely the If, Yes, and Perhaps of Modern
European history.” (N. Y. Times.)
+ + — =Acad.= 68: 1124. O. 28, ‘05. 1780w.
“As a rule, however, the narrative runs easily—perhaps more so than is
the case with most translations.”
+ =Ath.= 1905, 2: 536. O. 21, 2040w.
* “The translation, on the whole, is very satisfactory, though there
are occasional lapses into awkwardness or obscurity. Here and there
one may question the justice of Dr. Wertheimer’s remarks. But these
and a few other blemishes do not detract from the value of a most
careful and interesting work, which presents the first complete and
authoritative account of the life of this unfortunate prince.”
+ + — =Lond. Times.= 4: 337. O. 13, ‘05. 1360w.
“Mr. de Wertheimer’s book is a valuable contribution to historical
knowledge. The author’s style, however, is somewhat confused, and his
judgment is far from critical.”
+ — =Nation.= 81: 386. N. 9, ‘05. 1050w.
“He has scraped everything together, sorted it out, sifted it, and
arranged it in what must be acknowledged to be an interesting story.
The matter is not important, however. The English translation of Mr.
de Wertheimer’s book is good.”
+ + — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 669. O. 14, ‘05. 860w.
* “It is as interesting as it is valuable as a contribution to a
strangely neglected period of European history.”
+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 820. D. 2, ‘05. 120w.
* “Dr. Wertheimer has chosen wisely to present the details of a sad
career with the fulness, the accuracy, and the impartiality of a
scholar.”
+ + =Spec.= 95: 869. N. 25, ‘05. 1410w.
=West, George Stephen.= Treatise on the British freshwater algae.
*$3.50. Macmillan.
“Certainly there is no book upon any phase of cryptogamic botany for
which there has been so much need, and for which the demand in recent
years, has been so great, as one dealing comprehensively with the
freshwater algæ.... A good general discussion of the methods of
multiplication and reproduction in algæ, together with a reference to
the question of polymorphism and a rather full exposition of the
particular theories of the author regarding phylogeny, precedes the
specific treatment of the six classes, Rhodophyceæ, Phaeophyceæ,
Chlorophyceæ, Heterokonteæ, Bacillarieæ, and Myxophyceæ.... The book
is fully illustrated and too much cannot be said for the successful
effort to secure new and accurate drawings of not only the more
recently described genera, but for the older forms as well.”—Science.
“The work has been thoroughly done throughout, and its value is
greatly increased by an exhaustive index. The plates are sufficiently
characteristic for most identifications, and the descriptions and keys
are good.”
+ + + =Nation.= 80: 93. F. 2, ‘05. 90w.
“Is particularly well qualified to write such a book. The need of a
treatise upon the freshwater algæ has been referred to; that this book
will come as near to filling such a need as one of its scope, written
by one man, could possibly be expected, is all that is necessary to
say regarding its worth.” George T. Moore.
+ + + =Science=, n.s. 21: 184. F. 3, ‘05. 900w.
=West, W. K.= George Frederick Watts. $1.25. Warne.
A biographical sketch of Watts by W. K. West, with an essay on his
art, and an outline of the sixty-five pictures reproduced in the book,
by Romualdo Pantini.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 205. Ap. 1, ‘05. 230w.
+ =Outlook.= 79: 856. Ap. 1, ‘05. 60w.
=Westcott, Rev. Frank Nash.= Church and the good Samaritan; mission
addresses to men. **$1. Whittaker.
A series of Lent addresses to men. They include The lawyer’s question,
The Jericho road, The priest and the Samaritan, The Samaritan and the
Jew, The wayside inn, The two pence.
+ — =Outlook.= 79: 758. Mr. 25, ‘05. 60w.
* =Westcott, Frank N.= Heart of catholicity. $1. Young churchman.
A defence of the conception of the church which is held by the “high
church” party of the Anglican communion. It regards the church as a
divine institution let down from above, the dispenser of truth and
salvation as against the view held by the members of that communion in
common with other protestants that the church is a historic growth
which has developed out of human needs and which is seeking truth and
salvation. The author means by “catholicity” the former conception of
the church, but the term ought to be big enough to include both views.
=Outlook.= 81: 134. S. 16, ‘05. 150w.
=Westrup, Margaret.= Coming of Billy. $1.25. Harper.
“Billy’s coming will be a pleasure to readers of all ages, for Billy
is a delightful addition to the real small boys of fiction. His
parents send him from India to Rose Cottage, England, where he is a
source of continual surprises, not always agreeable to his maiden
aunts. He takes a hand in the love affairs of the ‘youngest and
prettiest’ Miss Primrose.”—Outlook.
“The reviewer fancies that the whole book is much more likely to
interest mature, and even elderly readers, than children.”
