Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1859-02-16
Daily appeal
ma. pnEsCOTrsE METHOD or LIT

NMm hui VI 49,
ERAHT LABOR.
Fron n. Bofoa TraaszipLl
Evs-v hing that rslstss 70 Tie Historical la
30 > q the late william h. Prescott is q
e srzi interest Wehzve, therefore, prepsrea
9 sousgFhEt uiaute sketch Of the method or
ureparaacn and competition adopted By The
esesaseas BY which Be was enabled 70 oFst-
cone bis impaired vision, and 70 pace
naue among historians Of the very hrs.fa
Mr.. Prescott, Il IL well known, tnoeeh 10
Blind, was affected with : disorder q Neh eIte
q the eve, % that be vas whoI1 H
tatsd for reading ED wiring M ~ ~
WHY'S. He was e~xceedl1ElT syslemaLs - ~
moae of If. ard devoted i've hcurt ont q the
trsntr.four 10 bis historical labors- After
h-sri3s, y. Iir.Vued for an hour 10 some Light
reaains-a corel, poem, or other entertaining
book. he then walked for an hour. Athalf-
psst esn o'eloek bis secretary came TO his
stuaw ard renHinad III twelve O'clock. An
osbe- wslk OF an hour was then taken, after
which be went 70 he study and Tsmainsd an
othsr hour and a half with his secretary.
Afru dinner Light resding nas again Tssorted
10. and a. six o'clock tie SECRETARY returned
and rsnsi1ed until eigh-. This routine Of
wc-s nd lss r was vsy ngidly observed
q o-rho-- b sssan, durng the yesrs ae-
vo- Z 2 he PrsPar to- Of bis elaborate vol
u1c-
Mr.. Pr-seo,t's mode o. writing history was
thi=s re VI tax, for example, his last woTk,
q Philip TIE S e.nd.- He srranged In his
stuar an the hooks and manuscripts relating
to ira monarch, which be had been years N
oeiectiEF - an expense Of many Thousand
collars TynUn5srea three o. tour huno5ea
Printed volumes OF 81 sizes. There were Siso
some tuentr thick fol os OF nan scripts, rich-
y DO Nd, which probably cost more thsn all
The re q the collect On, though some Of the
prI-sad w4rts are exceed ngiy rare and vslua-
bla-he iIbrsr e nd bookstores Of all West
En- Europ-. from C-d1 70 Amsterdam, having
been rsusseke3 BY agents IN sesrch Of every
thing hat c-uld throw light on the history Of
Phnlp ne Second Except Dictionaries and
CHR wo-ks Of reference, books not relating
70 tie SUBJECT IN hand were excluded from the
study.
wa hs materials thus gathered about hin,
thehfstoran commenced his work. Ths Secre-
.av fist read he civ English history Of the
King s~6hs Reign Notes end observations
were Z c.ased es they were suggea Cd BY the
book. Having frtshened bis rscollrctious By
hearing thss volume read, Mr.. prescottp-oceed-
ed % examine The trrasure he had collected.
Zach book was taken from the shelf In turns BY
the Secretary, who Sad slo-d It's title, its tabhe
Of contents, snd few passages BIZ way Of
spec meu Of itE style and Character. Notes
sure taken while this e~vauination was going
q. whch were preserved for future references.
Of tie TIRES CT four hEndred volumes, 6 great
ns'orty q course proved worthless, bsing
either merely ~Tepsadons, or compilations or
-sns'stic-s q preceding suhors, or else, Il
orig nzl. without au'h0ritF. he number q
hooks C rsai value would Be thus reduced
down perhaps 70 a hundred
The huge Toll s Of MSS. were next ttaeksd.
These bad been examined BY a eonpstsnt per
son, who prepared a cs7eful digest and table Of
contents. Tns sec-s,ar read this, and notes
-g7s { etstsd e be proceeded. Having thus
e. j were tsksn an account Of sock, and as
csrtsinsd TIE general character Of his msteH-
ais, Aev were nsU tnspec.ed n detail In the
following nsnns-s he first chapter Of Philip
TIE sseond eontsins an account Of the abdica-
co1 and last Gays q hs father and predeces-
scr, Chsrles he Fifth. The Secretary gather
sd round hin every volume, printed OF MSS,
whirh contained anything Sboutths lastnsnsd
monarch. The books are in the English,
T ench, spanish, Italan, and Latin languages.
