Milford chronicle., 1903-07-10
WRITER'S AND NAMES
ODD FASHIONS And F%CiEs IN THE
SIGNATURES OF AUTHORS.

The "NomencIative" Disease From
which Literary Folk suGe- and
the New symptoms which Develop
From Time to pime.
It must have been very pleasant tC
be plain, plebeian peVson in the days
when names did not matter much
when you were John Baker If your
business was breadmaldng, and your
neiehbor across the way was John
Smith because he hammered out horse
shoes. II his children wished to put
on a few airs, they might cull them
selves Smithsoa and nobody cared.
The small minUrity Of mobiles bad their
nominal worries with their "des" and
'vons" and "aps~ ana ''ys'' ard 'fitzs"
and macs" but without the aid Of tic
Clark family the dear dead ladies'"
and their lords could not read or write
their own names twice alike. So with
high and low everything in the nomen-
clature line went along in Il haphaGard.
happy 80 lucky sort Of way, and tie
visiting card problem came along only
in company with the other attendant
ills OF modern civilization
1t may be that because in the good
old mediHyal days Of chiyalry. Hitler
acy and uncleanliness the men Of the
writer's craft were the preservers Of
names and pedigees Il Judgment has
fallen upon their descendants Certain
it is that for century past the only
folk who have seemed TO be much both
cred about just how they We're to be
known have been the 'litery fellers."
Artists, inventors statesmen, men Of
the professions and men OF affairs have
been content 10 put as their sign man
ual upon their life work the names that
their parents gave them. Only the men
Of the pen have suffered from a sort of .
nomenclutive-there should be such
word if there is not-disease marked by .
varying symptoms which recur at inter
vuls.
There is. for instance, the anonymous
type Of which the author OF "YVaverley"
and the author of "Jane Eyre" were
examples. There are the men of pse,l-
douyms-Boz and TitursRsh and Harry
Lorrequer; ATemus Wand. John Pllo-
nix and Mark Twain; Ouida. Max
O'Rell and Pierre Lott alOng to MaXim
Gorky, the latest There are modest
writer's represented only by initials,
such as II. II. and L. E. L. Beginning
with George Sand and George Eliot
the book world has become u vcritable
forest Of Arden, with ROsalind i'm
loublet and hose made Of her tide {
pages strutting down every glade.
There was a peculiarly American pc
'iCd when the initial Of the middle
name was cherished. when if James l..
Tones wrote a book he would part with
lalf lis royalties rather than omit that 7
T. or spell out the name it represent 7
ID. New England honOred itself by
setting the sensible and tasteful fash a
on Of authors printing their fun names +
~ To The number of three.
But a bad fairy is continually busy b
With the names Of writer's. Old Eng g
and would have none Of New Eng I
and's plan and committed literary
mayhem upon all Americans. from the n
;rcaJest TO the smallest So We heard T.
# Russell Lowell and Wendell Holmes. i
ust as young women of the caramel
se are horrifed 10 hear today of Hard. d
ag Davis and Dana Gibson. O.
So it seems that the Odd saw might G
ave an amendment reading that "Of q
he making of names of the makers OF t.
ooks there is no end" And now
ew symptom appears. Francis Mari
n Crawford has achieved fame by @
roppiug his first name and writing =
lore books than any living man rx- =,
apt Andrew Lang and Cyrus Town -.
end Brady. Incidentally most of Mr.. ~
books are good enough In A. -
rouse the suspicion once expressed o. ~
-r. Lang-that he is not a man, but q 'i'
indicate. That, however. Is not per "
nent The point is that If his chil vi
rem have their way Francis Marion ~
rawford is no longer to be Marion -
but Marion-CrawfogVl. These Vi
iildren, who live in Italy, sent all tie {
ay across the ocean and obtained an
der from the supreme court OF New G,
ork a few days ago making them eff
'reafter Misses and Masters Marion III
-awford. ID
The hyphen habit is upon US. We fir,
uld afford to laugh, as we thought. 70
Mr.. Hobart-Chatdeld Cbisl-Taylor OF W,
licaso. We must now respect him as
pioneer. No man can henceforth
rte book without fearing thai M
v moment when his back is turned
lyphcn viii be- stuck into him. va
But when the yuung Marlon-Craw ,. -, !
'ds are grown heredity viii make Ry
ne of them write books. Then they rel
y be sorry. Their pride in their fa. yai
'r is a pretty thing but in all seri- M M
suess their act was an act Of folly. low
ch man and woman in this world No
st fight for his own hand. and if the re-
lt lies in the field Of literature the ~,
ne Of an able father is Il fetter. not Dr,
|H i