Whenever criticism of Mr.
essays, thrown aspersion or do Aylmer, Mavde'stranaations, and upon Tolstoy as prophet, novelist, or critic, Mr. Maude has never failed to' enter the arena and make bold reply. His latest foray was when the press was flooded with notices of "Tolstoy on Art," a Volume containing all that 'Tolstoy wrote upon Art and most of Mr. Maude's' comments. thereon. Mr. Maude replied critically to almost every notice, and his replies have been collected and issued in pamvhlct from under the title "Tolstoy Art and its Critics" (Oxford). The chef de wore of the pamphlet, however isa reprint of Bernard Shaw's review in 1898, of the first (English) edition of Tolstoy's "What is Art?" Shaw makes short work of Tolstoy's glorification of the Russian peasant, be the peasant ver 0 fresh-souled and unsophisticated, as a judge of good art; but vith Tolstoy's main thesis, namely that "art is an activity by means of which one man, having experienced feeling, intentionally transmits it to others," he is in entire agreement, Not so long ago M. Jean Jacques Brousson, Anatole France's secret-'y, wrote a lively and (in the Engish translation) tantalising book of reminiscences of his master. Now comes along M. Nicolas Ségur with a volume of "Conversations with Anatole France," which Messrs. John Lane hope' to publish this autumn, Messrs Lane are also publishing a book of Ani France's lesser-known ston children, It will be entitled "Little Sea Dogs and Other Stories of Child Life," translated by Mr. Lewi May, and illustrated. by Miss arcia Lane Fos Few humorous writers of to-day enjoy the reputation of Mr. Jerome K. Jerome. Mr, Jerome has just finished, at the age of 66, his aut biography. It will be entitled "My. Lifo and Times," and will be pub-Yished in the autumn by Messrs Hodder and Stoughton, At an early Age he commenced his career as a clerk, Then he became a school-aster, and finally a journalist. Mr. Jerome has been attached to London sll his life. Certainly few people know the Metropolis of the last 50 years and its people as*well as he does, Mr. John Drinkwater has just completed his book about Byron, and hopes to publish it in the early autumn, Mr. Drinkwater has, Near, gone very deeply into his subject,' and has been exhaustively examining all the possible sources of information about the poet's life and work. His book will be both biography and a critical study. vill be entitled "Byron: A Conflict,' and will be published by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. Mr. Drinkwater has recently been visiting Vireece and the places where Byron stayed on the last journey.
Sir Isoae Pitman & Sons, Ld, have just, published a second rev and enlarged edition of "Outlines st Central Government," by John Clarke, M.A, at half-a-crown, 10 deals exhaustively 1 system of England.
Lord Curzon made, just a few ays before his death, the final corrections in the proofs of British Government in India, which has now come: in from Cassels, llegan the book in the years 1899 to 1905, while he was still Viceroy, intending it to be a history of Uovernment House in Calcutta, but #5 he wrote it developed more and note into a history of the Goverors themselves and the questions they had to deal with Sir Frederick Maurice has written Bobert B. Lee, The Soldier (Constable). It is a simple and wived account of Lee's campaigning rather than a biography in the sual sense. The military history the American Civil War always makes strangely good reading, even for the layman, as well as very valuable reading for the military student. In his preface General Maurice remarks that if the- Allies of the Great War had studied more Gouely Lee's methods in 1864, they
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.