THAT FIRST AFFAIR and Other Sketches
Scanned, proofed and corrected from the original edition for your reading pleasure. It is also searchable and contains hyper-links to chapters.
***
John Ames Mitchell (1844-1918) was a publisher, architect, artist, novelist, considered a Renaissance man who kept to himself but influenced many. A Harvard University educated architect who studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1883 he co-founded "Life Magazine" with Andrew Miller. Serving as President, Mitchell would hold a seventy-five percent interest in the magazine with the remainder by Miller in his job as Secretary-Treasurer. Both men would retain their holdings until their deaths. Much more like today's "New Yorker" than the "Life" of the later 20th Century, Mitchell's magazine discovered and encouraged many fine writers and artists at the turn of the 20th Century, such as Charles Dana Gibson, the illustrator who created the Gibson Girl. It covered the literary scene as well as political and social issues.
***
Contents:
That First Affair
Mrs. Lofter's Ride
Two Portraits
The Man Who Vanished
A Bachelor's Supper
***
An excerpt from the beginning of the first story:
THAT FIRST AFFAIR
IT is bad enough to be alone in a big house, and there is yet more solitude, the poets tell us, in being alone in a great city; but the hero of this simple scandal was alone on the surface of the earth, the only man, absolutely single and unique, — solitary, — all by himself.
Of course there were animals, but no record exists of dog or cat or parrot; and what hope for boon companionship with the mylodon, the ichthyosaurus, or the ornithiohnites giganteus? But, worst of all, he had no memories, for he started already brought up. He had never been a boy. Selkirk and other solitaries, either in heart or trousers' pocket, bore memories of mother, or proof of maiden's love; but this young man knew not mother, maid, or memories, and had never seen a pair of trousers.
His education was limited, as history had not yet begun. Botany was trying her first experiments. Reading, writing, and geography were still unborn; and, thus far, no vulgar fractions had shed their blight upon a peaceful earth. However, being the first of the kind, and never having seen his like,' he probably regarded this as the usual condition of affairs; the proper thing, in fact. But the goings on of other animals could not fail to start him on a line of thought that was sure "* to be upsetting. They were pairing off in twos, and with their individual families seemed to get the upper hand of an unpleasant isolation that threatened to make his own existence a melancholy failure. And doubly depressing was the gradual discovery that while among the other animals there were at least two of a kind, thus rendering these partnerships an easy business, for him there seemed no such hope. Day after day he searched, but found no biped similar to himself. Meeting, one tranquil eve, a palæotherium with his bride, he asked the happy groom where he found his mate, and if, in that locality, there were brides in human shape. "No," the palæotherium answered, "I have seen them nowhere; but off to the south I passed maidens of the gorilla family who walk on their hind legs and use their front paws just as you do; and they also bear a certain resemblance in physiognomy."
"Yes; I know those maidens," replied the solitary one; "but somehow they fail to fascinate me. They are hasty-tempered and too muscular. I should never be master in my own house; and they are such restless climbers! No; home would not be home with those girls."
Two squirrels, newly wedded, threw nuts at him as he wandered melancholy by, and twitted him on living by himself. "Get a girl," cried the groom, "and go to housekeeping. There's nothing like it, really!"
And later a mastodon, hurrying ponderously, yet joyfully along, with an enormous bunch of flowers in his trunk, nearly trampled the disconsolate bachelor beneath his feet.
"I beg your pardon !" he exclaimed. "I came within an ace of walking on you."
"I wish you had."
"Why, what has happened?"
"Oh, nothing has happened, and nothing ever will!"
The big traveller failed to understand, but his business that morning was too interesting for delays. Being of a sympathetic nature, however, he made one attempt at consolation.
"Let me put you on my back, and I'll take you to my wedding. You shall be best man."
The invitation was declined, but incidents of this kind only increased the bitterness of a lonely spirit, and aggravated a situation already painful. The most dismal hours of all were during those regular intervals when the light went out, leaving the earth in darkness. This joyless condition lasted many hours, and was only alleviated by a...
