BOOKS and AUTHORS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 34, 3 November 1928, Page 31

BOOKS and AUTHORS

By

“Liber”

_A Weekly Survey

Give a man a pipe he can smoke. Give a man a book he can read: And his lisme is bright with a calm delight Though the room be poor indeed. —James Thomson.

BOOKS OF THE DAY A Great English Classic. By the publication of “The Voyages, Trafiiques, and Discoveries of Foreign Voyagers,” and some other matters relating! thereto, contained in the “Navigations,” by Richard Hakluyt, Messrs. J. M. Dent and Sons have brought to a completion their fine edition of one of the most famous of English classics. “Hakluyt’s Voyages.” The concluding volumes IX and X contain, through the courtesy of the successors of James Madehose and Sons, the whole of the matter in the “Foreign Voyage," which lit was not at first intended to include when the set of the new edition was originally planned in eight volumes. The new volumes comprise a number of reports of voyages and discoveries by various foreign writers, Frepch, Portuguese, Italians, and others, including accounts of such valuable historical interest as those of the explorations of Carponi, into “the Tartars’ Land”; descriptions of Iceland in the sixteenth century; the Venetian discoveries in the Far North, and of the several explorations of the French In Florida, and- of still greater interest those of Jacques Cartier up the St. Lawrence, and of the foundation of New Spain, and many other adventurous expeditions. As in the earlier volumes, Mr. Ernest Rhys, the general editor of Dent’s famous “Everyman’s” Library, contributes introductions, and an exceptional interest is added by a series of drawings by Thomas Derrick, many of them reproductions not hitherto published in an English edition, of famous European explorers. To Messrs. Blent and Sons, whose spirited enterprise in arranging for the publication of the “New Hakluyt” in a specially handsome form, and at a most reasonable price, deserves unstinted commendation. Special credit is due for the provision-in volume X. of a singularly comprehensive, and to the student of Hakluyt, most valuably useful index of nearly a hundred pages. As the various volumes of this excellent edition have appeared, they have received special attention here. It suffices now only to say that by the completion of the edition Messrs. Dent and Sons have added greatly to the debt of gratitude due to them from the English reading public. The price of the set is five pounds. In view of the thoroughness with which the edition has been edited, the liberality of its illustrations, and the taste displayed in its form, Dent’s Hakluyt is probably the most satisfactory edition of a British classic of admitted eminence published during recent years. “The Modern Malay.” Mr. L. Richmond Wheeler, 8.5., F.R.0.1., the author of “The Modern Malay” (George Allen and Unwin), is prominently connected with the education system in Malaya, and has clearly an extensive knowledge of the very considerable progress made by modern Malaya under British rule and influence. Providing first a compact and comprehensive historical sketch of the Malay Peninsula from the earliest known times to the present day, Mr. Wheeler discusses at length recent influences on the Malays of British and of other races, and, proceeds to give a detailed account of the present day conditions which is eminently informative. He studies, too, the general characteristics of the Malay Mi to-day, and devotes several chapters to a consideration of the forces now working so steadily for the future of the Peninsular Malay race. I note that he warmly approves the censorship recently established of the imported kinema films, and deplores also, so I notice, the evil effect upon the native population of the “cocktail habit” and the fashionably "scanty dress” which is affected by too many of the European females in the East. The striking progress made by the latter-day Malay States, under Brtiish rule or guidance, is shown by the very convincing statistics quoted by Mr. Wheeler. Some excellent photographs. (195.).

A. P. Herbert’s Fun. Two books from the clever and witty pen of Mr. A. P. Herbert, so well known to New Zealand . readers of “Punch,” have recently come to hand, one, “The Trials of Topsy” (Ernest Benn); the other, “Misleading Cases” (Methuen). Topsy, whose escapades have so greatly amused “Punch” readers, is almost destined' to Immortality in the literature of humour. She is a girl over whose audacities elderlv folk simply groan, but whose eccentricities drive the younger sisterhood into fits of laughter. She discourses upon her society and other experiences in a vein not merely of mirth-provoking, but often with genuine and pointer satire upon the fashions and follies of the day. Her highly variegated and unconventional vocabulary adds greatly to the amusement with which the book is perused. .Excellent fun. (Bs.). Mr. Herbert, a ;uon-practising barrister, as well as a very successful journalist, is also responsible for a merry little skit, “Misleading Cases in the Common Law” (Methuen), supposed to be reported by' A. P. Herbert, upon the diverting pages of which no less a judicial luminary than the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Hewart, bestows his learned and humorously-worded blessin. For one example only have I space this week, the “misleading case” of Rex. v, Haddock. The appellant had been convicted of several offences because he had ventured, whilst a regatta was in progress, to jump off Hammersmith bridge. The learned Mr. Justice Boon, after dealing with various aspects of the case, lays down in the course of his judgment that:— It cannot be too clearly understood that this Is not a free country, and it will be an evil day for the legal profession when it is. The citizens of London must realise that there is almost nothing they are allowed to do. Prima facie, all actions are illegal, If not by Act of Parliament, by Order of Council, by Departmental or Police Regulations, or By-laws. They may not eat where they like, drink where they like, walk where they like, drive where they like, sing where they like, or sleep where they like, and least of all may they do unusual things “for fun.” ‘ People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament. Mudd J. and Adder J. having concurred, the conviction was confirmed.

