24 MARCH 1950, Page 26

I cannot conclude without a reminder that Mr. Desmond MacCarthy's

Portraits has been re-issued by MacGibbon and Kee at 10s. 6d. This is a book of good reading for anyone at all interested in literature—and literature for Mr. MacCarthy means J. K. Stephen as well as Strindberg and Ruskin. It contains, inci- dentally, one of the best and truest appreciations of Mr. Gladstone that we have. Now that the Strachey-Sitwell debunking has had its day, this essay should be re-read and may prove enlightening to seekers after truth. Yes, I am bound to say that I would rather possess this relatively small book than the whole of Holbrook Jackson's Anatomy. Which only goes to show, I suppose, that there are " bookmen " and " bookmen "—and how I hate the word !