Omeka ID	Omeka URL	Title	Subject	Description	Creator	Source	Publisher	Date	Contributor	Rights	Relation	Format	Language	Type	Identifier	Coverage	Publisher(s)	Original Format	Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Entry	Pages	Participants	Pen Name	Physical Dimensions	Position End Date	Position Start Date	Position(s)	Publication Frequency	Occupation	Sex	Society Membership End Date	Society Membership Start Date	Start Date	Sub-Committee End Date	Sub-Committee Start Date	Text	To	URL	Volume	Death	Biography	Birth	Committee End Date	Committee of Management End Date	Committee of Management Start Date	Committee Start Date	Committee(s)	Council End Date	Council Start Date	Date	Bibliography	End Date	Event Type	From	Image Source	Interactive Timeline	Issue	Location	Members	Ngram Date	Ngram Text	Files	Tags
476	https://historysoa.com/items/show/476	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 01 (October 1902)	<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+01+%28October+1902%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 01 (October 1902)</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>	1902-10-01-The-Author-13-1					1–28																		<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=1902-10-01">1902-10-01</a>							1			19021001	Che Mutbor.<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. XITI.—No. 1.<br /> <br /> OcroBER 1sT, 1902.<br /> <br /> [PRIcE SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> CHANGE OF ADDRESS.<br /> <br /> —_—<br /> <br /> As mistakes still occur with regard to the<br /> Address of the Society, it has been thought<br /> expedient to continue this Notice, that the Office<br /> of the Society is situated at—<br /> <br /> 39, OLD QUEEN STREET,<br /> STOREY’S GATE, S.W.<br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> —___—__—_—_e —&lt;&gt;—_e___—_<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> <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 /> Tux Editor begs to inform Members of the<br /> Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he 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 /> The Pension Fund of the Society.<br /> <br /> THE Investments of the Pension Fund at<br /> present standing in the names of the T&#039;rustees are<br /> as follows.<br /> <br /> This is a statement of the actual stock; the<br /> <br /> Vou. XIII.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market.<br /> <br /> CON aOlE 25 goer eee ne Lolo 5 6<br /> MigGal LGAs 2 ee 404 10 0<br /> Victorian Government 3 % Con-<br /> <br /> solidated Inscribed Stock............ 991 19 11<br /> War loan 201 9 8<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> otal 3. £1714 4 8<br /> <br /> There is, in addition, a balance of £30 to £40<br /> in the Bank to cover current expenses and the<br /> payment of pensions.<br /> <br /> The subscriptions and donations from the<br /> beginning of the year are as follows.<br /> <br /> Further sums will be acknowledged from month<br /> to month as they come to hand.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> DONATIONS.<br /> <br /> Jeu. 24, Cherch, Prof. B. Ai H.....-- £2.32 0<br /> Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ............ ~ 0 4.6<br /> Feb. 1, Perks, Miss Lily............... 010 0<br /> Feb. 12, Brown, Miss Prince ......... t 1.0<br /> Feb. 15, Wilkins, W. H. (2nd donation) 11. 0<br /> Bebo 15.8. @. 2... 1 0<br /> Feb. 17, Hawkins, A. Hope.........-.. 50 0 0<br /> Feb. 19, Burrowes, Miss H. ............ 010 0<br /> Mch. 16, Reynolds, Mrs. .............-. 0.5 0<br /> April 28, Wheelright, Miss Ethel...... 100<br /> April 29, Sheldon, Mrs. French,<br /> <br /> BRGS, ...3.....5..... 0 5 0<br /> May 5, A Beginner ..........-...:...+. ti 0<br /> May 20, Nemo &lt;.........6--1.seeeee eee ee 2.700<br /> May 20, Dr. A. Rattray ..........--... 0 5 0<br /> July 17, Capes, Bernard E. ............ 5 0<br /> July 19, Warden, Miss Gertrude ... 0 5 0<br /> <br /> ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.<br /> Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ........-:.-.-.... 0 5.0<br /> dan. 20, Nacholls, B.C. 7.770.052... 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ... 11.0<br /> Feb., Gidley, Miss B.C. ............... 010 6<br /> Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H.C. ...... 0.5 0<br /> Mich. 25, siroud, Eo 010 6<br /> Apr. 9, Kitcat, Mrs. ..........--...-.05++ 11 0<br /> May 1, Heatley, Richard F............. 0 5 0<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> <br /> Tue amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £327 15 0<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly, about<br /> £4. The subscriptions received from-March to<br /> <br /> the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Anonymous. : ; ; og<br /> Champneys, Basil<br /> <br /> “ Colonia,” Natal, 8. Africa<br /> <br /> Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F.C.<br /> <br /> Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. :<br /> <br /> Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.<br /> <br /> Hurry, A. 3 : : . ‘<br /> <br /> Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-<br /> tioned)<br /> <br /> Kinns, The Rey. Samuel, D.D. .<br /> <br /> Millais, J.G. . : : ;<br /> <br /> Quiller Couch, Miss M.<br /> <br /> Sterry, J. Ashby. :<br /> <br /> Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir R. C.<br /> <br /> Underdown, Miss E.<br /> <br /> Lockyer, Sir T. Norman<br /> <br /> Beale, Miss Mary<br /> <br /> Bolam, Rev. C. E.<br /> <br /> Egbert, Henry<br /> <br /> Eccles, Miss O’Connor<br /> <br /> Darwin, Francis ; : :<br /> <br /> Campbell-Montgomery, Miss F. F.<br /> <br /> Medlecott, Cecil : 3<br /> <br /> Saxby, Mrs...<br /> <br /> Caine, T. H. Hall<br /> <br /> Marris, Miss Murrell<br /> <br /> S. B. : ;<br /> <br /> Bloomfield, J. H. .<br /> <br /> F. O. B. (Coventry) .<br /> <br /> Seton-Karr, H. W. .<br /> <br /> Heriot, Cheyne :<br /> <br /> Charley, Sir W. T., K.C.<br /> <br /> “« Esme Stuart ” :<br /> <br /> Charlton, Miss Emily<br /> <br /> Kroeker, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Aflalo, F. G.<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. :<br /> <br /> Salwey, Reginald E.<br /> <br /> Gidley, Miss E. C.<br /> <br /> = 8<br /> ma or<br /> <br /> me or OT OST HE OT<br /> <br /> in pla<br /> oS<br /> <br /> put<br /> <br /> orc<br /> <br /> COFCO He Oo<br /> Tore Or Oro o1cr<br /> <br /> COorwse<br /> — ee a<br /> CcCOoOrRNWCSD<br /> <br /> eg<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> T the meeting of the Committee held in July<br /> <br /> A 13 members and associates were elected.<br /> <br /> This raises the number of elections for the<br /> current year to 113.<br /> <br /> Thus the average of past years is well maintained.<br /> <br /> In 1901, 113 members exactly were elected up to<br /> July, and in 1900,118. The Society still continues<br /> to show a vigorous growth.<br /> <br /> At the same meeting, it was decided to place<br /> one case on behalf of a member into the solicitors’<br /> hands, with a view to taking action if necessary,<br /> and on behalf of two other members of the Society<br /> to take counsel&#039;s opinion on a difficult point of law.<br /> <br /> Since the last issue of the Author, twenty-seven<br /> cases have been in the hands of the Secretary.<br /> They may be classified as follow :—<br /> <br /> Twelve for the payment of money; six dealing<br /> with accounts ; eight for the return of MSS.;<br /> and the remaining one dealing with a general<br /> settlement. Of the money cases, two embraced<br /> considerably more than one member’s claim, one<br /> was against a magazine in bankruptcy, and the<br /> other against the proprietor of a magazine that<br /> had ceased to exist. A dozen members at least<br /> were involved.<br /> <br /> It is satisfactory to relate that of the twenty-<br /> seven, nineteen have been closed advantageously<br /> to the authors, and the remainder are now in the<br /> course of settlement.<br /> <br /> Action has been commenced by the solicitors of<br /> the Society in four other cases.<br /> <br /> Two of these cases have been settled, one by a<br /> County Court trial, the other by payment into<br /> court; in the latter case the sum paid in was<br /> accepted by the plaintiff. The other actions are<br /> still awaiting trial.<br /> <br /> At the same meeting of the Committee, it was<br /> decided, at the suggestion of Sir Gilbert Parker,<br /> that representatives of the Society should meet Sir<br /> Wilfrid Laurier in order to give them an oppor-<br /> tunity of laying their views on the copyright<br /> question before the Prime Minister, and if, the meet-<br /> ing could be arranged, that representatives of the<br /> Copyright Association and the Publishers’ Associa-<br /> tion should at the request of the Society be also<br /> asked to attend.<br /> <br /> Accordingly, before Sir Wilfrid Laurier left for<br /> the Island of Jersey and the Continent with Sir<br /> Gilbert Parker in August, a private meeting was<br /> held at Sir Gilbert Parker&#039;s house. Mr. A. Hope<br /> Hawkins, Mr.G. H.Thring, on behalf of the Society,<br /> Mr. John Murray and Mr. Daldy, on behalf of the<br /> Copyright Association, and Mr. C. J. Longman<br /> and Mr. Frederick Macmillan, on behalf of the<br /> Publishers’ Association, and Sir Gilbert Parker, a<br /> member of the Committee and Council of the<br /> Authors’ Society, composed the deputation. It<br /> would not be right to give a report of what was<br /> said and done on that occasion, but all who are<br /> interested in copyright will be glad to know that<br /> Sir Wilfrid Laurier gave assurances upon the ques-<br /> tion of Imperial Copyright and its bearing upon<br /> the Canadian question which cannot but lead to<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 3<br /> <br /> satisfactory results. It is more than probable that<br /> the Imperial Copyright Bill will be brought in<br /> next Session of Parliament by the Government.<br /> <br /> ene peepee pnenene<br /> <br /> Tur death of Mrs. Hector, who wrote under<br /> the name of Mrs. Alexander, occurred shortly<br /> after the publication of the July number of<br /> The Author. The Committee chronicle the event<br /> with deep regret. She had been a member of the<br /> Society since 1892, and had steadily maintained<br /> her position in literature. Her later works show no<br /> appreciable falling off from those which made her<br /> name— The Wooing O’t”’ and “ Barbara.”<br /> <br /> et eg ame,<br /> <br /> THE publication of the List of Members will<br /> take place during the month. The list is pub-<br /> lished for circulation among members of the<br /> Society only.<br /> <br /> The Committee trust that any member desirous<br /> of making an alteration or correction in his name<br /> or address will communicate with the Secretary.<br /> It is exceedingly difficult to edit a long list of<br /> names without a mistake in the first instance, but<br /> every effort has been made to keep the issue correct.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> —_—+<br /> <br /> UCAS MALET, who has been taking a well-<br /> earned rest for nearly twelve months, has<br /> just commenced a new book, but it will not<br /> <br /> be published until this time next year at the earliest.<br /> It is to be brought out in London by Messrs.<br /> Hutchinson &amp; Co., and by Messrs. Dodd, Mead &amp;<br /> Co. in New York.<br /> <br /> The scheme of the story has been complete in<br /> the writer’s mind for some months. It is a novel<br /> very much of the present day, and the scene is laid<br /> in London and the suburbs.<br /> <br /> Mr. J. A. Hobson’s new work, “ Imperialism :<br /> A Study,” consists of two parts. The first part is<br /> an investigation of the economic origin and value<br /> of the new Imperialism, in which Great Britain has<br /> taken the lead since 1870.<br /> <br /> The second part is a study of the mission of<br /> civilisation in its effects upon lower or alien peoples,<br /> and its political reactions upon the Western nations.<br /> Mr. Hobson treats the subject from the standpoint<br /> of political pathology, but the outlines of a con-<br /> structive policy of internationalism are sketched<br /> in the concluding chapters. The American edition<br /> is published by Messrs. Pott, of New York. Messrs.<br /> James Nesbit &amp; Co. are the publishers here.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hobson has sailed for America, where, for<br /> the next. nine or ten months, he will lecture and<br /> <br /> investigate social conditions. His economic works<br /> are largely used as text-books on the other side, so<br /> he is sure of a welcome from friends and followers.<br /> <br /> Sir Martin Conway’s “ Aconcagua and Tierra del<br /> Fuego” is just out (Cassell &amp; Co.). It is a most<br /> interesting book of climbing, travel and exploration,<br /> and has twenty-seven illustrations and a map.<br /> After thirty years of climbing, which have left him<br /> fonder than ever of mountains—of their beauty,<br /> their problems and the activities of mind and body<br /> to which mountains give scope—the author tells us<br /> in his preface :—<br /> <br /> “ This book is the record of the last of my own mountain<br /> explorations that I shall write. . . . The world is wide and<br /> contains other things besides mountains, delightful to study.<br /> <br /> . It is life, after all, that is the greatest field of<br /> exploration.”<br /> <br /> Sir Martin, with his two guides, Maquignaz and<br /> Pellissier, started for the final climb which landed<br /> two of them on the summit of Aconcagua at<br /> 3.30 a.m. He says :-—<br /> <br /> “Tt is impossible to exaggerate the toil we underwent<br /> upon this slope ; once only did a small patch of snow give<br /> momentary relief. ... The higher we rose the more we<br /> were driven to the left and the looser the stones became.<br /> As they gave way beneath our feet we often fell violently<br /> to the ground and lay panting like wounded men, unable<br /> to rise ; our breathing became louder and louder. It was<br /> a relief now and again to empty the lungs with a groan,<br /> and refill them with a more than ordinary volume of thin<br /> air. Arms had to be kept well away from the sides to leave<br /> the lungs more free for expansion. The left hand was<br /> generally tucked into a waist belt, while the right grasped<br /> the head of the ice-axe and used it as a walking-stick.<br /> The desire to halt frequently was intense, but the ever-<br /> increasing cold as imperatively urged us to movement.”<br /> <br /> The entire descent, including all halts for food<br /> and packing, was accomplished in less than six<br /> hours. In that time they came down 10,000 feet.<br /> <br /> When, after six hours’ riding from the base<br /> camp they reached the Baths of Inca, Dr. Cotton<br /> was at the door and came forward to greet them in<br /> a sympathetic manner :—<br /> <br /> “JT am sorry to see you back so soon,” he said, “ but I<br /> suppose you concluded that the weather was broken?”<br /> <br /> “Not at all,’ I replied. ‘We have come back because<br /> we have accomplished the ascent.”<br /> <br /> “What!” he said. “Already? It seems incredible.<br /> You have only been away from this house five days and a<br /> half. J congratulate you with all my heart.”<br /> <br /> One more extract —it will have a special interest<br /> for our readers :—<br /> <br /> “ Near Lake Maravilla a young Englishman has success-<br /> fully started a sheep farm. I was anxious to ride up and<br /> visit him, but time did not allow. The trip would have<br /> inyolved five days’ hard riding. His house looks out upon<br /> a glacier that shoots icebergs into the lake. His nearest<br /> neighbour lives forty miles away. Before Christmas he<br /> had paid a visit to Sandy Point and had carried back in<br /> his saddle-bag a copy of Stevens’ book, ‘With Kitchener<br /> to Khartoum.’ The battle of Omdurman was fought on<br /> the 2nd of September, 1898, and before the 2nd of January,<br /> 1899, the full story of the campaign had been written in<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the Soudan, printed, bound, and published in London,<br /> exported to Magellan Strait, and carried up to the<br /> remotest point in Patagonia.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Jerome K. Jerome’s novel, ‘ Paul Kelver”<br /> (Hutchinson &amp; Co., 6s.), is autobiographical only<br /> as regards the mental life of the hero. ‘The<br /> incidents and surroundings are drawn from the<br /> author’s knowledge but are not his own personal<br /> experiences. In fact “ Paul Kelver” stands to his<br /> author as “David Copperfield” may have stood<br /> to Dickens—the story is suggested by, but not<br /> founded upon, the author’s own life.<br /> <br /> “Paul Kelver” is a long story—there are three<br /> hundred and ninety-eight pages—but it is not a<br /> page too long. Pathos, sentiment, humour are to<br /> be found in those pages. Paul himself is well<br /> worth knowing; there are besides, his parents,<br /> his aunt, the O’Kellys, Miss Rosina Sellars, who<br /> “can’t a-bear a flirty man”; Dan, who indulged<br /> in heavy cookery;. Urban Vane, the morally<br /> crooked, Paul’s tempter; and there is Norah,<br /> strong and sweet.<br /> <br /> Mr. R. 8. Crockett, who has been resting, and<br /> holiday-making, and travelling in little-known<br /> parts of Spain, has, however, written a considerable<br /> portion of his serial for next year’s ‘ Windsor<br /> Magazine.” he publishers of his ‘‘The Banner<br /> of Blue” are Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton.<br /> <br /> Mr. Crockett’s “« The Scott Country” (Black,<br /> <br /> 6s.) has been doing very well.<br /> illustrated.<br /> <br /> Miss Nora Hopper (Mrs. Chesson) will shortly<br /> publish, through Mr. Grant Richards, a volume of<br /> poems and fantasies to be called “The Woman<br /> with Two Shadows.”<br /> <br /> Mrs. Campbell Praed has recently issued through<br /> Mr. Fisher Unwin an illustrated volume of<br /> Australian scenes and impressions called ‘‘ My<br /> Australian Girlhood.” It has also been published<br /> in America and the Colonies, and is about to be<br /> included in a set for continental circulation.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Praed is now at work on a short novel<br /> called “The Ghost,” meaning a literary ghost. It<br /> is to be published in shilling form early next year.<br /> This busy authoress is also just completing a story<br /> of modern London life, to be published in 1903,<br /> and is writing short stories for a Syndicate.<br /> <br /> Mr. Bernard Capes, whose ‘‘ Love Like a Gipsy”<br /> was published last year by Messrs. Constable &amp; Co.,<br /> ‘would have issued a new novel last month through<br /> Messrs. Smith Elder. He has, however, been<br /> obliged to postpone its publication until next<br /> spring owing to the action of a publisher. This<br /> publisher has foisted upon the public, as new, an<br /> old novel of Mr. Capes.<br /> <br /> The new story, which we must now wait for, is<br /> to be named “A Castle in Spain,” and it deals,<br /> <br /> It is profusely<br /> <br /> something more than incidentally, with a supposed<br /> resurrection of Louis XVII. Apropos of which,<br /> the novel was designed and three parts written<br /> when it was found that:the-motive had been fore-<br /> stalled elsewhere, in a book (from America) called<br /> ‘“‘ Lazarre.”’ But Mr. Capes feels that it would be<br /> quite unnecessarily heroic to sacrifice the close<br /> labour of months on that score, so ‘‘A Castle in<br /> Spain ” stands.<br /> <br /> Helen Mathers (Mrs. Henry Reeves) will publish<br /> a long book—some 100,000 words—through Messrs.<br /> Methuen next spring ; but she may possibly be<br /> represented by a volume of Essays this autumn.<br /> Her recently published novel, “ Honey,” is in a<br /> second edition ; while “ Becky,” in sixpenny form,<br /> has been reprinted. A new edition of “ Bam<br /> Wildfire ” has been called for, and is now ready.<br /> <br /> “« A Man of To-Day,” by this writer, is published<br /> at 6d. (John Long), and Messrs. Digby Long are<br /> bringing out a volume of short stories for her this<br /> autumn. Reprints of all Helen Mathers’ earlier<br /> works and noveletites are now available.<br /> <br /> Mr. R. O. Prowse, whose “ Voysey ”’ (Heinemann,<br /> 1901) was appreciated by those who know and care<br /> fer good work, will not have anything ready to put<br /> into the publisher’s hands for some time to come.<br /> <br /> Mr. Prowse has published three novels so far.<br /> His first, ‘ A Fatal Reservation,” was begun when<br /> he was at Oxford. After running as a serial in<br /> “The Cornhill”? for a year, it was published by<br /> Messrs. Smith Elder in 1895. In 1892 Messrs.<br /> Methuen issued his second novel, “‘ The Poison of<br /> Asps.” It is a clever study of a certain aspect of<br /> life in a little Suffolk county town: the author<br /> culls it Tattlebridge.<br /> <br /> Three historical tales of Miss Everett-Green’s<br /> will appear this autumn. (1) “A Hero of<br /> the Highlands” (Nelson), dealing with the °45.<br /> (2) “Fallen Fortunes” (Nelson), a story laid in<br /> the reign of Queen Anne. (3) “‘ My Lady Joanna”’<br /> (Nisbet), a tale embodying the early history of<br /> that turbulent daughter of Edward the First, who,<br /> although his fayourite child, gave him more trouble<br /> than all the rest put together.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Hutchinson will issue a novel by this<br /> authoress entitled “ Where there’s a Will——.”<br /> It is a story of domestic life, and has done duty<br /> as a serial in the Church Family Newspaper.<br /> <br /> Mr. Richard Pryce is at work on a novel which<br /> he hepes to finish some time next year—probably<br /> it will be ready in the autumn. This book is<br /> perhaps more in the manner of “ Jezebel” than of<br /> the author’s earlier novels.<br /> <br /> A seventeenth edition (Sweet and Maxwell:<br /> Stevens and Sons) of perhaps the longest-lived of<br /> those technical works which Charles Lamb, with<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 5<br /> <br /> amusing but, perhaps, not quite merited scorn,<br /> wrote of as “ B(Bdia 4BiBAa,” will shortly be pub-<br /> lished. It is just a hundred years ago that the<br /> late Mr. William Woodfall, of the Middle Temple<br /> —the son of “Memory Woodfall,” the famous<br /> Parliamentary reporter and journalist, and nephew<br /> of tle printer and publisher of J unius—first brought<br /> out his treatise on the law of landlord and tenant,<br /> which he dedicated to that fine old-crusted lawyer,<br /> Lord Eldon, in the first year of his chancellorship.<br /> <br /> Mr. Lely’s forthcoming edition of this venerable<br /> work will contain a reprint of Woodfall’s original<br /> preface, a notice of all decided cases up to Michael-<br /> mas Day last—including Mr. Justice Darling’s<br /> decision just before the Long Vacation on the<br /> vexed question of the liability to pay for Corona-<br /> tion Procession Seats—and some dozen editorial<br /> suggestions for further amendment of the law of<br /> the relationship of Landlord and Tenant, “a condi-<br /> tion from which” (wrote Mr. Woodfall in 1802)<br /> “a very small part of the community is exempt.”<br /> <br /> Miss Montgomery-Campbell’s book, of which the<br /> scene is laid in the Tyrol, has been delayed owing<br /> to her recent illness in Austria. But two new<br /> children’s story-books by her, entitled respectively<br /> “ A Christmas Surprise Packet,” and ‘Two Lov-<br /> able Troops,” will be issued by Messrs. Jarrold in<br /> the course of this month.<br /> <br /> Rita’s new serial, ‘The Jesters,” is at present<br /> running in The Queen. The scene of this story is<br /> laid at King Arthur’s Castle Hotel, Tintagel,<br /> where the authoress was staying last autumn.<br /> <br /> “ Alexandre Dumas: His Life and Works,”<br /> such is the title of an important book lately<br /> published through Constable &amp; Co., by Mr. Arthur<br /> F. Davidson, M.A., formerly Scholar of Keble<br /> College, Oxford. In his admirable preface the<br /> author says :—<br /> <br /> After a fairly extensive study, during the last fifteen<br /> years, of Dumas and whatever has been written about him,<br /> it seemed to me that there was room for a co-ordination of<br /> facts which might represent, in justly balanced proportion,<br /> and with some pretence of accuracy, both the life of the<br /> man and the work of the author. . . . The various French<br /> works concerning Dumas have all confined themselves to<br /> some particular side of his talent or some particular period<br /> of his life; there does not exist in his own country any<br /> comprehensive and continuous work—biographical and<br /> literary—such as this is intended approximately to be.”<br /> <br /> In view of the ground to be covered, Mr.<br /> Davidson has divided the work into large sections<br /> or chapters, with commonplace _ titles, which<br /> roughly indicate the nature of their contents.<br /> The order followed is, as a rule, chronological.<br /> We have room for one quotation only from a book<br /> chock-full of interesting matter :—<br /> <br /> “That Dumas was an improvisateur goes without saying,<br /> In this quality he gloried as a rule, and took credit to<br /> <br /> himself for the speed at which he could turn off a play or<br /> anovel. But he is careful to point out that the improvisa-<br /> tion is not always so great as it seems.<br /> <br /> “ Paper (blue foolscap), pens, ink ; a table neither too<br /> high nor too low. Sit down—reflect for half-an-hour—<br /> write your title—then chapitre premier. Arrange fifty<br /> letters to each line, thirty-five lines to each page; write<br /> two hundred pages if you want a two-volume novel, four<br /> hundred if you want a four-volume ditto, and so on. After<br /> ten, twenty, or forty days, as the case may be—assuming<br /> you write twenty pages, 7.e., seven hundred lines, between<br /> morning and evening—the thing is done. What could be<br /> more simple? Such is my method, say my critics: only<br /> they forget one slight detail. Before any of this apparatus<br /> is put in motion I have often thought for six months, a<br /> year, perhaps even several years, about what I am going to<br /> write. Hence the clearness of my plot, the simplicity of<br /> my methods, the naturalness of my dénodments. Asa rule,<br /> I do not begin a book until it is finished.”<br /> <br /> Messrs. Longmans are publishing for M. E.<br /> Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell) in England and<br /> America, this month, another Dorset novel of hers,<br /> “The Manor Farm.” The same firm is serialising<br /> for her in ‘‘Longman’s Magazine” a musical<br /> romance, called “ Christian Thal,” the first chapters<br /> of which will appear in the January number. The<br /> scene is laid for the most part in Vienna, and the<br /> work deals with a certain well-known School of<br /> Music in that city.<br /> <br /> “The Country Life Library” of fiction was<br /> recently inaugurated by a volume from the pen of<br /> this popular authoress, entitled “ North, South, and<br /> Over the Sea,” being a collection of peasant stories,<br /> Lancashire, Dorset, and Irish. It is illustrated by<br /> Mr. H. M. Brock.<br /> <br /> Mr. H. A. Bryden has completed a “ History of<br /> South Africa,” which Messrs. Sands will shortly<br /> publish. A cheap edition of this author’s romance,<br /> <br /> “An Exiled Scot,” has been announced by Messrs.<br /> Chatto and Windus.<br /> <br /> Mr. Reynolds-Ball has an instructive and enter-<br /> taining article in the September number of<br /> “ Chambers’s Journal,’ on the Canadian Pacific<br /> Railway, entitled “‘ The Romance of the OPK<br /> It deals at some length with the picturesque<br /> episodes in the history of this colossal undertaking.<br /> <br /> Mr. Reynolds-Ball seems to make a speciality<br /> of colonial railway enterprises, as in the August<br /> number of “The New Liberal Review ” appeared<br /> a rather striking article by him on a railway pro-<br /> ject in futuro, under the title ‘London to<br /> Melbourne in Three Weeks.”<br /> <br /> Miss Elizabeth Derbishire and Mrs. Jean Carlyle<br /> Graham are at present preparing a documented<br /> and illustrated history of San Gimignano.<br /> <br /> Miss Marjory G. J. Kinlock had an interesting<br /> and well-informed article on “Scottish Corona-<br /> tions,” in the April issue of “The Dublin Review.”<br /> A second article by her, on the same subject,<br /> appeared in the July number of that quarterly.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> His Majesty has accepted a copy of Mrs. Aylmer<br /> Gowing’s poem, “The King’s Desire,” which,<br /> appropriately enough, appeared in 7’he Queen.<br /> <br /> The first edition of John Bull, the new penny<br /> weekly, edited by Mr. Arthur W. A’Beckett, con-<br /> sisted of 100,000 copies. From the editor’s fore-<br /> words to this special imperial issue of John Bull<br /> we quote the following :—<br /> <br /> “He is cosmopolitan and yet patriotic, he has a feeling<br /> of goodwill to foreigners whatever may be their nationality,<br /> but has a particularly tender place in his heart for his kith<br /> and kin all the world over.<br /> <br /> “He appreciates the humour of his American cousin and<br /> can trace the Anglo-Norman vivacity in the gaiety of Paris,<br /> the Anglo-Saxon subtlety in the satire of Berlin. He is<br /> incapable of jealousy, as he does not admit a rival.”<br /> <br /> The Writer’s Year Book (1s. 6d. nett) is a very<br /> useful commercial! directory for professional writers,<br /> photographers and artists, giving address, time of<br /> payment, and conditions of contributorship of all<br /> magazines, papers, syndicates, and agencies pur-<br /> chasing MSS., photographs, or drawings. It is<br /> published by the Writer’s Year Book Co., Gran-<br /> ville House, Arundel Street, London.<br /> <br /> We have received a tiny volume ‘of loyal verse<br /> entitled “The Lily Sceptre,” by Bertha Pasmore.<br /> It is dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess<br /> Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. It is published<br /> and printed by the Exeter Evening Post, Limited.<br /> <br /> “Albrecht Diirer,” by Lina E. Eckenstein,<br /> authoress of “Woman under Monasticism,” is a<br /> careful study of the great artist. This little<br /> volume with its thirty-seven illustrations is one of<br /> Messrs. Duckworth &amp; OCo.’s excellent ‘“ Popular<br /> Library of Art” series.<br /> <br /> In Mr. Henry Arthur Jones’s new play, “Chance<br /> the Idol,” which was produced at Wyndham’s<br /> Theatre on the evening of September 9th, Miss<br /> Lena Ashwell has made another decided hit, while<br /> Mr. H. V. Esmond, who acts a cynic’s part in the<br /> same piece, has never played better.<br /> <br /> Mr. J. M. Barrie’s “Quality Street” was pro-<br /> duced at the Vaudeville Theatre on the evening of<br /> Wednesday, September 17th, and was very well<br /> received indeed. The story of this fantastic<br /> comedy is very simple. Miss Ellaline Terriss, Mr.<br /> Seymour Hicks, and Miss Marion Terry delighted<br /> an appreciative audience. Miss Terry received a<br /> special call at the fall of the curtain.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hall Caine’s “ Eternal City ” is to be pro-<br /> duced at His Majesty’s Theatre on the evening of<br /> October 2nd, and in America about the same date.<br /> Mr. Caine is to sail for New York on the 11th of<br /> October.<br /> <br /> Weunderstand that Mrs. Patrick Campbell began<br /> her second American tour at the Garden Theatre,<br /> New York, on September the 16th, with a marked<br /> success. Mrs. Campbell was enthusiastically<br /> <br /> applauded in the new and clever play specially<br /> written for her by Mr. E. F. Benson.<br /> <br /> “The Bishop’s Move” is doing exceedingly well<br /> at the Garrick Theatre. Mr. Arthur Bourchier as<br /> <br /> the Bishop excels himself; he is at his best. Miss.<br /> Violet Vanbrugh plays up to him admirably ; and<br /> the joint authors, John Oliver Hobbes and Mr.<br /> Carson, are to be warmly congratulated ; they have<br /> given us a charming and wholesome play.<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> ogee<br /> <br /> HILST waiting for the opening of the<br /> <br /> Vy autumn publishing season, we have been<br /> <br /> very well supplied with books of travel,<br /> <br /> memoirs, and biographies, but there has certainly<br /> <br /> been a dearth just recently of interesting and<br /> original novels.<br /> <br /> Paul Bourget’s “ L’Etape”’ has been very much<br /> discussed, and long letters have been exchanged<br /> between the author and the Comte d’Haussonville<br /> with regard to the theories contained in this.<br /> novel.<br /> <br /> Another book which has given rise to many<br /> newspaper articles is entitled “ Souvenirs du Lieu-<br /> tenant-Général Vicomte de Reiset.” M. de Reiset<br /> joined the army as a volunteer in 1792, at the age-<br /> of seventeen. His memoirs are valuable, as they<br /> give an idea of the life of the soldiers of the First<br /> Empire. The book is not so much a volume of<br /> history as a study of the times and of the habits<br /> and customs of the men with whom the Vicomte-<br /> de Reiset came into contact. The descriptions of<br /> the war with Spain are particularly interesting,<br /> and the pages devoted to the Duc de Berry once<br /> more roused the interest of the public with regard<br /> to the romantic story of the Duc’s English wife.<br /> <br /> Another volume of this kind is M. Victor du<br /> Bled’s “ Société francaise du XVI* siécle au XX°<br /> siecle.” M. du Bled is a well-known lecturer on<br /> French society of every epoch, and these lectures,<br /> which are afterwards published in volume form,<br /> are full of anecdotes and witty sayings. “Il y a,”<br /> says M. du Bled, “des mots qui valent mieux que<br /> des diplémes, des compliments et des sourires qui<br /> détruisent ou édifient des traités d’alliance.”<br /> <br /> M. Henry Lapauze has published a volume of<br /> “Lettres inédites de Mme. de Genlis,’” which<br /> show this famous woman under quite a new light.<br /> These letters were written to her adopted son,<br /> Casimir Becker (1802—1830), and are certainly<br /> most curious.<br /> <br /> “Tia Comtesse Agenor de Gasparin et sa<br /> famille,” by Madame Barbey-Boissier, is a most<br /> welcome book, as the name of the once famous<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -a book well worth reading.<br /> <br /> -enthusiasm to his readers.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 7<br /> <br /> Mme. de Gasparin is almost forgotten by the<br /> present generation, and her works are very little<br /> read nowadays. ‘‘ Les Horizons prochains,” by<br /> Mme. de Gasparin, had great success some fifty<br /> years ago. M.A. Filon has written an eloquent<br /> preface to this biography.<br /> <br /> A book to be read by politicians is “ Rome,<br /> Naples et le Directoire,” by M. Joseph du Theil.<br /> There are very few anecdotes in this volume, but<br /> -a fund of information.<br /> <br /> Another historical book on the ‘‘ Guerres<br /> d’Espagne sous Napoléon,” by M. Guillon, bears<br /> <br /> out much which is said by the Vicomte de Reiset<br /> <br /> in his “‘ Souvenirs.”<br /> <br /> “Dominique Larrey et les Campagnes de la<br /> Revolution et de l’Empire,” by M. Paul Triaire, is<br /> “Oe Dominique<br /> Larrey,” said Napoleon, “est le plus honnéte<br /> homme que j’aie connu ; si jamais l’armée éleve<br /> une colonne a la reconnaissance, elle doit l’eriger<br /> a Larrey.” No monument has been erected, and<br /> so Dr. Paul Triaire has published this volume in<br /> honour of the brave and loyal army surgeon.<br /> <br /> Every publishing season brings us new books of<br /> history or memoirs of the Revolution epoch, and<br /> one of the great difficulties of historians is to<br /> discover the documents they require for their<br /> work.<br /> <br /> The City of Paris is having an index compiled<br /> of printed works relating to the Revolution period,<br /> and another index of manuscripts. The compiler<br /> <br /> -of the latter, M. Tuetcy, has his index ready for<br /> <br /> publication. It is the result of twenty years of<br /> work, and gives the summary of all that exists in<br /> the French archives dating from the Revolution.<br /> «TAme du Voyageur,” the posthumous volume<br /> by Prince Henri d’Orléans, was published by the<br /> Duc de Chartres on the anniversary of the death<br /> ofhisson. It is a well-written book, full of thought<br /> and shrewd observation. In the preface M.<br /> Eugéne Dufeuille gives us a brief account of<br /> the life of the Prince, who was born at Ham<br /> Common in 1867, and who died at Saigon last<br /> <br /> “year.<br /> <br /> The first chapter, “ L’Ame du Voyageur,” gives<br /> its title to the volume, and is the keynote to the<br /> whole book. Prince Henri was no ordinary, care-<br /> less traveller. He had gone abroad to observe, to<br /> learn, and to discover, and he has the gift of<br /> imparting something of his own interest and<br /> The second part<br /> of the book consists of five chapters describing<br /> the journey, “ De Paris au Tonkin par Terre.”<br /> Then comes a chapter on “Les Missionnaires<br /> francais au Thibet,” and four more chapters on<br /> <br /> “Une Excursion en Indo-Chine.” ‘There are<br /> other chapters on ‘ Madagascar, Recherches<br /> <br /> _ Philologiques dans le Yunnan, La Province de<br /> <br /> Battambang, L’ Assam, L’Abyssinie et le Trans-<br /> vaal,” and on ‘L’Insurrection des Boxers et la<br /> Politique de la France en Chine.”<br /> <br /> M. Camille Flammarion has just published a<br /> book which has come at the right moment, “ Les<br /> Eruptions volcaniques et les Tremblements de<br /> terre.”<br /> <br /> The popular edition just issued of M. Albert<br /> Charmolu’s book, “ La Justice gratuite et rapide<br /> par l’arbitrage aimable,” will probably not appeal<br /> to a large public in England.<br /> <br /> A timely book has been published by M. Moreau<br /> on “Sir Wilfred Laurier.”<br /> <br /> “Te Monde invisible” is the title of the new<br /> volume by M. Jules Bois.<br /> <br /> Translations from all languages are still very<br /> much in favour in France, and several of the serials<br /> running through daily papers are by English<br /> authors.<br /> <br /> M. Harancourt wrote a long article on “ Kim,”<br /> comparing Rudyard Kipling as an “ ironiste”<br /> with Toussenel.<br /> <br /> Another translation which has recently appeared<br /> is “In Kedar’s Tents,” by H. Seton Merriman.<br /> <br /> George Gissing’s “ New Grub Street” has also<br /> just been published in volume form as “ La Rue<br /> des Meurt-de-faim,” and has been most favourably<br /> received.<br /> <br /> The theatres are announcing their new plays for<br /> the winter season. M. Antoine has a long list<br /> in store for us. Among his first ones are “ Les<br /> Demi-solde,” by MM. d’Esparbes et Coulangheon,<br /> and “ Sainte Héléne’”’ by Mme. Séverine. This is<br /> an episode in the life of Napoleon. There are<br /> other pieces by M. Veber, M. Brieux, M. Bergerat,<br /> and M. Trarieux.<br /> <br /> Among the new pieces with which Madame<br /> Réjane is to commence her season in Paris on<br /> her return from America are: “La Meilleure<br /> Part,” by Pierre de Coulevain and Pierre<br /> Decourcelle ; “La Troisitme Lune,’ by Mme.<br /> F. Gressac, and a new piece by M. Sardou.<br /> <br /> Auys HALLARD.<br /> oo —__———<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> ———+<br /> <br /> “Mr. Absolute” again.<br /> <br /> OME curious’ clauses appearing from time<br /> to time in publishers’ agreements have<br /> been freely criticised in The Author. The<br /> <br /> agreements drafted by the Publishers’ Association<br /> contained many examples of such clauses. It is<br /> necessary once again to criticise Mr. Absolute’s<br /> methods, as his agreement has been too much in<br /> 8 THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> evidence during the past year. The clause that<br /> needs special attention runs as follows :—<br /> <br /> “‘ This agreement is entered into by the publisher on the<br /> warranty by the author, that the said work does not<br /> infringe any copyright, and that the said work does not<br /> contain anything of a libellous nature. If the said work<br /> does contain anything constituting or alleged to constitute<br /> a breach of such warranty, and proceedings are threatened<br /> or brought for any alleged infringement of copyright, or<br /> for any alleged libel, and it is deemed advisable by the<br /> publisher in his absolute discretion not to contest the<br /> matter but to arrive at a settlement thereof; or, if the<br /> action is successfully contested, then in any and every case<br /> the author shall pay in advance to the publisher a sufficient<br /> sum to cover the estimated costs of the publisher in defend-<br /> ing such action, or settling such action or threatened pro-<br /> ceedings, and shall at the same time give to the publisher<br /> security satisfactory to him to indemnify him against any<br /> damages awarded in such action; and shall, on demand,<br /> repay to the publisher all costs (as between solicitor and<br /> client), damages, and expenses incurred by the publisher<br /> in respect of, or resulting from, or incidental to such action<br /> or threatened proceedings, or the settlement thereof; and<br /> shall also, if the said work is withdrawn from publication,<br /> repay to the publisher all costs and expenses of and inciden-<br /> tal to the publication, advertisement of, and other dealings<br /> with the said work, to the effect that the publisher shall<br /> have a full and complete indemnity from the author in<br /> respect of all out-of-pocket expenses in connection with<br /> the said work.”<br /> <br /> In this particular agreement the publisher pur-<br /> chased the copyright from the author. In such a<br /> case there is no reason why the anthor should sign<br /> any guarantee clause or clause of warranty. In these<br /> <br /> circumstances the motto, caveat emptor, should<br /> rule the decision.<br /> <br /> Yet there is no harm iu the author giving a<br /> guarantee, should he desire to oblige the publisher<br /> <br /> or to avoid dispute. It is not likely that any<br /> author would knowingly sell to a publisher a work<br /> which was not copyright or which was libellous.<br /> <br /> In cases, however, where the author is only<br /> giving to the publisher a licence to publish, where<br /> the publisher is not acting as principal, but is<br /> acting practically as the author’s agent under<br /> specific agreement, it is only fair the publisher<br /> should be guaranteed that the work he is producing<br /> is not an infringement of copyright, and does not<br /> contain anything of a libellous nature. But as the<br /> publisher is not acting as a mere agent on com-<br /> mission, but is himself reaping a large—sometimes<br /> the larger—share of the profits, there is no reason<br /> why he should be indemnified from all costs and<br /> charges. As it is the author’s property that is in<br /> dispute, he should have the chief voice in regard<br /> to the defence of any action, the commencement of<br /> any action, and the settlement of any action.<br /> <br /> Let us turn, however, to the clause quoted above.<br /> <br /> Firstly, under the agreement from which this<br /> clause is extracted the publisher purchases the<br /> copyright.<br /> <br /> Secondly, he obtains the larger proportion of the<br /> profits,<br /> <br /> Thirdly, the wording of this clause under any<br /> conditions is, from the author’s point of view, quite<br /> absurd, and no sensible author should think of<br /> signing an agreement in which it occurs,<br /> <br /> The clause should never have been inserted.<br /> If it is inserted merely to obtain power, then it<br /> must as candidly be stated that no man ought<br /> to give to his dearest friend such power or place<br /> himself so unreservedly in his hands.<br /> <br /> The author is putting too much trust in the<br /> bona fides of the publisher. It is possible that<br /> some scoundrel (this does not refer to the publisher)<br /> might for his own reasons commence action against<br /> the publisher, even when there was no foundation<br /> for a charge of libel or infringement of copyright.<br /> It would lie in the publisher’s power to settle on<br /> what terms he thought fit, and the author would<br /> be bound to pay the costs of the proceedings, even<br /> if the case from the publisher’s standpoint was<br /> successful.<br /> <br /> This deduction seems quite reasonable, for there<br /> is no statement contained in the clause that the<br /> author shall obtain the return of his money ; and<br /> even if the publisher obtained damages in an action,<br /> the author would have to pay any extra costs as<br /> between solicitor and client, yet would not obtain<br /> any portion of the amount received in damages.<br /> But worse is to follow.<br /> <br /> It is possible for the publisher to withdraw the<br /> book on terms of settlement with the opposing<br /> party, and the publisher might possibly be inclined<br /> to do so supposing that it would be difficult to<br /> determine exactly whether the book was an infringe-<br /> ment of copyright or not, or where the action was<br /> inclined to be long and involved. Further, the<br /> defendants might offer a sum for the withdrawal<br /> of the book, and the publisher might settle on<br /> terms highly advantageous to himself. Under<br /> these circumstances the author is not only bound<br /> to pay all the costs that have been incurred, but he is<br /> also bound to pay the publisher “all costs and<br /> expenses of and incidental to the publication, adver-<br /> tisement of, and other dealings with the said work,<br /> indemnifying him from all out-of-pocket expenses,”<br /> <br /> As already stated, it cannot for a moment be<br /> supposed that any publisher would force the inter-<br /> pretation of the clause to its logical and legitimate<br /> conclusion. Then why insert it? It is not right<br /> that any author should sign an agreement which<br /> should put such chances and such powers in the<br /> hands of the publisher. Nothing should be left<br /> to the generosity of the publisher in a case of<br /> difficulty. It is exactly from a position of this<br /> kind that disputes and bad feeling have arisen<br /> in past years. Only the other day a publisher<br /> objected to make some alterations on the excuse<br /> that there should be ‘“ mutual confidence.”<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, in the case of the “ confidence<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> trick,” the confidence is that given on the side of<br /> the victim. The other party takes good care not<br /> to be in the position of loser.<br /> <br /> Those publishers who insist and persist in placing<br /> agreements containing monstrous and impossible<br /> clauses before authors are bound in the end to sap<br /> the confidence of their employers, and lose business.<br /> <br /> That this is the case is evident to those who<br /> watch the literary output, and are aware of the<br /> publisher’s agreements.<br /> <br /> G.I.<br /> <br /> —— 4<br /> <br /> Tauchnitz Editions.<br /> I<br /> <br /> AN article, signed by “G. H. T.,” appeared<br /> under the above title in the June number of The<br /> Author, but reached my hands too late to enable<br /> me to answer it in the next issue.<br /> <br /> Although I abstain in general, out of considera-<br /> tion for the authors represented in the Tauchnitz<br /> edition, from publishing any business details or<br /> figures, I hope that the columns of The Author<br /> will be opened to the following short explanation.<br /> From it will be seen that the calculations of<br /> «G@. H. T.” are deduced from false premises and<br /> based on a misunderstanding, while one grave<br /> error, due no doubt to mere inadvertence, will<br /> also be called attention to.<br /> <br /> Your correspondent finds that my average<br /> selling price to the trade is M. 0°95, and _he takes<br /> this figure as a basis for calculations which lead<br /> him to the conclusion that royalties of 3d., 4d.,<br /> and 6d. a volume would be a fair remuneration to<br /> authors for editions of 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000<br /> ‘copies respectively of their works.<br /> <br /> Permit me to call attention to some of his most<br /> obvious errors.<br /> <br /> (1) The average price at which my volumes are<br /> sold to the trade is not M. 0°95 but M. 0°83°225<br /> (this figure is the result of the most careful and<br /> exact calculation). The prices quoted by “G. H. T.”<br /> (M. 1:20, M. 1-05, M. 0°95, M. 0°90, and M. 0°85)<br /> are correct only for a portion of the trade, and do<br /> not apply to another and much larger part for<br /> which quite different and lower terms are allowed.