One By one they were red aloud, and eopious
notss were dictated. When everything that
relstsd % Charles the IF b had thus bern pc
FUSED and Noted the historian began to com
posa his work, O., more properly speaking, to
write it-for the process Of composition had Of
courss been going on in his mind during these
preparatory lsbors.
Ths EppzrHtus used BIZ Mr.. Prescott con-
SISTED Of q frame the size Of a common sheet
Of letter p1per. with brass wires inserted to
correspond with the number Of lines marked.
TIM c~zrbonated paper was used, AID instead
Of q pen the writer employed a stvlus with an
aga e point The great 6ihcHltv in the way Of
q person's WI inT in the ordinary manner,
whose vision is impaired, arises from not know
ing when the ink Is exhausted, and moreover
the ] nee " 4 be run into one another. Both
difficulties are obTiztsd BY the simple arrange
msn Just described The pages thus written
By ME. Prescott were copied by the Secretary,
and read, th7t such inteTiineations, alterations
-
ma erssls for the second chapter, en- the
early life Of Phi ip, were next taken up, and
he ESue process repeated, Until the volume is
reacY foT b. printe-. About six vs-rs were
csvo "a 0 he hrs. VI volumes Of Philip the
Second, ilcl-ding the preparatory studies.
These vol7nes appeared In 1855, the third Of
the sens was issued with a few weeks, and
i Is un4srst0od that the fourth is considera-
BIZ advanced.
he 10. Gorge Bancroft. IN an eloquent
: ibuts 70 his f. 2 {, before the New York
Il real Society, thus referred 70 the stndious
and syrena ic hshits Of Mr.. ? escott: al
hznis we ne no liczIv exact: retiring early
and evT tn sane hosE, be rose early alike
81 WI e a81 IN samue- a. the appointed no
uenL, r0us ng himself Instantly, though in the
sounds sleep. q the & g note Of his alarm
bell never firi z Indulgence 70 lassitude or
DELAY. To the hours which be gave to his pur-
s rs b sdhs ed a. scrupul5usly as possible,
rsr iEh.y sufs ing hen TO be interfe-ed
y q: los ste ] z % bis reader now die
t-zlnE what ives % be WI ten; now using bis
cwn eFes rparingiT fo- cad e now writing
" the al q simple mEchile y devised for
these who are in d kn-1 DOW passing time
n thouEhtfu rg7olEtng h rreat theme"
he excellence o hts productions is, iH part,
transparent 70 every reader Compare what
BE has written with the most Of what others
have len CT the sane suojec :, and Prescotte
suuerioritT beams upon yoI from The contrast.
! E easy e " { ms language, and the fault
'ess lucid u Fl styls, nav mike the reader
forget e mr. til 2 til which the narrative
has cos bat he CIT cal & quirs sees every
whers e IN e o iny-s ia ion rig 5diy PuI-
sued. and AZ Impair ialitT ard sou1dness #
10 F1sn-, which i've suth1Ti J 70 svsTy state
msnt an eight Q e. " eoncuE on.
Mr.. Pgssco rs fbrsry Wss sdoTned with
striking ? traits Ct Ferdinand and s-bella,
o. Coiumbus. o. Dc Sebastian, King Of Poru-
z and q uost Of the cb7ractsrs that E ure
nhshistories. Re pos-rs=e3 ori- inallettsrs Of
Ferdinand. Isabella ard ChsrlHs v, and q
PEE Q lace from the stroud Of CUrtez. The
hist ian dl6 70 u-ull " w--te n his library,
bu Ia nal con over Il, made verF light to
mex he wants q n whose sigh wasfmpeT-
feet Mh1fEIy prepared to write, Mr.. Pres
cot-'s daily TAX would average about seuga
5agls CT cne Ct bis printed Volumes. Most per-
go1s with psfcct vision Eould complaint hey
were dal'T compelled 70 copy sevenpages from
-hoVe cha ming books
Tie thirtern volumes which comprise Mr.
Prescctt's works are noble monuments 70 his
lie z Dor 2 2 s. dT. vi b q knowledge Of
ne fac nee ing heir ? operation, as above
given, UL y no- say al honor 70 the mem
or Ct t1e an " Sc pa lent tol, careful
-s n 6, e 2 scholar hip, end be ole devotion,
prod &C tie EEt0T e. Of Ferdinand and lsa-
bella, The Conquests + Mex and Peru, and
the rsign Z Phillip the seco d.
T.. =. ~ERsFLLTsEsmS.
D7--a- -l NJ r.