Life, 1904-01-28 · page 7 of 22
Life — January 28, 1904 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top illustration, titled "REFORMED," depicts a deathbed scene with four robed figures (identified in the caption as Nicholas, William, Franz, and John) standing guard around a deceased person. A crescent moon and star symbol hangs above the bed. This appears to be satirizing religious conversion or reform—likely mocking figures who claimed spiritual transformation near death. The four named guardians suggest specific historical or contemporary religious figures, though without additional context, their exact identities are unclear. Below is an unrelated section titled "Literary Advice for Busy People," offering humorous suggestions for improving one's education through brief readings—Shakespeare, Dante, and religious texts—during otherwise idle moments. This is straightforward satire of self-improvement culture. The page number is 83.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To MY nED? S ROUND WY MEAD? NICHOLAS, WILLIAM, FRANZ AND JOUN BLESS THE RED THAT 1 LIE ON Literary Advice for Busy People [7 is necessary to keep informed on all the current books of the day, most of which can be obtained at any good drug store. But an acquaintance with some other authors is desirable. When you rise in the morning, have a copy of the modern Bible for Ignorant People on hand to read while you jump into your bath robe. By ing a minute or so of this volume each day, in the course of a couple of years you will have a fair idea of the explanation of the text given by the editor, These explana- tions have since been proven to be all wrong, but as they are now a part of Biblical history, they should not be neglected. While preparing your bath, you can glance for a few moments each morning over Professor Crabnet’s latest edition of Shakespeare. In this edition the original Shakespeare text has been entirely omitted, which gives the Professor greater scope in his treatment. When yon go to business, you will have to stand on the corner waiting for the car. Improve the time by reading W. W. Doublew’s introduction to the Introductions to the Study of Dante. Some people have an erroneous idea that you should read Dante himself in order to understand him. But this is a mistake. This is about all the time you should spend in this way. The rest of your time should be devoted to read- ing all the books that come out, as fast as they come. Only in this way can publishers live. Tom Masson. comicbooks.com