A record for the reader who has “only a vague, imperfect, and
unsatisfying knowledge of what has happened in France since Waterloo.”
“The ‘interpretation of facts’ is the author’s own, and he is an
Englishman, but seemingly unprejudiced. He has acquired the art of
visualization. He presents clear pictures of important epochs in
comparatively few words.... He does not neglect the advance of science
in France, the encouragement of art, the unsettled relations of church
and state. He has chapters on Boulanger and the Dreyfus affair. Besides
some acceptable portraits, there are maps and a chronological table, a
list of rulers and chief magistrates, some genealogical tables, and a
good index.” (N. Y. Times.)
* * * * *
“It is only fair to say that the author exhibits scrupulous care to be
impartial, although his ‘limitations’ must be obvious. It is not
possible to commend Mr. Berry’s treatment of recent history. The kind of
reader who may be expected to peruse a condensed history will be puzzled
by many passing allusions, and will not find much assistance from the
index.”
− + =Ath.= 1908, 2: 300. S. 12. 680w.
“There is also a lack of exact statement in tracing the beginnings of
the present difficulties in the first revolution.”
+ − =Dial.= 46: 406. Je. 16, ’09. 100w.
“He may not reach the same conclusions as other competent students of
contemporary French history, but the utility of his book is
unquestionable. It tells a long and involved story in a few well-chosen
words. It is comparable with the best kind of journalism.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 14: 145. Mr. 13, ’09. 560w.
=Bertholet, Alfred.=^{[12]} Transmigration of souls. (Harper’s lib. of
living thought.) **75c. Harper.
9–35855.
A clear account of the doctrine of metempsychosis traced thru ancient
and modern history. “The doctrine filled a considerable space in time
past, and it is well to be instructed about its various forms and phases
by one who has studied the subject thoroughly.” (Spec.)
* * * * *
+ =A. L. A. Bkl.= 6: 68. N. ’09.
“This little volume is worth reading.”
+ =Spec.= 103: 210. Ag. 7, ’09. 170w.
=Beruete y Moret, Aurelino de.=^{[8]} School of Madrid. (Library of
art.) *$2. Scribner.
9–26478.
Continues and supplements the work of Señor Beruete’s father on
Velasquez. The author’s task is “the exploration of that unknown country
from which the figure of the great Spanish master emerges so
unexpectedly. The period to be studied covers some seventy-five years
from the arrival of Velasquez at the Court of Madrid in 1623 to the
death of Claudio Coello at the end of the century. Of these successors
of Velasquez who go to form the school of Madrid, that artist’s pupil
and son-in-law Del Mazo is the protagonist and the hero of the story.”
(Sat. R.)
* * * * *
“Is distinguished by scholarly caution and critical acumen.”
+ =A. L. A. Bkl.= 6: 68. N. ’09.
“It is possible to dispute Señor de Beruete’s judgment in connexion with
matters of which he treats only in passing fashion. On the whole the
English is clear, and the style idiomatic if pedestrian.”
+ − =Ath.= 1909, 2: 337. S. 18. 900w.
“Valuable work.”
+ =Int. Studio.= 38: 328. O. ’09. 260w.
“Señor Beruete’s work is so scholarly and so serviceable that we regret
to point out its obvious weakness—the failure to take into account
Spanish pictures in America.”
+ − =Nation.= 89: 126. Ag. 5, ’09. 370w.
+ =N. Y. Times.= 14: 463. Jl. 31, ’09. 400w.
“To students of the Spanish school [it] should prove invaluable.”
+ =Sat. R.= 108: 53. Jl. 10, ’09. 300w.
=Betts, George Herbert.=^{[10]} Distribution and functions of mental
imagery. $1. Teachers college.
9–25433.
A study of both voluntary and spontaneous imagery whose problems divide
themselves in two groups: (1) those which grow out of the power to evoke
images voluntarily: and (2) those which grow out of the spontaneous use
of imagery in thought.
