| 326 | https://historysoa.com/items/show/326 | The Author, Vol. 09 Issue 10 (March 1899) | <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.+09+Issue+10+%28March+1899%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 09 Issue 10 (March 1899)</a> | | | <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101063829988</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> | 1899-03-01-The-Author-9-10 | | | | | 217–244 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=9">9</a> | | | | | | | | | | | <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1899-03-01">1899-03-01</a> | | | | | | | 10 | | | 18990301 | ^Tbe Hutbor.<br />
(The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br />
CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT.<br />
Vol. IX.—No. i o.] MARCH i, 1899. [Price Sixpence.<br />
For the Opinions expressed 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 expressing the<br />
collective opinions of the Committee unless<br />
they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br />
Thring, Sec.<br />
THE Seoretary 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 />
GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br />
FOB some years it has been the practice to insert, in<br />
every number of The Author, certain " General Con-<br />
siderations," Warnings, Notices,&e., for the guidance<br />
of the reader. It has been objected as regards these<br />
warnings that the tricks or frauds against which they are<br />
directed cannot all be guarded against, for obvious reasons.<br />
It is, however, well that they should be borne in mind, and<br />
if any publisher refuses a clause of precaution he simply<br />
reveals his true character, and should be left to carry on<br />
his business in his own way.<br />
Let us, however, draw up a few of the rules to be<br />
observed in an agreement. There are three methods of<br />
dealing with literary property:—<br />
I. That of selling it outright.<br />
This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper<br />
price can be obtained. But the transaction should be<br />
managed by a competent agent.<br />
II. A profit-sharing agreement.<br />
In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br />
(I.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br />
motion forms a part.<br />
(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the<br />
profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements<br />
VOL. IX.<br />
in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertise-<br />
ments.<br />
(3.) Not to allow a special charge for " office expenses,"<br />
unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br />
(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br />
rights.<br />
(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br />
(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br />
As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br />
doctor!<br />
(7.) To stamp the agreement.<br />
III. The royalty system.<br />
In this system, which has opened the door to a most<br />
amazing amount of overreaching and trading on the<br />
author's ignorance, it is above all things necessary to know<br />
what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now<br />
possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very<br />
nearly the truth. From time to time the very important<br />
figures connected with royalties are published in The Author.<br />
Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the<br />
"Cost of Production." Let no one, not even the youngest<br />
writer, sign a royalty agreement without finding out what<br />
it gives the publisher as well as himself.<br />
It has been objected that these precautions presuppose a<br />
great success for the book, and that very few books indeed<br />
attain to this great success. That is quite true: but there is<br />
always this uncertainty of literary property that, although<br />
the works of a great many authors carry with them no risk<br />
at all, and although of a great many it is known within a few<br />
copies what will be their minimum circulation, it is not<br />
known what will be their maximum. Therefore every<br />
author, for every book, should arrange on the chance of a<br />
success which will not, probably, come at all; but which<br />
may come.<br />
The four points which the Society has always demanded<br />
from the outset are:—<br />
(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br />
means.<br />
(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong<br />
to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the<br />
nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or<br />
withheld.<br />
(3.) That there shall be no secret profits.<br />
(4.) That nothing shall be charged which has not been<br />
actually paid—for instance, that there shall be no charge for<br />
advertisements in the publisher's own organs and none for<br />
exchanged advertisements, and that all discounts shall be<br />
duly entered.<br />
If these points are carefully looked after, the author may<br />
rest pretty well assured that he is in right hands. At the<br />
same time he will do well to send his agreement to the<br />
secretary before he signs it.<br />
A A 2<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 218 (#230) ############################################<br />
<br />
2i8 THE AUTHOR,<br />
HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br />
i. INVERT member has a right to ask for and to receive<br />
t,J 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, in the<br />
opinion of the Committee and the Solicitors of the Society,<br />
the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor,<br />
the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's<br />
solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is<br />
desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel's<br />
opinion. All this without any cost to the member.<br />
2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br />
and publisher'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 />
bo 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 oountry.<br />
7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br />
are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br />
reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br />
the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br />
dence of the writer.<br />
8. Send to the Editor of The Author notes of everything<br />
important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br />
9. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of<br />
members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof<br />
safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con-<br />
fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who<br />
will keep the key of the safe. The Sooiety now offers:—(1)<br />
To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To<br />
stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon<br />
them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments<br />
due according to agreements.<br />
NOTICES.<br />
THE Editor of The Author 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 />
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,<br />
whether members of the Society or not, are invited to<br />
communicate to the Editor any points connected with their<br />
work which it would be advisable in the general interest to<br />
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 present location of the Authors' Club is at 3, White-<br />
hall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for<br />
information, rules of admission, Ac.<br />
Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br />
have paid their subscriptions for the year? 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 />
following warning. 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<br />
five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he<br />
was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not.<br />
Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to<br />
sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five<br />
years?<br />
"Those who possess the 'Cost of Production' are<br />
requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br />
per cent." This clause was inserted three or four years ago.<br />
Estimates have, however, recently been obtained which show<br />
that the figures in the book may be relied on as nearly<br />
correct: as near as is possible.<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 />
LITERARY PROPERTY.<br />
I.—Canadian Society of Authors.<br />
ASOCIE l'Y of Authors has been founded<br />
in Canada. The chairman is the Hon.<br />
George William Ross, who has held office<br />
as Minister of Education, is a distinguished<br />
orator, an LL.D. of St. Andrews, and the author<br />
of "The History of the School System of<br />
Ontario," and other educational works.<br />
II.—Copyright in Holland.<br />
As many authors know to their sorrow, Holland<br />
declined to accept the provisions of the Berni-<br />
Copyright Convention, as a result of which there<br />
is a chronic war between that country and<br />
Germany. A Dutch publisher, however, has just<br />
been neatly scored off by Adolf Streckfuss, the<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 219 (#231) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
2ig<br />
Oerman historian, in connection with his latest<br />
book, the "History of the World." No<br />
sooner had the first few parts appeared than he<br />
became aware that a piratical translation was<br />
being sold in Amsterdam. He applied to the<br />
publisher for some sort of honorarium, and<br />
received in reply a Dutch cheese, with a statement<br />
that the sender recognised no moral obligation in<br />
the matter. Next week the following advertise-<br />
ment appeared in the leading newspapers of<br />
Amsterdam: "For sale, the manuscript of the<br />
* History of the World' by Streckfuss, a fort-<br />
night before the publication of each part in<br />
Berlin." Scores of eligible offers came in, and<br />
the freebooter had to choose between losing his<br />
stock of the first numbers or outbidding his trade<br />
rivals. He chose the latter alternative, and the<br />
author got a handsome price for his book.—Daily<br />
Chronicle, Feb. 2. .<br />
III. —Copyright in Russia.<br />
The commission which has been engaged for<br />
some time past in revising the Russian Civil Code<br />
will, it is stated, lay very shortly before the<br />
Council of State a scheme for the protection of<br />
literary property, which has hitherto received but<br />
scant attention from the Legislature. The copy-<br />
right in any work will be vested in the author<br />
or his heirs and assigns for a period of fifty<br />
years. No limitation to the right of translating<br />
works published abroad by Russian or foreign<br />
writers is recommended, but native writers are<br />
secured the exclusive right to translate their own<br />
works for ten years from the date of publication,<br />
provided that they bring out a translation within<br />
the first three years. Very strong provisions are<br />
urged against the piracy either of Russian or<br />
foreign books, and it is recommended that the<br />
courts of justice should be empowered in assess-<br />
ing damage to reckon the extreme loss occasioned<br />
by such acts of spoliation.—Daily Chronicle,<br />
Jan. 19. -a r<br />
IV. —"A Curious Question."<br />
1.<br />
In last month's Author "A Friendly Critic"<br />
discussed " a curious question" on the right of a<br />
publisher to claim the repayment of royalty he<br />
had paid to an author " on books sold," many of<br />
which books, possibly 100, having subsequently<br />
been taken back by him from a bookseller on the<br />
plea that the sale of the said book had ceased, and<br />
it had become dead stock—upon these books so<br />
returned the publisher claimed the repayment of<br />
the royalty on the ground that the books had not<br />
been sold.<br />
Let me reverse this order by sketching a picture<br />
of an equally lurid tint. I have recently acted<br />
on behalf of an author whose book in the market<br />
is of high repute and is published for him by an<br />
old London firm. Recently a cheap edition was<br />
issued, and, " for the convenience of the trade,"<br />
the said firm took back certain copies of the<br />
higher-priced edition, but it gave no indication in<br />
the half-yearly statement of desire to be just by<br />
returning the amount of the royalty charged and<br />
paid on these returned books as "books sold."<br />
I therefore claimed the return of the said royalty,<br />
but the payment was refused on the plea that<br />
"the books had been sold, and had been so<br />
accounted for at the time."<br />
Upon this reply I at once gave instructions to<br />
the publishers that I would not allow another<br />
copy to be returned on account of the author; if<br />
so taken back it would be at their risk and cost.<br />
If authors would thus instruct their publishers,<br />
the publishers would be compelled very speedily<br />
to change their tacties on questions of royalty.<br />
An Author.<br />
11.<br />
8th Feb. 1899.<br />
On page 201 of last month's Author I see the<br />
following statement commenting on a case I put<br />
forward in The Author (page 151) :—<br />
"The curious question (and it is aptly called)<br />
amounts, then, divested of fatal generalisation,<br />
to this: If the book manages to sell again (or<br />
not, for that matter), shall the author refund the<br />
royalty on those twenty copies?"<br />
Those members who care to refer to page 151<br />
will see that this is not at all the question,<br />
and never was the question, and that the com-<br />
mentator seems entirely to have misunder-<br />
stood the facts of the case. The point was not<br />
one of refunding the royalties. The author<br />
had been paid on copies sold, and as such was<br />
entitled to keep the royalties. The point of<br />
moral obligation referred to was whether<br />
the publisher had a right to sell the books<br />
which he himself had purchased back in priority<br />
to the books still remaining on which the<br />
author was entitled to a royalty. On further<br />
consideration of the matter, I am inclined to<br />
think that the publisher would have had no<br />
right to spoil the author's market for the<br />
benefit of his own pocket.<br />
Yours truly,<br />
G. Herbert Thring.<br />
V.—Cataloguing.<br />
During a series of years I have published a<br />
number of scientific—more or less—books.<br />
Possibly because I have striven to make them<br />
not "too clever" they have had a very fair<br />
measure of success, and I have received a modent<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 220 (#232) ############################################<br />
<br />
220<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
return for my labours. In my early and ignorant<br />
days, before the Society of Authors came to the<br />
rescue, I was fool enough to believe nearly all<br />
that publishers told me, and arranged for several<br />
of my books on half-share terms, without any<br />
stipulations as to "cost of production/' " adver-<br />
tising," "inspection of accounts," &c. The<br />
natural result was that these books were con-<br />
siderably overweighted, and, in addition to charg-<br />
ing an extra 15 per cent. for publishing, my kind<br />
friends added two guineas a year on each book<br />
for cataloguing. To use a country term, this<br />
"stuck in my crop " worse than the other over-<br />
charges, and recently, after many expostulations,<br />
this charge has been reduced one-half. My object<br />
in writing to The Author is to ask if a publisher<br />
can legally make a charge for cataloguing r'<br />
lie undertakes to sell your books, and he cannot<br />
do this without he issues a list of his wares, which<br />
is really part of his stock-in-trade. No other<br />
tradesman makes a charge for cataloguing what<br />
he sells; why, therefore, should "literary wares"<br />
be taxed more than any other';' Again, why do<br />
some firms charge 15 per cent. commission for<br />
publishing, whilst others of superior rank are<br />
content with 10 per cent.? Either one must be<br />
too little or the other too much.<br />
Another question I should like to ask is, Can<br />
publishers delay the issuing of a book for their<br />
own gain? I arranged with a firm to publish a<br />
book for me at a fair royalty, and they kept it on<br />
hand some months longer than they should do.<br />
On writing to them thereon, their reply was they<br />
were canvassing for special advertisements to<br />
issue with it. Perhaps they intend sending me<br />
part of the proceeds, but perhaps not.<br />
Although I am not entirely dependent 011 my<br />
pen—a good job, too, my best friends would<br />
probably say—I cannot refrain from thanking<br />
the Society of Authors for the light they have<br />
already let into " Darkest (Literary) Africa " ; and<br />
notwithstanding the assaults of the enemy from<br />
without, and I am afraid sometimes from within,<br />
they will take heart of grace from the good they<br />
have done, and keep pegging away till "those<br />
poor devils of authors " have succeeded in obtain-<br />
ing all they require, and what they intend to<br />
have, viz., justice.<br />
A Scientist—More or Less.<br />
VI.—Autobiography—Sir Arthur Sullivan.<br />
"But all this time my mind was set on compo-<br />
sition. I was ready to undertake anything that<br />
came in my way. Symphonies, overtures, ballets,<br />
iinthems, hymn-tunes, songs, part songs, a con-<br />
certo for the violoncello, and eventually comic<br />
and light operas — nothing came amiss to me;<br />
and I gladly accepted what publishers offered me,<br />
so long as I could get the things published. I<br />
composed six Shakespearean songs for Messrs.<br />
Metzler and Co., and got five guineas apiece for<br />
them. 'Orpheus with his Lute,' 'The Willow<br />
Song,' '0 Mistress Mine,' were amongst them.<br />
Then I did 'If Doughty Deeds' and ' A Weary<br />
Lot is Thine, Fair Maid,' for Messrs. Chappell.<br />
I raised my price for these songs, and sold them<br />
outright for ten guineas each.<br />
"I was getting on, but by this time I had come<br />
to the conclusion that it was a pity for the<br />
publishers to have all the profit. My next song,<br />
'Will He Come?' went to Messrs. Boosey, on<br />
the understanding that I was to have a royalty<br />
on every copy sold. And, oh, the difference to<br />
me! I did very well with 'Will He come?'<br />
and never sold a song outright afterwards. After<br />
that I published 'Sweethearts,' 'Once Again,'<br />
'Looking Back,' 'Let Me Dream Again," and<br />
many other songs, and these all brought grist to<br />
the mill."—M.A.P., Feb. 4, 1899.<br />
VII.—A Commission Book.<br />
There was a very simple agreement made by<br />
letter only. The author was to be liable for<br />
not more than .£30; the book was to be<br />
jiublished at 6*. There was to be an edition<br />
of no more than 500 copies. The publisher was<br />
