NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20026, 6 September 1930, Page 13

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

THE REVOLUTIONARY MUSICIAN. V/agner In Exile. By Woldemar Lippert. Trans, by Paul England. George G. Harrap and Co., Ltd. (10s 6d net.) Herr Lippert, who is Keeper of the E'rineipal Public Archives of Saxony, has turned to that period of Wagner's life about which least has been known, the period of his voluntary exile and, later, official banishment from Germany after the Revolution of May, 1549, in Dresden. Wagner's part in the Revolution was so odd —odd because he was Richard Wagner, becausa he was Court Music-master, and because he had declared tho most extravagant reverence and affection for his ..Sovereign— -that the best explanation of it is probably ''this element of the contradictory, the unexpected, that wo recognise as characteristic" —as he did, for he wrote to Mathiide Wesendouk, "I am certainly the maddest creature imaginable—and that is precisely why I am a poet and —what is stul worse—a musician" ; but the escapade itself is no more than the introduction to an important passage in Wagner's experience and growth. He evaded arrest—it is amusing to read the warrant, issued by Von Coppell, of the Dresden I'oliee —and found his way to Switzerland. There he felt free at first, gradually was beset by anxieties and difficulties, and reached the knowledge that genius cannot be independent or irresponsible. He had to get hai'lf to Germany to fulfil himself, and set himself by his own entreaties and his triends' influence to _ win the State's pardon and permission to return Herr Lippert's researches have at several points corrected existing accounts of this period, and have •iroiight to light new evidence from the archives of the Saxon Ministry of Justice, from police papers in the Home Office, from documents in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, from correspondence in the royal archives of Saxony, from Vienna, and other sources; and he has made the fullest possible use of Wagner's own worthwhile in exile, of course, he was copiously composing, and- it is amusing to find the Vienna police confidential]*' reporting to Dresden that Wagner, at Zurich, was attracting little attentionBelief in his "music of the future" is notably on the wane, as ft .becomes more and more evident that his works, in spite of their brilliant orcheetrntion, possess neither soul nor melody—what melodies are to be found in them ho has stolen from others. This >was the period of his renewed labours at "Das Rheingold" and of his writing "Die Walkiire." But ten vpflrs of exile nnd useless intercession did not dull the flame of his" pride: for in 1859 he wrote to Liszt, who was trying to win over the Grand Dukes nf Weimar and Bnden; Any scheme for assuring me a reasonable existence would be futile if dependent morely on the amnosty and coupled with the dia charge of certain regular services: I cannot and I will not accent what is called an appointment, or anyth'ng of a similar nature. What I require is the assurance Of an honourable and ample allowance, simply and sololv for tho nurnoso of mp 4 n continue my work at composer undisturbed, and quite independent of any outside considerations. Chough liis return to Germany was permitted a little earlier, it was not till 186'2 that he was granted a full amnesty in Saxony; and the story of these thirteen vears. now for the first time fnllv told, is indisnensable to any assessment of Wagner's character and development.

A NORTH ISLAND WORTHY. Kohikohtnga. Reminiscences and Eeflectlons of "Bapata" (Va-non Roberts.) By O. T. Robert*. With ft Foreword by Geo. W. Hutchison. Whitcombo and Tombs, Ltd. (215.) The title of this book means "a collection," and there could hardly be a better title if we all knew Maori or could remember it. "Rapata" (Vernon Roberts) arrived in New Zea land in 1865, and after the usual run of adventures and disappointed hopes settled down as a trader among the Maoris. This book is not his life or even a rough sketch of his life, but a collection of his tales and reminiscences arranged In narrative form by his son. Fortunately, the son can write, and as the father had "lived," the result is an unusually valuable and interesting reoord. For if the form is conversational, the subject matter is not fiction. Neither the writer nor the narrator depended mainly on memory. Roberts senior Had preserved a large collection of letters and other documents, and the son wrote down nothing until he had himself ex-' amined* the records and had his interpretation of them passed by his father. The book is more therefore than a tribute to the Maori race, though it is this primarily. It is a tribute also -to the courage, kindliness, and adaptability of a man who had no pretensions to literary merit, but who knew early New Zealand, and the Maoris of the transition period, as those only can know them who have lived among them for fifty years. Most of the reminiscences are short, all are readable, and some of them extremely amusing. It must also be put on record that the whole volume; —binding, printing, illustrations, and even the dusVwrapper—is a credit to the publishers and to the trade. THROUGH AFRICA. Sndan Sand. By Stella Court Treatt, F.B.G.S. Georgo G. Harrap and Co. 15s net. Mrs Court Treatt tells her story in the manner of an hysterical schoolgirl, which spoils it and annoys the reader All the same, she has many interesting things to say and many exciting and amusing adventures to recall. She and her husband and brother roam in cars and motor-boats over the Sudan, always with cameras, and in spite of the rain and the shyness of most of their subjects, their photographs are excellent. Thev go where no white man lias ever been before, hunting continually for pictures. Their main object is to take a film, of the Arab tribes, and a temperamental lady "star" skives them much to think about. They have pet animals to play with, until these die or get killed, and a swarm of bees keeps them busy another time. The whole story is so easy to read that it <« to aDDPf> r 'f thp life was easy to lead, but that, of course, is the very reverse of the truth.

