https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/510/1905-11-01-The-Author-16-2.pdf 928ac45e0a0fd1b736b586f7be3a3eed PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource The Author Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, The Author, 1890–1914, made available together for the first time. Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&collection=&type=&tags=&exhibit=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items&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) 1905-11-01 Volume 16 Issue 2 Pages Page range in volume 33–64 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 19051101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT. Vou. XVI.—No. 2. NovEMBER 1sT, 1905. [Prick SIXPENCE. TELEPHONE NUMBER : 374 VICTORIA. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS : AUTORIDAD, LONDON. —_—__—__—_<>__+—__—_ 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. Tus 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. —_--—>+—_ List of Members. Tun 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. S a St —_—_+—+—_ The Pension Fund of the Society. Tun Trustees of the Pension Fund met at the Ane Society’s Offices in April, 1905, and having gone 1 carefully into the accounts of the fund, decided to invest a further sum. They have now pur- chased £200 Egyptian Government Irrigation Vou. XVI. Trust 4 per cent. Certificates, bringing the invest- ments of the fund to the figures set out below. 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 %...-.-2cesceeceeseeceeceeeenes £1000 0 0 Tiocal loans #.:--:.........-.-..:----..--- 500 0 0 Victorian Government 3 % Consoli- dated Inscribed Stock ............-++ 291 19 11 War loan .......-.. se: 201° 9 3 London and North Western 3 % Deben- ture Stock ..2.0..2........5. se: 250 0 0 Egyptian Government Irrigation Trust 4 % Certificates 200 0 0 Toba 6: £2,443 9 2 Subscriptions, 1905. £ s. i. Jan. 12, Anonymous . : 0 2 6 June 16, Teignmouth-Shore, the Rev. Canon. : . : : eo 10 July 13, Dunsany, the Right Hon. the Lord . : ; 0 5 0 Oct. 12, Halford, F. M. 0 5 0 = ay Uhorburn, W. OE. 010 0 Donations, 1905. Jan. Middlemas, Miss Jean 010 O Jan. Bolton, Miss Anna 0 5 0 Jan. 24, Barry, Miss Fanny . 0 5 0 Jan. 27, Bencke, Albert 0 5 0 Jan. 28, Harcourt-Roe, Mrs. 010 0 Feb. 18, French-Sheldon, Mrs. 010 0 Feb. 21, Lyall, Sir Alfred, P.C. 10. 0 Mar. 28, Kirmse, Mrs. 010 0 April19, Hornung, E. W. . 25 0 O May 7, Wynne, C. Whitworth 5 0 0 May 16, Alsing, Mrs. J. E. 0 5 0 May 17, Anonymous . ; 1 ot 0 June 6, Drummond, Hamilton 3.3 0 July 28, Potter, the Rev. J. Hasluck 0 5 0 Oct. 12, Allen, W. Bird 0. 5 0 Oct. 17, A. O. N. 2 1 0 6 Oct. 17, Hawtrey, Miss Valentina 0 5 6 34 COMMITTEE NOTES. Se HE first meeting of the committee since the vacation was held at the offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W., on Monday, October 9th. It was with great satisfaction that the committee elected fifty-eight members and associates who had sent in their applications since the meeting at the beginning of July. This brings the total number of elections during the current year up to 193. In 1904, up to October, the same number exactly was elected, and as the elections of that year were much above the average—233 being elected in all—the committee hope it may be possible to reach that number again in 1905. A small question arose bearing on the United States Copyright Bill which is being drafted by Mr. Thorvald Solberg, the Registrar of Copyrights at Washington for the United States Government. The committee referred the matter to the copyright sub-committee, who will consider it in due course. During the vacation the secretary had an inter- view with Mr. J. A. Cooper, editor of the Canadian Magazine and Treasurer of the Canadian Society of Authors. Mr. Cooper was very anxious, on behalf of the Canadian society, that the two bodies should be drawn closer together, and made sugges- tions which the committee considered. As the Canadian Society of Authors has no magazine, Mr. Cooper suggested the purchase of a certain number of copies of 7hée Author monthly. To this the Committee gladly agreed, as also to a proposition that they should assist members of the Canadian society, In case of any disputes which should arise out of the marketing of their property in England. The secretary reported that during the vacation it had been necessary to take counsel’s opinion in France on a question of literary property that had arisen out of the sale of translation rights, and, subsequently, to place the matter in the hands of a French solicitor, who had been instructed to commence action if necessary. This has been done by the sanction of the chairman, and the solicitor employed in France was the solicitor of the Société des Gens de Lettres. The committee heartily indorsed the action the chairman had taken. In another case counsel’s opinion, which had been taken during the vacation, with the chairman’s sanction, was laid before the committee. The main point in question was how far an author could claim exclusive right in the use of a nom de plume and restrain others from making use of it. As counsel’s opinion was in favour of the member’s contention the committee decided to take action, if necessary, as the principle involved was one of great importance to all authors. THE AUTHOR. The committee decided also to inquire whether it would be possible, in existing circumstances, for Egypt to join the Berne Convention, as there were many readers of English works in Egypt, and the fact that there was no international arrangement caused the literary property of the British author to be protected inadequately in that country. Another point under discussion was the advisability of fixing the unit of an edition. The secretary reported, as an example of the confusion which arises under the present system, that in one case which had come before him a book was advertised in its third edition when only twenty- seven copies had been sold. The committee decided to write to the chairman of the Publishers’ Association, in order to obtain the opinion of that body as to the advisability of determining accurately the point at issue. There were one or two other smaller points for discussion of no special interest to members, Cases, Since the last issue of Zhe Author there have been five cases in the secretary’s hands. Two for the return of MSS., one for money, one for accounts, and one for infringement of copyright. In one case the MS. has been returned. The other, being in the United States, has not yet been settled. The money has been paid and handed to the author, and the accounts rendered and forwarded. The question of infringement of copyright deals with a paper in Norway, and at present the infringer refuses to answer the society’s letters. The matter will therefore go before the committee at their next meeting, as it is essential that pirates should understand that they are not, because they live outside England, also outside the reach of legal proceedings. All the cases that were left open at the end of last month have been settled, with the exception of two, one arising out of the bankruptcy of a publisher and the other referring to payment for MSS. The latter case is in the hands of the society’s solicitors. The case in which counsel’s opinion was placed before the committee at their last meeting, and which the committee decided to take up, has been settled. The writer’s nom de plume which was being used has been withdrawn. There will be no need, therefore, to take the matter further. THE October Elections. Banbury, Capt. Cecil Beale, Miss Dorothea, LL.D. Boulger, Demetrius C. . Browne, F. Maurice Brown, J. Macmillan Butler, H. J. Claremont, Leopold Cotton, G. F. : Curran, The Rev. ELE. . Doidge, Edwin Edwards, Mrs. E. R. Festing, Miss Gabrielle . Fisher, Mrs. . Fitzgerald, Mrs. Augus- tine . FitzGerald, 8. J. Adair. Gamble, F. W. Gariorowski, M. Hague, C. Hope Halford, Frederic M. (“‘ Detached Badger”’) Hawtrey, Miss Valentina “ Henry Purcell” Holman, Henry Hughes-Gibb, Mrs. Jackson, W. 8. Johnson, Miss Effie Kingon, W. A. . 61, Lowndes S.W. Ladies’ College, Chel- tenham. 11, Edwardes Square, Kensington. Clovelly, St. John’s Road, Hastbourne. Holmbank, Feudalton, Christchurch, New Zealand. Square, 38, Conduit Street, W. 87, Salcott Road, Wandsworth Com- mon, 8.W. Pouchcove, Newfound- land. Cootamandia, South Wales, tralia. Adswood, North Cres- cent, Church End, Finchley, N. 56, Queen’s Gate Ter- race, 8.W. 223, Willoughby Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. New Aus- 11, Avenue Hoche, Paris, France. 17, Brunswick Square, W.C. 16, Ambherset Street, Withington, , Man- chester. 60, Boulevard Clichy, Paris. Kooringa, South Aus- tralia. 6, Pembridge Place, W. 119, Beaufort Mansions, Chelsea, 8. W. Bankfield South, Bury, Lancs. Tarrant Gunville, Bland- ford. The Beach, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Enlingcott, Headly Liphook, Hants. Tsomo Villa, Sea Point, Cape Colony. AUTHOR. Litt, Harry H. Macgregor, Lieut. - Col. John Mackenzie, R. J. . Mallock, Miss M. M. McEwen, Thomas O’Donnell, Elliott, Paternoster, G. Sidney . Purchase, Edward J. Puxley, Herbert H. L. . Raymond, Walter Reynolds, Mrs. Baillie . Selwyn, Mrs. Smith, A. H. Stutfield, Hugh E. M. . Telfer, E. B. Landor Thomson, Francis Thorburn, W. M. . Toynbee, Mrs. Paget Virgo, Eustace Felice Agostino _—(** Felice Agostino ’’) ; ; Wadbam-Petre, Walter Ward, Mrs. Wilfrid Weir, Preston Weston, Lieut. D. P., R.N. Williamson, C. N. Williamson, Mrs. C. N. Williamson, K. B. 35 15, Woodlands Road, Cheetham Hill, Man- chester. Ardgay House, Ardgay, Ross-shire. 12, Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh. 4, Owlstone Road,Grant- chester Street, Newn- ham, Cambridge. East Bank, Strandtown, Belfast. Clifton House, St. Ives, Cornwall. 7, Ashworth Mansions, Elgin Avenue, W. Owsden Rectory, New- market. Willowside, Oxon. 182, Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale, W. 32, Aldridge Road Villas, W. 6, Abingdon Court, Kensington, W. 21, North HowardStreet, Gt. Yarmouth. 49, St. George’s Square, S.W. Leinster House, Mort- lake. 28, Elgin Avenue, W. Goring, 29, Kidbrook Park Road, 8.E. Fiveways, Burnham, Bucks. Rome, Italy. 13, Grove End Road, N-W. Lotus, Dorking. Redland School, Fern- banke Road, Bristol. H.M.S. Albion, Chan- nel Fleet. Chalet des Pins, Cap Martin (A.M.), France. Chalet des Pins, Cap Martin (A.M.), France. Raepur, Central Pro- vinces, India. Four members elected do not desire either their names or addresses to be printed. 36 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 particulars. ) ART. RAPHAEL. By JULIA CARTWRIGHT (Mrs. ADY). 6 x 4. 223 pp. Duckworth. BIOGRAPHY. Tur LIFE AND LETTERS OF SiR JOHN EVERETT Mituals. By his son, JOHN GUILLE MILLAIS. An Abridged and Cheaper Edition in one Volume. 9 x 6. 416 pp. Methuen. 7s. 6d. n. CHARLES LAMB. By WALTER JERROLD. 112 pp. Bell. 1s. n. RECORDS AND REMINISCENCES, PERSONAL AND GENERAL. By Sir Francis C. BURNAND. Fourth and Cheaper Edition, revised. 73 x 5. 462 pp. Methuen. 6s. Str THOMAS BRowNE. By EDMUND GossE. 73 x 5. 215 pp. Macmillan. 2s, n. FINAL RECOLLECTIONS OF A DIPLOMATIST. Honourable Sir Horace RUMBOLD, BART, 6 x 4. By the Right G.C.B. ‘9 x 58. 408 pp. Arnold. 15s.n. B. R. Haypon AND His FRIENDS. By GEO. PASTON. 9 x 5%. 306 pp. Nisbet. 12s. 6d. ANDREW MARVELL. By AUGUSTINE BIRRELL. 7} x 5. 242 pp. Macmillan. 2s. n. THE LIFE OF JOHANNES BRAHMS. 2 Vols. 9 x 53. 306 and 319 pp. By FLORENCE MAY. Arnold. 21s. n. BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. THE RED RoMANCE Book. Edited by ANDREW LANG. 74 x 5. 372 pp. Longmans. 6s. Louis WAIN’S ANIMAL SHOW. With Stories in Prose and Verse. 9} x 8. J. CLARKE. Is. THE ADVENTURES OF PuncH. By Ascott R. Hope. Illustrated in colour, by S. B. DE LA BERE. 8} xX 6. 207 pp. Black. 6s. RosAMOND’s GIRLS. By M. BRAMSTON. 7$ X 5. 224 pp. S.P.C.K. 2s. BEN Pipe’s SowinG. By EMILY PEARSON FINNEMORE, 72x 5. 214 pp. S.P.C.K. 2s. A Disrricr NURSE; OR MARGARET'S BLESSING. By GERTRUDE DoUGHTY. 63 x 4%. 80pp. S. P. C. K. 6d. A TWENTY GUINEA BicycLeE. By MAry E. SHIPLEY. 62 X 43. 80 pp. 8. P.C.K. 6d. Tur Zoo. <A Scamper. By WALTER EMANUEL. 11 x 81. 50 pp. Alston Rivers. 2s. 6d. n. WoopMYTH AND FABLE. By ERNEST THOMPSON SETON. 8} x 54. Hodder & Stoughton. 5s. n. TuE Boysor BADMINSTER. ASchool Tale. By ANDREW Home. 7} x 53. 398 pp. Chambers. 5s. aE GIRLS OF ST. GABRIEL’s. Or Life at a French School. By May BALDWIN. 7} xX 5}. 296 pp. Chambers. 3s. 6d. Tue Cat. By Viouer Hunt. 8} x 6. 223 pp. Biack. 6s. A SoNOF THE SEA. ByF.T. BULLEN, F.R.G.S. 7} x 5. 355 pp. Nisbet. 6s. THE ROMANCE OF MINING. By ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS. 8 x 5. 402pp. Pearson. 5s. A Krtnq’sComRADE. AStory of Old Hereford. By C. W. WHISTLER. 392 pp. Nelson. 2s. n. ® ' BRENDLE. THE AUTHOR. THE SCHOOLBOY ABROAD. By Ascotr R. Horr. 7} x 5. 308 pp. Black. 5s. CRAB COTTAGE. By RAYMOND JACBERNS. 7} x 5}. 285 pp. Chambers. . 3s. 6d. BOOKS OF REFERENCE. THE ENGLISH DIALECT DicTionARY. Edited by J. WRIGHT, Ph. D., Professor of Comparative Philology in the University of Oxford. Parts 29—30. THE ENGLISH DIALECT GRAMMAR completing the Work. 12 x 9}. 187 pp. Frowde. 15s. n. each part. ECONOMICS. THE BRITISH TRADE YEAR Book (1905). (Covering the 25 years, 1880—1904.) By J. HoLT ScHOOLING. 10 x 6%. 335 pp. Murray. 10s. 6d. n. EDUCATIONAL. A PRIMER OF CLASSICAL AND ENGLISH PHILOLOGY. By the Rev. W. W. SKEAT. Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Cambridge. 6% x 4%. 101 pp. Oxford: Clarendon Press. London: Frowde. 28. FICTION. THe IRRATIONAL Knot. By G. BERNARD SHAW. 73 x 54. 422 pp. Constable. 6s. SPIRITUAL ADVENTURES. By ARTHUR SYMONS. 9 x 53. 314 pp. Constable. 7s. 6d. n. Tue Rep REAPER. By J. A. STEUART. 7} X 5. 452 pp. Hodder & Stoughton. 6s. Tuer MISTRESS OF THE Ropes. By S. H. BURCHELL. 73 x 5. 426 pp. Hurst & Blackett. 6s. THE ADMIRAL. The Love Story of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton. By Dovu@uas SLADEN. (Cheap Edition.) 8} x 53. 128 pp. Pearson. 6d. AyrsHA. By H. RipeER HaGG@arD. 7} x 5. 384 pp. Ward Lock. 6s. Lone Marie. By W. E. Norris, 7} X 5. 334 pp. Macmillan. 6s. THE LETTER KILLETH. By A.C. INCHBOLD. 7? xX 5}. 309 pp. Partridge. 6s. DEBORAH'S Lire. By J. BurytH. 7} X 5. 296 pp. Nash. 6s. Tur SWORD OF GIDEON. By J. BLOUNDELLE BURTON. 7% x 5. 347 pp. Cassell. 6s. A THIEF IN THE NicHt. By E. W. Hornune. 7% x 5. 334 pp. Chatto & Windus. 6s. THE BonpaGe oF Gop. By E.P.FINNEMORE. 7} x 4}. 294 pp. Digby Long. 6s. THE WATERS OF DESTRUCTION. By ALICE PERRIN. 72 x 5. 311 pp. Chatto & Windus. 6s. THE LADY NAVIGATORS. By EDWARDNOBLE. 7} x 5}. 295 pp. Brown Langham. 6s. LigutT. GuuLivar Jones. By E. LESTER ARNOLD. 7% x 54. 301 pp. Brown Langham. 6s. Wuite Fire. By JoHN OXENHAM. 7} x 5. 337 pp. Hodder & Stoughton. 6s. Bee@gar’s Luck. By NELLIE K. BuissETT. 74 x 5. 311 pp. Chapman & Hall, 6s. Dinys. An Indian Romance. By F. E. PENNY. 7} x 5. 360 pp. Chatto & Windus. 6s. Divers VANITIES. By A. MoRRISON. 7] X 5. 256 pp. Methuen. 6s. THE PILLAR OF Liaut. By Louis Tracy. 7} X 5. 320 pp. Ward Lock. _ 6s. Tue BRowN Eves or Mary. By E. Marta ALBANESI. 7% x 51. 346 pp. Methuen. 6s. THe HovuseHotp or Prrer. By Rosa N. CAREY. 72 x 53. 451 pp. Macmillan. . 6s. By MARMADUKE PICKTHALL. Te x 00, 307 pp. Methuen. 6s. THE AUTHOR. A Heart oF Stone. By GERTRUDE WARDEN. 7} x 5. 302 pp. Digby Long. 6s. BARBARA REBELL. By Mrs. BELLOC-LOWNDES. 7} X 5. 379 pp. Heinemann. 6s. Caprains ALL. By W. W. Jacops. 7} x 5. 269 pp. Hodder & Stoughton. 33. 6d. Tue INSEPARABLES. By J. BAKER. 7} X 5. 329 pp. Chapman & Hall. 6s. THE SEVEN STREAMS. By WARWICK DEEPING. 7} x 5. 375 pp. Nash. 6s. Love IN THE LISTS. 311 pp. Unwin. 6s. eo By K. L. MonTGOMERY. 73 x ra or Moscow. A Story of the French Invasion of 1812. 73 x 51. 291 pp. Longmans. 6s. 1.N.R.I. A Prisoner's Story of the Cross. By PETER RoseGGer. Translated by ELIZABETH LEE. 7} x 53. 324 pp. Hodder & Stoughton. 6s. HISTORY. A History or OuR Own Times. From the Diamond Jubilee, 1897, to the Accession of Edward VII. By JUSTIN McCarTHY. 2 Vols. 9 x 5%. 409 and 394 pp. Chatto and Windus. 24s. A History oF THE Four GEORGES AND OF WILLIAM IV. By Justin McCartuy. (The St. Martin’s Library Fine Paper Edition.) 2 Vols. 6} x 4}. 602 and 588 pp. Chatto & Windus. 2s, n. each volume. LITERARY. THE PUZZLE oF Dickens’ Last PLot. By ANDREW Lang. 73 x 5. 100 pp. Chapman & Hall. THE Gops OF PEGANA. By Lorp Dunsany. 72 x 5; 94 pp. Elkin Mathews. 5s. Tue GARDEN THAT I Love. By ALFRED AUSTIN. 9 x 63. 146 pp. Black. 7s. 6d.n. AUTHOR AND Printer. A Guide for Authors, Editors, Ke Bh Printers, Correctors of the Press, Compositors and Typists. With full list of Abbreviations. By F. Howarp Couirns. Third Thousand. (With some additions.) 7} x 5. 407 pp. Frowde. 5s. n. THe SPIRIT oF Rome. Leaves from a Diary. By VERNONTEL. 73} x 5. 205 pp. Lane. 3s. 6d. REFLECTIONS OF A HovusEHOLDER. By E. H. LACoN Watson. 72 x 54. 206pp. Brown, Langham. 3s. 6d. ENGLISH Hours. By Henry JAMES. 8} x 6, 315 pp. Heinemann. MoprerNn ENGLISH LITERATURE. By EDMUND GOSSE. New and Revised Edition. 8} x 6. 420 pp. Heine- mann. 7s. 6d. NATURAL HISTORY. Extinct ANIMALS. By E, Ray LANKESTER. 331 pp. Constable. 7s. 6d. n. THe MAMMALS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. By 9x 6; J. G. Mrnuats, F.L.S. Vol. Il. 14 x 124. 299 pp. Longmans, 61. 6s. n. NAVAL. NELSON AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. By ARNOLD WuHiItk and E. Hantam MoorHouskE. 7% x 5, 340 pp. Cassell. 5s. n. Sea LIFE IN NELSON’S TIME. 16 Illustrations. 7% x 5. 218 pp. PHILOSOPHY. An ANALYSIS OF HuMAN MOTIVE. $2 x 5}, 222 pp. Simpkin Marshall. POETRY. Tea TABLE RHYMES AND OTHERS, By LEICESTER RoMAyNeE, Author of PorTuGuESE RITA. 6% X 5. 67 pp. Brimley Johnson. 2s. 6d. n. By J. MASEFIELD. With Methuen. 3s. 6d.n. By F. CARREL. 37 VERSES, WISEOR OTHERWISE. With which is incorporated na ae VERSES,GRAVEAND GAY. By ELLEN THORNYCROFT Fowuer. 7? x 54. 202 pp. Cassell. 5s. POLITICAL. THE GREEN SPHINX. By BART KENNEDY. 7} x 5, 258 pp. Methuen. 3s. 6d. REPRINTS. THE WORKS OF JOHN RUSKIN. Library Edition. Vol. XIX. THE CESTUS OF AGLAIA AND THE QUEEN OF THE AIR. With other papers and lectures on art and literature. Edited by E. T. Cook and A. WEDDERBURN. 10 x 63. 469 pp. Allen. SPORT. Bia GAME SHOOTING. Edited by H. G. HUTCHINSON, 2 Vols. 9 X 52. 301 and 356 pp. Newnes. 25s. n. THEOLOGY. GREATHEART. Some ‘Talks with Him. By A PILGRIM. 72 x 53. 190 pp. Macmillan. 3s. n. THE GARDEN OF Nuts. By the Rev. W. ROBERTSON pee 7k x 54. 232 pp. Hodder & Stroughton. 3s. 6d. THE Historic CHRIST. By T. A. Lackey. 8 x 53. 158 pp. Longmans. 3s. 6d. n. TOPOGRAPHY. XFORD. By ANDREW LANG. New Edition, with 50 Illustrations. 8 x 53. 286 pp. Seeley. 6s. TRAVEL. Back To SuNNY SEAS. By F. T. BULLEN. 7} x 5}. 287 pp. Smith, Elder. 