LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 52, 1 March 1919, Page 18

LITERARY.

A volume of new poems and variant readings, by Robert Louis Stevenson, with an introduction by Lloyd Osborne, ha_ been published by Chatto and Win- • dus. Th->e poems, which were largely scattered in the hands of various collectors, have been given to the light through the efforts of the Bibliophile Society of Boston. The poems are of unequal quality, and many strike an intimate personal note, but here and there throughout the volume one recognises the touch of the master hand, as in the closing verse of the address "To AH That Love the Far and Blue": —

Thnngh lons the way. though hard to bear The sun _i_ rain, the dust and dew: Though frtill attainment and despair Inter the oM. despoil the new; Tliere shall at length be sure. O friends. Howe'er ye steer, wbate'er y e do— At length, and at the end of ends, The goiden rlty come ln view.

'Ballads of the Track," by Edward Hunter ("Billy Banjo"), is the title of a little '.olume of verse Issued by the Co-operative Publishing Board. Mr. Robert Hogg contributes an admirable preface, in which he observes that while

"few. if any, of the verses reach the higher flights of poetic fancy," the author "ran make the songs of his people. For this especial work his whole life's training has fittingly qualified him."

A volume of 13 short stories by that popular American writer Alice Brown, has been issued by the Macmillan Company It bears the title of the initial story, "The Flying Teuton," which "The Bookman* declares to be "the best short stjry that ha.- tome out of this war as yet in either English or American magazines. " Several of the other stories deal with war topics. In "The Empire oi Death *' the story is told by an American officer for a time in the Foreign Legion who was then disabled and by noteworthy privileges allowed to join in an observation party in 1917. The "Torch ol Life" touches on a not uncommon out- omt of the war—the marriage of an English soldier with a French girl.

"Phyl of the Camp,"' by Lillian M. Pyke l Ward Lock), is a Queensland story. The young daughter of a railway engineer arrives at an up-country railway construction camp and causes a stir in •> arious directions. Her father, a dour man, is menaced by a number of personal enemies, headed by a land speculator who has lost money through the deviation of the line. The girl comes in as a peacemaker. She also revolutionises the primitive camp cooking, and in a variety of ways stirs things up. It is quite a bright story.

"The Counter-balance," by Paul Trent (Ward Lock I, is one of those stories which, working out a simple plot, carry the reader pleasantly along to a desirable end. The chief figure is the only son of a millionaire, possessing ability and force of character, who has been spoiled by the expectation of great riches. Without being actually dissipated, he has spent his life in idleness and self-indulgence, when at the age of twenty-four he is aroused to action by the sudden death of his father, who in his last moments, being unable to alter his will, has written a letter making it a matter of honour that his son, although legally entitled to take the whole fortune, shall devote it to charity, reserving only £200 a year for himself. How the son determines to ignore his father's last injunctions, and what follows, form the theme of the novel.

In "The High Romance," by Michael Williams, the author has cast the story of his own life into the form of fiction. It is a story that takes Mr. Williams the length and breadth of the country and brings him into touch with many prominent people. As a wandering newspaper editor and writer, struggling against heavy odds, he has many unusual adventures, all of which are mose interestingly recounted in this narrative. The hero begins life in Halifax, Canada, wanders to Boston and through the United States to San Francisco. Incidents of the earthquake and fire which wrecked the metropolis of the Pacific Coast are graphically described. Although life in various parts of the great American republic comes into the narrative, it is to California Mr. Williams turns as his true home. He says: "I am certain that in the good time which is coming, when the United States shall have become a great true nation bound together by something deeper even than the bond of blood, united by will, California's function among her sister States will be comparable to the function of Italy, of Oreece, of France, in Europe." This view seems to he affected by the author's interest in the early history of Roman Catholic Missions on the Pacific Coast, and his Tegard for that Church, in which, after much spiritual perturbation, be finally finds rest. The book is published by the Macmillan Company.

The following are three books from Mr. Murray's list which will be published almost immediately: "Russia in 1014-1917," by Oeneral Basii Gourko, late Chief of the Russian General Staff. This volume contains the famous general's memoirs and recollections of war, revolution in that at present unhappy country. "Canon Barnett, his Life, Work, and Friends," by Mrs. Barnett, with a preface by the Archbishop of York. This should have a special appeal to all interested in a character of singular beauty, and his friends, who included some of the ablest Oxford and Cambridge men of his day, as well as most of the foremost personages of the time. "Danger, and Other Stories," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, contains a story which was written some years back to warn the public of the possibilities of submarine attack upon our mercantile marine. Another volume from this popular pen requires little introduction.

Th"- Medici Society. Limited, through their"publisher, Mr. Philip Lee Warner, 7. Grafton Street. London, W., has pub lished "A Child's Book of English Portraits," in connection with the National Portrait Series. The object is to place at the disposal of teachers a number lof portraits, each illustrative of a phase [of English history, so that the pupil I may gain an acquaintance with some of I the" great artiste whose names are associated with painting in England, and at ithe same time the picture may be made 'the text of an historical lecture. In this .volume the portraits given are King Richard 11.. Henry V _T.. Queen EVza.lirt'u. Sir Walter Balrigh, Sir Thomas ' (•_•___. Kin. .lame? VI. of Scotland, •fohn Milton, Central Wolfe. George 'Washington. William Pitt, Lord j Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, land Lord Roberts. The portraits are executed in colour, and are entirely worthy of the great artists.