WAR STORIES. Sapper's War Stories. Complete in One Volume. Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd. Through W. S. Smart, Sydney. (7s 6d net.) This is announced as the definitive edition of "Sapper," but the reader who gets forty-five short storieß for the price of a single novel - will not worry what edition it is. There ar« altogether 1056 pages of reading matter, all excellently printed in bold, clear type. Those who like "Sapper" are to be envied.

THE EVOLUTION OF VALUES. Spirit In Evolution.' From Amoeba to Saint. By Herbert F. Btandlng, D.Bc. Allen and Vnwin. (10s 6d net.) Dr. Standish looks {or the meaning of life in the evolution of values. That is, he begins enquiry where physical sciente, which "confines its attention to numerical relationships," must leave off. He is convinced that the contact of the human soul with the Creative Spirit is real, and therefore that no account of Organic Evolution is complete which ignores the experience and evidence of its reality. If, he concludes, the meaning of evolution is deducible from its highest products, then wo must believe that "LoVe is Nature's final law," and that Ultimate ttealitv, identical with the Creator Spirit" at the heart of the universe, can be satisfied only as the "free, loyal devotion of intelligent beings" manifests itself in struggle to realise the spiritual values of Beauty, Truth. Goodness, and Love; a struggle, oi uourse, of which the very condition is "the existence of true eelf-determining nctivity." Dr. Standing is deeply indebted to Bergson, and acknowledges the debt, declaring his full belief that "intellect alone" is debarred by its otvn limitations from grasping the total meaning of life-processes; and he draws freely, for argument and suggestion. on the poets, and on mystics like Mfes Evelyn Underhill. SUPERSTITION. The Origins Of Pooular Superstitions and Customs. By T. Sharper Knowlson. T. Werner Laurie, Xitd. (7s 6d net.) This is a new Impression of an interesting and amusing book, fifst published twenty years ago and based on Brand's "Popular Antiquities." Mr Knowlson aimed only at revealing the origin of superstitions and customs still vital, a task sometimes easy, sometimes difficult, occasionally impossible, but always fascinating. The book falls into four sections : Days and Seasons, Marriage, Divinations and Omens, ftnd Miscellaneous. To give one example from each. On Good Friday at St. Bartholomew's Church, Smithfield, a churchwarden places twenty-one new sixpences on a certain flat tombstone, ano twenty-one widows como forward, one by one, to kneel and pick Up a coin. * Each is then given 2s 6d. The origin of the custom is "said to be unknown," though the "surmise" that the person buried beneath the stone left money to be spent in this way is obviously open to verification or disproof. The ceremony of "kissing the bride" is enjoined in the York Missal and the Sartim Manual as proper to be carried out in church, but modem shyness generally transfers it to the vestry. The unluckiness of breaking a looking-glass arises from the fact that looking-glasseß "are and always have been" implements of divination. To break one is therefore to destroy a means of knowing the will of the gods nnd to risk offending thetn. Theatrical superstitions, which are very numerous, are unlike the ancient ones in having no religious association* and like them in being for the most part groundless "being no more than the ipse dixits of leaders, supposed to be borne out by the experience of the rank and file." Actors will not at rehearsal speak the 'ast lines of a plav. It is not difficult to account for the liveliness of superstitions among actors, who ''deal with a orowd of uncertainties." Mr KnowlROn'S book is popular rather than learned; but it covers a good deal of ground very well.

