22 DECEMBER 1923, Page 20

THE LEANING SPIRE. By George A. B. Dewar. (The Chelsea

Publishing Co. 6s. not.) " My motive in preparing a new edition of- this book," writes Mr. Dewar, " is that it interested my wife who knew well the neighbourhood out of which largely it grew." It was fitting, therefore, to include in the volume a dedicatory preface ; and this Mr. Dewar has done with sensitive delicacy. There is nothing sentimental in his laudation of one who, in her almost intuitive appreciation of the good and the beautiful, was not altogether understood even by those who loved her. The stories, which deal with the country round about Andover and to which one or two additions have been made, were in themselves well worth reprinting ; in their new and agreeable format they make a welcome reappear- ance.