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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) 1898-12-01 Volume 9 Issue 7 Pages Page range in volume 149–172 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18981201 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin tTbe H u t b o r, (Tlie Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. IX.—No. 7.] DECEMBER 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 notioe 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- joets whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS. GENERAL MEMORANDA. EOB some years it has been the praotioe to insert, in every number of The Author, certain " General Con- siderations," Warnings, Notices, &o., 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 oarry 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 " offioe expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give np 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 aides. 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. Readers can 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 oiroulation, it is not known what will be 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 discounts shall be duly entered. If these points are carefully looked after, the author may rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the same time he will do well to send his agreement to tl e secretary before he signs it. Q 2  ## p. 150 (#162) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. I. INVERY member has a right to ask for and to receive lu advice npon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispnte arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is 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 oopyright 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 snch 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 dooument to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudnlent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of every- thing important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 9. The Committee have now arranged for the reoeption 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 2let 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 Offioe without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White- hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the 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 conduct, 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' are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanoed 15 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 0barged in the " Cost of Production " for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. NOTICES. THE Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6«. 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 following resolution was passed by the Committee of Management at their meeting held at the offices of the Society on Tuesday, June 14, 1898: "It was resolved that if it was thought advis- able the Committee would elect the chairman or other officers of any corporate association as a member of the Authors' Society, to represent such association, on payment of 2 guineas per annum on behalf of such association. The chairman or  ## p. 151 (#163) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. other officers thus elected would be entitled to all the benefits of the Society for the publications of the association and for advice with regard to the details of the body corporate, but not to advice on behalf of himself or any individual member of such association." LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—A Curious Question. APUBLISHER sells a large amount of books to a distributor or to a bookseller, and in the return of accounts to the author pays the author royalties on such books. At a later date, for some reason or other, the sale of the book ceases, and the wholesale distributor or bookseller asks the publisher whether he won't take the copies of the book back. It is some- times politic of the publisher to do so in the case of a large wholesale distributor who is very active in the sale of books, and he accordingly takes, say, 100 copies of the book back, although he is not legally bound to do so. The author has already been paid royalty on these copies, so he has no further claim. Ought the publisher, in the continued sales of the book, to sell the author's copies in priority to those that he has received back from the distributor? Opinions are invited on this point. 1. I do not think there is any legal point to be raised here. It is rather one of moral obligation. —O. H. Thring. 2. The books have been sold. The author is entitled to his royalty. They are taken back. Why? In the interests of the publisher, not of the author. My opinion is that the books returned cannot be sold again until all the others in the edition have been disposed of. When this has been done, the publisher can begin to sell again for his own advantage the books which have been returned.—W. B. II.—." The Battle of Dorking." "Tbe year 1871 is known in the annals of the House of Blackwood as 'tbe "Battle of Dorking" jear.' Colonel Chesney's brilliant jtu d'esprit (as he himself called it) was probably the most successful magazine article ever written. It was reprinted in the form of a sixpenny pamphlet, of which over 80,000 copies were sold in a month, and more than 110,000 in all. Itappears from what Mrs. Porter says (though this is not absolutely clear) that the author's share of the profits when the sale had reached 80.000 was £250. If so, the Society of Authors ought to take no'e of the fact, for supposing that the royalty on the issue was only 25 per cent.—an extremely moderate one, in view of such an enormous sale—the author's profits would be .£500, exactly twice what he appears to have received. If the £250 was a mere payment on account, this ought to be made clear; otherwise Messrs. Blackwood have published a serious reproach upon their own firm." The above is a note from the Daily Chronicle. If 80,000 copies of this little pamphlet, which cost perhaps i^d. a copy, or .£500, were sold, the proceeds were about .£1200, so that the profits were £700, of which perhaps .£50 went in adver- tising. These figures would show that the House of Blackwood pocketed eight thirteenths of the whole, giving the author five thirteenths. This would be quite in accordance with the common practice of that period and with the practice advocated by the present publishers in their draft agreements. I do not think that Blackwood was any worse than his neighbours. It must be remembered that the royalty methods had hardly yet been commenced: those writers, if any, who understood what was meant by "trade price " and "cost of production," kept their know- ledge for their own benefit, and had no idea of helping other writers. I remember, some fifteen years ago, being assured by a publisher that a 10 per cent. royalty was a most fair arrangement, equitable for both parties. At that time I had some glimmerings of the truth, and I replied that it might be so for a small first edition, but it could not be so for larger and succeeding editions. Upon which his face assumed a pained look, with a touch of disappointment in it, such as is natural when one meets with want of confidence. I think, therefore, that it is very unlikely that any royalty was given in this case. If it was a royalty, it means 12\ per cent., which is con- temptible. It could not have been a half-profit arrangement, as it would seem to have been based upon imperfect accounts. I believe it was just a cheque tossed to the author without any account whatever. . III.—A Personal Experience. The Author has been very interesting of late on this subject. Perhaps my experience may be useful. I was anxious to publish, and to secure the profit while willing to take the risk. After four years' reading of this valuable paper I had become educated. Mr. Thring gave me the names of five printing firms and a distributor (he has done nothing to deserve to be called a publisher), who read my MS. and expressed his willingness to publish for me. With his valu- able hints I obtained estimates for printing, interviewed papermakers, and gave my own orders. The same for binding. (I am not an idle man.) I paid cash and got discounts. Result, 120,000 words, 3000 copies—say all bound—£118, advertising extra, and typewriting. The book is well groomed, and the publisher  ## p. 152 (#164) ############################################ >52 THE AUTHOR. nowhere—not wanted. The woful condition of the bookseller is improved, as he gets much larger profits, and when more books are thus published he will be able to resume his former status and prosperity. He, too, was fearfully sweated by the publisher. He has my book on sale or return, and I have secured what seems a right—the right to place my book upon the market, that it may live or die according to the strength that is in it. For this I am indebted to the Society of Authors. I shall become a life member of the Society. It can do no more for me—it cannot command success. In the summer a literary friend wrote me that he had been over a castle now in the hands of a wealthy publisher, and said he thought he pre- ferred the robber baron. How long will the great ones of literature continue to lay this pub- lisher's golden eggs? My egg may be addled— they know theirs will not be. Yet I am no plutocrat, and the penniless may like to know that I have been penniless enough to satisfy the most exacting. Zeitgeist. IV.— Missing Music Hall Sketches. Judge Emden was engaged for several hours at the Lambeth County Court on Nov. 22 in hearing an action brought by Harry Williamson, play- wright, of Portland-place, Clapham-road, to recover from G. H. Macdermott, music hall artist and theatrical agent, carrying on business at Denison-street, York-road, .£50 damages for the loss of four music hall sketches entrusted to the defendant. The plaintiff deposed that he had been writing plays for the past eighteen or twenty years, and works of his had been produced at a number of West-end theatres. In February, 1897, he met the defendant at the Tivoli, and at his request subsequently left at his office the MSS. of four music hall sketches, entitled "Killarnev," "Mixed," "Wanted," and " Not Guilty," and "he had not copies of any of these—only rough pencil notes. He warned the clerk of their value. When he subsequently applied for the return of the sketches, they could not be found. He had valued them at a low figure, so as to come within the jurisdiction of the County Court. He did not for a moment allege that Mr. Macdermott had the sketches. What he believed was that they had been stolen, and would be put on the market in another name. That was frequently done. For instance, he lost on board ship the original manu- script of "Retiring," produced at the Folly Theatre, and when he sought to secure the Ameri- can rights he found that it had been brought out in the States as " Out of Harness." Mr. Lionel Brough, asked by Mr. Lincoln Reid if he was an actor, replied, "They say so." (Laughter.) He said he knew the plaintiff to hold a good position as a dramatic author and to have a considerable reputation in the theatrical world. The price he put upon the sketches was very moderate indeed. The defendant, Mr. Macdermott, said he had known the plaintiff for twenty-five years. He remembered that Williamson approached him on several occasions with regard to the sketches, and the witness told him to send them to his office, but he had never the smallest intention of charging any commission or fee of any kind if by a good word he could induce a manager or artist to accept them. The evidence of the defendant's manager and his clerk having been heard, Judge Emden, without calling upon the defen- dant's counsel, said there was no doubt in his mind that this was a case of gratuitous bailment —that is to say, that the defendant, in offering to read the manuscripts was not doing it for financial advantage, but as an act of friendship. That being so, and the plaintiff having failed to prove affirmatively that the documents were lost through negligence, there must be judgment for the defendant with costs. He could not help stating that Mr. Macdermott had given his evidence in a frank and candid manner, which was positively refreshing after the usual experi- ence of cases in that court. [This case, quoted in extetuo from the Daily Graphic of Nov. 23, is interesting to authors, as it bears to some extent on the position of an editor to whom MSS. are sent.] V.