New-York tribune., 1922-11-19
SATURDAY, NovEMBE


Lunched with Charlotte Dean and
we went around TO, Terence Holidays
where ! bought book about Arthur
Rsmbaad. written by his sister. the
new "Mereure de Frances Thibaudes's
aLes fdees de Charles Maurras." and
copy Of Paul Morand's delightful
ATendrcs Stocks for Charlotte. Ter
cnce said he had seen an advance
cory of the new edition of Ulysses"
brought or. by the Epoist Press and
taas 1t is pginted on an inferior grade
If paper aid differs fram the original
rnitaon onlv by table of errata
Ernest and Madelaine Boyd came over
aariy this evening and we gossiped un-
I'll ten-thirty. when | left to see the
exhibition. at Anderson's Galleries of
work by Winold Reiss and Clara Tice.
There ! ran into Louis and Jean Starr
Untermeyer, Ben and Mrs. Huebscfi,
Philip and Mrs. Goodman. Orrick
Johns, Egment Arens and Ed
mund Duffy. Both Mr.. Reiss and Miss
Tice are extremely clever and there is
a refreshing grace in Miss Tice's line
drawings, but neither of them has
more than a pretty talent. Mr.. Reiss
apparently is facile in every known
medium from wood cut to pastel. There
was an entertainment by members of
the cast of the Greenwich Village
Follies," after which I caught the
train to Boston.
SITNDAY. N0yEMRER 10
Arrived in Boston this morning at
$3.50. Had breakfast, and noticed on
the newstands that the December "Mc-
Calls" was beginning Hendrix Van
Looms 'Story of the Bible" Bought
a copy of and read it on my way out
20 Bob Linscott's house in Stoneham.
Van Loon Is repeating in this, I
think, the success ne had with the
Story of Mankind" II ia utterly sim
pie, impressive and wise. 1t is an
ambitious undertaking, which attempts
TO transiiterate the Bible in terms as
sonorous and poetic as the Authorized
Version; and think that Van Loon
succeeds in doing just that. Two
errors / hope he will correct when he
publishes .fThe Story of the Bible" in
book form. One is his constant use
of each other" when he means zone
another," and the other is his state
ment that the Serpent "handed" Eve
the apple. | am sure that bright chill
dren to whom this book Is read will
remind their parents that reptiles do
not have hands Helen gave
me heavy sweater and Bob slung
up hammock; and | took a nap
shortly after my arrival; after which
Bob and ! walked about three miles
through the woods, returning by way
OF one Of those winding New England
roads. The subject OF our discussion
was, in the main. I. s. Eliot and his
poem, "The Waste Land" Bob said
that he had wished for nothing so
much as to be able to live fifty years
more, to see what will happen to prose
Literature and poetry under the direc-
tive impulse of the present tendency
N psychology, philosophy and eco
nomics. The present, he said, is the
most fascinating of imaginable peri
dds in literature. We agreed, how
not changed on the realistico- -satirical
side from the 'Satyricon" of Petronius
TO Ulysses" and on the romantico-
poetic. side from "Daphnis and Chloe"
90 Victory" There have been struc-
turai and technical innovations; but,
as in human life, there has been
no profound or significant progress. 1.
Helen prepared a fine dinner of fried
chicken, sweet potatoes mullins and
pie, and gorged myself like python
and slept again in the afternoon. 4.
Went for a motor trip with Bob's
brother and Bob's children, returnins
2or supper of baked apples, mullins
and coffee, after which we sat before
a log fire and talked about "Ulysses"
and the poetry Of John Could Fletcher,
Conrad Aiken and T. S. Eliot A.. Bob
showed me q quaint volume he had
picked up about New York as it was
immediately after the Civil War, con-
tanning the instruction of Osborne, Of
The New York Public Ledger" to his
editors, which was: "Take the most
pious old lady in the Presbyterian
Church, and such passages as would
cause her to blush or lower her voice
II she were reading to her grandchil-
dren strike out" This book, which is
written with great deal Of JUNCTION,
gives picture of New York and Amer
fcan life generally of that time which
Is far from flattering. 1t reminds me
OF the impression | gained the other
night from 0berholtzer's History of
the United States Since the Civil War
that no country could possibly present
more obscene and vulgar page OF
history. Truly, we have advanced, al
loast on the side of social amenities
since that day; and it is amusing te
reflect that when the nations political
social and moral condition was mos
unspeakabie hypocrisy dictated such
surface attitude as is implied in Os
borne's instructions to his sub-editors
=. Reread "The Country Wife, il
bed tonight, and marveled again a
the nlodernity of the wit of the Res
toration dramatists.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13
At lunch to-day with C.. G. Ross, AL.
fred Mcintyre and Edwin Rich, and we
talked OF the new Owen Johnson book
aSkippy Bedelle," which is, in fashion
sretarn TO the type of fiction with which
johnson achieved fame in the Lawrence.
vile stories. Rich, 4 Lawrenceville
man, does not like the stories. saying
that they are not true to life; but
related how on reading the new "Skip-
py Bedelie" ] was able to recaptuce
some of the glamour and fun which
made each appearance of tho Lawrence.
Vile stories in "The Saturday Eve.
ming POST years go delighta de.
light which sometimes as many as five
of us punched together enjoyed at the
same time. Browssd among
soma of the secondhand bookshops
and picked up five good bargains
-. Chattsd for while with Fer
xis GreeHslet about ulysses" and Iaf.
cadio Hearn. Greenslet says tha;
AUlysses" liz one of the most extrnor
dinary books in the history of iitera.
ture, and is one of those rare works
which is indisputahly classic in its owY