1100628824
***
John Ames Mitchell (1844-1918) was a publisher, architect, artist, novelist, considered a Renaissance man who kept to himself but influenced many. A Harvard University educated architect who studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1883 he co-founded "Life Magazine" with Andrew Miller. Serving as President, Mitchell would hold a seventy-five percent interest in the magazine with the remainder by Miller in his job as Secretary-Treasurer. Both men would retain their holdings until their deaths. Much more like today's "New Yorker" than the "Life" of the later 20th Century, Mitchell's magazine discovered and encouraged many fine writers and artists at the turn of the 20th Century, such as Charles Dana Gibson, the illustrator who created the Gibson Girl. It covered the literary scene as well as political and social issues.
***
Contents:
That First Affair
Mrs. Lofter's Ride
Two Portraits
The Man Who Vanished
A Bachelor's Supper
***
An excerpt from the beginning of the first story:
THAT FIRST AFFAIR
IT is bad enough to be alone in a big house, and there is yet more solitude, the poets tell us, in being alone in a great city; but the hero of this simple scandal was alone on the surface of the earth, the only man, absolutely single and unique, — solitary, — all by himself.
Of course there were animals, but no record exists of dog or cat or parrot; and what hope for boon companionship with the mylodon, the ichthyosaurus, or the ornithiohnites giganteus? But, worst of all, he had no memories, for he started already brought up. He had never been a boy. Selkirk and other solitaries, either in heart or trousers' pocket, bore memories of mother, or proof of maiden's love; but this young man knew not mother, maid, or memories, and had never seen a pair of trousers.
His education was limited, as history had not yet begun. Botany was trying her first experiments. Reading, writing, and geography were still unborn; and, thus far, no vulgar fractions had shed their blight upon a peaceful earth. However, being the first of the kind, and never having seen his like,' he probably regarded this as the usual condition of affairs; the proper thing, in fact. But the goings on of other animals could not fail to start him on a line of thought that was sure "* to be upsetting. They were pairing off in twos, and with their individual families seemed to get the upper hand of an unpleasant isolation that threatened to make his own existence a melancholy failure. And doubly depressing was the gradual discovery that while among the other animals there were at least two of a kind, thus rendering these partnerships an easy business, for him there seemed no such hope. Day after day he searched, but found no biped similar to himself. Meeting, one tranquil eve, a palæotherium with his bride, he asked the happy groom where he found his mate, and if, in that locality, there were brides in human shape. "No," the palæotherium answered, "I have seen them nowhere; but off to the south I passed maidens of the gorilla family who walk on their hind legs and use their front paws just as you do; and they also bear a certain resemblance in physiognomy."
"Yes; I know those maidens," replied the solitary one; "but somehow they fail to fascinate me. They are hasty-tempered and too muscular. I should never be master in my own house; and they are such restless climbers! No; home would not be home with those girls."
Two squirrels, newly wedded, threw nuts at him as he wandered melancholy by, and twitted him on living by himself. "Get a girl," cried the groom, "and go to housekeeping. There's nothing like it, really!"
And later a mastodon, hurrying ponderously, yet joyfully along, with an enormous bunch of flowers in his trunk, nearly trampled the disconsolate bachelor beneath his feet.
"I beg your pardon !" he exclaimed. "I came within an ace of walking on you."
"I wish you had."
"Why, what has happened?"
"Oh, nothing has happened, and nothing ever will!"
The big traveller failed to understand, but his business that morning was too interesting for delays. Being of a sympathetic nature, however, he made one attempt at consolation.
"Let me put you on my back, and I'll take you to my wedding. You shall be best man."
The invitation was declined, but incidents of this kind only increased the bitterness of a lonely spirit, and aggravated a situation already painful. The most dismal hours of all were during those regular intervals when the light went out, leaving the earth in darkness. This joyless condition lasted many hours, and was only alleviated by a...
THAT FIRST AFFAIR and Other Sketches
Scanned, proofed and corrected from the original edition for your reading pleasure. It is also searchable and contains hyper-links to chapters.
