THE WORLD'S GREAT BOOKS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9659, 25 November 1909, Page 4

THE WORLD'S GREAT BOOKS.

A fortnightly*has J made its appearance, and, admittedly, j the event is not of a startling character in these days when'the world's I press is pouring out thousands of publications of all sorts i In this year of grace, 1909, good and | entertaining literature is cheap, so much so that the fiiest thoughts, the most sublime conceptions, and the most masterful , imaginings, thatmortal man has ever penned may be purchased tor a few pence. The press, the world's educator, has brought education within the reach of everyone, no matter how unfortunately circumstanced, no matter how humbly situated. Addison has written:—"Were all books reduced to their quintescence, many a bulky author would make his appearance in a penny pamphLt." In accordance with the spirit of the quotation made the new Harmsworth has been produced, and it appears to us to have been most intelligently conceived and capably "planned. It is entitled "The World's Great Books,", and we are indebted to Messrs Gordon aui Gotch, Ltd , of Wellington, for a.. copy. To every person to whom reading appeals the difficulty of finding time to gratify his desires presents itself, and efforts in various directions have been made to minimise the trouble referred to. Condensed histories, encyclopaedias, and numerous other works of the multum in parvo species have been poured forth, but, so far as we are aware, no work of the kind under notice has been previously attempted. All who have a literacy bent feel keenly—to misquote some most familiar words —that there is ro much to read and so little time in which to read it. What then is the spirit and purpose of the work? It is this: It dies not pretend to give all the books that we need read. But it takes a step in that direction which may perhaps be described as the most effective foundation for a knowledge of great books that has ever been put into a single work. By the help of this work a man can have in his mind the heart of the greatest books that men have written. The authors claim that "there has been no work like this before; no attempt has ever been made before to reproduce in a single work the miniatures of over a thousand great books. 'The World's Great Books'. .' .' . is a bold effort to

reproduce the very book itself in little." The first number contains a very varied selection, including "The King of the Mountains," a delightfully satirical novel by the French writer Edmond A boat. 'The Confessions of St. Augustine," "The Dawn of Civilisation," by Gaston Maspero, "The Thousand and One Nights," "The Ethics of Aristotle," and other selections.