“The whole book is but a last illustration of Hugo’s incomparable gift of phrase-making, of his self-consciousness, his egotism, his reliance upon a superb, but purely external, literary gift, upon a craftmanship that apparently never was in close communion with its possessor’s essential inner self, which, instead, always looked abroad for stimulation to the intellectual, social or political preoccupations of the hour.” A. Schade Van Westrum.
| + − | No. Am. 185: 783. Ag. 2, ’07. 1470w. | |
| R. of Rs. 36: 636. N. ’07. 90w. |
“We cannot but feel however, that Mr. O’Rourke is not always qualified for his task.”
| − | Spec. 99: 170. Ag. 3, ’07. 250w. |
Hulbert, Archer Butler. Ohio river; a course of empire. **$3.50. Putnam.
6–35979.
The sixth river to be treated in the series known as “Great waterways of America.” “The illustrations which are numerous, are from photographs, old prints, maps, and paintings, and are a distinct contribution to the value of the book.... The age of the canoe, the flatboat, and the steamer, as he names the divisions of the Ohio’s history, are each treated fully and entertainingly, in a fashion to vivify the heroes of each period, from La Salle, Boone, and the Clarks, to St. Clair, ‘Mad Anthony’ Wayne, and the rest of the Indian fighters who in their turn were supplanted by the heterogeneous multitude of pioneers.” (Dial.)
“By far the most valuable portions of the book are those which deal with the distinctly human side of the subject—the conditions of pioneer existence with which the emigrant had to wrestle, the life of flatboatman and trader, the reign of outlaw and rowdy, the intermingling of racial elements, and particularly the jealous contact of Yankee and Virginian on the north and south banks of the river. So far as political history is concerned, the student will find nothing new. The book is unfortunately subject to the limitations and defects of a hasty and somewhat scrappy narrative.” Frederic Austin Ogg.
| + + − | Am. Hist. R. 12: 662. Ap. ’07. 790w. |