+John Kendrick Bangs+ (New York, 1862-1922)--humorist.
Published some sixty volumes of prose sketches, verses, stories, and plays, most of which belong to the nineteenth century. Characteristic volumes are:
Coffee and Repartee. 1893.
A House Boat on the Styx. 1895.
The Bycyclers and Other Farces. 1896.
A Rebellious Heroine. 1896.
Alice in Blunderland. 1907.
Autobiography of Methuselah. 1909.
The Foothills of Parna.s.sus. 1914.
For complete bibliography, cf. _Who"s Who in America_.
STUDIES AND REVIEWS
Halsey.
Harkins.
Bk. Buyer, 20 ("00): 183 (portrait), 208.
Bookm. 15 ("02): 412 (portrait).
Critic, 42 ("03): 105 (portrait).
Harp. W. 46 ("02): 891; 51 ("07): 23, 28. (Portraits.)
+Rex Ellingwood Beach+ (Michigan, 1877)--novelist.
Writer of novels of adventure, mainly about Alaska. For bibliography, see _Who"s Who in America_.
+(Charles) William Beebe+--Nature writer.
Born at Brooklyn, 1877. B.S., Columbia, 1898; post-graduate work, 1898-9.
Honorary Curator of Ornithology, New York Zoological Society since 1899; director of the British Guiana Zoological Station. Has traveled extensively in Asia, South America, and Mexico, especially, for purposes of observation.
SUGGESTIONS FOR READING
1. Although Mr. Beebe is preeminently an ornithologist, he belongs to literature by reason of the volumes of nature studies listed below. A comparison of his books with those of the English ornithologist, W.H.
Hudson (cf. Manly and Rickert, _Contemporary British Literature_) is illuminative of the merits of both.
2. Another interesting comparison may be made between Mr. Beebe"s descriptions of the jungle in _Jungle Peace_ and H.M. Tomlinson"s in _Sea and Jungle_ (cf. Manly and Rickert, _op. cit._).
3. An a.n.a.lysis of the use of suggestion in appeal to the different senses brings out one of the main sources of Mr. Beebe"s charm as a writer.
4. Read aloud several fine pa.s.sages to observe the prose rhythms.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Two Bird Lovers in Mexico. 1905.
The Log of the Sun. 1906.
Our Search for a Wilderness. 1910. (With Mrs. Beebe.) Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana. 1917.
*Jungle Peace. 1918.
Edge of the Jungle. 1921.
STUDIES AND REVIEWS
Nation, 106 ("18): 213.
Science, n.s. 50 ("19): 473.
Spec. 95 ("05): 1128.
Travel, 38 ("21): 17 (portrait).
See also _Book Review Digest_, 1918, 1921.
+David Belasco+--dramatist.
Born at San Francisco, 1859. Stage manager of various theatres and producer of many plays. Owner and manager of Belasco Theatre, New York City.
His most successful recent play, _The Return of Peter Grimm_ (1911), is printed by Baker, _Modern American Plays_, 1920, and by Moses, _Representative Plays by American Dramatists_, 1918-21, III. For bibliography of unpublished plays, cf. _Cambridge_, III (IV), 763.
STUDIES AND REVIEWS
Eaton, W.P. Plays and Players. 1916.
Moses.
Winter, William. Life of David Belasco. 1918.
Acad. 83 ("12): 673.
Nation, 100 ("10): 525.
New Repub. 8 ("16): 155.
Theatre Arts M. 5 ("21): 259=Outlook, 127 ("21): 418 (portrait).
+Stephen Vincent Benet+--poet, novelist.
Born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1898; brother of William Rose Benet (q.v.) Graduate of Yale, 1919.
Mr. Benet"s work at once attracted attention by its qualities of exuberance and fancy. In 1921, he shared with Carl Sandburg (q.v.) the prize of the Poetry Society of America.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Five Men and Pompey. 1915.
The Drug Shop. 1917.