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Gospels which bore fruit in the introduction of Christ's teachings as the primary motive behind Dostoyevsky's creations.

The novelist's methods of working are also recorded. He was no notebook theorizer or mere speculative philosopher but an explorer of the dark recesses of the human soul. His own disease epilepsy perhaps influenced his outlook on life. M. Gide recognizes the Russian master's affinities to Nietzsche, Browning, and William Blake. Dostoyevsky is well described as a very Rembrandt among novelists.

A series of lectures on Dostoyevsky, or to give him the Scandinavian spelling, Dostojewski, delivered by Konrad Simonsen at Copenhagen University, is published in book form by P. Haase and Son, Copenhagen. The author is a Communist. He explains that he joined the Church of Rome as a result of his study of religious works, inspired by the writings of Dostoyevsky and Rathenau.

The founder of the Loeb Classical Library, Dr. James Loeb, has just received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws at Cambridge University. He is also the recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Munich. It will be interesting to see whether his alma mater, Harvard, will follow suit. Dr. Loeb, who is now writing a book on Italian terracottas, is responsible for some excellent translations from the French of Decharme and other French authors. He was once connected with the famous commercial firm of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. Literature may be said to be his hobby, for it is doubtful whether the Loeb Library pays as a business venture; but Dr. Loeb is content to go on making classical authors

accessible, in the best translations he can command, to those who have small Latin and less Greek; and not only the well known authors, but others whose work, but for his efforts, would veritably be for many of us sealed books. The production of the Loeb Library is in the hands of three editors, assisted by an advisory board, on which are the representatives of four nations. The library is intended to include no less than 400 volumes, of which nearly 200 have already been published.

Jean-Jacques

Since the death of Anatole France many books about the great French writer have made their appearance, and others are doubtless in preparation. But I doubt whether any will meet with the same sensational success as Jean-Jacques Brousson's "Anatole France en Pantoufles". More than 100,000 copies were sold in Paris within a few weeks of publication. Mr. Brousson was at one time Anatole France's secretary, and in this candid book - too candid for the liking of many he strips bare in most scandalous fashion the private life of his master. The book is full of comments and anecdotes in very dubious taste, recording book-chapter-and-verse details of his amorous peccadillos, his egotism, his garrulity, his ignorance, his insincerity. Apparently Parisians do not subscribe to the theory of de mortuis nil nisi bonum, for "Anatole France at Home", judging by its sales and the discussions it has provoked, has been a source of diversion to all Paris. What useful purpose can be served by such an exposure of human weaknesses? To the scrupulous minded there is something indecent in this chronique scandaleuse rushed into print within a few months of the celebrated writer's death.

With each new reprint of Gobineau's work in France his amazing versatility and ingenuity are demonstrated afresh. The "Cahiers Verts" (Paris: Grasset) have now published his first long historical novel, "Le Prisonnier Chanceux", a story in the manner of Walter Scott, which appeared serially in "La Quotidienne" in 1846. Only one hundred copies were then printed in book form, so that the romance is for practical purposes now published for the first time. The revival of interest in the works of the Comte de Gobineau is exemplified in "L'Abbaye de Typhaines", which, although a complete failure when first published in 1848, ran through seven editions in a few weeks when published a year or two ago. Without any claim to the grandeur of Scott or the amazing verve of the elder Dumas, Gobineau is still well worth reading. "Le Prisonnier Chanceux" is a sixteenth century romance full of spirited action, fair ladies and gallant soldiers, encounters between Huguenots and Catholics, robbers, faithful and treacherous servants, and a quixotic hero who meets with an astonishing variety of exciting adventures.

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Modern Spain has too long been regarded as an indolent and backward country. So false is the impression which generally prevails among armchair travelers that if, as I fully anticipate, an English translation appears of "Las Responsabilidades del Antiguo Régimen, 1875-1923" por el Conde de Romanones (Madrid: Renacimiento), it will change many views. Although some districts in Spain remain purely mediæval, chiefly owing to the difficulties of communication, the Spain of today is a country very different from tradition.

ish liberal leader, shows in his new book what Spanish statesmanship has accomplished in the last fifty years. He is an enemy of bureaucracy - "a serious disease in the organism of the State" and an avowed parliamentarian, though he deplores the weakness and vacillations of recent ministries. Spain's abundant resources can be developed still further only by political reform and the spread of education, not by sudden revolution with its inevitable hardships and subsequent years of chaos.

