The book review digest, Volume 13, 1917
Part 3 “Seed time,” are made up of seventeen stories and sketches
telling us how the men in the trenches live, fight and die; in Part 4, “Harvest,” the author tells how British militarism has taught men the valuable lessons “of playing for the side and unselfishness,” but adds that “there must be some other method of teaching the lessons.” Some of the stories are grave, others gay. “Seed time,” the longest story in the book, describes the evolution of Reginald Simpkins, shopwalker, into an expert sniper. “‘The man trap’ relates how a too ingenious subaltern adapted a disused dug-out as a trap for over-curious Germans and caught in it his own general and colonel. ... ‘Bendigo Jones—his tree’ is a whimsical extravaganza on a post-impressionist sculptor, who, not having been exempted through the united efforts of his misguided friends, finds himself in the trenches.” (Spec)
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 D 26 ‘17 400w
“Told with restraint and standing out from the average war fiction for their exceptional literary quality.”
+ =Cleveland= p132 D ‘17 30w
“It is grim, coarse, sentimental, beautiful, gay, solemn and trifling by turns, but, as a whole, undeniably convincing. ... You are half through the middle chapters before you realize how steadily all that has seemed careless and overdone is carrying on toward an overwhelming sense of the kind of soldier who is doing the fighting and paying the price. ‘No man’s land’ is a strange, ill-written, confused and vivid book, pulled out of the frightful turmoil of the present. It is not art, but material for art.”
+ — =N Y Times= 22:380 O 7 ‘17 750w
“‘Sapper’ prefers to present what he knows in the guise of fiction, and yet he often seems to come nearer to the truth than the precise reporter with his field-glasses and his notebook. ... As in most war fiction, humour predominates. The soldiers do not treat the war as a joke, but they are incurably light-hearted, and their laughter helps them to face things too deep for tears. ‘Sapper’ as a jester is typical of a very large class of soldier-authors, but his literary quality is exceptional.”
+ =Spec= 119:169 Ag 18 ‘17 950w
+ =Springf’d Republican= p6 N 5 ‘17 360w
“Will add to the reputation that ‘Sapper’ has already made for himself as a writer of war sketches. ... Unlike Mr Wells, who regards war as an affair primarily of the scientific management of aeroplanes and tanks, ‘Sapper’ teaches that it is upon the craving of the fighting man to kill, no matter what the cost to himself, that the issue depends; and where Mr Wells detects no bright spots but spurs in the officer of the old school, he sees the supreme quality—the power to persuade others to follow him willingly to this killing. ... Without glossing over the horrible, ‘Sapper’ employs the restraint which makes the imagination of the reader its ally. ... His English is crisp without being loose.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p362 Ag 2 ‘17 520w
=SARGENT, PORTER EDWARD.= Handbook of American private schools; an annual publication. (Sargent’s handbook ser.) 3d ed il $2.50 P. E. Sargent, 50 Congress st., Boston 373
“The principal subjects considered are: Boys’ schools (arranged according to geographical position), military schools, girls’ schools, coeducational schools, schools and conservatories of music, schools of art, kindergarten training schools, schools of physical education, schools of expression and dramatic art, schools of the household arts, schools for the deficient, private schools of Canada, boys’ summer camps, girls’ summer camps. The editor supplies a bibliography of works in which principles are discussed. He also adds a list of newspapers and periodicals which treat more or less directly of educational subjects.”—Springf’d Republican
+ =Ind= 91:296 Ag 25 ‘17 70w
“The 1917 edition shows numerous traces of editorial revision, and, considering the inevitable limitations of such a handbook, will be found full of well-classified information. ... While it is impossible that all the information should be critical, the book is workmanlike in all respects and shows a praiseworthy degree of editorial ability.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p15 Ag 19’17 180w
=SARKAR, BENOY KUMAR, and RAKSHIT, HEMENDRA KISHOR.= Folk-element in Hindu culture. *$5 Longmans 294 17-17531
Professor Sarkar’s “contribution to socio-religious studies in Hindu folk-institutions” “is based on a study of some of the folk-arts, folk-traditions, folk-songs, and folk-festivals of Bengal, and is mainly concerned with the relations between Shaiva-cum-Shâktaism and Buddhism, descriptive and historical, among the Bengali-speaking population of eastern India. Several chapters deal with the Gambhîrâ, Gâjan, and Sâhiyâtrâ festivities; others treat of diverse topics, such as physical austerities practised by the people, folk-dances in religious festivals, the socio-religious life of the people of Bengal under the Pâlas, the tantric lore of mediæval Buddhism, and Islam in popular Hinduism. The author arrives at some interesting conclusions, of which two of the most important are that ‘the masses and the folk have contributed to the making of Hindu culture in all its phases no less than the court and the classes,’ and that the caste-system ‘has never been a disintegrating factor in Hindu communal existence, and is most probably a very recent institution.’” (Ath) The author states that this work is to a certain extent complementary to his “Positive background of Hindu sociology.”
=Ath= p302 Je ‘17 200w
“It is a book for the specialist, and for him has unique value.”
=Lit D= 55:42 S 29 ‘17 300w
“Some inductions are questionable, but the work is to be commended if only for the mass of first-hand material here collected.”
+ — =Nation= 105:460 O 25 ‘17 350w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:118 Ag ‘17
“This is a very interesting and valuable book, being, so far as we know, the first detailed and accurate description in English of one of the many and varied rural festivities in which ‘gods’ days,’ as it were, take the place in Bengal of saints’ days in rustic Europe. Mr Sarkar treats exhaustively and with much enthusiasm and humour, of the religious festivities known in different parts of Bengal as the Gamphīrā, the Gājan, or the Sāhi-yātrā; ceremonial.”
+ — =Spec= 119:39 Jl 14 ‘17 850w
“The scheme indicated in the title is too pretentious; the materials which give the book its value are not skilfully presented; and, as regards the religious songs, only an artist like Rabindranath Tagore could preserve the poetical fervour of the originals. At the same time it possesses some merits which make it a useful contribution to the study of popular religion in India, and it is provided with good indexes of subjects, names and references. It owes much of its value to a collection of notes contributed by Mr Haridas Palit. It would have been well if this information had been more largely used.”
– + =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p233 My 17 ‘17 1400w
=SAROLEA, CHARLES.= French renascence, il *$2 Pott (*5s Unwin & Allen, London) 844 17-12613
“In an introduction flaming with love of liberty and love of France, Dr Sarolea outlines the story ... of the awakening of France, in 1914. ... It is of some of the lives, which woven into the fabric of the nation have become inseparable from it, of whom Dr Sarolea writes in these brief essays. ... The studies he presents are of Montaigne, between whom and Nietzsche the author points a most interesting analogy; Pascal, with whom Cardinal Newman is contrasted—‘the two greatest names perhaps in the religious literature of the modern world’; Madame de Maintenon, Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans; ... Rousseau; Marie Antoinette, ‘before the revolution’; Mirabeau, Robespierre, Napoleon—the ‘real Napoleon’ and ‘Napoleon the socialist’; Balzac, Flaubert, Maeterlinck, Bergson and Poincaré.” Boston Transcript
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 My 16 ‘17 530w
— =Cath World= 105:248 My ‘17 370w
“An agreeable but insubstantial collection of occasional articles and book reviews. ... Dr Sarolea writes a clear and fluent, though quite undistinguished style, but it seems a pity that he should permit himself such oddities as ‘impunately’ and ‘presigeotus.’ ... One is grateful for the plain speech concerning the ‘Germanomania’ of the years before the war. ‘Even estimable mediocrities like Eucken were proclaimed original thinkers’ is a specimen.”
+ — =Dial= 62:316 Ap 5 ‘17 200w
=N Y Br Lib News= 3:169 N ‘16
“These essays are exceedingly interesting and marked by genuine critical appreciation and discrimination. There is, for instance, matter of real novelty and value presented in the chapter on the private life of Napoleon I and in the one on Napoleon as a socialist.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:182 My 6 ‘17 150w
“Decidedly anti-German in tone.” M. J.
=St Louis= 15:183 Je ‘17 30w
“It seems a pity that Dr Sarolea, who wrote an excellent book on the Anglo-German problem, should have chosen to praise France in a volume which has rather a cheap air of paradox.”
– + =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p195 Ap 27 ‘16 650w
=SASTRI, K. S. RAMASWAMI.= Sir Rabindranath Tagore: his life, personality, and genius. $2.50 Brentano’s (Ganesh & co., Madras, India)
“A comprehensive biography of Rabindranath Tagore by a fellow countryman gives a more complete interpretation of his genius than it is perhaps possible for an English critic or biographer to undertake. Mr Sastri writes of Tagore’s artistic and spiritual ancestry, and of his share in the new Indian renaissance now going on, and observes that if the European renaissance was the release of the human spirit per se, that of India is the liberation of the human spirit that is in harmony with the divine, and that the genius of the great Bengali poet focalizes the gathering of the forces that will give new birth to liberty.”—R of Rs
“In spite of its flowery style, its endless repetition and triple padding of quotation, his book forms a real addition to our knowledge of Tagore and the mental life of India.”
+ — =N Y Times= 22:68 F 25 ‘17 500w
“Without offense to the spirit and the labors of Mr Ernest Rhys, who has written an admirable life of the Hindu poet, Mr Sastri’s work is in several respects a more satisfying exposition of the genius of Tagore and will be of great assistance to the student of his teachings.”
+ =R of Rs= 54:670 D ‘16 400w
“The enthusiasm of the Madrasi author for the work and teaching of the national poet of Bengal is manifest on every page. ... But the value of the study is marred by diffuseness and frequent repetition. Quotations, relevant and irrelevant, abound, and are often taken from obscure writers.”
+ — =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p382 Ag 10 ‘16 500w
=SATOW, SIR ERNEST MASON.= Guide to diplomatic practice. 2v *$9 Longmans 341.7 (Eng ed 17-14175)
This is the first of a series of Contributions to international law and diplomacy. L. Oppenheim, the general editor, says that the work is unique “with regard to the method of treatment of the subject, as well as the selection of the topics discussed and in the amount of original research which it embodies.” The book is meant to be of service alike to the international lawyer, the diplomatist and the student of history. “For this reason not only the legal side of diplomacy, but also its practical side had constantly to be kept in view, an outline of all the important congresses and conferences had to be included, and the different kinds of international compacts had to be treated in some detail.” Volume 1 consists of two parts, dealing with Diplomacy in general and Diplomatic agents. Volume 2 treats of International meetings and transactions, including chapters on Mediation and Arbitration. Lists of references are given in appendixes.
“A scholarly and exhaustive treatment.”
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:78 D ‘17
“It contains chapters which no serious student of international law can afford to neglect. These volumes are marred by many misprints.” L. B. Evans
+ — =Am Pol Sci R= 11:779 N ‘17 560w
“There are numerous guides diplomatiques and treatises on diplomatic law and practice in other languages but aside from Foster’s ‘Practice of diplomacy’ there is no other work in English which may be compared with this, either in its scope or purpose. It is packed with documentary and other illustrative material: specimen copies of letters of credence, full powers, instructions, extracts from notes, quotations from diplomatic manuals, etc., most of which are printed in the original language in which they were written, this on the principle that the attempt to translate them into English would in many cases impair their value.” J. W. Garner
+ + =Ann Am Acad= 73:240 S ‘17 550w
“These volumes, filled as they are with information upon subjects in reference to which there is a considerable amount of popular misconception, will not only be very valuable for reference, but also of interest to the general reader.”
+ =Ath= p249 My ‘17 200w
“A highly opportune, as well as in many respects remarkably interesting survey. ... The second volume is even more full of interest than the first; but it takes the historical reader over what is likely to be to him more familiar ground, a large portion of which has already been mapped out by previous writers and editors. I do not know why Sir Ernest Satow has not given a fuller list of collections of treaties, from the standard volumes of Koch and Schoell to the useful selection recently put together by Mr R. B. Mowat.” A. W. Ward
* + – =Eng Hist R= 32:418 Jl ‘17 5400w
“Sir Ernest Satow is one of the most distinguished English diplomatists of the last twenty-five years. He has had infinite experience, and unlimited opportunities for observation. He has written a guide to diplomatic practice which supersedes every previous work upon the subject. It is exact, it is exhaustive, it is scholarly.” H. J. L.