=Beveridge, William Henry.=^{[5]} Unemployment: a problem of industry.
*$2.40. Longmans.
9–16585.
An inquiry into the conditions and causes of unemployment and
suggestions for the problem’s solution. “The principles of future policy
laid down are chiefly two: First, organized fluidity of labor through
central labor exchanges, reducing to actual requirements the necessary
labor reserve, instead of the existing reserve in each trade, and even
for each employer; and second, the averaging of work and earnings by
means of insurance against unemployment, principally through the labor
unions.” (N. Y. Times.)
* * * * *
+ =A. L. A. Bkl.= 6: 69. N. ’09.
“The author tells us, in excellent form and with singular completeness,
exactly what the public wants to know at the present moment on
‘Unemployment.’ The volume is a storehouse of facts for the use of both
sides in any controversy which may arise.”
+ =Ath.= 1909, 1: 224. F. 20. 670w.
“One of the most searching analyses of unemployment that has yet been
made.” Irene Osgood.
+ + =Econ. Bull.= 2: 141. Je. ’09. 1200w.
“While his details are drawn from British sources and his conclusions
apply more particularly to conditions in Great Britain than to those of
any other country, yet his conclusions are largely applicable in any of
the great industrial countries of the world.”
+ =Engin. N.= 62: sup. 46. N. 18, ’09. 1050w.
“No doubt the student of economics will find much to question in Mr.
Beveridge’s pages. But for all that, the real value of the book is not
to be questioned. It is worthy a permanent place on the bookshelf of the
economist and in the hands of the reformer.” A. B. Wolfe.
+ − =J. Pol. Econ.= 17: 476. Jl. ’09. 950w.
“The chief value of the book—and it is a real one—is the very complete
and fair presentation and analysis of the facts and the causes of
unemployment.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 14: 289. My. 8, ’09. 750w.
“If the Unemployed workmen act of 1905 had accomplished nothing more
than the production of this book it would have been justified.” J: R.
Commons.
+ =Pol. Sci. Q.= 24: 534. S. ’09. 650w.
“Not the least interesting part of Mr. Beveridge’s book is his
examination of the difficulties which beset older workers in finding
fresh employment. We cannot follow Mr. Beveridge in the easy view he
takes of the mobility of labour.”
+ − =Sat. R.= 108: 570. N. 6, ’09. 880w.
“A correct analysis of the machinery of exchange as the organising
principle of labour distribution is of the highest importance, and we
recommend Mr. Beveridge’s contribution to the subject as one of much
force and ability. We enter, however a ‘caveat’ that the author hardly
realizes the influence of the existing labour exchange.”
+ − =Spec.= 103: sup. 485. O. 2, ’09. 210w.
=Biagi, Guido.=^{[10]} Men and manners of old Florence. **$3.50.
McClurg.
Five sketches that give realistic glimpses of the social life in
Florence from the thirteenth to the beginning of the last century,
during the age when Florence was a distinctive factor in the
civilization of Europe, when, as the author says, “her native manners
and customs had not yet been submerged and lost in the great stream of
modern influence and fashions.” Contents: Florence within her ancient
boundary; The mind and manners of a Florentine merchant of the
fourteenth century; The private life of the renaissance Florentines;
Tullia of Arragon; The twilight of the past; Index.
* * * * *
“Is not only a highly informing work but a highly entertaining one.”
+ =Dial.= 47: 388. N. 16, ’09. 460w.
“The author wrote the preface of a charming work upon ‘The women of
Florence,’ by Isadoro del Lungo, reviewed in these columns last year,
which should be read in connection with these essays.”
+ =Outlook.= 93: 601. N. 13, ’09. 200w.
=Bianchi, Martha Gilbert.=^{[9]} Cuckoo’s nest. †$1.50. Duffield.
9–18025.
