Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-07-16
Tatfs aud Sketthes.
Americas Leading Writer Of Fiction.
w. D. HOwELLs.

and pertinent illustrations OF America
greatness.i in rapidity of growth. simplicity
of conduct and eminent attainment in the
field of literature. is fairly presented in
the proud vet modestly held position OF
Americas leading writer of fictien, to-day
William Dean Howells. 1t is not only
noteworthy, but marvellous. as we'll. that
such a position should have been acquired
without outside aids of any kind. without
wealth and with but limited opportunities
for acquiring an education. in so short a
! time, and from such unpromsing begin
nings as has been the case with Mr.. How
ellis. In no other country but that Of
America could there have been developed
so rapid attainment of literary supremacy
with such wealth of fruitage in so
short season of growth and maturity.
| The story of Mr. Howells' life. told in
simple narrative, seems tar more like tic-
ton itself than a relation of stern facts
fiction having more of the character of
page from the Arabian Nights than like
PLAIN unvarnished tale of American life.
A list of Mr.. Howells' writings may be
catalogued as follows: Venetian Life,
Italian Journeys, Suburban Sketches,
w "A SHhiSS ~
quaintance, A Foregone Conclusion, Ont
of the Question, A Counterfeit Present
ment. The Lady of the Aroostook. The
Undiscovered Country, A Fearful Respon-
sibility and Other Tales. DR.. Breen's Prac-
tce, A Modern Instance. A Woman's Rea-
son. Three Villages. The Rise OF Silas
Lapham, Just being completed in The
Century-lndian Summer. the first chap
ter of which appeared in Harper's Maya
zine for July. In different vein may be
mentioned Volume of Poems, Lite of
President HAYES, the Life of Abraham
| Lincoln, before referred to. and four pop
ular faces. The Parlor Car. The Sleeping
Car, The Register and The Elevator.
Those who have read Mr.. Howells-
and who has not for his books are large
| " called for abroad as well as at home
upon reading thus much of his history and
life. may perhaps ask as to the why of all
his grea: appreciation and success at the
hands of the reading world. To this we
may safely say that the foundations of this
| well earned fame are built of the simple
| facts of his writing from an American
standpoint. and while looking at his char
acterizations through American spectacles
and with ewes that look into his subject
matter without any OF the blemishes that
arise from near sIghtedness or moral or
mental strabi SINUS of any kind.
He works field in which he is pre- en-
inently at home-that of social 'ife-and
is content to leave the highways and by
ways of miscellaneous literary labor for
others to experiment with as best they
may He handles what he knows he can
10 1x and bapoo
time in seeking out labyrinthlan paths
which NAV lead somewhere and may not.
Personally, MIR. Howell scouts the idea of
| literary inspiration, and in this respect
differs a little from other folks. He even
goes so far as to erase the word genius
| from his vocabulary, as connected with
the work day life of his literary efforts.
| Upon being asked once, how he reconciled
this theory with his own position, he re-
plted simply, that he had literary bent
and that the rest was done by hard work,
failing to recognize the simple but impor
tant fact, that that literary bent" is the
very element of genius, which with him
passes for something else.
Mr.. Howels writes methodically, svs-
tematically and consciously. He devotes
the morning hours to writing and gener-
ally completes at one sitting. what would
fill an ordinary page of Good Housekeep-
ing. He grasses, re-wrltes and re-arranges
his manuscript with great care and much
elaboration. and his proof sheets are a
terror to printers, into whose hands his
manuscript happens to fall. Of late years,
he prefers, and does, when circumstances
will admit, re-write his work in full. He
gives his afternoons and evenings to read
ing, conversation. driving. walking or any
of the ordinary duties of every day life,
and is always chatty, sensible, unasSum-
ing and delightful in conversation. He
says that he has never written book vet
simply for the sake of writing something
for somebody to read. but always with the
purpose of giving his readers something
to think about, that should be useful and
profitable to them and to the world as
well. He has no hobbies OF politics or
religion. and no mastering affiliations
other than those which his profession as a
writer bring him in the world of business
and his pleasant domestic relations hold
tor him. He Is president of one social
club and member of another. enjoys lun-
cheons and small dinner parties where the
feast of reason and the flow of SOUL
| dDOuI1u. Uul IL IS UDl CARRIED away captive
by the follies and foibles of what is known
as fashionable society life. He has a
charming home on Beacon street, Boston,
where, with his little family of wife. son
and two daughters, in their teens. he lives
costly and comfortably, and the days come
and ge to him serenely and satisfactorily.
His has been. is still. and ever will be,
an industrious life. He would not be w.
d. Howells in idleness. in riotous living
or in the role of literary lion and moth
ing more. He has won his place bv his
literary bent" and by constantly narrow
ing the circle of that "bent' by his habits
of industry, his methods of application
and his logical perseverance. The gen
ius' which he ignores gave him what a
writer not long since said of him. dds.
cernment of new drift in thought and
affairs; drift which is bringing the we'll
being OF the common people into promi-
hence" This writer calls it drift" and
Mr.. Howells. may. perhaps, call it litter
airy bent" but we call it "genius''-a
genius of brains and a soul of sense. rec
ognlzing the solemn fact that brains with
out hands are but a poor dependence tor
subsistence in this work-day world. The
same writer just quoted said of Mr.. How
ellis at the time of his leaving the editorial
chair of the Atlantic Monthly, for the