The San Francisco call., 1905-02-22
Library of the Grand Old
Man Reveals AnnOtatiOns
in Pencil Oh the Margins
AUTHORS LIBEL SUITS
Crosland, Who Speaks Ill of
Others, Objects to Unkind
Words Concerning Himself


those book lovers who delight in
marking sentences that please them
and scribbling comments on the text
III the margins of volumes read. An
anonymous writer in the Book Month
~. who recently paid visit to the
Grand Old Mans library at Hawarden,
says that almost every book therein
contains profuse penciled annotations
III Gladstone's own hand. His favorlte
works are filled with them.
Vertical single or double lines
says the, writer. ''or a small V-shaped
mark, call attention and generally i'm
ply approval dissent is Signlfed by
cross. N. B.. and query or note
O. Interrogation are frequent.
Even Gladstones novels are filled
with comments in pencil especially
when these works bear on religious
questions.
Better l think, than some others
of those novels that play tricks with
nature. w. E. Gu is the Judgment
at the end of one.
In certain political work. says
the writer, IAN allegation of a certain
diplomatic and parliamentary trans
action with Russia in 1870 under
Gladstone'S leadership evokes the
straight comment Untrue thrice re-
peated in the space of four lines. We
scarcely think Mr.. Gladstone, writes
the late Walter Bagehot. that this
style of oratory is the very highest
Against this Mr.. Gladstone wrote He
never thought So /"
WORKS ON DISRAEII.
Naturally a work dealing with his
great rival, Disraeli, drew comments
III profusion from the great Liberal.
In his account of the famous maiden
speech in the House of Commons, the
author of this book tells how the
young Disraeli described Lord Mel
bourne as 'fiourishing in one hand the
keys of st. Peter" In the other,
says the author, 'he was understood to
be going to say the cap of liberty
but the close of the sentence was
drowned in derisive shouts 1 heard
il" testifies Gladstone's pencil.
The writer of this essay says that
the books read in Gladstone's closing
years are fully marked and indexed
as if he yet had a lifetime in which to
use them.
Thomas Hardy, at his home in Dor
chester, which in his novels he called
CaSterbridge, is now working on a new
volume of poems, his third, which he
hopes to publish in the spring. He is
elso engaged in working over the ma
terial for the second and third vol
ume of his Napoleonic drama, "The
DynaSts." He says it is quite impos-
Sible to tell when these two volumes,
or even one of them, will be ready.
WRITER SUES CRITIC.
1t is true that T. w. H. Crosland is
violently averse to taking his own
medicine, or can it be-as was limited
in the Kings Bench Court the other
day-that the author of THE I'm
speakable Scot" is bringing a. series
of libel suits for advertising purposes?
Not long ago Crosland write book
called Lovely Woman" in which he
roasted the fair sex. Among other
things he observed, When / look out
upon life in my calmer moments l
am prone to wish that all women were
widows"
In reviewing the book a London
critic remarked that it seemed GER
tain that the universe would be
more peaceable place in which to live
II one woman was at least a widow.
This remark so offended Crosland that
he brought suit for libel against the
newspaper, but the Judge said the
criticism was justified.
A little later G.. E. Farrow pub
lished a reply to Lovely Woman"
which he called Lovely Man." and in
which he too made a remark that if
all married men were like unto Cros>
land widowhood would undoubtedly
wives. A few days ago Crosland sued
Farrow on the ground that the latter
had attacked his private character
Again he lost his suit.
HIMSELF AN OFFENDER.
1T is not in woman's watery blood
to be loyal, wrote Crosland amiably
II you want loyalty and honor you
Will never go to woman for them,
no matter how old she may be- He
also said "A girl of 10 Is faithless,
spiteful, greedy, merciless, unruly and
illogical, and at 20 she is the same
girl only more cunning and trifle
more commercial"
The book abounds in delicate COM
ments OF this sort, "A man can carry
skin full of liquor like a gentleman
A woman never gets drunk like a
lady"
Crosland's abhorrence of personali-
ties comes the less gracefully from
him in view of this comment from
ms book on Miss Ellen Thornycroft
Fowler, who, the author said, he
wished had never been born.
How any thinking being can wish
to read her books passes ones COM
prehension," snapped Crosland. But,
OF course, it must be remembered that
she writes for women and that possi-
bly, her only two male readers are
DR.. Robertson Nichol and her papa
the Right Hon. Sir Henry, whom I
last beheld on a Calais boat eating
buns out of Bag
The opposing lawyer declared that
Crosland had brought his action
merely for the purpose of selling his
book and affirmed that whenever the
author of 'The Unspeakable Scot
wanted a little enjoyment he popped
round to the law courts with a little
ready money and took action" He
also pointed out that Crosland had not
paid the. cost of appeal in his other
libel suit and that the writer had an
unsatisfied County Court Judgment
against him and bill of sale.
RARE BOOK ABANDONED.
Owing to the death of the Rev.
Richard Lovett a book has been
abandoned which promised to be
most valuable addition to the bibliog-
raphy of the Bible. The book in
question was to have been entitled
The Printed English Bible, 1926
1862" and it aimed at placing its pos
SCISSOR as nearly as possible in the po-
sition of one who had access to every