Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-16
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By The Booklouer

w men Joseph conrad began TO
write, he had a choice of three Ian.
guages. English. French and Polish.
ench of which he used fiuently. Anne
Douglas Sedgwick has from the be.
ginning of her noyal writing had the
advantage Of intimate knowledge of
three national civilizations. America n,
Mt Englewood, n. j., and lived in OF
near New York until che was = years
old. For some years afterward Lon
don and Paris We're her homes. In
1908 she married Basil de Selincourt.
and has since lived in OXfordshire.
She began writing novels at the age
Of %, but not until the publication Of
Franklin Winslow Kane" and
"Tante" was she recognized as a
writer of real artistic ability. I'M
Fountain Sealed" Franklin Winslow
Kane and "Adrienne Toner" Amerl'
can and English characters are
brought into association. and their
differences are illustrated in the work.
ing. out of the subtle psychological
situations which Anne SedRwfck
handles so eEpertly. In THE Little
French Girl and THE Old Countess,
her latest novel. the difference be-
tween English and French culture
and ideals forms the theme of what
is in each case an intense story
In The Old Countess" the young
English couple. Richard and Gillian
Graham, married five years. are
spending some months at Buissac. on
the Dordogne River, Dick painting.
Jill just being her charming self.
Dick is dreamily happy here. where
he finds sweeping curves of the river,
wooded promontories, dark cliffs,
endless birch woods, poplar groves,
golden plains with cream-colored cows
grazing upon them russell vineyards.
tiny hamlets-all waiting to be
painted into landscapes. lie is happy
whether Jill sits silent by his side,
the perfect comrade," or is off dash
ing over the winding valley roads in
her motor car. But Jill. in the midst
of all this beauty of France, often
misses the English country way,
the gardening, the games, the hunt
ing, the darling hounds" and dear
horses for "Jill was as English as a
hawthorn hedge in May" In contrast
to this young English couple are two
French women, one very old. the "old
countess" the other as young as Jill.
Nine. de I4amouderie suggests to the
artist Graham q Goya, with her
"pallid, painted face and great owl.
like eyes" "She leaned, witch-like. on
an ebony stick, and broad hat, edged
with lace, was tied. from beneath the
brim. under her chin. Blue, black,
sallow- white. in color and design, the
picture of her was wonderful; and
her eyes were wonderful; so old. yet
so living and liquid; one iris half
yelled by a piteous droop OF the eye
lid The, younger woman. Marine
Luderac, tall, pale. dark-eyed, with
something in her gaze like an AMI
mails, also appeals TO the artist.
Something, in her tall form, in the
close lines of her hair, bound in a
braided knot. reminded him Of the
statue of Roman lady" There is an
air of mystery about the old MANOR
in a grove of dark sycamores. where
the two French women live and where
Graham goes to paint the old
countess portrait and Jill goes to see
Marthe. In the situation which de-
velops during the meetings of these
four. sometimes all together, 6ftener
in pairs, the difference between the
English and the French point of view
about many matters is apparent. but
Anne Sedgwick shows her belief that
in fundamentals human nature is
much the same, whether IT De
nourished by English or French
blood.
~
Modern France; in politics. eduea-
ton, religion, art, literature and sci
ence is sympathetically but impair
TALLY studied by Sisley Huddleston in
his book, France in the modern
world series. The author goes far
back into the history of France TO
find the origins of modern French
policies and tendencies. Early ,Gaul
before the conquests Of julius Caesar,
was in many respects the direct ances-
tor of France today. The early mon
archy in France, with all its abuses,
was the necessary forerunner. of the
later republic Character sketches of
the men who are prominent in politics,
art and letters today are, however,
the most interesting part Of the book
One Of the best of the sketches is
that of Aristide BRAND. His voice
has been described" say Mr.. Huddle-
ston, las violincello on which he
can play all tunes
X Il
A library of universal. literature
which is a fair substitute for a five'
foot shelf or a hundred best books,
say for a Traveller who has not space
for even Ave feet of books, is to be
found I'm 1.-THE Copeland Reader an
anthology of English poetry and
prose, chosen and edited with an in
f.AHk,n4fnSN 1Nxvf '11o rslnc TnurnCQnn (fAna-
land, Boylston Professor of RHETORIC
and oratory in Harvard University,
The selection includes. prof. Copeland
says in his introduction. 'only what
have. read aloud during "a years of
teaching, lecturing and reading. ="
This introduction itself, by the way,
is a piece of literature. with essays
on Bacon ats an Essayist,"" tsNot Poor
Charles Lamb 4" "Hawthorne's Inheri.
lance and His Art 'Dickens--His
Best Book" "Tennyson and Brown
ing as Religious Poets" and AS to
Margaret Ogilvy,'" The selections
cover wide range, from parts or the
King James version of the Old and
New Testaments and translations
from the "Iliad," the odyssey" and
Plato to Padriac Columns IAN Old
Woman of the Roads" Rupert
BROOKE Inc SoluIST, oHeIMOou All
derson's I'm a F'oor' and Ring Lard
ner's "Red Riding Hood" There is
great catholicity in the choice OF
pieces, as a mere glance over the
index shows. All the important Eng.
lish writer's of the sixteenth. seven
teenth, eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries and all important American
writer's of the eighteenth and nine
teenth centuries are represented To
these are added a generous number
from the twentieth century, including
Conrad, Barrie, Kipling, Yeats, Gals
worthy, De la Mare, Chesterton. Mase-
field, o. Henry. f. A.. Robinson,
Katharine Fullerton GeFould. Robert
Frost. Stephen Leacock. Alan Seeger.
Haywood Broun and William Allen
White. If the space given to an
author indicates. anything of Prof.