Evening star., 1908-01-11
BOOK REVIEWS.

0OOA 1b1 LII w Ne
BOHEMIA IN LONDON. BY Arthur
the Streets etc. With iiius;ra tions
by Fred Taylor. New York: Dodd.
Mead & Co. Washington: Bren-
tano's
Surely a gallant adventurer and keen
eyed this latest one, who has journeyed
to the coasts of Bohemia, has sojourned
there his day. and has returned to tell
the rest of the world what 1t is like
Whether he tells of his own youthful
companions or of the great vanished ones
who have found a garret in Chelsea,
publisher in Fleet street. dinner In
Soho restaurant and a breath OF 1uller
air at Hampstead the author Is equally
alive to the significance of the HE ana
able to make 1t live again for his read
erS.
II wanted to write a book that would
make real on paper the strange. tense.
joyful and despairing. hopeful and sordid
life that is lived in London by young art
lists and writer's" says the author. They
are conscious of the larger life of the
town, of the struggling millions earning
their weekly wages, of the thousands OF
the abyss who earn no wages and DRIFT
from shelter to shelter till they die; they
know that there is a mysterious East
End. full of crowded, ill-conditioned life;
they know that there is a West End or
ence: they have confused knowledge OF
the whole. but only a part becomes alive
and real. as far as they themselves are
concerned" Because London is so un-
wieldy and the various centers of this
life are far apart. not concentrated as in
the Paris quarter. 1t has been denied that
there is any London Bohemia at all. As
a matter of fact, it is a much more real
thing than though 1t were more adver-
tised. Visitors to London do not find.
as they do In Paris. men waiting about
the principal streets. offering themselves
as guides to Bohemia. The fun Is in the
life itself and not to be had less cheaply
than by living it,.
In attempting to reproduce ''the pre-
carious. haphazard existence of the men
who dine in Soho. not because it is an
unconventional thing to do. but because
they cannot usually afford to dine at all.
and get better and merrier dinners for
their money there than elsewhere the
writer has followed pleasantly desultory
method. suited to 'the untidy life ITSELF
Feeling that any account of the life would
not be complete II there were no sugges-
tion of the older time and the earlier
Bohemians. he has followed chapters of
personal reminiscence with chapters on
the associations of Chelsea. Fleet street.
or old book stalls. 1t is the uniting of the
two threads, the picture of the new beside
that of the old. that makes the book
fragrant with association. and so actually
unified in purpose.
Leigh Hunt Carlyle. Steele, Smollett.
the Preraphaelite Brotherhood. Whistler.
loved Chelsea as well as the author and
his friends. The life of the studios. with
its hard work. its revolutionary ideals. its
fellowship. it's models is as substantially
true for pastime as for this Hazltt the
gay Pierce EFan. Deouincy. DRYDEN;
johnson. Goldsmith. Reynolds argued and
were ELOQUENT over their ale in the coffee
houses about Soho. in the same spirit as
ambitious youngsters whose fame is in the
making Bohemia in London" is per-
Vad dod hxTS nj xipp fnp hor nf 10 Sf
and present. 1t is characterized more
over. by a wealth Of alusion. pic
turesqueness of method. fullness of SYM
pathy. and a genial glow of spirit. that
go far. to make 1t one of the most charm
ing books that have been issued during
recent years. The few words said in
conclusion are of especial significance. for
in them the author speaks of the farewell
to Bohemia. For the natural progression
of life takes man away from its con-
fines. ''And it is better so. There are
) few sadder sights than an old man with
out any manners aDing the boyishness of
s his youth without the excuse of its ideals.
going from tovern to tavern with the
yonng-painfully kenrnr pace with a friv-
0IIty in which he has no pa-t-I quicken
my resolve to escape when my time comes.
and not to linger till 1t is too late But
now. In youth. it is the best life there is.
the most joyously. honestly youthful-my
life will be the happier. turn out what
NAV for these friendships. these Dothouse
nights. these evenings in the firelight of a
studio. and these walks. two or three OF
MS together talking from our hearts. along
the embankment in the Chelsea evening.
with the lamps sparkling above us in the
leaves Of the trees. the river moving with.
the sweet noise of the waters. the wings
of youth on our feet, and all the world
before u.s.
LITTLE PILGRIWAGES AMONG OLD
NEW ENGLAND INNS: Being An
Account of Little Journeys to Vari-
nr1S
Colonial New England. BY Mary
Caroline Crawford. author Of The
Romance of Old New England Roof
Trees" etc. illustrated. Eoston:
L. C. Page & Co. Washington:
Brentano's.
Since SO much Of the history and
romance of old New England was con-
nected with its inns. book which pre-
sents, in attractive fashion. all that can
be brought together regarding them is
sure of a welcome. In Puritan times the
inn was closely connected with the church
The reason for this lay in the long, cold
drives that the congregations must suf-
fer. and the cold discomfort OF the
churches. To be able to endure the serv-
ices at all 1t was necessary to be warmed
and cheered at the inn- All during
colonial times the innkeeper was per-
son of Importance, often the most inn
portant man of the town. Consequently
travellers of importance were apt to know
any other. Miss Crawford has been able
to make her story graphic with numerous
extracts from the journals or letters or
guests at the various inns of whicn sne
writes These, of course. make vivid the
contemporary life. The whole volume Is
rich with ailusion and incident
ROUND ABOUT THE NORTH POLE.
By W. ]. Gordon. With woodcuts
and other illustrations by Edward
Whymper. New York: E. P. Dutton
& Co.
This is unique among the books on the
polar regions in that it deals with the
gradual progress of exploration toward
the north along the different areas of ad-
vance within the arctic circle. From the
earliest record of the men who sailed the
northern seas. in $40. when Ingolf the
Jarl from Norway. sighted Mount Orae'
IA to the latest achievements of Nanser
and Peary. the farthest north has proven
the occasion for 1.-The brave deeds o:
healthy men," What the value of the
pole Itself will be to science Is doubtful
matter. but the quest has already resulted
in incidental discoveries of great value
And its harvest OF heroic deeds and excit
ing adventures is of the Intangible kint
that cannot be estimated. Mr.. Gordon''
of Sir John Franklin, Conway's and Var
Heemskerck's explorations. the Austro
Hungarian expedition of 1872. Parry's voy
ages, and the latest attempts of AbruZzi
Cagni. Greedy. Peary and Nansen. be-
Al<.v.a, .<