Chapter I: Front Matter (1)

THE
BOOK REVIEW DIGEST

THIRTEENTH
ANNUAL CUMULATION

REVIEWS OF 1917 BOOKS

EDITED BY
MARGARET JACKSON
AND
MARY KATHARINE REELY

THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY
NEW YORK
1918

------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE BOOK REVIEW DIGEST

Vol. XIII February, 1918 No. 12

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY

958-964 University Avenue
New York City

Entered as second class matter, November 13, 1917 at the Post Office
at New York, under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION

One year $10.00
Single numbers 1.00
Semi-annual cumulation (August) 2.00
Annual cumulated number, bound (February) 5.00

TERMS OF ADVERTISING

Combined rate for Book Review Digest, Cumulative Book Index and
Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature—$35 per page per month; two
of these publications $30; one of these publications $25 per page
per month. Smaller space and contract rates furnished upon request.

* * * * *

Many minds and hands have contributed to the success of the Book Review Digest in the year 1917. Descriptive notes have been written by Margaret Jackson, Corinne Bacon, Justina Leavitt Wilson and Mary Katharine Reely. Classification numbers have been assigned by Corinne Bacon. The editorship has been divided between Margaret Jackson and Mary Katharine Reely, Miss Jackson leaving at the end of October to assume new duties on the staff of the New York Public Library School. Thruout the year the tasks of assembling material, preparing copy, and meeting the exacting demands of proof and press work have been carried on by Pauline H. Rich and Alice Sterling, and, on the business side, the correspondence which keeps us in touch with advertisers, publishers and subscribers has been ably handled by Frances Sanville. Credit for the supplementary List of Documents published with each issue goes to Adelaide R. Hasse and Edna B. Gearhart of the New York Public Library. For the Quarterly List of New Technical Books, to the Applied Science Reference Department of Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn.

* * * * *

Who reads reviews? Much thought, scholarship and wit goes to their writing. Is a corresponding measure of appreciation given to the reading?

At first thought it might be assumed that it is the business of the Digest to discourage the reading of reviews, but we should vigorously deny any such accusation. The excerpts which we carefully cull and bring together for purposes of contrast and comparison are meant to serve as guide posts only; to serve as guides to the busy persons who make books their business. But we should be sorry to think that we were in any way detracting from the enjoyment of those to whom books should be a pleasure. We should be glad to feel that even the rushed, overworked librarian to whom our publication is a “tool” might occasionally find her curiosity so piqued by our judiciously selected quotation that she would turn back to the pages of the Nation or the Dial or the New Republic or the Spectator to read the review as a whole. It has pleased us to be told this year that in two of the larger libraries of the country the Digest is kept on file in the periodical room. From the testimony of these two libraries it appears that reviews are read and that demands for them come to the librarian. “Where can I find a review of ——,” and the Digest is referred to for answer. This public use of the Digest gives sanction to a new practice which we have somewhat tentatively adopted this year, that of starring (*) certain reviews. An asterisk so used means, generally speaking, Here is something worth reading. It may mean, if the book is a serious work of information, that the reviewer, also an expert on the subject of the book, throws further light on it; it may mean, in case of a work of literature, Here is an excellent piece of literary criticism, worth your reading for its own sake.

Signs of any kind are so seldom noticed that we call special attention to this one, and, even tho we know that prefaces are so seldom read, we trust that the notice will come to the attention of some one who will find this feature useful.

We should like to feel that the Digest itself, with its interesting assemblage of contrasting opinions, would be of value to the reading public if it were occasionally handed out over the desk to inquiring readers. Indeed one flattering friend has advised us to issue a special edition in larger type for sale on the news stands! But altho this course hardly seems practicable, we believe that in its present form, the Digest might be of some general interest and that if it were made more accessible it might act as an influence in the formation of critical taste. Even the inveterate reader of fiction might be helped by it, and to the more thoughtful it would serve as a guide to a course of reading in literary criticism.

Publications from which Digests of Reviews are Made

Am. Econ. R.—American Economic Review. $5. American Economic Association, Ithaca, N. Y. Am. Hist. R.—American Historical Review. $4. Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Ave., New York. Am. J. Soc.—American Journal of Sociology. $2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Am. J. Theol.—American Journal of Theology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. A. L. A. Bkl.—A. L. A. Booklist. $1. A. L. A. Publishing Board, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago, Ill. Am. Pol. Sci. R.—American Political Science Review. $3. American Political Science Ass’n, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Ann. Am. Acad.—Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. $6. 36th St. and Woodland Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. Astrophys. J.—Astrophysical Journal. $5. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Ath.—Athenæum. $4. Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, E. C., London. Atlan.—Atlantic Monthly. $4. Atlantic Monthly Company, 3 Park St., Boston, Mass. Bib. World.—Biblical World. $2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Bookm.—Bookman. $3. Dodd, Mead & Co., 4th Ave. & 30th St., New York. Bot. Gaz.—Botanical Gazette. $7. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Cath. World—Catholic World. $3. 120-122 W. 60th St., New York. Class. J.—Classical Journal. $2.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Class. Philol.—Classical Philology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Dial—Dial. $3. 608 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill. Educ. R.—Educational Review. $3. Educational Review Pub. Co., Columbia Univ., N. Y. Elec. World—Electrical World. $3. McGraw-Hill Company, Inc., 10th Ave. at 36th St., New York. El. School J.—Elementary School Journal (continuing Elementary School Teacher). $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Engin. News-Rec.—Engineering News-Record. $5. McGraw-Hill Company, Inc., 10th Ave. at 36th St., New York. Eng. Hist. R.—English Historical Review. $6. Longmans, Green & Co., 39 Paternoster Row, London, E. C. Forum—Forum. $2.50. Forum Publishing Co., 286 Fifth Ave., New York. Hibbert J.—Hibbert Journal. $2.50. Sherman, French & Co., 6 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. Ind.—Independent. $4. 119 W. 40th St., New York. Int. J. Ethics—International Journal of Ethics. $2.50. Prof. James S. Tufts, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Int. Studio—International Studio. $5. John Lane Co., 116-120 West 32d St., New York. J. Geol.—Journal of Geology. $4. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. J. Philos.—Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods. $3. Sub-Station 84, New York. J. Pol. Econ.—Journal of Political Economy. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Lit. D.—Literary Digest. $3. Funk & Wagnalls Co., 354-360 Fourth Ave., New York. Nation—Nation. $4. P. O. Box 794, New York. Nature—Nature. $7.75. Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Ave., New York. New Repub.—New Republic. $4. Republic Publishing Co., Inc., 421 W. 21st St., New York. N. Y. Times—New York Times Book Review. $1. Times Square, New York. No. Am.—North American Review. $4. North American Review Pub. Co., 171 Madison Ave., New York. Outlook—Outlook. $4. Outlook Co., 381 4th Ave., New York. Pol. Sci. Q.—Political Science Quarterly. $5 (including supplement). Academy of Political Science, Columbia Univ., New York. Pub. W.—Publishers’ Weekly. $5. 241 W. 37th St., New York. R. of Rs.—American Review of Reviews. $3. Review of Reviews Co., 30 Irving Place, New York. Sat. R.—Saturday Review. $8. 10 King St., Covent Garden, London, W. C. School R.—School Review. $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Science, n. s.—Science (new series). $5. Science Press, Sub-Station 84, New York. Spec.—Spectator. $8. 1 Wellington St., Strand, London, W. C. Springf’d Republican—Springfield Republican. $10. The Republican, Springfield, Mass. Survey—Survey. $3. Survey Associates, Inc., 112 E. 19th St., New York. The Times [London] Lit. Sup.—The Times Literary Supplement. $2.10. The Times, North American office, 30 Church St., New York. Yale R., n. s.—Yale Review (new series). $2.50. Yale Publishing Ass’n, 120 High St., New Haven, Conn.

