Life, 1915-09-30 · page 42 of 45
Life — September 30, 1915 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines two distinct advertisements/promotions: **Left side:** An ad for "The Harvard Classics" (Dr. Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf), a curated collection of world literature. The copy sarcastically calls this "the aristocracy of literature"—ironically promoting a *democratic* product (a free booklet) that claims to democratize access to "the finest minds" of all ages and lands. The humor lies in the pretentious language used to sell what is essentially populist education. **Right side:** Details of Life magazine's short story contest offering $1,250 in prizes. The competition structure is notably complex: editors select twelve best stories, whose authors then judge all stories to determine the top three winners. **Bottom right cartoon:** A caricatured figure (labeled "THE REFORM MOVEMENT") performs an awkward juggling act, suggesting the reform movement is clumsy or unstable—likely satirizing Progressive Era social reform efforts as impractical or uncoordinated. The page reflects early 20th-century American tensions between cultural elitism and democratization.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
mI eERE “[. E aristocracy of literature’ — Its finest minds—the wisest and the wittiest of all ages and every land— To tell you how Dr. Eliot ar- ranged their best in his famous Five-Foot Shelf, this little free book was prepared. Priceless for the quality of its friendly, thoughtful advice about books and their authors —it is nevertheless free to you —no condition or obligation of any sort. Sold only by P. F. Collier & Son Ss iC Books snelf of ot shell Mail this coupon to- day for your free copy [rome ennmnnnaimeonimeanmonnermtntnaminaniiaen ia 1-9-3015. COLLIER'S—A16 West 13th Street, New York Please mail me the free booklet about The Harvard Classics. Name and Address...scsccssesssrsersessessssvaneees each story will be judged strictly on its merits as a story. The stories will be published in Lire as soon as possible after they are ac- cepted, and will be paid for on accept- ance upon the basis which has just been defined. When they have all been pub- lished, then the final awarding of the $1,750 in prizes will be made in the following manner: The Editors of Lire will first select, out of all the stories published, the twelve which are, in their judgment, the best. The authors of these twelve stories will be asked to become judges of the whole contest, which will then include all the stories published. These twelve authors will decide which are the best three stories, in the order of their merit, to be awarded the prizes In case, for any reason, any one or more of these twelve authors should be unable to act as judge, then the contest will be decided by the rest. Each of the judges will, of course, if he so wishes, vote for his own story first, so that the final result may probably be determined by the combined second, third and fourth choices of all the judges. This will not affect the results. In case of a division among the judges the Edi- tors of Lire will cast the deciding vote. The final award will be anounced as early as possible after the last story has been published in Lire, Of this there will be due notice. Manuscripts will be accepted as fast as they can be read and passed upon. In every case they should be addressed, “To the Editor of Lire’s Short Story Contest, 17 West 31st Street, New York City,” and the author’s name and ad- dress should be plainly written upon the manuscript, which should be accom- panied by return postage in case of rejection, The editors will exercise due care in returning unavailable contribu- tions, but will not hold themselves respon- sible for loss. Contestants are advised to keep duplicate copies. All manuscripts must be at Lire office by noon of next Monday, October 4. No manuscript received after that date will be consid- ered. Each contestant may send in as many manuscripts as he desires. If any of the rules of this contest are violated the Editors of Lire reserve the right to debar the contributions, THE REVORM MOVEMENT comicbooks.com