M. Charles de la Roncière, who is the historian of the French navy, has published in Cairo under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society of Egypt a study of the discovery of Africa in the Middle Ages. Prior to the beginning of the sixteenth century, Africa was a legendary country. M. de la Roncière's book, which consists of two volumes containing many admirably reproduced mediæval maps, is a valuable contribution to geographical literature.

The same author claims to have found the actual chart used by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the west, and has published in France an interesting book dealing with his discovery.

A definite impetus is given to the controversy about the nationality of Columbus by the news of the forthcoming publication in Spain of a book

written and compiled by an English lady and her husband - which produces striking documentary and other evidence that Columbus was actually born a Spaniard. Historically the point is of interest.

One of the most remarkable books

Count Romanones, who is the Span- published in Italy for some time is

Signor Vincenzo Nitti's recent vindication of his father's policy as prime minister, "L'Opera di Nitti" (Turin: Pietro Gobetti). Nitti, not without some justification, is regarded today with considerable hostility in Italy and elsewhere. His lukewarm war policy, even when he was a minister, is chiefly responsible for the feeling.

This vigorous defense is based on Nitti's speeches during the critical years. He became premier in June, 1919, when Italy was in a very unsettled state. The peace negotiations were unpopular and the Communists were actively exploiting the general discontent. "He was convinced", says his son, "that the fever of strikes, proletarian violence, revolutionary and reactionary folly were transitory phenomena of the postwar period, states of mind rather than well defined proposals." Acts of sedition went unpunished; strike leaders held the upper hand and their demands, however preposterous, were always granted. Nitti's passive attitude brought trouble in its train.

Signor Vincenzo Nitti bases his case on the ex-Premier's public speeches, but his actions cannot be overlooked. In spite of this volume, it is probable that the Nitti régime will continue to be regarded as disastrous.

From China comes the interesting news that the Chinese are modernizing their schools and have decided that the learning of the English language shall be obligatory. The industrious thoroughness of Eastern peoples is well known, and this step may be followed by a greatly increased demand for English and American books in China. The possibility raises a point conceivably of importance to English and American authors and publishers.

There is no copyright in China, and English books have been freely pirated in the past. What will happen in the future if the rising generation in China demands more and more English books?

American travelers who have made the journey from London to Paris by air and are acquainted with the well known British airlines, may not be aware of the network of foreign air services over the face of Europe. While Europe is the most important continent from the point of view of commercial aviation, it does not possess any monopoly of organized air services. Civil aviation is growing so rapidly and significantly that the publication of the "Jahrbuch für Luftverkehr" (Munich: Richard Pflaum Verlag), the first production of its kind, is worth noting. Comprehensive and thorough, this yearbook (the first issue is for the year 1924) covers geographically the whole world, contains complete lists of aerodromes and a mass of other useful information.

The discovery of a dusty portfolio of manuscripts preserved in the famous Mazarin Library reveals an interesting collection of love letters written by François Talma, the great French actor, to Napoleon's sister, Pauline Bonaparte. An amazing clandestine wooing this. For the purpose of correspondence the Princess became Mlle. Sophie, and Talma's letters were called for by her butler at an arranged address. It ended in bitter disillusionment for François Talma. These letters of his to the beautiful Pauline were found with a label, bearing in Mme. Le Brun's handwriting these words:

"Would it not be better to destroy them? That remains to be seen."

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Susan Glaspell's novel, "Fidelity", which went the rounds for several years in England before finding a publisher, is to be issued in Germany by the firm of Griffel. "Fidelity" is now in its fifth impression in England. Other books which are to appear in German include Shaw Desmond's "The Drama of Sinn Fein", Stacy Aumonier's "Overheard", and Margaret Kennedy's "The Constant Nymph".

