The San Francisco call., 1898-03-27


 left its mark upon his century, his sculp- tured poems have won lasting fame for his motherland, his prose and verse have made his name a household word on at least two continents. But beneath the sculptor and the author lay a personality so attractive that, to those who came in contact with it, the man was even dearer than the artist. w. w. Story lived as much in his affections as in his art, his life as a sculptor began and ended with enduring monuments to the two lives l father and wife-which had most closely influenced his own. It is, therefore, very fitting that we should have a volume of "Reminiscences wherein those who have hitherto only applauded the artist should | learn to appreciate the human side of his character.
 The "Reminiscences" are gathered from many sources, the tributes of affection and esteem are from more than one na- tionality, and they enable us to form a pretty clear idea of the life. aims and idiosyncrasies of William Wetmore Story, from his childhood's days in old Salem to l his last hours in Vallambrosa. The son of Judge Story, himself of almost world wide legal repute, William Wetmore was destined to follow in his fathers steps, and out of deference to that fathers wishes he sedulously studied the uncon-
 
 career. But the artist nature was strong within him and its promptingS were not to be resisted. For some years he toyed with the chisel while pursuing the law; and the trustees of Mount Auburn Ceme- tery finally settled his future for him by giving the order for a marble statue of his father. The son felt that to qualify for such work he must first study abroad Against his mothers wish, but supported by his brilliant and devoted wife, he left America for Europe at the age of 29, and though remaining an American at heart Italy was his home for forty-five years.
 The volume before us contains an ex- haustive list, with clear descriptions, of the artists works, and quotations from his verse; but its chief interest perhaps lies in the glimpses it gives us of w. w Storys intimate intercourse with many of the famous men and women of his time. His friendship with the Brownings was long and close, and in a quoted let ter he gives very touching description of Casa Guidi after "the glory of all and that which sanctified all'' was no longer to be seen seated in her low armchair. We have also a pathetic letter from Mrs. Browning herself, telling of hours spent in the Storys home by the death bed of their loved eldest boy. Many other familiar names appear on the page: ThaCkeray, whose Rose and Ring was specially composed for Little Edith Story; Mrs. Beecher Stowe, whose enthusiasm for Sojourner Truth inspired the famous statue of the Lybian Sybil: Walter Saw age Landor, Margaret Fuller, Harriet Hosmer Severn, Hawthorne, were all dear personal friends on Italian soil; Lowell and Motley were intellectual links with America; and the Story receptions in the Palazzo Barberini at Rome drew together such diverse types that the Italians called their foreign sculptor I'll simpa- tico Americana" It Is noteworthy that the exhibition of Story's statues-the Cleopatra and the Lybian Sybil-in Lon don, 1862. was entirely due to the liberal ity of Pic Mono.
 "Sculptors profess much admiration for my writings the artist used to say: poets amiably admit that my great talent lies in my sculpture But there were many who considered him. as a sculptor, at the head of the modern school, gifted with an originality of con- ception which he perfected by untirinp labor. And if, as poet, he does not rank with the highest he certainly takes a foremost place in the second ranks:
 Come to my arms, my hero,
 The shadows of twilight grow
 And the tigers ancient f1erceness
 In my veins begins to flow.
 Come, you came in the desert
 Ere we were women and men,