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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) 1904-07-01 Volume 14 Issue 10 Pages Page range in volume 253–284 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 19040701 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Huthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT. Vor. XIV.—No. 10. TELEPHONE NUMBER : 374 VICTORIA. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS : AUTORIDAD, LONDON. o—~<f © NOTICES. — OR 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 opinion of the Committee unless such is especially stated to be the case. Tu Editor begs to inform members of the Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author that the cases which are from time to time quoted in The Author are cases that have come before the notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the Society, and that those members of the Society who desire to have the names of the publishers concerned can obtain them on application. Te attention of members is called to the fact that, in accordance with the decision of the Committee, only ten numbers of The Author will be printed during the year. The August and September numbers are not issued. —~< List of Members. Tur List of Members of the Society of Authors published October, 1902, at the price of 6d., and the elections from October, 1902, to July, 1903, as a supplemental list, at the price of 2d., can now be obtained at the offices of the Society. They will be sold to members or associates of the Society only. Vou, XIV. Juny isr, 1904. [Prick SIxPENCE. The Pension Fund of the Society. Tun Trustees of the Pension Fund met at the Society’s Offices on the 19th of February, and having gone carefully into the accounts of the fand, decided to purchase £250 London and North Western 3 % Debenture Stock. Accordingly, the investments of the Pension Fund at present stand- ing in the names of the Trustees are as follows. This is a statement of the actual stock ; the money value can be easily worked out at the current price of the market :— Consols 24 %...sssersecseeeerenerereneress £1000 0 O Local Loans ......---sceceeeeeereseetetes 500 0 0 Victorian Government 3 % Consoli- dated Inscribed Stock .....-.--.++++- 291 19 11 Wear LOa 6.6022 -e--eeeecee eet 201. 9 38 London and North Western 3 % Deben- ture Stock .......cececeeeeeereee es eneee 250 0 O otal 1.2... £2,248 9 2 Subscriptions from October, 1903. £ s. a. Noy. 13, Longe, Miss Julia . 0 5 0 Dec. 16, Trevor, Capt. Philip QO: 5 0 1904. Jan. 6, Hills, Mrs. C. H. . 0 5 0 Jan. 6, Crommelin, Miss 010 O Jan. 8, Stevenson, Mrs. M. E. 0 5 0 Jan. 16, Kilmarnock, The Lord . 010 0 Feb. 5, Portman, Lionel 10 0 Feb. 11, Shipley, Miss Mary 0 5b 0 Mar. _Diiring, Mrs. . : : 7 0 5 0 Mar. Francis Claude dela Roche . 0 5 0 April18, Dixon, W.Scarth . : - 0 5 0 April18, Bashford, Harry H. ; . 010 6 April19, Bosanquet, Eustace ae - 0 10 6 April 23, Friswell, Miss Laura Hain . 09 5 0 May 6, Shepherd, G. HB. . i 0-0 0 June 24, Rumbold, Sir Horace, Bart., G.C.B. ; ; tl 170 Donations from October, 1908. Oct. 27, Sturgis, Julian : ‘ Nov. 2, Stanton, Ve : ~ 5b 0 0 254 THE AUTHOR & se d, Nov. 18, Benecke, Miss Ida. 1 0 0 Nov. 23, Harraden, Miss Beatrice - D0 0 Dee. Miniken, Miss Bertha M. M.. 0 5 0 1904. Jan. 4, Moncrieff, A. R. Hope . - B00 Jan. 4, Middlemass, Miss Jean . - 0 10°70 Jan. 4, Witherby, The Rev. C. . - 0 5 0 Jan. 6, Key, The Rev. 8. Whittell . 0 5 0 Jan. 14, Bennett, Rev. W. K.,.D.D. . 015 0 Jan. 2, Roe, Mrs., Harcourt . . 010 0 Feb. 11, Delaire, Miss Jeanne. . 010 0 May 16, Wynne, C. Whitworth . - 5 0 0 June 23, Kirmse, R. . : : . 08. 0 June 23, Kirmse, Mrs. R. a) + FROM THE COMMITTEE. HE Managing Committee of the Society of Authors held its June meeting at 39, Old Queen Street, on the 13th. The minutes of the last meeting were read, and the elections were then taken. Twenty-one members and associates were elected, bringing the total for the current year as high as 131. This is largely in excess of the number of members elected during past years up to the same period. It is. hoped that the increase will con- tinue, and that those writers who hold secured positions and are not members will be moved by an unselfish impulse to join the Society which has done so much for them and their profession directly and indirectly. At the May meeting, as noted in the last number of The Author, the Committee decided to send an address to the Spanish Academy on the tercentenary of the publication of Don Quixote. It has now been decided to appoint Mr. Leonard Williams, who suggested the idea, as delegate of the Society to hand the address to the Spanish Academy when the celebrations take place. Although the wording of the address has been settled, and approved by the President, the outward form has not yet been agreed upon. There were a good many cases before the Com- mittee for their consideration. One case dealt with a complaint against the big distributing libraries, but the Committee regretted that they were unable to take the matter up as they could not hope that the interference of the Society would bring about any useful result. Similar questions have, from time to time, been considered, and exhaustively dealt with by the Committee. Members are referred to the early numbers of The Author. In April, the Committee decided to take counsel’s opinion on a series of contracts existing between members of the Society and a firm of Canadian publishers. Since this decision was arrived at, the publishers in question have promised the authors with whom they contracted to forward accounts in July. The matter was again before the Committee, and they decided to postpone action until the time mentioned by the publishers had expired. In two cases arising out of disputes as to the amounts due from authors to publishers for work done, the Committee after exhaustive enquiry and after reading the report of their solicitors, came to the conclusion that they should give their support in one case, but could not, from the evidence before them, take up the other. The dispute between an author and an agent before the Committee in May was again up for consideration. Counsel’s opinion, which had been obtained in the meantime, was read, and the Committee decided to advise the member to act in accordance with the view expressed by Counsel. A question of a contentious nature between an author and a publisher also came before the Com- mittee. The publisher had agreed to spend a sum on advertisements. The question was whether the amount had actually been expended. The Com- mittee decided to appoint an accountant to vouch the advertisement charges. A letter from the Foreign Office notifying the action of Sweden in joining the Berne Convention, a letter from the American Copyright League with regard to United States Copyright Law, and other correspondence, were read before the Committee. —1—— Cases. SINCE the last issue of Zhe Author nine cases have passed through the Secretary’s hands. Five have been demands for money against magazines and publishers. Of these three have already ter- minated successfully, aud there is every probability of equal success with the other two. There has been one demand for accounts, which the publisher in answer to a letter hastened to produce. Two demands for the return of MSS., of which one has been successful ; the other case has only just come into the Secretary’s hands. The last, a ques- tion of the termination and cancellation of contracts and final settlement of accounts between author and publisher, has been carried through to a satisfactory conclusion. Of the cases quoted in former numbers of The Author, there are but three still open. There is a dispute between an author and a publisher in the United States, the conclusion of which is naturally Bi Oe ties Sac  slow owing to the time which must elapse between each mail. The other two cases have almost been concluded—one dealing with an amount due from a publisher, and the other to a dispute as to the exact number of words in a MS. In the latter case the difficulty arose owing to the fact that the writer was paid by the number of words. The publisher has willingly accepted the Society’s arbitration. June Elections. Anson, Sir William, D.C.L. All Soul’s Oxford. Bigelow, Mrs. M. E. . c/o Miss M. Yueill, 3,445—60 Street, Chicago, U.S.A. Bremner, Robert Locke . Glencairn, Dunblane, Perthshire. Deane, H. F. W. . . Gower Lodge, King’s Road, Windsor. Deeping, Warwick . . “Oaklands,” Has- Colleges tings. De la Pasture, Mrs. Henry Llandogo. Evans, Mrs. . : . The Elms, Begbroke, near Oxford. Hills, Miss Christine D. I’. Littlehampton, Sussex. Keating, Joseph. 19; oe Square, W.C. Moffatt, Miss E. B. . Chinthurst Cottage, Shalford, Surrey. Morris, Mrs. Frank . 63, FitzGeorge Avenue, Auriol Rd., West Kensington. Newland-Smith, Ernest . 76, Belgrave Road, S.W. Pereira, Miss Louise . 24, Morningside Drive, Edinburgh. Rumbold, The Right 127, Sloane Street, Hon. Sir Horace, Bart., S.W. G.C.B. Sieveking, J. Giberne . Lyon Road, Harrow, N. Soutar, Miss Lucy H. . Mayfield, Falkirk, N.B. Steynor, B. N. : . “Pembridge,” Mal- vern. Weekes, Charles, B.L. . 20, Gainsborough Mansions, Queen’s Club Gdns., W. Weekes, Miss Rose K. . Sutton Vicarage, Dartford. 74, Merrion Square, Wynne, Miss Fiorence Dublin. One member does not desire the publication of either his name or address. THE AUTHOR. O55 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. (In the following list we do not propose to give more than the titles, prices, publishers, etc., of the books enumerated, with, in special cases, such particulars as may serve to explain the scope and purpose of the work. Members are requested to forward information which will enable the Editor to supply such particulars.) ART. Great Masters. Parts XV.,XVI., XVII. With Descrip- tive Text by Str Martin Conway. Heinemann. 5s, n. each. Toe Art or J. MAcWHIRTER, R.A. By Mo SPIELMANN, With five full page and numerous text illustrations. 144 x 10%, 22 pp. Hanfstangel. BIOGRAPHY. OppITIES, OTHERS AND I. By HENRIETTE CORKRAN. 9 x 6,328 pp. Hutchinson. 16s. THE LIFE OF MAJOR GENERAL WAUCHOPE, CB. CMG, By Str GEORGE DOUGLAS. 9 x 6, 431 pp. Hodder and Stoughton. 10s, 6d. ECONOMICS. Free TRADE. By THE RIGHT HONBLE. THE LORD AVEBURY, P.C. 9 X 53, 164 pp. Macmillan. 5s. n. INTERNATIONAL TRADE. By J. A. Hopson. 73 X 5, 202 pp. Methuen. 2s. 6d. n. FICTION. THE EARTHLY PuRGATORY. By L. DOUGALL. 7% X 5, 345 pp. Hutchinson. 6s. Extracts From ADAM’s Diary. By Mark TWAIN, 8} x 54, 89 pp. Harper's. 2s. 1. Op Henprick’s Taues. By Capr. A. O. VAUGHAN. 73 x 5}, 234 pp. Longmans. 6s. LycuGate Hany. By M. E. Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell). 73 X 54, 347 pp- Longmans. 6s. My FRENCH FRIENDS. By CONSTANCE Maup. 7} X 5, 323 pp. Smith, Hlder & Co. 6s. MaLincourt KEEP. By ADELINE SERGEANT. 73 X 5, 310 pp. J. Long. 6s. A WomAN OF Business. By MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. 72 X 6, 335 pp. J. Long. 6s. Nyria. By Mrs, CAMPBELL PRAED. 73 X 5, 432 pp. Unwin. 6s. ; THE CARDINAL'S PAWN. By L. MONTGOMERY. T. Fisher Unwin. 6s. n. INCOMPARABLE BELLATRS. By AGNES AND EGERTON CASTLE. 7§ X 4%, 326 pp. Constable. 6s. THe ORDEAL BY Fire. By ALLEN UPWARD. 7 x 43, 320 pp. Digby Long & Co. En. By MARMADUKE PICKTHALL. 73 x 5, 350 pp. Constable. 6s. THe GREAT PRO-CoNSUL. By SYDNEY C.Grigr, 7} x 5, 440 pp. Blackwood. 6s. LizA oF LAMBETH. By W. SOMERSET MAUGHAN, (Cheap Edition.) 84 X 54%, 99 pp- Unwin. 6d. HISTORY. Tre Spirit or IsuaM. By the Hon. Mr. Justice AMEER Aut. (Popular Edition, published in Calcutta: S. J. Lahiri). London: Kegan Paul & Co. A SHoRT HISTORY OF THE SARACENS. By the Hon, MR. Justice AMEER ALI, Macmillan & Co. 7s. 6d. n. 256 LAW. COMMENTARY ON THE BENGAL TENANCY ACT. By M. FINUCANE, M.A., and the Hon. Mr. JUSTICE AMEER Awl. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta ; Thacker & Co., London. MAHOMMEDAN LAw. Vol. I. j AMEER ALI. 3rd Edition. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta ; W. Thacker & Co, 28s. n. THE STUDENTS’ HANDBOOK OF MAHOMMEDAN LAW. By the Hon. Mr. Justice AMEER ALI. 4th Edition. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta ; Thacker & Co., London, 4s. 6d. n. By the Hon. Mr. Justice MEDICAL. ScHooLt HYGIENE. By ARTHUR NEWSHOLME. 320 pp. Sonnenschein. 38. MEDICO-THEOLOGICAL. DIVINE HYGIENE—THE SANITARY SCIENCE OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. By ALEX. RATTRAY, M.D 2 Vols. 730—750 pp. Nisbet & Co. 32s. 7% X 44, MILITARY. THE SECOND AFGHAN WAR, 1878-79-80. Its ConpuctT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Its CAUSEs, By Cou. H. B. Hanna. Vol. Il. 9 x 6, 372 pp. Constable. 15s. n. THE ARMY ON ITSELF. By H. A. GWYNNE. 7 X 43, 193 pp. Warne. 2s. 6d. n. MUSIC. THE DIVERSIONS OF A Music LOVER. 84 x 53,260 pp. Macmillan. 6s. HANDBOOK ON THE ART OF TEACHING AS APPLIED TO Music. WARRINER, Mus. Doc. 74 X 5,176 pp. A. Hammond & Co., 6 King Street, Regent Street, W. 28. 6d. By C. L. GRAVES. SPORT. PRACTICAL HIN1S ON ANGLING IN Rivers, LAKES, AND Sea. By W. M. GaLLIcHAN. 74 X 5, 116 pp. Pearson. Ils. FISHING (‘‘ The Country Life” Library of Sport). 2 Vols. Edited by H. G. HUTCHINSON. 91 X 6. 526 X 445 pp. Newnes. 2s 6d. n. SOCIOLOGY. Success AMONG NATIONS. By EMILE REICH. 270 pp. Chapman and Hall. 10s. 6d. n. 9 x 6, ASPECTS OF SocIAL Evo.LuTion. First Series. Tem- peraments. By J. LIONEL TAYLER, M.R.C.S. 84 x 5}, 297 pp. Smith Elder. 7s. 6d. THEOLOGY. CONCERNING THE Hoty BiBLE. ITs UsE AND ABUSE. By THE RicHT Rey. Monsicgnor JoHN 8. VAUGHAN. 74 X 4%. Washbourne. 3s. 6d. n. “Hora BIBLICA.’”’ By ARTHUR CARR, M.A. Hodder and Stoughton. 6s. TOPOGRAPHY. THE QUANTOCK HILLS: THEIR COMBES AND VILLAGES. By BrHATRIX F. CResswELb. 74 xX 5, 106 pp. The Homeland Association. 2s. 6d. n. Near Oxrorp. By THE Rey. H. T. Inman. 61 xX 5, 215 pp. Oxford: Alden. Is. and 2s. 6d. n. 218 pp. TRAVEL. THE ALps. Described by SIR MARTIN Conway. Painted by A. D. McCormick. 9 X 6}, 294 pp. Black. 208. n. THE AUTHOR. LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL NOTES. —~<+ —— N “The Masters of English Literature,” I Mr. Stephen Gwynn seeks, by a process of selection, to give a readable account of the development of English literature from Chaucer’s time onwards. He deals, in all, with almost fifty authors, and of most of them a tolerably full and critical account is given. Mr. Grant Richards published, early in June, the second volume, dealing with sporting dogs, of “The Twentieth Century Dog,” compiled by Mr. Herbert Compton from the contributions of some five hundred experts. “Major Weir,” by K. L. Montgomery, author of “The Cardinal's Pawn,” will be published during the coming season by Mr. Fisher Unwin. The book is a romance, with the noted wizard Thomas Weir, for the central figure. Messrs. Barnicott and Pearce, of Taunton, have published, at the price of 6d., a work entitled ‘‘ The Country Gentleman’s Reference Catalogue to the best Works on Agriculture, Gardening, Botany, Natural History, Sporting, Recreations and Kindred Subjects.” In a lecture at the Royal Institution, dealing with the subject of ‘ The State and Literature,” Mr. H. G. Wells pleaded for the more leisurely and larger criticism found in books, the duty of litera- ture in this sense being to teach men and classes their place in the world, and in the social scheme. He stated further, that the most important litera- ture, personal relationship, was to be found to some extent in good essays, sermons, biographies, and autobiographies, but that the great bulk of the people desired it served them in novels and plays. They went to see the latter and delighted to read the former, partly because they liked stories, but very largely, consciously or unconsciously, from social curiosity. If these interpretations in novel and in play were well done, the State would endure ; if badly done, it must go to pieces. The literature of personal life and emotions was to be found in poetry and philosophy, which should be looked to to keep the whole mass of the social order in sympathy and-in one key one with another. The third edition of ‘The Commentary on the Indian Evidence Act,” by the Honourable Mr. Justice Ameer Ali, and Mr. Justice Woodroffe, will appear in December of the current year. Mr. Justice Ameer Ali, who will also produce, early in 1905, the fifth edition of “The Students’ Handbook of Mahomedan Law,” is at present engaged on a “History of Mahomedan Civilisa- tion in India,” with an introduction dealing with the pre-Mahomedan period.  During the autumn, Mrs. Croker will publish her new book, “The Happy Valley,” through Messrs. Methuen & Co. Mr. Charles Garvice’s two books, “In Cupid’s Chains,” and “Just a Girl,” have gone into a second and third edition respectively. ‘The former has been translated by Miss Mary Otteson into Norwegian for a Norwegian syndicate. Mr. Garvice’s last novel, “ Redeemed by Love,” is being syndicated by the National Press Agency in England, and by Messrs. George Munro’s Sons in America. The same author has also completed, in col- laboration with Mr. Denman Wood, a dramatic version of his book “Nance,” which will be produced at Mr. Wood’s theatre, the New Court, Bacup, in the autumn. : The following verse is taken from the title page of Mr. John Oxenham’s new novel, ‘“‘A Weaver of Webs,” which Messrs. Methuen & Co. have published :— “Warp and woof and tangled thread— Weavers of webs are we Living, and dying, and mightier dead, For the shuttle once started shall never be stayed— Weavers of webs are we.” Mr. W. L. Courtenay’s essays on the work of Maurice Meeterlinck, which appeared in the Daily Telegraph, were published in book form in the middle of June by Mr. Grant Richards. The book also contains sketches of other foreign writers, including D’Annunzio, Turgenieff, Tolstoy, Gorky, and Merejowski. Mrs. Rowland’s new novel, entitled “ Capricious Caroline,” which is now running serially in The Times weekly edition, will be published in book form in the middle of September by Messrs. Methuen & Co., who are also publishing new editions of “ Love and Louisa,” and “Peter a Parasite,” by the same authoress. In addition, Mrs. Rowlands has in hand a series of stories for The Tatler, and a series of articles for Zhe Daily Chronicle, besides a number of short stories com-~- missioned by other papers, such as The Bystander and London Opinion. Miss J. S. Wolff, author of ‘“ Les Francais en Menage,” “Les Francais en Voyage,” etc., has just published a series of “Object Lessons in Practical French” (Blackie & Son), and is prepar- ing a second volume of her French History series, “Tes Francais du dix-huitieme Siecle” (Edward Arnold). Vol. I., “ Les Francais d’Autrefois,” appeared last September. The Chromoscopist for June, contains a character study by ‘‘ Mancy,” entitled “Jacky.” ‘“ Mancy” has also an article in the June number of The Spiritualist, entitled “ Palmistry and Its Benefits.” We understand that Messrs, Constable & Co. THER AUTHOR. 