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Literary JVetvs and Criticism. Beautiful H olid ay Books on Travel in Foreign Lands. • GREECE AND THE JBGCAS ISLANDS. By k Philip Sdnfor<i Marden. Illustrated, Bvo pp. " sir. WL Houghton. Mitflin A Co. THE PT-iI.DERS OF FLORENCE. By J. Wood Brown. M. A. With T4 illustrations r.v Herbert RaHton, -Mo. pp. x. IV.. K. P. Duttoa & Cw. THE OM> VENETIAN PALACES AND OLD VENETIAN FOLK. By Thomas Okey. With 61 colored sad other illustrations by Trevor HaiJdon. tro. ,-p. ivii!, 822. B. P. Duuon & Co. THE SECRETS OF THE VATICAN. By Doufi is ptaden. With 60 Illustrations rind plans. Svo, pp. xxvii, ■'''•. Philadelphia: 3. B. Lippincolt company. ITALY THE MAGIC LAND. By Lillian Whit- Irsr. Illustrated from photographs. Bvo, pp. y.'-. 4~'i. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. CATHEDRALF AND CLOISTERS OF MIDLAND FRANCE. By El tee Wnitlock Rose and \ ■•■ Hunt Francis. With Illustrations from original photographs, In two volumes. Bvo, pp. six, <■■;. xfi. 371. G. P. Putnam's Eons. CATHEDRAL, CITIES OF FRANCE. By Her h-rt Marshall. R. W. 8.. and Ili'Ufr Marshall. With 6<> Illustrations In color. »vo. pp. x. 396. l iodd. Mead & Co. A SPRING FORTNIOHT IN" FRANCE. By Jo« t ln« Toster. Illustrated. Ivo, pp. xil, JK. bodd. Mead & Co. NOOKS AND CORNERS OF OLD ENGLAND. By Allan F*>a. With illustrations from phoro praphji by th* author, gvo, pp. xiv. 273. Charl<»« SfTlbner'e Eons. OLD AND NEW JAPAN. By Cllv« Holland. With .'■'> colored pictures hv Montapu Smyth, tvo. pp. ix. SSe. E. P. Dutton & Co. INTIA IMPRESSIONS. With Bom« Note.4 of Osvlon During a. Winter Tour 1906-07. By Walter Crani"'. R. W. B. With a frontispiece in color end numerous other illustrations from sketches hy th*> author. •v •• pp. xi. 325. The Macmiuan Company. THE PTORY OF THE WHITE lIOITSE. By Esther Singleton. In two volumes. Illustrated. ,fro7pp. xxxvii. 518; xlii. 840. The McClure Com rany. HISTORIC landmarks OF america AS Veen and DESCRIBED BY FAMOI S WRITFRS Collected and edited hy h.Ftfcf>r Singleton. With numerous Illustrations, B\o, pp. xiv. 555. Dudd, Mead & Co. The old conventional Christmas book began t« fall Into 4terepute many years ago and to day It Is rarely encountered. Its place has^jeen taken by the book framed with more regard for i [bstance than for guttering outward show, and intended to take a permanent place in the library of the thoughtful reader. Yot the publishers are in no wise indifferent to th« spirit of tins holidays. They make these books really more attractive in typography, Illustrations and bind- Jng than were the caudy ephemeral "gift books" 'of an earlier day. This policy yields especially pood fruit? where th*> work of travel is con cerned, the work devoted to, the general inter .. f of fnme picturesque region or to the his toric monuments of a given city or country. Among the auth< rs whose volumes are enumer ated above the broad tendency is toward a se rious discussion of things that are worth while, ar.d their writings an put forth at once in gala dress and in such shape, as to last. We have never a warmer welcome than for such publica tions as the* ■ "It is perfectly possible to journey to Eleusis by train." This sentence In the seventh chap ter of Mr. Marden's "Greece and the JlSgean Islands' strikes the keynote of the current literature of travel. ,It does not m»an that th« poetry of the East has been turned into prose, but simply that the world has been made smaller and more convenient of access In its every part. Take, for example, the storied land of which Mr. Harden writes. A visit to it must ever be a romantic adventure, but difficulties that confronted the traveller not so very long ago are_now nearly all removed, and this author will snow you 'how easily and comfortably you may explore all the ancient sites. He fears that he is liable to the charge of having occasionally giv«n his pages a "guide-bookish sound." but we do not see why this should be regretted. The fat-ajs that the value of the book lies just in practicality with which it has been writ ten, so that the traveller is sure to be really helped if he follows in Mr. Marden's footsteps and accepts his advice. The opening chapter on "Travelling in Greece" is just what is needed. We appreciate, too, the one on "Modern Athens," which is well calculated to initiate the readfr Into th" spirit of the country as it is, a matter often contributory to a more sympathetic un derstanding of the Greece of the past. More over. Mr. Marden's guide-bookishneas does not in the least militate against his describing the topographical and architectural landmarks of the country with all of the feeling and literary suggest iveness to