... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. ARMS AND THE MAN, AT THE DUKE OF YORK'S THEATRE. MR. BERNARD SHAW, in his preface to Arms and the Man, says: To me the tragedy and comedy of life lie in the consequences, sometimes terrible, sometimes ludicrous, of our persistent attempts to found our institutions on the ideals sug gested to our imaginations by our half-satisfied passions, instead of on a genuinely ...

... . FIFINELLA.-- It was daring of Messrs. Barry Jackson and Basil Dean to try this. It was a little incautious of them to allow their Press agents to make reference to Maeterlinck in connection with it; but, after all, Press agents will do these things. And wasn't Maeterlinck once played behind a gauze veil; and isn't some of Fifinella behind a gauze veil? But from it all emerges the rather ...

... This handsomely got up volume consists of a collection of between forty and fifty ballads, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, in colour, and with pen and ink sketches. Mr. Rackham is well known for his delicate and fanciful drawings, particularly when engaged in depicting scenes of fairy lore, so that it can well be understood that he is .quite at home with this class of work, especially as he has ...

... THE LIBRARY. WILD SPORTS AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS. THE fact that Charles St. John's works have taken a permanent place in sporting literature is made evident-- if evidence were needed-- by the issue of a handsome tenth edition, with a preface by Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bt., who also contributes notes on the text. In the earlier part of last century Sutherland was a remote country ...

... This is another of the books written by Harry Furniss, the famous artist who has for years past entertained us both with his writings and his sketches. In this volume he chats about boxers past and present, and, although not setting himself up as a judge of the fistic art, has seen so many contests since he first invaded Bohemia as a young man just arrived in London, that he cannot fail to ...

... A LITERARY LETTER The Passionate Pilgrim. London, December 29, 1919. What is known as the Christie-Miller sale of books at Sotheby's has attracted more attention than any other sale for a very long time, and this is primarily, I think, because one book fetched an utterly fictitious price. To see a small volume which would go into one's breast-pocket knocked down for £15,100 is an excitement ...

... m jf K k| $aB9958ft n y I By JINGLE THIS is an entirely amusing play that dots the i's and crosses the t's with an un usual freedom. Yet it is all done so dexterously that the onus is thrown on the spectator for any interpretation of calculated impropriety. If Mr. Hawtrey makes a commonplace remark, and the audience greet it with a shriek of laughter, as they frequently do, that is clear ...

... 77 Affi). /e/T/ny'Tcoa dotted fiz/ IRsiZpfiyFraL/^ J FOR years past there has been considerable pandering to the collector. He has had a whole library written for his benefit. He has been shown how to collect everything from four posters to postage stamps. He has been told how to make a good investment out of books or violins or mezzotints or old glass. In fact, there have been books upon ...

... A LITERARY LETTER InD^F,r London, Jan. 5, 1920. I have spent my Christ mas in Dub lin, which of all the cities of the world is dearest to my heart. Yet I have never col lected books on Dublin as I have on London. Two enthusiasms of that kind would be too great a strain upon a library's bookshelf capacity. When I set out for Dublin I was asked by more than one solicitous friend if I was taking ...

... . His Happy Home, Mr. H. V. Wil'.oughby's three-act farce produced at the Comedy Theatre for a series of matinees, is based on a suggestion in a French play by Maurice Froyez. A limited acquaintance with this author prevents us from tracking the idea to its source; but we may risk a guess that the borrowed theme is the advent of an Eastern poet into a Western matrimonial tangle. Abd El ...

... . IN THE NIGHT.-- If a thing does competently what it sets out to do, it is wonderful how expansive is the spirit of forgiveness with which it can be received. For instance, I felt quite a warm feeling towards In the Night when the last curtain fell, in spite of all sorts of objections to it which leap to the eye. Mr. Cyril Harcourt had founded it on the French of Sommi Picenardi-- whether ...

... Ifrqm the readers pointof view. ...