Notwithstanding all rumors to the contrary, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has definitely decided that he will not give his memoirs to the public during his lifetime. In a recent conversation Dr. Holmes remarked: "I work at the memoirs an hour or two each day, and am making satisfactory progress. That is, I have about one-half completed of all I shall write."

Flammarion, the French astronomer and author, as seen in his Paris home and amidst his daily tasks, is the subject of an article by R. H. Sherard in McClure's Magazine (New York) for May. The article is fully illustrated.

The next annual meeting of the Western Association of Writers is to be held at Spring Fountain Park, Warsaw, Ind., during the last week in June, beginning Monday evening and closing Friday evening. Those who wish more accurate information can obtain it by addressing the secretary, Miss Ida May Davis, Terre Haute, Ind.

Miss Beatrice Harraden, the author of "Ships That Pass in the Night," will shortly arrive in New York on her way to California. She intends, by advice of her doctor, to spend several months there on a fruit farm. Miss Harraden some time ago lost the use of her right hand through entire failure of the ulnar nerve by overstrain in writing and in 'cello playing. She is too nervous for dictation, and hated a typewriter, and has consequently had to do a large part of her writing with her left hand. Her little book, it is said, was written with the greatest difficulty. She means to write another novel while in California. Miss Harraden is a member of a musical and artistic family, the daughter of a man of scientific attainments, who is her sternest literary critic. She has taken a B. A. degree in classics and mathematics at the London University, and heartily advocates the higher education of women. She is also an enthusiastic supporter of woman's suffrage. Her new book, a collection of short stories, is coming from the Putnam press.

The Photographic Times (New York) says that more than seventy-five per cent. of the illustrated books now published are indebted to photography, directly or indirectly, for their illustration.

Porter & Coates, of Philadelphia, in view of the great interest now taken in the history of American families, are issuing in the Literary Era a list of the American genealogies which have been printed in book form. The list will be brought up to date, and will be much more complete than any such work heretofore attempted.

A new portrait of Benjamin Franklin has been discovered recently in Paris, a terra-cotta medallion modelled from life, which shows the genial side of Franklin's nature better than any Paul Leicester Ford has existing portrait. written a brief article to accompany a photograph of it in Scribner's Magazine for May.

The Forum's circulation has jumped from 16,000 to 46,000 per month, as a result of the reduction of the price from fifty cents to twentyfive cents a number. The American News Company's order for the May issue is 25,000 copies. Formerly the news company took 6,000 copies each month.

Dr. Noah Brooks, until recently editor of the Newark (N. J.) Advertiser, has returned to his birthplace at Castine, Me., where he intends to spend the rest of his days.

J. M. Stoddart, who has had a long connection with Lippincott's Magazine as editor and manager, has accepted a position with an international publishing company, and has been obliged to sever his connection with Lippin

cott's. The name of his successor has not yet been announced.

The Washington Capital says that Corporal Tanner is to become the editor of Home and Country, the soldiers' magazine, published in New York.

Aubrey Beardsley, the artist whose fantastic drawings are just now a "fad" of English bookmakers, is not much more than twenty years old.

The very latest literary novelty in France is a story written by collaboration, and printed in two kinds of type, so that the reader may see at a glance which author he is perusing.

John Oliver Hobbs in private life is Mrs. Craigie. She is twenty-six years old, and although she has spent her life in England and France, she is by birth an American.

Speaking of General Grant's "Memoirs," T. C. Crawford, in McClure's Magazine for May,which, by the way, is a Grant number, says: "No other book written in this country has ever returned such a large reward. At the time of this writing the Grant family has re-ceived from the royalties paid by the publishers of the work more than $440,000, and the sale still goes on. The cheaper edition, which the publishers are now about to bring out, may result in another phenomenal sale, so that it is within the range of possibility that the "Memoirs" may yield in the neighborhood of three-quarters of a million of dollars to General Grant's heirs."

"Fra Paolo Sarpi, the Greatest of the Venetians," by Alexander Robertson, is announced by Thomas Whittaker. The author has been a resident of Venice for many years, and has studied closely the subject of his monograph.

Francis Thompson, who is hailed in London as a great poet, was selling matches in the streets not long ago. This was only a temporary experience with poverty, however, for he is a college-bred man, well up in the classics and in medicine. His first book of verse, published last December, has already gone through three editions. At present he is living a retired life at a Capuchin monastery in Wales.

Mr. John Holmes, the brother of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and equally dear with his famous relative to the smaller circle which surrounds him in Cambridge, is suffering from impaired sight; yet, with characteristic courage, he is taking up the study of the piano at his advanced age.

Henry Mills Alden, who is a descendant of John Alden of Mayflower fame, has been editor of Harper's Magazine for twenty-seven years. "Do show us the manuscript of 'Pembroke!' Do let us see Pembroke!'" exclaimed two young ladies who were being conducted through Harper & Brothers' composing-room. They were not to be comforted when they learned that the story was wholly typewritten, and, while reverently holding some of the typewritten sheets, declared it was as if they had hoped to take Miss Wilkins' hand, but had only touched her glove.