“A novel, the action of which takes place chiefly at Monte Carlo, offers
well in this hour of cosmopolitan fiction. England, America, France,
Poland, and Germany share the honors in providing the principal persons
of the tale.... The American abroad, the gambler of noble birth, the
courtesan, the brilliant and amorous amateur of the violin, the rude but
sportsmanlike Englishwoman with a title, the all-conquering
dragoon—these are the not unfamiliar human materials out of which the
Countess Bianchi has constructed her plot.”—Nation.
* * * * *
“Up to the last, one has no clear idea just where the author meant to
place her centre of interest. But this does not alter the fact that she
has here and there done some surprisingly good bits of work in
portraying character.” F: T. Cooper.
+ − =Bookm.= 30: 68. S. ’09. 950w.
“There are passages of somewhat too detailed description for the taste
of Anglo-Saxondom; but the moral of the story is wholesome.”
+ − =Nation.= 89: 212. S. 2, ’09. 270w.
=Bierce, Ambrose.=^{[10]} Shadow on the dial, and other essays. *$2.
Robertson.
9–28535.
A group of essays with a wide range of subjects. They are as follows:
The shadow on the dial; Civilization; The game of politics; Some
features of the law; Arbitration; Industrial discontent; Crime and its
correctives; The death penalty; Religion; Immortality; Opportunity;
Charity; Emancipated woman; The opposing sex; The American sycophant; A
dissertation on dogs; The ancestral bond; The right to work; The right
to take oneself off.
* * * * *
“Mr. Bierce now forces the note, talks about matters he does not
perfectly understand, says habitually more than he means, counts that
sentence lost which contains no paradox, and contradicts himself without
a blush.”
− =Nation.= 89: 306. S. 30, ’09. 650w.
“If Mr. Bierce does not contribute vastly to the knowledge of the world,
he assuredly adds delightfully to its amusement.” Hildegarde Hawthorne.
+ − =N. Y. Times.= 14: 491. Ag. 14, ’09. 1600w.
“It is quite clear that what Mr. Bierce writes must be taken ‘cum
grano.’ But there must be something genuine in it.”
+ − =Spec.= 103: 315. Ag. 28, ’09. 430w.
=Bigelow, John.=^{[12]} Retrospections of an active life. **$12.
Baker.
“To have lived to the ripe age of 92 years with full share of health and
happiness, to have seen pass in review a great crisis in the history of
one’s country, to have grown up with the great advances in science and
the applications of science to commercial and industrial life, and
finally to be able to sit down with pen in hand and describe these
events accurately, fully, and entertainingly.” (N. Y. Times.)—this is
what John Bigelow, ex-Ambassador to France has done in three volumes.
* * * * *
“More of his own way of looking at things, and less of his friends’
epistolary account of them, would have been welcome. The result, in the
bulk and cost of the work, is not eminently satisfactory.” P. F.
Bicknell.
+ − =Dial.= 47: 446. D. 1, ’09. 2500w.
=N. Y. Times.= 14: 731. N. 20, ’09. 230w.
“One ought not and one can scarcely criticise this voluminous work. But
a little more careful editing would improve the quality of certain
sections. For instance, one would like both sides of the correspondence
more frequently in order not to lose the thread of the argument. While
giving many letters written by other men, Mr. Bigelow is rather too
sparing with his own letters, a sign of his never-failing modesty. The
intrinsic value of the matter adduced outweighs all secondary
considerations.” I. W. Voorhees.
+ − =N. Y. Times.= 14: 737. N. 27, ’09. 2600w.
“There is no man living to-day so fitted to write the story of the last
three-quarters of a century of American life as seen by one who has
actively participated in it; and the vigor of his activity is paralleled
by the vigor of his narrative.”
+ =Outlook.= 93: 789. D. 4, ’09. 400w.
+ =R. of Rs.= 40: 753. D. ’09. 600w.
=Bigelow, William Sturgis.= Buddhism and immortality. (Ingersoll
lecture for 1908). **75c. Houghton.
