Copyright, 1911, by The Curtis Publishing Co.Copyright, 1912, by The United Workers of Greenwich.
Copyright, 1911, by The Curtis Publishing Co.
Copyright, 1912, by The United Workers of Greenwich.
chapter decoIN EXPLANATION
chapter deco
A
A dozen years ago, when every one was still readingRudder GrangeandThe Merry Chanter, Frank R. Stockton asked Mrs. Frederick Gotthold which of his stories she liked best. Her choice of the fairy tale,Old Pipes and The Dryad, pleased him. The fanciful stories he wrote for children were very near to his own heart.
Some time after this, when the publishers were preparing a new edition of Stockton, Mrs. Gotthold persuaded them to have printed for her a copy ofOld Pipes, each page on a leaf of vellum. This she illuminated and decorated, bound it in leather and sent it to Mr. Stockton.
One day Mrs. Gotthold’s mail contained a parcel. Being opened, this proved to be a small leather-bound book of neatest manuscript, bearing on the inside cover this inscription:
To Mrs. Florence W. Gotthold, this little story—which was written for her, and of which there is no other copy—is gratefully presented byFRANK R. STOCKTONClaymont, Nov. 3, 1901.Transcribed by E. W. Tuttle.
To Mrs. Florence W. Gotthold, this little story—which was written for her, and of which there is no other copy—is gratefully presented by
FRANK R. STOCKTON
Claymont, Nov. 3, 1901.Transcribed by E. W. Tuttle.
A title-page, also in Mr. Stockton’s handwriting, read:
The | Lost Dryad | By | Frank R. Stockton | Only Copy. | Claymont | Charles Town, W. Va. | 1901
The | Lost Dryad | By | Frank R. Stockton | Only Copy. | Claymont | Charles Town, W. Va. | 1901
The book consisted of twenty pages written by Mr. Stockton’s sister-in-law from his dictation.
Ten years have passed. Mr. Stockton died in April, 1902. Noneof his immediate family remain. The friend for whom he dictated this quaint little tale has regretted that her pleasure in it was not being shared by others. Her interest in the Eastern Branch of The United Workers of Greenwich, Connecticut, has prompted her now to give the story to them for publication. The magazine rights were sold to the Curtis Publishing Company. The money thus obtained has been expended in producing this edition of one thousand copies—the first edition of one of the last tales of America’s well-loved story-teller.
The proceeds from the sale of this book will go into the construction of a children’s club-house and playground in a very poor little village, where some of the little ones wander through childhood almost as forlornly as the Lost Dryad bereft of her oak-tree. To prolong the youth and bring joy to the lives of these children is the purpose ofthis publication of the troubles and adventures of The Lost Dryad.
COS COB, CONNECTICUT,Thanksgiving day, 1911.