“The very interesting illustrations cited throughout make this book
not only earnest but really attractive reading on labor organization
questions.”
+ =Booklist= 16:327 Jl ’20
“A clear account and discriminating criticism of the labor movement.”
+ =Ind= 103:319 S 11 ’20 30w
Reviewed by G: Soule
+ =Nation= 111:535 N 10 ’20 480w
“His book is unquestionably the most mature, balanced and far-seeing
analysis of recent months.” Ordway Tead
+ =New Repub= 25:208 Ja 12 ’21 410w
“With some blemishes here and there of involved or slipshod phrase,
the book is to be warmly welcomed. No other man in America who deals
with this subject draws from so ample a store of learning and
experience. No other has at once the exactness and the scope of his
information. No other writes with such uniform tolerance and breadth
of view.” W. J. Ghent
+ − =Review= 3:448 N 10 ’20 720w
“His tolerance and his desire to understand and to interpret the world
of labor fairly and humanly give distinction to his work.” W. L. C.
+ =Survey= 45:73 O 9 ’20 300w
=BROOKS, VAN WYCK.= Ordeal of Mark Twain. *$3 Dutton
20–8431
“This book is primarily a psychological study and yet it is full of
biographical detail related to the career of Mark Twain, and
supplements the biography written by Mr Paine. It should be stated,
however, that Mr Brooks did not undertake this task in the spirit of a
chronicler. He started, rather, with the aim of offering a logical
explanation of Mark Twain’s well-known tendency to pessimism.” (R of
Rs) “The main idea in the book is that Mark Twain’s career was a
tragedy—a tragedy for himself and a tragedy for mankind. Everyman who
does not live up to his highest possibilities is living in a state of
sin. Mark Twain was, therefore, one of the chief of sinners, because
his possibilities were so great and he fell so short. There were two
villains in Mark Twain’s tragedy—his mother and his wife. His mother
was more eager to have him good than to have him great; his wife
wanted him to be a gentleman. Between them they tamed the lion and
made him perform parlor tricks. This hypothesis is worked out by Mr
Brooks.” (N Y Times)
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:343 Jl ’20
“Having set up his theory, everything in the humorist’s career is made
to contribute to it in the most plausible, ingenious, and stimulating
way; the book is so able and interesting that to read it is a delight.
Yet, for me, as I strive to realize Mark Twain, remembering the man
and reading the author to find the man, the result is not
satisfactory, nor do I think Mr Brooks has penetrated to the heart of
the secret. He has succumbed to the danger which always confronts the
thesis-maker who has to subdue data so that they may buttress his
belief.” R: Burton
* + − =Bookm= 52:333 Ja ’21 2900w
“Not only a subtle psychological study of one of the most prominent
figures in the life of the past century, but also a valuable
acquisition to the essay realm of American history.”
+ =Cath World= 112:255 N ’20 700w
Reviewed by R. M. Lovett
=Dial= 69:293 S ’20 3150w
“This ‘Ordeal’ is so brilliant a book and comes so near the truth in
its general outlines that it seems almost an excess of seriousness to
point out certain excesses of seriousness into which Mr Brooks has
been carried by his ardor for the dignity of the literary profession.
But it should be pointed out that his criticism is very far from being
disinterested. He means to bring an adequate indictment against the
sort of society which discourages and represses a man of genius.” C.
V. D.
+ − =Nation= 111:189 Ag 14 ’20 1350w
“Unfortunately Van Wyck Brooks took Mark Twain’s humorously
megalomaniac utterances for serious expressions of a megalomaniac
soul, and, as it seems to me, utterly missed the most promising lead
in his mountain of ore. But there were riches enough for his purpose,
nevertheless.” Alvin Johnson
+ − =New Repub= 23:201 Jl 14 ’20 2350w
“Many books have been written about Mark Twain; but with the exception
of Paine’s biography this work by Mr Van Wyck Brooks is the most
important and the most essential. Whether one agrees with Mr Brooks’s
thesis or not—and I do not—one must admire and one ought to profit by
the noble and splendid purpose animating it. It is a call to every
writer and to every man and woman not to sin against their own
talents.” W: L. Phelps
+ − =N Y Times= p1 Je 27 ’20 2200w
“While Mr Brooks is in no sense an artist in words, he is a dramatic
expositor, and he owns a thesis which attracts to its defense an
inspiritingly large number of crisp facts and observations. His book
will interest and serve even the unbeliever.”
+ − =Review= 3:108 Ag 4 ’20 1150w
“Mr Brooks seems to have adopted a thesis which he feels bound to
support by ingenious and plausible argument. As a clever and brilliant
application of critical methods to a literary career, the book has few
equals in American literature.”
+ =R of Rs= 62:334 S ’20 120w
“Although it is easy to dissent from Mr Brooks’s interpretation of
Clemens’s biography, the book aims to provide something of the serious
criticism which is so essential not only to American letters but to
American culture. It is somewhat overtheorized and finespun. The ideas
would be clearer if the book were more condensed in expression and
data.”
+ − =Springf’d Republican= p6 Jl 5 ’20 490w
=Wis Lib Bul= 16:114 Je ’20 60w
=BROWER, HARRIETTE MOORE.=[2] Self-help in piano study. il *$1.50 Stokes
786
20–17977
The book is in two parts: Practical lessons in piano technic and Plain
talks with piano teachers and students. It consists of reprinted
matter from the Musical Observer and Musical America in the form of
brief essays, many of them written in response to requests from
teachers and students. Among the chapters of Part 1 are: The
principles of piano playing; The beginner; Use of wrist and arms;
Scale playing. Part 2 has talks on: On teaching; Laying the
foundation; Points on technical training; Touch and tone, etc.
=BROWER, HARRIETTE MOORE.= Vocal mastery. il *$3 Stokes 784.9
20–19844
This book is composed of a number of talks with famous singers with a
view to obtaining “their personal ideas concerning their art and its
mastery, and, when possible, some inkling as to the methods by which
they themselves have arrived at the goal.” Among those interviewed are
Enrico Caruso, Geraldine Farrar, Amelita Galli-Curci, Giuseppe de
Luca, Luisa Tetrazzini, Antonio Scotti, Reinald Werrenrath, and Sophie
Braslau. A group entitled, With the master teachers, includes David
Bispham, Oscar Saenger, Herbert Witherspoon, Yeatman Griffith, and J.
H. Duval. Twenty photographs illustrate the book. Miss Brower is
author also of “Piano mastery,” a book of similar purpose for
pianists, and other books for musicians.
* * * * *
+ =Booklist= 17:102 D ’20
=BROWN, ABBIE FARWELL.= Heart of New England. *$1.50 Houghton 811
20–16517
This collection of poems is a tribute in verse to the Pilgrim
tercentenary, taking the reader from the Pilgrim’s separation from old
England, to the present generation’s reunion thru the war. The first
group of poems deals entirely with New England and some of the poems
are: Pilgrim mothers; Pirate treasure; Grandmother’s house;
Grandmother’s garden; Pine music; The blazed trail. The second group
contains war songs, among them: Peace—with a sword; From the canteen;
Prayer for America. The book ends with The rock of liberty: a Pilgrim
ode, 1620–1920.
* * * * *
“Many who cannot find pleasure in more daring modern poets should find
contentment in the work of Miss Brown. When much of today’s poetry is
forgotten her verse will wait for him who wishes to know the true New
England.” N. J. O’Conor
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 O 9 ’20 3400w
=BROWN, ALICE.= Homespun and gold. *$2 Macmillan
20–19504
“‘Homespun and gold’ is an appropriate title for Miss Alice Brown’s
new collection of stories, considering the homely material she has
used and the glint of hope that persists in an atmosphere of impending
tragedy. The people and scenes are all of New England, and the
situations deal with the suppressed desires, the thwarted hopes, and
the hated sacrifices made lovable, of a people in whom the Puritan
tradition is not entirely dead.” (Freeman) Contents: The wedding ring;
Mary Felicia; A homespun wizardry; Red poppies; Ann Eliza; The return
of father; The deserters; The house of the bride; A question of wills;
A brush of paint; The path of stars; The widow’s third; White pebbles;
Confessions; Up on the mountain.
* * * * *
“Because they describe life rather than interpret it they fail to move
one profoundly. The reader closes the book impressed with its
sustained excellence; the sure touch of an experienced craftsman is
apparent on every page, but it throws no clear light upon the enigma
of human destiny.” L. M. R.
+ − =Freeman= 2:285 D 1 ’20 240w
“Taken together, they form an interesting picture of New England
village life. It is a picture far less grim than some others we have
seen.”
+ =N Y Times= p22 N 21 ’20 850w
“They are humorous, human, and true.”
+ =Outlook= 126:690 D 15 ’20 60w
“There is very little description in any of the stories—dialog is used
almost wholly and this aids in the sharp differentiation of the
characters. A homely idiom, fast becoming obsolete, adds to this
effect.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p5a Ja 23 ’21 170w
=BROWN, ALICE.= Wind between the worlds. *$2 (2c) Macmillan
20–11071
In various ways the characters of this story are interested in the
life hereafter and in communication with the dead; and the reactions
on the living, when the quest becomes too ardent, constitute its
moral. A bereaved mother, one of whose sons has been killed in the
war, pins all her faith to automatic writing, in the hope of getting a
message from him. Her relations with her husband become strained, her
nerves threaten to give way. Her secretary, who practices the writing,
has through it so lost her grip on the higher potentialities of life,
that she no longer discriminates between genuine and fraudulent
practices. A scientist has taken the matter up from the scientific
side and from seeking communication with his dead wife has been led
deeper and deeper into his investigations, and becomes almost crazed
and totally irresponsible. For love of him his daughter surrounds
herself with a fabric of lies from which only the love of an unusual,
divining young man and her father’s death, extricate her. For the
bereaved mother and her family the situation is saved by the
penetrating wisdom of an old woman.
* * * * *
“Written with characteristic deftness and charm.”
+ =Booklist= 17:30 O ’20
“In ‘The wind between the worlds’ Miss Brown has, despite the
intricacy of her theme, sacrificed neither her story to her problem,
nor her problem to her story. Devotees of the cult doubtless will not
approve of it, for its hints at fraud will seem to them to be unjust,
and it suggests little sympathy on the part of the novelist with the
cause they have so near at heart. To others, however, it will appear
as a sensible and skilfully imaginative exposition of a vital
subject.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 21 ’20 1400w
=Cleveland= p105 D ’20 60w
=Lit D= p110 N 6 ’20 2700w
“If one can forget the shoddiness of the material there are several
virtues that might be pointed out. The book will undoubtedly please
disciples of the formula school of fiction.” H. S. G.
+ − =New Repub= 25:210 Ja 12 ’21 340w
“The ‘plot portion’ of the story is the weakest part of it. There are
times when it seems manufactured. But the character drawing is
admirable. That the novel is admirably written and the atmosphere of
Boston, where the scene is laid, excellently reproduced, of course
goes without saying.” L. M. Field
+ − =N Y Times= 25:15 Jl 11 ’20 1550w
“The love-plot is singular, but not convincing or quite well managed.”
+ − =Outlook= 126:111 S 15 ’20 150w
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
+ − =Review= 3:234 S 15 ’20 360w
“Madame Brooke, the grandmother of the dead boy, is much the most
interesting and unconventional character in the book, and in her the
author depicts an exclusively American type.”
+ =Spec= 125:782 D 11 ’20 50w
“The technique is admirable; but the breath of life is rarely present.
The characters are intellectually conceived, the story is original,
the psychology shows insight; there is capital description, reasonably
good dialogue, situations both interesting and dramatic; the tale
moves without faltering; and yet, the breath of life being absent for
the most part, the story is unreal.”
+ − =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p701 O 28 ’20 340w
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 16:193 N ’20 120w
=BROWN, SIR ARTHUR WHITTEN, and BOTT, ALAN JOHN.= Flying the Atlantic in
sixteen hours. il *$1.50 (4c) Stokes 629.1
20–8254
In this account of the prize-winner in the first competitive flight
across the Atlantic, in a Vickers-Vimy machine. Sir Arthur Brown says:
“We have realized that our flight was but a solitary fingerpost to the
air-traffic—safe, comfortable and voluminous—that in a few years will
pass above the Atlantic ocean.” The last three chapters of the book
are devoted to a discussion of aircraft in commerce and
transportation. Contents: Some preliminary events; St John’s; The
start; Evening; Night; Morning; The arrival; Aftermath of arrival; The
navigation of aircraft; The future of transatlantic flight; The air
age; illustrations.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:333 Jl ’20
“One leaves the book with the sensation of having been in the midst of
remarkable accomplishment.” D. L. M.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 7 ’20 900w
+ =Outlook= 125:223 Je 2 ’20 30w
+ =Springf’d Republican= p11a Ag 22 ’20 300w
=BROWN, DEMETRA (VAKA) (MRS KENNETH BROWN), and PHOUTRIDES, ARISTIDES=,
trs. Modern Greek stories. (Interpreters’ ser.) *$1.90 (3c) Duffield
20–26756
The book has a foreword by Demetra Vaka describing the emotional and
intellectual history of the Greeks from the time they lost their
independence to the Turks in 1453 to the present. Modern Greece, she
says, owes her independence and inspiration to her poets and other
writers and Mount Olympus, by becoming the stronghold of the outlaws
and insurgents against Turkish rule, became in a new sense a sacred
mountain. Of the authors of the eight stories selected for the volume,
all but three are still living. The stories are: Sea; The sin of my
mother; The god-father; Mangalos; Forgiveness; Angelica; A man’s
death; The frightened soul; She that was homesick.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 17:31 O ’20
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 S 8 ’20 380w
+ =Lit D= p92 N 20 ’20 1450w
“All these stories are pervaded with a fatalism, a sombreness, a
prepossession unredeemed by that super-sight that we associate with
the Greeks of old. If they are exact transcriptions of the instincts
and beliefs of the Greek people of today they have far to go before
the heights are reached.” B. D.
