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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) 1892-01-01 Volume 2 Issue 8 Pages Page range in volume 225–254 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin ^Ibe Hutbor. [The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 8.] JANUARY 1892 [Price Sixpence. CO NT TAGE Warnings "9 Notices "9 Misprint '1' The Cost of Production 333 American Copyright 233 Literary Criticism 333 Two Actions at Law— I.—Pinnock v. Chapman and Hall 333 II.—The Proprietor of a Magazine v. The Proprietor of a Country Paper 334 ENTS. PASI The Storyteller's Night aj4 Notes and News 334 Publishing on Commission 33K The Art of Fiction and the Authors of Antiquity 340 The Independent Theatre 343 Literary Rights 343 Death and the Lifeboat 344 Correspondence 34$ "At the Author's Head" 347 New Books and New Editions 350 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. STATE TRIALS, Reports of. New Series. Vol. III., 1831—40. Published under the direction of the Slate Trials Committee. Edited by Jonx Macdonkll, M.A. io>. INVESTMENTS. A List of 1,600 British, Colonial and Foreign Securities dealt in upon tho London and Provincial Exchanges, giving tho highest and lowest prices of each particular Stock for each of the last twenty-two years, or from the time of the creation of such Stock, also tho price on 30th May, 1891, and the yield per cent, to the Investor. Compiled by G. Brown, is. bd. PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS, 1891. Red Cloth, 3*. Contains all tho Public Acts passed during the year, with Index, also Tables showing the effect of the year's Legislation, together with complete and classillod Lists of the Titles of all the Local and Private Acts passed during the Session. REVISED STATUTES. (Second Revised Edition.) Royal 8vo. Prepared under the direction of the Statute Law Revision Committee, and Edited by G. A. R. Fitzokrald, Esq. Vols. I. to IV. now ready, price 71. bd. each. FORECASTING BY MEANS OF WEATHER CHARTS, Principles of. By the Hon. RAi.rn Abkrcromiiy, F.R. Met. Soc. IS. METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Instructions in the use of. a«, bd. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Royal Svo. Cloth, is. bd. POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT TRA- DITIONAL HISTORY OF THE NEW ZEALAND RACE. By 8ir GEORGE Gret, K.C.B. Illustrate. Royal Svo. Cloth, $s. ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE MAORI. By John Wiiitk. Demy 8vo. Half Morocco. 4 vols. io». per vol. PLIOCENE DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN, THE. By Clkme.xt Reid, F.L.S., F.G S. Five Plates (48 cuts), s«. bd. LONDON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD: Guide to the Geology of. Bv William Whitaker, B.A. i». COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM: au Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill. With Extracts from tho Reportof the Commission of 1878. and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely, Esq., Barristcr-at-Law. is. bd. KF.W BULLETIN, 1890. Issued by the Director of Eew Gardens. 3*. iod. EEW BULLETIN, 1891. Monthly, ad. Appendices, id. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, 3s. yd. DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition. Compiled by Capt. Day. Oxfordshire Light Infantry, under the orders of Col. SnAW-HBLLiER, Commandant Royal Military School of Music. Illustrated by a series of Twelve artistically executed Plates in Heliogravure, and with numerous Wood Engravings, a is. "Unique, as no earlier work exists in English dealing exhaus- tively with the same subject A very important con- tribution to tho history of orchestration."— Athentrum. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. By S. R. ScaRGILL-Bird, F.S.A. 7». "The value of such a work as Mr. Scargill-Bird's can scarcely bo over-rated."— Times. Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers upon Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, »d. _ Miscellaneous List on Application. Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. Remittance should accompany Order. GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL PURLISHERS. BYRE and SPOTTISWOODK, Her Majesty's Printers, tiast Harding Street, Uudon, K.l.  ## p. 226 (#630) ############################################ 226 AD VERTISEMENTS. MISS XI.. -V. QIX.L, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam Street, Strand, W.C.. and 5, Air Street, Piccadilly, W. Authors' and Dramatists' Work a Specialty. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to diilicult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. MISS -A.. JEt. LBKTTY, TYPE WRITING OFFICE, 165, QUEEN VICTOKIA STEEET. Highest Testimonials for all kinds of Work. Price List on Application. MRS. GILL, T Y P E - W It ITIN G OFFICE ST. PAUL'S CHAMBERS, 19, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from if. per 1,000 words. One additional copy (carbon) supplied free of charge. Instruction given in Pitman's System of Shorthand and in type- writing. References kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. VICTORIA TYPE-WRITING OFFICE. (FRANCES A. COX.) 565, Mansion House Chambers; 11, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully typed. Legal and General Copying. PROSPECTUS ON APPLICATION. AUTHORS.—The New York Bureau of Revision aids Authors in completing their books; gives competent and unbiassed criticism of Prose or Verse; and offers MSS. and proofs in the American Market. Address— Dr. TITUS MUNSON COAN, 20, West lith Street, Neiv York. TO LYRIC AUTHORS, LIBRETTISTS, Sc. ARLY in the New Year will be issued Monthly, One Penny, "The Lyric Author's Advertizer and Composer's Magazine," a Mart for Lyric writers, Librettists, and Composers. Entire Lyric Poems, or extracts, with the Author's name and the price attached, will be inserted as advertisements at a low charge, viz., 2S. per 100 words, and pro rata. No agency business undertaken. The Magazine will be posted free to all the well-known composers; and, it is hoped, will prove a boon to buyers and sellers. Address— THE CONDUCTOR, ASHMOBE BUSSAN, HOBSFOBTH, LEEDS. All applications relating to Advertisements in this Journal should be addressed to the Printers and Publishers, EYRE & SPOTTISWOODE, East Harding Street, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.  ## p. 227 (#631) ############################################ A D VER TISEMENTS. CJje J*wtetg of autfjors (finrorporatrtX PRESIDENT. The Right Hon. the LORD TENNYSOX, D.C.L. Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E. Alfred Austin. A. W. a Beckett. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Walter Besant. Augustine Birrei.l, M.P. R. I). Blackmore. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, F.R.S. Lord Brabourne. James Bryce, M.P. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. W. Martin Conway. Marion Crawford. Oswald Chawfurd, C.M.G. The Earl Of Desart. COUNCIL. A. W. Dubourg. John Eric Erichben, F.R.S. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Herbert Gardner, M.P. Richard Garnett, LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. J. M. Lely. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. F. Max Muller, LL.D. George Meredith. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wakr, F.L.S. J. C. Parkinson. The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. A. G. Ross. George Augustus Sala. W. Baptiste Scoones. G. R. Sims. J. J. Stevenson. Jas. Sully. William Mot Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. The Right Hon. the Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., F.R.S. Edmund Yates. A. W. a Beckett. W. Martin Conway. Hon. Counsel—E. M. Underdown, Q.C. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Walter Besant. I Edmund Gosse. J. M. Lely. | H. Rider Haggard. | Sir Frederick Pollock. Solicitors—Messrs. Field, Roscoe, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary—S. Squire Sprigge. OFFICES. 4., Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. A. G. Ross. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can l>e 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. (The Lendenhall Press.) zs. 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 Cot.les, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society, is. 6. The Cost Of Production. In tliis work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. 2s. 6d. Out of Print, New Edition now 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 3s. Second Edition. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention, and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode is. 6d. Other works bearing on the Literary Profession will follow. vol. 11. P i  ## p. 228 (#632) ############################################ A D VER TISEMENTS. The " Swan" is a beautiful Gold Pen joined to a rubber reservoir to hold any kind of ink, which it supplies to the writing point in a continuous flow. It will hold enough ink for two days' constant work, or a week's ordinary writing, and can be refilled with as little trouble as to wind a watch. With the cover over the gold nib it is carried in the pocket like a pencil, to be used anywhere. A purchaser may try a pen a few days, and if by chance the writing point does not suit his hand, exchange it for another without charge, or have his money returned if wanted. There are various pints to select from, broad, medinrn, and fine, every handwriting can be suited, and the price of the entire instrument, with filler complete, post tree, is only 10s. 6d. MAfciE TOOO J. BAUD NtW V0«K fej%^ The Gold Pens in the "Swan" are Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s famous make. They are 14-carat tempered gold, very handsome, and positively unaffected by any kind of ink. They are, pointed with selected polished iridium. The " Encyclopedia Britannica" says:—"Iridium is a nearly white metal of high specific gravity, it is almost indestructible, and a beautifully polished surface can be obtained upon it." They will not penetrate the paper, and writer's cramp is unknown among users of Gold Pens. One will OUtwear 90 grOSS Of Steel pens. They are a perfect revelation to those who know nothing about Gold Pens. Dr. Olives Wendell Holmes has used one of Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s Gold Pens since 1857, and is using the same one (his " old friend ") to-day. Svdnky Gbumdy, Esq., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" It is a vast improvement on every Stylograph." Moberly Bell, Esq., Manager, The Times, says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" One pen lasted me for six years." S. D. Waddy, Esq., Q.C., M.P., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—*' I have used them constantly for some years, and, as far ns I can remember, they have never failed me." -^^^3r3>-cf^ Send Postal Card for Free Illustrated List (containing interesting Testimonials from the Best People, who have used them for years) to— MABIE, TODD, & BARD,  ## p. 229 (#633) ############################################ ^Ibe Butbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Soviety of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 8.] JANUARY i, 1892. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions ex-pressed in papers that arc signed the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. Readers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of six years' work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (l.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, unless an opportunity of proving the correctness of the figures is given them. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with advertising publishers, who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any one firm of publishers. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty without ascertaining exactly what the agreement gives to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by resectable house.s, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement con- taining a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never forget that, publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society's Offices:— 4, Portugal Street, Linxoln's Inn Fields. NOTICES. THE Committee have to announce with great regret the resignation of the secretary, Mr. S. Squire Sprigge. He finds himself unable to give his whole time to the Society, and the greatly increased work which has now to be done makes it necessary that the secretary should henceforth devote the whole of his time to that work. When Mr. Sprigge became secretary three years ago, the number of members was 25o. It has since trebled and the work has more than trebled. This rapid increase is, the Committee feel, largely due to the zeal and the intelligence which Mr. Sprigge has brought to the work. The kind of work is often of an extremely delicate nature; authors are not always in the right in their disputes; and, when they are, it is not always expedient to set things right by the immediate intervention of the lawyer; many disputes have been amicably arranged by Mr. Sprigge in interviews and by conversation; in such a position as that held for three years by Mr. Sprigge, enemies may be very easily made. It may be said of Mr. Sprigge that he has made very few, and of those few, some—the persons, namely, who live by dishonest practices—are of the kind whose enmity is an honour. Mr. Sprigge retires at the end of March. The Committee hope to appoint his successor before that date, in order that he may have a little time to learn the work.  ## p. 230 (#634) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The Committee very seriously entreat members to sign no agreements without submitting them, confidentially, to the secretory. The points, how- ever, which are most to be kept in mind are, (i) what the author gives up—his copyright, his American rights, his rights of translation, and, in most cases, his control of his own property. (2.) "What consideration he gets for it. (3.) What the publisher proposes to reserve for himself. If a royalty is offered, the author must ascertain what that means, both in view of a limited and of a large sale. If he is to share in profits after the book has jmid its expenses, he must have it dis- tinctly laid down in the agreement that expenses mean actual expenses paid for production, and not a fancy charge, giving the other side a fraudulent profit at the outset. Also he must have something to say in the matter of advertisements, remembering that it is not an uncommon practice for the fraudu- lent publisher to charge what he pleases under this head, and to "spend the money" (!) on advertising in his own periodicals or trade lists. In other words, the Society earnestly and un- ceasingly exhorts those who write books to take as much care of their property in books as they do of their property in houses, and lands, and shares. It may be only a very small property, or it may be large—in either event let it be guarded as carefully as any other kind of property. There is no subject on which everybody is so willing and ready to write as on the subject of publishing, and there is no subject on which there prevails such extraordinary ignorance. This is because the figures of one side only have been accessible. Those of the other side have now been presented by this Society, and anyone can ascertain by the help of these figures, or by special appli- cation to the secretary, what these figures are, ami what they mean. To those who do know what this means and why they have been so carefully withheld, the ordinary article which treats of publishing is a thing which would be contemptible if it was not pitiful and mischievous. Let it be remembered tliat the Society has a mass of pub- lishers' accounts, printers' estimates, information from booksellers, bookbinders, printers, advertising agents, agreements and returns, which has never before been collected together, and could never be collected except by such a Society. It is hoped that members will consult the Secretary and use this knowledge freely in their own interests. It is also hoped that editors will recognise, the fact that no articles on publishing methods are worth the paper they an; written on unless the figures on both sides are attainable. The recent labour agitation in the bookbinding trade has resulted in the concession of an eight hours' day with higher wages to the workmen in the trade. As to the justice of the case we are not called upon to speak. The working of the result is that for ordinary binding an advance of "j\ per cent, will be made on bookbinders' charges to pub- lishers for books, and of 12 per cent, (perhaps) for magazines. In other words, bookbinders say, prac- tically, "we are already cut down as far as we can go. Somebody else must lx>ar this burden." Let us see what it means. The cost of binding an ordinary octavo volume ranges from ^d. to jd. An advance of 7 \ per cent, adds \d. on the 4c?., and ^d. on the jd. In case of any attempt being made to reduce royalties on the plea of this increase, these figures should be borne in mind. It is not, however, in books so much as in magaziues that the difference will be felt. If the 12 per cent, advance is made, it will make a difference to a sixpenny magazine, perhaps all the difference. Would the world be any the poorer if the sixpenny magazine became a shilling magazine? The New Review began at 6c?., was advanced to gd., and will immediately become is. So much the better for everybody. On November 1st the readers of the Author, and members of the Society, were invited to subscribe in order to present Mr. K. U. Johnson, Secretary of the International Copyright League. On December 1st the Committee announced that they had received enough money to carry out their intentions. A silver salver has been pur- chased, and will be sent to New York immediately. The subscription was limited in amount, so as to enlarge the number of those who might wish to join. Many who would have joined were prevented by the announcement that enough had been re- ceived. If we had wanted more money the list could have been extended indefinitely. We have lost one of our earliest members. Mr Egerton Warbnrton, one of the best known of. Cheshire squires, was a member of the society from the first. Without being a great author, he was well known as the writer of excellent hunting songs, and was at all times devoted to literature and literary pursuits. He yvas a gentleman of what is called the old school—of ancient descent—  ## p. 231 (#635) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 231 conservative, ami a churchman—indeed, he was one of the late Beresford Hope's friends—a good hunting man—with all the best traditions attaching to his class. Some years ago he instituted a May Queen ceremony. For twenty years he was afflicted with blindness. Another, and a more prominent member from the literary point of view, has been lost in Mr. W. G. Wills. If success proves greatness, he was a great dramatist. If prolific production means greatness, he was great. The time has not yet come for his work to be judged impartially as to its place in literature. Few will forget, who ever saw those pieces, "Oliver," and "Charles the First." He possessed the first and greatest gift for one who aspires to be a dramatist. He could hold his audience. He has been charged with the sadness of his pieces. They are lugubrious. It was, however, in the nature of the subject that they should be so. The man himself was far from being lugubrious. His muse was tearful, but his heart was light. "We have also to regret the loss of Mr. G. T. Bettany, who died of heart disease at Dulwich on December 2nd. He was born at Penzance in 185o, and, being intended for the medical profes- sion, entered Guy's Hospital in 1868. After graduating B.Sc. at London University with First Class Honours in Geology, he proceeded to Cam- bridge, where he took his B.A., coining out (bracketed Third) in the First Class of the Natural Science Tripos in a remarkable year, Professor H. N. Martin and the late Mr. Frank Balfour being respectively first and second. Air. Bettany lectured for some years at Newnham and Girton Colleges, and at Guy's Hospital, but ultimately decided to devote himself to literature. His chief works are "The Morphology of the Skull," which he wrote in collaboration with Professor W. K. Parker, P.B.S., "Eminent Doctors; their Lives and their Work," "Life of Darwin" (Great Writers' Series), "The World's Inhabitants," and "The World's Religions." At the time of his death he was writing a "History of Christianity," and a "History of Guy's Hospital," the latter in collaboration with his friend Dr. S. Weeks, F.R.S. Mr. Bettany was a contributor to the Times, the Atheneeum, the Contemporary Jfevieic, and " Dic- tionary of National Biography," and has, with only one or two exceptions, edited more books than any man living. The "Minerva Library of Famous Books," of which he was ihe originator and sole editor, is now generally admitted to 1h> the cheapest and most valuable series of cheap books in existence, and has attained an enormous sale, while his "Popular Library of Literary Treasures" was also the means of bringing much that is valuable within the reach of a very large public. The meaning, as between publisher and author, of the so-called "Royalty System "—where there is no system—was explained in the Author for November 18g t. Writers are entreated, in their own interests, to study the facts and figures there set forth. Communications intended for the Authors' Syndi- cate should be addressed to W. Morris Colles, the Honorary Secretary. Mr. Colles will issue a report on the financial side of the Syndicate, drawn by a firm of chartered accountants, at the beginning of the new year. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, under- take the publication of MSS. The official directions for the securing of American copyright by English authors were given in the Author for June 1891. Members are earnestly entreated to take the trouble of reading those directions. Members are earnestly requested to forwanl agreements to the Society for inspection before they sign them. Once signed, the mischief is generally irreparable.  ## p. 232 (#636) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. MISPRINT. The Author, December 1891, page 200, column 2, line 4 from bottom— For "Again, there are no periodicals," read, "Again, there are two periodicals." The passage, us quoted, is unintelligible. W. W. Skeat. *■■*■■* THE COST OF PRODUCTION. ANOTHER edition of this very useful little work is now ready. Those who possess the earlier editions will please note that since they were issued there has been a rise in compositors' wages, which, so far as London is concerned, will affect the item of composition, or setting-up, and press work, or machining, to the extent of about i5 per cent. It has not, we are assured, touched prices in Edinburgh. Those who consult the book should also bear in mind that our estimates are very liberal, so us to be on the safe side. A printer's bill is a very elastic thing, one that may be shortened as well as lengthened, in a most surprising manner. For in- stance, a certain piece of work required for the Authors' Syndicate, which began by costing 364'. a week, has now gone down to l5*., without the least alteration in length. And the other day the account of a book was sent in which showed the cost of production considerably less than the estimate in the Society's book. Nor is this the only occasion in which we have found the figures supplied to us to have been liberal ones. AMERICAN COPYRIGHT. I. IE annual meeting of the American Oopy- I right League, by the courtesy of the Executive Council of the Authors' Club, was held at the rooms of the Club, 19, West 24.th Street, on Friday afternoon, Nov. 20th, Dr. Edward Eggleston, third Vice-President, in the chair. On motion the meeting was adjourned to a date in December, to be determined by the Secretary, of which (hie notifica- tion will be given. At a preliminary meeting of the Executive Council of the Leagues some routine business was transacted, and a committee consisting of Mr. E. Stedmun, first Vice-President and acting President of the League, and Mr. 11. U. Johnson, Secretary, were appointed to draft resolutions on the death of James Russell Lowell, late President of the League, to be reported at the December meeting, which will also receive rejwrts, elect officers, and decide upon the future policy of the League. II. The following is important. It is an extract from a communication made to an English editor by an American house :— "In the case of the publisher of a magazine who uses matter which is also copyrighted in the United States, we think it very important that he should secure from the author in writing his or her autho- rity, not only to publish it in their magazine, but also his or her authority to export it, i.e., the said magazine to the United States; also to sell the same in the United States. This authority should \n: given in legal form, and signed in the presence of two witnesses, and copies of the authority should be sent over to us, so that in case questions should come up here we should have positive proof that the author had given his authority to import and sell the publication in the United States." The Associated Press of New York has been interviewing English publishers as to the working of the Copyright Law. As reported, the general opinion seems to be that none of the evils prophesied for the printing trade are likely to come to pass. Composition in America is twenty-five per cent, at least more than it is here. American authors are asking larger prices; literature which appeals to the million will undoubtedly be greatly affected by the Act; other literature, naturally, to a much less extent. The benefit to the author who commands a hearing in America will be enormous. An American' writes to remonstrate with an expression used in the Author. It described the. Copyright Law as a Printer's Protection Act. He points out that the printers are no more protected than they were before. This is quite true; the expression should not have been used. We regret that it was used.—Editor. ■ ♦•«■♦ LITERARY CRITICISM. IP literary criticism may be said to flourish among us at all, it certainly flourishes im- mensely, for it flows through the periodical press like a river that has burst its dykee. The  ## p. 233 (#637) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 233 quantity of it is prodigious, and it is a commodity of which, however the demand may be estimated, the supply will be sure to be, in any supposable extremity, the last thing to fail us. What strikes the observer above all, in such an affluence, is the unexpected proportion the discourse uttered bears to the objects discoursed of—the paucity of ex- amples, of illustrations and productions, and the deluge of doctrine, suspended in the void, the profusion of talk, and the poverty of experiment, of what one may call literary conduct. This, indeed, ceases to be an anomaly as soon as we look at the conditions of contemporary jour- nalism. Then we see that these conditions have engendered the practice of " reviewing "—a practice that, in general, has nothing in common with the art of criticism. Periodical literature is a huge open mouth which has to be fed—a vessel of immense capacity which has to be filled. It is like a regular train which starts at an advertised hour, but which is free to start only if every seat be occupied. The seats are many, the train is ponder- ously long, and hence the manufacture of dummies for the seasons when there are not passengers enough. A stuffed manikin is thrust into the empty seat, where it makes a creditable figure till the end of the journey. It looks sufficiently like a passenger, and you know it is not only when you perceive that it neither says anything nor gets out. The guard attends to it when the train is shunted, blows the cinders from its wooden face, and gives a different crook to its elbow, so that it may serve for another run. In this way, in a well-conducted periodical, the blocks of rcmplissage are the dummies of criticism —the recurrent, regulated billows in the ocean of talk. They have a reason for being, and the situation is simpler when we perceive it. It helps to explain the disproportion I just mentioned, as well, in many a case, as the quality of the particular discourse. It helps us to understand that the "organs of public opinion" must be no less copious than punctual, that publicity must main- tain its high standard, that ladies and gentlemen may turn an honest penny by the free expenditure of ink. Henby James (Philadelphia Paper). TWO ACTIONS AT LAW. I. Pinnock v. Chapman and Hall. THE same number of the Times—Wednesday, December 9th—contained two reports of cases, Iwth of the greatest importance. The first of these was Pinnock v. Chapman and Hall. This case VOL. II, was probably seen by all our readers, who have also read the comments upon it in most of the papers. Briefly, it was an action by a private person against a firm of publishers for an alleged libel contained in a certain book of stories. In this book the plaintiff stated that he had been introduced in such a manner as to make the identity impossible to be doubted, and in such a way as to convey charges affecting his honour. The defence set up was not that a novelist has the right to place any person he pleases under disguise, real or slight, but tliat the plaintiff was not intended. The judge, in summing up, put these two questions to the jury: (1) Did the author have the plaintiff in his mind and intend him when writing this story? (2) Was the tale so written that those knowing the plaintiff would reasonably infer that he was intended? If either question was answered in the affirmative, the jury would have to consider only the question of damages. The jury did find an affirmative reply to these questions and returned a verdict for the plaintiff with 200/. damages. The comments on the case mostly turned on the publisher's side of the question. Every- body asked how a publisher could protect him- self. Nobody seems to have perceived that it is perfectly simple to insert 11 clause in every agree- ment to the effect that the author is liable for any damages or costs in fighting an action for libel. Such a clause is inserted in some agreements, and it is one which no author could refuse to accept. With this clause, and with the additional pre- caution of a careful reader—in this case the reader was led to believe that the whole book was fiction —there should be little danger for the publisher. Of course, the author might be unable to pay the damages. On that point tin; publisher would take care to be informed beforehand. Some twenty years ago a similar case was brought. The offending author was reported at the time to have paid the damages inflicted on the firm out of his own pocket. If he did so his action was just and honourable. The real difficulty is