Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-25

terence. or otherwise. between Sovereign
Woman and Mere Man. these clever
passages have been gathered without
prejudice. whether from Marie Coreili.
erson, Holmes or yoitaire. spinsters.
wives, widows. queens. artists and servants
OF Sovereign Woman are opposed, page by
page, by Mere Man In the guise OF bach
elors husbands, wtdowers, kings and poets.
fads are among the SUBJECTS analysed for
both sexes The Typography and general
appearance OF this volume are original. dis
tinctfve and appropriate to the nature of
the work. The decorations and frontis-
is alone worth while If only for the latter.
which Is an unusually attractive bit of out
line work.
RILEY SONGS o, CHEER. BY James
| Whitcornb Riley With pictures by
WIN yawter. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
| Merrill Company.
It Is really unwarranted to present
volume of poems by James whitcomb
| Riley under the special title Songs o.
Cheer" for in truth all of Biley's songs
are cheering and cheerful, songs of the
| happy life OF faith and contentment and
nature love and simple enjoyment. He is
| the poet of the Joy of existence. whether
| he sings of youth or age. and even in his
occasional moods OF pathos, when he
strikes a minor chord in the harmonies of
his songs. he is the optimist the believer in
the reaping OF rewards in the hereafter.
These fifty odd poems of varying lengths
relate chiefly to the life rural. Their in
| spiration Is drawn from the sweet breath
| OF nature and the accompaniment is fur
| nished by the rustling leaves. the muffied
| sound of COW bells far distant, the jangle
of harness chains, the hum of insects and
| the song Of birds. Life is sweeter and bet
| ter for the Riley songs o'cheer," whether
| they come thus particularly labeled or not.
| Mr. Vawter contributes, as usual, his ex-
| ceptionally illustrative pictures in black
and white and in color.
THE HAND; a Survey of Facts, Legends
and Beliefs Pertaining to Manual
ay wis avon Rnrde ana n,hnp n
Magic and Husbandry," &c. Oxford.
N. T.: The Irving Company.
| Throughout all myths. traditions. history
and religious records run references to the
symbolism of the hand. Literature is pune
tuated with appreciations of the wonderful
qualities of 1.-THE executant of the brain"
In the ancient rites the hand was not only
the servant of the will In performing the
acts of reverence or significance, but it
played an important part in the esoteric
| character of the ceremonials. Mr.. Burdich
has made an exhaustive research in this
field and presents in excellent form the re-
suits of his studies, showing the hand as a
anatomy. There is abundant food for
thought in these pages.
PURPLE AND FINE LINEN. BY Emily
Post New York: D. Appleton & Co.
Here is pretty fair short story f1attened
out to cover 34S pages. of which III are
required to state these facts: A very
wealthy man tells his attractive son that he
should marry, whereupon the son does
marry a pretty young girl in her first
social season. who is very much in love
with him and whom he loves well as
his unawakened heart permits. The re-
mainder of the book Is devoted to a some
what sluggish development of a few more
facts: The young wife gradually discovers
that her husband is not domestic, and finally
concludes that she is in love with an old
childhood admirer and is about to make a
false move when her husband comes to his
senses and in most gentlemanly manner
intervenes and brings her to her senses.
1t is all prettily told, and the volume Is
handsomely bound, Fortunately, there are
no pictures.
Hart. author of "Argonaut Letters
&C. Illustrated. New York: Long
mans, Green & Co.
The Levant is rather vaguely defined
region. 1t is term, rather than a place.
Perhaps it is accurate to say that it COM
prises the lands lying round about the
eastern end of the Mediterranean sea. At
least Mr.. Hart, an accomplished travel
writer includes in the term. for the pur-
poses Of this book, Malta, the Graeco-
Turkish peninsula. Egypt, Asia Minor and
Syria. He journeys without set purpose,
so far as his book product dfscloses, but
chats Familiarity with his reader about the
people he meets and the things he sees.
He views the panorama with the eye of
60 lin r1ot NOT tod ruffh
spectacle All Is delightfully."- new, even the
very ancient He sees the comic side of
native life, and tells a good story with
appreciation of the subtleties. The pic
lures with which the ''log book" is gen.
erously illustrated are evidently, In many
cases, the product Of an authorized
camera.
SHORT HISTORY OF ITALY (478-
1900. BY Henry Dwight Sedgwick.
Boston: Houghton. Mifflin & Co. WASH
ington: Woodward & Lothrop.
The author gives In his preface an ex-
celIent brief of his work. which meets a
need often expressed. He says: This
volume is a mere sketch in outline: it
makes no pretence to original investigation.
or even to an extended examination OF the
voluminous literature which deals with
every part of its subject. 1t is an attempt
to give a correct impression of italian
history as a whole, and employs details
only here and there, and then merely for
the sake of giving greater clearness to the
general outline. So brief a narrative Is
mainly work of selection; and perhaps
no two persons would agree upon what to
put in and what to leave out. 1 have laid
emphasis upon the matters of greatest gen.
eral interest, the Papacy the Renaissance
and the Risorgimento, and my special OBJ
ject has been to put in high relief those
achievements which make Italy SO charm
ing and so interesting to the world. and
to give what space was possible to the
great men to whom these achievements are
due
THE DIARY OF BRIDE. New York:
Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
Just why the author of this book should
prefer to remain anonymous Is not plain.
It Is well written. 1t is hardly to be sus-
pected of being genuine document 1t
tells no secrets and is In every line and
syllable scrupulously conventional as re-
CARDS the proprieties. There is really
nothing to be ashamed of. and indeed much
to be proud Of in the production. And so,
why the silence? It will not help the
hooks sales because II is not the kind of