362 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 1913 



"VIRGINIA" 



1 



Mrs. Gene Stratton-Porter, like a good 

 many other people, has written us about 

 Miss Glasgow's novel, "Virginia." We copy 

 this from her letter: 



The writings of Miss Ellen Glasgow have always 

 possessed a unique and especial charm for me that has 

 carried me from one book to another, for the pleasure 

 derived from reading, with no especial effort on my 

 part to learn just why I so enjoyed them. Last 

 summer a man quoted in my presence a line of Miss 

 Glasgow's something like this: "Not being able to 

 give her the finer gift of the spirit, he loaded her with 

 jewels." 



My dictionary defines an epigram, "A bright or 

 witty thought tersely and sharply expressed, often 

 ending satirically." A saying like this almost reaches 

 that level. At any rate it stuck in my mind, and 

 when a friend recently sent me a copy of Miss Glasgow's 

 latest book, I began reading it with the thought in 

 mind that I would watch and see if she could say other 

 things of like quality. My patience! She rolls them, 

 unendingly. Before I had read twenty pages I 

 realized just where lay the charm that had always held 

 me. It was not in plot, not in character drawing, not 

 in construction: it was in the woman expressing her own 

 individuality with her pen. What a gift of expression 

 she has ! I know of no other woman and very few men 

 who can equal her on this one point. 



Chesterton does the same thing, with a champagne 

 sparkle and bubble, but I would hesitate to say that 

 even he surpasses her, for while he is bubbling and 

 sparkling on the surface, charming, alluring, holding 

 one; she is down among the fibres of the heart, her 

 bright brain and keen wit cutting right and left with 

 the precision of a skilled surgeon. Not so witty, but 

 fully as wise. 



You have only to read "Virginia," to convince your- 

 self. 



"Having lived through the brief illumination of 

 romance, she had come at last into that steady glow 

 which encompasses the commonplace. ' 



"To demand that a pretty woman should possess the 

 mental responsibility of a human being would have 

 seemed an affront to his inherited ideas of gallantry." 



"If the texture of his soul was not finely wrought, 

 the proportions of it were heroic." 



"From the day of his marriage he had never been 

 able to deny her anything she had set her heart upon — 

 not even the privilege of working herself to death for 

 his sake when the opportunity offered." 



"You know how Abby is about men." "Yes, I 

 know, and it's just the way men are about Abby." 



"How on earth could she go out sewing by the day 

 if she didn't have her religious convictions?" 



These lines are offered as a taste of her quality, and 

 they roll from her pen in every paragraph. 



THE USEFUL BOOK LIBRARY 



Some months ago we printed in these col- 

 umns a little treatise on "Why Books Cost So 

 Much"and discoursed upon the subject of what 



might be called Book By-products. To repeat 

 just a little, we may state that the great cost in 

 book-making is the original typesetting, illus- 

 trating, and preparation; that once this is 

 paid for, the people who are willing to take 

 their books a little late may indulge them- 

 selves in many books at the cost of a few in 

 the original edition. For example, we have re- 

 printed the following from the original plates, 

 with all the hundreds and thousands of expen- 

 sive illustrations, at prices quite impossible if 

 the first outlay had not been repaid by the 

 expensive editions. Here is the present " Use- 

 ful Book Library," which will be added to from 

 time to time as opportunity offers: 



The International Cook Book. By Alexander Filip- 



pini. Net $i.oo. 

 The Dog Book. By James Watson. Net $1.50. 



The Complete Housekeeper. By Emily Holt. Net 

 $1.00. 



The Poultry Book. By Harrison Weir, F. R. H. S. 

 Net $1.50. 



Music Lovers' Cyclopedia. By Rupert Hughes. Net 

 $1.50. 



The Encyclopedia of Etiquette. Net $1.00. 



The American Flower Garden. By Neltje Blanchan. 

 Net $1.50. 



The Furniture of Our Forefathers. By Esther Single- 

 ton. Net $1.50. 



The Country House. By C. E. Hooper. Net $1.50. 



We have made arrangements with many 

 booksellers to show the Useful Book Library 

 in their stores and these dealers can supply 

 you, or they will be sent direct on receipt of 

 price. 



We hope to sell a million of these volumes. 

 You will surely buy one or more sometime — 

 why not now? 



