Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1886 — A Great Deal in His Name. [ARTICLE]

A Great Deal in His Name.

There’s something in a name, especially for an actor or author. No man bearing the name of Smith has ever be -nheard -of as an actor, though some have attained distinction in literature and politics. I met Hjalmer Hjorth Boyesen, the Scandinavian author, at Mrs. M. E. Palmer’s reception, and some acquintances were chaffing him about his peculiar name. “My name?” he said, laughing; “I wouldn’t take anything for it. It is a part of my capital. It is my trademark. I might have had some success without it, but it has helped out. I signed my first story ‘H.-H. Boyesen.’ When the Atlantic came out with it the editor had substituted ‘Hjalmer Hjorth,’ in all its jawbreaking glory for the simple initials. I asked him about it. ‘Why, “H. H.” wouldn’t attract attention,’ he said. ‘Anybody could be “H. H.”— Henry or Hiram, or even Harriet or Hannah. But “Hjalmer Hjorth’’—it smells of the North Sea and sounds of the sagas and vikings. Folks will remember it—especially if they try to pronounce it.’ So it has proved. I wouldn’t take anything for it.”— New York Times.