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272	https://historysoa.com/items/show/272	The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 08 (January 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+08+%28January+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 08 (January 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>	1895-01-01-The-Author-5-8					201–224																		<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=1895-01-01">1895-01-01</a>							8			18950101	C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESAN. T.<br /> VoI. W.-No. 8.]<br /> JANUARY 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 eaſoressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec. t<br /> *- 2a, 2===<br /> EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT,<br /> N the recommendation of many members of the Society<br /> it has been decided to discontinue the monthly list of<br /> new books and new editions. Those, it is urged, who<br /> wish for this list may find it day by day in the daily papers,<br /> week by week in the Spectator, the Athenæum, and the<br /> Publishers’ Circular. Our space, which is limited, will be<br /> thus relieved to the extent of three, or four, and even six pages.<br /> Two or three other small changes will it is hoped add to the<br /> value and the attractiveness of the Author. At the same time,<br /> we shall not lose sight of the fact that the chief raison d&#039;être of<br /> the paper is the maintenance and defence of literary property<br /> from the author&#039;s point of view, and that, with this object,<br /> the paper will continue to publish cases, law suits, and<br /> legal opinions bearing on literary property. The editor<br /> begs his readers to communicate any experiences of their<br /> own, the publication of which will promote the welfare of<br /> literary men and women. It must be remembered that the<br /> readiest and surest way to abolish the ills of which we most<br /> complain is publicity. EDITOR.<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 /> WOL. W.<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE,<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 £1 O must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the &#039;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 pense to themselves<br /> ea:cept the cost of the stamp.<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 /> mess 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 yow appoint as your<br /> agent. 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 /> T 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 202 (#216) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O2<br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. 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, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY,<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 /> 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. Senºl to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *- = 2=º<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. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however,<br /> hereby given that in all cases where there is no current<br /> account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and<br /> porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively 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 four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<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&quot; for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted ” has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com-<br /> municate with 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 /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 203 (#217) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2O3<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’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 P 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 &quot; 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 /> 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 at<br /> £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be 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’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 /> *-* -º<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY,<br /> I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> HE sudden death of Sir John Thompson has<br /> probably put off the consideration of the<br /> Canadian claims for a time. A memorial<br /> on the subject will be drawn up by the committee<br /> after the Christmas and New Year Vacation.<br /> Meantime, the following is a resumé of the whole<br /> Case. It appeared in the Times of Dec. I I, and<br /> is here reproduced in full, by special permission,<br /> for which we record our best thanks:—<br /> “The history of the discussion extends over no<br /> less a period than fifty years, beginning with<br /> the Imperial Copyright Act of 1842, and the<br /> details have been made the subject of so<br /> much argument on either side that there is,<br /> unfortunately, little room to hope for much<br /> modification of opposite opinion. Half a century<br /> of contention, carried on chiefly by means of<br /> official correspondence that tends to grow more<br /> voluminous year by year as the means of com-<br /> munication become more rapid, has remained<br /> practically barren of result. The Canadian copy-<br /> right question, with certain modifications deemed<br /> wholly insufficient by the Canadian Government,<br /> has remained almost where it was placed in 1842.<br /> The incidents which have marked its progress are<br /> so few that they can be catalogued in a para-<br /> graph ; the arguments to which they have given<br /> rise demand some courage for their mastery on<br /> the part of the student of colonial history.<br /> “Briefly, the principal facts which need to be<br /> taken note of in relation to Canadian copyright<br /> are as follows: The Imperial Copyright Act of<br /> 1842 gives copyright throughout the whole of<br /> Her Majesty dominions to any book published in<br /> the United Kingdom, whether it be printed or not<br /> in the United Kingdom, or whether it be written<br /> by a British subject or not. The intention was<br /> manifestly to provide that British literature<br /> should have free circulation through British<br /> territory. As a matter of fact, the conditions of<br /> trade in the United Kingdom were such that the<br /> editions published under the protection of the<br /> Copyright Act were too expensive for the colonial<br /> market, and colonial readers, instead of being<br /> freely supplied with British books, were almost<br /> entirely deprived of them. To remedy this evil<br /> an Imperial Act of 1847, known as the Foreign<br /> Reprints Act, provided that, so long as the<br /> Imperial Government were satisfied that sufficient<br /> protection was given to the author&#039;s rights in any<br /> given colony, the prohibition to permit the entry<br /> of cheap foreign reprints enforced by the Act of<br /> 1842 might by Order in Council be suspended.<br /> Under this Act the Canadian Government<br /> imposed a nominal author&#039;s royalty of 12% per<br /> cent., to be collected at the custom-houses by the<br /> Canadian Government and paid to the British<br /> Government for the benefit of the author.<br /> Foreign reprints were consequently admitted to<br /> the advantage of the Canadian reading public<br /> and to the manifest disadvantage of the Canadian<br /> book trade.<br /> “In the meantime the colonies were developing<br /> powers of self-government under the system of<br /> Parliamentary responsibility which had been con-<br /> ceded to Canada in 1841, only one year before the<br /> passing of the Imperial Copyright Act. The<br /> confederation of the provinces of the Dominion of<br /> Canada took place in 1867, and in the British<br /> North America Act of that year, by which the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 204 (#218) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O4.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> conditions of confederation are determined, copy-<br /> right ranks among the subjects over which power<br /> was given to the Parliament of Canada to legis-<br /> late. But under a previous Act of 1865, known<br /> as the Colonial Laws Walidity Act, any colonial<br /> law which is any respects repugnant to the provi-<br /> sions of any Act of Parliament extending to the<br /> colony is read subject to the Act, and remains<br /> void “to the extent of such repugnancy.” In so<br /> far, therefore, as any Canadian legislation upon<br /> copyright conflicts with Imperial legislation<br /> extending to the colony it remains void, notwith-<br /> standing the provisions of the British North<br /> America Act<br /> “The results of these two-handed provisions<br /> have been those that might have been anticipated.<br /> A Canadian Copyright Act of 1875 laid down the<br /> conditions of local copyright for Canadian<br /> authors, who, as their works are not necessarily<br /> published in the United Kingdom, were not pro-<br /> tected by the Imperial Act, The Canadian Act<br /> was subjected to some wrangle, but was made law<br /> by an Insperial Confirming Act. Then followed,<br /> in consequence of the discussion upon the Act,<br /> the Copyright Commission of 1876. A consolida-<br /> tion Bill intended to give effect to the recommen-<br /> dations of the Commission did not become law.<br /> More negotiations followed, and led in the course<br /> of ten years to the Berne Convention and the<br /> International Copyright Act of 1886.<br /> “The Berne Convention, of which the object<br /> was to create an international union for the protec-<br /> tion of literary and artistic property, was signed<br /> on Sept. 9, 1886. By a protocol attached to the<br /> Convention the colonies and foreign possessions<br /> of Great Britain were included with the United<br /> Kingdom, with power reserved to them to<br /> denounce the treaty, in so far as it concerns them,<br /> upon giving twelve months’ notice to that effect.<br /> Under the International Copyright Act of the<br /> same year, which was passed for the purpose of<br /> giving effect to the Berne Convention, it was<br /> provided that the author of a book first published<br /> in a colony has copyright throughout the whole<br /> of the Queen&#039;s dominions. Canada, it should be<br /> observed, formally assented to the Imperial Act<br /> of 1886, and to a subsequent Order in Council of<br /> 1887, by which effect was given to it in the colo-<br /> nies. By the Berne Convention the principle of<br /> International copyright for all countries belong-<br /> ing to the Union was established. By the Impe-<br /> rial Act of 1886 the supplementary principle of<br /> copyright throughout all the British possessions<br /> was established for the Empire.<br /> “To other members of the Copyright Union,<br /> whether international or Imperial, those provi-<br /> sions have been found to be of great value. The<br /> geographical position of Canada made her case<br /> exceptional. The United States, which is the<br /> largest reproducer of English publications,<br /> borders the Canadian frontier for some thousands<br /> of miles. Under the provisions of the Berne<br /> Convention Canada was prevented from repro-<br /> ducing the works not ouly of British copyright<br /> holders, but of the copyright holders of the entire<br /> Union without due compensation to the author,<br /> while her nearest neighbour, publishing in the<br /> same language for a reading public of which the<br /> requirements were practically identical, was not a<br /> member of the Union, and was consequently free<br /> to reproduce at will and flood the markets of the<br /> continents with cheap reprints, against which the<br /> Canadian book trade could not contend. The<br /> privilege given in return to Canadian authors of<br /> copyright throughout the Union remained prac-<br /> tically void by reason of the small number of<br /> authors who could profit by it. The Berne Con-<br /> vention, therefore, rendered the position of Canada.<br /> so much the worse by increasing the number of<br /> copyright holders to whom Canadian publishers<br /> were bound to give compensation by as many<br /> countries, colonies, and British possessions as<br /> joined the Union. As a matter of fact, the read-<br /> ing public of the Dominion of Canada has been,<br /> and is, principally supplied with British literature<br /> by American reprints. It is worth while in this<br /> connection to point out that the interests which<br /> are opposed to each other in this controversy are<br /> not those of British authors and Canadian authors,<br /> or of British authors and the Canadian public,<br /> but of British authors and Canadian publishers.<br /> “These facts being very generally recognised<br /> in Canada, where discontent with the Imperial<br /> restrictions upon copyright has been persistent<br /> ever since the effect of the Act of 1842 was<br /> realised, a Canadian Act was passed by the<br /> Dominion Parliament in 1889, by which it was<br /> proposed that, instead of the universal copyright<br /> conveyed by the Copyright Union under the Con-<br /> vention of Berne, copyright in Canada should be<br /> given to any person domiciled in Canada or the<br /> British possessions and to the citizen of any<br /> country having an international copyright treaty<br /> with the United Kingdom on certain conditions<br /> of publishing and registration, including the pro-<br /> vision that the book shall be printed and pub-<br /> lished in Canada within one month after first<br /> publication elsewhere. The Act contains a<br /> further licensing clause, to the effect that, when<br /> copyright has not been obtained, the book may<br /> be published under licence in Canada, but the<br /> author&#039;s rights shall be safeguarded by a IO per<br /> cent. royalty, which shall be the price paid for<br /> the licence. Such an Act would, of course,<br /> render it necessary for Canada to withdraw from<br /> the Copyright Union, and the Canadian Govern-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 205 (#219) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 205<br /> ment accordingly gave notice that it wished, in so<br /> far as it were concerned, to denounce the Berne<br /> Convention.<br /> “The Act could not, however, become law with-<br /> out receiving the sanction of Her Majesty&#039;s<br /> Government, and this sanction has been with-<br /> held. In the opinion of the law officers of the<br /> Crown, formally reported on Dec. 31, 1889, the<br /> powers of legislation conferred on the Dominion<br /> Parliament by the British North America Act do<br /> not authorise that Parliament to amend or repeal,<br /> so far as relates to Canada, an Imperial Act con-<br /> ferring privileges within Canada. It will readily<br /> be conceived that this decision has not been<br /> received with acquiescence in Canada..&#039; The ques-<br /> tion has been raised by it from a discussion of the<br /> relative interests of authors and publishers to the<br /> higher level of a question of self-government.<br /> Feeling in Canada runs very strongly upon the<br /> point. Sir John Thompson, both as Minister of<br /> Justice in 1889 and later as Prime Minister of<br /> the Dominion, has stoutly defended the self-<br /> governing rights of the colony he represents and<br /> the competency of the Dominion Parliament to<br /> pass an amending Act. Powers which include the<br /> right to impose customs duties upon British<br /> goods must, it is held, give power to defend the<br /> local interest of any trade. Colonial opinion will<br /> not easily accept a limitation, the justice of which<br /> can be disputed, of constitutional rights, and it<br /> is not improbable that the whole question may<br /> have to be decided upon this wider issue.