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512https://historysoa.com/items/show/512The Author, Vol. 16 Issue 04 (January 1906)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+16+Issue+04+%28January+1906%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 16 Issue 04 (January 1906)</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1906-01-01-The-Author-16-497–128<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=16">16</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1906-01-01">1906-01-01</a>419060101be Author.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> <br /> Monthly.)<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vou. XVI.—No. 4.<br /> <br /> JANUARY I1sT, 1906.<br /> <br /> [Prick SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> TELEPHONE NUMBER :<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS :<br /> <br /> AUTORIDAD, LONDON.<br /> <br /> —_____+—&gt;—_+___<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> <br /> graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion<br /> of the Committee unless such is especially stated<br /> to be the case.<br /> <br /> Tue Editor begs to inform members of the<br /> Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author<br /> that the cases which are from time to time quoted<br /> in The Author are cases that have come before the<br /> notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the<br /> Society, and that those members of the Society<br /> who desire to have the names of the publishers<br /> concerned can obtain them on application.<br /> <br /> —_1+——+—<br /> <br /> List of Members.<br /> <br /> Tux List of Members of the Society of Authors<br /> published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and<br /> the elections from October, 1902, to July, 1903, as<br /> a supplemental list, at the price of 2d., can now be<br /> obtained at the offices of the Society.<br /> <br /> They will be sold to members or associates of<br /> the Society only.<br /> <br /> —1 &lt;9<br /> <br /> The Pension Fund of the Society.<br /> <br /> Tur Trustees of the Pension Fund met at the<br /> Society’s Offices in April, 1905, and having gone<br /> carefully into the accounts of the fund, decided<br /> to invest a further sum. ‘They have now pur-<br /> chased £200 Egyptian Government Irrigation<br /> <br /> Vou, XVI.<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> Trust 4 per cent. Certificates, bringing the invest-<br /> ments of the fund to the figures set out below.<br /> <br /> This is a statement of the actual stock; the<br /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> Consols. 24%. £1000<br /> Tioeal WOdNse ea. 500<br /> Victorian Government 3 % Consoli-<br /> dated Inscribed Stock ............-.-<br /> War loan...<br /> London and North Western 3 % Deben-<br /> ture StOCKk 25.9 ee<br /> Egyptian Government Irrigation<br /> Trust 4 % Certificates .............++<br /> <br /> 291<br /> 201<br /> <br /> 250<br /> <br /> 200 0 0<br /> <br /> otal. eee £2443 9 2<br /> <br /> Subscriptions, 1905. £8. ds<br /> <br /> July 13, Dunsany, the Right Hon, the<br /> Lord ; : : : : :<br /> Oct. 12, Halford, F. M.<br /> | » suorban, WM.<br /> Nov. 9, “ Francis Daveen”’<br /> » &gt;», Adair, Joseph<br /> 21, Thurston, Mrs.<br /> <br /> ae<br /> <br /> Dec. 18, Browne, F. M.<br /> <br /> Donations, 1905.<br /> <br /> July 28, Potter, the Rev. J. Hasluck<br /> Oct. 12, Allen, W. Bird :<br /> Oct. 17, A. O. N. ; : :<br /> Oct. 17, Hawtrey, Miss Valentina<br /> Oct. 31, Williamson, C. N.<br /> <br /> Oct. 31, Williamson, Mrs. .<br /> Nov. 6, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred.<br /> Nov. 9, Wingfield, H.<br /> <br /> Noy. 17, Nash, T. A. .<br /> <br /> Dec. 1, Gibbs, F. L. A.<br /> <br /> Dec. 6, Finch, Madame<br /> <br /> Dec. 15, Egbert, Henry<br /> <br /> Dec. 15, Muir, Ward ;<br /> Dec. 15, Sherwood, Mrs. A. .<br /> <br /> Dec. 18, Sheppard, A. T.<br /> <br /> Dee. 18, 8. I. G. ‘<br /> <br /> CRKH eH acon<br /> <br /> KOR OROCORrRrFOFRCSO<br /> — —_<br /> awe<br /> <br /> _<br /> <br /> _—<br /> S<br /> omoooanoaonoocooorcoe<br /> <br /> fot<br /> o<br /> <br /> <br /> 98<br /> COMMITTEE NOTES.<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> MEETING of the committee was held on<br /> Monday, November 27th, at 39, Old Queen<br /> Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W.<br /> <br /> After the minutes of the previous meeting had<br /> been read and signed, the election of members took<br /> place. The names of those elected will be found<br /> in another column. The committee are pleased to<br /> report that the election of members is still well<br /> maintained, and that the peculiarly large election<br /> of last year of 233 members has been surpassed<br /> during the present year, when 238 members have<br /> been elected. : :<br /> <br /> Certain questions relative to Imperial copyright<br /> and United States copyright were discussed, and<br /> the question of Egypt and the Berne Convention<br /> was considered. The secretary read a letter he had<br /> received from the Foreign Office, and the committee<br /> decided to write for further details with regard to<br /> the jurisdiction of the Mixed Tribunals in Egypt in<br /> cases of copyright.<br /> <br /> The remainder of the sitting was devoted to<br /> <br /> general business.<br /> —_——&gt;+—_<br /> <br /> Cases.<br /> <br /> Eight cases have been in the secretary’s hands<br /> during the past month. Three were for the pay-<br /> ment of money. In one of these the amount has<br /> been paid and forwarded ; the two others are still<br /> in the course of settlement. There has been one<br /> case for accounts and one for money and accounts.<br /> The one for accounts has been settled and the one<br /> for money and accounts is still awaiting the<br /> publisher’s answer. The return of stock and the<br /> cancellation of an agreement between an author<br /> and publisher was another matter that required<br /> adjustment. Although on many occasions the<br /> society has negotiated this kind of settlement<br /> to the satisfaction of both parties, in this special<br /> case the publisher refused to deal with the society.<br /> We quite understand his motive for adopting this<br /> attitude, but are sorry for the member’s sake that<br /> the society has not been able to complete the matter<br /> satisfactorily. No doubt the author will be able to<br /> carry through the negotiations with the publisher<br /> himself. One case which has occurred for infringe-<br /> ment of copyright will not be settled for some time,<br /> owing to the fact that the infringer lives outside<br /> England. The question of the loss of a MS. by<br /> a publisher—always difficult from the legal point of<br /> view, is in the hands of the society’s solicitors for<br /> their opinion. We are pleased to report that the<br /> society’s action in Norway has now been settled,<br /> and the amount for infringement of copyright has<br /> been paid. The other questions in the hands of<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> tere<br /> <br /> the society’s solicitors have not as yet been settled,<br /> but, with the exception of one case, all the matters<br /> in the secretary’s hands prior to the beginning of<br /> last month have been finished. ‘The one unfinished<br /> is rather a complicated question of accounts, but ja.<br /> the secretary has already obtained the statement |<br /> from the publisher.<br /> <br /> ee oe eee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> December Elections.<br /> <br /> Abbott, J. H. M. . 4, Ilchester Gardens, W.<br /> Brook, Miss Lottie<br /> <br /> 1, Waverley Place, St. 2:<br /> John’s Wood, N.W.<br /> <br /> Cooper, T. G. 11, Quay Street, Haver- -<br /> fordwest.<br /> <br /> Crane, Walter 13, Holland Street, Ken- &lt;&lt;.<br /> sington.<br /> <br /> Fry, 0. B. . Westend, Hants.<br /> <br /> Gibbs, F. L. A. The Hall, Bushey, ¥9!<br /> Herts. ;<br /> <br /> Leach, Henry 26, Romola Road, Herne 61:5<br /> Hill, S.E.<br /> <br /> Logan, J., F.R.G.S. Ormond School, Dublin. .i/i!<br /> <br /> Meynell, Mrs. 4, Granville Place Man- -a:¥!<br /> sions, Portman fF.<br /> Square, W.<br /> <br /> Morgan, Miss F.L. . 24, King Street, Car- -in)<br /> marthen. ;<br /> <br /> Nisbet, John Villa Bella Vista, Boule- -3/&#039;<br /> <br /> vard de Cimiez, Nice, 2<br /> <br /> France; and Royal sy<br /> Societies Club, 63, .%<br /> St. James’ Street, 10).<br /> S.W. :<br /> Sheppard, A. T. 54, Huron Road, Upper “0<br /> <br /> Tooting, S.W.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS OF<br /> THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> (in the following list we do not propose to give more<br /> than the titles, prices, publishers, etc., of the books<br /> enumerated, with, in special cases, such particulars as may f<br /> serve to explain the scope and purpose of the work. |@<br /> Members are requested to forward information which will ~<br /> enable the Editor to supply particulars. )<br /> <br /> ARCH AOLOGY.<br /> <br /> THE ARTOF ATTACK. By H.S.COWPER,F.S.A. 83 x 5}.<br /> 312 pp. Weverston. Holmes. 10s. n.<br /> <br /> ART.<br /> <br /> How To JDENTIFY OLD CHINESE PORCELAIN. By<br /> Mr. 8. W. Hopa@son. With 40 Illustrations. 8} x 5%.<br /> 178 pp. Methuen. 6s.<br /> <br /> PRE-RAPHAELITISM AND THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BRo-<br /> THERHOOD. 2 Vols. By W. HouMAN Hunt. 8} X 53.<br /> 512 + 493 pp. Macmillan. 42s. n.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> _ OSWALD BASTABLE AND OTHERS.<br /> <br /> BRITISH PORTRAIT PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS OF THE<br /> <br /> EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Kneller to Reynolds. With<br /> <br /> an Introductory Essay and Biographical Notes. By<br /> <br /> EpmMuND Gossy. 154 x 12}. 100 Full page Ilus-<br /> <br /> trations. Goupil. £8 8s. n. and £20 n.<br /> <br /> THE ART OF PORTRAIT PAINTING. By. the Hon. JOHN<br /> Conner. 114 x 8%. 108 pp. Cassell. 10s. 6d. n.<br /> How To DRAW IN PEN AND INK. By HARry FURNISS.<br /> With numerous Illustrations. 10 x 64. 115 pp. Chap-<br /> <br /> man and Hall. 3s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> Axe Herman Haiac AND His Work. By E. A.<br /> ARMSTRONG. £1 ls. n. (Edition strictly limited to<br /> 1,500.) (EDITION DE LUXE at £3 3s. sold out.) Fine Art<br /> Society.<br /> <br /> IDEALS IN ART. By WALTER CRANE.<br /> Bell. 10s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> 93 x 6. 287 pp.<br /> <br /> BIOGRAPHY.<br /> <br /> Being some Recollections of<br /> 9 x 6. 499 pp.<br /> <br /> TWENTY YEARS IN PARIS.<br /> a Literary Life. By R. H. SHERARD.<br /> Hutchinson. 16s. n.<br /> <br /> PETER PAUL REUBENS.<br /> in Painting and Sculpture.<br /> 5s. n.<br /> <br /> AUBREY BEARDSLEY.<br /> Edition. Revised and Enlarged.<br /> 9} x 7h. 103 pp. Dent. 6s. n.<br /> <br /> THE LETTERS OF WARREN Hastings To His WIFE.<br /> Transcribed in full from the Originals in the British<br /> Museum. Introduced and annotated by SYDNEY C.<br /> GRIER. 9 x 53. 484 pp. Blackwoods. 15s. n.<br /> <br /> Sir Henry Irving. By HALDANE MCFALL. 7} x 5.<br /> 128 pp. Foulis. 2s. n.<br /> <br /> THE Story OF THE PRINCESS DES URSINS IN SPAIN.<br /> By Constance Hin. 7% x 5}. 256 pp. Lane.<br /> 5s. n.<br /> <br /> Great Masters<br /> <br /> By Hope REA.<br /> 138 pp. Bell.<br /> <br /> Ts xX 8.<br /> <br /> By ARTHUR Symons. New<br /> 29 Reproductions.<br /> <br /> BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG.<br /> By E.NEsBIT. 8} x<br /> Wells Gardner. 6s.<br /> <br /> 5§. 369 pp.<br /> By KATHERINE TYNAN.<br /> <br /> THe LUCK OF THE FAIRFAXES.<br /> 8 x 53. 397pp. Collins.<br /> A LirrLe Princess. Being the Whole Story of Sara<br /> Crewe, now told for the first time. By Francis H.<br /> <br /> BURNETT. 8% x 53. 302 pp. Warne. 6s.<br /> <br /> THe Happy Curist. By HAROLD BEGBIE. 6% x 44.<br /> ll7pp. Skeffington. 2s.<br /> <br /> FRIENDS WitHour Facrs. A Fairy’s Rebuke to<br /> Vanity. Written and [llustrated by H. Furniss.<br /> 9% x 74. 62pp. S.P.C.K.<br /> <br /> Fun at THE Zoo. Pictures (coloured) by Louis<br /> WAIN. Verses by C. BINGHAM. 5} x 73. Collins.<br /> CLaws AND Paws. By Louis WAIN. 12} x 10}.<br /> <br /> 23 pp. Collins.<br /> <br /> A Flower WEDDING.<br /> Decorated by WALTER CRANE.<br /> Cassell. 6s.<br /> <br /> 104 x 74. 40 pp.<br /> <br /> BOOKS OF REFERENCE.<br /> Dictionary oF INDIAN BioGRAPHY. By C. E. BuckK-<br /> <br /> LAND. 8 x 5}. 494 pp. Sonnenschein. 7s. 6d.<br /> COOKERY.<br /> <br /> THE AMATEUR Cook. By KATHERINE BURRILL and<br /> Anniz M. Boorse. 73 x 53. 296 pp. Chambers.<br /> 38. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> DRAMA.<br /> <br /> A Tragic Play of Church and Stage.<br /> 7% x 53. 196 pp. Grant<br /> <br /> THE THEATROCRAT.<br /> <br /> By JoHN DAvIpson.<br /> Richards.<br /> <br /> 5s. n.<br /> <br /> Described by two Wallflowers. |<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 99<br /> <br /> EDUCATIONAL.<br /> <br /> ENGLISH COMPOSITION SIMPLIFIED.<br /> Murby. Is. 6d.<br /> <br /> ARITHMETICAL WRINKLES. By J. LOGAN. Sonnenschein.<br /> Is.<br /> <br /> HISTORICAL AND MODERN ATLAS OF THE BRITISH<br /> <br /> By J, LoaGan.<br /> <br /> Empire. By C. G. ROBERTSON and J. G. BaR-<br /> THOLOMEW. 114 x 8%. 64 pp. Methuen. 4s. 6d.n.<br /> Let YoutH BuT Know. A Plea for Reason in Education.<br /> By Kappa. 73 x 5. 256 pp. Methuen. 3s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> BLACKIE’s LITTLE GERMAN CLASSICS. GRIMM’S DIE<br /> ZWEI BRUDER. 40 pp. SCHMID’s DIE OSTEREIER.<br /> 40 pp. Edited by A. R. HoPE MoncRIEFF, 6} X 41.<br /> Blackie. 6d. each.<br /> <br /> BLACKIE’s LATIN TEXTS. Edited by W. H. D. Rovuss.<br /> VirGIL. AINEID VI. 30 pp. Blackie. 6d. n. each.<br /> <br /> FICTION.<br /> <br /> THE WEAVERS SHUTTLE. By C. G. HARTLEY (MRs. W.<br /> GALLICHAN). 74 x 4%. 319 pp. Greening. 6s.<br /> <br /> THE CRUISE OF THE “ CONQUISTADOR.” Being the Further<br /> Adventures of the Motor Pirate. By G.S. PATERNOSTER.<br /> 7i x 43. 312 pp. The Car Illustrated. 3s. 6d.<br /> <br /> THE ARMY OF A DREAM. By RuDYARD KIPLING.<br /> 7i x 5. 62 pp. Macmillan. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> THE WINNING OF WINIFRED. By LOUIS<br /> 72 x 5. 310 pp. White. 6s.<br /> <br /> VENDETTA IN VANITY Farr.<br /> 7% x 54. 278 pp.<br /> <br /> TRACY.<br /> <br /> By ESTHER MILLER.<br /> Heinemann. 6s.<br /> <br /> THry. By RupyarD KIpLine. 84 x 54. 80 pp.<br /> Macmillan. 6s,<br /> <br /> THE Kine’s REVOKE. By MArGARET L. Woops.<br /> 72 x 5. 334 pp. Smith Elder. 6s.<br /> <br /> A PRETENDER. By ANNIE THOMAS. 73 x 5. 318 pp.<br /> <br /> Digby Long. 6s.<br /> HISTORY.<br /> <br /> FLORENTINE PALACES AND THEIR STORIES.<br /> toss. 81 x 5}. 411 pp. Dent. 6s. n.<br /> SOMERSET HOUSE—PAST AND PRESENT. By R. NEED-<br /> HAM and A, WEBSTER. 9 xX 6. 340 pp. Unwin.<br /> <br /> 21s. n.<br /> <br /> GLEANINGS FROM VENETIAN History. By FRANCIS<br /> MARION CRAWFORD. 2 Vols. 8 x 54. With 225 Illus-<br /> trations by Joseph Pennell. 517 -+ 441 pp. Macmillan.<br /> 21s. n.<br /> <br /> A History oF OUR OWN TIMES. By JUSTIN<br /> McCartHy. 3 Vols. Fine Paper Edition. From the<br /> Accession of Queen Victoria to the Diamond Jubilee,<br /> 1897. 61 x 4, 549 + 582 + 596 pp. Chatto &amp; Windus.<br /> <br /> 6s. n.<br /> <br /> By JANET<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> LAW.<br /> <br /> STATUTES OF PRACTICAL UTILITY PASSED IN 1905, IN<br /> CONTINUATION OF CHITTY’S STATUTES. With Notes<br /> and selected Statutory Rules. By J. M. Lely. 10 x 6}.<br /> Pp. 557—787. Sweet &amp; Maxwell and Stevens &amp; Sons.<br /> 7s. 6d.<br /> <br /> A Digest oF ENGLIsH Civin Law. By EDWARD<br /> <br /> JENKS. Book I. General. 10 x 64. 101 pp. Butter-<br /> worth.<br /> LITERARY.<br /> <br /> STUDIES IN POETRY AND CRITICISM. By JOHN<br /> SHURTON CoLLIns. 83} x 5. 309 pp. Bell. 6s. n.<br /> MISCELLANEOUS.<br /> <br /> Tom BROWNE&#039;S Comic ANNUAL. Christmas, 1905.<br /> <br /> 84x 53. Drane. 6d.<br /> WHat Wr TALKED ABOUT.<br /> CAMPBELL. Jarrold &amp; Sons.<br /> <br /> By M. MonTGgoMERY<br /> Is. 6d.<br /> FLEET STREET FROM WITHIN. The Romance and<br /> History of the Daily Paper. By Henry LEACH.<br /> 64 x 4}. 192 pp- Arrowsmith and Simpkin, Marshall.<br /> is.<br /> <br /> NATURAL HISTORY.<br /> <br /> Nores oN THE LIFE History OF BRITISH FLOWERING<br /> prants. By the Right Honourable LoRD AVEBURY,<br /> P.c. 9 x 53. 450 pp. Macmillan, 15s. n.<br /> <br /> A Book oF Mortats. Being a record of the good<br /> deeds and good qualities of what humanity is pleased<br /> <br /> to call the lower animals. By F. A. STEEL. 103 x 74.<br /> 141 pp. Heinemann. 10s. 6d. n.<br /> PHILOSOPHY.<br /> <br /> A Criticism of Professor Heeckel’s<br /> By Sir OLIvER LODGE.<br /> 2s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> LIFE AND MATTER.<br /> “Riddle of the -Universe.”<br /> 74 x 5. 200 pp. Williams and Norgate.<br /> <br /> POETRY.<br /> <br /> Tye PASTOR OF WyDON FELL. A Ballad of the North<br /> <br /> Country. By A. M. Buckron. 72 X 6}. 20 pp.<br /> Elkin Mathews. Ils. n.<br /> <br /> New CoLLECTED RHYMES. By ANDREW LANG.<br /> 7x 5. 101 pp. Longmans. 4s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> THE Two ARCADIAS, PLAYS AND Porms. By ROSALINE<br /> TRAVERS. With an Introduction by Richard Garnett,<br /> C.B., LL.D. 7% x 54. 142 pp. Brimley Johnson.<br /> <br /> Love’s FICKLED AND OTHER PoEMs. By W. BirD<br /> ALLEN. 6 x 44. 57 pp. Clark.<br /> <br /> Toe IRISH SQUIREENS, AND OTHER<br /> RANDALL MCDONNELL. 7 x 43. 45 pp.<br /> Sealy.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> VERSES. By<br /> Dublin.<br /> <br /> POLITICAL.<br /> <br /> IMPERIALISM. A Study. By J. A. Hopson. Revised<br /> Edition. 74 x 43. 3831 pp. Constable. 2s. 6d. n.<br /> ELECTION ANECDOTES FoR ALL Parties. By J. H.<br /> <br /> SETTLE. 7 x 4%. 140 pp. Skeffington. 1s. n.<br /> <br /> REPRINTS.<br /> <br /> Tur PLAYS AND PoEMS oF ROBERT GREENE. 2 Vols.<br /> Edited with Introduction and Notes. By J. CHURTON<br /> Commins. 9 x 53. 319 pp. and 415 pp. Clarendon<br /> Press. 18s. n.<br /> <br /> THE PoEMS OF WILLIAM COWPER.<br /> Introduction and Notes by J. C. BatLEy. With 27<br /> Illustrations. 83 x 53. 741 pp. Methuen. 10s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> THe Fancy. By JoHN HamiInTon Reynoups. With a<br /> Prefatory Memoir and Notes by John Masefield ; and<br /> Thirteen Illustrations by J. B. Yeats. 7 x 43. 88 pp.<br /> Elkin Mathews. ls. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> A CoLLOTYPE FACSIMILE OF SHAKESPEARE’S POEMS<br /> AND PERICLES. Withan Introduction. By SIDNEY LEE.<br /> 104 x 81. Oxford University Press. London: Frowde.<br /> In sets of five volumes. £3 10s.n. and £65s.n. Ina<br /> single volume £3 3s.n. and £4 4s.n.<br /> <br /> PROVERBS IN PORCELAIN, to which is added “AU<br /> Revorr.” A Dramatic Vignette. By AUSTIN DOBSON.<br /> 63 x 44. 118 pp. Kegan Paul, 2s 6d. n.<br /> <br /> Edited with an<br /> <br /> SOCIOLOGY.<br /> <br /> THe CANKER AT THE HEART. Being studies from the<br /> Life of the Poor in the Year of Grace, 1905. By L. CoPE<br /> CoRNFORD. 72% x 53. 236 pp. E, Grant Richards.<br /> 3s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> THEOLOGY.<br /> THE APOSTLE’S CREED. Six Lectures given in Westminster<br /> <br /> Abbey. By H. C. Beecuine, M.A. (Canon of West-<br /> minster). 7% x 5. 100 pp. Murray. 2s, 6d. n.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Av THE MASTER’s SIDE: STUDIES IN DISCIPLESHIP.<br /> 3v the Rev. ANTHONY DEANE, 64 x 44. 99 pp.<br /> <br /> Wells Gardner. Is. 6d.<br /> <br /> Tue LIFE ELYSIAN. Being more leaves from the Auto-<br /> biography of a Soul in Paradise. Recorded for the<br /> Author by R. J, Lens. 73 x 49. 349 pp. Long. 6s.<br /> <br /> Vrrus IN CRETE, OR ‘‘ THINGS WHICH BECOME SOUND<br /> DocrRINe.” By F. BouRDILLON. 7% x 5. 131 pp.<br /> Thynne. 1s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> TRAVEL.<br /> <br /> RounD ABouUT My PEKIN GARDEN.<br /> BALD LITTLE. Illustrated. 9 x 5}.<br /> 15s. n.<br /> <br /> THE SOURCE OF THE BLUE NILE. By A. J. HAYES.<br /> Andan Entomological Appendix by E. B. Poulton, F.R.S.<br /> (Hope Professor of Zoology in the University of Oxford).<br /> 84 x 53. 315 pp. Smith Elder. 10s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> By Mrs. ARCHI-<br /> 284 pp. Unwin:<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> NOTES. |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> R. MARION CRAWFORD’S book on a)<br /> Venice was published by Messrs. Mac- © |<br /> <br /> millan &amp; Co. early last month, under the 9:<br /> title, “Gleanings from Venetian History.” The<br /> volume is illustrated with over 200 pictures from =m<br /> drawings by Mr. Joseph Pennell. .<br /> <br /> With the publication of two volumes of lectures<br /> and essays, Canon Beeching completes his task of<br /> arranging the literary remains of the late Canon<br /> Ainger. The subjects of the lectures and essays<br /> are almost entirely of literary interest. Messrs.<br /> Macmillan &amp; Co. are the publishers.<br /> <br /> The same publishers announce a new edition of<br /> Tennyson’s “ In Memoriam,” with the author’s own<br /> notes, It is anticipated that the publication will<br /> excite some interest among students of the poet,<br /> and will give the curious in these matters an<br /> opportunity of comparing many published inter<br /> pretations of the allusive passages with the poet’s<br /> own explanations.<br /> <br /> Mr. Kipling’s story, “ They,” which appeared<br /> last year in “ Traffics and Discoveries,” has just<br /> been issued by Messrs. Macmillan in a volume<br /> accompanied by fifteen coloured illustrations by<br /> Mr. T. H. Townsend.<br /> <br /> Dr. Charles Reinhardt has written, and_ the<br /> London Publicity Company, of 379, Strand, W.C.,<br /> have published, a pamphlet dealing with the con-<br /> sumptive poor of England, in which he traces, in<br /> simple language, the evolution of the disease, and<br /> suggests, as the remedy, the erection and main-<br /> tenance of open-air sanatoria. The price of the<br /> pamphlet is 6d.<br /> <br /> We are requested to state that Mr. Henry R.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> AtATT<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> saunas<br /> <br /> TAB<br /> <br /> has kindly consented to take the place of<br /> the late Mr. F. R. Daldy as honorary secretary of<br /> the Copyright Association. All future communica-<br /> tions should be addressed to him at 1, Berners<br /> Street, W.<br /> <br /> In the preface to his new work, “Notes on the<br /> Life-History of British Flowering Plants,’ pub-<br /> lished by Messrs. Macmillan &amp; Co., Lord Avebury<br /> states that his aim has been to describe points of<br /> interest in the life-history of our British plants ; to<br /> explain as far as possible the reasons for the<br /> structure, form and colour; and to suggest some<br /> of the innumerable problems which still remain for<br /> solution. In addition to 328 illustrations, the book<br /> contains a glossary of scientific terms.<br /> <br /> Vol. IV. of Dr. Beattie Crozier’s “ History of<br /> Intellectual Development ” is nearly complete, and<br /> will be published early in this year. Its sub-title<br /> will be “The Wheel of Wealth,” being a recon-<br /> struction of the science and art of political<br /> economy.<br /> <br /> Dr. Stopford Brooke’s new volume of criticism,<br /> which he is preparing, will probably be entitled<br /> «The Poetic Movement in Ireland.” The book<br /> will be published by Sir Isaac Pitman’s Sons,<br /> and will contain appreciations of Matthew Arnold,<br /> Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Clough, and William<br /> Morris.