Evening journal., 1911-09-12
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The American Dollars That
Made a Famous Novel
lSt Happy
By Holland

When William Makepeace Thackeray
was on his second lecture tour in the
United States in 1855, he made the
editorial Offices Of Pulman's Magazine
his headquarters when he was in New
York city. The late Parke Goodwin, pub
licist and son-in-law of William Gull
len Bryant, was then an editor of the
magazine.
"Thackeray always had free entry
to the editorial rooms OF the maga-
zine; he came and went without cere-
mony. .p said Mr.. Goodwin TO me a short
time before his death in 1904 Il re-
member that one day l entered the Of
flee rather Unexpectedly and there,
seated at my desk was Thackeray de
was all alone, and was busily engaged
in marking up a bit Of paper.
In the course Of the conversation
that ensued | remarked that l had
heard that when il was first proposed
TO Thackeray that he visit the United
States and deliver his lectures on The
English Humorist' he almost resented
the offer, because it seemed TO him that
for him to appear upon the lecture
platform in this country would be in
the nature Of an exhibition of William
Makepeace Thackery. Then | asked II
he had ever felt any sense of humilia-
tiOn on that account while lecturlng IN
this country.
"Thackeray got up, stuck his hands
in his pocket, looked out OF the win
dow for a moment or two, and then
declared most emphatically that from
the moment he appeared upon the lee
ture platform at Boston to lecture Tor
the first time I'm America in 1852, until
the first course of lectures was ended
In 1853, he had experienced not tie
slightest sense of humiliation For that
reason, he said he was all the more
ready TO listen to propositions for a
second lecture tour. And then, with a
characteristic, whimsical smile and a
merry fash of the eyes, he added that
he thought he could have swallow
ed the humiliation, If there had been
any, when he counted up the ducats.
Did those first lectures bring you in
more money than you had hoped for?'
l asked
Much more-much more, was the
delighted response. Before 1 read in
the United States it was the weekly or
monthly check from my publishers
which paid my bills and for the care Of
my daughters. Now, that sort Of thing
is good, but it is precarious, and, thank
Heaven, it is past. Why, do you know,
I am going back to Enkland, the hap
piest man in the world, l think, be-
cause / have been able TO tuck away
about twenty thousand pounds hun
dred thousand dollars of your money
q
your own securities, of which | have
been well advised, so that can say to
my little girls when l get home:
There's a thousand pounds a year for
you no matter what happens" Then,
too, the possession of this capital, this
surety Of a steady income, will leave
me wholly free to undertake some new
novels, TO devote my entire time tc
planning and writing them
"A little while later Thaekeray left
the office, happy as clam at high tide
Going to my desk l discovered that h'
had left behind the bit of paper whicl
he had been marking up. examined i
and found that he had drawn a fret
! hand sketch for a cover for Putnam
/ Magazine On one side was a corn
stalk, very tall; on the other side,
cotton plant. Under the cornstalk wal
written the word 'Longfellow;' unde
the cotton plant was the word Cur
tbs, italicized to indicate that tn
Latin word for short was meant
Longfellow and George William Cur
tbs were at that time two conspicuou
contributors to the magazine.
Il showed the sketch to Curtis VIII
was on the magazines editorial staii
when he came in. We decided to fran
and keep IL in the editorial offices, Blu
It disappeared. Somebody coveted an
took it, and for the past fifty years
have been expecting any day that thi
particular Thackeray drawing vii
turn up somewhere in the Unite
States"
Copyright, 1911, by E. J. Edwards, Al
Rights Reserved.)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell q
sThe Light That Thackeray Placed
J ~