Edgar Saltus: The Man

E-text prepared by Adam Buchbinder, Josephine Paolucci, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)

MARIE SALTUS
EDGAR SALTUS in the Year 1890
... even the weariest river Winds somewhere safe to sea. 1925 PASCAL COVICI · Publisher CHICAGO Copyright 1925 PASCAL COVICI · Publisher CHICAGO To the Ego using the personality , EDGAR SALTUS Peace and Progress .

Without the explanation of reincarnation, the riddle of Edgar Saltus would rival that of the Sphinx. Super-developed in some things, correspondingly deficient in others, he presented an exterior having the defects of his finest qualities, suffused with complexes and contradictions.
Amusements and interests looked upon as pleasurable by the many, bored him in the extreme. With likes and dislikes shared and understood by few, he lived in a world of his own. This world was inhabited by creatures of the imagination—delightful beings—too delightful to be real, who, having the merit of being extinguishable at will, never remained to bore him.
To write a proper biography one should have perspective. It is lacking here. That in itself makes the writing difficult. Many of those associated with Mr. Saltus' life are incarnate, and not all of them are willing to be dragged into the limelight of publicity by the point of the pen.
Where it will not offend, names are given. Where the possibility of annoyance suggests itself, initials only are used. It circumscribes one more than a little.
A brief hundred years should elapse between the passing of an interesting personality and the putting into print of his life. It would follow here, but for the fact that so many mythical and malicious tales have been circulated about Edgar Saltus since his death that the necessity for giving the facts, good, bad, and indifferent, and putting an end to the weird, wild, and fantastic stories seems urgent.
From an article published in The Bookman one would believe the astonishing fact that Mr. Saltus made a practice of sitting on a sort of baldachined throne dispersing cigarettes ten inches long and reading Chinese poetry. From the same source it was stated that he had a salon, and was attended by some lady of his choice—not necessarily the same. As a final kick it was stated that he dyed his moustache.