https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/272/1895-01-01-The-Author-5-8.pdf cbe508de5139aa134e0b80d0c0bfbf8d PDF Text Text ������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1895-01-01 Volume 5 Issue 8 Pages Page range in volume 201–224 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18950101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin C be El u t b or, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESAN. T. VoI. W.-No. 8.] JANUARY 1, 1895. [PRICE SIXPENCE. For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as eaſoressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. t *- 2a, 2=== EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT, N the recommendation of many members of the Society it has been decided to discontinue the monthly list of new books and new editions. Those, it is urged, who wish for this list may find it day by day in the daily papers, week by week in the Spectator, the Athenæum, and the Publishers’ Circular. Our space, which is limited, will be thus relieved to the extent of three, or four, and even six pages. Two or three other small changes will it is hoped add to the value and the attractiveness of the Author. At the same time, we shall not lose sight of the fact that the chief raison d'être of the paper is the maintenance and defence of literary property from the author's point of view, and that, with this object, the paper will continue to publish cases, law suits, and legal opinions bearing on literary property. The editor begs his readers to communicate any experiences of their own, the publication of which will promote the welfare of literary men and women. It must be remembered that the readiest and surest way to abolish the ills of which we most complain is publicity. EDITOR. HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub- jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. WOL. W. WARNINGS AND ADWICE, I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.—It is not generally understood that the author, as the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting the agreement upon whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out. Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In every form of business, this among others, the right of drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or has the control of the property. 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.–In selling Serial Rights remember that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you object to this, insert a clause to that effect. 3. STAMP You R AGREEMENTs. – Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £1 O must be paid before the agree- ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the 'secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agree- ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at mo ea pense to themselves ea:cept the cost of the stamp. 4. AscERTAIN WEAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To BOTH sides BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi- mess whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. 5. LITERARY AGENTs.-Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as your agent. Remember that you place your property almost un- reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone. 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor- respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad- vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to anyone. 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or responsibility whatever without advice. T 2  ## p. 202 (#216) ############################################ 2O2 THE AUTHOR, Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re- fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.—Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. 13. ADVERTISEMENTS. —-Keep some control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in the agreement. I4. 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. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :- 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN's INN FIELDs. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY, I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Com- mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher's agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Senºl to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. *- = 2=º THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE, EMBERS are informed : I. That the Authors' Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi- cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the expenses of the Authors' Syndicate are defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. Notice is, however, hereby given that in all cases where there is no current account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and porterage. 3. That the Authors' Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia- tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all communications relating thereto are referred to it. 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre- spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 7. That the Authors' Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has a “Transfer Department" for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register of Wants and Wanted ” has been opened. Members anxious to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com- municate with the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write P Communications for the Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate  ## p. 203 (#217) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2O3 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 under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest P Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into literary bondage for three or five years P Those who possess the “Cost of Production " are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer's, or a binder's, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. *-* -º LITERARY PROPERTY, I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT. HE sudden death of Sir John Thompson has probably put off the consideration of the Canadian claims for a time. A memorial on the subject will be drawn up by the committee after the Christmas and New Year Vacation. Meantime, the following is a resumé of the whole Case. It appeared in the Times of Dec. I I, and is here reproduced in full, by special permission, for which we record our best thanks:— “The history of the discussion extends over no less a period than fifty years, beginning with the Imperial Copyright Act of 1842, and the details have been made the subject of so much argument on either side that there is, unfortunately, little room to hope for much modification of opposite opinion. Half a century of contention, carried on chiefly by means of official correspondence that tends to grow more voluminous year by year as the means of com- munication become more rapid, has remained practically barren of result. The Canadian copy- right question, with certain modifications deemed wholly insufficient by the Canadian Government, has remained almost where it was placed in 1842. The incidents which have marked its progress are so few that they can be catalogued in a para- graph ; the arguments to which they have given rise demand some courage for their mastery on the part of the student of colonial history. “Briefly, the principal facts which need to be taken note of in relation to Canadian copyright are as follows: The Imperial Copyright Act of 1842 gives copyright throughout the whole of Her Majesty dominions to any book published in the United Kingdom, whether it be printed or not in the United Kingdom, or whether it be written by a British subject or not. The intention was manifestly to provide that British literature should have free circulation through British territory. As a matter of fact, the conditions of trade in the United Kingdom were such that the editions published under the protection of the Copyright Act were too expensive for the colonial market, and colonial readers, instead of being freely supplied with British books, were almost entirely deprived of them. To remedy this evil an Imperial Act of 1847, known as the Foreign Reprints Act, provided that, so long as the Imperial Government were satisfied that sufficient protection was given to the author's rights in any given colony, the prohibition to permit the entry of cheap foreign reprints enforced by the Act of 1842 might by Order in Council be suspended. Under this Act the Canadian Government imposed a nominal author's royalty of 12% per cent., to be collected at the custom-houses by the Canadian Government and paid to the British Government for the benefit of the author. Foreign reprints were consequently admitted to the advantage of the Canadian reading public and to the manifest disadvantage of the Canadian book trade. “In the meantime the colonies were developing powers of self-government under the system of Parliamentary responsibility which had been con- ceded to Canada in 1841, only one year before the passing of the Imperial Copyright Act. The confederation of the provinces of the Dominion of Canada took place in 1867, and in the British North America Act of that year, by which the  ## p. 204 (#218) ############################################ 2O4. THE AUTHOR. conditions of confederation are determined, copy- right ranks among the subjects over which power was given to the Parliament of Canada to legis- late. But under a previous Act of 1865, known as the Colonial Laws Walidity Act, any colonial law which is any respects repugnant to the provi- sions of any Act of Parliament extending to the colony is read subject to the Act, and remains void “to the extent of such repugnancy.” In so far, therefore, as any Canadian legislation upon copyright conflicts with Imperial legislation extending to the colony it remains void, notwith- standing the provisions of the British North America Act “The results of these two-handed provisions have been those that might have been anticipated. A Canadian Copyright Act of 1875 laid down the conditions of local copyright for Canadian authors, who, as their works are not necessarily published in the United Kingdom, were not pro- tected by the Imperial Act, The Canadian Act was subjected to some wrangle, but was made law by an Insperial Confirming Act. Then followed, in consequence of the discussion upon the Act, the Copyright Commission of 1876. A consolida- tion Bill intended to give effect to the recommen- dations of the Commission did not become law. More negotiations followed, and led in the course of ten years to the Berne Convention and the International Copyright Act of 1886. “The Berne Convention, of which the object was to create an international union for the protec- tion of literary and artistic property, was signed on Sept. 9, 1886. By a protocol attached to the Convention the colonies and foreign possessions of Great Britain were included with the United Kingdom, with power reserved to them to denounce the treaty, in so far as it concerns them, upon giving twelve months’ notice to that effect. Under the International Copyright Act of the same year, which was passed for the purpose of giving effect to the Berne Convention, it was provided that the author of a book first published in a colony has copyright throughout the whole of the Queen's dominions. Canada, it should be observed, formally assented to the Imperial Act of 1886, and to a subsequent Order in Council of 1887, by which effect was given to it in the colo- nies. By the Berne Convention the principle of International copyright for all countries belong- ing to the Union was established. By the Impe- rial Act of 1886 the supplementary principle of copyright throughout all the British possessions was established for the Empire. “To other members of the Copyright Union, whether international or Imperial, those provi- sions have been found to be of great value. The geographical position of Canada made her case exceptional. The United States, which is the largest reproducer of English publications, borders the Canadian frontier for some thousands of miles. Under the provisions of the Berne Convention Canada was prevented from repro- ducing the works not ouly of British copyright holders, but of the copyright holders of the entire Union without due compensation to the author, while her nearest neighbour, publishing in the same language for a reading public of which the requirements were practically identical, was not a member of the Union, and was consequently free to reproduce at will and flood the markets of the continents with cheap reprints, against which the Canadian book trade could not contend. The privilege given in return to Canadian authors of copyright throughout the Union remained prac- tically void by reason of the small number of authors who could profit by it. The Berne Con- vention, therefore, rendered the position of Canada. so much the worse by increasing the number of copyright holders to whom Canadian publishers were bound to give compensation by as many countries, colonies, and British possessions as joined the Union. As a matter of fact, the read- ing public of the Dominion of Canada has been, and is, principally supplied with British literature by American reprints. It is worth while in this connection to point out that the interests which are opposed to each other in this controversy are not those of British authors and Canadian authors, or of British authors and the Canadian public, but of British authors and Canadian publishers. “These facts being very generally recognised in Canada, where discontent with the Imperial restrictions upon copyright has been persistent ever since the effect of the Act of 1842 was realised, a Canadian Act was passed by the Dominion Parliament in 1889, by which it was proposed that, instead of the universal copyright conveyed by the Copyright Union under the Con- vention of Berne, copyright in Canada should be given