{"product_id":"the-autobiography-of-a-journalist-volume-i-gb-11546","title":"The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat a man should assume that his life is worth the venture of\r\na record in the form of an autobiography suggests a degree of\r\nself-conceit of which I am not guilty. From my own initiative this\r\nwould never have been written, and the first suggestion that I should\r\nwrite it, coming from a man of such experience in books and judgment\r\nof men as the late Mr. Houghton, then head of the firm of Houghton,\r\nMifflin \u0026amp; Co., was as much a surprise to me as the publication will\r\nbe to any one. The impression it made on me was so vivid that I have\r\nnever forgotten the details of the occasion which called it out. I had\r\ngone with Mr. Houghton and his daughters to the ruins of the Villa of\r\nHadrian, at Tivoli, and, wandering idly amongst them on a beautiful\r\nautumn morning, not in the spirit of crude sightseeing, I was led to\r\ntalk of my experiences more than is my wont to do. \"You should write\r\nyour life,\" he said to me with a manner of authority which at once\r\nconvinced me, and I decided that if there should come in my life a\r\npause in which the past could be considered rather than the needs of\r\nthe present and the cares of the future, I would set about it. Had\r\nI at some earlier date entertained such a project, I should have\r\npreserved many documents and data now lost, and have been able to\r\nwrite more precisely of some things of greater interest than my\r\npersonal adventures. But in that part of my life which may be\r\nconsidered relatively of a public character, or in which events of a\r\npublic interest occurred, I have ample record made at the time. In\r\nwhat is peculiar to myself, and so of relatively trivial moment, dates\r\nand the order of events are of little importance. It occurred to me in\r\nthe connection, that to give a human document of Puritan family life,\r\nand the development of a mind from the archaic severity of New England\r\nPuritanism to a complete freedom of thought, by a purely evolutionary\r\nprocess, without revolt or revulsion, might be worth doing. For what\r\nit is worth I have done it without much consideration of my own\r\ndignity, and, candidly, not as to my blunders and peccadilloes, which\r\nare of no importance to the story, but as to the earlier mental\r\nconditions which were a part of the process. So much for the\r\npersonality.\nOrthodox journalists may object to my assumption of their title. In my\r\nmultifarious occupation and random life I have, as I see when I look\r\nback found my highest activity, and rendered my most serious services\r\nto others, in my occupation as a journalistall the rest was fringe\r\nor failure. If I have been good for anything it was in connection\r\nwith, or through my position on, the press. And it would be ungrateful\r\nand dishonest if I should omit to bear my testimony to the noble\r\ncharacter and large sincerity of the great journal to which the most\r\nof my strength for more than twenty years has been given. If ever\r\nI had a noble impulse, aroused by wrongs that came to my knowledge\r\nduring those years, a good cause to defend, or a public abuse to\r\nattack, \"The Times\" has never refused to give me room to tell my\r\nstory, nor have I ever been expected to conform my views to those of\r\nthe office, or shape my correspondence to any ulterior purpose; nor\r\nhave I ever done so. And I consider it the greatest honor that has\r\never come to me to have been so many years in its service, and to have\r\nmaintained the confidence of its direction.\nTo my critics much that I have told may seem trivial. I cannot judge\r\nof what may interest others. I should hardly have believed that my\r\nlife as a whole could interest a public that does not know me, and I\r\nam equally unable to judge of the value which its details may have to\r\nothers. In default of any criterion beyond my own judgment, I have\r\nselected the items which had to me most importance, or had a marked\r\ninfluence on my life or an interest beyond myself. I have told things\r\nthat will seem trite to Americans, and others that will be commonplace\r\nto Englishmen, but I have two publics to think of, differing in slight\r\nmatters in their knowledge of things.\n\u003cb\u003e ......Buy Now (To Read More)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct details\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEbook Number\u003c\/b\u003e: 11546 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor\u003c\/b\u003e: Stillman, William James \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date\u003c\/b\u003e: Mar 1, 2004 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat\u003c\/b\u003e: eBook \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage\u003c\/b\u003e: English \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Stillman, William James,1828-1901 \/ eBook \/ English","offer_id":43216286908573,"sku":"gb-11546-ebook","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/products\/11546.jpg?v=1671343882","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-autobiography-of-a-journalist-volume-i-gb-11546","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}