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Adobe After Effects Classroom in a

Book (2020 release)


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Contents

WHERE ARE THE LESSON FILES?

GETTING STARTED
About Classroom in a Book
Prerequisites
Installing After Effects, Bridge, and Media Encoder
Activating fonts
Optimizing performance
Restoring default preferences
Online content
How to use these lessons
Additional resources
Adobe Authorized Training Centers

1 GETTING TO KNOW THE WORKFLOW


Getting started
Creating a project and importing footage
Creating a composition and arranging layers
Adding effects and modifying layer properties
Animating the composition
Previewing your work
Optimizing performance in After Effects
Rendering and exporting your composition
Customizing workspaces
Controlling the brightness of the user interface
Finding resources for using After Effects
Review questions and answers

2 CREATING A BASIC ANIMATION USING EFFECTS AND


PRESETS
Getting started
Importing footage using Adobe Bridge
Creating a new composition
Working with imported Illustrator layers
Applying effects to a layer
Applying an animation preset
Precomposing layers for a new animation
Previewing the effects
Adding transparency
Rendering the composition
Review questions and answers

3 ANIMATING TEXT
Getting started
About text layers
Installing a font using Adobe Fonts
Creating and formatting point text
Animating with scale keyframes
Using a text animation preset
Animating imported Photoshop text
Animating type tracking
Animating text opacity
Animating an image to replace text
Using a text animator group
Animating a layer’s position
Adding motion blur
Review questions and answers

4 WORKING WITH SHAPE LAYERS


Getting started
Creating the composition
Adding a shape layer
Creating a self-animating shape
Duplicating a shape
Creating custom shapes
Positioning layers with snapping
Animating a shape
Animating using parenting
Using nulls to connect points
Previewing the composition
Review questions and answers

5 ANIMATING A MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION


Getting started
Adjusting anchor points
Parenting layers
Precomposing layers
Keyframing a motion path
Animating additional elements
Applying an effect
Animating precomposed layers
Animating the background
Adding an audio track
Review questions and answers

6 ANIMATING LAYERS
Getting started
Simulating lighting changes
Duplicating an animation using the pick whip
Using a track matte to confine animation
Animating using the Corner Pin effect
Simulating a darkening sky
Retiming the composition
Review questions and answers

7 WORKING WITH MASKS


About masks
Getting started
Creating a mask with the Pen tool
Editing a mask
Feathering the edges of a mask
Replacing the content of the mask
Adding a reflection
Creating a vignette
Adjusting the timing
Trimming the work area
Review questions and answers

8 DISTORTING OBJECTS WITH THE PUPPET TOOLS


Getting started
About the Puppet tools
Adding Position pins
Adding Advanced and Bend pins
Stiffening an area
Animating pin positions
Using the Puppet tools to animate video
Recording animation
Review questions and answers

9 USING THE ROTO BRUSH TOOL


About rotoscoping
Getting started
Creating a segmentation boundary
Fine-tuning the matte
Freezing your Roto Brush tool results
Changing the background
Adding animated text
Outputting your project
Review questions and answers

10 PERFORMING COLOR CORRECTION


Getting started
Adjusting color balance with levels
Adjusting color with the Lumetri Color effect
Replacing the background
Color-correcting using Auto Levels
Motion tracking the clouds
Replacing the sky in the second clip
Color grading
Review questions and answers

11 CREATING MOTION GRAPHICS TEMPLATES


Getting started
Preparing a master composition
Setting up a template
Adding properties to the Essential Graphics panel
Providing image options
Protecting the timing of a section
Exporting the template
Review questions and answers

12 USING 3D FEATURES
Getting started
Creating 3D text
Using 3D views
Importing a background
Adding 3D lights
Adding a camera
Extruding text in After Effects
Animating 3D text
Finishing the project
Review questions and answers

13 WORKING WITH THE 3D CAMERA TRACKER


About the 3D Camera Tracker effect
Getting started
Tracking the footage
Creating a ground plane, a camera, and the initial text
Creating additional text elements
Locking an image to a plane with a solid layer
Tidying the composition
Adding a final object
Creating realistic shadows
Adding ambient light
Adding an effect
Previewing the composition
Review questions and answers