<br /> <br /> “The Dream and the Business” is the title of<br /> John Oliver Hobbes’ new novel, the publication of<br /> which may be looked for in the early part of this<br /> year.<br /> <br /> Mr. Frederic Harrison has completed a drama on<br /> which he has been engaged since the publication<br /> of his Byzantine romance, “ Theophano.” It is<br /> not a dramatised version of that tale, but it is a<br /> tragedy founded on the same incidents. The play<br /> will not be published until it has appeared on the<br /> stage.<br /> <br /> Geo. Paston’s new work, “ Social Caricatures of<br /> <br /> Clayton<br /> <br /> _ the Eighteenth Century,” has been published by<br /> Messrs. Methuen &amp; Co.<br /> representative view of the<br /> <br /> The book gives a general<br /> social caricatures,<br /> including emblematical, satirical, personal, and<br /> humorous prints of the eighteenth century, and<br /> contains over 200 illustrations. Its price before<br /> publication, £2 2s. nett, has now been increased to<br /> £2 12s. 6d. nett.<br /> <br /> “A History of English Philanthropy,” by Mr.<br /> <br /> B. Kirkman Gray, is an attempt to deal with a<br /> <br /> familiar subject from a new standpoint. The<br /> <br /> interest centres in the resolve to bring the origin<br /> and growth of an institution into relation with the<br /> general sociological problems of the period. The<br /> Volume falls into three divisions: 1. The construc-<br /> <br /> tion of the apparatus of elementary relief following<br /> _ the dissolution of the monasteries, and an attempt<br /> to bring them into touch with the Elizabethan<br /> <br /> AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 101<br /> <br /> poor law. 2. In the Puritan ascendency, the loss<br /> of the insight thus gained. 3. The rise of the<br /> voluntary subscriber at the end of the seventeenth<br /> century, and his growing importance in the<br /> eighteenth century. This account of the evolu-<br /> tion of voluntary associations for philanthropic<br /> action, drawn from the reports of numerous insti-<br /> tutions, opens out many lines of inquiry as to the<br /> social importance of charitable work. The work,<br /> as a whole, should serve as an introduction to the<br /> study of one of the pressing problems of the<br /> present day—What is the meaning and worth of<br /> philanthropy?<br /> <br /> “ How to Identify Old Chinese Porcelain,” by<br /> Mr. S. Willoughby Hodgson, is a book put forth<br /> primarily to help the amateur to make a beginning<br /> in a difficult study. It contains a history of the<br /> art, and explains the difference between English<br /> and Chinese porcelain decorated in blue under the<br /> glaze. The work, published by Messrs. Methuen<br /> &amp; Co., contains many illustrations, taken from both<br /> national and private collections.<br /> <br /> The volume of the “ Poems of Shakespeare,”<br /> which the Oxford University Press have published,<br /> contains five separate introductions by Mr. Sidney<br /> Lee. In these new material is given confirming<br /> Mr. Lee’s theory of the dependence of the “Sonnets”<br /> on foreign models.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Methuen &amp; Oo. have puolished “&#039;The<br /> Student’s Modern Atlas of the British Empire,”<br /> by C. Grant Robertson and F. G. Bartholomew.<br /> The atlas illustrates the historical development<br /> of the British Empire from the earliest times<br /> to the present day, It contains sixty-four maps<br /> with numerous insets, historical tables and notes,<br /> an introduction, an historical gazetteer, a biography<br /> and an index.<br /> <br /> Mr. H. A. Vachell, author of “The Hill” and<br /> “Brothers,” has written a new novel entitled<br /> «A Face of Clay,” which will run as a serial<br /> through the Monthly Review, prior to its<br /> publication in book form by Mr. John Murray.<br /> <br /> Miss Valentina Hawtrey’s translation of “The<br /> Life of St. Mary Magdalen,” from the Italian of<br /> an unknown writer, was published in the early part<br /> of last month by Mr. John Lane.<br /> <br /> Mr. Dent is publishing a new and enlarged<br /> edition of Mr. Arthur Symons’ critical apprecia-<br /> tion of Aubrey Beardsley, which first appeared<br /> some years ago. It has been greatly enlarged,<br /> both in its text and pictures. The price of the<br /> ordinary edition is 6s. nett. There is a large<br /> paper edition, with a hitherto unpublished drawing<br /> by Beardsley.<br /> <br /> Mr. Brimley Johnson published, in the early<br /> part of last month, a volume of verse from the pen<br /> of Miss Rosaline Travers. The book opens with<br /> a drama in blank verse, entitled “ Arcady in Peril.”<br /> 102<br /> <br /> The title of the whole work, to which Dr. Richard<br /> Garnett contributes an introduction, is “The Two<br /> Arcadias.” :<br /> <br /> The December issue of the “ Transactions of the<br /> St. Albans and Herts Archeological Society ”<br /> contains an article by Mrs. Knight dealing with<br /> “ Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.” :<br /> <br /> Mr. Henry James’ “ Impressions of America,”<br /> on which he is now engaged, will probably be<br /> published in the spring of 1906.<br /> <br /> The “Lyceum Annual,” published by the Lyceum<br /> Club, is the first-fruit of its literary members, and<br /> is published as a venture in international<br /> periodicals, The international character of the<br /> work may be gathered from the fact that it<br /> contains contributions from writers in America,<br /> Australia, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, New<br /> Zealand and Roumania, in addition to stories and<br /> articles from a dozen British writers. The price of<br /> the volume is 2s. 6d. nett.<br /> <br /> Among Mr. Eveleigh Nash’s announcements are<br /> a new volume of “Sea Stories” by Mr. Morley<br /> Roberts, and a new novel by Mr. Charles<br /> Marriott, the title of which is “The Lapse of<br /> Vivien Kady.”<br /> <br /> We have been requested to correct an error<br /> which crept into Miss Mary lL. Pendered’s letter<br /> in the December issue of Zhe Author. Miss<br /> Pendered did not write ‘The best must come to<br /> the top, and I would see it gently assisted by the<br /> great English Magazines,” but “The best must<br /> come to the top, and I would see it gently assisted<br /> by the Great English Magazine.”<br /> <br /> ‘We understand from “ Rita’’ (Mrs. Desmond<br /> Humphreys) that her book ‘‘ The Seventh Heaven,”<br /> lately issued, is a new edition called for by many<br /> inquiries, as the book has long been out of print.<br /> It has been persistently reviewed as a new and late<br /> work from her pen, whereas it was originally<br /> published some fifteen years ago.<br /> <br /> Miss Marris, whose life of Mr. Joseph<br /> Chamberlain was published by Messrs. Hutchin-<br /> son &amp; OCo., in 1900, has written an abridged<br /> biography of that statesman, which Messrs.<br /> Routledge are hurrying through the press in view<br /> of the coming elections. A large number of<br /> extracts from Mr. Chamberlain’s speeches, defend-<br /> ing his political position, are appended to the<br /> work,<br /> <br /> Mrs. Penny has recently re-written “ Caste and<br /> Creed,” which was originally published as a three-<br /> volume novel. Messrs. Chatto and Windus will<br /> publish the work in one-volume form. The<br /> heroine is a girl who is one half East and one<br /> half West, for as a child in India she has been<br /> brought up under Hindu influence, and as a girl in<br /> England under Christian influence.<br /> <br /> Mr. Watts Dunton hopes to see his new novel<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> out early this year. The title “Carniola” is the<br /> name of the heroine, and the story itself is laid<br /> partly in England, partly in Venice, and partly in<br /> Hungary. Although, like “ Aylwin,” it is a love<br /> story, it is more various in its pictures of life than<br /> that work. We understand that Mr. Watts Dunton<br /> has a further novel in hand.<br /> <br /> We are informed that Mr. Charles P. Sisley, who<br /> is resigning the editorship of the London Magazine<br /> and other Harmsworth publications, has purchased §<br /> a controlling interest in the Library Press, of 9, © 4<br /> Duke Street, Charing Cross, publishers of the well- [sy<br /> known “Cameo Classics,” ‘“ Children’s Classics,” “2 3<br /> &amp;c., and we understand that in future the business ‘za, ;<br /> will be known as Sisley’s, Limited. as<br /> <br /> “The Might of a Wrong-doer,’ by Shirley sf?”<br /> Brice, published by John Long, tells of a murder i9h0*<br /> which for many years passed as a “‘ death from mis- in’.<br /> adventure,” but which at last is traced to its =: #’<br /> author. It is the life tragedy of a lad with high (3i:0&quot;<br /> ideals, who, yielding as a boy to selfish motives, has “ed +<br /> committed a crime, the shadow of which falls list’ ‘<br /> upon his after life, bringing about his rnin, when, 199i<br /> by an act of unselfish honesty, he has angered bow!<br /> the unscrupulous acquaintance who knows his 7 #<br /> secret.<br /> <br /> Mr. A. C. Fifield has just published a new survey (97 &quot;8<br /> of the World’s History, under the title of “ A Bird’s 71%!<br /> Eye View of History,” by “Sursum Corda.” The of). «<br /> author expresses the hope that the work, which is 4 s)i<br /> described as a concise but graphic sequence of 10 #1»<br /> History from the earliest times to the Fall of Con- to.<br /> stantinople before the Turks in 1453, may be of 19 9),,<br /> assistance to those who desire to follow the course 9#iiiy,<br /> of Modern History and politics, a proper under- =%b.<br /> standing of which, in his opinion, can only be «d<br /> obtained by a knowledge of the events of more 90:<br /> remote times. The book is published at the price %F<br /> of 1s. 6d. nett. a<br /> <br /> Messrs. Black announce the publication of a &amp; |<br /> bock on the Italian lakes, by Richard Bagot. io:<br /> The volume is in no sense intended as a guide sbi:<br /> book, but aims merely at furnishing the reader ‘bry:<br /> with some impressions of the scenic beauties and His _<br /> of the historic and artistic traditions of the region | 4<br /> described. The work, illustrated by Mrs. Ella<br /> Du Cane, is published at 20s. net.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Warne &amp; Co. will shortly publish a new<br /> child’s book by Mrs. Hodgson Burnett, based on @<br /> her play “A Little Princess,” which has been<br /> running in America. The book will be illustrated<br /> by Mr. Harold Piffard. ‘<br /> <br /> Mrs. Archibald Little’s new book “ Round<br /> about My Pekin Garden,” which Mr. Fisher<br /> Unwin published recently, is described by its —<br /> author as “a tribute to a time of dalliance in one<br /> of China’s many pleasant places.” It contains<br /> descriptions of walks and excursions in and round<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> the Chinese capital, and is illustrated with a<br /> coloured frontispiece and about ninety illustra-<br /> tions, mostly from photographs by the author.<br /> Messrs. Newnes have added to their sixpenny<br /> 4 editions “At Sunwich Port,” by W. W. Jacobs ;<br /> ~&lt;@ and Mrs. Humphry Ward’s novel “ Eleanor.”<br /> Messrs. Methuen &amp; Co. have published a new<br /> fi edition of “The Poems of William Cowper,”<br /> ““@ which Mr. J. C. Bailey has edited. In the<br /> a preparation of his critical introduction and notes,<br /> the editor has been able to consult a large number<br /> of new letters of the poet and his friends. The<br /> “9 work contains more than twenty unpublished<br /> “cf letters, in addition to one entirely new poem.<br /> 4 Mr. Rider Haggard has revised the text of his<br /> ¥4 “King Solomon’s Mines,” for an illustrated edition<br /> 4 which Messrs. Cassell are issuing. The illustra-<br /> ¥ tions, which are from drawings by Mr. Russell<br /> Flint, are said to elucidate the text very well.<br /> a Mr. Andrew Lang’s “New Collected Rhymes,”<br /> ‘M® which Messrs. Longmans have published, contain<br /> + aseries of loyal lyrics, cricket rhymes, and poems<br /> “i? “critical of life, art, and literature.” Following<br /> af these are “jubilee poems,” one or two “ folk<br /> * gongs,” and finally a bouquet of ballads.<br /> In “Major Barbara,” produced at the Court<br /> “4? Theatre on November 28th, Mr. Bernard Shaw<br /> takes for his main theme the enthusiasm of a girl<br /> for the work of the Salvation Army, and shows<br /> how it disappears on account of the army’s accept-<br /> ance of a donation of £5,000 from her father, whose<br /> wealth has been amassed by methods which she<br /> +i rightly disapproves. The caste includes Mr. Louis<br /> Granville<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> «@ alvert, Miss Annie Russell and Mr.<br /> «Barker.<br /> ————&quot;__o—_+—__——_<br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> ’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> — 1<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> a E Bel Avenir,” by M. René Boylesve, is<br /> another novel by the author of “L’Enfant<br /> <br /> 4 la Balustrade.” It is extremely realistic<br /> <br /> and admirably written. Each personage lives and<br /> stands out in relief. One feels that it is a book<br /> which is the result of shrewd and careful observa-<br /> _ tion, and that it has been thought out line by line.<br /> _ The theme of the story is the education of three<br /> young men, and the chief interest centres in them<br /> and in their respective mothers. The most sym-<br /> pathetic family is that of Alex, who is living with<br /> his widowed mother and grandfather near Poitiers.<br /> All goes well until the time comes to decide on the<br /> future career of the young man, who is intelligent<br /> and a general favourite, but without any special<br /> aptitudes. The grandfather had been a magistrate,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 103<br /> <br /> and it is finally decided that Alex shall go to Paris<br /> to study law. His mother writes to one of her<br /> friends who is living there, all the necessary<br /> arrangements are made, and the young man com-<br /> mences his student life in the capital. His<br /> mother’s friend has a son Paul, who seems to be<br /> farther advanced in his studies than Alex, but not<br /> so attractive personally, hence there is jealousy<br /> between the two mothers. Money matters soon<br /> become a serious question, for Alex is a spend-<br /> thrift, and means are limited at home. One of<br /> the farms belonging to the family estate has to be<br /> sold, and when the young man fails in his examina-<br /> tion, his mother and grandfather decide to let the<br /> old home and take up their abode with Alex in<br /> Paris. There is a great charm about the descrip-<br /> tion of the simple family life led by the trio in the<br /> neighbourhood of Saint Sulpice, almost in the<br /> heart of the Latin quarter. There is the sublime<br /> devotion and abnegation of the mother, the<br /> philosophy of the old grandfather, and then, by<br /> the side of this, the life of Alex outside his home,<br /> the life led probably by hundreds of his fellow-<br /> students.<br /> <br /> Just as interesting, though far less sympathetic,<br /> is the study of Paul, his family, and his career.<br /> A third psychological study in the book is that<br /> uf a shrewd woman of the lower class named<br /> Lepoiroux. Her husband died just as her child<br /> was born, and the mother of Alex took pity on her,<br /> provided for her, and later on made arrangements<br /> for her son to be educated by the Jesuits. This<br /> boy, Hilaire, makes the best of his opportunities,<br /> studies hard, surpasses Alex and Paul, and, after<br /> obtaining his education from the priests, with the<br /> understanding that he shall later on become one<br /> of them, refuses to take holy orders. The three<br /> young men then pursue their career in Paris.<br /> There are several extremely realistic episodes in<br /> the book, and among others a very touching story<br /> of one of the last of the genuine grisettes. The<br /> author shows very clearly the ugly side of a student’s<br /> life, and his picture is all the more effective as he<br /> merely lays it before us without any comment.<br /> The whole novel is well worth reading. Many of<br /> the personages are not sympathetic, their circle is<br /> a narrow one, their horizon limited, and they care<br /> little what goes on in the world outside, but such<br /> as they are, their portraits are drawn for us by<br /> a true and faithful delineator, and in these days<br /> when books are so plentiful and well-written books<br /> comparatively so rare, the latter are doubly<br /> welcome.<br /> <br /> “Constance,” by Th. Bentzon, is a new edition<br /> of a novel which gained the Montyon prize some<br /> years ago. It has been published now with an<br /> admirable preface by M. Brunetiére. The subject<br /> <br /> of this book is extremely apropos just now, when<br /> <br /> <br /> 104<br /> <br /> the question of divorce is being discussed so<br /> warmly in France. The story is told by an able<br /> psychologist, and the principles involved are clearly<br /> set forth, whilst the characters all live and the<br /> interest is well sustained from the first chapter to<br /> the last.<br /> <br /> “De |’Histoire” is the title of another posthu-<br /> mous volume by Barbey d’Aurevilly. It is a<br /> series of critical essays on books by various authors<br /> on widely different subjects. Some of these books<br /> were written quite a long time ago, and yet most of<br /> them are of current interest. The chapter entitled<br /> “Léon XIII. et le Vatican’? seems now to have<br /> been prophetic. ‘“ L’Eglise libre dans |’Htat libre,”<br /> writes the author, “ c’est-a dire l’Eglise morte dans<br /> un Etat délivré delle. . . 2” Speaking of monar-<br /> chies, he says: “Jl y a encore des monarchies<br /> debout, mais elles tremblent sur leurs bases et elles<br /> sont capables de se précipiter demain dans le<br /> gouffre fascinateur des républiques. . . .”<br /> <br /> Two more interesting chapters are those on “ La<br /> Révolution d’Angleterre” and “La Révolution<br /> francaise.” Another essay isa criticism of Macau-<br /> lay’s “History of England from the time of<br /> James IJ.” ‘There are twenty-two essays in all,<br /> among which are “La Gréce Antique,’ “Les<br /> Césars,” ‘Histoire des Pyrénées,’ “ Napoléon,”<br /> “La Révocation de l’Edit de Nantes,” ‘“ La paix<br /> et la tréve de Dieu,’’ “ Rome et la Judée,” ‘ Gus-<br /> tave III.,” and “ Le Comte de Fersen et la cour de<br /> France.”<br /> <br /> “La Russie Libre,” by M. Georges Bourdon, is<br /> profitable reading for all those who care to know<br /> much of contemporary Russian history.<br /> <br /> “La Guerre contre |’ Allemagne,” by the General<br /> Baron Faverot de Kerbrech, is a volume written<br /> from notes taken down by the author during the<br /> campaign of 1870. It is a very graphic picture of<br /> the times, with anecdotes of many men whose<br /> names are honsehold words.<br /> <br /> “ Maxime Gorki” is a little book, published at<br /> one franc, by M. de Vogiié, on the works of the<br /> Russian novelist, who is just at present more read,<br /> perhaps, than any other.<br /> <br /> “Marie Caroline, duchesse de Berry,” by M. de<br /> Reiset, is an illustrated volume dealing rather with<br /> the private life of the unfortunate princess than<br /> with the romantic adventures of the Vendean<br /> struggles.<br /> <br /> Other recent historical works are “La Fortune<br /> des Orléans,” by M. Ad. Lanne ; “ Quinze ans<br /> Ga’histoire,’ by M. Jehan de Witte ; “ L’Amiral<br /> Nelson,’ by M. Armand Dubarry ; ‘ Les Derniers<br /> Républicains,’” by M. Guillaumin.<br /> <br /> * Lamartine de 1816 4 1830, Elvire et les Médi-<br /> tations,” by M. Léon Séché, tells us much that is<br /> interesting about “the exceptional woman who in<br /> life and death was the good genius of Lamartine.”<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> “George Sand et sa fille” is a volume by M<br /> Rocheblane judging mother and daughter by their<br /> correspondence.<br /> <br /> Among the new books are “ Le Sphinx rouge,”<br /> by Han Ryner ; “Le Précurseur,” by M. Jacques<br /> Fréhel ; ‘‘Aimons,” by M. Francois Gillette;<br /> “EKeyptiens et Anglais,” by Moustafa Kamel<br /> Pacha, with a preface by Mme. Adam.<br /> <br /> The latest translations from the English are<br /> « Quand le dormeur s’eveillera,’ by H. G. Wells;<br /> “ Une jeune anglaise a Paris,” by Constance Maud,<br /> translated by Gausseron.<br /> <br /> Among the authors who received prizes at the<br /> recent distribution by the French Academy are the<br /> following :—M. Charles Leconte, M. Paul Adam,<br /> Madame Daniel Lesueur, M. Paléologue, M. Guil-<br /> laumin, Mlle. A. de Bovet, M. Jaray for “ La poli-<br /> tique franco-anglaise et l’arbitrage international,”<br /> M. Biorés for “Warren Hastings,” M. Ernest<br /> <br /> Daudet for “Histoire de Emigration pendant |<br /> <br /> la Révolution francaise,’ M. Doumergue for<br /> “ Calvin.”<br /> <br /> La Vie Heuwreuse, a woman’s magazine pub- ©<br /> lished by Messrs. Hachette, has awarded its annual ib<br /> prize of five thousand francs for the best novel of 4%<br /> <br /> the year to M. Romain Rolland for the volume<br /> « Jean-Christophe.” The jury is composed of<br /> twenty well-known women writers, so that it was<br /> scarcely surprising this year that a proposal should<br /> be made to award the prize to a man instead of to<br /> a woman.<br /> <br /> The annual prize of the Goncourt Academy has<br /> been awarded to M. Claude Farrére for his book<br /> “Tes Civilisés.” This author, like Pierre Loti,<br /> is more at home on sea than on land, and it is<br /> thanks to his long voyages in the Far East that he<br /> has been able to give such graphic descriptions of<br /> Oriental countries. He has only written one other<br /> book, entitled “Fumée d@’opium.” Unlike the<br /> jury of the Vie Hewreuse the Goncourt Academy<br /> would refrain from giving their annual prize<br /> rather than award it to an authoress.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 4 O18<br /> OM<br /> #0 |<br /> a By<br /> <br /> Bina.<br /> ae<br /> <br /> BBL.<br /> Bou {<br /> ilo 4<br /> BE.<br /> eu.<br /> 10”<br /> mo?<br /> au)<br /> qa<br /> OS|<br /> <br /> In a recent number of the Revue des Deux ae<br /> <br /> Mondes M. Auguste Filon writes on “ Bernard Shaw<br /> et son théatre.”” He points out that, although an<br /> <br /> Englishman, Bernard Shaw’s plays have more &gt;<br /> <br /> success in Germany and America than in his own 97<br /> country. This critic considers that though rich in 4°<br /> <br /> character, the plays are poor as regards dramatie<br /> situation. In the same number of this review<br /> is an article by Maurice Barres on “Un<br /> voyage A Sparte.” ,<br /> an interesting article by Madame Arvéde Barine<br /> on acurious historical episode of 1707. The letters<br /> from Flaubert to his niece are continued in this<br /> number.