<br /> But even if the above prices had been applicable,<br /> it would yet be entirely incorrect to strike an<br /> average as “G. H. T.” has done, since the sale<br /> of volumes at the higher prices is in no proportion<br /> at all to that of works at M. 0°85. The general<br /> “‘publisher’s expenses” amount to 17 per cent. of<br /> the average sale price of M. 0°83, and not to 10 per<br /> cent.of the profit! This figure is exactly calculated,<br /> and reduces our M. 0°83 to M. 0°70, which must<br /> accordingly be taken as the basis of all calculations<br /> instead of the M. 0°95 of your correspondent.<br /> <br /> (2) The sale of volumes of the Tauchnitz<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 9<br /> <br /> edition is smaller than “G. H. T.” seems to take<br /> for granted. Three thousand copies represent a<br /> very fair sale, which is never reached by a con-<br /> siderable number of the works published ; a sale<br /> of 5,000 copies is only attained in the case ot<br /> works by exceptionally popular authors ; while a<br /> sale of 10,000 can only be recorded in the case of<br /> six books out of the 800 volumes published during<br /> the last ten years.<br /> <br /> (3) “G. H. T.” is wrong in taking £20 as<br /> the average honorarium paid for volumes of the<br /> Tauchnitz edition. The actual figure is very<br /> considerably higher, and is always conscientiously<br /> calculated according to the measure of the author’s<br /> popularity on the Continent.<br /> <br /> (4) The cost of production, though varying<br /> considerably in point of fact according to circum-<br /> stances, is fairly accurately given by “G. H. T.”<br /> for editions of 8,000 and 5,000 copies, but his<br /> estimate for 10,000 copies is too low. However,<br /> I am quite willing, for the purposes of argument,<br /> to accept the figures he gives. In this connection<br /> I may call attention to a curious mistake your<br /> correspondent makes. In the case of 3,000 and<br /> 5,000 copies he correctly finds the publisher’s<br /> profit by deducting from the sum the sale of the<br /> copies brings in, the cost of production of the<br /> edition ; while in the case of a sale of 10,000 copies<br /> he entirely forgets to deduct this very considerable<br /> item of M. 2,800 or £140 (although he expressly<br /> says he has done so), and so arrives at the<br /> astonishing conclusion that the profits of publisher<br /> and author are in the proportion of 8 to 1, and pro-<br /> poses that the latter shonld receive a royalty of<br /> 6d. per copy.<br /> <br /> If “G. H. T.” will now make his calculations<br /> anew on the corrected basis, and allow royalties of<br /> 3d., 4d., and 6d. as he proposes, he will arrive at<br /> the following results :<br /> <br /> In the case of an edition of 8,000 copies :—<br /> Profits of sale M. 2,100<br /> Less cost of production 1,400<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Total profit. M. 700 or £35 0 0<br /> Less 3d. royalty<br /> <br /> (Author’s profit) far 10. 0<br /> Nett loss to publisher £210 0<br /> <br /> In the case of an edition of 5,000 copies :—<br /> Profits of sale M. 8,500<br /> Less cost of production 1,800<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Total profit. M. 1,700 or £85 0 0<br /> Less 4d. royalty<br /> <br /> (Author’s profit) . 88.66 0<br /> <br /> Nett profit to publisher<br /> <br /> <br /> 10<br /> <br /> In the case of an edition of 10,000 copies :—<br /> <br /> M. 7,000<br /> 2,800<br /> <br /> Profits of sale . :<br /> Less cost of production<br /> Total profit M. 4,200 or £210 0<br /> Less 6d. royalty<br /> <br /> (Author’s profit) 250 0 0<br /> <br /> £40 0 0<br /> <br /> Nett loss to publisher<br /> <br /> The above figures speak for themselves, and I<br /> feel sure from the friendly tone of “ G. H. T.’s ”<br /> article that he will be the first to form a more<br /> favourable opinion of the transactions between<br /> myself and British authors.<br /> <br /> Faithfully yours,<br /> <br /> TAUCHNITZ.<br /> es<br /> <br /> Il,<br /> To the Editor of THe AvuTHoR.<br /> <br /> Srtr,—I beg to thank. you for allowing me an<br /> early perusal of Baron Tauchnitz’s letter.<br /> <br /> I mnst apologise to the Baron for omitting to<br /> deduct the cost of production in calculating the<br /> figures for the sale of 10,000 copies; but even if<br /> this cost is deducted it makes the ratio between<br /> publishers’ and authors’ profits about 54 to 1—a<br /> substantial difference.<br /> <br /> In answer to objection two, urged from the<br /> Leipzig house, I can only say that the prices at<br /> which the books are sajd to the booksellers were<br /> collected from Italy, Switzerland, Germany and<br /> France, and did not differ, save in the rate of<br /> exchange, in any of the countries.<br /> <br /> In answer to No. 3 I can but repeat that a long<br /> and intimate acquaintance with the current prices<br /> of literature and authors’ rights confirms me in my<br /> opinion that £20 is a fair price to have named.<br /> <br /> T am glad that the Baron admits that the cost<br /> of production is reasonable. Where, however, a<br /> publisher prints his own books the cost must be<br /> considerably cheaper than an estimate, such as<br /> mine, obtained in the open market.<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> G. H. f.<br /> <br /> — 9<br /> <br /> Matters of Account.<br /> <br /> THE manner in which certain publishers render<br /> accounts is frequently a cause for complaint by the<br /> author. To prevent friction between author and<br /> publisher should be the constant aim of both<br /> parties ; the latter should endeavour to meet the<br /> author wherever he can do so without difficulty to<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> himself, especially as he is constantly complain-<br /> ing of the lack of that friendly feeling which is<br /> supposed to have existed in the good old days.<br /> <br /> The method of rendering halt-profit accounts is<br /> not under discussion.<br /> <br /> Accounts of books published on the half-profit<br /> system are nearly always unsatisfactory to the<br /> author, and need considerable investigation.<br /> <br /> Where books are published on the royalty<br /> system the case is different. The simplest method<br /> of rendering accounts with a view of satisfying the<br /> author is that adopted by some of the best houses<br /> in London.<br /> <br /> A statement is made of the number of books<br /> printed—the printer’s voucher is enclosed with the<br /> account—and a statement is made of the number<br /> of books on hand. The difference between the<br /> two amounts is fully accounted for, and the<br /> royalty paid. This is satisfactory to the author,<br /> and even to the most unbusinesslike is simple and<br /> plain. He learns the number of the issue, and<br /> feels secure that there has been no double dealing,<br /> as the printer’s voucher is furnished with the<br /> statement.<br /> <br /> The following method of rendering accounts is<br /> unsatisfactory. It at once breeds suspicion in the<br /> author’s mind, especially when after a formal<br /> demand the publisher refuses to give the author<br /> further particulars, or refuses to allow an<br /> accountant to check the books. The method<br /> referred to is simply stating “so many copies<br /> sold, so much royalty.”<br /> <br /> It would be possible for the author, if<br /> he was a member of the Society, to compel the<br /> publishers to produce their books and vouchers,<br /> This course, however, is one of considerable<br /> expense to the Society, considerable trouble to<br /> the author, and does not as a rule return a benefit<br /> commensurate with the trouble and the expense.<br /> <br /> It is possible that the publisher may argue that<br /> the author has a statement, and a correct statement,<br /> of the number of copies sold, and is paid a royalty<br /> on the amount. This argument may to a certain<br /> extent be sound, but experience shows that the<br /> method is a bad one. It arouses suspicion in the<br /> mind of the author, withholds information that<br /> the author is entitled to, and in consequence tends<br /> to friction. It is so easy to render accounts giving<br /> full explanations that the publisher should when<br /> possible avoid causing annoyance, and in no case<br /> more so than where questions of the monetary return<br /> are concerned.<br /> <br /> There is another method of rendering accounts<br /> on the royalty system which is even more unsatis-<br /> factory to the author. This applies rather to<br /> American than to English publishers.<br /> <br /> Books are sent out on sale or return, but the<br /> fact is not notified in the accounts, and the royalty<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> if<br /> {LF<br /> <br /> SA. hh gee<br /> a eS<br /> <br /> =<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> is paid on these books. Some of the books are<br /> returned. ‘The publisher has two courses open.<br /> Both are unsatisfactory. The first is to deduct<br /> the royalty already paid and debit the account (it<br /> is a question whether the publishers could actually<br /> demand the return of the money); the second is to<br /> reduce the sales in the next account rendered by<br /> the amount returned, without notifying the fact in<br /> the account, thus to the author&#039;s astonishment<br /> bringing the sales to an extraordinarily low figure.<br /> <br /> If either of these courses is adopted, the author<br /> not unnaturally gives vent to some angry eXx-<br /> pressions. All these difficulties could have been<br /> avoided if in the first instance the publisher, when<br /> rendering his accounts, had stated that of the<br /> books sent out a certain number were sent out<br /> on sale or return and either (1) refused to pay<br /> the royalty until the returns were ascertained, or<br /> (2) paid the royalty subject to the books being<br /> returned.<br /> <br /> It cannot be too often repeated that the publisher<br /> who renders fullest accounts, who is always<br /> willing without any trouble or unnecessary delay<br /> to meet the author with full particulars, will, firstly,<br /> be much less likely to be troubled by the authors<br /> for whom he is acting in the matter of book investi-<br /> gation (they will feel assured that everything is<br /> open to them should they desire to make enquiry),<br /> and, secondly, will reap considerable benefit owing<br /> to his enhanced reputation.<br /> <br /> A. B.<br /> <br /> —+—~—+<br /> <br /> Publisher and Author.<br /> <br /> Mr. Exuior Srock, publisher, 62, Paternoster<br /> Row, brought an action against Mr. Henry Har-<br /> rison, author, to recover the sum Of 91 10s. Id..<br /> being the balance of charges for printing and<br /> publishing a book for him. Mr. Arnholz appeared<br /> for the plaintiff, the defendant conducting<br /> his own case. It seemed that the book was<br /> published in 1898. At the time the plaintiff<br /> advertised the work, and obtained reviews in<br /> various newspapers. The defendant complained<br /> that the plaintiff had been guilty of recklessness<br /> in inserting advertisements in London papers<br /> when the book dealt with Liverpool. The plain-<br /> tiff repudiated the suggestion of carelessness, and<br /> said that all Liverpool people and antiquarians<br /> generally were interested in the subject. It<br /> seemed that the plaintiff’s advertising clerk was on<br /> his holiday, and could not testify to some of the<br /> smaller details. A compromise was suggested ;<br /> and, in the end, judgment was given, by general<br /> approval, for the plaintiff for six guineas, without<br /> costs.<br /> <br /> The defendant had, before the date of the trial,<br /> offered the plaintiff 5/, 5s. in full settlement.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 11<br /> <br /> Mechanical Reproduction and Musical Rights.<br /> <br /> Aw interesting case is being tried in the<br /> United States courts to determine whether the<br /> production of music by means of perforated rolls<br /> used in piano-organs and similar instruments is<br /> an infringement of copyright.<br /> <br /> From the judgments given up to the present<br /> time in the United States it would appear that<br /> such reproduction is not an infringement of copy-<br /> right. This point was decided in the English<br /> courts some time ago. But though such produc-<br /> tion is not an infringement of the copyright, it is<br /> undoubtedly an infringement of the performing<br /> right, and could be easily stopped by an injunction<br /> if musical composers took care to protect them-<br /> selves in their agreements in order to preserve<br /> these rights.<br /> <br /> The publishers, in the majority of instances,<br /> endeavour to obtain every conceivable right from<br /> the unfortunate musical composer, and seem to be<br /> quite indifferent to this form of infringement. It<br /> would be as well if, in addition to waging war<br /> <br /> against the street vendors of music, they took:<br /> <br /> steps against those who reproduce music by means<br /> of mechanical process.<br /> <br /> The point is one of growing importance now<br /> that pianolas and pianotists are sold in such large<br /> quantities.<br /> <br /> In former years Sir Walter Besant on several<br /> occasions endeavoured to get the musical composers<br /> to combine with the authors and band them-<br /> selves together to protect their own property.<br /> Some of the best known composers in England<br /> joined the society, but in spite of this endeavour<br /> they lacked the energy to adopt a virile and<br /> energetic policy.<br /> <br /> Is it a hopeless matter to ask them once more<br /> to “set in order their house” and fight for the<br /> maintenance of what is their own? It would be<br /> impossible to secure a better arrangement in the<br /> musical market immediately, but a gradual<br /> improvement would no doubt take place if the<br /> publishers saw that the main body of the musical<br /> composers were really-m earnest.<br /> <br /> SEE tiene a a<br /> <br /> True Tales.<br /> <br /> Unper the heading of “‘ Literary Property,” in<br /> the February, 1901, issue of The Author, some<br /> curious instances were quoted in which publishers,<br /> without a real breach of their agreement, had killed<br /> authors’ books. ‘The instances were all authentic,<br /> and should be carefully studied.<br /> <br /> We call the article to mind as a curious case on<br /> somewhat similar lines has come to our knowledge.<br /> <br /> A publisher produced a book on an agreement to<br /> pay a royalty which should rise after the sale of a<br /> certain number of copies. When the fixed number<br /> <br /> <br /> 12<br /> <br /> of copies was reached he stated that it was impos-<br /> sible to re-issue the book, as he could not afford to<br /> pay the higher price, but he added that he was<br /> willing to cancel the contract. He made one or<br /> two statements with regard to expenses, with a view<br /> to cover his position; these, however, were not<br /> borne out by the facts of the case. The author<br /> was placed in the awkward position of being com-<br /> pelled to bring an action for damages (always<br /> unsatisfactory), or to go to the trouble and annoy-<br /> ance of endeavouring to place the book in the hands<br /> of another publisher, with the additional risk of its<br /> not being accepted. Would the Publishers’ Associa-<br /> tion consider such a case if it was placed before<br /> them, and issue a criticism on its moral aspects ?<br /> If so, we shall be glad to give full details.<br /> <br /> The end of the story is, however, satisfactory.<br /> The book was successfully transferred to another<br /> publisher. The author obtained the advanced<br /> royalty from the beginning, in spite of the fact<br /> that the book had again to be set up in type.<br /> <br /> Another strange story may point a moral to<br /> authors :—<br /> <br /> A certain well-known publishing body wrote to<br /> an author who was just coming into fame, and<br /> asked him to write a book. They made him an<br /> offer of a sum down in payment. The author<br /> refused, as he stated he could always get twice as<br /> much for anything he wrote, but he went to see<br /> the manager of the establishment in order to<br /> explain his position. The manager thereupon<br /> stated that he was astonished at the objection<br /> made, as Mr. (naming an author whose popu-<br /> larity is at the present day undoubted) had written<br /> for them at that price.<br /> <br /> This was a statement of fact, but the manager<br /> omitted to add that when Mr. had written<br /> for them at that price he was practically an unknown<br /> and struggling author, and the books had been<br /> written nearly twenty years before.<br /> <br /> The end of this story was also satisfactory.<br /> The young author was not deceived, but refused the<br /> <br /> contract.<br /> ep<br /> <br /> Denmark and the Berne Convention.<br /> <br /> Our valuable contemporary Le Droit d’ Auteur<br /> <br /> contains the highly interesting intelligence that a<br /> movement in Copenhagen in favour of the Berne<br /> Convention, with which the name of Mr. Bang<br /> is honourably associated, has led to satisfactory<br /> results. On the occasion of a reception of the<br /> deputation of the Association of Danish Authors<br /> by the Minister of Public Instruction, the latter<br /> informed them that he intended laying before the<br /> Parliament during the next session a law that<br /> would prepare the way for the entrance of Denmark<br /> into the International Union.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Italian Copyright Law.<br /> <br /> PRELIMINARY discussions of the reform of the<br /> present Italian law of copyright have been going<br /> on since the beginning of the year. ‘The questions<br /> raised respecting the duration of the copyright<br /> have led to interesting disclosures and resolutions,<br /> Italy stands alone in having a system by which,<br /> after the expiration of the criginal right (twenty-<br /> five years), a second period ensues of another<br /> twenty-five years during which a royalty is paid<br /> to the State. This has been regarded by the<br /> supporters of perpetual copyright as a step in the<br /> right direction, by which the community (not the<br /> publishers alone) benefit by the abiding value of<br /> works that continue to be popular. It appears,<br /> however, that the purely commercial instincts of<br /> the publishers mamage here also to get evil out of<br /> good. It is just those works which pay this<br /> royalty that the publishers prefer mot to reprint.<br /> In consequence, Italy will probably fall back upon<br /> a copyright of life and fifty years. That of life<br /> and forty years, preferred by the recent new law of<br /> Germany, has been happily rejected. It is a<br /> singular thing that the Latin races have distinctly<br /> more advanced and wider views about the duration<br /> of copyright than Englishmen and Germans. But<br /> this last instance of a capacity for breadth of<br /> vision is only one of many evidences of that fact.<br /> <br /> Oo<br /> <br /> CANADIAN COPYRIGHT—ANOTHER POINT<br /> OF VIEW.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> Being a paper read before the Canadian Press Association<br /> at its Annual Mecting in February.<br /> <br /> Literature and its Handicaps.<br /> <br /> HERE is an intimate relationship between<br /> a literature and journalism. In the days<br /> when there was no journalism there was<br /> <br /> little literature, and what there was brought but<br /> small return to its producers. In this golden age<br /> of journalism—and it is a golden age—literature<br /> flourishes as the green-bay tree. The writer of<br /> poems, instead of hoarding up his verses until he<br /> has enough to fill a volume, gives them out one by<br /> one to the daily, weekly, or monthly Press, and<br /> receives an immediate hearing and some immediate<br /> return for the finished product of his art. The<br /> writer of short stories wins fame and a competence<br /> by helping to fill’the voracious columns of the<br /> daily or weekly paper. Through journalism he<br /> takes his first steps towards success, makes the<br /> first steps of his ability to supply the public with<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> interesting material. The writer of novels tests<br /> his material with the editors of magazines and<br /> daily papers; if he cannot win a hearing with<br /> them, it is not likely, though it sometimes occurs,<br /> that he will win the favour of a great book pub-<br /> lisher. Through journalism, the novelist widens<br /> the circle of his devotees and wins a quick mone-<br /> tary return. It is said that Sir Gilbert Parker<br /> received over $5,000 for the serial rights of each<br /> of his last two novels, while Mr. Kipling gets as<br /> high as a shilling a word for his compositions.<br /> <br /> It is just this intimate relationship between<br /> journalism and literature which accounts for much<br /> of the backwardness of Canadian literature. Jour-<br /> nalism in Canada has been fighting a stern battle,<br /> and has been able to give literature but little<br /> encouragement. Therefore, literature’s first handi-<br /> cap may be stated to be the weakness of the support<br /> given by journalism. If a Canadian poet could<br /> receive $5 or $10 for each poem sent to a daily<br /> paper, he would be stimulated to a greater produc-<br /> tion and to a higher grade of work. Ifa Canadian<br /> short-story writer could get $50 for each short<br /> story from a daily paper, or from a syndicate of<br /> daily papers, his work would be of a higher quality.<br /> If a Canadian novelist could get $200 to $1,000<br /> for the serial rights of each long story produced,<br /> we would soon have a new school of novelists. If<br /> a dozen literary periodicals were competing for the<br /> work of poets, descriptive writers, and novelists,<br /> the production of material would be increased, and<br /> a higher grade of literature would be the result.<br /> But we have not yet reached that stage.<br /> <br /> A bright Canadian writer who recently went to<br /> London to live desired to supply a.weekly letter to<br /> Canadian dailies. I undertook to syndicate the<br /> work for her. I sent a glowing letter to about<br /> thirty of our leading dailies, and offered to give this<br /> weekly letter for exclusive publication in such dis-<br /> trict at $1 to $2 per week. I received only one<br /> acceptance. Let me give another example. I<br /> arranged to syndicate Canadian short stories and<br /> supply them to daily papers on the same conditions<br /> at $1 a week, but could get no support for my<br /> venture.<br /> <br /> Another handicap from which Canadian litera-<br /> ture is suffering is the lack of a Copyright Act. If<br /> this market were confined to Canadian publishers,<br /> the books of Canadian authors would be published<br /> by strong firms and well marketed. There will be<br /> little Canadian literature until a Canadian Copy-<br /> right Act prevents this country from being exploited<br /> as a slaughter market for the publications of foreign<br /> printers and publishers.<br /> <br /> Still another handicap is the freedom with which<br /> United States periodicals circulate in this country.<br /> Nearly three millions a year of these weeklies and<br /> monthlies find their way into this market, crowding<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 13<br /> <br /> Canadian publications to the wall. Unprinted<br /> paper is charged 25 per cent.; printed paper, con-<br /> taining the work of United States writers, artists,<br /> engravers, and printers, pays no duty. Not only<br /> is Canadian literature unprotected, but it is dis-<br /> criminated against to the extent of 25 per cent.<br /> The producer of milk cans and agricultural imple-<br /> ments is protected ; the producer of literature is<br /> not only unprotected, but is actually handicapped,<br /> The handicap on a publisher desiring to publish a<br /> 10-cent magazine in this country amounts on a<br /> 50,000 edition to $7,500 a year. This tax prevents<br /> publishers employing Canadian writers and artists.<br /> <br /> In a recent address Principal Grant stated that<br /> the journalists are weaving the organic filaments<br /> of a new and higher social state; that the only<br /> sovereigns in these days are the literary men. lf<br /> this be true, Canada is, in a great measure, allowing<br /> United States journalists and literary men to weave<br /> the organic filaments of this new nation. During<br /> the past few months a New York paper, by the<br /> name of Success, has been organising Success Clubs<br /> in connection with our Church societies. ‘There<br /> are several of these clubs in Toronto. Acqui-<br /> escence in this sort of thing may be excused in an<br /> unthinking public, but it cannot be excused in<br /> journalists and publicists. Upon the journalists<br /> of Canada rests, to some extent, the duty of seeing<br /> that Canadians are fed upon the proper kind of<br /> intellectual food.<br /> <br /> The fourth handicap is shared by both journalism<br /> and literature. The Imperial postage rate on<br /> newspapers and periodicals is eight cents a pound,<br /> and an Imperial circulation cannot be secured<br /> with such a handicap. If London publications<br /> sold more freely in Canada, they would require<br /> more of Canada’s literary products.<br /> <br /> The fifth handicap is the complacency of the<br /> public. No other country in the world buys<br /> foreign periodicals and books in such quantities<br /> as Canada. Great Britain does not, because she<br /> has as neighbours the French and Germans, whose<br /> languages erect a natural barrier, while the<br /> Atlantic separates her from the United States and<br /> prevents the competition between the two countries<br /> which would exist were they side by side. So the<br /> United States is protected by the Atlantic from<br /> the inroads of British periodicals, and by an astute<br /> Copyright Act from the competition of British<br /> book publishers. Canada is only one concession<br /> removed from the United States, and the language<br /> is the same. Only the loyalty of the Canadian-<br /> reading public could save this market for the<br /> Canadian journalist and Jdttérateur. This loyalty<br /> is evident in the support given to the publication<br /> with which I am connected, in the great sales of<br /> <br /> the works of Ralph Connor and Gilbert Parker<br /> and in other ways.<br /> <br /> But this loyalty must be<br /> <br /> <br /> 14<br /> <br /> assisted and fostered by such legislation as will<br /> cive us bright literature at popular prices, Canadian<br /> literature in popular form. he loyalty of a small<br /> portion of our people must not be taxed by this<br /> unfair competition from another country.<br /> <br /> With all these handicaps it is small wonder that<br /> we have little native literature and few native<br /> writers of prominence. ‘The best writers who have<br /> been unfortunate enough to be born in this country<br /> have soon discovered the mistake and hastened to<br /> change their abode. Grant Allen, Robert Barr,<br /> Gilbert Parker, Sara Jeanette Duncan, Bliss<br /> Carman, Charles G. D. Roberts, and a dozen<br /> others have shaken the dust of Canadian soil from<br /> off their feet because it was unholy ground. They<br /> have gone to find fame, appreciation and wealth<br /> in other lands. ‘They have removed to countries<br /> that have a strong journalism, a stern Copyright<br /> Act, a protected home market, favourable postage<br /> rates, and a not indifferent public.<br /> <br /> This protest of mine may be a kick against the<br /> pricks. Ido not believe it is. I believe I shall<br /> live to see the day, if I have luck, when Canadian<br /> journalism shall be strong enough to afford sub-<br /> stantial encouragement to Canadian writers, when<br /> Canada shall give her writers the profits of a copy-<br /> righted market, when the evils of foreign com-<br /> petition shall be duly limited, when Canadian<br /> periodicals will circulate throughout the Empire<br /> under the sgis of penny postage, when a loyal<br /> public will give greater encouragement to the man<br /> who is putting the genius of the nation into song<br /> and story. The influencesare at work, the struggle<br /> for bread and butter is nearly past, the struggle<br /> for literary supremacy is at hand. When the new<br /> day arrives, Canadian literature and Canadian<br /> journalism will be found working together to give<br /> this people the food which makes for intellectual<br /> greatness.<br /> <br /> Joun A. CooPER,<br /> Editor, Canadian Magazine.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> BOOKS AND THE PUBLIC.<br /> <br /> oo<br /> <br /> The Method of Distribution.<br /> <br /> ROM time to time The Author has published<br /> interesting articles bearing on the relation-<br /> ship between author and agent and the<br /> <br /> various methods of publishing, and I have expected<br /> to see another on “The Method of Distribution.”<br /> To my mind this is by far the most important, for<br /> however ably written, disposed of, and published,<br /> all will be in vain if the buying public are not<br /> induced to buy what the author, agent, and<br /> publisher have produced.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Now, as to the present method of distributions<br /> Are your readers satisfied with present arrange.<br /> ments ? If so, there is nothing more to be aid or-<br /> done. But if the greater number, leaving out the<br /> successful writers of fiction who can command<br /> sales of many thousands, do not feel satisfied that<br /> their books are well displayed and given a fair<br /> chance, there is ample reason for discussing the<br /> matter.<br /> <br /> To those unacquainted with the process it may<br /> be well to state that the usual course appears<br /> to be for the publisher, having previously para-<br /> graphed the work in hand for all he is worth,<br /> to show round a copy, or subscribe as it is called,<br /> to the London trade and libraries ; simultaneously<br /> he shows a copy, by means of his traveller, to the<br /> country bookseller. By “the trade” it must be<br /> understood that we mean not only retailers but<br /> also wholesale buyers, and those who are known as<br /> “exporters,” mostly agents for well-known Colonial<br /> or American booksellers.<br /> <br /> We will suppose that we have to deal with an<br /> ordinary book, fiction or otherwise, by a practically<br /> unknown author. The bookseller does indeed look<br /> at the cover, glance through a few pages, consider<br /> the size and weight of the volume with reference to<br /> its price, and then courteously or otherwise inform<br /> the anxiously waiting traveller that he “ will not<br /> subscribe, but wait until he is asked for it and get<br /> it from one Simpkins.” Naturally enough he<br /> can’t stock all books. He knows the names of<br /> a few well-known authors, and he prefers to buy<br /> enough of these to make a big heap, to which he<br /> knows his assistants will run while cuckooing the<br /> usual note, “ Here is the latest by So-and-so. We<br /> are selling hundreds.” But how fares our unlucky<br /> author ? If the wholesale buyers put it into their<br /> stock at all, they must have an additional discount<br /> to induce them to do so ; and rightly, for they do<br /> take some risk if they take but little trouble.<br /> They also will wait ‘till they are asked for it.”<br /> And the chances are that they will be asked for it,<br /> because a vast expenditure must be incurred by<br /> the publisher in advertising, to say nothing of the<br /> copies he sénds for review.<br /> <br /> But so far what has the trade done for the<br /> book ? Absolutely nothing. For the most part the<br /> booksellers have not stocked it, therefore they can-<br /> not show it. The book-buyer cannot see it. He<br /> must “ order” it, buying “a pig in a poke,” on the<br /> faith of what a reviewer has said, or caught by the<br /> showy advertisement that the clever pubiisher has<br /> concocted. But the bookseller having taken his<br /> order, and in due course ordered it from Simpkins,<br /> is content to pack up the book, send it to his<br /> customer, get the money when he can, and dis-<br /> contentedly grumble at his profit. He has<br /> done packers’ work and been paid at packers’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> wages. As-a salesman he has done nothing, as a<br /> literary helper he has done less, and in all proba-<br /> bility he has never seen the book, having left all<br /> the seeing and distributing to his assistants.<br /> Yet pretty well half the published price of the<br /> book has disappeared in this process. Truly one-<br /> fourth is allowed as discount to the buyer, but<br /> there can be little doubt that the other fourth has<br /> been swallowed up by a very extravagant method of<br /> distribution. Sales there have not been—except<br /> so far as advertisements have produced them. In<br /> other words, the shopkeeper only supplies a demand<br /> created by other means—and he is no book-seller<br /> at all.<br /> <br /> Are there remedies? Yes. 1. The post-<br /> office “ cash on delivery ” system would be cheaper.<br /> 2. Let publishers refuse to give any trade allow-<br /> ances on single collected copies, but increase the<br /> allowance considerably when books are taken by<br /> men who intend to sell them by personally knowing<br /> something of their contents.<br /> <br /> Probably these suggestions will be considered<br /> no remedy, but amongst the many brilliant readers<br /> of The Author surely there is one who will show us<br /> how to get rid of the present inefficient shopkeeper<br /> and set up a well-paid and contented book-seller.<br /> <br /> +-—&lt;—_+—_—__<br /> <br /> COLONIAL ART COPYRIGHT.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> Y a decision given in the Supreme Court of<br /> Appeal of Ontario, by four Judges, it has<br /> been held that a British copyright owner has<br /> <br /> no protection in the Dominion of Canada in the<br /> matter of artistic copyright. The case arose<br /> over a photogravure published by Messrs. Henry<br /> Graves and Co., Ltd., the copyright of which<br /> was duly registered in Stationers’ Hall. The<br /> photogravure was entitled “ What we _ have<br /> we&#039;ll hold,” and represented a bulldog, in defiant<br /> attitude, standing on the Union Jack. This had<br /> been pirated in Canada in divers ways—by copies<br /> made in oil, by reproductions in photogravure, by<br /> process work, by lithography, both plain and in<br /> colours, by being reproduced on envelopes, note-<br /> paper, post-cards, brooches, match-boxes, and in<br /> yarious other ways, and the piracies had even been<br /> exported to England. Messrs. Henry Graves and<br /> Co., Ltd., accordingly took action in Canada,<br /> and, as the matter was a vital one to all who have<br /> a direct or indirect interest in the subject of<br /> artistic copyright, an influential society of artists,<br /> fine art publishers, engravers, &amp;., was formed,<br /> with Sir Edward Poynter, Bart., P.R.A., as Pre-<br /> sident, under the title of the Society for the<br /> Protection of British Fine Art Copyright in the<br /> Colonies, in order to protect the interests of the<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 15<br /> <br /> various professions, businesses, and industries<br /> affected. A deputation from the Association<br /> waited on Sir Wilfred Laurier, the Canadian<br /> Premier, who was asked to accord to Great<br /> Britain at least as much protection in Canada<br /> as was received by British copyright owners<br /> in various foreign countries, such as France,<br /> Germany, Italy, Japan, or even Hayti. It was<br /> pointed out that the position was most anomalous<br /> whilst these countries received from Great<br /> Britain just the same protection as was accorded<br /> to Canada, Canada gave Great Britain no<br /> protection whatever. Mr. J. F. E. Grundy<br /> (Secretary of the Association), Messrs. Walter<br /> Dowdeswell, J. B. Pratt, J. J. Elliott, and<br /> Adolf Tuck having spoken, a petition on the<br /> matter, headed by Sir Edward Poynter, and signed<br /> by most of the Royal Academicians and others<br /> interested in fine art copyright, was handed to<br /> Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The Canadian Premier, who<br /> gave the deputation a most courteous reception,<br /> whilst carefully guarding himself from any expres-<br /> sion of opinion likely to commit his Ministry,<br /> promised to give this important question his full<br /> and most sympathetic consideration on his return<br /> to Canada. Meanwhile, he promised in the interval<br /> to forward the petition to the responsible Minister<br /> in Canada. The deputation thanked Sir Wilfrid<br /> Laurier for his courtesy.<br /> <br /> ——_——_——__+—&lt;&gt;—_+—__—-<br /> <br /> THE ART OF INDEXING.*<br /> <br /> ——_-—+—<br /> <br /> N interesting monograph on indexes and<br /> A index-makers has been added to the Book-<br /> Lover’s Library, but the compiler addresses<br /> experts and the profession rather than authors.<br /> No one knows better what a good index should be<br /> than Mr. Wheatley ; but he makes so much of his<br /> subject that possibly his book will deter the busy<br /> author from attempting a task well within his<br /> compass, for this treatise is at once too diffuse and<br /> too advanced to be of real service as a guide to<br /> writers who wish to make an index to their own<br /> books, instead of having the work inadequately<br /> performed by costly hired assistants.<br /> <br /> It is an admirable exposé of the mind of the<br /> professional index-maker, therefore useful to all<br /> who have to consult indexes. There is much<br /> interesting padding about the growth of indexes ;<br /> the mistakes of indexers, their facetiousness and<br /> even malevolence, but not enough of practical<br /> instruction. ‘The anecdote of Wellington&#039;s breeches<br /> and the Bishop of London is not even remotely<br /> <br /> Oo<br /> * How to Make an Index,” Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.<br /> Elliot Stock, London, 1902.<br /> <br /> <br /> 16<br /> <br /> connected with indexing, and its whole point is<br /> that a writer must mind his n’s and u’s. The<br /> omissions are many ; there are points on which<br /> the opinion of an expert would be valuable ;<br /> amongst them—the use of abbreviations, and of<br /> technical contractions in the index; uniformity of<br /> practice as to abid., id., op. cit., etseq., ff., etc. Is or<br /> is ib not permissible in an index to disregard the<br /> special spellings with mixed founts—as of Indian<br /> and Old English words—and accented letters, as<br /> they appear in the text ? How far the typographical<br /> art can aid the consulter of the index in finding a<br /> particular item should have been shown by speci-<br /> men pages of indexes, in which, by differences of<br /> type, the entries are seen to refer respectively to<br /> original statements, quotations, descriptions with<br /> pictorial illustrations, chapter headings, proper<br /> names, and dates. It is true Rule XIII. says that<br /> the titles of all books quoted are to appear in the<br /> index, and the word “ quoted” added in italics ;<br /> but what would be the appearance of such an<br /> index to, say, Sir John Lubbock’s ‘“ Pleasures of<br /> Life” ? Then, if small capitals indicate chapter<br /> headings, why is each first reference under each<br /> letter so printed in indexes? Should not capital<br /> initials be reserved for proper names? What is<br /> the cost of indexing? The book gives no answer.<br /> <br /> When a subject runs on from page to page the<br /> reference is to be from the first page to the last.<br /> In this book the indexing of prefixes is dealt with<br /> in pages 141 to 144. There is no entry to prefixes<br /> in the index, but under “ Names ”’ is a sub-heading<br /> referring to “the rules for the arrangement of<br /> foreign and English respectively, 141, 142,” which<br /> surely should be 141-144; the two numbers<br /> when separated by a comma suggesting references<br /> to distinct items, not the continuation of a single<br /> reference.<br /> <br /> For making the index Mr. Wheatley recom-<br /> <br /> mends foolscap, upon which the entries are made<br /> seriatim. The foolscap sheets are then cut into<br /> slips full width of the paper; these slips must be<br /> arranged in proper alphabetical order, then pasted<br /> down in that order on wider sheets of paper, and<br /> so sent to press. For headings to which there are<br /> likely to be many references, the separate sheets<br /> are kept in a lettered folio. Altogether the method<br /> is old-fashioned and troublesome.<br /> <br /> The more expeditious and accurate way is to<br /> use sheets of post-card or small note size. Write<br /> one reference on each, and as soon as done throw<br /> it into a box; if there are many references for one<br /> heading do the same—it is less trouble to write on<br /> a new sheet than to find a particular one in a<br /> lettered folio. A contraction may be used ; “Edward<br /> VII.” by oft repetition becomes “Ed. 7,” and<br /> other abbreviations, being as natural, are never<br /> misunderstood when the time for sorting comes.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> After sorting all references headed, say, “ Ed. 7,”<br /> can be copied on to one card, or two, in proper<br /> order. If later on a reference is found under, say,<br /> Q or W, which would be. preferable under an<br /> earlier heading, the position of the sheet can be<br /> altered at once; or if the sheets are already<br /> numbered seriatim for the printer, there is plenty<br /> of room on any slip for several entries, or if not,<br /> additional sheets can be inserted and numbered 6a,<br /> 6b, etc. The sheets all range perfectly, so are easy<br /> to handle, are not likely to be lost, and give com-<br /> paratively little trouble to indexer or compositor ;<br /> and really Mr. Wheatley would find it preferable<br /> to give his sorted slips to a typist to write out,<br /> than to paste down for the printer—a method<br /> almost obsolete save in Government offices.<br /> <br /> There is much in the book which makes it one<br /> every author and compiler of books should possess<br /> and study, and if these criticisms are mistaken for<br /> a lack of appreciation, it is because Mr. Wheatley’s<br /> dicta have provoked suggestions, which possibly<br /> may be of greater use than complimentary phrases,<br /> towards further perfecting a guide to the somewhat<br /> obscure art of indexing—an art to which more<br /> belongs than is comprised in Mr. Wheatley’s<br /> scholarly account of its practice.<br /> <br /> W. G.<br /> <br /> Oa<br /> <br /> THIRTEEN AS TWELVE.<br /> <br /> —_t-~<br /> <br /> e ESSRS. B. to render a royalty statement<br /> <br /> \ i half-yearly, viz., June 30th and Decem-<br /> <br /> ber 31st ; and it is understood that in<br /> <br /> making up such royalty thirteen copies shall be<br /> reckoned as twelve.”<br /> <br /> During the past few years one of the unfortunate<br /> results of the agitation created by the Authors’<br /> Society for better terms for its members, is to be<br /> seen in the fact that publishers have by all kinds<br /> of methods struggled to keep their profits up to<br /> the old standard. One instance may be quoted:<br /> the deplorable innovation of thirteen copies<br /> reckoning as twelve. In the old days none of<br /> the best publishing houses paid the royalty on<br /> thirteen as twelve, but on every copy sold; and<br /> on this understanding the calculation of royalties<br /> set out in “The Methods of Publishing” was<br /> based. The argument for paying the royalty<br /> on thirteen copies as twelve is generally that the<br /> publisher has to sell to the booksellers under this<br /> arrangement. ‘This is an excuse which will not<br /> hold good for two reasons. Firstly, as stated, the<br /> royalties in “The Methods of Publishing” have<br /> been reckoned as paid on every copy (in the cost<br /> of production of the work it had already been<br /> calculated that the publisher had sold to the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Bb}<br /> <br /> bookseller “thirteen as twelve” ; consequently, if<br /> the royalty is paid thirteen as twelve in addition,<br /> then the calculations in “The Methods of Pub-<br /> lishing” show a false return, and a reduction to<br /> the author). Secondly, the booksellers do not<br /> buy thirteen as twelve, except when purchasing<br /> large quantities.<br /> <br /> Tf, however, publishers insist upon inserting in<br /> the agreement that the royalty shall be paid on<br /> this basis, then the following little sum must be<br /> taken into consideration by all authors.<br /> <br /> The question is a matter of vital importance, as<br /> touching very nearly the author&#039;s income.<br /> <br /> By the aid of mathematics, the different results<br /> can be expressed with absolute precision.<br /> <br /> Thus, algebraically :—Let a be the price, in<br /> shillings, at which a book is sold, and } the royalty<br /> per cent. which the publisher agrees to pay the<br /> author.<br /> <br /> Then, author’s royalty on each copy = a<br /> shillings.<br /> <br /> And author&#039;s royalty on 100 copies = 4 b<br /> shilling.<br /> <br /> Thus, for example : If a book is sold at G6s., and<br /> the author’s royalty is 10 per cent.,<br /> ab<br /> <br /> Author&#039;s royalty on each copy 0<br /> of a shilling ; or 73d.<br /> <br /> Author’s royalty on 100 copies = 4 b = 60<br /> shillings.<br /> <br /> In the above cases the author receives his royalty<br /> on every copy. If, however, the publisher inserts<br /> in his agreement a clause that royalties are to be<br /> paid “counting thirteen copies as twelve,” the<br /> author then receives royalties on twelve copies only<br /> out of every thirteen sold ; or, which is the same<br /> thing, loses his royalty on every thirteenth copy ;<br /> or, which is again the same thing, receives only +2<br /> of what he would have received if the royalty had<br /> been paid upon every copy.<br /> <br /> Algebraically the result may be expressed thus :<br /> if, as before, a be the price, in shillings, at which<br /> the book is sold, and } the royalty per cent.<br /> (thirteen copies being counted as twelve),<br /> <br /> 12 a 0<br /> Author’ It h = —<br /> uthor’s royalty on each copy aT<br /> shillings.<br /> Author’s royalty. on 100 copies = _<br /> vo<br /> <br /> shillings.<br /> <br /> For example, taking again the above case of a<br /> book sold at 6s., and the author’s royalty at 10 per<br /> cent. (thirteen copies counted as twelve),<br /> <br /> 9,<br /> <br /> Author’s royalty on each copy = 7500<br /> <br /> = 2, = 55384...of a shilling: a little more<br /> <br /> 12 x 6 x 10<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 17<br /> <br /> than 64d. (Author’s exact loss on each copy is<br /> 7:2 — 6°64608... =°55392... of a penny, or a little<br /> more than a halfpenny.<br /> <br /> °) &gt;<br /> Author’s royalties on 100 copies = ee a2 -<br /> vo<br /> = 220 — 5575040)... shillings ; a little more than<br /> 55s. 44d.<br /> <br /> The calculations for any price, royalty, or<br /> number of copies can be easily made, so that the<br /> subject need not be here pursued any further; but<br /> it is interesting to compare the actual results of the<br /> two systems, of royalty on every copy, or when<br /> thirteen are counted as twelve. Again, the case is<br /> taken of a book which is sold at 6s., with royalties<br /> of 5, 10, or 15 per cent. The author&#039;s royalties on<br /> 100 copies are :<br /> <br /> 5 per cent. 10 per cent. 15 per cent.<br /> <br /> Oe fs 0. £8<br /> <br /> Has 12st 10; 0 3.0 0 4.10 0<br /> ifen12: 1 7 St 215 44 4 38 = OF<br /> Authors loss. 0 2 32 © 4 7% 0 61144<br /> <br /> A problem of some interest now naturally sug-<br /> gests itself. Ifthe publisher insists upon counting<br /> <br /> thirteen as twelve, what higher royalty ought the<br /> <br /> author to demand so as not to lose by the thirteenth<br /> <br /> copy ?<br /> <br /> Let a = the price, in shillings, at which the<br /> book is sold.<br /> <br /> b = the royalty proposed by the publisher;<br /> with which the author would be<br /> contented, if it were paid upon every<br /> copy.<br /> <br /> x = the royalty author must demand, so<br /> that when it is paid upon “ thirteen<br /> counted as twelve” he may receive<br /> as much as if 2 had been paid upon<br /> every copy-<br /> <br /> Then, from what has been said above, we have:<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 1300-100<br /> a7<br /> et<br /> 1<br /> 130<br /> f— -<br /> 12<br /> <br /> The author must demand a royalty increased<br /> in the proportion of 13 : 12; or, in other words, he<br /> must demand 1s. 1d. in the place of every 1s, of<br /> the royalty expressed by 0. So he will ask for<br /> 13 per cent. in the place of 12 per cent. ; or 64<br /> per cent. in the place of 6 per cent.<br /> <br /> In conclusion, when ‘“ thirteen are counted as<br /> twelve,” the author loses 7°69..., or rather more<br /> than 7% per cent.<br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> 0<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property —:<br /> <br /> I. Selling it Outright.