THIS WEEK'S BOOKS
IN Last Years of Rodin (A. M. Philpot) Mme. Marcelle Tirel, a brusque, sensible, devoted servant, draws a portrait of the sculptor and records the intrigues and excitements which surrounded him when he was famous. Throughout his life Rodin kept the creative artist's typical contempt for official institutions and added to it a sense of injustice and persecution. If his dog limped he attributed the misfortune to the Institute of Arts. If he caught his foot in a bramble it was the Institute again. The recognition -of his own importance was always with him, and he was always looking for infringements of his dignity. Now and then he would be persuaded into the most ridiculous of actions. One of his friends communicated to him her terror of Apaches, and for a month Rodin went about accompanied by a retired detective and a police dog. In every room of his house, on every table, revolvers were placed. But in spite of his absur- dities and in spite of his furious temper,- Mine. Tirel -served him with a disinterested enthusiasm and in his last illness showed a magnificent capability in .keeping at bay the hunters of souvenirs and legacies who surrounded his bedside like- the harpies of the court at the death of some mediaeval. monarch.
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