Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/197

Rh best authority he can, and is nearly always successful in putting a case lucidly and well. Now and then, it must be admitted, he is rather too anxious to tell all that can be told. For instance, the explanations of some scholars are really too absurd to be maintained; it is not necessary to mention them when that is so. If they are mentioned, they should be condemned with more vigour than Mr. Frazer sees fit to use (ii. 40, &c.) One such is an explanation of Roscher's (iv. 384). We confess also to being a little bored with the washerwomen who are always washing soiled linen in ancient streams. As the grumbling fit is upon us (which Mr. Frazer will kindly put down to the delay) we will add, that much space is wasted by citing titles of books in full wherever they occur. A complete bibliography at the beginning, with abbreviations in the text, would have saved many pages and made the book easier to read. Why did not Mr. Frazer adopt the excellent plan of Darenberg and Saglio's Dictionary by putting them at the foot of the page? We have also to point out, that the reproductions of coins are of very little use, and none have more than a shadowy shape. Often, again, where other illustrations are given, the descriptions of them are needlessly full. The maps and plans in the work are excellent, and some of them are new, but it is a pity the source was not indicated on each.

Now we have blown our blast and feel better; and we have nothing but admiration for the work as a whole. No such work has ever been attempted hitherto since specialism came into vogue. To criticise this book in detail would be quite impossible in the space at our disposal, and all we can do is to give some idea of its chief contents, suggesting here and there an omission or, perhaps, an improvement, but with all respect and gratitude for the compiler's extraordinary completeness and accuracy. We shall consider first the Introduction and Translation, secondly the Commentary, according to subjects.

The Introductory Essay on Pausanias is really one of the most interesting parts of the work. Mr. Frazer, after describing the nature of the book and some points relating to its composition, gives a classified description of its contents. He groups together all the statements about (say) ancient monuments, myths, painting, sculpture. He collects all that bear on the character of the man; shows that he wrote from first-hand knowledge, mentions the authors whom he quotes, and compares his method with theirs.