257 have changed their address from 2, Whitehall Gardens, and will remove to larger premises at 16, James Street, Haymarket, S.W. “Behind the Footlights,” Mrs. Alec Tweedie’s last work, which was published by Messrs. Hutchin- son & Co., with twenty full page illustrations at the price of 18s., has gone into a second edition. «A Voice from the Void ” is the title of a book by Miss Helen Boddington, which Messrs. Methuen & Co. will publish during the autumn. The twenty-sixth Congress of the International Literary and Artistic Association will take place in Marseilles from the 24th to the 29th of Septem- ber next. The subjects set down for discussion are: 1. Musical authors’ rights; 2. Publishers’ agreements respecting artistic works; 3. Pro- tection of photographs; 4. Moral rights, and public copyright as applied to monuments of the past ; 5. A study of the countries in which several languages are spoken, and of copyright in transla- tions from one to another of the languages in use within the country ; 6. The publication of works of history and criticism ; 7. Protection of archi- tectural designs; 8. Protection of engineers’ plans ; 9. The International situation in various countries ; 10. The revision ofthe Berne Convention. Mr. Grant Richards will publish in a few days “The Server’s Handbook,” by the Rev. Percy Dearmer. It is the fifth volume in the “ Parsons’ Handbook” series. « Derek Vane,” author of “The Three Daughters of Night,” etc., has disposed of the serial rights of her new novel, ‘ The House on the Black Water,” to Messrs. Cassell. She is writing some humorous articles for the Boudoir, and has short stories appearing in the Outlook, Manchester Chronicle, etc. Miss Jean Delaire’s book, « Around a Distant Star,” which we noticed lately as about to be published, has met with favourable reviews in the Daily News, The Glasgow Herald, and The Sheffield Telegraph. Miss Marie Corelli has a series of articles on “Pagan London” running in The Bystander. The first of these articles appeared on June 22nd. “ Suggestions for a New Political Party, with principles, methods, and some Application,” is the title of an article by Dr. Beattie Crozier which will appear in one of the coming numbers of The Fortnightly Review. «The Reverend Jack” is the title of a novel by Naunton Covertside (Naunton Davies) which will shortly be published by Mr. Henry Drane, at the rice of 6s. Mr. Stanley Weyman has received a testimonial to the popularity of his work, which has much touched him. His book “The Long Night” deals with the history of the city of Geneva. Such interest has it aroused that some of the most 258 prominent of Geneva’s citizens, in token of their appreciation, have forwarded to the author an address with a small bronze statuette of Calvin. A short extract from the document itself will convey better than words from our pen, the feeling of those who have acted in the matter. ‘*We are anxious that so ideal a relationship (7c. between Mr. Weyman and the City) should not vanish, without placing in your hands some material evidence of our grateful admiration. “The statuette of Calvin is no unbecoming ornament for the writing table of one whose works, like yours, are founded on that vast Anglo-Saxon influence which has in every part of the world cherished the religious and political views of the Reformer, views of faith and liberty which have become for you the foundation and the inspiration of your Art.” We heartily congratulate Mr. Weyman on receipt of a compliment as pleasant as it was unexpected. Everyone will have been amused and interested in the Poet Laureate’s position as an anonymous author. A full statement of the circumstances under which his play was accepted by Mr. Bourchier has appeared in all the papers, and demonstrates the fallacy of the statement so often made, that managers do not read plays that are sent to them by unknown writers. The comedietta, for it is but aslight piece, was produced on June 16th, and runs for about halfan hour. It met with a very cordial reception. Mr. Bourchier and Miss Bateman took the chief parts. The play founded on Mrs. Croker’s novel, “Terence,” which has, for the last ten months, been attracting good audiences in New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, and other cities of the United States, will, we understand, have a further run in the same country during the next season. “ Beyond the Vale” is the next of Mrs. Croker’s novels to be dramatised, with a view to production in the States. : +» PARIS NOTES. —_1~>—+ HE Académie Francaise has awarded the Bordin prize of 3,000 francs to be divided into two prizes of 1,000 francs, to M. Paul Gautier, for his book on “Mme. de Staél et Napo- léon,” and to M. Michaud for “ Sainte Beuve avant les lundis,” and two other prizes of 500 francs. The Marcel Guérin prize of 5,000 francs is divided into four prizes of 500 and three of 1,000 francs. M. Dunand and Ivan Strannik are among the authors who have shared this prize. The Archon Despérouse prize is divided into one of 1,000 francs, awarded to M. Vermenouze for his THE AUTHOR. poem “ Mon Auvergne,” and the rest into prizes of 500 francs to other poets. The Montyon prize of 19,000 francs is awarded to Capitaine Lenfant for his book ‘Le Niger” ; Félix Régamey for “Le Japon”; Colonel de Pélacot for his ‘ Expédition de Chine de 1900” ; Paul Acker for “Petites Confessions” ; Paul Labbé for his ‘‘Bagne Russe”; Jean Reibrach for “Sirénes” ; Jean Viollet and Charles Frémine for “ Petit Coeur” and “ Poemes et Récits.” Other prizes have been awarded to Abbé Laveille, Louis de Foureaud, the Marquis de Segonzac, Abbé Piolet and Pierre Guzman. “La Société Francaise pendant le Consulat: Aristocrates et Républicains,” by Gilbert Stenger. This volume is the second of a series which the author is writing on the epoch he has so carefully studied. In the first volume, “ La Renaissance de la France,” we had a picture of the times when Napoleon I. was Général Buonaparte. In the first part of this new volume we have an account of the “ Emigration,” and the miseries of the aristocrats in exile. The second part is devoted to the study of the Republicans and the work- ings of the Consulate. he book is most interest- ing, and a faithful picture of the times. We have anecdotes about the celebrities of the day, and excellent portraits of Talleyrand, Lebrun, Fouché, and many other well-known historical charac- ters, including Benjamin Constant and Camille Jordan. “ Le Marquis de Valeor,” by Daniel Lesueur, is a most dramatic novel with a strong plot, and mystery enough to satisfy the most ardent lovers of intrigue. Unlike some of the other novels by this author, there is not so much psychology in the ‘“‘Marquis de Valvor,” or, rather, the psychology is left for the reader to discover between the lines, as it were. One has to study the characters by their actions, as the events follow each other so quickly that until one closes the volume one has not time to come to any conclusions. ‘To tell the plot of the book would no doubt spoil it for many readers. It is written in the same admirable style as the other works which have brought Daniel Lesueur to the front rank of contemporary novelists. Mr. Charles Foley, of the “Telephone” play fame, has been tempted to build up a novel on a certain rumoured episode which was a great. topic of conversation some ten or twelve years ago. In “ Fleur d’Ombre” we have the story of a French girl named Lolette who marries a young foreigner and for a year or two has an ideally happy life. She then makes the terrible dis- covery that she has married a prince in disguise. Through the death of his brother her husband becomes heir to a throne. Lolette and her baby-  boy are considered de trop by her royal husband’s family.. A more suitable wife is provided for the heir apparent, a princess who had been engaged to the brother who died, and Lolette is expected to be resigned as the “ widow » of a distinguished living husband. The story is well told with all the delicate veiled irony in which Mr. Foley excels, and in France the book is having great success. “Sur la Branche” is the title of the new book by Pierre de Coulevain, the author who had such success in France and America with ‘* Noblesse Américaine” and ‘“ Eve Victorieuse,” both of which works won for the writer Academy prizes. The new book is undoubtedly stronger than either of the other two novels. It is extremely original, and one wonders after reading it whether to call it a novel. It seems to be, rather, a true study of life, of real every-day life with all the small things and all the great things woven together. The author is a keen observer, with absolute faith in the great plan “ to which all creation moves.” Tae woman who is supposed to be writing the story is living alone “on the branch,” or, in other words, her home is broken up and she goes from one hotel to another, and from one country to another, believing that the romance of her own life is over, but watching with deep interest the comedies and tragedies around her. As time goes on she discovers that her own romance is by no means over, and the threads are once more put into her hands by destiny, so that she may do the part assigned to her in weaving the web of life. From her own bitter experience and grief she has learnt much, a larger tolerance and an immense opti- mism. The book appears to have been published at just the right moment and is being greatly discussed. “Tsolée,” by Brada, is a most charming novel and a psychological study from the first chapter to the last. The young girl, whose isolation gives the title to the book, is a Mlle. Charmoy who has been brought up in the approved French way, but who on the death of her relatives in France, is handed over to some English relatives. She is distinctly out of her element in the English home to which she is consigned. Not only does her “Latin soul” revolt against much that she disap- proves in the Anglo-Saxon atmosphere, but she has unfortunately lost her heart to a French cousin, and this detail complicates matters considerably. It is always a delicate and usually a thankless task for a French or English novelist to place his characters ina foreign milieu. Brada has succeeded in giving us a faithful picture of a certain kind of British home, but it is of that kind where a vulgar- minded woman with plenty of money and an intense admiration for all that is “smart” reigns supreme. THE AUTHOR. 259 We are therefore inclined to think that the French girl’s loneliness in England is not so much due to her exile from her native country as to her exile from a refined home. As a French novelist’s study of English life the book is extremely interesting. M. André Maarel has written a novel entitled “La Chevauchée,” which is really a study of the political world. Lucien Surget is a politician who sets out with the idea of helping his country in many ways, but who finds that the path of a politician is by no means an easy one. Un semblant de bon sens pratique,” he says “ Vameénera doucement aux compromissions, et sa vanité, sur excitée par la flatterie, lui fera bientdt confondre Yidée de son devoir avec Vidée de sa prosperité ersonnelle.” Without the authorisation of Madame Lardin de Musset, the sister of Alfred de Musset, a volume of the poet’s correspondence with George Sand has just been published in Belgium. Some years ago Madame Lardin de Musset refused her consent to having her brother's letters made public, so that with great indelicacy the persons responsible for the appearance of this volume have taken it to another country for publication. If these letters were to be given to the public, in common fairness it should have been done by the de Musset and the George Sand representatives together. If there are passages detrimental to George Sand which have been omitted, the same should have been done for de Musset, otherwise the book is of no value as a justification of George Sand’s conduct. Among the new books are the following : “ Bldorado,” by Paul Brulat; “ Au Pays du Mystére,” by Pierre de Maél ; “ Marie Claire,” by Francois Deschamp ; “Mes premiéres Armes Littéraires et Politiques,” by Madame Adam ; “Récits et Legendes d’_ Alsace Lorraine,” by Genevieve Lanzy ; ‘La Vie de Paris,” by Jean Bernard ; “ Les Francais de mon temps,” by the Vicomte G. d’Avenel. ‘he theatrical season is practically over, but some of the plays are still running, and at one or two of the theatres the summer season has commenced. As so many foreigners are in Paris during these months this sammer season is becoming quite important. The Odéon commenced its celebration of George Sand’s centenary with “ Le Démon du Foyer,” and a George Sand exhibition in the foyer of the theatre. “ Glaudie” will be given at the Francais. A delightful innovation in Paris is the out-door theatre in the Bois de Boulogne, the ‘héatre de Verdure of the Pié Catelan. On the 22nd of June the Comédie-Francaise gave “ Oedipe roi”; the Odéon gave the foarth act of the “Ariésienne ”; 260 the ballet of “ Manon”’ was danced by the corps de ballet of the Opéra Comique. It is fifty years since any performance has been given at the Pré Catelan. Atys Hauuarp. —~<- « UNITED STATES NOTES. —~_ (WNHE trail of the November Presidential election is over everything this year, not excluding literature. Histories of the Republican Party, lives of their candidate, and similar pro- ductions are as plentiful as blackberries ; and even the clear stream of fiction is perceptibly a little muddied with politics. Meanwhile we have had a few biographies whose real concern is with the past. Dr. Joseph Barrett’s ‘Abraham Lincoln and his Presidency ’”’ is based, indeed, upon a “campaign biography,” written with its subject’s assistance ; but the work in its present form is of quite a different character, and is a useful solvent of much myth that has gathered round its hero. Mr. Thomas E. Watson, going further back, has added to Jefferson literature a somewhat episodical but rather entertaining volume. He complains bitterly of the deification of New Englandism, and handles none too gently contemporary writers on his subject, such as Woodrow Wilson, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Elroy Curtis. A notable biography also is “The Life of John A. Andrew,” Governor of Massachusetts during the Civil War, which has been written by Henry Greenleaf Pearson. With all his admiration for Lincoln the ardent war governor found the President’s cautious methods rather trying. This and other matters, such as the relations of Andrew with General Butler, are handled in an admirable manner, and the whole work is remarkable for scholarship and literary power. The “ Memoirs of Henry Villard,” on the other hand, though of no slight interest and importance, are of very uneven merit. That part of the work which recounts the author’s career as a war correspondent, and generally all of it that deals with his life as a journalist, is eminently satis- factory ; but, from easily excusable causes, what is told us of Villard as the financial organiser of the north-west is presented in a sadly fragmentary manner. One is glad to hear, however, that its shortcomings are likely to be remedied in a supple- mentary publication. The life of a man who did so much for America deserves the fullest possible treatment in all its phases. THE AUTHOR. One other biography we must mention, viz., Mr. Francis Newton Thorpe’s “ Life of Dr. William Pepper,” Provost of Pennsylvania University. It tells sympathetically, if a little diffusely, the life- story of a really great personality—a man who not only created a university, but left a great pro- fessional reputation both as a medical writer and a practising physician. He literally wore himself out before his time by sheer pressure of work. It is not a little refreshing to read of this go-ahead character sticking up for Greek and Latin before the Modern Languages Association—he himself spoke French fluently; and the opinion of such a man that the purification of American public life was to be sought rather in educational work than in ward politics is at least worthy of serious consideration. The Supreme Court has decided that books are books and not periodicals. They will, therefore , no longer be able to go through the mails as “second class” matter. The “ Encyclopedia Britannica” has found a protector in Judge Lacombe, who has restrained the Tribune Association of New York City from printing and selling as a premium a so-called “‘Americanised Encyclopedia Britannica.” The latter, it was held, had formed their eight volumes by cancellations and mutilations of two-thirds of the English work. A large amount of doca- mentary evidence was put in. Actions were also brought against the publishers, the Saalfield Pub- lishing Company, of Akron, O., by Appleton & Co., who alleged that the ‘“ Americanised ” supple- ment infringed the copyright of their “ Cyclopedia of American Biography.”’ They obtained damages as well as an agreement to destroy copies and stop sales. The author of “Mrs. Wiges of the Cabbage Patch” has also obtained relief from the law. Mrs. Bass had been so pestered by the unwelcome attentions of “hoboes” and others, that she at length had recourse to strong measures, and last April found herself charged with assault in the form of throwing a pitcher upon the head of one Mrs. Emily Smith, of Hazlewood, Ky. The Louisville police justice dismissed the charge “on general principles,” expressing the view that Mrs. Wiggs had had great provocation. The plaintiff’s plea that she was under the impression that the author of “big-sellers ” was in need of charitable relief was distinctly piquant ; and certainly not less so was the testimony of the defendant, who left the court saying “ Now maybe Tl be able to spend my old age in peace, and maybe my trees ‘ll grow out where all them memorals has been pulled off, and maybe my yard won’t be full of strange people every Sunday, and I can move downstairs, where I used to live.”  i "To return to literature. America is not wanting in clever novelists, but her poets are few and far between. All the greater then is our pleasure in pointing to the achievement of Mr. William Vaughan Moody, who has followed up his highly promising “ Masque of Judgment” with ‘The Fire-Bringer,” a drama of even greater merit. The two, it seems, are designed as parts of a trilogy, the remainder being yet to come. We trust that there may be a few who will find leisure from politics and fiction to make acquaintance with literature that has attained so high a level. Some weeks ago’ we were astonished to see printed in that usually sane and carefully edited organ, the Dial, a “communication” headed “ In Re Shakespeare-Bacon” and signed “ Francis Bacon Verulam Smith,” which is about the most fatuous piece of literary criticism that we have ever read in a serious paper. Were it not for the well-known character of the publication one should certainly have dismissed the thing as a somewhat impudent jew d’ésprit. The writer of the “com- munication” sets out to follow up a “line of proof” adopted some time ago by a contributor to the English paper Literature. ‘The latter seems to have propounded the somewhat untenable hypothesis that every great author is commonly associated with his chief creation. This is how Francis Bacon Verulam Smith follows up the clue: «« What, now, is the chief, the best known character in the so-called Shakespearian dramas? Hamlet, to be sure; and in the name lurks a very clever erypto-pun—Ham [i.¢., Bacon] let [or, hindered from openly declaring his identity]. Let us goa step further. What is Hamlet’s most famous speech? The immortal soliloquy. And the most familiar line therein? The first. Let us examine this line. ‘Be’ is phonetic for the second letter of the alphabet, and the line thus becomes ‘To B[acon] or not to B[acon are these plays to be ascribed], that is the question.’ And how is the question decided? In the affirmative, of course. The soliloquist determines against self-annihila- tion. The Baconian authorship is thus established.” We notice that the communicator hails from St. Albans, presumably in England. Can it be that the editor has been had by some wicked under- graduate? Shelley, according to Hogg, would indulge in somewhat similar practical jokes. And now we must grapple with Fiction. The book which headed the list of the Six Best Sellers at the end of May was Miss Johnston’s “Sir Mortimer,” a romance of Elizabethan times, Ellen Glasgow’s “The Deliverance” coming second. As to the precise altitude of literary merit reached by the first there is room for some difference of opinion ; that the second has really great dramatic power there can be none. The scene is Virginia ; THE AUTHOR. 