The morning times., 1896-10-18
AUTHOR OF TITUS.
Her Book Has Had a Sale of More
than a Million Copies.

Her Book f1aS ftad Sale of More
Than a Million Copies.
In one Of the fine old manor houses of
Staten lsand considerably back from the
village street, and deeply embosomed d in
very forest OF foliage, lives and works Mrs
Florence Morse Kingsley, author of those
two phenominally successful books, Titus
and stephen"
1t was just at the close OF golden Sep
tember day that l walked up TIE gravel
path TO the broad piazza, where Mrs. Kings
ley. surrounded by family friends, was
watChingthe las splen ndors of da Wight fade
from placid Kill van Kull, and the glowing
heights beyond. As l approached Mrs.
Kingsley arose to greet me, and after
briefly calling my attention to the ex-
treme beauty of the view, Sraciuusly con
ducted me into the more e&clusi We ENVIRON
ment Of her library and workshop Here /
found IN yseif visa Wis to a charming woman,
rather below the medium height, with gol-
den brown hair, waving gently frrm n fine
high forehead, beautifully arcied eye
brows, and wide-opcn, intelligent, kind
eyes. There was II flush OF color in her
checks, and when the well-moided lips
parted In a smile. they but revealed the
further charm OF unusually firm, white
re~ular teeth. Her manners, too, We're SO
genial simple nd sincere that in their easy
atmosphere 1t scene ed but moment before
/ was asking:
And what had been your literary train
ing and experience previous to writing
'Titus?'"
Nothing beyond the ordinary work of
-, Il id
Kingsley. Titus is the first story that
l ever wrote for publication. You per
haps know that in s91 a publishing com
pany offered a purse OF 81 900 for the
best story submitted 10 them. embodying the
life OF Christ. The largest liberty was al
lowedas to plot. it being only stipulated that
the style should be simple and plain. and
that the imaginary characters should be
brought into intimate relations with Christ
and His disciples. This Manuscript Can'
was sent me by n favOrite uncle. DR.. James
ii. Ecob. with the words, You must write
this scrawled across.
- oh. but that Is quite out OF the ques
tion,' declared, as / glanced at the little
pamphlet, Il could not write it anyway,
and. besides, l haven't the time and cast
the paper aside without further Considera-
ton. l suppose. however, that my sub
consciousness must have gone immediately
to work, for thought OF ii would recur to
me from time to time, when suddenly one
morning at 4 O'Clock l awoke with the
clearly conceived plot of Titus in nay
mind. l had begun with the thief on the
cross. and worked backward to the begin
ming OF the story. Where it all came From
is perhaps more OF mystery to me than
to another. The following Monday l be-
gan, and in exactly eight weeks she book
was finished" -a....-
But did you have to do no preparatory
reading?"
II read enormously while writing, of
course. But I can't help feeling that in a
way Titus was an ninspired book. l seemed
to vividly see the places l portrayed. l
would often read chapters to my mother,
and in all sincerity inquire, Where does 1t
come FROM By the way, hardly know
myself how much owe to my mothers en-
couragemcnt. She was so in sympathy
with my work and constantly exclaimed
while read, That's book! That's a book!'
There Were 377 MSS. sent to the publish
ers, and after several weeks of arduous
labor, the committee decided in favor of
Titus"
And do you mean to say that the 81 900
prize was all that you ever received from
book which has had the unprecedented
sale Of over a million copies?"
"Ycs; but that is all right. 1t was
perfectly straightforward business ar
rangcment, and. OF course, all tue cir
cumStances made it great advertise
ment for Inc, and opened the way for
whatever else 1 may write. l have now
more demands from publishers than / can
possibly fill.
"Your publishers must have made enor-
nous profits from tue sale of the book?"
Indeed, hope so. But / 90 not know;
they were cheap editions, you must re-
member. But somehow have cared very
little about the money side of Titus
When l was writing it, it was the story
rather than the prize that allurcd me; and
Since its publication. have had my reward
in nthchUndreds of ettersthatI have received
from old men and children, young maids and
matronS, black men and white. scientific
men and iiliterate miners. Men SO ignorant
that they can scarcely write or spell,
have scrawled letters thanking me for the
message that Titus carried to their Sin
stricken souls. The story has seemed to
find its way amongst a class of people
who never read the Bible. Perhaps You
would like TO see the various editions Of
my first book that have been sent me
(opening little cabinet,.
Here are specimens of three different
f nglish editions. A nd see this pretty
Swedish copy; aud isn't the Spanish one
unique and Interesting? Then there are
the German, French, and Italian. 1t has
also been translated into Hindu, and 1
hear from my publisher that it is now
being put into Japanese"
But, Mrs. Kingsley, your mind must
have long been preparing for the work
That epoch, those countries and charac-
tiers must have always appealed to you,
to give you your mastery grasp of the
subject?"
"ob, yes. From a child I have been
deeply interested in church history and
was always stuientof the Bible. No other
country ever had the hold over my ina gina
tion that Egypt has had. I find, too, that
my studies in art have been OF inesti.
mable value to me in my literary work"
You have regularly adopted literature as
a nrnfocoir,r hor vnu pnf Mro