—Receipts. An article appeared in The Author some time ago with regard to a given form of receipt for the use of serial work which was issued by the Religious Tract Society, and which ran as follows: Copyright. This reoeipt conveys the copyright to the trustees of the Religions Traot Society, with liberty for them, at their dis- cretion, to republish in any form. Republication by authors on their own account must be the subject of special arrange- ment. There is no doubt that from time to time great difficulties arise owing to the form in which receipts are sent to authors. If the Religious Tract Society before publishing work in serial form made a special agreement with the author, con- veying the rights mentioned in the receipt, then there would be no objection to signing it when payment was made, but if no such agreement was made the contributor should refuse his signature,  ## p. 153 (#165) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. *53 or he should strike his pen through the objec- tionable words of conveyance. If the Religious Tract Society refused to pay without these words, he should then, unless his necessities compelled him to endure anything, place the business in the hands of the Secretary of the Authors' Society. If no contract had been made before the publi- cation in serial form, taking the worst view of the case, it would have fallen under the 18th section of the Act, which is the section which deals with copyright in magazines. Under this section the right of republication in separate form would not lie with the Religious Tract Society, but would be a matter of separate agreement between the author and the proprietor of the magazine during the period prescribed by law of twenty-eight years, when the right to publish separately would revert to the author. This would be the position of the author, taking the most disadvantageous view of the difficulty, for the 18th section runs as follows in brief: "That when any publisher of a magazine shall have employed or shall employ any persons to compose any parts, essays, articles, or portions thereof for publication in or as part of the same, and such parts, essays, articles, or portions thereof shall have been or shall hereafter be com- posed under such employment on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to such pro- prietor, and be paid for by such proprietor, then the copyright shall belong to the proprietor," with the proviso stated above, that he cannot re- publish the same separately without the sanction of the author for twenty-eight years. It is very probable, however, that the article may be sent up to the magazine, and there may be no evidence whatever of employment by the proprietor of the magazine on the terms above stated. In that case the copy- right would belong to the author, and the right that he has sold to the magazine would be serial publication in that magazine only. It would therefore be absolutely unfair to ask the author after the publication of his article to assign the copyright and the right to republish in any form when nothing had been stated with regard to these rights previously to the publica- tion. It should be pointed out that, in the absence of special agreement, the contract is com- pleted with the publication, and that the signing of a receipt in the form set forth above would not necessarily convey the copyright, as there would be no fresh consideration for such conveyance, but it might be such very strong evidence of the intention of the author that it would be impos- sible to dispute his position subsequently. This article was commenced not with the idea of bringing forward the old form of receipt of the R. T. S., but with the intention of putting authors very strongly on their guard against endorsing cheques which have got a form of receipt on somewhat of the same lines, as the one above quoted, printed on their backs. It is easy to strike out the words of the receipt quoted above, and to return it to the office, taking the cheque in payment of fair serial use of an author's work. The author thus obtains his fair remuneration, and if the proprietor likes to dispute the price the action must lie with him. Here, again, the Society might be of use. But the proprietors of several magazines have devised the method of printing the receipt on the back of the cheque, and giving orders to their bank not to cash the cheque under any circumstances unless it is endorsed with the name of the author at the bottom of the receipt—conveying all these extra rights—and the receipt has no deletions upon it. Here the author is met with a considerable diffi- culty, as he cannot get his money until he has endorsed the cheque, and he cannot endorse the cheque without practically handing over to the proprietor the copyright and other rights that were never bargained for, In this case the author must return the cheque, and the cause of action lies with the author. Is it possible that the pro- prietor relies on the reluctance of the author to go to law? It is necessary again to repeat that the difficulty only arises when no agreement whatever has been made before the publication of the work. How then should an author avoid this difficulty? As a matter of fact, an editor, if he desires to accept an article, should write to the author and state so, mentioning at the same time what rights he desires to purchase and the price he is willing to give; but editors are not perfect, and under certain circumstances such a course might be impossible. In practice there are a great many things published without any formal acceptance from the editor, and an awkward position is the result. It is possible, however, for the author, from his point of view, to prevent himself from falling into the trap by forwarding his work with a letter stating exactly the rights he desires to convey if the work is published in the magazine, and the price he asks for such rights. He might have a stereotyped letter in this form, and he should keep a copy of the same. If, then, his work is subsequently published, and he receives no notice until after the publication, then it would be published, failing any evidence to the contrary, on the terms of the author's letter. These points have been put forward many times in The Author, and have been embodied in the "Addenda to the Methods of Publishing," but it is thought worth while to repeat the warnings, as  ## p. 154 (#166) ############################################ i54 THE AUTHOR. the process of issuing cheques with the receipts indorsed purporting to convey the copyright, when no previous agreement has been made, is as unfair to the author as it is unjust on the part of the proprietor. . G-. H. Thring. VI.—A Point or International Law. The following was the first resolution passed at the International Literary and Artistic Confer- ence, which was held at Turin this year. It refers to the retrospective action of the Berne Convention, and to modifications which the con- ference desired to see made in the English law. The CoDgross considering that the English law respecting International Copyright is not completely in accord with the text of the Berne Convention (and more especially that the Article 6 of the English Law of the 25 th June, 1886, as it is legally interpreted, contradicts the principle laid down in Artiole 14 of the Convention of Berne, and leads to violent and numerous violations of the rights of authors and artists), expresses the hope that diplomatic steps may be taken with the Government of Great Britain so that a new text of the law in question may be placed in complete acoord with the text of the Convention of Berne, and may especially assure the application of the principle of Article 14 of that Convention; that is to say, the effective protection of a work which has not fallen into the public domain in the country of its origin, and this even against the publisher who may, before that date, have published in England without the consent of the author. The question here put forward seems on the whole to be unnecessary, The section of the International and Colonial Copyright Act of 1886 referred to, runs as follows:— Where an Order in Council is made under the interna- tional Copyright Acts with respect to any foreign country, the author and publisher of any literary or artistic work first produced before the date at which such order comes into operation shall be entitled to the same rights and remedies as if the said Aots and this Act and the said order had applied to the said foreign country at the date of the said production. Provided that where any person has before the date of the publication of an Order in Council law- fully produced any work in the United Kingdom, nothing in this section shall diminish or prejudice any rights or interests arising from or in connection with such productions which are subsisting and valuable at the said date. The section of the Berne Convention referred to runs:— Under the reserves and conditions to be determined by common agreement, the present Convention applies to all works which at the moment of its coming into force have not yet fallen into the public domain in the country of origin. It is difficult to see what the Congress can possibly have meant by passing this resolution, and stating that the opposition in principle leads to violent and numerous violations of rights of authors and artists. Firstly, it is exceedingly doubtful if there is any opposition in principle, as the Congress would have discovered if it had thought fit to consider paragraph 4 of the final protocol to the Convention ;* and, secondly, the only rights that can possibly come into question would be the rights that publishers had acquired before the passing of the International and Colonial Att of 1886. At the most there have been two or three cases in the English courts referring to the rights of publishers in England acquired before the passing of the Act, touching works that come within the region of the retrospective working of the 14th section of the Berne Convention. How far the 14th section of the Berne Convention is retro- spective, and what are the limits of that retro- spection, have never been really decided, but there is no doubt that any rights obtained before the passing of the International Copyright Act, which confirmed the Berne Convention, must have been ot* so small a character as hardly in any way to affect authors and artists; otherwise action* would have been more frequent and the matter would have been discussed and settled long ago. Further, as regards authors, the rights that are of most value—translation rights—even if ob- tained under the Convention, lasted only ten years, and have now fallen into the public domain. In addition to this, every year makes it more im- possible for other rights to be of any value owing to the period of protection given expiring by lapse of time. The resolution which has been passed appears, to anyone who has really studied the two articles side by side, and the reading of the International Law, to be entirely futile and unnecessary. The Congress might, however, with much more advan- tage have turned its attention to the fact that the acquiring of copyright in a dramatic piece by performance in England prevents the English law from being in accord with the laws of most of the other countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention. This is a grave point, as it is a continuing cause of disintegration. The other point was never of much import, and grows less and less important every day. Q Herbert Thring. VII.—Author and Publisher. Most of your readers will endorse the opinions expressed by " A Member " in your last issue, as well as your own comments on the same. You seem, however, to think that the Society as yet might not wish to undertake the publication of books on the lines laid down by your corre- spondent. * This opinion is supported by a legal expert on Inter, national Copyright Law.  ## p. 155 (#167) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. '55 But if a powerful concern were established, publishing on commission only, as you suggest, a great step would be gained. In order to secure the success of such an undertaking it would require the steadfast patronage of the more influential members of the Society. Some of your readers may remember that a small company, called The Authors' Co-operative Publishing Company, was started some eight or ten years ago on these lines; but, as it possessed the patronage of neither the Authors' Society nor of its principal members, the company almost died before it was born. There is no doubt that a certain proportion of the more mercenary critics are considerably under the influence of pub- lishers, and that unknown writers are more or less at the mercy of these mercenary critics. As, at first, books published by such a firm would probably have to stand the attacks of these light- fingered gentry, the concern would require the continued support of writers of established repu- tation, who could afford to sneer at unfair reviews. A surreptitious attempt would certainly be made by publishers and their creatures to boycott their rivals; but perseverance would prevail, and the public would gradually come to learn that the great difference of such a firm from the ordinary publisher would be that the works would be pro- duced cheaper, and that the profits would go more into the pockets of the poor author and bookseller than into the coffers of dishonest pub- lishers. The present relations between author and publisher are so entirely one-sided as to be truly ridiculous to contemplate. "You give me your book," says the publisher to the author, "and you see nothin', and you ask nothin', except what I may be jolly well pleased to give you, for I am the immaculate Llama of Literature." Till such links of bondage are broken the author remains a slave. There would be something more to say on the subject, and distribution of per- centages, in promoting such a concern. Glenfktjin. FEOM THE SUNNY SOUTH. PERHAPS a few lines—not entirely about books—from Australia may be of some interest to readers of The Author. A literary man in Sydney is not quite in the back blocks, indeed, less so than if he were in (say) Manchester, for the place is cosmopolitan in character: the terminal port for three or four English bines, one German, one French, one American, and one Canadian line of mail steamers; is the centre of government for a VOL. IX. million and a quarter of people, the headquarters of the British fleet in Australian waters, and a few other things besides. The city is fairly large, contaiuing as it does a population of 410,000 souls, is well-built, furnished with railways, electric trams, telephones, and all the other aids to the business of the nerve specialist, possesses many theatres, good libraries, and an art gallery which competent critics declare to be very credit- able for so young a city. The natural advantages of the place constitute its chief charm however, for in the whole world there is not so splendid a site for a city. Sydney harbour, with its 200 odd miles of coast line, its numerous arms, bays, and inlets, its surroundings of bush-clad slopes and craggy gullies, is indeed a vision of beauty, but a very real "vision," which can be engaged any day for a few pence. Then the harbour is not the only attraction, for there are miles of open coast close by the city, and countless pretty drives. Intellectually it is, perhaps, as yet a trifle pro- vincial, and frozen meat and gold mines bulk rather too largely, but there is an improvement in this respect. One or two of the dailies pose as being quite abreast of modern thought (which they are not), and all kinds of ideas are discussed freely and without much prejudice. People here have passed out of the materialistic stage in con- nection with the religious question, and have either swung right back to some form of Chris- tianity or adopted some form of Deism. One or two leading ministers of various denominations have no hesitation in announcing themselves evolutionists, and yet adherents of revealed religion. It is a tolerant place, people are not very preju- diced, and divorce is made more easy than in any portion of the British empire, without the remotest sign of the degradation prophesied at every stage of advance in this direction. Literature can hardly be said to have had a beginning in Australia as yet—at all events a purely literary career is not yet possible here unless the worker takes his wares to the London market. Only one firm as yet publishes locally, and there is no literary magazine. An attempt to form an association of Australian authors and produce a paper in which Australian work could appear was not successful. The firm which publishes (and prints) in Sydney has had several successes, principally with poems and ballads, but the market for local work— especially fiction—cannot be said to be strong. English works have a ready sale, but it is notice- able that many of the works which have achieved success in London do not catch on here. That fact was very noticeable last year, when some of  ## p. 156 (#168) ############################################ >5<5 THE AUTHOR. the " spooky" books which sold freely in London were scarcely asked for here. Justin C. MacCartie. Bridge-street, Sydney, Aug. 20. NOTES AND NEWS. CONFIRMATION has reached me of my estimate as to the number of families in this country who can be considered as possible buyers of books. I put the number at 400,000, and the lowest income at .£250. People with less than that income may buy a cheap book, one at 4f</. in a draper's shop, or a second-hand book, out of the twopenny box, but they certainly cannot afford to buy new and expensive books. Indeed, book-buying only begins when the standard of comfort is reached. I do not myself believe that many families with incomes under .£750 a year spend much upon books, especially when the children are receiving their education. When there are no children: when a man is unmarried, he can buy a good many books with an income of .£250. However, my confirmation is based upon Mr. Charles Booth's Analysis of the 1891 Census. From that analysis it is made out that the number of families in London with such an income is 65,000, and that for the whole country in the same proportion it would be 480,000. But as the proportion of rich to poor is much less in the country than in London, it is safer to take 400,000. So far, this is satisfactory. But, in addition, I should like to know how many families have an income of .£750 and over, because I should be inclined to limit book-buying to any considerable extent to those families. "What has your Society done? Not a single publisher driven to smash yet!" This objection was seriously advanced the other day to the Secre- tary. One hardly knows how to reply. The Society has never tried to "smash" publishers. It is not one of the objects of the Society to "smash" publishers any more than printers, paper-makers, or bookbinders. The object of the Society is solely to defend literary property in the interests of the author, to whom it belongs. How has the Society sought to effect this object? Partly by jireparing an amended Copyright Bill: partly by putting the law at the service of authors: mainly by ascertaining and publishing the facts and statistics concerning literary property. For instance, the cost of printing, paper, and bind- ing: the meaning of advertisements: the trade price of various books—so that the creator of literary property may understand exactly what, under given conditions, ought to come to him as the owner, and what, under the same conditions, is demanded by the middleman. This seems a tolerably useful thing to do. It may even be called a humble piece of work. But it had never been done before; and the want of this knowledge kept the writer in a condition of helpless and galliug dependence. He could not object, what- ever was offered, because he did not know. Now he does know. What is the result? It is, beyond all doubt, an advance all along the line. The old royalties are no longer offered: the old prices are no longer proposed. It is certain that for popular work of all kinds the position of the author is increased enormously in consequence of the Society's action. There are persons who to-day enjoy the fruits of the Society's labours, and neither join it nor acknowledge their obligation—and even attempt to abuse and misrepresent the Society. "You have not yet, after all your work, driven a single pub- lisher to smash!" We might sit down, then, these results dis- covered and published. Not so: they must be republished again and again. We must keep before the eyes of writers the facts and the figures. We must show them again and again the cost of production: the meaning of advertisements: the meaning of risk, the meaning of royalties, and the tricks, dodges, and devices by which the author is met at every turn by the greater number of publishers. And there is another side. It is that the Society acts as a police, always on the lookout: preventing iniquities and detecting iniquities. Every week brings in "cases" for investigation. The work is necessarily confidential. Only the Chairman and the Secretary know the full work that is done by the Society in this way. The cases are not, as a rule, brought before the Com- mittee. I do not say that the complainant is always right. Perhaps he may be wrong: in this case it is well that he should learn the law and the equity of his own case, and should cease to accuse. _ A point about the "Draft Agreements" of the Publishers' Association has not, I think, been noted. It is this. Up to the present it has been the custom with a great many to overstate every item. They could do this with impunity because there was no audit. But no provision has been made in the "Draft Agreements" for any audit.  ## p. 157 (#169) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. •57 Therefore the same impunity remains. But they do propose to put a percentage on everything—a percentage of what they please. Therefore, if these agreements are carried out, we shall soon have (i) the items all overstated as before, and (2) a percentage charged on the fraudulent return. This, it appears, is not only possible, but certain to be done. For those who have always practised the old knavish custom of overstating the cost, will continue to do so with impunity, and will then cheerfully make use of the liberty claimed by the Association of adding on what they please as a percentage. Let us apply these considerations to a half- profit system. We take a book which costs .£150 for an edition of 3000 copies. We suppose all to be sold, less Press copies, i.e., 2950 copies at 3.?. 6d. each. Here is the honest return:— Cost of production .£150 0 0 Author's share 183 2 6 Publisher's share... 183 2 6 — - .£516 5 0 Sales—2950 at 3s. 6d .£516 5 0 Next, the return partly based on the old iniquity and partly as maintained by the Pub- lishers' Association. Cost of production fraudulently set down as .£200. Eeturns "at customary trade price," i.e., at anything the publisher chooses to say. Perhaps he will own to 3*. a copy, or .£442 i0.«. Also, though the returns are for actual money received, he deducts a percentage for bad debts. He adds, besides his percentages (which are allowed here by the agreement), a charge for advertisements not paid for. This he can also do with impunity. We now have the account as rendered :— Cost of production .£200 0 0 Percentage: 15 per cent 30 0 0 Advertisements not paid for 30 0 0 260 0 0 Author's share 47 0 0 Publisher's share... 47 0 0 .£354 0 0 Returns £442 10 0 Less 10 per cent. bad debts ... .£44 5 0 Less 10 per cent. office expenses.. .£44 50 88100 .£354 0 0 But observe that the publisher has got— I. .£50 0 0 2. Percentage on alleged cost ... 30 0 0 3- Advertisements not paid for .. 30 0 0 4- Bad debts 44 10 0 5- Office expenses ... 44 10 0 6. Alleged share of profits 47 □ 0 .£246 0 0 To the author's .