Evening star., 1938-11-27
SELF COLORS STUDY OF SOULS
Powys Book Enjoyment of Literature Reveals Searching Mind of
Its Author Among Great Wers-Another View of Fate of
British Empire-War Tales and Floral Lore

details which are set out here only
prove the major contention.
THE WAYFARER. BY Shirley Sci
fert. New York: M. S. Mill Co.
One supposes that one may call
this novel wholesome" The re-
viewer herself does not know why
styleless works of fiction which deal
in rich sentimentality are generally
called so:' she can only assume that
such wholesomeness as Is ascribed
to them Is, basically, a negative
quality and that they are so called
chiefly because they do not deal with
certain matters, or because, II they
do deal with those matters, they do
50 in vein Of heavy sentiment or Of
bumptious cheeriness. Be the rea-
son what it may, however, this book
qualities. It is wholesome to an
overwhelming degree.
In addition to this, it is one Of
those "epics Of America" for some
years now so popular. Which is to
say, 1t covers q long period of time
through the life of one man, he a
citizen of our beloved country. In
this simple provision, it finds scope
for plenty of action-the hero is
Yankee who goes out to the frontier
West, fights in the Civil War, builds
up fortune after the war and grows
old in power and wealth. You have
read the same sort of thing before.
Where this particular "epic" has
its originality is in the nature of the
fortune which the hero eventually
acquires. He does not follow the
conventional pattern by going into
steel or cattle or railroads. He does
not even make munitions (the
author is not class conscious). What
he does do is buy land and raise
horses. He Is, you see, as wholesome
as that
The book is readable, unless 1t Is
not. That Is to say-it will find
great many readers who will admire
1t; the others simply will not be able
to 60 through 1t at all. The reviewer
can only say that, as "epics" go, 1t
is acceptable The Covered Wagon
left a broad trail behind it, to be
sure!
RIDERS AT THE GATE. BY Joseph
Auslander. New York: The
Macmillan Co.
This volume of indignant verse is
largely preoccupied with the worlds
political situation. The preoccupa-
ton can be quickly stated-Mr. Aus
lander does not like Fascism. Or,
perhaps one had better say, he does
not like dictators.
Well, as far as the reviewer has
been able to observe, nobody likes
dictators. On the other hand, the
world has always esteemed good
poets highly. And Mr.. Auslander
is a good poet. He writes bumpy,
aggressive verse, to be sure, but
there is craftsmanship in it. And
so world which is weary of die
tators to its very heart may perhaps
wish that its poets would bring it
some message less. timely than that
Its politics are in grievous state.
But 1t is not for any critic to
quarrel with any writer's subject.
Mr.. Auslander does not like dicta-
tors, and so he writes verse to say
as much. 1t is good verse. Readers
must proceed at their own discre-
ton.
FLOWER AND FRUIT PRINTS OF
THE 18th AND EARLY 18th
CENTURIES. BY Gordon Dun
thorne. Chicago: Lakeside Press.
This book has been designed to
serve two purposes. Its text sets
forth history of the development
of flower and fruit prints, provides
data for identifying some 10000
prints of the period covered, lists all
the works containing prints in the
same years, gives information about
artists, engravers and publishers,
and contains reproductions of out
standing prints, 81 in color and AZ
in black and white For the rest,
its makers say simply that they have
undertaken to produce a thing of
beauty. And certainly, in illustra-
tions, in Typography and binding,
the work is splendid. 1t seems
distinguished achievement in book
making, and the information COM
piled within it should be of great
service to students of the color print
of the period. Needless to say, so
fine thing is not low-priced. But
it would be worth some sacrifices.
FLOWERS OF HAWAII. BY Olive
Gale Mclean and Mary Dill
| ingham Frear. New York:
Dodd Mead g. Co.
This book seems likely to have an
interest for a large public. It is an
exceptionally beautiful volume, for
one thing, and so should appeal to
those who collect works for their
esthetic properties. It is likewise
interesting from the botanical
standpoint, for it is the first illus
trated volume given over to study
of modern Hawaiian flowers. Fur
ther than that, the illustrations are
the work of a Washington artist,
Mrs. Olive Gale Mclean, wife Of
the late Rear Admiral Ridley NC
Lean, at one time Judge Advocate
General Of the Navy, and daughter
of the late Thomas Gale.
The book was, indeed, Mrs. Gales
idea. She visited Hawaii for the
first time In 1928, was fascinated by
the beauty of the island flowers and
tried to find some work to instruct
her in their names and habits. No