https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/246/1890-12-15-The-Author-1-8.pdf 31065377ba071621353b54202c6f5d14 PDF Text Text ���������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1890-12-15 Volume 1 Issue 8 Pages Page range in volume 199–222 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18901215 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Vol. I.—No. 8.] DECEMBER 15, 1890. [Price, Sixpence. The Author. THE ORGAN OF THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS (INCORPORATED). CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT Published for the Society be ALEXANDER P. WATT, 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON, E.C. 1890.  ## p. 198 (#242) ############################################ | ADVERTISEMENTS. Berton, Sept ly* 1878 . Men. Marie, Todd & Co. Gentlema. I have seus me of your Reus, to have a haina mended trough Men. Horhu, leurs Ito. of the city. You may like to know that I have ned this feu constantly formue han twenty years, time the days of a book of men called " The Autonakap the Breckford tere "1857-8 muić last Friday without repair and always with herfect satisfaction I have written with is halfa. doseer or more volumes, a lange neember and Enugs ete . ause thousands of letters... Fue to it as & an ole. rence and I hohe que ance do the beach you can for it . Though I hare in the mean en boeght another of qui... mate's corrugażd - marked C. I do not know whether que cu fir this testimonial har I fue as if the her which has Canied out to much of Buy Thought and brought back . To much in barones forms in return was entitled to this Certificat of himnaha kecerca . Sau, Ceuthen times turly Diva Wendell Remmer. . . . . ILLUSTRATED Price List of Gold Pens will be sent, free and post paid, on application to MABIE, TODD & BARD, 93, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON.  ## p. 199 (#243) ############################################ Jtttthttr. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. I.—No. 8.] DECEMBER 15, 1890. [Price Sixpence. C O N T PAGE Conditions of Membership 199 News and Notes 199 On Committee 203 Our Copyright liill 203 "Father Francis," by Walter H. Pollock 205 Reasonable Ladies :— I, by Andrew Lang 206 II, by Walter Bcsant 207 Consolation ; or, the Romance of a Sea-side Library 209 E N T S. PAGE An English Academy :— I, by H. G. Keene 212 II, by J. Stanley Little 213 A Reminder 213 A Hard Case 213 In Grub Street 215 Points and Cases 218 1 New Books and New Editions ... 221 I Advertisements ... ... ..- 222 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP. The Subscription is One Guinea annually, payable on the 1st of January of each year. The sum of Ten Guineas for life memljership entitles the subscriber to full membership of the Society. Authors only are eligible. Cheques and Postal Outers should be crossed "The Im- perial Bank, Limited, Westminster Branch." Names of those who wish to be proposed as members may be sent at any time to the Secretary at the Society's Offices. Subscriptions entered after the 1st of October will cover the next year. The Secretary may be personally consulted between the hours of 1 p.m. and 5, except on Saturdays. It is preferable that an appointment should be made by letter. The Author, the Organ of the Society, can be procured through all newsagents, or from the publisher, A. P. Watt, 2, Paternoster Square, E.G. A copy will be sent free to any member of the Society for one twelvemonth, dating from May, 1889. It is hoped, however, that most members will subscribe to the paper. The yearly subscription is 6s. 6d.t including post.ige, which may be sent to the Secretary, 4, Portugal Street, VV.G. With regard to the reading of MSS., the fee for this service is one guinea. MSS. will be read and reported upon for others than members, but members cannot have their works read for nothing. In all cases where an opinion is desired upon a manuscript, the author should send With it a table of contents. A type- written scenario is also of very great assistance, for it must be clearly understood that a practised reader does not require to read the whole of an author's work before being perfectly able to give a just opinion on its merits. If by the help of a scenario the reader can grasp at once the story, he is so much the more able readily to point out any errors of construction, and to devote more time to examination of style and other technical points. It must be understood that such a reader's report, even if favourable, does not assist the author towards publication. NEWS AND NOTES. r I HE American House of Representatives, on I Wednesday, December 3rd, passed the International Copyright Bill. It has now to be passed by the Senate and by the President. As it has already passed the former, and as the latter makes no secret of his intentions about it, we may consider that the passing of the Bill is nearly certain, and that it will come into operation in July next. It is too early to discuss the possible results from this Bill. We must first get the Act itself in our hands. We have written to the American Copyright League asking for a copy, and we hope to have it in time for our next number. Mean- time there is no harm in warning everybody to refuse signing any agreement which surrenders possible American rights. One thing is quite certain, that many English authors are popular in the States; hut no one knows how far their popu- larity extends, or who are included. Almost every living English novelist is included in the cheap American reprints, even those who seem least worth reproducing. But then nobody knows who buys these works when they are reproduced. Now if one of the pirates—whom we are agreed to call publishers-by-permission-of-the-law—would only favour the world with a few figures, these might be destructive to the vanity of some, but vol. 1. Q  ## p. 200 (#244) ############################################ 200 THE AUTHOR. would prove a factor of great importance in obtaining a forecast of the future. As to American writers and copyright in this country, a correspondent writes as follows:—"I find that it is an everyday occurrence for an English publisher to secure copyright for an American author by the simple process of registration at Stationers' Hall, depositing one copy of the book in the British Museum, and selling two copies. These are all the formalities that are required: the residence on English soil is never exacted, and hardly ever practised. If, as certain Anglophobes complain, American authors are pirated in this country, then these latter have their own ignorance or carelessness to thank for it: English law affords them ample protection, if they choose to avail themselves of its provisions." « Our own Bill for the Consolidating and Amend- ing the Copyright Laws has been introduced by Lord Monkswell in the House of Lords, and was read by him for the first time on November 26th. The preamble of the Bill will be found on p. 203. —♦— Are we to have a Club of Authors? A good many letters have been addressed to the Editor on this subject, since the appearance of the last number. It is pointed out that the Authors' Club of New York is a flourishing institution, though there are not in New York one-tenth the number of authors who live in London, not to speak of the country generally. It is also urged that such a club would serve the useful purpose of a central place for consultation about all matters connected with the literary life and profession; that it would greatly assist in bringing authors to a corporate sense; that it would help to clear away the darkness in which literary affairs have been designedly kept: that it would be a powerful aid in bringing about that respect for each other and for themselves in which authors have always been lamentably deficient, so that they may perhaps be persuaded to cease exercising their wit in epigrams and criticisms on each other, while there remain so many other excellent subjects in the outside world. Also, for country members, it would be useful to have a place where they could find a small library of reference, writing rooms, reading rooms, and luncheon rooms. On the other hand, it is argued that authors do not want a club any more than barristers or solicitors—but barristers have their Inns of Court, and solicitors their Law Institute; that the older authors would not come in—but some of them would, and it must be remembered, that the older men are much more difficult to persuade out of their old ways than the younger; that there are already clubs enough— with other objections. For my own part I am always prepared to wel- come and to advocate anything in the direction of union. Once persuaded that the greatest advan- tages of independence, self-respect, and assistance in the conduct of affairs are certain to result from increased union, those who follow the literary pro- fession will no longer hesitate to press for union in every possible way. The advance and increase of the Society is one way, and the best way of all; the advance of this Journal is another way; a Club may be—I do not go so far as to say that it must be—another way. For there certainly are difficulties. It would have to be a club of men and women; but the Albemarle Club has shown how the difficulties of making a club equally comfortable for both sexes may be met and overcome. Then it must be remembered that merely to be an author would not by itself make one eligible for such a club. A candidate must be admissible on other grounds. And it must not be an expensive club; yet to run a club at all, requires an income of at least a couple of thousand. It would require a considerable sum at the outset for furniture—yet the difficulty has been experienced elsewhere and successfully met. I think that the best wa/, before any further steps are taken, will be to submit the question to the members of the Society, and to ask those who think thatsuch a club would be a good and useful institution, having regard to all the interests of literature and especially to those persons who have to work alone, in ignorance of affairs, and without the encouragement of the friendships which it is not unreasonable to hope would be formed in such a club. I have therefore drawn up an alternative scheme. One is for a club pure and simple. The other is for an "Authors' House," the nature of which I have sketched out. First—The Club. The Club of Authors would consist of as many members as the House could conveniently accom- modate. Perhaps, following the example of the Press Club, this club could be formed into a Limited Liability Company, every member becom- ing a shareholder to the extent of one guinea share at least. With 500 members at an annual sub- scription of four guineas each the club could be efficiently conducted. Perhaps a subscription of three guineas each would be found sufficient.  ## p. 201 (#245) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 201 The club should not attempt to become an expensive or luxurious dining club, but it should be possible, as at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, to order a simple dinner, while luncheon and after- noon tea should be always provided. It would contain writing rooms, reading rooms, a library of reference, a smoking room for men, a drawing room, a coffee room, a conversation room for ladies only, and a billiard room, though this is not absolutely necessary. It would also be very desirable that the Society should have its own roams on the same premises. Everybody would be eligible for election who was connected professionally with any branch of literature. Journalists, for instance, would be eligible. Also every man or woman who writes books. But no one could claim the right of admission. The election would be in the hands of the Com- mittee. It would be desirable to fix the prices of refreshments and meals at as low a figure as possible. Second—The Authors' House. I propose the following as an alternative plan: That a house be taken in the immediate vicinity of the Museum. Here the rent of houses is moderate, the houses themselves are good and spacious, and the situation, though not central, is not much out of the way, and, for those who work at the Museum, very convenient. That the ground floor (or the first floor) be allotted to the Society for the offices. That the first floor (or the ground floor), be set apart, one room for a luncheon or tea room, and the other, if there are only two, for a reference library and writing tables. That the rooms on the second floor, and third, if possible, be let as private offices or working rooms. There are many who live outside London, and would willingly pay a small rent for a room of their own, where they could work in complete quiet, undisturbed by anybody. Let us see how this scheme would work out. The rent and taxes would cost ^250 a year. The service, including a housekeeper, would come to about ^250 more. The lighting, fire, &c, another ^100. The furniture would cost about £400. The coffee room would support itself. Therefore the Authors' House would cost ^600 a year. If the Society paid £100 towards this for its own rent, if four rooms were sub-let at £30 each, there would remain ^380 a year to be found. Members to the number of 350 at a guinea a year VOL. I. each would make the House possible, or if the subscription were a guinea and a half, 250 mem- bers would be enough. In the case of the House every member would have to be a member of the Society as well. In the case of the Club that would not be necessary. When the Society advances so far as to number, say 1,500 members, such an Authors' House would be possible without any additional subscription. With this scheme before them will those mem- bers who feel willing to assist in founding either an Authors' Club or Authors' House communicate with me? I enclose a form for suggestions. And should either scheme approve itself to a suffi- cient number, a meeting might be called for the further discussion of the business. One would like it considered first as regards the general question—the best interests of Letters; next from the private point of view, how it would benefit the individual. ♦ I think it was Sir Arthur Helps who called attention in one of his little essays to the diablerie of printers' errors. A most exasperating error crept into the last number of the Author. It was clearly instigated by the printer's devil, who, at the same time, blinded the eyes of all those who passed the proofs. The writer was made to state that Mr. Andrew Lang had "collected Langisms." This stood for "edited Longinus." No editor can find any excuse for passing such things; he is always to blame for negligence; and yet they do get passed. I suppose everybody can tell