https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/535/1914-01-01-The-Author-24-4.pdf e0533c53cae4a566378208021967c35c 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) 1914-01-01 Volume 24 Issue 4 Pages Page range in volume 93–122 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 19140101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Che HMuthbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. FOUNDED BY SIR Monthly.) WALTER BESANT. Vor. XXIV.—No. 4. JANUARY 1, 1914. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. TELEPHONE NUMBER: 874 VICTORIA. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: AUTORIDAD, LONDON. — NOTICES. —+—~<9+—_ RR the opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or paragraphs must be taken as expressing the opinion of the Committee unless such is especially stated to be the case. Tue Editor begs to inform members of the Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author that the cases which are 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. ARTICLES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. Tue Editor of The Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of cost, its production 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, 1, Cen- tral Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster, S.W., and should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. Communications and letters are invited by ed Editor on all literary matters treated from on. X IV, the standpoint of art or business, but on no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to return articles which cannot be accepted. ADVERTISEMENTS, Messrs. Matthews’ Advertising Service, Staple Inn Buildings, High Holborn, W.C., will act as agents for advertisements for “The Author.” All communications respect- ing advertisements should be addressed to them. As there seems to be an impression among readers of The Author that the Committee are personally responsible for the bona fides of the advertisers, the Committee desire it to be stated that this is not, and could not possibly be, the ease. Although care is exercised that no undesirable advertisements be inserted, they do not accept, and never have accepted, any liability. Members should apply to the Secretary for advice if special information is desired. +—> + THE SOCIETY’S FUNDS. gg ROM time to time members of the Society desire to make donations to its funds in recognition of work that has been done for them. The Committee, acting on the suggestion of one of these members, have decided to place this permanent paragraph in The Author in order that members may be cognisant of those funds to which these con- tributions may be paid. The funds suitable for this purpose are: (1) The Capital Fund. This fund is kept in reserve in case it is necessary for the Society to incur heavy expenditure, either in fighting a question of principle, or in assisting to obtain copyright reform, or in dealing with any other * 3 i THE AUTHOR. MR. GOSSE’S ESSAYS.* oe volume of Mr. Gosse’s collected essays will be welcomed alike by those who made the ac- quaintance of these particular essays when they first appeared, and by those to whom they are new. Few writers, past or present, can invest with so much charm the critical and anecdotal saunter round the shelves of a book-room as our author. Few, too, have such sane views of what a library should be—“ a small one, where the books are carefully selected and thoughtfully arranged in accord- ance with one central code of taste, and intended to be respectfully consulted at any moment by the master of their destinies.”’ If fortune made him possessor of one book of excessive value, Mr. Gosse tells us, he would hasten to part with it. This is true wisdom. The first quarto of “Hamlet” may be left to the Transatlantic millionaire. The essays before us range over a vast period of literary history. From Camden’s ‘“‘ Britannia,” early in the sixteenth century, they travel by degrees to Meredith’s “‘ Shaving of Shagpat.” The first and the last, it will be seen, deal with well-known works. Perhaps the most pleasing, however, are those which take as their subject obscure or forgotten books —such as Wither’s ‘‘ Shepheards Hunting,” Lady Winchilsea’s “ Miscellany Poems,” Farquhar’s ‘“‘ Love and Business,” and that extraordinary panegyric on prize- fighting, “‘ The Fancy,” of which the author was Keats’s friend, John Hamilton Reynolds, disguised under the alias of Peter Corcoran. The last-named essay—for it takes its title from the title of _Reynold’s book—is an admirable example of the man of letters at the ring-side. With what gusto does Mr. Gosse quote Corcoran’s apology to his lady-love :-— “ Forgive me, and never, oh never again, Tl cultivate light blue or brown inebriety ; Tl give up all chance of a fracture or sprain, And part, worst of all, with Pierce Egan’s society.” and explain that “heavy brown with a dash of blue in it’ was the fancy phrase for stout mixed with gin ! There may be those to whom it seems grotesque to turn the pen to discourse of such things as these. To them may be commended the lines from Samuel Daniel’s “* Musophilus,” which Mr. Gosse quotes as the motto of his book, beginning **O blessed Letters, that combine in one All ages past, and make one live with all. . . .” * “Gossip in a Library,” by Edmund Gosse, C.B. London; William Heinemann. HE second CORRESPONDENCE. —~> + —— ** ONLY.”’ Sir,—The irritating misuse of the word ‘only ’? to which your correspondent “ Richard Free ” called attention in your last issue, is by no means confined to careless writers. Many who denounce the split infinitive have not yet had their grammatical consciousness awakened to this solecism. For example, I have culled the following three passages from the latest edition of ‘“‘ The King’s English,” the best book we have on the ill-treatment of English. ‘“ We shall now only make three general remarks before proceeding to details.”’ ‘““The mistakes are nearly always on one side, the infinitive being the form that should only be used with caution.” “For a person’s name can only require a defining cause to distinguish him from others of the same name.” The intended meanings are certainly not “only make,’ ‘“‘ only require,”’ or “ only be used,’’ as a moment’s analysis shows. This is perhaps the commonest error in both spoken and written English at the present day ; once perceived, it is undoubtedly one of the most irritating, and your correspondent deserves thanks for calling attention to it. I am, Your obedient servant, Ernest A. Baker. SE ann a a New anp AMUSING TRICK OF THE Lirersary AGENT. Dear S1r,—The literary agent has found a new way of amusing his authors. He has a special cheque printed with a receipt upon the back which requires a penny stamp. He pays his author with one of these cheques and of course does not stamp his receipt. The author is abroad, or he has only embossed envelopes upon his desk, and the fun begins. Publishers are taking up this delightful little novelty. The author finds on the back of the publisher’s cheque a printed receipt, in which he is invited to make over to the publisher all sorts of rights he never sold when the. bargain was made. Any alteration of the receipt invalidates the cheque. Letters, explanations, recriminations. What an infernal nuisance all this smartness is! X, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) Che Author. FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT. VoL. XXIV.—No. 4. JANUARY 1, 1914. [PRICE SIXPENCE. TELEPHONE NuMBER: 874 VICTORIA. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: AUTORIDAD, LONDON. ——— NOTICES. a RR the opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or paragraphs must be taken as expressing the opinion of the Committee unless such is especially stated to be the case. Tue Editor begs to inform members of the Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author that the cases which are 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. ARTICLES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. Tue Editor of The Author begs to remind ' members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of cost, its production 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, 1, Cen- tral Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster, S.W., and should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. Communications and letters are invited by ~ Editor on all literary matters treated from ou. X IV, the standpoint of art or business, but on no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to return articles which cannot be accepted. ADVERTISEMENTS. Messrs. Matthews’ Advertising Service, Staple Inn Buildings, High Holborn, W.C., will act as agents for advertisements for “The Author.” All communications respect- ps advertisements should be addressed to them. As there seems to be an impression among readers of The Author that the Committee are personally responsible for the bona fides of the advertisers, the Committee desire it to be stated that this is not, and could not possibly be, the ease. Although care is exercised that no undesirable advertisements be inserted, they do not accept, and never have accepted, any liability. Members should apply to the Secretary for advice if special information is desired. —- + THE SOCIETY’S FUNDS. Seg ROM time to time members of the Society desire to make donations to its funds in recognition of work that has been done for them. The Committee, acting on the suggestion of one of these members, have decided to place this permanent paragraph in The Author in order that members may be cognisant of those funds to which these con- tributions may be paid. The funds aatable for this purpose are: (1) The Capital Fund. This fund is kept in reserve in case it is necessary for the Society to incur heavy expenditure, either in fighting a question of principle, or in assisting to obtain copyright reform, or in dealing with any other * 2 ; 94 matter closely connected with the work of the Society. : : (2) The Pension Fund This fund is slowly increasing, and it is hoped will, in time, cover the needs of all the members of the Society. —_———_+ <> —___——__ THE PENSION FUND. — 1 N January, the secretary of the Society I laid before the trustees of the Pension Fund the accounts for the year 1912, as settled by the accountants. After giving the matter full consideration, the trustees in- structed the secretary to invest a sum of £300 in the purchase of Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway 4% Extension Shares, 1914, £10 fully paid. The number of shares pur- chased at the current price was twenty-five and the amount invested £296 1s. 1ld. The trustees are also purchasing three more Central Argentine Railway New Shares at par, on which as holders of the Ordinary Stock they have an option. The trustees desire to thank the members of the Society for the continued support which they have given to the Pension Fund. The nominal value of the investments held on behalf of the Pension Fund now amounts to £4,764 6s., details of which are fully set out in the following schedule :— Nominal Value. 6.1 d Local LOANS: ..........-¢-s.--- 500 0 0 Victoria Government 3% Consoli- dated Inscribed Stock ........ 291 19 11 London and North-Western 3% Debenture Stock ............ 250 0 0 Egyptian Government Irrigation Trust 4% Certificates ........ 200 0 0 Cape of Good Hope 33% Inscribed StoGk, $3 occ lice ots dn 200 0 0 Glasgow and South-Western Rail- way 4% Preference Stock 228 0 0 New Zealand 34% Stock ....... 247 9 6 Trish Land 22% Guaranteed Stock 258 0 0 Corporation of London 23% Stock, 1927-57). 0.5 scenes cus 438. 2 4 Jamaica 34% Stock, 1919—49 .. 182 18 6 Mauritius 4% 1987 Stock ....... 120 12 1 Dominion of Canada, C.P.R. 84% Land Grant Stock, 1988 ...... 198 8 8 Antofagasta and Bolivian Railway 5% Preferred Stock .......... 237 0 0 Central Argentine Railway Or- dinary Stock ....... veavcan. &. 282:.0..0 THE AUTHOR. Nominal Value. £ &@ $2,000 Consolidated Gas and Electric Company of Baltimore 44% Gold Bonds ........--. 400 0 0 250 Edward Lloyd, Ltd., £1 5% Preference Shares ........+.-- 250 0 0 55 Buenos Ayres Great Southern Railway 4% Extension Shares, 1914 (fully paid) ............ 550 0 0 & 8 Central Argentine Railway £10 Preference Shares, New Issue.. 30 0 0 Total 2. i263 ce £4,764 6 0 PENSION FUND. —+~> + Tue list printed below includes all fresh dona- tions and subscriptions (i.e., donations and | subscriptions not hitherto acknowledged) received by, or promised to, the fund from April, 1913. It does not include either donations given prior to January, nor does it include sub- scriptions paid in compliance with promises made before it. Subscriptions. 19138. April 8, Caulfield-Stoker, T. . June 12, Wimperis, Arthur . June 16, Ballantyne, J. W. June 16, Thorold, Rupert Oct. 8, Rees, Miss Rosemary Oct. 8, Pearce, J. 2 : : Oct. 9, Drummond, Miss Florence Oct. 9, Rumbold, Hugo Oct. 13, Knowles, Miss Oct. 20, Collison, Harry : Oct. 21, Buchanan, Miss Meriel Oct. 25, Baker, E. A. . ; Nov. 6, Bentley, E. C. : Nov. 6, Petersen, Miss Margaret Nov. 7, Lang, Mrs. John Nov. 19, Langferte, Raymond Nov. 24, Webb, W. Trego Nov. 24, Mackenzie, Compton Dec. 4, Vansittart, Robert Dec. 4, Lunn, Arnold . : Dec. 4, Stewart, Miss Marie . Dec. 4, Berry, Miss Ana Dec. 4, Vallois, Miss Grace Dec. 17, Beresford, J. D. 1913. CUMANOAH As — _ SOHO Ot OS OS Or Or Or Or St Or Oc Or cococacocosososcoscooossoooooF® ecocoooreoccoocoosorososooororoth — Donations. April 2, Daniel, E. H. . ; . April 2, Hain, H.M. . : » 0 45 oon THE AUTHOR. 95 th ~% April 7, Taylor, Miss Sueties M. . April 7, Harding, Newman . ‘ April 9, Strachey, Miss Amabel . April 10, Aspinall, Algernon. April 15, Craig, Gordon ; . April, Robbins, Miss Alice June 12, Peel, Mrs... : June 18, Barlow, Miss Hilaré : June 13, Kynnersley, E. M. Sneyd. July 5, Williams, Robert . . July 11, Broadbent, D. R. . ‘ July 22, Cameron, Mrs. Charlotte . Sept. 29, Peacock, Mrs. F. M. Sept. 30, Wallis-Healy, F. < Oct. 7, Darwin, Sir Francis . : Oct. 9, Carroll, Sydney Wentworth Oct. 21, Troubetzkoy, The Princess Oct. 27, Frankish, Harold ; Oct. 30, Rossman, Miss Nov. 3, Holland, Theodore Noy. 3, Steane, Bruce Noy. 3, Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite Nov. 10, Elvington, Miss Helen Nov. 10, Waterbury, Mrs. . < Dec. 5, Dymock, R. G. Vaughton . Dec. 6, Macdonald, Miss Julia : Dec. 11, Little, Mrs. Archibald. . 1 Dec. 11, Topham, Miss Ann . _ _ CSOT RK ON OLOTOO CONN EH OOOOH ae Ok OO: — _ ececoeocoaancoocoonocacocooooonoooocSe COCFrFSOOCOCOCOOCOSOHOCOUOCONKE RK OCOCSCOoFrEoooSO eg eg COMMITTEE NOTES. | last meeting of the Committee of Management for 1913 was held at the offices of the Society on December 1. After the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, the committee proceeded with the election of members. Thirty-three members and associates were elected. The committee are pleased to state that the elections this year have exceeded the number elected in 1912, and give the Society another record, 349 members and associates having been elected. The committee then accepted with regret eight resignations, bringing the resignations for the year up to ninety-one. Here, again, the com- mittee may congratulate the members. The resignations are slightly fewer than in 1912, when the number was ninety-nine. It must be remembered that in proportion to the size of the Society the decrease is even more marked than might, at first sight, seem apparent. The solicitor of the Society then reported on the cases with which he had been dealing during the month. The first, which has been running on for some time, arose out of a dispute on accounts. It is possible this matter may be settled by the purchase outright by the publisher of the member’s copyright. The next matter referred to a dispute as to the payment by a certain publisher of an amount due, the publisher having disclaimed the full liability owing to non-fulfilment of part of the contract by the author. A sum has now been agreed in settlement. In the last issue, reference was made to a difficult case. An agent had sold certain rights in an article to an American magazine without referring the question of price to the author. The American magazine insisted on its strict legal rights, in spite of the author’s wishes to the contrary. It appeared, after investigation, that the agent had exceeded his instructions, and, in consequence, that the editor of the American paper, from his point of view, had acted within his rights, the only claim open to the author being against the agent for exceeding his authority. Another question arose out of a dispute between author and publisher, dealing with the publication of a book. At the author’s suggestion, she attended personally and explained the full details to the committee. The committee carefully considered the rights of the matter from every point of view, the Society’s solicitor setting out the legal position. After full dis- cussion, the committee came to the conclusion that the publisher had not broken or exceeded his contract, and there was no legal claim enforceable by the member against him. The solicitor was instructed to report to the member accordingly. The solicitors then reported that the Society’s case, Corelli v. Gray, taken to the Court of Appeal at the instance of the defendant, had been heard, and that judgment had been given in that Court in confirmation of the judgment given in the court below. A report of the case appeared in the December issue of The Author. In a dispute between author and publisher on the terms of a contract the committee decided to go ahead. The next question dealt with the delay in publication of a book. The solicitors had already received instructions to bring pressure on the publisher, and the committee decided that whatever steps might be necessary to ensure early publication should be taken. In a dispute arising between an author and a magazine relating to infringement of copyright, the solicitors reported that a settlement had been reached on the basis that the editor had 96 agrecd to publish an apology drafted on behalf of the member. A member of the Society appealed to the committee in the following circumstances :— A book had been published by a certain firm for the member, but had been adver- tised in the publisher’s lists as by another author. The matter had been taken in hand at once. The publisher had expressed his regret and had undertaken to do what he could to remedy the mistake. This settlement had been agreed to by the author. A dispute on one of the unsatisfactory