In addition to the above list the Book Review Digest frequently quotes from Henry Turner Bailey’s reviews in the School Arts Magazine; Boston Transcript; New York Call; Cleveland Open Shelf; N. Y. Best Books; N. Y. Libraries; N. Y. City Branch Library News; New York Public Library New Technical Books (a selected list, published quarterly); Pittsburgh Monthly Bulletin; Pratt Institute Quarterly Book List; St. Louis Monthly Bulletin; Wisconsin Library Bulletin (Book Selection Dept.), and the Quarterly List of New Technical and Industrial Books chosen by the Pratt Institute Library.

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS:

=Abbreviations of publishers’ names= will be found in the Publishers’ Directory at the end of the Annual, 1916 number.

=An asterisk (*) before the price= indicates those books sold at a limited discount and commonly known as net books.

=The figures= following publisher’s name represent the class number and Library of Congress card number.

=The descriptive note= is separated from critical notices of a book by a dash.

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

=An asterisk (*) before the plus or minus sign= indicates that the review contains useful information about the book.

=In the reference to a magazine=, the first number refers to the volume, the next to the page, the letters to the date and the last figures to the number of words in the review.

Book Review Digest
Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature
Reviews of 1917 Books

A

=ABBOTT, EDITH, and BRECKINRIDGE, SOPHONISBA PRESTON.= Truancy and non-attendance in the Chicago schools. *$2 Univ. of Chicago press 379.2 17-3577

“‘Truancy and non-attendance in the Chicago schools’ carries the tale
of public education—‘the most important subject that we as a people
can be engaged in’—through its vivid history in the second city in the
United States, from the establishment of our free schools to the
present day, indeed it may be said, to the last authentic news on the
topic in the present day. ... Beginning with a picturesque survey of
the struggle for the ‘free-school’ principle (1818-55), the chronicle
continues with a relation of the main events of the struggle for the
compulsory principle (1855-83) ‘when the first compulsory law was
passed,’ and closes with a record of the various activities
characterizing the period, still continuing, ‘of struggle for the
perfection of the compulsory law.’”—Dial

“This book should be carefully read by every administrative officer in
charge of the enforcement of school attendance or child labor laws,
and also by every person who contemplates the difficult task of
drafting such legislation. Practically every feature of the system
recommended for Illinois is in effect in one or more other states.” H.
L. Sumner

+ =Am Econ R= 7:409 Je ‘17 750w

Reviewed by E. L. Talbert

+ =Am J Soc= 22:839 My ‘17 370w

“A clear, logical and interesting study, illustrated with the case
histories of many children, of value to social workers and specially
to educators. A companion volume to ‘The delinquent child in the home’
(Booklist 9:9 S ‘12).”

+ =A L A Bkl= 13:374 Je ‘17

+ =Cleveland= p108 S ‘17 30w

“Of especial interest for two reasons. Because it forms a striking
comment on a characteristic American weakness—our failure to
realize—our inability to follow up with sustained attention or even
with intelligent curiosity the vital social experiments made, or
perhaps one should say the vital social experiments mentioned as
mandatory, by our statute-books. It is of interest also because of its
description of our inability to correlate juvenile laws whose joint
efficiency should guarantee a child a fair opportunity for education.”
Edith Wyatt

+ =Dial= 62:310 Ap 5 ‘17 1650w

=Educ R= 54:94 Je ‘17 50w

“By far the most extensive study of the kind that has yet been made
for any American city. ... The recommendations are reasonable and
conservative. ... The book is therefore written from the social
worker’s sympathetic point of view rather than from the frequently
more circumscribed, and usually somewhat different, point of view of
the professional school man. It is a model of rigorous scientific
study of the questions involved that ought to be of large
suggestiveness to other cities in their making of similar studies.” J.
F. Bobbitt

+ =El School J= 17:771 Je ‘17 550w

“It is likely that the book will result in an important improvement of
the child labor law in Illinois.” J. H. T.

+ =Int J Ethics= 27:535 Jl ‘17 100w

“The question of how to make compulsory education laws and child labor
laws jointly effective is so important that light upon it is to be
welcomed from every quarter. The experience of Illinois with such
legislation is that of one of the most advanced states; it is
described by two experienced workers in the Chicago School of civics
and philanthropy in a manner that goes well outside the field
suggested by the title.”