the novelist's, not the pub- lisher's. Our whole gallery of fictitious characters is a gallery of portraits. There is not a novelist living or dead whose books are not filled with portraits drawn from the life. There is not a single book of any note in which there are not living characters, and for the most part characters well known and easy to be recognised. Fiction, like painting, must have models. It will be the beginning of the end for fiction when she ceases to draw from the life. Now, it is easy to get a model for the studio—but difficult—almost impossible—to get a model for the study. AVho would consent to sit for the Marquis of Steyne—for Major Pendennis—for Jos Sedley —for Blanche Amory—for Ralph Nickleby—for Squeers—^for the Egoist? These portraits have to Q  ## p. 234 (#638) ############################################ 234 THE AUTHOR. bo taken surreptitiously—a line here, ft line there— here the Kodak—there ft word of talk. They have to be drawn with selection and discrimination. Hitherto, none of these unwilling models have brought their unwillingness into court. All the world, perhaps, knew who was meant, but the subject pretended either not to know or not to care. Henceforth the novelist must l>e very careful. If he takes from his acquaintance a villain, a hypocrite, a sensualist, an egotist, a man selfish, voluptuous, vain, foolish, priggish, a hum- bug, a bully, a poseur—anything—he must be very careful so to disguise him that the model, though he may know, may have no legal cause for complaint. He may transform to his canvas the mental qualities of the model or the physical peculiarities or the conditions and facts of the model's life. But not all together. Thus, if his character adorn New York, transfer him to London; if he be mentally humpbacked transpose the hump to a person physically unlike the real man. The effect is not quite so happy as the bodily transfer of the whole man with all his surroundings, and the conditions which have made him what he is. But it is safer. The portrait of a dead man may, one supposes, be shown accurately without danger of legal'proceedings. In such a, case the painter need only fear the vengeance of able-bodied sons, brothers, or cousins. II. The Proprietor of a Magazine v. The Proprietor of a Country Paper. This case is also one of considerable importance, because it involves some definition of the right of a newspaper to copy or abridge work appearing in a magazine. The defendant admitted the pub- lication of an abridgment, but contended that he had acted in perfect good faith; that he had received a copy of the magazine containing the story, and that he had believed that he had the consent of the plaintiffs to publish the story. It does not appear, in fact, that the defendant did more than has been very often done by country papers. Yet it was necessary that the powers of a newspaper to reproduce magazine articles should be defined. There can be no doubt that the reproduction of papers or portions of papers from certain magazines may materially advance their popularity and increase their circulation, so that, to some extent, editors should be encouraged to reproduce them. But it is well to remember that the copyright belongs to the man who has bought it, and that copyright means the right to publish. There can be no harm done so long as editors recognise the necessity of getting permission to reproduce, and so long as that permission is freely granted, But it should not be asked, nor would it be granted, in the case of stories which form the most attractive part of most magazines. ♦■»■♦ THE STORYTELLER'S NIGHT. HERE is a hint for the Authors' Club. At the Aldiue Club, New York, they have a Storyteller's Night. Their last was on Thursday, December 17th. Mr. Frank Stockton took the chair. The storytellers were Mr. George Cable, M. Paul du Chail'lu, Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, Mr. W. Hamilton Gibsou, Mr. Will Carlines, and others. One after the other they stood up and told their stories, and sat down again. In one respect we cannot imitate the Aldine Club. Their dinner was not served till ten o'clock. Our ]>eople wouldn't stand that. Here is Mr. Charles Warner's story as reported in the Critic :— "There was once a robber in Cairo who fell from the second story of a house he was trying to enter, and broke his leg. He went to the Cadi aud complained. The man's window was badly made, and he wanted justice. The Cadi said that was reasonable, and he summoned the owner of the house. The owner confessed that the house was poorly built, but claimed that the eaqienter was to blame, and not he. This struck the Cadi as sound logic, aud he sent for the carpenter. 1 The charge is, alas, too true,' said the carpenter,' but the masonry was at fault and I couldn't fit a good window.' "So the Cadi, impressed with the reasonableness of the argument, sent for the mason. The mason pleaded guilty, but explained that a pretty girl in a blue gown had passed the building while he was at work, aud that his attention had been diverted from his duty. The Cadi thereupon demanded that the girl be brought before him. 'It is true,' she said, 'that I am pretty, but it's no fault of mine. If my gown attracted the mason, the dyer should be punished and not I.' 'Quite true,' said the Cadi,' send for the dyer.' The dyer was brought to the bar and pleaded guilty. That settled it. The Cadi told the robber to take the guilty- wretch to his hoiiBe and hang him from the door-sill, and the populace rejoiced that justice had been done. Hut pretty soon the crowd returned to the Cadi's house, com- plaining that the dyer was too long to be properly hanged from his door-sill. 'Oh, well,' said the Cadi, who by that time was suffering with ennui,' go find a short dyer aud hang him. Justice shall prevail.'" — NOTES AND NEWS. MB. Brander Matthews, a writer of distinction in the world of fiction, has just published (Longmans, " With my Friends "), a dainty volume of short stories idl written in collaljomtion.  ## p. 235 (#639) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 235 His literary partners are Mr. H. S. Bunner, Mr. Walter Pollock, Mr. George H. Jessop, and Mr. F. Anstey. All the stories are good, but the first and the third seem to nie especially good. There is an introduction in which Mr. Brander Matthews (without a collaborateur) treats of the art and mystery of collaboration. I think that this is the only essay ever written on the subject; that is to say, many have written about literary partners, but none 011 what is really meant by a literary partnership; how men may collaborate in literary work; what constitutes partnership; the advantages of such partnership; its dangers and disadvantages and limitations. The scanty limits of the Author do not permit a summary, however brief, of this valuable essay, nor do they permit certain comments which one would like to make. These must be reserved for another place. Mean- time I beg to recommend the book to all who write fiction, not only for its excellent stories but for this introductory essay. One point I note in this place. Mr. Brander Matthews claims for collaboration an educational value so far as concerns construction. "It succeeds," he says, "most abundantly where clearness is needed, where precision, skill, and logic are looked for, where we expect simplicity of motive, sharpness of outline, ingenuity of construction, and clearness of effect." Observe that these are all things which are absolutely essential to the success of a drama. It is, he thinks, because the habit of collaboration so much obtains in France that the constructive part of their work is generally so much better than with us. Now, in fiction as well as the drama, all these qualities are desirable. And a want of clearness in outline, a want of sharpness, is one of the most common faults in English fiction. If this could be removed by a little collaboration, let us collaborate. The reason why collaboration proves a remedy for this fault is, I apprehend, that the inventor of the fable—there can be two minds working upon it, but there can be but one inventor—is thus enabled to see his own idea projected upon another brain; he sees it as it is, not as he imagines it is; he sees it in the mind of another man. Why is it that the unsuccessful man of letters so often cannot understand his ill success? Mainly, perhaps, because he cannot really see his own work; he sees the vision of it in his own brain, and he cannot understand that he has not transferred it to the page. With a collaborateur he would have had to bring out every character, every incident, every name to be discussed, arranged, altered, and made presentable. Collaboration has many dangers and many difficulties. One would "ot recommend a young writer to collaborate, except for quite short things, first of all; to feel his way; to enter into no lasting engagements; and never, whatever disputes may afterwards happen, to claim more than a just half share in the work. Perhaps, after all, the best form of collaboration is that which has produced this volume. It is when two friends, in after-dinner talk, hit upon an idea, begin to turn it about, to see its possibilities, and in an hour's amusement actually to construct a story which cither of them can write down. Every great thought proves to have been antici- pated by somebody else. For instance, when wo talked of a school for novelists and of the possi- bility of teaching those capable of learning some- thing of the elements, just as rhetoric may be taught to one who wishes to know how to conduct an argument, we were quite ignorant that there was already in the field a Professor of the Art—a Literary Tutor—and that he had been in practice for many years. That is, however, the case. This gentleman edits a magazine—not one of those, apparently, which pander to the taste of the day and are read by such people as ourselves, because it is not on the bookstalls. Moreover, on application to the office we found it gone—the people knew not whither. The tuition is conducted by letter only. The fees are decidedly low—thirty shillings for three months and five guineas a year, and the tutor offers (at least he has offered to one editor) the splendid commission of half a guinea on every literary pupil obtained for him. He says in his prospectus that many of his former pupils have now "ascended several steps up the ladder of Fame." Now, in all departments of learning, the teacher must be able to show that he is able to do, himself, the thing that he teaches. Let us, therefore, beg all who think of getting such help as that proffered by this gentle- man, or others like him, ascertain that he has shown himself, by his own writings, a corn- latent guide. That one has never heard of him is not enough to make one refuse his services or to warn others against him. Let him prove his competence in the only way possible, by the pro- duction of his own work. If it is good work, there is a possibility that he may be able to teach. But that proved, the next question is whether the man 1* able to teach? Meanwhile, that offer of the half guinea commission does not, somehow, inspire one with confidence. A communication has been received from the advertiser in the Daily News whose proposal was commented on hi the last number of the Aut/ior (i 2  ## p. 236 (#640) ############################################ 236 THE AUTHOR. under the title of "A Now Departure." What he says is practically this—which one is quite ready to admit—that a literary agent, or middle- man, may be very useful for an author. It is quite true, and there are literary agents already in existence; the advertiser would do well to find out a good one and employ him. He must be very careful not to employ any- one not well recommended. He goes on to say that " not a quota "—what is that ?—of MSS. sub- mitted to publishers are ever read. My own experience is that MSS. are always read by pub- lishers. He therefore thinks that a literary agent would read them though the publisher will not. A literary agent would not read MSS.; he cannot possibly do so. Ho might, as publishers do, em- ploy a staff of readers, but he could not, personally, read MSS. Here then is advice for this adver- tiser. Withdraw your advertisement; apply to the society for advice; if you employ a literary agent you will have to pay him a great deid less than the 25 per cent, you foolishly offer to any shark who may be on the look out for prey. "It is a part of the literary gift," says a cor- respondent, "that authors should express their disagreements in the most disagreeable manner possible." Profound observation! It explains in one short sentence the whole of the history of authors and their quarrels. It also affords hope to the despondent. There may be a brighter future for literature, when its followers will cease to scratch and claw and revile and scarify each other. Manners will, some time or other, be taught. Thus the natural woman, when she disagrees with her friend, scratches, clapperclaws, and tears out hair. One has seen the natural woman so dis- playing her disagreement; the onlooker, at such a moment, thinks of authors with a sigh. But the blessings of civilisation are teaching the natural woman a better method; you may now walk about the streets for a twelvemonth without finding such a natural woman. In course of time we shall find our own profession educated up to the point of disagreeing with politeness. The Bludyers, how- ever, are a long-lived race. A correspondent in the St. James's Gazette writing on the old grievance—far more real for playwrights than for novelists—of the difficulty of getting a piece produced, he makes a practical suggestion. It is that the manager, like the publisher, shall have a reader or a staff of readers. Why not? He goes on, however, to suggest that the dramatist shall pay the reader himself. Why? The author does not pay the publisher's reader. He is part of tlie office. Why should not the manager pay his reader? But the circumstances are not quite similar. Editors of magazines and publishers must always l>e bringing out new things—every month for the magazines—every season for the book list. The manager only brings out a new thing when he is obliged. If he gave the world a new play every two months or so—as he could yvere it not for the present lavish expense of mounting and dressing—he would want a reader. As he looks for a run of twelve months at least, he does not; he prefers arranging for a new play with an old hand. Think of a new piece every month at the Lyceum, and another at the Haymarket, and another new piece at the Comedy, the Prince of Wales's, and all of them! In ten years we shoidd have such a company of dramatic authors in this country as was never before known. A successful play would not then be worth, as it is now, a small fortune; it would, as it should, be worth what a successful novel is worth, and no more. But that shoidd be quite enough to stimulate hundreds of active brains. And then the manager's reader would be a very useful person indeed. Mr. Andrew Lang's "Sign of the Ship" is always a thing to look for— it is one of the minor events of the month—though, like the delicacies of the Christmas season, he does not always agree with one. This month he contributes a few interesting statistics concerning novels. There have been, he says, 270 novels of the year, as recorded in a library catalogue. As a fact, there have been many more. A "student"—of fiction or of folk lore?