Edward W. Bok

To the American woman I owe much, but to two women I owe more, My mother and my wife. And to them I dedicate this account of the boy to whom one gave…

Its title and the form, however, were then chosen. By the form I refer particularly to the use of the third person. I had always felt the most…

Moreover, this method came to me very naturally in dealing with the Edward Bok, editor and publicist, whom I have tried to describe in this book,…

Along an island in the North Sea, five miles from the Dutch Coast, stretches a dangerous ledge of rocks that has proved the graveyard of many a…

One day the young mayor-judge called together his council. "We must have trees," he said; "we can make this island a spot of beauty if we will!"…

"Then I will plant more," said the unperturbed mayor. And for the fifty years that he lived on the island he did so. He planted trees each year; and,…

A pair of storm-driven nightingales had now found the island and mated there; their wonderful notes thrilled even the souls of the natives; and as…

"And now," she said, "as you go out into the world I want each of you to take with you the spirit of your father's work, and each in your own way and…

The first son to leave the island home went with a band of hardy men to South Africa, where they settled and became known as "the Boers."…

The second son left home for the Dutch mainland, where he took charge of a small parish; and when he had finished his work he was mourned by king and…

The first daughter now left the island nest; to her inspiration her husband owed, at his life's close, a shelf of works in philosophy which to-day…

The second daughter worked beside her husband until she brought him to be regarded as one of the ablest preachers of his land, speaking for more than…

So they went out into the world, the girls and boys of that island home, each carrying the story of their father's simple but beautiful work and…

The Leviathan of the Atlantic Ocean, in 1870, was The Queen, and when she was warped into her dock on September 20 of that year, she discharged,…

The father, a man bearing one of the most respected names in the Netherlands, had acquired wealth and position for himself; unwise investments,…

The American public-school teacher was perhaps even less well equipped in those days than she is to-day to meet the needs of two Dutch boys who could…

Nor was the American boy of 1870 a whit less cruel than is the American boy of 1920; and he was none the less loath to show that cruelty. This…

Louis XIV may have been right when he said that "every new language requires a new soul," but Edward Bok knew that while spoken languages might…

Edward now felt that his Americanization had begun; but, always believing that a thing begun must be carried to a finish, he took, or gave--it…

It was the prevailing custom in the public schools of 1870 to punish boys by making them hold out the palms of their hands, upon which the…

Edward went home to his father, exhibited his swollen hand, explained the reason, and showed the penmanship lesson which he had refused to copy. It…

Now, your Dutchman is nothing if not practical. He is very simple and direct in his nature, and is very likely to be equally so in his mental view.…

The same instinct that was so often to lead Edward aright in his future life, at its very beginning served him in a singularly valuable way in…

The Elder Bok did not find his "lines cast in pleasant places" in the United States. He found himself, professionally, unable to adjust the methods…

It was not easy for the parents to see their boys thus forced to do work which only a short while before had been done by a retinue of servants.…

But one day, after he had finished cleaning the window, and the baker was busy in the rear of the store, a customer came in, and Edward ventured to…

Transportation, in those days in Brooklyn, was by horse-cars, and the car-line on Smith Street nearest Edward's home ran to Coney Island. Just around…

Here was an opening, and Edward decided to fill it. He bought a shining new pail, screwed three hooks on the edge from which he hung three clean…

But the profit of six dollars which Edward was now reaping in his newly found "bonanza" on Saturday and Sunday afternoons became apparent to other…

It is curious how deeply embedded in his nature, even in his earliest years, was the inclination toward the publishing business. The word "curious"…

But what with helping his mother, tending the baker's shop in after-school hours, serving his paper route, plying his street-car trade, and acting as…

But the American spirit of initiative had entered deep into the soul of Edward Bok. The brother had left school a year before, and found a place as…

And so, at the age of thirteen, Edward Bok left school, and on Monday, August 7, 1876, he became office boy in the electricians' department of the…

And, as such things will fall out in this curiously strange world, it happened that as Edward drew up his chair for the first time to his desk to…

One day it occurred to him to test the accuracy of the biographies he was reading. James A. Garfield was then spoken of for the presidency; Edward…

Edward had collected postage-stamps, and the hobby had, incidentally, helped him wonderfully in his study of geography. Why should not autograph…

So he took his Encyclopedia--its trustworthiness now established in his mind by General Garfield's letter--and began to study the lives of successful…

Several of the writers felt an interest in a boy who frankly told them that he wanted to educate himself, and asked Edward to come and see them.…

The Fifth Avenue Hotel, in those days the stopping-place of the majority of the famous men and women visiting New York, represented to the young…

One evening he called, after the close of business, upon General and Mrs. Grant, whom he had met before, and who had expressed a desire to see his…

As in a dream he went down in the elevator with his host and hostess, and when the party of three faced toward the dining-room entrance, so…

"I prefer not to make scraps of sentimental writing. When I write anything I want it to be real and connected in form, as, for instance, in your…

"Now, this world does not often present the condition of facts herein described. Men entirely great are very rare indeed, and even Washington, who…

"No, I cannot subscribe to your sentiment, 'The pen is mightier than the sword,' which you ask me to write, because it is not true.

"Rather, in the providence of God, there is a time for all things; a time when the sword may cut the Gordian knot, and set free the principles of…

"I am so sorry we are just going out to dinner," said Mrs. Grant, "for the general had some excellent photographs just taken of himself, and he…

That evening was one that the boy was long to remember. It suddenly came to him that he had read a few days before of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln's…

The eventful evening, however, was not yet over. Edward had boarded a Broadway stage to take him to his Brooklyn home when, glancing at the newspaper…

Edward was fast absorbing a tremendous quantity of biographical information about the most famous men and women of his time, and he was compiling a…

He was thinking along this line in a restaurant when a man sitting next to him opened a box of cigarettes, and taking a picture out of it threw it on…

At the office of the cigarette company he learned that the making of the pictures was in the hands of the Knapp Lithographic Company. The following…

But Edward soon found the Lithograph Company calling for "copy," and, write as he might, he could not supply the biographies fast enough. He, at last…

So with five journalists working at top speed to supply the hungry lithograph presses, Mr. Knapp was likewise responsible for Edward Bok's first…

Edward Bok had not been office boy long before he realized that if he learned shorthand he would stand a better chance for advancement. So he…

An opportunity offered itself when the city editor of the Brooklyn Eagle asked him to report two speeches at a New England Society dinner. The…

It was the first time he had ever attempted to report a public address. General Grant's remarks were few, as usual, and as he spoke slowly, he gave…

As he drove along with the President and his host, the President asked the boy about himself, what he was doing, etc. On arriving at Mr. Low's house,…

The President took out his watch. It was then after midnight. Musing a moment, he said: "You say you are an office boy; what time must you be at your…

Edward had not been in the room ten minutes before he was made to feel as thoroughly at ease as if he were sitting in his own home before an open…

The passion for autograph collecting was now leading Edward to read the authors whom he read about. He had become attached to the works of the New…