COMPETITORS were invited to recommend some favourite book which, "
though neither unduly difficult to obtain, nor essentially appealing to an eclectic taste, is unknown to the average reader." Some of them apparently have a low opinion of the average reader's library ; among the works recommended as unknown to him was the Bible. Sartor Resartus and Sesame and Lilies, too, though perhaps not on everybody's shelves these days, even now are surely not unknown to average readers. On the whole, the results of this competition were disappointing. Entries showed a tendency to develop into reviews rather than recommendations, into neat little examination essays rather than the personal testimonial hoped for. There was a genuine per- sonal warmth in one contributor's tribute to Mrs. Beeton's Family Cookery ("a book . . . indeed neglected "). Another reader, recommending Fowler's Modern English Usage, dis- cussed with lyrical enthusiasm the split infinitive, the gerund and the subjunctive. Few contributors, however, communicated their enthusiasm, very few would have persuaded an acquaintance that he simply must get a copy of Philip Gilbert Hamerton's The Intellectual Life, or Edward Carpenter's Towards Demo- cracy, or Havelock Ellis's Impressions and Comments (the last recommended by a soldier). Eothen was a good choice as being a book now little read ; so, now that Stevenson is out of fashion, was The Wrong Box ; but neither was recommended with individuality enough to justify a prize. Our Village, Southey's The Doctor, Max Beerbohm's Around Theatres, Doughty's The Cliffs ("the invasion of England in 266 pages of blank verse "), Richard Jefferies's Bevis ; the Story of a Boy and Peter Rabbit (a frivolous choice defended with great spirit), were among the books put forward. One or two of these were disqualified as difficult to obtain, and no entry which qualified was persuasive enough to deserve the first prize. The second prize is therefore divided between Joan Stevenson and M. G. May, to each of whom a book token for los. 6d. is awarded.
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