6s. OLD PROVENCE. By T. A. COOK. 348 and 445 pp. Rivington. 16s. Ty VoIcE OF THE SouTH. By GILBERT WATSON. 9 x 54. 324 pp. Hurst & Blackett. 10s. 6d. VILLAGE, TOWN, AND JUNGLE Lire IN InpiA. By A. C. NEWcoMBE. 417 pp. Blackwood. 12s. 6d. n. A YANKEKIN PigMy LAND. By W.E. Geri. With 125 Illustrations. 84 x 54. 409 pp. Hodder & Stoughton. 6s. THE WorLD or To-pAy. By A. R. Hope MONCRIEFF. Vol. III. 280 pp. The Gresham Publishing Co. 2 Vols. 7% x 5. ——————_.—>—_-___—_ LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL NOTES. ——_ + N “Final Recollections of a Diplomatist,” Sir Horace Rumbold describes his life as British Minister to Greece and the Netherlands, and as Ambassador to Austria. Messrs. Longmans & Co. are about to publish a series of essays and addresses by Sir Lewis Morris, under the title of “ The New Rambler.” “Moscow,” Mr. Fred Whishaw’s new story, dealing with the French Invasion of Russia in 1812, has also been published by the same firm. Miss Nellie K. Blissett’s novel, “Beggar's 388 Luck,” which Messrs. Chapman and Hall pub- lished in September, is a romance of the days of Mazarin, who plays a slight but important part in the development of the plot. “ Occasional Papers” isa monthly journal which originated in the earlier half of last year. Its birth- place was Bournemouth, but its issue has now been transferred to Oxford, where its present editor strives to continue its aims—to elevate and to create. Mr. Augustine Birrell’s new book, ‘In the Name of the Bodleian and other Essays,” published by Mr. Elliot Stock, contains an appreciation of Locker Lampson, entitled “A Connoisseur,” in which some personal details of the eminent collector’s life and pursuits are given. Messrs. Hutchinson & Co.’s autumn list contains some interesting announcements relating to works by members of the society. In the realm of fiction they are publishing stories by ‘Lucas Malet,” Mr. H. Rider Haggard, and Mrs. Baillie Reynolds. “ Lucas Malet’s” novel, which they will publish early in 1906, deals with the acts and opinions of a man of foreign birth, who after many years of office work finds himself possessed of leisure and a moderate fortune. The scene of the story is laid exclusively in London and the western suburbs. Mr. Haggard’s work, which will be published in March next, traces the history of a man who, having by nature the best instincts, on the occasion of a tragic event, vows that he will renounce his habits of life and endeavour to live a life of duty, from which resolution he never swerves. Mrs. Baillie Reynolds’ novel, the title of which is “The Man who Won,” is a story the scene of which is laid partly in Africa before the late war, and partly in England. It contains a strong love interest. Turning from fiction we note that Messrs. Hutchinson are publishing Mr. R. H. Sherard’s volume of “Reminiscences of Literary Life,” “Twenty Years in Paris.” Among the celebrities of whom Mr. Sherard has personal memories are Victor Hugo, Ferdinand de Lesseps, General Boulanger, Baron Haussmann, Jules Verne, Renan, Daudet, Ernest Dowson and Zola. Apart from the per- ' sonalia the volume contains a running commen- tary, with anecdotes, on recent French History. The same firm has also issued Mr. Douglas Sladen’s new volume on “Tunis and Carthage,” in which the life of one of the great ancient capitals of Africa and its modern successor, Tunis, the most oriental of North African towns is described ; ‘ Nature’s Nursery,” by H. W. Shep- heard Walwyn, which although intended for old and young, appeals more particularly to the latter; “Beauty Through Hygiene,” by Emma E. Walker, M.D., edited by Arabella Kenealy, in which is THE AUTHOR. advocated the building of tissues, the control of nerves, and the symmetrical development of the body through the agency of intelligent hygiene. “Tongues of Gessip,” by Miss A. Curtis Sher- wood, published recently by Mr. Fisher Unwin, is a novel which deals with life in a country town and contains much thoughtful discussion on religion, art and kindred subjects. “A District Nurse,” by Gertrude Doughty, published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, is a simple story for children. In collaboration with Mr. Alfred E. T. Watson, Mr. Frank Savile is bringing out a new novel entitled “ Fate’s Intruder,” which will be illus- trated by Mr. Rene Bull, and published by Mr. Heinemann. The same writers have also con- tributed to the Badminton Magazine a series of stories entitled ‘‘ Strange Stories of Sport.” It is not often one comes across a fine example of Russian printing, especially in the way of an_ illustrated work. There is something just as rare in a finely produced Russian translation of an English book. This exceptional compliment has been paid to Miss Bessie Hatton’s ‘‘ The Village of Youth,” which is dedicated to the young English authoress by Madame Milorodovitch, wife of his Excellency the Governor of Poltalva. It is published in quarto size, and illustrated by Russian black and white artists. Madame Milorodovitch sends an edition de luae to Miss Hatton with a message of “affectionate appreciation from her unknown Russian admirers.” Mr. H. G. Wells’ new novel “ Kipps,” pub- lished by Macmillan & Co., depicts a typical member of the English lower class in all its pitiful limitation and feebleness, and beneath a treatment deliberately kindly and genial there lurks a sustained criticism of the ideals and ways of life of the great mass of middle-class English people. Derek Vane’s story, “ Crooked Ways,” which has recently appeared as a serial in the Daily Mail, is about to be translated into German. ‘The same author has just written a series of short stories, entitled “In a Strange World,” for the Northern Newspaper Syndicate, and is now engaged on a novel, which will be published first serially. ‘Author and Printer,’”’ by Howard Collins, which we reviewed in the May issue of The Author, has, we are glad to say, run into a second edition. The work is bound to be of interest to all those who desire a standard guide for spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, the use of italic type, etc., and whilst it may not be possible to agree with Mr. Collins in all his deductions, yet few will deny the soundness of the principle upon which the book has been written. Mr. Collins’ book has the approval of the Master Printers’ and Allied Trades Association of London, the Edinburgh Master Printers’ Association, the Belfast Printing Trades Employers’ Association, and the Executive Committee of the London Association of Correctors of the Press. In “The Secret of the Totem,” published by Longmans, Green & Oo., Mr. Andrew Lang attempts to establish the origin and_ trace the evolution of Totemism in Primitive Society. A second edition of Miss Rose Harrison’s book “The Padre” will shortly be published under the title of “ Dulce.” The same writer is also publishing in the Hand and Heart Magazine, under the title of “Qhildren of the New Century, or Physiology Made Easy,” twelve readings on scientific temper- ance instruction. The Church of England Tem- perance Society will publish the readings in book form after their serial publication. Mr. Heinemann is about to publish a uniform library edition of Ibsen’s works, mostly translated by Mr. William Archer. Miss Florence May has written a life of Brahms, which Mr. Arnold has published in two volumes. Her qualification for the task consists in her acquaintance with Brahms, begun when she was a young student of the piano. The materials for the life have been gathered almost entirely at first hand in several Continental journeys. Mr. Angus Hamilton’s new book, which Mr. Heinemann will publish, is an exhaustive account of the conditions of Afghanistan, and its relations with Russia and India. It contains sketches of the domestic life of the Ameer, and a description of the Oxus, its fords, trade, and the strategic value of the roads which approach it. The book, in addition to containing a map, is illustrated. “The Red Reaper” is the title of Mr. J. A. Stenart’s new novel, published by Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton. The opening of the story shows the Marquis of Montrose as a Royalist, and narrates how he proceeds to raise the clans. Many of the families involved in the struggle between King and Covenant are introduced. “The Souvenir of the Crabbe Celebration,” neatly arranged and illustrated, is on sale at Messrs. Sotheran and Co.’s house in Piccadilly, at the price of 2s. 6d. Those interested in Crabbe and his work unable to attend the meeting at Aldeburgh will, no doubt, be glad to purchase the Souvenir, the sale of which, it is hoped, will cover some of the expenses incurred. Mr. Heinemann published about the middle of last month a new novel, by Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, entitled “ Barbara Rebell.” The scene of “A Man from the Shires,” by Isabelle Taylor, published by Messrs. Gay and Bird, towards the end of last month, is laid in Haslemere, Surrey. THE AUTHOR. 39 A German translation of “The Viking Path: a Tale of the White Christ,’ by J. J. Haldane Burgess, M.A. (Wm. Blackwood and Sons), has just been published by E. Pierson’s Verlag, Dresden. The translation is from the pen of Mr. Hermann Besser Neustadt (Orla). The Rev. Geo. St. Clair proposes to publish at some future date, a work entitled “The Secret of Genesis.” The conclusion which the author has come to in connection with this subject is that the narrative, from Paradise to the building of Babel, is a genuine ancient record and connected story, corresponding to the history embedded in the legends of Egypt and Babylonia. Mr. Charles Garvice’s new six shilling novel “The Tyrant” was published by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. on October 1st. The same publishers announce a new and cheap edition of his novel, “ Love Decides,” which they will issue in their 3s. 6d. series. Messrs. Geo. Newnes are publishing this month a sixpenny edition (illustrated) of Mr. Garvice’s novel, “ Just a Girl.” Mr. Garvice is at present in Scotland on a lecturing tour. ‘‘ Humorists, Grave and Gay” is the title he has chosen for what is really a series of dramatic readings rather than a lecture, interspersed with short biographical sketches of the various authors, with more or less critical notes on their works. Mr. Lance Thackeray has just issued a set of coloured drawings entitled ‘The Catch of the Season.” The four pictures tell a love story, arising out of the careless casting of a fly by the angler-hero. The set is published by Messrs. Landeker and Brown, of Worship Street, E.C. ‘Studies from Court and Cloister” is the title given to a work by Miss J. M. Stone, which Messrs. Sands & Co. will publish at the price of 12s. 6d. net. The volume is a collection of essays, historical and literary, dealing mainly with subjects relating to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It contains eight fuli-page illustrations. Raymond Jacbern’s new books for girls this season are “Crab Cottage,” published by Messrs. Chambers at 3s. 6d., and “How Things Went Wrong,” published by Gardner, Darton & Co. at the price of 1s. 6d. “Queer Things about Sicily,’ by Douglas Sladen and Norma Lorimer, which Messrs. Anthony Treherne & Co. published last month, is a work describing how Sicily appears to the ordinary traveller. It is fully illustrated. “ Quacks,” “The Miseries of the Sick Poor,” and “ The Poverty of our Great Hospitals,” are a few of the subjects dealt with by Dr. 8. Squire Sprigge in his new book, ‘“ Medicine and the Public,” which was published in the middle of October by Mr. Wm. Heinemann. 40 Mr. Walter Del Mar has completed his book of travel in the Great Dependency. It is to be called “India of To-day,” and is the record of a tour undertaken during the winter of 1904-5. The author is of opinion that most of the noteworthy monuments and scenes in India can be visited in the four months from the middle of November to the middle of March. “His Natural Bent,” a new novel by Miss C. C. Andrews (“Carl Swerdna”), will com- mence in the Yamily Herald on the 4th of this month. The Oxford Press have lately published ‘‘ The Primer of Classical and English Philology,” by Professor Skeat. The object of this small book is to exhibit some of the more elementary principles of modern philology as applied to the etymology of Greek, Latin, and English words. Some account of the proper pronunciation of Latin and Greek is given in the first chapter. Mr. Arthur Dillon is preparing to follow ‘“ The Greek Kalends” with a chronicle play in three parts, entitled “ King William I., the Conqueror,” the title of ‘‘ William the Conqueror,” originally chosen, being forestalled. Messrs. Adam and Charles Black announce for publication in December of this year Mr. Eustace Reynolds Ball’s new ‘Guide to Rome and its Environs.” The work, which contains eight illustrations in three colours by Alberto Pisa, in addition to plans and maps, is divided into six parts. Part I. contains preliminary information regarding routes, hotels, etc.; Part II. deals with ancient Rome; Part III., with medizval and renaissance Rome; Part IV., modern Rome; Part V., excursions; the concluding part deals with the climate, and contains practical hints for sightseers. The book is published at the price of 2s. 6d. “The British Trade Year Book,” by John Holt Schooling, has just been published, at the price of 10s. 6d. net, by Mr. John Murray. Mr. Schooling’s method is to show the average yearly results during each successive decade. He claims that by this method the confusing fluctuations of single years are all merged in the average results obtained, and in place of a series of involved and often misleading yearly figures, such as are seen in the official Blue Books, a series of con- densed average results may be obtained. Dia- grams are also used, in order that the reader may grasp the general drift of the facts and the inferences to be drawn from them. “Rhymes and Rondeaux,” by J. E. B. and J. W. M,, published by A. OC. Glynn Grylls, 27, Chancery Lane, W.C., is a collection of light verse on various subjects, such as “ Taxation of Land Values,” ‘ Reviewers,” “The Encyclopedia THE AUTHOR. Britannica,” etc., ete. of 1s. net. Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. announce the publication of a limited edition—1,025 copies—of Mr. J. G. Millais’ (F.Z.S.) work on “The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland,” in three volumes, price £6 6s. net. Vol. II. was issued last month. The concluding volume will be ready in 1906. The same publishers have in the press Mr. W. H. Wilkins’ new work, “Mrs. Fitzherbert and George IV.,” which, with numerous portraits and other illustrations, will be published at the price of 32s. Mrs. Inchbold’s third novel, “The Letter Killeth,” published recently by Messrs. 8. W. Partridge & Co., is a romance of the Sussex Downs at the beginning of the last century, dealing with a revivalist movement, similar to that which is still stirring Wales, at a time when the Napoleonic scare was strong on the south coast. “The Food Factor in Disease,” by Dr. F. E. Hare, is an investigation into the humoral causation, meaning, mechanism, and rational treatment, pre- ventive and curative, of the paroxysmal neuroses (migraine, asthma, angina pectoris, epilepsy, etc.), bilious attacks, gout, catarrhal and other affections, high blood pressure, circulatory, renal, and other degenerations. Messrs. Longmans & Oo. are the publishers. We understand that Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to accept a copy of the Rev. J. J. Gratrex’s ‘Regal Calendar,’ which provides a record for all years, past, present, and future, from January Ist, aD. 1. Copies of the production may be obtained from Mr. Gratrex, Brandiscorner, 8.0., Devon, England, at the price of 1s. each. In “Nelson and East Anglia” Mr. Harold Simpson (H. Simpson Ladell) has compressed into a comparatively small space a mass of information relating to the life and career of Lord Nelson. The work, suitably illustrated, is published by the Last Anglian Daily Times at the price of 6d. “Purple and Fine Linen,”’ by Madame Albanesi, which appeared serially in the Daily Chronicle, will be published in book form by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett in the spring of 1906. Miss Beatrice Harraden has produced, through Messrs. Methuen & Co., a new six shilling edition of her book “In Varying Moods.” Miss Harraden has also arranged for the inclusion of the work in Messrs. Newnes’ sixpenny library. Mr. J. G. Godard’s book, “ Racial Supremacy,”’ published by Mr. Geo. Morton in Edinburgh, and by Messrs. Simpkin Marshall & Co., in London, contains six chapters dealing with various aspects of the question of Imperialism. Mr. Richard Marsh’s last story, ‘‘The Marquis of Putney,” which Messrs. Methuen & Co. have It is published at the price THE AUTHOR. published, tells how an infant heir to a dukedom was stolen—at high noon—from his perambulator in Hyde Park, Among the art publications announced by Messrs. Cassell & Co. is a new treatise by the Hon. John Collier, entitled “The Art of Portrait Painting.” The work is illustrated by reproduc- tions of some of the best portraits the world possesses. Messrs. Macmillan & Co. have issued Mr. Rolf Boldrewood’s new book, which tells of the final do-or-die venture of a gold-seeker in the days of Australian mining. The title of the book is “ The Last Chance.” Mr. Fisher Unwin announces for early publica- tion a book by Mr. T. H. 8. Escott, the title of which is “Society in a Country House.” The writer’s object has been, by personal instances and illustrative anecdotes, to reflect the country house life of English society in its connection with national movements. The same publishers are also issuing a new edition—the fourth—of Sir F. OC. Burnand’s «‘ Records and Reminiscences.” The price of the new issue is 6s. Messrs. A. and C. Black have issued an edition, illustrated with colour pictures, of the Poet Laureate’s prose-book “The Garden that I Love.” The subject of the book is the Laureate’s own garden in Kent, of which Mr. George S. Elgood has made paintings. The scene of Mr. Bloundelle-Burton’s new romance of the great Protestant struggle in Europe, is laid chiefly at Liege at the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, and has to do with the journey of a young Englishman to that city to rescue the ward of an English peer. Mr. Theodore Watts Dunton’s new _ novel “Carniola”’ will be published during the autumn in England and America by Messrs. Harpers. The story is laid partly in England, partly in Venice, and partly in Hungary. In “The Life of Kate Greenaway,” by M. H. Spielmann and 8. Layard, which will shortly be published by Messrs. A. and C. Black, the history of Kate Greenaway’s long friendship with Ruskin is told and their correspondence printed, including some fifty of Ruskin’s letters hitherto unpub- lished. Many of the accompanying illustrations by Kate Greenaway have also been reproduced for the first time. Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. will publish a book of literary recollections by Miss Laura Hain Friswell. It is entitled “(In the Sixties and Seventies: Impressions of Literary People and Others.” The personalities referred to include Gladstone, Disraeli, Dickens, Du Maurier, Kingsley, Trollope, Artemus Ward, etc., etc. 41 Messrs. Methuen & Co. have published a new story by Dorothea Gerrard, entitled “The Improbable Idyll,” which deals with the adventures of a cockney family in Eastern Europe, and, opening as a comedy, gradually deepens to a drama, in which the elementary human passions come to their full due. A novel by Harold Wintle will be published by Mr. John Lane early this month, under the title of “The Cleansing of the Lords.” “The Adventures of Punch” is the title of a new book by Ascott R. Hope. The work deals with the youth of a celebrated foreigner before he came to marry and set up in business so far from his birthplace. His early life has, of course, been treated by Dumas and other Continental authors ; but the present history is based upon the most authentic material, the hero’s own tale of his singular adventures being here told for the first time. The narrative of his pitiful struggles may be looked on as a companion volume to Dr. Smiles’ “ Self-Help”; while the illustrations in colour by Stephen Bagot De La Bere follow tradition in giving the volume a distinctly comic character. Messrs. A. and C. Black will publish the book. “ What Foods Feed Us?” by Eustace Miles, is published by Messrs. George Newnes at the price of 1s. net. One of the main features of the work is a chart which indicates in a simple form the properties of the various foods in common use. he work should appeal to those interested in the question of physical deterioration. “The Return of the Prodigal,” by St. John Hankin, was produced at the Court Theatre on the afternoon of September 26th. The reception with which he is greeted by the rest of his family on his return, after an absence of five years in Australia, proves that Mr. Hankin’s prodigal is looked upon rather as a burden than a blessing, and the problem which the dramatist sets himself to solve is the best means of dealing with the “ ne’er-do-well” on his return. The caste include Mr. A. E. Matthews, Miss Florence Haydon, Miss Amy Lamborn, and Mr. Dennis Eadie. “The Conqueror,” by her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland, produced at the Scala Theatre on the evening of September 23rd under the pseudonym of “R. E. Fyffe,” narrates the story of a baron who falls in love with the daughter of one of his foes. He sends her to a castle promising to marry her on his return after a lapse of eighteen years, but suspects that she has fallen in love with a wandering knight whom she mistakes for himsclf. The final scene of the play indicates the self sacri- fice of “‘ The Conqueror ” in his surrender of the girl to her lover. Mr. Forbes Robertson, as ‘“ The 49, Conqueror,” and Miss Gertrude Elliott take the leading parts. “Public Opinion,” by R. C. Carton, was pro- duced at Wyndham’s Theatre on the evening of October 10th. It narrates the methods adopted by some half-dozen indiscreet gentlemen to regain possession of some compromising letters which they had addressed to a lady, who contemplates bringing a breach of promise suit against one of her admirers. The caste included Mr. Frederick Kerr, Miss Annie Hughes, and Miss Compton. Mr. John Davidson’s play in four acts, entitled “The Crown,” founded on Francis Coppee’s “ Pour Ja Couronne,” was produced at the Scala Theatre on the evening of October 11th. Included in the caste were Mr. J. Forbes Robertson and Miss Gertrude Elliott. “The Perfect Lover,” Mr. Alfred Sutro’s new comedy, was produced at the Imperial Theatre on October 14th. The play deals with the temptation and subsequent penance of a journalist. He is offered £5,000 if he succeeds in getting his brother’s wife to induce a former lover of hers to sell his estate. This is his temptation, and he yields to it. The result and his penance are dealt with in the remainder of the play with much skill and wit. The caste includes Mr. Lewis Waller, Miss Evelyn Millard, and Mr. Frank Mills. +—<>—-2 PARIS NOTES. > “"T ’AVENIR de I’Intelligence,” by M. Charles 4. Maurras, is a book which seems to have been written at the right moment. The author compares the influence and position of literary men of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. ‘La situation morale,” he says, “du lettré frangais en 1905 n’est plus du tout ce qu’elle était en 1850... . Les hautes classes, de beaucoup moins fermées qu’elles ne étaient autrefois, beaucoup moins difficiles A tous les égards, ouvertes notamment & l’ayenturier et a Y enrichi se montrent froides envers la supériorité de l’esprit.”. M. Maurras shows the dangers for the future which must ivevitably result from the exaggerated worship of gold. The second part of the book is devoted to a study of Auguste Comte and to a series of brilliant but severe criticisms of a group of women novelists, including Madame de Regnier, the Comtesse de Noailles and Renée Vivien, and a study of woman’s influence and power illus- trated by the life of the celebrated Aimée de Coigny, surnamed “ Mademoiselle Monk.” THE AUTHOR. “Les Gaites de Année” is an amusing book by M. Georges Rocher. In the preface the author tells us: “ J’ai regardé la vie qui passait et, sans me fixer le but d’ enseigner ou d’amuser, j’ai noté simplement les mille riens qui ont deéfilé devant mes yeux curieux.” It is the diary of a man who sees the humour of things in every-day life. He begins with the month of January, and touches on the social and political events of the year, not forgetting to mention also his own domestic affairs, He takes all things philosophically, is frequently | ironical, but never bitter or sarcastic. At a time when conscription has been proposed for England it is interesting to read the volume recently published in French, entitled “Le 71¢ Trainglaux,” by M. de Beaurepaire-Froment. It is a study of military habits and customs. The motto of the book is Napoleon’s celebrated phrase, “ L’Idée a toujours vaincu le Sabre.” Throughout the whole volume—a book of nearly six hundred pages—the author’s object is to prove the demoralising influence of obligatory military service. In one of the last chapters, entitled ‘‘ Le Chancre Militaire,” we are told that the army “ déracine les paysans, leur fait adopter les mauvais cotés de lexistence des villes. . . . Quand ils retournent chez eux, ils y apportent et répandent la corruption morale et sensuelle, le mauvais esprit grotesque, mais dangereux et néfaste, de Yyhomme qui sait quelque peu et ne sait pas assez.” “Monsieur Marcel,” by Marie Thiéry, has obtained a prize in the literary competition organised by the journal La Presse. “La Vie nuancée” is the title of an exquisite volume of poems by Madame Goyau Felix-Faure. “Sur le tard,” a volume of short stories, by M. A. Barratin. One of the latest books published in the ‘ Bibliothéque Sociologique” is “La Physiologie Morale,” by G. Chatterton Hill. Among other recent books, “ L’impossible Sincerité,” by H. de Zuylen de Nyeveldt ; ‘‘Gloriette,” by M. Richard O’Monroy; “La Roche aux fées,” by M. Th. de Grave ; “La Belle et la Béte,” by Louis Ulbach ; “ La Conquérante,” by Georges Olnet ; “Combats,” by Paul Adam ; “Femme d’officier,” by Pierre Maél ; “ Schumann,” by M.M. Schneider and Mareschal; “ Willy and Colette,” by Jean de la Hire; “ Les Bateleurs,” by Count Paul d’Abbes ; “ La Seconde Faute,” by M. Henri d’Hennezel; “Le Courandier,” by M. Hugues Lapaire ; “'lheatre,” by Jean Rouxel, a volume containing three plays ; “ Peut-étre,” a novel by M. Albert Emile Sorel ; “ Le roman d’un vieux garcon,” by M. Jean Thiéry; “La Vie belge,” by Camille Lemonnier. Among the latest translations from the English are the following: “Le Crime de Lord Arthur THE AUTHOR. 43 Savile,” by Oscar Wilde, translated by Albert Savine ; “De Profundis,” by Oscar Wilde: “ Le Mort vivant,” by Stevenson; “Les Visites d’ Elisabeth,” translated by Arnelle ; “ Enlevé,” by R. L. Stevenson, translated by Albert Savine ; « Podmes et Poésies,” by E. B. Browning, trans- lated by Albert Savine. This is a translation in prose of the works of our poetess. In a recent number of the Revue des Deux Mondes Th. Bentzon writes an excellent article on the works of several English novelists. The books selected are “No. 5, John Street,” “ The Yellow Van,” and “Penal Servitude,” and the author of this article shows what good service the writers of these volumes have done for sociology. In the Revue de Paris M. Le Dantec upholds the theory of the possibility of spontaneous generation. In the Grande Revue Gabriel Ferry writes an interesting article on “ Un projet de fortune de Balzac.” In the Revue générale des Sciences there is an article by Sir William Ramsay discussing the discoveries of John Butler Burke. In the ZLrmitage Arthur Symons writes on Aubrey Beardsley. M. Henry Bordeaux writes in Le Correspondant, of October 11th, an article on ‘‘ Le Roman auto- biographique,” and Mare Hélys an admirable study of “Le Féminisme suédois” (ses caracteres et son éyolution). At the Comédie Frangaise ‘‘ Don Quichotte,” by Jean Richepin, has been produced. It is a drama in verse in three parts and eight scenes. Among the new plays announced at the Odéon for the forthcoming season are: “L’Eleéve,” by M. Georges de Porto Riche ; “ Une Fantaisie,” by M.M. Albert Guinon and Bonchinet ; “ Au temps de Amour,” by M. Jules Case; “ Jeunesse,” by M. André Picard; and “Hors du Mariage,” by Mme. Daniel Lesueur. The Gymnase is to produce a play by M. Bern- stein, entitled “ Les Variétés.” “ Voila le bonheur, Mesdames !” by M. Francis de Croisset, is to be given at Les Variétés, and “La Courtisane,” by M. Arnyvelde, at the Comédie Francaise. ALys HALLARD. —————— A MODEL COPYRIGHT LAW. —$ 9 —— T the International Exhibition at Paris in 1900 a Copyright Congress was held, com- posed of many of the chief copyright authorities in Europe and the United States. After considerable labour the text of a model copy- right law was agreed to. Through the kindness of Mr. Thorvald Solberg, the Registrar of Copyrights of the United States, who made a translation of this law, we have much pleasure in printing this translation, without, how- ever, expressing any opinion on the merits of the scheme, as it stands, though the principle of uniformity is no doubt excellent. Anything in the shape of a law satisfactory to all nations will only be obtained at the millennium. RESOLUTIONS VOTED BY THE PARIS COPYRIGHT CoNnGRESS. Project for a Type Law of Copyright. Arricue I. The author of a work of the intelli- gence has the exclusive right to publish it, and to reproduce it by any process, in any form, or for any purpose whatever. All manifestations of thought, written or spoken, dramatic, musical, and chorographic productions, and all works of graphic and plastic art, indepen- dent of their merit, their use, or their purpose, are also likewise protected, as well as works which have appeared in newspapers and periodicals. Official acts of public authorities and judicial decisions can not become the object of a private right. Art. II. The exercise of the author’s right is not subordinated to the accomplishment of any con- ditions or formalities. Art. III. The exclusive right provided for by Article I continues during eighty years after the death of the author, for benefit of his heirs or assigns. Art. 1V. Theright in case of anonymous works has a duration of eighty years from the date ofthe first authorised publication of the work. It is exercised by the publisher so long as the actual author is not known. If the author makes himself known before the expiration of this period, the term of the protection continues during the life of the author and eighty years after his death. Works which appear under the name of an incorporated body are considered anonymous works. Art. V. Collaborators have equal rights in a joint work, unless there are stipulations to the contrary. The rights of the assigns of a deceased collaborator continue until the expiration of the term of eighty years after the death of the last surviving collaborator. In the absence of assigns of a collaborator his 44 share accrues to the other collaborators or their heirs. Art. VI. Whoever edits a posthumous work of which he has the right to dispose enjoys the right of reproduction during eighty years, to date from such first publication. Works are considered as posthumous which during the lifetime of the author have not received, with his consent, such normal publicity as comports with their character. Art. VII. All reproduction, integral or partial, made without the consent of the author or his assigns is illegal. The same is the case as regards translation, representation, and public performance. Reproductions are equally illegitimate which contain abridgments, additions, and alterations ; such as adaptations, transformations of dramatic works into novels, and of novels into plays; arrangements of music, reproductions by another art, and illustration of a work. The same is true of the reproductions of musical compositions by mechanical instruments. Art. VIII. An author once his book is published cannot prohibit an analysis of or short citations from his work, made for the purpose of criticism, discussion, or education, when the author’s name and the source of the citation is indicated. Discourses pronounced in official assemblies or in public réunions may be reproduced for the ' purpose of instruction or discussion. Art. IX. The right of reproduction is indepen- dent of the right of property in the material object (manuscript or original). The cession of the material object does not involve, by. itself, the cession of the right of reproduction and vice versa. The cession of the rights appertaining to the author (the right to publish, to represent; to perform, to translate, to illustrate, etc.) must always be restrictively construed. Art. X. The author of every work of the intelli- gence has the right to make known his authorship and to proceed in court against anyone who attributes to himself such authorship. The author who has ceded the right of repro- duction conserves the right to prosecute reprinters, to oversee the reproduction of his work, and to oppose all modifications made without his consent. The author who has ceded the material object constituting his work has the right to oppose all public exhibition of his production if it has been modified without his consent. Art. XI. After the death of the author, in default of a special representative designated by him, his heirs can compel respect of the rights provided for in Article X. Art. XII. No modification must be made in a THE AUTHOR. work, even by the heirs or assigns of the author, unless such changes are brought in an obvious way to the attention of the public. ArT. XIII. All interference with the rights of the author, as they are defined in the present proposed type law, constitutes cause for an action for damages, and if the infringement had been knowingly committed it constitutes cause for a penal action. Art. XIV. It is the same in the case of the usurpation of the name of the author or any fraudulent imitation of his signature or of any distinctive mark, monogram, or other sign adopted by him. Art. XY. The author or his assigns can require the representatives of the judicial authority to replevin the objects inferred to have been used in an infringement, all plates, molds, or matrices and other utensils which have served or are intended to be used specially in the making of the said infringing objects. In the case of a representation or performance the authors can proceed in the same manner to seize the total receipts. The publisher or manager of a performance must produce the previous consent in writing of the author or his assignee. The confiscation of the piratical articles, as well as of the plates, molds, or matrices, and the other utensils which have served or were destined to be used specially in the making of the said subjects, shall be for the benefit of the author or his assigns. In the case of illicit performance or representa- tion the receipts seized shall be allowed the complainant. Art. XVI. The law applies to all authors whatever their nationality, and in whatever place work has appeared for the first time. oo THE TRIUMPH OF “THE HALLS.” ——< O the October number of Zhe Author Mr. Harold Hardy contributed a most interesting and well-reasoned paper on the question whether stage-plays should be permitted or pro- hibited at music-halls. Like most writers who are not prejudiced by having interests or invest- ments in theatre-land, he is in fayour of free trade ; and he goes so far as to remark that from the conduct of the theatre proprietors it would appear as if they thought the Theatres Act of 1848 was intended to preserve the privileges of those who run theatres from the increasing competition THER AUTHOR. of the music-halls. There is no doubt this is the attitude of all of them, and, perhaps, the belief of a few. Certainly it is not a love of abstract justice that induces them to act as common informers. Recently a rumour ran through the land that an American trust was in course of formation, having for its object the purchase of English provincial theatres. A well-known proprietor of one such property, on hearing the news, remarked, «“ Well, I hope they will bring their audiences with them, for they will find none here.” It is more than likely that such a syndicate would find the way made very smooth in the majority of cases when it desired to purchase theatres: the trouble would come when it entered into possession. Not very long ago provincial and surburban theatres were gold-mines. | Now it is not too much to say that their struggle for existence has become very arduous. On all sides one hears of the cutting down of salaries, of the reduction of staffs, of the most drastic retrenchments. Ask the manager of the touring companies that visit these theatres the cause of the bad business, and he will attribute it to the parsimony of the resident manager. Ask the latter the same question, and he will tell you he cannot get good companies with attractive pieces. There is something in this complaint. Tt may, in part, be traced to the high prices demanded for the provincial rights of popular plays. I know of a great London success by an established author that after touring for three months returned its manager as net profit