The San Francisco call., 1904-03-24
MEN NanalMAaEERS In
THE F3R.sz lie WORLD
MOVIES

fame, took occasion to give his views
OF the modern drama at the annual
dinner Of the Playgoers' Club recently.
He said that there was no reason why
the more ignoble and mean side of man
should not be treated on the stage as
well as any other. There was hardly
any subject untitled for treatment on
the stage It all depended how il was
done. But it so happened that nearly
all the recent plays which had been
performed had been plays that treated
OF man from that point of view, and
the result had been that all the i'm
itators that had sprung up had been
serious from that point OF view also,
and that serious plays had come 10
mean IN the minds of many persons
plays dealing with rather unpleasant
subjects. One might also come TO think
that q man would be rather uninterest-
ing II he did not give way to passion,
and that 4 woman would not be very
charming II she had retained much
nodesty. It seemed q pity. He was
not at all sure that when the really
big dramatist for whom they were
waiting appeared, he would not find
and show TO them that people were not,
/ perhaps. quite so bad-even serious
people-as they seemed to be when
represented on the stage.
In issuing the second six volumes Of
bis edition known as The Stage
Shakespeare" Austin Brereton, the
London man Of letters. reminds US that
there is always room at the top"
Crowded as the booksellers of the world
may be with editions of the poet-dra-
matist, whose vogue is an eternal one,
and whose sacro- -sanctity is secure
from higher criticism and from Hitter
ate neglect, there is good cause and
reason for adding to the existing sup
ply so handy and attractive an edition
as this one. The text, which is clearly
printed, is taken by permission of
Messrs. Macmillan & Co., from the
Globe edition of 1900. But Mr.. Brereton
has approached the plays from a stand
point that is of very actual interest
In the intrOductions, marked by charm
and scholarship, for which he is re-
sponsible, Mr.. Brereton lays most stress
on the stage history of the plays. He
deals with the characters fully and
tracts from many sources of Shakes
pearean criticisms, while the stage his
tory of each play is treated with care
and iberality. But perhaps the most
interesting feature of this edition is
the series of illustra tions. These are
taken, for the most part, from photo
graphs Of those who have appeared in
the plays on the modern stage. But
the older actors are not left out of it
altogether, and reproductions of we'll
known pictures give the necessary
variety. The present set, complete in
handy little case, comprises King
Henry V" king Henry VIII. "
Twelfth Night" THE Winters Tale. -
"Othello" and Much Ado About Moth.
ing" A warm welcome should be as
sured for these and the remaining vol
umes. They are not to be despised by
the student and they win attract those
who do not claim so high a distinction.
The Book Monthly is of the opinion
that the growth of the custom of liv-
ing in flats is blow TO the book trade
Its reasoning is as follows: There is
no room in the average fiat for book
| cases. Consequently people who live
in fats cannot keep any large num-
Der of books. They therefore cease
to buy books and depend for their
reading on the circulating libraries.
| This may be true, but surely there
are not enough people living in fats
in all England seriously to affect the
book trade. Besides, if it be true that
there is not room in flats for libraries,
why should not the fiat dwellers buy
/ pocket editions that will take UP very
little room? Perhaps, now that we
think of il, the recent multiplicity of
pocket editions is due to the exigen-
cies of fat life. The pocket edition
is, Of course, a misnomer. No man
carries books in his pocket, for the
sufficient reason that books so car
ried utterly spoil ones pockets. More
over, no man wants to have a book
always a [ hand, so that he can read it
while he is waiting on the corner for
a bus, or having his boots BACKED on
the sidewalk. Pocket editions must
be published either in the interest Of
oculists and opticians, who reap a har-
vest from the owners of eyes that have
been injured by reading fine print, or
they must be designed for people who
live in fats. 1t really looks as IL the
latter were the case.
Margaret Sutton Briscoe, the au-
thor of The Change of Heart" THE
Sixth Sense" and other books of short
stories, published by Harper & Bros,
is one of the writer's of short stories
who began her literary career in quite
an accidental manner. 1t is related of
Mrs. Briscoe, or Mrs. Hopkins, as she
is known in private life, that on re-
turning from a visit to a back country
farm she desired to jot down an
amusing incident related to her by her
farmer host. She began in the even
ing and wrote for long time, scarce
/ ly conscious of the length of her mar
rative until finally as she penned the
last line her lamp lickered out and
she discovered that it was daylight. A
successful short story was the result
Mrs. Hopkins is the wife of Professor
A. J. Hopkins. who fills the chair of
chemistry at Amherst College. Their
3