volume two of our series.

THE PUBLISHERS.

Publications from which Digests of Reviews are Made

Acad.—Academy. $4. Southampton St., Strand, London, W. C. Am. Hist. R.—American Historical Review. $4. 66 Fifth Ave., New York. Am. J. Soc.—American Journal of Sociology. $2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Am. J. Theol.—American Journal of Theology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Ann. Am. Acad.—Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. $6. Philadelphia. Arena.—Arena. $2.50. Albert Brandt, Trenton, N. J. Astrophys. J.—Astrophysical Journal. $4. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Ath.—Athenæum. $4.25. Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, E. C., London. Atlan.—Atlantic Monthly. $4. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 4 Park St., Boston, Mass. Bib World.—Biblical World. $2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Bookm.—Bookman. $2. Dodd, Mead & Co., 372 5th Ave., N. Y. Bot. Gaz.—Botanical Gazette. $5. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Cath. World.—Catholic World. $3. 120–122 W. 60th St., New York. Critic—Merged into Putnam’s on October 1, 1906. Dial.—Dial. $2. Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Ill. Educ. R.—Educational Review. $3. Educational Review Pub. Co., Columbia University, N. Y. El. School T.—Elementary School Teacher. $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Eng. Hist. R.—English Historical Review. $6. Longmans, Green, and Co., 39 Paternoster Row, London, E. C. Engin. N.—Engineering News. $5. 220 Broadway, New York. Forum.—Forum, $2. Forum Publishing Co., 123 E. 23d St., N. Y. Hibbert J.—Hibbert Journal. $3. Williams & Norgate, London. Ind.—Independent. $2. 130 Fulton St., N. Y. Int. J. Ethics.—International Journal of Ethics. $2.50. 1415 Locust St., Philadelphia. Int. Studio.—International Studio. $5. John Lane, 67 5th Av., N. Y. J. Geol.—Journal of Geology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. J. Philos.—Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods. $3. Science Press, Lancaster, Pa. J. Pol. Econ.—Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Lit. D.—Literary Digest. $3. 44–60 East 23d Street, New York. Lond. Times.—London Times (literary supplement to weekly edition), London, England. Mod. Philol.—Modern Philology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Nation.—Nation. $3. P. O. Box 794, New York. Nature.—Nature. $6.25. 66 Fifth Ave., New York. N. Y. Times.—New York Times Saturday Review, New York. Outlook.—Outlook. $3. Outlook Co., 287 4th Ave., New York. Philos. R.—Philosophical Review. $3. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Phys. R.—Physical Review. $5. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Pol. Sci. Q.—Political Science Quarterly. $3. Ginn & Co., 29 Beacon St., Boston. Psychol. Bull.—Psychological Bulletin. $2. 41 North Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. Pub. Opin.—Public Opinion. Merged July 7, 1906 with the Literary Digest. Putnam’s—Putnam’s Monthly and the Critic. $3. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 27 & 29 W. 23rd St., New York. Reader.—Reader Magazine. $3. Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind. R. of Rs.—Review of Reviews. $2.50. Review of Reviews Co., 13 Astor Place, New York. Sat. R.—Saturday Review. $7.50. 33 Southampton St., Strand, London. School R.—School Review. $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Science, n.s.—Science (new series). $5. Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. Spec.—Spectator. $7.50. 1 Wellington St., Strand, London. Yale R.—Yale Review. $3. New Haven, Conn.

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS:

=Abbreviations of Publishers’ Names= will be found in the Publishers’ Directory at the end of The Cumulative Book Index.

=An Asterisk (*) before the price indicates= those books sold at a limited discount and commonly known as net books. Books subject to the rules of the American Publishers’ Association are marked by a double asterisk (**) when the bookseller is required to maintain the list price; by a dagger (†) when the maximum discount is fixed at 20 and 10 per cent, as is allowable in the case of fiction.

=The plus and minus signs= preceding the names of the magazines indicate the degree of favor or disfavor of the entire review.

=In the reference to a magazine=, the first number refers to the volume, the next to the page and the letters to the date.

=No book previously noticed= has its descriptive note reprinted. Books noticed for the first time this month have descriptive note which is set off from excerpts by a dash.