261 the time, the reconstruction period after the Civil War ; and the central theme, the power of love to overcome the spirit of vengeance. Mrs. Atherton’s “ Rulers of Kings” will scarcely add to her reputa- tion ; but Stewart White has fully maintained his with “The Silent Places.” It is the story of two Hudson Bay Company’s runners hunting a default- ing Indian trapper, and of the passion of an Ojibway girl for one of the whites. Amongst other historical novels which attain a respectable level may be mentioned “Robert Cavelier,”’ by William Dana Orcutt; “ When Wilderness was King,” by Randall Parrish ; and George Morgan’s “The Issue,” the last and best of the three, containing some faithful descriptive passages concerning the battles and personages of the Civil War. The political novel is strongly represented by Francis Lynde’s western study called ‘The Grafters,” a well constructed if somewhat over- technical work, and by David Graham Phillip’s powerful depiction of Wall Street ways, “ The Cost.” Arthur Coton’s “ Port Argent’ also deals largely in matters political. One may express a hope, fond and foolish as it may seem, that such books as these may have power enough to react a little upon public opinion. Promising first appearances in fiction have been made by Mrs. Beatrice Demarest Lloyd and Miss Margery Williams ; “ The Pastime of Eternity ” is the imposing title given by the former to her tale of incompatible temperaments. “The Price of Youth” is rather audacious in places, and perhaps a little reminiscent in others, but has genuine pathos, and fidelity to the life described, though the writer, we understand, is an Englishwoman. Miss Miriam Michelson has made an undoubted hit with her “In the Bishop’s Carriage,” whose heroine is a thief who gets caught by a theatrical manager and converted—into an actress. The Bishop’s carriage has little to do with the main interest of the story ; but it is probable that the poster which pourtrays the incident connected with it is having much to do with its financial success. Another book which has “caught on” mightily is the versatile Mr, Severy’s detective story, “The Darrow Enigma.” Melvin L. Severy has tried his hand with some success not only at journalism, playwriting and art, but has also devoted himself to science and patented various inventions. Finally Mrs. Edith Wharton has published a volume of striking short stories; George Burr McCutcheon has made a hero of a dog, though quite unlike that of the author of “The Call of the Wild” ; Byron’s career has been embodied in fiction in Miss Rives’s “The Castaway” ; and Winston Churchill has followed up “ The Crisis” 262 and “ Richard Carvel” with a new romance, “ The Crossing.” : The Japanese novel has also made its first appearance in English through the enterprise of American publishers. Our obituary list is happily a short one. It includes, besides Edgar Fawcett, a poet and novelist, who died in England, Guy Webmore Carryl, best known by his collection of Parisian stories, entitled “Zut,” aman who seemed but at the threshold of a brilliant career; Mrs. Abby Morton Diaz, author of some successful books for children; Mrs. Sarah Jane Lippincott, who wrote under the name of Grace Greenwood, and founded ‘The Pilgrim ” ; and Colonel Augustus C. Buell, the biographer of Paul Jones and Sir William Johnson. To these should perhaps be added the widow of Nathaniel P. Willis, though she was not an author, and Mrs. Clemens. Se LEGAL NOTES. ——+— What’s in a Name? VENTURED to discuss in last month’s Author the position of the writer of a new book with regard to a title which has been used before by another writer, and to suggest that in most cases the new writer can afford to disregard the previous one, on the ground that the author of a book which has been published has only a right to prevent another from using his title in certain circumstances. The author of the previous work apparently can do this when he can show that his book is known to the public by the name which he has given to it, and that his market is likely to be interfered with by a new book which may be mistaken for his, but not otherwise. The device used by some newspaper owners of publishing dummy copies in order to protect a title of which they claim to have the monopoly, is useless for any practical legal purpose. I take it, however, that the author (or the owner of the copyright or right to publish) would have the right to prevent another book from being sold under the name of his, in any case where his book was being publicly bought and sold ; it would not be necessary for him to show that it was being sold by the original publisher at the time. He might have produced a limited edition, the price of which was daily rising, and the sale and reputation of which would be injured by the new book annexing the well known name. In the case of plays, the fact that a play can be revived at any time is of course material. No one would be justified in bringing out a new play and calling it “Hast THE AUTHOR. Lynne” or “The Importance of being Earnest,” and because at that time no play of the name was being performed. It would be a question of fact for the tribunal hearing the case, should an action be brought, whether the book or play in question was so far alive or liable to be revived as to be entitled to protection. Sometimes the question is asked whether a person publishing a book of a different kind from another under a similar title could be prevented from doing so. Presumably, if the sale of the second book is likely to interfere with that of the first from their being mistaken for one another, the use of the title causing the confusion could be prevented. In this case it would again be a question of fact how far the error would be possible. A title must often be equally applicable to two books of a totally different character. Suppose that at the time when “‘ Vanity Fair” was begin- ning to enjoy fame, a popular preacher in a West End church had chosen to bring out a book of sermons with the same name, an old lady writing to her library for “ Vanity Fair” (the sermons) might have received Mr. Thackeray’s masterpiece, and never have read, the sermons at all; or another having been recommended the novel might by a similar mistake have received the sermons and,. obedient to their precepts, might never have opened a book of romance again. It is certainly not easy to lay down any rule to the effect that books of similar titles upon different subjects will not clash with one another. If, however, the state of things is simply this, that the writer of a new work must not use a title that will interfere with the prosperity of an existing one, it seems fairly clear that the legal right to prevent the adoption of a title cannot often belong to those who claim it. This was suggested in the last issue of Zhe Author, but I should like to lay emphasis upon it. What really belongs to the previous author in most cases is simply the power to annoy, and possibly the opportunity to exact a small payment as compensation for an imaginary wrong, a payment, however, which could not be enforced in a Court of law. There is a conceivable case in which the author of a dead book might bring out a new edition for no other purpose than to interfere with the sale of the: new one, and it would be very difficult to prevent him from doing so, and from thus supplying some evidence of vitality. Should this occur it would not be easy to prove that the re-publication was: only for the purpose of extorting compensation, and the possibility of such a thing being done is a. contingency to be reckoned with. It must be conceded therefore, that however: seldom the author of a book who has inadvertently taken the title of another, which he has never  . a heard of before, can be prevented legally from proceeding to use it, no one would willingly or wittingly choose a name already used if he had any means ready to his hand of ascertaining the previous use. The remedies suggested seem to be twofold, namely, a full official list of all names made use of, or secondly, a system of formal registration conveying some right of protection such as is conferred by registration upon owners of registered trade marks and devices, or names used as such. With regard to the mere official recording of published names there are a few observations to be made. Supposing such a list were to be compiled, it would be a very long one, even if it only contained the books separately published in each year, but probably it would have to contain more than this. Books serialised would have to go in, and so would short stories and articles. I gave the instance of my own experience when the author of a short story, who said (no doubt trulv) that she was going to republish it, caused my publisher to insist on my altering the name of a novel which had been already announced for publication. In order to prevent this, I should, I suppose, had such lists as those imagined been in existence, have had to look through them for ten or twenty years back, a search which would have been certainly tiresome and possibly useless for practical purposes. Take such a title as “Some Emotions and a Moral.? Under what word would it be indexed? If tabulated only under the first word, “Some,” the person desirous of publishing “ An Emotion and a Moral,” would miss finding it, as he would have only looked under the word “ An.” And yet this latter title would clearly be liable to be mistaken, and its use would be indefensible. Tf more than one of the elements were indexed, so that “Some Emotions and a Moral,” would be found under “Some,” under “Emotion,” and under “Moral,” the list would be increased still more, and the staff of clerks necessary to keep it complete, orderly, and up-to-date would have to be a large one. In urging the making of such a list officially as a remedy for the existing grievance, it must be remembered that the cure proposed should be a practical one, such as Parliament would be likely to adopt. It is not easy to show that the receipt of a book would compensate a public or national library for the trouble and expense of indexing its title, and enabling searchers to have access to the list thus compiled. It is still more difficult to argue that the receipt of a threepenny magazine or a halfpenny newspaper should reward the public institution for selecting from its con- tents the titles which ought to be recorded. This refers to the mere recording of titles officially without the concurrence or assistance of THE AUTHOR. 263 the authors or publishers. The regis/ration of titles by authors, so that only those registering shall acquire a right to use and to protect those titles is a larger question, the discussion of which I propose to defer. E. A. ARMSTRONG. — oe The “ Encyclopedia Britannica” in Canada. A. & CG. Buack v. THe Iupeertan Book CoMPANY or TORONTO. Wuen the judgment in this important action was delivered (January, 1903) the present writer at least thought the world had heard the last of it. The Imperial Book Company, however, took it to appeal, and it has now once more been determined in favour of the English publishers, Messrs. Adam and Charles Black. As the case was commented upon at some length in Zhe Author for April of last year, it is not proposed to repeat here all the old arguments over the old issues, but only to consider such parts of it as have acquired a fresh importance at the appeal trial. And first the case may be briefly stated. Messrs. A. & GC. Black, the owners of the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” had authorised the Clark Company of Toronto to publish that work in Canada, and this firm was actually publishing it when it was found that another company—The Imperial Book Company—was importing into Canada for sale their copies of the same work printed in the United States. To the action—for injunction, delivery up of the piracies, and account of profits—which followed, the defence made by the Imperial Book Company was shortly as follows :— 1. That the Copyright Act is not in force in Canada. 2. That a certificate of registration at Stationers’ Hall is not (even in the absence of rebutting evi- dence) proof of ownership of copyright. 3. That Messrs. Black, having assigned their copyright to the Clark Company, could not sue ; and that the Clark Company, not having registered the assignment, likewise could not maintain the action. 4, That notice had not been properly given to the Customs, as required by the Customs Laws Consolidation Act, 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 36, s. 152) There were other minor and technical points raised ; but these were the clear issues, a decision favourable to the defendants, upon any one of which would have destroyed Messrs. Black’s right to their property in Canada. The judge below decided adversely to the defendants upon all of them, the fourth point evidently giving him the 264 most trouble. And this fourth point again became the real question upon which the case turned at the appeal trial, two judges out of three (Moss, C.J.0., Maclennan and Maclaren, JJ.A.: April 19th, 1904) devoting their judgments entirely to it; and one out of three dissenting from the opinion of the other two, and being in favour of reversing the judgment of the Court below. It may be assumed that the learned judges were in agreement on all the other points. Well, then, as to this fourth point. The question was: Should Messrs. Black have given proper notice to the Customs that they wished to bar the importation of these “ Encyclopedias,” printed without their authority, into Canada? They said “No”; The Imperial Book Company said “ Yes.” Two of the judges said “No”; the third said “Yes.” Tt all turned on the construction of Sections 151 and 152 of the Customs Act. Section 152 expressly states that notice must be given. But Section 151 states as expressly that the Customs Acts are to apply to all British Possessions except such as shall by local Act or ordinance make entire provision for the management and regulation of the Customs of any such Possession, or make, nm like manner, express provisions in lieu or variation of any of the clauses of the saad Act. Was Canada such a Possession? Moss, C.J., said “Yes”; Maclennan, J.A., said “Yes” ; Maclaren, J.A., said “No.” As this is the sole question upon which the judgment turned, so it is the sole question in the case which demands of the interested reader some attention before he can master the reasons for and against it ; because, in dissenting from his learned brothers, the last judge showed very skilfully how a Copyright Act may get confused with a Customs Act, resulting in serious differences of opinion in construing them, as in the present case. Now Section 151 of the Act says, “ Such Posses- sion as shall make entire provision for the regula- tion of its Customs.” “ But,” asked Maclaren, J.A., “is Section 152 to be regarded as part ofa Customs Actatall 2?” Isit not an amendment of the English Copyright Act ? Section 17 of that Act states at large that piracies must not be imported; it savs nothing about notice to the Customs. Then comes this Section 152 of the Customs Act, cutting down the right given by making notice necessary. Well, then, is not this Section 152 really a Copyright Act? But, if so, it does not matter how much provision Canada might have made for the regulation of her Customs—this Section 152 is outside her control ; in other words, the notice required by it should have been given. But, again, Section 151 says: ‘‘ Such Possession as shall make entire provision for the regulation of its Customs.” And Canada had made, in regard to THE AUTHOR. the importation of books, no provision at all! Therefore, again, Section 151 does not operate to exclude Canada from the effect of Section 152. The opinion of the dissenting judge has here been given first, in order that the judgment of the agreeing judges may be more easily grasped as by way of reply to it. The Chief Justice said : “ Section 152 undoubtedly forms part of the Customs Act... and I do not see how it can be separated from Section 151 . . . which nowhere says that it is when the British Possession has provided protection for the owners of copyrights that the exception is to take effect.” That is to say: Whether Canada had or had not made provision for the regulation of copyright is not the question. She had made provision for the regulation of her Customs ; these provisions did not happen to touch the present case ; but the fact of her having made them excludes her from the effect of Section 152 by bringing her under the operation of Section 151. In like manner Maclennan, J.A. : “Tt is argued that Section 152 is not a Customs but a Copyright Act . . . and that, therefore, it applies to Canada notwithstanding Section 151... . Itis also argued that Section 17 of the Copyright Actis also a Customs Act, and is withheld from application to Canada by Section 151, in which case importation would no longer be illegal! I cannot agree with either contention. Section 17 provides against importation into England and the British Possessions. . . - If all the Customs Acts were repealed this enactment would not be effected. ... No more is Section 152 a Copyright Act, nor less part of a Customs Act because, in order to facilitate the transaction of Customs business, it permits the importation of copyright works as a penalty for omitting to give notice. . . . Section 152 is applicable to the United Kingdom, and to all British Possessions as have not made provision for the regulation of their own Customs, but it is not applicable to Canada.” To the student of Copyright law and its intricacies. it may still seem a trifle doubtful as to which side has the better of what is after all a mere technical point, and he may look forward still to seeing the case before the Privy Council. There will, however, be little doubt as to which side is in the right. The space at disposal does not permit of reference to the other chief but simpler points in the case, all of which underwent clear and thorough elucida- tion at the hands of the learned judges. Particularly interesting and lucid was the distinction which Judge-Advocate Maclennan drew between an  assignment and a licence ; and Mr. MacGillivray came in for another compliment in being quoted by the Court of Appeal as well as in the Court below. CHARLES WEEKES. oe COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION IN THE 58TH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. —_e (From The United States Publishers’ Weekly). F the bills to amend the Revised Statutes relating to copyrights only one became law, namely, that providing for copyright pro- tection to exhibitors at St. Louis. The amendment to Section 4952 of the Revised Statutes, making provision for an extension of the present system of providing for authorised transla- tions, was favourably reported in both houses, but did not secure a vote. Bill 5314, introduced in the Senate by Mr. Platt, of Connecticut, to limit free importation of books copyrighted in the United States, was read twice and referred to the Committee on Patents. The modification, given below in italics, occurs in Chapter 3, Section 4956 : “ . . but the privilege accorded to certain institu- tions, under paragraph 515 of Section two of the said Act, to import, free of duty, not more than two copies of books, maps, lithographic prints and charts, shall apply to the importation of books, maps, lithographac prints and charts, which have been copyrighted in the United States, only when holders of the American copyrights thereof in writing consent to such importa- tion; and except in the case of persons purchasing for use and not for sale, who import subject to the duty thereon and with the written consent of the holders of the American copyrights, not more than two copies of such book at any one time.” The Bill No. 13355, introduced in the House by Mr. Tawney, requiring the filing of proof that copyright books, etc., are printed from type set within the limits of the United States and provid- ing a penalty for the making of false proof or wilful failure to comply with the condition of the present law, passed the House, but did not reach the Senate. ‘The amendment was proposed to take the place of the last two provisions of Section 4956, and reads as follows : “That accompanying the two copies of the book, photo, chromo or lithograph required to be delivered or deposited, as herein provided, there shall be an affidavit under the official seal of any officer authorised to administer oaths within the United States, duly made by the person desiring THE AUTHOR. 265 the said copyright or by his duly authorised agent or representative residing in the United States, setting forth that the two copies required to be so deposited have been printed from type set within the limits of the United States or from plates made there- from or from negatives or drawings on stone made within the limits of the United States or from transfers made therefrom; and the place within the limits of the United States at which such type was set, or plates or negatives were made, and by whom. “Sec, 2. That any person violating any of the provisions of this Act or who shall be guilty of making a false affidavit as to his having complied with the conditions thereof for the purpose of obtaining a copyright shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thou- sand dollars, and of all his rights and privileges under said copyright shall thereafter be forfeited.” Mr. Otis, from the Committee on Patents, sub- mitted a report on Mr. Tawney’s amendment, which concludes as follows : “The law now provides that no person shall be entitled to a copyright unless he shall on or before the day of publication in this or any foreign country deliver at the office of the Librarian of Congress or deposit in the mail within the United States addressed to the Librarian of Congress a printed copy of the title of his publication or other matter for which he applies for copyright. He is also required by the existing law, not later than the day of publication, to deposit with the Librarian of Congress two copies of such copyright book, map, chart, etc., and the law expressly provides that these two copies ‘shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, or from plates made therefrom, or from negatives or drawings on stone made within the limits of the United States, or from transfers made therefrom.’ The law which thus requires the deposit of two copies of the publication and that the same shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, etc., before a copyright can be obtained, does not require any proof to be filed that such books have been thus printed within the limits of the United States, nor does it impose any penalty whatever upon an author or publisher who obtains a copyright without having first complied with this condition as to the printing from type set within the limits of the United States. “ After investigation your committee have reason to believe that it is not only possible, but that in some instances the present law has been evaded and violated to the injary of American labour, and that this can be done with comparative ease under the existing law ; that there is no remedy and no means of enforcing this condition as to printing  264 most trouble. And this fourth point again became the real question upon which the case turned at the appeal trial, two judges out of three (Moss, C.J.O., Maclennan and Maclaren, JJ.A.: April 19th, 1904) devoting their judgments entirely to it; and one out of three dissenting from the opinion of the other two, and being in favour of reversing the judgment of the Court below. It may be assumed that the learned judges were in agreement on all the other points. Well, then, as to this fourth point. The question was: Should Messrs. Black have given proper notice to the Customs that they wished to bar the importation of these “ Encyclopedias,” printed without their authority, into Canada? They said “No”; The Imperial Book Company said “ Yes.” Two of the judges said “No”; the third said “Yes.” Jt all turned on the construction of Sections 151 and 152 of the Customs Act. Section 152 expressly states that notice must be given. But Section 151 states as expressly that the Customs Acts are to apply to all British Possessions except such as shall by local Act or ordinance make entire provision for the management and regulation of the Customs of any such Possession, or make, in like manner, express provisions in lieu or variation of any. of the clauses of the said Act. Was Canada such a Possession? Moss, C.J., said ‘“ Yes”; Maclennan, J.A., said “Yes”; Maclaren, J.A., said “No.” As this is the sole question upon which the judgment turned, so it is the sole question in the case which demands of the interested reader some attention before he can master the reasons for and against it; because, in dissenting from his learned brothers, the last judge showed very skilfully how a Copyright Act may get confused with a Customs Act, resulting in serious differences of opinion in construing them, as in the present case. Now Section 151 of the Act says, “ Such Posses- sion as shall make entire provision for the regula- tion ofits Customs.” “But,” asked Maclaren, J.A., “tis Section 152 to be regarded as part of a Customs Actatall 2?” Isit not an amendment of the English Copyright Act? Section 17 of that Act states at large that piracies must not be imported; it says nothing about notice to the Customs. Then comes this Section 152 of the Customs Act, cutting down the right given by making notice necessary. Well, then, is not this Nection 152 really a Copyright Act? But, if so, it does not matter how much provision Canada might have made for the regulation of her Customs—this Section 152 is outside her control ; in other words, the notice required by it should have been given. But, again, Section 151 says: ‘“‘ Such Possession as shall make entire provision for the regulation of its Customs.” And Canada had made, in regard to THE AUTHOR. the importation of books, no provision at all! Therefore, again, Section 151 does not operate to exclude Canada from the effect of Section 152. The opinion of the dissenting judge has here been given first, in order that the judgment of the agreeing judges may be more easily grasped as by way of reply to it. The Chief Justice said : “Section 152 undoubtedly forms part of the Customs Act... and I do not see how it can be separated from Section 151 . . . which nowhere says that it is when the British Possession has provided protection for the owners of copyrights that the exception is to take effect.” That is to say: Whether Canada had or had not made provision for the regulation of copyright is not the question. She had made provision for the regulation of her Customs ; these provisions did not happen to touch the present case; but the fact of her having made them excludes her from the effect of Section 152 by bringing her under the operation of Section 151. In like manner Maclennan, J.A. : “Tt is argued that Section 152 is not a Customs but a Copyright Act . . . and that, therefore, it applies to Canada notwithstanding Section 151... . Itis also argued that Section 17 of the Copyright Actis also a Customs Act, and is withheld from application to Canada by Section 151, in which case importation would no longer be illegal! JI cannot agree with either contention. Section 17 provides against importation into England and the British Possessions. . . . If all the Customs Acts were repealed this enactment would not be effected. ... No more is Section 152 a Copyright Act, nor less part of a Customs Act because, in order to facilitate the transaction of Customs business, it permits the importation of copyright works as a penalty for omitting to give notice. . . . Section 152 is applicable to the United Kingdom, and to all British Possessions as have not made provision for the — regulation of their own Customs, but it is nob applicable to Canada.” To the student of Copyright law and its intricacies it may still seem a trifle doubtful as to which side has the better of what is after all a mere technical point, and he may look forward still to seeing the case before the Privy Council. There will, however, be little doubt as to which side is in the right. The space at disposal does not permit of reference — to the other chief but simpler points in the case, — all of which underwent clear and thorough elucida- tion at the hands of the learned judges. Particularly - interesting and lucid was the distinction which — Judge-Advocate Maclennan drew between an  THE AUTHOR. assignment and a licence; and Mr. MacGillivray came in for another compliment in being quoted by the Court of Appeal as well as in the Court below. CHARLES WEEKES. of 6 COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION IN THE 58TH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. —“~- (From The United States Publishers’ Weekly). F the bills to amend the Revised Statutes relating to copyrights only one became law, namely, that providing for copyright pro- tection to exhibitors at St. Louis. The amendment to Section 4952 of the Revised Statutes, making provision for an extension of the present system of providing for authorised transla- tions, was favourably reported in both houses, but did not secure a vote. Bill 5314, introduced in the Senate by Mr. Platt, of Connecticut, to limit free importation of books copyrighted in the United States, was read twice and referred to the Committee on Patents. The modification, given below in italics, occurs in Chapter 3, Section 4956 : “ . . but the privilege accorded to certain institu- tions, under paragraph 515 of Section two of the said Act, to import, free of duty, not more than two copies of books, maps, lithographic prints and charts, shall apply to the importation of books, maps, lithographic prints and charts, which have been copyrighted in the United States, only when holders of the American copyrights thereof in writing consent to such importa- tion; and except in the case of persons purchasing for use and not for sale, who import subject to the duty thereon and with the written consent of the holders of the American copyrights, not more than two copies of such book at any one time.” The Bill No. 13355, introduced in the House by Mr. Tawney, requiring the filing of proof that copyright books, etc., are printed from type set within the limits of the United States and provid- ing a penalty for the making of false proof or wilful failure to comply with the condition of the present law, passed the House, but did not reach the Senate. The amendment was proposed to take the place of the last two provisions of Section 4956, and reads as follows : “That accompanying the two copies of the book, photo, chromo or lithograph required to be delivered or deposited, as herein provided, there shall be an affidavit under the official seal of any officer authorised to administer oaths within the United States, duly made by the person desiring 265 the said copyright or by his duly authorised agent or representative residing in the United States, setting forth that the two copies required to be so deposited have been printed from type set within the limits of the United States or from plates made there- from or from negatives or drawings on stone made within the limits of the United States or from transfers made therefrom; and the place within the limits of the United States at which such type was set, or plates or negatives were made, and by whom. : “Sec. 2. That any person violating any of the provisions of this Act or who shall be guilty of making a false affidavit as to his having complied with the conditions thereof for the purpose of obtaining a copyright shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thou- sand dollars, and of all his rights and privileges under said copyright shall thereafter be forfeited.” Mr. Otis, from the Committee on Patents, sub- mitted a report on Mr. Tawney’s amendment, which concludes as follows : “The law now provides that no person shall be entitled to a copyright unless he shall on or before the day of publication in this or any foreign country deliver at the office of the Librarian of Congress or deposit in the mail within the United States addressed to the Librarian of Congress a printed copy of the title of his publication or other matter for which he applies for copyright. He is also required by the existing law, not later than the day of publication, to deposit with the Librarian of Congress two copies of such copyright book, map, chart, etc., and the law expressly provides that these two copies ‘shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, or from plates made therefrom, or from negatives or drawings on stone made within the limits of the United States, or from transfers made therefrom.’ The law which thus requires the deposit of two copies of the publication and that the same shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, etc., before a copyright can be obtained, does not require any proof to be filed that such books have been thus printed within the limits of the United States, nor does it impose any penalty whatever upon an author or publisher who obtains a copyright without having first complied with this condition as to the printing from type set within the limits of the United States. « After investigation your committee have reason to believe that it is not only possible, but that in some instances the present law has been evaded and violated to the injury of American labour, and that this can be done with comparative ease under the existing law ; that there is no remedy and no means of enforcing this condition as to printing (266 from type set by American labour and within our own country. That being the case, your committee is of the opinion that the person applying for a copyright should be required as a condition prece- dent to furnish proof in the form of an affidavit that all of these conditions with respect to the labour employed in the printing and the place of printing the copies of books to be deposited have been complied with, and in the event that any false statement is made in said affidavit concerning a material fact, and upon conviction thereof, the person thus attempting to obtain a copyright should be punished and the copyright forfeited.” oo — CoMMENT. Tue United States publishers have always been to the fore in promoting satisfactory Copyright Legislation, but the heart of the politician is hardened and he still seeks to hamper the litera- ture of his own country for the benefit of the printer and typesetter. Commenting on the question of extended trans- lation rights The Publishers’ Weekly states as follows :— “It is certainly to be hoped that some relief will be given to foreign authors by replacing the requirement for simultaneous publication with a provision permitting time for making adequate arrangements between an American author and a foreign author, and for the actual work of translation. So strong has been the German feeling against the present limitation, or nullification, of pro- tection for translations, that there is a movement in Germany among authors and publishers to request the German Government to withdraw from copyright relations with this country. This would be doubly unfortunate, as it would not help here in bringing about better arrange- ments, and would definitely harm the German music and art interests, which are protected under the present copyright law.” This action on the part of Germany is the first sign of dissatisfaction with and retaliation against the United States Act. The United States publishers see the danger, and with the strenuous exertions of Mr. Putnam have succeeded for atime in removing it. If the amendment is passed Ger- many may be temporarily satisfied, though there are other nations not altogether satisfied with the so-called reciprocity created by the present Act. Ifthe amendment is not passed Germany may think fit, as she has already threatened, to cancel her treaty, and the politician will begin to reap the fruit of his hardness of heart. When the clamour of the United States authors, who are now, even under this limited protection, growing in numbers, is heard, he will perhaps realise who are the real producers of a country’s literature. The question of the importation of copies is not one of great account, and it can be passed over, THE AUTHOR. but the question of insisting upon an affidavit being made, and an affidavit before an officer authorised to administer oaths in the United States, will not only seriously hamper all foreign authors in obtain- ing copyright, but will be another difficulty to the producers of literature in the United States itself. The Publishers’ Weekly makes the following comment :— “The proposal to require from publishers affidavits as to manufacture in this country seems to be an unnecessary annoyance, unless it can be shown that this is necessary to carry out the manufacturing clause, on which the present law is centred. We have become affidavit crazy in this country, and the number of affidavits to be taken by a business man, especially for governmental accounts, is so great that the oath has become as perfunctory as the signature of government officials. It was claimed at the hearing in this proposal that many publishers were import- ing plates as junk and printing from them copyright editions. If this can be shown to be true to any consider- able extent, that would be sufficient reason for the proposed affidavit, which otherwise would be considered unnecessary. “It is to be regretted by the friends of a true international copyright that so little progress has been made in this country since 1891 towards a better system, such as is almost universally adopted by other civilised countries under the terms of the Berne Convention. The need is generally felt, and now generally expressed, of a larger treatment of the question than is possible in piecemeal legislation, and the pressure for a copyright commission is becoming so general that before long we should see a body of experts representing the several interests involved, including those of authors and readers as well as manu- facturers, appointed by Congress or under Congressional authority by the President.’’ The publishers take a clear and correct view of the situation. It is clear and correct from the standpoint of those who produce the work, from whose minds the stories are evolved, and by whose labour they are made into a marketable commodity, Germany has threatened to retaliate if the amend- ment relating to translations is not passed ; but this question of affidavits may bring forward retaliation on the part of other countries, and if the retaliation is followed by a demand for strict reciprocity, or carried further by the cancellation of the existing arrangements, the authors of the United States will find themselves face to face with the loss of a great part of their income and some of their largest markets, and the publishers with that dread competition in pirated works which was one of the reasons that caused the American trade to throw the whole of its support on the side of a satisfactory copyright law. When before 1891 piracy was legitimate, the United States had but few authors and little literature, and it was with difficulty owing to their small numbers they got a hearing for the protection of their rights, but, under this present copyright law, full of limitations as it is, the protection afforded has brought to the front many writers, and much literature, and has given a strong stimulus  THE AUTHOR. to the publishing trade. It is not likely, therefore, that this body of writers, now numerous and influential, will allow itself tamely to be sat upon by those trades who fancy they may suffer. Perhaps the day will come when the United States as a whole will grasp the fact that the larger the protection given to their authors the greater will be the literature of their country, and, no doubt, as a corollary the greater will be the business which will accrue to the typesetter and printer. —_——_—__—_—_e——__—_ THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LEAGUE. — HE American Copyright League, communi- cating with the Society, expressed a desire that the Committee of the Society of Authors should make a Report, expressing in their opinion the present difficulties existing under the United States Copyright Act. The League, however, barred from the discus- sion the question of printing in the United States. This is, of course, the most important point of difference, one which particularly needs amend- ment; but in accordance with the wishes of the American Copyright League, the Committee, after full consideration of the subject, forwarded a Report, omitting this question entirely. It may interest the members to see the points set ont in detail ; the Committee have therefore decided to print the Report with the answer of the Copyright League. It is drafted in the form of a letter from the Secretary of the British Society to the Secretary of the United States League. Report of the Copyright Sub-Committee on the Amendment of the United States Copyright Law. To THE SECRETARY THE AMERICAN COPYRIGHT LEAGUE, March 29th, 1904. DEAR §1R,—While thanking your Association once more for the desire you have expressed that the Author’s Society should send a report of its views on the amendment of the United States Copyright Act, the Committee feel that you have placed them in a somewhat difficult position by the exclusion from the discussion of the question of type- setting in the United States, the point to which, before all others, they attach the greatest importance. In accordance with the information contained in my former letter, on the authority of the Managing Com- mittee, the Copyright Sub-Committee was called together. They met at the offices of the Society on March 25th, and, after careful consideration and discussion, desire the following report to be forwarded to you. Firstly, they would place before you the question of simultaneous publication. They consider that the term should be more clearly defined, and if possible a longer period allowed for the production in the United States of 267 work published in England. The Committee would like to draw your attention to the definition on page 17 of the draft Bill enclosed.