+ =Nation= 104:438 Ap 12 ‘17 230w

=Pittsburgh= 22:691 O ‘17 90w

=Pratt= p15 O ‘17 40w

“A story competently told with adequate documentation, not essentially
different from that which could be presented for most parts of the
country during the same periods. The accomplishment of this book is to
take public schooling out of its antiquated and still somewhat
academic atmosphere, and out of the outworn but persistent habits and
concepts of the earlier American community, to present it in the light
of the social background in which it belongs today, and compel the
reader to realize that the education of the children of our great
cities demands consistent thinking and courageous following up of its
implications and honest common sense in administration.” G: H. Mead

+ =Survey= 38:369 Jl 28 ‘17 1350w

=ABBOTT, ELEANOR HALLOWELL (MRS FORDYCE COBURN).= Stingy receiver. il *$1 (4c) Century 17-7926

A middle-aged woman who is tired of spending her wealth on people who
receive grudgingly, a young doctor and a beautiful and radiant young
girl who rejoices in the name of Solvei Kjelland, are the characters
in this little story. The rich woman is ill. The young doctor is
trying to cure her. The rich woman is offered one wish. This is what
she wished: “That the last mail of the day may never leave me utterly
letterless; and that I may always be expecting a package by express!”
The story was published as a serial in the Woman’s Home Companion.

=A L A Bkl= 13:353 My ‘17

“The story is possible but we cannot escape from the feeling that it
is wildly improbable. The young doctor is the one real character in a
world of phantoms. ... Although it possesses a certain amount of charm
in the telling it lacks conviction.”

– + =Boston Transcript= p13 Ap 7 ‘17 280w

+ =Ind= 90:594 Je 30 ‘17 40w

“It is a gay and sweet little story, unusual in its beginning, happy
in the way it ends, entertaining and sympathetic throughout the
progress of its pretty romance. It is full of laughter, and it has
touches, especially in unexpected bits here and there about the older
woman, of tenderness.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:99 Mr 18 ‘17 270w

+ =Springf’d Republican= p19 Mr 25 ‘17 250w

=ABBOTT, GEORGE FREDERICK.= Turkey, Greece and the great powers; a study in friendship and hate. maps *$3 (3c) McBride 949 17-7959

The two parts of this book are quite distinct. In part 1 chapters
devoted to France and the Turks, Russia and the Turks, England and the
Turks, and The Germanic powers and Turkey are followed by a discussion
of Turkey’s choice in the present war. “While the practical statesman
must deplore the effects of that choice,” says the author, “the
philosophical onlooker will derive a certain cold satisfaction from
its perfect logicality. The capricious hand of chance had nothing to
do with it. It all came about in strict accordance with the law of
causation. Each side reaped precisely what it had sown.” The treatment
of Greece and the powers in part 2 is similar. The historical
relationship of Greece to each of the great powers at war is studied
at some length in order that her position and attitude at the present
time may be understood. The policy of the Allies toward Greece since
the beginning of the war is characterized as stupid and blundering,
producing an effect exactly opposite from that desired. Mr Abbott was
a war correspondent in the Turko-Italian war and published a book on
“The holy war in Tripoli.” He is also author of “Turkey in
transition.”

“Very readable, it gives a better understanding of the Near East
problem. Many references and a page list of source material.”

+ =A L A Bkl= 14:16 O ‘17

“The last chapter, ‘The moral suasion of Greece,’ is an excellent
study of popular sentiment.” C. H. P. Thurston

+ =Bookm= 46:289 N ‘17 40w

“The author is more convincing in his historical statements, for which
he invariably cites his authorities, than he is in his judgments of
contemporary policies. The book is certainly a valuable contribution
to a better understanding of the Near East problem. There are two
maps; one of Turkey in Europe at its zenith, published about 1680, and
the other is of the Balkans today.”

+ — =Boston Transcript= p6 My 2 ‘17 730w

+ =Dial= 63:164 Ag 30 ‘17 420w

=N Y Br Lib News= 4:91 Je ‘17

=Pittsburgh= 22:824 D ‘17 60w

“So far as it professes to be a historical examination of the
relations between Turkey and Greece and the great powers the book is
defective and badly planned. ... Mr Abbott brought to his task much
familiarity with Balkan countries, an incisive style, and an evident
capacity for laborious research. Yet the result is to some extent
disappointing, for the book lacks balance and perspective. ... Yet,
with all its faults, some sections of it serve a very useful purpose,
and it is worth reading.”

– + =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p51 F 1 ‘17 1350w

=ABBOTT, GRACE.= Immigrant and the community. *$1.50 (2c) Century 325.7 17-13469

Our policy toward the immigrant has been one of laissez-faire. Miss
Abbott’s purpose in this book is to show how, as a result, both the
immigrant and the community have suffered, and to point out means for
his protection and better adjustment to American life. The book is
based in part on lectures given before the Chicago School of civics
and philanthropy and consists of chapters on: The journey of the
immigrant; The problem of finding a first “job”; The special problems
of the immigrant girl; Protection against exploitation; The immigrant
in the courts; The immigrant and the public health; The immigrant and
the poverty problem; The immigrant and industrial democracy; The
education of the immigrant; The immigrant in politics; The immigrant
and American internationalism; The immigrant’s place in a social
program. The author is a resident of Hull House and director of the
Immigrants’ protective league of Chicago. Judge Julian W. Mack writes
an introduction for the work.

“No other existing book treats so fully or so well the problem of the
woman immigrant. Admirable example of settlement house method and
viewpoint. As a work of reference, particularly in statistics, needs
to be used with caution.”

+ =A L A Bkl= 13:426 Jl ‘17

“Miss Abbott has been able to put her evidence into readable form, to
appeal to our common humanity and yet reveal that she is not blind to
the problems involved. The volume is to be highly commended to all who
are interested in immigration, and particularly to those who want to
know the extent of our own failure to safeguard newcomers and help in
their readjustment to our life.” C. K.