* * * * *

The publications, named above, undoubtedly represent the leading reviews of the English-speaking world. Few libraries are able to subscribe for all and the smaller libraries are supplied with comparatively few of the periodicals from which the digests are to be culled. For this reason the digest will be of greater value to the small libraries, since it places at their disposal, in most convenient form, a vast amount of valuable information about books, which would not otherwise be available.

We shall endeavor to make the descriptive notes so comprehensive, and the digests so full and accurate, that librarians who do not have access to the reviews themselves, will be able to arrive at substantially correct appreciations of the value of the books reviewed.

This is particularly true in regard to the English periodicals, which are practically out of the reach of the ordinary library; we shall endeavor to make the digest of these reviews so complete that there will be little occasion to refer to the original publications.

Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Digests of Reviews appearing in January-December, 1906 magazines

A

=Abbot, Henry L.= Problems of the Panama canal. $1.50. Macmillan.

+ + =Ind.= 59: 1347. D. 7, ’05. 120w.

=Abbott, G. F.= Through India with the prince. *$3.50. Longmans.

As special correspondent for the Calcutta Statesman, Mr. Abbott accompanied the Prince and Princess of Wales on their recent tour thru’ India. The author gives the route of the royal party making the description interesting with receptions and fêtes; he records observations socially and politically; he “touches on every imaginable topic that India offers to a writer.” (Dial.) “Disposed to be epigrammatic, sarcastic, and ironical, in epigram he is sometimes betrayed into excess.” (Lond. Times.)

* * * * *

“The style is, as the French say, ‘tortured,’ or, in other words, there is some straining after effect. We are, nevertheless, able to commend Mr. Abbott’s volume: and his photographs are among the best of the many good Indian photographs we have seen.”

+ – =Ath.= 1906, 1: 478. Ap. 21. 810w.

“The want of descriptive power and the too pronounced personal note are the two blemishes that detract from the main value of the book, which is found in the writer’s comments and observations on the political status of India.” H. E. Coblentz.

+ – =Dial.= 40: 362. Je. 1, ’06. 580w.

“Mr. Abbott made lively use of his exceptional opportunities and shows himself to be a man of, at any rate, independent judgment.”

+ – =Lond. Times.= 5: 134. Ap. 12, ’06. 870w.

“He has not written daily newspaper ‘stories,’ but a book that will quite probably endure.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 11: 342. My. 26, ’06. 160w.

+ =Sat. R.= 101: 530. Ap. 28, ’06. 260w.

“He had opportunities of seeing pageants, and we allow that he has a gift for describing them. But where is his call to deal with the ‘serious problems of British rule?’”

– =Spec.= 96: 624. Ap. 21, ’06. 250w.

=Abbott, Lyman.= Christian ministry. **$1.50. Houghton.

“The book is a valuable one for the modern ministry. It is full of reality, of suggestion, and of inspiration.” J. M. English.

+ + =Am. J. Theol.= 10: 384. Ap. ’06. 830w.

“The book is characterized by keen analysis, comprehensive thought, practical interest, and by vigorous and clean-cut expression.” E. A. Hanley.

+ + =Bib. World.= 27: 394. My. ’06. 350w.

+ – =Cath. World.= 82: 556. Ja. ’06. 210w.

=Acton, Sir John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st baron.= Lord Acton and his circle; ed. by Abbot [Francis Aidan] Gasquet. *$4.50. Longmans.

The letters of Lord Acton render a direct service in throwing light on a personality little known and little understood. “With the exception of a few letters written to Mr. Wetherell, all those here published were addressed to Richard Simpson, one of the most brilliant though least famous of the Oxford converts to Rome, and they are all concerned with the conduct of ‘The rambler,’ ‘The home and foreign review,’ and the other periodicals which occupied the energetic youth of Acton.... We see in the letters how thoroughly Acton was imbued with the principle of growth in religious thought.... We get a series of interesting glances into European and Papal politics before either Bismarck had won his laurels or the Pope had lost his crown.” (Ath.)

* * * * *

“It may be said of the letters as a whole that they will possess most importance to the liberal section of English Catholics, for whom, indeed, the book seems to have been written.”

+ =Acad.= 71: 301. S. 29, ’06. 1530w.

+ + =Ath.= 1906, 2: 472. O. 20. 1510w.

“On the whole the picture of Lord Acton as it appears in this volume is a very favorable one.”

