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480	https://historysoa.com/items/show/480	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 05 (February 1903)	<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.+13+Issue+05+%28February+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 05 (February 1903)</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>	1903-02-01-The-Author-13-5					109–132																		<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=13">13</a>											<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1903-02-01">1903-02-01</a>							5			19030201	Che Hutbor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR<br /> <br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vou. XIII.—No. 5d.<br /> <br /> FEBRUARY<br /> <br /> {Price SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> —+—»—+<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> —____¢—_&lt;@—__e—<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> eg ee geee<br /> <br /> T,\OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> # signed or initialled the authors alone are<br /> <br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion<br /> of the Committee unless such is especially stated<br /> to be the case.<br /> <br /> Tur Editor begs to inform members of the<br /> Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author<br /> that the cases which are from time to time quoted<br /> in The Author are cases that have come before the<br /> notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the<br /> Society, and that those members of the Society<br /> who desire to have the names of the publishers<br /> concerned can obtain them on application.<br /> <br /> ++ —<br /> <br /> List of Members.<br /> <br /> Tu List of Members of the Society of Authors<br /> can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,<br /> <br /> at the price of 6d. net.<br /> It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> <br /> only.<br /> <br /> 1+<br /> <br /> The Pension Fund of the Society.<br /> <br /> THe investments of the Pension Fund at<br /> present standing in the names of the Trustees are<br /> as follows.<br /> <br /> This is a statement of the actual stock; the<br /> <br /> Vou, XIII.<br /> <br /> Ist, 1903.<br /> <br /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> Se £816 5 6<br /> ocaloans 6 104 10 0<br /> <br /> Victorian Government 3 % Con-<br /> solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11<br /> OWeayi LOAN eh ee 201. 9 3<br /> Motel ese. £1,714&gt; 4.8<br /> <br /> SpeciaAL APPEAL.<br /> <br /> Tur Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the<br /> Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-<br /> mittee has been very successful.<br /> <br /> The list of subscriptions and donations promised<br /> and given is set forth below. Further subscrip-<br /> tions and donations will be acknowledged as they<br /> come in.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Tuckett, F. F. £1.00<br /> » Cox, Miss Roalfe 0.5 0<br /> » Loynbee, William . 010 6<br /> ,, Anonymous . ‘ : t.07.0<br /> ,, Todd, Miss Margaret, M.D. Le 0<br /> x Pearson, Mrs. Conney 2 2 0<br /> » Seaman, Owen : ; sel 10<br /> ,. Abbot, Rev. Hdwin A., D.D.. 1 0 98<br /> » . Witherby, Rev. C. . : 0 9 0<br /> » Salwey, Reginald E. 010. 0<br /> », Vacher, Francis 1 tO<br /> Nov. 15, Parr, Mrs... : Tt 10<br /> » Davy, Mra. EE. : - 010556<br /> , Allingham, William, F.R.CS. 1 1 0<br /> , Armstrong, Miss Frances i. 5 0<br /> <br /> Holmes, Arthur H. (condi-<br /> tional) ; :<br /> Rattray, Alex. : ; :<br /> ,, Brodrick, The Honble. Mrs. .<br /> Nov. 17, Nisbet, Hume : : :<br /> Keene, H. G., C.S.I. : 0<br /> Bayly, Miss A. E. (Edna Lyall) 1<br /> 5 Forbes, E. ; : :<br /> » Spiers, Victor. : . 7 0<br /> <br /> Hon<br /> oo<br /> <br /> ”<br /> <br /> &amp;<br /> <br /> ”<br /> <br /> So<br /> <br /> ee)<br /> <br /> ok<br /> mba OOF oe<br /> oS co<br /> <br /> o<br />  <br /> <br /> 110<br /> <br /> Nov. 17, Kroeker, Mrs. Freiligrath<br /> Burrowes, Miss Elsa<br /> » Cooke-Taylor, R. W.<br /> Noy. 18, Voysey, Rev. Charles<br /> : Jones, W. Braunston<br /> Anonymous .<br /> Salmond, Mrs. Walter<br /> . Anonymous .<br /> Clough, Miss B. .<br /> - Stanton, Miss H. M.<br /> s “ Tucas Malet ”<br /> Noy. 20, E.G. .<br /> Jenkins, Miss &quot;Hadow<br /> Morrah, H. A. :<br /> Hatton-Ellis, Mrs. .<br /> Bertouch, The Baroness de<br /> Anonymous<br /> Nov. 21, Parr, Miss Olive<br /> Nov. 22, Forbes, Lady Helen<br /> a Twycross, Miss M.<br /> Nov. 24, Smythe, Alfred .<br /> Haggard, Mrs. John<br /> <br /> ”<br /> <br /> ”<br /> oe)<br /> ”<br /> <br /> 2.<br /> <br /> 9<br /> &gt; Anonymous<br /> <br /> 5, Dale, Miss Nellie .<br /> <br /> 5 “ Tresham Quaines” ‘<br /> Nov. 25, Young; W. Wellington .<br /> Nov. 26, Young, Capt. Charles<br /> Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. .<br /> Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia<br /> Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. .<br /> <br /> 5 Hamilton, Mrs. G. W.<br /> <br /> », Brinton, Selwyn<br /> Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie<br /> Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the<br /> <br /> Duchess of :<br /> <br /> Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace .<br /> Dec. 22, Anonymous<br /> Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. Ww.<br /> <br /> 5 Pike Clement, E.<br /> <br /> 1903.<br /> <br /> Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke<br /> <br /> » Deane, Rey. A.C. .<br /> Jan. 4, Anonymous<br /> <br /> » Heath, Miss Ida<br /> <br /> » Russell, G. H. :<br /> Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline<br /> <br /> ,, Bedford, Miss Jessie<br /> Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Donations.<br /> <br /> Noy. 13, Bullen, F. T.. : : &lt;<br /> . Roberts, Morley (an annual<br /> subscriber).<br /> Nov. 14, Rossetti, W.M. . :<br /> » Marshall, Capt. Robert .<br /> » Hoyer, Miss . :<br /> 3 EHO 8.<br /> <br /> cooroococoe ooocow ee ee ee<br /> <br /> OR OF © or<br /> <br /> e<br /> wpoanoournrnrnooH hn<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> ee<br /> MOANA OMNS<br /> <br /> CLOUD OO CLOW Ot OL OU OU<br /> <br /> e<br /> COS Orbo<br /> <br /> pe<br /> <br /> oe OMNoOo<br /> <br /> oocouoeo oO<br /> <br /> oococoo ScooocoocoescooooSoSOASCSOaASoSoSCSOascSooSseseseseoe<br /> <br /> cooooooo<br /> <br /> oocoocoe So<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Lefroy, Mrs.<br /> » Sinclair, Miss May (an annual<br /> subscriber) . :<br /> » McBride, Capt. E. E.<br /> Garnier, Russell<br /> Nov. 15, Burchell, Sidney H.<br /> » ESpero 2 ;<br /> 3 Ceol Medlicott ”<br /> » Harker, Mrs. Allen.<br /> ,, Banks, Mrs. M. M.<br /> ,. Spielmann, M. H. .<br /> 5 Garnier, Col. J.<br /> », Benecke, Miss Ida .<br /> ,» Atton, Henry :<br /> Nov. 17, Panter, Rev. C. R..<br /> » Keene, H. G., C.8.1. .<br /> », Spielmann, Mrs. M. H. .<br /> es Begbie, Harold<br /> » Stevenson, J.J. .<br /> , Minniken, Miss Bertha M.<br /> Nov. 18, From sale of autograph .<br /> » Wintle, H. R. ;<br /> 5, Brickdale-Corbett, H. M.<br /> » Defries, Miss Violet :<br /> Nov. 19, Stanton, Miss Hannah M.<br /> Warren, Major-General<br /> Charles, K.0.M.G.<br /> » ‘Lucas Malet” .<br /> Nov. 20, Wynne, Charles Whitworth<br /> Nov. 22, Skeat, The Rev. Prof. W. W. .<br /> Nov. 25, Jacobs, W. W. : :<br /> : Young, W. Wellington .<br /> Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite .<br /> Nov. &quot;26, Cook, OC. H. . .<br /> Noy. 27, Gleig, Charles<br /> » Harraden, Miss Beatrice<br /> Frankland, F. W.<br /> , @Auvergne, Mrs.<br /> Nov. 28, Sutcliffe, Halliwell<br /> Nov. 29, Weyman, Stanley J.<br /> <br /> 2?<br /> <br /> Sir<br /> <br /> Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon<br /> Dec. 2, Trevor- -Battye, Aubyn<br /> <br /> » Marks, Mrs. .<br /> Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles<br /> <br /> Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count<br /> , “Leicester Romayne ”<br /> Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily<br /> . Panting, J. Harwood<br /> Tattersall, Miss Louisa .<br /> Dec. ‘19, Egbert, Henry<br /> Dec. 28, Muirhead, James F.<br /> Dec. 28, A. 8. ;<br /> » Bateman Stringer . :<br /> Dec. 31, Cholmondely, Miss Mary<br /> 1903.<br /> Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. :<br /> » Middlemass, MissJean .<br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, Lord<br /> <br /> co<br /> ace eocorocoooonwoorn<br /> <br /> ao<br /> <br /> wSoooNOrre<br /> <br /> HPOCOrFRCOMrFOCOOHF<br /> <br /> Oe OH HOH OCOORANWOH<br /> <br /> or<br /> <br /> —<br /> WOO WHOUNTHIHOWOMONOrOM<br /> <br /> Hee<br /> eoo°o<br /> <br /> AIR OoOMMNS<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> a<br /> HOON OUMNUNONOHCORFRMNOCOrF OHS<br /> <br /> _<br /> <br /> e<br /> <br /> bs<br /> oO<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> oo<br /> <br /> To<br /> <br /> LE<br /> pial<br /> <br /> add<br /> ITE<br /> sd<br /> add<br /> cone<br /> <br /> wi BH<br /> <br /> ral<br /> We<br /> fD<br /> <br /> T<br /> a<br /> sl<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 11<br /> Jan. 6, Gribble, Francis. : 010 O FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . 010 6 (eee<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston lot 0<br /> » Miller, Miss BE. T. . Oo 5 40 a first committee meeting of the year was<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 0-10 6 held at the offices of the Society on January<br /> <br /> The following members have also made subscrip-<br /> tions or donations :—<br /> <br /> Meredith, George, President of the Society.<br /> <br /> Thompson, Sir Henry, Bart., F.R.C.S.<br /> <br /> Rashdall, The Rey. H.<br /> <br /> Guthrie, Anstey.<br /> <br /> Robertson, C. B.<br /> <br /> There are in addition other subscribers who do<br /> not desire that either their names or the amount<br /> they are subscribing should be printed.<br /> <br /> SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of<br /> our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for<br /> five years, if nine other members of the Society<br /> will promise the same contribution before 31st<br /> March, 1903.<br /> <br /> We sincerely hope that sufficient members of<br /> the Society will be found to come forward and<br /> meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that<br /> before the time expires we may be able to print in<br /> the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten<br /> subscribers of the required amount.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> Hawkins, A. Hope. : : -£10 0 0<br /> Barrie, J. M.. : : : - 102:0:.0<br /> Drummond, Hamilton ; : ~ 10. 0.0<br /> Wynne, Charles Whitworth : = 10.0 0<br /> Gilbert, W.S. . ‘ : : - £02 0 0<br /> —_+—+—<br /> <br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> <br /> THE amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £330 38 6<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,<br /> about £4. Thesubscriptions received from July 1st<br /> to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . : : : Sl 1 20<br /> Salwey, Reginald E. ; : j 010 0<br /> Gidley, Miss E. C. 010 0<br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0 7 6<br /> Dill, Miss Bessie 0 5.0<br /> Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0<br /> Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6<br /> Clarke, Miss B. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> 12th. The Committee had the pleasure of<br /> electing thirty-one members. They consider this<br /> a very satisfactory and encouraging sign of the<br /> continuance of the Society’s prosperity. The names<br /> are set out on another page, except in cases where<br /> a member expresses any special reason to the<br /> contrary.<br /> <br /> Mr. Edward Rose and Mr. A. W. A Beckett<br /> have been re-elected to the Committee, and Sir<br /> Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G., C.B., has been elected<br /> to fill the place made vacant by the resignation of<br /> Mr. Henry Norman. Mr. Norman resigned from<br /> the Committee owing to pressure of work, and<br /> his inability to give his constant attention to the<br /> weighty affairs of the Society. He has, however,<br /> consented to give whatever aid he can in his<br /> position as a member of Parliament, and still<br /> retains his position on the Council. If the Copy-<br /> right Law should again come before the House of<br /> Commons, the Committee will be glad to avail<br /> themselves of his valuable assistance.<br /> <br /> Sir Henry Bergne, as all members of the Society<br /> know, was the representative of England at the<br /> Berne Convention, and again at the Paris Con-<br /> vention of 1896. He is one of the chief authorities<br /> on copyright in England. It is impossible to<br /> over-estimate the help he will be able to render to<br /> the Committee.<br /> <br /> It was decided, at the suggestion of Mr. Frampton<br /> and the architects of St. Paul’s Cathedral, that the<br /> Besant medallion should be set up in bronze, and<br /> not in marble as at first suggested.<br /> <br /> Three cases were under discussion at the<br /> meeting.<br /> <br /> After going carefully through the papers and<br /> with the advice of the solicitors of the Society, it<br /> was decided to take up one, on behalf of the<br /> member, should the matter come to an issue.<br /> <br /> The Committee regretted that they could not<br /> give their support to the other two.<br /> <br /> —_1+—&lt;— —_<br /> <br /> Elections, January 12th, 1903.<br /> <br /> The following members and associates were<br /> elected on January 12th, 1903.<br /> <br /> Bedford, Miss Jessie Red House, South-<br /> bourne, Hants.<br /> <br /> Silkstone Vicarage,<br /> Barnsley.<br /> <br /> Maynard Lodge, Upper-<br /> ton Road, Hast-<br /> bourne.<br /> <br /> Bellamy, Rev. R. L.<br /> <br /> Blunt, Norman<br /> 112<br /> <br /> Browne, Tom.<br /> <br /> Bulkeley-Johnson,<br /> (*« Adoc ’’)<br /> <br /> “ Carlton Carlisle”? .<br /> <br /> Chartres, Anita Vivanti .<br /> <br /> Cobbett, Miss Alice M.<br /> <br /> Dealtry, Mrs.B. (‘‘ Clarice<br /> <br /> Danvers ””)<br /> <br /> Dewhurst,<br /> R.B.A.<br /> Fleet, J. Faithful .<br /> <br /> Gaye, Wilfrid.<br /> Geere, H. Valentine<br /> <br /> Hailett, Col. W. Hughes<br /> <br /> («W. H. H.”)<br /> <br /> Howatson, Miss Nettie .<br /> <br /> Hutchins, Miss L.<br /> Jesse, W.<br /> <br /> Kingsley, Miss<br /> <br /> Lucas, St. John W. L.<br /> Mackenzie, H.<br /> <br /> Milecete, Helen (Mrs.)<br /> Montgomery, K. L.<br /> <br /> Perrin, A.<br /> <br /> Roe, Mrs.<br /> (“ George Wemyss ”)<br /> <br /> Sherrington, Charles 8.<br /> <br /> “ Stephen Langton ”’<br /> Tonier, Theodore<br /> <br /> White, Caroline (Mrs.) .<br /> <br /> Miss<br /> <br /> Wynford,<br /> <br /> Richard<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> “ Wollatton,’ Hardy<br /> Road, Blackheath,<br /> S.E.<br /> <br /> 1, St. George’s Ter-<br /> race, Brighton.<br /> <br /> c/o T. Cook and Sons,<br /> Ludgate Circus.<br /> <br /> Hansler House, Lewes,<br /> Sussex.<br /> <br /> 56, Bedford Court<br /> Mansions, W.<br /> <br /> Chelmscott, Leighton<br /> Buzzard.<br /> <br /> 79, Eaton Rise, EHal-<br /> ing, W.<br /> <br /> 122, Hill Lane, South-<br /> ampton.<br /> <br /> 2, St. Leonards Road,<br /> Ealing, W.<br /> <br /> The Cottage, Fala,<br /> Carnwath, Lanark-<br /> shire.<br /> <br /> 48, Holland Street,<br /> Kensington, W.<br /> <br /> La Martiniére College,<br /> Lucknow, India.<br /> <br /> Keys, Eversley, Winch-<br /> field.<br /> <br /> 25, Langham Mansions,<br /> <br /> Earls Court Square,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> 1, Henrietta Place,<br /> Dalkey, Co. Dublin.<br /> <br /> 5, Hereford Square,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> Crane House, Twicken-<br /> ham.<br /> <br /> 16, Grove Park, Liver-<br /> pool.<br /> <br /> 65, May Square, Kew,<br /> Victoria, Melbourne,<br /> Australia.<br /> <br /> Bedford Lodge, Whyte-<br /> leafe, Surrey.<br /> <br /> One member alone does not desire publication.<br /> <br /> $$ —_—_<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> R. OSCAR BROWNING has written im-<br /> <br /> pressions of the visit he paid to Lord<br /> <br /> Curzon in India, in the form of “ Letters<br /> <br /> from India,” which are now appearing in King<br /> <br /> and Country. Mr. Browning is also engaged on<br /> <br /> a history of the youth of Napoleon I., from his<br /> <br /> birth to the siege of Toulon, a very interesting<br /> and little known period of his life.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arthur W. Marchmont’s next book, “ By<br /> Snare of Love,” is to be serialised in the Hnglish<br /> Tilustrated Magazine, and is to start in the April<br /> number. Arrangements are in course for its serial<br /> appearance in the United States simultaneously.<br /> It will be published in volume form on this side by<br /> Messrs. Ward, Lock &amp; Co. when the serial has run<br /> its course, and in America by a firm who have<br /> issued several of Mr. Marchmont’s previous works<br /> there. “ By Snare of Love” is a novel of adventure,<br /> the scene being laid in Turkey.<br /> <br /> Mr. Thomas Cobb’s new 6s. novel, “The Intri-<br /> guer,” is to be published this month by Mr.<br /> Eveleigh Nash. Another novel of his, “The<br /> Composite Lady,” will be issued sometime in July<br /> by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Besides placing<br /> eight or ten short stories with various magazines,<br /> Mr. Cobb has just finished a story for Methuen’s<br /> Children’s Series. It is called “The Lost Ball.”<br /> <br /> Messrs. Methuen have brought out a fresh<br /> Indian story by Mrs. F. Penny, called “ A Mixed<br /> Marriage.” It deals with the love affairs of a<br /> Mohammedan noble and an English lady ; showing<br /> that tragedies as well as comedies take place behind<br /> the jealously guarded purdah of the harém, and<br /> that the course of true love does not run any<br /> smoother in the East than in the West.<br /> <br /> “The Little Colonel,” by Mina Doyle (Mrs. C.<br /> W. Young), authoress of “ On Parole,” etc., is just<br /> out. The characters in “The Little Colonel” are<br /> interesting, and most of them are lovable. For<br /> many readers the chief interest of the story will<br /> probably centre in the picture of Rottingdean—<br /> called Cliffdean in the book.