to give the author 3*. for every copy sold; he was<br />
to take 10 per cent. on this sum, and was to<br />
pocket the difference between the trade price and<br />
the 3*. In other words, then, the average trade<br />
price being 3*. 6J., he was to take 6</. on every<br />
copy first, and 10 per cent. on 34-. afterwards—in<br />
a\\i)id. He was not to spend more than .£15 in<br />
advertising. Nothing could be simpler than this<br />
agreement. The following, however, was the<br />
account rendered:<br />
He charged for 750 copies instead of 500; he<br />
charged for binding 500 at 5rf., less a small<br />
fraction; he charged .£45 for advertising instead<br />
of .£15, as agreed upon. The sales were 379. He<br />
took his 10 per cent. on this item; he also<br />
charged, without agreement, 10 per cent. on the<br />
cost of production — the amount set down for<br />
which not being audited. On remonstrance he<br />
knocked off .£23 from the advertisement bill.<br />
What the amount ought to have been, if the bill<br />
was honest, was a cost of .£60 and sales of .£53,<br />
leaving the author with a loss of .£7. What the<br />
account was as stated was a cost of ,£78, against<br />
sales of .£53, leaving a loss to author of ,£25.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 221 (#233) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
TEE PEN AND THE BOOK.<br />
I.—The "Athen^um."<br />
THE following is from the Athenaeum, of<br />
Jan. 21:<br />
In his new volume, " The Pen and the Book," Sir Walter<br />
Besant renews, with more violence than ever, the attack on<br />
the publishers to which he seems to devote much of his<br />
time. Formerly he used to say there were exceptions, but<br />
now he inculcates upon the literary beginner that publishers<br />
are thieves. "Thievery," in fact, he prints in capital<br />
letters. No doubt the publishers, as we remarked at the<br />
time, gave Sir Walter a great advantage when they allowed<br />
the committee of their association to issue last summer a<br />
series of draft agreements that no sensible author would<br />
dream of aooepting; but the abase heaped upon them in<br />
the fifth chapter of Sir Walter's book is quite undeserved, and<br />
will create in young authors an absurd prejudice against the<br />
honourable men of the trade (and they are the vast<br />
majority), and it will be bitterly and justly resented by<br />
them.<br />
It is impossible to argue the general question with Sir<br />
Walter, for his notion of reply is to repeat in stronger<br />
language what he has already said; but it is really neces-<br />
sary to point out, now that he has denounced as thieves<br />
most, if not all, publishers, great as well as small, that he<br />
ought to give exact details of their thefts, accompanied by<br />
the names of the thieves. It is not fair to keep on openly<br />
bringing charges without making an effort openly to sub-<br />
stantiate them; and much as we believe in Sir Walter's<br />
honesty of purpose, we think that unless he will do so, open-<br />
minded people who are willing to hear both sides will cease<br />
to pay attention to his polemics.<br />
The writer says that I "call publishers<br />
thieves." He qualifies this statement later on, by<br />
saying that I denounce "as thieves, most, if not<br />
all, publishers."<br />
I have looked into the book for any words that<br />
might justify this charge. I can find none. So<br />
far as I can discover it is a sheer invention. I<br />
say (p. 201) that "many publishers, including<br />
someof thegreat houses,have madeit their common<br />
practice to take secret percentages." "Many<br />
publishers." This is literally and exactly true.<br />
The proofs are simple. They are (1) the exami-<br />
nation of accounts. (2) The extreme wrath of<br />
these gentry at the disclosure of real estimates.<br />
(3) The impudent denials of the accuracy of<br />
these real estimates. (4) The repeated charge<br />
that the estimates have been invented. (5) The<br />
fact that the Publishers' Committee in their new<br />
draft agreement claim the actual right to charge<br />
what has not been spent (!) Now,I have repeatedly<br />
laid it down as an axiom, as plain as any in<br />
Euclid, that he who tells his partner that he has<br />
spent £120 when he has not spent £100, putting<br />
the overcharge secretly in his pocket, is a Thief.<br />
And everybody agrees with me.<br />
2. The " undeserved abuse'' spoken of in the<br />
fifth chapter of this book is the renewed exposure<br />
of the claims and pretensions of these "draft<br />
agreements," together with certain warnings to<br />
the inexperienced. I have looked through the<br />
chapter carefully, and find nothing to alter.<br />
3. The threatened "resentment" (of the<br />
persons concerned in defrauding their partners)<br />
may be "bitter." It cannot be more bitter in<br />
the future than it has been in the past. Yet<br />
we survive.<br />
4. When a society, daily occupied with the<br />
administration of literary property, finds it neces-<br />
sary to publish such books as " The Methods of<br />
Publishing" and the "Cost of Production ":<br />
and to expose, month by month, trick after trick,<br />
it requires some courage to state, even anony-<br />
mously, that the "vast majority " of publishers<br />
are "honourable " men. One would like to know<br />
on what experience, and on what data, this state-<br />
ment is made. It may be that the writer's expe-<br />
rience extends over a longer time and a wider<br />
area than my own. If this is not the case I<br />
prefer my own opinion, which is not that ad-<br />
vanced above.<br />
5. He calls for "details of the thefts." What<br />
details can be given except those advanced in the<br />
publications of the Society?<br />
6. He calls for names. Just so. Does he<br />
know what the Law of Libel means? Is he<br />
aware that it is not enough to justify a statement.<br />
and that damages may be awarded, even when<br />
the libel is proved to be perfectly true?<br />
If one were a millionaire the luxury of giving<br />
names might be afforded occasionally. After all,<br />
the Society's method of publishing the exact<br />
details answers quite as well, because it instructs<br />
the persons concerned, and probably prevents a<br />
repetition. The claim for the production of names<br />
is, of course, a stale old trick, because the write r<br />
must know perfectly well the impossibility of it.<br />
II.—" Literature."<br />
Thu treatment of the book by Literature is as<br />
fair and honourable as that by the Athenxum is<br />
one-sided. A long correspondence has been<br />
carried on from week to week. Writers on both<br />
sides are allowed a fair say and fair space to say<br />
it in. It is to be observed that no publisher in<br />
the correspondence has hitherto signed his name:<br />
that no serious statement has been seriously met:<br />
that, especially, the charges of secret profits are<br />
either evaded or ridiculed: that the " method of<br />
the future " has been shown by perfectly indepen-<br />
dent witnesses, two of whom sign their names, to<br />
be practicable, and proved to be practicable: and<br />
that the first and most violent attack was met<br />
with unqualified denials not only by myself, but<br />
by Mr. Thring. When I have on my side the<br />
great name of Herbert Spencer: when I have the<br />
experience of Professor Spiers: when I! find<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 222 (#234) ############################################<br />
<br />
222<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
tribute after tribute to one part or auother of the<br />
book: when I cannot find one publisher who is<br />
willing to traverse any statements seriously, and<br />
with the responsibility of his name and without<br />
misrepresentation, I ought to be satisfied with<br />
the general opinion.<br />
In all these controversies there is always to be<br />
found the author who knows nothing of the<br />
questions at issue, or who cannot understand<br />
them. In this case Mr. Edward Cooper plays<br />
this distinguished part. He actually believes<br />
that to proclaim his own satisfaction with his<br />
treatment by publishers is to settle the question.<br />
He has received so much for his last novel: he<br />
therefore concludes that he has been fairly<br />
treated. I am not for one moment pretending<br />
that he has not been fairly treated, but a man<br />
who calls his publisher an upright and honour-<br />
able man without the least knowledge of what the<br />
publisher makes for himself by the transaction,<br />
has no right to speak on the question at all Let<br />
him content himself with his own satisfaction<br />
and his own confidence. They will make him<br />
happy, even if his publisher is a Barabbas.<br />
III.<br />
There was a second part of my letter to<br />
Literature which, I submit, should be submitted<br />
to all our readers, because it contains a most<br />
important corroboration of my statements:<br />
"I have consulted Mr. Or. Herbert Thring,<br />
secretary and solicitor to the Society, on the above<br />
points. He appears to be in accord with me on<br />
every one. I subjoin my questions and his<br />
answers. I do this because it is a common trick<br />
to represent these facts and statements as mine<br />
only. They have been, on the contrary, pub-<br />
lished in the Society's paper by a responsible<br />
committee, by a responsible secretary, and by<br />
myself—the Editor of that paper. Also the<br />
secretary and the chairman of this committee do<br />
obtain a knowledge of the whole field, which no<br />
single publisher can arrive at.<br />
"These are my questions and Mr. Thring's<br />
reply:<br />
"I. 'Have you ever seen a profit-sharing agree-<br />
ment which contained a clause giving the author<br />
the choice of printer and binder, and the printer's<br />
estimate?'<br />
"Answer: I have never seen such an agreement.<br />
"II. 'Is overcharging a notorious practice?'<br />
"Answer: I have seen many accounts of the cost<br />
of production, in which the amount charged was<br />
considerably higher than other estimates from<br />
well-known printers.<br />
"HI. 'Are charges for advertising in a pub-<br />
lisher's own organs common, and could they be<br />
defended?'<br />
"Answer: In the past I have known them fre-<br />
quently made. I am glad to say they are not so<br />
common now. Legally, of course, a publisher can<br />
only charge the cost of type-setting and paper for<br />
advertising in his own organs.<br />
"IV. 'Do deferred royalties generally mean<br />
greater profits to the publisher than to the<br />
author?'<br />
"Answer: This is certainly the case. As a<br />
general rule, the royalties are deferred until the<br />
sale has covered the cost of production, and then<br />
a royalty is offered at an exceedingly low rate.<br />
"V. 'Are publishers' fees charged on commis-<br />
sion agreements?'<br />
"Answer: This is a very common practice.<br />
"VI. 'Are percentages charged on the items<br />
of account?'<br />
"Answer: This is also a common practice.<br />
"VII. 'Is it the custom for the author to be<br />
consulted as to the medium for advertising ? *<br />
"Answer: No; in rare exceptions the author is<br />
consulted, but I have never seen any clause in the<br />
agreement which bound the publisher to consult<br />
the author.<br />
"VIII. 'Do publishers "care not a rap" for<br />
commission business?'<br />
"Answer: I know a great many publishers<br />
who take up work of this kind.<br />
"IX. 'Is a charge for bad debts not un-<br />
common?'<br />
"Answer: It is not uncommon. I know pub-<br />
lishers who do make this charge in their<br />
accounts. "(Signed) G. Herbert Thring.<br />
"Jan. 16, 1899.<br />
"The reader may not understand the objection<br />
to 'bad debts.' It is this: The accounts are<br />
made up at long intervals, annually or twice a<br />
year, long after the books have been paid for.<br />
The amount actually realised is set down. The<br />
'bad debts' therefore, if charged separately, may<br />
be charged twice over.<br />
"The ' Publisher' speaks about possible losses.<br />
This is a red herring drawn across the scent.<br />
For the author has nothing to do with a pub-<br />
lisher's loss. The latter takes up a book at bis<br />
own risk—if there is any risk. He need not do<br />
it. The best publishers are also the most careful<br />
about admitting doubtful books. The author<br />
contributes his time: his work: his skill, art, or<br />
genius. That is his share. The possible loss is<br />
the publisher's. As a fact, there are hundreds of<br />
writers scattered over the whole field of literature<br />
whose works do not carry any risk at all.<br />
"The author has to consider as the chief point<br />
in the agreement what will happen to him in case<br />
of successs, not of loss. This is a very important<br />
point, constantly confused by talk of risk, loss,<br />
one book paying for another, and similar stuff.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 223 (#235) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
223<br />
Questions about the figures and the printing,<br />
happily, can be dismissed with a very few<br />
words:<br />
"The ' Publisher' states:<br />
"(1) That the size of the book is not given.<br />
"Everybody must understand by the number<br />
of words to a page, by the type, and by the<br />
number of sheets, what size is spoken of.<br />
"(2) That printers' and binders' charges vary.<br />
"Quite true. I have given a great many<br />
estimates for this very reason.<br />
"(3) That there is no allowance for correc-<br />
tions.<br />
"On the contrary. There is a distinct and care-<br />
ful explanation of what corrections mean. This<br />
passage was submitted to a printer in order to<br />
get it stated accurately.<br />
"(4) That advertising is not included.<br />
"More than two pages (pp. 151 —153) are<br />
devoted to an explanation of what advertising<br />
meant, an addition to the cost.<br />
"(5) He objects to the statement that 'cloth<br />
for binding is bought in large quantities'<br />
because, he says, publishers do not buy cloth.<br />
He says that binders do. Exactly: and if a<br />
large order is given a reduction is made. What<br />
does it matter whether publishers or binders lay<br />
in large quantities so that the reduction is<br />
effected? I am sorry to take up the space by<br />
answering objections so futile.<br />
"(6) The main portion of the letter is an attack<br />
upon the figures I have given.<br />
"These figures, I have stated plainly and unmis-<br />
takably, are not my figures. I do not invent<br />
printers' bills: they are more difficult to invent<br />
than plots for novels. The figures are estimates<br />
—actual estimates—which have been given to me.<br />
If they are wrong, it is the printer's business,<br />
not mine. But as books are every day printed<br />
on these estimates, I am justified in setting<br />
them down as working estimates. Let your<br />
readers understand clearly that the inability of<br />
this writer, or anybody else, to procure estimates<br />
so low has nothing whatever to do with my book<br />
or the actual estimates given therein.<br />
"(7.) He attacks the ' Method of the Future.'<br />
"I do not think this excursus into the future<br />
—his brief vision of the future—needs much in<br />
reply. The 'method' has been followed by<br />
some writers for a good long time, quite to their<br />
own satisfaction.<br />
"I shall have great pleasure in giving you two<br />
or three of the better known, but I am not at<br />
liberty to publish them. I would remind or<br />
inform your readers that the draft agreements of<br />
the Publishers' Association last July considered<br />
this form of publishing on commission, namely<br />
receiving the book bound and ready for distribu-<br />
VOL. IX.<br />
tion, as one of the methods to be provided for. It<br />
is, therefore, not the new thing which your writer<br />
would make out." W. B.<br />
PARIS NOTES.<br />
THE death of Adolphe d'Ennery, at the ripe<br />
age of eighty-eight years, has robbed the<br />
French melodrama of one of its most<br />
popular and prolific dramatists. For six months<br />
previous to his death, M. d'Ennery had lived in<br />
complete seclusion; but, although he belonged<br />
both in style and spirit to an earlier generation,<br />
his popularity with the masses remained intact.<br />
His more refined and aesthetic confreres of the<br />
present day were not always so indulgent;<br />
highly-cultured critics of the Theophile Gautier<br />
type severely criticised the productions of the<br />
favourite dramaturgist of the illiterate public;<br />
hriXimxxt fin-du-sibcle reviewers uselessly expended<br />
whole bushel loads of sarcasm and counsel on<br />
him. D'Ennery invariably turned a deaf ear to<br />
their remonstrances, contenting himself with<br />
rapidly producing play after play, and reaping a<br />
golden harvest thereby. His talent was decidedly<br />
not of the highest order, but it was essentially<br />
marketable — the Hebrew strain in his blood<br />
showing itself forcibly in the " cool-headedness"<br />
of all his pecuniary transactions. He wrote for<br />
the multitude, not for the cultivated few, his aim<br />
being to acquire wealth and fame by pleasing the<br />
majority; and the measure of his success may<br />
be estimated by the fact that he has given the<br />
Parisian theatre upwards of 280 plays, and that<br />
he died possessed of a fortune estimated at from<br />
8,000,000 to 10,000,000 francs (^320,000 to<br />
^400,000), in addition to an important pottery<br />
collection bequeathed to the State.<br />
So numerous were his successes, that to mention<br />
even the names of the most prominent would<br />
mean the citation of over a hundred titles. And<br />
this success—to his honour be it said—was legiti-<br />
mately obtained; for, during the seventy years in<br />
which he untiringly devoted himself to providing<br />
a theatrical literature suited to the appreciation<br />
of the bulk of his audience, d'Ennery resolutely<br />
refrained from pandering to the lower tastes of<br />
the multitude. Among the sixty collaborators<br />
who aided him at various periods of his career in<br />
his Herculean labours may be mentioned Balzac,<br />
Emile de Girardin, Alexandre Dumas, Anicet<br />
Bourgeois, Plou-ier, Eugene Sue, Frederic<br />
Thomas, Bourget, Clairville, Crcmieux, Cadol,<br />
Jules Verne, Henri Chabrillat, La Eounat, and<br />
Felix Duquesnel.<br />
That M. Victorien Sardou's dislike to notoriety<br />
does not prevent him from actively protecting his<br />
B B<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 224 (#236) ############################################<br />
<br />
224<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
own interests when necessary is shown by the<br />
following incident, narrated by the Figaro,<br />
h propos of the recent revival of his "La Tosca"<br />
(Theatre Sarah Bernhardt). When this famous<br />
drama was first performed in 1887 its success<br />
was seriously compromised by a morning paper,<br />
the Gil Bias, having previously given a full<br />