One of the most amusing cases reported is taken from a Coroner’s Court, the point decided being upon whether “Dogs are Political Animals,” and for sheer fun the case “Chicken v. Ham: The Lawyer’s Dream,” may be specially commended. Mr. Herbert has never } written a more amusing book. ,(75.).

SOME GIFT BOOKS A New Zealander on New Zealand. Miss Elsie Morton, author of “Along the Road: A Book of New Zealand Life and Travel” (Unity Press, Auckland) is a well-known lady journalist who, for several years, has been a valued contributor of special articles, travel sketches, essays on various .social subjects, and personal recollections, for the Saturday supplement of the “New Zealand Herald.” Miss Morton has now collected and republished, in volume form, a selection from her articles, the result being a little book of no small permanent interest. Miss Morton, -who wields a facile and graceful pen, covers a wide range of subjects, dealing not only with her experiences of New Zealand travel, but writing very pleasantly on her childhood’s days, her first attempts at creative literature, with New Zealand’s share in the Great War, and with various social topics. Many of the essays and sketches might well have been longer, but the curious rule of the journal to which she contributes, that the articles should be strictly limited to a column, although no doubt productive of a regularity of "makeup,” ' evidently too often cramps unduly the literary efforts of their writers. The volume, which is throughout most readable is illustrated by reproductions of photographs taken by the author. When Miss Morton gives us, as I hope she will soon, a successor to her pleasant little volume, she should impress upon her publishers, the advisableness of stating on the cover the price of the volume which, by the way, would make an excellent gift book. The Children’s Shakespeare.

Mr. Arthur Mee, the editor of “The Children’s Newspaper,” and compiler ’of so many excellent works rightfully claiming a place on the children’s bookshelves, has “arranged” the contents of the second and completing part of “The Children’s Shakespeare,” in Shakespeare’s Own Words (Hodder and Stoughton), the first volume of which was published last year. Mr. Mee contributes a very pleasantly written introductory essay on Shakespeare under the title, “The Marvellous Life of a Country Boy.” The plays selected, which include examples of the great playwright’s genius in history, comedy, and tragedy, are each preceded by a brief but agreeably written introductory essay, whilst the illustrations have been carefully selected from famous artists, the frontispiece, Arthur’s appeal to Hubert, being reproduced from W. F. Yeames’s fine picture, now in the Manchester Art Gallery (10s. 6d.) An Anthology of Great Poems.

No literary mandarins will ever agree as to the exact selection to be made by the compiler of anthologies, but it is safe to say that in “Great Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer to the Moderns” (George Harrap and Co.), the editor, Mr. Wallace Alvin Briggs, has succeeded in making what is on the whole a very comprehensive collection of British,.;.lrish, and. American poetry. He has aimed at filling up an existing gap between the huge expensive compilations of verse and the cheaper anthologies which are often incomplete. His own anthology, which comprises no fewer than 1508 pages, contains a large number of modern copyright poems, a good feature also being the inclusion of numerous passages from longer poems, each excerpt being in itself an entity. Commendable: also are an exceptionally full index of authors and of first lines, and the laudably clear typography. The compiler, I should say, is an American, which would account for the liberality of space accorded to verse—not always “poetry”—of trans-Atlantic origin. A somewhat saccharine sentiment seems to be characteristic of certain of the American authors from whose work selection has been made and the omission of Flecker’s “Journey to’ Samarcand” and the allotment of six pages of quotation from Arthur O’Shaugnessey, whilst only two of Andrew Lang’s poems are selected scarcely evidences a just criterion of ‘ English poetic values. I miss anything by Traherne and other English poets to be found represented in that admirable collection, Sir Arthur Quiller Couch’s “Oxford Book of English Verse,” whereas Mr. Briggs gives quite a number of American poems which hardly seem to me to claim, inclusion in an anthology. Nevertheless, these personal exceptions taken, I welcome Mr. Briggs’s anthology as a most useful book of reference, as it should prove a rich mine of delight to all lovers of poetry, whilst in the presentation of the volume there is both taste and .distinction. Considering the contents and admirable format of the volume the New Zealand price, 13s. 6d., is decidedly reasonable! I know of few more suitable Christmas presents for one who loves good verse.