+ =Ann Am Acad= 74:302 N ‘17 210w

“Miss Abbott’s plea is for adjustment rather than assimilation. In
this respect she disagrees with the textbook writers, and perhaps with
most staunch Americans. She believes that the immigrant brings a
contribution to America which should be preserved. One of the most
interesting of her many pertinent suggestions regarding immigrant
adjustment is that we organize more carefully the potentialities for
the development of an international understanding through immigration
into this country and return migration.” L. L. Bernard

+ =Dial= 63:205 S 13 ‘17 1150w

+ =Ind= 91:186 Ag 4 ‘17 180w

“It is not Grace Abbott’s facts, but her inferences, that will produce
two opinions about her volume. ... The entire responsibility for the
stranger within our gates she places squarely upon our shoulders.
Perhaps, so long as we admit him, that position is arguable. But Miss
Abbott will not allow us to lighten the burden by restricting
immigration. ... Yet it might be urged that the immigrant himself
would profit by a slower infiltration, which would prevent the growth
of the huge foreign colonies which have hindered as well as aided his
advance, and have created a special problem for a democracy already
pretty well loaded up.”

=Nation= 104:763 Je 28 ‘17 400w

“The book fails in just one point. After piling on a tremendous
indictment—an indictment that every American should read and
ponder—there is no great general lesson drawn. These questions press
for reply: What drives these hordes here? Should they continue to
come? Should we let them in? If they have a right to come, then these
further questions appear to need answer.” W: M. Feigenbaum

+ — =N Y Call= p14 Jl 15 ‘17 500w

“Authoritative, incisive. The book cuts far below the surface alike of
censure and of complacency. It offers the kind of information which,
now perhaps as never before, every American needs.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:169 Ap 29 ‘17 600w

=Pratt= p10 O ‘17 30w

“Miss Abbott is director of the Immigrants’ protective league of
Chicago, and has worked for the Massachusetts immigration commission.
Her study of the problem has included visits to some of the most
important European homes of the immigrant, notably, Galicia, Croatia
and the Slovak districts of Hungary and Bohemia. It is from her own
experiences and knowledge of the question that she has drawn in
writing a discussion that is illuminating in its choice of incidents
and sound in its suggestive conclusions.”

+ =Springf’d Republican= p6 My 16 ‘17 600w

“The only disappointing chapter of the book is that which deals with
the immigrant and the public health.” B. L.

+ — =Survey= 38:372 Jl 28 ‘17 1200w

+ =Wis Lib Bul= 13:153 My ‘17 70w

=ABDULLAH, ACHMED.= Bucking the tiger. *$1.35 (2½c) Shores 17-15283

“Ritchie Macdonald finds himself ‘dead broke.’ ... Unable to borrow
any money in Spokane, he evolves an original scheme to lift from him,
and from the little group of men with whom he foregathers, the common
burden of dead-brokeness. ‘There’s just one way, and I’ve pointed it
out to you. We chip in—all of us—all but one—we buy a heavy life
insurance for that one. He kills himself at the end of a year, and we
divide the money.’ The adventurers agree and gamble to decide who
shall be the one sacrificed. The lot falls to Mac himself. He sees to
it that it does. Another clause has meanwhile been added to the
agreement, whereby the prospective suicide is to be provided by his
confrères with sufficient money to make this last year of his life one
long enjoyment. ... Mac at once takes up quarters in the leading hotel
of Spokane. ... Now enters the little manicurist, Emily Steeves. And
soon Mac finds that the idea of suicide is growing less and less
alluring. He becomes identified with certain large life insurance
interests. Makes money rapidly. A plot is formed to discredit him. But
he circumvents this plot, and gets out of the fulfillment of the
suicide pact exactly as Emily declares he must, ‘without paying
blackmail and without welshing.’”—Boston Transcript

=Boston Transcript= p6 Ag 22 ‘17 360w

=N Y Br Lib News= 4:86 Je ‘17

“A slangy, but broadly amusing tale.”

=Springf’d Republican= p19 Je 10 ‘17 150w

=ABT, ISAAC ARTHUR.= Baby’s food; recipes for the preparation of food for infants and children. *$1.25 Saunders 613.22 17-19828

The author, who is professor of diseases of children in the
Northwestern university medical school, says in his foreword: “Young
mothers, nurses, and caretakers frequently ask the physician for
minute directions for the preparation of foods for infants and older
children. I have attempted to collect from various sources recipes for
the preparation of the most commonly employed foods. I undertook to do
this primarily for my own convenience in prescribing for patients and
meeting the repeated demand. I claim no originality in regard to the
recipes, and acknowledge my indebtedness to various sources for
information.” He appends a list of authorities in English and German
and refers to practical help given by various women dietitians. In
addition to the recipes, which are grouped by class and indexed, the
book contains tables of Mineral constituents of the food, Caloric
value of various foods, Diet lists (for children up to five years),
Baths and packs, Tables of measurements, etc.

“A good collection of recipes. ... For the intelligent mother.”

+ =A L A Bkl= 14:79 D ‘17

“A most useful book for mothers, and one that will save many doctor’s
bills.”

+ =R of Rs= 56:555 N ‘17 40w

=ACADEMY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.= Labor disputes and public service corporations; ed. by H: Raymond Mussey. (Proceedings, v. 7, no. 1) pa $1.50 Acad. of political science 331.1 17-26392

“This is a valuable survey of American, Canadian, and Australian
experience in governmental mediation and arbitration, with statements
of the attitude of the labor unions toward compulsory arbitration,
mediation, and conciliation.”—R of Rs

=Am Econ R= 7:411 Je ‘17 130w

=A L A Bkl= 13:375 Je ‘17

“The book is divided into four sections: (1) Government mediation and
arbitration, (2) Trade unions and compulsory arbitration, (3) Trade
unions and mediation and conciliation, (4) Recent aspects of labor
disputes. The fourth section discusses arbitration of recent labor
disputes and also the Adamson act, from the employees’, employers’ and
public viewpoints.”

