BOOKS... BY "Caxton" Favourite Authors and New Books

Northern Advocate, 16 December 1939, Page 11

800K5... BY "Caxton" Favourite Authors and New Books

Of new books there is no end. Many publishing firms in London have countered the possible havoc of war by removing their production plant to country addresses comparatively outside the danger zone. Wars may come and wars may go, but books go on for ever. We in New Zealand know nothing of the “black-out” to which city dwellers at Home are now accustomed. Our public libraries are open and ablaze with light as soon as evening dusk deepens into darkness. Our highways are corridors of bilious brillance, and our homes are cosy with softer creamy illuminations. Yet the Homelanders are taking their evening “black-outs” cheerfully, and Arthur Mee, the Editor of the Children’s Encyclopaedia, has added to his list of popular books The Blackout Book (Hodder and Stoughton 7/6). The publishers speak of “the long blackout hours” and the unfailing refuge and relief provided by books —this one in particular, planned “for 'encouragement, cheerfulness, entertainment, the strengthening of our faith, the uplifting of our hearts, the inspiration of our spirit.” It is . a book crammed with hundreds of things to know and to remember to do and to delight in, to laugh at, to thrill at, to be astonished at—all neat and fresh, sparkling with originality and good fun.” Saxon Genius for Recovery.

Isn’t that typically British? The deprivations of a “black-out,” stumbling along dark streets, not always finding your own home at first shot, since the familiar hall and window gleams no more assist identification, and the long winter evenings beset with dread, if the mind is unoccupied, and one chief care, to see that all light is shuttered in, as, during a burglar scare, we used to do the round of the house to see that intruders were shuttered out, all this unwelcome disturbance of normal life, must make the word “black-out” unpleasant, if not hateful, for what it involves, yet the Saxon genius for distilling some gpod out of things evil can capitalise *the word for a book title, and Mr. Mee is not the least bit afraid that it will diminish his popularity. Necessity is, also, the mother of invention. The Queen’s Book, The Lord Mayor of London has entrusted to the same publishers (Rodder and Stoughton) the issue of a book the profits of which will go towards the Lord Mayor’s Fund for the Red Cross and the Order of St. John. And the profits should accumulate a tidy sum, for several reasons. First, this publication is sponsored by Queen Elizabeth, and entitled, under Royal authority, “The Queen’s Book of the Red Cross.” .

Socially and likely enough historically, that puts it at once head and shoulders above all other books, like Saul among his captains. Second, the price is 5/- in England, which is reasonable and gives it a wide appeal, the cause being a noble one, and everyone contributing at minimum cost to achieve maximum profits, the authors particularly, giving their share generously. Third, and what after all, will give the book an Empire and worldwide appeal, the contributors are among the world’s most distinguished writers and famous people. Here is a not quite complete list: