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James Lane Allen

JAMES LANE ALLEN, who lived much in New York City since 1886, had the good fortune to spend his boyhood in a country of surpassing loveliness. He was born on December 21, 1850, near Lexington, Kentucky, on the old Allen estate, where his father settled in the wilderness days. The sheer charm of the blue-grass region seems to have woven itself into the nature of the boy, who was destined to paint so many exquisite word-pictures of it. Mr. Allen took his bachelor's and master's degrees in the old Transylvania University, founded by Kentucky pioneers. He was compelled by the failure in his father's fortune to begin to teach at once, in public and private schools. He later became professor in Latin and higher English at Bethany College. He never married. In 1886 he definitely forsook academic pursuits, went to New York City, and devoted himself to writing. By 1918 he had published seventeen books. "Flute and Violin," a collection of short stories, appeared in 1891. "The White Cowl" has brought many pilgrims to its scene, the Abbey of Gethsemane, an exquisite bit of old France, near Louisville. In "Kentucky Cardinal" and "Aftermath" (1895-96) Mr. Allen first really proved his power. Well known among his later books are "The Reign of Law," "The Mettle of the Pasture," and "The Bride of the Mistletoe." His novel "The Choir Invisible," written in 1897, is perhaps the most "vibrant with the passion of beauty and pain" of any of his books.

He died on February 18, 1925.