of maddening blunders of this kind. In a certain printed book for which I am half responsible, one of the charac- ters was represented by the authors as walking along the street while meditating a great revenge, and "smiling all the way." The fiend of a printer changed it to "smoking all the way"! And this passed without being seen. In the same book refer- ence was made to sorrows as evanescent as child- hood's earache. In the first edition this appeared as earache, simply by a mistake of the first letter. The error passed unobserved. In the cheap edition the printer had, I suppose, a tincture of foreign languages, and thought the word should be in italics. It now stands earache, and looks almost French. There is another book for which I am also half responsible. The other day an industrious person sent me a list of about twenty bad printer's mistakes in this one book, not one of which had been suspected or discovered. This person claimed payment for his trouble—which he has not yet received. Q 2  ## p. 202 (#246) ############################################ 202 THE AUTHOR. I have not yet read Mr. Wemyss Reid's "Life Lord Houghton." I hope, however, that the biographer has not passed over the sympathy shown by Lord Houghton towards the Society at its foun- dation. He belonged to the older generation which believed that literature would be advanced by the union of living writers. He saw the failure of more than one attempt at such an union. Yet he wel- comed with generous sympathy and ardour the renewed attempt, and he spoke in its defence at the first Function at which the Society was recognized— the banquet given by Sir Robert Fowler, Lord Mayor, in 1884. I think, had he been living, he would have owned that by this time the new Society has done enough not only to justify its existence, but also to lead its supporters to look hopefully into the future. We are no longer making tenta- tive efforts here and there; we know what is wanted. First of all—light. Then—more light. We cannot have too much light. Next, the suppression of those who will still be talking ignorant nonsense about literary affairs; on this point enough was said in the last number. Thirdly, the rescue of those unfortunates who lie in the hell of the sweating publisher. Alas! there are many of these poor creatures. Their relief can only be accomplished by making the methods of the sweaters known, and proclaiming their iniquitous gains. More: we have not only to destroy but to build up. We have to arrive at an understanding with the honourable houses as to honourable methods, conceding what is right to either party, and early next year we propose taking a first step in this direction. We have been hearing from various quarters that the French Academy of Letters is an effete institution regarded by nobody, having done its work, and of no further influence in literature. It is a curious comment on these assurances that the papers have been full of the vacancy in this unre- garded body, and of the chances of the candidates who desire to fill it. Why all this excitement and interest about an institution which is moribund? A letter is going the rounds of authorland. It begins with a charming simplicity. "I am ex- tremely fond of getting presents of books from their authors. May I hope you will kindly give me one of yours, and add to its value, in my eyes, by writing my name in it?" The writer sends this letter, I believe, in perfect good faith, and certainly does not seem to understand that he is doing any- thing unusual. Why should not authors give copies of their works to every stranger who asks? Why should not the manager of a theatre fill his house with orders? Why should not a singer sing for nothing in any village choir? Why should not drapers present their silk neck ties to strangers across the counter? And why should not all the world ask to have everything for nothing? This is how it is done in America. A corres- pondent writes :— "Some months since, a so-called American Publishing Association wrote, asking permission to use one or two of my poems in a book to be called 'The Poets of America.' 1 hesitated, as no reasons were given, and I had been 'written up' in 'The Poets of New Enghnd,' 'Distinguished Women of America,' &c. My secretary sent two poems after a third request came. Then followed a request for a photograph. One was sent. Soon followed a demand for §5 to have the photograph engraved. I replied, ' Not a penny. I have been caricatured too often.' The demand for money was repeated, and by advice of my publishers no notice was taken of it. Some three or four weeks since, an Express brought to my door a package of books with a C. O. 1). bill of $20. I declined to receive them. A few days later came a letter with a printed circular asking me 'to write a few lines to advertise the book, as most of the authors had done so.' This I declined to do, giving my reasons. Yesterday, on reaching home, I find a letter telling me that a package of books for me are here in the Express Office. If I cannot pay the full amount on them now, I can pay part and send the rest when convenient. I have sent the letter to a Chicago lawyer to deal with as he thinks best." We have no Express Office in this country and no C. O. D. (Cash On Delivery ?) system. When we have these blessings no doubt the same kind of game will be introduced among us. —«— The following address has been drawn up by a few Californians. It is an address to the United States Senators and the Representatives in Con- gress, from the State of California. At the time when it was sent off to us the document was in course of receiving signatures at the University of California, the Mercantile Library, the Free Public Library, and certain leading establishments. Gentlemen, We, the undersigned, urge you to vote for and work for the International Copyright Bill, as prepared by the American Copyright League.  ## p. 203 (#247) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 203 We urge it because the present law is legalized robbery and a national disgrace. We especially urge it because the better elements of American literature are being overwhelmed with foreign sensationalism, and American enterprises are being destroyed. The works of our own writers, many of them Californians, are published without compensation in other countries. Gresham's currency law works in respect to literature: the debased currency drives out the pure metal. Shall the whole warp and woof of the literature offered to Americans be un-American—and stolen besides? We believe that every candid investigator of the subject will come to the conclusion that an International Copyright must benefit the American printer, type-setter, founder, publisher, editor, writer and illustrator, and finally, and most of all, the purchaser of books, pamphlets and magazines. It is simply the recognition of a property right, which no one denies, or can deny. It will build up still greater publishing houses, and will ultimately move the intellectual centre of the English-speaking people from England to America. We acknowledge, gentlemen, that we expect much from you in this matter. You are the keepers of the honour of the Commonwealth of California. It becomes you, as statesmen of liberal education and broad ideas, to represent the higher interests of the Pacific Coast community. Believe us, all Californians desire justice to be done; all Californians desire the development of American literature. We hope for a united vote from our delegation for International Copyright. Since this was sent to press, the news of victory has arrived. Let the above stand as a record of the very last effort made in America in the cause of national honour. Walter Besant. * ON COMMITTEE. THE following Bye law has been passed :— "Should anyone desire to consult the Society as to literary work, without having as yet qualified for membership, the Secretary may then and there—reporting the case at the next meeting of Committee—admit him or her as an Associate only, on payment of a guinea. His privileges to consist of the right to advice from the office, and to terminate at the end of the current year. Such an Associate to have no right to take part in the administration of the Society." Members may be reminded that "Associates" can always be received who desire, by joining the Society, to assist in its objects, though they are not persons engaged in literary pursuits. They cannot be members, nor can they have voice or part in administering the Society. Two were elected at a recent Committee meeting, and have become Life Associates by payment of ten guineas each. The Report of the Copyright Committee, which formed the substance of a paper in the November number of the Author, has been laid before the Committee of Management. The Committee have been in correspondence with the London Chamber of Commerce on the subject of the Society's Bill for the Consolidation of the Copyright Law. And as was stated by Mr. Hodges in the Author for November, there has been an important correspondence with Lord Knutsford on the subject of Canadian copyright. Opinion on American rights in England has been obtained from Counsel. At the November meeting, the Secretary sub mitted a statement of recent cases which the Society had taken up and carried through, in every case, with a satisfactory result. In two of them the Society compelled the return of the work to the author with the surrender of all rights. One hundred and six new members were elected between June 26th and December 4th, 1890. The news of the passing of the International Copyright Bill was received at the meeting of Committee of December 4th. A telegram of congratulation was sent to the Copyright League of New York, which has done so much for the promotion of the Bill. Its President is Mr. Russell Lowell. * OUR COPYRIGHT BILL. HIS bill was introduced by Lord Monkswell and read for the first time in the House of Lords on November 26th last. The following Memorandum sets out its contents, and shows the various authorities for the changes in present legislation suggested by the Bill. Memorandum. This Bill is intended to consolidate and amend the Law of Copyright other than copyright in designs. The existing law on the subject consists of no less than 18 Acts of Parliament, besides common law principles, which are to be found only by search ing the Law Reports. Owing to the manner in which  ## p. 204 (#248) ############################################ 204 THE AUTHOR. these Acts have been drawn, the law is in many cases hardly intelligible, and is full of arbitrary distinctions for which it is impossible to find a reason. (See paragraphs 9 to 13 of the Report of the Royal Commission oh Copyright of 1878.) For instance, the term of copyright in books is the life of the author and 7 years, or 42 years from publication, whichever period is the longer; in lectures, when printed and published, the term is probably the life of the author or 28 years; in engravings, 28 years; and in sculpture, 14 years, with a possible further extension for another 14 years; while the term of copyright in music and lectures which have been publicly performed or delivered but not printed is wholly uncertain. Again the necessity for and effect of registration is entirely different with regard to (1) books, (2) painting, (3) dramatic works. In consolidating these enactments (all of which it is proposed to repeal) it has been thought advisable to deal separately with the various subjects of copyright, viz., (1) Literature, (2) Music and Dramatic Works, and (3) Works of Art, and to make the part of the Bill dealing with each of these as far as possible complete in itself. This will account for certain repetitions which might other- wise seem unnecessary. The alterations proposed to be made in the law are for the most part those suggested in the Report of the Royal Commission on Copyright of 1878, and einbodied in a Bill introduced at the end of the Session of 1879 by Lord John Manners, Viscount Sandon, and the Attorney-General on behalf of the then Government. References will be found in the margin of the present Bill both to the Report of the Commission and the Bill of 1879. The most important of these alterations may be summarised as follows :— 1. A uniform term of copyright is introduced for all classes of work, consisting of the life of the author and 30 years after his death. The only exceptions are in the cases of engravings and photographs, and anonymous and pseudonymous works for which, owing to the difficulty or impossi- bility of identifying the author, the term is to be 30 years only, with power for the author of an anony- mous or pseudonymous work at any time during such 30 years to declare his true name and acquire the full term of copyright. 2. The period after which the author of an article or essay in a collective work (other than an encyclopedia) is to be entitled to the right of separate publication, is reduced from 28 years to 3 years. 3. The right to make an abridgment of a work is for the first time expressly recognised as part of the copyright, and an abridgment by a person other than the copyright owner is made an infringement of copyright. 4. The authors of works of fiction are given the exclusive right of dramatizing the same as part of their copyright, and the converse right is conferred on authors of dramatic works. 5. The exhibition of photographs taken on com- mission, except with the consent of the person for whom they are taken, is rendered illegal.* 6. Registration is made compulsory for all classes of work in which copyright exists, except painting and sculpture; that is to say, no proceed- ings for infringement or otherwise can be taken before registration, nor can any proceedings be taken after registration in respect of anything done before the date of registration, except on payment of a penalty. This penally, it should be mentioned, was not recommended by the Royal Commission, but is introduced in order that an accidental omission to register may not entirely deprive the copyright owner of his remedies. Registration of paintings and sculpture is made optional owing to their being so frequently subject to alteration, that it is practically impossible to say when they are completed, so as to be capable of registration. 