bo expected of a man of culture and Imagination. His book, with its If tones from well chosen photographs, is pre cisely the one wanted alike by the traveller and by the reader at home who Is Interested In hav ing a brief survey of the subject. Research in Italy Is, of course, well repre sented among the holiday books, It has pro duced a. valuable Study In "The Builders of Florence." by Mr. J. Wood Brown. This author has adopted an admirable method, combining architectural and historical elements in the painting of a kind of picture of Florentine civ ilization. His aim has been to show, in the first X'!are, how the River Arno has determined the character of the town, and how that character lias been further developed both by the commer cial interests of the citizens and the humanistic spirit which moulded their thoughts in the golden age of their artistic activity. His choice of buildings for more or less minute analysis teems at first Mjpsn a little arbitrary. and to the lover of Florence some of his omissions may weni especially regrettable. But as Mr. Brown proceeds in his narrative the reader observes that the plan used is really a sound one. Th« author deals with this or that building as it is a monument of Florentine commerce, religious feeling or civic pride, and In each case he goes for the work possessing distinct historical sig nificance. Though bis treatment frequently takes a rather technical turn, as Is legitimate in « book addressed in part to the architectural ftudent. it is free from pedantry and will be appreciated no less by the layman than by the scholar. The human side of the subject is not neglected. If Mr. Brown writes as a critic in discussing, for example, the faea<3« of Santa Maria Xovella. he is equally careful to note the relation to that edifice of a great family like that of the Rueellal. Hie text Js much enhanced in interest by a targe 1 election of picturesque sketches In black and white from the graceful hand of Mr. Herbert Kailton. In "The Old Venetian Palaces" Mr. Thomas Okev discloses the fain" gift for 'he flexible and entertain handling of historical lore w 'hlch he has made so effective in previous volumes, and adds to his work the charm which '.'<m*-s from a keen appreciation of architecture for its own safe*. On the Vhole. however, while v.c v i*. his 'notes on the artistic aspect of hi* FuMect. we are .still more grateful for his gen to i» in all those matters which mean roman tic WBociatlon. and for his vividness in repro ducing something of the social movement in old Venice He will tell you how a member of the house of Moroslnl sat out to complete in one i"* 8 ' a group of thirty dwellings to be given by him to poor noblemen, and ho will tell you how these sixteenth century buildings were planned. They were to have "on the upper floor two rooms and a kitchen, a •STSS#S in solrr— probably a kind of loggia, on the roof— below, an albcrgo— probably a place in which to .stow the 1 , f'-fr'. oars, cushions, and oih«r furniture of a •ondoln, a place for wood, a wine store (canaa). an op*.- (ortiU with two wt-lls, and a Sanding Mace irina).- With a wealth of similar detail *'»■• Okey shows his reader how the Venetians °- the past UvaJ. ami on rvirao*t «FSBr DSg* b» gives a richer color to his account by bringing ] In some •-,;,} ? .- n ,i or anecdote. Line drawings, i halftones from photographs, and clever sketches in rr.lcr Oil out a fascinating look. Mr. Slsdcn's book on "The Secrets of the Vati can" Is not. ns the title might suggest, a book of tittle-tattle, but a volume of extremely In teresting Information about Important things. It treats ii; t!?r first place of the lif<- that goes forward in the great palace, tilling what bap pens at the death of a ope end at the election of hi! successor, explaining the constitution of the College of Cardinal?. Betting forth the inci dents of pn audience with the Pope, and, -in short, making clear the full significance of the Vatican as (he <;,. a of rir ecclesiastical govern '■■''■■■' in the second part of the volume Mr. tnaden describes portions of the building, like the crypt, the library, the papal coach house. the Borgia apartments, and so on, which are not generally shown to the public Reproductions of old prints and halftones from photographs enrich the record. The style of the book Is not at all distinguished^ but Mr. Bladen has brought a quantity of Interesting facts together, and has arranged them with system. . No other book printed in English gives quite what he offers to the reader. § Mips Lilian Whiting has composed her "Italy, the Magic Land." r.f six or seven discursive chapters, which are /partly historical and partly made up of personal