IN BOOKLAND

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 30 July 1927, Page 16

IN BOOKLAND

A correspondent- of the “Spectator” writes: “I do not think that anyone lias drawn attention to one- of the most curious and persistent misquotations: ‘When Greek meets Greek,’ etc., the exact opposite to the correct, ‘When Greek joined Greeks, there was the tug of war,’ which referred to the quarrels among themselves and consequent wea k ness. ” Th i s co rrespon den t is almost correct, but the word “there” should he “then.” ffhe line is in “Alexander the Great,” bv Nathaniel Lee, who wrote nine or ten tragedies l>e tween 1G75 a fid 1682, and then spent five years in Bedlam, and perished drunk in the snow.

The prize of £lO9 offered by the “Strand! Magazine” has been won by Air. R. T. Norman, Wellingborough, Northaivts, who correctly named 10 stories of the 12 selected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the best. Seven competitors chose- nine rightly. while a great number were correct with eight. The winning list of selections' is as follows: “The Speckled Band,” “The Red-headed League,” “The Dancing Ale-n,” “The Final Problem,” “A Scandal in Bohemia,” “The Empty House,” “The Five Orange Pips,” “The Se one! Stain.” “The Devil’s Foot,” “The Prior v School,” “The Mu sgrave Ritual.” “The Reigate Squires. ”

DodcL Mead and Company, New York, have accepted a new novel by Agatha Christie, author of “The Alurder or Roger Ackroyd.” Airs. Christie has gone to the Canary Islands to complete her convalescence from a recent illness. The furore- created' by Airs. Christie’s disappeaarance during her Illness led many people to believe that this was merely “a publicity stunt,” and it has been deemed necessary to offer some reassurance to the public. Accordingly, several leading London specialists, including Lord Dawson of Penn, physician extraordinary to the King, have issued statements to the contrary, and it is clear that the nervous breakdown was genuine.

A copy of the original edition of Colonel Lawrence’s “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” has been sold by Messrs Hnrrods, London, for £42oc

Sir John Ernest ' ILoddcr Williams. G.V-.0., head of Alcssrs Hodder and Stoughton, publishers, who died in April, left estate of the value of £2SO,291, with net personalty £265,833.

In the literary notes of last issue appeared a paragraph to the effect that Airs Alary Hughes, of Tyissa Farm, Llangollen (Wales), who claims t’o have inspired the nursery rhyme “Alary had a Little Lamb, ’ ’ celebrated her 86th birthday in Afay. It now appears that Alary, her lamb, and the authorship, of the verses are claimed by the United States of America. Air Henry Ford has taken a keen interest in the history of the rhyme. Several years ago he acquired the Wayside Inn at Sudbury, immortalised by Longfellow, and had it restored, and then he proceeded in the noetic atmosphere of Sudbury to yescarcli not less interesting to him—the tracing of the genealogy of Alary, the owner of the lamb, and “the boy-author of the poem who penned the original 12 lines of the verse when he was 12 and Alary 11.” Air. Ford bought “old Redstone sclioolhouse, ” the school attended by Alary and the lamb, which had been converted into a private garage, removed the building intact, and sc: it down near Longfellow’s inn.

The following lines on a bronze tablet oh the door of tlie school tell the story as Mr. Ford has accepted it: — fn honour of the children’s classic “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and of Mary Elizabeth Sawyer, ISOG 18S9, the “Mary” of the p-aeni Rebecca Kimball the teacher. John Roulstone' author of the first twelve lines Sarah Josepha Hale whose genius completed the poem in its present form This building incorporates the original “Redstone” seho-olhouse. scene of the poem, which stood in the Second School District of Sterling, Massachusetts. It was in use from 1759 to 1556 and was removed to this spot for its Preservation by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford, in 1926.

The story of the coincidence of Charles Darwin’s and Alfred Russel Wallace’s discoveries concerning origin ■of species is retold in interesting fashion in Mr Leonard Huxley’s “Charles Darwin.” Wallace had been corresponding with Darwin, and in ISSS sent him his essay from the Malay Archipelago. Writing to Lyell, Darwin says: “I never saw a more striking coincidence; if Wallace had my manuscript sketch written out in 1842, he could not have made a better short abstract.” Darwin, with splendid generosity, took steps to communicate Wallace’s essay to the Linnean Society, though this would probably mean that the whole credit of the great discovery would go to Wallace. But Lyell and Hooker intervened, and had extracts from Darwin’s earlier sketch published at the same time. Both discoverers behaved with fine magnanimity. Shortly after this Darwin set him-sc-lf to prepare the book which became famous as the “lOrigin of Species.” snet the full charm of Darwin’s personality conies out in the letters he wrote to Hooker, Wallace, and others while the book, was going through the press and immediately after its publication. He wrote' to Hooker in April, 1859: — “You will think me presumptuous, but I think my book will be popular to a certain extent (though to ensure h< avv losses) among scientific and semiscientific men. . . . Anyhow, Murray ought to be the best .judge, and, if he chooses to publish it, I think I may Mask mv hands of all responsibility. T am sure Lyell and you have been extraordinarily kind in troubling yourselves on the matter.” And again to Hooker a few weeks later: — “Please do not say to anyone that T thought my book on species would "be ftiirlv popular, and have a fairly remunerative sale (which was the height »f my ambition), for if it proves a dead finilurc, it would make me the more ridiculous .... Thank you for telling me about obscurity of style. But on mv life no nigger with lash over him could have worked harder at clearness than I have done.”