7. Provision is made (in Clause 89) for the seizure of piratical copies of copyright works which are being hawked about or offered for sale. Some such provision is required particularly for the pro- tection of works of Art, and was recommended by the Royal Commission. The part of the Bill which relates to the fine arts and photography is taken, almost without alteration, from the Copyright (Works of Fine Art) Bill which was introduced into the House of Commons in the session of 1886 by Mr. Hastings, Mr. Gregory, and Mr. Agnew. That Bill received the general approval of those interested in the fine arts; and although it does not altogether follow the recommendations of the Royal Com- mission, there does not appear to be any serious reason against adopting its provisions. The part of the Bill which relates to Foreign and Colonial Copyright is practically a re-enact- ment of the provisions of the International Copy- right Act, 1886, which was passed in order to carry into effect the "Berne Convention" for giving to authors of literary and artistic works first published in one of the countries, parties to the Convention, copyright in such works through- out the other countries parties to the Convention. By the earlier parts of the Bill, the same rights are given to Colonial as to British authors; while * At present it seems to be merely a matter of implied contract (see Pollard v. The Photographic Co., 40 Ch. D., 345)-  ## p. 205 (#249) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 205 the right of the Colonial Legislatures to deal with the subject is expressly recognised and preserved. The Foreign Reprints Act of 1847 (10 and n Vic. c. 95) is re-enacted in the form adopted in the Bill of 1879, but it has not been found possible to frame provisions for the introduction of any such licensing system of republication in the Colonies as that suggested by the Royal Commission. There appear to be great difficulties in providing for the practical working of any such system, and even if they could be overcome, it is felt that while it is more than doubtful whether the colonial reader would benefit to any great extent, the British copyright owner must suffer con- siderable loss. With regard to Registration, the Bill (as was recommended by the Royal Commission) provides for the establishment of a Copyright Registration Office, under the control of Government, in lieu of the present office at Stationers' Hall, established under 5 and 6 Vict. c. 45. This office has even under the present law been found inadequate, and would be still more so upon the introduction of compulsory registration in all cases. It is felt, however, that the details and form- alities of any scheme of registration can only be satisfactorily settled by Government officials, and the provisions of Part V of the Bill are put forward rather by way of suggestion than as a definitely settled scheme. It will probably be found desir- able either now or hereafter to combine the Copy- right Registration Office with the Registry of Designs and Trade Marks, and this part of the Bill has, therefore, as far as possible, been modelled on the corresponding provisions of the Patents Designs and Trade Marks Act, 1883. The chief points on which the recommendations of the Royal Commission are departed from in the present Bill are as follows :— 1. The Commissioners recommended that the universities and libraries (other than the British Museum) which are now entitled to receive a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom, should be left to purchase the books they required in the market, and that their present privilege should be taken away. But from com- munications which have been received from the librarians, it appears that they are most anxious to retain their present privilege; that the libraries could not be properly supplied if it was abolished, and that the cases in which it can cause any real hard- ship are very few. The Bill, therefore, provides for the continuance of the supply to these institutions. 2. With regard to the Fine Arts, the Com missioners were of Opinion that the copy- right in paintings, &c, should pass to the purchaser unless specially reserved to the artist. Under-the Bill, however, the copy- right will remain in the artist, unless ex- pressly assigned to the purchaser. This, it is believed, is in accordance with the general wish of artists, and as no replica can be produced without the consent of the owner of the original painting, no injury will be inflicted on purchasers, who will moreover have the right (under section 46) of pre- venting unauthorised reproductions, even though they have not (as of course it will be open to them to do) taken an express assignment of the copyright. Practically the only effect of the artist retaining the copyright after parting with the picture, will be to give him a control over its re- production by engraving or otherwise, and this control it seems proper that he should have. 3. The exception made in the Act, 5 and 6 Will. IV c. 65, with respect to lectures delivered in universities and elsewhere, is not pro- posed to be re-enacted in the present Bill. What the exact meaning and effect of that exception may be seems to be far from clear (see the observations of the Lords in Caird v. Sime, L.R. 12 App. Ca. 326), and moreover, it does not by any means seem to follow that because a lecture is delivered in a university, or in virtue of an endowment or foundation, the lecturer should be deprived of rights con- ferred on all other lecturers whether they are paid for their services or not. 4. The omission of any provisions for the .introduction of a licensing system into the Colonies; and 5. The right given to a copyright owner of taking proceedings in respect of infringe- ments, committed before he registers his title on payment of a penalty, have been already noticed and explained. FATHER FRANCIS. ICOME your sin-rid souls to shrive— Is this the way wherein ye live?" We lightly think of virtue, Enjoyment cannot hurt you.  ## p. 206 (#250) ############################################ 206 THE AUTHOR. "Ye love. Hear then of chivalry, Of gallant truth and constancy." We find new loves the meetest, And stolen kisses sweetest. "Voices ye have. Then should ye sing In praise of heaven's mighty king." We deem it is our duty To chant our darlings' beauty. "Strait are the gates of worldly pleasure, The joy beyond no soul can measure." Alas! we are but mortal, And much prefer the portal. "Nay, sons, then must I leave ye so, But lost will be your souls, I trow." Nay, father, make you merry; Come, drawer, bring some sherry. "Me drink? Old birds are not unwary, Still less—ha !—well, 'tis fine canary." Mark how his old blood prances— A stoup for Father Francis! "Your wine, my sons, is wondrous good, And hath been long time in the wood." Mark how his old eye dances— More wine for Father Francis! "A man, my sons—a man, I say, Might well drink here till judgment day." Now for soft words and glances But where is Father Francis? "Heed me, my sons, I pray, no more; I always sleep upon the floor." Alas! for old wine's chances, A shutter for Father Francis! (From "OLD and New." By Walter /ferries Pollock. Eden, Remington &• Co.) * REASONABLE LADIES. I. In commenting on some remarks of mine about literature as a profession, you write thus :—• "Lastly, I have had many letters from ladies calling indignant attention to one clause which I regret to see at the close of the paper. 'As far as I can see, the authors who do suffer are those who should receive .£3 10s. 6d. and only get js. 41/. . . . Their work is worth very little, and they get even less. . . . Generally, they are women easily "put upon" and rather unreason- able.' 'Why,' ask my correspondents, 'should not even a woman demand and receive justice? Why should she take 7-f. ii,d. when \os. Gd. is due to her?' Really one cannot give any reason. And considering that the poor wretch who steals a handkerchief worth twopence is sent to prison as much as the bold burglar who robs a bank, there does seem no reply to this question." But, may I ask, are the many ladies who write these letters reasonable themselves on this occasion? "Why should not even a woman demand and re- ceive justice?" cry these correspondents. Why not, indeed? These ladies argue as if I had said that a woman who deserved ^3 \os. 6d. might justifiably be put off with 7*. t\d. But I never, never said anything of the kind. It is the favourite feminine fallacy, Ignoratio clenchi, that these nymphs em- ploy. I said that writers of little pecuniar}' value, so to speak, are the writers who suffer. I did not say that they ought to suffer, nor that it did not matter if they did suffer. Very far from it. My article is not here, but dimly I remember observing that the Society of Authors found most of its work in looking after these cases. I may be wrong about that, I only judge by what I read in your agreeable serial. In any case to look after the authors who are defrauded of some two or three pounds is a chivalrous and necessary task. My point was that it is those writers, not the authors of more successful, possibly of better work, who need to be protected. You do not agree with me; however, that is my opinion. I sincerely believe that men and women who have brains enough to write moderately profitable works, have also brains enough to make proper arrangements with their publishers if they are not too indifferent. In that case they are like the man wrho fishes with rotten tackle, and gets broken by his salmon. It is their own fault. It is, I repeat, the others who need assistance and advice, and I consider that the Society is doing a kind work in helping them. If the Society would only induce myriads of them not to write huge worthless novels, the Society's action would be still more valuable. But is it reasonable, now, for ladies to argue as if I had said that women should not receive justice? That is exactly the way in which many women argue. They don't reply to your contention, but they invent something else which they erect as your position, and then they attack that airy fortress of their fancy. Sir, you know the heart of woman a deal better than I do, and you are well aware that it is infinitely better than her head. She jumps at the notion that I said something cruel, and she is "indignant" with me, for what I never said at all. By all means secure their rights for authors, male or female, whose rights are not great, reckoned in  ## p. 207 (#251) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 207 money. These, in my poor opinion, are almost the only kind of authors who get much less than their dues, and, in a literary sense, their work is generally unimportant. Justice to them is not unimportant. Of course I do not mean that only women are unreasonable. Any author, of whatever sex, is unreasonable who, having covenanted to do a job for a given sum, grumbles because he did not get more than he bargained for. Like most penmen, I have done jobs out of which the publisher probably made a much greater profit than the sum which he offered, and which I took. Rut then one has done other jobs out of which the publisher made no profit at all, by which, indeed, he lost money. Should I have returned him his fees? To tell the truth I did twt return them; and I fancy that he would not have permitted me to do so. We never have a reasonable right to grumble, after getting all we asked for, unless we also return our fees when the speculation is unsuccessful. I believe Collins did this: the example was unusual. By the way, to relieve one's mind, is the Religious Society—the S.P.C.K.—which pays its authors so small a proportion of its profits, as you say, so beyond all language vile, after all? How much do many of those authors contribute to the success of their own books? They have a huge sale, let us put it, but if the authors command a huge sale, why should they not, if dissatisfied, carry their MSS. to Bacon or to Bungay, who will treat them moderately well? Why should they remain under the rod of bishops and other pious malefactors? Is it possible that the Society, not the authors, provides the public, that the Society can vend any quantity of wares which would lie for ever unsold on the shelves of Bungay or of Bacon? I only ask for information. May it not be that the Society can sell bales and tons of twaddle which any man, womar, or child could write, " if he abandoned his mind to it," but which the public will only accept from the Society? If not, why, once more, do not the Society's authors revolt, and secede to Paternoster Row? If it is their books that the public desires, the public will as readily purchase from Bungay as from the Society. But if all that this very peculiar public wants is a book with S.P.C.K. on the title-page, then the book may be worth no more, as work, than the author gets for it. This view of the case is, at least, worth considering. There may be some mystery in the matter which one cannot fathom. But I still do not understand if Miss Bunnion's " Little Totty," published by the S.P.C.K. sells 40,000 copies, why Miss B., if unsatisfied with her reward, does not simply take her next work, "Billy Boy," to a more righteous bookseller. There must be competition for the work of so popular an author, unless, indeed, the popularity is given merely by the magic letters S.P.C.K. If that be the case, don't you see that the S.P.C.K is the proprietor of its own charm, that the genius of Miss Bunnion has nothing to do with it, that anyone with a pen and a vein of mild narrative would suit the Society just as well? It is not that I grudge Miss Bunnion her fair share of the profits, say two-thirds. I wish with all my heart that she got them. But I can see what sort of explanation of its behaviour the S.P.C.K. might make, if the circumstances are really those set forth in this hypothesis. The Society may say, "the value of these works is a value of our creation. We, and we alone, have made this funny public, have created this queer demand. From us the public will buy Miss Bunnion's artless legends as readily as if she had the genius of Scott or Fielding, whereas, except from us, nobody will buy Miss Bunnion at all." It is a curious state of the literary market; perhaps it is a fanciful state, a mere myth. But if it isamyth,why ah! why, do not the S.P.C.K. authors go to other publishers, all of them pining for popular copyrights? These remarks, of course, apply only to one of the charges against the S.P.C.K., if they apply to that even, which is just what I want to know. A popular author can strike without any union, without injuring trade, without making a disturbance. He merely carries his wares across the Row, to the other firm of publishers. But if it is the publishers who are popular, not the author, then the case is very different; then the question of raising the author's wages becomes one, not of trade, but of honourable feeling—a scarce article. A. Lang. II. Mr. Andrew Lang's letter, like everything that he writes, will be read with great interest. He takes, however, the line that may be ex- pected of those who have not had the advantage of being able to ascertain the facts. His view is, briefly, as follows :— 1. The writers who suffer are those only whose books possess little pecuniary value. 