Escritos Completos de San Francisco de Asis y Biografias de su Epoca Ed. by Juan R. de Legísima, O.F.M., and Lino Gomez Cañedo, O.F.M. (review)

of all emotional affinities. Continuing the tradition of the Renaissance, the Baroque writers used the term "Gothic" synonymously with barbarous. Poets like Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, philosophers like the great Scholastics who introduced Aristotelianism into European thinking, and artists like Giotto, were not included in this condemnation: they were not considered Gothic, but ranked among the founders of modern times. Italy had never fully accepted Northern Gothicism, and France, where Gothic art had reached its most sublime heights, had turned away from it to the renaissance of classic harmony earlier and with more determination than the Germanic nations of Europe. Up to this day, the spirit which Baroque rejected in the form of Gothicism, remained repugnant to the Latin world, as the example of Santayana shows, who calls the world dominated by it "morose and barbarous at its inmost core." In his reasoning, Mr. Watkin makes wide use of analogies. Such proceeding is not unscientific in itself and particularly its heuristic value can hardly be underestimated; but it harbors the danger of linking objects and thoughts on the basis of subjective and sentimental associations and symbolic interpretations without the establishment of logical relations. Mr. Watkin has not always succeeded in eluding this temptation. Thus, the value of his book seems less based on a strictly scientific approach to its matter, than on the broad humanity and great erudition of the author and his ardent belief in higher cultural values. Even where we may hesitate to accept fully his conclusions, his ideas stimulate reflection. By the power of his intuitional vision, Mr. Watkin succeeds in integrating the almost unbounded mass of facts into a unity, the unity of Catholic religion-culture. In this way, he wins a point from which light is thrown on many controversial facts in the history of the Western-European mind. Sincerity and warmth of feeling characterize his representation. Thus, Mr. Watkin's book, which demonstrate also a comprehensive knowledge of the pertinent literature , guides the reader with insight through the involved problems of the cultural development brought about in Western-Europe under the dominating influence of Catholic thought and the Catholic view of the world. Harry B. Gutman New York City. Escritos Completos de San Francisco de Asis y Biografías de su Epoca. Edited by Juan R. de Legísima, O.F.M., and Lino Gomez Cañedo, O.F.M. (Madrid: Editorial Católica, S.A., Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos , 1945. Pp. xliii+871.) In the midst of the abundance of books in Spain's present-day market, one may wonder why the writings of the Poverello of Assisi should be selected for publication in Spanish. Undoubtedly the case deserves our comment and our consideration. Very soon after the tragic Spanish civil war the leaders of Spanish Catholic Action realized the need of providing a sound and adequate reading material for the educated Catholic people who lacked the necessary classical as well as modern literature of a formative nature. The Spanish Catholic reading public had in many instances been forced to import their books from abroad without having first been instructed in how to use the proper bibliography to make the selection adequate. 134BOOK REVIEWS There was no well classified and organic library possessing the indispensable works which deal with the main sciences of the spirit. That might have accounted for the unsatisfactory education of one section of the people, and for the poor and out-of-date formation in others. To meet this urgent need a Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos (Library of Christian Authors) was founded under the auspices and direction of the Pontifical University of Salamanca. His Excellency Fr. Francisco Barbado, O.P., Bishop of Salamanca and Chancellor of the same University was named president, and a board of prominent Spanish Catholic scholars was appointed to give assistance in the editing and selecting of books published in this series. The program outlined by the Editors of the Biblioteca of Christian Authors covers the following fields: Theology, Spiritual Life, Philosophy, History, literary and critical, Canon Law and Hagiography. Two years ago the Biblioteca published its first volume: it was the Holy Bible. The Very Rev. Alberto Colunga, O.P., Dean of the Faculty...