The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-11-24

we DO not see many hands up. You have
not had valid excuse. There are, and
have been for years, histories of Maine
which would have given you the necessary
information If you had read them carefully.
But now, at any rate. you have no excuse at
all. Here is new book of but few more than
three hundred pages, well indexed, written
in elementary style and with questions at
the end Of each chapter, so that you can re-
view what you have read and fix it accurate
ly in your minds. Do not let this opportu-
nifty slip to acquire at least consistent out
line of this important branch of knowledge.
The letter press of the work IAN 8vo volume)
is good; the illustrations, if somewhat fa-
miliar are sufficient and the binding & tn
its pine cones and needles and the arms of
the State, is tasteful and pretty portland:
Mcclellan, Mosher & Coz
A Blockaded Family. Life in Southern
Alabama During the Civil War. By Par
thenia Antoinette Hague. This is an inter-
esting sketch Of the experiences of South
ern family during the war between the
States. from the beginning of the secession
to the declaration of peace. 1t
tells of the devices rendered necessary by
the blockade in the effort to supply food and
clothing to the soldiers, the families Of the
planters and the negroes. 1t describes the
labors and sufferings Of the Southern women,
the painful realities of civil strife, the strait
ened condition of the people, scenes Of pill
lage and plumber, and the over-running of
the South by the Northern armies. The
hnn to in l. 4 L.,
with no expression of sectional bitterness.
but it will show to many who have given the
matter little thought, what the women and
children of the South had to suffer, and how
far short we have come In realizing 1t or In
giving these innocent victims sufficient SYM
patty. Boston: Houghton, Mifiin & Co.;
Portland: Loring. Short & Harmony
Our Phil and Other Stories. By Katha-
rine Floyd Dana The title Of this volume
would give the impression that 1t is book
for boys especially, but this is not the case.
1t is series of three sketches Of negro char
acter, which were published in the Atlantic
Monthly some fifteen years ago under the
assumed name OF Olive A. Wadsworth. TIE
authors real name is now given on the title
page of the book and she is no longer living,
having died in 1886. Our Phil, "the blacklist
darby that ever was born,'' Is the subject of
the quaint and pathetic story with which the
book opens. Aunt Rosy's Chest, and
Martyrs Various Mercies are both charming
and clever delineations of negro customs and
characteristics, vivid and hfe-like descrip-
tions Of the old plantation days at the South,
which have passed like dream and can
never be repeated Among all the interest
ing literature of the South which is prevail
ing among us at present, none will be found
more Interesting than Mrs. Dana's graphic
sketches. New York: Houghton, Mifiiin &
Co.; Portland: Loring, Short& Harmony
Cambridge Series Of English Classics
Chapters from Jane Austen. Edited by
Oscar Fay Adams. This is another excellent
aid to the study of English literature. In
which Mr.. Adams, the editor, has displayed
excellent taste and skill and has given us
representative chapters from six of the
authors best novels. Interesting and ex-
haustiye reviews and criticisms of Miss
Austen's work and genius have been quoted,
and are from the pens of Geo. William Cur
It's, T. w. Higginson, Henrietta Keddie,
Mrs. Thackeray-R itchie. Lord Macaulay,
Lord Edward Bradbourne and others. Mr..
Adams's volume is by no means new text
book, but even those most familiar with Miss
Austen's work will take pleasure in refresh
ing their memories from its pages and young
students will be led by it to examine the
novels in their entirety. Boston: Lee &
Shepard; Portland: Stevens & Jones.)
The Earth in Past Ages. BY Sophia Bled-
soc Herrick. Illustrated. Mrs. Herrick's
little volume entitled Chapters on Plant
Life was so favorably received and has be-
come SO familiar to all young students of the
wonders of nature, that no other recommen-
dation than the authors name is needed to
call attention to her new work The Earth in
Past Ages. This is most interesting study
in geology, and the truths it contains are
quite as wonderful and interesting as any
fiction. The book is thoroughly well done
from beginning to end and cannot fail Of
instructing as well as entertaining. 1t is
full of excellent illustrations which greatly
assist the text, and is daintily bound in
pretty colors, making a most attractive vol
ume. New York: Harper & Brothers
Portland: Loring, Short & Harmony
The Peckster Professorship. An Episode
In the History of Psychical Research. By
j. p. Quincy. If one expects in Mr.. Quincy
novel a flight and airy" nothingness which
requires little thought and no culture in the
reader, he will be greatly disappointed.
Upon tiny thread of story, with little or
no plot, the author has massed-not strung
philosophical disquisition upon psychical
research. spiritism. curious condolences,
and all manner of occult phenomena, which
will be extremely interesting to modern
searchers after hidden forces. The style of
the book is remarkably elegant and refined,
the work of gentleman and a scholar. Bos-
ton: Houghton, Mifflin G. Co.; Portland
Loring, Short & Harmony
Readings from the Waverly Novels.
Edited for School and Home Use. BY AL
prove valuable text book to all students of
English literature, and will serve the young
people as an introduction to the literary
masterpieces of Sir Walter Scott The selec-
tions are excellent. and are prefaced by a
sketch of the great author and various ex-
pressions Of opinion upon Scott's novels by
such men as Gladstone, Washington Irving,
Carlyle, Jeffrey and others. The notes are
full, clearly explanatory and we'll analysed,
and the work is a valuable one. Boston
Lee & Shepard; Portland: Stevens & Jones',
st. Nicholas, Volume XIV. Part LIST, No
vember, 1887 to April, 1888. Part I'd, May,
| 1888, to October, 1888. What could be more
beautiful and delightful to the heart of 9
child than these two red and gold volumes
| of st. Nicholas, containing years harvest
of pictures and stories the most perfect Of
which pen and pencil are capable. The best
writers of poetry and fiction, the foremost
artists of the day have combined to make the
most faultless magazine for children that thu
world has ever seen. and they are lucky
babies who get it. (New York: The Century
Company
The Stories Mother Nature Told her Chill
dren. By Jane Andrews. These stories arr
as fascinating as fairy tales, with the addet
merit in the children's eyes of being truly