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Macmillan have recently issued a trans-<br /> lation from the French of M. Ostrogorski’s work,<br /> “Democracy and the Organisation of Political<br /> Parties.” ‘To the translation by Mr. Frederick<br /> Clarke a preface is prefixed by the Right Hon.<br /> James Bryce, which emphasises the importance<br /> and unique character of this study of the modern<br /> party system—the organisation of political forces<br /> which exists apart from recognised political<br /> institutions.<br /> <br /> Mr. John Davidson’s new comedy, “ The Knight<br /> of the Maypole,” consists of four acts in prose and<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 113<br /> <br /> in verse. Ina prefatory note Mr. Davidson says :<br /> “This play was written in 1900, and after various<br /> adventures is now published—twenty-five years<br /> having come and gone since in ‘An Unhistorical<br /> Pastoral’ I first wrote of the Maypole.”<br /> <br /> We quote the following verses from Mr. Rowland<br /> Hill’s “Songs in Solitude and Photographs in<br /> Verse,” recently issued by Messrs. Simpkin<br /> Marshall :—<br /> <br /> THE LIBRARIAN.<br /> “The volumes ranged about his room<br /> Retain the mighty thoughts of man<br /> <br /> Compressed as in a little tomb :<br /> He clasps a life-work in his span.<br /> <br /> “One wall holds many nations’ brains :<br /> The poets grouped fill up a shelf :<br /> A folio Shakespeare’s soul contains :<br /> The Bible takes an inch itself.<br /> <br /> ‘He gropes among illustrious minds<br /> On great deeds brooding of the dead :<br /> Then lonely lifts aside the blinds,<br /> And views the vast stars overhead.”<br /> <br /> In the Hampstead Annual just published (2s. 6d.<br /> nett), there is a delightful, personal, and critical<br /> paper by Mr. Sidney Colvin on “ Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson at Hampstead.” In June, 1874, Steven-<br /> son and Mr. Colvin occupied jointly for awhile a<br /> set of lodgings in Abernethy House at the corner<br /> of Mount Vernon and Holly Place. “Stevenson,”<br /> Mr. Colvin tells us, ‘was then in his twenty-fourth<br /> year, in the full glow—a glow that mounted some-<br /> times near fever heat—of his brilliant and unquiet<br /> youth.” It was at this time R. L. S. was elected<br /> to the Savile Club.<br /> <br /> Mr. Colvin’s time and strength are almost<br /> wholly taken up with official work ; but we are<br /> glad to know, that sooner or later, he means to<br /> give us the book on Stevenson—critical and<br /> personal-—-which he has had in his mind, and<br /> partly on the stocks, for a long time. Certainly it<br /> will be an illuminating book.<br /> <br /> We learn that it is proposed to publish further<br /> translations of the works of Friedrich Nietzsche<br /> as soon as possible. An edition in eleven<br /> volumes—exclusive of the posthumous works—<br /> was projected in 1895 by Messrs. Henry in England<br /> in connection with the Macmillan Company in<br /> America, and arrangements were made for the<br /> translation of the volumes under the editorship of<br /> A. Tille, Ph.D. Only three volumes were issued<br /> however, and the MSS. of five unpublished<br /> volumes—now very carefully revised—are in the<br /> translator’s hands.<br /> <br /> Of Nietzsche’s works still to be published<br /> <br /> (Fisher Unwin), Miss Helen Zimmern is the<br /> able translator of two, viz.:; “ Beyond Good and<br /> <br /> Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future ;’<br /> and “Human all too Human: A Book for Free<br /> Spirits,” Vol. I. Those who order copies before-<br /> hand will receive them when published at two-<br /> thirds of the nett price, which is 8s. 6d. for the<br /> larger volumes and 7s. for the smaller ones.<br /> Such previous orders should be sent to (1) Miss<br /> Helen Zimmern, Palazzo Acciajuoli, Lung Arno,<br /> Florence; or to (2) William A. Haussmann,<br /> Ph.D., 3,712, Sydenham Street, Philadelphia; or<br /> to (3) Thomas Common, 112, George Street,<br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> There was a painfully interesting article in the<br /> Daily Chronicle of January 17th trom the expert<br /> pen of Mr. Arthur Morrison, entitled “ Winter<br /> and Want: East London in the North-East Wind.”<br /> It was at the office of the Rev. Peter Thompson<br /> (242a, Cable Street, E.), who is administering the<br /> Hast-End Relief Fund, that Mr. Morrison began<br /> his walk, through regions intimately known<br /> to him of old: regions he has so convincingly<br /> described in his “ Tales of Mean Streets ” :—<br /> <br /> “ Those dull little rows of decent houses, every window<br /> making its best show to the world, with its mended curtain,<br /> its poor little wool mat, its barren flower-pot in faded pink<br /> paper. I have watched the tragedy—the slow tragedy, the<br /> tragedy of no stirring action—played out, and now playing<br /> out, behind many of those quiet little windows—played<br /> sometimes to an end too bitter for printed words... . A<br /> general impression is best of multitudes of desperate little<br /> homes, bared of their moveables, and cold in the grate ; each<br /> with a thin-clad father and mother—or perhaps only one<br /> of them—striving to the last to fend away the hour<br /> when nothing shall be left for the mouths of sick and<br /> hungry children; and meanwhile to keep themselves<br /> <br /> ‘independent.’ ”<br /> <br /> Mr. E. A. Reynolds-Ball, F.R.G.S., has recently<br /> published a capital little book (E. Marlborough &amp;<br /> Co.), called “ Practical Hints for Travellers in the<br /> Near East.” This companion to the Guide Books<br /> contains just the sort of information the average<br /> traveller needs to know. The Medical Hints<br /> section has been read and approved by a London<br /> medical man of high standing. Mr. Ball’s, “ Cairo<br /> of To-day,” is in a third edition. This, and his<br /> “ Jerusalem,” are issued by A. and C. Black, at<br /> 2s. 6d.<br /> <br /> The annual annotated edition of the “Statutes<br /> of Practical Utility,” which is brought out by Mr.<br /> J. M. Lely in continuation of “ Chitty’s Statutes ”<br /> (Sweet and Maxwell, Limited ; Stevens &amp; Sons,<br /> Limited), will appear this year early this month,<br /> containing, amongst other important statutes, the<br /> Education Act, the Licensing Act, and the Cre-<br /> mation Act. There is an “ Additional Note” on<br /> the Education Act, and that Act and the Licens-<br /> ing Act are followed by Board of Education and<br /> Home Office Circulars and Forms respectively.<br />  <br /> <br /> 112<br /> <br /> Browne, Tom.<br /> <br /> Bulkeley-Johnson,<br /> (*« Adoc ’’)<br /> “ Carlton Carlisle”.<br /> <br /> Chartres, Anita Vivanti .<br /> <br /> Cobbett, Miss Alice M.<br /> <br /> Dealtry, Mrs.B. (‘ Clarice<br /> <br /> Danvers ’’)<br /> <br /> Dewhurst,<br /> R.B.A.<br /> Fleet, J. Faithful .<br /> <br /> Gaye, Wilfrid .<br /> Geere, H. Valentine<br /> <br /> Hallett, Col. W. Hughes<br /> <br /> (°W. 1. BH.)<br /> Howatson, Miss Nettie<br /> Hutchins, Miss L. .<br /> Jesse, W.<br /> <br /> Kingsley, Miss<br /> Lucas, St. John W. L.<br /> Mackenzie, H.<br /> <br /> Milecete, Helen (Mrs.)<br /> Montgomery, K. L.<br /> <br /> Perrin, A.<br /> <br /> Roe, Mrs.<br /> (“ George Wemyss ”)<br /> <br /> Sherrington, Charles 8.<br /> <br /> “ Stephen Langton ”’<br /> Tonier, Theodore<br /> <br /> White, Caroline (Mrs.) .<br /> <br /> Miss<br /> <br /> Wynford,<br /> <br /> Richard<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> “ Wollatton,” Hardy<br /> Road, Blackheath,<br /> S.E.<br /> <br /> 1, St. George’s Ter-<br /> race, Brighton.<br /> <br /> c/o T. Cook and Sons,<br /> Ludgate Circus.<br /> <br /> Hansler House, Lewes,<br /> Sussex.<br /> <br /> 56, Bedford<br /> Mansions, W.<br /> <br /> Chelmscott, Leighton<br /> Buzzard.<br /> <br /> 79, Eaton Rise, EHal-<br /> ing, W.<br /> <br /> Court<br /> <br /> 122, Hill Lane, South-<br /> ampton.<br /> <br /> 2, St. Leonards Road,<br /> Ealing, W.<br /> <br /> The Cottage, Fala,<br /> Carnwath, Lanark-<br /> shire.<br /> <br /> 48, Holland Street,<br /> Kensington, W.<br /> <br /> La Martiniére College,<br /> Lucknow, India.<br /> <br /> Keys, Eversley, Winch-<br /> field.<br /> <br /> 25, Langham Mansions,<br /> <br /> Earls Court Square,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> 1, Henrietta Place,<br /> Dalkey, Co. Dublin.<br /> <br /> 5, Hereford Square,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> Crane House, Twicken-<br /> ham.<br /> <br /> 16, Grove Park, Liver-<br /> pool.<br /> <br /> 65, May Square, Kew,<br /> Victoria, Melbourne,<br /> Australia.<br /> <br /> Bedford Lodge, Whyte-<br /> leafe, Surrey.<br /> <br /> One member alone does not desire publication.<br /> <br /> ——— eS<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> —1—&lt;&gt;—+<br /> <br /> R. OSCAR BROWNING has written im-<br /> pressions of the visit he paid to Lord<br /> Curzon in India, in the form of “ Letters<br /> from India,” which are now appearing in King<br /> and Country. Mr. Browning is also engaged on<br /> a history of the youth of Napoleon I., from his —<br /> birth to the siege of Toulon, a very interesting<br /> and little known period of his life.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arthur W. Marchmont’s next book, “By —<br /> Snare of Love,” is to be serialised in the Hnglish<br /> Illustrated Magazine, and is to start in the April<br /> number. Arrangements are in course for its serial<br /> appearance in the United States simultaneously.<br /> It will be published in volume form on this side by<br /> Messrs. Ward, Lock &amp; Co. when the serial has run<br /> its course, and in America by a firm who have<br /> issued several of Mr. Marchmont’s previous works<br /> there. ‘“ By Snare of Love” is a novel of adventure,<br /> the scene being laid in Turkey.<br /> <br /> Mr. Thomas Cobb’s new 6s. novel, “The Intri-<br /> guer,” is to be published this month by Mr.<br /> Eveleigh Nash. Another novel of his, “The<br /> Composite Lady,” will be issued sometime in July<br /> by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Besides placing<br /> eight or ten short stories with various magazines, —<br /> Mr. Cobb has just finished a story for Methuen’s<br /> Children’s Series. It is called ‘The Lost Ball.”<br /> <br /> Messrs. Methuen have brought out a fresh<br /> Indian story by Mrs. F. Penny, called “ A Mixed<br /> Marriage.” It deals with the love affairs of a<br /> Mohammedan noble and an English lady ; showing<br /> that tragedies as well as comedies take place behind<br /> the jealously guarded purdah of the harém, and<br /> that the course of true love does not run any<br /> smoother in the East than in the West.<br /> <br /> “The Little Colonel,’ by Mina Doyle (Mrs. C.<br /> W. Young), authoress of “ On Parole,” etc., is just<br /> out. The characters in “The Little Colonel” are<br /> interesting, and most of them are lovable. For<br /> many readers the chief interest of the story will<br /> probably centre in the picture of Rottingdean— —<br /> called Cliffdean in the book.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Macmillan have recently issued a trans-<br /> lation from the French of M. Ostrogorski’s work,<br /> “Democracy and the Organisation of Political<br /> Parties.” To the translation by Mr. Frederick<br /> Clarke a preface is prefixed by the Right Hon.<br /> James Bryce, which emphasises the importance<br /> and unique character of this study of the modern<br /> party system—the organisation of political forees<br /> which exists apart from recognised political<br /> institutions.<br /> <br /> Mr. John Davidson’s new comedy, ‘‘ The Knight —<br /> of the Maypole,” consists of four acts in prose and<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 113<br /> <br /> in verse. In a prefatory note Mr. Davidson says :<br /> “This play was written in 1900, and after various<br /> adventures is now published—twenty-five years<br /> having come and gone since in ‘An Unhistorical<br /> Pastoral ’ I first wrote of the Maypole.”<br /> <br /> We quote the following verses from Mr. Rowland<br /> Hill’s “Songs in Solitude and Photographs in<br /> Verse,” recently issued by Messrs. Simpkin<br /> Marshall :—<br /> <br /> THE LIBRARIAN.<br /> “The volumes ranged about his room<br /> Retain the mighty thoughts of man<br /> <br /> Compressed as in a little tomb :<br /> He clasps a life-work in his span.<br /> <br /> “ One wall holds many nations’ brains :<br /> The poets grouped fill up a shelf :<br /> A folio Shakespeare’s soul contains :<br /> The Bible takes an inch itself.<br /> <br /> “He gropes among illustrious minds<br /> On great deeds brooding of the dead :<br /> Then lonely lifts aside the blinds,<br /> And views the vast stars overhead.”<br /> <br /> In the Hampstead Annual just published (2s. 6d.<br /> nett), there is a delightful, personal, and critical<br /> paper by Mr. Sidney Colvin on “ Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson at Hampstead.” In June, 1874, Steven-<br /> son and Mr. Colvin occupied jointly for awhile a<br /> set of lodgings in Abernethy House at the corner<br /> of Mount Vernon and Holly Place. ‘“ Stevenson,”<br /> Mr. Colvin tells us, *‘ was then in his twenty-fourth<br /> year, in the full glow—a glow that mounted some-<br /> times near fever heat—of his brilliant and unquiet<br /> youth.” It was at this time R. L. 8. was elected<br /> to the Savile Club.<br /> <br /> Mr. Colvin’s time and strength are almost<br /> wholly taken up with official work ; but we are<br /> glad to know, that sooner or later, he means to<br /> give us the book on Stevenson—critical and<br /> personal—_which he has had in his mind, and<br /> partly on the stocks, for a long time. Certainly it<br /> will be an illuminating book.<br /> <br /> We learn that it is proposed to publish further<br /> translations of the works of Friedrich Nietzsche<br /> as soon as possible. An edition in eleven<br /> volumes—exclusive of the posthumous works—<br /> was projected in 1895 by Messrs. Henry in England<br /> in connection with the Macmillan Company in<br /> America, and arrangements were made for the<br /> translation of the volumes under the editorship of<br /> A. Tille, Ph.D. Only three volumes were issued<br /> however, and the MSS. of five unpublished<br /> volumes—now very carefully revised—are in the<br /> translator’s hands.<br /> <br /> Of Nietzsche’s works still to be published<br /> (Fisher Unwin), Miss Helen Zimmern is the<br /> able translator of two, viz.: “ Beyond Good and<br /> <br /> Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future ;’<br /> and “Human all too Human: A Book for Free<br /> Spirits,” Vol. I. Those who order copies before-<br /> hand will receive them when published at two-<br /> thirds of the nett price, which is 8s. 6d. for the<br /> larger volumes and 7s. for the smaller ones.<br /> Such previous orders should be sent to (1) Miss<br /> Helen Zimmern, Palazzo Acciajuoli, Lung Arno,<br /> Florence; or to (2) William A. Haussmann,<br /> Ph.D., 3,712, Sydenham Street, Philadelphia; or<br /> to (3) Thomas Common, 112, George Street,<br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> There was a painfully interesting article in the<br /> Daily Chronicle of January 17th trom the expert<br /> pen of Mr. Arthur Morrison, entitled “ Winter<br /> and Want: Hast London in the North-East Wind.”<br /> It was at the office of the Rev. Peter Thompson<br /> (242a, Cable Street, E.), who is administering the<br /> East-End Relief Fund, that Mr. Morrison began<br /> his walk, through regions intimately known<br /> to him of old: regions he has so convincingly<br /> described in his “ Tales of Mean Streets ” :—<br /> <br /> “Those dull little rows of decent houses, every window<br /> making its best show to the world, with its mended curtain,<br /> its poor little wool mat, its barren flower-pot in faded pink<br /> paper. I have watched the tragedy—the slow tragedy, the<br /> tragedy of no stirring action—played out, and now playing<br /> out, behind many of those quiet little windows—played<br /> sometimes to an end too bitter for printed words... .. A<br /> general impression is best of multitudes of desperate little<br /> homes, bared of their moveables, and cold in the grate ; each<br /> with a thin-clad father and mother—or perhaps only one<br /> of them—striving to the last to fend away the hour<br /> when nothing shall be left for the mouths of sick and<br /> hungry children; and meanwhile to keep themselves<br /> ‘independent.’ ”<br /> <br /> Mr. E. A. Reynolds-Ball, F.R.G.S., has recently<br /> published a capital little book (E. Marlborough &amp;<br /> Co.), called “ Practical Hints for Travellers in the<br /> Near East.” This companion to the Guide Books<br /> contains just the sort of information the average<br /> traveller needs to know. The Medical Hints<br /> section has been read and approved by a London<br /> medical man of high standing. Mr. Ball’s, “ Cairo<br /> of To-day,” is in a third edition. This, and his<br /> “ Jerusalem,” are issued by A. and C. Black, at<br /> 2s. 6d.<br /> <br /> The annual annotated edition of the “ Statutes<br /> of Practical Utility,’ which is brought out by Mr.<br /> J. M. Lely in continuation of “ Chitty’s Statutes ”<br /> (Sweet and Maxwell, Limited ; Stevens &amp; Sons,<br /> Limited), will appear this year early this month,<br /> containing, amongst other important statutes, the<br /> Education Act, the Licensing Act, and the Cre-<br /> mation Act. There is an “ Additional Note” on<br /> the Education Act, and that Act and the Licens-<br /> ing Act are followed by Board of Education and<br /> Home Office Circulars and Forms respectively.<br />  <br /> <br /> 114<br /> <br /> Mr. Cecil Clarke, author of “An Artist’s Fate,”<br /> “Tove’s Loyalty,” etc. etc, has commenced<br /> another novel on somewhat romantic lines, but in<br /> consequence of other claims upon his time, it<br /> cannot be finished yet awhile. Mr. Clarke is a<br /> regular contributor to The Philanthropist, and<br /> reprints of his contributions are frequently<br /> ordered.<br /> <br /> “ Alsatian Tales,” by Madame Jean Delaire,<br /> illustrated by Alfred Touchemolin (Sands &amp; Co.),<br /> is a volume of short stories or sketches. There<br /> are four of them: “Mademoiselle Beaux Yeux,”<br /> a schoolroom tragedy; “The Deserter,” a<br /> frontier incident; “ Pro Patria,” an episode ;<br /> and “Vive la France,” a reminiscence. They<br /> are strongly French in sympathy, breathing a<br /> fervid patriotism.<br /> <br /> “A Romance of the Nursery,” by Mrs. L.