Leigh Hunt as a man and as a writer is worth knowing. He not only loved books, but he made books for others to love. His life at times was almost a tragedy. There were occasions when he did not have the courage to leave his house, so lacking was he in possessing enough clothes to make a decent appearance. At another time he did not have the price of a loaf of bread, and so went hungry. But he never lost his courage, and ever was hopeful and sweet tempered.
Shelley quotes a line seen by him on a sun-dial in Italy: “Colto soltanto le ore serene”—I mark only the bright hours. Hunt and Stevenson saw in their lives from day to day only the bright hours.
And this is the message that The Brewers would send this Christmas time to their friends: “Gentleness and cheerfulness are the perfect virtues.” Only the bright hours are the ones we should see.
| OF THIS BOOK TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES WERE PRINTED IN DECEMBER NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO BY THE TORCH PRESS CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA |