_b._ 20 April 1870, Newport, Mon.; of Welsh parents. _Educ._:
picked up knowledge among tramps in America, on cattle boats, and
in the common lodging-houses in England. Apprenticed to the
picture frame making; left England when apprenticeship closed and
tramped in America for six years; came back to England and lived
in common lodging-houses in London, making several trips as pedlar
of laces, pins and needles; sometimes varied this life by singing
hymns in the street; after eight years of this published book of
poems; became a poet at 34.
DAWSON SCOTT, C. A.: Author “The Rolling Stone”; _b._ Dolwich near
London. _Educ._: Anglo-German College in Camberwell. _m._ Major H.
F. N. Scott. Three children. Founded corps to prepare women to
take men’s places during war. Later founded Tomorrow Club of which
she is now Lecture Secretary.
DAY, Clarence, Jr.: Author “This Simian World”; _b._ New York City,
1874. _Educ._: St. Paul’s School (New Hampshire) and Yale. Has
lived at various health resorts and on ranches in the West, has
been a member of the New York Stock Exchange and has served as an
Enlisted man in the U. S. Navy. Not married. Lives in New York.
DE LA MARE, Walter: Author “The Three Mulla Mulgars”; _b._ 1873,
lives in England.
DELL, Floyd: Author “Mooncalf”; _b._ Barry, Ill., 1887. _Educ._:
Left school at age of 16 to work in factory; four years course in
journalism in a middle western town. Was for some years Literary
Editor of Chicago _Evening Post_, later Literary Editor of _The
Masses_, and now conducts the monthly literary department of _The
Liberator_ of which he is an associate editor.
EASTON, Dorothy: Author “The Golden Bird”; _b._ London, 1889.
_Educ._: England, France and Germany. Contributor to _Manchester
Guardian_, _The Nation_ (London), etc.
ELIOT, Thomas Stearns: Author “Poems”; _b._ St. Louis, Mo., 1888.
_Educ._: Harvard (A. B. 1909; M. A. 1910); studied subsequently at
the Sorbonne, Harvard Graduate School, and at Merton College,
Oxford. Master at Highgate School, London, and lecturer under both
the Oxford and London University Extension Systems. 1917–19,
Assistant Editor of _Egoist_.
EVARTS, Hal G.: Author “The Cross Pull”; _b._ Topeka, Kansas, 1887.
Left school to put in winter trapping. _m._ One son. Surveyed in
Indian Territory; summered three years in Colorado Rustic Mountain
landscaping; intervening winters with bond firms and trust
company; two years real estate; four in retail shoe business then
went back to Wyoming hills; three years fur farming.
FLETCHER, J. S.: Author “The Middle Temple Murder”; _b._ Halifax,
1863. _m._ 1884, Annie, _d._ of late James Harrison; two _s._
_Educ._: Silcoates School and privately. Special correspondent for
_Leeds Mercury_ on several occasions; assistant leader writer for
same journal, 1893–98; special correspondent for Yorkshire _Post_
at Coronation ceremonies, 1902.
FOLLETT, Wilson: Author “The Modern Novel”; _b._ North Attleborough,
Massachusetts, 21 March, 1887; _Educ._: A. B. Harvard, 1909; _m._
Helen Thomas, 10 June, 1913. Has taught English at Agricultural
and Mechanical College of Texas, Dartmouth College, Brown
University, and Radcliffe College.
FORSTER, Edward Morgan: Author “Where Angels Fear to Tread”; _b._
1879. _Educ._: Tonbridge (day boy); King’s Coll., Cambridge.
_Clubs_: Savile, Oxford and Cambridge Musical.
FRANKAU, Gilbert: Author “Peter Jameson”; _b._ 21 April 1884;
_Educ._: Eton. Entered his father’s business, 1904; commenced
writing 1910; left England and travelled around the world,
1912–14; first commission 9th E. Surrey Regt. Oct. 1914;
transferred to R. F. A. March 1915; appointed Adjutant to his
Brigade, and proceeded overseas in that capacity; fought at Loos,
Ypres, the Somme; promoted Staff Captain for special duty in
Italy, Oct. 1916; invalided from the Service and granted rank of
Captain, Feb. 1918.
