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275	https://historysoa.com/items/show/275	The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 11 (April 1895)	<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+11+%28April+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 11 (April 1895)</a>			<a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a>								<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>	1895-04-01-The-Author-5-11					281–304																		<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a>											<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895-04-01">1895-04-01</a>							11			18950401	C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT.<br /> VoI. V.-No. 11.]<br /> APRIL 1, 1895.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as earpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> -<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *-<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE,<br /> agent.<br /> 4. AscERTAIN WEAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVEs To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTs.-Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your<br /> Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone,<br /> 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a M.S. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTs. -- Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :—<br /> 4, PoETUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> -- - *-- - --&quot;<br /> - - -<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.-It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP You R AGREEMENTS. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £IO must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at mo ea&#039;pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> WOL. V.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub.<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> C C 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 282 (#296) ############################################<br /> <br /> 282<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel&#039;s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us. -<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of<br /> members’ agreements and their preservation in a fireproof<br /> safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con-<br /> fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who<br /> will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1)<br /> To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To<br /> stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon<br /> them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments<br /> due according to agreements.<br /> *-- ~ *-*<br /> •- ~~~<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. That it<br /> submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree-<br /> ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene-<br /> rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business<br /> details. w<br /> 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured<br /> will be forwarded upon detailed application.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works only for those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed ea clusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days&#039;<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi-<br /> cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent<br /> to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence ; does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that<br /> in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray<br /> postage.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department * for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted &#039;&#039; is open. Members are invited to<br /> communicate their requirements to the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P. If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 283 (#297) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 283<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands<br /> at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact<br /> truth as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder’s,<br /> bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be<br /> arrived at. -<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-*. --&gt;<br /> THE COMMITTEE,<br /> R. HENRY NORMAN, the author of<br /> “Real Japan,” “The Peoples and Politics<br /> of the Far East” (just published by Mr.<br /> Fisher Unwin), and other books, and the literary<br /> editor of the Daily Chronicle, has been appointed<br /> to the committee and council of the Society. By<br /> Mr. Norman&#039;s election the last vacancy on the<br /> committee for the current year is filled.<br /> *-- - -—º<br /> r- - -,<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY,<br /> I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> H.E Dominion Government have ceased the<br /> collection through the Customs of the<br /> 12% per cent. royalty on reprints of British<br /> copyright works brought into Canada, which has<br /> been collected hitherto for the benefit of the<br /> authors. The Tariff Act passed last season<br /> provided for the discontinuance of the collection<br /> of the royalty from March 27 of this year, in<br /> order to emphasise Canada&#039;s claim to exclusive<br /> jurisdiction in the Dominion regarding copy-<br /> right.—Standard, April 2.<br /> To the Editor of the Times.<br /> SIR,--Your issue of Feb. 26, containing the<br /> letter of Mr. W. M. Conway on Canadian copy-<br /> right, has just been received here, and I must<br /> ask the favour of a reply thereto.<br /> Mr. Conway overlooks several important points<br /> which entirely destroys the force of his arguments.<br /> First, the geographical position of Canada, side<br /> by side as it is with the United States.<br /> Second, that, should the English author fail to<br /> publish in the United States before or simul-<br /> taneously with publication elsewhere, he loses<br /> copyright there, and any United States publisher<br /> can reprint the book without payment of any<br /> royalty whatever, and send the book into Canada<br /> unless it is copyrighted here. Under the Canadian<br /> Act, on the other hand, the author has thirty<br /> days after publication elsewhere in which to<br /> publish in Canada, and thereby secure exclusive<br /> copyright.<br /> Third, to secure copyright in the United States<br /> the author must actually have the type set up<br /> within the United States, The Canadian law, on<br /> the other hand, specially permits the importation<br /> of plates into Canada free of duty.<br /> If the English author refuses or neglects to<br /> secure copyright in the United States, he loses<br /> all rights there. But not so in Canada, for the<br /> Canadian Act provides that any publisher here<br /> wishing to reprint any such book must first give<br /> security for the payment of a royalty of Io per<br /> cent, for the benefit of the author.<br /> It will be seen, then, that the Canadian Act<br /> grants valuable concessions to the English author<br /> which concessions are denied him in the United<br /> States.<br /> Mr. Conway repeats the statement that if the<br /> Canadian Bill becomes law Canadian reprints will<br /> inevitably flood the United States market. I<br /> think I can show Mr. Conway, and those who<br /> think as he does, that this statement has no<br /> foundation in fact. Section 4956 of the United<br /> States Copyright Act reads:—“During the<br /> existence of such copyright (in the United States)<br /> the importation into the United States of any book,<br /> chromo, or photograph, so copyrighted, or any<br /> edition or editions thereof shall be and<br /> it is hereby prohibited.” Section 4965 of the<br /> same Act provides the penalty for the infringe-<br /> ment of the foregoing provision. The United<br /> States copyright owners are therefore fully<br /> protected, and in the face of these provisions<br /> of the United States Act it will be worse<br /> than folly to continue to assert that Canadian<br /> reprints would or could flood the United States<br /> market.<br /> Mr. Walter Besant&#039;s new book, “Beyond the<br /> Dreams of Avarice,” furnishes an apt illustration<br /> in point. Mr. Besant’s book is issued in London<br /> at 6s. It is copyrighted in the United States, and<br /> is issued there at I dol. 50 cents. The British<br /> copyright owners have, however, issued a special<br /> cheap edition for the Canadian market, and Mr.<br /> Besant may rest assured that this special Canadian<br /> edition (which was printed in London and is now<br /> selling in Canada for 75 cents a copy) will not<br /> flood the United States market, for the very excel-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 284 (#298) ############################################<br /> <br /> 284<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> lent reason that the United States copyright<br /> owner is fully protected, as the United States<br /> copyright law prohibits the importation and sale<br /> of unauthorised editions in the United States. So<br /> with “The Ralstons,” Mr. Marion. Crawford’s<br /> recent novel, which is published in London at<br /> 12s. It is copyrighted in the United States, and<br /> sells there for 2 dols.<br /> owner has printed in London a special cheap<br /> edition, which is sold in Canada, for 75 cents a<br /> copy; yet the United States market is not being<br /> flooded with this cheap edition, although it is<br /> published at less than one-half the price of the<br /> United States edition, as the United States law<br /> prevents any such action. Did space permit,<br /> scores of similar cases could be given, and it can<br /> readily be seen that the fear that Canadian edi-<br /> tions will flood the United States market is<br /> utterly unfounded.<br /> In conclusion, I suggest that our English<br /> friends be perfectly fair in statements they make<br /> through the Press. Thus, when Mr. Conway<br /> says, as he does in his letter, that “Canadian<br /> reprints will flood, as they are intended to flood,<br /> the United States market,” and calls for signa-<br /> tures to a petition asking for disallowance of the<br /> Canadian Act on this account as one of the chief<br /> grievances, it is an open question whether every<br /> signature so secured has not been secured under<br /> false pretences, as Canadian reprints cannot<br /> flood, nor, above all, was it ever intended that<br /> they should flood, the United States market.<br /> Canadians resent and protest at such a misleading<br /> statement, as it places their case in a false light<br /> before the British public.<br /> RICHARD T. LANCEFIELD, Hon. Secretary<br /> Canadian Copyright Association.<br /> Public Library, Hamilton, March 9.<br /> Times, March 22, 1895.<br /> To the Editor of the Times.<br /> ... SIR,--The letter of Mr. R. T. Lancefield, hon.<br /> secretary of the Canadian Copyright Association,<br /> does not call for a lengthy reply. He contends<br /> that I overlook “ the geographical position of<br /> Canada, side by side as it is with the United<br /> States.” The fact is that the situation of Canada.<br /> is the chief cause of our anxiety. If Canada were<br /> a country isolated in the midst of others not<br /> English speaking, we should regret her action,<br /> but it would not be powerfully injurious, for the<br /> Canadian market for books is small, and the loss of<br /> it, though regrettable, would be no great matter.<br /> But if Canada obtains the right to issue cheap<br /> unauthorised reprints of the works of English<br /> writers, these reprints will be imported into the<br /> United States, all laws and customs houses not-<br /> The British copyright .<br /> withstanding, for Canada&#039;s long land frontier<br /> cannot be blocked. Tauchnitz reprints find their<br /> way through English customs houses in great<br /> numbers; how much more must Canadian reprints<br /> invade the United States if ever the threatened<br /> system were inaugurated.<br /> Mr. Lancefield’s further contention that the<br /> Canadian proposals would put an English author<br /> in a better position in Canada than he is now<br /> placed in the United States is specious; but the<br /> fact is not material, for the magnitude of the<br /> United States market is a compensation which<br /> Canada cannot offer. The question is one of cost.<br /> It pays to undergo considerable expense to secure<br /> the United States market ; it would not pay to<br /> undergo a much smaller expense to secure the<br /> Canadian market. Few books will ever be taken<br /> for Canada under the conditions of the new Act.<br /> The rest will be robbed of anything worth the<br /> name of copyright.<br /> From an author&#039;s point of view the situation<br /> threatens to become intolerable. Having written<br /> his book and secured an English publisher, he<br /> already has to hunt up an American publisher<br /> also. This takes time. It is proposed that he<br /> shall further have to find a Canadian publisher.<br /> If all the other parts of the British Empire follow<br /> suit, obviously an author&#039;s work in arranging<br /> with publishers all over the earth and seeing his<br /> book through the press in a dozen simultaneous<br /> editions will be much greater than his work in<br /> writing it.<br /> The only just and sound arrangement is for<br /> universal copyright to follow single publication<br /> anywhere, and this greatly desired consummation<br /> seemed till recently to be coming within the<br /> bounds of possibility. Canada’s proposed retro-<br /> grade and particularist action threatens to post-<br /> pone it indefinitely. Even Mr. Lancefield does<br /> not pretend that the Canadian Act is fashioned<br /> in the interests of literature, still less in the<br /> interests of the authors who make literature, or<br /> of the readers that profit by it. The injury is to<br /> be wrought solely for the sake of a small body of<br /> printers whose profits will be infinitesimal com-<br /> pared with the far-reaching damage they will<br /> effect.—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,<br /> W. M. ConwAY, Chairman of Committee of<br /> the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> 4, Portugal-street, Lincoln’s-inn-fields.<br /> Times, March 24, 1895.<br /> One or two points may be added to those in<br /> Mr. Conway&#039;s letter.<br /> I. As to the Canadian proposal to retire from<br /> the position of civilised states in order to practise<br /> piracy openly, he says nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 285 (#299) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 285<br /> 2. As to the flooding of the United States with<br /> cheap reprints, he quotes the Act, but neglects to<br /> point out how with the enormous undefended<br /> frontier it is to be enforced. He then mentions<br /> one or two books lately republished in Canada<br /> which have not been largely exported to the States.<br /> Why P Simply because they are published at<br /> 75 cents, or 3s. a copy. There is not likely to be<br /> any successful piracy at that price.<br /> 3. He is still bold enough to parade the old<br /> pretence of a royalty. First, it is to be a<br /> Io per cent. royalty—a miserable, iniquitous, and<br /> sweating royalty, long since exploded in this<br /> country and the States. But, even if it were a<br /> fair royalty, what security is there for its collec-<br /> tion ? None. The Canadian “royalty” has been<br /> with us for many years. Once Charles Reade got<br /> eighteenpence by it. Mr. W. H. Lecky, the other<br /> day, said that he had once obtained over a pound<br /> by it. I have never received a farthing from it.<br /> In the face of the absence of any machinery<br /> for enforcing the payment of the royalty, and for<br /> auditing the accounts; and in face of the miserable<br /> nature of the royalty offered; to talk of “con-<br /> cessions” to the British author demands, indeed,<br /> a brazen front. EDITOR.<br /> Also from the Times of the same date :-<br /> Mr. Lancefield’s argument appears to be that<br /> because the United States, a foreign power,<br /> chooses to impose conditions as to remanufacture<br /> of books in America before granting copyright<br /> protection to British authors, Canada, which is .