Books of the Day [pp. 485-488]

APP?LETONS' JO URNAL.
is inferior, however, not because the author's hand has
lost any of its cunning, or her imagination any of its
glow, but because the "situation" dealt with is less interesting in itself, and the surroundings less picturesque
and harmonious. And for these latter the author is not
wholly responsible. Her book is as much a record of
travel through Syria and the Holy Land as a story, and
it is her misfortune rather than her fault if love-making,
and gossip, and aesthetic conversation, seem more trivial
than usual when linked with the scenery and momentous
associations of Jerusalem, the Jordan, the Dead Sea,
the plain of Esdraelon, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee.
We may doubt the wisdom of the author in deciding to
construct a bifurcated work, in which the parallel lines
of story and description are almost of necessity inharmonious; but, conceding that the plan was vindicated to
her by its success in her previous work, it must also be
conceded that she has managed a difficult combination
with remarkable skill, so that whatever may be the impression of failure which it leaves, it is not a failure
which comes from a deficiency of power, but from the
essential incongruity of the materials. In short, " Mirage " will neither add to nor detract from the reputation
which the author acquired from "Kismet." It is a work
on the same plan and the same level, exhibiting the
same skill in descriptive writing and dramatic dialogue,
and continuing the record of a tour which began on the
Nile (described in "Kismet ") and extended through Palestine and Syria.
We should add, however, that the later work exhibits
just one symptom of declension. The author's really
wonderful copiousness of picturesque descriptive phraseology begins here to show a tendency to develop into
mannerism, and there is too obvious and incessant a
strain after what is called "word-painting." If the
book had been so printed as to correspond in color with
the text, each page, almost, would resemble the solar
spectrum-except that a broad band would have to be
assigned to "gray." We made the attempt during the
first fifty pages to ascertain the number of things that
are gray; but after finding that everything in heaven
above, in the earth beneath, and in the waters under the
earth, is gray; that dawn, midnight, and twilight, are
gray; that superstition is gray; that agony is gray; that
even silence is gray —we subsided into a kind of gray
resignation.
THE growing popular interest in ceramics is well indicated in the rapid increase of the literature devoted to
the subject. Ten years ago, the only aids within reach
of the collector or student were a few technical or historical treatises, mostly in foreign languages; but the
mere catalogue of recent works already extends to several pages; and, in response to the widening interest,
the book-makers have now begun the preparation of the
inevitable handy-books and popular manuals. Of this
character is Mrs. Lockwood's "Handbook of the Ceramic
Art," l the object of which is to give, in the most compact shape, for constant and easy reference, just those
details about the history, character, processes of manufacture, and distinctive features of the art in all ages and
countries, which are always liable to be wanted, but which
I Handbook of the Ceramic Art. By M. S. Lockwood. New
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. I2mo, pp. 137.
have never yet been brought together in a single, inexpensive work. The conception is unquestionably a good
one, but it is very imperfectly carried out by Mrs. Lockwood, chiefly owing to her too exclusive attention to the
historical aspects of the subject. Her sketches of the
rise and progress of the potter's art in the various countries of the ancient and modern world are, considering their brevity, very satisfactory; but the questions
which a student or collector is apt to ask concerning any
ware are not primarily those connected with its history,
but what are its structural and art characteristics, and
what are the features by which it may be identified. The
author's idea would have been developed far more effectively if, by abbreviating still further the historical portions, she had made room for a more minute description
of the various decorative processes employed by different
manufacturers, and for a list of the more important of
those marks and monograms upon which the collector
must, after all, place his main reliance. The little book,
however, is quite evidently the product of reading in
other books rather than of any practical knowledge possessed by the author, who has doubtless considered it
safer to confine herself to general description and outline
sketches than to venture among the pitfalls of specific
details. Her handbook is useful as far as it goes, and,
though incomplete, will be welcomed by many readers
for its clear and concise statement of many of the essential facts concerning the ceramic art, which would otherwise have to be sought for in numerous and expensive
works.
UNIFORM with their " Dictionary of Dates," noticed
in a recent number of the JOURNAL, the Messrs. Putnam
issue a new edition of Parke Godwin's "Cyclopaedia of
Biography." 1 This has long been a standard work in
its field, and, though it is not free from errors both of
omission and of commission, the greater proportion of
space assigned in it to American names gives it a decided advantage for American readers over similar English works. It also shows greater literary skill on the
part of the compiler than most works of the kind, no
space being consumed by expressions of opinion, and the
important facts being presented in clear and concise language. The new edition contains a supplement which
brings the record down to August, i877, and comprises
an unusually large proportion of eminent names.
IN the notice of Professor Le Conte's "Elements of
Geology," that appeared in our April number, we spoke
of Professor Le Conte's work as the first in which " the
grand geological story is told in the terms of its American record." The phrase used was more sweeping than
the facts strictly justify, and seems to reflect on Professor
Dana's well-known "Manual of Geology;" but nothing
was further from our mind than to depreciate, even by
implication, Professor's Dana's work, the merits of which
are universally acknowledged, and which Professor Le
Conte describes in the preface to his own work as "all
that can be desired" as an exhaustive manual for the
special student.
l The Cyclopedia of Biography. A Record of the Lives
of Eminent Persons of all Ages and Countries. Compiled by
Parke Godwin. Revised and continued to August, x877. New
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 8vo, pp. s2oo.
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