J. L. GARVIN.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18722, 19 June 1926, Page 16

J. L. GARVIN.

■ v— ~ HIS NEW EDITORSHIP. BRITANNICA." The recent appointment of James I*ouis Garvin to the editorship of the Encyclopaedia Brifannica raises tho question as to the choico of a journalist instead of a university professor for this onerous post. The Britannica is a repository of universal knowledge, aud it might bo thought, that the natural appointee .would be, a man who bore about him tho perfume of the dust of centuries; who was steeped in■ the scholarship of the ages and in nothing else. Here is a pen-pic-varo, bv Mr R. Lo Clere Phillips, in tne 'New York "Tillies," of the man actually chosen. ' J. L. Garvin, the editor of the "Obsewer" of London, has nothing whatever of tho time-honoured professor about him. He. is neither a library reeluso nor a vigionarv, but is, on the contrary, a man of wide contacts, versed in -world affairs, and ono of the bsst-i'cad, best-informed men of • the day. For many years ho has been continuously exposed' to what Matthew Arnold termed the free current • of idejis.

Up .Prom Poverty. There is an American flavour in the rapidity of his career. Ho was born 'of Irish 6tock in .1863. The death of ; his father left tho family in narrow • circumstances, -but befoi'c lie was 17 • years of-age, young. Garvin was writ-, jng political articles that appeared in .the (columns' *>f' : -various newspapers. At tho age. of. 23 ho determined to adopt journalism as his career, and . joined tho Newcastle "Chronicle" as a proofreader. .{ln sis weeks lie found himself writing the chief editorials. The rest of his career has been a succession of leaps upward. His articles in thoi "Fortnightly Review" led to his removal from the; North of England. ' In 1599 he joined the staff of the "Daily Telegraph," continuing to contribute to the "Fortnightly" articles signed "Calchns," which attracted attention both in England and or. the Continent. For some, time the authorship of these articles remained unknown. When the author's name leaked out, Garvin'3 reputatipn was ] made. In 1905 he took over the editorship of the British "Outlook," a weekly review of current events. His person-! ality was soon visible in both the political and the literary sides of that journal.. George Meredith paid him tho compliment of declaring: "You ]iavc my -required quality of vigour with fervour. Most journalism is brandy or pap, or both in execra.blo mixture." The "Outlook'? passed into the haiids of new proprietors,, and at 40 years of

age Mr Garvin, to quote his own words, found himself "a preacher without a pulpit." About 1908, the late Lord Northcliffe offered Mr Garvin the editorship of lis Sunday newspaper the "Observer" . and Mt Garvin accepted on - tho' condition that ho should be allowed' full editorial powers. To this: Lord Northcliffe agreed. ' , • The famous old journal had fallca on evil days. Its circulation was poor, , its financial condition ' unsatisfactory. To*day it has an impressive circulation, and its financial condition is the reverse of what it was. This, improvement was accomplished in a short period . ©f time. - . | " The Garvin Policy. The fparvin policy was a deliberate appeal.to .the' best -instinct:.'.; of . the. reading public instead of to their •worst. The hew editor made it clear ■ .ffQT" the first he had no intention of giving the public what it wanted, but • :rather:-what.it-{)'ught to want. Under-. "Mr Garvin'a editorship the paper became in part a magazine, treating literature, the drama, music and art in a manner resembling that of .jfche weakly reviews. As a newspaper it dealt ■with home' and - foreign' affairs in the spirit of a powerful daily journal The "Observer" progressed without the aid of elaborate advertising methods. This, in bare outline, is a sketch of the public career of the new editor of the Britannica. *What of the man himself? James.Louis Garvin is now 58 years of age. Tall, large, blond in colouring, he hiis the; appearance of & scholar. He has devoured books since he was 6 years old, and it has •been said of him that for nearly fifty years he has read as hard and as systematically as any man of his day. History and economics are hiß chief study; poetry isthis chief pleasure. He has collected 1 for personal use,, a; library of over 8,000 volumes. Iwo Homes. .'. v Mr Garvin has a town house in Great " Cumberland Place, and a country house at Beaconsfleld in Buckinghamshire, a village about nine miles north of Windsor Castle, and some six miles north of Stoke Poses, immortalised by Thorn l as Gray's "Elegy." The name of the house is "Gregoriea," and it possesses peculiar interest in the fact that.it is all that now remains of Burke's-country house, where that statesman entertained Dr. Johnson, Garrick, Beynolds, and other leading figures of eighteenth-cen-tury England. . „ It is in bis study at "Gregones" that Mr Garvin does, most of his editorial work, both for the Encyclopedia Britannica and for the 'Observer." iTijJs room was once the kitchen, and around its open fireplace the shepherds ' . of the estate used to gather of an evening. To-day, in place of the garrulous tongues and clinking mugs of the eighteenth century, there reigns a ■dead silenct) as Mr Garvin looks over "Observer" proofs or reads the manu* scripts of Britannica contributors. Host of the newspaper proofs come out to him from the London office by motor; and often the car travels at a speed of 65 miles an hour to and fxom Beaconsfleld in order to catch the last issue of tho paper. • .

[ Tlie Work Involved. • Tlrt work involved in the editorship - of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is arduous and responsible to the last degree. There is, for one thing, the problem of how much space is to be i * "" devoted to'each broad subject. When that is settled, there comes the problem of how much space each subdivision of every subject is to receive. "When agreement, on this point _is reached, the editors must determine how much space is to be allotted to each individual contribution.^ |Tbe method by which this complicated task was worked out by Mr Garvin is ingenious. He arrived at the first meeting of editors, with : a book of notes, and a large sheet, of paper on which was drawn= : a circle. This circle represented- the entire in columns of an edition of the' Britannica. The first discussion of the meeting con cerned the amount of ; space to be devoted to each branch .of knowledge—sciepee, history, literature, biography, etc. When • agreement was arrived at, segments were drawn in the big circle, an eighth, let us suppose, for biography, a fourth for science, and so on. Then each of these large segments was divided into circles to represent the .apace available for the subdivisions of «ath branch of knowledge. Thfen came the task of selecting •outributors. Mr Garvin consults with of . all departments. of tho .• ' - •• •• ':

with various experts. When thero is any difference of opinion as to the | merits of contributors, Mr Garvin gives the casting vote. Above all, the new editor of the Encyclopedia Britanniea bears in mind the fact that what is needed is a reference work relating to the present as well as to tho past. He desires that the modern busy man shall find in it not only gratification for purely intellectual curiosity, but also practical solutions of ordinary, everyday probJems.