<br /> a part of the British Empire, is justified in<br /> attempting to do likewise. He does not pretend<br /> that any necessity for this arises from the difficulty<br /> of procuring English books in Canada at<br /> moderate prices, for he carefully explains that<br /> under the present law the works of English<br /> authors are offered for sale in the Dominion at<br /> lower prices than in Great Britain or the United<br /> States. The only apparent reason for seeking to<br /> secure the Royal assent to this precious Bill is<br /> that it may possibly put a little money into the<br /> pockets of a few needy Canadian printers, while<br /> it would certainly injure English authors and<br /> would probably not benefit Canadian buyers. The<br /> logical outcome of such a concession to Canada<br /> would be similar legislation in each of the self-<br /> governing colonies, with the result that, although<br /> fully protected in nearly all foreign countries by<br /> the Treaty of Berne, an English author would,<br /> if he wished to remain proprietor of his own<br /> book, be obliged to provide for the printing of ten<br /> or a dozen separate editions. The economic<br /> waste of such a monstrous system is positively<br /> appalling. F.<br /> March 24.<br /> *-<br /> The petition against the Canadian Copyright<br /> Act, which has been lying for the last three<br /> weeks for signature at the offices of the Society,<br /> has now been forwarded to the Marquis of Ripon.<br /> There are more than 1500 signatures to the<br /> petition, and amongst them are the names of all<br /> the best known writers in science, fiction, &amp;c., in<br /> the United Kingdom. In addition, the most im-<br /> portant known publishing firms have added their<br /> signatures. It is hard in such a long list to<br /> discriminate, but a few of the names are appended.<br /> Perhaps it is worth while to repeat again the<br /> points which make the question one of such great<br /> importance. After a long and difficult struggle<br /> it was recognised by most of the civilised nations,<br /> at the Berne Convention, that copyright was the<br /> exclusive property of the author, and was not<br /> therefore to be trammeled with trade restrictions.<br /> After a still further struggle the Americans were<br /> brought to recognise the fact that property<br /> existed in copyright, but unfortunately they<br /> attached to that property a trade limitation.<br /> The step was retrogressive, and opposed to the<br /> liberal view of all the nations that signed the<br /> Berne Convention. But to obtain any concession<br /> across the water was of considerable advantage<br /> to the holders and originators of valuable<br /> property. The Canadians are now desirous of<br /> placing a somewhat similar trade restriction on<br /> the property of British and other authors. It is<br /> not worth while to go into the Act in detail, but<br /> there appears to be no doubt that should it<br /> obtain the Royal assent, not only will the American<br /> copyright be imperilled, but it is quite possible<br /> that the signatories to the Berne Convention may<br /> have something to say on the matter. The<br /> question is not one concerning the freedom of a<br /> colony to legislate on its affairs—as the Canadians<br /> so frequently and so vainly assert—but touches the<br /> question of piracy, which, when on the high seas,<br /> has been long ago suppressed by the unanimous<br /> voice and power of the civilised world.<br /> L. Alma-Tadema, R.A. George Gissing<br /> Edward Arnold Frederick Goodall<br /> Sir Robert Ball, F.R.S. Sydney Grundy<br /> Robert Bateman Richard Garnett, LL.D.<br /> Geo. Bell and Sons Thomas Hardy<br /> Walter Besant Anthony Hope Hawkins<br /> Augustine Birrell, M.P. William Heinemann<br /> A. and C. Black Holman Hunt<br /> William Black Prof. Huxley, F.R.S.<br /> Hall Caine A. D. Innes and Co.<br /> Chappell and Co. Henry Irving<br /> Hon. John Collier Jerome K. Jerome<br /> W. M. Conway Henry Arthur Jones<br /> F. H. Cowen Mrs. E. Kennard<br /> A. Constable and Co. Prof. E. Ray Lankester<br /> Earl of Desart W. E. H. Lecky<br /> Frank Dicksee, R.A. Lady W. Lennox<br /> B. L. Farjeon Longmans, Green, and Co.<br /> Archdeacon Farrar, D.D. Mrs. Lynn Linton<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 286 (#300) ############################################<br /> <br /> 286<br /> A UTHOR.<br /> THE<br /> Edna Lyall<br /> Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A.<br /> Sir A.C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc.<br /> Macmillan and Co.<br /> James Martineau<br /> Helen Mathers<br /> S. H. Mendlessohn<br /> George du Maurier<br /> Phil May<br /> Methuen and Co.<br /> Justin McCarthy, M.P.<br /> John Murray<br /> Prof. Max Müller<br /> J. C. Nimmo<br /> Henry Norman<br /> David Nutt<br /> Novello and Co.<br /> W. H. Pollock<br /> Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart.,<br /> LL.D<br /> A. W. Pinero<br /> W. H. Russell.<br /> George Routledge and Co.,<br /> Ltd.<br /> Sir B. W. Richardson<br /> T. Scrutton<br /> C.Williers Stanford, Mus.Doc.<br /> M. H. Spiellman<br /> Herbert Spencer<br /> Sir John Stainer<br /> Sir Arthur Sullivan<br /> Lord Tennyson<br /> Sir H. Thompson, Bart.<br /> Brandon Thomas<br /> Baron H. de Worms<br /> John Strange Winter<br /> J. McNeil Whistler<br /> Stanley J. Weyman<br /> Earl of Wharncliffe<br /> Florence Warden<br /> James Payn I. Zangwill. G. H. Titerse.<br /> II.-AN AGREEMENT ON THE CovKRT COPYRIGHT<br /> |BILL.<br /> (Sent to Congress, Feb. 27.)<br /> At a conference comprising representatives of<br /> the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association,<br /> the American Publishers’ Copyright League, and<br /> the American (Authors&#039;) Copyright League, held<br /> in New York, Feb. 21, 1895, the following sub-<br /> stitute for the proviso of the Covert Bill was<br /> unanimously agreed upon :<br /> “Provided, however, that in case of any such<br /> infringement of the copyright of a photograph<br /> made from any object not a work of the fine arts,<br /> the sum to be recovered in any action brought<br /> under the provisions of this section shall be not<br /> less than IOO dollars, nor more than 5000 dollars;<br /> and provided, further, that in case of any such<br /> nfringement of the copyright of a painting,<br /> drawing, statue, engraving, etching, print, or<br /> model or design for a work of the fine arts, or in<br /> case of any such infringement of the copyright of<br /> a work of the fine arts, the sum to be recovered<br /> in any such action shall be not less than 250<br /> dollars,and not more than IO,OOO dollars.”<br /> This substitute is acceptable also to leading art<br /> publishers and photographers. It will relieve<br /> the newspapers of excessive penalties without<br /> endangering the security of copyright property.<br /> In behalf of the three above-mentioned national<br /> organisations, we respectfully request your sup-<br /> port to the effort to pass the Bill, as thus<br /> amended, at the present session by unanimous<br /> COnsent.<br /> W. C. BRYANT,<br /> Secretary, A.N.P.A.<br /> GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAN,<br /> Secretary, A.P.C.L.<br /> RoberT UNDER wood JoHNSON,<br /> Secretary, A.C.L.<br /> III.-ON SELLING A Book OUTRIGHT.<br /> A “Publisher,” writing to the Athenæum, calls<br /> upon the writer of the article with the above title<br /> to “state publicly ” in the Athenæum “what sort<br /> of book’’ he refers to as a 6s. book which can be<br /> produced at Is. a copy, or a 3s. 6d. book which<br /> can be produced at 8%d. I would point out to<br /> this “Publisher ” that it is not customary to call<br /> upon the writer of an article in one paper to<br /> explain himself in another, and that a state-<br /> ment made in the Author is as “publicly ”<br /> made as in the Athenæum. As he reads the<br /> Author, however, I will answer him here. If<br /> he will refer to the “Cost of Production,” a copy<br /> of which he doubtless possesses, he will find<br /> estimates showing exactly the kind of book meant.<br /> It is so clearly described as to leave no doubt<br /> possible. (Note that on p. 28 and on p. 34 there<br /> is a misprint of 5s. for 6s.) Since this pamphlet was<br /> printed, binding has gone up about 15 per cent.,<br /> and composition has slightly advanced, but paper<br /> has gone down. From these estimates it is<br /> evident that a 6s. book printed in quantities may<br /> cost a good deal less than Is. a copy. As regards<br /> a 3s. 6d. book, the average book of that price was<br /> in the writer&#039;s mind, viz., such a story book for<br /> boys and girls, as printed in large editions,<br /> certainly does not cost more than 8; d. a volume.<br /> But in the “Cost of Production,” p. 34, it is<br /> shown that actually a long novel issued in a large<br /> edition would cost no more than four-fifths of a<br /> shilling per copy.<br /> The “Publisher ” wants to include advertising<br /> in the “cost of production.” Certainly not; for<br /> the simple reason that by including it the cost<br /> may be made anything. By charging whatever<br /> the publisher pleases for advertising as often<br /> as he pleases in his own organ, which costs<br /> him nothing ; for advertising by exchange,<br /> which costs him nothing; by suppressing large<br /> discounts received from certain papers; he can<br /> load the actual cost of the book indefinitely.<br /> Let us not forget the case quoted some time<br /> since in the Author, where a demand was made<br /> for £30 odd for advertisements; and where the<br /> author&#039;s adviser offered to pay only whatever<br /> money had been actually expended. The amount<br /> proved to be under £4 A very little book was<br /> thus alleged to have cost £26 more than it actually<br /> did by thus swelling the advertisements The<br /> amount actually spent for advertising—not, of<br /> course, counting a successful novel—is in general<br /> very little, except in the rare case of a book which<br /> will “bear” it. An ordinary book, calculated to<br /> obtain at the best a circulation sufficient to pay its<br /> expenses, and a modest something over, cannot<br /> possibly, as the smallest knowledge of the<br /> figures will show, have a very large sum<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 287 (#301) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 287<br /> spent upon announcing it. The reason may<br /> well be understood when it is known that<br /> the expenditure of £20—which seems little—in<br /> advertising an edition of IOOO copies actually<br /> means the addition of nearly 5al. a copy on the<br /> cost of production. We will add the advertising<br /> to the cost of production as soon as we know<br /> that the actual money homestly spent, and no<br /> more, is to be charged. To these considerations<br /> may be added the fact that publishing firms differ<br /> from each other in no respect more than in the<br /> money they spend on advertising and in the<br /> organs in which they spend it.<br /> THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE.<br /> *- A --&quot;<br /> - - -<br /> ROYAL LITERARY FUND,<br /> HE annual meeting of the Royal Literary<br /> Fund was held yesterday afternoon at 7,<br /> Adelphi-terrace. The chair was taken by<br /> Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, one of the vice-presidents, and<br /> there were present Mr. F. W. Gibbs, C.B., Q.C.,<br /> Mr. C. Knight Watson, Mr. Lewis Morris, Mr.<br /> W. J. Courthope; Mr. Fraser Rae, Mr. William<br /> Stebbing, Mr. Edward Dicey, C.B., Mr. F. D.<br /> Mocatta, Mr. George Dalziel, Mr. J. H. Grain, Dr.<br /> Macaulay, Mr. Thornton Sharp, Mr. Sidney Lee,<br /> Mr. Richard Bentley, Mr. F. C. Danvers, Sir<br /> William Farrer, Sir B. W. Richardson, and others.<br /> The minutes of the last annual meeting, held<br /> last April, having been read and confirmed, Mr.<br /> W. J. Courthope read the registrars&#039; report, which<br /> classified the grants awarded in 1894 as follows:<br /> —Class I., history and biography, nine grants,<br /> £455; class II., science and art, two grants, 34O;<br /> class III., classical literature and education, seven<br /> grants, 3485; class IV., archaeology, topography,<br /> and travels, six grants, 3415 ; class W., novels<br /> and tales, ten grants, 3400 ; class VI., periodical<br /> literature, three grants, 312O ; class VII., miscel-<br /> laneous, eight grants, £190. The grants varied<br /> in amount from £150 to £10. Of the forty-five<br /> persons relieved twenty-seven were men to the<br /> extent of £1,130, and eighteen women, 38975.<br /> The total sum invested as appearing in the<br /> treasurer&#039;s report amounted to £49,212 16s. 8d.,<br /> producing an income of £1667 8s. The annual<br /> amounts of the grants had varied from ten guineas<br /> in 1790, the date of the foundation of the fund,<br /> to £3335 in 1883, which was the highest reached.<br /> 32Oo had been invested in Consols, and on Dec. 3 I<br /> there was a balance in hand of £199,-Times,<br /> March 14, 1895.<br /> &gt;<br /> º:<br /> WOI. W.<br /> THE AMERICAN GUILD OF AUTHORS,<br /> HERE lies before us a copy of the tract<br /> T issued by the American Guild of Authors.<br /> It is called “Methods of Publishing.”<br /> Four methods are enumerated:<br /> 1. The royalty system.<br /> 2. That in which the author assumes a share<br /> of the cost and receives in return a larger<br /> royalty.<br /> 3. That in which the author bears the expense<br /> and pays the publisher a commission.<br /> 4. That in which the publisher buys out the<br /> author.<br /> On the first it is simply remarked that it is the<br /> fairest plan provided the publisher makes an<br /> honest return of the books sold. But nothing is<br /> said as to the amount of royalty. What is it to<br /> be P Why is it adopted as fair? What does it<br /> give the publisher and what the author? We<br /> recommend these questions very earnestly to our<br /> American friends.<br /> It is afterwards stated that popular authors<br /> are now asking for a “graded” royalty—10 per<br /> cent. for the first 3OOO, 15 per cent. up to 15,000<br /> or 20,000, and after that 20 per cent.<br /> Let us see how this kind of “graded ” royalty<br /> would suit authors on this side. We may take<br /> our old friend the six shilling volume, 20 sheets,<br /> small pica type, about 258 words to a page. The<br /> cost of the first edition of 3OOO copies is about a<br /> shilling each — call it a shilling, that of the<br /> following copies is about IOd, a copy. The trade<br /> price may be taken as generally 3s. 7#d. The<br /> following result would be pretty close to the<br /> truth :—<br /> First 3Ooo. 3OOO–2O,OOO.<br /> Royalty Royalty<br /> IO per cent. I5 per cent.<br /> Author receives ... 3890 £765<br /> Publisher makes ... 3303 ...... 39.1608<br /> The publisher has to pay for the advertising,<br /> say £80. -<br /> We are willing to believe that the risk of pro-<br /> duction is perhaps greater in the States than<br /> here, but we are unwilling to believe that the<br /> American Guild of Authors desires the publisher<br /> to have three times the share of the author.<br /> On the second plan it is customary, it is said,<br /> for the author to pay the cost of composition and<br /> plates, and for the publisher to pay for printing,<br /> binding, and advertising, giving the author a<br /> 20 per cent. royalty. But it is complained that<br /> the publisher charges more than the real cost.<br /> Then follow two pages devoted to “tricks.”<br /> We are unfortunately familiar with them.<br /> The following figures are given as fair prices<br /> for printing, &amp;c. :<br /> I) D<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 288 (#302) ############################################<br /> <br /> 288<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I. Composition and electro-plate, 12mo, small<br /> pica, about 420 words to a page; per page, I dol.<br /> 2. Paper and presswork, per IOOO copies,<br /> 257-56 dols.<br /> 3. Binding, at 22; cents, per volume, 225 dols.<br /> Total cost, 882.56 dols.