Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-23
1IAH'S GREAT
REPRODUCTION,
,,.,oo vhitney's Poem Elias"
'', to be Published by a Special
Committee.
r8E PROSPECTUS IS ISSUED.
.,e..ot Edition De Luxe Of I5o
"' r..i., 10 be Subscribed for by the
Authors Pcr,olal Friends

y
.,,,rlttee Of Ave leading residents
A,.'.h-Goy. Heber NJ. Wells Pres'-
o. ,,tbon II. Lund. Congressman
ae" sutherland. Artist H. l.. A. Cui-
Geo's0 "d Mal Richard W. Young-hAvo
pa ..-,tsn the publication Of Rishop
I..,,rsys magnificent epic, "Hiias'
WEI" have ,ust issued tho prospectus
1",' letter addressed to prominent
CIV ana women, asking them 10 sud-
'F ns ,or the edition do luxe, Of which
' 49,. wifi be only 40 copies done In a
. ..'', Of the printers and ensraver''
:" ,,ot has never been approached IN
" Each OF these copios VIII DO
.,,sby numbered and autographed BY
-, outhor. and while other editions
m ,olov. as the letter states, u -
wy wy ara and costly initial edition that
VIZ w, w. nrl1ed highest, II only FOR itp
WV n..,a ~ when the poem has become
na,rgiS.wIde accepted work Of art.
representative OF tho conlinltlee 10
:. Nan York Ut present selecting lne
,sr and most elegant typosraphicai
. I and upon his return the COPY
S 1m hn IN the hands OF the printer
y SI y wiu appear IN It's Initial form
ft ak months, and the committee
p.a." generous response TO Its letter
ubTov poInt out, the work has ocou-
~ '" son,a OF the best years OF Bishop
gS,,psv's NE and they desire TO see
wa. bi s labors receive an adequate re-
ward. -. 49, ooa,,, a., IN
rar, as follows:
EllAs-AN EPIC OF THE AGES
Prospectus.
r,- who can stay the sunlike march
VINO aim with bloody hand her beam
y,,t shall he halt the progress OF the
stars ~
m. bright procession Of the INFINITE.
po, oit the day-beain, dull the scythe
Of time,
ssAsr mornings wings, roll back eter-
nal night,
And shake the moyeless throne OF des'
tiny.
Ths year 1904 will be signali2ed by the
publication Of an epic poem pronounced
by literary critics who have read 1t IN
Manuscript worthy OF q place alongside
me poetic masterpieces of history. Ref
stenca Ia made TO Bishop o, f. Whit
neys sublime work ELIAS" concerning
vkkh Utah and the country have al
rs,iy heard something, and are des-
Ind, with the world at large, TO hear
mare. Upon the original announcement
Il lis completion, the Deseret News,
ats issue OF Jan 10, 1903, referred TO
Nas an event in western literature
and the New York World, on the 26th
o. he same month, devoted two half
columns 10 description Of the poem,
which II declared was pronounced by
some authorities a most lofty and sub
line literary gem" In addition to
many other encomiums. voiced IN pri- |
ya,e by persons who have heard the |
tuthors public readings Of the poem,
the New Years issue Of the Salt Lake |
Herald, dated Dec. q, 1903, gave space |
on its editorial page TO an appreciation
q Bishop Whltney's mastery work, by |
H. l.. A. Culmer, artist and critic. under |
The caption AN Epic Poem Of America |
and the West" In the beginning Of |
bis article Mr., Culmer said:
"A Utah poet has produced a great |
work 4 man born In this city, and |
whose life purposes and ambitions are |
ell identified with those Of this state |
and rs communities has completed a |
poem which will rank among the finest
o. all literature, After care
iul study OF rs merits, ! do not hest
tate, In calmnoss and delberation, to |
compare Elias with Dante's Divine |
Comedy or Miton's Paradise Lost 1t
would be Impossible here 20 go far into
ne siupendous subject Of the poem, for
Il deals with the AVana Of the inf
hle' The beginnings of thought, |
'nrolgh all the mystic ages OF dim an
cent times through the growths Of
philosophy and religious belief now
iNe now false, lifting IN epOchs Of
Illumination and groveing through the
dark ages through periods when the
WIch burned brightly and centuries
when the flame nckered low, passing
WIN stately measure through the ma2es
Of earliest idea into the open field Of
modern thought Whatever
merits there are In Mr.. WhItney's poem
n common with other epics. It has this
usuhclNe feature, all It's own, that It.
american and, more than that, 1t Is
on EPIC OF western America Therefore,
u 'le poem .lves, as | believe II must
u VIII be identified in the annals Of lit
nature with western American culture;
snl mat Is something which We here
mut not forget Germany never speaks
" ler literature yithout reference 10
'Welhe Italy fOrgtts not Dante, Eng
Iell remembers Milton, let the west
yne'lsh Whitney, because. verse for
.t''' thought for thought, motive for
ttou'e ana theme for theme, they will
Dv 10y comparison on every issue"
a. NV ana Of the poem IL 10 point out
, uu'e manifestations Of the Divine
hluuV 20 portray those impulslons OF
human enterprise, which have been re-
,'bb"'' S'D'' o. all ages for the progress Of
iao,d ace toward perfection. Thus It
a.G's not only with earth's redemption
Z, n.4 ultimate glorncation, but also with
t.1se cloghs and events leading TN 10
i"a having those greater ends as their
NJ ,W'H ."nSummatIOn. The treatment
we NhrMt theme, both In its pre-.
ns ',gN' ana its earthly phases, inyoly-
| WI, conflict IN heaven before time
N' choosing OF Messiah and tho
mo ' ,. OF 'uclfer, is supplemented by
inor ',y.d ana secular history of man
a pg, ue eastern and eventually the
.,or % hemisphere, to which the ac.
wv W me mighty drnmn ~ frnnafnrrnd