<br /> <br /> An extremely interesting series of articles is now<br /> appearing in La Revue, entitled “ La Morale sans<br /> <br /> In the Revue de Paris there is 4:<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> a<br /> ca<br /> a<br /> <br /> te<br /> <br /> Dieu.” They are written by MM. Berthelot,<br /> Brunetidre, Claretie, Faguet, Anatole France, Jules<br /> Lemaitre, Octave Mirbeau, Max Nordau, Charles<br /> Richet, Sully Prudhomme, and other well-known<br /> authors. In the December number of La Revue<br /> there is also an article by Madame Juliette Adam<br /> on Moustafa Kamel Pacha, the head of the<br /> nationalist party in Egypt, and various articles on<br /> questions of the moment, “ Les Types littéraires<br /> de la Crise russe,” ‘La Presse turque,”’ “La<br /> Diplomatie allemande,” &amp;c.<br /> <br /> At the Comédie-Frangaise the event of the<br /> month is the new piece by M. Paul Hervieu,<br /> entitled “Le Réveil.” M. Claretie has just<br /> received a comedy in two acts by M. Daniel Riche,<br /> the title of which is “Le Prétexte.” “Claire<br /> Fresneau,” a piece in three acts by MM. Paul<br /> and Victor Margueritte, has also been received for<br /> the Comédie Francaise. At the Odéon “ Jeunesse ”<br /> has been produced. :<br /> <br /> The adaptation of Balzac’s “ La Cousine Bette,”<br /> by Pierre Decourcelle, is having great success at the<br /> Vaudeville, and at the Gaité M. Bazin’s novel<br /> “T/Oberlé,” adapted for the stage by M. Harau-<br /> court, is still running.<br /> <br /> At the Nouvelle Comédie (formerly the Bodiniére)<br /> a one-act play entitled “La Nuit Rouge,” by<br /> MM. Charles Foley and A. de Lorde, has had, and<br /> is still having, immense success. It is, like “ Heard<br /> at the Telephone,” adapted from one of M. Foley&#039;s<br /> stories, and the scene takes place in the signal-box<br /> of a railway station. The pointsman is compelled<br /> by duty to remain at his post, while from the win-<br /> dow of his signal-box he sees his fiancée overtaken<br /> at midnight by assassins. The moral strugele<br /> between the two duties makes the play a stronger<br /> one than “ Heard at the Telephone,” which is now<br /> running again at the Antoine Theatre.<br /> <br /> Anys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> —___—_+—_&lt;&gt;_0—__—__<br /> <br /> SPANISH NOTES.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> . Spanish literary world has been mainly<br /> <br /> marked by striking scientific and dramatic<br /> <br /> works during the last month. The most<br /> notable one of the former class is that by Joaquin<br /> Castellarnau, entitled ‘Estudio del systema<br /> lefioso de las especies forestales”’ (a study of the<br /> timber class of the forest species). The author<br /> has long been well known for his scientific reports<br /> on such subjects as firs, the unity of the generative<br /> plan in the vegetable kingdom, the ornithology<br /> <br /> _ of the royal seat of San Ildefonso, etc., which have<br /> <br /> appeared in the annals of the Spanish Society of<br /> Natural History, and have given him a high rank<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 105<br /> <br /> among natural scientists. This last work is an<br /> erudite explanation of the nutrition and the<br /> internal structure of the vegetable class, and it is<br /> so scientifically supported by the microscopic<br /> investigation brought to bear upon it that the<br /> gradual transformation of chemical substances<br /> into the organic material of living things is seen<br /> to be a natural sequence of facts. The great<br /> naturalist’s laboratory in Segovia has promised also<br /> to be the scene of. the microscopical discoveries of<br /> the chemical changes induced by the want of<br /> water, and the constant action of air and dampness<br /> upon the vegetable system.<br /> <br /> In his play called “ Love and Science,” which is<br /> now being performed at one of the chief theatres<br /> of Madrid, Galdos portrays a clever physician,<br /> who tries to train his children in his own intel-<br /> lectual lines of thought. Some of the situations<br /> are strong presentations of psychological truths,<br /> but the dénowement rather falsifies the hopes which<br /> the commencement of the work promised. The<br /> well-known dramatist, Ignacio Inglesias, has cer-<br /> tainly struck a good blow for his country by his<br /> play entitled ‘‘ Urracas” (Magpies), for it is a<br /> powerful exposé of the evils attending the wide-<br /> spread lottery system of the South. A simple,<br /> happy household is nearly wrecked by the unbridled<br /> avarice and cruelty evoked by the craving for the<br /> unearned wealth. At the distribution of tickets<br /> the room of a quiet, respectable citizen is changed<br /> into a pandemonium, and Peregrin, the hero, find-<br /> ing himself robbed of all he possessed and a victim<br /> of the evil passions around him, awakes to the<br /> realisation of the value of love and work, which<br /> had been temporarily submerged by the fever of<br /> chance. The alternate sway of terror and joy,<br /> disgust and content, is well rendered by such actors<br /> as Llano, Rosario, Pino, and Enrique Borras.<br /> <br /> The Spanish Press reports with pride that //<br /> Giornale d@ Italia says that no modern French<br /> dramatist can compare with Jacinto Benavente,<br /> and certainly “ Los Malhechores del Bien” (well-<br /> meaning malefactors) shows that he is a playwright<br /> of a high order, for he sustains the interest of the<br /> audience in the evolution of the story, show-<br /> ing how all the laws of suitability, which only can<br /> be the base of a happy marriage, can be upset by<br /> the well-intentioned, but short-sighted wishes of<br /> people only concerned with outward prosperity.<br /> To Heliodoro, the original thinker, such a union<br /> appeared a crime, and he is fortunately able to<br /> prevent his sister, the Marquise, pursuing the<br /> matrimonial plan for her protégée, which would<br /> have been her moral death. “You would give<br /> <br /> the girl luxury and wealth, but I have secured<br /> for her the love and liberty, which are of far higher<br /> worth,”<br /> <br /> ‘The expression of such a sentiment on the<br /> <br /> <br /> 106<br /> <br /> Spanish stage shows that strides are being made<br /> jn woman’s education ; and those interested in<br /> the question are pleased to see that the institution<br /> of the college for middle-class girls by the ladies’<br /> committee, under the presidency of the Marquise<br /> de Ayerbe, in conjunction with the Ibero- American<br /> Society, will take place early in January. This event<br /> will mark a new era for Spain, and Her Majesty<br /> Queen Maria Christina has expressed her sympathy<br /> with it, for hitherto the education of girls has been<br /> chiefy vested in the hands of governesses at home ;<br /> and such books as “El Intruso” (The Intruder),<br /> by Blasco Ibaiiez, show how fatal to the happiness<br /> of home life is the present want of the education<br /> of women.<br /> <br /> Last week the Spanish Press rang with the plea<br /> of Montero Rios for the unity of the integral<br /> elements of the Government. ‘It is the want of<br /> this union,” said this orator, who has so recently<br /> resigned his post of Prime Minister, “‘ which made<br /> the course of the last cabinets so brief and diffi-<br /> cult, and which will make that of the present or<br /> any subsequent cabinet unbearably arduous and<br /> painfully uncertain.”<br /> <br /> The words of the ex-Premier have an especial<br /> import as the cabinet now appointed, under the<br /> premiership of the distinguished Moret, who con-<br /> descended to discourse to me so eloquently when I<br /> was in Madrid on the necessity of the improved<br /> education of women, is the fifth in office in the<br /> course of one year, and one can understand the<br /> consequent standstill of legislation on matters<br /> which concern the vital interests of the country.<br /> In despair at the want and misery caused by the<br /> crippled industries, Boada, in the province of<br /> Salamanca, recently sent an official request to<br /> Buenos Aires to be allowed to emigrate thither,<br /> “ with all their labourers, artisans, blacksmiths, and<br /> officials,” for, as they pathetically said, “ the love<br /> of their country could not give them bread to live<br /> in it.”<br /> <br /> This projected departure of hundreds of capable<br /> people seems likely to show the necessity of the<br /> unity of Government for which Montero Rios<br /> pleads so eloquently, and which can only be<br /> obtained by the parliamentary deputies being<br /> elected by the votes of the public, instead of the<br /> voice of the ministry ; and Ramiro Maeztu is now<br /> reporting to his country the English system of<br /> parliamentary elections, which gives the people a<br /> voice inthe government. Such patriots as Figue-<br /> rola Ferretti, who sacrificed himself to voicing<br /> the plea for this reform, may thus still live to see<br /> their countrymen recording their votes at the polls<br /> as monarchists, and forming a steady Govern-<br /> ment for the legislation of a land which is, as<br /> Maeztu says, “fitted by nature to sustain more<br /> than fifty millions of inhabitants.”<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Free from the continual chaos of changes of<br /> ministry, the country will have time to settle the<br /> laws respecting the Customs reform, the com-<br /> mercial treaties, and the wine tariff ; and to these<br /> courses the Spaniards are naturally stimulated by<br /> the recent report from their special correspondent<br /> in Berlin, which shows that the trade between<br /> Germany and Spain is steadily increasing, and<br /> the satisfaction of the demands of the German<br /> commissioners in the Peninsula will add much<br /> to the prosperity of the land. Moreover, as there<br /> is now a large market for Spanish wines in Italy,<br /> it will remain for the country to sustain its<br /> reputation in that line at the forthcoming exhibi-<br /> tion at Milan, instead of only following the sug-<br /> gestion of Seor Villanueva to send some specimens<br /> of Spanish shipbuilding.<br /> <br /> This call to action about the Commission of<br /> Treaties is published in the Spanish Press, and<br /> supported by the appeal of José Juan Cadenos for<br /> a legislation which will set the seal to the present<br /> advantageous trend of commerce. Spain is cer-<br /> tainly favourably inclined to foreign influences, and<br /> it may be mentioned that the first public sign of<br /> preference for the royal alliance with England which<br /> is now so much discussed, was manifested by the<br /> overwhelming majority of votes accorded to the<br /> Princess Ena of Battenberg, when a competition<br /> was opened some months ago in the pages of the<br /> illustrated Spanish paper, 4.B.C., whereby the<br /> lady readers were severally invited to give their<br /> mark of approval to the particular princess among<br /> the number of whose portraits were published as<br /> eligible for the crown of Spain.<br /> <br /> Percy Hotspur.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> MISLEADING TITLES.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> HE book trade is peculiar in this, that no two<br /> books are in the slightest degree alike.<br /> Hence it is impossible to estimate with<br /> <br /> accuracy the value of a book until it has been read<br /> through from beginning to end. When that pro-<br /> cess has been completed the value is, in a few<br /> cases, increased, but in the majority either<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> cane<br /> <br /> bit<br /> tee<br /> agit<br /> gps<br /> 63<br /> <br /> ‘01!<br /> pail<br /> <br /> oar<br /> AIO<br /> Om<br /> Gh<br /> <br /> destroyed altogether or reduced enormously. More- 9 c<br /> <br /> over there cannot be any standard value in a oe a<br /> The<br /> <br /> value of a mutton chop is to most persons some<br /> <br /> for each buyer has a totally different taste.<br /> <br /> thing between sixpence and a shilling, but the<br /> <br /> value of a book may be to some few appreciators ©<br /> <br /> very great, and to the rest of mankind nothing<br /> at all.<br /> In these peculiar conditions it is, perhaps, not<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> our knowledge in money and in time.<br /> Us were taken in by “An Englishwoman’s Love<br /> _ Letters,” which had not the look of a work of<br /> <br /> surprising that the purveyors of books should have<br /> given up all idea of suiting individual requirements.<br /> They have deliberately done their utmost to dis-<br /> courage independence of mind. Competition<br /> in the trade has been competition in fashion-<br /> making ; with the natural result that the book-<br /> buying public has been narrowed to those<br /> comparatively few persons who do not care much<br /> what the contents of a book may be, but can be<br /> herded together, and forced to accept any book that<br /> they believe others are discussing and buying.<br /> <br /> It has recently been discovered that there is<br /> another public—that there are many who would<br /> enter the market if they were assisted in the task<br /> of estimating the quality and value of the articles<br /> offered. Hitherto, men who can easily afford to<br /> buy hundreds of books every year have been chary<br /> about risking their money over a single specimen,<br /> not knowing what they were likely to find in their<br /> hands. The trade has supposed this reluctance to<br /> buy books was due to want of literary taste. It<br /> was, in fact, due to excess of literary taste in pro-<br /> portion to the opportunities offered for indulging<br /> that taste.<br /> <br /> Authors might do well to consider whether they<br /> also have not sometimes been to blame. Are the<br /> titles they give to their books always so carefully<br /> chosen as to leave no room for doubt as to the<br /> general nature and aim of the work? There is<br /> some ground for thinking that, since the value of<br /> a “catchy” headline has come to be realised,<br /> authors, in their turn, have been trying, by means<br /> of deceptive titles, to palm off upon a guileless<br /> public books which are not what they seem to be.<br /> Any habitual reader of novels would know that<br /> “Cometh up as a Flower ” is not a work on botany,<br /> and that ‘‘ The Seven Streams ” is not a treatise on<br /> physical geography. Buta botanist or physicist who<br /> does not happen to be acquainted with the modern<br /> affected fashion in titles for fiction might easily<br /> be deceived by these names: and before we laugh<br /> at such simplicity we should consider whether even<br /> the most experienced are not sometimes deceived.<br /> <br /> _ Weall know now that a book called “ All about My<br /> <br /> Garden” may be poetry, or fiction, or cookery<br /> ‘Tecipes, or wise sayings, but we have had to buy<br /> Many of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> fiction. Who could tell that “ The Life of John<br /> William Walshe, F.S.A.,” is not a biography ?”<br /> It never was easy to distinguish between geo-<br /> graphy, topography, and travel; many books are<br /> ‘difficult to place in their correct sub-heading.<br /> <br /> _ But, until late years, the two elementary classes of<br /> : ™ Fiction’ and “ Not Fiction” were easily recog-<br /> <br /> Nised. Now, however, the most expert reader<br /> Must be continually at fault in dividing books into<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 107<br /> <br /> their two great branches, by the title alone. Here<br /> are some examples, gathered in a few minutes from<br /> the catalogue of a circulating library. Many<br /> specimens far more perplexing could doubtless be<br /> found without difficulty :—<br /> <br /> Britain’s Greatness Foretold.<br /> <br /> Britons at Bay.<br /> <br /> Enchanted Woods.<br /> <br /> The Wise Woods.<br /> <br /> The Mystic Rose.<br /> <br /> The Rose Garden.<br /> <br /> Roses.<br /> <br /> The Vision Splendid.<br /> <br /> The Money Market.<br /> <br /> Lady Anne’s Waik.<br /> <br /> An Appeal to Rome.<br /> <br /> The Magic of Rome.<br /> <br /> The Heart of Rome.<br /> <br /> The Spirit of Rome.<br /> <br /> The Purple Cloud.<br /> <br /> The Long White Cloud.<br /> <br /> The World’s Desire.<br /> <br /> The World’s Desires.<br /> <br /> It is curious to observe that, while serious books<br /> are given a skittish appearance, writers of fiction<br /> prefer a solemn aspect. In some cases the author<br /> soothes his conscience with a sub-title : but what,<br /> then, is the aim and object of the title? Here is<br /> a typical example of the wrong principle : “The<br /> Art of Creation: Essays on the Seif and its<br /> Powers.” The chief title, which is all that most<br /> catalogues print, is obscure, and should be elimi-<br /> nated in favour of the sub-titles. ‘Those who are<br /> attracted by the title might be the very persons<br /> who do not desire a book of that kind ; while<br /> others who want just such a book as that described<br /> by the sub-title are unable to find it. It may be<br /> that most authors would prefer to seil their<br /> books to disappointed, perhaps enraged, pur-<br /> chasers, rather than fail to sell at all. But it must<br /> often be the case that the book would scll better<br /> if the title left no room for doubt as to the con-<br /> tents. If some are caught, others are repelled by<br /> the vague and mysterious.<br /> <br /> In some instances the title is so misleading that<br /> one wonders whether the law would not come to<br /> the rescue of a deluded purchaser. I had sent to<br /> me the other day three large volumes purporting<br /> to be a “History,” which were something quite<br /> different, not answering to the title in the smallest<br /> degree. Surely I ought to be compensated for the<br /> loss I have sustained, and the responsible person<br /> punished for the deceit practised upon me. How-<br /> ever that may be, and apart from the morality of<br /> the thing, it is worth remembering that a character<br /> for honesty may be of value to authors as much as<br /> to any other traders. Authors can assist the dis-<br /> tributors in establishing good relations with the<br /> <br /> <br /> 108<br /> <br /> Misleading titles, whether accidental or<br /> intentional, work in the opposite direction. They<br /> put books into the wrong hands, and thus tend to<br /> keep away the best clients. They are a misfortune<br /> for all concerned, for authors as well as distributors<br /> <br /> and readers.<br /> <br /> public.<br /> <br /> Norwoop YOuNG.<br /> <br /> —_———_+—&gt;_+—___<br /> <br /> RE GRANT RICHARDS’ ESTATE.<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> E F. T. GRANT RICHARDS, of 2, Park<br /> Crescent, Portland Place, carrying on busi-<br /> ness at 48, Leicester Square, and 8, Smart’s<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Buildings, Drury Lane, all in the County of London,<br /> Publisher. Under Receiving Order dated the<br /> Dr.<br /> Estimated<br /> to produce per p,<br /> Debtors RECEIPTS.<br /> Statement.<br /> To Total Receipts from Date £3. di. £ sd,<br /> of Receiving Order, viz. : :<br /> Stock-in-Trade ... we 18711 20.0<br /> Copyrights and Publish-<br /> ing Rights ... ... 12,514 4 6<br /> 4,991 16<br /> Lease of No. 8, Smart’s<br /> Buildings 700 0 O ae<br /> Office Furniture... oe 150 0 0 42 5 6<br /> “World of Billiards”<br /> Shares ... Se ae 200 0 0 ---<br /> Surplus from Securities<br /> in the hands of Credi-<br /> tors fully secured 8,920 10 8 342 0 1<br /> Receipts ver ‘Trading Q :<br /> Account is Ae 4,513 6 9<br /> Other Receipts ... &gt; =<br /> Total... ... £41,195 15 2 9,889 9 0<br /> Less—<br /> Deposit returned to<br /> Petitioner... AG ---<br /> Payments to redee<br /> Securities... : 454 6 6<br /> Costs of execution ... —<br /> Payments per Trad-<br /> ing Account .» 2,448 16 0<br /> 2,898 2 6<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Net Realisations £6,991 6 6<br /> <br /> eee<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> | By Board of Trade and Court Fees (including<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 17th day of January, 1905. Statement showing<br /> position of Estate at date of declaring a First<br /> Dividend is printed below.<br /> <br /> The assets not yet realised are estimated to pro-<br /> duce £4,000. Creditors can obtain any further<br /> information by inquiry at the office of the Trustee,<br /> <br /> Dated this 6th day of December, 1905.<br /> H. A. MONCRIEFF,<br /> Trustee,<br /> <br /> It. will afford a subject of serious consideration<br /> to the creditors to note the difference between the<br /> debtor’s estimate and the net realisations ; but it<br /> is an unfortunate fact that no property depreciates<br /> more quickly than literary property if the flow of<br /> the circulation of a book is suddenly stopped.<br /> <br /> G. H<br /> <br /> Cr.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> PAYMENTS,<br /> <br /> £ 82<br /> <br /> Stamp of £5 on Petition) ao a 78 6 2<br /> <br /> Bard:<br /> <br /> Law Costs of Petition under<br /> taxation, estimated<br /> <br /> Law Costs ... bee hee<br /> <br /> Other Law Costs,some under<br /> taxation, estimated<br /> <br /> 60 0 0<br /> 216.04<br /> 800 0 0<br /> <br /> 1,075<br /> Trustee’s remuneration, as<br /> fixed by the Committee<br /> of Inspection, viz.: 5 per<br /> cent. on £6,991 6s. 6d.<br /> assets realized : ie<br /> <br /> 5 per cent. on £4,280 2s. 6d.<br /> <br /> assets distributed in divi-<br /> dend<br /> <br /> 349 11 4<br /> <br /> 214 0 1<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Special Manager’s charges ee ene<br /> Person appointed to assist Debtor under<br /> s. 70 of Bankruptcy Act, 1883 ...<br /> Auctioneers’ charges as taxed<br /> Other taxed costs<br /> Costs of possession ... : os ees<br /> Cost of Notices in “Gazette” and local<br /> papers... os s : oes<br /> Incidental outlay<br /> <br /> Total cost of realization<br /> Allowance to Debtor<br /> <br /> Creditors, Viz. — S$ a.<br /> 6 Preferential 341 11 6<br /> 812 Unsecured. First<br /> <br /> Dividend now declared<br /> of 2s. in the £ on<br /> £42,802 lbs. 8d. 4,280 2 6<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Debtor&#039;s estimate of amount expected to<br /> rank for dividend was £44,551 0s. 8d.<br /> Balance ... o i<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> £6,991 6 6<br /> <br /> <br /> f<br /> i<br /> =<br /> i<br /> <br /> MACMILLAN v. DENT.<br /> <br /> ——-——<br /> <br /> (Reprinted with the kind permission of the Editor from<br /> the Law Journal, December 9th, 1905).<br /> <br /> HIS was a witness action to determine the<br /> <br /> &quot; right of publication of sixteen letters written<br /> <br /> between 1798 and 1840 by Charles Lamb,<br /> <br /> the famous essayist, to his friend Robert Lloyd,<br /> <br /> which had been found in an old box in the posses-<br /> <br /> sion of Mr. and Mrs. Steeds, descendants of the<br /> Lloyd family.<br /> <br /> On May 5th, 1895, the plaintiffs Smith, Elder<br /> &amp; Co., publishers, bought from the Steeds for<br /> £250 all copyright which they possessed and the<br /> exclusive right of publishing the letters, the<br /> originals of which were returned to the Steeds<br /> after making copies, which were subsequently used<br /> in a book entitled “Lamb and the Lloyds,”<br /> published in 1898.<br /> <br /> In 1899 the plaintiffs Smith, Elder &amp; Co. granted<br /> a licence to the plaintiffs Macmillan (Lim.) to use<br /> the letters for another edition of Lamb’s letters.