GIBRAN, Kahlil: Author “The Forerunner”; _b._ 1883 Mt. Lebanon,
Syria. _Educ._: Beyrout College, Al-Ki-Hikmat. Studied art in
Paris. Exhibition of paintings at Paris Salon, New York, Boston.
Has had ten volumes prose and poetry in Arabic published in last
ten years; several of them translated into Spanish, French,
German, English. Now living in New York.
GRANT WATSON, E. L.: Author “Deliverance”; _b._ Steynes, N. London,
1885. _m._ Katharane Hannay, 1919. _Educ._: Bedales School,
Trinity College, Cambridge. 1st Class Nat. Science tripos 1906.
Ethnological Expedition N. W. Australia 1910–12.
HERBERT, A. P.: Author “The Secret Battle”; _Educ._: Winchester and
New College, Oxford. Enlisted in the R. N. V. R. as Ordinary
Seaman, Aug. 1914. Commissioned March 1915 and went with Hawke
Batt’n., Royal Naval Division to Gallipoli. Invalided home, Aug.,
same year. Served in France. Wounded and sent home. Served, 1918
on Naval Staff at Admiralty.
HERGESHEIMER, Joseph: Author “San Cristobal de la Habana”; _b._
Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 15, 1880; _Educ._: short period at a
Quaker school, Philadelphia, and at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts; _m._ Dorothy Hemphill, of West Chester, Pa., 1907.
HIGHAM, Charles Frederick: Author “Looking Forward”; M. P. _b._
1876; _Educ._: St. Albans. Assistant Organizer with Mr. Kennedy
Jones, M. P., of the Victory War Loan Campaign of 1917; Freeman of
the City of London; Member of the Guild of Gold & Silver Wyre
Workers. _Clubs_: Carlton, 1900, National Sporting, Royal
Automobile, Aldwych, etc.
HOOKER, Forrestine C.: Author “The Long Dim Trail”; _b._
Philadelphia. Raised in 10th U. S. Cavalry during frontier service
against Indians; _m._ E. R. Hooker. Staff of Los Angeles
_Examiner_. Secretary of Los Angeles Humane Society for Children.
Investigator on District Attorney’s Staff. Secretary of Los
Angeles Auxiliary of League of American Pen Women.
HOWE, Edgar Watson: Author “The Anthology of Another Town”; _b._
Treaty, Ind., May 3, 1854; _Educ._: Common schools in Missouri.
Started to work in printing office at age of 12; _m._ Clara L.
Frank of Falls City, Neb, 1875. Published the _Golden Globe_ at
Golden, Colo., at age of 19; editor and proprietor of Atchison
_Daily Globe_, 1877–1911; editor and publisher of _E. W. Howe’s
Monthly_ since Jan., 1911.
KROPOTKIN, P.: Author “Ideals and Realities in Russian Literature”;
_b._ 9 Dec. 1842. _Educ._: Corps of Pages, Petrograd 1857–62,
Petrograd Univ. 1869–73. Gold medal Russ. Geographic Soc. for
journey across Manchuria 1864. Explored glacial deposits Finland
and Sweden 1871. Arrested for labour agitation 1874; confined in
St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress; escaped 1876. Founded _Le
Revolte_ at Geneva; Expelled from Switzerland 1881; sentenced at
Lyons to 5 yrs. imprisonment, 1883; Liberated 1886. Lived in
England till Russian Revolution of 1917.
McCLURE, John: Author “Airs and Ballads”; _b._ Ardmore, Oklahoma, 19
Dec. 1893. _Educ._: University of Oklahoma; in Paris, 1913–14.
Member of the national Hobo College fraternity, “Quo Vadis”; has
tramped about two thousand miles in the South-west. Runs The Olde
Bookshop in New Orleans.
MACKAYE, Percy: Author “Rip Van Winkle”; _b._ New York, 16 March
1875. _Educ._: Harvard A. B., Hon. M. A. Dartmouth, Univ. of
Leipzig; _m._ Marion H. Morse of Cambridge 1898. Travelled in
Europe 1898–1900, taught private school New York 1900–1904,
lectured Harvard, Yale, Columbia on theatre 1904–1919.
