THE BOOK REVIEW DIGEST FIFTH ANNUAL CUMULATION BOOK REVIEWS OF 1909 IN ONE ALPHABET
DESCRIPTIVE NOTES WRITTEN BY JUSTINA LEAVITT WILSON
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS SELECTED BY CLARA ELIZABETH FANNING
MINNEAPOLIS THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY 1909
CONTENTS
PREFACE Publications from which Digests of Reviews are Made A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Title Index January-December, 1909
PREFACE
Departing somewhat from the customary order of the preface for the annual Book Review Digest, we shall omit the usual explanations. We believe that four annual recitals have been enough to familiarize our patrons with the scope and purpose of this work as an organ of book valuation. Instead, we should like to say a word to the publisher, the author and the librarian—all three of whom look upon book criticism from different angles of interest.
The publisher, above all else, wants to sell his book; the author desires to be understood and appreciated; the librarian aims to provide the best food for the appetite of the reading public. If the publisher cannot find in reviews material that will aid him in putting his book on the market; if the author is misunderstood and misjudged; and if the librarian sees ground for complaint in the over favorable tone of reviews and in the lack of comparative estimates, the trouble may usually be traced to the book itself or to the reviewer.
We shall pass over the author’s duty to readers. We do wish, however, to remind our patrons that the responsibility of the reviewer is a vital one. Thru his criticism, the book is made or marred for a large class of readers who have not time to experiment with the season’s output of literature. Because the reviewer’s obligation is a serious one, the list of periodicals from which we cull excerpt material for the Book Review Digest has been selected with the utmost care; only reliable and authoritative magazines have been chosen whose departure from high standards of excellence results in injury to an established reputation. The reviews published in such periodicals may not be infallible—nothing short of the millennium can eliminate personal bias—but they represent the most conscientious interpretation and the best judgment of the present day.
With the foregoing facts in mind, we beg our patrons to remember that the Book Review Digest, without an opinion of its own, aims only to assemble the various critical judgments in a manner that will enable a reader to arrive quickly at a reasonably intelligent conclusion concerning the merits of a new book, and to offer reference data that will make possible easy access to the reviews from which the clippings were made.
J. L. W.
Publications from which Digests of Reviews are Made
Am. Hist. R.—American Historical Review. $4. Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Ave., New York. Am. J. Soc.—American Journal of Sociology. $2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Am. J. Theol.—American Journal of Theology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. A. L. A. Bkl.—A. L. A. Booklist. $1. A. L. A. Publishing Board, 34 Newbury St., Boston. Ann. Am. Acad.—Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. $6. 36th and Woodland Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. Arena.—Arena. Discontinued. Astrophys. J.—Astrophysical Journal. $5. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Ath.—Athenæum. $4.25. Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, E. C., London. Atlan.—Atlantic Monthly. $4. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 4 Park St., Boston, Mass. Bib. World.—Biblical World. $2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Bookm.—Bookman. $2.50. Dodd, Mead & Co., 372 5th Ave., New York. Bot. Gaz.—Botanical Gazette. $7. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Cath. World.—Catholic World. $3. 120–122 W. 60th St., New York. Char.—Charities. Continued in Survey. Class. J.—Classical Journal. $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Class. Philol.—Classical Philology. $2.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Dial.—Dial. $2. Fine Arts Building, 203 Michigan Blvd., Chicago, Ill. Econ. Bull.—Economic Bulletin. $2. American Economic Association. Goldwin Smith Hall, Ithaca, N. Y. Educ. R.—Educational Review. $3. Educational Review Pub. Co., Rahway, N. J. Elec. World.—Electrical World. $3. McGraw Publishing Co., 239 West 39th St., New York. El. School T.—Elementary School Teacher. $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Engin. D.—Engineering Digest. $2. Technical Literature Co., 220 Broadway, New York. Engin. N.