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)
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-
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-
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.
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. . . ."
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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.