+ + =New Repub= 12:80 Ag 18 ‘17 1800w
+ =St Louis= 15:358 O ‘17 50w
“Sir Ernest Satow has written a learned and interesting book. ... Here is a British ambassador revealing to the public the mysteries of diplomatic practice as if it were an ordinary calling and explaining in great detail the niceties of diplomatic etiquette. ... It will be evident that Sir Ernest Satow has no sympathy with the demand for the reform of our diplomatic service which has been heard of late.”
=Spec= 118:673 Je 16 ‘17 2200w
“His experiences as representative of this country at various courts enables him to speak with precision and authority upon points as to which the books are silent or indefinite. Of the existing treatises, some—for example, de Martens’s and Comte Garden’s—are carefully compiled. But they do not always faithfully record the practice of the present day, which has cast off something of the formalism of past times and has not escaped certain democratic influences.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p206 My 3 ‘17 1800w
=SAWYER, RUTH (MRS ALBERT C. DURAND).= Herself, himself and myself. il *$1.35 (2c) Harper 17-25083
The scene is laid partly in America and partly in Ireland. “Herself,” Judith Drene, is the orphan daughter of a rich banker who, after losing most of his money, shot himself; “Myself,” Nora Kelley, is the Irish nurse who mothered her and brought her up; “Himself,” Dr John Fox, is the young Irish doctor, the “wise lad,” who came back from the war and married Judith in the ivy-covered church at Donegal.
“A simple, wholesome story.”
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:98 D ‘17
“A book of sentiment undisguisedly, but of sentiment upon a higher plane, guarded and mellowed by true humour in contrast with that feminine ‘brightness’ which characterises the novel of the ‘glad’ sort.” H. W. Boynton
+ =Bookm= 46:340 N ‘17 100w
“There is even in this earliest part of the book a delightful vein of humor mingling with the sadness.” D. L. M.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 F 6 ‘18 600w
+ =Cleveland= p133 D ‘17 60w
“Evidently intended for those who like an abundance of sugar in their fiction. ... The little tale is very much padded, but it has some dainty bits here and there. The first chapters, which deal with Judith’s childhood, are the best and quite prettily done. Later, the story grows monotonous.”
– + =N Y Times= 22:414 O 21 ‘17 270w
+ =Springf’d Republican= p13 D 16 ‘17 190w
=SCANDLIN, HORACE WINTHROP.= Wicked John Goode. il *$1 (3c) Doran 364 17-11002
Thomas Mott Osborne writes an introduction to this book and Rev. J. G. Hallimond of the Bowery mission adds a word at the end vouching for the truth of the story Mr Scandlin has told. It is the story of a criminal and his reformation. John Goode was incorrigible at the age of ten. At eleven he ran away from home, and at once began his career of crime. He became familiar with every sort of institution from a so-called protectory to Sing Sing. Thru the instrumentality of Mrs Booth, he was set free, but, having no sense of honor, broke parole. Finally he was reclaimed, but not, as Mr Osborne significantly points out, by any of the agencies provided by society. From each of these institutions he emerged a worse man than he went in. He is now said to be one of the workers in the mission to which he owes his regeneration.
“Nothing but hard, cold and sometimes cruel facts are here recorded, if we accept the testimony of the two authorities that flank the narrative. There is, moreover, an inherent evidence in the very graphic recital that John Goode, the ex-convict, is no imaginary person. The book is a stirring appeal to reform our reformatory institutions. ... The Bowery mission, through its spiritual and industrial methods, is doing a unique work, and that work is here sketched.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Je 9 ‘17 280w
“Personally and socially, this is a suggestive and challenging book.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:167 Ap 29 ‘17 320w
=SCARBOROUGH, DOROTHY.= Supernatural in modern English fiction. *$2 (2c) Putnam 823 17-28912
Dr Scarborough’s study covers the nineteenth century, with particular attention to the fiction of the last thirty years. For her beginnings she goes back to Horace Walpole, “the father of the terror novel.” His “Castle of Otranto,” with Mrs Radcliffe’s “Mysteries of Udolpho” and Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” shortly following, was the first of a long line. Modern masters of the supernatural include, among others, Henry James, Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, Algernon Blackwood and Lord Dunsany. The author says, “I deal with ghosts and devils by and large, in an impressionistic way. I don’t know much about them; I have no learned theories of causation. I only love them, I only marvel at their infinite variety and am touched by their humanity, their likeness to mortals.” Contents: The Gothic romance; Later influences; Modern ghosts; The devil and his allies; Supernatural life; The supernatural in folk-tales; Supernatural science; Conclusion; Index. The bibliography, too long for inclusion in this volume, is to be published separately.
=Ath= p659 D ‘17 350w
“Able, comprehensive, and not seldom amusing survey. It is remarkable that there is no allusion to ‘A Christmas carol,’ though less notable works by Dickens are mentioned; and there might have been a reference to Marryat’s striking tale ‘The phantom ship.’”
+ — =Ath= p676 D ‘17 300w
“The last place one would look for a ‘bestseller’ would be among doctors’ theses; yet this book, which more than earned the degree of Doctor of philosophy at Columbia for its author, has such a general appeal that it may conceivably have a large sale.” W: L. Phelps
+ =Bookm= 46:611 Ja ‘18 700w
“Many names of many dealers in the supernatural appear and reappear in Dr Scarborough’s none too well ordered pages. We find references to Poe scattered through the book from its early to its later pages, and of this master of the weird and of many others it is impossible to gain a coherent understanding. ... She has made of her book a storehouse of treasure rather than a systematic history and study.” E. F. E.
+ — =Boston Transcript= p11 O 6 ‘17 950w
— =Dial= 63:590 D 6 ‘17 340w
“One of the few monographs in the field of literature which must have been a pleasure to write. ... The work is beautifully indexed, so that the reader can turn in an instant to his favorite horror.”
+ =Ind= 92:192 O 27 ‘17 150w
“It is one of the most interesting and valuable features of Dr Scarborough’s book that it includes such a host of pertinent examples of supernaturalism of all kinds and that it gives in almost every case some real criticism of the work of the different writers.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:467 N 11 ‘17 1800w
“Will prove entertaining and useful to the reader who wishes to go a-ghosting in the pages of novels.”
+ =R of Rs= 56:553 N ‘17 90w
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p558 N 15 ‘17 50w
=SCHAUFFLER, ROBERT HAVEN=, comp. and ed. Our flag in verse and prose. il *$1.50 Moffat 808.8 A17-959
“Poems, songs and prose extracts under the following heads: Spirit and significance; Old Glory’s history; In praise of Old Glory; Patriotism; Flags; A Flag day story (A man without a country, by E. E. Hale). Contains also an account by Francis Scott Key 3d of the writing of ‘The Star spangled banner,’ a history of the origin and development of the flag and directions for Flag day drills and exercises.”—Cleveland
“He tells the familiar Betsy Ross story without questioning in any way its authenticity. Mr Schauffler’s selections cover a wide range. ... All the familiar songs about the flag are here. ... Mr Schauffler’s book will be a good one to place in the hands of every school teacher and pupil.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Ag 8 ‘17 170w
=Cleveland= p87 Jl ‘17 30w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:123 Ag ‘17
“Contains the best that has been written in verse and prose to inspire patriotic devotion and to interpret the spirit and significance of the flag.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p15 Ag 26 ‘17 100w
=SCHAYER, ERNEST RICHARD.= Good loser. *50c McKay 17-8204
“A tennis expert, out of the game permanently with a broken ankle, happens upon a small boy practising strokes against a barn. He lingers, keen with the discovery of budding talent, and trains the little fellow through the summer in the art and the ethics of the game, to be modest, honest and courageous. Then he enters Billy in the junior tournament in the White mountains and Billy makes good on his teaching and loses the championship by refusing to win on the judge’s error. Incidentally the teacher, and Billy’s father who is in business trouble, learn also how to be good losers.” (Springf’d Republican) The story appeared in the American Magazine, June, 1916.
“It is a short story, just a magazine article bound up in permanent form, but it has in quality what it lacks in quantity. And as for quantity, Mr Schayer tells his story, all that is necessary to tell, and stops. It is complete in its fifty-nine pages.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p17 Jl 1 ‘17 170w
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 13:128 Ap ‘17 20w
=SCHEFTEL, YETTA.=[2] Taxation of land value. *$2 Houghton 336.2 17-235
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“The best part of Miss Scheftel’s work, in the judgment of the reviewer, is the careful and complete account of the complicated land taxes of Australasia, Germany, and Great Britain. Her chapters on the Australasian experience constitute the most comprehensive discussion of this topic that has been given. The account of the German taxes on ‘unearned increment’ is based upon a thorough study of both primary and secondary German sources, and is easily the best account in English. ... The chapter on Municipal taxation in western Canada is less satisfactory, inasmuch as that topic has been much more exhaustively covered in Professor Haig’s report for the New York city committee on taxation of 1916. A few loose statements of economic theory are found. The index is inadequate for nearly five hundred pages of condensed facts.” A. N. Young
+ — =Am Econ R= 7:415 Je ‘17 700w
“Scholarly and thorough, the best work on the subject, but needed only in large or special libraries.”
+ =A L A Bkl= 13:292 Ap ‘17
“The newest and in many respects the best study of what is commonly known as the single tax. An excellent bibliography is appended.”
+ =Am Pol Sci R= 11:596 Ag ‘17 100w
“A judicious, well-balanced treatment of land-value taxation in those countries where the scheme has been chiefly tried. Study is also given to the fiscal, economic and social effects of such taxes. Although single taxers have generally welcomed the adoption of land-value taxation as a vindication of their doctrines, the author points out that ‘not only in method of assessment and levy, but also in their rationale great differences exist’ between the single tax and land-value taxes.” F. T. S.
+ =Ann Am Acad= 72:240 Jl ‘17 300w
“Miss Scheftel’s book is unquestionably an instance of work well done, and every reader will feel that it fully merited the $1,000 first prize awarded to it. Nor can there be any doubt that the contribution is one of real utility. What has been so laboriously brought together, and presented in such orderly and convenient shape, is a matter upon which many students of the land-tax question desire to be informed, and which is not easy of access in the scattered sources from which it has been gathered. The discussion, too, is not only intelligent, but thoroughly fair-minded.”
+ =Nation= 104:656 My 31 ‘17 600w
“The book is a veritable storehouse of information for those interested in the subject and a valuable help toward improvement in methods of taxation.”
+ =Survey= 39:298 D 8 ‘17 420w
=SCHEIFLEY, WILLIAM H.= Brieux and contemporary French society. *$2 (2½c) Putnam 842 17-28835
The author’s purpose is “to explain to American readers the social themes treated by Eugène Brieux in his dramas and their relation to French society.” In preparing the work, he has had two objects in view: “(1) a consideration of both the literary value and the purpose of each play of Brieux; (2) the testimony of other writers, either in critical or in creative work, regarding the conditions that gave rise to a particular play of Brieux and the extent to which it reflects the spirit of the time.” (Preface) The author considers it a matter for regret that American opinion of Brieux should so largely have been formed from “Damaged goods,” which he pronounces one of the dramatist’s poorest plays. Among the social problems to which special chapters are devoted are: The relation between parents and children; Charity, philanthropy, industrial beneficence; Marriage and the dowry; Divorce; Separation and the child; Venereal diseases. “Sincerity,” says the author in conclusion, “is Brieux’s predominant characteristic. ... Other good traits that stand out prominently in his dramas are faith, vigour, and courage.”
“Mr Scheifley does not put forward any pretensions to be a critic of letters; but he has a sound working estimate of the plays of Brieux.”
+ =Ath= p676 D ‘17 140w
=Cleveland= p4 Ja ‘18 50w
“The American public owes a large debt of gratitude to Mr Scheifley for his scholarly and sympathetic treatment of Brieux. He has shown admirably Brieux’s sincerity and versatility, and amply justified, for American eyes, the place accorded to the author in his native land.” B: M. Woodbridge
+ =Dial= 64:67 Ja 17 ‘18 1000w
“This volume of appreciative criticism is an incentive toward a more intimate acquaintance with Eugène Brieux.”
