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Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1898-08-01 Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages Page range in volume 57–80 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18980801 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Tthe Butbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Tol. IX.—No. 3.] AUGUST 1, 1898. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the Committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, Sec. THE 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. GENERAL MEMORANDA. FOR some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &c, for the guidance of the reader. It has been objected as regards these warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons. It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on his business in his own way. Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be observed in an agreement. There are three methods of dealing with literary property:— I. That of selling it outright. This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent. II. A profit-sharing agreement. In this Case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duction forms a part. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements VOL. IX. in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise- ments. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor! (7.) To stamp the agreement. III. The royalty system. In this system, which has opened the door to a most amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both "idea. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Headers con also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what it gives the publisher as well as himself. It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a great success for the book, and that very few books indeed attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is always this uncertainty of literary property that, although the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not known what will bo their maximum. Therefore every author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a success which will not, probably, come at all; but which may come. The four points which the Society has always demanded from the outset are:— (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement means. (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld. (3.) That there shall be no secret profits. (4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for exchanged advertisements and that all discount* shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author ma - rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to the secretary before he signs it. p 2  ## p. 58 (#70) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. |j> VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive Xli advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of hie business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is snch 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 snch 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 nouses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society yon 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. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of every- thing important to literature that yon may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con- fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1) To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Communications for The Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21 st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order ia 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 present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, .sc. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? 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 ont a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the following warning. 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 oonduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years? "Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' requested to note that the oost of binding has advanoed 1 per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago. Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly correct: as near as is possible. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the " Cost of Production" for advertising. Of course, we have not inclnded 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. NOTICES. 111HE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the I Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the oost 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 Author 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? FROM THE COMMITTEE. THE Chairman has resolved to postpone call- ing a meeting of the Council to consider the nature of the claims advanced in the draft agreements issued b_v the Publishers' Asso. ciation until October after the summer holidays.  ## p. 59 (#71) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 59 LITERARY PROPERTY. The Pttblishers' Draft Agreements. I. THE following letter has been received by the secretary from Sir Frederick Pol- lock :— "Dear Mr. Thring,—I was preparing an answer to your letter asking for opinions on the draft forms of agreement issued by the Pub- lishers' Association, when I saw the comments thereon in the current number of the Athenseum, a journal not suspected, I believe, of undue par- tiality to authors as against publishers. Those comments appear to me to suffice for the present. I feel bound to add that no draft at all like these forms has ever been proposed to me in practice, either on my own behalf or as acting for others. "I hope the Committee of the Society will not follow the mistake of the Publishers' Association utting forward other forms of its own, but rather obtain permission to publish, with the omission of names, examples of actual agree- ments which have been approved by the Com- mittee or the Secretary. "My own experience is that, with a reasonable amount of mutual trust, very simple forms are enough. "Yours sincerely, "F. Pollock." "13, Old-Square, Lincoln's-inn. "July 11, 1898." II. To the Editor of The Author. I have seen the draft contracts. Nothing that you, or The A uthor, or the whole Society has ever done to, or said about, the publisher will condemn him half as thoroughly as his own notions of fairness set forth for him, by his own lawyer, in his own way. Can one say more than that? Rudyard Kipling. Eottingdean, July 23, 1898. III. Every author in England should be deeply grateful to the Sub-Committee of the Authors' Society and " W. B." for their masterly exposure of the schemes of the Publishers' Association as set forth in certain draft agreements published at length in The Author of July 1. I have pub- lished books by almost every method provided for by these agreements, and can indorse the criti- cisms to which these agreements have been sub- jected. Many men reading these criticisms would no doubt say, "Ah! These are only fears of what may happen. Our good champions are timorous." But, as a matter of fact, authors by the score—I may say by the hundred—have already entered into such agreements, and have been, not to put too fine a point upon it, fleeced. A publisher of repute once said very candidly to an author who was sitting in his office, care- fully working out a form of agreement, " My dear Sir, it really doesn't matter how careful you are. If I want to swindle you I can." That being so, it seems to me that as those firms who are respon- sible for these draft agreements are evidently desirous of taking an unfair advantage of authors, we authors should know their names and care- fully avoid having any dealings with them. The time is rapidly coming when authors whose works have a monetary value will in self- defence combine together and publish without the assistance of the gentlemen who charge them 10 per cent. for office expenses, account only for twelve books out of every thirteen sold, do not account at all for "overs (copies printed on the additional sheets of paper found in every ream), and who, in "half-profit" agreements, make secret profits. More than one author of repute, commencing with the veteran novelist, Miss Braddon, has already given up the old publish- ing systems and embarked on the far simpler, and very much more satisfactory, method of sending MSS. to the printer, and the quires when printed to the binder, and placing the books when ready in the hands of a large distributing agent. This system leaves no possibility of fraud, unless the distributing agent took the very serious step of having a special edition of the book printed for himself, which is not very likely; the author knows what number of copies are printed and bound; he knows what they cost; he gets the advantage of all discounts, and he knows exactly what is sold. What method could be simpler? "What method could be more profitable to the author? There is much nonsense talked about the value of a publisher's name to a book. The publisher's name may aid the young beginner to the sale of 100 copies, for Messrs. Smith, Brown, Jones, and Robinson, unfortunate booksellers, who are perhaps greatly in debt to certain firms, can hardly refuse to take a copy or two when the traveller goes round and presses them upon him; but as regards the author who has made a name I do not believe the publisher's imprint is of the least assistance. If the public like a book, and want it, they buy it whoever may be the pub- lisher, and the booksellers are eager to stock books which they feel sure will sell. I would strongly advise authors to on no account enter into a publishing agreement based  ## p. 60 (#72) ############################################## 6o THE AUTHOR. on the half-profit system. This was very rightly termed by an honest publisher of my acquaintance "a swindle," and invariably works most unfairly against the author. If the author is supposed to pay half the cost and receive half the profits, he as a rule unwittingly pays more than half the costs, and the publisher takes more than half the profits under the various pleas of office expenses, advertising in his own magazines, and so forth. Even where the publisher pays all expenses, and agrees to give the author half profits, he fre- quently makes the book appear in his account so costly that no profits are shown even when several thousand copies have been sold. To sell a book outright is a satisfactory arrange- ment, but if the author has a large circle of readers his most profitable course is unquestionably to pro- duce the book himself, and distribute it to the trade through the usual channels. There is nothing to be said against the royalty system, if the royalty is sufficient, is paid on every copy sold, and if the publisher renders true returns of sales, which, it is to be feared, is not always the case. But as regards the half-profit system, let us have none of it; it is a trap, and nothing but a trap. Experience. IV. I have read the Draft Agreements with sheer amazement. Can it be possible that a body of men, one or two at least of whom have always been accepted as honourable and upright men, are daring enough to endorse what appears to the world at large as simply a scheme of intended plunder? The Author has been outspoken enough—too outspoken at times in my former opinion. We now understand that nothing that has ever appeared in these columns has been too strong for the facts of the case. In the whole history of trade I know of nothing so hopelessly bad, so inexcusably and phenomenally grasping. The author creates a property—big or little. The publisher claims practically the right to the whole of it. He reserves the right by these agreements to take all—all. Whatever the success of the book the publisher may simply, if he likes (by clauses which Mr. Thring has so ably taught us to understand), take over everything. Above all things, the claim to dramatic rights seems to me the most impudent. Why, the drama is not the novel: it is the same story, or part of the same story, treated in a wholly different manner. I have tried, but ineffectually, to find some apparent or imaginary justification for this last shameless grab. There is none. It is simply an impudent attempt. The publisher cannot pre- tend to have done anything with or for the drama. Why does he not claim the very desk on which the novel was written? Let us go on our own way. Let us, above all things, take care that the knowledge of these agreements and their unscrupulous greed, and their determination to enslave literature, be known far and wide. A Novelist. V. In the comments made last month upon the Publishers' Agreements one or two points were omitted. Thus it has long been a grievance that advertisements are charged for when nothing is paid: advertisements in publishers' own organs and in exchanges. Some people call this practice by very ugly names: all people agree in calling it a trick unworthy of any house which calls itself honourable. Not a single word is said in the draft agreements against the practice. It is true that in one clause (p. 39; it is stated that the "expenses of production shall be taken to mean the actual cost of . . . and advertising" . . . but it is not provided that there shall be an audit of accounts: nor is it provided that the " actual cost" does not mean what the pub- lisher chooses to call the cost of advertising in his own papers. The chief reason of this grievance is that the practice enables a rogue to swamp the book with advertisements. Thus, if he spends .