con- tracts which authors so often make, binding themselves in respect of future books, had arisen. The question at issue was the number of books which had been offered to the pub- lisher and the royalties payable on those accepted. The matter was one of importance, as the amount of the author’s royalty depended upon the correct interpretation of the agree- ment. The solicitors advised that they con- sidered the author had a sound case, and the matter will be submitted to arbitration under a clause in the agreement to that effect. In three small claims for moneys due the solicitor reported that in the first case he had signed judgment. -In the second case he had issued a summons, and in the third he proposed now to take steps to commit the defendant for contempt of court as he had failed to attend an appointment to be examined before the Master. The committee authorised these proceedings. A difficult case arose under an agreement executed some years ago, in which it was claimed that the acting rights in a play included the cinematograph rights. It was decided to await further developments and the committee instructed the solicitors to report fully when further information was to hand. The next matter related to a dispute between two members of the Society as to whether one member had infringed the other’s copyright. The solicitor was given instructions, having heard statements from both parties, to endeavour to arrange a settlement, and if unsuccessful, to offer to have the matter settled by an arbitrator appointed by the Society’s committee. The result will be reported to the next meeting. The secretary then reported to the committee certain eases which had arisen, which had not been in the hands of the solicitors. The first was an alleged breach of contract by an Australian editor. It was decided to place the matter in the hands of a lawyer in THE AUTHOR. Australia if the solicitors of the Society advised the claim was a sound one. In a case of dispute between a member of the Society and‘an agent which had been placed before the Society by the agent, the committee decided it was impossible for them to advise the agent as to the course to be pursued, the advice, if any, only being available to the member and at his request. The secretary reported that in a case which the committee had agreed to take in Germany subject to the approval of the member con- cerned—for whom counsel’s opinion had been taken—the member, after consideration, had decided not to trouble the Society any further. An important case being fought out in America—important to all authors—English and American—had been brought to the notice’ of the Society, not only by the American Authors’ League, but by an American member of the Society. The committee decided to assist the Authors’ League of America to fight the case as they considered a judgment on the issues of vital importance to all authors. Another American case involving questions as to the international arrangements between the United States and England was brought to the notice of the committee, and the committee decided to put the full details before the Board of Trade or whatever Government office might be competent to deal with the details. In another case in the United States—a dispute between an author and an agent—it was decided, on the author’s statement that he did not wish to press the matter, to write to the agent to draw his attention to the unsatisfactory nature of the explanation given. The question of the right of the Income Tax Commissioners to demand from publishers detailed statements of the sums paid in royalties to their authors was considered, and it was decided to obtain counsel’s opinion on a matter which was of such vital importance to authors. The secretary reported that, owing to the pressure of work at the office, it had been found absolutely essential to engage a new clerk. The engagement was confirmed by the com- mittee. A letter from Sir Alfred Bateman, who was unable to attend the meeting, was read. It dealt with certain important questions of international copyright in which he had been working for the benefit of the Society. The committee expressed their thanks to Sir Alfred for his labours. The committee sanctioned the drawing of a cheque for Christmas boxes for the clerks of nesinematerer mn alg ue | fe | THER AUTHOR. the Society as the work of the Society had been successful during the year. They also sanc- tioned the purchase of certain office furniture. Mr. Rann Kennedy received the thanks of the committee for his generous action in paying costs ineurred by the Society in a copyright ease in Winnipeg. The amount—£15—was paid into the capital account. The committee also thanked Mr. Banister Fletcher for a donation of £5 5s. to the same fund. The questions of loans to authors and the International Gathering of 1915 were adjourned to the next meeting. te Dramatic SuB-CoMMITTEE. Tue December meeting of the Dramatic Sub-Committee was held on Friday, Decem- ber 19, at three o’clock. After the reading of the minutes, the secretary reported that the draft Royalty Agreement, with notes and comments, had not yet been finally settled, but that the delegates appointed to settle it hoped to be able to lay it before the sub-committee at the next meeting. The secretary read some very interesting letters he had received from the secretary of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques in regard to cinema rights in France, and laid on the table an agreement which had been settled for the marketing of these rights. He was instructed to make further enquiries of the French society, and to inform the society that the sub-committee would be ready to consider any proposal for an international conference. The secretary also read a letter on the same matter from Mr. Rex Beach, who was acting for the United States Author’s League, and he was requested to thank Mr. Beach for his letter. The sub-committee then settled their nominees for the coming year, and a notice will be sent round to the dramatic section in due course. The question of placing powers of attorney in the hands of foreign lawyers was again con- sidered, and a draft power of attorney was laid on the table. The matter was referred to the Committee of Management for their sanction. An interesting letter from an American lawyer to Mr, Charles Frohman, setting out the method by which dramatic copyright could be secured in Canada, was read to the sub- committee, and the secretary was instructed to enquire of Mr, Frohman whether he would 97 have any objection to its being published in The Author. Mr. Jerome put before the sub-committee an important case in which he was involved, and the sub-committee referred the matter to the Committee of Management for their favour- able consideration. The secretary then pointed out the necessity for dramatists to register their plays in Australia, in order that they might obtain the benefit of the summary proceedings under the Australian Act. He was instructed to write to the Registrar in Australia to obtain full details, with registration forms, if possible, so that the Society might carry through such registration on behalf of its members. One of the members of the sub-committee raised the question of the interference of middlemen between dramatic authors and managers, and the secretary was instructed to write a paragraph on the point for insertion in The Author. — —> Composers’ SuB-COMMITTEE. Tue December meeting of the Composers’ Sub-Committee was held on Saturday, December 18, at No. 1, Central Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster, S.W., at 11 a.m. After the minutes of the former meeting were read and signed, the sub-committee considered the following questions :— The secretary reported that a paragraph had been sent to the papers, and also men- tioned the papers in which it had appeared. It was hoped that this paragraph might have some effect in bringing composers more closely together, Arising out of this it was suggested that an article should be written in one of the papers dealing with mechanical reproduction and composers’ rights, and the secretary was instructed to see whether he could get such an article inserted in one of the London papers. The sub-committee next considered the question of stamps on mechanical instruments. It appeared that the stamps which, under the Board of Trade regulations, had been affixed to mechanical reproductions, were often falling off. The companies whose duty it was to affix the stamps, stated that all they had to prove was that the stamps were affixed, and that if the stamps dropped off, the fault was due to the copyright owners who had supplied stamps inadequately gummed. The sub- committee thought the matter of serious importance, as it was very difficult to check piracies unless the matter was carried out 98 according to the spirit of the Act. It was decided to write to other collecting agencies with a view to joint action being taken in submitting the matter to the Board of Trade. Another question arose as to the supplying of stamps in foreign countries, and the sub- committee decided to accept a proposal at any rate, for one year, put forward by one of the foreign collecting socicties, in order to test a suggestion that they had made. The question of the loaning of orchestral parts and works by certain lending libraries attached to music publishing houses was con- sidered. The arrangement frequently left the composer with no monetary reward, and it appeared clear that if the idea was carried forward to any great extent, it would be possible for the publishers to avoid paying any very large sums in royalties, owing to the fact that the publishers need not sell, but might only loan the composers’ works. The next question had reference to the prices which the composers of comic songs received for their performing rights and mechanical instrument rights. The secretary was instructed to obtain further information. Members of the Committee, also, promised to obtain information and report. An article written on instructions given by the sub-committee at their former meeting, deal- ing with the collection of mechanical fees, was read, and the sub-committee decided, with the approval of the Committee of Management, that the article should appear in The Author. They also decided, with the approval of the committee of Management, that the com- poser’s pamphlet should be printed, containing the secretary’s article on The Commercial Side of Music, the article by Mr. E. J. Mac- Gillivray on Composers’ Rights, and a Com- posers’ Royalty Agreement, when it is settled. It is hoped these matters will be carried through in the beginning of the year. The arrangements for the meeting with the delegates of the Society of British Composers were finally settled, and a report will be sub- mitted to the next meeting of the sub- committee. The question of agents’ fees in foreign countries was considered and adjourned, pending the arrival of further information which was expected before the next meeting of the sub-committee. The consideration of the royalty agreement was also adjourned. oe THE AUTHOR. Cases. Durine the past month there have been eighteen cases in the hands of the secretary. There were four cases, disputes on agree- ments, two of which have been negotiated ; one has been placed in the hands of the Society’s solicitors and one has only recently come to the office. In two claims for MSS. from editors, the MSS. have been returned and forwarded to the authors. There has been one application for accounts and money, but as the matter lies in the United States, it will be some time before it is possible to report the result. There have been ten applications on behalf of members for default of payment; four of these have been successfully carried through ; three have had to be placed in the hands of the Society’s solicitors, and of the remaining three, two have only recently come to the office, and the last one is in course of negotiation. In one case of infringement of copyright, the infringement has been acknowledged and the matter has been settled. Of the eighteen cases three were in foreign countries. It is useful to note that the number of complaints which the Society is asked to settle outside the British Isles increases monthly. There are three cases open from former months, not counting those which have had to be placed in the hands of the Society’s solicitors. Of these two are in the United States and one is in Canada. It is hoped, however, that negotiations will be carried through successfully, indeed in one case the matter seems almost to be at an end. —— December Elections. Armstrong, Cecil Ferard 164, Ebury Street, S.W. Smith Street, Barnby, Miss. ; Westminster, S.W. Berry, Ana M. . . 8, Sloane Court, S.W. Bradley, Miss Edith Greenway Court, Hollingbourne, Kent. Coales, H. G. (“‘ Market Harborough ’’). Coats-Bush, W. . : Market Harborough. Villa Vecchia, Davos Dorg, Switzerland. 6, Pembroke Walk Studios, Kensing- ton, W. Cook, Miss Margaret C. - q fi hp ea Comper, Cotes, Miss Frances M. M. Cory, Mrs. Theodore . Mrs. (“* Sara Duncan ’’). Everard Jeannette Cross, Miss May . ‘ Davies, Emil tr “. 7 JONES, Fraser, Hampden-Cook, Deane, Sara ‘ ‘ Dymock, R. G. Vaugh- ton (““ R. Penley’’). Maj.-Gen. Sir Thomas, K.C.B., C.M.G. Gaul, Miss Lilian J. . Rev. ‘Ernest, M.A. Horn, Miss Kate (‘‘ Mrs. Weigall”). Ernest, M.D., M.R.C.P. * King, Cecil Lubbock, Basil i Lunn, Arnold rity ph Meese 3 ¢ Mitford, E. | Vavasour-Earle, Watson, Bruce, F.R.G.S. Roberts, Dr. C. G. D.. Smyth, Dr. Ethel Steuart, Maria S. . Vallois, Grace Mary. a ' -Vansittart, Robert : Vaughan Miss Evelyn Goode. Miss Aimée. Alex. C. (“ Alexander Camp- bell”) —_(** Campbell Watson’’). Watson, Augusta Gor- don, THE AUTHOR. 1, Stratford Street, Oxford. The White House, Hampton Court. 36, Buckingham Gate, S.W. 86, Worple Road, Wimbledon, S.W. 65, 66, Chancery Lane, W.C. 28, Wellington Court, Knightsbridge, S.W. Prestfelde, bury. 83, Onslow Square, S.W. Shrews- Gillott Lodge, Gillott Road, Edgbaston. Methlic, Brentwood, Essex. 391, Upper Rich- mond Road, Put- ney, S.W. 69, Portland Court, W. 225, Goldhurst Ter- race, South Hamp- stead, N.W. The Manor House, Hamble, Hants. 8, Upper Woburn Place, W.C. 29, Sternhold Avenue, Streat- ham, S.W. 8,Sergeants Inn, W.C. Coign, Hook Heath, Woking. 79, Great King Street, Edinburgh. 59, Cambridge Road, Kilburn, N.W. 31, Princes Gate,S.W. Fullarton, Adelaide, S. Australia. The Haven, 53, Queen’s Road, St. John’s Wood, N.W. 4, Queen Edinburgh. Street, 8, Cadogan Gardens, S.W. 99 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS. ——— + While every effort is made by the compilers to keep this list as accurate and exhaustive as possible, they have some difficulty in attaining this object owing to the fact that many of the books mentioned are not sent to the office by the members, In consequence, it is necessary to rely largely upon lists of books which appear in literary and other papers. It is hoped, however, that members will co-operate in the compiling of this list, and, by sending particulars of their works, help to make it substantially accurate, ARCH ZOLOGICAL. Norres oN THE CHURCHES IN THE DEANERY OF KeEnn, Devon. By Bearrix F. CResswetn. 9 x 6. 91 pp. Exeter: J. J. Commins and Son. ARCHITECTURE. An Intropvuction to Enciise CHurcH ARCHITECTURE FROM THE ELEVENTH To THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. By Francis Bonn, M.A., F.G.S., Hon. A.R.1.B.A. Two Vols. xxxv + vi+ 986pp. Milford. Two guineas n. ART. PAINTING IN THE Far East. An INTRODUCTION TO THE Hisrory oF Picrortan ArT IN ASIA, ESPECIALLY CHINA AND Japan. By Laurence Bryyon. Second edition revised throughout. 10} x 8. xviii + 295 pp. Edward Arnold. 21s. n. More asout Cottectinc. By Sir James Yoxatt, M.P. 8} x 6. 339 pp. Stanley Paul. 5s. n. VisvakaRMA: Examples of Indian Architecture, Sculp- ture, Painting, Handicraft. Chosen by Ananpa K. Coomaraswamy, D.Sc. Part VI. 11 x 8%. 100 pp. 2s. 6d. (Rs. 2). BIOGRAPHY. MacponaLp or THE Isues. By A. M. W. Srra.ina. 9 x 5}, xii + 295 pp. John Murray. 12s. n. Memories oF A Musician: REMINISCENCES OF SEVENTY Years or Musicat Lire. By WinetmMGanz. 9 x 5h. xiv + 357 pp. John Murray. 12s. n. My Betovep Sour. By Mrs. T. P. O'Connor. 9 x 53. vili + 427 pp. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 10s. 6d. n. BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. SHAKESPEARE’S Srorres. By Constance and Mary Maup. 73 x 5. 346 pp. Edward Arnold. 5s. n. Marcarer’s Boox. By H. Frenpinc-Harn. 9 x 6}. 284 pp. Hutchinson. 7s. 6d. n. DRAMA. LANDED Gentry: A Comepy In Four Acts. By W.S. Mavecuam. 7 x 5. vii+ 168 pp. Heinemann. 1s. 6d.n. EDUCATIONAL. WINGS AND THE CHILD, oR THE Bur~pine or Maarc Ciriss. By E. Nesprr. 8 x 5}. xiv +197 pp. Hodder and Stoughton. 6s, eg owen % FICTION. 7 #3 Ta" |S] We! THE Epvucation or Oriver Hyp. By Rezcrnatp E. Satwey. Digby, Long & Co. Five Years anp 4 Monto. By Fanny Morris Woop. Duckworth & Co. Loor yrom tHe Tremere or Fortuns. By Horacu Awnestey Vacuetn. 74 x 5. 310 pp. Murray. 6s. StmPLe Smmon. His Adventures in the Thistle Patch. By A. Nem Lyons. Illustrated by G. E. Pero. Lane 6s. 100 FOLK-LORE. By Rev. 8. Barinc-Goutp, M.A. K oF FOLK-LORE. ee i (The Nation’s Library.) Collins 6% x 44. 264 pp. Clear Type Press. 1s. n. HISTORY. [mpErtaLisM AND Mr. GLADSTONE, 1876-1888. Compiled by R. H. GRETTON. 7k x 43. 120 pp. Bell. le. n, LITERARY. Joun Muurncton SYNGE AND THE Trish THEATRE. By Maurice Bovrexois. Demy 8vo. xvi-+ 338 pp. Buckram. With 16 full page illustrations by Joun B. Yuats, R.H.A., Jack B. Yuats, JAMES PATERSON, R.8.A., JoHN CURRIE and others. Constable & Co. Tue LIGHTER SIDE oF ENGLISH Lrrs. By F. FraNxrort Moors. With Illustrations in Colour by GORGE BeLcuer. 8 x 5}. 284 pp. Foulis. 5s. n. Tur KIRRIEMUIR EDITION OF THE Works or J. M. BaRRIE. ‘Ten Vols. 9% x 6%. Hodder and Stoughton. £6 6s. the set. Reminiscent Gosstr oF MEN AND MATTERS. Baker, F.R.G.S. 7} x 5}. viii + 246 pp. man and Hall. 6s. MISCELLANEOUS. Our Wrésr. A Collection of Sketches of Life in the Canadian West. Illustrated with photographs. Thomas Murby & Co., 6, Bouverie Street, E.C. 6d. n. NATURAL HISTORY. Wiup Anmats aT Home. By Ernest THOMSON SETON. 8} x 5B}. xvi+ 224pp. Hodder and Stoughton. 6s. n. Tu BopLey HeAD NaTuRAL HisTORY. By E. D. CuMING. With Illustrations by J. A. SHEPHERD. Vol. Il. British Birds. Passeres. 6} x 5. 122 pp. Lane. 28. n. POETRY. Tar Porms oF Francois VILLON. Translated by H. Dr Vere STacroonn. 9 xX 6}. xii + 300 pp. Hutchin- son. POLITICS. War anp THE Workers. By Norman ANGELL. 