Chapter LI: Part II: is devoted to ‘The mountain ranges of the earth’—the (4)

“If it does not claim to be a very profound study, it is,
nevertheless, a very pleasant book to read, and contains much
interesting, and even valuable information.”

+ + =Lond. Times.= 4: 222. Jl. 14, ‘05. 500w.

“Mr. Villari has written an excellent account of the Czar’s empire in
war-time.”

+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 542. Ag. 19, ‘05. 2310w.

“The work itself strikes us less as that of an observant traveller
than a compilation of material taken from well-known standard works.”

+ + — =Sat. R.= 100: 121. Jl. 22, ‘05. 700w.

“Is full of shrewd observation and vivid description, and is admirably
illustrated.”

+ + =Spec.= 95: 152. Jl. 29, ‘05. 130w.

=Villiers, Frederic.= Port Arthur: three months with the besiegers. *$2.50. Longmans.

An English war correspondent’s story of three months with the Japanese
army before Port Arthur. It is a vivid and stirring account as far as
it goes, but unfortunately the author left the army two months before
the actual fall of the fortress.

“Mr. Villiers’ impressions ... form a series of word-pictures which,
although at times they are somewhat disjointed, make interesting
reading, and this, too, despite the irritating and frequently
recurring fact that unimportant and somewhat egotistical information
about the writer and his field companions is unnecessarily obtruded
upon the attention of the reader.”

+ + =Acad.= 68: 174. F. 25, ‘05. 550w.

“The text is brightly written, in a vein altogether cheerful.”

+ =Dial.= 38: 275. Ap. 16, ‘05. 150w.

“It is simply the diary of an experienced observer.”

+ + =Nation.= 80: 316. Ap. 20, ‘05. 3650w.

“It is as a study of human nature exposed to exceptional conditions
that it holds the interest of the reader from the first page to the
last.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 260. Ap. 22, ‘05. 760w.

“Taken only for what it claims to be—a picturesque, gossipy narrative
of personal observation and experience—the book is enjoyable.”

+ =Outlook.= 79: 653. Mr. 11, ‘05. 120w.

=Pub. Opin.= 38: 467. Mr. 25, ‘05. 690w.

“The narrative throughout is written with a cheerful good feeling and
fairness which command respect.”

+ + =Spec.= 94: 405. Mr. 18, ‘05. 130w.

=Vilmorin-Andrieux, et cie.= Vegetable garden. *$4.50. Dutton.

“The new issue of the English version of Mm. Vilmorin-Andrieux’
vegetable encyclopedia makes a volume of nearly 800 pages.... The book
shows its mixed origin inevitably: the general notes on culture are
chiefly founded on the practice of the Paris market-gardens; and these
are followed by directions in smaller type intended for British
conditions. There is bewildering choice of varieties of every root and
herb—French, German, Italian, or American.... The botanical and
historical information is rather disproportionate to the cultural
directions.... Small woodcuts illustrate the book.”—Sat. R.

+ + =Acad.= 68: 815. Ag. 5, ‘05. 190w.

+ + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 280. Ag. 26. 320w.

* “With Professor Bailey’s valuable ‘Cyclopaedia,’ and with this minor
cyclopaedia supplementing that, our gardeners, professional and
amateur, are well equipped.”

+ + =Nation.= 81: 472. D. 7, ‘05. 560w.

“The book will probably be of more value to the experienced gardener
than to the beginner.”

+ + =Outlook.= 81: 45. S. 2, ‘05. 50w.

+ =Sat. R.= 100: 155. Jl. 29, ‘05. 400w.

+ =Spec.= 95: 159. Jl. 29, ‘05. 250w.

=Vincent, Marvin R.=, tr. See =Dante, A.= Inferno.

=Vinogradoff, Paul.= Growth of the manor. *$2.50. Macmillan.

A volume based upon lectures given at Oxford in the summer of 1904,
and addressed primarily to students of general history. The author
gives a full treatment of manorial origins; he states in his preface:
“All periods of English history had their bearing on the life of the
manor. Some germs of manorial institutions may be found in the Celtic
age; the Roman occupation of the island had undoubtedly a powerful
influence on its economic arrangements; the old English period is
marked by the full development of the rural township; the feudal epoch
finds the manor at its height; the dissolution of the manor forms one
of the processes by which modern commercial intercourse was brought
about.”

“His method and the mastery of the details of his subject combine to
produce a notable book; but we confess to disappointment that he did
not pursue to a greater extent the test of comparative polity. Broad
as it is in outline, it is full to the highest degree of the most
valuable details. A mass of material brought together and classified
in a manner which must remain of permanent value.”

+ + + =Acad.= 68: 125. F. 11, ‘05. 780w.

“On the whole, Dr. Vinogradoff is not convincing in his argument.”

— + =Lond. Times.= 4: 322. O. 6, ‘05. 1050w.

“This power of brilliant scientific intuition in individual instances,
along with his vast general erudition, is what makes Vinogradoff so
admirable. He is preëminently a ‘case historian.’ But the power of
summation, of vividly portraying the march of change in its broad
currents, he does not possess.”

+ + — =Nation.= 81: 223. S. 14, ‘05. 1490w.

=N. Y. Times.= 10: 105. F. 18, ‘05. 330w.

“In handling a subject that promises so much Dr. Vinogradoff has
displayed an accuracy rare among holders of British professorships.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 315. My. 13, ‘05. 290w.

“Scholars will not find it easy to accept Dr. Vinogradoff’s
conclusions in full, but all will perceive in his treatise an
illuminating contribution to a difficult problem.”

+ + — =Outlook.= 79: 652. Mr. 11, ‘05. 300w.

“Dr. Vinogradoff in stating his case has also carefully set forth the
views of those who differ from him, and the result is a book of
singular value as well as of extraordinary fascination.”

+ + + =Spec.= 94: 594. Ap. 22, ‘05. 2250w.

=Vitelleschi, Marchesa.= Romance of Savoy. *$7.50. Dutton.

The romantic rise of the House of Savoy is sketched from its
subservient position under the insolent protection of the King of
France to an independent state worthy of the respect of the whole of
Europe. Two important personages are the center of development, Victor
Amadeus II., Duke of Savoy, and Anna Maria of Orleans, granddaughter
of Charles I.

“Certain peculiarities of diction betray deficient knowledge of
English on the part of the author or the translator, if it has been
found necessary to call in the latter.”

+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 488. Ap. 15. 1800w.