analysis of the piece, thereby materially lessening<br />
the eff- ct of certain scenes on which its author<br />
had especially counted. M. Sardou immediately<br />
sued the paper, and gained his cause a year later,<br />
when he had almost forgotten the whole affair.<br />
In summing up its decision, the Premiere Chambre<br />
du Tribunal (presidedover by President Aubespin),<br />
affirmed that no paper had the right to divulge<br />
the narrative of a play previous to its first per-<br />
formance, since such a proceeding constituted a<br />
real damage to the author, in that it might<br />
seriously interfere with the success of his work.<br />
It is thus to M. Victorien Sardou's prompt action<br />
in 1887 that French dramatists are indebted for<br />
the legal recognition and protection of the rights<br />
they enjoy to-day.<br />
M. Jules de Marthold has dramatised M.<br />
Coppee's well-known novel "Le Coupable," and<br />
its first representation is expected shortly. We<br />
are glad to be able to state that M. Coppee's<br />
health is now completely re-established, and that<br />
his long-promised " Souvenirs de Jeunesse" are<br />
really under way and proceeding apace, which<br />
fact undoubtedly rejoices the heart of M. Plon.<br />
For the latter gentleman, having scrupulously<br />
regulated the usual contract of brains versus cash<br />
between author and publisher, was naturally<br />
anxious to receive his wares as speedily as pos-<br />
sible. But the Fates and Muses were both against<br />
him. Last July, M. Francois Coppee went to<br />
Laugzune, a solitary village on the Breton coast,<br />
with the full intention of recording there the<br />
greater part, at least, of his youthful memories.<br />
But the combined attractions of the bright sun,<br />
warm air, and myriad voices of nature, proved<br />
too much for the poet; he could not work, and,<br />
after a brief interval devoted to dolce far niente<br />
and out-door existence, M. Plon was politely<br />
informed that the expected volume would not be<br />
ready before December. This month found the poet<br />
prostrate at Paris, suffering from a relapse of his<br />
former malady ; among minor griefs, his favourite<br />
cat had died during his absence—and again the<br />
"Souvenirs " were delayed. It is to be hoped no<br />
further illness, or unforeseen occurrence, will<br />
intervene a third time between their final conclu-<br />
sion and publishing.<br />
The invidious attitude—half nonchalant, half<br />
disdainful—of the French public and critics<br />
towards female talent is especially noticeable in<br />
the various reviews and critiques which followed<br />
the appearance of Mme. Jean Bertheroy's new<br />
book, "La Danseuse de Pompeii."* Though a<br />
well-known critic affirms that the former refusal<br />
to take anything a woman did au serieu-x may<br />
now be ranked among the prejudices of the past,<br />
his own article bears evidence of a secret reluc-<br />
tance to praise unstintedly a woman's work<br />
underlying his conscious recognition and admira-<br />
tion of an undoubtedly good production. But, in<br />
the end, his sense of justice triumphs over<br />
his reluctance; and in summing up the " Danseuse<br />
de Pompei" as "a feminine work written in a<br />
masterly style," he hits the right nail on the<br />
head, for what is this dual alliance save one of<br />
the recognised attributes of genius? Delicately<br />
feminine in its fine observation, poetical render-<br />
ing of minor details, and close knowledge of the<br />
subtleties of a woman's heart, it is essentially<br />
masculine in its concise, nervous style and<br />
breadth of imagination, allied with marvellous<br />
historical accuracy. In depicting the young<br />
dancer Nonia vowed from her earliest years to<br />
vice, and awakened by the passion for Hyacinthe,<br />
the young neophyte vowed to Apollo, to a con-<br />
sciousness of the sacrednes and purity of true<br />
love, Mme. Bertheroy has chostn no new theme;<br />
but her treatment of the subject is so masterly,<br />
her style so pure and classic, that, despite our-<br />
selves, our imagination and heart are captivated<br />
by the pathetic and simple romance of the little<br />
Pompeian dancer.<br />
That the times are troublous, that party<br />
polemics are increasing in virulence, and that cir-<br />
cumstances largely influence men, is probably the<br />
threefold reason of M. Alcanter de Brahm's<br />
resolution to publish shortly a book entitled<br />
"L'Ostensoir des Ironies." The announcement<br />
of his intention, however, would have received<br />
scant attention but for an ingenious advertisement.<br />
He has discovered (stand abashed, oh! ye shades of<br />
great grammarians) that our modern punctuation<br />
is lacking in a. most necessary adjunct, viz., the<br />
"point d'ironie." His book is to be adorned with<br />
this newly-invented period, which is reported to<br />
bear a vague resemblance to a tiny whip—the<br />
whip of satire, one journal terms it. Its origi-<br />
nator affirms that this period is as necessary as<br />
the interrogation mark, since many a barbed<br />
arrow misses its goal through inattention on the<br />
part of the reader. Personally, we have not found<br />
the Parisians lacking in a vivid appreciation of<br />
the mildest form of sarcasm, especially the<br />
sarcasms printed in their neighbours' news-<br />
papers, and the result has not always been par-<br />
ticularly agreeable to the English residents in<br />
* Erroneously given in onr last article as " La Dame ce<br />
Pompeii."<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 225 (#237) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
225<br />
Paris. We have not yet been informed whether,<br />
in the event of a duel arising from a sarcasm<br />
which might have passed unnoticed if unmarked<br />
by the "point d'ironie," M. de Brahm considers<br />
the combatants should be armed with whips in<br />
lieu of pistols.<br />
Among the publications of the month, two<br />
books stand apart — the one by virtue of its<br />
quaintness, the other by its pithy, senten-<br />
tious wisdom. The first, "La Chanson des<br />
Choses," by M. Jerome Doucet (ed. Henri<br />
May) is a volume of poems; but what<br />
poems! Surely never before has poet inclined<br />
his ear to listen so closely and appreciatively to<br />
the voices of such a vast assemblage of inanimate<br />
lifeless objects. He endows each article with a<br />
clearly defined existence and personality; the<br />
absinth which takes a malicious joy in recounting<br />
the ills it occasions; the subtly-distilled perfume<br />
which daintily vaunts its own ethereal, impalpable<br />
essence; the mandoline whose cords vibrate with<br />
anger at seeing the singer receive the homage it<br />
deems its due; the jovial pot-au-feu agreeably<br />
conscious of its own importance at social<br />
functions, the plaintive weathercock, " sad perch'<br />
for the black raven," lamenting its own wearing<br />
away; the ponderous pendulum moving to and<br />
fro in regular order like two brave soldiers of the<br />
line; the caustic mirror, the humble pavement,<br />
and a numerous array of similar articles, each in<br />
turn are presented to the reader, and acquaint<br />
him with their rhythmic joys and griefs. In<br />
addition to its intrinsic merits, the various artists<br />
whose society M. Doucet affects have rendered<br />
the work a true Edition de luxe in illustrating<br />
and illuminating it with original drawings,<br />
etchings, and water-colour sketches, reproduced<br />
in every imaginable fashion. Among the artistic<br />
corps therein represented, we find the names of<br />
MM. Maurice Leloir, Edouard Detaille, Puvis<br />
de Chavannes, Mme. Madeleine Lemaire, Jules<br />
Lefebre, Jean-Paul Laurens, and a host of other<br />
fin-du-siecle celebrities.<br />
The second book, above alluded to, is " Nuances<br />
morales" (ed. Lemerre) by M. Valyere. A delicate<br />
fineness of observation and terse originality of<br />
thought make themselves felt in the apt concise<br />
phrases in which the author has chosen to garb<br />
his ideas. We open the book at random and<br />
straightway fall on such pithy reflections as the<br />
following: "Aimer, c'est montrer a la douleur ou<br />
elle peut f rapper.—L'homme coupe et dechire. La<br />
femme decoud, en enlevant jusqu'a la trace des<br />
points.—Arriver a propos, c'est une chance; s'en<br />
aller a propos, c'est un art.—Les gens froids ont<br />
l'avantage de ne pas varier comme les autres: au<br />
moral, comme au physique, la glace conserve.—II<br />
faut etre Ires jeune pour prctendre dire des choses<br />
VOL. IX.<br />
definitives.—On n'aime vraiment bien que les<br />
amis dont on est fier." We make no attempt<br />
to translate these and similar phrases well worthy<br />
of notice, having no desire to incur the censure<br />
of the irascible critic who likened the generality<br />
of translators to clumsy bunglers who drew the<br />
stopper from the wine-bin, thereby permitting the<br />
finer aroma and flavour of its contents to evapo-<br />
rate in the vain attempt to appreciate the liquor.<br />
M. Paul Meurice is now busily engaged in<br />
correcting his new volume, " Choses vues," which<br />
is expected to appear in March. Among other<br />
interesting matter, it contains the staple of Victor<br />
Hugo's daily conversations with Louis-Philippe<br />
in the "forties," at the epoch when the great<br />
French writer, then "pair de France," assidu-<br />
ously frequented the Tuileries. It is from the<br />
ample notes left by the latter that these dialogues<br />
are compiled. By a curious anomaly, all<br />
memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies con-<br />
nected with the Royalties of the nineteenth<br />
century have a ready sale in Republican France,<br />
as—to cite two instances among many—the popu-<br />
larity of M. Maurice Leudet's "GuiJlaume II.<br />
intime " and (more recently) " Nicolas II. intime"<br />
testifies. The literature relating to the Napoleonic<br />
era is, likewise, largely patronised. The national<br />
adoration of the great French conqueror is now<br />
an established cult; and amongst the most<br />
talented of the writers who celebrate the glories<br />
of that heroic age may be mentioned M. Georges<br />
d'Espartes, recently nominated chevalier de la<br />
Legion d'Honneur—of whom a compatriot re-<br />
marked, "Ce n'est pas un homme, c'est une<br />
epopee." M. d'Espartes boasts, in addition, the<br />
unenviable distinction of being the smallest man<br />
in his native province of Gascony.<br />
The committee of the cite Rougemont (Doubs),<br />
presided over by the well-known Academician M.<br />
Henri Houssaye, has decided to found a new lite-<br />
rary society, entitled " l'Encyclopedie de la Societe<br />
des gens de lettres." All knotty questions, proble-<br />
matic phrases, words or terms requiring explana-<br />
tion, &c., will be brought before the society,<br />
whose members will then mark the subjects they<br />
desire to undertake. Should more than one<br />
member elect to elucidate a given subject, the<br />
committee will decide on whom the duty shall<br />
devolve. The "Encyclopedic de la Societe des<br />
gens de lettres" already numbers eight hundred<br />
prospective members, each of whom has a speci-<br />
ality, being either poet, novelist, philologist,<br />
teacher, philosopher, military writer, historian,<br />
or savant; and every article written for the<br />
society will be printed under the signature of its<br />
author, who alone will be held responsible for its<br />
contents. The benefits of such an association are<br />
self-evident; it will probably be eminentlv suc-<br />
B B 2<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 226 (#238) ############################################<br />
<br />
2 26<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
cessful, since it recognises and provides for a<br />
long-felt want.<br />
M. Pierre Loti's eastern trip his not vet come<br />
off. The latest news received of him is that he<br />
has returned to Rochefort, rue Saint-Pierre,<br />
where his family have dwelt for generations. He<br />
intends to embark shortly on one of the mail<br />
steamers of the Extreme-Orient line, but declares<br />
himself unable to decide his ultimate destination.<br />
He will go whither the fates and the caprice of<br />
the moment lead him—" to Persia, perhaps; if<br />
not, elsewhere." At one time it was reported on<br />
good authority that M. Loti intended to land on<br />
the shores of the Indus, remain several weeks at<br />
Cabul, and from thence proceed to Teheran;<br />
and this is probably still his intention, if no<br />
adverse current or fair face intervene to lure him<br />
from his destined route. At any rate, the ques-<br />
tion will be satisfactorily solved when he gives us<br />
his promised volume of Eastern impressions.<br />
The " Femmes Nouvelles " and " Les Troncons<br />
du Glaive" of the brothers Margueritte have not<br />
yet been given to the public. Domestic cares, in-<br />
cluding the refusal of the Seine tribunal to grant<br />
the divorce demanded by M. Paul Margueritte,<br />
are accountable for this delay. The two brothers<br />
are now travelling in Italy with the children of<br />
the elder, and are reported to be busily engaged<br />
in pushing forward the works above cited.<br />
Differing entirely in outward appearance and<br />
character, the affection existing between the two<br />
Marguerittes is most touching, and truly " passeth<br />
the love of women."<br />
If the quality of the Dreyfus literature were on<br />
a par with its multiplicity, it would merit more<br />
than a passing notice; but, unfortunately, such<br />
is not the case. And now party polemics and<br />
journalism are likely to be more virulent than<br />
ever, owing to the changes brought about by the<br />
new election to the Presidency of the French<br />
Republic. Dakracotte Dene.<br />
FROM THE AMERICAN PAPERS.<br />
THE proposal to issue sixpenny novels in<br />
England has evoked an interesting com-<br />
mentary from a Boston correspondent of<br />
the New York Times. Contrary to the view<br />
entertained by the firm of publishers who are<br />
about to introduce the system, this writer states<br />
that any bookseller of even moderate experience<br />
knows that the sale of the more costly edition of<br />
a book will be diminished by the appearance of a<br />
cheap edition of the same book. An excellent<br />
American house publishes cloth and paper<br />
editions almost simultaneously, charging 4*. for<br />
one and 2s. for the other. There are a few persons<br />
who dislike paper covers, but their number<br />
diminishes yearly, most buyers preferring the<br />
economical course which allows them to buy two<br />
books in paper covers for the price of one in<br />
cloth. Moreover, they want paper-covered editions<br />
of everything, from the classics down to the newest<br />
copyrighted novel. Concerning this, however, it<br />
will be obsei ved that while the American writer<br />
speaks of books published at 4s. and 2s., the<br />
proposal of Messrs. Methuen is to issue novels<br />
simultaneously in 6s. and 6d. editions; and it is<br />
obvious that so far as quality of paper, binding,<br />
and appearance go, there must be a greater<br />
difference between the two latter than between<br />
the two former. He proceeds to state that,<br />
although the number of books sold has increased<br />
immensely both in the United States and in Great<br />
Britain, the average price and the average profit<br />
were never so small as now, and both grow<br />
smaller. "There are still readers who value<br />
books more than money, and pay for them<br />
wi lingly; there are still superbly honest, honour-<br />
able publishers who resist all temptations to<br />
descend to the newest devices for obtaining the<br />
thirty pieces of silver without seeming to betray<br />
and abandon all Christian teaching, but nobody<br />
encourages either the honest reader or the honest<br />
publisher. The dishonest reader calls the first a<br />
fool and the second a miser. The dishonest<br />
publisher hates the first, and does his best to<br />
ruin the second. The evil of which both are<br />
victims has its sources beyond and below litera-<br />
ture and the trade in literary products. Its<br />
name is avarice." The writer publishes the<br />
following conversations—which are not manu-<br />
factured, but "are transcribed from notes made<br />
in an excellent shop "—to illustrate the demand<br />
for the " paper-cover" in America:<br />
1.<br />
Customer.—Have you " Isabel Carnaby "f<br />
Salesman. — "Concerning Isabel Carnaby "? Yes,<br />
Madam. Seventy-five cents.<br />
C.—Oh! I don't—want—that! Doesn't it come in<br />
paper?<br />
S.—Yes, Madam; there it is.<br />
C.—I suppose it's jnat the same as the other? (Suspi-<br />
ciously.) Is it just the same? Do you know that it is just<br />
the same?<br />
S.—Yes, Madam.<br />
C.—Then why is it cheaper? But I'll take it. I'm not<br />
going to pay seventy-five cents for a book! (Exit with the<br />
air of one who teaches valuable lessons to young men.)<br />
11.<br />
(Time, early in 1897.)<br />
Customer.—Have you " Quo Vadis" in paper covers?<br />
Salesman.—No, Sir.<br />
C.—Great mistake! Book ought to be within reach of<br />
everybody. What is the price of the cheap edition?<br />
S—There is no cheap edition.<br />
C.—No cheap edition? (Exit, speechless.)<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 227 (#239) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
227<br />
in.<br />
Customer (wearing the best of English clothes and worth,<br />
watch and jewellery included, at least 800 dollars as he<br />
stands. He addresses the salesman confidentially)—Er—<br />
when is Lord Roberts's book going to appear in paper? Ten<br />
dollars is too much for one book!<br />
Salesman (not confidentially, but cheerfully, being young<br />
and fancying that he is doing a favour).—There is a cheap<br />
edition now, T50 dollars; cost you 1 '88 dollars.<br />
Customer.- -Can't waste money, yon know! I'll wait for<br />
the paper!<br />
(Departs to join the band waiting for paper " Bismarcks,"<br />
"Forbidden Lands," and" Ave Romas.")<br />
IV.<br />
Charitable Dame.—Is this the Prayer Book and Hymnal<br />
counter?<br />
Salesman.—Yes, Madam. (He surveys an array of about<br />
two hundred styles, and wonders what counter she thought<br />
it was.)<br />
C.—Well, you see, I have a olass of po-oo-or boys in<br />
Sunday school. (Pauses.)<br />
S.—Yes, Madam.<br />
"C.—It's a ve-ry poor class!<br />
S.—Yes, Madam. Er-very-er-kind of you!<br />
C. (rapidly).—And I thought as I shall want a large<br />
quantity—there are five of the boys—you may give me a<br />
special discount on tbe paper-covered editions. It's for<br />
charity you know and Christmas and at this blessed season<br />
we all want to do something.<br />
S.—Yes, Madam. Delighted, if we could, Madam, but<br />
we don't carry paper-covered Prayer Books and Hymnals,<br />
Madam. Might try and 's. They have 'em<br />
—if any one does! (Customer goes.) Charity!<br />
