PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER A. JULEY
ROBERT W. CHAMBERS]
_Robert W. Chambers_
TWO
What impresses one most about Mr. Robert W. Chambers is his amazingversatility. In addition to being a popular novelist, he is an experton rare rugs; an artist, and so well qualified a judge of fine artthat he can talk intelligently to the curators and directors ofmuseums about the old masters on exhibition there; equipped with anunderstanding of Chinese and Japanese antiques so that he can detectforgeries in that art; an authority on mediæval armor; a lover ofoutdoors, of horses, dogs, and an ardent collector of butterflies;and, in addition, a thorough man of the world, who knows Paris andPetrograd, and many of the out-of-the-way corners of the earth. Theseare the qualities that come to mind readily, but the list is far fromcomplete. The longer one knows Mr. Chambers, the more varied theknowledge he finds in him.
Out of such rich mental resources Mr. Chambers draws his material forfiction. He writes two novels a year for a large public that eagerlydevours them. Mr. Chambers’ life is a full and active one.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 26, 1865, and in his youthhe aspired to be a painter. He studied art in Paris at Julien’sStudio from 1886 to 1893, then returned to New York, and for a whilecontributed illustrations to the current publications. Then one daya novel, “In the Quarter,” appeared with his name as author. Fromthat time on his life was given largely to writing fiction, and therecord of the years has been a brilliant one. In 1893 he published thehaunting, uncanny, but fascinating “The King in Yellow,” a collectionof stories of art life. He turned to France first as a background forromance. At irregular intervals from 1894 to 1903 appeared “The RedRepublic,” “Lorraine,” “Ashes of Empire,” and “Maids of Paradise.” Theyall had the France-Prussian War as their setting, and dashing youngAmericans as their heroes. Then in 1901 with “Cardigan” and other bookshe gave expression in fiction to the spirit of the American Revolution.It has not been simply as an historical or a semi-historical novelist,however, that Mr. Chambers has made his widest appeal. In the foibles,extravagances, superficialities and eccentricities of contemporaryAmerican society, he has found his richest vein. It does not matterwhether the background of a particular tale be New York, or Washington,or Palm Beach. The underlying social and ethical problems are of realimportance. Marriage, the giving or selling in marriage, the reasonsof heredity that make for or against a certain marriage: these arefundamentals common to all humanity. In “The Younger Set” and “TheFiring Line” hero and heroine have unwisely married, and the storyhinges largely on problems raised subsequently by divorce. In “TheFighting Chance” (1906), and “The Danger Mark” (1909) the problem isthat of unfitness to marry. In the former it is the man who inheritsa craving for alcohol, and the woman for sentimental philandering; inthe latter the woman is given to intemperance and the man to excessivegallantry. In one of his later books, “The Hidden Children” (1915), Mr.Chambers returns to a favorite setting of the earlier years, upper NewYork of the Colonial period.
On a basis of solid fact, it would seem impossible for one man todo all this work. Where does he ever find time to do it? The answerlies in the fact that Mr. Chambers keeps regular hours--office hours,almost--for his writing, all of which is done in long hand. At that heis not a rapid writer, frequent revision is essential, and a passionfor the verification of details consumes much time. Yet the bulk andexcellence of the accomplished performance remains an established fact;and in many ways it is little less than marvelous.
The Mentor: Makers of American Fiction, Vol. 6, Num. 14, Serial No. 162, September 1, 1918 Page 3