“If she had not attempted to prove too much, to dwell too strongly on
the importance to Savoy of its connection with the Stuarts, her book
would have been more convincing.”

+ + — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 533. Ag. 12, ‘05. 1050w.

“She has been an industrious worker, and has unearthed from the papers
put at her disposition some interesting things relative to a
picturesque period in Italian history. She has also, however,
unearthed some things of rather doubtful permanent worth, and the
printing of these at times clouds the clearness of her narrative.”

+ + — =Outlook.= 80: 984. Ag. 19, ‘05. 280w.

=Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred.= Emile Zola, novelist and reformer. **$3.50. Lane.

A life of Zola by his authorized translator, the son of one of his
first publishers. Zola’s school days at Aix, his youth in Paris, his
position with the publisher Hachette, his connection with the Dreyfus
episode, and the history of his writings, particularly the long
Rougon-Manquart cycle, are given in full. There is much of his
contracts with publishers and theatrical managers, and the business
detail incident to his work.

“Not one of the five hundred and fifty pages that make up this life is
out of place.”

+ + =Critic.= 46: 188. F. ‘05. 120w.

“In some respects Mr. Vizetelly’s ‘Zola’ is a satisfactory, and is
likely to remain for some time a definitive work. With regard to the
facts of Zola’s career there is probably no one capable of speaking
with more authority than Mr. Vizetelly. The book is unnecessarily
crowded with ‘shop.’”

+ + — =Ind.= 58: 266. F. 2, ‘05. 700w.

* “Tho wanting in conclusion and proportion, is likely to be for some
time an authoritative source for the facts of the novelist’s life.”

+ + — =Ind.= 59: 1162. N. 16, ‘05. 70w.

=Vizetelly, Francis (Frank) Horace.= Preparation of manuscripts for the printer. *75c. Funk.

A series of directions to authors as to the manner of preparing copy
and correcting proofs with suggestions on submitting manuscripts for
publication.

* “It contains much useful information and sound advice from a man of
experience in the publishing world.”

+ + =Outlook.= 81: 837. D. 2, ‘05. 50w.

* “Altogether, this is likely to be a useful book.”

+ =Spec.= 95: 934. D. 2, ‘05. 130w.

=Von Horn, W. D.= See =Oertel, Phillipp Friedrich Wilhelm.=

=Vries, Hugo de.= Species and varieties: their origin by mutation; lectures delivered at the University of California; ed. by Daniel Trembly MacDougal. *$5. Open ct.

“The present work consists of twenty-eight lectures arranged in six
groups. The first lecture is an introduction dealing with ‘Theories of
evolution’ and ‘Methods of investigation.’ ... The second division of
lectures (II.-IV.) deals with ‘Elementary species in nature.’ ... In
lectures V.-XV., the author presents the evidence to show that
‘varieties’ are produced either by the loss of some marked
peculiarity, or by latent characters becoming active, or by the
acquisition of others that are already present in allied species....
Lectures XVI.-XXIV. Although the author tested many species, only one,
the evening primrose, Œnothera, gave positive, mutating, results. He
finds that the various mutations obtained from this species take place
with a great degree of regularity. Very simple rules of general
validity, he assumes, govern the whole phenomenon.... Lectures
XXV.-XXVIII. There is selection of two kinds, between species and
between varieties.”—Philos. R.

“‘Species and varieties,’ then, within the field of natural science,
is clearly the book of the year. On the practical side it gives unity
and significance to the random observations of every lover of plants.
On the theoretical side, the work articulates with Mendel’s old
doctrine of the unit character, the heredity atom which either is, or
is not, and never splits in passing from one generation to the next.”
E. T. Brewster.

+ + + =Atlan.= 96: 683. N. ‘05. 850w.

“‘The greatest contribution since Darwin’ is the universal testimony.”
H. C. Cowles.

+ + + =Bot. G.= 40: 148. Ag. ‘05. 900w.

+ + + =Ind.= 58: 1187. My. 25, ‘05. 810w.

“The book is, considering its bulk, very free from misprints.” A. D.

+ + + =Nature.= 72: 314. Ag. 3, ‘05. 1560w.

+ + =Outlook.= 79: 605. Mr. 4, ‘05. 100w.

“Evidently the work of de Vries may well prove to be an epoch-making
contribution to the advance of knowledge.” Edward G. Spaulding.

+ + =Philos. R.= 14: 354. My. ‘05. 2760w.

+ + =Pub. Opin.= 38: 344. Mr. 4, ‘05. 970w.

“The great service of de Vries’s work is that, being founded on
experimentation, it challenges to experimentation as the only judge of
its merits. As to the literary qualities of the book, one has first to
praise the general method of exposition. It is quite a model.” C. B.
Davenport.

+ + + =Science=, n.s. 22: 369. S. 22, ‘05. 2800w.

W

=Wack, Henry Wellington.= Romance of Victor Hugo and Juliette Drouet. **$1.50. Putnam.

A bundle of letters written to Hugo by Madame Drouet in 1851 and
discovered by Mr. Wack on a ramble thru the island of Guernsey, forms
the basis of this book. An introduction by M. François Coppée, the
story of the relations of the poet and Juliette for fifty years and of
the poet’s life at Hauteville house by Mr. Wack, and many
illustrations complete the volume.

Reviewed by Jeannette L. Gilder.

+ + =Critic.= 46: 509. Je. ‘05. 790w.

“His book is quite without adequate raison d’etre.”

— =Dial.= 38: 357. My. 16, ‘05. 530w.

“The introduction by François Coppée is especially interesting not
only on account of the view that it furnishes of Hugo as seen by an
enthusiastic young poet, but because of its literary excellence and
the charming delicacy with which he has related his experiences.”

+ =Ind.= 59: 42. Jl. 6, ‘05. 330w.

“One more superfluous example of literary indiscretion.”

— =Nation.= 80: 352. My. 4, ‘05. 200w.

=N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 140w.

“The literary value of this book lies in the charming introduction by
François Coppée; the human interest, in the conscientious work of the
author, who, however, is sometimes in danger of beating his gold leaf
out too thin.”

+ — =Outlook.= 79: 1061. Ap. 29, ‘05. 170w.

“Mr. Wellington Wack proves such a pretty apologist that we can easily
persuade ourselves that we are not reading scandal at all, but a
‘worthy literary record.’”

+ — =Pub. Opin.= 38: 836. My. 27, ‘05. 340w.

=R. of Rs.= 32: 124. Jl. ‘05. 90w.

