The New York herald., 1922-12-24

JOHN RUSKINS LETTERS TO WILLIAM
WARD. With a short biography of Will
lam Ward, by William c. Ward. and an
introduction by Alfred Mansfield Brooks
Marshall Jones Company.
"INDISCRETIONS" OF LADY SUSAN. BY
Lady Susan Townley. d. Appleton Co,
THE DIARY OF A JOURNALIST: LATER
ENTRIES. BY Sir Henry Lucy. e. P.
Dutton & Co.
LIFE AND LETTERS oFJANET ERSKINE
STUART. BY Maud Monahan. Longmans.
Green & Co.
THE LIFE OF WILLIAM 81. HUNT. By
his son. Thomas Hunt. Privately printed:
Brattleboro. VT
FROM PRINTER TO PRESIDENT. BY
Sherman a. Cuneo. Dorrance & Co.
OUR PRESIDENTS AND THEIR MOTH
ERS. BY William j. Hampton The Corn
hin Publishing Company.
"HERE has been tendency Of late to
publish too many biographies. too
many pseudo historical works, toe
many editions of the letters Of distin.
guished men This tendency finds strik-
ing illustration in the group of books under
review Amid mass of valuable and in
teresting material we here find detailed
accounts OF much that is unimportant.
page after page of trivialities connected
with some prominent name. gossipy rec
ords of Insignificant personal experience
and pretentious life stories" of men whose
accomplishments warrant no biography
Where the author writes with the skill that
gives to undistinguished figures the reality
of well drawn characters of fiction the
narrative win frequently be self justified;
but where the writer lacks this creative
ability the biography or autobiography as
often as not represents nothing but
waste of ink and paper.
AS an example of a book that succeeds
in the attempt to invest historical charac-
ters with reality we may mention Violet A.
Wilson's volume on Queen Elizabeth's
Maids of Honor" Here We have an in
teresting account of the relations of Eliza
beth with the ladies of her privy chamber;
we see the Queen discoursing to her maid
ems on the advantages of life of virgin
ity: we observe the maidens following the
advice by entering into intricate love
affairs; we witness the wrath of the mon
arch upon learning that some of her fol-
lowers have secretly married, and We be-
hold with indignation the fearful punish
ment the Queen metes out to the Offend
ing lovers-separation and imprisonment
usually leading to their untimely death.
Although the book embodies no new ma
terial, il has the merit of presenting old
material freshly and entertainingly; we
get vivid picture of the ruthless and
despotic Elizabeth, and we are treated TO
brief but Illuminating glimpses of her
courtiers and of the colorful court life that
surrounds her.
II we turn from this book to John Rus
kin's Letters to William Ward" we viii
find ourselves confronted with a work that
one might assume to be valuable, but that
actually does not justify itself. 1t will
detract not one iota from the great name
of Ruskin to say that his letters to WILL
lam Ward show no signs of greatness:
that they are for the most part common
place communications which. while con-
tanning some valuable comments on art,
are on the whole unillumined and value
less. Ruskin never designed them for pub
lication, and he is not to be blamed II, like
many OF the bright lights Of literature he
is forced TO suffer the indignity OF having
even his business correspondents ana his