Ohio History Journal

BOOK REVIEWS

 

The Hero in America. By Dixon Wecter. (New York, Charles

Scribner's Sons, 1941. 530p. $3.50.)

Here is something entirely new in literature--or as near

brand new as is possible in these days of multiple coverage of all

fields. It is a brilliant book, at times a bit too brilliant, with

apt quotations dragged in occasionally when the dazzled reader

might prefer, perhaps, to take things a little easier.

Professor Wecter (of the Department of English at the Uni-

versity of California) has set forth popular attitudes toward

various men in American history (he's mentioned women, too,

like Molly Pitcher, but he says there aren't many heroines), has

given information bearing on the correctness of estimating them,

and has shown how their reputations have risen and fallen as

they have been more or less taken for granted, made legend, or

debunked. He starts with Captain John Smith, a man too merry

to be welcome among the Pilgrim Fathers, and exposes the myth

of the Pocohontas affair. He shows that the Pilgrims were

mostly human, after all. He proves that the log cabin as a place

in which to be born was a design imported from the continent of

Europe, not devised by the first comers to these shores. He

punctures Patrick Henry, describes the gusto of Franklin, and

makes one feel that Washington, though austere and unapproach-

able, was truly a majestic figure.

Thomas Jefferson turns out to be a timorous aristocrat whose

reputation is greater now than it was a ceutury ago, largely thanks

to political cultivation. Truly "Jefferson still lives." The rival

camps try to steal each other's tribal gods, says Mr. Wecter.

Around the time of Abraham Lincoln the Republicans tried to use

Jefferson to some extent, but the Democrats got him and they

have made much of him.

Frontier scouts like Daniel Boone, killing and wasting the

wild game for the fun of it, and Johnny Appleseed, a constructive

(79)

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80     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

character, lately receiving a build-up; we get the "low-down" on

such people.

The chapter on Abraham Lincoln makes him appear human

and humorous without tarnishing him in true debunking fashion.

We see Robert E. Lee as a little too perfect for a happy role as

hero; people like to feel that their great men have common weak-

nesses and overcome them. General Grant emerges a bit too

human to be worshipped. It is amusing to see how mercurial

Grant's popularity was. When, as ex-President, he dabbled in

Wall Street, he was too much for most folks to take. Then, a

gallant soldier fighting and losing his last battle, he was back

in favor; bulletins on his condition were posted regularly, and

big headlines reported a few permitted puffs as GRANT

SMOKES AGAIN.

Coming down to the present, the author is on interesting

but dangerous ground. He is fairly safe reporting on Richmond

Pierson Hobson, the hero of Santiago, but the heroes, known and

unknown, of the World War and of twentieth century politics and

business--Edison, Ford, Lindbergh, Bryan and the two Roose-

velts--are hardly settled enough to be definitely put in their proper

places. One can't help feeling that personal attitudes have had

their influence on the writing. It would be interesting to read

this part of a similar study made fifty years from now. When

that book is ready to be written Professor Wecter's volume will

be available to show how to write it.

Washington, D. C.                    MERRILL WEED.

 

 

The Tutelo Spirit Adoption Ceremony, by Frank G. Speck and

Transcriptions and Analysis of Tutelo Music, by George

Herzog. (Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Harrisburg,

1942. 1+xix+125p. Illustrations.)

The Tutelo were a Siouan-speaking tribe whose early home

was in Virginia. Due to wars with the whites and other tribes

they sought the protection of the Six Nations of the Iroquois and

moved to Pennsylvania. Later they entered New York and fi-

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BOOK REVIEWS                     81

 

nally migrated to Canada where some of their descendants live at

the present time. The author secured his information concerning

the Spirit Adoption Ceremony from informants and from wit-

nessing one of the ceremonies performed on the Six Nations

Reserve of Ontario in 1938. "Briefly stated, the avowed purpose

of the ceremony is to bring back the soul of a defunct Tutelo

tribe member who has died recently, within approximately a

year, into association with the living for the space of one night.

The ritual reinstates the deceased among the living by the ap-

pointment, through adoption, of a beloved one in his or her place

as an earthly representative. At its conclusion with the approach

of daylight a final adieu is formally enacted to the departed spirit,

sending it upon its final journey over the pathway of the rising

sun's rays to the permanent celestial abode of spirits."

