Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-08
RAREST OF LOST BOOKS
MIRACULOUSLY FOUND
Fielding Sermon Never Seen by
Modern Collector Bought by
Former Philadelphian

When book by n man of fame is not
to be found In the British Museum or
the Bedelan Library at oxford the
average person would be apt to give up
looking for II. II 10 only the indegatiga-
BILE collector who continues to hope
against hope. And 1t is only such q coll
lector-Frederick 8. Dickson, for in
stance-who might stumble over the only
copy In Christsndom OF a sermon by
Fielding,
The Crisis; a Sermon" has been one
Of the mysteries OF the literary world
Until the other day the only proof OF it's
existence as well as OF its authorship,
was a note in Nichols Literary Anecdotes
OF 1874 that in a copy OF The Crisis"
printed for A. Dodd, London, l74l. there
was an Endorsement on the title page:
This sermon was written by the late
Mr.. Fielding, author of Tom Jones' etc.,
as the printer of IL assured me. II. b."
Who "R. b was no one knows, but
since then this item has been credited to
Fielding by all of his score of biograph-
ers. None Of whom, however, claims
ever to have seen a COPY
One day last summer Mr.. Dickson who
ls n noted collector Of Fielding, as well
as former Philadelphian, received a
letter from II. Williams, a bookseller Of
Hove, England. Offering him a certain
obscure sermon by Fielding for the alb
surd price of 75 cents. As result this
Wandering Jew of literature is now at
the binders, and when properly dressed
will find its home with the Fielding col
lection In the library OF Yale University
Poetry, like play-printing, is looking
up" Under the title of The Macmillan
Modern Poets to
issue, in limp leather, John Maseheld's
The Story Of a Roundhouse," "The
Faithful" THE Tragedy of Pompey the
Great" Philip the King and other
Poems" "a Mainsail Haul" "The Daft
fodil Fields" THE Everlasting Mercy"
and salt Water Ballads" Edgar Lee
Masters Spoon River Anthology" Va
chel Lindsays THE Congo and other
Poems," Fannie Sterns Davis Crack
o. Dawn" Wilfrid Wilson Gibson's three
books, Fires" Daily Bread" and
"Womenkind"; Alfred Noyes' three
books, Poems" Tho Golden Hynde and
Other Poems" and Flower of Old Japan
and Other Poems" Lincoln Colcord's
vision of War" Sara Teasdale's "Rivers
to the Sea-" Thomas Walsh's THE Pill
grim Kings" and John G. Nelhardt's
The Song Of Hugh Glass" are also an
nounced.
An elderly librarian, now dead, says
the Boston Transcript, used, so II is told,
always to remove from circulation any
book that became popular. Whether his
theory was that popularity implied Inn
propriety, or whether 1t was n desire TO
keep the book from wearing out, is not
revealed. But in some instances his spirit
survives.
Possibly he was only another fossilizcd
devotee of the man who said that when
ever he heard of a new book he always
took down an old one.
The Literary Editor of the EVENING
LEDGER Is inclined to agree with the
disputant in the New York Tribune's
roundup of boys books, who writes:
What's all this discussion about the
books you used to read? Optic? Alger7
Ellis? Castle-what' s-his-name? Great
parsnips! Didn't you and any of those
boy-informed contribs ever read one of
Kirk Munroe's thrillers from c. to c. 4,
vice versa? Never read Rick Dale?
Never read The Fur-Seal's Tooth?
Mover read The Painted Desert'P or
The Flamingo Feather or The I3lue
Dragon or "A Son OF Satsuma'? UJst
of is or 20 others by Munroe will be fur
nlshed on request)" -,
Another writes' "Henty wasn't baId-
headed. He was a big-bearded English
man, yachtsman and a sportsman. AS
war correspondent of the Standard he
served through Wolseleys Ashantee
campaign, and, therefore, knew some
thing about fighting at first hand. His