The American newspaper publishers have pre-<br />
sented to the American members of the Joint<br />
High Commission and to Congress a statement<br />
asking that a policy be adopted which shall<br />
protect American forests by securing a revocation<br />
.of the present duty on print paper and pulp from<br />
Canada. This memorial, which is presented<br />
officially through the American Newspaper Pub-<br />
lishers' Association, discloses a somewhat striking<br />
condition of the paper trade which will be inte-<br />
resting to England, as the paper-makers of<br />
England have lately passed through a period<br />
of critical competition against cheap paper from<br />
America. The memorialists state that the honest<br />
intentions which originally induced the estab-<br />
lishment of the tariff duty on paper and pulp<br />
have been perverted to further the purposes of a<br />
recently formed corporation, the International<br />
Paper Company, and that every newspaper<br />
publication in the country east of the Rocky<br />
Mountains has been placed at the mercy of that<br />
corporation. The statement, which was pre-<br />
sented on Jan. 30, continues :—<br />
Within the last week we are advised that the Inter-<br />
national Paper Company has acquired fourteen additional<br />
mills, representing the plants of three large concerns, and<br />
that it is negotiating for three other properties, which<br />
represent all the output from the independent mills in the<br />
territory east of Michigan.<br />
In view of the fact that the International Paper Company<br />
is. selling its surplus paper in England, Australia, and<br />
Japan, in successful competition with Canadian, German,<br />
and Swedish manufacturers, and in view of the important<br />
point that the International Paper Company is protected<br />
by reason of its proximity to its customers to the extent of<br />
an average of 1 °6o dollars per ton, and by reason of its<br />
ability to obtain cheaper and better supplies of coal and<br />
chemicals, we fail to see the occasion for giving sanction<br />
to its abuse of governmental protection.<br />
The International Paper Company is a combination of<br />
twenty-four mills (sinoe expanded to thirty) which has been<br />
capitalised at 55,ooo,ooo dollars. The entire product of<br />
this large combination could be duplicated with modern<br />
and better machinery at less cost per pound upon a capi-<br />
talisation of 15,ooo,ooo dollars. In gathering together its<br />
assortment of mills the paper company acquired every<br />
available spruce tract where cheap timber could be had<br />
and every large water power, with one exoeption, where<br />
substantial competition might otherwise be established.<br />
This object was easily attained, because our spruce supply<br />
is being exhausted at the rate of 17,000 square miles per<br />
annum.<br />
The memorial then points out that no suc-<br />
cessful competition with the International Paper<br />
Company is possible in the United States under<br />
existing circumstances, the trust having acquired<br />
all the possible facilities of paper production.<br />
"A tax on newspapers," they remark in con-<br />
clusion, " operates indirectly, as did the stamp<br />
tax of Europe, to suppress newspapers. It is a<br />
tax of 2,000,000 dollars per annum on in-<br />
telligence, a tax on popular education and on<br />
political knowledge."<br />
The whole episode is another illustration of<br />
the power and extent of the trust system in the<br />
United States.<br />
A good deal of attention has lately been given<br />
to the work of a new American humourist,<br />
entitled "Mr. Dooley in Peace and War." In<br />
this book Martin Dooley, saloon-keeper, Chicago,<br />
talks in a quaint dialect and most amusing<br />
fashion of such subjects as the recent war, the<br />
police, labouring men, and ward polities. The<br />
author of the work is Mr. F. P. Dunne, a Chicago<br />
journalist.<br />
NOTES AND NEWS.<br />
THE Joke Market in America appears to be in<br />
a condition of great prosperity. According<br />
to the Writer of Boston, jokes are in<br />
large demand. Those who supply jokes profes-<br />
sionally are increasing in numbers and in wealth.<br />
There are between 150 and 200 writers of good<br />
jokes in the States. As regards the character of<br />
the demand, it is interesting to read that " two-<br />
line jokes sell best: the short, crisp dialogue is<br />
in fashion: 'printed' paragraphs can always<br />
command a price: puns are not wanted." A<br />
regular method is pursued by the Worshipful<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 228 (#240) ############################################<br />
<br />
228<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
Company of Joke-makers. It is described as<br />
follows:<br />
Professional joke-writers bave a regular system for offer-<br />
ing their jokes to editors. A good way is to send out the<br />
jokes in packets of ten or a dozen at a time, typewritten on<br />
slips—perhaps three inches wide and eight inches long—<br />
which are bound together by brass paper fasteners at the<br />
left-hand side, and perforated about an inch from the left-<br />
hand margin, so that any joke may be easily torn out. Sheets<br />
of ordinary typewriter paper should be kept on hand,<br />
perforated, ready for use. The jokes should be type-<br />
written on these sheets, which should afterwards be cut<br />
into slips and made into a little coupon book by using<br />
brass fasteners. Only one joke should be written on any<br />
slip, and the writer should put his name and address on<br />
each slip, preferably with a small rubber stamp. Two<br />
brass binders should be used, one at the top and one at<br />
the bottom.<br />
When jokes are offered in this way, the editor can<br />
easily tear out what he wants and send back the rest. The<br />
jokes returned may be made up into a new book and sent to<br />
another editor, and so on, until all are sold or proved un-<br />
saleable. Care must be taken not to offer the same joke<br />
twioe to any editor.<br />
A great many letters have been received charging<br />
editors in general terms with neglecting to return<br />
MSS. or to answer letters. I have already more<br />
than once stated the case briefly for editors. I<br />
do not believe that this special charge can be fairly<br />
made against the general body. I should like to<br />
impress upon those who complain, that editors,<br />
particularly of the more popular magazines, are<br />
literally overwhelmed with MSS.: that it is<br />
difficult to cope with the great mass of MSS.<br />
that are sent in; that delays, therefore, must be<br />
expected. It seems to me that general experience<br />
points to the fact that most editors, especially<br />
of respectable magazines, are courteous in their<br />
replies and as prompt as can be expected in their<br />
judgments. I would call attention to the tribute<br />
of recognition paid in these columns to certain<br />
papers who pay on acceptance. 1 think that if<br />
proprietors or editors of magazines understood<br />
the enormous boon they would confer on accepted<br />
contributors by forwarding a cheque at once, the<br />
practice would become widely extended. As it is,<br />
when payment is only made on publication the<br />
editor is tempted unconsciously to accept more<br />
than he is able to use, while the contributor<br />
waits, hoping against hope, till he is heartsick at<br />
the delay.<br />
It is announced in another column that a<br />
Canadian Society of Authors has been founded.<br />
This should be good news if the Society take, as<br />
may be expected of them, a right view of the<br />
situation and its requirements. By far the most<br />
important point to keep before our eyes is the<br />
maintenance of an International Copyright,<br />
especially, and above all, between the nations of<br />
the Anglo-Saxon race. There are now six nations<br />
of the race. It is imperative in the interests, pre-<br />
sent and future, of these nations that they<br />
should have their current literature, as they have<br />
their past literature, in common. A return to the<br />
villainous old system of protection and piracy is<br />
certain to work infinite mischief to all these<br />
nations. We want a free and open publication<br />
of books and papers written by natives of all<br />
these countries: we want freedom of production<br />
everywhere: it is in the highest interests of<br />
literature that this freedom should exist: it is<br />
also in their commercial interests. If, for instance,<br />
Canada were to repudiate her share in Inter-<br />
national Copyright, it would undoubtedly lead to<br />
the ruin of her own authors, who are small in<br />
numbers, however good in quality. Piracy, when<br />
it was legally possible, ruined American authors.<br />
Piracy would ruin Canadians. We trust that<br />
this new Society will be a great and active<br />
influence in the maintenance of the true interests<br />
of literature.<br />
"We are informed that the Publishers' Association<br />
invited the Society of Authors to confer with it on the draft<br />
agreements it drew up last summer; but the Society<br />
declined the invitation. We do not at all like the agree-<br />
ments, but the Society should not have declined to discuss<br />
them in a friendly spirit. Perhaps it would have converted<br />
the Association to our view."<br />
This paragraph appeared in the Athenseum of<br />
Jan. 28, and the statement was repeated in the<br />
number for Feb. 18. I referred the matter to<br />
Mr. Or. H. Thring, and have received the follow-<br />
ing reply:<br />
"It has been stated in the Athenseiim on two<br />
occasions—on the latter in its issue of Feb. 18—•<br />
that the Society of Authors refused to confer with<br />
the Publishers' Association regarding the agree-<br />
ments published by that body. It is impossible<br />
to let such a statement go before the public with-<br />
out a direct denial. When the Society heard that<br />
the publishers were about to advance these agree-<br />
ments, the secretary wrote asking if they would<br />
kindly forward them to the Society's offices for<br />
criticism in The Author. The agreements were<br />
forwarded in due course, as no doubt the Associa-<br />
tion knew that they must come to the office in a<br />
very short time. No overture was made by the<br />
publishers either before or during the settlement<br />
of the agreements or afterwards, when they were<br />
sent to the Authors' Society, asking the Society<br />
to confer with the Publishers' Association on the<br />
subject. It wasonly after my criticisms and your own<br />
had appeared that one of the members of the<br />
Association in an unofficial manner regretted that<br />
such overtures had not been taken, but stated<br />
that " he though it was now too late." Whether<br />
or not the Society would have accepted such<br />
overtures is an entirely different matter, the settle-<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 229 (#241) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
229<br />
meat of which must have rested with the com-<br />
mittee; but one point is quite clear, namely, that<br />
the statement made in the Athenaeum, from<br />
whatever source obtained, is without foundation."<br />
Observe, that this attack upon the Society<br />
follows close upon the attack on my book, in<br />
which there is nothing that has not been already<br />
advanced or sanctioned by the Society. One<br />
naturally asks whether a paper, called by some the<br />
"leading" literary journal, should, in common<br />
decency, take a side against those who work in<br />
the interests of literature. One asks whether<br />
literature really means advertisements. And one<br />
asks, besides, whether it is the author or the pub-<br />
lisher who creates the literature which is adver-<br />
tised.<br />
I have long been of opinion, and am now much<br />
more decidedly of opinion, that authors must<br />
claim and demand a voice as to advertisements.<br />
In a profit-sharing agreement they should have a<br />
voice both as to the amount to be spent and the<br />
organs in which the advertisements should appear.<br />
In a royalty agreement or in a sale outright they<br />
should have a veto only. In the same way they<br />
should have a veto in the sending out of press<br />
copies. The veto and the voice could be rele-<br />
gated to the Society, where a list of papers could<br />
be kept in which a book should be advertised,<br />
and of papers to which it should be sent for<br />
review. It is needless to point out that this<br />
simple assumption of power would at one step<br />
enormously raise and strengthen the position of<br />
the author. They would choose between literary<br />
papers for advertisement and for review. And<br />
that step would certainly make literary journals<br />
more careful about attacking the interests of<br />
literature and more guarded in depreciating and<br />
misrepresenting societies or writers who maintain<br />
and defend their interests. I shall begin at once<br />
to ventilate this question, and I invite members<br />
of the Society, and authors generally, to consider<br />
this question and to favour us with their views.<br />
"The Pen and the Rook" was not sent out<br />
for review. My intention was that members of<br />
the Society should have the first opportunity of<br />
reading it, and that, before sending it to the<br />
press, I should have the benefit of their private<br />
opinions and criticisms. Now, as the Athenaeum<br />
has noticed it without having a copy sent, the<br />
question arises whether it is necessary to send<br />
review copies of any book to a paper which<br />
evidently does not want them. Other papers make<br />
a condition of having a book sent to them. There-<br />
fore if we want tht-ir reviews we must send copies<br />
of the book. But the Athenaeum kindly notices<br />
the book without having a copy at all. Therefore<br />
—I call attention especially to this point—it seems<br />
mere waste to present a copy of any book to this<br />
paper. If 6000 books are published every year<br />
at an average trade price of 4*. each, that means<br />
;£i200 a year thrown away and wasted. This is<br />
a large sum of money, which might j ust as well<br />
have been saved and the books themselves sold<br />
to the public. Walter Besant.<br />
FEUILLETON.<br />
A SECOND-CLASS NOVEL.<br />
ENERAL GRAYLE was a hard, resolute,<br />
I nr sensible man, and he was a disciplinarian<br />
by inclination and training. He had a<br />
family of four sons and three daughters; and<br />
William Grayle, who was the youngest son, and<br />
the cleverest lad, was articled to a solicitor when<br />
he was seventeen. William detested the solicitor<br />
and the office and the Law, but none of the young<br />
Grayles thought seriously of gainsaying the<br />
General, so William cast about in his mind for a<br />
means of proving to his father that he could<br />
make money without the law's aid, and to this<br />
end" Dennis O'Hara "—who was William Grayle<br />
now out of his teens and commencing his<br />
twenties—wrote a novel. He bestowed a great<br />
deal of pains upon it, but when it had been<br />
rejected by four leading firms of publishers he<br />
was very much discouraged, and put the manu-<br />
script aside. By this time he was out of his<br />
articles. Then General Grayle caught a heavy<br />
cold, which developed into bronchitis, and, as he<br />
angrily refused to "coddle," he died after a<br />
week's illness, and four months later his sons<br />
received .£6000 each from the executors appointed<br />
by his will.<br />
William asked himself anxiously what he was<br />
to do with the money. It was his ambition to<br />
live in the country and hunt; but there was no<br />
possibility of doing so on the interest which<br />
.£6000 would safely bring in, and to spend the<br />
capital would be madness. He could not con-<br />
quer his aversion to the Law as a profession, so<br />
there was nothing for it but to put his capital and<br />
his energies into some business which might<br />
bring in big profits rapidly. And then an idea<br />
occurred to William Grayle. Why should he<br />
not enter a publishing firm, and learn what sort<br />
of books really do sell, and why a mysterious,<br />
insuperable obstacle seemed to stand between<br />
hard-working Dennis O'Hara and publication,<br />
which was Dennis's only means of advancement?<br />
So Mr. William Grayle attended smoking con-<br />
certs assiduously and was introduced in due<br />
course to half-a-dozen journalists and a couple<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 230 (#242) ############################################<br />
<br />
230<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
of novelists, and he asked questions in a quiet<br />
way when he saw his opportunity. As the result<br />
he confided his purpose to a literary agent, but<br />
requested him not to reveal the identity of<br />
Dennis O'Hara and William Grayle. Four<br />
months later William became the junior partner<br />
of Mr. Albert Guddle, who had recently severed<br />
his connection with the well-known firm of<br />
Gunning, Guddle, and Hooker, and had estab-<br />
lished an independent publishing business.<br />
Grayle learned a great deal—a very great deal<br />
—in the course of the next three months, and<br />
then Dennis O'Hara sat down in his club one<br />
night and wrote a short letter to Messrs. Guddle<br />
and Grayle, to whom he despatched his manu-<br />
script novel by parcel post the same evening. On<br />
the following morning when Mr. William Grayle<br />
entered the senior partner's room to talk over<br />
various matters of business he found Mr. Guddle<br />
listlessly turning over the pages of O'Hara's<br />
manuscript.<br />
"I say, Grayle," Mr. Guddle began in a dis-<br />
contented voice, " Belfer's ill, or says he is" (Mr.<br />
Belfer " read" for the firm of Guddle and Grayle)<br />
"and here are half-a-score of manuscripts. It's<br />
a waste of time to keep them hanging about.<br />
Seven or eight of 'em have been all round the<br />
trade already, as I can see by the edges. You<br />
might just glance at the first few pages and the<br />
last chapter, Grayle, if you can find time, and<br />
then keep 'em a week or ten days and send 'em<br />
back with a form unless you see something that<br />
strikes you as very extraordinary. But here are<br />
a couple that may be worth something. Here's a<br />
Christmassy kind of yarn by Miss Bookham.<br />
Rather short and trucky, and it's been serialised,<br />
and no doubt it was built for a girls' serial, but<br />
it might do for one of our Christmas books.<br />
Good aunts, you know, give her stories to their<br />
nieces. And she's not an agency woman, so I<br />
daresay we can get her cheap. And then there's<br />
this thing by a man called O'Hara—never heard<br />
of him. He writes a fist rather like your own,"<br />
Mr. Guddle continued, pointing to the manuscript,<br />
"so perhaps you can read it; for I can't get on<br />
very well with it. I wish these unknown authors<br />
would get their stuff typewritten. Anyhow, the<br />
manuscript is clean and looks pretty new, and it<br />
would be a pity to let a good thing slip."<br />
"I'll read it with pleasure," said William<br />
Grayle.<br />
Ten days later he presented to Mr. Guddle a<br />
report on O'Hara's novel. It was a favourable<br />
report on the whole, but Grayle believed that it<br />
was just; for he was a proud young man and<br />
•onscientious in his way, and he would have pre-<br />
ferred to remain unheard all his life rather than<br />
obtain a hearing by unduly vaunting his work.<br />
With the report he handed the manuscript to Mr.<br />
Guddle. The senior partner read the report<br />
attentively.<br />
"H'm, not bad," he remarked, and then he<br />
raised the manuscript in one hand and judged its<br />
weight. "It's rather a slab," he said. And<br />
then he began to speak of other matters, and did<br />
not revert to the subject of O'Hara's novel at<br />
that season. But a month later, when Mr. Belfer<br />
had been at work again for some little time, Mr.<br />
Guddle mentioned the matter once more.<br />
"Belfer's had a look at O'Hara's novel," said<br />
the senior partner to Mr. Grayle, " and his report<br />
is more favourable than yours. He likes the stuff.<br />
You mustn't think, you know, Grayle, that I<br />
don't rely on your judgment, but you aren't in<br />
the writing line yourself, and you haven't had<br />
anything like Belfer's experience. I've read a<br />
good deal of the yarn myself. It's g- .! solid<br />
work, though I'm not inclined to think it<br />
will set the Thames on fire. However, it's safe,<br />
and I'm disposed to take it as a second-class<br />
novel."<br />
"What's that?" asked Mr. William Grayle,<br />
with genuine interest.<br />
"Well, you see," replied Mr. Guddle, "I do<br />
about twenty of 'em in the year, and they go to<br />
pay salaries, and postage, and so on. There are<br />
the books you push and boom if you can. Those<br />
are the first-class novels. There's and there's<br />
; as you know, we publish for both. Some-<br />
times there's a lot of money in it, as you've seen;<br />
but they're both big pots and both agency men,<br />
and of course the agents know pretty well what's<br />
in a book to a fraction, and they see that the<br />
author gets a jolly big suck at the orange. That's<br />
their interest. I don't blame the agents, as<br />
men of business; naturally they want a big turn-<br />
over to take their commission on and a paying<br />
clientele, and they're quite right to get both if<br />
they can. But agency is death on the grand old<br />
profits that there used to be for us, Grayle, and<br />
it's a fact that out of three books I published for<br />
, I lost over one. A thumping advance,<br />
you know, on account of a 25 per cent. royalty<br />
rising to 275 per cent., and only the English<br />
volume rights. Well, the second of tbe books<br />
was overweighted, and I lost—not much, but<br />
still I lost. So it's a speculation, and publishing<br />
for the big men means hard work and anxious<br />
work sometimes; and you've got to make the<br />
small fry help to pay staff expenses and bring in<br />
sums that are more or less trifling but certain—<br />
no risk, no worry, and no hard work. Now,<br />
O'Hara is just that man. And he's not an<br />
agency man, so if we offer him a deferred royalty<br />
after, say, 500 copies, the chances are he'll<br />
take it.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 231 (#243) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
231<br />
"I don't quite understand," said Grayle.<br />
"Surely if a book's go,,d enough to publish it's<br />
worth pushing."<br />
"Oh, certainly, to the extent of 75001' 1000<br />
copies," replied Mr. Guddle, "but not beyond,<br />
unless it's a safe sale from the very first. And,<br />
taking them in the lump, it would mean a loss to<br />
push these minor works beyond that. Every now<br />
and then, in the lump, you get a book that has a<br />
much bigger sale in it, if it were pushed; but<br />
ordinarily, if you were ti put .£20 or .£30 extra<br />
into advertising a minor work and a lot of time<br />
and energy into shoving it along—well, you<br />
wouldn't do what I call really satisfactory busi-<br />
with two out of three. So the best thing is to<br />
clump 'em in altogether, regard 'em as safeties,<br />
and deal with 'em all in the same way. The<br />
quality of this yarn of O'Hara's will get it an easy<br />
sale of 750 copies in England. I never stint my<br />
second-class books unduly, and I'll spend .£10 in<br />
advertising—I'll spend that in cash. I'll have<br />
1000 copies printed, and I'll bind 250 at once<br />
and the rest as needed. I may sell a few to the<br />
colonies and a small edition to America. But no<br />
expense, mind me, after the first 1000; no taking<br />
moulds—it's wise but strict economy that does<br />
it with second-class novels, Grayle. Liberate the<br />
type and go on to the next. The book will cost<br />
me from .£80 to .£85 all told, and it will bring in<br />
.£120 or £125; I can make sure of that, Now,<br />
if I had to pay the author a royalty of a shilling<br />
a copy on the published price of the six shilling<br />
edition, and to account to him for 750 copies, it<br />
would cost me £37 10s. to settle up with the<br />
author, and where should I be unless I pushed<br />
the book? And then it wouldn't be a safe<br />
second-class novel. But if I pay him 10 per cent.<br />
on the published price—and mind you, Grayle,<br />
that's generous; it's the published price, not the<br />
price to the trade; and he must be told it's<br />
generous, for we might like to see his next—well,<br />
if I pay him 10 per cent. after 500 copies, and<br />
pay him on 250 or thereabouts, he'll get about<br />
.£7 j0s., and I shall do very well indeed. And<br />
it'll be better for him," added Mr. Guddle with a<br />
.chuckle and a wink; "won't lead him into extra-<br />
vagance, or make him think he can live by author-<br />
ship, and if he comes here with another book,<br />
he'll come in a proper frame of mind. Why,<br />
some smallish firms live entirely by publishing<br />
second-class books in this way."<br />
"But isn't it just a tiny bit hard on the<br />
author?" asked William Grayle dryly, "to be<br />
oondemned to a kind olfiasco beforehand?"<br />
"My dear Grayle," said Mr. Guddle, " I set up<br />
in business as a commercial man, not as a philan-<br />
thropist or art-patron. I carry on my trade on<br />
the usual business principles; I make as much<br />
money as I can, where I can, and how I can. I<br />
give an author as little for a book as he'll take.<br />
Hang it all, if a man wanted to sell you houses<br />
or horses or dogs, you'd get 'em as cheap as you<br />
could, wouldn't you Y It's the vendor's look-out;<br />
if he's got any sense he knows how business men<br />
deal. And it's a competitive world, Grayle, and<br />
either you can make a fortune in this business as<br />
a commercial man, or leave it alone and drop out<br />
and see others do it. Well, we're giving a lot of<br />
time to a second-class novel. Will you write to<br />
this man O'Hara and offer him 10 per cent. on<br />
the published price after 500 copies have been<br />
sold?"<br />
"Oh yes, of course I'll make the offer,"<br />
answered William Grayle.<br />
"Oh—and look here, Grayle," Mr. Guddle<br />
resumed, "Belfer thinks there may really be<br />
something big in the novel, so we'll just snap<br />
up the copyright under a clause of the agree-<br />
ment. Every now and then you get hold of a<br />
book that booms itself. So instead of making<br />
it a licence to us to publish and reserving the<br />
copyright to the author, we'll make the cession<br />
of the copyright to us the consideration for<br />
which we pay the 10 percent. Twig? O'Hara<br />
won't understand the wording. Perhaps it's a<br />
woman; let's hope so. And if he or she con-<br />
sents to that I'll change my mind and we'll<br />
speculate to the extent of having moulds taken.<br />
The book may prove a property, and it's as well<br />
to look all round the deal. But I'll dictate the<br />
form of agreement. And now let's go on to<br />
something bigger."<br />
When Mr. William Grayle had left the senior<br />
partner's room and closed the door behind him, .<br />
he stood still for a moment, then he shook his<br />
head and sighed sadly.<br />
Two days later Mr. Dennis O'Hara declined<br />
with thanks the offer of Messrs. Guddle and<br />
Grayle, and the manuscript was returned to the<br />
author.<br />
"There are always plenty of second-class novels<br />
about,"' said Mr. Guddle. "We'll wait for the<br />
next. I expect O'Hara has been talking to some<br />
agent."<br />
"Perhaps he has," said William Grayle.<br />
Molecule.<br />
THE LITERARY AGENT.<br />
OWING to the increase in the value of<br />
literary property, and the universal dis-<br />
trust of publishers as a class, a second<br />
middleman, in addition to the publisher, has<br />
sprung up of late years, namely, the literary<br />
agent. And as the literary agent is supposed to<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 232 (#244) ############################################<br />
<br />
232<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
be doing well, there threatens to be a run upon<br />
the profession. With the influx of new men will<br />
follow certain dangers against which it is well to<br />
warn our readers. That the literary agent fills a<br />
useful place, and in many cases is absolutely<br />
essential, cannot be denied by anybody who has<br />
property to be administered.<br />
In the same way as people who have large<br />
estates are forced to employ agents to manage<br />
them properly, agents who understand all the<br />
business connected with such property, so the<br />
author with a property, large or small, has also<br />
the need of his agent. Many and necessary are the<br />
warnings which have been given in The Author<br />
as to the dealings of authors with publishers.<br />
It is necessary, now that the authors' agent is<br />
rapidly multiplying, that some precautions should<br />
be observed with regard to the dealings of authors<br />
with the managers of their property.<br />
No author, to begin with, should employ an<br />
agent without having thoroughly reliable informa-<br />
tion as to his honesty and as to his capacity<br />
in placing authors' MSS. before editors and<br />
publishers. Such information can only be<br />
obtained either from a friend who has had<br />
jiersonal experience, or from the Society of<br />
Authors. If an author then decides to employ<br />
an agent, he should be as careful in entering into<br />
an agreement with him as he would be in entering<br />
into an agreement with a publisher. In fact, as<br />
the relation between an author and his agent is<br />
exceedingly confidential, an author should be even<br />
more careful as to his agreement. It should be<br />
further pointed out that, although an agent may<br />
have had considerable legal experience in the<br />
matter of drafting publishers' contracts, yet an<br />
agent is not, as a rule, a lawyer, and that, there-<br />
fore, it is not advisable for an author to accept an<br />
arrangement put before him by an agent without<br />
some further advice as to the desirability of the<br />
terms contained in the contract.<br />
It has been stated that certain agents take<br />
money from publishers in return for placing books<br />
with them. No proof of this allegation has yet<br />
been discovered, and one hopes that the thing is<br />
the invention of an enemy. It is needless to<br />
say that such a practice would be the most<br />
flagrant breach of trust. It would be exactly<br />
as if a solicitor was to take money from his<br />
client's adversary as well as his client.<br />
It is possible, again, that a case such as the fol-<br />
lowing might occur: An agent is exceedingly busy<br />
with the works of many authors. It is important<br />
that he should get some of them settled and off<br />
his hands at the earliest possible opportunity. He<br />
therefore in a moment of carelessness advises an<br />
author to accept such terms as would not be on<br />
the whole satisfactory in their result to the<br />
author. This is an exceptional case, and is one<br />
which is not likely to occur frequently; but the<br />
point still remains that the author cannot be too<br />
careful about what agreement he enters into,<br />
whether such agreement is put before him by the<br />
publisher, or by the publisher through his own<br />
agent. The mere question of the financial terms<br />
of an agreement is by no means the only one which<br />
should be looked into. In some cases the control<br />
of the property is even of more importance to the<br />
author than the financial question. The warning<br />
must therefore be repeated that an author cannot<br />
be too circumspect as to the agent he deals with,<br />
and as to the contract he has with that agent.<br />
The following letter is published because it illus-<br />
trates the necessity of an agreement, if only to<br />
escape misunderstandings:<br />
"Your remarks concerning the possibility of<br />
disagreement between author and agent suggest<br />
to me the propriety of offering myself to your<br />
ridicule or your sympathy by a brief relation of<br />
my own conduct.<br />
"An agent is no more to be trusted than a<br />
publisher, and to suppose that any agency —<br />
necessarily having its own axe to grind—can take<br />
the place of the Authors' Society is manifestly<br />
absurd.<br />
"My own case, briefly stated, is as follows: I<br />
had an agent, and I trusted him implicitly. I<br />
say 'he' as a matter of convenience, but there<br />
were several of him, and some of him were clever<br />
and kind, but one of him was something unbusi-<br />
nesslike. In my first interview I asked what<br />
were my agent's terms. The answer was ' 10 per<br />
cent. on all sales effected by us.' This seemed all<br />
right, and I thought an angel and an agent were<br />
the same, so I did not consult the Authors'<br />
Society, as I should have done, and consequently<br />
no written agreement was signed by my agent and<br />
me.<br />
"My agent sold a few things advantageously,<br />
but he muddled my affairs in one or two ways.<br />
Thus, a religious story was ordered of me by an<br />
American journal for young people, and at the<br />
same time I was asked to write a story for a<br />
lively London journal. My agent sent my pious<br />
tale to the lively journal and my society story<br />
to the Young People's Magazine. Both stories<br />
were of course rejected, and by the time the<br />
mistake was rectified it was too late. Since then<br />
I have had no orders from either paper.<br />
"At the end of the year I found that I had<br />
lost considerably by the agency, so I decided to<br />
sever the connection. My agent agreed to this.<br />
Then he sent in his account. I found to my<br />
dismay that he had not only charged the i 0 per<br />
cent. as well as out-of-pocket expenses, but had<br />
made a charge — and a rather high one — for<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 233 (#245) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOli.<br />
233<br />
unsuccessful efforts to place other stories, a thing<br />
never mentioned between us, and in itself a con-<br />
tradiction of our agreement as to payment by<br />
results. I protested; but he was able to enforce<br />
his charges because he had in hand certain moneys<br />
of mine.<br />
"Also I found that I had pledged myself to<br />
pay a percentage, not on a year's profits, such as<br />
is charged by house agents and the like, nor on the<br />
profits of any number of years, but on all receipts<br />
accruing through time and eternity from MSS.<br />
placed by my agent. So that, however good or<br />
however bad may be the sale of those books, my<br />
agents have for ever a charge on my profits of 10<br />
per cent.<br />
"I hope all this is clear. It will be seen from<br />
my weak trust in a verbal agreement that I am<br />
no business man. But there must be other authors<br />
not more discerning, more crafty, than I. To<br />
t,uch I would say: (1) Engage no agent without<br />
the Society's advice; (2) engage no agent without<br />
a written agreement; (3) sign no agreement<br />
without consulting the Society; (4) remember<br />
that a literary agent is just like a publisher in<br />
that he makes his living out of authors; therefore<br />
be sure that you know exactly what he means to<br />
take, and whether it is also what vou mean him<br />
to have." Z.<br />
This letter reads like a comment on the pre-<br />
ceding remarks. All the difficulties, in fact, arose<br />
from the absence of a written agreement.<br />
Had there been a written agreement the author<br />
would have understood that, in taking over the<br />
management of the book the agent undertook to<br />
make the best of it, taking the commission as the<br />
money came in, as long as there was anything to be<br />
made out of it. Also he would have understood<br />
that the agent did not profess—it is not usual for<br />
an agent to profess — to hawk about literary<br />
wares from house to house unsuccessfully for<br />
nothing. It is quite common for an agent to charge<br />
at the outset a certain fee, which is returned in<br />
the case of success.<br />
As for the mistake between the lively and the<br />
religious papers it was tragic, but one would like<br />
to hear the other side before accepting it as a<br />
proof of muddling. Did the author make it quite<br />
clear, on the outside, because agents do not read<br />
MSS., which was intended for the lively, and<br />
which for the serious, paper?<br />
The moral of the letter is that without a<br />
written agreement these misunderstandings are<br />
inevitable. With an agreement they should be<br />
difficult, if not impossible.<br />
BE ONE AND NOTHING ELSE.<br />
IWAS immensely astonished, on reading the<br />
January Author through from end to end—<br />
a thing I invariably do when it manages to<br />
reach me—to see, just on the last page, myself<br />
quoted as an instructor of literary youth. I<br />
never imagined that anyone would come across<br />
my obscure "confession." The advice, "If you<br />
can beg, borrow, or steal as much as .£50 a year,<br />
cut yourself off from everything and write," has<br />
rather a reckless and immoral ring about it, and<br />
I should like to correct or justify it a little. For<br />
it is an advice to parents and guardians as much<br />
as to debutants and debutantes.<br />
The desire to be an author is as palpable an<br />
itch as the desire to run away to sea. It can<br />
be nipped in the bud sometimes, but the advisa-<br />
bility of doing so is always a moot question.<br />
Vagabonds and authors are born and not made,<br />
"and like the merlin cheated by a gleam," as<br />
your New Zealand correspondent beautifully and<br />
appositely puts it, they will soar into the fierce<br />
light sooner or later. Their wings may be of<br />
