Evening star., 1925-08-25
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE SPELL OF NORMANDY.
Francis Miltoun. L, C. Page & Co,
/. C. NJ.

/, u. NJ.
THE SPELL OF NORMANDY.
Francis Miltoun. l.. C. Page & Co.
There are some travelers-a few of
these-who are like the worker bees
OF the swarm, unerringly keen to the
cnolce places Of their desire from
which they select and gather and
store away the very heart and soul
OF the lovely objects Of their busy
flight. True, the likeness between the
Two tails apart a bit from the fact
that this particular sort of traveller
works directly from the beginning for
the benefit of others as well as for
MS own delight, whereas it is only
under duresS that the bee delivers
over It's golden store. But up TO this
point Of ultimaue intent, they are
much the same, both wizards among
FOOD producerS-the one, out of flower
juice and the chemistry Of it's own in
SIDES providing the most delectable Of
ailments; the other out of the artistry
OF his own brain re-creating time and
place and circumstances which he sets
down before one fresh and alive and
whole to feed the mind and imagina-
ton OF the reader. The importance
or this kind OF traveller to those who
are place bound Is incalculable. And
there are many of these. To be sure,
the current ficNon is generally af1oat
that everybody travels nowadays.
Not true, not by a long way. And
even IL it were true, no skimming
over inviting parts of the earth in a
tourists rush to be back home for the
Fan opening of business can take the
place or these seasoned and rounded
wayfarings that are now and then
projected for the vicarious adventur-
Ing Of the stay-at-home traveller.
x
Francis Miltoun and Blanche Nc
Manus. working together here in
print and picture, offer us a Summer
pilgrimage through Normandy. Leaf
ing the book as a part Of the estab-
lished ritual of setting about the bust
ness of reading, one is brought to
sharp attention by the McManus
sketches. Both bits Of penciling that
taper off and melt away along their
edges into elusive suggestions of much
more than mere marks on paper could
be expected to set down. Here are
bits of Normandy landscape and little
reaches OF its coast: a. donjon, now and
then turning later into a chateau; an
ancient cathedral and a cloister, red
olent OF Romanesque or Renaissance
art; quiet farmhouse with the
pigeon.loft near by; a native man or
woman in the field; a hand-breadth of
the Normandy forest and a run of the
Famous cider-apple country pointing to
one of the prime industries of the
province as against the wine produc-
ton of the rest of France; the home
of Millet at Fruchy; Mont Michel,
made familiar and deeply significant
to American readers by Henry Adams.
Oh, more and more Of these sketches
there are. all lying SO sentient under
their drift Of Normandy clouds, and
all giving q real illumination to an al
ready well lighted text.
= < *
Thrifty folks setting out upon any
new enterprise just naturally take
stock of what they already have in
hand bearing upon that project Far.
ing toward a strange place, they like
wise ask themselves what they already
know about that place. And we, be-
longing to this forehanded clan, ask
ourselves here what we know about
Normandy. Almost nothing. Freak
ishly enough, out of the limbo of for
gotten schooling a certain date has
survived-1066 A. d. So we do know
that along toward a thousand years
ago one William of Normandy slipped
over TO the conquest of England. a
triumph which gave him the sounding
name OF William the Conqueror name
whose clarion quality maybe accounts
for the persistence of that date in one
mind at least. And we know. even
more vaguely, that the effect of Will
ltam's conquest was to England mo-
mentous and lasting. Getting back to
Normandy, the spot of immediate con-
Germ, we find knowledge and plain in
formation tapering off to the vanish
ing point of deep ignorance. Cher
bourg, of course we know that point
in the province, since there we land
to hurry away to Paris. And we
sense, dimly that away to the west Is
a dividing line between Normandy and
a curiously enticing Brittany.
What a humiliating examination
this would prove to be If it were to
hold any official bearing upon our
place in this world, or the next. How
ever. there is hope, for ignorance be-
comes unforgivable only when it is
cherished and held to in the face of
proffered light. And light is here at
hand. Moreover, balm for our con-
fusion and hurt pride goes along with
Mr.. Miltoun's bid for US to go with
him in a Summer journey through
Normandy. Right at the start he tells
US that he chose this region for the
very reason that 1t is generally so
delightful bypath off from the beaten
highway along which the rest of the
world is rushing Paris ward and on to
the Mediterranean coast. He assures,
besides, that there is a renewing of
the spirit and a refreshment of the
mind in these old corners of Nor
! mandy that have been left in a COM
parative solitude to mellow in their
own ancient brew. to ripen in their
fnh of
their own wash of the sea, to nod and
sleep and waken and doze off again
into the same immemorial dreams of
Normandy.
The first point here in a long Sc
quence of assurances for the whole
success of our Summer journeyingS
through Normandy with Mr.. Miltoun
is that at the outset he is the pure
workman-businessli definite, eX-
act. So that here in this unfamiliar
corner of France, We, in no time at
all. know exactly where we are-an-
enormous advantage whether one Is
exploring a country, or a province, or
merely trying to find his way back to
bed in a coal-black room.
No matter how much of a spell one
hopes to cast, how deep a lure he pro-
poses to set, he must first establish
the reality of certain foundations be-
fore, out of these, he can aspire to
draw that blend Of fact and tmagina-
ton, that interchange Of substance
and sentiment, that constitute the un-
escapable thrall.
! * X X
This groundwork of fact the author
has set in an admirable preparation
for a subsequent effect upon the mind
\ of tho reader The face of the proy-