<br /> <br /> In 1902 the defendants, J. M. Dent &amp; Co., also<br /> publishers, being aware of the previous transac-<br /> tion, bought for £250 from the Steeds, the original<br /> autograph letters with other literary papers, and<br /> also “ any right which they might still have in the<br /> letters.”<br /> <br /> In 1903 the defendants published the letters in<br /> an edition of Lamb’s letters, and the plaintiffs in<br /> April, 1904, commenced this action for infringe-<br /> ment of their registered copyright.<br /> <br /> In January, 1905, administration de bonis non<br /> to Charles Lamb’s estate was granted to one Moxon,<br /> the only son of the residuary legatee under Charles<br /> Lamb’s will, who subsequently assigned all his<br /> rights, if any, to the defendants.<br /> <br /> T. B. Scrutton, K.C., and R. A. Wright, for the<br /> plaintiffs, contended that the plaintiffs had ‘ the<br /> property of the proprietor of the author’s manu-<br /> script” at the time of the publication by them and<br /> were therefore entitled to sue for infringement.<br /> <br /> W. O. Danckwerts, K.C., and L. B. Sebastian,<br /> for the defendants, argued that the defendants,<br /> having the original letters and the rights of<br /> Charles Lamb’s representatives, had such an<br /> interest in the private letters as to disentitle the<br /> plaintiffs to obtain any registered copyright or<br /> even to publish them—Pope v. Curl (1741), 2<br /> Atk. 342 ; Gee v. Pritchard (1818), 2 Swanst. 402 ;<br /> Thompson v. Stanhope (1774), Amb. 737 5 Queens-<br /> berry (Duke of) v. Shebbeare (1758), 2 Eden, 329 ;<br /> Oliver v. Oliver (1861), 31 Law J. Rep. Chane. 4 ;<br /> 11 C. B. (ws.) 139; Lytton (Harl of) v. Deevey<br /> (1884), 54 Law J. Rep. Chance. 293 ; Labouchere<br /> v. Hess (1898), 77 L. T. 559 ; and Caird v. Sime<br /> <br /> 1887), 57 Law J Rep. P.C. 2; L. R. 12 App.<br /> <br /> as. 326,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 109<br /> <br /> Kekewich, J., said it was an extremely difficult<br /> question, but he thought that the defendants’ title<br /> through the Steeds was obviously defective, as the<br /> Steeds had assigned to the plaintiffs ; while it was<br /> difficult to see how, at such a distance of time, the<br /> administrator of Charles Lamb could have any<br /> right in them at the date of his death. The com-<br /> mon law was perfectly clear up to a certain point<br /> that the writer of letters has a right to prevent<br /> their publication, but on the true construction of<br /> sect. 3 of the Copyright Act, 1842, he thought<br /> that the plaintiffs were entitled to succeed. He<br /> accordingly declared that the right of publishing<br /> these particular letters vested in the plaintiffs<br /> Smith, Elder &amp; Co., and ordered the defendants to<br /> render an account of profits and to pay the costs.<br /> <br /> —_____e—o—_+—____.<br /> <br /> SERIAL RIGHTS.<br /> <br /> —+—+—<br /> <br /> IR,—The following experience, through which<br /> I have just passed, may afford a useful<br /> warning to my fellow-writers.<br /> <br /> I offered the serial rights of astory [ was writing<br /> to an important provincial firm, who, when I had<br /> sent them the first half to read, replied that the<br /> story had already been offered to them by my<br /> agent.<br /> <br /> As the story was in the hands of no agent, I<br /> knew that the serial rights in question could have<br /> been offered by no one but a well-known publisher,<br /> who had asked me for a novel, and to whom T had<br /> in reply offered the volume rights of this same<br /> story.<br /> <br /> Inquiry proved that this publisher, whose name<br /> I will give to any writer who would like to know<br /> it, had been offering the serial rights of my novel,<br /> although he possessed no rights whatever in the<br /> story, and although the serial rights were not on<br /> offer to him.<br /> <br /> I also discovered that the provincial firm I have<br /> mentioned had been going from publisher to pub-<br /> lisher on the look-out for a strong serial story,<br /> surely a backstairs method of obtaining what they<br /> wanted, and little more to their credit than the<br /> action of the publisher himself was to his.<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> FLORENCE WARDEN.<br /> <br /> The letter which is printed above has been<br /> received at the society’s office.<br /> <br /> The subject is one which concerns all those<br /> members who are engaged in writing fiction, Serial<br /> rights, if properly managed, can be a source of very<br /> considerable income to members of the society,<br /> and in placing serial rights, the agent is perhaps<br /> of more use than in the disposal of any other kind<br /> <br /> <br /> 110<br /> <br /> of literary property. To place these rights in<br /> both Great Britain and the United States effec-<br /> tually and simultaneously is a matter very often of<br /> considerable difficulty even for a writer whose<br /> name is well-known. It is needless to repeat that<br /> the agent’s charge for placing these rights is, as a<br /> general rule, 10 per cent. for England and some-<br /> times 15 per cent. for the United States. Such<br /> remuneration, in the case of some authors, brings<br /> in a large return to the agent, and in these<br /> instances no doubt it would be as well to make a<br /> special contract with the agent on the matter, but<br /> though the agent charges 10 per cent., the pub-<br /> lisher charges from 25 to 50 per cent. on the nett<br /> returns if these rights are left to his disposition,<br /> and out of the hundreds of agreements that have<br /> come before the secretary he has never seen a lower<br /> charge in a publisher’s agreement for the placing<br /> of serial rights than 20 per cent. This is not the<br /> only difficulty that may arise by the author leaving<br /> these rights in the publisher’s hands. First, the<br /> author, in carelessly settling an agreement, often<br /> passes over this clause thinking it is merely formal,<br /> and that he is dealing with the publisher merely<br /> for the book publication. He finds the publication<br /> <br /> of his book delayed for twelve months and more<br /> owing to the publisher’s endeavour to obtain his<br /> 50 per cent. of the profits of the serialisation, and<br /> <br /> he thereby loses a valuable market. It may be of<br /> great importance that his book should appear at a<br /> fixed time. Secondly, publishers have not the<br /> facilities for placing serial rights that an agent has.<br /> If he is a good publisher, his time is too much<br /> taken up with his own business to attend to the<br /> sale of serial work, and vice versd if he is attending<br /> to the sale of serial work he is not attending to his<br /> proper business. Thirdly, it not infrequently<br /> happens that the author obtains an offer for the<br /> serial rights himself, and in these circumstances it<br /> is a great trial to be bound to pay the publisher<br /> 50 per cent. for doing nothing; but when the<br /> publisher acts as his own “ drummer ”—if we may<br /> use an expression borrowed from the United States<br /> —he is playing the game very low. This special<br /> feature, although it has been a cause of complaint<br /> against the agent, has never, hitherto, been a cause<br /> of complaint against the publisher. Agents not<br /> infrequently go round to publishers and editors and<br /> endeavour to obtain offers for authors who may, or<br /> may not, be their clients, and, if successful, place<br /> the offer before the author. This method of doing<br /> business may be of great advantage for authors who<br /> are their clients, but for authors who are not<br /> their clients it is very often a source of difficulty<br /> and danger. It is not necessary again to point<br /> out the disadvantage of dealing with agents in<br /> these circumstances. We desire to confine our-<br /> selves to publishers as agents, and to repeat that<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> authors cannot be too strongly advised not to<br /> leave the placing of their minor rights, 7.¢., serial<br /> rights, translation, and Continental rights, in the<br /> hands of the publisher.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> REGARDING SIMILAR NAMES.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> I HAVE read with very great interest the paper<br /> <br /> “Property in-a Mom de Plume,” and am<br /> <br /> wishful to venture upon a suggestion or<br /> two, if you can but spare me a little space.<br /> <br /> It seems to me, that whether “Rita” (Mrs.<br /> Humphreys) will be able to make good her claim<br /> to the exclusive use of her nom de plume or not,<br /> there is still something that must prove very un-<br /> satisfactory to the author in the present method of<br /> identifying himself with his books, merely by<br /> attaching thereto his name.<br /> <br /> I believe I am right in assuming that, should<br /> the writer of the “children’s pages” in some un-<br /> known publication prove that her surname is<br /> “ Rita,” no power could prevent her, should she<br /> so choose, from attaching that name to any work<br /> from her pen; and, even though she should be<br /> forced to prefix it by her initials, there would<br /> be always a large number of readers who would<br /> think merely that “ Rita” had taken to using the<br /> first letters of her christian names, so as to have<br /> her name distinguishable from the “ other” Rita.<br /> Then would rise among the members of the public<br /> another form of confusion. The question would<br /> be asked: “ Which is che ‘Rita’?” And some<br /> would answer: “The one without any initials.”<br /> But others, again, would reply, ‘“ ‘lhe one with the<br /> initials.” And the deuce himself would be<br /> bothered in the end to say which was which. Of<br /> course, I am aware that it is ridiculously im-<br /> probable that the new ‘ Rita” should prove to<br /> have made use of her own name, and I have but<br /> pre-supposed this to make clear my point.<br /> <br /> Leaving now the case of Mrs. Humphreys, all<br /> readers will be able to call to mind the confusion<br /> ot identity ensuing upon two writers, possessing<br /> the same name, making their appearance. ‘True,<br /> their initials may be different ; but to discriminate<br /> by means of initials is a work requiring some<br /> effort of memory, more than it is wise for an<br /> author to expect from the “big” public. Re-<br /> calling a few instances of authors possessing names<br /> alike, we have books from the pens of J. L. Allen<br /> —G. Allen; A. Barr—R. Barr; E. Castle—G.<br /> Castle; R. N. Carey—W. Carey; F. J. Fraser—<br /> Mrs. Fraser; A. K. Green—J. R. Green; J.<br /> Hocking—S. Hocking; A. Hope—G. Hope; F.<br /> Norris—W. E. Norris; ©. Russell—W. Russell—<br /> G. H. Russell ; H. G. Wells, and another Wells.<br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> I might go on and fill a page, but these are suffi-<br /> cient to show how confusing to the “big” public<br /> must be such similarity in names. Therefore, it<br /> seems to me that now, whilst this case of Mrs.<br /> Humphreys is before the Society, it might be a<br /> sensible thing to consider seriously some means<br /> that shall secure to authors a certainty of no one<br /> coming into the field in future and selling “ stuff”<br /> under, and often to the detriment of, some more<br /> renowned name.<br /> <br /> The expedient I have to suggest may seem some-<br /> what primitive, and some will cry out against the<br /> odour of trade which, at first, it will appear to<br /> carry; but, at least, let me put forth my idea.<br /> It is that each author, in addition to his name,<br /> have some distinguishing totem or mark, Thus,<br /> Kipling might print his name always with, say,<br /> a “camuel” or an elephant’s head alongside of it ;<br /> this last, indeed, being practically what Messrs.<br /> Macmillan are doing at the present time on the<br /> covers of his books. Bullen might distinguish<br /> himself—as he has done already in type—by means<br /> of a whale ; Mason by four feathers; H. G. Wells<br /> by means of a star; Cutcliffe Hyne by means of a<br /> kettle; and so forth. I imagine that each of<br /> these designs could be registered in the same<br /> way as a trade mark, and, therefore, confer upon<br /> <br /> their owners the right to take proceedings against<br /> <br /> any who should copy them. I would suggest that<br /> such totem or signation be printed not only on the<br /> covers of books, and at the heads of magazine<br /> stories and articles, but also at the heading of<br /> every chapter throughout a book, and in such<br /> wise the reader would become familiar with it,<br /> and associate it always with the author whom it<br /> identified. Further, that in all advertisements of<br /> a book or literary work, the totem be in evidence<br /> beside the author’s name.<br /> <br /> One thought more : editors of magazines might<br /> object to the trouble of preparing special blocks<br /> of the author’s totem—especially in the case of<br /> anunknown man. To obviate this, the author could<br /> have one or two made—they would cost very little<br /> —and send one to the editor of any periodical ac-<br /> cepting any of his stuff: of course, asking for its<br /> return.<br /> <br /> Such an expedient as I have suggested should<br /> prevent confusion, though a thousand Smiths,<br /> Browns, and Robinsons chose each of them to<br /> court immortality by that most fallible of methods<br /> —a book: One could go to the bookstall :<br /> <br /> “J want Smith’s latest book, please. Er—I’m<br /> afraid I’ve forgotten the title.”<br /> <br /> “Yes, sir—certainly. Perhaps you can re-<br /> member which Smith it is, sir?”<br /> <br /> ““Q yes; the Smith who always has a pair of<br /> tongs printed on the covers of his book.”<br /> <br /> “Very good, sir.”<br /> <br /> 111<br /> <br /> Then to small boy :<br /> <br /> “Tom, fetch down the last thing<br /> Smith’s.”<br /> <br /> And there you are.<br /> <br /> WinuraAm Hopr Hopason.<br /> <br /> of Tongs<br /> <br /> Nn aE EERIE<br /> <br /> MAGAZINE CONTENTS.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> BOOKMAN.<br /> <br /> Antonio in “The Merchant of Venice ”<br /> <br /> A Character Study. By Jane T. Stoddart.<br /> <br /> Classics of the Nursery: or the Development of Books<br /> for Boys and Girls. By Thomas Seccombe.<br /> <br /> Book MONTHLY.<br /> <br /> Ghosts of Yesterday, and Why They Are No More in<br /> <br /> Current English Fiction. By Hubert Bland.<br /> CHAMBERS’ JOURNAT..<br /> Rejected by the Publishers.<br /> <br /> CORNHILL.<br /> An Examination in English Literature.<br /> Canon Beeching.<br /> The Christmas Book.<br /> <br /> By the Rev.<br /> By Joseph Shaylor,<br /> <br /> CONTEMPORARY REVIEW.<br /> <br /> By G. G. Coulton.<br /> By Emma Marie<br /> <br /> Catholic Truth and Historical Truth.<br /> The Relation of ‘Theology to Religion.<br /> Caillard.<br /> <br /> FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW.<br /> <br /> René Bazin. By André Turquet.<br /> <br /> Jos¢—Maria de Heredia. By Thomas Seccombe and<br /> L. M. Brandin.<br /> <br /> Mr. Mallock on Knowledge and Belief.<br /> Lodge, LL.D.<br /> <br /> Three Scandinavian Schools of Composers.<br /> Keeton.<br /> <br /> By Sir Oliver<br /> By A. E.<br /> <br /> MACMILLAN’S MAGAZINE.<br /> <br /> The Catalogues of the Library of the British Museum.<br /> By Rudolf de Cordova.<br /> MONTH.<br /> By J.H Pallen.<br /> By the<br /> <br /> Edmund Campion’s History of Ireland.<br /> The Great Antiphons: Heralds of Christmas.<br /> Rey. Herbert Thurston.<br /> <br /> MONTHLY REVIEW.<br /> <br /> Public School Education. By A. C. Benson.<br /> Italian Painting in the Prado Gallery.<br /> Hutton.<br /> <br /> By Edward<br /> <br /> NATIONAL REVIEW.<br /> Modern Biblical Criticism and the Pulpit.<br /> Rey. R. J. Campbell.<br /> NINETEENTH CENTURY.<br /> <br /> Some Aspects of the Stage. By Adolphus Vane Tempest.<br /> The Deans and the Athanasian Creed. By the Rey. W.<br /> Crouch.<br /> <br /> By the<br /> <br /> PALL MALL MAGAZINE.<br /> <br /> British Musical Progress. By Frederick Norman.<br /> Modern Ceramic Art.<br /> <br /> (There are no articles dealing with Literary, Dramatic,<br /> or Musical Subjects in Blackwood’s Magazine or Temple<br /> Bar.)<br /> <br /> <br /> 112<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS<br /> OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> eo<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> <br /> | | agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property :—<br /> <br /> I. Selling it Outright.<br /> <br /> This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be<br /> obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a<br /> competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of<br /> the Society.<br /> <br /> Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement).<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <br /> (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the<br /> profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements<br /> in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-<br /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <br /> III. The Royalty System.<br /> <br /> This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form<br /> of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know<br /> what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now<br /> possible for an author to ascertain approximately the<br /> truth. From time to time very important figures connected<br /> with royalties are published in Zhe Author.<br /> <br /> IY. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> Allother forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> means.<br /> <br /> (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong<br /> to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the<br /> nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or<br /> withheld.<br /> <br /> (3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.<br /> <br /> —_+——_e__——__<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> —— oe —<br /> <br /> EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the<br /> Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-<br /> petent legal authority.<br /> <br /> 2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for<br /> the production of a play with anyone except an established<br /> manager.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THR AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 8. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays<br /> in three or more acts :—<br /> <br /> (a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This<br /> is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into<br /> such a contract should stipulate in the contract<br /> for production of the piece by a certain date<br /> and for proper publication of his name on the<br /> play-bills.<br /> <br /> (b.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to<br /> perform on the basis of percentages on<br /> gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5<br /> and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a<br /> percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum inadvance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to<br /> perform on the basis of royalties (‘.c., fixed<br /> nightly fees). This method should be always<br /> avoided except in cases where the fees are<br /> likely to be small or difficult to collect. The<br /> other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply<br /> also in this case.<br /> <br /> 4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is<br /> better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum<br /> paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely<br /> important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should<br /> be reserved.<br /> <br /> 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can<br /> be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and<br /> time. This is most important.<br /> <br /> 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but<br /> should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is<br /> of great importance.<br /> <br /> 7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a<br /> play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager<br /> holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot<br /> print the book of the words.<br /> <br /> 8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-<br /> ingly valuable. They should never be included in English<br /> agreements without the author obtaining a substantial<br /> consideration.<br /> <br /> 9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully<br /> drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.<br /> <br /> 10. An author should remember that production of a play<br /> is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of<br /> delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.<br /> He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in<br /> the beginning.<br /> <br /> 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market<br /> is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object<br /> is to obtain adequate publication.<br /> <br /> As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on<br /> account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-<br /> tracts, those authors desirous of further information<br /> are referred to the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> —__————_e—&gt;—_e__—_<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the<br /> assistance of producers of books and dramatic<br /> authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as<br /> <br /> a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical —<br /> composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-<br /> cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic<br /> property. The musical composer has very often the two<br /> rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> should be especially careful therefore when entering into<br /> an agreement, and should take into particular consideration<br /> the warnings stated above.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> +-—&lt;—__+—___—__<br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —_1—~&lt;&gt;—+ —<br /> <br /> ve VERY member has a right toask for and to receive<br /> <br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> <br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. The<br /> Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any<br /> special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the<br /> Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they<br /> deem it desirable, will obtain counsel&#039;s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> <br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-<br /> ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use<br /> the Society.<br /> <br /> 3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The<br /> Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new<br /> or old, for inspection and note. The information thus<br /> obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> <br /> 4, Before signing any agreement whatever, send<br /> the document to the Society for examination.<br /> <br /> 5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society<br /> you are*fighting the battles of other writers, even if you<br /> are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are<br /> advancing the best interests of your calling in promoting<br /> the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.