MISCELLANEOUS. — The Fight for the Flag in South Africa, by Edgar
Sanderson, M.A. (Hutchinson and Co., ls.), gives us an account of the war up to date, and a number of drawings which, whether they represent realities or no, are exceedingly spirited. —The Public Schools Year Book, 1900. Edited by Three Public- School Men. (Swan Sonnenschein and Co. 2s. 6d.)—The editors have arrived, it is satisfactory to see, at a working definition of the doubtful term "public school." "Schools admitted to the Head-Masters' Conference" will serve the purpose very well. It is sufficiently elastic, and is a guarantee for a certain amount of activity, prosperity, and, presumably, efficiency. There are appendices containing lista of competitive examinations, pre- paratory schools, &c.—Everybody's Gazetteer and Atlas of the World, by J. F. Williams (W. K. Russell and Co., 6d.), will be found a very useful little book.—The Newspaper Press Directory (C. Mitchell and Co., 2s.) contains the usual information about newspapers and periodicals of every kind in the United Kingdom (with supplementary accounts of the Empire generally, and two special articles, one by Mr. Ernest E. Williams dealing with "South African Settlement and Imperial Trade," and the other by Sir John A. Cockburn on "Australian Federation."—The Literary Year Book (George Allen, 8a. 6cL) consists of Part I, containing criticisms of some of the chief books of the past year, with obituary, and Part II., which gives lists of artiste, authors, &c.—We have received Part X. of A Picturesque History of Yorkshire, by J. S. Fletcher (J. M. Dent and Co., ls. net). The principal contents of the volume are Knaresborough, Harrogate, the Nidd Valley, Pately Bridge, and Nidderdale. —To Hodder Bitter with Methuen. By Alfred Kinnear. (J. W. Arrowamith, Bristol. ls.)—This is one of the many memoires pour servir that are appearing day by day. The telegram discounts the interest of what is more than two days old, and the real history of the war is not to be written yet ; still, these volumes serve their purpose, and Mr. Kinnear's book has a right to claim a good place among them.—We have received an edition of " The Novels of Victor Hugo" (J. M. Dent and Co., 2s. 6d. net. per vol.), translated into English. These are Les Misdrables, translated by William Walton, 2 vols.; The Toilers of the Sea, translated by Mary W. Artois, 4 vols.; Notre Dame de Paris, translated by J. Carroll Beckwith, 4 vols. —David Wilkie. By Edward Pinnington. (Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier. ls. 6d.) - This is a volume of the " Famous Scots Series." Mr. Pinnington tells his story well, and brings out the high qualities of Wilkie, his modesty, his unselfishness, and other sterling virtues, to good purpose. Not the least interesting thing in the volume is the priced catalogue of the painter's work. From first to last—and Wilkie worked for nearly forty years—the painter did not earn .840,000. His best year seems to have been 1838, when he received £3,987 for nine pictures, five of them being portraits, and another Queen Victoria at her first Council.—Bantayana. Condensed into English Verse by Romesh Dutt, C.I.E. (J. M. Dent and Co.)—Many of our readers will know the excellent work which Mr. Romesh Dutt has done in making the " Maha-bharata" accessible to English readers. Brought within a moderate compass and rendered into fluent and often sonorous verse, it has an attraction which in its original form it could hardly possess. The same has now been done for the Ramayana, the Odyssey of Indian literature, as its fellow epic is the Iliad. The translation will be found eminently readable, though one cannot but miss the endless variety of the Greek hexameter. But a translator can but use the best available metre, and this he has done in this case.—The Games of Greco. Translated and Edited by Professor Hoffmann. (Routledge and Sons. 1s. 6d. and 2s.)—Greco was a native of Calabria, born in 1600, who attained a great reputation as a chess- player. He is said to have made five thousand crowns in France by his playing, and to have been robbed of it in England. Here are some ninety games or parts of games, which may be commended to the notice of chess-players.— My Father and I. By the Countess Puliga. (W. Heinemann. 6s.) —This is a very pleasing description of an affection such as can but seldom have existed. The author calls it " a book for daughters," and daughters may, indeed, read it with much ad- vantage. But the affection between Charles Sansom and his daughter required many things for its realisation. The two had very affectionate and loyal natures, brought close together by a combination of circumstances, for the mother had died in the daughter's early childhood, and the daughter was an only child. Of the book itself we will only say that we are glad to have read it.—Sing Arthur in Cornwall. By W. Howship Dickinson, M.D. (Longman and Co. 4s. 6d.)—Dr. Dickinson attempts to disentangle the true from the fictitious in the legends of Arthur. He is evidently disposed to put the Glaston- bury story of the discovery of the bones of Arthur and Guinevere with fiction. Indeed, a skull with a palm's breadth between the eyes is a very marvellous thing indeed, while the yellow hair which crumbled into dust when a monk touched it is only too real. Arthur has been located in the Northumbrian legend, in Wales and in other places. Perhaps the best attested legend puts him at Bath, near which place he won a great victory over the Saxons (Baden Hill). But Dr. Dickinson's speculations must not be hastily dismissed.—A Concordance to FitzGerald's Trans- lation of the Rubcoy4t of Omar Khayam. By J. R. Tutin. (Macmillan and Co. 8s. 6d. net.)—This is a welcome sign that FitzGerald's great version is becoming a classic. And, indeed. it well deserves to be, not the less, perhaps, because there is really as much of FitzGerald as of Omar in it. It will be remembered that the editions differ very considerably the one from the other.--Of a series which pro- mises to be very useful, "The Temple Primers" (J. M. Dent and Co.), we have four volumes, An Introduction to Science, by Alexander Hill, M.D. (Dr. Hill almost disclaims the very com- prehensive title given to his volume; it is meant to be a hors d'oeuvre, a preliminary taste of the feast, one or two samples of which, as " The Age of the Earth," and " The Origin of Species," are given); Ethnology, by Dr. Richard Haberlandt ; Dante, by Edmund Gardner, M.A. ; and Boman History, by Dr. Julius Koch (the period covered by the surviving boob of Polybiust extends further than from 264-221 B.C., as the fragments touch many important events).—The Story of the Inter-University Boat-Race. By Wadham Peacock, (Grant Richards. 2s.)—There are already two books, if not more, on this subject in existence. One of these appeared after the great boat-race festival of 1865; the other, which was indeed a revised I edition of the first, carried on the history for some years further. Mr. Peacock brings it down to the present, and adds some interesting details.—Pield Testing for Gold and Silver, by W. Hamilton Merritt (Crosby Lockwood and Son, 5s. net), is "a Practical Manual for Prospectors and Miners."—Nordrach at Home, by Jos. J. S. Lucas ( Arrowsmith, Bristol, ls.), is an account of what is commonly called the "open air" treatment of con- sumption as adapted to the ordinary conditions of English life.
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