£47. And this is an alleged half-profit system! I desire readers to mark very earnestly and seriously the dangers which these draft agree- ments threaten. If they are successful, then there will be an end of literature. It cannot be too often repeated that literature, like any other art, must be free: must be respected: must be indepen- dent. No profession can continue in respect which is daily wilfully robbed, and without any power of redress. It may be argued that the very publishers who advance these pretensions would not dare to offer such an agreement to a writer of repute. This shows the inherent dishonesty of the proposals. They know that such an agree- ment would be flung in their faces. Why, then, are these drafts put forward? In the hope that they may be little by little put forward and adopted with the writers who are helpless, or with those who desire above all things to get their books published, and that so, in the imme- diate future, they may be recognised by writers of standing. The scheme is crafty. It is based on the ignorance and artlessness of writers, which have been abundantly proved in the past. We shall see what writers will do. A writer in a daily paper informs the world about Mr. Rudyard Kipling's private affairs. I shall not follow his example, because I have not received information from the only person who knows these things—the author himself: nor have I received his permission to publish the facts. But the paragraph concludes with these words: "This pecuniary return seems adequate." What is the meaning of " adequate "? It is the old, old story of confusing literary and com- mercial value. Nothing is "adequate" for a writer, and nothing is "inadequate," because there is no connection possible between the two values. But put it in another way. This writer has created a literary property. It is his, as much as a house, or a terrace, or a farm, or a hundred farms. The returns from that pro-  ## p. 158 (#170) ############################################ ■58 THE AUTHOR. perty are his own: if he did not get them, some person who had no right or claim whatever to them would lay hands upon them. I have never heard of anyone in the paper calling out upon the amount realised by that person, but I con- stantly see little touches like this use of the word "adequate," which show the confusion I have often indicated, together with a kind of feeling that an author ought not to be allowed the use and the returns of his own property. Every other kind of property the owner may be allowed to enjoy to the full, but not literary property— no—not literary property. Tbat, it appears, does not belong to the creator and the owner. This confusion cannot be too often pointed out and insisted upon. There is no connection what- ever between literary and commercial value. They are incommensurable as much as the circle and the radius. It is impossible to say that this poem is worth a million or that essay a shilling. "When a worthless book is for a time successful, people should cry out—not at the money which it brings in, but at the bad taste of those who buy it. In the same way a good book may have a very limited circulation—witness, for a long time, Browning's poems, and, now as always, Walter Pater's works. Circulation, that is, money, does not make a book good or bad. On the other hand, there are, happily, many cases every year in which good work is largely recognised. Even if all good books were recognised, that would bring us no nearer to the establishment of an equation between the two separate factors of poetry and trade. Nothing, however, was more common a few years ago than to find the reviewers talking about certain sums of money being "more " or "less" than a book was "worth." The expres- sion, which they did not understand, stamped them with the mark of ignorance as to the entirely separate character of literary worth. Of late one has heard less of the expression Yet the above example shows that it still lingers. (From the Book News and Trade Gazette, Oct. 2 2, 1898.) "Unfortunately for the bookseller, tbe same manner of carrying on business prevails to-day in tbe publishing trade as it did in the early days of the century, when fewer books were issued and a greater discrimination was shown in selection of MSS. for publication. In those days publishing and bookselling were a profession where the publisher and bookseller pursued their work more from a genuine love for it than in a commercial spirit. To-day that is all changed; the publisher in the majority of oases never reads a MS. before it is published, relying entirely on his expert readers. The bookseller, harassed by the competition of the libraries, has no time to grasp the inside of the books and thereby in- telligently sell his wares to the public. He has to buy his ■took chiefly on the representation or misrepresentation of the publisher-traveller, a creature whose conscience has deteriorated, or in some cases disappeared, through stress of ciroumstances and struggle for existence. Through him the publisher vicariously leads the bookseller astray. This un- businesslike system, based on a rotten foundation, is gradu- ally ruining the bookselling trade. Even the trade have awakened to that fact, but unfortunately they have not been able to accurately diagnose the malady which is killing them. Instead of coming to some simple basis of agreement, and presenting a firm front to the enemy, they actually invite those who are trying to ruin them to devise some means whereby the end may be quickened, and the result of their concentrated wisdom was to try and institute a system which would still further alienate the publio from buying books. This fell through, and though some more futile propositions were put forward, nothing apparently has come of them, and the survival of the fittest will probably be the only solution to tbe question. "We set forth again the only remedy that, in our opinion, will at least save the trade, and especially the country book- seller, from accumulating bad stock, the great cause of ruin to many. The Booksellers' Association should approach the publishers and get them to send a copy of every book to them a fortnight before publication. They should then appoint an expert who would read every book and write a short resume, if suitable, which would be issued to the trade. The bookseller would then, when the book was pre- sented to him for subscription, be able to know whether it would suit his particular trade, and buy in such a way as to reduce the item of bad stock to a minimum. This seems to us the only intelligent way of doing business. Other trades guard themselves in the same way, and the book- sellers would only be doing a wise thing if they followed their example. The retrograde step proposed last year— namely, to raise tbe price of a commodity which is essential for the welfare of tbe country, was perhaps the silliest pro- position ever put forward by business men. We maintain that everyone would be benefited by our proposal—the pub- lisher, the bookseller, and the public. Though at first sales might not increase, losses would be diminished, and in the end renewed confidence in the superior quality of the wares would encourage the publio to buy." The above proposal is at once practical and sensible, and certain to produce the best results. I had myself, before this article appeared, advo- cated exactly the same method: but with certain modifications. Thus it would not be possible for an expert to read and report on every book. But he might do this: There are many books which a bookseller would desire to offer his people on the recommendation of the name only. There are many books which can be condemned almost at a glance. There remain the books on the border line which require to be considered before they are recommended or condemned. This expert with the weekly sheet of recommendations or descriptions — a brief description should accompany every recommendation—would cost ab,/ut .£400 a year, or a yearly subscription of, say, 15*. Surely this is not too much, considering the advantages to be gained by this method. But I am always of opinion that the sale-or-return method is the only way of getting books really published, i.e., produced and offered for sale.  ## p. 159 (#171) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. '59 And as no bookseller's shop can hold all the books that are produced, this reader would guide him as to the books he would accept on sale-or-return. Walter Besant. "A SPRAY OF LILAC." (From an unpublished book of words for music.) "No tender stalk of juicy green Is mine," it murmured low; "No feathered leaf, nor drooping branch It is, that lilacs know." "But lovely shades of violet, And snowy white are mine, In dusters fair, and greeny leaves A-near each branch entwine." "There is no flow'r more sweet to see, No flow'r so scents the gale, No bridal wreath it does not deck, In semblance, 'neath the veil." "And one sweet spray I place on this, Thy last lone resting place; And as I gaze, and tears arise, I see thy sad pale face." Thus spoke he, as he paused to view Her grave where she had lain Full twenty years, while lilacs bloom'd, And went and came again. M. A. C. C. [Copyright.] CHALONER'S MASTERPIECE. WHEN he was eight years old John Fyvie Chaloner ran away to sea. At least, he partly ran and partly walked to the side of the canal-dock which lay three-quarters of a mile distant from his home. Here he saw a burly man lounging on a barge, and after a little hesitation offered 6d. as the price of a passage to "the big London docks." The man asked ques- tions in a good-humoured way, and little John revealed his purpose. He feared it was unwise to do so, but what was he to say? Among other matters he told the bargee where Mr. Chaloner senior lived. "Here, you come along with me," said the bargee when John had made an end of his tale. "1 know of a tremendous fine sea-going steamer, I *lo, and I know the captain of her, and you'll see if it isn't just what you're a-looking after." John consented, round-eyed, and the bargee jumped ashore. Then he grasped John by the hand and led him by a circuitous route to the house of Mr. Chnloner senior. John was told to VOL. IX. go upstairs and wait till his father came to him, and the bargee was handsomely rewarded. When John was fourteen his father died, and a year later his mother married again. Then John ran away to sea once more. He was a strong, smart lad now with a pleasant address, and he got his way this time. The life fascinated him even after he had learned to hate it, and he remained at sea six years. Then he suddenly grew tired of the water, and began to think of falling seriously in love and renting a cottage. He came ashore, and tried to earn his living in London. He did manage to escape starvation. He was alternately a dock labourer, check-taker at the pit-door of a theatre, sandwich-man, stage carpenter's hand, walking gentleman, and attendant to a lunatic. It was during the leisure which he sometimes enjoyed in this latter service that he found time to write a book. It was a novel, of course, and it was a curious one. Round a plot of which he had thought during his very first voyage he spread a jumble of his experiences, and the book was very sensational in some places and very funny in other places, and it was long and somewhat formless; but it was alive. Twelve publishing firms rejected it within six months, and then John Chaloner begau to think that he was not cut out for a novelist. "The jury's dead against me," he said. "Well, what will be will be. Let's try the thirteenth man, and see if he's as bad as his number." After two months John received a brief letter from Messrs. Beaner and Baske—the thirteenth firm. They were prepared to offer him £20 for the copyright of his novel, provided they had the option of publishing his next long work, " such work not to take the form of a collection of short stories." John sat for some time dangling the letter between his fingers. He knew nothing of pub- lishers and nothing of the prices paid for books. True, it was a long while since he had handled £20 in a single sum, but the terms offered to him appeared small for so much work. He wrote to Messrs. Beaner and Baske and asked if they could not be a little more generous. They replied that they could not—in this instance. They enclosed a form of transfer of copyright, which John signed, and by return of post he received a cheque for £20. The book attracted a great deal of attention; it was not only sensational and funny, it was true. The sales were brisk; twelve thousand copies went off in two months, and the publishers made a very neat thing of selling sheets to an American firm; besides, they sold a big colonial edition, and they sold the continental rights to Tauchnitz, and they sold the story as a serial to B  ## p. 160 (#172) ############################################ i6o THE AUTHOR. a number of more or leas obscure newspapers, which all paid something. So both Beaner and Baske rubbed their hands over that book. But John Chaloner knew exactly how far .