Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-03
HOME OF CRAWFORD.
Where the Novelist Wrote
TWenty-Four of His Books.
COMMANDS A LOVELY VIEW
Located on q Blur Overlooking the
Bay Of Naples.
MOST NETHODICAL WRITER
Large Annual Revenue From His
Work-Picturesque Castel
DELI Uovo.
MOST METHoDICAL WRITER
BY WILLIAM e CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

! nearly twenty years by Francis Marion
Crawford. the famous novelist. which
stands upon q blum overlooking the Bay
OF Naples. and commanding one Of the
most beautiful views that can be imas-
ined, with Vesuvius In the foreground, IL
vacant ana closed but for q caretaker
They tell mo here that Mrs.. Crawford IL
spending the winter in Rome, the two
sons are on tea farm in India and the
villa Is for rent. It Is ono Of the most at
tractive places about Sorrento. and that.
as you know. 10 considered an earthly
paradise by artists, poets and other low
ers or nature. It was formerly q monas-
| terry. but was remodeled thoroughly and
fitted up with modern comforts and con-
veniences. The garden is especially beau
ttful, and for q person who likes that
sort OF life. student or an artist, the
| location and the surroundings. are incom-
parable.
Crawford wrote twepty-four novels In
| that villa He was undoubtedly the most
methodical and the most regular of all
famous writer's. although, III the opinion
| Of some of his critics, that detracts from
the interest and artistic merits Of his
| work. His books are often described as
mechanical and lacking in inspiration, and
the way he did his work certainly was not
calculated to stir him into a frenzy Of
ReoCAoA oAsA OhSuASAooui.
Planning His Novels.
He used to lay out the plot or plan of
novel just as an architect prepares the
plan Of q house. He took sheet of fools
cap paper. drew up a skeleton. divided 1t
into chapters. determined in advance
where the climax should come, and then.
rejecting over his plot for days and per-
haDS weeks. would add notes here and
| there until the scheme was fully devel-
oped. Then he would write the culminat-
ing situation first and work UP afterward
to 1t from the beginning. writing regular
ly 30 many hours a day. usually the en-
tire morning, and thinking out his situa-
tons and dialogue between sittings.
Crawford was never able to dictate. He
did all his writings with his own hand
dictated stories ever had the vitality that
came from lne closer contact and the
magnetic current tnat flowed through q
pen.
You have doubtless seen statements
about his writing a book in seven days,
all Of which are untrue. He wrote very
rapidly, however, and his manuscript was
clear and free from corrections and al
terations. He had a remarkable COM
mand Of language, and was essentially
practical and analytical in his treatment
Of the emotions and motives Of his char
acters, but never attempted high-f1own
descriptions or word pictures.
A Rapid Writer.
Few men could turn out copy as fast
as he. He used to average about 5000
words day after day, and 1,500 words an
hour was an ordinary thing with him.
He once told me that he wrote 1.-THE
Tale Of Lonely Parish in a month.
not counting Sundays. and 1t is a book
oh rynrAo t>s,f HA lot ,od
that he was able to accomplish this ex-
ceptional task because Of circumstances.
He spent couple of years In the little
village Of Hatfield Regis, in HEREFORD
with the curate Of the parish. from whom
he learned the story Of an agnostic ar
fist, whose greatest triumph was the
carving Of q statue of the crucifed Christ.
All the description, the frame in which
the picture was set, was written from
his memory of that little parish, and
very little study and thought was re-
Quired for the plot.
Crawford had q great deal more actual
life in his stories than most authorS.
Most of his characters from "Mr Isaacs''
to 1.-The White Sister" were either real
people, more or less elaborated by his
Imagination, or they were composites Of
several people he had known.
His italian Stories Best.
Hence his stories of Italian life are
much more satisfying than those of
American life. because he knew Italy
better than he knew the United States.
He once wrote a political novel which
was an awful mess; and series Of
stories Of New York society. which be-
gan with Catherine Lauderdale.'' were
failures because he did not understand
and therefore could not portray social
life in New York city any more than
the politics Of Washington. Nearly forty
ave of his hfty-five years were spent
knew almost every other country better
than his own. He spoke, read and wrote
French. German and Italian as freely
a. English, and he studied Sanscrtt and
Arabic at Harvard, in Rome and In In
dia. He knew good deal Of Turkish
also and several Of the Hindu dialects
from conversation rather than from
books, but he was a thorough Italian; he
was happiest in Italy and he seldom left
that kingdom. He spent most of his
winters In Rome and his summers at
Sorrento.
Crawford's father was a sculptor Of
Scotch-Irish ancestry and was following
his profession in Rome when he met
and Tell in love with Miss Louisa Ward.
who WAS travelling with her uncle. DR..
Samuel q. Howe Of Boston, and his IA
nous wife. Julia Ward Howe. the vener-
able poetess and author OF 'The Battle
Hymn Of the Republic.
Native Of Rome.
Tho Howes spent the winter in Rome,
where Miss Ward married the young
sculptor, and where their four children
were born. Marion Crawford was the
Youngest. His father died when he was
three years old. and when about four
teen or fifteen years old he was taken
back to the United States. where he
spent two or three years at st. Paurs
School. Concord, N. H. Then he was
sent to a tutor In the English village
have referred to, and there prepared
for Trinity College. Cambridge. where he
spent two years. He Afterward went to
Heidelberg and then became the private
secretary OF his uncle, the famous WASH
inxton lobbyist. Sam Ward. The latter
occupied q good deal Of attention and
exercised great deal OF influence in
washington during the closing year OF
the war. and the boom In commercial
and industrial legislation that followed 1t.
He was the king Of tho Lobby" and
the most famous, slkillful and successful
In that profession OF any man who has
ever appeared in the halls OF our Nation
al Capital.
The Writing Of "Mr. Jacobs"
It was Sam Ward who made Crawford
a novelist and 1t il quite a romantic
story. Before Joining his uncle. Craw-
ford went to Rome to study Sanscrit and
other oriental languages. and pieced out
q rather slender income by making
traHSlatiOns and doing newspaper work.