14 ADVANCED EDITING TECHNIQUES


Getting started
Stabilizing a shot
Using single-point motion tracking
Removing unwanted objects
Creating a particle simulation
Retiming playback using the Timewarp effect
Review questions and answers
15 RENDERING AND OUTPUTTING
Getting started
About rendering and output
Exporting using the Render Queue
Creating templates for the Render Queue
Rendering movies with Adobe Media Encoder
Review questions and answers

APPENDIX: GENERAL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

APPENDIX: CUSTOMIZING KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

INDEX
Getting Started

Adobe After Effects provides a comprehensive set of 2D and 3D tools for


compositing, animation, and effects that motion graphics professionals,
visual effects artists, web designers, and film and video professionals need.
After Effects is widely used for digital post-production of film, video,
DVDs, and the web. You can composite layers in various ways, apply and
combine sophisticated visual and audio effects, and animate both objects
and effects.

About Classroom in a Book


Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book (2020 Release) is part of the
official training series for Adobe graphics and publishing software,
developed with the support of Adobe product experts. The lessons are
designed to let you learn at your own pace. If you’re new to Adobe After
Effects, you’ll learn the fundamental concepts and features you’ll need to
master the program. And if you’ve been using Adobe After Effects for a
while, you’ll find that Classroom in a Book teaches many advanced
features, including tips and techniques for using the latest version.
Although each lesson provides step-by-step instructions for creating a
specific project, there’s room for exploration and experimentation. You can
follow the book from start to finish, or do only the lessons that match your
interests and needs. Each lesson concludes with a review section
summarizing what you’ve covered.

Prerequisites
Before beginning to use Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book (2020
Release), make sure that your system is set up correctly and that you’ve
installed the required software and hardware. You should have a working
knowledge of your computer and operating system. You should know how
to use the mouse and standard menus and commands, and also how to open,
save, and close files. If you need to review these techniques, see the printed
or online documentation included with your Microsoft® Windows® or
Apple® macOS® software.
To complete the lessons in this book, you’ll need to have Adobe After
Effects, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Media Encoder installed. Additional
optional exercises require Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, and Adobe
Character Animator. The exercises in this book are based on After Effects
(2020 release).

Installing After Effects, Bridge, and Media


Encoder
Adobe After Effects is not included with the book; you must purchase it
separately as part of an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. For system
requirements and complete instructions on installing the software, visit
https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/system-requirements.html. Note that
After Effects requires a 64-bit operating system. To view QuickTime
movies on macOS, you must also have Apple QuickTime 7.6.6 or later
installed on your system.
Some of the lessons in this book use Adobe Bridge or Adobe Media
Encoder. After Effects, Bridge, and Media Encoder use separate installers.
You must install these applications from Adobe Creative Cloud
(adobe.com) onto your hard disk. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Activating fonts
Several lessons use specific fonts that may not be installed on your system.
You can activate the fonts using Adobe Fonts or choose a different font on
your system with similar characteristics. If you choose a different font, your
projects won’t look exactly like the ones shown in the book.
Adobe Fonts licenses are included in Creative Cloud subscriptions.
To activate fonts within After Effects, choose File > Fonts From Adobe, or
click the Creative Cloud icon next to Add Adobe Fonts in the Font menu in
the Character panel. Then, find the font in Adobe Fonts in your browser,
and activate the font.

Optimizing performance
Creating movies is memory-intensive work for a desktop computer. After
Effects (2020 release) requires a minimum of 16GB of RAM. The more
RAM that is available to After Effects, the faster the application will work
for you. For information about optimizing memory, cache, and other
settings for After Effects, see “Improve performance” in After Effects Help.

Restoring default preferences


The preferences files control the way the After Effects user interface
appears on your screen. The instructions in this book assume that you see
the default interface when they describe the appearance of tools, options,
windows, panels, and so forth. Therefore, it’s a good idea to restore the
default preferences, especially if you are new to After Effects.
Each time you quit After Effects, the panel positions and certain command
settings are recorded in the preferences files. To restore the original default
settings, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift
(macOS) while starting After Effects. (After Effects creates new
preferences files if they don’t already exist the next time you start the
program.)
Restoring the default preferences can be especially helpful if someone has
already customized After Effects on your computer. If your copy of After
Effects hasn’t been used yet, these files won’t exist, so this procedure is
unnecessary.
Important: If you want to save the current settings, you can rename a
preferences file instead of deleting it. When you are ready to restore those
settings, change the name back, and make sure that the file is located in the
correct preferences folder.
1. Locate the After Effects preferences folder on your computer:
For Windows: .../Users/<user
name>/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/AfterEffects/17.0.
For macOS: .../Users/<user name>/Library/Preferences/Adobe/After
Effects/17.0
2. Rename any preferences files you want to preserve, and then restart
After Effects.