—has kindly erased 254 from this catalogue, as not to he sent. Of these, about 24 had been read before; of those left on the list, twelve, at least, wore experi- mental. Of the whole 270, there were about forty that " a male human being might read." The rest, he says, yvere all for ladies. "Ah !" he cries, "that authors would not write, that publishers would not publish, that libraries would not buy, the common, mild, middle-class domestic novel any more!" If one were obliged to read them, one would certainly echo that sigh. But then, you see, one is not obliged—and one does not read them. In the same way as we pass a pastrycook's shop, and observe the masses of tarts, cakes, buns, chocolate, and confec- tions of jam, one might cry, "Ah! that pastrycooks would not make, that people would not buy, that children would not eat the common, mild, domestic biliousness any more!" Or, when one passes the fragrant fried fish-shop, one might equally ejacu- late, " Ah! that fryers would not fry, that sho[>s would not sell, that workgirls would not eat, this  ## p. 237 (#641) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 237 terrible, horrible, awful mess!" Or, again, when one goes to an exhibition of pictures, and sees the acres of wall space covered with feeble and conven- tional daubs, one might cry, "Ah! that painters would not paint, that exhibitions would not exhibit, that people would not buy these mild, domestic, middle-class conventional pictures any more!" Now, let us make out what case we can for the mild novel that nobody wants. In the first place, does it injure the circulation of the forty which the male human being can read? It may injure, to a very small extent, their circulating library circula- tion. That is to say, the latest work of the Eminent novelist may be bought by the hundred instead of the hundred and twenty, and readers are made to wait a little for him, because—it is rejK>rted—the small fry can be bought—" sorted out "—at a much lower price—sometimes at five shillings the three volumes. But at Smith's they will get, I l>elieve, any book that the subscriber asks for. If that is the case, then the Eminent one suffers not at all, however many domestic novels are produced. But readers always have the remedy in their own hands. They can send back, by return post, the rubbish which fills the box. Or, better still, they can select books for themselves, and return all those which 'are not in the list. As to the cheap edition—the one-volume edition—of course the mild domestic novel, which never gets to that edition at all, injures nol>ody. In fact, the whole 23oout of the 270 appear, flutter about for a month or two, and then vanish for ever. Their real end, which is pieces, comes to them after a few seasons in the seaside circulating library. Broadstairs, for instance, hath a noble, unique col- lection of the novels that nobody wants. Even little Llanfairfechan is not without this museum, though on a smaller scale. Again, there are many, very many, desperately dull houses in country towns and country villages where the ladies must, perforce, devote part of the day to reading. I hope we have long since passed the old fashioned stage of believing that one must read only with a view to improving the mind. Those ladies read with a view to getting out of their dullness—away from themselves. They therefore read novels. They read a novel in two days, or three at the most, say three a week. They therefore read a hundred and fifty in the year, or, leaving out eight weeks for amusement, travel, and other distractions, they read one hundred and thirty-two novels in the year. Now, if there were published none hut the forty readable by superior VOL. IT. man, these poor ladies would simply have nothing to read, nothing to talk about, nothing to distract them from the deadly petty gossip of the place, for about fort)- weeks in the year. Think—oh! think—What a calamity would l>e the suppression of the Two Hundred and Thirty! Again, let us acknowledge, for argument, the feebleness and the conventionality of the stuff. But it is intended for the distraction of minds not too strong at best, and, in their hours of relaxation, at their feeblest. Do these books harm anybody? Indeed, no, unless feebleness of writing injures the mentally weak. Do they lower, for those who read, their standard of purity, of nobility? No. These writers accept this standard to the best of their abilities, and, for the most part, maintain it. I do not profess to have read much of the work of this poor company of Two Hundred and Thirty, shiver- ing and trembling beneath the forefinger of scorn, but I believe that if they ventured to assail our morals, they would lx? instantly annihilated. There is an Eye—a watchful Eye—upon the morals of the novelist. In my own humble way, I have received remonstrances which revealed the existence of that Eye. Once—only once—I suffered—nay, encou- raged—a sailor to kiss a girl in a summer house— only a kiss, nothing more, but it was wrong—it was sinful, and I heard of it. "I thought," wrote the indignant moralist, " that your lxwks were safe reading for my daughter. Most providentially I looked into that one called 'The World went very- well then' before placing it in my child's hands. I can only say—may God grant you repentance and forgive you!" If this wholesome watchfulness is kept upon the male novelist, how much more upon the artist of the other sex! Again, there are about thirty or forty ladies who, by writing these domestic novels for other ladies, manage to make a little income, varying from fifty to a hundred pounds a year, bringing out one every year. The libraries take three or four hundred copies of each. The publishers make— say, a hundred pounds to a hundred and fifty pounds by each work. Are we to deprive these ladies of their income? It is of vital importance to them. If we have no pity on the poor ladies, shall we not find one tear for the innocent publisher? Or, if this company of Two Hundred and Thirty were annihilated, think what would happen to the R  ## p. 238 (#642) ############################################ 238 THE AUTHOR. young gentlemen who write papers for the thought- ful magazines on the Decay of Fiction! Magazines have got to be filled, as Mr. Henry James has pointed out. What so easy to write as an article on the Worthlessness of Modern Fiction! The editors like the subject. Anybody who can write at all, whether he knows anything about, fiction or not, whether he is capable, of writing or inventing the smallest anecdote, thinks he can write an article upon it. If we were to approach the editor with an article on the Fried Fish craving which seems so deplorably on the increase in certain cpiarters, he would not take it. I am sure he would not. But an article on novels? Why, he takes at least three every year, and sometimes more. And then there are the weekly reviews. The novels find employment in their pages for many eminent hands. And there are the daily papers. The reviewer of novels finds in their columns con- stant and remunerative occupation. And the writer of the literary letter. He has hardly anything to talk about but, novels and novelists. There is also the writer of the paragraphs—what would he do without his novelists? Indeed, when we think of the re- viewers alone, we shrink in terror from a measure of suppression which would abolish their chief source of income. "Strike," we hear them cry, " strike at church and constitution; abolish the House of Lords; suppress the House of Commons; but leave, oh! leave us this company of Two Hundred and Thirty." Put all together, the libraries, the publishers, the publishers' readers, the advertise- ment columns, the reviewers, the thoughtful young gentlemen of the Higher criticism who write on Decay, the printers, the lx>okbinders, the paper makers, the artists, and the authors, and consider what would be meant by abolishing this poor Company. No. Let us rather say," Go on—goon— ye Two Hundred and Thirty. Go on writing as long as the people go on reading. When some other amusement is found, as attractive, as ready to hand, as cheap as reading, perhaps there will be no longer any demand for you. When you cease to write, then we—your reviewers—cease to flourish. Go on. But we reserve, meantime, the right to scoff and sneer at you whenever there is nothing else to write about, and whether we read you, or whether we do not. Indeed, we never intend to read you. Your function, next to pleasing the girls who read you, is to furnish subject for contemptuous writing for those who do not read you." There is only one thing more to be said. Out of the Two Hundred and Thirty, at least eighty are authors who pay for the production of their books. And then, because the library catalogue by no means exhausts the list of new novels, there is probably another eighty or more also paid for by the authors which never even get into the libraries at all. Walter Besant. PUBLISHING ON COMMISSION. i. General Literature. 2. Medical Literature. OUR first impulse at the office of the Society of Authors, on hearing from an author that he intends to bring out a book at his own expense, is to dissuade him from his project, for it is our general experience that these undertaking* end in disappointment. Accordinglv, wo publish a warning every month, urging a young author never, never to pay for production. But although we make it a rule to dissuade young authors from publishing in this way, we have never lost sight of the fact that in certain special cases it may be fo the author's advantage to bear the cost of production himself. For instance, let us suppose that an author has n book for which a quick sale can bo expected in certain quarters, owing to bis own personal efforts or private; influence, or both. This is not a very rare state of affairs. His public is a ready-made one and does not require to be approached through any special channels, or with any publishing wiles. He is more or less in the position of a man who has a certain number of subscriptions guaranteed to him for his work; he am get at his public himself, am! does not want any assistance. Such a man hail l>etter publish upon commission. He runs no risk and his pecuniary returns will be greatest in this way. Take, again, the ease of an author whose chosen subject precludes him from ever achieving real popularity. His work may be a valuable contri- bution to literature of the highest kind, and a useful addition to the world's store of knowledge. There would be good grounds for recommending the owner of such a work to produce it at his own expense, but we should warn him of the probability that much of his money would be sunk, and that he would have to take out his reward in glory for ever. It is true that many such books are pub- lished from time to time at the cost of learnea societies, while a few are published on the time- honoured subscription method, but an author is not always so fortunate as to find either societies or individuals, who are ready to pay his printer's bill. It often happens that these books, thoroughly valuable work as they may be, are left to find their  ## p. 239 (#643) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 239 way to the public through the author or not nt all. If the author does not expect anything else, but is satisfied to lose money in making his name, and spreading the knowledge he has gained for the good of his fellow-man, it is most right that he should publish at his own expense. No one asks tliiit the author's reputation should be made at the expense of the publisher's purse. All the Society does in such eases is to say: "Publish by all means, but put yourself in honourable hands, so that you may not be cheated over the accounts, and do not anticipate large profits." But besides these classes of books there is another, where, the author's resolve to publish at his own expense can be justified by sensible and practical reasons, although the result may be a pecuniary loss to him. This is the position in the publication of certain medical books. All purely medical books may be said to belong to one of three classes :— (1.) Works of general medical reference. (2.) Books written in one of the popular series. (3.) Monographs on special medical subjects. To the first class belong the historic medical works. They generally remain the property of their publishers, though it is not unknown for the copyright to have been held by the author, editor, or compiler. There is a steady annual sale for these books to the, medical profession, to the general public, to students, and to hospital and general libraries; and the new editions, as they are issued, are brought up to date by the author, or, in case of his death, by the most fitting person whom the owner of the copyright can secure for the purpose. The price at which they are, sold is, as a rule, by no means a popular one, so that many of these books an'^aluable pecuniary properties. And this is very ^Jtting, for most of them are monuments of industry and research. The books of the second class—those written as parts of a scries—have the double value, to their author, always possessed by books written for a scries, i.e., they bring him in some money and Wime reputation. The author's name becomes widely known, for these books always sell largely. The good ones sell the bad ones, and the popular prices suit the purse of a great many people. Every copy of every book contains an advertisement of the rest of the series. Again, as it is widely believed— a very justifiable belief—that the best available men for the different subjects are always desired to write these series, the public spread of a doctor's name attached to one of the books is directly or indirectly so good for him, that the small fee received for writing the book is counterbalanced thereby. The pay and the fame should be, and doubtless are, self-compensating and self-arranging. The more the author was the favourably-known man in VOL. 11. connexion with his subject, the higher will be his price, and the less his desire or necessity for advertisement; the less known he is, the cheaper would he sell his work, and the more good would he expect to get from the publicity. Or it may be that a doctor is approached by the owner of one of these series, and is asked for a work on a special subject at a certain figure,* and is told that the sum named is the sum that is to be paid to all the authors of all the monographs. There is here no question of sticking out for a higher price. If the scientist wants the notoriety and the lucre he will exchange his brainwork for them. If he is not tempted, the proprietor will easily find some other person equally fitted for the task to undertake it at the suggested price. But it is of the third class, the monographs on special subjects, that we particularly wish to speak, l)ecause they appear to occupy a unique position in publishing. Most often the work is written by a man who is not yet widely known, in the hopes of becoming widely known. It is thus in a way an advertisement pure and simple, an expression, however, for which a few words of explanation will be necessary. But the first point to be noted is that it may l>e a very good book, and, as a matter of fact, it generally is a very good book. If mere excellence would sell a medical work, so that there should be a pecuniary profit upon it, many of these works would l>c worth more to the publishers than those written under contract. But, alas! mere excellence will not by itself achieve so desirable an object. For the public to which a purely