+ + =Cath. World.= 84: 401. D. ’06. 1560w.

“Attractively edited.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 11: 808. D. 1, ’06. 190w.

“The letters contained in the present volume are of surpassing interest.”

+ + =Sat. R.= 102: sup. 3. O. 13, ’06. 1310w.

“The editor has done his work of annotating the letters and explaining the allusions admirably; and it could not have been an easy task.”

+ + =Spec.= 97: 621. O. 27, ’06. 1200w.

=Adams, Andy.= Cattle brands. †$1.50. Houghton.

Life on the frontier in the eighties is vividly portrayed in the fourteen stories which Mr. Adams, “a veteran cowboy,” has included in this volume. These are tales “of the desperado; of man-to-man difficulties; of queer characters; the adventures of the cowboy in the field of politics, the capture of outlaws by rangers; and the ransom of rich rancheros who have been kidnapped.” Some titles are: Drifting North, Bad Medicine, A winter round-up, A college vagabond, The double trail, Rangering, and The story of a poker steer.

* * * * *

“These stories are somewhat slight in texture, more suited to the ephemeral needs of a magazine than a bound volume, but they have a ring of sincerity about them and an insight into essentials.”

+ =Acad.= 70: 577. Je. 16, ’06. 280w.

“To many people they will seem more enjoyable than the longer stories by Mr. Adams. Their merit lies wholly in the obvious truth to life of the scenes.”

+ =Critic.= 48: 571. Je. ’06. 60w.

“The new book will seem to most readers too much like an echo of ‘The log of a cowboy’ to allow of its producing the same effect of sincerity.”

+ – =N. Y. Times.= 11: 197. Mr. 31, ’06. 570w.

Reviewed by Louise Collier Willcox.

– + =North American.= 183: 120. Jl. ’06. 200w.

=Adams, Frederick Upham.= Bottom of the well. †$1.50. Dillingham.

The capture of a smuggling craft by a revenue cutter off the Jamaica coast brings into view the hero of Mr. Adams’ story, a lad of twelve, the charge of the smugglers. Once separated from them, he is adopted and educated by a titled Englishman. From England the scene shifts to New York where young Stanley Deane espouses the cause of some much abused strikers whose plans brew within the four walls of the “Well.” He is convicted of murder, but cleared of the charge when the supposed victim dramatically appears and reads a serious lecture to the supporters of a police system that “makes justice a market place for the employment of incompetence and the enriching of pettifoggers.”

=Adams, Samuel.= Writings of Samuel Adams; ed. by H. A. Cushing. *$5. Putnam.

“In one respect this volume is superior to the first. It indicates with care the reason for attributing newspaper letters and other papers to Adams. Little more if anything can be demanded. The notes are numerous and helpful.” A. C. McLaughlin.

+ + =Am. Hist. R.= 11: 910. Jl. ’06. 1010w. (Review of v. 2.)

“Mr. Cushing has followed Wells too closely, and has not made such a careful, critical study of the contributions to journals as to give his decision the requisite weight.”

+ – =Nation.= 83: 55. Jl. 19, ’06. 460w. (Review of v. 2.)

=Adams, Thomas Sewall, and Sumner, Helen L.= Labor problems: a text book; ed. by Prof. R. T. Ely. *$1.60. Macmillan.

“The ground covered has not been well covered in any other text book. The scope of this book is unusually broad.” John Cummings.

+ – =J. Pol. Econ.= 14: 396. Je. ’06. 1360w.

=Addison, Mrs. Julia de Wolf.= Art of the National gallery: a critical survey of the schools and painters as represented in the British collection. **$2. Page.

“Will be likely to hold its own for several generations.”

+ + + =Acad.= 70: 617. Je. 30, ’06. 220w.

“Is brightly and sympathetically written.”

+ =Int. Studio.= 27: 372. Je. ’06. 60w.

“Is for a person visiting the gallery who has a fair general knowledge of art, one who would like to be guided by impressionistic criticism rather than by accepted scientific connoisseurship.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 927. D. 30, ’05. 300w.

+ – =Spec.= 96: 588. Ap. 14, ’06. 60w.

=Adler, Elkan Nathan.= About Hebrew manuscripts. *$2.50. Oxford.