wax, in which case they will have a heavy fall;<br />
but the fall itself will be the best blight to a<br />
wrong ambition. My opinion is, give them their<br />
head—both of them. My own original impulse<br />
as a boy was to go to sea; I was actually appren-<br />
ticed, when my parents opposed, and I went into<br />
the Civil Service instead. But what is the result?<br />
I have become both a vagabond and an author<br />
after all. There is a story in the Christmas<br />
number of the Sketch, by Dr. Macdonald, which<br />
also illustrates the matter; the young man had<br />
a hard time, but Dr. Macdonald became an<br />
author. In trying to be an author a young man<br />
or woman will find their level, and even if they<br />
fail, their efforts will probably have been as good<br />
as any other beginning in showing them the way,<br />
and giving the opportunities, to adapt themselves<br />
to a more suitable profession. On the other<br />
hand, as you point out in your preface of<br />
„ The Pen and the Book," authorship is now<br />
just as good and respectable a profession as<br />
the Church or Medicine, and worth having a<br />
try at.<br />
In the first place, then, to parents, I give this<br />
advice. If your son or daughter wants to write,<br />
allow them JE50 a year and three years to try in.<br />
You cannot apprentice them to any other profession<br />
for less, and they will learn a lot about the world<br />
which will serve them in good stead if they fail<br />
in literature. They may become editors or pub-<br />
lishers, for instance, a business as good as shop-<br />
keeping; or literary journalists, which you may<br />
be sure they will not do if they are fitted for<br />
more active pursuits.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 234 (#246) ############################################<br />
<br />
234<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
Secondly, to young men between twenty and<br />
thirty, who, after being put in the wrong grooves<br />
at the start, think they can be authors. If you<br />
have got no money or rich relatives, you have no<br />
choice; but if you have got either, I repeat,<br />
chuck up everything and write. .£100 can be<br />
made to last you two years, and that will be long<br />
enough if you are already a man. Mr. Le<br />
Gallienne once talked about "the paltry .£250 a<br />
year" which a millionaire could so easily spare to<br />
patronise a poet. If a man feels he needs this<br />
income for writing he probably has mistaken the<br />
profession of literature for the profession of<br />
society. .£50 a year is enough; £100 a year is<br />
comfort. You only want a little attic at .£ 12 a<br />
year, and tea and bread and bacon at is. a day,<br />
or say £20 a year, and one old suit of clothes<br />
and an overcoat. This still leaves you £10<br />
for tobacco and the gallery of a theatre and a<br />
penny paper. When I said "cut yourself off<br />
from everything " I was thinking particularly of<br />
society. The society which requires a clean shirt<br />
and a tall hat will not benefit your work. I<br />
presume, of course, that you have had enough<br />
"experiences," have seen enough "colour," to<br />
provide you with copy for your trial. If not, you<br />
must earn your living in some more usual way<br />
until you /tare " copy."<br />
Believing that you can write implies that you<br />
have something to write about; that you have<br />
been in love or seen the world. This is your<br />
wealth; the rent and food money is merely the<br />
broker's commission on your investment. You<br />
mean to speculate on your brain-wealth; then do<br />
it thoroughly.<br />
Precept without example is nothing; the only<br />
example a man knows is himself, and since I<br />
have already, when I thought I had done with<br />
literature, made a humiliating exhibition of my-<br />
self, I shall do so again. Hereby I convey my<br />
first maxim: never go back on yourself. If you<br />
commit a folly, bluff it out; it is your follies<br />
which mark your character, and by your cha-<br />
racter you must stand or fall. Never act; never<br />
try to be other than you are. Practise self-<br />
control, especially in writing to publishers and<br />
papers; but when you have made a mistake do<br />
not repine, do not think that you have irretriev-<br />
ably belittled yourself, but let your dead<br />
blunders be incentives, be stepping stones to<br />
things of better fame. In the same way with<br />
your work; teach yourself by failure. Keep<br />
before you unceasingly the ambition of success,<br />
and never allow the disgrace of an idiotic or con-<br />
temptible book to deter you from wiping out its<br />
shame by a better. There is room in the world,<br />
and time in life, for many blunders, and in litera-<br />
ture, as in business and in war, one victory con-<br />
dones a thousand defeats. Here I am using<br />
myself as example—I hope an encouraging<br />
example. I have made a notorious exhibition of<br />
myself both in politics, in literature, and in<br />
society; but I cast these follies behind me and<br />
present myself again, determined to retrieve<br />
them.<br />
Besides the blunders of conceit there stands<br />
before most of us the damnable crevice of<br />
poverty. I again offer myself as an example of<br />
persistence. I will no longer go back on myself<br />
and ape, as I have long done, the secure suffi-<br />
ciency of a man of means. My sufficiency is<br />
myself now, and it is better than money. Six<br />
years ago I embarked on literature with a capital<br />
of .£15, and managed to place four books. Twice<br />
I was driven into slavery by need, and I have<br />
calculated that exactly three years out of five<br />
were taken up with the sordid troubles of mere<br />
living. A year ago I could stand it no longer,<br />
and left England, believing myself finally defeated.<br />
After six months of vagabondage, with a capital of<br />
£5, I came back as near to the market as I could<br />
beat, and wrote another book. I did not seek<br />
work; I practised my gospel of living on my<br />
capital and writing. The capital being small the<br />
living had to be exiguous and the writing hard.<br />
I spread the 25 dollars over two months, and<br />
wrote my book in that time, fiuishing almost to<br />
the miuute on Christmas day. You see, then,<br />
that if you have fifty pounds and "copy " you<br />
are a millionaire; lucky, indeed, if you have an<br />
allowance of .£50 a year for three years. And<br />
yet it means at a maximum but a capital of<br />
.£200 to save a man from three years of absolutely<br />
barren and heart-breaking waste and experiences<br />
which render his work morbid, pessimistic,<br />
detrimental! Here am I, at the age of thirty,<br />
after publishing several books and stories,<br />
stranded high and dry in ruined health, trying to<br />
hold together till the tide turns and floats me<br />
again, through no vice, inaptitude, or lack of<br />
diligence I swear, but simply because I have<br />
never been able to get two consecutive years of<br />
assured living. I repudiate any suspicion that I<br />
am asking for help; 1 have stood by myself long<br />
enough to stand by myself to the end. But I<br />
know the reason of my poverty has from the<br />
beginning been the contempt of my relatives for<br />
the profession I have adopted, and I give myself<br />
as a warning to other parents who obstinately<br />
condemn their sons and daughters to go through<br />
a similar experience. Although I am averse to<br />
logrolling, and have never had a " paragraph " in<br />
The Author during a membership of some years,<br />
I shall take the liberty of referring you to a<br />
second instalment of my "confessions" in the<br />
January number of the New Century Review.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 235 (#247) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
235<br />
It shows how the writing itch prevails over all<br />
resolutions of abandonment, and gives also, I<br />
think, a good hint how to isolate yourself and<br />
seek health and copy at the same time.<br />
In conclusion, I will say this. Whether I shall<br />
turn the corner this time remains to be seen; but<br />
for the encouragement of the faltering I declare<br />
that, although my noviciate of hardship has been<br />
prolonged beyond the two and beyond the live<br />
years, I am still perfectly happy, and confident,<br />
if my precarious health lasts out, of ultimate<br />
success, and more assured to-day than ever that<br />
if I had been able to " stick to writing and nothing<br />
else " from the beginning I should by this time<br />
have been earning a "respectable living." On<br />
the other hand, always supposing I live long<br />
enough, I shall probably rejoice in my disap-<br />
pointments later on; for I have this to add—and<br />
it is a sort of warning also—that whereas six<br />
years ago I thought I knew everything, was a<br />
full-grown man, I only now begin to see how<br />
little of life I know. But if any of you should<br />
happen to have read my book " Max," which I<br />
wrote just four years ago, you will see a marked<br />
difference between my despair then and my con-<br />
fidence now. You will discover that your own<br />
literary ambition is far more tough and tenacious<br />
than you think. If you have got it in you, you<br />
will get there—never fear. At the same time, it<br />
is foolish to waste your youth in bitterness if you<br />
can go straight forward from the start, and cruel<br />
of parents to force j on to. Julian Croskey.<br />
P.O. Ottawa, Canada, Jan. 30, 1899.<br />
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.<br />
(See The Author Feb. 1899).<br />
I.<br />
IBEG leave to recommend the " Cyclopaedia<br />
of Practical Quotations," by Hoyt and<br />
Ward. According to that work, p. 87, the<br />
lines alluded to run thus:<br />
Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,<br />
Bat why did yon kick me down stairs '<<br />
The reference is given to J. P. Kemble," The<br />
Panel," act i., sc. 1. Walter W. Skeat.<br />
The lines quoted by Mr. J. M. Lely may be<br />
found in at least three places, and, apparently,<br />
without any interchange of acknowledgment.<br />
They appear in Debrett's "Asylum for Fugitive<br />
Pieces," Vol. I., p. 15; and in John Philip<br />
Kemble's play " The Panel," act i., sc. i., Kemble<br />
has clearly borrowed and altered the lines from<br />
what may be claimed as the original source,<br />
Isaac Bickerstaff's comedy, "'Tis Well it's no<br />
Worse." They form part of a song, and the full<br />
quatrain, as usually given, runs:<br />
"When late I attempted your pity to move<br />
Why seemed yon so deaf to my prayers?<br />
Perhaps it was right to dissemble yonr love,<br />
Bnt why did you kiok me down stairs?"<br />
James M. Graham.<br />
[Edith Charlton Anne and E. C. Ricketts also-<br />
send replies, which are in similar terms to the<br />
above.—Ed,]<br />
I am strongly reminded of some lines of<br />
Heinrich Heine:<br />
Das Schworen in der Ordnung war,<br />
Das Beissen war iiberfliissig.<br />
This passage is quoted by George Meredith in<br />
chap. iv. of "The Tragic Comedians," where we<br />
find a most eloquent dialogue between hero<br />
and heroine—Alvan and Clotilde. The chapter<br />
bristles with fine thought, and of these special<br />
lines repeated by Alvan to the lady Mr. M-<br />
calls them " a verse that speaks of the superfluous-<br />
ness of a faithless lady's vowing bite," translating<br />
them thus:<br />
The kisses were in the course of things,<br />
The " bite" was a needless addition.<br />
JX—"Who Am I Like?" .<br />
The verb " to be " governs the nominative case;<br />
thus, "who am I like ?" is correct, the "am I"<br />
being present tense of the verb "to be." Most<br />
verbs govern the accusative, thus, anolher<br />
rendering of the question could be "whom do I<br />
resemble?"<br />
Next question—" Whomsoever he may be " is<br />
wrong ; it should be " whosoever," the " may bo"<br />
being the subjunctive mood of the verb "to be."<br />
_ Grammar.<br />
III.—Wanted, Instructions.<br />
1. "Forbears" is frequently used when<br />
"forebears "—i.e., forebe-ers—is evidently meant,<br />
and that even in literary journals. No doubt the<br />
printer is in fault.<br />
2. Some educated people are in the habit of<br />
using the verb "infer" in the place of "imply."<br />
Surely, to "infer" means to draw an inference.<br />
You infer from what I said something which I<br />
did not mean to imply.<br />
3. Will someone of authority lay down the<br />
law on the subject of the "false genitive,"<br />
abhorred of Mr. Gladstone? Tastes no doubt<br />
differ, but to some ears such a locution as "I<br />
object to him coming to me " is simply hideous,<br />
though intelligible. But when one reads, "I<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 236 (#248) ############################################<br />
<br />
236<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
remember the Prince coming to our town to lay<br />
the first stone," one is in doubt. It is one<br />
thing to remember the fact of the Prince's<br />
coming, quite another to remember the Prince<br />
himself. "There is, I think, no fear of you<br />
making such an exhibition of yourself." Gram-<br />
matically, this surely means, "There is no fear of<br />
you who are, or when you are, making such an<br />
exhibition of yourself." For, if " making " is not a<br />
present participle, agreeing with "you," it must<br />
be a substantive, in which case, how is the<br />
sentence to be analysed ?" He relied on this<br />
man leaving the country before the disclosure<br />
was made." Now this does not mean that he<br />
relied on the man, who was leaving the country;<br />
far from it; he trusted him so little that he<br />
wanted him out af the way. In other words, he<br />
relied on the man's withdrawal. If " leaving "is<br />
a verbal substantive, why should man receive<br />
different treatment when conjoined with "leav-<br />
ing" than that accorded to it when conjoined<br />
with withdrawal? The old rule, that when two<br />
substantives come together one must be in the<br />
genitive, would seem to be enough, but the<br />
increasing frequency of the false genitive, and<br />
that in the writings of literary persons, indicates<br />
the need for some authoritative pronouncement<br />
on the subject. "I defy any one to read a page<br />
of the poem without it getting hopelessly on his<br />
nerves," is a sentence which it would be interesting<br />
to see analysed.<br />
4. '.'Umbrellas repaired while waiting" is an<br />
announcement at which one smiles. Similar, and<br />
even worse sentences are continually meeting one<br />
in the daily Press; e.g., "While stationed at<br />
X an incident occurred." One would like<br />
to be made acquainted with that stationary<br />
incident. S. G.<br />
CORRESPONDENCE.<br />
I.—Books for Review.<br />
IN Tlie Author, Feb. 1,1899, p. 203,1 find the<br />
follewing assertion: "Every unknown book<br />
gets from thirty to fifty notices in the<br />
English Press; every book by a known author,<br />
from fifty to one hundred."<br />
I beg leave to say that such is not my experi-<br />
ence. I have frequently been surprised at the<br />
utter silence of many of the critics with regard to<br />
some of my books which have nevertheless done<br />
well. Out of so many copies sent for review<br />
about one-half are quietly appropriated, and no<br />
sign is given that they have ever been received.<br />
Other critics merely acknowledge the receipt of<br />
the volume, and there leave it. It is one of the<br />
author's grievances that the sending of a copy to,<br />
let us say, The Omniscient Review by no means<br />
secures the insertion of a notice of it, however<br />
well known the author may be. I also venture<br />
to say that the unknown author is more injured<br />
by this practice of silence than the known one,<br />
and it is to him at least a cruel hardship.<br />
The next time I publish a book I propose to<br />
collect and publish in The Author (if my pub-<br />
lishers approve of it) a list of the reviews that<br />
receive copies, with a note as to whether a notice<br />
was inserted or not, allowing six months for the<br />
notice to appear. If some others would do the<br />
like we should learn much that concerns us all.<br />
Walter W. Skeat.<br />
II.—Ladies in Journalism.<br />
Your letter on the invasion of journalism by<br />
ladies of rank is particularly interesting to me, in<br />
that I am one of the sufferers by it. One has<br />
only to take up a fashionable paper to see that the<br />
greater part of the articles in it are by Lady This<br />
or the Countess of T'other. They may be paid or<br />
they may not, but the fact remains that their<br />
articles crowd out those journalists who would<br />
probably otherwise be employed. For years a<br />
fashionable lady's newspaper has had articles of<br />
mine accepted, but not published for want of room,<br />
and, of course, until published they are nothing<br />
but waste paper. A few years ago, it was easy to<br />
get 3 guineas for a short story, but lately, send-<br />
ing one to a well-known magazine, it was accepted,<br />
and I received i0*. for it. A Press agent, to<br />
whom I offered one, said, "The fact is, Miss A.,<br />
your story is too good for us. We order them by<br />
the dozen, and pay 7*. a piece for them." Now,<br />
this state of things could never have come to pass<br />
but for the supply being much beyond the demand.<br />
Unless for a hewer of wood or drawer of water,<br />
living is very difficult, but so long as women can<br />
"see themselves in print" and editors can get<br />
their articles for nothing, it is useless to hope for<br />
better times. _ A Journalist.<br />
III. DELAT8.<br />
I have read with interest the experiences of<br />
some of your correspondents regarding the delay<br />
on the part of editors in returning MSS., and also<br />
the editorial note on page 188 of The Author.<br />
Whether the explanation there suggested is the<br />
correct one or not I am unable to say, but my<br />
experience with two MSS. submitted to the Strand<br />
is that one did not return to me for eight and a<br />
half months, and the other not until three months<br />
had rolled by. Both the manuscripts were<br />
returned in good condition, and I attributed the<br />
delay to the enormous number of MSS. submitted<br />
to the editor.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 237 (#249) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
237<br />
One of the most cruel cuts I ever received was<br />
at the hands of an editor of a magazine that has<br />
lately sprung into being. On May 2 last year I<br />
submitted an article dealing with one phase of<br />
cricket. On Nov. 23 I received it back, with the<br />
intimation that it was not seasonable!<br />
One more experience. Last October I sub-<br />
mitted a MS. to the editor of a reputable<br />
sixpenny magazine. A few days ago I received<br />
an offer of one guinea for the same, an offer which<br />
I enjoyed the luxury of declining. To-day I have<br />
