Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-07-31
rAgIR eEr NAMES N PRINT.



Under Mons do Plume,
lchicago Herald.l
The practice Of writing under an as
sumed name, said one OF the attendants
at the public library 10 reporter, has
been made use OF fron the earliest times.
Authors, from modesty or other reasons,
have hidden their identity by using
fictitious names. The story of Beowuh,
the first known composition in English,
was written anonymously, and the GUS
tom Is still common one with all degrees
OF genius from the crossroads scribbler
to Sir Walter Scott and Washington Irv.
ing. The reasons for putting a book
before the public under a pseudonym
may be because Of fear that critic and
pnblic will roughly handle the first
attempts of an obscure author. The
history of literature shows that the best
judges have often boon deceived in
their opinions on new composition,
and young writers recall the reception
offered to Cartoons best pieces il
Farm Ballads" holding latent belief
that theirs may turn out 40 fortunate.
Another idea among writer's is that
the anonymous work piques curiosity
and raises speculation, thereby bringing
the book prominently before the public.
Most Of the great novels were written
under mons de plumes Irying's first
efforts appeared under the name
of Knickerbocker, and the novels
OF Sir Walter Scott created the
greatest discussion by being signed
"By the Author OF Waverly." Humor-
lists use name that is in itself Jest,
such as Petroleum Y. Nasty by Locke,
Josh Billings by Shaw, Artemus Ward,
manager Of wax figures" by Browne;
Mark Twain by the irresistible Clemens,
Uncle Remus by the southern negro dia-
lect author Harris, and the recently
known to fame Orpbeus @. Ker office
seeker by the funny writer Newell.
Had the author Of the Junius letters
made known his identity, the many
books written and warm discussions
argued would never have boen put forth
to discover the authorship OF the ia
mous classic. BENJAMIN franklin's en-
trance into print was made anonymously.
The mon in the printing Office where he
was serving as an apprentice were ac-
customed to put in short articles in the
paper, and the comments they made on
one another aroused him to feeling OF
emulation. Very carefully writing an
article in a disguised hand, he slipped il
in under the door of The New England
Courant, which paper his brother
printed, and awaited the next morn
ing.
They read it and commented upon
it in my hearing" says Franklin, sand
I, had the exquisite pleasure of finding
that it met their appreciation, and that
in their different guesses at the author,
none were named but some character
among us for learning and ingenuity. y
Artemus Ward was another printers
devil whose first appearance In public
print was by slyly slipping in contri
button into the editorial box. After
joyfully seeing it accepted and set up in
| type he went up and down the streets,
and, as he said; II thought | was the
greatest man in Boston" No such feel
ing OF happy emotion has ever been ex
perienced by any great writer as the
appearance in print Of the first poem OF
story, written generally anonymously
The late finding Of "Mr, Charles
Egbert Cr2ddock," the now famous
author of in the Tennessee Noun
tains" and Where the Battl,
Was Fought" to be a woman
recalls to mind similar instance O.
mistaken sex in an anonymous writer
When Charlotte Bronte appeared at tn,
house of the publishing firm that had &C
cepted and printed ''Jane Eyre" ant
announced herself as its author, sh
was met with incredulity, and witnesse
had to be brought In to prove tina
Currer Bell and Charlotte Bronte wer
one. '
dickens wrote his first articles for the
, London papers under the pseudonym 0
! Boz. Everybody in Boston knew tn
author of tho Bigelow papers, but Jane
| Russell Lowell was known more widel,
as Bigelow than he was as the poet
Thousands who have been charme,
with the graceful English of Georg
William Curtis know him only as ''Eas
Chair" Eli Perkins is another nam
for Melville D. Landon; Labouchere
the London editor, formerly signe,
many of his articles "Besieged Resi-
dent;" G. G. Coffin, the war correspond
ent, wrote his picturesque war paper
: and juvenile books with the nom d
plume of Carleton,