THE OPEN LETTER

“Why are pictures repeated,” asks one of our readers. We rarely repeat a picture, but we do print more than one picture of the same subject—and for a most excellent reason: The Mentor is not through with a subject in one number. That would be a poor and meager educational service. The plan of The Mentor Association is to present subjects to its members in various ways, so that they may consider these subjects from different points of view. This is done so as to give the reader a broad, comprehensive grasp of things. Let me illustrate. The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful buildings in existence. When, therefore, we published The Mentor on “Beautiful Buildings of the World,” we printed, of course, a picture of the Taj Mahal. When we came to the subject of India in Mr. Elmendorf’s series of travel numbers, we could not overlook the exquisite Taj Mahal—which is one of the sights of India. We shall later on have a number of The Mentor on Oriental Architecture. The Taj Mahal being one of the finest examples of oriental architecture, cannot of course be ignored in that number simply because we printed two pictures of the building in former Mentors. In each case the reader is asked to consider the Taj Mahal from a different point of view. And, moreover, we do not repeat the same picture. We print three different views of the Taj Mahal.

Another instance. We printed in The Mentor devoted to “Masters of the Violin” a very fine portrait of the Spanish violinist, Sarasate. This picture not only happens to be a most interesting portrait of the great violinist, but it has a special art value in having come from the brush of Whistler. Next year we shall devote a number of The Mentor to the work of James MacNeil Whistler. When we do so it will be impossible for us to ignore this wonderful portrait of Sarasate, for it is a distinguished example of Whistler’s art. The present number is another case in point. We have considered Rembrandt’s art several times in The Mentor. He occupied a prominent place, as you know, in the number devoted to “Dutch Masterpieces.” He also appears in the number on “The Wife in Art.” And now we devote a number exclusively to him.

The basic idea of The Mentor is a broad one. We do not consider that a subject, once treated, must be boxed up and shelved. Oh, no! While we make our excursions into the different fields of knowledge, we shall often turn our faces back to some great subject of interest that we have already observed and consider it anew from a different point of view.

When you write to The Mentor always sign your name and address. The old time-worn signatures of “Reader” or “Friend” make it hard for us to give Mentor service. The following came into the office a few days ago:

“Have greatly enjoyed your Mentor this last year. One suggestion I would make, though, is relative to the Madonna Ansidei. That famous painting was purchased by Morgan a number of years ago. In 1910 it was in the National Gallery, as a loan, and at present is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, one of its greatest treasures. Ought our public to be informed by The Mentor that it is in London?”

A Reader.

Where our reader got the notion that the Ansidei Madonna is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, I am at a loss to understand. If that famous work had ever been brought to America, surely the whole world would have known of it. Works of art of such importance are not moved about without the public being advised of it. The Ansidei Madonna is in the National Museum, London, and the circumstances of its being placed there are exactly as stated in The Mentor. It was purchased for the National Museum from the Duke of Marlborough’s collection for about $350,000. The Raphael Madonna, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, that our reader refers to, is known as the “Madonna of St. Anthony of Padua.” I hope that this will catch the eye of our friendly reader, and especially I hope that he will not continue to entertain the thought, or impart it to others, that The Mentor is giving the public incorrect information concerning the Ansidei Madonna.

W. D. Moffat Editor

The Mentor Association

ESTABLISHED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POPULAR INTEREST IN ART, LITERATURE, SCIENCE, HISTORY, NATURE, AND TRAVEL

CONTRIBUTORS—PROF. JOHN C. VAN DYKE, HAMILTON W. MABIE, PROF. ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, REAR ADMIRAL ROBERT E. PEARY, WILLIAM T. HORNADAY, DWIGHT L. ELMENDORF, HENRY T. FINCK, WILLIAM WINTER, ESTHER SINGLETON, PROF. G. W. BOTSFORD, IDA M. TARBELL, GUSTAV KOBBÉ, DEAN C. WORCESTER, JOHN K. MUMFORD, W. J. HOLLAND, LORADO TAFT, KENYON COX, E. H. FORBUSH, H. E. KREHBIEL, SAMUEL ISHAM, BURGES JOHNSON, STEPHEN BONSAL, JAMES HUNEKER, W. J. HENDERSON, AND OTHERS.