<br /> <br /> 6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception<br /> of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-<br /> proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as<br /> confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,<br /> who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :<br /> —(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give<br /> advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements<br /> in readiness for a possible action upon them, (3) To keep<br /> agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to<br /> agreements. Fuller particulars of the Society’s work<br /> can be obtained in the Prospectus.<br /> <br /> 7. No contract should be entered into with a literary<br /> agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.<br /> Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful<br /> consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to<br /> them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit<br /> them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary<br /> of the Society.<br /> <br /> 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This<br /> must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The<br /> Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.<br /> <br /> 9. Some agents endeayour to prevent authors from<br /> referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so<br /> do some publishers. Members can make their own<br /> deductions and act accordingly.<br /> <br /> 10. The subscription to the Society is £1 4s. per<br /> annum, or £10 10s for life membership.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 113<br /> <br /> TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.<br /> <br /> —_-———_<br /> <br /> HE Society undertakes to stamp copies of music on<br /> behalf of its members for the fee of 6d. per 100 or<br /> part of 100. The members’ stamps are kept in the<br /> <br /> Society’s safe. The musical publishers communicate direct<br /> with the Secretary, and the voucher is then forwarded to<br /> the members, who are thus saved much unnecessary trouble.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> —-+&gt;+<br /> <br /> MEMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this<br /> M branch of its work by informing young writers<br /> of its existence. ‘Their MSS. can be read and<br /> treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term<br /> MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry<br /> and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under<br /> special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The<br /> Readers are writers of competence and experience. The<br /> fee is one guinea.<br /> —___—_-—_@—+_____-<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —_+—+—_<br /> <br /> YT | Editor of Zhe Author begs to remind members of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> the Society that, although the paper is sent to them<br /> <br /> free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a<br /> very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 5s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> <br /> Communications for “The Author” should be addressed<br /> to the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, §.W., and should reach the Editor not later than the<br /> 21st of each month.<br /> <br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind,<br /> whether members of the Society or not, are invited to<br /> communicate to the Editor any points connected with their<br /> work which it would be advisable in the general interest to<br /> publish.<br /> <br /> Communications and letters are invited by the<br /> Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on<br /> no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to<br /> return articles which cannot be accepted.<br /> <br /> soe<br /> <br /> The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice<br /> that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,<br /> and he requests members who do not receive an<br /> answer to important communications within two days to<br /> write to him without delay. All remittances should be<br /> crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent<br /> by registered letter only.<br /> <br /> —_——_____—_&gt;_o—___—_<br /> <br /> LEGAL AND GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE<br /> SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —1—~—+—<br /> <br /> ENSIONS to commence at any selected age,<br /> either with or without Life Assurance, can<br /> be obtained from this society.<br /> <br /> Full particulars can be obtained from the City<br /> Branch Manager, Legal and General Life Assurance<br /> Society, 158, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 114 THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> AUTHORITIES.<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> E regret to hear that Mr. George Meredith,<br /> the President of the Society, was unable<br /> to attend the King’s Investiture at Buck-<br /> <br /> ingham Palace, owing to the fact that he had not<br /> sufficiently recovered from the accident which<br /> occurred to him some little time ago. It is with<br /> much pleasure, however, that we see the Order of<br /> Merit, with the insignia and the warrant, was, by<br /> the command of his Majesty, officially conveyed to<br /> Mr. Meredith at Box Hill, Dorking.<br /> <br /> We see that Mr. E. Marston has been writing<br /> to the Times concerning the book trade in the<br /> Australian market. ‘<br /> <br /> It is common property that the Australians have<br /> drafted, and are pushing forward, a Copyright<br /> Bill; but it would not only be inexpedient, but<br /> impossible, to discuss it at the present time. The<br /> question Mr. Marston raises, however, is really one<br /> of contract between the American and Australian<br /> booksellers. It would be quite possible for an<br /> American publisher to publish simultaneously in<br /> America and Australia, thus securing the British<br /> copyright, and then sell a licence to publish for<br /> the Australian colonies, and retain a further licence<br /> for England, Canada, and other portions of the<br /> world should he think fit. Mr. Marston says:<br /> “ According to the present law there is absolutely<br /> nothing to prevent an American publisher or<br /> author selling his copyright to an Australian<br /> publisher in Sydney, and, by publishing there<br /> first, secure for himself copyright throughout the<br /> British dominions ; but then, of course, he cannot<br /> sell to an English publisher as well—that would<br /> be selling his copyright twice over.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Marston seems to have forgotten the fact<br /> that once the American publisher or author has<br /> secured the copyright, it is not essential that he<br /> should sell his whole copyright to the Australian<br /> publisher, but, as we have suggested, he may<br /> merely sell a limited licence to publish. In the<br /> same way, it is not an uncommon thing for an<br /> English author, when he has once secured his<br /> copyright, to make separate contracts for Canada,<br /> for the United States, and sometimes, even, for<br /> Australia and India.<br /> <br /> It is possible that the whole copyright question<br /> may be before the public at no distant date, when<br /> Mr. Marston will have ample opportunity of dis-<br /> cussing the points to which he refers.<br /> <br /> For many years past we have had our eye on<br /> the third section of the Copyright Act of 1842,<br /> <br /> which, referring to works published after the death<br /> of their author, runs as follows :—<br /> <br /> ‘And the copyright of every book which shall be pub-<br /> lished after the death of its author shall endure for the term<br /> of forty-two years from the publication thereof, and shall<br /> be the property of the proprietor of the author’s manuscript<br /> from which such book shall be first published, and his<br /> assigns.”<br /> <br /> Often has it been the custom for the personal<br /> representatives, trusting to the common law right<br /> of an author, and therefore, after his decease of<br /> his personal representatives, to control the right<br /> to publish unpublished work, to insist upon<br /> the right of sanctioning, or withholding their<br /> sanction, from the publication of letters. It was<br /> not long ago that a case came before the secretary<br /> of the society in which one of its members held<br /> the MS. of a deceased author, and his right to<br /> publish the same was disputed, on the ground<br /> that the right of publication was vested in the<br /> personal representatives. This case referred to a<br /> completed MS., and not to letters. The secretary<br /> of the society, advised that the right of publication<br /> rested with the member under section 3, the<br /> statutory right overruling the common law right.<br /> But as no judgment existed on the point, it was<br /> decided to take counsel’s opinion, and counsel’s<br /> opinion supported the view of the secretary. This<br /> interpretation of the Act has now been confirmed.<br /> Mr. Justice Kekewich appears by his decision to<br /> hold that section 3 embraces not only MSS., but<br /> also letters.<br /> <br /> It would be satisfactory, however, if the matter<br /> were carried to a higher court, as there is no<br /> doubt that the decision will upset the view of the<br /> law which many have adopted.<br /> <br /> We see that the Daily Mail for December 7th<br /> states : “‘ Mr. Macgillivray lays it down, copyright<br /> is personal property, and descends on the death of<br /> the owner to his personal representatives. That<br /> view had been generally held and acted upon.”<br /> <br /> The writer in the Datiy Mail has mistaken the<br /> position. The decision given in Mr. Justice<br /> Kekewich’s court does not alter Mr. Macgillivray’s<br /> statement in the least. The question is, whether<br /> the right to sanction the publication of MSS.<br /> unpublished at the author’s death lies with the<br /> personal representatives or with the owner of the<br /> MSS. This is not copyright—copyright being<br /> entirely a creature of statute. It has now been<br /> decided that the common law right which was<br /> supposed to exist in the personal representatives,<br /> enabling them to sanction or to withhold their<br /> sanction for publication, is overriden in the par-<br /> ticular case, Macmillan v. Dent, by section 8 of the<br /> statute of 1842, quoted above. Mr. Macgillivray’s<br /> statement still holds good, for since the property<br /> becomes copyright under the statute by the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> publication of the letters or MS. in the possession of<br /> a person after the decease of the author, the property<br /> will descend to his personal representatives as<br /> personal property. By the kindness of the Editor<br /> of the Law Journal we are printing a report of the<br /> case ; but we hope to print in a later issue the full<br /> judgment, of which we have been unable to obtain<br /> a copy for this issue.<br /> <br /> We thought that the half-profit agreement had<br /> died a natural death many years ago, but, like the<br /> hardy annual, it seems to come up again and<br /> again.<br /> <br /> One publishing house in particular, by no means<br /> the least of the publishing houses of England in<br /> its own and the public’s reputation, is continually<br /> putting forward this method of publication, and<br /> from the number of half-profit agreements that<br /> have come recently before the secretary, seems<br /> to publish an increasing number of books on<br /> this basis. The publishers state that they<br /> advise this form of agreement, and that it is a<br /> satisfactory form for the author. The usual<br /> consequence follows : the result is unsatisfactory<br /> to the author. It cannot be repeated too often<br /> that the difference in the profits of an author<br /> publishing under the half-profit agreement, and<br /> those of an author publishing under the royalty<br /> agreement, is extraordinary, though both forms of<br /> agreement seem to pay the publisher equally well.<br /> In addition the accounts are complicated and<br /> difficult to understand, and cannot fail to give rise<br /> to an uneasy feeling in the author’s mind. For<br /> the author is absolutely ignorant of the cost of<br /> production and methods of advertisement, and<br /> those items which should be settled to the minutest<br /> detail before the contract is signed, in order to<br /> assist the author in calculating his possible returns,<br /> are generally left in the hands of the publisher,<br /> and come as ashock to the author’s system only<br /> when the first accounts are rendered. We regret<br /> having to publish this warning against the half-<br /> profit agreement once more, as we had hoped that<br /> publishers anxious for their own reputation, and<br /> the Publishers’ Association, would have finally<br /> discarded it.<br /> <br /> —_ +4 —<br /> <br /> THE PENSION FUND COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> i order to give members of the society, should<br /> they desire to appoint a fresh member to the<br /> Pension Fund Committee, full time to act,<br /> <br /> it has been thought advisable to place in The Author<br /> <br /> a complete statement of the method of election<br /> <br /> under the scheme for administration of the Pension<br /> <br /> Fund. Under that scheme the committee is com-<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 115<br /> <br /> posed of three members elected by the committee<br /> of the society, three members elected by the society<br /> at the general meeting, and the chairman of the<br /> society for the time being, ez-officio. The three<br /> members elected at the general meeting when the<br /> fund was started were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.<br /> M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie. These<br /> have in turn during the past three years resigned,<br /> and, submitting their names for re-election, have<br /> been unanimously re-elected. This year Mr.<br /> Morley Roberts again, under the rules of the<br /> scheme, tenders his resignation and submits his<br /> name for re-election. The members have power to<br /> put forward other names under clause 9, which<br /> runs as follows :—<br /> <br /> Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-<br /> mittee by the members of the society (not being a retiring<br /> member of such committee) shall be nominated in writing<br /> to the secretary at least three weeks prior to the general<br /> meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and the<br /> nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed by<br /> at least three members of the society. A list of the names<br /> of the candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members<br /> of the society, with the annual report of the Managing<br /> Committee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes<br /> at the general meeting shall be elected to serve on the<br /> Pension Fund Committee.<br /> <br /> In case any member should desire to refer to the<br /> list of members, a copy, with the exception of<br /> those members referred to in the note at the<br /> beginning, can be obtained at the society’s office.<br /> This list, dated 1902, owing to the small demand,<br /> has not been re-edited, and is, therefore, not<br /> absolutely accurate. A further list of the elections<br /> for 1903 was published in separate form, and all<br /> further elections have been duly notified in 7he<br /> Author. They can easily be referred to, as all<br /> members receive a copy every month.<br /> <br /> Tt would be as well, therefore, should any of the<br /> members desire to put forward a candidate, to take<br /> the matter within their immediate consideration.<br /> The general meeting of the society has usually<br /> been held towards the end of February or the<br /> beginning of March. It is essential that all nomi-<br /> nations should be in the hands of the secretary<br /> before the 31st of January, 1906.<br /> <br /> —+—~&lt;+ —<br /> <br /> SIR RICHARD JEBB.<br /> <br /> ———~<br /> <br /> IR RICHARD JEBB was not, I am told, a<br /> member of our Society; but our Society,<br /> none the less, owes, and will pay, its tribute<br /> <br /> to the memory of an author who was, unquestion-<br /> ably, the greatest classical scholar of his generation,<br /> not in England only, but in the world.<br /> <br /> The justest appreciation of Jebb’s work will<br /> 116<br /> <br /> perhaps be to say that it combined what are gener-<br /> ally considered the distinctive merits of Cambridge<br /> and Oxford scholarship. We look, as a rule, to<br /> Cambridge for technical perfection in the craft of<br /> scholarship ;_ to Oxford for its use in fruitful<br /> association with polite learning of other kinds.<br /> In “ pure ” scholarship of the Cambridge sort Jebb<br /> had no equal. He particularly excelled in those<br /> ingenious exercises in composition which are the<br /> supreme test of scholarship—those “tours de<br /> force” in which so many Cambridge scholars have<br /> found their favourite recreation. Benjamin Hall<br /> Kennedy’srendering into Latinelegiacs of a circular<br /> calling a meeting of a Sanitary Board is perhaps<br /> the best known production of the kind. Jebb’s<br /> reproduction of “ Abt Vogler.” as a Pindaric Ode<br /> ranks, not with it, but above it. Mastery of the<br /> Greek language could go no further. The feat<br /> astonished Jebb’s contemporaries ; it would doubt-<br /> less have astonished Pindar. As an example of<br /> his skill in composition of a more conventional<br /> order, one is tempted to quote his version of,<br /> “ Home they brought her warrior dead” :—<br /> <br /> Mortuus a bello sua fertur in atria miles ;<br /> Nec fluit ad terram sponsa, nec ore gemit.<br /> Aspiciunt, unfque canunt hee voce puelle :<br /> “A! fleat, est lacrimis, ne moriatur, opus.”<br /> Inde viri repetunt, submisso murmure, laudes :<br /> “ Dignus erat,” narrant, “quem sequeretur amor ;<br /> Fidus amicitiis, ipsos generosus is hostes.”<br /> Illa tamen nullos dat stupefacta sonos.<br /> Labitur e mediis nota statione puellis<br /> Et leviter gradiens nympha cadaver adit. &gt;<br /> Demovet a rigido feralem sindona vultu ;<br /> Tia tamen siccis torpet, ut ante, genis.<br /> Surgit ibi ter sex lustris jam consita nutrix,<br /> In gremium pignus dat puerile viri.<br /> Imber ut aestivus, rupit pia lacrima fontes——<br /> “Tu, puer, in vita cur morer,” inquit, “ eris.”<br /> <br /> Scholars of Jebb’s high mark are generally<br /> scholars and nothing more. Jebb was a man of<br /> letters also. Even when he merely edited<br /> “Sophocles” for schools, the man of letters stood<br /> revealed. Many of us can date our delight in the<br /> literature of Greece from the moment when his<br /> “ Ajax” was first put into our hands. Afterwards, as<br /> all the world knows, he edited ‘‘Sophocles” for<br /> scholars, and, at a stroke, superseded all the earlier<br /> editions. His translations were as eloquent as<br /> Jowett’s, while they were also distinguished by an<br /> accuracy to which Jowett did not pretend—or, at<br /> all events, did not attain. His volume on Bentley<br /> in the “English Men of Letters Series” showed<br /> humour and humanity as well as erudition. No<br /> man could have represented Cambridge more<br /> fittingly, whether in the Commons’ House of Parlia-<br /> ment or in the select ranks of the recently<br /> constituted Order of Merit.<br /> <br /> FRANCIS GRIBBLE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> UNITED STATES NOTES.<br /> <br /> —+—— + —<br /> <br /> HOUGH we have not as yet before us definite<br /> data as to the complete year, it may be<br /> asserted without hesitation that the output<br /> <br /> of books during 1905 has been one of the largest on<br /> record. ‘There is an increase of a third over last<br /> year’s aggregate of full publications ; and the list is<br /> the largest of any recent year since 1901. Some of<br /> these books, such as Mrs. Pennell’s Life of Charles<br /> Godfrey Leland, will, no doubt, overflow into next<br /> year ; but, with all such deductions, the sum total<br /> is almost unprecedented.<br /> <br /> Mr. Henry James and Mrs. Craigie have<br /> renewed their acquaintance with America; and<br /> we have also had visits from England, by Mrs.<br /> Humphry Ward and Mr. Jerome K. Jerome.<br /> Mrs. Ward has not as yet, so far as we can<br /> remember, portrayed an American, so that one<br /> awaits results with some degree of curiosity.<br /> <br /> An interesting subject for comparison is Mr.<br /> James’s “English Hours,” and Mr. W. D. Howell’s<br /> “London Films,” though the former is not new.<br /> Both will be appreciated by some who do not<br /> invariably relish the fictional methods of these<br /> distinguished writers. Mr. James has also pub-<br /> lished his lectures upon Balzac and his Bryn<br /> Mawr deliverance, “ The Question of Our Speech,”<br /> both of which contain some highly suggestive<br /> criticism.<br /> <br /> We are glad to fancy that we can discern some<br /> revival of the Essay, not only from the above<br /> instances, but in others, like Dr. Van Dyke&#039;s<br /> graceful “Essays in Application,” Prof. Trent’s<br /> “Greatness in Literature,” and the “ Shelburne<br /> <br /> Essays” of Paul Elmer-More, not to mention any:<br /> <br /> more. And in this connection we should like to<br /> testify our appreciation of an article written for the<br /> Dial by Mr. Charles Leonard Moore upon “Style<br /> in Literature.” Though he has some unkind<br /> remarks upon the English language, maintaining,<br /> in fact, that “the great mass of our words are low<br /> or indifferent,’ amends are made by the contention<br /> that words in themselves have very little to do<br /> with the evolution of style, in which English is<br /> pre-eminent. This last is the main thesis, and it<br /> is admirably sustained.<br /> <br /> The President has enriched the literature of<br /> sport by his “Outdoor Pastimes of an American<br /> Hunter,” thus adding another item to the long and<br /> varied catalogue of his literary achievements. Bear<br /> hunting in Colorado, wolf hunting in Oklahoma,<br /> hunting with cougar hounds, and the chase of the<br /> prong-buck, are amongst its most fascinating<br /> chapters.<br /> <br /> Mr. John Burroughs appeals to the nature lover<br /> rather than the sportsman in his “ Ways of Nature.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (he<br /> <br /> ila<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> He does not believe in animal psychology, and<br /> advises writers to humanise their facts if they can,<br /> but to “leave the dog a dog and the straddle-bug<br /> a straddle-bug.” This is not exactly the method of<br /> Mr. Thompson Seton ; and had he followed it,<br /> what would have remained of Mr. Charles Roberts’s<br /> remarkable “ biography,” “Red Fox”?<br /> <br /> Ornithologists and others will be delighted with<br /> the sumptuous record which Mr. C. William Beebe<br /> has published of the quest of himself and his wife<br /> after birds in Mexico. ‘Iwo other notable out-<br /> door books of the season are William J. Long’s<br /> “Northern Trails,” and animal stories, called<br /> collectively ‘“‘The Race of the Swift,” by Edwin C.<br /> Litsey, which excel both in observation and<br /> descriptive power.