The San Francisco call., 1904-08-07
London Literary Gossip.
Special correspondenes.

4. GARDEN, LONDON, July 23.-While
:. In Westcl.ffe-on-Sea, the smart little
Essex summer resort, recently I had
the good luck to meet and visit an un-
'con1monly interesting literary couple
who make their home there-the Coul-
son Kernahans. Kernahan himself is
too well known IN the United States to
need any Introduction to American
: readers. He produced that weird study,
A Dead Mans Diary; God and the
Ant" which has been translated into
= eight languages. including Chinese, and
The Child, the Wise Man and the
Devil" OF which 25o,0oo copies have
been sold. ''Scoundrels & Co." was one
OF kernahsn's last books. Incidentally.
he is literary adviser to one Of the best
2 known Of London publishers. Mrs. Ker-
nshan's work is, fancy, less well
known in the United States, but she
has half a dozen novels TO her credit.
among them The House OF Rimmon"
and Frank Redland, Recruit" and an
other coming out in the fall.
"Thrums" is the name which the Ker-
hahans have bestowed upon their cot
tage-a typical English one, half-hid-
den by ivy-and il is one Of the most
1ot 10 enter. The drawing room is lit
orally crowded with souvenirs Of dis
tiuguished folk, which in almost every
90 case have been presented by the cele-
brities themselves. For instance, there
are the original sketches of famous
paintings by English artists. Rossetti
among them; signed photographs OF
notable men in every walk Of life, and
what must be one Of the most remark
&c able collections in this country Of auto
graphed books. I hesitate to say how
o many shelves they fill, but practically
every living English author is repre-
sented, and in most cases the inscrip-
tions on the f1yleaf gives me the idea
o that the writer and Kernahan are on
unusually friendly terms. Here are vol
umes from Meredith, Swinburne,
Watts-Dunton, ]. NJ. Barrie, ]. K. Je-
rome, Max Pemberton, several from
Marie Corelli inscribed in her own
hand, Hall Caine. H. G. Wells, Robert
Barr and Barry Pain, TO name only a
few that come first to mind
But what struck me and my compan-
ion, Miss Constance Smedley-whose
new book, Heart Of Cold" is to be
published by Harpers next month-as
most interesting at the Kernahans'
were the respective workshops Of
this literary couple. In the rear of their
house is a lawn-upon which in sum-
mer visitors are entertained at tea
and at the end Of this are two small
rustic huts. as alike as two peas d
about twenty feet apart. Each is fitted
Up as a "den," and in one are to be
found the writing materi-ls, manu-
scripts and books Of reference Of Ker-
. nahsn in the other those f his wife.
Each OF the "huts" is li-hted by win
dows in every wall, and each is equip
ped with a heating apparatus. Thus
the literary couple are able to work,
summer and winter alike, within few
feet OF each other. and yet be respec-
lively as undisturbed as If they were
miles apart. From what ! saw Of the
Kernahans, however, I imagine that
few hours pass without visits being ex-
changed between the two "huts."
With the end Of the season at hand.
authors, like other folk are on the
move. Thomas Hardy, who generally
makes point Of coming to London
when every one else is leaving IT, ar
rived in town" recently and has been
spending most OF his time since then
IN the reading-room Of the British Mu-
suem-presumably seeking material for
the remainder OF his famous Napo-
leonic drama, The Dynasts." Mr..
Hardy was the guest OF honor at a
dinner given by DR.. Robertson Nicoll
at the Devonshire Club the other even
ing, 20 which a distinguished little
company sat down. It included Ed
mund Gosse, Professor Henry Van
Dyck OF Princeton, Max Beerbohm.
Clement X. Shorter and the Rev. p. T
Campbell. Percy White left London
this week for Scotland. He said laugh
ingiy that he knew as little as anv one
what his next book would e. but that
he proposed TO get back to his London
home In Holland street, Kensington.
and begin working on it some time in
Octooer Derbyshire, which Britons
Know as The Peak country" has been
chosen b. several writer's as their
playground this year. Even Phillpotts.
Nho rarely deserts Devonshire, is at
Hathersage. Near by Richard White
lng Is staying at little cottage not
fsr from Holmesfield. the home of
Murray Gilchrist. and the two writer's
nave been seeing more or less of each
. other. Coulson Kernahan, when saw
him the other day, had lust returned
from Derbyshire, and Air. and Mrs
Janvier, who, Of course. are Americans
are there at present.
Nothing has appeared in print as vet
regarding Stanley ]. Weymans new
story but I hear privately that Mr..
Weyman has once more chosen France
as bis scene and that the period of his
latest romance, which has not yet been
named, is that Of Henry ". Mean
while, rumor declares that Mr.. swim
burne Is working on a drama which
has Savonarola as its subject. George
Moore, whose new novel is to bear the
tide General Life" is spending the
sumE-e- months at his house in Elv
Place. Dublin. Regarding this resi-
dence. there is a rather good story. It
was formerly the house Of John Phil
pott curran, the famous Irish lawyer