63 pp. The National Labour Press. ls. REPRINTS. A Selection from Irish Poetry. By 93 x 6}. xxvi + 160 pp. Sidg- ls. 6d. n. By JAMES Chap- 7k x 5. THe Wimp Harp. KATHARINE TYNAN. wick and Jackson. A Century oF Paropy anp Imitation. Edited by Water Jerrotp and R, M. Leonarp. 1k XG: xv + 429 pp. Humphrey Milford. 1s. 6d. n Tue Hus or Home. By L. MactEan Watt. With the Pentland Essays of Robert Louis STEVENSON. 8) x 5h. 259 pp. Foulis. 5s. n. SCIENCE. “ Wuo's Wuo IN Scrence” (International). Edited by Hl. H. Sreruenson. 9} X 6. 667 pp. J. and A. Churchill. 10s. n. Continurry, THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION, BIRMINGHAM, MCMXIII. By Sm Oxtver Loven. Printed in full, and supplemented by Explana- tory Notes. 7} x 5. 118 pp. Dent. 1s. n. SOCIOLOGY. Conriictine IpEats! Two Sikes OF THE Woman’s Qumstion. By B. L. Hurcutns. 74 x 5. vii + 83 pp. Murby. ls. 6d. n. THE AUTHOR. THEOLOGY. L’Imrration ps Jesus CHRIST. Introduction par Mer. R. H. Benson. 6} x 4. xiii + 374 pp. (Collection Gallia.) Paris: Georges Cres et Cie. London: Dent- i te. n., eel ay (lem igettee op avert. A Woman’s Wrxter my Arrica. By Mrs. CHARLOTTE Cameron. Demy 8vo. Printed throughout on_ art paper, with 155 illustrations. 403 pp. Stanley Paul & Co. 18s. 6d. n. Tur Guipe To SouTH AND East AFRICA. For the use of Tourists, Sportsmen, Invalids, and Settlers. Edited annually by A. SAMLER Brown and G. Gorpon Brown, ¥.R.GS., for the Union Castle Mail Steamship Company. Twentieth edition, 1914. 74 x 4%. liv+ 695 pp. Sampson, Low. + LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL NOTES. E are asked by the executive officers of the Alfred Russel Wallace Memorial Fund to state that, if a sufficient sum can be raised, the following memorials to the late Dr. A. R. Wallace are proposed : (1) A medallion to be offered to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey ; (2) a portrait, for presentation to the Royal Society, to be painted by Mr. J. Seymour Lucas, RA. to whom Dr. Wallace had, within the last few months of his life, consented to sit ; (3) a copy of the portrait for presentation to the nation ; and (4) a statue to be offered to the trustees of the British Museum for erection in the Natural History Museum. It is estimated that £350 will cover all expenses connected with the portrait by Mr. Lucas, including a hotogravure reproduction, signed by the artist, for each subscriber of one guinea and upwards; and that an additional £750 will permit the scheme being carried out in its entirety. Subscriptions will be received and acknowledged by Professor R. Meldola, 6, Brunswick Square, London, W.C.; Professor E. B. Poulton, Wykeham House, Oxford ; Sir Wm. Barrett, Kingstown, Co. Dublin ; and the Manager, Union of London & Smith’s Bank, Holborn Circus, London, E.C. Direct payments to the Manager will be the most convenient course. A. shilling pamphlet entitled ‘“* National Principles and ational Duty.” by the author of ‘National Revival,” with a preface by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Selborne, K.G., has been issued by the Women’s Printing Society, Ltd., Brick Street, Piccadilly. A. Swedish translation of Mr. Francis. uk eS ae aS . . @ THE AUTHOR. 101 Gribble’s ‘‘ Court of Christina of Sweden ”’ will be published by Messrs. Walstrom and Widstrand. Among the Fellowship Books published by Messrs. Batsford, at 2s. net, are “ A Spark Divine,”’ a book for animal lovers, by Mr. R. C. Lehmann ; “* Romance,” by Mr. Ernest Rhys ; * Friendship,”” by Mr. Clifford Bax; ‘* The Joy of the Theatre,’’ by Mr. Gilbert Cannan : and “ The Country,” by Mr. Edward Thomas. A revised and cheaper edition of Mr. Frederick A. M. Spencer’s ‘“ Meaning of Christianity’? has now appeared (Fisher Unwin, 2s. 6d. net). Viscount Esher, G.C.B., contributes a pre- face to Mrs. St. Clair Stobart’s ‘‘ War and Women from Experiences in the Balkans and Elsewhere ” (G. Bell & Sons, 3s. 6d. net). Mr. R. A. Scott-James’s “‘ Influence of the Press” is published by Partridge & Co. at 3s. 6d. net. Mr. James Baker’s new work is ‘“‘ Reminis- cent Gossip of Men and Matters ” (Chapman & Hall, 6s.). Mr. A. R. Haig Brown, in “‘ My Game-Book,”’ deals not only with sport in Surrey, Sussex, Norfolk, ete., but also with early adventures at Charterhouse and later days at Lancing (Witherby, 5s. net). H.M. the Queen and H.M. Queen Alexandra have both been graciously pleased to accept copies of “ A Woman’s Winter in Africa,”’ of which the publishers are Messrs. Stanley Paul. ‘The author, Mrs. Charlotte Cameron, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Messrs. S. Paul announce the issue, in due course, of ‘‘ Napoleon in Exile at Elba ” and “Napoleon in Exile at St. Helena,” by Mr. Norwood Young, who sails this month on his second trip to the two islands to complete his study of local Napoleonic history. Mr. A. M. Broadley will be responsible for the illustrations to the books. Mr. E. Pearse Wheatley’s ‘“ Out West ?— according to the Times, “short and breezy descriptions of life in the Canadian West, illustrated with photographs ”—is published in paper covers at 6d., by Thomas Murby & Co. A volume on “ Practical Pathology, includ- ing Morbid Anatomy and Post Mortem Technique,” by Dr. James Miller, Assistant in Pathology to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, is shortly to be added to Messrs. Black’s Edinburgh Medical Series. Mr. Julius Price’s ‘‘ My Bohemian Days in Paris” was published on November 25 ([T. Werner Laurie, 10s. 6d. net, with 32 drawings by the author, and a frontispiece portrait). Miss Gladys Davidson’s “ Stories from the Operas”? is now issued in one complete volume, combining the three previous series of plots of the most popular grand operas performed in England during recent years (Laurie, 6s. net). Mr. J. Stanley Little contributed an article entitled “ Insurgent Women ”’ to the November issue of Hast and West. “A Manor Book of Ottery Saint Mary ”’ is edited by Mrs. Catherine Durning Whetham and her daughter Margaret, with a note on the history of the dependent manor of Cadhay, by Mr. W. C. D. Whetham, F.R.S. (Longmans, Green & Co.). “ The Early Weights and Measures of Man- kind,” by General Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., F.R.S., R.E., is published by the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Mr. Herbert W. Smith has written “A Trip on _a Trader, or Holidays Afloat ” (Madgwick). The Clarendon Press publishes, under the title of ‘* Robert Bridges, Poet Laureate, Readings from his Poems,” a public lecture delivered in November last in the Examination Schools, Oxford, by Professor T. Herbert Warren, President of Magdalen College. In “ The Birthright of Grimaldi ” (Kegan Paul, 4s. 6d.), Mrs. Hope Huntley claims as the birthright of the animal exemption from torture, on the plea that the essence of its life is one with the human, however greatly it may differ in degree. The right of scientific experi- ment upon living animals is questioned from the moral standpoint only, quite irrespective of medical benefits believed to be acquired thereby. H.M. Queen Alexandra has been graciously pleased to accept a copy of this book. Mr. W. L. George’s new novel, ‘The Making of an Englishman,” will be published this month by Messrs. Constable in England, and Messrs. Dodd, Mead, in the United Statcs, Mr. Reginald E. Salwey’s novel, “ The Education of Oliver Hyde,” is being pub- lished by Digby, Long & Co. A new 2s. 6d. edition has appeared of Mrs. H. M. Watson’s ‘ When the King came South ” (Religious Tract Society). “Tom Kenyon, Schoolboy,” is the name of a story by Mrs. M. Harding Kelly (Religious Tract Society). The same author has brought out “ When ?” and ‘“‘ Then,” described respec- 100 FOLK-LORE. A Boox or Foix-Lore. By Rev. §. Barrxa-Govrp, M.A. Collins’ 6% x 44. 264 pp. (The Nation’s Library.) Clear Type Press. 1s. n. HISTORY. [mprriatisM AND Mr. GLADSTONE, 1876-1888. Compiled by R. H. GRETTON. 74 x 43. 120 pp. Bell. 1s. n, LITERARY. Joun MILLINGTON SYNGE AND THE Trish THEATRE. By Mavriczk Bovrenos. Demy 8vo. xvi-+ 338 pp. Buckram. With 16 full page illustrations by Joun B. Yrats, R.H.A., Jack B. Yuats, JAMES PATERSON, R.S.A., JoHN CURRIE and others. Constable & Co. Tur LIGHTER SIDE oF ENGLISH Lirz. By F. FRANKFORT Moore. With Illustrations in Colour by GEORGE BrLcHER. 84 x 5}. 284 pp. Foulis. 5s. n. Tur KIRRIEMUIR EDITION OF THE Works or J. M. BARRIE. Ten Vols. 9% x 6%. Hodder and Stoughton. £6 6s. the set. Reminiscent Gossip oF MEN AND Marrers. By JAMES Baker, F.R.G.S. 7} X 54. viii + 246 pp. Chap- man and Hall. 6s. MISCELLANEOUS. Ovr Weér. A Collection of Sketches of Life in the Canadian West. Illustrated with photographs. Thomas Murby & Co., 6, Bouverie Street, E.C. 6d. n. NATURAL HISTORY. Wiup Anmats at Homr. By ERNEST THoMsoN SETON. 8} X Bh. xvi+ 224 pp. Hodder and Stoughton. 6s. n. Tas BopLey Heap Naturat History. By EK. D. CuMINe. With Illustrations by J. A. SHEPHERD. Vol. Il. British Birds. Passeres. 6} x 5. 122 pp. Lane. 2s. n. POETRY. Tue Porms oF Francois VILLON. Translated by H. Dz VERE STACPOOLE. 9 X 6}. xii + 300 pp. Hutchin- son. POLITICS. Waranp THE Workers. By Norman ANGELL. 7% X 5. 63 pp. The National Labour Press. ls. REPRINTS. A Selection from Irish Poetry. By 93 x 6}. xxvi + 160 pp. Sidg- 1s. 6d. n. THe Witp Harp. KATHARINE TYNAN. wick and Jackson. A Century or Paropy anp Inrration. Edited by Water JERRoLD and R. M. Lxeonarp. 7 x 5. xv + 429 pp. Humphrey Milford. 1s. 6d. n. Tas Hitts or Home. By L. Macuzan Watt. With the Pentland Essays of Robert Lovis STEVENSON. 8} x 5}. 259 pp. Foulis. 5s. n. SCIENCE. “ Wuo’s Wuxo IN Science” (International). Edited by H. H. Srepnenson. 9} x 6. 667 pp. J. and A. Churchill. 10s. n. ContTINvrry, THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO THE British Association, Brruincuam, MCMXIII. By Sm OLrver Loven. Printed in full, and supplemented by Explana- tory Notes. 7} x 5. 118 pp. Dent. Is. n. SOCIOLOGY. Conruictinc pears! Two Sips oF THE Woman's Quzstion. By B. L. Hurcuis. 73 X 5. vii + 83 pp. Murby. ls. 6d. n. THE AUTHOR. THEOLOGY. LIanration pz Jesus Curist. Introduction par Mer. BR. H. Benson. 64 x 4. xiii +374 pp. (Collection if Gallia.) Paris: Georges Cres et Cie. London: Dent. i Fo ols. n. Atte bem ya ao ee Raver. A Womay’s Wrxter my Arrica. By Mrs. CHARLOTTE 0) Cameron. Demy 8vo. Printed throughout on art % paper, with 155 illustrations. 403 pp. Stanley Paul | & Co. 183. 6d. n. Tun GuipE To SouUTH AND East Arrica. For the use of Tourists, Sportsmen, Invalids, and Settlers. Edited basit annually by A. SAMLER BRowN and G. Gorpon Brown, ue F.RB.G.S., for the Union Castle Mail Steamship Company. a Twentieth edition, 1914. 74 x 4}. liv + 695 pp. a: Sampson, Low. ————_0 <> —_____ LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL shi NOTES. —— E are asked by the executive officers of the Alfred Russel Wallace Memorial Fund to state that, if a sufficient sum can be raised, the following memorials to the late Dr. A. R. Wallace are proposed: (1) A medallion to be offered to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey ; (2) a portrait, for presentation to the Royal Society, to be painted by Mr. J. Seymour Lucas, R.A., to whom Dr. Wallace had, within the last few months of his life, consented to sit ; (3) a copy of the portrait for presentation to the nation ; and (4) a statue to be offered to the trustees of the British Museum for erection in the Natural History Museum. It is estimated that £3850 will cover all expenses connected with the portrait by Mr. Lucas, including a photogravure reproduction, signed by the artist, for each subscriber of one guinea and upwards ; and that an additional £750 will permit the scheme being carried out in its entirety. Subscriptions will be received and acknowledged by Professor R. Meldola, 6, Brunswick Square, London, W.C.; Professor KE. B. Poulton, Wykeham House, Oxford ; Sir Wm. Barrett, Kingstown, Co. Dublin ; and the Manager, Union of London & Smith’s Bank, Holborn Circus, London, E.C. Direct payments to the Manager will be the most convenient course. A. shilling pamphlet entitled “ National Principles and National Duty.” by the author of “National Revival,” with a preface by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Selborne, K.G., has been issued by the Women’s Printing Society, Ltd., Brick Street, Piccadilly. A. Swedish translation of Mr. Francis. THE AUTHOR. Gribble’s “ Court of Christina of Sweden ”’ will be published by Messrs. Walstrom and Widstrand. Among the Fellowship Books published by Messrs. Batsford, at 2s. net, are “A Spark Divine,” a book for animal lovers, by Mr. R. C. Lehmann ; “* Romance,” by Mr. Ernest Rhys ; ** Friendship,” by Mr. Clifford Bax; ‘‘ The Joy of the Theatre,” by Mr. Gilbert Cannan : and “ The Country,” by Mr. Edward Thomas. A revised and cheaper edition of Mr. Frederick A. M. Spencer’s ‘‘ Meaning of Christianity ’’ has now appeared (Fisher Unwin, 2s. 6d. net). Viscount Esher, G.C,B., contributes a pre- face to Mrs. St. Clair Stobart’s ‘‘ War and Women from Experiences in the Balkans and Elsewhere ” (G. Bell & Sons, 3s. 6d. net). Mr. R. A. Scott-James’s ‘‘ Influence of the Press’ is published by Partridge & Co. at 3s. 6d. net. Mr. James Baker’s new work is ‘‘ Reminis- cent Gossip of Men and Matters” (Chapman & Hall, 6s.). Mr. A. R. Haig Brown, in “‘ My Game-Book,”’ deals not only with sport in Surrey, Sussex, Norfolk, ete., but also with early adventures at Charterhouse and later days at Lancing (Witherby, 5s. net). H.M. the Queen and H.M. Queen Alexandra have both been graciously pleased to accept copies of “ A Woman’s Winter in Africa,”’ of which the publishers are Messrs. Stanley Paul. ‘The author, Mrs. Charlotte Cameron, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Messrs. S. Paul announce the issue, in due course, of “‘ Napoleon in Exile at Elba” and “Napoleon in Exile at St. Helena,” by Mr. Norwood Young, who sails this month on his second trip to the two islands to complete his study of local Napoleonic history. Mr. A. M. Broadley will be responsible for the illustrations to the books. Mr. E. Pearse Wheatley’s ‘‘ Out West ”— according to the Times, “short and breezy descriptions of life in the Canadian West, illustrated with photographs ”—is published in paper covers at 6d., by Thomas Murby & Co. A volume on “ Practical Pathology, includ- ing Morbid Anatomy and Post’ Mortem Technique,” by Dr. James Miller, Assistant in Pathology to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, is shortly to be added to Messrs. Black’s Edinburgh Medical Series. Mr. Julius Price’s “‘ My Bohemian Days in Paris” was published on November 25 101 (T. Werner Laurie, 10s. 6d. net, with 82 drawings by the author, and a frontispiece portrait). Miss Gladys Davidson’s “ Stories from the Operas”? is now issued in one complete volume, combining the three previous series of plots of the most popular grand operas performed in England during recent years (Laurie, 6s. net). Mr. J. Stanley Little contributed an article entitled ‘‘ Insurgent Women ” to the November issue of Hast and West. “A Manor Book of Ottery Saint Mary ”’ is edited by Mrs. Catherine Durning Whetham and her daughter Margaret, with a note on the history of the dependent manor of Cadhay, by Mr. W. C. D. Whetham, F.R.S. (Longmans, Green & Co.). “The Early Weights and Measures of Man- kind,” by General Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., F.R.S., R.E., is published by the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Mr. Herbert W. Smith has written “A Trip on a Trader, or Holidays Afloat” (Madegwick). The Clarendon Press publishes, under the title of “Robert Bridges, Poet Laureate, Readings from his Poems,” a public lecture delivered in November last in the Examination Schools, Oxford, by Professor T. Herbert Warren, President of Magdalen College. In “ The Birthright of Grimaldi ” (Kegan Paul, 4s. 6d.), Mrs. Hope Huntley claims as the birthright of the animal exemption from torture, on the plea that the essence of its life is one with the human, however greatly it may differ in degree. The right of scientific experi- ment upon living animals is questioned from the moral standpoint only, quite irrespective of medical benefits believed to be acquired thereby. H.M. Queen Alexandra has been graciously pleased to accept a copy of this book. Mr. W. L. George’s new novel, “The Making of an Englishman,” will be published this month by Messrs. Constable in England, and Messrs. Dodd, Mead, in the United States, Mr. Reginald E. Salwey’s novel, ‘“ The Education of Oliver Hyde,” is being pub- lished by Digby, Long & Co. A new 2s. 6d. edition has appeared of Mrs. H. M. Watson’s “When the King came South ” (Religious Tract Society). “Tom Kenyon, Schoolboy,” is the name of a story by Mrs. M. Harding Kelly (Religious Tract Society). The same author has brought out “ When ?” and “‘ Then,” described respec- 102 tively as a story of to-day and a tale of to- morrow (Marshall Brothers). Early in February will appear a new novel by Mr. Frederick Arthur, callec “The Great Attempt,” dealing with the aspirations and sufferings of the losing side in the political struggle which ended at the battle of Culloden (John Murray). Count Plunkett, K.C.H.S., has been elected an honorary member of the Danish Society “Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab,” better known throughout Europe as the Société Royale des Antiquaires du Nord. Mr. Herbert Flowerdew’s new romance, “Love and a Title,” will be published by Greening & Co. early in the year. The serial rights of Mr. Flowerdew’s latest sensational story, ‘“‘ The Motor Ku-klux,”’ have been pur- chased in America by the Frank A. Munsey Co., and in England by Messrs. Leng, of Sheffield, the latter of whom are also bringing out in their Weekly Telegraph series of novels “The Love of Women,” which has _ not hitherto appeared in book form. In addition to his short stories in Hulton’s Christmas Magazine and the Christmas number of the Weekly Telegraph, Mr. Flowerdew has com- plete stories to appear in the Red Magazine, the Novel Magazine, and Pearson's Weekly. Mr. Flowerdew’s last published novel, “ Mrs. Gray’s Past,” is being published serially in Germany, following the example of his “‘ Ways of Men,” ‘“ The Third Wife,” and “ The Villa Mystery.” E. Reid Matheson (Mrs. E. Midgley) has a new novel entitled ‘‘The Unconscious Quest,” of which the publishers are Sidgwick and Jackson. Messrs. Walter Jerrold and R. M. Leonard are the editors of ‘“‘ A Century of Parody and Imitation ” (Humphrey Milford, Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1s. 6d. net), in which they endeavour to provide a corpus of