Evening star., 1896-10-08

gall became a victim of an affection of the
heart. and Du Maurier has gone the same
way AT the zenith of his popularity the
author has succumbed to the heart trou-
DIe from which he always suffered his
suffering being accentuated by the con-
slant succession of exciting incidents in
which the closing few months of his life
were spent Checks rained in upon him as
lis old heart trouble increased. This, COM
phcdtei by an affection of the lungs took
him off"
a sketch of Du Manrfer.
George Louis PaImella Busson du Maurier
was the son of Frenchman who was born
in England, where his parents fled to es-
cap" the revolution. The Du Mauriers were
glassblowers in Anjou. Du Maur!er's moth
er was an EngIishwoman. and the child
who y as destined to have such an influence
on the art and literature of his time was
bern in Paris March q. 1884, at q little
hCuse in the Cha mps Elysees In 1886 Du
NaurIers 5 parents took MIN to Belgium. and
when he was five years old the family re-
moved 10 London. where they lived in a
house aftcrward occupied by Charles Dick
ers- The elder Du MaurIer was evidently
OF rowing disposition. because he sool
tired of England, and moved 10 Roulogne
AT the age of thirteen Du Maurier went to
sCroul to n man famed Froussard but he
aid not distinguish himself. being refused
his haccalaureate degree when he was sew
entren years of age. His mother was much
v ard Du Maurler's father wrote for him to
co;nc to England. where he was then en-
Eag"d In scientific pursuits and invention
ana Du M4ur!er was put a pupil at the
+ rbeck chemical laboratory of the I-niyer-
s-ty College. where he studied chemistry
under Dr. Williamson. He took no interest
IN hls work here. however, and spent al
most ALI OF his time drawing caricatures;
utilizing his evenings practicing his voice
hdViEg been enthusiastic in his belief in
his own muscal powers.
He Adopts Art as n Profession
Du Maurier's father died in 1886 and the
young man returned to Paris to live with
his mother They We're very poor, and the
future looked anything but propitious.
WREN the son determined to follow art as
a profession. Accordingly. he entered
GleyEe's studio, which he has described in
Irioy His companions in his Quarter
Latin days were Whistler POINTER La
mont. Armstrong and others
In 1907 he went to Antwerp. where he
worked in the Antwerp Academy under
Van Lorius and De Keyser II was in the
studio OF the former that Du Maurier sud
denly lost the sight of his left eye He was
drawing from a mode! when he found his
vision was affected. The fear of total
blindness beset him constantly. but in 1S5Y
a specialist in Dusseldorf said he had no
reason TO fear losing the sight of the other
eye.
Ir 1SGa Du Maurier went to London
telling his mother. who gave him ten
pounds to pay his expenses there that he
should never ask her for another penny.
a promise he faithfully kept. He lodged
In Newman street with Whistler and after-
ward movsd to Earrs Terrace He began
contributing to Once a Week and Pinch
~ first drawing in the latter publica-
ton appearing in June 1850, AMI repre-
sentCd Whistler and himself going out of
q photographers studio His success as a
caricaturist was instantaneous from the
outset.
He was married in 1Sf3 and recently said
that he had never known unhappiness since
save on account of his eyes. The Jokes in
Punch We're mostly his own. but good
many were sent to him, which he twisted
ana turned into FORM Postlethwaite. Bun
thorHe, Mrs. PonSonby. Tomkyns Sir Geor-
seous Miias and the other characters as
soc-ated with his drawings were, however
all his own creations.
Du Maur.ers success as a novelist was
as sudden and as unexpected to him as his
success as a car.caturist.
How He Began Novel Writing,
He was walking one evening with Henry
James up and down the High street in
Bayswater- James said he had great diff
fculty in finding plots for his stories
"Plots!' exclaimed Du Maurier, Il am
full of plots" and he went on to tell him
sAe plot OF "Trilby-" But you ought
to write that story" cried James Il
can't write" he said. II have never writ
ten III you ike the plot so much you
may take it But James would not take
it; he said it was too valuable a present,
and that Du Maurier must write the story
himself.
on reaching home that night he set to
work. and by the next morning had writ
ten the first two numbers of Peter Ibbet-
soa. He thought 1t must be poor stuff,
and determined to look for an omen to
learn whether any success would attend
this new departure. So he walked out
into the garden. and the very first thing
that he saw was large wheelbarrow,
ana that comforted him and reassured me.
for there was a wheelbarrow in the first
chapter of Peter Ibbetson."
Some time later he was dining with Pub
Usher OSgood. and he said he heard Du
Maurier was writing stories. and asked
to let him see something So Peter Ib-
betson" was sent over to America and was
accepted al once Then "Trilby' followed,
and the boom came, a boom which
surprised him immensely. for he never
took himself seriously as novelist
Much of Du Maurier's childhood life Is
related in Peter Ibbetson," and mis- school
life is written in his new novel, THE
Martians."