impressions. There are ->:•■ very pleasant pages in her essay on "The. Period of Modern Art in Rome." In which she recalls the numerous Americans who have lived and labored In th<- city. She continues the strain effectively In dealing with social life .in Rom«. Her other chapters glance lightly and often in rather pent] mental mood at scenes in the South or at Venice, and at figures like Bt. Francis of Assist and Vlttoria Colonna. It is an agreeable miscellany. H»re. too. as In so many of our hooks of travel, the numerous illustra tions are printed in halftones from "photographs. Miss Elise Whitloek Rose and Miss Vida Hunt Francis, who published a couple of volumes a year or so ago on the ecclesiastical monument" of Provence, Languedoc and Gascony, have done well to carry their Investigations further and prepare two more volumes on tho "Cathedrals and Cloisters of Midland France " Their travels through Burgundy. Savoy. Dauphin* and Auvergne have brought them into contact with some of the most brilliant qehievements of French architecture, Gothic and Romanesque. especially Gothic. Much of this material, too, is unfamiliar save to the profession^ student. «nd j it is not always we!! known to him. The au- I thors freely quote from their authorities, hut are painstaking in the firsthand description of what they gee. Particularly effective are they in their Illustrations, making their photographs from un conventional points of view and being lavish i of details, which are always suggestive to those who care at all for architecture. They know when to make an essentially dignified picture of : such a subject, say. as the interior of Angou- i leme or Perigueux, and when to select the free and romantic effect, as at Le Puy. These Illus trations have been scattered royally through the volumes, which have, indeed, something of the character of pictorial notebooks. It is a good method to pursue In such a study. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall's "Cathedral Cities of France" is a good popular volume,, based on thoroughgoing study of the subject. It starts in instructive vein, with a description of the manner in which the typical cathedral town of France has come into being, and then the au thors go from place to place, considering their buildings from an architectural point of view, but drawing upon general history to good pur pose when occasion Invites. The illustrations in color have the merit of always presenting the subject from a sufficient distance, so as to bring out the general appearance of tha cathedral portrayed, its place in the ensemble. "A Spring Fortnight in France," by Miss Jose- phine Tozier, is one of those books, recently be come more and more conspicuous, in which notes of travel are. intertwined with purely personal adventures, culminating in a sentimental situa tion. The love story In th!« case Is kept enough In the background to give the author plenty of space in which to set down her Impressions of places like Saumur, Carcassonne and Aries. The tone Is frankly informal and vivacious. One of j the characters describes Rocamadour -'is "the most enchanting, dellciously funny, fascinating, perchy place" she ever saw. Hut this does not make Miss Taster's pages any the less sincere in their enthusiastic celebration of historic scenes and buildings. It Is a sprightly little book. Tho illustrations are the Inevitable, half tones from photographs, save for a few quaint maps and a charming frontispiece, drawing, by Mr. New, of th« village of Rocamadour. The character of Mr. Allan Feus "Nooks and Corners of Old England" Is exactly In harmony with that enticing title The, author rambles up , and down Suffolk. Norfolk. Warwickshire, Dev on, and divers other counties, pausing for a moment or for an hour as the scene allures him; and finding everything fish that comes to his net, whether it ,be authentic, history, legendary gossip or the visible souvenir of some past event. It Is a book of odds and ends, written by a man who loves such things and so knows how to make the most of them In the record of his wanderings. If in Somersetshire he finds him self in the neighborhood of a fine, old manor house he will describe it and tell you the. ro mantic story which may belong to it. but he. will soon leave this theme and repeat some vil lage superstition. The country doctor, visited by farmers whose cattle had fallen hick and usually received by him at midnight, "when In cantations were held and mysterious powder? burned." reminds Mr. Fea of an episode in the East End of London, where a young Jewess not long ago endeavored, with the aid of a Russian "wise woman." to bring back a truant husband by magical processes used