The author points out that the Spirit Adoption Ceremony is

a modern survival in a reduced form of a ceremony that must have

been much more elaborate when the tribe was a functioning culture

in its original homeland. He advances the idea that ceremonies

of this nature might have been religious practices that were com-

mon to different tribes, i.e., they might be considered cults rather

than ceremonies typical of one culture. In addition, he states

that social and political structures were closely combined with

religious practices among the Indians. Applying these concepts

to the prehistoric period of the East, he believes it is conceivable

that the convocation centers of the large prehistoric tribes would

have been extensive in area and in form. Hence, it is probable

that the large earthworks and mound clusters in the eastern

area were the centers for elaborate religious rites similar in con-

cept to remnants of ceremonies performed in recent times among

the eastern tribes. Speck believes that if the archaeologist would

check the literature dealing with the religious concepts of the

historic tribes of the East and Southeast certain factors should

come to light which might help to explain some of the features

characteristic of the complicated earthworks and ceremonial struc-

tures of the region.

The book contains an Introduction by Claude Schaeffer giv-

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82     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

ing a brief history of the Tutelo Indians and a section by George

Herzog analyzing the songs used in the Adoption Ceremony. In

addition, there is an appendix on other rites and dances of the

Tutelo, an appendix listing some Tutelo personal names and an

Index.

R. G. M.

 

 

The Counter,-Revolution in Pennsylvania, 1776-1790. By Robert

L. Brunhouse. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Historical Com-

mission, 1942. ³⁶⁸p.)

The Pennsylvania Historical Commission has included in its

publication program contributions to the political history of

the state. The first volume in this series is Dr. Brunhouse's

volume The Counter-Revolution in Pennsylvania, 1776-1790.

After giving a background of conditions preceding the Revolution,

the author treats of the rise and triumph of the Radicals, 1776-

1780, and the emergence of the Conservatives, 1780-1782, and

their rise to power, 1782-1784. The last two chapters treat of

the Counter-Revolution and its final triumph in the Constitution

of 1790.

The book continues the history of the rise of the revolutionary

movement, by Charles A. Lincoln, covering the years, 1760-1776,

and J. Paul Selsam's The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776; A

Study in Revolutionary Democracy.

Because of the significance of the states in American history

and their relation to the federal government, such studies as

these better reveal this country's history.  They also serve a

place in reminding readers of the importance of understanding,

then and now, the influences of the states in relation to the federal

government. One hundred and eighteen pages of notes and maps,

and an index of twenty-two pages add to the value of the book.

H. L.

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BOOK REVIEWS                      83

 

Dearest Mother: Letters from Famous Sons [and Daughters] to

Their Mothers. Selected and edited by Paul Elbogen. In-

troduction by Hendrik Willem Van Loon. (New York, L. B.

Fischer, 1942. 356p. 8 ports. $3.50.)

One of the more fascinating pastimes for most of us is to

come upon a box or bundle of old letters, either our own or some-

one else's. There are few of us who could withstand the temp-

tation to pass an hour or two reading such a bundle. That is

why there is a peculiar pleasure to be derived from the book,

Dearest Mother. It has all of the charm and atmosphere of an

attic room on a rainy afternoon when one discovers a bundle of

old letters. It contains letters of children to their mothers--chil-

dren who have gone down in the world's history as famous. Noth-

ing written about them by another could be half so intimate and

bring them more surely alive.

For example, let us read one of the letters of Marie An-

toinette to her mother, Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria. The

letter is in reply to Maria Theresa's concern over reports that

Antoinette was snubbing Madame du Barry:

"Madame, my very dear mother,

"It was with the greatest joy and impatience that I saw the

courier arrive; it has been such a long time since I had one of

your dear messages.

"You will allow me to absolve myself on all the points you

mention. To begin with, I am distressed that you believe all the

lies people wrote you from here, rather than what Mercy and 1

can tell you. [Count Mercy-Argenteau was the Austrian Ambas-

sador to France, acting as a sort of good fairy to the dauphine.]

You seem to think that we would deceive you. I have reason to

believe that the King himself does not wish me to talk to La

Barry; at least, he has never spoken to me about it. He has

shown me more affection since he knows that I refused; and if

you were near enough to see what goes on here, as I am, you

would know that this woman and her clique would not be content

with 'a word' and that it would always only start over again.

