Chapter XXVIII: Part 1: of this group of essays treats of love as a cosmic principle, (9)

“Has been edited ... with an intelligence and originality that will
make it acceptable even to the avowed enemy of the ordinary book of
extracts.”

+ =Dial.= 41: 460. D: 16, ’06. 220w.

“The selections he makes are brief and numerous rather than few and
choice.”

+ − =N. Y. Times.= 12: 31. Ja. 19, ’07. 280w.

=Howard, Newman.= Christian trilogy. 3v. ea. *$1.25. Dutton.

“Religions may come and go; the forms of morality may change, and what
is right in one age and clime be wrong in another; but the essential
virtue remains the same—nothing else than faithfulness to what a man
holds to be right. That is the idea running through the three plays
which Mr. Newman Howard calls his ‘Christian trilogy.’... Kiartan was,
externally, true to his false friend; Savonarola to his false city;
Minervina and Crispus, Constantine’s discarded wife and son, to their
false husband, wife, and emperor. In each case there lies behind the
occasion, the sense of honor, the conviction of the necessity for
truth to an ideal of right.”—Lond. Times.

* * * * *

“Mr. Newman Howard’s ‘Christian trilogy’ is real poetry and it is real
drama. Mr. Howard’s work is so fine that it seems captious to point
out what we feel to be a defect in it. Though in each of his dramas,
tragedy is implied in the character of the chief personage, too much
of the action is controlled by the persistent malignity of another
individual. Free from most of the tricks of the playwright, Mr. Howard
still relies too much on his villain.”

+ + − =Acad.= 71: 469. N. 10, ’06. 1560w. (Review of v. 1–3.)

“Starting with the essential idea, he develops it broadly, simply,
even severely, preserving always the distinction between what is
theatrical and what is dramatic.”

+ =Lond. Times.= 5: 345. O. 12, ’06. 1580w. (Review of v. 1–3.)

“The work of Newman Howard which has but lately made its way to us,
though published first some years ago in England, evinces a dramatic
talent of a high order, but a talent not yet wholly disciplined.”
Jessie B. Rittenhouse.

+ − =Putnam’s.= 2: 350. Je. ’07. 360w. (Review of v. 1–3.)

=v. 1.= Kiartan the Icelander: a tragedy.

The motif of the first part of the trilogy is the introduction of
Christianity into Iceland.

* * * * *

“In ‘Kiartan the Icelander’ his very care for local colour and
characteristic expression makes his meaning sometimes not easy to
follow. Possibly in the theatre this difficulty would disappear,
though we cannot help feeling that he has been so intent on making his
people tenth century Icelanders that they lose something of their
probability as men and women.”

+ + − =Acad.= 71: 469. N. 10, ’06. 390w.

=v. 2.= Savonarola: a city’s tragedy.

A drama filled with the “forlorn anti-pagan hope of Savonarola.” Its
interest is centered in “the public career of the Frate, the dramatic
incident of the Trial by fire and the tragic spectacle of the
Execution.”

* * * * *

“Without any sacrifice of dramatic propriety he has so arranged that
you see not only people but their surroundings. As a result, the play
is full of the stir and colour of mediaeval Italy. Indeed, though he
has handled the central theme in a masterly manner, what will delight
most readers is the extraordinary sense of atmosphere created by the
minor characters.”

+ + − =Acad.= 71: 469. N. 10, ’06. 390w.

“In ‘Savonarola,’ Mr. Howard’s more recent drama, the lack of sharp
definition in the plot and dialogue is much more apparent than in
‘Kiartan,’ since all the rival factions and orders, civil and
religious, of that turbulent period are represented in the play and by
their machinations so involve the plot that it is difficult to keep
the various characters and their allegiance distinct.” Jessie B.
Rittenhouse.

+ − =Putnam’s.= 2: 350. Je. ’07. 360w.

=v. 3.= Constantine the great: a tragedy.

7–18134.

The establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman
empire furnishes the key-note of the third part of the trilogy. “In
this play Mr. Howard gets his background, his atmosphere, mainly by a
single figure; that of the little degenerate Fabius. By an almost
savage piece of irony, Fabius is made the victim of the plot to murder
Constantine. The state of paganism at the period of the play is
admirably indicated by the priests of Demeter with their pitiful
machinery for working an apparition of the goddess Proserpine. Bombo
is one of the best clowns out of Shakespeare.” (Acad.)

* * * * *

“Mr. Howard reaches his highest level of workmanship in ‘Constantine
the great.’ The chief characters stand out with something of the
objective reality of sculpture but with all the life and movement of
human beings. The dialog is reduced to its bare essentials, and
because no word is allowed for its own sake, every word is not only
significant but decorative, so that the texture of the verse is as if
woven of some precious metal.”

+ + − =Acad.= 71: 469. N. 10, ’06. 390w.