LIBER’S NOTE-BOOK Those who enjoyed George Moore’s “Avowals” and “Conversations in Ebury Street,” will be interested to hear that a dialogue between Moore and Humbert Wolfe, the poet and essayist, is to be one of the features of Wolfe’s forthcoming volume, “Monologues and Dialogues,” to be published by Victor Gollaijez. Methuens promise what should be a very interesting collection of letters and reminiscences about Sir.... Sydney Colvin and his family, edited by E. V. Lucas. The title is’to be “The Colvins and Their Friends.” Norman Douglas, whose “South Wind,” “Siren Land” (Capri), and “In Old Calabria,” I have so often commended to discerning readers, recently published in Florence, where he now resides, a semi-mythological and philosophical romance. Chatto and Windus are to publish an English edition, limited to 750 copies, entitled “In the Beginning.” In Ellen Terry’s copy of “The Invitation of Christ,” the following lines, written on a card, were found after her death: No funeral gloom, my dears, when I am gone;; Corpse gazing, tears, black raiment, graveyard grimness. . ... Think of me as withdrawn into the dimness, Yours still—You mine. Bemember all the best of our past moments. Forget the rest, and so to where I wait Come gently on. In an accompanying note the famous actress said: “I should wish children, relatives, and friends to observe this when I die.” At her death quite a number of English papers solemnly published the lines as having been written by Ellen Terry herself. As a matter of fact the i«al-*author was the Victorian poet, , William AUlngham, and ,tha ■ parses

were widely copied in the nineteenth century. The acquaintance of the average sub-editor of latter-day times with modern poetry is, I aiu afraid, somewhat limited. From “Futnam’s Book News” —First girl: “And he said my face was a perfect poem.” Second girl: “So it is, dear—it’s like one of Browning’s.” First girl:: “Browning! Why Browning?” Second girl: ‘Because some of the lines are so deep.”

SOME RECENT FICTION The Duchy Edition of “Q.” Recent additions to the tastefullyproduced “Duchy edition (J. M. Dent and Sons) of Sir Arthur QuillerCouch’s tales and romance are “Sir John Constantine” and “Brother Copas.” I have alluded previously to the many merits of this excellent edition, in which Sir Arthur QuillerCouch’s long series of ever-readable and often specially meritorious novels are now made available at a reasonable price. Those desirous of forming a little library, in which the best of wholesome and most readable English fiction shall have its due representation, cannot do better than buy a set of the “Duchy edition” of one of the most notable of our latterday romance writers for the permanent entertainment Of a household. (5/6)

Theodore Dreiser. Theodore Dreiser, the author of a collection of short stories, entitled “Chains” (Constable and C 0.., is gradually being acclaimed the leading American novelist. The first novel by which he made his name, “Sister Carrie,” and its first successor, “Jennie Gebhardt,” were, for a time, deemed far too realistic for American taste, indeed, “Sister Carrie” was, I believe, “suppressed” for a time. Mr. Dreiser's long novels:, “The Titan,” and “The Financier," and more recently the American tragedy,” have won their way to widespread success,-and a new and uniform edition of his work is now coming from Constable. The new volume, “Chains,” contains a collection of the novelist's shorter stories, the view of life, perhaps a little drab, too conscientiously realistic, being reflected in a series of cases of social and psychological pictures of social existence. Mr. Dreiser looks life in the face, and paints it as: he finds it. (10s.).

By the Author of Jurgen. James Branch Cabell, the author of “Chivalry” (John Lane), seems . to revel in fanciful fiction in which the American writer persists in making use of a Wardcur Street language, which is out of the way at any cost. His “Jurgen” was a clever enough mixture of mediaeval romance and a preciousness which was then kept'well under. But, as the years go by, one begins to find the sham archaisisms just a trifle wearisome, and it is difficult to say much for the tales of English monarchs and their lady friends, in which Mr. Cabel so ingeniously travesties British history. There is no denying the wealth* of 'imagination displayed in these stories, which are told with all the old Cabelllan gusto, but despite the flamboyant eulogy which they receive in the preface by Burton Roscoe, an American literary critic of repute, it is difficult to grant them the same merit and interest which were unquestionably possessed by Mr. Cabell’s earlier efforts. “Detectives.”