£20 would go, and he continued to attend upon the lunatic. There was a reason why the book was true, and the reason was that John Chaloner respected himself when he sat down to write. He had strong views about the dignity of authorship. So when he found that his first venture was successful he set himself to write the very best book he could think of. It was a long book, rather gloomy and very powerful. John knew all the people who were to live in it before he began to write it, and the people actually lived in it when he had done. Beaner and Baske told him that they did not like the book, but John assured them it was better than his last. Mr. Baske shook his head. "We will hope it may prove so," said Mr. Beaner, with a sour smile. John was I o receive a royalty upon every copy of this book which was sold in England—nothing was said about America; and Mr. Beaner and Mr. Baske both assured the author that the royalty was a very handsome one, and that the treatment which he was receiving was very handsome altogether. The book was published, and the Press notices of it turned John Chaloner's head slightly; at least, they made him think that he had carved out a road to com- petence and freedom, and he gave up attending on his lunatic. That was three weeks after the book was published. Then came the eternal bread-and-butter question, and John called on his publishers. Mr. Beaner advanced him .£20 with a pleasant smile, and said it would be "all right." John began to take his pleasure a little, and within three weeks the twenty pounds had been spent. Then John Chaloner called upon his pub- lishers again. Mr. Beaner was not so agreeable, talked vaguely of the book not quite answering expectations, and, when he advanced John the fifty pounds for which he had asked, requested him not only to sign a receipt, but a formal promise that the firm should have "the first refusal" of the next book. John hesitated; but rent and dinner had to be considered, so he signed. And it is easy to picture his astonish- ment when, six weeks later, he received a statement of account from Messrs. Beaner and Baske, which set forth that only 850 copies ot the book had been sold, and lhat Mr. John Fyvie Chaloner was rather heavily in debt to the firm of Beaner and Baske. John was frightened. He had begun another sombre novel, but he set it aside to follow a counsel which he had from Mr. Beaner at their last meeting—and write adventures. Perhaps the following conversation which had taken place between Mr. Beaner and his partner before Chaloner's second book was published will explain why so few copies of it were sold. "I don't much like the report on Chaloner's new book," said Mr. Baske. "It's high art, and all that sort of rot, and I don't believe it will sell." "I don't believe it will," replied Mr. Beaner, and he swore at high art. "I've read the begin- ning and the end of the stuff myself and a good bit of the middle, and the man's left out the blood. If the public learns to expect blood from a man they will take nothing else." "Quite right." said Mr. Baske. "All the same, though I don't believe in this book, I believe in the chap." "When he writes adventures," observed Mr. Beaner, "so do I." "Well, let's make him write blood," said Mr. Baske. "We can just let this book drop quietly and lend the man a little money. His boots and his hat and tie show that he wants money. Then we can make him do what we like." "Not a bad idea," remarked Mr. Beaner. "And we can make him give us the option of his next, besides telling him what it's to be like. I don't think we can lose much, and his last was meaty. Anyhow, we needn't lend him much. We'll just print a thousand and distribute the type: there'll be over sixty review copies—I mean to prepare the ground for his next blood handsomely, and we can keep a few copies unbound and tell him the total sales are eight hundred and fifty. After all, one must teach these authors their business; they've no sense to find it out for themselves." At first John Chaloner was disgusted at the idea of another adventure story. But the more he thought about it the more he warmed to his work. He began to see that much of the material he had rejected in writing his first book was better than the material he had retained. His repugnance for the work gradually turned to love of it, and thus his masterpiece was fashioned; for it was a masterpiece. He took it to Beaner and Baske; he had no alternative as to that. Mr. Beaner read it, and Mr. Baske read it. "My word, it's a plum," said the senior partner. "It's a real live plum." said the junior, "and now let's t-ee if we can't get it cheap." Chaloner called at Beaner and Baske's place of business again and again. He heard a great many excuses, but he could not get a decided answer about the book until two months and a half had passed. Then his total indebtedness to the firm was one hundred and fifty pounds.  ## p. 161 (#173) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 161 "We can give you one hundred and fifty pounds advance," said Mr. Beauer, at last, " and mind it's a thumping advance, on account of a 15 per cent. royalty running all through; and that's very high, very high. But we have hopes that this book will redeem our losses on the last, you know." "But I owe you one hundred and fifty already," said Chaloner, frowning, "Well, you'll clear yourself," observed Mr. Beaner, " and then there's the rovalty." John sighed, and accepted the bargain. He was very anxious to "clear himself." But there seemed no end to the delays in publication. The autumn and the winter slipped by, the spring season was over, the summer books were being issued, but still Chaloner received no proofs. "My dear sir," said Mr. Beaner, haughtilv, in reply to remostrances, "we know when to publish. That's part of our business. No date is fixed in your agreement. Very well then. It's in your interests as well as ours that the book should wait for the propitious moment. You really must not try to dictate to us, sir. We shouldn't dream of dicating to you about your part of the business of production." John had got deeper into debt. Mr. Beaner was more petulant every time he was asked for money—and the sums which were asked were small now. John lest heart. He began two new novels, but abandoned both before he had written a dozen chapters. He was not only dispirited but unoccupied, and he drank rather freely in con- sequence. Mr. Beaner's manner had grown so repellent that John Chaloner had recourse on one occasion to a moneylender. He knew it was foolish, but he did it. And soon he was involved to such an extent that he dared not think of his finances, and he grew desperate. One afternoon late in the summer he penetrated into the offices of Messrs. Beaner and Baske. He was kept waiting a long while, but he saw Mr. Baske at last. "I tell you frankly what it is," said Chaloner, "I'm fearfully hard up, and I want you to pub- lish the book as soon as possible." "Oh, but we couldn't possibly before the autumn," replied Mr. Baske. "What do you mean by the autumn ?" asked John with a sigh. "We can't say exactly," answered Mr. Baske. "Most likely November." "1 can't wait till then," remarked Chaloner. Mr. Baske shrugged his shoulders. "Well," he said at length, "we're not inclined to go to much more expense about your book, Mr. Chaloner, as to which, frankly, we're doubtful. But if it will suit you best, we'll cry quits over the money advanced, hand you a cheque for twenty pounds, and take over the copyright, lock, stock, and barrel. But only to oblige you." "Let me go home and think of it," said Chaloner. "You can always write another one," said Mr. Baske as he bowed the author out with an agree- able smile. John went home and thought over it bitterly enough; but then—he could always write another one. He believed that himself. So he accepted Mr. Baske's offer and sold the copyright. The book was published within six weeks after that, and 50,000 copies of it were sold in three months in England alone. Then Chaloner tried "to write another one." He drank still more freely to drown his anger and disgust, and he could not make his next book live. There was not a spark of inspiration in it. Beaner and Baske rejected it after ten other houses had seen it and con- demned it, and by this time Chaloner was once more attendant to a lunatic. He tried two more novels. One was published by a new firm and was a dead failure. The other was rejected by a score of publishers. Then John Fyvie Chaloner ran away to sea for the third time, and gave up literature and the idea of falling in love and renting a cottage. But those copyrights are still real "properties" to the firm of Beaner and Baske. Molecule. ECCLEFECHAN. THE traveller to the south will remember the details of the scenery, where the Cale- donian express combines the contingent of people from Glasgow and Edinburgh. The panorama viewed on the carriage windows (those Euston carriages whose green-and-white so aptly relieves the hills beneath and clouds above) is characteristic of the lowlands of Scotland. Likely he will recall the halt—and if he does so, also he may have seen that nice bevy of damsels—at Lockerbie Junction. Then the train, with a good speed and a zigzag motion, cleaves its way through the rugged hills and moors of Annandale. With- out delay it drives by the historic hamlet of Eccle- fechan. Ecclefechan has only one absorbing interest in its association with the name of Tom Carlyle. Here the Sage of our Era began the anxious toil of life, and here his mortal part has found its resting-place. Mr. Sam. Donald and his wife made a pilgrim- age to Ecclefechan. Donald, who was a journalist  ## p. 162 (#174) ############################################ 162 THE AUTHOR. and follower of the prophet, wanted intensely to see this spot of earth. What manner of place might it be which gave birth to such amazing genius? It happened that Dumfries was the scene of the honeymoon, and so one day the couple paid a visit to the prophet's native place. They wondered if the hills and dales were more didactic tban usual here, if the ozone was any thicker than it is elsewhere. But the case is not so. Ecclefechan is such a village, lying in such environs, as we have seen the like of many a time in Scotland. In the valley, traversed by the railroad, crossed by a modest stream, surrounded by wooded hills, lies the quiet village. Several rows of haphazard houses, gathered at the meeting of the roads, range into some half-a-dozen streets. There are at least two churches in the place, not to speak of the countryside. The population is less than a thousand people. There is a street that goes by the name of Carlyle Place. Here in a dull-white house—behind a burn and a hedge—and then in a low-ceiled and dark room, they told them the prophet was born, and showed them his things. The natives talk familiarly of him as "Tom." The village has the choice of some nice walks (that specially to the west a favourite) in the neighbourhood. Donald commented on the usual plethora of churches in so small a village. "I happen to know," he said, "that one of the preachers was prize-poet of his year in College, and I credit him with brain enough to supply the needs of the whole village." And his wife gave the right answer. "Why on earth do they not unite?" Quite near the little town, they found the old churchyard. The patch of ground is homely and overgrown with grass. Over from the gate there is a white pile, more conspicuous than the others. It belongs to the family of a relative of our hero. Beside oue wall of the yard were stones bearing the names of Aitken and Carlyle. Here repose the mother and brother of our hero. Amid these, beside the grave of a literary name, the red stone of simple design is the tomb of the immoTtal Carlyle His grave was plain then in the extreme. Amid simple and ordinary things, the extraordinary man lies in the dust of earth. Surrounded by a cluster of his kindred, like priests that guard the inner secret of his temple! The sandstone is slightly ornamented and bears this inscription: "Here rests Thomas Carlyle, who was born at Ecclefechan, 4th Dec. 1795, and died at 24, Cheyne Row, Chelsea, London, on Saturday, 5th Feb. 1881." There is over the words—the family crest—a dragon-device, and beneath it the single word, so