Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-09-28
biography of welI-knOwn but Mysterious
Author.

biography Of n Well-knOwn but Mysterious
Author.
An old number of the London Punch has
the following:
Of canon" but little is known, though his
works are excessively numerous. He has
dabbled in every thing. Prose and poetry
are alike familiar to his pen. One moment
he will be up the highest flights of philoso-
ply, and the next he will be down in some
kitchen garden Of literature, cutting an
enormous gooseberry, TO present to the col
umns Of some provincial paper. His contri-
buttons are scattered wherever the English
language is read. Open any volume of mis-
cellanies at any place y0u will, and you are
sure to fall upon some nice little bit signed
by "Anon.n What mind his must have
been It took in every thing-like pawn
brokers' shop. Nothing was too trihing for
its grasp. Now he was hanging on the trunk
Of an elephant, and explaining to you how it
was more elastic than pair Of India-rubber
braces; and next he would be constructing q
suspension bridge, with a series of monkeys
tails, tying them together, as they do pocket
handkerchief in the galleries of theater
when they want to fish up bonnet which
has fallen into the pit.
canon" is one Of our greatest authors. If
all the things which are signed with "Anon' 81
name were collected on rows of shelves, he
would require British Museum all to him
self And yet of this great man so little is
| known that we are not acquainted even with
| his Christian name. There is no certificate
of baptism, no moldy tombstone, no musty
washing-bills in the world on which we can
| hook the smallest line of speculation whether
| it is John or James, Tom or Dick, or Billy
| Anon. Shame that man should write SC
| much, and yet be known so little. Oblivion
uses the snuffers sometimes very unjustly.
On second thoughts, perhaps it was well
that the works of canon" were not collected
together. His reputation for consistency
| would not probably, be increased by the col
lection. Itwould be found that frequently
he had contradicted himself. He might oftel
be discovered on both sides of truth, jump
ing boldly from the right side over to tn
wrong, and flinging big stones at any on
who dare assail him in either position. Wit
one who had written so many thousand vol
umes, who had twirled his thoughts as wit
a mop on every possible subject, how was
possible to expect any thing like consistency
How was it likely that he could remembe
every little atom out of the innumerabl
atoms his pen had heaped up2
"Anon" ought to have been rich; but h
| lived in an age when piracy was tn
fashion, and when booksellers walked abou
like Indian chiefs, with the skulls of IL
authors they had slain hung around the
y necks. No wonder, then, that we kno
= nothing of the wealth of canon" Doub
less he died in garret, like many 9th,
kindred spirits death being the only scor
out of the many knocking at his door, thi
he could pay. But to his immortal credit !
: it said he has filled more libraries than Il
: most generous patrons of literature. II
u volumes which formed the fuel of the ba
: barian's bonfire at Alexandria would be b
y a small book-stall by the side of the octave
J quartos and duodecimos he has pyramidiz
Y on our shelves. Look through any catalog
u and you will find that large proportion
L the works in it have been contributed
\ "Aron." The only author who can in t
l. least compete with him in fecundity
), "Ibid."