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~3t~ WILMFTTP TTPF Se~tember 27, 1934 The wit of dedicatory inscriptions is rare and fanciful, discovered Ruthi Reinhoît of the Evanston public li- brary staff when she started three years ago to collect dedications to books. At the lih)rary silice 1923 it lhad not occurred to her that the books she landled nîiight reveal sonie amusing examples of humnan wit. One day Gertrude Brown, the veteran white- haired cataloguer, said: "Why don't vou make a list of the cute dedica- tions " and Rutli Reinhoît tliought, why not. In a year she had filled a notebook with several hundred, some of them "*cute," sonie of themi serious, ail of them interesting. Real Labor of Love In August of 1932 she began wrting Appeal to Simon and Schuster proved letters to Publîshers and authors to obtain permission for reprinting thesx I dedications ini a book, and now in her home at 189 Harbor street ini Glencoe, !,he has files and manuÉcripts and let-. ters by' the score. The, task has be- come a labor of love indeed. Her hook is now ready to be offered to a publisher. Her sister Emma, a com- mercial artist, has drawn sketches in black and white to illustrate certain -dedications. NÇot. only autographs of famous au- thors have come her way, inciden- tally, b .ut amusing experiences of one kind and another.. Van Loon proved to be a cryptic correspon 1dent., Sle roehim twice but iii.neither reply could she tel whether he was giving ber permission to reprint or not. The second scrawl was ahl but indecipher- able, and in the first he put in a, Ger- man phrase to complicate. things further, writing sometbing vague. about the dedication flot being, imipor- tant, meant only for one person, doubted if that person ever saw it. toý be in vain too for they considered the author the final authority. [ ladite Flowery Episties Corntlia Stratton Parker turned down Miss Reinholt's request for a letter gracefully by replying "being a farmer and bo'ding housekeeper leaves iotinue for writing anythinig"'. Some of lier authors hiowever obliged with long, fiowvery epistles wvhich they evidently lîoped would appear in full inilher book. * Practice varie!ý considerably ini 1ook dedications, the unitiated may lbe sur- prised to Iearn. For instance, Louis Untermeyer wlîo does very neat dedi- cations-wvitness tlîis : "To H. L . Mencken, more in sorrow than anger, from "Including Horace"-likes t write his ini sequence ini successive1 books. Some autlîors toucli off the thenie of îlîeir books iii the dedication thought, others shoot off at a tangent and take a whack at sonie eneini or bestowv a pat on a loved one. Depict Varied Moods Rebecca XVest chose the last bfri for lier collection of essays, -The Strange Necessity," published in 1928: "To Irita Van Doren wvhom one would like to be like." Meyer Levin in "Reporter" wrote briefly, "To whomever il may coincern," and in lus letter to Miss Reinhoît pointed out that "the reason is obvions. The book attempted Io be Americana and that is the 'only American dedication I know of. Ndne of my other books have been dedicated because I think dedications are affectations." Here', a delightfully haphazard one: 'To a good girl 'because, the saints deserve aIl the glory if the sinners have aIl the fui," from "Honey's Money," by James G. Dunton. As might be expected of a humorist, Grant , Overton wrote, as, follows in 6C argoes for Crusoes":w ."Let's give him a book." "He's got a book.*" "This book is dedicated to ail those who, having one book,. sometimes en- joy another."9 This will appear in 'Ruth Reinholt's book of dedications. Dedicated to Author Many an author might truthfully have penned the sentiment described by'Sydney Holland (Viscount Knuts- ford) ini "Black and White": "Oedi-. cated to the man 1 have known long. est and loved most-myself." Clarence Hawke% wrote vividly, Miss Reinhoit. decided, in his dedica- tion to "Dapples of the Circus ". To cltwho love the' muaktcreak ýof saddle leather, and the rhythmic sommd of gallèp61g hoofs,, Mis lbook- is fratcrnaelliv dedicated. Page, the school teachers!. Here's; somnething. for them 'to enjoy. ,In, "XVar among Ladies" Eleanor Scott provided this, which Miss Reiriholt is planning to reprint : "To tlhe mani in the train between Newton Abbot and Exeter Who declared to the author that ail teachers had: Too ilitch pal. Too litile work, apid Too milich leisu(re. -This. book, respectfully and wvithout permission is dedicated." .And for tlhe telephone oýperator.;. God bless 'ein, there's this. according to Ruth Reinholt. In -Telling the \XVorldl" George 0. Squier wrote, -Thîis little story is dedicated to Th~e Tele/'hone Girl In hanilet and mtnero polis lier light is always buirinq. Di8pIays Irony Tire,'Amiericani gift of irony shows up in this brief bit Miss iReinhoît chose for onie sanifle dedication: "'r0 the cash custoiners (clients to voin, iplease)," fromi "The Creami of tlie esters." edited by J.. B .Musse r'his dedication caused Miss' Rein- illoIt to write a letter: -To Michael becatise lie alm-avs wvante(l to kiiow wvho v, froin -De Soto and the Conquistadores," by Thieodore M ay- nardl. His replv vas: "W\hile 1 was -writing the b)0ok. 1 used to talk soine- times at dinnier about the work 1 had been doing during the day. My son Michael's invariable que-stion wvas, *\Vhio mxon ?' So 1 inscrihed the, book to hi.