Online content
Your purchase of this Classroom in a Book includes the following online
materials:

Lesson files
To work through the projects in this book, you will need to download the
lesson files from adobepress.com. You can download the files for individual
lessons or it may be possible to download them all in a single file.

Web Edition
The Web Edition is an online interactive version of the book providing an
enhanced learning experience. Your Web Edition can be accessed from any
device with a connection to the Internet, and it contains:
The complete text of the book
Hours of instructional video keyed to the text
Interactive quizzes
Accessing the lesson files and Web Edition
You must register your product on adobepress.com in order to access the
online content:

Note
If you encounter problems registering your product or accessing the
lesson files or Web Edition, go to www.adobepress.com/support for
assistance.

1. Go to www.adobepress.com/AfterEffectsCIB2020.
2. Sign in or create a new account.
3. Click Submit.
4. Answer the questions as proof of purchase.
5. You can access the lesson files from the Registered Products tab on your
Account page: Click the Access Bonus Content link below the title of
your product to proceed to the download page. Click the lesson file links
to download them to your computer.
You can access the Web Edition from the Digital Purchases tab on your
Account page. Click the Launch link to access the product.

Note
If you purchased a digital product directly from www.adobepress.com or
www.peachpit.com, your product will already be registered. However,
you still need to follow the registration steps and answer the proof of
purchase questions before the Access Bonus Content link will appear
under the product on your Registered Products tab.

Note
If for any reason you need to download fresh copies of the lesson files,
you can download them from your account again at any time.
Organizing the lesson files
The files are compressed into ZIP archives to speed download time and
protect the contents from damage during transfer. You must uncompress (or
“unzip”) the files to restore them to their original size and format before
you use them with the book. Modern macOS and Windows systems are set
up to open ZIP archives by simply double-clicking.
1. On your hard drive, create a new folder in a convenient location, and
name it Lessons, following the standard procedure for your operating
system:
In Windows, right-click, and choose New > Folder. Then enter the new
name for your folder.
In macOS, in the Finder, choose File > New Folder. Type the new
name, and drag the folder to the location you want to use.
2. Drag the unzipped Lessons folder (which contains folders named
Lesson01, Lesson02, and so on) that you downloaded onto your hard
drive to your new Lessons folder. When you begin each lesson, navigate
to the folder with that lesson number to access all the assets you need to
complete the lesson.

About copying the sample movies and projects


You will create and render one or more movies in some lessons in this book.
The files in the Sample_Movies folders are examples that you can use to
see the end results of each lesson and to compare them with your own
results.
The files in the End_Project_File folders are samples of the completed
project for each lesson. Use these files for reference if you want to compare
your work in progress with the project files used to generate the sample
movies.
These sample movies and end-project files vary in size from relatively
small to several megabytes, so you can either download them all now if you
have ample storage space, or download just the files for each lesson as
needed, and then delete them when you finish that lesson.
How to use these lessons
Each lesson in this book provides step-by-step instructions for creating one
or more specific elements of a real-world project. The lessons build on each
other in terms of concepts and skills, so the best way to learn from this book
is to proceed through the lessons in sequential order. In this book, some
techniques and processes are explained and described in detail only the first
few times you perform them.
Many aspects of the After Effects application can be controlled by multiple
techniques, such as a menu command, a button, dragging, and a keyboard
shortcut. Only one or two of the methods are described in any given
procedure, so that you can learn different ways of working even when the
task is one you’ve done before.
The organization of the lessons is also design-oriented rather than feature-
oriented. That means, for example, that you’ll work with layers and effects
on real-world design projects over several lessons, rather than in just one
lesson.