<br /> <br /> This is in some respects the most satisfactory, 7/ 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 /> Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement).<br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (8.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘ office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. From time to time the very important figures<br /> <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 /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :— .<br /> <br /> C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> —_—————-—~&lt;&gt;—4<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> ——+—&lt;—+<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 /> 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS<br /> IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—<br /> <br /> (4.) 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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<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 (i.¢.,<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. S<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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> — eee<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —_——<br /> <br /> 1, 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&#039;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 />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <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 /> udvancing 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) To 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 /> ——+<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 /> —_——__+—_-__¢—____—_—<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —_+—&lt;+—_<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. 19<br /> <br /> Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> —_—__—_——_+——_-—___—_<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE<br /> EpIToR 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 /> —<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 /> N August the 8th the King granted a Royal<br /> Charter incorporating “the British Academy<br /> for the promotion of Historical, Philoso-<br /> <br /> phical, and Philological Studies.”<br /> <br /> We are printing an article this month on an<br /> Academy of Letters by Mr. Herbert Trench.<br /> <br /> The Committee consider that the subject is one<br /> eminently fitted for discussion in the pages of<br /> this periodical, but, whatever may be the opinion<br /> of individual members, desire to disassociate them-<br /> selves as a body from the views put forward.<br /> <br /> Another article in this number, the question of<br /> Canadian copyright, is dealt with by a Canadian.<br /> It is a pity he has not studied the universal evolu-<br /> tion of copyright in all countries. He would have<br /> discovered that the wider the market given to the<br /> authors of any country the greater would be the<br /> literature of that country. Under the Imperial<br /> Acts copyright is almost world-wide.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> We must congratulate the American Authors<br /> Society in having secured President Roosevelt as<br /> one of its members.<br /> <br /> Is it possible that so practical a President, the<br /> author of so strenuous a life, will turn his attention<br /> to the question of copyright ? The committee of<br /> the American Society should use its utmost<br /> influence in that direction.<br /> <br /> <br /> 20<br /> <br /> The Master’s Report of and the Decree in the<br /> case of Samuel Eberly Gross, A. M. Palmer, Richard<br /> Mansfield, and Richard Mansfield Co. in the United<br /> States courts has been printed and circulated. In<br /> plain words, this is the decree given by consent of<br /> both parties with regard to M. Rostand’s famous<br /> play “ Cyrano de Bergerac.”<br /> <br /> It may be there has been a case of plagiarism,<br /> but the evidence put forward “pace the decree”<br /> would hardly lead us to that conclusion if we put<br /> aside the commonplace resemblances that are bound<br /> to exist in many plots and many characters, heroes<br /> and heroines.<br /> <br /> The two main points which take the case out of<br /> the commonplace are the duel scene and the<br /> balcony scene, but in these, however close the<br /> resemblance in the action, the dramatic power and<br /> the production of strong poetic and sympathetic<br /> effect lies wholly with M. Rostand.<br /> <br /> Mr. Gross’s duel is a mere hurling of vituperation<br /> by one duellist at the other, a fanciful burlesque,<br /> fit for a farce.<br /> <br /> It is the old story of the German duel but with-<br /> out the drinking. M. Rostand’s duel (it is needless<br /> to describe it) has a touch of genius that robs it<br /> of whatever plagiarism it may contain. The same<br /> remark may apply to the balcony scene.<br /> <br /> In Mr. Gross’s play one man woos for the other.<br /> Does this not occur in “Twelfth Night” ? In Mr.<br /> ‘Gross’s play the shadow is the secretary of the lover,<br /> and has no feeling of passion towards the heroine.<br /> <br /> In M. Rostand’s play the shadow is the friend<br /> of the lover, and is himself in love with the heroine.<br /> ‘So, too, in ‘Twelfth Night,” only substitute “hero”<br /> for “ heroine.”<br /> <br /> M. Rostand has grasped the idea, and turned a<br /> commonplace incident into a dramatic situation.<br /> He has made aplot of passions. He has controlled<br /> force by force. He has brought about that struggle<br /> -of the emotions which alone raises the interest of<br /> the spectators.<br /> <br /> Is it plagiarism ? It maybe. Then Shakespeare<br /> was also a plagiarist.<br /> <br /> The following episode may serve as a useful hint<br /> to writers of short stories :—<br /> <br /> A beginner in newspaper work, who occasion-<br /> ally “sent stuff” to one of the dailies, picked up<br /> last summer what seemed to him a “big story.”<br /> Hurrying to the telegraph office, he “ queried ” the<br /> telegraph editor, “Column story on So-and-so.<br /> ‘Shall I send it ?”’ The reply was brief and prompt,<br /> ‘but to the enthusiast unsatisfactory. ‘‘Send six<br /> hundred words,” was all it said. ‘Can’t be told<br /> in less than twelve hundred,” he wired back.<br /> Before long the reply came, ‘‘Story of creation of<br /> world told in six hundred. Try it.”<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> OF DISTANT AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> EAR books! and each the living soul,<br /> Our hearts aver, of men unseen,<br /> <br /> Whose power to strengthen, charm, control,<br /> Surmounts all earth’s green miles between.<br /> <br /> For us at least the artists show<br /> Apart from fret of work-day jars :<br /> We know them but as friends may know,<br /> Or they are known beyond the stars.<br /> Their mirth ; their grief; their soul’s desire,<br /> When twilight murmuring of streams<br /> Or skies high touched by sunset fire<br /> “nchant them to pure worlds of dreams ;<br /> Their love of good ; their rage at wrong ;<br /> Their hours when struggling thought makes way;<br /> Their hours when fancy drifts to song<br /> Lightly and glad as bird-trills may ;<br /> All these are truths. And if as true<br /> More graceless scrutiny that reads,<br /> “These fruits amid strange husking grew ”—<br /> “These lilies blossomed amongst weeds ”—<br /> Here no despoiling doubts shall blow,<br /> No fret of feud, of work-day jars.<br /> We know them but as friends may know,<br /> Or they are known beyond the stars !<br /> <br /> New Zealand. Mary CoLuBorNzE-VEEL.<br /> <br /> &lt;9 —_____—_<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR OF “FESTUS.”<br /> <br /> — 1+<br /> <br /> R. PHILIP JAMES BAILEY, whose death<br /> we regret to record, was perhaps the most<br /> striking example of a “one book man”<br /> <br /> He wrote<br /> <br /> N<br /> that our modern literature affords.<br /> <br /> “Festus” when he was little more than a boy, and<br /> he spent the rest of his long life in re-writing and<br /> <br /> expanding it. It is a striking poem, though its<br /> immense success was probably due less to its<br /> poetical merits than to what seemed sixty years<br /> ago the daring optimism of its theological specula-<br /> tions. The same reason may explain why its vogue<br /> did not prove to be enduring. Its theme, indeed,<br /> is one of eternal interest, but the progress of<br /> criticism has altered the general attitude towards<br /> the problems which it discusses, and much in it<br /> that seemed startlingly novel when it appeared is<br /> now either rejected altogether or accepted as a<br /> matter of course. As a treatise, therefore, it has<br /> passed out of date, while as a poem it lacked the<br /> rare gualities which make the very best poetry a<br /> possession to be treasured for all time. Its fame,<br /> however, though now no more than a memory, is<br /> one of the most interesting memories in the annals<br /> of early Victorian literature.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> A FORM OF SELFISHNESS.<br /> <br /> to<br /> <br /> \ | ANY old prejudices have been pulled up by<br /> ao the roots and flung away as cumberers of<br /> the ground where modern thought and<br /> conduct desire free room to move. Some of<br /> these discarded prejudices were no doubt old-<br /> fashioned flowers without whose sweetness the<br /> world is by so much the less sweet and beautiful.<br /> Others again were weeds whose noxious influence<br /> killed much that might have been both useful and<br /> fair. Among the weeds of prejudice that survive<br /> at the present day, I would class the curious notion<br /> that it is below the dignity of an author to seek<br /> adequate return or payment for his work.<br /> <br /> Laying aside metaphor, let us ask ourselves, Is<br /> this view really as high-minded as it appears to<br /> be? And is it likely to bring about the best<br /> results? Because if so, let us stick to it by all<br /> manner of means. But when the matter is looked<br /> into, it would seem that the reverse is the fact.<br /> It is evident that only those who do not live by<br /> the pen, but enjoy an income apart from literary<br /> work, can write freely that which they honestly<br /> think and desire to write, unaffected by the chances<br /> of future sale and publication. Here at once is<br /> created a narrowing qualification, which would<br /> debar many splendid intellects from entering, as<br /> freedmen, into the profession of literature. Under<br /> the old condition of things a poor man entered as<br /> a slave of the market, held in bondage by a<br /> specially cruel law of supply and demand. Were<br /> these limitations likely to produce the best<br /> results ?<br /> <br /> After all the question returns to the same point,<br /> the high ideal fades into air, for it is plain that<br /> to give of his highest and best a writer living by<br /> his pen should have assured rights and the power<br /> (which can only come by combination) of enforcing<br /> those rights, so that he may be in a position to<br /> demand a fair return for his labour, and so become<br /> as far as possible an independent force.<br /> <br /> And this is precisely the point which the late<br /> Sir Walter Besant and his colleagues clearly per-<br /> ceived. It was in September, 1883, that the idea<br /> of founding a society for the protection of the<br /> rights of authors was first mooted. Soon after-<br /> wards it became an accomplished fact. But the<br /> commercial side of the matter was by no means<br /> the chief side in the eyes of those clear-sighted<br /> nen who unselfishly desired to help their weaker<br /> fellows. The Society of Authors was not founded<br /> solely to improve the financial position of authors.<br /> Tts aim was far higher. It was founded to improve<br /> the status of literature. And it has succeeded to<br /> a wonderful extent.<br /> <br /> For eighteen years the Society has been working<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 21<br /> <br /> in a sound and practical manner to advance the<br /> condition of literature. All writers have benefited<br /> by these efforts, and it is curious to find that some<br /> few of them do not appear to realise their indebted-<br /> ness, or, at any rate, do not show their appreciation<br /> of what is being done by joining the Society or in<br /> the smallest way helping on the movement.<br /> <br /> One has only to look back a score of years and<br /> recall the undignified and legally helpless condition<br /> of authors in those days, and the days which went<br /> before, to come to a full comprehension of the<br /> changes effected by the Society. Save at the<br /> houses of some notable firms there was small<br /> mercy, not to speak of justice, dealt out to the<br /> ordinary run of writers. The traditional taint of<br /> Grub Street yet hung about the name of an author.<br /> He was, besides, more than likely to be by tempera-<br /> ment an extraordinarily unbusinesslike individual,<br /> and he was made to suffer accordingly. We know<br /> gad stories of some of our greatest writers, whose<br /> work was cramped and often spoiled by the condi-<br /> tions which obtained, and the relations which<br /> existed between authors and publishers.<br /> <br /> Unless a man had private means he was bound<br /> to produce what his publisher ordered. The scale<br /> of payment was very low, and he was not infre-<br /> quently unfairly treated. He had no one at his<br /> back, and single-handed he was helpless to resist.<br /> It is plain that no man could work with freedom<br /> or give out the best that was in him under such<br /> circumstances, knowing that the bread and coffee<br /> of his breakfast, and perhaps that of his family,<br /> depended upon the whim of another. It is good<br /> for no man to live in a state of perennial depen-<br /> dence—to take his work to a patron instead of<br /> dealing on a legalised basis with an equal.<br /> <br /> There was a crying need for such a society as<br /> this, a fighting suciety, to get justice and recogni-<br /> tion for a class supposed from time immemorial<br /> to be peculiarly unfitted to secure any such rights<br /> for themselves. What a need there was can scarcely<br /> be understood to-day. If the old state of affairs<br /> could be rung back into the present, and writers<br /> experience the hardships and rebuffs of the past,<br /> the few individuals of whom I write would rush to<br /> place themselves under the flag of the Society of<br /> ‘Authors! The conditions under which the calling<br /> of literature in any of its forms may now be<br /> pursued has been so ameliorated by the exertions<br /> of the Society that the conditions obtaining in<br /> pre-Society days seem grotesque and impossible.<br /> <br /> Authors, save a few, a very few, did not in those<br /> days of anonymous contribations and copyright-<br /> purchasing live by their pens, or they lived as<br /> poorly as an agricultural labourer. The full industry<br /> of more than one author whose name has since<br /> passed into ahousehold word hardly kept the manin<br /> house-rent. Those were the days of fine sentiment.<br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Writing for money was degradation. Literature, the’<br /> dictum went forth, and was trumpeted abroad by<br /> those who drew advantage fromit, must notbe self-<br /> supporting. ‘The idea has only to be carried to its<br /> logical conclusion to show itself the sham it is.<br /> “There is no need to labour this side of the ques-<br /> tion. But apart from the false sentiment that was<br /> then in the air, or rather as one result of it, the<br /> pursuit of literature was made difficult by the kind<br /> of agreements into: which authors were expected to<br /> enter. Anyone who reads the organ of this Society<br /> will recognise the sort of contract to which I refer.<br /> The light of publicity was carefully excluded from<br /> these hole-and-corner transactions, publishers<br /> accepted the work of British authors, and having<br /> brought it before the public, and made money out<br /> <br /> of it, deemed their side of the contract fulfilled. |<br /> The amount of return that fell to the author was |<br /> <br /> curiously small. Often it was nl.<br /> <br /> the power and all the business knowledge rested in<br /> the hands of the latter.<br /> brought the Society into being. It was met with<br /> a wide-spread opposition which proved beyond<br /> question how necessary was its existence. An<br /> author in doubt or in difficulty at length had<br /> someone to apply to, who could give advice,<br /> guidance and help on all practical points such as<br /> <br /> agreements and so forth, matters which take ©<br /> <br /> special study. Few literary men have either the<br /> time or the opportunity for working up the com-<br /> mercial and legal sides of their calling, but the<br /> Society being expert in these subjects supplies<br /> <br /> the want.<br /> “From the outset the Society have made it their<br /> aim to consolidate and define the rights of all<br /> those who follow the calling of literature; they<br /> have given legal protection in numberless cases<br /> where writers, left to themselves, must have been<br /> helpless. By its action the Society, far from<br /> degrading the calling of literature, has raised<br /> it to a higher level, for the world is not<br /> altogether chivalrous, and the man who knows his<br /> rights and can enforce them is likely to hold an<br /> infinitely better place in public estimation than a<br /> man who may be defrauded with impunity.<br /> <br /> and defined and defended the rights, of his clags.<br /> And it seems pretty clear that each man owes it<br /> to himself to pay that debt as well as he can.<br /> Every author should become a member of the<br /> Society, and not only a member but a living<br /> force, working as opportunity offers for the general<br /> good of his fellows, a course which must react in<br /> good to himself. Though one occasionally hears<br /> jan author say, “ But I have excellent relations<br /> ;with my publisher, I do not see how they can be<br /> | improved.” Very possibly, but thanks more or<br /> <br /> ‘less to all that the Society has done in the past.<br /> | One great object in the work of the Society is to<br /> <br /> :<br /> <br /> x<br /> <br /> i promote friendly relations between the author and<br /> <br /> his publisher. The more defined the author’s<br /> rights are, the less likelihood is there of any<br /> quarrel interrupting pleasant connections. .<br /> <br /> It should be recollected that this Society is the<br /> <br /> ‘ only one for the protection of literature that<br /> At the best the relative positions of author and i<br /> publisher were far from satisfactory, because all |<br /> <br /> These were the facts that —<br /> <br /> exists in the Empire. Every British writer shares<br /> in the benefits it has already bestowed, and which<br /> it is daily bestowing, upon the calling to which he<br /> belongs. He cannot escape its good influence,<br /> and to the direct mind, it hardly seems possible<br /> <br /> _ that he would wish to escape by mere idleness or<br /> for some other selfish reason from the debt he<br /> <br /> could at any rate partially pay by becoming a<br /> <br /> “member of the Society himself, and by inducing<br /> _ others to join algo.<br /> <br /> __. There are many waverers in the world, ready to be<br /> _blown this way and that by every expressed opinion.<br /> <br /> _ It would be well to remind such that by not only<br /> <br /> oining, but also by working for an association of<br /> <br /> intelligent men and women, whose aims in life are<br /> <br /> Yet one sometimes (not often) hears an author \<br /> say, “That is all very well, but the Society of |<br /> Authors has not done anything for me.” Perhaps |<br /> <br /> this may be true in so far that he has not directly<br /> <br /> received advice or assistance from the Society in ©<br /> <br /> any dealings of his own; but it is impossible to<br /> <br /> publish a book or to contribute even a couple of<br /> <br /> articles to a magazine without sharing in the<br /> many benefits brought about by the efforts of<br /> <br /> the Society. Every literary an owes a debt to |<br /> <br /> the combination that has bettered the standing, |<br /> <br /> _indentical with his own, an author is more likely<br /> to forward his own interests than by a too close<br /> adherence to what he may consider momentarily<br /> conducive to his own immediate benefit.<br /> <br /> Heskero Prrowarp, _<br /> ees<br /> AN ACADEMY OF LETTERS.<br /> <br /> —1—&lt; +<br /> <br /> HE ancient question of a British Academy of<br /> Letters is one which will not be allowed<br /> <br /> to sink away into silence, I trust, before<br /> it has received renewed attention.<br /> Never, within the last three centuries, have we<br /> needed such a body more than now.<br /> A recent writer, in dealing with this question,<br /> <br /> as usual characterises British literature as a<br /> literature of power, in contrast with the Gallic<br /> literature of intellivence; and, for some reason<br /> unexpressed, fears lest a literature of power should,<br /> in receiving an organisation, lose originality and<br /> variety. He states that between the Gallicliterature<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> cas 6 Ss Sas See<br /> <br /> see<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> a1,<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 /> of “good sense” and the English literature<br /> of free force there is a great gulf fixed. He<br /> thinks that an incorporated society might snuff<br /> out Wordsworths, Coleridges, Blakes, and Shelleys.<br /> <br /> Now I venture to draw from the undoubted<br /> force and freedom of the English spivit in litera-<br /> ture the hope of precisely the opposite result. The<br /> French Academy, although it did not produce,<br /> certainly did not snuff out, the “ free force” of<br /> Rabelais, Montaigne, Diderot, Rousseau, Balzac,<br /> Hugo, De Musset, Verlaine. Freedom, originality,<br /> variety, daring, and all the signs of exuberant<br /> life, denote a strength that would be far more<br /> swiftly effective, far more dignified, far more<br /> temperate and clear-seeing than it is, if there co-<br /> existed with British freedom in British letters a<br /> public association of the best and strongest men,<br /> a public recognition of the rank of minds and<br /> imaginations. The truth is that we, having a<br /> literature of power, need an Academy far more<br /> than France, where a tradition of classic ood<br /> sense” (perhaps through the influence of French<br /> classic drama) prevails.<br /> <br /> The English, said an acute foreign critic the<br /> other day, have gained more liberty in things<br /> external than any other people ; but in the things<br /> internal—in the freedom of thinking, in liberality<br /> of mental atmosphere—they are far less free than<br /> certain Continental peoples.<br /> <br /> But how is it that we have gained liberty in<br /> externals ? By the habit of organisation. And<br /> from organisation what is to be feared? By<br /> organisation I mean the drawing together in the<br /> public sight of those various forceful and excel-<br /> lent masters who are recognised by their common<br /> concurrence to be masters. And what are the<br /> boons that such an organisation could confer<br /> on the people? To realise them requires insight<br /> as to the present state of affairs. That, I imagine,<br /> is nothing less than the merest tumultuous anarchy.<br /> Our ears are deafened, as in some market place,<br /> by hucksters each selling his own wares ; there<br /> are street-cries, chafferings, in uproar andmud. We<br /> have here and there a novelist on his inverted<br /> tub selling fictions by flaring gas-jets, his voice<br /> raucous with shouting. We see the common<br /> people, having no better guide, gaping at every<br /> charlatan for a genius. There is an immense<br /> waste going on; a waste of publishers’ money in<br /> competition for publicity.<br /> <br /> The lower forces of literary productiveness are<br /> amply organised. The higher are without repre-<br /> sentation. There is no Council at the head of<br /> literature to control or keep order, or by example to<br /> <br /> ~discountenance indecencies of advertisement. The<br /> luminaries of to-day flash on us with mechanical<br /> periodicity, like the pink and green articles of diet<br /> the signs of which ennoble Trafalgar Square.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 23<br /> <br /> The “millions,” God rest them, are anodyned<br /> and idiotised by instructive publications of the<br /> “penny weekly” type. The “ thousands” have a<br /> similar, but more costly pabulum of magazines.<br /> But all these are written and published, in the<br /> first place, to make money.<br /> <br /> Our Society of Authors—admirable body that it<br /> is—exists only to protect literature as an article of<br /> commerce. ‘he last concern of that prominent<br /> Society is with literature as an art, and as more:<br /> than an art.<br /> <br /> Thus while men of science and medicine have<br /> their Royal Societies and general councils, men of<br /> the religious professions, learned men, stockbrokers,<br /> artists in the plastic arts, all have their societies,<br /> to influence, to keep order, to recognise rank and<br /> confer honour, pure literature «alone the most<br /> aristocratic calling, the most needing independence,<br /> the only mirror of life as a whole, has no organ im<br /> letters apart from and above pecuniary requirements,<br /> no society whose aim is to sustain the name, and<br /> publicly represent to foreigners and to the com-<br /> munity the power of English intelligence and<br /> imagination. If we believe that there is such a<br /> power and that it is beneticial, how can the organisa-<br /> tion of the power be objected to? It will readily<br /> be admitted that the people, that men in non-<br /> literary professions, that the hundreds of librarians<br /> of the new free public libraries, and above all,<br /> the eager and intelligent young, simply thirst for<br /> guidance in these matters. But there is no public<br /> and independent body to guide them, to indicate<br /> principles of criticism, or to indicate, however<br /> roughly and imperfectly, the values, proportion,<br /> status of living writers. And the conclusion is<br /> easily illustrated by the distress which exists in<br /> the minds of officials when some State occasion<br /> arises, such as the funeral of the late Laureate or<br /> <br /> the Royal procession of this summer. Who shall<br /> be asked to represent the higher literature at such<br /> a ceremonial? Nobody knows. The obvious<br /> knights, the most popular novelists, the com-<br /> posers of music-hall ditties, flash upon our<br /> fatigued retina; but an uneasy suspicion remains<br /> that these do not sum that world. Can it be<br /> possible that we have no literature? Nay; it is<br /> merely that we have no organ of discrimination. |<br /> Priests of the true and beautiful, where are ye?<br /> Buried far hence, may be, in some dingy suburb<br /> or quiet shire. But you it is that the men who<br /> know, your equals, could summon, far off, isolated,<br /> reluctant, to your true places of esteem.<br /> <br /> Again, to make peers or knights of men of letters<br /> is a mere dull ineptitude. But the republican and<br /> Academic body that I conceive should, in order to<br /> guide the public, confer titles of merit or excellence<br /> (such as the Prix Gobert) at the end of each year op<br /> works of worth. At present such books like Edward<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 24<br /> <br /> Fitzgerald&#039;s “Omar Khayyam” frequently sink for<br /> along time out of sight, although a few experts<br /> are well aware of their excellence, simply because<br /> the experts may be too few and too ill-placed to<br /> impress the public. Such books as the Rev.<br /> Hastings Rashdall’s “ Universities in the Middle<br /> Ages,” Sir Henry Johnston’s “ British Equatorial<br /> Africa,” or Mr. F. H. Bradley’s “ Appearance and<br /> Reality,” have suffered in this manner by their own<br /> excellence. Experts are too few, and the reviewers<br /> are necessarily too hasty to judge them properly.<br /> The public is therefore unable, except after the<br /> lapse of many years, to distinguish these books<br /> from specious imitations of their kind. This is<br /> even more the case with poetry and novels. What<br /> qualified person believes that the poetry of Matthew<br /> Arnold—so pure, so salutary for our time—yet<br /> occupies its just place in the minds of the multitude<br /> which still acclaims Tennyson as a demi-god ?<br /> Who shall hall-mark the fine quality of most of the<br /> Garnett translations of Ivan Tourgeniev’s novels<br /> —novels which are, with Tolstoi’s, the chief novels<br /> of our time ?<br /> <br /> It is by no means to confer advantage on those<br /> men who would be nominated that I venture to<br /> urge the formation of an Academy of Letters. It<br /> is for the sake of the British people that it is desir-<br /> able. It is in order to give us more national dignity<br /> and self-respect. From what public quarter comes<br /> the recognition of the Beautiful in literature ?<br /> And the need of a Society of the Intellect and<br /> Spirit seems to me tenfold greater, in that every<br /> year sees us sinking into a grosser state of com-<br /> placent animalism. Every year our people, as a<br /> whole, like those of the United States, seem to be<br /> marching steadily, slumberously, into new and<br /> vaster Dark Ages ; Dark Ages not of mere igno-<br /> rance, but of the wildest positive error. The<br /> weltering Anglo-Saxon peoples have no intellectual<br /> standards, no thought-centre, no axis.<br /> <br /> One result of the existence of some such Society<br /> of the Spirit would be the attraction to literature of<br /> men of more powerful talent, now absorbed by the<br /> Bar and commerce. Those men would be induced<br /> to speak who now stand aloof and silent, in over-<br /> whelming disgust. Then, and not till then, would<br /> Enelish critics appear, whose work might compare<br /> in volume and quality with that of Sainte Beuve,<br /> Taine, Scherer, and Hennequin.<br /> <br /> The public and the daily Press—ready and even<br /> eager to recognise merit—are nevertheless unable<br /> _ to assign to merit its station and degree. Nor<br /> <br /> ‘can this task be done by the publishers’ monthly<br /> reviews or quarterlies, or by young journalists<br /> who undertake to summarise to the world a year’s<br /> literatnre in newspaper articles at Christmas. Jf,<br /> as advocates of laissez-faire urge, these matters are<br /> best left to time and chance, why ts any critical judg-<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ment felt to be wanted al all? And if it 7s wanted,<br /> why is it wholly left to an anarchy of criticism ¢<br /> In truth, it is a task which requires the mature and<br /> leisured judgment of equals ; and the masters them-<br /> selves are the only critics worth hearing. It is weak<br /> to plead that an Academy would be a prey to wire-<br /> pullers and intriguers. Any dignified human<br /> society that is worth framing must undergo, and<br /> can weather, such dangers. Our problem is simply<br /> to profit by the experience of the French Academy,<br /> and to construct a better one.<br /> <br /> Let us conclude with practical proposals.<br /> <br /> Let the House of Commons, through its leader,<br /> nominate a small committee of, say, six or eight<br /> men of letters who would indisputably be members<br /> of any Academy. The names, for instance, of<br /> Mr. George Meredith, Mr. Lecky, Mr. John<br /> Morley, Mr. J. G. Frazer, Mr. Bryce, Mr. Edward<br /> Dowden, and Mr. Bury will occur to most people<br /> as a fair committee.<br /> <br /> Let these themselves freely nominate the<br /> remainder of the body ; proceeding on the two<br /> principles that the work to be honoured must be<br /> in any case good literature ; that is,<br /> <br /> (1) It must be couched in language noble,<br /> admirable, and sincere.<br /> <br /> (2) It must be work faithful to the more serious<br /> truths of the imagination, emotions, and intelli-<br /> <br /> ence.<br /> <br /> Let this Academy of Letters meet periodically<br /> for discussion.<br /> <br /> Let them consider it their duty to protect the<br /> honour of the higher forms of British literature,<br /> without any regard to worldly respectability or<br /> success ; to become a Society of the Spirit,<br /> free from the blight of Royal patronage, and<br /> requiring not the smallest outward or social<br /> rank of any kind in its members. A society to<br /> promote and encourage talent, and to hasten<br /> recognition of it ; to confer distinguishing marks<br /> of merit on good work which has been previously<br /> published for at least two years: and to advise<br /> ministers (who are at present without proper<br /> advice) in the award of pensions. The issue of a<br /> brief annual Gazette would be a useful part of their<br /> functions ; and possibly also the occasional publi-<br /> cation of fine books, which could not be published<br /> for profit, by the poorer members.<br /> <br /> As regards endowment for this body, I conceive<br /> that, beyond the provision of rooms for meeting,<br /> there had better be little or none. But on that<br /> score certainly there need be no difficulty in this<br /> country.<br /> <br /> HERBERT TRENCH.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 25<br /> <br /> MUSICAL COPYRIGHT.<br /> <br /> —+-—~&lt; + —<br /> <br /> An Act TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING ro MusiI-<br /> caL Copyricut (2 Epw. 7, On. 15.)<br /> 22nd JuLY, 1902.<br /> <br /> E it enacted by the King’s most Excellent<br /> Majesty, by and with the advice and con-<br /> sent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,<br /> <br /> and Commons, in this present Parliament assem-<br /> bled, and by the authority of the same, as<br /> follows :<br /> <br /> jy. A court of summary jurisdiction, upon the<br /> application of the owner of the copyright in any<br /> musical work, may act as follows : If satisfied by<br /> evidence that there is reasonable ground for<br /> believing that pirated copies of such musical work<br /> are being hawked, carried about, sold, or offered<br /> for sale, may, by order, authorise a constable to<br /> seize such copies without warrant and to bring<br /> them before the court, and the court, on proor<br /> that the copies are pirated, may order them to be<br /> destroyed or to be delivered up to the owner of the<br /> copyright if he makes application for that delivery.<br /> <br /> 2, If any person shall hawk, carry about, sell, or<br /> offer for sale any pirated copy of any musical work,<br /> every such pirated copy may be seized by any<br /> constable without warrant, on the request in<br /> writing of the apparent owner of the copyright in<br /> such work, or of his agent thereto authorised in<br /> writing, and at the risk of such owner.<br /> <br /> On seizure of any such copies, they shall be<br /> conveyed by such constable before a court of<br /> summary jurisdiction, and, on proof that they are<br /> infringements of copyright, shall be forfeited or<br /> destroyed, or otherwise dealt with as the court<br /> may think fit.<br /> <br /> 3. “Musical copyright” means the exclusive<br /> right of the owner of such copyright under the<br /> Copyright Acts in force for the time being to do<br /> or to authorise another person to do all or any of<br /> the following things in respect of a musical work :<br /> <br /> (1) To make copies by writing or otherwise of<br /> such musical work.<br /> <br /> (2) To abridge such musical work.<br /> <br /> (8). To make any new adaptation, arrangement, or<br /> setting of such musical work, or of the melody<br /> thereof, in any notation or system.<br /> <br /> “ Musical work” means any combination of<br /> melody and harmony, or either of them, printed,<br /> reduced to writing, or otherwise graphically pro-<br /> duced or reproduced.<br /> <br /> “Pirated musical work” means any musical<br /> work written, printed, or otherwise reproduced,<br /> without the consent lawfully given by the owner<br /> of the copyright in such musical work.<br /> <br /> 4, This Act may be cited as the Musical (Sum-<br /> mary Proceedings) Copyright Act, 1902, and<br /> <br /> shall come into operation on the first day of<br /> October one thousand nine hundred and two, and<br /> shall apply only to the United Kingdom.<br /> <br /> The Musical (Summary Proceedings) Copyright<br /> Act is essentially a publishers’ Act. ;<br /> <br /> To a certain extent, however, the Act must<br /> benefit all owners of musical copyright, whether<br /> composers or publishers.<br /> <br /> A careful perusal of its scope tends to show that<br /> the Act, hurriedly conceived, and as hurriedly pushed<br /> through the House, scarcely covers the most impor-<br /> tant difficulties connected with this musical piracy.<br /> It is unsatisfactory, and only fills a small space In<br /> a wide gap. What are the penalties to be enforced ?<br /> There is no mention of penalty. Are the cheap<br /> piratical printers, the arch offenders, to escape the<br /> court of summary jurisdiction ? It would appear<br /> to be the case.<br /> <br /> This omission is inexplicable; the unlicensed<br /> vendor has little to fear if he still retains the<br /> sympathy of the printer. He may even be an<br /> innocent holder, if, as is often the case, the printer<br /> stamps the copies as copyright.<br /> <br /> This Act, like all other copyright Acts, seems to<br /> suffer from a common complaint. Lack of interest<br /> gives rise to an inadequate knowledge of the<br /> subject, and inadequate knowledge is supplemented<br /> by poor draftsmanship. For instance, the power<br /> given in Clause 1 appears to be unnecessary, con-<br /> sidering the much wider scope of Clause 2, and<br /> the definitions of ‘‘ musical work ” and “ pirated<br /> musical work,” Clause 3, instead of containing<br /> the same terms, contain a variation that may give<br /> rise to legal difficulties. “ Otherwise graphically<br /> produced or reproduced” and “otherwise repro-<br /> duced’ raises an essential difference. How, again,<br /> will these definitions affect the present Acts, or<br /> bear upon such a case as Lover v. Davidson ? Sec-<br /> tion 3 is very all-embracing. The Act gives food<br /> for thought. It is to be hoped that its interpre-<br /> tation will not make confusion worse confounded.<br /> The musical publishers are, no doubt, jubilant.<br /> <br /> Will it work as an unmixed blessing to musical<br /> <br /> composers ?<br /> ——__—_ &gt; ___<br /> <br /> A BOOK ON COPYRIGHT.*<br /> <br /> —1.—&lt;—+ —<br /> <br /> R. MACGILLIVRAY’S work is an exceed-<br /> M ingly valuable addition to the books<br /> ~~ dealing with copyright law, but THE<br /> BOOK on copyright has yet to be written.<br /> <br /> * “A Treatise upon the Law of Copyright,” by E. J.<br /> Macgillivray, LL.B. Publisher : John Murray, Albemarle<br /> Street.<br />  <br /> <br /> 26<br /> <br /> Mr. Copinger’s important treatise is practically<br /> out of date, the last edition was published in 1893,<br /> and many things have taken place in the copy-<br /> right world since then. The second edition of<br /> Mr. Scrutton’s work was published in 1896, and<br /> another edition is seriously needed. It is possible<br /> that the author is waiting for the passing of that<br /> Copyright Law which for so long has hovered in<br /> its flight but never settled. We trust he will wait<br /> no longer; but neither Mr. Scrutton’s book nor Mr.<br /> Macgillivray’s can be said to be the final book on<br /> the subject.<br /> <br /> Mr. Scrutton, with a very clear insight into all<br /> the details of these complicated questions, comes<br /> to his opinions and conclusions, and declares them<br /> so positively that to the casual reader ignorant of<br /> actual texts and actual cases, the many points still<br /> in doubt appear to be finally settled. So far, how-<br /> ever, it is a satisfactory and clear guide for the<br /> general public, but not for the legal world.<br /> <br /> Mr. Macgillivray, on the other hand, by an<br /> elaborate statement of all the cases bearing on<br /> special issues, is inclined to emphasise the dis-<br /> crepancies, and to increase the difficulties of the<br /> casual reader by raising up from their grave, points<br /> upon which it is admitted the present position of<br /> the statute and case law is fairly clear. What,<br /> however, Mr. Macgillivray has stated in his Intro-<br /> duction that he has attempted to do, he has done<br /> exceedingly well. He has given an exhaustive<br /> text book of the case law, and on the case law no<br /> satisfactory work had as yet been produced. With<br /> one or two statements, however, we must find fault.<br /> <br /> Mr. Macgillivray doubts for reasons he sets<br /> forth whether a foreigner non-resident in England<br /> or the British Dominions is entitled to copyright.<br /> This conclusion is, as it would appear, against<br /> the weight of evidence, and against the established<br /> custom, since the American copyright arrangement<br /> has been in existence. He therefore raises a doubt<br /> as to the validity of the present position of<br /> English authors. Surely this is carrying the<br /> matter a little too far. A discussion of the question<br /> (if indeed it can be discussed) is of very little use<br /> to the general reader.<br /> <br /> Again, take the question of performing rights.<br /> Mr. Scrutton distinctly states ‘‘ Dramatic pieces<br /> in manuscript, neither printed nor represented, are<br /> the perpetual property of the author by common<br /> law.” Mr. Macgillivray denies this common law<br /> right, though he owns that the author may have<br /> a certain property ; but that the remedy would be<br /> on breach of implied contract. These are academic<br /> questions.<br /> <br /> The method, however, in which he deals with<br /> performing rights is full of confusion. Even fora<br /> careful reader, for one reading the book from the<br /> legal standpoint with a certain amount of technical<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> knowledge, it is impossible to find out exactly what<br /> the performing rights of the author are, in case he<br /> should happen to print and publish the book of<br /> his dramatic work before he performs it. Here,<br /> again, he seems to run counter to the opinion of<br /> that eminent lawyer, Mr. Scrutton, and obscures<br /> the issue in a cloud of dust. The chapter dealing<br /> with these questions should have been more clearly<br /> expressed. In its present state it does not merely<br /> obscure the point of law, but it raises confusion as<br /> to whether any law exists at all. The unfortunate<br /> dramatic author is not really in such a bad position.<br /> <br /> One of the most interesting chapters in the book<br /> deals with “ What is a piratical copy?” Disputes<br /> often arise as to infringement of copyright, and can<br /> only be settled on general lines, and according to<br /> the facts of each case. It was therefore most<br /> important that these facts should be arrayed so<br /> as to form a basis of comparison for every fresh<br /> case. Mr. Macgillivray has marshalled his in-<br /> formation in a thoroughly reliable and exhaustive<br /> manner.<br /> <br /> The other chapters in the book, although inter-<br /> esting and useful to the lawyer and the student,<br /> are not nearly so full as those dealing with literary<br /> copyright. Copyright in drawings, paintings, and<br /> photographs is surely entitled to more space. It is<br /> most complicated and involved, and is far more<br /> difficult of comprehension than the law of literary<br /> copyright.<br /> <br /> There is a very interesting chapter on the case<br /> law of the United States. Amongst other things,<br /> the author points out that, contrary to the law as<br /> it exists in England, to obtain copyright in the<br /> States it is necessary that the work must have<br /> some literary value. The decisions, however, on<br /> the subject seem to have been carried rather far.<br /> It is worth while to impress this point on English<br /> authors, for although no question has been tried<br /> that bears strictly upon some of the modern<br /> methods of registration, it is doubtful whether<br /> these methods would always be deemed satisfactory<br /> under the United States Copyright Act.<br /> <br /> The criticisms dealing with publishers’ agree-<br /> ments might well have been omitted. If this<br /> subject had been handled by the author, it required<br /> a fuller treatment, and should have been touched<br /> upon from other points of view than those of the<br /> publisher.<br /> <br /> The book, the play, the painting, or other<br /> artistic work is the property of the man whose<br /> genius brings it forth. In agreements for the sale<br /> and assignment of that property, the primary<br /> holder ought to meet with the greatest considera-<br /> tion, the originator of the work ought to receive<br /> the fullest protection.<br /> <br /> It is to be hoped that when finally the new<br /> copyright law is passed, such a book will be written<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 27<br /> <br /> on the subject as will meet all the requirements<br /> of the general reader, the student of law, and the<br /> lawyer himself.<br /> <br /> Until that time comes the author of the present<br /> work must be thanked for his careful and in-<br /> dustrious labours, and for the information he<br /> has collected on the many difficult questions<br /> involved.<br /> <br /> —_—_—_———_\_e— &gt; o—____—_<br /> <br /> CIVIL LIST PENSIONS.<br /> <br /> —_+~&lt;&gt;+ —<br /> <br /> IST of those pensions in connection with<br /> literature granted during the year ending<br /> the 31st March, 1902.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Date of | - Amount of<br /> Grant. | Name. Pension.<br /> 1901. | 8s. a.<br /> <br /> 17 July | Mr. Henry Austin Dobson . che 250.0) 0)<br /> <br /> In recognition of his distin-<br /> guished literary attainments,<br /> and of his eminence as a poet.<br /> a The Rev. Dr. John Hunt, D.D. .| 100 0 0<br /> | In consideration of his theo-<br /> logical writings and of his<br /> straitened circumstances.<br /> s | Mrs. Emma Rose Mackenzie. 50 0 0<br /> In consequence of the writings<br /> of her late husband, Mr. |<br /> Alexander Mackenzie, the |<br /> historian of the Highland<br /> Clans, and of her inadequate |<br /> | means of support.<br /> . | Mrs. Elizabeth Reid . : : 50. 0 0<br /> In consideration of the literary<br /> merits of her late husband,<br /> | Captain Mayne Reid, the<br /> | Novelist,and of her straitened<br /> | circumstances.<br /> 9 Aug. | Mrs. Mary Crawford Fraser oi 100 02.0<br /> In consideration of her literary<br /> merits and of the public ser-<br /> vices of her late husband,<br /> Mr. Hugh Fraser, as her late<br /> Britannic Majesty&#039;s Minister |<br /> | in Japan. |<br /> » . | Mr. William Henry Hudson et i500 0,0<br /> | Inrecognition of the originality |<br /> of his writings on Natural |<br /> <br /> History. |<br /> 1902. | The Rev. Dr. Augustus Jessopp, |<br /> CNet OD SC 100 «0-20<br /> In recognition of his services to |<br /> \ Archeology and Literature. |<br /> 3 | Mrs. Sarab Catherine Jones (i 0 0<br /> <br /> |<br /> <br /> In recognition of the services |<br /> rendered by her late hus- |<br /> band,Principal John Viriamu<br /> Jones, to the cause of Higher<br /> Education in Wales.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> pe,<br /> TOTAL .| £875 0 0<br /> |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> ee pg os,<br /> “FOLLOW COPY.”<br /> <br /> Sir,—Permit a fellow sufferer to heartily condole<br /> with your correspondent “8.” Over and over again<br /> have I had to submit to similar vexatious treat-<br /> ment at the hands of some sapient (7) corrector<br /> bold enough to pit his own views of. spelling<br /> against the universe.<br /> <br /> Who shall indicate the loophole of escape from<br /> such galling experiences ’ Must the hapless<br /> author in future add a printing-press to his stock-<br /> in-trade, or shall he not rather find deliverance in<br /> the realization of that oft suggested proposal that<br /> the Society should add the business of publishers<br /> to its manifold duties for the exceeding comfort of<br /> writers ?<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> Op Brrp.<br /> <br /> Authors’ Club, 8.W.,<br /> <br /> 19th July, 1902.<br /> <br /> STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.<br /> <br /> Srr,—In a note on this subject by “ F. P.” in<br /> The Author (July, 1902, p. 245), there are some<br /> statements that seem to me to be misleading.<br /> <br /> Thus: “ Words of Latin origin, which take ¢ble<br /> instead of able; why allow accept, etc., to be an<br /> exception ?”<br /> <br /> But surely words of Latin origin take -ab/e and<br /> -uble just as well as -ble. Example: habitable,<br /> from Lat. habitabilis, because the infinitive is<br /> habitare. The derivatives in Lat. -abilis are<br /> extremely numerous. So numerous, indeed, that<br /> -able may be added even to an English root, as<br /> answer-able, know-able, etc. The reason why. we<br /> write acceptable is because such is the French form,<br /> from Late Lat. acceplabilis. The words in -ib/e are<br /> from the third conjugation in Latin, not from the<br /> first, and they are fewer in number. Voluble is<br /> from Lat. volubilis; and soluble from solubilis ;<br /> not volible or solible. I do not agree with the<br /> remarks on words in -ise. The suffix -7ze is both<br /> Greek and phonetic, and much to be preferred if<br /> we are to have uniformity. ‘The suffix -tse is<br /> French. (See the article on -iZe in the “ New<br /> English Dictionary.”’)<br /> <br /> The remarks upon full are also quite contrary to<br /> known etymological facts. So far from Jill being<br /> “ of greater importance,” it is a mere derivative of<br /> the older and more important full. We ought to<br /> go by the stress, not the part of speech. ‘Thus in<br /> ful-fill, fill (with two els) receives the stress, whilst<br /> ful does not. In skilful, the -ful is likewise<br /> unstressed. The spelling skilful shows the stress<br />  <br /> <br /> 28<br /> <br /> sufficiently ; there is no absolute need to write<br /> skillful, though some do so.<br /> <br /> ‘As to connexion, inflexion, we adhere to these<br /> spellings because they are etymological and phonetic<br /> at the same time; the forms connection, inflection,<br /> arose from popular (ignorant) association with<br /> affection, direction, and the like, in which the spelling<br /> with cf is correct. That is why the “ New English<br /> Dictionary ” advocates the spellings connexion,<br /> inflexion, which appear both in Latin and French ;<br /> as will be seen if such dictionaries be ‘consulted.<br /> <br /> The rule for the division of the words is not<br /> «the rule of the root ” by any means, but the rule<br /> of the sound or pronunciation. It is much best to<br /> ignore the root and to go by the sound. Thus it<br /> is usual to make such divisions as are seen in<br /> impu-dence, solilo-quize, peru-sal, counte-nance,<br /> plea-sure, princi-pal; in perfect contempt of the<br /> root-forms, which are, respectively, pud-, loqu-, Us-,<br /> ten-, pluc-, cap-. We simply regard the utterance,<br /> writing pe-ruse at one moment, and pe-ru-sal at<br /> ancther. Nothing is gained by pretending to<br /> keep the root intact, when the spoken utterance<br /> does nothing of the kind.<br /> <br /> I ugree that it is best to consult the “ New<br /> English Dictionary” ; but this seems to be the<br /> very thing which our critic has neglected to do.<br /> <br /> W. W.S.<br /> <br /> —— 1<br /> <br /> THE PLAYGOERS’ CLUB COMPETITION.<br /> <br /> Srr,—As it has been publicly stated that Mrs.<br /> Ashton-Jonson’s play, “The Hedonists,” was<br /> proxime accessit in the recent Playgoers’ Club Com-<br /> petition, will you allow me to say (as the paper in<br /> which the statement appeared refuses to do so<br /> in its columns) that I hold a letter from Mr.<br /> Hannaford Bennett (the club’s secretary) inform-<br /> ing’me that my play, “The Woman Pays,’ was<br /> one of the last three “in the running”; and that<br /> I also have “private information,” from a member<br /> of the Reading Committee, that the final choice<br /> lay between Miss Syrett’s play and mine ?<br /> <br /> Yours, etc.,<br /> <br /> Harry A. SPURR.<br /> <br /> Sees<br /> AUTHOR AND EDITOR.<br /> <br /> Sm,—Can you or any of your readers kindly<br /> explain this to me? The editor in question, who<br /> has, up to this, been most courteous to me, declines<br /> to answer my query.<br /> <br /> I wrote to the editor of the Westminster Gazette<br /> to ask why he had not noticed my last volume of<br /> verse, “ Mirth and Music.”<br /> <br /> He replied that he had given the book due<br /> consideration, and that was all I could expect. Now,<br /> what does this mean—a future review or none?<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> He will not enlighten me. As this is by far my<br /> best volume of verse (out of thirty-five reviews,<br /> many in London papers, only three or four have<br /> been adverse ones), he could hardly mean that the<br /> volume was nol worth reviewing, especially as a<br /> dozen poems in it were reproduced from his own<br /> columns, and besides, he has noticed all my inferior<br /> books. But if not, what did he mean? I am<br /> puzzled.<br /> Very truly yours,<br /> Kirsfield, Torquay. F. B. Doveton.<br /> <br /> MUSICAL COMPOSERS AND MUSICAL PUBLISHERS.<br /> <br /> Srr,—As a virtually unknown story-writer I<br /> have had many shocking experiences of the per-<br /> fidy of editors and publishers, but they pale into<br /> insignificance beside the injuries suffered by the<br /> song-writer. A friend of mine who writes charm-<br /> ing songs tells a harrowing tale. She has had<br /> <br /> song after song accepted by certain publishers -<br /> <br /> (some of whose names are not without honour),<br /> and then returned on her hands after a year or 60,<br /> with some flabby excuse. When I urge that she<br /> has the letters of acceptance, offering terms in<br /> black and white, and can therefore make them<br /> good in the court of law, she replies: ‘To what<br /> purpose? If I forced Mr. So-and-so to publish<br /> my song, he would simply print it, lay the copies<br /> on a shelf and do nothing further. - I should thus<br /> lose my property and get no royalties. I have<br /> been served so before now.”<br /> <br /> And this is not her only grievance. Every year<br /> she sends out a number of songs to publishers and<br /> public singers, enclosing stamped envelopes and<br /> polite letters requesting that her MSS. may be<br /> returned. A very large proportion of these never<br /> come back, and no amount of imploring letters<br /> will recover them. As she cannot, like the story-<br /> teller, have copies typed, but has to re-write every<br /> one that goes out, and as her songs are musicianly,<br /> with good accompaniments, one can imagine what<br /> labour this entails. The song-writer who has not<br /> yet “caught on ” seems, indeed, in a parlous way,<br /> and the fact of having had several songs already<br /> taken by well-known publishers and sung by<br /> famous vocalists is, apparently, of no avail.<br /> Stamps are confiscated, MSS. lost or thrown<br /> aside, letters unheeded ; and even when a song<br /> is accepted, it may come back after a year or two,<br /> “returned with thanks.”<br /> <br /> Is there no redress? Are not songs in MS.<br /> property, and can they not be recovered by law ?<br /> Moreover, cannot a publisher be made to publish<br /> a song he has accepted—not merely print, but<br /> circulate it ?<br /> <br /> Yours, etc.,<br /> M.P.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/476/1902-10-01-The-Author-13-1.pdf	publications, The Author
