March 12 Friday – This from the New York Times p.3:

THE POPE’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

MEMOIRS OF LEO XIII TO BE ISSUED

SOME TIME IN 1887

The memoirs of Pope Leo XIII are now being prepared in the Vatican, under the direct supervision of his Holiness, and will be issued some time in 1887 by Charles L. Webster & Co., the publishers of Gen. Grant’s book. The firm have secured the contract for publishing the Pope’s autobiography in every country in the world where there is a demand for such literature. It is being written in Latin, and the work of translation in Italian and English is already under way, and is kept as close to the original work of preparation as possible. Speaking of this new venture of his house, Mr. Charles L. Webster said yesterday:

“The book will be a genuine autobiography of the Pope, although of course not literally written by him. The ruler of the Catholic world cannot spend his time in scribbling, but he is dictating a portion of the book, and a great deal of the material has been written by his own hand, in the shape of diaries, memoranda, &c.”