* This Bill embodies, so far as it goes, the present views of British authors and publishers as to the amendment of the existing British Copyright Law, and it will, no doubt, form the basis of any alteration of the law that may be passed by the Government. At present, however, there appears to be no immediate prospect of the Government taking up the matter, and the Bill is only set before you to draw your attention to various points, and to afford an example of the present trend of copyright amend- ment in this country. On page 17 referred to, you will see a proposed definition of “‘ simultaneously,’’ and the Society of Authors considers that it would be a great advantage, if, in the United States, you could put forward some similar definition. The period to be fourteen days at the least. Any longer period which might be suggested would, of course, be of still greater advantage to British authors. The second point to which the Committee would draw your attention is the duration of copyright. In the present Act of the United States, copyright exists for twenty-eight years, and for a further period of fourteen years in certain circumstanees. We would like to call your attention to Sec. 4, Sub-sec. C., of the Bill enclosed. After taking into consideration all the conflicting interests, the Committee have come to the conclusion that the best length for the duration of copyright would be the life of the author and thirty years. In some cases, no doubt, under the present British law, copyright might endure for a longer period, since, as you are no doubt aware, the present term of copyright is for forty-two years from the date of publication, or the life of the author, and seven years afterwards, whichever is the longer period, so that, in exceptional circumstances, a change in the law might reduce the term of copyright twelve years. But the Society of Authors supports the change for two reasons, firstly, it does away with the necessity of determining the exact date of publication ; secondly, it is in conformity with the period of copyright which finds most favour in European countries, and might thus, if generally adopted, form a step towards the codification of the international law on the subject. The third point to which we should like to draw attention is the necessity for a summary remedy in cases of infringe- ment of copyright and dramatic rights, in regard to which the Committee beg to refer you to page 9, Clause 25, of the Bill. It has been found on many occasions difficult to secure any adequate protection against one who infringes copyright or performing right, owing to the fact that there is no summary procedure. The Committee understand that this difficulty has also occurred in the case of infringement of dramatic rights in the United States, where an actor manager has infringed a performing right in one State, and has entered the jurisdiction of another State. With regard to musical copyright, infringement in Great Britain has been so universal, and has inflicted such a serious loss upon the holders of musical copyright property that the Govern- ment has been forced to pass a small Amending Act (see copy enclosed) by which musical copyright holders are empowered to take very stringent and summary proceedings, and a further Amending Bill is now before Parliament (see copy enclosed). Proceedings of a similar nature, we suggest, would prove a great advantage in the United States. Finally, our Committee desire to call your attention to copyright in a review or a magazine, Section 10, page 5, in order that the ownership of the copyright in these circum- stances may be more clearly defined. There is one further point, which does not so much deal with the amendment of the copyright law, as the method of * The Committee enclosed the final Draft of the last Copyright Bill. 268 administration of the present Act. An article or a book may be copyrighted in the United States as well as in England. For some reason or other there is a desire to introduce the work into the United States, printed and pro- duced in England. For this purpose the English copyright owner prints on the copy “ Copyright in the United States,” under the terms of your Act. The Custom House authorities refuse to pass the book, because of the imprint ‘* Copyright in the United States,” which they say is contrary to the law. ‘This may, no doubt, be the case ; but if, on the other hand, the book is introduced without this notice, pirates in the United States assert that they have obtained a copy which does not bear the requisite copyright notice under the Act, and that, in consequence, the copyright has not been properly secured. The pirates, therefore, consider that they are at liberty to reprint in any form they think fit. It would seem that if these literary thieves secured only one book, on which the copyright Notice was omitted, there would be a danger of the work being pirated, It must be clearly understood that in regard to simul- taneous publication, and to the duration of copyright for the life of the author and thirty years, the reforms herein suggested could not be put in operation in the United Kingdom until an amendment of the existing law had been passed. The Committee feel honoured by the distinction you have conferred upon the Society by asking its opinion on this most difficult question, and I trust that the report which they are submitting herewith, together with the draft Bill enclosed, may be of material assistance in bring- ing about some alteration in the United States Copyright Act. Believe me to be, yours very truly, G. HERBERT THRING, Secretary. April 27th, 1904. DEAR SrR,—At a meeting of the Executive Council of the American Copyright League held yesterday, I had the honour of presenting your letter of March 29th, 1904, which was carefully considered by the Council. On behalf of the Council I thank your Society for your attention to our request, and also for the drafts of the proposed British copyright legislation. Your Society’s suggestions will be given full attention in any legislation covering the scope of them. On one point I may call the attention of your Committee to a misapprehension. There is no lack of protective legislation in this country relative to the infringement of dramatic rights. The Society of Dramatic Authors, supported by this League, some years ago procured from Congress a Bill enabling the process of one judicial district to be enforced against a violation of copyright law in another district, thus putting an end to the previous security of the one-night stand pirate, whose peripatetic offences against the law could not be promptly reached. In addition to this there are eight of our States in which special legislation has been passed, making it a misdemeanor to produce plays without permission of the owner of the copyright, and this legislation is likely to be still further extended. You will therefore see that there is really nothing left to be done in the matter of American security for dramatic copyright. This is the only form of copyright invasion which is an offence against both the civil and the criminal law, T am, indeed, Very respectfully yours, R. U, JOHNSON, Secretary. G, HERBERT THRING, Esq., Secretary Incorporated Society of Authors, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, 8. W., London, England. THE AUTHOR. MAGAZINE CONTENTS. — + THE BOOKMAN, Three Nature Writers — ‘ Isaac | Walton,’ “ Gilbert White,” “ Richard Jefferies.” By G. Forrester Scott, BLACKWOOD’sS MAGAZINE, A Scottish Philosopher's Autobiography. The late Prof. York Powell. In “ Musings without Method,’’ Mr. Boutmy’s Generalisations, A Great Proconsul. THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. Frances Power Cobbe. By the Rev. John Verschoyle. The Riddle of the Universe. By Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, Jean Louis Nicode, By A. E, Keeton. THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE. Sir John Moore. Maxwell, Bart. By the Right Honble. Sir Herbert THE FORTNIGHTLY. Shakespeare's Protestantism. By W. 8. Lilly. Herbert Spencer : His Autobiography and his Philosophy. By Francis Gribble, The Prologue of Arcturus. By Edmund Gosse. The Plague of Novels. By J. Cuthbert Hadden. INDEPENDENT REVIEW. Leslie Stephen, By Sir Frederick Pollock. Mr, Sturge Moore’s Poems. By Robert Trevelyan, MACMILLAN’S MAGAZINE, The Girlhood of George Sand. THE MONTHLY REVIEW. A Note on Leslie Stephen. By R. E. Crook. Thackeray's Boyhood. By the late Rev, Whitwell Elwin, John Dyer. Frederick York Powell. By J. C. Bailey. By Theodore Andrea Cook. THE NATIONAL REVIEW. The New Ireland. By Sir Gilbert Parker. Napoleon and the United States. By J. R. Fisher, The Poet’s Diary, No. 6. Edited by Lamia, THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. How They ‘Train Actors in Paris, By Richard Whiteing. The Kingsley Novels. By Walter Frewen Lord, THE PALL MALL MAGAZINE, Our Degenerate Stage—Opinion and Suggestions of French Dramatists and Actors: M. Paul Hervien, M. Francois Coppee, M. Jules Bois, and M. Coquelin. THE WORLD'S WORK. Herbert Spencer's Life. The Making of a Time Table. By W. J. Scott. There are no articles of literary, dramatic or musical interest in Zhe Month or Longman’s Magazine.  THE AUTHOR. WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS OF BOOKS. —+ ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an agreement. There are four methods of dealing with literary property :— I. Selling it Outright. This is sometimes satisfactory, if @ proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of the Society. Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of agreement). In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- duetion forms a part without the strictest investigation. (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise- ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements. (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,” unless the same allowance is made to the author. (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights. (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights. (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor ! III, The Royalty System. This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately the truth, From time to time very important figures connected with royalties are published in Ze Author. IV. A Commission Agreement. The main points are :— (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production. (2.) Keep control of the advertisements. (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book, General. All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four above mentioned. Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author, Never sign any agreement without competent advice from the Secretary of the Society. Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp. Avoid agreements by letter if possible. The main 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.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright, s—~> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS. og EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com- petent legal authority. 2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for the production of a play with anyone except an established manager, 269 : 3. There are three forms of dramatic contrac in three or more acts :— (a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters into such a contract should stipulate in the contract for production of the piece by a certain date and for proper publication of his name on the play-bills. (>.) Sale of performi i i ( p ing right or of a licence to perform on the basis of percentages on gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a percentage on the sliding scale -of gross receipts t for plays in preference to the American system. Should obtain a sum inadvance of percentages. A fixed date on or before which the play should be performed. : (¢.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to perform on the basis of royalties (i.c., fixed nightly fees). This method should be always avoided except in cases where the fees are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The other safeguards set out under heading (@.) apply also in this case. : 4. Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should be reserved. : 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and time, This is most important. 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is of great importance. 7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot print the book of the words. 8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed- ingly valuable. ‘hey should never be included in English agreements without the author obtaining a substantial consideration, 9, Agreements for collaboration should be carefully drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced. 10. An author should remember that production of a play is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract. He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in the beginning. 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object is to obtain adequate publication. As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con- tracts, those authors desirous of further information are referred to the Secretary of the Society. oe WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS. > ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the assistance of producers of books and dramatic authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan- cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic property. The musical composer has very often the two rights to deal with—performing right and copyright, He 270 should be especially careful therefore when entering into an agreement, and should take into particular consideration the warnings stated above. ——— ee HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1 1, VERY member has a right toask for and to receive K advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub- lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. The Secretary of the Society is a solicitor, but if there is any special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi- ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society. 3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the document to the Society for examination. 5. 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 your calling in promoting the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer. 6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire- proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as confidential 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 to give advice concerning 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. Fuller particulars of the Society’s work can be obtained in the Prospectus. 7. No contract should be entered into with a literary agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society. Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society. This The 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. must be done within fourteen days of first execution. Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. 9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do some publishers. Members can make their own deductions and act accordingly. 10, The subscription to the Society is £1 4s. per annum, or £10 10s for life membership. THE AUTHOR. THE READING BRANCH. —-——+ — EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this branch of its work by informing young writers of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The Readers are writers of competence and experience. The fee is one guinea, +— NOTICES. Se HE Editor of Zhe 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 5s. 6d. subscription for the year. Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W., and should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. NE Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on all subjects connected with literature, but on no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to return articles which cannot be accepted. —+~> The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and he requests members who do not receive an answer to important communications within two days to write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent by registered letter only. LEGAL AND GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY. —+ e+ — ENSIONS to commence at any selected age, either with or without Life Assurance can be obtained from this socieiy. Full particulars can be obtained from the City Branch Manager, Legal and General Life Assurance Society, 158, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.  THE AUTHOR. AUTHORITIES. —_1~9—+— HERE has been fresh discussion raised in the papers as to the 100 best books, and various lists have been printed and various comments have been made. After all, there is only one satisfactory answer from any person who, in these days of education, has read as many as a hundred books, that is, there is only one list—his own. Tue Musical Copyright Bill is dead for the present. We chronicle the fact with regret. There will be a meeting of protest held on July 4th, in order to urge the Government, if possible, to save the Bill. We see it mentioned in one of the papers that Mr. Boosey, of Chappell & Co., states, as an argu- ment that publishers do not make handsome profits, that Messrs. Chappell & Co. only pay 5 per cent. to their ordinary shareholders, and that out of 100 songs published last year only ten paid for the cost of printing, circulating and advertising. It would appear that this is rather an argument that some publishers are bad tradesmen and do not know their business; and not that music publishing cannot bring in profits if conducted on proper lines. It is most unsatisfactory for composers that publishers should continue this gambling with the composer’s property. It ruins the publishing business, and necessitates those terrible contracts against which we have often inveighed, on one of which we comment in this issue. When will composers make a_ united endeavour to resist this method of doing business ? From a cutting in the Lilerary World it appears that the articles in The Author on Agents, signed «G. H. T.” and Gale Pedrick, have called forth the following comment :— “ A question of some interest to beginners in fiction—for it is only in that class of writings that it can ordinarily arise in practice—is whether an author should bind himself by a contract with a publisher to give him the right to bring out the next two books he may write on the same terms (or slightly modified ones) as those proposed for the book under discussion. Both sides of the case have been ably stated by ‘G. H. T.’and Mr. Gale Pedrick, in The Author, The former strongly advises against the practice, but the latter, who is the managing director of a literary agency, puts forward very plausible reasons for conceding the point in certain cases. He cites an instance where an author, anxious to secure publication, accepted such an offer against his agent’s advice, with the result that his book, which would otherwise most probably have remained unpublished, has already gone into a fourth edition. The argument, of course, turns almost entirely on the worth of the assump- tion as to the probability of non-publication on other 271 terms. If a sufficient number of publishers made the ‘next two books’ clause a sine qua& non, authors would naturally have no option.” We should like to call particular attention to the last sentence of the quotation. The writer seems to forget, in the American phrase, that “there are others,” and if a large number of publishers endeavoured to force an unequal clause on the producers of literary pro- perty, fresh publishers would at once arise who would be willing to enter into a fair contract. A remark of this kind reminds one somewhat of the suggestion made by one of the trade, that if authors insisted on demanding better terms they would destroy the trade of publishing and be unable to obtain a market at all. The question, of course, is one of supply and demand. If, however, all the publishers at present in existence withdrew from business, the author could still place his work before the public by his own efforts should he desire to do so, although he might not in his infantile beginnings obtain so large a market in the first instance. : THE Jorning Post makes public the following particulars of a publishing contract :— “An author sent a little song to a publisher of the highest repute, and received an offer of a certain amount for ‘all serial rights.’ This she accepted, and on sending another song, she was told that it would be accepted ‘on our usual terms.’ Several others were taken in the same way. Then the publishers issued a book of songs which included some of these. The author wrote and protested, as she had hoped to bring her songs together in a book of her own. The publishers serenely replied that ‘our usual terms’ meant ‘serial rights and copyright.’” The Morning Post comments strongly on the publisher’s action, and deservedly so. Ifthe author had been a member of the Society and had cared to lay the matter before the committee, there is little doubt but that they would have taken the case vigorously in hand with a view to obtaining justice. It is just such a case as this that should be published in Ze Author, with the names of the publishers concerned. We have known some extraordinary contracts from publishers of books, and more extraordinary contracts from the pub- lishers of music, but it is not often that a bargain, or rather, a trick, to the discomfort of the author, so bad as that quoted above, is brought off. Ir is the custom of the Editor of 7ruth to make caustic remarks on matters that come under his ken from time to time. During the past month he has devoted one or two paragraphs to the Biographical Press Agency, and suggests taking up this form of business himself, as he seems to think it would be highly remunerative.  272 It appears that those gentlemen who have paid £10 10s. to the agency secure thereby fifty copies of their biography written by themselves, adorned with their portraits, executed by the agency’s photo- graphers, plus the possible satisfaction of seeing the biography published in the Gossip columns of a halfpenny newspaper. In addition to the economic question which Truth has so criticised, there is this further danger to be considered, namely, the danger of assigning the copyright either in your own photograph or in your own biography. If the distinguished gentle- men who have paid their guineas thus dispose of their rights and allow them to slip beyond their control they may find their biographies printed and their photographs published at times inopportune, and in places unsatisfactory. It is important to those whose position entitles them to the doubtful honour of publicity to be able to control where and when their biographies should appear and their photographs be reproduced. As Truth points ont, the economic side of the question is very instructive, as nowadays the competition for the personal paragraph is so great that the editor ought to be more anxious to pay for the information he receives than the subject for the information he gives. In the Westminster Gazette we see it stated that Miss Beatrice Harraden’s novel, “Ships that Pass in the Night,” brought her only the sum of £125. The writer states, “It is a remarkable object lesson on the mistake of an unknown author parting with the entire copyright of her first book.” With this statement we heartily agree. But the price which Miss Harraden received is quite a record when compared with the prices paid by one well-known publisher who, in order to induce young authors to accept his terms, lays before them the fact that other authors, whose names he mentions, have received the same sum— from £20 to £30—-for the entire rights of their first works. He also states, with the same show of generosity, that it is not an uncommon thing to take up a first book paying the author a royalty after the sale of 2,000 copies. Readers will naturally suppose that after the sale of so large a number the author reaps his reward by a large return, but no, the royalty that the publisher vouchsafes after 2,000 copies is a modest 10 per cent. It would be interesting to know how many of these first books with this royalty ever sell more than 2,(00 copies. A publisher with a true sense of his position, instead of making a boast of his cheap bargains to authors ought rather to be silent. Such open- ness is not as good a bait as a spinning minnow in a trout stream. THE AUTHOR. EPITAPH FOR AN AUTHOR’S TOMBSTONE, —> O child beloved of the Gods, nor born In the fortunate glow of a climbing star ; No prince, no hero of hope forlorn Was the dust beneath me, tra la la. Fame, a harlot, as all assert Who slide from the slope of her hazardous car, Passed him by with a close-drawn skirt Like an honest woman, tra la la. Wealth he knew not, nor greed of place, But loved green valleys, and wandered far, Counting the voluble waves that race O’er the scrambling shingles, tra la la. Faith he lost where the cities sweat In grime to the sky, where the dogmas are, But found in meadow and rivulet A foolish comfort, tra la la, He died, and was buried under me, Hopeless, heedless of Avatar, Far from the city, close to the sea, Tra la, tra la Ja, la la, la la! Sr. Joun Lucas. Lg ag THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.