THE BOOKMAN'S HARVEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18897, 20 December 1924, Page 24 (Supplement)

THE BOOKMAN'S HARVEST.

GLEANINGS IN THE FIELD.

Mr. Pelt Ridge suggests that authors, "in order to keen their names before the. public." should have public houses named sifter 'themselves.

His idea has not been largely anticipated for the London Directory contains ' •■"illy four Shakespeare Inns; there is one Ben Jonson Tavern; while the Macaulay Arms (Kensington) and the Thackeray Hotel (Bloomsbury) seem to exhaust the list. Can it be that many famous authors fire too dry to.be suitable? A recent history of the "Granta," the magazine of the University of Cambridge, contains a list of contributors, /'as gay and glorious as a procession of the boats." Happy the editors who could rely upon contributions from Barry Pain, J'". Anstey, E. F. Benson, A. A. Milne, Archibald Marshall. T. K. Stephen, Owen Seaman and Denis Garstin. Some famous Cambridge men, however, such as .1. A. Flecker and Rupert Brooke are unrepresented by a single contribution. In China even the names of poets are musical and imaginative. A modern poet, whose name may be translated "Born from 'be Falling* Flower," has written a graceful lyric, rendered in English as loliows: — When pen and ink [ seize, in love to bask, Thy pvnd at once of fitting phrase- runs dry; Tears J.ain t'iie p,i;;o ere yet the ink can "What profits that I urge this hopeless task? Purely these stains say all that she need ask. The silence of publishers, says Mr. W. B. Maxwell in the Author is awful. An author, whether young or old, wants to know what happens when his new book appears, but rarely if ever does the pubnsner tell him. ' Cm the day of publication not a word is said; on that day week, that day fortnight the same ominous silence is preserved. Another mute week passes and the author still doesn't know if one copy or a million copies have been sold—he knows nothing until, if he is lucky, he sees an advertisement of his work saying."Three editions exhausted in ihe same number of weeks. Fourth edition binding, fifth edition printing, sixth edition ordered." But even then the publisher is silent. . * * * In this respect the American publishers are better psychologists than their English confreres. They are quicker to put themselves in the other fellow's place. They understand all about the sickness of hope deferred. They send long cable messages saying "Subscription sales disappointing, but your book just fine anyhow, and our boys here .mean to push it for all they're worth.' They send one letters, press cuttings, advertisements. They tell one that their great-aunt likes it. And when finally- they write- that, unfortunately, owing to unprecedented conditions, etc., etc. —well, it may be the interment of a year's ambition, but at least it is a decent cheerful sort of burial. Recently a performance of "Saint Joan." Bernard Shaw's new play, was staged in Vienna, in a German translation. The lay made a deep impression, especially the trial scene, and after the epilogue the audience were very enthusiastic in their appreciation of the mixture of irony and pathos. The remains of Henryk Sienkiewicz, the well-known author of "Quo Vaclis?" have been removed from the Catholic Church <>£ Vevey, where they were deposited in November, 1916. The war prevented the Polish patriot from being buried in his native country but now that bis dream of a free Poland has been realised he will be finally laid to rest in the crypt of Warsaw Cathedral.- The President of the Swiss Republic was present at the Mass preceding the transfer. of the. coffin, and Paderewski was one of the pall-bearers.