The Library Corner

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19049, 28 June 1924, Page 7

The Library Corner

By

“Bibliophile”

“Some books are to be tasted, other* to be twallowod, and some few to be chewed and digested/’—Bacon.

An Excellent Work. “The Outline of Literature,” 2 volumes, “The Outline of Art,” 1 volume: (Newnes),-per A. D. Willis, Ltd., Price 3 guineas the set. | The Outline of Literature is edited | by Mr John Drinkwater' and gives a full and interesting survey of all literature from the earliest times to the present day. There are short and graphic accounts of all authors dealt with, an analysis of their works, and many illuminative extracts. The first volume takes one to the end of the eighteenth century the last chapters dealing with Gibbon, Edmund Burke, and Johnson and his Circle. At the beginning of the book we arc introduced to the first books in the world with an interesting description of how they were produced. This chapter deals fully with the Egyptian Book of the Dead and passes on to a survey of the great Alexandrian Library, and the transcribing of works in the monasteries at a subsequent period. The second chapter is devoted to the w’orks of Homer, and relates the scheme of the Illiad and Odyssey, giving a valuable criticism of the principal English translations. Chapters 3 and 4 cover “The Bible” by Canon E. W. Barnes, and “The Bible in Literature.” Canon Barnes deals 1 fully with both old and New Testaments,, and his 1 statements as to origin and authorship contain the ripest scholarship of the modern school. Other chapters deal with the world’s sacred books as a whole, renewing the Vedas, Buddhist Scriptures, the Book of Confucius, Koran, and the Talmud. A chapter deals with Greek Myths and the Poets, while another gives a vivid impression of the Greek spirit is shown not only in its own literature but in that of Rome. We arc then taken through the Middle Ages, introduced to the poetry of the Troubadours, Dante and Chaucer, and the beautiful prose of Malory as shown in the Mortc Dr. Arthur. Chapter 9 takes us through the Renaissance into the company of Rabelais, Montaigne and Cervantes, and the' next chapter covers Shakespeare and the Elizabethan I Theatre, and contains valuable instruction on how to read and how to study the plays. The remaining chapters deal with English literature from Shakespeare to the end of the eighteenth century, with the exception of one which relates to the brilliant French writers who adorned the age of Louis XIV.

The second volume has 39 chapters which embrace the world’s literary product for the past hundred years. There are very full and interesting accounts of English writers, as there also is of all foreign authors who have created any work having an international appeal. The up-to-dateness of the work is shown in its clear and penetrating reviews of Sinclair Lewis’ “Main Street’’and “Babbitt,” Cabell’s “Jurgen” and the novels of Ibanez.

The Outline of Literature has two functions. First to give the reader something like a comprehensive summary of the W'Ork that has been created by the great creature minds in the world of letters. Secondly to place the work in historical perspective, showing that from the earliest scriptures to Robert. Browning, the spirit of man when most profoundly moved to creative utterance in literature has been one and abiding. In the preface, Mr Drinkwater says that to know the whole literature of even one language is beyond the industry of a lifetime. But here in this outline arc working a number of men whose devotion h«as been to many branches of the art in many tongues. To many whose way of life has made reading necessarih r haphazard and fragmentary it is a blessing, and will bring before them the beauty of every true book.

A word must bo said as to the clear type and excellent binding of the volumes. They are profusely illustrated in black and white with many rare portraits of authors, and contain also about forty beautiful coloured plates. The Outline of Art while making a special appeal to those who can handle the brush or pencil will also supply the general reader with a great deal of interest and enjoyment. Its object is to produce as many as possible of the greatest pictures of the world, and to say enough about those pictures for the reader to understand what are their peculiar characteristics, and what arc the qualities of their work that make it beautiful and inspiring. The many illustrations are exceptionally well done, and convey a good idea of'the world’s most famous pictures, while perfection is reached in the 26 splendid colour plates. The twenty-five chapters of the book contains a wealth of interesting material, from the first, dealing with tho ‘Birth of Modern Painting,’ to the last by Mr Frank Rutter, the “Art of To day. ’ The three volumes are an acquisition which every library, private and public, ought to have upon its shelves.