− =N Y Times= p9 Ag 22 ’20 950w
+ =Outlook= 126:238 O 6 ’20 50w
“Without awakening at any point intense curiosity or poignant interest
they hold the attention by their sincerity, truth, simplicity, and an
indefinable democratic and human tone. They are admirably translated
in pure idiomatic English.”
+ =Review= 3:480 N 17 ’20 250w
“Charming tales. The stories are fascinating in their strange beauty.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p11a S 12 ’20 270w
“These stories are beautiful as literature; they are fascinating as
documents of a people’s inner life.” B. L.
+ =Survey= 45:334 N 27 ’20 150w
=BROWN, EDNA ADELAIDE.= That affair at St Peter’s. il *$1.75 (4c)
Lothrop
20–7761
This story is told by Preston Perrin, the junior warden of St Peter’s,
a church in the suburban town of Hollywood. The tale has to do with
the theft of St Peter’s communion plate between two morning services
on a June Sunday. Various persons had access to the safe where the
silver was kept, including Sophie Dennison, whom no one, least of all,
Preston, could connect with such a crime, Thompson, the organist,
Anna, a Girl’s friendly girl, and of course the rector. Fred Farrell.
A detective is called in, but his conventional methods prove little.
Finally, the silver is returned and the affair is explained very
naturally and credibly, the whole excitement lasting less than a week.
* * * * *
+ =Booklist= 16:346 Jl ’20
“The book is old-fashioned, but—its mystery appearing early—will be
finished if started.”
+ =Bookm= 52:174 O ’20 210w
“A very interesting and well written story. All characters are
attractive and a spice of love-making, withal, completes the value of
the work as a story of human interest.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p4 Je 2 ’20 130w
=BROWN, EVERETT SOMERVILLE.= Constitutional history of the Louisiana
purchase, 1803–1812. $2.50 Univ. of Cal. 973.4 A20–742
“The purpose of this monograph is to discuss the most important of the
constitutional questions which arose as a consequence of the purchase
of Louisiana, and to show how the statesmen and legislators in charge
of affairs at that time interpreted the constitution in answering
those questions. Much has been written on the Louisiana purchase but
no connected narrative of its constitutional aspects has hitherto
appeared.” (Preface) The author has confined his study principally to
the lower part of the province, that organized as Orleans territory
and afterwards admitted as the state of Louisiana. He has utilized
much hitherto unpublished material. There is a bibliography of
thirteen pages, in which this material, together with published works,
is cited. An appendix reproduces the Senate debate on the Breckinridge
bill in 1804, and the volume is indexed. It is published as volume 10
of the University of California publications in history, of which
Herbert E. Bolton is editor.
* * * * *
“Dr Brown has covered a wide range of manuscript and printed material,
and handled it with a just sense of proportion and a keen scent for
the significant. I do wish, however, that aspirants for the three
magic letters would not be so oppressed by the solemnity of their
quest as to neglect the light and humorous aspects of their subject.”
S. E. Morison
+ − =Am Hist R= 26:143 O ’20 280w
“A careful and elaborate monograph.” H. E. E.
+ =Eng Hist R= 35:625 O ’20 80w
+ =Ind= 104:249 N 13 ’20 40w
=BROWN, GEORGE EDWARD=. Book of R. L. S.; works, travels, friends, and
commentators. il *$2.50 (3c) Scribner
20–6150
A book of Stevenson miscellany, alphabetically arranged. “The chief
aim of this book is to provide a commentary on his works as far as
possible from Stevenson’s own standpoint by showing the circumstances
in which they were written, their history in his hands, and his
judgments on them.... The scheme of the volume also embraces
references to members of his family, and to his more or less intimate
friends as well as the places directly associated with his wandering
life.” (Preface) The comments vary in length from brief paragraphs to
several pages. Subjects covered more or less at length include the
Appin murder, on which “Kidnapped” was based; “The black arrow”; Alan
Breck; “Catriona”; Father Damien; Dedications; “Kidnapped”; Samoa; San
Francisco; In the South seas; and “Treasure island”; and there are
also notes on Barrie, Meredith, Kipling, Sidney Colvin, and others.
The book has eight illustrations and is indexed.
* * * * *
“The arrangement is handy for reference, and the information
sufficiently attractive to repay one who dips into the book for
pleasure.”
+ =Ath= p1275 N 28 ’19 50w
=Boston Transcript= p7 Ja 17 ’20 1000w
“Raises the question of how long Stevenson will survive segmentation,
mutilation for mottoes, and vivisection in calendars, without
impairment of his literary vitality. This volume, fortunately, is a
dictionary rather than a dissection.”
+ =Dial= 68:401 Mr ’20 70w
“Once you have braced yourself and plunged in, an encyclopedia is
delightful reading and so is this ‘Book of R. L. S.’”
+ =Ind= 102:235 My 8 ’20 300w
“Unless some one does the same thing better, the book will stand; it
need fear no rivalry, so far as ready reference is concerned, from
more brilliant narratives. Minor shortcomings are offset by his
general accuracy and good sense.”
+ − =Nation= 110:436 Ap 3 ’20 180w
“‘A book of R. L. S.’ is a good compendium of everything that is worth
knowing in the life of Stevenson.” B: de Casseres
+ =N Y Times= 25:1 Mr 7 ’20 900w
=Review= 2:436 Ap 24 ’20 120w
“Contains a valuable index.” D. K.
+ =St Louis= 18:66 Ap ’20 30w
“It seems a little odd to find all sorts of information about
Stevenson, his friends, and critics arranged under alphabetical
headings, as if he were a cookery book or a postal guide. We have at
this date quite enough books about Stevenson, and we hope that this
will be the last for some time to come.... While Mr Brown’s industry
is remarkable, his criticism is not always of the kind we regard as
useful.”
− + =Sat R= 128:610 D 27 ’19 1350w
“A pleasant and informing study. The arrangement which is so
convenient for reference, interferes very little with the book’s
readability.”
+ =Spec= 124:86 Ja 17 ’20 70w
“The reader is made to feel an intimate acquaintance with that very
remarkable author and man.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p10 F 27 ’20 220w
“The book serves also as a bibliography, with notes of the values of
first editions.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p698 N 27 ’19 90w
=BROWN, IVOR JOHN CARNEGIE.=[2] Meaning of democracy. *$2 McClurg 321.8
(Eng ed 20–4617)
“The lecturer of Oxford tutorial classes attempts to show what
democracy implies. He recognizes that the word has come to mean
nothing. Having accepted the principle of equality, as the basis of a
division of power, he proceeds to outline representative government.
He finds in this inevitable delegation of power, three main problems;
the demand for general education to make articulate public opinion,
the machinery for translating this public opinion into practice and in
the third place, the need of curbing those elected to office, so that
they will not forget the source of their power.”—Boston Transcript
* * * * *
“An excellent little book.”
+ =Ath= p303 Mr 5 ’20 520w
“Ivor Brown’s ‘The meaning of democracy’ warms the heart with the new
vision of education—education where teacher and students meet as
equals.” A. Yezierska
+ =Bookm= 52:499 F ’21 190w
=Boston Transcript= p5 D 4 ’20 140w
+ − =Springf’d Republican= p13a Ap 25 ’20 360w (Reprinted from The
Times [London] Lit Sup p116 F 19 ’20)
“It is more human, more readable, and more thought-provoking than nine
out of ten of the treatises on the same general lines with which it
has been our rather arduous privilege to grapple. This is because Mr
Brown is neither very whole-hearted nor, happily, very consistent
about his self-imposed task. The terrible series of definitions by
which he is going to fathom the last recesses of the democratic idea
loses itself, like certain eastern rivers, in the desert during the
course of the first few chapters; and we can bear with the loss.”
+ − =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p116 F 19 ’20 1500w
=BROWN, NELSON COURTLANDT.= Forest products. il *$3.75 Wiley 674
19–15703
A book by the professor of forest utilization, New York state college
of forestry. “Some idea of its scope may be obtained from such chapter
headings as the following: Wood pulp and paper; Tanning materials;
Veneers; Slack and tight cooperage; Naval stores; Wood distillation;
Charcoal; Boxes; Cross ties; Poles and piling; Mine timber; Fuel;
Shingles; Maple syrup and sugar; Rubber; Dye woods; Excelsior and
cork. Under each topic the character and source of the raw material,
the tree species involved, the processes of manufacture, the
marketing, the utilization, and values are discussed. Whenever any
attempts have been made toward standard specifications and grading of
the products, these are given in considerable detail. Statistics of
production in the United States or of importation from other lands are
arranged in convenient tables, and still more important for the
scientist is the bibliography which is appended to each chapter.” (Bot
Gaz)
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:156 F ’20
“Attractive in appearance, well illustrated, and carefully organized.”
G: D. Fuller
+ =Bot Gaz= 68:479 D ’19 220w
=BROWN, ROBERT NEAL RUDMOSE.= Spitsbergen. il *$5 Lippincott 919.8
20–7933
“This book, from the pen of a British explorer, meets the new demand
for information about the mineral resources of this Arctic
archipelago, and at the same time gives a good account of the history,
exploration and animal and plant life of the country. The author
discusses the three ways suggested for settling the political status
of Spitsbergen—partition, international control by two or more
nations, and annexation by one or other nation. He rejects the first
two propositions as not feasible and concludes that the islands should
be annexed by either Great Britain or Norway, the choice to be
submitted to the League of nations and decided by a mandate to one or
other of these powers.”—R of Rs
* * * * *
“Dr Rudmose Brown is a geographer of repute with considerable
scientific attainments, whose work in the Antarctic has won
recognition, and in this volume he has given us a valuable, lively and
most interesting account of the Spitsbergen archipelago. He writes
with a restrained enthusiasm inspired by a genuine love of these wild
regions which compels our interest.” L. C.-M.
+ =Ath= p1064 O 24 ’19 1250w
“Since the book was finished before the government of the country was
settled it is slightly out of date in this, but is chiefly valuable
for the details of history and economic resources.”
+ − =Booklist= 17:26 O ’20
“The book states the problem clearly and contains numerous helpful
maps and illustrations.”
+ =Outlook= 124:291 F 18 ’20 60w
=R of Rs= 61:220 F ’20 120w
“Dr Rudmose Brown gives a map showing the principal mining estates
according to nationality, but no map showing the distribution of coal,
and no geological map. This last seems a curious omission and
certainly is a regrettable one. His book may be recommended to the
general inquirer and especially to the tourists and health seekers.”
+ − =Sat R= 128:612 D 27 ’19 1300w
“An interesting and useful book.”
+ =Spec= 123:473 O 11 ’19 1450w
“This is one of those commendable volumes which entertains while it
informs the reader.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p556 O 16 ’19 1000w
=BROWNE, EDWARD GRANVILLE.=[2] History of Persian literature under
Tartar dominion (A. D. 1265–1502). il *$14 Macmillan 891.5
21–509
“The literature of Persia has found a most able and enthusiastic
interpreter in Professor Edward G. Browne, of the University of
Cambridge, who has already published two exhaustive volumes entitled
‘A literary history of Persia,’ bringing the subject down to the
middle of the thirteenth century. Now comes a third, covering the
period from 1265 to 1502. It is practically a continuation, if not so
in name and form, of the other two standard volumes.” (Nation) “The
period dealt with begins immediately after the terrible Mongol
invasion under Hulagu, includes the conquests of the redoubtable
Tamerlane, and ends with the appearance of the great Shah Ismail, the
founder of the Safawi dynasty, as the saviour of his country.” (Spec)
* * * * *
“It must be confessed that it is not easy reading. He could hardly
expect it to be a popular piece of literature. But what a glorious
feast it provides! He has indeed performed a great and needed work in
interpreting this fine people to modern readers.” N. H. D.
+ − =Boston Transcript= p6 N 20 ’20 780w
“Takes its place by the side of the two earlier volumes as a
masterpiece of sound scholarship and critical judgment.” A. V. W.
Jackson
+ =Nation= 111:508 N 3 ’20 560w
“The volume, in short, is worthy of its distinguished author, and
sheds a flood of light on an epoch with which even experts are
unfamiliar.”
+ =Sat R= 130:359 O 30 ’20 720w
“His treatment of the subject is so direct and so clear that the
general reader would never suspect that the ground traversed is mostly
new ground, and that the sources both for the history and for the
literature are for the most part contained in unpublished
manuscripts.”
+ =Spec= 125:337 S 11 ’20 2300w
=BROWNE, ROBERT T.= Mystery of space. *$4 Dutton 114
19–18843
“It is Mr Browne’s belief that mankind has entered upon a new era in
the development of intellect and that new powers of perception and
understanding are unfolding in the most advanced members of the race.