Nine detached pieces compose this group: Some missing chapters of Ben Sira; An ancient bookseller’s catalogue; Professor Blau on the Bible as a book; A letter of Menasseh Ben Israel; Jewish literature and the diaspora; The humours of Hebrew mss.; The romance of Hebrew printing: and Zur jüdisch-persischen litteratur, by Prof. Bacher.

* * * * *

“Much of his work is, of course, tentative: but he at the same time provides very useful material for further study.”

+ =Ath.= 1906, 1: 666. Je. 2. 230w.

“To the true book worm, to the man who loves ‘erudition’ for its own sake without looking very deep for the substantial contents of rare prints or manuscripts, this work will be welcome.”

+ =Nation.= 82: 21. Ja. 4, ’06. 580w.

=Adler, Felix.= Essentials of spirituality. **$1. Pott.

“In fact Dr. Adler does not mean quite what he says. His theory followed logically would lead us all into a moral Nirvana.” Edward Fuller.

+ – =Critic.= 48: 214. Mr. ’06. 170w.

“Four popular addresses which are very readable and elevating in tone.” E. L. Norton.

+ + =J. Philos.= 3: 413. Jl. 19, ’06. 1600w.

=Adler, Felix.= Religion of duty. **$1.20. McClure.

Reviewed by George Hodges.

=Atlan.= 97: 419. Mr. ’06. 130w.

=Aflalo, Moussa.= Truth about Morocco; an indictment of the British foreign office; with introd. by R. B. Cunninghame Graham. *$2. Lane.

=N. Y. Times.= 11: 41. Ja. 20, ’06. 90w.

=Agnus, Orme, pseud. (John C. Higginbotham).= Sarah Tuldon. [+]75c. Little.

A popular edition of a 1904 book. Sarah Tuldon, an English peasant girl, is the type of heroine which one expects to find in historical novels, but her spirit, energy, good commonsense and generosity are directed towards leavening sordid conditions among the laboring classes. She is self-reared from most unpromising surroundings, and thru never-wearying perseverance reaches a position of self-command and generalship in her community.

* * * * *

“Its greatest claim to importance lies in the artistic and sympathetic treatment the author has given the subject.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 11: 326. My. 19, ’06. 150w.

=Ainger, Alfred.= Lectures and essays. 2v. *$5. Macmillan.

Canon Ainger, “of blessed memory, never forgot in the pulpit that he was a man of letters, or out of it that he was a clergyman.” In these volumes, he “ranges over a wide field, from Chaucer to Tennyson, giving five lectures and two essays to Shakespeare, and writing also of Swift, Cowper, Burns, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Charles Lamb, Dickens, of children’s books, of actors, modern plays, conversation, of wit, and of euphuism.” (Spec.)

* * * * *

“The saving grace in Canon Ainger was his appreciation of perfect language. In his critical estimates we think he very often wandered wide.”

+ + – =Acad.= 69: 1220. N. 25, ’05. 1250w.

“Had the Royal institution lectures been omitted, our judgment might have been much more favourable.”

+ – =Ath.= 1906, 1: 289. Mr. 10. 2180w.

“That the author has found the secret of charm in literature no one who is familiar with his genial and sympathetic work on Lamb needs to be reminded.”

+ =Critic.= 48: 284. Mr. ’06. 100w.

“The two volumes are likely to find contented readers best among those who look for a discussion of style and obvious quality rather than verbal felicities and critical niceties.”

+ =Ind.= 60: 687. Mr. 22, ’06. 350w.

+ + =Lond. Times.= 4: 415. D. 1, ’05. 1010w.

“The two volumes will not take rank as permanent additions to the literature of the English essay, but they form most agreeable reading.”

+ =Outlook.= 82: 324. F. 10, ’06. 210w.

+ + =R. of Rs.= 33: 256. F. ’06. 80w.

“Sanity and sympathy is the keynote of these essays.”

+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 781. D. 16, ’05. 1570w

“It is, indeed, no small merit in a writer when he expresses his most subtle thought with the lucidity, ease, and completeness that are to be found here.”

+ + =Spec.= 96: sup. 118. Ja. 27, ’06. 1570w.

=Alden, Raymond MacDonald.= Knights of the silver shield; with il. by Katharine H. Greenland. †$1.25. Bobbs.