2. Anyone who contracts to do a piece of work for a certain sum must keep to his agreement, and has no right to grumble. 3. The S.P.C.K. publishes nothing but goody goody rubbish, beneath the contempt of reasoning beings, and has a large market for their trash because the letters S.P.C.K. are on the title-page. Therefore the value  ## p. 208 (#252) ############################################ 208 THE AUTHOR. of this stuff is not in the producer or the production, but in the publisher. 4. If the writers for the S.P C.K. are discon- tented, they can carry their MSS. elsewhere. 5. Men and women who have brains enough to write profitable work, have also brains enough to make proper arrangements with their publishers, if they are not too in- different. I think that this is a fair resume of the above. (1.) Clauses 1 and 5 may be answered together. Not only those whose work is of little value, but all who write books have hitherto suffered from the disadvantage of being called upon to sign agreements in which the meaning of the clauses as they affect the other party has been carefully concealed from the author. For instance, when a royalty was offered, what data, before our publications, had the author to go upon in arriving at what he conceded and what he received? Those, in fact, have suffered most whose writings have commanded the greatest amount of success. Take, however, the case in Mr. Lang's mind of the ladies whose work he thinks possess little value. The words "little" and " great" are elastic. To a modest gentlewoman whose wants are covered by a hundred pounds a year, that amount is not little. Now there are scores of ladies whose works produce—but not to them—a great deal more than that amount. There is no risk in producing their books; the publisher knows very well the minimum that he can depend upon. What are we to say, then, of people who, knmving this minimum, which they carefully hide from the author, give her a tenth, or a twentieth, of that amount? Apply to this business the rules of any other. What would be said of a shopkeeper who bought, say, a desk, at a tenth part of the retail price? What is said daily of a shirtmaker's sweater? and how do these differ from the sweating publisher? (2.) On the subject of agreements the Society is at one with Mr. Lang. It has always proclaimed that agreements must be kept. At the same time, when agreements are imposed upon writers, carrying clauses which they cannot understand, whose meaning is concealed, we have a very good right to raise a cry of warning, and a warning is not a grumble. (3.) The assumption that the S.P.C.K. publishes nothing but goody books of no literary value cannot for a moment be allowed. No one who has studied their lists could possibly allow it. Their fiction is for the most part written by ladies,'and contains a great deal of work that is dainty and delicate, and of artistic value. And it is not the case that their sale depends wholly on the name of the S.P.C.K. Of course, that goes for much—so does the name of Longman. If the S.P.C.K. put their name to a book, that is a reasonable guarantee that the book is not at variance with a certain set of doctrines which some people prize very highly. If the name of Longman is on a title-page, that is a reasonable guarantee of good literary work. But if the customers of the S.P.C.K. do not like a book they will not buy it, whether those initials are on it or not. And I have never yet heard of a great house exacting from its authors all the profits on the ground that it provided the public. As a proof that the S.P.C.K. cannot sell tons of trash it may be remarked that twenty years ago the then Committee tried to carry out this opera- tion. They had tons and tons of rubbish on sale. No one would buy the stuff, and the Society lost heavily. In the end they made a new start,and sold the trash for waste paper. They are now wiser. I think we have in this part of the letter the same confusion of ideas between literary worth and commercial worth t^at has already been noticed in these pages. Thus, if a person writes trash which commands a wide sale, he has a property. That property is his own. He has as much right to protection in the sale and management of his property as if it were a barrowful of whelks. Now a great deal of trash is written, and some of it is very saleable indeed. And if a religious Society or any firm of publishers takes this saleable trash, which is genuine property, as much as silks or gloves or chairs, and sells it for its own profit; or if it hides from the possessor its value, and pays a wretched sum for it; or if it sweats and grinds the possessor and fattens on the sale of that pro- perty—then that body or that publisher should be informed of his iniquity, and it should be made disagreeable for him to continue in the paths of unrighteousness. (4.) But why do not its authors go elsewhere? Those who can, do. One lady, deeply aggrieved at her treatment, went elsewhere and got at once, not only the honorarium which her former truly Christian employers had given her, but a good royalty as well. But all cannot. First, they have got into the habit of writing for the Church of England, with its doctrines and holy days always in their mind. They have learned what is wanted, and they have fallen into a certain style and language which suit the Society. This practically determines their market. Next, the so-called religious pub- lishers to whom they might go naturally take their cue from a Society whose President and Vice- Presidents are all the Archbishops and Bishops, and behave accordingly. Thirdly, ladies do not like to  ## p. 209 (#253) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 209 go hawking about their things, subject to snubs and refusals. Lastly, they do not know their own value. This eminently religious Society carefully avoids telling them the minimum profit certain to be made on their work, and so they take their ^30 meekly and go home to write another dainty little book for school girls on the bread and butter which their pay affords. (5.) Lastly, that men who have brains enough to write profitable work, have brains enough to make proper terms. This is already answered. It is not a question of brains, but of power to get at the facts. And this power has hitherto been very carefully with- held. Until the Society ascertained and published the facts no one knew them. There is only one more point, that of losses. In every business there must be losses. It is essential to trade that accidents cause losses, even to the most prudent. In no trade need there be fewer losses than in the publishers' trade. They very seldom—-it cannot be repeated too often, or be too strongly asserted—they very seldom take any risk whatever. That is to say, as good men of business, they will not spend money on what they cannot sell for at least what it cost. They constantly, I daresay, fail to make as much as they hoped. But even granting an occasional and unavoidable loss, why, in the name of Heaven, should this trade be so different from all other trades, that the man who sells the thing he has made should refund what the purchaser has paid him, so as to make up losses caused by bad management? And if anything more need be said, there are now very few nouses indeed which ever do buy anything. They remunerate the author with a royalty—which most of them make as small as possible. Walter Besant. * CONSOLATION; OR, THE ROMANCE OF A SEA-SIDE LIBRARY. THE library was contained in the back room of a shop—" place of business" the lady pro- prietor preferred to call it—where the articles peculiar to the sea-side were sold: spades, buckets, shrimping nets, shell work, photographs of the local views, inkstands, paper knives, postage stamp boxes, and all the trifles which nobody buys except at the sea-side. There were also in the shop the London papers on sale, and a case full of gaudily bound religious books, warranted to soften the brains of the unfortunate children for whom they were written, and to whom they were presented. The subscribers to the library passed through the place of business and found themselves in a large room to which their subscriptions gave them the right of admission. There was a table covered with papers, there were chairs, and on two sides of the room the walls were lined with bookshelves, half filled with volumes. The half which was empty represented the books which were out. The books were all—to a book—■ three volume novels, and to him who inspected their titles for the first time, the impression pro- duced was one of bewilderment and surprise that so many works—so many rows of works—so many hundreds of works—could be published of which the ordinary visitor, himself probably a reader of novels, should never have heard. Row upon row, shelf after shelf, the new subscriber looked along the backs in vain searching for a name that was known, and for a title that was familiar. Tempted by won- der and curiosity he took down one. After a hasty glance at a page or two he replaced it quickly and decidedly. Another; this he put back with as little hesitation ; a third and a fourth. Then the new subscriber turned away, and came no more to the library unless to read the morning papers which lay upon the table, and if he wanted any- thing to read during the rest of his stay at that watering place, he bought it or ordered it at the rail- way bookstall. For the library consisted of nothing but the works of the Great Obscure. Strange perversity of choice! With all the Victorian litera- ture before them, the founders of this Institution— half-a-crown a month, or a penny a volume—selected nothing but the works of those whom nobody knew, even by name, except the critics. Moreover, these gentlemen had said nothing of these works that was not contemptuous and scornful. Thereupon the new subscriber, who was not unacquainted with the ways of critics, marvelled greatly. Now one morning, the sun being hot upon the sands, and the glow of the water intolerable to the eyes, this new subscriber sat at the open window, the Times in his hand, looking sleepily now at-the dazzling waters and the ships which passed to and fro in the far distance; now at those bookshelves filled with the works of the Unknown: and his mind returned—but lazily—to the questionsand the doubts which haunted him. Why, why did they furnish the library with none but books which had been trampled upon and derided, and had sunk into obscurity as soon as they were born? Was it from benevolent motives, in order to promote the somnolence which is so sovereign a cure for overwork and nervous worry? Was it the deliberate elevation and assertion of another literary standard difficult at first to understand, but perhaps higher than that of the ordinary critic? Was there to be a revolution in style  ## p. 210 (#254) ############################################ 2 IO THE AUTHOR. and in art'? Was he in the m idst of a newly founded school? Did these books preach some social or religious doctrines? Was he, perhaps, in a Home of Occult Mystery? Was there a literature, popular, widespread, read by thousands, of which he and his friends knew nothing except that it had been made the subject of scorn and derision? He was alone in the room. He laid down the paper, and he began again curiously to turn over the pages of the volumes on the shelves. He looked at twenty, one after the other. "Why," he murmured, "they are all alike. They are all feeble, wishy washy, weak, all alike, and the library holds nothing else. What can it mean?" He returned to his chair, because it was too hot to walk back to his lodgings, and sat down ponder- ing over this marvel. He pondered so deeply that his eyelids dropped. Presently, two girls came in. They ran along the shelves, trying to make a choice. "Here is a pretty title," cried one of them. "' Daisyletta's Romance.' I think I will have this." "And I will take this,' Queenie Leenie; or, the Pet of the Cherubims.' That's sure to be nice. I do like to read about officers. Besides," she glanced at the man in the chair who seemed to be asleep, "the dear creatures are always saying and doing something—not quite—you know, and you wonder what's coming next." They took their books and vanished. Five minutes passed. Then there came stump- ing into the room with footsteps of resolution which awakened the sleeper so that he opened his eyes and looked round, two ladies of more mature age. They were both dressed alike, in garments of a brown hue; they both wore spectacles; both were gaunt and spare; they were certainly sisters. They had sharp and prominent features, thin lips and pale faces. They turned to the books, but they did not, like the two girls, hover lightly in butterfly fashion over the shelves. Not at all. They took each one end of the room and, mounting on chairs, began in a systematic manner to search for something. "Like looking for a good man in the ancient city," thought the new subscriber. "You will find nothing, ma'am" —buthe spoke notthisaloud—"Volumes—volumes —everywhere, and not a book to read. Most remarkable library in the world!" They continued their search. They took down nothing: they only examined the titles. Presently, however, one gave a little cry and pounced upon three volumes which presented as battered and tat- tered an appearance as any of the company. She took them out, descended from her chair, and showed them to her sister. "My dear," she said, holding out the books. Her lips closed with a snap, and she said no more. "As usual," said the other, getting down and looking at the volumes curiously. They had there- fore found what they wanted. "Read to rags," said the first. "Almost torn to pieces," said the second. "Gratifying!" "Falling apart from excessive popularity," said the first. "Ah !" said the second. "What more could one wish?" "Yes," said the first, "and it is always the same. At Margate, at Broadstairs, at Ilfracombe, at Penmaenmawr, at Whitby. Always the same. You ought at last to be satisfied, my dear. What more could you desire?" "No. Yet—poor human nature!" said the second. "Envy—black Envy—Spite—Malice !" said the first. "We can now afford to laugh at them," said the second. "What has their malice effected?" "We can now laugh," said the first, but without any hilarity of manner. "Ho! yes, I should think so. Those laugh who win. If popularity such as this" "Thepopular voice is the Highest Court of Appeal, certainly," said the second. "Then, my dear, there can be no doubt what- ever. You are one of the most popular authors of the age. Wherever the English language is spoken you are eagerly read. You are a great power. How glad I am that