The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-10-18
SOME FAMOUS TALES
HOW THE IDEAS FOR THEM WE'RE
BORN IN THEIR AUTHORS.

The Man who Gave stevenson the
Inspiration For "JekyII and Byde.n
How Discovered "Oiiver
Twiss" and "NichoIas Nickiaby.'
Amorg weird fiction there are few
novels to compete with "'rhe Strange
Story of DIR. JekyIl and Mr.. Hyde"
and the story of It's inception is almost
as strange as the work itself, says the
st. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Stevenson, 1t appears, had dealings
with a man named Samuel Crcggon
and did not like him. Hes q man
who trades on the Samuel" ayerred
the novelist. lie receives you with
Samuels smile on his face, but every
now and then you catch n glimpse Of
the Creggan peeping out like n white
ferret. Creggan's the real man; sam
uels only superficial"
This was what gave Stevenson the
first idcn for the dual personality Of
Jekyll and Hyde, but he did not begin
to write.
One night, however, Mrs. Stevenson,
awakened by cries Of horror from her
husband, and thinking that he had a
nightmare, aroused him. lie was quite
angry.
why did you wake me?" he asked.
IL was dreaming n fine bogy tale"
lie got up at once and began writing
In Il sort Of fever. His blographcr, Mr..
Osbourne, say that 1t is doubtful
whether the first draft took him MS
long as three days.
Treasure Island" by the same au-
thor, had n beginning almost equally
strange.
One day Robert Louis Stevenson was
playing with II box of water colors
belonging to his stepson, and idly drew
and colorcd IL map of an imaginary
island. To quote his own verbs:
ut was deliberately and, 1 thought,
beautifully colored; the shape of It
took my fancy beyond expression; 1t
contained harbors that pleased me like
%sonnets, and, with the Inconsistencies
of the prcdestincd, 1 tickctcd it Treas
urc Island The next thing 1 knew I
had some paper before me and was
writing out Il list OF chapters"
The upshot was that for the next
fifteen days Stevenson wrote like one
possessed, turning out n chapter a day.
Then he lost hold, and 1t was weeks
before the inspiration came again, but
when 1t did Treasure Island" lowed
from him like small talk" and ran
serially in a children's paper.
To go back n good many years,
stories attach to almost every one OF
Charles Dickens novels.
Soon after the "Pickwick Papers"
had made their amazing success,
Dickens happened to visit the studio
of George Cruikshank, and there was
shown some drawings of the career of
a London thief.
Among these was n sketch of Fagin's
den and n picture Of Bill Skies.
Dickens was at the time engaged upon
the idea of a workhouse story, and the
result OF this chance visit was "Ollver
Twist" as it was soon afterward pub
lishcd.
AS for nicholas Nicklcby," there
does not seem much doubt that the
great novels conceived the idea Of
Dotheboys Hall from the advertise
ment of Mr.. Simpsons academy,
Wooden Croft lodge, Yorkshire, which
he saw I'm an old copy of the Times.
The famous Captain Kettle, the most
popular creation Of Cutcliffe IIyne,
was originally IL character in q COM
paratively little known story by the
tall Yorkshircman.
Mr.. Lyme, who at the time had hard
ly got his foot ON the ladder of fame,
took the story to Il we'll known London
editor and publisher. After criticising
the yarn IN rather mcrcIlcss fashion,
the editor said:
"All the same, the little sea captain Is
your best character, and YOU ought to
be able to do something with him. Why
not make him the hero OF Il series of
short stories:"
Fergus IIume has told the story of
how he came to write The Mystery Of
Il Hanson Cab He WAS I'm Melbourne
at the time, and in financial straits, for
he had entirely failed to dispose of n
play to which lie had given much time.
He thought he might do better with
a book, but the question was, What
sort of book" Aftcr some considcra-
ton he went to the leading Melbourne
librarian and asked this question,
what books do you find sell bcst?'
detective Stories" was the prompt
reply. especially those Of Gaboriau."
Mr.. Hume had not then read my Ga
borinu, but he wasted no time In re.
pairing the omission and bought a COM
plrtc edition OF his works.
The result was the story which made
his reputation and the seventy novels
which succeeded it. Fergus Hume. 1t
may be mentioned, Is credited with
having turned III u 10000 word book
in a week.
yoy