=Wack, Henry Wellington.= Story of the Congo Free State. **$3.50. Putnam.

“Social, political, and economic aspects of the Belgian system of
government in central Africa. After personal research among the
documents in the administration office, to which he was given free
access by the king of the Belgians, the author presents this volume as
a true and complete history of the affairs of the Congo Free State.
The work is profusely illustrated with characteristic
sketches.”—Bookm.

“His refutation of the British charges is so violent that, considering
the sources of his information, the argument is not convincing.”

+ — =Ann. Am. Acad.= 25: 595. My. ‘05. 180w.

“But apart from its value as a plea for the equity and wisdom of King
Leopold’s administration, the book has an interest which makes a
strong appeal to the general reader.”

+ + — =Cath. World.= 82: 126. O. ‘05. 620w.

“We heartily thank the author for the abundant documents, pictures,
statistics, appendices, and index even more than for his narrative,
which, while liable for discount as a statement of truth, is rich in
facts.”

+ + — =Critic.= 47: 96. Jl. ‘05. 440w.

“As a polemic it is plain that ... Mr. Wack writes from a prejudiced,
anti-British standpoint.”

— + =Ind.= 59: 390. Ag. 17, ‘05. 300w.

“The most interesting as well as the most trustworthy feature of the
book is its profuse photographic illustration.”

+ — =Nation.= 80: 276. Ap. 6, ‘05. 940w.

“Mr. Wack’s book, however, seems to be ‘the real thing,’ and is the
most complete work on the subject that has yet appeared.” James
Gustavus Whiteley.

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 129. Mr. 4, ‘05. 1710w.

“He makes it evident at the very outset that he did not approach his
task with an altogether unbiased mind. If his monograph fails as a
refutation, it is not, however without value as contributing useful
information in regard to the history and resources of the Free State.”

+ — =Outlook.= 79: 761. Mr. 25, ‘05. 280w.

+ — =Pub. Opin.= 38: 465. Mr. 25, ‘05. 970w.

=Waddell, Charles Carey.= Van Suyden sapphires. †$1.50. Dodd.

Miss Gwendolen Bramblestone, one of the guests, at Mrs. Van Suyden’s
country place for a week-end house party, becomes implicated in a
mysterious jewel robbery. The story follows her efforts to establish
her innocence and to recover the gems. Her Scotch lover, the
“gentleman burglar,” and an ex-jockey detective add to the plot and to
the character interest.

“Exceedingly interesting tale in spite of its thinning out toward the
end.”

+ — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 347 My. 27. ‘05. 560w.

“An absorbing story from start to finish.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 391. Je. 17. ‘05. 160w.

“The plot is most ingenious.”

+ =Outlook.= 80: 144. My. 13, ‘05. 130w.

=Waddell, Laurence Austine.= Lhasa and its mysteries; with a record of the expedition of 1903-4. *$6. Dutton.

This detailed account of the expedition to Lhasa is written by the
chief medical officer of the military escort which accompanied Sir
Francis Younghusband. There is an historical introduction, and there
are diagrams, plans, maps, and illustrations from photographs taken by
the author.

+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 423. Ap. 8. 2210w.

“His book is decidedly interesting. It contains a great deal of new
matter regarding the country. The author has seen a great deal, but he
does not impress us as a man of a scholarly, independent, and broadly
cultivated mind.”

+ + — =Nation.= 80: 484. Je. 15, ‘05. 2760w.

“In the matter of authoritative backgrounds, at all events, Col.
Waddell’s book on the Lhasa mission and its antecedents is the most
complete which has so far appeared.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 262. Ap. 22, ‘05. 1640w.

“Inferior in literary quality to both Mr. Landon’s ‘The opening of
Tibet’ and Mr. Candler’s ‘The unveiling of Lhasa,’ it deals with the
subject more broadly and intimately than either.”

+ + — =Outlook.= 80: 241. My. 27, ‘05. 1920w.

“We may therefore accept the statement made in ‘Lhasa and its
mysteries’ as an authoritative description, so far as opportunity
allowed, of the inner life of the people.”

+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 56. Jl. 8, ‘05. 1990w.

“He writes with clearness and grace, he has an eye for the picturesque
and curious, and he provides a variety of information in which every
type of reader may find something to his taste. The only blemish is an
occasional tendency to egotism.”

+ + — =Spec.= 95: 320. S. 2, ‘05. 1370w.

=Waddington, Mary Alsop King.= Italian letters of a diplomat’s wife. **$2.50. Scribner.

The first part of the book gives an account of a visit to Italy in
1880, just after Monsieur Waddington had resigned the premiership of
France, while part 2, Italy revisited, depicts Rome twenty years
later, after Monsieur Waddington’s death, and describes a new pope and
a new king and queen. The letters give glimpses of society and
notables, of state and social functions, of Italian skies and gardens.

“We feel we cannot have too many books like this—the expression of a
cultivated, well-bred, cosmopolitan, and always kindly and
good-natured mind.”

+ + =Acad.= 68: 443. Ap. 22, ‘05. 1500w.

+ =Am. Hist. R.= 10: 938. Jl. ‘05. 60w.

+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 494. Ap. 15. 770w.

“The present volume of Madame Waddington’s letters makes a most
interesting and intimate history of social life in Italy during the
past quarter of a century.” Jeannette L. Gilder.

+ + =Critic.= 46: 506. Je. ‘05. 780w.

“The book as a whole, though entertaining, hardly equals its
predecessor in interest.”

+ =Dial.= 38: 357. My. 16, ‘03. 460w.

“They are just such letters as one would like to get if he had a
friend at court, personal, chatty and unaffected.”

+ + =Ind.= 58: 1070. My. 11, ‘05. 170w.

“The book has its defects. But, after all, what we absolutely demand
in a book of this kind is that it shall be interesting; and
interesting the book is, and full of the atmosphere of Italy.”

+ + — =Nation.= 80: 418. My. 25, ‘05. 1270w.

“Mme. Waddington in Italy is not perhaps Mme. Waddington at her best.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 212. Ap. 8, ‘05. 1230w.

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 220w.

“What the later volume lacks in unity it amply makes up in variety.
Madame Waddington writes familiarly, but her books are singularly free
from trivialities and gossip, and one looks in vain for anything like
malice or scandal.”

+ + — =Outlook.= 79: 1014. Ap. 22, ‘05. 240w.

“Mme. Waddington’s book is among neither the best nor the worst of its
class.”

+ =Pub. Opin.= 38: 836. My. 27, ‘05. 330w.