Additional resources
Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book (2020 Release) is not meant to
replace documentation that comes with the program or to be a
comprehensive reference for every feature. Only the commands and options
used in the lessons are explained in this book.
Tutorials within After Effects can help you get started: In After Effects,
choose Window > Learn. The Learn panel opens with a series of tutorials.
For comprehensive information about program features and tutorials, refer
to these resources:
Adobe After Effects Learn & Support: helpx.adobe.com/support/after-
effects.html is where you can find and browse tutorials, help, and support
on www.adobe.com.
After Effects tutorials: helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/tutorials.html lists
online tutorials for beginner and experienced users. You can go there
directly from After Effects by choosing Help > After Effects Online
Tutorials.
After Effects Forums: community.adobe.com lets you tap into peer-to-
peer discussions, and questions as well as answers about After Effects.
Adobe Create Magazine: create.adobe.com offers thoughtful articles on
design and design issues, a gallery showcasing the work of top-notch
designers, tutorials, and more.
Resources for educators: www.adobe.com/education and
edex.adobe.com offer a treasure trove of information for instructors who
teach classes on Adobe software. Find solutions for education at all levels,
including free curricula that use an integrated approach to teaching Adobe
software and can be used to prepare for the Adobe Certified Associate
exams.
Also check out these useful links:
Adobe Add-ons: exchange.adobe.com/addons is a central resource for
finding tools, services, extensions, code samples, and more to supplement
and extend your Adobe products.
Adobe After Effects product home page:
www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects

Adobe Authorized Training Centers


Adobe Authorized Training Centers offer instructor-led courses and training
on Adobe products. A directory of AATCs is available at
https://training.adobe.com/training/partner-finder.html
1 Getting to know the Workflow

Lesson overview
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
Create a project and import footage.
Create compositions and arrange layers.
Navigate the Adobe After Effects interface.
Use the Project, Composition, and Timeline panels.
Transform layer properties.
Apply basic effects.
Create keyframes.
Preview your work.
Customize the workspace.
Adjust preferences related to the user interface.
Find additional resources for using After Effects.

This lesson will take about an hour to complete. If you haven’t already
done so, download the project files for this lesson from
www.adobepress.com/AfterEffectsCIB2020, following the instructions
in the Getting Started section under “Accessing the lesson files and
Web Edition.”
PROJECT: TITLE SEQUENCE
Whether you use After Effects to animate a simple video title
sequence or to create complex special effects, you generally follow the
same basic workflow. The After Effects interface facilitates your work
and adapts to each stage of production.
About the After Effects work area
After Effects offers a flexible, customizable work area. The main
window of the program is called the application window. Panels
are organized in this window in an arrangement called a
workspace. The default workspace contains stacked panels as
well as panels that stand alone, as shown below.

A. Application window B. Composition panel C. Workspace


bar D. Stacked panels E. Tools panel F. Project panel G.
Timeline panel

You customize a workspace by dragging the panels into the


configuration that best suits your working style. You can drag
panels to new locations, change the order of stacked panels, move
panels into or out of a group, place panels alongside each other,
stack panels, and undock a panel so that it floats in a new window
above the application window. As you rearrange panels, the other
panels resize automatically to fit the window.
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S. Corwin

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The Sahara of the Bozart; The divine afflatus; Scientific examination
of a popular virtue; Exeunt omnes; The allied arts; The cult of hope;
The dry millennium; Appendix on a tender theme. There is an index.

Dial 70:232 F ’21 80w


Ind 104:382 D 11 ’20 290w
“As for his second series of prejudices, they are even as his first;
his prejudices have not changed; nor his manner of hurling them at
the fat heads of us Philistines. Some of his missiles are true
dynamite, some—in my humble opinion—are duds; but not one of
them is discharged at random.” L. W. Dodd

+ − N Y Evening Post p7 D 4 ’20 880w

“Nothing is sacred in his hands, and by the same token is he


interesting and unreliable. His style is as vigorous and bold as his
ideas. It is a little hard to keep up with Mencken, but at any rate you
will not be bored if you try.”

+ − Springf’d Republican p8 Ja 3 ’21 480w

MENDELSOHN, SIGMUND. Labor’s crisis.