<br /> Allen Harker, is a charming story about children.<br /> here are some good illustrations by Katherine<br /> M. Roberts. It is published by Mr. John Lane.<br /> <br /> Though, unfortunately, rather late in the day,<br /> we are glad to acknowledge a South African<br /> Christmas Annual called “Silver Leaves” (1s.),<br /> edited by Mr. W. H. Stokes, a member of this<br /> Society. The illustrations are very good indeed,<br /> the complete panorama of Cape Town being<br /> especially interesting. “Silver Leaves” is a small<br /> volume of South African views well worth buying.<br /> We wish Mr. Stokes’ Annual a long and hardy<br /> life.<br /> <br /> John Oliver Hobbes’ “School for Saints” has<br /> just been issued in a cheap sixpenny edition by<br /> Mr. T. Fisher Unwin.<br /> <br /> We understand that Sir Charles Wyndham<br /> hopes to open his new theatre in St. Martin’s<br /> Laneaboutthe middle of this month. “ Rosemary”<br /> is the play chosen for the first performance, and<br /> the receipts are to be devoted to charity.<br /> <br /> A new operatic and dramatic society, to be<br /> called “The Londoners,” is being formed. It<br /> is to produce comic operas and musical comedies<br /> from time to time at some London theatre for<br /> quite short periods. The proceeds will go to<br /> charities,<br /> <br /> It seems that “Iris” has been doing very well<br /> financially in America.<br /> <br /> If Mrs. Patrick Campbell can secure a New<br /> York theatre she will probably produce a series<br /> of Shakespearian and Sardou plays under her own<br /> management.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> — 1<br /> <br /> 2 1 Profonde” is the title of M. Paul<br /> Bourget’s new novel. In the first chapter<br /> the author explains his title, and with his<br /> <br /> usual analytic method proceeds to discuss the<br /> <br /> meaning of the proverb “Still waters run deep,”<br /> as rendered by the English, the French and the<br /> <br /> Italians, and, strangely enough, it is the English<br /> <br /> version which the French author adopts for the<br /> <br /> title of his book.<br /> <br /> “ Chez les Anglais,” we are told, “l’esprit réaliste<br /> saccompagne de la plus solitaire, de la plus<br /> méditative réverie—l’Anglo-Saxon est durement<br /> brutal quand il est brutal, étrangement songeur<br /> quand il est songeur.”<br /> <br /> After this introduction one might expect some<br /> further reference to the English in the novel, but<br /> nothing could be more absolutely un-English than<br /> the whole story from beginning toend. The eternal<br /> theme once more, of which even Parisians are at<br /> last getting weary! There is nothing very original<br /> even in the plot itself, with its inevitable accom-<br /> paniments in the way of clandestine rendezvous,<br /> anonymous letters, and the discovery by one of the<br /> principal characters of the fact that he is not the<br /> son of the man he has been taught to call father.<br /> In all this there is nothing very new, so that the<br /> charm of the book is due simply to the skill of the<br /> analyst.<br /> <br /> “a Princesse Errante,” by Léon de Tinseau, is<br /> a very readable novel. The subject as it happens<br /> is quite apropos, for it is the romantic history of a<br /> Crown Prince and the tribulations of his daughter,<br /> the wandering princess. The book is full of incident,<br /> and the description of life in the various countries<br /> mentioned is most curious and interesting.<br /> <br /> The second volume of Barbey d’Aurevilly’s<br /> literary criticisms, ‘‘ Le Roman Contemporain,” has<br /> just been published, and will no doubt be read by<br /> all who appreciate the great novelist’s own works<br /> of fiction.<br /> <br /> As a critic Barbey d’Aurevilly was by no means<br /> merciful. His ideals were high, and the modern<br /> realistic and materialistic schools did not appeal<br /> to him.<br /> <br /> His judgment of Zola’s work is scathing.<br /> <br /> “ Zola,” he says, “n’a point d’idéal dans la téte<br /> et, comme son siécle, il aime les choses basses eb ne<br /> peut s’empécher d’aller a elles. Tout ce qui répugne<br /> le fascine. . . .<br /> <br /> “ Quand de pareilles choses se lisent et ont du<br /> succes, il n’y a plus de critique a faire. Il y a une<br /> <br /> page de moeurs et d’histoire a écrire sur la société<br /> qui les lit.” Later on he says: “Ily a toujours<br /> dans tout grand artiste une hauteur originelle et<br /> une pureté de génie qui dédaigne de toucher a ces<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> =<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 115<br /> <br /> choses honteuses dans lesquelles l’auteur de ]’Assom-<br /> moir ne craint pas de plonger sa main. . . . Ces<br /> réalistes qui s’accroupissent ou se trainent sur le<br /> ventre pour ramasser les moindres poussiéres, trou-<br /> vent Dieu et lime des réalités trop menues pour<br /> daigner les voir et s’en occuper ; et ils ne se doutent<br /> pas que l’absence de Dieu et de l&#039;ime dans une<br /> ceuvre humaine fait un vide par lequel, quand on<br /> en aurait, s’en va le génie,— et méme le talent!”<br /> <br /> Among the other authors whose works are criti-<br /> cised in this volume are Octave Feuillet, Flaubert,<br /> Daudet, Fabre, Richepin, Catulle Mendés, Huys-<br /> mans and the de Goncourts.<br /> <br /> Very far-seeing was d’Aurevilly, for after criti-<br /> cising Huysmans’ “ A Rebours,” he says that he is<br /> tempted to say to the author, as he did to Baudelaire:<br /> « Aprés ce livre il ne vous reste plus, logiquement,<br /> que la bouche du pistolet ou les pieds de la croix.”<br /> Both Baudelaire and Huysmans chose the latter.<br /> <br /> Then, too, d’Aurevilly saw more clearly than the<br /> author of “ Renée Mauperin” that this novel, which<br /> the de Goncourts intended to be strictly realistic,<br /> was “un livre d’imagination exquis.” Renée herself<br /> says d’Aurevilly was ‘‘an absolutely imaginary<br /> creation,” although in the preface the author says<br /> he has endeavoured to “peindre la jeune fille<br /> moderne avec le moins d’imagination possible.”<br /> <br /> The first part of Paul Friedmann’s book, “ Anne<br /> Boleyn,” bas just been translated into French, and<br /> most interesting it is, not only as a character study<br /> of Henry VIII., Catherine of Aragon and Anne<br /> Boleyn, but also on account of the picture which<br /> the historian gives us of London in the first half<br /> of the sixteenth century. The population of the<br /> capital of Great Britain at that time was 90,000,<br /> whilst Paris had 400,000 inhabitants. The houses<br /> in London were no higher than two storeys, and<br /> were surrounded with gardens. The commerce was<br /> almost entirely monopolised by foreigners.<br /> <br /> The King’s revenue was a sixth of that of the<br /> King of France, and a tenth of the Sultan’s. The<br /> hypocrisy and the untruths of Henry VIII. in his<br /> dealings with the Pope and the clergy are specially<br /> dwelt on by the historian, who declares that<br /> Macchiavelli himself would have been disgusted with<br /> such a liar and impostor. He speaks, too, of the<br /> courage of the nation in refusing to acknowledge<br /> Anne Boleyn as Queen, and we are told that when<br /> in Church prayers were offered up for her as the<br /> new sovereign, the congregation left the building in<br /> a tumult.<br /> <br /> The ‘‘ Journal du Dr. Prosper Meniére” should<br /> be read by all authors, for never has there been a<br /> more enthusiastic and sincere admirer of literary<br /> men and their work than this doctor of the Second<br /> Empire.<br /> <br /> Prosper Meniére was born in 1799, and during<br /> the year of the famous July Revolution he must<br /> <br /> have alleviated the sufferings of hundreds of his<br /> wounded countrymen.<br /> <br /> Later on he was appointed medical attendant to<br /> the Duchess of Berry, when she was in the fortress<br /> of Blaye under the guard of General Bugeaud.<br /> <br /> He knew personally a great many of the celebri-<br /> ties of his times, and he tells us in his memoirs<br /> of the Chancelier Pasquier, who had seen eleven<br /> changes of government. He was born during the<br /> reign of Louis XV., and had then seen Louis XVI.,<br /> the Convention, the Directoire, Napoleon L.,<br /> Louis XVIII., Charles X., Louis Philippe, the<br /> Republic of *48, the Presidence, and then the<br /> Empire. Nine out of the eleven changes of govern-<br /> ment had been brought about by a revolution.<br /> Dr. Meniére might have told us many interesting<br /> details about the political celebrities he knew, but<br /> with a few rare exceptions, he preferred jotting<br /> down notes about his acquaintances in the literary<br /> world. Jules Janin, Lamartine, Gautier, Jules<br /> Sandeau, Scribe, de Girardin, M. &#039;Thiers, and a host<br /> of others he mentions, and in many cases tells us<br /> some anecdote or speech of theirs which had<br /> interested him. Very amusing is his account of<br /> Alexandre Dumas describing the Battle of Waterloo<br /> before certain generals who happened to have been<br /> on the field themselves, and who ventured to correct<br /> some of the statements the novelist was making.<br /> “What you say is quite new to us,” they declared,<br /> “and we were present at Waterloo.” ‘Oh, you<br /> could not have seen this, then,” said Dumas, con-<br /> tinuing his description so graphically, that at the<br /> end the generals began to think he must be right<br /> after all.<br /> <br /> For all who delight in legends, “Le Folk Lore<br /> de la Beauce et du Perche,” by M. Félix Chapiteau,<br /> will be found most captivating.<br /> <br /> Among recent illustrated editions are two series<br /> of books which are marvels of art. The one is<br /> entitled ‘ Les Grands Artistes,” and is published<br /> under the direction of M. Roger Marx, Inspecteur<br /> au Ministere des Beaux Arts. Hach number con-<br /> tains 128 pages and 24 engravings. The volumes<br /> already published are Raphaél, Albert Diirer, Wat-<br /> teau, and Léonard di Vinci. ‘The other series is<br /> entitled “ Les Villes d’Art Célébres,” and of these<br /> Venise, Paris, Bruges et Ypres, Gand et Tournai,<br /> have appeared.<br /> <br /> There are 100 to 140 engravings in each volume.<br /> The text is by men who are considered authorities<br /> on the subject they undertake, and the idea of the<br /> latter series is ‘to connect the present life of<br /> each city with its historic past, and give us the<br /> opportunity of knowing its artistic riches.”<br /> <br /> A very fine édition de luxe of “La Dame de<br /> Monsoreau,” by Alexandre Dumas, has just been<br /> brought out.<br /> <br /> There are 250 wood-cuts by J. Huyot and<br />  <br /> <br /> 116<br /> <br /> Maurice Leloir. The price of the two volumes is<br /> £2, and with a special binding, £3.<br /> <br /> Comte Robert de Montesquiou has arrived in<br /> America, and was entertained almost immediately<br /> by Miss Elisabeth Marbury, who has done so much<br /> for French literature in the United States. It is<br /> as a missionary of literature that M. de Montes-<br /> quiou has undertaken this voyage, and he is to<br /> give some eight or ten lectures during his tour.<br /> Among the authors of whom he will speak are<br /> Marceline Desbordes Valmore, Barbey d’Aurevilly,<br /> Leconte de Lisle, Verlaine, and Ernest Hello.<br /> <br /> The Académie founded by the Goncourt brothers<br /> has held its first assembly. Its members are MM.<br /> Huysmans, Mirbeau, Rosny, Hennique, Paul Mar-<br /> gueritte, G. Geoffroy, all of whom were chosen by<br /> M; de Goncourt. The members elected since his<br /> death are MM. Léon Daudet, Elemir Bourges, and<br /> Lueien Descaves.<br /> <br /> The journal Gil Blas has made a fresh start<br /> with M. Périvier (formerly of the Figaro), and<br /> M. Ollendorff, the well-known publisher, as directors.<br /> <br /> The quantity of new pieces this winter is alarm-<br /> ing, and the critics have been occupied with first<br /> nights.<br /> <br /> “Théroigne de Méricourt” is certainly a success.<br /> The mise en scéne is excellent, as every detail is<br /> exact. The first act takes place in Vienna in 1791.<br /> Théroigne has been arrested for revolutionary<br /> proceedings, and is released by the emperor.<br /> <br /> The second act is at the Tuileries, and Louis XVI.<br /> appears. It is only a few hours before he leaves<br /> the palace with his family.<br /> <br /> The next two acts are also at the Tuileries. The<br /> king is a prisoner, and Théroigne incites the crowd<br /> to the murder of Francois Suleau. The Swiss<br /> guards are massacred and the palace invaded, when<br /> Captain Bonaparte appears.<br /> <br /> In the last act, Théroigne is imprisoned in a<br /> cage at the Salpétriere. Sieyés comes with two of<br /> the court ladies to visit the establishment, and<br /> Théroigne is brought out of her cage. In an<br /> eloquent monologue she evokes the grand days of<br /> the Revolution. She is supposed to have lost her<br /> reason, but she is quite lucid in her bitter re-<br /> proaches as she points to the spectres of the victims<br /> who have perished for their ideas. So gruesome<br /> is the scene that the Abbé Sieyes rushes away in<br /> terror as the curtain falls,<br /> <br /> Sarah Bernhardt is very fine in this ré/e, which<br /> suits her,admirably. The play itself is a fine piece<br /> of literature, but, as in most historical subjects, a<br /> certain liberty has been taken with facts.<br /> <br /> M. Pierre Decourcelle is one of the most prolific<br /> of writers. A long serial of his has not long ago<br /> finished in one of the daily papers, and another,<br /> ‘* Les Deux Frangines,” has just commenced. His<br /> play, “Le Chien du Régiment,” is now having<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> great success at the Gaité. “La Meilleure Part,’<br /> in which he collaborated with Pierre de Coulevain,<br /> is soon to be put on at the Vaudeville by Madame<br /> Réjane, and now he is writing “ Werther” for<br /> Madame Sarah Bernhardt.<br /> <br /> “ Le Secret de Polichinelle”’ has taken very well<br /> at the Gymnase, but “ La Chatelaine,” by M.Capus,<br /> is certainly the piece that seems likely to have the<br /> longest run this winter.<br /> <br /> Auys HaLLARD.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> I,<br /> Publishers and Copyright.<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE took place recently in<br /> the literary supplement of the 7imes, which<br /> illustrated well the attitude of unscrupulous<br /> <br /> publishers and proprietors of periodicals towards<br /> their occasional contributors, while it called<br /> attention to a particular variety of their methods.<br /> The method in question was thus described in<br /> the original letter, signed “ Author.”<br /> <br /> “Qn the backs of cheques certain publishers<br /> print a receipt form which the author is requested<br /> to sign, whereby he acknowledges the receipt of so<br /> much money in respect of ‘copyright’ sold to the<br /> publisher. On the face of the cheque is usually<br /> the announcement that the cheque will not be<br /> cashed unless the receipt at the back is signed.”<br /> On a subsequent date Mr. Herman Cohen, a<br /> barrister, discussed the purely legal questions<br /> involved, being of opinion that the document<br /> described not being an unconditional order to pay<br /> is not a cheque and need not be honoured by the<br /> banker, while he further considered that a<br /> cheque not being legal tender need not in any case<br /> be accepted as payment by the author. The<br /> secretary of the Society of Authors followed with<br /> some suggestions as to the practical aspects of the<br /> case, and pointed out that the way of dealing de-<br /> scribed is resorted to in the publication of books<br /> where an agreement has only been made for their<br /> production in consideration of a royalty, as well as<br /> in the more frequently occurring instances where a<br /> short story or article has been accepted by the<br /> editor of a newspaper or magazine.<br /> <br /> The law of the case in so far as it relates to<br /> the authors and their customers has been dealt with<br /> by Mr. Cohen. It is technical, not easy for laymen<br /> to follow, and not entirely free from doubt to<br /> lawyers. There can be no doubt, however, that<br /> the law will not compel an author to accept a pay-<br /> ment given conditionally on his entering into a<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> Ae. Se et<br /> <br /> OW Sw Se DO. Ge re Bln<br /> <br /> oe ee Sy a ce OO OS ee<br /> <br /> |<br /> <br /> Gf<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> fresh contract, differing from one which he has<br /> already made, and in respect of which money is<br /> already due to him. He would act unwisely, as<br /> Mr. Cohen points out, in deleting the obnoxious<br /> receipt, and trying to cash the cheque without it,<br /> but it is to his advantage that a cheque in some<br /> form should have been sent tohim. It is evidence<br /> that a sum is due to him, although not perhaps<br /> evidence that the sum on the cheque is owing,<br /> because the publisher will say (in a case where no<br /> sum has been agreed upon) “I made the cheque<br /> out according to my usuai rate when I buy the<br /> copyright,” and if he sends another cheque for the<br /> serial rights only, will send a smaller one.<br /> <br /> It is submitted, therefore, that the author, dis-<br /> satisfied with a cheque in the form described, can<br /> do little else than send it back with a request for<br /> another not so added to, saying courteously, but<br /> clearly, that he has not agreed to sell, and does not<br /> desire to sell, the copyright of his article. Inany<br /> correspondence which may follow he will be able to<br /> take up a strong position and to point out that ata<br /> hearing of the case, should legal proceedings arise,<br /> he will call for the production of the returned<br /> cheque as evidence. This will, however, probably<br /> mean a quarrel with that particular publisher or<br /> magazine proprietor, and the future exclusion of<br /> the author’s work by him; in other words, the<br /> narrowing of the author’s market.<br /> <br /> In this the strength of the buyer of the author’s<br /> wares lies. The supply is large enough for his<br /> purpose ; he, the buyer, has the money, and the<br /> author usually wants to sell.