+ =Lit D= 56:35 Ja 26 ‘18 450w
+ =N Y Times= 22:578 D 30 ‘17 150w
“A comprehensive and detailed study.”
+ =R of Rs= 56:552 N ‘17 130w
“A sketch of French life which is well worth study. ... The book is, in the nature of things, superficial.”
+ — =Spec= 119:sup623 D 1 ‘17 1450w
“An able and penetrating survey of the various questions of social and economic life in France as they are reflected in Brieux’s dramas.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p8 N 22 ‘17 750w
“The book is marked by careful industry and attention given to the testimony of other writers.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p542 N 8 ‘17 110w
=SCHEVILL, FERDINAND.= Karl Bitter; a biography. il *$2 Univ. of Chicago press 17-16077
“In a thin volume of less than seventy text pages published under the auspices of the National sculpture society, the sculptor’s brother-in-law, Ferdinand Schevill tells ... the essentially romantic story of the young Austrian who, landing in New York in his twenty-second year with scarce a penny in his pocket, was, before three years had passed, executing the colossal scheme of sculpture upon the Administration building of the World’s fair at Chicago. He was killed by a reckless automobile driver before he had reached the age of forty-eight, having been director of sculpture at three expositions, a member of the Art commission of New York city, and twice president of the Sculpture society. Such a career is evidence enough of an unusual character as well as of unusual talents, and Mr Schevill makes us see the honesty, the energy, the tact, the great organizing ability, and the public spirit which accomplished so much—above all, he makes us see the intense Americanism of one who was an American by choice rather than by the accident of birth.”—Nation
“Remarkable by reason of the easy-flowing but at the same time stately and very formal style in which it is written. The career of Karl Bitter was a genuine romance. ... The biography contains a chronological list of his works and shows what an indefatigable worker he was.” N. H. D.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 18 ‘17 950w
“Fine typography, beautiful paper, and illustrations that tell their tale combine in this treasure for lovers of art and books. The story of Bitter’s life and labors is here told simply, but appreciatively, even tenderly.”
+ =Lit D= 55:39 S 29 ‘17 250w
“Of his talent the thirty-odd illustrations of his works give a fairer opportunity of judging than could be had by anything short of a pilgrimage to the sites of the originals. Decorative art is art in service, and the art of Karl Bitter was always undertaken in the true social spirit.”
+ =Nation= 105:44 Jl 12 ‘17 370w
=Pittsburgh= 22:752 N ‘17 70w
“Worth reading, not merely as a record of facts but as a vital presentation of a life of unusual potency. Forty good halftone illustrations, including two portraits, add to the charm of the volume, and increase its value as a book of reference in the realm of American sculpture.”
+ =School Arts Magazine= 17:44 S ‘17 100w
=SCHIERBRAND, WOLF VON.= Austria-Hungary; the polyglot empire. il $3 (3½c) Stokes 943.6 17-25615
This book is written from the viewpoint of a man who has lived for four years in Austria, which he left only a few months ago, and who has a “sincere liking for and sympathy with the people of Austria-Hungary.” He claims “to be actuated by no conscious bias in dealing with the political, social and racial questions discussed.” He attempts “to afford the reader a sufficient outline of the process of growth and accretion active in creating the Austria-Hungary of today, of the natural resources of the land, and of the vital characteristics of the population; to point out the chief problems of the polyglot nation ... and to define the most feasible means of allaying or removing these difficulties, as these means have gradually shaped themselves in the minds of the thinking and potential elements of Austria-Hungary.” Nearly one-half of the book deals with the war or topics related to the war. A map is pasted on the inside of the back cover of the book.
Reviewed by G. I. Colbron
+ =Bookm= 46:726 F ‘18 2200w
=Boston Transcript= p6 Ja 2 ‘18 150w
“Although on the whole less useful than Geoffrey Drage’s well-known ‘Austria-Hungary,’ it has the advantage of being considerably more recent and more readable. The chief value of the work lies in the fact that it furnishes almost the only intimate account that we have of what has been going on in the Hapsburg dominions since the war began. The volume would gain greatly by being to some extent documented. Important information is given and interesting judgments are passed with no citation of sources, authorities, or other means of corroboration.” F: A. Ogg
+ — =Dial= 63:637 D 20 ‘17 950w
“A happy mean between the scholarly survey and the journalistic war book. It discusses the problems of the country with unusual completeness of scope and moderation of tone, but there is an attempt to interpret the soul as well as the body, to give the meaning of facts as well as the facts themselves.”
+ =Ind= 92:259 N 3 ‘17 750w
+ =Lit D= 55:46 D 29 ‘17 380w
“Wolf von Schierbrand goes well with a little salt. He is an international journalist of repute, with the usual journalistic ambition to influence public sentiment, corrected more or less by the necessity of being interesting. But only an ill humored reader will grumble about it. Moreover, only an ill humored reader will be repelled by Wolf von Schierbrand’s German bias.” A. J.
+ — =New Repub= 13:351 Ja 19 ‘18 1600w
“No one who desires to know the people of Austria-Hungary as they seem to a person of another race with broad sympathies and cultivated human understanding can afford to ignore this instructive and eminently readable volume.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:492 N 25 ‘17 500w
+ =Outlook= 117:514 N 28 ‘17 110w
“The author may be congratulated for having produced a readable and interesting book, and one which should be welcomed by American readers.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p6 N 4 ‘17 390w
=SCHINDLER, KURT=, ed. Songs of the Russian people. pa $1 Ditson 784.8
“The lyrics, translated by Jane and Deems Taylor, are either set to the traditional melodies or to arrangements by modern composers, and are for mixed voices. Many of the ballads date back to mediæval times; all of them are sung to-day by the Russian peasants.”—Dial
“The translators seem to have kept as closely as possible to Russian feeling and diction.”
+ =Dial= 61:356 N 2 ‘16 350w
“Mr Schindler shows exactly the qualities an editor most needs. He has selected and discovered folk-songs and choruses almost unknown here, all of them of high quality. He has arranged and adapted freely, but we can trust his hand in whatever it does. He is at once musician and scholar and member of his own audience. When such an editor is found the publisher should grapple him to his soul.” H. K. M.
+ =New Repub= 7:258 Jl 8 ‘16 150w
=Pittsburgh= 22:317 Ap ‘17 30w
=SCHMIDT, WALTER KARL.= Problems of the finishing room. il $5 Periodical pub. co., Grand Rapids, Mich. 698 16-16704
An “authoritative manual for those employed in the finishing of woods by means of fuming, staining, varnishing, enameling, lacquering, etc. [It] treats of the preparation of the woods and describes in detail the processes required for the various kinds of finish. Directions are given for the selection, preparation and testing of the stains, oils, varnishes, glues and other materials used in wood finishing, and miscellaneous information relating to the work.”—Quar List New Tech Bks
=N Y Br Lib News= 3:190 D ‘16
+ =N Y P L New Tech Bks= p6 Ja ‘17 90w
“The author writes from large experience as chemist and finishing expert.”
+ =Quar List New Tech Bks= Ap ‘17 90w
=SCHNITTKIND, HENRY THOMAS=, ed. Poets of the future. *$1 Stratford co. 811.08 (Eng ed 17-1047)
An anthology of college verse, selected from the undergraduate publications of sixty colleges. The preface says, “Our purpose in publishing this book, which will become an annual event, is two-fold. We want to encourage the best literature in the universities, and to show to the poetry lovers in this country what a wealth of gems of the purest ray has hitherto been inaccessible to the public.” In his introduction William Stanley Braithwaite expresses a belief that the anthology will have a deep interest for those unassociated with academic life, “for its expression flows from a deeper impulse, an impulse for the renewal of one’s fresh attachment with life at the source of dreams. In the poetry world it may well serve as the yearly spring of song.”
=A L A Bkl= 14:15 O ‘17
“The poetry that it contains fully justifies the effort expended upon the collection. Not a few of the pages of the book reveal more than one poet of the present that has astonished the reader with a note of deep maturity where at best a pleasant promise was expected. The selections have been made with unassuming catholicity.” I. G.
+ =Boston Transcript= p8 D 8 ‘17 1800w
“Less than one third of the poems are by college women, and the larger women’s colleges, Smith, Vassar, Bryn Mawr and Wellesley, are not represented in the collection, although the literary periodicals of many of the smaller institutions, coeducational and otherwise, have been drawn upon for contributions.”
=Cleveland= p65 My ‘17 100w
“There is a freshness about the whole collection that is delightful.”
+ =R of Rs= 55:437 Ap ‘17 200w
=SCHNITZLER, ARTHUR.= Comedies of words, and other plays; Englished from the German with an introd. by Pierre Loving. *$1.50 Stewart & Kidd 832 17-13750
The so-called “comedies of words” included in this volume are three: The hour of recognition; The big scene; The festival of Bacchus. To these are added two other plays: Literature and His helpmate. The three comedies of words were published in 1915 and represent, the preface states, the most recent product from Schnitzler’s pen. The translator says, “Though they will scarcely enhance his reputation to any great extent, they continue in the tradition of his best work.” “Literature,” a witty farce, written in 1901, has been played by the Washington Square players of New York city.
+ — =Cleveland= p122 N ‘17 80w
“A translation of Schnitzler’s “einakters” has a more than timely interest. For fifteen years he has been one of the most-followed teachers to a large school of playwrights who have been supplying the intimate playhouses of Europe with realistic short pieces, and recently his influence has been extended to the young American dramatists whose one-act plays are being presented in our own Little Theatres. ... The first thing to strike the reader of these plays is that the plot of every one has a sexual basis. Taken alone each situation is perfectly possible; taken as a collection they are unnatural. ... We miss ‘the average man.’ To comprehend this characteristic of his work we must remember that Schnitzler is a practising physician, a specialist in psychology, a student of Freud. He is so keenly interested in pathological psychology that the normal human being does not interest him at all.” W. Haynes
* + – =Dial= 63:63 Jl ‘17 900w
— =Ind= 91:514 S 29 ‘17 60w
“In the normal drama Schnitzler’s art is fragile, not to say fleeting; in the one-act play it is compact, serried, tingling, spicular. No lover of address can afford to neglect these virtuosities; if they share the leisurely retrospect of Ibsen in the snugness of their packing they rival the master himself. ... The final judgment on Schnitzler will hardly be altered by the succinct vigor of these masterly vignettes. He lacks body and he lacks soul. In Schnitzler passion has the tenuity of sentiment, and guilt has the tastelessness of innocence. The translation is plebeian, but not unreadable.”
+ — =Nation= 105:225 Ag 30 ‘17 760w
“Mr Loving’s translation is never very good, mediocre most of the time, now and then very bad. ... A reason for buying this English version is that the original ‘Komödie der worte’ (Berlin: S. Fischer, 1915) cannot now be had in this country, except by a lucky accident. The only copy I’ve been able to lay my hands on is in the reference department of the New York public library.” P. L.
+ — =New Repub= 11:308 Jl 14 ‘17 1050w
“Schnitzler is Freud turned dramatist. His great power consists in his building plays not upon the broad basis of general and tested character values, but upon the psychology of our occasional lapses away from the average, our hidden emotional unleashings, sudden angers and momentary caprices.”
+ =R of Rs= 56:444 O ‘17 110w
“Mr Schnitzler keeps his literary fabric delicate, and his irony permits his readers to believe that he, too, is much amused by his characters, and is wisely refusing to idealize any of them, or to give them more importance than they deserve. The ‘littleness’ of the plays is thus justified to the artistic consciousness. The translation lacks elegance, but preserves the suggestiveness of the original dialog.”
=Springf’d Republican= p15 Ag 5 ‘17 230w
=SCHOLTZ, MOSES.= Sex problems of man in health and disease; a popular study in sex knowledge. *$1 Stewart & Kidd 612.6 16-15024
“Five-sixths of the book covers clearly, scientifically and accurately diseases of sex organs in man. A small part only is given to anatomy, physiology and sex hygiene.”—A L A Bkl
“Has a high moral tone—the author heartily disapproves of a double standard. Of use to parents, teachers and workers with boys.”