*$1.50 Macmillan 331

20–17254

“Looking at the question of labor reform from the employer’s point


of view, the author argues that the labor scarcity is not entirely due to
decrease in the number of laborers, and in support of his contention
points to many effects of the unrest itself on production and on labor.
In his keen introduction Mr Mendelsohn writes, ‘A labor problem
still exists, and in more acute form than ever, but it concerns the
welfare of society more than of labor. It is no longer based upon
excess of labor, but upon insufficiency of labor; it no longer relates to
an inadequate wage, but to an inflated wage; it no longer deals with
an oppressed suffering class, but with an all powerful and militant
element which is striving for economic dominance.’”—N Y Times
“An unusually thoughtful analysis of labor’s propositions to
remedy the existing unrest.”

+ N Y Times p11 O 31 ’20 230w

“Mr Mendelsohn’s thinking goes beneath the surface and his little
book will be found suggestive by all classes of readers.”

+ Springf’d Republican p8 N 9 ’20 200w

MERCER, JOHN EDWARD. Why do we die?


an essay in thanatology. *$2 Dutton 236

“Bishop Mercer points out that his question differs from the more
usual one, ‘What happens after death?’ He finds it natural that we
should speculate upon a future experience from which no one is
exempt; but he wonders why no one has asked, ‘Why do we die at
all?’ Neither biology nor physiology, he says, has answered this
question; nor have the theologians or the philosophers approached
any more nearly to the solution of it. The problem; What science
teaches; Monadnology; and Higher aspects, are his four heads, under
which he discusses Causes of the fear of death, The spiritual body,
and other topics, closing with that of Death as a revealer.”—Springf’d
Republican

Int J Ethics 30:113 O ’19 100w


“Though it is doubtful whether either scientists or philosophers
would heartily endorse all the positions taken by Dr Mercer, it is
pleasant to read a book written with good temper and rationality,
without appeal to the prevalent superstitions of mediums and table-
tipping.”

+ − Nation 110:269 F 28 ’20 300w

“Bishop Mercer pursues an extremely interesting and richly


suggestive line of inquiry. It is one distinctly removed from that
involved in psychical research. It is the purely religious inquiry of an
eminent scholar and thinker who is familiar with all modern
scientific thought, and whose wide culture and liberal mind endow
him with vision.” Lilian Whiting

+ Springf’d Republican p13a F 8 ’20 700w

MERCIER, DESIRÉ FÉLICIEN FRANÇOIS


JOSEPH, cardinal. Cardinal Mercier’s own story:
prefatory letter by James Cardinal Gibbons. *$4
(3½c) Doran 940.3493

20–5912

The book consists chiefly of Cardinal Mercier’s correspondence


with the German governor general in protest to the latter’s régime as
imposed on the Belgians. The work of collecting and editing these
letters has been delegated by the Cardinal to Professor Fernand
Mayence, of Louvain university, who has supplied them with an
explanatory preface. Most of the correspondence is with Baron von
Bissing and Baron von der Lancken and some with Baron von
Falkenhausen. The correspondence on the Belgian deportations is of
special interest.

+ Booklist 16:341 Jl ’20

“It must remain among the permanent records of the war.”

+ Boston Transcript p6 Jl 21 ’20 260w


+ Cath World 111:390 Je ’20 1150w

“It is the sheer courage of the letters more than anything else
which makes them impressive, but they have also a dignity, a
sobriety and a definite knowledge of facts which makes them
peculiarly valuable at a moment when reparations and indemnities
are under discussion.”

+ Ind 104:245 N 13 ’20 140w

Reviewed by Muriel Harris

+ Nation 110:770 Je 5 ’20 340w

Reviewed by M. F. Egan

+ N Y Times 25:184 Ap 18 ’20 3100w


+ N Y Times 25:191 Ap 18 ’20 220w
“Every one who reads this book will feel that he has come in
contact with a really great personality, and will be the better for the
feeling. The story of Belgium, in which the cardinal is the dominant
figure, is as fascinating, in one aspect, as ‘The pilgrim’s progress.’
The cardinal’s book, too, like Bunyan’s classic, is almost as good a
story for the young as it is for the old.”

+ No Am 212:139 Jl ’20 1500w

“A serious omission which ought to be supplied in any new edition


is the lack of any index.” Lyman Abbott

+ − Outlook 124:766 Ap 28 ’20 2450w


+ Spec 125:146 Jl 31 ’20 1550w

“The correspondence, always written in the lofty tone and closely


reasoned manner of state papers, is interesting throughout; but the
most engrossing pages of the book are those which deal with the
deportations.”