suitable, " Humili- tate." There in that corner, yes, they left the yard in vain effort to speak the meaning con- tained in that one word, "Humilitate !" Carlyle lies in ashes there. As they wander out the road, that skirts the wooded hill, sad and thoughtful, with the verdant soil under-foot and the blue-and-white sky above, they wonder, as he used to do, what it is that life means: and the mystery of it cannot better be resigned than by taking the hint of that word on his tomb, and learning the lesson of humility, that the great soul is ever born out of lowliness. "I would have expected somehow," said Donald, "that this patriotic land might have raised some kind of monument in the streets of its capital, or else in Ecclefechan." "It would be natural enough," the lady said with a comic laugh, "but do you know what you recall to me V When Schumann heard of the movement to raise a monument to the glory of Beethoven, he said they might as well raise one to the Lord Almighty." When they returned to the village, somebody in the shop (where they made a purchase) told them of a Roman camp to the east, within easy walking distance. But that idea had to be aban- doned on the score of time. "I remember once before," said he in his naive way, "I visited a tiny village. And there was a Roman camp there—" "I daresay," she said, interrupting him, "and it was inevitable." Although they found no marvel there, Donald and his spouse declare that the day spent in Carlyle's village was one of the best, if also the most sad, of the wt dding-tour. While in the falling shade they waited the train at the station, they watched the faultless lines of rail cutting with a cold gleam away into the distance—the lines that vanish and ever remind us, how little the finite can know of the infinite. And the same sad mood covered the landscape. "Do you know I have been thinking, ever since we left the grave," said the lady, "but perhaps 1 ought not to indulge fancies." "And why not, my dear?" "I have been thinking," she said, "of another tomb, and what the angel said of its tenant, 'He is not here, he is risen.'" "It would be no harm," said Donald, "but the reverse, to think so." # # # # • "Therefore we learn the lesson," wrote Donald in giving some account of this visit to readers of his own paper, "which all his work was calcu- lated to teach, that not the chance of life's setting  ## p. 163 (#175) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. is of any value, but the mystery of endeavour. Carlyle would not have forbidden us to pay his memory the tribute of a sentimental visit to his grave. But in doing that we realise that it is in vain. How little, after all, can we find of him there! The life-work we all know to admire has passed into many a life, the teaching has fused itself into many a form and fashion. The majesty of great genius, showing the kinship of our little life to the star-life in nature, strictly speaking, belongs not to this time-tied life of ours. Each noble worker, as he 'grapples with his evil star,' inherits the timeless and tideless life. And in that sense Carlyle's identity is else- where. The gospel of sincerity and love, which he spread abroad, is the shrine of his worship, the tomb of his repose—the element that we must reach to find him in life and not in death, in power and not in frailty, in hope, in joy, in satisfaction. And of him also, as of the Scion of the Highest, may it be said,' He is not here, he is risen!' Now he inhabits an eternal life, which we best feel in the fond hearts of his fellowmen." 1892. R. Welsh. MEMORIALS. Miss Christina Rossetti. ALARGE congregation assembled on Nov. 1, in Christ Church, Woburn-square, London, to witness the Bishop of Durham dedicat- ing a beautiful memorial to the late Miss Christina Georgina Rossetti, which has been erected there. The memorial consists of five paintings, designed by the late Sir Edward Burne-Jones, partly executed by the artist and partly by his chief assistant, Mr. F.W. Rooke, set in a reredos designed by the Rev. J. Glendinning Nash, incumbent of the church. The reredos is divided into five com- partments. In the central one is a figure of the Saviour, standing with bowed head, and hands folded across His breast; and on the table beside Him is a chalice. In the other compartments are figures of the four Evangelists, each with a pen and a book, in which they are inscribing the words of the Lord. The musical part of the dedi- cation service consisted of hymns written by Miss Rossetti. The Bishop of Durham, in his address from the pulpit, said there was a saying attributed to our Lord at a very early date which appeared to him to express a divine truth—" He that wonders shall reign." Wonder, the direct consciousness of the immeasurable depths of nature and of life, with the power of disclosing them to others, was the characteristic endowment of the true poet. It must appear strange that in clas- sical times few women were known as poets, and it was still more surprising that in the crea- tive period of English poetry no woman took her place beside the great masters. At last in our own century not a few women had delivered their message as poets, and had found a wide welcome. The explanation of the fact was probably to be found partly in social changes, and still more in the larger conception of the Christian faith which had at length enabled us to see tha.t every variety of gift was required for the interpretation of human experience and hope, so that if women were silent the absence of their voice made itself felt as never before, and, therefore, they had answered at last to the claim which had been made upon them. In Miss Rossetti we recognised the com- plete!^ consecration of woman's gift of poetry to the highest uses. The poet, the pure in heart, beheld the truth, and sang, not with elaborate music, but, to use Goethe's image, "As the bird sings." This was perhaps the first characteristic which struck them in Miss Rossetti's work. It was like Wordsworth's early poems, absolutely simple and spontaneous. There was no straining after effect. The melody was the natural expres- sion of the thought. The contrast between "Amor Mundi" and "Uphill" in rhythm and language and form was as complete as in subject; but the contrast was the result of feeling and not of art. At the same time, Miss Rossetti saw all, saw the whole, " the world as God made it," in spite of the ravages wrought by man's self-will. Miss Rossetti was essentially the spiritual poet of our age. On her spiritual teaching she con- centrated her powers more and more as time went forward. He did not underrate the cost of the choice. We had lost, no doubt, some studies of deep passion like the " Convent Threshold," not a few delightful parables of life, like the "Prince's Progress," countless delicate fancies, and passages of weird music, but the message which we had received outweighed them all. The message was specially one for our own time. The physical aspects of nature, the visible sequences of life, became ever more and more engrossing, and we were tempted to forget that they were but signs of the eternal. The poet disclosed their true significance, and invested common things with an atmosphere of marvel and reve- rence. So they were brought back to the splendid promise from which they started, and, under a great teacher's guidance, confessed, with deeper intelligence than before, that "he that wonders shall reign." Nay, they went further and completed the saying, "He that wonders shall reign, and he that reigns shall rest."  ## p. 164 (#176) ############################################ 164 THE AUTHOR. "Lewis Carroll." In the "Alice" Ward of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond-street, Bloomsbury, London, there is now placed a cot which bears the name of the late "Lewis Carroll." On Friday, Oct. 28, Mr. James Tait Black, on behalf of the subscribers to the memorial fund, pre- sented to Mr. John Murray, vice-chairman of the committee of management of the hospital, a cheque for £ 1000 to endow the cot for ever. The proceedings took place in presence of a company which included Miss E. L. Dodgson, Mr. Wilfrid Dodgson, Mr. Hugh Chisholm, General Sir Andrew and Miss Clarke, Lady Wharton, Canon Jelf, Canon and Mrs. Girdlestone, and many others. Mr. Murray, in returning thanks, ex- pressed the opinion that no more appropriate memorial could have been erected to "Lewis Carroll" than a bed in a hospital which was devoted to the lives of children. Alfred the Great. A meeting of the general committee appointed for the commemoration of Alfred the Great, at the public meeting in March last, was held at the Mansion House on Nov. 3, Lord Welby in the chair. It was unanimously resolved: "That the national memorial decided on at the Mansion House meeting of March 18 shall be at Win- chester and consist of a statue of King Alfred, together with a hall to be used as a museum of early English history." It was estimated that .£30,000 would be re- quired in order to provide a memorial worthy of the nation, and it is contemplated to open a sub- scription list in the spring of next year, as it is hoped that the memorial will be completed in the 1000th anniversary year of his death. Amongst other suggestions advanced was that the executive committee should consider whether some popular publication might be issued with a view to diffus- ing public knowledge of Alfred's life and works. Also that a loan exhibition of objects pertaining to the Alfred period should be held in London during the anniversary year. The general com- mittee expressed a wish that the executive committee should take into consideration the desirability of approaching the Government with a view to obtaining their support to the com- memoration, and that communications be opened with the Universities and the historical and learned societies of the United States and the colonies in order to obtain the formation of committees to co-operate with the general com- mittee. Andrew Marvell. London County Council have decided to mark the site of Andrew Marvell's cottage at Hamp- stead with a brass plate bearing the following inscription :— Four feet below this spot is the stone step, formerly the entrance to the cottage in which lived ANDREW MARVELL, Sometime M.P. for Hull, and Latin Under Secretary to Oliver Cromwell, Patriot, Poet, Wit, and Satirist. Born 31st March, 1621. Died 18th August, 1673. He was buried in St. Giles-in-the-Fields. This memorial brass was placed here by the London County Council, November, 1898. The County Council have also before them a proposal to erect statues to Chaucer and Milton in London. BOOK TALK. R. HARDY'S volume of poems will be out in a few days. The title is "Wessex Poems." Mr. Laurence Binvon's "Second Book of London Visions" is nearly ready in Elkin Mathews's Shilling Garland Series. Mr. Mat- hews is projecting a volume which will contain verse by several writers—Mr. Selwyn Image, Mr. Victor Parr, Mr. Binvon, and "Anodos." The title of this will be "The Garland of New Poetry." Professor Geikie is the author of "Earth Sculpture," which will appear immediately as a volume in Murray's Progressive Science Series. Mr. R. E. Prothero has resigned the editor- ship of the Quarter/;/ Jteriew in order to become agent to the Duke of Bedford. He is succeeded by his brother, Mr. George Walter Prothero, Professor of Modern History in the University of Edinburgh. An enlarged edition of Messrs. Darlington's handbook "London and its Environs," by E. C. Cook and E. T. Cook, has lately been issued from Llangollen. The Londou agents are Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co., Limited. "A Forgotten Past," and other stories, by Fred. J. May, has lately been published by the Friars Printing Association, Limited. The Life Story of the late Sir Charles Bright will be out in December. With it is incorporated the story of the early hand telegraphs, the Atlantic cable, and the first telegraphs to India  ## p. 165 (#177) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. and the Colonies. The work will be published by Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co. in two large octavo volumes. The authors are Mr. E. B. Bright and Mr. Charles Bright, F.R.S.E. The Queen has been pleased to accept a copy of "The Theft of the Princes," by F. Bayford Harrison. It is a small volume con- taining an account of a curious incident in the lives