<br /> <br /> Mr. Thring, in the letter referred to, urged that<br /> the publisher or editor should, in making an offer,<br /> state whether he desires to purchase the copyright<br /> or not. No doubt he should, and this whether the<br /> subject has been mentioned already or not. But,<br /> on the other hand, it may be suggested that the<br /> author makes the first move as a rule by sub-<br /> mitting his work unsolicited, and that the person<br /> opening the negotiations is the party on whom it<br /> is incumbent to state what it is he desires. It is<br /> for authors and editors of experience to say<br /> whether the insertion of a printed slip or letter-<br /> heading with every manuscript sent in the manner<br /> indicated would be useful in obtaining a clear<br /> understanding, or would be liable to diminish the<br /> likelihood of acceptance. Such a heading might<br /> run as follows: “The article herewith is offered<br /> for publication in the magazine only, with-<br /> out transfer of copyright.” As a rule minor<br /> authors make no attempt such as this to protect<br /> themselves. In his ordinary dealings the author,<br /> not being one of established position, forwards to<br /> the editor of a magazine or newspaper, a manu-<br /> script of a short article or story with a covering<br /> letter which does not define the right that he<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 117<br /> <br /> offers. The editor often accepts only by having the<br /> contribution printed, sometimes, but not always,<br /> forwarding a proof before publishing it.<br /> <br /> When payment is sent, if it is sent at all without<br /> being asked for, the condition of sale of copyright<br /> appears for the first time. It is submitted that in<br /> such a deal the transaction only amounts in fact<br /> to the offer and acceptance of the article for publi-<br /> cation in the ordinary way in the periodical to<br /> which it has been sent. In the case of more<br /> Important works a different course of dealing is<br /> followed, and the negotiations ought to raise the<br /> question of the disposal of copyright at an early<br /> stage, and usually doso. It is in the smaller trans-<br /> actions that the point discussed in the literary<br /> supplement of the Times arises, and they are often<br /> transactions so small that they hardly seem, at the<br /> time at all events, worth fighting over. In these<br /> the attitude of the author must depend on his<br /> inclination and power to fight for his rights. The<br /> publisher and editor are not likely to mend their<br /> ways for the asking, and the banker may with<br /> Justice say, that as far as he is concerned at all, his<br /> interests coincide with those of the man whose<br /> doubtless substantial account is entrusted to him.<br /> Cases of the kind indicated involve, to a large<br /> extent, questions of fact rather than of law, but<br /> perhaps some day a good typical instance involving<br /> the practices alluded to above may be taken up and<br /> fought by the Society of Authors. Such a case<br /> might help to define the law on the subject, and<br /> also to indicate the kind of view likely to be<br /> adopted by juries as to the questions of fact. The<br /> conclusions arrived at, both as to law and fact,<br /> could hardly fail to be useful to authors.<br /> <br /> HE. A. A.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> IL.<br /> American Publishers and the Nett System.<br /> <br /> [From Zhe American Author. ]<br /> a<br /> <br /> E give below a complete list of the members<br /> <br /> of the American Publishers’ Association.<br /> <br /> This list includes all publishers whose<br /> <br /> names are generally known to the book trade<br /> and to the reading public.<br /> <br /> It is now more than two years since the American<br /> Publishers’ Association was organised. During that<br /> time it has practically reorganised the general<br /> trade of publishing and selling books. Under the<br /> nett-price system new copyrighted books are no<br /> longer used to advertise bargain counters for dry<br /> goods stores. It was found by experience that the<br /> great majority of new copyrighted books were<br /> 118<br /> <br /> being killed by this means before they were fairly<br /> on the market, and before they had an opportunity<br /> to test public favour. In this manner the property<br /> of both authors and publishers was being de-<br /> stroyed in order to build up the business of dry<br /> goods stores. All authors have ample reason for<br /> congratulation that this beneficent measure has<br /> been put into operation and is being rigidly<br /> enforced.<br /> <br /> The essential principles upon which the reform<br /> of the American book trade is established are<br /> practically the same as those adopted in Germany<br /> in 1887, which have restored the German book<br /> trade to a basis satisfactory to all concerned. The<br /> same principles have been adopted by the book<br /> trade in Austria, Belgium, England, France and<br /> Switzerland with excellent results.<br /> <br /> What has been described as the major premise upon<br /> which the reform of the American book trade is<br /> founded, isan agreement upon the part of all of the<br /> leading booksellers of the country, not to buy, not to<br /> put in stock, nor to offer for sale, the books of any<br /> publisher who declines to co-operate in the reform<br /> movement by joining the American Publishers’<br /> Association; and, on the other hand, the publishers<br /> agree not to sell their books to any dealer who fails<br /> to maintain the established nett prices.<br /> <br /> It is understood that since October 1st all mem-<br /> bers of the American Booksellers’ Association, com-<br /> prising all of the leading booksellers of the country,<br /> have discontinued handling the books of all pub-<br /> lishers still remaining outside of the American<br /> Publishers’ Association. This fact should not be<br /> lost sight of by authors seeking to arrange for the<br /> publication of their manuscripts, if they desire to<br /> give their books any possibility of success.<br /> <br /> List or MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN PUBLISHERS’<br /> ASSOCIATION.<br /> <br /> Henry AltemusCo., Philadelphia, Pa. ; American<br /> Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa. ;<br /> American News Co., New York, N. Y. ; D. Apple-<br /> ton and Co., New York, N. Y.; A. C. Armstrong,<br /> New York, N. Y.; Arnold and Co., Philadelphia,<br /> Pa.; Baker and Taylor Co., New York, N.Y.;<br /> A. S. Barnes and Co., New York, N. Y.; Drexel<br /> Biddle, Philadelphia, Pa. ; The Bowen-Merrill Co.,<br /> Indianapolis, Ind. ; Albert Brandt, Trenton, N. J.;<br /> Brentano’s, New York, N. Y.; John S. Brooks and<br /> Co., Boston, Mass.; The A. L. Burt Co., New<br /> York, N. Y. ; The Century Co., New York, N. Y.;<br /> C. M. Clark Publishing Co., Boston, Mass. ; The<br /> Robert Clarke Co., Cincinnati, O.; H. T. Coates<br /> and Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Thomas Y. Crowell<br /> and Co., New York, N. Y.; G. W. Dillingham<br /> Co., New York, N. Y.; Dodd, Mead and Oo., New<br /> York, N. Y.; Doubleday, Page and Co., New York,<br /> N. Y.; E. P. Dutton and Co., New York, N. Y. ;<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Dana Estes and Co., Boston, Mass. ; The Federal<br /> Book Co. New York, N. Y.; Funk and Wagnalls<br /> Co., New York, N. Y.; Charles E. Goodspeed,<br /> Boston, Mass. ; Harper and Brothers, New York,<br /> N. Y.; Herbert Publishing Co., Washington,<br /> D.C. ; A. J. Holman and Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ;<br /> Henry Holt and Co., New York, N. Y.; Home<br /> Publishing Co., New York, N. Y.; Houghton,<br /> Mifflin and Co., Boston, Mass. ; Geo. W. Jacobs<br /> and Oo., Philadelphia, Pa.; Jamieson-Higgins<br /> Co., Chicago, Ill. ; John Lane, New York, N. Y.;<br /> Lee and Shepard, Boston, Mass. ; J. B. Lippincott<br /> Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; Little, Brown and Co.,<br /> Boston, Mass.; Longmans, Green and Co., New<br /> York, N. Y.; The Lothrop Publishing Co., Boston,<br /> Mass.; McClure, Phillips and Co., New York,<br /> N. Y.; A. CO. McClurg, Chicago, Ill.; The Mac-<br /> millan Co., New York, N. Y. ; National Publishing<br /> Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Thos. Nelson and Son,<br /> New York, N. Y.; New Amsterdam Book Co.,<br /> New York, N. Y.; Open Court Publishing Co.,<br /> Chicago, Ill.; Outlook Co., New York, N. ¥.;<br /> Oxford University Press, New York, N. Y.;<br /> L. C. Page and Co., Boston, Mass. ; Penn Publish-<br /> ing Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; James Pott and Co.,<br /> New York, N.Y.; Presbyterian Board of Publica-<br /> tion and Sabbath School Work, Philadelphia, Pa. ;<br /> G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, N. Y.; Fleming<br /> H. Revell Co., Chicago, New York and Toronto ;<br /> R. H. Russell, New York, N. Y.; Charles Scrib-<br /> ner’s Sons, New York, N. Y.; Small, Maynard and<br /> Co., Boston, Mass. ; Frederick A. Stokes Co., New<br /> York, N. Y.; H. 8. Stone and Co., Chicago, Il. ;<br /> J. F. Taylor and Co., New York, N. Y.: HOB:<br /> Turner and Co., Boston, Mass. ; United Brethren,<br /> Publishing House, Dayton, 0. ; D. Van Nostrand<br /> Co., New York, N. Y. ; Vir Publishing Co., Phila-<br /> delphia, Pa. ; Frederick Warne and Oo., New<br /> York, N. Y.; A. Wessels Co., New York, N. Y.;<br /> Thomas Whittaker, New York. N. Y.; W. A. Wilde<br /> Co., Boston, Mass.; John Wiley and Sons, New<br /> York, N. Y. ; John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia,<br /> Pa.; E. and J. B. Young and Co., New York,<br /> N. Y.; Clinton S. Zimmerman, New York, N. Y.<br /> <br /> —_—_—_—_——_+—&gt;—_+___—_<br /> <br /> RESUME OF BOOKS PUBLISHED IN<br /> THE PAST YEAR.<br /> <br /> t+ —<br /> <br /> (Reprinted from Zhe Publishers’ Circular, by kind<br /> permission of the Editor.)<br /> <br /> PY HE total number of books recorded in 1902<br /> T is slightly above that of 1900, nearly two<br /> <br /> hundred below 1899 and 1898, more than<br /> five hundred below 1897, just eight hundred above<br /> 1896, and a thousand above 1901 ; but about five<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> hundred of that one thousand were “ Miscellaneous”<br /> —chiefly pamphlets at a few pence each—and about<br /> two hundred and fifty were sixpenny fiction. If<br /> up in number, the books of 1902 are down in<br /> value compared with those of 1901. The number<br /> under “ Miscellaneous” is almost the same as in<br /> 1898. In Fiction the number is almost the same<br /> as in 1898, slightly above 1900 and 1896, but<br /> below 1897 and 1899. In six other subjects the<br /> increase is not large ; in the case of Theology it is<br /> partly due to the issue of pious pamphlets and<br /> of sermons, and in that of Politics and Trade to<br /> publication of political skits and economical tracts.<br /> In History and Biography the numbers were almost<br /> <br /> 119<br /> <br /> the same in 1901 and 1902—five hundred and<br /> thirty-one, five hundred and thirty-seven ; in<br /> Medicine precisely the same, two hundred and<br /> thirty-seven, which is lower than in 1900. Law<br /> books and Educational publications in 1902 show<br /> a falling off, the number being lower than in either<br /> of the previous six years. In Travel it is almost<br /> the same as in 1896, 1897, 1899, 1901, forty-four<br /> lower than in 1900. Belles-Lettres show almost<br /> the same number as in 1897, much less than in<br /> 1900 and 1901. The number of Year Books is<br /> almost the same as in 1897 and 1900. In the<br /> Drama and Poetry the number is higher than in<br /> 1901, lower than in the five previous years.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> | | |<br /> | | | loge 8 a<br /> : B po iS So-a°<br /> Subjects. BS e 5 | 43 | a x 2 = lees.<br /> 3 2 ee : 3 Ze g | 3 5 &amp; |238.38<br /> Se eee Ee Pe ee Ee ees<br /> ee<br /> se (| a 44 Psp 39 | ve 59 28 26 31 30 | ee 19 68 | 567<br /> 1. Theology, Sermons, Biblical ... a7 9 6 q Bo 7 | 1 10 10 Si<br /> | 648<br /> 2, Educational. Classical, and \| @ 56 OB e471 33 lo 38 |&lt; 304) 82) 41 29 | 50 | 50 | 6b | 504<br /> Philological... ... -- J) 211 7 8 1 6 5 31. 4 7 &gt; 6 5 | 68<br /> | 572<br /> 8, Juvenile Works and Tales, )| q 52 | 105 | 96 | 134 | 142 | 65} 58 | 126 | 132 | 807 | 301 | 225 1743<br /> ies) Tales, and other j HG} G0 | be | 6b | 84 | bf] by | bl | 41 | 91 | 91 | 46 | 72%<br /> iction ie. oe ive 2470<br /> a 6 12 9 17 9 3 3 5 4 2 9 88<br /> 4. Law, Jurisprudence, Xc. $ { b 3 3 8 5 4 4 2 3 ge 1 6 71 46<br /> — 134<br /> Sei and Social Econoiny,) 2 26) 42) 88) 44} 65) 28 | 95) 30) 88 30 | 44} 49 | £63<br /> a 8 | | | ye,<br /> — 5<br /> 6. Arts, Science, and Illustrated )| 4% 31 22| 36| 43| 45 | 38] 25} 28| 27/ 33 | 40| 52 | 420<br /> Works ee ac vey ee 2 2 3 a 3 2 4 3 8 1 T | 44<br /> 464<br /> 7, Voyages, Travels, and Geo- )| @ 8) 11; 10 8} 27] 13) 22 14 9 7 | 13} 20 162<br /> graphical Research ... oo 2 1 3 3 3 t 9 3 3 2 1 8s 200<br /> : : a 30 41 41 35 56 38 29 17 31 33 55 74 | 480<br /> 8. History, Biography, &amp;c. i i bd: 3 q 9 3 7 3 6 2 1 4 4 8 | 57<br /> 537<br /> (| @ 25 14 24 22 16 17 15 16 14 39 28 42 | 272<br /> 9. Poetry and the Drama “116 6 6 Sie 1s 7 4 5 5 5 i 9 6 | 76<br /> —— 348<br /> 10, Year-Books and Serials in }| ¢ 66 | 21 7 7 B18, 2) 20) 2h) 53 | 96 | 75) wee<br /> Vv ae Cee el me oe lee | ee ee<br /> olumes ) 408<br /> . Joe 7) og] 22) 2] Tee} 1 | 6) 14} 20 | 168<br /> 11. Medicine, Surgery, &amp;c. oe 1b 5 q Q| 13 8 A: 4 3} 10 9 8 | 1) 84<br /> —— 237<br /> 12, Belles-Lettres, Essays, Mono- || @ 19 7} 19 81) M ? Bite Bhs ee _ oe<br /> gape he ca ae de? 2 4 4 2 : ae I 2 ‘ O71<br /> 13. Miscellaneous, includin 426) 301 28 | 24) 81 24) 30] 27 32 35 | 389 31 352<br /> Pamphlets, not Sermons = } bi) 14) 26) 10) Ba | 4) MY AB arp dy 18 | Ae<br /> poses — - 499<br /> 492 | 516 | 543 | 606 | 702 | 445 | 439 | 467 | 491 | 876 | 910 | 894 an<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> a New Books; b New Editions.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> The Analytical Table is divided into 13 Classes; also New Books and New Editions.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Divisions.<br /> Theology, Sermons, Biblical, &amp;c.<br /> Educational, Classical, and Philological<br /> <br /> Novels, Tales, and Juvenile Works<br /> <br /> Law, Jurisprudence, &amp;c. Se — eae &lt;n<br /> Political and Social Economy, Trade and Commerce<br /> Arts, Sciences, and Illustrated Works ‘<br /> Voyages, Travels, and Geographical Research<br /> History, Biography, &amp;c. 3 a<br /> <br /> Poetry and the Drama ... ru, ee<br /> <br /> Year-Books and Serials in Volumes ...<br /> <br /> Medicine, Surgery, &amp;e. ... ers ne<br /> Belles-Lettres, Essays, Monographs, &amp;c. Bae noe<br /> Miscellaneous, including Pamphlets, not Sermons ...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 1901. | 1902.<br /> New Books. New Editions. New Books. New Editions,<br /> ee eee |<br /> 441 78 | 567 81<br /> 541 qT. 504 68<br /> 1,513 479 1,743 127<br /> 109 37 88 46<br /> 351 104 463 130<br /> 310 28 420 44<br /> 174 | 30 162 38<br /> 438 98 480 57<br /> 202 60 | 272 76<br /> 844 408 _<br /> 169 68 153 84<br /> 293 32 227 : 44<br /> 70 8 352 147<br /> 4,955 1,089 5,839 1,542<br /> 4,955 5,839<br /> 6,044 | 7,381<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> ee<br /> HE question of the Distribution of Books<br /> 1 is one that deserves much more attention<br /> than is usually given to it. It is compara-<br /> tively easy for a publisher to produce a book ; it is<br /> very much more difficult to secure its distribution.<br /> For the former a certain amount of taste and<br /> experience of printing, paper, and boarding is<br /> necessary ; for the latter much more is needed.<br /> Sir Walter Besant frequently insisted that a book<br /> is not really published till it finds its way to the<br /> bookseller’s counter, and this truth cannot be too<br /> often repeated. ‘The problem that faces every<br /> publisher is how to get his books brought before<br /> the direct notice of the public.<br /> <br /> The usual method adopted by publishers for<br /> giving publicity to their books is the following :—<br /> An edition of a given quantity of copies is printed.<br /> This may vary from a few hundreds in the case of<br /> an edition de luxe, or expensive art or technical<br /> book, or an historical work, to many thousands in<br /> the case of a popular novel. Of this first edition<br /> a certain number of copies are boarded. In the<br /> case of a popular novel the whole edition may be<br /> boarded at once; in the case of a work on history,<br /> of which say one thousand copies are printed,<br /> perhaps 400 copies may be boarded to begin with.<br /> When the book is boarded copies are sent to news-<br /> papers for review ; and the book is “ subscribed,”<br /> 2.e., it is shown to all the booksellers in London<br /> who buy such quantities as they think they can use.<br /> <br /> In the “ provinces,” 7.¢., in all places outside<br /> London, books can rarely be shown to the book-<br /> sellers on the day of publication, as the commercial<br /> travellers who take them round visit the various<br /> towns only twice a year as a rule. Sometimes,<br /> especially in the case of popular novels, books are<br /> ordered in advance of publication. The public<br /> and the booksellers in the “ provinces” have to<br /> <br /> trust for their information about new books to the<br /> publisher’s advertisements. Where and how much<br /> to advertise is the problem of publication. In<br /> many cases many hundreds of pounds are spent in<br /> advertising an individual book, and it is impossible<br /> to tell how far this expense is profitable.<br /> <br /> Such is the method adopted almost universally<br /> for bringing books before the notice of the public.<br /> Reviews and advertisements, and, in some cases,<br /> circulars, are all that the public can depend on for<br /> information as to books. The booksellers buy or<br /> do not buy according as they think there is likely to<br /> be or not to be a demand for the books shown to<br /> them by the publishers, and the publishers in<br /> almost all cases rest satisfied that with advertise-<br /> ments and copies sent for review their responsibility<br /> to the public ceases.