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:11 O ‘17
“Written by one who has had wide experience in dealing with sex problems, it can be commended for its sanity.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p7 Mr 11 ‘17 150w
=SCHROEDER, THEODORE ALBERT.= Free speech for radicals. enl ed $1.50 (2½c) Free speech league 323 16-1728
“This edition of ‘Free speech for radicals’ has doubled its size and the added parts are the most important.” (Foreword) Among the additions are a chapter on Methods of constitutional construction, an account of the San Diego free speech fight, and a reprint of a section from the Final report of the Commission on industrial relations.
“This book might appropriately be entitled ‘Free speech for I. W. W.’s and anarchists,’ for on the whole it undertakes the defense of this ‘most despised of all classes.’ In general, the writer treats his subject in a dispassionate manner and the book makes interesting reading, but the reader frequently is challenged to make active rejoinders to the many sweeping conclusions.”
– + =J Pol Econ= 25:1055 D ‘17 950w
=Nation= 103:381 O 19 ‘16 150w
“It is, perhaps, needless to say to our Socialist and radical readers that the questions of free speech and free press will, during the war, assume a most tremendous importance as a subject of discussion, public and legal. And in this connection we might mention that the voluminous and careful works of Theodore Schroeder, a special student of this matter and others pertaining to it, are, perhaps, the best, most accurate and authoritative literature procurable.” J. W.
+ =N Y Call= p14 Je 3 ‘17 280w
=St Louis= 15:47 F ‘17
“The book will chiefly interest students of anarchist and I. W. W. literature and development.”
=Springf’d Republican= p13 F 7 ‘16 70w
=SCHULER, PHILLIP F. E.= Australia in arms. il *12s 6d T. Fisher Unwin, London 940.91
This book deals with the formation of the Australian imperial expeditionary force, and their work in Egypt, on the Suez canal and at Gallipoli. The history is complete to the date of publication.
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:89 Je ‘17
“A capital account of the part played at Anzac by the Australian imperial force.”
+ =Sat R= 123:484 My 26 ‘17 200w
“There have been many books written about the Gallipoli campaign. ... Some of them have been masterly, some of them hasty, and a few frankly inaccurate. So far none have purported to be thorough histories of the whole undertaking, nor does Mr Schuler make this claim for his book. ... The author contents himself with chronicling the campaign from the Australian point of view. ... The maps and illustrations are excellent and new.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p566 N 30 ‘16 1100w
=SCHULTZ, JAMES WILLARD.= Gold cache. il *$1.25 (3½c) Houghton 17-24276
This book follows the author’s earlier stories, “With the Indians in the Rockies” and “On the war path.” Thomas Fox and his friend Pitamakan, with a third youth for companion, start southward on a search for gold. Lone Chief, who has come into Fort Benton with a handful of “buttons,” which prove to be twenty-dollar gold pieces, has started them on their way, saying that he had left four boxes of the supposedly valueless trinkets back in the pass, where he had accidentally come upon them. The quest takes the boys far down into the Apache country, and they have many adventures by the way.
“A good Indian story, well told, and possessing elements which will satisfy the normal boy’s taste for adventure in a wholesome manner.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p8 N 10 ‘17 20w
=Ind= 92:448 D 1 ‘17 30w
+ =N Y Times= 22:565 D 16 ‘17 70w
+ =Outlook= 117:142 S 26 ‘17 20w
=SCHWAB, CHARLES M.= Succeeding with what you have. il *50c (6c) Century 174 17-3316
A series of short papers reprinted from the American Magazine. Mr Schwab writes of: Thinking beyond your job; How men are appraised; Seizing your opportunities; The college man in business; What your employer expects; My twenty thousand partners; Men I have worked with; Woman’s part in man’s success.
+ =A L A Bkl= 13:286 Ap ‘17
+ =Boston Transcript= p8 F 21 ‘17 150w
+ =Cleveland= p67 My ‘17 40w
“Mr Schwab seems to have sized up what his normal readers want in the way of a ‘secret of success’ book and gives them maxims and hints well worth following.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p17 Mr 18 ‘17 200w
=SCHWARZ, OSIAS L.= General types of superior men. *$2.50 Badger, R: G. 136 17-1805
“The writer is an immigrant from Rumania though evidently German by blood and tongue.” (Nation) His book is “a philosophico-psychological study of genius, talent and Philistinism in their bearings upon human society and its struggle for a better social order.” (Sub-title) “The point of view of the book is the need to society of both intellectual and moral geniuses.” (Springf’d Republican) There is a preface by Jack London, and an introductory letter by Dr Max Nordau.
“Jack London wrote of the book that it was ‘one of those immortal epoch-making works which appear only at very long intervals and which leave an indelible constructive impression in the mind of the world.’ Dr Nordau did not hesitate to declare that the work was ‘dogmatic, not scientific,’ that it contained statements which he, Nordau, ‘deemed dubious and that the analysis of hereditary influences in the formation of genius was hazy.’ The critic also doubted the author’s conviction that socialistic society would show none of the vices which the author pictured in civilized society.” H. S. K.
=Boston Transcript= p6 Je 2 ‘17 880w
“His control of English syntax is faulty. ... Beneath the radical prejudice and, it must be said, occasional naïve ignorance, one discerns an attitude not only introspective, but deeply reflective, a certain fine insight, and a genuine humanity, fairness struggling with prejudice.”
– + =Nation= 105:155 Ag 9 ‘17 250w
“The book is full of this sort of muddiness, and yet there is often, we willingly recognize, a striking suggestiveness. The chief merit of the book is in its passionate insistence on the imperativeness of making the most of really superior men.”
– + =Nature= 100:125 O 18 ‘17 340w
“It is a fine book for those fatigued minds that in the misty phrases of ‘social consciousness’ and the like try to disguise their basic terror before the individual intellect.”
+ — =New Repub= 13:27 N 3 ‘17 280w
=N Y Call= p15 S 16 ‘17 270w
“It is vastly stimulating reading and much can be gathered from its torrential attack upon Philistinism. ... Mr Schwarz’s ideas would have been promulgated to better effect if the material had been divided between two or more volumes.”
+ — =R of Rs= 56:331 S ‘17 200w
“An argument for socialism bolstered up with philosophical and ethical generalizations. ... Shows a certain amount of independent thinking ... but is scattering in aim, and extremely diffuse in expression.”
– + =Springf’d Republican= p15 Ag 26 ‘17 250w
=SCOLLARD, CLINTON.= Let the flag wave, and other verses written in wartime. 75c J. T. White & co., 70 5th av., N.Y.; for sale by Baker 811 17-17071
Among the “other verses” are: At the grave of Lawrence; America to her young men; Reeds of the Somme; Chant of the Hun; Mother England; and Kitchener of Khartum. The cream colored binding is not well suited to library use.
“In this sort of writing Mr Scollard’s high spirits and power to write convincingly stand him in good stead.”
+ =Lit D= 55:31 Jl 14 ‘17 700w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:108 Jl ‘17
=SCOTT, CHARLES ERNEST.= China from within; introd. by J. Ross Stevenson. il *$1.75 Revell 915.1 17-31762
“For many years a missionary of the Presbyterian church at Tsingtau, Dr Scott’s lectures delivered in the winter of 1914-15 at Princeton theological seminary have an authority sometimes lacking in the books recording the impressions and experiences of the ordinary traveller. For Dr Scott has not only journeyed over the greater part of China, including provinces seldom visited by aliens, but he has lived among the people, learning, as in no other way can be done their real life and the most pressing of their many needs. ... ‘An humble testimony by a student on the field to the ability and achievements of the Chinese,’ he himself calls his book.”—Boston Transcript
“His book is as interesting and valuable to the general reader as to those concerned with the problems of mission work.” F. B.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 N 17 ‘17 780w
“Little is said here about politics, revolutions or international relations. But real insight is given into the regenerative forces that are at work creating a manhood that some day will take high place in China’s development.”
+ =Ind= 93:200 F 2 ‘18 100w
“A careful study.”
+ =Outlook= 117:476 N 21 ‘17 60w
“Dr Scott presents a body of material concerning the inner life of the Chinese such as can hardly be found in any other published book.”
+ =R of Rs= 57:219 F ‘18 40w
=SCOTT, DIXON.= Men of letters; with an introd. by Max Beerbohm. il *$2 (2c) Doran 820.4
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
=A L A Bkl= 13:303 Ap ‘17
“One of the most serious losses due to the war has been the death of Dixon Scott. ... Scott was not merely an acute critic or interpreter, or that commonplace of to-day, the good impressionist. He was one of those who penetrate through the book into the mind of the author, and show how it works. Like Sainte-Beuve, he saturated himself so completely in the man he was studying that he endued his personality.”
+ =Ath= p85 F ‘17 1350w
“His judgments may challenge some readers: me they merely fascinate. ... I want a figure to intrigue my imagination, and Dixon Scott has offered me a gallery.” J. W. Linn
+ =Dial= 62:184 Mr 8 ‘17 950w
“Dixon Scott was an exceedingly clever young man, with a most remarkable specific literary talent. Reading his criticisms is like watching revolver practice by a crack shot: the explosiveness of the style and the swiftness of the devastation hide the monotony of the mood and method. His longest and most deeply felt effort was an essay on William Morris: his most elaborated, an essay on me. ... I have no space here to do more than point out the limitations of Dixon Scott’s view of art, and how the young literary voluptuary flourished at the expense of the critic of life. But I can guarantee the book as being not only frightfully smart in the wrong places, but, in the best of the right ones, as good as it is in the nature of the best journalistic criticism to be.” G. B. S.
* =New Repub= 10:78 F 17 ‘17 1900w
“Aesthetic excitement—that is his distinguishing note. ... It was Dixon Scott’s excellent gift that he could both brilliantly detect and unforgettably convey. ... Here is a genuine student of life: an observer both shrewd and sweet, gallant, full of charm and vigor; an interpreter of brilliant insight, of poetic imagination, of extraordinary craft. One is not easily reconciled to his sacrifice.” Lawrence Gilman
+ =No Am= 205:620 Ap ‘17 1450w
=Pratt= p37 O ‘17 10w
+ =Spec= 118:306 Mr 10 ‘17 60w
“To find a given writer’s medium, compare his normal with his sophisticated self, and complete the curve of variation from his theoretically possible achievement, is the task of criticism as it presents itself to Dixon Scott. The resulting method has the breathless fascination of hurdle-racing. One may disagree with his opinions and resent his premises, but one must recognize the dynamic energy of the thinking involved.” M. A. Jordan
+ + — =Yale R= n s 7:202 O ‘17 1300w
=SCOTT, MRS ELLEN (CORRIGAN).= Elizabeth Bess, “a little girl of the sixties.” il *$1.25 (2c) Macmillan 17-24271
Perhaps it is for its picture of New England life in the years immediately following the Civil war that this book for girls will be most valued and for that reason many older people will enjoy it. Elizabeth Bess is a winsome little girl of five, who lives in a bewildering world of older brothers and sisters and other grown people. There is one older brother whom Elizabeth does not remember very well, for she was only a baby when he went to war and he has been “missing” since Gettysburg. Elizabeth Bess knows what missing means. She knows that it does not mean dead, or lost forever, and she persists in her faith in the face of all the grown-up discouragement, even after Howell’s mother and sweetheart are ready to give up hope. And Bess’s perseverance is rewarded by the missing brother’s return.
“A not over sentimentalized picture of the life of a charming little girl of the sixties. ... It is not written for children, though they would enjoy parts of the story.”