of two young princes, one of whom became the common ancestor of both Her Majesty and the late Prince Consort. "Studies in Scottish Ecclesiastical History in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," by M. G. J. Kinloch, has just been published by Messrs. E Grant and Son, of Edinburgh. Price 6*. net. "Dona Rufina" (the romance of a cycle tour), by Heber Daniels, author of "Our Tenants," has just been published by Messrs. Greening and Co, Price 2s. 6d. Messrs. A. and H. B. Bonner have recently published, in cheap form, a revised edition of the Life of James Thompson ("B. V."), by Mr. H. S. Salt. The book contains a new portrait of the pessimist poet, and some additional matter that will be of interest to readers of "B. V.," including a full account of the closing scene, from the pen of Mr. H. E. Clarke, and a hitherto un- printed letter from Mr. George Meredith, who speaks of Thomson's life as "the most tragic in our literature." Mrs. Alec Tweedie's last book of travel, "Through Finland in Carts," has run through two large editions, and Messrs. A. and C. Black have just issued it in a new and cheaper form. Mrs. Tweedie has now in the press a memoir of her father, entitled "George Harley; or, the Life of a London Physician," which deals with the popular side of the life of a very able scientist and physician, whose death a couple of years ago was a great loss to medical science. George Harley's early life was not devoid of adventure; he was taken up as a spy when his youthful enthusiasm as a medical student prompted him to join Omar Pasha's army, and was condemned to be shot. He was in Paris shortly after the coup <Titat, and saw the marriage of Napoleon III. But his later life is of particular interest. Ill-health dogged his footsteps for twenty years, twice necessitating his retirement from his profession, bat mental strength baffled physical weakness, and he became one of the best-known physicians in London. The volume will be published by the' Scientific Press. Mr. Andrew Tuer's newly published "Pages and Pictures from Forgotten Children's Books" contains numerous excerpts and about 400 fac- simile illustrations selected from a large and exceedingly scarce collection of books which appeared for the amusement of children early in this century or the later years of last. The modern child will probably find much of the text and many of the cuts startlingly ludicrous. Forty plates, reproduced from watercolour drawings by Mr. William Gibbs, of the most remarkable among the art treasures at Windsor Castle, are to be issued in parts to subscribers by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode, the Queen's printers. These chromo-lithographs are all done on English-made paper of the large size known as imperial folio, and each of the four parts will contain letterpress descriptions of the pictures written by the Marquis of Lorne. The sword of Napoleon when First Consul, the Royal baptismal font, the Queen's chair in the corridor, and Anne Boleyu's clock, are some of the subjects of the first section, and the whole issue of the work, which is called "Queen Victoria's Treasures at Windsor Castle," will not be more than 1130 copies. Mr. Kipling has been writing in the Morning Post a series of naval articles, entitled "A Fleet in Being." These will be published shortly in a volume by Messrs. Macmillan. An important medical encyclopaedia is being projected by Messrs. William Green and Sons, Edinburgh. It will attempt to do such a service to medical science as the " Encyclopedia Britan- nica " does for general literature, and the most distinguished specialists will write for it. The "Encyclopaedia Medica," which is the title of the work, will consist of twelve volumes, to appear at the rate of one every quarter, beginning early in 1899. A volume of Dr. Pusey's letters, which will be of the nature of a supplement to the Life by the late Canon Liddon, will be published shortly by Messrs. Longmans. The work consists of "Spiritual Letters," which is its title, and it has been prepared by the Rev. J. 0. Johnston and Canon Newbolt. Major Sharp Hume is writing for the Cam- bridge Historical Series a volume on " Spain: its Greatness and Decay, 1479-1788." Major Sharp Hume is, of course, the author of Lives of Sir Walter Raleigh and Philip II. of Spain, and other works of the period. An article on the Book Catalogue of the British Museum appears in the current number of the Quarterly Review, from which we learn that the work, which began in January, 1881, will be finished about the end of the year 1900, and will  ## p. 166 (#178) ############################################ THE A UTHOR. then consist of about 600 quarto volumes. "If an ideal standard of perfection in details had been set up, the work would have been indefinitely protracted, and must have sunk under the accu- mulated mass of arrears," therefore speed and regularity have been the essential points kept in view during the progress of the work. When the printing began in 1881, there were 3.000,000 titles in the manuscript Catalogue, but since that time the accessions exceed half a million. What an amount of cross-references has to be made, however, is evident from the fact that the number of printed volumes in the Museum is about 2,000,000. Although arrangements were made for issuing the Catalogue to subscribers, the revenue from this source is extremely meagre. The Treasury defrays the cost of the Catalogue by an annual grant, which has gradually risen to the sum of .£3000 a year. Mr. Stopford Brooke issued during the past month the first volume of "The History of English Literature," in the series published by Messrs. Macmillan, to which volumes have already been contributed by Professor Saintsbury and Mr. Gosse. Another volume to come from Mr; Stopford Brooke will complete the series, and it will deal with the period between the Norman Conquest and Elizabeth. Thackeray's opinion of Tennyson in 1841 is contained in a letter quoted in a preface to "Sketch Books," in the new biographical edition of Thackeray's works:— Alfred Tennyson, if he can't make yon like him, will make yon admire him—he seems to me to have the cachet of a great man; his conversation is often delightful, I think; fnll of breadth, manliness, and humour. He reads all sorts of things, swallows them, and digests them like a great poetical boa oonstriotor, as he is. Now I hope, Mrs. Proctor, you will recollect that if your humble servant sneers at small geniuses he has, on the contrary, a hnge respect for big ones. Perhaps it is Alfred Tennyson's great big yellow face and growling voice that have made an impres- sion on me; manliness and simplicity of manner go a great way with me, I fanoy. Mrs. Gertrude Atherton is venturing into the field of boys' stories. Her book of adventure, entitled "The Valiant Runaways," will be brought out by Messrs. Service and Paton immediately. A new monthly magazine for secondary schools, to be called the School World, will be launched next month by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. It will include articles upon methods of teaching at home and abroad, detailed syllabuses of instruc- tion, and lesson notes by specialists in the chief subjects taught at secondary schools; test-papers to enable teachers to mark the progress of their forms month by month, and various other features. Mr. Gladstone's trustees will be greatly obliged if anyone possessing letters or papers likely to be useful for the purposes of Mr. Gladstone's bio- graphy will send them either to the trustees, at Hawarden Castle, Chester, or to Mr. Morley, care of Messrs. Macmillan and Co., St. Martin's-street London, W.C. All such letters or papers will be carefully and promptly returned. Chapman's Magazine of Fiction, hitherto owned by a private syndicate, has been bought by the General Magazine and Review Company, and will continue on the same lines and under the editorship of Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, with a new title, namely, Crampton's Magazine. Mr. Clement Shorter retires from the editor- ship of the English Illustrated Magazine after the Christmas number. Volumes of verse to appear shortly include "Love Triumphant," by William Bedford; and "Edmund: a Ballad," by Albert Carpenter, both of which Mr. Elliot Stock will publish. The number of libraries in London has recently been increased by two—one situated at the corner of Melody-road and Allfarthing-lane, Wands- worth, and the other in Cable-street, St. George's- in-the-East. In declaring the former of these to be duly opened, Sir John Lubbock delivered an interesting address, remarking that no doubt we had in London access to grand art galleries and the richest museums in the world, but this only made libraries all the more inestimable. From 1850 to 1866 only two districts of London, namely, Wandsworth and Westminster, availed themselves of the Public Libraries Act; from 1876 to 1866 only two more; but from 1886 to 1896 no fewer than thirty-two. Lord Russell of Killowen opened the new library of St. George's-in-the-East, to the cost of which Mr. Passmore Edwards has given .£5000 and 1000 books. Lord Russell said it was a most gratifying thing that a locality in which the great bulk of the population consisted of daily wage-earners had been ready to submit to be taxed for this great and worthy object, and it presented a favourable contrast to other divisions of the metropolis which could probably claim to be better educated and which were certainly much more wealthy. Mr. Grant Allen has written a book on the habits, ways, and doings of insect and plant life, which Messrs. Newnes will publish, entitled "Flashlights on Nature." Mr. Swinburne has written an enthusiastic prefatory note to a new edition of Mrs. Brown- ing's "Aurora Leigh," which Messrs. Smith,  ## p. 167 (#179) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Elder, and Co. have published. He remarks that " no English contemporary poet by profes- sion has left us work so full of living fire," and that while Mrs. Browning's genius "has less hold on earth than Tennyson's or Browning's or Miss Ingelow's, and less aerial impulse, less fantastic or spiritual aspiration, than Miss Rossetti's," yet "all these noble poets seem to play with life and passion like actors or like students if compared with her." Mr. Swinburne concludes his examination of " Aurora Leigh " as follows: The piercing and terrible pathos of the story is as incom- parable and as irresistible as the divine expression of womanly and motherly rapture which seems to suffuse and imbue the very page, the very print, with the radiance and the fragrance of babyhood. There never was, and there never will be, such another baby in type as that. Other poets, even of the inferior sex, have paid immortal tribute to the immortal godhead incarnate in the mortal and transitory preaenoe of infancy; the homage of one or two among them, a Homer or a Hugo, may have been worthy to be mistaken for a mother's; but here is a mother's indeed; and "the yearlong creature" so divinely desaribed must live in sight of all her readers as long as ha man nature or as English poetry survives. "Lithography and Lithographers," in which the history of the art is told by Mr. and Mrs. Pennell, will be published shortly by Mr, Fisher Unwin. This year, of course, is the centenary of the discovery of lithography by Alois Senefelder. Mr. G. A. Storey, A.R.A., is calling his book of reminiscences "Sketches from Memory." It is chiefly, but not solely, a record of studio experiences, and of the celebrities he has met. As a lad Mr. Storey wknes-ed the sacking of the Tuileries in 1848, and this is described in his volume. There will be about a hundred repro- ductions of sketches of figures, interiors, and other subjects. Messrs. Chatto and Windus will pub- lish the book. "A History of the Quorn Hunt and its Masters," by Mr. William C. A. Blew, is to be published by Mr. Nimmo in a few days. Death came to Mrs. Oliphant before she had completed the task of writing the Annals of the Blackwood Publishing House, and so the third volume of the work is from the hand of Mrs. Gerald Porter. This lady is the daughter of John Blackwood, with whose reign as the head of the house the present volume deals. There are many glimpses of George Eliot, Anthony Trollope, Lever, and other writers. For example, here is a letter from Dickens, whom John Black- wood