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UNRECORDED WRITINGS BY G. K. CHESTERTON, H. G. WELLS, PADRAIC COLUM, MARY COLUM, T. S. ELIOT, GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, AND WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
by
Arthur Sherbo
Despite their attempts to document exhaustively the work of particular authors, scholars often overlook the contributions of those writers to periodical publications. One result is that close inspection of periodicals is likely to yield a trove of unrecorded material. In what follows I would like to present my own recent gleanings from four such sources: The Nation of London, The Freeman and The Measure: A Journal of Poetry, both of New York, and the Dublin Magazine.
While the findings are of varying significance individually, they are valuable cumulatively for the point they drive home about the need to investigate newspapers, magazines, and journals when considering the output of a writer. Though I confine the list below to primary materials, the entries point to the wealth of secondary comment that can also be found. Incidentally included here, for instance, are previously unnoted reviews of Willa Cather, John Galsworthy, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Rebecca West, Gertrude Stein, and Virginia Woolf. (The same pages of these journals contain additional responses to these writers as well as to people such as Joseph Conrad, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Hardy, D. H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Edith Wharton.) The discoveries here also hint of other primary sources not yet fully identified. Copyright notices accompanying two articles of G. K. Chesterton, for example, suggest earlier publication in the New York World, a newspaper now extremely difficult to find. Periodicals that print letters to the editor provide still another opportunity for scholars, because such columns sometimes include reactions to a writer's publications.
One important source for the records that follow is the London publication The Nation. While the contents of some periodicals may be neglected because they are not indexed adequately, this one may have received less than its due because it is sometimes confused with a New York periodical of the same name. Its presence may be further obscured by the numerous shifts in its identity: founded in 1907, it absorbed The Athenaeum in 1921 (adding that name to its own title) and then merged with The New Statesman in 1931 (to become The New Statesman and Nation). Henry William Massingham, who previously had written for or edited some five newspapers, was its influential editor from 1907 until April 1923; his role extended to reviewing most of the productions of the London stage. The report below is based on a survey of volumes 8 through 22 (from October 1910 through March 1918).
The Freeman, published in New York, was founded by Helen Swift Neilson. It ran weekly from 17 March 1920 through 5 March 1924, appearing in eight volumes of 208 numbers. The editors of A Literary History of the United States describe it in the fourth edition of their Bibliography volume (1974) as "a liberal weekly magazine of political and literary criticism which achieved great distinction" (p. 63). Frank Luther Mott devotes twelve pages (pp. 88-99) to it in volume 5 of his History of American Magazines (1968), the best account in brief compass. The most prominent member of the editorial staff was Van Wyck Brooks, who wrote a volume titled "A Reviewer's Notebook." Likewise prominent, as reviewers and essayists, were the Colums, Padraic and his wife Mary.
The Measure: A Journal of Poetry began in March 1921 and ran for sixty numbers to February 1926. Its nine-member editorial board included Padraic Colum, who remained in that role throughout the journal's lifetime. Colum was elected the quarterly "Acting Editor" for numbers 4, 5, and 6 (June, July, and August, 1921), succeeding Maxwell Anderson.
Earlier in these pages I have reported the results of a search in the original Dublin Magazine, which ran from 1923 to 1958 ("Padraic Colum in The Dublin Magazine," Studies in Bibliography 49 [1996], 284-290). The current treatment is less ambitious, adducing only a letter signed by T. S. Eliot, George Bernard Shaw, and ten others, though it might be noted that the magazine is also a rich source for unreported reviews of Eliot's writings.
G. K. Chesterton
The following items by Chesterton serve as addenda to John Sullivan's standard account, G. K. Chesterton: A Bibliography (London: Univ. of London Press, 1958).
"The Jews in Modern Life," Nation 8 (18 Mar. 1911), 1004; 8 (25 Mar. 1911), 1040; 9 (8 Apr. 1911), 58-59. Letters.
" `He That Hath Ears,' " Nation 9 (29 July 1911), 642. Letter protesting London noise.
"Socrates and Moral Force," Nation 10 (11 Nov. 1911), 242. Letter.
"Peter Pan as a Novel," Nation 10 (18 Nov. 1911), 314. Review of Peter and Wendy, by J. M. Barrie.
" `The Nation' and the Church of England," Nation 10 (25 Nov. 1911), 346. Letter.
"The Danger in Female Labor," Nation 11 (4 May 1912), 162-163; 11 (11 May 1912), 215. Letters.
"The Crime of Being Inefficient," Nation 11 (15 June 1912), 402; 11 (29 June 1912), 475.
"The Weird Sisters," Nation 11 (20 July 1912), 591. Review of The Three Brontës, by May Sinclair.