you allowed no scruples of false modesty to stand in your way, but boldly placed your name upon the title-page!" The other lady purred. She purred with her nose, and she inclined her head backward. "I thought, at church yesterday," continued the first, "that the people looked at you strangely. No doubt they were saying, 'That is Lucretia Crumbell, author of '"The Family Vault;"' of course I know, now. My dear, we must remember that you are recognized. You shall not make yourself too cheap. I will myself go to the butcher and the greengrocer. You shall only go abroad to take the air in the morning and the evening." They replaced the volumes, and went out ambling and bridling. Then the subscriber got up and looked at the work of such uncommon popularity. It was, in fact, that great romance called "The Family Vault," by Lucretia Crumbell, and it was published by one of those benevolent houses which issue any- thing if the author will only pay for it. He turned over the pages. Could there, bethought, be found anywhere even a school girl capable of reading this windy, wordy, nerveless, boneless stuff! Is there,  ## p. 211 (#255) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 21 I somewhere, a stratum of society where drivel—he called it drivel—can be received as literature? As he asked the question he looked out of window. At his feet on the sands the girls sat in rows. They had done their bathing; they had to get through the morning; and they sat on the sands reading. They were all reading, with one consent. The young men were listening to the nigger minstrels— the girls were reading—they were reading the books provided at this Circulating Library. "Here," said the subscriber, "is, I perceive, nothing less than the hitherto unknown Literature of the Sea-side. I have now discovered for whom these books are written, and for what purpose. At the sea-side, girls put on another mind. It is a great discovery. I must follow it up." He did follow it up. At half-past eight in the evening, when the band was playing and the people were all out on the cliff, he met these two ladies. One of them was walking bolt upright with looks of importance. The other—who was the author— walked with a little amble and a smile. She was conscious of being observed. • It is not every day that a sea-side place gets a live author to gaze upon. The new subscriber boldly took off his hat and begged permission to introduce himself to the author of the "Family Vault." Both ladies bowed and smiled sweetly. He said that he had long wished for an opportunity of expressing, in person, his sense of the Subtle Art—he called it Subtle Art— and of the romantic setting of the work; the strength—he said this without a blush; the origin- ality—he said this without a quivering of the eyelid; the dramatic character of the situations, and the profound knowledge of the heart which the work betrayed in every page. "All this, sir," said the first sister, "is quite true, but we are not, of course, accustomed to hear it said openly. The only public appreciation my sister has ever received is the proof at all the libraries that the work is eagerly read by the mass of people for whom it was intended." "Oh! then," said the subscriber, "you wrote it intentionally for the sea-side." "Sea-side as well as land-side," replied the author. "I wrote it for the whole world." "Yes, of course," he said, thinking of his dis- covery. "But don't you think—perhaps—that one form of literature—yours—the romantic—the absorbing—the exciting, suits the sea-side better than that which is quiet and meditative?" "My sister's work," said the first speaker, "con- tains passages for every mood. We cannot suppose that there is only one kind of reader here or else- where. It is the quality of a great book to be loved by all readers. Witness the condition of the book in the library." "You are doubtless engaged upon another work?" asked the subscriber, a little disappointed. "Perhaps. But I am not certain when—or whether—I shall publish." "Oh! But to write and not to publish is treason against the Muse." "There were painful things connected with the publication of my book." "Very painful. Very shameful!" said her sister. "But now we have our revenge. What do the critics say now?" "Let me explain. You are not yourself a novelist?" asked the author. "I am not, indeed. I sometimes wish I was." "Should you become one, you will learn by your own experience what I have suffered." "Envy—Hatred—Malice," said the sister. "I do not quite understand." Yet he was beginning to understand. And the perception only made him wonder all the more how these books came to the library. "That is because you do not understand the literary world. There is, sir," she added, with solemnity, "a Ring." "Oh!" "A Ring. It contains authors, publishers, editors, critics, and booksellers. A Ring. First of all, if you do not belong to the Ring, you find that you have to pay for the production of your book. A hundred and eighty pounds I paid for mine." "At least eighty pounds too much." "Then, when it comes out, the Ring which has first fined you, proceeds to destroy you. Every- body is in league—editors, critics, publishers, and booksellers. The papers take your money for advertising you, but the editors make the critics cut you up. Shameful things they wrote about my book." "Shameful — wicked — things!" echoed the sister. "Yet you have read the work" "The beautiful work," murmured the new sub- scriber. "And you know how good it is. Well, the great libraries, also in the Ring, refused it. All the booksellers, who are in the Ring, refused it. Of course this check to the success of the book destroyed its commercial value. I never got back any part of the money which I had advanced. No- body bought any copies at all. Yet you see the book, after seven short years, torn to pieces by the eagerness of its admirers. We find it so in every library round the whole of England. In every sea-side circulating library." "Strange," said her admirer. "It is Fame," said the sister.  ## p. 212 (#256) ############################################ 212 THE AUTHOR. "It is," said the admirer. "And Consolation. And Compensation." "The artist," continued the author, "must not put money considerations first. At the same time I did hope to get some of the hundred and eighty pounds back again. We could ill afford to lose the money, I assure you." "It was very hard." "Very hard. And in the end the publisher sold off the whole as a remainder stock at two shillings a set, and said the money belonged to him." "Yes, he would do that, I daresay. Remainder stock!" He started. For now he perceived that his first discovery was imaginary, but that another was in full view. "Remainder stock! Now I under- stand it all. My dear lady, your Fame is assured. That is the first thing to think of. You have full Consolation. Remainder stock! Yes—yes. Those empty wind bags—the men of the Ring—the so- called leaders—they never have any remainder stock to sell—the humbugs! Therefore—oh! I quite understand. Stupid not to have thought of that before. Remainder stock! Madam, you have your Consolation. Rich and full, it is. Rich and full." * AN ENGLISH ACADEMY. I. IN reading the November number of the Author I have been struck by the two papers on pp. 190-192, which, though bearing different signatures, appear to be happily printed one after the other. I venture to think that, so read, they go far to show that the following points ought to be taken as essential:— 1. If we are to have an Academy it must be made, from the first, and above all else, an organ of English philology; and, 2. It should contain English scholars from the United States no less than English scholars from Great Britain (not necessarily popular authors). 1. On the first point, it is well said by "R." that Matthew Arnold is to be accepted as showing that the technique of our language requires a guide. "French principles" are objected to; and it is elsewhere observed that some of the greatest French authors were not members of the Academy. But what were the principles of the French Academy, as originally constituted? They were dictionarial, grammatical, conservative; and it was natural that Balzac, Vaugelas, and Boileau should be members, rather than Moliere or I^a Bruyere: the former were experts in the French language, the latter mere successful artists. Let me quote Mr. Saints- bury on the change that has taken place since the Revolution :—■ "The language and literature have been flooded with new words, new forms of speech, new ideas, new models. ... At present it may be said, and not without truth, that, putting the work of extraordinary writers aside, ordinary French prose has lost some of its former graces, its lucidity, its proportion, its easy march." That this is not overstated maybe seen by setting down the names of a few of those writers who are the literary glory of France; Boileau, Racine, the Preachers (Bossuet, F^nelon), &c, with, among later but still Academical authors, Voltaire, Rous- seau, Chateaubriand. The English language has been, to a less degree, fixed by the unwritten canons of educated people, and by the practice of those who contributed to their literary pleasure. Now that everyone can read, and literature has to be produced for multi- tudes who, for the most part, are without the means of criticism, there does seem to be, at least, as much need for an antiseptic power in literary art as there was in France in the time of Richelieu. 2. But, besides the dangers to which our language is exposed by the unlettered condition of the great majority of readers on this side of the Atlantic, there is the further illimitable peril from a public like that of the Western part of the United States. That "cultivated people in the United States talk better than those of the same class here" is pointed out by " W. B.," and the true reason is doubtless assigned by him. But books are not written, chiefly or at all, for the use of the select few of Boston or New York. There was a time when it was so, and the fact is no less true than instructive that the American writers who have become classic are all remarkable as stylists. One need only to name Washington Irving, Longfellow, Hawthorne, Emerson, Wendell Holmes, and Russell Lowell. All these—and their like—are surely among the Immortals, not merely by virtue of their sincerity or depth of thought, but also by virtue of their purity of diction and the manly urbanity of their style. Nevertheless, there are some among their later followers who have not shown the same tender reverence for their mother-tongue, and many modern writers among ourselves have been no better. The great evils against which writers of English, however able, have now- to be guarded are—abridgment of phrase and neologism. The first arises from every one being in a hurry; the second, the desire to attract by smartness and by  ## p. 213 (#257) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 213 using new locutions where words of excellence and sufficiency already exist. If an Academy of philological experts could really do anything to provide against these practices, it would surely render valuable service to the cause that we must all have at heart. H. G. Keene. II. In this matter why instance the French Academy? The French are an academic people; we are not. In their judgments of works of art, Frenchmen are directed by artistic impulses; we are not so directed. The Royal Academy of Arts should he, to us, "a solemn warning." This august body does not and never did represent British art, and yet, until quite recently, the letters "R.A." after a painter's name were as dust in the eyes of the ordinary English- man. The Royal Academy of Arts is in its decadence, as any art dealer or any Academician, were he to speak the truth, would admit. In founding an Academy of Letters we shall bring into being, on parallel lines, all the abuses and foibles which the critics have so valiantly combated in the case of the existing institution. The R.A.'s are the carriage folk of art; why should we not also have, it is asked, the carriage folk of literature? Un- doubtedly the prospect has attractions. It would be pleasant to know what authors were really great, really entitled to respect; what authors might be freely and openly received. The British Philistine wants names with which he may safely conjure. But surely we can do without ribbons and medals. Art is the highest end to which a man can devote his energies, and when the silent recognition of his fellow workers is vouchsafed, the artist should feel, if he be anything of a man, that he has gained a distinction which neither kings nor heralds, nor bodies collegiate, nor societies inchoate can give him—a distinction, moreover, readily granted to him by so much of society generally as he need trouble himself about. An Academy of Letters would, without doubt, ignore the original and sincere workers. The men who concern themselves with the training, perfecting and accentuating of their own individuality would be left hopelessly in the cold, as the Royal Academy- has left in the cold the painters who have worked to a like end. Such an Academy would, in the nature of things, be mainly formed of men who had successfully tickled the palate of the ground- lings, or mildly reflected classic models. I am convinced that there is not an evil of over production, nor of gold or notoriety hunting which the institution of an Academy of Letters would not increase tenfold. As for the standards of language and style, they are not to be obtained or preserved by such means. Again I instance the Royal Academy, which has done nothing for English art in the concrete sense, and in regard to individual artists of the highest distinction, has done all it'could to crush them out of existence. The things actually desired by men seeking election would be the purple and fine linen. Literature would go into competition with shoddy men, the brewers and bankers, the newly-rich generally, and hang about the Court for title and preferment. Membership of such an institution, although it would seem a great thing to the ordinary British trader, would make a man contemptible in the eyes of his fellow workers. To found an Academy of Letters would be to institute, open- eyed, another crying evil. J. Stanley Little. * A REMINDER. WILL you allow me to remind the writers of magazine articles, and journalists, what injury they may inflict on their fellow- workers byofferingtheir contributions "for nothing"; or on "low," "moderate," or "nominal" terms. Perhaps they share the apparently prevalent idea that authors live on nectar and ambrosia, with a drink of the water of Helicon for a change. Authors do not, and the bread-winners among them are finding to their cost that remuneration is being lowered, and that if they ask a fair price for their work, it is rejected in favour of the "low priced" or "gratuitous " article. If literary work is worth publishing, it is worth paying for. A Sufferer. * A HARD CASE. —♦— VII. THIS case, like all those previously selected from the Society's archives for comment, illustrates in a typical way the disadvan- tages under which the author labours in his business arrangements with publishers, when he does not quite understand his agreement, or at any rate does not quite see the position in which it places him.  ## p. 214 (#258) ############################################ 214 THE AUTHOR. The book in question was published on the half profit system, the following being the terms of the agreement:—The publishers were to take all the risk and expense, subject to a payment to them by the author of ^40. They were to debit the book with the invoice amounts paid for printing, paper, binding, and advertisements, together with 10 per cent, on all sums expended. This last was "to defray the cost of establishment." The pub- lishers were to retain as profit any discount they might receive on the accounts for printing, paper, binding, and advertisement. Author's corrections were allowed gratis, to the extent of 15X. per sheet of 32 pages. The author was to have a dozen copies for nothing: otherwise he was to pay trade price for them. Accounts were to be made out half-yearly. Arrangements for remainder sales were to be left to the publishers. Profits were to be shared, and one would have thought it reasonable that the cost of the publishers' estab- lishment should be defrayed out of their half of the profits. The author's establishment costs will have to be defrayed by his share. Here is an agreement that has in it almost every fault, from the author's point of view, that is possible. It is all the more objectionable a document because it has upon its surface an appearance of fairness and candour. "We will bear all the expense," say the publishers, "and you shall give us ^40." There are here no petty details, no hair-splitting reasons given for requesting ^40 from the author, as well as his brain-work. It is quite conceivable that the payment by the author of .£40 was a very reasonable proceeding, but one cannot know that, until one knows what the publishers' risk actually was. However, letting that point go, we come to the fact that the author is not to receive payment until the cost of production is covered—that is, until there are profits to be halved—and this happy result the publishers can indefinitely post- pone by increasing the cost of production, left entirely to their discretion 1 Of course the situation is a very common one, but it is none the less a very extraordinary one, and one for which no parallel could be found in other business transactions. The publishers are to debit the work with the invoice amounts for the various items of production, advertisements, &c. Excellent! But, firstly, they receive 10 per cent, of all sums so spent, which is hardly an inducement to keep the cost low; and, secondly, though it is an admirable thing to know exactly where the money spent on advertising has gone, the author would often be much better off by being placed in a position to prevent its going The author has a direct interest in keeping the cost of advertisement low, for he then comes nearer to his profits; the publishers" have a direct interest in making it high, and so increasing their percentages. The publishers are again to receive all discounts for ready-money payment. Well, if they really were at all the risk and expense of publication, in accordance with the first clause of their agreement, this would be quite fair—though again hardly an inducement to keep the prices low; but the author is asked to contribute £40 ready money. Why then should not he share in the discounts? At the same time the allusion to the existence of such a source of profit is commendable. In many instances these discounts are secretly pocketed. The author is allowed to correct gratis to the extent of 1$s. for 32 pages. To what extent is this? How is the author to know when he is above, and when he is below an average of fifteen shillingsworth of corrections for each double-sheet. The clause sounds all right; it is a very common one, though a larger amount of correction is generally allowed gratis; but as far as the author is concerned it is nonsense. Under this agreement the publishers could arbitrarily charge any sum against the book as author's corrections. No item in the cost of production should thus be left to the caprice of the publishers, when the author's chance of remuneration depends upon the cost being low, and the publishers' best opportunity of "defraying the cost of their establishment" is to make the same as high as possible. The following was the result of the transaction :— The cost of production was returned as £202, inclusive of advertisements, returned as £50. The sales amounted to ^199. The author got back his ^40, and there were no profits to divide. He lost no money, but all the labour expended over his book went for exactly nothing. The publishers received certain percentages and discounts, and cannot be said to have made a good thing out of the trans- action. But it appears that they made as much as they expected to make, and that they made it in the way they intended to make it; for, firstly, the book was not moulded, so that a larger demand could only have been met by incurring all the original heavy expenditure of setting up the type, and, secondly, the results of the sale of the first edition were minimised by a remainder sale in November of a book published for the first time in March of the same year. This proceeding seems to us, unless it can otherwise be explained, an abuse of the discretion given to them by the last clause of the agreement. There is no special hardness about this case, which is a very good illustration of all the faults of the old half-profit method of publishing. There  ## p. 215 (#259) ############################################ THE AUTHOR 215 was a possible profit of say ^50 on this book, i.e., the production and advertisement could have been done for ^£150. In a fair half-profit agreement ^25 of this would have come to the author and ^25 to the publisher as shares of the profit. Under this rubbishy contract ^25 or more has gone to the publisher as discounts and percentages, and the rest has been wasted in over-expensive pro- duction : and to make the vicious circle complete, the more the cost of production is raised, the larger will become the publishers' perquisites. The author wrote the book, and backed its chances to the extent of /I40 ready money. He is glad to have got the money back, but he got nothing more. * IN GRUB STREET. EMIN PASHA literature, if we may so call the Stanley, Barttellot, and Jameson con- troversy, hasundergonetemporary cessation, and society is going into committee over the subject, seeing no prospect of a commission of inquiry. One does not like to deprive Assad Farranofhis origin- ality, but much of his story is, I fear, borrowed from Mr. Haggard's " She." There are plenty of parallel passages that might be printed to prove this. It is certainly pleasanter to read Mr. Haggard on Africa, for his heroes behave much better. It would be nice to think that Assad Farran is only one of Mr. Haggard's imitators who has misunder- stood the art of the master. If anyone has not read by this time Mr. Haggard's latest novel in collaboration with Mr. Lang, let him do so at once. It should be read for several reasons; firstly, because everything that comes from these authors is interesting; and secondly, because it is the best book of its kind that has appeared for some time. The "young men" who "do the books" for the evening papers have been very critical indeed. It has afforded them a splendid opportunity of airing their slight acquaintance with Egyptology and the classics they happen not to have forgotten since they left school. In these days, when Heliodorus, Achilles, Tatius, and Longus are household words, surely some- one could find that Mr. I^ng or Mr. Haggard had been plagiarising. It would not matter in the least if all Mr. Haggard's ideas were taken from some other author; as Lord Houghton would have said, it rather enhanced their value. It is said when someone asked him who was the first plagi- arist, he replied, "God, who made man after His own image." VOL. I. The "World's Desire " seems to be a complete answer to those who object to novels of prehistoric times or the antique world. Historians, of course, are jealous. Anything that soars above the level of a "chronicle " is to thera distasteful. And the archaeologist regards it as poaching. Flaubert's "Salambo" and Mr. Pater's "Marius," though of course not on the same platform, have been objected to for similar reasons. I think the "World's Djsire " is as successful in its own line as "Salambo" and " Marius " are in theirs. Mr. Lang, who has rescued so many classics from the school room, might give us a version (of his own) of Heliodorus, the Rider Haggard of the fifth century. Mr. Haggard might be tempted to try the "Middle Ages '• after his recent successes. '' Ivanhoe " and the "Cloister and the Heath" are the two suc- cessful mediaeval novels in English. Will Mr. Haggard give us a rival? k Mr. Wemyss Reid's "Life of Lord Houghton," about which everyone is talking and will talk for some lime to come, differs from the ordinary memoirs of an ephemeral value that come out every year, for it will always be an excellent book of reference. Mr. Reid is to be felicitated on his performance. He has allowed the letters to and from Lord Houghton to tell their own story, and has filled up the gaps with his own writing only when necessary. He has shown no want of taste in publishing letters prematurely calculated to wound the feelings of those who are living. It is hardly paradoxical to say that the merit of these two volumes consist not merely on their contents as on their judicious omissions. Among Lord Houghton's many and great merits was his appreciation of the times he lived in. He never brayed about the past. He was not one of those who thought that because a book was old, it must be also good. The present day has per- haps gone into the other extreme—we think things good merely because they are new. Lord Houghton was always the first to recognize genius, to mark the coming man; his ducklings were generally swans. Genius hunting is a dangerous game, but he played it very well. The story of David Grey has been likened to that of Chatterton, who also came up to London to gain a literary reputation, and Lord Houghton's generosity certainly compares favourably with Horace Walpole's treatment of the "Marvellous Boy." The difference between a paradox and a truism is said to be, "that while the former is usually true, the latter is always false." Lord Houghton's para- dox on perpetual copyright had far more truth in it R  ## p. 216 (#260) ############################################ 2l6 THE AUTHOR. than Mr Gladstone or Mr. Wemyss Reid seem to imagine. Everyone is now occupied in relating all the anecdotes and bon mots not included in Mr. Reid's pages. There is one against Lord Houghton not told in the life. "Why is Lord Houghton like St. Jerome?" was a riddle going about at one time. It is so obvious to anyone who has looked at old pictures that readers may guess the answer for themselves. The Scots Observer is now to be known as the National Observer, and there are rumours of the offices being removed to London. To change a paper's name is not unattended with risk, but there was every reason for the alteration in this case. The Scotch element was very small indeed, but there was enough of it to bore a great many- English readers. And it is said by some that its views are not always convincing. Some of Mr. Kipling's most delightful ballads have appeared in its pages, and the editor's poems are found there occasionally. Under ihe new title it will, doubt- less, appeal to a larger audience no less apprecia- tive. The old literary traditions of Edinburgh have passed away, and the Edinburgh Review will have all its own way in the north if the National Obsei ver comes to town. Dr. Verrall's new theory of the "Ion" has, as was anticipated in last month's Author, met with a great deal of opposition. He believes Euripides to have written the play with a profound didactic intention, namely, that of exposing the Delphic oracle. Those who are interested, however, must get Dr. Verrall's edition, which is published by the University Press. The performance of the "Ion" was a great success, and all the credit must be given to Mr. J. W. Clarke. The difficulties, though enormous, were completely overcome. The leading part of Creusa was very ably sustained by Mr. E. A. Neston, of King's College, who showed great power and a wonderful appreciation of the part. He, with Mr. Palk, of Trinity, as the old slave, rather eclipsed the acting of the others, who were pains- taking, but hardly satisfactory. Greek plays are very entertaining experiments, and if everyone was as capable as the two actors mentioned, the "Ion" would have been favourably received in London with a larger and less generous audience. Mr. Booth must be congratulated on having at last got the audience he has longed for. Polite society has been like the adder of Scripture—deaf to the voice of the charmer; though Sir. Booth's own music has largely contributed to the physical, if not moral, deafness of the community. The outside of his book is certainly sensational and the name was clever, so it deserves success. Philan- thropists and economists must judge as to the sound- ness of his scheme. I cannot see the alleged resemblance between the General and St. Francis of Assisi, nor did Professor Huxley institute such a comparison. Contradicting statements that have not been made is a journalistic trick becoming too common. He compared the two move- ments, not the two men; and pointed out that what wrecked the Franciscans might also prove fatal to the schemes propounded in "Darkest England." The boom in De Quincey's works has subsided. "Some Unpublished Letters of the Opium Eater" threatened to become to the magazines what the sea serpent and big gooseberry are to the daily papers in the silly season. Still there is a continual shower, however, of new editions and complete works. Mr. Saintsbury, with great felicity, speaks of him as a man "of great though capricious critical power." No one now is frightened by the perusal of the "opium eater," and the immoral tendencies it is said to have produced have been grossly exaggerated. The bogies