Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1899-09-07
SOME QUAINT DELEGATIONS.
Genius Of an Author Commonly Dis
cussed In DedicatOFy Epistlcs.

~s~~A -. D~@sSe~~st ~-C.~s-~
"The genius of an author is COM
monty discovered in the dedicatory
epistle," says Fuller. MANY place the
purest gram in the mouth of the sack
for chapmen to handle or buy, and
from the dedication one may probably
guess at the work, saving some rare
and peculiar exception" Thus when
u gentleman admired so pretty,
learned and witt u dedication that
was matched to fiat, dull, foolish
book; in truth they may be well
matched, for they are nothing
a-kinne.'
In the beginning the dedication
was a long, learned, Latin screed,
which Was followed ny the English IN
scription century or two later, and
this is u curious mixture of pomposity,
obsequiousness and capitals wherein
the sense was hardly to be discerned,
the fattery being of that fulsome ma
ture which distinguished the early
dedications. A volume lying before
me has the date Of 1776, and it con-
tains this tribute to the country
squire:
1T is not my Purpose to Offend
your Modesty by going into the usual
Style OF Deuicalors; however l may
just mention what will not lay me un-
der the least lmputation Of Flattery
That You are the Delight Of all Com
panies where you happen to be and
are possessed of every Quality that
constitutes Complete Gentleman"
The book is treatise on the art Of
angling. am now in some distress
lest my own copy IF the capitals in
which the original is printed may
cause a strike among those censors Of
words who will persist in spelling
Yankee with small ~ and who
reserve for diety only the big letter.
Dean Swift, writing from Dublin
in 1921, called attention to the dedica-
tory type in these terse lines: II can
not forbear instancing treatise
called A Dedication Upon Dedica-
tons, which many would have to be
mine, though it be as empty, dry and
servile composition as | remember
to have at any time read"
The impersonal modern dedication
is perhaps the best Of the literature Of
dedication, because it voices a univer.
sal sentiment and is without the flavor
OF patronage. Here is one taken from
q small volume of railroad stories by
an author who has achieved fame:
10 the great army of enginemen, the
! silent heroes who stand alone and
bore holes in the night at the rate
OF mile minute, these tales are
dedicated. The author"
80. u
An American humorist, whose short
period of work was ended too early,
Bill Nye. wrote this enticement of
poetical fancy on the front page of
the maddest, merriest history of Eng
land that was ever devised as comic
and caustc take-otf on monarchy:
Go, little booklet, go,
Bearing an honored name;
TIL everywhere that you have went
They're glad that you have came.
A well known song writer whose
verses have brought him both fame
and fortune announces his first vol
ume of poems to the critical public in
this seemingly irreverent spirit. |
quote from memory: "These poems
were inspired by nature and natures
God. If you kick, kick high" This
unique dedication anticipates genius
in the author.
A collection of somber stories ex.
plotting the yicissitudes of farm life
by a writer of distinction who has a
morbid fear of country air on wet
days but who can draw charming
sylvan pictures out of an atmosphere
OF depression, furnishes this filial
tribute with its opening pages: "To
nay father and mother, whose half
century pilgrimage on the main.tra[,
eled road of life has brought theln
only toll and deprivation, this book
OF stories is dedicated by a son to
whom every day brings a deepening
sense OF his parents silent heroism."
me book and its author are so well
known that the personal nature of the
dedication lends interest to its collec.
ton of stories.
Among the pathetic dedicatory
verse one single quatrain stands ont
hke tender memorial so exuuisitely
sad that the careless reader starts "a
II ne mad come Unexpectedly upon q
grave.
There are, who for thy last sleep
shall sleep as sweetly nevermore;
snail weep because thou canst not
weep
And grieve that thy griefs are DER
While the good taste of obtruding
personal grief upon an unsympathis.
ing public may be questioned, the gen.
ulneness of this laudatory preface in
work of scientific interest to the
whole world, the material for which
included years Of travel and danger.
Is undoubted. The writer, a woman,
dedicates her work to Der husband.
ITO whom ! owe all | have accom-.
plished. Ny inspiration, my critic,
my advocate. my refuge, my anchor,
my sympathizer, my frierd, my com.
rade, my husband. Honorable, gifted,
noble, unselfish gentleman, beloved by
all, whose sudden demise has laid upon
me tragic burden of sorrow during
the completion Of this volume"
In an old book printed in the 4O's