=Engin N= 77:435 Mr 15 ‘17 90w

+ =R of Rs= 55:443 Ap ‘17 30w

=ACHARYA, ANANDA.= Brahmadarsanam; or, Intuition of the absolute. il *$1.25 (2½c) Macmillan 181 17-24840

An untechnical introduction to Hindu philosophy by Ananda Achārya. The
author discusses the six systems of Hindu philosophy all of which
differ from the philosophies of the rest of the world by presupposing
that the soul is ultimate reality. His analysis leads up to a
tabulation of the four states of our psychic life, viz. (1) waking, in
which we are conscious of the outward universe; (2) dreaming, in which
we are conscious of the inward universe; (3) dreamlessness, in which
we are unconscious of the inward and outward universe; (4) Turiya, in
which we are self-conscious in the absolute sense. The four states
correspond to (1) conquest of the objective world of sense and
emotion; (2) conquest of the subjective world of intellect and reason;
(3) conquest of the subtile world in which the first two lie in seed
form; (4) freedom in the identity of self with God, and the attainment
of the absolute. His doctrine of error, expounded at some length and
consisting in thinking of non-existence as existence, suggests the
Christian science idea. The study is stimulating and inspirational.

“Unqualified approval can scarcely be the meed of an author who
professes to be scientific yet has no notion of history and no clear
sense of the value of definition. These faults vitiate the
‘Brahmadarsanam.’ Despite these defects, the ‘general reader’ will
learn a good deal from the Acharya’s book, and his exposition, albeit
rather too flowery and poetical, of Hindu monism is, on the whole, to
be approved.”

+ — =Nation= 106:97 Ja 24 ‘18 300w

+ =New Repub= 13:132 D 1 ‘17 130w

“Sri Ananda Acharya is an excellent writer. He has a faculty for
making the most abstract and profound subject absorbing and
entertaining. His method is direct, concise, yet vivid and human.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:498 N 25 ‘17 220w

“Brief and popular exposition of Hindu philosophical doctrine
presented to us by a Hindu in terms which are not exposed to the
suspicion of western or of Christian prejudice. His book is well worth
reading. But we must repeat the caution that its teaching may mislead
those who are unfamiliar with the phraseology and development of
western speculation.”

+ — =Spec= 119:357 O 6 ‘17 1000w

“Satisfactory to such as it satisfies. And others will take refuge in
‘common sense.’ Perhaps the better, or best, attitude is to welcome
the book as offering an exposition of the Vedānta school of philosophy
not readily to be found elsewhere in such clear and full detail.”

+ — =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p484 O 11 ‘17 950w

=ACKERMAN, CARL WILLIAM.= Germany, the next republic? il *$1.50 (3c) Doran 940.91 17-17989

In his preface the author makes the following somewhat surprising
statement: “I believe that the United States by two years of patience
and note writing, has done more to accomplish the destruction of
militarism and to encourage freedom of thought in Germany than the
Allies did during nearly three years of fighting.” He was in Germany
as correspondent for the United press from March 1915 to the breaking
off of diplomatic relations and he watched the progress of thought in
Germany during that time. President Wilson’s notes started the people
to thinking, but as the thinking did not go far enough, a crushing
military defeat is now looked to as the only hope for a democracy in
Germany. Contents: Mobilization of public opinion; “Pirates sink
another neutral ship”; The gulf between Kiel and Berlin; The hate
campaign against America; The downfall of von Tirpitz and von
Falkenhayn; The period of new orientation; The bubbling economic
volcano; The peace drive of December 12th; The Bernhardi of the seas;
The outlawed nation; The United States at war; President Wilson. Among
the illustrations are a number of interesting German cartoons.

=A L A Bkl= 14:17 O ‘17

Reviewed by C. H. P. Thurston

+ =Bookm= 46:289 N ‘17 20w

=Cleveland= p102 S ‘17 50w

“We knew very little of Germany before the war, and we know
practically nothing of what has been going on in that country since
August, 1914. Our conception of the whole war is confined to some
trite phrase, such as ‘democracy against autocracy.’ ... In view of
this deplorable situation, it is fortunate that Mr Ackerman has
written this book; it is a book that every American, and especially
every American liberal, should find of the greatest value.” Ward Swain

+ =Dial= 63:104 Ag 16 ‘17 2750w

+ =Ind= 91:473 S 22 ‘17 300w

+ =Lit D= 55:34 S 29 ‘17 600w

“When the more impartial post-bellum histories of the war are written,
volumes like Mr Ackerman’s will have become invaluable source-books.
And this solely because of the facts presented, not because of any
insight. To disagree with Mr Ackerman’s interpretation of his facts
does not necessarily imply that one maintains the opposed or
pacifistic view. It means rather a criticism of his plausibility. So
many flagrant inconsistencies appear in the book because, I believe,
his viewpoint towards our entrance into the war is the result of a
reasoned rather than a felt conviction. To reconcile his early
statement that Wilson’s two years of diplomatic patience and appeal to
public opinion did more to liberalize Germany than all of England’s
and France’s attacks in the field with his later statement that only a
crushing military victory for the Allies will free Germany of her
autocratic rulers—such a task would require more dialectical skill
than Mr Ackerman possesses.” H. S.

+ – — =New Repub= 13:129 D 1 ‘17 1950w

“The author, who stayed in Germany during the last two years of the
war and whose dispatches to the American press betrayed a keen insight
in German public affairs, offers mainly a description of the internal
struggle between the Bethmann-Hollweg and the Tirpitz factions and its
reaction upon American foreign policy. While in general his judgment
is reliable, his description of Bethmann-Hollweg as leading the
democratic forces can hardly be called well-chosen.” J. Koettgen

+ =N Y Call= p14 Jl 8 ‘17 880w

“One of the most illuminating phases of his book is the view he gives
of the discussion and division of opinion among the people and in the
government itself as to submarine warfare.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:306 Ag 19 ‘17 350w

+ =Pittsburgh= 22:679 O ‘17 80w

“The earlier chapters are by far the most interesting. The last two
chapters—on the United States at war, and President Wilson—descend to
journalese and add nothing to the book.” Frank Fitt

+ — =Pub W= 92:816 S 15 ‘17 520w

+ =R of Rs= 56:549 N ‘17 100w

“Whatever may be said of the value of this evidence, the portions of
Mr Ackerman’s book that deal with Germany, though containing little
that is new, are of interest to the American public; the chapters on
America’s entrance into the war, with long quotations from speeches
and editorials, make the most obvious sort of padding.”

