Glimpses of Indian Birds

Part 18

Chapter 183,860 wordsPublic domain

⁂ “The Empress Josephine” continues and completes the graphically drawn life story begun in “The Wife of General Bonaparte” by the same author, takes us through the brilliant period of the Empire, shows us the gradual development and the execution of the Emperor’s plan to divorce his middle-aged wife, paints in vivid colours the picture of Josephine’s existence after her divorce, tells us how she, although now nothing but his friend, still met him occasionally and corresponded frequently with him, and how she passed her time in the midst of her miniature court. This work enables us to realise the very genuine affection which Napoleon possessed for his first wife, an affection which lasted till death closed her eyes in her lonely hermitage at La Malmaison, and until he went to expiate at Saint Helena his rashness in braving all Europe. Comparatively little is known of the period covering Josephine’s life after her divorce, and yet M. Turquan has found much to tell us that is very interesting; for the ex-Empress in her two retreats, Navarre and La Malmaison, was visited by many celebrated people, and after the Emperor’s downfall was so ill-judged as to welcome and fete several of the vanquished hero’s late friends, now his declared enemies. The story of her last illness and death forms one of the most interesting chapters in this most complete work upon the first Empress of the French.

NAPOLEON IN CARICATURE: 1795-1821. By A. M. Broadley. With an Introductory Essay on Pictorial Satire as a Factor in Napoleonic History, by J. Holland Rose, Litt. D. (Cantab.). With 24 full-page Illustrations in Colour and upwards of 200 in Black and White from rare and unique originals. 2 Vols. Demy 8vo. 42s. net.

_Also an Edition de Luxe._ 10 guineas net.

NAPOLEON’S LAST CAMPAIGN IN GERMANY. By F. Loraine Petre. Author of “Napoleon’s Campaign in Poland,” “Napoleon’s Conquest of Prussia,” etc. With 17 Maps and Plans. Demy 8vo. 12_s._ 6_d._ net.

⁂ In the author’s two first histories of Napoleon’s campaigns (1806 and 1807) the Emperor is at his greatest as a soldier. The third (1809) showed the commencement of the decay of his genius. Now, in 1813, he has seriously declined. The military judgment of Napoleon, the general, is constantly fettered by the pride and obstinacy of Napoleon, the Emperor. The military principles which guided him up to 1807 are frequently abandoned; he aims at secondary objectives, or mere geographical points, instead of solely at the destruction of the enemy’s army; he hesitates and fails to grasp the true situation in a way that was never known in his earlier campaigns. Yet frequently, as at Bautsen and Dresden, his genius shines with all its old brilliance.

The campaign of 1813 exhibits the breakdown of his over-centralised system of command, which left him without subordinates capable of exercising semi-independent command over portions of armies which had now grown to dimensions approaching those of our own day.

The autumn campaign is a notable example of the system of interior lines, as opposed to that of strategical envelopment. It marks, too, the real downfall of Napoleon’s power, for, after the fearful destruction of 1813, the desperate struggle of 1814, glorious though it was, could never have any real probability of success.

FOOTPRINTS OF FAMOUS AMERICANS IN PARIS. By John Joseph Conway, M.A. With 32 Full-page Illustrations. With an Introduction by Mrs. John Lane. Demy 8vo. 12_s._ 6_d._ net.

⁂ Franklin, Jefferson, Munroe, Tom Paine, La Fayette, Paul Jones, etc., etc., the most striking figures of a heroic age, working out in the City of Light the great questions for which they stood, are dealt with here. Longfellow the poet of the domestic affections; matchless Margaret Fuller who wrote so well of women in the nineteenth century; Whistler master of American artists; Saint-Gaudens chief of American sculptors; Rumford, most picturesque of scientific knight-errants and several others get a chapter each for their lives and achievements in Paris. A new and absorbing interest is opened up to visitors. Their trip to Versailles becomes more pleasurable when they realise what Franklyn did at that brilliant court. The Place de la Bastille becomes a sacred place to Americans realizing that the principles of the young republic brought about the destruction of the vilest old dungeon in the world. The Seine becomes silvery to the American conjuring up that bright summer morning when Robert Fulton started from the Place de la Concorde in the first steam boat. The Louvre takes on a new attraction from the knowledge that it houses the busts of Washington and Franklyn and La Fayette by Houdon. The Luxembourg becomes a greater temple of art to him who knows that it holds Whistler’s famous portrait of his mother. Even the weather-beaten bookstalls by the banks of the Seine become beautiful because Hawthorne and his son loitered among them on sunny days sixty years ago. The book has a strong literary flavour. Its history is enlivened with anecdote. It is profusely illustrated.