<br /> <br /> In the case of novels by popular writers they are<br /> probably quiteright. Thepublicwanttoread these,<br /> and they are content to order them without seeing<br /> them. But it is quite different with books which can-<br /> not have more than a limited sale. The bookseller<br /> often cannot risk the purchase of these. The public<br /> will not buy them withoutseeing them. Ifthe books<br /> do not therefore reach the booksellers’ counters they<br /> do not get a fair chance. It is with regard to these<br /> books that a modified form of “sale or return”<br /> might, I think, be adopted with great advantage,<br /> alike to publisher, bookseller, and the public.<br /> <br /> The plan of sending out books “on sale or return”<br /> has so far not been popular in this country with<br /> either publishers or booksellers. But times and<br /> conditions are changing. Before the introduction<br /> of the “ nett ” system the bookseller made little or<br /> no profit off those books which had only a limited<br /> sale, as he was expected to give off them the same<br /> discount as he gave off popular novels which he<br /> bought in quantities on much better terms. The<br /> adoption of the system of “sale or return,” so<br /> frequently advocated in The Author, had therefore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> no attraction for him. But the introduction and<br /> rapid development of the “nett” system has placed<br /> ‘sale or return” on quite a different footing. On<br /> “nett ’’ books the bookseller can make a profit on in-<br /> dividual copies, and it may in many cases be of great<br /> value to him to have books sent “ on sale or return.”<br /> <br /> Before going further it is necessary to point out<br /> that it would be impracticable to make this plan<br /> compulsory on either publisher or bookseller.<br /> The reasons for such restriction are obvious.<br /> On the side of the publisher if he were to be<br /> compelled to send books “on sale or return”<br /> to any bookseller who asked for them, he might<br /> be forced to print and board far more copies of<br /> a book than was advisable; while if the book-<br /> seller were to be compelled to receive “on sale or<br /> return” all the books that the publisher wished<br /> to send him, his shelves would very soon overflow.<br /> But with the reservation that publishers and book-<br /> sellers would, therefore, both have to be allowed to<br /> refuse to send or to accept books “onsale or return,”<br /> the system might, I think, well be allowed a fair trial.<br /> <br /> Let us now look at its advantages and disadvan-<br /> tages from the points of view of (1) the publisher,<br /> (2) the bookseller, (3) the public.<br /> <br /> (1) The disadvantages to the publisher are three-<br /> fold: (a) He does not know at once what number<br /> of copies he sells outright ; (b) the system would<br /> involve a slightly more elaborate bookkeeping ;<br /> (c) he might receive back some copies with the<br /> boards soiled. But the advantages would greatly<br /> outweigh the disadvantages. The publisher would<br /> be entitled to charge a slightly higher price for books<br /> sent “on sale or return” than for those a bookseller<br /> bought outright, and this would probably recoup<br /> him for the cost of his extra bookkeeping. The<br /> risk of copies coming back damaged need not be<br /> considered seriously. For if a publisher boarded,<br /> say, 400 copies of a book, and sold 200 outright<br /> —and this is no uncommon experience—it is a<br /> matter of little moment whether the other 200 are<br /> damaged or not if they have eventually to go into<br /> his stores. On the other hand, if these 200 copies<br /> are shown on booksellers’ counters, the chances are<br /> that a considerable proportion of them will be sold.<br /> All booksellers know how often the sale of a book<br /> is lost because it is not at hand or cannot be seen.<br /> Moreover, the publisher would be saved much<br /> expense in advertising. He advertises and inserts<br /> extracts from reviews in his advertisements to let<br /> the public know of the books and their contents.<br /> Much of this advertising would be unnecessary if<br /> the public knew that in every large town one book-<br /> seller at least would be sure to have in stock, or<br /> could get on sight, all really good books. The<br /> judicious use of “sale or return,” by which book-<br /> sellers would become agents for the publishers,<br /> should be to the publishers of very great value.<br /> <br /> 121<br /> <br /> (2) That this system would be of great advan-<br /> tage to the bookseller is obvious. He would be<br /> saved much bad stock—which is as bad for the<br /> publisher as for the bookseller—as the latter is<br /> cautious with the books of those publishers whose<br /> books become bad stock, and he would frequently<br /> be able to oblige his customers by letting them see<br /> books in which they are interested.<br /> <br /> (8) Lastly, the system would be of great value<br /> to the public. At present the public may fairly<br /> complain that in many cases they cannot see a<br /> book before purchasing it. The booksellers cannot<br /> be blamed for this. It is unreasonable to ask them<br /> to buy a particular book on the chance of an<br /> individual customer wishing, after seeing it, to<br /> purchase. But surely it would be wise for the<br /> publisher in such cases to be willing to submit<br /> his publication for inspection through the book-<br /> sellers. The bookseller or his customer would<br /> pay the carriage, and in the event of the book<br /> not being kept, it would be returned free of cost.<br /> Of course, the publisher might have to refuse if<br /> his stock of copies of the book in question were<br /> small, but if he had plenty of copies he would<br /> be consulting his own interest in meeting the<br /> convenience of the public.<br /> <br /> The “nett” system has done much to improve<br /> the conditions of bookselling. I believe the adop-<br /> tion of the system of “sale or return” in some<br /> such way as I have indicated would improve those<br /> conditions still more. It would be no small thing<br /> for the spread of literature if in every town there<br /> was a bookseller’s shop where practically all good<br /> books might be seen. The cry of the “decay of<br /> bookselling” would cease to be heard in the land.<br /> <br /> Rosert MacLeHoss.<br /> —_———__1+—}—<br /> <br /> A DICKENS’ FELLOWSHIP DINNER.<br /> <br /> [Printed with the kind permission of The Sunday Times. |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Se<br /> T is probable that when he wrote “The<br /> | Christmas Carol” Dickens did not dream of<br /> the practical spirit in which his precepts<br /> would be carried out by the Fellowship which has<br /> identified itself with his name. Indeed, when the<br /> novelist penned the moving story of the miserly<br /> spirit turned philanthropist, the idea of a Fellow-<br /> ship had not yet taken shape in any man’s mind.<br /> It was only last October that the Fellowship came<br /> into concrete existence, and to-day it has members<br /> wherever the English language is spoken and<br /> English literature is read. This is a proof, if proof<br /> there need be, that the humanitarian spirit which<br /> moved one of the greatest masters of fiction of<br /> recent times still animates his fellow-countrymen<br /> in whatever part of the globe they may find<br />  <br /> <br /> 122<br /> <br /> themselves. The day of the Dinner was a red-letter<br /> one in the history of the Fellowship. It was<br /> a day of merry-making, of feasting, and of song,<br /> upon which the spirit of Dickens’ work cast a<br /> benign and happy influence. For in the practical<br /> spirit of the world-famous Carol, the Dickens’<br /> Fellowship entertained a thousand of London&#039;s<br /> poor children to dinner and an entertainment<br /> at the Alexandra Trust, City Road. Funds had<br /> come in from members of the Fellowship and<br /> their friends sufficient in amount to entertain<br /> 3,000 little ones ; and as it was impossible, owing<br /> to the exigenciesof building space, to entertain them<br /> all at the same time in the same place, the other<br /> 2,000 will take their turn later. The invitations<br /> to the feast were distributed with a catholicity of<br /> spirit as broad as that which pervades Dickens’<br /> every volume. It was enough that the little guest<br /> was a child of poor parents, no matter what their<br /> party or creed, to enable it to be bidden to a<br /> festive board laden with Christmas fare and distri-<br /> buted by an army of willing workers without stint.<br /> In their anxiety to seat themselves at the tables the<br /> little ones fell over each other in climbing the<br /> stairs, in some instances sadly disarranging the<br /> best attire. But they quickly picked themselves<br /> up and passed in a continuous stream into the<br /> rooms on the first and second floors marshalled by<br /> many willing helpers. When all had found seats, a<br /> ménu was served, in which the principal items<br /> were roast beef and roast mutton, with two<br /> vegetables, and plum pudding ; and then, when<br /> the small guests had eaten to satiety, they were<br /> handed each a bag of sweets and an orange, and<br /> finally a bon-bon, the gift of Mr. Hall Caine.<br /> Then came the second half of the entertainment,<br /> for which the first half had prepared them. The<br /> children screamed with laughter, and were moved<br /> to tears by many of the readings, recitations, and<br /> songs contributed by a number of ladies and<br /> gentlemen, who gave their services gratuitously.<br /> The I.D.K. Minstrels presented a programme with<br /> more than a dozen good things in it, and as the<br /> shadows gathered, and evening grew into night,<br /> the little guests were dismissed to their homes in<br /> the neighbourhood, smiling and happy, to experi-<br /> ence anew in their childish dreams the incidents of<br /> a day which they will not soon forget.<br /> <br /> ———_ ++<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> <br /> &lt;1 —<br /> NETT OR NET?<br /> To the Editor of THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> S1r,—It is pleasant to note how The Author con-<br /> sistently upholds in its columns the first-named<br /> mode of spelling this word. Why are publishers,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> for the most part, equally persistent in their<br /> adherence to the latter method ? I have had more<br /> than one friendly bout with them upon the subject,<br /> and still travel along sanguine lines in the hope of<br /> a conversion to my way of thinking. For it cer-<br /> tainly does seem to me, as it may to other writers,<br /> that uniformity is very desirable over so important<br /> an indicator. I plump, as does this organ of ours,<br /> for the employment of “nett” as opposed to the<br /> less distinctive “net,” and am inclined to believe<br /> that the adoption would meet with fuller accept-<br /> ance from the literary world in general. There is<br /> much value in a ‘‘t,” say I,<br /> Oup Birp.<br /> Authors’ Club, 8.W.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —&lt;&gt;—+ —<br /> To the Editor of THe AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Sin,—Publishers complain of the absence of<br /> first-class authors, and they admit, as far as my<br /> acquaintance with them goes, that a large amount<br /> of the books published have no permanent value.<br /> <br /> But is not some of all this dearth caused by the<br /> publishers themselves ?<br /> <br /> I know a gentleman, a good writer, but not<br /> very well known, who devoted ten years to writing<br /> a really clever book, and well spoken of. The<br /> publisher he came in contact with (a London<br /> publisher) would publish the book on commission—<br /> cost about £90; but mark, the profit to author<br /> would be £17.<br /> <br /> Is such an agreement and profit likely to induce<br /> people of ability to write? I think not.<br /> <br /> Publisher said there would be some extra profit<br /> for advance proof copies sold in America.<br /> <br /> Yours,<br /> “ SENEX.””<br /> oe<br /> <br /> To the Editor of THe AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Srr,—I lately published a volume of poems<br /> which called forth some twenty notices, from which<br /> I give some extracts :—<br /> <br /> “The title of this volume<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> indicates accurately<br /> enough ” —Scotsman.<br /> “Thought predominates<br /> <br /> over fancy.”—Sceotsman.<br /> <br /> “Has the power of clearly<br /> expressing his views.”—<br /> Yorkshire Herald,<br /> <br /> “ Well worth reading,” re-<br /> ferring to the book as a<br /> whole.—ZJrish Times.<br /> <br /> “The title gives no clue to<br /> <br /> the contents.”—Church<br /> of England Pulpit.<br /> <br /> “The author is the servant<br /> of hisrhymes and metres.”<br /> —Sheffield Telegraph.<br /> <br /> “Never succeeds in pro-<br /> ducing clear impressions.”<br /> —Daily News.<br /> <br /> “ Regretfully we lay aside”<br /> the volume with dis-<br /> appointment.— Birming-<br /> ham Post.<br /> <br /> “ Every white will have its black,<br /> And every sweet its sour.”<br /> <br /> But of what use are the critics to the public<br /> <br /> or to<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully, ,<br /> <br /> LANK ?<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> —_ -—~&lt;—+ —<br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> q agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> <br /> with literary property :—<br /> : I. Selling it Outright.<br /> <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, or with the advice of the<br /> Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> i Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> 198 agreement).<br /> [ In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> 5 duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the<br /> profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements<br /> in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-<br /> a ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”<br /> it unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> ol rights.<br /> ) (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> A As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> sob doctor !<br /> <br /> III. The Royalty System.<br /> <br /> It is above all things necessary to know what the<br /> | proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible<br /> 101 for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> sf} thetruth. From time to time the very important figures<br /> connected with royalties are published in Zhe Author.<br /> Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the<br /> “ Cost of Production.”<br /> <br /> IY. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> &lt;) (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,<br /> <br /> wh<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> ig above mentioned.<br /> : Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> : Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> i! the Secretary of the Society.<br /> ey Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> i Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> 7 The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> <br /> “from the outset are :—<br /> ya C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> s ‘means.<br /> <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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —~&lt;++<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> 2 ge<br /> EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the<br /> Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-<br /> petent legal authority.<br /> 2. {t is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for<br /> the production of a play with anyone except an established<br /> manager.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 123<br /> <br /> 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS<br /> IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—<br /> <br /> (a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT.<br /> This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters<br /> into such a contract should stipulate in the con-<br /> tract for production of the piece by a certain date<br /> and for proper publication of his name on the<br /> play-bills.<br /> <br /> (b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES<br /> on gross receipts. Percentages vary between<br /> 5 and 15 per cent. An author should obtain a<br /> percentage on the sliding scale of gvoss receipts<br /> <br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> <br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (%.¢.,<br /> fixed nightly fees). This method should be<br /> always avoided except in cases where the fees<br /> are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The<br /> other safeguards set out under heading (0.) apply<br /> also in this case.<br /> <br /> 4, PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is<br /> better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum<br /> paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely<br /> important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should<br /> be reserved.<br /> <br /> 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can<br /> be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and<br /> time. This is most important.<br /> <br /> 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but<br /> should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is<br /> of great importance.<br /> <br /> 7, Authors should remember that performing rights in a<br /> play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager<br /> holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot<br /> print the book of the words.<br /> <br /> 8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceed-<br /> ingly valuable. ‘They should never be included in English<br /> agreements without the author obtaining a substantial<br /> consideration.<br /> <br /> 9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully<br /> drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.<br /> <br /> 10. An author should remember that production of a play<br /> is highly speculative : that he runs a very great risk of<br /> delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.