Perhaps because we're all working out of home offices now, one of the attractions of the new title Traveling Literary America: A Complete Guide to Literary Landmarks
by B.J. Welborn (Jefferson Press, distributed by IPG, $19.95,
0971897425) are the descriptions of writers' work spaces and, in some
cases, whole buildings that function as offices or studies. Consider
these examples:
Christopher Morley's cabin in Roslyn, N.Y., called the Knothole, is outfitted with a fireplace and built-in bunks for reading. Eventually Morley installed a "Dymaxion" bathroom designed by his friend Buckminster Fuller.
Carl Sandburg remodeled his 175-year-old farmhouse in Flat Rock, N.C., so that almost every room had bookcases, a fire extinguisher, green eye shades and a guitar--in case the mood to play struck him.
The "cabinet," or personal study, in Monticello, Charlottesville, Va., features a five-sided revolving bookstand that Thomas Jefferson designed that allowed him to read five books at once.
William Faulkner's Rowan Oak in Oxford, Miss., includes a small office where Faulkner worked. One wall still features the outline for A Fable, as scrawled by the author.
John Muir called the office in his Martinez, Calif., home his "scribble den."
Perhaps the most amazing study mentioned in Traveling Literary America was built by Lew Wallace, who wrote Ben-Hur. The free-standing building in Crawfordsville, Ind., which Wallace dreamed about for years, has a copper-domed roof and stained glass skylight reflecting a Turkish mosque, a columned entrance modeled on the abbey of the church of St. Pierre in France, a 40-ft.-high tower with arched windows based on the Cathedral of Pisa. . . . You get the idea.
On the other hand, Sarah Orne Jewett's house in South Berwick, Maine, includes the original chair for the desk at which she wrote in the second-floor hallway. The house has 13 rooms; apparently Jewett preferred working in the hall because it had a perfect view of the village crossroads.
There are also some amusing epitaphs--literally. Robert Frost's gravestone in Bennington, Vt., reads, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." A plaque where Dorothy Parker's ashes are interred (at the NAACP's headquarters in Baltimore) includes her suggested epitaph: "Excuse my dust."
And then there are the oddities and thoughtful creations:
Rudyard Kipling lived four years in Dummerston, Vt. (his American wife's home), and built a house called Naulakha. It was purchased by the Landmark Trust of the U.K. and can be rented by the week or for shorter periods during the winter.
Like Thomas Wolfe, Carson McCullers was initially scorned by people in her hometown--in her case, Columbus, Ga. Now the town has a 31-site combination driving and walking tour of McCullers-related places. Likewise, Sinclair Lewis, once reviled by residents of Sauk Centre, Minn., the basis for Main Street, is now a favorite son. And John Steinbeck, disliked for a time by his former townspeople in Salinas, Calif., is the focus of the Steinbeck House and the National Steinbeck Center.
The Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, R.I., claims to be the oldest lending library in the U.S. and continues today as an independent subscription library.
In Hartford, Conn., a group is currently creating the Wallace Stevens Walk, marking the two-mile path of Stevens' famous commute to and from the insurance company where he worked for nearly 40 years. On his walks, he composed verse in his head.
Christopher Morley's cabin in Roslyn, N.Y., called the Knothole, is outfitted with a fireplace and built-in bunks for reading. Eventually Morley installed a "Dymaxion" bathroom designed by his friend Buckminster Fuller.
Carl Sandburg remodeled his 175-year-old farmhouse in Flat Rock, N.C., so that almost every room had bookcases, a fire extinguisher, green eye shades and a guitar--in case the mood to play struck him.
The "cabinet," or personal study, in Monticello, Charlottesville, Va., features a five-sided revolving bookstand that Thomas Jefferson designed that allowed him to read five books at once.
William Faulkner's Rowan Oak in Oxford, Miss., includes a small office where Faulkner worked. One wall still features the outline for A Fable, as scrawled by the author.
John Muir called the office in his Martinez, Calif., home his "scribble den."
Perhaps the most amazing study mentioned in Traveling Literary America was built by Lew Wallace, who wrote Ben-Hur. The free-standing building in Crawfordsville, Ind., which Wallace dreamed about for years, has a copper-domed roof and stained glass skylight reflecting a Turkish mosque, a columned entrance modeled on the abbey of the church of St. Pierre in France, a 40-ft.-high tower with arched windows based on the Cathedral of Pisa. . . . You get the idea.
On the other hand, Sarah Orne Jewett's house in South Berwick, Maine, includes the original chair for the desk at which she wrote in the second-floor hallway. The house has 13 rooms; apparently Jewett preferred working in the hall because it had a perfect view of the village crossroads.
There are also some amusing epitaphs--literally. Robert Frost's gravestone in Bennington, Vt., reads, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." A plaque where Dorothy Parker's ashes are interred (at the NAACP's headquarters in Baltimore) includes her suggested epitaph: "Excuse my dust."
And then there are the oddities and thoughtful creations:
Rudyard Kipling lived four years in Dummerston, Vt. (his American wife's home), and built a house called Naulakha. It was purchased by the Landmark Trust of the U.K. and can be rented by the week or for shorter periods during the winter.
Like Thomas Wolfe, Carson McCullers was initially scorned by people in her hometown--in her case, Columbus, Ga. Now the town has a 31-site combination driving and walking tour of McCullers-related places. Likewise, Sinclair Lewis, once reviled by residents of Sauk Centre, Minn., the basis for Main Street, is now a favorite son. And John Steinbeck, disliked for a time by his former townspeople in Salinas, Calif., is the focus of the Steinbeck House and the National Steinbeck Center.
The Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, R.I., claims to be the oldest lending library in the U.S. and continues today as an independent subscription library.
In Hartford, Conn., a group is currently creating the Wallace Stevens Walk, marking the two-mile path of Stevens' famous commute to and from the insurance company where he worked for nearly 40 years. On his walks, he composed verse in his head.