The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-03-16
Books and Authors

The book of the hour is Thomas w.
Lawsun's Friday the Thirteenth
just published by Doubleday. Page &
Co.
Mr.. Lawson, in the guise of a novel
writer, is in a role entirely new so far
as the public Is concerned. He has.
however, simply chosen the light mar
rative vein Of fiction to impress the
public with the same ideas that
thrilled the reading public under the
head of Frenzied Finance in Every
body's Magazine
The critics are not all taking kindly
to Mr.. Lawson's book. A Washington
reviewer has the following to say:
The wfckedness of the great Wall
street gamble is the theme. and the
author undertakes TO demonstrate how
+ lives are wrecked by the constituencies
operators, who. for the sake OF PAL
try few millions Of profit. are willing
to cause banks to collapse and White
headed old Virgfnian gentlemen to kill
themselves and their families. As far
as the story goes it sEivors strongly OF
the ty-thirty" style or melo-
drama There is no regularly desfs-
mated villain on the stage The Sys-
tenn long familiar to Mr.. Lawson $
readers however, does duty in this
role off the boards. The System s
minious are barely seen. The nero
rather forbidding character, comoin-
ing the qualities of Sir Galahad and
Capt Kidd holds the center and en-
joys the spotlight continuously Ihis
young man performs prodiS1es or
money-making under the spur OF
powerful motive, and brings the street
and the country to the verge or utter
ruin. Then he relinquishes his grip on
the situation and makes speech to
the stock exchange. In the course OF
which he tells the bulging-eyed brok-
ers certain dark secrets about the
stock gambling game that are today
known by every office boy in Wall
street, and then agrees to pour ms
modest little fortune of billion dol
lars back into the hopper in order that
the mill of iniquity may continue to
grind the grist of grief and crime and
tragedy"
The Century company has published
in book form A E. W. Mason's Rum
ming Water which has been appear
ing serially in The Century since Aug
uSt. On the same date the century
company will issue Frederic c. Pen
fields East of Suez," a book of travel
laying special stress on Americas neg
lect of trading opportunities in Asia
DIR. Horace Howard Furness. the
eminent Shakespearean scholar, is
hard at work seeing through the press
the fifteenth volume of his monumen-
tai New Variorum Edition of the
Works of William Shakespeare The
play treated in this volume will be
\
he has devoted his entire time since
the publication of his edition of
Loves I4abour's Lost more than two
years ago. The ]. B. Lippfncott COM
pany will probably have the book
ready during the spring.
A LAWYER who has done some sub
stantial work IN American history in
his leisure hours is William NJ. Meigs.
of the Philadelphia bar. whose Life
of Thomas Hart Benton published
lately by the ]. b Lippincott company,
has attracted considerable attention.
Earlier works by him were THE Life
of Charles Jared IngersoH' and THE
Growth of the Constitution in the Fed
feral Convention of 1857" He was ed
ucated as physician. but early in life
gave up medicine and studied law.
Brand Whitiock. mayor of Toledo,
Ohio, has just given to the world an
other novel through the medium of the
Bobbs. Merrill company. 1t is called
1.-THE Turn of the Balance" and is an
arreignment of the administration Of
the law by cities. state and nation
One of the most important publish
ing events of this spring will be the
about the end of March.
OF the new novel by Norman Duncan
The publishers will be the Harpers- AL