The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-06-09
THE luck is with Ohio, still.
The Author of Gates Ajar.

The Boston Herald which has been giving
some interesting sketches of the literary celeb
rites of Massachusetts,, says of Miss Elizabeth
Stuart Phelps at her first appearance at her
Andover home: ''She was delicate little
girl, three years old, with dark brown hair,
large blue eyes, long, thin nose and mobile
mouth never at rest under one arm kitten
with pink ribbon tied round it's neck; under
the other large doll miss Annie). elegantly
dressed in clothes Of unrivalled splendor, a
lamb with blue ribbon half hidden amid its
wool following her, and the child had mar
vellous story to tell mother about the doll, the
kitten and the lamb and the characters they
bore in it. She always took special delight in
color, and one of her few remembrances of her
mother is of her 'sitting at work with bright
worsteds, the shadings of which, as they passed
through her thin fingers lose no iot or little of
their brilliancy as time goes on AT school
she found it easy to learn, and her lessons cost
her little effort, except in arithmetic. At the
age of fourteen she entered the institute kept
by Mrs. Edwards, the widow of one of the pro-
fessors. Psychology became her favorite study
and she took deep interest in English litera-
ture, Latin and the fine arts. She says that
WIFI buo oACOptlOu VI 0lOCh duu uiSuoT uldtu6-
matics, they pursued the same curriculum as
their brothers in college. She finished her
school life at The age of nineteen but her liter
ary activity had begun the year before she en-
tered the institute, in the shape of various
newspaper contributions In 1868 her first
article was sent to Harper's Magazine and it
was so cordially received that she at once be-
came regular contributor. Her first great
popular success was The Gates Ajar, which at
once gave her an international reputation. 1t
was published in 1868, when she took the man.
uscript to Mr.. James T. Fields, and it was
brought out at once by the house at the head
of which he then stood, Fields, Osgood & Co.
An edition of twenty thousand was speedily
exhausted; the demand continued unabated,
and the book still has large and steady sale.
In England its circulation rivalled that in
America. 1t was brought out by various pub
fishers, and was also printed in cheap popular
editions at sixpence copy. 1t was also trans
lated into French, German and Dutch.
Miss Phelps, always in delicate health, has
been an invalid since she wrote The Silent
Partner, the last chapters of which were fin
shed under her physicians protests. Being
an invalid, she is unable to maintain any regu-
lar system of work, but does her writing when
she is in the mood and health for the work,
Her great atfiiction is sleeplessness, and on a
day that follows night of sleep she does her
literary work. No argOnaut ever searched
more earnestly for the golden fleece than she
has for place of quiet nights and nowhere
has she found place like her home ON Ando-
yer Hill, where there are no shrieking locomo-
tive whistles, roosters, and no other disturb
ing nighttime noises. In Andover her study is
not her fathers house, for she has learned,
she says, "lke the ministers who study in
their churches, or the carpenters who go to
their benches, the value of a workshop out of
the house." Therefore, for several years past
she has had her study in an old building next
door, one of the Oldest at the hill; a low walled
chamber with picturesque and tasteful fittings
pictures, draperies books, easy chairs, tables
and hammock swung from large beams in
in the ceiling. This building has just been
sold and moved away in sections, to make room
for large house building for new professor.
Miss Phelps now has her study temporarily in
brown house down Main street, below the
college yard, but will probably build new one
before long.
Miss Phelps's constant companion i'll her
study is "Danel Deronda,'' a bright, active
blue Skye and King Charles terrier. He is a
remarkably handsome fellow, viewed by the
standard of beauty set for his race. Though
called blue Skye, he is by no means sky blue,
but dark and rich brown. Dogs are Miss
| Phelps's special pets, and Daniel Deronda is
| chivalously devoted to his mistress. He has
| been known to attack approaching dogs of
| Newfoundland size when he thought their in
| tent was evil. Miss Phelps formerly had
| dog named "Hahnemann", for whom she had