477	https://historysoa.com/items/show/477	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 02 (November 1902)	<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+02+%28November+1902%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 02 (November 1902)</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>	1902-11-01-The-Author-13-2					29–56																		<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=1902-11-01">1902-11-01</a>							2			19021101	Che Huthor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vou. XIII.—No. 2.<br /> <br /> CHANGE OF ADDRESS.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NovEMBER 1sT, 1902.<br /> <br /> [Price SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ROUM e £816 5 6<br /> Wocal Woane: ae 404 10 0<br /> ee Victorian Government 3 % Con-<br /> As mistakes still occur with regard to the solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11<br /> Address of the Society, it has been thought War Loan 3 ee. 201-923<br /> z expedient to continue this Notice, that the Office<br /> <br /> of the Society is situated at—<br /> 39, OLD QUEEN STREET,<br /> STOREY’S GATE, 8.W.<br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> Votel 2 £1714 4 8<br /> <br /> There is, in addition, a balance of £30 to £40<br /> in the Bank to cover current expenses and the<br /> payment of pensions.<br /> <br /> The subscriptions and donations from the<br /> beginning of the year are as follows.<br /> <br /> Further sums will be acknowledged from month<br /> to month as they come to hand.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ae oe DonATIONS.<br /> <br /> Jan, 24, Church, Prof. R, A. H....... £2 2°90<br /> ae Jan. 29, Toplis, Miss Grace ............ 0 4 0<br /> ees Heb, 1, Perks; Miss lily............... 010 0<br /> e OR the opinions expressed in papers that are eb. 12, Brown, Miss Prince ..... Leese 1 10<br /> . K signed or initialled the Authors alone are Feb. 15, Wilkins, W.H. (2nd donation) 1<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para- Feb. 15, 8: G. oe sees eeeees eee ees tes i 10<br /> graphs must be taken as expressing the opinion Feb. 17, Hawkins, A. Hope..........-. 50 0 8<br /> of the Committee unless such is especially stated Feb. 19, Burrowes, Miss E. ............ @ 10 0<br /> to be the case. Mch. 16, Reynolds, Mrs. ............--. 0 5 0<br /> April 28, Wheelright, Miss Ethel...... 1 0 0<br /> <br /> April 29, Sheldon, Mrs. French,<br /> Tux Editor begs to inform Members of the WRG 8, 0 5 0<br /> Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author May 5, A Beginner ...............-..+++ 1 10<br /> that the cases which are from time to time quoted May 20, Nemo .........s...esee rere 2 0.9<br /> in The Author are cases that have come before the May 20, Rattray, Dr. A. ..............- 0. 5.0<br /> notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the July 17, Capes, Bernard E............. 0 5 0<br /> Society, and that those members of the Society July 19, Warden, Miss Gertrude ... : 5 0<br /> 5 0<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> who desire to have the names of the publishers<br /> concerned can obtain them on application.<br /> <br /> oe Jan. 17, Prelooker, J. ..6:....-+-+.----- 0 5 :<br /> <br /> i : Jan. 20, Nicholls, F.C. ........-..--+- 0 3<br /> eee Jan. 22, Carey, Miss R. Nouchette ... I i 0<br /> Tur Investments of the Pension Fund at Feb., Gidley, Miss E. C. .............- 010 6<br /> present standing in the names of the Trustees are Mch. 20, Beeching, Rev. H.C. .....- 0 5. 0<br /> as follows. Moh. 25, Stroud, F..2..........-----+ 010 6<br /> This is a statement of the actual stock; the May 1, Heatley, Richard F............. 0. 0 0<br /> money value can be easily worked out at the current Oct. 21, Thomson, Miss C. L.......... 0 5 0<br /> price of the market :— Oar, 08, Rabie, Bec. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Vou, XIII.<br /> <br /> Oct. 23, Evans, Miss May<br /> <br /> ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.<br />  <br /> <br /> 30<br /> <br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> <br /> THe amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £327 15 0<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly, about<br /> £4, The subscriptions received from March to<br /> the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Anonymous”. : : : ee<br /> <br /> Champneys, Basil. ;<br /> <br /> “ Colonia,” Natal, 8. Africa<br /> <br /> Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F.C.<br /> <br /> Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. :<br /> <br /> Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N.<br /> <br /> Hurry, A. . : : : :<br /> <br /> Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-<br /> tioned)<br /> <br /> Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. .<br /> <br /> Millais, J.G. . : ; :<br /> <br /> Quiller Couch, Miss M.<br /> <br /> Sterry, J. Ashby ‘<br /> <br /> Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir R. C.<br /> <br /> Underdown, Miss E.<br /> <br /> Lockyer, Sir T. Norman<br /> <br /> Beale, Miss Mary<br /> <br /> Bolam, Rey. C. E.<br /> <br /> Egbert, Henry :<br /> <br /> Eccles, Miss O’Connor<br /> <br /> Darwin, Francis : :<br /> <br /> Montgomery-Campbell, Miss<br /> <br /> Medlecott, Cecil ;<br /> <br /> Saxby, Mrs... ; ; : :<br /> <br /> Caine, T: H. Hall . : ; Be<br /> <br /> Marris, Miss Murrell :<br /> <br /> 8. B. : ee<br /> <br /> Bloomfield, J. H. .<br /> <br /> F. 0. B. (Coventry) .<br /> <br /> Seton-Karr, H. W. .<br /> <br /> Heriot, Cheyne :<br /> <br /> Charley, Sir W. T., K.C.<br /> <br /> ‘¢ Hsme Stuart ”<br /> <br /> Charlton, Miss Emily<br /> <br /> Kroeker, Mrs. .<br /> <br /> Aflalo, F. G. :<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . :<br /> <br /> Salwey, Reginald E.<br /> <br /> Gidley, Miss E. C.<br /> <br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E.<br /> <br /> CHOHRHH<br /> pal<br /> <br /> —<br /> SCOCHRHHEH<br /> cococeo<br /> <br /> HOOCNOHRROFS<br /> ro<br /> ee ern TUDO DO OL OVS Or<br /> <br /> BAOMNonnNore<br /> <br /> rt<br /> <br /> re<br /> <br /> NOOR NWO ON<br /> SBeocoec ooo ce oso oso oe sooo onooooescs<br /> <br /> COCHNWOCOCOHOHOROCOOCOHOFRF<br /> <br /> —_——_—_——_+——_+___——_<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> T consequence of the fact that members are<br /> returning to work after the holidays, the<br /> business at the office of the Society shows a<br /> <br /> natural tendency to increase.<br /> <br /> At the October. meeting of the Committee forty-<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> eight new members and associates were elected,<br /> making the total for the year 161. A strong argu-<br /> ment in support of the sound work of the Society.<br /> A list of the elections is published below.<br /> <br /> It is intended, if it is found possible, to publish<br /> the list of members annually or bi-annually, and to<br /> incorporate these monthly returns when the next<br /> revised edition is issued.<br /> <br /> The compilation of the list has been carried out<br /> in accordance with the statement contained in the<br /> article in the July number of the Author. The<br /> Committee have decided to print 1,000 copies.<br /> <br /> Over six hundred answers were received to the<br /> circular. Of these between thirty and forty desired<br /> that neither their names nor their addresses should<br /> be published. The reasons put forward for this<br /> course differed, but one reason, constantly recurring,<br /> was the fact that the publication of the name and<br /> address might subject the member to a flood of<br /> circulars from advertisers and others.<br /> <br /> In the case of those members of the Society<br /> whose addresses can be easily obtained from books<br /> like “Who’s Who,” “The Red Book,” “The<br /> Literary Year Book,” and other Directories, this<br /> objection naturally would not stand.<br /> <br /> The price of the list will be 6d., nett, post<br /> free. Only members will be able to purchase<br /> copies. An order form is inserted in this month’s<br /> issue. Members desiring to obtain a copy of the<br /> list are asked to return it (duly signed) with the<br /> 6d. to the office.<br /> <br /> Members will be pleased to hear that Mr. Austin<br /> Dobson has been unanimously elected a member of<br /> the Committee of Management of the Society, and<br /> Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G., C.B., a member of<br /> the Copyright Sub-Committee.<br /> <br /> The Addenda to “ The Methods of Publishing,”<br /> since its original issue, has been selling gradually,<br /> and is now nearly out of print. Two hundred and<br /> fifty more copies have been printed by the desire of<br /> the Committee.<br /> <br /> At this, the first meeting of the Committee since<br /> the lamented death of Monsieur Zola, it was decided<br /> to send a letter from the Society of Authors to the<br /> Sovicté des Gens de Lettres, of which Monsieur<br /> Zola was President. The French Society has, on<br /> all occasions, extended a helping hand to its sister<br /> society, and has given to the Secretary valuable<br /> information from time to time on such questions<br /> as publishing in France, and legal matters con-<br /> nected with French copyright.<br /> <br /> Other questions discussed, referred to disputes<br /> and actions, which it would be indiscreet to make<br /> public for the present. i<br /> <br /> Eleven cases between publishers and authors,<br /> arising from the usual divergencies of opinion and<br /> method, have been in the hands of the Secretary<br /> during the past month. Of these, four deal with<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> matters of account, three with disputed agreement,<br /> two with money due, and the remaining two with<br /> general matters, which do not come under the usual<br /> headings.<br /> <br /> Three of the eleven have been finally settled, two<br /> have been placed in the hands of the solicitors to<br /> carry through by action if necessary, and the<br /> balance are still in the course of negotiation. They<br /> need no special comment.<br /> <br /> Of those cases quoted in last month’s Author<br /> there are still four unsettled, but negotiations are<br /> being carried on between the publisher and the<br /> Secretary. One case, however, is hanging fire,<br /> owing to the fact that in spite of repeated letter-<br /> writing the Secretary can obtain no answer from<br /> the member whose work is involved. This position<br /> is a very serious one for the Society, and the<br /> Committee at all times have impressed upon the<br /> members how important it is that those who place<br /> their matters in the Secretary’s hands should carry<br /> <br /> them through with vigour.<br /> <br /> It has been mentioned that two cases have been<br /> placed in the hands of the solicitors of the Society.<br /> <br /> One other matter has been dealt with by them.<br /> A firm of publishers, whose name we do not at<br /> present mention, has called a meeting of its<br /> creditors. Our solicitors represent those of our<br /> members who have claims against the firm. At<br /> present it is impossible to state anything definite<br /> with regard to the issue of the meeting, but it is<br /> hoped that with careful diplomacy the authors’<br /> claims will be paid in full, as a provision has been<br /> proposed under the deed of assignment that the<br /> trustee shall have power, if he thinks fit, to pay all<br /> authors in full.<br /> <br /> oe as<br /> <br /> Elections, October, 1902.<br /> <br /> Elections to the Society, July 14th to October<br /> 18th :—<br /> <br /> Abrahamson, Rev.-A. E. The Rectory, Skilgate,<br /> Wiveliscombe R.8.0O.,<br /> Somerset.<br /> <br /> 85, Fitzjohns Avenue,<br /> <br /> Besant, Geoff<br /> ao Hampstead, N.W.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Bisiken, Wm. : ;<br /> <br /> Bissett-Smith, George<br /> Tullock (George Bizet)<br /> <br /> Brunskill, The Rev.<br /> Francis R.<br /> <br /> Cayzer, C. W.<br /> <br /> Clark, Alfred<br /> Clive, Alfred<br /> <br /> 12-14, Long Acre, W.C.<br /> <br /> 55, Carlton Place, Aber-<br /> deen.<br /> 19, Raymont . Street,<br /> Thetford, Norfolk.<br /> Dunsdale, Frodsham,<br /> Cheshire.<br /> <br /> Forest Department, Cey-<br /> lon.<br /> <br /> Heydon Vale, Great<br /> Chishall, Near Roy-<br /> ston, Cambs.<br /> <br /> Cockran, Miss Henrietta<br /> Cotton, Capt. Frederick<br /> Crottie, Miss Julia M.<br /> Dallas, Miss H. A.<br /> Dollar, John A. W.<br /> Errington Cyril<br /> Evans, Miss May (A<br /> Welsh Spinster).<br /> Farmer, R. Geoffrey<br /> <br /> Fellows, Charles (Cas-<br /> <br /> situs).<br /> Gaskell, Lady<br /> Gouldsworthy, Henry C.<br /> Harrison, Miss Rose<br /> <br /> Hollander, Bernard,<br /> <br /> M.D.<br /> Hunt, Miss Violet<br /> Hurlock, Sydney .<br /> lliffe, Mrs. J. K. M.<br /> Ivrea, The Marquis<br /> Keyworth, Charles W.<br /> <br /> (Charles Aver)<br /> Lovell, Arthur (D.C. W.)<br /> MacDonagh, Michael<br /> Mackenzie, W.C. .<br /> Masson, Miss Flora<br /> Masson, Miss Rosaline .<br /> Medley, Miss H. P.<br /> Merritt, Mrs. Lea<br /> Molyneux, The Honble.<br /> <br /> Mrs.<br /> Oelsner, Herman .<br /> <br /> Petano, D. K.<br /> <br /> 31<br /> <br /> 45, Mecklenburg Square,<br /> W.C.<br /> <br /> Horsham Court, Mort-<br /> ley, Worcestershire.<br /> Glenbaba House, Near<br /> Peel, Isle of Man.<br /> 116, King Henry’s Road,<br /> <br /> N.W.<br /> a Bond Street,<br /> <br /> 91, Lavender Sweep,<br /> Clapham Junction,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> 10, Lansdowne Crescent,<br /> W.<br /> Barriew Street, Welsh-<br /> <br /> pool.<br /> Old Bank Chambers,<br /> Wolverhampton.<br /> <br /> The Abbey, Much Wen-<br /> lock, Salop.<br /> <br /> 2, Brompton Square,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> 101, Oakley<br /> Chelsea, 8. W.<br /> <br /> 62, Queen Anne Street,<br /> Cavendish Square, W.<br /> <br /> South Lodge, Campden<br /> Hill, S.W.<br /> <br /> College Grove<br /> Wakefield.<br /> <br /> 13, Warnborough Road,<br /> Oxford.<br /> <br /> c/o E. F. Turner &amp; Son,<br /> Leadenhall House,<br /> E.C.<br /> <br /> Wesley House, Bisley,<br /> Stroud, Glos.<br /> <br /> 5, Portman Street, Port-<br /> man Square, W.<br /> <br /> 149, Abbeville Road,<br /> Clapham Park, 8.W.<br /> <br /> ‘“* Sutha,” Selborne<br /> Road, Sidcup, Kent.<br /> <br /> 2, Lockharton Gardens,<br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> 2, Lockharton Gardens,<br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> Marlborough Mansions,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> Hurstbourne ‘Tarrant,<br /> Near Andover.<br /> <br /> Willoughby, Saxe Wei-<br /> mer Road, Southsea.<br /> <br /> Savage Club, Adelphi<br /> Terrace, W.C.<br /> <br /> 23, Walton Well Road,<br /> Oxford.<br /> <br /> Street,<br /> <br /> Road,<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 32<br /> <br /> 96, Warwick Gardens,<br /> Kensington, W.<br /> <br /> 33, St. Luke’s Road,<br /> Notting Hill, W.<br /> <br /> c/o To-Day, 8 &amp; 9, Essex<br /> Street, Strand<br /> <br /> Seagate House, Little-<br /> <br /> Pickthall, Rudolf .<br /> Reich, Emil .<br /> Rutter, Frank<br /> <br /> Smith, William Herbert<br /> <br /> hampton.<br /> Smith, Mrs. Michael 35, Ailsbury Road,<br /> Dublin.<br /> Thomson, Miss Clara 11, Talgarth Road, West<br /> Linklater. Kensington; or Tem-<br /> <br /> ple House, Temple<br /> Avenue.<br /> <br /> Lotus, Dorking.<br /> <br /> Spade House, Sandgate,<br /> Kent.<br /> <br /> 3, Park Terrace, Cross-<br /> hill, Glasgow.<br /> <br /> 54, Bloomsbury Street,<br /> W.C.<br /> <br /> 1, Rue Dain, Faubourg<br /> St. Honoré, Paris.<br /> <br /> Ward, Wilfrid<br /> Wells, H. G.<br /> <br /> Williams, Wynn Llewel-<br /> lyn.<br /> Yorke, Philip C. .<br /> <br /> Young, Miss Catherine<br /> M.<br /> Only one member of those elected does not<br /> desire publication.<br /> <br /> eS<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> —-&gt;+—<br /> ISS R. N. Carey’s new 6s. novel, “The<br /> Highway of Fate” (Macmillan), has made<br /> <br /> an excellent start, and has at once taken<br /> its place as one of the twelve best selling books of<br /> the month. It was issued early in September,<br /> simultaneously in England and America; and<br /> arrangements have also been made with Baron<br /> Tauchnitz, who will shortly issue the work in his<br /> Continental series.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Alec Tweedie’s memoir of her father,<br /> “George Harley, F.R.S., or the Life of a London<br /> Physician,” can now he had in a cheaper edition<br /> (The Scientific Press). It gives many interesting<br /> stories of the Crimea, Napoleon III., and the coup<br /> Wétat. There are also stories of student life in<br /> Paris and Germany, and of the delightful people<br /> he met in London, where he practised as a physician<br /> for forty years.<br /> <br /> Mr. A. Ollivant’s new book “ Danny,” which<br /> has been running for some time in the Monthly<br /> Magazine here, and in Everybody&#039;s Magazine<br /> in America, will shortly be complete. It will<br /> then be published by Mr. John Murray on this<br /> side, and by Messrs. Doubleday, Page &amp; Co. in<br /> America.<br /> <br /> Mr. Ollivant’s previous book, called here “ Owd<br /> Bob of Kenmure,” and in America “ Bob, Son of<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 /> Battle,” met with marked success, the sales in the<br /> United States even exceeding those in England.<br /> “here is every probability of “ Danny” being<br /> equally successful. The author’s power and origin-<br /> ality are both quite as strongly exhibited in<br /> “Danny” as in his earlier work; and Mr.<br /> Ollivant exhibits an advance in the dexterity with<br /> which he treats the technique and subsidiary<br /> elements of romantic fiction.<br /> <br /> Miss Rosaline Masson has a new novel in the<br /> press. It is called “ Leslie Farquhar,” and Mr.<br /> John Murray will publish it. Miss Masson. is<br /> favourably known as_ the authoress of “The<br /> <br /> Pransgressors”” and “ In Our Town,” both novels<br /> descriptive of the Edinburgh of to-day (Hodder &amp;<br /> Stoughton).<br /> <br /> Miss Masson, besides publishing a couple of ‘Ag<br /> volumes of short stories, wrote the “Lives of<br /> Pollock and Aytoun” inthe Famous Scots’ Series.<br /> Aytoun, author of the popular “Lays of the<br /> Cavaliers,” was the predecessor of Miss Masson’s<br /> father in the chair of English Literature in .<br /> Edinburgh University.<br /> <br /> Mr. Herbert Compton has been very busy.<br /> Messrs. A. Treherne &amp; Co. are bringing out for him<br /> a series of sketches strung together under the title<br /> of “ Facts and Phantasies of a Folio Grub,” while<br /> Messrs. Everett &amp; Co. will issue his “‘ A Scourge<br /> of the Sea,” a story of South Sea adventure.<br /> <br /> Mr. J. Bloundelle-Burton’s new story, « The<br /> Intriguers,” commences in this month’s Leisure<br /> Hour. It deals with a Jacobite plot to assassinate<br /> George I. before he could reach England from<br /> Germany, at the time of his accession in the year<br /> <br /> 1714. “The Intriguers” will be a stirring story.<br /> <br /> Allen Raine is engaged upon a new novel which<br /> will be entitled “On the Wings of the Wind.” It<br /> will be ready for publication in the spring.<br /> <br /> Mrs. B. M. Croker is busy on a long novel<br /> dealing with life in India. She is going out to<br /> India to finish it, and will spend the winter there.<br /> This popular authoress means to see the Durbar<br /> at Delhi.<br /> <br /> « Johanna,” Mrs. Croker’s story of Trish peasant<br /> life now running in Crampton’s Magazine, is to<br /> be published in the spring by Messrs. Methuen<br /> &amp; Co.<br /> <br /> Mr. Reginald E. Salwey’s new novel, “A Son of —<br /> Mischief,” is a strong sensational story. ‘There is<br /> firm character drawing in it, dramatic situations,<br /> and a capital plot. The Rossiter family is one<br /> worth knowing.<br /> <br /> Mr. G. 8. Streets’ recently published “ Book of<br /> Essays ” (Constable &amp; Co.), demonstrates that the<br /> true art of essay-writing is not dead. His style is<br /> bright and pleasant. He gives food for thought<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 33<br /> <br /> without overtaxing the labour-weary brain; and<br /> he takes you into his confidence in a way that<br /> makes the reader feel at home at once. He writes<br /> as to an old friend and rouses a reciprocity of<br /> friendship.<br /> <br /> A most interesting book entitled “Greek Votive<br /> Offerings” is just out. (University Press, Cam-<br /> bridge; E. J. Clay &amp; Sons, London, 15s. net.)<br /> It is an essay on the history of Greek religion, by<br /> W. H. Denham Rouse, F.R.G.S., Sc., Headmaster of<br /> the Perse School. There are two plates and many<br /> illustrations in the text.<br /> <br /> The main purpose of this scholarly book is to<br /> coilect and classify those offerings which are not<br /> immediately perishable; and by examining the<br /> oceasion of their dedication and the statements<br /> made about it, to trace, if possible, the motives of<br /> the dedicator and the meaning which the act had<br /> for him.<br /> <br /> “The Problem of Fiorenzo of Perugia,” a work<br /> on Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, the reputed master of<br /> Perngino, is at present in the press, and will<br /> shortly be published. The authoress is Mrs. Jean<br /> Carlyle Graham, a Scottish lady, whose previous<br /> literary essays have been chiefly in verse. She has<br /> been resident in Perugia for some time, and com-<br /> pleted the letterpress of this critical study of an<br /> old master in 1901. It is the first serious publica-<br /> tion on the subject, in any language.<br /> <br /> : Under Mr. M.H.Spielmann’s able and complete<br /> control The Magazine of Art has started into new<br /> and vigorous life. Its price is reduced to 1s. net,<br /> while the number of its pages is increased ; a new<br /> cover will be used ; new paper is specially manu-<br /> factured for its pages, and a new fount of type has<br /> been obtained. A most important point is that<br /> many artists of eminence have undertaken, by<br /> means of articles, to address themselves to the<br /> public direct in the magazine.<br /> <br /> But the most novel feature will be the experi-<br /> ment of presenting, at least twice a year, a fine<br /> picture by a leading artist. The picture can be<br /> won by a subscriber to the magazine by means of<br /> a simple competition within the capacity of every-<br /> one. We heartily wish Mr. Spielmann, who is a<br /> prominent and active member of our Society, all<br /> the success he desires for his new series of 7he<br /> Magazine of Art.<br /> <br /> Miss Clementina Black’s “Frederick Walker”<br /> (Duckworth’s Popular Library of Art), is a well-<br /> written, sympathetic, and discriminating lifelet of<br /> this artist, who died all too young. We must make<br /> room for a quotation or two :—<br /> <br /> “To see in Walker nothing but the domestic idealist, is<br /> as if one should see in Tennyson only the author of the<br /> ‘May Queen’ ...I£ a mushroom could have a soul,<br /> Walker might be said to have painted its soul... The<br /> <br /> background of care, sedulously concealed behind an appear-<br /> ance of ease, seems to have been typical of Walker’s work<br /> on even the slightest of productions, and was, perhaps, a<br /> a matter not so much of deliberate intention, as of inborn<br /> character.”<br /> <br /> “He had in a marked degree that clear perception of the<br /> actual world around him without which the creative artist,<br /> either in words or in pictures, seldom succeeds in striking<br /> any widely and deeply human note ... To have lived<br /> intimately with Walker’s work is to dwell thenceforward<br /> in a universe, whose common sights of daily life are touched<br /> with a new light, and informed with a new beauty—a<br /> universe in which humanity seems to call for a deeper<br /> tenderness, a more tolerant smile, a gentler recognition.”<br /> <br /> A yaluable and interesting volume is Mr.<br /> Lawrence Binyon’s ‘“ Catalogue of Drawings by<br /> British artists, and artists of foreign origin work-<br /> ing in Great Britain, preserved in the British<br /> Museum.” (Henry Frowde, Amen Corner, E.C.,<br /> 10s. net.)<br /> <br /> Here is a specimen of one of Mr. Binyon’s<br /> miniature biographies :—<br /> <br /> KEENE, CHARLES SAMUEL (b. 1823, d. 1871).<br /> <br /> Draughtsman, etcher and caricaturist ; born in London ;<br /> apprenticed as a wood engraver; worked in London for<br /> periodicals, and about 1851 began to be employed on<br /> Punch, for which the chief part of his life work was done,<br /> illustrating the daily life of the people for the latter half<br /> of the century with a long series of drawings, unsurpassed<br /> for character and humour; illustrated books by Charles<br /> Reade and others ; one of the greatest of English draughts-<br /> men, and a consummate master of black-and-white.<br /> <br /> Mr. Owen Seaman’s “ Borrowed Plumes” (Con-<br /> stable &amp; Co.) is just out. It is dedicated “To the<br /> Authors, many of them my friends, whose methods<br /> I have here attempted to imitate ; and in particular<br /> to Pearl Mary Teresa Cragie.”<br /> <br /> Among the authors imitated are, Mrs. Humphry<br /> Ward, Mr. Henry James, Mr. Maurice Hewlett,<br /> Miss E. F. Fowler, Mr. Hall Caine and Mr. G.<br /> Bernard Shaw. ‘These imitations are more than<br /> amusing: they convey acute but kindly criticism<br /> in every page. We master the temptation to<br /> quote, and advise our readers to buy and taste for<br /> themselves.<br /> <br /> “Rabbi Shalem on the Shores of the Black<br /> Sea,” by Jaakoff Prelooker, just published by<br /> Simpkin Marshall (4s. net), is a romantic narrative<br /> dealing with the life of Russian Jews and Christian<br /> Dissenters, amongst whom the author laboured for<br /> a number of years with the object of bringing<br /> about their reconciliation, and possible union.<br /> <br /> Miss Olive Katharine Parr has written a Dart-<br /> moor story book for children. It is illustrated<br /> by Mr. E. Wheeler, and is to be published by<br /> Messrs. Routledge. .<br /> <br /> The title of this children’s story is “The Voice<br /> of the River.” The river is the beautiful Dart,<br /> and the scene is laid at Bray farm. The story 1s<br /> quite finished and is in the publisher&#039;s hands, but<br /> it will not be published for some time.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> 34 THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> “Pilgrims of Love” by Miss Bessie Hatton, isa over and over again in his book ; to will and to act<br /> book of original fairy tales following up her “The are what young men must be taught.<br /> Village of Youth,” a new and cheap edition of which M. Hanotaux thinks that at the age of fifteen,<br /> is promised by Messrs. Treherne. ‘Pilgrims of boys who are to take up commercial or agricultural<br /> Love” has a unique cover in Japanese vellum, careers, should put aside their books and commence<br /> daintily decorated by the authoress’ brother-in- work in earnest.<br /> law, Mr. W. H. Margeston. The seventh volume of “ Empire libéral,” by M.<br /> <br /> Miss Hatton is the younger of Mr. Joseph Emile Ollivier, is just published. The chief sub-<br /> <br /> seett ” ‘Mr. Hatton’s first number jects contained in this volume are the Dismember-<br /> Huatton’s two daughters. Mr. Hatton s nis’ T ‘nent of Denmark, the Syllabus, Mexico, Bismark’s<br /> <br /> of his projected reprints of s ecial pages from his . : : ie meena<br /> as Caweie Papers” is pabiehed thismonth abed, “Ue with Napoleon Hit. at Biarritz.&quot; One of<br /> «Cigarette Paper the Boyioad of Sie Henry SPAN are OF rey A livre aooant<br /> . 7 or 9 . .<br /> devimg ; ith some notes fo) 3 Pipers of Napoleon III. throws much light on European<br /> Tn “Songs of Peace and War” by A. H. Rowland affairs during the years 1864 and 1865.<br /> there is a sonnet to Mr. Joseph Chamberlain ; one “ Aux pays d’Homére » ig the title of a new<br /> to Cecil John Rhodes (In Memoriam) and one to book by Baron de Mandat-Grancey, who has<br /> the Colonial Premiers. There are verses headed written some interesting works on “the United<br /> respectively, “ Magersfontein,” “ Bobs,” “Paar- States, England, and Africa.<br /> deberg,” ‘“Eland’s River,” etc. etc., as well as “Une Demi-Carriére ” by the Comte de Com-<br /> verses “To the Cuckoo,” “Lucerne,” “The minges, is a military novel which is particularly<br /> Rural Exodus ” and others. interesting at the present moment. The plot<br /> reminds us of the case of the Lieutenant who has<br /> recently been tried by court-martial for refusing<br /> to eject the nuns from their convent.<br /> “Treg veridique histoire d’une petite fille” by<br /> Hannah Lynch, is another translation from English.<br /> This story appeared as a serial in the Revue de<br /> Paris, and is now published in volume form.<br /> “Un séjour i ’ambassade de Constantinople,” by<br /> boats and gear destroyed. The loss among coasting Mme. la baronne Durand de Fontmagne, Is a most<br /> vessels was terrible. interesting account of life in Turkey, when there<br /> Mr. Hall Caine’s stage version of his novel “ The Wet? still some Turks, as the authoress says. She<br /> ternal City,” which ss roduced at His Majesty’s went outto Constantinople with Madame Thouvenel,<br /> TI a ; : eee: Lace wife of the French Ambassador, and the descriptions<br /> jeatre on the evening of October 3rd, is attracting . : ee<br /> large audiences. It is splendidly staged. Miss and episedes given are mos) Wea) eS<br /> Constance Collier lays Roma item tional “La Demoiselle de Puygarrou,” is the pis =<br /> piey 2 otional the novel Madame Henry Gréville had just finished<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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> “Buchan’s Birs” is an interesting narrative<br /> poem of forgotten heroism by Donal O’Ioci.<br /> The tale as it stands was written in Australia over<br /> ten years ago. It is a true story of an event<br /> which occurred towards the end of the devastating<br /> storm of November, 1857, which caused ‘such<br /> terrible destruction on the North-east Coast of<br /> Scotland. Forty-two fishermen perished, and their<br /> <br /> force, spontaneity and charm. haters her death<br /> In Baron Bonelli Mr. Tree has an effective part, M. André Theuriet’s new novel, “ Sceur de lait,”<br /> <br /> and he makes the most of it. Mr. Robert Taber is also on the theme 80 much in vogue just now.<br /> takes the part of Rossi, and Mr. Lionel Brough ‘The story turns on the conflict between the past,<br /> plays Bruno Rocco. Mr. Telbin and Mr. Harker with its traditions, and the present, with its modern<br /> the artists have never done -better work; the ideas.<br /> mounting is quite remarkable. M. Arthur Bucheron, better known by his<br /> Mr. RB. C. Carton will not produce any play pseudonym of Saint-Genest, has just died at the<br /> until next year. age of sixty-seven. Of late years very little has<br /> been heard of him, but formerly his articles in the<br /> <br /> ee Figaro were most popular, particularly the one<br /> <br /> addressed to the Marshal Mac-Mahon, which caused<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES. the Government to suspend the Figaro for a<br /> fortnight.<br /> <br /> M. Edmond Haraucourt has just published a<br /> <br /> HE new book by M. Gabriel Hanotaux, ‘‘ Le volume of stories entitled ‘ Les Nanfragés.”<br /> Qhoix d’une Carriere,” comes ata very oppor- M. Haraucourt is better known as a poet and<br /> <br /> tune moment. The question of education dramatic author than asanovelist. His best known —<br /> <br /> is being discussed both in France and England. plays are “ Don Juan de Manara,” “Jean Bart,” —<br /> To know is not everything, the author: repeats and ‘La Passion.” The stories published in this —<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 35<br /> <br /> new volume are all dramatic and powerful, but the<br /> subjects are, on the whole, gruesome. :<br /> <br /> “Amériques et Américains,” by M. Victor-<br /> Thomas, is interesting, and all the more so as it<br /> is not a lengthy volume. The author gives us<br /> his notes and impressions as briefly as possible.<br /> <br /> “La Comédie Francaise et la Revolution,” by<br /> A. Pougin, gives an interesting account of the<br /> history of the theatre during the Revolution. The<br /> author tells the whole story of the arrest of the<br /> actors, the tragic death of Mlle. Desgarcins and<br /> of Grammont, who died on the scaffold in<br /> 1794. ;<br /> <br /> “La Cité Future—Essai d’une Utopie Scien-<br /> tifique,” by Ernest Tarbouriech, is an attempt to<br /> trace the programme of the constitution of<br /> Collectivism.<br /> <br /> In a volume by Henri Brémond, “Ames<br /> Religieuses,’” we have, among other subjects, a<br /> sketch of John Keble, and another of Edouard<br /> Thring.<br /> <br /> An English book, entitled ‘Luke Delmege,” by<br /> P. A. Sheehan, has probably had a longer review<br /> in France than in England. Ten or eleven pages<br /> of the “ Revue des Deux Mondes”’ were taken up<br /> with the résumé of this Irish story.<br /> <br /> The play by M. Henry Bauer, ‘‘ Sa Maitresse,”’ at<br /> the Vaudeville, was awaited with great curiosity<br /> from the fact that the author has hitherto been a<br /> rather severe dramatic critic.<br /> <br /> In the first scenes there were such lengthy<br /> harangues, and so little action, that there seemed<br /> very little chance of success for the piece, but<br /> fortunately all this was redeemed before the end,<br /> and the play is certainly a very strong one.<br /> <br /> M. Deval has opened his season at the Athénée<br /> with “ Madame Flirt” by MM. Gavault and Berr.<br /> This play was the great success of last season, and<br /> had a run of about 260 performances. It was<br /> bought for America a few months ago.<br /> <br /> The chief réles in “ Paillasses,” by Léoncavallo,<br /> have been entrusted to MM. Jean de Reszké<br /> and Delmas, and Madame Aino Ackté.<br /> <br /> M. Bernstein has arranged with Mr. Frohman<br /> for the English rights of his play “ Détour.”<br /> <br /> Madame de Nuovina has had great success at<br /> Berlin with Massenet’s “Navarraise.” She was<br /> recalled time after time, and she appears to have<br /> had as great a triumph as Calvé, in the same role<br /> in Paris.<br /> <br /> Madame Réjane has returned from her long<br /> tour, and is now preparing her ré/e in the new<br /> play to be given at the Vaudeville.<br /> <br /> M. Bour, whose creations at the Theatre Antoine<br /> were so remarkable, has just scored a great success<br /> in the réle of Safi in “Triomphe,” M. Robert<br /> Bracco’s play.<br /> <br /> Auys HAuarp.<br /> <br /> EMILE ZOLA.<br /> poe<br /> HE tragic death of Zola has cast a gloom over<br /> the commencement of the winter season in<br /> Paris.<br /> <br /> Ever since the famous letter “J’ accuse,” many<br /> of Zola’s literary friends had held aloof from him,<br /> but at present political quarrels and differences of<br /> opinion are buried, and his literary work is being<br /> discussed and criticized from every point of view.<br /> <br /> Emile Zola was born in Paris in 1840. His<br /> father, who had been an officer in the army, was,<br /> at the time of his son’s birth, a civil engineer, and<br /> was engaged in making the canal at Aix.<br /> <br /> Emile finished his education at the Saint Louis<br /> College, and on leaving took a situation at the<br /> docks at asalary of about ten shillings a week.<br /> He soon left this, and his life for many years was<br /> a very hard one. He had an attic in the Latin<br /> Quarter, and was often without fire in the winter<br /> and almost without bread.<br /> <br /> He consoled himself by writing poetry and many<br /> of his “ Contes 4 Ninon.”<br /> <br /> In 1861, thanks to Dr. Boudet, he obtained a<br /> situation at Hachette’s publishing house, at a salary<br /> of about a pound a week, where at first he had the<br /> parcels to make, but as time went on he was sent<br /> into the office, and after writing his first comedy,<br /> “’Amoureuse,” M. Hachette engaged him as his<br /> secretary. In 1864 his “Contes a Ninon” were<br /> published, and in 1865 his ‘Confession de Claude.”<br /> <br /> He wrote at this time for several newspapers,<br /> and gave up his situation at M. Hachette’s for the<br /> post: offered him by M. Villemessant on the Avene-<br /> ment. His first article, which was a criticism of<br /> the Salon, made a great sensation. He had taken<br /> up the cudgels for the painter Manet, and he did<br /> not spare the jury.<br /> <br /> After his famous “ Thérése Raquin” in 1867,<br /> and “‘ Madeleine Férat ” in 1868, Zola’s work was<br /> seriously discussed. His theory was naturalism,<br /> and his views on literary matters were considered<br /> “revolutionary.” His most important work is the<br /> “ Rougon-Macquart ” series of nineteen volumes,<br /> containing the “histoire naturelle et sociale d’une<br /> famille sous le second Empire.” The author<br /> endeavours to show how a family would act in<br /> the midst of a given society. Individuals ap-<br /> pear at first absolutely dissimilar, but after<br /> analysis it is seen how closely they are in reality<br /> connected with each other, and by reading the<br /> stories of these different lives we have an idea of<br /> the atmosphere of the second Empire.<br /> <br /> This famous series was finished in 1893, and<br /> since then Zola has given us a study of other<br /> families in the volumes “ Lourdes,” “ Rome,” and<br /> “Paris,” and in the series, ‘‘ Quatre Evangiles :<br /> Fécondité, Travail,” and “ Vérité.” The last volume<br />  <br /> <br /> 36<br /> <br /> which he had planned for this work, “ Justice,”<br /> was not even commenced at the time of his death.<br /> <br /> M. Huysmans tells us the origin of the volume,<br /> “ Soirées de Medan.”<br /> <br /> Before Zola wrote “ VAssommoir” he lived in a<br /> small house in the Rue Saint George. He had<br /> just published “ La Curée,” and M. Céard, who<br /> admired this work immensely, went to call on the<br /> author. Zola received him very cordially, and M.<br /> Huysmans accompanied M. Céard on his next<br /> visit. M. Hennique also went—and Zola already<br /> knew Guy de Maupassant and M. Alexis.<br /> <br /> This little group of literary men agreed to meet<br /> and to spend the evening, once a week, at Zola’s<br /> house. ‘They decided to publish a volume of<br /> stories together, and as by that time Zola had<br /> bought his country house at Médan, and the six<br /> friends used to go there on Sundays, the volume<br /> was entitled “Soirées de Médan,” and was pub-<br /> lished in 1880. Only three of the authors survive,<br /> Huysmans, Hennique, and Céard.<br /> <br /> Zola gave “lAttaque du Moulin,” a story he<br /> had written in three days for the Revue de<br /> Petersbourg ; Maupassant’s story was “‘ Boule-de-<br /> Suif” ; Huysmans gave “Sac au dos” ; Hennique,<br /> “PAssaut du Grand Six” ; Céard, “ La Saignée”’ ;<br /> and Paul Alexis, “ Aprés la Bataille.” They were<br /> all episodes of the war of ’70, and 10,000 copies<br /> of the volume were published.<br /> <br /> They were all men of such totally different<br /> temperaments that Zola often used to say “ It will be<br /> curious to see later on the way we each take in life.”<br /> <br /> In the Journal des Débats, M. Henry Bidou<br /> sums up in a few words the chief characteristics of<br /> Zola’s work. “Zola had that first, great quality—<br /> strength. He organized an immense work, and<br /> there is scarcely anything finer than the end of<br /> ‘Germinal.’ There is, however, @ misunderstand-<br /> ing in his genius. He was the chief of realists,<br /> and the poorest of romantiques. He wished to be<br /> a savant, and was an imaginatif, and not a thorough<br /> critic by any means. His terrible mistake was<br /> that, trusting to a science which he had acquired<br /> too hastily, he misunderstood humanity, and we<br /> are unfortunately compelled to believe that his<br /> convictions were the outcome of his disposition of<br /> mind. He sees nothing which is higher than a<br /> certain level, and would thus give the lie to Ovid’s<br /> lines on man.”<br /> <br /> M. Anatole France, who spoke at Zola’s grave<br /> in the name of his friends, had a difficult task to<br /> perform. Since the Dreyfus affair M. Anatole<br /> France has been a great admirer of Zola’s courage<br /> at that time, and his speech was most eulogistic.<br /> <br /> Years ago when criticising Zola’s works, M<br /> Anatole France said: “ His work is bad, and he<br /> <br /> is one of those unhappy beings about whom we<br /> can only say it would have been better if he had<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> never been born. Certainly I do not deny his<br /> detestable fame. . . . Never has any man so com-<br /> pletely failed to comprehend the ideal of mankind,<br /> ‘La Terre,’ for instance, is nob so much the work<br /> of an exact realist as of a perverted idealist. To<br /> see in peasants nothing but sensual beasts, is<br /> childish, false, and sickly. Peasants are not like this,<br /> in the first place, because they have not the time.<br /> Zola gives us peasants who get up at dawn, work<br /> like horses, and in spite of this, are given up to<br /> perpetual fornication. &#039;This is not so, and if the<br /> author invents he should invent something better.”<br /> <br /> The opinion of M. Barré is that Zola’s work is<br /> “a powerful monument which will remain,” but at<br /> _ same time he confesses that it does not interest<br /> <br /> im.<br /> <br /> M. Rosny considers that Zola’s role in the school<br /> of naturalism was only of the second order. He<br /> was not a creator, but just the man who made use<br /> of the elements of art with which Balzac, Flaubert,<br /> and Goncourt had furnished him.<br /> <br /> Léon Daudet, who from his earliest childhood<br /> had been accustomed to seeing Zola, and hearing<br /> him discuss literary questions with Edmond de<br /> Goncourt and Alphonse Daudet, tells us that the<br /> Zola of that time had scarcely changed at all. He<br /> had the same nervous, affable voice, the same<br /> peculiar intonation, and the same wide forehead<br /> wrinkled with thought and anxiety.