£20 on advertising it, he may, if he pleases, charge, in addition, say, .£3 a month in advertising it in his own magazines, and five times as much in adver- tising it in other magazines by exchange. So that his account might come in after a twelvemonth: £ s. d. Advertising 20 0 0 Do. in his own magazine 60 0 0 Do. in other magazines .. 180 0 0 260 0 0 This item would appear in a lump sum, without explanations. Of course so great a charge would be very unusual, but with the glorious experience before us who shall say what awaits us in the future? Another grievance not touched upon is the "correction" charge. It is commonly set down in ordinary agreements that the author shall be allowed so much a sheet. As he has no means of connecting money with corrections, he accepts, and very often pays the penalty in a large charge under this head. The new scheme makes matters worse. The author has to pay all charges for corrections exceeding 25 per cent. of the cost of composition. This is quite a new way of putting it, and leaves the author more muddled than ever. He does not know the cost of compo-  ## p. 61 (#73) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 61 sit ion: does not know how to connect corrections with that cost: he does not know what each correction may cost. Let us see what this may mean. Take the cost of composition at £2 10s. per sheet of 32 pp. That will probably appear in the account as .£3, because, when charges can be falsified with- out fear of detection, the baser kind will falsify them. The author is allowed 25 per cent., that is 15s. for corrections on each sheet of 32 pp. There are, say, ten sheets, or 320 pages. This makes £7 1 a*. It seems a handsome allowance, and if the book were typewritten first, it ought to be a great deal more than the author would want. But he knows nothing of what corrections mean: ]ierhaps he goes on altering, and improving, and running on, till he has run up a large bill, which in many cases is made a good deal larger still when the account comes in. W. B. VI. Will you allow me to call attention to a very important point in the Publishers' Agreements, namely, their silence on the question of advertise- ments. There is no trick more common or more in- defensible than that of charging for advertise- ments which are not paid for. For my own part I cannot read the draft agreements without feel- ing convinced that they have left the question open with deliberate intent to continue a practice denounced by the most distinguished lawyers. I have heard that one firm sweetly assures its customers that they only charge their authors half the tariff price for advertisements in their own organs. They say nothing, however, about exchanges. Nor do they say anything about the power which they keep in their own hands of advertising as largely as they please by displayed advertisement and whole pages in their own organs, or about exchanging as much as they please. I trust that the members of the Society are thoroughly alive to the enormity of these de- mands. Once Bitten, VII. I have sometimes thought that The Author was too hard upon publishers. I think so no longer. I am persuaded that you have never allowed a charge to be brought against them which is not fully justified by their own agreements, issued by their own Association, examined by their own counsel. What you have denounced in individual pub- lishers has been now accepted by themselves as true of publishers in association. They can no longer cry out upon The Author for exposing their tricks: they proclaim and confess their own greed—" We want all." Half profits, you show, may mean 85 per cent.; nay, it may mean anything more they please, because the percentages are kindly left open. A Member. VIII. [From the Athenseum, July 9.] The draft forms of agreement put forward by the Council of the Publishers' Association are not likely to meet with the approbation of authors; and it is difficult to suppose that their publica- tion is other than a mistake. One would almost think that they were a caricature by an em- bittered author of the demands of the typical publisher. The proposed royalty agreement hands over to the publisher all rights of produc- tion in the United States and the Continent, and deprives the author of his dramatic rights. He must not abridge his book, but the publisher may; and he is forbidden to revise it or alter it in any way except at the bidding of the publisher. The royalty is to be paid on thirteen as twelve, or twenty-five as twenty-four, at the discretion of the publisher! No author, we fancy, possessed of common sense would consent to such a bargain if he could help it, Then the agreement for sharing profits contains a clause that is quite inadmissible:— "The publisher shall account at the customary trade terms for all copies sold, but in cases where copies have been sold for export, or at rates below the customary trade terms, as remainders or other- wise, such copies shall be accounted for at the price realised." That is t < say, the publisher is to have the power of disposing, for any sum he may choose to name, of the joint property of himself and his temporary partner. The proposed agreement for publishing on commission is not so objectionable, but it, too, is unjust to the author, for it hands over to the publisher the entire managemeut of the sale of the book, although the author pays for it. No wonder Sir Walter Besant in The Author is jubilant. If the Association wished to convince men of letters generally that there is foundation for the hard things Sir Walter has said against the trade, it would hav,, been difficult to choose a more effectual method than the production of these agreements, which are supposed to be approved by the confederated publishers.  ## p. 62 (#74) ############################################## 62 7 HE AUTHOR. IX. [From the J'tiblishers' Circular, July 23.] As the result of a good deal of correspondence which has been going on of late between the Publishers' Association, the Booksellers' Associa- tion, the Authors' Society, &c., it was decided at the last meeting of the council of the Publishers' Association to invite representatives of the various bodies interested, including the Scotch associa- tions, to a conference, in the hope of being able to take a definite step in the direction of helping the lxioksellers. SCOTTISH BOOKSELLERS AND THE SOCIETY. THE booksellers of Scotland, following the example of those of the North of England, have organised themselves into an associa- tion. This was done at a meeting of the trade held in Edinburgh on June 28—Mr. Andrew Elliot, of that city, presiding. The following resolution was also adopted unanimously, on the motion of Mr. John Grant, Edinburgh, seconded by Mr. D. J. Knox (Smith and Sons), Glasgow :— That this meeting, having heard the Autboi a' report on the new scheme submitted by the Booksellers' Association, « ecords its gratification that the Aatbora' Society ban given its concent to it, accepts the scheme generally, and com- mends it to the favourable consideration of the Publishers' Association. THE CASE OF THE BOOKSELLERS. ri^HE serious condition of the bookselling I trade and the threatening extinction, by processes extremely painful, of the country bookseller must be again brought before the atten- tion of the readers of this journal. For it is the interest—the duty—of every man or woman of letters to keep the bookseller, if possible, in a flourishing and contented condition. Therefore, even at the risk of repetition, it is proposed to return to the subject in these columns. What is the present condition? Agricultural depression, which affects not only the country but all those towns which are outside the manufacturing dis- tricts, has been marked by a corresponding depres- sion in bookselling. Newsagents have started up everywhere selling cheap books as well as news- papers: drapers have made cheap books an attraction of their shops: the stores keep large supplies of books. The bookseller, who was formerly able to order every new book of import- ance, has ceased to supply himself with any but those books which he is tolerably certain to sell. He now offers "fancy" things, photographs, stationery, pens and pencils. If a solid book of high price is wanted he will get it, but he will order it at his risk and peril: he will not keep it. The author thinks, perhaps, that this deterioration of the bookseller matters nothing to him. It matters everything to him. There are three or four persons directly concerned with the production of a book: the author; the printer; the binder; the paper maker; and the bookseller. The pub- lisher, who is in most cases only the distributor, should have a much smaller interest than these four, who are all directly interested in the book. If the bookseller does not exhibit and offer the book to the public, how is it to get into circula- tion at all? But he cannot afford to order it. Therefore the author has no public. It is now actually true that out of the thousands of new books issued every year a great number never get upon the bookseller's shelves at all. That is to say, they are not published. Another danger now threatens the bookseller. At his best he formerly catered for an extremely limited class—the class with education, culture, and means, who treated a book as if they loved it. liked to see it well printed and handsomely bound, and were content to pay a large price for it. This feeling of exclusiveness and respectability gave the bookseller a sense of dignity and self-respect. The feeling lingers still, but it is now becoming harmful. The bookseller does not recognise cheap literature; he will have nothing to do with litera- ture for the people. Yet, unless the signs of the times are singularly deceptive, cheap literature will be upon us before long—in fact, I believe, before many months—and in an overwhelming flood. Certain popular books have been put out as an experiment by two or three publishers at very low prices. Some of these at 6d. have achieved an astonishing success, running, it is said, to 200,000 copies and more. The next step will be the issue of new books—not old books—at this low price. For my own part I think that cheap literature is loudly called for. The people have been reading scrappy penny journals long enough. They should be ready to take a step higher, and to buy and read good literature at 6d. The new books thus issued will of necessity, at first, be novels: the old books will be those which are already acknowledged to belong to the literature of the country; and as for those who now advocate the reduction of prices from 6s. to half- a-crown, they may shift their ground, and con- sider the reduction from 6*. to 6d. From the bookseller's point of view, the cheap literature will be at first disconcerting. Let him boldly throw himself into the movement when it begins. Let him, by means of circulars and in every possible way, make himself the bookseller  ## p. 63 (#75) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. of the whole people, not the few. He will continue to be always the bookseller of the few, because high-priced books must still be issued, and cheapness can only be introduced where popularity is possible. For the author there is the comfortable reflec- tion that, even if his book is reduced from 6*. to 6d., and his royalty from is. 3d. to a penny, 15,000 copies at the latter price will bring him in as much as a thousand at the former; and that 200,000 at the latter means 13,300 at the former —and unless he is in the front rank of popularity, he will not probably exceed this figure. Now, with an improved system of distribution, the cheap literature will make a bid for millions, not for thousands. It will also be possible to bring out a book at 6*. and after two years or so to produce a cheap sixpenny edition. What have the publishers proposed in the teeth of these changes? With all the signs before them of a demand for cheap literature and a supply of it, they propose to make the public pay more instead of less, and, on pretence of giving the booksellers relief, to put more into their own pockets. In the teeth of the competition going on they proposed to bind the unfortunate book- sellers by an iron and degrading slavery. They were to have no books at all, or books only at a prohibitory price, unless they obeyed the orders of the publisher, who forbade them to sell their own property at any price they pleased. In the teeth of the increasing poverty of the trade, they propose to maintain the system of forcing all the risks upon the booksellers. With the result that every year fewer books get the chance of being offered to the public. We have now, in conjunction with the Book- sellers' Association, adopted an alternative scheme which involves neither coercion nor slavery, but leaves contract free. It was given in the last number of The Author at length. It means simply as follows: 1. Books at 6s, and under to remain as at present. 2. If a publisher wishes to bring out a book at net price, and to make any special conditions with a bookseller, it is a question of contract for the book only. There is to be no tyrannical attempt at boycotting or "punishing" a bookseller who refuses. 3. Books are to be sent "on sale or return." 4. The " odd copy" is to be abolished, and one price is to be charged. This clause is as much in the interest of the author as the bookseller, because the publisher will now be relieved of the temptation to VOL. IX. pretend that all his arrangements are 13 as 12. These rules will, it is hoped, if they are accepted by the publishers or any of them, relieve the trade very materially. If they are not accepted, the Society must endeavour to devise some other way. Meantime the members are earnestly invited to consider the urgency of the case and the fact that the publishers are proposing to make things worse instead of better, and to suggest any expedient that may occur to them whereby the bookseller, and especially the country bookseller, may be assisted to make a livelihood by a trade which is indispensable to everybody connected with the production of literature. POPULAR TASTE IN BOOKS. WHAT is "the popular taste"? What is it going to be if, as is whispered, "new and original" work is brought to market at a popular price—a shilling or even sixpence per volume? This question is so much in the air just now, that I venture to take up a little space in The AutJwr with reminiscences of a personal ex-* perience which may throw some light on the subject. In 1886 a library for working men and women was established which, from its constitution and management, became as severe a test of the reception which writers who would cater for "the proletariate " must expect as anything could well be. This library lived and flourished for eight years, and then died simply because a large rate- supported free library took its place. It was situated in Hoxton, and its members were all residents in the neighbourhood or came from still poorer parts of East London. It was con- trolled by a committee of working men, elected annually by its subscribers, and was unconnected with any political party, Church, or social "move- ment." Those who joined it, and paid their sub- scriptions to its treasurer, did so, firstly, because they wanted to read; secondly, because they found that, if they desired to read a particular book, that work, if not already in the library, could be procured for them at short notice. This is the point upon which I wish to lay most stress. Out of the eight hundred volumes which the library gradually acquired, all but a very small number were chosen by the members without sug- gestion or hint from anyone as to what they ought to read. a  ## p. 64 (#76) ############################################## *4 THE AUTHOR. Of course the library had generous friends, to whose kindness, and faith in working men, its success was largely due. Through these gentlemen, as the number of the members increased, consignments of all works named by any member of the library came into its possession. Lists were handed to the bbrarian from time to time, were examined by the com- mittee, and passed on to the donors. Now and then some book was mentioned that could only be of very slight interest, and this was expunged from the list; but, during the whole eight years of the library's existence, there were not a score of these. Thus, month by month and year by year, was collected a library of a class which its members, if they could have afforded it, would have had in their own homes. I hold a catalogue of these works. All of them have been read, and well read. Many had to be renewed a number of times, so eagerly were they sought for. I will write down these favoured volumes in the order of their popularity: "Adam Bede," " West- ward Ho!" "The Golden Butterfly," "Lorna Doone," Green's "History of England," " David Copperfield," "Ready Money Mortiboy," "Jane Eyre," "Wives and Daughters." In fiction, the favourite authors were: Dickens, Scott, Besant, Dumas, Miss Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Mrs. Henry Wood, Bulwer Lytton, Ouida, Mrs. Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, Edna LyalL In history, Green and Macaulay naturally came first; but Stubbs's " Constitutional History " was chosen by a cabinet-maker, and read by many others. Carlyle was represented by the " Crom- well Letters" and "The French Revolution." In science, interest centred round Darwin. "The Origin of Species " and " Descent of Man" were chosen early in the day, and much read. The political economists studied Mill and Jevons, and Spencer and Ruskin were frequently out. There were biographies by Ainger, Morley, Leslie Stephen, Disraeli, and Saintsbury. Travels by Livingstone, Ballantyne, Sir Samuel Baker, Miss Bird, and Stanley. Prescott's "Conquests of Mexico and Peru were very popular. Motley's "Dutch Republic," Lord Beaconsfield's " Letters," "Progress and Poverty," all were there, with more "standard works" than I have space to name. And what of the members? There was a rule that no one might belong whose income exceeded two pounds a week. Few of the people reached such luxury. The elder men, our com- mitteemen and their friends, were mostly com- positors, cabinet-makers, painters, packers, ware- housemen, and porters. The younger ones, apprentices to cabinet work, upholstery, or piano- makers, printers' layers-on, and labourers of all kinds. There were afew shop assistants—but not many of these. The women were mostly work- girls, of the average Hoxton type, who, to the number of seventy, greeted the author of "The Children "of Gibeon"—one concert night—with a shrill "Melenda" cheer! Tie-makers, feather- curlers, box-makers, dressmakers, tailoresses— pale anaemic lasses, earning, on an average, i0s. to 12*. per week. One of them, representative of many, told me when she first came that Miss Braddon was the only author she had ever heard of. I gave her Miss Braddon until she tired of that food—and then, as an experiment, presented "Adam Bede." The result was astonishing. She was back in less than a week, all smiles. "I say, let's 'ave another of his books. I ain't ever read as good a tale before!" In the end, she said that "The Mill on the Floss" was her favourite Another girl told me that, until she joined the "Lib'ery," she always bought a penny novelette every week. She had never done so since. It may be said that the library was, after all, a very small affair. Undoubtedly. But I bold that in view of its quiet natural growth; the absence of artificial stimulus; and, above all, the entire freedom of its members to fill its shelves with almost any kind of literature they chose— the record I have given has a very important bearing on the future of the distribution of litera- ture in a cheap form. Depend upon it, the writers of the Penny Dreadful and the Shilling Shocker hold their own simply from the cheap- ness of their wares. Place good works within the reach of men and women who rarely have more than sixpence or a shilling to spare for a luxury, and the circulation of the works of those who write good English: who can depict real life: draw real characters: and who have thoughts and ideas worthy of expression—will utterly swamp and crowd out the noisome trash which flaunts in the little East-end book-shop windows to-day. Their circulation will rise from thousands to hundreds of thousands: from hundreds of thousands to millions. Brother authors—take courage! the "popular taste" is sound to the core. Arthur Paterson. THE PENSION LIST. IHE Pension List for the year has been published. It is as follows: I. LITERATURE. Rev. Canon Atkinson (Philologist), .£100. William Chatterton Coupland (Works on Philosophy), .£50.  ## p. 65 (#77) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 65 Dr. Beattie Crozier (Philosophical Re- searches), .£50. Rev. Canon Daniel Evans (Writings on Welsh Literature), .£100. Rev. J. Cunningham Geikie, D.D., .£50. (Dr. Geikie is well known as a writer on theological subjects. Among his books are "The Life and Words of Christ," and "Hours with the Bible.") William Ernest Henley (late editor of the National Observer and the New Review, joint-editor of The Centenary Burns; author of Poems, &c.), .£225. II. Literature by Connection. Mi<,s Janet Mary Oliphant (niece of Mrs. Oliphant), .£75. Mrs. Palmer (widow of the late Professor Arthur Palmer, classical scholar), .£100. Two daughters of the late Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, classical scholar, each .£25. The daughter of the late Richard Shilleto, classical scholar, .£50. III. Music. Mr. Joseph Robinson, for services to music in Ireland, .£50. IV. Art by Connection. Two daughters of the late Mr. George Waller, in consideration of his services to artistic education, each .£25. V. Science and Art. Dr. John James Wild, late artist and secretarv to the Challenger Expedition, .£50. VI. No connection with either Literature, Science, or Art, and therefore no right to appear in this list. The widow of one Colonial Governor and the four daughters of another. NOTES AND NEWS. THE Academy, I rejoice to see, quotes Mr. Turing's opinions on the publishers' draft agreements. It expresses, further, its regret at two statements made by myself. The first is to the effect that the British Public does not care two straws about the publisher. Well, I am sorry to advance an opinion or to make any assertion which is not as plain as an axiom. At the same time it is most true and certain that the public cares not one brass farthing for any publisher: that is to say, it looks at the book and the author, and carer, no more who is the publisher than it cares to find out who is the papermaker. The bookseller cares because he has to make terms with the publisher. The public cares nothing. In no other trade is there such an absolute indifference to the name. So that I cannot withdraw this statement. The other statement is concerned with the question of risk. I first, before making this statement, carefully separated encyclopaedias, great dictionaries, and works of a colossal kind. This separation was cut off the passage quoted by the Academy, so that I was made to talk nonsense. I thought the Bogey of Risk was laid. Let us try again. In general literature — namely, essays, history, biography, belles lettres, poetry, novels—there are hundreds of writers whose works carry no risk whatever, that is to say, they are certain to circulate enough to pay the cost of production with a margin of profit. That is the first fact. J£ a publisher takes an author who is not among this company he incurs risk—but he does this voluntarily. And very few publishers do. That is the second fact. Next, what is the risk, where any is incurred? The world, which fancies itself very clever, replies triumphantly, "Why, the cost of production, of course. Am I a fool?" Not a fool, but ignorant. The risk is the difference between the cost of production and the first subscription. Some houses send round a traveller to subscribe the book before it is printed. This gives them some idea of its chances. Thus, a book is sub- scribed—say—250 in town. That means a beginning, perhaps, with the country trade as well, of 500—never mind the figures, any other will do just as well to illustrate the method. Taking our old friend, the 6*. book which has cost, say, .£80—we have, say, a first subscription of .£87, which is more than the book costs to produce. If there is a subscription of 400 copies, the risk is the difference between .£80, the cost, and .£70, the subscription, or .£10. That is an immense risk, is it not? The Harmsworth Magazine may be taken as an indication of the increased (the widely-increased) demand for literature of a kind. While our shilling and half-crown magazines are crawling along with a circulation for the most part of a few thousands, this threepenny rival, splendidly illustrated and quite as well written as many of the dearer ones, steps straight into a circulation reckoned by hundreds of thousands. This is a great fact which should lead people who are not publishers, and are only interested in the advance of culture, to reflect a little. Those gentlemen, especially, who, from the commanding pinnacle of the club smoking-room, look round upon man-  ## p. 66 (#78) ############################################## 66 THE AUTHOR. kind and report that what they read is "truck" or "slush," should look at the success of this magazine and others nearly as cheap. The next great fact which concerns us from another point of view is the cheapness of production. Make every allowance that can be made for improved machinery: for working a lot of magazines and papers together: for cheapness of paper: for a great mass of advertisements: and yet the mystery remains how the paper can be produced at so small a cost. The third great fact is more important still. It is that cheap and good maga- zines will be followed by cheap and good litera- ture. We talk about books at 6s., and i0*. 6d., and so forth. We are, it seems to me, on the verge of the greatest revolution that the history of Literature has ever seen. Ever since I began to investigate and to understand the machinery and the spread of literature, I have become more and more convinced that the present system of providing dear books in small numbers, though it must continue with certain books, will be a small and an insignificant thing compared with the literature offered to the world at prices which seem impossible. Already popular books are brought out at sixpence and sold by the hundred thousand. They are all old books of which the copyrights belong to publishers. Why should they not be new books? (see p. 62). They must be offered for sale by newsvendors, at the stores, as well as the booksellers: the difficulty is that of distribution and advertisement. This difficulty will be got over by the three new firms who have taken possession of the outside mass; when it is got over by them other publishers will follow. From the author's point of view it should be far better to appeal to the general public than to the limited public. It is objected that he would have to " write down " to them. Not at all. The cheap books already offered to them, and eagerly taken up, at low prices, are not books " written down" to anybody. Let us see how a cheap book would affect the author. Take a popular author whose last book had a circulation of 12,000 copies for which he received a royalty of is. $d. a copy, or .£750. The same book issued at 6d. with a royalty for himself of 1 j<7. would give him .£750 by a sale of 144,000. But we are going to the millions. If 600,000 copies were taken he would make .£3125. Decidedly it would be to to the advantage of the author if only that ques- tion of distribution were settled. I mentioned last month the remarkable fact that the Committee of the House of Lords on Copyright had commenced their proceedings by calling before them a publisher: then a second publisher: then a third, and so on: and that there seemed no sign at all that this illustrious body had ever heard that there was such a thing as an author, or had any idea at all that copy- right was created by the author and was actually his own property. In this ignorance they were allowed to remain by the publishers, who all gave evidence on the tacit assumption—which none of the noble lords questioned—that copyright was their own in the nature of thiugs: their own property by right. A day or two after the para- graph appeared I found a summons lying on my table calling upon me to attend and give evidence that day at half-past two. It was then three, so that I could not go. It is hardly, I think, polite or considerate to call upon a man to give evidence on a most complicated and important subject at a minute's notice. Moreover, I am not myself a lawyer: I have never felt called upon to study copyright law: I hate law and law books: and I am not therefore com- petent to give evidence. We have had two sub- committees on copyright, but I have not been a member of either. In fact, the branch of the Society's work which has occupied all the time that I could afford to give, is that of the administration of literary property, not that of copyright law. Mr. Thring has attended the Committee, representing our sub-committee, and, I hope, has enabled the Committee to understand that copyright really does concern authors: that they are capable of comprehending the question: and that the opinion of the lawyers and scholars forming our sub-committee is quite as well worth hearing as that of the publishers, who speak as if copyright was their right. A correspondent sends me a paragraph calling attention, with some show of indignation, to the fact that if anyone posts a book to the United States of America there is an import duty of one-fourth its value, and that the duty must be paid before the book is delivered. It seems a pity that the law is so, but since that is the law there is no use in being angry. Free trade in books does not exist in this country: for instance, it is illegal to expose Tauchnitz books for sale. Shall we begin by altering our own laws? We could then call upon the States to alter theirs. One of the things which the Society could and should do would be to bring about the reconsidera- tion of the Resolutions which constituted the Civil Pension List. All that is wanted is the abolition of a single clause allowing the pensions to be bestowed upon persons outside the field of  ## p. 67 (#79) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 57 Literature, Science, and Art " who may be worthy of Her Majesty's bounty." The grant is not large, not more than <£i200 a year, and is by no means sufficient to meet the cases deserving of relief which are brought before the First Lord of the Treasury. No one wants to prevent outsiders from getting the help they want, one only desires to bind the Government to keep this fund entirely for the persons for whom it was founded. At present there is nothing to prevent the list from being filled up with "persons worthy of Her Majesty's bounty." It is, for instance, a common practice to place widows and daughters of colonial governors on the list. In that of the current year (see p. 64) there are the four daughters of one colonial governor and the widow of another. Cannot the Colonies, between them, create a pension list for the widows and daughters of their governors? And is it quite impossible for the governor of a colony to save a little money after twenty years of work on a salary ranging from .£2000 to £ 10,000? In another column appears one more letter on the great and crying grievance ,oi keeping MSS. offered to editors. For my own part I have always desired to recognise to the utmost the difficulties of an editor's position: the necessary keeping back of articles and papers already accepted. But there are limits. In the case before us the editor kept articles offered him for two years, fourteen months, eight months, and three months! There can be no possible excuse for such treatment of a contributor. What remedy is there? One, and one only. Writers will do nothing for themselves: they are so eager to be accepted, especially at the outset, that they will submit to anything and take any price that is offered. If, then, a contributor intimates that the MS. must be accepted and paid for within a certain time, he will probably have it returned unless the writer's name and the subject make it an important offer. The only remedy, therefore, is that the editors who do these things shall be known. If the writer of the letter will send me the correspondence in the .case I will publish his name and the name of the paper. Of course there is another remedy, but it qeems hardly worth while to mention it. I mean that editors should obey the simple rules of courtesy and good breeding. I have always found them, as regards myself, both courteous and kindly. But the letters which we have published in The Author show that there are many editors, especially of the smaller fry of magazines, who are neither one nor the other. Walter Besant. vol. IX. AFTER MANY DATS. A True Incident. IAM very sorry, Miss Carlisle; but I am afraid I cannot use that last story of yours. It is altogether too depressing. The public does not want sad stories. Life is sad enough as it is. No one likes to dwell on such incidents as you describe in—let me see, what do you call it ?—' Dead Violets '? Why the very title is morbid! Dead violets delight no one; what we want is fair, fresh, sweet- smelling flowers." The speaker's looks accorded with his words. He was a man advanced in life, with hair tinged with grey and a forehead #hich showed more than a tendency to baldness; but he had as bright, open, and cheery a countenance as ever beamed from an editor's chair. He bore himself with the easy yet kindly dignity which denotes a prosperous career. "I am very sorry," the girl's lips trembled as she spoke, and it was all she could do to hold back the starting tears; "I will try to do better next time." . She was young, but her face had a worn and weary look. . There was the suggestion 'of a happier past in her somewhat shabby, though perfectly neat, mourning attire. She* had the appearance of one to whom dead violets might mean more than freshly gathered roses. The editor was not unconscious of the pathos of her expression, nor the tremor of her voice; but he was above all things a man of business, and he knew that melancholy stories did not pay. "That's right," he said, "let it be something cheerful, ending with the music of marriage bells. That is what our readers like. I am really afraid I must send that MS. back to you." "Very well—if it must be so." She acquiesced without a murmur, bade him good morning, and went on her way. He was sorry for her; but he was far from guessing how deep a wound he had inflicted. Edith Carlisle went down the long flight of stairs from the editorial sanctum, passed into the Strand, and was lost in the stream of human life ever flowing along its pavements. Of all the units that composed that stream, not one perhaps carried a heavier heart than hers. It was of the irony of life that the editor should bid her write a story which "ended with the music of marri- age bells" just when her own lone story had come to a disastrous termination. The sudden and unlooked-for death of her father had wrought a pitiful change in the cir- cumstances of Edith Carlisle's life. Tt left her  ## p. 68 (#80) ############################################## 68 THE AUTHOR. mother almost entirely dependent on her daughter's efforts for a maintenance. Edith found it incumbent on her to break off her engagement to a certain good-hearted but by no means prosperous young man. They bad parted as she believed for ever, and he had gone abroad; Edith devoted herself to the care of her mother, whose failing health caused her much anxiety. She had a daily teaching engagement, and when this was over she gave her spare time to the literary efforts which she had pursued with some slight success ere her father's death, and the con- sequent struggle for life, converted what had been a pure pleasure into a feverish attempt to produce that which would bring in money. The new motive did not yield the highest inspi- ration. Heartbroken at the loss of her lover, harassed by a thousand petty and humiliating cares, and depressed by her growing anxiety on her mother's account, Edith was not in a condition to conceive the bright fresh stories which delight editors. Yet never had she been more wishful for success. So much depended on her earning money. "Dead Violets " had been written with the eager hope that it might bring in a sum sufficient to afford her mother the fortnight at the sea-side which the doctor declared would do her more good than any medicine. Edith had written as her heart dictated, embodying in the tale somewhat of her own sad experience. She believed she had written it well. Certainly it was true to life. And now it appeared that it was too true to life! People must be amused with false pictures of impossible happiness. "Dead Violets" was "morbid" and " depressing." It was a grievous disappointment; but happily Edith had not confided her hopes to her mother, so she alone was disappointed. For a few days she looked for the return of her MS.; it did not come, and she soon forgot to expect it. She had no hope that the story would find acceptance in any other quarter. She regarded the sentence passed upon it by the editor of the Weekly Adviser, in which several of her stories had pre- viously appeared, as final. Had the MS. come back into her hands they would have committed it to the flames. So there was no summer holiday for Edith and her mother that year. Mrs. Carlisle's health failed rapidly in the hot close days, and ere the cooler weather set in she died. Edith's life was painfully lonely after her mother's death. She had lost all knowledge of her lover, and she had few friends. She sought relief in work. She worked harder than ever with her pen, and she worked to good purpose. She began to attain some literary success. Ten years passed by, and her position had considerably improved. She was on the staff of a popular magazine, and she- had written one or two books for girls which found a good sale. She had ceased to write for the Weekly Adviser. The cheery editor who did not like melancholy stories had gone over to the majority; she knew nothing of the man who had succeeded him. Great was her surprise, therefore, when she one day received through the post a roll of proofs in a wrapper bearing the name of that well-known weekly. "This is a mistake," she said to herself, as she unfolded the sheets; but as she glanced over the printing a name here and there caught her eye which struck her as strangely familiar. The thing was not new, though it seemed as vague and distant as a dreain. What could it mean? She turned to look for the title. "Dead Violets" met her eye. The story pronounced "too depressing," more than ten years before, had lain in the office of the Weekly Adviser ever since, and now, unearthed by some chance, had found favour with the new editor, and was set up in type. With strangely mingled feelings Edith read the story written so long before. Her heart was painfully thrilled by the memories it invoked. It seemed at once better and worse than she had deemed it in the old days. There were crudities of style, and a youthful exuberance of expression which jarred on her more cultured taste; but the story was alive. It was very sad—depressing, no doubt—btit yet a bit of real life, written with a throbbing heart, from the depths of her own experience. Her first impulse had been to write and forbid its publication; but on second thoughts she decided to let it appear with such slight im- provements as she could make on the proofs. The revision was painful work. She could not but think how much it would have meant to her had the story found acceptance when it was first submitted to an editor. Who could say? Her mother's