<br /> The cost per volume would be ‘882 dols., or<br /> 3s. 6d. each. This is enormous compared with the<br /> English cost of production. One cannot under-<br /> stand how the business of publishing can be<br /> carried on at all against such high figures as<br /> these.<br /> A form of agreement, said to be customary, is<br /> included in the tract. We refrain from comment<br /> upon it in order to avoid a charge of interfering<br /> in what is not our business.<br /> The tract contains at the end a list of<br /> “Reputable Publishers.” We are happy to<br /> observe that there are a great many in various<br /> parts of America. Suppose, however, that it were<br /> discovered that one of them was not quite so<br /> reputable as had been believed; a new edition<br /> of the tract would have to be struck off with the<br /> offender&#039;s name removed. Would it not be better<br /> that the Society should vouch for no one, leaving,<br /> as we do, every house to make its own reputation ?<br /> *- --&gt;<br /> * * *-*.<br /> LETTER FROM PARIS.<br /> ONSIEUR MARCEL PREVOST has<br /> written an indignant letter to the Paris<br /> edition of the New York Herald. He<br /> begins by saying: “This is what I read in the<br /> New York Recorder of Feb. 2 I. ‘Marcel Pre-<br /> vost’s much - discussed novel, “The Demi-<br /> Virgins,” which will be produced shortly as a<br /> play at one of the Paris theatres, has been trans-<br /> lated into English by Arthur Hornblow, and will<br /> be issued this week by the Holland Publishing<br /> Company. I am told that there is plenty of<br /> dramatic material in the book for a good play.<br /> Here is a golden opportunity for an aspiring<br /> dramatist.” Thus in the first place my “Les<br /> Demi-Vierges’ is translated without my autho-<br /> risation, without any compensation to me for the<br /> harm which the translated edition is likely to<br /> have on the sale of the original edition ; and<br /> secondly, young dramatic authors are cynically<br /> invited to make their fortunes by dramatising my<br /> story. I am sure, dear sir, that you consider such<br /> conduct unworthy of a great nation such as the<br /> one to which Mr. Hornblow belongs, and that<br /> you will assist me in defending my rights, or at<br /> least in protesting against this pillage of my<br /> work.” M. Prevost concludes by saying that<br /> he is aware that there is no literary convention<br /> between France and America, but neither is<br /> there one between France and Russia, or between<br /> France and Denmark, yet the publishers both in<br /> Denmark and Russia paid him fees for the autho-<br /> risation to publish translations of “Les Demi-<br /> Vierges.” r<br /> The Herald devotes a leader to the subject of<br /> M. Prevost’s letter, but I am afraid the indig-<br /> mant author will derive but small comfort from<br /> its remarks, which are summed up in the words<br /> concluding the article: “Unfortunately, however,<br /> there exists no treaty to protect author&#039;s rights<br /> of this nature, and so long as this defect in our<br /> international treaties remains there is no legal<br /> remedy. The appeal to public opinion, which M.<br /> Marcel Prevost to-day makes through the<br /> Herald&#039;s columns, is the only step that can be<br /> made towards obtaining an adequate redress.”<br /> I think this is the first time that a French<br /> author has protested in public against the<br /> American pirate, and it is to be regretted that<br /> the occasion of this first protest should be a book<br /> such as Marcel Prevost’s “Les Demi-Vierges”—<br /> a vile book if ever one was written ; and the only<br /> interest, to speak frankly, that I take in M.<br /> Prevost’s case, is in the information it affords as<br /> to the best way of creating for oneself with one&#039;s<br /> pen a success not only national but universal. It<br /> is a great pity that these things should be so,<br /> but so they are, and the writer of such books<br /> can reap rewards which are refused to men of<br /> letters who have a respect for their calling and<br /> the feeling of the dignity of their pen. “Les<br /> Demi-Vierges” went into over IOO editions in<br /> France, and has been translated into every<br /> European language. It now, according to<br /> Monsieur Prevost, is appearing in America,<br /> though I do not think that any publisher will care<br /> to undertake its publication in England. The<br /> moral seems to be that this is the stuff in which<br /> the reading public is most widely interested, and<br /> Du Maurier&#039;s clever cartoon in this week&#039;s Punch,<br /> depicting a conversation between a lady porno-<br /> grapher and a pornographic publisher is as true<br /> to life as are all the scenes depicted by this admir-<br /> able artist. It is a great pity that these things<br /> should be so, for it seems to show that civilisation<br /> is not advancing, and it shows further that the<br /> sense of human dignity is fading away through-<br /> out the world. I may be called a prude, but I<br /> declare very frankly that I have no manner of<br /> consideration for the writer who speculates on<br /> the hoggishness of the majority of readers, and<br /> that he is never, in my estimation, a brother<br /> author.<br /> I was speaking the other night with a Spanish<br /> journalist who has literary ambitions, and I asked<br /> him why he never wrote books, for I knew him as<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 289 (#303) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 289<br /> a very clever man, with a wide knowledge of life<br /> and a great experience. He said that he could<br /> not afford to work for nothing, and went<br /> on to explain that a Spanish author gets no<br /> money from a publisher, that consequently there<br /> are no Spanish authors, as you and I can well<br /> understand. I said, “What, not a peseta ?” and<br /> he said “Not a peseta.” This is worse than in<br /> Russia or Poland, where, I believe, a successful<br /> author may look for ten roubles, or even twenty,<br /> per sheet of printed matter, that is to say, about<br /> £2 for sixteen pages of printed text. We English<br /> authors and you French authors are very fortunate<br /> II.16I1.<br /> Alphonse Daudet has somewhat changed his<br /> mind about his intentions in England. He told<br /> me that he would accept certain invitations which<br /> had been made to him. “But,” he added, “they<br /> will have to be content with a bust. A bust is<br /> all that I can offer them.” He meant that he<br /> cannot appear otherwise than sitting down. It<br /> was sitting that our dear master made his<br /> memorable speech on the occasion of the<br /> De Goncourt banquet.<br /> Monsieur José de Herédia was to have been<br /> received into the company of the French Academy<br /> next month. This, however, has now been put<br /> off, and Monsieur Herédia’s reception will not<br /> take place for some months. The reason of this<br /> is that Monsieur François Coppée has been<br /> seriously ill, and will be unable to speak at<br /> Herédia’s reception, as had been arranged.<br /> The reference above to Polish and Russian<br /> authors makes me think, and not without a<br /> heaviness at heart, of a very sad experience of<br /> mine of a few days ago. Some years past I knew<br /> in Paris a Russian author. He had been in the<br /> Russian army, and was an exile under sentence<br /> of death. A very clever man, very well read, and<br /> always reading. He starved at ten roubles the<br /> sheet, but though he did not often have a dinner,<br /> he always could buy books, and the garret in<br /> which he lived—the identical garret occupied by<br /> Racine in the rue Wisconti—was full of them.<br /> He used to come and see me, and I loved his<br /> conversation. But he had strange habits of in-<br /> temperance, and in the end I was forced to ask<br /> him not to come to see me any more, for riotous-<br /> ness at that time appalled me. A year ago I<br /> received, when down in the South, a letter from<br /> him. He said that he wanted to see me again,<br /> that he could not bear the thought of a definite<br /> separation. I answered him, I am glad to<br /> remember this, in a friendly way, and told him<br /> that I would come and see him when I returned<br /> to Paris. Last week I found his letter amongst<br /> my papers, and at once wrote to invite him to<br /> my house. On Thursday morning I received a<br /> letter from a sister of charity to say that my<br /> old friend was ill and very tired, and could not<br /> come to see me, but that my visit would “give<br /> him immense pleasure.” I could not go to see<br /> him on Thursday, but I went on Friday. The<br /> street in which he lived was in a very remote<br /> quarter of Paris, and it took an hour in a cab<br /> to get there. The door was opened by a beautiful<br /> sister of charity in blue. I said, “You have a<br /> Monsieur here P” She said, “Yes,” and<br /> then added, quite simply, “he died one hour<br /> ago.” Then she pressed me to come and see<br /> him. “He looks quite nice,” she said, and she<br /> spoke of death, as it should be spoken of, as the<br /> great desideratum of life. I allowed myself to<br /> be persuaded, and followed her to the poor little<br /> room in this Polish house of refuge, and there I<br /> saw my old friend, with a table by the bedside,<br /> and on the table a crucifix and two burning<br /> candles. He had been a big, riotous man in the<br /> old days, and there he was, so pinched and peaked<br /> that his form hardly raised the covers of the<br /> bed. It was a terrible meeting, and though the<br /> sister wanted me to stay and kneel down Iran<br /> from the room. I have thought of nothing<br /> since, and I do not think that anything I have<br /> ever seen in life more deeply affected me. His<br /> poor fingers were stained with ink, and there was<br /> an unfinished manuscript on the chest of drawers.<br /> No doubt, the sister of charity was right. No<br /> doubt, Death was a comforter here. But why<br /> had I not arrived two hours earlier 2 “He was<br /> looking forward to your visit,” said sister Angéle.<br /> “Your letter made him quite joyous.” Death,<br /> whether it come as a comforter or no, is the one<br /> terrible thing.<br /> I met M. Aurélien Scholl, President of the<br /> Société des Gens de Lettres, a night or two<br /> ago, and he spoke to me for some time about the<br /> affairs of the society. Amongst other things<br /> which he told me was that certain friends and<br /> admirers of Paul de Kock had decided to erect a<br /> little statue or memorial to him in the garden of<br /> the house in which he lived for many years before<br /> his death. “I intend to interest the Society in<br /> this matter,” said the President, and he went on<br /> to speak of his high admiration for Paul de Kock.<br /> I think there never was an author more unfairly<br /> treated by fame. One knows what the average<br /> reader expects when with twinkling eyes he picks<br /> up a de Kock. It is quite unfair. Paul de Kock<br /> had wit and verve, and an admirable power of<br /> story-telling. He had no desire to attract<br /> readers by what has been alluded to above.<br /> People think that his speciality. I do not know<br /> if his Memoirs have ever been translated into<br /> English. They ought to be. I picked up a copy<br /> of them at a bookseller&#039;s some days ago. It was<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 290 (#304) ############################################<br /> <br /> 29O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> a most interesting book, full of anecdotes about<br /> people of notoriety under the Revolution and the<br /> Empire. He knew Fouquier-Tinville as a bland<br /> young man. He had a famous interview with<br /> Emperor Napoleon. The book shows the man as<br /> he was, and it is strange that it should be out of<br /> print in France.<br /> Mr. Grant Allen is in Paris at the time of writ-<br /> ing, and, I am sorry to say, is ill. At least when I<br /> last heard news of him he was lying in bed with<br /> porous plasters wrapped about him. Mr. F. C.<br /> Philips is in Paris also, busy as usual, and full of<br /> work and schemes for future work. He is one of<br /> the English authors who are best known and most<br /> appreciated in France, where everybody seems to<br /> have read “As in a Looking-glass.” I under-<br /> stand that he is at work on a long novel sans pre-<br /> judice of any number of short stories and plays.<br /> This is a man of very wonderful activity.<br /> In reading over “Moll Flanders” in Marcel<br /> Schwob&#039;s masterly translation, I came across a<br /> passage which makes me think less of “Jane<br /> Eyre&#039;” as a work of art than I have thought till<br /> now. You may remember that just after Jane<br /> Eyre has been pressed by the frigid St. John to<br /> marry him, she rushes out into the garden and<br /> there suddenly hears a cry of “Jane, Jane, Jane,”<br /> from the distant Rochester. When Charlotte<br /> Bronté was asked how she came to think of so<br /> striking a scene—those were the days when tele-<br /> pathy was unknown—she used to drape herself in<br /> some mystery—I have this from a person who so<br /> interrogated her —and reply: “I wrote it because<br /> it is true,” leaving one to imagine that this was a<br /> thing of her own experience. It was an effec-<br /> tive scene, but Defoe had imagined it some years<br /> previously, and so we have a sorrowful scholia to<br /> enter into our copies of “Jane Eyre.” . . .<br /> I have no English Defoe by me, but the scene to<br /> which I refer is where Moll Flanders calls for<br /> the departed Jemmy, in the inn at Chester, and<br /> Jemmy hears her very voice, though then fifteen<br /> leagues distant, and so returns to her.<br /> And alas and alack into our copies of “The<br /> Cenci” a similar sorrowful scholia must be<br /> entered, and indeed against those particularly<br /> beautiful lines which conclude the play:<br /> . . . . Here, mother tie<br /> My girdle for me, and bind up this hair<br /> In any simple knot; aye, that does well.<br /> And yours, I see, is coming down.<br /> You know the lines and, like us all, you have<br /> admired, with enthusiastic admiration, this con-<br /> ception which shows us a woman on the very<br /> brink of the precipice thinking about pretty,<br /> trivial womanly things. Well, I happened on<br /> Webster the other day, and, in turning over the<br /> leaves of “La Duchesse d’Amalfi.” in Ernest<br /> Lafond&#039;s translation, I read a passage where the<br /> Duchess just about to be strangled by the execu-<br /> tioner gives trivial womanly orders. Her little<br /> boy is to have the syrup for his cough, nor is her<br /> little girl to be allowed to go to bed until she has<br /> said her prayers. It is the finer conception of<br /> the two, and, such as it is, it deprives Shelley of<br /> all the glory of his lines. I am very sorry, for I<br /> think that there was nothing in Shelley that I<br /> liked better than this—this picture of femininity<br /> under the very shadow of death. But so our idols<br /> one after the other get broken and cast down.<br /> How true it is—as further exemplified by the<br /> preceding remarks—that “ les beaua esprits se<br /> rencontrent.” Let me point out that Tennyson&#039;s<br /> line in “Locksley Hall ”— it is line 38–<br /> And our spirits rushed together at the touching of the<br /> lips—<br /> reads like an almost literal translation of Schiller&#039;s<br /> lines in “Amalia’’:<br /> Seine Küsse—paradiesisch Fühlen<br /> Wie zwo Flammen sich ergreifen, wie<br /> Harfentóne in einander spielen<br /> Zu der himmelwollen Harmonie—<br /> Stürzten, flogen, schmolzen Geist und Geist zusammen<br /> Lippen, Wangen, brannten, zitterten<br /> Seele ranſm in Seele.<br /> And, again, as to that beautiful line about the<br /> “burden of an honour to which she was not<br /> born,” is not memory carried back to line 99 of<br /> the sixth Satire of the First Book by Horace:<br /> Nollem Onus haud unquam solitus portare molestum.