The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-15
A GREAT LIVING WRITER.
William Dean HOWellS and His Re-
maTkabIe Novels.

The Book IN Which he PAINTED HIM
self
New York, April 14.-William Dear
Howells, novelist, poet, playwright, how
ever divided critics may be concerning
the merits Of his books, mas been put by
the public into place with James FEM
more Cooper. Washington Irving, Long
fellow, Whittier and Holmes, the only
other Americans whose literary work
has been deemed bright and clear enough
to fit them to shine among the worlds
first literary lights. The most important
man is the man who forces from the pub
lie the most extensive recognition. The
sale of Mr. Howells' novels grows greater
with each year. The most important
bookseller in New York told me
the other day that the call for
''The Wedding Journey''-the first Of
MIR. Howells' novels-had been heavier
during the last twelve months than dur
ing the same periods in 1s92-'93, and that
should the publishers see fit to issue a
worthy edition of the book steadily in
creasing sale might be expected. The
present edition is printed from half worn
out plates, and with illustrations so bad
that there might better be no pictures at
all. OF 1.-THE Rise of Silas Lapham," ga
Hazard of New Fortunes" THE Minis
ter's Charge" and "a Modern Instance"
he said that no other novels in his store,
printed at an equally remote date and
written by any American, save Gen. Lew
Wallace's 'Ben-Hur," had so steady and
large sale.
1t is entirely safe to say that Mr.. How
ellis is the greatest living American nov
elist, and his admirers (and am one Of
them think that twenty years hence he
will be much more important than he is
now.
So much for the popularity of Mr.. How
ellis fiction. A word should be said of its
unpopularity. That is scarcely less
marked in its characteristics. The re-
mark of critic TO me few weeks ago
was: There is no middle ground with
Howells-people think him either a mas
ter or an ass" That is literally true
The very large reading public which dis
likes his books can see no good in them
whatever. One of the most cultivated
and meB tally fnegrained men l ever
knew, said to me the other day: II
don't like Howells l read the first half
of The Rise of Silas Lapham' as it APP
peared in the Century Magazine and
stopped, greatly comforted by the fact
that while l might be forced to go out on
rainy days, lie for some portion of my
life i'll in bed, serve on juries and deny
myself many good things, nothing could
ever make me finish The Rise OF Silas
Lapham.'" Perhaps this is as good an
evidence of the novelists importance as
the other. Everybody that reads in
America knows about Howells, and likes
or dislikes him There is none TO whom
he is unknown.
The man who has aroused all this liter
airy sentiment is not physically impress
i've. de is slightly below the average
hight, and 10 use an artists term, which
he utilities frequently in describing char
acters in his stories, his figure is tout of
drawing" His head and shoulders are
much too large for the lower part of his
body The first time l ever saw Mr..
Howells he was sitting in theater box.
Only the upper third of the novelist was
visible. From it imagined that he was
a man very little less than six feet tall.
After the play had ended DELAYED nv
departure so that | might see him as he
went out. As he stepped through the
door of the box into the auditorium his
small stature, after my expectations of
might, was a genuine shock to me.
But however disappointing the legs of
MIR, Howells may be, there is no question
about his head. 1t is magnificent. It's
LLdoS4NGnOSo 10 u great comfort
to his admirers The thin, gray hair,
carefully combed, does not hide, but ac-
centuates its gratifying outlines. II
DROPS forward little as if from its own
weight.
The face is less easy to describe. The
years have cut deep lines into it. The
brow is overhanging and the cheeks come
up TO meet 1t, so that most of the time his
eyes seem more deeply set than thew
really are. 1t is an embarrassing face
and one which It is very hard to arouse
to animation. Most of the time that
have seen it, 1t has worn look of discon-
certing WEAKNESS, which l am told is
habitual.
Mr.. Howelps voice is pleasant. but
sometimes too low for the listeners per-
sonal comfort; his words, however, are
always clearly enunciated. He lives in
one of the great apartment houses on Fiji
ty-ninth street, Central Park, and his
study, which is chiefly occupied bv a
great desk, Is the principal room of his
fiat. For comfort, he says he should pre-
fer life in smaller city, but the advan-
tages which New York offers to him in
his work are worth the discomfort which
any prosperous human animal, not a
money king, must find here. His family
consists OF his wife, daughter and a
son, the latter being now a student of
architecture at the Beaux-Arts in Paris
His life in Venice and Italy, which covered
several years of his young manhood. gave
him love of soft, semi-tropical climates
and he might have once liked to go abroad
to 1--we, but he will probably never do so.
have read everything he has written
and a great deal that has been written
about him, and am his sincere aduirer
The trend OF his recent thought seems
to have been political. His Letters of a
Traveller from Altruria" in the Cosmo-
politan Magazine and one or two review
articles have shown that, and various
newspaper articles attributing socialists
and even anarchistic theories to him have
been written. To guess that he believes
that the ideal political DEVELOPMENT
is along socialistic lines is reasonabIe
because of what he has written
himself. But to say that he is an
archistic is as sensible as was the theme
of an article lately printed which claimed
that Mr.. Howells literary ambition had
been tred-even originated-by Henry
James. Mr.. Howells had laid the founda-
tions of success before he had ever read
anything by Mr.. James and before any-
thing of Importance had been published
over that deserving Americans name IL
was said that Mr.. Howells' Lady of the
Arostookn was an answer to Mr.. jones
Daisy Miller which was nonsense
But, Notwithstanding MIR. Howells' evil
dent interest in politics. there is no sub
Ject on which he is so unwilling TO talk