‘The intellect’, he says, ‘has but one true divining rod, and that is
mathematics,’ and he brings forward his mathematical evidence to prove
his contention. He discusses also the genesis and nature of space,
devotes a chapter to an exposition of the fourth dimension, another to
discussion of non-Euclidian geometry and traces the growth of the
notion of hyperspace.”—Springf’d Republican
* * * * *
=Brooklyn= 12:112 Ap ’20 30w
“The greatest of all latter-day books on space. It is written by a
mathematician, a mystic and a thinker, one who, endowed with a
tremendous metaphysical imagination, never lets go any point of the
threads of reality. Lucid and logical, with a pen that never falters,
Mr Browne advances steadily from page to page upon the fortresses of
science.” B: de Casseres
+ =N Y Times= 25:119 Mr 14 20 1700w
“It is excessively irritating that writers on this subject either
choose or are forced to employ a vocabulary and a style which are
repellent to the reader, and to mix the significant and insignificant
into an almost inextricable tangle. Careful and prolonged searching
brings forth the fact that Mr Browne has a definite and interesting
thesis.” L: T. More
+ − =Review= 2:133 F 7 ’20 950w
=Springf’d Republican= p8 D 20 ’19 100w
“As offering to the reader very intelligible and significant, not to
say impressive intimations and conceptions of that larger universe in
which we live and move and have our being, and of which we are hardly
aware, ‘The mystery of space’ presents an admirable idea, in its clear
and well-considered resumé of facts.” Lilian Whiting
+ =Springf’d Republican= p11a Mr 28 ’20 1150w
=BROWNRIGG, SIR DOUGLAS EGREMONT ROBERT.= Indiscretions of the naval
censor. il *$2.50 (4c) Doran 940.45
20–7998
The author was chief censor at the British admiralty during the war.
He writes of: The establishment of the naval censorship; How the news
came of the battles of Coronel and the Falkland islands; Problems of
publicity and propaganda; The battle of Jutland; The death of Lord
Kitchener; Educating the public; Co-operation with other departments;
Zeebrugge and the censorship; Authors, publishers and some others;
Press men of allied countries; Visitors to the Grand fleet; Artists
and the naval war; Censoring naval letters; Wireless and war news;
Odds and ends; A censor’s “holidays”; Last days of the censorship. The
illustrations are grouped at the end and there is an index.
* * * * *
“Admiral Brownrigg has many amusing stories to tell as well as many
momentous topics to discuss.”
+ =Ath= p226 F 13 ’20 80w
=Booklist= 16:340 Jl ’20
+ =Dial= 69:212 Ag ’20 50w
+ =Ind= 103:185 Ag 14 ’20 40w
“Anyone who expects Sir Douglas Brownrigg’s ‘Indiscretions of the
naval censor’ to be indiscreet will be disappointed. Where the Admiral
does become interesting is in his intimate account of life at that
ramshackle building known as the British admiralty.”
+ − =Nation= 111:51 Jl 10 ’20 260w
“The grave question of the proper relation to be observed in time of
war between the truth, the state, the public, and the press scarcely
obtrudes its chilly presence into the warm stream of anecdote which
courses through these pages.”
+ − =Nation [London]= 26:868 Mr 20 ’20 1100w
“The book is breezily written and as entertaining as it is genuinely
informative.”
+ =Review= 3:322 O 13 ’20 440w
+ =R Of Rs= 61:670 Je ’20 100w
“Admiral Brownrigg has command of a straightforward, telling style.
His book is full of humour, good spirits, and the kind of information
which only he is in a position to impart.”
+ =Sat R= 129:334 Ap 3 ’20 1150w
=Spec= 124:181 F 7 ’20 300w
=Yale R= n s 10:437 Ja ’21 220w
=BRUNNER, MRS ETHEL (HOUSTON).= Celia and her friends. *$1.25 Macmillan
“Seven short sketches of London society fill 150 small pages of ‘Celia
and her friends’ in which Ethel Brunner presents a bright and
benevolent heiress, attended most of the time by a clever bachelor,
who fain would change his state and hers, and assisted in the various
chapters by a supporting cast of more or less merit.”—Springf’d
Republican
* * * * *
=Dial= 68:804 Je ’20 50w
“As a picture of one phase of idle London life, there may be some
interest, but it has been so much better done by other writers that it
fails to impress one.”
− + =N Y Times= 25:148 Mr 28 ’20 280w
+ =Outlook= 124:431 Mr 10 ’20 70w
“The dialog is full of repartee not overdone. The book isn’t meant to
be deep; whimsical, frivolous, entertaining, would describe it
better.”
+ − =Springf’d Republican= p12 My 21 ’20 140w
=BRUNNER, MRS ETHEL (HOUSTON).= Celia once again. *$1.80 Macmillan
(Eng ed 20–5894)
“‘Celia once again’ is a collection of nine short stories—perhaps
episodes is the better term, as there is no pretense of a fictional
plot in any of them; they all relate to Celia and her interesting
friends. According to Peter—Celia’s husband—she was ‘dangerously quick
in making friends,’ she was anxious to make every penny she could for
charity, and when she stationed herself in Piccadilly with her flag
tray and a bundle of tickets for a picture to be raffled for, ‘Love’s
awakening,’ it was small matter for wonder that her handsome face and
becoming costume won for her a gratifying success. But her
philanthropic effort was not without adventures; these the author
recounts.”—N Y Times
* * * * *
“The dialogue is often witty and every chapter sparkles with comment
and whimsical philosophizing on people and affairs.”
+ =N Y Times= 25:160 Ap 4 ’20 380w
=BRYANT, MRS ALICE ELISABETH (CRANDELL)=, ed. Treasury of hero tales.
(Treasury ser. for children) il *$1 (3½c) Crowell 398.2
20–15175
The stories retold for children in this volume are The Gorgon’s head;
The apples of youth; The story of Siegfried; The coming of Sir
Galahad; Rinaldo and Bayard; White-headed Zal; Beowulf and Grendel;
How Cuchulain got his name; How Robin Hood met Little John.
* * * * *
Reviewed by Hildegarde Hawthorne
+ =N Y Times= p8 D 19 ’20 50w
=BRYANT, MRS SOPHIE (WILLOCK).= Moral and religious education. (Modern
educator’s lib.) *$1.90 (*6s) Longmans 377
(Eng ed E20–537)
“Some advocates of moral training in the schools believe that morality
can best be taught through the development of religious faith and by
direct appeal to self-respect, reason, sympathy, and common-sense. A
book advocating this idea has just appeared. It deals with such
general topics as self-liberation and self-realization, the moral
ideal, the religious ideal, and the reasoned presentment of religious
truth. A chapter is devoted to each of these topics.” (School R) “In
the second division of the volume a large number of attractive
examples are given of model lessons on moral topics. There are reviews
of the lives and doings of great men and a concrete setting forth of
social and personal virtues. The last part of the book attempts to
furnish concrete material for religious instruction. The character of
this fourth division of the book can be well illustrated by citing the
general title of the section and the titles of certain of the
chapters. The general title is The reasoned presentment of religious
truths. Under this heading there are chapters on The young student’s
need of a reasoned doctrine, God and the world, Man and his destiny,
etc.” (El School J)
* * * * *
“The book is an interesting and typical contribution to the field of
endeavor which is at the present time commanding large attention in
American institutions. It will undoubtedly be made use of as a
reference book by teachers in the field of moral and religious
education.”
+ =El School J= 20:716 My ’20 260w
“Generally speaking, the discussion is theoretical and abstract. In
but a few cases does it touch problems of everyday life. For the
American teacher, it seems to have little of value.”
− + =School R= 28:478 Je ’20 150w
=BRYAS, MADELEINE DE, comtesse, and BRYAS, JACQUELINE DE.= Frenchwoman’s
impressions of America. il *$1.75 Century 917.3
20–9734
The comtesse and her sister came to America in 1918 on a lecture tour
to speak in behalf of devastated France. While here their services
were also enlisted to help in the third Liberty loan drive. They
traveled from coast to coast in this double capacity and have here
jointly recorded their experiences in characteristically vivacious
French style. The book has an introduction by André Tardieu and the
contents are: Paris bombarded; No submarines; New York “en guerre”;
“Dry” Washington; American hospitality; Speaking for the third Liberty
loan; Experiences in factories; Over the top; American generosity;
Touring for devastated France; On a mission for the American
government; “Proper” America; In the Middle West; St Louis; Our
reception at Camp Dodge; No Indians and no cowboys; A dip in Saltair
with Mormons; The Pacific coast; San Francisco; Puget Sound; Vers la
France.
* * * * *
+ =Booklist= 17:26 O ’20
=Freeman= 1:358 Je 23 ’20 300w
+ =Lit D= p105 S 18 ’20 1050w
“Their book is vivacious, sprightly, entertaining, incisive, shrewd,
full of wit and humor, especially when the authors tell us about
things which struck them as being particularly American.”
+ =Outlook= 125:542 Jl 21 ’20 110w
+ =Springf’d Republican= p6 Ag 19 ’20 370w
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 16:122 Je ’20 60w
=BRYCE, JAMES BRYCE, viscount.=[2] World history. (British academy.
Annual Raleigh lecture, 1919) pa *90c Oxford 901
20–15226
“Lord Acton chose the idea of liberty as the central line around which
to write a world history. In the present lecture Lord Bryce suggests
another and perhaps more profitable clue—the notion of the gradual
unification of mankind. This process he briefly traces through the
centuries of history, showing how language, conquest, trade, religion
and thought have helped to draw together the scattered tribes of
primitive humanity into large groups. This process of convergence has,
however, been accompanied by a process of divergence, for while
individuals have been drawn into groups, the groups have tended to
become profoundly separated. Lord Bryce concludes his lecture by a
speculative prophecy of the future.”—Ath
* * * * *
=Ath= p355 Mr 12 ’20 110w
+ =Nation= 111:251 Ag 28 ’20 450w
=BRYHER, WINIFRED.= Development; a novel; preface by Amy Lowell. *$2
Macmillan
“‘Development’ is an essay in autobiography, a note-book rather than a
novel, the fragmentary jottings of a child’s emotions, a child
entirely centred on self and in her recollections deliberately
isolating herself from other minds.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) “The
record takes its subject from early childhood, beginning at four years
old, through much travel around the Mediterranean, with sensuous
absorption of the ‘warm South’; into two years of bleak school life,
and a succeeding period of vague seeking after an undefined something
that shall be life.” (N Y Evening Post)
* * * * *
“This book is described as a novel; we should prefer to call it a
warning.” K. M.
− =Ath= p144 Jl 30 ’20 840w
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
+ =Bookm= 52:341 Ja ’21 480w
“There is to be another volume called ‘Adventure,’ to follow this one
of ‘Development.’ At least it seems quite certain that those of us who
have experienced the spell of Nancy’s early days will not be likely to
neglect the later volume.” D. L. M.
+ =Boston Transcript= p5 N 20 ’20 1200w
=Nation= 112:188 F 2 ’21 780w
“The chief complaint leveled against Miss Richardson’s sequence is
that Miriam Henderson, however faithfully rendered, is not worth
writing about. This cannot be said of Nancy. Inarticulate as she is,
here is a personality of complicated power.” C. M. Rourke
+ =New Repub= 25:270 Ja 26 ’21 950w
“It is patently sincere, and the author has an unusual feeling for
words, a highly developed color sense, and intensity of feeling. But
even here she is hunting not for the inevitable, right word but for
the bizarre, the surprising. Nevertheless, the result is often
felicitous and is saved from becoming burlesque, though sometimes by a
narrow margin.” H. L. Pangborn
+ − =N Y Evening Post= p8 Ja 15 ’21 580w
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
=Review= 3:561 D 8 ’20 250w
“It has the value that truth and sincerity always give, but as a piece
of literature it has more promise than achievement. Out of her
experience and toil will some day come a notable, perhaps even a
memorable book, but we cannot close the present review without a
warning against the danger of too close a pre-occupation with the
analysis of one’s own emotions. Breadth, stability, and intellectual
strength are not to be found in this book; they can be gained only by
the assiduous study of the external world.”
+ − =Sat R= 130:79 Jl 24 ’20 380w
+ =Spec= 125:781 D 11 ’20 460w
“The evident truth of much of what Miss Bryher tells us about Nancy
does not save a good deal of ‘Development’ from being simply dull.
These experiences set down in this way, are no more than the raw
material for art, to be turned into something coherent and beautiful
when a maturer experience can use them, when egotism has been touched
with a tolerant humour, and people have ceased to be ‘baffling.’ They
are notes on the artistic mind before it has left the stage of the
grub, and grubs are never very pleasant.”