the sum of thirty shillings! The real reason, however, is neither of those put forward ; it is that people do not go to the theatre as they did ! As in the provinces and suburbs, so in the West-end. The cry of the metropolitan managers is the same, and the cause is identical. A great popular success will draw all London. Mr. Bouchier claims that already over a quarter-of-a- million people have attended performances of Mr. Sutro’s play, “The Walls of Jericho.” But it is not easy to multiply instances. The average play now rarely produces a substantial profit. But people require amusement, and if they do not go to the theatres where do they go? The answer is not far to seek : they go to the music-halls. One thing alone shows this. The great majority of theatres close during the summer; without exception the halls remain open. The fact of the matter is that the music-hall has arrived, and it has come to stay. When the stage was scorned no words were severe enough with which to condemn the halls ; but now that the stage and the dramatic profession bask in the sunshine of popular favour, the halls are coming into their own. It must be admitted that the latter have been 45 vastly improved from every point of view. Take first the question of material comfort—and how important this is music-hall managers see very clearly. Smoking of course has always been per- mitted, and that is a great attraction to those business folk who cannot indulge in this habit during the day. Then, the newer halls are mag- nificent buildings, the seats are more comfortable, especially in the cheaper parts of the house ; and in many cases the buildings are cooler in summer and better heated in winter. The expense of going to a hall is much lower. An all-round average, outside London, is a fifty-per-cent. reduction. There is usually no charge for the cloak-room, and the cost of a programme is one penny. ‘These advantages attract many theatre-goers. In the vital matter of the entertainment the old order has changed and given place unto new. The lion comique is as extinct as the dodo or the premier danseur. The serio has gone who depended for her success on the double meaning of the words of her song. There is still in our midst one such, a very notable exception, but to her for her very great talents much may be pardoned. The order of the day is towards refinement. A great syndi- cate issues to every artist it employs a notice that for the halls it directs all vulgarity in word and business must be eliminated. When this printed form reached a friend of mine, a fastidious author who would rather go unsung to a pauper’s grave than write a vulgar line—he had written a sketch for “the halls”—he narrowly escaped apoplexy. “Well, of all the infernal impudence,” he began, and then words failed him. But there is no doubt the warning was required in many quarters, and it has done and will do good Mr. Oswold Stoll directs ‘this great syndicate, which controls some thirty halls in London and tbe provinces, and he has set himself the task of capturing theatrical audiences. ‘How well he has suc- ceeded most managers of theatres will admit with lugubrious mien. They might, however, content themselves by reflecting that, to a certain extent, he has achieved this purpose by enlisting the assistance of the theatres. He has secured the services of several well-known business managers and stage managers who “ in another place ” have studied what the public wants. Knowing this, it is their endeavour to give it something just a little better. So, slowly, it is true, but very surely, the tone of the entertainments at the best halls is being raised, and audiences who at first were resentful of the change have come to appreciate it. But it is not only his administrative staff that Mr. Stoll draws from the theatre. At his variety theatres he selects a large proportion of his artists from the “legitimate” stage. In one bill he pre- sents Mesdames Jessie Huddlestone, Mabel Love, 46 Queenie Leighton, and Mrs. Brown-Potter ; and Messrs. Lempriére Pringle, Edward Lewis, Courtice Pounds, Gilbert Hare, and Rutland Barrington. Five years ago what music-hall manager would have ventured to approach these artists? Five years ago what offer would have tempted any of these artists to desert even for a few weeks the “legitimate” stage? But Mr. Stoll is going still further, and is securing the dramatists also. Sketches by Mr. Charles Brookfield and Mr. Cecil Raleigh are the thin end of the wedge. Where these go, others are willing to follow. The newspapers as well as the public have realised the change that is taking place. Once they deemed “the halls” beneath their notice. Now their critics are regular attendants, and as time goes on the notices of new scenas and sketches become longer and more carefully critical. Even to-day with all these improvements “ the halls ” are still in an active state of evolution. What place they will eventually occupy in the world of amusement is dangerous to prophesy, but foolish to ignore. Lewis MELVILLE. Or AGENTS. a HE contracts which exist between publishers and authors, and agents and authors, are a constant theme for articles in this paper. In some of them it has been pointed out that although the author approaches the publisher as a business man, and therefore places him somewhat at arm’s length, taking a certain amount of care as to the settlement of the contract, yet he approaches an agent from an entirely different standpoint. The association between the author and the agent is much more close and intimate, for the author generally looks upon the agent as his confidential adviser. If this is so, and in many circumstances the agent should stand in this position, authors should be more careful of those to whom they entrust their work—the future arrangements and the terms of their contracts—than in the other case, and, vice versd, the agent, as he holds such a confidential position, should take care to be more open, and make a point of being more candid in every transaction and in every dealing which he carries through on behalf of the author. In the April (1904) number of this magazine, an exhaustive article was written on the subject of agents. Since that date other articles have been written dealing with different points arising out of the connection between the agent and the author. THE AUTHOR. There is one point, however, against which the author should guard himself most especially that is, the difference between agent and principal. It happens, not infrequently, that the agent writes to the author, “will you accept £ for your story?” In a case of this kind the author should make inquiries from whom the offer comes before he accepts, in order that he may know where the story will be published, and ascertain whether the offer is from the editor of a magazine ornewspaper. If, how- ever, the offer is made by the agent who desires to purchase the story as principal—a position an agent should avoid—then the agent should say in the first instance, “Are you willing to sell me, as principal, the story for £ - Stich a statement will make everything clear from the beginning and prevent the author from an hideous doubt which will arise subsequently. It has hap- pened, and it may happen again, that the agent is buying the story as principal at alow price when he has received a much more substantial offer from a magazine or newspaper, the author all the time labouring under the impression that he is acting as agent. Such a case is clearly fraudulent, and when discovered should be taken in hand with all possible severity. Even in a case where an agent has no prior offer, but desires to purchase as principal, omitting to mention the fact to the author, he would still be legally liable for the balance to the author who thought he was acting as his agent, supposing the story was subsequently sold fora larger amount. In any circumstances the position is unsatisfactory. It is impossible for the agent to purchase as principal without disclosing the fact to the author, and even when declared, the author should beware of dealing with any agent who varies his dealing as agent with that of purchaser. Another point should be mentioned. Agents very often act for editors of magazines and pub- lishers rather than for the author. Any contract in which an agent is in this position should be viewed with particular caution, and the agent should make the fullest discovery to the author, and should not consider his good faith in question when the author makes inquiries. Here again the position is unsatisfactory, and the author, should he discover that the agent is acting merely for the editor or publisher, should insist that he obtains his commission from his employer and not from the author. It has been necessary to insist on these two points again, as cases come before the secretary which show that these faults are still existing. Agents are useful, and in some cases indispensable to authors, but owing to the fact that they are placed in such confidential positions with authors, the latter should be more than ordinarily careful THE AUTHOR. AT | \ with whom they are dealing, and of the contracts EDINBURGH REVIEW. ie i and business arrangements made on. their behalf, Early Christian and Byzantine Art and Archeology. ; An author should therefore in no circumstances The Novels of Miss Yonge. es oo and on no account deal with an agent who refuses, of The Study of Greek. i desired, to produce the original letters embodying the : iy offer of contract, and all details and information FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. which may assist in elucidating the position. The Problems of Heredity. By OC. W. Saleeby. Sir Thomas Brown and his Family. By H. C. Minchin, Christopher Marlowe II. By W. L. Courtney. —______+—@—e —____ A Plea for the Religious Drama. By B. W. Findon. French Life and the French Stage. By J. F. Macdonald. MR. GRANT RICHARDS’ BANKRUPTCY. INDEPENDENT REVIEW. Tee English Ideas on Education. By A. H. Gilkes. . 7 Bunderstand that the Trustee and the Com- _ * The Religion of all Good Men.” By H. W. Garrod. mittee of Inspection in the bankruptcy Hope for British Drama. By Edward F. Spence. : of Mr. Grant Richards have now suc- te as tic oan, ceeded in selling the stock-in-trade, copyrights, and goodwill of the business. The purchaser is Sir Thomas Browne. By Daniel Johnstone Pageants. t |. Mr. Alexander Moring, of the De La More Press, who has, we are informed, transferred ‘The MonTH. i 3 World’s Classics,” ‘The Boys’ Classics,” and “ The Lourdes and Zola’s ‘‘ Lourdes.” By A. M. F. Cole. _ Parsons’ Handbook Series,” to Mr. Henry Frowde, Horace Walpole. By P. A. Sillard. of the Oxford University Press. Fata Aristotelis, 1210—1263. By C. Dessoulavy. A first dividend of about 2s. in the pound will ‘t probably be payable to the creditors this year. MONTHLY REVIEW. _ And early next year, when all amounts due to the 4 Tomb at Ravena (Guidarello Guidarelli). By Julia estate have been paid, a final dividend of perhaps Cartwright. another 5s. in the pound may be forthcoming. Natiowar: REVIEW, A Stronghold of Art. By A. C. Benson. A Century’s Praise of Nelson. By E. Hallam Moorhouse. ————__+—>—_+—___—_—__ NINETEENTH CENTURY. MAGAZINE CONTENTS. A Municipal Concert Hall for London. By Frederick Verney, L.C.C. ea The Study of History in Public Schools. By C. H. K. BLA ’s MAGAZINE. Marten. aoe Sir Walter Scott on his “ Gabions.” By the Hon. Mrs. My “History” Vindicated. By Andrew Lang. Maxwell Scott. A Viennese Court Episode. By the Baronesse Suzette de Zuylen de Nyevelt. \BOOKMAN. Queen Christina’s Miniature Painter. By Alex. Baird. Byron. By J. Wright Duff. The Dawn of English Yiction. PALL MALL MAGAZINE. The Johnson Club: A Literary Pilgrimage to Rochester. Book MONTHLY. By Sidney Lee. “Boz” and Others. By Percy FitzGerald. Is Literature Doomed? By Harold Spender, Wanted: A Novelist. By Clarence Rook. QUARTERLY REVIEW. CHAMBERS’ JOURNAL. Recent Literary Criticism in France. By Garnet Smith. Goethe’s Mother. By Mrs. G. M. Trevelyan. ity of Robert Louis : : Se eee The. Poetry and Criticism of Mr. Swinburne. Ruskin and Millais in Scojland. By W. W. Fenn, Sir Walter Scott and one of His Reviewers. By M.B.W. TEMPLE BAR. CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. Lord Bacon’s Married Life. By Edward Manson, The Blackwashing of Dant>, By Howard Candler. The Evangelical Churches and the Higher Criticism. (There are no articles dealing with Literary, Dramatic, By P. T. Forsyth, D,D. or Musical Subjects in the Cornhill.) 48 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, 7f a 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. II. 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- duction 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 isnow possible for an author to ascertain approximately the truth. From time to time very important figures connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author. IY. 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. ee WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS. Sa EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the ‘Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com- petent legal authority. 2. [tis well to be extremely careful in negotiating for the production of a play with anyone except an established manager, THE AUTHOR. 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays in three or more acts :— (2.) 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. (0.) Sale of performing 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 in preference to the American system. Should obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed date on or before which the play should be performed. (c.) 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 (b.) 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 »erforming 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 tha; performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licznce 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 rurs a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract. He should therefore guard himselfall the more carefully in the beginning. 11. An author must remember chat 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. ~~ 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 publisha 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—perforning right and copyright. He should be especially careful therefore when entering into an agreement, and should take into particular consideration the warnings stated above. 1 HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. SS maf Ss VIERY member has a right toask for and to receive bol 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. Se 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. 26.8 4. Before signing any agreement whatever, send ithe 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. Ses 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. 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. must be done within fourteen days of first execution. Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. This The 9. Some agents endeayour 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 41s. per annum, or £10 10s for life membership. THE AUTHOR. 49 TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS. —*+—+ HE Society undertakes to stamp copies of music on behalf of its members for the fee of 6d. per 100 or part of 100. The members’ stamps are kept in the Society’s safe. The musical publishers communicate direct with the Secretary, and the voucher is then forwarded to the members, who are thus saved much unnecessary trouble. + —_____ THE READING BRANCH. $9 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. he 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. ———§_e——_2_____ NOTICES. —+—>—+—— 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 “The 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. 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. Se ea ee 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. —_*—>—+ —- ENSIONS to commence at any selected age, either with or without Life Assurance, can be obtained from this society. 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. —-— + — ROM time to time complaints come before the Secretary that publishers object to the inter- vention of literary agents, and are roused with a just indignation at the charges they make to authors. However justified these complaints may be in some cases, there is no doubt that the literary agent has come to stay, and that the publishers had better make the best of the altered situation. But the complaint against the charges of agents causes us to smile, as the guile of the angry publisher becomes evident. In many of their recent agreements publishers have been endeavouring to obtain the author’s minor rights, such as translation rights, Tauchnitz rights, serial rights, and even dramatic rights. One would naturally conclude, complaining as they do of the charges made by the agents, that when they undertake an agent’s duties in placing the author’s smaller rights, they would endeavour to do so at a lower percentage to the author. But what is the truth? Just the reverse. In nearly all contracts they claim fifty per cent. of the authors’ returns, and the lowest percentage in any publishers’ agreements that have come to this office, and we get at the lowest computation one a day, is twenty-five per cent., that is fifteen per cent. more than is charged by the literary agent. The reason then why publishers object to the agent is quite manifest. We have drawn the attention of authors to this point on previous occasions ; but we should like to add that, apart from the financial side of the question, it is the business of a literary agent to place these minor rights ; it is his duty to have an extensive knowledge of the different papers and their exact requirements, whereas it is not the business of the publisher to do more than publish the book that is given to him, limited either as to country or edition, or both. Even though he may be able with the translation rights to deal on an equal basis with the agent, this is certainly not the case with the Tauchnitz edition and serial rights ; and in the case of dramatic rights the publishers’ position is absurd. Authors therefore must be warned to delete a clause of this kind from the publisher’s agreement. Som months ago there was no small commotion in the papers owing to the fact that in-the autumn of the year Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son’s term contracts with the two great railway com- panies, the London and North-Western and the Great Western, would expire, and that all future arrangements would be submitted to the test of public auction. In some of the daily papers it was stated that Messrs. Harmsworth intended to make a bid for these contracts, but this again has been denied by the Daily Mail. No doubt maintenance of an author’s circulation depends a great deal on the satisfactory manage- ment of the bookstalls, and business incapacity at the bookstalls would mean considerable loss to the author. There have, it is true, been com- plaints against Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son for what has been erroneously termed their boycott of certain books, but if the question is considered from all sides, there is no doubt that this old firm, owing to its numerous branches and its adaptable methods, has been the best channel for book circulation which authors could possess. The mere fact that disputes and disagreements have been so few and far between would tend to support this theory. Many large publishing houses could not possibly keep numerous accounts all over the kingdom with numerous small booksellers of whose financial position they might be ignorant. Any such method of distribu- tion would increase indefinitely the publisher’s labour, clog the wheels, and affect at once the author’s sale. Again, Messrs. Smith & Son have bookstalls during the summer months in a great many places where it would not pay a local book- seller to start a shop. For the publishing trade to have one big firm whose financial position was undoubted, so long as that firm, like Messrs. Smith & Son, was always willing and ready to push their business through every possible corner along the railroads where their contracts existed, cannot but have been a benefit to all parties concerned. Ir is now stated that Messrs. Wyman & Sons have obtained the contract from the London and North-Western Railway, and from the Great Western Railway also. This change of proprietors — may mean a change in methods, and we await with some anxiety to see the result. It would appear from the papers also that Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son are to continue their library and will open shops in various towns of Great Britain. These facts, together with the arrival of the Times Book Club, ought to smooth the way for readers of all kinds of literature, and ought, therefore, to be of advantage to the author and to the public. It must frankly be confessed that some of the older libraries did want a change in their methods. With difficulty it was possible to obtain recent fiction, but any book at all out of the way or out of date was beyond their limited powers. There may be better days in store. THE AUTHOR. 