14 SEPTEMBER 1901, Page 26

The Story of Books. By Gertrude Burford Rawlings. (G. Newnes.

1s.)—Miss Rawlings is not quite so much in command of her subject as some of the contributors to the "Library of Useful Stories" have been. We have, for instance, plenty of materials for reproducing the aspect and contents of a Roman library. "Hardly any solid information is available," says our author. How about Cicero, who gossips about his books and bookcases, &c., and Martial, and the younger Pliny ? Coming down to later times, Miss Rawlings is more at home. On the whole, what she has given us is a pleasant and readable book, but it might have been better done. An Artist's Walks in Bible Lands. By Henry A. Rum (R.T.S. 6s.)—Mr. Harper wrote much about scenes and pia

in the Holy Land. He had a ready and ces Powerful Pen, and to this gift he added that of artistic drawing. Many visits to the scenes which he described made him thoroughly familiar with his subject. In this volume we have a careful selection from his work. We may take particular topics at random— Jerusalem, Bethany, Golgotha, the Dead Sea, Jacob's Well—and we feel that we cannot go astray. We are in the hands of a guide who knows his way, and tells what to see and how best to see it. He holds, we see, that the traditional site of the Sepulchre is not authentic, but that " Jeremia,h's Grotto" is the true Golgotha.