Foibles of Genius

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 270, 4 February 1928, Page 26

Foibles of Genius

Sardou And His Perpetual Cold ■ ERSONS of genius sometimes possess peculiar ideas and superstitions unknown to average people. The lives of certain famous authors testify to this fact. Dickens was fond of wearing flashy jewellery. Walter S. Landor threw the dishes around to relieve his mind. Edgar Allan Poe was very proud of his feet. Joaquin Miller nailed all his chairs to the wall. Keats liked red pepper on his toast. Victor Hugo spoke very little, and his remarks were usually questions. Robert Louis Stevenson played the flute for the purpose of tuning up his ideas. Robert Browning could not sit still, and by the constant shuffling of his feet, holes were worn in the carpet. Longfellow said his sublimest moods came upon him when walking at sunrise or sunset. Washington Irving never mentioned the name of his fiancee after her death, and if anybody else did so, he immediately left the room, Thackeray used to lift his hat whenever he passed the house in which he wrote “Vanitj Fair.” Alexandre Dumas the younger bought a new painting every time he had a new book published. Sardou imagined he had a perpetual cold. Hawthorne delighted in poring over old advertisements in the newspaper files Disraeli wore corsets; he always wanted to appear a young man, and had a pen stuck behind each ear when he was writing.

Darwin had v.ery little respect for books: he would cut'a large volume in two for convenience in handling, and would tear out the pages he wanted for reference. For weeks at a time Zola believed himself to be an idiot. In this state of mind he did his best work. He would never accept an invitation to dinner.

Bret Harte would hire a cab for the night and drive through the dark until his struggle for ideas was over, so that he could write. He enjoyed being taken for an Englishman. ' Oliver Wendell Holmes used to carry a horse-chestnut in one pocket and a potato in another to ward off rheumatism. He was fond of trees, and sat under one whenever he could. It is said that Sir Arthur Conan Dovle never wears an overcoat. He spends a great deal of time on the golf links. F. Marion Crawford used the same penholder in writing every word of every one of his novels. He never wrote with any other paper, pen or ink than his own. which he carried with him.

Thomas B. Macaulay was fond of embroidered waistcoats, and had quite a collection of them. Voltaire w r ould sharpen a dozen lead pencils before beginning his day’s work. Bjornson kept his pockets filled with the seeds of trees, and would scatter them in his daily walks, often trying to persuade bis friends to do the same. Count Tolstoy used to go barefoot and hatless the year round. He was also very fond of French perfume, and always had a flower placed on his desk when he wrote.