Out of such ingredients as castles, knights, giants, palaces and fairies, the author has fashioned a story for little people abounding in good deeds and true.

* * * * *

+ =N. Y. Times.= 11: 895. D. 22, ’06. 60w.

=Aldin, Cecil Charles Windsor.= Gay dog; pictured by Cecil Aldin. †$1.50. Dutton.

Mr. Aldin’s “gay dog” is a bull terrier owned by an actress. And the creature is as veritable a bit of canine irresponsibility and pomposity as one could imagine. He indulges in the fun-loving, care-free pursuits of his mistress, gets into scrapes, and is finally sent into the country to recuperate. His dog-philosophy is this: “Some dogs are too readily imposed upon—not I.”

* * * * *

“No display of cleverness quite compensates for unsuitability in choice of subject-matter.”

– =Ath.= 1905, 2: 796. D. 9. 30w.

“The text is poor, but Mr. Aldin’s drawings have some spirit.”

+ – =Lond. Times.= 4: 432. D. 8, ’05. 60w.

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 870. D. 9, ’05. 150w.

“This year of a dog’s life is very amusing.”

+ =Spec.= 95: sup. 907. D. 2, ’05. 50w.

=Aldington, Mrs. A. E.= Love letters that caused a divorce. [+]75c. Dillingham.

The title is quite self-explanatory of the contents of the book. A series of letters which at first intend no harm, grow to the proportion of Platonic missives, and later become the unlicensed love-letters that cause a separation.

=Aldis, Janet.= Madame Geoffrin, her salon and her times. **$2.75. Putnam.

From the journals and letters of friends have been gathered the interesting phases of a unique salonist’s life. Madame Geoffrin was “a homely bourgeoise without rank and connections,” yet able to draw about her kings and princes, dukes and maréchals, in short, the literary, artistic and social lights of all Europe. Aside from being simply a diversion, the book sets forth much economic and social history of the latter half of the eighteenth century.

* * * * *

“The central story is well enough told, though in rather a rambling manner.”

+ – =Acad.= 70: 282. Mr. 24, ’06. 670w.

“The scraps of information of which it is made up are of exactly the right kind. We cannot commend the style of the book, which is unpleasantly jerky.”

+ – =Ath.= 1906, 1: 71. Ja. 20. 1340w.

“A most interesting volume.”

+ + =Critic.= 47: 573. D. ’05. 100w.

“It is an extremely vivacious and interesting throng of men and women that pass before us in the pages. The author is an amiable and communicative cicerone.”

+ + =Dial.= 40: 236. Ap. 1, ’06. 510w.

+ + =Ind.= 61: 40. Jl. 5, ’06. 660w.

+ =Lond. Times.= 5: 45. F. 9, ’06. 1060w.

+ =Nation.= 82: 55. Ja. 18, ’06. 270w.

“The volume is remarkably crisp and concise in its treatment of material which in many hands would have remained an incoherent medley, and, what is of prime importance in a work of this kind, its clever and sprightly pages slacken to no dull word.” Jessie B. Rittenhouse.

+ =N. Y. Times.= 11: 30. Ja. 20, ’06. 1250w.

“It is bright, easy, extremely anecdotal, and studded with word-miniatures of the notables of the day.”

+ + =Outlook.= 81: 1084. D. 30, ’05. 210w.

+ =Sat. R.= 101: 402. Mr. 31, ’06. 220w.

“An interesting and readable book.”

+ + – =Spec.= 96: 303. F. 24. ’06. 1820w.

=Aldrich, Richard.= Guide to The ring of the Nibelung. $1.25. Ditson.

“The book furnishes a very helpful aid to the study of Wagner’s great tetralogy.”

+ =Dial.= 40: 97. F. 1, ’06. 40w.

“An analysis which in completeness and usefulness surpasses those of his predecessors.”

+ + =Nation.= 81: 504. D. 21, ’05. 60w.

“Particularly useful to students is the second part of this little book.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 11: 6. Ja. 6, ’06. 260w.

“For general use this guide is most convenient.”

+ =Outlook.= 82: 521. Mr. 3, ’06. 90w.

=Alexander, De Alva Stanwood.= Political history of the state of New York. 2v. ea. *$2.50. Holt.