—Engineering News. $5. 220 Broadway, New York. Engin. Rec.—Engineering Record. $3. McGraw Publishing Co., 239 West 39th St., New York. Eng. Hist. R.—English Historical Review. $6. Longmans, Green, & Co., 39 Paternoster Row, London, E. C. Forum.—Forum. $2. Forum Publishing Co., 45 East 42d Street, New York. Hibbert J.—Hibbert Journal. $2.50. Sherman, French & Co., 6 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. Ind.—Independent. $3. 130 Fulton St., New York. Int. J. Ethics.—International Journal of Ethics. $2.50. 1415 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pa. Int. Studio.—International Studio. $5. John Lane, 110–114 West 32d Street, New York. J. Geol.—Journal of Geology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. J. Philos.—Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods. $3. Science Press, Lancaster, Pa. J. Pol. Econ.—Journal of Political Economy. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Lit. D.—Literary Digest. $3. 44–60 East 23d Street, New York. Mod. Philol.—Modern Philology. $3. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Nation.—Nation. $3. P. O. Box 794, New York. Nature.—Nature. 31s. 6d. Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Ave., New York. N. Y. Times.—New York Times Saturday Review, New York. No. Am.—North American Review. $4. North American Review Pub. Co., Franklin Sq., New York. Outlook.—Outlook. $3. Outlook Co., 287 4th Ave., New York. Philos. R.—Philosophical Review. $3. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Phys. R.—Physical Review. $5. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Pol. Sci. Q.—Political Science Quarterly. $3. Ginn & Co., 29 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. Psychol. Bull.—Psychological Bulletin. $2. 41 North Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. Putnam’s.—Putnam’s and the Reader. $3. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 27 & 29 W. 23d St., New York. R. of Rs.—American Monthly Review of Reviews. $3. Review of Reviews Co., 13 Astor Place, New York. Sat. R.—Saturday Review. $7.50. 33 Southampton St., Strand, London. School R.—School Review. $1.50. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Science, n.s.—Science (new series). $5. Science Press, Sub-Station 84, New York. Spec.—Spectator. $7.50. 1 Wellington St., Strand, London. Survey.—Survey. $2. Charity Organization Soc., 105 East 22d St., New York. Yale. R.—Yale Review. $3. Yale Publishing Ass’n., 135 Elm St., New Haven, Conn.
OTHER ABBREVIATIONS:
=Abbreviations of Publishers’ Names= will be found in the Publishers’ Directory at the end of The Cumulative Book Index. =An Asterisk (*) before the price= indicates those books sold at a limited discount and commonly known as net books. Books subject to the rules of the American Publishers’ Association are marked by a double asterisk (**) when the bookseller is required to maintain the list price; by a dagger † when the maximum discount is fixed at 20 and 10 per cent, as is allowable in the case of fiction. =The plus and minus signs= preceding the names of the magazines indicate the degrees of favor or disfavor of the entire review. =In the reference to a magazine=, the first number refers to the volume, the next to the page and the letters to the date. =Books noticed since the April number= have the month’s number immediately below the author’s name in the entry heading. =A Maltese Cross (✠)= indicates that the A. L. A. Booklist recommends the book for small libraries, or for immediate purchase.
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The publications, named above, undoubtedly represent the leading reviews of the English-speaking world. Few libraries are able to subscribe for all and the smaller libraries are supplied with comparatively few of the periodicals from which the digests are to be culled. For this reason the digests will be of greater value to the small libraries, since it places at their disposal, in most convenient form, a vast amount of valuable information about books, which would not otherwise be available.
We shall endeavor to make the descriptive notes so comprehensive, and the digests so full and accurate, that librarians who do not have access to the reviews themselves, will be able to arrive at substantially correct appreciations of the value of the books reviewed.
This is particularly true in regard to the English periodicals, which are practically out of the reach of the ordinary library, we shall endeavor to make the digest of these reviews so complete that there will be little occasion to refer to the original publications.