to any person domiciled in Canada or the British possessions and to the citizen of any country having an international copyright treaty with the United Kingdom on certain conditions of publishing and registration, including the pro- vision that the book shall be printed and pub- lished in Canada within one month after first publication elsewhere. The Act contains a further licensing clause, to the effect that, when copyright has not been obtained, the book may be published under licence in Canada, but the author's rights shall be safeguarded by a IO per cent. royalty, which shall be the price paid for the licence. Such an Act would, of course, render it necessary for Canada to withdraw from the Copyright Union, and the Canadian Govern-  ## p. 205 (#219) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 205 ment accordingly gave notice that it wished, in so far as it were concerned, to denounce the Berne Convention. “The Act could not, however, become law with- out receiving the sanction of Her Majesty's Government, and this sanction has been with- held. In the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, formally reported on Dec. 31, 1889, the powers of legislation conferred on the Dominion Parliament by the British North America Act do not authorise that Parliament to amend or repeal, so far as relates to Canada, an Imperial Act con- ferring privileges within Canada. It will readily be conceived that this decision has not been received with acquiescence in Canada..' The ques- tion has been raised by it from a discussion of the relative interests of authors and publishers to the higher level of a question of self-government. Feeling in Canada runs very strongly upon the point. Sir John Thompson, both as Minister of Justice in 1889 and later as Prime Minister of the Dominion, has stoutly defended the self- governing rights of the colony he represents and the competency of the Dominion Parliament to pass an amending Act. Powers which include the right to impose customs duties upon British goods must, it is held, give power to defend the local interest of any trade. Colonial opinion will not easily accept a limitation, the justice of which can be disputed, of constitutional rights, and it is not improbable that the whole question may have to be decided upon this wider issue. “The latest modification of the technical aspect of the question has been produced by the American Copyright Act of 1891, under which any British subject may obtain copyright in the United States on condition that at least two copies of the book are printed from type set within the United States on or before publication elsewhere. In return for this, American subjects may obtain copyright throughout British posses- sions on the same terms as British subjects. On the ground that the American Act and the President’s proclamation do not constitute an international copyright treaty Canada refused to admit citizens of the United States to the enjoy- ment of copyright privileges within the limits of the Dominion. This Canada is held to have the right to do under the Act of 1875, which was confirmed by the Imperial Act of the same year. “What is now desired by the Government of Canada is that an Imperial confirming Act shall be passed to give the force of law to the still inoperative Canadian Act of 1889. The objections of the Imperial Government to such a course are—that to do as Canada desires involves an abandonment of the policy of international and Imperial copyright which was, after difficulty, asserted six years ago; that it is inconsistent with the policy of making copyright independent of the place of printing, which has always been upheld by Great Britain; that it would have the effect of introducing a modification into the con- ditions under which the United States consented to the agreement of 1891 ; and that it would be injurious to the interests of British authors, by whom the Canadian market is principally sup- plied. It is urged on behalf of British authors that the whole Canadian case is based on the fallacy that Canadian publishers and printers have a right to the profits of publishing and printing the works of British authors, whereas in reality the profit of their work belongs to the authors themselves. When the arguments of the right of self-government are brought forward, it is replied that no conceivable British right of self- government can include the right to confiscate the property of unoffending members of society. Unquestionably the adjustment of the case on mutually satisfactory grounds is rendered difficult by the absence of any body of Canadian authors to whom reciprocal privileges under the Copyright Acts can offer substantial advantages. As it stands, the advantage of authors is all on one side, and the advantage of publishers is on the other. That the authors should be British and the publishers Canadian accentuates the sharp- ness of a contest which, even without the inter- vention of a governing body on each side, we are accustomed to hear a good deal of in this country. It also, however, helps to indicate clearly the direction in which compromise may most hope- fully be looked for, and a practical provision on the part of the Canadian Government by which the rights of authors may be fully safeguarded may, perhaps, help to bring the long controversy to a close.” II.-INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. At a meeting of the American “Authors’ Guild,” held in New York, Nov. 2 I, a resolution was proposed to reopen the International Copy- right Law by a petition to Congress for its amendment. The discussion of the resolution was adjourned to the regular meeting in December, when the project of publishing a literary quarterly will also be considered by the Guild.—Athenaeum, Dec. 8. III.-PUBLISHED ON COMMISSION. The following is (I) a publisher's estimate for the cost of production of a book forming 540 pp. at 340 words to a page in long primer type; and (2) the estimate according to the Society's book called “The Cost of Production.”  ## p. 206 (#220) ############################################ 2O6 THE AUTHOR. I. Publisher's estimate without advertising and |binding of 300 only : For an edition of 500 copies, 3148. 2 3 5 3 93 750 copies, 3.165. 55 ,, IOOO copies, 317O. 33 II. Here is the Society’s estimate of exactly the same work in the same type—remember that we can get the work done for so much, and well done : For an edition of 500 copies, 38 IOO. 750 copies, 31 I5. 55 55 , IOOO copies, 3145. One would like the general opinion on the character of the publisher who is capable of sending out such an estimate. And, one would ask, do not figures such as these show the absolute necessity of supporting the only machinery which exposes these things P 33 33 35 IV.-A HoPELEss CASE. The following is a case which has happened more than once, and should be noted: A. B. writes an article or several articles for a journal which is, though the contributor does not know it, on its last legs, financially. He asks the editor for a cheque, and gets no reply. He writes again, and still gets no reply. He calls, and cannot see the editor. Then he seeks the aid of the Society. Now this, one would think, is eminently a case in which the Society should be useful. In fact, there are dozens of similar cases in which the proprietor of a journal has been made to pay by the action of the secre- tary. But in this case the secretary discovers the unpleasant fact that the paper has been taken over and is being run by and for the debenture holders. This means that, though the secretary might take the case into the County Court and obtain a judgment, there would be no means whatever of enforcing that judgment, because the debenture holders have the first claim upon the proceeds of the paper. The only course, then, is to throw the paper into bankruptcy — a difficult and expensive task. A course, too, by which the creditor will gain only a paltry dividend, if anything. There is no publicity to County Court judgments, otherwise the mere facts of the case might cause the manager to pay rather than incur the discredit of the judgment. So that in such a case there seems no help at all. NOTES FROM PARIS, WER all the things that I had to say in this month's letter there hangs a very gloomy shadow, and turn and twist as I may I am always brought back to this most unhappy fact, that your Stevenson and mine no longer breathes our common air, and that thirst we as we may for the clear water of his lucid prose, there will be nothing from him any more nor ever again, for our gentle gentleman of letters lies for ever asleep on a mountain-top in an island in the southern Sea. I fancy that amongst those who deplore his loss few perhaps will be more distressed than Crockett and Weyman. Both spoke to me of him with high admiration and great pride in his apprecia- tion of their work, for to both of them he had written in high praise and encouragement. His portrait hangs in Crockett's work-room in his house on the moors by the Esk, and it is on the mantelpiece of Weyman's study in the Welsh frontier town. And now there is crape round it ; there and everywhere it is felt that our English peoples are poorer by a great-hearted gentleman, our English tongue is robbed of a clear and sweet exponent. The French press paid due tribute to the dead master, and in most of the leading papers there appeared admiring obituary notices. There is much in this, as as a general rule the French journalists know nothing of, and care less, for English writers. So that, if Stevenson’s death was recorded in columns of appreciative articles in the Parisian papers, it shows that his mastery was recognised here also. Some of the writers displayed a certain ignorance, and gave amongst the list of his works the names of books which he never wrote, but the intention was everywhere a good one, and there was comfort in this manifes- tion in a foreign land. I have seen Alphonse Daudet since my return to Paris, and he spoke to me with much anticipation of pleasure about his forthcoming visit to London. He, however, seems determined to preserve the strictest incognito whilst in England, and has begged me to state that, greatly touched as he is by the kindness of those who proposed to do him honour, his state of health will prevent him from appearing in public in any way. Emile Zola is being greatly attacked in the French papers for his Italian proceedings. In one caricature he is represented kneeling before Ring Humbert licking the royal boots. In another large coloured cartoon he is shown in the garb of a mountebank, grovelling before the King and Crispi, and the former is saying “Enough, enough, it really is enough.” All this is very  ## p. 207 (#221) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2O7 unjust. I attribute these attacks partly to the hatred of Italy which has been felt in France ever since the Italians joined the Triple Alliance, but mainly to the jealousy with which Zola's unprecedented success and European popularity have filled the obscure scribes who are so attacking him. Zola answers them one and all with an immense shrug of his burly shoulders, and says, “Let them talk, as for me, I am setting to work.” S. R. Crockett has an adorable little daughter called “Maisie.” The other day a visitor called at Bank House in the absence of her parents, and was received by the young lady. Happening to notice a photograph of Mr. A. P. Watt in a place of honour in Mr. Crockett's study, he asked his little hostess who that gentleman might be. “Oh,” said Maisie, “that is the gentleman who gets papa his American copyrights.” The gentlemen who write reviews of books for the newspapers are, I presume, journalists, and their writings, by the same token, are journalism. Why then do these gentlemen use the expression “journalism ‘’ as a reproach in their critical appreciations. One often reads “this is not literature, it is journalism,” a strange remark coming from a professed journalist. It reminds one of the bird who befouls his own nest, for it implies that the writer has a fine contempt for his own writings, and it fills the reader with pity at the want of the writer's self-respect as a journalist. There is one critic in London—I am sorry that I do not know his name—who has a curious notion of the responsibilities of his craft. A book—it was rather an expensive book—was published in London last month, and copies of this book were issued for review two days before the actual date of publication. On the same evening a copy of this book was seen in the window of a well-known second-hand bookstall in Shaftesbury Avenue. It was marked at a reduced price, though it was uncut, and just as it had left the publisher's hands, and though it was the only copy of the book then for sale in London. It was evidently one of the copies which had issued that morning for review, and had fallen into the hands of a gentleman with peculiar views on the functions and duties of criticism. In France all press copies of books are stamped with a sign which marks them as such. The English publishers might adopt a similar blan. p Amongst the many books which I find on my table on my return to Paris is a very clever collection of prose poems in French, by “P. L.” This collection is entitled “Les Chansons de Bilitis,” and the poems are supposed to be a WOL. W. translation from a Greek poetess. They are preceded by a detailed biography of the imaginary songstress, and in a most skilful manner is the illusion maintained throughout a most charming and savoury book. “P. L.” stands for Pierre Louys, a young French poet of whom I have often spoken in these pages as a young littérateur of considerable performance and still greater promise. Pierre Louys is a true artist, with no other preoccupation in life beyond the cultus of beauty, a poet in every fibre. His translation of Meleager will be remembered, to mention only one of his little masterpieces. I met Maurice Barrés a night or two ago, and found him looking rather tired. I suppose the strain of editing a fighting paper, like La Cocarde, is a very heavy one. Yet he was enthusiastic and energetic as ever, and told me that, apart from his literary work (besides editing La Cocarde and contributing to it a daily leader, he is engaged on a new novel), he is actively pre- paring his parliamentary candidature in two con- stituencies, Neuilly and Nancy. We had a long conversation on journalistic blackmailing in Paris, and amongst other things he told me that just before his play, “La Journée Parlementaire,” was produced an offer was made to him by an indi- vidual representing a syndicate of Parisian news- papers, by which, on payment of a considerable sum, he could secure enthusiastic reports of his play, with the alternative of well, you can guess the alternative. Apropos of journalistic blackmailing in Paris, I imagine that nobody is more surprised at the turn which things have taken than the able editors who, arrested for the practice, are now languishing in Mazas gaol. For years they have been allowed undisturbed to practise their little industry, till they had been lulled into the illusion that what they were doing was recognised and admitted. Suddenly, after nearly a quarter of a century of toleration, they are swooped down upon and laid by the heels. I can imagine that they feel a real grievance against the authorities. I could write a volume on the practices of blackmailing in France, were I only to draw on my reminiscences of conversations I had on the subject with poor Ferdinand de Lesseps. The subject is, however, a nauseating one. I will only mention that I was once delegated to gag a provincial blackmailing journalist, and that each time that I paid him his monthly hush-money, I used to talk to him about his business. He seemed to think that he was acting in a perfectly straightforward manner. “I run my paper,” he used to say, “not from philanthropy, but as a commercial speculation, and I work what influence it gives me for all that it is worth. U  ## p. 208 (#222) ############################################ 2O8 THE AUTHOR. People must pay to get things put into my paper, and equally must they pay to keep things out,” We used to smoke cigarettes together, and got quite friendly in the end, for the man's turpitude was thorough, and one likes thoroughness of every kind, I was almost sorry when I heard that he had died in gaol, He was such an interesting study. It seems as if shortly there will be quite a colony of English men of letters residing in Paris. I have heard several, and not the least distin- guished amongst our contemporary writers, expressing the intention to go and live in the French capital. I think it is a mistake on their part, and I, for one, have never ceased regretting having settled down on what an old Yorkshire farmer de mes amis spoke to me of as “the wrong side of the watter, my lad.” Paris is uncomfortable, it is expensive, and the eternal foolishness which envelopes one here, ends by influencing disastrously one's views on men and on life. Besides, one forgets one's English. The tool blunts from disuse. I see that at a type-writing office in the City Mr. Hill’s idea of a roll of paper, as a substitute for sheets, has been taken up and put into prac- tice. Quite a crowd of people stand outside that office and watch the long coil as it unfolds itself. The “Quotidien Illustré,” a French imitation of the Daily Graphic, is the latest addition to the press of Paris. R. H. SHERA.R.D. 123, Boulevard Magenta, Paris. *— a 2-º -- NOTES AND NEWS, Y this time all the papers, daily and weekly, have paid their tribute of praise and regret to the memory of Louis Stevenson. Yet this paper, though late, must also lay its wreath upon that far-off island grave. For, indeed, while he lived, to talk of decadence was to betray incapacity. I do not think there is in our whole literature a finer piece of work than “Treasure Island.” I do not think there are anywhere more delightful essays than some of Stevenson's. We need not attempt to compare him with anybody —comparisons of genius are futile things; Scott is Scott ; Fielding ; Thackeray; every man of genius stands alone. Ilike all men of genius Stevenson was unequal; there were limitations in his powers; certain fields were closed to him ; he could not discourse of love, for instance. But for what he gave the world we must be thankful, for some of it will last, I believe, as long as the English language. - The immortality of a writer involves selection. As time goes on one piece after another drops out of notice and is forgotten, except for the student. Why? It is impossible to tell. Goldsmith has been practically reduced, except for the student, to the “Deserted Village,” “She Stoops to Conquer,” and the “Vicar of Wakefield;” Gray to the Elegy; of Southey’s voluminous poems one little poem only remains; Coleridge keeps his “Ancient Mariner.” Of more modern writers it would be invidious to speak; it is too early to guess what part of Tennyson will drop out of the general memory; what part of Browning will be preserved; but it would be interesting to learn what novels, if any, of Thackeray and Dickens are already beginning to show signs of approaching oblivion. The committee have received a large number of replies to their questions as to Net Prices. At their first meeting of the New Year the replies will be submitted to them and considered. Perhaps we shall be in a position to publish some resolu- tion on the subject next month. In an advertisement of a new periodical, “The Minster,” one observes with some surprise the name of Mr. George Gissing as the contributor of a story. With surprise, not because he ought not to be there, but because this powerful writer has never before, so far as I know, appeared in a serial. I hear now of other magazines which have at last found him out. I have never been able to understand the comparative silence with which the very fine work of this writer has been received. It is, perhaps, because his themes have been gloomy. The other writers in the new magazine are the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sir Edwin Arnold, Sir Benjamin Baker, the Head Master of Harrow, Corney Grain, Mr. George Spottiswoode, George Saintsbury, and James Payn. It is quite the Orthodox plan to begin with great names. At the same time, great names very often belong to those who are not great in literature. And, since we wish well to the new magazine, we would venture to suggest that literary popularity is most easily attained by names that are great in literature. The book trade may be in a very depressed condition, but there are six long columns of pub- lishers' advertisements in the Times of Dec. 18. This looks like a certain amount of confidence in the present as well as in the future. Whether the market is depressed or not, there is certainly no falling off in the output, the regulation of which is especially the business of the publishers. The author has not, and cannot have, any voice at all  ## p. 209 (#223) ############################################ THE AUTHOR, 2O9 in the output. I suppose that depression means, not a restricted output, but smaller editions; e.g., for books of a certain class—say Autobiographies and Recollections—where there were formerly a thousand buyers there are now only five hundred. But, so long as the purchases by readers exceed the cost of production, so long will fresh books of the kind be produced. And so with every other kind of book. Mr. W. Pollard (Athenæum, Dec. 8) records the death of surely the very last of all the persons named in Charles Lamb's letters. Elizabeth, widow of Charles Tween, died at Hertford on Nov. 27, aged ninety-two. She was buried, Dec. 3, in Widford Churchyard, Hertfordshire, where Charles's grandmother, Mrs. Field, lies buried. Mrs. Tween was a Miss Norris, mentioned by Lamb in a letter to Henry Crabb Robinson of January, 1826. She, with her sister, opened a girls’ school, but married two brothers. The funeral was on Monday, Dec. 3, in Widford Church- yard, Hertfordshire; and the place has many things that recall recollections of Lamb and his writings. On entering the churchyard, we see on the left the gravestone of his grandmother, Mrs. Field, and the lettering requires renovat- ing. In front is the church. “On the green hill top, Hard by the house of prayer, a modest roof, And not distinguished from its neighbour-barn Save by a slender tapering length of spire, The grandame sleeps.” And on the right we are reminded of the opening of the first story in Mrs. Lamb’s “Mrs. Lester's School.” At Widford are the gravestones of Mrs. Elizabeth Norris (widow of Mr. Randal Norris), died July, 1843, and her son Richard. On the west side the church tower are a stile and footpath leading to the beautiful valley of the Ash close by, and just on the other side is the wilderness Charles Lamb describes in his “ Blakes moor in H–shire '' (fir, t essay, second series), and also names in “Rosamund Gray.” Just below the wilderness, and still nearer the church, stood the old Blakesware mansion where his grandmother was housekeeper, and which he describes in this essay. And on the rising ground to the east stood the cottage where Rosamund Gray lived with her grand- mother. On the hillside, just north of the church and valley, is Little Blakesware Farm, where Charles Lamb used to visit Mr. Tween, the then tenant. —-e--> --—- Does the free library injure the sale of books? At present there are comparatively few free libraries, and their chief effect, so far, has been to place books within the reach of those who could not afford to buy them; and this, I think, will be their effect when they are multiplied by fifty. Thus there are now in this country only about three hundred. It is not too much to expect that avery few years will see the free iibraries, great and small, enumerated at 15,000. Almost every good book will certainly be taken by all these libraries. That is to say, good histories and biographies, good books on popular science, favourite poets, favourite novelists, will all be taken; and, really, if no other purchaser appeared, the author would not do so badly. But I believe that the present purchasers will remain. The free libraries will lend books to that enormous class whose incomes are below £300 a year, and who cannot afford to buy books, and those who can afford to buy books will continue to do so. A man is on the prowl seeking to deceive. He calls himself Charles E. Winter. This is the story of a late attempt : “He called to see me in order, he said, to obtain leave to translate a story of mine. I could not give leave as I had sold the copyright, and he then asked if I could give him any type-writing, saying he had done some work for you’’—the editor of this Journal—“ and men- tioning other names of reputation in the literary world as a sort of guarantee. The end of it was that, influenced by a sad history he told of desti- tution, and also, perhaps, by his being evidentl a man of education—he spoke French really like a Frenchman—I gave him some money, and was foolish enough to trust him with the MS. of another story. Since then I have found out that the man is a fraud, and I have now seen a detec- tive who tells me that the man is already ‘wanted by the police for having got money from somebody else in the same way.” A correspondent wrote some time ago—but his letter was mislaid—asking whether £12 was a fair price to pay for a volume of which an edition of 2000 was sold. The volume was a little book which sold for half-a-crown. An edition of two thousand would probably cost—there were special reasons why the advertising would cost little or nothing—about £70, or about 8%d. a copy. The enterprising publishers therefore, who sold this book at about Is. 6d. a copy, cleared 9}d, a copy, out of which they paid the author £12, and realised for themselves £65 odd. Was the transaction a fair one P One thinks that it was not. Here is a case which perhaps admits of argument. A half profit agreement ; a book which is sold at a high price; a return at the end of a year, showing the sale of some hundreds, with a loss of some- thing like 330—the exact amount does not matter, as the account is not disputed. That was twenty years ago. The author during all this time asked for no further return, having long since made up his mind that the book would not prove a pecuniary success. However, in some spare moment he did sit down and asked for a second return. It  ## p. 210 (#224) ############################################ 2 I O THE AUTHOR. came in. It showed a yearly sale of about £30 worth of the book, with an increased loss, after twenty years, of £55 or thereabouts. In other words, what has happened is this. The publisher wished to keep the author's name on his books, and on his lists. He has therefore gone on advertising the book in his list of standard works, every year spending in advertising a little more than he received. He has made the book an advertise- ment of himself. Nor, it seems, can the author complain. He passed without question the first account. In that furnished twenty years later he asked for a return of the advertisements for the last five years. A small sum was charged for advertising in the publisher's own magazine—it should not have been charged—but to dispute it would not remove the deficit. Therefore it was allowed to stand. Perhaps it may be said that the author was advertised as well as the publisher. The author says that he did not ask for the advertisement, that it did him no good, and that he did not want it. If all the remaining copies are sold the deficit cannot now be made good, and so he will not interfere. On p. 215 will be found a few contemporary notes on a very remarkable and unprecedented depres- sion in the book market. It is amazing to think that only sixty years ago the leading publishers had no announcements at all to make in the autumn. Six hundred printers out of work at a time when all the London books were printed in London; nothing risked except reprints of favourite authors; not until the end of the year are there any books, and then only a hundred. The whole history of this depression, the length