New-York tribune., 1908-02-16
NAPoLEoN's FIRST LIBRARY

Eeading was the lifelong hobby of Napoeon's
leisure In the bare room of the penniless ar
tillery sub-Heutenant at Nalence the book box
his brother Joseph asserted was larger than
The trunk which SufIiced for Napoleon's scanfv
wardrobe. In Paris. before Brumaire brought
him forward TO the first rank. he spent his time
principally in the Bibliotheque Rationale a
veritable library accompanied him to Egypt;
and once definitely settled in France as FIRST
Consul he selects. in the Malmaison the quiet
est and most pleasant room for his first library
Separated by a long council chamber from
.Josephine's brilliant and noisy reception rooms
Il looked out on three sides on the quiet leafv
garden A door opened a miniature bridge
across the moat. On this bridge an awning
was nt1ed Up and small table and chair
-S,-1esa- Thus on sunper days the consul
worked in the open air within easy reach OF his
works Of reference. These were some five fhou-
sand in number history and philosophy preiorn-
mating French authors naturally most
numerous The classics figured as French
translations for the most Roman OF modern
Euperors-like the author Of Julius Cesar
and ''Coriolanus'-had small Latin and less
Greek" scholarship Shakespeare, by the way,
figured on the Malmaison shelves with Pope.
and. Of course. "Ossian.' Napoleon's lifelong
Favorire- Among other English authors the
novels OF Fielding and Richardson were keenly
Hume he also studied. Restored after long
years Of neglect, the Malmaison is a public
museum and the first and most personal of Ma
poleons libraries open to the inspection of the
Partisan tourist.
The plain elbow chair still bears the gashes
made by Napoleon's penknife; the writing table
IS ample and simple Close by is curious
piece of furniture, the childs money box
system into which r7riyate uapers co11ld he in
troduced rapidly. bur could only he extracted
tv the use Of lock and key. On the table
e few odd volumes in the "Aialmaison binding"
-Chanlberss Journal
THE DIsCovERER OF THE NORTHWEST
PASSAGE
Had the Northwest Passage been discovered
q hundred years ago the world would have rung
with the name OF its illustrioUs diseoverer; yet
or q quest il which Sir John Franklin lost his
life and where Sir Leopold McCllntock failed. q
Scandinavian named Amunsden in a tiny seal
.ng craft named the Gj0a, with little crew Of
SIX men all told, has IL this twentieth century
unostenta1iously succeeded
SingulaTly and strangely silent. too has the
Journalistic press been upon this remarkable
achievement. and doubt, beyond the small mi
rority Of interested geOgraphers, if the great
world cf sensation hunters outside are even
aware that this noteworthy landmark in the
worlds history has at last been reached
Two instances. one Of self abnegation and the
other Of foresight. have been pointed out in
connection with Anunsden's action il this ex-
petition:
reighborhood OF the North Magnetic Pole Tor
the purpose Of making observations. that sci
eace might be the richer his return by bis
invest cations. instead Of proceeding his way
when the tempting bait Of making the North
west Passage he felt intultiYely 10 be within
his grasp
rect Judgment. the course Of the Gjoa was d.
rected southwark. for. having skirJed the fur
rrc- CoaS- OF Greenland 10 the extreme north
vest. where there q channel leading norJn-
he decided not To proceed on. but directed his
course 10 the south OF T3eechey Island As Cap
tain Creak remarked Fortunately he had an
excellent signpoSt in his magnetic Instruments
Theorists said. Go north but the magnetic
Instruments said. Co south He accordingly
resisted the temptation TO follow the northerlr
ru--e. which presumably others had taken ana
filled and directed his course southwark. Con
serue.rIN- il pursuing The waterway to the
s.-u-L Ec struck the passage. whereas. nad Ee
60 owed his first inclinaJions and proceeded N
Tire ,o-rhe~ly direction he in all probability
,ausr have returned by the way he came
L = curious coincidence that Doth me
Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage
fave been made Hy ScandinaElans. the latter
1v Baron NIls Adolf Erik Noldenski0ld. a SW9-
dish explorer and scientist, and. as DR. Nansen
rofuts out that ever since the eighth century
~ Narsenlan has been in quest OF the same
Eoal-the Northwest Passage From the time
-ra vikings had visited Iceland and GUnbl0rn
lad discovered Greenland tabout A D. 3ell.
whittier his countrymen had pressed forward
and formed settlements TO A d 1ept when
the NCrSemeu pTOcecded on . voyage OF 1tScoN-
e~- visiting various parts NJ North America,
Including Newfoundland and Labrador. their
r-ead had been in a 1orthwesterly direction
through Davis Strait into Bafiin Bay. and again
Sill further north until all trace was lost I
them. Yet these only were The pioneers ana
-7o- rfl oyer one thousand years afteTWard- in
this new twentieth century. has the feat been
regularly accomplished. though this stil has
been hv a NCrseman.-Alfred Su1ythe, IN The
Nineteenth Century