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Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21940, 14 November 1936, Page 13

EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY

(i.) Letters of Lord Byron. Edited by ,R. G. Howarth. (ii.) Cakes and Ale. By W. Somerset Maugham. (HI.) Esther Waters. By George Moore. ,(iv.) A Story Book for Boys and Girls. Selected by Guy Pocock. Nos. 931-934, Everyman’s Library. J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd. (2/- net each.)

Byron’s letters are generally acknowledged to be among the best ever, preserved and printed. This selection of more than 200, which illustrate (and largely record) his whole life, is introduced in a precise and penetrating essay by Andre Maurois. “Cakes and Ale” is either che best or the second best of Mr Maugham’s novels; “Esther Waters” is in some respects the most impressive of George Moore’s. The two make interesting companions in the catholic but still select company of Everyman. Mr Pocock’s choice of stories ranges wide: from Homer to Tolstoy, from Boccaccio to Joel Chandler Harris, from Grimm to ■Walter de la Mare, from Spenser, to Kenneth Grahame. More than 50 stories and a handful of fables must be judged a generous provision. These additions to Everyman’s Library fully sustain its reputation.