life might have been prolonged—even saved, perhaps—had she been able at that time to command the sum which this story would bring her. But it was vain to dwell on that now. The story had been written for her mother's sake, and to her loved memory should its price be devoted Edith had never yet been able to place a suitable memorial above her mother's grave in the crowded London cemetery. For some time she had been slowly saving with this object in view; now this story would supply what was needed to make the amount sufficient. So, when the editor of the Weekly Adviser sent his cheque for six guineas, the money went to complete this fund, and in due time a simple granite cross marked the mound of earth so sacred to the author of "Dead Violets." The associations of that title were full of sadness for  ## p. 69 (#81) ############################################## THE AUTHOR 69 Edith, but she never blamed the editor who had rejected the story when fresh from her pen. He had acted for the best. He was bound to consult the pleasure of his readers and the interests of his paper. It was doubtless by accident that the MS. had never been returned to her. She could have had it had she cared to apply for it. The fact of her story's attaining publication after so many years was just one of those strange chances which continually attend the fortunes of a literary career. *>•«.; AFTER PUBLICATION—THE FATE OF A BOOK. IN the March number of The Author I found (1) a paragraph relating the troubles of a member of the Society whose reviews, although excellent, have failed to circulate his books; and (2) a sentence, cited from an article in the Fortnightly :—" I know one bookseller who, when he finds a eulogistic review of a new book, instantly cuts it out and displays it in a conspicuous manner. He tells me the system is a gratifying success." We have, in the foregoing, some suggestions and experiences which may help to throw some light on that mysterious period of a book's career—the period when, just hot from the press, it is as yet undetermined whether it will be a failure or success. Let us consider this subject under four heads: (1) The book and the reviewer, (2) the review and the public, (3) the book and the book- seller, (4) the book and the public. 1. The Book and the Reviewer.—It is evident that there must exist a great disparity between the careful and exhaustive, if not always unpre- judiced criticisms of the great quarterlies in their palmy days, and the hasty rule-of-thumb "notices" of the thousand and one journals wedging in a weekly or fortnightly "literary article" amongst columns of sporting, commer- cial, fashionable, and other "intelligence." In the latter case, literature is treated as one only, and by no means an exceedingly important one, of the many interests which a daily journal reflects, and the object is, no doubt, to give the reader an idea of what is "doing" in the world of letters, rather than to attempt seriously the work of instructive and discriminating criticism. It is of course true, and every author will admit it, that the views taken by reviewers are as various and as many as the actual number of minds concerned in writing the notices in ques- tion. The demerits cited by one, are considered "characteristic touches" by another. What one critic describes as " cheap sarcasm" another will call "profound psychological analysis," and so forth. There may be more than one reason for this. It is no doubt true, as the Editor of The Author has repeatedly pointed out, that no critic can afford to exercise reflective judgment on a work when the result of that judgment has to be condensed into a few lines, and remunerated accordingly. But, with every respect to reviewers as a class, it may be suggested that a great review can only proceed from a mind specially qualified by nature and by training for this particular work, and that to sum up the results of superior constructive ability intelligently, requires critical ability of 110 common order. These considerations lead us to inquire whether the function of the reviewer as now exercised does not require modification—whether, in fact, the whole system of literary notices might not be organised on an entirely different basis with advantage to all concerned. Granted that it is the object of the literary column in the great provincial journals and in the more important weeklies, to reflect the current, activity in the world of letters—to give, as we have said, an idea of what is " doing " in the way. of book production—it is clear that this end might be quite as effectually attained by making these columns the channels of a flowing stream of criticism derived from one or more deep artesian fountains, rather than, as at present, by attempt- ing an outpouring of not too drinkable water derived from more shallow wells, sunk on the premises. Less metaphorically, why should not the literary column, instead of attempting to reflect the whole world of books, confine itself to a summary, intelligently commented upon, of the said world as seen through the spectacles of the great critical journals? To the ordinary cultivated reader it would be far more provocative of interest in a particular book if, in his local journal, say the North of England Mercury, he should find short sum- maries of criticism on, say, "The Three Fishes, a Tale of Grammarye," culled from the Athenaeum, the Spectator, Literature, &c., &c., instead of merely the less valuable lucubrations of the local gentleman who "does" the reviews for that influential county organ. Possibly in nine cases out of ten the local gentleman in question would be by no means averse to the change himself. If he felt moved to dissent from the opinions of the greater lights, it would be open to him to prove them in the wrong. It would also be a light and pleasing exercise for him to discriminate between and enlarge upon the spectacle of the Olympians themselves, utterly at loggerheads over the moral  ## p. 70 (#82) ############################################## 7o THE AUTHOR. conduct of the "Fisher of Souls " in the above- mentioned romance. And what a weary waste of labour he would be relieved from, in no longer being compelled to frame platitudes about the worthless thoughts of commonplace people that, somehow or other, have got themselves introduced to the world as "characters" in a so-called novel. If this change were brought about there would, of course, still remain the burning question of the "canons of criticism"—those canons by which the Olympians themselves are to be guided, first, in determining if a new book be worthy of their attention; secondly, in weighing-up the statements, theories, or positions of the writer. Mr. Hannigan, in the March Author, has made a courageous attempt to formulate some of these, but as by his own admission the Waverley novels (including "Ivanhoe "?) fall short of his par- ticular standard, it is to be feared that his formula needs considerable amendment. Having regard to the complexity of human life, and in particular to the fact that progress in every department of human activity is the final result of a number of concurrent, heterogeneous, often conflicting influences, it is evident that no canon of criticism can hope to include all possible cases. In modern and present day matters it is probable that, even were such canon recognised, it would pass the limits of "the wit of man " to dispassionately apply it. We must, therefore, as heretofore, trust to the human element—to the reflections and judgments of the recognised critical authorities; and even these will assuredly often prove to be all wrong, because the human mind is not an infallible machine. . For the present, at any rate, we will not attempt to penetrate the mists that surround Olympus. We will imagine the review written, disseminated by means of the "literary column" to the half million interested in such matters, and served up with the coffee at the breakfast table. The ques- tion now becomes, "What is the effect?" - 2. The Review and the Public.—Each one of us has, no doubt, in his remembrance an instance, when, having read the " notice " of a book, a con- suming desire to have and handle that book has for a few hours possessed us. Our enthusiasm And curiosity during this brief phase has been raised, it may be, to a 10s. 6d. level, or it may be only to a 6s. pitch. But we have felt toler- ably certain that, if the much-desired volume were within reach, we should purchase it at all hazards, and in defiance of the whispers of prudence and economy. This is the first psychological moment in the history of the " review." When it has died away, unsatisfied, the review has passed stage one in its career of usefulness, and has entered on stage two, in which it is only fit for abstract, and repro- duction along with others. The later stage is perhaps a more lasting one. From a number of " notices " the juice or essence, not the bitter essence, but the sweet, is extracted, and the cumulative effect of pithy sentence upon pithy sentence, each followed by the name of some great piece amongst the heavy ordnance of literature, is no doubt very great. The wavering mind remembering its past and momentary enthusiasm over this particular work of genius, greedily responds to the tickling, the gentle stimulus of so many laudatory phrases, and arrives at a fixed determination, not necessarily to buy, but to "look out" for this book. This is psychological moment No. 2. Whether it bears fruit depends upon the accessibility of the work, and this brings us to— 3. The Book and the Bookseller.—-The "publi- cation" of a book is a very vague expression. Too often it means the languishing of the majority of the so-published volumes in the state of " quires" upon the shelves of an unromantic warehouse. Now, it is very clear that a book stands very much in the same light as any other manufactured article from the point of view of the person who has to sell it to the public. The first cry of the would-be purchaser is " samples "; the second, "samples "; the third, "samples." It is, of course, obvious that a book, however large, cannot very well be distributed in small gratis doses like, for instance, X.'s celebrated cocoa. And though it is no doubt true that the whole office of the "review" and the "notice" is to guide the public taste, yet we must not forget that X., too, has his "Press notices," his "testimonials," and other printed matter descriptive of the merits of his cocoa, and, in addition, does not disregard the uses of adver- tisement, but after all he relies upon |the gratis sample. In the opinion of the writer it is not so much the producing as the distributing system of the book trade that is out of gear. Publishers them- selves, those keen business men, seem helpless. They blame the author, they blame the bookseller, they groan over the discount system, they cry out at the burden of the review copy, they pro- phesy, they menace, but the end of all the stir is "much cry and little wool." The unsold "quires" lie limp and lonely upon the warehouse shelves, the bookseller puts a few copies of standard authors in his windows, and the pur- chaser bursting into his shop with enthusiasm, red-hot from a perusal of the "essence of review" above mentioned, is met with the cold and damping remark that "We haven't the  ## p. 71 (#83) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. book in stook, but we can get it." And, in not a few cases, out he goes again, never to return. This is not business; it is not even common sense. It is not encouraging trade, it is stifling its nascent struggles. And the result is per- petual recrimination and unrest. Let us now look at the whole matter from another stand- point. 4. The Booh and the Public.