representa- tive parodies and imitations, beginning with ** Rejected Addresses’ in 1812 and coming down to the present era, though without including the work of any living writer. Miss Sheila Kaye-Smith has just brought out a volume of verse, partly ballads and partl lyrics (Erskine Macdonald, 2s. 6d.). The title is ‘‘ Willow’s Forge, and other Poems.” Messrs. John Richmond will publish early this year ‘“‘ Winged Thoughts,” a collection of representative poems from 1586 to 1914, dealing with birds, butterflies, and moths. The poems have been selected and arranged by Mrs. Irene Osgood and Mr. Horace Wyndham. Mr. Alex J. Philip has revised and brought THE AUTHOR. up to date the fourth edition of Greenwood’s “British Library Year Book,” to which the title is now given of ‘‘ The Libraries, Museums, and Art Galleries Year Book, 1914’ (Stanley Paul). “The Young Gordons in Canada,” by Mrs. Mary Bourchier Sandford, is published by the Religious Tract Society, uniform with other volumes in their Every Girl’s Bookshelf series (1s. 6d.). Miss Ethel M. Dell’s new novel is ‘“ The Rocks of Valpre ”’ (Fisher Unwin). Mr. W. Trego Webb, author of ‘“ Indian Lyrics,”’ ete., issues through Headley Brothers ‘By Silva’s Brook, or Songs of the Faith,” a collection of religious verse. The Rev. Henry Lansdell, D.D., is bringing out the fifth part of his work on ‘ Princess Aelfrida’s Charity ”’ (6d., or 7d. post free). The first part of a new illustrated quarterly, Ancient Egypt, edited by Professor Flinders Petrie, F.R.S., F.B.A., has just made its appearance, the price being 2s. per quarterly part, or 7s. yearly, post free. The publishers are Messrs. Macmillan and the British School of Archeology in Egypt. Miss Beatrice Chase will shortly have pub- lished by Mr. Herbert Jenkins, “* The Heart of the Moor ” the outcome of ten years’ residence on Dartmoor. Mr. Arnold Haultain, Goldwin Smith’s literary executor, is preparing a second series of his late chief’s letters, and asks us to be so kind as to say that he will be grateful to any friends of Goldwin Smith who would lend him, or send him, copies of any letters which the recipients think may or should be made public, other than those included in the first series (published last spring by Mr. Werner Laurie, of Clifford’s Inn). Anything addressed care of the Bank of Montreal, 47, Threadneedle Street, London, E.C., will be thankfully acknowledged. DRAMATIC. We much regret to have to record the death last month of Mr. Stanley Houghton, author of *‘ Hindle Wakes,” ‘‘ The Younger Genera- tion,” and other plays. He was only thirty- two years of age when he succumbed to disease of the lungs at Manchester, the town of his birth and the scene of his first introduc- tion to the dramatic public by Miss Horniman. At the Globe Theatre on December 6 was produced ‘‘ The Night Hawk,’ by Messrs. Lechmere, Worrall and Bernard Merivale. “Woman on her Own,” a version by Mrs. Bernard Shaw of Brieux’s “ La Femme THE AUTHOR. Seule,” was seen for the first time at the Woman’s Theatre (the Coronet, Notting Hill) on December 8. “In and Out,” a version by George Paston (Miss E. M. Symonds) of Béniére’s ‘ Papillon, dit Lyonnais le Juste,”” was produced at the Shaftesbury Theatre on December 16. Mr. Jerome K. Jerome’s ‘‘ Robina in Search of a Father” was produced at the Vaudeville Theatre on December 16. Mr. Winchell Smith’s four-act play, ‘“‘ The Fortune Hunter,’’ was produced at the Queen’s Theatre on December 17. “The Sleeping Beauty Re-awakened,” a children’s pantomime by Messrs. G. R. Sims and Arthur Collins, was produced at Drury Lane on Boxing Day. Among the plays revived by Mr. and Mrs. Granville Barker during their repertory season at the St. James’s Theatre, have been ‘‘ The Doctor’s Dilemma,” by Mr. G. Bernard Shaw, and “Nan” and “The Silver Box,” -by Mr. John Galsworthy. ** The Passing of the Third Floor Back ”’ was revived at the Coronet at the beginning of December, with “A Love Passage,” by Messrs. W. W. Jacobs and P. E. Hubbard, as the curtain-raiser. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘‘ The Speckled Band ”’ was played at the Kennington Theatre on December 8. On Monday afternoons, December 1 and 8, dramatic recitations of Mr. John Masefield’s ** Everlasting Mercy ” were given at the Little Theatre by Mr. Alexander Watson. On December 19 an amateur performance was given at Felixstowe of a new one-act play by Mr. G. S. Layard, entitled “The Shirt of Nessus.”’ “Courtship, Ancient and Modern,” a two- scene sketch by Fanny Morris Wood, was produced for the first time at the Maidenhead Theatre on November 19. Miss Elizabeth Baker’s plays, ‘“‘ The Price of Thomas Scott ’’ (produced at Manchester in September last) and ‘‘ Miss Tassey,” have both been published in book form by Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson. _ Mrs. Frances Helen Harris has brought out in book form ‘‘ Eight Plays for the School ”’ (Routledge & Sons). A play founded on Mr. Flowerdew’s novel, “The Realist,”’ is shortly to be produced at the Longacre Theatre, New York. “The Dramatic Author’s Companion,” by a Theatrical Manager’s Reader, has been pub- lished by Messrs. Mills & Boon. Mr. Arthur Bourchier contributes an introductory note. 103 PARIS NOTES. — + HE “Song Offerings,” by Rabindranath Tagore, have now been translated into French by André Gide and are published as ‘“‘ L’Offrande Lyrique.” The second volume of “Les Mceurs du Temps,” by Alfred Capus, is as entertaining as the first volume, published last year. The celebrated dramatic author is an optimist and a keen observer. With his never-failing good humour and delicate irony, he writes on all the questions of the day, shows up the weak points, indicates failings, and then passes on like a true philosopher. The whole volume is well worth reading. ** Les Etats-Unis et la France ”’ is the title of the third volume published by the Bzblio- theque du Comité France-Amérique. The book is written by ten different authors. M. E. Boutroux, the well-known philosopher, to whom Bergson owes so much, writes a chapter on French thought and American thought. M. James Hyde takes as his subject the historical intercourse between France and the United States from 1776 to 1913; M. Léon Bénédite, M. Louis Gillet, and M. Paul Bartlett write on painting, sculpture, and architecture. There are chapters on French and American society by M. Walter Berry; on public life, by Baron d’Estournelles de Constant; on the French and American ideal, by M. Baldwin. M. Hill and Moreton Fullerton write on politics and intercourse between the two nations in the future. There are about eighteen illustrations bearing on the history of art in the United States. ‘““Les Idées et les Hommes” is the title of the latest book by André Beaunier. Among the men he has chosen as subjects for his studies are Homére, Baudelaire, Edmund Gosse, and Gabriel Monod. ** Les Tribunaux pour Enfants,” by Clément Griffe. The subject of this book is one that is being studied with great interest in France. The idea has been put into practice and the results are excellent. M. René Gillouin has obtained the prize awarded by the Association des Critiques littéraires, for his ‘‘ Essais de Critique littéraire et philosophique.” “Du Terreur au Consulat ’’ is the title of a volume of romantic histories of the revolu- tionary days, by Ernest Daudet. We have had numbers of books on ‘“* Old Paris.”” We now have one on “ Le Nouveau Paris,” by Raymond Escholier. The sub- 104 title, “‘ La Vie artistique de la Cité Moderne - explains the object of the author. The preface is written by Gustave Geffroy. Camille Flammarion has just published his “ Annuaire Astronomique et Meétéorologique pour 1914.” It is only a small volume of 132 pages, but it is full of information. It gives us all the celestial phenomena for the year and many scientific notices, and it is also illustrated. : Any friends or admirers of George Gissing will be glad to hear that the scheme proposed some years ago, and headed by Madame Lardin de Musset, sister of Alfred de Musset, is being taken up once more. The idea was to have a fund for keeping flowers on the grave of the author of ‘“‘New Grub Street,’ who died in exile and was buried at St. Jean de Luz. Hitherto his grave has been tended entirely by French hands. For the tenth anniversary of his death, December 28, we have decided to accept the help of various French and American friends and, with Madame Lardin de Musset’s name at the head of our subscrip- tion list, organise a scheme which will ensure the tending of George Gissing’s grave in the future. At the Odéon ‘“‘ Rachel”? seems to have every chance of a long run. At the Théatre des Arts an excellent adaptation of Balzac’s ‘“‘ Kugénie Grandet ”’ is being played. “TInstitut de Beauté’ continues to be a success at the Variétés. Madame Sarah Bern- hardt has found in ‘“‘ Jeanne Doré”’ a play admirably suited to her. Auys HALLarp. “T?/Offrande Lyrique” (La Nouvelle Revue Francaise). “Les Meurs du Temps” (Grasset). “ Les Idées et les Hommes ”’ (Plon). “Les Tribunaux pour Enfants” (Fontenmoing). * Annuaire Astronomique et Météorologique pour 1914 ” (Flammarion). tt DRAMATIC RIGHTS. —_>—-. ROM time to time it is necessary to call the attention of authors to the extent of their rights. This is especially the case since the passing of the recent Act. Under this Act an author’s rights have been extended in various ways. The author of a play, for instance, has the right to convert it into a novel, the bookright in the play itself, the performing right, which includes the reproduction of the play on mechanical contrivances, either the cinematograph or the gramophone, and the translation rights. THE AUTHOR. The right of performance by itself is fre- quently divided up into many portions. There is the right of production in a West End London theatre, there is the right of production in the suburbs, in the provinces— this again may be sub-divided according to the size of the towns: the A list, the B list, the C list, and fit up—the right in the Colonies, the right in the United States and Canada, the amateur rights, and the rights in translation on the Continent. It is the ignorance of all these points and niceties that makes the author fall readily into the pitfalls laid for him either by the agent or the manager. The first essential for a dramatic author is production. He must, therefore, never be led away by financial consideration to grant a licence unless production is secured. If a manager asks for control over the provincial rights, he may have the option over them if production takes place within a specified time. The same rule must apply to the Colonial and United States rights. The author, in neglect of his best interests, often transfers rights to a manager and then finds that the manager has no intention of producing the play outside the walls of his own West End theatre. It is not only the novice who makes the mistake; there are others. When the situation is realised, as it often is by the requests coming from managers abroad or in the United States, the author can do nothing but wish that he had taken more pains to inquire what rights he had and how they ought to be controlled. There is, however, an increasing danger against which the young dramatic author must especially be warned. Some middlemen are springing up who are gambling with the work of the author’s brain ; they buy up his dramatic effort for a comfort- able sum in advance of a very small royalty. They are not producers themselves and have no intention of producing, but the author is deceived partly by the sum in advance and partly by the purchaser’s protestations. The purchaser then proceeds to market the work to the highest bidder. In consequence, it sometimes happens that there are as Many as three middlemen between the authors and the manager, each of whom is absorbing part of the profits that might have been the author's. It is necessary, therefore, to repeat that the first essential for a dramatic author is produc- tion. He should never lease out his property unless production is assured. aL NII ED PIII TRIESTE STI HGS NTE THE AUTHOR. U.S.A. LEGAL DECISION. ee (From the Authors’ League Bulletin, U.S.A.) HE case of Dam v. Kirk La Shelle Company decided in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, in January, 1910, is of such importance to writers for magazines and other periodicals as well as to publishers that it deserves careful attention. This case may be said to be the last important decision on the question of what protection the blanket copyright secured by a magazine pub- lisher, upon his magazine, affords the authors of the various stories, articles and poems contained init. The facts were briefly as follows :— Henry J. W. Dam wrote a story in 1898, called ** The Transmogrification of Dan.” In 1901 he sent the manuscript to the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company, a corporation publishing the Smart Set Magazine. The editor accepted the story and sent a cheque in return for $85, together with a receipt reading :— “Received of the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company $85 in full payment for story entitled ‘‘ The Transmogrification of Dan.” This Dam signed and mailed back to the editor. At no time did he have any interview with the editor or any correspondence bearing on the understanding with which the story was sold. The story came out in the Smart Set for September, 1901, and the particular number in question was copyrighted by the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company, in its own name, and bearing a notice which read :— “ Copyrighted, 1901, by Ess. Ess. Publishing Company.” No steps were taken by the magazine or by Dam to copyright the story separately from the magazine. Some time afterward Paul Armstrong wrote a play entitled ‘‘The Heir to the Hoorah,”’ which Dam claimed was founded on his story, “The Transmogrification of Dan.” The defen- dant, Kirk La Shelle Company, presented the play by arrangement with Paul Armstrong. On October 27, 1905, the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company assigned to Dam its copyright of the - number of the Smart Set in which is story appeared, in so far as it covered or protected his story, and all its interest in the story itself and any claim or demand which it might have for the infringement of the copy- right in question. In due course Dam sued for a preliminary injunetion against the defendant, and in his affidavit swore :— _““Thave not at any time parted with any right or interest in said literary work entitled 105 ‘The Transmogrification of Dan,’ except the right for publication thereof in said number of the Smart Set for September, 1901.” Later on, the complaint was amended so as to allege simply that Dam sold and assigned the story in question to the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company. Among other things in defence the Kirk La Shelle Company set up the claim that Dam’s original statement, sworn to in his complaint to the effect that he had not sold any of his rights in the story to the Smart Set, except the right of publication in the particular number in question, must be taken as true; and that it followed as a necessary consequence that the blanket copyright secured by the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company, on the particular issue of the magazine, only operated to afford such protection as the Publishing Company needed as publishers of the magazine, and did not operate to protect the rights which Dam retained, whatever they might have been, including the right of dramatisation which Dam claimed had been infringed and for which he asked an injunction. The Cireuit Court of Appeals found as a fact that Dam’s statement that he had parted with no right or interest in the story except that of serial publication was not the case, and (in spite of Dam’s original allegations to the contrary) that when he mailed the story to the Smart Set and the editor sent him a cheque for $85 this constituted an absolute sale without reserva- tions, and that the Ess. Ess. Publishing Com- pany thereby acquired all rights in the story, including the dramatic rights. This, in itself, would have been a decision of considerable importance, in view of the widely prevalent belief that when a magazine writer sends his product to a magazine, without an accompanying letter specifying the terms under which the story or article is offered, he is selling merely the serial rights thereto. But the Court in discussing the facts in general went somewhat beyond the precise point in issue and held that if it had been true that Dam had offered for sale and sold to the Ess. Ess. Pub- lishing Company only the right to print the story in serial form, that probably, as matter of law, the dramatic rights would never have been copyrighted at all, since it was a fundamental proposition that no one could copyright that which he did not own, and, if the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company had purchased only the serial rights in the story, the copyright upon the particular number of the Smart Set would have operated to protect only those serial rights, and that as Dem had taken no further 106 steps to protect or copyright the rights or interests in the story which he had reserved, and as the story had been published, there would have been an abandonment of it to the public and no protection for the dramatic rights at all. The opinion of the Court is reported in 176 Federal Reporter, page 902, and reads as follows :— “It is claimed, however, that such steps accomplished no more than to obtain such protection needed as publishers of the maga- zine. Assuming that Dam retained the dramatic rights to the story, there would be much force in this contention. In such a case we doubt very much whether the steps which the publisher took to copyright his magazine, especially in view of the form of the copyright notice, would have been sufficient to protect the dramatic rights.” After referring to the case of Mifflin v. Dutton (190 U. S. 265), the Court continued :— “In view of this decision by the Supreme Court, we think that had Dam retained the dramatic rights to his story, the entry of the magazine and the notice of copyright would have been insufficient to protect them. .. . In the case of the reservation of dramatic rights, in addition to the notice of the copy- right of the magazine, it may well be that it should appear in some distinct way that such reservation of such rights to the particular story is made for the benefit of the author. Indeed, it may be