Evening star., 1937-04-24

h"tI'o " ouI ucNtH9 OU
Nothing a Year" 1uhich has
Just been published by Hale,
CuShmdn & Flint OF Boston.
with the Duke of York, receiving from
him an annuity, which on her death
was to go to her daughter in exchange
for the assurance that she had de-
stroyed all of the love letters which
he had written her. 1t would appear
that the noble lord was somewhat
over-trusting in his part of the agree
ment, for Mary Anne, as her present
biographer tells it, cheerfully kept
one packet of the missives from the
fire and departed for France with the
first payment of the annuity and this
same packet cuddled together in
highly improper propinquity in
her muff.
1t is completely realistic portrait
which Miss du Maurier gives us of
| this ancestress in her enhancing
beauty, her frank wantoness, her love
of luxury, her impulsive generosity,
growing from young belle, whose
high spirits and gay wit saved even
her broadest innuendoes from offen-
siveneSS, into a shocking old lady
whose conversation was such that her
grandchildren frequently had to be
hurried from her presence Whatever
her morals, Mary Anne clearly was
| hoo rtv ,;+l,
life and impatient of sham, and It's
Is not the first time in history that
race of artists has sprung from such
progenitress.
There is an authentic breath Of the
eighteenth century about Mary Anne
and similarly there is the spirit of
the times in Ellen, her prim, intel
lectual daughter, who married Louis
Mathurln BuSSon du Maurier and
who believed all her life Though
mistakenly that she was the daugh-
ter OF royalty, since it had been
whispered to her as a child that her
father was the Duke of York That
Mary Anne did not meet the duke
until after Ellen was born is the fact.
says the author, but apparently Ellen
never knew this and her life was
lived in the light of the romantic
| illusion
The realities of her existence were,
however sadly at variance with her
dream, for her husband was through
out his life incapable of acquiring
money by any means except borrow
ing, and her days were spent in count
ing small sums and wondering how
she might afford the education for
her sons which their royal blood, as
she imagined, demanded. He, too,
had dream; with little foundation
he believed himself to be scion of an
aristocratic family which had lost its
wealth in the revolution. He also
thought Of himself as brilliant
scientist and squandered his slender
means consistently on inventions"
which were to revolutionize all in
dustry, but which with monotonous
regularity generally turned into liabil-
tiles or lawsuits.
Yet both he and Ellen had culti-
waited tastes and minds; love of good
literature and music was one of the
great realities of their existence to-
getheri and similarly they shared a
passionate attachment to the idea of
intellectual freedom. In their most
impecunious days their home was q
place of culture and they possessed
that manner of good which
may not be lost. They were in many
ways typical nineteenth century mid
die class intellectuals.
These were the parents of the author
OF "Trilby," George du Maurier They
had second son and daughter, but
OF the three only George achieved a
famous name. The book ends with
his marriage at the age Of 20 to Miss
Emma Wightwick, daughter Of pros
porous English merchant. He as at
that time rising young artist, doing
illustrations for Punch.
There are other characters in this
richly human book-Louise, the sister
OF LouiS-Mathurin, who had blight
ed romance and lived life Of religious
contemplation thereafter; George, the
son of Mary Anne, who became a
solid conservative English gentleman;
Georgina, his flirtatious wife, who, on
being left widow, joined the Saliva
ton Army: "Gyggy" the ne'er-d -do-well
son Of Louis and Ellen; Isobel his sis
ter, a young lady who could play a
"50-page piece" Of piano music at
sight-and still others. There is an
astonishing quality Of real acquaint-
snce in Miss du Maurier's treatment
Of them all. She writes of them not
as subjects Of research, but as If she
had been in conversation with them
half an hour before. AS has been said,
she makes a fascinating book. The
least Of her ancestors takes on COM
pelling interest in her understanding
and accomplished hands.
LIFE AND DEATH By Andrea Ma
jocchi. Translated from the Italian
by Wallace Brockway. New York:
knight Publications.
THIS is an autobiography, coming In
a year when autobiographies are
no novelty. But it is Of that kind which
is always able to command respect
the unassuming, profoundly clear writ
ing Of a man Of science whose achieve
ments are established. DR.. Majocchi is
one of the leading surgeons of Italy He
has seen military service. He has been
honored by most of the international
medical associations. His life Is writ
ten here with simplicity which comes
from minds whose realities are fraught
with constant grave responsibility. The
fact that his autobiography is written
in time that is producing many in
ferior life histories need not even be
considered.
He tells how he came Of poor people,
how his father, physician, died Of an
infection in day when science was
still unprepared to deal with such
eventualities. He tells Of his struggles
to gain his own medical education, Of
his carly service ss puEio ohssstraaaan