You can be assured that I need nobody's guidance in any ques

tion of propriety. . . ."

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84     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Here is a brief but characteristic note from Louisa May

Alcott:

"Dearest Mother,

"I have tried to be more contented, and I think I have been

more so. I have been thinking about my little room, which I

suppose I shall never have. I should want to be there about all

the time, and I should go there and sing and think.

"But I'll be contented

With what I have got;

Of folly repented,

Then sweet is my lot."

"From your trying daughter,

"Louy."

Perhaps nothing written about Napoleon could bring to us a

better picture of the human side of his nature than a brief note

he wrote to his mother in reply to a letter from her in which she

said, "I am almost at the end of my resources." It seems he was

commanding a band of Corsican volunteers whose expenses he

had paid. He wrote:

"Mother, please be brave and try to hold me up till the end.

We must go on; we have gone too far to retreat. The battalion

will be formed in ten days; then my men will not cost you any

more. They will be a charge of the Government. If I win, as I

hope to, our future is secure. Once I am a superior officer my

career is assured."

These are only a few of many equally interesting letters,

some of which go back to famous Romans. Thumb-nail sketches

of the writers precede the letters. The book is surely a fine addi-

tion to any library, particularly one specializing in history or

biography.

Columbus, Ohio                 GERTRUDE P. WEAVER

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BOOK REVIEWS                     85

 

General Joseph Kerr, of Chillicothe, Ohio--"Ohio's Lost Senator."

From the Carrel manuscript collection, edited by Marie

Dickore. (Oxford, Ohio, Oxford Press, 1941. Cloth. 112p.

$1.50.)

General Joseph Kerr was a very colorful figure in the early

history of Ohio, living in Ohio for thirty years and leaving the

State in 1826. His interests were varied. As brought out in

this book, he was an early surveyor, the fifth United States

Senator from the State, an industrial tycoon of the Scioto Valley,

an exporter, a provisioner of the Army of the Northwest at

Upper Sandusky in the War of 1812, active in political affairs

and opposer of the United States Bank.

After his financial reverses in Ohio, he left the State for the

Southwest and proceeded to build anew. The absence of infor-

mation concerning him after he left Ohio gave rise to the expres-

sion "Ohio's lost Senator." As a result of interest taken in him

by his great-grandchildren--Henry Clay Carrel, J. Wallace Car-

rel, Eleanora P. Carrel and George P. Carrel--much original

material, including letters, deeds, surveys and other manuscripts

covering the years 1786 to 1824 was found. This collection, sup-

plemented by materials in possession of the Illinois Historical

Survey, the Wisconsin State Historical Library and private col-

lections, has furnished the data for this interesting and valuable

contribution to one phase of Ohio's history.

The task of organizing and editing this material into the

present volume was entrusted to Miss Marie Dickore, an experi-

enced research student and writer of history. The result of her

labors is embodied in this book, divided into ten chapters with

bibliography and index. Much source material is included. Thanks

are due to George P. Carrel in making this book possible. It is a

valuable contribution to the State's history and another illustra-

tion of the possibilities for valuable research work which may be

made available to the public in book form.

H. L.

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86     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Northern Editorials on Secession. Edited by Howard Cecil Per-

kins. 2 vols. Prepared and published under the direction of

the American Historical Association from the income of the

Albert J. Beveridge Memorial Fund. (New York, D. Apple-

ton-Century Co., 1942. xxxiv+5₃8+xxvi; xxviii, 539-1107

+xxvi p. Newspaper Index. $5.00 each.)

"The four hundred and ninety-five editorials contained in

the two volumes of Northern Editorials on Secession have been

selected from the files of eight hundred newspapers scattered

among one hundred and forty libraries and newspaper offices

in seventeen states and Washington, D. C. Of the hundred thou-

sand editorials originally examined, perhaps five thousand were

subjected to study. Those finally selected represent one hundred

and ninety newspapers."

The above quotation from Volume I of this work gives some

idea of the magnitude of the task which was undertaken by the

editor. In the handling of that task, he has done several things

which represent a generally successful effort to bring order out

of seeming chaos. He has given a brief narrative account of

the press, and has included a newspaper index, which gives the

name of the editor of each paper between September, 1860, and

June, 1861, and also the mergers and changes in name that took

place among northern journals during that period. Whenever

possible, the political affiliation of the paper is given. In the

process of selection of editorials, on the whole, due regard seems

to have been had for the various political groups or parties which

existed in the North during the secession era.