that the author should contemporaneously take out in his own name a copyright covering such rights.” The Court then proceeded to hold that in- asmuch as the Ess. Ess. Publishing Company had in fact acquired all rights to the story, the copyright which they secured on the particular number of the magazine in question did operate to protect all rights, including the dramatic rights; and that, since there had been a reassignment by the Ess. Ess. Publishing Com- pany to Dam of the dramatic rights, he could properly ask for an injunction and an account- ing, and they thereupon awarded to the com- plainant, who, at the time the decision was rendered, was the administratrix of Dam’s estate, the total profits received by the Kirk La Shelle Company from its production of the play. The case was not appealed to the Supreme Court, but has since been settled and, therefore, represents the law to-day, which may be stated as follows :— (a) The sale by an author of a story to a magazine, and the acceptance of a sum of money in full payment for the story, without THB AUTHOR. any further agreement, is in legal fact an absolute sale without reservation, carrying with it as an incident of ownership the exclusive right to dramatise the story. (b) The copyright of such magazine is sufficient to secure the copyright of the story published therein, and protects the right to dramatise it when the publisher is the owner of both the story and the dramatic rights. (c) (Dictum.) Where the owner of a story sells the same only for magazine or serial pub- lication the copyright of the magazine does not protect those rights which the author retains, unless he takes some independent steps to copyright them himself; and since the pub- lishing of the story in the magazine operates as an abandonment of such rights, if the story is thereafter dramatised by a third party the author can have no redress. The action, although a recent one, was brought under the former copyright law, but there would not seem to be anything in the present Act which would qualify or render less significant the decision. The attorney for the Authors’ League of America doubts seriously whether the dictum of the Court (c) is the view which will undoubtedly prevail if the point is eventually properly raised either before the Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of the United States. He believes that this Court could have reached the same decision in the Dam case by another process of reasoning more consistent with the general understanding under which authors are accustomed to submit their manuscripts to editors and _ publishers. This he believes to be that, in default of any written or oral agreement between the parties, an editor or publisher of a magazine who pur- chases a manuscript does so on the implied understanding that he shall copyright the same and hold the copyright thereof in trust for the author, thus protecting not only the dramatic rights, but all other rights for the author’s benefit. If this be so, the author can compel a reassignment of the copyright to himself when necessary, such as Dam secured voluntarily from the Ess. Ess. Company. But, in any event, so long as this and similar matters remain in doubt, both authors and publishers should, for their own protection, agree on some system whereby the dramatic and all other rights are thoroughly safeguarded. This can be accomplished in either of two ways :— (a) The editor can copyright each story or article separately in the author’s name, printing at the bottom of the first page thereof a proper copyright notice, as follows :— Q 4 4 a a THE AUTHOR. ** Copyright, John Doe, 1913.” The author should then immediately on pub- lication mail ‘one copy of the magazine to the Registrar of Copyrights in Washington, in con- formity with the requirements of the present Act, enclosing the fee of one dollar. This is, perhaps, the simplest way, although it involves a separate registration of the magazine for each story or article so copyrighted. (6) Or the author can sell his story outright to the editor or publisher and safely reserve his equitable interests in the dramatic or other rights thereto by attaching to his manuscript a “‘ rider ” or slip somewhat as follows :— “This manuscript is submitted with the understanding that, if accepted for publication, the same shall be copyrighted by the publishers and all rights under said copyright (except that of magazine publication) shall be held in trust for the benefit of the writer or his assigns, and will be reassigned to him upon demand.” The writer believes that, under the present state of the law, only by one of the two methods outlined above can a magazine writer be sure that his rights will be properly protected. ARTHUR C. TRAIN, Attorney for Authors’ League of America. —_ 9 ROYALTIES ON GRAMOPHONE RECORDS. MoNnckKTON v. PaTuk FRERES PaTHEPHONE, LTD. ‘as was an appeal from the decision of Mr. Justice Phillimore relating to the. payment of royalties on gramophone records of the ‘‘ Mousmé Waltz,’’ which the plaintiff, Mr. Lionel Monckton, composed in 1911 before the new Copyright Acts came into operation. The defendants, who are manu- facturers and sellers of gramophone records, made records of the waltz in Belgium and imported them into England, as they were lawfully entitled to do before July 1, 1912, when the Act came into force; and since that date they had been selling the records without the plaintiff's consent and without paying him any royalties. It was in respect of the sale, after July 1, 1912, that the plaintiff brought the action, and claimed an account of the money received by the defendants from such sales, and an injunction to restrain them from making or selling any records without his consent. 107 Mr. Justice Phillimore decided that under section 19 of the Act, which provides for the payment of royalties on gramophone records, the defendants were not liable to pay royalties on records made before July 1, 1912, but that if they sold any records made after that date they would have to pay royalties by the purchase and affixing of stamps in accord- ance with the regulations of the Board of Trade. The plaintiff appealed against this decision and claimed that the defendants had infringed his copyright by selling after July 1, 1912, records made before that date without the payment of royalties. There was a cross appeal by the defendants, who alleged that the regulations of the Board of Trade as to the mode of payment of royalties were ultra vires, and that they could not be compelled to purchase and affix adhesive stamps to the records. The Court of Appeal reversed the decision of Mr. Justice Phillimore as to the exemption from payment of royalties, and held that on all records of the waltz sold by the defendants after July 1, 1912, the plaintiff would be entitled to royalties at the rate of 24 per cent. on the ordinary retail price ; and that the sale of the records without the plaintiff’s consent or the payment of royalties was an infringe- ment of the plaintiff’s copyright. In the course of his judgment Lord Justice Buckley said that the seller of a record autho- rises the use of the record, and such user is a performance of a musical work; and as copy- right includes the sole right to authorise a performance of the work, an improper sale of the record would constitute an infringement of the copyright. The right of the plaintiff, however, was qualified by the provisions in the Act relating to the payment of royalties, for if these were duly paid the sale of the records would not be an infringement. The argument advanced on behalf of the defendants had reference to section 24, and particularly the proviso (b), which gives pro- tection to any person who has incurred expense before July 26, 1910, in the reproduction of a work then lawfully made, unless he is paid compensation for his rights which were sub- sisting and valuable at that date. It is difficult, however, to understand how section 24. could afford any protection to the defendants upon the facts before the Court. There was no dispute as to the circumstances. The records made by the defendants were not made before the year 1911, when the waltz was composed, and the Court of Appeal held that 108 THE AUTHOR. the contention of the defendants could not be maintained. : The plaintiff, therefore, was entitled _to royalties unless the defendants could bring themselves within the exemption mentioned in section 19 (7) (0). : The provisions of section 19 as to the pay- ment of royalties may be generally stated as follows :— : : (A) On records of musical works published before July 1, 1912. (1) If records have been lawfully made before July 1, 1910, no royalties are pay- able on records sold before July 1, 1913. (2) If otherwise, royalties at 24 per cent. are payable. (B) On records of musical works published after July 1, 1912 :— (1) On sales prior to July 1, 1914, royalties at 24 per cent. : (2) On sales after July 1, 1914, royalties at 5 per cent. : As the defendants could not claim exemption under (A) (1), they became liable for the pay- ment of royalties under (A) (2), that is to say, at 24 per cent. so long as the copyright in the waltz continues. Upon the cross appeal Lord Justice Buckley in his judgment said that the question turned upon the meaning of the word “ securing ” in section 19 (b). Under that section the Board of Trade might make regulations prescribing the mode of payment of royalties requiring payment in advance or otherwise securing the payment of royalties.” If the word ‘securing’? meant doing some act by which the debt for royalties should become secured, as distinguished from an unsecured debt, the defendants were right; but if it meant ‘ensuring or rendering certain” the payment of royalties, then the defendants were wrong. The Board of Trade had made regulations whereby, unless it were otherwise agreed, royalties were payable by means of adhesive stamps purchased from the copy- right owner and affixed to the records. The royalties were very small amounts payable upon a large number of records, and there was obviously a great difficulty in ensuring that the debt created by the sale of each record should become known to and paid to the copy- right owner. In these circumstances the fair meaning of the word “securing’’ included ensuring or rendering certain the payment of the royalties. The regulations of the Board of Trade, therefore, were not ultra vires, and the cross appeal failed. Haroip Harpy, CARD INDEXING THE LITERARY MARKET. (From the ‘“‘ Editor,’’ U.S.A.) HERE are so many good things in “ The Literary Market ” that I must use every day that I have devised a card index system of classifying it. Not all of the informa- tion is pertinent to the material I write, so I file only those items in which I am interested. I use a three by five card index drawer and enter items under the following heads: Auto- mobiles, Boys and Girls, Crops, Dairying, Flowers, Horticulture, Household, Household Mechanics, Humour, Live Stock, Motor-cycles, Popular Mechanics, Poultry, Short Stories. There is a guide card for each subject, and the cards on which the information is entered are prepared like the following sample :— Humour. Browning’s Magazine, 16, Cooper Square, N.Y. Short burlesques and narrative humour. 100 to 500 words. Jokes. 1 cent a word on acceptance. When I have a humorous article to sell, I look over the cards marked ‘‘ Humour ”’ and decide which market is most promising. Supplementing the index is a file of all the papers in which I am interested. As soon as T learn of a new paper that offers a market for the kind of material I write, I send for a sample and file it with the other papers of like nature. Unless I am very familiar with the paper I look it over carefully before submitting anything to it that differs from something I have sold it previously. I have something over 200 papers in my files. In addition to the subject index I have a graveyard—an index in which papers are filed alphabetically by name. These are only those papers that have suspended publication. It is sometimes important to know that these are no longer published. Joun Y. Brary. —_—_‘_ oo MAGAZINE CONTENTS. eee BriTIsH. The Exclusiveness of Journalists. By G. K. Chesterton. Religious Drama. By W. L. George. Our Conventional Press. By Scriptor. Dramatists of To-day : III. John Masefield ; IV. Stan- ley Houghton. ConTEMPORARY. The Ballad—English and Scotch. By E. R. Montague. Literary Supplement: Saint Nicholas. +i THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. —— 1, VERY member has a right toask for and to receive EK 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 apecial 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 without any cost to the member. Moreover, where counsel’s opinion is favourable, and the sanction of the Committee is obtained, action will be taken on behalf of the aggrieved member, and all costs borne by the Society, 2, Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi- ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society. 3. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the document to the Society for examination, 4, Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no direct 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. 5. The Committee have 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 stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (2) To keep agreements. (3) To enforce payments due according to agreements. Fuller particu- jars of the Society’s work can be obtained in the Prospectus. 6. No contract should be entered into with a literary agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society. Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society. This The q. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. must be done within fourteen days of first execution. Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members. 8. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so do some publishers. Members can make their own deductions and act accordingly. 9. The subscription to the Society is £1 1s. per annum, or £10 10s. for life membership. —~ > WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS OF BOOKS. —_1—~<——_ ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an agreement, There are four methods of dealing with literary property :— I, Selling it Outright. This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price can be 109 obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of the Society, Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of agreement), In this case the following rules should be attended to : (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro- 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 is now 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. <> —____—_ WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS. ae EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com- petent legal authority. 2, 1t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for the production of a play with any one except an established manager. 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays in three or more acts :— (a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters into such a contract should stipulate in the contract for production of the piece by a certain date and for proper publication of his name on the play-bills, 110 (b.) 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 inadvyance 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 (0.) apply also in this case, 4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is tetter to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum paid in advance of such fees in anyevent. It is extremely important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should be reserved. 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and time, This is most important. 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is of great importance. 7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot print the book of the words. 8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed- ingly valuable. They should never be included in English agreements without the author obtaining a substantial consideration. 9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced. 10, An author should remember that production of a play is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract. He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in the beginning. 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object is to obtain adequate publication. As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con- tracts, those authors desirous of further information are referred to the Secretary of the Society. pe ge REGISTRATION OF SCENARIOS AND ORIGINAL PLAYS. _— haar typewritten in duplicate on foolscap paper forwarded to the offices of the Society, together with a registration fee of two shillings and sixpence, will be carefully compared by the Secretary or a qualified assis- tant, One copy will be stamped and returned to theauthor and the other filed in the register of the Society. Copies of the scenario thus filed may be obtained at any time by the author only at a small charge to cover cost of typing. Original Plays may also be filed subject to the same rules, with the exception that a play will be charged for at the price of 2s, 6d. per act. THE AUTHOR. DRAMATIC AUTHORS AND AGENTS. RAMATIC authors should seek the advice of the Society before putting plays into the hands of agents. As the law stands at present, an agent who has once had a play in his hands may acquire a perpetual claim to a percentage on the author's fees from it. As far as the placing of plays is concerned, it may be taken as a general rule that there are only very few agents who can do anything for an author that he cannot, under the guidance of the Society, do equally well or better for himself. The collection of fees is also a matter in which in many cases no intermediary is required. For certain purposes, such as the collection of fees on amateur performances, and in general the trans- action of frequent petty authorisations with different individuals, and also for the collection of fees in foreign countries, almost all dramatic authors employ agents; and in these ways the services of agents are real and valuable. But the Society warns authors against agents who profess to have influence with managers in the placing of plays, or who propose to act as principals by offering to purchase the author's rights. In any case, in the present state of the law, an agent should not be employed under any circumstances without an agreement approved of by the Society. REE AG a Se WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS. oe ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the assistance of producers of books and dramatic authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan- cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic property. The musical composer has very often the two rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He should be especially careful therefore when entering into an agreement, and should take into particular consideration the warnings stated above. ———__+—>—_e—____—_- STAMPING MUSIC. The 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. Se THE READING BRANCH. ae EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this Mi branch of its work by informing young writers of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The Readers are writers of competence and experience. The fee is one guinea, —_—_—__.