<br /> “The latest modification of the technical aspect<br /> of the question has been produced by the<br /> American Copyright Act of 1891, under which<br /> any British subject may obtain copyright in the<br /> United States on condition that at least two<br /> copies of the book are printed from type set<br /> within the United States on or before publication<br /> elsewhere. In return for this, American subjects<br /> may obtain copyright throughout British posses-<br /> sions on the same terms as British subjects. On<br /> the ground that the American Act and the<br /> President’s proclamation do not constitute an<br /> international copyright treaty Canada refused to<br /> admit citizens of the United States to the enjoy-<br /> ment of copyright privileges within the limits of<br /> the Dominion. This Canada is held to have the<br /> right to do under the Act of 1875, which was<br /> confirmed by the Imperial Act of the same year.<br /> “What is now desired by the Government of<br /> Canada is that an Imperial confirming Act shall<br /> be passed to give the force of law to the still<br /> inoperative Canadian Act of 1889. The objections<br /> of the Imperial Government to such a course<br /> are—that to do as Canada desires involves an<br /> abandonment of the policy of international and<br /> Imperial copyright which was, after difficulty,<br /> asserted six years ago; that it is inconsistent<br /> with the policy of making copyright independent<br /> of the place of printing, which has always been<br /> upheld by Great Britain; that it would have the<br /> effect of introducing a modification into the con-<br /> ditions under which the United States consented<br /> to the agreement of 1891 ; and that it would be<br /> injurious to the interests of British authors, by<br /> whom the Canadian market is principally sup-<br /> plied. It is urged on behalf of British authors<br /> that the whole Canadian case is based on the<br /> fallacy that Canadian publishers and printers<br /> have a right to the profits of publishing and<br /> printing the works of British authors, whereas in<br /> reality the profit of their work belongs to the<br /> authors themselves. When the arguments of the<br /> right of self-government are brought forward, it is<br /> replied that no conceivable British right of self-<br /> government can include the right to confiscate<br /> the property of unoffending members of society.<br /> Unquestionably the adjustment of the case on<br /> mutually satisfactory grounds is rendered difficult<br /> by the absence of any body of Canadian authors<br /> to whom reciprocal privileges under the Copyright<br /> Acts can offer substantial advantages. As it<br /> stands, the advantage of authors is all on one<br /> side, and the advantage of publishers is on the<br /> other. That the authors should be British and<br /> the publishers Canadian accentuates the sharp-<br /> ness of a contest which, even without the inter-<br /> vention of a governing body on each side, we are<br /> accustomed to hear a good deal of in this country.<br /> It also, however, helps to indicate clearly the<br /> direction in which compromise may most hope-<br /> fully be looked for, and a practical provision on<br /> the part of the Canadian Government by which<br /> the rights of authors may be fully safeguarded<br /> may, perhaps, help to bring the long controversy<br /> to a close.”<br /> II.-INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT.<br /> At a meeting of the American “Authors’<br /> Guild,” held in New York, Nov. 2 I, a resolution<br /> was proposed to reopen the International Copy-<br /> right Law by a petition to Congress for its<br /> amendment. The discussion of the resolution<br /> was adjourned to the regular meeting in<br /> December, when the project of publishing a<br /> literary quarterly will also be considered by the<br /> Guild.—Athenaeum, Dec. 8.<br /> III.-PUBLISHED ON COMMISSION.<br /> The following is (I) a publisher&#039;s estimate for<br /> the cost of production of a book forming 540 pp.<br /> at 340 words to a page in long primer type;<br /> and (2) the estimate according to the Society&#039;s<br /> book called “The Cost of Production.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 206 (#220) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O6<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I. Publisher&#039;s estimate without advertising and<br /> |binding of 300 only :<br /> For an edition of 500 copies, 3148.<br /> 2 3 5 3 93 750 copies, 3.165.<br /> 55 ,, IOOO copies, 317O.<br /> 33<br /> II. Here is the Society’s estimate of exactly<br /> the same work in the same type—remember that<br /> we can get the work done for so much, and well<br /> done :<br /> For an edition of 500 copies, 38 IOO.<br /> 750 copies, 31 I5.<br /> 55 55 , IOOO copies, 3145.<br /> One would like the general opinion on the<br /> character of the publisher who is capable of<br /> sending out such an estimate. And, one would<br /> ask, do not figures such as these show the absolute<br /> necessity of supporting the only machinery which<br /> exposes these things P<br /> 33 33 35<br /> IV.-A HoPELEss CASE.<br /> The following is a case which has happened<br /> more than once, and should be noted:<br /> A. B. writes an article or several articles for a<br /> journal which is, though the contributor does not<br /> know it, on its last legs, financially. He asks<br /> the editor for a cheque, and gets no reply. He<br /> writes again, and still gets no reply. He calls,<br /> and cannot see the editor. Then he seeks the<br /> aid of the Society. Now this, one would think,<br /> is eminently a case in which the Society should<br /> be useful. In fact, there are dozens of similar<br /> cases in which the proprietor of a journal has<br /> been made to pay by the action of the secre-<br /> tary. But in this case the secretary discovers<br /> the unpleasant fact that the paper has been<br /> taken over and is being run by and for the<br /> debenture holders. This means that, though the<br /> secretary might take the case into the County<br /> Court and obtain a judgment, there would be no<br /> means whatever of enforcing that judgment,<br /> because the debenture holders have the first claim<br /> upon the proceeds of the paper. The only course,<br /> then, is to throw the paper into bankruptcy —<br /> a difficult and expensive task. A course, too, by<br /> which the creditor will gain only a paltry dividend,<br /> if anything. There is no publicity to County<br /> Court judgments, otherwise the mere facts of the<br /> case might cause the manager to pay rather than<br /> incur the discredit of the judgment. So that in<br /> such a case there seems no help at all.<br /> NOTES FROM PARIS,<br /> WER all the things that I had to say in this<br /> month&#039;s letter there hangs a very gloomy<br /> shadow, and turn and twist as I may I am<br /> always brought back to this most unhappy fact,<br /> that your Stevenson and mine no longer breathes<br /> our common air, and that thirst we as we may<br /> for the clear water of his lucid prose, there will<br /> be nothing from him any more nor ever again,<br /> for our gentle gentleman of letters lies for ever<br /> asleep on a mountain-top in an island in the<br /> southern Sea.<br /> I fancy that amongst those who deplore his loss<br /> few perhaps will be more distressed than Crockett<br /> and Weyman. Both spoke to me of him with<br /> high admiration and great pride in his apprecia-<br /> tion of their work, for to both of them he had<br /> written in high praise and encouragement. His<br /> portrait hangs in Crockett&#039;s work-room in his<br /> house on the moors by the Esk, and it is on the<br /> mantelpiece of Weyman&#039;s study in the Welsh<br /> frontier town. And now there is crape round<br /> it ; there and everywhere it is felt that our<br /> English peoples are poorer by a great-hearted<br /> gentleman, our English tongue is robbed of a<br /> clear and sweet exponent.<br /> The French press paid due tribute to the dead<br /> master, and in most of the leading papers there<br /> appeared admiring obituary notices. There is<br /> much in this, as as a general rule the French<br /> journalists know nothing of, and care less, for<br /> English writers. So that, if Stevenson’s death<br /> was recorded in columns of appreciative articles<br /> in the Parisian papers, it shows that his mastery<br /> was recognised here also. Some of the writers<br /> displayed a certain ignorance, and gave amongst<br /> the list of his works the names of books which he<br /> never wrote, but the intention was everywhere a<br /> good one, and there was comfort in this manifes-<br /> tion in a foreign land.<br /> I have seen Alphonse Daudet since my return to<br /> Paris, and he spoke to me with much anticipation<br /> of pleasure about his forthcoming visit to London.<br /> He, however, seems determined to preserve the<br /> strictest incognito whilst in England, and has<br /> begged me to state that, greatly touched as he is<br /> by the kindness of those who proposed to do him<br /> honour, his state of health will prevent him from<br /> appearing in public in any way.<br /> Emile Zola is being greatly attacked in the<br /> French papers for his Italian proceedings. In<br /> one caricature he is represented kneeling before<br /> Ring Humbert licking the royal boots. In<br /> another large coloured cartoon he is shown in the<br /> garb of a mountebank, grovelling before the King<br /> and Crispi, and the former is saying “Enough,<br /> enough, it really is enough.” All this is very<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 207 (#221) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2O7<br /> unjust. I attribute these attacks partly to the<br /> hatred of Italy which has been felt in France<br /> ever since the Italians joined the Triple Alliance,<br /> but mainly to the jealousy with which Zola&#039;s<br /> unprecedented success and European popularity<br /> have filled the obscure scribes who are so<br /> attacking him. Zola answers them one and all<br /> with an immense shrug of his burly shoulders,<br /> and says, “Let them talk, as for me, I am setting<br /> to work.”<br /> S. R. Crockett has an adorable little daughter<br /> called “Maisie.” The other day a visitor called<br /> at Bank House in the absence of her parents, and<br /> was received by the young lady. Happening to<br /> notice a photograph of Mr. A. P. Watt in a place<br /> of honour in Mr. Crockett&#039;s study, he asked his<br /> little hostess who that gentleman might be.<br /> “Oh,” said Maisie, “that is the gentleman who<br /> gets papa his American copyrights.”<br /> The gentlemen who write reviews of books for<br /> the newspapers are, I presume, journalists,<br /> and their writings, by the same token, are<br /> journalism. Why then do these gentlemen use<br /> the expression “journalism ‘’ as a reproach in<br /> their critical appreciations. One often reads<br /> “this is not literature, it is journalism,” a<br /> strange remark coming from a professed<br /> journalist. It reminds one of the bird who<br /> befouls his own nest, for it implies that the<br /> writer has a fine contempt for his own writings,<br /> and it fills the reader with pity at the want of<br /> the writer&#039;s self-respect as a journalist.<br /> There is one critic in London—I am sorry that<br /> I do not know his name—who has a curious<br /> notion of the responsibilities of his craft. A<br /> book—it was rather an expensive book—was<br /> published in London last month, and copies of<br /> this book were issued for review two days before<br /> the actual date of publication. On the same<br /> evening a copy of this book was seen in the<br /> window of a well-known second-hand bookstall<br /> in Shaftesbury Avenue. It was marked at a<br /> reduced price, though it was uncut, and just as<br /> it had left the publisher&#039;s hands, and though it<br /> was the only copy of the book then for sale in<br /> London. It was evidently one of the copies<br /> which had issued that morning for review, and<br /> had fallen into the hands of a gentleman with<br /> peculiar views on the functions and duties of<br /> criticism. In France all press copies of books are<br /> stamped with a sign which marks them as such.<br /> The English publishers might adopt a similar<br /> blan.<br /> p Amongst the many books which I find on my<br /> table on my return to Paris is a very clever<br /> collection of prose poems in French, by “P. L.”<br /> This collection is entitled “Les Chansons de<br /> Bilitis,” and the poems are supposed to be a<br /> WOL. W.<br /> translation from a Greek poetess. They are<br /> preceded by a detailed biography of the imaginary<br /> songstress, and in a most skilful manner is the<br /> illusion maintained throughout a most charming<br /> and savoury book. “P. L.” stands for Pierre<br /> Louys, a young French poet of whom I have<br /> often spoken in these pages as a young littérateur<br /> of considerable performance and still greater<br /> promise. Pierre Louys is a true artist, with no<br /> other preoccupation in life beyond the cultus of<br /> beauty, a poet in every fibre. His translation of<br /> Meleager will be remembered, to mention only one<br /> of his little masterpieces.<br /> I met Maurice Barrés a night or two ago, and<br /> found him looking rather tired. I suppose the<br /> strain of editing a fighting paper, like La<br /> Cocarde, is a very heavy one. Yet he was<br /> enthusiastic and energetic as ever, and told me<br /> that, apart from his literary work (besides editing<br /> La Cocarde and contributing to it a daily leader,<br /> he is engaged on a new novel), he is actively pre-<br /> paring his parliamentary candidature in two con-<br /> stituencies, Neuilly and Nancy. We had a long<br /> conversation on journalistic blackmailing in Paris,<br /> and amongst other things he told me that just<br /> before his play, “La Journée Parlementaire,” was<br /> produced an offer was made to him by an indi-<br /> vidual representing a syndicate of Parisian news-<br /> papers, by which, on payment of a considerable<br /> sum, he could secure enthusiastic reports of his<br /> play, with the alternative of well, you can guess<br /> the alternative.<br /> Apropos of journalistic blackmailing in Paris, I<br /> imagine that nobody is more surprised at the<br /> turn which things have taken than the able<br /> editors who, arrested for the practice, are now<br /> languishing in Mazas gaol. For years they have<br /> been allowed undisturbed to practise their little<br /> industry, till they had been lulled into the<br /> illusion that what they were doing was recognised<br /> and admitted. Suddenly, after nearly a quarter<br /> of a century of toleration, they are swooped down<br /> upon and laid by the heels. I can imagine that<br /> they feel a real grievance against the authorities.<br /> I could write a volume on the practices of<br /> blackmailing in France, were I only to draw on<br /> my reminiscences of conversations I had on the<br /> subject with poor Ferdinand de Lesseps. The<br /> subject is, however, a nauseating one. I will only<br /> mention that I was once delegated to gag a<br /> provincial blackmailing journalist, and that each<br /> time that I paid him his monthly hush-money, I<br /> used to talk to him about his business. He<br /> seemed to think that he was acting in a perfectly<br /> straightforward manner. “I run my paper,”<br /> he used to say, “not from philanthropy, but<br /> as a commercial speculation, and I work what<br /> influence it gives me for all that it is worth.