Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-10

story Of Edinburgh should occupy a very
large volume. with many details
| omitted, and call for such wealth OF Illus
! tration In this work? Mt. Smeaton' 8
| task has been no light one. fof- the Scottish
! metropolis is place of many aspects ana
must be judged from various points or view
Virtually every part, every street and very
many of its older structures bear witness
| to some important event or some great
| parsonage of state or letters. 1t is
| treasure house of traditions and histories.
| 1t is a question whether color is really
appropriate to the story of Edinburgh in
pictures. The gray old city, often clouded
in Scotch mists, lacks the brilllancy or the
south, which demands color tor Its proper
depletion. Some of the best effects in this
book are those produced by the drawings
in black and white and in semi-tones. Nu-
merous portraits are added to these pic
lures.
ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS. BY
Edith Wharton Illustrated by pictures by
Maxfield Parrish, and by photographs. New
York: The Century Company.
Although this book is unquestionably the
most notable art publication of the season.
it has a distinct literary Importance beyond
that given to it by the wonderful pictures
of Mr. Parrish. Mrs Wharton's text is
delight and revelation. Her stories have
shown her as woman of intense SYM
pathy with the beautiful and a rare power
of narration. These essays, Joined by the
general scheme of the work, establish her
as one with the ability to extract both the
poetry and the practical essence of a theme
dealing with the inanimate. Primarily she
seems to have been inspired by the ques-
ton. Why cannot the Italian garden be
reproduced in this country? She does not
agree with those who hold to the view that
the Italian garden is untranslatable. Apart
from the inevitable differences due to time.
IF ic in ber nd
ment, no reason why, with the same at
tention to the real spirit of garden making,
the modern architect and landscape artist
should not create In any other country eff
fects comparable with those to be found in
Lombardy, in Venetia, in Florence, near
Rome, or in Siena. The garden-maker of
the Renaissance, when garden-art -four
ished at its best dealt with three prob
lens: his garden must be adapted to. the
architectural lines of the house it adjoined;
it must be adapted to the requirements of
the inmates of the house, in the sense of
providing shady walks, sunny bowling
greens. parterres and orchards, all con-
veniently accessible; and lastly it must be
adapted to the landscape around it.
Given these essentials, with the necessary
space and expenditure and above all that
exquisite taste which marks the Italian
gardens pre-eminently, and the American
garden could be for all save the tone of
centuries the equal of those in Italy.
To tell of the dominant characteristics of
the gardens of the various parts of Italy,
to translate in words the enhancing effects
which Mr.. Parrish has so artistically caught
in his Illustrations, is Mrs. Wharton s
achievement. TIE pictures are both in coll
ors and in black and white Mr.. Parrish has
painted and drawn in spirit of ardent love
| for the atmosphere of Italy and has given
to his plates qualty-unusually well pre-
| served in the process of printing-Which
marks them as the greatest modern success
in illustrating.
| RAIDERLAND; all About Gray Galloway, Its Sto-
ries. Traditions. Characters, HumCurs. By s.
r. Crockett. Illustrated by Joseph Penneu
New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. Washington:
Brentano's.
"Raiderland'' in Scotland is region of
legends and myths as well as of anthem
ticated history. 1t has been in the CEN
turtles past the scene of much violence, OF
many sudden descents by the clansmen
upon their enemies. There was beaten into
a firm fiber the Scotch character. There
were feuds begun and ended. There were
alliances cemented in blood. From there
many a story-writer has drawn materials
and inspiration for stirring tales of flood
and field, of fierce fighting and tender love-
making Mr. Crockett himself has produced
several such stories. He knows his Raid
erland' as do few other men today 1t
was long his wish to write a story about
it. geographical, historical and picturesque,
in collaboration with his friend Joseph
Pennell, whose style as illustrator admir-
ably suits the situation. The product is
book more entertaining than many a novel
and attractive artistically from the ap-
propriateneSs and abundance of Mr.. Pen
nelTs pictures. Mr.. Crockett styles his
book "a garrulous literary companion to
the guide books
CABBAGEs AND KINGS. By O. Henry. New
Mcclure. PlillDS 81 Co. Washington:
Woodward & Lothrop.
All writers and travellers agree that when
the white nan from the temperate zone
gets into the neighborhood of the equator
there is a softening of the moral fiber. 1t
may come unconsciously, but come it does.
and the man says, morally. mentally and
physically Robert Louis Stevenson and
dozen others have written of this peculiar
effect of the tropics upon the northerner;
Kipling hints at it when he speaks of
Somewhere east of Suez, where there
amt no ten commandments and a man
can raise a thirst.
The author of Cabbage and Kings deals
with human nature in the tropics, locating
the action of his stories in Central Amer
ica in a suppostitious republic that is sus-
ceptble to frequent revolutions. The North
American players in the drama furnish the
fun, the natives the tragedy and heroics.
But the principal charm of the book, be-
yond the pleasing and dverting plot, lies
in the descriptions of tropical life and
scenery The man who wrote the stories
must have fairly stepped his imagination,
If not himself, in the sensuous atmosphere
of the equator; the lazy, drowsy, incident
Indifferent life near the cline" This is
how it appeared to Geddie as he sat in his
bungalow at Coralia:
"Chanca, the Carib woman who cooked
for him, was serving the meal on the side