—Ah, this dear Public! How noble he is. So unlike a reviewer, unlike even a publisher. We may bully him to our heart's content, and he will like us all the better for it. Each of us feels that, could we but stand face to face with him, and gain his ear, he would extend the right hand of fellowship to us, in sheer admiration of our splendid thoughts. Faith, it is a strange spectacle, this poor, weary, jaded Public, ever seeking for some new thing, and all this galaxy of talent eager to woo his attention and charm him from his abject melan- choly. And between, the impalpable shadow of Destiny, the mocking spectral Fate that keeps him still with head on hand, writhing with ennui— whilst our own enthralling work, epic, comedy, or jeremiad, as the case may be, lies upon the shelves, chemically decomposing into grainless dust. It is easy to understand how a book may be a great success. Touching, even though only by accident, on the inmost fibres of the human heart, will do it, even though every canon of criticism, and every rule of grammar has been violated in the doing of it. Perhaps Mr. Vincent Heward (March Author, p. 269) has not inaptly put it, when he says " style and form are graceful adorn- ments, but what of the body they are to adorn?" Emotion communicates itself like Same. The reader that has been thrilled is eager that others shall experience like pleasure. And thus comes the great success. Merely intellectual satisfaction the reader is more continent of. He says "Clever chap that," but the world does not glow the brighter for a mere sparkle of the mind. Yet even if we recognise that there are many kinds of cleverness which merely stimulate superficially without turning the reader's nervous system into a red-hot furnace full of sympathetic flames, it is not easy to say why books of undoubted merit are often not merely "not very successful," but, on the con- trary, total and abject failures. It would seem that there must be a reason, and a remediable reason, for this, since it is idle to blame the public for neglecting a clever work, because the public's appetite for any sort of clever work is, there is plenty of evidence to show, insatiable. We have seen that a clever work addressed to the emotions, succeeds, because it is advertised by the public itself. It spreads like fever, like panic, or any sort of contagion—and then after a time a further influence comes into play—it becomes "fashionable." The obvious corollary is that works of merit (e.g„ those mentioned on.p. 260) which are total failures, are only total failures because, not being of the class that advertise themselves, they have not in reality been adver- tised at all. Or to speak with precision, they have not been brought before the public in a way that has any practical influence on the public. And this will still be true, if many scores of pounds have been spent in advertising, and if every journal in the kingdom has spoken favour- ably of the work. Enter any shop where a large trade is done in non-copyright books and cheap editions. Observe the purchasers. In nine cases out of ten the purchaser goes into the shop with a vague flavour in his mouth, a half-felt craving for some par- ticular class of mental stimulus. It may be adventure by sea, or by land, the mazy thread of a detective tale, a " society" story, and so on. He wanders round the well-filled shelves, peeping into this, reading a few pages, passing on to that, until at length he finds something to his taste, pays his money cheerfully, and goes out in feverish haste to make acquaintance with his new friends. The deduction is obvious. What is really required to give a stimulus to the profession of the author, to the business of the publisher, to the trade of the bookseller, is reorganisation of existing relationships. The following seem reasonable suggestions. It is not pretended that they are now offered for the first time. (1). Fewer reviews, but those few written by the best available men, bent,not upon "slashing" the author, nor expatiating to a disproportionate extent upon mannerisms and style, nor exhibit- ing encyclopaedic learning, but on viewing the constructive work of their contemporaries as part of the zeit-geist in a calm and philo- sophic way. (2.) The abolition, to a large extent, of the "notice," which at its best is a waste of energy and space. A short statement of the plot or purport of the commonplace and generally un- worthy book might be substituted. Such state- ment signifying neither praise nor blame. (3). The introduction of much closer and more sympathetic relationship between publishers as a body and booksellers as a body. This is, of course, a vague and trite remark, and looks at first sight suspiciously like a pious wish, but it is the real focus at which all the evolutionary  ## p. 72 (#84) ############################################## 1*. THE AUTHOR. forces at present working blindly in the world of books will presently be concentrated. We need not, however, discuss this from the point of view of the publisher; we will consider only what the author wants, whether he gets it directly or in- directly. In every large town there should be many, in every small town there should be one bookseller who is not merely a tradesman, but an expert— the guide, philosopher, and friend of the book buyer. In his shop should be found every book reviewed by the critical journals, sent there on "sale or return" by the publisher. Of course this does not apply to Editions de luxe or specially expensive works—only to the rank and file of books that will be purchased by the public at large. There, too, would be found copies of those less successful works, open to everyone's examina- tion; and it can hardly be argued that they would not be better disposed of in this way than decay- ing on- the warehouse shelves. An unsold re- mainder of 500 copies would go a long way dis- tributed amongst the chief booksellers of the kingdom. It is very certain that such shops, established as a recognised and flourishing institu- tion in every town, selling all kinds of printed matter, would become the happy hunting ground of the public in search of a book, and that the scandal of works of merit proving financially disastrous, as in the case of our unfortunate fellow member, would cease to press on our atten- tion. The Public, entering the shop, either to behold with his own eyes that clever work of which he has just read the advertised "essence of review," or, on the other hand, merely desirous of finding something suitable to his present mood, would scan eagerly not only the works of A., B., and C. —celebrated authors—but also of X., Y., and Z., coming men, who, however, have not yet arrived. And it is much more likely that he will invest in the scintillating wit of X., Y., and Z., after having had the opportunity of mentally measuring it, than that he should speculate in the work of an unknown name on the faith of an advertisement. Besides, to be told that the books of a particular writer are not " kept in stock" leads oue, uncon- sciously, to rank that writer as a second-rate one. The influence of fashion is often strongest where it is least visible. It would appear that the bookseller is de- serving of the tenderest care at the hands of the author. He is the advance-guard, the outpost of literature, and his position should be strengthened as far as possible. Enlisting his sympathies, the author has a thousand Argus-eyed auxiliaries working for him, pointing out his merits, holding him up to the omnivorous public as a person whose acquaintance (at the published price) it is desirable to cultivate. The idea may be Utopian, but like many Utopias it is a pleasant one to contemplate. N. C. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—The Civil List. IN the copy of The Author for July, which has just reached me, you do not mention the grant (the pension, rather) of .£20 a year which has been awarded me from the Civil List. As I owe it entirely to the action of the Society of Authors, who most generously signed a petition on my behalf, I think some acknowledgment should be made in The Author. I am deeply grateful to the Society for their kind interest, and for the effort they made to help me. I may have hoped for a more generous award, but that does not affect my lively sense of the sympathy that has been shown me by my fellow authors, which has touched me most deeply. I thank them—and I thank you—most heartily. Frances Marshall (Alan St. Aubyn). July 8. II.—The Struggle for Recognition. Do unknown authors, with touching faith in their own creations, and still more touching expectancy in regard to payment, truly realise the utter hopelessness, the dreary waste of time involved in sending out their literary samples to up-to-date editors or publishers' readers? Do they quite understand the appalling difficulties in the path of poverty, with a more than glutted market to meet—and poverty is always left to the sweet silence of solitude? To get a serial story accepted at, say, .£3 weekly in a penny paper is the most practical way of earning a pittance in fiction; but even here there are thousands ready to do the work for half, and to do it remarkably well. Besides, the relatives of the proprietor or editor are always delighted to offer their services, and to steal all the "plums " from any proffered manuscripts. It is almost invariably the rich author who succeeds—the man or woman with a good income, irrespective of any literary earnings. Money lavished on advertising can make the dullest seaside story the fashion, and hence create a run on it. It is the moneyed power behind a book that will make it " go." It is the greedy capitalist, without a literary instinct, commencing perhaps as some shrewd newspaper clerk, who through lucky chances and solid backers can buy up papers one after the other, and ruin their owners, like a huge serpent swallowing lesser ones.  ## p. 73 (#85) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 73 He commands the market. He may, and probably does, prefer twaddle, because he finds it sell, so he buys it and backed up by his capital it goes very well; it is so safe and everyone can of course understand, and be soothed or cheered by it. Does the poor and struggling author quite grasp these hard facts in an age of greed, of humbug, and of callous commercialism? It is easier to sell to twenty capitalists than to one. The wealthy authoress, reclining among her cushions in Worth's latest tea-gown, glittering in diamonds, and interviewed by a reporter awed into respect by her surroundings, has nothing to fear. Her books will sell because her money, position, and interest, can make them the fashion, and guileless reviewers have a singular faculty for appreciating these apparently hidden mys- teries. She appeals in some way to their inner consciousness. The illustrated interviews—the smart little pars—the advertisements—the large social connections—the money and the pushing publisher do the rest. It is precisely the same with the wealthy author. Let struggling aspi- rants moved by philosophic doubts ponder well over the injustice and indifference meted every- where to the poor. Annabel Gray. [The above, whose signature commands atten- tion, deals with the difficulties which beset the path of young writers. I would willingly believe that the picture is exaggerated. It is doubtless true that the difficulties are tremendous ; but does not the nature of the work—the magnitude of the prize, which is not, like the prize of trade, one of money only, but of honour, consideration, and respect—necessitate these difficulties? To write seems so easy: when one has written the product seems to the writer so beautiful: the success of so many seems so easily achieved: the literary value of successful work seems to the young writer so much below his own work: that not only is the editor bombarded and pelted with MSS., but the disappointment of the unsuccessful is keen beyond any other kind of disappoint- ment. It is bitter for the man with the red lamp to see his old friend of student days making his ten thousand a year as a consulting physician, but it is far more bitter for an aspirant to see the success of a work which in his own mind he ranks far below his own. I have always been of opinion that good work makes its own way. Even supposing that push and advertising can advance a book not worth advertising, there remains the question whether any fine piece of work can be named which has failed to make its mark any time during the last ten years. Again, it is true that there are thousands who can turn out MSS. resembling good work and for nothing or next to nothing; the fact remains that it is not really good work, and the journals which "go in" for cheapn- ss do not thrive by cheapness. The only remedy is patience. When people agree to con- sider writing as a kind of work that has to be paid for, like cabinet making, there will spring up some feeling as to sweating writers, just as there is about sweating needlewomen. Yet the sweat- ing will be carried on. Again, can it be said that MSS. are plundered of their contents '{ Such a thing might conceiv- ably take place and with impunity: but it must be very rare, if only on account of the vast masses of MSS. which are daily sent into the editor. Has Annabel Gray any facts in support of this suggestion? Then, is it the rich writer who suceeeds? I should say that it is the successful writer, as a rule, has nothing except the stimulus of poverty. Writers as a rule never do have anything to begin with. One need not quote examples of living men: of dead men we may mention Dickens, Leigh Hunt, Douglas Jerrold, Marryatt —none of them had anything to begin with. However, this is how it seems to Annabel Gray. —Ed.] c-=i III.—The Seamy Side. Do not your occasional contributors tell us too much about their grievances and too little about their success? All publishers arc not necessarily sharks, and some editors are distinctly human— as you, Sir, have frequently borne witness. I personally have had two good doses of disappoint- ment and disillusion—each one of which my candid friends have interpreted as Divine warn- ings that I should take Mr. Grant Allen's advice and buy a good broom and annex a vacant crossing, but I am bound to add that I agree with Mr. Coulson Kernahan, in his preface to "Sorrow and Song," that for kindness of heart men of letters have no equal. The gentlemen who write you frequently profess to be anxious to assist the young author. Would they not help him more effectually if they told him some of the good things that had happened to them? At present they seem to unite to quench your cheery optimism, and to make poor beginners like myself wonder whether any good thing can come to the producer from the world of books! Stanhope Sprigg. IV.—Hard Treatment in Australia. You may be interested to hear that cases of hardship to young writers occur in this new land similar to those published in your columns.  ## p. 74 (#86) ############################################## 74 THE AUTHOR. In the months of July and August of last year an advertisement appeared in the columns of the Bulletin, which you may know is the leading paper of its class in the colonies, to the effect that the Coolgardie Courier (W. A.) would give prizes of '' six, four, and two guineas for the three best original stories illustrative of life in Australasia," and, furthermore, that the pro- prietors of the paper would make a donation of one guinea to any tale published other than the prize winners. Satisfied that the advertisement signed by such a well-known proprietor was genuine, I entered MSS. of two stories for the competition, but from that time no further reference was made to it in any paper. I have obtained a file of the Coolgardie Courier from July of last year up to date, and find there is absolutely no mention of any com- petition in its columns. No stories whatever have appeared in it but those culled from English and other journals. I ascertained from the Bulletin office that the advertisement was a bond fide one, and then wrote to the Courier asking an explanation and for my MSS. The latter arrived this morning (in a very dilapidated condition), but no letter or memorandum accompanied it, so the why and wherefore of the business is still a mystery. I have also suffered this year at the hands of a Sydney newspaper, which published tales of mine in its December and January numbers and for which I am unable to get payment. I previously won a prize competition of this journal which was paid promptly enough. I have put the present matter into a solicitor's care, and would like to let you know result. Ada A. Kidgell. 39, Hunter-street, Sydney. V.—Proposed Journal tor Amateurs. Referring to your remarks on amateur produc- tions, are you not a little unjust to that unhappy individual? His work is sure to be weak and flabby, you say, and no one would care to read it. Consequently an amateur magazine must be a collection of drivel. Now, I understand an amateur to be a person who has not had the good luck to get his or her work accepted, and so the majority of our distinguished authors for some period of their lives came under that category. Their work was not worthless by any means. I have been told by a talented LL.D. of keen critical ability that my work is above the average of published novels, and, though I am afraid to believe him, I certainly consider it has redeemed itself from flabbiness. But, even if it were as good as your own, that fact would not insure its acceptance, seeing that there is scarcely room on the booksellers' shelves for the work of old hands. There is no earthly reason why an amateur who has been writing for some time should not be as good as the average professional, and if there is the faintest hope of his ever becoming known in the literary world, he must turn out something far superior to our usual literary fare. A few years ago I used to take in an amateur monthly which contained very good articles by Mary L. Pendred. This lady has since placed books on the market and figured in the Idler, and I should like to know whether she was "ashamed" of what she had done for the little amateur when she found herself on the giddy heights of professionalism. Inconnu. VI.—Stale MSS. Your correspondents complain of their MSS. being kept months for publication—or a year or two; but I think I can beat the record. One was six years old when it appeared, but the editor offered me a larger cheque in consequence. Two or three have been buried four years, and when printed T scarcely knew my own produc- tions. Certainly I felt then that I could have done better. As these were illustrated articles 5 per cent. interest for four years represents £2! MSS. ought to be paid on delivery, or else 4 or 5 per cent. charged for credit. A Patient Scribe. VII.—Personal. Nearly all the reviews of " The Actor-Manager" contain the statement that I am novelist, drama- tist, and actor in one: "Jack of all trades, and master of none" will probably be added soon. May I beg you to serve me by correcting the misapprehension? My experience as an actor was very brief, and I left the theatrical profes- sion when I was three-and-twenty. I am simply a novelist who has collaborated in two or three plays. If you would say so, I should be extremely grateful for your kindness. Leonard Merrick. National Liberal Club. VIII.—Reprints. Will some reader, well versed in the cautious ways of publishers, kindly inform me, with as little delay as possible, why it is that publishers persistently refuse to reprint books of general interest, chiefly because their original issue ran to only one  ## p. 75 (#87) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 75 edition of a limited number of copies, and was not brought well under the notice of the public? This was, at any rate, the reason given by several publishers who have had under con- sideration my book of travels in Cuba which appeared some years ago under the title of the "Pearl of the Antilles." It is, I believe, the only work dealing with social life in Cuba which has been written, and it was the result of five years' residence in the island; most of the time having been passed in the city of Santiago—the very centre of the pending hostilities between Spain and the United States. I was not only a resident at Santiago de Cuba, but I spent much more than a mauvais quatre d'heure inside that same Morro Castle at present being bombarded by the American fleet. One would have supposed that such experiences would be of some interest to readers of to-day, and that to a large majority they would appear fresh, or as if the book had never been written; the more so because the work has long since been out of print, and forgott-n by a limited number old enough to remember it. Moreover the volume, though rather extensively noticed by the Press at the time of its publication, was never pushed by my publishers, so that the public knew next to nothing of its existence. This is another reason given by the publishers of to-day in explanation of their refusal to take up a reprint—well revised and written up to date—of the "Pearl of the Antilles." They contend that if the book had been a financial success it would have run to another edition, and yet another. But they cannot be persuaded to believe that the subject of the book is of far more interest to-day than it was the other day, and that almost anything relating to Cuba just now, if well brought under the notice of the public, would perhaps receive attention. In addition to a careful revise, introducing new features, I have also offered to supply illustrations from sketches and designs in my possee-ion— some of the sketches having been done on the spot by myself. But in no single instance has any publisher " caught on " as yet to the idea. Walter Goodman, Oranienhof, Kreuznach, Germany. July 4, 1898. aia IX.—The Publication of Scientific Educa- tional Wokks. I should like to call your attention to a great disadvantage that the authors of scientific works that are intended for educational purposes labour under, viz., the excessive cost of advertisement. I have written three books and a large number of articles in the technical Press on the practical side of electrical engineering, that is to say, books designed for the use of mining, mechanical, and marine engineers, mechanics, plumbers, ifcc., who may have to deal with electrical apparatus but have no training, and to whom the text-books which appeal to trained electricians, crammed as they are with mathematics, would be absolutely useless. That there is a field for such books, and a large one, was proved by the fact that the first edition of my first book, consisting of 1250 copies, sold out in four months, and by the fact that this book is now w.;ll on its third edition, while the others have achieved nearly as great a success. It has also been proved in the usual way that most authors are acquainted with—I am constantly hearing of my books from all parts of the world. I have met working colliers away from their work, carrying my books in their pockets, just as one does any favourite author. I have nothing to complain of in my treatment by my publishers, except in this matter of adver- tisements. I believe that a very much larger number of my books would be sold if they were more advertised. There are probably immense numbers of mechanics, plumbers, &c., to whom the books would be of immense value, by enabling them to deal themselves with most of the troubles that beset electrical apparatus, and so improve their own position and save money for then- employers. These men do not buy my books simply because they have not heard of their existence, and when I complain to my publisher they say that they cannot afford to advertise more tban they do, the cost is so great in propor- tion to the returns. But the most striking feature of the case is, my publishers assure me, that, though my first book may presumably be regarded as a success, they have only recently made anything on it; and the principal reason given is the excessive cost of advertisements, though, as I have shown, those advertisements have failed to touch the great bulk of possible purchasers. The Society of Authors has already done a great deal for authors individually and collec- tively. Could it not attack the great injustice involved in this? Take any technical paper, and consider the amount paid to the authors employed on it as against the enormous sums received for the adver- tisements. The manufacturer and the merchant have numberless ways of bringing their wares before purchasers. The author has only one—the advertisement columns of the Press, after, of course, the review—the latter only taking place on each new edition. Is it not possible to induce proprietors of  ## p. 76 (#88) ############################################## 76 THE AUTHOR. papers to take advertisements of books at a lower rate, to give authors a better chance of getting their works known? It is said, in reply to this, that proprietors of papers would never surrender a portion of their profits. As nothing but increased postage rate prevents proprietors of papers from increasing their advertisement sheets ad infinitum, it may fairly be doubted if this is so; but, even if it is, why should they not? Publishers pursued the same grinding policy until the advent of the Authors' Society. What has been done with publishers might surely be done with the proprietors of papers. It should be remembered, too, that the authors referred to, providing they have really something to say, are doing a work of national importance. If this country is to hold its own in the com- mercial race with Germany and the United States, it can only be by the education of its artisans in the technical details of engineering apparatus, and no education can be so convenient as that which the artisan can carry in his pocket. Cardiff. Sydney F. Walker. X.—Editors and Contributors. As I have not been able to see The Author for this mouth I do not know what progress, if any, has been made with above subject, which is of even greater importance tn struggling writers than the subject of publishers' extortions is to their better- to-do brethren, and which cannot be regarded as settled, on Enskin's principle that nothing is settled until it is settled rightly. The reason I am addressing you now is to give you an account of the further conduct of the editor towards me concerning whom I complained in your May impression. When my letter appeired I cut it out, together with all the other matter on the same subject. and forwarded it to the editor in question, to whom I had been con- stantly writing previously, asking him to put in what. MSS. of mine he had in hand. He returned my inclosures with the simple comment. " Pray do not trouble to send such matter in future." On which I wrote him that I must have an answer as to what he intended to do in the matter of my MSS., some of which he had kept on hand upwards of twelve months. Someone on his behalf then sent me a note that the editor had gone awav for a holiday, but would answer my letter on his return. I accordingly patiently waited a month, during which nothing by me appeared in his paper, and then began to write to him again. He took no notice, despite the promise on his behalf, until last Thursday (July 14), when he sent me a letter in which he said that he had gone through all the MSS. of mine he had in hand, and found that he could use, "at the first opportunity," four which he named, one of which he had already kept fourteen months, another eight months, another three months, and another nearly two years. On receiving this communica- tion I wrote expressing satisfaction that some at least of my pieces were at length going to be used, and asking that the others he had in hand should be returned, one of them a tale sent him with stamped-addressed envelope nearly two years back. Instead of complying with my request he actually sent back the four MSS. only he had just contracted to use, marked with editorial notes and corrections, and now says in answer to my appeals that he derives warrant for so doing from my letter of July 15, which I have told him he has misinteqjreted. He obstinately refuses, however, to either insert my MSS. or give me any compensation for not doing so, despite the time he has kept them. Of course I can send them elsewhere after I' have re-copied them, but look at the injustice of the thing. I have written to the proprietors of the