TALE OF A DIARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20366, 21 September 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

TALE OF A DIARY.

G.B.S.'S SANCTUM.

" Are you," wrote Mr. Bernard Shaw to Mr. Dan Rider, who owned a bookshop, " a bookseller by day and a burglar by night ? If not, who is the burglar ?" This query, written on a postcard, was tho interesting sequel to ono of tho most attractive discoveries that a modern bookseller has ever made. llow ho camo to mako that discovery and his subsequent relations with Shaw will amuse all those who read " Adventures With Bernard Shaw," by Dan liider. Mr. Rider's account opens at a houso m Fitzroy Square, in 1907. Mr. Rider had just arrived at the houso. Ho had been asked by a friend to call thero becauso some books wero for disposal " Two pantechnicons wero drawn up boforo the house," he writes. " Furni turo was standing npon tho pavement, and removal men wero busy packing it in tho vans. . . t

" But when 1 popped my head into the largo front room, 1 drew back with surprise, foi thero in tho midst of all this emptiness, sat a little, elderly lady in an armchair, looking into tho square, and meditating upon tho scono below So aloof and majestic did sho appear that I was troubled

" ' I hope J am not intruding,' I began apologetically, but before I could procoed further, sho rose up quickly from her fhrone and with just tfhe suspicion of a soft and captivating Irish brogue, and with a faco lit up with smiles, she assured me that sho was having tho timo of her life. Mr. Shaw's Mother.

This vivacious littlo lady, I soon discovered, was Mrs. Shaw, the mother of tho great George Bernard. I fell in love with her at first sight. This, then, was the littlo mother that Shaw would liavo tho world believe ho has done down so many times and exploited for all he was worth! Could anvono credit it?

" Upstairs I went, where I found Miss Shaw, a tall, handsome young woman, brimful of Shavian humour and vitality, who took mo to a small back room and left me there, after telling mo to clear it out, as they had to leave the house bv noon.

" 1 stood and looked bewildered. An earthquake was a fitting term for what I saw. It resembled an upheaval in a waste paper store. There was not a book to be seen anywhere; not even on tho mantelpiece, which was almost submerged beneath old papers and circulars. the accumulation of ages. And to mako it w.orso Miss Shaw kept rushing in and out. and adding more." Tho rubbish was taken away in sacks to the basement of Mr. Rider's shop. C'hanco brought to his notice that Georgo Bernard Shaw's newspaper cuttings wero tumbling out of one of thoso sacks. Then came the great enlightenment.

" This room could have been no ordinary second-floor back, as I had supposed. This must have been Shaw's old den. The thought had never occurred to mc before, as Shaw was living in the Adelphi. . .

After carefully sifting out the wheat from the chaff, which was tho work of several days. I was in possession of substantial evidence that I must have rifled Shaw's private sanctum, having in my hands many things ho might still value which had been overlooked by him when he left to get married.

A Precious Volume

" The piece of evidence that startled rrio most was Shaw's private diary for one whole venr. . . Shaw would

havo been an ideal clerk. Every detail was entered tip neatly and spaced with care. I locked up this precious volume in a drawer in mv desk but somehow I felt I ought not to have it." In spit® of tempting offers from a dealer. Mr. Dan Rider found Miss Shaw's new address, and posted hack the diary to her. The dealer, when lie learned what had happened, called him a " piefaco, a mutt, a fat-headed fool, and a quixotic jackass." " And whenever I think of him since, I often wonder if he might not havo been right." Another discovery was the larger part of the manuscript, " Lovo Among the Artists," all in Shaw's handwriting. Archibald Henderson asked Rider's permission to publish photographs of this manuscript. Rider wrote to Shaw, who was then in Wales. Tho famous postcard was the result.

Once again Rider wrote to Shaw. That was in the early stages of the war, when ho wished to raise money to help the passing of tho Rent Act. " Suddenly I thought of tho parcel of Shaw's early reviews and criticisms. Waste-paper was fetching a good price, and Shaw was the saviour of tho poor; what better combination could be desired? So I took the parcel to a publisher friend and suggested tho publication of a limited edition of them which would help on tho fight. I loft them with him as security for tho debt, and I wrote to Shaw asking permission to publish them, giving my reasons. Shaw's Prompt Reply.

" This time a reply came without delay from his secretary, that if Mr. Shaw wanted to republish any of his writings ho was capable of doing that himself. Ho would like to have a list of the cuttings I mentioned in my letter. To this I replied that I was sorry 1 could not send him a list as tho cuttings were in pawn." " Shaw is a paradox, a puzzle, just bocause his actions bcli« his words. He never likes to let his right hand know what his left hand does. One hand is cunning while the other is kind. He seems brazen, but ho is really shy and timid. His great trick is to pull another's leg. and his eternal fear is that any one might pull his, as he broke it once. He must have thought I was pulling his leg when I was telling him the truth. _ In fact, tho lion was afraid to enter Daniel's den, even to look at tho old bones he had gnawed and discarded."