8–30599.
Descriptive note in December, 1908.
* * * * *
=Am. J. Theol.= 13: 496. Jl. ’09. 160w.
=A. L. A. Bkl.= 5: 99. Ap. ’09.
“An exceedingly well written presentation of the Buddhistic conception
of immortality from the point of view of a sympathetic student of
Buddhism.”
+ =Bib. World.= 33: 143. F. ’09. 20w.
“The result of asking us to conceive states without a subject to which
these states are attributable is to render his ideas very confused and
confusing.”
− =Cath. World.= 88: 693. F. ’09. 180w.
“As an attempt to interpret oriental ideas to western minds, the book
deserves high praise. In particular, the exposition of ‘Karma’ is
admirable; and the nobler side of Japanese Buddhist doctrine is brought
before the reader very effectively.” E. H. Hollands.
+ =Philos. R.= 18: 346. My. ’09. 780w.
=Bigg, Charles.=^{[8]} Origins of Christianity; ed. by T. B. Strong.
*$4.15. Oxford.
9–25437.
“In this excellent work, the Christian history and literature of the
first three centuries are treated with great learning and breadth of
view, being constantly brought into relation with the wider history of
the times. The book is thus an introduction both to the history and to
the literature of the early church.” (Bib. World.) “The first chapter is
a review of the Roman Empire as it was at the time, an institution
usually tolerant, but coming into hostile contact with Christianity on
the point of Caesar-worship. Dissent from this was high treason.
Chapters follow on the foundation of the Roman church, on the fiery
trials through which it passed under Nero and Domitian, and on its early
teachers, the pseudo-Barnabas, Clement, and Hermas.” (Spec.)
* * * * *
“The style is terse, concrete, original, and often abrupt. But the story
is full of interest, and exhibits a wide acquaintance with Christian and
pagan literature. While the work will have no little value and interest
for the student, the general reader will find it a useful introduction
to the early history of the church. Professor Bigg’s views on Christian
literature are not always critically based. The index is far from
complete, which is the more unfortunate in view of the large range of
subjects, persons, writings, and events treated.” E. J. Goodspeed.
+ − =Am. J. Theol.= 13: 617. O. ’09. 350w.
“On some matters Dr. Bigg has not adopted what seems the most critical
view, and the later books of the New Testament, those, e. g., of
Domitian’s time, might well have been included. But the book will be
useful, as showing the subsequent literature vividly in its historical
setting.”
+ − =Bib. World.= 34: 72. Jl. ’09. 100w.
“This is a disappointing book. The promise of the title is not
fulfilled. Nor is the work of the quality one might expect from the
Regius Professor of ecclesiastical history in Oxford, whose Bampton
lectures on ‘The Christian platonists of Alexandria’ have long been well
and favorably known. A more serious defect is the superficiality of
treatment.”
− =Nation.= 89: 382. O. 21, ’09. 600w.
“Altogether, this is an awakening book.”
+ =Spec.= 103: 23. Jl. 3, ’09. 500w.
=Bigham, Madge A.=^{[11]} Overheard in fairyland. †$1.50. Little.
9–27956.
A book of fanciful explanations of the origin and characteristics of
flowers, trees and other elements of woodland life.
* * * * *
+ =R. of Rs.= 40: 768. D. ’09. 20w.
=Biles, John Harvard.= Design and construction of ships, v. 1. *$7.50.
Lippincott.
9–11028.
=v. 1.= Calculations and strength.
It is divided into three parts: pt. 1 deals with areas, volumes, and
centers of gravity; pt. 2 deals with ship calculations proper, such as
calculations of displacement, center of buoyancy, metacenters, trim,
etc.; pt. 3 deals with the strength of ships.
* * * * *
“The book could be somewhat condensed to advantage, and its value would
be increased if the author had expressed more fully his own opinions and
recommendations as regards some of the matters touched on.” D. W.