+ + =Reader.= 6: 596. O. ‘05. 260w.

“The stream of pleasant babble flows along so easily and briskly and
vividly that only a veritable churl could refuse to be vastly
entertained.”

+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 186. Ag. 5, ‘05. 710w.

* =Wade, Blanche Elizabeth.= Garden in pink. **$1.75. McClurg.

“Best of All” was blessed not only with a fertile imagination but with
a husband, “The Other One,” who entered delightedly into all her
schemes, and together they turned an old fashioned Italian garden into
a pink garden filling it with all the things that bloom pink and
gazing at it thru rose colored glasses. Here they and Best of All’s
sister, called “The Prevaricator,” because she wrote stories, whiled
away much of a happy summer. A dozen garden photographs printed on
thin paper and mounted on separate pages, also various border designs
drawn by Lucy Fitch Perkins, and printed in pink and green, create a
real pink garden atmosphere.

* “A novelty in garden books.”

+ + =Dial.= 39: 385. D. 1, ‘05. 270w.

* “A charming volume.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 832. D. 2, ‘05. 210w.

* + =Outlook.= 81: 1038. D. 23, ‘05. 90w.

=Wade, Mrs. Mary Hazelton (Blanchard).= Coming of the white men: stories of how our country was discovered. †75c. Wilde.

This is the first volume in a series known as “Uncle Sam’s old-time
stories.” It aims to interest young readers in the beginnings of
American history, and to arouse patriotism. The present narrative
covers the period from the time when the Norsemen set foot upon our
soil down to the establishing of the Maryland colony.

=Wade, Mrs. Mary Hazelton (Blanchard).= Ten big Indians. †$1. Wilde.

A companion volume of “Ten little Indians.” This sketch includes the
chiefs and leaders of the tribes from which the ten little Indians
were drawn. The qualities of the red men and the different periods of
American history and different sections of the country are represented
while the author shows that thru such means as bravery, oratory,
cunning and in a few instances kindness, these braves won power and
prominence.

=Wagner, Charles.= Busy life; or, The conquest of energy; tr. from the French by G: Moorhead. 60c. Ogilvie.

A book of moral teaching intended to instill into the minds of the
readers the desire for the real things of life, among which there is
none comparable to energy, which is virtue itself, stimulating in us
and in others, life, joy, and hope.

* =Wagner, Charles.= Justice; tr. from the French by Mary Louise Hendee. **$1. McClure.

“‘A disposition to unfairness, bad faith, and evil speaking, is abroad
in every field,’ says the author in his preface, ‘and a matter over
which men do not contend at daggers drawn, is hard to find.’ To
counteract this evil, the little book teaches the lesson of sweet
reasonableness and Christian charity.” (Dial.) The contents include:
The birth of righteousness; Dominion and voluntary service; Mine and
thine; Science and faith; The love of country—Humanity; The
churches—The church—Religious justice; Society and the individual
social justice; The religious conception of work.

* “Fluent and apparently careful translation. These new chapters
contain little that is essentially new to those familiar with the
volumes that have preceded.”

+ =Dial.= 39: 244. O. 16, ‘05. 320w.

* + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 636. S. 30, ‘05. 650w.

=Wagner, Charles.= My appeal to America; being my first address to an American audience. **50c. McClure.

An appeal for active goodness and the “simple life,” with an
introduction by Dr. Lyman Abbott, and notes and appendices. The
profits of the book are to go to a fund to furnish a site for a church
of which Mr. Wagner is to be the pastor.

“In remarkably lucid English, occasionally quaint, and always naïvely
serious, even when expressive of a saving sense of humor.”

+ + =Outlook.= 79: 706. Mr. 18, ‘05. 120w.

=R. of Rs.= 31: 383. Mr. ‘05. 60w.

=Wagner, Charles.= On life’s threshold: talks to young people on character and conduct; tr. by Edna St. John. **$1. McClure.

“In talking to young people ... is it necessary to ... be genuine,
direct and simple. In this respect these talks are excellent, and can
profitably be studied as models by many of our preachers and teachers.
The ethical instruction is developed by a process of reasoning instead
of being based on dogma and authority, and is not even very definitely
Christian, so there ought not to be any objection to the use of the
book in the public school of any locality.”—Ind.

“Pastor Wagner’s power lies in the fact that he is not ashamed to put
commonplaces in plain language.”

+ =Ind.= 58: 729. Mr. 30, ‘05. 140w.

“The volume is a careful guidebook to everyday life.”

+ + =Reader.= 6: 478. S. ‘05. 220w.

“Another little volume of thought-provoking, cheerful philosophy.”

+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 512. Ap. ‘03. 100w.

=Wagner, Richard.= Selections from the music dramas of Richard Wagner; arranged for the piano by Otto Singer. $1.50. Ditson.

A late addition to the “Musician’s library.” The excerpts are not
difficult for the amateur and include representative parts of eleven
operas from “Rienzi” to “Parsifal.”

+ + + =Dial.= 38: 422. Je. 16, ‘05. 90w.

“The Wagner book is altogether the most satisfactory collection of
excerpts from the works of that musical Titan that we have ever seen.
The selection is wise and comprehensive. Mr. Aldrich’s preface is all
that such a foreword should be.”

+ + + =Ind.= 59: 393. Ag. 17, ‘05. 90w.

=Wagner, Richard.= Richard Wagner to Mathilde Wesendonck; tr. by W. Ashton Ellis. $4. Scribner.

“The world is indebted to Mathilde Wesendonck for two great
achievements—she inspired the composition of ‘Tristan and Isolde,’ and
she thereby forced the composer to defer the completion of the ‘Ring
des Nibelungen’ until his powers were in their full maturity. This
remarkable collection of letters, first published after the death of
the lady, which took place in 1902, is another fruit of their
relationship. What the nature or that relationship was, we do not
propose to discuss.... Its only importance for us consists in its
artistic results.”—Lond. Times.

“No lover of the greatest modern master of music should fail to read
them.” Jeanette L. Gilder.

+ + + =Critic.= 47: 216. S. ‘05. 1050w.

“If the work has been performed conscientiously,—that is, if there has
been no improper discrimination in the selection from private
correspondence, nothing omitted which would tend to develop the real
character of the man,—the plan is unobjectionable, even admirable, as
it brings the man himself very near to the reader.”

+ + =Dial.= 39: 118. S. 1, ‘05. 520w.