<br /> <br /> “ He was in those days,” says Léon Daudet, **a<br /> pessimist as regards the present, all his optimism<br /> was in a vague future, in a social Utopia, and this<br /> stood to him in the place of all dreams, and of the<br /> hope in a life beyond. He often declared that work<br /> was a sacred thing in itself, and that it was the only<br /> means of forgetting life. He was a slave to each<br /> one of his books, setting himself each day his task<br /> of pages to write, and refusing to be influenced by<br /> fatigue, monotony, or disinclination. ‘This terrible<br /> persistency permitted. him to fill the number of<br /> pages he had determined to write, but effectually<br /> banished from his work all joy and serenity.<br /> Even when he speaks of the near dawn, and of<br /> to-morrow’s sunshine, he is painting black hori<br /> zons, and depicting such utter anguish of soul as<br /> admits of no hope whatever. The great faults of<br /> Zola are his want of selection, and his exaggeration<br /> and abuse of the grosser things he describes.”<br /> <br /> * Anys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> A CAPE LETTER.<br /> eee<br /> OREMOST among recent local publications<br /> K stand two historical works, both from the<br /> ens of well-known authorities—“ The<br /> Beginning of South African History,” by Dr. Geo.<br /> M‘Call Theal, Colonial Historiographer (simul-<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 37<br /> <br /> s<br /> <br /> taneously published by Mr. Unwin in ‘London, and<br /> by Mr. T. M. Miller in Cape Town), and a new<br /> volume of “ Précis of the Archives of the Cape of<br /> Good Hope,” translated by the Rev. H. C. V.<br /> Leibbrandt, Keeper of the Archives. The preface<br /> to the first-named work describes its somewhat<br /> complicated evolution from an earlier but much<br /> smaller book, entitled “The Portuguese in South<br /> Africa,” which was designed to fill the deficiency in<br /> the author’s original “ History of South Africa”<br /> with regard to the “ beginning” of South African<br /> history, South Africa having since the issue of<br /> that work expanded so as to take in (Northern)<br /> territory whose history began at an earlier date.<br /> Dr. Theal states that, following on the publication<br /> of “ The Portuguese in South Africa,” he was com-<br /> missioned by the Cape Government to make deeper<br /> research on the subject, with the result that he has<br /> spent the greater part of the last five years in<br /> Europe, translating Portuguese MSS., etc. Most of<br /> these translations have already been published under<br /> the title of “ Recordsof South-east Africa,” the ninth<br /> volume being in preparation ; and the present book<br /> is an epitome of their contents. It forms a new<br /> Vol. I. to Dr. Theal’s great serial History, whose<br /> other volumes are gradually being issued in second<br /> editions. There is an introductory chapter on the<br /> earliest inhabitants of the country, and the book<br /> closes with a couple of added chapters relating to<br /> events in Portuguese South-east Africa in the<br /> nineteenth century. It contains several interesting<br /> old maps and drawings.<br /> <br /> Mr. Leibbrandt’s new volume of ‘Précis,” a<br /> smaller book, covers the years 1671—4 and 1676,<br /> and consists of a free translation of the official<br /> journals kept under the early Dutch governors of<br /> the Cape, with the omission of certain uninterest-<br /> ing details. There is no preface, nor are there<br /> any other addenda. The simple line “1675<br /> missing” tells the story of the neglect which has<br /> allowed several of these valuable old documents to<br /> get lost. Like the rest of the series, the volume<br /> just issued is of great historical interest, being full<br /> of information as to the customs and daily happen-<br /> ings of the period. It is often amusing,<br /> consciously or unconsciously ; as when one of a<br /> marauding party of lions is said to have come “ too<br /> near the gun, and was so hit in the brain-pan that<br /> he died immediately on the spot,” or in the naive<br /> entry, ‘Nothing particular happened!” The<br /> matter of a Sunday sermon, the horrible details of<br /> a brutal punishment, or a description in unre-<br /> strained language of some delinquent’s character,<br /> all come within the scope of the record.<br /> <br /> Under instructions from the Government, Mr.<br /> Leibbrandt has edited all the papers connected<br /> with “The Rebellion of 1815, generally known<br /> as Slachters Nek.” These form a considerable<br /> <br /> volume, which is in course of publication (Cape<br /> Town, J. C. Juta &amp; Co.; London, P. S. King<br /> &amp; Co.), a Dutch edition of which will follow<br /> immediately. Mr. Leibbrandt has been fortunate<br /> in discovering a most complete record of the historic<br /> trial. To this he has added many other important<br /> documents bearing on the subject. The book (of<br /> which the present writer has been privileged to see<br /> an advance copy) is provided with a large map of<br /> the eastern portion of Cape Colony, showing all<br /> places mentioned.<br /> <br /> In addition to the work already described, Dr.<br /> Theal has contributed to the “ Nineteenth Century<br /> Series,” published in Toronto, a volume on “ The<br /> Progress of South Africa in the Century.”<br /> <br /> Messrs. J. C. Juta &amp; Co. have republished a<br /> number of educational works, the stocks of<br /> which were destroyed by fire last year. Among<br /> minor publications of the last few months are<br /> a large quarter-volume of “Transactions of the<br /> South African Philosophical Society” (completing<br /> Vol. XI.) ; a Pocket Gazetteer of Cape Colony, and<br /> a large number of sectional maps of the Cape and<br /> other South African Colonies, issued for the Field<br /> Intelligence Department ; “ The City of Grahams-<br /> town” (illustrated), by A. Macmillan (J. Slater,<br /> Grahamstown) ; a second edition of an elementary<br /> phrase-book, etc., of the Secwana language, by A.J.<br /> Wookey (Townshend &amp; Son, Vryburg) ; three or<br /> four volumes of Law Reports ; numerous leaflets<br /> on farming subjects, reprinted from the Agricul-<br /> tural Journal; and several Coronation poems in<br /> pamphlet form.<br /> <br /> Mr. T. M. Miller has taken over from Messts.<br /> Juta the publication of the Rev. A. Vine Hall’s<br /> charming illustrated poem on “Table Mountain,”<br /> of which he is shortly bringing out a new and<br /> improved edition. The whole stock of this booklet<br /> was also destroyed in the fire mentioned above.<br /> Two literary items are contained in the Estimates<br /> laid before Parliament this Session—viz., payments<br /> of £250 to Mr. T. R. Sim for a work on “ Forest<br /> Flora,” and of £200 to Mr. A. R. EH. Burton,<br /> F.R.G.8., for a handbook of the Colony. The<br /> latter volume, which replaces the late Mr. John<br /> Noble’s Handbook of 1898, will be published in<br /> the near future, but the date of appearance of<br /> Mr. Sim’s book is at present indefinite. Mr.<br /> Burton, who has for some time past been editor of<br /> the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Journal, has<br /> accepted a similar appointment under the Transvaal<br /> Government. His place on the local journal is<br /> taken by Mr. F. D. McDermott.<br /> <br /> The “ History of the War ” threatened by General<br /> Botha and his two comrades-in-arms should prove<br /> interesting if it contains many statements as start-<br /> ling as that of the Commander-in-Chief of the<br /> late Transvaal forces, to the effect that the British<br />  <br /> <br /> 36<br /> <br /> for this work, “ Justice,”<br /> d at the time of his death.<br /> igin of the volume,<br /> <br /> which he had planned<br /> was not even commence<br /> M. Huysmans tells us the or<br /> « Soirées de Médan.”<br /> Before Zola wrote “ Y’Assommoir” he lived in a<br /> small house in the Rue Saint George. He had<br /> just published “ La Curée,” and M. Céard, who<br /> admired this work immensely, went to call on the<br /> Zola received him very cordially, and M.<br /> <br /> author. :<br /> Huysmans accompanied M. Céard on his next<br /> visit. M. Hennique also went—and Zola already<br /> <br /> knew Guy de Maupassant and M. Alexis.<br /> <br /> This little group of literary men agreed to meet<br /> and to spend the evening, once a week, at Zola’s<br /> house. ‘They decided to publish a volume of<br /> stories together, and as by that time Zola had<br /> bought his country house at Médan, and the six<br /> friends used to go there on Sundays, the volume<br /> was entitled “Soirées de Médan,” and was pub-<br /> lished in 1880. Only three of the authors survive,<br /> Huysmans, Hennique, and Céard.<br /> <br /> Zola gave “‘l Attaque du Moulin,” a story he<br /> had written in three days for the Revue de<br /> Potersbourg ; Maupassant’s story was ‘“ Boule-de-<br /> Suif” ; Huysmans gave “ Sac au dos” ; Hennique,<br /> “PAssaut du Grand Six” ; Céard, “ La Saignée” ;<br /> and Paul Alexis, “ Aprés la Bataille.” They were<br /> all episodes of the war of 70, and 10,000 copies<br /> of the volume were published.<br /> <br /> They were all men of such totally different<br /> temperaments that Zola often used to say “ It will be<br /> curious to see later on the way we each take in life.”<br /> <br /> In the Journal des Debats, M. Henry Bidou<br /> sums up in a few words the chief characteristics of<br /> Zola’s work. “Zola had that first, great quality—<br /> strength. He organized an immense work, and<br /> there is scarcely anything finer than the end of<br /> ‘Germinal.’ There is, however, @ misunderstand-<br /> ing in his genius. He was the chief of realists,<br /> and the poorest of romantiques. He wished to be<br /> a savant, and was an imaginatif, and. not a thorough<br /> critic by any means. His terrible mistake was<br /> that, trusting to a science which he had acquired<br /> too hastily, he misunderstood humanity, and we<br /> <br /> are unfortunately compelled to believe that his<br /> <br /> convictions were the outcome of his disposition of<br /> <br /> mind. He sees nothing which is higher than a<br /> <br /> certain level, and would thus give the lie to Ovid’s<br /> <br /> lines on man.”<br /> <br /> M. Anatole France, who spoke at Zola’s grave<br /> in the name of his friends, had a difficult task to<br /> perform. Since the Dreyfus affair M. Anatole<br /> <br /> France has been a great admirer of Zola’s courage<br /> <br /> at that time, and his speech was most eulogistic.<br /> <br /> Years ago when criticising Zola’s works, M<br /> <br /> Anatole France said: “ His work is bad, and he<br /> <br /> is one of those unhappy beings about whom we<br /> <br /> can only say it would have been better if he had<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> never been born. Certainly I do not deny his<br /> detestable fame. . . . Never has any man so com-<br /> pletely failed to comprehend the ideal of mankind.<br /> ‘La Terre,’ for instance, is nob so much the work<br /> of an exact realist as of a perverted idealist. To<br /> see in peasants nothing but sensual beasts, is<br /> childish, false, and sickly. Peasants are not like this,<br /> in the first place, because they have not the time.<br /> Zola gives us peasants who get up at dawn, work<br /> like horses, and in spite of this, are given up to<br /> perpetual fornication. &#039;This is not so, and if the<br /> author invents he should invent something better.”<br /> <br /> The opinion of M. Barré is that Zola’s work is<br /> “a powerful monument which will remain,” but at<br /> Le same time he confesses that it does not interest<br /> <br /> im.<br /> <br /> M. Rosny considers that Zola’s role in the school<br /> of naturalism was only of the second order. He<br /> was not a creator, but just the man who made use<br /> of the elements of art with which Balzac, Flaubert,<br /> and Goncourt had furnished him.<br /> <br /> Léon Daudet, who from his earliest childhood<br /> had been accustomed to seeing Zola, and hearing<br /> him discuss literary questions with Edmond de<br /> Goncourt and Alphonse Daudet, tells us that the<br /> Zola of that time had scarcely changed at all. He<br /> had the same nervous, affable voice, the same<br /> peculiar intonation, and the same wide forehead<br /> wrinkled with thought and anxiety.<br /> <br /> « He was in those days,” says Léon Daudet, “a<br /> pessimist as regards the present, all his optimism<br /> was in a vague future, in a social Utopia, and this<br /> stood to him in the place of all dreams, and of the<br /> hope in a life beyond. He often declared that work<br /> was a sacred thing in itself, and that it was the only<br /> means of forgetting life. He was a slave to each<br /> <br /> one of his books, setting himself each day his task<br /> of pages to write, and. refusing to be influenced by<br /> fatigue, monotony, or disinclination. This terrible<br /> persistency permitted him to fill the number of<br /> pages he had determined to write, but effectually<br /> banished from his work all joy and serenity.<br /> Even when he speaks of the near dawn, and of<br /> to-morrow’s sunshine, he is painting black hori<br /> zons, and depicting such utter anguish of soul as<br /> admits of no hope whatever. The great faults of<br /> Zola ave his want of selection, and his exaggeration<br /> and abuse of the grosser things he describes.”<br /> <br /> * ~~ Atys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> a<br /> A CAPE LETTER.<br /> a<br /> OREMOST among recent local publications<br /> <br /> | { stand two historical works, both from the<br /> ens of well-known authorities—“ The<br /> <br /> Beginning of South African History,” by Dr. Geo.<br /> M‘Call Theal, Colonial Historiographer (simul-<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ao<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 37<br /> <br /> taneously published by Mr. Unwin in ‘London, and<br /> by Mr. T. M. Miller in Cape Town), and a new<br /> volume of “ Précis of the Archives of the Cape of<br /> Good Hope,” translated by the Rev. H. C. V.<br /> Leibbrandt, Keeper of the Archives. The preface<br /> to the first-named work describes its somewhat<br /> complicated evolution from an earlier but much<br /> smaller book, entitled ‘The Portuguese in South<br /> Africa,” which was designed to fill the deficiency in<br /> the author’s original ‘ History of South Africa ”<br /> with regard to the “ beginning” of South African<br /> history, South Africa having since the issue of<br /> that work expanded so as to take in (Northern)<br /> territory whose history began at an earlier date.<br /> Dr. Theal states that, following on the publication<br /> of “ The Portuguese in South Africa,” he was com-<br /> missioned by the Cape Government to make deeper<br /> research on the subject, with the result that he has<br /> spent the greater part of the last five years in<br /> Europe, translating Portuguese MSS., etc. Most of<br /> these translations have already been published under<br /> the title of “ Recordsof South-east Africa,” the ninth<br /> volume being in preparation ; and the present book<br /> is an epitome of their contents. It forms a new<br /> Vol. I. to Dr. Theal’s great serial History, whose<br /> other volumes are gradually being issued in second<br /> editions. There is an introductory chapter on the<br /> earliest inhabitants of the country, and the book<br /> closes with a couple of added chapters relating to<br /> events in Portuguese South-east Africa in the<br /> nineteenth century. It contains several interesting<br /> old maps and drawings.<br /> <br /> Mr. Leibbrandt’s new volume of “ Précis,” a<br /> smaller book, covers the years 1671—4 and 1676,<br /> and consists of a free translation of the official<br /> journals kept under the early Dutch governors of<br /> the Cape, with the omission of certain uninterest-<br /> ing details. There is no preface, nor are there<br /> any other addenda. The simple line “1675<br /> missing” tells the story of the neglect which has<br /> allowed several of these valuable old documents to<br /> get lost. Like the rest of the series, the volume<br /> just issued is of great historical interest, being full<br /> of information as to the customs and daily happen-<br /> ings of the period. It is often amusing,<br /> consciously or unconsciously ; as when one of a<br /> marauding party of lions is said to have come “ too<br /> near the gun, and was so hit in the brain-pan that<br /> he died immediately on the spot,” or in the naive<br /> entry, “Nothing particular happened!” The<br /> matter of a Sunday sermon, the horrible details of<br /> a brutal punishment, or a description in unre-<br /> strained language of some delinquent’s character,<br /> all come within the scope of the record.<br /> <br /> Under instructions from the Government, Mr.<br /> Leibbrandt has edited all the papers connected<br /> with “The Rebellion of 1815, generally known<br /> as Slachters Nek.” These form a considerable<br /> <br /> volume, which is in course of publication (Cape<br /> Town, J. C. Juta &amp; Co.; London, P. 8. King<br /> &amp; Co.), a Dutch edition of which will follow<br /> immediately. Mr. Leibbrandt has been fortunate<br /> in discovering a most complete record of the historic<br /> trial. To this he has added many other important<br /> documents bearing on the subject. The book (of<br /> which the present writer has been privileged to see<br /> an advance copy) is provided with a large map of<br /> the eastern portion of Cape Colony, showing all<br /> places mentioned.<br /> <br /> In addition to the work already described, Dr.<br /> Theal has contributed to the “ Nineteenth Century<br /> Series,” published in Toronto, a volume on “The<br /> Progress of South Africa in the Century.”<br /> <br /> Messrs. J. ©. Juta &amp; Co. have republished a<br /> number of educational works, the stocks of<br /> which were destroyed by fire last year. Among<br /> minor publications of the last few months are<br /> a large quarter-volume of “Transactions of the<br /> South African Philosophical Society” (completing<br /> Vol. XI.) ; a Pocket Gazetteer of Cape Colony, and<br /> a large number of sectional maps of the Cape and<br /> other South African Colonies, issued for the Field<br /> Intelligence Department ; “ The City of Grahams-<br /> town” (illustrated), by A. Macmillan (J. Slater,<br /> Grahamstown) ; a second edition of an elementary<br /> phrase-book, etc., of the Secwana language, by A. J.<br /> Wookey (Townshend &amp; Son, Vryburg) ; three or<br /> four volumes of Law Reports ; numerous leaflets<br /> on farming subjects, reprinted from the Agrwui-<br /> tural Journal; and several Coronation poems in<br /> pamphlet form.<br /> <br /> Mr. T. M. Miller has taken over from Messrs.<br /> Juta the publication of the Rev. A. Vine Hall’s<br /> charming illustrated poem on “ Table Mountain,”<br /> of which he is shortly bringing out a new and<br /> improved edition. ‘The whole stock of this booklet<br /> was also destroyed in the fire mentioned above.<br /> Two literary items are contained in the Estimates<br /> laid before Parliament this Session—viz., payments<br /> of £250 to Mr. T. R. Sim for a work on “ Forest<br /> Flora,’ and of £200 to Mr. A. R. E. Burton,<br /> F.R.G.S., for a handbook of the Colony. The<br /> latter volume, which replaces the late Mr. John<br /> Noble’s Handbook of 18938, will be published in<br /> the near future, but the date of appearance of<br /> Mr. Sim’s book is at present indefinite. Mr.<br /> Burton, who has for some time past been editor of<br /> the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Journal, has<br /> accepted a similar appointment under the Transvaal<br /> Government. His place on the local journal is<br /> taken by Mr. F. D. McDermott.<br /> <br /> The “ History of the War ” threatened by General<br /> Botha and his two comrades-in-arms should prove<br /> interesting if it contains many statements as start-<br /> ling as that of the Commander-in-Chief of the<br /> late Transvaal forces, to the effect that the British<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 38<br /> <br /> blockhouses never gave him any trouble to pass !<br /> Ex-President Kruger’s promised “ defence-work ”<br /> is also looked forward to.<br /> <br /> Among other effects of the war, is the death of<br /> the “South African Illustrated Magazine,” a bright<br /> and old-established little monthly which we can<br /> ill afford to lose. On the other hand, “The<br /> Veld,” a high-class monthly illustrated paper,<br /> whose special object is the reproduction of Cape<br /> scenery, has resumed publication. Two other<br /> new magazines are ‘“ The Examiner,” fortnightly<br /> (Beaufort West Printing and Publishing Co.) ;<br /> and “ Mademoiselle,” a monthly journal for ladies ;<br /> whilst ‘The Boys of Africa,” weekly, is due to<br /> make its first appearance this month. All the<br /> newspapers which thought it prudent to suspend<br /> <br /> ublication during the more rigorous application<br /> of martial law are again being issued.<br /> <br /> Very long extracts from Mr. William Morris’s<br /> Coronation Ode appeared in the Cape Times, with<br /> the usual note to the effect that copyright restrained<br /> the paper from printing the whole. This style of<br /> cheap morality is over-common in the quarter<br /> named.<br /> <br /> Mr. Wilson Barrett’s visit has marked an epoch<br /> in our theatrical world. The Cape Town season<br /> —which was postponed for a week on account of<br /> Mr. Barrett’s very serious illness—included the<br /> author-actor’s own “Sign of the Cross ” and<br /> “Manxman” (after Hall Caine), the other plays<br /> rendered being “The Silver King,” “ Virginius,”<br /> “ Othello,” and “ Hamlet.” The last-named pro-<br /> duction occupied the boards on the last night of<br /> the season only, when each member of the audience<br /> was presented with a copy of Mr. Barrett’s essay<br /> on “Hamlet” (reprinted from “ Lippincott’s<br /> Magazine” of April, 1890). After the perform-<br /> ance the distinguished actor and author delivered<br /> a personalspeech. Owing to the bad blood existing<br /> between rival theatrical managers here, the Cape<br /> Town performances had to be given in a very<br /> inferior building ; a circumstance which is much<br /> deplored. Mr. Barrett&#039;s cable to the Zimes sug-<br /> gesting the renaming of South Africa raised a<br /> regrettable controversy in the local Press, the<br /> originator taking a vigorous part, but apparently<br /> failing to convert many South Africans to his way<br /> of thinking.<br /> <br /> A private letter from Rolf Boldrewood, the<br /> Australian author, dated Raby, Toorak, April 23rd,<br /> 1902, and containing the political creed of a<br /> “representative Australian,” appeared in the Cape<br /> Times a short while ago.<br /> <br /> Sypngy YorK Forp.<br /> <br /> Cape Town,<br /> <br /> September 10th, 1902.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> HE celebrated Festus of the late Mr. P. J.<br /> Bailey was published in 1839, just three years<br /> <br /> before the passing of the Copyright Act, 1842.<br /> <br /> Had it been published after the passing of that Act<br /> the copyright would automatically have lasted for<br /> seven years after the death of the author—that is,<br /> until 1909. That Act, however, made a special<br /> provision in favour of the owners of copyright<br /> acquired before its passing, and still subsisting ab<br /> the time of its passing. The 4th section enacted<br /> that in such cases the copyright should be extended<br /> and endure for the full term provided by the then<br /> new Act (ie. for seven years after the author’s<br /> death or forty-two years, whichever should be the<br /> longer period), “provided that in all cases in<br /> which such copyright shall belong to a publisher<br /> or other person who shall have acquired it for<br /> other consideration than that of love and affection,<br /> such copyright shall not be extended by this Act,<br /> but shall endure for the term which shall subsist<br /> therein at the time of the passing of this Act, and<br /> no longer, unless the author of such book if he<br /> shall be living, or the personal representatives if he<br /> be dead, and the proprietor of such copyright shall,<br /> before the expiration of such term, consent and<br /> agree to accept the benefits of this Act in respect<br /> of such book.” The further provision was added<br /> that a minute of such consent, in a form scheduled<br /> to the Act, had to be registered at Stationers’ Hall.<br /> In cases where an author had sold his copyright<br /> and not entered into this agreement with the<br /> purchaser, the copyright endured only for the term<br /> fixed in 1814 by 54 Geo. 3. c. 56—i.e., for twenty-<br /> eight years certain after the date of publication and<br /> the residue of the life of the author ; so that all<br /> copyrights acquired before 1842 have probably<br /> expired, unless such agreement was made and<br /> registered.—Law Times.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —— +<br /> <br /> Old Books for New.<br /> <br /> Durina the summer holidays several letters<br /> have appeared in the papers giving details<br /> respecting the republication by Mr. John Long<br /> of a book of Mr. Bernard Capes. ‘The cause<br /> of complaint from the author and sundry editors<br /> is the fact that although the story had appeared.<br /> several years ago in book form, no notification was<br /> given to the public. The papers have dealt with<br /> the matter from the point of view of the public,<br /> and have demonstrated with considerable vigour<br /> that such publication is likely to cause serious<br /> annoyance to the general reader.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> ; .<br /> <br /> From time to time cases of a similar character<br /> have been brought to the offices of the Society.<br /> Mr. Capes himself consulted the Society with a<br /> yiew to taking action if possible. The opinion<br /> of the legal advisers of the Society on this and<br /> former occasions has unfortunately been against<br /> the authors. Otherwise the committee would<br /> gladly no doubt have taken a case in hand, and<br /> supported the author in an action in the High<br /> Court. Sach a method of publication is not only<br /> unfair to the author, but it is also unfair to the<br /> public. The publisher is the only person who can<br /> hope in these circumstances to reap any benefit<br /> from placing the book on the market. It is possible,<br /> however, that he may lose in prestige what he gains<br /> in hard cash.<br /> <br /> The facts of the cases that have been investi-<br /> gated are generally as follows :—<br /> <br /> The author in the early days of his career<br /> produces a book, and—as a young writer—sells<br /> the copyright for a sum down, without knowing<br /> exactly the danger of the transaction, or the<br /> meaning of the contract that he signs. The book<br /> not infrequently has no extended sale, and after a<br /> short time ceases to interest the author, the pub-<br /> lisher, or the public. A subsequent production<br /> brings fame. Then the publisher suddenly re-<br /> members that he owns the copyright of an early<br /> work. He proceeds to market it again, and<br /> generally does so at a time most inconvenient to<br /> the author—when, for example, he is producing<br /> his latest work with one of the larger publishing<br /> houses. On one or two occasions the publisher<br /> has run very close to the wind, but has never<br /> actually rendered himself legally liable.<br /> <br /> The only method of dealing with these cases is<br /> the method employed by Mr. Bernard Capes—a<br /> method the Society has always advocated where<br /> the publisher persists in producing the work in<br /> spite of the author’s remonstrances. A plain<br /> statement of fact published in the newspapers<br /> will clear himself and help to protect the<br /> public.<br /> <br /> The nearest approach to committal was a case in<br /> which the publisher headed his advertisement<br /> “Mr. ’s new novels,” the blank containing<br /> the publisher’s name. The work in question cer-<br /> tainly was a new novel as far as the publishing<br /> house was concerned, but not a fresh novel from<br /> the author’s pen. Even in this case the legal<br /> advisers of the Society came to the conclusion that<br /> it would be impossible to obtain a judgment in the<br /> author’s fayour.<br /> <br /> The real moral of the case is that the author<br /> should know what he is selling when he makes his<br /> original contract, or should ask advice of some<br /> person who is well aware of the intricacies and<br /> technicalities involved in a literary agreement.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Methods of Distribution.<br /> I.<br /> <br /> THE most important point to an author after<br /> the creation of his work is surely how to get his<br /> book into the hands of the public. In last<br /> month’s Author an article appeared on ‘‘ Methods<br /> of Distribution,” with some suggestions.<br /> <br /> A publisher writing on the subject puts forward<br /> some of the reasons why he thinks people do not<br /> buy books. He says that the two commonest<br /> excuses are that books take up too much room,<br /> and are so expensive. People prefer to. borrow<br /> from the library, and the libraries in their turn<br /> take care to manage with as few books as possible.<br /> Instead of trying to push their wares like the<br /> bookseller they make no effort to oblige, but<br /> merely state that the book is out. and suggest<br /> another as an alternative.<br /> <br /> The publisher also thinks that nett books are<br /> regarded by many folk as another put-up dodge<br /> on the part of the trade, but as a matter of fact it<br /> would be impossible for any man to make a living<br /> out of books sold subject to the usual 25 per cent.<br /> He ends up by stating that the death of the three-<br /> volume novel was the worst day’s work ever done<br /> from the point of view of the young and good<br /> novelist.<br /> <br /> These opinions, coming from the source they do,<br /> are of importance, and carry a great deal of weight.<br /> They should be carefully considered. It is to be<br /> hoped that the bookselling trade is not really at<br /> such a low ebb. At any rate, it is stated in a daily<br /> paper that the American Booklover’s Library<br /> has taken London premises. The American<br /> Booklover’s Library is run somewhat on the same<br /> lines as Messrs. Mudies’. For a fixed subscription<br /> it delivers parcels of books at the subscriber&#039;s<br /> house, and collects them when done with.<br /> <br /> This American business may perhaps stir up the<br /> sleepy traders in books and at the same time do<br /> something to break down the enormous critical<br /> powers of Messrs. Mudie and Messrs. Smith, which<br /> enable them to determine the literary pabulum to<br /> be presented to their readers. Although these two<br /> houses, by giving books an enormous distribution<br /> which could not be achieved by a series of small<br /> booksellers scattered all over the kingdom, are no<br /> doubt from some points of view highly beneficial to<br /> authors and publishers, yet competition is good in<br /> all business, but competition must not be allowed to<br /> become so acute as to necessitate the creation of a<br /> trust. It is to be hoped, however, that the advent<br /> of the American Booklover’s Library will not cause<br /> the trade to gravitate in this direction. A trust of<br /> the distributing agencies of Great Britain might be<br /> a worse evil than the present stagnation.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 40<br /> <br /> Il.<br /> <br /> Srr,—In the October number of The Author,<br /> the writer of the above-named article has hit the<br /> mark. We are not all geniuses—‘ talent does<br /> what it can”—and gets little help. The ordinary<br /> author of to-day, if I may so name the greater<br /> proportion of writers who write for profit and the<br /> benefit of the community, meets with a brick wall<br /> “between publication and purchase. Say his book<br /> is published on the royalty system, and well re-<br /> viewed. So far good; the publisher is hopeful,<br /> the author expectant. In many cases the hopes<br /> of both are speedily dashed. There is a limited<br /> demand, met by the big libraries, a spasmodic<br /> sale, and then—the brick wall. Every year a<br /> hundred books are in the same plight. Where<br /> reststhe blame ? Not with the publishers, not with<br /> the librarians, who cannot be expected to speculate,<br /> and in nine cases out of ten not with the book.<br /> The method of distribution is at fault. The book<br /> is blocked from the general public. There is no<br /> buyer because there is no seller. Now, the usual<br /> bookseller (?) cum-stationer, cum-newsagent, cum-<br /> printer, cum-purveyor of fancy goods, must not be<br /> asked to know something personally of the con-<br /> tents of the season’s hundred books written by the<br /> ordinary author. It is asking too much of a<br /> man whose interests are split up, who only rubs<br /> shoulders with literature en passant. In every<br /> town we want, what the writer of the article justly<br /> underlines—the book-seller ; a man who has time<br /> to think, who can distinguish, who will take works<br /> on commission from the publisher—fiction, bio-<br /> graphy, travel, religious, scholastic—classify his<br /> own printed list, and distribute such, monthly<br /> or quarterly, in his own vicinity, and to likely<br /> customers. Then the ordinary author will get his<br /> chance. The man who wants a book to read will<br /> not have to frequent the railway station. He has<br /> it, so to speak, under his nose ; and, under shelter<br /> and out of draughts, can turn over the pages of<br /> clean copies, digest unmutilated reviews, and<br /> make up his mind.<br /> <br /> I refer to the book of ordinary merit—a whole-<br /> some attempt to satisfy the cravings of the<br /> ordinary reader. The book of genius makes its<br /> way over every obstacle; this is ri ght, and inevit-<br /> able; but we cannot all eat peaches—we are<br /> content to munch many a pear, provided it is<br /> not woolly. So with readers and books.<br /> <br /> No, sir, the author is not content to see the<br /> children of his brain die premature deaths for<br /> want of a system; but he is deeply indebted to<br /> the writer of “The Methods of Distribution” for<br /> bringing this vexed question to the front. Let<br /> others speak.<br /> <br /> Your obedient servant,<br /> ‘Tus Orpinary AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Nett Books.<br /> <br /> Srvce the nett book system has been intro-<br /> duced, the attention of Authors has been drawn<br /> to some of the dangers which may possibly arise.<br /> Tt is as well to repeat these warnings, as the evils<br /> are constantly recurring, and the possible sufferers<br /> do not as yet appear to realise the changes taking<br /> place in the book trade.<br /> <br /> When Authors sign agreements they should be<br /> very careful to see that it is clearly stated whether<br /> their books are to be published subject to the usual<br /> discounts or at a nett price.<br /> <br /> If the published price is merely a nominal price,<br /> the Royalty as set out in the tables put forward im<br /> The Author, and in Sir Walter Besant’s work, “The<br /> Pen and the Book,” will as a rule hold good, but<br /> even then the “thirteen as twelve” must be taken<br /> into consideration. The reader is referred to the<br /> last number of The Author.<br /> <br /> But if the book is published as a nett book, them<br /> the Author must reconsider his position and must<br /> revise his royalty. It should be pointed out in<br /> addition, that the Royalty paid on nett books is<br /> usually paid on every copy sold, and not on “thirteen<br /> as twelve.”<br /> <br /> The price of a book published at 6s., subject to<br /> the usual discounts, is equivalent to 4s. 6d. nett.<br /> <br /> Ts it fair that the Author should sign an agree-<br /> ment on the tacit understanding that the book<br /> <br /> should be published under the ordinary methods |<br /> with the usual deductions, and then suddenly find |<br /> <br /> when the book is placed on the market that it is<br /> marked as a nett book? He receives thereby a<br /> smaller share of the profits, and the publisher<br /> receives a larger share.<br /> <br /> The case, however, is still worse when a publisher<br /> suddenly produces an edition of a book at a nett<br /> price which has already been selling for some years<br /> in accordance with the older system, #.¢., subject to<br /> the 25 per cent. discount to retail buyers. For<br /> example, he sells at 6s. nett instead of 6s, with:<br /> discount. The Author gets, say, 6d. a copy, and<br /> has been receiving that amount since the first<br /> publication of the book. But the publisher, who<br /> got, say, 10d. a copy on the discount book, will<br /> receive at least 1s. 10d. on the nett book.<br /> Secure in the terms of his agreement, he boldly<br /> repudiates any liability to the Author. The sales.<br /> of the book will no doubt be reduced by the rise<br /> in price, but they would have to be reduced more:<br /> than 50 per cent. to affect the publisher. The<br /> Author is the only one who suffers.<br /> <br /> Put aside the legal aspect. Is this fair trading?<br /> <br /> What would the Publishers’ Association think<br /> of this transaction ?<br /> <br /> The older and more responsible firms would<br /> surely indignantly repudiate these methods. Have<br /> they any power to make their opinions felt? It<br /> <br /> |<br /> }<br /> }<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Baa i ae<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> would be interesting to state a formal case for<br /> their consideration. It is faults like these that the<br /> Association would do well to correct.<br /> <br /> —_—_—_———_—_+—&gt;—_+__—_—<br /> <br /> PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYRIGHT.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> OW that the editors of illustrated papers<br /> and magazines raise so great a demand<br /> for the photographic reproduction of men<br /> <br /> and women, famous and infamous, illustrious and<br /> notorious, it may be useful to say a few words on<br /> the question of copyright in photographs, and the<br /> law bearing on the subject.<br /> <br /> Statutory copyright was given to paintings,<br /> drawings, and photographs by 25 &amp; 26 Vict. c. 68,<br /> the first section of which, the most important, runs<br /> as follows :—<br /> <br /> « The author, being a British subject or resident within<br /> the dominions of the Crown, of every original painting,<br /> ‘drawing, and photograph which shall be or shall have been<br /> made either in the British Dominions, or elsewhere, and<br /> which shall not have been sold or disposed of before the<br /> commencement of this Act, and his assigns, shall have the<br /> sole and exclusive right of copying, engraving, reproducing,<br /> and multiplying such painting or drawing, and the design<br /> thereof, or such photograph and the negative thereof, by<br /> any means and of any size, for the term of the natural life of<br /> such author, and seven years after his death ; provided that<br /> when any painting or drawing, or the negative of any<br /> photograph, shall for the first time after the passing of this<br /> ‘Act be sold or disposed of, or shall be made or executed for<br /> ‘or on behalf of any other person for a good ora valuable<br /> ‘consideration, the person so selling or disposing of or<br /> making or executing the same shall not retain the copyright<br /> thereof, unless it be expressly reserved to him by agreement<br /> in writing, signed at or before the time of such sale or<br /> disposition, by the vendee or assignee of such painting or<br /> -drawing, or of such negative of a photograph, or by the<br /> person for or on whose behalf the same shall be so made or<br /> executed, but the copyright shall belong to the vendee or<br /> assignee of such painting or drawing, or of such negative<br /> -of a photograph, or to the person for or on whose behalf<br /> the same shall have been made or executed ; nor shall the<br /> vendee or assignee thereof be entitled to any such copy-<br /> tight, unless, at or before the time of such sale or disposition,<br /> an agreement in writing, signed by the person so selling or<br /> -disposing of the same, or by his agent duly authorised,<br /> shall have been made to that effect.”<br /> <br /> The Act, unlike the Literary Copyright Act,<br /> does not indulge in definitions.<br /> <br /> From some points of view this is an advantage ;<br /> from others, a disadvantage.<br /> <br /> A book is carefully defined in the Literary Copy-<br /> right Act. The lack of definition in the Artistic<br /> Copyright Act leaves the difficult proposition to be<br /> solved by the intelligence of the judge, with not<br /> infrequently a more satisfactory result than if it<br /> was left to the intelligence of the draughtsman.<br /> <br /> Copyright in paintings, drawings, and photo-<br /> graphs, it will be seen from the section, starts from<br /> the making of the work, and lasts for the life of the<br /> <br /> 41<br /> <br /> author and seven years after his death. In the<br /> case of paintings and drawings the determination<br /> of the date gives rise to many difficulties, but<br /> with regard to photographs need not be further<br /> discussed.<br /> <br /> It is certainly a pity that the alternative of a<br /> fixed number of years has not been given, as is<br /> the case with books under the Literary Copyright<br /> Act, and that the term should run from the making<br /> instead of from the publication. The treatment<br /> of the subject, however, is in accordance with the<br /> treatment of all questions of copyright. Wherever<br /> it has been possible for the Legislature to confuse<br /> the copyright-holders it has succeeded in doing so,<br /> and diverse methods have been employed where<br /> the nature of the property demanded the closest<br /> analogy.<br /> <br /> The duration of copyright having been deter-<br /> mined, it will be evident that the two most<br /> important points are: (1) Who is the author of<br /> the work ? (2) Who is the employer? Upon the<br /> first depends the commencement of the copyright<br /> term, and upon the second in many cases depends<br /> the solution of who is the rightful owner of the<br /> property.<br /> <br /> With regard to No. 1— Who is the author ?”—<br /> one or two actions have been brought and the<br /> point has been raised ; but the judges, dealing in<br /> each special case with “ who was not the author,”<br /> by a negative process have shirked giving a positive<br /> definition. It may be as well, however, to quote<br /> the words of the Master of the Rolls in the case of<br /> Nottage v. Jackson, as it is the best dictum so far<br /> on the point :—<br /> <br /> “ The author of a painting is the man who paints it, the<br /> author of a drawing is the man who draws it, of a photo-<br /> graph the author is the person who effectively is as near as<br /> he can be the cause of the picture which is produced, that<br /> is, the person who has superintended the arrangement, who<br /> has actually formed the picture by putting the people into<br /> position, and arranging the place in which the people are<br /> to be—the man who is the effective cause of that. Although<br /> he may only have done it by standing in the room and<br /> giving orders about it, still it is his mind and act, as far as<br /> anybody’s mind and act are concerned, which is the effective<br /> cause of the picture such as it is when it is produced.”<br /> <br /> If this is correct the person who actually snaps<br /> the photograph or uncovers the camera need not in<br /> any sense be the author of the photograph. A<br /> point of this kind, however, does not interest: the<br /> subject so much as it would interest the photo-<br /> grapher. The latter, no doubt, takes good care to<br /> protect himself by agreement with his assistant or<br /> by some other method.<br /> <br /> Next comes the question, “ Who is the em-<br /> ployer ?”<br /> <br /> When a person goes to have his photograph taken<br /> and pays the ordinary fee asked by the photographer,<br /> the position is clear and indisputable. He is the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 40<br /> <br /> I.<br /> <br /> Smr,—In the October number of 7’he Author,<br /> the writer of the above-named article has hit the<br /> mark. We are not all geniuses—“ talent does<br /> what it can”—and gets little help. The ordinary<br /> author of to-day, if I may so name the greater<br /> proportion of writers who write for profit and the<br /> benefit of the community, meets with a brick wall<br /> “between publication and purchase. Say his book<br /> is published on the royalty system, and well re-<br /> viewed. So far good; the publisher is hopeful,<br /> the author expectant. In many cases the hopes<br /> of both are speedily dashed. There is a limited<br /> demand, met by the big libraries, a spasmodic<br /> sale, and then—the brick wall. Every year a<br /> hundred books are in the same plight. Where<br /> rests the blame ? Not with the publishers, not with<br /> the librarians, who cannot be expected to speculate,<br /> and in nine cases out of ten not with the book.<br /> The method of distribution is at fault. The book<br /> is blocked from the general public. There is no<br /> buyer because there is no seller. Now, the usual<br /> bookseller (?) cum-stationer, cum-newsagent, cum-<br /> printer, cum-purveyor of fancy goods, must not be<br /> asked to know something personally of the con-<br /> tents of the season’s hundred hooks written by the<br /> ordinary author. It is asking too much of a<br /> man whose interests are split up, who only rubs<br /> shoulders with literature en passant. In every<br /> town we want, what the writer of the article justly<br /> underlines—the book-seller ; a man who has time<br /> to think, who can distinguish, who will take works<br /> on commission from the publisher—fiction, bio-<br /> graphy, travel, religious, scholastic—classify his<br /> own printed list, and distribute such, monthly<br /> or quarterly, in his own vicinity, and to likely<br /> customers. Then the ordinary author will get his<br /> chance. The man who wants a book to read will<br /> not have to frequent the railway station. He has<br /> it, so to speak, under his nose ; and, under shelter<br /> and out of draughts, can turn over the pages of<br /> clean copies, digest unmutilated reviews, and<br /> make up his mind.<br /> <br /> I refer to the book of ordinary merit—a whole-<br /> some attempt to satisfy the cravings of the<br /> ordinary reader. The book of genius makes its<br /> way over every obstacle; this is right, and inevit-<br /> able; but we cannot all eat peaches—we are<br /> content to munch many a pear, provided it is<br /> not woolly. So with readers and books.<br /> <br /> No, sir, the author is not content to see the<br /> children of his brain die premature deaths for<br /> want of a system; but he is deeply indebted to<br /> the writer of ‘“‘ The Methods of Distribution” for<br /> bringing this vexed question to the front. Let<br /> others speak.<br /> <br /> Your obedient servant,<br /> THE ORDINARY AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Nett Books.<br /> <br /> Since the nett book system has been intro-<br /> duced, the attention of Authors has been drawn<br /> to some of the dangers which may possibly arise.<br /> It is as well to repeat these warnings, as the evils<br /> are constantly recurring, and the possible sufferers<br /> do not as yet appear to realise the changes taking<br /> place in the book trade.<br /> <br /> When Authors sign agreements they should be<br /> very careful to see that it is clearly stated whether<br /> their books are to be published subject to the usual<br /> discounts or at a nett price.<br /> <br /> If the published price is merely a nominal price,<br /> the Royalty as set out in the tables put forward in<br /> The Author, and in Sir Walter Besant’s work, “The<br /> Pen and the Book,” will as a rule hold good, but<br /> even then the “thirteen as twelve”? must be taken<br /> into consideration. The reader is referred to the<br /> last number of The Author.<br /> <br /> But if the book is published as a nett book, then<br /> the Author must reconsider his position and must<br /> revise his royalty. It should be pointed out in<br /> addition, that the Royalty paid on nett books is<br /> usually paid on every copy sold, and not on “thirteen<br /> as twelve.”<br /> <br /> The price of a book published at 6s., subject to<br /> the usual discounts, is equivalent to 4s. 6d. nett.<br /> <br /> Is it fair that the Author should sign an agree-<br /> ment on the tacit understanding that the book |<br /> should be published under the ordinary methods |<br /> with the usual deductions, and then suddenly find ;<br /> when the book is placed on the market that it is<br /> marked as a nett book? He receives thereby a<br /> smaller share of the profits, and the publisher<br /> receives a larger share.<br /> <br /> The case, however, is still worse when a publisher<br /> suddenly produces an edition of a book at a nett:<br /> price which has already been selling for some years.