Not long ago the foundation of new book clubs reached
its peak with the appearance of more than one a week. The boom is not yet entirely exhausted: but the promoters of new ventures appear to be resorting to ever more improbable notions. Messrs. W. and G. Foyle, Ltd., now issue the prospectus of a Classics Book Club. It is just possible to understand how a busy and bewildered reader might be glad of expert guidance through the labyrinths of current literature. But it is quite another thing to sur- render one's choice of classics into the hands of Lord Dunsany, Lord Finlay, Lady Cynthia Asquith, Mr. S. P. B. Mais and Mr. W. A. Foyle. Unless, that is, one is to get the books for nothing. The Classics Book Club offers " the World's Greatest Books at a Mere Fraction of the Published Price," and proceeds to invite subscriptions at half-a-crown a volume (with a minimum of six). The first month's choice is Pride and Prejudice. I do not know the published price of Pride and Prejudice, but I do recall that it was also the first of the Penguin classics. It can be bought in that series for sixpence, without any obligation to take the next five on the list.
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