<br /> <br /> The controversy about the commercialisation of<br /> Literature is still raging in various quarters. One<br /> hopes that some good may be the outcome, at least<br /> to the public. The contestants themselves blink<br /> certain facts : on the one side, that books are and<br /> must be bought and sold, if authors are to live, on<br /> the other, that good taste counts for something in<br /> the eyes of those who have even a modicum of<br /> culture, not to speak of intelligence.<br /> <br /> We note the first conviction under the new copy-<br /> right law, as having occurred in the United States<br /> District Court at Keokuk, Ia., on October 29th.<br /> James L. Glass was found guilty of producing a<br /> play on which a theatrical manager of Minneapolis<br /> held copyright.<br /> <br /> In its October number, the Bookman asserted<br /> that a certain popular motor-novel was “ frankly<br /> and flatly the advertisement of a make of auto-<br /> mobile, of an automobile tyre, and of a toilet soap,”<br /> and further, that a suit had been brought by a<br /> German firm of motor-manufacturers against the<br /> authors in connection with certain disparagements<br /> of their machine in the novel. We are happy to<br /> say that all these charges were unfounded ; and<br /> the periodical makes full amends this month for its<br /> unusual lapse. It is at present running “ A Motor<br /> Car Divorce” through its own pages as a serial ;<br /> so far there has been more of the motor than the<br /> divorce.<br /> <br /> America has had the distinction of introducing<br /> to the English-speaking world the author of<br /> “Peer Gynt” and “Brand” as a letter-writer.<br /> The late Dr. Albert Bielschowsky’s great life of<br /> Goethe has also been translated by an American,<br /> Dr. W. A. Cooper, the first section of whose work<br /> has appeared within the past month.<br /> <br /> Of international importance is also Captain<br /> Mahan’s last work on the War of 1812, also,<br /> perhaps, Poultney Bigelow’s “ The German<br /> Struggle for Liberty,” the issue of the fourth<br /> volume of which completes the work.<br /> <br /> Of scarcely less rank will be held Dr. John<br /> <br /> Ti%<br /> <br /> Basset Moore’s “ American Diplomacy, its Spirit<br /> and Achievements,” and Prof. Breasted’s “ History<br /> of Egypt”; whilst W. W. Rockhill’s ‘* China’s<br /> Intercourse with Corea,” and the ‘General<br /> Sociology,” issued by the Chicago Press for<br /> Prof. Albion W. Small, have far more than a<br /> national interest. From the same quarter comes<br /> Prof. Milyoukov’s timely “Lectures on Russian<br /> Civilisation.”<br /> <br /> A second volume of Prof. Dunning’s useful<br /> and well-written work on the “History of<br /> Political Theories” has appeared. It extends<br /> from Luther to Montesquieu, and includes sum-<br /> maries of the political doctrines of Bodin, Grotius,<br /> Hobbes, the Catholic Controversialists, the English<br /> Puritan Philosophers, and Locke.<br /> <br /> Mr. Geo. H. Warner’s study of the Semitic<br /> problem, “ The Jewish Spectre,” is an indictment<br /> of theocracy rather than an attack upon its votaries.<br /> It is full of varied information, and bristles with<br /> controversial matter, but does not advance the<br /> question far.<br /> <br /> Dr. Frank J. Goodnow’s “ Principles of<br /> the Administrative Law of the United States”<br /> is an important contribution to its subjects,<br /> designed not only for jurists and students of law,<br /> but also for those actually engaged in official work.<br /> <br /> Amongst biographical works of strong interest<br /> we would single out Mrs. Bayard Taylor&#039;s “On<br /> Two Continents,” and Thos. Wentworth Hig-<br /> ginson’s “ Parts of a Man’s Life.” The author<br /> of the former is the translater of “ Faust’s”<br /> second wife, née Marie Hansen. She gives us<br /> portraits of Thackeray, Horace Greeley, and<br /> George P. Putnam, amongst other celebrities, and<br /> relates anecdotes of Browning and Bret Harte.<br /> Col. Higginson’s medley of reminiscence and<br /> reflection will prove of interest to readers in two<br /> continents. The volume, which has a decidedly<br /> optimistic tone, contains interesting comparisons<br /> of Englishmen and Americans based on a wide<br /> personal knowledge of both, and some outspoken<br /> criticism of Herbert Spencer. Then there are<br /> volumes on Lowell and Blaine, by Ferris Greenslet<br /> and Edward Stanwood ; and the first complete life<br /> of Sidney Lanier, which comes from the pen of<br /> Edwin Mim. “The True Andrew Jackson,” by<br /> Cyrus Townsend Brady, is a careful study of<br /> another American worthy.<br /> <br /> A work of some authority upon an important<br /> subject, is Charles A. Conant’s “ Principles of<br /> Money and Banking.”<br /> <br /> Randell Parrish’s “Historic Illinois’ may be<br /> commended to students of American history,<br /> together with George Wharton James’s account of<br /> the Franciscan missions of California.<br /> <br /> Probably the most significant publications<br /> concerning art are 8. Isham’s “ History of<br /> 118<br /> <br /> American Painting,” and Kenyon Cox’s “Old<br /> Masters and New.”<br /> <br /> Coming to fiction, we have had new works from<br /> Mrs. Wharton, Mrs. Atherton, M. E. Wilkins,<br /> and R. W. Chambers, besides Mark Twain’s<br /> “« Rditorial Wild Oats,” and the inevitable Marion<br /> Crawford novel.<br /> <br /> “The House of Mirth,” a relentless study of<br /> New York society, from the point of view of one<br /> of its victims, will, we think, fully maintain its<br /> author’s reputation ; whether the same can be said<br /> for “The Travelling Thirds” of Mrs. Atherton<br /> is more doubtful. Mrs. Wilkins Freeman, and that<br /> best of American romancers, Mr. Chambers, are as<br /> excellent as ever in their different ways.<br /> <br /> There is a new “ Uncle Remus” book for young<br /> and old ; and Kate Douglas Wiggin has renewed<br /> her hold upon her public with her charming “‘ Roge<br /> o’ the River.”<br /> <br /> Booth Tarkington has probably never done any-<br /> thing better than his ‘‘ Conquest of Canaan” ; and<br /> Emerson Hough’s “ Heart’s Desire,” is a capital<br /> western story with plenty of atmosphere.<br /> <br /> “The Edge of Circumstance,” by Edward Noble,<br /> is a strong sea story.<br /> <br /> There is originality in “The Ballingtons,” by<br /> Frances Squire, a new writer, if we mistake not.<br /> <br /> James Huneker’s short stories, labelled ‘ Vision-<br /> aries,” will be judged morbid by some readers and<br /> praised as uncommon by others ; they are, at any<br /> rate not to be set down as conventional.<br /> <br /> The author of “ The Plum Tree” has written a<br /> story of “high and frenzied finance” in his new<br /> work, “The New Deluge,” but has skilfully inter-<br /> woven it with love interest.<br /> <br /> We could enumerate many another novel,<br /> displaying unusual talent, but must conclude the<br /> catalogue with ‘‘ Shakespeare’s Sweetheart,” which<br /> purports to be Anne Hathaway’s love story, written<br /> by herself, deposited in the hands of Ben Jonson,<br /> and recently discovered among old archives !<br /> <br /> An English novel holds the highest place in the<br /> most recently compiled list of ‘ best-sellers,” Mr.<br /> McCutcheon’s newest story “Nedra” coming<br /> second, with Mrs. Wharton and Kate Douglas<br /> Wiggin taking the next two. places. We con-<br /> gratulate the author of “The House of Mirth”<br /> upon her popularity.<br /> <br /> America has had to mourn this year a heavy loss,<br /> both to her literature and her statesmanship, in the<br /> death of Mr. John Hay, upon whose achievements<br /> we need not dwell here. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge,<br /> who died in the succeeding month, was a lesser light<br /> in the firmament. But her Dutch story, “ Hans<br /> Brinker,” endeared her to more than one genera-<br /> tion of children, and her recently published<br /> “ Poems and Verses” had some success, whilst she<br /> did good service as editor of St. Nicholas.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> There have been no other recent losses of note ;<br /> but the year which has seen the death of “ Rip Van<br /> Winkle” and the author of the “Pike Country<br /> Ballads,” as well as Lafcadio Hearn and Laurence<br /> Hutton, has left sad gaps in American literature<br /> and art. Just before going to press we heard of<br /> the death of Henry Harland, one of the select<br /> band of what may be called Anglo-American<br /> authors. “The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box” alone would<br /> have assured him a niche in the temple of fame.<br /> <br /> —_+-~&lt;— —_<br /> <br /> PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ON COPYRIGHT<br /> LEGISLATION.<br /> <br /> —— &gt;<br /> <br /> (The following is quoted from the American Publishers’<br /> Weekly of December 9th, 1905.)<br /> <br /> RESIDENT ROOSEVELT in his annual<br /> message, transmitted to Congress on De-<br /> cember 5th, refers to the United States<br /> <br /> copyright laws as follows :<br /> <br /> “*QOur copyright laws urgently need revision.<br /> They are imperfect in definition, confused and<br /> inconsistent in expression ; they omit provision<br /> for many articles which, under modern reproduc-<br /> tive processes are entitled to protection; they<br /> impose hardships upon the copyright proprietor<br /> which are not essential to the fair protection of<br /> the public ; they are difficult for the courts to<br /> interpret and impossible for the Copyright Office<br /> to administer with satisfaction to the public.<br /> Attempts to improve them by amendment have<br /> been frequent, no less than twelve Acts for the<br /> purpose having been passed since the Revised<br /> Statutes. To perfect them by further amendment<br /> seems impracticable. A complete revision of them<br /> is essential. Such a revision, to meet modern<br /> conditions, has been found necessary in Germany,<br /> Austria, Sweden, and other foreign countries, and<br /> bills embodying it are pending in England and<br /> the Australian colonies. It has been urged here,<br /> and proposals for a commission to undertake it<br /> have, from time to time, been pressed upon the<br /> Congress. The inconveniences of the present con-<br /> ditions being so great, an attempt to frame appro-<br /> priate legislation has been made by the Copyright<br /> Office, which has called conferences of thé various<br /> interests especially and practically concerned with<br /> the operation of the copyright laws. It has secured<br /> from them suggestions as to the changes necessary :<br /> it has added from its own experience and investiga-<br /> tions, and it has drafted a bill which embodies<br /> such of these changes and additions as, after full<br /> discussion and expert criticism, appeared to be<br /> sound and safe. In form this bill would replace<br /> the existing insufficient and inconsistent laws by<br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> one general copyright statute. It will be presented<br /> to the Congress at the coming session. It deserves<br /> prompt consideration.<br /> <br /> 999<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> ANTHONY TROLLOPE.<br /> <br /> ane<br /> J. THe WaGce-EARNER.<br /> <br /> OME few years ago a well-known man of<br /> letters, writing of Victorian novelists, gave<br /> it as his opinion that among disappearing<br /> <br /> authors must be included Charles Reade, Charles<br /> Lever, and Anthony Trollope. This statement<br /> must not be allowed to pass unchallenged ; for<br /> Reade must surely endure, by virtue of the great<br /> historical romance, “The Cloister and the<br /> Hearth,” and the delightful, pathetic “¢ Christie<br /> Johnstone”; and it is inconceivable that the<br /> world will be content to let die the rollicking,<br /> madcap stories of “Harry Lorrequer.” These<br /> writers were fully appreciated during their lifetime<br /> —indeed, in the case of some of their books, they<br /> may have been over-praised—and the adverse criti-<br /> cism to which they have since been subjected may,<br /> perhaps, be attributed to the apparently inevitable<br /> reaction./ Every writer has his ups and downs in<br /> the estimation of the generations immediately<br /> succeeding his own; but of all the mighty none<br /> have fallen so low as Anthony Trollope. His has<br /> been the worst fate that can befall a writer; he<br /> has not been abused, he has been ignored. He is<br /> not disappearing : he has disappeared ; and reaction<br /> alone cannot satisfactorily account for the lowly<br /> position he occupies to-day, with few so poor as to<br /> do him reverence. Indeed, so entirely have his<br /> books gone out of fashion that, in this age of<br /> reprints, when an attempt is made to galvanise<br /> into life the works of Mrs. Aphra Behn and<br /> Mr. R. M. Bird, it is impossible to obtain a set of<br /> his best books. Trollope’s most ardent admirers<br /> would not ask, nor could they desire, a complete<br /> edition of his writings. His books of travel, ‘The<br /> West Indies,” “ North America,” “ Australia,” and<br /> “New Zealand,” and “South Africa,” may be<br /> allowed to sink into oblivion ; and with them may<br /> go the monograph on Cicero, and that work to which<br /> Dean Merivale referred as “your comic Ceasar.”<br /> It is as a novelist Trollope has come down to us,<br /> and it is as a novelist he will live for posterity. .~<br /> He wrote much, far too much ; and many, nay,<br /> the majority, of his stories may be put aside. His<br /> industry was prodigious, and in quantity he<br /> rivalled another author who to-day also does not<br /> receive his full share of praise—Bulwer Lytton.<br /> “ T feel confident,” Trollope said, speaking of the<br /> years 1859 to 1871, “that in amount no other writer<br /> <br /> 119<br /> <br /> contributed so much during that time to English<br /> literature.” The truth of his remark cannot be<br /> gainsaid, and the output is the more remarkable<br /> in so much as during this period he was a busy<br /> Civil servant. The secret of his prolixity is that<br /> he never waited for the spirit to move him. The<br /> mere word “inspiration ” aroused his ire ; and for<br /> the men who thought they could work only when<br /> “inspired ” his contempt was boundless. “ ‘To me<br /> it would not be more absurd if the shoemaker were<br /> to wait for inspiration, or the tallow-chandler for<br /> the divine moment of melting,” he declared. “If<br /> the man whose business it is to write has eaten<br /> too many good things, or has drunk too much, or<br /> has smoked too many cigars—as men who write<br /> will sometimes do—then his condition may be<br /> unfavourable for work ; but so will be the condi-<br /> tion of a shoemaker who has been similarly<br /> imprudent. I have sometimes thought that the<br /> inspiration wanted has been the remedy which<br /> time will give to the evil results of such impru-<br /> dence: Mens sana in corpore sano. The author<br /> wants that, as does every workman—that and a<br /> habit of industry. I was once told that the surest<br /> aid to the writing of a book was a piece of<br /> cobbler’s wax on my chair. I certainly believe<br /> in the cobbler’s wax much more than in the<br /> inspiration.”<br /> <br /> Undoubtedly Trollope adhered to the cobbler’s<br /> wax theory all the days of his life. He found he<br /> could write as well when he was travelling as when<br /> seated at his desk—the proof of this is to be found<br /> in the merits of “ Barchester Towers,” written<br /> almost entirely in railway carriages. For many<br /> years, while in the postal service, he rose at half-<br /> past five and worked until half-past eight, writing<br /> two hundred and fifty words every quarter of an<br /> hour ; and he found the words came as regularly<br /> as his watch went. It is unlikely he would have<br /> done better work if he had not laboured so<br /> methodically, but it is probable he would not have<br /> turned out so many mediocre works.<br /> <br /> Perhaps the temporary eclipse of Trollope is<br /> largely due to his autobiography. “ I confess,” he<br /> said therein, in a characteristic passage, “ that my<br /> first object in taking to literature as a profession<br /> was that which is common to the barrister when<br /> he goes to the bar, and to the baker when he sets<br /> up his oven. I wished to make an income on<br /> which I and those belonging to me might live in<br /> comfort.” Nothing could be more laudable! He<br /> prided himself upon being a tradesman, ready and<br /> willing to work to order. Again and again he<br /> declared ostentatiously that he wrote only for<br /> money ; that he found his reward in the publishers’<br /> cheque, and that he attributed to the pecuniary<br /> result of his labours all the importance he felt them<br /> to have at the time. The autobiography bristles<br /> <br /> <br /> 120<br /> <br /> with figures. He tells us that in 1847 he pub-<br /> lished his first book, ‘‘ The MacDermotts of Bally-<br /> jeloran,” on the half-profits system. ‘I can with<br /> | truth declare that I expected nothing,” he has<br /> | recorded, “and I got nothing.” In the following<br /> | year Colburn brought out “The Kellys and the<br /> O’Kellys.” The terms were the same, and so was<br /> the result. The former was still-born ; the latter<br /> sold to the extent of 140 of the 375 copies printed.<br /> These stories of Irish life failing to attract, in 1850<br /> he published an historical romance, “ lia Vendée,”<br /> for which, on delivery of the manuscript, he received<br /> £20 on account of future profits. It was not until five<br /> years later that “The Warden” appeared. For this<br /> he received £20 3s. 9d. But “The Warden,” though<br /> its pecuniary success was infinitesimal, attracted<br /> attention in the Press, and the author began to be<br /> regarded as one with whom it might be necessary<br /> to reckon. Even the publishers were impressed,<br /> and Longmans offered to print the next novel and<br /> to pay in advance £100. This was “ Barchester<br /> Towers.” During twenty years these two books,<br /> the first of the Barset series, brought the author<br /> £727 lls. 3d. “The Three Clerks” followed,<br /> Bentley buying the copyright for £250.<br /> Thus encouraged, Trollope demanded £400 for<br /> “ Doctor Thorne.” Bentley would not give more<br /> than £300, so the author, who was leaving ye<br /> “T sai<br /> <br /> the next day, went to Chapman &amp; Hall.<br /> what I had to say to Mr. Edward Chapman in a<br /> <br /> quick torrent of words. Looking at me as he<br /> might have done at a highway robber who had<br /> stopped him on Hounslow Heath, he said he sup-<br /> posed he might do as I desired. I considered this<br /> | to be asale, and it was a sale. I remember that<br /> | he held the poker in his hand all the time I was<br /> with him ; but, in truth, even if he had declined<br /> to buy the book, there would have been no danger.”<br /> “The Bertrams”’ went to the same firm for the<br /> game sum ; and, in the meantime, his first book of<br /> travels having proved a success, he demanded<br /> £600 for an Irish novel as yet unwritten, “ Castle<br /> Richmond.” ‘“Framley Parsonage” was com-<br /> missioned for Zhe Cornhill Magazine for £1,000 ;<br /> and after this he received £600 for a one-volume<br /> novel, or £8,000 for a story running to twenty<br /> parts. Sometimes he received more—once, at least,<br /> he was given £3,525 : for many years he contrived<br /> to keep up his price, and, though in later days<br /> he was compelled to accept considerably less, it<br /> is wonderful, remembering his enormous output,<br /> he should have been able to sustain it so long.<br /> Including £7,000 made by journalism—political,<br /> critical, and sporting articles—he earned £70,000,<br /> which result he looked upon as “ comfortable, but<br /> not splendid.” Considering his popularity, it was<br /> certainly not magnificent. Literature was then<br /> the worst paid profession. Think what a doctor<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> or a barrister of similar eminence would have<br /> made! ‘To-day, thanks partly to the American<br /> copyright law, a popular writer may amass a<br /> modest competence with one book.<br /> <br /> Now, all authors write for money. But if they<br /> are worth their salt, they take pleasure in their<br /> work. Despite the unfortunate autobiography, it<br /> is probable Trollope did not differ greatly from his<br /> fellow-workers. Certainly his desire for money<br /> never induced him deliberately to lower the standard<br /> of his work ; and, thongh he may not have realised<br /> it, he loved the pen, for surely no one, not urged<br /> by want of pence, could otherwise have worked so<br /> hard as he. He was proud of his books, and<br /> believed that some at least might live; while his<br /> affection for his characters was profound. The<br /> public naturally has not gone below the surface,<br /> and it has accepted Trollope’s statements without<br /> reservation. It will not willingly think, however,<br /> of the man of letters as a tradesman, turning out<br /> his wares with one eye on his paper and the other<br /> on his banking account. It likes to think of him<br /> as imbued with romance: it will not place the<br /> writing of books on the same plane as the making |<br /> of buttons or the baking of bricks ; and it is dis-<br /> gusted to learn that one of its favourites always<br /> wrote so many words in so many minutes. It dis-<br /> tinguishes, as Trollope would not, between the<br /> work of the brain and the work of the hand, It<br /> has already been said that the first book in which<br /> Trollope did himself justice was “The Warden.”<br /> Within the next few years he issued “ Barchester<br /> Towers,” ‘‘ Dr. Thorne,” “ Framley Parsonage,”<br /> and ‘‘ The Last Chronicles of Barset.” These are<br /> the Barset series of novels, and, undoubtedly, they<br /> contain his best work. During this period appeared<br /> also “ The Small House at Allington,” “ The Three<br /> <br /> Clerks,” and “ Orley Farm” ; and later, ‘Can You<br /> <br /> Forgive Her ?” “Phineas Finn,” “ Phineas Redux,”<br /> and “The Prime Minister,” in all of which is a<br /> semi-political atmosphere. The student of English<br /> literature may be content with these, though<br /> perhaps “The Eustace Diamonds” might repay<br /> perusal. These are the books upon which Trollope’s<br /> fame depends, and a very sound basis it is upon<br /> which to rest a reputation.<br /> <br /> Trollope’s most enduring title to rank with the<br /> greater novelists is as the chronicler of Barsetshire.<br /> The new shire he added to the English counties<br /> was very real to him, and he had it all in his mind<br /> —its roads and railroads, its towns and parishes,<br /> its members of parliament, its different hunts, its<br /> great lords and their castles, its squires and their<br /> parks, its rectors and their churches. Alone of<br /> the working population he had nothing to say ; not<br /> of the village shopkeepers, nor, though he insisted<br /> on the fact that Barsetshire was entirely agricul-<br /> tural, of the farmer and his labourers. On the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> one side he saw Gatherum Castle, where lived the<br /> Duke of Omnium in almost feudal state, and the<br /> great county families ; on the other, the professional<br /> nen, the doctors, clergymen and attorneys.