Life, 1907-06-06 · page 14 of 56
Life — June 6, 1907 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising and editorial content**, not a political cartoon. "The Literary Zoo" is a satirical column discussing American literary taste and cultural attitudes. The main editorial critiques three subjects: 1. **Ralph Connor's fiction** — The writer defends Connor's moralistic novels against the snobbish Authors Club, which demands "proper" literature. The satire: even William Waldorf Astor (a wealthy industrialist) was rejected by this pretentious organization. 2. **American vs. English language use** — The piece sarcastically claims Americans need 300,000-word dictionaries while English people don't, attributing this to American "style." The joke: Americans are actually just showier and more ostentatious ("bejewel their discourse"), wanting to display vocabulary like women wear diamonds. This benefits publishers—cynically noted as the real point. 3. **Gibbon's historical writing** — Brief observation that despite being timeless, newer philosophical approaches have surpassed it. The satire targets American pretentiousness, consumerism, and cultural insecurity relative to England—themes typical of *Life* magazine's urbane, elite readership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Folding Pocket. Rapid Rectilinear lenses of high speed, Automatic Focusing lock, Rising and Sliding front, Reversible brilliant finder, two tripod sockets. Aluminum construc- tion—Kodak quality in every detail. EASTMAN KODAK CO. Rochester, N. Y. any Kedah colalen freeat: The Kodak City. ‘ihe dealers or by man MORTON TRUST COMPANY 38 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK Capital, . - - = $2,000,000.00 Surplus and Undivided Profits, $8,034,067.97 OFFICERS, 1 Morton, #1 Thomas F. Ryan, Vice-Pres Charles H. Allen, Vice-Pres. James K. Corbiere, Vice: Pres HOM. Francls, Secretary, Yaut D. Cravath, Counsel EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Levi P. Morton ul D. Cravath Thomas F. Ryan G.G, Maven Charles H. Allen James N, Jarvie Edward J. Berwiod Harry Payne Whitney Jacob H. Schiff “LIFE: i . Sars a | ey — eee Zoo aR | mon read them as do those strictly religious folk who do not yet accept fiction as quite a legitimate form of literature.” * * & ills school of fiction so robustly repre- sented by Ralph Connor can do no harm. True, he would not be eligible to the Authors Club, which prescribes the production of something “proper to litera- ture” as a qualification for membership. But even William Waldorf Astor has been blackballed by that ultrafastidious organi zation, and has survived to serve Truth with the flashlight of journalism. And, with Ralph Connor, fiction is only.a means totheend. Were it otherwise; were mere literature his principal and professed pur- suit, it would be easy to institute a whole- some comparison. Perhaps this would not be wholly lost on some of his extrava- gant admirers. We wonder if they could conceive, for instance, how differently the incident of “Bill’s Bluff” in “The Sky Pilot” would be treated, say, by Owen Wister—and just what that difference would be. Us and the English R. HOWELLS, observing that the English get along without dictiona- ries, whereas we can’t keep house unless we have at hand a lexicon containing at least 300,000 more words than we can possibly use, attributes the circumstance to the in- nate sense of good usage indwelling with the cognate branch across the big drink. This view undoubtedly makes for interna- tional good feeling; but, after all, it is bet- ter, in the long run, to have the truth told, even though it should cause heartaches in high quarters. And the truth is, it’s because we've got more style about us. The English are dowdy. They've no more notion of put- ting up a front than they have of what’s funny. ‘They are sordidly content to seem just what they are, Their-our Mr. Henry James talks about tidy language, but who cares about being tidy, if only he be stun- ning? Language is lugs, and lu; counts, Just as our women wear more diamonds than anybody, in a like manner our people generally love to bejewel their discourse with brilliants mined from the dictionaries. Besides, it’s a good thing for the publish- ing business and paper mills and book agents. RHAPS, in the study of history, it is more true of Gibbon’s Rome than any other book that it stands the test of time, and yet a recent perusal of this immensely interesting work leaves one conscious of certain deficiencies. For one thing, there has been a great advance since Gibbon in philosophical historical writing. The facts have been sifted down to their bed-rock 738 Whiting Papers Are the Standard Fine Writing Papers for Social Corre- spondence, the Club, the Boudoir, the Den, the Office, the Hotel and general business Use. They set the fashion and have led the trade for forty years. Make forty tons a day of Standard Fine Writ- ing Papers, including the famous French Chambray French Organdie, Organdie Glacé and other specialties in Woven Linen and Bond Papers. Awarded the Grand Prize at the last Paris. World's Exposition. The only first prize ever given American papers. Sold by leading stationers everywhere. Whiting Paper Company 148-150-152 Duane Street NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO Mills at Holyoke, Mass JENNER & COMPANY Undivided Estates Exclusively 55 BROADWAY, NEW YORK Telephone 1050-4031 Metter «+ + Cable Address “Jennloan”™ UNDIVIDED ESTATES facilities for handling such proposals are adequate for any requirement. comicbooks.com th ic