“To Mr. Ashton Ellis’s fashion of translating we cannot altogether
reconcile ourselves. The translator, however, deserves the greatest
praise for the careful way in which he has annotated the letters and
for the interesting dissertations which he has prefixed and appended
to them.”

+ + — =Lond. Times.= 4: 174. Je. 9, ‘05. 2150w.

“The peculiarities of Wagner’s style are to a considerable extent
reflected in the English version.”

+ + =Nation.= 81: 126. Ag. 10, ‘05. 790w.

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 369. Je. 10, ‘05. 240w.

[Mr. Ellis] “produces English prose that is as gnarled as Wagner’s
German. It is not often that the inner workings of genius have been so
illumined.”

+ + — =N. Y. Times.= 10: 624. S. 23, ‘05. 670w.

=R. of Rs.= 32: 255. Ag. ‘05. 60w.

=Wakefield, Frank H.= Marriage—limited. $1.50. Neale.

The setting of this story is in a future time when a seven year
marriage contract is in vogue. This contract may be renewed at its
expiration, or the parties to it may form new contracts. No one may
marry more than five times, and all children are brought up and
educated by the state. The plot concerns a murder and a robbery and
some clever detective work, but these things seem commonplace, and it
is the unique state of society that is exciting.

=Walker, Ernest.= Beethoven. $1. Brentano’s.

The third volume in “The music of the masters” series is a Beethoven
handbook which gives a sketch, with suggestive motives, of his
principal compositions, including choral music, vocal music, stage
music, orchestral works, solo instrument music, chamber music, and
piano-forte music. The closing chapter gives a composite view of his
music as a whole, showing both his creative genius and reflected
qualities.

“The author has confined himself to criticism which is often of a very
striking and suggestive kind.”

+ + + =Lond. Times.= 4: 235. Jl. 21, ‘05. 600w.

“On the whole one must admit him to be a sane and safe guide and
suggestive withal.”

+ =Nation.= 80: 464. Je. 8, ‘05. 150w.

“On the whole, Mr. Walker’s analyses and discussions are enlightened
and sympathetic.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 355. Je. 3, ‘05. 440w.

=Wallace, Alfred Russel.= My life: a record of events and opinion. *$6. Dodd.

“No one would guess this to be the work of an octogenarian.... There
is no sign of diminished vigour, whether in the earlier part, which is
written almost entirely from memory, or in the latter, which is
largely devoted to a trenchant defence of socialism, spiritualism, and
other darling fads of his old age. The book may be divided into four
sections, which will doubtless appeal with varying force to different
readers. First we have boyhood and adolescence—the student; then the
famous expeditions to South America and the Malay archipelago—the
naturalist and collector; thirdly, the scientific and literary work at
home, the intercourse and correspondence with eminent
contemporaries—the evolutionist; lastly, the struggle with economic
problems of modern life—the socialist and reformer.”—Lond. Times.

“Dr. Wallace has been his own recording angel, and those who peruse
the record cannot but pronounce it well and truly written.” W. P.
Pycraft.

+ + =Acad.= 68: 1119. O. 28, ‘05. 1870w.

* “Mr. Wallace’s narrative in other words, can hardly be called a
model of conciseness. Still its wonderful candour wins ample
forgiveness for its prolixity.”

+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 2: 649. N. 11. 1040w.

“He writes with the crystalline simplicity that belongs to a sincere
and candid mind, that invests even trivial things with interest, and
continues to charm when wit and fancy, unless they be of a very high
order, seem faded or forced.”

+ + + =Lond. Times.= 4: 348. O. 20, ‘05. 2550w.

“While we fully recognize the very extensive variety and importance in
many respects of Dr. Wallace’s career we cannot but think he has
followed an undesirable precedent in rivalling Spencer’s
self-expansiveness. We cannot imagine any reader who will not find the
greater part of it worth the reading.”

+ + — =Sat. R.= 100: 526. O. 21, ‘05. 1670w.

=Wallace, Dillon.= Lure of the Labrador wild. **$1.50. Revell.

The account of an exploring expedition into the unknown wilds of
Labrador in the summer of 1903. The trip was undertaken by Leonidas
Hubbard, jr., who perished from hunger and exhaustion, the author and
a half-breed Cree Indian as guide. The story is a pitiful one of
hardship and disappointment. The party set out with inadequate
provisions, and an insufficient knowledge of the country, and having
caught but a glimpse of Lake Michikaman, ragged and starving they were
forced to turn back; winter closed in upon them, Hubbard succumbed,
and Wallace barely escaped with his life. The story is told simply and
graphically, and the author while depicting its horrors admits that he
still feels the lure of the wild saying: “The smoke of the camp-fire
is in my blood. The fragrance of the forest is in my nostrils. Perhaps
it is God’s will that I finish the work of exploration that Hubbard
began.” There are a number of illustrations from photographs and three
original and accurate maps.

“It is one of the most interesting accounts of exploration we have
seen.”

+ + =Ann. Am. Acad.= 25: 596. My. ‘05. 70w.

“Seldom has a story of hardship bravely endured been told so
movingly.” J. B. G.

+ + =Critic.= 46: 472 My. ‘05. 210w.

=Nation.= 80: 256. Mr. 30, ‘05. 910w. (Condensed narrative.)

“It is a homely and pitiful story of enterprise, disappointment, and
starvation. Its manifest moral is that it does not do to start wrong
if you would go exploring.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 98. F. 18, ‘05. 1620w.

=N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 170w.

“It is a wonderfully interesting record, told in a simple and
straightforward manner.”

+ =Outlook.= 79: 706. Mr. 18, ‘05. 220w.

+ =Pub. Opin.= 38: 717. My. 6. ‘05. 180w.

“Presents, in a graphic, literary style, the tragic story.”

+ + =R. of Rs.= 31: 381. Mr. ‘05. 160w.

“It is a vivid, painful, and admirably written account of an exploring
expedition into that inhospitable wilderness.”

+ + =Spec.= 94: 918. Je. 24. ‘05. 340w.

=Wallace, Sir Donald Mackenzie.= Russia. $5. Holt.

An entirely new and much enlarged edition of a work first published in
1877. It has been revised and in great part rewritten, bringing the
history of Russia and her people down to May 1905. The noblesse, and
the policy of the central government receive adequate treatment, while
the story of the lower classes, the traders, parish priests, peasants,
burghers, cossacks, and serfs, their life, customs, local government,
religion, and the great national movements which affect them, is told
in detail and in the light of a full knowledge derived from long
residence among them.