<br /> The bitterest thing that was ever said about<br /> our poor friend Boulanger was Jules Ferry&#039;s<br /> remark that he was a “Saint-Arnaud de Café-<br /> Concert.” Boulanger called Ferry out for this<br /> epigram, and Ferry would not go. I have no<br /> comment to make on Ferry&#039;s conduct, for he is<br /> dead and Boulanger is with him, and those are<br /> things not to be talked of now. But I was<br /> reminded of this to-day on receiving from Tresse<br /> and Stock a copy of Dr. Cabrol’s interesting<br /> Memoirs, edited and prefaced by Paul de Régla,<br /> which deals exclusively—as the title of the<br /> volume indicates—with Marshal Saint-Arnaud in<br /> the Crimea. This is a very interesting book,<br /> giving a full account, almost day by day, of<br /> the last six months of the life of the Marshal,<br /> down to the hour when—well, I hardly like to<br /> repeat the Doctor&#039;s version of how the gallant<br /> Marshal met his death, for I have many friends<br /> in the Bonapartist camp. In the same packet I<br /> received from these publishers a book entitled<br /> “Le Roman d’une Fée,” by M. Henri Belliot,<br /> an ardent littérateur, who writes to me to say<br /> that, as an Englishman, I shall appreciate a<br /> fairy-story better than his compatriots. I hope<br /> to be able to do so when I have found time to<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 291 (#305) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> 291<br /> read the book. In the meanwhile I mention its<br /> existence and wish it very well.<br /> A curious offer was made to me the other day.<br /> It came by telegraph from the proprietor of a<br /> New York daily paper. This person, it appears,<br /> has written a historical work—or, rather, has<br /> had a historical work written for him by some<br /> literary hack—in French. He desired to publish<br /> a translation of the work in English, and asked<br /> me to do the translation for him. A condition<br /> was that my name should not appear in connec-<br /> tion with the book. He was to figure on the<br /> title-page as the writer. He proposed a remunera-<br /> tion of 6s. a thousand words. What amusing<br /> people there are in this world to be sure!<br /> ROBERT H. SHERARD.<br /> 123, Boulevard Magenta, Paris.<br /> *— a 2-2<br /> -sº<br /> NOTES FROM NEW YORK,<br /> New York, March 16.<br /> HE most important literary news of the<br /> month is the announcement that New<br /> York is at last to have a public library<br /> worthy of the chief city of a great nation. At<br /> the present time this immense town of ours, with<br /> a population of perhaps four millions contained<br /> within a radius of twenty-five miles from the city<br /> hall, is less well provided with books accessible<br /> to all citizens than Boston is or Chicago, to make<br /> no comparison with London, or Paris, or Berlin.<br /> Hitherto the chief public library of New York<br /> has been that founded fifty years ago by John<br /> Jacob Astor, a German immigrant who had made<br /> a fortune in New York, and wished to do some-<br /> thing for the city of his choice. He began by<br /> giving about £IOO,OOO, and his son and grandson<br /> in turn gave similar sums.<br /> The Astor Library was very fortunate in its<br /> first librarian, Coggswell, and its earlier books<br /> were admirably selected. But its endowment<br /> was inadequate, and it has grown but little of<br /> late years. It has not quite 3OO,OOO volumes,<br /> and its buildings, books, and funds are valued at<br /> perhaps 340O.OOO.<br /> A quarter of a century ago Mr. James Lenox—<br /> an interesting account of whose book collecting<br /> was written by the late Henry Stevens, of Wer-<br /> mont—established by will the Lenox Library,<br /> endowing it handsomely, and bequeathing to it<br /> all his own rare books, including the finest col-<br /> lection of Bibles in the world. This library is<br /> housed in a sumptuous building overlooking<br /> Central Park, and it has adjacent land, allowing<br /> for great expansion. Its assets are said to<br /> amount to more than £500,000.<br /> VOL. W.<br /> A third library was made possible by the will<br /> of Samuel J. Tilden, once a candidate for the<br /> presidency of the United States; but there was<br /> a long litigation over the will, and, after a final<br /> compromise, the trustees have now about<br /> 2400,000—a wholly insufficient sum with which<br /> to buy the land, erect a building, stock it with<br /> books, and meet the future expenses of a public<br /> library. A proposal was made by Columbia<br /> College to grant a site on the new grounds where<br /> the college is about to build, but this was not<br /> favourably received by the Tilden trustees.<br /> Now, however a union has been brought about,<br /> and all these institutions are to be merged in one,<br /> starting with perhaps 4OO,OOO volumes, and<br /> having assets of at least a million and a half<br /> sterling. The details of the consolidation are<br /> not yet determined upon, but the union itself is<br /> an assured fact. The site has not been selected;<br /> but probably the buildings of the Astor will be<br /> sold, and the new edifice will be erected on the<br /> ample grounds belonging to the Lenox. The<br /> style and title of the new corporation will be “The<br /> Public Library of the City of New York, Astor,<br /> Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.” This name will<br /> invite further benefactors, who might have<br /> thought it an impertinence to contribute to the<br /> library of the Astor family or to that bearing the<br /> names of the late Mr. Lenox or the later Mr.<br /> Tilden. The suggestion has been made that the<br /> new corporation should also take over the<br /> excellent and useful Free Circulating Library,<br /> which has half a dozen branches in the most<br /> thickly populated portions of the city. The<br /> announcement has been made that the new<br /> library will be managed in the most progressive<br /> manner; it will be open on Sundays, and in the<br /> evening ; it will allow books to be withdrawn for<br /> home reading; it will provide special privileges<br /> for students; it will endeavour to meet every<br /> reasonable public demand. Upon the new board<br /> of trustees are some of the ablest and most<br /> public spirited men in New York. Of course, it<br /> will be several years before the full benefit of the<br /> consolidation will be apparent; but the news has<br /> been received with the greatest satisfaction.<br /> The giving of prizes for stories, and plays, and<br /> poems has never greatly benefited literature,<br /> although it has always been an excellent adver-<br /> tisement for the giver. It is sixty years since<br /> Poe won a prize of £20 offered by a Baltimore<br /> weekly paper for the best short story, but he did<br /> not write the tale especially for the contest; he<br /> withdrew the “MS. found in a Bottle&quot; from the<br /> paper to which he had sold it for £6, and offered<br /> it for the prize, and thus made an extra profit of<br /> 3I4. Three diffierent sets of prizes are now<br /> offered for competition among the American<br /> E. E.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 292 (#306) ############################################<br /> <br /> ** ** . . *s.<br /> 292<br /> Writers of fiction to-day. The most important o<br /> those is that which the New York Herald i<br /> prepared to give. Perhaps the conditions of the<br /> contest cannot be better set forth than in the<br /> actual words of the advertisement:<br /> THE HERALD’S PRIZE OFFER.<br /> SIXTEEN THOUSAND DoILARs To BE AwarDED TO<br /> AMERICAN NovKLISTS AND POETs.<br /> The New York Herald will award a prize of Io,000 dollars<br /> for the best serial story of between 50,000 and 75,000 words<br /> by an American writer, whether professional or amateur.<br /> The conditions of this contest are as follows :<br /> The manuscripts must be submitted anonymously, and<br /> must bear only the initials of their authors or other private<br /> identification marks, so that the identity of the writer will<br /> not be known to the committee of three examiners, who will<br /> be appointed by the Herald, and who will select three stories<br /> of the greatest merit.<br /> The stories, so selected, will be printed in the Herald,<br /> daily and Sunday, as occasion requires, beginning early in<br /> October, 1895.<br /> The readers of the Herald will be asked to decide by<br /> ballot which story they like best, and the prize of Io,000<br /> dollars will be awarded accordingly.<br /> The manuscripts, other than the three selected by the<br /> examiners, will be returned to the writers, upon their identi-<br /> fication by means of their initials or private marks. The<br /> writers will be at liberty to publish these returned manu-<br /> scripts elsewhere, and no reference will be made by the<br /> Herald that they have been rejected.<br /> All manuscripts for this competition must be submitted<br /> before July 1, 1895.<br /> THREE OTHER PRIZES.<br /> The Herald also offers three other prizes—the first of<br /> 3000 dollars for the best novelette of between 15,000 and<br /> 25,000 words; the second, a prize of 2000 dollars for the<br /> best short story of between 6ooo and Io, Ooo words; and the<br /> third, a prize of IOOO dollars for the best epic poem, based<br /> on some event of American history that has occurred since<br /> the beginning of the War of the Revolution.<br /> The conditions that will govern the competition for the<br /> prize of Io,ooo will also govern those for the prizes of<br /> 3ooo dollars, 2000 dollars, and IOoo dollars. The chosen<br /> manuscripts will be published in the Herald, in turn, upon<br /> the conclusion of the serials.<br /> All manuscripts for these latter competitions must be<br /> submitted to the Herald before Sept. 1, 1895.<br /> The obvious comment to be made upon this is<br /> that the actual winner of any one of these prizes<br /> will be well paid, but that the unfortunate<br /> writers of the second best and third best novels,<br /> short stories, and epics will receive no payment at<br /> all. Far more equitable is the arrangement pro-<br /> posed by a syndicate of important papers headed<br /> by the Hartford Courant (of which Mr. Charles<br /> Dudley Warner is the editor in chief). Their<br /> advertisement reads as follow :<br /> A TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR PRIZE.<br /> A NUMBER OF WELL-KNOWN NEWSPAPERS ANNOUNCE<br /> THE LARGEST CAPITAL PRIZE, EVER OFFERED.<br /> We will pay a first prize of Two Thousand Dollars for<br /> the best detective story from 6ooo to 12,000 words in<br /> length, for publication in our daily issues in instalments of<br /> about 2000 words per day.<br /> be submitted to Prize Editor,<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> We will pay a second prize of Five Hundred Dollars for<br /> the second best detective story submitted. *<br /> . All manuscripts intended for this competition must<br /> Bacheller, Johnson, and<br /> Bacheller, Nos. 112 to 117, Tribune-buildings, New York<br /> City, on or before May 1, 1895, Every manuscript must be<br /> typewritten and accompanied by a sealed envelope con-<br /> taining the name of its author. It will not be opened until<br /> a decision is reached. For identification said envelope<br /> should bear some phrase which also appears above the title<br /> of the story submitted. All good stories will be published<br /> at a satisfactory price. Other details of the contest and<br /> arrangements for an equitable decision will be in charge of<br /> Mr. Irving Bacheller, to whom all inquiries should be<br /> addressed. -<br /> The third set of prizes is offered by the<br /> Pouth&#039;s Companion, of Boston, one of the most<br /> widely circulated weekly papers in the country,<br /> and one which has always exhibited remarkable<br /> enterprise in securing contributions from writers<br /> of prominence. In a former competition of the<br /> Youth&#039;s Companion a prize of £IOO was carried<br /> off by Mr. Frank R. Stockton&#039;s tale “An<br /> Unhistoric Page.” The stories now to be<br /> rewarded must not contain less than 22OO Words,<br /> or more than 3ooo; they must be original; they<br /> must not be love stories or fairy tales, nor can<br /> they deal with religion or politics; their moral<br /> tone must be unexceptionable, and the list of<br /> prizes is as follows:— Dollars.<br /> For the best original story sent us . . . . , 500<br /> For the next in literary and general merit ... , 500<br /> For the third in merit e e º e s a 250<br /> For the fourth in merit ... 250<br /> For the fifth in merit 25O<br /> For the sixth in merit 25O<br /> For the seventh in merit I OO<br /> For the eighth in merit ... IOO<br /> For the ninth in merit - . . . . . . . . IOO<br /> For the tenth in merit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I OO<br /> For the eleventh in merit ... . . . . . . . . . IOO<br /> Total ... 25OO<br /> To two recent issues of the New York Tribune,<br /> Professor T. R. Lounsbury, the author of the<br /> masterly “Studies in Chaucer,” contributes an<br /> eight column review of Professor Skeat&#039;s new<br /> edition of the author of the “Canterbury Tales.”<br /> The review is written, with all the learning and<br /> with all the humour which unite to make Professor<br /> Lounsbury a very dangerous opponent. It will<br /> probably be reprinted as a pamphlet, in which<br /> case it will reach the Chaucer students of Germany<br /> and England. Professor Lounsbury declares<br /> that Professor Skeat&#039;s new edition “will be abso-<br /> lutely essential to all who devote themselves to the<br /> special study of Chaucer,” and “as such it ought<br /> to be welcomed cordially by every lover of litera-<br /> ture.” But he accuses Professor Skeat of having<br /> made frequent and abundant use of his (Pro-<br /> fessor Lounsbury&#039;s) labours, without giving him<br /> any credit in the first three volumes.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 293 (#307) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 293<br /> The Authors’ Club of New York, now in its<br /> thirteenth year, is at last permanently settled<br /> in quarters of its own, of which it has a long<br /> lease. Its new apartments are a handsome and<br /> commodious suite of four rooms on one of the<br /> upper floors of the extension of the magnificent<br /> music hall erected by Mr. Andrew Carnegie.<br /> As a member of the club, Mr. Carnegie saw that<br /> these rooms were specially reserved, and the<br /> terms upon which they were secured were ex-<br /> ceptionally favourable. “Liber Scriptorum,” the<br /> book of the Authors’ Club (of which an account<br /> has already been printed in your pages), has been<br /> so profitable that it was possible to vote a sum<br /> of £600 for the decoration and furnishing of the<br /> new apartments; and, in gratitude to Mr.<br /> Carnegie for his services in securing them, the<br /> original MSS. of the “Liber Scriptorum,” sump-<br /> tuously bound in two immense folio volumes,<br /> were presented to him. The fortnightly Thurs-<br /> day evening meetings of the Authors&#039; Club<br /> continue to be among the pleasantest affairs of<br /> the kind. The prosperity of the club endures,<br /> and its membership increases steadily.<br /> Chicago, which has now three richly endowed<br /> public libraries, is getting to be a literary centre.<br /> Its Twentieth Century Club is a worthy rival of<br /> the Nineteenth Century Club of New York, in<br /> emulation of which it was founded. Its young<br /> and lusty university has not succeeded in attract-<br /> ing the best instructors from the older institutions<br /> of the East, but it has a tower of strength in<br /> Professor Von Holst, who has recently published<br /> a learned and acute study of the French<br /> Revolution. It has in the Dial one of the most<br /> scholarly critical journals in America—a critical<br /> journal so excell-nt indeed that its two faults<br /> may well be forgiven it. These faults are an<br /> undue jealousy of New York (but this is a<br /> common failing in Chicago) and an undue<br /> deference to the opinion of London, even on<br /> American authors (but this is a common feeling<br /> even elsewhere than in Chicago). Chicago is<br /> also the home of one of the most vigorous of<br /> American novelists, Mr. Henry B. Fuller, the<br /> author of that curiously dilletante book, “The<br /> Chevalier of Pensieri Wani,” and also of that<br /> robust specimen of realism, “The Cliff Dwellers.”