AN ACCOUNT OF E. P. ROE'S BOOKS
A few more pages will be given to an account of the circumstances under
which my brother's books were written, including mention of some
incidents which suggested the stories.
His first novel was "Barriers Burned Away." Speaking of this venture he
said at one time:--"I did not take up the writing of fiction as a means
of livelihood, nor to gratify ambition. When I heard the news of the
great fire in Chicago I had a passionate desire to see its houseless,
homeless condition, and spent several days among the ruins and people,
who found refuge wherever they could. I wandered around night and day,
taking notes of all I saw, and there the plot of my story was vaguely
formed."
When Edward had written about eight chapters of this book, as has been
said, he read them to Dr. Field and his associate editor, Mr. J. H.
Dey. He would not have been greatly surprised had they advised his
throwing the manuscript into the burning grate before them, but,
instead, they requested him to leave it with them for serial
publication in _The Evangelist_.
In the intervals of his busy life at Highland Falls the story grew into
fifty-two chapters. He wrote when and where he could,--on steamboats
and trains as well as in his study,--the manuscript often being only a
few pages ahead of its publication. His characters took full possession
of his imagination and were very real to him.
The serial continued for a year. The next thing was to secure a
publisher for the book. Mr. Dodd, senior member of the firm of Dodd,
Mead, and Company, said once when questioned in reference to this
subject:--"Mr. Roe brought his manuscript to us one day. We read it and
made him an offer. At that time we looked upon the venture as purely
experimental. Mr. Roe accepted our offer, and we announced the book. In
a short time letters began to pour in upon us from people who had seen
our announcement, and had also read as much of the story as had
appeared in _The Evangelist_, asking when the book would be published.
These letters were the first indication we had of the story's
popularity, but they were very good evidence of it. An edition was
issued; the book sold rapidly, and the sale since has been large and
continuous."
"How about your original contract with Mr. Roe?"
"Well, as a matter of fact," said Mr. Dodd, "the original contract was
destroyed and another made on a different basis by which Mr. Roe is
largely the gainer. From that time we have published everything that he
has written, and our relations have always been very pleasant and
close."
"What is his most popular work?"
"'Barriers Burned Away' has had the largest sale. 'Without a Home'
stands second on the list, and, considering the fact that it was
published ten years later, is most popular. 'Opening of a Chestnut
Burr' comes next; 'Near to Nature's Heart' has had a very large sale,
and the others follow closely. There is not one of his novels that has
not had a wide circulation."
"Have you any idea of the extent to which his books have been sold
abroad?"
"All have been published in England and the colonies. Mr. Roe has in
almost every instance arranged with English publishers for an
authorized edition from advance sheets, and received compensation. His
stories are also translated into German and French."
"Barriers" was first published in 1872. It is reverently dedicated to
the memory of the author's mother, and his own words as to how it came
to be written have already been quoted. Many letters were received from
young men acknowledging the helpfulness of this book.
"Play and Profit in My Garden" was Edward's first book on horticulture.
It was written in 1873 at Highland Falls, and was published serially in
_The Christian Union_, then edited by Dr. Lyman Abbott. Reviewing
the book just two years before his death, he claimed that he put into
it more of his personality than into any of his other works.
It is a garden story of his own experience. The sandy knoll around the
little country parsonage upon which grew only a vine or two, a few
cherry trees and some common currant bushes, served as a beginning in
this gardening venture. To that was added a small tract of adjoining
land which was rented from a neighbor, making but two acres in all, yet
the profits from this ground for one season alone amounted to two
thousand dollars.
In this book he tells how his garden was stocked first with plants from
the old home place, and how they brought back the sweet associations of
his childhood. He speaks, too, of his pleasure in selecting new
varieties for trial from the gorgeously illustrated catalogues that he
received.
"What Can She Do?" was written the same year. Since that time
numberless women have learned through the fortunes or misfortunes of
life to solve this problem for themselves, but this book has found a
place in many homes and by its influence has led young girls to be more
helpful in the family circle as well as in the wider social spheres in
which they move.
"Opening of a Chestnut Burr" (1874) suggested itself to Edward's mind
while taking a walk one autumn along a wood-road on the grounds of the
old homestead. Several of the characters are drawn from life,
representing some eccentric people who lived near us in our childhood.