of one age become the bores of the next, to adapt a very old proverb, and De Quincey is open to the charge of writing to "shock the great middle classes of England." Mr. Oscar Wilde has collected his brilliant "Dialogues and Essays," and they will be issued by Osgood and Macllvain, of Albemarle Street, shortly after Christmas. No one will have for- gotten the '• Decay of Lying," in the Nineteenth Century, some time ago the article of the month, in the opinion of many the best thing he has ever done. Hut as he never does anything like anything he has done before, best might be applied to all of them. Mr. Wilde will live to hear many of his aphorisms and paradoxes attributed to Sydnev Smith, who is constantly being found out and exposed in memoirs, and the book of Proverbs too will share the spoil. The dead prey too much on the living in these days. Mr. Wilde once said that an unbiassed opinion was absolutely valueless. And those who find fault with Mr. Meynell's Neivman (Kegan Paul) would do well to remember this. The duty of a  ## p. 217 (#261) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 217 biographer is to be prejudiced in favour of his subject, or the reverse, and to endeavour to convert his audience. None of us know how Boswell over- estimated Johnson; he fulfilled his task. We are of his opinion now. Mr. Traill's Strafford was another example of a prejudiced and successful biography. Mr. Pater's lecture on "Merimee," which he delivered in Oxford and repeated in London, was everything that one has a right to expect from this distinguished critic, whom we hear too seldom. His many admirers will look forward to its publica- tion in his next volume of essays. M. Taine is on the side of the angels; with Mr. Frederic Harrison, he thinks little enough of English fiction. Miss Rhoda Broughton, however, must be sensible of the high compliment paid her by the French Academician, who declares she is the only novelist who has enriched our fiction since George Eliot's death. It is not derogatory to Miss Broughton's high position among English novelists to say that she has been ably assisted by authors with whom M. Taine is unacquainted. —* A new work on " The Engraved Gems of Classical Times," by Professor Middleton, published by the Cambridge University Press, will be ready by Christmas. Jt is no exaggeration to say that Pro- fessor Middleton is one of the greatest living authorities on classic and mediaeval art. In an age when so much nonsense is talked on art questions, which English people treat as they would politics, anything Professor Middleton has to say will be especially welcome. Gems are things, however, which have not yet become the babble of the charlatans. So let us hope they will keep a discreet silence, until they know at least as half as much as Professor Middleton. One of the most pleasing of new books is the "Life and Letters of Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S."; it is the record of a patient and useful life, not without pathos of a kind. Not only was he an enthusiastic student of science, but he retained throughout it all what many of us will envy, his faith. The task of a biographer, at all times difficult, becomes very arduous for the son who must treat of his father's life with fulness tempered by discretion. Mr. Gosse has fulfilled his task with his accustomed felicity. ♦ Mr. Frank Harbut is finishing a novel dealing with the genesis of an American millionaire. It VOL. I. will appear in three vols, early next year. M. Tessand Maissonneuve has obtained leave from the same author to translate his novel, "The Con- spirator," into French. A new novel by Scott Graham (author of " The Golden Milestone," "Sandcliffe Mystery," &c), entitled "A Bolt from the Blue," will be ready- shortly. It is published by Sampson Low and Co. A tale of the 15th century, entitled "The Goldsmith's Ward," by Mrs. P. H. Reade, will be published immediately by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Mr. William Toynbee is engaged on a transla- tion of Beranger's songs for Mr. Walter Scott's Canterbury Poet Series. Among novels already published this season is "Kestell of Greystoke," by Esme Stuart (Hurst and Blackett). The sixth volume of the " International Library" (W. Heinemann) will be a new book by the eminent Spanish novelist, A. Palacio Valdis, entitled "La Espuma" (Frott). It has been translated by Mrs. Bell (that admirable translator whom the critics persist in describing as Miss Clara Bell). The Norwegian poet, Ibsen, has given all rights in his forthcoming drama, for England and America, to Mr. Gosse, whose translation of it will appear simultaneously in both countries. The English edition will be issued by Mr. Heinemann, the American by Mr. Lovell, of New York. The drama is understood to deal with a modern social problem not less interesting than that treated in "A Doll's House." Volumes I, II, and VI of Mr. Alfred H. Miles's "Poets and Poetry of the Century," are about to be issued by Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. Among the contributors are Mr. Austin Dobson, Dr. Garnett, and other well-known critics. Mr. Mackenzie Bell has written the critical and biographical articles on Sir Aubrey de Vere and Mr. Theodore Watts. Messrs. Eden and Remington have just issued the third volume of the Rosslyn series "Old and New," by Walter Herries Pollock. Some of these poems r 2  ## p. 218 (#262) ############################################ 218 THE AUTHOR. have been published previously, and have been appreciated by a circle of readers that should be wider. It is unfortunate that the publishers have seen fit to clothe this often exquisite verse in such unattractive guise. The quality of paper, print, and binding may almost be said to be in inverse ratio to that of the verse. Mr. Pollock's masterly rendering of Musset's "Nights" has been included in this volume, and will satisfy the most fastidious admirers of the French poet. And the little poem quoted on page 205 is a masterpiece in its way. "In the Land of the Lion and Sun," Dr. Wills's popular book about Persia, will appear in the Minerva Series (Ward and Lock) shortly. This edition will be illustrated. * The scheme for providing comfortable residential chambers, combined with a restaurant and attend- ance, for educated women of limited means, earning their own livelihood, may now be spoken of as an assured success. The first block of buildings in Chenies Street, Bloomsbury, was opened last summer, and the applications for rooms was much greater than could be satisfied. The Company pays 5 per cent, to the shareholders, and the Directors feel justified in extending their operations. A site for another block has been leased from Lord Portman in Yoik Street, Bryanston Square. Every literary woman knows what a help it is to have the worries of housekeeping taken off her shoulders. Merely to have a dinner provided without having to think about it is no small assistance to the busy worker. The proposed new buildings will contain about 60 sets of rooms. Miss Agnes Garrett is one of the Directors, and the Company owes much to Miss Anne Townshend's untiring exertions on its behalf. * POINTS AND CASES. I. A Pictorial Paper. TWO months ago, on the occasion of a royal visit to my native town, I forwarded a description of the place to a well-known pictorial paper, and offered, if my article was ac cepted, to get some views to illustrate it. My offer was accepted, and the Editor wished to know whether any sketches would be taken of the cere- monial itself. On the 16th September I procured seve.al views of the town, and sent them off as I had promised, and asked in what issue my article would appear. My question was not noticed, but on the 16th I made enquiries, and found I could get sketches of the Duke's reception the following week. I wrote accordingly to the , and I also asked for some remuneration. Much to my surprise, I received a letter, some days later, thanking me for my trouble, but saying that as the sketches could not appear till the issue of the 4th October, it was useless for me to send any. and that he had forwarded me a paper of the 18th September. In this I found three views, but no article, and that, with the rest of the views, remains at the 's office, unless, indeed, they appeared in an issue prior to the 18th Sep- tember. Another letter in which I again urged my claims to remuneration, having purchased the views and supplied him with an article, the Editor hits not noticed. So, as it stands at present, I have had all my trouble for nothing, have had an article accepted, but neither printed nor paid for, and am out of pocket. I must add that one magazine, to which I sent an article, inserted it without my knowledge and without my signature, but on my writing to ask for payment, the Editor honestly sent me a cheque. II. "The Author." What costs nothing is worth nothing, and is thought nothing of! This is the rough principle underlying an author's business claims, and the standpoint of the Society, as I read it. What is gifted to the public is paid for by their magnani- mously reading it—well paid for, they think. Now, while there are numerous exceptions, I hold this principle to be a wholesome one, and not lightly to be parted from. Judge, therefore, how you are supporting this principle, when you yourself act in the style of the cabman who leaves it to "yourself, sir"! If the Author-is worth reading, it is worth paying for. If not definitely and positively charged for, it is either looked upon as an adverti'ement or a means of disseminating unsaleable material. I look upon it as really valuable to all who live or attempt to live by the produce of their pens, but my mind is influenced (through my pocket) by the fact that the owners themselves question its value. Do you not think you are breaking through your own admirable rule, in supplying good  ## p. 219 (#263) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 219 literature without a proper agreement, and that authors of mediocre talents and unbusiness habits will do to you as they are so constantly done by, and pay you by "magnanimously perusing your lucubrations." Have the courage of your con- victions, and supply the Author only on payment. It is the flood of unpaid productions that lowers the standard of payment of others. W. A. S. 2ind November, 1890. III. A Lost Chance. While in Australia, I wrote a farcical comedy. It was stolen from me, and brought out in London at a high class theatre by the "conveyor." It proved a great success, though the man rewrote the third act, and so spoiled the piece. The sup- posed author was called before the curtain and received the congratulations of the house smilingly. Afterwards he received with equal smiles the fees of the play. As soon as I read in the London papers about this "clever young dramatist" and his play, I sent home and stopped it at once, so the play was taken off the boards without delay. Meantime he has completely ruined my chance of doing anything with the comedy, as the London managers, though they like the piece, say that its removal from the stage counts for failure. F. H. IV. An Experience. In the first place perhaps the writer of "The Troubles of a Beginner," might like to know what would have been the sequel, had he per- severed in his dealings with "The Southampton Association." I received from that august body a most flattering letter stating that my MSS. were "admirably suited to their requirements"; and so indeed they were: that statement I can now accept without the slightest hesitation. I was also informed that they would appear in an early number. I paid my guinea, and 6s. 6d. for " Pen and Ink," and awaited the many benefits which were to accrue to me from joining so excellent a Society. What did I receive? About nine very trashy magazines, of which I have never seen a single copy except those which I myself received. I was told in the coolest manner, after about nine months had elapsed, that the magazine "would be discontinued for a time," but that "the business would go on as usual." I never received any report on MSS. sent to the Association except the letter to which I have already alluded. I was addressed by the editor as Rev. A. B., M.S.A. (Member of the Southampton Associa- tion), a style which I requested (with some asperity) might be discontinued. Moreover, I was informed that the rate of remuneration was 5*. per printed page; now the pages were so large that I assessed my little poems, judging by the space they would take, at about $d. each. I should be indeed sorry for myself if I had to depend for my livelihood on the good offices of such a Society as the South- ampton Association. You will not wonder that I gave the required three months' notice and sent in my resignation. About three months after I received a post card to the following effect:—"Your MSS., left in charge of the late Southampton Association, will be for- warded on receipt of postage." Now I should like to tell you of my dealings with the Church of England Temperance Society, a sore subject with me. To the C.E. T.S. Chronicle I have contributed in all some ten or a dozen pieces in prose and verse. After this had been going on some time, I wrote a letter to the editor, the gist of which was that if none of the writers were paid I would not press the matter, but if they were paid of course I should like some acknow- ledgment of my work. I saw the Editor a few days afterwards, when he told me that "All their writers were paid." I did get two guineas for a little Christ- mas comedietta, entitled "TheConspiracy," but with regard to any of the others I have got nothing but a few copies, compliments, and the acknowledg- ment "that I ought to be paid." Most of these temperance pieces, with one or two new ones, I sent in to the S.P.C.K. office, now nearly two years ago; but I cannot get any answer. Now for, perhaps, "the unkindest cut of all." I published at my own expense in 1887 a very small volume of poems, which was most kindly reviewed. Shortly alterwards I discovered, by accident, that one of my pieces under an altered name, but still attri- buted to me, was occupying the first page of a certain Christmas Annual. I had written previously to Mr. on one or two occasions, but received no reply. I did not wonder so much at this, though even as a boy at school I have been treated with courtesy by editors declining MSS., but I thought that the kind review, which I attributed to him, demanded a word of thanks, and also that the insertion of my poem gave me the entree. I wrote saying how glad I was that he had given me such a lift, and asking whether I might send some other small articles, since I was naturally anxious to add to my income by my pen. To this letter I  ## p. 220 (#264) ############################################ 220 THE AUTHOR. received no reply. It is due to Mr. to say that he may never have received my letter. But still he traded on my brains. I am easily accessible, and I think I ought to have had some acknow- ledgment. A. B. V. "The American Tongue." I would rather reply to the Autlior than to the Neiv York Herald, whilst, as one who has visited America, and admires the Americans ■—without considering them perfect, any more than ourselves—I wish to tabulate certain proposi- tions :— 1. No country, more than any individual, can be an impartial judge in a comparison of its own accent, language, intonation, and refinement with those of another. It is a mere vain contest of rival conceits. 