Evening star., 1923-12-15
The Library Table
ny THE BookLovER

appointment. 1t is over a new book
which he had expected to find oi
original value. Not only did antici
pate great pleasure in reading It, bu.
fully expected to be able to recon-
mend 1t to the readers of this COL
amn for possible first purchase as 9
christmas gift. The book had beer
o much advertised and the success
# the authors earlier book. 18th.
story of Mankind" was so great tha
1t almost seemed safe to recomment
his new book without reading 1t. Blu
low that have read 1t, the impres
lions which l must give are for tn
most part unfavorable. This book l..
The Story of the Bible" by DR..
| dendrick w. van Loon, illustrated
With drawings by the author.
| Why this dissatisfaction with "The
story of the Bible? Written ostensl
bly, for children, 1t seems very un-
suitable for them. Instead of telling
ne Bible stories in the simple. direc.
breezy, colloquial style and with tn.
.usto that charat terIzed 1.-THE Stoi.
IF Mankind" DIR. van Loon INDUCES In
augmentation and discussion of dis
puted points OF the Bible story, lug
earning. He writes the book as
| hough he had set himself q task and
| Without real zest. Although he
| overs but portion OF the Bible
| narrative, he makes use Of many
! uccessive half-line paragraphs which.
| ,ad out the book and become mo
! iotonousiy unpleasant mannerisms.
| '-tquen' care!tSs mistakes Indicate II.
iufficient familiarity with the Bibl,
'arrative to fit the author for sucl
! writing. For example, he writes tha &,
| .saac heard the familiar voice"
! Esau, when the Bible distinctly state:
That Isaac said: THE voice is Jacob
voice. There are also actual dis
tortions of the Bible account. such a.
| his story of the visit to Bethlehem O.
| the three wise men. DR.. van Loon.
says that caravan of Persian trav-
lers passing through the streets o.
Bethlehem were accidentally attracted
by Mary and the child Jesus, sitting
before the stable door, and that the
played with the little boy and then.
when they left. they had given hi.
! pretty mother some presents from
mong their bales Of silk and theiI
boxes of spices"
X X
In order that the report may not be
altogether unfavorable. wish to recore
hor's drawings. Similar drawings wer
a delightful feature Of 1.-The Story OF
Mankind" The story pictures-some il.
black and white and some In colors-ii
his book are similarly successfu.
There are some quaint conceits scatter
ed through the book, such as the de-
scrlptlon OF Esau, as "big, noisy Esau,
Gsau, who always smeiied of camels
and goats. and was forever bringing
yuppies from the stable into the house."
One of the best parts of DR.. van
Looms book is the biblical reading list
tor children given in the appendix. Blu.
t is by chiidren's librarian, Leonore
st. John Power of New York. At leas
two Of the books in her list can
heartily recommend as much better
suited to children than DR.. van Looms
book. Bible Stories to Read and
Tell selected and arranged by
Frances Jenkins OIcott, with beaut.-
iul colored illustrations by Willy
Pogany, is especially satisfactory.
1t contains $50 Old Testament s.orIs.
ana uses the King James version witt.
only occasional slight modification. An
daily com Commended @ is The The C ChiIdren's lid @
Bible" translation in simple English
of selections from the Cd and New
Testaments. arranged by Henry A.
Sherman and Prof Charles Foster Kent
of Yale. This book is also illustrated
with reproductions in colors and half
tone Of we'll known paintings Of Bible
s ana e ro am Pseps
Human Nature and the Bible" In
this book the author considers the O.d
Testament aS work OF literature, and
by his Interpretation of interesting ano
iuy Mt
veals the grandeur. the folly, the no
biiity, the baseness of human nature"
as found in Bible characters, which he
says, are just as real to him as Theo-
his book by drawing on a wealth of lit
erary allusion and illustration.
X
Because of it's relation to the books
already mentioned. 1 wish to call at
tention to the recently published
New Testament: an American Trans
lation," by Edgar ]. Goodspeed. pro-
fessor of biblical and patristic Greek
in the University of Chicago. The
translator's declared purpose is ito
preserve the meaning of the differ
ent books as faithfully as possible
without bias or prejudice" and to
cast the thoughts of the writers In
the simplest and clearest of present
day English. The translator's theory
is that the antique diction. the me-
chanical method of translation, and
the disturbing verse divisions retard
and discourage the reader; also that
for American readers there is room
for a New Testament free from ex-
prnssions which, however familiar In
England and Scotland. are strange to
American ears" Tests OF a few pas
ga pes indicate that the translator has
successfully achieved his purpose. At
least the experiment il an interesting
one.
The latest volume to be added to
the collected novels and stories of
Leonard Merrick, THE Man Who
was Good" suggests by its title, but
in no other way. Sir Harry Johnston's
novel, "The Man Who Did the Right
Thing" Merrick's man who was
good-Dr. Philip Kincaid-is par
ticularly lovable hero. He is
staunch friend. hard worker,
plucky, and no winner. He is pro-
vincial doctor who does his duty
and keeps his temper. Such real
man in fiction. with none Of the usual
trappings Of picturesqueness. spec
tacular success. an interesting past
tues or vices. Is something of q nov
eIty. and makes this novel very much
worth while.
X X ,
J. d. Beresford. who probably ranks
among the upper ten OF British
novelists today. came of family of
clergymen, but never entered that
profession himself. though he tried
number of others before becoming
successful writer. He began as an
architect, but, as at the end Of eight
wears he was earning only fa q