In a "well-meanin'" man, "Daddy Inggar," we have a perfect picture of
an old neighbor whom we children called "Daddy Liscomb." He lived in a
little house opposite one of our father's apple orchards, and no
watch-dog could have been more faithful than was this old man in
guarding our fruit from the depredations of factory boys. He was very
profane, more in his last years from habit, however, than from
intentional irreverence, and sometimes when the Methodist clergyman was
offering prayer in his home a sudden twinge of rheumatism would call
forth a perfect volley of oaths, for which he would immediately
afterward make most humble apologies. This book Edward dedicated to his
wife.
"From Jest to Earnest" (1875) is dedicated to Edward's schoolmate and
college friend, Rev. A. Moss Merwin. The story is nearly altogether
imaginary, but was suggested by an actual house-party and the position
of a clever hostess who was embarrassed by the necessity for making the
best of an unwelcome guest.
"Near to Nature's Heart" was written at Cornwall and published in
1876--the Centennial year. It is a Revolutionary story, and the scene
is laid near West Point. "Captain Molly" is of course historical, as is
also the Robin Hood of the Highlands, "Claudius Smith." But most of the
incidents of the story, as well as the leading characters, are
imaginary.
A few years ago I met at a seashore resort in Massachusetts a cultured
gentleman who held a high position in an educational institution in
that State. He told me that his only child, Vera, was named from the
heroine of "Near to Nature's Heart." He had read all of my brother's
books, but particularly enjoyed this one. And while in California
making a trip to some of the high mountain passes of the State I met a
young couple living in a lonely canyon, miles from any town, whose
year-old baby was called Amy, in honor, they said, of the heroine of
"Nature's Serial Story." They had no knowledge of my relationship to
the author of the book.
"A Knight of the Nineteenth Century" (1877) was reverently dedicated to
the memory of the writer's father. These lines form the preface:--
"He best deserves a knightly crest
Who slays the evils that infest
His soul within. If victor here,
He soon will find a wider sphere.
The world is cold to him who pleads;
The world bows low to knightly deeds."
Soon after this book was offered for sale upon the railroad trains, a
young man, who had tired of the humdrum duties of his home, started
West to seek adventure in the excitements of mining life. He bought a
copy, read it, and was so impressed by the writer's picture of true
knightly deeds that he abandoned his purpose and returned to take up
the obligations he had cast aside.
"A Face Illumined" (1878). A beautiful, but discordant, face once seen
at a concert-garden suggested the title and plot of this book. It
interested Edward to imagine what such a countenance could express
under the ennobling influence of a pure Christian life. He says in his
preface:--"The old garden and the aged man who grew young in it are not
creations, but sacred memories." It was our father who was constantly
in the writer's mind as he rehearsed the conversations with Mr.
Eltinge, and the enormous silver poplar that shaded the old man's front
gate, the tool-house and pear tree, and the brook in which "Ida Mayhew"
bathed her tear-stained face, were all drawn from originals.
"Without a Home" (1881). This book was announced two years before it
was completed, for my brother studied with great care and patience the
problems upon which it touches. He visited scores of tenements and
station-houses, and sat day after day upon the bench with police
judges. He also talked with many of the proprietors of city stores and
with their employees, and his indignation was aroused when he found
that in most of these establishments saleswomen were compelled to stand
throughout the hot summer days, no provision being made for even an
occasional rest. In regard to the victim of the opium habit in this
story, he said once, "I felt from the first that Mr. Joselyn was going
to ruin and I could not stop him, and suffered much with him. I also
felt the death of his daughter almost as much as if she had been a
member of my own family."
"Success with Small Fruits" (1881). "Dedicated to Mr. Charles Downing,
a neighbor, friend, and horticulturist from whom I shall esteem it a
privilege to learn in coming years, as I have in the past." Chapters
from this book, appropriately illustrated, first appeared serially in
_Scribner's Magazine_. But the larger scope which the book afforded
gave Edward opportunity to treat the various topics more in detail. He
gives many practical suggestions for the benefit of those who are
interested in this subject. Nevertheless, the book is not a mere manual
upon the culture of small fruits. It is happily written, and much quiet
humor is to be found in its pages. To quote a brief example:--"In April
the bees will prove to you that honey may be gathered even from a
gooseberry bush. Indeed, gooseberries are like some ladies that we all
know. In their young and blossoming days they are sweet and pink-hued,
and then they grow acid, pale, and hard; but in the ripening experience
of later life they become sweet again. Before they drop from their
places the bees come back for honey, and find it."
