NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12975, 30 November 1907, Page 7

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

•Always verify your quotations" is one of the most valuable pieces of advioe ever given to tho orator, the politician, and the literary aspirant. Memory plays us strange tricks, ond often when we feel most certain cf & fact or a phrase we may be seriously astray. Hundreds of people go about repeating •■'Vαtor, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink." and are surprised, if not offended, when they ire told that they ere mangling the most frequently quoted, or rather misquoted, passage in tho '•Ancient Mariner." There is no excuse for persisting in errors of this kind when excellent dictionaries of quotations nro to be procured at a moderate price. The latest publication of this kind, "Stokes'e CyclopaxHo of Familiar Quotations," is ono of the beet which have come under our notice. It is not a mere compilation from previous works of the same nature. The writer his gone to original sources, and he has not confined himself to the classic authors of a bygone age, although, needless to say,* these furnish the tie best passages in the book. M>r Stokes, however, has laid more modem writers under contribution. Among them may be mentioned Austin Dobson β-nd Kipling, President Koeeevelt and Henry Van Dyke, together with other American writers who ought to be better known in Great Britain. On one page we notice quotations from Milton, from Ceroid Meesey and from Pi* es6or Max MuUer. "To delight in doing oiwr'6 work in life," enys tho latter, "that is what helpe one on. though the 'road ie sometimes very etiff and tiring up hall, rat&er than down hill; xnd yet down ihill it is." Readers will find the ••Cyclopaedia" useful not only as a work of reference, but ac a book to dip into at odd "moments for refreshment and even for inspiration., eeeing that it contains the wisdom of so many greit writers in condensed and crystallised form. Altogether it gives about

five thousand selections from cix hundred authors. A rery complete index adds greatly to its veJue. Both the compiler, Mr Elford Eveleigh Truffry, and the publishers. Messrs W. and &. Chanibere, are to be congratulated on tho work. (London :W. and R. Chambers, Ltd., 47 Paternoster Row. 3s 6d.)

"Knowledge,"' eaid Dr. Johnson, "'is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." As a guide to the second kind of knowledge—which is perhaps the more useful of the two —we can cordially recommend a new book of reference, entitled "'Pitman's Where to Look." Its object is to provide an index to the more familiar annual books of reference and a few specified standard works. We would especially commend it to members of debating societies, who might with advantage consult its pages instead of writing to the Editor of ••The Press.' , as they occasionally do, to ask him to supply them with "a few ideas*' on the subject upon which they have undertaken to speak in a coming debate. Nor are wo aehamed to say that the Editor himself will find it very useful upon occasions. (London: Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd. Is net.)

Mr S. R. Crockett is admirable in his kailyard novels of sentiment and character, of which the "Lilac Sunbonnet , is a type, and admirable in his stirring stories of intrigue and adventure, but he is not well-advised ■when, as in "Vida, or the Iron Lord of Kirkstown' , he endeavours to combine the two styles in one book. We can enjoy the types of Scottish ealvinistic character in the coal and iron district, and the Servian murderers and plotters aro well enough in their way, but tho two do not mingle well. However, this is a question of art which will probably not trouble, tho bulk of Mr Crockett's admirers, and we havo no doubt "Vida" will haro a considerable, vogue. (London: Macmillan and Company. 2e 6d.)

Pears' Annual is a marvellous production, and every }'ear one wonders more and more how it can be sold for sixpence. This year it contains seven stories by seven first-class authors, and the coloiirod pictures ure in themselves worth double the- money charged for tho whole publication. They are four in number —"A Chip of the Old Block," "A Quiet Pipe" (tho smoker, bring a grim-looking bulldog), "A Merry Christmas" (an old-fnshioned skating scone), and a beautiful fruit and flower piece, entitled ''Dessert." (London: A. and F. Pears. Limited, New Oxford street. Christchurch : Messrs Gordon and Gotch.)

In tho world of chess New Zealand is unknown, but a book just published, entitled "Terms and Themes of Chess Problems,'' by Mr S. S. Blnckburne, of Christchuroh, ehould give tho newly-fledgcfl Dominion some prominence, as contributing a valuable work to the chess literature of the day. For many years Mr Blackburne has mnde a de<>p study of the problem art, and his special fitness for such a task will be readily understood when it is mentioned that the late Mr Samuel Tinsley— himeelf one of th« highest authorities on chess problems— expressed the opinion that Mr illackburno wns "one of the best living authorities on the problem art." The author deals very fully with terms— technical and otherwise—used in problem lore, and tho themes embrace every known kind of chess problem, with examples of ouch. In compiling his work Mr Blackburn© received valuable assistance from the late Mr A. F. Mackenzie, of Jamaica, and Mr G. Heathcote, England, whose names aro as household words in the problem world. The book, which is well printed and neatly got up. will not only be a valuable ono for the student, but an invaluable work of reference for the majority of even advanced plnyera. (London: Geo. Routledgo and Sons, Ltd.)

The "Albany Review" for October contains a very varied list of articles. Among the contents aro "The Working of Universal Suffrage in Austria," " The International Socialist Congress," "Somo Unpublished Letters of Lafeadio Hearn,' , "The Future of Trade Unions," "The Churches and Modern Thought," "The Politico of a Biologist," and "The Prism," the last by Maxim Gorki. Lady Bell's article, "Our Prosent Vocabulary," gives a light touch to a very serious number. The editorial matter is as Radical as usual.

The following sixpenny editions are to hand from Mr Fountain Barber:— ''Jonah's Luck. , ' by Fergus Hume (Lon>don : F. V. Wbite arid Company, Limited, 14 Bedford street); "ThurtelVs Crime," by Dick •Donovan (London: The Amalgamated Press, Limited); "A Choice of Evils, ,, by Mrs Alexander (London: It. E. King and Company, Tabernacle street); ''The Ambitions ox Jenny Ingram," by Flora Klickmann (London: "The Leisure Hour Library Office," 4 Bouvcrie street. E. 0.); "Tho Origin of Evil," by Professor A. W. Momerie (London: H. R. Allenson, Limited, Racquet Court, Fleet street); "Simple Simon,"~by the author of "For the. Love of Maisie" (London: William Stevens, Limited); "The Triumph of Mm St. George," by Percy White (London : Eveieigh Nash); "The Invasion of 1910," by William Lβ Queux (London: Eveleigh Nash); "Tho Bond of Black," by William Lβ Queux (London: T. Sealey Clark and Company, Limited); and "A Tramp Abroad," by Mark Twain (London: Chatto and Windus).