-<—e___ REMITTANCES. _—— The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post. All remittances should be crossed Union of London and Smiths Bank, Chancery Lane, or be sent by registered letter only. ESE Su THE AUTHOR. COLLECTION BUREAU. —_—~—+ HE Society undertakes to collect accounts and money due to authors, composers and dramatists. 1. Under contracts for the publication of their works. 2. Under contracts for the performance of their works and amateur fees. 3. Under the Compulsory Licence Clauses of the Copy- right Act, i.e., Clause 3, governing compulsory licences for books, and Clause 19, referring to mechanical instrument records. The Bureau is divided into three departments :— 1. Literary. 2. Dramatic. 3. Musical. The Society does not desire to make a profit from the collection of fees, but will charge a commission to cover expenses. If, owing to the amount passing through the office, the expenses are more than covered, the Committee of Management will discuss the possibility of reducing the commission. For full particulars of the terms of collection, application must be made to the Collection Bureau of the Society. AGENTS. Holland : : A. REYDING. United Statesand Canada. WALTER C. JORDAN. Germany Mrs Pogson. The Bureau is in no sense a literary or dramatic agency for the placing of books or plays. GENERAL NOTES. ——-—-e—— AUSTRALIAN CoPyRIGHT REGISTRATION. Ir is very important that the attention of dramatic authors should be called to the clauses in the Australian Copyright Act, 1912, dealing with summary proceedings and regis- tration. This Act was printed as a supplement to the April number of The Author, and gives some very powerful Summary Remedies, but the advantages to be gained by the special remedies provided under Sections 15, 16, and 17, can only be taken by those whose copyright is registered. Under the Act registration is optional. All those dramatists who have had their works infringed in the Colonies know how exceedingly difficult it is to stop an infringement in a distant country. Indeed, it is almost impossible to do so if a civil action has to be taken against the manager of a travelling company. Under the United States Act, where criminal proceedings are allowed, great advance has been made in stopping infringements, in the different States, and the same advance will, no doubt, take place through the summary pro- iit ceedings allowed under the Australian Act ; but it is essential, in order that dramatists may obtain the full value of the powers given them, that they should register their plays. We advise all dramatists, therefore, without delay, to take steps to see that their works are regis- tered in due course under the Australian Act in that country. AUSTRALIAN Boox NOovreEs. A MEMBER of the Society has been kind enough to forward some notes on the sale of books in Australia. He has taken the trouble to make certain pointed inquiries from Australian booksellers, and finds the complaint which has been put before the Society in past numbers of The Author has been amply con- firmed, namely, that the American publisher is much more enterprising and pliable and is willing to meet the Australian bookseller on better terms and is altogether a better man of business than the English publisher. He informs us that one or two publishers in England show some enterprise, but the majority do not do so. In Melbourne it appears that novels are mostly in vogue, and that, outside novels, the more important books are difficult to get and in many cases cannot be secured without much delay. This is no doubt a good deal the fault of the publisher, as the Australian bookseller seems willing to take the more expensive books for a moderate sale could he secure them readily. In the Melbourne lending libraries, just as in the English libraries, there is a certain amount of censorship. Of novels the most popular are certainly not the best written, but the advan- tage of cheaper cables will probably bring about a readier sale. A bookseller in Sydney, how- ever, one of the largest in Australia, does not welcome the cheaper cables as it would encourage the smaller firms, but the author and the public will, of course, welcome the increasing competition. Enquiry at the minor shops both in Australia and New Zealand, confirms the same points. That there is a ready sale for novels if the English publisher would only take advantage of that sale; that the American publisher has taken advantage of it, and is doing good business. Finally, a point of interest to dramatic authors was noticed; that several English playwrights have agents and that the piracy in Australia has almost died out. 112 THE AUTHOR. AGENTS’ CLAUSES IN PUBLISHERS’ AGREEMENTS, Ir has become necessary to mention once again the danger that may result from the insertion of the agency clause in an agreement between a publisher and an author, that is the clause enabling the agent to collect, to give valid receipts and sometimes even to have the control when disputes arise. This is, to use a legal phrase, an authority coupled with an interest, and cannot be cancelled as between the author and the publisher. Even the best agents in London are in the habit of inserting the clause in publishers’ agreements, and to this we very strongly object. If, how- ever, the agent, who is supposed to be acting on behalf of the author—not only draws the author’s attention to the fact that he is insert- ing this clause, but explains to him fully the dangers of the clause when it is inserted, and if when the full explanation has been laid before the author the author is still willing to sign the agreement, then nothing can be said against the agent or his methods of doing business ; but if he inserts the clause without calling the author’s attention specially to it, or if he does call the author’s attention to it, doing so in an off-hand manner, then he is acting unfairly by the author, and without due sense of the responsibilities of his position as author’s agent. We do not desire to use any stronger term as to his conduct, but think it essential that the author should be warned of the posi- tion. U.S.A. Ricuts. WE are reprinting from the Bulletin of the Author’s League of America a case which was tried some time ago, because the points then settled have been raised again in an important case which Mr. Jack London is carrying through the American Courts. A short state- ment of this appeared in the November issue of The Author. It is as well that members of the Society should understand some of the dangers which may be ahead of them as far as the United States copyright law is concerned, in order that, in the future, they may be able to safeguard themselves. REGISTRATION AT WASHINGTON, THE secretary has had a courteous reply from the registrar of copyrights at Washington, who has forwarded to him not only the circulars issued from the library with regard to the filing of dramatic pieces, but also copies of the forms which it is necessary to fill up. The registrar has also kindly forwarded samples of the other forms, and the Society will be ready to supply members should they wish to have them for the purposes of registration. The Society is deeply indebted to Mr. Solberg for his kindness. REMAINDER SALES. Durinc the last two or three months some serious questions have arisen with regard to remainder sales. In one or two agreements dealing with the publication of expensive books —from 15s. to 30s.—no clause has been in- serted covering the right of the publisher to sell remainders. In the cases referred to the publishers have remaindered the books without any notice to the authors. As no clause has been inserted in the agreements with regard to remainder sales, or the amount of royalty to be paid on such sales, a very difficult position is the result. Under the agreement the publisher would be bound to pay a certain percentage on the full published price. Under the usual clause for the sale of remainders the publisher generally pays a certain percentage on the net amount received. It is difficult to know what the legal decision would be if the author should bring an action for the full royalty on the published price. He would have to show that his damage amounted to that sum; whereas a publisher might maintain that, as the book was not selling, his damage really amounted only to the sum paid as a percentage on the remainder sales. We put the matter forward as a warning to authors. In almost every agreement there is a clause which deals with remainders; if there is no such clause, then we think, as a matter of courtesy, quite apart from the right, the publisher should give the author notice before he effects a sale. It would be interesting to take a case into court where a remainder sale had been made without any clause lying in the agreement dealing with the matter, in order to test the author's rights. Perhaps some. day such a case may be tried. CANON SHEEHAN MEMorRIAL. Ir has been proposed that a memorial should be set up in Doneraile, to Canon Sheehan, who died recently, and the secretary of the THE AUTHOR. fund has written to the Society of Authors to enquire whether any member of the Society would be willing to subscribe. Canon Sheehan must be well known to the members of the Society as the writer of a large number of books and novels. He was a member of the Society for many years, and has been a warm supporter of the Society throughout his membership. The patrons of the fund are the following :— The Right Hon. Lord Castletown, of Upper Ossory. The Right Hon. Alderman O’Shea, Lord Mayor of Cork. Sir John Arnott, Bart. Sir Bertram Windle, President University College, Cork. Colonel Grove White. Langley Brasier-Creagh, M.C.C. Lieutenant-Colonel Cuming. Captain Nichols. Should any member desire to subscribe, subscriptions should be sent to Rev. Br. P. A. Mulhall, Hon. Secretary, Doneraile. 1 COMMITTEE ELECTION. 4 N pursuance of Article 19 of the Articles of I Association of the Society, the committee give notice that the election of members of the Committee of Management will be pro- ceeded with in the following manner :— (1) One-third of the members of the present Committee of Management retire from office in accordance with Article 17. (2) The names of the retiring members are:— Sir Alfred Bateman, W. W. Jacobs, Stanley Leathes, Aylmer Maude. (3) The date fixed by the committee up to which nominations by the subscribing members of candidates for clection to the new committee may be made is January 31. (4) The committee nominate the following candidates, being subscribing members of the Society, to fill the vacancies caused by the retirement of one-third of the committee, according to the constitution :— Sir Alfred Bateman, W. W. Jacobs, Stanley Leathes, Aylmer Maude. The committee remind the members that, under Article 19 of the amended Articles of Association ‘‘ any two subscribing members of 1138 the Society may nominate one or more sub- scribing members other than themselves, not exceeding the number of vacancies to be filled up, by notice in writing sent to the secretary, accompanied by a letter signed by the candi- date or candidates expressing willingness to accept the duties of the post. The complete list of candidates will be printed in the March issue of The Author. —_———+ >_> —___——_- THE PENSION FUND COMMITTEE. pe N order to give members of the Society, I should they desire to appoint a fresh member to the Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has been the custom to place in The Author a complete statement of the method of election under the scheme for administration of the Pension Fund. Under that scheme the committee is composed of three members elected by the committee of the Society, three members elected by the Society at the general meeting, and the chairman of the Society for the time being ew officio. The three members elected by the Society are Mr. Owen Seaman, Mr. M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie. This year Mrs. Alec Tweedie retires under the scheme and submits her name for re-election. The members have, however, power to put forward other names under clause 9, which runs as follows :— “ Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com- mittee by the members of the society (not being a retiring member of such committee) shall be nominated in writing to the secretary at least three weeks prior to the general meeting at which such candidate isto be proposed, and the nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed by at least three members of the society. A list of the names of the candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members of the society, with the annual report of the managing committee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes at the general meeting shall be elected to serve on the Pension Fund Committee.” In case any member should desire to refer to the list of members he can do so if he gives notice to the secretary, or if he prefers he can forward the name of his proposed candidate or candidates and the secretary will inform him if they are members. It will be as well, therefore, should any mem- ber desire to put forward a candidate, to take the matter within his immediate considera- tion. The general mecting of the Society is usually held in March. It is desirable that all nominations should be in the hands of the secre tary before January 31. 114 M. ANATOLE FRANCE IN LONDON. —— + ANATOLE FRANCE has been on a visit to London during the past month and on December 10, a dinner was given in his honour at the Savoy Hotel. Lord Redesdale presided at the dinner, among those present at which were the Earl of Cromer, Viscount Goschen, Mrs. Humphry Ward, Mr. H. G. Wells, Miss Marie Corelli, Mr. Alfred Sutro, Mr. Israel Zangwill, Mr. W. J. Locke, Mr. John Galsworthy, Madame Sarah Grand, Mr. C. Lewis Hind, Mr. Jerome K. Jerome, Mr. W. W. Jacobs, Sir Frederick Pollock, Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace and Sir James Yoxall, M.P. Apologies for. inability to attend were sent by Mr. Asquith, Mr. Balfour, and Mr. Thomas Hardy. The chairman, in proposing the toast of the guest of the evening, said that he might have referred to him as one who has distinguished himself in many capacities, one who was an antiquary, a scholar, a man of science, an artist ; but he preferred to speak of him in a capacity which included all those qualifications, the capacity of an illustrious novelist. The novel was the champagne of prose literature— and it was a Yorkshire parson, Sterne, who invented the novel, as it exists to-day. He hoped he would not be charged with boasting if he weleomed M. France to the home of the novel. M. France, in the course of his reply, said that it was fitting the chairman should have spoken of the novel, both because he was the admirable writer who had made known in Europe the heroic tales of Japan, and because he was an Englishman. During two centuries English writers had produced masterpieces in this genre. Need he recall the names of Richardson and Fielding, Swift and Defoe, Seott, Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot ? There he pulled up, in order not to confer on the living a premature apotheosis! England was the native home of the novel, as was Normandy of the apple or Valencia of the orange. ‘Why? That question could be answered only in a large volume or in a single word. He would answer it in a word. The novel was in its nature intimate, cordial, and homely, and the spirit of the Englishman was homely, intimate, and cordial. What was infinitely precious to him as their guest, he gontinued, was the opportunity which was given to him now to express his respectful and tender affection for England, and to pay THE AUTHOR. homage to all there who represented the essential English genius, to all of them who, after a long series of robust generations, conveyed the vast and profound spirit of Shakespeare and Bacon. In this English genius there was a vigorous continuity which provoked wonder and compelled admiration. Its gravity, wedded to a perfect good humour, its happy combination of realism with a sublime idealism, its patient effort after justice, its virile energy and constancy in virtue, made it a perpetual homage to human liberty and human dignity. It had won the esteem of the whole world and had nowhere been better known nor more esteemed than in France. ———_+— + —_—___ UNITED STATES NOTES. —— HERE still continues to be discussion about the relative quantity and quality of books produced in the United States ; and the: Publishers’ Weekly, in whose columns the matter has been amply debated, has recently expressed the hope that ‘‘ the much- abused slogan ‘ fewer and better books’ is at last being heard.” Figures do not, indeed, support the idea that the output of books (of all kinds) is decreasing at the moment, since the Fall Announcement List shows an increase in titles of 5 per cent. over last year’s—itself nearly 29 per cent. larger than that of 1911. But it is thought that, on the whole, there will prove to have been a numerical decline in book-production for two years past, accom- panied by an improvement in quality in the non-fiction class. One Boston publisher has ventured on the opinion that the ery ought now to be changed to ‘‘ more and better books.” It is noteworthy that the publishers profess the most vivid interest in the question. The authors are comparatively silent. Biographical works have been unusually numerous since I last wrote. First place may be given to ex-President Roosevelt’s and Admiral Dewey’s autobiographies. Then there are Senator H. Cabot Lodge’s “ Early Memories ” ; Amelia Barr’s ‘“ All the Days of My Life”; Mrs. John A. Logan’s ‘‘ Reminis- cences of a Soldier’s Wife ’? ; and F. T. Martin’s “Things I Remember.” ‘Harrison Gray Otis”’ is portrayed by S. E. Morrison, a descendant. W.J. Johnson writes of “ Lincoln the Christian,” Dr. W. Elliot Griffis of “‘ Hep- burn of Japan,’’ Caroline Ticknor of ‘‘ Haw- thorne and his Publisher.’’ W. E. Ford edits THE AUTHOR. “The Writings of John Quincey Adams,” Frederick Bancroft ‘‘The Speeches, Corre- spondence, and Political Papers of Carl Schurz,’ and Sara Norton and M. A. de Wolfe Howe, conjointly, ‘‘ The Letters of Charles Eliot Norton.” Among the historical works are Senator J. H. Lewis’s ‘‘ Two Great Republics—Rome and the United States’; J. Spencer Bassett’s “‘ Short History of the United States”; G. L. Rives’s “‘The United States and Mexico, 1821-1848’; Rear-Admiral Fiske’s ‘‘ War Time in Manila”; J. A. Le Roy’s “ The Americans in the Philippines’; R. M. John- ston’s ‘ Bull Run: Its Strategy and Tactics ” ; and R. F. Guardia’s ‘‘ Discovery and Conquest of Costa Rica.” Two notable Anglo-American books are Senator Lodge’s “‘One Hundred Years of Peace’’; and Mr. Whitelaw Reid’s ‘“* American and English Studies.” Ex-President Taft has a work to his credit— “Popular Government: Its Essence, its Permanence, and its Perils.” Somewhat similar in the suggestion of its title is H. C. Emery’s ‘‘ The Politician, the Party, and the People.”’ Political also are ‘‘ The Theory of Social Revolution,’ by Brooks Adams ; ‘‘ The Monroe Doctrine, an Obsolete Shibboleth,” by H. Bingham ; and “‘ A Preface to Politics,”’ by Walter Lippmann. The feminist question is considered in ‘‘Sex Antagonism,” by W. Heape; ‘‘ Woman in Science,” by H. J. Mozens; and “A Survey of the Woman Problem,” by Rosa Mayreder. “ Present Forces in Negro Progress,” is by Dr. W. D. Weatherford. C. O. Gill and G. Pinchot discuss ‘‘ The Country Church: Its Decline and the Remedy.” Professor W. G. Bleyer is the author of “Newspaper Writing and Editing,” and Pro- fessor F. P. Graves of ‘‘ A History of Education in Modern Times.” Literature and art do not claim a long list of recent books. Among them, however, is ex-President Roosevelt’s “‘ History as Litera- ture, and other Essays.” ‘“‘ The Book of the Epic,” is by H. A. Guerber ; ‘‘ Art and Common Sense,” by Royal Cortissoz; ‘‘ London in English Literature,” by P. H. Boynton. In “The Wallet of Time,’’ William Winter deals with the American stage between 1791 and 1812, while Dr. R. E. Burton writes about ‘* The New American Drama.”’ Travel books and the like are fairly numerous. “The Panama Gateway,’ by J. B. Bishop ; “The Panama Canal,” by Earle Harrison ; “The Story of the Panama Canal,” by Logan 115 Marshall ; and “‘ Pacific Shores from Panama,” by E. C. Peixotto, all derive their inspiration from one source. Home is dealt with in R. H. Schauffler’s ‘‘ Romantic America,”’ Caroline Richards’s ‘‘ Village Life in America (1852- 72), and Belmore Brown’s ‘‘ Conquest of Mount McKinley.” P. J. Eder, with ‘‘ Colom- bia,” and D. R. Williams, with ‘“‘ The Odyssey of the Philippine Commission,” go further afield; and further still, Theodore Dreiser’s ** A Traveler Abroad,’ C.S. Oleott’s ‘‘ Country of Sir Walter Scott,” and A. H. Exner’s ** Japan as I Saw It.” By exercising a discrimination,, which .may not be entirely just, it is possible to reduce the army of new novels to reasonable dimensions. Undoubtedly the most popular of the autumn volumes were Gene Stratton-Porter’s ‘‘ Laddie”’ and Rex Beach’s ‘“‘ The Iron Trail.’ The best sellers’ lists have also included ‘‘ The Way Home,” by Basil King; ‘A Fool and his Money,” by G. B. McCutcheon; “ Otherwise Phyllis,’ by Meredith Nicholson; ‘The Business of Life,” by R. W. Chambers ; “ The Lady and the Pirate,” by Emerson Hough ; and ‘“‘ The White Linen Nurse,”’ by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott. Richard Harding Davis’s new novel is ‘‘The Lost Road”; Payne Erskine’s ‘“‘ The Eye of Dread ”’ ; R. W. Kauff- mann’s ‘‘ The Spider’s Web ”; G. R. Chester’s “Wallingford and Blackie Daw”; Kate Douglas Wiggin’s ‘‘ The Story of Waitstill Baxter”; L. J. Vance’s “ Joan Thursday ”’ ; Ridgewell Cullum’s “‘ The Twins of Suffering Creek’; Edith Wharton’s “‘ The Custom of the Country’; Stewart Edward White’s ** Gold ” ; F. H. Spearman’s ‘“‘ Merrilie Dawes ” Harriet Hobson’s “‘ Sis Within ’?; and Harold Bell Wright’s ‘‘The Eyes of the World.” Margaret Deland has brought out “ Partners ” ; Samuel Blythe, ‘‘ The Price of Place” ; Anne Elliott, ‘‘ The Memoirs of Mimosa ”’ ; Marjorie Patterson, ‘‘ The Dust of the Road”; David Potter, “‘ The Streak’; Anne Wharton, “A Rose of Old Quebec’’; Laura E. Richards, “The Little Master’?; Mrs. Corra Harris, “In Search of a Husband’; Will Levington Comfort, ‘‘Down among Men”; Harold MacGrath, ‘‘ Deuces Wild’; Mary Johnston, ‘Hagar’; Gouverneur Morris, “If You Touch Them They Vanish”; J. B. Ellis, ‘“‘TLahoma’’; and W. M. Harvey and J. C. Harvey, ‘“‘The Hills o’ Hampshire.” Mrs. R. C. Sheffield’s novel, ‘‘ The Golden Hollow,” sprang into immediate fame owing to an attempt by the lady’s husband to prevent its publication, on the ground that he was libelled in it ! Finally, mention must not be omitted of two posthumous works of fiction—Myrtle Reed’s “Threads of Grey and Gold,” and Vaughan Kester’s ‘‘ The Hand of the Mighty, and other stories.” : The obituary of the past half-year contains many names of writers, though perhaps the majority of them are but little known in England. In June, too late for inclusion in the last issue of these notes, occurred the deaths of Lucius Harwood Foote, a poet who was once U.S. Minister to Korea; of the Rev. Dr. C. A. Briggs, hero of a Presbyterian heresy-trial eleven years ago, and a prolific religious writer ; of M. M. Muhleman, author of a number of financial works; of T. A. Janvier, editor, novelist, ete., and friend of Frédéric Mistral ; of the Rev. E. G. Murphy, a southern philan- thropist ; and of Judge T. M. Norwood, ex- Confederate and Senator. Early in July died Mrs. Mary Harrison Seymour, a writer of children’s books. Miss Nell Speed, another worker in the same line, followed her at the beginning of August. Professor J. C. Coney, of Princeton University, died on July 25. September saw the deaths of Professor A. G. Newcomer ; of the Kentuckian, R. T. Durrett ; of the Rev. Dr. James Orr; and of Eliakum Zunser, the Yiddish poet. In October died Stanley Waterlow; Stephen Jenkins; the Rev. Dr. J. I. Mombert; Professor C. F. Richardson ; Mrs. Sara Andrew Schafer; W. Garrott Brown; Mrs. M. B. Crowninshield, widow of the Admiral; and Reuben Gold Thwaites, of Wisconsin University. Price Collier died on November 8, when on a visit to the Baltic. The writings of the last named are, of course, as well known in the Old World as in the New. Puitie WALSH. —————p-~<¢—___ ARTISTS, CRITICS, AND EXHIBITIONS. —-— + A” interesting article in a recent issue of The Author on artists and critics prompts me to offer a few remarks on the subject; my excuse being that I have been writing about art for more years than I care to recall, and that during that time I have had considerable opportunity, not merely of thinking about the vexed question of the legitimate limits and province of art criticism, but what is more to the point, of learning from all sorts and conditions of artists, their views thereon. 116 THE AUTHOR. I would like to epitomise, as briefly as possible, these views with which, I confess, I have a large measure of sympathy. Artists generally hold, as your contributor hints, that it is absurd, speaking generally, to suppose that one man can be competent to tackle every phase of artistic thought and expression : every school of art. They hold that the critic is lacking, commonly, in catholicity of taste, and that his knowledge of painting and ~ sculpture is necessarily limited, in a technical sense and in other regards. In most cases the critic has a strong bias toward a particular school of painting, so that he is apt to judge everything that comes under his review from the standpoint of its approximation to, or deviation from, the preconceived standard he has set up in his mind, The literary man is in a much happier case in regard to the newspaper judgment of his work, because, in the first place, his critic is another literary man and consequently knows something about the technical difficulties of the literary vehicle of expression. Moreover, as your contributor remarks, the editor sees that a book coming to him for review is sent out to the critic who has made, or is supposed to have made, a special study of the subject treated in that particular book. Editors know that such and such a reviewer on their list is incompetent to judge, say, a theological work, though he may be trusted not to make a fool of himself in dealing with a treatise on the arts and crafts. Artists maintain that the language of art is art, and that although Ruskin and others have tried to translate it, put it into words, that is to say, it remains a thing apart, to be understood fully by the practitioners of art only. A writer can only tell you what is wrong with a picture, whereas he should he able both to point out a fault and tell you how to correct it. If a critic should tell a writer that his book is full of split infinitives; that the meaning is often obscured by the too free and too com- plicated use of parenthesis, that its facts are faulty; its opinions based on insecure or fallacious grounds ; its style loose, or what not, he has not only pointed out definite faults, but in doing so has suggested remedies. The assumption is that the literary critic knows how to write well enough to improve the book he criticises, and this he either proves or the reverse by the quality of his own literary style and the character of his criticism; whereas an art critic is not called upon to prove his power to improve a picture in writing about it. THE AUTHOR. 117 In view of these and cognate considerations, it is held by artists that they are to be pardoned if they look upon art criticism generally in the light of “notices,” rather than as a guide to aid and correct performance. Conse- quently, it is not unnatural that when a notice becomes offensive they commonly resent it. ' If a painter should come into another painter’s studio and say bluntly, ‘‘ That arm’s too long,”’ or ‘‘ That nose is too short,” indicat- ing the alteration necessitated with a piece of chalk, he is in fair way to prove himself right or wrong; the matter can be determined one way or the other. The like applies to much more subtile criticisms. Whereas, when a critic arbitrarily declares that a picture is ‘too degraded in tone,” that it lacks distinc- tion, that the artist needs to take lessons in perspective, that his colour gradations are in defiance of truth, or too truthful to be beautiful, and so forth, he merely makes assertions upon which no onus of proof rests. To come from the general to the particular. It is undeniable that mixed exhibitions in London and other great cities are, generally speaking, arranged with the design to attract attention, to draw the town, so to speak; to express and take advantage of any new theory that may have ‘“‘ caught on.” The result is that pictures not painted with these aims are fairly certain to be overlooked by the critic whose one preoccupation frequently is to make “copy.” So that in recent days, truth to nature no longer counts, and the indirect result is that too many artists, rather than run the risk, amounting almost to a certainty, of being left behind, throw nature and truth overboard. They become frantically eager to be in the movement, to assert their “individuality ”’ and so secure notice. To-day, moreover, pictures are more and more regarded as mere wall decorations, and this being so any new convention pleases for the moment, so long, that is to say, as the particular scheme of colour and design is in the mode. To this scheme pictures must accord. The result is lament- able for the landscape painter ; for what does or can the average fashionable Londoner know about the country, which he merely resorts to in the holiday-maker’s spirit? As the town continually increases its boundaries, this must be more and more the spirit in which the country is regarded and tolerated. Despite the fact that motors take Londoners from centre to centre, their view of the country must be merely panoramic, and their apprecia- tion of it must become increasingly super- ficial and artificial.* The real life and soul of nature, the real meaning of the countryman’s life and habit of |thought become less and less understood. Hence, if a landscape painter in any case is to attract a wide public his work must become more and more decorative and conventional: it must be painted to supply a@ want. The time has already arrived, speaking in the social sense, when London exists solely for those who follow fashion and resort to it to be tickled with the latest novelty. Its exhibitions of pictures must, if they are to pay their way, conform to the inexorable necessity of tickling the palates of the groundlings. Consequently the true artist is returning to that happier and far more gracious state when exhibitions and critics were factors outside his considera- tion. He is becoming content to paint for those few whom the good God gives him; for appreciative folk of his own neighbourhood, folk familiar with and loving the scenes he depicts. He works, as all great artists of old worked, to please those with whom he comes into direct contact, leaving his fame now and hereafter, in a more extended sense, to take care of itself. The artists who have arrived at this sensible and dignified resolve are much happier in themselves and in their work than those to whom exhibitions and newspaper notices are necessities. Jas. STANLEY LITTLE. ——_——_ + —~>—__+-—______—__ WHO’S WHO, 1914.* eg 2 HO’S Who” is so well known as hardly to stand in need of recom- ‘ mendation. There is in any year very little to be said about this valuable annual except that it has again grown larger, and will so be more helpful than heretofore. We have only to remark that the new volume maintains its traditional level, which is giving it the highest praise that can be bestowed upon it. ae WHO'S WHO YEAR-BOOK FOR 1914—15.¢ ne N a few words contained in his preface, the editor of ‘‘ Who’s Who” very justly draws attention to the assistance which all possessors of that work will derive from this * “Who's Who, 1914.” Sixty-sixth year of Issue. London: Adam and Charles Black. + ‘“Who’s Who Year-Book for 1914—15.” London : Adam and Charles Black. 118 fellow-volume, the ‘‘ Who’s Who Year-Book.”’ The commodious alphabetical arrangement of the larger volume necessarily precludes any grouping of the vast amount of information which it contains. This grouping of infor- mation is, at the same time, indispensable when a name has to be sought; and 1s immediately provided by the exhaustive indexes under various headings presented in the ‘‘ Year-Book.’’ We therefore entirely agree with the editor that “it can be truly said that no one who does not spend an extra shilling on the lesser work can reap the full advantage of the larger one.’”’” Among new tables included for the first time in the present edition are: A list of the Heads of Universities, of General Officers and Admirals on the Active List, of Premiers of Colonies, and Members of Royal Commissions now sitting. While recom- mending the work generally, we must add that it is one likely to be particularly useful to journalists as well as to other literary men. ——_+ + —___ THE WRITERS’ AND ARTISTS’ YEAR- BOOK.* 1 S there any occasion to say that ‘‘ The Writers’ and Artists’ Year-Book ”’ ought to be in the hands of every author? We hope that there is not, for no manual of equal value exists, whilst its price puts it within the easy reach of all. Among the new features of the volume of 1914 are an article on cinema- play writing by an expert, a detailed list of cinema companies and their requirements, and an article on press photography. In addition to this the book has been this year greatly enlarged by the inclusion of fresh matter; whilst a last but most happily invented novelty is, at the end of the volume, the provision of blank pages, duly ruled, on which authors may record where MSS. are sent and when, and with what results. The conve- nience of this will be instantly apparent to all contributors to periodicals, and ought alone widely to increase the popularity of this valuable little book. * “The Writers’ and Artists’ Year-Book, 1914,” Iondon: am and Charles Black. THE AUTHOR. **BOOK PRICES CURRENT.” * oo HE numbers of Book Prices Current lying aL before us complete the twenty-seventh volume; and record the sales from March 18 to August 1, 1918. We learn from the preface that the auction season has been ‘*one of the busiest on record, as well as one of the most successful.”” The total amount realised, in more than sixty high-class sales, has closely approached £200,000, a sum exceed- ing any previously on record for a corresponding period; whilst the average sum realised throughout the season has been £5 Os. 7d. ; also the highest on record; 1911, 1912, previously the highest average recorded, gave an average of £5 Os. 2d. This remarkable record has not been due to the Huth sale alone. During the last two years a very large number of rare and valuable books have come into the auction rooms, and they have fetched there higher prices than at any previous date. On the other hand, other books, of value, but not such as are sought by the book collector have sold for sums considerably smaller than they fetched a fewyears ago. Here the scholar, as distinct from the book collector enjoys an advantage, and may hope to purchase volumes required for working purposes at somewhat - diminished prices. The editor of Book Prices Current speaks of the impression that ‘“ all sorts and conditions of owners desire to dispose of their possessions as quickly as possible ’’ as an. “‘ illusion,”” but we must confess to wishing that we could be quite sure of that ; or even sure that authors at least paid as much attention as their calling demands to the possession of books—and to reading them. A depreciation in the value of books that are not collectors’ books has a sinister appearance of being of one piece with a good many other phenomena of “the advance of education,” or what at present passes for such. We have, unfortunately, space for picking out only a very few plums from the widely interesting details of the new numbers of this always entertaining periodical. Those who like to read of strange books, of the most varied description, should turn to the pages recording the sale (April 3, 4, Sotheby) of the © first portion of a book-lover’s library. Authors are likely to be particularly interested in such lots as (April 3, Hodgson) Meredith ‘‘ Ordeal of Richard Feverel,”’ first edition, 8 vols., original cloth, 1859, £8 15s. The same price * “ Book Prices Current,” Vol. XXVII., Nos. 4 and 5, 1913. 