The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-01-10
MR.. BOK'S LITERARY GOSSIP
He Visits Boston and Finds that the
Town Is Buying More Books than Ever.
A Practical Husband Useful Adjunct to Q
Literary WOman's Success-Boston Type Of
Literary Women-Some Fresh Gossip.

is heard now and then about our literary
centers, and the subject Is never brought
up but some one is prone to lament about
the loss of Boston's literary element A
week ago made flying visit to the East
ern sea-board town, and took particular
pains. by careful inquiry and observation.
to try and ascertain Just to what extent
Boston is actually losing Its supremacy as
q literary center.
One needs TO go to Boston and mingle for
few days among the literary people, /
think, to see how utterly groundless is this
talk of loss of literary supremacy. had
this truth forcibly impressed upon me at q
literary reception. which happened during
my stay in the city. No city in America,
am frank to state-and am as loyal New
Yorker. / think. as there is in Gotham
could have brought together such an as
semblage of literary people. There were
two parlors filled with men and women.
each one of whom had national
reputation in literature or in art.
Ones hand was grasped continuously
by fingers that had held pens which
made fame for their owners. Bralny men
and women abounded on every side. and
for three hours one of the most brilliant
literary receptions Imaginable continued
without interruption. DIR. Holmes was
worth Higginson was the centre of an in
teresting group; Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Ward had come In from Newton; Margaret
Deland was greeted everywhere; Phillips
Ward Howe brought her talented daughter.
Maud Howe Elliott; Alice Freeman Palmer
dropped in for few moments; Edward
Bethany was q conspicuous figure; college
professors seemed to be all over the rooms;
Sarah Orne Jewett and Louise Chandler
Moulton were represented by cards, owing
to family Affections; Mrs. Adellne ID. L.
Whitney came early in the evening; Whit
tiers card lay on q table. and this 10 but
sample of q literary group in Boston lit
erary home. Few cities could have brought
together such q gathering. and yet many
were missing.
BOSTON AS A READING TOWN.
So far as Boston as reading city 10 con-
cerned its literary growth is perceptible
by the best tests. No city is buying so
many books to-day az is Boston; the big
gest consignments of books which leave
the New York publishing houses are d.
rected to Boston. Chicago and Philaael-
phia are considered excellent book
towns" but any book salesman will tell
you that Boston leads all In it's purchases
of books. The Boston Libraries are more
heavily stocked than at any time in their
history, and their mem berships, learned,
were larger than ever. All the popular
magazines have larger sales in Boston than
they did o year ago. and il Is one of the
best periodical subscription cities IN the
land. The output of books by the
Boston publishers was 20 per cent larger
last year than any previous year. These are
indlsputable facts about Boston's literary
growt b, which offset all the idle talk which
may be INDUCED in about her literary de-
cadency. Boston's greatest authors are
naturally dying OF; some OF Its authors
may move to other cities, but, as yet, no
city in this country has about it that liter-
airy tone, that literary influence and that
| literary atmosphere which still entities it
to It's appellaton of 1.-The literary center of
| America" New Yorks literary growth is
| undoubted; Philadelphia is fast throwing
| off it's literary stagnation; Chicago is de-
veloping q literary element IN it's midst
| which will soon direct attention towards 1t
from q literary stand point; but Boston is
still pre-eminent, as any fair-minded visitor
| TO the city must quickly admit.
HUSBANDS OF LITERARY WOMEN.
| Seeing Lorin Deland and Herbert Ward
ON one of Boston's streets. almost within q
| square of each other. suggested the pecul-
lar value which good. practical husband
| il to q literary woman. For some time
Mrs. Deland attended to the disposition OF
her own literary work. but latterly her
husband has commenced to deal with his
wife'ss editors and publishers; Herbert
| Ward has complete charge of the literary
| affairs of his wife. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
and all business arrangements are made
| through him. For many years DIR. Swan
Burnett attended to all the business affairs
of his wife, Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett
but her long residence abroad has thrown
| the business reIns back into her hands
Fortunately for the author of Little
Lord Fauntleroy," she Is an excellent
business woman. All of Anna Katharine
Green's work is sold through her business
like-husband, Charles Rohlfs, who man
ages his wife's literary and dramatic work
| to the best advantage. A practical business
| man is unquestionably a valuable adjunct
to a literary woman's success As rule she
has little knowl ledge of business methods
and values. and most literary women ut
| terly despise the business part of literary
transactions. AS one woman expressed i
publishers the anxiety to get as much fol
ones manuscripts as possible, the delvinG
into problems. which take more thought
and time than the writing of the book rep
literary work" And many literary WON
an Will echo this sentiment. The moral Il
unmarried literary women Is plain.
THE BOSTON TYPE OF WOMEN.
/ had friend from New York with me il
Boston who was q hdisappointed mar
because he did not meet the Boston CIR
with glasses, of whom he had read SO much
or the literary woman dressed in classica
gowns. The fact Is that Boston girls d,
not affect eyeglasses any more than do tn
girls of New York or Chicago. Nor doe
one meet the literary woman with tn,
proverbial classical gown in either q Bos
ton or Cambridge parlor. The literary
woman of eccentric dress OF mannerisms Il
as much back number" in Boston as sh
is in any other city. Affectatlon OF superio
knowledge ~ eccentric pronunciation
forms no more part of q Boston literar,
woman's conversation than it does of th,
New York woman. Her grammar is, as
rule, always perfect; her answers are some
times models of evasion. but in this she i
| not the superior of the cultivated womel
of any other of our large cities. The Bos
ton type of o literary woman is in fact
more q creature of the funny paragrapher'
imagination than reality. She is not dis
tinct in any sense from her sister in othe
cities. She is simply an American gentle
woman, and as such she is perfection.
LATEST LITERARY GOSSIP.
"They say that am blind. do theyfn sal
DE-. Oliver w endell Holmes to me in his i
brary few days ago. "Well. 1 can stan
twenty feet away from that case of book
and read the titles" And the young ps
ct walked ten PAGES away from his librar
and read title after title of books on hi
shelves 'That doesn't argue well for
blind man. now, does isP Iaughingly aske
the great poet
The Quaker poet Whittier. 1t must b