Shorter Notices
WEBsrEa's books of reference are of the highest quality, and this new Biographical Dict.onary is no exception. It has the great advantage, as an Am efsan production, of being far more exhaustive on the American de than any of its English rivals, while being at the same time surprisingly full and comprehensive as regards eminent persons of English origin and fame. There are more living persons who have only recently achieved distinction in it than is usual w.th even the best books of reference. Like most such books it is weakest in the arts. Not one of our foremost younger con- temporary painters, for example, is included. English art seems to have stopped at Sir John Lavery and Augustus John. But this is not surprising, for to include all who have made any contemporary reputation in such a book would be to swell it to ridiculous propor- tions. As it is, it is an invaluable reference book and one without serious rival.
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