"The Amateur Gipsy," Nation 12 (12 Oct. 1912), 108. Review of George
"Some Fallacies and Santa Claus," Nation 12 (7 Dec. 1912), 459. Review of The Story of Santa Claus, by S. R. Littlewood.
"Dickens and Little Bethel," Nation 12 (22 Mar. 1913), 1026. Letter in response to one of 8 March (p. 926) by Richard Mudie-Smith.
"Swinburne on Dickens," Nation 12 (29 Mar. 1913), 1068. Review of Charles Dickens, by Algernon Charles Swinburne.
"A Challenge to Liberals," Nation 14 (18 Oct. 1913), 136. Letter.
"Two Critics of the Army," Nation 17 (21 Aug. 1915), 655-666. Review of Who is to Blame for the War, by Houston Steward Chamberlain, and Enlistment or Conscription, by A. M. B. Meakin.
"The Undoing of Democracy," Nation 17 (4 Sept. 1915), 728-729. Review of Peace at Once, by Clive Bell. Replies by Bell in the same number (pp. 738-739) and by George Bernard Shaw on 11 Sept. (pp. 769-770); response to Shaw by Chesterton on 18 Sept. (p. 801); and further response by Shaw on 25 Sept. (pp. 833-834).
"Approaches to Peace," Nation 18 (30 Oct. 1915), 181-182; 18 (13 Nov. 1915), 243; 18 (4 Dec. 1915), 355-356. Letters, occasioning a spate of responses.
"Liberty and Mr. Haynes," Nation 19 (12 Aug. 1916), 599. Letter in response to editorial remarks the previous week (p. 561) on The Decline of Liberty in England by E. S. T. Haynes [Grant Richards].
H. G. Wells
The following items may be added to those recorded in J. R. Hammond's Herbert George Wells: An Annotated Bibliography of His Works (New York and London: Garland, 1977).
"Pot-Shots as Criticism," Nation 11 (22 June 1912), 437. Letter, protesting his depiction in editorial remarks on his The Great State (in "Pot-Shots at Utopia," 15 June, pp. 396-398).
"The Great Community," Nation 15 (4 July 1914), 531. Review of The Great Society: A Psychological Analysis, by Graham Wallas.
"Opportunity," Nation 15 (15 Aug. 1914), 732-734.
"The Liberal Fear of Russia," Nation 15 (22 Aug. 1914), 755-757.
"The War of the Mind," Nation 15 (29 Aug. 1914), 788-790. Hammond records (as item L 9) a reprint of this item.
"The Need for Strength and Cleanness at Home," Nation 15 (5 Sept. 1914), 812-814. A footnote, "Copyright, 1914, by the `New York World,' " suggests earlier newspaper publication.
"Two Ways," Nation 15 (12 Sept. 1914), 834-836. A footnote, "Copyright, 1914, by the `New York World,' " suggests earlier newspaper publication.
"Mr. Wells's Pacifist State," Nation 16 (3 Oct. 1914), 15-16. Letter in response
"Ideals of Organization," Nation 17 (24 July 1915), 534-536.
"Reconstruction in Higher Education," Nation 21 (2 June 1917), 225-226. Review of Higher Education and the War, by John Burnet.
"James Joyce," Nation 20 (24 Feb. 1917), 710, 712. Review of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce. Also printed in New Republic 10 (10 Mar. 1917), 158-160.
Padraic Colum
The following are addenda to Alan Denson's checklist "Padraic Colum: An Appreciation with a Check-List of His Publications" that appeared in the (new) Dublin Magazine 6.1 (1967), 50-67. I have listed other unrecorded pieces by Colum in the 1996 SB article cited above and in "Contributions to the Canon and Text of Padraic Colum's Writings," PBSA 94.1 (Mar. 2000), 49-79.
"The President of the Irish Republic," Freeman 1 (16 June 1920), 326-327. Letter on Eamonn de Valera.
"The Hornet's Nest," Freeman 1 (4 Aug. 1920), 496. Poem; reprinted with revisions as "Hornets" in his Creatures (1927; see my "Contributions," pp. 51-52).
"The Perjurer," Freeman 2 (6 Oct. 1920), 86-87. Letter on David Lloyd George.
"A Latter-Day Mediævalist," Freeman 2 (5 Jan. 1921), 404-405. Review of Domnei, by James Branch Cabell.
"The Wild Ass," Measure 1 (Mar. 1921), 3. Poem; the opening item of the periodical; no subsequent revisions found.
"The Poetry of Mr. Conrad Aiken," Freeman 3 (13 Apr. 1921), 117-118. Review of Aiken's The House of Dust and Punch: The Immortal Liar.