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:62 N ‘17
+ =Ind= 92:447 D 1 ‘17 20w
“A real little classic. Elizabeth Bess is a heroine in whom little readers and older ones may well be interested. She is a human child, with a quick tongue, a wide-awake mind, an intense interest in everything about her.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:548 D 9 ‘17 440w
=SCOTT, ERNEST.= Short history of Australia. maps *$1.25 Oxford 994 17-14803
“A handy, clear, and well-written history, skilfully adjusting the narrative to the limits of a small volume without rendering it unattractive; equipped with a great many useful maps; and at the end a bibliography for each chapter. Index 15 pages.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“Prof. Ernest Scott occupies the chair of history in the University of Melbourne. His ‘Short history’ is a model of its kind. Based on firsthand knowledge of the sources, written in a clear, masculine style with an agreeable literary flavor, well proportioned, judicial in tone, equipped with such aids to the understanding as maps, plans, chronology, bibliography, and index, this admirable work will take its place at once as a prime authority on Australia.”
+ =Nation= 104:598 My 17 ‘17 1300w
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p626 D 21 ‘16 80w
=SCOTT, JAMES BROWN=, ed. Diplomatic documents relating to the outbreak of the European war; with an introd. 2v *$5 Oxford 940.91 16-18046
“Evidently it is the purpose of this work to furnish the student with the best and most comprehensive collection of the sources, but not to assist him further in the study of them, except that there is a large and excellent index. The documents are printed from the originals, when these are in English, and when in other languages from the official English translations. This collection is the most complete hitherto published, and contains besides the documents usually assembled the second ‘Austrian red book,’ concerning relations with Italy, most of the ‘Second Belgian gray book,’ the second ‘British blue book,’ relating to the rupture of relations with Turkey, the ‘Italian green book,’ and the second ‘Russian orange book,’ concerning relations with Turkey.”—Am Hist R
“Should be the standard collection on the subject for some time to come.” E: R. Turner
+ =Am Hist R= 22:657 Ap ‘17 400w
=Pittsburgh= 22:530 Je ‘17 50w
=Pratt= p42 O ‘17 10w
“To the many books dealing with the outbreak of the war, the Carnegie Endowment for international peace has now added their contribution. For such a collection there is a real place. Some two years ago the British government, indeed, published a work similar in character, ‘Collected diplomatic documents relating to the outbreak of the European war’; so far as it went that seemed fully to meet all requirements; the volumes before us, however, are larger in their scope in that they include material which has appeared since then; for instance, the ‘Second Belgian grey book’ and the new edition of the ‘German white book.’ ... On the whole, it seems to us that it would have been wiser if the Carnegie institute had undertaken more immediate responsibility for the revision of the various translations.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p50 F 1 ‘17 850w
=SCOTT, JOHN REED.= Man in evening clothes. il *$1.50 (2c) Putnam 17-14179
In an amateur way, Colin Marjoribanks, an under-secretary of the British embassy in Washington, had been picking up valuable gems here and there, taking advantage of the carelessness of his women friends. From one he has obtained a fine pearl, from another an emerald necklace, from another several valuable rings. He is holding these until the time is safe for their disposal, when a professional jewel thief appears on the scene, “the man in evening clothes.” This unknown appears perfectly familiar with Colin’s little depredations and so holds him in his power. It is just at this time that the Hon. Patricia Packingham arrives from England, and the young secretary begins to see the error of his way. His efforts to get himself out of an awkward scrape come to a climax with a demand from the unknown thief that he act as a tool in robbing the British embassy. This forces confession, and forgiveness follows.
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:62 N ‘17
=Boston Transcript= p6 Je 13 ‘17 380w
“The story is entertainingly written and sufficiently ingenious, while the picture of Washington society is amusing.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:214 Je 3 ‘17 270w
“Stories of this trashy type do Mr Scott, who ordinarily is a diverting romancer, no credit.”
— =Springf’d Republican= p15 Jl 15 ‘17 230w
=SCOTT, RHEA CLARKE.= Home labor saving devices. il *$1 Lippincott 643 17-8895
The author, who is a rural extension worker, gives directions for the making at home or in school of labor saving devices, for the kitchen, dining-room, porch, poultry house, dairy, etc. The appendix includes: Fundamentals in woodworking; Suggested list of tools; List of publications for supplementary reading (chiefly government documents).
=Agricultural Digest= 2:505 Je ‘17 100w
+ =A L A Bkl= 13:385 Je ‘17
=Ath= p523 O ‘17 80w
=Cleveland= p112 S ‘17 30w
+ =Ind= 90:353 My 19 ‘17 30w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:71 My ‘17
+ =N Y Call= p15 O 28 ‘17 210w
=Pittsburgh= 22:523 Je ‘17
=Pratt= p25 O ‘17 30w
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 13:155 My ‘17 50w
=SCOTT, WILLIAM BERRYMAN.= Theory of evolution. *$1 (2c) Macmillan 575 17-7196
This book, by the Blair professor of geology and palæontology in Princeton university, contains the Westbrook lectures delivered at the Wagner free institute of science, Philadelphia, in 1914. The author treats his subject with special reference to the evidence upon which the theory of evolution is founded. Contents: Present status of the question; Evidences for the theory—classification, domestication and comparative anatomy; Evidence from embryology and blood tests; Evidence from palæontology; Evidence from geographical distribution; Evidence from experiment—conclusion.
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:82 D ‘17
“The opening chapter gives a brief historical review of theories of evolution and a concise statement of the present status of the question. I have seen no better presentation of this body of data for both biologist and general reader than that given in this little book. My only criticism is that it is insufficiently illustrated, although the few illustrations used are well chosen.” H. H. Newman
+ =Bot Gaz= 63:325 Ap ‘17 130w
“The evidence for his thesis is presented honestly without forcing facts or ignoring flaws.”
+ =Cath World= 105:394 Je ‘17 280w
+ =Cleveland= p109 S ‘17 60w
+ =Educ R= 54:528 D ‘17 40w
+ =Ind= 92:260 N 3 ‘17 50w
“Then follows a chapter on evidences drawn from embryology, and also from the wholly unexpected field of blood-tests. This part of the volume will be of special interest to readers who have not kept themselves informed as to this remarkable advance in science. The chapter on evidence from palæontology maintains complete perspective, although there was some danger that the author’s studies in this particular direction might throw the sketch out of true.”
+ =Nation= 104:717 Je 14 ‘17 300w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:60 Ap ‘17
“The layman in search of a summary of the present status of the theory of evolution will find in Professor Scott’s volume a straightforward, clear-cut and simple presentation of the most important single contribution to science in the nineteenth century. ... The book is valuable for its restraint and for the liberality of its view.” D: Rosenstein
+ =N Y Call= p14 Je 3 ‘17 700w
=Pittsburgh= 22:414 My ‘17 50w
=St Louis= 15:327 S ‘17 10w
+ — =Springf’d Republican= p6 O 29 ‘17 270w
=SCOTT, WILLIAM ROBERT.=[2] Economic problems of peace after war; the W. Stanley Jevons lectures at University college, London, in 1917. *$1.40 (3½c) Putnam 304 (Eng ed 17-28670)
An indication of the course which progress may be expected to take after the war rather than a prediction of details. A study of emergency measures made “for the duration of the war” naturally gives rise to questions concerning the continuance of state and government control of activities, economic and industrial, after the war. Concerning commerce the writer reflects that warfare has extended into the third dimension and that it is possible, with the perfection of submarines and airships, commerce may do the same. But, he says, “there can be no single forecast of the future of commerce and industry in the first years of peace. ... It will take time to direct the new national spirit to industry and to utilize it to the full.” He believes that the economy practised during these days will become habitual; that the increased capital as a result of saving will aid in the reconstruction of industry when peace returns. Finally, he develops a new responsibility in industry. Industry is to be conceived not as an evolutionary process but as a problem, that of attaining a harmonious relation among men concerned in production.
“Professor Scott is more concerned to lay down broad principles than to attempt any very definite prediction of what the peace will bring us, and for that reason alone his book deserves attention.”
+ =Spec= 119:193 Ag 25 ‘17 120w
“The author takes what seems to us to be a sane but cheerful view of the future. If he is sometimes a trifle prosy and occasionally a little obscure, he has the excuse of the traditions of the great science of which he is a distinguished exponent.”
+ — =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p314 Jl 5 ‘17 950w
=SCOVELL, CLINTON HOMER.= Cost accounting and burden application. *$2 Appleton 657 16-22873
“The principles and elements of cost are treated by Mr Scovell rather than any specific system of cost keeping. The determination and application of overhead charges or burden are given a prominent place. The five methods of applying burden are: Percentage on wages, percentage on labor and material, man-hour rates, old-machine rate, new-machine rate. ... Material and material cost with reference to the practice of machine shops are discussed in chapter 3. The succeeding chapter is on labor costs. The later chapters deal with cost accounting for special industries. ... The author states that every method and device mentioned in the book is in successful operation in some progressive industrial establishment.”—Engin N
“Probably the most important thing in the whole book, certainly the one about which there has been least written, is what the author calls ‘unearned burden.’ ... The work is to be recommended to managers, accountants, and students of cost accounting, chiefly for the fundamental principles discussed, and the very great number of suggestions offered.” M. M. FitzHugh
+ =Am Econ R= 7:137 Mr ‘17 850w
=A L A Bkl= 13:251 Mr ‘17
“The author would probably feel that his chief contribution lies in his treatment of unearned burden. ... The work at once is both scholarly and practical, and should rank high among the books in this country on the subject.” Spurgeon Bell
+ =Ann Am Acad= 71:225 My ‘17 400w
=Engin N= 77:108 Ja 18 ‘17 300w
“Closely related to the absence of accounting forms is the lack of any adequate presentation of the relations between cost accounting and the general accounting system of the business making use of cost accounts. The book falls short of establishing completeness as a treatise on cost accounting by reason of the conscious emphasis upon the order method of production and the corresponding neglect of the process method and of the so called continuous industries. The book contains particularly good chapters upon unearned burden, interest as an element of cost, the verification of burden estimates, and the budget system.”
=J Pol Econ= 25:639 Je ‘17 300w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:24 F ‘17
“Author is a specialist in industrial accounting. He is of the modern school. ... The book is not a systematic treatise, suitable for students, but is a logical discussion of general principles. ... It should be read by practical accountants who wish to be informed as to the latest and best theory of their profession.” W: Kent
+ =Pittsburgh= 22:465 My ‘17 50w (Reprinted from Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers p369 Ap ‘17)
=R of Rs= 55:221 F ‘17 40w
+ =Springf’d Republican= p17 N 25 ‘17 40w
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 13:23 Ja ‘17 60w
=SCUDDER, VIDA DUTTON.= Church and the hour; reflections of a socialist church woman. *$1 Dutton 261 17-10459
This book “attempts a reconciliation between the faith of the church and the ideals of social reform by showing the identity of the two. The author, who is a professor in Wellesley college, looks upon the church as primarily a social organization and social force, and believes that the more the corporate ideal is stressed the nearer the church is to fulfilling its task in society. As to socialism, the author asserts that it is incomplete and impotent unless it take account of the fact that man has a soul. Intensely individualistic Christianity and anti-Christian socialism are believed by Miss Scudder to be powerless half-truths.”—Springf’d Republican
=Cleveland= p106 S ‘17 80w
“The great question is, Can a democratic society believe in the Christian God? The question is not settled, but it is one of the most important that we have before us to-day. Any intelligent discussion of it must be of value.” Ward Swain
=Dial= 62:523 Je 14 ‘17 900w
“Miss Scudder is less vague than most others who are lamenting the breakdown of Christianity with a sneer at the parson. Herself a Socialist, she has some ideas as to how the church might enforce principles of social justice and thus ensure international stability.”