MAUGHAM, William Somerset: Author “The Land of the Blessed Virgin”;
_b._ 1874; m. Syrie Barnado; one _d._ _Educ._: King’s School,
Canterbury, Heidelberg University, St. Thomas’s Hospital.
MENCKEN, Henry Louis: Author “Prejudices”; _b._ Baltimore, Md.,
Sept. 12, 1880. _Educ._: Balt. Poly. Inst., graduating 1896.
Unmarried. Reporter, 1899, city editor, 1903–5, Baltimore _Morning
Herald_; editor _Evening Herald_, 1905; on staff Baltimore _Sun_,
1906–17; literary critic _Smart Set_, 1908, and editor (with
George Jean Nathan) since 1914. War correspondent in Germany and
Russia in 1917.
MILNE, Alan Alexander: Author “First Plays”; _b._ 18 Jan. 1882;
assistant editor of _Punch_ 1906–14; Royal Warwickshire Regt.,
Feb. 1915–19; _m._ Dorothy, _d._ of Martin de Selincourt. _Educ._:
Westminster; Trinity College, Cambridge. Edited _The Granta_,
1902; started journalism in London, 1903.
NATHAN, George Jean: Author “Comedians All”; _b._ Fort Wayne, Ind.,
Feb. 15, 1882; _Educ._: Cornell University, graduating 1904.
Unmarried. Editorial staff N. Y. _Herald_, 1904–6; dramatic critic
and asso. editor _Bohemian Magazine_ and _Outing_, 1906–8, also
_Burr McIntosh Monthly_, 1908; dramatic critic for Phila. _North
American_, McClure’s Syndicate and Cleveland _Leader_ since 1912;
dramatic critic _Puck_ (with James Huneker) 1915–16; editor _Smart
Set_ (with H. L. Mencken) since 1914.
NYBURG, Sidney: Author “The Gate of Ivory” etc.; _b._ Baltimore,
Md., Dec. 8, 1880; _Educ._: Baltimore City College; LL. B. Univ.
of Maryland, graduating 1901. _m._ Jan. 9, 1907. Practised law in
Baltimore since 1902.
OPPENHEIM, James: Author “The Book of Self”; _b._ St. Paul, Minn. 24
May, 1882. _Educ._: Two years of special courses at Columbia
University. Assistant editor _Cosmopolitan Magazine_; later taught
in an East Side Technical school. At age of 24 he began
free-lancing. Was editor of _The Seven Arts_.
PERTWEE, Roland: _b._ Brighton, 15th May 1885; _m._ Advice Scholtz
of Capetown, South Africa, 1910. _Educ._: London and Paris.
Started as a portrait painter; abandoned painting in favour of the
stage; left stage and became a writer in 1914. Served in Heavy
Artillery Mechanical Transport in France during war.
RUSSELL, John: Author “The Red Mark”; _b._ Davenport, Iowa, 1885;
son Charles Edward Russell. _Educ._: Brooklyn schools and
North-Western University; much foreign travel. Reporter N. Y.
_Herald_ and special correspondent Panama and Peru. Now lives in
New York.
SHAFER, Don Cameron: Author “Barent Creighton”; _b._ Charlotteville,
N. Y., Oct. 7, 1881; _Educ._: Public Schools; _m._ Janeth E.
Mitchell of Roxbury, N. Y., Jan. 10, 1910. Learned printer’s
trade; reporter Schenectady _Union_, 1903; later, special writer
for N. Y. _World_, _Sun_, _Press_ and _Times_; also contributor to
magazines. Advertising manager for General Electric Co.
SITWELL, Osbert: Author “Argonaut and Juggernaut”; _b._ London, 6
Dec. 1892. _Educ._: Eton. Served in France as Officer in the
Grenadier Guards 1914–15–16.
SQUIRE, John Collings: Author “Books in General”; _b._ Plymouth, 2
April 1884; _m._, 1908, Eileen H. A., _d._ of Rev. A. Anstruther
Wilkinson; three _s._ _Educ._: Bundell’s; St. John’s College,
Cambridge (Historical Scholar, 1903; B. A. 1908; M. A. 1919);
Literary Editor _New Statesman_ since 1913; Acting Editor,
1917–19; contested Cambridge University (Lab), 1919. Editor the
London _Mercury_, since 1919.