Taylor.
+ − =Engin. N.= 61: sup. 1. Ja. 14, ’09. 3000w. (Review of v. 1.)
“The author’s style is clear and the method of development orderly and
well arranged. The mathematical methods used in dealing with the various
principles involved in the theoretical portions are not always the
simplest or best. In the broad field of ship design and construction, it
is a book which should prove of the highest value and it may be
cordially commended to the notice both of students and of designers and
practitioners in general.”
+ − =Engin. Rec.= 59: 223. F. 20, ’09. 600w. (Review of v. 1.)
“The arrangement of the book is excellent, its style concise and clear.
For a long time there has been a need for such a book.” W. H. White.
+ =Nature.= 79: 454. F. 18, ’09. 950w. (Review of v. 1.)
=Bindloss, Harold.=^{[11]} Greater power. **$1.30. Stokes.
9–23728.
In its wilderness setting, and in its pioneer struggle with the forces
of nature this book is similar to the many that the author has written
of life in the Canadian Northwest. To the intelligence and ability of
the hero are united the fore-sightedness and initiative of the heroine—a
combination that is bound to transform wildernesses into places of
habitation.
* * * * *
“Readers who have liked his earlier volumes will find in ‘The greater
power’ substantially the same merits and the same defects.” F: T.
Cooper.
+ − =Bookm.= 30: 189. O. ’09. 150w.
“It makes a varied and virile tale no less deserving of praise than the
half dozen of its sort that have come before.” W: M. Payne.
+ =Dial.= 47: 385. N. 16, ’09. 140w.
“Mr. Bindloss’s muse is always rather heavy footed, and his style,
intensely realistic, lacks the imaginative spirit. But his knowledge of
the country is profound, his love for it evident, and his descriptions
of the wilderness and of the lives of the men who toil therein have the
flavor of actuality.”
+ − =N. Y. Times.= 14: 456. S. 18, ’09. 480w.
“The book is a good, straightforward description of a way of living
which must always have at least a vicarious attraction for readers pent
in crowded towns.”
+ =Sat. R.= 107: 502. Ap. 17, ’09. 270w.
=Bindloss, Harold.= Lorimer of the Northwest. †$1.50. Stokes.
9–2261.
The Canadian northwest is the scene of this story which follows a clean,
strong, young pioneer’s fight for fortune and the woman he loves. Its
pages are filled with struggle, disappointment and finally the success
resulting from a determined fight with the elements of opposition that
face the sturdy pioneer. The ozone of the prairies gets into Mr.
Bindloss’s pages.
* * * * *
“The way in which two women are always turning up at the psychological
moment to add new complications to his difficulties, forms a tax upon
our credulity which tends to discredit even that part of the story that
is soberly and sincerely told.” F: T. Cooper.
− + =Bookm.= 29: 78. Mr. ’09. 350w.
“In his dealings with nature, as exhibited in that part of America which
he has made his own, it seems to us that Mr. Bindloss is steadily
growing in fineness of observation and power of description.” W: M.
Payne.
+ =Dial.= 46: 264. Ap. 16, ’09. 260w.
=Bingham, Hiram.=^{[8]} Journal of an expedition across Venezuela and
Colombia, 1906–1907: an exploration of the route of Bolivar’s
celebrated march of 1819 and of the battle-fields of Boyacá and
Carabobo; with map and 133 il. from photographs taken by the author.
*$2.25. Yale pub. assn.
9–13527.
The journal of an expedition made in the interests of history along the
route of the great general Bolivar who in 1819 conducted an army across
Venezuela and Colombia by a road that was regarded impassable. The
record of Dr. Bingham’s undertaking along this course is of definite
interest “not only to historians, but to naturalists, geographers,
ethnologists and lovers of travel in general.” The book is generously
illustrated.
* * * * *
“The text is a useful contribution to the meager literature of this
region, but is not of great interest to the average reader.”
