LITERARY NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 23, 27 January 1934, Page 18

LITERARY NOTES

BOOKS ANi» AUTHORS

' Lord Wakefleld'has--given £250 to the fund which>issbeing. raised by the Friends of : the ' National Libraries. '■ to- , wards; the. purchase-of, the Paston\Letters'for' the British. Museum. The society has; now paid the first £ 1000 of the £3000 needed for'the purchase* ~

'} ■■ Sir John ' Squire;:- returning from! his lecture } : tour in; Finland,. has ■ recorded his.; surprise' ,at->fintling; ifly Helsingfors tne >most> conveniently, arranged booksh'opthat. he, had ever seen" or heard of, not excluding the many admirable bookshops in the United States.

r'Miss Mary Borden, the: novelist, issued a writ «f liber on the editor, proprietors,: and-printers of the "Catholic Herald" ?for ' comments made in the issue of 'October 27.' upon her new novel, '' Mary ■: of Nazareth^' ' which depicts the 'life*of the Virgin Mary.

Mr. Stephen Leacock has written ihe book on "Dickens"for Mr. Peter Davies, who announces it for immediate publication. Mr. Leacock,-like Dickens, is a Hampshire' man. It is,said that he provides;an' amusing solution of "The Mystery -of Edwin Drood," Dickens 'a unfinished novel;

..Sir C Bobert - GravesT—not to be confused ■} with;his namesake, .who wrote '' Good-bye • to. All/ That.—author ~ of "Storm Centres of the Near East," has held positions 'in the .Consular. service in; Jerusalem, Alexandria,: Sofia, Kurdistan, ': Crete, > Salonika, and other - places. For five, years he was adviser to the OttomaniMinistry of; Finande; '" Frauleiri Alma .Karlin has followed up her travel :bbok "The Odyssey of a Lonely Woman"; with a new.vblume entitled; "The-D ( eath-Thorn." The work takes the; form of short stories and anecdotes relating to witches, Voodooism, vampires, and' the like, all based on the author's experiences among the Indians of; Peru'and the mixed races of Panama. .

* -Messrs. Methuenaxepreparing, under the.general control 'of ■"Eyoe/ > the editor ot "Punch," a new library of humour. The first four volumes will appear this year, and the first four humorists to; be called to this public service are .Messrs.' G. X Chesterton, A. A. Milne, !W. JW. Jacobs, and A.. P. Herbert. The^books will bo : published at" half a crown each. , '-'■:

>• A. London-message. states^that critics acclaim for its charm and originality "A Warning to Wantons," a novel by Miss Mary* Mitchell,--daughter of Sir Edward/Mitchell, E.C., of Melbourne. The Book Society has chosen it as the book of the month. Twelve thousand ;five hundred copies were sold before; publication;..and,: Heincmanns are -preparing a second large impression. The story is -set'in a. "mythical' European country, being a fantastic romance of modern ■ times/- with a; French girl :as heroine.' ilia's 'Mitchell;is-writing an-other-book, part'vof the setting of which'will be in* Melbourne.

;sMr.,Winston Churchill's-fondness for painting !• in ; his '•' leisure hours, is ■ well knownV is a curious * comcidence that: heshares this hobby, as well -as the 'name, with the American novelist whose "luisideithe Cup," "Eichard Carvel," arid other books of twenty years ago are-still best-sellers in the United States. Few authors, writes "Peterborough" in ;the London "Daily' Telegraph,"}; have, preserved so1 long"a silence as! the American Mr. Winston Churchill. He retired from active writing ■ shortly"; after' he had reached his fortieth/year. A friend who saw him recently, writes that he spends all his time in; New. Hampshire, where he has a.' picturesque, colonial", hbuse, and is wholly occupied 'with outdoor pursuits. Whenever -he-finds, that, the urge to writeir irresistible- he permits his work to be circulated only amongst- his closest friends. <

Lord I Wakefield, of Hythe, speakiag at the stone-laying at; Harrington's School chapelr at Chislehurst; Kent, recalledvwhat he called "the profoundly ■\yise counsel"' given to 'him ac a young man by: Eobert Louis Stevenson in Samoa. He had visited: Stevenson in Iris 'island; home, he said, and when the time came to" ■ part, Stevenson said, "Rememberi-'this.. Pill your life with Jaughter.vand.sunlighJ. That is. the best kind "of success—to radiate happiness!" Th'bse words; ;and* the searching, kindly lppk^of Stevenson's which accompanied them,' had lived in his memory. Lord Wakefield added that the experience of a long andhappylife had confirmed him in, the opinion that Stevenson set him uponthe right path. , V

Speaking.at the opening of the book exhibition' promoted by 'the. "Sunday Times,"., London^ 'Mr. A. P. .Herbert mentioned "that people: of ten-said that there were, too many books:,produced, yet the output of .motor-cars in ever"jncie^isirig 'numbers v/as. hailed as ;a .means of 'employment. Why: was thist And iwhy did -one hear so' much ■ grumbling.about paying 7s 6d-for a novel whenthere were so many ready to pay ;12ai6dfer;a theatre stall and'2ss for a supper. afterwards, with perhaps, a fine at 'the1 Police Court in the morniiig? Bobks:kepfc their writers.quiet and busy telling the story of their'own lives, and kept tfiein f r^m rushing about and taking other -people 'sflives away with furious, driving., (Laughter.) .Books did notjnake a noise like the wireless; they were clean >about the house, and they ,certa,in]y .did -not dig up the garden, which was more than could be said for the ' dog his ' daughter got. as a present from;: his old friend, Mr. —-. (The rest, of the sentence was drowned iv s roar; of-laughter.)'