CURRENT LITERATURE.
A Guide to the Choice of Books, for Students and General Readers. Edited by Arthur H. D. Acland, M.P. (Stanford.)—Guides of this class have been somewhat frequent of late, and the best of them must be imperfect. There are books, indeed, the value of which are beyond dispute. No reader worthy of the name needs a guide to direct him to the great masterpieces of literature ; but in the study of history, of political economy, of moral philosophy, and of any special science, the ignorant reader will be often glad of help, and this help Mr. Acland supplies. He writes of the great labour given to the work, but he is too modest when he doubts whether the toil is justified by the result. He is, we think, on the right track in this Guide, even if he has not achieved all that he desired. "Few people," he writes, "who have had a good education realise how great are the difficulties of many whose opportunities have been narrowly limited, who desire guidance, but who are unable, in an age when books pour forth from the printing-presses in an unceasing torrent, to discriminate between the good, the bad, and the indifferent." Mr. Acland admits that there is very little guidance to the merit of different books in this volume, and he does not deem it possible to supply it. The soli- tary student wants to know that the books he is recommended to consult on a special subject have not been superseded, and there are few volumes in the editor's carefully classified lists that are not of some value. We cannot, however, agree with him that the price of a book frequently gives some guidance as to its character. In his preface, Mr. Acland is careful to point out the limits of his plan, and he urges those who consult it not to be content with merely gaining instruction, but to turn again and again "to the books which are strong, dignified, inspiring, in which the wisdom and experience of many generations is enshrined." We have been struck by the felicity with which mottoes from great writers have been chosen for headings under the different sections.
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