BOOKS.
THIS WEEK'S BOOKS.
T1IE most beautiful book which has appeared for a long time is Oriental Costumes, by Max Tilke (Kegan,Paul). It is also, to anyone oppressed by the mass of writings which continue to pour from the press, the most soothing and satisfying, for (with the exception of a brief preface and a short descriptive ist of the plates) it contains no writing whatsoever. The matter is 128 exquisite reproductions of coloured drawings of costumes selected from all over the East. Another richly produced and illustrated book is The Story of the Life of Leon Bakst, by, Andre Levinson, an edition limited to 800 copies produced by the Bayard Press : a third, not this time of an artistic character, is The Story of the Cape to Cairo Railway and River Route (Pioneer Publishing Co.), a costly production in three volumes, with a fourth volume consisting of maps and index.
Some New Letters of Edward FitzGerald (Williams and Norgate) will appeal to all who are interested in great letter- writers, among whom " Omar " FitzGerald ranks high. The work of Sir Harry Johnston as explorer, artist, linguist, administrator and novelist is too well known for his new book, The Story of My Life (Chatto and Windus), to need any recommendation. A critical study whieh should be of unusual interest is Anton Chehov,by William Gerhardi (Cobden Sanderson), whose remarkable novel Futility showed'him to be peculiarly well qualified to write on Chehov.
In The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth Dr. Cons Scofield attempts, as a result of laborious research, to give a more t horough and detailed history of her subject than has yet been accomplished. Another book involving original research, which appears to be of considerable interest, is A History of Restoration Drama, 1660-1700, by Allardyce Nicoll (Cambridge University Press).
In The Principle of Relativity (Methuen), by Einstein, Lorentz, Sommerfeld, Minkowski, and Weyl, the names of the distinguished writers serve to show the book's importance and to warn off all who cannot approach it with a very considerable mathematical equipment. The book consists of the original papers out of which the theory was built up. A Critical Examination of Psycho-analysis, by A. Wohlgemuth (Allen and Unwin), should, if sufficiently drastic, provide admirable sport. Sunlight and Health (Nisbet), by Dr. C. W. Saleeby, is an important little book on the important subject ,of sunlight as a medical agent. Cenotaph (Cape) is an antho- logy of remembrance compiled by Mr. Thomas Moult. Valour and Vision .(Hopkinson) is a second edition of another War anthology compiled by Miss J. T. Trotter. The selection of poems is excellent : the editor's profits are, as before, given to the Incorporated Soldiers and Sailors Help Society.
The Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen, by Howard Carter and A. C. Mace (Cassell), is a popular account of the subject. It is to be followed later by a full scientific record.
THE LITERARY EDITOR.
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