+ — =Springf’d Republican= p17 Jl 1 ‘17 750w

“For the serious student of affairs the importance of the book lies in
the large mass of information which it contains as to the struggle
which was going on all the time in Germany between the two great
parties, the Pan-Germans and the party of comparative moderation which
centered round the Foreign office.”

+ — =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p3 Ja 3 ‘18 1400w

=ACTON, JOHN EMERICH EDWARD DALBERG-ACTON, 1st baron.=[2] Selections from the Correspondence of the first Lord Acton; ed. with an introd. by J: Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence. 2v v 1 *$5 Longmans 17-31664

=v 1= The editors have made selections from Lord Acton’s
correspondence with Cardinal Newman, Lady Blennerhassett, W. E.
Gladstone and others. This collection constitutes volume 1 and is to
be followed by a second volume devoted to correspondence with
Döllinger. The letters have been arranged in three groups: Early
letters; Ecclesiastical correspondence; General correspondence. Groups
2 and 3 are then subdivided. The editors say, “Out of a large mass of
letters we have chosen those which throw most light on Acton’s
development.”

“A liberal Catholic, a lover of freedom, enunciator of the maxim that
‘liberty depends on the division of power,’ and an opponent of capital
punishment, Acton was in advance of much of the opinion of his time.
For this reason, if there were no others, the correspondence is worthy
of attentive study.”

+ =Ath= p597 N ‘17 180w

“The importance of these letters is due essentially to the fact that
they relate to Lord Acton rather than to Lord Acton’s times and
contemporaries.” W. S. B.

+ =Boston Transcript= p10 D 8 ‘17 700w

“Though he knew too many men as well as books to be dull, the lovers
of personalities and gossipy biography are warned off. On the other
hand, those who wish to understand something of the beginnings of
continental liberalism in church and state will find so much
instruction in Lord Acton’s letters that they will be well repaid for
the attentive reading which they demand.”

+ =Sat R= 124:333 O 27 ‘17 1250w

“This new volume of Acton’s own correspondence is welcome in so far as
it throws light on his elusive personality, but it must be added that
the letters are not often as interesting as we had hoped. For our
part, we should have preferred a strictly chronological order for the
Acton-Gladstone correspondence, which would then have illustrated
clearly the long and intimate friendship existing between these two
eminent men. As it is, we are carried backward and forward, from one
topic to another. His editors have diligently annotated the text, and
their biographical references are valuable. But the book is, like
Acton’s other writings, not at all easy to read.”

+ — =Spec= 119:417 O 20 ‘17 2150w

“Apart from the notes and the index it cannot be said that the editors
have done their work particularly well. Their worst sin is their
method of arrangement. ... This sounds like order, but in fact
produces chaos.”

+ – – =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p488 O 11 ‘17 1900w

=ADAMS, ARTHUR BARTO.= Marketing perishable farm products. (Columbia univ. studies in history, economics and public law) pa *$1.50 Longmans 338 16-14602

For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.

“In thus stating the problem it seems that the author must realize
that he is dealing with a question of the distribution of wealth; that
is, with the method of its apportionment among those who produce and
handle farm products. But he considers marketing as entirely a part of
production. In his review of the present system of marketing and in
his analysis of its cost he dwells only upon activities which are
mechanically necessary to put goods in the hands of the consumer. ...
Mr Adams goes farther in recommending government aid than many
authorities—Mr Weld, for instance, in his work on ‘The marketing of
farm products’; but not so far as Mr Elwood Mead, who has the
Australian and European situation in mind.” W: R. Camp

=Am Econ R= 7:125 Mr ‘17 1350w

“The author has produced a valuable work. It is analytical, not
dogmatic, keeps in view the facts, and is constructive. It overturns
preconceived opinions and demolishes the positions of some writers and
many agitators. The reader of the work has the sense of dealing with
something substantial and trustworthy and feels that he has secured a
much better foundation for judging the case of the much maligned
marketing or middleman system.” J: M. Gillette

+ =Am J Soc= 22:559 Ja ‘17 650w

“The book is valuable in pointing out definite defects and discussing
corrective measures. It does not contribute much that is new to the
solution of the problem.” N. D. H.

+ =Ann Am Acad= 70:325 Mr ‘17 180w

Reviewed by C. L. King

=Survey= 37:585 F 17 ‘17 280w

=ADAMS, FRANKLIN PIERCE.= Weights and measures. *$1 Doubleday 817 17-29489

A new book of verses, selected from the author’s contributions to
newspapers and magazines. Mr Adams parodies Amy Lowell, Sara Teasdale,
Edgar Lee Masters, and Horace, and writes on The indignant captain of
industry, The patriotic merchant prince, and other modern themes.
“Don’t tell me what you dreamt last night” is inspired by Freud, and
“Strange cases” relates a series of tales with surprising
conclusions—surprising because not unusual.

+ =A L A Bkl= 14:119 Ja ‘18

+ =Cleveland= p134 D ‘17 100w

“Besides his funniness, which depends as much on his assumptions of
intimacy as on a gentle irony, Mr Adams is felicitous in his use of
exacting metres and involved rhyme-schemes. Most choice is his use of
slang in paraphrasing Latin.”

+ =Dial= 63:528 N 22 ‘17 420w

“As any one might know by mention of ‘F. P. A.’ as the author, this is
a delightful book. It is so full of a number of things!”

+ =N Y Times= 22:485 N 18 ‘17 320w

=ADAMS, JOHN DUNCAN.= Carpentry for beginners. il *$1.50 Moffat 684 17-24720

“John D. Adams has gathered together his articles on carpentry which
have previously been printed in magazines, and they now appear in book
form under the title ‘Carpentry for beginners.’ Beginning with the
simplest of articles which the average small boy can make, the author
proceeds to describe others, more difficult, some of which would be a
credit to a cabinet maker. ... For those who do not care to undertake
the laborious task of getting out their own stock, each article has
its mill bill. This enables the builder to have all material cut and
planed, leaving only the putting together and finishing to be
done.”—Springf’d Republican

+ =A L A Bkl= 14:79 D ‘17

“The photographs, drawings and descriptions are so clear that with
patience one should turn out very creditable pieces of furniture
granting that one has the necessary knack.”

