16 DECEMBER 1899, Page 21

Jane Austen and her Contemporaries. By Walter Herries Pol- lock.

(Longmans and Co. 3s. 6d. net.)—The Austenites ought to be greatly pleased by Mr. Pollock's careful criticism. He knows not only Miss Austen's books well, but also the books that have been written about them. Nor does he content himself with this. He has studied Miss Burney and Miss Edgeworth, and compares the work of the three with characteristic skill and in- sight. He has added also a few personal details which bear upon Miss Austen's literary position. Perhaps it may be as well to warn the reader that he must be thoroughly well posted up in the books criticised before he can appreciate Mr. Pollock's criticism.