received the manuscript back, and it bears the<br />
truthful statement, presumably in the editorial<br />
handwriting, "4400 w, 5! pp." Surely a MS.<br />
considered worth printing in a sixpenny magazine<br />
should be worth more than 4*. gd. per 1000 words<br />
(or, deducting the cost of typewriting, 3*. 1 id. per<br />
1000) to the author? Perhaps I ought to be<br />
thankful that I was not asked to pay the guinea<br />
myself for the honour of publication.<br />
Associate.<br />
IV.—The Vagaries of Criticism.<br />
I am puzzled; I am perplexed; I am mystified.<br />
Will you, Mr. Editor, kindly clear my thoughts<br />
from their burden of doubts? Permit me to<br />
explain, and state my case.<br />
A novel of mine, called " A Social Upheaval,"<br />
has been published lately, and up to the present it<br />
has evoked thirty-five criticisms. Unfortunately,<br />
however, they are in every respect so contradic-<br />
tory that I actually cannot form a clear opinion of<br />
the merits or demerits of my own book. It has<br />
be mercilessly condemned; it has been splendidly<br />
eulogised; it has been pronounced interesting<br />
and dull, witty and silly; whilst its flaws and<br />
defects pointed out by one critic have been con-<br />
strued into virtues and beauties by another!<br />
Of course, I may be advised to believe the<br />
praise and reject the blame; to enjoy the sweets<br />
and cast away the bitters. But I value honest<br />
criticism too highly to be so puerile as to do this,<br />
On the other hand, whom and what am I to<br />
believe when I am told " that I write with skill and<br />
with a keen appreciation of comic situations";<br />
"that I tire the reader before the end is reached ";<br />
that " my book is worth reading on account of its<br />
agreeable whimsicality "; that "my satire to be<br />
effective must bear some resemblance to the real<br />
thing"; that my female characters "are dis-<br />
tinct types of womankind "; that my characters<br />
lack reality"; that "the language has a<br />
terseness and briskness that gives a character<br />
of vivacity to the story"; that my novel is<br />
"utterly worthless"; that "it is a story in which<br />
there is not a dull page, not even a dull line ";<br />
that " the writing is more than a trifle crude ";<br />
that *' the purpose and method of the work are<br />
alike admirable " ; that " the workmanship is in-<br />
different," and so on, and so on?<br />
What can I make of these amazing contra-<br />
dictions? How can I reconcile these extremely<br />
opposite opinions? How am I to arrive at the<br />
truth? Will you kindly guide me in the matter?<br />
Isidore G. Ascher.<br />
V.—Illustrations.<br />
May I ask you to notice in your paper a form of<br />
annoyance authors have sometimes to put up with.<br />
A short story of mine was bought from my agents,<br />
some months ago, by the editor of a certain<br />
paper. This month it appears; but, living far in<br />
the country, I knew nothing of the fact till a few<br />
days ago, and then had some difficulty in getting<br />
a copy. It was bad enough to receive no proofs,<br />
and so come in for a few press blunders; but<br />
what is most annoying is to find that it has been<br />
"illustrated" (save the mark !) in a way that is<br />
most offensive. The illustrator has absolutely<br />
ignored each incident of the story he pretends to<br />
represent, as you may see by the copy inclosed,<br />
and the result is that my work is made ridiculous.<br />
There ought to be (perhaps there is) some<br />
remedy for such an outrage as this, since it mav<br />
have a very damaging effect on a beginner in<br />
literature such as your correspondent, B.<br />
VI.—Payment on Acceptance.<br />
1.<br />
The practice is all too rare certainly, but not so<br />
restricted as "Penman" seems to suggest. Mr.<br />
F. A. Atkins of the Young Man and other<br />
journals, for instance, most promptly and con-<br />
sistently adopts this course. R. Andom.<br />
11.<br />
In answer to " Penman's " letter regarding the<br />
Strand, may I remark that he (or she) has not a<br />
very wide knowledge of magazine editors. I can<br />
name at least four which virtually pay on accep-<br />
tance, that is to say, as soon as the hard-driven<br />
editor has decided to use any article or story it is<br />
paid for. Of course, this may not happen till a<br />
considerable time after it is sent. Messrs.<br />
Harmsworth, for example, I have found most con-<br />
siderate in this way.<br />
I cannot say that my own experience of the<br />
Strand bears out "Penman's" statements; the<br />
only article it ever printed of mine was not paid<br />
for till after it had appeared, and they now hold<br />
two stories of mine which were submitted twelve<br />
months ago at their request, and I cannot get<br />
them returned or used. Alan Oscar,<br />
hi.<br />
If your correspondent had written for the<br />
Wide World Magazine he would have discovered<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 238 (#250) ############################################<br />
<br />
238<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
that the Strand is not the only one which pays<br />
for articles on acceptance. I am pleased to offer<br />
my humble testimony to the extreme courtesy<br />
which I have received at the hands of the editor<br />
of the Wide World, who invariably—I believe I<br />
may say—sends a cheque directly he decides to<br />
accept a MS. Edith Charlton Anne.<br />
VII.—Typewriting as a Profession.<br />
I rejoice to see that The Author is taking up<br />
the rights of the private typist versus the type-<br />
writing office, an institution which I find it<br />
difficult to respect.<br />
A friend of mine, "a lady by birth, and want<br />
of education," found herself last year under the<br />
necessity of earning a living. A relative (who<br />
herself had to undertake clerk's work in order to<br />
afford it) paid some .£30 to an office for the<br />
training of secretaries that her niece might be<br />
taught shorthand and typewriting. After work-<br />
ing for the benefit of the office for some months<br />
she was pronounced proficient, and with much<br />
pleasure I hastened to secure for her her first<br />
work, the typing of two forthcoming books, good<br />
MSS., not technical, at the rate of gd. a thousand.<br />
She must first, however, consult the lady who<br />
trained her, and returned primed with scorn for<br />
such an offer, instructed in various "notions,"<br />
and told that to undertake the work at anything<br />
less than from I*, to is. $d. per thousand was an<br />
injustice to herself and other women.<br />
After remaining without employment for some<br />
time, she finally undertook the task "to oblige."<br />
The fact that another woman, brought up in<br />
greater luxury, older, and therefore less prepared<br />
for change of circumstances than herself, had<br />
turned-to and gone to work to pay for her train-<br />
ing, did not count for much in the problem. Now<br />
and then, the office has sent her stray bits of ill-<br />
paid miscellaneous work, such as doing charity<br />
accounts, or sending out invitations. Any typing<br />
which comes to the office is apparently reserved<br />
for students to practise upon, and shorthand does<br />
not seem to be in demand.<br />
After a year of this sort of work—which was of<br />
a kind which led to expenditure of money in<br />
smarter clothes than she would have needed at<br />
home, and in omnibus fares—she at length<br />
obtained a position which, under other circum-<br />
stances, we should have described as that of a<br />
"companion," but which—in allusion, I suppose,<br />
to the training—is called a " secretaryship." The<br />
salary is .£40 a year; £50 when non-resident.<br />
I represented the facts to the Society for the<br />
Employment of Women, but was severely rebuked<br />
for offering starvation wages. Next, I took at<br />
random from the cover of The Author the address<br />
of a typist, who has done my work admirably at<br />
orf. a 1000 ever since. She has said nothing<br />
about starvation, perhaps because she does not<br />
pay rent in Victoria or Berners-street.<br />
A. Goodrich Freer.<br />
VIII.—On Selling Review Copies.<br />
I have read with much interest Sir Walter<br />
Besant's paragraph in The Author of Jan. 2<br />
concerning review copies. Would it not be<br />
possible to render review books unsaleable by<br />
some such process as unused stamps undergo<br />
when they are sold to dealers? They are punched.<br />
Review copies might have their pages severed<br />
horizontally midway by a cut penetrating a third<br />
of the page. It would be equivalent to a slight<br />
tear of a couple of inches on each page. The<br />
reviewer would have no difficulty, but the volume<br />
would not stand any wear after such treatment.<br />
Fanny Emily Penny.<br />
The Garrison Chaplain's Quarters,<br />
Fort Saint George, S. India, Jan. 26.<br />
IX.—Wanted—A Black List.<br />
Seeing that many editors not only refuse to<br />
return unsuitable MSS., to answer inquiries<br />
respecting them, but even appear to delight in<br />
treating uninvited contributors with contemp-<br />
tuous and—in my opinion—scandalous indiffer-<br />
ence, and this in spite of the letters and com-<br />
plaints the Society of Authors and The Author<br />
are continually receiving and publishing—I would<br />
suggest that the methods of the Society are<br />
stiffened.<br />
It seems to me that hints, innuendoes, anony-<br />
mous indications, and covert references are too<br />
mild to touch the case-hardened hides of the<br />
fraternity in question.<br />
I would, therefore, advocate a black list, to be<br />
openly, nay, ostentatiously displayed iu the<br />
Society's offices, and kept standing in the columns<br />
of The Author.<br />
Upon this list let the names of dishonest pub-<br />
lishers, unscrupulous editors, literary vultures of<br />
every kind, and such sharks as the inexperienced<br />
writer needs to shun, figure prominently and<br />
persistently.<br />
Before placing a name on the list, let the<br />
offence committed be stated succinctly.<br />
The law of libel is a serious fence to leap, I<br />
admit; but surely the Society would have less<br />
cause to dread an appearance in court than the<br />
mean rascals whose practices would, at worst, be<br />
exposed.<br />
I believe Truth has on several occasions<br />
pilloried a certain publishing firm—unfortunately<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 239 (#251) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
239<br />
still existing—without incurring pains or penalties<br />
for its service to common honesty.<br />
Of one thing I am convinced, however. To treat<br />
with consideration the feelings of persons devoid<br />
even of business principle, to say nothing of<br />
gentlemanly instinct, is futile. A black list would<br />
at least warn members of the Society whom to<br />
avoid, even though it failed to reach outside<br />
stragglers in the literary quagmire.<br />
Herbert W. Smith.<br />
BOOK TALE.<br />
MR. ARTHUR H. BEAVAN has written<br />
a memoir of James and Horace Smith,<br />
the authors of "The Rejected Addresses."<br />
No complete life of the brothers has hitherto<br />
appeared, owing to family objections. "The<br />
Rejected Addresses" was published in 1812.<br />
Murray could have bought the copyright for<br />
£20, but refused the offer. Seven years later,<br />
after the book had run through sixteen editions<br />
and brought its authors jEi000, Murray pur-<br />
chased the copyright for .£131. Mr. Beavan's<br />
life will contain five portraits, and will be pub-<br />
lished by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett.<br />
Mr. Richard Whitling, author of .' The Island,"<br />
has written a new work of humorous social<br />
satire entitled "No. 5, John-street," which Mr.<br />
Grant Richards will publi&h.<br />
Mrs. Alfred Sedgwick's (Mrs. Andrew Dean)<br />
new novel "Cousin Ivo" will be published this<br />
month by Messrs. A. and G. Black. It has been<br />
appearing in the weekly edition of the Times.<br />
In "The Hooligan Nights" Mr. Clarence Rook<br />
gives some studies from personal observation of<br />
the notorious class of criminals known of late in<br />
London by the generic name " Hooligan." The<br />
volume will be published by Mr. Grant Richards.<br />
Mr. Morley Roberts calls his new novel "A<br />
Son of Empire." The two chief characters<br />
in the book are said to be portraits of Sir Richard<br />
and Lady Burton, and another a portrait of Mr.<br />
Rhodes. The story deals with military life.<br />
Carlyle's letters to his sister, Janet Hanning,<br />
which appeared in several recent numbers of the<br />
Atlantic Monthly, will be published shortly in a<br />
volume by Messrs. Chapman and Hall.<br />
Mrs. Fuller-Maitland and Sir Frederick Pollock<br />
are joint authors of the "Etchingham Letters,"<br />
which have been appearing in the Cornhill<br />
Magazine for the last few months. The letters<br />
will be published in a volume on an early date by<br />
Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co.<br />
A new series of monographs on great painters<br />
has been projected by Messrs. Bell. The first<br />
volume to appear will be "Raphael," by Mr. H.<br />
Strachey," and the others include "Velasquez,"<br />
by Mr. R. A. M. Stevenson; *' Andrea del<br />
Sarto," by Miss H. Guinness; " Michael A ngelo,"<br />
by Mr. C. Holroyd; "Rembrandt," by Mr.<br />
Malcolm Bell; and " Turner," by Mr. C. F. Bell.<br />
Sir Edward Grey has written a book of<br />
personal experiences as an angler which will form<br />
the first volume of the Haddon Library, edited by<br />
the Marquis of Granby and Mr. George A. B.<br />
Dewar. It will be published by Messrs. Dent<br />
this month.<br />
Mr. Grant Allen's new story, "Miss Cayley's<br />
Adventures," which has been running in the<br />
Strand Magazine, will be published in the spring<br />
by Mr. Grant Richards.<br />
Mr. Hilaire Belloc is the author of a forth-<br />
coming " Life of Danton," which is based largely<br />
on documents hitherto unknown. The author has<br />
been assisted by Danton's family, and also by Dr.<br />
Robinet, himself the author of a well-known<br />
biography of the great French revolutionary. Mr.<br />
Belloc's work will be published immediately by<br />
Messrs. Nisbet.<br />
Mr. William Archer has been commissioned by<br />
the Pall Mall Magazine to proceed to America<br />
for the purpose of writing a series of articles on<br />
the American stage. He sailed a few days ago.<br />
A set of the Kelmscott Press publications,<br />
numbering fifty-three, and of an original value of<br />
about .£150, was sold at Sotheby's rooms the<br />
other day for .£442 15s. 6d. The same firm were<br />
to disperse by auction the valuable collection of<br />
historical papers and manuscripts belonging to<br />
the Earl of Hardwicke. Shortly before the day<br />
fixed for the sale, however, the collection was<br />
purchased by the British Museum, much to the<br />
satisfaction of students of history.<br />
"Contraband of War" is the title of a new<br />
work by Mr. M. P. Shiel (author of " The Yellow<br />
Danger"), which will be issued by Mr. Grant<br />
Richards in the spring.<br />
Another novel dealing with theatrical life. This<br />
will bo "On the Edge of a Precipice," by Miss<br />
Maiy Angela Dickens, which Messrs. Hutchinson<br />
will publish shortly.<br />
Mr. F. C. Constable has written a humorous<br />
story, entitled "Morgan Hailsham," which Mr.<br />
Grant Richards will bring out in the spring.<br />
A novel of adventure, by Mr. Tom Gallon,<br />
author of " Tatterley," will be published shortly<br />
by Messrs. Hutchinson, entitled "The Kingdom<br />
of Hate."<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 240 (#252) ############################################<br />
<br />
240<br />
THE A UTHOR.<br />
Two new books by Mr. Le Gallienne will appear<br />
shortly. ''Young Lives" is a novel, dealing<br />
with a group of young people who have ideals in<br />
life. It will be published by Arrowsmith. The<br />
second book is a fairy tale embodying a study<br />
of the artistic temperament. Mr. Lane will<br />
publish it under the title "The Worshipper of<br />
the Image."<br />
Professor Hereford is translating Ibsen's<br />
"Love's Comedy," for publication as a volume in<br />
the series of " Modern Plays," edited by Mr. E.<br />
Brimley Johnson and Mr. Erichsen, and pub-<br />
lished by Messrs. Duckworth. Mr. Erichsen is<br />
also translating Strindberg's "Fadren" (" The<br />
Father ").<br />
In an interview in the New York Outlook, Mr.<br />
R. W. Gilder, editor of the Century Magazine,<br />
expresses his conviction that people are beginning<br />
ta tire of photographic reproductions in maga-<br />
zines and periodicals, and that in the future the<br />
tendency will be in favour of original artistic<br />
work. While the photograph has had a corrective<br />
effect, and make illustrators truer to fact, it has<br />
on the other hand made them more prosaic; and<br />
Mr. Gilder thinks we shall soon witness a new<br />
generation of real illustrators.<br />
It has been evident for some time to all serious<br />
lovers of English poetry, says Mr. Stephen<br />
Phillips in an article which appears in the<br />
February number of the Dome, that modern<br />
verse is suffering from inanition. Perhaps the<br />
only wave of emotion lately has been roused by<br />
the splendour and the fact of empire; but this<br />
song can never be a permanent possession of<br />
mankind ; it is the pecan of materialism, restricted,<br />
anti-poetic, and is already beginning to pall upon<br />
us. Mr. Phillips' article is called "A Field for<br />
Modern Verse," and this is the suggestion he<br />
makes:—<br />
I would venture to suggest, in all humility, a subject for<br />
verse which is co-extensive, not merely with a single empire,<br />
but with the fate and destiny of all mankind. The revela-<br />
tion, then, of the life after death, which is slowly filtering<br />
into the intellect and imagination of the modern world is,<br />
as it seems to me, filled with tremendous possibilities of<br />
vision and melody. . . . The general picture of a<br />
world beyond the grave, which is gradually usurping the<br />
modern imagination, would seem at first sight to be not far<br />
removed from the scheme of Dante. In communications<br />
made through trance, or by the governed hand, we are<br />
again permitted to view realms of darkness, of ice, of<br />
twilight, of glory. But there is this essential and transcen-<br />
dent difference between the medieval and the modern con-<br />
ception—that whereas Dante imagined a definite place of<br />
darkness, or fire, or beauty, to which the soul repaired, we<br />
are now shown that the soul creates its own atmosphere,<br />
environment, and scenery.<br />
Miss Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler has completed<br />
a new novel.<br />
Joseph Hatton's new story in the bauds of the<br />
Tillotson syndicate will appear serially in a select<br />
number of weekly journals in England, the<br />
