lace has been fittingly recognized by
Mr. Galsworthy, among others, during the past year. Eight of the nine
stories in the present volume seem to me as good as stories written in
the traditional technique can be, and I regard this book as only second
in excellence to the volumes of A.E. Coppard and Katherine Mansfield of
which I shall speak presently.

MORE LIMEHOUSE NIGHTS, by _Thomas Burke_ (George H. Doran
Company). It is a wise counsel of perfection which says that sequels are
barred, and I do not believe that Mr. Burke has chosen wisely in
endeavoring to repeat the artistic success of "Limehouse Nights." Apart
from "The Scarlet Shoes" and "Miss Plum-Blossom," this volume seems to
me to be second-rate, and I feel that Mr. Burke has already exhausted
his Limehouse field.

ADAM AND EVE AND PINCH ME, by _A.E. Coppard_ (Alfred A. Knopf).
I have endeavored elsewhere to express my opinion of "Adam and Eve and
Pinch Me" by dedicating this year's annual volume to Mr. Coppard. I
believe that he ranks as an artist among the best continental writers.
He sees life as a pattern which he simplifies, and weaves a closely
wrought fabric which is a symbol of human life as seen by a
disinterested but happy observer. His range is wide, and if he presents
the uncommon instance of a man who has absorbed all that two men as
different as Chekhov and Henry James have to teach, he brings to this
fusion a personal view which transmutes the values of his masters into a
new set of values. To do this successfully is the sign of a fine artist.

DEAD MAN'S PLACK, AND AN OLD THORN, by _W.H. Hudson_ (E.P.
Dutton & Company). Mr. Hudson's devoted readers have long known of the
existence of these two stories, and have regretted that the author did
not see fit to issue them in book form. The first story is a short study
in historical reconstruction equal to the best of Jacobsen's work, while
"The Old Thorn" ranks with "El Ombu" as one of Mr. Hudson's best two
short stories. The volume is, of course, a permanent addition to English
literature.

TOP O' THE MORNIN', by _Seumas MacManus_ (Frederick A. Stokes
Company). Mr. MacManus's new collection of Irish tales has ups and downs
like a Galway road, but his ups are very good indeed and show that he
has by no means lost the folk imagination which made his early books
rank among the very best of their kind. I can specially commend to the
reader "The Widow Meehan's Cassimeer Shawl," "The Bellman of Carric