Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-10
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the Booklouer

Those who expected another book like
THE Story of San Michele" when they
saw the announcement of Memories
and vagaries," by Axel Munthe. have
by this time. of course, been disap-
pointed Such book as San Michele"
is written but once, and Memories and
Vagaries" was written over 80 years
ago, in DR.. Munthe's experimental pc
Rod, both as a writer and physician.
1t was published in London in 1898 and
was republished last Autumn in this
country, following the great success of
San Michele" But to say that it does
not bear comparison with another book
is not to condemn it altogether. 1t has
its own charm and in reading it one is
sometimes almost under the illusion
that 1t is a collection of stories by
Leonard Merrick. Both Merrick and
Dr. Munthe love Bohemian and for
eign Paris; both know and deeply feel
with the unsuccessful actors, dramatiStS,
singers, writers, painters who haunt the
boulevards and live in attics on streets
never visited by the fashionable; both
use the same irony in writing of the
submission to fate and the humble but
| IIeIOlC IIdRSuIcS VI JIl6 bOllcIIlidilS brity
know. DR.. Munthe is also especially
interested in the poor Italians who have
found their way to Paris in the hope
of lettering their fortunes, but there
| lead, in crowded tenement colonies, an
even more wretched existence than in
Italy.
+ X
| The preface of Memories and Vaga-
| ries," beginning with an apology, is it
! self an excellent review of the book A
| few sentences will give an idea Of the
subject matter and the quality of style
| Benevolent readers of The Story OF
| San Michele have come forth with a
, gallant attempt to rescue this little
book from oblivion. I fear I have not
done very well for myself by consentiEg
TO a reprint Of these small sketches or
| stories, or whatever they are to be
! called. They were all written long
long ago by an inexperienced hand In
rather Indifferent English. 1 fiatter
| myself with the belief that, were 1 to
| sit down and reWrite them today,
would make a better book, at least to
the majority of its readers. But there
still exists minority of book lovers
with Sneaking weakness for spon-
| taneous writing, who will, maybe, ap-
prove of my boldnesS in leaving these
stories just as they were written. to
| take care of themselves as best they
can. Readers of The Story of San
Michele will come across several old
acquaintance here, all in their same
old clothes, for they have nothing else
to put on their backs. My friend Arch
angelo Fusco, the street sweeper of
Quarter MontparnaSSe the Salvatore
family, Don Gaetano, the organ grinder
with the shivering monkey; M. Alfredo
with the MS. of his last five-act trag-
edy under his arm, are all here. Even
Soeur Philomene, the sweet guardian
angel Of Sale st. Claire in the Paris
hospital, lives and dies in these pages.
The same shabby old monks and priests
are carrying through the cholera Slums
af Naples their respective madonnas
and patron saints all quarreling among
themselves. The same glorious sun is
shining over Colo di Napoli. Out of
its sparkling waters rises the same en-
chanted island Capri, where the same
friendly people welcome the reader
Even the dogs in this book are wagging
their tails in token of recognition. The
beloved Tappio in the chapter When
Tappio Was Lost in this book was the
great-grandfather of the Tappio Miss
Hall took for his daily walk in Villa Bor-
ghese and who lay half-asleep in the
sunny pergola of San Michele while
Billy, the drunkard baboon, was busy
catching his heas. The pedigree Of
Billy Is more obscure, though I still
stick to my belief that he was an illegit-
innate son of II Demonio. But I know
for certain that the wooden horse I
gave on Christmas day to John, the
blue-eyed' little boy in The Story of
San Michele was a lineal descendant
Of the wooden horse which Petruccio
the child of sorrow of the Salvatore
family, is holding in his withered hand
in this book. I know, too, that my friend
Archangelo FuSco, the street sweeper in
ImpaSse Roussel, Is the same Archangelo
FuSco met in Heaven in the last chap
ter OF the book of San Michele. I am
equally certain that his cruel landlord.
the money lender to the poor in I'm
paSSe RouSSel, whom I caused to hang
himself in this book, is now keeping
company in hell with the ex-butcher
who blinded the quails with a red-hot
needle In The Story Of San Michele I"
X X X
Sergt. York's name placed with those
OF Ford, Edison, Calvin Coolidge, Alfred
Z. Smith and Jane Adams, on list of
six Americans typifying the current
century, may cause some criticism of
M. A. De Wolfe Howe's reading course,
Representative Twentieth Century
Americans" which has Just been pub
lished by the American Library Asso-
citation. Mr.. Howe explains his in
clusion of the private from Tennessee
In so august company by saying that,
since the World War has colored the
early years OF the century, the largest
group participating in that confiict-the
drafted men-deserve to be placed on
any list called representative" In
selecting the others, the author says
that he has sought outstanding figures
fTsOVN ~
the country today, industry, applied
science, current politics, and a new
conception Of social responsibility. For
politics, both Coolidge and Smith are
cited to illustrate the contrast between
the rural and urban viewpoint, a dis
tinction which, Mr. Howe believes, will
loom with increasing Importance as
the century grows older. BY no means
cheriShing blind admiration for the
individuals he selected Mr.. Howe in
dicates that their faults as well as their
virtues are closely akin 70 those of their
fellow citizens. Wilson and Roosevelt
have both been omitted from the list
because they are too obvious" So much
has been written about these Presidents
that the reader who wishes to follow
their careers and their controversies
may easily find abundant material else
where. Mr.. Howe's course, which Is
one of the Reading With Purpose"
series, as we'll as the biographies and
autobiographies suggested for further
reading, may be obtained at public
libraries.
X X X
1.-THE Letters of Henry Adams (I858-
1891),' edited by Worthington Chaun-
cey Ford, recently published, contain a
description of his fiancee, in letter to
his friend Charles Mines Gaskell which
might have broken off the engagement
had the young lady seen it. Henry
Adams says: 'Imprimis and to begin
with, the young woman calls herself
Marian Hnnner and belongs To a sort