Colonies, and America, beginning next month.<br />
It is said to be a careful and elaborate study of<br />
Old London in the days of Jonathan Wild, whose<br />
portraiture is a leading feature of the story. The<br />
romance moves on different lines from those<br />
adopted by Mr. Hattou in his drama of "Jack<br />
Sheppard," opening romantically on " the King's<br />
Highway" in the North, Jonathan face to face<br />
with two of his own "knights of the road "—for<br />
Jonathan was not only the thief-taker, but the<br />
thief-employer, the chief of such an organisation<br />
of knavery as the world has rarely paralleled,<br />
even in the "palmy days of the bandit and the<br />
buccaneer." Mr. Hattou has relieved the sordid<br />
adventures of Jonathan and his army of adven-<br />
turers with a love story that links town and<br />
country and the Thames and the sea with inci-<br />
dents of a semi-historical character; and the<br />
novel is entitled " When Rogues Fall Out."<br />
"Loup-Garou!" is the title given by Mr.<br />
Eden Philpotts to a new volume of stories deal-<br />
ing with West Indian Life, which he is issuing<br />
through Messrs. Sands.<br />
The Daily Mail is issuing " The Best Hundred<br />
Books," and the Daily Telegraph is about to<br />
issue "The Best Hundred Novels." The latter<br />
selection will include many modern novels.<br />
Dean Stubbs is publishing through Unwiu a<br />
volume of verse entitled Brihtnoth's Prayer and<br />
Other Poems." Brihtnoth was an ealdorman of<br />
East Auglia, aud one of the founders of Ely.<br />
The poem, says the Dean of Ely, is a rescript and<br />
expansion of "that "almost Homeric " ballad, the<br />
"Battle of Maldon," and a re-setting of the<br />
hero's death cry, " God, I thank Thee for all the<br />
joy I have had in life."<br />
Mr. T. Sturge Moore is a new poet, whose first<br />
book, "The Vinedresser," will be published in a<br />
few days by the Unicorn Press.<br />
Le Droit cTAuteitr publishes tables showing<br />
the production of books in Russia (exclusive of<br />
Finland) in the years 1890 to 1895. The total<br />
publications in Russian for these years was<br />
42,146, and in foreign languages 12,086. Books<br />
on theology outnumbered those of any other<br />
class.<br />
Dr. Richard Garnett is about to retire from the<br />
post of Keeper of Printed Books at the British<br />
Museum. He has been connected with the<br />
Museum for forty-seven years, and, in addition to<br />
the large number of lxioks he has written, he<br />
edited the British Museum Catalogue from 1881<br />
to 1890. .. • , '.: ,!..,,•'-;<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 241 (#253) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
241<br />
During the past month Mr. Ruskin celebrated<br />
his eightieth birthday (Feb. 8) and Mr. Meredith<br />
his seventy-first (Feb. 12). Mr. Ruskin was<br />
made the recipient of an address from a number<br />
of distinguished admirers, but a proposal that he<br />
should sit to Mr. Holman Hunt for his portrait<br />
has been abandoned, as Mr. Ruskin could not<br />
endure the fatigue which this would entail.<br />
As a bitter evidence of the deterioration of the<br />
bookselling business, the writer of "Literary<br />
Gossip " in the Globe relates an incident which<br />
occurred a few days ago in one of the best known<br />
of London book shops. With eveiy circumstance<br />
of dignity an old lady was helped from her<br />
carriage. The footman hastened to the door of<br />
the shop, and she passed majestically in, and was<br />
shown into a chair by the principal assistant, a<br />
man steeped in the lore of books, prepared at a<br />
moment's notice to advise a course of reading in<br />
any line whatsoever. The old lady settled her-<br />
self in comfort, arranged her flounces, glanced<br />
round the teeming shelves, and asked sweetly,<br />
"Do you keep pink ham frills?"<br />
The sixth International Press Congress will be<br />
held at Rome, opening on April 6.<br />
"The Cardinal's Page," Mr. James Baker's<br />
new historical romance, has quickly gone into a<br />
third edition—a fact which speaks for itself.<br />
The author was lately elected a member of<br />
the Council of the National Home Reading<br />
Union.<br />
"A Semi-Detached Marriage" is the title of<br />
Miss Arabella Kenealy's forthcoming novel—to<br />
be issued next month by Messrs. Hutchinson.<br />
"Forbidden Banns" is the title of Annabel<br />
Gray's new novel, which will be published by<br />
Messrs. F. V. White and Co., and appears this<br />
month. The story has had a very successful run<br />
as a serial in the Daily Mail. It may inte-<br />
rest those who are studying the present ritual<br />
question.<br />
The Religious Tract Society issued on Feb. 24,<br />
in the form of the March supplement to the<br />
Girl's Own Paper, a story by Miss H. M. Burn-<br />
side, entitled "The Deaf Girl Next Door: or,<br />
Marjory's Life Work." This story deals with the<br />
special difficulties of the deaf and deaf mutes, and<br />
i-,f those with whom they associate; and it is<br />
hoped, by rousing public interest in this afflicted<br />
class, it will aid their cause. The writer is herself<br />
deaf.<br />
E. Livingston Prescott's new novel, "Helot and<br />
Hero," is announced for March 14. It is semi-<br />
military, and will form—-though of a more cheer-<br />
ful character—a companion volume to "Scarlet<br />
and Steel," now in its fourth edition. The scene<br />
of the closing chapters is the N.W. frontier of<br />
India. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. are the pub-<br />
lishers.<br />
The marriage chest of the " Father of Angling"<br />
has been found in a lumber-room at Warwick-<br />
Castle. The information it supplies refers to his<br />
first wife (a great-grandniece of Cranmer), and<br />
is as follows :—<br />
Izaak Walton—Rachael Ploud.<br />
Joyned Together in ye Holie Bonde of Wedlocke<br />
On ye 27th Daie of Deoembre A 1626 D.<br />
We once were two, we two made one;<br />
We no more two, through life bee one.<br />
A new volume of the late Mr. R. H. Hutton'a<br />
"Essays in the Spectator" is about to be published<br />
in Messrs. Macmillan's Eversley Series. The<br />
essays deal mair ly with ecclesiastical and theo-<br />
logical questions, in which the late editor of the<br />
Spectator took so keen an interest.<br />
Some time ago the Sir Walter Scott West-<br />
minster Memorial Committee presented a<br />
replica of the bust of Sir Walter Scott to the<br />
public library of Boston, U.S.A. In connection<br />
therewith Mr. Riclrard Lees, town clerk of the<br />
burgh of Galashiels, who is honorary secretary<br />
of the memorial committee, was recently waited<br />
upon by Mr. Fiske Warren, of Boston, at the<br />
request of the library trustees, and presented<br />
with an acknowledgment of the bust. In the<br />
address to the memorial committee the trustees<br />
express their gratefulness to the subscribers for<br />
their generosity, and still more for the spirit<br />
which prompted the gift. They recognise in this<br />
act of international courtesy a mark of the grow-<br />
ing harmony of interests between the two leading<br />
Powers in the civilisation of the world. The bust<br />
will shortly be formally unveiled at the opening<br />
of a new lecture hall in the library buildings.<br />
In the new edition of his "Democracy and<br />
Liberty," published recently by Messrs. Long-<br />
mans, Green, and Co., Mr. Lecky deals in detail<br />
with the work and character of Mr. Gladstone.<br />
Of Gladstone the writer, Mr. Lecky says:<br />
Few professed authors have written more or more vari-<br />
ously. Pamphlets on Ritualism, on Vaticanism, on Bulgarian<br />
Atrocities—elaborate books in defenoe of the Christian<br />
religion, a metrical translation of Horace, countless artioles<br />
of the most miscellaneous character followed each other in<br />
swift succession. Mere expression, whether in writing or<br />
speaking, seems to have cob! him nothing, and it was<br />
characteristic of him that the book which he called his<br />
"Gleanings" extended to some seven or eight volumes.<br />
Considering the life he led the literary production of his<br />
last years is truly wonderful, thongh it shows a kind of<br />
intellect that was much more wonderful in quantity than in<br />
quality. Perhaps the nearest modern parallel to his many-<br />
sided activity and to his astonishing copiousness of expres-<br />
sion is to be found in Henry Brougham, who was once<br />
deemed the most extraordinary of Englishmen, though he is<br />
now little more than a name.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 242 (#254) ############################################<br />
<br />
242<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
Mr. Thomas Burleigh is about to publish for<br />
Mr. J. C. Bailey a volume of essays dealing<br />
with eight of the great English letter writers.<br />
Some of them have already appeared in the<br />
Quarterly, the Fortnightly, and elsewhere, while<br />
others now appear for the first time. The title<br />
of the book is "Studies in Some Famous<br />
Letters."<br />
"Maureen Moore" is the title of an Irish<br />
story by Rupert Alexander, the author of " Bally -<br />
ronan," &c. It is a romance of "yS, but not<br />
altogether fiction. The publisher will be Mr.<br />
Thomas Burleigh.<br />
Professor Dowden is editing the Arden Shake-<br />
speare, and Mr. George Gissing is editing the<br />
Rochester Dickens—two new series which Messrs.<br />
Methuen are issuing.<br />
Mr. John Bickerdyke has just completed a<br />
romance entitled " The Passing of Prince Rogan."<br />
It is to a certain extent a story of the sea,<br />
and will have some interest for yachtsmen,<br />
but the author has utilised some of the reve-<br />
lations in recent bankruptcy proceedings. It<br />
will be published in New York by Messrs.<br />
Putnam's Sons, and in London by Mr. Thomas<br />
Burleigh.<br />
A new higluclass literary and religious weekly,<br />
called Saint Andrew — in sympathy with the<br />
Church of Scotland—has been started in Glasgow.<br />
Emily J. Jenkinson, joint author of "Fiona<br />
Mclver: a Romance of the Western Isles," is<br />
contributing a serial story entitled "The Twi-<br />
light of the Gods: a tale of Ancient Strathclyde."<br />
Miss Jenkinson is the daughter of the parish<br />
minister of Innellan, Argyllshire, and is a young<br />
lady still in her teens.<br />
A new edition, in great part re-written, and<br />
considerably enlarged (540 pages of text) of Mr.<br />
Reynolds-Ball's "Mediterranean Winter Resorts"<br />
(Kegan Paul and Co.) price .6*., was published<br />
last month. Owing to the great bulk of the<br />
book it has also been issued in two volumes,<br />
one volume dealing with the resorts of the South<br />
of Europe, and the others with those of North<br />
Africa and the Mediterranean Islands. Each<br />
volume is sold separately at 3*. 6d. Messrs.<br />
A. and C. Black have just published a revised<br />
.edition of the same author's " Cares of To-Day."<br />
THE BOOKS OF THE MONTH.<br />
[Jan. 24 to Feb. 22—287 Books.]<br />
Aarons, S. J. Golden Rules of Gynecology. 1/- Simpkin.<br />
Abbott. L. Life and Letters of Paul the Apostle. 6/- Clarke.<br />
About, Edmond (tr. by Lord Newton). Trentc et Quarante. :i/6.<br />
Arnold.<br />
Alexander, Mrs. Brown, V.C. 6/- Vnwin.<br />
Alford, M. Baptism. 2/- Alexander and S.<br />
Aide, Hamilton Jane Treachel. 6/- Hurst.<br />
All, Ameer Syed. Short History of the Saracens. 7 6 net.<br />
Macmillan.<br />
Allen, E. H. Edward FitzGerald's Rubai'yat of Omar Khayyam, with<br />
original Persian sources, ifce. 7/6. Quaritch.<br />
Annand, James. Forgotten Liberalism. 1 - Ma, Fleet-street, E.C.<br />
Anonymous. Her Soldier Lover. (Family Story-Teller.) 1'-<br />
W. Stevens.<br />
Anonymous (author of "The Banks and the Public"). Banks and<br />
their Oustomers. 1/- E. Wilson.<br />
Anonymous (author of " Lady Windermere's Fan "). The Importance<br />
of Being Earnest Smithers.<br />
Ansorge, W. J. Under the African Sun. 21/- net. Heinemann.<br />
Appleton, G. W. Francois the Valet 6 - Pearson.<br />
Arbuthnot, Sir A. J. Lord Clive: The Foundation of British Rule in<br />
India. 5/- Unwin.<br />
Aston, W. G. History of Japanese Literature. 6/- Heinemann.<br />
Atkins, J. B. The War in Cuba. 6 - Smith and E.<br />
Atkinson, C. M. The Magistrates' Annual Practice, 1899. Stevens.<br />
. Bacon, L. W. History of American Christianity. 10 6. Clarke.<br />
Baldwin, J. M. The Story of the Mind. 1- Newnes.<br />
Ballinger, J. The Public Libraries and the Schools. School Children<br />
in the Public Libraries. 1/6 net. Sotheran.<br />
Bannatyne, G. A. Thermal Waters of Bath. 2/- Simpkin.<br />
Bannerman, Frances. Milestones. Verses. 3 ti net. Richards.<br />
Bardoux, Jacques (tr. by W. R. Barker). Memories of Oxford.<br />
2/6 net. Roblnson.<br />
Barr, Robert. The Countess Tekla. ft/- Methuen.<br />
Barrett, W., and Hichens, R. The Daughters of Babylon. 6,-<br />
Macqaeen.<br />
Barry, Sir J. W Streets and Traffic of London. W. Trounce.<br />
Barton, F. T. The Ailments of Horses. 1/- Dean.<br />
Bates, F. G. Rhode Island and the Formation of the Union. 4/- King.<br />
Bateson, Mary (ed. for Royal Hist. Soc.). Duke of Newcastle's Nar-<br />
rative of the Changes in the Ministry 1765-67. 10/- Longmans.<br />
Beardsley, Aubrey. Second Book of Drawings. 10/6 net. Smithers.<br />
Behnke. Mrs. E. The Speaking Voice. Part II 2/6. Curwen.<br />
Bennett, R , and Elton, J. History of Cor n Mining. Vol. II. Simpkin.<br />
Bierce, A. Fantastic Fables. 3/6. Putnam.<br />
Bindloss, Harold. In the Niger Country. 12/6. Blackwood.<br />
BjOrnson, B. (tr. by H. L. Brtekstad). Paul Lunge and Tora Parsberg.<br />
5/- Harper.<br />
Blount, Godfrey. Arbor Vitae. 12/6 net. Dent.<br />
Body, Canon. The Guided Life. 1/- Skefflngton.<br />
Bond, Francis. English Cathedrals. Illustrated, i; - Newnes.<br />
Bond, R. W. Zenobla. A Drama. 3/6. Mathews.<br />
Bonney, T. G. Volcanoes. 6/- Murray.<br />
Bowles, F. G. In the Wake of the Sun. Verse. 2,6 net.<br />
Unicorn Press.<br />
Bowles, M. The Amazing Lady. 6/- Heinemann.<br />
Boyd. A. J. (ed. by A. Campbell). The Shellback. 6 - Cassell<br />
.<br />
Bretschneider. E. History of European Botanical Discoveries in<br />
China. 30 '- net. Low.<br />
Brock, A. C. The Cathedral Church of York. 1/6. Bell.<br />
Browning, The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett<br />
Barrett, 1845-46. 21/- Smith and E.<br />
Bryant, T. H. Norfolk Churches. Vol 3. 3/6. Norwich Mtixurt<br />
Office.<br />
Button, John. Gwen Penri, a Welsh Idyll. 5/- Stock.<br />
Burdett, Sir F. (ed ). The Nursing Profession. 2,6 net.<br />
Scientific Press.<br />
Burn, A. E. Introduction to the Creeds and to the Te Deum 10/6.<br />
Methuen.<br />
Burton, F. C. The Commercial Management of Engineering Works.<br />
12/6 net. Manchester: Scientific Publishing Co.<br />
Butler, Sir W, F. Life of Sir George Pomeroy-Colley, 1835-1881.<br />
21/- Murray.<br />
Campbell, A. (edA The Sound of a Voice that is Still. lied way.<br />
Campbell, R. (ed.). Ruling Cases. Vol. 17. 25/- net Stevens.<br />
C.'arroder, C. H. Bride of God. 6;- White.<br />
Carter, «. History of England. Part 3 (1689-1897) 2 - Relfe.<br />
Cartwright, F. L. The Mystic Rose from the Garden of the King.<br />
21/- Nichols.<br />
Chapman. E. J. Drama of Two Lives, and other Poems. 2,6. Paul<br />
.<br />
C'havaase, F. J. Plain Words on some Present Day Questions. 1 -<br />
Fro woe.<br />
Churchward, A. Origin and Antiquity of Freemasonry. Causton.<br />
Clark, W. J. Commercial Cuba. 14/- Chapman.<br />
Clarke, A. M. Life of the Hon. Mrs. Edward Petre. 5/6 net<br />
Art and Book Co.<br />
<br />
<br />
## p. 243 (#255) ############################################<br />
<br />
THE AUTHOR.<br />
243<br />
Clutlon-Brock, A. York Cathedral. 1/6. Bell.<br />
Coates, Colonel. China and the Open Door. 4 -<br />
ftristol Times ami Mercury.<br />
Cobbett, M. Bottled Holidays for Hume Consumption. 6/- Sands.<br />
Coles, V. S. S. Lenten Meditations. 2/6. Longman.<br />
Compton, B. Edward Meyrick Goulburn, D.D. 5/- Murray.<br />
Congreve, G. Christian Life. 5/- Longman.<br />
Copeman, S. M. Vaccination: its Natural History and Pathology.<br />
6/- net. Macmillan.<br />
Cox, W. L. P. Some English Church Principles, 1/- net. Young.<br />
Crane. It. A Crusade against Chimney Pots. 1/-<br />
143, Cannon St., E.C.<br />
Crawlcy-Boevey, A. W. (ed.). The "Perverse Widow." 42/- net.<br />
Longman.<br />
Crawshaw. E. Scientific Temperance Addresses. 2/- C.E.T.S.<br />
Crlpps-Day, F. H. Law relating to Assessment and Valuation of<br />
Railways and Stations for Rating Purposes. Eyre and S.<br />
Cross, Margaret B. Love and Olivia. 6/- Hurst.<br />
Cross, Victori*. A Girl of the Klondike. 3/6. Scott.<br />
Cunliffe, E. F. Verses at Sunset. 5/- net. Smithers.<br />
Dale, Nathan H. Omar the Tentmaker. 6/- Duckworth.<br />
Daley, V. J. At Dawn and Dusk. Poems. 5,- Bowden.<br />
Davenant, P. Cicely Vaughan. 6/- Long.<br />
Davenport, B. R. Anglo-Saxons, Onward! 2M. Inter. News Co.<br />
Davis. R. H. The Cuban and Porto Rican Campaigns. 7 6 net.<br />
Heinemann.<br />
Davidson. Mrs. J. E. Cold Meat Cookery. 1 - L. U. Gill.<br />
Dawe, Carlton. The Mandarin 6/- Hutchinson.<br />
Dawe. C. S. The Growth and Greatness of our World-Wide Empire.<br />
2,6. Educ. Supp. Assoc.<br />
Dawson, C. M. The Justice Stone, Ac. Poems. 5,-<br />
Edinburgh: Hunter.<br />
De Fonblanque, E. M. (Mrs. A. Harter). A Chaplet of Love Poems.<br />
!,,'- net. Smithers.<br />
D'Hulst, Mgr. (tr. by Lady Herbert). Life of Mother Mary Teresa.<br />
o,- Art and Book Co.<br />
DIrcks. R. The Libretto. 3/6. Sands.<br />
Dodd, A. F. History of France. 2-6.<br />
University Exam. Postal Institution.<br />
Donovan, Dick. The Records of Vincent Trill. 3 6. Chatto.<br />
Douglas, Theo. Carr of Dimscaur. 6/- Harper.<br />
Drummond, W. H. Phil 0' Rum's Canoe, and Madeleine Vercheres:<br />
Two Poems. 2/6. Putnam.<br />
Emerson. P. H. The English Euiersons. 42/- net. Nutt.<br />
Evagrius (ed. by J. Bidez and L. Parraentier). The Ecclesiastical<br />
History, with the Scholia. (Byzantine Texts, ed. by J. B. Bury).<br />
10, 6. Methuen.<br />
Evans, A. H. Birds. 17/- net. Macmillan.<br />
Ewart, J. C. The Penyouik Experiments. 10 - net. Black.<br />
Farrer, J. A. The New Leviathan, 2/6. Stock.<br />
Financial Reform Association, 1848-1898. 6d. net. Simpkin.<br />
Fisher-Hinnen. J. Continuous-Current Dynamos in Theory and<br />
Practice. 10,6. Biggs.<br />
Fletcher, J. S. The Paths of the Prudent. 6,- Methuen.<br />
Forde, Gertrude. Lady Lanark's Paying Guest. (> - Chapman.<br />
Fotherglll, W. E. Golden Rules of Obstetric Practice. 1- Simpkin.<br />
Fraeer, John Foster. Round the World on a Wheel. 6/- Methuen.<br />
Furse, G. A. Provisioning Armies in the Field. 10/6. Clowes.<br />
Gell. Hon. Mrs. Lyttelton. The Vision of Righteousness. 2/6.<br />
Frowde.<br />
Goltz, C. F. von der ltr. by G. F. Leverson). The Conduct of War.<br />
10,6. Paul.<br />
Gould, F. C. Westminster Cartoons. No. 3. 1- Westminster Gazette,<br />
Gray, A. E. P. Sermons. Hj- Skefflngton.<br />
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