Evening star., 1942-04-12
Carolyn Wells Wrote
200 Books, but Never
Reread Any Of Them
A Prolific Writer, She
Lost Interest Once
A Work Was Complete
BY CHARLES HONCE,
Wide World News.

ly, didn't actually hit the 200 total,
she certainly scored near miss.
AS long ago as 1887 she placed her
output at some ITO volumes, and as
she usually turned out four or five
books q year the final figure neces-
sarily must hover around the second
century mark II 1t hasn't crossed it.
But, as Miss Wells once pointed
out. she was referring to full-length
bound books. If one took inventory
Of her brochures, pamphlets and
various ephemeral items which
ordinarily are counted in the
photography of collected author,
the total would be far above 200
she said she had done hundreds of
pamphlets alone.
No Challenger Near.
At any rate Miss Wells undoubted-
" was the most prolific writer of her
generation, and since her passing
there seems no one on the i'm
mediate literary horizon to challenge
seriously her record of productivity.
Her first published book appeared
in 1896; her last will not be out for
some months yet, as she always was
at least two numbers ahead of her
publishers.
Although she wrote in many
mediums, most Of her later books
were detective stories retailing the
adventures of Fleming Stone. Her
sleuth tales alone, the first of which
was published in 1909, numbered
more than rs, although not all were
about Stone.
For a long period they appeared
at the rate of three a year-on set
dates-with clocklike precision. As
one came out another would be in
the hands of her publishers while
third would be under way in her
typewriter, Miss Wells wrote for A
book deadline just as a reporter
writes for an edition deadline.
Collected Books, Too.
In addition to being rapid writer,
Miss Wells was an omnivorous
reader; rabid book collector as
well. Walt Whitman was her main
collecting interest.
Her reading mostly was done at
night and into the early hours of
the morning, because she sometimes
suffered from insomnia and liked a
detective tale to put her to sleep
no slam intended.
All the new books were delivered
IN bulk at her door, and most of
the magazines, including the good
old Strand of London, which con-
tlnued to slip in despite the war.
the only items she apparently
didn't read-or reread-were her
own books.
DO you read your stories after
they have been published?" she once
was asked.
Heavens, mol" she exclaimed.
would you advise me to read
them?" her interviewer continued
In jest.
Certainly mott"
But that was only her trait of fun
and spooflng asserting itself.
Her Plots Well Turned.
AS a matter of fact, her Fleming
Stone tales were popular in the
trade; they were excellently written,
had well-knit plots and found
ready and steady audience as thev
came out precisely on their set dates
thrice a year.
Miss Wells humor probably was
her most outstanding characteristic.
She enjoyed every type of wit, even
the malgned pun. and many of her
books were on the lighter side. She
edited standard books Of nonsense
and humor, as we'll as producing the
textbook of the detective trade
The Technique of the Detective
Story"
Thousands of humorous rhymes
and jingles came from her own pen,
but probably her favorite was what
she termed the Immortal Stanza"
by James Montgomery Flagg and
Julian Street:
Said Opie Read to E. P. Roe,
How do you like Gaboriau?"
II like him very much, indeed"
Said E. P. Roe to Opie Read.
Those two lines of conversation
I never get tired Of" she once re-
marked.
Book Inscriptions Sparkle.
Her wit even went into book in
scriptions.
In volume of detective stories
she had selected and edited Miss
Wells wrote for a friend:
For
These very good stories
Not by
Carolyn Wells.
On an advertising circular for
light serial romance she recorded:
"Mr.
For Your
Junk Collection.
From Carolyn Wells"
A 1910 detective novel received this
inscription:
ITO
This, my latest (pity I can't
say lasD mystery story.
Carolyn Wells"
The inscription was almost pro-
phetic.
Read Her Own Proofs.
Miss Wells not only read many
books, but for some strange reason
she also liked to read proofs. ct am
a crank on printers errors,' she
explained.
In tome that appeared several
years ago she found several horrif1c
typographical errors.
You should have let me read
the proofs" she scolded the author.
1t seemed that several writer's, in
cluding Mark Sullivan and the late
Willard Huntington Wright IS. S.
Van Dine), never dared bring out
an opus until Miss Wells had gone
over the proofs.
Usually she didn't mark up galleys
with her corrections, but wrote out
her suggestions separately, leaving
1t to the author to incorporate her
changes if he wished. You can bet
that there were no misspellings or
misplaced punctuation marks in any
books she scanned
Verse on the Galley Proofs.
La@-,azx. l,a. zl.a