“The book has thus been brought up to date, without sacrificing any of
its wisdom, or the political insight and the sane and temperate views
which have continued for a quarter of a century to give it a leading
value.”

+ + + =Acad.= 68: 719. Jl. 8, ‘05. 190w.

“The most important part of the new book consists in the account of
the revolutionary movement and in the general considerations contained
in the last chapter. Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace writes with real
information, and is, alone among the hosts of writers on Russia whose
books are just now coming out, to be trusted as a man of authority.”

+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 37. Jl. 8. 1990w.

“It covers a much broader field than M. Ular even thinks of
attempting.”

+ + =Critic.= 47: 410. N. ‘05. 230w.

“As a masterly attempt to facilitate one nation’s understanding of
another, ‘Russia’ stands in the same class as Mr. Bodley’s ‘France’
and Mr. Bryce’s ‘American commonwealth.’”

+ + + =Lond. Times.= 4: 205. Je. 30, ‘05. 2940w.

“A book of extreme value on a remarkably difficult subject has been
rendered invaluable nay, indispensable—for those who wish clearly to
understand present conditions and future possibilities in the realm of
the Tsar.”

+ + + =Nation.= 81: 170. Ag. 24, ‘05. 1110w.

“Almost every subject is treated of in a method in keeping with its
nature.”

+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 603. S. 16, ‘05. 1150w.

“Is the finished product of a man who in every respect is competent to
deal in a masterly manner with his subject.”

+ + + =Pub. Opin.= 39: 446. S. 30, ‘05. 170w.

“The work is a large and exhaustive one. It is regarded by many
Russians as the best work about their country ever written by a
foreigner.”

+ + + =R. of Rs.= 32: 510. O. ‘05. 190w.

+ + =Sat. R.= 100: 341. S. 9, ‘05. 1480w.

“Sir Donald Wallace writes of modern parties with a serene
impartiality, and a clearness and fulness which are only too rare in
works on the subject. We may differ from the author’s conclusions, but
we are compelled to respect them; and since he gives his data frankly
and fairly, he provides the reader, if he be mistaken, with materials
for an independent judgment.”

+ + =Spec.= 95: 152. Jl. 29, ‘05. 1030w.

=Waller, Mary Ella.= Daughter of the rich. †$1.50. Little.

A favorite among young readers whose popularity demands a new edition
to which Ellen Bernard Thompson has contributed six full-page
illustrations.

=Waller, Mary Ella.= Sanna. †$1.50. Harper.

“The heroine is the center of an admiring circle of homely Nantucket
folk, one of the vivid blossoms that glow in the fresh salt breezes.
Each character in the story is distinctly individualized, and humor
and pathos mingle in their shrewd talk. Somewhat apart, but always
sympathetic with the village people, are the members of the Torrence
family, within whose bounds are found the seeds that ripen into
tragedy and give a dramatic touch to the well-managed plot.”—Outlook.

=Ind.= 59: 209. Jl. 27, ‘05. 150w.

“The author’s art falls below her invention. Nevertheless, ‘Sanna’ is
a well-written, wholesome, breezy tale.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 319. My. 13, ‘05. 360w.

“Altogether this is a novel quite above the average in construction
and sustained interest.”

+ + =Outlook.= 80: 143. My. 13, ‘05. 110w.

* =Wallis, Louis.= Egoism: a study in the social premises of religion, $1. Univ. of Chicago press.

The author discusses the proposition that “egoism is the only ‘force’
propelling the social machine,” which thesis he demonstrates by
evidence drawn from biblical history; he further maintains that the
historical criticism of the Bible must be made in the light of
sociology; finally, he shows the practical bearing of this on the
present social problems.

=Walpole, Horace.= Letters chronologically arranged and ed. with notes and indices, by Mrs. Paget Toynbee. 16v. ea. *$2; set, *$32. Oxford.

Twelve of these sixteen volumes have been published to date. They
contain the letters in as complete form as possible, giving four
hundred letters not included in the “Latest edition of collected
letters,” and which have never before been printed. There is
additional annotation and an exhaustive index. The edition is
illustrated by fifty portraits in photogravure, and three facsimiles
of original letters.

=Acad.= 68: 195. Mr. 4, ‘05. 1210w. (Review of v. 9-12.)

“It is sufficient to say that there is no indication that the editor
has become weary in her work, for the foot-notes still contain ample
information and represent much labor.”

+ + =Am. Hist. R.= 10: 708. Ap. ‘05. 110w. (Review of vols.
IX-XII.)

“The value of Mrs. Toynbee’s work ... does not lie in fresh
discoveries so much as in the patient devotion with which she has
sifted and sorted the whole correspondence. The notes ... are
unobtrusive, and admirable in clarity and conciseness, and, as editing
goes, this collection of letters could not be bettered.”

+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 1: 40. Ja. 14. 1440w. (Reviews vols. IX.-XII.)

“It is superfluous to repeat how eminently Mrs. Toynbee’s edition of
Walpole overtops all others. To render it supremely enduring it needs
but one addition ... a companion volume of annotations. Mrs. Toynbee’s
too chary annotation is always pertinent.”

+ + + =Nation.= 80: 231. Mr. 23, ‘05. 1810w. (Review of vols.
IX-XII.)

“This edition of Mrs. Paget Toynbee’s is as complete as possible, and
otherwise as pleasing and attractive as an edition can be made.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 388. Je. 17, ‘05. 140w.

* + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 898. D. 16, ‘05. 170w. (Review of v. 13-15.)

“If these letters, then, have not all the airy volatility and gay
sparkle of Walpole’s earlier days, it is still astonishing how he
retains his freshness and wit, and these volumes yield to none in
their interest.”

+ + =Spec.= 94: 748. My. 20, ‘05. 2060w. (Re-review of v. 9-12.)

=Walpole, Spencer Horatio.= History of twenty-five years, 1855-1881. 2v. $10. Longmans.

The author, who held official positions in the war and post-office
departments from 1858 to 1899, is the only English writer who has had
the advantage of being in active service in Downing street while
engaged in historical research. “The better acquainted a student is
with the other histories of the middle years of the nineteenth century
the greater is his indebtedness to Sir Spencer Walpole for the many
little asides in which he introduces new material, based not on books,
official or non-official, but on his own personal experience, and on
information which he acquired first hand during his long and
distinguished career in the British civil service.... His history
covers Europe, and to a large extent the United States, as well as the
United Kingdom and the over-sea possessions of Great Britain. He cites
an authority for every statement he makes; and his authorities,
appended as foot-notes, show that there are few sources—British,
American or European—on which he has not drawn.... The first hundred
pages in the second volume are devoted to the War of the rebellion and
to the attitude of England to the Federal and Confederate
governments.” (Ind.)

