Books Of The Day.

Books of the Day .

Books , Miuic , & c . intended for review , should be addressed to the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , New Barnet . In a Cathedral City . B y Bertha Thomas . A new edition ( 6 s ) . —Chatto and Windus . Miss BERTHA THOMAS has written another charming novel . So many able writers of fiction are in the field now that it is difficult

to discriminate justly , and to assign due merit to each . If we remember rightly it was once said by a critic in the " Examiner " that " The Violin Player , " an earlier book by the same writer , showed much intellectual power and knowledge of books and men . We can think of no better words to describe the chief characteristics of the volume before us . The writer is , above all things

intellectual ; the grace and finish of her style is admirable ; her epigrams would not disgrace Hazlitt ; her ability in the shaping of a sentence is worthy of De Quincey . The characters which play their part in this old cathedral city are distinctly well drawn—worthy , reserved , sententious Christopher ; many-sided Leonard ; tasteful , gentle , noble Elsie ; each , as the poet says , "has many merits . " Something in Miss Thomas' handling of the drift and trend of her

story is suggestive of the method of Vernon Lee , in that most charming of small books , " Ottilie . " But , although there is a distinctly literary flavour in this story , the writer is infinitely more original than many novelists who have read less . If Miss Thomas can improve upon " In a Cathedral City" she will produce an exceedingly good novel . The typography and punctuation are more accurate than is sometimes the case , and the lightness of so stout a paper is one of the wonders of the day .

A Cyclist ' s Note Book . By A . W . Rumney . —W . and A . K . Johnston . A FEW weeks ago we spoke of the increase of cycling literature . We can hardly say that this book supplies a " long felt want , " for there are now many volumes of a similar description ; but as it is written in a pleasant vein , and is abundantly illustrated , it will

compete successfully with its many rivals . The author , to be sure , takes insufficient heed to his literary ways ; " the good wife does not surprise me in telling me that I am wrong" is . hardly worthy of Steevens , to say nothing of Stevenson . However , cyclists will find a store of good hints and happy reminiscenses which abundantly

compensate for any shortcomings in style . Mr . Rumney has a fund of humour at times ; as Tammas Haggart would say , he has a " wy" which is sufficiently diverting to prevent dullness . No doubt readers of " Cycling" and of the " Manchester Guardian " are pleased to have these " notes " in a collective shape .

The Wreck of the "Grosvenor . " An account of the mutiny of the crew and the loss of the ship when trying to make the Bermudas . By VV . Clark Russell ( 2 s 6 d ) . —Sampson Low , Marston and Company . WE are always pleased to see a new edition of one of Mr . Clark Russell ' s many books . He has had a long and active career

as a writer of sea stories , and we hope he has not finished yarning yet . While so many novelists write for a certain dais 01 leaders only , and thereby make many enemies , Mr . Clark Russell writes for all classes and pleases everybody . The work before us is , we suppose , his best novel . As Macauiay would put it , the " Wreck of the 'Grosvenor " is read by everybody who ever reads anythuur at

all . The reason is not far to seek ; the writer is never dull . Readers will remember that he has written a small library of stories of seamanship ; many of which are on singularly uniform lines , and yet he interests us afresh with every succeeding booK . This volume has been read by thousands with breathless interest irom start to finish . It is hard to say which feature is the more vividly realised as we

read—the stupendous panorama of the sea in sunshine and storm , or the deep villany , the utter worthlessness of the badly chosen crew of an old merchant sailing vessel . The hero is a sound , honest , manly fellow ; and the sensational nature of his wooing and winning is rendered all the more attractive by the dark frame in which the

picture is set . The sea has many moods , but Mr . Clark Russell knows them all ; possibly his only serious rivals in the eyes of most men are Pierre Loti and Mr . Frank T . Bullen . The portrait of the author as a merchant sailor , prefixed to this edition , is a welcome feature . We most heartily wish this book a still wider success than hitherto .

MR . GRANT RICHARDS will shortly issue a reprint of " Tom , Unlimited " by the late Mr . Grant Allen . Readers may remember that this work was first published in 18 97 , under the pseudonym of '' Martin Leach Worborough . " This book is well illustrated b y Gertrude Bradley .

THE same publisher will also issue a volume of essays in social dynamics , entitled " Ethical Democracy , " edited by Dr . Stanton Coit . A NEW work by Count Tolstoi is promised by the editors of the " Free Age Press , ' Maldon , Essex . Mr . Aylmer Maude is the translator ; and the book is entitled "The Slavery of our Times . "

CAPTAIN DEASY has written a volume of " Travels in Western Tibet and Chinese Turkestan . " It will be published by Mr . Fisher Unwin . WE notice that Messrs . J . M . Dent and Co . have issued the third volume of the " Temple Classics " edition of Macaulay's Essays . The work is to be completed in five volumes . It is difficult to exaggerate the value of so handy an edition of the most brilliant

Books Of The Day.

essayist alive or dead . Mr . John Morley , Mr . Leslie Stephen , and the late Mr . Cotter Morison have told us much concerning the errors and shortcomings of Macauiay ; but his essays remain the most entertaining writings of their kind , and Messrs . Dent may rely upon a good demand for their elegant reprint .

MESSRS . HUTCHINSON announce some new books which will tempt many purchasers . Among others we may mention " Of Royal Blood , " by William Le Queux ; "The Yellow Man , " by Carlton Dawe ; and "Secret Memoirs of William II . and Francis Joseph , by a lady of rank , who writes under the name of Madame la Marquise de Fontenoy .

WE understand that the first edition of " Winifred" by S . Baring Gould ( Methuen and Co . ) is exhausted . Those who know this writer's charming style , his wealth of historic and literary allusion , and his unerring instinct in matters pertaining to the delineation of character , will not be surprised if the second edition is also speedily bought up . On the whole , we have few writers quite on a level with the vicar of Lew Trenchard .

BOOKS RECEIVED . In the Palace of the King . A love story of old Madrid . By Francis Marion Crawford . With illustrations by Fred Roe ( 6 s ) . —Macmillan and Co ., Limited .

The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay . By Maurice Hewlett ( 6 s ) . —Macmillan land Co ., Limited . The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne in the County of Southampton . By Gilbert White ( 3 s 6 d net ) . — Macmillan and Co ., Limited .

The Red , White , and Green . By Herbert Hayens . with illustrations ( 5 s ) . —Thomas Nelson and Sons . One of Sutler ' s Horse . A tale of the Zulu campaign . By William Johnston . Illustrated ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Thomas Nelson and Sons .

London Memories . Social , Historical , and Topographical . By Charles William Heckethorn ( 6 s ) . —Chatto and Windus . New Century Library ( 2 s net per vol ) . —T . Nelson and Sons . The Works of WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY . —Vol . vii ., Burlesques , The Fitzboodle Papers and The Fatal Boots .

The Mandarin's Kite or Little Tsu-Foo and Another Boy . By G . E . Farrow . Illustrated by Alan Wright ( 3 s 6 d ) . — Skeffington and Son . Hate , the Destroyer . By R .- Norman Silver . Illustrated by T . W . Henry ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Limited .

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