Evening star., 1928-05-05
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the Booklouer

tlcSe HOueTH udy5 VI Uc BIduudteO AlIO
the class of biography readers. A biog-
raphy Is no longer necessarily Pc
dantic and ponderous account of worthy
achievements. In fact, it never has
necessarily been so. Pepys wrote diary
so full of scandal, spicy episodes and
accounts OF Restoration frivolities that
it is continually being reprinted Boswell
was as determined as Emil Ludwig to
show his subject as a man, not as a
mere doer Of deeds, with the result that
DR.. Jonson lives more vitality through
Boswell than in anything which he
wrote. The scholarly type Of biography
which came into existence in the nine
teenth century, with its extensive anno-
tations, addenda and photography such
as Morley's Gladstone" and the Money
penny-Buckle "Disraeli," is, of course,
still written. but its readers are those
who have passed the first grade In the
biography class. Several such biogra-
phies have been published during the
past year. There is Joseph Conrad;
Life and Letters" 1.-TWO volumes), by G..
ean-Aubrey, who knew Conrad we'll
and has produced an authoritative
work for the Conrad lover. There is
Walter Edwin Pecks Life Of Shelley
1.-TWO Volumes, comparable to Amy
Lowells Life Of Keats" a trifle heavy,
but perhaps superseding all other biog-
raphies of Shelley James Bryce" by
H. A. L. Fisher, is scholarly without
being heavy, the delightful biography of
a distinguished man who had an almost
perfectly happy life. THE Life of
Woodrow Wilson" by Ray Stannard
Baker of which the first two volumes
have been published, is an official biog-
raphy. The Training of an American. ="
edited by Burton j. Hendrick, covers
the earlier life and letters OF Walter H.
Page. Lincoln or Lee?" by William e.
Dodd. professor in Chicago University.
presents two psychological studies of
the two great opposing leaders in the
Civil War
More popular biographies have been
especially numerous during the past
year. Trader Horn" by Alfred
Aloysius Horn a pseudonyml and Mrs
Ethelreda Lewis. has about run it's
course as a purported biography. but
one which, in spite of its guarantees,
has aroused much suspicion as to its
genuinenesS. That Man Heine," by
Lewis Browne, is a tragic portrait OF
the greatest OF German lyriSts. who
did not belong" anywhere "Transi-
tion," by VIII Durant. is the mental
autobiography OF one who seems to
many to be both an egotist and a
superficial philosopher. Emil Ludwig
appears to his American public to be
a most rapid writer. because his books
have come out In such quick success
sion in this country. but they were
really written over much longer
period and have only recently been
translated. Napoleon" shows more
OF the arrogant genius. coming from
an obscure background but believing
in his own star. than of the world
conqueror. Bismarck" is o study OF
the Iron Chancellor as a man. will
helm HohenZollern" represents the
former Kaiser as neurotic weakling
instead OF the redoubtable war lord OF
popular fable. The Son OF Man" is a
life Of Jesus The introduction OF
Genius and Character" a collection
OF sketches of famous persons. explains
Ludwig's theory OF biography, that ii
should be an Interpretation of per-
Sonality. j. Middleton Murry has
edited the journal of Katherine Mans
Held" his wife, who was something OF
a Marie Bashkirtseff in her invalidism
and her introspection The Letters
OF Gertrude Bell" edited by her step
mother. tell OF the same intrigues in
Arabia. with many adventures unusual
for woman. as are found in Law
rences Revolt in the Desert" Pop
ular sketches of well known Americans
are given in Henry L. Stoddard's "As
| Knew Them (Grant to Coolidge). -
TO all nature-lovers "T'he Heart OF
Thoreau'S Journals" edited by Odell
Shepard, is book for happy. quiet
reading. "A Childhood in Brittany" "
by Anne Douglas Sedgwick. is an auto
biography with a charming setting.
My Life" by Isadora Duncan, reveals
temperament with no reticences
Mary Todd Lincoln" by Honore
WillSie Morrow. is an appreciation and
defense of LincolnS wife. Volume II
OF Rupert Hughes George Washing
ton" has caused less comment on the
part OF patriotic societies and persons
than Volume /, perhaps because Mr..
Hughes method Is no longer a novelty.
Peter StuyveSant and His Times" by
Hendrix Van Loon. is based on ma
terials discovered in Holland and Is
tancifully illustrated BY the author.
Herbert Hoover" by viii Irwin, gives
"reminiscences by a friend and class
mate. "A Daughter OF the Samurai, 4"
by Etsu Inagah Sugimoto. is the auto
biography of a Japanese American
woman, now instructor in Japanese
language and history at Columbia Uni
versity. 'Disraeli." by Andre Maurois.
makes the great Conservative prime
minister OF the Victorian period as
living as Ariel made Shelley.
Daniel Mornet, has published a useful
and delightfully."- written handbook of
modern French Observation-Disclosures de
la Literature ct de Ia PenSee Contem-
poraineS" ('History of Contemporary
Literature and Thought") It's scope
is the period from 1870 10 the present
time. All the leading writer's and lead
erS OF thought of the period are covered
and the various schools OF thought are
differentiated. from the naturaliSm of
Zola 10 the symbolism of Proust.
Taine's critical method. the philosophy
OF BergSon. the intellectualism of NAL
larme, the mysticism of Verlaine and
the claSSicism of Anatole France are all
shown as contributing something Of
value to contemporary thought.
Animals which talk and initiate the
methods of life OF human beings rival
fairies in the interest of children. Writ
ers OF stories for children know this and
SO humani2ed animals in large numbers
are Joining the throngs OF characters Of
literature. Some Of them may have suf-
flcient longevity to become companions
OF Ro2inante and Dapple in Don
Quixote" StevenSon'S ModeStine. and
the family Of Aesop most Of them will
probably live but year or two Chris
topher Morley in Il Know Secret" has
presented 10 his child-readers dog, n
cat, some kittens. some squirrels and u
snail which has run away@-or crawled
awap--from France because 1t found
disgusting the French habit of eating
snails, These animals are connected
with n family occupying suburban