New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-08-07
Gle 2NJes,1 anDos2pork Ga%iiat11e
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 1910.

citv of museums It was, of course, little
ridiculous that Victor Hugo should nave mao
the house in the Place des Nosges, long his
home dedicated monument 10 his laile
while the Of genius who SO 1miheasui'i-
bly SURPASSED him was left with no sucn
memorial But now the little house in which
Balzac lived and heroically labored from lS4l
to 1S4S q house hidden away in one OF the
cuietest streets of Passy, the Rue Rayounard,
has been formally consecrated to MS memory.
There he wrote "Pere Goriot,'' "Couslhe Bette
end other masterpieces, and there the pllSrllh
Ray muse to-day amongst reVerently arIahseu
souvenirs of his private and professional NE
Some pieces of furniture that belonged 10 MN
are scattered through the rooms, here and
there hang framed manuscripts, photographs
portraits and caricatures, and the collection
assembled by the Societe DIES Amis de Balzac,
,nder whose auspices the museum was opened
,he other day also includes a cast OF his right
hand Conspicuous, too, is Robins model OF
the statue which to have been erected IN
Paris but got itself rejected, thereby causing
a memorable controversy. 1t Will not be long,
we fancy, before this house becomes one of
the most assduousy visited Of literary shrlnes
The talk which has gone on, intermittently,
for years about the possibilities CT literary
Academy" in England has finally produced
f9naihIe result Collaborating with the Society
Of Authors the Royal Society of Literature has
constituted within itself a body that is de-
scrbed as tentative" inaSmuch as it does not
intend to assume, at present, an independent
existence. This body is to be known as The
Academic Committee and it is to consist of
forty members Here are the names of the
,vontv-nine thus far appointed, interesting as
@ matter Of record:
Alfred Austin, Arthur Christopher Benson,
Ay1Ir Ta-jl ySTnE nf1Tt
Bridges Samuel Henry Butcher, Joseph Conrad,
William John Courthope, Austin Dobson, James
Haldane, Thomas Hardy Maurice Hewlett
Henry James, William Patton Ker, Andrew
lang, Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall, John William
George Gilbert Murray, Henry Newbolt Ed
ward Henry Pember, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero,
George Walter Prothero, Walter Raleigh,
George Macaulay Trevelyan, Arthur Woolgar
VERBAL and William Butler Yeats
These gentlemen have undertaken several
duties. They are to take all possible meas
ures to maintain the purity of the English Ian
guage and to hold up standard of good taste
in style We wonder just how they will go
about it, Then they are to encourage fellow
ship and cooperation among those who are
dsinterestedly striving for the perfection of
English literature" and by "discourses of re-
ceDtion" and obituary addresses to mark the
current Of literary history in Great Britain.
Finally they to designate from time to
time persons to become recipients of the
medals of the society and to make awards of
merit to particular literary works.
The autumn crop of fiction promises some
Interesting things Mr.. Henry James has a
new book in press. 1t is a collection of short
stories, most of them, suppose, pieces
which have appeared in the magazines.
similar book by Mrs. Wharton have already
snn0unced and there will be novels by
Miss Alice Brown, Mrs Burnham, Mrs. De-
land and other American authors The English
contribution will be generous usual Mr.
John Masefield, whose Captain Margaret
adventure in Virginia and on the Spanish Main
to which he has given the aluring title of
"TreDanned' Mr. Wells will soon have ready
fn book form his New MachieVeI" "O'S"
forthcoming romance of Boston in the days
before the Revolution is called ''IhdyGo0d-
f0r-Nothing" The novel Mr.. Z. V. Lucas has
In hand is entitled Mr., Ingeside,' and MI
Richard Bagots story Of life in Naples and
Tuscany will be called The House Of Serrc-
vale" Apropos of this Italian novel, one is
painfully aware of the fact that there will be
90 new Crawford book this year. His fertility
made the reading Of one Of his romances, as
the season came around, almost Il habit and
that he is gone the familiar pleasure is
sadly missed