Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 45.djvu/142

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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

thor into Systematic and Historical Pedagogics; and Systematic into Practical and Theoretical Pedagogics. The systematic department is surveyed in the present volume.

Addresses Historical and Patriotic, Centennial and Quadrennial, delivered in the Several States of the Union, July 4, 1876-1883; including Addresses commemorative of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of America, 1892-1893. Edited by Frederick Saunders. New York: E. B. Treat. Pp. 1048.

In this portly volume are grouped the choicest of the great number of the eloquent and patriotic orations delivered in the several States of the Union during the series of centennial and multi-centennial anniversaries through which we have passed since 1876. They include many of various qualities of beauty and eloquence; many well-matured epitomes of the essential qualities of patriotic citizenship, many lessons pointing out what in our history is to be admired, and some things, perhaps, to be avoided. The facts and sentiments embodied in them cover the whole period of American history from the landing of Columbus down to the year 1893. They have been submitted to the critical supervision of their several authors. The publishers suggest that the reading of the book will tend to inspire a higher patriotism, and imbue the mind with true American principles. They ought to; but the result will depend upon the extent to which readers keep their minds clear from partisan blindness, which so often leads the best of us to the contradiction of what is right and best for the country.

The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States. An Historical Review of American Ceramic Art from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. By Edwin Atlee Barber. With Two Hundred and Thirty-three Illustrations. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 446. Price, $5.

The author sets out with a contradiction of the impression, not sufficiently controverted even by our own writers, that the United States has no ceramic history. "On the contrary," he says, "it can be shown that the fictile art is almost as ancient in this country as in Great Britain, and has been developed in almost parallel, though necessarily narrower, lines." The work is based almost entirely upon thorough personal investigations, with patient and systematic research, study of the products of the potteries of the United States, and consultation with intelligent potters in the leading establishments. Care has been taken to omit "some of the time-honored fallacies which have been perpetrated by compilers," and to avoid the use of statements that could not be substantiated. Without attempting to give the history of every pottery that is or has been established in this country, the main purpose of the work is to furnish an account of such of the earlier potteries as for any reason possess some historical interest, and of those manufactories which, in later days, have produced works of originality or artistic merit. Beginning with a description of the processes of manufacture and a list and definition of American wares and bodies, the work treats, further, of aboriginal pottery, early brick and tile making, early potting in America (seventeenth century), potteries of the eighteenth century, operations during the first quarter of the present century, the American china manufactory, the pottery industry from 1825 to 1858, pottery work at East Liverpool and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Trenton, N. J., potteries established between 1859 and 1876; development of the ceramic art since the centennial, tobacco pipes, ornamental tiles, architectural terra cotta, American marks and monograms, and tiles for decorative effect. The author expresses himself highly gratified to be able to call the attention of lovers of art to the remarkable progress which has been made in ceramic manufacture among us within the past fifteen years; and adds that if his efforts shall result, in any measure, in the breaking down of that "unreasonable prejudice which has heretofore existed against all American productions," he shall feel that he has been abundantly rewarded. In his chapter of Concluding Remarks he observes that "thus far our potters have been, in a great measure, imitative rather than inventive, and the result is that we have largely reproduced, though in a most creditable manner, patterns and designs, bodies, glazes, and decorations of foreign factories. With some few exceptions, our commercial manufacturers have been content to copy and imitate the products of foreign establishments, and have, in