TIETJENS, Eunice (née Hammond): Author “Body and Raiment”; _b._
Chicago, Ill., 29 July, 1884. _Educ._: France, Switzerland and
Germany. Has travelled extensively in all parts of the world. Two
years on the staff of _Poetry_ in Chicago, the second as Associate
Editor. For one year war correspondent in Paris for Chicago _Daily
News_; _m._ 2nd Cloyd Head, Chicago, 1920.
TOMLINSON, H. M.: Author “Old Junk”; _b._ 1873. Joined the editorial
staff of the _Morning Leader_, 1904, and the _Daily News_ when the
two papers amalgamated; War Correspondent in Belgium and France
from Aug. 1914, and an Official Correspondent at General
Headquarters of the British Armies in France, 1915–17. Assistant
Editor _The Nation_ (London) since 1917.
TRIDON, André: Author “Psychoanalysis and Behaviour”; _b._ France 8
May, 1877. _Educ._: Paris, Clermont, Heidelberg and New York; _m._
1903. Practising analyst in New York. First psychoanalyst in U. S.
to deliver lectures on psychoanalysis open to the general public.
TURNER, George Kibbe: Author “Hagar’s Hoard”; _b._ Quincy, Ill., 23
Mar. 1869. _Educ._: Williams College, graduating, 1890; _m._ Julia
Hawks Patchen of Bennington, Vt., Oct. 19, 1892. Began newspaper
work 1891. Editor and staff writer on _McClure’s Magazine_,
1906–17.
VAN VECHTEN, Carl: Author “The Tiger in the House”; _b._ Cedar
Rapids, Iowa 17 June, 1880; _m._ Fania Marinoff. Ass’t Musical
critic New York _Times_ 1906–7, Paris correspondent same 1908–9,
Editor program notes Symphony Society, New York 1910–11, Dramatic
critic New York _Press_ 1913–14.
VAN WESEP, Hendrikus Boeve: Author “The Control of Ideals”; _b._ 30
October, 1888, Amsterdam, Holland. Moved as a child to one of the
Pioneer Dutch settlements in the Middle West. _Educ._: Calvin
College Preparatory School, Grand Rapids, Michigan; University of
Michigan. Chief study philosophy; grad. 1912. Graduate work at
Princeton University; Ph.D. 1917, in ethics and Greek Philosophy.
Now employed by the Rockefeller Foundation for research work in
philanthropic, public health, and sociological problems; _m._
Aleida Sophia van Vessem, 1917.
WALEY, Arthur David: Author “More Translations from the Chinese”;
_b._ Tunbridge Wells, 1889. _Educ._: Rugby and Kings’ College,
Cambridge. Travelled in France, Germany and Spain. Entered Print
Room of the British Museum in 1913. In the same year became
assistant of Mr. Laurence Binyon, head of the oriental Section of
the Print Room. Lives in Cartwright Gardens, London. Has never
been outside Europe, but learnt Chinese and Japanese from native
teachers in London.
WALLAS, Graham: Author “The Life of Francis Place”; _b._ Sunderland,
31 May 1858; _m._ 1897, Ada Radford; one _d._ _Educ._: Shrewsbury
School, 1871–77; Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 1877–81; Lecturer
at London School of Economics since 1895; University Professor in
Political Science, 1914; Lowell Lecturer, 1914.
WILKINSON, Louis Umfreville: Author “Brute Gods”; _b._ Aldeburgh,
Suffolk, England, 17 Dec. 1881; son of late Rev. W. G. Wilkinson,
formerly Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford. _Educ._: Radley; St.
John’s College, Cambridge; M.A. Cantab; Litt.D., St. John’s
College, Annapolis; _m._ 1912, Frances Josefa Gregg; one _s._ one
_d._
WILLIAMS, James Mickel: Author “The Foundations of Social Science”;
_b._ Waterville, N. Y., 1876. _Educ._: A.B. Brown University 1898;
B.D. Union Theolo. Sem., 1901; Ph.D. Columbia, 1906; _m._ Lucinda
Chamberlain Noyes of Rochester, N. Y., 1913. Lecturer on Economics
Vassar 1907–8; prof. econ. and soc. Hobart College 1908–1920.