"Three Young Poets," Measure 2 (Apr. 1921), 21-22. Review of Poems, by Haniel Long, Young Girl, by Hildegarde Flanner, and In American, by J. V. A. Weaver.
"Waste and Illusion," Freeman 3 (11 May 1921), 212-213. Review of Satan the Master: A Philosophic War Trilogy, by Vernon Lee.
"The Old Toy-Booth," Measure 3 (May 1921), 6-7. Poem; reprinted with revisions in Colum's Dramatic Legends and Other Poems (1922) as "Reminiscence IV" (pp. 35-37).
"Poetry and Publicity," Measure 3 (May 1921), 23-24.
[Review of The Cairn of Stars, by Francis Carlin (i.e. James Francis Carlin MacDonnell)], Measure 5 (July 1921), 21-22.
"For an Extension of the Poetry Movement," Measure 6 (Aug. 1921), 15-17.
"A World in High Visibility," Freeman 4 (14 Sept. 1921), 18-19. Review of Legends, by Amy Lowell.
"Miss Millay's Poems," Freeman 4 (2 Nov. 1921), 189-190. Review of Second April and A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Four Sonnets, by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
"Irish Poets," Measure 9 (Nov. 1921), 17-18. Review of Irish Poets Today: An Anthology, compiled by L. D. V. Walters.
"Looking Towards Parnassus," Freeman 4 (7 Dec. 1921), 307-308. Review of Two Mothers, by John G. Neihardt, and A Canopic Jar, by Leonora Speyer.
"The Art of the Pantomimist," Freeman 4 (1 Mar. 1922), 595. Review of Blood of Things and Plays for Merry Andrews, by Alfred Kreymborg.
"Japanese Artistry," Freeman 5 (22 Mar. 1922), 43-44. Review of Selected Poems and Hiroshigue, by Yone Noguchi.
"In the Carolina Woods (To Dr. E. C. L. Adams)," Measure 13 (Mar. 1922), 5. Poem; reprinted with revisions in Dramatic Legends and Other Poems (1922), which also omits the dedication to Dr. E[dward]. C. L. Adams, later the author of Congaree Sketches: Scenes from Negro Life (1927).
"Moby Dick as an Epic: A Note," Measure 13 (Mar. 1922), 16-18. Includes Melville's second footnote to chapter 42 presented as a free-verse poem entitled "The Albatross."
"The Poetry of Edward Thomas," Measure 15 (May 1922), 15-17. Review of Collected Poems of Edward Thomas.
"Out of Lost Cities," Freeman 5 (28 June 1922), 367-368. Essay on translations of The Thousand and One Nights.
"The Poor Girl's Meditation," Measure 18 (Aug. 1922), 11. Poem; reprinted in Dramatic Legends and Other Poems (1922); reprinted with revisions in Colum's Poems (1932).
"The Mabinogion," Freeman 6 (3 Jan. 1923), 393-394. Essay.
"The Situation in Ireland," Freeman 6 (3 Jan. 1923), 402-403. Letter about A. J. Reilly's view of the British in Ireland; response by Reilly on 31 Jan. (p. 498).
"Heroic Poetry—The Wrath of Achilleus," Measure 25 (Mar. 1923), 17-19. Review of The Wrath of Achilleus Translated from The Iliad, by George Ernie.
"Kerry Nursing Song," Measure 30 (Aug. 1923), 9. Poem; no reprintings found of this 24-line poem ("Len the Smith—he lives below . . . Look, my dear, the cranes are flying!").
"Naturalism and Fantasy," Measure 30 (Aug. 1923), 15-17. Review of For Eager Lovers, by Genevieve Jaggard.
"A Visit to Madame Pele," Freeman 8 (19 Sept. 1923), 36. Story; not the same as "The Fire-Goddess" in Colum's Legends of Hawaii (1937), which is likewise about the volcano "Pe-le."
"The Log of a 'Forty-Niner," Freeman 8 (19 Dec. 1923), 357-358. Review of The Log of a 'Forty-Niner, by Richard L. Hale.
"Plovers," Measure 35 (Jan. 1924), 5. Poem; subsequently revised from nine lines to three four-line stanzas.
"Robert Frost's New Book," Measure 35 (Jan. 1924), 13-15. Review of New Hampshire, a Poem with Notes and Grace Notes, by Robert Frost.
"A Chinese Story Teller," Freeman 8 (27 Feb. 1924), 597-598. Review of The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah.
