The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-08-18
A Talk with DR.. Max Nordau at
His Own Home.
TRAVELLED OVER EUROPE.
BEGAN TO WRITE AT THE AGE OF
FIFTEEN.
his Personal Appearance and His
Why of Life-A Glimpse Mt the
Life of tile Great European Lit
eruteur.
Copyright, 1895, by S. s. Mcclure,
LimiteG)

LimiteG)
PARIS, August, 1895.
Air and light are all the luxuries
one can hope for in city"
1t was Max Nordau who said this as
drawing aside the curtains of the win
dows of his sitting-room. he pointed
out into the broad and sunny avenue
de Villiers.
This apartment is situated in the
house, No. "a, of this most fashionable
of Partisan avenues, and is on the first
hoor just above wine shop. Opposite
is the palatial abode of the late Meis-
sonnier, and in the neighborhood are
the studios of many other celebrated
artists
On little plat on the door Of the
apartment are the words: Or. Max
NcrdaU,' for although the author of
Degeneration" is an artist also, his
primary occupation is that of work
ing physician.
L spend my days. he says, Sin pay
ing visits to my clients and in receiy-
ing visitors. In the intervals [ attend
to my journalistic duties, for I am the
Paris correspondent of the Vossische
ZeltunS oG Berlin, and / also contribute
the Franl1furter Zeitung, writing
on all subjects. 1t is not till after din
ner, that is to say, about half-past
eight, that / sit down to my table to
write my books. [ then work till eleven
o'clock or midnight, as the inspiration
goes"
One waits for Max Nordau in the
drawing room, which looks out on the
Avenue de Villiers by two windows,
and is furnished in yellow satin. On
the mantlepiece is a bust of the di-
rector of a Partisan musical society,
La Trornpette, and on the walls are
some oil paintings, including three por-
traits of Max Nordau, his mother and
his younger sister, who form the fam
ily. There is a piano heaped up with
music between the two windows; and
the whole impression is that of the
sunny and cheerful sitting room of
middle class people of simple and I'M
pretending tastes. The one circum-
stance that reminds one that he is here
III the abode of an anthropologist of
no mean distinction is that on a large
table in the centre of the room are two
piles of portraits of various people of
fame and in high social position, is
sued as supplements to a London
weekly periodical. II like to study
faces" says Max Nordau; and that
is why he has collected these other
Wise pTSSenIIQeuIS.
The doctors consulting room and
study adjoinS the drawing room. 1t is
a corner room and has three windows
in it. Against the window, which is
let into the corner of the house, stands
Max Nordau's desk, which is covered
with books and papers in some disor-
der. There is a portrait of a friend in
a frame, thermometer and pile of
exceedingly thin foreign note paper.
The large inkstand is filed with violet
ink, and in the pen tray lie pens of ex-
ceeding fnenesS. There is a book case
to Max Nordau's left and another to
his right, as he sits at his table The
book case to his left is entirely filled
with copies of the various editions and
translations of his various books. In
the book case to the left are diction-
aries books of reference, medical
works, and, in the place of honour,
dedicatory copies of Lombroso's trea-
tises.
''Lombroso and are great friends
he says, though we do not agree on
ali points,
Max Nordau's study is that of a
working man of letters, but it is
not altogether without the parapherna-
liza of a medical man. On a little table
by the window to the left are various
surgical instruments, forceps, test
tubes and such, whilst in front of the
book case TO the right is a long couch
for patients to lie upon.
Though only forty-six years of age,
the author of Degeneration" has
white hair and white beard and whis-
kers. Not that he looks an old man;