<br /> U<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 208 (#222) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O8<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> People must pay to get things put into my paper,<br /> and equally must they pay to keep things out,”<br /> We used to smoke cigarettes together, and got<br /> quite friendly in the end, for the man&#039;s turpitude<br /> was thorough, and one likes thoroughness of<br /> every kind, I was almost sorry when I heard<br /> that he had died in gaol, He was such an<br /> interesting study.<br /> It seems as if shortly there will be quite a<br /> colony of English men of letters residing in Paris.<br /> I have heard several, and not the least distin-<br /> guished amongst our contemporary writers,<br /> expressing the intention to go and live in the<br /> French capital. I think it is a mistake on their<br /> part, and I, for one, have never ceased regretting<br /> having settled down on what an old Yorkshire<br /> farmer de mes amis spoke to me of as “the<br /> wrong side of the watter, my lad.” Paris is<br /> uncomfortable, it is expensive, and the eternal<br /> foolishness which envelopes one here, ends by<br /> influencing disastrously one&#039;s views on men and<br /> on life. Besides, one forgets one&#039;s English. The<br /> tool blunts from disuse.<br /> I see that at a type-writing office in the City<br /> Mr. Hill’s idea of a roll of paper, as a substitute<br /> for sheets, has been taken up and put into prac-<br /> tice. Quite a crowd of people stand outside that<br /> office and watch the long coil as it unfolds<br /> itself.<br /> The “Quotidien Illustré,” a French imitation<br /> of the Daily Graphic, is the latest addition to the<br /> press of Paris. R. H. SHERA.R.D.<br /> 123, Boulevard Magenta, Paris.<br /> *— a 2-º<br /> --<br /> NOTES AND NEWS,<br /> Y this time all the papers, daily and weekly,<br /> have paid their tribute of praise and regret<br /> to the memory of Louis Stevenson. Yet<br /> this paper, though late, must also lay its wreath<br /> upon that far-off island grave. For, indeed, while<br /> he lived, to talk of decadence was to betray<br /> incapacity. I do not think there is in our whole<br /> literature a finer piece of work than “Treasure<br /> Island.” I do not think there are anywhere more<br /> delightful essays than some of Stevenson&#039;s. We<br /> need not attempt to compare him with anybody<br /> —comparisons of genius are futile things; Scott is<br /> Scott ; Fielding ; Thackeray; every man of genius<br /> stands alone. Ilike all men of genius Stevenson<br /> was unequal; there were limitations in his powers;<br /> certain fields were closed to him ; he could not<br /> discourse of love, for instance. But for what he<br /> gave the world we must be thankful, for some of<br /> it will last, I believe, as long as the English<br /> language. -<br /> The immortality of a writer involves selection.<br /> As time goes on one piece after another drops out<br /> of notice and is forgotten, except for the student.<br /> Why? It is impossible to tell. Goldsmith has<br /> been practically reduced, except for the student, to<br /> the “Deserted Village,” “She Stoops to Conquer,”<br /> and the “Vicar of Wakefield;” Gray to the Elegy;<br /> of Southey’s voluminous poems one little poem only<br /> remains; Coleridge keeps his “Ancient Mariner.”<br /> Of more modern writers it would be invidious<br /> to speak; it is too early to guess what part of<br /> Tennyson will drop out of the general memory;<br /> what part of Browning will be preserved; but it<br /> would be interesting to learn what novels, if any,<br /> of Thackeray and Dickens are already beginning<br /> to show signs of approaching oblivion.<br /> The committee have received a large number of<br /> replies to their questions as to Net Prices. At<br /> their first meeting of the New Year the replies<br /> will be submitted to them and considered. Perhaps<br /> we shall be in a position to publish some resolu-<br /> tion on the subject next month.<br /> In an advertisement of a new periodical, “The<br /> Minster,” one observes with some surprise the<br /> name of Mr. George Gissing as the contributor of<br /> a story. With surprise, not because he ought not<br /> to be there, but because this powerful writer has<br /> never before, so far as I know, appeared in a<br /> serial. I hear now of other magazines which<br /> have at last found him out. I have never been<br /> able to understand the comparative silence with<br /> which the very fine work of this writer has been<br /> received. It is, perhaps, because his themes have<br /> been gloomy. The other writers in the new<br /> magazine are the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sir<br /> Edwin Arnold, Sir Benjamin Baker, the Head<br /> Master of Harrow, Corney Grain, Mr. George<br /> Spottiswoode, George Saintsbury, and James<br /> Payn. It is quite the Orthodox plan to begin<br /> with great names. At the same time, great names<br /> very often belong to those who are not great in<br /> literature. And, since we wish well to the new<br /> magazine, we would venture to suggest that<br /> literary popularity is most easily attained by<br /> names that are great in literature.<br /> The book trade may be in a very depressed<br /> condition, but there are six long columns of pub-<br /> lishers&#039; advertisements in the Times of Dec. 18.<br /> This looks like a certain amount of confidence in<br /> the present as well as in the future. Whether the<br /> market is depressed or not, there is certainly no<br /> falling off in the output, the regulation of which<br /> is especially the business of the publishers. The<br /> author has not, and cannot have, any voice at all<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 209 (#223) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> 2O9<br /> in the output. I suppose that depression means,<br /> not a restricted output, but smaller editions; e.g.,<br /> for books of a certain class—say Autobiographies<br /> and Recollections—where there were formerly a<br /> thousand buyers there are now only five hundred.<br /> But, so long as the purchases by readers exceed<br /> the cost of production, so long will fresh books<br /> of the kind be produced. And so with every<br /> other kind of book.<br /> Mr. W. Pollard (Athenæum, Dec. 8) records<br /> the death of surely the very last of all the persons<br /> named in Charles Lamb&#039;s letters. Elizabeth,<br /> widow of Charles Tween, died at Hertford on<br /> Nov. 27, aged ninety-two. She was buried, Dec. 3,<br /> in Widford Churchyard, Hertfordshire, where<br /> Charles&#039;s grandmother, Mrs. Field, lies buried.<br /> Mrs. Tween was a Miss Norris, mentioned by<br /> Lamb in a letter to Henry Crabb Robinson of<br /> January, 1826. She, with her sister, opened a<br /> girls’ school, but married two brothers.<br /> The funeral was on Monday, Dec. 3, in Widford Church-<br /> yard, Hertfordshire; and the place has many things that<br /> recall recollections of Lamb and his writings. On entering<br /> the churchyard, we see on the left the gravestone of his<br /> grandmother, Mrs. Field, and the lettering requires renovat-<br /> ing. In front is the church.<br /> “On the green hill top,<br /> Hard by the house of prayer, a modest roof,<br /> And not distinguished from its neighbour-barn<br /> Save by a slender tapering length of spire,<br /> The grandame sleeps.”<br /> And on the right we are reminded of the opening of the<br /> first story in Mrs. Lamb’s “Mrs. Lester&#039;s School.” At<br /> Widford are the gravestones of Mrs. Elizabeth Norris<br /> (widow of Mr. Randal Norris), died July, 1843, and her<br /> son Richard. On the west side the church tower<br /> are a stile and footpath leading to the beautiful valley<br /> of the Ash close by, and just on the other side is the<br /> wilderness Charles Lamb describes in his “ Blakes moor in<br /> H–shire &#039;&#039; (fir, t essay, second series), and also names in<br /> “Rosamund Gray.” Just below the wilderness, and still<br /> nearer the church, stood the old Blakesware mansion where<br /> his grandmother was housekeeper, and which he describes<br /> in this essay. And on the rising ground to the east stood<br /> the cottage where Rosamund Gray lived with her grand-<br /> mother. On the hillside, just north of the church and<br /> valley, is Little Blakesware Farm, where Charles Lamb<br /> used to visit Mr. Tween, the then tenant.<br /> —-e--&gt; --—-<br /> Does the free library injure the sale of books?<br /> At present there are comparatively few free<br /> libraries, and their chief effect, so far, has been to<br /> place books within the reach of those who could not<br /> afford to buy them; and this, I think, will be their<br /> effect when they are multiplied by fifty. Thus there<br /> are now in this country only about three hundred.<br /> It is not too much to expect that avery few years will<br /> see the free iibraries, great and small, enumerated<br /> at 15,000. Almost every good book will certainly<br /> be taken by all these libraries. That is to say, good<br /> histories and biographies, good books on popular<br /> science, favourite poets, favourite novelists, will<br /> all be taken; and, really, if no other purchaser<br /> appeared, the author would not do so badly. But<br /> I believe that the present purchasers will remain.<br /> The free libraries will lend books to that enormous<br /> class whose incomes are below £300 a year, and<br /> who cannot afford to buy books, and those who<br /> can afford to buy books will continue to do so.<br /> A man is on the prowl seeking to deceive. He<br /> calls himself Charles E. Winter. This is the<br /> story of a late attempt : “He called to see me in<br /> order, he said, to obtain leave to translate a story<br /> of mine. I could not give leave as I had sold the<br /> copyright, and he then asked if I could give him<br /> any type-writing, saying he had done some work<br /> for you’’—the editor of this Journal—“ and men-<br /> tioning other names of reputation in the literary<br /> world as a sort of guarantee. The end of it was<br /> that, influenced by a sad history he told of desti-<br /> tution, and also, perhaps, by his being evidentl<br /> a man of education—he spoke French really like<br /> a Frenchman—I gave him some money, and was<br /> foolish enough to trust him with the MS. of<br /> another story. Since then I have found out that<br /> the man is a fraud, and I have now seen a detec-<br /> tive who tells me that the man is already<br /> ‘wanted by the police for having got money<br /> from somebody else in the same way.”<br /> A correspondent wrote some time ago—but his<br /> letter was mislaid—asking whether £12 was a<br /> fair price to pay for a volume of which an edition<br /> of 2000 was sold. The volume was a little book<br /> which sold for half-a-crown. An edition of two<br /> thousand would probably cost—there were special<br /> reasons why the advertising would cost little or<br /> nothing—about £70, or about 8%d. a copy.<br /> The enterprising publishers therefore, who sold<br /> this book at about Is. 6d. a copy, cleared 9}d, a<br /> copy, out of which they paid the author £12,<br /> and realised for themselves £65 odd. Was the<br /> transaction a fair one P One thinks that it was<br /> not.<br /> Here is a case which perhaps admits of argument.<br /> A half profit agreement ; a book which is sold at a<br /> high price; a return at the end of a year, showing<br /> the sale of some hundreds, with a loss of some-<br /> thing like 330—the exact amount does not matter,<br /> as the account is not disputed. That was<br /> twenty years ago. The author during all this<br /> time asked for no further return, having long since<br /> made up his mind that the book would not prove a<br /> pecuniary success. However, in some spare moment<br /> he did sit down and asked for a second return. It<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 210 (#224) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2 I O<br /> THE<br /> AUTHOR.<br /> came in. It showed a yearly sale of about £30<br /> worth of the book, with an increased loss, after<br /> twenty years, of £55 or thereabouts. In other<br /> words, what has happened is this. The publisher<br /> wished to keep the author&#039;s name on his books, and<br /> on his lists. He has therefore gone on advertising<br /> the book in his list of standard works, every year<br /> spending in advertising a little more than he<br /> received. He has made the book an advertise-<br /> ment of himself. Nor, it seems, can the author<br /> complain. He passed without question the first<br /> account. In that furnished twenty years later he<br /> asked for a return of the advertisements for the<br /> last five years. A small sum was charged for<br /> advertising in the publisher&#039;s own magazine—it<br /> should not have been charged—but to dispute it<br /> would not remove the deficit. Therefore it was<br /> allowed to stand. Perhaps it may be said that<br /> the author was advertised as well as the publisher.<br /> The author says that he did not ask for the<br /> advertisement, that it did him no good, and that<br /> he did not want it. If all the remaining copies<br /> are sold the deficit cannot now be made good, and<br /> so he will not interfere.<br /> On p. 215 will be found a few contemporary notes<br /> on a very remarkable and unprecedented depres-<br /> sion in the book market. It is amazing to think<br /> that only sixty years ago the leading publishers<br /> had no announcements at all to make in the<br /> autumn. Six hundred printers out of work at a<br /> time when all the London books were printed in<br /> London; nothing risked except reprints of<br /> favourite authors; not until the end of the year<br /> are there any books, and then only a hundred.<br /> The whole history of this depression, the length<br /> of its duration, and the revival of the demand<br /> for books would form a chapter of interest in<br /> the history of English literature.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *-- - --&quot;<br /> *-*.<br /> F EU IL LET ON,<br /> IN THE PORCH.<br /> By SHAN F. BULLOCK, Author of “The Awkward Squad.”<br /> &amp; 4 ELL | * said Greenback, as the outer<br /> door of the Judgment Hall closed<br /> swiftly behind White and Cold,<br /> “Well! What luck P’’<br /> White and Cold ruffled her leaves, gave a little<br /> shiver of disgust, then suddenly flung back her<br /> front cover.<br /> “Look there !” cried she. “I look there ! Is<br /> it not shameful ? Bedaubed like that by such a<br /> Crew—Oh! such a crew Look –“ Damned,’<br /> * Damned,’ ‘Damned,’ stamped all over my<br /> pretty whiteness— Damnation and finger-marks,<br /> there&#039;s my portion.”<br /> Greenback looked with pity at his little friend.<br /> What a change | But an hour ago they had<br /> parted there in the porch, and she had gone in<br /> for judgment so youthfully happy and fresh and<br /> hopeful; now the bolt was shot behind her, and<br /> she was back—an outcast, battered, disfigured,<br /> surely condemned. What a change P<br /> “Poor dear,” he murmured. “Poor dear ! So<br /> complete—so complete.” -<br /> “Complete?” cried White and Cold, “I should<br /> think it was. I tell you I was damned before one<br /> of their vile eyes ever saw me. They sat hunger-<br /> ing for me with their daggers drawn. Look!<br /> not twenty of my pages cut, not fifty of m<br /> verses read, not one verdict even initialled—Oh!<br /> such a crew. One looked at my title-page,<br /> ‘Phew!’ quoth he, ‘New man,’ and scribbled<br /> * Damned ;’ another read two lines, muttered<br /> “Minor, very minor,’ and wrote his verdict;<br /> another read five lines, ‘ Rot,” said he, and wrote<br /> worse—and so on from deep to deep. Poetry !