The times., 1898-07-17
MR.. sTocKToN,s AMUSEMENT.
How n Popular Author Apnlyxes His
Literary Kind.

ts'. . Literary Kind.
Mr.. Frank r. Stockton does not believe
that all men are equal in the eye of the
literary law. The books of his fellow
authors are by him read. relished and
then, both the volume and its maker are
if they secure in any degree his interest
and admiration. severely classified.
1t is one of the amusements of Mr..
Stockton's leisure hours to register au-
thors and their works in any one of the
degrees. from the first TO the fourth, in
which, according TO his judgment he
thinks they belong On top of his COM
Portable residence, at Convent Station,
n. j., isa glass house in which the author
of The Rudder Grange" delights to
play. Here is his precious collection of
writer's portraits and little biographies
and anecdotes concerning them. which
he has clipped from newspapers. maga-
zines. etc. Not every visitor TO the
Stockton home is carried up here by the
master thereof and allowed to enjoy its
eccentric charm. Those to whom this
privilege is granted come down amused
and delighted and not little instructed
by what they see. for 1t is a pleasant
thing to know how an able author esti-
mates his contemporaries.
On one side of this glass house are
ranged the authors who stand first in
Mr.. Stocktons estimation. On the next
side are placed those who iali little be-
low the highest standard, then come
writers in the third degree of his affec-
ton and occupying the third side of the
room, while small group take on the
fourth place and the fourth wall. Rob
ert Louis Stevenson, Dumas and Kipling
are found well up in the first rank, for
| even among his prize poets and authors
there are some that take precedence, and
as rising genius develops and puts forth
| new books his picture and biography
! moves back and forth.
Sometimes a man or a woman will get
! a place only in the third rank. ON the
| strength of first good work. and as
| time goes on, they may climb up into sec
ond or even into the arst grade, or rap
| idly retire into the list of the fourth
class after having been cautiously ad
vanced. There are those who may dis
! agree with Mr.. Stockton in his literary
1 judgment, and may fail to find on the
! walls of the glass house names and faces
that make a great stir in the world of
| books. none the less his system is both
interesting and amusing.
| but lntFe are GLASSES Within CadSSESs dll
| observer will find as ne examines the
! Stockton Literary Menagerie For ex-
! ample, there is a collection of men who
| write and do things besides, of which Mr..
Stockton is very proud. Here are seen the
faces of DR.. Wier Mitchell. Hopk!nson
! Smith Capt Mahan, Richard Watson
! Glider Edmund Clarence Steadman and
! Edward F. Hale over against these
| stand the men in whom Mr. Stockton be-
I ripe enough for an Olympian position on
the honor side of the wall. owen Wister
Richard II. Davis, Stephen Crane, Ste
| phen Bensal and a half dozen others are
here.
Down in his weIl-filled library the books
of many men further attest to the inde-
| pendence of Mr.. StOckton's literary taste
and his love of classification. In one case
are gathered all the volumes that their
authors have ever presented. with their
signatures, to the Stockton household
They. are a precious collection of auto
graphs alone In the other book cases
a wonderfully variegated array Of bind
ing are displayed and Mr. Stockton hast
ems to assure the visitor that he never
cold-bloodedly goes forth and buys up Z
neat complete edition of an author. /
| he reads a volume and likes it, he vii
! promptly purchase, but he cares not {
pin whether the book is clothed in greer
or blue, whether il is in one or two vol
umes and whether its dress accords witt
other works he possesses by the SAM
writer There are but two mel
whose every written word he suf
ficiently loved TO buy and keep. They ar
Robert Louis Stevenson and Charlie.
Dickens. while Of Thackeray's works h
cares only to. possess one or two volumes
All the Others he has read, but has neve
|, found them sufficiently sympathetic t
guarantee purchase and houseroom, anC
to warrant ownership Of a volume. Mr.
Stockton feels he must love ii for it
, individual self, and for the joy he cal
extract by constant association with it.