had evidently been innocently trying to convince that the "great unknown" author of "Scenes from a Clerical Life " must be a man:— The portions of the narrative to which you refer had not escaped my notioe. But their weight is very light in my scale, against all the references to children, and against such marvels of description as Mrs. Barton sitting up in bed to mend the children's olothes. The selfish young fellow with the heart disease in " Mr. Gilfil's Love Story" is plainly taken from a woman's point of view. Indeed, I observe all the women in the book are more alive than the men, and more informed from within. As to Janet, in the last tale, I know nothing in literature done by a man like the frequent references to her grand form and her eyes anil her height and so forth: whereas I do know innumerable things of that kind in books of imagination done by women. And I have not the faintest doubt that a woman described her being shut out into the street by her husband, and conceived and executed the whole idea, of her following of that clergyman. If I be wrong in this, then I protest that a woman's mind has got into some man's body by a mistake that onght immediately to be oorrected. There is also a rather quaint example of an author's letter. It is written by Kinglake in reply to suggestions that John Blackwood had been making with regard to Kinglake's History:— I am almost alarmed, as it were, at the notion of receiving suggestions. I feel that hints from you might be so valuable and so important it might be madness to ask you beforehand to abstain from giving me any; but I am anxious for you to know what the dangers in the way of long delay might be, the result of even a few slight and- possibly most useful suggestions. . . . You will perhaps (after what I have said) think it best not to set my mind running in a new path lest I shonld take to re- writing. The Countess of Warwick has written an account of her garden at Easton, Essex, under the title "An Old English Garden," which Messrs. Hatchard will issue in a handsome volume. Mr. Powis Bale will shortly publish, through Messrs. Wm. Rider and Son, Limited, a handbook of "Sawmill and Woodworking Machinery "; and Messrs. Longmans and Co. are printing a sixth edition of " A Handbook for Steam Users," by the same author. Mr. Bernard Hamilton's re-incarnation romance,. "The Light?" is now in a second edition. A fourth and cheap edition of Mr. Mackenzie Bell's "Life of Christina Rossetti," completing 2500 copies in this country and in the United States, will be published immediately, with the original illustrations, by Mr. Thomas Burleigh. CORRESPONDENCE. I.—Translation and Copyright. IN your notice on copyright in Holland and Germany in this month's Author, you quote remarks contained in Das Recht der Feder on "dicta" found in the writings of Dr. J. D. Veergens, where he asserts as his opinion that  ## p. 168 (#180) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. "translation is not piracy, but original work," and that "an idea as soon as it is expressed is public property." As the German paper correctly asserts, there may be cases in which such liberty may be looked upon as the rights which "high- waymen " take on themselves, and it is quite com- prehensible that any author should require the work of his brain to be protected and respected by demanding good work in his translator. If, however, the translator tloei furnish original work (by using his own mind and completely merging himself in the author he endeavours to reproduce), and if the author also guards his own expression by only making public what he has no reason to be ashamed of, and himself regards in the light of public property, is any further pro- tection of the author's rights needed after he has given well-considered assent to its reproduction by means of translation, and would not transla- tion rank higher if it were treated as original work? Could a more scathing criticism of ordi- nary translation be found than in the words of Das Jtecht der Feder, when that journal remarks, speaking of the translator: "Only his own interests make the translator a thief. The foulest pamphlet that delights the herd is by far more precious to him than the most important intellectual work, which pleases only a few cultivated people." Can "piracy" of the sort described in Das Jtecht der Feder claim for itself the honourable name of translation? And is not the real thief in translation work he who does not rob enough from the original author, interpolating his own ideas instead, as also he who chooses to remain anonymous? We can put up with no piece-work in translation, but it must so resemble the original as to seem what "forgery " would be to original handwriting. Again, the author ashamed of his expression should never dare to make it public unless prepared to take the consequences. Ida L. Benecke. II.—Cut Edges. As having successively in The Author, in the Fall Mall Gazette, and in Literature protested against the issuing of books with uncut edges, I was delighted to read the " plea for cut edges" of Mr. John C. Shannon in The Author for November, and delighted also to see that Mr. Marston has been taking up the subject in the Fublishers' Circular and in Literature. Both as authors and as readers all authors are deeply interested in cut edges. As authors they would gain better reviews and increased chances of sale; as readers they would save much lost time and temper. I would venture to suggest that authors should have a clause inserted in their agreement pro- viding for publication with cut edges; also that the proprietors of all magazines and newspapers should follow the example of The Author and of Literature, and issue their publications with cut edges. .i.i J. M. Lely. III.—The Pessimism of Young Writers. The name subscribed to a short Indian story (" Thirty Years After ") in a late issue of the Temple Bar Magazine is one of hereditary prestige. Miss Zoe Procter is the granddaughter of " Barry Cornwall," the friend of Lamb and Shelley, a poet himself, and father of Adelaide Procter, whose name is still familiar. One of her uncles is Professor Forrest, of Bombay, who has been a skilful contributor to the history of Warren Hastings's administration, another being a successful novelist, whose " Eight Days " made many friends in the Comhill, under the editor- ship of the late Mr. Payn. Miss Procter pro- mises to chasser de race; she can write with taste and eloquence; her subject, too, is viewed squarely, and in high relief. It is, however, right that she should be warned against the tempta- tion so apt to beset young artists—that of at- tempting to make our flesh creep, like the Fat Boy in "Pickwick." A little experience is sure to show her that real life is sorrowful enough; and that Bacon never said a wiser thing than he did when he laid down the canon that it was the mission of art to "conform the shows of things to the desires of the mind." Buckleigh, Westward Ho. H. G. Keene. IV.—Christmas Literatube. Christmas is drawing near apace, and the bookstalls are already flooded by Christmas numbers, but unless these are very different in character to what they have been of late years, they can hardly be included in Christmas cheer. Although most current literature is of the sensational pessimistic kind, it seems there must be a special collection of horrors and tragedies for the so-called festive season. Formerly Christinas stories were uniformly bright, everything came right in the end, even at the risk of probability. But now we have changed all that, and the pro- bability is strained in the opposite direction. Even the old-fashioned ghost story has degenerated, and in the effort to produce some- thing abnormally blood-curdling and thrilling, has missed its effect. Is it because, like the Germans, when we feel merry we must sing sad songs, or is it that the up-to-date imagination craves excitement and  ## p. 169 (#181) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 169 sensation of a morbid nature, and cannot be con- tent without them? However, every one is not youns and modern Surely some people would still prefer a reminder of the good old stories. Some who possess a calm and healthy mind, which, like a healthy appetite, requires no unwholesome condiments. But probably, as the masterpieces of the great writers of the Renaissance were the offspring of sound minds and stalwart bodies, the present style of writing is the product of overwrought neurotic beings, who, in their turn, are the result of the rush and hurry—the feverish unrest of the age. Anyhow, the demand at present appears to be for a copious amount of the horrible in Christmas literature, and as there is neither art nor genius required to supply it, no doubt the quality will be kept up, and the Christmas number will have numerous tales of misery and crime and illustra- tions in keeping. _ I. S. V.—Editorial Autocracy. Would it not be well for authors to combine and form themselves into an Authors' Protection Society. At present editors have us all on the hip, except, of course, front-rank writers. I do not mean to say there are not courteous editors, but they are certainly in the minority. It should be made an impossibility for editors to keep MSS. at their own pleasure, and to pay for same just when they fancy. I think it is high time that authors should in every particular put their affairs on a business footing. There is entirely too much servility amongst us. Let us be honest and admit it. Let us also recognise that any reform must come from within, and that tee must help ourselves. No assistance can possibly come from outside. It is quite plain that we must steadfastly and strenuously resist the publishers' agreements just promulgated, and I would earnestly suggest that a firm stand be also made against editorial autocracy. My proposition is that authors, instead of send- ing contributions direct to a magazine or paper, should forward them to a society, to be called the Distribution Society (or other suitable name), each MS. to be stamped with the name of the Society. A fee of Is. to be inclosed for each firm the MS. is submitted to. All editors called upon by the agents of the society to be made clearly aware that MS. left with them must, if rejected, be returned within a fortnight to the society. Payment to be made within a month. No less rate than one guinea per thousand words to be offered. Editors refusing these terms to be severely let alone. Acceptance of MSS. from the society to be deemed as compliance with said terms. The Authors' Syndicate might be asked to undertake the reception and distribution of the MSS. of the proposed society. Perhaps the editor will kindly give his opinion on these suggestions. Spero Meliora. VI.—A Disagreeable Experience. Perhaps, as a warning to other writers, you will kindly give publicity to the methods adopted in my case by the Strand Magazine. I sent in two type-written stories for the editor's consideration—one on May 21, the other on June 9. Both were returned on Oct. 27. The length of time for which the MSS. were detained is in itself a sufficient grievance; but that is not the worst feature of the case. The MSS. were utterly disfigured by scribbled com- ments and suggestions, which would have been ludicrous had it not been for their unwarrantable impertinence. On my writing a letter of complaint to the editor, asking him to refund me for having the MSS. re-typed, he replied, without the least attempt at apology, that if I sent him my manu- script, he would have it cleaned! There is no need for concealment in the matter. I therefore give the title of the magaziue, and append my own name. W. B. Wallace, B.A. (Member of the Society of Authors.) THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH. [Oct. 24 to Nov. 22—457 Books.] Aekworth, John. The Scowcroft Critics. 3/6. Clarke. .VI mis. W. M, The Book of the Master. '6/- Murray. Adeney, W. F. Women of the New Testament. 3/6. Service. Aitken, E. H. The Five Windows of the Soul. 6/- Murray. Alexander, Mrs. The Coat of Her Pride. 6/- White. Alford, H. S. L., and Sword, W. D. Egyptian Soudan. 10 - net. Macmillan. Allen, A M. Gladys in Grammar Land. 2/6. Slmpkin. Ambrose, W., and Ferguson, W. R Land Transfer Acts (75 <fc '97). 10/- Butterworth. Ames, Mrs. E. An A B C for Baby Patriots. 3/6. Dean. Anderson, T. McC. 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