The Story of Architecture.

An Outline of the Styles in all Countries. By Charles Thompson Mathews, M. A., author of The Renaissance Under the Valois." Illustrated. 468 pp. Indexed. 12mo, $2.25; by mail, $2.47. The difficulties Mr. Charles T. Mathews must have met with in writing this book are not to be underrated. The wonder arises how he manages to present so well a clear history of architecture and to exemplify his subject by so many excellent illustrations. The art is one which dates back to the very beginning of man's history, for architecture runs parallel with man's mental development. Then it followed the idiosyncrasies of races; nor can it remain fixed. Architecture has been subject to every possible influence, and to write about it intelligibly has required just such a philosophical method as Mr. Mathews has followed. If he is rarely speculative, he does not attempt to work out styles of architecture from natural objects, for that is too often a mere waste of time. To be ingenious is not everything. Then, again, this work is intended for general instruction, and yet the higher principles of art must never be overlooked.

The author tells in glowing terms what the interior of a temple such as that of Rhameses II. looked like when restored. "This mighty hall, with its floods of yellow light softly varied into violet by diffusion through the interrupted spaces; its 150 columns, 8 to 11

Porcelain Tower of Nanking. D. Appleton and Company. From "The Story of Architecture."

That most interesting topic, the Mohammedan, or Saracenic style, is elaborately treated. The grand designs of Greece and Rome then lead in this volume to the Byzantine style, and so we come to early Christian architecture. The Gothic, ecclesiastical and secular, each has a chapter, and then the Renaissance of Italy, of France, and the later time, when Elizabeth was was Queen, are methodically worked up.

The concluding chapter is devoted to American architecture. "The customary habit," writes Mr. Mathews, "of regarding America as new and inartistic frequently makes us forget how old we are, and how artistic we

once were." The author believes that at the beginning we were under the direct influence of Wren, Hawksmoore, Gibbs, Sir William Chambers. We followed the Renaissance, though haltingly. Our purses were meagre. In the last paragraph of his book the writer recalls the beauties of the White City.

The volume is handsomely illustrated, with views of the great classical structures of the world, and also with their plans. After each chapter is given a bibliography, including references, with the names of the authors. N. Y. Times.

is made valuable as an addition to the early history of America; and yet in the background, continually making his presence felt, is the powerful, dignified Washington, growing gradually from boyhood in Virginia to manhood the country over.

Philadelphia Telegraph.

One hundred and fifty-two libraries making response to the question, "What author is most read by your juvenile borrowers?" establish the fact that Miss Alcott is far-and-away leader. Current Literature.

Professor Wilson's Portrait of
Washington.

George Washington. By Woodrow Wilson. Illustrated by Howard Pyle, Harry Fenn and others. 333 pp. Indexed. 12mo, $2.25; by mail, $2.46. Biography being, as we are told, "a written account of a person's life, actions, and character," requires perhaps more accurate study and research than the general public is apt to realize. It is at the same time a form of literature that very often does not receive the general commendation that it deserves, owing to the great amount of necessary detail under which many readers chafe; thus a really valuable production often goes unrecognized, save by the student class. Perhaps this is the fault of a thoughtless public; perhaps it is due to the author's inability to act as the successful literary middleman; but wherever the cause lies, Mr. Wilson seems to have realized the fact and has made every effort to compile what is at once an attractive and instructive life of George Washington.

Mr. Wilson has woven about the

life of Washington a highly interesting and artistic account of life in the Colonies in the eighteenth century, one of which is told with considerable power and color, and at the same time with great simplicity. The literary form goes far to render the work the truly charming narrative that it is, the stories of the French and English struggles, of the War of Independence, being sketched with much warmth and grace, and the characters of many of the prominent men of that day, notable among whom are the Adamses, Samuel and John; Patrick Henry, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, and a score of others, are drawn with great vividness. Thus the work

Essays by Dr. Warner.

The Relation of Literature to Life. By Charles Dudley Warner. 320 pp. 12m0, $1.10; by mail, $1.21.

When years bring to a man what to many they deny the ability to question as well as to assert, the recognition of many points of view, the wide and humane vision that can see the single end to many roads-and when to this catholicity is joined the love of honesty

and purity, the result is a noble foundation upon which to build literary monuments.

Mr. Warner's volume of essays, ranging from 1872 to 1890, shows clearly how in his case such a foundation has been laid, and how we may expect his work to hold together and maintain a faithful usefulness after the manner of well-made furniture, through changes of climate and variations of atmosphere. We speak first of this quality, not because it is the most conspicuous or the most distinctive, but because it is so often lacking in the essay writing of this period. Mr. Warner was graduated in 1851. He was in the fullness of his manhood at the time of the civil war. He has seen the strength and the weakness of his country. He has watched observingly the determination of its ideals and the tendency of its growth. He has thought about culture and literature in connection with deeds and events, and his writing is full of the meat that men want, or should want, in their reading matter.