-----
Footnote 1:
This paper appeared in “Land and Water” [London], but has never before
been published in the United States.
Footnote 2:
See Bibliography.
Footnote 3:
This paper appeared in _The Clarion_ [London] but has never before
been published in the United States.
PART THREE
SELECTED PASSAGES
FROM
BORZOI BOOKS
HOW HE DIED[4]
_By Conrad Aiken_
When Punch had roared at the inn for days
The walls went round in a ringing haze,
Miriam, through the splendour seen,
Twinkled and smiled like Sheba’s Queen,
Jake was the devil himself, the host
Scratched in a book like a solemn Faust;
And the lights like birds went swiftly round
With a soft and feathery whistling sound.
He seized the table with one great hand
And a thousand people helped him stand,
“Good-night!” a thousand voices said,
The words like gongs assailed his head,
And out he reeled, most royally,
Singing, amid that company.—
Luminous clocks above him rolled,
Bells in the darkness heavily tolled,
The stars in the sky were smoothly beating
In a solemn chorus, all repeating
The tick of the great heart in his breast
That tore his body, and would not rest.
Singing, he climbed the elusive street,
And heard far off his footsteps beat;
Singing, they pushed him through the door,
And he fell full length on the darkened floor....
But his head struck sharply as he fell
And he heard a sound like a broken bell;
And then, in the half-light of the moon,
The twittering elvish light of June,
A host of folk came round him there,—
Sheba, with diamonds in her hair,
Solomon, thrumming a psaltery,
Judas Iscariot, dark of eye,
Satan and Faustus and Lorraine,
And Heliogabalus with his train....
The air was sweet with a delicate sound
Of silk things rustling on the ground,
Jewels and silver twinkled, dim,
Voices and laughter circled him....
After a while the clock struck two,
A whisper among the audience flew,
And Judy before him came and knelt
And kissed him; and her lips, he felt,
Were wet with tears.... She wore a crown,
And amethysts, and a pale green gown....
After a while the clock struck three
And Polly beside him, on one knee,
Leaned above him and softly cried,
Wearing a white veil like a bride.
One candle on the sill was burning,
And Faustus sat in the corner, turning
Page after page with solemn care
To count the immortal heartbeats there.
Slow was the heart, and quick the stroke
Of the pen, and never a word he spoke;
But watched the tears of pale wax run
Down from the long flame one by one.
Solomon in the moonlight bowed,
The Queen of Sheba sobbed aloud;
Like a madonna carved in stone
Judy in starlight stood alone:
Tears were glistening on her cheek,
Her lips were awry, she could not speak.
After a while the clock struck four,
And Faustus said “I can write no more:
I’ve entered the heartbeats, every one,
And now the allotted time is done.”
He dipped his pen, made one more mark,
And clapped his book. The room grew dark.
At four o’clock Punch turned his head
And “I forgive you all,” he said....
At five o’clock they found him dead.
FROM “YOUTH AND EGOLATRY”[5]
_By Pío Baroja_
_Goethe_
If a militia of genius should be formed on Parnassus, Goethe would be
the drum-major. He is so great, so majestic, so serene, so full of
talent, so abounding in virtue, and yet, so antipathetic!
_Chateaubriand_
A skin of Lacrymae Christi that has turned sour. At times the good
Viscount drops molasses into the skin to take away the taste of vinegar;
at other times, he drops in more vinegar to take away the sweet taste of
the molasses. He is both moth-eaten and sublime.
_Victor Hugo_
Victor Hugo, the most talented of rhetoricians! Victor Hugo, the most
exquisite of vulgarians! Victor Hugo—mere common sense dressed up as
art.
_Balzac_
A nightmare, a dream produced by indigestion, a chill, rare acuteness,
equal obtuseness, a delirium of splendours, cheap hardware, of pretence
and bad taste. Because of his ugliness, because of his genius, because
of his immorality, the Danton of printers’ ink.
_Poe_
A mysterious sphinx who makes one tremble with lynx-like eyes, the
goldsmith of magical wonders.
_Dickens_
At once a mystic and a sad clown. The Saint Vincent de Paul of the
loosened string, the Saint Francis of Assisi of the London Streets.
