The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-03
LITERARY NOTES.

lola received the sum of s16 for his first
book; for IL Assommoir' he received
$4,000.
There is another biography in prospect
that Of William Morris, which will be writ
ten by his friend, Mr.. J. W. Mackail.
According to the Academy, Sudermann is
"a muscular giant bearded and blue-eyed,"
resembling 1.-The ideal Wotan of Wagnerian
drama" He is a native of eastern Prussia.
Mr.. Marion Crawford is engaged upon two
books-a particularly interesting and pict-
uresque work on Italian history and ro-
nance of the second crusade. The scenes
of this story are laid in England, Palestine
and Italy.
M. Paul Sabatier is about to rewrite his
Life of st. Francis of ASSIST" moved to
this by the discovery of an interesting MS.
which he claims to be the oldest authority
for the life of the saint. and to be written
within a few months of his death by Fra
Leone, his most intimate friend.
Count Leo Tolstoi will be seventy years
old Aug. 2S, Russian style, and though he
has requested not to be made a note Of"
let the day go by unobserved. What some
of them do propose is a collection of original
articles by writer's of all countries treating
exclusively of him and his works.
In a review of a book by Miss Wilkins,
the Springfield Republican makes this only
l1etlL complimentary Whatever
may be said of the style, which is COM
monplace and amateurish or of her repre-
sentation of rural New England, which is
often keen and humorous, but usually a
caricature, it must be allowed that no
American writer has better sense of the
short story
Mr.. Samuel Minturn Peck is again in the
old world taking his annual summer wheel
ing tour, having sailed for Europe on June
s. When he left New York his plans were
not definite; but he expected to wheel for a
month or six weeks, and then TO settle down
stories. Mr.. Peck, who has but recently
taken up this form of composition. is meet
ing with most encouraging success.
Mr.. Morley is not likely to write the au-
thorized biography of Gladstone. The an
nouncement that he would do so was at
least premature, and probably unfounded
Mr.. Gladstone strongly desired that Morley
should write a history of the home-rule
movement, and this he may very probably
do. But it is intimated ION good author
stones-that the biographer of Gladstone
must be man more in sympathy with his
religious views that is Mr.. Morley.
The rumor that DIR. Conan Doyle may go
into Parliament is bringing the creator of
Sherlock Holmes a vast deal of advice.
Don't say many pessimists of both par
ties. Ways mention that Sherlock Holmes
in the House would be an awkward GUS
tomer-he would find out so many Cabinet
secrets. Meanwhile DIR. Doyle is said to be
concerned just now not about parliament
tary prospects, but the probable critical re-
ception in store for his book of poems, of
whose merit he has only modest opinion.
According to the Bookman James Lane
Allen says: IT am now at work on what
1 consider the first novel of my life" he
said the other day. ut will ernbody three
things: the humor of "A Kentucky Car
dinal,' the philosophic frankness of Sum-
mer in Already and the spiritual seriousness
of The Choir Invisible 1t is to be a story
contraSted. 1t will be twice as long as any
thing that I have ever attempted" This
estimate of the work shows no lack of ap-
probation on the authors part.
The latest pen portrait of Rudyard Kip
ling was made by a writer in Cape Town.
Says the anonymous Inner: "a small man.
dressed to match his old pipe-and rather
fond Of cutting jokes at his own expense on
both scores-with prominent spectacles and
prominent thin, dark mustache, keen, dark
eyes, keen expression, quick movements and
astonishingly quick rejonders in talking;
the distinctive note of him was keenness
altogether, but sympathetic keenness.
Somehow one began with an idea that he
would be a rather cocksure and self-confi-
dent person. He is, Of course, quite young;
far younger than he looks-it was those long
years of hard, unrecognized newspaper
work in India that knocked the youth out
of him. he is ridiculously young to be so
famous and to have earned his fame by so
much entirely solid work, political or rath-
er national, as we'll as literary. Neverthe-
less, as one enthusiast expressed it, he puts
the least side on of any celebrity L ever
met.