Burton Holmes, Profiled in MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE for February 1899

"THE LAUNCH OF A POPULAR LECTURER"

"It was about ten years ago that a young man of inherited wealth, and belonging to one of Chicago's first families, returned home from a pleasure trip to Japan. He was known to his friends as an indefatigable amateur photographer, and at the request of the Chicago Camera Club he exhibited the pictures he had taken in the Mikado's kingdom as a collection of lantern slides. Of course he was obliged to explain things as he went along, and both the pictures and the talk were so enjoyable that he was urged to repeat the entertainment, this time for a fashionable charity. Then another pet benevolence put in its claim to be remembered, and so it went on, until the young man, not yet of age, discovered that he had blossomed into a full grown amateur lecturer.

BURTON HOLMES, SUCCESSOR TO JOHN L. STODDARD IN THE ILLUSTRATED LECTURE FIELD

"The next summer he went globe trotting again, and on his return with fresh views and a new fund of information he determined to turn professional. He had grown fond of the work, and as he had no business interests to claim attention, he decided that he could not better occupy his time than by following the bent of his inclinations. For four seasons he limited his field to the Western cities, but last year, on the retirement of John L. Stoddard he stepped into the latter's shoes, and the Burton Holmes Lenten Lectures were a feature of the season at Daly's.

"Last summer Mr Holmes journeyed to the Hawaiian Islands. Here he was an eye witness of the scenes incidental to annexation, and to the halting of transports on their way to Manila, and his views include not only the usual colored stereopticon slides, but moving pictures as well. Another spot from which he has secured fresh material is the Grand Canyon in Arizona."