<br /> What know they of poetry P Critics! Just<br /> heaven—Critics l—Oh the travail and fond<br /> hopes 52<br /> “Poor dear,” murmured Greenback. “Poor<br /> dear! I’m so sorry–Not even one kind word.”<br /> “Oh yes, there&#039;s one—you&#039;ll find it there near<br /> the bottom—a woman wrote it, a little ugly body<br /> who turned paler at sight of Long-hair&#039;s name on<br /> the title-page, and smiled as she read here and<br /> there. Can’t you find it P”<br /> “Ah !” said Greenback. “Yes, I see—damned<br /> with faint praise. Poor child.”<br /> “Oh I don’t want your pity,” cried White and<br /> Cold. “No | It&#039;s all a conspiracy. I know it is.<br /> I go this way doomed to daggers and destruction,<br /> you go that to wreaths and glory. Why? Why,<br /> I say? Why because I’m a first child, a girl, the<br /> daughter of a long-haired nobody; because my<br /> race has fallen among the Philistines; because I<br /> trace my descent from Homer through the<br /> generations. You smile P Yes, you can afford to<br /> smile. You&#039;re a seventh child; the world was<br /> waiting for you ; the-the person who owns you<br /> is somebody. What of you both P. He was long<br /> enough under a cloud at first; and you—why<br /> you were born piecemeal, scattered here and there<br /> about the world, and then collected into your<br /> shabby green covers. Bah! Collected / Essays /<br /> Old Sober.sides, what of you? Why, you’re a<br /> plebeian—a modern—Addison is your—”<br /> “Easy, easy,” said Greenback in his urbanest<br /> manner. “Why all this folly, child? I’m beyond<br /> all that you know, and really—”<br /> “Oh, yes; you’re most superior, I know. All<br /> gentlemen are. Why did you not keep to your<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 211 (#225) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 H I<br /> word, though P Any gentleman can do that. You<br /> promised before we left the Row to stand by me<br /> and take your fate with me at the same hands.<br /> But no ; you must leave me at the door, and<br /> sneak off to the the professionals—the big pots—<br /> the men who always write sweet things and sign<br /> them—”<br /> “Really, madam,” returned Greenback, “I<br /> must beg of you to keep your vulgar sneers for<br /> your equals. As a gentleman I offered you my<br /> protection to the extent of my ability; more I<br /> could not do. Like yourself I had to take the<br /> chances of war—”<br /> “Chances of fiddle-sticks | Chances of nincom-<br /> poops ? What chance had I?”<br /> “Madam,” said Greenback severely, “enough of<br /> this. You had your chance like another, and let<br /> me say that I cannot bring myself at all to look<br /> at the art of criticism from your standpoint—”<br /> “Of course you can’t. You get the sugar-<br /> plums, I get the physic.”<br /> “Madam, enough. Let us call a truce to these<br /> trivialities. The trial is over; the door is closed<br /> on us both ; our fates assigned us. Madam, our<br /> ways now must part. Thither, out into the<br /> world and the sunshine, lies my path. Yours—<br /> You—Ah, my poor child! My poor child !”<br /> “Well, what of me? I suppose you think I<br /> can’t take care—”<br /> “No, no! Not that. Have you not heard?<br /> Do you not know? That place of doom and<br /> buried hopes; do you not know of it?”<br /> “What P Where P What 2 ”<br /> “Ah, child, thank Heaven for youth and inno-<br /> cence. Knowledge is such a sad burden. . . .<br /> Yes! perhaps you had better know. My child,<br /> out there, beyond the sun and the light, is a place<br /> of dread and despair. Dank fogs envelop it,<br /> despairing voices haunt it, a gaunt precipice over-<br /> hangs and cuts it off from this world of chance.<br /> Oh verily a region of fog and forgetfulness.<br /> And thither, day by day, men come, and now with<br /> scorn, now with ringing laughter, sometimes,<br /> perhaps, with regret, cry, “Over, over !’ and send<br /> fluttering down into the darkness the unfortunate<br /> children of folly and conceit—&quot;<br /> “Oh, oh! Children? What children? Not— ?”<br /> “Yes, child—the books that were born only,<br /> sooner or later, to die.”<br /> “Books All of them P Every one?<br /> not every one! Surely not—not me, too !”<br /> “Yes, sweetheart—you, too.”<br /> “Oh no, no l Not so soon.<br /> soon 2 ”<br /> “It is cruel—but kind. Child, I fear me your<br /> shrift will be short.”<br /> Oh I<br /> Did you say<br /> “Oh, no ! Why a day ago, an hour ago, I was<br /> but born. Did you say soon P Why, I haven&#039;t<br /> VOL. V. - -<br /> yet seen the sun&#039; What! all this pretty finery<br /> —all of it, you, say? All, is all to go down—<br /> down P. Ah! mercy, mercy l’’<br /> “Sweetheart,” said Greenback very tenderly,<br /> “be brave. It is soon over—few in the end<br /> escape. Better over at once, maybe, than after<br /> a cheerless struggle in the storms and the<br /> twilight.<br /> “Oh ! but so soon—so soon—only an hour of<br /> life. It is shameful! I’ve had no chance. I<br /> tell you it will be murder—-yes, murder. For,<br /> look you, I am alive, every page of me is<br /> throbbing alive. Ah and the brutes would<br /> murder me. Ah comrade—keep them back—<br /> only for one day, one gleam of the sunshine.”<br /> “Impossible,” muttered Greenback. “It is<br /> impossible.”<br /> “Oh the injustice, the cruelty, the folly of it<br /> all. You say that voices haunt that—that place.<br /> What voices? Can the dead cry? What voices?<br /> Why those of maidens such as I am, ay! and of<br /> men, too, and women who have been buried<br /> alive. Hark! you can hear them wailing—<br /> wailing hopelessly. Oh! the injustice—the bitter<br /> Cup,”<br /> Greenback let his little friend run on, and him-<br /> self fell a thinking. Was it true, any of this that<br /> White and Cold in her frenzy was saying? Did<br /> anything alive ever go fluttering down P. Whose<br /> were those voices P Surely sometimes mistakes<br /> were made — mistakes born of hurry and<br /> prejudice, perhaps of ignorance P Surely some-<br /> times a book—maybe just born, maybe having<br /> run its course—with just a spark of life between<br /> its covers went over, some jewel that were worth .<br /> the snatching. TXown in that melancholy region<br /> were there not live things—golden pages,<br /> sentences, lines, phrases—buried eternally beneath<br /> mountains of stupidity and vanity ? The perfect<br /> line in a maze of doggerel, a noble sentence<br /> standing out from a dreary flatness, a page here<br /> and there torn from experience, and telling the<br /> story of a heart—surely often and often these<br /> had come unheralded, gone unnoticed, and left<br /> the world the poorer. Write, write, men were<br /> ever writing—could the most hopeless dullaro<br /> among them sit always and never chance on the<br /> happy phrase, the haunting cadence; never hear<br /> once from heaven a whisper of the gods P. This<br /> little butterfly, now lying all crushed and hopeless,<br /> could it be that all her glitter was mere dross<br /> and vanity ? -<br /> “Come, sweetheart,” he said at last, “ Cheer<br /> up, now ; all is not over yet. Come! stand for<br /> judgment and let me be your critic.”<br /> So White and Cold fluttered and twirled and<br /> aired her little graces, and Greenback looked<br /> gravely on. Those inside the door had not been<br /> X<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 212 (#226) ############################################<br /> <br /> 212<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> far wrong, he thought; she had virtues, but she<br /> was no divinity; there was glitter, but no gold;<br /> the best she could show was now and then a<br /> happy pose, a graceful turn, and once, he thought,<br /> a flash of passion. No | Salvation was not for her<br /> nor for her kind; still, she was not quite unworthy,<br /> the gold might have flashed somewhere. And—<br /> and surely among all the others, her unfortunate<br /> companions in adversity, the gold if sought for,<br /> must have flashed somewhere P Surely not to<br /> have sought, sought eagerly, thought Greenback,<br /> can only be reckoned as foolishness in the ways<br /> of man. Why, he himself, only for his parentage,<br /> might easily have gone over.<br /> “You are right, my dear,” he said presently,<br /> “quite right. It is an inhuman thing thus to<br /> destroy ruthlessly what might well contain hidden<br /> treasure most precious.”<br /> “Ah, liknew it,” cried White and Cold, “I knew<br /> it ! I wanted only a chance.”<br /> “I was speaking generally, child,” said Green-<br /> back hurriedly.<br /> “Then—then—What are you, too, among<br /> my enemies? You, too, blind?”<br /> “Ah, child, what matters it P Did I see genius<br /> written on your every leaf what could I avail?<br /> Nothing.”<br /> “Nothing ! Do nothing P<br /> ou say there is no hope P’’<br /> ... “It would be cruel to say you false,” murmured<br /> Greenback. “Child, there is no hope.”<br /> “No hope P Oh ! the living tomb—oh ! the<br /> voices wailing—oh Sir, Sir, do something, save<br /> me for one hour ! ”<br /> “My child,” answered Greenback very gravely,<br /> “what you ask is impossible. Sorely do I regret<br /> your fate, fervently do I wish it were otherwise;<br /> but in this matter, as in all, we are helpless. It<br /> is hard—Ah! would that long ago, when the<br /> Master was bending over me, I had had the<br /> thoughts which now I have I should have<br /> whispered: “Write, Master, write and warn the<br /> world of its folly. It knows not what it does—<br /> daily it is casting away treasure. The workers in<br /> the Hall of Judgment are weary and grown<br /> callous; they have no leisure in which to perform<br /> what to be effective must be a labour of love.<br /> But have not you, my Master, called (Ay! spoken<br /> it to myself) this an age of Amateur well-doing,<br /> of societies founded everywhere for the protection<br /> of the weak, and the prevention of wrong-doing?<br /> And have I not shown you wrong; are not these<br /> weak for whom I plead? What work more noble,<br /> more glorious and beneficent could learned men,<br /> of taste also and leisure (of you, revered Master,<br /> and your peers I speak), hope to lay hand to than<br /> the duties which should appertain to a Society<br /> solidly founded, honestly supported, and having<br /> Do you mean—do<br /> for its object the Rescue of Jewels from the<br /> Wastes of Literature P Go out, my Master, go<br /> out and raise your voice; it is powerful; the<br /> world will hear you; countless generations shall<br /> call you blessed.’ So should I have spoken, child;<br /> and—”<br /> “But now—even now it is not too late. The<br /> Master | tell him, tell him—ask him to save<br /> me!” .<br /> “My child, take heart and be brave—to struggle<br /> and cry is folly. You know not the world; it is<br /> slow to hear, and slower to move. And the<br /> Master—alas ! I am not the Master&#039;s keeper,<br /> and his ear just now is turned from me. But I<br /> promise you that some day his voice shall be<br /> raised, and this Society of which—”<br /> “Yes, yes—but I shall have gone!”<br /> “Gome—gone—we all go—go and are forgotten.<br /> Ah, child ! is there no consolation in the thought<br /> that your sacrifice may to future generations<br /> bring great good P”<br /> “Consolation | Consolation in that pit of hell!<br /> Lost, lost What do I care about future genera-<br /> tions P. Oh my pretty finery What<br /> going? Leaving me P Is it good bye?”<br /> “It is good-bye, sweetheart. The world calls<br /> me, and I must go. Keep heart, and die<br /> bravely.”<br /> “Die | Die &#039; And is this the end ?<br /> face—that alone P”<br /> “Be brave my child—and good bye.”<br /> “—All alone—Never see you again—Oh! not<br /> good bye.”<br /> “Ah well—who knows—sooner or later we all,<br /> or nearly all, come there. Who knows? Well,<br /> Sweetheart, not good bye then, but au revoir.”<br /> Must I<br /> *— — —”-- :<br /> A LITERARY CORNER.<br /> | WONDER how many of the men and<br /> - women, who monthly turn to the pages of<br /> the Author, have ever explored the pleasant<br /> precincts of Camilla Lacey, which lie within easy<br /> reach of many of their number. It was recently<br /> the good fortune of the present writer to see all<br /> that is now left of this literary haunt, and to<br /> follow for a brief while the footsteps of an almost<br /> forgotten literary coterie. For to this little corner<br /> of the Surrey Hills the French emigrés were irre-<br /> sistibly attracted in the days when the names of<br /> Talleyrand, Narbonne, and Madame de Stäel were<br /> on everybody’s lips.<br /> The little village was even in those days<br /> remarkable for shady groves and towering trees,<br /> and for its pretty gardens and small cottages, in<br /> one of which Madame d’Arblay lived.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 213 (#227) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 I 3<br /> To-day, indeed, the little homestead is gone,<br /> with its rustic wooden porch and low white walls,<br /> with their charming old-fashioned pointed gables,<br /> and in its stead rises a modern mansion, wherein<br /> little is left of the old world building. The only<br /> authentic remains of the cottage, which was so<br /> beloved of the celebrated authors, are now said,<br /> indeed, to be the narrow back stairway, and, per-<br /> haps, two adjoining small rooms.<br /> Nevertheless, to many folks the house as it is<br /> fills the mind with a thousand touching memories,<br /> and its owners have sought to preserve intact<br /> everything associated with the fame of Fanny<br /> Burney.<br /> The prettiest, and, perhaps, the sunniest,<br /> brightest room of the whole mansion is the little<br /> literary museum wherein are preserved the relics<br /> of a fame which once made the gladness of the<br /> country side.<br /> In a quaintly furnished room, with hangings of<br /> olden times, dainty flowered curtains shade the<br /> fading manuscripts which lie in glazed cases<br /> available to the curious, the wonderful manu-<br /> script of Camilla and Evelina. Old-fashioned<br /> furniture fills up the small room, a corner table<br /> supports the large crucifix, which, if report says<br /> true, was once the possession of no less a<br /> personage than the old Chevalier d’Arblay.<br /> All the pieces of furniture, though gathered in<br /> recent years, seems to be part and parcel of the<br /> original inhabitants, and around the walls hang<br /> portraits, engravings for the most part of all the<br /> prominent friends of the gifted authoress.<br /> Below each one is suspended by loving hands an<br /> autograph letter from the portrait represented,<br /> addressed for the most part in warm hearted lan-<br /> guage to the “charming kind friend” Madame<br /> d’Arllay. Here, for instance, is a full-faced<br /> portrait of Mrs. Delany in her black lace fichu<br /> and mantilla; close beside her Mrs. Montague<br /> (after Reynolds), with her good tempered some-<br /> what oval face; Mrs. Thrale, Mrs. Trimmer,<br /> many of the Burney family, in pen and ink and<br /> in crayon ; Baretti (after Reynolds), in queue<br /> and powder; David Garrick, in slashed and<br /> braided coat. Here, by the bye, hangs another<br /> charming portrait, with a characteristic face and<br /> expression; below it a delightful old world<br /> epistle from Madame Piazzi to the charming<br /> Madame d’Arllay. “Come o&#039; Tuesday,” runs<br /> the faded manuscript, “as well as Sunday.