<br /> He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in<br /> the beginning. pS<br /> <br /> 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market<br /> is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object<br /> is to obtain adequate publication.<br /> <br /> As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on<br /> account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-<br /> tracts, THOSE AUTIIORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> &lt;&lt;<br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> — + —<br /> <br /> Li VERY member has a right toask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> <br /> business or the administration of his property. If the<br /> 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 />  <br /> <br /> 124<br /> <br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society.<br /> <br /> 3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The<br /> Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new<br /> or old, for inspection and note. The information thus<br /> obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> <br /> 4, BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send<br /> the document to the Society for examination.<br /> <br /> 5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society<br /> you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you<br /> are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are<br /> advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the<br /> independence of the writer.<br /> <br /> 6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception<br /> of members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-<br /> proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as<br /> confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,<br /> who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:<br /> —(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give<br /> advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements<br /> in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep<br /> agreements. (4) Io enforce payments due according to<br /> agreements,<br /> <br /> 7. No contract should be entered into with a literary<br /> agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.<br /> Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful<br /> consideration the contracts submitted to them by literary<br /> agents, and are recommended to submit them for inter-<br /> pretation and explanation to the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements. This<br /> must be done within fourteen days of first execution. The<br /> Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.<br /> <br /> 9. Some agents endeavour to prevent authors from<br /> referring matters to the Secretary of the Society ; so do<br /> some publishers. Members can make their own deductions<br /> and act accordingly.<br /> <br /> ————__ ~~ +<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> t+<br /> <br /> EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this<br /> branch of its work by informing young writers<br /> of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and<br /> <br /> treated as a composition is treated by a coach. The term<br /> MSS, includes NOT ONLY WORKS OF FICTION, BUT POETRY<br /> AND DRAMATIC WORKS, and when it is possible, under<br /> special arrangement, technical and scientific works. The<br /> Readers are writers of competence and experience. The<br /> fee is one guinea.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> —<br /> <br /> \HE Editor of Zhe Author begs to remind members of<br /> <br /> the Society that, although the paper is sent to them<br /> <br /> free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a<br /> <br /> very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> <br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 5s, 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, 8.W., and should reach the Editor NOT LATER<br /> THAN THE 21st OF EACH MONTH.<br /> <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 /> <br /> eh 9<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE<br /> EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on<br /> no other subjects whatever. Every effort will be made to<br /> return articles which cannot be accepted.<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY begs to give notice<br /> that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post,<br /> and he requests members who do not receive an<br /> answer to important communications within two days to<br /> write to him without delay. All remittances should be<br /> crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent<br /> by registered letter only.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> AUTHORITIES.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> ()* the 29th November, 1902, the Danish<br /> Lower House passed, by a unanimous vote<br /> of the sixty members present (fifty members<br /> <br /> were absent), the new law for the codification of<br /> the Danish Law of Copyright, as a preliminary<br /> step towards the entrance of Denmark into the<br /> Berne Union. This action of the Danish Parlia-<br /> ment is highly significative. In 1894 a contrary<br /> decision was carried by a vote of forty-seven against<br /> forty ; and in 1897 a majority of seven votes (forty-<br /> eight against forty-one) resolved upon a course of<br /> restrictive measures certain to render entrance<br /> into the Berne Convention impossible.<br /> <br /> et<br /> <br /> A Hungarian author has done us the honour<br /> of calling at the office.<br /> <br /> Amongst other questions that came under dis-<br /> cussion he pointed out that a great many of the<br /> Hungarian newspapers and magazines pirate the<br /> works of English authors in translated form ;<br /> and he promised, on his return to his native land,<br /> to forward a list of stories with the names of the<br /> authors and the papers that were pirating them.<br /> He asked the secretary if it would be possible to<br /> do anything to stop these cases of infringement,<br /> and frankly confessed that he did not desire this<br /> so much for the benefit that might accrue to the<br /> English author, as for the benefit to the young<br /> Hungarian. Any action taken would give to<br /> native authors a chance of some adequate reward<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> it<br /> il<br /> <br /> HW<br /> |<br /> Q<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> cdl &gt; peng? poten,<br /> <br /> a)<br /> +<br /> J<br /> )<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> in return for their labour, and to Hungarian<br /> literature a chance of expansion.<br /> <br /> Not many months ago a deputation of Hungarians<br /> waited on the authorities and urged on the Govern-<br /> ment the necessity of joining the Berne Convention.<br /> One important reason was put forward. Thepiracy<br /> of French and English authors fostered in the<br /> Hungarian youth the sentiments and feelings of<br /> foreigners and failed to inspire them with a<br /> patriotic feeling and a love of their country.<br /> <br /> The whole of this movement points to the fact<br /> often reiterated in these pages, that the wider<br /> the protection given to authors of any individual<br /> country for their works throughout the world,<br /> under the Berne Convention or separate treaty,<br /> the wider and fuller will be the literature of that<br /> country. It may be as well to remark once<br /> more that any deviation on the part of an English<br /> colony from this standpoint, in order to obtain<br /> some supposed benefit to its own authors, or to<br /> foster its own literature, must meet with failure.<br /> The mere fact that publication throughout the<br /> British Empire carries with it, not only copyright<br /> throughout the British Empire, but copyright<br /> under the Berne Convention in all the civilised<br /> countries of Europe, and, with certain limitations,<br /> in the United States of America also, is a sure<br /> guarantee that the best assistance that it is possible<br /> to grant to authors is being given to the colony<br /> that adheres to the Imperial copyright Acts.<br /> <br /> We quote the following from the S/. James’<br /> Gazette :—<br /> <br /> “The next is to be a Habitual Writers Act. It is de-<br /> signed for the prevention of bad and hurried books. Any<br /> author against whom three publications can be proved in<br /> one year will be placed on the black list, and for a period<br /> of three years publishers will be forbidden to serve him.<br /> Any author who attempts to write a novel while in charge<br /> of babies or young children will, on conviction, be made<br /> todo so. So we are incredibly informed.”<br /> <br /> Ink Drunkards! According to some—we print<br /> a short essay on the subject—this is already a<br /> reality. It may be, therefore, that one day the<br /> jester of the St. James’ will find his prophecy<br /> realised.<br /> <br /> One question, however, may arise under the<br /> Licensing Act affecting copyright. We under-<br /> stand that the police intend to send a series of<br /> photographs of habitual drunkards to the owners<br /> of public-houses and others. The danger of giving<br /> away the copyright in a photograph is constantly<br /> recurring, and has been alluded to in the pages of<br /> The Author.<br /> <br /> It is not impossible that the following events<br /> might happen :—<br /> <br /> A man writes a book entitled “The Confessions<br /> <br /> 125<br /> <br /> ofa Habitual Drunkard.” The book has a successful<br /> sale. Immediately one or two of the editors of<br /> reviews are seized with a desire to publish the<br /> photograph of the author, yet owing to the modesty<br /> of the writer fail to obtain one. All they have got<br /> to do is to enter the nearest public-house. Here no<br /> doubt they could procure a copy for nothing.<br /> <br /> To whom would the copyright in the likeness<br /> taken for the purpose of the Act belong? Would<br /> it belong to the police authorities, or would it be<br /> public property ? If to the police authorities,<br /> could they restrain publication ? Is it possible<br /> that the author could claim damages ?<br /> <br /> The probability of such a complicated question<br /> arising seems to be remote. The point is academic.<br /> <br /> _ The following brief extract from a long parody<br /> in the “Outlook,” puts forward in no indistinct.<br /> manner the opinion of some modern critic.<br /> <br /> He writeth best who writeth least<br /> <br /> Of trumped-up loathsomeness ;<br /> <br /> Who trusteth man is more than beast,<br /> And doth this faith confess.<br /> <br /> He writeth best who writeth most<br /> Of high and wholesome things,<br /> <br /> Not making man’s clay feet a boast,<br /> But his soaring, heavenly wings.<br /> <br /> It is the custom of many authors to carry note-<br /> books with them, in which to jot down their own<br /> ideas and,—rumour reports,—the ideas of other<br /> people. We trust that no member of the society<br /> has ever met with the following experience :—<br /> <br /> “+A lady went into a stationer’s shop and inquired<br /> of the obsequious assistant for a notebook. ‘ 1 want<br /> something I can carry in my pocket to jot down<br /> ideas.’ The assistant, with extraordinary lack of<br /> judgment, replied, ‘Oh! you want something very<br /> small.” Unfortunately he did not explain whether<br /> his remark applied to the size of the lady’s pocket<br /> or of her brain.”<br /> <br /> —__—_—__—_—_+——_e__.<br /> <br /> A LITERARY ACADEMY.<br /> <br /> —+ +<br /> <br /> I.<br /> OBSERVE that the project of Mr. Herbert<br /> Trench which began “Academy,” with all<br /> the implications of that title, is now changing<br /> its nature to a “Guild.” This is more hopeful.<br /> It is to be a self-constituted guild, electing the<br /> academy—which is really quite a new thing in<br /> academies altogether. I sympathise deeply with<br /> all the noble prelusions of Mr. Herbert Trench ; I<br /> feel, perhaps even more deeply than he does, the:<br />  <br /> <br /> 126<br /> <br /> need of a common chamber of literature in which<br /> men of all professions may meet ; but I think it<br /> will only be by toil and extraordinary good fortune<br /> that this guild of his can be made any better<br /> than the abandoned idea of an Academy by Royal<br /> Charter. Suppose, in order to get to something<br /> definite, we take his assertions about the con-<br /> temporary prospects of letters as true, and ask<br /> him to go on from his “ brave beginning ” of Messrs.<br /> Shorthouse, Bury, Housman, and so forth, to give<br /> us a really definite scheme for his guild. There<br /> are some enormous difficulties. How will he pre-<br /> vent the impostor swamping his guild from the<br /> outset if he leaves the door wide open? If he<br /> does not, what will it be but a clique—Mr. Trench<br /> and party? I submit it is these practical diffi-<br /> culties that trouble me. The enormous good the<br /> guild might do if only it could be invented I do<br /> not for one moment dispute. But Mr. Trench<br /> has not by any means invented it yet. His<br /> waving rhetoric, his generous bunting, must not<br /> hide from us that elementary defect.<br /> <br /> If I might offer a suggestion, it would be that<br /> Mr. Trench should give us a list, or conspire with<br /> a few others to give us a list, of his possible guild.<br /> He might write to this authoritative person or<br /> that for the suggestion of a name or so. Suppose<br /> he were to begin with two hundred or three hun-<br /> dred names, appending by way of justification the<br /> name of at least one diploma work to each name<br /> (for example, I will confess I did not know what<br /> Professor Bury had written until I consulted a<br /> work of reference). That list could be printed<br /> close in small type in a page or so of The Author.<br /> Then we could criticise omissions and inclusions,<br /> mote the excessive representation of any type or<br /> school, and get a clearer conception—and help<br /> Mr. Trench perhaps to a clearer conception—of<br /> his desirable, but I fear quite impracticable, project.<br /> <br /> H. G. WELLS.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> Il.<br /> <br /> Ir an Academy of Letters did no more than<br /> ‘publish an official magazine, uninfluenced by ad-<br /> vertisement, in which only books of a certain<br /> -standard were reviewed, it would justify its exist-<br /> ence. I suppose Londoners can have no conception.<br /> of the darkness in which provincial lovers of<br /> literature dwell. We never see a good book either<br /> in our public libraries or bookshops, and we have no<br /> guide in which to place confidence. In my country<br /> town there are three or four libraries, and from<br /> these into my home every week come at least six or<br /> seven novels of a general badness unspeakable.<br /> Half of them go back unread even by the devourer<br /> of light fiction, for whom they are brought. I<br /> don’t believe any one on earth could read them.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But there is little else to be had ; and although [<br /> hear the continual plaint, “I can’t get anything fit _<br /> to read” from all sorts and conditions of men, yet<br /> the stream flows on, giving no satisfaction to any-<br /> body. Iam convinced that if a stamp were put<br /> upon works of merit, the average man and woman<br /> of no great literary taste, but of sterling common<br /> sense, would be thankful for such a chance of<br /> deliverance from the time-wasting toils of the<br /> twaddlemonger. As things are, they have to<br /> swallow the mess that is put before them and<br /> make the best of it. :<br /> <br /> The shocking muddle we are now in—our<br /> libraries choked with rubbish, our publisherg’<br /> shelves groaning with books that no bookseller<br /> will show—calls for a radical change. Of the<br /> thousands of books printed, only a comparative<br /> few ever sell, and it is a wonder any publisher can<br /> be induced to issue one by an unknown author, in<br /> face of the fact that no bookseller will stock it,<br /> How can he? No shop is large enough to ho<br /> even a tenth of the spring and autumn output in<br /> novels alone. Poor bookseller! He is bewildered<br /> with advertisements and reviews. Poor publisher !<br /> He never knows what the public will ery after or<br /> reject. Poor author! There is one chance in @<br /> thousand that his book will reach the public at all.<br /> Something must be done. Can an Academy of<br /> Letters do it ?<br /> <br /> We nurse a fainting belief that the best will<br /> survive, and that if we try strenuously to produce<br /> works of art, our aspirations and our efforts wil<br /> be recognised sooner or later. At present recog<br /> nition certainly seems to come by accident rathe<br /> than by any inevitable law, but this is because 0<br /> the muddle we are in. An Academy of Letters<br /> might sift the grain from the chaff; and if i<br /> could not make artistic merit popular, which is<br /> perhaps, too much to expect, it could keep aliv<br /> the flame that is fed by sympathy and apprecia<br /> tion, for the lack of which many a soul-starved<br /> genius has been driven to desperate deeds 0<br /> mediocrity. To lose the faith is to let ideals sink<br /> and how shall a man continue to believe in art<br /> when all his world flouts it ?<br /> <br /> Mary L. PENDERED.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —-— 4 ——<br /> <br /> Til.<br /> <br /> WHEN so many celebrities are writing in you<br /> pages on the subject of a proposed Academ,<br /> Letters, perhaps it may amuse your readers to hear<br /> what an absolute nonentity has to say about it.<br /> My impression, on reading the various letters<br /> from the great and published, appearing from time<br /> to time in Zhe Author, has been, and is, that it.<br /> all, to quote a type of author, “ very beautiful.<br />  <br /> <br /> og<br /> ? d<br /> ig<br /> oh<br /> od<br /> Se<br /> <br /> otf<br /> <br /> de<br /> <br /> a9<br /> <br /> Ue<br /> p<br /> <br /> ak<br /> HOLE<br /> dg<br /> <br /> But its beauty on a close inspection strikes one as<br /> a trifle disingenuous in some cases.