Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-07-12

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The literary women of London have
been having their annual Woman
Writers Dinner at the Criterion Res
taurant, at which two hundred guests
were present, including some of the
best-known women of the day. Mrs
W. X. clifford presided, and made a
mutually congratulatory speech on the
subject yourselves" According to the
British Weekly's account of the din
ner more eminent than any other
writer in the room was Mrs. Humphry
Ward. 1t is only of recent years that
Mrs Ward has abapdoned her original
objection to a dinner at which women
meet alone. In any company
she would be recognized as remark
able and distinguished woman"
A correspondent of "The Boston
Literary World" says apropos of the
authorship of '"The Confessions of a
Wife," published in 1.-The Century,:
How can any one fail to discover the
idiosyncrasies of Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps Ward?"
1.-THE Poet and Penelope" is an
nounced by the Putnams for autumn
publication. 1t is called a light and
graceful novel in the style of comedy,
and is said to be the first work or the
author, L. Parry Truscott, young
Englishman.
There is to be a pocket edition of Mr.
Hardy's novels, the first being that
delicious piece of rustic portraiture
"IJnder the Greenwood Tree" This
book made the authors first success
Mr. Frederick Greenwood. it is related
was standing at railway bookstaii
and caught sight of a pile OF. yellow
. back novels, and being attracted by
the title which Incorporated his own
name, purchased Mr.. Hardys story
read it with immense Zest, and lmme-
diately wrote to the author for another
story for serial publication in Tine
Cornhill Magazine" of which he was
then the editor. with the result that the
world was made the richer by that
splendid novel, Far from the Maddins
Crowd
The public interest in Richard Hard
ing Davis's new book of short stories
and some longer ones-published last
week. entitled "RansOn's Folly, Is
indicated by advance orders that Its
publishers, the Scribners, have re-
ceived for about ten thousand copies.
"Any one who thinks that lovemak-
ing and blood letting have palled or
the public taste as ingredients that are
likely to help a novel to popularity Is
mistaken" said a confident publisher
the other day. II will tell you how 8
savage foe of this sort of literature
met with ignOmnious defeat not very
long ago. He had written story tha'
was nothing less than parody of the
broadest kind on the romantic, swash-
buckling novel, There We're two duels
in one chapter and in another tht
heroine was rescued from sudden
death six times. He sent the work tt
a publisher of international reputation
who published it. He omitted, how
ever, to label it a parody, and the pup
lie has taken it seriously, smacking its
lips over the highly flavoredness. The
book has gone through two editions
and there is talk of a third. All o,
which goes to show, as l said in the
beginning, that lovemaking and blood
letting are still the thing
English books are much read in Italy
nearly every educated Tuscan or Ro-
man taking an interest in eEngilsf
literature and having a working ac-
uuaintance with the language. Tht
characters of Dickens, it is said, ar
as well known to the Roman as TO the
Londoner. Thackeray's books are alst
popular in Italy, as they are in France
1t is thought that the land of the Olive
and myrtle offers a very prohtable
field for the sale of small, cheap ant
well printed editions of the books Of
English-and American-authOrs.
DIR. Garnett is one of the clever
Englishmen who believe that the liter
ary outlook is hopeful. He sees no de
cline i'm the proportion of students o
the best literature: the spread of cul
ture," he believes, is preparing thu
taste of the people for something bet
ter, and the demand for higher quail
ity will produce those capable of sat
isfying the demand. The writers o.
today. he is assured, are paving tn
way for the approach of a grander ant
more brilliant literature than has hith
erto been known.
Miss NJ. g. Tuttiett, an Englisl
novelist better known to the readins
public as Maxwell Gray" in recent
article offers an explanation of what
she calls the prevailing overproduc-
ton of novels" 1T was a sad moment
for literature says Miss Tuttiett
''when the notion that novelwritinG
was lucrative craft first got about
thanks partly to papers by james
Payn, suggesting the training OF
average middle-class youth for this
simple, inexpensive and well-pat
profession, partly to the genial ana
large-hearted Sir Walter Besant. VIII,
never tired of representing the literar.
profession, and especially fiction, like
any other, to be learnt and practisee
as an exclusive means of gaining &
livelihood by the moderately endowed
such as swell! the lower ranks of tbs
medical, legal and clerical professions
Miss Tuttiett considers the 'deluge OF
third-rate fiction serious evil. and
H.. g