“Many schoolmasters are of a cut-and-dried sort, who cut circles in deep ruts and see nothing in life beyond the daily routine of the schoolroom. But Mr Boyer sees beyond this and has made a natural study of the boy and his characteristics. Not this alone, but he himself has a rare gift of humor, and the two are combined in ‘Johnnie Kelly.’”
+ Boston Transcript p5 N 6 ’20 190w
“The efforts of a ‘Bronix’ policeman’s son to attain popularity in a Manhattan public school are amusing enough, and he and his young associates are human and healthy.” M. H. B. Mussey
+ Nation 111:sup672 D 8 ’20 150w
BOYNTON, PERCY HOLMES. History of American literature. *$2.25 Ginn 810.9
20–3784
Omitting authors of minor importance the book has been written “with a view to showing the drift of American thought as illustrated by major writers or groups and as revealed by a careful study of one or two cardinal works of each.... The growth of American self-consciousness and the changing ideals of American patriotism have been kept in mind throughout.... As an aid to the student, there are appended to each chapter (except the last three) topics and problems for study, and book lists which summarize the output of each man, indicate available editions, and point to the critical material which may be used as a supplement, but not as a substitute, for first-hand study.” (Preface) Beginning with the 17th century, the contents contain chapters on the earliest verse, the poetry of the revolution and the early drama, all our American classics as: Irving, Cooper, Bryant, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Whittier, Longfellow, Lowell, Mrs Stowe and Holmes, the later poetry and Walt Whitman, the rise of fiction and contemporary drama. There are also two maps, three chronological charts, an appendix characterizing the most significant American periodicals and an index.
Boston Transcript p7 Ja 28 ’20 750w
“The style throughout is marked with a crispness and vivacity that are missing in too many textbooks in the same field. The author’s scientific knowledge and scholarship are winningly displayed on every page of his book.”