Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-04-02

As SEEN BY HIS
OLD PUBLISHER

| VenS0E 5 attitude toward MS own VIII
ings. He didn't mind being edited,
and even consented to the suppress
sion Of five whole chapters of The
| Black Arrow" Like all writer's OF
the first rank, he was perfectly ami
abIe about changes and condensa-
tons" says Mr.. Mcclure in his auto
| Biography now running in the maya
zine bearing his name. Stevenson, we
are told, was mot handicapped by the
| superstition that his copy was. dtvie
| saneresanct," Mr.. Mcclure AYERS that
! sacrosanct. Mr.. .McClue AYERS that
he never knew a. really great writer
who cherished his phrases or was
afraid OF, losing few of them. First
rate men always have plenty more.
So much is Mr.. Mcclure impressed.
by this attitude of great writer's that
| he returns to the subject in another,
| part or his writing, perhaps betraying-
some of the annoyances he has had.
to suffer from hitler men. It was.
Stevenson again who did not mind the
clipping Of his phrases: -.....~,s ,,,...s
when Stevenson began 10 send in
his Letters from the South Seas he
| told me to. use my own Judgment about
editing them, and to cut wherever y
though ii would be advantageous. Aft
ter the series was well started in the
syndicate, he wrote and asked + me
Why was not cutting the stuff down
more. / have mentioned this wiIlinr
ness to be edited before and I have
said that all of the really ffrst-rate
Writers have known have been sim
Early open-minded I must mention
| it again, because, somehow, young
writers often have the idea that they
are lowering their flag If they con-
sent, to any changes in their manu-
lscript-that there is a mystic power
In a certain order Of words. My ex-
iperience has been-and / think: all
other editors have had the same eX-
Iperience that only writer's or infer
Tor talent and meager equipment feel
in that way. To a man of large erea.
tive powers. the idea Is the thing,
the decoration of phrase is very
secondary matter. 1t has no feeling
THAT, because he has set a thing down
one way once, it. must stand SO for
ever. He can say the same thing in
50 different ways. If his story IS loose
and runs thin, he is glad. to tighten
it. II it is congested, and he has
tried to bring out too many points, he
will cut. He can afford 10 spare al
few ideas; he has plenty. He has no
feeling that he can not cut out this
sentence because he viii never be-
able to say that particular thing so
well again; he knows he say it bet1
ter. / mention Stevenson particular
/ IL, because he is acknowledged to-
have been an artist In Worcs and to-
have achieved more finished style
than most men, and had a very par
ticular regard for style in its highI
sense But he would have 9een very
much ashamed Of style that conden-
sation could hurt. He often lamented
that BalZac did not have SOMEBODY to.
edit and condenes his novels for him.
These South Sea Letters, Mr.. Me-
Clure recalls, were a disappointment
to newspaper editors, ''ror they re.
vealed side of Stevenson with which.
the public was as yet no: much &C.
quainted." There were two men in.
Stevenson, we are told, "the romantic
adventurer of the sixteenth century
and the Scotch Covanter of the nine.
teenth century" Going on:
Contrary to our expectation, it
was the moraEst and not the roman
Ger which his observations in the
South Seas awoke in him, and the
| public found the moralist less interest
ing than the romaneer And yet, in
all his essays, the moralist was upper
most.A
| Stevenson was the sort or man who
commanded every kind of affection
admiration for his gifts, delight in his
personal charm, and respect for his,
unc6mpromising principles. Under.
neath his velvet coat, his ga:ety and
pfcturesqueness, he was flint. 1t was
probably this unusual combination of
qualities in him that made on eager
| to serve him in every possible way
/ remember saying to Mr.. Phillips
once: John, l want the syndicate
business to be run exactly as if it
were being conducted for the benefit
of Robert Louis Stevenson And that
| was the way l felt about him.
| Mr.. McClue reveals a curious atti-
tude toward Stevenson held by some
Of his British friends and protested
admirers, particularly w. E. Henley,
of whom some things have already be-
come we'll known
Before l sailed for London, Ste
venson gave me letters to a number
1 OF his friends there-Baxter, w E.
Henley. Sidney GOWN, r. A. NJ. Ste
Venson. and others. l found most OF
Stevenson set very much annoyed
by the attention he had received in
America, There was note of detrac-
ton in their talk which surprised and,
al first, puzzled me. Henley was par
| tlcularly emphatic. He had double
| grievance: that a nation whom he de-
spised a; a rude and uncultivated peo-
pie should presume to give stevenson
a higher place than he held in Eng
land; and the personal jealousy which
! he later voiced in his own writings
| Fe believed that his own influence
| upon Stevenson's work was not suffi-