| + + | Educ. R. 30: 210. S. ‘05. 650w. |
Thorpe, Francis Newton. Divining rod: a story of the oil regions. [†]$1.50. Little.
A romance which deals with the early days when oil was discovered in Pennsylvania. It follows the fortunes of a farmer in whom the divining rod which points out his first well awakens a thirst for the wealth to be gained by developing his own land. His daughter is the center of the love motive, but the strength of the story lies in the oil, the crowding out of the small producers by the large, the uncovering of unscrupulous methods, the mad desire for more land, more wells at any price.
| * | Outlook. 81: 939. D. 16, ‘05. 30w. |
Thorpe, Francis Newton. Short constitutional history of the United States. [*]$1.75. Little.
A brief “history of the state and federal constitutions, their origins, principles, evolution, and the interpretation of them by the courts.... As an appendix, the constitution of the United States, with citation of cases, is printed. There is a special index to the constitution, giving article, section, and page, as well as a general index to the work at large.... After a rapid survey of the early colonial unions and congresses, and of the Articles of confederation and their defects, there is a short chapter on the making of the constitution, followed by an analysis of The Federalist to show what were and are the fundamental principles of the constitution.”—N. Y. Times.
“The style is not attractive, though not often very bad; the arrangement is unsatisfactory, and the general method of presentation is not telling; the author’s conception of his subject, as in his early volumes on constitutional history, is limited. These faults might be passed over without too serious consideration if the book were accurate in details, and if, with all its apparent weight and sturdiness, it were done with care and circumspection.”
| — — | Am. Hist. R. 10: 923. Jl. ‘05. 360w. |
“The book is to be especially commended for its well assorted information upon recent constitutions in the various states.” Jesse Macy.
| + + | Ann. Am. Acad. 25: 355. Mr. ‘05. 300w. |