51 A CERTAIN -well-known novelist told the fol- ., #@ lowing story of a personal experience. He went ~ @# one summer to an out of the way spot abroad where he could obtain the necessary quiet to write a book. He was much annoyed during his stay 4 by an objectionable habit that is prevalent in :4@ Germany among those who indulge in the not ~@ uncommon vice of smoking (there is no need to particularise). In no unmeasured language he conveyed his impressions to his story. In due time the book appeared, and had a wide circulation. So wide, indeed, that its reputation crossed the Channel, and the author received an offer for a ~°@ translated version. As the contract was satisfac- “"@ tory, the book was produced in the German +o language, but what was the author’s astonishment ~@ when he found, on perusing the translation, that the objectionable habit which he had fastened on the Germans the translator had fastened on the @ English. Such is the liberty of those who deal “%@ with other people’s work. As the incident did @ not affect the main plot of the story he let the matter pass. A In the American Publishers’ Weekly the editor, -% commenting on the Copyright Conference, states )f neither the English nor the United States copy- _..9 right law compares very favourably with the more 4 enlightened codes adopted by France, Germany, /_ and Japan. We do not know anything of the Japanese law + except in outline, but we do know something of >. that of France and Germany. ‘The law of the ‘ last-mentioned country was printed in the July number of The Author. We leave those who are skilled in copyright to consider carefully the legis- 4 lative powers of the Fatherland and to judge the . 4 editor’s statement after perusal. 4e _ At a later date we hope to publish another » German law which bears very closely on the deal- _ Ings in literary property, the law of publishers’ - Contracts. _ This will be found even more interesting and } | amusing than the German law of copyright. Se eo SIR HENRY IRVING. enn dee cae ae 7% the earliest days of the society when it was the custom to elect a few honorary members, ’ Sir Henry Irving, with some others, was ' @lected to honorary membership. _ _ He is one of the last survivors of the list of distinguished gentlemen who joined under these , * ®onditions. For many years the custom has been “°° abolished, i Although his death has come a a shock to all those interested in the drama, and although his loss is bound to be felt, yet we cannot regret that he died in the full power of his work. After the expressions of sympathy which have appeared in the papers from so many distinguished writers and actors, we can add but little to increase as glory of his fame or the magnitude of his OSs. The works of Shakespeare were, indeed, the chief objects of his veneration, and he did more to bring prominently before the public the poetic and literary value of the works of our greatest dramatist than any living actor has done or is likely to do. He began his theatrical career in the Theatre Royal, Sunderland, and made his own place by his hard work, keen study, and appreciation of the duties of life. He reached, perhaps, his highest success as actor-manager of the Lyceum. The credit of the position which he lately occupied as father of the English stage was due to himself alone—his strong individuality, his tried character. ee gg ee THE LITERATURE OF AUSTRALIA. —_ USTRALIA has proved her claim to a dis- tinct literature of her own, but, except in poetry, the claim is comparatively recent. The present writer, looking back upon a period of something over thirty years, remembers when the literature of Australia was represented in fiction by Kingsley’s “ Geoffrey Hamlyn,” Marcus Clarke’s “His Natural Life,” Farjeon’s ‘‘ Grif,” and a few other novels not written by Australians at all. Even in poetry there were scarcely any native-born authors, and the more serious books, outside Dr. Lang’s writings about Australian origins and some other scientific works, were mainly reports of explorations, missionary tours, and Governmental administration. Now, Australian literature may be divided into two classes—the books written by genuine Austra- lians and the works of people who have lived in the country but are not of it. Under both head- ings exceptions must be made. In the first class, for example, Tasmania is justly proud of being Mrs. Humphry Ward’s birthplace, but there is not the faintest flavour of Australia -in Mrs. Ward’s writings ; while in the second class one would hesitate to include mere travellers’ descriptions of Australian life, even when the globe-trotters are such gifted authors as the late Mr. Froude, Anthony Trollope, and others, whose flying visits to the Colonies were made under agreeable social condi- tions not always conducive to impartial opinions. 52 Nor would one be quite justified in describing as Australian literature such works as those of Messrs. Gillen and Spencer, enormously valuable as these are to students of ethnology and anthropology ; of Mr. Carl Lumholtz, who spent over a year investi- gating the North Queensland flora and fauna and the habits of the blacks ; or of Mr. Andrew Lang, who has made a speciality of blacks’ folklore. In this connection should be mentioned a lady who may be regarded as a genuine Australian though not actually Australian born. Mrs. Langloh Parker, the author of “ Australian Legendary Tales” —to which Mr. Lang has written a preface—knows perhaps more than anyone living of the aboriginal traditions, for she has learned the language of certain tribes, and, sitting over their camp fires, has heard from them a number of totemistic legends, which she has made into two volumes of the most delightful fairy stories imaginable. And talking of the blacks’ traditions and of writers who have studied them on the spot, no sketch of Australian literature would be complete without the mention of Mr. Dawson, and also Mr. Archibald Meston, a younger writer, more particularly about Queensland, whose book about that colony is a mine of interest. Australia’s former backwardness in literature can be easily enough understood. The early settlers were too busy making the country to write about it, and those of the second generation who aspired to authorship were unfortunately imbued with the idea that nothing genuinely Australian could pos- sibly be interesting. So they aped English models without in reality knowing anything about English life, ignoring the fact that there was virgin gold in the shape of ‘‘copy”’ at their feet if they chose to scrape the soil for it. The old convict associations too made Australians rather ashamed of being Australian, though they have got over that non- sense long since. Consequently, young Australia of the ’sixties, if it wrote stories, copied Rhoda Broughton, Ouida, and Mrs. Oliphant, etc., tried to be English in all other respects possible, and ate roast beef and English plum pudding on Christmas Day with the thermometer at 100° Fahr. The result was apparent in its literature. Happily, now, though socially the system of imitation con- tinues more or less, an intellectual reaction has set in—all praise to those who started it—and Austra- lian literature of to-day is marked by a very definite note of originality. Speaking broadly, this is due to three causes— The Sydney Bulletin, Mr. Rolf Boldrewood—giving his pseudonym to the author of “ Robbery Under Arms”—and to Mr. Chamberlain’s policy of Imperialism. In the order of things, looked at from a distance, Mr. Rolf Boldrewood should come before The Sydney Bulletin, though chronologically The Sydney THE AUTHOR. Bulletin, under its most able editor, practically | started the new Australian school of literature But “ Robbery Under Arms” reached the British public before the clever writers educated in the school of Zhe Bulletin had in any noteworthy | instances made individual names. ‘ Rolf Boldre wood’s” novel was published in London, an appealed instantly, with the thrill of a fresh sensa- f tion, to a reading world beginning to weary o Jin-de-siécle morbidities, to quote the hack-phrase 0 the time. ‘“ Robbery Under Arms” gave jade novel readers a strong invigorating whiff of th gum trees and did for the Australian bushman[ something of what Bret Harte’s Californian tales | did for the American miner. The time of its appearance was fortuitous, for the English news- papers had lately given accounts of the career and capture of Ned Kelly, the bushranger, and “ Rolf Boldrewood ” told the story with a rough idealism and vivid presentment of conditions and atmosphere in the bush that made the book an immediate success. He wrote in the person and style of an Australian stockman, and—if a personal opinion be permitted—he has never written anything half so good as that first novel, about which, in the ’eighties, all London was talking. He showed people that real Australia was likely to prove a profitable field for fiction-writers, and not a few breezy Australian books followed in that one’s & wake. It is true that several Colonial writers have dealt with the romance of bushranging and fi: gold-escort robbery—for one, Katherine King, who turned the Griffin tragedy into a clever story, the more interesting because Griffin, her hero’s proto- type, was well known socially in the district where he lived. There were other bushranging stories too, and some very good ones, but nevertheless “Robbery Under Arms” marked an epoch in Australian fiction, because it was inspired by the Genius of the bush. And nothing can be more distinctive than that Genius of the bush. He is a fearsome, almost grotesque, monster, giving the impression of an antediluvian survival—a lonely and weird survival amid scenery unlike any other scenery on the face of the globe. It is just that wild, uncouth, monstrous suggestiveness which is so difficult to render for anyone who has not sucked it into his blood. Any reader of “Robbery Under Arms” who has been under the spell of the bush will smell the gum leaves and the wattle bloom ; he will see the grass trees rear their black spikes on stony ridges ; he will hear the demoniacal laugh of the kookooburra, the whirr of locusts, the “ poomp” of tree frogs, the shriek of cockatoos, the thud of unshod horses’ hoofs on solitary bush roads. He will know wha sort of life the free-selector lives; he will under- | stand the temptation of “nuggetting ” unbranded calves ; he will realise an outlaw who never meant to be a criminal; he will know what knocking down a cheque in “ out back shanties” means, and he will not need to be told why shepherds go mad. He will listen to the wild west wind howling down the gorges in winter and to the multitudinous roar of insects on hot summer nights. In short, he will live the rollicking, deadly monotonous, dramatic, “a erim, lonely life of the bush, and if he has once ‘| breathed its breath, he will now breathe it again. a The bush repels, sickens, fascinates. It is like (a the gum trees, lean, lank, hideous, stretching out “ skeleton arms that claw you whether you will or not. Once you have experienced its uncanny magic you will be haunted by it till you die. A literature which conveys that magic is a thing by itself, and > that is what Australian literature is only just 41@ beginning to be. The story of drought and desert, of rivers nara “coming down” in flood, of forest fires, is very tq different from the story of Sydney and Melbourne, - of Riverina squatting and civilised “ bush.” Tasma » -the late Madame le Couvreur—and Ada Cam- nid bridge have written delightfully of the gentler .0@ phases of Australian life. Ada Cambridge’s a “Marked Man ” has given us a picture of Sydney ig Harbour, the Domain, the grand North Head not 34 easily to be forgotten. Madame Leconvreur and Mrs. Cross—to say nothing of a number of writers less distinguished—have not, however, conveyed arg that uncouth, grim and altogether tragic spell of ie the bush which is a peculiarity of the modern vA, Australian school. This is what most of Zhe kw Bulletin writers who have come to the fore have : undoubtedly done; and in specifying that par- ide ticular newspaper as typically Australian it must ok not be supposed that there are not other equally + important Australian journals possessing the same iy qualities. But Ze Bulletin is mainly responsible i¢ for a whole crop of Australian authors racy of the soil on which they have grown. 4 The literature of a new country is predominantly ine imaginative. So the note of the land has been 24 struck chiefly in poetry and fiction and, as might hg have been expected in a school of journalistic origin, principally in the short story. Mr. Henry Lawson’s volumes of tales and sketches, ‘“ When the Billy Boils,” and “On the Track and over the Sliprails,” are absolute echoes of Australian life. Here again you sniff the aromatic odour of eucalyp- tus and the acrid smoke of burning bush ; you hear the drawl of the stockman and see the slouching gait of the “sundowner.” It is not so much life from the squatter’s point of view that Mr. Lawson describes as life from that of the drover, the “ rouseabout,” the shearer, the fossicker, the tramp who “ humps bluey” and grubs up stumps for his tucker. The squatter’s point of view is better given THE AUTHOR. 53 in such a book as Mr. Mcllvaine’s “ Dinkinbar,” wherein the awful loneliness and dependence upon Nature—often a monstrously cruel Nature—is described with terrible fidelity. If Mr. McIlvaine be not bush-born he has lived long enough in the bush to have absorbed its spirit. ‘ Dinkinbar ” deals with the eternal sex problem as it is some- times solved “ out-back ”—after a fashion that frequently leads to the kind of bush insanity technically termed “ becoming a hatter,” in which a white man forsakes his kind and lives alone or with the blacks. The hero of “Dinkinbar” is saved from this fate by the love of an English girl, but not before he has gone through a pretty rough time. ‘ Fate the Fiddler,” also by Mr. McIlvaine, is a burden of drought, mortgage, and of “the bank taking possession ”’—the tragedy of many an unsuccessful squatter, told realistically but with less of the peculiar and powerful fascination of * Dinkinbar.” “Out West”—in the words of an Australian popular song, “‘ Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest ”—would appear to be an inspiring atmosphere to the present school of Australian writers. Most of the volumes of short stories lately brought out have their scenes laid in the Never-Never region. Among them is a book that has scarcely received the praise it deserves—“ A Bush Honeymoon and Other Stories,” published a short time back by Mr. Fisher Unwin. Its author, Mrs. Palmer Archer, is also racy of the soil, but her outlook is a fairly cheerful one. She has humour as well as the sad- ness characteristic of modern Australian writers. Nowhere is the cry of rebellious pessimism more marked than in a crude striking little life-story told in the first person by a writer styling herself —for the work is evidently a woman’s—Miles Franklin. “My Brilliant Career” is essentially Australian, and gives promise of future powerful work. In speaking of present story-writers—too many to be enumerated—Barbara Baynton should be mentioned, and certainly Mary Gaunt cannot be passed over, nor Louise Mack. So far, Australian political life has not furnished much material to the novelist, and that is a pity, for it abounds in dramatic incident and character studies. The building of the Commonwealth and the true inwardness of the Labour Party would make sprightly reading. Up to now, Antipodean politics have been dealt with mainly by the serious writer. A number of books touching on economic and political aspects are for the most part anticipa- tions or results of Mr. Chamberlain’s declared policy of Imperialism. And thus this eminent statesman becomes a factor in Australian litera- ture, though his influence has been more or less indirect. Imperialism has done more than anything else to make Australian literature original. It has 54 emphasised the importance of Australia, and morally and intellectually, as well as politically, has given the Australians wholesome encourage- ment to be themselves, and not distorted reflections of Old World