Some Funny Bunny Stories. Journalism, the Law Courts, and various games all contribute numerous laughable anecdotes to Mr Henry Grierson’s “The Ramblings of a Rabbit” (Chapman and Hall). Mr Grierson has a great sense of humour, and it must be a very depressed reader who does not give many a chuckle when perusing this book. Here is a story about the late Edgar Mobbs, the famous Rugger captain of England: “He had been asked by the War Office to send in some returns in red ink. Tie were in the trenches at the time, so the return was typed in black, which we thought good enough. Back it camo in due course, signed by some subaltern ‘for Maior-Goner-al,’ drawing Edgar’s attention to the fact that it should be written in red ink, and requesting him to comply with tho order. ‘Read this!’ he said and after a bit, he added, ‘Watch me.’ He thereupon produced an indelible pencil and wrote this note at

the foot of the W.O. letter: ‘Reference the above. We are in the front line trenches and have no red ink. There is, however, plenty of red blood here, so if you would like that instead, please instruct mo to use it.’ He heard no more from the W.O. He died as he had lived—a sportsman and a gentleman.” The legal anecdotes of Mr Grierson make a choice collection. There is one about a man who pleaded guilty to allowing his chimney to go on fire, and was awaiting to hear from the chair- , man of the Bench, who was very shortsighted and deaf, what the fine was to be:— “In this and other matters the learned chairman very properly allowed himself to be directed and guided by the clerk, so the old man bent down over his desk and signalled to the official, seated below him, to say Ihe word. Whereupon the clerk stood up, turned and faced the chairman, and shouted ‘Five shillings!’ in a loud voice. It has already been observed that the chairman was very deaf and very short-sighted, but when he gave his decision, as duly follows, there was a great sensation in court. ‘This is a very serious case indeed, and the decision of the Court is that you pay five shilling a week until the child is sixteen!’ ” There is a story of a burglar who came out of prison and was arrested for a burglary committed fifteen years before. On that occasion, whilst on remand, awaiting trial, he escaped and had not been recaptured. The prisoner having said it was a trumped-up charge, the judge, addressing the prosecuting barrister, said:— “Fifteen years ago I was the Stipendiary Magistrate here, therefore I must have remanded this man if, in fact, he came before me. And if he broke out of prison after being remanded, I must have heard of it, for such a thing seldom occurs, but 1 regret to say that 1 have no recollection of it whatever. I can only think that I must have been taking my holiday at the time, and my deputy was sitting, otherwise 1 am sure I would have remembered" the incident.” “Whereupon the prisoner, who had been listening to the interesting conversation with the utmost attention, stood up in the dock and said, ‘No, my lord, you were the judge!’ ” A neat little story from the political arena records a retort Mr Winston Churchill gave to a heckler at Leicester: “The man -shouted out, 'Why should 1 I ’avc to pay the Education Rate, Guv’nor, when 1 ain’t got no kids?’ ‘For the same reason,’ replied Winston, ‘that you have to pay the Water Rate although. you don’t wash.’ ”

Recent Fiction. ‘‘The Red Redmaynes,” T>y Eden Phillpotts (Hutchinson) per A. D. Willis, Ltd. Although Dartmoor docs not enter very much into this tale, the opening takes place there, and a few of Mr Phillpotts ‘own people’ appear. It is a story of mystery and crime, and is handled in thy same masterly manner which made this author’s “The Grey Room’-’ so notable a success. Detec-tive-Inspector Mark Brendon is spending a holiday on Dartmoor, and even the murder of Michael, Pendean docs •not make him get into working harness, until he meets with the entreaties of the victim’s wife. The unsuccessful search for the body, and the absolute disappearance of the suspected man, Ro-, bert Redmaync, finally make Brendon return to London confessing ms first failure. Mark had been greatly struck by Mrs Pendean, and is delighted to meet her at the house of another Redmayne, a brother of the suspected man, and uncle to Mrs Pendean. The reappearance of Robert and Ihc tragedy which follows carry the reader forward with unflagging interest until the story moves to Italy, and the combined energies of Mark Brendon and Ganns, a famous American detective, give further zest to the story.

