Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-15
GOSSIP FROM BOOKLAND.

n tonanee may be defined as netlon representing human life, while a novel .is a romance of human life, regarding particularly the average of manners customs and social usages." Still fur- ther a romance deals with the heroic' the extraordinary and the picturesque, while novel portrays the commonplace, and with these differences well in mind 1t becomes very interesting to trace and analyze the genesis of modern prose fic- ton from Scott, the greatest or TO- mancers, to William Dean Howells, the typical writer of novels. Between these extremes arises Anthony Hope as man who loves the days of old, when knights were boldi-a charming romancer. pure and simple He seems to have a never failing flow of chivalry, and those who have read "A Man of Mark" and The Prisoner of Zenda" have grown very fond of the romantic adventure, which appears to be his particular fancy. De- casionaIly he stops to dash off a captious burst of modern society, as the Dolly Dialogues" but he soon returns, and now he gives us "Chronicles of Count Anto- nio" which is worthy of his former ef- forts. No wonder the sword is given so conspicuous a place in the quaint bind ing. for that weapon plays a most i'm: portant share of the story's action. An tonic is a veritable Rob Roy Macgregor who Is baniShed from his native town of Firmosa, the capital of an imaginary republic in Italy, to the Italian moun- tains during medieval times, all for the love of beautiful woman. who spends the intervening five years weeping at easements for her true love, while he has no end of opportunities of punishing traitors, aiding in subduing rebellions manifesting his nobility and patriotism in a variety of ways. We have an anus ing number of hairbreadth escapes when he seized the sacred bones of St. Prisian, when he harbored the beautiful but dangerous spy. Lady Venusta, and in his visit to the Wizard of Baratesta, where in using the drug we enjoy most apropos exhibition of hypnotism. After about seven of these thrilling and roman tic episodes our conquering hero is per mtted to return to Firmosa and to marry Lady Lucia, who had, of course, been strictly true"
 Anthony Hope Hawkins, for that is his full name, is a barrister of the Middle temple. He was born at Hackney a suburb of London, in 1863. His father is a well-known clergyman in London and his cousin Chief Justice Hawkins. When but 13 years of age he first proved the quality of his ability by gaining scholarship in Marlborough college. From here he passed on to Balliol college in Oxford, and won a Balliol scholarship That was In 1881.
 q enjoyed my varsity life immensely, and I look back on rooms in Balliol as the place where. perhaps. my happieSt hours were spent. I worked for my ex- amlnations and I played games, but 1 never wrote. I did not even write poetry; indeed, I rarely read poetry. I played hard and got into the Balliol fifteen, and helped my college to beat all the other colleges for two years running .lrxr .-t.1 a11r fr. fifteen was the famous Rotherham, who played for all England. Besides football, I went in for running. and won the hun dred yards and the quarter of a mile I did not boat, and. beyond lounging about in a tub, achieved nothing on the river. I left Oxford in 1886 and came up to. London and read law at Lincoln's Inn and the Middle temple, living quietly at home with my people and hoping for nothing but fairly successful career at the bar For the first two years l got very little work, so that it impressed other source for increasing my income. It was then that I began to write. In 1889 I wrote my first book. novel enti- tied "A Man of Mark l wrote it pretty quickly, although I had had no experi- ence in writing, and without feeling any particular effort. I produced the book at my own expense and published it on commission. It was not financial suc- cess at the time. do not think, however that shall lose by it. as l have brought fl out again this year"
 Then followed a lot of short stories which the publishers returned and the author destroyed.
 His next book was Father Stafford" This was written in 1S90 T hawked it about amongst the publishers for long time in vain. At last Messrs. Cassell took it and brought it out as a six shil- ling book After I had written Half a Hero I wrote The Prisoner of Zenda, and, history having always fascinated me, fashioned it in the form of an his torlcal novel. That is to say historical in one sense, for it is really modern story of incident. the scene of which is laid in an imaginary republic. It was published by Arrowsmith, and at first went slowly. But the reviews were fla forable. and did much for it. and once it had got a start 1t went ahead.
 q vary greatly in my work" he says. Books of character take me a longer time; incidents come quicker. That, at least is my own personal experience"
 Encouraged by his successes, Anthony Hope gave up the bar in the spring of 1894 and decided in the future to devote himself to literature.
 Although the sprightly Dolly Dia- 1ogues" have been much enjoyed, as well as "The Indiscretions of the Duchess" 'I1e PflS0ner or Zenud yet TemalnS HIS favorite, most creditable and widely known work. This story, written by one young Englishman and dramatized by another, Edward Rose, an ex-actor, has been wonderfully popular in New York, and has added another role to the sue cessful actor, F. H. Sothern. The book loses in force and dramatic beauty, and there are many changes in the dramatic version, though all altera tlons and omis- sions in "Zenda" were approved or sug- gested by MT. Hope.
 Kate Douglas Wiggin. the author of the charming stories, "The Birds Christ mas Carol" The Sory of Patsy and "A Cathedral Courtship," has written a new work, which has just been pub lished, entitled "The Village Watch Tower" This volume contains short stories, several of which have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly.
 The initial story, under the quaint title of "The Village Watch Tower" is an ex- cellent and vivid study of New England life in the village. In many respects it portrays the same elements of truthful ness and nearness to the throbbng heart of humanity which characterize the work of Miss Wilkin in dealing with the stern earnest New England folk.