in the Middle Ages This author Is, in fact, discursive with a ven geance. This means that he lures the read on In beguiling fashion. He is helped by his neat little photographs, mostly two to a page, and all of them clear, crisp pictures of delightful old buildings. Many of Mr. Fea's architectural subjects have been found off the beaten track and are to that extent the more interesting. "Old and New Japan." Mr. Clive Hollands book, is unusually v. ell written, but in this in- j stance the Illustrations In color are likewise ex ceptional, so much so that as we turn the pages we are half tempted to neglect the author. Mr. Montagu Smyth Is a skilful draftsman and a water colorist with a touch of his own. Best of all, he has escaped the temptation which seems to assail so many of the artists of th« West when they go to Japan, the temptation to paint the East with only one eye on nature and a sharp lookout for the, mere quaintness of Oriental life. These drawings show that Mr. Smyth has painted Japan as sincerely and as artlessly as though he were painting his native England. He has, into the l#>rgaln. a charming sense of color, and by good luck the process by which his pictures have been reproduced ha« been kind to the delicacy of bis tones. We nave not in a long time, seen s color book so winning in quality. But we must not omit a cordial word for. Mr. Holland's text. In his Chapters on Japanese religion and kindred sub jects he may not bo particularly original, but when he treats of the Japanese home and some, social questions, of Japanese babies, girls and women, of familiar life in city and country, he writes with an intimate sympathy to which we have not been accustomed by the ordinary ;ii-j-*-i-'* ■•' hooks About - travel in the East. This NEW- YORK DAILY TRIBUNE, SATI RDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1907. volume i?. indeed, rarely ■<*. "/ing and pleasing-. We wish we could speak as wirmly of Mr. Wal ter Crane's '"India Impressions," but the truth is_ that his observations of a .journey to Bom bay. Delhi, Calcutta and the other salient points of interest, supplemented by a chapter on Cey lon, do not rise above the level of the conven tional tourist's diary. The best feature of the book is the artist-author's series of humorous pen sketches. The volumes under review have led us from classic Foil over many foreign lands and bring: •-is. finally, back to our own country. We are glad that they include such a work as "The Story •)' the White House." In which Miss Esther .Singleton gives the reader for tho first time an account of the subject packed with Items of historical and social interest. The ex isting building does not, of course, date from the earlier years of the Presidency, but the author has rightly legun her story with the question of Washington's solicitude for the erec lion of a proper official residence nt the seat of government; and then she follows her subject down through each administration, concluding with a description of the very important Im provements made within the last few years. All the vicissitudes of the White House are traced and each step In Its architectural history is duly recorded, but throughout the narrative is ex panded bo as to admit ample notes on the social relations of the successive Presidents. Portraits of these statesmen and of members of their families are given, and there are many illus trations of the house itself at different periods. Nothing la said about politics. The author's purpose is confined to the description of an his toric home and the anecdotic commemoration of Its many famous occupants. The two hand some volumes ought to prove of the widest in terest. The same author has compiled an enter taining volume in her "Historic Landmarks of America." tho text being drawn from the works of Washington Irving. Daniel Webster. Froude. Parkman and a score of others. The landmarks Include Bunker Hll 1 , Lake George, Lexington. Gettysburg, Newport. Santa F6 and so on, ap propriate photographs, printed in halftone, ac companying each chapter. Though wanting In the unity which belongs to most of the other books in the series edited by Miss Singleton, it contains much to appeal to the patriotic reader. PRECIOUS MARGINALIA. Glimpses of Lord Macaulay in Hit Übrary. MARGINAL NOTES BT LORI) MACAULAY. Selected and Arranged by Sir George Otto Tievelyan. 