Evening star., 1933-06-03
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.
THE MIRROR OF CIV
u4TzATTON. BY Phyllis Alderman.
New York: Oxford University

II4TzATTON. BY Phyllis Ackerman
New York: Oxford University
Press.
The travel and study OF tapestries
which prepared for this delightful work
must have given the greatest pleasure
to the author, writer and lecturer and
wife Of DR.. Arthur Upham Pope, inter-
national authority on Persia To study
history through the quaint figures, the
ing of old tapestries Is quite another
matter from studying it. through the
pages OF book, perhaps less informa
tive, but more esthetic. Most of the
| tapestries studied are European, but
there are some Persian. Chinese and
Peruvian. Forty-eight full-page plates
aid in INSTALLATION. The art of tap
estry weaving began In the third mil
| lenium BIC. In each century it has
recorded, not the whole history of
course, but significant characteristics
and important events of the life of the
| period. Social and economic condi-
tions, amusements. methods. of dress,
class distinctions, types Of warfare, re-
ligious observances. are all revealed by
tapestries. For example. Coptic tap
CSbAyt VI EBypt iIOHl Tile ttilTu 10 LIE
| ninth century AID, reflects the slow
degeneration Of the Alexandrian ciYili-
cation. The medieval struggle be-
tween church and state inspired many
tapestry pictures, one Of the most
famous OF which Is the carpet of Qued-
| lir1burg
The Bayeux tapestry, the study of
which filled an always to be remem-
bered morning for me, is not really a
| tapestry at all, but an embroidery, sup
posed by some critics to be the work of
Queen Mathilde, wife of William the
Conqueror. 1t depicts In colored woods
on linen. now brown with age. scenes
OF the conquest of England by William.
The English all have mustaches and
the Normans none. DR.. Ackerman also
finds in 1t a drama with an ethical
motive. the basis of the Norman state
the sanctity of the oath. The place
OF women in the Middle Ages as tap
estry weavers, the chief tapestry shops
which developed, and all the most
famous tapestry sets of different peri
DDS are described. Each country has
expressed its own personality through
its tapestries. Beauvais and Fontaine-
bleu were famous for their looms and
the brilliant period of Henry VIII of
England, Francois I of France and
Charles V of Austria and Spain pro-
duced some of the finest tapestries. So
both places and individuals are inter-
estingly involved in the production of
tapestries Much attention is of
course given to the fine Flemish tap
estries Of the Middle Ages, some of the
most intricate in design. The chapter
on the Tapestry of Ancient Peru is
a systematic account of a textile art
which has been the subject of much in
terest in recent years. For the modern
tapestries Of William Morris and his
factory at Merton Abbey, DR.. Alderman
has no admiration and much sarcasm.
EARLY STEPS IN HUMAN PROG
RESS. BY Harold J. Peake, M. A.,
F. s. A. Philadelphia: j. B. Lip
pincott Co.
Archaeology tells us much about the
early infancy and childhood of the hui
man race, but there is still room for
guessing. Curiosity" says Mr.. Peake.
Is an attribute of the human race. /"
That Is why men keep probing into the
secrets of Nature, however poor the
return may sometimes be. In this vol
ume Mr.. Peake, former president of the
Royal Anthropological Institute, at
tempts. from the results of modern dis
coveries, to give a summary of the slow
progress of mankind, from the Neander-
thai man to the most finished type of
statesman. or author, or scientist In
our present-day civilization. The evo-
luton OF man Is studied by archeolo-
gistS through the evolution of his meth
ods OF living, his shelters, his food. his
tools and weapons, his use of fire. his
means Of transportation. Primitive
man Is found to have had his farm
problem, his transportation problem
and his industrial problem. The early
chapters tell of the ancient types Of
man and compare these types with ex-
-istlng races today. The steps in the
evolution of the art of living are then
followed-the earliest tools, the discov-
cry Of fire. the beginnings of art, the
tanning Of animals, the growing of
grain, the making of baskets, pottery.
leather garments, textiles, the earliest
agricultural implements and mills, the
evolution Of the house, the different
means of land and water transporta-
ton. the first working Of metals, the
invention of writing, the beginning of
trade and the first forging of iron.
Early Steps in Human Progress Is as
interesting as it is authoritative.
THE FRANCIS PRESTON BLAIR FAM
lily IN POLITICS 2 Vols By Will
liam Ernest Smith, Ph.D. New York:
The Macmillan Co.
The Adams family has been pro-
claimed by many historians the most
famous family in American history, and
James Truslow Adams has recently
found in the different Adamses material
for several very interesting books. So
many of the Adams family were writers
that the tasks of their various biograph-
ers have been made easy in the matter
of first-hand documentary evidence. The
Blair family. we are told by the author
of this book about them, professor of
American history at Miami University
represents longer period of influence
in American politics than any other
family except the Adams family" The
Blair ancestry may be traced back to
the time of the feudal wars between
England and Scotland Six of the chill
dren of Samuel Blair migrated to Amer
lea from Ireland during the first half
OF the eighteenth century, part of the
Scotch-Iri tide, and settled in Bucks
County, Pa. Two of these children,
Samuel and John Blair, became preach
ers. Before the close of the century
the Blairs had migrated to Kentucky
and in 1896 James Blair was attorney
general of the State. Since then the
BlairS have been continuously diStin-
guished in public Office and private en-
terprise. Francis Preston Blair, son of
the attorney general, was a conspicuous
supporter of Andrew Jackson: The
Blairs adhered to the Free Soil Party In
1S48 and later were among the founders
of the Republican Party. Montgomery
Blair, Lincoln's Postmaster General, re-
organized the postal system, and Frank
Blair was a general in the Union Army.
This history of the Blair family which
is accompanied by an extensive bibliog-
raphy, is in effect history of many
years of the political life of the United
States. In Its preparation, the author
has had access to the Blair manuscripts.
not previously available to historians.
PITY is NOT ENOUGH. BY Josephine
Herbst. New York: Harcourt,
Brace & Co.