The number of new books published in America last year was 8,422 against 8,594 in 1919. The figures for both years include pamphlets about one-fourth of the total number. Fiction led with 1,154 titles and sociology and history contested for second place, with 759 and 711 titles, respectively. There were 665 books on religious subjects and 558 books of poetry and drama. During the year 11,004 books were published in Great Britain as compared with 8,622 in 1919.

A Society of Canadian Authors was formed at the authors' convention recently held in Montreal. John Murray Gibbon, of Montreal, was elected president, and Basil King, of Toronto, vice-president. The headquarters of the Society will be at Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Winnipeg in turn for a period of three years.

The Macmillan Company have published William E. Henley's "Essays on Fielding, Smollett, Hazlitt, Burns, Byron's World, 'Pippin,' Othello, T. E. B.', Old England, Balzac, and Victor Hugo."

"A Dictionary of Scientific Terms," by I. F. Henderson and W. D. Henderson (New York D. Van Nostrand Co.), gives the pronunciation, derivation, and definition of terms in the various branches of science, such as biology, psychology, and so forth.

"Victorian Worthies," by G. H. Blore (Oxford University Press) consists of brief biographical studies of Carlyle, John Bright, Dickens, Tennyson, Charles Kingsley, William Morris, Cecil Rhodes, and others.

"Our Family Affairs," by E. F. Benson (George H. Doran Co.), is an autobiography of the Benson family covering the period from 1867 to 1896.

Professor John M. Berdan, of Yale, is the author of "Early Tudor Poetry" (The Macmillan Co.), a work which discusses both the poets and the prose writers of England during the period 1485-1547.

Among the dramatists considered in Storm Jameson's "Modern Drama in Europe" (Harcourt, Brace, & Co.) are Ibsen, Strunsky, Shaw, Galsworthy, Pinero, and Drink

water.

Charles Scribner's Sons publish "A Short Course in Advertising," by Alex F. Osborn.

The Essentials of Advertising," by Frank Leroy Blanchard, is published by the McGraw-Hill Co., New York.

"A Short History of Russian Literature," by Serge Tomkeyeff (E. P. Dutton & Co.), is a survey of Russian literature from the oldest monuments of Slavonic speech through the period of development in the eighth and ninth centuries down to the latest writings of Budischchev, Chirikov, Kuprin, and Ropskin.

William De Morgan's last novel, "The Old Man's Youth and the Young Man's Old Age," said to be largely autobiographical, is published by Henry Holt & Co.

Henry Holt & Co. publish a translation by Douglas Ainslie of "Ariosto, Shakspere, and Corneille," by Benedetto Croce, which is a study from an Italian point of view of the relations between the work of an Italian, an English, and a French poet.

E. P. Dutton & Company have published 'Appreciation and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens," by Gilbert K. Chesterton. These essays were originally written as prefaces to a popular edition of Dickens's works, published in 1911.

"American English," by Gilbert M. Tucker, is published by Alfred A. Knopf.

Book Chat, published by Brentano's (New York), which for twenty years has carried lists of new books and short reviews, is to be enlarged to standard size, and made a literary magazine of sixty-four pages. It will be sent, free of charge, to any one applying for it.

Francis William Bourdillon died at Buddington, Midhurst, England, January 13, aged sixty-nine.

Florence L. Barclay died in Surrey, England, March 10, aged fifty-eight.

Henry Payson Dowst died in New York March 13, aged forty-four.

Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus died in Chicago March 17, aged sixty-five.

Cameron Mackenzie died at sea March 17, aged thirty-eight.

Bert Leston Taylor ("B. L. T.") died in Chicago March 19, aged fifty-four.

John Burroughs died on a train near Kingston, Ohio, March 29, aged eighty-three.

BRIEF SUGGESTIONS TO WRITERS

By an Exasperated Editor.

Judging by many manuscripts that come to me as the editor of Social Progress, it would seem that there are still some writers ignorant of what should be the first principles of the preparation of manuscripts for the editor's approval. I do not say "preparation for the press," because that is the editor's business, to make accepted articles conform in style to that of his publication.

Recently I have been obliged to return a number of manuscripts which were poorly typed with a worn-out ribbon. They were

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too faint to be easily read and I would not inflict them upon a compositor to put into type. Strange to say, most of these manuscripts so returned were acceptable to me when they came back in a legible condition, and quick checks to the writers were the result. Although I have repeatedly assured writers submitting manuscripts to me that our extreme limit is 2,000 words, and that I prefer manuscripts of from 1,200 to 1,800 words, I am constantly receiving contributions of much greater length, up to 10,000 words, with an occasional book manuscript that cannot be used serially.

One experienced writer, whose articles I have accepted, recently submitted several which he said candidly he feared were not in shape for my publication. He suggested that, should the subject matter be acceptable, we should use the articles and deduct from our check payment for editorial revision. I was reminded of this by a manuscript which I have just read. This was so poorly prepared that, while in general the matter is acceptable, the mechanical work is so poor that I am tempted to return the manuscript with the suggestion that the author revise it herself and have it correctly typed. As it stands it is full of typographical errors, doublets, and inappropriate words, suggesting to me the idea that the article was dictated to an incompetent stenographer. I can merely guess at what the author intended to say. As a practical suggestion to writers, I would say: "Please read over your article very carefully and make needed corrections after it is copied."

In view of the many articles received by editors and the limitations of space, it is well to remind writers that they cannot expect their articles to be used immediately after acceptance. Nor is it wise to vex editors by reminding them of articles when their publication is delayed. The careful editor files