medical book is sold is a very small one, though it be one, with whom excellence would have due weight. And here, of course, conies in the great difference between the publication on com- mission of the medical work, and the same proceeding, when applied to the ordinary novel. Both acts may be looked upon as an act of adver- tisement, but the novel addressed to a very large and uncritical public may sell to great jiecuniary advantage, although it be exceedingly bad, while the treatise, being of interest only to a small and thoughtful body, cannot ever realise a profit for its author, though it be an exceedingly good and valuable work. So far is this true, that we make bold to say that if Professor Koch's discovery had been a trustworthy or perhaps, it is more correct to .say a complete and conclusive piece of work, and he had embodied the results of his researches in a book, whoever published the book would have lost money by the transaction. Details of elaborate experiments, with figures, numbers, illustrations, * Fifty pounds down, and another fifty pounds towards the cost of illustration, is the offer made by the proprietor of one of these series to his authors. S  ## p. 240 (#644) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. foot-notes, side-note, and cross-references cannot be printed with the ease and cheapness characteristic of the production of a " yellow-back." And when the expensive book, containing within its pages priceless and authentic information as to one of the scourges of humanity is ready for sale, who is going to buy it? A suffering public—of course not. It is not written for them. If it were written for them it would not have been worth writing. The whole medical profession? Cer- tainly not. Doctors are not rich people, and those books cost so much to produce, that some sub- stantial price must be put upon them, while the practical use to the rank and file of the medical profession of an elaborate scientific monograph is very small. "Who buys the work, then? A few savants, a few professors, and a few libraries. But from these sources the knowledge contained in the work is disseminated in lectures, comments, re- views, and scientific articles, so that the book becomes broadly useful to an enormous public, who could have gained nothing, however, by buying it for them- selves. The good to the public is obtained, but—to put it flippantly—where does the author come in? This way, for there is no especial disinterested- ness about the medical author. Public recog- nition by his fellows as the author of a valuable work is a reward that may at any time prove as substantial to his pocket as it is grateful to his self-esteem. Upon such recognition follow appointments, upon appointments pupils, upon these lectureships, upon lectureships practices, and upon these legitimate notoriety, with its substantial results. This, of course, is the rosy future for the author of the medical book published upon com- mission. That it actually occurs often is not suggested, but some part of the programme is carried out in a fair proportion of eases. Com- paratively speaking, this sort of success is as often met with among medical authors, as is a large pecuniary success among the producers of fiction upon commission. In taking as an imaginary case a work by Koch, it may be said that here the author had previously obtained the very things which it is suggested are the medical author's sole reward. This is so. That case was selected merely to point out the unsalc- ability of medical books. If a work by a great man on a subject of world-wide urgency cannot pay its way, how can pecuniary profits be expected for the more specialistic work of a less known man? That is the question it was desired to raise. It is true there is no substantial reward to come to the von- great physician who writes a purely medical book. He is one of the authors who ha.s to take out his reward in fame. In this Society we have always insisted that literary property ought. to receive some tangible recognition, but there are cases when in the natural course of events this is not forthcoming. And this is so here. Let it l>e remembered, however, that in no very far-fetched way, the successful and distinguished physician cam be supposed to have been prepaid for his work. His practice and his appointments have made it possible for him to acquire the necessary information, and he owes it to his world-wide reputation that he should make his discoveries public. In speaking of "advertisement" it must he understood that no reproach is intended by the word. Such a medical book as we have referred to is only intended to justify its author's position, or enchance his reputation among his fellows. It is not an appeal to the public to come to him and be healed, and the Royal College of Physicians can be trusted to see that no one whose conduct seemed to be o[>en to this interpretation, attains to a position of professional authority, whatever may be his public repute. There are those who have chosen to rely upon public opinion only, and to these—still without reproach—the word advertisement applies in its full sense. THE ABT OF FICTION AND THE AUTHORS OF ANTIQUITY. THE majority of mankind have resolved to believe that there is no such thing as an "art of romance," and the novelist, in the opinion of the greater part of his fellow creatures, is merely a man who, being too idle, or, more likely, too great a fool to do anything else, wastes his time—probablv worth nothing—and pens, ink, and paper—which cost something—in writing at random "anything that comes into his head." Human lieings are slow to correct received opinions, and probably society must be left to enjoy this error, amongst, a great many others, for a very long time to come. Meanwhile the "scribbler" of "trashy novels," whilst turning over the pages of his masters, the great authors of all ages, observes with delight that the writers of antiquity were well acquainted with all the canons of his art. The classical authors were themselves guided by these same canons in the composition of their immortal works; their writings abound with allusions to them; and in works upon authorship, of a purely didactic kind, they expound these fundamental rules of construc- tion with all their familiar force and precision. Indeed, it would be easy to compile from Aristotle's Poetics and Horace's Epistle to the Pisones, a code of maxims comprehending almost all that the beginner in fiction has to learn, and a great  ## p. 241 (#645) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. deal more than writers long engaged upon this difficult art are always happy enough to be able to remember. Aspirants after literary or dramatic fame will scarcely find anywhere manuals of equal value for their guidance; and whilst consulting them may assure themselves that they are in the very best company. Anyone who pleases may convince himself that Fielding had been reading Aristotle's Poetics when he wrote the second chapter of the third book of Joseph Andrews, his first novel. But, to offer some evidence of an assertion that will certainly seem startling to a good many people. In the first place the authors of antiquity were fully convinced that the composition of any kind of "history "* was an art that could be taught, and ought to be learned. It seems odd that anyone can be found to dispute the fact, one who knew, and whom everyone knows, having written, pretty nearly two thousand years ago, Kgo nec stadium sine divite vena Nec rude quid possit video ingenium; altering sic Altera poscit opem res, et conjuntt amiee.f But what is talent and what is art, the majority do not concern themselves to discover, and, in consequence, starting from some vague misappre- hension of both, they easily arrive at all sorts of absurd conclusions. Lucian, however, in his interesting work "How History should be written" (chap. 33), deals with this very point at some length, and what he says is in substance this:— "The author should have these two principal tilings to start with, intelligence and descriptive power. The former is a thing that cannot be taught, a natural gift; but the power of description must be acquired by much exercise, and by continuous labour, and by emulation of the ancients. The former, then, is not a matter of art, and here there is no need of 'advice from me. For this little book of mine does not profess to make people clever and quick who are not so by nature. It would be a valuable book, or rather the most valuable of all books, if it could effect transmutations and transfor- mations of that sort But where then is the use of art and advice? Not to create abilities where they already exist, but to show the right way to use them So, pray, let no one look askance at me if I profess to have discovered an art in so great and difficult a matter. For I do not say that I can make an author of anyone you please; but that I can show a man, who is naturally intelligent, and who is well versed in literature, certain right ways by which he may more rapidly and more easily attain to a certain success." * Novels are histories. "We have properly enough entitled this our work a history." Fielding. "Tom Jones," book 2, chap. 1., and passim throughout the same work. t Horace. Ars poetica, 409. Now the distinction between ability and artistic power could hardly be better explained than in this passage. Again, in the forty-eighth chapter of the same work, Lucian insists upon the importance of working from a scenario, a matter about which even a great many authors are sceptical. Here is what W says:— "When the author has gathered all together, or the greater part, first of all he should weave a sort of memorandum, ami make a kind of corpus, without any adornments, or any joining together of the various parts. Afterwards, when he hits further introduced arrangement, he should add ornament, and then set forth his book, with art, and reflection, and finished style." But we may turn to a writer greater than Lucian. Aristotle's work on poetics brims with suggestions of the highest value. The only difficulty is to select one or two passages amidst so great an embarras des richesses. Aristotle addresses himself more particularly to the tragic dramatist and the epic poet; but as both of these must have a story, what he has to say about the " mythos " is equally useful to the novelist. And it is worth while to notice— considering some opinions that have been expressed in late years—that Aristotle sets the highest value upon the story. "The story," he says, "is the beginning, and, so to say, the soul of the tragedy."* Whilst in the twenty-fourth chapter of his work, he observes, "narrative art is above the others." This is the sort of remark that brings the heart of the " trashy novelist " into his mouth. But to return to the story. A story, Aristotle declares, should be "a whole and perfect action, having a certain length."! Next he explains what he means by "a whole "—something that has a beginning, and a middle, and an end. The beginning is that which does not of necessity result from something else. But after it something else naturally follows. The middle is that which both succeeds in consequence of something and leads to something else. And the end is that which naturally follows, "either of necessity or in all probability," but after which nothing further neces- sarily ensues. Therefore "those who would put stories together well, must neither begin acci- dentally anywhere nor end accidently anywhere." Aristotle is always brief to obscurity, but every writer who has discovered with Jean Paul Richter that, "es gibt in der ganzen entdeckten Welt keine verdammtere Arbeit als einen ersten Secktor zu schreiben," will feel that the Stagyrite is a friend in need in having, at any rate, something to say about where the story ought to begin. * Aristotle, Poetica. Chapter 5. t Aristotle, Poetica. Chapter 7.  ## p. 242 (#646) ############################################ 242 THE AUTHOR. Respecting length, Aristotle's rule is that the story should he of such a length that the whole may be conveniently carried in the memory. He considers that " taking into consideration the nature of the action related in the story, the longer tale, provided it be connectedly clear from end to end, will be the better. So that we may sav, giving a simple rule, that a sufficient length is that which affords room for the successive incidents which effect in some necessary or probable manner the change of the fortunes of the diameters from happy to sad or sad to happy."* And these great writers were practical. It is at this very point that Aristotle pauses to add that in the question of length the habits and requirements of the public must not lie overlooked. Aristotle must not detain us longer, for to leave Horace unquoted would not be pardonable. At the same time to adduce passages from the familiar "De arte pnetica" is almost an impertinence. Some interesting lines occur, however, in the second epistle of the second book, respecting the great art of " cutting " :— At qui legitimum cupiet fecisse poema, Cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honest!; Audebit, quscumque parum splendoris habebunt Kt sine ponders enint et honors indigna fercntur, Verba movere loco, quamvis invita reccdant Et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vesta:; The novelist cannot exist who does not feel the force of the last two lines. How often the very passage that lias to be cut out, the incident, the morsel of word painting, the author's philosophic reflection is emphatically something "most un- willing to quit its place." How often it is some- thing that has dwelt by the hearth-fire of the author's thought, and has haunted his imagination from the day when he commenced his tale. But, "sed nunc non erat his locus," and the favourite passage must go. Which suggests another of Aristotle's maxims, "Whatsoever, whether introduced or not, makes no difference in the storv, is no part of the storv." Such are a few passages only out of works abounding with suggestive remarks of the greatest value. Anyone who will open them may find for himself paragraphs that will appear to him more helpful than the half-a-dozen brief extracts here offered. But these liave been selected as an evidence that the construction of a story was regarded as an art by the great writers of antiquity, and one whose principles they did not think unworthy of their serious attention. H. C. * Aristotle, l'oetica, Chapter 7. ♦<*•-* THE INDEPENDENT THEATRE. ONE of the most interesting examples of the intellectual activity of our time is the revived interest among the public in the present con- dition of the English Drama. An enthusiastic num- ber of gentlemen, following the example of Berlin and Paris, have lately banded themselves together, under the title of the Independent Theatres Society—a society whose motives have been much canvassed. If, from the point of view of subscrip- tions, there is much to be desired, they have a hard fighter in Mr. George Moore and an enthusiastic helmsman in Mr. G. T. Grein, to guide their ship through the waves of criticism. Among the many changes which they are anxious to bring about is the introduction, on the English stage, of the Literarv Drama. It is not the place here to dis- cuss the vexed question of actor and author and stage manager—the fitness of "ghosts" for public representation or the evils of the "star" system prevailing in England and America, and the supe- riority of the French conventions of the