The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-22
ROokS AND ArrnORs.

TACT. connected with MS writing Of Ben
Hur.- the novel which. published in 1890,
j. still selling in rs great numbers twenty
i've years after it. publicatio as in the
year following its first appearance. The
book has never been issued in a cheaper
edition than the one in which it was first
published. while on the other hand four
teen luNlriou. editions OF il have been
brought out. foundations have been made
in language after language. II seems
most remarkable that when Gen. Wallace
wrote the book he had never been to the
Holy Land, but worked out the minute
/ topography Of the country as it is presented
( in the story entirely from maps and reading.
/ The author once said to his publisher that
when eventually he did visit Palestine he
wa himself surprised at the absolute ac-
ouracy of his descriptions, which tailed
exactly with the actual conditions, and he
was fond of telling how he found the very
stone which he had imagined az a resting
| place for Ben Hur at certain point in the
story The book was written in all sorts 81
strange piacos-on boats. railroads, in car
rages. wherever the author found oppor-
tunity, ltterward revising and correcting
with great patience and care
Ever since Clara Driscoll. the author OF
THE Girl Of La Gloria has gained fame
for herself by purchasing the Alamo 10
save it from becoming the site of a hotel,
people are asking what the Alamo is any
way. and why it should be rescued. II
was in the Alamo that l8S men of Texas
held out against an overwhelming force
Of Mexicans until they had slain 100 of
their besiegers and their last man was dead
A bin is now before the Texas Senate 10
reimburse Miss Driscoll and turn the
property over to the Daughters Of the Re-
public Of Texas.
Richard I.e Gelienne is the proud pos
SCISSOR Of the only copy yet published of
Oscar Wilde's new took which the Put
/ mans nre bringing out. One Of those fas-
cnating frat copies was strjick Oft for the
publisher ard sent down for approval
when Mr. IL Gnllierue happened to come IN
say he book end appropriated It promptly
There is a pathetic Interest attaching to
this little volume written while the author
vas serving his sentence AT Reading jail,
ard now being published otter his death
II contains what Is probably the moet sin
cerc expression Of Wilde's peculiarly arti-
ncal and sensitive nature. He records his
bitterness toward society on his downfall
his grief under prison discipline, and the
gradual awakening Of a repentnnt spirit
and courageous determination 10 60
o,!' into the world and complete his artis
tic career The book will be issued under
the title Of De profndis.
Darwin admitted Tint the pursuit Of
science destroyed his love for art, but
Ernst Hasckcl who is one Of the greatest
living scientists is also an artist Of marked
ability Though Haeckel has devoted
long and industrious life to biological re-
searchcs he has found leisure 10 do hum
drads Of painting. and many OF his mono
graphs on biology. which are scientific
classics. are Illustrated with his own pct
ures in color During a four months
viai, to India for scientific study he
brought bnok some two hundred fair
sized water coors.
Myrtle Reed author VI Lavender and
Old Lace has just been tn town arranging
for the publics ion az ner new book, which
will he called AT the.Sign Of the Jack-o'-
Lantern and attending to the placing
Of an operetta she has arranged. The new
book will bA OF a humorous character some
what after the style Of -Old Gorgon
Graham but II will not lie written in the
| form Of n series of letters. like that renowned
! volume OF advice Meanwhile. the sale Of
Lavender and Old Lace has reached some
30 COO copies. and The Masters Violin has
/ a record Of IS ono copies sold.
Thomas Dixon. Jr receives great many
interesting letters as all authors do, but he
2 hn r,tioa Of hia Cctiarftop In
uniaueness "A post card which be received
from man in Ontario, Va. and which
reads as follows: Dear Mr.. Dixon-I
saw picture Of your home, Elmington
Manor. in the paper. Please let me know
if YOU take boarders in summer and what
your prices are per month and week.
aThe Silence Of Mrs Harold by
s. NJ Gardenhire deals adroitiy with
vitality interesting question-the equal
importance Of woman with man in tho
marriage contract. and her right 10 the
absolute privacy OF her own pasta right
equal 10 that OF the man Mr. Gnrdenhire
il a lawyer. an author and a husband, con-
seanently his views on the subject are OF
importance and interest.
The heroine Of ElinOr Glyn's new novel
THE Vicissitudes of Evangeline, which
is announced for publication by the Har
pers on March ?. is a young English girl
who. finding herself comparatively poor
and possessed Of the charm OF fascination
decides that there is only one career open
to her. that OF an Adventures, with large
A and daring possibilities. She is also
lowered with red hair and green eyes with
black In shes and an alluring audacity which
promises to give Mrs. Glyn plenty Of oppor-
tunity to introduce the piquant situations
and sophisticn ted philosophy which make
her stories distinctive in the field Of light
fiction. and allow her 10 create the sort
of electric atmosphere for her readers
that the IN to date literary taste eagerly