− + =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p401 Je 24 ’20 640w
=BUCK, ALBERT HENRY.= Dawn of modern medicine. il *$7 Yale univ. press
610.9
20–15528
“‘The dawn of modern medicine’ gives a concise review of the progress
of medical science from the early part of the eighteenth century until
about 1860. Among the contents are a discussion of medicine in Germany
and other European countries during the eighteenth century, brief
biographical sketches of a number of physicians and surgeons who were
leaders then, and a somewhat detailed description of workers in
special departments of medicine and surgery. Several chapters deal
with important European hospitals of that time and other organizations
for the teaching of medicine.”—Springf’d Republican
* * * * *
=Booklist= 17:56 N ’20
“Dr Buck is to be congratulated on his study of the history of
medicine in the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth centuries. As a
biographical study of the leaders of medicine the book is all too
sketchy; in fact, many of these histories have been culled from
standard medical histories.” E. P. Boas
+ − =Freeman= 2:283 D 1 ’20 1050w
“A loose and disorderly arrangement greatly lessens the usefulness of
this stately volume. It confuses men of the highest importance and men
of no importance at all. It presents a chaotic and unintelligible
picture of the progress of the medical sciences during the period
under review.” H. L. Mencken
− + =Nation= 112:87 Ja 19 ’21 700w
“The work is of interest as an addition to general medical literature
and because of the manner of treatment it will prove interesting and
profitable to the ordinary reader.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p9a O 31 ’20 210w
=Survey= 45:27 O 2 ’20 130w
=BUCK, CHARLES NEVILLE.= Tempering. il *1.75 (1c) Doubleday
20–5772
A story of the Kentucky mountains spanning the years between the
feud-ridden period of the late nineteenth century and the world war.
One of Boone Wellver’s kinsmen is convicted for the murder of Goebel,
the democratic nominee for governor, and young Boone swears vengeance
to the death on the man whose false testimony convicted him. But Boone
has already come under the influence of Victor McCalloway, a
professional soldier, and McCalloway persuades him to wait till he is
twenty-one. Boone is sent to school, falls in love with Anne Masters,
learns a new code of manners and morals, but once comes dangerously
near a return to his old gods and to keeping his old vow. He goes into
politics and when the war comes enlists. He meets Anne, from whom he
had been separated, and there is promise of happiness after the war.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:311 Je ’20
“It is a compliment to Mr Buck’s literary skill that he makes mighty
interesting reading of the story of his hero’s symbolical struggle.
‘The tempering’ will not suffer by comparison with any of John Fox’s
novels of similar locale.”
+ =N Y Times= 25:28 Jl 18 ’20 550w
=BUCK, HOWARD SWAZEY.= Tempering. *$1 Yale univ. press 811
20–1675
This is the first volume in the Yale series of younger poets. This
series “is designed to afford a publishing medium for the work of
young men and women who have not yet secured a wide public
recognition. It will include only such verse as seems to give the
fairest promise for the future of American poetry.” Twelve of the war
poems printed as part two were in 1918 awarded the annual prize in
poetry offered at Yale university. Other poems are reprinted from the
Nation, Contemporary Verse, Poetry Journal, Poetry, the Masses, and
the Yale Literary Magazine.
* * * * *
+ =Boston Transcript= p4 My 5 ’20 450w
“A first book of verse wherein jubilant youthfulness, unwearied even
in the poems of war experience, marches to gay pipes with a sweeping
stride and an idealism unappalled.”
+ =Dial= 68:667 My ’20 30w
“There is such real artistic restraint and such moving sincerity in
most of the battle and exile pieces that it is a pity that the poem of
the return should border on vulgarity. Mr Buck has obviously not yet
quite found himself, but he certainly has the stuff of real poetry in
him.”
+ − =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p427 Jl 1 ’20 150w
=BUCK, SOLON JUSTUS.= Agrarian crusade: a chronicle of the farmer in
politics. (Chronicles of America) il subs per ser of 50v *$250 Yale
univ. press 329
20–4901
“The farmer in American politics is the theme treated by Mr Solon J.
Buck in ‘The agrarian crusade,’ in which are related the rise and fall
of the so-called Granger movement in the West, the greenback
propaganda, the Farmers’ alliance, the organization of the Populist
party and its surprising success in 1892, the silver issue, and more
recently the growth of the Nonpartisan party in North Dakota and other
states.”—R of Rs
* * * * *
Reviewed by E. P. Oberholtzer
=Am Hist R= 26:147 O ’20 600w
“It is obviously a hurried piece of work, well enough written, but
with a tendency to triteness and wordiness.”
+ − =Cath World= 112:390 D ’20 500w
+ =N Y Times= p16 O 31 ’20 130w
=R of Rs= 62:110 Jl ’20 70w
=St Louis= 18:106 Je ’20 20w
=BUCKLE, GEORGE EARLE.= Life of Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield.
v 5–6 il ea *$6 Macmillan
The author of these two volumes is Monypenny’s successor. The work was
extended in order to treat more fully of Disraeli’s management of the
eastern question, the most outstanding feature of his administration.
This was made possible, says the author, by the Russian revolution.
“There can be now no reasons of international delicacy to prevent a
full disclosure of Disraeli’s eastern policy.” Contents of volume 5:
The Irish church, 1868; Defeat and resignation, 1868; Reserve in
opposition, 1868–1871; Lothair, 1869–1870; The turn of the tide,
1872–1873; Bereavement, 1872–1873; Lady Bradford and Lady
Chesterfield, 1873–1875; Power, 1874; Political success and physical
failure, 1874; Social reform, 1874–1875; An imperial foreign policy,
1874–1875; Suez canal and royal title, 1875–1876; From the Commons to
the Lords, 1876–1877; Appendix—an unfinished novel. Contents of volume
6: Reopening of the eastern question, 1875–1876; The Bulgarian
atrocities, 1876; The Constantinople conference, 1876–1877; War and
cabinet dissension, 1877; Conditional neutrality, 1877; Derby’s first
resignation, 1877–1878; Final parting with Derby, 1878; Agreements
with Russia and Turkey, 1878; The Congress of Berlin, 1878; The Afghan
war, 1878; The Zulu war, 1879; Beaconsfield and the queen, 1874–1880;
Last months of the government, 1879–1880; Dissolution and defeat,
1880; Endymion, 1880; The last year, 1880–1881; The man and his fame;
Index to the six volumes.
* * * * *
+ =Ath= p72 Jl 16 ’20 2000w
+ =Booklist= 17:112 D ’20
“The record is as revealing as anything in range of British
biography.”
+ =Lit D= p90 N 20 ’20 1600w
“For, with all respect to the preceding volumes of this monumental
biography, none of them, nor all of them together, compare in
interest, in the present reviewer’s opinion, with these two. It may be
said at the outset that Mr Buckle has done his work well. His
narrative is full and free and flowing. It has a nice proportion
between his own words and those of his hero, an entertaining
alternation between the life and the letters—and not too much of the
speeches—of his subject; an agreeable and readable style; a pleasing
touch of humour; a sufficiency of anecdote and allusion. It is, in
brief, an excellent piece of biographical writing.” W. C. Abbott
+ =N Y Evening Post= p5 S 18 ’20 2000w
“If nothing is set down in malice, nothing is withheld through a
mistaken sense of loyalty. Disraeli is painted in this full length
portrait as he was. His faults and follies are revealed, as well as
his amiable and outstanding ability.” Rollo Ogden
+ =N Y Times= p5 S 19 ’20 1900w
“This biography, too large for most American readers, will
nevertheless be a necessity in every library, public or private, which
aims to possess in completeness any dealing with the history of Europe
during the nineteenth century.”
+ =Outlook= 126:202 S 29 ’20 180w
“Undoubtedly one of the most important compilations for the student of
nineteenth century English history.”
+ =Pratt= p31 O ’20 30w
Reviewed by R. R. Bowker
+ =Pub W= 98:1883 D 18 ’20 330w
“Mr Buckle’s work will stand comparison with Lord Morley’s ‘Life of
Gladstone,’ and that is the greatest possible praise.” Lindsay Rogers
+ =Review= 3:293 O 6 ’20 2300w
=R of Rs= 62:446 O ’20 150w
“Mr Buckle has concluded his task, and produced one of the greatest
political biographies in the language. For the general reader the work
is, of course, too long; and even the student of history might have
dispensed with some of the letters and some of the extracts from
speeches, which nearly always weary.”
+ − =Sat R= 129:562 Je 19 ’20 1200w
+ =Sat R= 129:587 Je 26 ’20 1750w
“Mr Buckle’s detailed narrative of Disraeli’s handling of the eastern
question between 1876 and 1878, which is of course the main feature of
his closing volumes, is full of interest and instruction for the
present generation. Disraeli’s letters abound in good things, access
to which is facilitated by an excellent index.”
+ =Spec= 124:829 Je 19 ’20 1850w
“On the whole, everybody who is not an extreme partisan will recognize
the honesty, the lucidity and ability with which Mr Buckle has stated
his case.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p373 Je 17 ’20 7000w
=BUCKROSE, J. E., pseud. (MRS ANNIE EDITH [FOSTER] JAMESON).= Young
hearts. *$1.90 (1c) Doran
20–11074
Mr Thompson’s moving away from Wressle came as the direct result of
his being dropped from the Urban District Council. Shorn of the
privileges of public life, he felt that he couldn’t carry on as of
yore, and so decided to take up farming in real earnest. He therefore
bought a farm in Muckleby and moved his faintly protesting wife and
daughters there. Once settled in the little village, he felt that he
should use his influence for good, and so undertook to destroy old
superstitions and to revive old country customs which were falling
into disuse. His schemes for carrying these purposes out are the
foundation of the story, although the romances of his daughters Helen
and Maude have a large share in it as well.
* * * * *
“Leisurely, will not be as well liked as some of her others.”
+ − =Booklist= 17:33 O ’20
“As usual with this author, her quiet manner covers and sustains a
warm human interest; the environment is graphically pictured; the
characters are drawn with an assured, vitalizing touch. That of the
father, an unconscious egoist, is somewhat unduly elaborated,
introducing matter that is superfluous, almost extraneous; and there
is also an unwonted paucity of what Mrs Buckrose has taught us to
expect eagerly, her unique, delightful humor.”
+ − =Cath World= 112:268 N ’20 130w
“Mildly, almost tepidly humorous in its pictures of English country
life. The lady who writes under the name of J. E. Buckrose has given
us better stories.”
+ − =Outlook= 126:67 S 8 ’20 50w
=BUDISH, JACOB M., and SOULE, GEORGE HENRY.= New unionism in the
clothing industry. *$3 (4½c) Harcourt 331.87
20–15160
In defining their term “new unionism” the authors give a brief account
of the changes that have taken place in unionism both in England and
America from as far back as the “one big union” agitation in England
in 1830 and point out that the present significant distinction between
unions is between those “which are unconscious that their efforts tend
toward a new social order and so adapt their strategy to the immediate
situation” and those “which are conscious of their desire for a new
order, and so base their strategy on more fundamental considerations.”
The latter type is best exemplified by the unions of the clothing
workers of America which in their breadth of sympathy and vision,
their new ideal and new hope throw light both on the aspirations of
British labor and on the present flux and unrest in the American labor
movement. The book is an account of the struggles and the rise of the
unions in the clothing industry. Contents: The new unionism; The
clothing industry; The human element; The unions—their beginnings and
growth; Decisive victories; Collective agreements; Philosophy,
structure, and strategy; Education; Labor press and cooperatives;
Textiles; The future; Bibliography, appendix and index.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 17:50 N ’20
“Although the authors have no doubt tried to be impartial, the book is
clearly the product of partisans rather than the work of unbiased
observers. No mention is made of any of the short-comings of the newer
unions, nor are the difficulties and perplexities of the employer in
his contact with them dealt with (except in connection with seasonal
idleness). The book is, however, an excellent one; the authors have a
thorough knowledge of their subject and a broad outlook over the
industrial problem.” A. M. Bing
+ − =Survey= 45:23 O 2 ’20 1200w
“Should find a place in the public library of every city with an
industrial population as it undoubtedly points the way which union
developments will take in the future.”
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 16:232 D ’20 80w
=BUELL, RAYMOND LESLIE.= Contemporary French politics. *$3.50 Appleton
944.08
20–20938
The author calls attention to three sterling qualities in the French
people which, in the elections of November 1919, steered them,
contrary to the predictions of the “storm prophets,” clear of
Bolshevism and the extreme socialist left. These qualities are: their
attachment to property, their respect for authority, and their civic
spirit. In the light of these he interprets the present political
situation. The book has an introduction by Professor Carlton J. H.
Hayes and the contents are: Party philosophies; Parties and
parliament; The “Bloc” and the sacred union; Party realignments; Woman
suffrage and the “R. P.”; The 1919 elections; The demand for a new
constitution; Syndicalism: program and tactics; The press and the
censorship; The bureaucracy and state socialism; A government by
interests and experts; Regionalism; What the French peace terms might
have been; The French conception of a league of nations; What France
thought of American “idealism”; Appendices; Index.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 17:148 Ja ’21
“Mr Buell’s book affords the beginning of sound knowledge concerning
France because it treats of the larger—that is, the political—aspects
of French life with some approach to completeness and without the
sentiment that blurs outlines.”
+ =No Am= 213:282 F ’21 950w
=BULLARD, ARTHUR (ALBERT EDWARDS, pseud.).= Russian pendulum:
autocracy—democracy—bolshevism. il *$2 Macmillan 947
19–15627
For descriptive note see Annual for 1919.
* * * * *
“Though the material is not well organized and the observations not
very profound, yet ‘The Russian pendulum’ is one of the very few good
books in English on present day Russia.” F. A. Golder
+ − =Am Pol Sci R= 14:356 My ’20 500w
“His suggestions for allied policy in the future are vague, but his
detailed account of actual happenings in Russia makes this a very
informative book.”
+ =Booklist= 16:236 Ap ’20
Reviewed by Harold Kellock
=Freeman= 1:620 S 8 ’20 300w
“He shows himself well disposed, sympathetic, and fair-minded in every
way. But he is not remarkable for the amount of his novel information
or for comprehension of the forces at work, nor is he very clear-cut
in his view of the means by which the desired readjustment is to be
brought about. His best chapter is a survey of the mistakes of allied
diplomacy in Russia. To his statement of remedies as well as to his
other judgments, Mr Bullard is led more by his wishes than the facts.”
