Norwich bulletin., 1916-12-30
IMPRESSIONS OF A NORWICH BOOK

privilege of reading the same volume; or would be, if the grown-ups were not similarly privileged. Children's books are not always interesting to their elders, or worth while; but this one is.
 In subject matter and in verbal style, it is admirably suited to young sters entering their teens: yet we should pity the graybeard of the Psalmist's span who did not find it Nor is it least of all commendabie that the book is written sympathett- | cally, simply and with an unfailing air of truthfulness. It furnishes an | invaluable chapter of Stedman's rec 1 ord which the more formal biosraph- CTS would neglect, and which, indeed, probably no one but the present au- | thor could readily supply: yet which l is essential to a complete appreciation of one of the most charming and gift | ed personalities in American literary ] life.
 Under the heading, A Sympathetic l Story, The Hartford Times devotes | half column to A New England 1 Childhood, saying in substance: | The expressive child silhouette on | the wrapper of this delightful story | Ot EQ1nunQ CldI6uC0 SIeuIudIlS DOy- 1 hood creates for us something of the old-time atmosphere and the wistfu1- | ness of the imaginative child whose | lines were cast in the most practical | of places.
 The chronicle is not merely that of | this bright, lively little creature, hun gry ry-hearted for his beautiful absent mother, so unlike his rather grim | aunts, but also social picture of Nor wich in the 1S4O's. Steda1an's education was begun at l Mrs. Lakhrop's dame school, where there was a delightful blending of cookies and instruction. The parson of the old school. who walked the vil- l lage like marble man, as cold as | marble, was to the children one of l the seven wonders of antiquity. After a strenuous Sunday, Edmund felt all prayed out. MT. Aik1nan, whose vaca- l tion school was to receive the deacon's | children after regular school ended, was also a hated character. though his mascular strength and ferule com- manded respect.
 Miss Fuller has done her work ad- | mirably. The incidents related have | the first-hand flavor of an eye-wit- ness.
 Charming is the review from the ! Philadelphia Press, which rather
 pokes fpn at New England in general,
  1 miration for the new book. When New England goes romancing, | it very usually has to apologize for l it's vagary by attaching to its story
 a duty, a moral or other of the stern CT stuffs. Gravity, sobriety, industry
 and truth are very worthy conpan- 1 ions, but only a New Englander could Task them to attend him in a biogra- phy, for that is usually serious and i straight-faced enough to please even i +h4 ort vii %P h1Jv,o or,i{ i{xv n-1 l in a great while there are found a few 1 bits of work that defy the canons of l locality, and with gracious hun1or and 1 delicate sentiment approach with inn
 ed in dust and from which they bring
 a creation of delight. l Such a book is this story of Ed mund Clarence Stedmans boyhood.
 Readable it is. far beyond the usual attempt to catch some trace Of a man 1 in the events of his life, and pleasant with a sense of intimate knowledge l from which the writer speaks. There l could be nothing more Imaginable than a small boy with poetic blood in his
 veins and a lively sense of the comi- | cal, confined within the bounds of a
 household, uniformly and unutterab1y | solemn; at the same tine there could l be nothing more pathetic, and the | author so skilfuliy unfolds her story l that there IS no QlSpdTlIy DeLWeen LH0 l two elements, but instead an atmos-
 phere of romance woven about that | which is certainly not poetic. ] It is the humanity of a biography 1 that proves it's worth, and a knowl- | edge of life and a sense of proportion In this book. all thSee are happily | combined.
 In an interesting review of the book, The Congregationalists says: l The poet was born in Hartford, but l his formative years were spent in | Norwich, Conn.,, in one of those we'll peopled homesteads which excite our wonder. Discipline was severe, es-
 pecially on Sunday; but there were 1 compensations, afield. and in the vil- | lage, although these again were often | paid for with penance or blows. Such wistful, lonely, quaintly fun
 ny little figure it is! The author
 makes a real contribution both to his l tory and biography.
 1 Under the caption Literary Lights, 1 the New Medford, Mass. Standard pays the book this pleasant homage: | Margaret Fuller herself describes A
 New England Childhood as "the story
 of the boyhood of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1s35-19OS). She does not need to end her very charming Fore word with the assurance, "be certain 1 that every word say of him is true" We know that her story is true; for | truth shines of an inward radiance;
 and false history, if 1t shine at all, i does so with only reflected light, and duly.
 | This is only an introduction, to tell | buster folk that here is a treasure
 worthy to place on bookshelves that
 are over crowded, and can now admit only the best.
 "An extraordinary performance in the making of books for American Readers is what the New York Sun l IIcz Irs,lI ra..lx Hlaa