* —_- a last volume of Sir Leslie Stephen’s work, displaying, as it does, his power of sane, clear-sighted criticism wholly undimmed, is a fitting climax to more than thirty years of scholarly labour. Of the five lectures which it contains, the first is devoted to a defence of the historical and inductive method of criticism—a method employed by Sir Leslie Stephen himself in the course of the lectures, whilst the remainder deal with the periods terminated respectively by the death of Queen Anne (1714), the declaration of War with Spain (1739), the close of the Seven Years’ War (1763), and the year of the Regency ‘Bill (1788). To this time— “The century, as its enemies used to say, of coarse utilitarian aims, of religious indifference and political corruption; or, as I prefer to say, the century of sound common-sense and growing toleration, and of steady social and industrial development,” he applies the modern method of criticism which holds that “ Literary history . . . isan account of one strand, 80 10 speak, in a very complex tissue; it is connected with the * “English Literature and Society in the Righteenth | Century.” (Ford Lectures, 1903.) By Leslie Stephen (Duckworth.) 2 ee Be Soe  THER AUTHOR. intellectual and social development; it represents move- ments of thought which may sometimes check and be sometimes propitious to the existing forms of art; it is the utterance of a class which may represent, or fail to represent, the main national movement ; it is affected more or less directly by all manner of religious, political, social, and economical changes; and it is dependent on the occurrence of individual genius for which we cannot even profess to account.” Certainly no period inthe history of our Literature is so apt as the Highteenth Century in affording an illustration of the dependence of literary form on national movement. The drama, to take a single line of literature as an example, ceased to be fine not because, as Matthew Arnold asserted, the Puritans crushed it; for in reality the Puritans only became powerful when the drama was already dancing down the road of decadence ; but because, as Sir Leslie Stephen shows, the cleavage between the Court and the nation had destroyed the popularity, and hence the means of existence of that essentially aristocratic institution, the Stage. This example of the method employed by the “inductive” critic affords an agreeable contrast to the judicial attitude which held that every new author was to be tried by a kind of court-martial with Aristotle’s poetics asa code of law, and caused Voltaire to utter ineptitudes on Dante and Shakespeare. ‘The critic’s function is rather to enquire “What pleased men, and then, why it pleased them ; not to decide dogmatically that it ought to have pleased or displeased on the simple ground that it is or is not congenial to himself.”’ Sir Leslie Stephen was already stricken with mortal illness when he wrote these lectures, but the lucidity of the style, so simple, so energetic, and so buoyant, never flags ; and the philosophic breadth of view, the wide knowledge, and fine sense of proportion, render the book as delightful as anything that he has written, One can scarcely think of higher praise than this. + 0 THE ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON MEMORIAL. —* HE Memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson was unveiled in St.Giles’s Auld Kirk, Edinburgh, on Monday, June 27th, by Lord Rosebery, No fitter place could have been chosen than “ The auld Kirk ” of that city, which is so full of personal reminiscences of the author, with which so many of the characters in his books are associated. The fitness of the place was equalled by the beauty of the memorial itself. It is a bronze in low relief of Stevenson lying on that couch from which it was 273 his misfortune so often to be compelled to write, with paper on knee and pen in hand. It is a fine work of art. A large crowd assembled early, and the period of waiting was filled in by a recital on the organ. Then at two o'clock Lord Rosebery entered the building and took his place on the platform. He stated that he had not come to make a long speech or indulge in a eulogy of Stevenson. All that took place eight years ago, when the movement was taken in hand which was completed that day. He asked that the services of those who had assisted in carrying out the object before them, those willing givers of time and money, should be re- membered. He called especial attention to the labours of the sculptor (Mr. Saint Gandens) and the work of the secretary (Mr. Napier). It was a memorial of a man of genius by a man of genius; but, he continued, great as was the result as a work of art, the true memorial to Louis Stevenson was not here. It was in the hearts of the readers, and, he might say, the worshippers, of his writings ; and, lastly, in that great edition of his works that they had seen produced. It was no doubt a sad reflection that one who had loved the Scottish hills and dales with so true an affection, and who had chronicled his love with so vigorous a pen, should be buried far off in the Pacific islands in Samoa. But genius was world-wide, and took no count of time or place. His Lordship then stepped forward and un- veiled the bronze, given, as he stated, by the bounty and piety of the author’s fellow-countrymen, and many other lovers of his work. Mr. Sidney Colvin, Stevenson’s old friend, then handed over the monument to the Very Rev. J. Cameron Lees, minister of the church. His speech was full of sad recollections of the struggle of the indomitable spirit against the weakness of the body. He called to mind the characteristic attitude of Stevenson, so ably set forth in the memorial, when physical weakness resulting from dangerous heemor- rhage necessitated his lying on a couch. He told how often, when he was not allowed to speak, Stevenson used to converse in writing, cheerful and — indefatigable. He stated that for some reasons he was glad that the execution of the undertaking had not come till eight years after Stevenson’s death. ‘Time must always be the test of genius, and he saw no falling off in the rising generation of that love for Stevenson’s Romances which was also in the heart of his contemporaries. He then formally handed over the work, and the Rev. J. Cameron Lees, who had known the author in his early years, spoke a few suitable words in acceptance. The following gentlemen were present on the platform :—Lord Rosebery, Chairman; to the: right of the chair—Mr. Sidney Colvin, the Very 274 Rey. J. Cameron Lees, Principal Donaldson, of St. Andrew’s University, Prof. Campbell Fraser, Mr. J. D. G. Dalrymple, of Meiklewood, Mr. Charles Beckett, of Glasgow, Mr. John Maclauchlan and Mr. James Cunningham, of Dundee ; to the left of the Chairman—Prof. Masson, Lord Kinross, Prof. Baldwin Brown, Prof. Flint, Mr. Holmes Ivory, W.S., Mr. Rufus Fleming, United States Consul, Mr. W. B. Blaikie, Mr. W. D. M‘Kay, R.S.A., Mr. G. Herbert Thring, representing the Incorporated Society of Authors. : The following were also present :—Sir Arthur Mitchell, Sir James Guthrie, P.R.S.A., Sir Charles Logan, Rev. David Macrae, Rev. Dr. W. W. Tul- loch, P. W. Adam, R.S.A., Pittendrigh Macgilli- vray, R.S.A., R. J. Mackenzie, Esq., M.A., David Robertson, A.R.S.A. (President Scottish Arts Club), Bailie Murray (Senior Magistrate of Edin- burgh), A. N. Paterson, M.A., A.R.I.B.A., Glasgow, G. Stratton Ferrier, R.I., R.S.W., J. Campbell Mitchell, P.S.S.A., Very Rev. Archibald Scott, D.D., J. B. Sutherland, 8.8.C., J. Wilson Brodie, Esq., Harry Cheyne, Esq., W.S., J. B. M‘Intosh, Esq., W.S., R. Jameson Torrie, Esq., W.S., T. N. Hepburn, Prof. Neicks, Prof. Cossar Ewart, Prof. Rankine, Prof. A. R. Simpson, John A. Inglis, Esq. (representing the Speculative Society), John Harrison, Esq. (Master of the Merchant Company), Alex. Buchan, LL.D., Representatives of the St. Giles’s Board, Representatives of the St. Giles’s Kirk Session, Mr. J. H. Napier, Solicitor (Secretary ito the Memorial Committee). It was felt a great pity that it had been impos- sible to bring together a larger attendance of his fellow-workers in fiction. The notice, however, was ‘Short, and the time somewhat inopportune, while .the distance from London was great. The Secretary had to chronicle a long: list of regrets. Among the number who were unavoid- -ably absent, he mentioned the names of George Meredith (President of the Society of Authors), Douglas Freshfield (Chairman of the Committee -of the Society), J. M. Barrie, Thomas Hardy, A. T. Quiller Couch, Anthony Hope Hawkins, Andrew Lang, Stanley Weyman, Edmund Gosse, Augustine Birrell, A. W. Pinero, Sir A. Conan Doyle, Miss Beatrice Harraden, Robert Bridges, Dr. John Watson (“ Ian Maclaren”), Lord Balfour -of Burleigh, Right. Hon. A. J. Balfour, Prof. Dowden, Prof. Saintsbury, Dr. Richard Garnett, Prof. Bradley, Oxford, R. Maclehose (Treasurer, Glasgow Committee), H. Bell (Treasurer, Liver- pool Committee), A. Bennie (Treasurer, Man- chester Committee), W. S. Gilbert, and many -others. _ Oe THE AUTHOR. THE WOMEN WRITERS’ DINNER. nl T the annual dinner of the Women Writers on June 20th there were some 200 members present. Miss Beatrice Harraden under- took the position of chairwoman. She made a brief and light speech, in which she said she had been told by the secretaries that she was to speak ten minutes. This, she averred, she had never done in her life, and was quite incapable of doing either then or at any other time, also, that there were so many subjects tabooed. Man, for instance: she could have spoken eloquently upon man—or love, or the Fiscal Question, or the iniquities of the Income Tax, or on any of those subjects of which too much has already been heard elsewhere. She would, therefore, only congratulate the Women Writers on their annual meeting to eat, drink, smoke and talk together, having numbered its fifteenth anniversary. Others might affirm that it was love that made the world go round, but that, for her own part, she believed that it was tact— tact, that quality in which all women excelled, and our hon. secretaries more than any. Miss Harraden having resumed her chair, Mrs. Sidney Webb gave a very brilliant and clever speech. She rose, she said, at the request of the secretaries to speak, because, she supposed, she must appear to be the very opposite to the novelist—a mere dull economist. But that whereas the novelist dealt with the facts of life, the economist dealt with the fictional side—the mighty fiction of the “ average man.” ‘The novelists drew men and women as they found them, or read them, the fictional part of their work lay in the plot; and it was from the work of the novelists that the economists sought for the great ruling motives that influenced the average man. She laid at the doors of Swift, Gay and Fielding, and the writers of the eighteenth century, the horrors of the sweating system, because it was the habit of that time, and of those writers, to dwell upon the motives of insatiable grasping after wealth and pleasure in mankind. I think some of Mrs. Sidney Webb’s hearers felt a trifle aghast at this calling to account of the mighty dead, and welcomed her story of Herbert Spencer who, when he wished to study the subject of matrimony, asked her, and others, what novels he should read. She said she herself read all the best novels that came out, but that they bored her horribly. There was one thing that bored her more, and that was a poem. She concluded by warning novelists to write with charity and hope of mankind, because of that strange truth that what is believed in, and insisted upon, becomes at last a truth, Mrs. De La Pasture returned in her speech to lighter themes. She pointed out how the  THE AUTHOR. incomparable Jane Austen used in her old-fashioned day to throw a cover over her work when anyone came to see her. Mrs. De La Pasture suggested that when the modern novelist wrote anything that might hurt the young, or offend the old, that they should throw over it the “handkerchief of Jane Austen.” We, hearing her, and remembering much of modern work, were inclined to think that the sale of pocket handkerchiefs would be enor- mously increased if Mrs. De La Pasture’s advice was acted upon. The committee for 1904 consisted of the follow- ing distinguished ladies :—Chairwoman of Dinner, Miss Beatrice Harraden ; Mrs. Baillie-Reynolds, Mrs. Hugh Bell,* Miss Clementina Black,* Mrs. Burnett-Smith,* Mrs. W. K. Clifford, Mrs. Craigie,* Miss Ella Curtis, Madame Sarah Grand,* Mrs. M. St. Leger Harrison,** The Honourable Mrs. Henniker,* Mrs. Percy Leake, Mrs. L. T. Meade,* Miss Elizabeth Robins,* Miss Adeline Sergeant,* Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick, Mrs. Steel, Dr. Margaret Todd, Miss Billington, Mrs Francis Blundell, Miss Christabel Coleridge, Mrs. B. M. Croker, Mrs. De La Pasture, Mrs. Alfred Felkin (i. Thorneycroft Fowler),* Mrs. J. R. Green, Miss Violet Hunt, Mrs. Belloc-Lowndes, Miss Honnor Morten, Miss Evelyn Sharp, Mrs. Arthur Stannard,* The Duchess of Sutherland,* Mrs. Alec Tweedie,” Mrs. L. B. Walford, Mrs. Humphry Ward,* Hon. Secretaries (Miss G. M. Ireland Blackburne, Miss L. R. Mitchell) ; and the following were appointed to preside at the tables :—Table 7, Mrs. Steel and Miss Netta Syrett ; Table 6, Miss Ella Curtis and Mrs. Baillie-Reynolds ; Table 5, Mrs. J. R. Green and Mrs. Croker; Table 4, Miss Beatrice Harraden and Mrs. Francis Blundell; Table 3, Mrs. De La Pasture and Mrs. W. K. Clifford; Table 2, Mrs. Belloc-Lowndes and Mrs. Walford ; Table 1, Mrs. Stepney Rawson and Miss Violet Hunt. ArtHuR Hoop. Oa DINNER AT THE AUTHORS’ CLUB. 1 HE last Dinner of the Authors’ Club for the present season was held at 3, Whitehall Court, on Monday, the 30th of May, and passed off most successfully. Mr. J. M. Barrie was the Chairman of the evening, and Mr. P. F. Warner was the guest. Amongst those present were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Capt. Wynyard, Mr. K. J. Key, and Mr. Hesketh-Prichard. There was no vacant seat in the room. Mr. Barrie’s enthusiasm for cricket is well * Unavoidably absent. 275 known, and in proposing the health of the guest of the evening he gave further evidence of this. He stated that when the news arrived of Mr. Warner’s successful attempt to bring back an article which he would not particularise, he had read the account in Piccadilly, with hansoms and four wheelers passing over him, though he scarcely felt them. He was glad to chronicle the fact thaf Mr. Warner had done something far bigger than merely win the rubber. He had had entrusted to him the reputa- tion of the game for honesty, fair play, and courtesy. He had brought it back unsullied. Up to the present he (Mr. Barrie) had only had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Warner play cricket twice. On one occasion he had made one run, and on the other occasion he had not been so successful. Finally, he remarked that if Shakespeare had not invented cricket, as no doubt he did during the two years when even Mr. Lee did not know what he was about, Mr. Warner would have been bound to have done so. Mr. Warner responded to his health in a some- what more serious vein. He did not think he could have done much in Australia if he had not been perfectly sure of the loyalty and confidence of the other members of his team. With regret it must be stated that in his opinion the Austra- lians at the present time were not as good as they were some Six or Seven years ago, that their bowl-- ing seemed to have deteriorated. He hoped that when they came over here next year the Test Matches would be played out to a finish. He closed his speech with the remark that, although many, taking a pessimistic view of the cricket of the present day, said it was going to the dogs, he personally could find nothing wrong with the game, or in the method of playing it. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle proposed the health of the Chairman. oe NOTES OF SPAIN. ee OUIS PARDO, the well-known author, has just published an erudite work, entitled “De arte al comienzo del siglo” (Art at the Commencement of the Century), and those interested in the evolution of taste will read with pleasure the information given by a man so well versed in his subject. ‘Las Confesiones de un pequeiio plosofo” (Con- fessions of a Little Philosopher), by J. Martinez Ruiz, is a book which commends itself to Spanish ladies, from its interest as a psychological study of a child, given in a form so sympathetic and charm- ing that it opens a new and easily opened door to Castilians in the study of children. 276 Don Augusto C. de Santiago has just given to the world a book called “ La Jura de la bandera” (The Oath of the Banner). The trend of the work is to foster the patriotism of Spain by cele- brating the thoughts and deeds of men, both past and present, who have served their country well. The national colours on the cover, and the portrait and biography of King Alfonzo XITI. at the begin- ning of the work, shows the place occupied by the young monarch in the ideal of patriotism. Indeed hardly a day passes without Spain being more and more assured of the sympathy of her King in all that is for her welfare ; and the pre- diction voiced by Colonel Figuerola Ferretti on page 149 of his celebrated “ Cantos de Espaiia ” (Songs of Spain, or the History of the Regency in a lyrical form), that a visit of the King to Barcelona would banish the shadow of separation has proved true, and the land bodes well to be one in its interests. Not only has Alfonzo XIII. notified his intention of learning Catalan, and patronised the chief meetings for the welfare of Catalonia, but the warm welcome recently given at Madrid to the Catalonian theatrical company of Enrique Borras, shows that Barcelona can also feel in sympathy with its sister city in the realm of drama, which is a door to the understanding of the psychological characteristics of each. This was especially seen in the plays of “‘Mar y cel” and ‘Sierra baja,” portraying ideas and customs quite different to those of Madrid, and the consummate acting of Borras, the manager, with that of Fernando Mendoza, Thuillier, Fuentes, etc., soon won the sympathy and the admiration of the audience. It is said that the manager was extremely nervous before making his début on the stage of Madrid, but his fears were unfounded—his genius was at once felt, and Madrid, both social and intellectual, figuratively fell at his feet. The Apolo theatre has lately given with great success the new play by Caballero, called “ Hl abuelito,” which hangs mainly on the subject of divorce. Tt seems strange that the tragic fate impending on a man’s career as a picador is not more often treated in Spanish plays. The serious injuries recently received by the two picadors, Mazzantini and Rodas, at a bull fight in Madrid, excited and interested the whole city, but one cannot but think that “prevention would be better than cure.” Much sorrow was expressed in Spain at the death of Urrabreta Vierge, a Spanish author of great repute, who has been living in Paris since 1869. He is well known for his illustrations of “Don Quixote,” ‘Gil Blas,” etc. In a country like Spain, where oratory plays such an important part, it is flattering to see Azorin cite English orators as the most clever, and this THE AUTHOR. by dint of their power of enforcing expression by well regulated pauses and judicious lowering of the voice. In these particulars Sefior Maura, the Prime Minister, seems to excel. The celebrated physician, Ion Francisco Huertas, was distinguished the other day by being received as a member of the Academy by Alfonzo XIII. With his customary intelligence the young monarch expressed his interest in all that con- cerns the intelligence and culture of his country, to the delight of the learned Corporation, and the numerous sages who assisted at the ceremony. It was not long ago that the young King won the hearts of all at the important conference, held at the Atheneum on Agriculture, when he said : “ It ismy wish to be the first agriculturist in Spain.” It is by such expressions that a king makes willing slaves of his subjects. Whilst the terribly vexed question of capital and labour causes so much trouble in Spain, the notable book called “ Socialismo y democracia christiana,” by D. Mariano Pascual Espamol, is welcomed as a possible solution of some of the difficulties. The work is the result of long study and labour, and his comparison of the two forces, with the physical elements kept in their right spheres by the atmo- sphere, which if removed would cause combustion, is philosophical, and his appeal to this atmosphere of reason to equilibriate the powers of labour and capital comes with the authority of justice, as his methods of equilibriation are stated as the result of long enquiry. “Love, Duty and Honour” is the title of a striking play just published by Lieut.