conventions. At last Australian writers have come to believe that it pays best, in all senses, to be genuinely Australian. This applies to imaginative literature, not to the graver sort, for though it is true of Australia as of other countries that the men who write the songs of their nation are they who make its history, the Commonwealth is too new for its historians to be real Australians. Mr. Henniker Heaton is a man of action rather than of letters, nevertheless his writings and compilations have done much towards popularising Australia. Sir C. Gavan Duffy belongs to the anticipatory period, and his Australian imperialism only points an example for Trishhomerule. The late Arthur Patchett Martin’s ‘Australia and the Empire” is a most able survey of things Australian, and though English-born, Mr. Martin knew Australia intimately from the literary standpoint, and was a graduate in the Australian journalistic school. The Hon. Harold Finch-Hatton’s “ Advance Australia”’ is valuable as the fruit of strenuous years in Queensland. - And here, mention should be made of a very charming personal record of the settlement of Port Darwin by a daughter of the first administrator. Mrs. Dominic Daly’s “Digging, Squatting and Pioneering Life,” dates a good way back, but is fresh and vivid still. Turning to the Australian song-writers and poets, this, the most important branch of Australian literature, has been left to the last on the principle there remains very little to be said about it which has not been already fully said. Mr. Douglas Sladen, also a writer of Australian verse, has devoted much attention to the subject and gives much detailed criticism of the poets of Australia in the preface to his collection of Australian poems, and there is an admirable chapter on Australian poets in Mr. Percy Rowland’s book “The New Nation.” No words are needed to-day concerning Adam Lindsay Gordon, Kendall, Brunton Stephens —none of them Australian-born—concerning O. H. Harpur, Alfred Domett, Boake, Ogilvie, Victor Daley, “ Australie” and “ Austral ’—both Aus- tralian girls—or the two best known and most recent of Queensland poets—products too of The Bulletin school—R. L. Paterson and Henry Law- son, either of whom might be termed the Australian Kipling. R. M. PRazp. i ee THE AUTHOR. ON STYLE. — OST of the books and essays which have been written upon style do not seem to me to go deep enough. They are as if a writer on forestry told you how to trim the terminal leaf- lets of trees but said nothing about their roots, their growth and habit, or the soil of whose virtues they are in a sense the concrete and visible ex- pression. Exactly in so far as you think of style as a separate consideration, the literary common- place that a writer must be judged finally by his style becomes untrue. It is like the lying proverb that beauty is only skin deep. A beautiful woman is beautiful to her bones, and the style of a writer depends ultimately upon his digestion. “ Style is the man”’—yes, but the whole man; and if to his expression do not go all that he has ever lived and suffered and enjoyed—his appetites, his aspirations, his vices, even—exactly in so much and not from lack of colour, or vigour, or pic- turesqueness, or any other “literary ” quality, will his writing be imperfect. Style is a temperature- chart, a pulse-tracing of the individual mind, and “mind is as deep as the viscera.” There is a wonderful piece of criticism in Maxim Gorky’s “‘ Foma Gordyéeff :” “And the judgment of the Lord upon them will be according to their strength. Their bodies will be weighed and the angels will measure their blood .... and the angels of God will see to it that their sin shall not exceed in weight the weight of their blood and their body—do you understand? The Lord will not condemn a wolf if it devours a sheep—but if a miserable little rat is guilty of killing a sheep—He will condemn the rat !” This is not more profoundly true of morals than it is of literature. You cannot judge a man’s style by any abstract standard; its quality de- pends entirely upon the precision with which he has expressed—I had nearly written his meaning, but that is not definite enough—himself. And precision includes all other literary virtues. There can be no properties of style that are not funda- mental to the writer, and if he expresses himself with precision he expresses whatever of light or colour, or vigour, or picturesqueness, or subtlety is in his nature. This sounds like a commonplace, but it is a commonplace that is very imperfectly apprehended. How often, for example, is it said “so and so writes a good style but he has nothing to say.” That is impossible. A man cannot utter a platitude “ stylishly,” because the moment you say “style” you imply something personal which at once, be it ever so little, redeems the matter from commonplace. Again, it is said that so and so’s style is careful and precise but wanting in colour and richness. I believe that it is impossible for a style to be both meagre and precise. A tomato THE AUTHOR. 55 is redder and'brighter than a turnip, but you would not say that a turnip was more precisely a turnip for simulating the redness and brightness of a tomato. Nor is it a poorer turnip for lack of those qualities. It is in so far as it exhibits the essen- tial properties of a turnip that it is a good turnip, and it is in so far as a man’s writing expresses the personal qualities of that particular man that he is a good writer. There are meagre styles, it is true, but then their precision is only apparent as his morality is only apparent who practises merely the negative virtues. A style which expresses more or less than a man’s personality must be bad; it is either affected or inadequate. This is the real quarrel with “ preciosity,” with the vices of those writers held up as eminently “ stylists.” It is not that they use fantastic or out of the way words, or sequences of words, but that they use words and phrases which do not belong to them nor sincerely express the movements of their mind. Their finery distracts the mind of the reader from the nervelessness of the expression as the bits of tinsel stuck on a stage dragon distract the eye from the inferiority of the modelling. Strip them off and you find a dull, dead shape underneath. The truth is you cannot separate style from matter. If you say that the style is good you already imply that the matter is good because, style admitted, it is necessarily one man’s personal and_ precise expression in words of the thought that is in him. Which, I think, is the final answer to the vexed question : What constitutes literature? That is to say, the old commonplace that a work of art must be judged finally by its style remains true, but only in a deeper sense than is generally accepted. A good deal of the confusion about style in literature is due to regarding it as concerned chiefly with form and colour. It is concerned with form and colour of course, but primarily with movement. Perhaps it would be juster to say— with form and colour as affecting movement. A great living landscape painter gave me the definition. “Painting deals with relations; literature with progressions.” That is true and, by the way, at once exposes the vicious principle underlying “ word-painting””—the verbal descrip- tion of objects in their relations of tone, and form, and colour only. Not rhythm alone, but all the other technical expedients of the art of writing, assonance, alliteration, even rhyme, are only tolerable in so far as they are concerned ultimately with movement.. The matter is too important and too complicated to be considered here, but I should not be surprised if the fundamental difference between verse and poetry turned out to be purely technical after all. It is quite obvious that the distinction does not rest upon abstract superiority of the thought and emotion in poetry. In reading verse—I am not now speaking’ of jingle or doggrel but of good verse, and taking for granted a distinction of ideas and emotion—one feels that the writer’s use of accent, assonance, alliteration and rhyme is governed by considerations of form and colour only ; the effects are static, relative : while in poetry they are dynamic, progresswe ; like the “kissing” of billiard balls they impress the ear but chiefly to mark a deflection of energy. Herbert Spencer wrote an “ Essay on Style.” “As I have not the volume containing it at hand, I am compelled to quite casual references from the Autobiography. ‘Few would expect to find such a subject as style dealt with on physical principles. The first of the two theses (of the Essay) set forth and variously illustrated, was that nervous energy is used up in the interpretation of every one of the symbols by which an idea is conveyed ; and that there is greater or less expenditure of such energy according to the number of the symbols, their character and their order: the corollary being that in proportion as there is less energy absorbed in interpreting the symbols, there is more left for representing the idea, and, con- sequently greater vividness of the idea. Otherwise stated, this thesis was that the most successful form of sentence is one which guides the thought of the hearer or reader along the line of least resistance.” Now, of style in relation to the reader this is admirably stated, but what Herbert Spencer does not seem to have recognised is that it is yet more true of style in relation to the writer. If he had said “ the most successful form of sentence is one which guides the thought of the writer along the line of least resistance ” he would have stated the whole problem of style. But for a!l his clear per- ceptions and in spite of his own dictum that “mind is as deep as the viscera” he seems to have been obsessed by the notion of an abstract stan- dard of style. At the end of his Autobiography we find him regretting the supposed defects of his own style in these words. “Though my style is lucid, it has, as compared with some styles, a monotony that displeases me. There is a lack of variety in its verbal forms,and in its larger com- ponents, and there is a lack of vigour in its phrases.” The truth of the matter is, Herbert Spencer was regretting something more than a method of writing, and his regret was idle: he was regretting that he was not some other man. His style was monotonous because, in spite of the variety of his interests, his mind was monotonous ; it was want- ing in vigour because—I seem presumptuous, but there is the whole Autobiography to support me— he did not think or feel vigorously. He implied so much in a single sentence when he complained of Carlyle “ He thought in a passion.” Well, it is not a bad thing for a writer to think in a passion, but it must be a still, white rage. There is all the difference in the world between passion and 56 hysteria. It is only when you think in a passion that your expression becomes fused with your thought ; that you discover the line of least resistance. But if Spencer’s style had been more varied and more vigorous it would have been a bad style—for him. You cannot acquire vigour and variety any more than you can acquire red hair when your own is black—though you can dye it red. Style is neither clothes nor armour ; it is bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. Is it not possible then for a man to improve his style? Certainly it is, but not by thinking about style in the abstract. Style can only be improved in relation to the thought and the emotion—an improved relation to the matter and consequently to the reader follows inevitably as a matter of course. In proportion as you think more clearly and feel more keenly your expression will become lither and more concentrated, unincumbered with any dead matter. Every word becomes alive ; it is all structural and all decorative. You cannot have the two purposes separately considered or the one added as an afterthought. Unless the decoration is inherent in the structure your writing is bad. You improve your style by purgation, emesis, by the sacrifice of whatever hinders the free and precise expression of your personal emotion. It is a process not of acquisition but of elimination ; it is, if you like, an exposure of differences. You grow liker yourself. Smith writes like Jones because the expression of either is hampered by a plethora of ready-made phrases common to everybody and proper to none. I should like to put many of our writers through Banting ; they suffer from fatty degeneration of language. It is not so much that they use too many words as that they stumble along under an adipose layer of words and phrases that hinder and obscure their authentic movements. Hlabo- rate theories to account for the difference between the styles of admittedly good writers— say Sir Thomas Browne and Mr. J. M. Barrie—are idle as the wind. The matter is quite simple. Sir Thomas Browne wrote like Sir Thomas Browne, and Mr. J. M. Barrie writes like Mr. J. M. Barrie. Style does not begin with a nice hesitation over the choice of epithets, but is determined by the fundamental character of the individual organisa- tion, by “the weight of blood.” There is no technique of writing, or rather, it is all technique and begins with the child’s first cry. If we could keep all our lives the limpid sincerity of childhood we should all be masters of style. The best writers are those that have preserved, or with pains recovered, the child’s purity of expression. Style, in whatever medium, is a matter of physics. All art, indeed, is but the record of a gesture; how THE AUTHOR. that particular man moved; it is literally the record of his emotions. The object of all training, whether physical, moral or mental, is not the acquisition of abstract “ qualities,” however desir- able in themselves ; it is nothing more than this ; to discover the line of least resistance between your powers and their expression whether in words or paint, the movement of the limbs or the equilibrium of the soul. “ Progress in style,’ wrote Herbert Spencer, “must produce heterogeneity in our modes of expression.” Exactly, because progress in style means the discovery under our superficial likeness to other men of that inimitable ego which resides in every one of us. It is therefore necessary for every writer to cultivate a wise egoism ; to pay no attention to what is said about “ good” or “ bad” styles. His own style is the best possible for him. He need not be afraid that he will come by it too easily, for, though there can be no properties of style that are not implicit in the writer, they are not, as a rule, immediately apparent. Every man’s nature is like a mine, and it is the whole business of life to discover and work out his original vein. Every living creature has something personal to say, and every living creature somehow and at some time contrives to say it—though not neces- sarily in words. One creature delivers his message by wearing the colours of the dawn, another in the ecstasy of flight ; this man with the sword, that other in prayer and good works ; but upon each, whether in life or art, the final judgment will be ‘“< How nearly has he been himself ? ” CHARLES MARRIOTT. Oe THE MAN WHO WOULD WRITE. Y friend, Edward Blakenshaw, is a stock and share broker. Each man to his craft; I will confess that I am wholly unin- structed in the business of stock and share broking. Unfortunately, Blakenshaw imagines that he knows quite enough about the calling of letters to make his appearance at Mudie’s a mere matter of sitting down after dinner, and “ reeling off” two thousand words or so of fiction. And there are many persons like my friend Blakenshaw. : The other day, Blakenshaw wrote that, as times — were dull, and leisure hung upon his hands, he ~ had resolved to give the world a novel. got the idea (sic) after reading ‘ , by 0. e wrote my aspirant. ‘Do you know the book? If © such pifile as that gets published, surely there is a chance for me. I have never read such trash — before.” “J first fp THER AUTHOR. 