Another aspect of the problem which confronted the editor

was the arrangement of editorials under topical headings. He

has twenty-seven such headings or chapters, which number sug-

gests the infinite variety of matters under discussion within the

brief span of ten months. Some of the most interesting topics

treated are as follows: "The Campaign of 1860," "Secession:

Right or Revolution," "Conciliation and Compromise," "Peace-

able Separation," "New Confederacies and a Free City," "The

Everlasting Negro," "The 'Chivalry'," "The Mississippi," "The

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BOOK REVIEWS                     87

 

Economics of Union," "The Strategy of Sumter," "The Border

States," " 'Sensationism' and Propaganda." Since it is a truism

to state that no two individuals would have arranged their di-

visions of thought alike, there is no particular criticism involved

in suggesting that the reader will often find in editorials under

one division much that throws light on some other topic. For

instance, the four chapters that deal with the development of

Lincoln's policy and Fort Sumter are all closely interrelated. "The

Economics of Union," unless the phrase is very narrowly inter-

preted, might cover such matters as navigation of the Mississippi

and potential new confederacies.

A reading of these two volumes in their entirety contributes

much to the understanding of a complex period of history. It

was this complexity of currents at work which helps to explain

why an editor expressed one point of view in November or De-

cember and a different one a brief time thereafter. Emotion,

politics, tradition and economics all enter the picture. The editor

of the volumes undoubtedly struck a significant note when he

stated that, "The crisis was as much a question of bad temper

as of a conflict of interests." Language was often unrestrained,

as it had been for some years. Politics was never adjourned.

There were exceptions, of course, but as a rule what was favored

by Republicans was opposed by the opposition and vice versa.

That political feeling is well reflected in the attitude of the Demo-

cratic press after war was a reality. A large proportion of it

came to the support of the Lincoln Administration in its war effort,

but unhesitatingly laid the responsibility for the struggle at the

door of the Republicans. The Fort Sumter controversy, which

has been a subject of considerable study recently, receives a more

lengthy treatment than does any topic in the entire work. The

feeling, which seems to have been equally as widespread in the

North as in the South, that Fort Sumter was to be evacuated,

received a rude shock when the policy of the Administration turned

out to be otherwise.

The moralist can find in these volumes much to speculate

upon in the diversity of opinion concerning certain phases of

slavery and the Negro problem, and the economic-minded reader

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88     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

will read with interest the discussion of such matters in the sec-

tional pattern as navigation of the Mississippi, the effect of di-

vergent tariff policies North and South upon foreign trade, and

the commercial relations between the North and the South. It

is unfortunate that, with three exceptions, all the papers cited

on the Mississippi question were Republicans. Two of the ex-

ceptions were classified as "Independent."

Ohio State University                   HENRY H. SIMMS.

 

 

Grant of Appomattox: A Study of the Man. By William E.

Brooks.   (Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1942. 347P.

$3.00.)

Some biographies are written to create a hero; others at-

tempt to substantiate claims accepted or perhaps questioned; but

this study simply presents the complete Grant. Not interested in

Grant as president, William Brooks focuses attention upon the

important, indicative years of his life, those early formative years

that prepared him for the Civil War and the decisive years in

which he brought the war to a close.

Skillfully, without disturbing the complete character, Brooks

shows the two elements that composed the man. The growing

military brilliance, resulting from a logical, plodding nature, later

known as "unconditional Grant," is clearly built, from his early

experience in Mexico to his final, superb guidance in the great

Battle of the Wilderness. The element for which the book is

named, however, that of compassion, exemplified at Appomattox,

is shown to have tempered and dominated the soldier in every

instance.

Brooks' style, during the first portion of the book impresses

one as extremely simple, and his sentences seem to have been

set down hurriedly; but from a point midway, at which time

Grant achieves prominence, the description becomes subtle and

understanding.

From an historical viewpoint the statements throughout ap-

pear to be sound, as the references are many and the chapters

are heavily documented. William E. Brooks, therefore, has given

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BOOK REVIEWS                     89

a full, sympathetic portrait of this man who was so important

to this country during the Civil War, and whose later career as

president served somewhat to cloud his military life.

