Reviews of books Graduates

Percy W. Mackaye '97, whose tragedy "Sappho and Phaon" is reviewed below has attained the reputation of a dramatist and poet of no mean ability. After graduating from Harvard he studied and traveled abroad for three years. On returning to America he was engaged in teaching in New York City but since 1904 he has devoted his time almost exclusively to writing plays. He is the author of two works on "The Canterbury Tales" of Chancer, "Fonris the Wolf, a Tragedy," and "Joan d'Are," which has been produced by Mr. E. H. Sothern and Miss Marlowe in America and England.

"Sappho and Phaon," by Percy Wallace Mackaye '97. Manilla, $1.25.

Mr. Mackaye is not the first who has tried to dramatize this old Greek myth, poetical enough in itself to fascinate all poets. If the success of any drama is its suitability for stage presentation, then "Sappho and Phaon." as has been proved in New York, fails, but so also must the dramas of Browning and Tennyson and Swinburne be called failures. The reasons are obvious: it is too long-I think that the version given by Miss Kalisch was liberally cut down; it is too far removed from actuality; it has too little action: it is too poetical. Even the exaggerated popularity of Sothern and Marlowe could hardly have supported this play and that was all that made "Joan of Are" successful on the stage. Indeed, what was not enough to draw the public in the very competent hands of Miss Kalisch would have been ludicrous if Miss Marlowe had acted it-and would probably have drawn a little better. But if we are brave enough and perhaps optimistic enough to admit that an American can write good verse, "Sappho and Phaon" will stand on many a book shelf and will be read as one reads Stephen Phillips. Indeed, there is more reason why it should be read. The verse has often more strength and is often equally lyrical. Many of the passages which would be merely tiresome on the stage are exquisite as poetry. There is admirable constructive ability supported by really good verse. We have a right to be proud of Mr. MacKaye as an American poet and as a Harvard poet. W. R. CASTLE '00

Frank Roy Fraprie, the author of the following book reviewed by Dr. Webster, received the degree of B. S. from the Lawrence Scientific School in 1898 and S. M. from the Graduate School in 1902. He was a student at the University of Munich in 1902-03, and later taught in various high schools and the University of Illinois. From 1901 to 1905 he was an associate editor of the Photo Era, Boston; and since 1905 has been editor of the "American Photography," New York, and "The Electrician and Mechanic," Boston. He is the author of several books on chemical and mineralogical subjects, and has contributed matter on these topics to scientific publications.

The Castles and keeps of Scotland. By Frank Roy Fraprie S.'98. L. C. Page & Co. $3.00

This is a book of something over 400 pages, of octavo size, not too thick, or too, heavy or too expensive for every wise traveller who is interested in casties to take with him to Scotland. The information given is just about what one wants-a brief architectural and historical account of a hundred of the most significant Scotch castles. The interest and value of the book are, moreover, greatly enhanced by the fifty-one illustrations, mostly pleasant, brown halftones, but comprising also four colored plates and seventeen plans. There is a short introduction, which outlines none too convincingly the three or four styles of castle development, and a good index. The book is excellently printed and gaily bound.

The public ought to be grateful to the compiler of such a handbook as this, for the information here collected is very inconveniently gathered elsewhere; the authoritative work of MacGibbon and Ross. The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, is in four large volumes; Billing's Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland is in three volumes and very rear; and the numerous monographs, and the articles in society publications, about single castles are not easy to know or to find. Not a few of the more earnest readers of the book, would, I think, appreciate a small and unobtrusive bibliography, such as would help them to prosecute the subject further.

Mr. Fraprie is a judicious guide, almost always discerning and pointing out the significant, the distinguishing feature of his castle. He tells the truth, unmasking the pretensions of Ardtornish for example; yet he does not despise the charming baseless tales which cling about many of the ruins, and which are more prized by the average tourist than is the truth. Occasionally, as in the case of Dunstaffnage, he exaggerates the grandeur or strength of a place: this castle does not at present rise sheer from the sea-cliff, and but for a garden wall it is quite easy to walk around it. Of the structural refinements of Both well, on the other hand, he does not seem sufficiently appreciative. The style is not good; one grows tired of "encient" and "curtain," and other un-necessarily technical phrases like "bridge of approach" and "battering (i.e. sloping) bases"; harsh collations of words are common, and even quite inadmissible expressions, like easily in "the prophecy was easily declared verified," occur. No such book should appear without a good map. Besides the little bibliography, a brief table of the chief events in Scottish history might be worth adding; and the long account of Edinburgh Castle would be very greatly illuminated by one of the numerous old plans of this grand but much altered fortress.

This book is the third of a series, the first two which describe the castles of Touraine and of Navarre