<br /> in accordance with the older system, ¢.e., subject to<br /> the 25 per cent. discount to retail buyers. For<br /> example, he sells at 6s. nett instead of 6s. with<br /> discount. The Author gets, say, 6d. a copy, and<br /> has been receiving that amount since the first<br /> publication of the book. But the publisher, who<br /> got, say, 10d. a copy on the discount book, will<br /> receive at least 1s. 10d. on the nett book.<br /> Secure in the terms of his agreement, he boldly:<br /> repudiates any liability to the Author. The sales<br /> of the book will no doubt be reduced by the rise<br /> in price, but they would have to be reduced more-<br /> than 50 per cent. to affect the publisher. The<br /> Author is the only one who suffers.<br /> <br /> Put aside the legal aspect. Is this fair trading &gt;<br /> <br /> What would the Publishers’ Association think<br /> of this transaction ?<br /> <br /> The older and more responsible firms would<br /> surely indignantly repudiate these methods. Have<br /> they any power to make their opinions felt? It<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> would be interesting to state a formal case for<br /> their consideration. It is faults like these that the<br /> Association would do well to correct.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYRIGHT.<br /> <br /> ——&gt;+—<br /> <br /> OW that the editors of illustrated papers<br /> and magazines raise so great a demand<br /> for the photographic reproduction of men<br /> <br /> and women, famous and infamous, illustrious and<br /> notorious, it may be useful to say a few words on<br /> the question of copyright in photographs, and the<br /> law bearing on the subject.<br /> <br /> Statutory copyright was given to paintings,<br /> drawings, and photographs by 25 &amp; 26 Vict. c. 68,<br /> the first section of which, the most important, runs<br /> as follows :—<br /> <br /> «“ The author, being a British subject or resident within<br /> <br /> the dominions of the Crown, of every original painting,<br /> drawing, and photograph which shall be or shall have been<br /> <br /> &#039; - made either in the British Dominions, or elsewhere, and<br /> <br /> which shall not have been sold or disposed of before the<br /> commencement of this Act, and his assigns, shall have the<br /> sole and exclusive right of copying, engraving, reproducing,<br /> and multiplying such painting or drawing, and the design<br /> thereof, or such photograph and the negative thereof, by<br /> any means and of any size, for the term of the natural life of<br /> such author, and seven years after his death ; provided that<br /> when any painting or drawing, or the negative of any<br /> photograph, shall for the first time after the passing of this<br /> Act be sold or disposed of, or shall be made or executed for<br /> or on behalf of any other person for a good or a valuable<br /> ‘consideration, the person so selling or disposing of or<br /> making or executing the same shall not retain the copyright<br /> thereof, unless it be expressly reserved to him by agreement<br /> in writing, signed at or before the time of such sale or<br /> ‘disposition, by the vendee or assignee of such painting or<br /> -drawing, or of such negative of a photograph, or by the<br /> person for or on whose behalf the same shall be so made or<br /> executed, but the copyright shall belong to the vendee or<br /> assignee of such painting or drawing, or of such negative<br /> -of a photograph, or to the person for or on whose behalf<br /> the same shall have been made or executed ; nor shall the<br /> vendee or assignee thereof be entitled to any such copy-<br /> right, unless, at or before the time of such saleor disposition,<br /> an agreement in writing, signed by the person so selling or<br /> disposing of the same, or by his agent duly authorised,<br /> shall have been made to that effect.”<br /> <br /> The Act, unlike the Literary Copyright Act,<br /> does not indulge in definitions.<br /> <br /> From some points of view this is an advantage ;<br /> from others, a disadvantage.<br /> <br /> A book is carefully defined in the Literary Copy-<br /> right Act. The lack of definition in the Artistic<br /> Copyright Act leaves the difficult proposition to be<br /> solved by the intelligence of the judge, with not<br /> infrequently a more satisfactory result than if it<br /> was left to the intelligence of the draughtsman.<br /> <br /> Copyright in paintings, drawings, and photo-<br /> graphs, it will be seen from the section, starts from<br /> the making of the work, and lasts for the life of the<br /> <br /> 41<br /> <br /> author and seven years after his death. In the<br /> case of paintings and drawings the determination<br /> of the date gives rise to many difficulties, but<br /> with regard to photographs need not be further<br /> discussed.<br /> <br /> It is certainly a pity that the alternative of a<br /> fixed number of years has not been given, as is<br /> the case with books under the Literary Copyright<br /> Act, and that the term should run from the making<br /> instead of from the publication. The treatment<br /> of the subject, however, is in accordance with the<br /> treatment of all questions of copyright. Wherever<br /> it has been possible for the Legislature to confuse<br /> the copyright-holders it has succeeded in doing so,<br /> and diverse methods have been employed where<br /> the nature of the property demanded the closest<br /> analogy.<br /> <br /> The duration of copyright having been deter-<br /> mined, it will be evident that the two most<br /> important points are: (1) Who is the author of<br /> the work ? (2) Who is the employer? Upon the<br /> first depends the commencement of the copyright<br /> term, and upon the second in many cases depends<br /> the solution of who is the rightful owner of the<br /> property.<br /> <br /> With regard to No. 1—‘ Who is the author ?”—<br /> one or two actions have been brought and the<br /> point has been raised ; but the judges, dealing in<br /> each special case with “who was not the author,”<br /> by a negative process have shirked giving a positive<br /> definition. It may be as well, however, to quote<br /> the words of the Master of the Rolls in the case of<br /> Nottage v. Jackson, as it is the best dictum so far<br /> on the point :—<br /> <br /> “The author of a painting is the man who paints it, the<br /> author of a drawing is the man who draws it, of a photo-<br /> graph the author is the person who effectively is as near as<br /> he can be the cause of the picture which is produced, that<br /> is, the person who has superintended the arrangement, who<br /> has actually formed the picture by putting the people into<br /> position, and arranging the place in which the people are<br /> to be—the man who is the effective cause of that. Although<br /> he may only have done it by standing in the room and<br /> giving orders about it, still it is his mind and act, as far as<br /> anybody’s mind and act are concerned, which is the effective<br /> cause of the picture such as it is when it is produced.”<br /> <br /> If this is correct the person who actually snaps<br /> the photograph or uncovers the camera need not in<br /> any sense be the author of the photograph. A<br /> point of this kind, however, does not interest the<br /> subject so much as it would interest the photo-<br /> grapher. The latter, no doubt, takes good care to<br /> protect himself by agreement with his assistant or<br /> by some other method.<br /> <br /> Next comes the question, “ Who is the em-<br /> ployer ?”<br /> <br /> When a person goes to have his photograph taken<br /> and pays the ordinary fee asked by the photographer,<br /> the position is clear and indisputable. He is the<br />  <br /> <br /> 42<br /> <br /> employer, and obtains copyright for the life of the<br /> author and seven years afterwards. In most cases,<br /> however, unless there is some special contract, the<br /> actual negative is the property of the photographer.<br /> <br /> Nowadays, such is the craze for notoriety, that it<br /> has become the custom of the photographer to ask<br /> subjects to give him a sitting. (Ja Mr. Macgilli-<br /> vray’s book on “The Law of Copyright,” just<br /> published, by Mr. John Murray, he states, in an<br /> ingenuous way, that the sitter in these cases is<br /> probably an actress or an athlete, so little does he<br /> appear to have realised the vanity of human beings.)<br /> <br /> The point then arises, “ What valuable con-<br /> sideration, if any, has been given 2” As a general<br /> rule, none to the photographer, who, on the con-<br /> trary, as often as not presents a few copies of the<br /> photograph to the sitter. If the sitter pays for<br /> these photographs the matter is more difficult, and<br /> it must be considered whether the amount the<br /> sitter pays would be merely for the reproductions<br /> he has obtained, or would raise the presumption of<br /> employment within the meaning of the Act. This<br /> must depend in each case upon the special facts.<br /> The valuable consideration that the photographer<br /> receives need not necessarily be a money one. It<br /> may be a licence to publish and sell subject to<br /> terms. Here, again, the final decision must depend<br /> upon the special facts.<br /> <br /> There are two further points of importance<br /> dealing with the same subject. One is the ques-<br /> tion of transfer, and the other the question of<br /> registration.<br /> <br /> On reference to the section of the Act quoted<br /> above, it will be seen that, unless the copyright<br /> is either specially reserved by the author when<br /> making an assignment or specially transferred to<br /> the vendee in writing, neither party will obtain it,<br /> but it will become public property ; such is the<br /> absurd arrangement, statute made, for the transfer<br /> of artistic property.<br /> <br /> This difficulty does not of course arise if there is<br /> direct employment for valuable consideration,<br /> <br /> With regard to the second point, registration is<br /> an essential. Here, again, stands out another<br /> divergence between the Literary and Artistic Acts.<br /> In the Literary Copyright Act registration is only<br /> necessary before action is taken, and such registra-<br /> tion refers back to the date of publication. In<br /> artistic copyright, however, it is impossible to<br /> bring an action for infringement of rights before<br /> registration. In consequence registration is an<br /> essential, and an important essential. Registration<br /> takes place at Stationers’ Hall. t is not necessary<br /> <br /> to discuss in detail the particulars required when<br /> filling up the forms. Full explanation of these<br /> will be given at the office.<br /> <br /> It should be noted that a photographer who<br /> has taken a photograph on the ordinary terms of<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> employment, and publishes that photograph without<br /> leave, can be sued by the employer for infringement<br /> of contract, even though the photograph was not<br /> registered.<br /> <br /> International copyright of photographs under<br /> the Berne Convention must be left over for another<br /> time. Photographs are included in the list of<br /> things protected by the International Copyright<br /> Act. What photographs are copyright and what<br /> are not copyright, the duration of copyright, and<br /> other details in foreign countries is a very large<br /> and difficult subject.<br /> <br /> TONNAGE OF BRITISH BOOK EXPORTS<br /> AND IMPORTS.<br /> <br /> — &gt;<br /> <br /> [From the Publishers’ Circular, and reprinted by the kind.<br /> permission of Scott, Greenwood &amp; Co.] .<br /> <br /> FFICIAL statistics of exports and imports of<br /> books for last year compared with four pre-<br /> vious years,from which some extracts are<br /> <br /> given, compel serious consideration.<br /> <br /> The particulars of exports of British-made goods<br /> show that there has been a steady increase since<br /> 1897 in the total value of books exported.<br /> <br /> Turning to the various markets, there has been<br /> a steady increase in the value of books exported<br /> to Japan, Atlantic ports of the United States, and<br /> to Denmark. .<br /> <br /> The imports show a slight increase in 1901 com-<br /> pared with 1900, but a decrease when comparing<br /> the former year with 1897 and 1898.<br /> <br /> The exports to America amount to more than<br /> half the total amount exported to foreign countries.<br /> Curiously enough, the imports of books from Hol-<br /> land almost equal in quantity and value those from<br /> the United States. his may be accounted for<br /> by the large numbers of English books printed in<br /> Holland, but it should not be forgotten that<br /> imports from that country often include goods<br /> from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc., shipped<br /> to Great Britain via the Hook of Holland or<br /> Flushing.<br /> <br /> In July, 1902 the value of exports from Great<br /> Britain shows an increase of £9,000 compared.<br /> with July, 1901, and £29,000 compared with 1900.<br /> The weight of these books was 22,806 cwts. in<br /> July, 1902, and 22,261 in July, 1901. This<br /> increase in the exports is an important sign. It<br /> would have been of further interest to know of<br /> what volumes these 505 cwts. were composed that.<br /> made an increase of £9,000 in value.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 43<br /> <br /> Exports to ForEIGN COUNTRIES.<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 /> Quantities. Value.<br /> Ee , | See ae oe<br /> 1897 | 1898 1899 1900 1901 | 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901<br /> jt ae<br /> | Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. | Cwts. a £ £ £ £<br /> | 67,655 | 66,864 | 70,665 | 81,258 | 75,107 499,723 506,262 | 537,486 578,779 587,219<br /> | |<br /> Exports to British POSSESSIONS.<br /> | | | |<br /> | 139,697 | 144,911 | 157,015 | 157,522 | 172,591 831,270 | 830,287 | 906,949 890,037 965,558<br /> Z oye el ee a<br /> |<br /> Total | 207,352 | 211,775 | 227,680 | 238,780 | 247,698 | 1,330,993 | 1,336,549 | 1,444,435 1,468,816 | 1,552,772<br /> . Iuvorts FRomM ForREIGN COUNTRIES.<br /> 45,054 | 40,969 | 41,688 | 40,139 | 44,834 | 269,522 245,424 224,073 228,799 244,278<br /> Imports FROM BririsH POSSESSIONS.<br /> | | | &#039; | | 1 | |<br /> | 1,430 | 1,879 | 1,810 | 765 1,143 || 7,872 | 9,251} 10,097 | 4,930 | 6,889<br /> ee ee oes _| LE |<br /> Total | 46,484 | 45,977 | 277,394 254,675 045,170 | 233,709 | 251,167<br /> } | |<br /> <br /> ae 43,448 | 40,904 |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE COMPLETE AUTHOR.*<br /> <br /> —-——<br /> <br /> ay practical guide to authorship has yet to<br /> be written. Mr. Lacon Watson’s “ Hints<br /> <br /> to Young Authors ” is an attempt to remove<br /> this reproach, and, so far as it goes, it is a well<br /> carried out one. Unfortunately, it does not go<br /> far enough: nor is it remarkably practical. In-<br /> deed, the “ young author’”’—and the old one, too,<br /> for that matter—may rise from its perusal with his<br /> knowledge on the subject but very little increased<br /> thereby. The work of genius, however, is not to<br /> <br /> be made by instructional manuals, and great circu- :<br /> y : S * province of authorship proper. They deal instead<br /> <br /> lations will ever be achieved without resort to these<br /> adventitious aids. Mr. Lacon Watson’s name is<br /> familiar on the title-pages of several agreeable<br /> novels, while he has also been responsible for some<br /> excellent journalism in the better known among<br /> the evening papers. He is, accordingly, fully<br /> qualified to treat of the important subject of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “Vints to Young Authors,” by E. H. Lacon Watson.<br /> (London: Grant Richards.)<br /> <br /> authorship. The professional writer will probably<br /> be of opinion that he takes a rather more opti-<br /> mistic view of the craft than hard facts will<br /> warrant. He observes, for instance, that while a<br /> certain novelist of his acquaintance has no par-<br /> ticular difficulty in making from six to eight<br /> thousand pounds a year out of pen, paper, and<br /> brains, “the few at the apex of the pyramid do<br /> even better than this.” Such as these latter are<br /> remarkably few, and in all probability they are<br /> either dramatists, or, in addition to being novelists,<br /> they devote their superfluous energy to other forms<br /> of making money. A large proportion of the<br /> “hints” in this volume are rather outside the<br /> <br /> with such bye-ways of the calling as reviewing,<br /> cultivating editors, paragraph writing, and free-.<br /> lance journalism generally. A whole chapter, too,<br /> is devoted to describing a literary club, and the<br /> manner in which certain more or less distinguished<br /> members of the world of letters unbend when in<br /> its precincts. It is all entertainingly and interest-<br /> ingly done, however, even if it fails to show the<br /> seeker after big circulations how he may best attain<br /> his object.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property —:<br /> <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 /> Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a pad form of<br /> agreement).<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> _duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘‘ office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> 5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> -doctor !<br /> <br /> Ill. 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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. From time to time the very important figures<br /> -connected with royalties are published in The Author.<br /> Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the<br /> -* Cost of Production.”<br /> <br /> IV. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> -above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> -the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> <br /> ‘from the outset are :-—<br /> <br /> (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <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 /> <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 /> THE AUTHOR.<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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<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 (.2.,<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 ina<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 rums 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.<br /> <br /> 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market<br /> is exceedingly limited, and that fora 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 AUTHORS 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 /> 1. 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&#039;s opinion is<br /> desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel&#039;s<br /> opinion, All this without any cost to the member.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 8<br /> a<br /> it<br /> <br /> n |<br /> 2<br /> 4<br /> a<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 /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 2, Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinarysolicitors. 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) To 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 /> This<br /> <br /> 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements.<br /> The<br /> <br /> must be done within fourteen days of first execution.<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 /> 2 —_ ay ao<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<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 /> ——-_+—~_ 6<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> 1<br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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 /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 5s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 45<br /> <br /> Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> ¢—&lt;&gt;— as<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE<br /> EpITOoR 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 /> SREY aca eae<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 /> HE Musical Summary Proceedings Copyright<br /> Act has now been running for a month,<br /> Three points appear to be noticeable. Firstly,<br /> <br /> the agents who have acted on behalf of the Musical<br /> Copyright Association have taken the vendor of<br /> pirated copies before the magistrate, and then failed<br /> to produce evidence of title. In these circumstances<br /> the question has had to beadjourned. The magis-<br /> trates in some instances have made remarks about<br /> the time of the Court being wasted by such<br /> adjournment. In future the agents will no doubt<br /> be fully prepared. The second point is one due to<br /> the faultiness of the Act, and attention was drawn<br /> to it in the last number of Zhe Author. It is<br /> impossible to ascertain who are the printers of<br /> these pirated copies, as the vendors in every case<br /> refuse to give up the names. They know well<br /> that if they stick by the printers they will be able<br /> to obtain another supply when necessary. The<br /> third case is that of a vendor who kept his stock<br /> in a sack, or at the nearest publichouse. He held<br /> a few copies in his hand ; these the agent secured<br /> as they were exposed for sale, the stock was beyond<br /> his reach. ‘This, to the lay mind, may seem a<br /> curious interpretation of the Act, and may lead<br /> to further difficulties and complications,<br /> <br /> The following interesting story in the history of<br /> authorship is taken from the American Author.<br /> Can anyone quote an analogous tale, in which an<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 46<br /> <br /> author has had a difficulty in establishing his own<br /> identity ?<br /> <br /> “The autumn announcements of Messrs. Lee and<br /> Shepard begin with the autograph edition of Mrs. Elizabeth<br /> ‘Akers’s “Sunset Song, and Other V erses,” a volume of<br /> poems hitherto unpublished, with a single exception, * Rock<br /> Me to Sleep, Mother,” which is printed at the end of the<br /> volume with a spirited note from the publisher, giving its<br /> history. The Saturday Evening Post originally printed<br /> the poem, paying the author five dollars. A firm of music<br /> publishers issued it with a setting by Ernest Leslie and<br /> paid nothing, but munificently offered the author five<br /> dollars apiece for any more songs as good as the first. As<br /> their profits during the first six months amounted to many<br /> thousands, they could then afford this extravagance, but<br /> when Mrs. Akers actually sent them a song they refused it,<br /> on the ground that they “could do nothing with it.” A<br /> few years after the first appearance of the song Mr.<br /> ‘Alexander T. W. Ball, of New Jersey, declared that it was<br /> his. Certain newspapers espoused his cause, and had he<br /> not published_ what Mr. Rossiter Johnson calls the most<br /> absurd pamphlet ever written the real author might have<br /> been deprived even of the credit of originating her<br /> pseudonym of “Florence Percy.” The pamphlet aroused<br /> some able defenders for her, and at last the late William<br /> Douglas O’Connor, writing in the New York Times,<br /> utterly crushed Mr. Ball’s pretensions to be “ Florence<br /> Percy,” or anything but an imitator. In her new volume<br /> Mrs. Akers includes a grateful eulogy of her defender.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The editor of a certain literary paper in the<br /> United States is in the habit of endeavouring to<br /> answer some of the literary conundrums of his<br /> readers.<br /> <br /> ‘A correspondent wrote to him on one occasion<br /> stating that after a lengthy debate about a well-<br /> known novel by a modern writer it was decided to<br /> take the editor’s opinion upon the moral tone of<br /> the book.<br /> <br /> The editor was fearful of a trap. His response<br /> was given with the wisdom of a Solomon: “ With<br /> regard to the book in question, if you will tell us<br /> the things you think about it, I will then tell you<br /> whether the things 1 think about it are the same<br /> as those things which you think about it.”<br /> <br /> We trust the contributor was satisfied.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Dumas Centenary has just gone by. To<br /> those who are interested in these anniversaries the<br /> following list may afford some useful information :—<br /> Bulwer Lytton (1903), Beaconsfield (1904), Haw-<br /> thorne (1904), Whittier (1907), Longfellow (1907),<br /> Tennyson (1909), Holmes (1909), Poe (J 909),<br /> Gautier (1911), Thackeray (1911), Dickens (1912),<br /> Harriet Beecher Stowe (1912), Henry Ward<br /> Beecher (1918).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> A correspondent sends us the enclosed :<br /> « Certain officials of the income tax department,<br /> the police court, not to mention census takers, and<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the registrars of limited companies, demand a<br /> description of one’s trade or profession. For<br /> myself, I make a humble living from the making<br /> of novels, and have persistently written myself<br /> down ‘ novelist. This is almost invariably<br /> ignored, and for it is substituted ‘ gent.,’ which is<br /> vague, ‘ esq.,&quot; which is inaccurate, or ‘journalist,’<br /> which J am not.<br /> “Can anyone suggest a better term? ‘ Littérateur’<br /> I object to for patriotic reasons. “ Man of letters’<br /> is clumsy and misleading—indeed, it is more<br /> suggestive of a compositor or a window-ticket<br /> stenciller. ‘Writer’ might be all very well in<br /> England, but amongst Scots it would lead to<br /> misapprehension.<br /> « | should be very much obliged for a suggestion,<br /> as I have bought a motor car recently, and am just<br /> now being officially asked for a description of my-<br /> self with much frequency.”<br /> YACHTSMAN.<br /> <br /> ——__—__——_+ &lt;&gt;<br /> <br /> KN ACADEMY OF LETTERS.<br /> <br /> ———-—+—<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> O judge by the autumn announcements of<br /> certain publishing houses, masterpieces—<br /> in one department of literature at least—<br /> <br /> are being just now showered upon us, thick as the<br /> falling leaves. This is inspiriting news ; or would<br /> be so, had one the happiness to belong to that con-<br /> siderable section of the British public which has<br /> kept its first innocence in regard to advertisement,<br /> still believing that things printed and things true<br /> are necessarily one and the same. Not belonging<br /> to that enviable section, one is constrained to<br /> admit a doubt of the entire reliability of these<br /> announcements, while the simile of the falling<br /> leaves takes on @ slightly sinister significance.<br /> For to one whose memory carries him back some<br /> twenty, thirty, or possibly more years, it too often<br /> appears that though the annual output of books<br /> has trebled, may be quadrupled, masterpieces have<br /> by no means multiplied in proportion during that<br /> period. And this is liable to make him reflective,<br /> since he is one of a generation which—without<br /> vanity—had, in its youth, more than a bowing<br /> acquaintance with masterpieces. He grows sad,<br /> for, as he reflects, it even occurs to him that<br /> English literature, in its higher and more dis-<br /> tinguished expression, is sick, almost sick unto<br /> death. Then he looks round anxiously, asking<br /> whether from any quarter may come some effective<br /> remedy, some wise physician capable of giving new<br /> life to this moribund creature. Hence it is that<br /> some of us hail the idea of an English Academy of<br /> Letters, regarding it as a possible remedial agency<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> SO ASD rregt RD Sees<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> )<br /> <br /> SELF<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. AT<br /> <br /> which, allowed time and patience, may eventually<br /> restore to our over-prolific and under-vitalised<br /> literature a measure of its earlier dignity, beauty,<br /> and strength.<br /> <br /> After all an Academy of Letters, that is a central<br /> authority having practical jurisdiction in technical<br /> literary questions, is no such innovation in the<br /> history of our literature as its opponents would<br /> have us believe. Until recently it has always<br /> existed, if not explicitly, yet implicitly ; and its<br /> judgments have been obeyed or defied—in either<br /> case to the wholesome stimulation of literary<br /> effort. Ard that such central authority, whether<br /> vested in a single individual—as Dr. Johnson—or<br /> a group of persons—such as Pope, Lady Mary<br /> Wortley Montagu, and the wits surrounding them<br /> whose quarrels and reconciliations make such<br /> diverting reading—to mention but two examples<br /> among many—that this central authority did on<br /> the whole make for literary righteousness, main-<br /> tained a high standard of style and of taste,<br /> encouraged intelligence, damned not only dull-<br /> ness but vulgarity and folly, supported the dignity<br /> of letters, securing to them a solid standing<br /> and value in our national life, is, surely, incon-<br /> trovertible. That this central authority was<br /> in the past, and will most probably be in the<br /> future, subject to a few of the unamiable weak-<br /> nesses common to mankind, that it may have its<br /> moments of envy and jealousy, that it did not in the<br /> past, and may not in the future, always acclaim the<br /> advent of budding genius with unlimited enthu-<br /> siasm, is beside the mark. Genius, especially<br /> English genius, which is wont to be of a very<br /> sufficiently robust and self-confident sort, may<br /> safely be left to take care of itself. Should an<br /> Academy of Letters unwisely try to extinguish<br /> some twentieth-century Byron, it will fail just<br /> as absolutely as the “Scotch Reviewers” failed<br /> to extinguish those “English Bards” whom the<br /> nineteenth-century Byron so wittily defended.<br /> It may seriously be questioned whether genius,<br /> worth the name, has ever suffered permanent<br /> injury yet from the pressure of adverse criticism<br /> brought to bear upon it in its youth. Genius<br /> which has not the courage of its convictions, is not<br /> really genius at all.<br /> <br /> It is not, therefore, mainly in the interests of<br /> genius—which sooner or later is bound, by right<br /> divine, to conquer and control the intellectual<br /> and artistic life of its day—but in the interests<br /> of the rank and file of writers, who produce<br /> the great bulk of contemporary poetry, fiction,<br /> drama, criticism, elles lettres, that an English<br /> Academy is just now so urgently needed. For the<br /> majority of these, indeed, “wander ”—as_ the<br /> Psalmist has it—‘‘in the wilderness in a solitary<br /> way, and have no city to dwell in.” The right of<br /> <br /> private judgment has run mad, thanks to a graft-<br /> ing of so-called modern ideas upon the old<br /> Protestant stock. The result, as Mr. Herbert<br /> Trench has admirably pointed out, is anarchy ;<br /> and anarchy always has been, and always must be<br /> disastrous to art. One cannot but believe that a<br /> central authority, composed of the ripest and most<br /> gifted minds of our day, would in time evolve<br /> order out of thischaos; and, imposing its influence<br /> upon the conscience and imagination of the rank and<br /> file of writers, convince each literary aspirant that<br /> merely to do right in the sight of his own eyes,<br /> merely to follow his own immature and unstable<br /> opinions, is to court an oblivion even more speedy<br /> than is his natural inheritance.<br /> <br /> As Maxime du Camp has well said—* Les lettres<br /> consolent de tout, &amp; la condition que lon y reste,<br /> que Von se donne « elles sans esprit de retour<br /> et que Von les respecte absolument.” And it is<br /> this, the dignity, the consoling efficacy, the high,<br /> national, as well as personal, worth of letters, that<br /> it is so eminently desirable a central authority<br /> should bring home to the writers of the younger<br /> generation. For unquestionably one of the main<br /> causes of the present poverty—in quality not<br /> alas! in quantity—of literary work in England,<br /> is the refusal of the younger writers to give them-<br /> selves loyally. Their tendency is to regard letters<br /> as a means, not as an end. They will have letters<br /> lead on, by way of notoriety or hard cash, to quite<br /> other forms of activity—to society, to politics, to<br /> philanthropy—of the more public sort. Letters<br /> have become a form of self-advertisement. Not<br /> the book, but he or she who writes it, is too often<br /> the main object to him or her self. It may be<br /> argued that thisis very human—pathetically, engag-<br /> ingly so. Granted. Only let it be remembered<br /> literature is a jealous mistress. No art—just as<br /> no god—endures a divided allegiance for long.<br /> These writers may leave letters for something they<br /> reckon more worthy of their attention; but not,<br /> in the majority of cases, before letters have rather<br /> conspicuously left them.<br /> <br /> It is easy for the poor to gird at riches. Yet<br /> one cannot but fancy that before the millionaire—<br /> Trans-Atlantic, Semitic, Colonial—invaded English<br /> society and materialised our ambitions and ideals,<br /> matters were different in this particular. We<br /> know, on the highest authority, it is not easy for<br /> a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ;<br /> and one ventures to suspect it is equally difficult<br /> for him to enter into the Kingdom of Art—except<br /> as a purchaser. We can hardly blame him if,<br /> confused by the evident power of wealth, he fails<br /> to understand that to own a work of art is not<br /> necessarily to possess it, and that to pay for a<br /> work of art is by no means the same as to<br /> produce it. Under this head he suffers strong<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> AG<br /> <br /> author has had a difficulty in establishing his own<br /> identity ?<br /> <br /> “The autumn announcements of Messrs. Lee and<br /> Shepard begin with the autograph edition of Mrs. Elizabeth<br /> Akers’s “Sunset Song, and Other Verses,’ @ volume of<br /> poems hitherto unpublished, with a single exception, “ Rock<br /> Me to Sleep, Mother,” which is printed at the end of the<br /> volume with a spirited note from the publisher, giving its<br /> history. The Saturday Evening Post originally printed<br /> the poem, paying the author five dollars. A firm of music<br /> publishers issued it with a setting by Ernest Leslie and<br /> paid nothing, but munificently offered the author five<br /> dollars apiece for any more songs as good as the first. AS<br /> their profits during the first six months amounted to many<br /> thousands, they could then afford this extravagance, but<br /> when Mrs. Akers actually sent them a song they refused it,<br /> on the ground that they “ could do nothing with it.” A<br /> few years after the first appearance of the song Mr.<br /> ‘Alexander T. W. Ball, of New Jersey, declared that it was<br /> his. Certain newspapers espoused his cause, and had he<br /> not published what Mr. Rossiter Johnson calls the most<br /> absurd pamphlet ever written the real author might have<br /> been deprived even of the credit of originating her<br /> pseudonym of ‘“ Florence Percy.” The pamphlet aroused<br /> some able defenders for her, and at last the late William<br /> Douglas O’Connor, writing in the New York Times,<br /> utterly crushed Mr. Ball’s pretensions to be “ Florence<br /> Perey,” or anything but an imitator. In her new volume<br /> Mrs. Akers includes a grateful eulogy of her defender.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The editor of a certain literary paper in the<br /> United States is in the habit of endeavouring to<br /> answer some of the literary conundrums of his<br /> readers.<br /> <br /> ‘A correspondent wrote to him on one occasion<br /> stating that after a lengthy debate about a well-<br /> known novel by a modern writer it was decided to<br /> take the editor’s opinion upon the moral tone of<br /> the book.<br /> <br /> The editor was fearful of a trap. His response<br /> was given with the wisdom of a Solomon: “ With<br /> regard to the book in question, if you will tell us<br /> the things you think about it, J will then tell you<br /> whether the things I think about it are the same<br /> as those things which you think about it.”<br /> <br /> We trust the contributor was satisfied.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Dumas Centenary has just gone by. To<br /> those who are interested in these anniversaries the<br /> following list may afford some useful information :—<br /> Bulwer Lytton (1903), Beaconsfield (1904), Haw-<br /> thorne (1904), Whittier (1907), Longfellow (1907),<br /> Tennyson (1909), Holmes (1909), Poe (1909),<br /> Gautier (1911), Thackeray (1911), Dickens (1912),<br /> Harriet Beecher Stowe (1912), Henry Ward<br /> <br /> Beecher (1918).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> A correspondent sends us the enclosed :<br /> “ Gertain officials of the income tax department,<br /> the police court, not to mention census takers, and<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the registrars of limited companies, demand a<br /> description of one’s trade or profession. For<br /> myself, I make a humble living from the making<br /> of novels, and have persistently written myself<br /> down ‘ novelist. This is almost invariably<br /> ignored, and for it is substituted ‘ gent.,’ which is<br /> vague, ‘esq.,’ which is inaccurate, or ‘journalist,’<br /> which I am not.<br /> <br /> “(an anyone suggest a better term? ‘ Littérateur’<br /> I object to for patriotic reasons. ‘ Man of letters ’<br /> is clumsy and misleading—indeed, it is more<br /> suggestive of a compositor or a window-ticket<br /> stenciller. ‘Writer’ might be all very well in<br /> England, but amongst Scots it would lead to<br /> misapprehension.<br /> <br /> «J should be very much obliged for a suggestion,<br /> as I have bought a motor car recently, and am just<br /> now being officially asked for a description of my-<br /> self with much frequency.”<br /> <br /> YACHTSMAN.<br /> <br /> —_—_———__1+—&gt;—_ &gt;<br /> <br /> AN ACADEMY OF LETTERS.<br /> <br /> ——-— +<br /> <br /> iT<br /> <br /> O judge by the autumn announcements of<br /> certain publishing houses, masterpleces—<br /> in one department of literature at least—<br /> <br /> are being just now showered upon us, thick as the<br /> falling leaves. This is inspiriting news ; or would<br /> be so, had one the happiness to belong to that con-<br /> siderable section of the British public which has<br /> kept its first innocence in regard to advertisement,<br /> still believing that things printed and things true<br /> are necessarily one and the same. Not belonging<br /> to that enviable section, one is constrained to<br /> admit a doubt of the entire reliability of these<br /> announcements, while the simile of the falling<br /> leaves takes on a slightly sinister significance.<br /> For to one whose memory carries him back some<br /> twenty, thirty, or possibly more years, it too often<br /> appears that though the annual output of books<br /> has trebled, may be quadrupled, masterpieces have<br /> by no means multiplied in proportion during that<br /> period. And this is liable to make him reflective,<br /> since he is one of a generation which —without<br /> vanity—had, in its youth, more than a bowing<br /> acquaintance with masterpieces. He grows sad,<br /> for, as he reflects, it even occurs to him that<br /> English literature, in its higher and more dis-<br /> tinguished expression, is sick, almost sick unto<br /> death. Then he looks round anxiously, asking<br /> whether from any quarter may come some effective<br /> remedy, some wise physician capable of giving new<br /> life to this moribund creature. Hence it is that<br /> some of us hail the idea of an English Academy of<br /> <br /> Letters, regarding it as a possible remedial agency<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 /> THE AUTHOR. AT<br /> <br /> which, allowed time and patience, may eventually<br /> restore to our over-prolific and under-vitalised<br /> literature a measure of its earlier dignity, beauty,<br /> and strength.<br /> <br /> After all an Academy of Letters, that is a central<br /> authority having practical jurisdiction in technical<br /> literary questions, is no such innovation in the<br /> history of our literature as its opponents would<br /> have us believe. Until recently it has always<br /> existed, if not explicitly, yet implicitly ; and its<br /> judgments have been obeyed or defied—in either<br /> case to the wholesome stimulation of literary<br /> effort. And that such central authority, whether<br /> vested in a single individual—as ))r. Johnson—or<br /> a group of persons—such as Pope, Lady Mary<br /> Wortley Montagu, and the wits surrounding them<br /> whose quarrels and reconciliations make such<br /> diverting reading—to mention but two examples<br /> among many—that this central authority did on<br /> the whole make for literary righteousness, main-<br /> tained a high standard of style and of taste,<br /> encouraged intelligence, damned not only daull-<br /> ness but vulgarity and folly, supported the dignity<br /> of letters, securing to them a solid standing<br /> and value in our national life, is, surely, incon-<br /> trovertible. That this central authority was<br /> in the past, and will most probably be in the<br /> future, subject to a few of the unamiable weak-<br /> nesses common to mankind, that it may have its<br /> moments of envy and jealousy, that it did not in the<br /> past, and may not in the future, always acclaim the<br /> advent of budding genius with unlimited enthu-<br /> siasm, is beside the mark. Genius, especially<br /> English genius, which is wont to be of a very<br /> sufficiently robust and self-confident sort, may<br /> safely be left to take care of itself. Should an<br /> Academy of Letters unwisely try to extinguish<br /> some twentieth-century Byron, it will fail just<br /> as absolutely as the ‘Scotch Reviewers” failed<br /> to extinguish those “English Bards” whom the<br /> nineteenth-century Byron so wittily defended.<br /> It may seriously be questioned whether genius,<br /> worth the name, has ever suffered permanent<br /> injury yet from the pressure of adverse criticism<br /> brought to bear upon it in its youth. Genius<br /> which has not the courage of its convictions, is not<br /> really genius at all.<br /> <br /> It is not, therefore, mainly in the interests of<br /> genius—which sooner or later is bound, by right<br /> divine, to conquer and control the intellectual<br /> and artistic life of its day—but in the interests<br /> of the rank and file of writers, who produce<br /> the great bulk of contemporary poetry, fiction,<br /> drama, criticism, belles /ettres, that an English<br /> Academy is just now so urgently needed. For the<br /> majority of these, indeed, “ wander ”—as_ the<br /> Psalmist has it—‘in the wilderness in a solitary<br /> way, and have no city to dwell in.” The right of<br /> <br /> private judgment has run mad, thanks to a graft-<br /> ing of so-called modern ideas upon the old<br /> Protestant stock. The result, as Mr. Herbert<br /> Trench has admirably pointed out, is anarchy ;<br /> and anarchy always has been, and always must be<br /> disastrous to art. One cannot but believe that a<br /> central authority, composed of the ripest and most<br /> gifted minds of our day, would in time evolve<br /> order out of this chaos ; and, imposing its influence<br /> upon the conscience and imagination of the rank and<br /> file of writers, convince each literary aspirant that<br /> merely to do right in the sight of his own eyes,<br /> merely to follow his own immature and unstable<br /> opinions, is to court an oblivion even more speedy<br /> than is his natural inheritance.<br /> <br /> As Maxime du Camp has well said—* Les lettres<br /> consolent de tout, &amp; la condition que Pon y reste,<br /> que Von se donne a elles sans esprit de retour<br /> et que Von les respecte absolument.” And it is<br /> this, the dignity, the consoling efficacy, the high,<br /> national, as well as personal, worth of letters, that<br /> it is so eminently desirable a central authority<br /> should bring home to the writers of the younger<br /> generation. For unquestionably one of the main<br /> causes of the present poverty—in quality not<br /> alas! in quantity—of literary work in England,<br /> is the refusal of the younger writers to give them-<br /> selves loyally. Their tendency is to regard letters<br /> as a means, not as an end. They will have letters<br /> lead on, by way of notoriety or hard cash, to quite<br /> other forms of activity—to society, to politics, to<br /> philanthropy—of the more public sort. Letters<br /> have become a form of self-advertisement. Not<br /> the book, but he or she who writes it, is too often<br /> the main object to him or her self. It may be<br /> argued that thisis very haman—pathetically, engag-<br /> ingly so. Granted. Only let it be remembered<br /> literature is a jealous mistress. No art—just as<br /> no god—endures a divided allegiance for long.<br /> These writers may leave letters for something they<br /> reckon more worthy of their attention; but not,<br /> in the majority of cases, before letters have rather<br /> conspicuously left them.<br /> <br /> It is easy for the poor to gird at riches. Yet<br /> one cannot but fancy that before the millionaire—<br /> Trans-Atlantic, Semitic, Colonial—invaded English<br /> society and materialised our ambitions and ideals,<br /> matters were different in this particular. We<br /> know, on the highest authority, it is not easy for<br /> a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ;<br /> and one ventures to suspect it is equally difficult<br /> for him to enter into the Kingdom of Art—except<br /> as a purchaser. We can hardly blame him if,<br /> confused by the evident power of wealth, he fails<br /> to understand that to own a work of art is not<br /> necessarily to possess it, and that to pay for a<br /> work of art is by no means the same as to<br /> produce it. Under this head he suffers strong<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 48<br /> <br /> delusion, and, the worst of it is, a rich man’s<br /> delusions are rather violently infectious. Thanks<br /> mainly to him, money has become the measure of<br /> suecess in literature—the having made money<br /> enough to be practically free of literature, able to<br /> go away and play at something else—almost any-<br /> thing will serve—is the most triumphant success<br /> of all. And to make money in any consider-<br /> able quantity the modern author must conciliate<br /> the “popular shilling.” He must write down. to<br /> the understanding of the vast semi-educated<br /> public, English and American, which has next to<br /> no power of discrimination or sense of values—<br /> how should it have them ?—which demands that<br /> which is at once superficial and extravagant, that<br /> which at once flatters and emboldens its own<br /> cheap opinions and tastes. Thus, from above and<br /> from below alike, the best literature, in every<br /> department, is in risk of being strangled.<br /> Individually the inordinately rich—from the social<br /> atmosphere they create—collectively the compara-<br /> tively poor—from the necessity the writer is under<br /> to secure their suffrages—are alike its enemies.<br /> <br /> Time was when one feared to meet a renowned<br /> author lest his personality should prove less<br /> interesting than his books. Now it is all the other<br /> way. One fears to read the books lest they should<br /> fall short of the charm and ability of their author.<br /> To invert a famous saying, these gentlemen talk<br /> like angels while, too often, they write like poor<br /> Poll. For it seems incredible that such very well-<br /> equipped persons could not give us worthier books<br /> if they really tried. Then one begins to entertain<br /> an unpleasant suspicion that they are a little<br /> ungenerous, that they are saving themselves, only<br /> putting so much strength into their work as will<br /> just make it pay, while carefully husbanding the<br /> rest for something quite other than letters.<br /> <br /> Ts it too much to hope that a recognised central<br /> authority—to which the elect among themselves<br /> may presently belong—an association of the most<br /> distinguished and enlightened minds of our day,<br /> might provoke in the rank and file a finer ambition<br /> and higher conception of the dignity of their calling,<br /> a sounder scholarship, a greater humanity and love<br /> of beauty, a greater self-forgetfulness in work ?