-Colonel Figuerola Ferretti. The scene is laid in Cuba during the war, of which he can speak with the dramatic force of one who took part in it, and the different standpoints from which these three great qualities are viewed and acted upon show that the author is a psychologist of no mean order. The situations and the conversations seem to commend the play for the boards as much as for a mere book. The three women characters are clever presentments of three kinds of love. The late Prime Minister Siloela has again shown himself a true exponent of the Ideal. In his well- attended conference on the necessity for Spain of centres of instruction both technical and practical, as seen in other lands, he spoke eloquently of the necessity of love in education “for (he said) it is the indestructible basis of all ideas and the princi- ples that affect the hearts and minds of men, for all ideas and all doctrines devoid of love are bound to die.” The present Summer Exhibition of Fine Arts at Madrid shows that Spain holds her own in that domain, ‘The visit of the Infanta Dofia Eulalion with the popular Infanta Dofia Isabel during the  ' THE AUTHOR. 277 election of the gold medallist exhibitor, excited much enthusiasm, and one only felt sorry that . Sefior Rancés, the sub-secretary of Public Educa- tion, who presided at the election, was obliged to declare that not one of the competitors had received the requisite number of votes. José Mongrell is distinguished as a master of colouring—especially seen in his “ Tormenta,” and his portrait of a lady. Fillol is one of the chief Spanish painters who ex- presses ideas in his pictures, and “ Hl hijo de la Revolucion” (The Sons of the Revolution), and “‘Hijos de quien” (Whose sons?) are pictures of life’s tragedies. Blasco Ibanez and Rodrigo Soriano are also dramatic in their works. In a picture called “ Barcelona in 1902” Casas gives a large presentment of the Civil Guard and a crowd, and the same picture would doubtless do for the same circumstance on other occasions. Bilbao, who ever since his great success in 1887, when his picture “ Idilio” was so deservedly applauded, has never failed his country, is seen at his best in his “Salida de la Fabrica de Tabaco.” Nobody who has witnessed the girls leaving the cigar factory at Seville can ever forget the picturesqueness of the scene, and it is only a master of form and colouring, like Bilbao, who can make it a living picture in a frame. Percy Horspur. 1 —>— SWEDEN AND THE BERNE CONVENTION. —+—~<>—+ — HE following letter from His Majesty’s Representative in Sweden, sent to the Foreign Office, has been forwarded to the Society of Authors. The Committee have much pleasure in printing the information. STOCKHOLM, May 20th, 1904. My Lorp,—With reference to Sir W. Barring- ton’s despatch of this series, No. 30 of the 16th of December last, I have the honour to report that the Bill framed with a view to enabling the Swedish Government to adhere to the Copyright Union has now been voted and will become law on the Ist of July next. According to this Bill paragraph 3 of Chapter I. and paragraph 14 of Chapter II. of the Law of August 10th, 1877, respecting copyright in this country are modified as follows :— CHAPTER I. PARAGRAPH 3. _“ Literary work which an author publishes simultaneously in different languages, and the fact whereof is stated on the title page or first pages of the work, shall be considered as having been com- posed in each of the languages used. No transla- tion can be made without the author’s consent within ten years of the publication of the work.” | CHAPTER II. PARAGRAPH 14. “The rights of authors and translators mentioned in this chapter hold good during the lifetime and for three years after their death. If authors or translators have not put their names to their works any one can print or perform them five years after publication.” The Bill also contains the following clause : “This law enters into force on the 1st of July, 1904. It affects all literary productions published previously. ‘Translations which were made before that date and which have been published in accordance with the terms of the former law without the consent of the author may continue to be published. “If anyone, before this law enters into force, has in accordance with the former law and by per- mission performed dramatic, musical or musico- dramatical works, he may continue to do so.” Certain formalities will, I understand, have to be gone through before the adhesion of the Swedish Government to the Berne Union can take place, and I could gain no information at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as to the probable date when the matter would be finally settled. I have, &c., (Signed) F. 8. CLARKE. Tue Marquess oF LANsDowNE, K.G., &e., &¢c., &. <> THE VALUE OF RELICS AND POETRY. —<_e N the summer of 1877, at the Albert Memorial I Hall, some relics of Lord Byron were dis- played. Among other things were a little silver watch, a meerschaum pipe, two helmets which the poet wore in Greece, a drinking glass given by Byron to his butler, and five pieces of hair lent by Lady Dorchester, the Rev. H. M. Robinson, D.D., Mr. John Murray, and Mr. E. J. Trelawney. It is recorded that the hair was not of fine texture and was brown mixed with grey. The exhibition, I believe, was not a success. Could it well be otherwise ? What profit is there to the mind in such mementoes of departed greatness ? «The poet’s eye ina fine frenzy rolling’’ looked upon Nature, and ideas were rendered into words. which are a treasure for all generations. Let the lover of Byron’s verse imagine—surely imagina- tion is inherent in those who read and appreciate 278 poetry—himself or herself at the Albert Hall in 1877. The watch, the pipe, two helmets, a drink- ing glass, and five pieces of hair! They belonged, at one time, to the poet ; does the sight of these call forth any pleasurable sensations? I opine it does not. Let the same reader of Byronic stanzas imagine himself or herself—on the occasion of the usual autumnal holiday—in sight and within sound of the rolling waves. Is there not a natural beauty in the expanse of the wild, wind swept waters ? Is there not health in the briny breeze? Is there nothing more ? Not much—always, of course, remembering that health and beauty are two of the most glorious gifts Nature offers—without the aid of the poet. But with the words which he penned there is a charm added to what one looks upon—the charm of human sympathy, of human thought of no mean power, ; “Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean.” “ Do not the words appeal to us, not so much as a quotation from a poem, as a reflex of our own unuttered feeling? And then we will take together the two fine images or visions which are conjured up by the following lines :— “Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ; Man marks the earth with ruin—his control Stops with the shore... The armaments which thunderstrike the walls Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake, And monarchs tremble in their capitals. . - . These are thy toys.” Surely there is here--to quote Byron in favour of Byron—-that which :— ‘Lends to loneliness delight.” The veriest lad of any village school will under- stand and appreciate the personal element in this :— . *‘ And T have loved thee, ocean! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be Borne like thy bubbles onward ; from a boy I wantoned with thy breakers.” Consider now the lounger by the sounding sea turning away from the shore towards the rooms he or she occupies. The evening is passing into night ; the lights of the town are flashing ; the stars are not yet out; at least not in thronging multitudes. One parting glance is given at old ocean, and with that glance the ever-beautiful word-picture is once again remembered :— ‘Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty’s form | Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm, icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark heaving, boundless, endless and sublime. * * * * * Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow— Such as creation’s dawn beheld, thou rollest now.’? THE AUTHOR. It would be a prosaic mind, indeed, that could assert Byronic stanzas had not materially heightened the pleasure of this meditative stroll. J. Harris Briguouse, ae PP THE IDEAL PUBLISHER. —— 4 A Dream or Farr Traps. HE other night I hada curious and unusually circumstantial dream. I thought I was walk- ing along a narrow, dingy street which seemed to be Paternoster Row at one end and Henrietta Street at the other. On nearly every door was the name of a well-known publisher—it was really a most literary thoroughfare. I had a heavy brown- paper parcel under my arm which I knew contained & manuscript ; nevertheless I hurried past the im- posing buildings, which housed the well-known firms (my haste may have been partly due to the fact that I’d had business dealings with most of them) till I came to a modest-looking frontage at the end of the street, on the windows of which was the legend, *‘The Open Books Publishing Company.” ‘The name aroused my curiosity and I was attracted by the simplicity of the exterior, having good reason to distrust “marble halls” in connection with publishing. ¢t-entered, and instead of being re- ceived with cold suspicion and studied arrogance by the clerks in the outer office, 1 was welcomed with respectful cordiality. ‘“ Yes, Mr. Jay, the manager, is here; he always is from nine till six,” said a responsible-looking person. ‘“ He’s disengaged now.” And I was ushered into the sanctum in a state of bewilderment, since never before had I seen a publisher until I had awaited his pleasure for at least ten minutes in a virulent draught. Mr. Jay was a young man of “good appearance,” as the advertisements say, but he did not attempt to patronise me, nor did he greet me as a dear old friend. He bowed in a most business-like manner, and inquired what he could do for me. I told him that I had a MS. to place, and that I had been attracted by the title of his company. Would he please explain what it meant. : “If you have had any experience of literary business,” he said, “ you will know how essential it is that confidence should be restored between author and publisher.” a This struck me as an unpromising beginning be- cause each of the eight distinguished publishers with whom I had had previous dealings, had put forward the same platitude ; so I looked my doubts.  S ao ilstAsaVEIS ORE Caste THE AUTHOR. “‘ Hitherto,” he continued, ‘‘publishers have demanded the complete confidence of authors, as between tried and trusty friends, and any attempt to conduct the sale of a manuscript on an ordinary business footing has called forth sentimental reproaches. Now publishing is the only trade, so far as I can discover, in which all parties directly interested are not given equal opportunities of know- ledge where the conduct of the business is con- cerned. No trustful sentiment is demanded from persons with a claim to a share in the profits of other commercial enterprises, but the books are examined and passed by chartered accountants.” ‘*The fact that authors don’t usually risk any money in the business is supposed to make. a difference,” I said. “ But the author of a book is in precisely the same position, commercially speaking, as the author of a play,” he replied. ‘And in every properly-con- ducted theatre the accountants go in on Saturday nights to examine the books, and each week the persons with a claim to a percentage of the profits —there are often several involved—receive their share, as vouched for by the accountants. When I started this business, I determined to run it on ordinary commercial lines, and to throw overboard all the publishing shibboleths and conventions— otherwise tricks of the book trade. I could not stand being alweys under suspicion, and for my own sake I have my books periodically inspected by a firm of chartered accountants recommended by the Society of Authors. I pay half the expense myself, and the remaining half is distributed among my authors.” «That sounds satisfactory,” I said, “as long as one can trust to the books being correctly kept. But, of course, mistakes might creep in.” “JT have arranged for another safeguard,” he proceeded. “I have often heard writers complain that they have no means of knowing how many copies of their books have been sold. Accordingly I have borrowed an idea from the music-trade, and I have each copy of an edition stamped with a number. I also invite authors to visit my ware- house at stated times in order that they may see for themselves how many copies of their books remain on hand.” “But how about the American market ?” I inquired, for my distrust was too deep-rooted to be easily allayed. ‘‘ You publishers usually take fifty per cent. of the profits on an American edition, and you never seem able to dispose of the copyright. You send out so many hundred copies in sheets, and the profits are amazingly small.” “ Not amazingly swall,” hecorrected. “Ifyou remember that most English publishers are openly or secretly in partnership with a firm on the other side. They tell you, don’t they, that the American 279 publisher will only give a nominal price per copy, hardly enough to cover expenses ie - “Yes,” I exclaimed. “ And I often see that a book is selling well in the States at four or five times the price nominally paid for it to the English publisher, while the author’s total profits amount to something like ten pounds. I have often asked for items of the American sales and expenses, but have always been refused.” “Exactly,” he returned, with an air of satisfaction, “and you naturally suspect that the actual profits on the transaction are divided between the English and American partners. The direct result of this wide-spread suspicion has been the rise of the literary agent, who is content with ten per cent. of the American profits. It is bad policy to starve or frighten away the goose that lays the golden eggs. Now I’m offering to arrange for the publication of my authors’ books in America for the same percentage charged by agents—ten per cent. I shall probably extend this system to Indian and Colonial editions.” “JT have heard it stated,” I observed, ‘that, owing to the immense competition in the publish- ing trade, it is impossible to make the business pay on straightforward commercial lines—that is, without secret profits.” «That is absurd,” he returned. ‘I’m convinced that publishers lose money every year owing to their system of keeping authors in the dark. For example, certain methods of publishing have fallen into absolute discredit—I mean publishing on com- mission, and on the half-profits system. There are plenty of writers who would be willing to publish works dealing with specialised subjects on commis- sion, if they could be certain of straightforward treatment. Again, many young euthors would sign a half-profits agreement if they knew that the balance-sheets would be passed by a qualified accountant. For a young publisher without much capital, who is anxious to build up a business, these two methods of publishing offer modest profits with the minimum of risk.” “Are you introducing any other new methods into the publishing trade?” I asked. “Yes. I render accounts half-yearly in the old way ; but I pay my authors one month, instead of four or six months, later. Then, so far as the author is concerned, I don’t count thirteen copies as twelve, because that is an arrangement made between publishers and booksellers for their own (supposed) convenience, and the author has never been consulted in the matter. Then I’ve got several new ideas on the subject of advertising— there is a lot of money spent on the advertising of books in England, with very poor results. Also, I’ve patented a new detachable cover, which I propose to use for copies supplied to circulating  280 libraries. The cost is very small, and it can be replaced as soon as it gets soiled or damaged, Again % : At this point he was interrupted by a rapping at the door. I was just about to hand him my manu- script, and ask if he would undertake its publica- tion, when a voice in my ear said : “Right o’clock, and [ve turned on the water in the bath-room.” I awoke with a start, and realised to my bitter disappointment that the Open Books Publishing Company was only a dream. But why shouldn’t it be a reality ? E. M.S: a ~~ “FATTY DEGENERATION OF THE SOUL.” —1 + SUPPOSE there is something in a habit of | silence that encourages people to make those who wear it the recipients of their confi- dence. That habit, at all events, is one of mine, and upon no other hypothesis can I explain the fact that I am entrusted with what I think must be an unusual amount of early intelligence of what my friends are doing and planning in the shape of literature. Sometimes I attribute it, with a feeling of humility, to the probability that it never occurs to them to regard me as a possible competitor with themselves: they know I am keenly interested in literature in general and their owncontributions toit in particular, but they regard me as too , L do not know precisely what, but something unflattering to my vanity, to be afraid to unbosom themselves to me. Whatever the reason may be, I am, at one time and another, given glimpses into the inner self of some of my friends which I cannot believe they permit to many others. All of these glimpses furnish me with material for thought; some of them are amusing ; some of them are sad ; for the imaginative man, if frequently vain, is always sensitive, and the road up Parnassus is girt about with thorns. One such glimpse was permitted me a night or two ago. A young fellow of my acquaintance whom I had invited to dine with me, made a mistake in the date, with the result that he had myself .as entire audience. I discharged my functions so successfully that from being merely garrulously agreeable he became gravely con- fidential. Our talk had turned upon the income to be derived from literature as distinct from journalism, and I quoted the substance of a passage in ‘“ The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft,” which, by the THE AUTHOR. way, my friend had never read, where N—, a representative of the best and brightest side of literary success, informs his host that in the twelve months just concluded he has earned two thousand pounds. My guest, I should premise, is a particularly glossy youth, always, as he would phrase it, very well groomed, and J, knowin nothing of his private affairs had always suppose him to be the recipient of a handsome allowance from his father who is a drysalter in a large way of business. My guest was interested. “J don’t know who N— may be,” he remarked, “but that is pretty good hunting.” For a moment he seemed a trifle envious, but then added hope- fully : “Still, I ought to makeas much soon. I’ve made over nine hundred this year, and it is not ended yet.” I was amazed. I knew that he was what another friend of mine terms “a writing cove,” but that is a vague term which might cover anything from a professional addresser of enve- lopes to a leader-writer on the Z%mes, neither of whom, I imagine, would earn so much. I fear, too, that my opinion of him was enhanced : ‘‘ fear,” becanse one’s estimation of a man should not be affected by his income. “Do you do much journalism ?” I enquired. “Oh! no,” he answéred ; it is all from fiction.” I cast my mind back over a considerable period of time, but could not recall a single book bearing his name ; then at the risk of seeming ignorant or discourteous, I said so, hazarding an enquiry as to whether he used a pseudonym. : “‘ Several,” he replied, “‘ but I write over my own name too. It depends on how many stories I have running simultaneously.” Again I was amazed, for this was a revelation of fecundity undreamed of by me. Then he explained that he wrote serial stories for newspapers. “J am writing three now,” he said quite simply. “Not writing them simultaneously ?” I pro- tested. “ Certainly,” he answered ; “but they are all for weekly papers: five thousand words a week each, and I send in the copy three weeks in advance. It’s a bit of a teazer sometimes when you're writing for a daily.” I supposed it might be. ‘“« What papers do you write for?” was my next question. He named three, of not one of which had I ever heard before. ‘« And how long are the stories ?” I asked. “That depends on how they go down with the readers,” he said. ‘I go on just as long as they are keen, and bombard the editors with corre- spondence about the yarn.”  