Bookstall and Study.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18903, 30 October 1929, Page 13

Bookstall and Study.

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Mr P. G. Wodehouse. who has left England for the United States, is to 1 write the lyrics for the next production of the famous Ziegfeld Follies. The newspaper repository of the British Museum is to be considerably enlarged, with new facilities for students who wish to search the files. Mr Charles Shawcroft, the . superintendent of the department, claims that the catalogues enable his staff to find any of 250,000,000 newspapers in five minutes. M. Andre Maurois, whose novel, “ Whatever Gods may Be,” is now being published, has accepted the appointment of Paris correspondent to the “New York Times Book Review,” in succession to the late M. Paul Souday. Mr Stanley Rogers, the author of several books of the sea, has experienced life among Indians and cowboys, and has been a gold prospector, a railroad surveyor and a rancher. During the war he was on a submarine. He has studied art in Antwerp and London, and now illustrates his own books. :*: Many people who decry Sir Walter Scott as an author are apt to overlook his amazing fertility, writes Mr Donald Carswell in “John o’ London’s Weekly.’ 5 As Mr Arnold Bennett has said, to write even a bad book is cruel work, but Scott, who never wrote a really bad book—even “ Count Robert of Paris ” has merits—turned out his novels at the rate of two, three, even four a year. Practically the whole of the “ Waverley Novels” were written between 1815 and 1825-r-that is to say, Scott, who was a busy lawyer, a country gentleman and indefatigable host, managed to produce as much in ten 3’ears as Dickens, who devoted his whole time to authorship, did in twice the time. Scott may 'be unreadable to this generation, but to his own he was readable to a degree that, no modern author is ever likely to rival. Mr Robert 11. Davis, in his inimitable budget of notes of his travels which he has published under the title of “ Bob Davis Abroad,” has the following to sa y of that great short story writer, O. Henry : “ O. Henry was never at a loss for phrases calculated to subtract money from an editor. I have among my specimen appeals a letter in which he write: ‘ Dear Mr Man, —-I am in need of some cash, and have selected you to produce the same,’ and another which makes t’s simple announcement that ‘ the bearer of this note will be glad to return with evidence, calculated to strengthen my belief in the brotherhood of man. The boy can be trusted with a cheque, cash or postage stamps.” He once sent me a cheque drawn on my own bank for 50doJ. 4 This handsome steel engraving,’ he wrote in the accompanying note, * contains everything except a signature. Can you write Rasputin has a defender in the person of his daughter, Marie Rasputin, who has written "The Real Rasputin,” but it is a qualified defence. We read: " He allowed himself to be caught by some of the seductions of the capital. I do not by any means claim to deny that during his life in St Petersburg (to which he first went in 1904) my father had mistresses, and at certain periods led a rather fast life. He allowed himself to be drawn to the ‘Villa Rode,’ the great night cabaret of St Petersburg . . . The infectious melody of a gipsy band drove him into a paroxysm of excitement.” Most of 11s are faced, once a 3'ear, usually* at spring cleaning time, with ! the problem of what to do with the books for which we have still a lurking ; affection. With public libraries, however, the question, if not complicated by sentimental attachments, often assumes, as in the! case of the British < Museum, prodigious proportions, in- j volving the erection of new buildings ; at the cost of thousands of pounds. The • Berlin State Library’, which has been ; suffering severely from overcrowding in ( recent years, has now put forward a 1 brilliant solution to the question. The , superfluous books in this famous , library are now, it is suggested, to be • filmed, since a film of the letterpress < of a book takes up less than one-for- ] tieth of the space occupied 'by the or- . dinary printed volume. Each table is to contain (so the suggestion runs) a 1 projecting machine, so that the reader may consult his references as if he were at the “ pictures ”! In Berlin in ' future “ going to the movies ” may mean, instead of going to see Charlie ! Chaplin or Harold Lloyd, merely the consultation of a treatise on bimetallism or zoophytes.

There appears to have been some misapprehension regarding the seizure by the United States Customs authorities of importations of the English edition of Remarque's “All Quiet on the Western Front.” The following statement from Little, Brown and Co., who publish the American edition of the book, explains what happened;— The English edition is refused entry by the Customs authorities at. our request because its importation is in violation of copyright laws of the United States. We do not consider the complete English text of “ All Quiet ” obscene, lewd or lascivious, but .censorship laws and post office regulations do exist, and, having made only such changes in the American edition as seemed essential to meet the probable interpretation of these laws and regulations by the authorities concerned we know of no reason why we should sit. back and permit serious interference with its sale through illegal importation in large quantities of the unexpurgated English edition. “A Mad World, my Masters, and Other Prose Works,” by Nicholas Breton, has been edited by Miss b rsula Kentish-Wright, and published by the Cresset Press. Miss Kentish-\V right savs that Breton " has perhaps given us more insight into the domestic life of the Elizabethans than any writer of the period.” Bretons 1 antasticks Serving for a Perpetual! prognostication ” will, indeed, serve for a perpetual amusement. In this he clraws upon both town and country f° r bis descriptions of spring or summer, April or December, one of the clock or nuclnight. In January, for instance, we

