This is the continuation of the account, in “A Small Boy and Others,” of the early years of William and Henry James and their brothers, with much about their father and their friends. The story of the life in Switzerland and Geneva, and later on in Newport and Cambridge, tells not only their own experiences but a great deal about such men as John LaFarge, Hunt, Professor Norton, Professor Childs, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a close friend of Henry James, Senior. The description of the Civil War time and of Wilkinson James’s experiences with Colonel Shaw’s colored regiment are particularly interesting. The illustrations are from drawings made by William James in the early part of his career when he was studying to be a painter.
Shallow Soil
By Knut Hamsun
Translated from the Norwegian by Carl Chr. Hyllested. $1.35 net; postage extra
Introduces to the English-speaking world a writer already a classic not only in his own country but throughout continental Europe.
The publication of “Shallow Soil” is accordingly a literary event of the first magnitude in the sphere of fiction. Hamsun is the greatest living Scandinavian novelist and this work alone justifies his fame. It is a social picture of Christiania, and indeed of generally modern life.
A Village Romeo and Juliet
By Gottfried Keller
With a Biographical and Critical Introduction by Edith Wharton. Translated by A. C. Bahlmann, $1.00 net; postage extra
This love story of Swiss peasant life—whose title conveys the character of its plot—is generally regarded as the finest and most representative production of the great Swiss novelist. But it has a still further element of interest beyond that which necessarily attaches to so fine a piece of writing—the singularly modern spirit which actuates the characters and inspires the writer.