MEMORIES OF JAMES McNEILL WHISTLER: The Artist. By Thomas R. Way. Author of “The Lithographs of J. M. Whistler,” etc. With numerous Illustrations. Demy 4to. 10_s._ 6_d._ net.

⁂ This volume contains about forty illustrations, including an unpublished etching drawn by Whistler and bitten in by Sir Frank Short, A.R.A., an original lithograph sketch, seven lithographs in colour drawn by the Author upon brown paper, and many in black and white. The remainder are facsimiles by photo-lithography. In most cases the originals are drawings and sketches by Whistler which have never been published before, and are closely connected with the matter of the book. The text deals with the Author’s memories of nearly twenty year’s close association with Whistler, and he endeavours to treat only with the man as an artist, and perhaps, especially as a lithographer.

* Also an Edition de Luxe on hand-made paper, with the etching printed from the original plate. Limited to 50 copies.

* This is Out of Print with the Publisher.

HISTORY OF THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY: A Record of a Hundred Years’ Work in the Cause of Music. Compiled by Myles Birket Foster, F.R.A.M., etc. With 16 Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 10_s._ 6_d._ net.

⁂ As the Philharmonic Society, whose Centenary is now being celebrated, is and has ever been connected, during its long existence, with the history of musical composition and production, not only in this country, but upon the Continent, and as every great name in Europe and America in the last hundred years (within the realm of high-class music), has been associated with it, this volume will, it is believed, prove to be an unique work, not only as a book of reference, but also as a record of the deepest interest to all lovers of good music. It is divided into ten Decades, with a small narrative account of the principal happenings in each, to which are added the full programmes of every concert, and tables showing, at a glance, the number and nationality of the performers and composers, with other particulars of interest. The book is made of additional value by means of rare illustrations of MS. works specially composed for the Society, and of letters from Wagner, Berlioz, Brahms, Liszt, etc., etc., written to the Directors and, by their permission, reproduced for the first time.

IN PORTUGAL. By Aubrey F. G. Bell. Author of “The Magic of Spain.” Demy 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._ net.

⁂ The guide-books give full details of the marvellous convents, gorgeous palaces, and solemn temples of Portugal, and no attempt is here made to write complete descriptions of them, the very name of some of them being omitted. But the guide-books too often treat Portugal as a continuation, almost as a province of Spain. It is hoped that this little book may give some idea of the individual character of the country, of the quaintnesses of its cities, and of peasant life in its remoter districts. While the utterly opposed characters of the two peoples must probably render the divorce between Spain and Portugal eternal, and reduce hopes of union to the idle dreams of politicians. Portugal in itself contains an infinite variety. Each of the eight provinces (more especially those of the _alemtejanos_, _minhotos_ and _beiröes_) preserves many peculiarities of language, customs, and dress; and each will, in return for hardships endured, give to the traveller many a day of delight and interest.

A TRAGEDY IN STONE, AND OTHER PAPERS. By Lord Redesdale, G.C.V.O., K.C.C., etc. Demy 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._ net.

⁂ “From the author of ‘Tales of Old Japan’ his readers always hope for more about Japan, and in this volume they will find it. The earlier papers, however, are not to be passed over.”—_Times._

⁂ “Lord Redesdale’s present volume consists of scholarly essays on a variety of subjects of historic, literary and artistic appeal.”—_Standard._

⁂ “The author of the classic ‘Tales of Old Japan’ is assured of welcome, and the more so when he returns to the field in which his literary reputation was made. Charm is never absent from his pages.”—_Daily Chronicle._

MY LIFE IN PRISON. By Donald Lowrie. Crown 8vo. 6_s._ net.

