Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-12
EDWARD V. VALENTINE.

a ready admittance, the stranger stands
face to face with a man whose youthful
figure and fresh complexion refute the
imputation made by his whitened locks,
while his finely carved, poetic face marks
him as the denizen of an ideal world
rather than of the commercial one around
US. In manner this genius of the chisel.
who has cut his name SO deep into the
history of his native land that it will last
as long as its annals endure is SO natural
q to disappoint the inexperienced. who
fail to recognize in simplicity the attribute
Of merit, and so modest is he that it is
only here a little and there little that
one CLEANS some knowledge of his life and
work.
Plutarch declares that it is actions of
small note which betraay the character,
and the sculptor mail-heaped by way of
reminder on the floor in a spot over which
he must pass-tells of absorption, while
the art treasures with which he has sur
rounded himself. illustrating DR.. john
sons theory that mo man is a. hypocrite
in his amusements.' proclaim. his tastes.
A VALUABLE COLLECTION.
Much of his modelling is done in the
front studio. the other being reserved for
his larger work. and both, with the rooms
above the first. are storehouses of the
most interesting and valuable objects.
Each has tits own story, making a. tour
through them, with their owner as a
guide, a delightful experience. a collec-
ton of books in hogsl1in bindings, which
have wfthstood the wear or more than 200
years. would charm the bibliomaniac, as
would volumes of Nominations done by
the Florentine monks. and bound sheets
of Pompeiian' colors, whose richness and
delicacy shame modern achievements.
A specimen of Cirque Ceuto furniture
of quaint design and elaborate carving, its
secret drawers exciting and battling the
imagina ton is another notable feature, as
is a copy of De la Roche:s '.HemicycIe,.
presented by the. family of John R.
Thompson after his death, and a steer
engraving of AIRY Schener's portrait OF
Lafayette. duplicate Of which is owned
by Mrs. Beverley Kennon, of Wa shing-
ton. Here. too, are casts from the an
tique, curios from Egypt old tapestries,
statuettes by Flomingo, figures from Pom
peii, with treasures from the galleries Of
Florence and Rome. A long row Of death
masks, including that of Napoleon, Fred
erick the Great, Voltaire, Henry " of
France. Charles XII. Queen Louise and
other immortal mortals extend a chastity
welcome from an upper. shelf, and every
where one; encounters in clay or marble
such celebrities as Humbolt. Edwin
Booth. Mary Anderson, and the like, with
Lee. Jackson, Davis, John C. Breckin-
ridge, and all the rest of the southern
heroes Of the civil war. A clay copy of
the Apollo Belvidere. for which Mr.. VAL
entine received a silver medal. has a
special interest as his second attempt at
modelling. It was made from a bust from
the Vatican which stood in the back par:
lor of his fathers home. and was the
terror of his childhood. making him Shy
as he passed it In the dark on his way
to the dining His first experiment
was. a. bust portrait OF .. snegro boy, FOR
which his gu jectss stood In sthe back yard
It was cold, I" the ssculp tor$ EayA laugh.