<br /> Dine with me o&#039; Sunday, sweet soul, do ” and<br /> here is Mrs. Delany’s letter full of inquiry after<br /> the health of her “Dearest Miss Burney: We<br /> sent but yesterday to know how you did ; we<br /> have been quite alarmed, for they brought us<br /> word that though you was better to Burney was<br /> only as well as could be expected ; ” and so on, I<br /> might quote infinite in number, the tender,<br /> heartfelt greetings of this charming throng. All<br /> of them, indeed, ring the same changes of devoted<br /> friendship and admiration—Talleyrand, Madame<br /> de Stäel, Reynolds, “St. Cecilia,” Brinley<br /> Sheridan, and many, many another.<br /> As the “gallery” ends, the eye rests a moment<br /> on the well filled little corner bookshelves, where<br /> are gathered in the old first editions—Evelina,<br /> Cecilia, Camilla. The minor works and volumes<br /> of great contemporary writers are there to com-<br /> plete the small library, and the celebrated<br /> journals, round which has since centred a<br /> veritable literature in itself. There, too, are the<br /> earlier diaries of 1768-78, to which some men<br /> give the most praise; and last, not least, the<br /> curious official form, said to be an authentic copy<br /> of the marriage register. I almost hesitate to<br /> Copy it in my short paper, fearing it may raise<br /> doubts as to veracity. But I give it, for the<br /> curious I feel sure would be allowed to see and<br /> judge it for their own satisfaction. The form<br /> gives the scene of Fanny Burney’s marriage<br /> with the Chevalier d’Arblay as St. Luke&#039;s parish<br /> church, Chelsea, by licence, on July 28, 1793.<br /> Biographers, I am aware, mention already two<br /> places as the scene of the celebrated ceremony.<br /> I can add nothing to their testimony, but I think<br /> these few notes may prove of interest.<br /> Of the surrounding country side little can have<br /> changed since the old days I here record; the<br /> well-wooded heights of Denbies, Box Hill,<br /> Juniper Hill still stand much as they did then.<br /> But the charming gardens and undulating lawns<br /> which surround the beautiful modern house of<br /> Camilla Lacey; these things mark the transfor-<br /> mation undergone since the days of Madame<br /> d’Arblay&#039;s occupation. There yet may exist, per-<br /> chance among them, the shrubs that Chevalier<br /> planted with toilsome endeavour; but few people<br /> now traverse the country lane with thoughts of<br /> its literary recollections.<br /> The railway rushing across the country side<br /> bears Londonward its crowd of busy people; to<br /> thoughtful literary men and women it will ever<br /> be the home of delightful old world memories.<br /> * -- ~ 2-4<br /> * * *<br /> THE PAPER TAX.<br /> HE writer of the following article begs to<br /> acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Lang,<br /> who called attention to the subject in the<br /> Illustrated London News two or three months<br /> ago. The subject is treated in the Edinburgh<br /> Review for June, 1831, in an article called “Taxes<br /> upon Literature.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 214 (#228) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2I4<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> . At that time there was a tax upon paper, a tax<br /> upon binding, and a tax upon advertisements.<br /> All these taxes had to be paid in the production<br /> of the book, and before a single copy was sold—<br /> they had to be paid, in fact, whether a single<br /> copy sold or not.<br /> The meaning and the burden of these taxes<br /> are shown by the Edinburgh Reviewer. He<br /> takes the case of an 8vo. book of 500 pages.<br /> He selects an ordinary book of that size, and<br /> he gives the figures showing the cost of pro-<br /> duction with that part of it due to the taxes.<br /> These figures, he says, were furnished by a<br /> person of the “highest authority.” They appear<br /> as follows:<br /> I. In an edition of 500 copies :—<br /> Due to taxes.<br /> Printing and cor-<br /> rection ............ 388 18 O<br /> Paper ............... 38 IO O ... &amp; 8 I 2 IO<br /> Boarding ............ Io O O 3 3 8<br /> Advertising ........ 4O O O 2O O O<br /> 177 8 o 31 16 6<br /> If the whole edition is sold out, i.e., allowing<br /> for eleven copies sent to the public libraries and<br /> fourteen to the author, if 475 are sold at 8s. 5d.<br /> a copy, the amount realised is £1.99. 17s. I Id.,<br /> leaving a profit of £22 9s. 11d.<br /> 2. Taking an edition of 750 copies :—<br /> Due to taxes.<br /> Printing and cor-<br /> rections............ £95 6 O<br /> Paper .............. 57 I5 O 312 I9 4<br /> Binding............... I5 O O 4 I5 7<br /> Advertising ......... 5O O O 25 O O<br /> 218 I o 42 I4 II<br /> If the whole edition (725 copies) be sold at<br /> 8s. 5d., the amount realised would be £305 2s. 5d.,<br /> showing a profit of £87 1s. 5d.<br /> 3. An edition of IOOO copies:—<br /> Due to taxes.<br /> Printing and cor-<br /> rections ......... 3IO2 I4 O<br /> Paper ............... 77 o o £1.7 5 9<br /> Boarding ......... 2O O O 6 7 5<br /> Advertising ...... 6o o o 3O O O<br /> 259 I4 O 53 I 2 2<br /> If the whole edition, 975 copies, are sold at<br /> 8s. 5d. the amount realised would be £410 6s. 3d.<br /> leaving a profit of £150 12s. 3d.<br /> But, the writer goes on to say, this supposes<br /> the sale of the whole edition; now by the evidence<br /> of a publisher in the first rank, out of 130 works<br /> issued by him, fifty had not paid expenses;<br /> thirteen only arrived at a second edition, not<br /> always profitable. One fourth of the whole<br /> number of books produced do not pay expenses;<br /> only one in eight can be reprinted. Suppose<br /> that, instead of 720 copies being sold, only 425<br /> went off leaving 300 on hand. This is, in fact,<br /> the common case with books. How does the<br /> account stand? .<br /> The cost of the edition is £218 Is. By the sale<br /> of 425 copies the sum of £178 17s. Id. is realised<br /> This leaves an actual loss of £40. But the taxes<br /> had to be paid in advance.<br /> In other words the cost of production had to be<br /> increased by about 22% per cent. Moreover the<br /> printing, binding, &amp;c., could be paid after the<br /> first returns of the book, but the taxes had to be<br /> paid in advance. There would seem in these days<br /> to have been some ground for the cry about risk<br /> and uncertainty. Certainly a tax of 22% per cent<br /> on the cost of production must have made the<br /> business much less lucrative than at present. The<br /> writer points out, however, that publishers of<br /> standing were careful to avoid risk as much as<br /> possible by taking only books written by well<br /> known names, and on subjects likely to command<br /> attention.<br /> We observe that no “press’ copies were issued.<br /> The book was advertised; if it was reviewed<br /> the reviewer bought or borrowed a copy. The<br /> practice of sending out review copies must<br /> have come into existence soon after this, because<br /> in the Forties it was certain that there were press<br /> Coples.<br /> It is interesting to compare the cost of pro-<br /> duction of 1831 with that of 1894. We take the<br /> example given in the Society’s “Cost of Pro-<br /> duction,” p. 31, i.e., a page of 34 lines, of 339<br /> words, a Long Primer type, and of 500 pages.<br /> We have the following comparison, deducting the<br /> amount due to taxes.<br /> Edition of 500 copies:—<br /> 1831<br /> Printing and Correction 3888 18 o<br /> Paper ........................ 29 I7 2<br /> Boarding 6 I6 4<br /> Advertising ............... 2O O O<br /> £145 II 6<br /> 1894<br /> Composing 31; sheets at<br /> £I 7s. I Id. per sheet... 353 6 3<br /> Printing, 5s. 9d. a sheet 8 19 8<br /> Corrections, say............ 5 o O<br /> Paper, at 9s. a sheet...... I4 I3 6<br /> Binding, at 5a, a vol. ... Io 8 4<br /> Advertising e tº e 2O O O<br /> — 31 12 7 9<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 215 (#229) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 I 5<br /> Or taking the edition of IOOO copies:–<br /> 1831<br /> Printing and correction 2102 14 O<br /> Paper .................. • * * * &gt; * 59 I4 3<br /> Boarding ........ ......... I 3 I 2 7<br /> Advertising ......... . . . . . . 3O O O<br /> se- £2O6 o IO<br /> 1894<br /> Composition ............... 353 6 3<br /> Printing, at Ios. 6d. a.<br /> sheet ..................... I6 IO 9<br /> Paper, at 18s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 7 O<br /> Corrections ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 O O<br /> Binding, at 5al. ... . . . . . . ... 20 16 8<br /> Advertising . . . . . . . ...... 3O O O<br /> 38154 O 8<br /> So that composition and printing have gone<br /> down 32 per cent. since the year 1831 ; paper is<br /> half what it was ; binding is a little dearer.<br /> As regards the great risks in publishing at<br /> this period, it will be seen from another part<br /> of this paper, that there was a depression<br /> in the book trade at that time (1831) deeper<br /> and more marked than had ever before been<br /> known. The political excitement of the time<br /> was supposed to be the cause ; but national<br /> excitement, whether over politics or war, gene-<br /> rally stimulates the book trade. It is more<br /> reasonable to attribute the stagnation first to the<br /> general commercial depression of the time which<br /> had ruined or crippled the manufacturers, so<br /> that they could no longer afford to buy books at<br /> the high price then asked; next, to the decay of<br /> the book clubs; and, thirdly, to a disgust at the<br /> weak and washy novels and poetry with which<br /> their book clubs were provided. The reading and<br /> book-buying public, never very large, had, from<br /> these and other causes, grown much smaller; it<br /> consisted of the professional classes and the more<br /> wealthy merchants and manufacturers. Outside<br /> the larger towns there was little book-buying.<br /> The advertisement duty, formerly of 3s. 6d. for<br /> each advertisement, and in Ireland 2s. 6d, was<br /> reduced in 1833 to 1s. 6d. in England and to Is.<br /> in Ireland. In 1853 it was abolished alto-<br /> gether.<br /> The newspaper stamp, which varied, being I d.<br /> in 171 I, I d. in 1776, 2d. in 1789, 2 #d. in 1794;<br /> 3}d. in 1797, 4d. in 1815, I d. in 1836, was finally<br /> abolished in 1855.<br /> The paper duty was repealed in 1861.<br /> THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE, 1831.<br /> HE following extracts, concerning the new<br /> books of 1831, are taken from the sources<br /> named. They refer to the threatened ruin<br /> of literature in the Thirties—a very curious<br /> chapter in the history of modern literature. The<br /> depression was attributed to the political excite-<br /> ment of the time, but, as we believe, mistakenly<br /> so attributed :<br /> I.<br /> (Athenæum, Oct. I 5, 183 I.)<br /> Man is a poetic creature, let philosophers say<br /> as they will; it is wonderful to hear of the ruin<br /> to literature and the destruction to art which one<br /> friend perceives in the Reform Bill; while<br /> another friend will see nothing but prosperity<br /> and exaltation to both. The airy fictions of<br /> these men, one of a bright and the other of a<br /> dark nature, are in a high degree poetical<br /> It must be owned that for these six months art<br /> and literature have suffered a sad eclipse. One<br /> side says, without reform there must be revolu-<br /> tion ; the other, that revolution will follow<br /> reform. No man will speculate in aught but<br /> words; labour has nearly ceased — printing<br /> presses repose by the hundred—and booksellers<br /> say that they have not sold a volume since the<br /> question was agitated. A poet in our presence<br /> lately requested a publisher to purchase a new<br /> poem in ten cantos—subject and time—“Wars<br /> of the Two Roses.” “Are you insane P” was the<br /> quick reply; “write on the rise and fall of stocks,<br /> or on the Reform Bill, and hope for purchasers.”<br /> II.<br /> (Supplement, Oct. I 5.)<br /> These are evil times: the pen and the pencil<br /> are nearly idle, save in writing political lampoons<br /> and drawing caricatures. The dread of change<br /> perplexes monarchs no more, they eat their<br /> pudding and hold their tongue; but fear has<br /> come upon men of genius; poets and painters<br /> eye, in alarm, the thickening clouds, while men<br /> whose muscles are strong, and whose hearts are<br /> griping and eager, look on the coming tempest as<br /> on the wind which will shake the ripe fruit and<br /> give them much to gather A few of the<br /> booksellers announce new books, or rather works<br /> long bespoke and written ; but, on the whole, the<br /> depression in the great market of literature con-<br /> tinues. Murray has not even an advertisement ;<br /> we hear not one word of the Quarterly IReview,<br /> though the period of its appearance has come,<br /> and all that is new are the Annuals and a few<br /> thrice-spoken speeches for or against reform.<br /> There is not one book announced which promises<br /> either genius or learning, and there is little chance<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 216 (#230) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2 I6<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> of either while this thick cloud rests on our<br /> land, and till this question, which affects the<br /> wealthy, the bustling, and the important, is<br /> settled.<br /> III.<br /> (Athenæum, Nov. 12, 1831.)<br /> The ablest of our writers are for the present<br /> next to idle, and some have left or are about to<br /> leave the land. Scott is on his way to Italy, and<br /> letters from him cheer us up with the intelligence<br /> of increasing health and spirits ; a gentle sea<br /> sickness was followed by more than usual vigour<br /> and sprightliness. We rejoice the more at this,<br /> because, before he left Portsmouth, he talked<br /> rather seriously about his voyage. He alluded to<br /> Fielding&#039;s visit to Lisbon, Smollett&#039;s to Italy,<br /> and Byron&#039;s to Greece, and returned to the sub-<br /> ject if diverted from it. It is remarkable that<br /> Byron wrote Scott a long letter inviting him to<br /> Italy, and pointing out, if we remember right,<br /> Naples as a place where he might enjoy balmy<br /> air and see abundance of human characters.<br /> Washington Irving, too, an author whom we love<br /> greatly, is said to be on the point of sailing to<br /> America, and we think he is right—extinction of<br /> literature, and depression of art, riots and blood-<br /> shed; and, finally, the cholera in Sunderland, shut<br /> up from escape by sea, with full liberty to march<br /> whither it pleases by land, are, on the whole, no<br /> cheering prospects.<br /> IV.<br /> (Athenæum, Nov. 19, 1831.)<br /> The public depression attributed by one faction<br /> to the refusal of reform, and by the other to the<br /> introduction of the measure, still continues;<br /> cheap books alone are published, and during the<br /> present political pest cheap books alone will be<br /> purchased; for no man can expect to read a large<br /> work leisurely through when the very ground<br /> under his feet seems to have a touch of the<br /> earthquake, and high houses threaten to topple<br /> down and crush ordinary people in the rubbish.<br /> Men who in former palmy times boldly launched<br /> their first-rate quarto, are now content to push<br /> their cockboat along the shore and close by the land<br /> —in truth, till the great question of reform is<br /> settled but no timid adventurer need<br /> try to come forward. Magazines may change<br /> editors, newspapers their proprietors, reviews<br /> their contributors, and booksellers may have faith<br /> in rich or official authors, but the great market of<br /> literature will not open its gates full and wide<br /> till the public mind is settled, and perhaps not<br /> then.