Comedie Francaise. Suffice it to say, that the Independent Theatre Society hold strong views on all these subjects. I shall confine myself to the Literary Drama, the possibilities of which Mr. H. D. Traill, in the December number of the New Review, has so skilfully criticised. The Inde- pendents have been abused and misrepresented, as founders of all new movements have been in the world's history. All the penalties of success promise to be theirs, and if they take themselves a little too seriously, it is a fault on the right side. They are accused, among other things, of trying to crush healthy English Drama by introducing Norwegian and French varieties. It should be remembered, however, that it was owing to the efforts of Mr. J. T. Grein that the "Profligate" and the " Middleman" were performed in Holland and Germany with great success. If I understand them aright, they are only anxious to expel provin- cialism from the stage, whether in Germany, England, or Holland, or any country. Their admirable performance of "Therese Baquin" is, perhaps, the best answer to their critics. In England, though there are many capable dramatists, many capable actors, and very comfortable theatres, and a public of moderate intelligence, there is, practically, no such thing as a " Literary Drama." There are hundreds of plays we are always glad to see, but, with the exception of Mr. Pinero's and Mr. Gilbert's, not many that we care to read. The poetical drama is dead, Mr. George Moore admits. Save a few instances, as the "White Pilgrim" of Mr. Hermann Merivale, and a few others, the modern poetical drama is a very gloomy affair. So that witnessing n modern play, we are unable to  ## p. 243 (#647) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 243 experience that pleasure which Shakes])eare or Moliere on the stage give to some people. We may be thrilled by dramatic situation, psychological analysis, tine acting, stage management (whether of the author or actor kind) but we do not feel the intellectual excitement that literature alone can give. In French or Norwegian plays, we do ex- perience this feeling, even when the dramas are not- poetical; so let us make the experiment in England. That is all the Independent Theatre ask. Surely it is not a very terrible request. They may be asking the impossible—asking too much of the drama—or, at any rate, of the English Drama. Perhaps they are. Mr. Traill is certainly of that opinion. It may be as absurd as asking art critics to tell us what they mean, or architects to build us houses that we can live in. Monstrous requests that no one in his senses would think of making. Still, it is an interesting experiment. And, after all, it is the duty of art to be unable to answer silly questions. However delightful it may be to witness the plays of Mr. Henry Arthur Jones and Mr. Pinero at our leading London houses, there are moments when at a second-rate theatre I am fain to believe that the only legitimate English Drama is the Drury Lane Pantomime, as interpreted by those incompar- able artists, Mr. Herbert Campbell and Mr. Harry Nicholls. To inquire for a moment into the objection to a Literary Drama. Mr. H. D. Traill does not meet the pioneers of the new drama with the stale old phrase of "Shakespeare is good enough for me," used by persons so thoroughly convinced of the merits of "Hamlet" as a play, that they would have dramatists imitating all Shakespeare's faults, even if they cannot approach him in merit. Mr. Traill points out how very few of Shakespeare's plays have survived the stage, and how when he is dramatic (very seldom, Mr. Traill thinks) he is never literary— in short, that as plays for the present requirements of the stage they are failures, because of their literary quality. This opinion the of one whose sympathies would lean rather towards literary excellence than dramatic achievement. And he continues, after exploding the hopes of returning to the conventions of Elizabethan and Greek dramas (owing to the altered conditions of the stage), to- show that "The School for Scandal" and "She stoops to conquer" are not played because they possess the imperishable quality of literary excellence, it is for the story, the situation, and the opportunity for the actors. And Mr. Tree, who has had'practical experience from the dramatic side, as Mr. Traill from the literary side, in his lecture to the Playgoers' Club, endorses every word. "The first duty of a player is that he should be actable, in fact, dramatic," said Mr. Tree, and again "by all means let the drama be literary, but first let it be dramatic. The drama has a literature of its own." Mr. Tree might have adopted Mr. Whistler's immortal principle, "That art is art. Mathematics are mathematics," by saying "Drama is drama and literature is literature." Mr. Tree's inimitable acting,and Messrs. Stevenson and Henley's brilliant dialogue did not make "Beau Austin " a good acting play, any more than his more wonderful impersonation of the " Village Priest," or Mr. Sydney Grundv's splendidly written adaptation make that drama anything but a silly caricature of a Sacrament in the Catholic Church. Yet the "Village Priest" was dramatic, "Beau Austin" was not. Both had the literary quality, and failed in spite of it, the other succeeded in spite of the violation of fuct and probability. So there is in reality as much reason on the side of Mr. Tree as there is rhyme on the side of the advocates of literary or poetic drama. There is only one unfair criticism of the Independents, and Hamlet's unfortunate remark about the mirror and nature cannot fairly be quoted against them, but rather for them. It may or may not be right to put the Whitcchapel murders on the stage, or to dramatize divorce proceedings, but to say "How unnatural!" is ridiculous. If the mirror is advocated, we must not blame it for reflecting unpleasant images. If Mr. Tree brings us nearer to the angels, the Independents can humble us by reminding us what we once were. Mr. Mathew Arnold rather contemplates the more ardent reformers when he said our drama was the most contemptible in Europe ; but that is hardly true at the present moment, and the future must be exciting even if is not literary; whether we are content with the Shakespearean past and the Pineroan present, as Mr. Tree bids us be, or go to Norway for subject, and to France for a convention with the Independent Theatre, or remain interested spectators of the scene with Mr. H. D. Traill in the pages of the New Review. L. F. ■ ♦•»■♦ ■ LITERARY RIGHTS. I. "\\J E have living minds who have done their WW duty to their own age and posterity. Such men complain not of the age, but of an anomalous injustice in the laws. They com- plain that authors are deprived of a perpetual property in the produce of their own labours, when all other persons enjoy it as an indefeasible and acknowledged right; and they ask, upon what principle, with what equity, or under what pre- tence of public good, they are subjected to this injurious enactments? Is it because their labour is so light, the endowments which are required for it  ## p. 244 (#648) ############################################ 244 THE AUTHOR. so common, the attainments so cheaply and easily acquired, and the present remuneration in all cases so adequate, so ample, and so certain? The Act is so curiously injurious in its operation that it bears with most hardship upon the best works. For l>ooks of great immediate popularity have their run, and come to a dead stop; the hardship is upon those which win their way slowly and difficultly, but keep the field at last. In such cases, when the copyright, as by the existing law departs from the author's family at his death, or at the end of 28 years from the first publication of every work (if he dies before the expiration of that term), his representatives are deprived of their property just as it would begin to prove a valuable inheritance. The last descendants of Milton died in poverty. The descendants of Shakspeare are living in poverty, and in the lowest condition of life. Is this just to these individuals? Is it grateful to the memory of those who are the pride and boast of their country? Is it honourable or becoming to us, as a nation, holding the name of Shaks[>eare and Milton in veneration? To have placed the descendants of Shakspeare and Milton in respect- ability and comfort, simple justice was all that was required; only that they should have possessed the perpetual copyright of their ancestor's works— only that they should not have been deprived of their proper inheritance. Believing, as I do, that if society continues to improve, no injustice will long be permitted to continue after it has been fairly exposed, and is clearly apprehended, I cannot but believe that a time must come, when the rights of literature will be acknowledged, and its wrongs redressed; and that those authors hereafter who shall deserve well of posterity, will have no cause to reproach themselves for having sacrificed the interests of their children when they disregarded the pursuit of fortune for themselves." SOUTHEY. If. "Fortune has rarely condescended to be the companion of genius; the dunce finds a hundred roads to her palace; there is but one open, and that a very indifferent one, for men of letters. Why should we not erect an asylum for venerable genius, as we do for the brave and helpless part of our citizens? When even fame will not protect the man of genius from famine, charity ought. Nor should such an act l>e considered as a debt incurred by the helpless member, but a tribute we pay to genius. Even in these enlightened times such have lived in obscurity, while their reputation was widely spread; and have perished in poverty, while their works were enriching the booksellers." D'Israeli. No artist recognises any standard of lxjauty, but that which is suggested by his own temperament. The artist seeks to realise in a certain material his immaterial idea of beauty, and thus to transform an idea with an ideal. This is the way an artist makes things. That is why an artist makes things. The artist has no other object in making things. Oscar Wh.de. (From a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette.) ■—■ — DEATH AND THE LIFEBOAT. From the German ofRvv. Otterlich. I stood without a ruined nave, Whose mossed and ivied luxury Was fed from many a circling grave: Below me lay a still dull sea. Then brightly grey the midnight grew; I felt a Spirit pass me by; Upon my cheek the breath he drew Fell ill a chill and lingering sigh. And straight the ivy overhead Dropped withering on the withering turf; And angrily the sea of lead Curled up to break in milky surf. For Death stood by the shattered fane, Stood on his thick-sewn ground—a King; His robes a shroud, his gems the train Of death-worms on it slumbering. What sound fulls on my shuddering ear? A suppliant shot from off the deep; Death laughs: his worms awake and rear A hissing crest and o'er him creep. Death turned, and with a jaunty trip Passed through the shrinking grass, to reach The sea, where on a mastless ship Plunged headlong towards the sucking beach. He came to the wave-smitten shore: Hearts brave for rescue were afloat: Is there not room for one heart more? Death stepped into the bobbing boat. I screamed. He heard and smiled reply Then touched the tiller with his hand; And lo! there lay before my eye A waste of waves, a strip of sand.  ## p. 245 (#649) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 245 CORRESPONDENCE. I. Reading Unions. WHILE reading in the last issue of the Author a paragraph on Reading Guilds, it occurred to me that a programme of a Heading Circle which we started a year or two ago might prove of interest. Rules. I. That the Society shall be called the " Sesame Reading Circle." II. That its aim shall be to promote, by the method of association, careful and thoughtful read- ing, and the study of good literature; to approach the subject under consideration in an inquiring spirit, and to avoid, as far as possible, all dogmatic opinions and personal expressions. III. The Circle shall consist of i3 members, one of whom shall be chosen as secretary. The execu- tive committee shall consist of three members, of which the secretary shall he one. IV. At the general meeting of the Circle the books to be studied during the next reading term sliall be chosen. To each member shall be allotted a work which he shall study, and upon which he shall write an essay during the first two months. The essays shall then be handed to the secretary, who will redistribute them. Each memher shall then read the book corresponding to the essay he has received, and appending a statement that he has perused both book and paper, he shall proceed to criticise the subject and add his comments thereon. A similar course shall be adopted at the end of each successive period of six weeks. Each period shall be understood to expire on the 14th, or the last day of the month, as the case may be. V. Each essay shall be retained by the writer of it, together with the critiques, at the end of the reading term. It shall be accessible to anv of the members. VI. If a member fail to read the allotted works on two occasions during the reading term without giving adequate reasons, he forfeits membership, and his place shall be filled by a new member chosen by the committee. VII. A business meeting shall be held at the end of the term. X. II. The Generosity of the Religious Society. In the December number of the Author there was a paragraph on the generosity of a religious society, and in the October number another on the honourable conduct of a religious society. By mistake the two paragraphs were supposed to refer to the same author. They were different authors. It is the same melancholy story, however, with both. The publishing company, under the guise of religion, buys up work for ten, twenty, thirty pounds, out of which it means to make hundreds, and knows that it will make hundreds. III. The Authobs' Club. I read the announcement of the projected "Authors' Club" with the warmest satisfaction. As is stated in the Author, the Athenteum is the only literary club pure and simple—though, perhaps, the word " simple" is scarcely the correct descrip- tion of that august institution—admittance to which by the ordinary literary man is as difficult as admit- tance to the Marlborough. In the November number of the Century are an article and illustra- tions describing the new Players' Club of New York, founded by Edwin Booth. We can scarcely hope to vie with the magnificence of this club, but I think we should endeavour to emulate its solid comfort. In addition to the usual dining, drawing, and smoking rooms there should be a cosy library in which the literary man from the country may find a corner—like those in the National Liberal— where he can, undisturbed, write his copy and correct his proofs. For the best of all reasons the tariff must not be an expensive one; and I would suggest, with all deference, that the country subscription should not be more than two guineas. If pictures are wanted for the walls, and they should be wanted, I am convinced that they would be readily offered either as loans or gifts, portraits of living and departed authors, scenes from their lives or works, would be forthcoming from many literary men who for years have l>een longing for some central spot in the great city in which they could feel "at home." If well-known men would, from time to time, recount their experiences or read papers on their calling so much the better. What is wanted is a comfortable, artistically arranged club, where the London author can meet and welcome his fellow laliourer from the country, and strengthen that union of hearts and brains which has too long been neglected by the profession which needs it more than any other.  ## p. 246 (#650) ############################################ 246 THE AUTHOR. In conclusion, may I express a hope that all the shares—it is, I believe, intended to make it a joint stock affair—will be held by literary men. If a man holds only one share of £1, £2, or £5, as the case may be, he must necessarily feel a personal interest in the venture, and it is this personal interest which will tend to make the club the success we all heartily wish it. c. o. IV. 'A member of the Society signing himself "Iota- Subseript" asks a question as to publishers' liabilities under certain cases. Will he Ik; kind enough to send his name? It is manifestly impossible to answer anonymous questions. V. The Bookman on Royalties. Sib, If words have any meaning, the Editor of the Bookman did, on his own showing, accept a very important statement that a royalty of a penny in the shilling yields as much to the author as to the publisher. There is not a word of correction or of contradiction. The note which he quoted does endorse the statement, because it does not contradict it. Your obedient servant, A Constant Reader. [Other communications have been received from readers, all to the same effect, and none contrary to this.—Editor.] VI. The Editor of the Bookman (Dr. Robertson Nicoll) sends the following communication. It does not touch the real point at issue, which was that he printed, without a word of correction or contradiction, the statement that a royalty of one penny in the shilling gives the author as much as it gives the publisher, and is a fair royalty. To the Editor of the Author. Sir,— A very few words will suffice in answer to your notes on my letter. 1. As you have printed my own words, I confi- dently leave it to your readers to decide whether I "advocated on a six-shilling book a profit of £75 to the author, and to the publisher of £3o5," or whether the statement was not as I styled it, and style it again, as gross a misrepresentation as can possibly be imagined. 2. We are all much indebted to you for formu- lating a system of publishing on royalties easily understood and remembered. It is stated in two propositions :— (1.) "Whether the book is a shilling lxx>k or a six-shilling book, the proportion is the same." That is, upon all books, irre- spective of their price and size, the same percentage should l>e paid as royalty. (2.) "Why should well-known writers receive more than beginners on a royalty?" That is, all writers, known or unknown, should receive the same percentage as royalty. (3.) The only point remaining to be settled is, what should be the percentage? Ob- viously, the highest royalty any writer is receiving. It remains therefore, to find out that, and the whole business of publishing is simpler than A.B.C. Whenever I receive the name and address of any publisher who conducts his business on these principles, or of any person willing to invest a shilling in any business so conducted, I am ready to discuss the matter. Of the extraordinary statement that thirty or so (!) is the average number of press copies, I say nothing. 3. I did not ask you who wrote the article on the Bookman. I asked by what right the author of the article used the words "As a society of lwokmen and bookwomen, we," <fcc. The answer is, By no right. No one has the slightest authority to pose as the spokesman of our society. More especially should such action be avoided when it is remembered that we do not elect our own com- mittee, that no opportunity is given us for private conference, and that our opinions are notoriously divergent on many points. By throwing the Author open for free discussion, some good might be done. I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, The Editor of the Bookman. Here are two or three simple notes :— 1. A royalty of a penny in the shilling applied to a six-shilling book does produce the astonishing result quoted in my notes. He who maintains that to be a fair royalty does advocate this astonishing result. 2. The proportion of a penny in the shilling is certainly the same applied to any lxx>k at any price. How can it be otherwise? 3. I certainly cannot understand why there should be one royalty for the widely popular and another for the less popular. I exclude the  ## p. 247 (#651) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 347 question of risk, because the publishers seldom take any risk. If of two books at the same price one sells ten thousand and the other two thousand, both authors should be paid in proportion to their circulation. 4. What percentage should be paid? Not neces- sarily what the highest-paid author receives, because an author may for special reasons receive special terms, but that percentage which may be adopted as just and fair both for author and publisher, fully recognizing the services of the latter and the rights of the former. No greater service can be rendered to literature than to further the adoption of such a plan. We hare paved the way for it by learning and publishing what has hitherto been concealed— viz., the cost of production and the profits of pub- lishers on the various systems of publication now current. 5. The number of press copies is about " thirty, or so." We do not, at this office, s]>eak of pub- lishers' methods as they might be, or as we imagine them to be, but as they are. "About thirty, or so," is a fair statement of the general practice in sending out books of serious literature—jicrhaps in little story books a greater liberality may be found worth while. For instance, there are nine London dailies; about a dozen weeklies, and about a dozen great provincial papers exhaust the list. People may send as many copies as they please, but it is the usual practice of the trade not to waste good lwoks on papers which have no weight. 6. No one has ever in the Author jwsed as the spokesman of the Society. But the writer of the notice which has so greatly exercised the editor of the Bookman is surely not pretending to be the spokesman of the Society when he used the simple and harmless words, " Asa Society of bookmen, and l>ookwomen, we would earnestly invite our new friend to consider that literature has many sides, that there are many readers, and many books and standards, and many ideals of excellence and of style." The " direct question " of the last number referred to notes signed by the writer. 7. What kind of " private conference " does the editor of the Bookman desire? He has made no proposal for any conference of members. Such a conference might be extremely interesting, and most useful, provided the meeting was conducted in the spirit of mutual courtesy and friendliness. 8. I, as the editor of the Author, have always thought the columns open for discussion. There is correspondence every month. Does not the inser- tions of Dr. NicolFs letters prove that the paper is o[X'n to discussion? But no more correspondence on this subject can be inserted. Walter Besant. "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD." MR. George Meredith's new volume of verso is called "Modern Love: a Reprint, to- gether with the Sage Enamoured ami the Honest Lady." Macmillau & Co. are the English publishers. Mr. Lecky's "History of England" is to be issued in a cheaper edition in monthly volumes (Longmans), twelve in number. Some of Mr. Andrew Lang's books are to be re-issued in a half-crown form. It is a great pity that the many admirers of this writer can only procure complete editions of his works by painfully toiling through publishers' lists. No writer of the day, unless it is Thomas Hardy, is so scattered. There is a library somewhere in a garden; the casement windows stand wide open; outside there are flowers of the old fashioned kinds,—gilliflowers, sweet william, ragged robin, bachelors' buttons, stocks, pinks, mignonette—each blooming in her season; the rose spray Haps in at the window; there are Japanese vases; the room is lined with books; the table is covered with books; there is no litter of books such as one finds in a place when a student is searching and investigating; in this library the lwoks are arranged neatly and in order; many of them are old and shabby, but not for that reason held in lesser honour. It is a silent library; the silence is like that which one feels in an ancient almshouse beside a busy road; outside, in the road, is the sound of hoofs and wheels; within is peace. In this library there is silence; outside, the bees hum and the birds sing, the branches rustle, the scythe mows down the grass; but their noise is best heard within. "My library," says the happy owner of this place, " is the identical library in which Christian Mentzelius was at work when he heard the male bookworm flap his wings and crow like a cock in calling to his mate. Come with me round the room. Let me show you some of my books. Nothing that a book lover likes so much as to show and talk about, as his books. Oh! I am no buyer of scarce books because they are scarce. Mine are here for read- ing. I will read bits of them to you if you like to sit an hour with me. Here are the works of George Wither. Do you know that poet? Here is Gerard's 'Herbal.' Do you know Lady Win- chelsea? Do you know Amasia? Do you know Christopher Smart? Sit down, my friend, and listen. The air that steals through the case- ment this hot afternoon is fragrant; that chair invites you to rest. So you shall listen and I will talk." Fortunately, the talk has been taken down.  ## p. 248 (#652) ############################################ 248 THE AUTHOR. and everybody can hear it, because it is on Mr. Heinemann's list, and he generously allows anyone to become the possessor of "Gossip in a Library" ■who pays the toll and uses the name of the author, Mr. Edmund Gosse, in such a way as to show that he can be trusted with the book, and that he has a feeling for a Library. In a more civilised world we shall liave to pass examinations before we are allowed to possess books of this kind or of that. Not only will ignorant persons have to surrender treasures of classical learning or of science, but literature itself will have its stages, and every man shall belong each to his own level, and shall have the books corresponding to his degree, but with the power of passing the examination for a higher degree. Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson and Mr. Rider Haggard will contribute the serials for the Illus- trated London News of 1892. There will also lie occasional short stories. The literary department of the paper shows a considerable increase in activity under the editorship of Mr. Clement Shorter. Mr. James Sully has nearly ready a new work on Psychology. It is said to aim at meeting the special wants of those who desire a more complete presentment of the results of the recent ramii'orm developments of the science than was possible in his earlier and more elementary work on the subject. The new treatise will be in two volumes, and will be published in January. Mr. "William Black has made arrangements with Sampson Low and Co. for an entirely new edition of his novels in twenty-five monthly volumes. The novels will be carefully revised by Mr. Black. The first to appear will be " A Daughter of Heth." A sister of Mr. Rudyard Kipling has joined the band of story tellers. May her brother's fortune and his genius be hers as well! The " Whitefriars Library of Wit and Humour" seems to attract good writers. With the names of Messrs. Andrew Lang, Arthur a Becket, Barry Pain, Justin McCarthy, and Walter Pollock already on the title page or promised, then; should be hardly any stronger series in the market. The lwok of the month is Austin Dobson's "Hogarth," a book as beautifully written as we have a right to expect of Mr. Dobson, and as beautifully got up and illustrated as the subject demands. Mrs. Cashel Hoey, the best translator living, has finished her version of Robida's "Centuries of Toilette" (Sampson Low and Co.). It is a book which all ladies who wish to understand anything more about dress than the fashion plate of the day- must certainly possess. Sir Edwin Arnold seems to have fairly " caught" the American public, if not the English as well, by his "Japonica" (London: Osgood and Mell- vaine). This is what the New York Critic savs of it:— "It is hard to decide between penman and draughtsman in praising this dainty work of art. Never before have we seen so happy a marriage of pen and brush. Of the author of 'The Light of Asia' we know, and know favourably, as an inter- preter of Japanese aesthetics; but, fascinating as are his word-pictures, we must award equal praise to the artist who has brought Japan before our eyes bv his wonderfully accurate and deeply svnqia- thetic drawings. With only ink, and no colours such as flush the sky and ocean, and all surfaces in Japan, or deepen in nook and shadow, Mr. Robert Blum has achieved wonders. As a lady may be handsome, and enthrall a man's heart bv her expression, even though her face lack colour, so Mr. Blum's pictures have the rich charm of repro- ducing Japan's witchery of form and grace. Sir Edwin is in his happiest vein and humour while discoursing of the country, the jwople, their ways, and their thoughts. To him Japan is the Land i>f Great Peace, gentle manners, pleasing thoughts, fair morals, and exquisite conceits. He seems a veritable child in exuberance of enjoyment, and has reached that land, so rarely entered by the middle aged, which is behind the looking-glass. A fascinating freak of geography and ethnology is this country to him, and no less fascinatingly freakish are its people. After hearing what all the literary, scientific, theological, and other critics say of them, this English knight of the pen is still the lover. 'My own opinion is,' he declares with that solid assurance which belongs to the lover who imagines his vision to be crystal, clear, and scienti- fically achromatic, 'that the central characteristic of the Japanese is self-respect, and that their patience, their fearlessness, their quietism, their resignation, and a large proportion of their other virtues, have root in this deep and universal quality.'" There are notable papers in the new volume of the " Dictionary of Biography," especially Dr. Gur- nett on Edward Irving, Mr. T. R. Gardiner on James I., Mr. Leslie Stephen on Lord Jeffrey, the Rev. William Hunt on King John, and Mr. Regi- nald Lane Poole on John of Salisbury.  ## p. 249 (#653) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 249 Just before his death, says the New York Critic, James Parton expressed his views on the earnings of authors in the following words: "An indus- trious writer, by a legitimate exercise of his calling, that is, never writing advertisements or trash for the snke of pay, can just exist, no more. By a compromise, not dishonourable, though exaspe- rating, he can average during the best years $7,000 to §8,000 a year. But no man should enter the literary life unless he has a fortune, or can live contentedly on $2,000 a year. The best way is to make a fortune first and write afterward." Mr. Henry Cresswell has in the press a new novel, in three volumes, entitled " Fairest of Three," which will be published by Messrs. Hurst and Blaekett this month. If this novel prove as clever and entertaining as " The Hermits of Crizebeck," considerable popularity may be foretold for it. "Lester the Loyalist:' is one of the most beautiful books we have seen for a long time. It was printed in Japan, in one of the styles pre- scribed by their etiquette for the printing of poetry. It was manufactured entirely by Japanese. The only difference is that the lines are printed horizontally, as in English, instead of vertically. The letterpress is a poem by Douglas Sladen, author of "Australian Lyrics," "The Spanish Armada," &c. It is called a "Romance on the Founding of Canada," and is in hexameter verse. The publishers are Griffith, Farran, and Co. In " Great Pan Lives" (London: Luzac and Co.) "Clelia" offers a paraphrase of Shakespeare's Sonnets, and proffers an answer to the question, "Who and what is the 'Lovely Boy' of the Sonnets?" The answer takes the form of a genealogy, beginning with "Beauty All," and ending with "Will Shakespeare." It is one more book added to the literature of the Sonnets, and may be left to those who have studied the subject. A "Winter Cruise in Summer Seas," by Charles G. Atchison (Sampson Low and Co.) is a chatty, pleasant book, descriptive of a voyage on board one of the Royal Mail Steam Packets to the Brazils, Buenos Ayres, and other places. Anyone who wants to take a holiday of two months, and does not know where and how to spend his time, will do well to study this book. Those who would like to spend a holiday of two months, but cannot get the leave or the money, would do well to read this book. The " Merchant's Children," by Eleanor Stred- der (T. Nelson and Sons), is a story for the young on life in China. It is a little book to be recommended. Mr. E. A. Reynolds Ball has written the article on Naples in Messrs. CasselPs magnificent fine art publication "The Picturesque Mediterranean," 2 vols., price £4 4*., which has recently been published. The latest addition to the " Adventure Series" is the story of the " Life and Exploits of Theodore Kolokotrones," the Greek hero. Tt is translated from the Greek by Mrs. Edmonds, author of "Greek Lays," &c. The translator has written an introduction and furnished explanatory notes. A preface has been added by M. Gennadius, Greek envoy to our Court. Messrs. Cassell & Co. will bring out in January a collection of Mr. Egerton Castle's shorter stories under the title of " La Bella and others." It is to be hoped that the volume will include "A Para- graph in the Globe," which appeared a few years ago in Remington's Christmas Annual, and was not only one of the best Christmas stories of its year, but one of the best of its kind in English. Our litera- ture is by no means rich in good short stories, though Mr. Louis Stevenson, Mr. Andrew Lang, Mr. Pollock and others have set us such admirable examples, and this one of Mr. Castle's was worthy of Balzac himself in his fantastic vein. Mr. Howells' daughter, Miss Mildred Howells, has entered the field of literature, as a poem in the November St. Nicholas shows. It is entitled "Romance," and conveys some of the fancies of young dreamers. Mr. G. A. Henty has written for the new volume of Young England a serial story of seafaring life in the last century, entitled "In the Grip of the Press Gang." The other serials which will appear in this magazine are "Beneath the Sur- face," by Sarah Tytler, and " The Golden Lion," a romance of Elizabethan days, by Robert Leighton, author of " the Pilots of Pomona."' "Charles Kingsley: the Story of his Life" is the title of an article to be contributed by Mr. Mackenzie Bell to an early number of the new series of the Welcome Hour. "Hypocrites," the serial story by Mr. Hugh Coleman Davidson, which is now appearing in Hearth and Home, will be published early in the new year by Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. It will be illustrated by Rene. Two very interesting papers on Burmese life and manners which have recently appeared in the Globe were written by Mr. Henry Charles Moore. They are chapters from a projwsed work on Burmah.  ## p. 250 (#654) ############################################ 250 THE AUTHOR. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Alexander, Wm., D.D., D.C.L. Verbum Crucis: being Ten Sermons on the Mystery and the Words of the Cross, to which are added some other sermons preached on public occasions. Preachers of the Age Series. Sampson Low. 3s. 6d. Beet, J. A., D.T). The Firm Foundation of the Christian Faith: a Handbook of Christian Evidences, for Sunday School Teachers. Wegleyan Methodist Sunday School Union, Ludgate Circus Buildings, E.C. is. Denney, Rev. James. The Epistles to the Thessalonians. Volume of the Expositor Bible. Hodder and Stough- ton. 7s. 6d. Duff, Archibald, M.A., LL.D. Old Testament Theology; or, the History of Hebrew Religion from the year 800 B.C. to 640 B.C. A. and C. Black. Ellicott, C. J., D.D. Christus Comprobator; or, the Testimony of Christ to the Old Testament. Seven addresses. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Fife, E. G., M.U. Analysis of Theology, Natural and Revealed: an Essay Contrasting the Pretensions of Religion aud Atheism to Scientific Truth. Williams and Norgate. Mabtineau, James. Home Prayers, with two services for public worship. Longmans. 3s. 6d. Maurice, F. D. Sermons preached in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. Vol. III. (of VI.). New edition. Mac- millan. 3s. 6d. Stannard, Rev. J. T. The Divine Humanity, and other Sermons. Edited by the Rev. John Hunter. Maclc- hose, Glasgow. Stanton, V. H., D.I). The Place of Authority in Matters of Religious Belief. Longmans. 6s. Vaughan, C. J., D.D. Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Doucaster. New edition. Mac mil lan. 1 os. 6d. History and Biography. Adams, Henry. Historical Essays. Fisher Unwin. 7J. 6d. — History of the United States of America during the first Administration of James Madison. Volumes 5 and 6. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 9s. each. Broglie, Due de. Memoirs of the Prince de Tallyrand. Edited, with a preface and notes, by the. Translated by Mrs. Angus Hall. Volume IV., with a portrait. Griffith, Farran. Browning, Oscar, M.A. Dante, his Life and Writings, and Goethe, his Life and Writings. Volumes of the Dilettante Library, enlarged from articles in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." Swan Sonnenschein. Clinch, George. Mayfair and Beigravia, being an Historical Account of the Parish of St. George, Han- over Square. With illustrations. True-love aud Shirley. 1 2s. Goulburn, E. M., M.D. John William Burgon, late Dean of Chichester: a Biography, with Extracts from his Letters and Early Journals. Two vols., with portraits. John Murray. 14s. Graham, P. Anderson. Nature in Books: Some Studies in Biography. Methuen and Co. The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages. Drawn from the secret archives of the Vatican and other original sources, from the German of Dr. Ludwig Pastor, Professor of History in the University of Innsbruck. Edited by Frederick Ignatius Antrobus, of the Oratory, with an introduction by Cardinal Manning. Two vols. John Hodges, Agar Street, Charing Cross. 12s. "Jehu Junior." The " Vanity Fair " Album—a Show of Sovereigns, Statesmen, Judges, and Men of the Day, with biographical and critical notices by. Vol. 23. 1S91. Vanity Fair Office, 181, Strand. Lounsbury, T. R. Studies in Chaucer: His Life and Writings. 3 vols. Osgood, M'llvaine. 42s. Palmer, A. H. The Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, painter and etcher. Written and edited by. Illus- trated. Seelcy. Puschman, Dr. Tiieodor. A History of Medical Educa- tion, from the most remote to the most recent times. Translated and edited by Evan H. Hare. H. K. Lewis. Gowcr Street. Selby, Charles. Events to be Remembered in the History of England. 28th edition, with additions. Crosby Lockwood. Stebbing, Wm., M.A. Sir Walter Ralegh: a Biography. With a frontispiece. Clarendon Press. 1 os. 6d. Symes, J. E., M.A. The French Revolution, 1789-1795. With map of France. University Extension Series. Methuen. 2s. 6d. Trebutien, G. S. Journal of Maurice de Guerin. With a Biographical and Literary Memoir by Sainte-Beuve. Translated from the 20th French edition by Jessie P. Frothiugham. Edited by Chatto and Windus. 2*. 6d. Waylen, James. The House of Cromwell and the Story of Dunkirk : a Genealogical History of the Descendants of the Protector, with Anecdotes aud Letters. Illus- trated with engravings, portraits, and plans. Eliot Stock. 1 os. bd. Wicksteed, P. H., M.A. Four lectures on Heiurik Ibsen, dealing chiefly with his Metrical Works. The Dilettante. Library. Swan Sonnenschein. Fiction. Black, William. A Daughter of Heth. New aud revised edition, with portrait and preface by the author. Sampson Low. 2s. 6d. Burnett, F. Hodgson. Children I have known, and Giovanni and the Other. Stories. Osgood, M'llvaine. 6s. Campbell, Sir G. The Romance of the Ruby. Illustrated. Beeton's Christmas Annual; containing also an original musical faroe by R. Andre. Ward, Lock, Bowden. Cardklla, G. A King's Daughter. A Novel. 3 vols. Swan Sonneschein. CoixODi. C. The Story of a Puppet: or, The Adventures of Pinocchio. Translated from the Italian by M. A. Murray. Illustrated. Fisher Unwin. is. 6d.  ## p. 251 (#655) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Conan Doyle, A. A Study in Scarlet. A new edition, with illustrations by George Hutchinson. Ward, Lock, Bowden. 3s. 6d. Ccshino, Paul. Cut with His Own Diamond. A Novel in 3 vols. Blackwood. Dowlino, Richakd. A Baffling Quest. A Novel. 3 vols. Ward and Downey. Eckknstein, Lisa. The Little Princess and the Great Plot. Illustrated by Dudley Heath. And Tales from the Mabinogion. Kdited by Meta E. Williams. Vo- lumes of the Children's Library. Fisher Unwin. 2s. 6d. each. Fonblanque, Albany de. Jcdwood Justice. A Novel. 3 vols. Bentley. Francillon, R. E. Gods and Heroes: or, the Kingdom of Jupiter. Illustrated. Blackwood. Gray, Annabel. Through Rifted Clouds. A Novel in a vols. Eden, Remington. Green, F. G. Dean's Fairy Book. A Companion to the Doyle Fairy Book. With illustrations. Edited by. Dean, Fleet Street. Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. 3 vols. Osgood, M'llvainc. 3is. 6d. Hocking, Silas K. For Light and Liberty. With original illustrations. F. Wanie. is. 6d. Humphreys, Jennett. Some Little Britons in Brittany: a Seaside Story. Sampson Low. 2S. 6d. Hutchinson, Horace G. Mr. Batter's Pedigree: or, Experiences of a Tenderfoot. Illustrated by George Hutchinson. Whitefriars Library. Henry. 3s. 6d. Hutchinson, Rev. H. N. The Story of the Hills: a Popular Account of Mountains and how they were made. Seeley. Jones, C. A. A Modern Red Riding Hood. Frederick Warne. 3s. 6d. Kennedy, Patrick. Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts. Collected and narrated by. Macmillan. 3s. 6d. Larder, Alfred. A Sinner's Sentence. 3 vols. Chatto and Windus. Lawrence, Boyle, and Cadett, Herbert. Fin-de- Siecle Stories. Biggs, Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. Paper covers, is. Leake, A. J. de Courcy. Ad Finem Esto Fidelis, and Scaffold or Ferry. Eden, Remington. Linton, W. J. The F'lower and the Star, and other Stories for Children. Written and illustrated by. Lawrence and Bullen. Lucas, Annie. Love's Victory: a tale of Dursley Mine. Home Words Office, Paternoster Square, is. 6d. Lynch, L. L. A Slender Clue: a Detective Story. Ward, Lock, Bowden. Martius, "I Will Repay." Eden Remington. Peard, Frances M. The Baroness. A Novel, 2 vols. Bentley and Son. The Abbot's Bridge. National Society's Deposi- tory. 3s. 6d. Pinkerton, T. A. A New Saint's Tragedy. A Novel. 2 vols. Swan Sonnenschein. Ritchie, Anne Thackeray. The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy. Newly done into English, with an intro- duction by. Illustrated by Clinton Peters. Lawrence and Bullen. Stacpoole, W. H. The Three Boots. Dean, Fleet Street. Stock, Lady Gertrude. A Wasted Life and MairM. 3 vols. Hurst and Blackctt. Stoker, Bram. The Snake's Pass. New and cheaper edition. Sampson Low. 3s. 6d. Varty-Smith, A. A. Matthew Tindale. A Novel in 3 vols. Bentley. Verney, Lady. Essays and Tales. Simpkin, Marshall. Yorke, Curtis. A Romance of Modem London, a Novel. 3 vols. F. V. White. General Literature. Aitchison, C. C. A Winter Cruise in Summer Seas: a Two Months' Voyage to Buenos Aires and back. Illustrated with photographs and sketches. Sampson Low. Allen, Grant. Falling in Love: with other Essays on more Exact Branches of Science. A new edition. Smith, Elder. Bates, Fanny B. Between the Lights: Thoughts for the Quiet Hours. Arranged by. Third Edition. Burnet, Henrietta Street, Strand. Bell, Ernest, M.A. Handbook of Athletic Sports. Edited by. Vol. IV. Illustrated. George Bell. 3s.6rf. * Bishop, Mrs. Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan: in- cluding a Summer in the Upper Karum Region, and a Visit to the Nestorian Rajahs. 2 vols. With portrait, map, and illustrations. John Murray. 245. Bolton, S. K. Famous Artists. Nelson and Sons. Bonvalot, G. Across Thibet: being a translation of " De Paris au Tonkin a travers le Tibet inconnu." With illustrations from photographs taken by Prince Henry of Orleans, and map of route. Translated by C. B. Pitman. 2 vols. With illustrations. Cassell. 3is. Calmore, Alfred C. Practical Play-writing, and the Cost of Production. With an introduction by W. Davenport Adams. Arrowsmith. is. Christian, John. Behar Proverbs. Classified, arranged, and translated into English, with notes, appendix, and indexes. Kegan Paul. Cook, Charles. The Prisons of the World. With Stories of Crime, Criminals, and Convicts. With an intro- duction by C. H. Spurgeon. Second edition. Morgan and Scott, Paternoster Buildings. 2s. 6d. Corballis, J. H. Forty-five Years of Sport. Edited by Arthur T. Fisher, major, late 21st Hussars. Bentley. Dixon, Edward T. An Essay on Reasoning. Deighton Bell, Cambridge. Eardlet-Wilmot, Capt. S., R.N. The Development of Navies during the. last half century. With illustra- tions. Seeley. Earl, Ethel. Dinners in Miniature. Reprinted from the Queen. Chapman and Hall. zs. 6d.  ## p. 252 (#656) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Elm hirst, Capt. P. (" Brooksby"). Foxhound, Forest, and Prairie. Illustrated, Eoutledge. Gambier-Parry, Major. The Combat with Suffering. John Murray. Paper covers. 3s. 6d. Gkli., Hon. Mrs. Lyttleton. The Cloud of Witness. A daily sequence of great thoughts from many minds, following the Christian seasons. With a prefatory note by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Cloth extra, 3s. 6d.: also an edition on Oxford India paper, cloth guilt, 6s. 6d. London, Henry Frowdc, Oxford Univer- sity Press Warehouse. Goosestep. Splay-feet Splashings in Divers Places. The Leadenhall Press. 3«. 6d. Gosse, Edmund. Gossip in a Library. William Heine- mann. js. 6d. Hamerton, Philip G. The Portfolio: an artistic periodi- cal. Edited by. Seeley. The Present State of the Fine Arts in France. With illustrations. Seeley. Ha/.ell's Annual for 1891—Revised to November 10, 1891. Seventh year of issue. Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Creed Lane, Ludgate Hill. Henderson, W. J. Preludes and Studies: Musical Themes of the day. Longmans. 6*. Hoffman, Prof. Home Gymnastics, for Youug and Old. With illustrations. Routledge. Howells, W. D. Venetian Life. With illustrations from original water colours. In 2 vols. Longmans. 21*. Irving, Washington. The Alhambra. 2 vols. Darro edition. G. P. Putnam's Sons. iSi. Junker, Dr. Wilhelm. 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