Length of Novels Divides Authors Views in Washington Post Debate
Washington Post reports sharp disagreement among writers and publishers over the ideal novel length. Page argues longer books endure, while Chatfield-Taylor advocates tighter craft. Green supports short forms for economy, Friedman praises brevity, and Magruder cites Mudie Library standards and the case for concise storytelling.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington Post
Thomas Nelson Page
Lke
Sam
Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor
Anna Katherine Green
Rohifs
Taylor
Page
Rohlifs
Friedman
Richardson
Mr. Friedman
Vanity Fair
Dickens
Thackeray
Julia Magruder
Princess Sonia
Mudie Library
England
Miss Magruder
Cooper and His Work
John Habberton reviews James Fenimore Cooper in April Era, noting his three distinct types of fiction. The Pilot set sea story fashion, Leather Stocking tales inspired frontier romance with Indians, and The Spy pioneered Revolutionary War scenes. Despite uneven quality, Cooper's works remain widely read and frequently reissued, earning praise and foreign admiration.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Habberton
James Fenimore Cooper
Cooper
Ife
Cas
Levis
Sip Waher
German Nurse Feigns Love to Hide Murder Plot in New York
A German hospital nurse with aReportedly homicidal mania is lured from a private New York hospital. A respected New York citizen, Majoribanks, is targeted by a series of threatening love letters from the suitor. Doctors and an alienist stage a quiet commitment to prevent a violent act and secure the arrest without publicity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Knaackfuss
From The Spy and The Pilot Cooper’s use of real names
The essay argues Cooper rarely uses living characters or real names in his novels. It notes John Paul Jones is not named in The Pilot, and in The Spy, Harper is only inferred as a Washington figure. It contrasts Cooper with other writers who populate tales with Putnam Heath Hamilton and other Hudson camp figures.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cooper
John Paul Jones
Jones
Harper
Washington
Hudson
Putnam
Heath
Hamilton
Have Women Intuitions in April Era Essay
William S Walsh argues in April Era that literature reflects human thought and questions whether women possess a special intuitive faculty in writing. He claims no woman poet or novelist has produced a universally recognized line or character, citing Browning and Eliot as exceptions, and notes that society would label a man Don Quixote or Falstaff more readily than a woman.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William S. Walsh
Bartlett
Mrs. Browning
Mrs. Meynell
Ts. Browning
George Eliot
Tito Melema
Mrs. Poyser
Tito
Poyser
Don Quixote
Micawber
Dogberry
Falstaff
Brat
Parson Adams
Bob Newcome
Acres
Mrs. Malaprop
Bee
Beatrice
Diana
Two Modes of Judgment in Conjecture
The passage contrasts two ways people judge conjecture. If a guess proves correct, the faster thinker recalls it as extraordinary intuition. if wrong, it is forgotten, while the slower-minded retain the correct insights by weighing outcomes over time.
Deterioration of English and dictionary excesses
W L Alden laments overuse of big as a synonym for other words and the spread of vulgarized language driven by ambitious dictionary makers. He argues dictionaries democratize language, reducing standards, and notes the irony of literary figures like Margaret Fuller and Conan Doyle in contrast to pretentious imitators.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
W. L. Alden
London
Andrew Lang
America
England
Lang
The Question of Style in Modern Writing
The London Mail laments decay of style yet notes many modern novelists are genuine stylists. It highlights Mrs Craigie and Lucas Malet among women and writers like Quiller-Couch Eden Spotts Joseph Conrad Henry Harland Maurice Hewlett as notable for distinctive expression.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London Mail
Craig
Literary Notes and Literary Figures in Brief
Maxim Gorky now under police surveillance in the Crimea after election to the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences. The original manuscript of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Child Garden of Verse, in tiny handwriting on thirty two leaves with nine unpublished poems, is for sale in London at 1300 dollars. Frederic Harrison plans retirement to private life after years of activity near seventy one. Stephen Phillips’s Ulysses lauded by Mabie as continuing a tradition of beauty and strong English artistic form. How to get back a borrowed book remains a debated question.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Knaackfuss
Life Guards
America
Maxim Gorky
Imperial Academy of Sciences
Crimea
Robert Louis Stevenson
London
Frederic Harrison
Stephen Phillips
Ulysses
Hamilton W. Mabie
Presbyterian General Assembly
General Assembly
Rome
Presbyterian Church
Christ
Henry van Dyke
Princeston
van Dyke
Mrs Asquith Uses Novel Method for Missing Napoleon Volume
The owner of wandering volumes, Mrs Asquith once Margot Tennant and said to be the original of Dodo, has advertised in the London Times for the return of an odd Napoleon volume lent to an unknown borrower.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mrs. Asquith
Margot Tennant
London Times
Napoleon
Higher Education For Women Quip In Detroit Free Press
ADetroit Free Press column quotes a witty remark about women’s higher education and athletic participation, noting a daughter’s claim that a girl who cannot play basketball and fence is not in it. The quip reflects attitudes toward women’s education and athletics in the period.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit Free Press
Solitary Reverie in Rainbound Study at Daybreak
In Indianapolis, Joseph Trazier muses on choosing solitude over society as rain renews the world outside. He locks his door, lights his pipe, and opens volumes from centuries past, dreaming through poets such as Penseroso and Usher while the rain taps the panes and twilight tunes softly.
Heresy Trial Talk Shocks Minneapolis Baptist Leader
New York March 2 A Baptist trials talk swirls around Rev Dr W B Riley pastor of Minneapolis First Baptist Church as dissension grows over alleged liberal tendencies. Indications point to a possible ex parte council or heresy trial though not yet certain, with support from a large majority and strong youth backing.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Indianapolis Journal
New York
W. B. Riley
First Baptist Church of
Minneapolis
Northwest
Riley
Indiana
Hanover College
Southern Baptist Seminary
Louisville
Warsaw
New Albany
Ind
Lafayette
Bloomington, Jr
Calvary Church
Chicago
First Church
Home Paper Readers On Morning Elevators
The New York Evening Sun piece shows commuters on elevated trains reading their home papers, comparing provincial and metropolitan sheets. Observers note the contrast in expressions as travelers shift between local pride and broader city life, reflecting New Yorkers’ diverse origins.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Evening Sun
Also Mentioned on This Page
Enany
His
Ahakar
Majoribanks
Upper Fifth Avenue
Marjoribanks
Germany
Mr. Marjoribanks
Munich
Texas
Berlin
Ruth Majoribanks
Roswell Field
Chicago Post
Margaret Fuller
The
Dial
Thor
Eau
Margaret
Thoreau
Frank Sanborn
Charles Goodspeed
Margaret Megeree
Dr. Conan Doyle
Stevenson
Meredith
the Higher Education
Peema
Dreama
Usher
Indianapolis
Joseph Trazier
DR. Riley
Baptist
Mer
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!