<br /> W.<br /> (Athenæum, Nov. 26, 1831.)<br /> All in literature continues dull as a great thaw,<br /> long promised works are held back from the<br /> market, and no new ones of any mark or likeli-<br /> hood make their appearance. Six hundred<br /> printers are out of employment in London alone.<br /> Reprints of favourite authors are all that book-<br /> sellers dare venture upon ; and of these the new<br /> edition of the poetical works of Sir Walter Scott<br /> promises to be one of the most attractive gº tº<br /> This, with the “Italy ’’ of Rogers, and the Works<br /> of Byron, announced by Murray, must console<br /> our eyes for the absence of mental food. The<br /> Annuals, we fear, must go to the wall when these<br /> are published.<br /> VI.<br /> (Athenæum, Dec. 17, 183 I.)<br /> Literature has recovered a little from its long<br /> stupor; more than a hundred new works, and<br /> some of them of great interest, have been<br /> announced. Pamphlets on reform and visionary<br /> treatises on cholera will now give way, we hope, to<br /> works of learning and genius. In addition to<br /> this good news, we hear that Sir Walter Scott has<br /> arrived safe and well at Malta. Reprints of<br /> valuable books, sometime announced, are about to<br /> make their appearance; the Byron of Murray<br /> comes out on the first of the new year, and a<br /> beautiful work it is.<br /> VII.<br /> (Athenæum, Dec. 24, 1831.)<br /> Our publishers&#039; shops are now more frequented<br /> —booksellers are receiving orders—the columns<br /> of the newspapers are filling with advertisements<br /> of books; and though these festive times of<br /> Christmas interpose a little in business matters,<br /> we cannot but perceive that literature has rallied<br /> and gives token of recovering much of its original<br /> vigour. We hear that the next numbers of the<br /> magazines, both north and south, will show<br /> that the national love of elegance is reviving; we<br /> cannot, however, look for a full development of<br /> the publishers&#039; plans of the next campaign till<br /> the publication of the Quarterly, and Edinburgh,<br /> and Westminster Reviews.<br /> VIII.<br /> (Letter from Rev. Thomas Frognall Dibden,<br /> Oct. 31, 183 I.)<br /> I paid my eleventh and last visit to the<br /> renowned publisher of the Quarterly Review. I<br /> have long considered Mr. Murray as the greatest<br /> “family ’’ man in Europe, and was not surprised<br /> to find him surrounded by an extensive circle of<br /> little ones. A family man is usually a cheerful<br /> man ; but the note of despondency was to be<br /> heard even here. The Quarterly Review was,<br /> however, in full plumage, winging its way, and<br /> commanding the attention of an unabated crowd<br /> of admirers. Lord Byron was also to come forth<br /> in a new dress—shorter, and less flowing, but<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 217 (#231) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 217<br /> well fitting, brilliant, and attractive. So far, so<br /> good; yet the taste for literature was ebbing.<br /> Men wished to get for five, what they knew they<br /> could not obtain for fifteen shillings. The love of<br /> quartos was well-nigh extinct, in spite of the<br /> efforts of a neighbouring forty-eight horse power<br /> engine, to restore that form to its usual fashion<br /> and importance.—Bibliophobia, p. 31.<br /> *- a. --<br /> a- - -<br /> THE ENGLISH DIALECT DICTIONARY.<br /> HIS dictionary will be edited by Mr. Joseph<br /> Wright, M.A., Ph.D., deputy professor<br /> of comparative philology in the University<br /> of Oxford. The treasurer is Professor Skeat,<br /> Litt.D., LL.D. The following is from the circular<br /> recently issued. Some of our readers will, perhaps,<br /> be ready to help in the way herein pointed out :<br /> “The dictionary will include, so far as is<br /> possible, the complete vocabulary of all dialect<br /> words which are still in use or are known to<br /> have been in use at any time during the last 200<br /> years. All words occurring in the literary lan-<br /> guage, and the dialects, but with some local<br /> peculiarity of meaning in the latter, will also be<br /> included. On the other hand, all words which<br /> merely differ from the literary language in pro-<br /> nunciation, but not in meaning, will be rigidly<br /> excluded, as belonging entirely to the province of<br /> grammar and not to that of lexicography. It<br /> will also contain (I) the exact geographical area<br /> over which each dialect word extends, together<br /> with quotations and references to the sources<br /> from which the word has been obtained ; (2) the<br /> exact pronunciation in each case according to a<br /> simple phonetic scheme, specially formulated for<br /> the purpose; (3) the etymology so far as relates<br /> to the immediate source of each word.<br /> “During the last twenty years a great number<br /> of people in all parts of England have been co-<br /> operating to collect the material necessary for<br /> the compilation of a large and comprehensive<br /> Dictionary of English Dialects, based upon scien-<br /> tific principles. It was also with this express object<br /> in view that the English Dialect Society was<br /> started in 1873, which up to the end of 1893 has<br /> published seventy volumes, all of which, so far<br /> as is advisable, will be incorporated in the<br /> dictionary. In addition to the great amount of<br /> material sent in from unprinted sources, hundreds<br /> of dialect glossaries and works containing dialect<br /> words have been read and excerpted for the<br /> purposes of the dictionary. I have already in<br /> my possession considerably over a million slips—<br /> about a ton in weight—each containing the source<br /> with quotation, date, and county. The slips for<br /> the letter S alone weigh nearly 2 cwt. It has cost<br /> those interested in this grand and glorious work,<br /> several hundred pounds to get the material<br /> roughly arranged in alphabetical order. Pro-<br /> fessor Skeat, myself, and other specialists—both<br /> at home and abroad—are of opinion that the time<br /> has come when it is urgently necessary to begin<br /> to edit for press the vast amount of material<br /> already collected, because in a work of this nature<br /> delay is dangerous, and every year will render it<br /> more and more difficult to obtain accurate infor-<br /> mation about the exact pronounciation of dialect<br /> words; so rapidly is pure dialect speech dis-<br /> appearing from our midst, that in a few years it<br /> will be almost impossible to get accurate informa-<br /> tion upon difficult points. Hence it has been<br /> decided to begin the publication of the dictionary<br /> next year if possible.<br /> “But much as has already been accomplished<br /> in collecting material, much still remains to be<br /> done before the staff of assistants and myself can<br /> begin our long and arduous task. I therefore<br /> appeal most earnestly to my fellow-countrymen<br /> for further help, to enable us to make the material<br /> as complete as possible before we begin to pre-<br /> pare the work for press. Two or three hundred<br /> additional workers could in a very short time<br /> furnish us with all the material which still<br /> remains to be gleaned from printed and other<br /> sources. When this appeal becomes widely<br /> known, there will surely be no difficulty in obtain-<br /> ing the help we require ; for, as was pointed out<br /> in a former report of the Dialect Dictionary: “It<br /> will be nothing short of a reproach and a disgrace<br /> to us as Englishmen if we let a true and genuine<br /> part of our national speech die out in our time<br /> without an effort to preserve and hand it down<br /> to posterity. Such an effort we are making. It<br /> would argue a sad want of public spirit if<br /> Englishmen were to evince no interest in our<br /> labours, and let them languish for want of<br /> material support.’”<br /> *—- - -<br /> r- - -<br /> BOOK TALK.<br /> N the verses by the Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bell<br /> quoted in our last number there are three<br /> printer&#039;s errors. In the last line but one of<br /> the second stanza, “ hears no strain&#039;&#039; should be<br /> “hears our strain.” In the third stanza,<br /> “ Arethusa &#039;’ should have been printed<br /> “Arethuse;” and in the line following, “with<br /> look of love * should be “with looks of love.”<br /> “X. Y. Z. and other Poems” presents itself in<br /> a garb that suggests the influence of “The<br /> Yellow Book.” There is a black serpent in a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 218 (#232) ############################################<br /> <br /> 218<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> green ground and a yellow sun, conventionally<br /> presented, on a black ground. The poems are by<br /> the Rev. John Lascelles. The publishers are the<br /> Leadenhall Press. They are religious verses, and<br /> very remarkable for their strength and originalty.<br /> They are sometimes even startling. Every poet<br /> must choose his own vehicle, and perhaps Mr.<br /> Lascelles has chosen the form which suits him<br /> best. One may ask, however, if the ruggedness<br /> is not sometimes a little forced. Here is the<br /> concluding poem :<br /> What matters it, if men remember me,<br /> When I have gone to live among the stars;<br /> In some fair home where earthly frets and jars<br /> Have ceased to vex my soul P and I can see<br /> The deepest depths of truth; my vision free<br /> From earth&#039;s distortions; and from all that mars<br /> The intercourse of souls; when God unbars<br /> The golden gates of Immortality.<br /> What matter if men read me through and through ;<br /> And talk of me when I am but a name,<br /> And all I love have gone to join the just P<br /> What matters it P But for the good I do,<br /> No more than if they reverently came,<br /> In after years—and stooped and kissed the dust.<br /> Mr. George Cotterel is another new poet. His<br /> verses are published by David Nutt. Mr.<br /> Cotterell is among other things a story-teller in<br /> verse, It will be unexpected if he, or some other<br /> poet, should succeedin reviving the lostart of story-<br /> telling in verse. There are several stories in these<br /> volumes. The story of “Natham,” of “Constance,”<br /> and that called “Violets.” Mr. Cotterell has also<br /> told dramatically the story of Arethusa and the<br /> story of Galatea. The last-named begins as<br /> follows:<br /> Sore-smitten, my shepherd, my dearest,<br /> Struck down and for me !<br /> There is none of all now that thou fearest,<br /> None like unto thee. *<br /> There is none with thy strength and thy sweetness,<br /> Though lovers remain<br /> In love with thy dear love&#039;s completeness,<br /> Nor will be again.<br /> But thy face was a mark for his madness,<br /> Thy love for his hate,<br /> The monster that envied our gladness,<br /> And compassed thy fate :<br /> And all day in all desolate places,<br /> I bemoan thee and weep,<br /> Afar from thy loving embraces<br /> Astray like thy sheep.<br /> “The Confessions of a Poet ’’ is a book which<br /> has been lying on our table for two months. It<br /> is a volume of verse by Mr. F. Harald Williams<br /> (Hutchinson and Co.). The preface, which is<br /> amusing, concerns the critics. For instance, one<br /> of them declared that he would not dare to ask<br /> in a respectable shop for a book with such an<br /> improper name as &#039;Twiat Kiss and Lip. (!) One<br /> looks at the title from every point of view, and<br /> yet one cannot possibly see what and where is<br /> the impropriety of it. Then the author com-<br /> plains of the garbled review, the dishonest<br /> review, and, above all, of the crowded review,<br /> where one or two reviewers have to discuss a<br /> dozen books in a single week—sometimes a dozen<br /> in a single column. Again, he calls attention to<br /> the directly opposite opinions on his book. Here<br /> are three :<br /> “Extraordinary skill and felicity in versifica-<br /> tion.”<br /> “Mere doggerel passing human scansion and<br /> comprehension.”<br /> “Accurate rhythm and perfect versification.”<br /> Of course these opinions contradict each other<br /> flatly. In these columns criticism of a poet is<br /> not attempted. The most that we can do is to<br /> let a poet speak for himself, and to state what he<br /> presents. The volume is large, containing 500<br /> pages of verse in small print. The poet is fluent :<br /> perhaps he would do better to remember that a<br /> busy world cannot find time to read through too<br /> bulky a volume. The following is the opening<br /> stanza of “The Land of Nod ‘’’:<br /> The stream of quiet life goes smoothly on,<br /> In sunshine and in shade,<br /> Without a check as it has ever gone,<br /> While blossoms form and fade.<br /> And scarce a ripple breaks the eventide<br /> Of labour touched with tears,<br /> And modest hopes whose sober colours hide<br /> The face of human fears.<br /> Deep down below, like an uncovered corpse<br /> That yet no burial earns<br /> Or decent rest, and with the current warps,<br /> And turns.<br /> We learn from the Athenaeum that Mrs.<br /> Thackeray Ritchie thinks of bringing out an<br /> edition of her father&#039;s works, with biographical<br /> notes. Also that a large-paper edition of Mr.<br /> George Meredith’s “Tale of Chloe&quot; will be<br /> issued by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden.<br /> Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., of 14,<br /> Parliament-street, S.W., are issuing a new library<br /> of fiction entitled “The Acme Library,” and<br /> consisting of volumes by well-known authors of<br /> about 20,000 words in length. The first issue is<br /> a story by Dr. Conan Doyle relating to mesmeric<br /> influence.<br /> In the book list for November the initials of<br /> “A. Z.” were given as the author of “A Drama in<br /> Dutch &quot; (Heinemann and Co.). They should<br /> have been “Z. Z.”<br /> Among the new books in last month&#039;s list<br /> should have been inserted a “Manual of<br /> Addresses to Communicants,” by the Rev. W.<br /> Frank Shaw (Mowbray and Co. 3s. 6d.).<br /> Miss Gerda Grass&#039;s novel, “Phil Hawcroft’s<br /> Son,” which has been running in the Newcastle<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 219 (#233) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 I 9<br /> Weekly Chronicle, has now come to an end. It<br /> has attracted considerable attention, and has<br /> already been translated into Swedish. It will be<br /> probably published in the spring.<br /> Dr. K. Lentzner has delivered a course of four<br /> lectures on Danish Literature, under the patron-<br /> age of H.R.H. the Princess of Wales.<br /> Mrs. F. Percy Cotton, writing under the name<br /> of Ellis Walton, has published (Elliott Stock) a<br /> new volume of verse, called “Some Love Songs,<br /> and other Lyrics.” These verses have received<br /> highly laudatory reviews in Sunday papers.<br /> The interest recently created in book plates is<br /> quite wonderful. Apart from Mr. Egerton Castle&#039;s<br /> comprehensive work on the subject, there are half<br /> a dozen books on the subject issued by the same<br /> publishers (H. Grevel and Co.). These are:<br /> “Art in Book Plates,” illustrated by forty-two<br /> original ex Libris, designed in the style of the<br /> German ; “Little Masters of the Sixteenth<br /> Century,” from the ex Libris collection from the<br /> Ducal Palace of Wolfenbüttel; “Rare old Plates<br /> of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century;” “Em-<br /> blemata Nobilitatis; ” “Emblemata Secularia;”<br /> “Initials;” and a “Modern Dance of Death.” In<br /> addition to this may be noted “American Book<br /> Plates” and “English Book Plates,” both pub-<br /> lished by Messrs. Bell.