The Washington herald., 1906-11-25


button to American history. but It is an
accurate and a nice gossipy guide 70 the
political history Of the twenty years
which began with the passing Of Arthur
ana the advent OF Grover Cleveland For
the most part. Prof. Peck does not at
tempt 70 tell anything new. His material
Is gathered from the documents Of the
time the newspapers. the magazines. and
so or, but it is all put together IN way
that makes it distinctly readable. There
is fair sprinkling Of anecdote to relieve
the heavier portions Of the narrative. and
once or twice, as, for instance. in the
drawing Of the character Of President
Arthur, Prof. Peck allows his individual
preferences to have sway. Prof. Peck
finds that it was necessary for these last
twenty years 10 bring the nation into a
genuine national unity. and he finds that
( IN the election Of Roosevelt, the ranks
Of the long solid South were broken for
the first time. He thinks that in sum-
ming - the tendencies Of these twenty
years Of the nations life, it seems plain
that they exhibit a change through which
the civilization Of the United States has
become rapidly assimilated 10 the civiliza-
ton Of Europe. This is a mighty interest
Ing volume, and one that it viii do all
Americans good 70 read.
It is Interesting, Of course, to know,
according TO the booksellers statement,
just what are the half dozen most popular
books in America-most popular for the
moment, that is, for literary popularity IN
this day Of evanescent regulations. is q
thing Of the day only. The Herald has
/ thought, though. that washington read
ers would be better pleased 10 be informed
each week as to what were the most pop
/ ular books Of each particular week in
| Washington Through the courtesy Of
AIr. George P. Bowerman. librarian Of the
Public LIBRARY, We have arranged 10 get
this information from the library which.
more than the Congressional, the Treas
ury library or any other. really repre-
| sentS the demands Of the public We thus
show the six books most popular in
Washington-nOt the six most popular
novels, for such is the tendency Of the
age 10 keep up with modern hctiCn that
this would probably resolve itself into a
LIST Of the six newest novels each week,
and these get free advertising enough.
Instead. we give the two most called-fOr
novels, the two most popular books that
are not fiction. and the two most popular
/ juvenile books OF the week Thus, this
/ list may De considered IA a measure
/ criterion of the Washingtonian taste in
/ reading The list for this week shows
/ thai the most popular nOn-fction for the
/ week was Letters Of Robert Louis Stew
/ ens0n. and our Schools, by ". E Chan
cellCT; the most popular fiction was The
/ Call Of the Blood by Robert Hichens.
/ and Prisoners. by Mary ChoimondeIey;
and the most popular juveniles were
/ Little Women" by Alcott, and Andrew
/ Lang's The Blue Fairy Book" The
| statement as 70 the popularity Of these
books is based upon the demands Of
readers at the Public Library.
An interesting book Of travel, not too
heavy OF recondite. but gossipy. light. and
intcrspcrsed with anecd0te Of personal
adventure, is Through Scandinavia 10
Moscow by William Seymour Edwards
+ II is published by the Robert Clarke Co.
/ Of Cincinnati Il Is a book made I'D OF
t letters written home by the author during
/ a honeymoon trip he took from London TO
/ Scandinavia, and into Russia as far as
/ MOSCOW. The trip was made some four
years ago. before the smashing Of Rus
sia by Japan. The letters OF which the
/ book is made were written TO the au-
I thor's father, and have not been too
closely edited, else the author might have
omitted thar episode Of trying % pack
away as n souvenir in Denmark the delft
/ lash-receiver which was missed before he
and his wife got away. and for which he
/ had 10 pay roundly- Mr. Edwards makes
/ no pretense in these letters Of being a
/ keen or trained observer: he has no pre-
/ conceived theories to bolster up. no axes
/ to grind. He describes in an interesting
and Informative way the countries
! through which he passed, the difficulties.
/ the mishaps and misadventUTes OF travel,
and the sights that impressed him most.
I II he has nothing particularly new 20
offer, it is because, perhaps, all the world
/ has turned glObe-trOtter. and there is little
new left TO say Like Mr. Edwards. every
/ traveller is struck with the fisheries OF
( Denmark; thinks of the old Vikings in
/ Norway; speaks of Ibsen and Bjoerst-
/ bjoeTne BjOeTnsen. when he gets 70 Chris
( tiania: finds fault with the passport sys-
/ TEN and the police regulations in Russia.
and takes pictures OF the cathedrals and
/ public buildings in Moscow and St. Pc
/ tersburg. which. having been pictured so
/ often, can hardly hope to be presented IN
p new aspect But the work Nr. Edwards
/ set out 10 do he has done Thoroughly and
well His book is filled with interesting
/ facts tersely presented. his pictures are
clear and illustrate his text, and, alto
| gether. this book of leisurely travel is
distinctly worth while.
A work interesting to literary men is
the Personal and Literary Letters Of
Robert. first Earl Of Lytton" It has been
edited by Lady Betty Belfour, who has
fine literary style of her own. which adds
value to a narrative which is OF much
charm and interest Like his better
known successor, the first Earl of Lytton
was fond Of a Iose, even a literary pose.
and his letters are for the most part
elaborate essays in flowing style, rather
EiTins one the impression that their
writer thought, perhaps. they might be
published some day. a very fair example
of the quality of the letters and of the
volume is the authors opinion Of Les
Miserabies,' in a letter to his father. He
writes:
don't know Il I wrote yoa my first impression Of
the book but that impression remains Unclaimed
and was 70 the effect that Il is lke great cathe-
dTal organ playing Strauss y5altzes such an in
strUment has no business 70 play such tunes and
ei40NbH tiis t4iS - d pltt t tle instrument Is
great one. Browning once said TO me Of Victor
Hugo: His fault is that he sometimes mistakes So
pan forte ia highly spiced bread common in Italyl
for the sacTame1tal bread
A London book that is attracting a
deal of attention is called st. Stephens
in the Fifties," and Justin Mccarthy has
written an introduction to it. in which
he says that the volume is a living pic
cons. Mr. Mccarthy Is well qualified to
speak on the subject because most Of the