12mo. pp. 65. Longmans, <.r»>..;i A. Co. Charles Lamb was a little rueful hut on th« whole well pleased when Coleridge borrowed one of his books. He knew that If it was re» turned to him at ail ft would come back en riched with marginalia made of tho pure, gold of the. poofs mind. Lord Macaulay was just such a beneficent annotator. Ha could not read anything without Immediately pencilling beside tho text precisely what he thought of it, and bo full of energy was his thought thai even trash emerged from his hands with a certain Interest communicated to it. His library con tained, ns his nephew observes in the present essay, many books of no great Intrinsic value of themselves; but these, we are told, "are readable, from the first page to the last, for th« h-ake of his manuscript notes Inscribed in im mense profusion down their margins." He could extort amusement even from the six vol umes of the Swan of Lichfleld's Letters, supply ing them with a running commentary which Sir George Trevelyan likens to "the breaking of a butterfly beneath the Impact of a cheerful steam hammer." The bif>lia-a-bibUa, the books which are no bocks, in Lamb's phrase, had no terrors for him. At least they stimulated him to sarcasm, to n mood of correction, and that meant the starting of a flow of allusion. of luminous comment on the subject mistreated by the dunce whose work lay open before him. It was a capital Idea of Sir George Trevelyan's to collect a handful or so of the casual remarks left by one of the most accomplished readers In the history of literature. They are amusing when they are concerned with pompous mediocrities. They are much more, than amusing when they refer to good bocks. These he "Illustrated and enlivened by Innumerable entries, of which none are prolix, pointless, or dull; while interest and admiration are expressed by lines drawn down the sides of the text He never flagged. Sir George quotes a remark on the constant alertness of Macau lay's mind once made to him by Frederic Myers: "He seems habitually to have read as I road only during my first half hour with a great author." He read, too, not simply as a scholar and a critic, but as a passionate lover of letters, one to whom the exposure of an error or the recording of dissent was no more Im portant than was the notation of his pleasure in a fine thing. Her* Is his characterization of the Seventh Idyll of Theocritus. This is ;i very good Idyll. Indeed it I* more pleasing to me: than almost any other pastoral poem in any language. It whs my favorite at Col lege. There Ih a rich profusion of rustic Imagery about II vi hit 1 flnd nowhere else. li opens a sretie of rural plenty and comfort which quite nils the Imagination Bowers, fruits, leaves, fountains, soli goatskins, old wine, sinKing birds, joyous friendly companions. The whole lias an air of reality which in more Interesting than the. conven tional world "-lit.!: Virgil has placed In Arcadia. His enthusiasm comes out on nearly every page of his Shakespeare, and. with It. a fine scorn for th* Ineptitudes of this or that com mentator. He la no respecter of persons. Dr. Johnson, coming to the passage In "Hamlet," m Who wnuJii rordfls near, To Kroßn and sweat ini>t«-r a weary life was moved to write this note: "All the old copies have to 'grunt and sweat.' It is un doubtedly the true reading, but can scarcely bo borne by modern earn." That Is not the, way it strikes Macaulay. "We want Shakespeare," he pays, "not your fine modern English.'' It Is Interesting to know that h«* believed "Hamlet" to be "the only play on which Shakespeare really bestowed much care and attention." His nephew Kays that he devoted as much time and thought to the minute study of that drama as if had been his- Intention to edit It. "Othello" he reckoned "the best piny extant In any lan guat'P." After the notes on Shakespeare come many of bis remarks on the Greek mid l^itin authors. for whom Macaulay had a veritable passion. His nephew deplores the fact that we have niv a f*w pagfs as the visible fruit of "the thousands <.f hours which he t^Kfiit over the classics I writers during th# last twenty years <>f his life," and be speaks wistfully of a Ufa of Pericles and a Life of Cicero which ar«- among "the un written biographies which were buried with him." Borne i<l.>a <»r ihe brilliant character they would have poisfirnod Is given by the notes on Cicero and Plato which are here rescued from oblivion. They show how. for Macaulay. the antique world w;is a living thing, about which he would have written with profound knowl edge and vith the keenest feeling for its purely human interest. Indeed, this little volume is not only entertaining through the scattered ex amples It brings together of Macaulays thought; it is useful inasmuch as it deepens our sense of the whole broad character of his mind. The legend of the great historian and talker as "a book in breeches" is sufficiently corrected, of course, by the familiar "Life and Letters." but It is will to have also this further proof of the essential warmth, vivacity, and sympathetic duality oi bJs intellect. Books and ' Publications. ATopicior Discussion "MEN AND WOMEN CAN NEVER AGREE IN THEIR JUDGMENT OF IT."