+ − =Nation= 110:268 F 28 ’20 420w
“In his own recommendations Mr Bullard is modest; he realizes that the
problem is too dynamic for any program hard and fast in its details.
But, for all that, Mr Bullard is hazy.” C. M.
+ − =New Repub= 21:361 F 18 ’20 1950w
“Much of it is valuable first-hand material for the student, and some
of it, alas, can not be considered as entirely accurate or unbiased.
Quite the most valuable feature of the volume is his opening chapter
devoted to Lenin. The Siberian part is unworthy of the writer and
appears to have been done under pressure to pad out an otherwise
admirable book, a pressure which is also indicated by the faulty
transliteration of Russian names.”
+ − =Review= 2:207 F 28 ’20 550w
=R of Rs= 61:107 Ja ’20 80w
“‘The Russian pendulum’ does not reveal any understanding of the
forces back of the great change in Russia.” Alexander Trachtenberg
− =Socialist R= 8:250 Mr ’20 620w
=Springf’d Republican= p8 D 27 ’19 100w
“This is unquestionably one of the ablest books yet written dealing
with revolutionary Russia. Not only in his comment on events, but in
his treatment of the more fundamental aspects of the situation, he
has, with vigorous and imaginative word, written a highly illuminating
book.” Reed Lewis
+ =Survey= 44:47 Ap 3 ’20 580w
=BULLARD, ARTHUR (ALBERT EDWARDS, pseud.).= Stranger. *$2 (2c) Macmillan
20–7920
The story takes the reader into an intellectual circle of lower New
York, among social workers, literati and artists—America’s aspirations
at their best. Into this circle is injected a Moslem—son of an
American missionary couple in Turkey—born and brought up there, a
convinced Mohammedan. This leads to comparisons between eastern and
western life and religion, not always flattering to our western
civilization. Some flaws are detected in the proud and secure
foundations of our science and “efficiency.” The finest exponent of
the latter and of feminism, Helen Cash, meets her Waterloo in the calm
questioning eyes of this stranger. Frank Lockwood, the artist, sees in
him the savior of his soul, and to Eunice Bender, the sick girl, he
opens up heaven before she dies, through the spirituality of his love.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:346 Jl ’20
“We do not often happen upon so very good a story as this one, from
every point of view.” D. L. M.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 14 ’20 1000w
+ =Cleveland= p83 S ’20 70w
“In brief, one feels that Mr Bullard, in attempting to be realistic,
has achieved only a faithful narrative, based on ideas about which, on
the whole, no one would wish to dispute.” L. M. R.
− + =Freeman= 3:286 D 1 ’20 160w
“As a character and a sympathetic intermediary between East and West,
Mr Bullard’s ‘Stranger’ is picturesque and charming; as a guide and
philosopher he is amiably sentimental and futile.” Ludwig Lewisohn
+ − =Nation= 110:828 Je 19 ’20 320w
“As Mr Bullard has avoided the rocks of mere Menckenesque satire, so
has he steered clear of the equally dangerous shallow pools of
sentimentalism. He has not achieved a great book—there are few such in
the world—but he has penetrated pretty nearly to the core of some of
the counterfeits that time will break. His story is interesting,
thoughtful, reasoned, suggestive.” S. C. C.
+ =New Repub= 24:25 S 1 ’20 1000w
“It is an idyll of a rare degree of loveliness, delicate as a flower,
but without, one feels quite sure, a flower’s evanescence. Unusual and
striking in conception, the book is no less unusual and striking in
execution. A really worth-while novel, one which appeals both to the
reader’s brains and to his emotions, is this.”
+ =N Y Times= 25:279 My 30 ’20 1000w
“Both in its originality as to treatment and balance between character
interest and suggestion of thought the novel is of substantial value.”
+ =Outlook= 125:507 Jl 14 ’20 70w
Reviewed by H. W. Boynton
=Review= 3:349 O 20 ’20 600w
“Altogether the special pleading of the book in favour of Morocco
versus America should not be too readily believed in by the
intelligent reader.”
− =Spec= 125:820 D 18 ’20 50w
“‘The stranger’ is a very appealing and unusual novel in the delicacy
and vividness of its portraiture.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p8 N 30 ’20 580w
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p670 O 14 ’20 120w
=BULLER, ARTHUR HENRY REGINALD.= Essays on wheat. il *$2.50 Macmillan
633.1
20–838
“The book contains chapters on: The early history of wheat-growing in
Manitoba; Wheat in western Canada; The origin of Red Bobs and
Kitchener; The wild wheat of Palestine. But the most important part of
the book is the chapter on The discovery and introduction of Marquis
wheat, perhaps the most productive variety of wheat in North America.
The style is non-technical.” (Booklist) “The author is professor of
botany in the University of Manitoba.” (Brooklyn)
* * * * *
“The book should appeal not only to the student of economic history,
and to botanists, but to the general reader who may wish to learn
something of the great cereal crops of North America.” I: Lippincott.
+ =Am Econ R= 10:815 D ’20 450w
=Booklist= 16:225 Ap ’20
=Brooklyn= 12:99 Mr ’20 40w
“Prof. Buller’s ‘Essays on wheat’ are among the most interesting
things we have seen for a long time. He is singularly fortunate in his
subject, and he tells his story remarkably well, giving the wealth of
detail, the figures, and the references needed by the man of science,
without sacrificing interest or literary form.” E. J. Russell
+ =Nature= 105:224 Ap 22 ’20 1000w
+ =Spec= 124:870 Je 26 ’20 450w
“The volume is an excellent and timely addition to works dealing with
the resources of North America.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p9a Ag 15 ’20 260w
=BULLOCK, EDNA DEAN=, comp. Selected articles on the employment of
women. (Debaters’ handbook ser.) *$1.25 Wilson, H. W. 331.4
20–4722
A second edition of this handbook, first published in 1911, has been
prepared by Julia E. Johnsen. New material has been included covering
“the new outlook on the employment of women the rapidly changing
phases growing out of women’s large part in war work, the larger
opportunities, new and fairer standards of protective legislation,”
and the bibliography has been revised and brought down to date.
* * * * *
=Ann Am Acad= 90:172 Jl ’20 20w
“Valuable in presenting the subject from many angles.”
+ =Booklist= 16:286 My ’20
“Although the articles selected are interesting, well arranged and
yield their significance easily to the lay student, they do not give
the solid basis of fact which debaters ought to have. They dwell,
however, on the most important questions for women workers.” E. K.
Wells
+ − =Survey= 45:168 O 30 ’20 260w
=BULMAN, HARRISON FRANCIS.= Coal mining and the coal miner. il *$6
Macmillan 622.3
(Eng ed 20–11528)
“A comprehensive survey of the whole industry as it existed in normal
times—the figures and statistics being confined for the most part to
the period before the war, ending with 1913—by an experienced colliery
manager and director of colliery companies. The book was written
before the Coal commission, and Mr Bulman hopes that the normal
picture he draws ‘may serve as a useful corrective to some erroneous
ideas which have arisen from its proceedings.’ A chapter of
seventy-nine pages very fully illustrated with plans and photographs
is devoted to ‘Miners’ houses.’”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
* * * * *
+ =Ath= p384 Mr 19 ’20 50w
“We cannot say that his book is attractive in form or style, but it is
at any rate an honest book and not misleading propaganda.”
+ − =Spec= 124:429 Mr 27 ’20 240w
“For those who are interested in the why of industrial troubles, this
book can serve as a means of showing the gaps in the thinking of
colliery managers and how they do not comprehend the incoherency of
the men who work.” Hugh Archibald
− =Survey= 45:167 O 30 ’20 620w
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p157 Mr 4 ’20 90w
“His dispassionate, detailed, documented, and illustrated statement of
facts is far more impressive and convincing than mere argument or
assertion.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p163 Mr 11 ’20 750w
=BULSTRODE, BEATRIX (MRS EDWARD MANICO GULL).= Tour in Mongolia. il *$5
(8½c) Stokes 915.1
What led this English lady, after an eighteen months’ stay in China,
to travel in Mongolia was “the fascination of the unknown, a deep love
of the picturesque and inherent desire to revert awhile to the
primitive.” Also Mongolia was an opportunity of meeting with
medievalism untouched. The trip took place in 1913 while Mongolia was
at war with China and the author’s account is particularly instructive
in her analysis of Mongol character. An introduction by David Fraser,
Times correspondent in Peking, explains the political situation at the
time of the tour. The book is indexed and profusely illustrated.
* * * * *
“She can handle a pen to excellent effect.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p596 S 16 ’20 960w
=BUNAU-VARILLA, PHILIPPE.= Great adventure of Panama. *$1.75 Doubleday
986
20–5904
The object of the book is to show how the Panama canal enterprise was
hedged about by criminal conspiracies on the part of Germany, both
financially and politically, linking it intimately with the great war.
The author claims to expose the mysterious threads of “the
always-menacing ‘occult power of Germany’” which have long been
visible to himself alone. Among the contents are: The occult power of
Germany; The Boche conspiracy in Mexico (1861–63) preparing the
provocation of 1870; The Boche conspiracy in France, (1888–92), to
wreck the Panama canal, in order to create the depressed state of mind
necessary for the premeditated aggression; Various traces of Boche
intrigue in Bogota for defeating in 1903 the adoption of the Panama
canal by the United States, etc.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:298 Je ’20
“The trouble with M. Bunau-Varilla’s method of argument in seeking to
prove his contentions is that he considers a mere uncorroborated
statement quite sufficient to prove anything that he wishes to prove.”
T: R. Ybarra
− + =N Y Times= 25:158 Ap 4 ’20 1100w
“There is perhaps more rhetoric than evidence in certain parts of this
narrative; yet it would not be surprising if evidence as yet uncovered
should sometime confirm nearly all of the author’s opinions. Few fact
stories, it may be said, tell so clearly as does this of M.
Bunau-Varilla’s just how things were done and what motives actuated
the doers.”
+ − =No Am= 212:285 Ag ’20 900w
=Outlook= 126:768 D 29 ’20 300w
“It is not lightly to be dismissed because of the ebullient egotism
with which it is written. The testimony of the chief actor in the
drama is worth listening to.”
+ − =Review= 3:649 D 29 ’20 1000w
=BUNKER, JOHN JOSEPH LEO.= Shining fields and dark towers. *$1.25 Lane
811
19–15769
This is the first volume of a poet from the Middle West who looks down
from philosophic heights upon the din of battle, of traffic and
travail with a sweet and mellow wisdom and an encompassing faith in a
divine love. The contents in part are: Earth-music; The flute-player;
To harsh judgment thinking itself wisdom; The splendid stranger; New
York sketches; Ballade of faces fair; Love’s intendment; The great
refusal; Quest and haven.
* * * * *
“Though the section entitled ‘New York sketches,’ and the study called
‘Complainte d’amour,’ contain some of the cleverest and most
interesting vers libre that the present reviewer has ever seen, Mr
Bunker is no disciple of the new school. He is essentially in the
great tradition, and it is in the familiar forms, the recognized types
of English verse, that he does his most ample and satisfying work.” H:
A. Lappin
+ =Bookm= 50:373 N ’19 850w
“Not always with the same perfection of expression does he sing, but
at the same time never does he fail to give, whatever the mood or
theme may be, a significance to it that comes from his spiritual
manner of approach and understanding. This peculiarly individual
quality is as apparent in the four poems of the ‘New York sketches’
with their realistic background and outlines, as in the ‘Quest and
haven,’ the memorial poem to Francis Thompson.” W. S. B.
+ =Boston Transcript= p11 F 7 ’20 1300w
“Mr Bunker has enjoyed and experimented with a wide range of poetry.
Not the less for this has he remained captain of his poetic soul. His
is a highly personal muse, tender and chastened, yet capable of
merriment, with the far vision of the pure in heart. Lyrics such as
‘Revolution,’ ‘To harsh judgment thinking itself wisdom,’ or, in more
playful vein, ‘Boons,’ are distinct additions to the sum of modern
poetry.”
+ =Cath World= 110:403 D ’19 350w
“Mr Bunker is direct, fluent, enthusiastic, and harmless, with good
impulses and ordinary vision.” M. V. D.
− + =Nation= 110:76 Ja 17 ’20 180w
“The book shows much promise, and nearly all of it has the real
singing quality, although now and then, as happens sometimes with even
the best of poets, either the author’s ear has failed him or his
command of the technique of poetical expression has not been up to the
mark. But these lapses are rare.”
+ − =N Y Times= 25:62 F 1 ’20 360w
“Some day if this writer keeps on and has a real experience in life,
he may become a poet. If all his work were as musical as the four
stanzas on ‘Twilight’ criticism of his work would even now have to be
modified.”
− + =Springf’d Republican= p13a Ja 25 ’20 260w
“Mr Bunker is said to be ‘a modern of the moderns,’ but we prefer him
in the more old-fashioned mood which inspires ‘Twilight’ and some of
the other pieces in his book.”
