... A LITERARY LETTER A Fine War Novel. London, December 12, 1921. I can well imagine that very shortly everyone will be talking about Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell (John Lane). The reader will, at any rate, be enticed into the absorption of this book by its luxury of illustration. The drawings are by Frank C. Papé, and are certainly very beautiful and quaint. Others will be attracted by a very ...

... A LITERARY LETTER The Glamour of Eton. London, February 11, 1924. Mr. W. S. Crockett, a son of the well-known novelist, sends me a photograph of a memorial to Dr. John Brown, and the following note:-- Dr. John Brown is the Charles Lamb of Scottish literature. His writings, comprised in the three volumes of Horse Subsecivse are amongst the most charming in the language. Who could be more pawky ...

... A LITERARY LETTER The Firm of S. M. London, November 9, 1925 A t what curious angles a book may be noticed. Recently I devoted nearly a whole page to Mr. Scott Moncriefr s translation of the Letters of Abelard and Helo'ise. A friend who is interested in the subject wrote to me immediately I have read with much interest your notes in this week's SPHERE on the subject of the wonderful Letters. ...

... A LITERARY LETTER. Seaward Sussex. London, May 24, 1920. Sir Leslie Stephen once wrote that walking was the joy of all good men. He wanted, I think, to emphasise the good qualities of some distinguished man of letters who shared his passion for that occupation. I like to think, however, that some very bad men have been fond of walking, for I have little taste for the occupation. As Dr. ...

... by Two Anony mous Writers. (A. M. Philpot and Co.) 'T'his is the prize book of the competition offered by Messrs. Philpot for the best true autobiographical life story. Behind the shield of anonymity, authors were to reveal their own lives with candour and truthfulness, without any restraint. The prize was divided between two authors, whose stories of the two women, Clare and Margaret, are ...

... . By S. R. LITTLE WOOD The difficulties under which our cinema labours just now could hardly be better exemplified than by all the talk there has been of Anglo- Continental combines to fight the American boycott of British films. This scum of low purposes and of financial squabbling reveals all too surely the sort of minds which are, for the time being, in control. For me, the less we hear ...

... WHAT THE WORLD IS READING. The Most Successful Books of the Season Some New Lives of the Poets In the hope of diverting to the bookshops a little of the money which changes hands so freely at this season of the year, I give a short list of the most successful books of the moment. People like to select fashionable presents. These books are all fashionable: Winnie The Pooh. By A. A. Milne. ...

... THE ART OF THE CINEMA. Reality and Romance The Royal Rivals Constance Talmadge, Rebel By Ro ILSTTILEWOOO One delight of watching the progress that the art of the cinema is making almost daily during this its vigorous youth is to notice the way it is rushing through old conventions in the meshes of which the flesh-and-blood drama is still helplessly captive. We have already seen the movies ...

... A LITERARY LETTER The Powys Brothers. London. November 30, 1925. East Africa has never had the slightest interest for me. And yet there is a certain compelling power in the writings of Mr. Llewelyn Powys which sweeps East Africa into the category of things in which one may become absorbed. I have read and praised his books, Thirteen Worthies and Ebony and Ivory. To-day I have read a third, ...

... A LITERARY LETTER The Biography of Robertson NicolL London, September 21, 1925. Surely no living man fills so large a place on the shelves of our libraries as does Mr. George Saintsbury. There is an edition of Dryden, for example, in over twenty volumes, which he has edited, there is a history of English Prosody in four volumes, there is a history of Criticism in three volumes, there are ...

... A LITERARY LETTER New Novels. Penzance, September 29, 1924. The name of Louis Tracy on a novel recalls to me the one interview I ever had with him. It was at my cham bers in Clement's Inn in 1894-- ex actly thirty years ago. Alfred Harms- worth had just bought an evening newspaper, and he had taken into part nership the two young journalists who had assisted him in the deal, Ken nedy Jones ...

... Black Bread and Samovars, by Kendall Foss. (Arrow- smith. 7s. 6d.net.) The record of an unconventional journey from Leningrad to the Black Sea. Not for the author and his companion the luxury or quasi-luxury that even a Com munistic State can boast, but the third-class carriage and the bed where it might be found. Mr. Foss has skilfully avoided criticism on the one hand and eulogy on the other ...