BIOGRAPHY FOR BEGINNERS.
Biography for Beginners : being a Collection of Miscellaneous Examples/or the Use of Upper Forms. Edited by E. Clerihew, BA. With 40 Diagrams by G. K. Chesterton. (T. Werner Laurie. 6s.)—Good nonsense is always welcome, and though Mr. Clerihew is not always successful, there is sufficient merit in his verses to make him well worth reading. We like especially the quatrains on Sir Christopher Wren (casting a lurid light on that worthy's character), on John Stuart Mill, on Erasmus, and on Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Their charm is that they are pure inconse- quent nonsense, as irrelevant as the White Knight's, and not cumbered with the dreary satire which our nonsense-writers are apt to import into their work. Excellent, too, is the index, where the biographies are analysed and given the ponderous descriptions of the ordinary historical index, such as "Habits, repugnant personal, often found in association with fine spiritual gifts (Bunyan)." Mr. Chesterton's drawings vary like the verses. Sometimes they are mere scrawls, sometimes bold and original extravagances.
Previous page