<br /> The “Life and Letters of John Greenleaf<br /> Whittier’ ought to be read by everybody who<br /> loves pure literature and the life of a man devoted<br /> to the best and highest forms of literature accord-<br /> ing to his lights. It will cost you 18s., and it is<br /> published by Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.<br /> But if you go to a free library you can get it<br /> for nothing.<br /> “Poste Restante,” a novel by C. Y. Har-<br /> greaves, 3 vols. (A. and C. Black). The reader<br /> may make a note of it for his next circulating<br /> library list.<br /> Mrs. Croker&#039;s new novel, “Mr. Jervis: a<br /> Romance of the Indian Hills,” is just published,<br /> in three volumes—the old three-decker not dead<br /> yet—by Chatto and Windus.<br /> Austin Dobson’s “Eighteenth Century<br /> Wignettes” (second series), is, like everything of<br /> this most delightful writer and poet, charming<br /> and interesting.<br /> The Fortnightly Review under the new editor<br /> is getting on so well that last month it was found<br /> necessary to issue a second edition.<br /> “St. Andrews and Elsewhere * is A. K. H. B.&#039;s<br /> new volume (Longmans). We all know one<br /> A. K. H. B. Some of us have known him and<br /> been pleased to read him for thirty years.<br /> We recommend Mr. Arthur Morrison’s “Tales<br /> of Mean Streets” (Methuen) to everybody.<br /> They are better than photographs; because the<br /> photograph shows everything. This author<br /> selects, arranges, and produces an artistic whole.<br /> His work is the best kind of realism.<br /> Christabel Coleridge will begin a new serial in<br /> the Sunday Magazine for January.<br /> There will be two serial stories in Good JWords<br /> for 1895, by S. R. Crockett and by W. Clark<br /> Russell.<br /> The author of “The Yellow Aster’” has pro-<br /> duced a new novel, in three volumes, called<br /> “Children of Circumstance.” It has gone into a<br /> fourth edition. (Hutchinson.) “The New Note”<br /> (same publisher) is advertised as in the fourth<br /> edition, and Rita&#039;s “Peg the Rake ’’ is advertised<br /> in the second edition. These announcements are<br /> highly satisfactory, but one would submit that<br /> they are less impressive than if the numbers of<br /> each edition were given.<br /> A good many publishers have “select ’’ and<br /> “standard” and other “ libraries&#039; of fiction.<br /> Therefore we need not be surprised to hear that<br /> Messrs. Macmillan are going to have a series of<br /> “Illustrated Standard Novels.” The books are<br /> to be well illustrated, and there will be a preface<br /> or introduction to every volume, thus forming a<br /> pleasant and perhaps remunerative job to as<br /> many literary men as there are volumes. The<br /> books are what we all know—Marryatt, Miss<br /> Edgeworth, Susan Ferrier, and so forth.<br /> Mr. Ulick Burke is about to produce his long-<br /> promised work on Spain. The publisher will be<br /> Longmans. It will be curious to see whether the<br /> old interest in things Spanish will be revived by<br /> this important book. Of late years our literature<br /> has been almost silent on Spain and the Spanish.<br /> “Menzikoff, or the Danger of Wealth,” a story<br /> founded on fact, has been translated from the<br /> German of Gustav Nieritz by Mrs. Alexander<br /> Rerr, and published by the Religious Tract<br /> Society. The book in the original made consider-<br /> able stir and has had a large circulation.<br /> Miss Julia Agnes Fraser has just issued a<br /> novel in three volumes, called “Shibrick the<br /> Drummer.” The publishers are Messrs. Remington<br /> and Co.<br /> Among the many new books of verse which<br /> have appeared of late is one by Marcus S. C.<br /> Rickards, author of “Creation&#039;s Hope,” “Songs<br /> of Universal Life,” &amp;c., called “Poems of Life<br /> and Death,” published by George Bell and Sons.<br /> They are all short poems, ranging in length<br /> from one page to three. The poet is always<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 220 (#234) ############################################<br /> <br /> 22O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> pleasing and unaffected. His song is neither<br /> complicated nor obscure; perhaps it is sometimes<br /> too simple. The themes that inspire him are<br /> old-fashioned—The Nightingale, Roses, Violets,<br /> Sweet Peas, the New Moon, a Hedge Sparrow,<br /> a Curlew, and so on. Those who like simplicity<br /> in style, purity of thought, and rippling melody<br /> will find these qualities in Mr. Marcus Rickards.<br /> Mr. C. J. Wills has produced another book on<br /> Persia which is even more interesting than his<br /> “Land of the Lion and the Sun.” It is called<br /> “Behind an Eastern Weil,” and is an account of<br /> life as it really is for the women of that far off<br /> country — perhaps the farthest “off” at this<br /> moment of any country under the sun–centainly<br /> a long way more distant than China, Japan, or<br /> even, thanks to recent startling developments,<br /> Rorea itself. It is published by Blackwood and<br /> Sons.<br /> Messrs. Chatto and Windus have published a<br /> translation of the Memoirs of the Duchesse de<br /> Gontant. The period covered is from 1773 to<br /> 1836. The Duchess was gouvernante of the<br /> Children of France during the Restoration. The<br /> memoirs, therefore, cover the whole of the most<br /> interesting period of French history. All that<br /> can be said about the book amounts to this,<br /> that once taken up it will not be laid down or<br /> exchanged for another book until it is finished.<br /> “Norley Chester”—Madame or Monsieur—<br /> has published a little book of sonnets (Elliot<br /> Stock) called “Dante Wignettes.” There are<br /> twenty-five of them. The sonnets have the true<br /> ring of verse, and the true enthusiasm for Dante.<br /> Again, the three-volume novel is not dead yet.<br /> Mr. C. Y. Hayman brings out his new work (A.<br /> and C. Black) in this form. “Poste Restante”<br /> is its title. You who still belong to circulating<br /> libraries make a note of it.<br /> Messrs. Ward and Downey have in hand a<br /> novel by R. H. Sherard, entitled “Jacob<br /> Niemand.” It will be published in the spring.<br /> Mr. R. H. Sherard is engaged on a life of Sarah<br /> Bernhardt, which will be published next season<br /> by Edward Arnold.<br /> Mr. F. B. Doveton&#039;s new work will appear<br /> shortly. It is a book of Prose Sketches, meta-<br /> physical, descriptive, and social, with tales and<br /> lay sermons. The publisher is Elliot Stock.<br /> “Beyond the Dreams of Avarice,” by the editor<br /> of this paper, will be published before the end of<br /> January (Chatto and Windus) in one volume,<br /> price 6s.<br /> &gt;<br /> c:<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—PERSONAL ExPERIENCE.<br /> T is fair to give publicity to both sides of<br /> the question, so, as an author of some years<br /> standing, I should like to state that my<br /> experience of editors is very unlike that of “An<br /> Author’’ published in your last issue. I hav<br /> met with great kindness and consideration from<br /> many editors; indeed, some have become<br /> quite friendly, and when they refuse articles—<br /> which they are often obliged to do for want of<br /> room, or because they do not require what I send<br /> them—they frequently write a kind, courteous<br /> note with their refusal. But I never eapect this<br /> from them, knowing how busy they are and how<br /> precious is their time. On the other hand, I<br /> should never trouble them with the information<br /> that anyone else was “enchanted ” with my<br /> works. Firstly, because I am not fortunate<br /> enough to have an “enchanted ” public ; and,<br /> secondly, because I am sure the editor would not<br /> care to hear it even if I had<br /> But, as a body, should we not be happier<br /> if we raised our ideal of the noble profession to<br /> which we belong P. There are very few great<br /> writers in the world, and only a very small pro-<br /> portion of these can be found in England. Even<br /> if writers are born with talent or even with genius<br /> they have much labour to go through before they<br /> can produce a classic, and most of us are far from<br /> producing classics. But once let us raise our<br /> ideal and we shall not be surprised when that<br /> which falls far short of it, is often returned with-<br /> out thanks! However, if we have satisfied our-<br /> selves that our work is good, or as good as we<br /> can make it, do not let us be cast down if the<br /> poem, or the tale, or the novel is rejected ten<br /> times over. In the end good work will find a<br /> publisher. Popularity does not always mean<br /> that the writer who has it is a great writer,<br /> indeed, for a young author to make a “hit ’’ with<br /> a first book is almost a curse. If we place our<br /> ideal high we can then be our own judges, and<br /> we need not be dependent on the good or the bad<br /> opinion of hard-worked editors.<br /> Above all things let us not tout for reviews |<br /> I have never done so, yet my work has been<br /> noticed quite as much as it deserves; indeed, I<br /> have sometimes received more praise than my work<br /> merited. I must own, however, to possessing a<br /> Jow opinion of second-rate reviewers, who often<br /> do not read the books they review, or else tell the<br /> story straight through without one word of<br /> critical comment. Still, their strange mistakes<br /> make us laugh, and their blame cannot injure an<br /> ideal, as they possess none of their own.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 221 (#235) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 22 I<br /> Further, if we accuse some publishers of certain<br /> unfair dealings, let us also look at home and<br /> strive to keep our own profession free from<br /> smallness or meanness. Let us set our faces<br /> agai st log rolling, cringing to obtain favourable<br /> reviews, or praising poor work hoping to get<br /> praise in return. If we want good money let us<br /> give good work, but especially let us give good<br /> work even if we get no money at all. Det us<br /> avoid pot boilers and accept poverty if necessary<br /> rather than lower the standard in our own eyes<br /> and in the eyes of the few who can see.<br /> If I may, let me again repeat Mr. Sherard’s<br /> quotation. It will materially help us when,<br /> after having striven hard, we find our work<br /> returned to us by editors with or without thanks.<br /> “J’en ay assez de peu,” répondit il. “J’en ay assez<br /> d’un, J&#039;em ay assez de pas wºn.”<br /> ESME STUART.<br /> II.-Nov ELISTS AND THEIR CHARACTERS.<br /> I had imagined that novelists need no longer<br /> fear being held responsible for the opinions and<br /> actions of their leading characters. But I have<br /> just had singular proof that the old-fashioned<br /> idea of “hero * dies hard in England.<br /> Unfortunately I am rather fond of taking<br /> immature characters and trying to develop them<br /> —as we are most of us developed—through mis-<br /> takes and failures. In preparing my last novel<br /> (the eighteenth I have written) for the press, I<br /> altered the original title, “Norman Colvill’s<br /> Blunders ” to “A Modern Quixote.” I thought<br /> that the touch of kindly satire which I meant to<br /> run through the story would be implied in the<br /> name “Quixote.”<br /> The A. B. C. of my art, of course, prevented<br /> me from discussing my character or writing my<br /> own opinions about him. But on the title-page<br /> I wrote Bacon’s axiom, “Goodness admits of no<br /> excess, but error.” And as it was necessary for<br /> me to write a short preface to apologise for the<br /> staleness of certain passages in a book, which<br /> was written in 1893, I took the opportunity to<br /> refer to “blundering and mistaken efforts,” made<br /> with the best intentions. Certain chapters were<br /> even headed “Nemesis,” “The Punishment<br /> Begins, ’ &amp;c., and towards the end of the third<br /> volume the Quixote, who has been compelled to<br /> carry out his theories to the bitter end, deplores<br /> his own failure, and acknowledges his own<br /> priggishness in the earlier Oxonian stage.<br /> Imagine my amazement when critic after critic<br /> speaks of “Mrs. Spender’s Hero,” “ Mrs.<br /> Spender’s Polemics.” Personally I hate polemics,<br /> but my opinions or my individuality should<br /> surely be kept as much as possible in that back-<br /> ground from which, leading a li’e of retirement,<br /> I can only express my surprise.<br /> LILY SPENDER.<br /> III.-WRITERS OF SONGs.<br /> The time having come for the rights and<br /> interests of musical composers to receive a share<br /> of consideration, which holds out fair hope of<br /> redress, may I venture, as a lyric writer of at<br /> least twenty-five years’ standing, to put in a plea,<br /> for the writers of words for music?<br /> A great many songs, with words written by<br /> me, have been sung, year after year, by noted<br /> singers, not only in London concert halls, but all<br /> over the English-speaking world. Yet, beyond<br /> the small fee paid for the words at the time<br /> of publication, I have never received one penny.<br /> |Many of the music publishers now send to the<br /> writers a form of receipt for the fee, to which a<br /> special clause is attached that “all rights in the<br /> words, whether for public performance or not, in<br /> all parts of the world, shall belong absolutely<br /> and for ever to the publisher.” By signing this<br /> receipt the writer, of course, loses all further<br /> interest in his property.<br /> Public singers receive large royalties on songs<br /> sung by them, such royalties being ostensibly<br /> paid by the publishers, but in which payment the<br /> composers must in many cases share by foregoing<br /> a part of their own very small profit.<br /> I am ignorant of these matters, and should<br /> like to ask why the singer is so much more<br /> sufficiently paid than the writer or composer ; He<br /> must manifestly sing something, and is amply<br /> paid by the public for doing so. Would it not<br /> seem a more just arrangement that writer, com-<br /> poser, and singer should each receive a share<br /> of the royalties paid by the publishers ?<br /> Might not some other form of receipt be<br /> adopted by music publishers, the terms of which<br /> would deal less hardly with the composers and<br /> writers of songs P T.YRIC.<br /> IV.-PLAGIARISM OR MEMORY.<br /> Synonymous expressions of thought are<br /> common in literature, but clear instances of<br /> unconscious plagiarism are rare. The following<br /> lines are similar word for word:<br /> And yet<br /> We lost it in this daily jar and fret,<br /> And now live idle in a vague regret.<br /> JOHN DAVIDSON.<br /> It was, and yet<br /> We lost it in this daily jar and fret,<br /> And now live idle in a vague regret.<br /> ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.<br /> A young poet in the full fire of genius and<br /> passion for his ideal cannot be too careful in<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 222 (#236) ############################################<br /> <br /> 222<br /> A UTHOR.<br /> THE<br /> passing his proofs, or he may easily appropriate<br /> unconsciously the lines of others.