Arthur Salcroft’s “The Mystery of the Walled Garden” (Hutchinson) is a young barrister’s curious and exciting experiences when investigating a mvsterious murder and falling in love with a fascinating and very clever widow, who, with others, is concerned in the concealment of a vast treasure of diamonds saved from the Russian debacle by her family. Quite an unusual and clever yarn. Mr. Maurice G. Kiddy’s “House of Faith” (Hutchinson) is a highly sensational story of a half criminal, half political plot: to set afloat a “Red” revolution, during the course of which the London banks are to be simultaneously raided.

A self-sacrificing, intense and very genuine spirit of patriotism is the dominant feature in Admiral Lord George Wroxley and his friend and co-worker, Captain Berkeley, the chief figures in Norman K. Bentley’s sensational yarn, "Drake’s Mantle” (Jarrolds), in which a Bolshevik plot, engineered by an exGerman naval officer, to bring revolution and ruin upon peaceful England, is exposed in lurid detail. Incidentally there is a very charming love story. The late William Le Queux was a singularly prolific provider of stories of a highly sensational character. In his posthumous volume of the amazing adventures of a business girl, “The Peril of Helen Marklove” (Jarrolds), he introduces a young lady who becomes involved in a long series of rascalities in which some motor trade swindlers indulge, defying for a time all recognised laws of honesty.

Annie Haynes, the author of “The Man with the Dark Beard” (John Lane), has t: long list of very readable' “detectives” to her credit, and her latest yarn is hereby commended as a safe dispeller of ennui. The villain of the piece, a famous K.C., although scarcely acceptable in all his evil doings, is unquestionably a well-drawn character.

June Boland’s “Hotel Splendide” (Diamond Press), is a romance of the Swiss Alps, with a tourist hotel as the centre of a cosmopolitan society wherein are many firmly drawn figures, with cupidity, love, and actual criminality, alternately to the front. A well-told story closing with the elucidation Of an old Alpine tragedy and a happy marriage. The Lost Fight.

Miss 11. M. Prescott is much more successful in her resuscitation of the mediaeval past, in her story; “The Lost Fight” (Constable), than Mr. Cabell has been in his latest novel, “Chivalry,” and • there is an absence of that Wardour Street flavour about Mr. Cabell’s dialogue which, I have ended by finding so tedious. Nevertheless, his story, with its pictures of Lorraine, Italy, Cyprus, and Jerusalem, its plot centiring round the quarrel of her hero, Sire Adam de Montague, with the Bishop of Toul over the hanging of a rogue, and the knight’s amorous experiences with another knight’s wife, and the incursion into the complicated politics of Cyprus and the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, ends being somewhat confused and difficult to follow. Miss Prescott gives a picturesque view of feudal society, and writes with vigour and realism, but all the same I would she would give mediaeval themes a rest. “The Tale of Genji.” Lady Murasaki’s famous Japanese national romance, “The Tale of Genji,” translated into English by Arthur Waley, now reaches its fourth volume in “Blue Trousers” (George Allen and Unwin), the story being carried to Genji’a jjeath, leaving only the after-

math, the “Uji” chapters, to appear in English form. The new volume contains the story of Makibashira’s madness, one of the most remarkable episodes in the great romance. Mr. Waley again proves himself a brilliant exponent of Eastern thought and poetic ( feeling. “The Tale of Genji” is des- , tined when better and widely known in the West, as will now be possible, , thanks to Mr. Waley, to be recognised as one of the great novels of the world. (145.) “Go As You Please.” A feminine tomboy in her youth whom he first meet in a magical bathing pool, “The Plash,” Joan Kerslake, the heroine of Owen Archer’s story, “Go As You Please” (John Lane), finds her life sadly altered when her mother . runs away, and her father divorces her. When grown up she goes up to London with her brother, and determines upon a life of independence. Her mild Bohemianism ends when one night, she has to point a pistol at a very unpleasant amorist, and makes the acquaintance of a neighbour in the adjoining flat, an author whom she marries, discovering, however, when too late, that he suffers from a streak of dangerous insanity. For a time the poor woman has a terrible time Of it, but circumstances rid her of hubby, the wife ultimately making a happy match with one who had been the bathing companion of her