⁂ This book is absolutely true and vital. Within its pages passes the myriorama of prison life. And within its pages may be found revelations of the divine and the undivine; of strange humility and stranger arrogance; of free men brutalized and caged men humanized; of big and little tragedies; of love, cunning, hate, despair, hope. There is humour, too though sometimes the jest is made ironic by its sequel. And there is romance—the romance of the real; not the romance of Kipling’s 9.15, but the romance of No. 19,093, and of all the other numbers that made up the arithmetical hell of San Quentin prison.

Few novels could so absorb interest. It is human utterly. That is the reason. Not only is the very atmosphere of the prison preserved, from the colossal sense of encagement and defencelessness, to the smaller jealousies, exultations and disappointments; not only is there a succession of characters emerging into the clearest individuality and genuineness,—each with its distinctive contribution and separate value; but beyond the details and through all the contrasted variety, there is the spell of complete drama,—the drama of life. Here is the underworld in continuous moving pictures, with the overworld watching. True, the stage is a prison; but is not all the world a stage?

It is a book that should exercise a profound influence on the lives of the caged, and on the whole attitude of society toward the problems of poverty and criminality.

AN IRISH BEAUTY OF THE REGENCY: By Mrs. Warrenne Blake. Author of “Memoirs of a Vanished Generation, 1813-1855.” With a Photogravure Frontispiece and other Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 16s. net.

⁂ The Irish Beauty is the Hon. Mrs. Calvert, daughter of Viscount Pery, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, and wife of Nicholson Calvert, M.P., of Hunsdon. Born in 1767, Mrs. Calvert lived to the age of ninety-two, and there are many people still living who remember her. In the delightful journals, now for the first time published, exciting events are described.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. By Stewart Houston Chamberlain. A Translation from the German by John Lees. With an Introduction by Lord Redesdale. Demy 8vo. 2 vols. 25s. net. Second Edition.

⁂ “A man who can write such a really beautiful and solemn appreciation of true Christianity, of true acceptance of Christ’s teachings and personality, as Mr. Chamberlain has done. . . . represents an influence to be reckoned with and seriously to be taken into account.”—_Theodore Roosevelt in the Outlook, New York._

⁂ “It is a masterpiece of really scientific history. It does not make confusion, it clears it away. He is a great generalizer of thought, as distinguished from the crowd of mere specialists. It is certain to stir up thought. Whoever has not read it will be rather out of it in political and sociological discussions for some time to come.”—_George Bernard Shaw in Fabian News._

⁂ “This is unquestionably one of the rare books that really matter. His judgments of men and things are deeply and indisputably sincere and are based on immense reading . . . But even many well-informed people . . . will be grateful to Lord Redesdale for the biographical details which he gives them in the valuable and illuminating introduction contributed by him to this English translation.”—_Times_.

THE SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, with a Topographical Account of Westminster at Various Epochs, Brief Notes on Sittings of Parliament and a Retrospect of the principal Constitutional Changes during Seven Centuries. By Arthur Irwin Dasent, Author of “The Life and Letters of John Delane,” “The History of St. James’s Square,” etc., etc. With numerous Portraits, including two in Photogravure and one in Colour. Demy 8vo. 21s. net.

ROMANTIC TRIALS OF THREE CENTURIES. By Hugh Childers. With numerous Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net.

⁂ This volume deals with some famous trials, occurring between the years 1650 and 1850, All of them possess some exceptional interest, or introduce historical personages in a fascinating style, peculiarly likely to attract attention.

The book is written for the general reading public, though in many respects it should be of value to lawyers, who will be especially interested in the trials of the great William Penn and Elizabeth Canning. The latter case is one of the most enthralling interest.

