On its seventy-fifth anniversary the Advocate has tried to reassert its claim to national prominence. Featuring, almost exclusively, the work of prominent literary figures, its table of contents alone would entitle it to the attention of contemporary critics. If, inevitably, much of such a collection represents "the worst material of the best people," enough exceptions are included to justify occasional more judicious forays on the national literary scene.

Wallace Stevens' "Examination of the Hero in a Time of War" is a particularly pertinent poem with more than a hint of this aesthete's surprising reaction to non-artistic calamity. Combining his usual technical artistry with a radical shift to significant subject matter, this poem must rank among Stevens' most important and best. A delightfully impudent bit of subtle artistry, "The Wood Weasel," has been contributed by Marianne Moore, while Conrad Aiken, Frederic Prokosch, and John Brinnin are represented by pieces which, though not their best work, will add to this issue's appeal.

Venturing into the field of criticism for the first time in recent years, the Advocate presents "The Orthodoxy of Proust," a readable and interesting article by John Bovey of the English A staff. His analysis of Proust's debt to the past is a skillful and significant one, though one may doubt the finality of his claim that this another's success can be laid entirely to his complete artistry in the handling of an old theme in an old way. Philip Johnson's "Architecture of Harvard" shows skill and understanding in an eye-opening survey of the University's buildings from University Hall to the new Library. Undergraduates may shudder at references to Sever as a beautiful structure, but they will at least regard if again if they hear Mr. Johnson's scholarly recital of its merits. Finally, an expanded book review section, allowing ample room for general literary commentary, adds critical depth to the more imaginative material.

But aside from a startling short story by Mark Schorer, which, incidentally, gives full scope to the unchallenged talent of the Advocate's new illustrator, Arthur de la Guardia, the balance of this over-long issue is little more than a tribute to the editor who single-handled amassed this list of famous names, but who apparently could not reject the cast-offs to those authors who print their best elsewhere. The contributions of William Carlos Williams, Djuna Barnes, and Horace Gregory are less than shamefully insignificant. Marya Zaturenska's "Organ, Harp, and Violin," a palpable parroting of Dryden's "song for St. Cecilia's Day," combines with a host of insignificantly obscure poetry to bewilder the reader and to detract from the worthwhile portions of the issue.

Of the work of Harvard authors Crockett, Phemister, and Broadwater little need be said. Technically polished but emotionally impotent, they belong to an Advocate tradition which this column has criticized before. Unfortunately, too much of the issue follows this tradition, so that while the copy should certainly be read, it would not be entirely rash to skim many portions of it.