<br /> He is now about to publish a second study of<br /> Chicago society, bearing the very up-to-date title,<br /> “With the Procession.” This will be published<br /> in New York by Harper and Brothers, but three<br /> other works of fiction by Chicago authors are<br /> announced by the new and enterprising Chicago<br /> house of Stone and Kimball. These are, “A<br /> Little Sister to the Wilderness,” by Miss Lillian<br /> Bell; “A Sawdust Doll,” by Mrs. Reginald<br /> De Koven (the wife of the composer of “Maid<br /> Marian’’); and “Two Women and a Fool,” by<br /> Mr. H. C. Chatfield-Taylor.<br /> The sale of “Trilby’’ is said to be slackening<br /> a little now, but it has already reached 150,000<br /> copies, at seven shillings, and it is likely to be<br /> stimulated again by the success of the ingenious<br /> dramatisation just brought out at a Boston<br /> theatre by Mr. A. M. Palmer, and to be<br /> performed in New York next season.<br /> HALLETT ROBINSON.<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> AM very glad to see in “Hallett Robinson’s ”<br /> New York Letter a tribute to the literary<br /> position of Chicago and its aspirations. A<br /> year and a half ago I incurred the kind of ridicule<br /> which attaches to a new and unexpected state-<br /> ment by saying something to the same effect.<br /> When one finds a city richly endowed with public<br /> libraries; the natural centre of a vast geo-<br /> graphical area; possessed of a wealthy university,<br /> in which English literature is well represented<br /> and adequately taught; where literature is held<br /> by the cultivated class in the highest respect;<br /> possessing a critical paper equal in ability to<br /> anything we have in this country ; and containing<br /> a company of men and women, mostly young,<br /> eagerly cultivating literature, and aspiring to<br /> the production of good and, if it may be.<br /> great work, one is justified in prophesying that<br /> out of this company there will presently emerge<br /> some one who will make himself known over the<br /> English-speaking world. I spoke to this effect<br /> in 1893, and now our New York correspondent<br /> speaks to the same effect.<br /> The following extract is from a new American<br /> volume of essays, called “Meditations in Motley,”<br /> by Walter Blackburn Harte (Arena Publishing<br /> Company, Boston, Mass.). -<br /> It is a most lamentable thing that, in spite of all the<br /> literary activity and the intellectual restlessness of our time,<br /> there are not probably more than half a dozen writers in the<br /> United States who follow literature, pure and simple, as a<br /> profession; and it is noteworthy that among these there are<br /> neither poets nor essayists.<br /> The tractate of the American Guild of Authors,<br /> noted in another column, may partly explain the<br /> reason why so few Americans are able to adopt<br /> literature frankly as a profession. Of course, it is<br /> greatly to be desired that writers of the better kind<br /> —one would say men and women of genius, but<br /> that the word is now almost forbidden—should be<br /> able to devote themselves altogether to the literary<br /> craft. In order to do this, however, they must be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 294 (#308) ############################################<br /> <br /> 294<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> able to live. In this country there are thousands<br /> who do live by literature, not popular novelists<br /> alone, but writers in every branch, not leaders only,<br /> but writers of the rank and file. There never was a<br /> betterrank and file—better drilled, betterequipped,<br /> braver, and more full of zeal—than our own. Let<br /> us see how these our people live. First of all,<br /> many of them are students in the history of litera-<br /> ture; many of them are good scholars; many have<br /> studied some foreign literature, and are authori-<br /> ties in French, German, Italian, Spanish, or<br /> some other literature; many are students in<br /> history, ancient and modern, English or foreign;<br /> many are students in science; some have mastered<br /> out of the way branches; some have made a<br /> special study of sport, games, art, music, the<br /> drama, &amp;c. Most, in fact, have some special<br /> knowledge which may at any time be wanted. In<br /> the next place, there are, in this country, a dozen<br /> magazines open to a scholar—perhaps a well-<br /> known writer may contribute six or seven articles<br /> in the year to these magazines; there is<br /> next the better class of weekly—the Saturday<br /> Review, the Spectator, the Athenæum, the Speaker,<br /> the National Observer, the Realm, and others—<br /> a good writer ought to find no difficulty in<br /> getting on one of these papers; there are the<br /> two Quarterly Reviews, but they can find room<br /> for very few writers; there are the weekly maga-<br /> zines, such as Chambers’, Cassells’, &amp;c., to which<br /> few writers would disdain to contribute. Again,<br /> there is the literary department of the great<br /> daily papers; that of the evening papers; there<br /> is dramatic criticism ; art criticism; musical<br /> criticism. Or, again, there are the leading<br /> articles of the dailies. It will thus be understood<br /> that to the man who knows something, and can<br /> write pleasantly, there are abundant opportunities<br /> of work. Then a man’s special knowledge, sooner<br /> or later, whatever it is, naturally and inevitably<br /> assumes book form.<br /> Another branch of literary work is that of<br /> editing and preparing books for publishers. We<br /> are apt to forget, in our concern about modern<br /> literature, that publishers have the whole of the<br /> past to deal with as they please. They are con-<br /> stantly bringing out new editions of past authors.<br /> These must have an introduction, notes, appen-<br /> dices, and index, all to be done by some man of<br /> letters. Again, which one would fain ignore but<br /> cannot, there is the reading for publishers. It is<br /> not work that many like to do, but it must be<br /> done by somebody.<br /> These are some of the conditions of the<br /> literary life in this country. It would seem,<br /> however, as if in America things were different.<br /> The American magazines, with one or two<br /> exceptions, are not in the least like our scholarly<br /> Nineteenth Century, Contemporary, and Fort-<br /> nightly. Such weekly reviews as the Spectator<br /> or the Saturday simply do not exist in America;<br /> they have no Quarterly Reviews; they have no<br /> papers corresponding to Chambers’ and the<br /> Cassells&#039; productions; their newspapers do not<br /> seem to include a considerable literary element—<br /> one may be wrong, but this is how it seems<br /> to us. Then the American publisher is not,<br /> apparently, always bringing out new editions of<br /> dead writers; and, in short, one would like some<br /> of our American friends to tell us how an<br /> American man of letters (not being a popular<br /> novelist) does manage to live at all.<br /> In the narrow churchyard south of St. Mary<br /> Overies (now called St. Saviour&#039;s), Southwark<br /> —somewhere, it is not known where—there lie<br /> in one grave the remains of Philip Massinger<br /> and of Fletcher his friend. The name of the<br /> latter is always associated with that of Beau-<br /> mont, but Massinger undoubtedly did a good<br /> deal of work with and for him. The name<br /> of Massinger is entered in the burial register as a<br /> “stranger,” which means, of course, nothing more<br /> than a person belonging by birth to some other<br /> parish. It is now proposed to put up a stained<br /> glass window in the new nave of the church, in<br /> memory of Massinger. I do not think that this<br /> is a cause which needs pleading with the readers<br /> of this paper and the members of this Society.<br /> Will those who love to see honour paid to litera-<br /> ture send their offerings to this object to the<br /> Rev. W. Thompson, D.D., St. Saviour&#039;s Church,<br /> Southwark? The church now rebuilt still retains<br /> its Reformation name. Perhaps it may be per-<br /> mitted to hope that it may soon return to its<br /> historic name of St. Mary Overies.<br /> The following letter has reached me:<br /> In Halifax, last week, I happened to pick up a book of<br /> yours, “The Revolt of Man,” issued by the Halifax Corpo-<br /> ration Library. I thought it might be an interesting fact to<br /> you to know that this august body does you the honour of<br /> circulating your work in its Tauchnitz Edition :<br /> Some time since a remonstrance was published<br /> in the Author against the importation and circu-<br /> lation of Tauchnitz books. An attempt was made<br /> to minimise the importance of the damage done<br /> to authors by the free circulation of their books.<br /> Here we have an illustration of what may happen.<br /> The number of libraries in the country is rapidly<br /> increasing ; many of these have several branches.<br /> Of popular books they take many copies. Suppose<br /> they ali take Tauchnitz copies! Why not ? No<br /> attempt is made to stop them. Library com-<br /> mittees will speedily forget that to buy these<br /> editions is against the law ; they will only<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 295 (#309) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 295<br /> remember that the Tauchnitz Edition is cheaper.<br /> Thus will be lost to author and publisher many<br /> thousands of every popular book.<br /> What is the law on the subject P<br /> It has thus been given to me by a lawyer:<br /> “I do not think there is any offence in owning<br /> or in circulating a copy of a Tauchnitz edition of<br /> an English book. The offender must not sell it<br /> or hire it, in which case it would be an infringe-<br /> ment of copyright, and he would be liable to be<br /> proceeded against under the 17th section of 1842<br /> Act, and 42nd and 152nd section of the Customs<br /> Act, 1876,<br /> “The joint effect of these sections appears to<br /> be that anyone importing, selling, or hiring any<br /> foreign printed copy of a copyright book know-<br /> ingly, or having in his possession any copy for<br /> sale or hire, shall, on conviction before two<br /> justices of the peace, forfeit 310 and double the<br /> value of every copy: £5 to go to the officer of<br /> Excise, and the remainder to the proprietor of<br /> the copyright; such book to be seized and<br /> destroyed.<br /> “Does the Halifax Free Library hold the<br /> copy for sale or hire P Under the Customs Act<br /> of 1876 the Customs can seize and destroy any<br /> books on the copyright list; but notice of copy-<br /> right in writing to the Commissioners of Customs<br /> is a condition precedent.”<br /> A complete translation of Balzac&#039;s novels,<br /> published at a low price, edited by a well-known<br /> scholar, is a literary experiment of very con-<br /> siderable interest. All who read French at all<br /> read the Comédie Humaine; but will those who<br /> cannot read French buy the translation ? The<br /> writer, to begin with, is Parisian through and<br /> through, with that note of the past inseparable<br /> from work fifty years old. Again, does Balzac<br /> possess the sensational qualities which now seem<br /> necessary to success? And, when we have agreed<br /> to let our own past masters stand forgotten on<br /> the shelves, shall we be eager to take up the<br /> French masters? For instance, Dickens seems<br /> fast losing his hold—only for a time, but still—<br /> for the present. Thackeray is only read by “the<br /> better sort’”; as for Charles Lever and Anthony<br /> Trollope, apparently they are gone; and as for<br /> Wilkie Collins and Charles Reade, they are read<br /> only in two or three books. Each generation, in<br /> fact, will have its own novelists belonging to<br /> itself; it grudges not classics belonging to the<br /> dead, but they must be few, one to this old<br /> novelist, one to that ; it will refuse to read the<br /> whole of the dead man’s work. Will the present<br /> generation so far depart from established custom<br /> as to admit en bloc the whole of the Comédie<br /> Humaine P. We shall see, and, as I said above,<br /> it is a literary experiment of very considerable<br /> interest. With Messrs. Dent and Co., who<br /> understand dainty books, for publishers; with Mr.<br /> George Saintsbury, who understands his Balzac,<br /> for an editor, and with Messrs. Constable to print<br /> the work, the series should have every chance.<br /> Some three or four years ago—perhaps more—<br /> there appeared a new translation of “Don<br /> Quixote,” by Mr. H. E. Watts. It was not<br /> reviewed by many papers, and by still fewer was<br /> it adequately reviewed. One or two critics, how-<br /> ever, had the intelligence to perceive that this<br /> was the finest translation as yet offered to the<br /> public, and the work of a fine Spanish scholar<br /> who possesssed other qualities for the translation<br /> of Cervantes besides scholarship—notably, know-<br /> ledge of the time and the social conditions of<br /> the time; humour and the quick perception<br /> of the humorous ; and, among other things,<br /> the common sense which keeps a translator<br /> and an annotator from being carried away by<br /> his subject, and the various theories, fads,<br /> and crotchets which gather round such a subject<br /> as the Knight. The book was published in three<br /> big quarto volumes at a price prohibitory. The<br /> purse of the ordinary book buyer—marrow but<br /> well meaning — could not attain to that price.<br /> So the matter rested, and it seemed as if, but<br /> for a few libraries, the work was closed to the<br /> public. Well: a new edition has now been<br /> undertaken (Messrs. A. and C. Black) at a reason-<br /> able and possible price; and we shall be able to<br /> possess at last the immortal work of Cervantes<br /> in a translation worthy and adequate.<br /> Is there room for another novel on the gentle-<br /> man highwayman P. The field one would think<br /> was entirely occupied by Ainsworth and Lytton.<br /> Nevertheless, Mr. C. T. C. James—no novice in<br /> the art of story telling—boldly pushes in with a<br /> new story on the old theme. The fact is that no<br /> field in fiction is occupied. He would be a bold<br /> man who would treat of Tunbridge Wells in 1750,<br /> with Thackeray as a rival; but the rivalry is not<br /> an impossible thing. Again, he would be a bold<br /> man who would face Scott in the 1745 business,<br /> but such audacity is not impossible. Mr. James,<br /> however, does not in reality present himself as a<br /> rival of the two elder novelists. He confines him-<br /> self to a single tavern in a London suburb and to<br /> its adventures with a single highwayman. He<br /> presents a vivid and interesting picture of life a<br /> hundred and fifty years ago. The book carries<br /> one along breathless from beginning to end.<br /> There is only one fault to find with it—a fault<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 296 (#310) ############################################<br /> <br /> 296<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> that is not discovered till the book is done with<br /> and cold criticism begins. The highwayman is<br /> pardoned. Why? Because his mistress once<br /> gave a cup of purl to the king P. Not sufficient<br /> reason. The man is a thief and a robber. There<br /> is no escape from that ; and, as such, he would<br /> assuredly have been hanged, purl or no purl.<br /> In January last, a communication entitled<br /> “Editorial Amenities,” signed “C. H.,” ap-<br /> peared in the Author. There were three cases of<br /> complaint. As regards the last, the editor of the<br /> magazine in question has sent copies of the corre-<br /> spondence to this paper. It appears from the<br /> letters (1) that the article was accepted and paid<br /> for; (2) that the editor, on revising his accepted<br /> articles, found errors which, in his judgment,<br /> made the paper useless to him; (3) that he<br /> accordingly declined to print the paper, still<br /> exercising his judgment as editor; (4) that, as<br /> the paper was anonymous, the refusal did no<br /> harm to the author&#039;s reputation; (5) that the<br /> author, although he had been paid for the paper,<br /> was quite free to send it elsewhere ; (6) that it<br /> is impossible for an editor to carry on a<br /> controversy with any contributor as to the<br /> reasons of his decision; (7) that the editor has<br /> found no reason to change his opinion as to<br /> certain inaccuracies in the contribution ; and (8)<br /> that the author is quite free to retain his<br /> own opinion, and to believe that the paper is<br /> accurate.