The San Francisco call., 1897-06-13

|
The Roxburghe tEngIand) Press is spending
nearly $4,000 on their new edition of
/ Dickens.
: bright little newspaper, the Indian Guide,
| is published at the Snoshone OYyo.) Agency,
| the editors, printers and all the rest being
! full-blooded redskins.
Mrs Julia Davies who died recently,at Gilt
ton at the advanced age of "a, was probably
the last survivor of the intimate friends of
Charles Lamb. Her father was Joseph Hume,
and in his house Lamb. Goodwin and Hazlitt
were the constant guests.
Mrs. Rose Hartwick Thorpe, author of the
poem, "Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight" is
still an occasional contributor to the press
Her home is in San Diego County, California
where she has lived for some years. Her
| famous poem was written when she was IL
years old.
Alexandra Dumas the younger is shortly to
| have his statue on the Place Malesherbes in
| Paris. Subscriptions already being col
! lected for the purpose, and as Dumas is a
| household name in France it should be less
difficult TO raise the money than II has un-
| fortunately been in the case of many other
distinguished Frenchmen.
Richard Mansfield is writing book. II is a
work he commenced merely for the pleasure
| of writing 1t and reading 1t to Mrs. Mansfield
and an intimate friend OF hers. The story de-
yelOped in Mr.. Mansfield's leisure moments
served to while away The time for some of the
favored mem bers OF his company on the
| train while they were travelling, and now he
has been advised to publish it.
An English writer asserts that there never
was any Grub street in London, the name hav-
| ing been invented by Alexander Pope. This
may be so, but the explanation offered,
| namely, that hungry authors became ident-
! fed with that street because they were always
| trying to find it," is as false it is fanciful
| The idea in the name was that OF grubbing,
| digging, hard Toll and research.
In 1899 Dean Swift bought a secondhand
! Eizevir, printed in Amsterdam in 1850. This
| volume the Dean gave to his friend, the Rev.
| Daniel Jackson, the Vicar OF Suntry, and the
date of the present was 1715. Jacksons
| friend was James Grattan, and in time his dis
tingulshed son, Henry Grattan, fell heir to the
| book. The precious volume. enriched with
| the four signatures OF its respective owners, is
now the treasure of p London bOok-lover.
There are said to be IN France 2I5O women
authors and Journalists ana about 700 women
artists. The provinces contribute most cf the
! writers--abOut two-thirds-while Paris is rep
resented in the same proportion among the
! artists Among the writers 1000 novel
lStS ZOO are poets, lou eQQcatl0naI writer's,
| aud the rest writers of various kinds The
artists comprise 107 scuIptors. and the others
are painters, ranging over all branches of the
pictorial art
The father of John Oliver Hobbies. who, in
private life is Mrs Craigie. has bought the
famous London review, The Academy. John
| Morgan Richards, as his full name reads, is
also proprietor of brand OF liver pills, and
deacon in the London Temple, DR.. Parket's
| churcn. The rumor that Mrs Craigie was 10
| be married again TO George Moore, the novel
ist was apparently without foundation. 1t is
authoritativey denied by writer in the Lon
| don Queen.
| 1t is not surprising to learn that the library
of the British India Office, now being cata-
! 1Ogued, contains the most complete collection
of Oriental literature in the world, as it re p
/ Iesents the aCcumu ulation since 1869 OF the
| East India Company which, founded in Queen
| EIizabeth's time a commercial concern for
| the exploitation of the East Indies, became,
! about 1900, regular department. of the Brit
| ish Government, {, superv sing the affairs of ali
! her Majestys Oriental colonies.
The longevity of literary men and women
| is above the average. Amelia Opie Miss
Edgeworth, Caroline Herschel, Mary Somer-
vile, Maria Mitchell, George Eliot, George
Sand, Harriet Mattineau, Harriet Beeeher
|
man, Fanny Kemble, Mrs. Emma Willard
Susan II. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and many other noted writer's and thinkers
have lived and worked far up into the sixties
seventies and eighties-New York Sun.
The Pnilis tine has just completed its fourth
volume, and the bound result is before us. AS
a mental laxative (not to say cathartic) it is
unsurpassed, and Dr.. Hubbard can be counted
on 10 administer more shocks in given time
than three static machines. The stff-necked
and unregenerate should give ear to the
dogma promulgated by the East Aurora School
of Philosophy, whose disciples resemble Solo
mons lilies in that they toll not, neither do
they spin, and whose doctrine certainly does
not "distil like the gentle rain upon the
grass"
That was good story that Mr.. Doxey told
recently OF the individual who inquired for a
work on book plates. (Which one do you
want? there iour or five"
"Oh, don't know; the fellow who asked
me for ii doesn't seem TO know himself" re-
piled the intelligent customer, "but il he'd
been apprenticed 10 old Bancroft like 1 was.
he'd know more about them. Why, do YOU
know, carried all the book plates OF Bancroft's
history 10 the top floor of the building. and
you can bet know enough Of them to suit
meV'
MI Glsdstone's letter on book-collecting has
set many comparisons afloat. The greatest
book-collector ever known, says the Westmia-
ster Gazette, was Richard Heber OF Hoduet
NJ. p. for Oxford University He had four i'm
mense libraries all purchased by himself-one
at Hodnet, his place in Shropshire (Which COL
lection sold after his dealh for $50, ,OOO) an.
other at Paris, third at Brussels and a
fourth at Amsterdam. Another great colIec-
tor, Thomas Grenville, collaled every book IN
his famous library, writing on the title page
OF each It's price and history. In his case
oook-collecting was taken up as cure for
broken heart, he having as young man had
hopeless passion fer Georgiana, Duchess OF
Devonshire.
The entire autograph OF Keats Endy mion
was sold al auction in England recently. 1t
came direct from a descendant OF Keats pub
Usher. and was then offered for the first time.
The manuscript, says the London Times,
comprises 1Sl leaves, and includes the four
books into ch the poem was divided. The
alters tions in pencil and pen are exceedingly
in teresting, and with the exception OF one
folio, the manuscript is entirely in the beaut-
fully clear and neat handwriting of the poet"
In addition to E ;dymion, the same sale in
cluded also from the same source the auto
graph manuscript of Lamia, which covers
twenty-six pages folio. Both the manuscripts
bear the usual instructions 10 the printer"
and are consequently the actual "copy" from
which the poems were set up.