journal in question, but do not suppose I shall get any redress from them. Experto Crede. OBITUARY. MRS. ELIZABETH LYNN LINTON died on July 14, at Queen Anne's Mansions, London, where she had been staying for some time on a visit to a friend. About six weeks before she was taken ill with pleurisy; the complaint developing into double pneumonia. Mrs. Linton was in her 77th year. Born at Keswick in the days of the Lake Poets, the daughter of the Vicar of Crosthwaite, she came to London when she was twenty-three, and in the following year under the auspices of Walter Savage Landor her first book was published. This was "Amymone: a Romance of the Days of Pericles." She began to write about this time for the Morning Chronicle, and subsequently for the Morning Star; and her career in journalism thus begun was continued in the Daily News, Household Words, and All the Year Round. Journalism was, indeed, her employment for a few years after 1851, the year in which "Reali- ties" appeared. In all, Mrs. Linton was the author of some twenty books. Her method was one. of extreme painstaking, as an instance of which it has been recorded that she re-wrote each of her long stories with her own hand thrice,  ## p. 77 (#89) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 77 making emendations each time. Distinction came to her in 1872 by her powerful novel "The True History of Joseph Davidson," the hero of which is a Cornish carpenter who sets himself to live the life of Christ. "Patricia Kemball," which followed after an interval of two years, had a reception only little less distinguished. The book by which she is probably best known to-day is "The Girl of the Period," issued in 1883, a series of trenchant essays which had appeared in the Saturday Reriew, and which displayed Mrs. Linton in the character of a firm upholder of the sanctities of domestic life. She had no sympathy with what is commonly called the "new" woman—what Mrs. Linton herself called, in a series of essays upon them, the "shrieking sisterhood." Miss Lynn married in 1858 Mr. William James Linton, the engraver on wood, but it was not long before Mr. and Mrs. Linton separated on account of incompatibility of temper. The husband went to America where he lived to the age of eighty. Mrs. Linton was attached to London, in which she lived for fifty years. She retired a few years ago to Malvern. One of her last visits w as to the annual dinner of the Society of Authors nine weeks before her death. Her circle of friends was very large; she was a delightful talker, a charming letter writer; a sympathetic friend to many a struggling aspi- rant in literature. The remains of the deceased lady were cremated at Woking two days after her death. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. C^OULD any correspondent kindly tell me j where "Is the Church of England worth preserving?" an article by the late Mr. Gladstone, which appeared some fifteen years ago, I think, can be found? Also, what is the reference to an article on Corporate Reunion of the Church of England with the Church of Rome, by some Anglican dignitary, giving, I believe, an account of the consecration of three Anglican clergymen by Roman Catholic bishops r Spes. BOOK TALK. MR. F. J. JACKSON'S record of the recent Jackson-Harmsworth expedition to the polar regions will be published by Messrs. Harper in the autumn, in two volumes. A facsimile of the famous Rhind mathematical papyrus will be issued shortly by the British Museum. The papyrus deals with such subjects as the elements of geometrv and the theory of fractions, and was prepare! for publication by the late Dr. Samuel Birch several years ago. It has since been revised, and a special introduction has been written for it by Dr. Budge. "Practical Letters to Young Sea-fishers" is the title of a new book by Mr. John Bickerdyke, which Mr. Horace Cox, publisher of the Field, announces. In addition to sea-fishing as a sport, it deals with fishing-boats, boat-sailing, and life- saving at sea, and the restoration of the half drowned. The book is very fully illustrated by photographs of sea-fishing scenes taken by the author, sea-fishes drawn by a noted ichthyologist, the late Dr. Day, and the usual diagrams of tackle. Mr. Jerome K. Jerome's new book, a second series of "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow," will be published in a few days by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett, entitled "Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow." The first series appeared twelve years ago. Early in the autumn season a memoir of Robert, Earl Nugent, the contemporary and friend of Pitt, Chesterfield, and Walpole, will be published by Mr. Heinemann. The writer is a member of the family, Mr. Claude Nugent, and a great amount of the earl's correspondence will be given, as well as illus- trations from pictures by Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Kneller. Miss Nellie Farren is writing the storv of her life. Readers will remember the process of unautho- rised adaptation which a story by Mr. H. G. Wells recently underwent in order to suit a locality in the United States. Now it appears that somewhat similar treatment has been received by another English author, namely, Mr. H. O. Arnold Forster, M.P. His little book, "In a Conning Tower," which has gone through many editions, has been taken in hand by an "enterprising" firm in America. The narrative describes the possible course of an action between two modern British ironclads. In the American adaptation, names of American battleships are substituted, and the work is described as "by a noted expert." Mr. Henry James's new novel, " In the Cage," will appear from Messrs. Duckworth's in a few- days. Mr. E. F. Benson has written a society story, entitled "The Money Market," which will be Arrowsmith's Christmas Annual this year. Mr. J. K. Laughton is making steady progress with the life of the late Mr. Henry Reeve, the editor of the Edinburgh Review, which will pro-  ## p. 78 (#90) ############################################## 78 THE AUTHOR. bably be among the most important of this year's biographies. It will contain some vers-de-sodet6 written by Mr. Reeve in early life. Mr. Demetrius Boulger, whose large history of China has just been issu d in a cheaper edition, has examined the documents of the Congo State and the work carried on there, and the result will be a book entitled "The Congo State and the Growth of Civilisation in Central Africa." It will be published by Messrs. Thacker in the autumn. A volume that will be anticipated with much ioterest is " Letters by Benjamin Jowett," which Mr. Evelyn Abbott and Professor Lewis Campbell are preparing as a supplement to their " Life of the late Master of Balliol," which was issued by Mr. Murray last year. Mr. Clark Russell's new novel, " The Romance of a Midshipman," will be published on Oct. 5 by Mr. Unwin. A romance of lower London, by Mr. A. St. John Adcock, will be published shortly by Messrs. Skeffington. General McLeod Innes is writing the life of another gallant soldier, namely, the late General Sir Henry Havelock-Allan. Novels to be published in the autumn by Messrs Constable include " An Elusive Lover," by Virna Woods; "A Statesman's Chance," by Mr. J. F. Charles; and "The Modern Gospel," by Mrs. H. H. Penrose. With the July number of the Classical Review Mr. G. E. Marindin relinquished the post of editor, owing to pressure of other work. Dr. Postgate, of Cambridge, has accepted the editor- ship, and he will be assisted by Mr. A. Bernard Cook, of Trinity College, Cambridge. Mr. Marindin has edited the review for five years, having succeeded Professor Mayor. Mr. Walter Armstrong, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, is writing a book on the characteristics an < achievements of the painter Gainsborough, which will be published by Mr. Heinemann. Lord Ashbourne is writing a work entitled "Pitt: Some Chapters of his Life and 1 imes," which Messrs. Longman will issue in the autumn. "Foreign Courts and Foreign Homes " is the title of a work by "A. M. F." which is shortly to be published by Messrs. Longman. It deals with Hanoverian and French society under King Ernest and the Emperor Napoleon III., and contains a fund of anecdote. Mr. W. G. Collingwood is being assisted by Professor Jon Stefansson, of Copenhagen Univer- sity, the well-known Icelander, in preparing an elaborate volume on the topography and scenery of the Sagas, so far as they relate to Iceland. It will be illustrated by 200 water-colour drawings taken by Mr. Collingwood last year in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and the Northern Seas. Professor Murison is writing the volume on Sir William Wallace for the Famous Scots Series. July witnessed the appearance of a threepenny popular monthly, entitled the Harmsworth Maga- zine. It is published by the well-known firm of Harmsworth. Considerable discussion has arisen upon the question of whether the newsagents can afford to sell it at the price it is offered to them. Messrs. W. H. Smith and Son declined to sell it on their bookstalls, and there has been a lengthy altercation between the two firms on this score. Mr. Harmsworth, the principal of the firm, says that the magazine can only be produced at the price becatise it is but "a small incident in an organisation controlling four daily journals and nearly thirty weekly periodicals; because we already possess and are now building printing machinery of an entirely novel and labour-saving nature." The following are among the novels which are announced for early publication: "God's Out- cast," by Mr. Silas K. Hocking (Warne); "A Girl of Grit," by Major Arthur Griffiths (Milne J; a novel by Mr. J. A. Barry (Macqueen); "A Lotus Flower," by Mr. J. Morgan de Groo (Blackwood); "The Secret of the King," by Mr. Charles Hannan; "The Pathway of the Gods," by Mrs. Mona Caird; •' The Laurel Walk," by Mrs. Molesworth (Isbister); and "The Queen's Cup," by Mr. G. A. Henty." "The Ways of a Widow," by Mrs. Lovett Cameron; and "Heart and Sword," by John Strange Winter, will be published by Messrs. White, who also have in preparation new stories by Mrs. Alexander and Miss Florence Warden. The Rev. Arthur Jenkinson, minister of the parish of Innellan, Argyllshire, has written a novel, in collaboration with his daughter, the scenes of which are laid in some of the wildest parts of the West Highlands. The story is entitled "Fiona Mclver: A Romance of the Western Isles," and will be published immediately by Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. Miss Jeukinson, who is still very young, has already accomplished a considerable amount of literary work. The executive committee of the Stevenson Memorial now report that a fund of about .£1400 has been raited through local committees in New Zealand, the United States, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen. A mural  ## p. 79 (#91) ############################################## THE AUTHOR. 79 monument in bronze will be placed in the Moray Aisle of St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh. It wiil be done by Mr. St. Gaudens, the American sculptor, who has studied Stevenson from the life. If the funds permit, it is also proposed to erect a handsome red granite seat upon some point on the Calton Hill, overlooking the Firth of Forth. Miss E. M. Cope is translating from the Nor- wegian a personal life of Marie Antoinette, written by Miss Clara Tschudi, who was recently presented by King Oscar with a gold medal in recognition of her historical researches. Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. will publish the book. Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple, is writing a review of his Lifetime amongst the Dissenters, which will probably appear in the autumn. The proposed title of the book is "Paterson's Parish: A Book of Scenes, Thoughts, Dialogues, and Revelations." No publisher has yet been named. "Estrina," written by C. H. Malcolm, has just been published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. (2*. 6d.). A play entitled "Edgar Harissue," by Messrs. C. H. Malcolm and Arthur Grahame, was played at the Ladbroke Hall on Tuesday, July 19, and was much appreciated. THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [June 24 to July 23.—217 Books.] Ames, J. S. Theory of Physics. 10/- Harper. Ames. J. S. and Bliss, W. J. A. A Manual of Experiments in Physics. 10/- Harper. Anderson, P. J Records of Marischal College and University, Aberdeen. 1593-1840. 21/- New Spalding Club. Andom, B Martha and I 3/6 Jarrold. Andrews, S. J. Christianity and Anti-Christianity in their Final Conflict. 9/- Putnam. Andrews, W. Literary Bywavs. 7/6. Andrews. Anonymous (An Inspector of Schools). Principles of Arithmetic. 3 6. McDougall. Anonymous. Conquest of Constantinople hy the Crusaders: A Song of Israel and Other Poems. 2/6 net. Paul. Anonymous (B. L. L.) Doctrine of Energy. 2/6 net. Paul. Anonymous. An Indictment of the Bishops. 1/- Church Association. Anonymous. History as Taught in India. 1/- T. G. Johnson. Armstrong, A. Tales of the Temple and Elsewhere. 1/- St. Sames's Gazette Office. Bailey, G. H. Metals and their Compounds. Part I. 1/6. Clive. Baskett, J. N. At You-alTs House. 6/- Macmillan. Raynee. Herbert. Ideals of the East. 5/- Sonnenschein. Relfort, Roland. The Colonial Cable Peril. 1/- R. Belfort. Bell. R S W. 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