“When we have put together all the poetical achievements of this
tragedy, when we have set them beside its mastery of dramatic speech
and structure and when we have dispassionately weighed against these
excellencies its defects, we cannot hesitate to place it among all but
the highest English dramatic poetry.”

+ + − =Ath.= 1906, 2: 398. O. 6. 2160w.

“The conception—a rare failing—is superior to the art or technique.”

+ − =Sat. R.= 103: 207. F. 16, ’07. 280w.

“We cannot praise Mr. Howard more highly than by saying that he is one
of the very few living poets who stand in the great tradition. It is a
book which every lover of good poetry must read and cherish.”

+ + =Spec.= 97: 930. D. 8, ’06. 230w.

* =Howard, Oliver Otis.= Autobiography. 2v. **$5. Baker.

7–35640.

The volume “takes us once more to the familiar battlefields, shows how
campaigns were fought and won and lost, and describes in detail the
efforts of the government, after peace had been restored, to relieve
the emancipated but helpless slaves whom the war had set at
liberty.”—Outlook.

* * * * *

“He takes the reader delightfully into his confidence, and writes with
an astonishing recollection of detail. An autobiography at once so
full of incident and so free from matters of small importance has
rarely been produced.” Percy F. Bicknell.

+ + =Dial.= 43: 244. O. 16, ’07. 1800w.

“Bulks large on the shelf, but so interesting that the reader will not
regret the magnitude.”

+ =Outlook.= 87: 609. N. 23, ’07. 410w.

* =Howden, J. R.= Boys’ book of locomotives. $2. McClure.

An informing book for young readers which traces with many
accompanying illustrations the evolution of the steam engine from its
beginning to its replacement by the electric locomotive.

* * * * *

“The book will tempt old as well as young.”

+ =Nation.= 85: 520. D. 5, ’07. 40w.

+ =N. Y. Times.= 12: 749. N. 23, ’07. 50w.

+ =R. of Rs.= 36: 767. D. ’07. 90w.

=Howe, Frederic Clemson.= British city: the beginnings of democracy. **$1.50. Scribner.

7–21305.

A companion to Mr. Howe’s study of the American city. It is not only
an exposition full of historical and statistical detail but is a
critical discussion of the workings of the British city and of the
lessons contained “for the solution of parallel, but by no means
identical, American problems.” The author’s strictly economic point of
view accounts for all the motives of a commonwealth’s interests, he
has become “convinced that it is the economic environment that creates
and controls man’s activities as well as his attitude of mind.”

* * * * *

=A. L. A. Bkl.= 3: 166. O. ’07.

“No social reformer can afford to be without this volume.” B. O.
Flower.

+ + + =Arena.= 38: 200. Ag. ’07. 3260w.

“The book contains a good deal of information, not all of it full or
pertinent, but it is not presented with especial attractiveness or
force.”

− + =Educ. R.= 34: 430. N. ’07. 70w.

“In spite of these numerous mistakes and misconceptions, Mr. Howe has
formed some very sound and well-grounded opinions as to the working of
British institutions.”

+ − =Ind.= 63: 880. O. 10, ’07. 420w.

=J. Pol. Econ.= 15: 441. Jl. ’07. 210w.

“Mr. Howe never lets himself forget that he is writing for American
readers and the contrast which he draws between municipal conditions
in the two countries is really the book’s most valuable and
illuminating feature.”

+ − =Nation.= 85: 81. Jl. 25, ’07. 1220w.

=N. Y. Times.= 12: 376. Je. 8, ’07. 100w.

=N. Y. Times.= 12: 547. S. 14, ’07. 530w.

=Howe, Frederic Clemson.= City: the hope of democracy. **$1.50. Scribner.

5–33225.

Descriptive note in December, 1905.

Reviewed by Lewis E. Palmer.

=Charities.= 17: 511. D. 15, ’06. 630w.

“For our part, we believe that in his main principles the author is
right, as also in many of his applications of those principles to
judge the success or failure of the British city. We also believe that
he carries some of his theories too far.”

+ + − =Engin. N.= 58: 533. N. 14, ’07. 1240w.

“Writes as a propagandist rather than as a student. The work is
interesting in style, stimulating in thought and treatment, hopeful in
tone, and is well worth a careful reading by the student of municipal
affairs.” Clinton Rogers Woodruff.

+ − =Yale R.= 15: 463. F. ’07. 710w.

=Howe, Frederic Clemson.= Confessions of a monopolist. *$1. Public pub.

6–32427.