Whatever may be the opinion of critics in regard to my brother's
fiction, his works on horticulture are of unquestioned authority; they
embody the results of carefully tested personal experiments, and for
this reason have their value. In this book are given practical
directions and advice that gardeners have told me were of immense
service to them.
"A Day of Fate" (1880). This is a quiet love-story of a summer sojourn
in the Highlands.
"His Sombre Rivals: A Story of the Civil War" (1883). In the preface he
says: "The stern and prolonged conflict taught mutual respect. The men
of the North were convinced that they fought Americans, and that the
people on both sides were sincere and honest."
The Battle of Bull Run is simply a suggested picture, and the other war
scenes are colored by the writer's own reminiscences; but concerning
all technical details he consulted military men.
"A Young Girl's Wooing" (1884). Another short love-story, with the
scene laid in the Catskills, where it was written.
"Nature's Serial Story" was also published in 1884, but Edward had been
for several years making studies for it, at each season carefully
noting his observations. He was a great lover of birds and knew exactly
when each species arrived North in the spring and just when the fall
migrations took place. "Song," he says elsewhere, "is the first crop I
obtain, and one of the best. The robins know I am a friend of theirs,
in spite of their taste for early strawberries and cherries, and when I
am at work they are very sociable and familiar. One or two will light
on raspberry stakes and sing and twitter almost as incessantly and
intelligently as the children in their playhouse under the great oak
tree. Yet the robin's first mellow whistle in spring is a clarion call
to duty, the opening note of the campaign."
He drew directly from Nature for facts, and the composition of this
book gave him genuine pleasure. He says: "My characters may seem
shadows to others, but they were real to me. I meet them still in my
walks or drives, where in fancy I placed them."
"An Original Belle" (1885). The most dramatic scenes in this book are
those connected with the New York Draft Riots. Edward was in the city
one day when the riot had reached its height, and personally witnessed
many of the incidents described. Portions of the book relating to this
time were submitted to the Superintendent of the Metropolitan police
force for possible corrections in the statements made.
"Driven Back to Eden." This story for children was published serially
in _St. Nicholas_, in 1885. It was lovingly dedicated to "Johnnie," his
pet name for his youngest daughter. In it my brother takes a family
from a narrow city flat in a neighborhood that was respectable, but
densely populated, and where the children were forced to spend much
time upon the streets with very undesirable companions, to a simple
country home, surrounded by garden, fields, and woods. Here they enjoy
the ideal outdoor life--perhaps as near that of the original "Eden" as
can be imagined. Edward places these children among the scenes of his
own boyhood and writes of experiences that are fictitious only in
detail and characters.
"He Fell in Love with His Wife" (1886). A chance item in a newspaper
relative to a man who had married in order to secure a competent
housekeeper suggested this story, in which the hero tries a similar
experiment.
"The Home Acre" (1887) first appeared serially in _Harper's Magazine_.
It dwells upon the advantages and pleasures of country life, which is
particularly recommended for business men as affording rest and
diversion of thought after continuous mental strain. Practical hints
are given as to the kind of trees to plant and how to plant them, also
as to the proper cultivation of vineyards, orchards and the small
fruits. He urges the advisability of teaching every boy and girl in the
public schools to recognize and protect certain insects, toads, and
harmless snakes that are of incalculable value in the culture of plants
and fruits because of the warfare they wage against the enemies of
vegetable life.
"The Earth Trembled" (1887) was written while at Santa Barbara; but, as
in the case of the Chicago fire, Edward went to Charleston before the
effects of the earthquake had been removed, and saw the state of the
city and its inhabitants for himself. I have been told by people who
lived there at the time that my brother's descriptions of the dreadful
calamity are very accurate.
"Miss Lou" (1888) was my brother's last book and was left unfinished by
his sudden death. The inscription reads:--"In loving dedication to
'little Miss Lou,' my youngest daughter."