Among the essays which answer to one's general idea of the nature of essays upon literature, such as those upon "Modern Fiction," "Simplicity," "The Novel and the Common School," etc., are found others of a different stamp and of a slightly firmer fibre. These are the fine paper on "Equality," the one on England, and the one on Froude's "Progress." Perhaps it is not an unfair indication of their essential value to say that a man of middle age could put them into the hands of a keen youth with the expectation of his treating them with respect and learning from them many things necessary to his character as a citizen.

"The Portrait in America had come to life."

teristics is its so-called truth to nature, and he goes on to say that it disregards the higher laws of art in its attempt to give us unidealized pictures of life. He calls upon Cervantes and Goethe, Scott and Thackeray, to testify against the naturalistic or photographic school. He laments the broken endings and the sad color of the novels of the present, and he heartily detests the theory that it is artistic to select the disagreeable, the vicious, the unwholesome," to give us for our companions in our hours of leisure and relaxation," only the

silly and the weak-minded woman, the fast and slangy girl, etc., and "thenthe latest and finest touch of modern art-to leave the whole weltering mass in chaos, without conclusion and without possible issue." This was in 1883, and already the "story" with a beginning, middle and ending, is swinging in upon the faithful pendulum, but one does not so clearly observe that the taste for evil sights and evil deeds is swinging out. The young writer who finds Mr. Warner's views puritanical and old-fogy-and such young writers will hardly, we fear, be wantingshould remember that since 1883 Mr. Warner has justified his views by himself writing a novel of which the style was entirely unique, the matter sound, and the characters singularly human. N. Y. Times.

-The second volume of Prof. C. F. Kent's "History of the Hebrew People" is announced by Scribners.

That First Affair and Other Sketches. By J. A. Mitchell, editor of "Life," author of "Amos Judd," etc. Illustrated by C. D. Gibson, A. B. Frost, F. T. Richards and the author. 177 pp. 12mo, 90 cents; by mail, $1.01.

These stories are well-written, and, while light and unpretentious, are, by reason of their neatness and polish, worthy to rank with the work of some of the best of the lighter Parisian feuilletonistes. Mr. Mitchell's humor is bright and fanciful, and never coarse, and in the last story, "A Bachelor's Supper," there is a touch of pathos that is charmingly natural and unforced. N. Y. Sun.

The Story of Canada.

By J. G. Bourinot, C. M. G., LL. D., D. C. L., author of "Several Works on the Constitution and History of Canada." Illus trated. The Story of the Nations. 463

pp. Indexed. 12mo, $1.10; by mail, $1.27.

To the "

The Story of a Train of Cars.

A Tale of Travel. By Wallace Peck. Illustrated. 70 pp. 12mo, 50 cents; by mail, 55 cents. This is the story of a man who, finding himself one day wealthy, by an unexpected inheritance, determines to travel over the United States in a special train; his train is rather elaborate, including besides a bedroom, parlor, and din

Habitation De Quebec, from Champlain's sketch.
From "The Story of Canada."

Story of the Nations' series is added "The Story of Canada," by J. G. Bourinot, a volume which certainly has one of the most picturesque and fascinating of subjects and an author familiar with it, from centre to circumference. As a description it is comprehensive, as a history it is brought down to date, as a political statement it is intelligent, statesmanlike and optimistic; and the picture it presents, all told, of the great dominion growing up across our northern border is one well fitted to impress the mind of the American reader with a new sense of the immensity of the continent, the variety of its resources, and the complexity of the problem that will confront a later generation. A great many forces and influences are contributing to the unifying of Canada at the present time, and the publication of a work like this is one of no small account.

ing-room, a Moorish theatre car, a bon marche car, in which his friends could shop, and a garden car, where he raised his own vegetables. The story is satirical and amusing. Publishers' Weekly.

A Study in Maternal Love. Frances Waldeaux. A novel. By Rebecca Harding Davis, author of "Doctor Warrick's Daughters," etc. Illustrated by T. de Thulstrup. 207 pp. 12mo, 90 cents; by mail, $1.00.

In "Frances Waldeaux" Mrs. Davis has drawn a picture of the enduring love of a mother for a son, a love that is not cooled by selfishness, weakened by worthlessness nor diminished by ingratitude. "Frances Waldeaux" is a woman who has given up her whole life to her boy; she has planned when he was in his cradle that he should be a minister, and she has worked hard to earn the money to support him; she sees in him no faults or imperfections, he is perfect and she has merged her whole existence into his. The effect of this bringing up upon the boy forms in the main the thread of the story and the tale is unfolded in the usual admirable way of the author. The son, George, is priggish and