The sun., 1908-02-19
BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

In his Heritage OF Dress Mr.. Wilfrid
Mark Webb discusses various theories to
account for the fact that the buttonholeS
OF a mans coat are on the left side, Of a
woman's dress on the right. A reviewer in
the AthenGum suggests a solution which the
author has not noted. The left hand is used
naturally by man in any two handed work
for holding and guiding, while the right hand
does the work. as in carpentering the man
holds the board with the left hand, the saw
with the right. 1t is therefore natural TO hold
the buttOnhole with the left hand while the
right hand does the work OF putting the
button through. For the same reason
women usually carry children on the left
arm to leave the right hand free and give
them the left breast more than the right.
To suit this practice it has been more con-
venient for women TO wear bodices in which
tho right side overlaps the left.
Kenyon Cox. the painter, has inherited
the art Of writing. which he exemplifiee
in his papers on art and artists. He 10 the
son Of Gen. jacob ID. Cox, Secretary Of the
Interior in President Grants first Cabinet.
who after his retirement from the army
became a successful writer on historical
and military topics and was for more than
twenty years a contributor to the Notion.
Kenyon Cox will contribute a paper to the
March Scribner on Millet, with many repro
ductions Of his paintings.
Eva Madden, the author OF Two Royal
Foes" the history Of Napoleon and Queen
Louise written in story form for children,
is the sister OF the author Of Emmy Lou
Miss Madden lives in Florence. having left
America on account Of her health, living
for time in Germany and then making
her permanent home in Italy. She has been
writing since she was IL, and like her sister
has confined herself to stories for children.
Miss Madden says she has never written
of a country without being in II, and her
latest story interprets the conditions that
prevailed in central Germany 200 years ago.
Charles NJ Pepper. the author OF the series
on The West In the Orient now running
in Scribner's, is an indefatigable traveller.
When last heard from he was In Peru. In
the March Scri6ner's he will describe the
general upheavsl Of old methods Of trans
portation throughout the Orient by such
schemes as a railroad to Mecca, the Bagdad
railroad. the motor car in the desert and
the Red Sea line which will supplant the
caravans that now run to the capital Of
Abyssinia.
Mr. Clay ton Hamilton. the author Of a
new book to be publishd soon on Materials
and Methods in Fiction is a contributor TO
magazines, an associate editor OF the Forum
and is connected with the English depart
ment at Columbia.
It in said that the revival OF the salon
is at hand, that society, vearying at
last Of bridge playing, motor speeding,
musical and theatrical entertainments, ts
turning for novelty TO the refined sociabil-
ity, the choice conversation, the atmOs-
phere Of intimate friendship peculiar to
the eighteenth and early nineteenth CEN
turies. In Paris the salon has never quite
gone out, and among the most aristocratio
as well as most literary is that OF the
Duchesse de Rohan, herself a poet She has
been the friend OF the younger Dumas,
Maupassant, Sully Prudhomme, Copp4e
and many a struggling young author who
owes his success to her graceful patron
age. Her uncle by marriage, the late
Cardinal do Rohan, was on intimate terms
with Victor Hugo and LamArtine>
One Of the first books Of fiction for tho
spring Is Gouverneur Morris's The Foot
print and Other Stories,' which will ap-
pear this month. II contains tales OF the
East and the West and contrasts Oriental
mysticism and Western realism.
Mr. Winston Churchill Is an exception
ally careful worker. From his own ac-
count It appears that although his books
| have appeared at intervals OF at least two
or three years, even these intervals do
not correctly measure the time he spends
in writing them. His new novel which
he Is just now completing he claims was
actually in his mind some time befoT 0
"Coniston' appeared, and consequently
before his campaign for the Governorship
Of his State. II will be interesting to see
whether Mr.. Crewe's Career embodies
any Of the experiences which Mr.. Churchill
gained in that campaign.
only give a sensible woman three wet
days In a country house and she'll marry her
daughters to any one Is one Of the say
ings reported by Lady Dorothy Neville
| In her latest volume OF Leaves From the
/ Note Books This book, like the others
made up by Lady Dorothy's son. Mr.. Ralph
| Neville, are records Of his mothers per
sonAl experiences and accounts q well
known people she has met and known
It will be published during this month In
! this country The neriod includes the