of its duration, and the revival of the demand for books would form a chapter of interest in the history of English literature. WALTER BESANT. *-- - --" *-*. F EU IL LET ON, IN THE PORCH. By SHAN F. BULLOCK, Author of “The Awkward Squad.” & 4 ELL | * said Greenback, as the outer door of the Judgment Hall closed swiftly behind White and Cold, “Well! What luck P’’ White and Cold ruffled her leaves, gave a little shiver of disgust, then suddenly flung back her front cover. “Look there !” cried she. “I look there ! Is it not shameful ? Bedaubed like that by such a Crew—Oh! such a crew Look –“ Damned,’ * Damned,’ ‘Damned,’ stamped all over my pretty whiteness— Damnation and finger-marks, there's my portion.” Greenback looked with pity at his little friend. What a change | But an hour ago they had parted there in the porch, and she had gone in for judgment so youthfully happy and fresh and hopeful; now the bolt was shot behind her, and she was back—an outcast, battered, disfigured, surely condemned. What a change P “Poor dear,” he murmured. “Poor dear ! So complete—so complete.” - “Complete?” cried White and Cold, “I should think it was. I tell you I was damned before one of their vile eyes ever saw me. They sat hunger- ing for me with their daggers drawn. Look! not twenty of my pages cut, not fifty of m verses read, not one verdict even initialled—Oh! such a crew. One looked at my title-page, ‘Phew!’ quoth he, ‘New man,’ and scribbled * Damned ;’ another read two lines, muttered “Minor, very minor,’ and wrote his verdict; another read five lines, ‘ Rot,” said he, and wrote worse—and so on from deep to deep. Poetry ! What know they of poetry P Critics! Just heaven—Critics l—Oh the travail and fond hopes 52 “Poor dear,” murmured Greenback. “Poor dear! I’m so sorry–Not even one kind word.” “Oh yes, there's one—you'll find it there near the bottom—a woman wrote it, a little ugly body who turned paler at sight of Long-hair's name on the title-page, and smiled as she read here and there. Can’t you find it P” “Ah !” said Greenback. “Yes, I see—damned with faint praise. Poor child.” “Oh I don’t want your pity,” cried White and Cold. “No | It's all a conspiracy. I know it is. I go this way doomed to daggers and destruction, you go that to wreaths and glory. Why? Why, I say? Why because I’m a first child, a girl, the daughter of a long-haired nobody; because my race has fallen among the Philistines; because I trace my descent from Homer through the generations. You smile P Yes, you can afford to smile. You're a seventh child; the world was waiting for you ; the-the person who owns you is somebody. What of you both P. He was long enough under a cloud at first; and you—why you were born piecemeal, scattered here and there about the world, and then collected into your shabby green covers. Bah! Collected / Essays / Old Sober.sides, what of you? Why, you’re a plebeian—a modern—Addison is your—” “Easy, easy,” said Greenback in his urbanest manner. “Why all this folly, child? I’m beyond all that you know, and really—” “Oh, yes; you’re most superior, I know. All gentlemen are. Why did you not keep to your  ## p. 211 (#225) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2 H I word, though P Any gentleman can do that. You promised before we left the Row to stand by me and take your fate with me at the same hands. But no ; you must leave me at the door, and sneak off to the the professionals—the big pots— the men who always write sweet things and sign them—” “Really, madam,” returned Greenback, “I must beg of you to keep your vulgar sneers for your equals. As a gentleman I offered you my protection to the extent of my ability; more I could not do. Like yourself I had to take the chances of war—” “Chances of fiddle-sticks | Chances of nincom- poops ? What chance had I?” “Madam,” said Greenback severely, “enough of this. You had your chance like another, and let me say that I cannot bring myself at all to look at the art of criticism from your standpoint—” “Of course you can’t. You get the sugar- plums, I get the physic.” “Madam, enough. Let us call a truce to these trivialities. The trial is over; the door is closed on us both ; our fates assigned us. Madam, our ways now must part. Thither, out into the world and the sunshine, lies my path. Yours— You—Ah, my poor child! My poor child !” “Well, what of me? I suppose you think I can’t take care—” “No, no! Not that. Have you not heard? Do you not know? That place of doom and buried hopes; do you not know of it?” “What P Where P What 2 ” “Ah, child, thank Heaven for youth and inno- cence. Knowledge is such a sad burden. . . . Yes! perhaps you had better know. My child, out there, beyond the sun and the light, is a place of dread and despair. Dank fogs envelop it, despairing voices haunt it, a gaunt precipice over- hangs and cuts it off from this world of chance. Oh verily a region of fog and forgetfulness. And thither, day by day, men come, and now with scorn, now with ringing laughter, sometimes, perhaps, with regret, cry, “Over, over !’ and send fluttering down into the darkness the unfortunate children of folly and conceit—" “Oh, oh! Children? What children? Not— ?” “Yes, child—the books that were born only, sooner or later, to die.” “Books All of them P Every one? not every one! Surely not—not me, too !” “Yes, sweetheart—you, too.” “Oh no, no l Not so soon. soon 2 ” “It is cruel—but kind. Child, I fear me your shrift will be short.” Oh I Did you say “Oh, no ! Why a day ago, an hour ago, I was but born. Did you say soon P Why, I haven't VOL. V. - - yet seen the sun' What! all this pretty finery —all of it, you, say? All, is all to go down— down P. Ah! mercy, mercy l’’ “Sweetheart,” said Greenback very tenderly, “be brave. It is soon over—few in the end escape. Better over at once, maybe, than after a cheerless struggle in the storms and the twilight. “Oh ! but so soon—so soon—only an hour of life. It is shameful! I’ve had no chance. I tell you it will be murder—-yes, murder. For, look you, I am alive, every page of me is throbbing alive. Ah and the brutes would murder me. Ah comrade—keep them back— only for one day, one gleam of the sunshine.” “Impossible,” muttered Greenback. “It is impossible.” “Oh the injustice, the cruelty, the folly of it all. You say that voices haunt that—that place. What voices? Can the dead cry? What voices? Why those of maidens such as I am, ay! and of men, too, and women who have been buried alive. Hark! you can hear them wailing— wailing hopelessly. Oh! the injustice—the bitter Cup,” Greenback let his little friend run on, and him- self fell a thinking. Was it true, any of this that White and Cold in her frenzy was saying? Did anything alive ever go fluttering down P. Whose were those voices P Surely sometimes mistakes were made — mistakes born of hurry and prejudice, perhaps of ignorance P Surely some- times a book—maybe just born, maybe having run its course—with just a spark of life between its covers went over, some jewel that were worth . the snatching. TXown in that melancholy region were there not live things—golden pages, sentences, lines, phrases—buried eternally beneath mountains of stupidity and vanity ? The perfect line in a maze of doggerel, a noble sentence standing out from a dreary flatness, a page here and there torn from experience, and telling the story of a heart—surely often and often these had come unheralded, gone unnoticed, and left the world the poorer. Write, write, men were ever writing—could the most hopeless dullaro among them sit always and never chance on the happy phrase, the haunting cadence; never hear once from heaven a whisper of the gods P. This little butterfly, now lying all crushed and hopeless, could it be that all her glitter was mere dross and vanity ? - “Come, sweetheart,” he said at last, “ Cheer up, now ; all is not over yet. Come! stand for judgment and let me be your critic.” So White and Cold fluttered and twirled and aired her little graces, and Greenback looked gravely on. Those inside the door had not been X  ## p. 212 (#226) ############################################ 212 THE AUTHOR. far wrong, he thought; she had virtues, but she was no divinity; there was glitter, but no gold; the best she could show was now and then a happy pose, a graceful turn, and once, he thought, a flash of passion. No | Salvation was not for her nor for her kind; still, she was not quite unworthy, the gold might have flashed somewhere. And— and surely among all the others, her unfortunate companions in adversity, the gold if sought for, must have flashed somewhere P Surely not to have sought, sought eagerly, thought Greenback, can only be reckoned as foolishness in the ways of man. Why, he himself, only for his parentage, might easily have gone over. “You are right, my dear,” he said presently, “quite right. It is an inhuman thing thus to destroy ruthlessly what might well contain hidden treasure most precious.” “Ah, liknew it,” cried White and Cold, “I knew it ! I wanted only a chance.” “I was speaking generally, child,” said Green- back hurriedly. “Then—then—What are you, too, among my enemies? You, too, blind?” “Ah, child, what matters it P Did I see genius written on your every leaf what could I avail? Nothing.” “Nothing ! Do nothing P ou say there is no hope P’’ ... “It would be cruel to say you false,” murmured Greenback. “Child, there is no hope.” “No hope P Oh ! the living tomb—oh ! the voices wailing—oh Sir, Sir, do something, save me for one hour ! ” “My child,” answered Greenback very gravely, “what you ask is impossible. Sorely do I regret your fate, fervently do I wish it were otherwise; but in this matter, as in all, we are helpless. It is hard—Ah! would that long ago, when the Master was bending over me, I had had the thoughts which now I have I should have whispered: “Write, Master, write and warn the world of its folly. It knows not what it does— daily it is casting away treasure. The workers in the Hall of Judgment are weary and grown callous; they have no leisure in which to perform what to be effective must be a labour of love. But have not you, my Master, called (Ay! spoken it to myself) this an age of Amateur well-doing, of societies founded everywhere for the protection of the weak, and the prevention of wrong-doing? And have I not shown you wrong; are not these weak for whom I plead? What work more noble, more glorious and beneficent could learned men, of taste also and leisure (of you, revered Master, and your peers I speak), hope to lay hand to than the duties which should appertain to a Society solidly founded, honestly supported, and having Do you mean—do for its object the Rescue of Jewels from the Wastes of Literature P Go out, my Master, go out and raise your voice; it is powerful; the world will hear you; countless generations shall call you blessed.’ So should I have spoken, child; and—” “But now—even now it is not too late. The Master | tell him, tell him—ask him to save me!” . “My child, take heart and be brave—to struggle and cry is folly. You know not the world; it is slow to hear, and slower to move. And the Master—alas ! I am not the Master's keeper, and his ear just now is turned from me. But I promise you that some day his voice shall be raised, and this Society of which—” “Yes, yes—but I shall have gone!” “Gome—gone—we all go—go and are forgotten. Ah, child ! is there no consolation in the thought that your sacrifice may to future generations bring great good P” “Consolation | Consolation in that pit of hell! Lost, lost What do I care about future genera- tions P. Oh my pretty finery What going? Leaving me P Is it good bye?” “It is good-bye, sweetheart. The world calls me, and I must go. Keep heart, and die bravely.” “Die | Die ' And is this the end ? face—that alone P” “Be brave my child—and good bye.” “—All alone—Never see you again—Oh! not good bye.” “Ah well—who knows—sooner or later we all, or nearly all, come there. Who knows? Well, Sweetheart, not good bye then, but au revoir.” Must I *— — —”-- : A LITERARY CORNER. | WONDER how many of the men and - women, who monthly turn to the pages of the Author, have ever explored the pleasant precincts of Camilla Lacey, which lie within easy reach of many of their number. It was recently the good fortune of the present writer to see all that is now left of this literary haunt, and to follow for a brief while the footsteps of an almost forgotten literary coterie. For to this little corner of the Surrey Hills the French emigrés were irre- sistibly attracted in the days when the names of Talleyrand, Narbonne, and Madame de Stäel were on everybody’s lips. The little village was even in those days remarkable for shady groves and towering trees, and for its pretty gardens and small cottages, in one of which Madame d’Arblay lived.  ## p. 213 (#227) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2 I 3 To-day, indeed, the little homestead is gone, with its rustic wooden porch and low white walls, with their charming old-fashioned pointed gables, and in its stead rises a modern mansion, wherein little is left of the old world building. The only authentic remains of the cottage, which was so beloved of the celebrated authors, are now said, indeed, to be the narrow back stairway, and, per- haps, two adjoining small rooms. Nevertheless, to many folks the house as it is fills the mind with a thousand touching memories, and its owners have sought to preserve intact everything associated with the fame of Fanny Burney. The prettiest, and, perhaps, the sunniest, brightest room of the whole mansion is the little literary museum wherein are preserved the relics of a fame which once made the gladness of the country side. In a quaintly furnished room, with hangings of olden times, dainty flowered curtains shade the fading manuscripts which lie in glazed cases available to the curious, the wonderful manu- script of Camilla and Evelina. Old-fashioned furniture fills up the small room, a corner table supports the large crucifix, which, if report says true, was once the possession of no less a personage than the old Chevalier d’Arblay. All the pieces of furniture, though gathered in recent years, seems to be part and parcel of the original inhabitants, and around the walls hang portraits, engravings for the most part of all the prominent friends of the gifted authoress. Below each one is suspended by loving hands an autograph letter from the portrait represented, addressed for the most part in warm hearted lan- guage to the “charming kind friend” Madame d’Arllay. Here, for instance, is a full-faced portrait of Mrs. Delany in her black lace fichu and mantilla; close beside her Mrs. Montague (after Reynolds), with her good tempered some- what oval face; Mrs. Thrale, Mrs. Trimmer, many of the Burney family, in pen and ink and in crayon ; Baretti (after Reynolds), in queue and powder; David Garrick, in slashed and braided coat. Here, by the bye, hangs another charming portrait, with a characteristic face and expression; below it a delightful old world epistle from Madame Piazzi to the charming Madame d’Arllay. “Come o' Tuesday,” runs the faded manuscript, “as well as Sunday. Dine with me o' Sunday, sweet soul, do ” and here is Mrs. Delany’s letter full of inquiry after the health of her “Dearest Miss Burney: We sent but yesterday to know how you did ; we have been quite alarmed, for they brought us word that though you was better to Burney was only as well as could be expected ; ” and so on, I might quote infinite in number, the tender, heartfelt greetings of this charming throng. All of them, indeed, ring the same changes of devoted friendship and admiration—Talleyrand, Madame de Stäel, Reynolds, “St. Cecilia,” Brinley Sheridan, and many, many another. As the “gallery” ends, the eye rests a moment on the well filled little corner bookshelves, where are gathered in the old first editions—Evelina, Cecilia, Camilla. The minor works and volumes of great contemporary writers are there to com- plete the small library, and the celebrated journals, round which has since centred a veritable literature in itself. There, too, are the earlier diaries of 1768-78, to which some men give the most praise; and last, not least, the curious official form, said to be an authentic copy of the marriage register. I almost hesitate to Copy it in my short paper, fearing it may raise doubts as to veracity. But I give it, for the curious I feel sure would be allowed to see and judge it for their own satisfaction. The form gives the scene of Fanny Burney’s marriage with the Chevalier d’Arblay as St. Luke's parish church, Chelsea, by licence, on July 28, 1793. Biographers, I am aware, mention already two places as the scene of the celebrated ceremony. I can add nothing to their testimony, but I think these few notes may prove of interest. Of the surrounding country side little can have changed since the old days I here record; the well-wooded heights of Denbies, Box Hill, Juniper Hill still stand much as they did then. But the charming gardens and undulating lawns which surround the beautiful modern house of Camilla Lacey; these things mark the transfor- mation undergone since the days of Madame d’Arblay's occupation. There yet may exist, per- chance among them, the shrubs that Chevalier planted with toilsome endeavour; but few people now traverse the country lane with thoughts of its literary recollections. The railway rushing across the country side bears Londonward its crowd of busy people; to thoughtful literary men and women it will ever be the home of delightful old world memories. * -- ~ 2-4 * * * THE PAPER TAX. HE writer of the following article begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Lang, who called attention to the subject in the Illustrated London News two or three months ago. The subject is treated in the Edinburgh Review for June, 1831, in an article called “Taxes upon Literature.”  ## p. 214 (#228) ############################################ 2I4 THE AUTHOR. . At that time there was a tax upon paper, a tax upon binding, and a tax upon advertisements. All these taxes had to be paid in the production of the book, and before a single copy was sold— they had to be paid, in fact, whether a single copy sold or not. The meaning and the burden of these taxes are shown by the Edinburgh Reviewer. He takes the case of an 8vo. book of 500 pages. He selects an ordinary book of that size, and he gives the figures showing the cost of pro- duction with that part of it due to the taxes. These figures, he says, were furnished by a person of the “highest authority.” They appear as follows: I. In an edition of 500 copies :— Due to taxes. Printing and cor- rection ............ 388 18 O Paper ............... 38 IO O ... & 8 I 2 IO Boarding ............ Io O O 3 3 8 Advertising ........ 4O O O 2O O O 177 8 o 31 16 6 If the whole edition is sold out, i.e., allowing for eleven copies sent to the public libraries and fourteen to the author, if 475 are sold at 8s. 5d. a copy, the amount realised is £1.99. 17s. I Id., leaving a profit of £22 9s. 11d. 2. Taking an edition of 750 copies :— Due to taxes. Printing and cor- rections............ £95 6 O Paper .............. 57 I5 O 312 I9 4 Binding............... I5 O O 4 I5 7 Advertising ......... 5O O O 25 O O 218 I o 42 I4 II If the whole edition (725 copies) be sold at 8s. 5d., the amount realised would be £305 2s. 5d., showing a profit of £87 1s. 5d. 3. An edition of IOOO copies:— Due to taxes. Printing and cor- rections ......... 3IO2 I4 O Paper ............... 77 o o £1.7 5 9 Boarding ......... 2O O O 6 7 5 Advertising ...... 6o o o 3O O O 259 I4 O 53 I 2 2 If the whole edition, 975 copies, are sold at 8s. 5d. the amount realised would be £410 6s. 3d. leaving a profit of £150 12s. 3d. But, the writer goes on to say, this supposes the sale of the whole edition; now by the evidence of a publisher in the first rank, out of 130 works issued by him, fifty had not paid expenses; thirteen only arrived at a second edition, not always profitable. One fourth of the whole number of books produced do not pay expenses; only one in eight can be reprinted. Suppose that, instead of 720 copies being sold, only 425 went off leaving 300 on hand. This is, in fact, the common case with books. How does the account stand? . The cost of the edition is £218 Is. By the sale of 425 copies the sum of £178 17s. Id. is realised This leaves an actual loss of £40. But the taxes had to be paid in advance. In other words the cost of production had to be increased by about 22% per cent. Moreover the printing, binding, &c., could be paid after the first returns of the book, but the taxes had to be paid in advance. There would seem in these days to have been some ground for the cry about risk and uncertainty. Certainly a tax of 22% per cent on the cost of production must have made the business much less lucrative than at present. The writer points out, however, that publishers of standing were careful to avoid risk as much as possible by taking only books written by well known names, and on subjects likely to command attention. We observe that no “press’ copies were issued. The book was advertised; if it was reviewed the reviewer bought or borrowed a copy. The practice of sending out review copies must have come into existence soon after this, because in the Forties it was certain that there were press Coples. It is interesting to compare the cost of pro- duction of 1831 with that of 1894. We take the example given in the Society’s “Cost of Pro- duction,” p. 31, i.e., a page of 34 lines, of 339 words, a Long Primer type, and of 500 pages. We have the following comparison, deducting the amount due to taxes. Edition of 500 copies:— 1831 Printing and Correction 3888 18 o Paper ........................ 29 I7 2 Boarding 6 I6 4 Advertising ............... 2O O O £145 II 6 1894 Composing 31; sheets at £I 7s. I Id. per sheet... 353 6 3 Printing, 5s. 9d. a sheet 8 19 8 Corrections, say............ 5 o O Paper, at 9s. a sheet...... I4 I3 6 Binding, at 5a, a vol. ... Io 8 4 Advertising e tº e 2O O O — 31 12 7 9  ## p. 215 (#229) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2 I 5 Or taking the edition of IOOO copies:– 1831 Printing and correction 2102 14 O Paper .................. • * * * > * 59 I4 3 Boarding ........ ......... I 3 I 2 7 Advertising ......... . . . . . . 3O O O se- £2O6 o IO 1894 Composition ............... 353 6 3 Printing, at Ios. 6d. a. sheet ..................... I6 IO 9 Paper, at 18s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 7 O Corrections ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 O O Binding, at 5al. ... . . . . . . ... 20 16 8 Advertising . . . . . . . ...... 3O O O 38154 O 8 So that composition and printing have gone down 32 per cent. since the year 1831 ; paper is half what it was ; binding is a little dearer. As regards the great risks in publishing at this period, it will be seen from another part of this paper, that there was a depression in the book trade at that time (1831) deeper and more marked than had ever before been known. The political excitement of the time was supposed to be the cause ; but national excitement, whether over politics or war, gene- rally stimulates the book trade. It is more reasonable to attribute the stagnation first to the general commercial depression of the time which had ruined or crippled the manufacturers, so that they could no longer afford to buy books at the high price then asked; next, to the decay of the book clubs; and, thirdly, to a disgust at the weak and washy novels and poetry with which their book clubs were provided. The reading and book-buying public, never very large, had, from these and other causes, grown much smaller; it consisted of the professional classes and the more wealthy merchants and manufacturers. Outside the larger towns there was little book-buying. The advertisement duty, formerly of 3s. 6d. for each advertisement, and in Ireland 2s. 6d, was reduced in 1833 to 1s. 6d. in England and to Is. in Ireland. In 1853 it was abolished alto- gether. The newspaper stamp, which varied, being I d. in 171 I, I d. in 1776, 2d. in 1789, 2 #d. in 1794; 3}d. in 1797, 4d. in 1815, I d. in 1836, was finally abolished in 1855. The paper duty was repealed in 1861. THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE, 1831. HE following extracts, concerning the new books of 1831, are taken from the sources named. They refer to the threatened ruin of literature in the Thirties—a very curious chapter in the history of modern literature. The depression was attributed to the political excite- ment of the time, but, as we believe, mistakenly so attributed : I. (Athenæum, Oct. I 5, 183 I.) Man is a poetic creature, let philosophers say as they will; it is wonderful to hear of the ruin to literature and the destruction to art which one friend perceives in the Reform Bill; while another friend will see nothing but prosperity and exaltation to both. The airy fictions of these men, one of a bright and the other of a dark nature, are in a high degree poetical It must be owned that for these six months art and literature have suffered a sad eclipse. One side says, without reform there must be revolu- tion ; the other, that revolution will follow reform. No man will speculate in aught but words; labour has nearly ceased — printing presses repose by the hundred—and booksellers say that they have not sold a volume since the question was agitated. A poet in our presence lately requested a publisher to purchase a new poem in ten cantos—subject and time—“Wars of the Two Roses.” “Are you insane P” was the quick reply; “write on the rise and fall of stocks, or on the Reform Bill, and hope for purchasers.” II. (Supplement, Oct. I 5.) These are evil times: the pen and the pencil are nearly idle, save in writing political lampoons and drawing caricatures. The dread of change perplexes monarchs no more, they eat their pudding and hold their tongue; but fear has come upon men of genius; poets and painters eye, in alarm, the thickening clouds, while men whose muscles are strong, and whose hearts are griping and eager, look on the coming tempest as on the wind which will shake the ripe fruit and give them much to gather A few of the booksellers announce new books, or rather works long bespoke and written ; but, on the whole, the depression in the great market of literature con- tinues. Murray has not even an advertisement ; we hear not one word of the Quarterly IReview, though the period of its appearance has come, and all that is new are the Annuals and a few thrice-spoken speeches for or against reform. There is not one book announced which promises either genius or learning, and there is little chance  ## p. 216 (#230) ############################################ 2 I6 THE AUTHOR. of either while this thick cloud rests on our land, and till this question, which affects the wealthy, the bustling, and the important, is settled. III. (Athenæum, Nov. 12, 1831.) The ablest of our writers are for the present next to idle, and some have left or are about to leave the land. Scott is on his way to Italy, and letters from him cheer us up with the intelligence of increasing health and spirits ; a gentle sea sickness was followed by more than usual vigour and sprightliness. We rejoice the more at this, because, before he left Portsmouth, he talked rather seriously about his voyage. He alluded to Fielding's visit to Lisbon, Smollett's to Italy, and Byron's to Greece, and returned to the sub- ject if diverted from it. It is remarkable that Byron wrote Scott a long letter inviting him to Italy, and pointing out, if we remember right, Naples as a place where he might enjoy balmy air and see abundance of human characters. Washington Irving, too, an author whom we love greatly, is said to be on the point of sailing to America, and we think he is right—extinction of literature, and depression of art, riots and blood- shed; and, finally, the cholera in Sunderland, shut up from escape by sea, with full liberty to march whither it pleases by land, are, on the whole, no cheering prospects. IV. (Athenæum, Nov. 19, 1831.) The public depression attributed by one faction to the refusal of reform, and by the other to the introduction of the measure, still