Caspar W. Whitney has just returned from his pilgrimage to Great Britain, where he spent ten weeks visiting the various sport centres. His impressions, profusely illustrated, will be given in the series of articles now running in Harper's Weekly, touching upon the general sporting spirit of England.

Still another Scotch writer has risen into prominence of late years, and one, moreover, who, following in the wake of Stevenson and Barrie, bids fair to rival even them in popularity. For, although "The Raiders" is only the second work of the Rev. S. E. Crockett, of Penicuick, there has been the greatest demand for it even in advance of its publication. On the other side the entire edition was sold out before it was issued, and here in America a second edition has been called for only a week after the publication of the first.

The congress of authors and journalists in Germany has petitioned the reichstag for the cancellation of the copyright treaty concluded in 1892 with the United States. The petitioners advise that no other treaty be made unless it be fully reciprocal.

The last of the important series of papers of literary criticism by James Russell Lowell appears in the Century for May, under the title of "Fragments," consisting of three short articles; one on "Life in Literature and Language "; another on the epic of "Kalevala," of a portion of which there is an unpublished translation in verse by Mr. Lowell; and third, a beautiful passage on the differences between style and manner.

The profits of literature, as examplified in the case of Mrs. Humphry Ward, are thus discussed in the Critic: "For the American and English markets alone she was paid for 'David Grieve' $80,000. She got from the British colonies-Australia, India, etc.—no mean sum, I fancy, for they are big countries, and their people are great readers of popular literaSay that she gets $80,000 more for 'Marcella,' and that she got $40,000 for 'Robert Elsmere.' That is $200,000 for three books written during a period of about six years. Not bad pay, when one considers that it is all profit."

ture.

The formation is announced in England of a Brontë Society, the object of which is to acquire literary, artistic, and family memorials of the Brontës; photographs of persons and places identified with them and their works in Yorkshire, Ireland, Cornwall, Essex, Brussels, etc.; copies of all books and fugitive articles, illustrating the novels and the districts in which the Brontës resided-all these acquisitions to be placed at Haworth, or some other appropriate locality, for the free inspection of the members of the society, and to be offered for public exhibition. Mme. Emma C. Cortazzo, 330 Dartmouth street, Boston, will be glad to furnish information on this subject, unofficially, to those interested.

The Sketch (London) prints an interview with "Iota," a new writer, who has made a success with her novel, "A Yellow Aster." A portrait accompanies the article. "Iota's" real name is Mrs. Mannington Caffyn. She is described as "a tall, fair woman, with Irish eyes smiling out of a clever, earnest face, with just a suspicion of a dainty brogue."

The real name of Henry Seton Merriman, whose novel, "With Edged Tools," is now running anonymously through the Cornhill Magazine, is H. S. Scott. Mr. Scott is the author of "The Slave of the Lamp."

In Harper's Magazine for May W. D. Howells gives his first impressions of New England. As a young man he made a journey from his home in Columbus, O., to Boston, where he met Longfellow, Lowell, Emerson, Holmes, Hawthorne, and most other literary lights of the New England of thirty years ago. The account of this journey will be given in four papers, the first, which appears in the May Harper's, dealing with the journey as far as Portland, and describing a chance meeting with Bayard Taylor. The frontispiece of Wilson's Photographic Magazine (New York) for April is an exquisite example of the best modern photographic portrait work.

The Magazine of Art (New York) for May has, besides a full-page etching and other attractive features, a sketch of Emile Wauters, portrait painter, with some interesting examples of his work.

The editor of the English Public Opinion since 1884 has been Percy White, the author of "Mr. Bailey-Martin." The success of his first novel has induced Mr. White to write another, which will also be in autobiographical. form.

Stanley J. Weyman, whose historical novels. have given him a substantial faine in England, is thirty-nine years old, an Oxford graduate, and has had experience as a newspaper man and a lawyer.

Mrs. Terry, of Rome, Italy, the mother of F. Marion Crawford, is said to be the oldest American resident of the Eternal City. She was living there with her first husband, Thomas Crawford, the sculptor, when Hawthorne wrote "The Marble Faun," in which Mr. Crawford, his identity lightly veiled, figures conspicuously.

The editor of the Popular Science Monthly takes certain imaginative writers to task for their unscientific and absurd statements regarding "the young moon" and "the crescent moon," and advises them to leave it alone, because they so often contrive to get it in the wrong place. In a recent story which has come under his notice he finds two friends described as sitting out one summer evening, looking over the Thames, and the writer goes on to say: By this time the young moon had arisen, and its cold light shimmered over the misty river." Such writers are reminded that the young moon goes to bed early, and can never be seen in the process of rising.

66

Mrs. Jane G. Austin died in Boston, March 30.

Mrs. J. A. Allen, of Kingston, Ont., mother of Grant Allen, novelist and essayist, is dead.

Ben King, the Michigan poet and humorist, was found dead in bed April 7, at a hotel at Bowling Green, Ky., where he had appeared in public the night before. His home was in St. Joseph, Mich., where he had a wife and two

children.