<br /> It is always a mortifying thing to have a MS.<br /> returned. But an editor is absolute ; he must,<br /> in the nature of the case, be absolute; and an<br /> editor cannot possibly be expected to carry on ex-<br /> planations and reasons for his decisions.<br /> Two months ago, in a notice on the death of<br /> Sir John Robert Seeley, I mentioned that he had<br /> been a member of the council of the Society. A<br /> good many correspondents pointed out that his<br /> name was not on the list. In short, I was wrong,<br /> because Seeley never was upon our council at all.<br /> His connection with the Society was that of Vice-<br /> President, an office which still exists, but has been<br /> allowed to drop out of prominence, most of the<br /> W.P.&#039;s having long since joined the council. In<br /> the first year of the Society&#039;s existence, when it<br /> was absolutely necessary that it should receive<br /> the nominal support and approval of as many<br /> leaders as possible, with this view, the committee<br /> invited certain writers and scholars to signify<br /> their approval of the objects of the Society by<br /> becoming Vice-Presidents. In the month of<br /> April, 1885, I find in the minute-book of the<br /> committee the following acceptances of this invita-<br /> tion. It was a goodly list.<br /> Matthew Arnold<br /> Philip James Bailey<br /> Lord Brabourne<br /> Frank Cowley Burnand<br /> J. Anthony Froude<br /> Bishop of Chichester<br /> Prof. Huxley, F.R.S.<br /> The Librarian of Windsor<br /> Castle .<br /> Sir Henry Maine, K.C.S.I.<br /> Sir Theodore Martin<br /> James Payn<br /> John Ruskin, D.C.L.<br /> Prof. Seeley<br /> Prof. Skeat&#039;<br /> Sir Richard Temple<br /> Prof. Tyndall, LL.D.<br /> Dean Waughan<br /> W. G. Wills.<br /> Some of the Vice-Presidents afterwards, as<br /> stated above, became members of the council;<br /> others remained, and are still, vice-presidents,<br /> though their names are no longer advertised.<br /> It is pleasing to record that Seeley did more<br /> than remain simply an honorary vice-president.<br /> In the year 1888, when the Society gave a dinner<br /> to American men and women of letters, Seeley<br /> lent the weight of his name as a steward. He<br /> regularly received, and, there is reason to believe,<br /> read the documents of the Society and spoke.<br /> The Royal Literary Fund last year relieved the<br /> necessities of forty-five applicants—twenty-seven<br /> being men and eighteen women. By the rules of<br /> the Fund, applicants must prove that they are<br /> authors by putting in their published works.<br /> How many men and women are there in this<br /> country who could thus prove themselves to be<br /> authors P. There are about 1350 members of the<br /> Society, all of whom have produced books. Now<br /> this number includes very few writers of educa-<br /> tional books, very few writers of technical books,<br /> and not many writers of theological books. Let<br /> us suppose that there are twice that number out-<br /> side the Society: this gives us a total of, say,<br /> 4000 authors. The total applicants for relief<br /> during the last year was forty-five—that is to<br /> say, I 125 per cent. This is a very satisfactory<br /> percentage. Authorship is certainly improving<br /> on its material side. The grants to the men<br /> average about £42 apiece; those to the women<br /> £54 apiece.<br /> If “Weary&quot; will send me her name and<br /> address, I will endeavour to answer her letter.<br /> The subject is hardly suitable for these columns.<br /> At the moment of going to press we learn that<br /> Canada has ceased to collect the royalties accord-<br /> ing to the old agreement. It would be interesting<br /> to learn how much was collected last year, and<br /> who has received any share of it.<br /> WALTER BESANT,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 297 (#311) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 297<br /> DECADENCE OF LITERATURE,<br /> Dº &#039;S theory is eminently true of<br /> literature. It is a case of the survival of<br /> the fittest. The weak may flourish for a<br /> time and choke the environs like the lianes in a<br /> tropical forest, but they perish with their season,<br /> and the stalwart trees survive and make them-<br /> selves evident in later generations.<br /> For the present there is an enormous growth of<br /> these ephemeral productions, and may I be for-<br /> given for suggesting that editors and publishers<br /> of magazines are a good deal to blame, not only<br /> for their growth but for the deterioration of what<br /> might have been a forest tree, or at best a worthy<br /> shrub P No sooner has a writer made “a hit ’’<br /> than he or she is besieged with solicitations to<br /> contribute to this or that periodical, and it<br /> requires considerable self-control, maybe, or in-<br /> dolence, or superiority to pelf to resist and refuse<br /> till the production is ripe, or not to try to gratify<br /> more than one at the same time. To take an<br /> illustration from art, pot-boilers, instead of pic-<br /> tures, are the consequence.<br /> Nothing is more true than what Mr. Cresswell<br /> says in the last number, though rapid work is<br /> good, hurried work is never good, and the pub-<br /> lisher who displays an attractive catalogue of<br /> authors announced at the beginning of the<br /> year, almost compels some at least to hurried<br /> work. Also the distinctive characteristics of the<br /> periodicals are lost by thus obtaining the ser-<br /> vices of the authors who are willing to write for<br /> all and each. I believe some of the American<br /> magazines bind a writer to write for nothing else;<br /> and it is really a wise arrangement, since the old<br /> sense that it was honourable to work for one firm<br /> alone has died away. Another modern fashion<br /> ruinous to good literature is the laying contribu-<br /> tions on the bed of Procrustes. Readers are sup-<br /> posed to object to a tale passing the limits of<br /> a volume. They like to have it finished<br /> off, and be free to begin a fresh serial,<br /> and thus the story always shows symptoms of<br /> winding up in November, and we are sure the<br /> hero and heroine will be married or defunct in<br /> December. Well if they are allowed to finish<br /> their career with proper honours! How many<br /> stories have I read where the beginning was full<br /> of pleasant details, but the latter end was<br /> evidently squeezed together and cut down, so as<br /> to lose all proportion and become a spoilt per-<br /> formance.<br /> This is a new fashion. Take up an old Black-<br /> wood, see “Ten Thousand a Year” runs on<br /> number after number ; or an old Cornhill, where<br /> “Phineas Finn,” “The Knight of Gwynne,” and<br /> the admirable “Lettice Lisle,” have a never<br /> wearied audience; or, again, Household Words<br /> knew and prized Mrs. Gaskell too well to part<br /> with her till death cut off the end of “Wives and<br /> Daughters.”<br /> Totus, teres atque rotundus is a good rule, but<br /> if Milton could not carve a statue out of a cherry<br /> stone it is hard for lesser geniuses, after carving<br /> the head in one proportion, to have to get the<br /> limbs into the remainder of the stone. If a<br /> fiction is to be good for anything, it must have<br /> its needful development, and not be sacrificed to a<br /> December number.<br /> Some people have a real genius for the short<br /> story, Brett Hart’s “Luck of Roaring Camp’’ or<br /> “Mademoiselle Ixe” seem to me perfect speci-<br /> mens of the style. Americans excel in them, but<br /> then they have the advantage of an immense field<br /> of country and every variety of manners and of<br /> civilisation, whereas in our old country the<br /> changes are continually rung on ghosts and<br /> detectives, and the demand creates a very<br /> mediocre style of supply. A tale of character<br /> requires space (at least if it be not a mere sketch),<br /> and it would be well to follow Anthony<br /> Trollope&#039;s habit of either publishing the whole<br /> at once, or not letting a chapter appear till the<br /> whole was complete in his portfolio. Another<br /> mischievous habit is that of hasty reviewing.<br /> When I began the world, to solicit a favourable<br /> notice would have been thought unworthy. I may<br /> truly say that I never have done so, except<br /> when a book was for some special purpose<br /> needed to be put forward. Reviews used then<br /> to be often good criticisms, really useful. Some-<br /> times they stung hard, but generally they were<br /> really improving by the faults they found. They<br /> embodied and brought home the judgment of<br /> the public of cultivated minds, and never should I<br /> have thought of trying to enlist them in my<br /> favour, or ask for their verdict. When an editor<br /> myself, I was always prejudiced (fairly or<br /> unfairly) by being asked for a friendly notice,<br /> or by having a whole bundle of cuttings from<br /> papers sent me with a MS. ; and, worse than all,<br /> it has happened to me to receive with a new<br /> book a packet of extracts from it in type, for the<br /> convenience of the reviewer P To see a whole<br /> page of opinions of the press, mostly provincial,<br /> never gives me a good impression, though this<br /> may be due more to the publisher than the<br /> author, and it is treating the subject like tea,<br /> cocoa, or soap. The multitude of publications<br /> which are all poured forth at one time, and the<br /> insistence of publishers and authors for an early<br /> notice, absolutely prevents efficient treatment in<br /> criticism. Time and space alike fail, and whether<br /> a book be bad or good, or “ower gude for<br /> banning ower good for blessing,” it has to be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 298 (#312) ############################################<br /> <br /> 298<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> skimmed over and despatched in a few lines.<br /> This is not criticism. It is mere advertisement.<br /> No guide to the author hardly, except in the<br /> higher stamp of literary journals—a guide to the<br /> reader in the selection from the circulating<br /> library. Are these simply the murmurs of an<br /> old author, laudator temporis acti, or is there<br /> any means of raising the tone and aspirations of<br /> writers P C. M. YONGE.<br /> *-- ~ 2–º<br /> s= **s-s<br /> A SHEAF OF POETS,<br /> HEY have accumulated during two months<br /> until now there is quite a little pile. Is it<br /> not a sign or proof of a reviving taste in<br /> poetry that there should be so many “bids” for<br /> poetic fame? We may take it, without meaning<br /> to give any offence, that the poets all pay for the<br /> production of their work. Would they tell us<br /> how many copies they sell? For instance, thirty<br /> years ago a certain friend of mine published at<br /> his own expense a thin volume of verse. Exactly<br /> three copies were sold. How many have been<br /> sold of the volumes before me?<br /> The best course for the Author to adopt is to<br /> let each scribe speak for himself without favour.<br /> The order in which they speak means nothing:<br /> I. The “In Memoriam ” of Italy. A Century<br /> of Sonnets from the Poems of Victoria Colonna,<br /> Marchesa de Pescara. Translator anonymous.<br /> (London: Henry Gray, Leicester-square.)<br /> AMOR, TU SAI.<br /> Thou knowest, Love I never turned my feet<br /> From thy dear prison; that I ne&#039;er untied<br /> Thy light yoke from my neck, nor ne&#039;er denied<br /> Thy service which at first my soul found meet ;<br /> Time shall ne&#039;er change my faith, of old complete;<br /> Thy bond, as once I bound it, still shall bide ;<br /> Nor, for the bitter fruit thy tree doth hide,<br /> Doth my heart find the seed less pure or sweet.<br /> Now hast thou seen how in a faithful heart<br /> Thy sharpest arrow hath no skill to wound,<br /> That Death against it hath no force or power;<br /> O let at last the tie which bound it part,<br /> (Tho&#039; sweeter aye it was than freedom found)<br /> Yet lags and lingers yet my joyful hour.<br /> II. “Sita,” and other Poems. By Mrs.<br /> Aylmer Gowing. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> TENNYSON.<br /> oCTOBER 6, 1892.<br /> All glorious with the mystery sublime<br /> Thy eyes shall fathom soon,<br /> Night&#039;s bosom pillows thee, O son of Time !<br /> In splendours of the moon.<br /> Cometh thy daybreak—there shall be no night<br /> In that far heaven, Luntrod<br /> By course of quenching suns or stars, whose light<br /> Shall be the face of God.<br /> True seer, from thy heart the lamp of faith<br /> Glowed clear through storm and shine,<br /> And clothed the fearful majesty of Death<br /> In robes of grace divine.<br /> And thine the hand of might, the tender touch<br /> That makes our pulse thine own<br /> By love&#039;s enchantments, for thou hast loved much,<br /> And grief’s excess hast known.<br /> Sweet singer, by thy voice of human love<br /> And sorrow, pure and strong,<br /> Teach us to find our God, while thou, above,<br /> Art singing a new song.<br /> III. “Thoughts in a Garden.”<br /> Stevenson. (London : Elliot Stock.)<br /> AUTUMN SONG.<br /> All day the fiercest winds have blown,<br /> The leaves upon the grass are strown,<br /> Save a few stragglers, sad and lone,<br /> That fringe the boughs;<br /> The fir-tree groans, as, on the height,<br /> He feels the tempest&#039;s frenzied flight,<br /> Yet from the earth his grasp of might<br /> No wrench allows.<br /> By A. C.<br /> The flowerets, erst so bright and brave,<br /> Now in the dust have found a grave;<br /> No loving hand their life could save<br /> From ruin drear;<br /> Only the blossoms named of gold,<br /> Defiant of the rain and cold,<br /> Still form a funeral-wreath to fold<br /> O&#039;er Nature’s bier.<br /> There is an end to Summer’s pride,<br /> To autumn with his garners wide;<br /> Now winter comes, with rapid stride,<br /> His throne to take ;<br /> Long will his fetters bind the earth,<br /> He robs the year of half its worth,<br /> While scent of flowers and woodland mirth,<br /> Our lives forsake.<br /> IV. “Wignettes.” By Aubrey St. John Mild-<br /> may. (London : Elliot Stock.)<br /> TWELFTH-NIGHT.<br /> (Reprinted by permission from the “Spectator,” January 13th, 1894.)<br /> I should like to have your dimples,<br /> Your wonderment, your nonsense,<br /> Your grave hands, and your tripping feet,<br /> Your carelessness, your conscience;<br /> I should like to know the secrets<br /> You are talking with your brother<br /> Between the mazes of the dance,<br /> As your eyes meet one another.<br /> Little maid, all eyes, and such eyes<br /> Half-lightning and half-laughter,<br /> Sugar-things I should like to eat,<br /> Aud never hunger, after :<br /> Tell me, little maid, do you believe<br /> That if you looked and looked,<br /> And turned into a tipsy-cake,<br /> The best that could be cooked,<br /> Do you think that if I swallowed you<br /> And incontinently died,<br /> That the judge would call it murder<br /> Or only suicide P<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 299 (#313) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 299<br /> Because I’ve drunk your beauty in ;-<br /> But you don’t know what that means<br /> Any more than beams, which pony loves,<br /> Can know that they are beans.<br /> Good-night, dear, dainty tipsy-cake,<br /> I’m but a selfish jade,<br /> Just whinnying to himself about<br /> The dinner he has made.<br /> And I may not, may not keep you<br /> For my sweet-meat to enjoy,<br /> God has planned you for a help-meet<br /> For some happy, happy boy.<br /> W. “Pipings.” By John Arthur Coupland.<br /> (London: John Ferries.)<br /> DREAMS.