"The Burial of Saint Brendan," Measure 50 (Apr. 1925), 10-14. Poem; fourteen-stanza version revised to nine stanzas for Colum's Poems (1932), Collected Poems (1953), and The Poet's Circuits (1960).
"Louise Townsend Nicholl: An Appreciation," Measure 53 (July 1925), 17-18.
Mary Colum
"A Woman of Some Importance," Freeman 2 (23 Feb. 1921), 572. Review of Margot Asquith: An Autobiography.
"The Quality of Mr. D. H. Lawrence," Freeman 3 (22 June 1921), 357-358. Review of The Lost Girl, by D. H. Lawrence.
"Mr. Tarkington and the Critics," Freeman 4 (28 Sept. 1921), 66-67. Review of Alice Adams, by Booth Tarkington.
"Literature and Journalism," Freeman 4 (30 Nov. 1921), 281-282. Review of The Triumph of the Egg, by Sherwood Anderson, and Erik Dorn, by Ben Hecht.
"John Dryden, Redivivus," Freeman 4 (25 Jan. 1922), 475-476. Review of The Poetry of John Dryden, by Mark Van Doren.
"Three Novels," Freeman 4 (8 Mar. 1922), 618-620. Review of The Beginning of Wisdom, by Stephen Vincent Benét, Brass, by Charles G. Norris, and To Let by John Galsworthy.
"Certificated, Mostly," Freeman 5 (26 Apr. 1922), 162-164. Review of The Beautiful and Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Briary Bush, by Floyd Dell, and Rahab, by Waldo Frank.
"The Confessions of James Joyce," Freeman 5 (19 July 1922), 450-452. Review of Ulysses, by James Joyce.
"Two Irish Story-Tellers," Freeman 5 (2 Aug. 1922), 497-499. Review of Vocations, by Gerard O'Donovan, and The Hounds of Banba, by Daniel Corkery.
"In the Great Tradition," Freeman 6 (24 Jan. 1923), 474-475. Review of Mortal Coils, by Aldous Huxley.
"Three Women Novelists," Freeman 7 (18 Apr. 1923), 138-140. Review of The Judge, by Rebecca West, One of Ours, by Willa Cather, and Anne Severn and the Fieldings, by May Sinclair.
"The Reviewer Looks at the Doctor," Freeman 7 (15 Aug. 1923), 549-550. Review of The Doctor Looks at Literature, by Joseph Collins.
"Where Realism Ends," Freeman 8 (26 Sept. 1923), 56-58.
"The Moderns," Freeman 8 (17 Oct. 1923), 139-141. Review of City Block, by Waldo Frank, Waldo Frank: A Study, by Gorham B. Munson, Jacob's Room, by Virginia Woolf, and Geography and Plays, by Gertrude Stein.
T. S. Eliot
The following items are not recorded in the "Revised and Extended Edition" of Donald Gallup's T. S. Eliot: A Bibliography (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969) and appear not to have been noted elsewhere. I have reported other forgetten items by and about Eliot in "Eliotiana," SB 50 (1997), 401-407.
"War," Nation 21 (23 June 1917), 299. Letter quoting a young officer who praises an article in the 2 June number by H. M. T. (probably Henry Major Tomlinson) on the horrors of war.
[Letter soliciting monetary gifts for the eightieth birthday of Arthur Machen], Dublin Magazine 18.2 (April-June 1943), 82. Signed by Eliot and eleven others; dated 19 February 1943.
George Bernard Shaw
The following item does not appear in Dan E. Laurence's Bernard Shaw: A Bibliography, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982), or his "A Supplement to Bernard Shaw: A Bibliography," Shaw 20 (2000), 3-128. In "Shaw's Forgotten Lecture (and Other Matters Shavian)," SB 47 (1994), 221-230, I resurrected some other pieces by and about Shaw.
George Cohen, "The Red Devil's Disciple," Freeman 3 (27 Apr. 1921), 154155. Quotes from an unidentified speech by Shaw.
[Letter soliciting monetary gifts for the eightieth birthday of Arthur Machen], Dublin Magazine 18.2 (April-June 1943), 82. Signed by Shaw and eleven others; dated 19 February 1943.
William Butler Yeats
The following item is not listed in Allan Wade's A Bibliography of the Writings of W. B. Yeats, 3rd ed., rev. and ed. Russell K. Alspach (London: Hart Davis, 1968) or in K. P. S. Jochum's W. B. Yeats: A Classified Bibliography of Criticism, Including Additions to Allan Wade's Bibliography of the Writings of W. B. Yeats . . . (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1978).
"The Yeats Family," Nation 21 (30 June 1917), 324. Letter in response to comments by Edward Dowden quoted on 23 June (p. 302) about Yeats family genealogy.
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