Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-12-03
NOTABLE Event
IN CITY FIELD
OF LITERATURE
M a yor Hays Completes
Steps to Make This Mary
Hallock Foote" Week at
the Carnegie Library.

Mayor Hays announces that this will
be Mary Hallock Foote Week" at the
Carnegie library. Mrs. Foote, though
now a resident of California, lived in
Boise from 1888 to 1898, and it was
during this period that she did some
of her best literary work. Her west
tern stories written durin.; those days
have not only a peculiar charm of
their own but their color was almost
altogether local The names of the
settlements, the riv ,rs and the noun
tains in her stories of that day are the
names of the settlements, rivers and
mountains which are around us. Her
book the Chosen Valley" has the
Boise valley for its setting.
Some of Mrs. Foote's best stories
appeared in the Century magazine at
that time and an examination of the
files of the Century of those years
shows that Mrs. Foote's articles APP
peared contemporaneously with those
of the greatest authors of the time.
Rudyard Kipling and +. Hopkinson
Smith and other authors of like re-
pute wrote for the Century during this
period.
FAME AS ILLUSTRATOR.
but IL Is lOL dlOut dts IL Mllltl liieil
Mrs. Foote is known. She properly
claims fame as an illustrator as well.
The illustrations for her stories were
from her own pencil and it is some
times difficult to say whether her tall
ent was greater as n writer or an art
list. In some of the old volumes of the
Century, volume 16, for instance, will
be found pictures illustrating scenes
a. s-l,@ ,.t
sketch or essay of explanation. Mrs.
Foote'S pictures did not appear in the
popular edition of her books and as
they are TO a great extent hidden away
in the magazines. Mayor Hays has,
through the courtesy of A. j. Wiley,
been enabled to obtain reproductions
of these pictures for hanging in the
library.
HER STANDING AS AN ARTIST.
contributor to the Critic, writing
as late as 1900 speaks of Mrs. Foote
as the Dean of Women Illustrators"
and in commenting upon her work says
that she links the poetical and the
actual in a manner that makes them
inseparable."
In the s;me article an instance is
given Of Mrs. Foote'S standing as an
artist 1t says: Not so very many
years ago a well known sculptor went
into the studio of Edwin A. Abbey who
was carefully working on a drawing
that was apparently finished. Bet
ter let that alone Abbey. said the
sculptor, you can't get anything else
into that What are you trying to do
any way?' and Mr.. Abbey replied, 4
am trying o get the feeling that Mary
Hallock Foote puts into her work
and l can't"
DISPLAYED IN LlBRtRY.
Praise of this character from Mr..
Abbey, in his line, Americas most fore
most painter. leaves little to be said.
The character of magazinc illustration
in the last 30 years has greatly chang
ed. but thanks to the Improvements in
photography, the reproductions of Mrs.
Foote'S drawing now ham il the Car
negie library give a fair idea of her
work So far as obtainablc, repro
auctions of her drawings have been
made and may now be found on the
wall of the east wing of the library.
A few people in Boise are fortunate
enough to possess original drawings
by Mrs. Foote. These have been loan
ed for the week to the library in order
that the public might have access to
such of her original work as is avail
able.
Special attention has been given by
the library to Idaho history" said
Mayor Hays. Special attention is
now being given TO Idaho authors and
artists"