+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p392 Je


24 ’20 950w

MEREDITH, MRS ELISABETH GRAY


(LYMAN). Terrier’s tale. il *$1 Houghton
20–19080

“Although of a retiring disposition, I have always known that I am


a person of importance, but recently I have become a person of note,
and I have been asked to write my memoirs.” Thus the terrier begins
his tale and it is full of interest and excitement and some wise
reflections. It contains: Early days; Domestic life; Concerning baths;
Sport; Travel; On being left behind; Fatherhood; Guests; Social life;
As to cats; My great adventure; Through the window; Conclusion.
The illustrations are by Mia E. Rosenblad.

N Y Evening Post p10 O 30 ’20 70w

MERIAM, JUNIUS LATHROP. Child life and


the curriculum. $3.60 World bk. 375

20–8866

A work by the professor of school supervision and superintendent


of university schools, University of Missouri. That the subject matter
of modern life should be used as the means of instructing boys and
girls is his thesis. “In working out the details of this curriculum the
effort has been, not, as some critics have erroneously judged, to get
away from the traditional curriculum, but, on the positive side, to get
as close as possible to the lives of children as found in the home and
in the larger community.” (Preface) The book is divided into five
parts: Point of view; The traditional curriculum; Principles in the
making of curricula; The contents of a curriculum; Methods and
results. Supplementary readings are suggested at the end of each
chapter, and special reading lists, as well as lists of songs, games,
etc., are given in appendices. In addition there is a general
bibliography of fifteen pages, followed by an index.

“Not a course that can be adopted in a moment or by any school,


but a virile, well presented point of view which has something of
value for every elementary teacher.”

+ Booklist 16:330 Jl ’20

“The reader may be unable to agree with all of the conclusions of


the book, but it furnishes material for critical thought, and will be of
interest to those dealing with courses of study. The manner of
presentation is somewhat tedious at times, and one feels that
occasional condensations would serve to emphasize the content.”

+ − El School J 21:150 O ’20 680w

“One may find some of his conclusions from well-known studies in


the field of education surprising; and may be unwilling to see
measurement deferred until after the attainment of seemingly
impossible conditions. Nevertheless he will recognize in the book
and the experiment it reports a contribution to the great effort to
provide a curriculum more closely related to life.”

+ − School R 28:552 S ’20 560w

MERLANT, JOACHIM. Soldiers and sailors of


France in the American war for independence (1776–
1783); tr. by Mary Bushnell Coleman. *$2 Scribner
973.3

20–7496

“‘Soldiers and sailors of France in the American war for


independence’ is an account of the part played by our allies during
the Revolution, written by one who participated in the world war.
The author is Capt Joachim Merlant, assistant professor of the
faculty of letters in the university of Montpellier, who, after a few
months with the territorials, joined an active unit as infantry officer.
Severely wounded in 1915 he never fully recovered, and being unable
to fight resolved instead to write and talk for his cause. Thus he came
to America, and from January to May in 1916 he lectured throughout
the country. And through his gratitude toward America he decided to
investigate the Franco-American alliance of 1778–1783 and retell the
story of Rochambeau and LaFayette.”—Springf’d Republican

Booklist 16:341 Jl ’20


+ Springf’d Republican p7a N 28 ’20
420w

MERRICK, HOPE (BUTLER-WILKINS)


(MRS LEONARD MERRICK). Mary-girl; a
posthumous novel. *$2.50 Dutton

20–8792
“Ezra Sheppard is a man with a consuming ideal. A devout Quaker,
it is his dream to build a seemly meeting-house instead of the
dilapidated barn where the Friends have hitherto met. The lavish
terms offered for the services of Mary in nourishing the Earl of
Folkington’s heir would convert his dream into real stone and lime.
So he lets Mary go. Mary, poor girl, with the best will in the world,
finds when her year is up that the life of a working gardener’s wife is
not so pleasant as it used to be. And Ezra behaves badly about it, too.
He repents, it is true, and realizes that his idol has cost him too dear,
but not before Mary has been brought to shame, and his repentance
takes the form of attempted arson.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup

+ Booklist 17:34 O ’20

“‘Mary-girl’ deserves something better than so foolish and inept a


designation. If it were merely one among a thousand sentimental
romances, its title would be unobjectionable, but it is something
more than that, and it is a pity that it should be so misrepresented.
As a whole, it is a notably truthful record of a soul conflict and an
absorbingly interesting story.” E. F. E.