David Dudley Field died in New York city quite suddenly, from pneumonia, April 13. He had just returned from Europe, and was apparently in excellent health.

Major Joseph Kirkland died in Chicago, of heart disease, April 29.

At what a disadvantage is the beginner in literature. Like a recently landed foreigner, he gazes about him, undecided to which point of the compass he should turn. He looks for some friendly face, but is regarded with coldness. Among so many people, very little sympathy is offered him. He realizes that they all have their friends, and begins to feel discouraged. Suddenly, at an unexpected moment, some one smiles, holds out a helping hand, and speaks kind words; then hope again springs into life. Onward he plods, with an occasional ray of brightness entering his lonely life, until some morning he awakes to find that he is no longer an unknown author. Then are many smiling faces turned toward him, and the whole world seems full of friends.

So much prejudice is felt against the unknown author, that many readers will not pause to examine even the title of a book by an unfamiliar

No. 6.

writer, and so editors are often inaccessible to strangers with manuscripts for examination.

A certain book had been recommended to a friend of mine. She began it, but it failed to hold her interest. She cast it aside with the remark: "I won't read it. It's by an unknown author anyhow."

This may strike the reader as quite inconsistent, until he is assured that much literature written by experienced authors was at that moment resting upon her shelves inviting her perusal and enjoyment.

Life is so brief and the field of literature so infinite, that one dare not hope to do more than read the most talked-of books of the day, leaving the works that attract small attention for those spare moments, which are so frequently referred to, but which, alas! never arrive.

A tabulated list of books published in America during 1893 reveals an astonishing total of 4,281 new books and 853 new editions, a gain over 1892 of 207 new books and sixtyfive new editions.

The unknown author, then, has three principal difficulties to combat: the indifference of editors, the prejudice of the public, and the fierce competition with writers who have acquired names.

It requires a stout heart, a ready brain, and a persevering pen to Overcome these three powerful adversaries, who, without intending it, are often so cruel.

To be sure, there are too many books written, and, excepting as to the "per cent.," I agree with an utterance I recently overheard, which was as follows: "Burn ninety per cent. of the books now being published, and you will gain pleasure and instruction from the remainder, without losing anything by the operation."

Until this ninety per cent., or whatever figure represents the true ratio of useless books, is, by some means, reduced or suppressed, there will

be a continuance of the present stagnation in the market for works by unknown authors. NEW YORK, N. Y. Edward Kirkland Cowing.

Number the pages of the manuscript in the centre of the top of each page, making the paging consecutive from the first page of the manuscript to the last. This is the rule even in the case of manuscripts divided into chapters or parts. It is a mistake to number each chapter or part separately.

Put the name and address of the author in the left-hand upper corner of the first page, beginning flush, — i. e., at space 1 on the scale, so that the first letter will strike one-half inch from the left-hand edge of the paper. In the upper right-hand corner, on the same line, put: "About 2,500 words,"- or whatever the number of words in the manuscript may be,-starting it so that the period will strike one-half inch from the right-hand edge of the paper.

Write the title in capitals in the centre of the top of the first page of the manuscript, leaving a blank space of about one inch above it. Do not write the title alone by itself on a separate sheet. It improves the appearance of a manuscript to take a ruler, after typewriting it, and draw a neat line in black ink underneath each word of the title. Don't use red ink for underscoring.

Underneath the title write in the centre of the next line: "By William D. Howells," or whatever the name of the author may be. In case a pseudonym is used, the writer's real name and the pseudonym will thus appear on the same page. Write the author's name, also, at the end of the manuscript, dropping it a line below the last paragraph, and counting the letters so that you can make the period after the name come one inch from the right-hand edge of the paper. Underscore the signature at the end of the manuscript, either with the

machine, or with a ruler and pen. The reason for writing the author's name twice is that some editors credit an article at the beginning, and others at the end. If the name is written in both places, the editor has only to cross out the name he does n't want, and credit is sure not to be omitted by any oversight.

For long manuscripts always use good linen paper, 8x101⁄2 inches in size. For short manuscripts, paper 5x8 inches in size may be used, and the typewriting may run either way of the sheet that the author may prefer.

Always use the double space in making manuscripts for the press.

Put the paper in the typewriter so that there will be a margin of a half-inch on the left-hand side of the sheet, and set the warning bell so that you will remember to make the margin on the right-hand side as nearly as possible the

same.

Try to avoid dividing words at the end of the line, and never divide any word excepting on a syllable.

Indent each paragraph five spaces at the beginning.

Always leave three spaces between sentences. When a quotation is begun within a sentence (as, for instance: "Edwin said: 'Come, Ethelinda!'") leave two spaces after the colon, before the quotation begins. Always leave two spaces after a semi-colon.

Be extremely careful in the use of quotation marks. Remember that within double quotations single quotations should be used, if any quotation mark is required, and that within single quotations, in the same case, double quotations should be used. For instance, the quotation marks are rightly used in this ex