+ =A. L. A. Bkl.= 6: 35. O. ’09.
“Had the author used the diary to refresh his memory, and written the
account of his trip in regular book form, it would have made the work
more readable and more valuable. Even as it stands the volume is one of
great interest, and the numerous photographs are excellent.”
+ − =Ind.= 67: 93. Jl. 8, ’09. 200w.
“While the historical element in Dr. Bingham’s diary is always dominant,
yet other interests are by no means excluded from the narrative. That
Dr. Bingham is not an ornithologist may be known from his speaking of
toucans as if they were horn-bills; and indeed science is throughout the
story a secondary interest. Yet his observations in the fields of
geography and ethnology have considerable value.”
+ =Nation.= 89: 328. O. 7, ’09. 560w.
“The reader will get a very good idea of the kind of country and its
inhabitants.”
+ =Nature.= 81: 453. O. 14, ’09. 470w.
“The ordinary reader will find in this volume an interesting account of
travel off the beaten track and will gain from it an insight to the
manner of life of the rural populations of Colombia and Venezuela.”
Forbes Lindsay.
+ =N. Y. Times.= 14: 479. Ag. 7, ’09. 550w.
=Spec.= 103: 138. Jl. 24, ’09. 300w.
=Binyon, Laurence.= Painting in the Far East. *$6. Longmans.
9–5221.
“The artistic unity of Asia is Mr. Binyon’s theme, and in a series of
illuminating chapters he proceeds to demonstrate that it is in China
that the central tradition of Asian painting is to be found. His thesis
unfolds itself spontaneously like some lovely blossom, and his
accompanying exposition of Oriental color, line and rhythm offers a
helpful initiation to a style which few Occidentals rightly appreciate
though many lay claim to that distinction. Not only is Mr. Binyon’s book
specifically valuable; it is also collaterally so.”—Putnam’s.
* * * * *
=A. L. A. Bkl.= 5: 155. Je. ’09.
“His book is a notable one, comprehensive in its outlook, clear in its
statements, and irrefragable in its philosophy.” F: W. Gookin.
+ − =Dial.= 46: 257. Ap. 16, ’09. 2300w.
“Although at a disadvantage by reason of the probable paucity of fine
original examples to refer to, the author has succeeded in producing a
valuable résumé of the history of art in China and Japan which is a
welcome addition to our literature upon the subject. Some regret,
however, will be felt by lovers of that art at the altogether
unrepresentative character of the illustrations to the volume.”
+ − =Int. Studio.= 37: 83. Mr. ’09. 500w.
“His task has thus been comparable to that of a critic who should
attempt to describe Italian art without the treasures of Italy. But
within the limitations imposed upon him, he has made a useful and
interesting volume.”
+ − =Nation.= 87: 637. D. 24, ’08. 700w.
“This is a work to study by heart and come back to often of works on art
(and the word is said advisedly) the most important in the last decade,
and the most enchanting of more than half that time.”
+ + =No. Am.= 190: 838. D. ’09. 130w.
“So simple and direct are his pictorial and poetical perceptions that
you get at once at the secret sources of an immeasurably remote and
tortuous fountain-head. Real knowledge of the subject is limited, and
hence such a work as Mr. Binyon’s should find place on the shelves of
almost every apostle of beauty.” Christian Brinton.
+ =Putnam’s.= 5: 622. F. ’09. 430w.
“Mr. Binyon’s book delights us not only by the interest of the subject,
but also by the charm of its style and power of expression.”
+ =Spec.= 102: 541. Ap. 3, ’09. 1000w.
=Birdseye, Clarence Frank.= Reorganization of our colleges. **$1.75.
Baker.
9–8596.
As a result of a well conducted examination of the grave abuses
practised in both administration and student life departments of our
colleges and the inadequacy of means used for remedial purposes the
author indicates the nature of the trouble and its location in the
college body, and suggests a general method of treatment—an
antitoxin—capable of effecting a cure if taken in time and in the right
way. He proposes the placing of college reorganization under a separate
administrative department, with the active cooperation of parents and
business alumni.