THE AUTHOR. “So you don’t work out the whole thing according to your own ideas, and simply publish a finished story in instalments ?” “Oh! no,” he said again. “The editors give me the tip as to what bits are catching on with the public, and I work those up for all I am worth. Sometimes, of course, they send me sensational pictures to write up to.” There was no suggestion of irony in his tone when he said “of course.” “Whether they are @ propos of the story or not ?” I asked. “T make them & propos,” he replied. “It is very ingenious of you,” I said weakly; I could not at the moment think of a happier phrase ; ‘‘but—forgive me—is not the story a little—well, spotty, in the event ?” “Perhaps it is,” he admitted. “But it’s all right,” he jerked out suddenly. “The editor’s happy and the readers are happy, and nine hundred pounds is nine hundred pounds.” T allowed that that was true; but I detected a look of vague discontent on his clean-shaven face. “And are you happy?” I asked with affected nonchalance. It was then I got the glimpse of the inner man ‘ which has prompted me to record the conversation. His own story was sufficiently common-place. His father, a respectable and successful business man, had followed the policy, common nowadays, of giving his sons a public school and university education, with the result, also common nowadays, that they deemed themselves too good for the trade to which they were indebted for their advantages, and were inclined to disparage the father who had begotten them. This particular lad left the university with the smattering of many things and inadequate knowledge of any one, which seems so contemptible to men of his father’s kidney, and after an acrimonious debate flatly refused to adopt drysaltery, and announced his intention of embracing literature. Perhaps if his father had been inexorable and had cut off all supplies from this recalcitrant son, so that he had come to know what it really means to be cold and hunery, the muses might have smiled upon him, and his dilettantism might have been hardened into something enduring ; but his mother’s heart was infinitely large and his father’s purse was capacious ; his allowance was diminished, it-is true, but only so much as to compel him to burn pipe tobacco instead of cigars before the altar of the goddess Fame, and he was never placed in the position of being obliged to write for dear life. It is the overloaded stomach that causes night- mare, but I fancy it is the empty one that knows visions. My young friend in his comfortable little Gat found time pass not unpleasantly, but at the 281 end of the two years which are generally supposed to enable a man to judge whether or not he has it in him to attain some measure of success in the world of letters, he was no further forward than when he forsook the parental home at Tooting for the less decorous purlieus of the King’s Road. _ Then he was given an opportunity of getting into this fiction mill, and seizing the chance was whirled merrily round and round, grinding words as he went, to which, for whatever reason, he did not attach his name, and earning an income which, as I have said, amounted to nine hundred pounds in a fraction under the last twelve months. _His method of work is simple. He dictates his stories into a phonograph and the records are transcribed in a typewriting office and sent direct to the newspapers; thence the stories return to him in proof, and he corrects the literal mistakes and keeps a casual look-out for howlers. He has dozens of stories, of enormous length, cut from the variegated papers in which they appear and pasted up in exercise books, and it was the recollection of these volumes that brought the expression of dis- content to his face when I asked him if he was happy. For that is the end of his stories. No publisher will look at them ; no critic of standing has ever heard of them; no literary agent thinks it worth while to accept him as a client; these last cannot help him in his serial work which, from time conditions alone, does not allow of intervention by any third person ; and the reputa- tion be has made in his particular line has become an insuperable obstacle to his making any reputa- tion in literature. He has, in short, committed the fatal mistake of making the wrong reputation, to lose which is much more difficult than it is to make a right one at the outset. The fluidity of language which enables him to keep pace with his engagements is incompatible with the nicety of language necessary to the production of literature ; he has lost all sense of the values of words in a calculation of their vaine; his apprehension of a dramatic idea has been shaken by his passion for a melodramatic situation. He has discovered that in doing work of a lower kind in order to earn the means to live while doing work of a higher, he has lost the power to do the latter. This last discovery has, indeed, been tested practically. A publisher of repute, who lay under some obligation of friend- ship to the old drysalter, hearing that his friend’s son was an author, asked him to write a novel; full of hope, the son complied ; but the taint of the cheap serial was over it all, and the book was hopeless; after a second unsuccessful essay the plan was abandoned by consent. My author, instead of being fed like a running horse, bas been fattened, and, to use George Gissing’s pregnant phrase, heisavictim to fatty degeneration of thesoul. 282 Is it an incurable disease? That. is what I should greatly like to know, for I fancy there are not a few “ writing-coves” amongst us, to whom an answer would be fraught with interest. Of course I know it is an ancient story. Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago the suggestion was put forward, and put forward well, if rather dog- matically. Here is the passage ; and if my g euest of the other night should happen to see this article, it may amuse him to trace the quotation, and it will assuredly benefit him to read the little work in which it appears: “The author, when unpatronized by the great, has naturally recourse to the bookseller. There cannot per- haps be imagined a combination more prejudicial to taste than this. It is the interest of the one to allow as little for writing, as of the other to write as much as possible. Accordingly tedious compilations and periodical magazines are the result of their joint endeavours. In these circum- stances the author bids adieu to fame, writes for bread, and for that only, imagination is seldom called in. \ He sits down to address the venal muse with the most phlegmatie apathy; and, as we are told of the Russian, courts his mistress by falling asleep in her lap. His reputation never spreads in a wider circle than that of the trade, who gene- rally value him, not for the fineness of his compositions, but the quantity he works off in a given time. “ A long habit of writing for “bread thus turns the ambi- tion of every author at last into avarice. He finds that he has written many years, that the public are scarcely acquainted with his name; he despairs of applause, and turns to profit, which invites him. He finds that money procures all those advantages, that respect, and that ease which he vainly expected from fame. Thus the man who, under the protection of the great, might have done honour to humanity, when only patronized by the bookseller becomes a thing little superior to the fellow who works at the press.” A YS. —————_+—_>—¢ CIVIL LIST PENSIONS. ——>—+—_. HE following pensions have been granted during the year ending March 31, 1904, under the provisions of the Civil List Act, 1901 :— Mrs. Anna Johnson Henley £125 In consideration of the literary merits of. her late - husband, Mr. W. E. Henley, and of her inadequate means of support. Sir William Laird Clowes : In recognition of his services to naval literature. Mrs. Charlotte Michael Stopes .. In consideration of her literary work, and of her straitened circumstances. Mrs. Mary Gertrude Henderson In consideration of the distinguished services of her late husband, Lieutenant- Colonel G. F.C. Henderson, C.B. Maria, Lady Gilbert In recognition of the services of her ‘late hasband, Sir Henry Gilbert. 100 THE AUTHOR. Mrs. Lucy Allen ... In recognition of the services of her late husband, Mr. R. W. Roberts, Master, R.N., in connection with the disembarkation of troops during the Crimean War. Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth May In recognition of the artistic merits of ‘her late husband, Mr. Phil May, and of her straitened circumstances. Emma, Lady Fitch In consideration of the ser vices of her late busband, and of her straitened circumstances. John Wesley Hales S In consideration of his services to English literature, Miss Henrietta Keddie ... In consideration of her services to literature, and ‘of her straitened circumstances, Leonard Gissing and Alfred Gissing ... In consideration of the services to literature of their late father, and of their straitened circumstances. Alfred Theobald Palmer.. ; In consideration of his services to history. Mrs. Edith Louisa Stopford Porson In consideration of the services rendered to astrono- mical science by her late husband. Frances Elizabeth Dobson Mary Dobson Julie Dobson A In recognition of the s services rendered to zoological science “by their late brother, Sur. ‘geon-Major George Edward Dobson. CORRESPONDENCE. —_1+—~< + CRITIC AND PUBLISHER. Srr,—Last autumn Messrs. Harper and Bros. published Vol. III. of my ‘“ History of the German Struggle for Liberty,” a work which is mapped with a view to making six volumes. Many honest critics hold me responsible because my publishers have published this volume without an index. They also note with just surprise that the book pretends to be complete in three volumes. Also, they note that the illustrations are not in harmony with the character of the work. So far I have passed the matter over in silence. Now, however, it may be of service to my fellow victims to enquire if a law cannot be framed to protect us in the future. I was not consulted in regard to my book either as to illustrations, title page, or index. The publishers had no excuse for their conduct save the stereotyped one, against which I am protesting—to wit, that they know best what is good for a book. Would it not be fair to the author if the pub- lisher warned the reader, and especially the book reviewer, whenever he has seen fit to print a page or picture without the knowledge or consent of the author? I have literary sins of my own in abundance, and I object to carrying any for publishers, however scholarly they may be. Pouttney BiGELow.  THE AUTHOR. 283 EXETER ENGLISH. I. Str,—Almost all writers, whatever their emi- mence, are guilty of solecisms and bad grammar, but this does not justify the deliberate perpetuation of ‘such errors by inscription of them in public places. Numbers of good authors are extremely hazy about the difference between the perfects and participles of tie and lay, but “laid awake”’ or “ there let him Jay,” would not look well in Exeter or any other cathedral. “ Destruction and happiness is in their ways” may be good old English, as ‘et Venus et puer risit ” would be capital Horatian Latin, but a plural subject with a singular verb is now merely a sign of slovenly writing, just as ‘‘to try and do” is a mistake, though countenanced by Demosthenes, and a plural verb with the disjunctive “neither ”— “nor,”’ as, for instance, “neither he nor his brother are coming” is wrong, whoever uses it. Your obedient servant, REGINALD HAINES. —— +9 Il. Smr,—Perhaps it may be of interest to quote the opinion of some of the greatest of modern French writers on the question of using a plural verb with a singular subject having a tail tacked on to it by means of the preposition “ with.” On the 31st of July, 1900, M. Leygues, then Minister of Public Instruction, issued some new “rules” (or rather “tolerations”) for French Grammar. Amongst them the following appeared ; “On tolérera toujours le verbe au pluriel dans : Le général avec quelques officiers sont sortis (ou est sorti) du camp.” _ The Académie appointed a committee to con- sider these new rules, consisting of such men as Henry Houssaye, Gaston Boissier, Hervieu, Gaston Paris, Mezieres, Gréard Brunetiére, Coppée, de Vogué, Jules Lemaitre, de Héredia, Gabriel Hanotaux. ‘he criticisms made by this committee were adopted by the Académie. ‘I'he remark made on the above rule was: “ Dans exemple ; le général avec quelques officiers sont sortis (ou est sorti) du camp, le mot avec n’étant pas un adverb d’énumération, mais une préposition, le pluriel est irrégulier.” __ Surely this is the only logical conclusion. Even if good writers have used a plural verb in a fit of absentmindedness, there is no reason why we should imitate them in their faults. Yours truly, G. H. CLARKE. Dovus.e Tires or Books. Smr,—I wish to draw attention to a curious phenomenon of modern date. I remember a time when every book was reviewed under the title which the author gave it. But a fashion has since arisen whereby the reviewer is ashamed of quoting such a title, because he prefers to show his ability in improving upon it. As this fashion is fast becoming universal, I think I am doing no harm in quoting two examples from the June number of Lhe Author, At p. 237, a book entitled “'The Making of English” is reviewed under the title “English in the Making”; and another book entitled ‘‘Stones from a Glass House,” is reviewed under the title of “ A Round Stone or Two.” There is a great practical inconvenience about this custom. The unreal and secondary title is the one under which the review is quoted in the “Contents” and in the “Index.” Consequently the author or other student who wishes to consult the review is denied any help which an index may afford him. And no author has now the oppor- tunity of ascertaining that a review of his book has appeared in a given journal. I venture to think that this is undesirable and inconvenient in a very high degree. T am unable to understand the underlying prin- ciple. Ifa title has been deliberately chosen by an author, why should it be deliberately neglected, to the confasion of all to whom an index is supposed to be helpful? Surely this is not busi- ness, but something more nearly approaching to a thoughtless indifference to the wants of a serious student. On the other hand, the custom proves that authors are wholly wrong in complaining of the difficulty of finding good titles. For whatever titlean author may select, it can always be bettered (at any rate in the estimation of a competent critic, for they are all competent) by an alternative arrangement. Why do not authors compile lists of alternative titles from old journals? Ifa book is reviewed in six journals, it obtains six alternative titles, all of them (by the nature of the case) better than the original! Surely this is a phenomenon worthy of attention. : Water W. SKEAT. —_— st LIQUIDATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Str,—The following may serve as a warning. In December, 1902, I received a notice from a firm of lawyers in Boston that an assessment was to be made of the affairs of an American journal to which I had contributed for thirty-two years. I agreed to the winding up of the company—all the creditors being asked to do so. 284 Time went on and I received no information. Last summer a friend wrote to some one in Boston to enquire into the case on my behalf. He was informed that all creditors had been paid 10 per cent. except the foreign contributors “as their accounts did not agree with those of the company.” My account was £24—in the company’s books it was £17. The head of the firm said he had 8 dollars odd in my name, which he would send over as soon as he had enquired into the dis- crepancy. I wrote in October to the effect that I desired payment of the 8 dollars held by him. No answer has been sent, and I have written three or four times. In my last letter I said if they did not send me the amount by return, I should make the matter public in 7e Author, with your permission. Surely it is strange that the foreign contributors (an Italian and myself—possibly more) should all have made mistakes in their accounts, and that they alone amongst the creditors are not paid ! Yours faithfully, 8. B. ~~ ANCIENT Sirtver Bouquet Houpers. Dear Srtr,—Can any of your readers, or members of the Incorporated Society of Authors, give me any information upon the subject of ‘Ancient Silver Bouquet Holders,” or refer me to any work treating of such articles ? Yours truly, W. J. Hassan. Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Rugby, June 13th, 1904. 1s AutHors’ AGENTS. Srr,—I have read with much interest the various insertions in Zhe Author on “ Authors’ Agents,” and the “ Rights of Authors.” My view is that a great many of the troubles of authors, and the small sums they obtain for their works, really arise from the great ignorance of the authors themselves. They know s0 little about the business side of getting out a book. I would advise all authors to study to some extent :—(1) The law of contracts ; (2) the law of copyright (including International copyright) also the Berne Convention ; (3) the cost of production of books, paper, printing, moulds, stereotypes, etc. ; (4) and last but not least the management of accounts (including bookkeeping by double entry). Accounts sent in by publishers are frequently most bewildering, and require a trained accountant with access to the publishers’ books to understand. Added to above it is useful to know the law of THE AUTHOR. accountancy, or .rather the law as it affects accountants, A man who knows nothing about the art of driving horses is not likely to succeed in driving well at his first or second attempt, nor will he be able to do so till he has really learnt his business. And so it is also with the author and book production. The reader may possibly get frightened at what T have said, and think to himself, “I have so much to learn.” But he need not be scared at what I have advanced. The secretary of the society will no doubt put him in the way of suitable books to read on the various subjects I have named, and armed with the knowledge obtained from these books the author will be able to contend against imposition, over charges, and secret profits, all of which are more or less attempted to the injury of the unbusiness, unskilful author. — All the tricks practised in the past for the pur- pose of imposing on the author have been brought about by the dense agnorance of the author himself, and many will say he deserved it, for if he will not look after, and learn what so closely concerns him- self, he must needs suffer, nor is the world as yet so fair a planet that the well-informed will teach the lazy as against the material interests of the former. On the other hand, much as to the art of publish- ing has been kept dark, which art is now more fully known. Why should not authors rouse themselves, and let them remember that “God helps those who. help themselves.” A few words I should like to add as to the great usefulness of the Authors’ Society. To myself it would appear that all literary men, whether novelists, dramatic writers, poets, historians, or musical writers, should do all in their power to uphold the Society, and by carefully reading the monthly publication of the Society (The Author), the most unlearned will more easily learn the art of publishing, and the knowledge he will thus attain will be invaluable to him. Publishing has distinctly entered on a new era, and the sooner authors learn this truth it will be the better for them and for all concerned, Messrs. Sprigg, Pedrick & Co., Limited, write learnedly about authors’ agents. They say: ‘He, the author, should never entrust his work to an agent unless he is confident in the first place that the man he employs conducts his general business. with an entire absence of favouritism.” Alas for authors’ agents if I read the late Sir Walter Besant aright. There appeared to him at the time he wrote that there were but two agents. he could recommend. And authors who know their business can tell pretty correctly who those two agents were. A SENEX. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 14 Issue 10 (July 1904) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 14 Issue 10 (July 1904) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1904-07-01-The-Author-14-10 publications The Author