Peter Whiffle

His Life and Works

BOOKS BY CARL VAN VECHTEN

INTERPRETERS IN THE GARRET THE MERRY-GO-ROUND THE MUSIC OF SPAIN THE TIGER IN THE HOUSE MUSIC AND BAD MANNERS LORDS OF THE HOUSETOPS MUSIC AFTER THE GREAT WAR PETER WHIFFLE: HIS LIFE AND WORKS

Peter Whiffle

His Life and Works

Carl Van Vechten

New York Alfred · A · Knopf

MCMXXIII

COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY

ALFRED A. KNOPF, Inc.

Published, April, 1922 Second Printing, April, 1922 Third Printing, May, 1922 Fourth Printing, June, 1922 Fifth Printing, July, 1922 Sixth Printing, August, 1922 Seventh Printing, October, 1922 Eighth Printing, March, 1923 Ninth Printing, July, 1923

Set up, electrotyped, printed and bound by the Vail-Ballou Co., Binghamton, N.Y. Paper furnished by W.F. Etherington & Co., New York. MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, ADA AMANDA FITCH VAN VECHTEN

"'Tingling is the test,' said Babbalanja, 'Yoomy, did you tingle, when that song was composing?'

"'All over, Babbalanja.'"

Herman Melville: Mardi.

"We work in the dark—we do what we can—we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art."

Dencombe: The Middle Years.

"Les existences les plus belles sont peut-être celles qui ont subi tous les extrêmes, qui ont traversé toutes les températures, rencontré toutes les sensations excessives et tous les sentiments contradictoires."

Remy de Gourmont: Le Chat de Misère.

"The man who satisfies a ceaseless intellectual curiosity probably squeezes more out of life in the long run than any one else."

Edmund Gosse: Books on the Table.

"O mother of the hills, forgive our towers; O mother of the clouds, forgive our dreams."

Edwin Ellis.