+ − =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p406 Je 24 ’20 180w
=BURGESS, THORNTON WALDO.= Burgess animal book for children. il *$3
(4½c) Little 590
20–21007
A companion volume to the Burgess bird book. In the story Peter Rabbit
goes to school to Mother Nature. He learns first about his own
cousins, the marsh rabbit, the arctic hare, and others, and then about
his friends the squirrels, and so on up through the animal kingdom to
the deer, elk, bears and other large mammals. “There has been no
attempt to describe or classify sub-species.... The purpose of this
book is to acquaint the reader with the larger groups—orders,
families, and divisions of the latter, so that typical representatives
may readily be recognized and their habits understood.” The pictures
are by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and there is an index.
* * * * *
“‘The Burgess animal book’ ought to be given to every child in America
as an introduction to the animal life of our continent. And there is
not one of those children who won’t like it and absorb an untold
amount of information from it.” Hildegarde Hawthorne
+ =N Y Times= p4 D 5 ’20 420w
+ =N Y Evening Post= p11 D 31 ’20 50w
“This book affords further evidence that Mr Burgess is doing a great
deal toward making the boys and girls of today a generation of
naturalists.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p72 N 21 ’20 170w
=BURGESS, WALTER H.= Pastor of the Pilgrims: a biography of John
Robinson. il *$4 Harcourt
20–20311
This study of the life and times of John Robinson is based on original
research. “Besides the identification of the early home and the
parentage of John Robinson, these pages throw a little fresh light
upon the Southworths and Carvers and others connected with the Pilgrim
Father movement. Gervase Neville is identified, and the anonymous
opponent of Robinson in one of his earliest controversies is named.
The history of the obscure church in the western part of England is
unfolded, and an attempt made to settle the vexed question of the
identity of John Smith.” (Foreword) A partial list of the contents is:
The birthplace and parentage of John Robinson; Religion in England in
the days of Elizabeth and James; Separation from the Church of
England—Robinson and Bernard—Gervase Neville—William Brewster;
Religious refugees at Amsterdam; The Pilgrims at Leyden; Robinson’s
plea for lay preaching; The sailing—Robinson’s letter of advice—Robert
Cushman’s letter—the “Mayflower’s” voyage; The influence of Robinson
on the thought and life of his age. There are illustrations,
appendices, a chronological table of the writings of John Robinson and
an index.
* * * * *
“The volume shows wide study of the whole literature of contemporary
separatism and of its opponents, and may be heartily commended not
only as a biography of the Pilgrim pastor, but as a most readable and
informing account of the separatist movement of his day not only for
the specialist but for the general reader.”
+ =Am Hist R= 26:338 Ja ’21 400w
+ =Outlook= 126:238 O 6 ’20 120w
“Here is brave stuff, no doubt; unhappily nothing organic or even
articulate has been made of it. With a little artistic sympathy, with
even a touch or two of the quality which marks a man of letters, he
might have made the portrait memorable.”
+ − =Review= 3:380 O 27 ’20 460w
“Taken as a whole, the volume is a good example of what can be
accomplished, well-directed historical scholarship applied to a
definite object.”
+ =R of Rs= 62:447 O ’20 100w
“We could wish that the biography was less interrupted by digressions
on side-issues, but Mr Burgess’s enthusiasm for his subject is wholly
commendable.”
+ − =Spec= 124:872 Je 26 ’20 220w
“It does not treat all phases of the separatist movement with equal
thoroughness. It is deficient at times in method and proportion. But
it is an earnest, honest work, in which, in spite of the author’s
sympathy with Robinson, and a desire to claim for him as large a
personal influence as possible little is written with any other object
than telling the truth. Its deductions are moderate.”
+ − =Springf’d Republican= p11a S 26 ’20 1400w
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p369 Je 10 ’20 90w
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p432 Jl 8 ’20 1150w
=BURGESS, WARREN RANDOLPH.= Trends of school costs. (Education
monographs) il $1 Russell Sage foundation 379
20–17519
“The study is based upon data included in the reports of the United
States Commissioner of education, and covers the period from 1870 to
1918. By means of the ‘line of trends’ the writer presents a striking
picture of the drift of annual expenditures for public education in
the United States during the period noted, comparing this with a
similar representation of the growth in pupil attendance. Noting the
fact that teachers’ salaries and new buildings absorb four-fifths of
all school expenditures for the year 1917–18, an analysis is made of
the trends of teachers’ salaries since 1840, the salaries of rural and
city teachers, both men and women, being considered separately.
Interesting comparisons of these with the lines representing the
trends of the cost of living and of the salaries of other workers are
presented. Likewise, the tendencies with reference to costs of
buildings are similarly shown. A special set of tables and graphs
indicates the trends of such costs during the period from 1915–20.
From the data presented the writer concludes that ‘to buy the same
amount of educational service in 1920 as in 1915 it will be necessary
to double the school budget.’ The closing chapter deals with the
sources of income for school support.”—School R
* * * * *
“Aside from the content, the method employed in the study will be of
interest to students of education.”
+ =El School J= 21:235 N ’20 250w
=N Y P L Munic Ref Lib Notes= 7:39 O 20 ’20 70w
=School R= 28:710 N ’20 680w
=BURKE, KATHLEEN.= Little heroes of France. il *$1.75 (4c) Doubleday
940.344
20–17608
Twelve stories of deeds of heroism performed by French children during
the war. The author was engaged in relief work and some of the
children she knew personally. “Others she knew because all France
loved and honored them. One of the stories, that of the Denisot
children, was found in the diary of a German soldier.” (Introd.)
Contents: André Lange and his wheelbarrow; Madeleine and André Daniau;
Denise Cartier; Robert Felix; Louise Haumont; Louis and Marcelle
Denisot; Baby Pierre; Gustave Daret; René Chautier; Etienne Chevrille;
Emile Depres; Henriette Maubert. The book is illustrated by Paul
Verrees and has an introduction by Alfred Holman.
* * * * *
“Heroic, really true and full of action these will prove stirring
tales and bring home the horrors of war to all boys and most girls.”
+ =Booklist= 17:121 D ’20
=Ind= 104:379 D 11 ’20 40w
“It is an incredibly stirring, beautiful little book, and it is one
that every generous child will love. It is not alone for children,
however.” Hildegarde Hawthorne
+ =N Y Times= p9 D 12 ’20 90w
=Springf’d Republican= p6 D 4 ’20 50w
=BURKE, THOMAS.=[2] Song book of Quong Lee of Limehouse. *$1.25 Holt 811
20–22856
A book of poems in free verse viewing life through the oriental eyes
of Quong Lee, shopkeeper in Limehouse, London’s Chinatown. Humor and
philosophy mingle in the poems. Titles are: Of buying and selling; A
nightpiece; Of a national cash register; Under a shining window; A
song of little girls; At the feast of lanterns; Of worship and
conduct.
* * * * *
“Occasionally a banality, but light and poignant sentiment in
abundance, with here and there a poem that sets vibrating the cords of
sensibility.”
+ − =Bookm= 52:551 F ’21 100w
“Mr Burke triumphs so splendidly in these verses, as he did in his
prose stories, that he deserves all the praise we can give him.” W: S.
Braithwaite
+ =Boston Transcript= p4 D 22 ’20 1450w
“These vers libre pieces of ‘song’ present the personality of
Chinatown, the quaint phrase and the cool temper with a reality which
grows more and more vivid as one reads them through.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p782 N 25 ’20 60w
=BURROUGHS, EDGAR RICE.= Tarzan the untamed. il *$1.90 McClurg
20–7515
“This new story tells what happened to Tarzan and his wife and the
home he had made in British East Africa when war broke out in 1914 and
a small detachment of black soldiers, commanded by German officers,
marched past his farm and on to German headquarters. Tarzan was
hurrying home from Nairobi, where he had heard of the outbreak of war
when this happened, and when he reaches his farm he finds a scene of
desolation, no one left alive upon his place. In grief and rage and
hate he casts off the veneer of civilization and becomes the ape-man
once more, while he ranges the country to find those who have killed
his mate and mete to them the justice of the jungle. He finds them,
but the result makes only the beginning of the story, which goes
swiftly on through many complications.”—N Y Times
* * * * *
“It runs on for some four hundred pages with no visible trace of
style, little or no atmosphere or local color, and about as slim a
foundation plot as has graced a novel for many a day.”
− =Boston Transcript= p4 S 4 ’20 300w
“The story shows the same qualities that have marked the previous
Tarzan stories—ingenuity and fertility of invention, combined with
those crude and garish features that make the success of a popular
moving picture play.”
+ − =N Y Times= 25:302 Je 6 ’20 430w
“Will doubtless thrill the crowd which loves the cinematograph, and
cares nothing for common-sense, or coherence, compared with violent
sensation and frequent killing.”
− =Sat R= 130:141 Ag 14 ’20 360w
=Springf’d Republican= p11a S 12 ’20 120w
=BURROUGHS, JOHN.= Accepting the universe. il *$2 (2c) Houghton 210
20–18062
“A series of sallies, excursions, into the world of semi-philosophical
speculation,” the author calls this collection of essays, whose burden
is “that this is the best possible world, and these people in it are
the best possible people,” that “the universe is good,” and “the heart
of nature is sound.” Among the longer essays are: Shall we accept the
universe? The universal beneficence; The faith of a naturalist; The
price of development; The problem of evil. Then follow two groups of
short pieces under the headings: Horizon lines; and Soundings. The
poet of the cosmos, in the last essay, is Walt Whitman.
* * * * *
“The philosophizings will please many not too radical thinkers. Most
people will prefer his bits on nature.”
+ =Booklist= 17:97 D ’20
=Bookm= 52:367 D ’20 180w
=Lit D= p101 N 6 ’20 1200w
“He is a naturalist; his vision is as broad as terrestrial time; he
leads us over much geological and biological ground to the mind of
man. But once confronted with that phenomenon, he is, like many a
scientist, evasive; he is reduced to the merest academic platitudes.”
+ − =Nation= 112:89 Ja 19 ’21 840w
“Spirited and eloquent pages.” H. W. Boynton
+ =N Y Evening Post= p4 D 31 ’20 1050w
“There will be many who will take issue with Mr Burroughs’s philosophy
of God and nature, good and evil, life and death, but this will not
disturb him. He has unquestionably brought the inexorable facts of
existence to bear upon theories, creeds and beliefs, and has applied
their lesson with unsparing frankness. The result is not in line with
so-called orthodoxy, but none the less he has coined into words the
unspoken expressions of many hearts.” H: L. West
+ − =N Y Times= p16 O 24 ’20 950w
“His philosophy is a mass of contradictions. Mr Burroughs in accepting
the universe drops out from it its most important phenomena.”
− =Outlook= 126:515 N 17 ’20 300w
“Of flowers and birds and the simple life Mr Burroughs has something
to say, his divagations on the universe leave us doubting. It would in
fact be easy to point out a series of shocking inconsistencies into
which he has been thrown by his ambitious attempt to combine a wise
and wholesome life in nature with a metaphysical theory of natural
evolution.”
− + =Review= 3:392 O 27 ’20 470w
=BURT, KATHARINE (NEWLIN) (MRS MAXWELL STRUTHERS BURT).= Hidden Creek.
il *$2 (2½c) Houghton
20–15343
When Sheila Arundel’s artist father dies and leaves her penniless, she
counts herself fortunate to be befriended by Sylvester Hudson, who has
come into her life thru a painting of her father’s he has just bought
to decorate his western hotel. He takes her back with him to Millings,
but the reception his family give her makes her eager to be
independent and in gratitude to Hudson she consents to become a bar
maid in his saloon. The only member of his family who treats her with
respect is Dickie, the despised half-drunken son, in whom she
discovers a soul akin to her own poetic nature. Her success in the
saloon brings her popularity of a kind, but one particularly trying
day, culminating in a brutal insult from her employer, determines her
to get away and she seeks refuge with Miss Blake, a recluse living on
Hidden Creek alone with her dogs and her peculiarities. From the
horror that this experience brings, Cosme Hilliard, a hot-blooded
young half-Spaniard, rescues her, and for a time it seems that he is
to be her hero, but Dickie, whose character has been developing along
with hers, altho in a different way, at length comes into his own.
* * * * *
“‘Hidden Creek’ follows no beaten path; its plot is skillfully
developed and the story is told with realism and with a sparkling
wit.”
+ =N Y Times= p30 S 12 ’20 200w
“Will be welcomed by the reader with fondness for romance staged apart
from the trodden paths of every day life.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p11a S 26 ’20 200w
=BURT, KATHARINE (NEWLIN) (MRS MAXWELL STRUTHERS BURT).= Red lady.
*$1.75 (3c) Houghton
20–6709
A unique feature of this mystery story is that its principal
characters, including both hero and villain, are women. Men play
secondary parts. Three housekeepers have fled from the Pines when
Janice Gale accepts the position. Her first intimation of something
wrong comes with the signs of terror exhibited by her mistress’s young
son at sight of her red hair. Then there are indications that the
house is haunted. The child Robbie is frightened into convulsions and
dies with a strand of red hair in his fingers. Janice next comes face
to face with the ghost and finds her the counterpart of herself.
Convinced that this is a real woman she sets herself to trace the
mystery, braves great dangers, all but loses her life, escapes and
wins the love of the young detective who has been regarding her as a
criminal.
* * * * *
“An exceptionally fine specimen, American in origin, of that popular
genus colloquially known as the ‘shocker.’”