A. M.

 

 

The Montana Frontier. By G. M. Burlingame. (Helena, State

Publishing Co., 1942. 418p. $2.50.)

This is the detailed history of the northeast corner of the Ter-

ritory of Idaho--young, rugged Montana, hardly a stripling state

when the states East were well and properly grown up. The

only governmental service Montana had before the Civil War was

supervision of Indian affairs, but its days before that were not

dead, as Mr. Burlingame's history will testify.

His book is a thorough study of Montana's early days--begin-

ning with its "opening up" by the Lewis and Clark expedition,

1804-1806, to its coming of age in 1889 as a full-fledged state.

The story in between is action-packed--"made by strong men

filled with a zeal to get big things done quickly."  Who these

"strong men" were--whether explorer, trader, trapper, miner,

lumberman, politician or missionary, the author explains to us--

either in brief, concise biography, or with a quick, deferential

bow as the story moves along. The big things they did, occupy

most of the book, for early Montana offered many frontiers of

conquest and challenged many old and young bloods who found

themselves in the upper-Missouri country. Mr. Burlingame puts

it this way: "As the Americas had attracted the courageous, ad-

venture-loving young men of Europe, in an earlier century, so

the West served to drain off the exuberant and irresponsible

from the East in the middle 1800's." Many of the "strong men"

were Indians: Sitting Bull, Sacagewea, wife of Touissant Char-

bonneau, who joined Lewis and Clark in the Mandan country,

were two of the most dramatic ones. Indians, in deed or misdeed,

wrote most of the chapters of Montana history, and whites seem

to figure more incidentally--until they ran the Indian farther

West, either by "outlanding" or "outwarring" him.

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90     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

There is most methodical organization in the author's treat-

ment of the history. He deals with the chronology by "frontiers,"

exhausting each period before proceeding to the next. In chap-

ter sequence he discusses: The Indian Frontier (a very detailed,

thorough hisory of the tribes in early Montana), The Fur

Frontier, The Mining Frontier, The Military Frontier, The Ag-

ricultural Frontier, Transportation, Government, The Army,

The Cattlemen, Religion, and Cultural Progress.  Although

this is much more like textbook reading than casual, prettied-up

fiction-history, it is often livened by excerpts from diaries, letters

and accounts of explorers, fur traders and other adventurers. In

general, however, this is not reading for the layman--except in

small doses--but rather for the research student of history who

wants presentation and interpretation of facts, not the romance

and elaboration of them.

A. H. W.

 

 

Rhyming Around the World. By Alfred H. Upham. (Boston,

Bruce Humphries, c1939. ¹⁶4p.)

Poet John Holmes says that all a reader asks of a book of

poems is that it give him something to remember long after the

poet and poems are forgotten. The reader will get what he asks

from Mr. Upham's book, for he reads, in nostalgia, of happier

days and happier people and a happier world. That sounds as

if this little volume is a dreary one, but that's not true; it was

certainly intended to be cheery--it's just the times in which it is

read that are not.

Several years ago (Mr. Upham doesn't say when), the Up-

hams of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, took a trip around

the world, and Mr. Upham, as chief log-keeper, started his annals

in rhyme, and "though the rhymes got rough and the going

tough," the rest of his family shamed him into keeping it up.

He tried on several dull, plodding, uninspiring afternoons to

throw it out the porthole, but his family held him fast to it. "So

here it is," he says on publication, and we're glad it is. Many

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BOOK REVIEWS                     91

of the entries are jolly, others, sad, and all, interesting-even

if not always good verse.

It's a bewildering, curious thing, now, to read his thoughts

while traveling through Japan, Java, Singapore and Italy. There's

a shadow on every page, for even if his lines are light, he ob-

served and foresaw keenly. As a kind of confirmation of the

irony, they board, out of Japan, the elusive, channel-slinking

Scharnhorst--"The sleek and shining Scharnhorst, The bier-und-

schnitzel Scharnhorst"--for Shanghai and Hongkong.