<br /> <br /> Only to do this, our Academy must itself be<br /> broadly based, be fearless and impartial, liberal in<br /> sympathy and in thought. It must have—if one<br /> dare say so—no conscience save the literary one.<br /> For the last thing we want just now is a multi-<br /> plied censorship, a Vigilance Committee, or Church<br /> Congress, or Conference of Head-Masters, or Prim-<br /> rose League, least of all a Social Bureau under<br /> another name. In England pedants too often<br /> render learning odious, and purists render art<br /> ridiculous, and little schools with their little<br /> shibboleths are a weariness to humour and to<br /> <br /> ‘speak—of all this.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> common sense. We want no legalising—so to<br /> Our Academy is designed to<br /> combat prejudice, not to stereotype it. If it is<br /> to be truly efficacious it must not narrow, but<br /> widen the literary outlook. It must exist not for<br /> itself, but for others; not for the glorification of<br /> the past even, but for the redemption of the<br /> present and inspiration of the future. Its func-<br /> tion, to put it briefly, is not the laudation either of<br /> itself or of dead lions; but—far humbler one—<br /> the salvation of live dogs.<br /> <br /> Upon the practical organisation of an English<br /> Academy of Letters, the present writer is not<br /> qualified to speak. Still he would venture to add<br /> two names to those already suggested by Mr.<br /> Herbert Trench as members of a possible -central.<br /> committee— namely, that of Algernon Charles<br /> Swinburne, our greatest living poet, and that of<br /> Thomas Hardy, one of our two greatest living<br /> novelists.<br /> <br /> Lucas Maer.<br /> <br /> ———<br /> <br /> II.<br /> <br /> I have no sympathy whatever for the proposal<br /> to form any such body as a British Academy<br /> of Letters, although I have every sympathy for<br /> the spirit in which Mr. Herbert Trench pro-<br /> poses it. And, as Mr. Trench argues in general<br /> principles, it may be permitted to condemn his<br /> scheme upon them. Viewed through the colour<br /> of his bright spirit no doubt the Academy<br /> shines like a temple on Olympus: without<br /> his glasses it would show in a generation as a<br /> clique in St. James’s. An academy is nothing if<br /> <br /> not academic : its republicanism degenerates into<br /> <br /> oligarchy : its principles become rigid: it ends in<br /> unimposing senility. However its members are<br /> chosen there must inevitably be a tail of medio-<br /> crities, and this tail by the mere efflux of time<br /> will wag the dog. The newer members will be<br /> choked by the fetid atmosphere which their elders<br /> breathe with placid enjoyment ; the whole body<br /> will be a corporation without a soul and nothing to<br /> kick. _No academy or academic body has ever<br /> encouraged originality ; and by the very nature of<br /> academies none ever will. But they have often<br /> crushed it, often swallowed it. Mr. Trench’s<br /> notions of criticism are in themselves conserva-<br /> tive: indeed, the very notion of a formal judg-<br /> ment is conservative, and the spirit of conservatism<br /> is the one thing which it is desirable to avoid in<br /> literature. For conservatism can always take<br /> <br /> care of itself: the traditions in a.writer’s mind,<br /> without any external reinforcement, are, as most<br /> men can recognise on analysis of their moods, the<br /> great enemy of their progress and originality.<br /> What makes Mr. Trench imagine that the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 49<br /> <br /> endorsement of Matthew Arnold by Messrs.<br /> Lecky and Bryce would help other spirits than<br /> those now in touch with that poet? At the best<br /> they might make him fashionable; at the worst<br /> they would make themselves ridiculous. It is<br /> <br /> ‘sufficient that Arnold and Tourgueniev should be<br /> <br /> on the way to immortality by the slow decay of<br /> their more futile rivals. An academy, inevitably<br /> destined by its nature to worship form, is more<br /> likely to renew Tennyson’s hold upon the bourgeois<br /> than to attach him to any greater poet.<br /> Mr. Trench is a poet : his notion of an academy is<br /> poetical: it is a dream. To translate such a<br /> vision into a body of men is as futile a task as to<br /> stage the Keltic imagination. The appeal of pure<br /> literature is by its very nature personal, and an<br /> academy is a crowd, a lower organism, a thing of<br /> averages, make-shifts, mutual concessions, mass<br /> prejudices. We are better without it.<br /> a Morey ROBERTS.<br /> <br /> —_+—+—<br /> <br /> III.<br /> <br /> I don’t think an Academy of Letters can possibly<br /> ‘be invented to do what those who advocate the estab-<br /> lishment of one desire. It would be admirable<br /> if we could have a body to “hall-mark,” as Mr.<br /> Trench puts it, what is really of fine quality so soon<br /> as it appears, but the nearest approach we can ever<br /> get to such a body is a large well-educated reading<br /> public, keenly interested in criticism; and even<br /> then there will be winds and currents of favour.<br /> <br /> The chief objection to Mr. Trench that occurs<br /> to me is the fact that a man may bea quite splendid<br /> figure in contemporary literature, and yet spend<br /> remarkably little time in the research after con-<br /> temporary merit, much less contemporary promise.<br /> Consider three names Mr. Trench has given.<br /> What good would Mr. George Meredith be in the<br /> capacity of a hall-marker if—as I have heard<br /> asserted—he confines his reading to the literature<br /> <br /> of France, or Mr. John Morley (who is engrossed —<br /> <br /> in politics), or Mr. Frazer, whose rich work in<br /> anthropology is no guarantee that he has the<br /> slightest qualification for what would be one of<br /> the most difficult and unavoidable tasks of this<br /> hall-marking Academy, the sifting of contemporary<br /> fiction? There are men to whom no one would<br /> deny the crowns and glories of literature, but it is<br /> another matter to ask them to control its des-<br /> tinies. Mr. Trench, like most Academy projectors,<br /> overlooks the fact that a new addition to literature<br /> is almost invariably a breach of the established<br /> boundaries, a variation of style, matter, treatment,<br /> a revelation of new aspects and new thoughts. I<br /> do not see that it is reasonable to expect the Old<br /> Men, resting gloriously amidst their accomplished<br /> <br /> work, to bother about the New Men, or to assimi-<br /> late the new views. They are far more likely to<br /> fill their gaps with the Scholarly Gentleman, the<br /> Able Imitator—quite apart from wire-pulling and<br /> intrigue and the natural desire of those who have<br /> arrived and are accepted to lead a pleasant life. Far<br /> more efficient to the end Mr. Trench desires would<br /> be an Academy of lively and contemporary critics<br /> —Messrs. Gosse, Edward Garnett, Waugh, Bennett,<br /> William Archer, Street, Chesterton, for example—<br /> but even then. . . . Probably they would never be<br /> sufficiently agreed to elect anybody. And before ever<br /> you come to the question of replacement you have<br /> to consider that you will never get a really literary<br /> Academy as things are at present. You will get a<br /> few indisputable literary figures, the conscience<br /> members one might call them, and the rest will be<br /> men who are really only well-bred, influential<br /> amateurs, men no one would dream of putting into<br /> an Academy if they had done just exactly what<br /> they have done now from the starting point of a<br /> lower class home. There are Mr. Balfour, for<br /> example, and Lord Rosebery. You will never be<br /> able to float an Academy without this element<br /> unless you have that educated public we need—<br /> and then your Academy, I submit, will be totally<br /> unnecessary. The Good Outsider, that Intrusive<br /> Bounder, who is the living soul of literature, will<br /> be left outside anything Mr. Trench and his fellow<br /> workers can possibly invent, and the Uninspired<br /> Respectability will be in—from the very beginning.<br /> It is inherent in the nature of Academies and<br /> unavoidable. You don’t get “hall-marked”’ till<br /> you are dead and a little obsolete. This is sad for<br /> the innumerable authors now palpitatingly con-<br /> scious of superlative merit, but it is one of the<br /> things you have to make your peace with in the<br /> literary life.<br /> H. G. WELLs.<br /> <br /> See gs<br /> <br /> IV.<br /> <br /> In The Author of October, p. 23, I read that<br /> a recent writer thinks “that an incorporated<br /> society might snuff out Wordsworths, Coleridges,<br /> Blakes, and Shelleys.”<br /> <br /> It seems worth while to note that Coleridge<br /> was not “snuffed out,” though he was one of the<br /> earliest members of the Royal Society of Litera-<br /> ture, to which a charter was granted by King<br /> George the Fourth, seventy-six years ago, accord-<br /> ing to Haydn’s Book of Dates.<br /> <br /> Lirr. 1.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> Vv.<br /> <br /> The Editor has received a letter from Mr.<br /> <br /> William Romaine Patterson (“Benjamin Swift”),<br /> <br /> in which he regrets that he is unable, through<br />  <br /> <br /> 50<br /> <br /> pressure of business, to write an article for the<br /> columns of the Author, but states that he is in<br /> sympathy with Mr. Herbert Trench’s views. &#039; “ It<br /> seems to me,” so runs the letter, ‘high time that<br /> those for whom English literature is a great<br /> inheritance should unite against the vulgar mob<br /> of writers and readers who are at the present<br /> moment degrading its traditions.<br /> <br /> ———— —<br /> <br /> VI.<br /> <br /> Dear Srr,—The evils which Mr. Trench justly<br /> deplores are due, not to the absence of an Academy<br /> of Letters, but to the absence of men, and to the<br /> vulgarity of the epoch.<br /> <br /> It is a pity that this question was not agitated<br /> in the mid-Victorian era, when a galaxy of genius<br /> almost as bright as the Elizabethan would have<br /> given dignity to the first Academy. Now we are<br /> in the trough of reaction, and must wait till there<br /> exists a body of men sufficiently weighty to overbear<br /> all cavil.<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> <br /> J. ZANGWILL.<br /> <br /> —_—_——_1—&gt;—_+—___—_—__<br /> <br /> THE DICKENS FELLOWSHIP.<br /> <br /> Sdn ane<br /> <br /> HE Dickens Fellowship had a splendid send-<br /> off at its first meeting at Anderton’s Hotel<br /> last Monday evening. The hall was crowded,<br /> <br /> and the meeting of the most enthusiastic kind.<br /> <br /> Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, an old friend of Charles<br /> Dickens, was in the chair, and among those present<br /> were Mr. and Mrs. Hall Caine, Mr. F. G. Kitton,<br /> Mr. Francesco Berger, Mr. Arthur Waugh, and<br /> Mr. Harry Furniss. Sympathetic messages were<br /> read from the veteran actor, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr.<br /> M. H. Spielmann, and others. A very charming<br /> telegram was received from Sir Henry Irving just<br /> as the meeting commenced. It was as follows :—<br /> “Love and greetings to all. I wish I could be<br /> with you to-night. Hope I may at some future<br /> time.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Fitzgerald, in opening the proceedings,<br /> thanked the meeting for having invited him to<br /> occupy the chair, as it was always a delight to him<br /> to take a part in anything that was done to honour<br /> the memory of Charles Dickens. He was one of<br /> <br /> the few left who had known Dickens personally.<br /> He had walked with him, talked with him, and<br /> had travelled with him. He thought that outside<br /> Dickens’s own family there were only two men left<br /> who had been in close intimacy with him, and<br /> those were Mr. Marcus Stone and himself.<br /> <br /> They might congratulate themselves sincerely<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> upon the numerous attendance at the meeting, and!<br /> also upon the way in which the idea of the Fellow-<br /> ship had been taken up. Already there had been<br /> no less than 600 applications for membership, and<br /> there were proposals for the affiliation of the clubs<br /> in different parts of the country with the society.<br /> Then, again, only the other day two American<br /> ladies called upon the Secretary and said that it<br /> would give them great pleasure to act as mission-<br /> aries on behalf of the society in their own country.<br /> Then there was the telegram from Sir Henry Irving.<br /> Having spoken of the gentlemen whom it was pro-<br /> posed to elect as vice-presidents, a list of whom is<br /> given later on, Mr. Fitzgerald proceeded to say<br /> that it was proposed to have monthly meetings in<br /> connection with the society, on which occasions<br /> there would be papers read on some subjects<br /> connected with Dickens. .<br /> <br /> In this connection he would deprecate panegyric,<br /> and hoped that they would devote themselves more<br /> to a critical study of Dickens and what scholars<br /> called the exegesis of his works. A great deal of<br /> amusement was to be derived from the study of any<br /> author’s writings, because most authors were very<br /> fond of putting their own experiences into their<br /> books. It was well known that a great deal of<br /> Dickens’s biography was to be found in his writings,<br /> which were so sympathetic and so emotional. Mr.<br /> Fitzgerald proceeded, by reference to the “ Pickwick<br /> Papers” and to other writings of Dickens, to give<br /> instances of the author’s incorporation of his own<br /> experiences in his books. Speaking of “Pickwick,”<br /> he said it was a most marvellous book. It was<br /> written by a young man of twenty-three or twenty-<br /> four, and yet it contained the observations and<br /> experience which would guide a man through life.<br /> It was usually supposed that ‘‘ David Copperfield ”<br /> contained the real autobiography of Dickens, but<br /> he was almost inclined to think that “ Pickwick,”<br /> especially the earlier portion, contained a great<br /> deal more of his early history, and he would go<br /> so far as to say that it was entirely made up<br /> of reminiscences and recollections of what had<br /> occurred to himself. Mr. Fitzgerald proceeded to<br /> speak of the association of Dickens with Rochester,<br /> and how this locality figured in his books. His<br /> first book was about Rochester, and his last, when<br /> the pen fell from his hand, was about the same<br /> <br /> lace.<br /> <br /> : It was very commonly thought that Dickens<br /> was a town man, but the fact was that his writings<br /> showed an extraordinary knowledge of country life,<br /> and nothing was better than his descriptions of<br /> that life. Dickens enjoyed country walks, and<br /> from personal experience he (Mr. Fitzgerald) could<br /> say that he was a splendid walker. He thought<br /> nothing of a twenty miles’ daily walk. Mr. Fitz-<br /> gerald proceeded to explain how a number of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> localities which had been sketched in Dickens’s<br /> different works had been identified, and spoke in<br /> particular of how he had secured the material for<br /> the Eatanswill election from an electoral contest at<br /> Ipswich which he had reported for the Morning<br /> Chronicle.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hall Caine, who next addressed the meeting,<br /> said he was delighted to take his part in the<br /> establishment of the Fellowship. He had con-<br /> tributed in some degree to history, dictionaries,<br /> and biographies, and he had even written reviews<br /> of novels. None of these had exhausted all his<br /> faculties, but he could. honestly say that in the<br /> creation of the novel the author had to exert all<br /> his strength. He rejoiced in assisting in the<br /> establishment of a Dickens Fellowship, because he<br /> realised that Dickens was a leader of his craft. In<br /> his opinion Dickens was the greatest novelist of<br /> the Victorian or of any era, and he might ven-<br /> ture the further opinion that he was the greatest<br /> novelist of England or any other country. His<br /> <br /> influence was even now wider than that of any<br /> other. He rejoiced, too, because Dickens was in<br /> everything a man of principles. He loved truth,<br /> and he loved justice, and he was the exponent of<br /> the whole science of humanity. In an eminent<br /> ‘degree he was a friend of the poor, and he was<br /> ever ready to say the strong word on behalf of the<br /> down-trodden.<br /> <br /> Then Dickens stood for the love of morality.<br /> He never hesitated to present things in their<br /> nakedness, but the virtue in him was that vice<br /> was always given its true picture. Dickens loved<br /> humanity, and that was the reason that humanity<br /> loved Dickens. Then Dickens stood for the love<br /> of God. Therefore, by establishing a Dickens<br /> Fellowship, they were encouraging truth, justice,<br /> morality, and the love of humanity, and thus they<br /> would be breaking down the barriers between man<br /> and man, and between nation and nation. For<br /> these reasons he wished the Dickens Fellowship<br /> every possible success.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arthur Waugh said that it had been<br /> suggested to him by a very able critic and editor<br /> that there was no particular “use” for such a<br /> Fellowship as this. Well, if it came to that, in<br /> the words of that stern moralist, Mr. Albert<br /> ‘Chevalier, ‘‘ What’s the use of anythink? Why,<br /> nothink !” But if anything that appealed to the<br /> cause of intellectual progress was of “use” in the<br /> world, then there would be abundant use and<br /> value in this commemoration of the greatest<br /> novelist of his time, who taught men so much<br /> sympathy and humanity, and who was.as much<br /> alive now as ever when he was writing, and would<br /> continne to live long after his critics and detractors<br /> were forgotten.<br /> <br /> Mr. Harry Furniss, in a very humorous speech,<br /> <br /> 51<br /> <br /> which provoked much laughter, spoke particularly<br /> of the illustrators of Dickens, and expressed the<br /> opinion that he had never yet been properly<br /> illustrated. His fat women were made thin, and<br /> some like fault could be found in many of the<br /> illustrations of his characters. The difficulty was<br /> that Dickens was so great an artist himself, that<br /> one could see the characters standing out in his<br /> pages better than any artist could drawthem. He<br /> was so fond of Dickens that he employed his spare<br /> time in illustrating him, but whether his work<br /> would ever see the light he did not know. He<br /> added that he had been brought up on Dickens<br /> since he was a small boy, and he was bringing up<br /> his children on Dickens too.<br /> <br /> Mr. Kitton and Mr. Francesco Berger briefly<br /> addressed the meeting.<br /> <br /> The election of officers then took place, Mr.<br /> Percy Fitzgerald being unanimously elected as<br /> President for the year, then Mr. Hall Caine, Mr.<br /> F. G. Kitton, Mr. Harry Furniss, Mr. Francesco<br /> Berger, Mr. W. Moy Thomas, Mr. M. H. Spiel-<br /> mann, Mr. Arthur Waugh, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr.<br /> Hammond Hall, and Sir Henry Irving were<br /> elected as Vice-Presidents, and Mr. B. W. Matz as<br /> Hon. Secretary and Treasurer.<br /> <br /> “Household Words,” founded by Charles Dickens<br /> over 50 years ago, was declared the official organ<br /> of the Dickens Fellowship.<br /> <br /> At the conclusion of the meeting a very hearty<br /> vote of thanks to Mr. Percy Fitzgerald was moved<br /> by Mr. Harry Furniss, seconded by Mr. Hall<br /> Caine, and carried unanimously.<br /> <br /> —_—_——_1—&lt;&gt;—__+___—_—_-<br /> <br /> “THE EDINBURGH REVIEW.”<br /> October, 1802—October, 1902.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> HE centenary of The Edinburgh Review is an<br /> co historical event which cannot be passed<br /> over by any literary paper, and it is fitting<br /> that we should offer a special word of congratula-<br /> tion upon it to Messrs. Longmans, Green &amp; Co.,<br /> who are in 1902, as they were in 1802, the<br /> publishers of what is still a leading enterprise in<br /> periodical literature.<br /> <br /> It is a very easy matter to criticise adversely<br /> the early numbers of the Review, and to express<br /> some tolerant surprise at the amazing popular<br /> success it immediately achieved ; but to do this is<br /> to miss part, if not indeed the major part, of its<br /> original purpose. That it was not primarily in-<br /> tended to deal with literary matters is evident<br /> from the fact that the words “and Critical<br /> Journal” form only its sub-title. Jeffrey himself<br /> wrote as follows to a friend who raised the point :—<br /> 52<br /> <br /> “The Review has but two legs to stand on—<br /> Literature is one of them, but the right leg is<br /> Politics.” It would be more fair, therefore, for<br /> those who would seek to deprecate the worth of<br /> the Review, as originally issued, to devote their<br /> energies to riddling its political front instead of<br /> focussing their attention upon its critical articles.<br /> Yet, so far as we are aware, this has not been<br /> seriously attempted.<br /> <br /> Omitting, as outside our province, any discussion<br /> of the many political questions dealt with as they<br /> arose by the Edinburgh Reviewers, and of the<br /> treatment they received at their hands, it is yet<br /> proper to observe that the function of a great<br /> review is to anticipate the trend of thought upon<br /> subjects of the most diverse interest, to concen-<br /> trate the general attention within practicable<br /> Vimits, and to divert public opinion into that<br /> channel which it believes will lead to the happy<br /> issue. This 7he Edinburgh Review most certainly<br /> did. It stood for Whiggery first of all, and how-<br /> ever it may have blundered in its critical articles,<br /> it became a political force. Its politics may have<br /> been damnable, but its policy was soundly laid<br /> and has endured for a century. :<br /> <br /> It is possible that the explanation of its resisting<br /> power may be found in its consistency. Jeffrey’s<br /> instructions to Macvey Napier as to the responsi-<br /> bilities incidental to the editorial management of<br /> anonymous journalism have been preserved, and<br /> they have always ruled the conduct of the<br /> Review :—<br /> <br /> “There are three legitimate considerations,” he<br /> says, “by which you should be guided in your<br /> conduct as Editor generally ; and particularly as<br /> to the admission or rejection of articles of a political<br /> sort :—1. The effect of your decision on the other<br /> contributors upon whom you mainly rely ; 2. Its<br /> effect on the sale and circulation, and on the just<br /> authority of the work with the great body of its<br /> readers ; and 3. Your own deliberate opinion as to<br /> the safety or danger of the doctrines maintained<br /> in the article under consideration, and its tendency<br /> either to promote or retard the practical adoption<br /> of those liberal principles to which, and ¢heir prac-<br /> tical advancement, you must always consider the<br /> journal as devoted.” .. .<br /> <br /> The Edinburgh Review has at any rate been con-<br /> scientious and consistent, and it preserves vitality<br /> at the expiration of a hundred years. People who<br /> are interested in tracing the practical operation of<br /> principles in the trivial affairs of life may find<br /> some food for reflection in the fact.<br /> <br /> Sydney Smith and his friends not only correctly<br /> estimated the proper functions of their Review,<br /> but they seized the proper moment for its estab-<br /> lishment. By the mere fact of doing the right<br /> thing at the right time they justified their pre-<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> tensions to occupy the pulpit, and on the whole<br /> acquitted themselves remarkably well. Journalistic<br /> conditions are so different now from what they were<br /> then that it is impossible to realise the effect the<br /> Review had upon the intelligent community. The<br /> French Revolution had lately upset the mental<br /> equilibrium of the world, and thinking men were<br /> eager to keep abreast of the wave of intellectual<br /> activity that was sweeping over Europe. The<br /> founders of The Edinburgh Review perceived this.<br /> and leaped forward. They had enthusiasm. They<br /> were on the side of the angels, and were at pains<br /> to let everybody know it. If they sometimes used<br /> exaggerated language, they did so with the utmost<br /> purity of motive. They thought it better to cry<br /> “Havoc” when they scented battle, than to cry<br /> “Peace”? when there was no peace. And,<br /> humanly speaking, they were right. That the<br /> Review should be shorn of much of its political<br /> power in these later days is no reproach to it.<br /> History is made so rapidly that men cannot wait<br /> for quarterlies to shape their opinions on affairs.<br /> But The Edinburgh Review stands for Whiggery<br /> to-day as it stood a hundred years ago, and still<br /> enjoys the closest personal relations with the<br /> leaders of that great historical party.<br /> <br /> To make any adequate comment on its services.<br /> as a critica] journal in the space at our disposal is<br /> manifestly impossible. It established a precedent<br /> for criticism in the grand manner in periodical<br /> literature, and if it sometimes blundered, this was.<br /> the exception, not the rule. To look over the<br /> volumes of the Review is to peep into a vast mine<br /> of erudition, and its articles summarising the<br /> known facts of any given subject dealt with in<br /> books, or groups of books, remain models of what<br /> such literary essays should be. The art brought<br /> to such polished perfection by Macaulay, and first<br /> displayed to a delighted world through the medium<br /> of The Edinburgh Review, still has many able<br /> exponents. That the daily, or even the weekly,<br /> newspapers can cope with a tithe of the books<br /> poured upon the market is out of the question ;<br /> they must either ignore them or spare them space<br /> for a wholly inadequate “notice.” As the writer<br /> of the historical survey in the centenary number<br /> of The Edinburgh Review remarks: ‘ Books that.<br /> have taken able and learned men years to write<br /> deserve to be pondered, not merely to be read,<br /> by those who would give a really adequate account<br /> of them, and would criticise them in the old and<br /> true sense of the word. It is one advantage of the<br /> quarterlies that even in these days of electricity<br /> they have time to think.”<br /> <br /> It is probable, therefore, that it is as a critical<br /> journal rather than as a political review that The<br /> Edinburgh will continue its long and honourable<br /> career, and, as such, the twentieth century will<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 53<br /> <br /> have use for it. That it will maintain its old<br /> tradition of anonymity is devoutly to be wished,<br /> for so long as it preserves its characteristics, only<br /> advantage can be derived from its articles carrying<br /> the full weight of the journal’s prestige, instead of<br /> the mere weight given them by the qualifications<br /> of the individual writers. These characteristics are<br /> erudition without dulness, scholarship without<br /> pedantry, and dignity with restraint. We need<br /> them sorely in this age of flamboyant politics,<br /> hysterical journalism, and superficial cleverness,<br /> and we are confident that we shall continue to<br /> find them in The Edinburgh Review. So shall the<br /> judge not be condemned, even though the guilty<br /> sometimes go scot free.<br /> <br /> —____—___e——__.<br /> <br /> AN AUTUMN SALE.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> soap first crisp breath of autumn in the air<br /> <br /> felt pleasant after the heat and closeness of<br /> <br /> an unusually dry summer. I paused for a<br /> moment outside an A.B.C. shop, undecided<br /> whether to have a cup of tea there, or wait till I<br /> got home ; as I did so a bill fastened to the swing<br /> doors of the adjacent building attracted my<br /> attention. It was worded as follows :—<br /> <br /> Sate. THs Day.<br /> <br /> END OF SEASON.<br /> <br /> In order to make room for an entirely<br /> new stock of Sea-side novel plots, and<br /> Summer Number novelties, the following<br /> Lots of valuable material for the manu-<br /> facture of Christmas Stories will be sold<br /> by auction.<br /> <br /> Sale at 2.45 for 3 to the minute.<br /> <br /> Then followed a lengthy catalogue, which at first<br /> T could not understand. It being then a quarter<br /> past three, and having rather a weakness for<br /> attending sales, I opened the swing doors, and<br /> walked inside.<br /> <br /> A crowd of persons of both sexes filled the<br /> reom, the faces of some seeming to bear striking<br /> resemblance to portraits [ had seen in the illus-<br /> trated magazines. The auctioneer was at his<br /> desk, hammer in hand ; but I saw no signs of the<br /> property which was to be sold. The assistant,<br /> who on these occasions exhibits the lots by<br /> holding them up, or handing them round, sat, in<br /> his shirt-sleeves, at a side table, having before him<br /> a list, and a pile of envelopes, each of which was<br /> numbered.<br /> <br /> “Two shillings I’m bid,” the auctioneer was<br /> chanting. ‘Two shillings, two and three, two<br /> and six. Two and six for the haunted room, with<br /> wood fire, and four-post bed; two and six ; why<br /> the room itself is worth the money, nothing ever<br /> seen, but people die of fright, and are found with<br /> petrified look of horror on their faces in the<br /> morning. No advance on two and six? Come,<br /> we must get on. Going at two and siz—at two<br /> and six!” Rap.<br /> <br /> I did not see who had secured the bargain, but<br /> the price seemed ridiculously small for a haunted<br /> room, four-post bed, and wood fire ; and I expressed<br /> this opinion to a seedy, elderly-looking man who<br /> stood by my side.<br /> <br /> “Small! Pooh—nonsense,” he replied. “ Quite<br /> out of date now. I know that bed; slept in it<br /> myself a dozen times—at least my characters have.<br /> You wouldn’t get ten shillings a thousand for it<br /> now.”<br /> <br /> “Not ten shillings for a thousand bedsteads ?”’<br /> I repeated, astonished.<br /> <br /> “No, words,’ he snapped. “ Don’t you under-<br /> stand this is an end-of-the-season clearance sale<br /> of material for Christmas stories.”<br /> <br /> “ But it still wants three months to Christmas.”<br /> <br /> ‘© Of course, but the Christmas stories have all<br /> been written long ago; most of them finished<br /> before Midsummer Day. Buyers are acquiring<br /> stuff now with an eye to publication in fifteen<br /> months’ time.”<br /> <br /> “Less talking, please,” cried the auctioneer.<br /> “We&#039;ve got to the end of the Haunted Houses,<br /> and now we come to Lot 15. A ship’s captain and<br /> a plum-pudding. By the way, Sam, isn’t there a<br /> storm at sea goes with this lot ?”<br /> <br /> “It’s put along of the other storms,” answered<br /> Sam, referring to his list. “There y’are : Lot 43,<br /> a storm at sea; two snowstorms; and some wind,<br /> rain, and hinky darkness.”<br /> <br /> “It ought by rights to have gone with this lot,”<br /> said the Knight of the Hammer. “Still, we&#039;d<br /> better keep to the catalogue. What shall we say<br /> for the sea captain and his plum-pudding?”<br /> Will someone start the bidding ?”<br /> <br /> “Old as the hills,’ grumbled my companion.<br /> “Done to death, both in letterpress and<br /> illustration.”<br /> <br /> An elderly lady with spectacles eventually<br /> bought the captain and pudding, though at a price<br /> which the auctioneer declared was “ giving the<br /> things away.”<br /> <br /> «Tot 16” was the next announcement. “ 7&#039;wo<br /> starving children; one drunken father ; and an<br /> angel, slightly damaged. What&#039;s the matter with<br /> the angel, Sam?”<br /> <br /> “ Hold age, I suppose,” mumbled Sam. “The<br /> feathers is a-coming out of its wings.”<br /> <br /> ’<br /> <br /> %<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> bd THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> “ Perhaps it’s moulting, sir,” suggested a wag<br /> in the crowd.<br /> <br /> “Jn that case we may hope the feathers will<br /> come again ; at all events there’s no doubt about<br /> the children and drunken father. Now, what shall<br /> we say for Lot 16?”<br /> <br /> The spectacled lady was again a bidder, but<br /> this time she was not going to have it all her own<br /> way, for the lot seemed to have taken the fancy of<br /> a rotund, benevolent-looking gentleman, dressed<br /> in clerical clothes. Neither, however, seemed.<br /> inclined to pay a long price, and the hammer fell<br /> on the lady’s bid. :<br /> <br /> «“ That’s Miss Selina Simmonds,” muttered my<br /> companion. “ She’s prepared to buy up any<br /> amount of cheap stuff. Writes Children’s Columns<br /> and that sort of thing.” °<br /> <br /> “4 mad engine-driver; an armed commercial<br /> traveller ; a night express ; and a@ broken viaduct,”<br /> read out the auctioneer.<br /> <br /> “ That lot’s withdrawn,” remarked Sam.<br /> <br /> “ How’s that ?”<br /> <br /> “J dunno; it ain’t here. Better take the<br /> next.”<br /> <br /> “ Lot 18,” went on the auctioneer, brightening<br /> up. ‘“ Here’s something quite novel and up to<br /> date. Society lady, with smirched reputation ; and<br /> a double suicide. Just the thing for a Christmas<br /> number. Wait a moment; we&#039;ll take Lot 19 with<br /> it, and try them together. Lof 19, @ phial con-<br /> taining a narcotic drug.”<br /> <br /> To my surprise the bidding for this property<br /> was quite brisk, the best-dressed portion of the<br /> audience seeming to vie with each other for its<br /> possession. At length a fashionably-attired lady<br /> secured it with evident satisfaction.<br /> <br /> “Next we come to Lot 20,” proceeded the<br /> auctioneer. “An Assortment of Suggestive Titles.<br /> Read ’em out, Sam.”<br /> <br /> “ The Crack of Doom; Christmas with a Corpse ;<br /> By Midnight Mail; The Grave-Digger’s Story ; A<br /> Ghastly Secret,’ intoned the assistant.<br /> <br /> Once more the flagging interest of the assembly<br /> seemed quickened, and there was no lack of<br /> offers.<br /> <br /> “ Now, we’ve got a number of miscellaneous lots<br /> to deal with. Lot 21, five nine-gallon casks of<br /> blood. What am I offered for Lot 21?”<br /> <br /> There was no response.<br /> <br /> “Tt’s all ’uman blood,” prompted Sam from<br /> his table.<br /> <br /> “Come,” cried the salesman, “won’t anyone<br /> make a start? Nothing like plenty of blood in a<br /> Christmas story.”<br /> <br /> “Five casks is rather a large quantity for a<br /> single buyer,” suggested a gentleman.<br /> <br /> “Well, let’s divide the lot,” replied the<br /> auctioneer, making a pencil memo, on his<br /> <br /> catalogue. ‘ Lot 21a, three casks of blood; and<br /> Lot 210, the remaining two casks.”<br /> <br /> Under the new conditions the lot was soon<br /> disposed of ; everyone present seemed to have a<br /> use for blood, and bids were fired at the auctioneer<br /> from all quarters.<br /> <br /> The man by my side made an impatient<br /> movement. “I thought I’d wait and see how that<br /> went,” he remarked, pointing to a cross against<br /> one of the numbers on his catalogue. “ It’s sure<br /> to come in useful; but no, I shan’t stop any<br /> longer.”<br /> <br /> Lot 42, four unspeakable horrors. This was<br /> the line he indicated. We left the room, and<br /> passed through the swing doors together.<br /> <br /> “Christmas story writing must be rather a<br /> morbid and depressing sort of business,” I ventured<br /> to suggest.<br /> <br /> “Well, yes,” he answered, “if you keep abreast.<br /> of the times, and go in for good prices. Tt used<br /> not to be so,” he added, a trifle sadly, speaking as<br /> one who realises that his own day is past. «y<br /> remember the time when we used to go in for holly<br /> and good-cheer, warm firesides, and happy endings ;<br /> but bless you, that’s all altered now.”<br /> <br /> With a parting wave of his hand he turned<br /> abruptly, and went his way. The autumn chill,<br /> had strengthened in the air; I almost wished I had<br /> worn an overcoat.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> THE “YOUNG IDEA’S” VIEWS ON<br /> POETRY.<br /> <br /> — &gt;<br /> <br /> [Reprinted by kind permission of the Editor from:<br /> the American Critic. ]<br /> <br /> A TEACHER in a public school in one of our<br /> <br /> larger cities thought to teach the Young<br /> Idea something about the beauty and meaning of<br /> poetry. Her class consisted of boys and girls<br /> from fourteen to eighteen years of age and of fair<br /> average intelligence. She read them Browning’s<br /> “ Meeting at Night,” and asked them to write out<br /> their opinions of the subject and its treatment..<br /> This they did with the unhesitating confidence of<br /> youth. Here is the poem:<br /> <br /> 1,<br /> <br /> The grey sea and the long plack land ;<br /> And the yellow half-moon large and low ;<br /> ‘And the startled little waves that leap<br /> In fiery ringlets from their sleep,<br /> <br /> As I gain the cove with pushing prow,<br /> And quench its speed i the slushy sand.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> wes<br /> <br /> Ie<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 55.<br /> <br /> Il.<br /> <br /> Then a mile of sea-scented beach ;<br /> <br /> Three fields to cross till a farm appears ;<br /> <br /> A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch<br /> And blue spurt of a lighted match,<br /> <br /> And a voice less loud, through joys and fears,<br /> Then two hearts beating each to each !<br /> <br /> Some of the more candid criticisms are here<br /> ae 7 as they were wrote,” spelling, punctuation,<br /> and all :—<br /> <br /> “J think it presents a fine moonlight picture.<br /> it tell how far he has to travel and the greeting<br /> when he arrives, at the farm house, I think it is a<br /> sailor coming home from a voyage. ‘I&#039;he peace is<br /> wrote in Irvings style being compact and expresses<br /> a clear idea in a very few lines.”<br /> <br /> “ T do not like it because it is not closely enough<br /> connected. The description of the sea or land is<br /> not very good. It isa very hurried description.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> “J think it is too dark because It would take<br /> longer that the time it took in the poetry and it<br /> show how scared a woman gets because when she<br /> heard him she could hardly talk between fear.”<br /> <br /> «This short piece of poetry in my opinion is a<br /> nice opening for a story because Brown illustrates<br /> it so finely as the moonlight on the lake.”<br /> <br /> “J think this little poetry is nice because it<br /> tells the nice route of the lover and would be much<br /> more beautiful if it was longer and contained many<br /> more interesting facts.”<br /> <br /> “Poor. Because it starts to quickly and because<br /> it tells nothing of where he was or how he came to<br /> be in the book and he skipped from the ocean to<br /> the moon &amp; then back to the water.”<br /> <br /> “1 think It is a nice poem it explains about a<br /> man walking up the sea shore in dark he is just<br /> going home from work and as he reaches the house<br /> he tapps at the window to let his wife or friend<br /> know that it is no stranger or no body that will<br /> hurt her.”<br /> <br /> “TI think it is pretty good because it is taken<br /> from life and that when a man goes home he always<br /> kisses his wife.”<br /> <br /> “T don’t like it because it is not natural and I<br /> don’t think it is a piece of poetry.”<br /> <br /> “It is very pretty for the reason that is shows<br /> affection and because of the beautiful description<br /> of the road which the gentleman takes at sunset.”<br /> <br /> “The man came down the lake in a boat and<br /> was much excited and hurried to the land. The<br /> tide was coming in and he was obliged to walk<br /> along the beach and long distance and hurried<br /> across the fields and came to the farm house and<br /> rapped on the window and his lover lit a match<br /> and appeared at the window.”<br /> <br /> “Tts good. Because he has a good choice of<br /> words and has a good ending and describes the<br /> anxiety of the husband.”<br /> <br /> “Tt is no good. Because I think it is foolish.”<br /> <br /> “JT think it is good because it tells the hard<br /> time a man has in coming home sometimes.”<br /> <br /> “Tt is fairly good but I can see but little sence.<br /> It is well worded and the words are well connected.”<br /> <br /> “Good, because as a short passage it gives a<br /> good description from being to end of a Lovers<br /> course to his most Beloved.”<br /> <br /> “T think it is the description of a lover going to<br /> sce his sweetheart. But I believe it would be better<br /> if the sweetheart had had the light burning pre-<br /> vious to his arrival. The description of the waves<br /> as they beat against the boat is very good.”<br /> <br /> “TJ think it has very good descriptions, but I<br /> don’t fancy sentimental things, and that closes in<br /> that way.”<br /> <br /> “T think it is no good for a description of a<br /> lonely walk for there is not enough description of<br /> the walk to give you an idea of the beauty of the<br /> scenery. It isnot as good as the description of<br /> the moonlight on the snow in Snow Bound. The<br /> poem does not give enough time to the subject.”<br />  <br /> <br /> 56<br /> <br /> «J think this is a very beautiful piece of poetry.<br /> For one reason I think it must have tickled the<br /> young girl to see her lover coming to see her and<br /> how happy she must have felt to be in his com-<br /> pany for the remainder of the evening. As I am<br /> not interested in love and no but very little about<br /> it I can give no further explanation in regard<br /> to it.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> “Pretty Bum because its to wishy-washy and<br /> because 1 don’t think it likely also because I dont<br /> like rhythm.”<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> Se<br /> “AUTHOR AND EDITOR.”<br /> <br /> Srr,—I think your correspondent is rather hard<br /> on the editor of the Westminster Gazette. These<br /> are bookmaking days, and it is quite impossible<br /> for editors to find space to review anything like<br /> every book published. Hence there must always<br /> be a good many minor works which only have the<br /> good fortune to be reviewed in papers of secondary<br /> importance.<br /> <br /> New volumes of verse, even by the most cele-<br /> brated writers, are not much read by the British<br /> public nowadays, and the editor is bound to use his<br /> valuable space for popular novels and standard<br /> works. But even so, books of real merit often<br /> get passed over. It is the custom, I believe, for<br /> the editor to hand the books sent to him for<br /> criticism to his reviewer. The latter makes a<br /> selection of the books he intends to notice, and<br /> puts the remainder aside. Thus an excellent work<br /> by an unknown author might only be rewarded by<br /> having its title-page read! How much chance, for<br /> instance, would “Paradise Lost” have of being<br /> widely reviewed, were Mr. John Milton an obscure<br /> poet of to-day ?<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> <br /> F. J. WINBOLT.<br /> October 6th, 1902.<br /> <br /> 1 —<br /> <br /> STANDARD RULES FOR PRINTING.<br /> <br /> Srr,—If any improvement is to be effected in<br /> <br /> our spelling rules and customs, it must be by<br /> <br /> means of free discussion in the first place. So I<br /> <br /> gladly welcome the criticism of “W. W.S.” on my<br /> note, and equally gladly defer to him on any point<br /> which he can fairly establish against me.<br /> <br /> But let<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> me explain further about words in -able, full in<br /> composition, and the spelling of such words as<br /> connection and inflection.<br /> <br /> 1. The object of my note was to gain a hearing<br /> for the simplification of our recognised spelling<br /> rules, and to make them less difficult by minimising<br /> the useless exceptions. My critic would apparently<br /> keep a number of these trying exceptions, because<br /> of the manner in which the words have come inte<br /> our language. For instance, he would keep -iae<br /> because it is Greek and phonetic. The obvious<br /> reply is that -ise is equally phonetic. Ours has two<br /> sounds, and it is no use pretending that we cannot<br /> make z sounds with it—try “nose,” ‘‘eyes,” “flies,”<br /> etc.; or again, he would keep the # in “ connection ”<br /> and “inflection,” because it is etymological and<br /> phonetic. But to spell these words with a c¢ equally<br /> preserves the etymology and the sound, and so<br /> there is no need for the .<br /> <br /> 2. I considered myself under the necessity of<br /> brevity, as I do now; and it was under this dis-<br /> advantage that I only partially and awkwardly<br /> explained myself about Latin words in -&lt;b/e. My<br /> idea was to make as many words as possible take<br /> the ending -able, and only to accept -2ble and -wble<br /> when absolutely necessary, on account of long use<br /> through direct derivation from Latin words in<br /> -ibilis. Possibly “W. W. 8.” and I together could<br /> draw up an acceptable list of such words.<br /> <br /> 3. For the sake of making some definite rule<br /> which will hold in all cases, I still consider my<br /> suggestion regarding the spelling of fu/? in com-<br /> position worthy of consideration. It is impractic-<br /> able to spell by stress, for pronunciation throughout<br /> England is largely a matter of taste, locality, and<br /> education. For a fixed standard there must be a<br /> fixed rule.<br /> <br /> 4. I shall be glad of criticisms on the other<br /> points, e.g., the adding of -ed, ~ing, -er, and other<br /> syllables; the spelling of “ attendance ” and<br /> “dependant,” etc. ; the use of a and an before the<br /> letter A.<br /> <br /> FUR:<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> TYPEWRITING.<br /> To the Editor of THR AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Srr,—Should any of your readers know of an<br /> intelligent type-writing lady, will they be so kind<br /> as to communicate to me her name and address.<br /> <br /> -GHORGE CECIL.<br /> <br /> Pall Mall Club,<br /> <br /> 12, St. James’s Square, 8.W.<br /> September 1st, 1902.<br /> <br /> Che Hutbhor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR<br /> <br /> Monthly.)<br /> <br /> WALTER BESANT.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/477/1902-11-01-The-Author-13-2.pdf	publications, The Author
