Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-08-21
Stories Of Meredith BY Man who
Employed Him as a Publisher Reader
London Literary Letter.
ccial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence.
Y aONDON, Aug. 10.-To many
Americans It may be a surprise
to learn that the late George
Meredith was, for many years
reader' to one of the oldest ana most
famous OF English publishing firms. The
llf l1nf INDIGESTION was Chapman e Hall.
who published the works of Charles
dickens. and readers OF Meredith will
surn1ise that his comments on the man
uscripts on which he. passed Judgment
must have been brilliant, caustic and
vastly entertaining.
mat such was the case is now de-
cared by q member of the firm of Chan
man, man 9; Hall IN an unconmonly Interest,"
ing article on Meredith as a Publsft-
er's Reader in one of the ouarterlies
lt was a common thing in the office, it
seems to ask, rs there anything clever
IN Meredith's reports this week?n And
there almost Invariably was Here are
a feW~ ,e1nineEtly characteristic COM
&rnents:
An Internal romance "A mere
Wisp Of q tale. ''Feebler stuff than
this might be written, but would tax
an ape. Written in a queer old
Numbering style, poor stuff. respecta-
+ bic In the mouth of ones grandmoth-
err. 'Vaporish stuff = = 'Anstey might
have made the subject amusing This
Writeris an elephant Might gain Il
prize for dullness, "Cockneyish dia-9
logue. gutter English, ill-contrived in
Scidents, done in daubs.,,
One cannot help thinking how the
writer's of the tales thus stienlatized
would have WINGED had they known OF
the words in which George Meredith
appraised their efforts presumably
they received instead the ordinary .sre-
grets"). and its rather sad, too to
know that a really great man had to-
endure such drudgery for a livelihood
MADE SOME REGULATIONS.
H In his capacity of publishers read
err Meredith helped to make the repu-
tationF of several now famous writer's
either by active acceptance Of early
work or else by counsel and encourage
r,ent. The late George Gissing was
one Of these. He@submitted his novel,
The Unclassed" and in a discussion of
its shortcomings which took place in
the office of the publishers, Meredith
made many suggestions for its Inn
provement The same happened with
.Gissing's second book, Isabel Clarer-
dom which passed through Meredith's
hands two or three times and was re-
5duced from three volumes to two.
Several ofsthe feminine authors, not
ably Sarah Grand" and the late John
Oliver Hobbies came in for some char
Iacteristically frank reports: while Olive
Schreiner's first manuscript story,
Saints and Sinners was endorsed by
Meredith, PILOT silly; early part well
written. He returned her story of
an African FARM to her for revision,
and she later called and saw him by
appointment.
So did Thomas Hardy. According to
the chronicler already quoted, no opin-
ion is recorded Of the first thing Hardy
submitted to the firm, which was enti-
tied THE Poor Man and the Lady, A
first attempt, it showed enough prom
Use, however, to suggest encouragement
and the aspirant called and had the
usual interview with Meredith, -receiy-
Ing advice which, as Hardy declared
later. Meredith himself did not follow
1t would have been nightly interesting,
by the way, to have been an unseen
witness OF that Interview between
George Meredith and Thomas Hardy. 1E
NOVEL NEWSPAPER.
What do you say to newspaper en-
.tfrely devoted to legs? The answer may
be that a lot OF our Illustrated ones
are already, Dutt journal deSs JambeS
is a daily. Paris Is the home of this
new journal, whose publishers declare
that it will fill a long felt want 1t
aims to be "a friend and counselor to,
all who wish to keep their legs fit and
to all who, weary, impotent or Worn
out wrongly believe they had lost the
use of theirs beyond return Moreover,
the journal will IDEAL with all medical,
surgical photographic, sporting and all
other questions relating to the human
leg, of either SEX.
Mrs, Humphrey Ward has not lost.