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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1915 



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THE- TALK- OF-THE - OFFICE 



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I 



SELMA LAGERLOF S CLASSIC JERUSALEM 



A LITTLE more than a year ago an editor- 

 ial in the New York Times Review of 

 , Books in speaking of the growth of the 

 popularity of Selma Lagerlof's works in this 

 country comparing her in this respect to Joseph 

 Conrad said : 



"Almost over night, it seems, Conrad has 

 come quietly into his own. . . . Similar 

 recognition of Miss Lagerlof has been gather- 

 ing impetus in the same quiet fashion. It may 

 be that the American public which would wel- 

 come Miss Lagerlof's 'Jerusalem' is larger 

 than the publishers suspect." 



There was more in this strain with especial 

 reference to the demand for a translation of 

 her second great novel "Jerusalem." This is a 

 demand which we also had felt, not from so 

 wide a public as might be hoped perhaps, but 

 certainly from scholars, lovers of Scandina- 

 vian literature and from those discriminating 

 readers who from the first have admired the 

 subtle charm and power of workmanship in 

 Miss Lagerlof's books. 



Hence, it gave us some satisfaction to re- 

 call that at the time the above quoted editorial 

 was written Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard 

 who translated "The Wonderful Adventures 

 of Nils" and other books by Miss Lagerlof, 

 was in Sweden visiting the scenes, conferring 

 with the author and gathering her inspiration 

 for her translation of "Jerusalem." 



The book is ready, and we wish to quote 

 from the introduction by Henry Goddard 

 Leach, Secretary of the American-Scandina- 

 vian Foundation. 



"'Jerusalem' begins with the history of a wealthy 

 and powerful farmer family, the Ingmarssons of Ing- 

 mar Farm, and develops to include the whole parish life 

 with its varied farmer types, its pastor, schoolmaster, 

 shopkeeper, and innkeeper. The romance portrays 

 the religious revival introduced by a practical mystic 

 from Chicago and leads many families to sell their an- 

 cestral homesteads and — in the last chapter of this 

 volume — to emigrate in a body to the Holy Land. 



"Truth is stranger than fiction. 'Jerusalem' is founded 

 upon the historic event of a religious pilgrimage from 

 Dalecarlia in the last century. The writer of this in- 

 troduction had opportunity to confirm this fact some 

 years ago when he visited the parish in question, and 

 saw the abandoned farmsteads as well as homes to 

 which some of the Jerusalem-farers had returned. 

 And more than this, I had an experience of my own 

 which seemed to reflect this spirit of religious ecstasy. 



"To business that we love we rise betime 

 And go to 't with delight." — Antony and Cleopatra 



On my way to the inn toward midnight I met a cyclist 

 wearing a blue jersey, and on the breast, instead of a 

 college letter, was woven a yellow cross. On meeting 

 me the cyclist dismounted and insisted on showing me 

 the way. When we came to the inn I offered him a 

 krona. My guide smiled as though he was possessed 

 by a beatific vision. ' No ! I will not take the money, 

 but the gentleman will buy my bicycle!' As I ex- 

 pressed my astonishment at this request, he smiled 

 again confidently and replied. 'In a vision last night 

 the Lord appeared unto me and said that I should meet 

 at midnight a stranger at the crossroads speaking an 

 unknown tongue and "the stranger will buy thy bi- 

 cycle!'" 



"The tragic intensity of 'Jersualem' is happily re- 

 lieved by the undercurrent of Miss Lagerlof's sympa- 

 thetic humor. When she has almost succeeded in 

 transporting us into a state of religious fervour, we 

 suddenly catch her smile through the lines and realize 

 that no one more than she feels the futility of fanaticism. 

 The stupid blunders of humankind do not escape her; 

 neither do they arouse her contempt. She accepts 

 human nature as it is with a warm fondness for all its 

 types. We laugh and weep simultaneously at the 

 children of the departing pilgrims, who cry out in vain: 

 'We don't want to go to Jerusalem; we want to go 

 home!' " 



THE SEVEN SEAS EDITION COMPLETED 



IT IS a pleasure to announce the com- 

 pletion of the twenty-third volume of 

 the Seven Seas Edition of the Works 

 of Rudyard Kipling, the most dignified and 

 delightful publishing enterprise which the 

 firm of Doubleday, Page & Company has ever 

 undertaken. The set is complete, for the 

 present, in twenty-three volumes; but any 

 future work published by Mr. Kipling will 

 be added to the set. Mr. Kipling has set the 

 seal of his approval on this edition by signing 

 the first volume of each set with his own hand. 

 The edition is limited to i ,050 copies of which 

 a small proportion still remains for Kipling 

 admirers. 



MICHAEL 



ON AUGUST 17, Mrs. Porter's book, 

 "Michael O'Halloran," was success- 

 fully launched. Since that time the 

 photographs of more than 1,500 window dis- 

 plays have come to us and they show an interest 

 in the book that is quite unique and highly 

 pleasing to the publishers. 



"The American Country Girl," by Mrs. 

 Martha Foote Crow, recently published by 

 the Frederick A. Stokes Company, says some 

 interesting things about the favorite books of 



girls in the country many miles from a book- 

 store. It is pleasant to us to see how many 

 of the country girls with whom Mrs. Crow 

 has corresponded name Gene Stratton-Porter as 

 their favorite author. ' ' Laddie, ' ' " At the Foot 

 of the Rainbow," "Freckles," "The Harvester " 

 — one or more of these books were on almost 

 every one of the lists written out by girls liv- 

 ing on lonely farms in far Western states. 

 That is, we think, the most encouraging thing 

 about Mrs. Porter's books — they do find their 

 way into the farthest recesses of the country. 

 As we said of "Laddie" two year ago, 300,000 

 copies of that book sold means just 300,000 

 doses of "true blue story" injected into the 

 nation's veins. The signs are that "Michael 

 O'Halloran," Mrs. Porter's latest story, is 

 going to go even farther than any of her pre- 

 vious books. 



TO GOLFERS 



DEDICATED TO THE DUFFER 



This is the substance of our Plot — 

 For those who play the Perfect Shot. 

 There are ten thousand who do not. 



For each who comes to growl and whine 

 Because one putt broke out of line 

 And left him but a Sixty-Nine, 



At least ten thousand on the slate 

 Rise up and cheer their blessed fate 

 Because they got a Ninety-Eight. 



Yet Splashers in the Wayside Brook, 

 To you who foozle, slice, and hook, 

 We dedicate This Little Book. 



So runs the dedication to a book we pub- 

 lished on September 15th by Jerome D. Tra- 

 vers. "The Winning Shot," it is called, and 

 if after reading the above, you consider your- 

 self among the ten thousand and are curious 

 enough to wish to discover how it is that you 

 should suddenly have this fame thrust upon 

 you, you will find it at the nearest bookstore. 

 Mr. Travers's book, like his dedication, is un- 

 like other golf books. It does not bother you 

 with banal "how to's" — it will not keep you 

 awake dreaming of the elusive 80. Being 

 dedicated to the "duffer," it takes him as such 

 and gives him a good time over sketches of 

 championship matches, of incidents that have 

 sent even the greatest "up in the air," and of 

 the players who, as this goes to press, are 

 making golf history at Detroit. 