AN HISTORIC CHURCH. Durham Cathedral. By the Be*. James Wall. J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. This is the latest of a series of little volumes interesting to all who regard the historic churches of England as something more than mere heaps of stone. And it is one of the most interesting of the series, as t)urham, uniquely situated and excellently preserved, is one of the most beautiful and most impressive of all cathedrals, The author of the little book is the present sacrist of Durham; and he brings to his work a combination of enthusiastic love, wide knowledge, reverence, and humour, which make his account Of the cathedral, itß history, And its legends, architectural, ecclesiastical and personal, not merely readable but a delight. The book is well illustrated, -by photograph and drawing, and has - an Appendix -in which are given the principal dimensions of the building, followed by -a useful chronological summary of Its history, As In the other volumes of the series, the inside covers show drawings illustrating the development of mediaeval architecture in England, and costumes from the 12th to the 15th centuries. In handy form, and Inexpensive, these volumes are altogether com* mendable, whether as a preliminary to travel, or as a reminder of pleasant days. past. ■ IMPERIAL RESOURCES. Empire stock-taking. By L. Bt. Clare Orondona. With twenty-one pages of coloured by Mrs St. Clare Orondona. SUnpkin, Marshall, Xrtd. (10s 6d net.) This book, which the author hopefl to r«vise and reissue annually, is an admirably complete, up-to-date, and well-arranged survev of the facts and figures of Empire trade. It is not "propagandist,'* although the author assumes the responsibility of answering certain broad questions broadly and of drawing some inferences from his tables of figures; but the answers and inferences are the less important part of the work. Its chief value w that it collects trade returns and other information from every official source in the Empire, and correlates them intelligibly Moreover, the source of every set of statistics is given, so that the user of the book may know exactly what authority he is quoting. Mr Grondona hopes to map out fully the existing position of Empire trade and its potential development and has begun in this volume with the foundations; Great Britain's need of fttod and raw materials and the relation ot Empire supplies to this need, and the oversea Empire's need for manufactures which Great Britain can furnish. No single book could possibly be as useful as this to those who wish to follow the many arguments now being conducted on Great Britain's and the Empire's trade.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The Worker's Share. A Study la Wages sad Poverty. By A. W. Humphrey. Allen and Unwin. (2b Qd net.) The writer'B thesis is that poverty has been little reduced in the twentieth century, that we ought not to measure the labourer's welfare by prewar standards and cannot accurately do so, and that the Capitalistic system stands in the way of a solution of the poverty problem The Christ of Every Road. A Study la Pentecost. By £. Stanley Jones. Hodder and Stoughton. From W. S. Smart. (6* net.) The author of "Christ at the Round Table" and OTie Christ of the Indian Road" has written for the nineteen hundredth anniversary of Pentecost a book inspired by the belief that "the world-ground is being prepared . . . for a spiritual awakening.

The Brittle Shall*. By April TSora. lUIla and Boon. Ttom Sands and Me* BoucaU. A love story, agreeably told. Agnes longs for the, radiance that casts "to®

brittle shaddw of beauty" on the nfflrsery floor; and whenshe falls ia lore she knows that this is "the unknown quantity that had dipped through her grasp." ' Tim Itettnn Boaff. By Tubs* TWiw Ward Lock and Co, XM. The author i 8 An Australian. He makes his hero, an Australian officer with a German father and heath mother, penetrate the' Qenua on a British Secret Service mission and play the part of his cousin, a German Guards officer. The pfofc is ingenious, the incidents in nm dramatic and the trace of pmv> ment will offend nobody and please some. (1) Uuter it tHe Vtaayard. <UI A jftwy of Steuu. By Myrtle BsmL O. *. 3»nam's Sons. (Si M sat oadu) Reprints' ifi & heat form, with pbs* sunt pictorial jackets, ana at kw price, of two novels, by a write* 1 of undiminished popularity. Arab. By I*wis • Oox. HOto tad From Sands and TBrlkwyK. . "What a home the old Mcorab house would be for you and I," whispers Jim, ad his heart gained 'the upper hand and his head ceased to rule; nnd Anne whitpert back. °fW loved you from the beginning, Jim. | think I loved you even when you irare' iost —Arab."