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Flame". A variety of popular fictionists appear here: Alice M. Williamson, William MacLeod Raine, H. Rider Haggard, Sax Rohmer, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, Julian Street, etc., etc.

The late Gene Stratton-Porter's "Tales You Won't Believe" consists of elaborately illustrated nature sketches. This and Kathleen Norris's autobiographical "Noon" are among the most important of the Doubleday general books. Carveth Wells's "Bouncing Fish Fish Balls and Other Things" has been characterized by one gentleman with the phrase, "Truth is stranger than Traprock." In the case of this Malay travel book, the statement is said to be true. William McFee's "An Engineer's Notebook" is presented in a new edition including new material, some of which has appeared in THE BOOKMAN. Humorous, fantastic, and for some time successful in England, is Ben Travers. His first book to be published here will be "The Cuckoo in the Nest".

Boston cannot be neglected as a centre of the publishing trade. There on Park Street, in new offices in which quaintness has yet religiously been preserved, are Houghton Mifflin. Rafael Sabatini's "The Carolinian" will certainly be one of the season's most read books. The famous romancer has chosen Charleston in 1774 as the scene for an adventure tale of early America apparently as filled with glamor and heroism as have been his old world stories. Willa Cather has edited "The Best Stories of Sarah Orne Jewett". The clever and already critically appreciated Michael Sadleir gives us a picture of Victorian England in "Obedience". Samuel Merwin turns from Chinese history, which he celebrated in "Silk", to his

theatrical background and life, in a romance, "The Moment of Beauty". Amy Lowell's "John Keats" will probably rank as one of the greatest biographies by an American. Miss Lowell has spent three years gathering original material for this work, even more, when one considers the time she has given to amassing her own collection of Keats manuscripts and letters, probably the most comprehensive in existence. Lowell Thomas's "The First World Flight" should be a thrilling narrative, unique certainly in its recounting of this amazing adventure. A companion volume to Hilaire Belloc's "The Path to Rome" is "The Cruise of the Nona" in which he gives not only an account of voyages on his yacht, but many stories and speculations, humorous and wise, fruits of a life active both intellectually and physically. "So You're Going to Italy!", a travel guidebook, will need no introduction to those who know Clara Laughlin's unconventional handling of travel advice in "So You're Going to Paris!"

In a large remodeled home on Beacon Street, with a good bookshop on the first floor, are Little, Brown and Company. Of their fiction, "Soundings" by A. Hamilton Gibbs, brother of Sir Philip, is likely to prove most read. It is a wholesome love story with French, American, and English characters, and is written by the author of one of the finest war books, "Gunfodder". Two second novels by Americans that should be interesting are interesting are "To Babylon" by Larry Barretto, whose "A Conqueror Passes" was a novel of the war generation which received much praise, and "The Cobweb" by Margaretta Tuttle, whose "Feet of Clay" appeared last season. Popular authors abound here: Cosmo Hamilton, Oppenheim, Farnol.

Little, Brown's most important biography is the "John L. Sullivan: An Intimate Narrative", done, apparently in the modern manner, by R. F. Dibble. An autobiography which should have color and many interesting anecdotes is Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson's "A Player Under Three Reigns". "The New Barbarians" by Professor Wilbur Cortez Abbott of Harvard is a study of the principles of American democracy, and a prophecy.

Along by the public gardens, in a charming old fashioned home beautifully furnished, are "The Atlantic Monthly" and the Atlantic Monthly Press. They announce three romantic novels as a result of their memorial prize to Charles Boardman Hawes, author of "The Dark Frigate" and other excellent adventure tales. The prize winner itself, like Sabatini's new novel, is a story of the Carolinas, a tale of the struggle of French Huguenot colonists with the Spanish from Florida. It is by Clifford M. Sublette and is called "The Scarlet Cockerel". The other two stories are "Old Brig's Cargo" by Henry A. Pulsford, a humorous sea tale laid eighty years ago, and Alfred H. Bill's "The Clutch of the Corsican", a romance of Napoleonic days.

In Philadelphia are Lippincott and the Penn Publishing Company, businesslike establishments both, the former concerned perhaps most with the sale of elaborately illustrated gift editions, the latter with children's books, yet both with general titles on their lists. From Lippincott's comes a new book by the anonymous author of "Uncensored Recollections", called "Things I Shouldn't Tell". Along with this is the unconventional portrait of Anatole France, already much read abroad, written by the great author's secretary Jean-Jacques Brousson, and

titled "Anatole France at Home". A study of J. M. Barrie by Patrick Braybrooke and a novel of the younger generation, "Choice" by Charles Guernon, seem interesting items.

Another swashbuckling yarn there are aplenty this season comes from the Penn Publishing Company, "At the Sign of the Silver Ship" by Stanley Hart Cauffman. We are asked not to reveal too much of the story, whose setting is old Philadelphia. From this house come also Alice Ross Colver's second novel and Sidney Williams's third. Mr. Williams is the jovial literary editor of the Philadelphia "North American". His new tale is called "Mystery in Red".

Indianapolis is represented in matters of publishing by the house of BobbsMerrill. Two first rate American novels are found on their list, at least two. "Stacey" by Alexander Black is a study of the man who wants to find success quickly, a type as universal in America as Babbitt and as human. "Father Abraham" by Irving Bacheller is a story of the last years of President Lincoln's life. A novel by the popular playwright, author of "Liliom", "The Swan", and "The Guardsman", should be interesting to many. It is called "Prisoners".

Important in the biographical field will be "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" by William E. Barton. A book which combines travel and history in an unusual manner is Paul Wilstach's "Along the Pyrenees". On this list, also, are two important inspirational books - Bruce Barton's study of Jesus Christ, "The Man Nobody Knows", and Mary Austin's "Everyman's Genius", an elaborated version of the articles which appeared in THE BOOKMAN during the past year.

—J. F.

THE BOOKMAN'S GUIDE TO FICTION

THE BOOKMAN will present each month tabloid reviews of a selected list of recent fiction. This section will include also the books most in demand according to the current reports in "Books of the Month", compiled by the R. R. Bowker Company, The Baker and Taylor Company's "Retail Bookseller", and "THE BOOKMAN'S Monthly Score". Such books as the editor specially recommends are marked with a star.

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