, 1884-02-01
AMERICAN AUTHORS
Some Personal Points About Writers
Who Are Now Living.
Pen Portraits of Our Brain Workers.
Masculine and Femtnine---
Physical and Mental
raj
Detroit Free Press.l

Detroit Free Press.l
The portraits of ". D. Howells rarely do
that popular novelist any approximate meas
ure OF justice. They make him look Just q
tribe sleepy, not to say stupid. No one who
has ever read his admirable novels would
dream Of applying either Of these adjectivss
to him, and those who have met him wonder
how the Photographic art has ever
been able to misrepressnt him In
physique, Mr.. Howells II q lit
tie under tho medium height and compactly
built, with a tendency to comfortable stout
ness, as the years slip by. He is now 40. His
features are mobile, well rounded and closs
shaven, with the exception Of the upper lip,
which Is adorned with a heavy mustache,
verging on the gray. His thick hair, which
Is apt to fall over his broad, capacious fore
head in careless fashion, also reveals the
touches OF time. His eyes are koen, pene-
trating and humorous, and most sI-
pressive in conversation. At such times one
forgets that the face Is, on this whole, q bit
heavy in its mould
Thomas Bailey Aldrich appears to be q
little taller than Mr.. Howels, and n lighter
build. Ho is Of light complexion, while the
author Of "A Woman's Reason" would be
considered dark Hei is abouta year younger
than Mr.. Howslls. He has a fns forehead
and well cut features. His expression is alert,
n Oib AaslluOu51 pCfhhpo, ouL ueclueuAJ ktulAl.
He wears a light and very becoming
mustache, the ends of which are apt TO be
waved. His profile is particularly fine. In
dress he is neat and stylish, but In no way
foppish. In manner both Mr.. Howells and
Mr.. Aldrich ars extremely courteous, and
both Of them possess q generous amount of
the delightful quality the French call bon
homie.
Henry James, who completes the trio, ire
----A ~. 49, - L. L. -
early literary days as a delicate looking young
pearance. He Is now full In figure, but not
stout, and Is of medium height. He has q
rather rudy compilation and dark brown
hair and eyes, and he wears his beard close
cropped. He is slightly bald, anG Is said to
resemble the prince of Wales In face and
figure. He has an appearance OF excellent
health, but this Is far from being the fact,
for he is much OF an invalid and often suffers
intensely.
Julian Hawthorne In appearance and man
ners Is not u~nsuggestive of his father, but
still has some English traits which would
disttn guish him from a Yankee who has
cluhg to the home Of his nativity. Unlike
some OF our authors, he can without fattery
DO termed a handsome type OF a man; OF
liberal frame, fine eyes and flowing hair and
heavy mustache, with n refined, cultivated,
liberal air. He il about IS years old. He
has travelled the world over, and Is
pleasantly chatty about vhetr he has been
and what he has seen. Mrs. Hnw thorne In q
pretty, petite lady. and wears dresses made
in Paris.
Bret Harte Is a rather spare, nervous man
Of 10 years, with features naturally somewhat
delicate. His dark hair Is now longer than
fashion dictates, and glossy muttonchops
ndorn bis checks. His eyes are alert and I'M
easy, and were wont TO look haggard when
he hung about the theatres where his playa
didn't succeed. Tickle fortune has smiled
upon him recently, in PREPARATION, perhaps, of
a degree Of neglect In the not remote past.
James Russell Lowell Is q strikingly fns
man OF 81. He apparently possesses a good
deal OF muscular power and vigorous health
for his years. He has kindly blue eyes. His
hair, naturally brown, and beard, naturally
auburn, are fast losing their distinctive lines
In the encroachment OF the silve,y threadA
In manner, he Is genial, ccurteou and kind.
and to strangers one c. the most approaehabls
Of nun.
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe Is well pre-
served for a lady who has reached the scrip
tural limit Her figure is not heavy, her
face Of a thoughtful cast, with features ex-
prsssive Of some decisiveness and strength Of
opinion. Her gray hair is plainly arranged.
She dresses with simplicity, and has an air OF
New England domesticity.
Joaquin Miller, whose real name IL Cinoin-
natus Home Miller, il AZ years old. He has
lived q very romantic life, and In the past has
been wont to dress In very picturesque
fashion, carrying his peculiaritiss to such an
extent az to wear a b-oad-brimmsd Texan
straw hat and open collar through the rigorp
of several New York winter But l~atterly
he has clipped his long, light hair and donned
more conventional hats and garbs, and
may now pass In a crowd without attracting
particular attention. His eyes are blu and
his features rather open and well defined
BE talks like a shy man to ~stranger but In
his intercourse with his friends thsrs In NO
embarrassment.
In person. Walt Whitman, the good gray
poet" is tall, erect and stout, and moves
about with the aid Of a large cane. His whits
hair thrown straight back from his brow.
and full white beard give him a patriarchai
appearance his cheeks are fresh and rudy,
his forehead is deeply furrowed with horizon
tai lines, his bright eyes blue, but not large;
his i've sonses are exceptionally acute; his
voice clear and firm In dress he Is very sim
pie, but always scrupulousiy neat and clean,
Samuel L. Clemens MARK Twain has
paced 20 many lecture platforms that the
public Is more familiar with his personal APP
pearance than with that of most author
ae SN0hiPaeb IN hkufuf VI medlum helGut,
and has q frank, sensible facs, touched with
good nature. but revealing behind that no
small amount OF resolution His conyersA-
ton Ia replsto with the hunor that char
a~cterizes his writinga He Is Just 4s years Of
ago, was married thirteen years since, and
enjoys much domestic comfort with his wife
and two charming little girls at q pleasant
mansion In Hartford, Conn.
Charles Dudley Warner, Of medium stat
ure, has features thoughtful, refined and full
OF character. His thick hair and unshaven
beard arc somewhat gray, but he looks de-
eidedly under so Year, of age.
Bjornstjerne BJornson is = man Of strong
and stalwart frame, bearing a marked re-
semblanes to Rev. Robert Collier. He Is n
little over 80 years of age.
George William Curtis, 81 years Of age, Is
o tall mar with stopping shoulders, the phys
ieal result Of ysap of labor at the editorial
desk. His gray hair and side whiskes are
somstimes allowed to grow as they please,
free from the pruning Of the t~onsorjal shearl
His ears are not always observable, on 40
count Of this capillary growth. His fore
heard is full, and with bushy eyebrows, pro-
lects over a pair Of kindly but rssoluts eyes
His other features are large, but flexible, sx-
pressivs and g~ood-humored.
Charles Follen Adams, whose first poem,
"Leedls Yawcob strsur," was written for
The Detroit Free Press, Is OF medium hight
and slender physiqus, with eyes keen and