“The style is commonplace and diffuse. At times it is wordy in the
extreme. The marshaling of all this material has been excellently
managed.”

+ + — =Ind.= 58: 436. F. 23, ‘05. 900w.

* =Walters, Henry Beauchamp.= History of ancient pottery, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman; based on the work of Samuel Birch. 2v. *$15. Scribner.

“The first adequate treatment the history of ancient pottery received
was in the two volumes of Dr. Samuel Birch, published in 1857....
Since Birch’s death, in 1885, so much new material has been gathered
that a further revision of his work has been demanded.... The results
of this revision and extension of Dr. Birch’s work are two sumptuous
volumes of considerably more than five hundred pages each, well
provided with indexes, and bibliographies.” (Dial). “We have ... in
the two volumes seventeen chapters devoted to Greek vases and their
decoration, and one chapter devoted to ‘Etruscan and South Italian
pottery’; five chapters on Roman pottery, by which is meant the
pottery of Italy under the Roman rule; and, finally, brief mention of
earthenware found in Britain, Gaul, and Germany, but evidently of the
Roman Imperial epoch.... There are sixty-nine plates and many are in
color.... There are, moreover, two hundred and fifty text
illustrations.”—Nation.

* “Mr. Walters has provided us with an instalment which is likely for
many years to prove a most valuable work of reference for those
branches of the subject which he includes in his survey. Almost every
page attests the care and thoroughness with which published
authorities have been consulted.”

+ + =Ath.= 1905. 2: 475. O. 7. 890w.

Reviewed by Arthur Howard Noll.

* + + =Dial.= 39: 301. N. 16, ‘05. 1280w.

* “The new publication is practically a complete summary of everything
now known of classic ceramic art, no source of information, English or
foreign, having been neglected.”

+ + + =Int. Studio.= 27: 88. N. ‘05. 470w.

* + + =Nation.= 81: 283. O. 5. ‘05. 1530w.

* “Other and more expensive volumes have surpassed it in beauty of
illustrations; none in its exhaustive and logical treatment of ancient
pottery and the true and complete meaning of the fragments which have
come down to us.”

+ + + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 862. D. 2, ‘05. 450w.

* “The defects in these volumes arise principally from the narrow
outlook with which they are written. Upon the whole, it is perhaps
surprising that the attempt to condense so vast an accumulation of
material into the form of a handbook has been so nearly crowned with
success; especially as it has been made at a moment when the questions
of the early history of the art are yet in solution and cannot be
summarised without danger.”

+ + — =Spec.= 95: 613. O. 21, ‘05. 1300w.

=Waltz, Elizabeth Cherry.= Ancient landmark. †$1.50. McClure.

A romance of Kentucky which deals with the question of divorce. There
is a much-abused heroine, the object of a husband’s violence when the
drug habit is upon him, into whose head never entered the idea of
divorce. “But Lucien Beardsley arose upon the horizon. A Virginian by
birth, a cosmopolitan by education, a man of modern ideas.... Lucien
found in the unhappy Dulcie a cousin many times removed, and undertook
to champion her cause, to upset the ancient landmark, to establish the
new custom of divorce, and to launch the grief-stricken Dulcinea upon
a new and glittering sea of happiness.” (N. Y. Times.)

* + =Ind.= 59: 1229. N. 23, ‘05. 150w.

“Mrs. Waltz is a born writer of sensational fiction, and carries her
reader triumphantly through scenes that would be intolerable from a
less vigorous hand.”

+ — =Nation.= 81: 368. N. 2, ‘05. 340w.

“Many of the personages are drawn with vitality.”

+ =N. Y. Times.= 10: 650. O. 7, ‘05. 300w.

“An exciting story from start to finish.”

+ =Outlook.= 81: 380. O. 14, ‘05. 50w.

Wampum library of American literature; ed. by Brander Matthews. **$1.40. Longmans.

These three volumes form the beginning of a series which when
completed will illustrate the development of the various forms of
American literature. Each volume treats of a single species, tracing
the evolution of this definite form and presenting in chronological
sequence typical examples chosen from the writings of American authors
born prior to 1850. Volume I, “American short stories,” edited by
Charles Sears Baldwin, contains a comprehensive introduction, and
selected stories which he divides into two periods, the “tentative”
and the “new form.” Under the former are selections from Irving,
Austin, Hall, and Pike; under the latter, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Poe,
Willis, Kirkland, O’Brien, Hart, Webster, Taylor, Bunner, and
Frederic. Volume II, “American literary criticism,” edited by William
Morton Payne, deals with the development of the critical spirit in
American literature. The introduction shows literary insight and
critical ability and ranks with the essays which follow. The essays
selected are entirely upon literary themes, and include selections
from Dana, Ripley, Emerson, Poe, Ossoli, Lowell, Whitman, Whipple,
Stedman, Howells, Lanier, and James. Volume III, “American familiar
verse,” edited by Brander Matthews, who is also editing the edition as
a whole, contains a, lengthy introduction which defines Familiar verse
as—“the lyric of commingled sentiment and playfulness, which is more
generally and more carelessly called vers de société.” A rather
catholic choice of authors follows—Freneau, J. Q. Adams, Moore,
Irving, Bryant, Halleck, Drake, Whittier, Longfellow, Holmes, Saxe,
Lowell, Stoddard, Stedman, Aldrich, and many others.

“Two compilations, which are fitted to serve a good purpose in advance
English classes.”

+ + =Cath. World.= 80: 832. Mr. ‘05. 390w. (Reviews vols. I. and
II.)

“If the succeeding volumes are as capably edited as the three now
published, the series will prove of great value in the historical
study of our literature. From the character of these three volumes it
is evident that the series when complete will place in their proper
proportions the successive steps in the evolution of these distinct
literary forms. The one unfortunate feature in the general plan of the
library is the arbitrary restriction which prohibits a selection from
any ~living~ American writers whose birth has occurred since December
31, 1850.” W. E. Simonds.

+ + + =Dial.= 38: 13. Ja. 1, ‘05. 1350w.

“The ~genre~ of familiar verse is so well adapted to this particular
purpose, and Mr. Matthews has shown such skill in selection, that his
own volume will probably bear the test of time as the standard
anthology. The value of the illustrative material in the others is
more doubtful.” G. R. Carpenter.

