Evening star., 1935-02-02
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.

L - OdHhdh We DOU GLhfNnAVs Il
THE MASTER. A Study Of Michel
angelo. BY J. Howard Whitehouse
and Colin Rocke. London: Oxford
University Press.
The authors Of this study, not o
biography, have spent many holidays
in Rome and other italian cities and
have been impressed whenever they
stood before either paintings or sculp-
lures of Michelangelo that they were
Gin the presence Of the work Of one
whose memory and influence were i'm
mortal" They resolved to pursue the
study Of the work Of "the master" In
detail, and have done 80 with the en-
thusiasm which makes their apprecia-
tions more than academic. They have
refreshingly disregarded the innumer-
able criticisms of the work Of Michel
angelo In biographies, monographs
and histories Of art, and have at
tempted to discover from their own
reactions the nature and significance
Of the appeal which it makes today
both to youth and those Of mature
years. They have (also refreshingiy)
avoided the meaningless" language
Of art, which concerns itself with
vague generalizations about spaces
and sequences and nebulous technt.
calities," and have seen In Michel
angelo the creative artist, the fault
less craftsman, the interpreter Of his
age, as interesting In his personality
as in his work.
The preliminary chart which the
authors have provided, showing IN
parallel columns the date, what was
happening in Italy and In the life Of
Michelangelo, and what work he pro-
duced at that time, was q happy
thought and Is welcome guide to the
reader. The little volume has three
main Observation-Disclosures as Sculp-
tor" "Michelangelo as Painter" and
"Michelangelo asArchitect"-and three
shorter essays treating of Michelangelo
as theologian and as poet and Of the
relation of Sir Joshua Reynolds to
Michelangelo. The illustrations In
each part are well chosen. The ex-
traordinarily beautiful Pieta, In st.
Peters, Rome, with its youthful Ma
donna and the completely relaxed fig-
ure Of the Christ, is chosen as the
first example Of the sculpture; others
discussed are the David and the
Medici monuments, in Florence; the
tomb Of Pope Julius II. with its statue
OF Moses, In Rome, and the "Captives"
OF the Louvre, Paris. The paintings
OF the Sistine Chapel are, Of course,
given the major part of the Discus
sion in the field Of painting, and the
dome Of st. Peters, Rome, is studied
as "Michelangelo's supreme achieve
ment as an architect"
THE NEW DILEMMA. BY Roger w.
Babson. New York: Fleming H.
Reven Co.
The New Deal Is subjected to def
mite criticism In this most recent
book Of Roger BabSon, writer on
financial and business subjects. With
the highest respect for the Roosevelt
administration and its motives, which
derive from "the unselfish spirit Of
crusaders" he believes that it has
unwisely turned over its problems to
college professors, welfare workers
and others who have never had busi-
ness experience" Re-employment,
he holds, is a business problem and
should be handled by business men.
He suggests a coalition government,
such as England Has resorted to in
emergency. As an independent in
politics, he says that he writes as q
non-partisan. His first chapter is
humorously entitled Capitalism or
Capitolism" and is followed by others
on Various Forms Of Tsms'" and
THE New Dilemma ISM" TT has
been said that the Old Dilemma was
for making money and the New
Dilemma IS for making votes. I think
that this statement Is unfair both to
the industrialists in Coolidge's cabi-
net and to the idealists In ROOSEVELT g
cabinet. Furthermore. I knew most
of those In both cabinets" Mr.. Bab-
| sons attitude throughout his book is
one of sweet reaSonableness, but he
none the less knows exactly what he
thinks and the net result Of his think
ing is disapproval Of most New Deal
measures. THE New Dilemma is
hocus pocus in its attempt to benefit
the masses merely by handicapping
employers, reducing dividend pay
ments, threatening printing press cur
| rency, assessing unbearable taxes and
raising money wages without CORE
spending increase in production. This
Is an attempt to get for them some
thing for nothing"
*&*
AN ADMIRAL FROM TEXAS. BY
Henry A. Wiley, q. s. NJ, Retired
Garden City: Doubleday, Doran
g. Co.
In his progress from birth In an
Alabama town, son Of poor physician
and Confederate veteran, through q
covered wagon journey to Texas and
a tough, hard-f1ghting, hard-swear.
ing rowdy" youth there, to Annapolis
and finally to the position Of admiral
and commander in chief Of the United
States Fleet, Admiral Wiley piled ur
experiences. He commanded wooden
ships, iron ships, monitors, destroyers
cruisers, battleships, squadrons, divi-
sions, and at last the whole fleet
He has sailed the seven seas, has
landed in most countries Of the
world and knows how to tell o good
story about it all. His book should
be called "reminiscences. for it is GER
tain that dates and enumeration o,
many details, in their proper order
necessitated by q complete auto
biography, would irk him. He draws
up from memory the experiences which
keenly interested him at the time ant
lets the rest 60. Genealogy does moi
especially arouse his curiosity and thu
only ancestor he becomes enthusiastic
about-and he has good reason-is the
paternal grandfather, James McCalet
Wiley, who fought epidemics Of yellow
fever and cholera in Mississippi
Louisiana and Mexico, was mad.
surgeon general Of Mexico, was latel
assigned to the staff Of Santa Anna
| was slISnected nf TeYan svu1rathfeS