A BIOGRAPHER ON HIS KNEES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 462, 30 April 1948, Page 10

A BIOGRAPHER ON HIS KNEES

FLINDERS LANE: Recollections of Alfred Felton. By Russell Grimwade. Melbourne University Press. NLESS the subject is divine I dislike an author who writes on his knees because I dislike to read on mine. Alfred Felton was a Victorian gentleman in every sense of both words who bequeathed a large sum of money, in the form of an Arts and Charities Bequest, to be spent on the purchase of works of art for the libraries, museums, and art galleries of Victoria, which makes him worthy of respect, but not of reverence, and: Grimwade’s reverential attitude towards his subject -his determination to make us feel that we are in A Presence-gets in the way of his presenting a vital picture of the man. His office, his home, his personal effects are all described with more conscientious fidelity than is usually accorded the relics of a saint. His chronicler cannot take us into his storeroom without telling us the origin, contents, and destination of each sack. In spite of this fault Flinders Lane is not without merit. Its aim is to "let Australians know what manner of man their benefactor was, and what were the motives behind this act of benevolence," and in a roundabout way it does do that; and it draws a good and sometimes amusing picture of Victorian life in Victoria. It is also liberally and delightfully illustrated with wood engravings by Helen Ogilvie.