+ =Springf’d Republican= p15 D 1 ‘17 130w

=ADAMS, JOSEPH QUINCY.= Shakespearean playhouses. il *$3.50 (4½c) Houghton 792 17-24678

A history of seventeen regular and five temporary English theaters
which takes advantage of the findings of later scholars. The writer,
who is assistant professor of English in Cornell university, has
examined original sources first hand and offers his own interpretation
of historical evidences. The audience sought includes college and
university students of Shakespeare or of the Elizabethan drama; all
persons interested in English literature; and those interested in the
history of the theater. The illustrations and maps are note-worthy for
their value as a pictorial history of English theaters from their
beginning to the restoration. The bibliography, tho “not intended to
be exhaustive, is fairly complete.”

“A good reference book.”

+ =A L A Bkl= 14:82 D ‘17

“Its material is drawn from a first-hand examination of original
sources and from an independent examination of the historical
evidences. It is to be regretted, however, that in reproducing old
documents he has chosen to modernize their spelling and punctuation,
and that he has thought it necessary to change dates from the old
style chronology to the new.” E. F. E.

+ — =Boston Transcript= p10 N 28 ‘17 630w

“Since the present cannot be understood without a thorough knowledge
of the past, Mr Adams’s scholarly account of ‘Shakespearean
playhouses’ is an important factor in any study of contemporary
development. Mr Adams’s book will be welcomed by all students of the
theatre, whether of its contemporary or historical phases.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:578 D 30 ‘17 170w

=ADAMS, SAMUEL HOPKINS.= Our square and the people in it. il *$1.50 (2c) Houghton 17-29518

“Walled in by slums stands our square, a valiant green space, far on
the flank of the great city,” writes the author in a foreword. He has
told a series of stories of the people of the square, the little
sculptor, the doctor, the Scotch tailor and others. The stories deal
with matters of every day life but are told from the point of view of
a romanticist. Contents: Our square; The chair that whispered;
MacLachan of our square; The great peacemaker; Orpheus, who made music
in our square; “Tazmun”; The meanest man in our square; Paula of the
housetop; The little red doctor of our square. Some of these are
reprinted from magazines.

=A L A Bkl= 14:129 Ja ‘18

“It would not be altogether candid to say that their truth to life
impresses one as he reads these pleasant chapters. That there is no
evil under the sun which true love may not remedy might well be the
motto of each essay.”

+ — =Boston Transcript= p6 D 26 ‘17 240w

“The author’s style, stimulating and capricious as it always is, sets
heart-strings to vibrating and brings tears close to the surface.”

+ =Lit D= 55:51 D 29 ‘17 180w

“They are pleasant stories, ... and if they make one feel that they
belong to some enchanted dreamland rather than in and around a New
York east side park, they are, nevertheless, agreeable and
entertaining.”

+ — =NY Times= 22:458 N 11 ‘17 900w

“The stories are luminous with a delicate humor and wholly free from
the vulgarity which sometimes characterizes stories in or about the
slums.”

+ =Outlook= 117:510 N 28 ‘17 170w

=ADLER, ALFRED.= Neurotic constitution; outlines of a comparative individualistic psychology and psychotherapy; auth. English tr. by Bernard Glueck and J: E: Lind. *$3 Moffat 130 17-4718

“Dr Adler, starting as a pupil of Freud, has now been disowned by the
master because of the diminished emphasis laid by Adler on the sexual
element. The neuroses grow, according to Adler, from a sense of
inferiority, due itself to some actual or imagined bodily infirmity.
The neurotic individual, even as a child, feels himself inferior and
his position and outlook insecure; this feeling, not acquiesced in,
leads to a self-assertion (the ‘masculine protest’) that seeks
fictitious and strained means of expression, while at the same time
shrinking from the real tests of life.”—Survey

“The book is not pleasant reading, and one has, all through, the
impression that Adler is trying very hard to defend himself in a
position, which really does not need such valiant efforts, to gain the
fulfillment of his own craving for security.” Wilfrid Lay

=Bookm= 45:199 Ap ‘17 1250w

“Furnishes many suggestions of therapeutic value. ... Any person,
whether neurotic or not, would be much interested in and benefited by
a reading of Dr Adler’s work.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:272 Jl 22 ‘17 250w

“‘The neurotic constitution’ prompts the observation that if all the
studies of Freud and his method are to be translated for the American
public they should at least be put into intelligible English.”

=Springf’d Republican= p6 F 20 ‘17 110w

Reviewed by R. S. Woodworth

=Survey= 38:361 Jl 21 ‘17 130w

=AIKEN, CONRAD POTTER.= Jig of Forslin. *$1.25 Four seas co. 811 A17-1323

“‘The jig of Forslin’ is a much more ambitious effort than ‘Turns and
movies.’ ... Its theme, as explained in the preface, is ‘the process
of vicarious wish fulfillment by which civilized man enriches his
circumscribed life and obtains emotional balance. It is an exploration
of his emotional and mental hinterland, his fairyland of impossible
illusions and dreams.’ Forslin, alone in his hall bedroom, dreams
himself by turns a murderer, a juggler, the lover now of a woman of
the street, now of a great queen, now of a lamia. He ranges through
all periods, all climes. The sound of music binds his dreams
together.”—N Y Times

“The poem as a whole is unlike anything else. The sensibilities will
be offended, the coarseness of the picturesque novel is introduced,
and yet there are sections of mystical beauty and lyrical intensity.
It will arouse discussion, and rightfully so, because, whatever one
may say of form and method, there is little or no artifice in the
substance. As a poet Mr Aiken gains immeasurably with this poem.” W.
S. B.

=Boston Transcript= p9 D 20 ‘16 1300w

“The author has not quite completed the dramatization of his
narratives. They are poignant as stories of other men and women, as
dramatic monologs, if you will, but in spite of painstaking efforts on
Mr Aiken’s part their vicarious significance in Forslin’s life does
not really emerge from the fluid mixture.”