*" The smiall boy is also rernemnbered ini another dedication to go into Miss Reinholt's book. Taken f rom "Poogie and Sibella," by Nita N'an Housen, is this: "Dedica-ted to that snîall boy Who says, 'I wvant a dog. Why can't 1 have'a dog?"' which the author, says was written in the spirit of "why pick on nie? "1 Sentiment from "lnmate" There are many more 'dedications, nîany famons autographs that deserve mention in this unique collection, but one littie incident must suffice. In 1932 "Behind the Door of Delusion" appeared over the signature of "In- mate, Xard 8." The dedication there-. in attracted Miss Reinholt's curiosity: "Dedicated to a better understanding of those on the inside by those Who are not yet locked in." She wrote to Inimate, Ward 8, at the Eastern Oklahoma hospital at Vinita, askIf'ioi permission to reprint. A caustic reply came, to wit," Young- lady, you are choosing a most original wav in which to get autographs." But be- tween Marion Marie Woodson and thé Evanston librarian developed a cordial correspondence that will ap- pear in the In Memoriam section of the book. For Mr. Woodson was a former newspaper mlan Whose alcoholic ten- dencies had caused him, to ask his friends to put him away for a while. On his recovery he turned to writing, to building up a library for bis fellow inmates. Miss Reinhoît offered t-3> send him surplusbooks. He reported on the library's progress, thenwroté that he was ill. A month later, in the faîl of 1933,' he died. The sheafof let- ters from him, invigorating and bril- liant, she treasures among the re- wards of her three years' labor in col- lecting dedications, the rara avis in lit- erature. RETURN TO OAK PARK Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Reichert and family of Oak Park, Who have been occupying the 'Harry Weese home at 141 Kenilworth avenue,1 Kenilworth, are leaving on October 1. The Weeses have been at theiri summer home at Barrington.4 St --t eUniùersity Begins Broadcasts onEducation Top'ic The University of Illinois radio ýta- tion, WILL, the, only educational station 41n the' state, is now present- ing educational programs. of interest to practically every citizen, of the state. XVith the opening of the univers ity last week WILL began the broadcast of three courses direct froin the classrooml. Prof. Ernest Bernbauin of the D)e- partrnent of English will lecture on -The Great Foreign Novelists of the Nineteenth Century" at 9 o'clock ev- ery Tuesday and Thursday morning. Prof. F. B. Stiveni, director of the School of Music, ivili present a course on mnusic appreciation at 10 o'clock every Tuesday and Thursdavnorn- ing. The course is intended for those listeners who are flot trained ini the art of music. Prof. D. R. Taft of the l)epart- ment of, Sociology wvill be on the air thrice weekly with classrooni lectures on criminology. The lectures wvîll be presented at 9 o'clock every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morn ing. .Lessons in Spanisli will be, pre- sented by Prof. John Van Horne and Luis Aviles of the Romance Language department at 10 :30 o'clock every MNonday and Wedniesday morning. Illinois homemakers will hiave the opportunity of hearing a prograrn especially designed for thei- at 10 o'clock every Frîdav morning. Illinois farmers cati tune to \VILL at 5 :45 o'clock daily except Saturdav- and Sunday and hear uip-to-thie-iinnite agricultural data. On Fridays at this time Prof. A. \V. Nolan presents his Rural Life Review, a series %vhich has been' heard over \Vill for five yea rs. The concert band, directed bv Prof. A. A. Harding, resurnes its weekly broadcasts at 5 o'clock everv Monday evening. Thie Illinois glee clubs. the orchestra, and facultv of the School of, Music will be heard on the Illini Twilight concerts at 5 o'clock every Wed.nesday evenin g. The Illinois Junior Acadeniy 0f Science is sponsoring a series of talks at 9 :30 every Saturdav miorning on "Science and its H eroes." -Musical organizations of the Urbania and Champaign high schools will present concerts at 9 o'clock every Saturday morning, beginning September. 29. "Matter" was the subject, of the Lesson-Sermon in aIl Churches of Christ, Scienîist, on Sunday, Sep- tember 23. The Golden Text was, "Tremble, thon earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob" (Psalms 114.7). Aýmong the citations whiclî com- prised the Lesson-Sermon was the following from, the -Bible:. "J udge notaccording to the appearance,. but judge righîteous. judgment" (John 7:24). The Lesson-Sermon also included the following passages fromn the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scrip- tures," by Mary Baker Eddy: "What- ever is material is mortal . .. Divine Science shows il to be possible that a material body, thougb in- terwoven with matler's highest strat- um, misnamed mind, should be man, -the genuine and perfect man, the immortal, idea of being, indestructible and eternal" (p. 477). September 27, 1934 30 WILMETTE --LIPE'