— Chicago Record Herald on THE HELPMATE Therefore, differences of sex in reviewer may account for some of the following dif ferences of opinion. * * * "Not to be mentioned in the same breath with 'The Divine Fire.' — N. Y. Tribune. "An advance upon 'The Divine Fire.' " — London Times. , "She must have made her reputation by this bock, if it had not been already won." —Punch. m♦ * • "The whole dreary business." — A*. V. Tribune. "A brilliancy that makes the reader blink." — Bookman. ' ' * * * "Suggestive of the immature author, meddling ineffectively with an unpleasant theme." — A. I". Tribune. "Very movingly and powerfully narrated . . . we" admire its reticence." — Times. ** ■ * "She has lavished loving labor and elab orate artisanshrp upon material so unworthy of them." — Life. "Things are said in these pages, and said very plainly, which need to be said, which are . . . almost never «so well said." —V. V. Times. * * ♦ "A doleful picture of a number of figure? who never once carry conviction."— A". Y. Tribune. "Unforgettable . . . person?." — .V. V. Times. "When she reports of one of her charac ters that he said something bright, she h ablr to prove it by telling what he said."- — N. Y. Globe. * * * "More fuitable'for a medical clinic than for a popular novel.'" — Chicago Record Herald. "'The one novel on the divorce question that should be written." — Boston Tran script. ♦ ♦ * "Lacking in distinction, in romance, in charm and grace." — Chicago Tribune. "The great distinction of her craftsman ship."Punch (London). PHENRY HOLT SCO asflSfl JUVENILIA. Fiction for Boys — Exciting Tales of Fighting and Treasure Hunting. # Some of the most exciting books of boyish ad venture this season have the always irresistible flavor of snlt water. High on th© list of stories which nr« not only entertaining but also sug gestive of manly good Bens« and honest deal- Ing is Mr. James Otls's "Aboard the Hylow on Sable Island Bank' .K. P. Dutton & Co.V Th.: Hylow is a stanch ' New England fishing .vessel. Itis crew are hearty, hard-working, kindly New Knglanders. not quite s<> sentimental as aVre th* fishermen of Mi. Kipling's Gloucester story, but , as likable in their way. One bad tempered black sheep there Is in th» group, and he, for a little whllp, threatens to make, life hard for the two hoys, who, hiding in the. hold, are ac cidentally carried off when the vessel s«ts sail for Sable Island Rank. All ends well for th« stowaways, however, one Interesting episode after another going to show that a boy who wants hard work enlivened by danger and fun will find what he peeks aboard a trawler manne J by a crew of, fine character, eccentric manners and prodigious nppet!tes. Youngsters of a literary turn may be glad to hear that Mr. Otis never wrote a more beguiling story than this. Very realistic does it seem beside Mr. Charles X Rich's Ixi-tk, "A Voyage with Captain Dyna mite' (A. S. Bnrne.s Sl Co.). This tale of fili buster days, when Cuba was still under Span ish rule, is of the old-fashioned melodramatic order. The American boys, who by a series of accidents tlnd themselves in a Spanish prison under sentence °f death at dawn, escape, of course; moreover, they help a beautiful Span ish girl to escape also— and this involves many thrill*. Captain Dynamite, the. filibuster hero, performs miracles of courage— "they call him Dynamite because when you touch him off there's sure tn be something doing." Ho is one of those story book wonders who wear a Sweet Smiif and indulge in v musical Laugh when the fuming enemy is trapped — and i\hat boy falls to appreciate that kind? Hey. Jolly Mariner, whrro have you been— O? I've been to the Spanish Main and much have I »*n- ()! Have you come •with treasure back to deck your self bo srand— Nay, I've brought myself alone of all that gallant band— O! That ditty will giv^ the reader a fair taste of the. lively historical romance entitled "When. Ham-kins Failed the Sea" (Brentano's). The au thor. Mr Tinsley Pratt, has cleverly used the episodes of the great admiral's voyages to mako Interesting the career of a Devon boy who. torn on a farm, must needs go a-salling to the land of gold. There be villains, of course, to tho fore, and .sturdy young Newman stands upon the verge of death often enough to stir the most placid boyish pulses. The least of his escapes is by mean* of « wrestling match with a chief's son. when the youth Is on the point of being killed and eaten by cannibals. A story equally markw' ! y bloody/ encowfrsra but of a later ami somewhat