<br /> A ghost-like vapour wraps the wood,<br /> And frozen is the stream,<br /> The birds upon bare branches brood,<br /> And nothing breaks their dream.<br /> They dream of Spring, of Summer sweet,<br /> Of green and leafy bowers.<br /> I also dream : in winding-sheet<br /> Behold the murdered hours.<br /> WI. “In Leisure Time.” By William S.<br /> Mavor. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> TO TERPSICHORE.<br /> If Choryphaeus leading the dancing choir<br /> With steps of stately ceremonial;<br /> Or leaping Faun and Bacchanal<br /> Around thine altar cannot tire<br /> Their nimble feet;<br /> If Pyrrhic dances yield<br /> Their martial music as the crashing shield<br /> And falchion meet ;<br /> Or, if we pleasure us<br /> As eye beholds<br /> Nymphs, robed in draperies diaphanous,<br /> Whose fleecy veils their sensuous limbs surround<br /> In serpent folds,<br /> Whose lissom feet but kiss the ground ;<br /> If such affect Thee, gladly we<br /> Thus pay our festal vows, Terpsichore<br /> VII. “Scintillae Carminis.” By Percival<br /> W. H. Almy. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> RATE : A PASTORAL.<br /> And the bells, the bells, the tumbling bells<br /> Shall reel and peal through the livelong day;<br /> And they’ll deck the church with blooming birch,<br /> And the cherry bloom and the may, the may ;<br /> “So kiss me, Kate, and we’ll be married o&#039; Sunday.”<br /> And you shall have rings and golden things,<br /> And satin shoes as white as milk,<br /> And coloured bows and high clock hose,<br /> And a glittering gown of silk, of silk;<br /> “So kiss me, Kate, and we’ll be married o&#039; Sunday.”<br /> And servants shall wait on my Lady Kate,<br /> Like a maiden queen of a high degree ;<br /> And garlands rare shall bind your hair,<br /> Dragged from the mouth of the bee, the bee ;<br /> * So kiss me, Kate, and we’ll be married o&#039; Sunday.”<br /> VIII. The “Mummer.” By Harry Gaelyn.<br /> (London : Elliott Stock.)<br /> IN A CITY.<br /> Dim grimy way<br /> In the dull drear City,<br /> Where never a ray<br /> Of God’s sun, through the livelong day<br /> Pierces the pall of the murky sky,<br /> To tell of pity<br /> And hope, to those who live and die<br /> T)ay by day,<br /> In that grimy way.<br /> Yet there,<br /> By yon crazy stair,<br /> Long years ago, Love stayed his flight.<br /> There,<br /> In the dusky light<br /> Love shook his wings and all was bright<br /> For two true souls—and they<br /> Until this day<br /> Have found that grimy way<br /> A pathway of delight.<br /> IX. “The Prophecy of Westminster.”<br /> Harriet E. H. King. (London: W. B. Whitting-<br /> ham.)<br /> This volume of verse is in honour of Cardinal<br /> Manning.<br /> THE COMFORTER, COMFORTED<br /> O Thou whose throne was set in Westminster,<br /> Among the many god-like names whereby<br /> We hold thee in our hearts, this one doth lie<br /> Nearest each thought of thee—the Comforter.<br /> What bitter pains, what manifold disgrace<br /> Hiding itself from every other face,<br /> What broken hearts, what wounds of penitents,<br /> What secret cruelties, what ghastly rents,<br /> Open have lain beneath thy pitying eye,<br /> Fled to thy bosom as to sanctuary,<br /> And felt thy holy tenderness outpoured<br /> Upon the quivering life, to hope restored<br /> X. “Religio Clerici and other Poems.” By<br /> Alfred Starkey. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> The principal poem in this collection is purely<br /> religious. It is difficult to quote any passage<br /> which, detached, would fully represent the powers<br /> of the poet. Here, however, are the opening<br /> lines:<br /> Last year, what time the bells of summer months<br /> Had rung their sweetest chimes, I took my way<br /> Up through the long sea-walleys, dark and stern<br /> In bouldered turf and reappearing rock<br /> Struck through the shallow soil, like hoary bones<br /> Of some vast buried age. In the slant light<br /> I saw the bramble dews gleam changeful sparks<br /> Of pearl and ruby ; and oft I stayed to watch<br /> The autumn spiders spin their floating threads,<br /> And launch their ačry voyages; or paused<br /> While on some red-leaved bough the robin, left<br /> Sole chorister of all the tuneful quire<br /> Which filled in spring, the chancel of the year<br /> With soft and grateful song, now piped a faint<br /> And faltering dirge o&#039;er bright days dead or dying,<br /> Mingling its matin notes with vesper falls<br /> Of melancholy minors, like a sigh<br /> From Nature’s sabbath heart.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 300 (#314) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3OO<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> XI. The “ Divine Surrender.” By William<br /> Wullan. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> This is a “Mystery Play” treating of the<br /> Crucifixion. It is impossible to quote anything<br /> unless one were to take several pages.<br /> *- a -º<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> OME time ago Mr. John Hollingshead issued<br /> a booklet of an autobiographical nature, and<br /> now he announces a complete autobiography<br /> in two volumes for the coming publishing season.<br /> His acquaintance with literary and theatrical<br /> celebrities has been, of course, very large.<br /> A very curious and significant fact is announced<br /> from America, that the library of the late Oliver<br /> Wendell Holmes has been valued at only £160.<br /> A new connection between the Press and<br /> the publishers is to be inaugurated this<br /> spring by the appearance of the “ Pall Mall<br /> Magazine Library,” which Messrs. Sampson<br /> Low and Co. will issue. “The Decline and Fall<br /> of Napoleon,” by Lord Wolseley; and “The Rise<br /> of Wellington,” by Lord Roberts, will be the<br /> first two volumes. The editors of the Magazine<br /> will contribute an introduction. The price of the<br /> series is to be 3s. 6d.<br /> The work upon which the late Sir John Seeley<br /> was engaged when he died was “The Growth of<br /> British Policy,” and it is being edited by Pro-<br /> fessor Prothero for the Cambridge University<br /> Press, in two volumes. It seems a pity that this<br /> could not have been included in the uniform<br /> edition of Sir John Seeley&#039;s works, of which<br /> Messrs. Macmillan will issue “The Expansion of<br /> England” on May 3, and “Ecce Homo,”<br /> “Natural Religion,” and “Lectures and Essays”<br /> at monthly intervals.<br /> Mr. George Allen, who began as a publisher<br /> of Ruskin, is extending his list in many direc-<br /> tions, and “Ruskin House” is more of a com-<br /> pliment than a description. His edition of<br /> Spenser’s “Faerie Queen,” edited by Mr. Wise,<br /> and illustrated by Mr. Walter Crane, has reached<br /> its fifth part, and he announces “The Gurneys of<br /> Earlham,” in three volumes, by Mr. Augustus<br /> J. C. Hare, profusely illustrated. The work is<br /> the memoirs and correspondence of the eleven<br /> children of John and Catherine Gurney, 1775-<br /> 1875.<br /> The most important work of travel in the<br /> autumn season will probably be Captain Young-<br /> husband&#039;s account of his famous journeys in<br /> India and the far East. The title has not yet<br /> been finally settled, as it is difficult to get one<br /> which describes the whole field, but it will pro-<br /> bably be “The Heart of a Continent; being the<br /> Narrative of Travel from 1886-1894 in Man-<br /> churia, Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, the Pamirs,<br /> and the Hindu-Kush.” Mr. McCormick, who<br /> illustrated Mr. Conway’s “Himalayas,” will also<br /> be the illustrator of this work. Mr. Murray is<br /> the publisher.<br /> A short time before his death Professor Blackie<br /> collected together materials for his biography,<br /> and this will be published in the autumn by<br /> Messrs. Blackwood and Co. It is written by<br /> Miss Stoddart.<br /> In Messrs. Putnam’s Sons’ “ Heroes of the<br /> Nations” series, Mrs. Oliphant will write on<br /> “Joan of Arc; ” Mr. Oman, of All Souls, Oxford,<br /> on “Marlborough and England as a Military<br /> Power; ” and Professor Burr, of Cornell, on<br /> “Charlemagne as the Reorganiser of Europe.”<br /> Mr. Leslie Stephen’s “Ethical Discourses” will<br /> shortly be published by Messrs. Sonnenschein who<br /> also announce twelve interesting volumes of their<br /> new “Social England” series. Mr. Baldwin Brown<br /> will write on “The History of the Fine Arts in<br /> England; ” Mr. Cornish, Vice-Provost of Eton,<br /> on “Chivalry;” Professor Winogradoff on “The<br /> English Manor;” Mr. Henry Balfour on “The<br /> Evolution of Household Implements; ” Mr.<br /> Inderwick, Q.C., on “The King&#039;s Peace, a His-<br /> torical Sketch of the English Law Courts; ” Mr.<br /> S. O. Addy, on “The Evolution of the English<br /> House; ” Professor Cunningham on “The<br /> Influence of Alien Immigration on Social Life; ”<br /> Alice Law on “Guilds, and the Rise of the Mer-<br /> chant Class; ” and Mr. G. C. Chisholm, on “ The<br /> Influence of Geography and Travel on Social<br /> Life.”<br /> The Westminster Gazette has published, on the<br /> authority of Messrs. Chapman and Hall, the<br /> interesting fact that, since 1872, of the People&#039;s<br /> Edition of Carlyle’s “Sartor Resartus” 89,000<br /> copies have been sold, and of “ Heroes and Hero<br /> Worship,” IoS,000.<br /> All who have read and delighted in Mr. Nisbet<br /> Bain’s translations of “ Hans Andersen’s Fairy<br /> Stories”—and who has not both read them and<br /> delighted in them P-will look forward greatly to<br /> his Life of Andersen, which will be published by<br /> Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen in the spring.<br /> The Ealing Free Library has transferred “The<br /> Manxman &quot; to the reference department, where<br /> only adults can procure it ; the chairman of the<br /> committee, the Rev. J. S. Hilliard, describing it as<br /> “a most indecent book.”<br /> No announcement has yet been made on the<br /> subject, but it may be taken for granted that in<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 301 (#315) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3O I<br /> the autumn we shall have a striking account<br /> from the pen of Slatin Pasha on his eleven years&#039;<br /> captivity in the Mahdi&#039;s camp. It will be<br /> remembered that Father Ohrwalder, who was<br /> rescued in a similar manner through the instru-<br /> mentality of Major Wingate, R.A., in 1892,<br /> published in that year a very interesting book.<br /> Mr. Blackmore has written a series of tales in<br /> verse, to be published under the title of<br /> “Fringalla,” by Mr. Elkin Matthews in the<br /> spring. The same publisher announces Professor<br /> Corbin’s Harvard prize essay on “The Elizabethan<br /> Hamlet,” with a prefatory note by Professor York<br /> Powell. The idea of the essay is that nowadays<br /> we have lost sight of a comic element in “Hamlet”<br /> which was present to Elizabethan audiences.<br /> A book awaited with eagerness by soldiers and<br /> historians is General Sir Daniel Lyson’s “The<br /> Crimean War from First to Last.” It is said to<br /> be full of facts and stories that have never been<br /> published before, and the author is credited with<br /> being one of the few officers who never left the<br /> camp of the First Division for a single day from<br /> the outbreak of hostilities to their conclusion.<br /> Sir Daniel is now eighty-one.<br /> A book by Baron Rothschild on his trip to Cape<br /> Town and on South Africa generally is nearly<br /> ready. No doubt it will appear in an appropriately<br /> gorgeous form. The publishers are Messrs.<br /> Longmans. The tenth edition of Erichsen’s<br /> magnum opus “The Science and Art of Surgery,”<br /> in two volumes, with a thousand engravings, is<br /> also announced by the same publishers.<br /> The Figaro has published a series of very<br /> interesting extracts from M. Clemenceau’s book<br /> entitled “La Mélée Sociale.” This appears to be<br /> a very pessimistic view of human activities.<br /> No doubt an English translation will soon be<br /> announced. Perhaps the indefatigable Mr.<br /> Sherard already has it in hand.<br /> The preliminary announcements of Mr. Henry<br /> Dyer’s volume on “The Evolution of Industry,”<br /> promise a very opportune and needed work. He<br /> regards his subject from both social and political<br /> standpoints, and discusses such timely topics as<br /> the position of women, Municipal control, State<br /> control, and, of course, industrial training.<br /> Messrs. Macmillan are the publishers.<br /> The new editor of the Daily Chronicle, in<br /> succession to Mr. A. E. Fletcher resigned, is Mr.<br /> H. W. Massingham, who has for a considerable<br /> period acted as assistant-editor and political<br /> director, as well as writing the brilliant daily<br /> sketch of House and Lobby. The new editor of<br /> the Morning Post, in succession to Mr. A. K.<br /> Moore, deceased, is Mr. Locker, son of Mr.<br /> Arthur Locker, for many years editor of the<br /> Graphic, and nephew of Frederick Locker-<br /> Lampson, the poet.<br /> The first edition of IOOO copies of Mr. Henry<br /> Norman’s book on “The Peoples and Politics of<br /> the Far East ’’ was sold out, the publisher<br /> announces, within the first week of publication,<br /> and a second edition is now ready. During the<br /> month Mr. Norman has been appointed assistant-<br /> editor of the Daily Chronicle, of which paper he<br /> has for some time had charge of the literary<br /> department.<br /> “The Cyclopædia of Names,” published by the<br /> Century Magazine, and by Mr. Fisher Unwin in<br /> this country—certainly one of the most useful<br /> books of reference that has ever seen the light—<br /> is to be issued in monthly half-guinea parts.<br /> Journalists, and people who have occasion to<br /> make researches, have for several years past<br /> greatly valued the “Index to Periodicals,” which<br /> has been issued yearly from the Review of<br /> Rezniews office. Mr. Stead has now commenced<br /> the issue of his “Index to Periodicals&quot; monthly,<br /> at Id. The index shows the contents of the<br /> magazines and of the Review of Reviews for the<br /> coming month, and all the books issued during<br /> the previous month, including Parliamentary<br /> publications.<br /> A week or two will see a most important and<br /> interesting work, in the shape of the biography<br /> of the late Professor Freeman, by Dr. Stephens,<br /> the Dean of Winchester. Messrs. Macmillan<br /> and Co. will publish it in two volumes. It is<br /> said that “the letters will be found to contain a<br /> more striking testimony to the range and variety<br /> of their author&#039;s studies than is afforded by any<br /> of his printed works.”<br /> Every month now brings at least one new<br /> magazine, that of March being a sixpenny<br /> monthly called The Englishwoman, edited by Miss<br /> Ella Hepworth Dixon, and published by F. W.<br /> White and Co,<br /> A new sixpenny illustrated weekly, The Hour,<br /> has also made its appearance under the editor-<br /> ship of Mr. A. N. Williamson.<br /> “The World&#039;s Own Book; or, the Treasury of<br /> à Kempis,” by Percy Fitzgerald, is announced for<br /> early publication by Mr. Elliot Stock. The work<br /> incidentally gives an account of the chief editions<br /> of the imitation, with an analysis of its methods,<br /> and is illustrated by several facsimiles of pages<br /> from MSS. and early printed editions.<br /> The publication of Miss Elizabeth Hodges&#039;s<br /> book, “Some Ancient English Homes and<br /> their Associations: Personal, Archæological, and<br /> Historic,” T. Fisher Unwin, which was arranged<br /> for the first of the month, is, owing to the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 302 (#316) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3O2<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> ravages of influenza among the printers, post-<br /> poned until after Easter. The book, which is<br /> well illustrated, gives descriptive histories of<br /> some interesting but little known Warwickshire<br /> and Gloucestershire “Homes” and their various<br /> inmates, from Saxon times onward.