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...DICTIONARY OF SLANG AND UNCONVENTIONAL ENGLISH, by Eric Partridge (1,362 pp.; Macmillan; $16). The fifth edition of this highly regarded work is considerably enlarged, and an even greater delight to logomaniacs than the first four. Lexicographer Partridge pads resolutely after creeping neologism, and one finds that since 1920 "without a mintie" has been Australian sporting slang for penniless, and that "boat race" is current Cockney rhyming slang for face. There is no end to this; it is ceaselessly fascinating to learn that between 1780 and 1830, "to dance the Paddington frisk" meant to be hanged, that "painted mischief...
BEETLES, by Ewald Reitter (205 pp.; Putnam; $20). The season's most beautifully photographed gift book is also the crawliest, and while there are doubtless many givees who will not be able to put it down, there are a good many more who will not be able to pick it up. But for amateur entomologists who can agree with the author that the Xixuthrus Heros Heer, a 5-in. pincher from the Fiji Islands, is handsome, the book could not be better...
...ROMANCE OF TRISTAN AND ISEULT, retold by Joseph Bédier; translated from the French by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld; illustrated by Serge Ivanoff (172 pp.; Heritage; $6). If 13-year-old girls still come in the shy, quiet variety, this prettily done-up edition of the old Celtic tale should be an ideal present. It is full of sadness and magic, and it rings (as Padraic Colum observes in his introduction ) with the voice of the singer and the sound of the harp...
ALEXANDER WILSON, by Robert Cantwell (318 pp.; Lippincott; $ 15). Wilson, a turbulent and visionary Scot, was the first of America's great painters of birds. He reached the colonies in 1794, explored great reaches of wilderness, and used the sketches and notes he brought back for a monumental work, American Ornithology. Author Cantwell's biography is a work of skill and love. The book is handsomely laid out, and illustrated in color with eight of Wilson's bird drawings...
MARTYN GREEN'S TREASURY OF GILBERT & SULLIVAN (717 pp.; Simon & Schuster; $ 15). A boon to bathtub bassos of willing voice and weak memory: the complete librettos, with piano arrangements, of eleven of the best G & S operettas. With charming illustrations by Gilbert and annoying sketches by a modern artist, Lucille Corcos...