<br /> <br /> When he invented Barsetshire he limited his<br /> outlook to the cathedral city ; and in his famous<br /> trilogy, he confined himself mainly to the exposi-<br /> tion of the humours of clerical life, and to the<br /> introduction of ecclesiastical dignitaries. He wrote<br /> of their respectable, humdrum lives ; of their little<br /> squabbles, their ambitions, hopes and disappoint-<br /> ments, failures and successes ; and if at times he<br /> was severe, at least he was always fair, and he<br /> presented no theatrical figures of ranting parsons<br /> and red-nosed, over-fed rectors. Satire he some-<br /> times allowed himself, but caricature never ; and<br /> if Precentor Harding was the best, the hishop’s<br /> chaplain, Slope, was the worst.<br /> <br /> He was agreeably surprised to find he could<br /> write so well about clergymen. He has related<br /> proudly how he was often asked in what period of<br /> his early life he had lived so long in a cathedral<br /> city as to have become intimate with the ways ofa<br /> close. Asa matter of fact he had never resided<br /> for any length of time in any cathedral city, except<br /> the metropolis, and he was not closely acquainted<br /> with any clergyman. “ My archdeacon (Grantly),<br /> who has been said to be life-like, was the result<br /> simply of an effort of my moral consciousness. It<br /> was such as that, in my opinion, that an arch-<br /> deacon should be, or, at any rate, would be with<br /> such advantages as an archdeacon might have<br /> been ; and lo! an archdeacon was produced, who<br /> has been declared by competent authorities to be<br /> an archdeacon to the very ground.” ‘The accuracy<br /> of Trollope’s ecclesiastical figures has never been<br /> called into question, and, indeed, he wrote of them<br /> as easily, and with an instinct as true, as young<br /> Benjamin Disraeli wrote of dukes.<br /> <br /> Lewis MELVILLE.<br /> <br /> —+-—&gt;—9 —<br /> <br /> THE LITERARY YEAR BOOK.*<br /> <br /> aes<br /> 1.<br /> Law AND LETTERS.<br /> <br /> E have received the tenth annual edition of<br /> the “ Literary Year Book,” but as it came<br /> to hand just as Zhe Author was going to<br /> <br /> press for January, it has been impossible to review<br /> the legal portion exhaustively. Forina book which<br /> is supposed to be issued for the benefit of authors,<br /> the matter that comes under the heading Law and<br /> Letters should meet with the most exact scrutiny.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * «he Literary Year Book,’ 1906. George Routledge<br /> <br /> &amp; Sons. 5s, net.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 121<br /> <br /> We have taken a cursory glance at this portion<br /> of the book, but regret to notice that it has not<br /> been altered in any way, as far as we can see, since<br /> last year. At any rate, the mistakes pointed<br /> out in Zhe Author have not been corrected. It<br /> may have been too late to add the important<br /> case which has just been tried in the Courts.<br /> Smith, Elder and Macmillan &amp; Co. vy. J. M. Dent<br /> &amp; Co. This may justify its omission, but the case<br /> is one of such importance that some subsidiary<br /> note ought, if possible, to have been inserted.<br /> <br /> The paragraph dealing with section 18 of the<br /> Copyright Act still retains the false statement that<br /> “the contract between the contributing author and<br /> the publisher or proprietor of the periodical work<br /> need not be in writing, nor is an express agreement<br /> that the copyright shall belong to the latter neces-<br /> sary ; and thus in ordinary cases the agreement<br /> that the copyright shall belong to the publisher or<br /> proprietor may be inferred from the mere employ-<br /> ment and payment of the author.” In support of<br /> this statement the editor refers to the case of<br /> Aflalo v. Lawrence and Bullen. That case dealt<br /> merely with encyclopedias, and the point has<br /> never been settled with reference to periodicals.<br /> It is quite possible that a judgment of this kind,<br /> which applied to encyclopedias, might not apply<br /> to periodicals, as an encyclopedia is looked upon<br /> as having a permanent and lasting position which<br /> the contents of periodicals, when published in<br /> periodical form, have not. Again, at the com-<br /> mencement of the same paragraph, the writer<br /> states : “ As regards literary work contributed to<br /> encyclopedias or for periodical or serial publica-<br /> tion on the terms that the copyright shall belong<br /> to the publisher or proprietor, the copyright in all<br /> such work becomes the property of the publisher<br /> or proprietor,” &amp;c., &amp;c. He does not mention the<br /> most important point, that such work must be paid<br /> forthe mere agreement that the copyright shall<br /> belong to the publisher or proprietor is not<br /> <br /> sufficient.<br /> <br /> Again, referring to colonial copyright, he has<br /> made no mention of the Act passed through the<br /> Canadian House on July Ist, 1900. As this Act<br /> is one of some importance, it should not have been<br /> omitted.<br /> <br /> The writer maintains the same views as ex-<br /> pressed in former years on authors, publishers, and<br /> agents, and again omits all mention of the Authors”<br /> Society in his statement, ‘“ Who will protect the:<br /> author against the rapacity of the agent.” It would<br /> have been fair, in view of the position the Society<br /> holds, to have mentioned its name when raising<br /> questions of this kind, for as the Society is in no<br /> way connected with the financial success of the<br /> production of books, it can take an absolutely<br /> impartial view, and can and does act as effectually<br /> <br /> <br /> 122<br /> <br /> against agents as against publishers. His view of<br /> agents is, on the whole, in accord with that which<br /> has been expressed from time to time in The Author.<br /> <br /> Lastly, the criticism of agreements lacks many<br /> important points for the protection of both<br /> author and publisher, and cannot be considered<br /> at all exhaustive, and the propositions put for-<br /> ward are in many ways unsatisfactory from the<br /> author’s standpoint. The writer inveighs bitterly<br /> against the advance on royalties, and states: “In<br /> all business transactions the last person to whom<br /> one would go with a request for ready money is<br /> the person who has already staked his capital in a<br /> speculation suggested by the borrower.” He does<br /> not for a moment seem to consider the author’s<br /> capital as represented by his MS., which may, in<br /> some cases, be the work of years ; but, surely, quite<br /> apart from this point, if a publisher, who is a man<br /> of business, considers it worth his while to advance<br /> money on royalties, it is absurd to characterise<br /> such an arrangement as unreasonable. Business<br /> men do not readily enter into unbusinesslike agree-<br /> ments, or else they cannot be looked upon as fit<br /> persons to act as publishers. The forms of agree-<br /> ment which the writer has chosen to criticise are<br /> certainly not the best forms of agreement that<br /> come on the market, and if this work is to be<br /> of the value to authors that it ought to be, the<br /> writer must keep their point of view more promi-<br /> nently before him. He may take it for granted<br /> that a business man like the publisher will not buy<br /> the ‘‘Literary Year Book” in order to obtain<br /> advice on agreements, but to the author such a<br /> work should be of the greatest assistance; but if<br /> an author were to act on the advice at present given,<br /> he might find himself—unless he were a member of<br /> the Society of Authors—in considerable difficulties.<br /> <br /> G. H. T.<br /> Il.<br /> GENERAL REVIEW.<br /> <br /> WessteR deems that ‘“ Precision in the use of<br /> words is of prime excellence.” Especially should<br /> this be the case in the compilation of what is<br /> called a bookman’s directory. To substantiate<br /> convincingly the desirability of stricter atten-<br /> tion to detail, we pointed out, in six columns of<br /> The Author last year, many unfortunate slips.<br /> The object was to get them rectified in a future<br /> edition. This would have pleased us more than<br /> the grateful acknowledgment in this year’s preface,<br /> that “ Special thanks are due to The Author for its<br /> full and suggestive reviews of the last volume of<br /> the annual. The reviewer was, if anything, a<br /> trifle too precise about details, such as the inclusion<br /> of Shenstone’s birthday in our calendar ; but in this<br /> particular, and in other respects, a genuine attempt<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> has been made to carry out his wishes, directed ag<br /> they are to the same object as our own—the pro-<br /> vision of a serviceable annual for the use of<br /> members of all branches of the literary world.”<br /> <br /> Now, this is very pretty. Relying on such<br /> blandishments one feels that at last a Literary<br /> Year Book, worthy of the land of Shakespeare,<br /> after twelve months’ careful and accurate collation<br /> of material, has been evolved to do honour to the<br /> profession of letters in general, and the firm of<br /> Messrs. Routledge in particular. But it is the<br /> duty of a reviewer not to be biased by prefatory<br /> compliment, no matter how elegantly it is worded.<br /> We repeat that our remarks last year were not due<br /> tocaprice. It is pleasant to knowthat they have been<br /> received in the spirit in which they were written.<br /> Yet we fail to perceive how it is possible, in a book<br /> of reference, to be “ too precise about detail.”<br /> <br /> The editor expresses a hope that credit will be<br /> given for his endeavours and indulgence for his<br /> mistakes. We are ready to give full measure of<br /> ‘credit ” where it may be due, although the pub-<br /> lishers may not supply the Year Book on the same<br /> terms. Before bestowing the laurel wreath, how-<br /> ever, it is necessary to examine the volume as far<br /> as space permits, in order to ascertain and estimate<br /> what exertions have heen made by way of in:prov-<br /> ing on the issue of 1905. It was a saying of Sir<br /> Joshua Reynolds that “ Excellence is never granted<br /> to man but as a reward of labour.” It is not our<br /> intention to undervalue the care which the com-<br /> pilers may have taken in the production of this<br /> Year Book ; but it is the duty of the troublesome<br /> reviewer, who holds a brief for the purchaser<br /> rather than the publisher, to discover whether<br /> pains have been taken to make the book really<br /> serviceable, or if the necessary work has been<br /> delayed unduly and the publisher has relied on<br /> hoodwinking the critic by reshuffling various<br /> sections and singing to him, in an imploring tone<br /> of voice, “Please go gently,” &amp; la “Spring<br /> Chicken.”<br /> <br /> OBITUARY.<br /> <br /> This year the Obituary List, instead of occupy-<br /> ing five pages, has been reduced to a paragraph,<br /> the omissions including the death, as far back as<br /> last April, of the well-known war-correspondent,<br /> Henry Pearse; in July of Captain Montagu<br /> Burrows, Chichele Professor of Modern History at<br /> Oxford ; and in September of Walter Macfarren,<br /> who, for half a century, was reviewer to the<br /> Queen, and whose ‘“ Memories,” published before<br /> his death, are not mentioned in the biographical<br /> section. If abstracts from the daily papers were<br /> taken systematically day by day during the year,<br /> the record of departed writers would be complete<br /> and more reliable for future reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> aS<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Tue INDEX.<br /> <br /> We are pleased to note that the contents list has<br /> been rearranged alphabetically. Yet it is not so<br /> good a key to unlock the contents of the book as it<br /> might be made. For example, if one wishes to<br /> refer to the titles of works classified under the<br /> headings of theology, art, or fiction, considering<br /> that these three sections occupy forty-four pages,<br /> it seems strange that they should not be separated<br /> in the Index from the general heading “‘ Catalogue<br /> Raisonné.” Moreover, what is the meaning of<br /> “Fayourite Books of 1906,” paged in the Index<br /> exliv. 2? There is no such section on that page.<br /> Why cannot there be, as is customary in Whitaker<br /> and most books required for rapid reference, first,<br /> a contents table showing the general arrangement of<br /> material, and, secondly, a general Index of a com-<br /> prehensive character, so as to enable the inquirer to<br /> take in the component parts of the volume at a<br /> glance? But here the indexing is muddled. First<br /> we have, on page 11, an Index which is neither a<br /> contents table nor an index, and on page 321 we have<br /> a table of the contents of Part II., and, two pages<br /> further on, a statement of the contents of the legal<br /> section, although these lists are not notified in the<br /> Contents-Index at the beginning of the book. If<br /> the various sections were arranged alphabetically,<br /> the inquirer-within might be_ helped, instead of<br /> being confused by “ Libraries” coming after<br /> “Societies,” “Booksellers” after “ Law and<br /> Letters,’ and so forth.<br /> <br /> AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> Last year, in looking through this list, we<br /> marked privately in our copy the inclusion of the<br /> name of Sir Frederic Bateman, whose death had<br /> been announced in the papers months before.<br /> Turning to the letter “ B” this year, we find that<br /> the honoured name of that long-since departed<br /> physician is still classed amongst living writers.<br /> After this, the introductory assurance of the care<br /> which has been taken regarding the list of authors<br /> loses weight. We have ticked the name of another<br /> dead literary lion in order to see whether, twelve<br /> months hence, the Year Book will still proclaim<br /> that he has been resurrected. Although, in the<br /> majority of cases, if an author fails to make the<br /> return requested, it may be safe to reinsert the<br /> entry regarding him, an exception should be made<br /> and particular care taken concerning all writers<br /> over seventy years of age.<br /> <br /> CATALOGUE RAISONNE.<br /> <br /> Turning to the Classified Catalogue—we beg<br /> pardon, ‘‘ Catalogue Raisonné ”—it is gratifying to<br /> note that, according to the sub-title of this section,<br /> it is confined to “Twentieth Century Literature.”<br /> <br /> 123<br /> <br /> That, we take it, implies that books published<br /> before the year 1900 are excluded. Nevertheless,<br /> on the first page of this list of titles, which the<br /> preface tells us has been drawn up with “ consider-<br /> able pains,” we note “ Art in Provincial France,”<br /> published in 1838, three books dated in the<br /> &quot;seventies, and as many in the ’eighties—showing<br /> that the sub-title isa misnomer. This Catalogue<br /> Raisonné occupies no fewer than 143 pages in the<br /> book. As these are indicated by Roman numerals,<br /> the inference is, that, while the bulk of the sheets<br /> have been printed in advance, and go to press<br /> shortly after December 1 (see note on p. 33), this<br /> section has been kept back and inserted at the last<br /> moment, so as to be quite up-to-date. Why, there-<br /> fore, should there be so many omissions? At the<br /> risk of being again called ‘a trifle too precise,”<br /> we give a few of the exclusions. Our list could<br /> be considerably extended did space in these columns<br /> <br /> permit.<br /> <br /> Under the heading of Art, ANTIQUITIES, and<br /> following books are con-<br /> spicuous by their absence —<br /> <br /> ARCHITECTURE,<br /> <br /> the<br /> <br /> Furniture of Windsor G. F. Laking. Bradbury and<br /> Castle. Agnew.<br /> Great Zambabwe. R. N. Hall. Methuen.<br /> <br /> Lace Book.<br /> <br /> Singing of the Future.<br /> <br /> Hudson Moore.<br /> <br /> Chapman and<br /> Hall.<br /> <br /> Ffrangcon Davies. Lane.<br /> <br /> Under BroGrapuy there is no mention of —<br /> <br /> Brahms, 2 vols. Florence May. Arnold.<br /> <br /> Bygone Years. Leveson-Gower. Murray.<br /> <br /> Bygones Worth Re- G.J.Holyoake. Unwin.<br /> membering, 2 vols.<br /> <br /> Froude. Herbert Paul. Pitman.<br /> <br /> Mary Queen of Scots, Henderson. Hutchinson.<br /> 2 vols.<br /> <br /> Mirabeau and the Warwick. Lippincott.<br /> <br /> French Revolution.<br /> William Pitt, 3 vols.<br /> <br /> Von Reville.<br /> <br /> Cotta’sche Buch-<br /> <br /> handlung.<br /> Queen Henrietta Taylor. Hutchinson.<br /> Maria, 2 vols.<br /> Wemyss Reid. Stuart Reid. Cassell.<br /> Scarlatti. Dent. Arnold,<br /> Taine, vol. 3. “ Historian.” Hachette.<br /> <br /> Under Ficrron, many books which have met<br /> with more than usually favourable comments in the<br /> Press have been overlooked. Amongst these we<br /> <br /> note —<br /> <br /> Ayesha. Haggard. Ward Locke.<br /> <br /> Barbara Rebell. Mrs. Belloc- Heinemann.<br /> Lowndes.<br /> <br /> Heritage of the Free. Edna Lyall. Hodder and<br /> <br /> Stoughton.<br /> <br /> Irrational Knot. Bernard Shaw. Constable.<br /> <br /> The Lake. George Moore. Heinemann,<br /> <br /> Lohengrin. Bernard Capes. Dean.<br /> <br /> Saints in Society. Mrs. Baillie- Unwin.<br /> Saunders.<br /> 124<br /> <br /> Mrs. Baillie-Saunders’ name is also omitted from<br /> the list of authors, although she was much adver-<br /> tised as the winner of a £100 prize in the autumn<br /> publications, before the Year Book went to press.<br /> <br /> We fail to find under the ambiguous heading of<br /> GENERAL LirerRATURE the following books, which<br /> might well have been included —<br /> <br /> The Awakening of OkakuraKakuzo, Murray.<br /> Japan.<br /> <br /> Jiu-Jitsu.<br /> <br /> Secret of the Totem.<br /> <br /> On Ten Plays of Shake-<br /> speare.<br /> <br /> Captain Skinner.<br /> Andrew Lang.<br /> Stopford Brooke.<br /> <br /> Gay and Bird.<br /> Longmans.<br /> Constable.<br /> <br /> Under Porrry there is no mention of —<br /> <br /> History of Ottoman Gibb.<br /> Poetry, Vol. 4.<br /> <br /> Luzac.<br /> <br /> Under THEOLOGY we do not see<br /> <br /> Williams and<br /> Norgate.<br /> Chapman and<br /> <br /> Hall.<br /> <br /> Evolution of Religion. Farnell.<br /> g<br /> <br /> Reconstruction of Be- Malloch.<br /> lief.<br /> <br /> Under TraveL and Topograpuy the following<br /> are left out —<br /> <br /> Gabriel<br /> taux.<br /> Cox.<br /> Macdonald.<br /> Alfred Stead.<br /> Barclay.<br /> Hollis.<br /> <br /> Contemporary France, Hano- Constable.<br /> vol. 2.<br /> <br /> Forests of England.<br /> <br /> In Search of Eldorado.<br /> <br /> Great Japan.<br /> <br /> Land of the Horn.<br /> <br /> The Masai.<br /> <br /> Methuen.<br /> <br /> Unwin.<br /> <br /> Lane.<br /> <br /> Unwin,<br /> <br /> Clarendon<br /> Press.<br /> <br /> Baron Constable.<br /> atsu.<br /> <br /> Cooper.<br /> <br /> Sir H. Maxwell.<br /> <br /> Captain Scott.<br /> <br /> The Risen Sun. Suyen-<br /> <br /> Story of York.<br /> <br /> Story of the Tweed.<br /> <br /> Voyage of the Dis-<br /> covery, 2 vols.<br /> <br /> Stock.<br /> Nisbet.<br /> Smith, Elder.<br /> <br /> The 12 blank pages which should have been<br /> indexed cxlix. for “ Favourite Books of 1906,”<br /> however, furnish space for noting the many excel-<br /> lent volumes omitted. ‘Future recensions,” we<br /> are assured in the preface, “will be fuller and<br /> more accurate.” Let us hope that this excellent<br /> intention will not furnish a supplementary paving-<br /> stone to a place never mentioned in polite society.<br /> Nevertheless, if the resolution is carried out, we<br /> venture to recommend that the bulk of the volume<br /> should not be increased unnecessarily, but that<br /> all titles of books prior to 1901—or five years<br /> preceding date of issue—be eliminated.<br /> <br /> REVIEWS.<br /> <br /> Only two books helpful to the literary worker<br /> are here given. Mention might at least have been<br /> made of that important publication “The Rhymer’s<br /> Lexicon,” by A. Loring, with an introduction by<br /> Prof. Saintsbury.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> PUBLISHERS.<br /> <br /> The list of publishers, we are informed, has been<br /> thoroughly revised at first hand, and the informa-<br /> tion is based on replies received to circulars. This,<br /> of course, is: as it should be; but, after the pre-<br /> fatory statement that a ‘genuine’ attempt has<br /> been made to correct the omissions of last year, so<br /> as to make the book serviceable for the use of<br /> members of “all branches of the literary world,”<br /> it comes as a shock to find that the section devoted<br /> to ‘Foreign Publishers” has not been altered in<br /> any way. Surely this is a “just requirement” on<br /> the part of authors living abroad. There was<br /> ample time to do what was needed in twelve<br /> months, and to remove from the Year Book the<br /> reproach that not a single firm in Geneva or Neuf-<br /> chatel is mentioned, and that the publishing houses<br /> of Rome are overlooked.<br /> <br /> PERIODICALS.<br /> <br /> Checking the list of “ Periodical Publications ”<br /> with the flagrant omissions and mistakes pointed<br /> out last year, we find that this section is much<br /> improved. We tender our most cordial felicita-<br /> tions. Another year approximate payments per<br /> thousand words, by editors of those periodicals<br /> who welcome outside contributions, might be<br /> more generally indicated. A minority of promi-<br /> nent writers may command their own prices. What<br /> the majority of contributors, especially those living<br /> at a distance from Fleet Street, desire to know is<br /> the average rate of remuneration given.<br /> <br /> SOCIETIES.<br /> <br /> We are assured that the list of societies has<br /> been thoroughly revised. We feel thankful for this<br /> statement, until we read, on page 5384, that the<br /> “Sette of Odd Volumes” dines at Limmer’s Hotel<br /> on the fourth Tuesday in each month. Some two<br /> years ago the entire Press of the country was para-<br /> graphed with a veiled advertisement regarding the<br /> metamorphosis of thesporting hostelry into a piano<br /> shop. The “Odd Volumes,” when they dine<br /> together every fourth Tuesday, must feel excep-<br /> tionally odd, with pianos allaround them. Buttue<br /> question is, are such premises licensed for the<br /> purposes of dining ? Moreover, if this literary club<br /> which meets on Tuesdays at Limmer’s is included,<br /> why should the “Fraternity of the Whitefriars,”<br /> which foregathers on Friday evenings, at Ander-<br /> ton’s Hotel, be excluded ?<br /> <br /> LIBRARIES.<br /> <br /> So far as Great Britain is concerned, the freshly<br /> prepared library section is animprovement on last<br /> year. Again, we offer felicitations. But, owing<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> to letters received from correspondents residing<br /> abroad, we begged last year that interest and<br /> yalue might be added to this annual, by mention<br /> of certain renowned public libraries on the Con-<br /> tinent. We specified a number of omissions.