The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-10
BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

the importance OF eOuCatlOn-DuV We arc
still in the dark al to the objects OF educa-
ton; instead OF thinking that it is a process
which ought to end in making men and
women more simple, more content. more
happy, we nave a vague Idea that 1t will
enable us to retain our commercial superior
ity and to keep ahead OF Ameri ca n Ger
many. The SUCCESS, In my belief, Of Ger
man education is attested not by their
commercial prosperity, but by the fact that
Germans are genuinely devoted to intellec-
tual and artistic pleasures. In England
we fall between two stools; we despise the
things Of the mind. and though we worship
commercial success. we do not know how
to attain it,"
According to the Bookmdn's data OF
best sellers Churchill holds first place
IN favor with -Coniston.' The Awaken
ing Of Helena Richie, The Jungle Pam
Decides LADY Baltimore and The
Fighting Chance" completes TIRE list. Those
books may be said to illustrate fairly the
preference of readers in all parts Of the
country. for the books brought out in the
spring depend largely for their autumn
circulation upon the popularity they have
gained by being read and discussed during
the summer holiday season.
Thomas Hardy said recently in the
course Of a Real Conversation: Il don't
know that my surface knowledge OF the
country is so intimate "a you think. But
for one thing, when l waS quite a young
man, an architects pupil, l = used to be sent
around to sketch village churches as a pre-
liminary to their rsstoration-which mostly
meant destruction. 1 feel very remorse-
ful now, but after all it wasn't my fault
/ was only obeying orders" Which speech
calls attention to the fact that the authors
early training was all with compasses and
architectural plans. At 10 he was ar
| ticled to an ecclesiastical architect and
later migrated to London to practise his
profession. ~Forty-three years ago he took
a prize for architectural design, 1t was
not until 1872 that he decided to devote
himself to his present profession OF letters.
The Hon. Joseph II. Choate has prefaced
the American edition OF Mrs. Craigie's new
book, THE Dream and the Business" with
an appreciation Of the cleve and talented
woman who was so much sought and no
generally admired during her visit here
last &inter. As is generally known Mrs.
Craigie was born in Boston and lived there
during her childhood, put she was educated
chiefly on the Continent and spent the
rest of her life in England, where Mr.. Choate
saws Her friendship was sought n valued
by many distinguished and cultivated men
and women, who found the charm Of her
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS equal to that Of her books
and always made her welcome There
was a freshness, a ~vivacity and a ~piquancy
in her conversation, which was equally
characteristic Of her writings. and which
was due to natural temperament and
fertility OF brain enlivened and stimu-
ated by her French training" She was
an interchangeable worker and during the
nineteen years of her literary labors she
produced in rapid succession novels and
stories, plays and articles for periodicals
and reviews with incessant activity. She
was, Mr.. Choate writes, The head Of her
own sohool-one in which she already has
many devoted pupils and followers"
Edouard Herriot's book Madame Re-
camier," which has received the Bordin
prize. is to be published in English in oc-
tober. The book il founded on documents
that have never before been accessible
and presents the entire circle which sur.
rounded the famous beauty.
Miss J.. H. Fndlater's new novel. -ThC
Ladder to the Stars takes its name from
a little picture by William Blake, which
represents two men putting up a ladder
toward the stars. Underneath il written
Il want! I want!"'
Bronson Howard offers for the first tint
A. Ntkln 20 - II ~ n
a Comedy" The play, which will not b.
produced on the stage until next year, deal
with the modern marriage question ia a.
international setting. In preparing tn
reading version Mr.. Howard has incorpo
rated the conventional stage direction
with the bright and amusing dialogue o
the text in such a way that the play a X
on the connected form Of a novel. II !
rather a new departure for the playwright
TO weave his story into a novel and theI
rayel II out again into the form OF a play
The usual sequence OF literary matter !
from serial publication in novel form
through publication into a book and after
ward a reconst ruCtion into a play. Thi
Is the method followed by Mrs. Wharton
Mrs. Humphry Ward, Booth TarkingtO
and many others.
Sir Gilbert Parker recently made a Iourne
!, to Paris to confer with NJ. Andre Castaign
who Ia making the pictures for The Wea'
ers," Parker's new story now being pull
lished serially in HGrper's. The artist hi
recently visited Egypt. the country inl
which the narrative wanders at the nel
instalment, to study the scenes and Il
, types depicted in the story. The introdu
. ton Of the sturdy English Quaker hero in
an atmosphere OF Eastern craft and intrigu
with a background Of Oriental picturesqu
ness, offers rare opportunity to both arti
I and author alike for original and strikiI
work.
: Anthony Fiala. the Arctic explore
whose book Fighting the Polar Zoe "
he published this month. IA one Of the youn
est Of all the daring men who have MAJ
the hunt for thu Polar prize. He VI
d born near jersey City thirty-nvo yea
ago, educated in the public schools. b
: came q chemist, and later q photograph
and snSraver on the newspapers. Aft
Z service IN the Spanish war be was ma
& First L~bsutenant and b~sttalion quartz
q uaaker of A neRimeut Of the New 70,