continues; cheap books alone are published, and during the present political pest cheap books alone will be purchased; for no man can expect to read a large work leisurely through when the very ground under his feet seems to have a touch of the earthquake, and high houses threaten to topple down and crush ordinary people in the rubbish. Men who in former palmy times boldly launched their first-rate quarto, are now content to push their cockboat along the shore and close by the land —in truth, till the great question of reform is settled but no timid adventurer need try to come forward. Magazines may change editors, newspapers their proprietors, reviews their contributors, and booksellers may have faith in rich or official authors, but the great market of literature will not open its gates full and wide till the public mind is settled, and perhaps not then. W. (Athenæum, Nov. 26, 1831.) All in literature continues dull as a great thaw, long promised works are held back from the market, and no new ones of any mark or likeli- hood make their appearance. Six hundred printers are out of employment in London alone. Reprints of favourite authors are all that book- sellers dare venture upon ; and of these the new edition of the poetical works of Sir Walter Scott promises to be one of the most attractive gº tº This, with the “Italy ’’ of Rogers, and the Works of Byron, announced by Murray, must console our eyes for the absence of mental food. The Annuals, we fear, must go to the wall when these are published. VI. (Athenæum, Dec. 17, 183 I.) Literature has recovered a little from its long stupor; more than a hundred new works, and some of them of great interest, have been announced. Pamphlets on reform and visionary treatises on cholera will now give way, we hope, to works of learning and genius. In addition to this good news, we hear that Sir Walter Scott has arrived safe and well at Malta. Reprints of valuable books, sometime announced, are about to make their appearance; the Byron of Murray comes out on the first of the new year, and a beautiful work it is. VII. (Athenæum, Dec. 24, 1831.) Our publishers' shops are now more frequented —booksellers are receiving orders—the columns of the newspapers are filling with advertisements of books; and though these festive times of Christmas interpose a little in business matters, we cannot but perceive that literature has rallied and gives token of recovering much of its original vigour. We hear that the next numbers of the magazines, both north and south, will show that the national love of elegance is reviving; we cannot, however, look for a full development of the publishers' plans of the next campaign till the publication of the Quarterly, and Edinburgh, and Westminster Reviews. VIII. (Letter from Rev. Thomas Frognall Dibden, Oct. 31, 183 I.) I paid my eleventh and last visit to the renowned publisher of the Quarterly Review. I have long considered Mr. Murray as the greatest “family ’’ man in Europe, and was not surprised to find him surrounded by an extensive circle of little ones. A family man is usually a cheerful man ; but the note of despondency was to be heard even here. The Quarterly Review was, however, in full plumage, winging its way, and commanding the attention of an unabated crowd of admirers. Lord Byron was also to come forth in a new dress—shorter, and less flowing, but  ## p. 217 (#231) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 217 well fitting, brilliant, and attractive. So far, so good; yet the taste for literature was ebbing. Men wished to get for five, what they knew they could not obtain for fifteen shillings. The love of quartos was well-nigh extinct, in spite of the efforts of a neighbouring forty-eight horse power engine, to restore that form to its usual fashion and importance.—Bibliophobia, p. 31. *- a. -- a- - - THE ENGLISH DIALECT DICTIONARY. HIS dictionary will be edited by Mr. Joseph Wright, M.A., Ph.D., deputy professor of comparative philology in the University of Oxford. The treasurer is Professor Skeat, Litt.D., LL.D. The following is from the circular recently issued. Some of our readers will, perhaps, be ready to help in the way herein pointed out : “The dictionary will include, so far as is possible, the complete vocabulary of all dialect words which are still in use or are known to have been in use at any time during the last 200 years. All words occurring in the literary lan- guage, and the dialects, but with some local peculiarity of meaning in the latter, will also be included. On the other hand, all words which merely differ from the literary language in pro- nunciation, but not in meaning, will be rigidly excluded, as belonging entirely to the province of grammar and not to that of lexicography. It will also contain (I) the exact geographical area over which each dialect word extends, together with quotations and references to the sources from which the word has been obtained ; (2) the exact pronunciation in each case according to a simple phonetic scheme, specially formulated for the purpose; (3) the etymology so far as relates to the immediate source of each word. “During the last twenty years a great number of people in all parts of England have been co- operating to collect the material necessary for the compilation of a large and comprehensive Dictionary of English Dialects, based upon scien- tific principles. It was also with this express object in view that the English Dialect Society was started in 1873, which up to the end of 1893 has published seventy volumes, all of which, so far as is advisable, will be incorporated in the dictionary. In addition to the great amount of material sent in from unprinted sources, hundreds of dialect glossaries and works containing dialect words have been read and excerpted for the purposes of the dictionary. I have already in my possession considerably over a million slips— about a ton in weight—each containing the source with quotation, date, and county. The slips for the letter S alone weigh nearly 2 cwt. It has cost those interested in this grand and glorious work, several hundred pounds to get the material roughly arranged in alphabetical order. Pro- fessor Skeat, myself, and other specialists—both at home and abroad—are of opinion that the time has come when it is urgently necessary to begin to edit for press the vast amount of material already collected, because in a work of this nature delay is dangerous, and every year will render it more and more difficult to obtain accurate infor- mation about the exact pronounciation of dialect words; so rapidly is pure dialect speech dis- appearing from our midst, that in a few years it will be almost impossible to get accurate informa- tion upon difficult points. Hence it has been decided to begin the publication of the dictionary next year if possible. “But much as has already been accomplished in collecting material, much still remains to be done before the staff of assistants and myself can begin our long and arduous task. I therefore appeal most earnestly to my fellow-countrymen for further help, to enable us to make the material as complete as possible before we begin to pre- pare the work for press. Two or three hundred additional workers could in a very short time furnish us with all the material which still remains to be gleaned from printed and other sources. When this appeal becomes widely known, there will surely be no difficulty in obtain- ing the help we require ; for, as was pointed out in a former report of the Dialect Dictionary: “It will be nothing short of a reproach and a disgrace to us as Englishmen if we let a true and genuine part of our national speech die out in our time without an effort to preserve and hand it down to posterity. Such an effort we are making. It would argue a sad want of public spirit if Englishmen were to evince no interest in our labours, and let them languish for want of material support.’” *—- - - r- - - BOOK TALK. N the verses by the Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bell quoted in our last number there are three printer's errors. In the last line but one of the second stanza, “ hears no strain'' should be “hears our strain.” In the third stanza, “ Arethusa '’ should have been printed “Arethuse;” and in the line following, “with look of love * should be “with looks of love.” “X. Y. Z. and other Poems” presents itself in a garb that suggests the influence of “The Yellow Book.” There is a black serpent in a  ## p. 218 (#232) ############################################ 218 THE AUTHOR. green ground and a yellow sun, conventionally presented, on a black ground. The poems are by the Rev. John Lascelles. The publishers are the Leadenhall Press. They are religious verses, and very remarkable for their strength and originalty. They are sometimes even startling. Every poet must choose his own vehicle, and perhaps Mr. Lascelles has chosen the form which suits him best. One may ask, however, if the ruggedness is not sometimes a little forced. Here is the concluding poem : What matters it, if men remember me, When I have gone to live among the stars; In some fair home where earthly frets and jars Have ceased to vex my soul P and I can see The deepest depths of truth; my vision free From earth's distortions; and from all that mars The intercourse of souls; when God unbars The golden gates of Immortality. What matter if men read me through and through ; And talk of me when I am but a name, And all I love have gone to join the just P What matters it P But for the good I do, No more than if they reverently came, In after years—and stooped and kissed the dust. Mr. George Cotterel is another new poet. His verses are published by David Nutt. Mr. Cotterell is among other things a story-teller in verse, It will be unexpected if he, or some other poet, should succeedin reviving the lostart of story- telling in verse. There are several stories in these volumes. The story of “Natham,” of “Constance,” and that called “Violets.” Mr. Cotterell has also told dramatically the story of Arethusa and the story of Galatea. The last-named begins as follows: Sore-smitten, my shepherd, my dearest, Struck down and for me ! There is none of all now that thou fearest, None like unto thee. * There is none with thy strength and thy sweetness, Though lovers remain In love with thy dear love's completeness, Nor will be again. But thy face was a mark for his madness, Thy love for his hate, The monster that envied our gladness, And compassed thy fate : And all day in all desolate places, I bemoan thee and weep, Afar from thy loving embraces Astray like thy sheep. “The Confessions of a Poet ’’ is a book which has been lying on our table for two months. It is a volume of verse by Mr. F. Harald Williams (Hutchinson and Co.). The preface, which is amusing, concerns the critics. For instance, one of them declared that he would not dare to ask in a respectable shop for a book with such an improper name as 'Twiat Kiss and Lip. (!) One looks at the title from every point of view, and yet one cannot possibly see what and where is the impropriety of it. Then the author com- plains of the garbled review, the dishonest review, and, above all, of the crowded review, where one or two reviewers have to discuss a dozen books in a single week—sometimes a dozen in a single column. Again, he calls attention to the directly opposite opinions on his book. Here are three : “Extraordinary skill and felicity in versifica- tion.” “Mere doggerel passing human scansion and comprehension.” “Accurate rhythm and perfect versification.” Of course these opinions contradict each other flatly. In these columns criticism of a poet is not attempted. The most that we can do is to let a poet speak for himself, and to state what he presents. The volume is large, containing 500 pages of verse in small print. The poet is fluent : perhaps he would do better to remember that a busy world cannot find time to read through too bulky a volume. The following is the opening stanza of “The Land of Nod ‘’’: The stream of quiet life goes smoothly on, In sunshine and in shade, Without a check as it has ever gone, While blossoms form and fade. And scarce a ripple breaks the eventide Of labour touched with tears, And modest hopes whose sober colours hide The face of human fears. Deep down below, like an uncovered corpse That yet no burial earns Or decent rest, and with the current warps, And turns. We learn from the Athenaeum that Mrs. Thackeray Ritchie thinks of bringing out an edition of her father's works, with biographical notes. Also that a large-paper edition of Mr. George Meredith’s “Tale of Chloe" will be issued by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden. Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., of 14, Parliament-street, S.W., are issuing a new library of fiction entitled “The Acme Library,” and consisting of volumes by well-known authors of about 20,000 words in length. The first issue is a story by Dr. Conan Doyle relating to mesmeric influence. In the book list for November the initials of “A. Z.” were given as the author of “A Drama in Dutch " (Heinemann and Co.). They should have been “Z. Z.” Among the new books in last month's list should have been inserted a “Manual of Addresses to Communicants,” by the Rev. W. Frank Shaw (Mowbray and Co. 3s. 6d.). Miss Gerda Grass's novel, “Phil Hawcroft’s Son,” which has been running in the Newcastle  ## p. 219 (#233) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2 I 9 Weekly Chronicle, has now come to an end. It has attracted considerable attention, and has already been translated into Swedish. It will be probably published in the spring. Dr. K. Lentzner has delivered a course of four lectures on Danish Literature, under the patron- age of H.R.H. the Princess of Wales. Mrs. F. Percy Cotton, writing under the name of Ellis Walton, has published (Elliott Stock) a new volume of verse, called “Some Love Songs, and other Lyrics.” These verses have received highly laudatory reviews in Sunday papers. The interest recently created in book plates is quite wonderful. Apart from Mr. Egerton Castle's comprehensive work on the subject, there are half a dozen books on the subject issued by the same publishers (H. Grevel and Co.). These are: “Art in Book Plates,” illustrated by forty-two original ex Libris, designed in the style of the German ; “Little Masters of the Sixteenth Century,” from the ex Libris collection from the Ducal Palace of Wolfenbüttel; “Rare old Plates of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century;” “Em- blemata Nobilitatis; ” “Emblemata Secularia;” “Initials;” and a “Modern Dance of Death.” In addition to this may be noted “American Book Plates” and “English Book Plates,” both pub- lished by Messrs. Bell. The “Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier’ ought to be read by everybody who loves pure literature and the life of a man devoted to the best and highest forms of literature accord- ing to his lights. It will cost you 18s., and it is published by Sampson Low, Marston, and Co. But if you go to a free library you can get it for nothing. “Poste Restante,” a novel by C. Y. Har- greaves, 3 vols. (A. and C. Black). The reader may make a note of it for his next circulating library list. Mrs. Croker's new novel, “Mr. Jervis: a Romance of the Indian Hills,” is just published, in three volumes—the old three-decker not dead yet—by Chatto and Windus. Austin Dobson’s “Eighteenth Century Wignettes” (second series), is, like everything of this most delightful writer and poet, charming and interesting. The Fortnightly Review under the new editor is getting on so well that last month it was found necessary to issue a second edition. “St. Andrews and Elsewhere * is A. K. H. B.'s new volume (Longmans). We all know one A. K. H. B. Some of us have known him and been pleased to read him for thirty years. We recommend Mr. Arthur Morrison’s “Tales of Mean Streets” (Methuen) to everybody. They are better than photographs; because the photograph shows everything. This author selects, arranges, and produces an artistic whole. His work is the best kind of realism. Christabel Coleridge will begin a new serial in the Sunday Magazine for January. There will be two serial stories in Good JWords for 1895, by S. R. Crockett and by W. Clark Russell. The author of “The Yellow Aster’” has pro- duced a new novel, in three volumes, called “Children of Circumstance.” It has gone into a fourth edition. (Hutchinson.) “The New Note” (same publisher) is advertised as in the fourth edition, and Rita's “Peg the Rake ’’ is advertised in the second edition. These announcements are highly satisfactory, but one would submit that they are less impressive than if the numbers of each edition were given. A good many publishers have “select ’’ and “standard” and other “ libraries' of fiction. Therefore we need not be surprised to hear that Messrs. Macmillan are going to have a series of “Illustrated Standard Novels.” The books are to be well illustrated, and there will be a preface or introduction to every volume, thus forming a pleasant and perhaps remunerative job to as many literary men as there are volumes. The books are what we all know—Marryatt, Miss Edgeworth, Susan Ferrier, and so forth. Mr. Ulick Burke is about to produce his long- promised work on Spain. The publisher will be Longmans. It will be curious to see whether the old interest in things Spanish will be revived by this important book. Of late years our literature has been almost silent on Spain and the Spanish. “Menzikoff, or the Danger of Wealth,” a story founded on fact, has been translated from the German of Gustav Nieritz by Mrs. Alexander Rerr, and published by the Religious Tract Society. The book in the original made consider- able stir and has had a large circulation. Miss Julia Agnes Fraser has just issued a novel in three volumes, called “Shibrick the Drummer.” The publishers are Messrs. Remington and Co. Among the many new books of verse which have appeared of late is one by Marcus S. C. Rickards, author of “Creation's Hope,” “Songs of Universal Life,” &c., called “Poems of Life and Death,” published by George Bell and Sons. They are all short poems, ranging in length from one page to three. The poet is always  ## p. 220 (#234) ############################################ 22O THE AUTHOR. pleasing and unaffected. His song is neither complicated nor obscure; perhaps it is sometimes too simple. The themes that inspire him are old-fashioned—The Nightingale, Roses, Violets, Sweet Peas, the New Moon, a Hedge Sparrow, a Curlew, and so on. Those who like simplicity in style, purity of thought, and rippling melody will find these qualities in Mr. Marcus Rickards. Mr. C. J. Wills has produced another book on Persia which is even more interesting than his “Land of the Lion and the Sun.” It is called “Behind an Eastern Weil,” and is an account of life as it really is for the women of that far off country — perhaps the farthest “off” at this moment of any country under the sun–centainly a long way more distant than China, Japan, or even, thanks to recent startling developments, Rorea itself. It is published by Blackwood and Sons. Messrs. Chatto and Windus have published a translation of the Memoirs of the Duchesse de Gontant. The period covered is from 1773 to 1836. The Duchess was gouvernante of the Children of France during the Restoration. The memoirs, therefore, cover the whole of the most interesting period of French history. All that can be said about the book amounts to this, that once taken up it will not be laid down or exchanged for another book until it is finished. “Norley Chester”—Madame or Monsieur— has published a little book of sonnets (Elliot Stock) called “Dante Wignettes.” There are twenty-five of them. The sonnets have the true ring of verse, and the true enthusiasm for Dante. Again, the three-volume novel is not dead yet. Mr. C. Y. Hayman brings out his new work (A. and C. Black) in this form. “Poste Restante” is its title. You who still belong to circulating libraries make a note of it. Messrs. Ward and Downey have in hand a novel by R. H. Sherard, entitled “Jacob Niemand.” It will be published in the spring. Mr. R. H. Sherard is engaged on a life of Sarah Bernhardt, which will be published next season by Edward Arnold. Mr. F. B. Doveton's new work will appear shortly. It is a book of Prose Sketches, meta- physical, descriptive, and social, with tales and lay sermons. The publisher is Elliot Stock. “Beyond the Dreams of Avarice,” by the editor of this paper, will be published before the end of January (Chatto and Windus) in one volume, price 6s. > c: CORRESPONDENCE, I.—PERSONAL ExPERIENCE. T is fair to give publicity to both sides of the question, so, as an author of some years standing, I should like to state that my experience of editors is very unlike that of “An Author’’ published in your last issue. I hav met with great kindness and consideration from many editors; indeed, some have become quite friendly, and when they refuse articles— which they are often obliged to do for want of room, or because they do not require what I send them—they frequently write a kind, courteous note with their refusal. But I never eapect this from them, knowing how busy they are and how precious is their time. On the other hand, I should never trouble them with the information that anyone else was “enchanted ” with my works. Firstly, because I am not fortunate enough to have an “enchanted ” public ; and, secondly, because I am sure the editor would not care to hear it even if I had But, as a body, should we not be happier if we raised our ideal of the noble profession to which we belong P. There are very few great writers in the world, and only a very small pro- portion of these can be found in England. Even if writers are born with talent or even with genius they have much labour to go through before they can produce a classic, and most of us are far from producing classics. But once let us raise our ideal and we shall not be surprised when that which falls far short of it, is often returned with- out thanks! However, if we have satisfied our- selves that our work is good, or as good as we can make it, do not let us be cast down if the poem, or the tale, or the novel is rejected ten times over. In the end good work will find a publisher. Popularity does not always mean that the writer who has it is a great writer, indeed, for a young author to make a “hit ’’ with a first book is almost a curse. If we place our ideal high we can then be our own judges, and we need not be dependent on the good or the bad opinion of hard-worked editors. Above all things let us not tout for reviews | I have never done so, yet my work has been noticed quite as much as it deserves; indeed, I have sometimes received more praise than my work merited. I must own, however, to possessing a Jow opinion of second-rate reviewers, who often do not read the books they review, or else tell the story straight through without one word of critical comment. Still, their strange mistakes make us laugh, and their blame cannot injure an ideal, as they possess none of their own.  ## p. 221 (#235) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 22 I Further, if we accuse some publishers of certain unfair dealings, let us also look at home and strive to keep our own profession free from smallness or meanness. Let us set our faces agai st log rolling, cringing to obtain favourable reviews, or praising poor work hoping to get praise in return. If we want good money let us give good work, but especially let us give good work even if we get no money at all. Det us avoid pot boilers and accept poverty if necessary rather than lower the standard in our own eyes and in the eyes of the few who can see. If I may, let me again repeat Mr. Sherard’s quotation. It will materially help us when, after having striven hard, we find our work returned to us by editors with or without thanks. “J’en ay assez de peu,” répondit il. “J’en ay assez d’un, J'em ay assez de pas wºn.” ESME STUART. II.-Nov ELISTS AND THEIR CHARACTERS. I had imagined that novelists need no longer fear being held responsible for the opinions and actions of their leading characters. But I have just had singular proof that the old-fashioned idea of “hero * dies hard in England. Unfortunately I am rather fond of taking immature characters and trying to develop them —as we are most of us developed—through mis- takes and failures. In preparing my last novel (the eighteenth I have written) for the press, I altered the original title, “Norman Colvill’s Blunders ” to “A Modern Quixote.” I thought that the touch of kindly satire which I meant to run through the story would be implied in the name “Quixote.” The A. B. C. of my art, of course, prevented me from discussing my character or writing my own opinions about him. But on the title-page I wrote Bacon’s axiom, “Goodness admits of no excess, but error.” And as it was necessary for me to write a short preface to apologise for the staleness of certain passages in a book, which was written in 1893, I took the opportunity to refer to “blundering and mistaken efforts,” made with the best intentions. Certain chapters were even headed “Nemesis,” “The Punishment Begins, ’ &c., and towards the end of the third volume the Quixote, who has been compelled to carry out his theories to the bitter end, deplores his own failure, and acknowledges his own priggishness in the earlier Oxonian stage. Imagine my amazement when critic after critic speaks of “Mrs. Spender’s Hero,” “ Mrs. Spender’s Polemics.” Personally I hate polemics, but my opinions or my individuality should surely be kept as much as possible in that back- ground from which, leading a li’e of retirement, I can only express my surprise. LILY SPENDER. III.-WRITERS OF SONGs. The time having come for the rights and interests of musical composers to receive a share of consideration, which holds out fair hope of redress, may I venture, as a lyric writer of at least twenty-five years’ standing, to put in a plea, for the writers of words for music? A great many songs, with words written by me, have been sung, year after year, by noted singers, not only in London concert halls, but all over the English-speaking world. Yet, beyond the small fee paid for the words at the time of publication, I have never received one penny. |Many of the music publishers now send to the writers a form of receipt for the fee, to which a special clause is attached that “all rights in the words, whether for public performance or not, in all parts of the world, shall belong absolutely and for ever to the publisher.” By signing this receipt the writer, of course, loses all further interest in his property. Public singers receive large royalties on songs sung by them, such royalties being ostensibly paid by the publishers, but in which payment the composers must in many cases share by foregoing a part of their own very small profit. I am ignorant of these matters, and should like to ask why the singer is so much more sufficiently paid than the writer or composer ; He must manifestly sing something, and is amply paid by the public for doing so. Would it not seem a more just arrangement that writer, com- poser, and singer should each receive a share of the royalties paid by the publishers ? Might not some other form of receipt be adopted by music publishers, the terms of which would deal less hardly with the composers and writers of songs P T.YRIC. IV.-PLAGIARISM OR MEMORY. Synonymous expressions of thought are common in literature, but clear instances of unconscious plagiarism are rare. The following lines are similar word for word: And yet We lost it in this daily jar and fret, And now live idle in a vague regret. JOHN DAVIDSON. It was, and yet We lost it in this daily jar and fret, And now live idle in a vague regret. ADELAIDE A. PROCTER. A young poet in the full fire of genius and passion for his ideal cannot be too careful in  ## p. 222 (#236) ############################################ 222 A UTHOR. THE passing his proofs, or he may easily appropriate unconsciously the lines of others. I may mention that, prior to publishing my first volume—“Lord Harrie and Leila, In Memory of H.R.H. the Prince Consort, and other poems ”—I carefully read through my ideals—Byron, Shelley, and Keats—ere I would allow it to pass the press. It was well I did so, as I found it necessary to expunge certain lines which had crept in through unconscious instances of memory, which would otherwise have gone forth as my own, and for which my critics would not probably have spared me. H. GEORGE HELLON. W.