+ — =Ind= 89:366 F 26 ‘17 150w

“The author has not tempered the rashness of his colors, but, by
substituting vision for reality, he has in a manner lowered the gas,
and, in the restful though morbid twilight, effects are more poetical
and less repulsive. Mr Aiken employs many verse-forms, including free
verse. He is a born metrist.” O. W. Firkins

+ =Nation= 105:245 S 6 ‘17 290w

“The evident purpose is to render man’s vicarious satisfaction of the
tabooed impulses. The thing will be done some day, but it will take a
greater knowledge of life and man and Freud than this poet seems to
possess.” Clement Wood

— =NY Call= p15 Ja 5 ‘18 130w

“‘The jig of Forslin,’ no less than ‘Turns and movies,’ is a poem of
youth, but of youth imaginative, not sensuous.”

+ =N Y Times= 22:55 F 18 ‘17 350w

“To the persons who like the newer schools of verse and enjoy the
study of the processes of the mind, and to all poets, one heartily
commends ‘The jig of Forslin,’ a most extraordinary novel in verse.”

+ =R of Rs= 55:211 F ‘17 120w

“With a refreshing sense of relief, the reader in search of something
new comes upon the work of a new poet who deserves the term in a
descriptive sense as well. Such a writer is Conrad Aiken, one of the
youngest of contemporary poets, a graduate of Harvard in the class of
1911, and already the author of two volumes of verse.”

+ =Springf’d Republican= p17 Mr 18 ‘17 1100w

=AIKENS, CHARLOTTE ALBINA.= Home nurse’s handbook of practical nursing. 2d ed, thoroughly rev il *$1.50 (1½c) Saunders 610.7 17-7826

The first edition was published in 1912. Changes in the new edition
consist of minor revisions and additions. “Of the additions, the most
important are the notes on the care of premature babies, infantile
paralysis, tuberculosis patients, aged patients, and patients
afflicted with chronic diseases of the heart and kidneys, and on the
prevention of mental diseases—all of which have their beginnings, and
in most cases their endings, in the home.”

=A L A Bkl= 13:361 My ‘17

=AINGER, ARTHUR CAMPBELL.= Memories of Eton sixty years ago; with contributions from Neville Gerald Lyttelton and J: Murray. il *9s Murray, London 373 (Eng ed 17-13276)

“The author finds a reason for the presentment of another book on Eton
in the fact that many of the events of the years from 1850 to 1860
show the passing of the old order and the birth of the new. Not only
to old Etonians, but also to the general reader, this volume of
memories clinging around the ancient school, its inner life, the
discipline, manners, and customs of far-off days, and the picturesque
buildings, some of which are no more, will be of great interest.”—Ath

“The illustrations are very attractive.”

+ =Ath= p104 F ‘17 90w

“To the old English public schoolboy, these reminiscences of sixty
years ago will call up many vivid recollections; to the old American
schoolboy they will prove no less delightful by their contrasts
between the educational systems and methods of the two countries.” E.
F. E.

+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Ja 12 ‘18 1250w

“He has fulfilled his task, obviously a labour of love, in a manner
that calls for unstinted praise at the hands not only of those who owe
to Eton the educational and moral training which has fitted them for
the battle of life, but of all Englishmen who are justly proud of
this, one of her greatest institutions.”

+ =Library World= 19:271 Ap ‘17 430w

“Mr Ainger writes always with the urbanity which is the special charm
of the Etonian. Never unkind, as is the way of some stylists more
careful of effect than of the truth, he speaks out when criticism is
needed.”

+ =Sat R= 123:sup5 Mr 31 ‘17 950w

“It is even scrappy; but does that matter if every scrap is a
pleasure? Inserted between the chapters are seventeen of his school
songs and other verses, and Johnson’s ‘Boating song,’ which, with Mr
Ainger’s ‘Carmen’ and ‘Vale,’ is known all the world over.”

+ =Spec= 118:440 Ap 14 ‘17 720w

+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p89 F 22 ‘17 800w

=AKSAKOV, SERGIEI, TIMOFIEEVICH.= Russian gentleman; tr. from the Russian by J. D. Duff. *$2.25 (2½c) Longmans (Eng ed 17-22678)

Sergiei Aksakov was a Russian writer who lived from 1790 to 1859. He
is the author of two autobiographical works, one of which “Years of
childhood” was published in English last year. The other,
“Recollections,” is promised for future publication. The present work
is pre-autobiographical. It deals with matters before the author’s
time and ends with the year of his birth. “Family history” is its more
exact title. The translator’s preface says, “‘A Russian gentleman’
seems a suitable title for this book, because the whole scene, in
which a multitude of characters appear, is entirely dominated and
permeated by the tremendous personality of Aksakov’s grandfather,
Stepan Mihailovitch. Plain and rough in his appearance and habits, but
proud of his long descent; hardly able to read or write, but full of
natural intelligence; capable of furious anger ... but equally capable
of steadfast and even chivalrous affection; a born leader of men and
the very incarnation of truth, honour, and honesty—Stepan Mihailovitch
is more like a Homeric hero than a man of modern times.”

=A L A Bkl= 14:57 N ‘17

+ =Ath= p256 My ‘17 50w

+ =Boston Transcript= p6 Je 30 ‘17 420w

“The hot-tempered but strictly honorable country squire of eighty
years ago is splendidly portrayed. The picture of the times in which
he lived, however, is the picture of a nightmare.”

+ — =Ind= 92:56 O 6 ‘17 130w

“It is accepted in Russia as a faithful picture of the conditions
which prevailed in the district of Orenburg under Catherine the
Great.”

+ =Pittsburgh= 22:649 O ‘17 50w

=Pratt= p47 O ‘17 30w

“Mr Duff, who has already given us an excellent rendering of Aksakov’s
‘Years of childhood,’ has added to our indebtedness by this
translation of what is generally admitted to be his masterpiece,
‘Family life,’ under the title of ‘A Russian gentleman.’”

+ =Spec= 118:565 My 19 ‘17 1750w

“Half-imaginary memoirs is the best description we could give of this
book. As for its merit, it is simply this, that every page of it is
interesting with a quiet but intense interest.”

+ =The Times [London] Lit Sup= p187 Ap 19 ‘17 1350w

=AKSAKOV, SERGIEI TIMOFIEEVICH.=[2] Russian schoolboy; tr. from the Russian by J. D. Duff. *$2.25 (2½c) Longmans 18-1741