The Washington herald., 1907-08-18
THE WORLD OF BOOKS
BY HECTOR FULLER
BY HECTOR FULLER.

1t is curious the care We take nowadays |
TO safeguard the reading public against
what is known as immoral literature. |
Modern writing that might come under |
this head we will have none Of. and yet
such Is the demand for II that there is
always a ready sale for gaudy reprints
of so-called classics. and any new find
in this direction which, by reason Of its
antiquity. may safely be printed. is her
aided with delight The latest discovery
Of this sort is the diary OF Henri Legrand
"a little suspicious, that name. after Dau-
diets heroine fin "SaphoD. who has been
called the French Pepys. It appears, so
the story goes that he left a diary IN
cipher. and this Is 10 be published pres
emily by NJ Pierre Louys. 1t is said that
the manuscript has passed through some
adventures. Many collectors Of literary
curlosities have had their hands on It,
only to give It up as undecipherable. 1t
was submitted to the Academic des In
scriptions ct Belles-Lettres, 10 the pro-
lessor Of the School for Oriental Ian
guages, and 10 other experts, but It re-
tanned It's mystery until NJ. Louys solved
il. He declares that "of course, the di-
airy reminds Us OF Pepys, but ours out
does Pepys, first in length, secondly in
cryptographical intricacies. and lastly, in
indeeency, though Pepys has made worthy
endeavors in this direction" The hero
OF this new diary. we are told, not only
narrates some remarkable experiences,
but he gives chapter and verse for his
assertions, copies out thousands Of let
ters, and transcribes every document,
certificates of birth, death, marriage. and
burial NJ Louys says that once dis
covered, the cipher was comparatively
simple but the author made it more in
tricate by writing in three different Ian
guages The words are TO be read from
lef TO right. but the letters of each word
from right 10 left. II is said that the
diary throws some scandalous light on
the history OF the courts OF Louis PHILIPPE
and Napoleon III
A. c. McClurg & Co. Of Chicago. will
publish early next month a work by Col
H H Sargent, L. s. A, entitled 'The
Campaign Of Santiago de Cuba" The
strategic history will be printed in three
volumes. with a number of maps.
The record of book popularity at the
public library for the week just ended
shows that in fiction the greatest demand
was for Thurstons The Mystics" and
ChurchilFs "COniston-" In nOnfictiOn the
demand was for Gerrish's Textbook of
Anatomy" and Lafcadio Herns Japan:
An Attempt at Interpretation" Among the
juveniles the call was for Alcotts Eight
Cousins and Lang's Orange Fairy Book.
Other subjects Of popularity during the
week were economics and psychical re-
search. Abbotts The Industrial Prob
lem" and Henry Georges The Science
OF Political Economy were called for,
as were Prof Hyslop's "BOrderland Of
Psychical Research"
There is the making Of a fairly good
romanticist in the young man who sends
out review copies of the Bobbs-Merrill
indianapolis publications With each
book sent out he always sends a personal
sort Of letter full OF naive information,
and wearing quite an up-to-date air.
Perhaps Indianapolis and the Bookseller
ril Company are entertaining a novelist
unaware. Here is his latest letter:
August 70. 1907.
Literary Editor. Washington. D. c.
Dear Sir: 4 review copy Of Mr. Francis Lgnde's
new novel. The Empire Builders" goes 70 you b.
express to-day
The year 1877, as you know. is 70 be famed in
history the period when King Theodore, the First
WGged his mercsss war for the determination OF
the mollycoddles Il is with the idea Of aiding in
a small way, this admirable work, that The En-
pire Builders" has been published. For when the
snug people Of steam-heated Tarlbrs take up this
story they are going to feel the thrill Of mastery
over new and unnamed lands. get a Whit Of far-Od
camp fires, and long for the wild life Of the open
country Sic transit the mollycoddle. conquered by
the new romanoe-the romance Of iron and steel and
wonderful inVention-the romance which, as kipling
SAYS. brought up the nine-ifteen-
We hope you viii let Us your review Of
this which, as a favor to Us. you viii not release
before August q,
The volume referred TO so feelingly by
this genial correspondent has been duly
received, and viii be reviewed IN these
columns in due course. We feel quite
confident, however, that this young man
could do a much better job.
A collection Of smart things from the
books Of John Oliver Hobbies. the Mrs
Craigie 70 whom a memorial is TO be
erected in England. has been compiled
by Miss Zoe Proctor. and viii be pub
lished In this country. That such book
will be worth while may be judged, per-
haps, from the following samples Of Mrs.
Craigie's wisdom:
Political regulations are made by saving what you
think, and they are kept By saying what you don't
think.
II women thought less Of their own souls and
more about mems tCnperS. marriage would not be
what il is
A woman's instinct Is rarely at fault: it is only
when she attempts 70 argue with 1t that she blum
deTs
What rubbish IS talked about the artistic tenn
perament-especially by the idle and unproductive,
who loaf about, installing their limp backbone for
heaTenly-Ininde
All men very much what women make them
their wills may Be iron. bat women do not attack
them through their wills. They throw spells over
their Judgment. Sometimes the spell works for
gOod-nOre often for evil; for women as a rule are
meaRer than men-though men are mean enough,
heaven knows.
Nine. Charles Bigot, translator of lie
Inaitre Rousseau, is q Frenchwoman who
has taken several courses at the Univer-
sity Of Chicago. She brought her manu-
script TO the Mcclure Company this sum-
mer, and is now spending her vacation at
Seal Harbor, Ne.
Hall Game writes that his new novel is
progressing rapidly. His publishers, the
Appletons, expect to receive his manu-
script in "A short time.
4 project for the erection of a memorial
20 Mrs Ollphant is now in the hands Of
a representative British committee in
Guiding Mr. BalfonT, ]. N. Barrie, Lord
Rosebury, George Meredith, and Mrs.
Humphrey Ward. It is proposed TO place
the memorial ln ST. Giles Cathedral az