An autobiography “showing how easily a man of medium capacity and no
scruples can accumulate a fortune by exploiting public franchises and
‘playing Wall street.’” (N. Y. Times.) “Never before has a work
appeared in which the methods of the high financiers and political
bosses have been more clearly exposed. Here the reader is made to see
how certain feats that appear from before the footlights as little
short of miraculous are performed. Here he sees how by learning the
rules of the game a modern high financier is able to divert the wealth
of thousands into the till of the crafty monopolists; how, in short,
the thousands are made to labor for the few just as actually as in the
days of the feudal lords the serfs slaved for the barons. And here he
sees how politics are made the handmaid of the modern plutocracy in
its attempt to enslave labor while destroying the soul of democracy.”
(Arena.)

* * * * *

“It is far and away the finest political satire on present-day
American politics,—a book that every thinking patriotic citizen should
read.”

+ + =Arena.= 36: 680. D. ’06. 950w.

“It is not pleasant reading—it is too true to life, though possibly
somewhat exaggerated or unnaturally concentrated either for artistic
effect or for the sake of argument.” Max West.

+ − =Dial.= 43: 121. S. 1, ’07. 310w.

=J. Pol. Econ.= 15: 125. F. ’07. 120w.

“The little volume is both interesting and instructive, whether
regarded as a vade mecum for those desirous of practising the new high
finance, or as an addition to the horrors which our professional
purifiers have revealed in order to reform them.”

+ − =N. Y. Times.= 11: 595. S. 29, ’06. 240w.

=Howe, Malverd Abijah.= Symmetrical masonry arches, including natural stone, plain concrete and reinforced concrete arches; for the use of technical schools, engineers and computers in designing arches according to the elastic theory. $2.50. Wiley.

6–33609.

“In the first chapter, fundamental formulas for the elastic arch are
derived; in the second chapter, symmetrical arches without hinges and
of constant or variable section, are considered.... In chapter 3 the
author applies the theory in detail to a segmental circular arch of
constant section and also to a reinforced-concrete arch.... The last
chapter of the book is devoted to drawings of typical arches. An
appendix is given on the physical properties of stone and concrete and
data for about five hundred masonry arch bridges.”—Engin. N.

* * * * *

“The book is a strong, sound handling of a difficult subject. The one
criticism that can be made of the theory developments in the book is
that they are a little too condensed.” Wm. Cain.

+ + − =Engin. N.= 56: 522. N. 15, ’06. 980w.

=Howe, Samuel Gridley.= Letters and journals of Samuel Gridley Howe; ed. by his daughter, Laura E. Richards; with notes and a preface by F. B. Sanborn. 3v. ea. **$3. Estes.

6–38340.

=v. 1.= Following a brief story of his early years, Mrs. Richards has
sketched her father’s life from his letters and journals written in
Greece during his espousal of that country’s fight for independence.
“The book gives a convincing picture of the conditions of Greece at
the time of the war of independence, and introduces us to an American
working among these conditions who was a credit to his country for
firmness of character, coolness of judgment, disinterestedness, and
humanity.” (Nation.)

* * * * *

“Full of facts and judgments of high historical value. There was
hardly a keener eye on Greek affairs than Howe’s; hardly a man of any
age who saw so much and interpreted it so well. His incisive judgments
of men have, in the main, stood the test of time. Apart from the
historical value of this volume, it takes rank with the very best
Greek travels of that day.” J. Irving Manatt.

+ + =Am. Hist. R.= 12: 640. Ap. ’07. 1040w. (Review of v. 1.)

“If they are to be regarded as historical materials, they require much
more annotation to make them generally comprehensible. Their omissions
are too serious to give them much weight as a contemporary record of
events.”

+ − =Ath.= 1907, 1: 189. F. 16. 2090w. (Review of v. 1.)

“Mrs. Richards’s prefatory and interspersed notes add no little to the
value and completeness of the book as a detailed account of her
father’s eventful young manhood.”

+ =Dial.= 42: 187. Mr. 16, ’07. 350w. (Review of v. 1.)

“The letters and journals are written in a spirited fashion, but are
lacking in notable incident, and deal with few personalities who are
of interest to any except special students of this period of European
history.”

+ =Lit. D.= 34: 26. Ja. 5, ’07. 240w. (Review of v. 1.)

“The book is readable throughout.”

+ =Lond. Times.= 6: 51. F. 15, ’07. 550w. (Review of v. 1.)

“Mrs. Richards would probably be well advised were she to use the
pruning knife more freely in succeeding volumes. There is no index,
and the printing and production of the book leave much to be desired.”

+ − =Nation.= 84: 248. Mr. 14, ’07. 680w. (Review of v. 1.)

+ =R. of Rs.= 35: 113. Ja. ’07. 110w. (Review of v. 1.)

+ =Sat. R.= 103: 276. Mr. 2, ’07. 180w. (Review of v. 1.)

“This is an interesting volume, but the reader need not consider
himself bound to go thru it from cover to cover.”

+ =Spec.= 98: sup. 652. Ap. 27, ’07. 400w. (Review of v. 1.)