2. In view of the glaring but cherished imper- fections of the home brewed English, even in its "purity," we should be careful in throwing stones at the Americans. 3. Many "Americanisms" are only common colonialisms; due to the aboriginal illiteracy of immigrants, to isolation, to necessity or convenience, and to the admixture of other foreign tongues. Others are mere relics of more conservative English, such as survives in remote districts of the home country, in the Bible, Shakespeare, &c, e.g., "sick" is Anglo-Indian, and Biblical as well as American. "Boss " and " loafer" appear to be Anglo-Dutch; whilst the American pronunciation of such words as "half" is simply the transported Irish pronun- ciation. Moreover, I have heard a Canadian assert that " the skin of the teeth" was a vulgar Ameri- canism. 4. The English tongue being of entirely foreign origin, its development is continuous in spite of rival lexicographers, and there must result differen- tiation according to variation of habilat. Each heir has an equal right to alter his share of the inheritance, as his stay-at-home kinsman does. Perhaps it might be better to nominally as well as actually differentiate American from Essexual, Australian from Oxfordian, English. 5. The American "twang" is partly climatic, as in Canada and New South Wales, but it is also partly due to previous isolation, and now largely to imitation. A species of "chronic catarrh " seems to afflict the residents of countries possessing such anti-English extremes of climate, so that the nasal accent is neither peculiar to, nor universal in, the United States. A visible nasal strcture is one physiological result; and this is just as clearly observable in some British-born Canadians, whilst, as far as this «<?«-employment of the nose in speech is concerned, the lower Cockney is not so very far removed from the Yankee. 6. There is no intonational standard of English accent, nor ever was. Anyone with a fair ear may perceive that scarcely two members of our own Houses of Legislature pronounce quite alike. There may be a certain or uncertain fashionably fickle standard of "good society," which each one makes or takes for himself; but it results only in a chronic contest between imitation and affectation. Concentred conceit is, so far, the sole criterion of linguistic culture. Even in the "highest circles" of our land the abuses of the r and the h are outrageous. 7. Any genuine hatred towards this country was, and is, due to several fluctuating causes, such as international jealousy, which is somewhat flattering to our national vanity; ignorance, which we all share from lack of intercommunication; a just resentment felt at the contempt which the average Briton so often manifests, even unconsciously, towards other nationalities; and, too often, a re- gretable inheritance of the hate of our Irish brethren transplanted to American soil. 8. Self-consciousness in the cultured American is not, it seems to me, a wholly satisfactory reason for his superior refinement; but still, the social absence of demarcated classes may make the better-class American more careful to act up to his assumed or inherited position, or noblesse oblige. Phinlay Glenelg. VI. Who is the Author? 21 st November, 1890. In reply to query by "H. G. Keene," on p. 194 of the Author, I give below the sonnet by Tennyson, of which he is desirous to learn the tenth and eleventh lines. As the poem differs considerably from the version given by the querist, I have concluded that I had better transcribe ihe whole fourteen lines. This sonnet appeared in an edition of Tennyson's poems in 1833, and has not since been reprinted in any save pirated editions of the poet's works. Ramsay Colles. Sonnet. Written on hearing of the outbreak of the Polish Insurrection. "Blow ye the trumpet; gather from afar, The hosts to battle: be not bought and sold. Arise, brave Poles, the boldest of the bold;  ## p. 221 (#265) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 22 r Break through your iron shackles—fling them far. O for those days of Piast, ere the Czar Grew to his strength among his deserts cold; When even to Moscow's cupolas were rolled The growing murmurs of the Polish war! "Now must your noble anger blaze out more Than when from Sobieski, clan by clan, The Moslem myriads fell, and fled before— Than when Zamoysky smote the Tartar Khan; Than earlier, when on the Baltic shore Boleslas drove the Pomeranian." [The word that you printed (Zmole?) in line nine should have been "smote." One sees reasons of technique which explain to us the reason why our noble President should have dropped his sonnet out of his works; but I think there is fire in it, and a genuine sincerity of expression.] H. G. K. [Several correspondents, including Mr. Ramsay Colles, have replied giving the sonnet as above.— Ed.] VII. Query. Who wrote the following?— "I never yet could see that face Which had no dart for me: From fifteen years to fifty's space, They all victorious be." VIII. A case has been submitted for consideration. It illustrates very well the maxim—a well-known trading maxim—that there is no friendship in business. The author gave a MS. to certain publishers, personal friends of her own. They undertook to publish the work, saying that they would give half profits after 1,000 copies were sold. This nobly generous offer was not put into writing. Hitherto the author has had no accounts and no profits. Asks what he should do, and whether the copyright remains with him or is lost. Our experience in previous cases of this descrip- tion is that there never are any profits. There never are any accounts. And the cost of produc- tion has been so great as to swallow everything, leaving the poor publishers with a heavy loss. The sensible procedure would be to demand an account and to sink, for the time being, the personal friendship. When the accounts are forth- coming, further advice should be taken. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. "Albert of E*bach." Translated from the German by H.R.H. Bea'rice, Princess Henry of Batlenburg. Allen, Grant. The Great Taboo. Ali.inoham, Edward. New and Original Poems. Arnold, Sir Edwin. Light of Asia. Elisions edition. Artemus Ward's Works. Austin, A. Tower of Babel: A Celestial Love Drama. Beddoes, Thomas Lovell. Complete Works. Edited by Edmund Gosse. 2 vols. Dent and Co. los. 6J. "Blackwood's Tales." Third series. Boisgobev, F. DU. An Ocean Knight. Child, Theodore. Young People and Old Pictures. Coleridge, S. T. Political Works. Crawfurd, Oswald, C.M.G. Round the Calendar in Portugal. Dean Stanley. Sermons, &c. D >nsoN, Austin. Four French Women. Fitzgerald, Percy, F.S.A. Music-hall Land. Froude, J. A. Earl of Beaconsfield. Gilbert, W. S. Songs of a Savoyard. Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E. The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture. Goodchild, J. A., M.D. My Friends at St. Ampelio. Gosse, Edmund. Life of Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S Kegan Paul, Trench and Co. I$s. Gould, Baring. In Troubadour Land. Gunter, A. C. Miss Nobody. Haggard (Rider) and Lang (A). The World's Desire. Hetherington (H. F.) and Burton (Rev. H. D.). Paul Nugent, Materialist. New edition. Ingelow, Jean. Very Young, and Quite Another Story. "Ion " (Euripides). Translated by Dr. Verrall. Jekferies, Richard. Bevis: The Story of a Boy. "Journal of Sir Walter Scott." Lady Baker's Letters. Morris, Lewis. A Vision of Saints. Morris, William. The Earthly Paradise. New edition. Nisret, Hume. Bail-up: A Romance. Norris, W. E. Miss Shafto. Pollock, Sir Frederick. Oxford Lectures, and other Discourses. Pollock, W. H. Old and New. "Red Fairy Book." Edited by Andrew Lang. Rossetti, D. G. Poems. Serao, Matildf. Fantasy: A Novel. Translated h) If. Harland (Sidney Luska). Heinemann's Internntion.il Library. Edited by Edmund Gosse. Vol. V. W. Heinemann. y. 6J. Smalley, G. W. London Letters. Steps'I ak. Career of a Nihilist. T. de Quincey's Works. Tolstoi, Count. Work while ye have the Light. Troup, J. Rose. With Stanley's Rear Column.  ## p. 222 (#266) ############################################ 222 ADVERTISEMENTS. TYPE-WRITING. I MISS ETHEL DICKENS, AUTHORS' MSS. CAREFULLY TRANSCRIBED, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 26, WELLINGTON STREET, STRAND Writings by Post receive prompt attention. (Over the Office of " All the l'ear Round"). SCIENTIFIC & MEDICAL PAPERS A SPECIALITY. MSS. copied. Price List on application. MRS. GILL, MISSES ERWIN, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 13, DORSET STREET, PORTMAN SQUARE, W. ST. PAUL'S CHAMBERS, 19, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. MISS GILL, Authors' MSS. carefully copied from 1/- per 1,000 words. One additional copy (carbon) supplied free of charge. References kindly permitted to many well-known Authors and Publishers. Further particulars on application. TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, ADAM STREET, STRAND, W.c. TYPE - WRITING & SHORTHAND. JO. DARKE, M.T.S., LION CHAMBERS, BROAD STREET, BRISTOL. “The best of all Journals.” Published every FRIDAY, price 2d. The advantages of Type-written Manuscript are LEGIBILITY, NEATNESS, RAPIDITY, and EASE of Manifolding. EDITED BY Dr. ANDREW WILSON, F.R.S.E. Now is the time to subscribe. A New Vol. commenced 4th April, 1890. Send Post-card for Specimen Copy. AUTHORS MANUSCRIPTS, &c., prepared for the Publisher. Companies Reports and patent agents Specifications Dritten up and Manifolded. LITHOGRAPHY froin TYPING done in the best Style. MEMORY LESSONS IN TYPING GIVEN BY POST. WRITE FOR TERMS. HE AL TH. To be had at all Railway Bookstalls and Newsagents, or direct from the Publisher- 2, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON, E.C. A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF SANITARY AND DOMESTIC SCIENCE. ESTABLISHED 1851. BIR KBE C K BANK, SOUTHAMPTON BUILDINGS CHANCERY LANE. TIIREE per CENT. INTEREST allowed on DEPOSITS, repayable on demand. TWO per CENT. INTEREST on CURRENT ACCOUNTS, calculated on minimum monthly balances, when not drawn below £100. STOCKS, SHARES, and ANNUITIES purchased and sold. SAVINGS DEPARTMENT. For the encouragement of Thrift the Bank receives small sums on deposit, and allows Interest, at the rate of THREE per CENT. per Annum, on each completed £1. Accounts are balanced and Interest added on the 31st March annually. FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT, Manager. HOW TO PURCHASE A HOUSE FOR TWO GUINEAS PER MONTH, OR A PLOT OF LAND FOR FIVE SHILLINGS PER MONTH, with immediate possession. Apply at Office of the BIRKBECK FREEHOLD Land Society. THE BIRKBECK ALMANACK, with full particulars, post free on application. FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT, Mana er.  ## p. 222 (#267) ############################################ AD VER TISEMENTS. iii. THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER saves the eyesight. THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER prevents writer's cramp. THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER prevents round shoulders. THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER enables you to keep pace with your thoughts, the operation requires less mental effort than the use of a pen, allowing yon to concentrate your mind more fully on the matter you are writing on. The writing of the BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER is equal to a printed proof, and can be used as such for corrections, thus saving large printer's charges which are sufficient in many books to defray the cost of a Bar-Lock. Supplied for Cash, or on Our Easy Payment System by Twelve Monthly Payments of £1 19s., or on Hire at £2 2s. per Month. CORRESPONDENCE AND INSPECTION INVITED. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY, Limited, 12 & 14, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. 40, North John Street, Liverpool; 22, Renfield Street, Glasgow; 25, Market Street, Manchester; Exchange Building, Cardiff; 385, Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Type-Writing Taught by Experts. Author's MSS. Copied at is. $d. per 1,000 Words at all Our Offices. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January, 1890, can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (Field & Tuer.} is. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis's Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Soctete" des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society, is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms ot type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. The work is printed for members of the Society only. 2s. 6d. (A new Edition preparing.) 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Price 3-r. (A new Edition in the Press.) Other works bearing on tlte Literary Profession will follow.  ## p. 222 (#268) ############################################ iv. . ADVERTISEMENTS. NEW MODEL REMINGTON STANDARD TYPEWRITER. WA He SNO IL For Fifteen Years the Standard, and to-day the most perfect development of the writing machine, embodying the latest and highest achievements of inventive and mechanical skill. We add to the Remington every improvement that study and capital can secure. AED AS VIS . INT TON STANDARD TYPEWRITERNO WYCKOFF, SEAMANS & BENEDICT, Principal Office- LONDON: 100, GRACECHURCH STREET, E.C. (CORNER OF LEADENHALL STREET). Branch Offices- LIVERPOOL: CENTRAL BUILDINGS, NORTH JOHN STREET. BIRMINGHAM : 88, COLMORE ROW. MANCHESTER : 8, MOULT STREET. Printed for the Society, by HARRISON & SONS, 45, 46, and 47, St. Martin's Lane, in the Parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, in the City of Westminster. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 01 Issue 08 (December 1890) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 01 Issue 08 (December 1890) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1890-12-15-The-Author-1-8 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> publications The Author