Mr. Upham didn't intend that somber thoughts should weigh

heavy, for there are many good laughs in his book. You'll suffer

with him on his seasick afternoons and astound with him at

meeting the much-marrying men of Bali, and after he gets

through the unhappy countries, the reader does have a rollicking

time. It is a pleasant surprise to meet, through this book, Alfred

H. Upham, who certainly is something new in college presidents.

A. H. W.

 

 

State Housing Agencies. By Dorothy Schaffter. (New York,

Columbia University Press, 1942. ⁸⁰⁸p. Tables and charts.

$7.50.)

This book is the result of the author's study of state housing

agencies covering a number of years. She has been a student

of federal-state-local administration work on this subject as related

to all other social functions. Her conclusions are "that immediate

steps should be taken to insure full state participation in the

public housing program." The book offers a detailed and con-

crete description of the whole history of state housing agencies.

The book gives conclusions on the basis of the author's un-

derstanding of the American type of federal government, of the

administration of other social functions under the government and

of the proper role to be played by the national, state and the

local government in various housing programs. She emphasizes

the importance of the state in future programs. Specific studies

are made of ten states of which Ohio is one. The last chapter

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92     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

is devoted to a summary and conclusions, and the book ends with

a carefully prepared bibliography of 93 pages arranged by states,

and a good index. The author is professor of Political Science

in Vassar College.                                  H. L.

 

 

Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the William L. Clements,

Library. Compiled by Howard H. Peckham. (Ann Arbor,

University of Michigan Press, 1942. xvi+403p. Illus.)

William  Lawrence Clements (1861-1934) in 1893 began

collecting books, manuscripts and other records of American

history. Finding that documents of American history, during

the nineteenth century, were closely related to British documents,

Mr. Clements acquired important documents of both these nations.

In June, 1923, the Clements Library was opened at the University

of Michigan as a gift of William L. Clements. It welcomes all

students of British and American history.

Valuable as a guide to source material on the history of

America from its discovery to the beginning of the nineteenth

century, this book will serve scholars and historians, the person

of casual interest and students of curiosa. Its chief merits are

the listing of manuscript collections, the topical and chronological

list of collections and the large index of names.

In the list of manuscript collections the data given are full

and authoritative: in the case of persons, The Dictionary of Na-

tional Biography and The Dictionary of American Biography are

followed for biographical material, the occasion for, and origin

of, manuscripts given, the number of letters in each division are

indicated and each writer and author of documents is listed. Ap-

pendix A, a topical and chronological list of the collections, serves

the student of material in a limited field of British-American

history by dividing the whole period from 1743 to 1941 into nine

groups, giving the collections in each group. Hispanic-American

and Philippine history, from 1492 to 1900 is divided into four

periods, with the collections in each period listed therewith.

Amounting to an extensive bibliography of this large field, the

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BOOK REVIEWS                      93

 

index alone contains some 10,000 names, giving the pages of

manuscript collections in which matter on each person or subject

is found. Appendix B, on manuscript maps, explains in detail the

seven principal collections of maps which the library holds.

Howard Peckham, in compiling this careful guide, makes

available to all advanced students in British-American history

the exact nature of the valuable material held by the Clements

Library upon this subject.                         A. M.

 

 

Subject Guide to Reference Books. By Herbert S. Hirshberg.

(Chicago, American Library Association, 1942. xvi+259p.

$4.00.)

This product of Mr. Hirshberg's advanced study of refer-

ence work is valuable for general sources and for sources in-

frequently known to librarians. The composition of the book

is most practical and simple for quick use.

The book offers four sources of approach to a subject: an

alphabetical list of the units, an alphabetical, classified list, the

main, alphabetical body of the work and the index. The al-

phabetical list of units consists of more than three pages of

subjects, those most often asked for in libraries, with the cor-

responding pages on which they are found. The classified list

of units breaks down the alphabetical list into subjects with sub-

divisions. Then follows the main body of the book with sub-

jects arranged alphabetically, giving the various sources of an-

swers, stating edition, year and page.  Its inclusive index is

composed of the authors, with some titles, listed in the book,

showing the occurrence of each throughout the Guide.

Appendix A lists titles not included in Mudge's Guide to

Reference Books. Appendix B is a brief outline of the course

of reference work offered at the School of Library Science of

Western Reserve University. The book will be practical for small

libraries because of the many general sources given; and large

libraries will make use of the specialized books listed in a great

variety of subjects.                               A. M.

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