+ =Nation= 104:635 My 24 ‘17 220w
=N Y Times= 22:223 Je 10 ‘17 370w
=Pratt= p8 O ‘17 10w
“Anyone who believes that socialism and Christian faith are antagonistic to each other will be interested in Miss Scudder’s argument in the chapter entitled ‘Two letters to The Masses.’ ... The book is well written though the material is at times somewhat fragmentary. Throughout the reader is attracted by the note of mysticism and the faith in humanity.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p19 My 27 ‘17 270w
“Both at its heights of social hope and its depths of religious idealism this volume lacks a practical hold on the unity of a human life. It fails to show just how the church, which cannot be regarded as a separate body, can yet be so separate from the people constituting it that it can dwell apart on a higher level while they themselves must so largely live and labor on the ‘lower range of the natural life.’” Graham Taylor
– + =Survey= 38:370 Jl 28 ‘17 650w
=SCUDDER, VIDA DUTTON.=[2] Le morte d’Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory and its sources. *$3.50 Dutton 398.2 17-31449
“The author is professor of English literature in Wellesley college, and the book is the outcome of fifteen years of study with her college classes. The volume is concerned with Arthurian romances intimately connected with England and deals with the sequence leading up to the ‘Morte d’Arthur’ of Malory. The development of the romances through the centuries is studied, with now and then a glance at the form they took on the continent, the author constantly comparing the sources from which Malory drew with his own treatment of characters and incidents and constantly finding in the romances the reflection of life and thought, and feeling during mediaeval times. ... The first half of the book is devoted to a consideration of the sources from which Malory drew his material, but the second part takes up Malory’s work and after a chapter on the man and his book goes on to examine, discuss and interpret the various elements of his ‘Morte d’Arthur.’”—N Y Times
“She has made a brilliant contribution to the subject of mediaeval romance merely by the comprehensiveness with which she has surveyed the results of modern investigation, the thoroughness with which she has mastered and digested them and the very readable style in which she has presented her narrative. Her book is a work of fine scholarship, but it is also written in so interesting a manner that it deserves the popular reading for which it is intended.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:549 D 9 ‘17 600w
“What she has done here is of permanent value and is presented with sincere literary effort.”
+ =Outlook= 117:654 D 19 ‘17 50w
=SEAMAN, MRS AUGUSTA HUIELL.= Girl next door. il *$1.25 (3c) Century 17-24404
The author of “The boarded-up house” and “The sapphire signet” has written a new story for girls which now appears in book form after serial publication in St Nicholas. The old house next door appears to be deserted, for its shutters are always closed. Marcia and Janet, however, early discover that there are signs of life about it, and their interest, already aroused at the first hint of mystery, is intensified when they learn that the place shelters a young girl. When they succeed in making friends with Cecily they expect the puzzle to solve itself, but they are only more mystified, for Cecily herself does not know why she has been brought to live in the strange house. And, stranger still, Miss Benedict, its veiled mistress, does not know who Cecily is or from where she has come. Genuine love for Cecily takes the place of curiosity as the motive that drives the two girls on to the solution of the mystery.
“An entertaining mystery story for girls.”
+ =A L A Bkl= 14:101 D ‘17
Reviewed by J: Walcott
+ =Bookm= 46:499 D ‘17 100w
+ =Ind= 92:447 D 1 ‘17 20w
“As real a mystery story as ever was written for grown-ups.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:547 D 9 ‘17 90w
=SEARS, CHARLES HATCH.= Edward Judson, interpreter of God. il $1 Am. Bapt. 17-14394
“One of his friends, the Rev. Charles H. Sears, has sketched the events and the motives of Dr Judson’s public life. Against the background of his childhood in Burma, his orphaned boyhood in America, and his life as student and teacher and pastor of a prosperous suburban church, stands out his heroic venture in founding an institutional church in downtown New York. Like his great father, Adoniram Judson, he had the spirit of the pioneer, and his was one of the first expressions of the social ministry of the modern city church for all sorts and conditions of men.”—Lit D
“Sympathetic portrayal of an unselfish life.”
+ =Lit D= 55:41 N 3 ‘17 160w
“This volume would have been of greater value to the public if its author had not been requested to treat Dr Judson’s life in its public rather than in its personal relations. For Dr Judson’s power was in his personality.”
+ — =Outlook= 116:451 Jl 18 ‘17 300w
=Pratt= p44 Jl ‘17 20w
=SEDGWICK, WILLIAM THOMPSON, and TYLER, HARRY WALTER.=[2] Short history of science. il *$2.50 Macmillan 509 17-31086
Addressed to the student and the general reader this volume goes back to the origin of scientific knowledge, and of the scientific method which has not only revolutionized scientific study but has been widely applied to all kinds of human activity. The writers begin with the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians and Phoenicians whose monuments and inscriptions have furnished the material for the beginnings of scientific study. The development of the science of mathematics, astronomy and medicine and the contribution made by different nations occupies nine chapters. The second half of the text starts with the quickening influences of the age of discovery at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century and traces the progress of modern national, physical and mathematical science to the beginning of the twentieth century.
=Boston Transcript= p3 D 15 ‘17 300w
“A vast subject is treated with breadth of view and keenness of insight in this book. It strikes a happy balance between the technical works that are meant for the special student and the works that deal so largely with abstract theories that they fail to grip the general reader. A good example of the work of specialists who know how to make their subject interesting to non-specialists.”
+ =Outlook= 118:68 Ja 9 ‘18 70w
=SEEBACH, JULIUS FREDERICK, and SEEBACH, MRS MARGARET REBECCA (HIMES).= Singing weaver, and other stories. il *$1 (2c) Lutheran pub. soc. 17-21643
These “hero tales” for young people have been brought together in honor of the four-hundredth anniversary of the reformation. The authors say that they are true stories of some of the obscure, but none the less real heroes of that time. Contents: The singing weaver; Her little Bible; At the king’s bidding; The good little hen; Lady Philippine’s Easter gift; At the turn of the tide; His majesty’s potter; The price of a book; The courage of Grizel; The glorious return. The book has an effective frontispiece in color by Jessie Gillespie.
=SEEGER, ALAN.= Letters and diary. il *$1.25 (3c) Scribner 940.91 17-14031
Alan Seeger, the young American poet who, at the beginning of the war enlisted in the Foreign legion of France and died in a charge at Belloy-en-Santerre on July 4, 1916, tells of his service in the trenches, in the rear, and on the field, in fragments of a diary and in letters home and to the New York Sun, covering the period from September 27, 1914, to June 28, 1916.
=A L A Bkl= 14:20 O ‘17
“It is for America as well as for France that these letters speak. They come to the public eye at a most propitious moment. ... Alan Seeger was a fore-runner of the hundreds of Americans who will join hands with France and with all the allies of France for the salvation of humanity.” E. F. E.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Je 13 ‘17 1350w
=Cleveland= p101 S ‘17 50w
“The greater portion of the book is ordinary, quite like the many books from the hands of mere journalists. There is another, smaller, but far more important part of the volume that is also disappointing, and in inverse ratio to its size; it is the part, or parts, where the poet does write and where, therefore, his philosophy of life appears. Alan Seeger was narrow-minded. Seeger’s [view] is so largely a mere expression of his emotions that, annoyance becomes the dominant reaction as one reads. He was tired of ordinary existence, that existence which demands the best powers of mind and soul. Victor Chapman, in his ‘letters from France,’ says: ‘Remember Alan Seeger was an appalling wreck before the war.’” B. I. Kinne
– + =Dial= 63:206 S 13 ‘17 1250w
“Perhaps nearer to literature than anything that has come to us from the trenches. ... His pages are extraordinarily vivid and human and yet curiously impersonal. There is hardly an anecdote, hardly a mention of an individual. Idiosyncrasies of character, incidents of trench life were not his interest and yet you live trench life with him, and you breathe the very spirit of the war.”
+ =Ind= 90:514 Je 16 ‘17 1000w
“The real interest of this little book is in the psychological conditions which threw this young American into the war and made him glory in his experiences.”
=Nation= 104:758 Je 28 ‘17 1350w
“Throughout the record there is manifest a grace of mind and character that is both touching in its appeal and prohibitive of false sentiment. Sad as it is, the book is inspiriting.”
+ =No Am= 206:137 Jl ‘17 650w
=Pratt= p42 O ‘17 20w
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p612 D 13 ‘17 620w
=SEEGER, ALAN.= Poems: with an introd. by W: Archer. *$1.25 Scribner 811 16-24961
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“A large part of the poems in this volume can reasonably well stand on their strictly literary merits. ... We like to think that if Rupert Brooke had lived he would have eliminated from his final volume some of the unnecessary gaucheries of expression, as well as some of the unworthy compositions which were rushed into print under the impulse of the sudden fame brought about by his death. The same thought occurs in the case of Alan Seeger.” H. F. Armstrong
+ — =Dial= 62:243 Mr 22 ‘17 750w
+ =Ind= 89:270 F 12 ‘17 220w
“Of his artistic capacity there can be no question. At twenty-eight he was master of a rich and flexible technique which I hesitate to call exceptional only because in our dædal and prodigious age exceptions are turning into rules before our eyes. The strains are Lydian, Lydian even in the rifle-pits; and to his ideals, which include Sidney, Byron, Napoleon, and Roosevelt, I am impelled to add, as analogue if not as exemplar, Sardanapalus.” O. W. Firkins
+ =Nation= 104:710 Je 14 ‘17 270w
=Pittsburgh= 22:507 Je ‘17 20w
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p251 My 24 ‘17 120w
=SEELY, HERMAN GASTRELL.= Son of the city. il *$1.35 (2c) McClurg 17-25592
Sketches of boyhood, as maturity remembers it. Of stories of child life in the country there are many. The activities and interests of the city boy are more rarely pictured. But in this story of the city, apparently Chicago, the essential characteristics of boy nature are shown to vary little with the environment. Sport, love, and adventure are the matters that occupy this boy’s mind much as they did that of Tom Sawyer.
“The particular hero of Mr Seely’s telling holds the reader’s interest from start to finish.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 N 24 ‘17 150w
“The book is strongly reminiscent of the sentiments which inspire Briggs’s cartoons. ... There are quite a few passages where action lags and interest wanes. But the chief charm, and one that pervades the volume, is that older than Aristotle—recognition. Youth comes back with all its fond impulsiveness and sudden bitternesses, but still vivid and happily refreshing.”
+ — =N Y Times= 22:469 N 11 ‘17 300w
=SEGAR, MARY G.=, comp. Some minor poems of the middle ages; glossary by Emmeline Paxton. *$1 Longmans 821 17-13422
“This is complementary to Miss Segar’s recent ‘Mediæval anthology,’ and should help to fill in the background against which the greater and better-known works stand out. ... Some of these pieces are widely known; others, and not least interesting, are unfamiliar. These do, as the preface claims, ‘Illustrate the mind and deeds of the time, and its manners and customs.’ Miss Segar writes an excellent introduction, and the glossary and notes smooth the way for any intelligent student.”—Ath
+ =Ath= p101 F ‘17 110w
+ =Cath World= 105:404 Je ‘17 110w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:85 Je ‘17
=St Louis= 15:183 Je ‘17
=SELLARS, ROY WOOD.= Essentials of philosophy. *$1.60 (1½c) Macmillan 102 17-22306
This book, intended as an introduction to philosophy, concerns itself with those “general problems which confront all knowledge.” “He who has wrestled with these,” says the author, “can face the more empirical questions of the secondary philosophical subjects with equanimity.” He takes up first the problems of the theory of knowledge, second those of metaphysics or ontology. He says, “We shall, I believe, become convinced that the answer to ontological problems depends in a larger measure than has been acknowledged upon the answer given to epistemological problems. Only the final chapter will concern itself with values. The method we shall use may be called the genetic for want of a better name. ... The history of philosophy will always be kept subordinate to the main purpose, that of a clear and consistent statement of problems and their solutions, so far as solutions are realizable.” (Chapter 1) The author is professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan.
=Ind= 92:262 N 3 ‘17 50w
“This book, in the opinion of the reviewer, is one of the most acceptable introductory texts that has come under his notice. It is well fitted to the needs of the beginner, and it admits of all necessary expansion on the part of the teacher. It should find wide acceptance as a text.” A. G. A. Balz
+ =J Philos= 14:668 N 22 ‘17 500w
=SELTZER, THOMAS=, comp and ed. Best Russian short stories. (Modern lib. of the world’s best books) il *60c Boni & Liveright 17-20418
The compiler states that “the present volume is the most comprehensive anthology of the Russian short story in the English language. ... Korolenko’s ‘Shades’ and Andreyev’s ‘Lazarus’ first appeared in Current Opinion, and Artzybashev’s ‘The revolutionist’ in the Metropolitan Magazine.” (Introd.) Contents: The queen of spades, by A. S. Pushkin; The cloak, by N. V. Gogol; The district doctor, by I. S. Turgenev; The Christmas tree and the wedding, by F. M. Dostoyevsky; God sees the truth, but waits, by L. N. Tolstoy; How a muzhik fed two officials, by M. Y. Saltykov; The shades, a phantasy, by V. G. Korolenko; The signal, by V. N. Garshin; The darling, The bet, Vanka, by A. P. Chekhov; Hide and seek, by F. K. Sologub; Dethroned by I. N. Potapenko; The servant, by S. T. Semyonov; One autumn night, Her lover, by M. Gorky; Lazarus, by L. N. Andreyev; The revolutionist, by M. P. Artzybashev; The outrage, by A. I. Kuprin.