Twenty-two years later the same kind of excitement was aroused over Elizabeth Chudleigh, alias Duchess of Kingston, who attracted more attention in 1776 than the war of American independence.

Then the history of the fluent Dr. Dodd, a curiously pathetic one, is related, and the inconsistencies of his character very clearly brought out; perhaps now he may have a little more sympathy than he has usually received. Several important letters of his appear here for the first time in print.

Among other important trials discussed we find the libel action against Disraeli and the story of the Lyons Mail. Our knowledge of the latter is chiefly gathered from the London stage, but there is in it a far greater historical interest than would be suspected by those who have only seen the much altered story enacted before them.

THE OLD GARDENS OF ITALY—HOW TO VISIT THEM. By Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond. With 100 Illustrations from her own Photographs. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.

⁂ Hitherto all books on the old gardens of Italy have been large, costly, and incomplete, and designed for the library rather than for the traveller. Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond, during the course of a series of visits to all parts of Italy, has compiled a volume that garden lovers can carry with them, enabling them to decide which gardens are worth visiting, where they are situated, how they may be reached, if special permission to see them is required, and how this may be obtained. Though the book is practical and technical, the artistic element is supplied by the illustrations, one at least of which is given for each of the 71 gardens described. Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond was the illustrator of the monumental work by H. Inigo Triggs on “The Art of Garden Design in Italy,” and has since taken three special journeys to that country to collect material for her “The Old Gardens of Italy.”

The illustrations have been beautifully reproduced by a new process which enables them to be printed on a rough light paper, instead of the highly glazed and weighty paper necessitated by half-tone blocks. Thus not only are the illustrations delightful to look at, but the book is a pleasure to handle instead of a dead weight.

DOWN THE MACKENZIE AND UP THE YUKON. By E. Stewart. With 30 Illustrations and a Map. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.

⁂ Mr. Stewart was former Inspector of Forestry to the Government of Canada, and the experience he thus gained, supplemented by a really remarkable journey, will prove of great value to those who are interested in the commercial growth of Canada. The latter portion of his book deals with the various peoples, animals, industries, etc., of the Dominion; while the story of the journey he accomplished provides excellent reading in Part I. Some of the difficulties he encountered appeared insurmountable, and a description of his perilous voyage in a native canoe with Indians is quite haunting. There are many interesting illustrations of the places of which he writes.

AMERICAN SOCIALISM OF THE PRESENT DAY. By Jessie Wallace Hughan. With an Introduction by John Spargo. Crown 8vo. 5s. net.

⁂ All who are interested in the multitudinous political problems brought about by the changing conditions of the present day should read this book, irrespective of personal bias. The applications of Socialism throughout the world are so many and varied that the book is of peculiar importance to English Socialists.

THE STRUGGLE FOR BREAD. By “A Rifleman” Crown 8vo. 5s. net.

⁂ This book is a reply to Mr. Norman Angell’s well-known work, “The Great Illusion” and also an enquiry into the present economic state of Europe. The author, examining the phenomenon of the high food-prices at present ruling in all great civilized states, proves by statistics that these are caused by a relative decline in the production of food-stuffs as compared with the increase in general commerce and the production of manufactured-articles, and that consequently there has ensued a rise in the exchange-values of manufactured-articles, which with our system of society can have no other effect than of producing high food-prices and low wages. The author proves, moreover, that this is no temporary fluctuation of prices, but the inevitable outcome of an economic movement, which whilst seen at its fullest development during the last few years has been slowly germinating for the last quarter-century. Therefore, food-prices must continue to rise whilst wages must continue to fall.

THE LAND OF TECK & ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Rev. S. Baring-Gould. With numerous Illustrations (including several in Colour) reproduced from unique originals. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. net.

GATES OF THE DOLOMITES. By L. Marion Davidson. With 32 Illustrations from Photographs and a Map. Crown 8vo. Second Edition. 5s. net.

