The San Francisco call., 1904-04-21
Literary Chat From London.
specisI Correspondents.


GARDEN, LONDON, April s.-Now
that a novel by one Of the Maggie
club" has been published and rO-
snances by two others announced as
40 appear shortly this organization
finds itself rather famous, but the
present writer had the good luck TO
know the ''Magpies" before any Of them
dreamed Of a day when greatness
would be thrust upon them. In con-
sequence some rather interesting de-
tails. of which no mention has yet
been made, can be given about this
quaint little club Of English girl
writers. With two exceptions, all the
members Of the Maggie Club" live in
the country. But the English coun-
try is not like the American country,
and IL would be hard for an American
girl TO realize the seclusion in which
these Young writers have been brought
up. Most Of them are clergymen's
daughters. living in village rectories,
and until they were discovered in
manner TO be hereafter described had
depended almost entirely on the
classics for their reading and had not
even heard of current periodicals as
famous as Harper's and the Strand
magazines. OF these girls five were
acquainted TO begin with. All of them
wrote stories in an aimless sort OF
way, which they showed to each other.
and gradually this little circle widen
ed until it included nine or ten MEM
bers. These formed the Magpie
Club" and then came the idea Of the
Magpie Magazine. The girls found
woman friend who was willing TO act
-soFF
sent every month a piece Of fiction
signed with her nom de plume. These
were written on paper of a uniform
size and when all the contributions
were received they were stitched to-
gether and bound in a permanent
cover bearing the name, The Magpie
Magazine" The magazine, by the
way. included a number Of blank
Tages. upon which criticisms were to
be written, and after it was bound the
periodical was sent in turn to each
member of the club, who read it and
then set down in it her opinion of its
various items. 1 have read a number
of these criticisms and to describe
them as free" and "outspoken"
would be drawing it mild indeed.
They were the most striking example
really uncommon literary quality of its
contents. Most Of the stories in the
Hagpie. too, revealed a knowledge Of
life on the part of their authors which
was really startling when one con-
sidered these girls environment.
The Magpie Magazine had existed in
this way for a year or two before the
girl discovered it who was eventually
TO introduce the "Magpies" to the
reading public. This was Miss Con-
stance Smedley, whose novel, AN
April Princess ss'-recently a success in
America-was not then published, but
who already had attracted attention
by her short stories, dramatic criti-
cisms and the one-act play of hers
which was produced by Mrs. Patrick
Campbell Hiss Smedley became -;
quainted with Miss Agnes Weekes,
whose novel, Marlborough, the Pre-
mier''' has Just l. en- published, ana.
through her with the Maggie Club, OF
which Miss Weekes is a member.
A regular feature of the Magpie
Magazine is a serial story. Var
borough, the Premier" ran in the Mag
pie, and to it Miss Smedley, who soon
became an enthusiastic member Of the
club, contributed her April Princess"
Oddly enough, in spite of the amount
of writing that was done by the Mag
pies" not one of them ever had thought
of publishing their stories Miss Snled-
ley, however, after having read a few
numbers of THE Magpie" told. herself
that the stories therein were distinctly
salable. Among the Magpie produc-
tions which struck her as perhaps most
promising were three novels which had
run as serials in the amateur maga-
zine-"Yarborough, the Premier" by
Miss A. r. Weekes, Love in Chief, :"
by her sister, Miss r. K. Weekes. and
Lance in Rest" by Miss L. A. Talbot
The Harpers had recently published
Miss Smedley's book of essays, The
Boudoir Critic" and so this young
writer advised her Magpie friends to
send their books to the American firm.
They followed her advice and the three
romances were accepted almost i'm
nediately. Another Magpie novel, THE
New Eden" found a publisher in
Dublin, and the early notices Of it
have been fattering. One reviewer, in
fact. declared that at last a successor
TO THE Duchess" had appeared. Miss
Smedley tells me that a number of
short stories originally contributed to
the Magpie Magazine have been liter
ally snapped up by different London
periodicals, and says that the files of
the periodical written by these English
girls for their own amusement con-
tain much work that needs only to be
made public TO be recognized as un-
commonly good.
The announcement of the impending
sale of the original warrant on which
John Bunyan was arrested two hun
dred and thirty years ago and clapped
into Bedford jail for d canting, CROP
headed vagabond has evoked many ex-
pressions Of fervent hope from English
bibliophiles that the document will not
be allowed to cross the Atlantic. In
terest in Bunyan relics is very keen
among collectors and it is sure to
fetch big price.