Boone OF REFERENCE.—One of the most useful books we know
is Who's Who (A. and 0. Black, 15s, net), the new edition of which for 1915 contains 2,376 pages of terse biographical facts about English people in whom an inquirer is likely to be interested.—Whitaker's Almanack (J. Whitaker and Sons, 2e. 6d.) and Hazeit's Annual (Resell, Watson, and Viney, 3s. 6d. net) continue to make themselves indispensable to students of current affairs : their arrange- ment constitutes each of them a useful supplement to the other. It is significant to note that the space in Whitaker devoted last year to articles on " The World's Peace" and "The Hague Tribunal" is now given up to "The Great War." —The Post Office London Directory for 1915 (Kelly's Directories, 40s.) is as usual a marvellous feat of condensation. This year, although the amount of information is increased, judicious rearrangements have actually resulted in a slight decrease in the size of the massive volume—The Royal Blue Book (same publishers, 5s. net) is a handy directory giving names and addresses of " the better class private residents " in the part of London roughly bounded by Hampstead, Chelsea, Finsbury Circus, and Hammersmith.—Those who wish to obtain the fullest available information about people who have " handles to their names" may safely refer to the new editions of those social encyclopaedias, Burke's Peerage, 1915 (Harrison and Sons, 42 2s. net), and Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knight- age, and Companionage (Dean and Son, 31s. 6d.); cheaper and compendious works on the same subject are Dod's Peerage, Se, (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 10s, 6d. net) and Whitaker's Peerage, &c. (J. Whitaker and Sons, 5s. net); a wider field of the same nature is covered by Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed, and Official Classes (Kelly's Directories, 15s.), which includes notices of about thirty thousand persons.— Amongst other useful works of reference for 1915 we may mention The Englishwoman's Year Book and Directory, edited by G. E. Mitton (A. and C. Black, 2s. 6d. net), which deals with the various departments of women's work ; The Year- Book of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland (Charles Griffin and Co., 7s. 6d. net); The Writers' and Artiste Year-Book (A. and C. Black, Is. net), mainly a list of periodicals and publishers in Engliali.speaking countries, Herbert Fry's Royal Guide to the London Charities (Matto and Windus, 18.6d.); The Cambridge University Catendar (Cambridge University Press, 7s. 6d. net), which has been reduced to leas unwieldy form by the omission of some four hundred and fifty pages of Tripos Lists ; The Churchman's Year Book (A. R. Mowbray and Co., ls. 6d. net); The Catholic Social Year Book (P. S. King and Son, 6d. net); The use Stock Journal and Almanac and Vinton's Agricultural Almanac and Diary (Vinton and Co., ls. each); and The Investors' Four Shilling Year Book (Financial Review of Reviews, 4s. net), containing brief accounts of the securities most often quoted.
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