less picturesque period is Mr. J. T. Mclntyre's "With Fighting Jack Barry' tJ. B. Lippmcott Company*. There's not much real history in this book, but the Revolutionary mruggle provides a good framework for fight scenes and the wicked devices of selfish schemers. A big ruby ring and a fateful paper hidden in It are at the bottom of somo strange happenings*, which lend variety to the fighting. Th'-ro Is a glimpse of Ceneral Washington which we are glad to nute. A book which has a good deal of snlt water in it, and no end of terrifying adventures with lawbreakers Is Mr. Earl C. McAllister's "On Tower Island" (Dana Bates & Co.). The story turns upon th<> attempt of a rarty of criminals to d'fraud various in surance companies, an attempt which is de feated by four daring young yachtsmen who are cruising off the Maine coast. The noble four while doing this fine 'htng run into all sorts of danger, and the reader is left gasping with won derment when they turn up safe and happy, at the. end. The story is a very kaleidoscope of changing scenes, all involving shrewdness and daring on the part of the boys;— and as for the setting of the drama let the reader imagine an underground haunt of oldtime pirates. In VThe Young Traders" (Frederick A. Stokes Company) Mr. Harold Bindloss describes the Adventures of two English boys, loyal friends Books and Publication ft. NEW MACMILLAN BOOKS ARH THE BEST HOLIDAY GIFTS. READY THIS WEEK Dr. Albert Shaw'S timely 'new book The Outlook lor the Average Man. Its chapters have to do with the average individual's relations to present social, economic and political conditions. They discuss the changes which he must face and means of adjustment to therri. Cloth, 12mo, 240 pagfs, $1.30 net Mr. Owen WlSter'S remarkable biography The Seven Ages of Washington. "A study of George Washington in a very intimate sense, surprisingly skilful in disclosing something of the personal and other forces with which the commander and President had to deal . . . brief, and made hu manly interesting from the first page to the last." — Xexif York Tribune. Illustrated in photogravure, boxed. s— rsfs, mitt Jrathrr bar];, $2.00 net; hit mail, $2.14 Mr. James Morgan's Theodore Roosevelt. The best gift that can be made to a boy or young man. The leading educa tional journal in the country says : "We doubt if any book ha? been recent ly written that will do as modi for students. . . . Buy it. read it, and tell others to read it **""•" ■** i— »* doth, fi.!» Mr. Frederic Harrison's »«*• took , The Philosophy of Common Sense. It is a summary of the philosophical grounds on which his The Creed of \ a Layman was based, and it carries on the autobiographical account of the stages by which those conclusions were reached. Cloth, cr. Svo, 41S pages, gilt tops, $1.75 net ; by mail, $1.50 Send for the new Christmas Catalogue of Books Published THE MA CMILLAN COMPANY 6 4^^ ' FIVE GREAT BOOKS HOLIDAYS THE I UNDER i fj^ THE I DAYS ROMANCE THE p,:, n( BROKEN OFF OF AN CRUST ™°* UNO fasSed tho ; s the Tree » ™ FASHIONED TUnul(! b * henry GENTLEMAN JJg{ By ,E w . m by PAGE . Edith MASON mt I m**4 Wharto " , m ****** HOPKINSON so mussed t. so uso coin t.so SMITH He has an eye Among books of All the power Genial hu for the pictu- the year it stands and promise nor, sound Ilius'rzted in. resque. poetic, alone In strength shown In the sens* and nt color, .50 and the hu- and power and author's earlier tlmat* knowl moroua, and ■ marks the utmost books reach edgY of sport It is both his style shows achievement o f their climax in are here given beautiful and exquisite taste the present day this great concrete form. true, and skill .-.Vort- novelist. story. -PiUa. X. Amur —Th« Outlook villa American. —Baltimore Sun —PMIa. Ism ican. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 153 Fifth Aye.. N. Y. From Dutton's Holiday Catalogue A HISTORY OF SCULPTURE By ERNEST H. SHORT. With one hundred and twelve Illustrations. Bvo, $3.00 net. It la it remarkable fact that no practical manual of the wrr!d'« Sculpture has yet appeared In E.ig~ !!