19 SEPTEMBER 1952, Page 14

SPECTATOR COMPETITION No. 136 Set by Alan Brien Chronology too

often protects the biographer from his subject. Readers are invited to submit, within one hundred and fifty words, the opening and/or closing sentences of Johnson on Boswell, Pope on Johnson, Goethe on Eckerrnann, General Gordon on Lytton Strachey, or Zola on Angus Wilson.—Prize £5, which may be divided. Entries must be addressed to the Spectator, 99 Gower Street, London, W.C.1, in envelopes marked "Competition" and must be received not later 'than October 1st. Results will be published in the Spectator of October 10th.