The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-19

NNE of the June magazines con-
tains a most readable account
of Maurus Jokai, the Hungarian
patriot and writer who passed away
the early part of May, written by Alex
ander Hegedus Jr.. who is a nephew Of
the famous Hungarian. He speaks
touchingly Of his uncIe's character and
pays tribute to his greatness and his
talents. Jokai was the last of a noted
band of patriots. among whom were
Kossuth and Petofi; he had a most in
teresting and romantic career and was
a man of varied talents. In his early
years he showed so much ability as
q painter that he was uncertain
whether to devote himself to literature
or art. He was novelist, poet, painter
and sculptor, and showed great apti-
tude for all these various accomplish
ments. His wife was the famous ac-
tress, Rose Laborfalvy, who took the
principal parts in the patriotic dramas
of the time. Jokafs first work was
play entitled ''The Jewish Boy" which
appeared in book form in 1912 and was
very well received. Making up his
mind that he could do some good with
his pen, Jokai followed the career of
writer and in fifty years wrote 351
novels. Just 3, year or two before his
death he wrote one of his best works,
'The Yellow Rose" penned when his
hands were literally trembling with
age. At the close of the revolution he
became editor of a political newspaper
and one Of his fiery articles got him
into trouble and he was imprisoned.
While confined he resorted again to the
brush for solace and painted some ex-
cellent landscapes. In his old age
gardening was his hobby. He lived in
great retirement in villa overlooking
Budapest, and devoted himself to the
cultivation of flowers and fruit. His
biographer says of him: "JokaI's
powerful literary style was peculiar to
himself, and this alone would make his
books immortal. He has enriched the
Hungarian language with many new
words. His plots are mostly drawn
from significant events in the history
Of his country. It was an American
critic who spoke of his Turkish stories
as mixed with blood and roses," and 1t
was an English poet who said OF
him:
God sent him for the glory of Hun
gary
And the wonder Of East and West"
sons to know that In France the sale
of books has considerably decreased
during the past few years. In the past
France has been second in the yearly
output of books published, reckoned
according to every million inhabitants
Germany is first, with 354 against 344
in France. The French publishing
firms are naturally reluctant about
giving information going to show that
the love of literature in France is wan
ing, but upon what is known the con-
clusionS stated above are based. The
Revue has made an investigation into
the causes Of the alleged decrease, and
discovered that the books most affect
ed are fiction, editions de luxe and i'm
moral books. There is, of course, much
of hope in the decrease in interest in the
last named class Of books; indeed
there IS nothing particularly disheart-
ening IN the fact that fiction and edi-
tiOns de luxe are less called for than
formerly. The Investigator made the
further discovery that the following
classes Of books have hardly suffered
at all: Classical literature, scientific
literature, popular science and all
books dealing with social problems
The reasons given for this change in
the French literary world are general
financial uneasiness. recent develop
ment of outdoor sports, a greater COM
petition than in the past and the nopu-
larity of the daily and periodical ness.
One cause given by publishers for
slight reaction against books is the
policy Of the French press, with a few
notable exceptions. of omitting any
editorial notices of books except such
as are paid advertisements. The
French papers have given up their
pages Of literary gossip, which have
been distinctive feature of daily pa
pers everywhere. The public depends
largely on reviews of new books which
it finds in the daily press, and, lacking
these, it is greatly at sea in regard to
fiction especially. The French COM
plain that they must go to German
newspapers to find impartial criticisms
of modern books. The lack of an in
ternational copyright law is another
thing which affects the book market of
France as the literature of this country
more than any other is read outside of
France.
q q q
FeIice Constantly William c. Sprague.
Frederick A Stokes Co. For sale nv
St Paul Book and Stationery company.
The scene Of this romance is the
old French city of Cadillac, later De-
troit, and Crosse lie, lying where the
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