<br /> Mr. Egerton Castle&#039;s new novel, called “The<br /> Light of Scarthey,” will appear serially in the<br /> Times (weekly edition) before coming out in one<br /> vol. form. It will begin on the 19th of April, and<br /> will run about six months. It will then be pub-<br /> lished by Messrs. Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co.<br /> “To-Day&#039;s Christ : A Study in Re-Incarna-<br /> tion,” by Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple,<br /> is now ready. The publishers are James Nisbet<br /> and Co., 2 I, Berners-street, W.<br /> Mr. Reynolds Ball has been appointed travel<br /> editor of the Road, and will take charge of the<br /> new “Travel and Tour Department,” which<br /> begins in this month’s number. One of the most<br /> interesting features will be an exhaustive review<br /> of a recent popular travel work under the heading<br /> “The Book of Travel of the Month.” Mr.<br /> Douglas Sladen’s “On the Cars and Off” will be<br /> the subject of the April review.<br /> We are sorry to record the death of the lady who<br /> wrote under the nom de plume of “E. Chilton.”<br /> She wrote, in truth, very little, and probably<br /> many of our readers never heard of her. But she<br /> possessed a singularly pure and clear style, and a<br /> certain amount of humour, which made her work<br /> attractive. Perhaps she would have done very<br /> much better had she been spared. There seems<br /> to be no harm in mentioning that her real name<br /> was Mrs. Chilton Brock.<br /> A scholarly and instructive little book, called<br /> “Books Fatal to their Authors” (Elliott Stock),<br /> has been sent to me. In style and in matter the<br /> book reminds one of Disraeli’s books about<br /> literature and authors. Book lovers will make a<br /> note about it. The author, in a second edition,<br /> will do well to correct a misstatement. The<br /> editor of this paper has nowhere said that<br /> publishers now “incur no financial risk.” He<br /> has never said anything so foolish. What he<br /> has said, over and over again, is a very different<br /> thing: That in these days few publishers take<br /> risk, in the old sense of the word. They have<br /> found out the safer plan, viz., where there is risk<br /> to make the author take that risk. The richer<br /> houses sometimes publish books where returns<br /> are doubtful—there are often special reasons why<br /> even a certain loss is advisable; they sometimes<br /> start magazines; they sometimes lock up money<br /> in costly ventures; but the great majority, the<br /> smaller houses, seldom, if they can help it, run<br /> any risk at all in the publication of books.<br /> “Meditations in Motley,” by Walter Black-<br /> burne Harte, is a collection of essays by an<br /> American writer, published by the “Arena Com-<br /> pany, Boston.” It is a handy little volume, and<br /> contains many good things. Among others there<br /> is a revelation of the conditions of criticism in<br /> in America, which ought to reconcile us to our<br /> own country.<br /> “The Friend of Sir Philip Sidney’’ (London:<br /> |Elliot Stock,) is a selection from the works in<br /> verse and prose of Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke.<br /> The selection is made by Alexander B. Grosart.<br /> A mºst curious and interesting little volume.<br /> The “Divine Problem of Man,” by Mariquita,<br /> Wiscountess de Panama (London: The Roxburghe<br /> Press) is a religions book which may be com-<br /> mended to those who read works of religious<br /> speculation.<br /> “Silvia Craven” (London : Elliot Stock), by<br /> M. Gordon Holmes, is a six-shilling novel. It is<br /> rather long for these days of quick reading. The<br /> tone of the book is maintained throughout at a<br /> high level.<br /> “Some of our English Poets.” By the Rev.<br /> Canon Bell, D.D. (London : Elliot Stock.) The<br /> poets treated are Gray, Goldsmith, Cowper,<br /> Scott, Coleridge and Wordsworth. There is<br /> always something new to say about a great<br /> writer. Canon Bell has found enough to make<br /> a charming volume of pleasant criticism.<br /> “Cardinal Manning,” a character sketch, by<br /> Harriet Clemence Hamilton King. (Dondon:<br /> Whittingham and Co.) This little work is<br /> written in uncritical admiration of the late<br /> Cardinal. It consists largely of extracts from<br /> his sermons.<br /> Mr. Arthur Dillon, with Mr. William Page, is<br /> forming a syndicate in order to revive Shake-<br /> speare&#039;s comedy of “Twelfth Night, or What<br /> You Will,” to be played after the 16th, or early<br /> 17th manner. Mr. Dillon says, “Our principle<br /> is that every playwright shows to fairest<br /> advantage in that form of stage for which. he<br /> designed his plays. This is especially true of<br /> Shakespeare, who wrote with such technical<br /> knowledge of the stage of his day.”<br /> “The Silent Room,” by Mrs. Harcourt Roe,<br /> has been published by Messrs. Skeffington and<br /> Co. in Is. form.<br /> Annabel Gray has transferred her works, “The<br /> Ghosts of the Guard-room&quot; and “A Spanish<br /> Singer,” to Messrs. C. Turner and Co., 30 and 32,<br /> Ludgate-hill, who will continue the series.<br /> “Llanako: a Welsh Idyll,” is the title of a new<br /> novel just issued by Messrs. Gay and Bird. The<br /> author is Mrs. Fred Reynolds.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 303 (#317) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3O3<br /> Mr. Frank Barrett&#039;s new story, “A Set of<br /> Rogues,” will appear serially this summer in a<br /> number of provincial weeklies. The arrange-<br /> ments are in the hands of the Authors&#039; Syndicate.<br /> Mr. Richard Pryce&#039;s new story, “The Burden<br /> of a Woman,” will be published almost imme-<br /> diately by Messrs. A. D. Innes and Co. The<br /> arrangements have been concluded by the Authors&#039;<br /> Syndicate.<br /> Mrs. Paul King, author of “Cousin Cinderella,”<br /> is about to produce a novel in three volumes,<br /> called “Lord Goltho, an Apostle of Whiteness.”<br /> The publishers are Messrs. Hutchinson and Co.<br /> Many of our older members will be pleased to<br /> hear that Mr. James Stanley Little was on the<br /> 23rd ult. married to Miss F. Maud Thérèse<br /> Lablache.<br /> There is always a certain diffidence in speaking<br /> of Pierre Plowman and other writings of that<br /> age. One ought to be able to read English of<br /> that period; it is English, only a little more<br /> archaic than Spenser. Yet, as a matter of fact,<br /> the reading is so troublesome, reference to notes<br /> or a glossary is so frequent, that, except in one&#039;s<br /> student days, Langland is practically never read at<br /> all. It is time to sweep away the convention that<br /> we all understand fourteenth-century English; and<br /> this, it is to be hoped, will be assisted by Miss<br /> Rate Warren’s “Translation<br /> Vision ” (Fisher Unwin, 1895). The Translation<br /> is close and literal, yet preserves the spirit of the<br /> original. A few notes are added; there is an<br /> appendix, and there is an introduction. Such a<br /> little book does more to make us understand<br /> the fourteenth century than half a dozen learned<br /> volumes with annotations and glossaries. We<br /> must have the learned volumes; but for them we<br /> could not become students in Old or Middle<br /> English. We hope that Miss Warren will con-<br /> tinue her task of making things plain and popular.<br /> * - - --&quot;<br /> - w -<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—“RUSTIC READING &#039;&#039;: A REPLY.<br /> ET me assure my critic “C. M. Y.” that my<br /> article on this subject did not deal “with<br /> what was the case thirty or forty years<br /> ago,” an epoch with which I had no personal<br /> acquaintance. Every word of it was the result of<br /> my own observation and experience as a country<br /> clergyman, nor have I any reason to suppose that<br /> the condition of this parish in matters literary is<br /> in any way exceptional. ;<br /> “The writer,” says his critic, cannot really<br /> know John Bunyan&#039;s great classic if he thinks it<br /> of Langland’s.<br /> likely to terrify children into the way of virtue.”<br /> But it was to the alarming illustrations of certain<br /> editions, and not to the text, that I took exception,<br /> John Bunyan is not to be held responsible for the<br /> vagaries of his illustrators -<br /> Then I am told that I am not familiar with<br /> parish magazines. Alas ! this is far from being<br /> the case, and I can only repeat that hardly any of<br /> them contain writing worthy the name of literature.<br /> The one exception that I know is Mr. J. G.,<br /> Adderley&#039;s Goodwill, but in this, unfortunately,<br /> there is a strong tinge of socialism.<br /> Lastly. “The nickname Hodge is one that<br /> greatly displeases both the peasant and all that<br /> are interested in him.” Dear me, what could I<br /> have been thinking of to use it in this gloriously<br /> democratic age I hope that Thomas Hodge,<br /> Esquire, Parish Councillor, will forgive my forget-<br /> fulness.<br /> THE WRITER OF THE PAPER.<br /> II.—EDITORs&#039; RULEs.<br /> “R. L. T.” has mistaken my suggestion, and I<br /> fear if we authors combined to frame a set of<br /> rules, regulating the terms for the reception of<br /> our MSS., the only result would be a swift and<br /> speedy return of our productions by the indignant<br /> editors. My idea was that they should draw up<br /> a new act of uniformity, out of the kindness of<br /> their hearts, in order that the weary writers<br /> should know how long to wait for rejection or<br /> acceptance, and cheques. The vulgar tradesman<br /> does not give unlimited credit ; why then should<br /> the distinguished, or insignificant, author P<br /> S. B.<br /> III.--WoRD&#039;s For SoNGs.<br /> In Mr. R. H. Sherard&#039;s February “Letter from<br /> Paris,” he says: “Only the very best writers of<br /> words for songs in England can hope for as much<br /> as four, or at the outside five, guineas for their<br /> words, whilst the average price paid to the poet<br /> is, I believe, 5s.”<br /> Speaking from my own experience, the average<br /> price is two guineas for words worth setting, and<br /> I have never once been offered words at anything<br /> like as low as 5s., nor for the words of my songs<br /> have my publishers, who have uniformly and<br /> courteously given the price asked.<br /> The poet then, unlike composer and publisher,<br /> has no further risk. -<br /> Touching upon the half royalty system in<br /> France ; if a poet took half the royalties of a song<br /> in England, it would hardly be an equal divi-<br /> sion P<br /> The writer of the music has only that one form<br /> of publishing to profit by, whereas the poet only<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 304 (#318) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3O4.<br /> THE AUTHO/?.<br /> sells the musical copyright of his poem, and can<br /> publish it in book form without restriction.<br /> In cases where musical copyright is not wished<br /> to be disposed of, the poet frequently grants his<br /> very kind permission to set the same words many<br /> times, thereby popularising his work, or he can<br /> request special terms.<br /> With all appreciation of Mr. Sherard’s sugges-<br /> tions and with every respect for the unspeakable<br /> help of poetry, the labours and risks of music are<br /> so great that the benefit of the minor poet seems<br /> to me best insured in the position he occupies at<br /> present. MARY AUGUSTA SALMOND.<br /> IV.-MUSICAL PUBLISHING.<br /> In reading the valuable remarks upon this<br /> subject in the Author for March, I so thoroughly<br /> agree that “the iniquity of seven copies as six’’<br /> should be challenged.<br /> Why should not thirteen copies count as<br /> twelve, as in the booksellers’ trade P If musical<br /> works are properly stored, this should amply<br /> allow for loss to publishers in soiled or spoilt<br /> copies.<br /> Regarding charges for the performing rights<br /> of composers in oratorios, cantatas, and operas,<br /> the remarks are just, but I would refer the<br /> writer to 45 &amp; 46 Vict. c. 40, ss. I and 2, which<br /> is quoted on page 62 of that admirable little<br /> handbook, “The Law of Musical and Dramatic<br /> Copyright,” by Ed. Cutler, T. E. Smith, and<br /> F. E. Weatherley.<br /> In the case of songs it would seem impolitic<br /> if not imposible to charge.<br /> It must always be remembered how small a<br /> public music has compared with that which<br /> literature and the drama possess.<br /> In some songs, such as “The Lost Chord”<br /> and “The Better Land,” it would appear im-<br /> portant to have mentioned in royalty agreement<br /> if the publisher “shall be entitled to arrange<br /> and use the melody in any separate musical<br /> composition ” with or without any further<br /> payment P -<br /> It is for the greatest composers to begin to<br /> insist upon more equitable terms.<br /> Lesser writers would only have their work<br /> refused for that of others. M. S.<br /> W.—THE GENERAL MEETING.<br /> I was unfortunately unable to attend the<br /> general meeting on the 25th, otherwise, though<br /> only a very humble member, I should have felt<br /> it my duty to protest against Mr. Stuart-<br /> Glennie&#039;s strictures.<br /> I have belonged to the Society for nearly ten<br /> years, and whenever I have had occasion to<br /> resort to its services, have been invariably im-<br /> pressed by the admirable manner in which the<br /> business has been conducted. In fact, so far as<br /> my experience is concerned, its attributes may<br /> be summed up in these three words, “Capability,<br /> Celerity, Courtesy,” and there are, I am sure,<br /> very few members who would not render a<br /> similar testimony. WILLIAM TOYNBEE.<br /> WI.—PARALLELISM.<br /> On Nov. 16, 1892, I awoke from sleep with the<br /> idea of the following sonnet, and with the final<br /> line shaped almost exactly as it stands, present in<br /> my mind—whether as carried out of a dream or<br /> as forged in some mental process exactly<br /> synchronous with the recovery of consciousness I<br /> am quite unable to determine. The idea took<br /> possession of me, though at first I recoiled from<br /> the grotesquerie of the gnat, feeling that in the<br /> retention, at all events, of the word, the solemnity<br /> of the whole conception would be risked. That<br /> same morning I composed the sonnet (the first I<br /> ever wrote) in one draft, altering the last line to<br /> “The cry of a hurt bird doth reach me here &quot;;<br /> but in a third copy restoring the ant, in the<br /> deliberate conviction that the grotesquerie was<br /> only skin-deep, and that the thoughtful reader<br /> would justify my decision. Besides, I felt a sort<br /> of scrupulousness in tampering with the gift of a<br /> dream.<br /> Two or three days ago I saw an advertisement<br /> of a new book or pamphlet by my friend Mr.<br /> Coulson Kernahan. The title is as follows:<br /> “God and the Ant: A Dream of the Last Day.”<br /> On the face of it, the motif of that, one would<br /> say, is almost identical with the motif of my<br /> Plagiarism, conscious or unconscious, is out of<br /> the question. -<br /> I fancy that the parallelism is remarkable<br /> enough to deserve record. Besides having<br /> seemingly been first in ink, I should like to be<br /> first in print.<br /> &#039;Atrokatóorraorus IIdivrov.<br /> Lo, the great day that sees God&#039;s purpose wrought !<br /> Time in His lap doth lie, a woven skin,<br /> Sin is His awful aureole, and pain<br /> On His forefinger shines, a pearl sum-caught.<br /> Yea, the great day, the end of all God’s thought:<br /> The stars roll anthems, all the airy main<br /> Washes bright rapture, mingled with the strain<br /> Of human cycles to the vintage brought.<br /> Creation praises. Lo, God lifts His hand,<br /> Spreading mild lightning on from sphere to sphere :<br /> The tide of triumphs stops; the planets stand ;<br /> Yea, the worlds hearken, as high God speaks clear:<br /> “Broken is all the harmony I plann’d :—<br /> There is a gnat whose voice I do not hear.”<br /> FREDERICK LANGBRIDGE.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/275/1895-04-01-The-Author-5-11.pdf	publications, The Author