Everything is gesticulation, and the gesticulations are ambiguous. When
we think he is going to weep, he laughs; when we think he is going to
laugh, he cries. A remarkable genius who does everything he can to make
himself appear puny, yet who is, beyond doubt, very great.
_Sainte Beuve_
Sainte Beuve writes as if he had always said the last word, as if he
were precisely at the needle of the scales. Yet I feel that this writer
is not as infallible as he thinks. His interest lies in his anecdote, in
his malevolent insinuation, in his bawdry. Beyond these, he has the same
Mediterranean features as the rest of us.
_Ruskin_
He impresses me as the Prince of Upstarts, grandiloquent and at the same
time unctuous, a General in a Salvation Army of Art, or a monk who is a
devotee of an esthetic Doctrine which has been drawn up by a Congress of
Tourists.
_A Word from Kuroki, the Japanese_
“Gentlemen,” said General Kuroki, speaking at a banquet tendered to him
in New York, “I cannot aspire to the applause of the world, because I
have created nothing, I have invented nothing. I am only a soldier.”
If these are not his identical words, they convey the meaning of them.
This victorious, square-headed Mongolian had gotten into his head what
the dolichocephalic German blond, who, according to German
anthropologists is the highest product of Europe, and the brachycephalic
brunette of Gaul and the Latin and the Slav have never been able to
understand.
Will they ever be able to understand it? Perhaps they never will be
able.
_Love of the Workingman_
To gush over the workingman is one of the commonplaces of the day which
is utterly false and hypocritical. Just as in the 18th century sympathy
was with the simple hearted citizen, so today we talk about workingman.
The term workingman can never be anything but a grammatical common
denominator. Among workingmen, as among the bourgeoisie, there are all
sorts of people. It is perfectly true that there are certain
characteristics, certain defects, which may be exaggerated in a given
class, because of its special environment and culture. The difference in
Spanish cities between the labouring men and the bourgeoisie is not very
great. We frequently see the workingman leap the barrier into the
bourgeoisie, and then disclose himself as a unique flower of knavery,
extortion and misdirected ingenuity. Deep down in the hearts of our
revolutionists, I do not believe that there is any real enthusiasm for
the workingman.
When the bookshop of Fernando Fé was still in the Carrera de San
Jerónimo, I once heard Blasco Ibáñez say with the cheapness that is his
distinguishing trait, laughing meanwhile ostentatiously, that a republic
in Spain would mean the rule of shoemakers and of the scum of the
streets.
FROM “THE ROMANTIC WOMAN”[6]
_By Mary Borden_
Now that I’ve got back to the beginning, the night of the 10th of
September, 1913, I find that I’ve told you all sorts of things, almost
everything of importance, except just what happened that night. I’m
afraid, in telling the story, I’ve got into rather a muddle. It’s so
difficult to keep distinct what I felt and knew at various times, and
what I feel and know now. Now the war is on us, and my chief feeling is
one of fear, not any definite fear of Zeppelins or invasions, but a
vague, dreadful fear, an acute sense of insecurity. The world is
shaking, and its convulsions give one a feeling of having, to put it
vulgarly, gone dotty. It’s as though I saw all the tables and chairs in
my room moving about and falling over. Everything that was stable and
was made to hang on to, and sit down upon, and lean against, is
lurching. The great business of life seems to be to sit tight, but one
has a suspicion that even the law of gravity may be loosed and that we
shall find ourselves falling off the earth. Before the 4th of August,
people in their secure little houses were enjoying their miseries and
making capital out of their difficulties, and splendidly gambling on the
future—the dark future that seemed so possible. Now it is all changed.
It appears that the conduct of life is largely a matter of unconscious
calculations. One says good-bye and calculates that the chances are a
hundred to one, that one will meet this friend again. But when I said
good-bye to Binky the other day at the one o’clock from Victoria, the
chances were a hundred to one against his coming back. It’s a curious
thing to have all the mathematics of life upset. It makes one feel like
being in a mad-house. The laughter of Arch and Humpy rising in shrieks
from the gardens seems incredible and wonderful. The security of
childhood becomes the most precious thing on earth.