+ + =Educ. R.= 29: 424. Ap. ‘05. 490w. (Reviews vols. I.-III.)

=R. of Rs.= 31: 250. F. ‘05. 290w.

=Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (Mrs. Herbert D. Ward).= Trixy. $1.50. Houghton.

This story, which is a dramatic argument against vivisection, has for
its heroine Trixy, a performing French poodle, who, barely escaping
death on the dissecting table, confronts the accused physician in
court. The human interest centers about this young scientist who loses
the affections of the woman he loves, and eventually his own life, by
his experiments. A young lawyer, an active defender of little dogs and
kittens, wins the hand of the girl who could not trust herself to the
vivisectionist.

“Clever artist as she is, we are not prepared to say that she has
avoided many an ignominious descent into the pathetic.”

+ — =Cath. World.= 80: 833. Mr. ‘05. 290w.

“We do not propose to consider it as a story, but as a tract, for that
is what it is chiefly in the author’s mind. In this case ... we
question whether the charity which she gives to beasts does not make
her forget the charity due to human beings. But Mrs. Ward goes so far
as to make a superstitious use of natural scenery to enforce her
warning against vivisection.”

+ — =Ind.= 58: 99. Ja. 12, ‘05. 850w.

=Ward, H. Marshall.= Trees: a handbook of forest botany for the woodlands and the laboratory. 6 vol. ea. *$1.50. Macmillan.

The author has prepared this series as a text-book for all who need a
guide to their studies. The text is clear and simple and each volume
is provided with diagnostic tables devised for use in the field. The
series includes, Birds and twigs; Leaves; Flowers and inflorescences:
Fruits and seeds; Seedlings; and The habit and conformation of the
tree as a whole.

“The book has evidently been compiled with great care. Its value,
then, to the student, forester or other, is beyond question.”

+ + + =Ath.= 1905, 2: 280. Ag. 26, 480w. (Review of v. 3.)

“The book is not only an excellent text-book In forest botany, but is
a capital study in pedagogy as well.”

+ + + =Nation.= 80: 414. My. 25, ‘05. 420w. (Review of v. 2.)

“Is, like the earlier volumes in the series, thoroughly interesting
and accurate.”

+ + + =Nation.= 81: 360. N. 2, ‘05. 100w. (Review of v. 3.)

“The work will be found indispensable to those students who wish to
make an expert study of forest botany. At the same time it is
expressed in language so clear and devoid of technicalities that the
amateur who wishes to know something about our trees and shrubs will
find this one of the most useful guides to which he can turn.”

+ + + =Nature.= 71: 291. Ja. 26, ‘05. 620w. (Reviews vols. I. and
II.)

“There is also a very useful and exhaustive index at the end of the
book.”

+ + + =Nature.= 72: 482. S. 14, ‘05. 410w. (Review of v. 3.)

=N. Y. Times.= 10: 437. Jl. 1, ‘05. 270w. (Review of v. 3.)

=Ward, H. Snowden.= Canterbury pilgrimages. *$1.75. Lippincott.

“The interest of the book centers around two great tragedies: the fall
of Thomas the archbishop, and the fall of Thomas the martyr. These are
bound up with a part of a still greater tragedy: the collapse of a
grand religious movement, which, with all its human imperfections and
short-comings, had done a noble work for those who had needed it most,
the poor, the weak, the suffering.” The text has been improved by many
illustrations of churches, shrines and relics, and sketches of the
“pilgrims’ way.”

+ + =Critic.= 47: 479. N. ‘05. 130w.

“Altogether it is an interesting excursion through historical lore for
the illustration of a significant feature of mediaeval English life
that Chaucer has kept in permanent remembrance.”

+ + =N. Y. Times.= 10: 620. S. 28, ‘05. 840w.

=Ward, John.= Our Sudan: its pyramids and progress. *$8.40. Scribner.

The author gives his reader the privilege of skipping the letterpress
and looking at his seven hundred illustrations. This picture book of
Soudanese snap-shots is accompanied by chapters “which give
interesting if not exactly novel, accounts of events and sundry
episodes in the story of the African continent during the last fifty
centuries, combined with details of explorations and military
expeditions to remote spots during the last fifty years.” (Sat. R.)

“There can be no doubt of its interest or its future popularity.”

+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 557. My. 6. 430w.

“It is pieced together in so haphazard a manner and with such contempt
for all sense of proportion that it can hardly be viewed as a serious
guide to anybody. Mr. Ward makes many needless mistakes.”

— — + =Sat. R.= 100: 23. Jl. 1, ‘05. 1160w.

+ + =Spec.= 94: 559. Ap. 15, ‘05. 210w.

=Ward, Mary Augusta Arnold (Mrs. Thomas Humphry Ward).= Marriage of William Ashe. †$1.50. Harper.

A novel presenting the political and social order existing in London a
hundred years ago. William Ashe, a rising young statesman of English
solidity and force, falls in love with Lady Kitty, beautiful,
eighteen, just released from a French convent, and neglected by a
mother of doubtful reputation. He marries her and she leads him gayly
from one scandal to another, ridiculing his influential friends,
making enemies of the prime minister, Lord Parham and his wife, and
capping all by writing a bitterly real satire upon the social set in
which her marriage has placed her. A fragile, captivating creature of
varying moods, with an hereditary moral madness in her blood, she
holds our interest, excites our pity, and dominates the book. But
there are other characters; William’s mother, the strong aristocratic
Englishwoman, Mary Lyster, cold, narrow, and selfishly hard, and
Geoffrey Cliffe—a villain with a dash of genius, whose power over
Kitty began with her desire to penetrate the secret history of a man
whose poems filled her with a thrilling sense of feeling and passion
beyond her ken.

“It is one of the best that Mrs. Humphry Ward has written, the chief
fault of it being the wearisome middle. The work is not organically
built up, and though the interest revives towards the end we still
feel that the book is imperfect. One can well understand that it would
have been twice as good if Mrs. Humphry Ward possessed the saving gift
of humour, but she takes many things in life and particularly her own
sex much too seriously.”

+ + — =Acad.= 68: 227. Mr. 11, ‘05. 1570w.

“It is not in any real sense a remarkable book. There is little or
nothing in it that has not been given before both by the writer
herself and by others. The hand of the experienced literary artist is
visible—too visible in fact.”

+ + — =Ath.= 1905, 1: 332. Mr. 18. 730w.