The Dial/Volume 15/Number 170/Briefer Mention
BRIEFER MENTION.
Volume IV. (just published) of "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay" (Putnam) covers the dates between 1794 and 1826, thus completing the work that Professor Henry P. Johnston has edited with so much care. The volume opens with a letter from Jay to Dugald Stewart, "returning thanks for the gift of his ingenious work," and closes with the action of the New York Bar upon the occasion of Jay's death. There is also a very satisfactory index to the complete work.
The new edition of Murray's "Handbook for Travellers in Japan" (imported by Scribner) has been almost wholly rewritten by Mr. Basil Hall Chamberlain (than whom there is no higher authority), assisted by Mr. W. B. Mason. A thorough revision of the sort here accomplished was peculiarly necessary in the case of the present work, for the world moves rapidly in Japan, as if to make up for many centuries lost, and even the past decade has transformed many sections of the country. Generally speaking, we prefer a "Baedeker" to a "Murray" for a guide-book, but the "Murray" now before us is one of the very best of that imprint, and no English tourist in Japan can afford to be without it.
Some "Selections from the Writings of William Blake" (imported by Scribner) have been made by Mr. Laurence Housman, who also supplies them with an introductory essay that is labored and not altogether agreeable in manner. The selections include both prose and poetry; were it not for the prose extracts, its place would seem to have been filled by Mr. W. M. Rossetti's edition of the poems. Such a selection as this is all of Blake that is wanted by the great majority of readers, although the recent sumptuous publication of his entire works shows that there exists at least a limited demand for the more chaotic productions of his unregulated genius.
Mr. Charles Frederick Holder's "Louis Agassiz" (Putnam), appearing in the "Leaders in Science" series, gives a very readable popular biography of the great naturalist. The work is illustrated, and has a useful bibliography. Two recent issues in "Whittaker's Library of Popular Science" (Macmillan) are "Geology," by Mr. A. J. Jukes-Brown, and "Electricity and Magnetism," by Mr. S. R. Bottone. These books are of the most elementary description, but subserve a useful purpose.
Six articles that originally appeared in "Scribner's Magazine" have been grouped in a volume entitled "Homes in City and Country" (Scribner). They include "The City House in the East and South," by Mr. Russell Sturgis; "The City House in the West," by the late John W. Root; articles on "The Suburban House," "The Country House," and "Small Country Places"; closing somewhat incongruously with a chapter on "Building and Loan Associations." The book is provided with many handsome illustrations, and the "homes" with which it deals are for the wealthy.
The fact that Mr. H. F. Pelham's "Outlines of Roman History" (Putnam) is essentially a reprint of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" article upon the subject stamps the work with the hall-mark of literary and scholarly excellence. Many revisions and additions have, however, been made to fit the article for reproduction as an independent volume. The greater part of the work is given to the years 133 B. C. 69 A. D., from the Gracchi to the fall of Nero. A useful list of authorities prefaces the book.
Two recent volumes of the "Contemporary Science Series" (imported by Scribner) are "Modern Meteorology," a useful popular treatise by Mr. Frank Waldo, and "Public Health Problems," by Mr. John F. J. Sykes. The latter work treats its subject from a distinctly practical standpoint, and includes valuable chapters upon the precautionary measures to be adopted in case of epidemics. Similar in interest to the work last mentioned is Dr. F. L. Dibble's "Vagaries of Sanitary Science" (Lippincott), a work which exposes many popular errors and throws much light upon the workings of sanitary officialism, as illustrated by State Boards of Health and the like.