***
John Ames Mitchell (1844-1918) was a publisher, architect, artist, novelist, considered a Renaissance man who kept to himself but influenced many. A Harvard University educated architect who studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1883 he co-founded "Life Magazine" with Andrew Miller. Serving as President, Mitchell would hold a seventy-five percent interest in the magazine with the remainder by Miller in his job as Secretary-Treasurer. Both men would retain their holdings until their deaths. Much more like today's "New Yorker" than the "Life" of the later 20th Century, Mitchell's magazine discovered and encouraged many fine writers and artists at the turn of the 20th Century, such as Charles Dana Gibson, the illustrator who created the Gibson Girl. It covered the literary scene as well as political and social issues.
***
Contents:
That First Affair
Mrs. Lofter's Ride
Two Portraits
The Man Who Vanished
A Bachelor's Supper
***
An excerpt from the beginning of the first story:
THAT FIRST AFFAIR
IT is bad enough to be alone in a big house, and there is yet more solitude, the poets tell us, in being alone in a great city; but the hero of this simple scandal was alone on the surface of the earth, the only man, absolutely single and unique, — solitary, — all by himself.
Of course there were animals, but no record exists of dog or cat or parrot; and what hope for boon companionship with the mylodon, the ichthyosaurus, or the ornithiohnites giganteus? But, worst of all, he had no memories, for he started already brought up. He had never been a boy. Selkirk and other solitaries, either in heart or trousers' pocket, bore memories of mother, or proof of maiden's love; but this young man knew not mother, maid, or memories, and had never seen a pair of trousers.
His education was limited, as history had not yet begun. Botany was trying her first experiments. Reading, writing, and geography were still unborn; and, thus far, no vulgar fractions had shed their blight upon a peaceful earth. However, being the first of the kind, and never having seen his like,' he probably regarded this as the usual condition of affairs; the proper thing, in fact. But the goings on of other animals could not fail to start him on a line of thought that was sure "* to be upsetting. They were pairing off in twos, and with their individual families seemed to get the upper hand of an unpleasant isolation that threatened to make his own existence a melancholy failure. And doubly depressing was the gradual discovery that while among the other animals there were at least two of a kind, thus rendering these partnerships an easy business, for him there seemed no such hope. Day after day he searched, but found no biped similar to himself. Meeting, one tranquil eve, a palæotherium with his bride, he asked the happy groom where he found his mate, and if, in that locality, there were brides in human shape. "No," the palæotherium answered, "I have seen them nowhere; but off to the south I passed maidens of the gorilla family who walk on their hind legs and use their front paws just as you do; and they also bear a certain resemblance in physiognomy."
"Yes; I know those maidens," replied the solitary one; "but somehow they fail to fascinate me. They are hasty-tempered and too muscular. I should never be master in my own house; and they are such restless climbers! No; home would not be home with those girls."
Two squirrels, newly wedded, threw nuts at him as he wandered melancholy by, and twitted him on living by himself. "Get a girl," cried the groom, "and go to housekeeping. There's nothing like it, really!"
And later a mastodon, hurrying ponderously, yet joyfully along, with an enormous bunch of flowers in his trunk, nearly trampled the disconsolate bachelor beneath his feet.
"I beg your pardon !" he exclaimed. "I came within an ace of walking on you."
"I wish you had."
"Why, what has happened?"
"Oh, nothing has happened, and nothing ever will!"
The big traveller failed to understand, but his business that morning was too interesting for delays. Being of a sympathetic nature, however, he made one attempt at consolation.
"Let me put you on my back, and I'll take you to my wedding. You shall be best man."
The invitation was declined, but incidents of this kind only increased the bitterness of a lonely spirit, and aggravated a situation already painful. The most dismal hours of all were during those regular intervals when the light went out, leaving the earth in darkness. This joyless condition lasted many hours, and was only alleviated by a...