=Howell, George.= Labour legislation, labour movements, and labour leaders. 2d ed. 2v. *$2.50. Dutton.

A new edition of a work which serves to throw light on the nature,
aims and methods of trade-unionism.

* * * * *

=Ind.= 60: 1287. My. 31, ’06. 50w.

“He chronicles a great deal not to be found in other histories, and
his book fills a gap for England which needs filling for ourselves.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 11: 176. Mr. 24, ’06. 500w.

“It is marred by fragmentariness, by repetitions, and by unpolished
style, but its merits are so conspicuous that it deserves the
thoughtful consideration of every student of economic and social
questions.”

+ − =Outlook.= 84: 675. N. 17, ’06. 580w.

=Pol. Sci. Q.= 22: 181. Mr. ’07. 70w.

=Howell, James.= Familiar letters of James Howell; with an introd. by Agnes Repplier. 2v. $6; Special ltd. ed. 4v. *$15. Houghton.

7–15871.

An attractive new edition of letters which “speak for themselves, and
surely no reader will pine for erudite guidance through the maze of
curious anecdote, lively narrative, and characteristically intimate
comment and reflection which Howell has constructed, writing always
crisply and lucidly, in accordance with his belief that a letter
should be ‘short-coated and closely couch’d’ and should ‘not preach
but epistolize.’” (Dial.)

* * * * *

“The letters themselves ... possess all the charm and gossipy interest
of their time that the letters of Horace Walpole contained a century
later.” Laurence Burnham.

+ + =Bookm.= 26: 101. S. ’07. 360w. (Review of 4 v. ed.)

+ + =Dial.= 43: 214. O. 1, ’07. 430w. (Review of 2 v. ed.)

“In her pleasant way Miss Repplier brings out, by incident and
characterization, the qualities which have made his letters the
constant reading of lovers of literature since they first appeared.”

+ + =Outlook.= 87: 357. O. 19, ’07. 280w. (Review of 2 v. ed.)

“It is a book that seems as fresh to-day as when it was written nearly
three centuries ago, and, though it may never be popular, it will
always be valued by the discriminating few.” Charlotte Harwood.

+ + =Putnam’s.= 2: 446. Jl. ’07. 700w. (Review of 4 v. ed.)

“The wide careless world will pay little attention to these volumes,
but they will have their own sure welcome.” H. W. Boynton.

+ + =Putnam’s.= 3: 233. N. ’97. 830w. (Review of 2 v. ed.)

=Howells, William Dean.= Between the dark and the daylight. †$1.50. Harper.

7–34775.

Of the seven tales told by old friends at the club four are
psychological romances, stories of that mental borderland suggested by
the book’s title. “A sleep and a forgetting” tells of a strange lapse
of memory in a young girl; “The eidolons of Brooks Alford” concerns
the visions of a broken down professor and the pretty widow who
disperses them; “A memory that worked over time” is a confusion of
memory and imagination; and “A case of metaphantasmia” enters into the
question of dream-transference. The three stories which conclude the
book, “Editha,” “Braybridge’s offer,” and “The chick of the Easter
egg” are plain day-light stories, a protest against war, a speculation
as to the average proposal, and an amusing Easter comedy.

* * * * *

Reviewed by A. Schade van Westrum.

+ =Bookm.= 26: 275. N. ’07. 1000w.

“They are queer and creepy without being exactly supernatural.”

+ =Ind.= 63: 1377. D. 5, ’07. 150w.

“The stories are graceful social pictures written with charm and
humor.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 12: 652. O. 19, ’07. 30w.

“We can only congratulate ourselves that he does not sit before his
fire enjoying it all to himself, as he might be tempted to do.”

+ + =Outlook.= 87: 624. N. 23, ’07. 190w.

“All the stories are full of delightful reading. They would not be Mr.
Howells’s if they were not.”

+ + =Spec.= 99: 717. N. 9, ’07. 210w.

=Howells, William Dean.= Certain delightful English towns, with glimpses of the pleasant country between. **$3. Harper.

6–38895.

Descriptive note in Annual, 1906.

“It is only a Stevenson or a Howells who could achieve fascination for
[this task]. But Mr. Howells is triumphantly successful. The American
humor, which has always been attuned, in Mr. Howells, to a delicate
strain, becomes tender whimsicality. We know no one who writes more
beautifully in modern English.”

+ + =Ath.= 1907. 1: 435. Ap. 13. 1040w.

“How dare we use anything so rough and rude as the downright word
praise of anything so delicate?”

+ + =Lond. Times.= 6: 100. Mr. 29, ’07. 1590w.

+ =Spec.= 98: 450. Mr. 23, ’07. 1560w.

=Howells, William Dean.= Through the eye of the needle. †$1.50. Harper.

7–15545.