The Scandinavian rights of Michael Arlen's novel "The Green Hat" have been disposed of; as have the Swedish rights of Stacy Aumonier's "Miss Bracegirdle and Others". The Dutch rights of "Arnold Waterlow" by May Sinclair and "The Custody of the Child" by Sir Philip Gibbs, the German serial rights of Booth Tarkington's "Us" and the Czecho-Slovakian rights of Gene Stratton-Porter's "A Girl of the Limberlost", have all recently been sold. "Blanco y Negro", the Spanish magazine, has acquired the serial rights of Howard Carter's story of "The Tomb of Tutankhamen".

The Tauchnitz Continental Library has made some interesting acquisitions, which include Rose Macaulay's "Orphan Island", Zane Grey's "The Thundering Herd", and "The Son of Tarzan" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

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IN THE BOOKMAN'S MAIL

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I work weeks, and sometimes months, on a short story. Sometimes the idea for a short story is carried around by me for years before I feel that it is sufficiently developed to take the written form. Why should take this story which I sweat blood to write and reap the benefit of its book publication? If he is going to continue to publish an annual book of short stories written by others, he should be made to share his profits equally among the writers contributing to his book... I think the whole symposium and anthology practice is bunk. It is on the increase. It should be stopped.

I am not defending the compiler of short stories. I believe Miss Ferber is partially right, at least from the commercial standpoint. I am not a reader of short stories, agreeing with Samuel McChord Crothers that "the short story is invented for people who want a literary quick lunch". I am not a writer - cannot write a poem, an essay or a story. I am a reader, pure and simple. When I take into my hand a book to read my first impulse is a caress, because I love a book, its paper, cover, the printer's ink and all. Then I turn to the preface, if it contains one. Often I find there some gem of thought worth preserving. That gives me the key to the book, where I feel sure there are more gems awaiting me. am rarely disappointed. These I call my thought breeders. As a booklover I emphatically echo the thought expressed by Christopher Morley in his "Pipefuls":

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There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love, and like that colossal adventure it is an experience of great social import. Even as the tranced swain, the booklover yearns to tell others of his bliss. He writes letters about it, adds it to the postscript of all manner of communications, intrudes it into telephone messages, and insists on his friends writing down the title of the find. Like the simplehearted betrothed, once certain of his conquest, "I want you to love her, too!"

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accumulates these valuable selections the very epitome of the author's thought life; and in time finds that he has the "makings" of many volumes of quotations. Shall he keep these to himself, giving perhaps occasionally to friends who chance to know of his rich stores? Perhaps a demand comes from others who have little time to read cannot hope to read the full works of these great master minds. His longing is always to share this beauty with all who need it - and the world does need all the beauty it can get.

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I have always been a compiler of quotations, and have been importuned by educators, students, clergymen, public speakers, public men and women everywhere, to make accessible to the general reader these treasuries of thought. Are books of quotations to be included in Miss Ferber's 'bunk"? If so I am wrong in trying to help humanity to find beauty in the works of great writers, including those of Miss Ferber herself.

There is something to be said for the anthologist. Think what the world readers would miss without William Stanley Braithwaite's annual "Anthology of Magazine Verse" or Marguerite Wilkinson's book "New Voices", with their exquisite prefaces and bits of interpretation adding beauty to poetry.

It takes two to make a book: its writer and its reader. As Gerald Stanley Lee says in his "The Lost Art of Reading" (page 121):

The orator and the listener, the writer and the reader, in proportion as they become alive to one another, come into the same spirit the spirit of mutual listening and utterance. At the very best, and in the most inspired mood, the reader reads as if he were a reader and writer both, and the writer writes as if he were a writer and reader both.

If the prime object of the writer is money - royalties his book is short lived, isn't it? But if he has a message, irrespective of money, then his is a true book and it belongs to us all! The reader appropriates its message and passes it on to others. Henry Seidel Canby, in his Second Series of "Definitions" (page 188), makes clear this relationship between writing and reading:

Too much is said about writing, and not enough of reading. It would seem that whereas only a few can write well and those only when they are prodded until their brains turn over at the proper speed, anyone who can spell can read. Not at all. There are 10,000 bad readers for every bad author, and if the number of good readers in proportion to the good writers proves to be as much as 500 to one the Authors' League should give

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