The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mary, Mary, by James Stephens

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Title: Mary, Mary

Author: James Stephens

Commentator: Padraic Colum

Release Date: March 3, 2008 [EBook #24742]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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MARY, MARY

BY JAMES STEPHENS

INTRODUCTION BY PADRAIC COLUM

BONI AND LIVERIGHT, INC.
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

_Printed in the United States of America_

1912, BY SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED)

TO

BETHEL SOLOMONS, M.B.

MARY, MARY

INTRODUCTION

If any of James Stephens' books might be thought to have need of an
Introduction it would be the delightful story that is called "Mary,
Mary" on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and "The Charwoman's Daughter"
on the other. It was written in 1910, when the author was known as the
poet of "Insurrections" and the writer of a few of the mordant studies
that belong to a later book, "Here Are Ladies."

In 1911 four people came together to establish "The Irish Review."
They were David Houston, Thomas MacDonagh, James Stephens and the
present writer. James Stephens mentioned that he could hand over some
stuff for publication. The "stuff" was the book in hand. It came out
as a serial in the second number with the title "Mary, A Story," ran
for a twelvemonth and did much to make the fortune (if a review that
perished after a career of four years ever had its fortune made) of
"The Irish Review."

From the publication of its first chapters the appeal of "Mary"
was felt in two or three countries. Mary Makebelieve was not just
a fictional heroine--she was Cinderella and Snow-white and all
the maidens of tradition for whom the name of heroine is big and
burthensome. With the first words of the story James Stephens put us
into the attitude o