Slips of Tongue and Pen.
By J. H. Long, M. A., LL. D.
New York: D. Appleton & Co. pp. 100. 1888.
Here we have an unusually well selected list of the more common mistakes of our language, such as expect for think, presume for believe, per with an English word, as per day; we should say a day and per annum. Beside such as these are also added grammatical points, suggestions upon composition, synonymous words often confused, objectionable words and phrases, and a few simple rules for punctuation. Many of us would be surprised if we should read it and learn how much carelessness and inexactness injure the purity of our language.
Poetical Geography of North Carolina,
Cold Water, Reply to Gray’s Elegy, and other Poems.
By Needham Bryan Cobb, of North Carolina. Cambridge:
Printed at the Riverside Press. pp. 61, 1887.
As the author states in his preface, the object of this work is to aid the pupils of North Carolina to memorize the geography of their native State. The first thirty pages are devoted exclusively to this purpose, and hence can be of local interest only. The chief characteristic of the style of this part of the book is that it rimes in couplets. The subject-matter falls far below the true standard of poetry, but this is perfectly excusable when it is remembered that the author’s intention was not to weave in beautiful poetic figures with smoothly flowing rhythm, but to produce a brief, concise aid to the memory. The remainder of the book, which consists of poems on various subjects, contains more of the real poetic sentiment. The “Reply to Gray’s Elegy,” “Cold Water,” and “Worldliness and Worth, or the Butterfly and the Bee,” which closes with fine moral on Bible-reading, are especially to be admired. This little book should be in the library of every student in our State. It contains a number of good illustrations, and its general make-up is attractive.
Life of P. T. Barnum. Written by himself,
including his golden rules for moneymaking.
Brought up to 1888. Illustrated.
Buffalo: The Courier Company. pp. 357, 12m. 1888.
Price 60 cents.
It is always interesting to watch the struggles of men who would grow wealthy. Then there will be found much interest in the account of the struggles of “The Greatest Showman on Earth.” His life reads like a novel, so full is it of incident. He makes the keynote of his success the fact that Americans admire nothing more than to be cleverly humbugged, and he knows how to satisfy them. His avowed object, a good one, is to furnish a moral show. When this can be attained, shows will become an educational feature by no means to be despised.
“The greatness of London is in no respect more strikingly illustrated than by the range of its literary activity,” says the May number of Harper’s Magazine at the close of that interesting article entitled “London as a Literary Centre.” Few people are aware of the fact that to-day 14,000 persons in the great metropolis earn their living by their pens. London is the centre of action of many whose names have become household words wherever the English language is spoken. Read the article.