The fate that befalls the third Redmayne brother and the final unsolving of the riddle bring finish to a very thrilling narrative, which has an intense human interest and has characters skilfully and realistically depicted. “The Midlandcr,” by Booth Tarkington (Heinemann) per A. D. Willis. Ltd. ’

This author is a great favourite in his own country, but outside of their local appeal, his stories have a great deal of charm and interest. This is mostly the story of two brothers, who from their childhood aro alien in most respects, though never actively hostile. There are clever sketches of New York society in the past generations and the attitude of same to the West, where Dan Oliphant belongs, Dan is the older and more likeable of the brothers and readers resent his blindness to the qualities of Martha, of his home town, and his marriage to a New York society girl. The old grandmother, a very well-drawn character, tries to reason Dan out of his foolishness, and never unhands towards her new granddaughter. Lena, Dan’s wife, is a masterly sketch, and the description of life between the married pair and the upbringing of their son is exceptionally well-done. Although thrilling incidents do not figure in the book, and it deals with the ordinary every-day people in the great middle-west, it possesses a charm and interest that will appeal to many readers more than an adventurous romance.

“Three Rooms,” by Warwick Deeping (Cassell) per J. T. Ward and Son. Mr Deeping has already gained his place as a writer of stories of war and love, and though there is no clashing of sw’ords in this book, there is plenty of incident to keep the reader in a state of interest and enjoyment. Most of the story circles round the Hotel d’Esperance, in Southern France, within easy reach of Nice and Monte Carlo. The hotel seems to be a refuge for English

people who either lack means, or desire to avoid observation, and the study of such types is done with cleverness and penetration. The chief interest in the story lies in rooms Nos. 3/, 38 and 39. In room 39 lived Byrne, a civil engineer, who has been told that his only chance of life is to live in the South, and the wrecking of whose career has made him somewhat of a misanthrope. Rooms 37 and 38 house Mrs Shelldrake and her daughter, who is practically a woman, though the mother endeavours to keep her a child to save her own ago. Mrs Shelldrake is a semi-adventuress, and the fateful putting up of her hair by Fifine, makes her realise that she has lost a practically sure catch whom the daughter* now attracts, and the I mother resolves to reap as rich a harvest from it as possible. This introduces room 1, the fat and oily Rubenstein who thinks that his wealth can purchase everything, and there arc many tense pages in which an innocent girl is in danger from him and her selfish, unscrupulous mother. • How Fifine escapes from the net and the hhppy arrangement come to by her and Byrne, no longer a misanthrope, concludes a very able and interesting talk. Mr Deeping has an intimate knowledge of the district about which he writes, and sketches in a life-like manner the numerous French characters in the story. Occasional Notes. Miss Marjorie Bowen has finished her new novel, “The Presence and the Power.” She is now starting on her life of William 111., and a new book on the Netherlands. A poll conducted among general readers by an American publication shows “The Outline of History” to be the most popular among the great books of this century. A plebiscite of critics, however, placed Thomas Hardy’s “Dynasts” first. In The general readers poll the first ten books were: The Outline of History; Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Ibanez); If Winter Comes (Hutchin- ] son); Americanisation of Ed .ard Bok; The Life of Christ (Papini); The Crisis (Winston Churchill); Stort Stories (O. Henry); The Virginian (Owen Wister); Life and Letters of Walter H. Page; The King in the Making (J. H. Robinson). Other popular writers come within the first fifty, but it is a curious feature that such novelists as Conan Doyle, Stanley Wcyman and Marie Corelli do not receive even ten votes for books written since 1900. WANGANUI PUBLIC LIBRARY. This week’s accessions to circulating department:—Bowen, M., “Presence and the Power’/; Deeping, W., “Three Rooms’’; Erskine, L. Y., ‘‘’Laughing Rider”; Grenvil, W.,* “Man From the Desert, etc.”; Marchmont, A. W., “Millionaire Mystery”; Neill, A. 8., “Dominie Five”; Orczy, Baroness, “Honourable Jim”; Vance, L. J., “Lone Wolf Returns”; Willsie, H., “Exile of the Larkt.” Reference Department:— Chambers’ Encyclopaedia, new edition, Vol. IV. “Wonders of the Past,” edited by J. A. Hamcrton, 4 vols.