—STANDARD WORKs. I have often thought that there is an injustice in the copyright falling practically largely into the heretofore publisher's hands after copyright ceases. Would it be possible to have some such clause as “all stereos to become the property of the author's heirs and assigns on expiration of copyright,” and such stereos to be used for their benefit by the literary syndicate of authors or others ? As it is now, the publishers gain any advantage by cessa- tion of rights, while it is the public or the Society of Authors which ought so to gain. H. S. VI.-KIND OR JUST P The editor of an American periodical was robbed of his tin box, not full of bonds and cash, as the wicked thief imagined, but of MSS. and sketches. Bear the loss who should P I fancy many editors of English magazines would say “The authors, of course ; we are not responsible if foolish people send us their MSS.” Not so my American editor. The periodical in Question is not rich, but it will bear the loss and compensate the authors. This is not only kind, but courteous—and just. S. B. *. VII.-HospitaLS AND PROOFs. Apropos of a suggestion in one of your recent numbers that authors would do a good deed by sending their proof sheets when useless to hospitals, I should be glad of the medium of your correspondence column to make a similar suggestion. Books sent to magazines and newspapers for review should never be sold, and it is clearly the duty of everyone who values a fair field to authors to protest against such a custom. There is an excellent statement in the editorial notices of The Unknown World to this effect : “The editor of The Unknown World, as himself a writer of books, and the publishers, as per- sonally interested in sustaining the commercial value of new books, resent the prevailing custom of selling review copies immediately after publi- cation, and too often without notice at all. All books sent to this magazine for review will remain in the custody of the proprietors, and will not be parted with under any circumstances.” This has suggested to me two propositions, which are, as far as I know, original. The first is that all review copies should be bound in paper as French novels are published. The second, that the editors of magazines and news- papers could make a good use of these copies if they sent them to such libraries as the Peoples’ Palace library, or the Working Men's Club libraries of the Federation of Working Men's Social Clubs, or of clubs connected with Toynbee Hall, or school and college missions. Besides these, hospitals and free libraries would greatly benefit by such a system. JOHN WYATT. VIII.-EDITORIAL AMENITIES. Case I. Recently I submitted a lengthy MS. for approval to the editor of a well-known, high- class paper. In a week it was returned with the usual note of non-acceptance ; torn, inked, and dirtied, every page of it. The result: The MS. (which was type-written) would have to be re- typed at the cost of 8s. or 9s. before it could be offered elsewhere. It was perfectly clean and new when sent to the editor in question, in an envelope. I wrote a note of remonstrance. Answer: “The editor much regrets if the MS. should have become slightly soiled (good this ; it was simply filthy), but thinks Mr. Z. must have been mis- taken as to its condition when sent to the office of the magazine. He is unable to offer Mr. Z. any compensation.” Case 2. A few weeks ago I forwarded by request a MS. for the consideration of another well-known magazine, inclosing ample stamps for its return, if unsuitable, under cover. Result: MS. returned coverless, the two last pages having been turned back and glued so as to form an impromptu wrapper, a half-penny stamp being attached in place of the two penny Ones sent by me to cover postage. A pouring wet day resulting in the MS., thus insufficiently protected, being soaked through and through, necessitating almost entire re-copying. Case 3. Two years ago an old established paper accepted a MS. of mine upon an archaeo- logical subject. At the expiry of nearly two years from date of acceptance I wrote to inquire why the contribution had not been used. Answer: The editor could not make use of it as it was “full of inaccuracies.” I naturally asked for  ## p. 223 (#237) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 223 somewhat fuller information upon the subject of my alleged inaccuracies. After some time had elapsed the MS. was returned with the detailed information for which I had asked. Upon going through the list, and consulting the best known authorities on the subject, I found that every one of the editor's statements, contravening mine in the article, was incorrect. I wrote to point this out, but have not yet received any reply, though several weeks have elapsed. I presume that I am powerless to insist on publication, and have lost the chance of the article appearing else- where. It has been paid for (a cheque was sent me three or four months after acceptance) but publication would have proved more valuable to me in more ways than one. Surely these are somewhat “hard ” cases, though by no means isolated ones. C. H. IX.—THE LAUREATESHIP. I think your correspondent “A Prose Writer’” has done a good deed in again calling attention to the prolonged vacancy of the office of Poet Laureate, though I can hardly agree with him that the whole fraternity of authors is being slighted. In some well-known books of reference, which purport to be “carefully corrected at the different offices,” the Poet Laureate is shown to occupy a position, in the Lord Chamberlain's Department, immediately above the Barge Master and the Keeper of the Swans. The Barge Master may be able to say, in the words of “The Bard,” In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes. And the Keeper of the Swans may be in the habit of hearing exquisite notes when one of his charges dies; but does close association with them confer any special honour on a poet P Has not the time come either for abolishing the office or for setting it in a more dignified position ? The duties of the post are very uncertain. The poet may have to celebrate many events in one year, or he may have no events to celebrate during many years. In either case the spectacle is not very edifying. Genius writing to order One year, and waiting for orders the next. Pegasus sometimes at grass, sometimes kicking in his unaccustomed harness. Why not dis- establish the Laureateship, and let volunteers rise to the occasion when occasion arises P Palmam qui meruit ferat. Give the laurel wreath, and the honour, and, if necessary, the cheque, to the best man after the celebration of each event. The decision should be by universal suffrage and the ballot, because no poet could be worthy unless under- standed of the people.—Your obedient servant, II. X.—NEOLOGISMs. I observe that a controversy is proceeding in the Westminster Gazette as to the double mean- ing of “ancestor.” Is not a single word wanted to explain what is meant by what is frequently but incorrectly called “collateral ancestor P’’ Could not such a word be invented P Then as to “up to dateness.” I have seen this word used in the Referee, but I believe it to be considered as generally unfit for serious prose. But by what word or what number of words can its obvious meaning be expressed ? Surely the sooner the word, or a better single word, if such can be found, is admitted into serious prose the better. J. M. LELY. XI.-CONTINUATION BY ANOTHER HAND. The following correspondence sent to us by Messrs. Harper and Brothers is published with the permission of Mr. Justin McCarthy: I Harper and Brothers, Publishers, Franklin-square, New York. Nov. 27, 1894. DEAR SIR,-We have read with interest the remarks in The Author, issued the first of this month, upon the subject “Continuation by Another Hand,” elicited by the publication by a firm in this city of a new edition of Mr. Justin McCarthy’s “A History of Our Own Times,” to which supplementary chapters have been added by Mr. G. Mercer Adam, bringing the work down to 1894. Inasmuch as we are the publishers of the American authorised edition of this work, and as the sale of our edition will be injuriously affected by this unauthorised reprint, we felt it our duty to call Mr. McCarthy’s attention to the matter several weeks ago. Our edition of the work was published before the International Copyright Law was passed, and was therefore without protection against un- authorised reprints; nevertheless, the sale has been considerable. We have already paid Mr. McCarthy on account of royalties representing a sale of many thousand sets. Mr. McCarthy appreciated the interest which we took in the matter, and replied in a most cordial and characteristic letter. We inclose herewith copies of our letter to Mr. McCarthy, and his reply. Yours very truly, HARPER AND BROTHERs.  ## p. 224 (#238) ############################################ 224 THE AUTHOR. II. Oct. I I, 1894. DEAR SIR,--In the London letter to the New York Times, published on the 7th inst., the inclosed paragraph appeared:—“We fully sym- pathise with you in the sense of injury raised in your mind by the publication by the United States Book Company of Mr. G. Mercer Adam's edition of your ‘History of Our Own Times.’ That edition is an injury to us as well as to you, for it will maturally affect the sale of our edition. We inclose here with the advertisement of the book from the New York Evening Post, and we shall send you a copy through our London Office.” The wording of the paragraph in the Times was very unfortunate. The statement that it was “sad enough to get next to nothing for the original work when it appeared” is misleading, for it might be understood as reflecting upon us, who were the original and authorised publishers of the work in this country. We assume, of course, that the unfortunate paragraph was not the result of any statement of yours, but was simply the reflection of the correspondent him- self, who was ignorant of the fact that we had paid you royalty upon the sale of our edition of your book from the time of publication. The total payments of royalty represent, we find, the sale of many thousand sets. To this should be added the sum paid for the authorisation of the Franklin- square Library edition of the work. Under the circumstances this is a very substantial “next to nothing,” as the Times correspondent would promptly concede. We have no doubt that he would be only too glad to correct any false impression which his letter may have created—or you may prefer to do this yourself. By the way, the enterprising Mr. Adam is a Canadian, and was formerly a publisher in Toronto. Would it be advisable, in view of Mr. Adam’s action, for you to prepare a third volume, bringing the book down to the present date P While writing it occurs to us to inquire when you intend to complete your “History of the Four Georges,” two volumes of which we have published. It is now several years since the second volume was issued, and inquiries are constantly made for the final two volumes. If this is delayed too long it is possible that some “literary philanthropist” may undertake to com- plete the work for you, or enter upon the same field. We are, dear sir, yours very truly, HARPER AND BROTHER8. Justin McCarthy, Esq., M.P. III. 73, Eaton-terrace, S.W., London, Oct. 26, 1894. DEAR SIRs, I have to acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of your letter of the I Ith of this month. You are quite right in assuming that I knew nothing of the paragraph in the Tondon letter to the New York Times. I never saw it or heard of it until Ireceived your letter. 1 should think that what the writer meant was that, owing to the state of the law as regards copyright then, I did not receive from the United States anything like the amount which I might have received under other conditions. But, so far as your firm is concerned, I can only say that you have always dealt with me in the fairest, most honourable, and even most generous manner. I was surprised at the time, and am still surprised, that you were able to pay me so much for the history, seeing that numbers of publishers of a different order were issuing all manner of cheaper editions. When first you and I began to have dealings together, there was an honourable under- standing among American publishers that if a foreign author selected or succeeded in obtaining some particular American firm as his publishers, the other publishers would accept the arrange- ment and not interfere. This was really a copy- right by good feeling and common understand- ing. But before my history came to be published there were new firms in the field, and copyright of that sort was brought to an end. It was therefore, as I have said, a wonder to me that you were able to pay me as much for a “History of Our Own Times” as you actually did. Our business relations extend back over a quarter of a century. I have nothing to speak but praise in regard to the firm of Harper and Brothers. I certainly mean to bring the “History of Our Own Times” up to date—whenever I get a chance —and to finish the “Four Georges” too. I hope that Messrs. Harper and Brothers may be the publishers of both. Lately I have been absorbed in politics and unable to do much literary work, but I hope for quieter times. Of course, you are free to make any use of this letter that seems to you desirable. With kindest regards, very truly yours, JustTN McCARTHY. Messrs. Harper and Brothers. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 08 (January 1895) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 08 (January 1895) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1895-01-01-The-Author-5-8 publications The Author