+ =Ath.= 1905, 2: 432. S. 30. 230w.
“A delightfully humorous story that is told with a wholly charming
grace and simplicity.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 710. O. 21, ‘05. 470w.
+ =Outlook.= 81: 134. S. 16, ‘05. 70w.
=Weyman, Stanley John.= Starvecrow farm. †$1.50. Longmans.
“The story is placed in the early part of the last century; the
heroine, engaged to one man, elopes with another, on whose head there
is a price. The couple are captured the day of their flight from the
girl’s home, but the man escapes, leaving the girl in the hands of the
law. The world thinks her an accomplice, and as her family repudiates
her, she has to fight her battle alone.”—Pub. Opin.
“A novel that is likely to be read with delight on a wet day in a
country house or on a railway journey.”
+ — =Acad.= 68: 1025. O. 7, ‘05. 320w.
“It is as good as any of those which have preceded it from the same
pen, and to say this is to pay it a high compliment.”
+ + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 396. S. 23. 420w.
“Its structure is rather flabby. Looking back over the book, we feel
that we ought to have been more excited over it than we were; but the
truth is that Mr. Weyman is both wordy and a little uncertain.”
— =Lond. Times.= 4: 295. S. 15, ‘05. 510w.
“It goes—goes a-cantering and takes you along with it.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 707. O. 21, ‘05. 440w.
* “Like the others, a thoroughly readable story.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 823. D. 2, ‘05. 150w.
— =Outlook.= 81: 579. N. 4, ‘05. 100w.
“In ‘Starvecrow farm’ there are the same easy flow of narrative, the
lively dialogue, the dramatic sense, and the well-developed plot which
characterize all that this author does.”
+ =Pub. Opin.= 39: 573. O. 28, ‘05. 110w.
“As a vigorous, wholesome, and well-constructed tale it deserves to
win wide acceptance.”
+ — =Spec.= 95: 434. S. 23, ‘05. 740w.
=Whall, C. W.= Stained-glass work. **$1.50. Appleton.
A simple text-book, which the author has written “in a gossipy style,
using very few technical terms and explaining every seemingly
difficult passage, just as though he were giving oral instruction.”
(N. Y. Times.) There are photographic reproductions of windows in
English churches, and many diagrams.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 474. Jl. 15, ‘05. 390w.
+ + — =Pub. Opin.= 39: 352. S. 9, ‘05. 200w.
=Wharton, Edith Newbold (Jones).= House of mirth. †$1.50. Scribner.
A society novel, cruel in its reality. Lily Bart, beautiful and
twenty-nine, the orphaned child of a New York merchant, feels her
whole being calling for the stamp of permanent possession upon the
luxury which she has always enjoyed at the hands of her friends.
Relentlessly the author enmeshes her in the toils of debt incurred at
bridge; in scandal, the price of a trip upon a friend’s yacht; and,
almost in a loveless marriage,—only the wealthy Rosedale himself
recoils from it when society no longer smiles upon Miss Bart. She is
dropped from stage to stage of society, the unhappy victim of
circumstance and environment, but holding the reader’s full sympathy
thru an innate nobility which is submerged but never eliminated. The
end is hard—but could it all have ended otherwise?
“Mrs. Wharton has done many good things—she has never done anything
better than this. Her dialogue is clever, fresh and sparkling; she has
a fine discrimination—a natural, unstudied discrimination—in the use
of words; and her style is graceful and fluent.”
+ + + =Acad.= 68: 1155. N. 4, ‘05. 330w.
* “It is a pitiful story, told with restraint and insight and not a
little subtlety.”
+ =Ath.= 1905, 2: 718. N. 25. 160w.
* “As a piece of artistic creation, it falls short of supreme
excellence.” Olivia Howard Dunbar.
+ + =Critic.= 47: 509. D. ‘05. 580w.
“She still has a fine manner, but it is like the fine gowns of her
heroines, a fashion of the times for interpreting decadent symptoms in
human nature. What she says will not last, because it is simply the
fashionable drawing of ephemeral types and still more ephemeral
sentiments.”
+ — =Ind.= 59: 150. Jl. 20, ‘05. 820w.
+ — =Ind.= 59: 1151. N. 16, ‘05. 250w.
* “Miss Bart is a blend of Becky Sharp and Gwendolen Harleth. She is
not as compellingly human as the one, nor as inspiring as the other.
Frankly, Mrs. Wharton has surpassed George Eliot in this theme. Not
only is Lily Bart more congenial and better, as a human variation,
than Gwendolen or Becky, but Mrs. Wharton’s style is more plastic and
seductive than that of Mrs. Lewes.”
+ + =Lit.= D. 31: 886. D. 9, ‘05. 820w.
