Evening journal., 1912-07-26
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Famous Novel That In
Spired Another Best Seller
By Holland

When have been told the story
Of the wonderful sale of this or that
modern work Of fiction. the kind of
book which in the technical Ian
guage Of the publishing trade is call
ed a best seller" / am often re-
misded of the true story of how one
best seller of the early half of the
last century inspired the writing of
another famous best seller" of that
period in American literature.
In 1851, a few weeks after il had
been published, and before it had
caught the public fancy, a copy of
Susan Warmers first and most ia
nous novel, "The Wide Wide World. q"
was sent as a gift to Miss Marie
Susanna Cummins, of Salem, Mass,
by a New York friend, Now. this
young woman who was then only
twenty-four years Of age and who
had keen appreciation OF literature
and an innate power for reading and
describisg human nature which her
father had been most careful to cul-
tivate, he believing that she was des-
tined TO have a successful career as
an author, was straightway fascinat-
ed with Miss Warmers story.
This is a wonderful story" she
said TO her father. and there are
some things in II which, I think, I
could have written myself At any
rate, IL has fursished me with the in
spiratlon which ! need if | am to
write a story which anybody will
read"
Three or four months after she had
received and read the story of "The
Wide, Wide World" Miss Cummins
was walking OF an evening In one of
the streets of Boston near the Com
mon and think of Miss Warmers
talked about She saw lamplighter
go from lamp post to lamp post with
his little ladder upon his soulder and
his torch in his hand. She caught
glimpse of the mans face. and It
was a singularly benign, gentle and
patient expression which she saw
written there
The sudden and brief glimpse
which Miss Cummins had of this
lamp lighter served to kindle her
own imagination as though with a
great flame. She saw almost in an
instant in her mental vision the story
knows in American literature as
"The Lamplighter; she saw the be-
ginning and the end of il. II was all
written in her mind with that sudden
flash of Inspiration
But although metally written, the
toll and care of composition caused
her to progress very slowly with the
manuscript AZ last, however, the
manuscript was finished and submit
ted to a Boston publisher. One read
ing satisfied him and his critics that
he would be safe to public the book
Within six months after The
Lamplighter" was published in 1854
its sale had reached a husdred thous-
and copies. II was even republished
in England and translated into
French and German It ranked in
popular interest almost with "Uncle
Toms Cabin although, of course
Il had not tho political significance
which Mrs. Stoves story contained
And today it remains a favorite along
with Mrs Stoves great story.
The Lamplighter" was one of the
best sellers of its time-indeed, of
any time-and il is "a curious fact
that the writer's of the best sellers
of American fiction between 1S4S and
1870 were women. But would Miss
Cummins have written The Lamp
lighter If her father had not first
discovered her talent and trained it,
il she had not received a copy of
THE Wide, Wide World" end, fur
thermore, II there had sot come 10
her the early evening vision of the
patient and benign lamplighter goinl
in serenity upon his evening task OF