->h. an. l the publisher hopes that the book which be now announces will fill a gap in the literature of Art. THE OLD VENETIAN PALACES By THOMAS OKEY, author of "Wnlce and Its Story." etc. Decorated cloth binding, with rllt top. Fifty Illustrations in full color by Trevor Haddin. with many line drawings by ths> ej^ne artist. Also 22 reproductions from Ruskin's Stones of Venice, etc. Bvo. Net. $6.00 A detailed and careful study of a large number of the better-known buildings In Venice, with ap preciative descriptions of their architecture and a brief survey of their history. Th» Illustration • avoid the more familiar Venetian scenes and show many charming bits of architectural detail la adds* tlon to the exterior views of the buildings themselves. CITIES OF ITALY By ARTHUR SYMONS. <l^th. with frontispiece. N>t. $200. ' Mr. Symoaa is becoming more and more recognized as one of th<s foremost critics of the pres ent age. Full of the spirit of the country, he has produced one of the roost delightful studies) of contemporary and modiieval Italy. THE* BUILDERS OF FLORENCE By J. WOOD BROWN. With 74 illustrations by Herbert Railton. Demy 4to. $S.OO n«t. This fine book treats of the history and a«* octatlons of the more important of the bistort* buildings of Florence. In the case ot each building an exact account is given of its architect ural development. It is sumptuously produced and admirably illustrated. Holiday Catalogue on application. E. P. DUTTON <* CO.. 31 West 23d Street, New York. and comrades. In West Africa. At a lonely sta tion in the dank forest, beside a steaming creek, surrounded by unpleasant savages and with fevers waiting for them, these youths exhibit many fine traits— traits which make their story improving as well as startling. West Africa is a region wherein excellent material for "scarers" is available:— witness the convenient presence of a huge sacred crocodile in tne slimy creek into which one. of our heroes falls— apparently by ac cident but really by procurement of his enemies. But nobody need shudder; his friend Ormond. the "Shah." la at hand: — "Scramble up'" pasped tha Shah, moving back ward, to obtain a firmer hold. "There isn't a second to lose." The terror In his voice and the look in his staring eyes roused Benson to haste. He knew the Shah was not unduly timorous, and th<*re was no doubt that he was horribly afraid. Then, "recollecting the terrible jaws of the guardian of Kopelll. h<» flung an arm across the slippery board, while Ormond grasped him by the waist. He could see over Benson's shoulder something rise with a horrible rippling out of the muddy creek, ana strove in frantic terror to lift his comrade, while, the board tilted as though it would turn over and drop both of them into the water. Benson slipped back again partly under it. and th© ridge of the horny oack became plainly visible. Then It.irie came breathless to th<» bank and flung the rifle to hi* shoulder He. however, feared that the brute's thickest armor was proof even against the penetration of a rifle bullet and he waited In the hope that it might expose a more vulnerable part, while the factory boys came running to the creek. It had all happened In less than a minute, but night comes suddenly in that country and in a few more minutes It would be dark. Then no one spoke or moved • but Benson, who splashed furiously, while the Shah's face showed set and white through the gloom as h« stiffened his grasp. The great reptile appeared uncertain and lay a moment or two quite still, with its head and back fsai showing in the centre of the creek, while Imrle held his breath as h« watched it over the sights of the rifle. Then the cook. running along the bank, flung the fowl he held into the creek, and with a >ay« of one shoulder Books and Publications. AUGUSTA E. STETSON, Defendant In Damage Suit for SI 00,000.00. Present action is found*! on astounding sworn fate ' m»nt In th« book. '*Expo*t of Christian n>le«te MethoJs and Teaching." *c. by Dr. IV »•-. Cloth. $1.00: by malt. $1.03 Fearless exposure! Awful conditions! Hynaotla thraldom: Grosj deceptions: "Will create m sensation."— Brooklyn East*. "Tour book ought to find a ptac« tn ovary homo"—. A. Lincoln Moor*. D. D. RKSTORATIOX PI B CO.. »w York City Rare Books and Prints in Europe. S._ 1- _ I CHOICE ENGRAVING 3 OC* MJ 111* ( Mezzotints, Colour IFranfc T* Prints. Americana, &o.). (FranKJ.) FINE AND RARE 118, Shaftesbury BOOKS. VALUABLE Avenue, London, W. J AUTOGRAPHS. Ac. t & A LL-OUT-OF-PRINT-BOOKS" write me: ** can get you any book «v«r published on any irabj'tt. Tn« most expert book ftiwler extant. Whan la England call en« »#« my 500.000 rare books. BAKER' 3 GREAT BOOK SHOP. Joan Bright at.. Birmingham. the brute slid forward and vanished ajasost a, swirl of water A n*gr© sprang upon the ptank after this. an<l though it partly sank, hove Benson on to it. wh!H a clamor of voice* went up when 31l three crawled up the bank Quite as spirited a tale is Mr. Joseph B. Ames's "Treasure of the Canyon" (Henry Holt & Co.). This story of Arizona, does not describe the finding of gold mines, but of a buried treas ure or Monteiuma. Incredible riches of jewels and bullion hidden in a cave to which an ■lulssu parchment leads two manly youths. They go through much that i? horrible and ■■-.-. -, r . i Continued on eighth. sax*. 5