The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-08-28
THE LADY AND HYR PtIyTER

when one morning in 1888 Paul Bolrs..
swoks 10 not precisely famous at laa,,
the talk Of literary Paris. he lroh.hlv
had no notion that he would We,r ~.
palms OF the Institute and for a psr,.,a
become the pet psychological novels,
Of the fashionable elect. Several slender
volumes OF verse published re-Tecti,crv
in 1872. 1875. 1878 and iss2 had attracted
some attention from the Left Bank. ~.
difficult as II is tn realize II to-day lie
young Bourget he was horn IN g..
was once n gay dweller in the tents oi OH.
Latin Quarter bohemia. lie asSociltet
with the eccentric Barley d'Auravily
| who wrote some pleasant criticisms u
| his admiring friend. particularly calling
attention to his Byronism But Pega,,l.
was early slain under him. and hence.
forth he was the psychological pryor into
womens hearts. II was. however. HI.
two volumes 81 -Essais do Psycholngia
Contemporaries that made him knovn
Such things once happened in Paris
couple 81 volumes and 10, you are trans.
lated from the Left to the Right Rank
BourRet lost no time in making his nav
during sunny weather. His studies Il
Flaubert. Stendhal. Baudrlaire. Goncourt.
U
ais and a peculiar gift for winding into
the very heart OF the subject; II the hear,
| showed any specks OF decay the cool
analyst did not fail to record them n.
had not studied for naught in the pro.
found school OF Stendhal
His first novel was called 'L'Irrspara.
BILE ussO. and from that year until no-
Bourset has poured forth a stream n
fiction interspersed by dramatic procuc.
tions. Last winter his -Barricade' was
given in Paris. and also his Tn Cas- 10
Conscience He has ceased troubling
about the morbid psychology OF married
women who have betrayed their nus.
bands. and interests himself in social
problems Married 20 wealth. he Is a
Roman Catholic OF tho ultramontane typ~
and his old associates have viewed his
career with mingled feelings. NJ. Paul
was not always rich or in the Academy
or a frequenter Of fashionable "a Ions
Some envious chaps have muttered
-opportunist- but what do they expect
II Bourget has got on remarkably for
the son OF a professor. II isn't because be
watched the grass grow In front OF bo-
hemian cafes where artists" discuss ART
more than they practise IL. He has been
Ahah INV" uas
struck out sparks on the forge 81 his
fiction. -Cosmopolis.- for example. %
a large. well filed. animated canvas and
in style and composition possibly the moe,
important OF his books.
But Bourget IN a petit-mohrs in lt.n-
ture. scrupulous as TO the little things Il
life. believing that IL you take care n
them the others don't much matter And
-. in
neither romanticism nor realism plays
comma nding role. he il wholly himself.
though ne has felt the influence 81 Henry
JAmes-hs has admitted this-and u
course Beyle-Stendhal always.
However. II was not Of a possible Bour.
&c, school that We intended o. discuss.
but his latest story. La Dame Qui perdI
Son Peintre- II is charming. No living
writer could have carried the attenuated
narrative with So light a hand. no one We
say. save Henry James-the James "
The Tone ~ Time In addition 90 the
charm II Bourg~t exhibits art connos-
s~ur-hip and a sly humor. the latter Tor
the benefit 81 the solemn picture experts
In his preface he disclaims any reference
To- Professor Bode and his Victorian Flora.
Indeed. his story appeared before the
Berlin scandal was public. Rather could
his arr critic he paired with Mr.. Ber"nson.
inasmuch a. both. the real one and the
one in Bourgeois fiction. discovered un-
known masters who executed tho master
pie~es OF Botticelli and Leonardo. Ana
poor Giorgione. he Of the golden tones. has
hardly picture left to his credit in italy
thanks to the iconoclas's!
To rctell story - a thankle~s task;
besides No would NOT denriye ouF readers
10 the delicate pleasures in store for them
In this intrigue ~ erudition. chiCanev
a nj insolent ignorance. The love interest
is slight therefore the book NAV not
interest those good Americans who delight
in passion punctuated by motor cars and
astorisks Nevertheless culture hreathe-
through these gentle pages. The lady
who loses her painter is a portrait by IA
Vinci she IL declared false attribuuon
by a young French expert who SAYS she
was painted by an AMIGO II ia Vino,
On this theory he not only stakes his
reputation for scholarship but also his
future happiness; he loves the usual an
interesting girl. How another attributoh
turns out TO be a modern painting and
how the lady gets back her painter
IL deftly related The one blot ~ The
character Of an American millionaire who
buys art as he buys pork. Where VI.
Bourget ever met him We wonder. such
a man buys Bouguereaus or Meissonier.
not Renaissance portraits He takes
us hack To- the days Of Mrs Trollope.
Dickens and Marx Twain. Tn" Morelh'
Berenson school Gomez in for numerous
raps neatly administered We h"re snon
10 eee the book in English