+ Boston Transcript p6 Jl 17 ’20 800w


+ Cleveland p105 D ’20 40w

“A delightful human and unpretentious story, well written and


very interesting, the tale has realism without pessimism, sentiment
without sentimentality. A delightful book, vivid, human, dramatic at
times and always entertaining, is this story of ‘Mary-girl.’”

+ N Y Times 25:27 Jl 11 ’20 750w


“The late Mrs Leonard Merrick was endowed with the rare gift of
being able to write a thoroughly sentimental story with undoubted
charm. The episode of Mary’s downfall is the least satisfactory thing
in the book. It is false to the character, and for all its disguise is mere
‘novelette’ in essence.”

+ − The Times [London] Lit Sup p157 Mr 4


’20 250w

MERWIN, SAMUEL. Hills of Han. il *$2 Bobbs

20–6286

“Betty Doane, the heroine, daughter of a missionary, returns to


China after six years in the United States. On the steamer she meets
Jonathan Branchy, author, explorer and newspaper man and a
somewhat unromantic love affair develops between them. The
development of their emotions is interwoven with the dangers
threatening all foreigners in China from a new society, a
recrudescence of the old Boxer organization, known as ‘the Lookers.’
The chief item in the creed of this society is the extinction of all
‘foreign devils.’ Betty’s position becomes increasingly difficult and
complicated through the intolerance of her father’s missionary
coworkers, and through a want of a sense of humor on the part of her
lover. The adventures of the principals attain a climax at the
headquarters of a French mining concern; this form of foreign
activity excites the particular antipathy of ‘the Lookers.’”—Springf’d
Republican

“Both the story and the setting hold the reader though one dislikes
the pictures of the mission teachers and the incidents are
melodramatic. Some people will object to this.”
+ − Booklist 17:72 N ’20

“As for the Chinese atmosphere and personnel of the story, one
may accept them as sound—if that matters in a story of this kind, and
if atmosphere and personnel can be sound when the action is
unsound or patently artificial. All this, you may say, is the breaking of
a butterfly on the clumsy wheel of criticism. ‘Hills of Han’ is not a
butterfly; it is a sort of gilded bat with the butterfly label.” H. W.
Boynton

− Bookm 51:583 Jl ’20 320w


Dial 69:320 S ’20 60w

“Samuel Merwin has written better novels than ‘Hills of Han,’ but
it offers agreeable entertainment for an uncritical hour.”

+ − Ind 103:186 Ag 14 ’20 70w

“While neither as entertaining nor as vivid as some of Mr Merwin’s


earlier romances, the story is an interesting one and has some
dramatic moments.”

+ − N Y Times 25:205 Ap 25 ’20 700w

“There is good fiction stuff here, but it is clumsily put together.”

+ − Outlook 125:125 My 19 ’20 80w


“A thoroly absorbing romance, and a most workmanlike piece of
novel writing.” E. P. Wyckoff

+ Pub W 97:1291 Ap 17 ’20 320w

“Through the color which Mr Merwin dashes upon his background


and his descriptions of picturesque customs, and countryside, much
of the unevenness of character portraiture is compensated for.
Generally, the story holds the reader’s close attention.”

+ − Springf’d Republican p11a Je 6 ’20


700w

MERZ, JOHN THEODORE. Fragment on the


human mind. *$4.50 Scribner 192

(Eng ed 20–10637)

“After having mastered the history of modern philosophy the


author considers its main problem to be the relation of religion and
science. The problem of this relation is best approached, the author
holds, by a study of the human mind. This may be done in a number
of ways, but he prefers two, observation and introspection.
Observation is the method used in studying the development of the
race, going back to primitive times; introspection is used in the study
of the individual life, going back to the infant mind. Special attention
is given to the latter in this treatise. Many of the great metaphysical
problems [are discussed] and such subjects as the moral law, the
world of values, the relation of science to art and the respective
provinces of each, the social order and the world of freedom.”—
Boston Transcript

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