“What do you do when you receive a book you don't want from the author? said I: ‘Give him a good-natured adjective or two if I can, and thank him, and tell him I am lying under a sense of obligation to him. This is as good an excuse for lying as any, I said.’ ”
As we do not believe there can be an excuse for lying, and as we are certain that in this case there is no obligation under which to lie, we cannot give the author “a good-natured adjective or two”; but we shall thank him to give us no more such nonsense.
Young America Abroad. Second Series: Cross and Crescent; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece. A Story of Travel and Adventure. By William T. Adams (Oliver Optic), author of “Outward Bound,” “Shamrock and Thistle,” “Red Cross,” “Down the Rhine,” etc. Boston: Lee & Shepard, Publishers. New York: Lee, Shepard & Dillingham. 1873.
This is the third volume of the second series of Young America Abroad, and, like all the rest of the series, is most instructive and entertaining.
The Treasure of the Seas. By Prof. James De Mille, author of “The B. O. W. C.,” “The Boys of Grand Pre School,” “Lost in the Fog,” “Fire in the Woods,” “Among the Brigands,”etc. Illustrated. Boston: Lee & Shepard, publishers; New York: Lee, Shepard & Dillingham. 1872.
This is one of the best of the “B. O. W. C. Series,” and will certainly be a favorite with the boys.
The Polytechnic: A Collection of Music for Schools, Classes, and Clubs. Compiled and written by U. C. Burnap and Dr. W. J. Wetmore. New York: J. W. Schermerhorn & Co.
The Athenæum: A Collection of Part-Songs for Ladies' Voices. Arranged and written by U. C. Burnap and Dr. W. J. Wetmore. New York: J. W. Schermerhorn & Co.
The best criticism of both these musical [pg 860] publications is found in the preface to the first one cited:
“Collections of school music are already sufficiently numerous and bulky, but too often they are found to contain very little that is available for the ordinary or the extraordinary occasions of school life.”