2s London : -Elliot Stock. te het Sg a ES THE AUTHOR. 119 was paid (April 23, Sotheby) for two works by Gissing (“Workers in the Dawn,” “ The Unelassed’’), both similarly first editions in three volumes in the original cloth. Very striking were the prices fetched at the sale of the Browning Collections (May 2, MSS. ; May 5—7, printed books, Sotheby). Particu- larly the prices paid for the MSS., should be noted. Every one of them would be worth quotation if we had space ;_ but we can record here only such things as pairs of small manu- script note-books selling for £33, £50, and £52 ; and the autograph of “* Sonnets from the Portu- guese” for £1,130. The printed books also fetched quite fancy prices on account of ownership, autographs and manuscript notes. Eleven volumes of the Tauchnitz classics sold for £24. On June 2 Messrs. Sotheby began the sale of the fourth portion of the Huth library. It will be needless to say that, as on previous occasions, no notice could possibly do justice to the rarities offered for sale. Mr. Bram Stoker’s Library was sold by Sotheby on July 7 and 8. The original MSS. of “ Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving ”’ sold for £1 4s. THE PUBLISHING TRADE FROM WITHIN.* ——_— + HIS is really an American book, though it comes to us from an English house ; and it is solely of the transatlantic conditions of the book trade that it treats. The author, it must be added, writes from the publisher’s point of view, and fails to perceive a good many things which are conspicuous from the view- point of this Society. He writes, for instance, as if 10 per cent. were the royalty fixed by the laws of nature, and does not seem-to see the abandonment of those costly advertising methods which, in America at all events, once afforded some justification for the doctrine warrants the appropriation to the writer of a larger share of the returns. Nor does he take sound views of the functions of literary agents; and, indeed, it is not quite clear what his views on that branch of the subject really are. On one and the same page he writes that the agent “‘ is often a beneficence to publisher as well as author,” and that, ‘depending equally upon author and publisher for his livelihood, he is always at odds with one _ * “The Publisher,” by Robert Sterling Yard. Constable. 4s, 6d. net. of them.’ Why either publisher or author should always be ‘‘ at odds” with one who is labouring successfully for his advantage we have some difficulty in understanding ;_ but, perhaps, the key to the mystery is contained in the following sentence :— ‘** It is only when slack business or exces- sive zeal drives him into forcing royalties or luring authors from their natural publishers in order to win a commission by placing them with others that he becomes the devil.” The implication here seems to be that the agent is all right as long as he does no work for his commission beyond the packing up of parcels, and that, when he does any other work, he does it, not in the interest of his client, but in the interest of the new firm to which he allures his client, and is entitled to be, and commonly is, paid a commission by that firm for his services. That is a view of literary agency against which we have often had occa- sion to protest. In England, at all events, it is illegal as well as immoral; and it is doubly important to emphasise its impropriety when we find a publisher’s representative writing as if he thought it a legitimate proceeding, offensive to no one except the publisher who suffered by it. Still, though we often disagree with Mr. Yard, we are glad to have read his book. It is desirable that the author should know what is in the publisher’s mind; and Mr. Yard not only tells him this, but tells it in a light and entertaining manner, and with a real enthusiasm for literature as well as for success. —__+.—_o—._ “PICTURES” AND PICTURE-PLAYS.* ag does not, at first sight, seem to be much that concerns authors, as authors, in the subject which gives its title to Mr. Talbot’s book. Nevertheless, even those who are not attracted by the idea that they may read therein something about the practical side of the art or industry which provides us with ‘“‘ the pictures’? on every vacant spot where it is possible to erect a ‘* palace ’’—even those may turn with interest to the eighteenth chapter of the book and see what Mr. Talbot has to say about picture- * ‘ Practical Cinematography and its Applications,” by Frederick A. Talbot. London: Wm. Heinemann, 120 plays and the writing of them. The vogue of the picture-palace, he points out, has created a new profession ; and, while at the start the public was not exacting as to the quality of the drama shown upon the screen, content with the mere novelty of the exhibition, now the state of affairs is quite different. Better fare, stronger plots (coupled with improved mount- ing and acting) are demanded, and the un- known struggling dramatist, foiled hitherto by the lack of enterprise on the part of the theatrical managers, has a golden opportunity. Mr. Talbot speaks enthusiastically :— To-day the embryo dramatist never bestows a thought upon writing for the stage ; the cinematograph will absorb all that he can produce, and as rapidly as he can complete it. No longer need a budding genius starve unknown and unappreciated in a garret. If his work possesses any merit the cinematograph will turn it to profitable account. About 300 picture-plays are placed upon the world’s market every week, and consequently the consumption of plots is enormous. What is more important from the author’s point of view is the expanding nature of this market, where supply cannot keep pace with demand, and the proportionate improvement that is manifest in the scale of remuneration. Ten years ago a plot seldom fetched more than five shillings ; to-day the same material will command anything between £5 and £50. In this field of activity reputation counts for nothing. The play, and the play only, is the thing. We could quote much more, but it is un- necessary, to show what a boon Mr. Talbot considers that the development of cinemato- graphy has bestowed upon the author with dramatic talent. We must add that he finds the British producing firms lagging behind the times, though signs of awakening are becoming evident, and one or two of the most pro- gressive establishments now pay up to £10 for a play. Further, we are told that so much is the standard of excellence rising that ‘‘ the highest work only now stands a chance of being accepted.’ It must not, therefore, be thought that anyone can write a picture-play, nor must we trust the “ advertisements freely inserted in the various periodicals offering to teach the art of writing plays for the cinemato- graph and to submit the plots to the various producers in the manner of a literary agency.” The author should submit his work directly to the producer and deal with him alone, while the art of writing cannot be taught by schools, but can only be acquired by experience. In a way the title of the chapter, “‘ How to write photo-plays,” is misleading. Mr. Talbot is not so foolish as to attempt to supply the place of the experience which he declares essential. Tis chapter, however, is suggestive, and gives additional value to a book which can be thoroughly commended on other grounds. THE AUTHOR. A large number of illustrations accompany the text, showing both the apparatus by which moving-pictures are taken and some most instructive results. -_- A MODERN ENGLISH DICTIONARY,* y VERY dictionary must be written from a special view-point. Even Sir J. A. H. Murray’s world-famed production, ex- haustive as it is, cannot contain everything. In a dictionary the general get-up is a matter of vital importance. It must not be too large, it must not be too heavy, the printing must be clear, the paper good. In these essentials the ‘Modern English Dictionary’? must be commended. One feature is a series of glossaries con- taining comprehensive lists of technical terms referring to certain sports. These lists are compiled by such well-known authorities as Lord Hawke on cricket, James Brady on golf, Claude Grahame White on aviation, and J. E. Raphael on Rugby football. We are not so satisfied with the illustrations. It is really an impossible thing to illustrate a dictionary, and though the examples of aero- planes may give to the reader of 1913 some interest, yet the examples of marine engines, p. 284, seem to be quite hopeless, and unable to suggest anything even to the mind of an engineer, certainly nothing to the lay mind. The coloured illustrations also are not very satisfactory. The standard cattle, p. 158, to give but one example, afford little real infor- mation to those who search the dictionary for knowledge on the subject. The illustrations in a dictionary are bound to be so limited that it were better to omit them. For the dictionary itself, as far as it has been possible to peruse it, there is nothing but com- mendation. Indeed, the names of the editorial contributors on the front page, Sir James Yoxhall, Professor Gollanez, Professor Walter Rippmann, Henry R. Tedder, H. J. L. J. Masse, at once carry conviction that the work has been satisfactorily done. There are, in addi- tion to the glossaries, some useful appendices. The book should prove of value to those who. want a dictionary which attempts to bring the outstanding interests of life into its compass. * “The British Empire Universities Modern English Dictionary.” Published by the Syndicate Publishing Company, 41, Southampton Row, W.C. CORRESPONDENCE. + * Onxy.” I. Sr1r,—It was high time that protest should be made against the misplacement of “ only.” My books are crammed with marginal cor- rections of examples; to cull them would fill columns. But I will give only one, and that from Lord Morley’s “ Diderot” (Vol. L., ii., p- 77), ‘‘ He only speaks as one brooding,” etc. A writer in the current number of 7. P.’s Weekly flatters Lord Morley by imitation, ‘when he says of a bookseller that “* of twenty novels submitted to him he only ordered two.” Yours faithfully, Epwarp CLopp. II. Sir,—Your last issues contain letters in which exception is taken to such sentences as “the tide had only turned two hours before,” ‘“* T shall now only add three remarks for your consideration,” ete. So far from being a ‘* vulgar error,” this throwing forward of the ‘only ” is a natural and instinctive action of the mind by which the hearer is warned as early as possible of the nature of the statement asa whole. Of possibilities of various degrees, a minor one is to be put forward as the predi- cate. A colour and a force is thus often given to what would be otherwise a mere correct verbal statement. If a man asks me to give him a book I have in my hand, I reply: “I bought it only yesterday,” I am giving him a formal verbally correct piece of information. But if I say: “I only bought it yesterday,” I am also making a protest. The “only” represents my chief emotion and must come out at once. Personally, I prefer living language to dead formalism. Yours obediently, Louis ZANGWILL. Boox Covers. S1r,—I should like to utter a protest—I fear a futile protest, for vulgarity is the order of the day—against the paper covers, not only with startling but with misleading pictures on them which even respectable publishers give to the books they issue. Has the author any centrol over these? Reviews had _ lately attracted me to a certain book but I was inclined to think I must have been mistaken THE AUTHOR. 121 as to its character when I saw the wrapper. The pictorial decoration, however, proved to be a gross exaggeration of an incident in the novel—a noble book. The dodge, in order to attract readers who would not be in sympathy with the contents, was like to alienate those who would be. It struck me as being bad business as well as insulting to the writer. Faithfully yours, IsosEL Fitzroy Hecur. THE LATE Dr. ALFRED RussEL WALLACE. Dear S1r,—The family of the late Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace having invited me to arrange and edit a volume of letters and reminiscences, they would be thankful if those of your readers who have letters or reminiscences would kindly send them to me for this purpose. The letters would be safely and promptly returned. Will provincial, American, colonial and foreign newspapers kindly republish this letter. Yours faithfully, JAMES MARCHANT. BROWNING RELICs. Dear Srr,—Will you kindly permit me to interest some of the readers of The Author in the following facts ? It has been my privilege to purchase the wonderful oak bookcase of that great poet— and great man—Robert Browning. My object in doing so was to save it to our own land, as there was imminent danger of its leaving the country. I wish to give any and every lover of Browning’s memory and poetry, an oppor- tunity of subscribing his or her coin, as he or she is able, towards the £250 required to secure the bookcase a permanent resting place in England as a national heirloom. I am told that it would easily fetch from two to three thousand pounds from America. But that, of course, is unthinkable to fellow- countrymen and women of the Brownings. The insignificant sum of £250 should be easily forthcoming within the three months for which the offer remains open, if each sympathiser will contribute his or her coin promptly and endeavour to interest others. Would it not be a shame and a national disgrace were we to permit this precious relic to go abroad ? The bookcase is of fine old carved oak, gathered together by the poct himself, as he wandered about Italy. Some of it is fifteenth 122 THE AUTHOR. century oak; other pieces are of early sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The bookcase is 11 feet high by 7 feet broad. It stood in the drawing room at Casa Guidi, and later in Browning’s London home. It is mentioned in Mrs. Browning’s letters to Miss Mitford, July 4, 1848. And there is a very’ interesting allusion to it in “ Bishop Blougram’s Apology,” which, if read in con- junction with Mrs. Browning’s letter, sheds a very pretty light on a personal matter in the Brownings’ history. Many of the poet’s MSS. must have been locked up in the fine cupboard at the base of the bookecase—probably ‘“‘ The Little Yellow Book” itself found here a_ resting-place. If any of your readers would care to see the bookease, I should be glad to send them permits to view it, which, thanks to the kind- ness and hospitality of Mr. J. R. Thomas, is now housed in the Georgian Galleries belong- ing to that gentleman, and situated at 10, King Street, St. James’s, S.W. I am, dear sir, faithfully yours, (Mrs.) E. M. Story. Orchard House, Whelton Road, Twickenham. Dear Srr,—I am suffering from a dis- agreeable emotion—regret for having tried to do a kind action for my fellow authors. I have just received the following letter :— *“DEar Mapam,—Acting on the sugges- tion in your letter in The Author dated September 16, I directed my publisher to send a copy. of my (name of book) to Monsieur Paul Louis Hervier, 28, Rue de Beaumont, Bourges, France. He has not acknowledged the book, nor taken any notice whatever of a second application asking him to do so—to return the book— or give the review for which purpose now so long ago it was sent. To my thinking, such conduct reflects discreditably on the recom- mendation, or . . . A brief acknowledgment would have met the need—one cannot afford to give books away in this way. I shall feel obliged if you will bring the omission to his notice, as my pen fails to have any effect.” “Yours truly,” ee o> The ellipsis represents a libellous suggestion which The Author would not print, I do not know when the book referred to was published, but my letter appeared in October’s Author, and La Nouvelle Revue is published only twice each month; so, even if the book was sent to the French editor immediately, but four numbers have made their appearance since. I am writing to Monsieur Hervier, but not quite in the way my correspondent suggests. I am writing to apologise for a compatriot, and to express the hope that he will not be disgusted with his work of helping with a kind and clever brain the English authors whose books are sent to him. By the way, this lady and her publisher have evidently had the unique experience of having every ‘“‘review copy” noticed gor ** acknowledged ”’—wonderful ! Yours truly, Maup ANNESLEY. ADVERTISEMENTS. Srr,—It frequently is the misfortune of those who read the daily papers to find after wading through half a column of chatty gossip that it all ends in advertisement—a recommen- dation to buy some patent medicine, or to dine at some special restaurant. All this is bad enough; but it is my desire to call the attention of my fellow members to an editorial liberty that has been taken twice to my know- ledge and, probably, much more often. The editor of a young magazine—the name can be obtained from the secretary—altered the locale of a short story he had bought by changing the name of one well-known restaurant inserted by the author to that of another whose advertisement he held. The matter would have been of less import- ance if only the description, somewhat detailed of the former, applied to the latter. It did not. Interested by this little incident I forgot myself so far as to purchase another copy of the magazine some months later. There I found the heroine “* daintily throwing away the end of her cigarette.”” I immediately turned to the advertisement pages and found ’s cigarettes being advertised. If the author desires to advertise some special abnormity, let him do so. his taste or his art. But it is not fair that he should be at the mercy of the editor. I should like very much to see an action brought. What damages would the British jury award, I wonder. Yours truly, AGGRIEVED. I do not admire . 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. 24 Issue 04 (January 1914) Subject The topic of the resource The Author, Vol. 24 Issue 04 (January 1914) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1914-01-01-The-Author-24-4 publications The Author