<br /> Alas, the old and useless list has been again<br /> published without revision. Le.<br /> <br /> In conclusion, we hark back to the fascinating<br /> : preface. In this, the editor says, that © No<br /> a responsibility can be taken for unintentional errors<br /> q in this issue.” Zrgo, he takes responsibility for<br /> intentional errors, although we thought that an<br /> “error” was always an “ involuntary deviation ”<br /> from the path of rectitude, whereas a deliberate<br /> 4 misstatement was—whisper it softly—an in-<br /> “@ gannation. If we have pointed out more short-<br /> of comings than virtues, we have done so regretfully<br /> and without prejudice. We are not uncharitable,<br /> and have no desire to detract from the unques-<br /> tioned value of the major part of the material. By<br /> those who live dependent on the pen, and have to<br /> find constantly fresh markets for their literary<br /> labours, there is much advantage to be derived<br /> from the 1906 Year Book. Seeing how numerous<br /> is this body of men and women writers, the issue<br /> even of an imperfect Literary Directory is a matter<br /> ‘ of no small moment, and any effort made to supply<br /> the requirements of authors and journalists merits<br /> i wide support. It has not been our intention,<br /> therefore, to overlook the usefulness of much solid<br /> stuff by unduly magnifying the flaws we have come<br /> ws across. So far Messrs. Routledge have no rival in<br /> the field. That fact ought to encourage the Editor<br /> to improve, diligently, a property which should<br /> become very valuable alike to publishers and pur-<br /> chasers. Nothing but constant and precise atten-<br /> tion to detail, however, makes for perfection in a<br /> directory. Carelessness in such matters does more<br /> damage than want of knowledge.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> A. B.<br /> <br /> —--&gt;+—_<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> LITERARY TREASURE TROYE.*<br /> <br /> _—<br /> <br /> 4 / ELL printed, handsomely bound (although<br /> perhaps not quite so substantially as is<br /> advisable), and arranged—so far as their<br /> <br /> contents go—with taste and skill of the highest<br /> order, the four volumes containing this encyclopedic<br /> record of English literature of fifteen successive<br /> centuries reflect the greatest possible credit on<br /> both editors and publisher alike. The avowed<br /> design of those responsible for this catholic and<br /> discriminatingly sympathetic compilation has been<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “English Literature,” an illustrated record, in four<br /> volumes. By Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D., and Edmund<br /> Gosse, M.A., LL.D. London: William Heinemann.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 125<br /> <br /> to produce a work which shall at once stimulate<br /> and gratify intelligent interest in English authors,<br /> from the first of their number who committed his<br /> thoughts to paper down to those of the end of the<br /> nineteenth century. Readers and writers are thus<br /> introduced to one another, and the latter can,<br /> through this medium, learn for themselves exactly<br /> what manner of men were and are those who have<br /> fired their enthusiasm on the printed page. They<br /> may find out here where and when those authors<br /> lived, what books they wrote, what measure of suc-<br /> cess they achieved, and how they appealed to their<br /> contemporaries. Further than this, the volumes<br /> are illustrated both by portraits and reproductions<br /> of documents, wherever necessary for the elucidation<br /> of any special point referred to in the text. In<br /> brief, the compilation forms a rapid, but careful,<br /> summary of the country’s literary history which,<br /> without professing to be exhaustive, nevertheless<br /> presents a wealth of easily assimilated information<br /> that has never yet been obtainable within a com-<br /> paratively restricted area. A fascinating record is<br /> the result, and one upon which the editors,<br /> Dr. Garnett and Mr. Edmund Gosse, cannot be<br /> too highly congratulated.<br /> <br /> Not the least attractive feature of this record is<br /> furnished by the inclusion therein of biographies<br /> of the authors referred to in the main critical<br /> narrative. These have been selected from among<br /> practically every writer whose work has had any<br /> real influence upon this country’s literature. Con-<br /> siderations of space have perhaps been responsible<br /> for a few omissions here and there, but they are<br /> certainly not important ones. In the first volume,<br /> which is prepared by Dr. Garnett, the period<br /> under examination ranges from the pre-Christian<br /> era down to that of the first Tudors, from the<br /> scarcely more than legendary Widsith (in all pro-<br /> bability, by the way, an assumed name—for the<br /> use of such a disguise is by no means a modern<br /> innovation) down to the George Cavendish, who<br /> wrote an excellent account of Cardinal Wolsey’s<br /> life. This is a stirring piece of writing and a<br /> vivid representation of its subject. A thoughtful<br /> essay on Chaucer, and an informative chapter on<br /> the history of the English Bible and the evolution<br /> of the religious drama are the notable features of<br /> this initial volume. The illustrations—many of<br /> them reproductions from rare MSS. in the British<br /> Museum—give an added interest and value to the<br /> accompanying letterpress.<br /> <br /> In the second volume, which covers but seventy<br /> years (whereas its predecessor gives the literary<br /> history of seven centuries) the period under<br /> examination commences with Henry VIII. and<br /> ends with Milton. ‘wo chapters are devoted to<br /> Shakespeare. ‘These, from the pen of Dr. Garnett,<br /> do not appear to say very much that has not been<br /> 126<br /> <br /> said before, but they contain some interesting<br /> remarks on the vexed question of the chronology<br /> of the dramatist’s plays. Mr. Gosse follows with<br /> three chapters on the Jacobean authors in the<br /> fields of poetry, prose, and drama. The influence<br /> on Letters occasioned by the death of Elizabeth<br /> was a subtle one, but none the less a strongly<br /> marked one. It gave the death blow to the<br /> almost medizval sentiment which the Virgin<br /> Queen had so stoutly upheld throughout her long<br /> sway, thus delaying the renaissance for which the<br /> country was hungering. JamesJ. hankered him-<br /> self after literary fame with all the ardour of a<br /> “popular” novelist of the present day, and<br /> effusively welcomed everyone who could wield a<br /> pen. Judging from the specimens here given, some<br /> of his kingly lucubrations are amateurish in the<br /> extreme, despite his proud boast, in “ Invocations to<br /> thé Goddis,” ‘I lofty Virgil shall to life restore,”<br /> and similar comforting assurances scattered about<br /> in his other efforts. Yet it will ever be remembered<br /> that the issue of the Bible in its present form was<br /> due to his instrumentality. The concluding<br /> <br /> chapter of this section treats largely of the<br /> historians, such as Sir John Hayward (knighted<br /> for his researches in 1619), Sir Henry Spelman,<br /> and Richard Knolles (who won the admiration of<br /> <br /> so severe a critic as Dr. Johnson).<br /> <br /> The. third volume merits, perhaps, a special word<br /> of commendation on account of its illustrations.<br /> The choice of these could hardly have been<br /> improved upon, including as it does characteristic<br /> examples of the artistic genius of Rowlandson<br /> and Hogarth, together with portraits by Reynolds<br /> and Gainsborough of the literary giants of the<br /> period (from Milton to Johnson), and reproductions<br /> of the title-pages of famous first editions. What,<br /> for want of a better term, may be called the<br /> democratisation which the cause of authorship<br /> underwent in England during the fifth and sixth<br /> decades of the eighteenth century is remarked<br /> upon in illuminating fashion. With the death of<br /> Anne, and the consequent removal of the some-<br /> what debilitating influence she exercised upon<br /> literary growths, the love of reading spread rapidly<br /> among allclasses. Books and authorship generally<br /> were no longer the close preserve of the aristocracy.<br /> English literature spread its wings and extended<br /> its influence. Instead of being insular and almost<br /> entirely confined to London, it became cosmo-<br /> politan and European. France, Italy and Germany<br /> recognised its worth and were proud to borrow<br /> from it. The great Continental writers—Rousseau<br /> in particular—welcomed the work of British<br /> authors into the salons of Paris, Rome and Berlin,<br /> while our own men of letters borrowed freely from<br /> the genius of their foreign models. The mutual<br /> interchange of thought, combined with the healthy<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> rivalry thus brought about, had the happiest<br /> results. To its stimulating influence we owe the<br /> rescue of English literature from the slough into<br /> which it had fallen, and the loosening of the<br /> pedagogic shackles that had bound it so long.<br /> <br /> The scope of the fourth and final volume is to<br /> give a survey of the age which commenced with<br /> Johnson and terminated with Tennyson. The<br /> limit of the period under review is the death of<br /> Queen Victoria, and, except in the epilogue, no<br /> living writer is dealt with. The four chapters of<br /> this last section discuss respectively the ages of<br /> Wordsworth, Byron, the Early Victorians, and<br /> Tennyson. They make up a critical estimate—<br /> unmarked, one is glad to note, by any arrogant<br /> dogmatism—of English literature from 1780 down<br /> to within the dawn of the twentieth century. The<br /> opinions expressed are, as must always be the case<br /> in any such undertaking, formed in accordance<br /> with the individual temperament of the historian,<br /> formed on a series of esthetic principles. Although<br /> this may be an unsatisfactory way of creating a<br /> critical estimate of books and writers, it is at least<br /> less open to abuse than any other. As Mr. Gosse<br /> points out, “ The history of literary criticism is a<br /> record of conflicting opinion, of blind prejudice, of<br /> violent volte-faces, of discord and misapprehension.’<br /> In his own day Shakespeare occupied but a small<br /> niche: to-day he is universally regarded as an<br /> inspired genius. Conversely, a great reputation<br /> in one age becomes a laughing-stock in another.<br /> The reason for this is not far to seek. Changes<br /> are constantly passing over human thought which<br /> materially affect the whole atmosphere of criticism.<br /> The individualist method has at times reduced<br /> really great minds into ludicrous excesses, but,<br /> despite this, it still remains the best we have.<br /> <br /> Horace WYNDHAM.<br /> <br /> ————+<br /> <br /> THE “ MIRACLE’S” OBITUARIES.<br /> <br /> —+~ +<br /> <br /> « ULLO, you&#039;re alive!” exclaimed (with<br /> variations) four out of seven men stand-<br /> ing in a group round the tape in the<br /> <br /> hall of the Pandemonium Club.<br /> <br /> “How did you manage it?” asked the other<br /> three, or they used words to that effect, and the<br /> last comer, declining to corroborate what was<br /> evident to everyone, growled a few words of<br /> explanation in reply to the question.<br /> <br /> “Nothing else to do; fog everywhere; saw<br /> nothing ; came away first train ; wrote a column<br /> on all that a new dockyard must contain, before<br /> going down ; wrote half-a-column on fog in the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ae ae<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> train. I had the only empty carriage to myself,<br /> and we stopped for ten minutes out of every five ;<br /> sent my copy down to the office from the station,<br /> and came on here. Anything else you&#039;d like to<br /> know ?”<br /> <br /> «You came away before the show was over?”<br /> <br /> “Why not? If a retiring first Lord of the<br /> Admiralty chooses to give a beanfeast to the<br /> Cabinet and all that’s left of his followers in the<br /> House to celebrate the opening of a new dockyard<br /> that nobody wants, need I wait for their departure<br /> for London before describing a ceremony that<br /> nobody could see?”<br /> <br /> “Tjucky you didn’t try to come up in their<br /> train and get personal interviews with statesmen<br /> vacating office ?” said the youngest of the seven.<br /> <br /> The last comer was becoming interested in their<br /> demeanour. He took up the tape, at the other<br /> end of which the machine choked and clucked like<br /> a croupy hen trying to attract attention to the<br /> latest failure in eggs.<br /> <br /> “If anything has happened I wish you&#039;d say so<br /> plainly,” he grumbled. “I’ve had four hours in<br /> the train over a two hours’ journey, and I know<br /> nothing. Has anything happened ?”<br /> <br /> The youngest condescended to be explanatory.<br /> <br /> «Nothing at all,” he remarked lightly. “ Only<br /> a smash half-way down the line ; not more than<br /> nine Cabinet Ministers killed, and only thirteen<br /> remains of common M.P.’s identified up to now !”<br /> <br /> “ What !”<br /> <br /> “Never know your luck—eh ?<br /> passed just before ?”<br /> <br /> The last comer was looking dazed, but was<br /> evidently making an effort.<br /> <br /> “ Anybody thirsty ?” he asked at last, adding,<br /> “oo into the smoking-room.”<br /> <br /> They acted upon his invitation without demur,<br /> leaving him to hang up his overcoat and give<br /> orders to the waiter. It was an occasion which no<br /> doubt demanded some form of celebration, but<br /> when he appeared a few minutes later, preceded<br /> by a tray loaded with magnums of champagne,<br /> and a box of the club’s longest and costliest cigars,<br /> they iooked a little surprised, and one of them<br /> hinted in a whisper that the train which came<br /> through must at least have been provided with a<br /> refreshment bar.<br /> <br /> Their entertainer, seated on the edge of the<br /> table before them while the waiter drew corks and<br /> filled glasses, was apparently reckoning with the<br /> aid of his fingers.<br /> <br /> “ Here’s to fog and newspaper managers,” he<br /> said, raising his glass, while they followed his<br /> example, ‘nine and thirteen make twenty-two.<br /> Poor beggars,” he went on meditatively, “it’s<br /> death to them, but it’s a good start in the New<br /> Year for me. Perhaps you don’t understand.”<br /> <br /> You must have<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 127<br /> <br /> The eldest journalist present remarked that he<br /> was gifted with invention but not with second<br /> sight, and refilled his glass, and the other<br /> continued.<br /> <br /> “ Half-a-dozen years ago, as you all know, the<br /> Miracle was restarted with the idea that it was to<br /> be made a live paper at a popular price. It began<br /> by giving away half-a-pound of tea weekly to its<br /> subscribers, and it promised, to those who paid by<br /> the year, a sausage for breakfast as well, but it did<br /> not quite get so far as fulfilling that. Still, it<br /> increased its circulation. Just about that time<br /> the editor sent for me, and told me that all the<br /> biographies they had in the office—the obituary<br /> notices, you know—were obsolete and wanted<br /> writing up-to-date, and that many of them relating<br /> to new men in the Government and new members<br /> of Parliament had never been written at all. He<br /> wanted them all done in a new way, too; done so<br /> as to be worthy of a ‘live paper ’—he seemed<br /> fond of the expression, and used it all the time.<br /> The terms he offered were uncommonly good ;<br /> something like a tenner a life, and anything over<br /> a column extra at the same rate, so I jumped at it and<br /> thought I’d struck it rich at last. I got the price<br /> put in writing, threw myself into the job, and as I<br /> was slack at the time did very little else for a year.<br /> They were not common ‘ Who’s Who ?’ sort of<br /> work. He said they were to be done from ‘the<br /> inside’; and that is what I tried for. I inter-<br /> viewed the men themselves, and had to keep it dark<br /> that the notice was not to be printed till they were<br /> dead. JI saw their parents when they had any, and<br /> I talked to two old nurses more than eighty years<br /> old. I interviewed their wives—I interviewed<br /> their housemaids. The housemaids told me a few<br /> useful things. The wives mostly told me what no<br /> one would ever have believed, except one who<br /> became confidential and told me things that even<br /> the Miracle would not have printed. In short—I<br /> did it jolly well and the editor said so, and when I<br /> asked for payment he gave me a special note and<br /> asked me to apply personally to the manager.”<br /> <br /> “Ah,” said someone, “what did the manager<br /> say ?”<br /> <br /> “‘Oh, he liked the notices very much too, and<br /> said so. I observed casually that a tenner apiece<br /> had been arranged for, and that as I had written<br /> about seventy-two, I wanted a cheque on<br /> account<br /> <br /> «And he said they would think of it when all<br /> were completed,” suggested the man who had<br /> spoken before.<br /> <br /> “Not he; he said that, like other matter, the<br /> obituary notices on the Miracle were paid for<br /> immediately after publication.”<br /> <br /> The gentle murmur, scarcely to be called a<br /> groan, that went round the group of listeners was<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THRE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> suggestive of patience in tribulation rather than of<br /> resentment or even surprise.<br /> <br /> “T said what I could, of course, and he told me<br /> newspapers had to live ; though it did not seem to<br /> strike him that journalists might find it difficult to<br /> write for newspapers unless they could live too.<br /> He was quite polite and said that no doubt I should<br /> regard my work as an investment of capital bring-<br /> ing in interest at a fair rate, with just those<br /> fluctuations dependent upon fortune that are<br /> attractive to a speculative mind.”<br /> <br /> “Did you tell him that half the men you had<br /> written about would probably outlive you ?” asked<br /> a clean-shaven man.<br /> <br /> “ Not being a lawyer I did not take the trouble<br /> to make obvious points. I said rather more than<br /> I can remember, and I ended by telling him that<br /> nothing so iniquitous had been attempted since<br /> the eighth commandment forbade larceny, but he<br /> only smiled and said that of course there were<br /> well-established precedents for all that was done on<br /> the Miracle, so I left him. But now a<br /> <br /> “Now, you’ve scooped it; and as half your<br /> biographies refer to men who would have lost their<br /> seats in the House in a month’s time you are<br /> considerably lucky—there will have to be some<br /> notice as to each, and the Miracle won’t be able to<br /> say that your work was not used at all.”<br /> <br /> “ That is so, of course.”<br /> <br /> He seated himself in an easy chair and stretched<br /> out his feet towards the fire.<br /> <br /> The clean-shaven man had not quite liked the<br /> tone adopted towards him, and had been meditating<br /> deeply.<br /> <br /> “ Do you feel nervous ?” he asked suddenly.<br /> <br /> “ Of course not—why should I?”<br /> <br /> “Leaving out the question of motive for the<br /> present,” began the other in measured tones, ‘“ you<br /> passed the spot shortly before the accident hap-<br /> pened, and you say that your train often stopped<br /> for ten minutes at a time ; [ suppose anyone in it<br /> could have laid the usual iron chair on the line—<br /> or a few large stones—without being seen in the fog,<br /> and you had the only empty carriage to yourself.<br /> It is not usual, I suppose, for a journalist to leave<br /> what he is going to report before everything is<br /> over, when he need not do so—and just look at<br /> the motive! Now I come to think of it, the tele-<br /> gram says that foul play alone can account for an<br /> accident at such a spot. Of course we can all<br /> point to your evident pleasure at the news, and<br /> your noteworthy absence of surprise and sorrow at<br /> so terrible a catastrophe—your want of gratitude<br /> to Providence for your own escape—and the<br /> motive ye<br /> <br /> His host was pulling at his cigar with a contented<br /> and benignant smile upon his face.<br /> <br /> “Tt does seem as if I was growing a little<br /> <br /> hard-hearted,” he remarked, interrupting; ‘but<br /> twenty-two articles at a tenner apiece—all the work<br /> done—and perhaps more to follow, don’t fall in every<br /> working day. It’s only a question of your point<br /> of view. From my point of view it is a pity that<br /> it was not the roof of the station when they were<br /> all getting out of the train! Anyhow we shall see<br /> what the Miracle has to say about the negligence<br /> of railway companies, and the wanton sacrifice of<br /> valuable lives to earn dividends.”<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> THE NOBEL PRIZE.<br /> ee<br /> N December 11th, under the rules of the<br /> Nobel Prize Foundation, the awards for 1905<br /> were declared by those bodies anthorised to<br /> make the selection.<br /> <br /> The literary prize has this year been awarded to<br /> Henryk Sienkiewicz, the Polish novelist, who is<br /> known to all English readers for his powerful novel<br /> “Quo Vadis,” which made his literary fame<br /> international.<br /> <br /> The following is a list of the prizewinners in<br /> former years :—<br /> <br /> 1901. The French poet, Sully Prudhomme.<br /> <br /> 1902. The German historian, Th. Mommsen.<br /> <br /> 1903. The Norwegian poet, Bjdérnstjerne<br /> Bjornson.<br /> <br /> 1904.<br /> <br /> The Provencal poet, Fr. Mistral, and to<br /> the Spanish dramatist, José Echegaray.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> ae<br /> On AGREEMENTS.<br /> <br /> Sir,—A considerable time since Sir Walter<br /> Besant pointed out that it was the right of the<br /> seller to draw the agreement. I believe that this<br /> statement was, from a business point of view, per-<br /> fectly correct. Have authors yet taken any steps<br /> towards availing themselves of their right to draw<br /> the agreement ? And if not, why not ?<br /> <br /> Also, in many cases at least, authors are invited<br /> to contribute towards the cost of production. In<br /> business the individual who assists with money<br /> another insufficiently supplied with capital to<br /> conduct his affairs, rightly claims and enjoys a<br /> definite share in the control of every step subse-<br /> quently taken in the use of that money. Do<br /> authors (if any are still so weak) who contribute<br /> money towards the costs of production, sist<br /> upon being consulted by the person to whom they<br /> have lent their money respecting all the steps<br /> which be subsequently taken ? And if not, why<br /> <br /> not ?<br /> EB, K.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/512/1906-01-01-The-Author-16-4.pdfpublications, The Author