***
John Ames Mitchell (1844-1918) was a publisher, architect, artist, novelist, considered a Renaissance man who kept to himself but influenced many. A Harvard University educated architect who studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1883 he co-founded "Life Magazine" with Andrew Miller. Serving as President, Mitchell would hold a seventy-five percent interest in the magazine with the remainder by Miller in his job as Secretary-Treasurer. Both men would retain their holdings until their deaths. Much more like today's "New Yorker" than the "Life" of the later 20th Century, Mitchell's magazine discovered and encouraged many fine writers and artists at the turn of the 20th Century, such as Charles Dana Gibson, the illustrator who created the Gibson Girl. It covered the literary scene as well as political and social issues.
***
Contents:
That First Affair
Mrs. Lofter's Ride
Two Portraits
The Man Who Vanished
A Bachelor's Supper
***
An excerpt from the beginning of the first story:
THAT FIRST AFFAIR
IT is bad enough to be alone in a big house, and there is yet more solitude, the poets tell us, in being alone in a great city; but the hero of this simple scandal was alone on the surface of the earth, the only man, absolutely single and unique, — solitary, — all by himself.
Of course there were animals, but no record exists of dog or cat or parrot; and what hope for boon companionship with the mylodon, the ichthyosaurus, or the ornithiohnites giganteus? But, worst of all, he had no memories, for he started already brought up. He had never been a boy. Selkirk and other solitaries, either in heart or trousers' pocket, bore memories of mother, or proof of maiden's love; but this young man knew not mother, maid, or memories, and had never seen a pair of trousers.
His education was limited, as history had not yet begun. Botany was trying her first experiments. Reading, writing, and geography were still unborn; and, thus far, no vulgar fractions had shed their blight upon a peaceful earth. However, being the first of the kind, and never having seen his like,' he probably regarded this as the usual condition of affairs; the proper thing, in fact. But the goings on of other animals could not fail to start him on a line of thought that was sure "* to be upsetting. They were pairing off in twos, and with their individual families seemed to get the upper hand of an unpleasant isolation that threatened to make his own existence a melancholy failure. And doubly depressing was the gradual discovery that while among the other animals there were at least two of a kind, thus rendering these partnerships an easy business, for him there seemed no such hope. Day after day he searched, but found no biped similar to himself. Meeting, one tranquil eve, a palæotherium with his bride, he asked the happy groom where he found his mate, and if, in that locality, there were brides in human shape. "No," the palæotherium answered, "I have seen them nowhere; but off to the south I passed maidens of the gorilla family who walk on their hind legs and use their front paws just as you do; and they also bear a certain resemblance in physiognomy."
"Yes; I know those maidens," replied the solitary one; "but somehow they fail to fascinate me. They are hasty-tempered and too muscular. I should never be master in my own house; and they are such restless climbers! No; home would not be home with those girls."
Two squirrels, newly wedded, threw nuts at him as he wandered melancholy by, and twitted him on living by himself. "Get a girl," cried the groom, "and go to housekeeping. There's nothing like it, really!"
And later a mastodon, hurrying ponderously, yet joyfully along, with an enormous bunch of flowers in his trunk, nearly trampled the disconsolate bachelor beneath his feet.
"I beg your pardon !" he exclaimed. "I came within an ace of walking on you."
"I wish you had."
"Why, what has happened?"
"Oh, nothing has happened, and nothing ever will!"
The big traveller failed to understand, but his business that morning was too interesting for delays. Being of a sympathetic nature, however, he made one attempt at consolation.
"Let me put you on my back, and I'll take you to my wedding. You shall be best man."
The invitation was declined, but incidents of this kind only increased the bitterness of a lonely spirit, and aggravated a situation already painful. The most dismal hours of all were during those regular intervals when the light went out, leaving the earth in darkness. This joyless condition lasted many hours, and was only alleviated by a...
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THAT FIRST AFFAIR and Other Sketches
THAT FIRST AFFAIR and Other Sketches
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940012913555 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Leila's Books |
| Publication date: | 06/01/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 928 KB |
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