57 I withhold the title of the novel and the author’s name, for reasons which will be manifest. I have read the “piffle,? with a species of envious admiration for the writer’s delicate and delightful style, and I must own that Blakenshaw’s fatuous estimate of a work of art almost moved me to deliver myself in very plain language. But what good? I am not angry with my grocer’s boy because he sings “ Bill Bailey ” instead of Gounod. To explain to Blakenshaw why the critics and a large number of cultivated readers acknowledge a high literary ability in H would be really quite impossible. The point is that my engaging amateur thinks he can achieve in a few months all that the laborious author of the “piffle” and “trash” has achieved after many years of stern effort. Nay more, Edward Blakenshaw has not the tinge of a doubt that the aptitude inheres in him. A little sacrifice of the leisure due to slack times is all that Blakenshaw needs to win a recognition equal to that of the gifted and experienced H——. Men of science term it egomania. Continuing in a light and casual fashion, my correspondent advised me that the tale was finished. “ What I would ask you to do is to recommend a likely publisher,” wrote Blakenshaw, “and to tell me how much I ought to ask for the work.” Businesslike Blakenshaw! Heat least has decided that “art for art’s sake” is a stupid shibboleth of the piffle-emongers. Cash down is goal and gnerdon of my friend’s ambitious excursion into the region of art. He wants to know of a “likely publisher.” Blessed phrase—how well we are accustomed to the sound of it! Atthe present moment I know personally four writers, two of them men of genius, who would like to meet the publisher with the acumen to discern a “ commercial success ” for their solid, serious works in fiction. What possible service can I render the Blakenshaws in recom- mending a publishing house? Publishers, like stock and share brokers, follow their business as a means of subsistence. Many of them deal out “piffle” and the poorest sort of “trash,” simply because the intelligent subscribers to the libraries demand such commodities. It is well, however, to discriminate between saleable and unsaleable piffle. A publisher may possess a true literary sense, and desire to sell only good literature. But his business is not conducted in the interest of high art, nor from motives of philanthropy. He must sell what his customers want, and not ‘caviare to the general ” if he wishes to succeed. Hence the majority of publishers are compelled to issue a number of saleable, popular books, more or less worthless from a literary standpoint. Now, Blakenshaw thinks that it is easy to pro- duce one of these trifling and inept stories. He is mistaken. An innate capacity for weaving plots, a facility in expression, and shrewdness in esti- mating the variable taste of the public are essentials in this trade of fiction-making. A genius may find himself hopelessly impotent to produce saleable tales, even though positive necessity urges him to make a bid for popularity by the sacrifice of his artistic ideals. The specific aptitude requisite for the invention of saleable piffle is a “gift.” Blakenshaw is not a genius, nor does he possess this specific aptitude. He is typical of that great order of amateurs who mistake will for ability. Never in my wildest dreams of ambition have I supposed that I could become a successful stock and share broker. The starling cannot soar with the eagle. Yet my estimable Blakenshaw imagines that he can suddenly project himself from ’Change to the realms of fancy, and outvie H—— in a first flight of the imagination. I was puzzled as to my course with Blakenshaw. Having read one of his “effusions,” some years ago, I was tolerably convinced that he is tempera- mentally incapable of viewing human nature with the keen and comprehensive vision of the writer of fiction. I knew that he would ask me to read a not too legible manuscript, relating to second- hand copies of humanity, drawn from the inferior novels in which he finds his recreation. I was assured that the “ copy ” would abound in solecisms of syntax and errors in grammar, and that the trail of the novice would be over it all. And yet I could not find it in my heart to assume a depre- ciative tone in replying to Blakenshaw’s letter. There is something exquisitely pathetic in all aspiring disability. Therefore, I wrote that I would meet my friend in the City, and tender him such advice as he might choose to accept. We met at arestaurant. Blakenshaw was charm- ingly sanguine. I brought him immediately face to face with the hard facts of publishing, by asking him how many words there were in his story. He seemed astonished at my question. If it was a matter of “ quantity,” of course he was prepared to make the tale as long as I liked. I informed him that a novel must be from 75,000 to 100,000 words in length. Blakenshaw “ thought ” that his story would be about 18,000 words. “That is the length of a rather short novelette,”” T said. “Oh, this isn’t that sort of stuff,’ interrupted the author. «Tg it sentimental, sensational, serious, adven- turous, or what ?” I inquired. “Well,” said Blakenshaw, “ it’s a bit of all that. The style isa sort of mixture of Cutliffe Hyne, and Ouida.” “ Good |” 58 “ Now, how much do you think the story would sell for ?”” asked Blakenshaw. ‘“‘Tmpossible to say. Perhaps a guinea per 1,000 words.” “Ts that all?” Poor Blakenshaw! I had to doit. A dread of candour is one of my traits; but I realised that the case demanded a measure of plain-speaking, With gentle diffidence, I told him that he had chosen the very slowest means of raising cash. [ spoke of grim disappointments, and of the difficulties of the author’s calling. *“ But how is it somany bad novelsare published ?” inquired Blakenshaw. I explained the commission system of publishing, and the difference between saleable and unsaleable “ piffle.’ To the mind of my ingenuous friend, the situation appeared paradoxical and bewildering. “Tt seems to me,” he remarked, ‘‘ that the thing to do is to write a lot of rotten stuff, and then you'll get it accepted.. What about sending my tale to one of these literary agents ?” “ You can try,” I said, in sheer despair. “What do they charge you ?” “Ten per cent on net results of sales.” “T don’t see much advantage in that.” “Perhaps you had better send your manuscript around yourself,” I said. I knew that Blakenshaw was sure to request me to read and report upon the manuscript. My refusal was prompt, and a little brutal. I explained that I read very few novels; that my view was prejudiced ; that I did not wish to incur a possible charge of undue critical severity, and that my opinion was probably quite valueless. When I rose, Blakenshaw seemed somewhat vexed with me. He walked by my side down the street, saying that perhaps he would change his mind, and “ get the story published in one of the good magazines.” I wished my friend good fortune, and said goodbye. On the top of the omnibus I had to decide whether [ was amused or annoyed by this inter- view. It seemed to me that Edward Blakenshaw would consider it as colossal folly on my part if I suddenly announced that I intended to raise money by turning stock and share broker on off-days, when things are slack in the writing profession. Why should the Blakenshaws be allowed to delude themselves that there is an easy side-door leading into our profession, and that any man, who has leisure and a quire of foolscap, can command a share of our limited pecuniary awards? How strange it is that megalomania so frequently dupes the most unimaginative of brains with the inspira- tion to write fiction and even poetry ! WALTER M. GALLICHAN. Notr.—Since writing the above I have read Blakenshaw’s manuscript. It is crude and THE AUTHOR. impossible. My friend writes that he is of the opinion “ that there is nothing to be made out of literature.” Oe SOME MODERN METHODS OF ILLUSTRATION. —+—>— + —_ (Reprinted from the Vew York Bookman by kind permission of the Editor.) O no one class of art workers has the camera brought wider or more practical results than to the men and women who draw for illustration. It has emancipated them completely from any hard and fast rules regarding technical methods, and enabled them to do their work in any way and in any medium that seems best adapted to the particular work in hand. We all profit by this freedom of choice, for we get the work of many artists in our magazines and books who but for the camera would be known only to the comparatively few who attend the exhibits of so-called easel pictures. Illustration in America has not been taken very seriously until within com- paratively recent years. To many artists it was, and is yet no doubt, but the handmaid of what they consider real art—the painting of pictures. Many artists in the past never had the patience or the skill to learn to draw in reverse and in the minute sizes formerly required for putting work on the wood-block. It was certainly a laborious and tiresome task at best, and the wonder is that so much of the illustration of the old days was so good. By the use of the camera all this drudgery vanished at once. The artist made his picture large or small, the lens brought it to the required size and preserved the exact drawing of the original. The wood-engraver has been a great power for good in the development of all illustrative art, and his work at its best is interpretative and — sympathetic in a very high degree. It is a matter of pride that in America wood-engraving has achieved its most remarkable results and been most fully recognised as an art of surprising capacity and rare beauty of expression. Artists — used to find fault with the engravers on wood, © often with much justice, for not retaining the exact — drawing of the original, but wood-engraving is © admittedly primarily interpretative and not in the strict sense reproductive, though the accomplished — wood-engraver gives with really wonderful dexterity — the delicate tones and values of many originals. — To-day wood engraving is a fast vanishing art, — but it will never cease to be appreciated as one of © the most beautiful and worthy of all the graphic tH BIG 8 (brat ila 7 various “= mediums between the drawing and the plate have @ made it possible to reproduce drawings made in atts. From its earliest manifestations it has always been an art for the people, and to it we + owe undoubtedly the invention of movable type, with which it has ever since been so closely asso- ciated. It was the camera that gave the modern wood- engraver his greatest opportunity and at the same time laid the foundation for his undoing. With the invention of the half-tone screen used between the lens and the object to be photographed, it became possible by mechanical means to make engravings on metal that could be electrotyped and printed in relief in conjunction with type. Further improvements in the sensitising of the photographic plates used and the interposition of coloured glasses or coloured liquid fall colour with a very close preservation of their values. The half-tone process is a familiar and beautiful method of reproducing illustrations to-day, and a very large part of the pictures in our magazines and books are printed from half-tone plates. The principle upon which it is based is that to print in relief from a metal plate the surface must be broken up into minute points or dots in order to offer a suitable surface for taking the ink. Draw- ings, as has been said, may be in black and white or tint or in the full colour of a carefully wrought painting. The half-tone screen upon which the entire process depends is made by putting together two plates of glass upon which lines have been ruled at carefully calculated intervals in such a | way as to produce at the line intersections a series of minute dots. Some of these screens have as many as three hundred of these lines to the square inch. Upon their number and the shape of the diaphragm used in the lens in combination with the screen depends the texture of the resulting plate. In transferring the negative to the highly polished and suitably sensitised copper plate, it is reversed, either by stripping it from its glass support and transferring it to another, or by the use of a prism in the taking. Put in contact with the copper, it is exposed to light. Those parts of the picture which have been protected by the dark parts of the negative, corresponding to the lights of the original picture, may be washed away, the other parts in varying degree. The image on the copper plate is dried and held over heat to burn it in and made ready for the etching bath, Lights and darks, it will be apparent, are dependent upon the varying intensities of these in the original. The etching process requires trained judgment in order to know just how far to carry it and a careful study of the original drawing. This pro- cess derives its name “half-tone” from the fact THE AUTHOR. 59 that no pure whites are obtainable on account of the interposition of the screen. The whites are all modified into delicate greys. The effect, in fact, is like looking at the picture through a transparent gauze curtain. Whites and stronger blacks may be obtained by subsequent re-engraving by hand and by burnishing. — The half-tone is especially used to reproduce drawings in which there are gradations of tint either in flat washes or in colour. The very small cost of the plates as compared with wood-engraving, their mechanical accuracy and great value ag a time-saver have made them universally popular. In the old days a full-page wood-engraving might easily cost any- where from $75 to $250, and take three or four weeks to do. Half-tones of a very fine quality can be had at from $9 to $12 a page, and in an after- noon, if necessary. Any one can readily determine whether an illustration is a half-tone or not by looking at it through a magnifying glass—the screen, or “mesh,” is very apparent. A much simpler process is used when the draw- ing is in line or stipple, like one of Gibson’s cartoons, for instance. No screen is necessary, and the metal used instead of copper is a zinc plate. The rest of the process is much the same. Line plates are very inexpensive—a full page need cost only about $2.50, and can be made in a few hours. We are indebted to the camera and the half-tone for the constantly increasing use of coloured pictures in books and magazines, some of which are done with a great deal of taste and a very fair approach to the original subject. The Japanese have made wonderful colour prints for ages by the use of numerous wood blocks, and in France and America, especially, some very beautiful pictures in coloured tints have been printed in this way. Here again, however, the matter of expense has been practically prohibitive, and the mechanical difficulties are considerable. By use of the half- tone in conjunction with the so-called three- colour process the reproduction of coloured pictures has been made possible at a comparatively small expense. As is perhaps well known to many, the three-colour process is based upon the theory that all the colours of the chromatic scale are supposed to be derived from various combinations of the three primaries—blue, yellow and red. ‘Three negatives are made in exact register from the original painting, one for the yellow, one for the red, another for the blue, and these made into half-tone plates are printed in succession, the one over the other. The limitations of this process lie in the difficulty of choosing just the right yellow, red and blue that in combination will reproduce the original in all its parts. Thus far there has always been something to be desired, 60 especially when the process is employed in the reproduction of paintings involving delicate tones of grey. Many times the addition of another plate printed in grey or black will soften and blend the effect of the three primaries in a satisfactory way. Very successful colour reproductions are made by the use of four or five half-tones printed in delicate tints and over all a strong impression in black. In each plate some part may be left blank or made to print very faintly when not intended to take its particular colour all over. This method of colour printing in two or three tints is often intended only as a colour interpretation without any pretence of being a reproduction. All of this colour work depends for its success upon an expert knowledge of colour blending. The use of several plates is much like the work of the painter, who lays in his ground and then builds up the colours in succession to the degrees required. One of the most beautiful of all the reproductive processes is known as photogravure. Here the engraving, instead of being in relief, is incised or in intaglio, just the opposite of the half-tone, and the impression is made by pressing the dampened paper into the lines on the metal plate. No screen is used in making the negative, but a grain is obtained by sprinkling the copper plate with pow- dered rosin and melting it on. This makes a ground for the subsequent etching. The photo- graphic image printed on the copper plate in this instance is from a positive. There is a velvety softness and richness of light and shade, an effect of delicacy and refinement in this process that is very suggestive of the lovely textures of the old mezzotints. Photogravure, however, is not suitable for use in large editions, for the prints can only be made on a hand press, and the plates are too delicate in character to with- stand any very large number of impressions. The cost, too, is very considerable, and the process is chiefly employed in the reproduction of paintings and in the illustration of limited editions. Lithography, or printing from stone, is con- siderably used in the making of coloured covers and posters, but it involves so many different colours to obtain fair results and so much more presswork than the half-tone process that it is becoming less and less common, except in the more ordinary purely commercial work. For many years we looked to France for the best colour printing, but since our great magazines have admitted colour to their pages we have learned to do the best work of this kind in the world. There is apparently an increasing demand for colour upon the part of the public, and many illustrators who used to work only in black and THE AUTHOR. white now do their drawings in both oils and water colours, either upon the assurance of their reproduction in colour or in the hope that possibly they may make a sufficient appeal to the art editor to warrant their reproduction as they are drawn. Magazine and book-making is certainly a very much more complicated problem than in the old days. The tradition that once permitted only black and white illustrations to be printed in con- junction with type has long since given way to the ever-increasing demand for novelty. In a single number of a magazine in these days we may have examples of nearly all the current methods of colour printing—in three colours from half-tones, in line with a patch of red or blue here and there, in five or six varying tints superimposed, in simple biack upon a flat, yellow tint block. It is needless to say that all this adds very considerably to the cost of production and demands preparation for particular colour effects months in advance. When it comes to five or six printings instead of one for the large editions of to-day, time is a very essential factor. All that is needed now is some simplification of the photographic process for reproducing colour ; present methods are complicated and far from completely satisfactory. Illustration in any modern sense really began with the modest cutting of drawings on boards of apple or pear wood with the aid of a common knife, and at first it was employed chiefly as a means of conveying religious instruction to the illiterate common people. With the advent of Diirer it soon became a really great art, and Holbein carried it to a still higher plane. When Bewick in England conceived the idea of the “white line” and invented the modern tools of the wood-engraver the way was opened for a freer handling in general. Many of the great names in all art have been more or less identified with illustration, and in no country in the world can there be found so large a group of competent workers in this field as in America. We publish the best magazines, and it is only natural that we should have through them called forth the best talent in their illustration. The modern art editor, apparently, needs more than anything else a pretty general acquaintance with art in general, and the capa- | city and breadth of view that will allow him to appreciate the possibilities that lie in new and undeveloped talent. The plate-makers are his natural and willing aiders in devising new © methods to achieve any particular result depending upon mechanical means. JAMES B. CARRINGTON. THE AUTHOR. 