read that “ the gaping Oister leaves his shell in the streets, while the proud Peacocke leaps into the py T e.” Already at “ sixe of the clocke ” “ begins the curst Mistresse to put her Girles to their taskes,” and “ the Beaters of Hempe give a hoh to every blow.” In winter “ the Flea makes his Castle in the wooll of a blanket,” and in October “ Tobacco is held very precious for the rheivme.” British newspapers have given some attention to the bicentenary of the death of Sir Richard Steele, the coadjutor of Addison in the production of the “ Tatler ” and the “ Spectator,” who died on September 1, 1729. The “Weekly Scotsman” recalls Steele’s visit to Edinburgh as one of the six “ Commissioners for Forfeiture.” lie invited all the beggars and poor people of the city to a great feast. The host presided at the top of the festive board, passing the toddy with a will. Before long his queer guests forgot their natural shyness, to the great delight of Steele, who rejoiced unreservedly in the flow of natural, wit which ensued. Apart from the very real happiness of feeding so many hungry fellow-crea-tures, he had garnered, he said afterwards, enough material for a whole comedy. In 1718 Sir Richard made a second visit to Scotland. For the occasion, he occupied a house let by Mr James Anderson. By December, 1718, the happy-go-lucky Commissioner had been and gone, characteristically* omitting the formality, of paying his rent of £lO before departure. For this, Anderson, with many apologies, finally drew on him for the money-, which must have been paid, as Steele proposed to take the house again a year later. Poetry is taken seriously by poets in America. According to the New York “ Evening Post,” several attempts at suicide have been made in the office of " Poetry’,” a Chicago journal edited by Miss Harriet Monroe. The most recent of the attempts was that of the “ Poet Laureate of Mississippi.” lie wrote seventy-five laudatory verses about the candidate for Governor of Mississippi and read them from all soap boxes in that State in the course of the campaign. Despite this, his candidate was elected, and, being grateful, he appointed his lyrical champion “ Poet Laureate of the State.” The Laureate took it seriously, invested in a second-hand motor-car and went to Chicago with a trunk full of manuscripts. When “ Poetry ” rejected them he attempted self-destruction on the spot, and a doctor was required. A bricklayer and a plumber swallowed poison when their poems were rejected, and an artist’s model, who yearned for better things, visited the office with a home-made poem. Not being encouraged, she tried to end it all. She was revived, however, and as a precaution Miss Monroe carefully revised a poem and accepted it. Mr W. G. Lockett, who is British Consul at Davos, Switzerland, is preparing a little book on R. L. Stevenson and his circle at Davos.. Tie has in advance informed “ The Times Literary Supplement ” of several curious discoveries, the most important of which relates to the text of the poem until now called “To Mrs MacMarland.” This name should be “ MacMorland.” But more important than this is a correction of the text of the poem. Mr Lockett has seen the original manuscript, and he now supplies this reading:— “ The bells that ring, the peaks that climb, The frozen snow’s unbroken curd Might yet revindicate in rhyme The pauseless stream, the absent bird. In vain—for to the deeps of life You, lady’, you my heart have stirred; And since you .say y r ou love my wife, Be sure I love you for the word.” In the first English edition of 1918 there was a fatal misprint or mistake in the seventh line, which ran, “ But since you love me for my life.” The word “ wife,” Mr Lockett points out, lights up the whole poem. It is the spark that lit the fire. In the field of sport England has returned to both natural and national paths, but. the nation is beginning • to get back, in the same natural manner, to all other kinds of play as well. Thus a wide vista is opened up, for the motive force behind this childlike simplicity is, like every’thing fundamentally natural, potential artistic power and a mainspring of national culture. England’s most valuable intellectual and artistic achievements have always been based on a popular foundation, apd the same can almost be said of English art. By’ virtue of their play-sense the English have acquired certain qualities which are as precious to themselves as they are pleasing to others; a rare •

sense of humour . . . meeting it** blows with laughter; on the other hand, remarkable social and moral gifts, the result of team work, that is to sav manly rivalry under the seg is of fair play. —Rudolph Kircher, in "Fair Play: the Games of Merrie England.” Translated by R. N. Bradley from the German. “ We hear so much about the wonders of youth that it seems hard to suggest the real reason. But the rea 1 reason is that youth has been too much boomed. Our young people land our middle-aged people, too) are nearly all of them Peter Pans. They are afraid of growing up. They want all the time to be irresponsible children,” writes Mr Frank Swinnerton, the novelist, in the “Evening News” of London. “ For this restlessness, from which two-thirds of the world' is now suffering in one form or another, is due to worn nerves, exhausted by noise, and an over-peppered diet of life, and there is only one cure for it. This cure is a campaign for the extermination of our fake Peter Pans. “ Fun, speed, noise, excitement, and pepper are all good things; but we have had too much of them. What the world now needs is less childishness and more sense; fewer hobblede hoys and more men and women. If our Peter Pans would try to grow up a little we should have less restlessness and more real fun. We should also . have a world fit for adults to live in.”