* * * * *
“The exposition of the problems is a helpful service in the cause of
higher education.”
+ =A. L. A. Bkl.= 5: 131. My. ’09.
“From a literary standpoint the book is greatly marred by its
redundancy. Mr. Birdseye states that the chief duty of the college is to
prepare for citizenship and therefore that the intellectual is not alone
to be considered. Here he goes too far.” Carl Kelsey.
+ − =Ann. Am. Acad.= 34: 614. N. ’09. 530w.
“Much of the emphasis of the book is timely, and some of it
commendable.”
+ − =Dial.= 46: 265. Ap. 16, ’09. 570w.
“An interesting and stimulating contribution to the now widespread
discussion as to the conditions of American collegiate instruction.” F:
P. Keppel.
+ =Educ. R.= 37: 526. My. ’09. 1050w.
+ =Ind.= 66: 1296. Je. 10, ’09. 500w.
“This is the boldest and clearest plan for improving the higher
education in this country which has hitherto appeared.”
+ =Lit. D.= 38: 559. Ap. 3, ’09. 330w.
+ =N. Y. Times.= 14: 233. Ap. 10, ’09. 950w.
“He has put his finger on the most serious defect in our American
colleges; he has analyzed that defect with great skill and has shown how
composite it is; and he has offered, so far as we know, the only remedy
that appears to be as comprehensive as the ill it is designed to cure.”
+ =Outlook.= 92: 149. My. 22, ’09. 900w.
+ =R. of Rs.= 39: 511. Ap. ’09. 150w.
“In its diagnosis of the weaknesses of the college this book is clear,
and even trenchant; but it is, on the whole, fair.”
+ =Yale R.= 18: 220. Ag. ’09. 200w.
=Bisland, Elizabeth, and Hoyt, Anne=.^{[10]} Seekers in Sicily: being
a quest for Persephone by Jane and Peripatetica. **$1.50. Lane.
9–23013.
“Miss Elizabeth Bisland and Miss Anne Hoyt, masquerading as ‘Jane’ and
‘Peripatetica,’ went to Sicily as seekers for the dead body of a great
civilization, using their Theocritus oftener than their Baedeker, and
waiting in the cold springtime for the coming of Persephone ‘laden with
leaves and flowers and the waving corn.’ Every step they took stirred up
wraiths of myths and history, and reminded them of Proteus rising from
the sea, and of old Triton blowing his wreathèd horn. The theatrical
scenery of Taormina, the bones and stones of Syracuse, the temples of
ancient Girgenti, ‘the nicest place’ in Sicily, and the land of Goethe’s
‘das land, wo die citronen blüh’n,’ Palermo, were visited in
turn.”—Dial.
* * * * *
“The book is full of life and color, successfully interprets the spirit
of the country and supplies a need for a book of popular travel devoted
entirely to Sicily.”
+ =A. L. A. Bkl.= 6: 35. O. ’09.
“Seriousness and playfulness go together in this happy visit to the
fields of old renown, and provide a very readable book of travel.” H. E.
Coblentz.
+ =Dial.= 47: 234. O. 1, ’09. 300w.
“The book is worth reading, provided that one does not attempt to read
too much of it at one sitting.”
+ − =Ind.= 67: 823. O. 7, ’09. 270w.
“It is the usual combination of random and inaccurate information by way
of crumb, with abundant facetiousness, sentimentality, or simple
talky-talk by way of plums.”
− =Nation.= 89: 462. N. 11, ’09. 220w.
“Visitors to Sicily will find this book an exceedingly interesting and
valuable companion.”
+ =N. Y. Times.= 14: 492. Ag. 14, ’09. 330w.
=Bithell, Jethro.=^{[10]} Minnesingers. v. 1. *$2. Longmans.