e Civil War,
too little of how he during the Reconstruction developed into
something above and beyond the hewer of wood and drawer of water.
While not primarily historical then and falling far short of being an
historical novel, this book is unconsciously informing and therefore
interesting and valuable to the student of Negro life and history.

* * * * *

_The Emancipated and Freed in American Sculpture. A Study in
Interpretation._ By FREEMAN HENRY MORRIS MURRAY. Murray Brothers,
incorporated, Washington, D. C., 1916. Pp. 228.

This work is to some extent a compilation of matter which on former
occasions have been used by the author in lectures and addresses
bearing on the Negroes in art. There is in it, however, much that is
new, for even in this formerly used material the author has
incorporated additional facts and more extensive comment. This work is
not given out as the last word. It is one of a series to appear under
the caption of the "Black Folk in Art" or an effort to set forth the
contributions of the blacks to art in ancient and modern times. This
work itself is, as the author calls it, "A Study in Interpretation."
His purpose, he says, is to indicate as well as he can, what he thinks
are the criteria for the formation of judgment in these matters. Yet
his interpretation is to be different from technical criticism, as his
effort is primarily directed toward intention, meaning and effect.
This thought is the keynote to the comments on the various sculptures
illustrated in the work. While one may not agree with the author in
his arrangement and may differ from his interpretation, it must be
admitted that the book contains interesting information and is a bold
step in the right direction. It is a portraiture of freedom as a
motive for artistic expression and an effort to symbolize this desire
for liberation to animate the citizenry in making. It brings to light
numerous facts as to how the thought of the Negro has been dominant in
the minds of certain artists and how in the course of time race
prejudice has caused the pendulum to swing the other way in the
interest of those who would forget what the blacks have thought and
felt and done.

The many illustrations constitute the chief value of the work. There
appears _The Greek Slave_ by Hiram Powers, _Freedom_ on the dome of
the Capitol, _The Libyan Sibyl_ by W. W. Story, _The Freedman_ by J.
I. A. Ward, _The Freedwoman_ by Edm