=SETON, ERNEST THOMPSON.= Preacher of Cedar Mountain; a tale of the open country. il *$1.35 (1c) Doubleday 17-12957
The story opens with an account of Jim Hartigan’s boyhood in a little town in Ontario. This part of his life comes to an end with his conversion at a crude revival meeting. He goes west as a missionary preacher and finds his field in the Black hills. He finds, too, the right woman, the one whose loving wisdom guides his after life. In that day horse racing was looked on by Jim’s church as one of the deadly sins, but a love for horses is in his blood, and it was inevitable that he should be drawn to the sport that flourished on the frontier. A big race between soldiers and Indians is one of the features of the story.
+ =A L A Bkl= 13:452 Jl ‘17
“Breathes a spirit of love of nature, and contains many beautiful word-pictures of landscapes.”
+ — =Cath World= 105:685 Ag ‘17 200w
– + =Ind= 91:189 Ag 4 ‘17 50w
“A vivid story.”
+ =Lit D= 55:34 Ag 18 ‘17 240w
“Mr Thompson Seton loses his distinction when he begins to write about human beings. ... Almost anybody might have written such a yarn; and it is perhaps to Mr Seton’s credit that he seems more interested in the horses than in the men and women of the story. ... But the author’s friends must hope that he will go back to his wolves and grizzlies.”
=Nation= 105:72 Jl 19 ‘17 230w
“As a story of character development it is very interesting. And it is also unusual. For there is no sentimentality in the tale of Jim’s evolution, and the things that happen to him are full of concrete interest themselves.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:177 My 6 ‘17 650w
“We predict a wide popularity for this story.”
+ =Outlook= 116:160 My 23 ‘17 90w
“One is not surprised to learn that a story of so much breadth and reality is for the most part historical, and many of its characters, including its hero, are drawn from life.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p507 O 18 ‘17 170w
=SETON, JULIA (MRS FRANKLIN WARREN SEARS).=[2] Destiny. *$1.35 (2c) Clode, E: J. 17-22566
A new thought novel which forestalls unsympathetic comment by claiming that “every book that is written has a meaning and a purpose; sometimes this meaning and purpose is plain; ... sometimes however, only God and the author really understand it.” The heroine is a young girl who is keen scented for a life of adventure. She grows irritable among the commonplaces of life with her country foster parents and her country lover. She longs for the world. Her opportunity comes, and with it encouragement to delve deep into all “sciences, psychologies, philosophies, and religions.” With the husband of her friend, who had opened the door to her new life, she enters the world beyond and “sees at work the laws of the inner relationship of spheres and consciousness.” Here the lay reader loses her, but soon finds her again as she emerges to the discovery that she is the soul mate of her friend’s husband. The reader is led to believe that the events swiftly following this development, the resistance, and final conquest, are wholly in keeping with the teachings of new thought.
“A highly moral book. And whatever it may lack, occasionally, in uniqueness of plot, or brilliancy of description and dialogue, is fully compensated for by its measureless compass of lofty spiritual values. To all disciples of new thought this last book of Dr Seton’s will be of singular interest.” D. F. G.
+ — =Boston Transcript= p10 O 6 ‘17 400w
“All the characters talk a very great deal, and the author indulges in unending dissertations.”
— =N Y Times= 22:388 O 7 ‘17 170w
“With all this wonderfully constructed background of the psychic, the hidden, the occult, Dr Seton has aroused in her readers a tense expectation. We proceed eagerly with the breathless hope of seeing Audrienne solve the mystery of life and love, disclose the secret which lies behind the beyond. It is frankly, therefore, a disappointment to be called upon to witness Dr St Elmo and our heroine clasped in each other’s arms amid the ‘deepest, darkest shrubbery,’ and to find the author herself commenting on the scene, ‘They had found all they had looked for; all they had longed for, far above the law of all mystical research.’” Joseph Mosher
— =Pub W= 92:1376 O 20 ‘17 650w
Seven years in Vienna (August, 1907—August, 1914); a record of intrigue. il *$1.50 Houghton 943.6 A17-1120
“Popular and gossipy, this traces the course of political events from 1907-1914 and the reason for Austria’s entrance into the war. Gives rather vivid characterizations of members of the royal family including the late emperor Francis Joseph and the murdered archduke and his wife, and describes many of the intrigues of the governing political party of Austria.”—A L A Bkl
=A L A Bkl= 13:396 Je ‘17
“Very early in his record of intrigue in the German and Austrian courts he reveals an intimate acquaintance with his subject and with the intricacies of court life and the people who direct and control it.” H. S. K.
+ =Boston Transcript= p8 Mr 24 ‘17 780w
“What he or she has to say of the inner workings of government machinery is entertaining enough, but unsupported by any basis of authority.”
=Dial= 62:487 My 31 ‘17 120w
“A farrago of backstairs tittle-tattle, newspaper clippings, and downright guesswork.”
— =Nation= 104:715 Je 14 ‘17 250w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:77 My ‘17
“An interesting book, this, yet scarcely a valuable one. It is poorly written, poorly assembled, confused at times to a point of an inconsistency which is probably more apparent than real.”
– + =N Y Times= 22:270 Jl 22 ‘17 1050w
=St Louis= 15:134 My ‘17 20w
=SEVERANCE, FRANK HAYWARD.= Old frontier of France. 2v il *$7.50 (2c) Dodd 974.7 17-13293
Drawing on records in the archives of France, Canada and the United States, the author has brought together a mass of material bearing on the history of the Niagara region and adjacent lakes under French control. The work is intended as an authentic historical record. The author says, “If I have seldom turned aside from the mere recording of events, to remark on the policies of the powers which were rivals in the region, or on the consequences of their conduct, it is because I have felt that the truest exposition of these ambitions of courts, these failures or achievements of ministries, lay in setting forth as simply and clearly as possible, the things that were done.” Volume 1 covers the period from the early explorations to about 1751. In volume 2 the historical record is carried to the surrender of Fort Niagara, with supplementary chapters on the career of Chabert. The volumes are well illustrated, with maps, plans and facsimiles.
“No one is so well qualified as Mr Severance to tell the story of this region. With its topography and later history he has long been familiar, and he has evidently spent years collecting material for this work, laying under contribution manuscript sources in the archives of Paris, London and Ottawa, contemporary newspapers and pamphlets and familiar printed collections like the ‘New York colonial documents.’ The result is a work for the specialist and not for the general reader, one which will be found to disclose new facts and sources of information rather than to change fundamentally the reader’s conception of the character of the men and events under consideration. Within these self-imposed limitations the book is one of great value.” A. H. Buffinton
+ =Am Hist R= 23:180 O ‘17 800w
=A L A Bkl= 14:125 Ja ‘18
“Mr Severance of the Buffalo historical society, and author of ‘Old trails on the Niagara frontier’ and other historical works, is fitted to write of the domination of the Niagara region by the French. ... His work presents an assemblage of historical facts which will be of inestimable value to the historian and the economist who deals with results as well as causes.” G. H. S.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 My 23 ‘17 1100w
“Mr Severance is painstaking and accurate, with an apparently vastly absorbent, orderly intellect, and if only he might have quickened his subject with a more human touch, the reviewer could accord him unstinted praise.”
+ — =Dial= 63:458 N 8 ‘17 460w
=SEVERN, ELIZABETH.=[2] Psychology of behaviour. *$1.50 (2c) Dodd 130 17-31920
The writer is a practitioner of psychotherapy and mental science. From the metaphysical rather than biological, the idealistic and suggestive, rather than materialistic and positive point of view, she analyses human motives and needs. The chapter on “Self” offers encouragement to the self-depreciating individual for it sets a high value on each self as an entity whose quality and idiosyncrasies distinguish it from every other particle in the universe and render it an essential part of the whole. The culture of self “is the only path to liberation and high behaviour,” says the author.
=SEWARD, ALBERT CHARLES=, ed. Science and the nation; with an introd. by the Right Hon. Lord Moulton. *$1.50 Putnam 504 17-21369
Thirteen essays by Cambridge university graduates, on the importance of pure science and its relation to applied science. “Lord Moulton points the general moral in an introduction—namely, that the facts and methods of science should receive more attention in our schools and universities.” (Spec) “Contents: The national importance of chemistry, W. J. Pope; Physical research and the way of its application, W. H. Bragg; The modern science of metals, pure and applied, W. Rosenhain; Mathematics in relation to pure and applied science, E. W. Hobson; The science of botany and the art of intensive cultivation, F. W. Keeble; Science in forestry, W. Dawson; Systematized plant-breeding, R. H. Biffen; An agricultural war problem, T. B. Wood; Geology as an economic science, Herbert H. Thomas; Medicine and experimental science, F. Gowland Hopkins; The ‘specific treatment’ of disease, G. H. F. Nuttall; Flies and disease, G. S. Graham-Smith; The government of subject peoples, W. H. R. Rivers.” (N Y Br Lib News)
“Each essay is written by a master of his subject, and the claims of the various sciences to recognition are presented in a most attractive and reasonable manner. The writers are making a simple and direct appeal to the general and educated public. There is no undue exploitation of any one science; there is no attempt to minimize the importance of the humanities; on the contrary, there is an earnest appeal for a proper balance of these two branches of civilization.”
+ =Nation= 105:274 S 6 ‘17 260w
“Individually the chapters are of the utmost interest to the general reader; they give him compactly and authoritatively a sound idea of the scope and value of contemporary work in chemistry, physics, botany, geology, medicine, mathematics, and anthropology. ... Yet the present reviewer who is a journalist very anxious for the advancement of science and very eager to serve it if he can, turns from this book with an uncomfortable sense that scientific men have still to develop a definite policy with regard to schools and colleges and higher education. ... Against the strangle-grip of the classic-worshipping mandarins on our higher English education such a book as ‘Science and the nation’ scarcely fights at all.” H. G. Wells
+ — =Nature= 99:141 Ap 19 ‘17 1350w
=N Y Br Lib News= 4:124 Ag ‘17
=N Y P L New Tech Bks= p19 Jl ‘17 110w
=Spec= 118:393 Mr 31 ‘17 170w
“The book opens with a contribution from Professor Pope to demonstrate that war on its present scale would have been impossible for Germany had not her chemists prepared the way. ... The feature common to nearly all the essays, but most clearly developed by Professor Bragg, is the insistence upon pure science, pursued for its own sake, as the fountain of all discovery, even in applied science. ... In addition to their discontent with the position of science in the economy of the nation, there are signs that the Cambridge essayists are not without some resentment at the treatment accorded to the scientific man himself, more at his lack of influence than as regards the actual rewards that he misses.”
=The Times [London] Lit Sup= p135 Mr 22 ‘17 2000w
=SHACKLETON, ROBERT.=[2] Book of New York. il *$2.50 Penn 917.471 18-87
“Mr Shackleton is a trained observer of the picturesque and the historical, and in this volume he reveals a New York, or rather several New Yorks, that many life-long citizens of the poly-headed metropolis probably know little about. His book is at once historical, anecdotal, artistic, and informative in its appeal; above all, it seeks to capture the elusive spirit of the great city. The oldest houses and the newest palaces, the quaint corners and the splendid modern vistas, and the stories that lie behind them, all figure in Mr Shackleton’s narrative and in the many illustrations, from photographs and in pen-and-ink, which he has assembled. The photographs are reproduced in sepia and the pen-drawings are by Boyer.”—Lit D
=A L A Bkl= 14:165 F ‘18
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 D 26 ‘17 600w
+ =Lit D= 55:51 D 8 ‘17 100w
“Rather desultory, but always agreeable.”