+ =Ath= p867 D 24 ’20 80w
“The mystery of it all is hard to penetrate but Mrs Burt at last finds
a way out of the strange tangle and altogether writes a very good and
very unusual story.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p7 My 8 ’20 200w
“This story would be more attractive if the author were to make, say,
her present ninth chapter her first. She could condense in that one
chapter about all she has told us in the eight preceding and would
thus spare the reader much boredom. And yet, considering how good are
the final chapters, there is reason to believe that we have in Mrs
Burt one of the well worth while writers of real mystery stories of
the immediate future.”
+ − =N Y Times= 25:27 Je 27 ’20 650w
=BURT, MAXWELL STRUTHERS.= Songs and portraits. *$1.50 Scribner 811
20–8428
“A nature modestly reflective as well as emotionally alert is revealed
in ‘Songs and portraits’ by Maxwell Struthers Burt. The poems
reminiscent of the dead, in form and spirit not unlike those of Rupert
Brooke, express the belief that ‘the dead know all.’ In ‘Fishing’ and
‘Marchen’ this Princeton poet paints gay and naive little small-boy
pictures. He reasons rather bitterly against frantic fanatics and
pudgy-fingered plutocrats.”—Springf’d Republican
* * * * *
+ =Booklist= 17:60 N ’20
“Mr Burt’s ear and his learning are much indebted to Rupert Brooke—but
it is a sorrowful thing to see anyone assume so easily all the
palpable qualities of another. There are the same studied
irrelevancies, the same feminine endings, the same delight in names.
Mr Burt has imitated most of the many things we would like to forget
in Rupert Brooke, including his glorification of war and death.” G. T.
− + =Freeman= 1:526 Ag 11 ’20 250w
“When at last he shall speak thoughts all his own, it is hoped that he
will not have lost his really very lovely gift of expression, his
round, elegant, springtime pregnancy and shapeliness of phrase.” Mark
Van Doren
+ − =Nation= 111:sup414 O 13 ’20 100w
“Although many of the poems seem unfinished, as if their maker had had
the right poetic impulse but scant leisure, nevertheless there is a
warmth and naturalness of utterance In all of them that will rejoice
the hearts of those who are weary of strident or vapid
artificialities.” Margaret Wilkinson
+ =N Y Times= p18 Ag 8 ’20 370w
“Mr Burt’s ‘Songs and portraits’ has real delicacies of a kind neither
very usual nor very extraordinary. There are phrases of drooping
grace; there are straying, sinuous rhythms; there is a desultory and
hovering tenderness. Mr Burt’s very picturesqueness is rather mellow
than picturesque.” O. W. Firkins
+ =Review= 3:171 Ag 25 ’20 100w
+ =Springf’d Republican= p11a Jl 11 ’20 160w
=BURTON, ALEXANDER.= Public speaking made easy. (Made easy ser.) $1.25
(3c) Clode, E. J. 808.5
20–16872
In the introduction the author calls attention to the present-day
tendency in the art of oratory which distinguishes it from the oratory
of the past. “This is the cultivation of simplicity in form as opposed
to that ornateness of phraseology which has been so characteristic of
the most esteemed public utterances in former times.” The chapters
following the Introduction are: Breathing; Pronunciation; The voice;
Accessories of the voice; Direct training; Preparing a speech; The
deeper training; Beecher’s Liverpool address; Lincoln’s oratory; A
southern orator; The American system; Conclusion.
=BURTON, THEODORE ELIJAH.= Modern political tendencies and the effect of
the war thereon. (Stafford Little lectures for 1919) *$1.25 Princeton
univ. press 320.1
19–25948
“The president of the Merchants national bank of New York, former
United States senator from Ohio, sees four dominant phases in the
changing ideas of peoples and governments: the relation of governments
to the governed; the relation of the governed each to the other; the
relation of the central government to its constituent parts; and
international relations.”—Booklist
* * * * *
=Booklist= 16:112 Ja ’20
=Boston Transcript= p6 F 11 ’20 650w
“‘Modern political tendencies’ by Theodore E. Burton possibly sets the
Stafford Little lectures at a higher level of open-mindedness than was
reached by such earlier contributors as Grover Cleveland and Elihu
Root; in fact it is marked by that tone of restrained liberalism which
is coming to be a mark of our more important bank presidents, to the
great amazement and confusion, no doubt, of their editorial
satellites.”
+ =Dial= 67:498 N 29 ’19 60w
=BURY, GEORGE WYMAN.= Pan-Islam. *$2.25 Macmillan 297
20–5812
“‘“Pan-Islam” is an elementary handbook,’ explains the author, ‘not a
text-book, still less an exhaustive treatise.’ It is a study of the
Pan-Islamic problem on the political, social, religious, and many
other sides, by one who served in the Hedjaz and Arabia during the
war, but has also had a quarter of a century’s experience of
Mohammedan countries and peoples. As a rule he abstains from political
criticism.”—Ath
* * * * *
“His remarks on aggressive missionary enterprise are sensible and
illustrated by plenty of facts.”
+ =Ath= p61 Ja 9 ’20 80w
“The book is well written and full of interesting and valuable
information. The long experience of the author and his manifest
fairness make his opinions of more than ordinary importance.”
+ =Bib World= 54:429 Jl ’20 230w
+ =Booklist= 17:48 N ’20
“The Carnegie peace commission should send the last chapter, A plea
for tolerance, to every missionary organization.”
+ =Dial= 68:668 My ’20 60w
+ =Spec= 124:18 Ja 3 ’20 1250w
“He writes in a progressive spirit and very sympathetically toward the
Moslem world. It is far better that his sentiments were expressed by
an Englishman than by an American. The last chapter, a plea for
toleration, is really a most admirable piece of writing.” I. C. Hannah
+ =Survey= 44:310 My 29 ’20 280w
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p770 D 18 ’19 60w
“Mr Bury presents a fairly impartial view of Christian missions in the
Near East, with their effect on Islam. It is a problem which he has
studied at first hand, and he is studiously careful to express his
views courteously. He is best when he is away from religious
discussion, describing the Arab and the Turk as he knows them.
Altogether Mr Bury’s book contains much that is entertaining; and
although he has chosen too resonant a title for what might more
reasonably be called essays, his expressed opinions are sensible and
his matter readable.”
+ − =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p776 D 25 ’19 1000w
=BURY, JOHN BAGNELL.= Idea of progress. *$5.50 Macmillan 901
20–9233
“Prof. J. B. Bury’s new work is ‘The idea of progress: an inquiry into
its origin and growth.’ The theme is developed under such chapter
headings as: Some interpretations of universal history: Bodin and
Leroy; Utility the end of knowledge: Bacon; The progress of knowledge:
Fontenelle; The general progress of man: Abbe de Saint-Pierre; New
conceptions of history: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Turgot; The French
revolution: Condorcet; The theory of progress in England; German
speculation on progress; The search for a law of progress: Saint-Simon
and Comte; and Progress in the light of evolution.”—Springf’d
Republican
* * * * *
“This is just the chief merit of Professor Bury’s book, that it
discriminates with fine precision between what is essential to the
modern conception of progress and what only superficially resembles
it. His exposition of the significance of the idea of progress in the
history of European civilization is so lucid that it leaves nothing to
be desired.” Carl Becker
+ =Am Hist R= 26:77 O ’20 800w
=Ath= p791 Je 18 ’20 630w
“It is hardly necessary to say that the author carries out the
historical inquiry with great width of learning and with a scrupulous
desire to make a reasonable case even for those writers whose
presentation has its weak or even its ridiculous points. His remarks
are eminently judicious wherever they can be tested.” P. V. M. Benecke
+ − |=Eng Hist R= 35:581 O ’20 1650w
“An exceedingly clear and interesting account of the origin and growth
of the idea of progress.” S. B. Fay
+ |=Review= 3:478 N 17 ’20 520w
“Professor Bury’s work in clarity, accuracy, and fairness attains the
high standard set by his previous historical volumes.”
+ =Spec= 124:795 Je 12 ’20 950w
=Springf’d Republican= p8 Ap 17 ’20 90w
“It is a work of profound scholarship, sedate in tone and rational in
spirit. It is unfortunate that Professor Bury did not carry his study
beyond his self-imposed limitation which ended it with the time when
progress became a current creed.” A. J. Todd
+ =Survey= 45:322 N 27 ’20 730w
“A sound piece of pioneer work, with its merits and limitations. Only
his knowledge of the subject and its intrinsic interest have saved his
book from falling into the class of those which are less often read
than consulted. Professor Bury has condensed the results of his work
with remarkable ease and brevity and always with fairness.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p357 Je 10 ’20 1700w
=BUSH, COLEMAN HALL.= Applied business law. *$1.28 Holt 347.7
20–5200
As the ordinary empirical methods of acquiring the essentials of
business law and practice are “entirely too slow ... the purpose of
this book is to eliminate the long term of apprenticeship, to give a
wide range of experience to all who seek it, by presenting material,
both law and facts, for application in constructive work.” (Statement
of purpose) The book is in two parts: 1, Fundamental principles:
Essentials of contracts; Agency; Service; Deposits, loans, and hiring
of things; Carriage; Sales of goods; Partnership; Insurance;
Negotiable paper; Real property; Business corporations. 2, How to
write business papers: Simple contracts; Articles of agreement;
Negotiable contracts; Contracts concerning land; Miscellaneous forms;
Index.
* * * * *
=School R= 28:476 Je ’20 250w
=BUTCHER, ALICE MARY (BRANDRETH) lady.= Memories of George Meredith. il
*$1.60 (6c) Scribner
(Eng ed 20–6151)
This book of reminiscences begins delightfully, when the author was a
girl of thirteen, with pebbles tossed against a bedroom window and an
invitation to walk to the top of Box Hill to see the sun rise. It
continues in the same vein of intimate, personal reminiscence to the
day of Meredith’s death. There are pleasant glimpses of Shakespeare
readings, of picnics, of Meredith’s family life, and of his
friendships with young people, with quotations from letters and
conversations.
* * * * *
“Her reminiscences have a girlish naïveté which is far from
unattractive. Her anecdotes and some of the letters he wrote to her
and his whimsical and witty talk help to fill out pleasantly our
mental portrait of Meredith.”
+ =Ath= p1354 D 12 ’19 100w
“She is to be congratulated on her heroic self-restraint. We enjoy
here, we are made to feel, the cream of several volumes.” J. J. Daly
+ − =Bookm= 51:351 My ’20 820w
“Many details of Meredith’s family life are given by Lady Butcher in a
wholly informal and fragmentary manner. Her style is frequently cloudy
and repetitious, and she often spoils a good story by her clumsy way
of telling it.” E. F. E.
+ − =Boston Transcript= p6 Ja 17 ’20 1250w
=Cleveland= p51 My ’20 80w
“After reading Lady Butcher one needs to draw back a little with
half-closed eyes to fit the various fragments together; but in a
moment or two it will be seen that they merge quite rightly into the
figure of the great man.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p765 D 18 ’19 900w
=BUTLER, ELLIS PARKER.= How it feels to be fifty. *75c (18c) Houghton
814
20–8224
A genial essay reprinted from the American Magazine of December, 1919.
Its substance is summed up in the concluding paragraph: “At twenty my
life was a feverish adventure, at thirty it was a problem, at forty it
was a labor, at fifty it is a joyful journey well begun.”
* * * * *
+ − =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 17 ’20 480w
=BUTLER, ELLIS PARKER.= Swatty; a story of real boys. il *$1.90 (2c)
Houghton
20–5587
Mr Butler goes back to his own boyhood for these stories. They are
stories of boy life on the banks of the Mississippi and the book opens
with a tale of the mighty river on one of its spring rampages. Swatty,
Bony and George are “real boys” of the Huck Finn and Plupy Shute type.
Altho the episodes are loosely woven together to make a continuous
narrative, many of them are in effect short stories and some have been
published as such in the American Magazine. Among the titles are: The
big river; Mamie’s father; Scratch-cat; The haunted house; The red
avengers; The ice goes out.
* * * * *
“Better if read in parts, a few adventures at a time.”
+ =Booklist= 16:311 Je ’20
“Were it not for a lamentable lapse into sentimentality out of keeping
with the rest of the book, ‘Swatty’ would be a worthy successor [to
Huck Finn]. A boy like George would never in this wide world possess a
grandmother addressed as ‘Ladylove,’ and if he did, he would be cut
into small pieces before he would use so soft an appellation.” G. M.
Purcell
+ − =Bookm= 51:473 Je ’20 470w
“Although the situations are somewhat hackneyed, the author has the
knack of seeing things from a boy’s point of view and expressing them
in a boy’s language.”
+ =Cleveland= p50 My ’20 60w
“The humor of the book is broad and obvious rather than whimsical, but
Mr Butler’s admirers will probably enjoy it.”
+ − =N Y Times= 25:253 My 16 ’20 380w
“There will doubtless be a stampede for ‘Swatty’ in the children’s
room of many a public library, altho Ellis Parker Butler in his
subtitle does not commit himself as to whether this is a story for
real boys, or merely about them. There is a choice morsel, for the
girls, too, in the incident of the tailor’s fashion sheet.” R. D.