An E. V. Lucas Novel. “ Windfall’s Eve,” Mr Lucas’s first story since “ Advisory Ben ” in 1923, is an amusing tale of a British Museum official who acquires wealth, and in certain quarters not a little fame, by drawing the winning number in the Calcutta Sweep. Being fairly old, he retires and settles down to enjoy a “ windfall’s eve,” but finds that his suddenly acquired wealth places him in entirely new and unusual positions. The characters, which are fairly numerous, are cleverly drawn, and the easygoing tale has a very real attraction. (Copy from the publishers, Methuen and C 0.,• Ltd., London.) “ The Return of the Scare-Crow,” by Alfred Noyes. Published by Cassell and Co., Ltd. Copy from Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. The Reverend Basil Strode was not a really narrow man, nor was he like the curates of comedy depicted by the late Phil May. Perhaps not the greatest event of his life, but one with farreaching effects, is the occasion when he has his clothes stolen while he is experimenting in sun-bathing on the downs. The highly amusing situations which follow are handled adroitly by Mr Moyes, who gives us a very entertaining story. “ Shadowed Events.” by Ruth Maschwitz. Published by Ilurst and Blackett. Ltd. Copy from Hutchinson and Son, Melbourne. Nicolas Mickiewicz started life a considerable distance behind scratch, and it was not long before misfortune and pride brought him to a very difficult position. He is trying to do something for himself when he meets a girl with plenty of money, a very different person from the rather vulgar but amusing young females lie had been in the habit of coming in contact with. Modern youth apparently sees no objection to the marriage of a penniless man and a wealthy woman, but Nicolas finds that marriage did not solve all his problems. The story’ is interesting and enjoyable. “Buy my Silence,” by Herman Landon. Published by Cassell and Co., Ltd. Copv from Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. Beauty in distress finds a willing and able champion in the “ Elusive Picaroon,” a polished fellow who at one time suffered unjustly at the hands of the _law, and thereafter made every endeavour to give trouble to the police and detectives. Between saving unfortunate young females frorp blackmailers and keeping out of the clutches of Inspector Summers, he has a very busy’ time. There are four stories in the

“The Murder of an Old Man,** fcy David Frome. Published by Methuen and Co., Ltd. This is another of the 1 ' Methuen “clue” stories which have become so popular with readers of - detective fic- » tion. The story tells of a very baffling and unusual murder, and of the difficulties which the investigators found in arriving at the correct solution. The mystery is a good one, and there is a thoroughly surprising disclosure towards the finish. “ I often wonder why there are no specialists in Ilarley Street who would be prepared, for the customary three guineas (five, if they visited the patient) to prescribe courses of reading for the cure of obstinate literary obsessions—e.g., the common beliefs that English poetry ended with Tennyson, and that French literature began with Flaubert and Balzac,” writes Mr E. F. Osborn in the “ Morning Post.” “If the publishers combined to set me up as a literary consultant in that thoroughfare of green doors. I feel sure I could earn a huge income and repay the costs of installation in a couple of " Here are a few of the prescriptions 1 should write (Jupiter aid us) and, though presented free of all cost to holiday readers, everybody who makes use of them will have had five guineas’ worth. For the victim of chronic sentimentality who confessed to ‘wallowing in Dickens, Corelli, Hall Caine, and A. S. M. Hutchinson,* I prescribe Galsworthy’s novels, to be followed by llardv’s poems. “ For a sufferer from acute Sitwellitis 1 fear Wordsworth is the only palliative, though the prescription reminds me of the saying of an invalid that rheumatism could be cured, but the cure was worse than the complaint. For an addict to Shaw and Chesterton, 1 should recommend Burton and Browne, and other wise old essayists who never condescended to machinemade paradox. " I should refuse to. prescribe for admirers of Gertrude Stein ami the paulo-post-futurist poets such as D. 11. Lawrence. telling them 'they should ro to an alienist or leave their brains ai the cleaner’s (they’ would never miss them during the process of washing and drying). Old for new, new instead of old: such would be the chief principle of my allopathy. Start your cure when or. holiday, forrit is easier then to begin acquiring a new habit.”

MUSIC,

Sigh of the sea on the shore, Seng of the wind through the trees, Stir of the whispering corn, Sleepy murmur of bees. Call of the owl at night, Birds' songs at break of day. And down in the quiet street Sound of children at play. Music has found me here, In the little house by the sea. Yet men will travel far In search of a melody. —Marjorie D. Turner.

WILLOW SONG. Willow wands, willow wands, here are coloured willow wands, Dipping by the river where the thrushes sing; Purple willow, Creeping willow, White willow, Weeping willow— Here are magic willow wands to conjure in the spring. Willow wands, willow wands, here are pollard willow wands, Swaying by the water in the wind and rain; Silver Catkins, sallow catkins, Green catkins, yellow catkins, Here are coloured willow catkins flowering once again. —Hamish. Maclaren in the “ Spectator.”