<br /> I may mention that, prior to publishing my<br /> first volume—“Lord Harrie and Leila, In<br /> Memory of H.R.H. the Prince Consort, and<br /> other poems ”—I carefully read through my<br /> ideals—Byron, Shelley, and Keats—ere I would<br /> allow it to pass the press. It was well I did so,<br /> as I found it necessary to expunge certain lines<br /> which had crept in through unconscious instances<br /> of memory, which would otherwise have gone<br /> forth as my own, and for which my critics would<br /> not probably have spared me.<br /> H. GEORGE HELLON.<br /> W.—STANDARD WORKs.<br /> I have often thought that there is an injustice<br /> in the copyright falling practically largely into the<br /> heretofore publisher&#039;s hands after copyright ceases.<br /> Would it be possible to have some such clause as<br /> “all stereos to become the property of the author&#039;s<br /> heirs and assigns on expiration of copyright,” and<br /> such stereos to be used for their benefit by the<br /> literary syndicate of authors or others ? As it is<br /> now, the publishers gain any advantage by cessa-<br /> tion of rights, while it is the public or the Society<br /> of Authors which ought so to gain. H. S.<br /> VI.-KIND OR JUST P<br /> The editor of an American periodical was<br /> robbed of his tin box, not full of bonds and cash,<br /> as the wicked thief imagined, but of MSS. and<br /> sketches. Bear the loss who should P I fancy<br /> many editors of English magazines would say<br /> “The authors, of course ; we are not responsible<br /> if foolish people send us their MSS.”<br /> Not so my American editor. The periodical in<br /> Question is not rich, but it will bear the loss and<br /> compensate the authors. This is not only kind,<br /> but courteous—and just. S. B.<br /> *.<br /> VII.-HospitaLS AND PROOFs.<br /> Apropos of a suggestion in one of your recent<br /> numbers that authors would do a good deed by<br /> sending their proof sheets when useless to<br /> hospitals, I should be glad of the medium of<br /> your correspondence column to make a similar<br /> suggestion.<br /> Books sent to magazines and newspapers for<br /> review should never be sold, and it is clearly the<br /> duty of everyone who values a fair field to<br /> authors to protest against such a custom.<br /> There is an excellent statement in the editorial<br /> notices of The Unknown World to this effect :<br /> “The editor of The Unknown World, as himself<br /> a writer of books, and the publishers, as per-<br /> sonally interested in sustaining the commercial<br /> value of new books, resent the prevailing custom<br /> of selling review copies immediately after publi-<br /> cation, and too often without notice at all. All<br /> books sent to this magazine for review will<br /> remain in the custody of the proprietors, and will<br /> not be parted with under any circumstances.”<br /> This has suggested to me two propositions,<br /> which are, as far as I know, original. The first<br /> is that all review copies should be bound in<br /> paper as French novels are published. The<br /> second, that the editors of magazines and news-<br /> papers could make a good use of these copies if<br /> they sent them to such libraries as the Peoples’<br /> Palace library, or the Working Men&#039;s Club<br /> libraries of the Federation of Working Men&#039;s<br /> Social Clubs, or of clubs connected with Toynbee<br /> Hall, or school and college missions. Besides<br /> these, hospitals and free libraries would greatly<br /> benefit by such a system. JOHN WYATT.<br /> VIII.-EDITORIAL AMENITIES.<br /> Case I. Recently I submitted a lengthy MS.<br /> for approval to the editor of a well-known, high-<br /> class paper. In a week it was returned with the<br /> usual note of non-acceptance ; torn, inked, and<br /> dirtied, every page of it. The result: The MS.<br /> (which was type-written) would have to be re-<br /> typed at the cost of 8s. or 9s. before it could be<br /> offered elsewhere. It was perfectly clean and new<br /> when sent to the editor in question, in an envelope.<br /> I wrote a note of remonstrance. Answer: “The<br /> editor much regrets if the MS. should have<br /> become slightly soiled (good this ; it was simply<br /> filthy), but thinks Mr. Z. must have been mis-<br /> taken as to its condition when sent to the office of<br /> the magazine. He is unable to offer Mr. Z.<br /> any compensation.”<br /> Case 2. A few weeks ago I forwarded by<br /> request a MS. for the consideration of another<br /> well-known magazine, inclosing ample stamps for<br /> its return, if unsuitable, under cover. Result:<br /> MS. returned coverless, the two last pages having<br /> been turned back and glued so as to form an<br /> impromptu wrapper, a half-penny stamp being<br /> attached in place of the two penny Ones sent by<br /> me to cover postage. A pouring wet day resulting<br /> in the MS., thus insufficiently protected, being<br /> soaked through and through, necessitating almost<br /> entire re-copying.<br /> Case 3. Two years ago an old established<br /> paper accepted a MS. of mine upon an archaeo-<br /> logical subject. At the expiry of nearly two<br /> years from date of acceptance I wrote to inquire<br /> why the contribution had not been used. Answer:<br /> The editor could not make use of it as it was<br /> “full of inaccuracies.” I naturally asked for<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 223 (#237) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 223<br /> somewhat fuller information upon the subject of<br /> my alleged inaccuracies. After some time had<br /> elapsed the MS. was returned with the detailed<br /> information for which I had asked. Upon going<br /> through the list, and consulting the best known<br /> authorities on the subject, I found that every one<br /> of the editor&#039;s statements, contravening mine in<br /> the article, was incorrect. I wrote to point this<br /> out, but have not yet received any reply, though<br /> several weeks have elapsed. I presume that I<br /> am powerless to insist on publication, and have<br /> lost the chance of the article appearing else-<br /> where. It has been paid for (a cheque was sent<br /> me three or four months after acceptance) but<br /> publication would have proved more valuable to<br /> me in more ways than one.<br /> Surely these are somewhat “hard ” cases,<br /> though by no means isolated ones. C. H.<br /> IX.—THE LAUREATESHIP.<br /> I think your correspondent “A Prose Writer’”<br /> has done a good deed in again calling attention<br /> to the prolonged vacancy of the office of Poet<br /> Laureate, though I can hardly agree with him<br /> that the whole fraternity of authors is being<br /> slighted.<br /> In some well-known books of reference, which<br /> purport to be “carefully corrected at the different<br /> offices,” the Poet Laureate is shown to occupy a<br /> position, in the Lord Chamberlain&#039;s Department,<br /> immediately above the Barge Master and the<br /> Keeper of the Swans. The Barge Master may<br /> be able to say, in the words of “The Bard,”<br /> In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes.<br /> And the Keeper of the Swans may be in the<br /> habit of hearing exquisite notes when one of his<br /> charges dies; but does close association with<br /> them confer any special honour on a poet P Has<br /> not the time come either for abolishing the office<br /> or for setting it in a more dignified position ?<br /> The duties of the post are very uncertain.<br /> The poet may have to celebrate many events in<br /> one year, or he may have no events to celebrate<br /> during many years. In either case the spectacle<br /> is not very edifying. Genius writing to order<br /> One year, and waiting for orders the next.<br /> Pegasus sometimes at grass, sometimes kicking<br /> in his unaccustomed harness. Why not dis-<br /> establish the Laureateship, and let volunteers rise<br /> to the occasion when occasion arises P<br /> Palmam qui meruit ferat.<br /> Give the laurel wreath, and the honour, and,<br /> if necessary, the cheque, to the best man after<br /> the celebration of each event. The decision<br /> should be by universal suffrage and the ballot,<br /> because no poet could be worthy unless under-<br /> standed of the people.—Your obedient servant,<br /> II.<br /> X.—NEOLOGISMs.<br /> I observe that a controversy is proceeding in<br /> the Westminster Gazette as to the double mean-<br /> ing of “ancestor.” Is not a single word wanted<br /> to explain what is meant by what is frequently<br /> but incorrectly called “collateral ancestor P’’<br /> Could not such a word be invented P<br /> Then as to “up to dateness.” I have seen<br /> this word used in the Referee, but I believe it to<br /> be considered as generally unfit for serious prose.<br /> But by what word or what number of words<br /> can its obvious meaning be expressed ? Surely<br /> the sooner the word, or a better single word, if<br /> such can be found, is admitted into serious prose<br /> the better. J. M. LELY.<br /> XI.-CONTINUATION BY ANOTHER HAND.<br /> The following correspondence sent to us by<br /> Messrs. Harper and Brothers is published with<br /> the permission of Mr. Justin McCarthy:<br /> I<br /> Harper and Brothers, Publishers,<br /> Franklin-square, New York.<br /> Nov. 27, 1894.<br /> DEAR SIR,-We have read with interest the<br /> remarks in The Author, issued the first of this<br /> month, upon the subject “Continuation by<br /> Another Hand,” elicited by the publication by a<br /> firm in this city of a new edition of Mr. Justin<br /> McCarthy’s “A History of Our Own Times,” to<br /> which supplementary chapters have been added<br /> by Mr. G. Mercer Adam, bringing the work down<br /> to 1894.<br /> Inasmuch as we are the publishers of the<br /> American authorised edition of this work, and as<br /> the sale of our edition will be injuriously affected<br /> by this unauthorised reprint, we felt it our duty<br /> to call Mr. McCarthy’s attention to the matter<br /> several weeks ago.<br /> Our edition of the work was published before<br /> the International Copyright Law was passed, and<br /> was therefore without protection against un-<br /> authorised reprints; nevertheless, the sale has<br /> been considerable. We have already paid Mr.<br /> McCarthy on account of royalties representing a<br /> sale of many thousand sets.<br /> Mr. McCarthy appreciated the interest which<br /> we took in the matter, and replied in a most<br /> cordial and characteristic letter. We inclose<br /> herewith copies of our letter to Mr. McCarthy,<br /> and his reply. Yours very truly,<br /> HARPER AND BROTHERs.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 224 (#238) ############################################<br /> <br /> 224<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> II.<br /> Oct. I I, 1894.<br /> DEAR SIR,--In the London letter to the New<br /> York Times, published on the 7th inst., the<br /> inclosed paragraph appeared:—“We fully sym-<br /> pathise with you in the sense of injury raised in<br /> your mind by the publication by the United<br /> States Book Company of Mr. G. Mercer Adam&#039;s<br /> edition of your ‘History of Our Own Times.’<br /> That edition is an injury to us as well as to you,<br /> for it will maturally affect the sale of our edition.<br /> We inclose here with the advertisement of the<br /> book from the New York Evening Post, and we<br /> shall send you a copy through our London<br /> Office.”<br /> The wording of the paragraph in the Times<br /> was very unfortunate. The statement that it was<br /> “sad enough to get next to nothing for the<br /> original work when it appeared” is misleading,<br /> for it might be understood as reflecting upon us,<br /> who were the original and authorised publishers<br /> of the work in this country. We assume, of<br /> course, that the unfortunate paragraph was not<br /> the result of any statement of yours, but was<br /> simply the reflection of the correspondent him-<br /> self, who was ignorant of the fact that we had<br /> paid you royalty upon the sale of our edition of<br /> your book from the time of publication. The<br /> total payments of royalty represent, we find, the<br /> sale of many thousand sets. To this should be added<br /> the sum paid for the authorisation of the Franklin-<br /> square Library edition of the work. Under the<br /> circumstances this is a very substantial “next to<br /> nothing,” as the Times correspondent would<br /> promptly concede. We have no doubt that he<br /> would be only too glad to correct any false<br /> impression which his letter may have created—or<br /> you may prefer to do this yourself.<br /> By the way, the enterprising Mr. Adam is a<br /> Canadian, and was formerly a publisher in<br /> Toronto.<br /> Would it be advisable, in view of Mr. Adam’s<br /> action, for you to prepare a third volume, bringing<br /> the book down to the present date P<br /> While writing it occurs to us to inquire when<br /> you intend to complete your “History of the<br /> Four Georges,” two volumes of which we have<br /> published. It is now several years since the<br /> second volume was issued, and inquiries are<br /> constantly made for the final two volumes. If<br /> this is delayed too long it is possible that some<br /> “literary philanthropist” may undertake to com-<br /> plete the work for you, or enter upon the same<br /> field.<br /> We are, dear sir, yours very truly,<br /> HARPER AND BROTHER8.<br /> Justin McCarthy, Esq., M.P.<br /> III.<br /> 73, Eaton-terrace, S.W., London,<br /> Oct. 26, 1894.<br /> DEAR SIRs, I have to acknowledge, with<br /> many thanks, the receipt of your letter of the<br /> I Ith of this month. You are quite right in<br /> assuming that I knew nothing of the paragraph in<br /> the Tondon letter to the New York Times. I never<br /> saw it or heard of it until Ireceived your letter. 1<br /> should think that what the writer meant was that,<br /> owing to the state of the law as regards copyright<br /> then, I did not receive from the United States<br /> anything like the amount which I might have<br /> received under other conditions. But, so far as<br /> your firm is concerned, I can only say that you<br /> have always dealt with me in the fairest, most<br /> honourable, and even most generous manner. I<br /> was surprised at the time, and am still surprised,<br /> that you were able to pay me so much for the<br /> history, seeing that numbers of publishers of a<br /> different order were issuing all manner of cheaper<br /> editions. When first you and I began to have<br /> dealings together, there was an honourable under-<br /> standing among American publishers that if a<br /> foreign author selected or succeeded in obtaining<br /> some particular American firm as his publishers,<br /> the other publishers would accept the arrange-<br /> ment and not interfere. This was really a copy-<br /> right by good feeling and common understand-<br /> ing. But before my history came to be published<br /> there were new firms in the field, and copyright<br /> of that sort was brought to an end. It was<br /> therefore, as I have said, a wonder to me that<br /> you were able to pay me as much for a “History<br /> of Our Own Times” as you actually did. Our<br /> business relations extend back over a quarter of<br /> a century. I have nothing to speak but<br /> praise in regard to the firm of Harper and<br /> Brothers.<br /> I certainly mean to bring the “History of Our<br /> Own Times” up to date—whenever I get a chance<br /> —and to finish the “Four Georges” too. I hope<br /> that Messrs. Harper and Brothers may be the<br /> publishers of both. Lately I have been absorbed<br /> in politics and unable to do much literary work,<br /> but I hope for quieter times.<br /> Of course, you are free to make any use of this<br /> letter that seems to you desirable.<br /> With kindest regards, very truly yours,<br /> JustTN McCARTHY.<br /> Messrs. Harper and Brothers.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/272/1895-01-01-The-Author-5-8.pdf	publications, The Author