⁂ Whilst many English books have appeared on the Lande Tirol, few have given more than a chapter on the fascinating Dolomite Land, and it is in the hope of helping other travellers to explore the mountain land with less trouble and inconvenience than fell to her lot that the author has penned these attractive pages. The object of this book is not to inform the traveller how to scale the apparently inaccessible peaks of the Dolomites, but rather how to find the roads, and thread the valleys, which lead him to the recesses of this most lovely part of the world’s face, and Miss Davidson conveys just the knowledge which is wanted for this purpose; especially will her map be appreciated by those who wish to make their own plans for a tour, as it shows at a glance the geography of the country.

KNOWLEDGE AND LIFE. By William Arkwright. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. net.

⁂ This is a remarkably written book—brilliant and vital. Mr. Arkwright illumines a number of subjects with jewelled flashes of word harmony and chisels them all with the keen edge of his wit. Art, Letters, and Religion of different appeals move before the reader in vari-coloured array, like the dazzling phantasmagoria of some Eastern dream.

CHANGING RUSSIA. A Tramp along the Black Sea Shore and in the Urals. By Stephen Graham. Author of “Undiscovered Russia,” “A Vagabond in the Caucasus,” etc. With Illustrations and a Map. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. net.

⁂ In “Changing Russia,” Mr. Stephen Graham describes a journey from Rostof-on-the-Don to Batum and a summer spent on the Ural Mountains. The author has traversed all the region which is to be developed by the new railway from Novo-rossisk to Poti. It is a tramping diary with notes and reflections. The book deals more with the commercial life of Russia than with that of the peasantry, and there are chapters on the Russia of the hour, the Russian town, life among the gold miners of the Urals, the bourgeois, Russian journalism, the intelligentsia, the election of the fourth Duma. An account is given of Russia at the seaside, and each of the watering places of the Black Sea shore is described in detail.

ROBERT FULTON ENGINEER AND ARTIST: HIS LIFE AND WORK. By H. W. Dickinson, A.M.I.Mech.E. Demy 8vo. 10s 6d. net.

⁂ No Biography dealing as a whole with the life-work of the celebrated Robert Fulton has appeared of late years, in spite of the fact that the introduction of steam navigation on a commercial scale, which was his greatest achievement has recently celebrated its centenary.

The author has been instrumental in bringing to light a mass of documentary matter relative to Fulton, and has thus been able to present the facts about him in an entirely new light. The interesting but little known episode of his career as an artist is for the first time fully dealt with. His stay in France and his experiments under the Directory and the Empire with the submarine and with the steamboat are elucidated with the aid of documents preserved in the Archives Nationales at Paris. His subsequent withdrawal from France and his employment by the British Cabinet to destroy the Boulogne flotilla that Napoleon had prepared in 1804 to invade England are gone into fully. The latter part of his career in the United States, spent in the introduction of steam navigation and in the construction of the first steam-propelled warship, is of the greatest interest. With the lapse of time facts assume naturally their true perspective. Fulton, instead of being represented, according to the English point of view, as a charlatan and even as a traitor, or from the Americans as a universal genius, is cleared from these charges, and his pretensions critically examined, with the result that he appears as a cosmopolitan, an earnest student, a painstaking experimenter and an enterprising engineer.

It is believed that practically nothing of moment in Fulton’s career has been omitted. The illustrations, which are numerous, are drawn in nearly every case from the original sources. It may confidently be expected, therefore, that this book will take its place as the authoritative biography which everyone interested in the subjects enumerated above will require to possess.

A STAINED GLASS TOUR IN ITALY. By Charles H. Sherrill. Author of “Stained Glass Tours in England,” “Stained Glass Tours in France,” etc. With 33 Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. net.

⁂ Mr. Sherrill has already achieved success with his two previous books on the subject of stained glass. In Italy he finds a new field, which offers considerable scope for his researches. His present work will appeal not only to tourists, but to the craftsmen, because of the writer’s sympathy with the craft. Mr. Sherrill is not only an authority whose writing is clear in style and full of understanding for the requirements of the reader, but one whose accuracy and reliability are unquestionable. This is the most important book published on the subject with which it deals, and readers will find it worthy to occupy the position.