Moore
+ =Pub W= 97:1001 Mr 20 ’20 140w
=BUTLER, SIR GEOFFREY GILBERT.= Handbook to the league of nations; with
an introd. by Robert Cecil. *$1.75 Longmans 341.1
20–5652
“Sir Geoffrey has presented in skeleton outline the development of the
league idea from the day of Grotius to the framing of the Paris
covenant, passing over rapidly its earlier history and laying stress
on the attempts at international organization represented by the Holy
alliance and the Hague conferences. He has throughout emphasized the
fact that on a concert and not on a balance of the Powers rested the
best hope of realization of the ideals of the statesmen and thinkers
who strove for the elimination of war, and he bases his faith in the
efficacy of the newly formed league on its conformity to that
principle. In addition to general discussion of the provisions of the
covenant, Sir Geoffrey has added the text of the document with
commentary upon its specific features.”—N Y Evening Post
* * * * *
Reviewed by J. R. Towse
+ =N Y Evening Post= p7 Mr 6 ’20 200w
=Spec= 124:215 F 14 ’20 50w
“Sir Geoffrey Butler’s book is of modest scope and plan, but it
provides what has until now been lacking—a sober and succinct
statement of historic process which we date from Grotius, and of which
the covenant is but the latest phase.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p780 D 25 ’19 240w
=BUTLER, NICHOLAS MURRAY.= Is America worth saving? *$2 (3c) Scribner
304
20–5743
These addresses on national problems and party policies have for their
common theme the exposition and interpretation of the fundamental
principles upon which the American government and American civil
society is built. The real difficulty in solving all our present day
problems by the light of these fundamental principles, the author
claims, lies in their extreme simplicity. He looks upon socialism and
similar movements as subversive of these principles, as the real
enemies of the people, and as entirely destructive, and places his
faith upon a “stalwart and patriotic Americanism.” Among the contents
are: Is America worth saving? A programme of constructive progress;
The real labor problem; A league of nations; Elihu Root, statesman;
Problems of peace and after-peace; The making of a written
constitution; Theodore Roosevelt, American; Faith and the war; Is
American higher education improving? The colleges and the nation;
Index.
* * * * *
Reviewed by Everett Kimball
=Am Pol Sci R= 14:512 Ag ’20 490w
=Booklist= 16:298 Je ’20
“Failing entirely to understand the play of actual economic forces in
the production and distribution of income, it is natural that Dr
Butler should conclude that strikes and industrial wars are simply the
result of an ignorance of the true and complete harmony of interests
between capital and labor. Dr Butler pleads for ‘cooperative
individualism into a moral purpose.’ But we cannot help feeling that
he has not got any intelligible grip upon this moral purpose, and
therefore shows a feeble hold upon the very principle of individual
liberty whose championship he assumes.” O. O.
− =Nation= 110:728 My 29 ’20 1350w
“There are no compromises of principles in this book, and the author
makes no concessions to those demands made through the cries of the
herd. To all Americans who need a mental tonic today, and to all who
feel that their confidence in law and the application of law to life
needs strengthening, and to all who believe that this republic is not
to drift at the mercy of every wind of doctrine, this very seminal
volume belongs of right.” M. F. Egan
+ =N Y Times= 25:203 Ap 25 ’20 3450w
+ =R of Rs= 61:556 My ’20 60w
“Read aright, the book is a masterly and no doubt timely defence of
American institutions and the principles underlying them.”
+ − =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p363 Je 10 ’20 1150w
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p671 O 14 ’20 40w
=BUXTON, NOEL EDWARD, and LEESE, C. LEONARD.= Balkan problems and
European peace. *$1.75 Scribner 949.6
19–19084
“This book on Balkan political problems falls into three parts: (1) a
history of pre-war European politics in the Balkans; (2) the policies
pursued during the war by the Entente and Allied powers, with
particular reference to Bulgaria; and (3) the probable future of the
Balkans.”—Ath
* * * * *
Reviewed by Ferdinand Schevill
+ =Am Hist R= 25:747 Jl ’20 360w
“Clear and interesting little book. It displays considerable knowledge
and the matter is well arranged.”
+ =Ath= p258 F 20 ’20 60w
Reviewed by B. U. Burke
=Nation= 111:218 Ag 21 ’20 750w
=N Y Times= p19 O 10 ’20 70w
“Its value depends on the light it sheds on Bulgarian aspirations
rather than on any impartial discussion of new material.” H. F.
Armstrong
+ − =Review= 2:395 Ap 17 ’20 1200w
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p699 N 27 ’19 160w
=BYNNER, WITTER (EMANUEL MORGAN, pseud.).= Canticle of Pan and other
poems. *$2 Knopf 811
20–9070
Among the poems of this book are the Canticle of praise, written in
celebration of the ending of the war and presented at the Greek
theater in Berkeley, California, in December, 1918, and the Canticle
of Pan, delivered as the Phi Beta Kappa poem at the University of
California in June, 1917, and the Canticle of Bacchus, also presented
in California. Among the shorter poems are a number of translations
from the Chinese. Titles of others are: Youth sings to the sea; The
wild star; Vintage; Gipsying; Pittsburgh; A song in the grass; The
swimmer; The desert; On leaving California; Away from California;
Rain; Night; News of a soldier.
* * * * *
=Booklist= 17:60 N ’20
“Witter Bynner, in his ‘A canticle of Pan,’ is more of a ventriloquist
than a poet. He speaks in too many voices, and on too wide a range of
topics to have achieved mastery in any manner or distinction in any
style. Mr Bynner’s volume is singularly unauthentic: it is an
anthology of imitations (none of them particularly effective) of most
of the known manners of prosody.” R. M. Weaver
− =Bookm= 52:62 S ’20 700w
+ =Boston Transcript= p8 F 12 ’19 500w
“In these canticles Mr Bynner has evolved a medium admirably suited
for community expression, dealing with the large events of the world.
In a sense these are experimental, and Mr Bynner, while giving them a
certain poetic merit, has not made them distill his finest poetic
spirit. His lyric note is, at its best, one of the purest among
present-day poets.” W. S. B.
+ − =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 3 ’20 1150w
“What one has here in the end is Bynner, the man, rather than Bynner,
the poet. He is a delightful man, clever and keen and kind. But he is
too full of his message to be truly moving.” E. P.
+ − =Dial= 70:109 Ja ’21 120w
“Witter Bynner forfeits our respect at the outset by writing a
canticle wherein he imagines Pan and the Christ child as friends; he
continues to forfeit it by a vein of breezy, Vachel Lindsay-Stephen
Graham optimism that runs through his book.” J: G. Fletcher
− =Freeman= 1:476 Jl 28 ’20 230w
“These canticles as well as some of the less ambitious poems are
marred by an ethical idealism that is too self-conscious. Pan and
Bacchus especially must not moralize. Their magic is their
waywardness. The best poems in the book are the slighter ones,
including the bits of translation from the Chinese, Japanese and
Russian and the original poems in their spirit.” C. M. S.
+ − =Grinnell R= 15:283 N ’20 300w
+ =Ind= 104:246 N 13 ’20 110w
“Mr Bynner’s latest volume proves, among other things, that there are
limits beyond which Mr Bynner cannot be said to gain by
experimentation. Not that he has a still, small voice; not that he is
a little poet; but he is most himself and most happy when he is
working in established, or at least in well knit, rhythms and moods.
His publisher has produced him in a form that does both American
poetry and American publishing handsome credit.” M. V. D.
+ − =Nation= 110:856 Je 26 ’20 230w
“Witter Bynner’s new volume, ‘A canticle of Pan’ leaves one disturbed
and aggrieved. He is undeniably such a really talented poet that one
wonders why so much of his book leaps out of the mind much faster than
it leaps in. It is apparent that the community masque idea is not a
happy choice for Mr Bynner. It is in the shorter pieces in this book
that Mr Bynner is at his best.” H. S. Gorman
+ − =N Y Times= 25:18 Jl 25 ’20 450w
“A rather poorly balanced miscellany of poems. The volume is by no
means representative of Mr Bynner’s excellence as a lyric poet. In
comparatively few pieces in the present collection does he approach
his highest standard of workmanship. A number of them are trivial in
conception and detract substantially from the merit of the others.”
− + =Springf’d Republican= p11a S 5 ’20 430w
=BYRNE, DONN.= Foolish matrons. *$1.90 (2c) Harper
20–18252
The heroines of the story are four: one wise and three foolish. The
wise one was a great actress who married the big uncouth surgeon whom
she loved, gave up her career and became his guardian angel and mother
of his children. Georgia, pretty and frivolous, craved the excitement
of gay New York. Married she was a vampire and finally drifted to the
underworld. Sheila, the college graduate and newspaper woman, clever
and heartless, dreamt of a career, married a poet for the glamor of it
and drove him to drink with her coldness. Sappho, the model, frankly
married for money, and posed as patroness of amateur artists. She
became ashamed of her plain millionaire husband and thought to do
better for herself but lost in the game.
* * * * *
“There is enough material in ‘The foolish matrons’ for four novels;
any one of the biographies which are told simultaneously would have
made a book by itself—a book representing with true artistry a segment
of life.”
+ =N Y Times= p24 O 10 ’20 600w
“The tale has vivid elements: it is overdrawn, but possesses dramatic
intensity.”
+ − =Springf’d Republican= p9a N 14 ’20 150w
C
=CABELL, JAMES BRANCH.=[2] Domnei; a comedy of woman-worship. *$2
McBride
20–20192
A revised edition of “The soul of Melicent,” published in 1913, with a
new introduction by Joseph Hergesheimer. For note on the story see
Annual for 1914.
* * * * *
“Cabell has won indisputably the position of being one of our few
distinguished men of letters. He is not for every reader, but one can
scarcely picture his desiring this doubtful honor. He writes for his
own discriminating audience, and for them he cannot write enough. He
creates a taste which it is difficult to satisfy with lesser delights.
‘Domnei’ carries a significance and an atmosphere of its own.” D. L.
Mann
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Ja 8 ’21 1100w
“It is a subtle story, but not a convincing story.... And ‘Domnei’ is
an entertaining story—a story to be read at one sitting—with colour
and marvel and high-sounding words. It has the outline of a narrative
poem, and I, for one, feel that it is a pity that Mr Cabell did not
turn his prose into verse.” Padraic Colum
+ − =Freeman= 2:404 Ja 5 ’21 650w
“The thing that makes ‘Domnei’ stand out above most fables of
chivalrous romance is not the clear and sympathetic character
portrayal, nor the flowing, beautiful English, nor is it the great
wealth of mediaeval lore, which Mr Cabell undoubtedly possesses to an
exceptional degree. The greatness of ‘Domnei’ lies in the fact that
every detail, historical, narrative, or constructive, falls into place
with consummate art, bringing to us of these later and hurried days a
spiritual interpretation of the knight’s quest for divine beauty.” H.
W. M.
+ =Grinnell R= 16:330 Ja ’21 400w
=CABOT, WILLIAM BROOKS.=[2] Labrador. il *$3 Small 971.9
“‘Labrador’ is an account of half a dozen expeditions into the
interior of that country which the author has made since 1904. From it
the reader obtains an impression of what life is like in that
elemental land, barren and sentineled off its coast by age-old
icebergs. The country is one of the oldest primal faces of the globe,
and Mr Cabot believes it may have been the cradle of the human race.
Its only products are fur and fish, and, as the fur is failing,
Labrador will doubtless remain a little-known land. ‘Over this great
territory,’ writes the author, ‘the people still wander at will,
knowing no alien restraint, no law but their own. The unwritten code
of the lodge and open, the ancient beliefs still prevail.”—N Y Times
* * * * *
“The lovers of nature study and of travel and adventure will find much
of interest in this carefully written book. Mr Cabot writes with
enthusiasm as well as with rare intelligence.” E. J. C.
+ =Boston Transcript= p4 D 29 ’20 540w
+ =N Y Times= p4 Ja 2 ’21 280w
=CADMUS and HARMONIA, pseuds.= Island of sheep. *$1.50 (5c) Houghton
20–7649
In an English country house, on the eve of a house party, the host and
hostess are much distressed about the future. The party is about
equally composed of optimists and pessimists and they are all more or
less liberal. It consists of the minister of the parish, a highland
landowner, a labor ex-member of Parliament, the wife of a former
Liberal minister, a progressive journalist and his wife, an American
woman resident in England, a lady given to good works, a conservative,
a liberal lawyer, a grenadier of the guards; a lieutenant of the
United States army, a labor leader, an imperialist, a French general,
a coalition member of parliament, an American politician and a captain
of industry. They discuss the future and reconstruction from all
points of view, of which the most satisfactory in the end seems to be
that of the ex-labor member of Parliament. It at least moves the
minister to relate the old saga of Balder, the life-giver, and his
expected return to earth after the twilight of Walhalla has made an
end to the old gods.
* * * * *
“The quickness of the argument, the mental agility of some of the
talkers and the interesting character touches give a delightful
lightness to this presentation of serious problems.”
+ =Booklist= 16:311 Je ’20
“Rolls the present world unrest up into a cheerful and conservative
package, with the strings tied a bit too neatly.”
− =Dial= 68:804 Je ’20 70w
“As a matter of fact, characterization is the authors’ weakest point.
Their style is too fluent, too uniform. Opinions are well contrasted,
but the individualities of the speakers are lost in the monotony, in
the rhythm and vocabulary of their utterance.” R. F. A. H.
+ − =New Repub= 24:222 O 27 ’20 700w
“It is rather hard for an American to account for the admiration which
the book is said to have won in England. There is not, as a rule,
anything particularly novel in the content or exceptionally striking
in the form.”
+ − =N Y Times= 25:224 My 2 ’20 430w