Shorter Notices
The Life and Art of William Shakespeare. By Hazelton Spencer. (G. Bell. 16s.) The Life and Art of William Shakespeare. By Hazelton Spencer. (G. Bell. 16s.) Tits volume, by a late professor of English at the Johns Hopkins University, deserves all the praise which it has had on the far side of the Atlantic. It is scholarly and at the same time readable ; it is witty and never pedantic ; it eschews all that pompous meaningless jargon of the semi psychological variety which some of the , younger American lecturers use to impress either themselves or their audiences. Instead, it is downright and outspoken, sane and balanced, and, without ever seeming hurried, covers an amazingly wide field. If it is no great feat to outline all that we know of the life of Shakespeare in less than a hundred pages, it is a distinct feat to make it all such sound and at the same time vivid writing. And having done this the author goes on to discuss, first, the stage of Shakespeare's day, and, then, the poet's use of his medium. Finally we have over 25o pages of discussion of the individual plays together with a brief outline of their subsequent stage history. This is some indication of the scope of the book ; and, for a hint of its style— with its occasional slightly sardonic touch—let this suffiCe: "By 1598, then, we have ample evidence that Shakespeare had prospered to an extent denied most creative spirits, who as a rule are, and have to be, disinclined to make the sacrifices and adopt the preoccupations of those who find the ownership of things supremely interesting. There seems to have been no clash between his acquisitiveness and his art." There has certainly, been no clash between the absorbed interest of the professor in his subject and his ability to make it lucid and pleasurable reading for others in this book. It is one to make any Shakespeare enthusiast happy for days on end. Baconian may dislike it. They get short shrift.
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