Evening star., 1907-08-31

ingford' would have been a poor substitute
for Sherlock" and Hope would not
have suited the character half as we'll as
Holmes
Speaking Of his literary beginning, Doyle
said that his first book was written when
ne was six years of age. 1t was a story of
adventure and he illustrated 1t himself. At
school he edited a school magazine, and at
seventeen he wrote a story that was ac-
cepted by Chambers Journal. 1t was the
money he got for 1t and not the glory Of
getting into print that stimulated him. He
said that after receiving the guineas
which he was paid for it he was like a
beast that had once tasted blood for I
Knew that whatever rebuffs l might re-
gold, and the spirit was in me to 90 1t
again For ten years after that he con-
tinued to write short stories, and several
Of them We're published anonymously, but
the gold for them did not come in fast
enough to warrant him in abandoning alto
gether the scalpel for the pen. One Of his
most interesting experiences occurred when
he was nearly twenty-one. "a friend, who
had been surgeon on whaler,'' he said
told me he was unable to return and Of
fered me the post. l was away for seven
months in the Greenland ocean, and 1 &C
utal!y came OF age in eighty degrees north
latitude. One of the truest compliments
ever had paid me in my life was when the
captain offered to make me the harpooner,
as well as surgeon, if 1 would come again
another year"
Lord Amherst's Library.
There is keen regret among booklovers
that the splendid library of Lord Amherst,
at Didlngton Hall, is to be broken up. 1t
was hoped that some wealthy collector
would come forward and purchase it out
right and preserve it intact. That oppo-
tunity has now gone by and preparations
for the sale at public auction are proceed
ing. Lord Amherst had the misfortune to
lose S500.0GO through the dishonesty of a
lawyer last year, and to recoup himself ne
IS compelled to part with his treasures.
For fifty years he has been engaged in
making the collection, with the object of
acquiring specimens that would present a
connected history of the art of printing and
binding in this country from the earliest
times to tic end of the seventeenth CEN
tury. The collection includes no less than
seventeen Caxtons-most of them perfect
which alone may realize anything between
S1o0,000 and 100000. The gem of the col
lection is that most highly priced of old
books, Lefevres 'Recuyel of the Historyes
of Troye," printed about the year 1874 1t
is said to be the only extant genuine and
perfect coDy-that Is, the only complete
copy that has not been made up from
number of more less imperfect copies
Competition for it is sure to be keen. and
there will be little surprise If the bidding
reaches $4,000 before the hammer falls.
The perusal of the catalogue-which has
not yet been issued, by the way-will
awaken hungry longings within the bosom
of the bibliomaniac, but unless he happen
to be incidentally a millionaire his chances
of obtaining any of Lord Amherst's treas
ures are remote. The good old days are
past when a Caxton might be picked uD
for song, or "Patissier Francois fall
to the man with the most discernmant
The book collector is no longer he of the
green coat and the STOPPING shoulders, to
whom old vellum and dingx brown bind
tngs were a feast of soul not to be emulated
even by the much-advertised Ambrosia.
Nowadays old books are the rage like
snuff boxes ana well-dressed
babies; and there are no means of sharing
the rage except by paying for 1t in hard
cash, which does not necessarily imply