9} COMMENTS ON THACKERAY’S “ESSAY ON POPE.” S an example of Thackeray’s own style and individual power, this essay on Pope is one of the best of the series. It has needed the skill of a Thackeray, the humour of a Thackeray, and all his almost over- mastering sense of “the pity of it,” to give such a generous appreciation of one of whom it is a little difficult to think generously. But, as a piece of literary criticism pure and simple, I confess that I think it possible to read this essay, and to go away with a very wrong, one- sided idea of Pope, of his character, and of his work. One understands of course that Thackeray has tried to touch the feelings of his readers, to instruct them, to make them want to read and judge and find out for themselves, and that he has not tried to marshal cold facts with the deadly precision of the author of a condensed History of English Literature. None could have touched us better, none could have interested us more ; still, there is very much that one cannot accept without reservation, and a good deal with which one entirely disagrees. For instance, in the opening sentences we are told that “ English men of letters should admire him” (Pope, of course) “‘as the greatest literary artist that England haseverseen.” Ifsuch indeed be the case, then I have regretfully to record the obtuseness of some at least of our English men of letters. I have not been able to find one instance of a modern critic who supports Thackeray in this view. They do not rank him nearly so highly, though they do agree, as far as I could discover, in granting him absolute supremacy as the greatest master of a certain kind of poetic form that England has ever seen, which in other words means that he is the poet who brought the Drydenian couplet to a perfection which has never ‘been surpassed or even equalled. One can admire for oneself, quite apart from the criticism of authorities, the wonderful skill and dexterity with which Pope handles these couplets, how he polishes, refines them, and turns them out clear and crisp and sparkling. Here is an extract from the “ Rape of the Lock,” which should serve to illustrate his style. Itis the description of a bevy of nymphs. “ Some to the sun their insect wings unfold, Waft on the breeze, or sink in clouds of gold ; Transparent forms, too fine for mortal sight, Their fluid bodies half dissolved in light, Loose to the wind their airy garments flew Thin glittering textures of the filmy dew, Dipt in the richest texture of the skies, Where light disports in ever mingling dyes While every beam new transient colours flings Colours that change when e’er they wave their wings.” 61 And it also illustrates, I think, the intolerable monotony of his rhythm. Again, Thackeray uses such terms as “sublime art,’ “immortal young wings,” “astonishing victories,” “dazzling achievements,” which may or may not be flights of rhetoric or flashes of fancy. But when he says “ the shafts of his satire rise sublimely,” and speaks of Pope’s “great soul flashing out,” then the words of another great master of English prose creep into one’s mind, the words of someone who said, “Sarcasm I now see to be in general the language of the Evil One” (or to be quite honest, an expression very much to that effect). There is hardly a page in all Pope’s poetry that does not hold a satire, more or less venomous, more or less cruel. There is scarcely even a thought of men or of manners, that is not satirical at its root. His philosophy of life is just one bitter satire, and I believe he is proud for us to know it. Those lines that he wrote of Addison are only one instance amongst hundreds ; he could write of a man who had been his friend : “ Should such a man, too fond to rule alone Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne. View him with scornful, yet with jealous eyes And hate for arts that caused himself to rise ; Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering teach the rest to sneer ; Willing to wound and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike ; Alike reserved to blame, or to commend, O tim’rous foe, and a suspicious friend.” Tf this is a “sublime shaft of satire,’ if these are the thoughts of a “great soul,” then it were infinitely better to be one of the poorest, most squalid of those Grub Street scribblers whom Pope did so much to torture and maim, red flannel, tallow candles and all. No! No! We cannot all be scholars with an educated taste for good things of a purely literary nature. And, for those of us who are not, these lines and others like them, show clearly enough, pitifully enough, a man who could hit in the dark, and would stab in the back, using weapons that were the more deadly because no one of all his foes but lacked the power to forge any to match them. ‘And so we leave Mr. Pope. But not without a word of gratitude to Thackeray who has touched his faults so gently and excused his failings so tenderly, that one’s heart goes out after all to the poor little cramped self-conscious creature, recognising in him the most pathetic figure surely of all these so-called humorists. —_—_—_———_——_ + + POINTS OF VIEW. + WO articles in the October number of The Author, both written by authors of distinc- tion, are very suggestive to readers and writers, and their points of view are so divergent, that it might be worth while to make a few com- ments on them, which may or not be worth the attention of the readers of The Author. Mr. Harold Begbie, with genuine sympathy and encouragement for those desirous of invading the overcrowded fields of literature or journalism, asserts that “there is not an editor in London who is not anxiously searching for writers with something to say.” This stimulating dnd con- soling statement, addressed to the journalistic novitiate, would be excellent, if the aspirant possessed some of the abilities of the distinguished writer of the “way of journalism.” This supposi- tion, however, I am afraid, has no foundation in fact. Mediocrity is more common than brilliancy or originality. Asarule, then, the “ something to say” has been said many times before very much better. Why strive to increase the stodgy, prolix articles of the hour? Editors are burdened with them, consequently they plead in vain for pub- lication. There are also other potent reasons why the way of journalism is barred to all except to those of exceptional talent. There is always a competent staff for the work ; the editor may be partial to names ; if a company controls the journal, the shareholders, generally contributors, will not have outside intruders; the gates are jealously guarded by the interested small capitalist. Sometimes a proprietor pays the editor a salary to run the paper, and with the aid of free clippings and badly paid hackwork, there is no need for outside contributions. These are all facts within! my own experience, and it may be wise to strip the glamour of journalism of some of its fond illusions, to look at naked truths, in order that the “ways of journalism” may be seen as they are and not as glowing pens imagine them to be. It must also be apparent that London’s intel- lectual world is a strong magnet which draws hosts of the cultured from the provinces. It is a modern Athens which attracts and absorbs. It is therefore the home of fierce literary activities and competition. Youthful talent flocks to the place where appreciation and success seem assured. The Pactolian spring is never dry for the young literary neophyte. The Oxford graduate who has led literary debates with a profound knowledge of use- less subjects, and cannot cope with the harassing details of law and medicine, seeks fame and fortune THE AUTHOR. in literary or journalistic fields. ‘The successful votary encourages him ; but the aspirant’s pen often becomes his enemy instead of his friend. He fights the air and the windmill. His forlorn MSS. only symbol misdirected thought and wasted hours. He might easily follow the advice of the late Grant Allen, and annex a street crossing instead of circulating MSS. amongst editors for a livelihood. With the spread of culture comes the desire of expression. Reading encourages thought ; thought finds its outlet in written words. Every one writes. The typists are always busy. Editors’ offices are beleaguered with MSS. Unfortunately economic laws cannot be displaced ; for the supply of even available MSS. is greater than the demand. Why not then give the afflicted editor a rest ? With all due deference to Mr. Begbie, would it not be advisable to create a scarcity and dearth of MSS., and thus give unrecognised merit its real chance in the future. Whilst Mr. Begbie is preparing editors for another overwhelming rush of MSS., Miss Mary L. Pendered, one of those writers who can always delight and charm, inveighs against the tone and the lowered literary standard of our journals and magazines. This lady sweepingly denounces them. We are told that “they afford a kind of mental nausea,’ and “are devoted to the obvious and commonplace,” that their aim is all to please a class that delights in crude sensation, intricate plot, and treacly sentiment. In another place they are called “gaudy and obstreperous outpourings.” I have no desire nor space to attempt to refute this lady’s criticisms. To read and “inwardly digest” the numerous magazines is not possible. Life is short, and there is a limit to human patience; at the same time, her impressions, doubtless evoked. by scrutinising study, may not fall far off from the actual truth. But if the mass of our periodicals ig destitute of everything that appeals to nature, 91 truth, and literature; if it falls short of that high standard of merit abounding in American magazines, as Miss Pendered informs us, why should Mr. Begbie encourage new writers to replenish unworthy literature, and give them such minute directions for their work? Here, then, is another potent reason for literary novices to desist writing for the present. Let them, instead, study the higher literature of the American magazin and souse their minds with American witticisms, before attempting to inflict editors with their MSS Perhaps then they may be able to raise the literary ideals of the British and improve the critical judgment of our unfortunate editors. TIstporE G. ASCHER. § HOW IT IS DONE; OR, DO NOT SET AN ’ ALIEN TO CATCH AN ALIEN. + TYNHE following is not fiction, it is a statement of facts as they occurred in a provincial town of more than ordinary importance, a few weeks ago. ._.@ “Tuppence and threppence a copy; a piano 1. @ given to every purchaser”’; thus cried the alien _ 9 vendor of pirated music in the market the other @ Friday. “I presume that there is not much 4 demand for this stuff,’ said the man at the next stall, pointing to the music. “T can sell on a poor day,” replied the alien, “about one hundred copies.” YS “ About half of the takings of which I presume ~<"@ is profit ?” “«My man,” said the music vendor, tapping his questioner upon the shoulder, “ when I have taken thirteen shillings, nine of it is profit.” ae “Tucky fellow! lucky fellow! But why do you “"@ charge threepence for some, and twopence for others?” “Because some people prefer to pay the larger > amount.” ‘ “You pay the same price for them all?” “What do you think !” At, this point the attention of the stallholders ‘) was drawn to a man who stood some distance from 7°) the music stall, with his eyes first upon the music } and then upon the stallholder. “The publishers’ () man,” was whispered from one stallholder to ' another. “Will he seize his stock ?.” inquired a _ postman of a fruiterer. “What do you think ?” was the reply. catch a Jew! Never!” “Do you mean that the vendor will give him the slip?” “TI mean, young man, that the fellow selling ¥* music will get the tip to clear out.” *~ _ Two hours passed, during which a brisk trade was © done by the Jew in pirated music. At twelve » @clock a young man, an Englishman forsooth ! ” of respectable appearance, pitched his stall, and © arranged a quantity of pirated music. No sooner w had he displayed his stock, than the publishers’ # Man, with a policeman, advanced and seized #) the entire lot. While this was in process the _ dew calmly packed his took departure. The following day, Saturday, at the principal © Market of the town, the Jew was there doing a | Yoaring trade. The Englishman was there also, but » he was going from stall to stall to see if anyone _ Wanted an assistant. Sia er eS «A Jew bag, and his dy DL, B. THE AUTHOR. 63 THE ART AND CRAFT OF THE AUTHOR. N unpretentious little work entitled “The A Art and Craft of the Author,” by ©. E, Heisch, has been published by Mr. Elliot Stock. It was with some diffidence that we opened its pages. So many books have been written on similar subjects, “‘How to become Authors,” “How to Publish,” “How to do this,” “ How to do that,” and many of them so hopelessly bad ; our diffidence was in no wise allayed when we saw the Preface commence with the ominous words, ‘* Most books are bad and ought not to have been written.” Did the remark apply in this case, and was Schopenhauer’s utterly truthful assertion going to be verified. On deeper investigation the pessimistic philosopher’s dictum appeared not to be altogether applicable. The book is divided into fifteen chapters. The headings of some of these will indicate sufficiently the scope and direction of the work. Chapter L., Education and Training; Chapter II., Choice of Subject ; Chapter III., Handling of Materials ; Chapters VIII,, IX., X., on Style ; Chapters XII. and XIII, Originality and Inspiration. The matter, therefore, does not touch the method of marketing the literary commodities, the technical side, but endeavours to explain the inward and spiritual grace necessary to produce the outward and visible sign. It is not teeming with originality and inspiration, and most of its best sayings are in the form of quotations, from Josef Joubert, Emerson, Carlyle, Schopenhauer, and others. The student author, after careful reading, will not be carried away by enthusiasm, nor will he sink in the depths of despair. But on the other hand he may find in some of the statements food for quiet meditation. Take for instance the following from Schopenhauer: ‘‘ He compares the mind of the author to a mirror, which reflects every object which passes before it; but once within the mirror the objects change their positions, form fresh combinations, and enter upon new relations.” This is a fair simile of the process of selection going on in the mind of the artist who aims at originality. For the power of selection is one of the attributes of all great artists. As an introduction to the deeper study of the subject the book will afford pleasant reading to those who are thinking of interesting themselves in the pursuit of literature. —_——_+—>—_+__——_- CORRESPONDENCE. a A Missine VOLUME. Str,—I desire to enlist the friendly services of fellow-members in an endeavour to trace the third volume of an old novel entitled “ Rebecca ; or the Victim of Duplicity,” published close upon a century ago. Also to try and discover who was the author or authoress of the book. It was printed at Uttoxeter, in Staffordshire, “by R. Richards and sold by Lackington, Allen & Co., London, 1808.” This much is chronicled ; but nothing is said as to authorship. In April, 1904, two volumes only of “ Rebecca” were picked up by Mr. Edward 8. Dodgson from a second-hand book trough on the quais of Paris. He paid 10 centimes for his find, and presented it to the library of the Sorbonne. Tt is a curious fact that two novels of the same title were produced within a few years of each other. There is also some confusion as well as mystery surrounding their identification and form of issue. But there can be very little doubt that a third volume of this particular “ Rebecca” was published. Who will help to secure a complete set thereof? Some people think the work was written by a Mrs. Holbrook, who was responsible for other stories about the period mentioned. But no one is quite sure, though local history has been exten- sively tapped. Hence this inquiry, and my appeal for assistance in order that the quarry may be run to earth. CECIL CLARKE. Authors’ Club, 8.W. a Srr,—Would any of your readers, who are like- wise writers, care to submit a short list of reference books, &c., necessary to the literary stock-in-trade of a would-be author or journalist ? Such books as Roget’s “Thesaurus,” Bartlett’s “ Dictionary of Quotations,” Brewer's “ Reader’s Handbooks,” &e., excluding an encyclopedia, which might be beyond the means of some. Just a few essential volumes to form a “travelling library,” which can be bought at a moderate cost. Yours faithfully, A Srrueetine LirriraTEUR. Stonehouse, Glos. —_+-—<+—_ Srr,—I should like to correct a printer’s error in my article, ‘‘ Wanted,” last month, when Van Bibber appeared as Van Bidder. Yours, Mary L. PENDERED. A New Way. Srr,—As The Author has done so much in protecting the interests of writers, | make a point THE AUTHOR. of sending to you, as a warning to others, notes of any “sharp practice” to which I myself have been ~ subject. Some months ago T sent to a technical journal for review a copy of a new edition of one of my books, of which they were good enough to give me a very flattering notice. A few weeks ago, quite by accident, I picked up a copy of this paper and was astonished to find they had taken, without any acknowledgment, no less than forty-five lines from the book, and by writing a new head and tail piece had passed it on as original advice to a correspon- dent. I have no objection to my matter being used when suitably acknowledged, but I strongly object to this wholesale “lifting.” The paper has since acknowledged the source from which they obtained their “cheap copy,” but I have not yet decided whether to sue them for infringement or not. I think I ought to, as I believe this sort of thing is often done and never found out. Possibly the editor thinks he is entitled to a guid pro quo for his friendly notice. Yours faithfully, M. Powis-Baus, M.Inst.C.. Wantep, A REFERENCE ! SrIrR,— “ Cumque superba foret Babylon spolianda tropes, Bella geri placuit nullos habitura triumphos.” Could any reader of Zhe Author be 80 kind as to supply me with the reference to these two lines, and a little of the context ? Yours obediently, J. M. Ley. — MaGazIneE EDITORS. Srr,—Few editorial sins are more annoying to magazine writers than the practice of making arbitrary excisions subsequent to the correction of proof ; the whole tone of an article may thus be changed, or, in the case of a story, all logical sequence destroyed, and the pith of the matter omitted. An editor who purchases the serial rights of any MS. is indeed, nominally, not at liberty to tamper with it, yet redress for sup- pression is almost impossible to obtain, and in any case would be of little value to the author after the appearance in print of his or her signature to a mutilated production. In order to avoid this unpleasant experience, I would suggest that writers should accept an editor’s terms subject to their MS being published “ without excision.” 2 A SUFFERER. 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. 16 Issue 02 (November 1905) Subject The topic of the resource The Author, Vol. 16 Issue 02 (November 1905) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1905-11-01-The-Author-16-2 publications The Author