+ — =Outlook= 118:67 Ja 9 ‘18 40w
=SHARMAN, HENRY BURTON.=[2] Records of the life of Jesus. *$2.50 Assn. press 226 17-19831
A topical study of the actual career of Jesus whose first part makes comparative use of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and whose second part is based on the gospel of John. “Dr Sharman describes this book as ‘a super-harmony of the gospels.’ The book is an ambitious and scholarly attempt to put the gospels in a new setting and, at the same time, to avoid, as far as possible, any dislocation or distortion of passages. It is unique in that it permits (by printing consecutive passages in Roman type) the continuous reading of each gospel. The synoptics have been harmonized, while the gospel of John is given by itself with the fullest possible cross reference to the synoptics. Passages which are similar but not actually parallel are given in foot-notes.” (Publishers’ note)
“Easily the best harmony of the gospels that has been published up to the present time. The book is admirable, both for reader and student.” F. W. C.
+ =Boston Transcript= p2 D 15 ‘17 740w
=SHARP, HILDA M.= Stars in their courses. *$1.50 (1c) Putnam 17-7812
“To be the child of an unhappy marriage is to be heavily handicapped at the very outset of that strange, unequal game we call life,” says the author. This was the fate of her hero, Patrick Yardley. When he was five years old, his mother disappeared out of his life, and his father, a very rich, self-made man, transferred to the child the bitter hatred engendered by the mother’s faithlessness. He teaches the boy to love money and then disinherits him, leaving his fortune to Patrick’s cousin. Patrick becomes a wanderer. An inherited passion for gambling is indulged in far places of the earth and wild stories of his way of life come back to England. His return, his meeting with the girl who is engaged to his cousin, and the discovery that his father had made a later will are events of the second half of the story. “The stars in their courses fought against Sisera,” seems to be the source of the title.
“It hardly creates the illusion of reality. Miss Sharp has an excellent plot in which inherited gambling instincts, blackmail, and accident play a perfectly legitimate part. Her characters too, except, in their speech, are true to type. She has a clever way of expressing her view of her characters that makes her work amusing, but her melodramatic dialogue all but ruins her best effects.”
– + =Dial= 62:444 My 17 ‘17 130w
“Somehow the author has made an interesting story even tho she has employed almost all the hackneyed situations known to fiction.”
+ — =Lit D= 54:1089 Ap 14 ‘17 200w
“Several of the minor characters in this oldfashioned story are well drawn.”
– + =N Y Times= 22:69 F 25 ‘17 300w
– + =Springf’d Republican= p17 Jl 8 ‘17 300w
=SHEAFFER, WILLIAM ADAM.=[2] Household accounting and economics. *65c Macmillan 657 17-3038
This practical work has chapters on: Personal accounts; Economics of the household; The family budget; How to keep the family accounts; How to open a bank account; Making payments by check; Envelope and card systems of keeping accounts; The household inventory and fire insurance protection, etc. The book is intended primarily as a text book for girls studying home economics, but the author points out that it furnishes valuable training for boys as well. It is also adapted to the use of the individual housekeeper or of clubs making a study of the subject. The author is head of the commercial department of West division high school, Milwaukee.
=A L A Bkl= 13:385 Je ‘17
+ =Cleveland= p 20 F ‘18 30w
“This book should be a welcome addition to the working library of the housekeeper.” J. S.
+ =St Louis= 15:332 S ‘17 14w
=SHEAHAN, HENRY.= Volunteer Poilu. il *$1.25 (3c) Houghton 940.91 16-22442
A book written by an American serving in France. The author says that in writing the book it was his ambition to do for his comrades, the French private soldiers, what other books have done for the soldiers of other armies. Contents: The Rochambeau s’en va-t-en guerre; An unknown Paris in the night and rain; The great swathe of the lines; La forêt de Bois-le-Prêtre; The trenches in the “wood of death”; The Germans attack; The town in the trenches; Messieurs les poilus de la grande guerre; Preparing the defense of Verdun; The great days of Verdun.
“It is not only of trench life that this little volume treats: many other phases are illuminatingly touched upon. It is all admirably written and holds the attention closely.”
+ =Cath World= 104:696 F ‘17 200w
“Admirably written sketches giving an excellent interpretation of the French private soldier in the trench and in action.”
=N J Lib Bul= p7 Ap ‘17 18w
=Pittsburgh= 22:427 My ‘17 20w
+ =St Louis= 15:45 F ‘17 20w
+ =Wis Lib Bul= 13:26 Ja ‘17 40w
=SHEARME, JOHN.= Lively recollections. il *1.50 (2c) Lane 17-16340
“The stories Canon Shearme tells of his boyhood days in Cornwall, his college days at Oxford, his early travels on the Continent, recreate the vanished Mid-Victorian life in delightful fashion. In the various towns to which, as curate, vicar and honorary canon, he was appointed, were among his neighbors and parishioners men famous in English politics, art and science, and his memories of them are particularly felicitous. In 1891, he was made vicar of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. At Osborne House, where he was often a dinner guest of Queen Victoria, and in whose chapel he sometimes preached, he met many royalties, whom he in turn makes known to us.”—Boston Transcript
“His sense of humor, never more keen than when he himself is the object; his happy gift as a raconteur; his fund of amusing anecdote combine to make his recollections exceptionally pleasing.”
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Jl 11 ‘17 300w
+ =Outlook= 116:412 Jl 11 ‘17 40w
“This unpretentious book of reminiscences is truly delightful. His pictures of famous personalities have a fine flavor. Among them are Gladstone, Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth of Austria, Emperor Francis Joseph, Empress Eugenie, and Queen Victoria.”
+ =R of Rs= 56:329 S ‘17 100w
“Canon Shearme’s ‘recollections’ make very pleasant reading. The book is not long and it is quite light. We are all often asked to recommend such a book in these days, and the name is well worth remembering. His point of view is ... that of a scholar and a kindly, leisurely gentleman, who can talk to us very pleasantly about all sorts and conditions of people.”
+ =Spec= 118:678 Je 16 ‘17 230w
“All through the volume there is the atmosphere of the Anglican church; and much of the author’s recollections has to do with church life and clerical haps and mishaps.”
+ =Springf’d Republican= p6 O 9 ‘17 450w
=SHELFORD, ROBERT WALTER CAMPBELL.= Naturalist in Borneo. il *$5 Dutton 508.491 (Eng ed 17-15691)
“The author, who died in 1912, was curator of the Sarawak museum before settling down at the Oxford museum as assistant-curator under the guidance of Professor Poulton, who edits his book. It is apparent from the wide scope of his work, ranging from men and mammals to beetles, and from the vividness and exactitude of his observations, that Mr Shelford was a born naturalist, and would have done great things had he lived. As it is, the book is curiously interesting. ... The author’s numerous photographs are excellent.”—Spec
“Beside the interest of the manuscript, is that of the silent witness it bears to an unconquerable spirit which no physical ill could discourage, no amount of required personal effort could daunt. Unprefaced by the brief biography Dr Poulton of Oxford wrote, one would still feel the impulse of a rarely strong and appealing personality.” F. B.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Ag 1 ‘17 700w
“Significant as are the facts gleaned from the author’s study of the vertebrata of Borneo, it is in the field of entomology that he exhibits most strikingly the specialized worker’s intimate knowledge.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:290 Ag 5 ‘17 500w
“A fascinating and unusual book, the work of a well-trained and thoughtful observer in many fields of science. He was specially keen on the problems of mimicry as a means of survival in the struggle for existence, and throughout the book, before we come to the special chapter on the subject, he supplies a host of observations on the odd habits of the world of life from animals to plants. Occasionally the dry and polysyllabic style of science may be a little technical for the reader, but the book as a whole is well and clearly written and free from the clumsiness which is too common among scientific writers. It is also well illustrated.”
+ =Sat R= 123:136 F 10 ‘17 1250w
+ =Spec= 118:141 F 3 ‘17 100w
“At Kuching, in Sarawak, the Rajah Brooke established a museum which, it was wisely provided, was to be confined to Bornean subjects. With this limitation it has grown within its field to be an institution of great value; and it was as curator of the museum for some seven years that Mr Shelford gained his acquaintance with Bornean natural history. But the chief value of this book lies in its suggestiveness and biological speculations.”
+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p17 Ja 11 ‘17 1100w
=SHELTON, WILLIAM HENRY.= Jumel mansion; being a full history of the house on Harlem Heights built by Roger Morris before the revolution; together with some account of its more notable occupants. il *$10 Houghton 974.7 17-216
“At the extreme upper end of Manhattan island, on a plot of land bounded by 160th and 162d streets, stands a historic building. It is known variously as the Roger Morris house, the Jumel mansion, and Washington’s headquarters, and it has been standing as a fine example of Georgian architecture since 1763. ... The records of this famous house and estate, with many biographical and personal records of its residents and others associated in one way or another with its history, have been gathered by Mr Shelton, its curator, and with many illustrations and facsimile plates and documents they have been made into a large quarto volume, stamped on the cover with a representation of the mansion. The book is appropriately entitled ‘The Jumel mansion,’ for that is its most popular designation and it is to the Jumels, and especially to Mme Jumel that it owes, in spite of its historical revolutionary significance, the greater part of its distinction.”—Boston Transcript
“By far the most striking historical contribution is the author’s excursus on the great fire of September, 1776, and the connection therein of Nathan Hale. The reviewer has observed no slips of consequence. One may question the proportion of space allotted to the law-suits and to the unsavory chronicles of the Bowen family.
The volume is well illustrated, and is a creditable and attractive addition to the list of works on famous American houses.” E. K. Alden
+ =Am Hist R= 22:909 Jl ‘17 480w
“Throughout the book forms a valuable contribution to American topographical history.” E. F. E.
+ =Boston Transcript= p8 Ja 6 ‘17 1200w
“The author has examined a countless number of manuscripts, letters, and records, and as a result has produced a thorough history of one of the best known historical landmarks of Manhattan.”
+ =Lit D= 54:569 Mr 3 ‘17 250w
“A large and showy book on a trivial subject.”
=Nation= 104:605 My 17 ‘17 500w
“His book is charmingly written and most attractively presented.”
+ =N Y Times= 22:167 Ap 29 ‘17 1800w
=SHEPARD, ODELL.=[2] Lonely flute. *$1.25 Houghton 811 17-11821
“Only rarely does a poet succeed in catching the inner significance of his own verse and crystallizing that impression into a title for his book of verses. This is what in a high degree Mr Shepard has done in his little volume of carefully selected poems. Most of Mr Shepard’s verse is quite plainly divided into what has to do with California and what with New England. The New England note is, however, by far the more potent. We should not need the hint given us by the poems upon Concord, to realize the influence upon him of Emerson.”—Boston Transcript
“The few dates scattered through the book convince us that these poems cover a number of years and are the chosen best of the poet’s output during these years. It is verse of high restraint, reflecting from first to last a lofty poetic ideal and a steadfast struggle toward the ideal.” D. L. M.
+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Ag 22 ‘17 1150w
Reviewed by Conrad Aiken
=Dial= 62:475 My 31 ‘17 630w
“There are many beautiful things in ‘A lonely flute’—high imagination, rich color, noble emotion. Mr Shepard is particularly successful when he writes of nature.”
+ =Lit D= 54:1512 My 19 ‘17 850w
“A refined and tranquil volume, of wavering promise.” O. W. Firkins
+ — =Nation= 105:400 O 11 ‘17 150w
=SHEPARDSON, GEORGE DEFREES.= Telephone apparatus; an introduction to the development and theory. il *$3 Appleton 654.6 17-4036
The author says that, while numerous books on telephony have been published, there is “a paucity of systematic, historical, and theoretical treatment.” It is to meet this deficiency that his book has been prepared. “The book presumes that the reader has a working knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, calculus and physics, including the laws governing direct and alternating currents.” Part 1 is devoted to Speech sounds, receivers, transmitters; part 2 to Signaling equipment; Part 3 to Sources of electromotive force and protection.