SELMA LAGERLOF.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 762, 10 March 1910, Page 3

SELMA LAGERLOF.

... An American,,paper ,publishes a most interesting skefch.of Selina Lagerlof,-the , Swedisjv .writer, wtftfr-last Vear :.'wdil , 'tKe'. . Nobel prize of. JSBOOO, the, sketch'being , idntribiited by. a-"ptSstaal'friend. ,".' '• ~ -. "Miss' " Lagerlof T Vi^'treaM^^tfe'lßTea' .throughout nil-Sweden," says the writer. .. Last year . her- countrymen ■: celebrated er ; .fiftieth;' birthday.;in ,a national fasti- :. ''.jal;.attended.by.'scientists and statesmen ' and members, of, thoUlergy, arid the king -himself. All were delighted 1 to do her honor. -; ' ..-'.- •"■■■-.■..■. :' '"."But Miss Lagerlof has always taken prizes, for literary work. .Two years ago' . the University of TJpsala gave/ her. the . degree of Doctor of Literature, and the laurel wreath' was placed upon her brow in the. cathedral, where she stood directly beneath the tablet, of Linncus,.. father of botany. On; another-occasion she won a ■ literary ; prize of a'largo suni. of.'money! from. a.magazine.'.;;-''--*-'; : '''-: - ! •■'.'' \ "While Miss Lagerlof- has-been,a suc- : .cessful ? writer '• for many 'years, .it is; her ■ recent work, "Xhe, Adventures of Nils,' 1 which was ' adopted as a text-book by 1 the National Association,.- and is how- in use>in the; folk'schools of Swe- '. den, ; - that carried ' her- ultimately, into : the ■'■ homes ; of, her * countrymen. ■ It. was, recog- ■ nized that she had ■ rercrea ted-geography 1 and- natural history]. and had revealed ; .to'tue.child heart the wonders.of nature/ . combining th'e. asthetic and the. practical v ina way-.previously undreamed of. The • story' is. a-fairy' tale in which are tucked away- wonderful- nuggets of' information, and is interesting to. youngajidVold alike: ■"Miss. Lagerlof is a-'little woman, with i fair hair- and expressive blue eyes and a E gentle presence. She'.givos- readings from ; her i own writings' jin-. .a ''. rich' contralto; . voice, makes no gestures; but reveals all - that she means through inflection bfhor t. voice. She is most unassuming- and- mo--3 dost in' manner,';unconscious' of herself, - appreciative and quick'' to see merit in. 1 others.' ■- ■•-. '■ ; ■ -.- '• . :-., • : ;' "After our first meeting, when I spent 1 ;several"hours-.Un her society;! was- sud- -■' denly .impressed with the fact that' she » had not'once .referred to- herself: She 1 shrinks from society,, and'spends most of • ( her tjme.in Her country home,-miles away ! ; from : every 'one;- and there she'..devotes • herself to.-her "work. 1 . ''"■'.".'■' : ■

:"Sh6 Was thirty ■■years', old "before 'she bega-n to ; write. - Her, 1 father', who is, , not now-living,-was an'army ofiicer.and.her mother's., brother, Christiab Wallruth, isa celebrated landscape painter. ,'Miss Eagerlbf'-is a graduate of the': Teachers' College of: Stockholm,'and Vas for.a few years a teacher. She lives along: with her mother this'winter , in Dalecarlia. ■■-■

-"Miss, Lagerlof; while .a- thinker arid writer-along spirihial.'lines;,is\not allied' to any ..religious sect..'She. is. distinctly but that..she, must be an' 'apostle'of '.the so-called new thought is apparent.from the.symbolic.quality that creeps into all.'of her 'Her 'Christ':Legends' ,j re infsymbolic ,re r ■ ference to the spiritual' side of life. Some of her other books are 'Jcrusalom,' 'The Miracles of Anti-Christ,''lnvisibleLinks,' and.'Gosta Berling.; '.'

"She is a suffragist,-and a member of the Prederica Bremer Association, a;power-. fill woman's club;,for social betterment and the- enfranchisement of .women. .WhilOjas a writer she, is an idealist and an.-, optimist,. I do <not wish to .give -the idea that.she does not deal with practical subjects in a practical manner. Her book, 'Jerusalem,'- for example,) was written after she had journeyed-in the Orient to investigate the conditions of the Swedish peasants who had' emigrated': there and were said'to be treated badly, ■ ■ . . ■'■'-

"She depicts'life as it is,' but tho sentiment is- always; nnlif ting. Heivwork has revolutionised Swedfch lifceraturo- She has> lived iix Italy,. Sicily, and .the Holy Land, and. the 'Christ'•Legends' are the outcome of material gathered - in Egypt' and'in the'.library 'of Constantinople and' of the Vatican.".' '-, '' ■ .