The purpose of The Mentor Association is to give its members, in an interesting and attractive way, the information in various fields of knowledge which everybody wants to have. The information is imparted by interesting reading matter, prepared under the direction of leading authorities, and by beautiful pictures, produced by the most highly perfected modern processes.

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COMPLETE YOUR MENTOR LIBRARY

Subscriptions always begin with the current issue. The following numbers of The Mentor Course, already issued, will be sent postpaid at the rate of fifteen cents each.

Serial No.

1. Beautiful Children in Art

2. Makers of American Poetry

3. Washington, the Capital

4. Beautiful Women in Art

5. Romantic Ireland

6. Masters of Music

7. Natural Wonders of America

8. Pictures We Love to Live With

9. The Conquest of the Peaks

10. Scotland: The Land of Song and Scenery

11. Cherubs in Art

12. Statues With a Story

13. The Discoverers

14. London

15. The Story of Panama

16. American Birds of Beauty

17. Dutch Masterpieces

18. Paris, the Incomparable

19. Flowers of Decoration

20. Makers of American Humor

21. American Sea Painters

22. The Explorers

23. Sporting Vacations

24. Switzerland: The Land of Scenic Splendors

25. American Novelists

26. American Landscape Painters

27. Venice, the Island City

28. The Wife in Art

29. Great American Inventors

30. Furniture and Its Makers

31. Spain and Gibraltar

32. Historic Spots of America

33. Beautiful Buildings of the World

34. Game Birds of America

35. The Contest for North America

36. Famous American Sculptors

37. The Conquest of the Poles

38. Napoleon

39. The Mediterranean

40. Angels in Art

41. Famous Composers

42. Egypt, the Land of Mystery

43. The Revolution

44. Famous English Poets

45. Makers of American Art

46. The Ruins of Rome

47. Makers of Modern Opera

48. Dürer and Holbein

49. Vienna, the Queen City

50. Ancient Athens

51. The Barbizon Painters

52. Abraham Lincoln

53. George Washington

54. Mexico

55. Famous American Women Painters

56. The Conquest of the Air

57. Court Painters of France

58. Holland

59. Our Feathered Friends

60. Glacier National Park

61. Michelangelo

62. American Colonial Furniture

63. American Wild Flowers

64. Gothic Architecture

65. The Story of the Rhine

66. Shakespeare

67. American Mural Painters

68. Celebrated Animal Characters

69. Japan

70. The Story of the French Revolution

71. Rugs and Rug Making

72. Alaska

73. Charles Dickens

74. Grecian Masterpieces

75. Fathers of the Constitution

76. Masters of the Piano

77. American Historic Homes

78. Beauty Spots of India

79. Etchers and Etching

80. Oliver Cromwell

81. China

82. Favorite Trees

83. Yellowstone National Park

84. Famous Women Writers of England

85. Painters of Western Life

86. China and Pottery of Our Forefathers

87. The Story of The American Railroad

88. Butterflies

89. The Philippines

90. The Louvre

91. William M. Thackeray

92. Grand Canyon of Arizona

93. Architecture in American Country Homes

94. The Story of The Danube

95. Animals in Art

96. The Holy Land

97. John Milton

98. Joan of Arc

99. Furniture of the Revolutionary Period

100. The Ring of the Nibelung

101. The Golden Age of Greece

102. Chinese Rugs

103. The War of 1812

104. The National Gallery, London

105. Masters of the Violin

106. American Pioneer Prose Writers

107. Old Silver

108. Shakespeare’s Country

109. Historic Gardens of New England

110. The Weather

111. American Poets of the Soil

112. Argentina

113. Game Animals of America

114. Raphael

115. Walter Scott

116. The Yosemite Valley

117. John Paul Jones

118. Russian Music

119. Chile

NUMBERS TO FOLLOW

December 15, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: THE LAND OF SUNSHINE. By Charles F. Lummis, Author and Editor.

January 1, 1917. KEEPING TIME. By C. F. Talman, of the United States Weather Bureau.

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