<br /> <br /> With all the talk, and there is much, about<br /> benefiting us honest strivers, hardly a word of<br /> honours to be conferred, of knighthoods—perchance<br /> peerages—for presidents, of social advantages to<br /> be reaped by every member. It is almost too<br /> beautiful to be true,<br /> <br /> Mr. Trench indeed recognises the possibility of<br /> such blessings, for he writes : “It behoves greatly,<br /> therefore, that for the State’s own sake, some<br /> honest endeavour is made to distinguish and reward<br /> those who practise this art (literature) with signal<br /> excellence.”<br /> <br /> Now, when, in the name of goodness, was<br /> distinction and reward from the highly-placed,<br /> aught but tortoise dropped on the head of genius ?<br /> Hardy talent may withstand the blow, but delicate<br /> genius is inevitably cracked thereby.<br /> <br /> In the same way competition, which an organ-<br /> ised system of rewards and distinctions would<br /> inevitably beget, is death to genius, though it is<br /> the breath of life to mediocrity.<br /> <br /> By the way, what is genius? Thus much |<br /> know of it: that there is nothing more individual<br /> under the sun; nothing that so objects to<br /> restrictions of any kind. Now, who is going to<br /> assure us that this, perhaps, forthcoming Academy<br /> will not set up a standard of its own? Genius<br /> would assuredly shy at any hard and fast desider-<br /> atum of style, say, anything at all resembling a<br /> chalked blackboard ; and, unless I misunderstand<br /> Mr. Trench, it is principally for genius that his<br /> Academy is designed.<br /> <br /> Think of the Newdigate and Seatonian prize<br /> compositions, and wonder whether productions as<br /> ungainly may not some day be crowned by an<br /> English Academy of Letters. In order that the<br /> rarest order of genius may have a chance of<br /> <br /> _ growth, I believe that the Bohemian character of<br /> <br /> our brotherhood should be preserved, rather than<br /> abandoned for an organisation, however august,<br /> however much patronised and decorated by<br /> Royalty.<br /> <br /> And are women to be taken into glory if they<br /> deserve it? Mr. Trench has not, that | can find,<br /> committed himself on this point, perchance for fear<br /> of alienating so large a section of our society.<br /> But he has hazarded a statement calculated to<br /> rouse another, and, I think, a large section. His<br /> suggestion of a “ Guild of Literature” is nice and<br /> soothing after that awe-inspiring vision of a Royal<br /> Academy full of immortals, like an omnibus on a<br /> rainy day, until we get to the end. And then—<br /> <br /> i and then: “ Recruited from the intellectual refuse<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> of Europe”! How polite to the numerous clerical<br /> members of the Society of Authors. What exquisite<br /> good taste! But better follows.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 127<br /> <br /> Of the churches, he says: ‘‘The brains are out,<br /> the man must die.” A haunting metaphor, and<br /> an ominous. A man whose brains are out is very<br /> near dead. Poor churches !<br /> <br /> And “this new Society of the Spirit—this new<br /> Guild of Literature” is, he as good as tells us,<br /> going to supersede all the churches that ever were.<br /> He declares his hostility to Christianity, an unwise<br /> step at the very outset, if he really wishes to found<br /> a representative Academy of Letters in a Christian<br /> land. “We must look to art and science (!) to<br /> bear on the torches relinquished by religion.”<br /> Truly Mr. Trench is laying about him with a<br /> vengeance, smoky torch in hand, And all this<br /> about an unformed Academy, which we nonenti-<br /> ties, being far removed from the chance of entering<br /> it and reaping any of the benefits there to be con-<br /> ferred, should regard as a very doubtful blessing<br /> indeed—possibly a nuisance. That, in place of<br /> Religion (the capital is Mr. Trench’s). What a<br /> comfort for us sinners on our deathbeds!<br /> <br /> MARMADUKE PICKTHALL.<br /> <br /> —_——_+—_&lt;&gt;__—___—_-_<br /> <br /> THE NEW BRITISH ACADEMY.<br /> <br /> ——1—&lt;—+ ——-<br /> <br /> HE British Academy for the Promotion of<br /> Historical, Philosophical, and Philological<br /> Studies has at length come into being.<br /> <br /> The story of its evolution, and the practical<br /> reason for its existence may be stated shortly as<br /> follows.<br /> <br /> At a meeting of the chief European and<br /> American Academies held at Wiesbaden in October,<br /> 1899, a scheme was drawn up for the organisation<br /> of an International Association of the principal<br /> scientific and literary academies in the world.<br /> This association was to be divided into two sec-<br /> tions:—Natural Science, and Literary Science,<br /> the term “literary”? being used to indicate<br /> sciences of language, history, philosophy, and<br /> antiquities, and other subjects, the study of which<br /> was based on scientific principles.<br /> <br /> The Royal Society was, of course, a fitting repre-<br /> sentative of Natural science ; but certain of those<br /> who were present considering that no existing<br /> institution was competent to stand for the section<br /> dealing with historical,philosophical, and philological<br /> studies, deemed it a matter of vital importance that<br /> the United Kingdom should be effectively and<br /> honourably represented at any future International<br /> Congress. This view the delegates of other nations<br /> strongly supported. ‘The United Kingdom they<br /> said should take immediate steps to secure corporate<br /> representation. Accordingly, measures were adopted<br /> to procure a charter of incorporation for a British<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ie<br /> <br /> Academy to promote the study of the subjects set<br /> out above.<br /> <br /> The draft charter which was submitted to His<br /> Majesty states succinctly the purposes for which the<br /> Academy has been called into existence, and the<br /> powersthattheydemand. The Academy isto consist<br /> of a President, Council, and Fellows ; the President<br /> and Council being elected by the Fellows from<br /> among their own number. The government of<br /> the Academy is to rest in the Council and in the<br /> Fellows assembled in general meeting, the Academy<br /> having power to elect honorary members should it<br /> deem fit to do so, and to hold land in perpetual<br /> succession, not exceeding in the whole the annual<br /> value of £2,000. As there was noserious opposition,<br /> His Majesty granted the charter.<br /> <br /> The list will be of interest to members, as they<br /> will see among the names a great many of those<br /> who belong to the Society.<br /> <br /> This, then, is the beginning of the Academy.<br /> Its future lies in the womb of time. Will it bea<br /> practical Academy, aiding and stimulating study<br /> by honouring those who adorn the ranks of his-<br /> torians and philosophers, by encouraging those who<br /> are at the beginning of their career, or will it be<br /> merely ornamental, crowning a life of hard and<br /> strenuous work with anempty honour? It remains<br /> to be seen whether, to use a terribly trite phrase,<br /> it “fills a want.” At present, we understand, the<br /> executive are engaged in settling bye-laws and<br /> other details.<br /> <br /> A few days ago the French Academy of Political<br /> and Modern Sciences gave formal welcome to this<br /> the youngest member of the academic family.<br /> Lord Reay, as president, responded in an appropriate<br /> speech.<br /> <br /> President—The Right Hon. The Lord Reay.<br /> <br /> Council.<br /> <br /> Sir W. R. Anson, Bart. Sir R. C. Jebb.<br /> The Right Hon. James The Rev. Prof. Mayor.<br /> <br /> Bryce. Dr. J. A. H. Murray,<br /> Prof. I. Bywater. Prof. H. F. Pelham.<br /> Prof. T. W. Rhys The Rev. Prof. W. W.<br /> <br /> Davids. Skeat.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. 8S. R. Sir E. Maunde Thomp-<br /> <br /> Driver. son.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Principal Dr. A. W. Ward.<br /> <br /> Fairbairn. Prof. James Ward.<br /> <br /> Sir C. P. Ibert.<br /> List of Fellows.<br /> <br /> Sir W. R. Anson, Bart. The Right Hon. James<br /> M.P. Bryce, M.P.<br /> <br /> The Right. Hon. A. J. Prof. J. B. Bury.<br /> Balfour, M.P. Prof. S. H. Butcher.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Prof. Ingram Bywater.<br /> <br /> Dr. Edward Caird.<br /> <br /> Prof. E. B. Cowell.<br /> <br /> The Rev. William Cun-<br /> ningham, D.D.<br /> <br /> Prof. T.W. Rhys Davids.<br /> <br /> Prof. A. V. Dicey, K.C.<br /> <br /> The Right Hon. Vis-<br /> count Dillon.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. S. R.<br /> Driver, D.D.<br /> <br /> Prof. Robinson Ellis.<br /> <br /> Dr. A. J. Evans.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Principal A. M.<br /> Fairbairn, D.D.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. Robert<br /> Flint, D.D.<br /> <br /> Dr. J. G. Frazer.<br /> <br /> Mr. Israel Gollancz.<br /> <br /> Dr. Thomas Hodgkin.<br /> <br /> Mr. 8. H. Hodgson.<br /> <br /> Prof.T.E. Holland, K.C.<br /> <br /> Sir C. P. Ibert, K.C.S.1.<br /> <br /> Sir R. C. Jebb, M.P.<br /> <br /> The Right. Hon. W.<br /> BE. H. Lecky, M.P.<br /> <br /> Prof. F. W. Maitland.<br /> <br /> Prof. Alfred Marshall.<br /> <br /> Sir H. C. Maxwell-Lyte,<br /> K.C.B.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. J. E. B.<br /> Mayor.<br /> <br /> Dr. D. B. Monro.<br /> <br /> Secretary—Mr. Israel Gollancz.<br /> <br /> ——_——___—_-<br /> <br /> OF BOOKBINDING.<br /> <br /> San Aine ane<br /> <br /> a recent disturbance in the bookbinding<br /> trade has, among other things, aroused<br /> some mild discussion as to the importance<br /> <br /> The Right Hon. John<br /> Morley, M.P. 2<br /> <br /> Dr. J. A. H. Murray.<br /> <br /> Prof. H. F. Pelham.<br /> <br /> Sir Frederick Pollock,<br /> Bart.<br /> <br /> Prof. W. M. Ramsay.<br /> <br /> The Right Hon. The<br /> Lord Reay, G.C.S.1.,<br /> G.C.L.E.<br /> <br /> Prof. John Rhys.<br /> <br /> The Right Hon. The<br /> Earl of Rosebery,<br /> K.G., K.T.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. George<br /> Salmon, D.D.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. William<br /> Sanday, D.D.<br /> <br /> The Rey. Prof. W. W.<br /> Skeat.<br /> <br /> Sir Leslie Stephen,<br /> K.C.B.<br /> Dr. Whitbey Stokes,<br /> <br /> C.S.1., C.1.E.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Prof. H. B.<br /> Swete, D.D.<br /> <br /> Sir E. Maunde Thomp-<br /> son, K.C.B.<br /> <br /> The Rey. H. F. Tozer.<br /> <br /> Prof. R. ¥. Tyrrell.<br /> <br /> Dr. A. W. Ward.<br /> <br /> Prof. James Ward.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> of the cover in the scheme of things that go to the<br /> making of abook. At one time it seemed possible<br /> that the autumn of 1902 might be memorable as<br /> the one in which books appeared wrapped in sere<br /> and yellow leaves; and the possibility of a pheno-<br /> menon go rare in this country could not fail to<br /> provoke debate as to its effect upon the trade.<br /> <br /> It should be premised that these notes are<br /> directed to case-work—to the binding of ordinary<br /> editions, and not to extra or library binding, which<br /> involves different and more elaborate treatment,<br /> and which may be brought into the domain of art<br /> by the caprice of individual taste, and the resources<br /> of a deep purse. It was only the ordinary editions<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ant<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 129<br /> <br /> of which publication was lately jeopardised, and it<br /> is with the outside eovering of such books only<br /> that these random remarks are concerned.<br /> <br /> For my own part, I am willing to admit that to<br /> me the outside of a book is a matter of relatively<br /> small concern. Binding is to a book what dress is<br /> to a man, and I agree with Lord Chesterfield in<br /> thinking that dress is one of the various ingredients<br /> that contribute to the art of pleasing, and, there-<br /> fore, an object of some attention; for we cannot<br /> help forming some opinion of a man’s sense and<br /> character from his dress. I would, consequently,<br /> clothe my books as I would clothe my children,<br /> sensibly, but artistically withal ; but were I a<br /> millionaire, I would do no more. Their garments<br /> should be sufficiently distinctive to contribute<br /> something to the formation of that first impression<br /> upon which so much depends. They should be<br /> accurately clean for their own sakes; they should<br /> be of good workmanship, and able to withstand<br /> ordinary use at the hands of a man who loves his<br /> books and recognises his obligation to them ; and<br /> generally they should be unobtrusive, and an<br /> unnoticeable part of the book’s own entity.<br /> <br /> I have never been able to accustom myself to<br /> regard the cover in which a book leaves the pub-<br /> lisher as a merely temporary vestment. From this<br /> it follows that the yellow paper wrapper of the<br /> ordinary French book is an abomination in my<br /> eyes, although its frankly ephemeral nature is,<br /> perhaps, more honest than the ill-adjusted boards<br /> of many of our home products. The few French<br /> books which I possess cannot stand erect upon<br /> their shelves, but droop against the sides of the<br /> bookcase as if conscious that their moral character<br /> could not bear investigation, although they are in<br /> reality as innocent of evil as the sturdy Hcclesi-<br /> astical Polity which presents broad shoulders from<br /> the shelf above. They accumulate dirt, get dog-<br /> eared, split down the back, and fall to pieces at the<br /> first reading. If they hold together sufficiently<br /> long to reach the binder round the corner, it is<br /> well. The cheapest boards are preferable to the<br /> paper wrapper, and I almost think I would rather<br /> possess no books than paper-covered ones.<br /> <br /> Still, the French publisher makes no protesta-<br /> tions. My grievance with English publishers i;<br /> that, while professing to regard case- work as<br /> merely temporary, and consequently tolerating bad<br /> work from the binders whom they employ, they<br /> are, in fact, aware that the profession they make is<br /> not quite ingenuous. The public look for decent<br /> workmanship in the binding of the average novel,<br /> and, in England, they do not get it. It would be<br /> invidious to give specific instances, but the general<br /> assertion put forward by Mr. Putnam, for one, in<br /> his suggestive manual of suggestions, ‘‘ Authors<br /> and Publishers,” is well founded. ‘That assertion<br /> <br /> is that in America “it is the intention to produce<br /> case-work so strongly and effectively put together<br /> that the books may open well, and at the same<br /> time be so firmly bound as to stand all proper<br /> usage, and to remain as permanent coverings to<br /> the volumes ; whereas, abroad, it has never been<br /> considered necessary to treat edition work as any-<br /> thing more than a temporary covering for the<br /> book. Hence, abroad, the cloth-bound books are<br /> lacking in substantial sewing and in general<br /> strength of structure.” As regards that indict-<br /> ment, I think a true bill must be found ; and if<br /> the verdict be adverse, it is surely a matter for<br /> self-reproach.<br /> <br /> If a book is worth producing at all, it is worth<br /> producing well; and there must be something<br /> wrong somewhere for the difference in merit to be so<br /> marked as it is in this matter of binding between<br /> English and American books. A novel of my own<br /> was lately issued in both countries at approxi-<br /> mately the same published price. In England I<br /> was permitted to have a voice in the selection of<br /> the cover, and chose an ordinary cloth, plainly<br /> lettered, which, I thought, would be serviceable<br /> and unostentatious, and in every way appropriate.<br /> In America the matter was left entirely to the<br /> publisher’s discretion. I duly received presenta-<br /> tion copies from both houses, both, be it remarked,<br /> well-known and old-established firms of repute.<br /> The English volume would fall to pieces at the<br /> sniff of the first reviewer. The book is badly<br /> sewn, the sheets gape, the edges are unevenly<br /> trimmed, and all the mechanical details have been<br /> carried out in a slovenly fashion. The American<br /> volume opens freely, is perfectly folded and cased<br /> in, the cover is embellished with a peculiarly<br /> appropriate design of minute proportions, the<br /> lettering is plain and unmistakeable, and the<br /> volume will last longer than I shall. I can find<br /> no good reason for this difference between the two<br /> editions of a book, which I have singled out as an<br /> instance only because it happens to be my own.<br /> <br /> There seems to be a curious uncertainty of<br /> opinion among publishers as to the effect of the<br /> binding of a book upon its sales. I have known<br /> fifteen guineas to be paid for the design for the<br /> cover of a novel, published at three shillings and<br /> sixpence, and the design comprised nothing but<br /> some lettering, not particularly original in form.<br /> The novel was really literary, and its sale was<br /> counted by tens. I know another novel, not<br /> literary at all, of which the sale, counted by<br /> thousands, is attributed by the publishers entirely<br /> to the picture on the cover, the design for which<br /> cost a guinea. I am at a loss to understand the<br /> motive which prompted the publisher to spend<br /> fifteen guineas in the one case and one guinea In<br /> the other, and I am at a loss to understand why he<br /> 130<br /> <br /> attributes the sale in the one case to the binding,<br /> and does not attribute the failure to sell in the<br /> other case to the same cause. :<br /> In this matter of florid decoration our English<br /> novels are also inferior to the American, and the<br /> fact can only be due to an idea that picture<br /> designs excite curiosity and promote sales. There<br /> is certainly no other justification for many of them.