* “A dozen other novels of the year are good; but this book is really
good. What Mrs. Wharton appears to lack is in a word the creative gift
at its fullest. She sees with certainty and her hand is as sure as her
eye. But with the richest imaginations something takes place beyond
this.”
+ + — =Lond. Times.= 4: 421. D. 1, ‘05. 790w.
* “A feeling for fair play obliges us to protest Mrs. Wharton’s
picture as a prejudiced one, yet it is not consciously unveracious.
Though depressing, it is not wholly unprofitable.”
+ + — =Nation.= 81: 447. N. 30, ‘05. 1100w.
* + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 824. D. 2, ‘05. 190w.
“The story is the product of the most carefully calculated, the most
skilfully handled, artistic values and effects; but the workmanship is
the manner, not the substance of the novel. A story of such integrity
of insight and of workmanship is an achievement of high importance in
American life.”
+ + + =Outlook.= 81: 404. O. 21, ‘05. 1590w.
* “It is by all odds the greatest novel of recent years.”
+ + + =Pub. Opin.= 39: 796. D. 16, ‘05. 490w.
* “We have touched only the main theme, which like the whole story, is
worked out in a manner to stamp the writer a genius, and give her name
a place in the history of American literature.”
+ + + =R. of Rs.= 32: 757. D. ‘05. 380w.
“Her reputation will certainly not suffer any decline by the
publication of her new novel.”
+ + =Spec.= 95: 657. O. 28, ‘05. 660w.
=Wharton, Edith Newbold (Jones).= Italian backgrounds; il. by E. C.
Peixotto. **$2.50. Scribner.
Mrs. Wharton says, “As with the study of Italian pictures, so it is
with Italy herself. The country is divided not in partes tres, but in
two; a foreground and a background. The foreground is the property of
the guidebook and of its product, the mechanical sightseers; the
background, that of the dawdler, the dreamer, and the serious student
of Italy.” The nine chapters are—An Alpine posting inn, A midsummer
week’s dream, The sanctuaries of the Pennine Alps, What the hermits
saw, A Tuscan shrine, Sub umbra liliorum. March in Italy, Picturesque
Milan, and Italian backgrounds: then there are twelve illustrations
reproduced from Peixotto pictures.
“The book is written with genuine knowledge, with large and generous
sympathy, and in excellent English.”
+ + =Acad.= 68: 798. Ag. 5, ‘05. 1220w.
“Her style is extraordinarily good, but her thought is pedantic and
inhuman.” G. R. Carpenter.
+ — =Bookm.= 21: 609. Ag. ‘05. 550w.
“Has an air of spontaneity, as well as of competence, an irresistible
grace, countless descriptive felicities, and the fervent glow of a
genuine enthusiasm.”
+ + =Critic.= 47: 287. S. ‘05. 150w.
“Through this traveller’s story runs a fine thread of scholarship, of
savoir faire, of cosmopolitanism, not easily to be matched in
travel-literature. The book has what we call distinction of style, as
impossible to resist as to define.” Anna Benneson McMahan.
+ + + =Dial.= 38: 351. My. 16, ‘05. 930w.
+ =Ind.= 58: 1311. Je. 8, ‘05. 190w.
“When Mrs. Wharton leaves the countryside and speaks of pictures and
sculpture, she is apt to be less satisfactory. She is almost too
impartial in her appreciation.”
+ + — =Lond. Times.= 4: 215. Jl. 7, ‘05. 640w.
“Mrs. Wharton has many unusual qualifications for writing on the art
of Italy in its many phases, among others a brilliant style, historic
research and a catholicity of taste.”
+ + =Nation.= 80: 508. Je. 22, ‘05. 910w.
=N. Y. Times.= 10: 265. Ap. 22, ‘05. 270w.
“Like the text, they [the illustrations] press the ‘culture’ of
elusive expression very near to the vanishing point.” Walter
Littlefield.
+ — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 588. S. 9, ‘05. 940w.
“This attractive quarto shows the combination of thorough knowledge
based on original research, ability to enter into and value different
aspects of life and different forms of art, and a finished and
suggestive style.”
+ + =Outlook.= 80: 643. Jl. 8, ‘05. 250w.
“The book is full of exquisite impressions concerning matters not to
be found in the guide books.”
+ + =Reader.= 6: 597. O. ‘05. 220w.
“An intimate acquaintance with Italian art and nature, an insight into
southern life, and an exquisite literary style,—all of which belong to
this writer—are necessary for such a study.”
+ + + =R. of Rs.= 32: 254. Ag. ‘05. 50w.
“A great deal of charming description is scattered through this
volume.”
+ + =Spec.= 95: 470. S. 30. ‘05. 2560w.