<br /> And yet such ornamentation may have a contrary<br /> effect ; one case has certainly occurred lately<br /> where the bookstall sale of a book was prohibited<br /> because the proprietors objected to the design upon<br /> its cover as meretricious, or in some way “im-<br /> proper,” and refused to stock the work ; yet this<br /> particular design was good art. —<br /> From these considerations arises a question of<br /> some importance to authors. Ifa publisher insists<br /> for commercial reasons upon having a picture cover,<br /> should not the author have some defined right to<br /> yeto any design to which he may take exception as<br /> being, say, in bad taste, or as conveying a false<br /> impression of the tone and scope of the book? It<br /> is not enough to suggest that this is a matter which<br /> may be left to mutual amicable arrangement, nor<br /> to reply that anything may be made a condition of<br /> the contract. A very usual and proper clause in<br /> agreements provides that all details of production<br /> and publication of a work shall be left to the<br /> publisher’s sole discretion, and even when the<br /> <br /> agreement is a royalty one it is possible that the<br /> author might have a legitimate grievance against<br /> <br /> the publisher in this connection. In the case ofa<br /> sale of copyright, whether for a term of years or<br /> absolutely, the author would, of course, have even<br /> less locus standi, the publisher being entitled to do<br /> what he pleases to sell his own property, even to<br /> the extent of printing it in white letters on purple<br /> paper, if he thinks such a line would appeal to a<br /> large public. Ifa modest and refined gentlewoman<br /> sold the copyright of her novel entitled, say, “ My<br /> Uncle,” would she, or would she not have cause<br /> for complaint if the publisher issued it with a cover<br /> emblazoned with the golden Balls of Lombardy.<br /> <br /> And the question opens up the still wider one<br /> of illustrations generally. ‘To say that the author<br /> shall have a legal right to dictate to the artist<br /> would be to drive the already worried publisher to<br /> distraction ; but on the other hand it would be<br /> manifestly hard upon a sensitive delicate-minded<br /> woman if her novels were issued by a comimercial-<br /> minded publisher adorned with pictures intended<br /> to appeal to the coarse imagination of peuple of<br /> the baser sort. Is it necessary to provide against<br /> such a contingency in all agreements, and, if so,<br /> how is to be done ? That the difficulty may arise,<br /> and even become acute, I do from my own<br /> experience know.<br /> <br /> V. E. M.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> LONDON IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.*<br /> <br /> te<br /> <br /> HERE is a passage in Montaigne’s “ Essays ”<br /> fe which comes almost instinctively to mind<br /> as one opens this handsome, and alas !<br /> posthumous, quarto. “ Nous sommes nayz pour<br /> ayir,” says he in the Nineteenth Chapter of his<br /> First Book. “Je veux qu’on agisse, et quon<br /> alonge les offices de la vie, tant qu&#039;on peult; et<br /> que la mort me treuve plantant mes choulx, mais<br /> nonchalant Welle, et encores plus de mon tardin<br /> imparfaict.” No one had learned that lofty lesson<br /> of doing more thoroughly than the author of<br /> “London in the Eighteenth Century.” It was<br /> more than thirty years ago that he first began to<br /> make notes for a vast “Survey,” which was to<br /> accomplish for the metropolis in the nineteenth<br /> century what John Stow had accomplished for it in<br /> the sixteenth, and tell its story from period to period.<br /> The task would have been a life work for an idle<br /> man ; it was a labour of Hercules for one whose<br /> sleepless energy and warm human sympathies,<br /> dissipated in many ways, left him barely breathing<br /> space; and it is no wonder, perhaps, that the<br /> “garden ” remains “ imperfect.” But, fortunately,<br /> there are different forms of imperfection. ‘There<br /> is the imperfection which is frankly truncated or<br /> fragmentary; and there is the imperfection which<br /> consists merely in the absence of other parts of<br /> the plan, each part being complete in itself. This<br /> is the case with the book which Sir Walter Besant<br /> has left behind him. It is an isolated portion of<br /> his contemplated ‘‘ Survey,” but inasmuch as it.<br /> comprises and includes a full and detailed account.<br /> of “ London in the Eighteenth Century,” it can<br /> afford to stand alone. “It represents,’ says<br /> Lady Besant in her Preface, “the continuous<br /> labour of over five years, and the active research of<br /> half a life-time. He [Sir Walter] was wont to:<br /> refer to it as his magnum opus, and it was the<br /> work by which he himself most desired to be<br /> remembered by posterity.”<br /> <br /> That his desire will be realised, there can be:<br /> little doubt. Other histories of London in the<br /> Eighteenth Century there may be, but it is not<br /> probable that any other historian is likely to<br /> approach the task with the same combination of<br /> qualities, the same faculty for extracting local<br /> colouring from obscure sources, the same feeling<br /> for the picturesque and graphic, the same passion<br /> for minute investigation, and the same enthusiasm:<br /> for the Past. To give an adequate idea of such<br /> a book would be difficult ; to turn its pages is to-<br /> tread the Eighteenth Century once more. In one<br /> picture you shall see the mouth of the old Fleet<br /> river; in another, Covent Garden, with its piazzas ;<br /> <br /> * By Sir Walter Besant (Adam and Charles Black, 1902).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> ai in another, the Foundling Hospital, with its wide<br /> so) forecourt; in another, St. Bartholomew’s. With<br /> the aid of Gay’s “ Trivia,”, one of the chapters<br /> makes the tour of the ill-paved, cobbled streets ;<br /> another is devoted to that curious and rare<br /> pamphlet on “ Low Life” which suggested Sala’s<br /> “Twice Round the Clock.” There is an excel-<br /> lent dissertation on Dissenters ; there is another<br /> as good upon Superstitions, not omitting the Cock<br /> Lane Ghost. But those portions over which the<br /> » reader will probably linger longest are the sections<br /> headed “Manners and Customs,” and ‘‘ Society<br /> and Amusements,” the importance of which is<br /> admitted by Lady Besant when she says, in her<br /> Preface, that the “book may be regarded as a<br /> social picture of London in the Highteenth<br /> Century, rather than as a detailed history.”<br /> Certainly, it is these sections that most markedly<br /> exhibit the curious recondite reading which<br /> has gone to fill the full-packed pages. Shops<br /> and Coffee-houses, Costume and Diet, Wigs and<br /> Barbers, Clubs and Night-cellars, Gazebos and<br /> Country-boxes (among which we are delighted to<br /> find that typical one from the ‘ Connoisseur ”’)<br /> Crafts, Weddings, Funerals, Servants, have all<br /> their due chronicle and illustration, while a<br /> specially careful chapter is given to the “ Position<br /> of Women.” The section on “ Society and Amuse-<br /> ments” is not less interesting. Drums and<br /> Assemblies, the Parks, the Wells, the Spas,<br /> Ranelagh and Vauxhall, Drury Lane and Covent<br /> Garden, the Cock Pit, the Prize-ring, the Gambling-<br /> hells, and the Fairs have each full and adequate<br /> treatment. But, to make an end of mere enumera-<br /> tion, we shall take leave to transcribe, as a specimen<br /> of the more vivid passages, the following, which<br /> almost reads like an expansion of Hogarth’s clever<br /> little print, copied at page 524, of “ A Country-Inn<br /> Yard” :<br /> <br /> “Upon one who considers the tavern of the time there<br /> presently falls a reminiscence of the past when we were all<br /> living in the eighteenth century. We are standing in a<br /> courtyard of a tavern in Leadenhall ; our carriage—for we<br /> drove into town this morning from the country—is drawn<br /> up in the open court, where are also the waggons, now un-<br /> loaded, which rumbled in from Edinburgh this morning.<br /> Three girls, come up from service all the way from York,<br /> which is ten days’ journey, are waiting for their new<br /> masters to call for them ; an old lady, whose smile is meant<br /> to be benevolent, is whispering to one of the girls—the<br /> prettiest one—that she can offer her a place of much<br /> higher wages and much less work ; there is a great yoho-<br /> ing and whistling from the stable which one can see—and<br /> smell—through the gate on the other side of the court ;<br /> messengers and porters are bringing parcels for another<br /> waggon now receiving its load ; at intervals the housemaids<br /> running about the galleries above lean over the rails and<br /> exchange a little light satire with the grooms below ;<br /> gentlemen graye of aspect walk into the tavern and call<br /> for a bottle and a privateroom. You can see them through<br /> the open window ; they exchange papers, they talk in low<br /> tones, they make notes, they drink but without merri-<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 131<br /> <br /> ment. There are twenty or thirty of these rooms; they<br /> are all occupied by merchants who are more private here<br /> than on ’Change. At four o’clock;a company of gentlemen,<br /> headed by a rosy-cheeked divine, all of them sleek and<br /> some of them even obese, enter the inn with a kind of pro-<br /> cession. They are met by the landlord, who bows obse-<br /> quiously. * Gentlemen,” he says, ‘“‘ youare welcome. John,<br /> show his Reverence and the Vestry to the Anchor. Gentle-<br /> men, you shall be served immediately.” Itisa parish feast.<br /> People from the country arrive, some in postchaises, some<br /> by stage-coach. There is a bride with her bridegroom and<br /> her bridesmaid, blushing sweetly. Shesees London for the<br /> first time : it will be the last time, yet it will remain the<br /> dream of her life. Outside there is the bawling of the<br /> street-criers, the grinding and the rumbling of the carts.<br /> Here, in the tavern yard, there is the atmosphere of comfort<br /> and of rest. One perceives, after a hundred years, the<br /> fragrance of the kitchen ; one hears the drawing of corks ;<br /> one listens to the gobbling of the select vestry ; one hears<br /> the laughter of the country visitors. The servants run about;<br /> the landlord gives his orders; when the night falls, the<br /> passengers for the eight o’clock stage arrive, and the great<br /> coach, piled high with luggage, rumbles out through the<br /> archway into the street.”<br /> <br /> It would require a paragraph of equal length<br /> to indicate the sources from which this little<br /> picture has been so patiently built up, and there<br /> are many others as effective in their happy ming-<br /> ling of erudition and imagination. It should be<br /> added that the book is excellently illustrated by<br /> facsimiles of old views, old prints, and old carica-<br /> tures. Hogarth is naturally very prominent in<br /> Sir Walter’s pages, but many of the plates are<br /> drawn from sources which are rarer and less<br /> familiar. It may be safely affirmed—and here<br /> we close our brief and _ all-too-perfunctory<br /> notice—that there is no existing English book on<br /> the Eighteenth Century, social and topographical,<br /> which can in any way compete with Sir Walter<br /> Besant’s “ magnum opus.”<br /> <br /> Austin Dosson.<br /> <br /> ———————EE<br /> <br /> INK DRUNKARDS.<br /> <br /> R. F. MARION CRAWFORD, in his<br /> novel, ‘“ The Three Fates,” deals graphic-<br /> ally with those unfortunate individuals<br /> <br /> “who have looked upon the ink when it was<br /> black and cannot be warned from it, and whose<br /> nostrils have smelled the printer’s sacrifice.”<br /> <br /> Just as there are men and women shattered<br /> bodily and mentally by an eternal craving for<br /> alcohol and the ceaseless effort to appease it ; just<br /> as there are self-immolating victims to narcotics,<br /> such as opium, chloral or morphine ; 80 there are<br /> beings who are rendered objects of pity to their<br /> friends and of despair to themselves by an in-<br /> satiable desire to write.<br /> <br /> “For one man who succeeds in literature,”<br />  <br /> <br /> 132<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> affirms Mr. Crawford, “a thousand fail.” He is<br /> one of the fortunate competitors who has been suc-<br /> cessful. Nevertheless, his knowledge of the ter-<br /> rible difficulties obstructing the path of a literary<br /> beginner appears to be deep and well-founded.<br /> Publishers do not greedily accept the work of un-<br /> known writers; being business men and not<br /> philanthropists, their desire is to deal with<br /> authors already established favourites with the<br /> reading public, whose books are consequently sure<br /> to be well received. Speculative risk attends<br /> upon the productions of a tyro without regard to<br /> their merit. It is not astonishing, therefore, that<br /> writers who have not made a name for themselves<br /> are accorded but a cold welcome by the trade.<br /> There isa rumour that Thackeray’s Vanity Fair<br /> was rejected by no fewer than thirty-eight publish-<br /> ers! Charlotte Bronté and her less famous<br /> sisters, Robert Louis Stevenson, and a host of very<br /> important witnesses, have testified, again and<br /> again, to the conservative predilections of Pater-<br /> noster Row. A renowned American author,<br /> whose writings had always been eagerly accepted,<br /> once made the experiment of offering a manu-<br /> script, anonymously, to several leading publishers.<br /> Each of them declined it with thanks !<br /> <br /> Yet in spite of disappointment after disappoint-<br /> ment, in the face of perpetual rebuffs, there are<br /> men and women powerless to resist the intoxica-<br /> tion imparted by ink-soaking.<br /> <br /> Write, write write! Until eyes are heavy, the<br /> brain is weary, and the head swims; until worn-<br /> out nature strikes by refusing to endure the strain<br /> imposed upon it—such is the curse of ink-<br /> drunkards.<br /> <br /> Though there is little or no pecuniary profit in<br /> their slavery, these luckless creatures will still pur-<br /> sue it. Though health is lost, and hope almost<br /> abandoned, ink-drunkards will yet, like Sisyphus,<br /> attempt the impossible.<br /> <br /> “We all hear of the miserable end of the poor<br /> wretch who has subsisted for years upon stimu-<br /> lants or narcotics, and whose death is held up as a<br /> warning to youth ; but who ever knows or speaks<br /> of the countless deaths due solely to the over-use<br /> of pen, ink and paper?” Mr. Crawford is right in<br /> asking this question.<br /> <br /> Why do we pretend ignorance of a disease<br /> which is, as he says, more fatal than dipsomania ?<br /> <br /> That such a disease exists can be readily proved<br /> by an investigation into some of the ‘secluded<br /> haunts of Fleet Street.<br /> <br /> “Who counts the suicides brought about by<br /> failure, the cases of men starving because they<br /> would rather write bad English than do good<br /> work of any other sort ?” asks Mr. Crawford.<br /> <br /> Further than this, there are men who have been<br /> University scholars unable to earn their bread by<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> their pens. It will be remembered that in hi<br /> early days Dr. Johnson, on occasion, walked the<br /> streets of London all night because he could nof<br /> afford a bed. Coleridge, even at a time when he<br /> had attained celebrity as a scholar, a poet, and an<br /> essayist, was in the saddest state of destitution<br /> For all the recognition his brilliant genius re<br /> ceived during his brief lifetime, Keats might well<br /> have deemed his name “ writ in water.”<br /> <br /> Literature, like marriage, is something of g<br /> lottery, and its prizes do not always fall to those<br /> most worthy to wear them ; but for such ag are<br /> intellectually unfitted to participate in the draw<br /> ing, it isan Inferno. When we hear of successfy<br /> authors who have reached positions of comfort<br /> and even of affluence, we are apt to forget the<br /> thousands of hack writers whose lives are one<br /> continued struggle for the bare means of subsist<br /> ence.<br /> <br /> Sir Walter Besant, the zealous founder of the<br /> Society of Authors, has earned a measure of<br /> gratitude from all who claim brotherhood with<br /> <br /> efforts to protect and encourage the profession of<br /> Letters can be described as universal<br /> predominant. The blind, the maimed, and the<br /> halt, who, figuratively speaking, encumber the out-<br /> skirts of the literary country, could hardly be re-<br /> lieved bythe exertions of a benevolent Hercules.<br /> <br /> Mr. Crawford has done a service, therefore, by<br /> calling attention to a class which he realistically<br /> dubs “ink-drunkards.”<br /> <br /> Poverty, despair, heartsickness, and a spirit of<br /> restlessness ever present with the poor victim, are<br /> such rewards as fall to the lot of a large proportion<br /> of these possessed toilers..<br /> <br /> “‘ Let a writer work until his brain reels and his<br /> fingers can no longer hold the pen, he will never-<br /> theless find it impossible to rest without<br /> imagining he is being idle. He cannot escape<br /> from the devil that drives him, because he is him-<br /> self the driver and the driven, the fiend and his<br /> victim, the torturer and the tortured.”<br /> <br /> Authors who have passed through what is<br /> called “the mill” can corroborate Mr. Crawford’s<br /> remarks, even though determination, strength of<br /> constitution, and perhaps good fortune, may<br /> eventually have combined to pull them safely<br /> through the Slough of Despond, and to have in<br /> some degree toned down the remembrance of it;<br /> but it is to the less robust, physically and mentally,<br /> that Mr. Crawford more particularly addresses him-<br /> self, to the weaker ones whose qualifications may be<br /> summed up in three letters—nil !<br /> <br /> Like opium to an opium-eater, drink to a<br /> drunkard, gold to a miser, is the pen to an ink<br /> drunkard ; yet there is nothing tangible in th<br /> fascination to which he falls an abject slave!	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/480/1903-02-01-The-Author-13-5.pdf	publications, The Author