478	https://historysoa.com/items/show/478	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 03 (December 1902)	<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+03+%28December+1902%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 03 (December 1902)</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>	1902-12-01-The-Author-13-3					57–80																		<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=1902-12-01">1902-12-01</a>							3			19021201	VOL, SITT_ No. 3.<br /> <br /> DECEMBER Ist, 1902.<br /> <br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> CHANGE OF ADDRESS.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> As mistakes still occur with regard to the<br /> Address of the Society, it has been thought<br /> expedient to continue this Notice, that the Office<br /> of the Society is situated at—<br /> <br /> 39, OLD QUEEN STREET,<br /> STOREY’S GATE, S.W.<br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> <br /> . lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> —_—_____ —~&gt;—_<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> <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 /> Tue Editor begs to inform Members of the<br /> Authors’ Society and other readers of The Author<br /> <br /> . that the cases which are from time to time quoted<br /> <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 /> TuE list of members of the Society of Authors<br /> can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,<br /> at the price of 6d. net.<br /> <br /> It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> only.<br /> <br /> You, XIII.<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 /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> ORCS Fo ie £816 5 6<br /> Wocal Woans 20.2.3... 404 10 0<br /> <br /> Victorian Government 3 % Con-<br /> solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11<br /> War dan 252 3 201 9 3<br /> Moual 4. ae. Si7i4 4 8<br /> <br /> There is, in addition, a balance of about £20<br /> in the Bank to cover current expenses and the<br /> payment of pensions. This does not include the<br /> amount received from the special appeal sent out<br /> in November.<br /> <br /> The subscriptions and donations from June 24th<br /> are as follows.<br /> <br /> Further sums will be acknowledged from month<br /> to month as they come to hand.<br /> <br /> DONATIONS.<br /> July 17, Capes, Bernard E. ............ 50 bo: 9<br /> Oct. 28, Evans, Miss May ............ 0.5 0<br /> Noy. 11, Bisiker, Wo 0... 0 5 0<br /> ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.<br /> July 19, Warden, Miss Gertrude...... 20 8 8<br /> Oct. 21, Thomson, Miss ©. L.......... 0 5 0<br /> Oct. 23, Butter, . 1.7... QO 5. 0<br /> e<br /> <br /> SpeciAL APPEAL.<br /> <br /> Tue Appeal sent out by the Chairman of the<br /> Society at the request of the Pension Fund Com-<br /> mittee has been, so far, very successful.<br /> <br /> Up to and including the 22nd of November, the<br /> list of subscriptions and donations promised and<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> 58<br /> <br /> given is set forth below. Further subscriptions<br /> and donations will be acknowledged in the January<br /> <br /> number.<br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Tuckett, F. i : : .£1 0 0<br /> » Cox, Miss Roalfe 0 5.0<br /> » Loynbee, William . 010 6<br /> , Anonymous . ’ : 1 0 0<br /> » odd, Miss Margaret, M.D. 1 1 oO<br /> », Pearson, Mrs. Conney 2 2 0<br /> » Seaman, Owen . ; i 0<br /> » Abbot, Rev. Edwin A. D.D.. 1 0 9<br /> » Witherby, Rev. C. . : 0 5 0<br /> » _ salwey, Reginald E. 010 0<br /> » Vacher, Francis 11.0<br /> <br /> Noy. 15, Parr, Mrs. - : Taleo<br /> » Davy, Mrs. E. M. . : 010 6<br /> » Allingham, William, F.R.C.S. 1 1 O<br /> » Armstrong, Miss Frances O b&amp;b 0<br /> <br /> » Holmes, Arthur H. (condi-<br /> <br /> tional) 1 A 0<br /> <br /> » Rattray, Alex. : : 0 5 0<br /> <br /> , Brodrick, The Honble. Mrs. . 1 1 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 17, Nesbit, Hume ; 010 0<br /> <br /> » Keene, H.G.,C081. . 520 07-0<br /> <br /> » Bayly, Miss A. E. (Edna Lyall) 1 1 0<br /> <br /> » Forbes, E. . : 2 2 0<br /> <br /> : Spiers, Victor. : ; 0 5 0<br /> <br /> » Kroeker, Mrs. Freiligrath 0 5 0<br /> <br /> » Burrowes, Miss Elsa 1 1 0<br /> <br /> » Cooke-Taylor, R. W. 1 0. 0<br /> <br /> Noy. 18, Voysey, Rev. Charles 10 0<br /> <br /> » Jones, W. Braunston 0220. 0<br /> <br /> » Anonymous . : 0 5 0<br /> <br /> », Salmond, Mrs. Walter 0 5 0<br /> <br /> ,» Anonymous ; 1.0 0<br /> <br /> ,, Clough, Miss B. A. 010 6<br /> <br /> 5 Stanton, Miss H. M. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> » “Lucas Malet” 2.2 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 20, E.G. . : : 010 0<br /> <br /> » Jenkins, Miss Hadow O50<br /> <br /> » Morrah, H. A. ‘ 010 6<br /> <br /> » Hatton-Ellis, Mrs. . 11.0<br /> <br /> . Bertouch, The Baroness de 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Anonymous 0 2 6<br /> <br /> Nov. 21, Parr, Miss Olive 0. 5 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 22, Forbes, Lady Helen 1200<br /> <br /> », Twycross, Miss M. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Donatwns.<br /> <br /> Noy. 13, Bullen, F. T.. : : so 0 0<br /> » Roberts, Morley (an annual<br /> <br /> subscriber) . ; 010 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Rossetti, W.M. . -- 4 0 0<br /> <br /> Marshall, Capt. Robert . 5 5 0<br /> <br /> », Hoyer, Miss . ‘ 1.0 0<br /> <br /> oc of MS, D0 0<br /> <br /> » Lefroy, Mrs. . a)<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Sinclair, Miss May (an annual<br /> subscriber) . ; : £<br /> , McBride, Capt. E. E.<br /> 5, Garnier, Russell .<br /> Noy. 15, Burchell, Sidney H.<br /> 5 “Spero” : :<br /> » Cecil Medlicott” .<br /> ss Harker, Mrs. Allen<br /> a Banks, Mrs. M. M.<br /> a Spielmann, M.H. .<br /> » Garnier, Col. J. .<br /> 5 Benecke, Miss Ida .<br /> , Atton, Henry :<br /> Nov. 17, Panter, Rev. C. B..<br /> » Keene, H. G., C.8.I.<br /> <br /> a<br /> wore<br /> <br /> ay<br /> <br /> Soo or eococeoNecr aS<br /> Hee =<br /> SB DOW MO OH AUMAAHOSWONS<br /> <br /> oooeo ee<br /> <br /> », Spielmann, Mrs. M. 4H. . 1<br /> » Begbie, Harold 73<br /> 4, Stevenson, J.J. . : 10<br /> , Minniken, Miss Bertha M. 0<br /> Noy. 18, From sale of autograph . 1<br /> » Wintle, H. R. : : 0<br /> ». Brickdale-Corbett, H.M. . 0<br /> ». Defries, Miss Violet , 0<br /> Nov. 19, Stanton, Miss Hannah M. 1<br /> » Warren, Major-General Sir<br /> Charles, K.C.M.G. 1 0<br /> ». “Lucas Malet”. : 5 5<br /> Nov. 20, Wynne, Charles Whitworth 5b<br /> Nov. 22, Skeat, The Rev. Prof. W. We. 5 8<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 Rev. H.<br /> <br /> Guthrie, Anstey.<br /> <br /> Robertson, C. B.<br /> <br /> There are in addition other subscribers who do<br /> <br /> not desire that either their names or the amount’<br /> <br /> they are subscribing should be printed.<br /> <br /> The total amount of cash actually received is.<br /> £147 18s.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hamilton Drummond, who is a member of<br /> our Society, has offered a subscription of £10 for<br /> <br /> five years, if nine other members of the Society<br /> <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. . . : : 10 0 8<br /> Drummond, Hamilton : . . 10 0 0<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Tue Pension Funpd COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> In order to give members of the Society, should<br /> they desire to appoint a fresh member to the<br /> Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has<br /> been thought advisable to place in 7he Author a<br /> full statement of the method of election under the<br /> Scheme for administration of the Pension Fund.<br /> Under that Scheme the Committee is composed of<br /> three members elected by the Committee of the<br /> Society, three members elected by the Society at<br /> the General Meeting, and the Chairman of the<br /> Society for the time being, ex officio. The three<br /> members elected at the General Meeting when the<br /> Fund was started, were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.<br /> M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie. Last<br /> year, Mrs. Alec Tweedie resigned in due course,<br /> and submitting her name for re-election was<br /> unanimously re-elected. This year, Mr. Morley<br /> Roberts in turn, under the Rules of the Scheme,<br /> tenders his resignation and submits his name for<br /> re-election. The members have power to put for-<br /> ward other names under Clause 9 which runs as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “* Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-<br /> mittee by the members of the Society (mot being a retiring<br /> member of such Committee) shall be nominated in writing<br /> <br /> to the Secretary, at least three weeks prior to the General<br /> Meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and the<br /> nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed by,<br /> at least, three members of the Society. A list of the names<br /> of the candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members<br /> of the Society with the annual report of the Managing<br /> Committee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes<br /> at the General Meeting shall be elected to serve on the<br /> Pension Fund Committee.”<br /> <br /> Tn case any member should desire to refer to the<br /> List of Members, a copy complete, with the excep-<br /> tion of those members referred to in the note at<br /> the beginning, can be obtained at the Society’s<br /> -otfice.<br /> <br /> Tt would be as well, therefore, should any of the<br /> members desire to put forward candidates, to take<br /> the matter within their immediate consideration.<br /> ‘The General Meeting of the Society has usually<br /> been held towards the end of February or the<br /> beginning of March. This notice will be repeated<br /> in the January number of Vhe Author. It is<br /> essential that all nominations should be in the<br /> hands of the Secretary before the 31st of January,<br /> 1903.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> <br /> THE amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is.:....... £327 15 0<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions stil<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,<br /> <br /> 59<br /> <br /> about £4. The subscriptions received from March<br /> to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Anonymous. : : : - £17670<br /> Champneys, Basil . : I)<br /> “ Colonia,” Natal, 8. Africa 1. 0<br /> Fife Cookson, Lt.-Col. F. C. Tet 6<br /> Gunter, Lt.-Col. E. A. : 010 0<br /> Harding, Capt. Claud, R.N. I.0 0<br /> Hurry, A. ; : : : : 010 6<br /> Keary, C. F. (amount not to be men-<br /> tioned)<br /> <br /> Kinns, The Rev. Samuel, D.D. .<br /> Millais; J.G. : :<br /> Quiller Couch, Miss M.<br /> Sterry, J. Ashby 3 :<br /> Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir R. C.<br /> Underdown, Miss E.<br /> Lockyer, Sir T. Norman<br /> Beale, Miss Mary<br /> <br /> Bolam, Rey. ©. E.<br /> <br /> Egbert, Henry :<br /> Eccles, Miss O’Connor<br /> Darwin, Francis ; :<br /> Montgomery-Campbell, Miss<br /> Medlicott, Cecil<br /> <br /> Saxby, Miss.<br /> <br /> Caine, T. H. Hall<br /> <br /> Marris, Miss Murrell<br /> <br /> S. B. : :<br /> Bloomfield, J. H. .<br /> <br /> F. O. B. (Coventry) .<br /> Seton-Karr, H. W.<br /> <br /> Heriot, Cheyne :<br /> Charley, Sir W. T., K.C.<br /> <br /> “« Hsme Stuart ” ;<br /> Charlton, Miss Emily<br /> Kroeker, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Aflalo, F. G.<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . ;<br /> Salwey, Reginald EH.<br /> Gidley, Miss E. C.<br /> <br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> —_<br /> SCH OR COOH OHHH OO ONMWOHRFROHS<br /> <br /> —<br /> NOOR NW OOOH OO O19 OOS BS BY OF OTD OD OL HY OL OF<br /> <br /> —ROCCOePecocooeceacooqoorcoocoo Coco oCcoaoaocoooooo Oo<br /> <br /> SocrFNwocoH<br /> KH<br /> <br /> o&gt;<br /> So<br /> <br /> — + os<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> T the Committee Meeting held on Monday,<br /> <br /> November 10th, the Chairman reported<br /> <br /> he had heard from Mr. Frampton, R.A.,<br /> <br /> that the Sir Walter Besant Memorial Tablet was<br /> <br /> almost complete. Mr. A. Hope Hawkins and<br /> <br /> Mr. Austin Dobson were appointed as a Sub-<br /> committee to settle the inscription.<br /> <br /> There were one or two cases discussed; but it<br /> <br /> would be prejudicial to their settlement to report<br /> <br /> upon them.<br />  <br /> <br /> 60<br /> <br /> The Secretary has dealt with seven cases only<br /> during the past month, two referring to accounts,<br /> two for the return of MSS., and three for payment<br /> of money. ‘They have all been satisfactorily<br /> settled with the exception of one claim for the<br /> payment of money, which is in the course of<br /> settlement.<br /> <br /> The matters that were open from the former<br /> month have all been settled with the exception of<br /> two small cases, in which the negotiations are<br /> rather complicated. They are, however, proceeding<br /> satisfactorily. It has not been necessary to place<br /> any further disputes in the hands of the Society’s<br /> solicitors for settlement in the courts. Neither<br /> have any of the cases already in their hands been<br /> concluded since the last issue of 7’he Author.<br /> <br /> —1—&gt;+<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> November Elections.<br /> <br /> Bannon, Mrs. : . $87, Alexandra Court,<br /> Queen’s Gate, S.W.<br /> Brown, Alan Roderick Lancing College, Shore-<br /> Haig (&amp;. A.). ham, Sussex.<br /> Cecil, George 16, Panton Street, Hay-<br /> market, S.W.<br /> Tournafulla, Newcastle<br /> West, Co. Limerick.<br /> Holly House, Gateshead-<br /> on-Tyne.<br /> 6, Lawn Crescent, Kew<br /> Gardens, 8. W.<br /> Macquoid, Mrs. Kathe- The Edge, Lucien Rd.,<br /> rine 8. Tooting Common.<br /> Shorrock, Mrs. S. Hope 39, Kiangse Rd., Shan-<br /> : ghai, China.<br /> <br /> The Manse, Hambledon,<br /> Henley-on-Thames.<br /> Leez Priory, Hartford<br /> <br /> -End, Chelmsford.<br /> Williams, Dawson 2, Wyndham Place, W.<br /> <br /> Only one member of those elected does not<br /> desire publication of his name and address.<br /> <br /> Since the beginning of the year 173 members<br /> and associates have been elected.<br /> <br /> Lane, T. O’Neill .<br /> Lister, Walter H. .<br /> Mackay, Wallis<br /> <br /> Thomas, Rev. G. P.<br /> <br /> Turner-Turner, J.<br /> <br /> tee<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> —1—&gt;— +<br /> <br /> M* and Mrs, Sidney Webb are engaged on<br /> a long investigation into English Local<br /> Government, with a view to describing its<br /> <br /> structure and function during the whole of the<br /> <br /> nineteenth century. The first part of their work,<br /> extending down to 1835, and dealing with ‘The<br /> <br /> End of the Old Order,” may be expected to appear<br /> <br /> next spring.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Mr. Max Pemberton is writing a story of the<br /> last days of Venice for the Graphic, and is spend-<br /> ing the winter at Brighton, and afterwards at<br /> Venice to do it. He is also finishing an Old<br /> English comedy which he wrote last summer 3.<br /> he is now re-casting it.<br /> <br /> Mr. William Toynbee has been engaged on a.<br /> <br /> satire, dealing with certain aspects, political and<br /> social, of the present day. This satire, which is.<br /> in dramatic form, will be published almost imme-<br /> diately by Mr. Glaisher, of Wigmore Street, under<br /> the title of “‘ When the Devil Drives.”<br /> <br /> In addition to the series of papers, ‘ Mankind<br /> in the Making,” now appearing in the Fortnightly<br /> Review, and destined to make a companion volume<br /> <br /> to “ Anticipations,” Mr. H.G. Wells has two other<br /> <br /> books in preparation. One is the story ofa draper’s<br /> assistant who rises in the world. It was com-<br /> <br /> menced in 1898, when “ Love and Mr. Lewisham”<br /> <br /> was finished, and is not likely to be ready for<br /> publication before 1904.<br /> <br /> The other was begun last year ; itis the story of<br /> <br /> the most momentous discovery in the world, and<br /> it will probably be ready for serialization by 1904.<br /> <br /> Mr. William Le Queux is very busy. For nearly<br /> a year he has been at work on a new novel which<br /> is to appear as a serial in England and America<br /> next spring. It will run over here in Chambers’<br /> Journal. Some of the action takes place in<br /> Galloway; and as this popular author is extremely<br /> particular about the accuracy of his local colour, he<br /> <br /> has been visiting Mr. Crockett’s country recently.<br /> <br /> Other scenes are laid at Crowland Abbey and in<br /> London.<br /> <br /> The title of Mr. Leonard Williams’ new work.<br /> <br /> on Spain which will shortly be published by<br /> Messrs. Cassell &amp; Co., Limited, has been changed<br /> <br /> from “Madrid: Her Records and Romances” to-<br /> <br /> “Toledo and Madrid: ‘Their Records and<br /> Romances.” The scope of the text has been<br /> enlarged ; the plates will be fifty instead of the<br /> <br /> thirty that were originally projected ; and the-<br /> <br /> price in consequence has been raised from 10s.<br /> net to 12s. 6d. net.<br /> <br /> His many readers will be sorry to learn that<br /> there is no immediate prospect of any new poetical<br /> work from the pen of Sir Lewis Morris. The<br /> thirteenth edition of his ‘‘ Works” is, however, just<br /> published, and contains his last book, ‘ Harvest-<br /> tide.” It comprises everything he has written<br /> <br /> except the Coronation and Installation Odes of<br /> <br /> this year.<br /> <br /> Miss Nethersole has still the refusal of his.<br /> <br /> «“Gycia,” while his other play, “ The Life and<br /> <br /> Death of the Emperor Leo the Armenian,” is-<br /> <br /> under offer to Sir Henry Irving.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> ie<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> peek td pk PD<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 61<br /> <br /> Professor Victor Spiers, of King’s College,<br /> London, has published this year with Messrs.<br /> Simpkins, Marshall &amp; Co. two books, one for our<br /> children, the other for older students. The ‘“‘Second<br /> French Book” is adapted for the upper forms of<br /> preparatory schools, and for the junior forms of<br /> public schools, z.e., for boys and girls of twelve to<br /> fifteen years of age.<br /> <br /> It follows upon the lines of the “ First French<br /> Book,” embodying the best features of the newer<br /> aud successful methods in vogue on the Continent,<br /> and adapting these to British standpoints and<br /> ideals. It contains charming illustrations, anec-<br /> dotes, puns and songs of eminently French stamp,<br /> glimpses into French history and present French<br /> life, as well as a visit to Paris. The practical utility<br /> of learning how to write a letter in French is recog-<br /> nised, and free composition is practised in its three<br /> forms. Outlines of conversations and proverbs are<br /> given in each of the forty lessons. At the same<br /> time all the essentials of French grammar are given<br /> in French at the end of the book.<br /> <br /> The second book is the ‘‘ Senior French Reciter.”’<br /> Professor Spiers believes in phonetic transcript, and<br /> has transcribed some of the finest pages of the authors<br /> of the Golden Age of French literature. The author,<br /> in his Preface, emphasises the fact that in every piece<br /> learned by heart from an ordinary text-book, the<br /> best pupils get into their heads a few mispronun-<br /> ciations hard to eradicate. With the phonetic<br /> transcript, he asserts from his experience, these<br /> mispronunciations are reduced to a minimum. It<br /> is a sequel to his “Junior French Reciter,” and<br /> the phonetic alphabet adopted is that of the M. P.<br /> (Maitre Phonétique), viz., of the International<br /> Phonetic Association.<br /> <br /> Sir Herbert Maxwell has in the press a History<br /> of British Fresh-Water Fish. It is a volume of<br /> Messrs. Hutchinson’s Woburn Library Series. It<br /> is illustrated from photographs.<br /> <br /> This indefatigable author will issue through<br /> Mr. John Murray a most interesting work, “The<br /> Creevey Papers,” compiled from the MSS. of<br /> Thomas Creevey, M.P. 1802-30—the counterpart,<br /> from the Whig and Radical Opposition, to the<br /> Croker papers ex parte the Tory Government.<br /> <br /> Mr. Creevey was in correspondence with all the<br /> leading men of the Whig and Radical parties;<br /> Was an intimate friend of the Prince Regent ; and<br /> was at Brussels in 1815, where he became intimate<br /> with the Duke of Wellington. His papers, which<br /> have been very carefully preserved, contain original<br /> letters from Sir John Moore, Lord Grey, S. Whit-<br /> breafl, Brougham, Sheridan, Romilly, Tierney, etc.,<br /> and throw a vivid light upon the political, social<br /> and literary events of his day.<br /> <br /> Commander the Hon. Henry N. Shore, R.N.<br /> author of “ Smuggling Days and Smuggling Ways,”<br /> has commenced a series of articles in the Kentish<br /> Express dealing with the South Coast Gang, which<br /> operated between Rye and Walmer. There is, too,<br /> an authentic account of the celebrated Aldincton<br /> Gang. :<br /> <br /> Mr. Charles Gleig’s new short novel, entitled,<br /> ‘The Misfit Mantle ” (Treherne &amp; Co.), is a light<br /> farcical story dealing with the curious experiences<br /> of an English peer in a fourth-rate boarding-house<br /> at the seaside, in which he had to hide himself.<br /> <br /> A long novel, which has occupied most of the<br /> author’s spare time (he writes short tales for the<br /> magazines and contributes to the naval and military<br /> weeklies) during the past eighteen months, is just<br /> completed. The hero is a naval officer, a physical<br /> coward. The book may be described as a plea for<br /> greater consideration for physical cowardice, on<br /> the ground that cowardice is, in effect, a disease.<br /> Mr. Gleig shows that it may be combined with<br /> considerable moral courage.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arthur Paterson has just published through<br /> Mr. Heinemann here and Messrs. Appleton in<br /> America an historical novel called “The King’s<br /> Agent.” The main incident of the story round<br /> which the plot is centred is strictly historical, and<br /> is known as “The Flower-pot Conspiracy.” In<br /> William IIT.’s reign Marlborough was accused of<br /> high treason, and thrown into the Tower, and was<br /> in danger of attainder and the block. He is the<br /> hero, the most prominent figure.<br /> <br /> The book is dedicated to Lord Wolseley (our<br /> latest biographer of Marlborough) from whom<br /> Mr. Paterson has received invaluable information<br /> concerning the details of the conspiracy and the<br /> persons engaged in it.<br /> <br /> A little volume called “ Letters from Ireland,”<br /> by “H. B.,” recently published by Seely, Bryers, and<br /> Walker of Dublin, is exciting much interest in the<br /> sister country. In it a patriotic Catholic Irish-<br /> man, returned from America, describes te a friend<br /> his impressions of his native land as seen after<br /> forty years of absence, by a man of education and<br /> experience who has travelled a great deal and can<br /> compare one country with another. ‘The sincerity<br /> of the writer is manifest, as is his profound love<br /> for Ireland, which bids him in some cases risk<br /> unpopularity in the hopes of removing obstacles to<br /> her betterment.<br /> <br /> Though “H. B.” writes with the utmost impar-<br /> tiality, his sympathies are evidently with the new<br /> Gallic movement for the revival of the Irish<br /> language and industries. He advocates a much<br /> needed system of higher education for the priests,<br /> and of industrial education for the people.<br /> 62<br /> <br /> Mr. E. B. Kennedy’s “The Black Police in<br /> Queensland,” published by Mr. John Murray, is a<br /> most interesting account of things that happened<br /> while the author was an officer of the Native<br /> Mounted Police in the early days of the colony.<br /> Incidentally the book deals with other matters<br /> which are of enduring interest, not only to those<br /> who know Queensland, but also to all those who<br /> have at heart the interests of the Empire.<br /> <br /> In this regard special attention may be directed<br /> to what is said as to the capability possessed by<br /> black trackers for scouting services. This, how-<br /> ever, is but one point, briefly treated, in a volume<br /> which, although it deals strictly with matters of<br /> fact, is every whit as exciting and good reading as<br /> Mr. Kennedy’s previous book, “ Blacks and Bush-<br /> rangers,” a work of fiction. The book is capitally<br /> illustrated.<br /> <br /> Mr. Harry A. Spurr’s “Life and Writings of<br /> Alexandre Dumas” (J. M. Dent and Co.), is a<br /> readable volume full of anecdotes and quotations<br /> to the point. Mr. Spurr, who writes com amore,<br /> <br /> visited Paris last July and attended the centenary<br /> fétes at Villers-Cotteréts, and Dieppe, making the<br /> acquaintance of the Dumas family and receiving<br /> much valuable assistance from them and other<br /> authorities on the subject.<br /> <br /> In The Shrine of November there is an interesting<br /> <br /> narrative-article by Miss E. Baker. It is called<br /> “The True Story of Lady Anne Neville and<br /> Richard, Duke of Gloucester.” Miss Baker in the<br /> telling of it adheres strictly to contemporary<br /> authorities ; even in the imaginary conversations<br /> between Anne and Richard she keeps to the spirit<br /> of ascertained facts. Her chief point is that<br /> Richard was not that monster, that devil in body<br /> and soul, he has been represented by tradition and<br /> Shakespeare.<br /> <br /> “The House Building, and other Poems” is a<br /> volume of thoughtful verse by Marshall Bruce<br /> Williams, author of “The Strategy of Nature.”<br /> The poem which gives the volume its title is<br /> mainly a dialogue between a poet and a scientist,<br /> in which the poet has the last word. There are<br /> a number of sonnets, also some poems of which<br /> “The Other Side of the Shield—Olympus” is<br /> particularly good. Mr. R. Brimley Johnson is<br /> the publisher.<br /> <br /> “Bookeeping for Laundries,” by Mr. W. H.<br /> Smith (Simpkin Marshall, 2s. 6d. net), sets forth<br /> a safe and easy system of laundry account-keeping,<br /> dispensing with troublesome ledgers. It has been<br /> revised by Mr. H. Furnival Jones, A.S.A.A.,<br /> Incorporated Accountant. It is a capital book,<br /> concise, lucid, and exhaustive.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arthur H. Holmes has just published a new<br /> novel through Mr. Thomas Burleigh, entitled, “The<br /> Voice of the World.”<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> We understand that Mr. H. VY. Esmond’s new<br /> comedy, “ Imprudence,” produced last month at<br /> the Empire Theatre, New York, has scored a decided<br /> success, and has been highly praised by the critics:<br /> into the bargain. Miss Fay Davis and Mr. William<br /> Faversham, who filled the leading réles, were en-<br /> thusiastically received. Though Miss Davis is an<br /> American, she has never before played in New York.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hall Caine’s “ The Eternal City ” was given<br /> at the Victoria Theatre on the same night, and was<br /> well received by a Jarge audience. In response to<br /> repeated calls, Mr. Hall Caine appeared before the<br /> curtain and made a short speech.<br /> <br /> ee ae<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> meee<br /> <br /> ITH the inauguration of Falguiére’s fine<br /> statue of Balzac all kinds of anecdotes<br /> have been told and retold about the<br /> author of the “ Comédie Humaine.”. It scarcely<br /> seems possible to us now, that a man with such<br /> talent should have been compelled to do all in his<br /> power to boom his own books. We are told tha<br /> this was the case with “Peau de Chagrin” and<br /> <br /> one or two others.<br /> <br /> A yery typical story is told of Balzac when<br /> asked by a publisher to write an article on th<br /> Rue Richelieu. The terms which the author fixe<br /> were so high that the publisher was amazed.<br /> <br /> “Tf I am to describe the Rue Richelieu in<br /> way worthy of the street and of myself, I mus<br /> know it thoroughly, and must not upon an<br /> account fail to investigate all that specially charac<br /> terizes it. I shall have to commence by lunchin<br /> at the Café Cardinal, then I must buy a gun and<br /> cravat pin at the two shops next door to eac<br /> other. After that I must go to the tailor’s at th<br /> corner of the Rue St. Mare :<br /> <br /> “Oh, don’t go any farther than that,” inter<br /> rupted the publisher in alarm. “ You would com<br /> to the Indian shop next, and things there are<br /> fabulous price.”<br /> <br /> M. Gaston Deschamps wrote quite a long articl<br /> recently on French literary women, who of lat<br /> years have certainly come very much to the from<br /> ‘As a rule they adopt masculine pseudonyms, bu<br /> their secret 1s very soon an open one.<br /> <br /> Marcelle Tinayre’s novel ‘La Maison du Péché<br /> is one of the most remarkable ones of this seaso:<br /> It is a strong, realistic novel, the story of whic.<br /> reminds one vaguely of the “Ordeal of Richa<br /> Feverel.” Augustin de Chanteprie is educated<br /> most carefully, a tutor who is a rigid Catholi<br /> comes from Syria for six or seven years, and th<br /> boy grows up with no idea of a world outside th<br /> narrow circle of his ancestral home. His widowe<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 63<br /> <br /> mother spends most of her time in religious<br /> devotions and charitable works. When Augustin<br /> reaches the age of manhood he is almost as austere<br /> and fervent in his religious devotions as his<br /> mother. Unfortunately for his peace of mind a<br /> young widow comes to live in the neighbourhood.<br /> She is an artist, and the daughter of an artist, and<br /> from the date of her arrival commences a new<br /> phase in the existence of Augustin de Chanteprie.<br /> As a study in psychology, this book is a valuable<br /> addition to French literature, but it will not be<br /> appreciated by readers who are unacquainted with<br /> the subtle power and authority of the Roman<br /> Catholic Church. It is a book in which all the<br /> characters live, and each one is drawn with scrupu-<br /> lous accuracy.<br /> <br /> Guy Chantepleure’s new book, “Ames Fémi-<br /> nines,” will probably be appreciated by English<br /> readers. It is what the French describe as a<br /> roman honnéte, and is a careful study of some<br /> types of the new French woman.<br /> <br /> ‘Petites Epouses,”’ by Myriam Harry, is the<br /> story of a French Government official, who, while<br /> in exile, married a Japanese wife. The authoress<br /> handles the subject with great skill and delicacy,<br /> so that, as a French critic says, the book is<br /> Quelque chose comme un Loti qui serait femme.<br /> <br /> “T/Aimant,” by Jacques Morian, is another<br /> variation on the usual theme of the modern French<br /> novel. The French author is greatly handicapped<br /> in his choice of a subject by the system of educa-<br /> tion of girls in France. He is obliged to com-<br /> mence where the English novelist leaves off for the<br /> simple reason that the Frenchwoman’s romance so<br /> frequently begins when she is married. ‘ L’Ai-<br /> mant”’ is rather an exception to this rule, as the<br /> most interesting character in the story is a girl<br /> who has her romance before her marriage.<br /> <br /> Brada’s new book tells us by its title what to<br /> expect. “Comme les autres ”’—it certainly is as<br /> far as the subject is concerned. Once more the<br /> eternal theme, but treated in a way which makes<br /> the book fascinating from the first page to the last.<br /> <br /> “ Deux Vies,” by Paul and Victor Margueritte,<br /> is a novel written to show up the injustice of<br /> certain laws. The Margueritte brothers have a<br /> mission, they have recently submitted to the<br /> Chamber a project for the facilitation of divorce,<br /> and this book of theirs is an eloquent appeal in<br /> favour of their project.<br /> <br /> The heroine of the novel has made a most un- ,<br /> <br /> fortunate marriage, and after years of misery she<br /> jeaves her home, and with her little girl takes<br /> refuge with her mother, determined to apply for a<br /> divorce. The mother, who is a staunch Catholic,<br /> opposes her daughter’s idea. She, too, had suffered<br /> a martyrdom, but as her religion does not counte-<br /> nance divorce, she endeavours to persuade her<br /> <br /> daughter that the only happiness left for her is in<br /> resignation to her lot. Francine is not of this<br /> way of thinking, and she at once takes steps to<br /> obtain her divorce. Then follows an account of<br /> all the obstacles she encounters, of all the diffi-<br /> culties and the misery she endures until the day<br /> when the court refuses to grant her divorce, and<br /> she is compelled to return to her husband’s house.<br /> The dénouement is dramatic, for when she is<br /> crushed, humiliated, and desperate, Francine is<br /> persuaded to set aside the laws of Church and<br /> society, and, taking her child with her, to seek for<br /> happiness in another country.<br /> <br /> “* L’ Associée,” by Lucien Muhlfeld, is a book likely<br /> to please English readers. The “Associ¢e” is a<br /> woman whose one idea in life is to be her hus-<br /> band’s right hand. She helps him in every way<br /> possible, but so quietly, so discreetly, that he<br /> never realises how much he owes to her. He is a<br /> doctor, and he becomes a celebrity ; but the whole<br /> interest of the book centres in the struggles and<br /> disappointment of the wife and the perfect egotism<br /> of the man.<br /> <br /> For M. Bataille’s drama, taken from Tolstoi’s<br /> “ Resurrection,” the documents necessary for the<br /> scenery have been sent by Tolstoi’s friends and by<br /> the French consul in Moscow.<br /> <br /> Among other things in this drama are some<br /> Russian popular songs, Siberian chorals, and a<br /> song by Tchaikovsky. The play is an immense<br /> success, and arrangements have been made for its<br /> translation into several languages.<br /> <br /> M. Guitry’s venture with the Renaissance Theatre<br /> appears to be a success. He was fortunate in open-<br /> ing with “La Chatelaine,” by M. Capus, and in<br /> securing Jane Hading for the chief role.<br /> <br /> M. Deval is one of the happy actor-managers<br /> gifted with the “flair” in selecting his plays. “ Le<br /> Cadre,” by Pierre Wolff, was very well received, and<br /> the chief 7éles are admirably suited to M. Deval<br /> and Madame Valdey.<br /> <br /> M. Larroumet’s advice to dramatic authors when<br /> criticizing this and other plays was, that they<br /> should cease writing for stars, and not trouble in<br /> the least, when writing the piece, about the distri-<br /> bution of the ré/es. :<br /> <br /> M. Bour is persevering in his attempt to establish<br /> the International Theatre here. The plays are all<br /> given in French. Italian, Portuguese, and German<br /> pieces already figure in his repertoire.<br /> <br /> Sarah Bernhardt had a hearty welcome on her<br /> return to Paris after her tour abroad.<br /> <br /> A series of delightful afternoon lectures and<br /> readings have been given during the last month,<br /> with Mounet Sully to interpret the various authors.<br /> <br /> These lectures are very much in vogue in Paris,<br /> and one-act plays. are frequently given by way of<br /> variation. At alecture of this kind the other day<br />  <br /> <br /> 64<br /> <br /> “Qharles V. et du Guesclin” was put on, and<br /> afterwards ‘ Bourrasque,” by M. Foley, the author<br /> of “ Heard at the Telephone.”<br /> <br /> Auys HALLARD,<br /> <br /> —_—_———+——_+_—_—_——_-<br /> <br /> THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF<br /> PUBLISHERS.<br /> <br /> ——1—~&lt;— + ——<br /> Report from the Permanent Officer at Berne.<br /> <br /> [Printed by kind permission from The Publishers’ Circular. ]<br /> <br /> PYVHE meeting of the Executive Committee of<br /> [ the International Congress of Publishers<br /> <br /> was held at Berne on October 9th and 10th.<br /> The President, M. A. Brockhaus, and Messrs. R.<br /> Fouret, E. Bruylant, and H. Morel were present.<br /> Messrs. F. Brunetiére and J. Murray, regretting<br /> their inability to be present, sent letters of<br /> apology.<br /> <br /> After presentation of the first Annual Report of<br /> the Bureau, and examination of the Statement of<br /> Accounts, which was found correct, the Committee<br /> decided to add the balance in hand to the guarantee<br /> fund organised by Mr. Fairholme, in London. The<br /> Statement of Accounts for the year begins July 1st,<br /> ending June 30th.<br /> <br /> The National Associations contributing to the<br /> expenses of the Permanent Office belong to the<br /> following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark,<br /> England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary,<br /> Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the<br /> United States of North America.<br /> <br /> After settling different questions relating to the<br /> administration of the Bureau, the Committee have<br /> taken into consideration the resolutions passed at<br /> the four sessions of the Congress.<br /> <br /> The carrying out of the resolutions concerning<br /> the authors’ rights has been approved of. These<br /> resolutions relate to: (1) the adhesion of Austria,<br /> Hungary, Russia, and the Netherlands to the<br /> Berne Convention ; (2) the improvement of the<br /> international protection in the United States ;<br /> (3) the communication to the different Govern-<br /> ments of the resolutions passed by the Congress at<br /> its several sessions, in view of the improvement of<br /> the national and international protection of the<br /> authors’ and publishers’ rights.<br /> <br /> The Committee have also approved the proceed-<br /> ings of the Bureau with reference to the preparation<br /> and execution of other resolutions (duty on books,<br /> postal service, maintenance of the published price,<br /> new forms, music trade, relations to the press,<br /> metric system, overs in printing, substitution of<br /> parcels, solid packing, on the use of the word<br /> “edition ”’).<br /> <br /> Other resolutions passed at the different sessions<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> have also been discussed by the Committee (national<br /> bibliographies, catalogues of books, professional<br /> schools and classes, interchange of documents be-<br /> tween the different publishers’ associations, tech-<br /> nical libraries, interchange and loan of catalogues,<br /> etc.).<br /> <br /> The Committee, having approved the Statement<br /> of Accounts and Report, have proposed a vote of<br /> thanks to the Permanent (Office, which was carried.<br /> <br /> The Committee have considered the fifth session<br /> of the Congress, which is to take place at Milan.<br /> Mr. Toto Ricordi, President of the ‘‘ Associazione<br /> Tipograficolibraria Italiana,” has been good enough<br /> to be present at the session of October 10th, in order<br /> to converse on the subject with the Executive Com-<br /> mittee. It has been decided that the Committee<br /> would meet at the end of May or beginning of<br /> June, 1903, in order to organise the fifth session.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> COPYRIGHT IN PHOTOGRAPHS.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> N the November number of The Author an article<br /> | appeared dealing with the question of photo-<br /> graphic copyright.<br /> <br /> This question is of great and growing impor-<br /> tance to all those members of the Society who<br /> contribute illustrated articles to illustrated maga-<br /> zines. In consequence several remarks have come<br /> to hand from different members. It is evident<br /> that many difficult and complicated issues may<br /> arise. One member has set out his difficulties<br /> in the following series of questions. As it is<br /> possible that others may have similar doubts, we<br /> will endeavour to answer them for the benefit<br /> of all. :<br /> <br /> 1. The word “copyright” is stamped across or<br /> printed upon some photographs. Is the absence of<br /> such indication to be regarded as evidence that the<br /> photograph has not been registered ?<br /> <br /> 2. Isthere any means of determining whether the<br /> copyright in a photograph has expired, and has<br /> the assignment of the copyright to be registered ?<br /> <br /> 3. Can we take it that all photographs taken<br /> before a certain date are public property. If so,<br /> what is the date ?<br /> <br /> 4. A man sits to a photographer, at the photo-<br /> grapher’s request, for a “series of celebrities,”<br /> and is presented with a certain number of copies.<br /> The word “copyright” does not appear in the<br /> correspondence. ‘The portrait is used without the<br /> sitter’s consent in a newspaper. Has the photo-<br /> grapher aright to make a charge. Supposing the<br /> photograph to be used without previous application<br /> to the photographer, can he claim damages, or can<br /> he merely send in a bill for half a guinea? Can<br /> the photographer in such a case authorise the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 65<br /> <br /> reproduction of a portrait in a paper in which, for<br /> whatever reasons, the sitter does not wish to<br /> appear ?<br /> <br /> 5. Supposing a firm, instead of an individual, to<br /> acquire copyright by taking a photograph, can the<br /> copyright expire while the firm continues to exist ?<br /> <br /> 6. It would also be useful to state in the<br /> article :—<br /> <br /> (a) What are the countries unprotected in<br /> England, because they stand outside the Berne<br /> Convention.<br /> <br /> (b) At what date did the different countries<br /> acquire protection by adhering to the Berne<br /> Convention.<br /> <br /> (¢) Have foreign photographs to be registered<br /> to acquire copyright? Is there any means of<br /> ascertaining in England whether any given foreign<br /> photograph has been registered or not, and whether<br /> the copyright in any given photograph has expired<br /> or not ?<br /> <br /> (d) Supposing that I buy a foreign photograph<br /> at Spooner’s and use it without referring to the<br /> photographer, what is liable to happen? Does it<br /> make any difference to one’s legal position if one<br /> acknowledges the source of a photograph? This is<br /> important as photographs are generally wanted in<br /> a hurry, and Spooner always says that he has no<br /> authority to treat. Is there no international Union<br /> of Photographers which has anticipated these<br /> difficulties and provided for them by undertaking<br /> always to accede to certain terms ?<br /> <br /> It is evident that these points are of considerable<br /> importance.<br /> <br /> The answers to them, as far as it is possible to<br /> answer them at the present time without further<br /> investigation, will be as follows :—<br /> <br /> (1) According to English law, it is not essential<br /> to stamp or print the word “copyright” on a<br /> photograph in order to obtain statutory protection.<br /> The absence of such note, therefore, cannot be<br /> taken as evidence either way.<br /> <br /> .(2) It is exceedingly difficult to determine<br /> whether the copyright in a photograph has expired<br /> or not. Registration at Stationers’ Hall demands<br /> merely, in the first instance, the name and place of<br /> abode of the author, (2) the name and place of<br /> abode of the proprietor, (3) their description, with<br /> nature and subject of the work, and if desired<br /> (4) sketch outline or photograph of the work.<br /> <br /> As the former article fully explained, the copy-<br /> right lasts from the date of the making of the<br /> work by the author, for the life of the author and<br /> seven years afterwards. If the photograph is not<br /> registered the writer, who is desirous to illustrate<br /> <br /> his article, need have no hesitation in using it, so<br /> far as the law is concerned. No damages can be<br /> obtained for any infringement that occurs prior to<br /> registration. If, however, the work is registered,<br /> <br /> then the would-be reproducer must find out whether<br /> the gentleman described as author is still alive ;<br /> and here lies the difficulty.<br /> <br /> S The latter part of the question is more complex.<br /> That an assignee must register before commencing<br /> action is Clear, bat whether such registration will<br /> cover cases of infringement before registration of<br /> the assignment is doubtful. The safest course in<br /> any event is to register the assignment at once.<br /> <br /> (3) The Act of 25 &amp; 26 Vict. Ch. 68 came into<br /> force on 29th July, 1862. Any photograph made<br /> before that date, it would seem, carried with it no<br /> copyright. The copyright in photographs made<br /> since that date must depend upon the life of the<br /> author.<br /> <br /> (4) The sanction of the man, who sits at the<br /> request of the photographer, is not essential to the<br /> right of reproduction. The photographer (the<br /> author of the likeness) has a right to make a<br /> charge, and has a right to claim damage for<br /> infringement, supposing that the work is repro-<br /> duced without his sanction. If he commenced<br /> action it would be for damages for infringement<br /> of copyright. If he had already sent in a bill he<br /> would most probably be bound by the amount<br /> stated in that bill, as the limit of damages he could<br /> claim. If however the amount was exorbitant it<br /> would lie with the Judge or Jury to assess the<br /> amount. The sitter would not be entitled to stop<br /> the republication of his likeness unless the circum-<br /> stances were exceptional. The readers of Zhe Author<br /> are referred to an amusing story in the May number,<br /> in which the dangers of the sitter’s position are fully<br /> set forth. It will be as well to impress upon those<br /> desirous of having their photographs printed in<br /> public papers, that they should in all cases retain<br /> the copyright in the photograph, or limit the photo-<br /> grapher to reproduction in papers authorised by<br /> themselves.<br /> <br /> The answer to question (5) is clear from the state-<br /> ment of the former article which has already been<br /> referred to. It is impossible for a firm to be the<br /> original makers of the photograph, in the sense<br /> conceived in the Act, and the date of the copyright<br /> would run from the life of the maker of the photo-<br /> graph. ‘The principal countries unprotected in<br /> England because they stand outside the Berne<br /> Convention are Sweden, Holland, Russia, the<br /> United States of America, Austria-Hungary,<br /> Turkey, Egypt, 8. American Republics, China.<br /> With the United States England has a Oopy-<br /> right Arrangement, and with Austria-Hungary a<br /> Copyright Treaty, very much on the lines of the<br /> Berne Convention.<br /> <br /> The names of the principal countries belonging<br /> to the Convention, and the dates of their joining<br /> are as follows :— ae<br /> <br /> Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Switzer-<br /> 66<br /> <br /> land and Tunis. These signed the original Con-<br /> vention of 1886, and the additional Act of Paris,<br /> 1896.<br /> <br /> Norway joined on the 15th of April, 1896,<br /> signing the Convention of 1886, and Japan joined<br /> in July, 1899, signing both the Convention of 1886<br /> and the subsequent Convention of 1896.<br /> <br /> The answer to the two subsequent paragraphs<br /> (c and d) requires deep study and a profound know-<br /> ledge not only of International law, but of the laws<br /> of each country. It would appear in most coun-<br /> tries that registration is necessary, and it may also<br /> be stated that in most countries, copyright in<br /> photographs is of very limited duration, and does<br /> not last anything like the length of time that<br /> it lasts in England and France. Mere acknowledg-<br /> ment of the reproduction of a photograph would<br /> make no difference to the legal position. It might<br /> however be evidence of the fact that there was no<br /> wilful intent to defraud.<br /> <br /> —_—____+——+ —___——__<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> — to<br /> <br /> Royalty Agreement: A Warning.<br /> <br /> OT so long ago a publisher, in submitting his<br /> <br /> agreement to authors, stated that it had been<br /> <br /> approved by the Society, and thereby, no doubt,<br /> induced writers to sign a document which, under<br /> other circumstances, they might have hesitated to<br /> do. The Secretary of the Society remonstrated<br /> when this fact came to his notice. The publisher<br /> replied, that the transaction referred to had never<br /> taken place. Unfortunately, he had so far forgotten<br /> himself on one occasion as to commit himself in<br /> writing on this point, and the letter was in the<br /> Secretary’s hands. Accordingly, he was bound to<br /> apologise, and promised that it would not occur<br /> again.<br /> <br /> There is another method of inducing an author<br /> to sign, which is very commonly adopted in another<br /> publishing house. ‘The man of business affirms that<br /> the agreement submitted to the author, is similar<br /> in every respect to that signed by his other authors.<br /> Tf this statement was correct, there would be nothing<br /> to say on the subject, except that the other authors<br /> must have been extraordinarily lax in their methods<br /> of disposing of their property ; but unfortunately,<br /> the Secretary of the Society happens to know full<br /> well, that although no doubt the agreement, as<br /> drafted, is offered for signature to other authors,<br /> on occasions too numerous to specify, the authors<br /> have refused to sign without considerable alteration.<br /> <br /> The agreement is, in substance, with a few minor<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> alterations, the royalty agreement drafted on behalf<br /> of the Publishers’ Association, about which so<br /> much has been written from time to time in Zhe<br /> Author.<br /> <br /> Owing to the frequent recurrence of the circum-<br /> stances stated above it would, perhaps, be no dis-<br /> advantage to quote the form of agreement with<br /> some comments, in order to put authors on their<br /> guard. Some of the objections are vital, others<br /> are of minor importance, but should be insisted<br /> upon if the position of the author is strong enough<br /> to carry them.<br /> <br /> MEMoRANDUM OF AGREEMENT made this<br /> day of between<br /> <br /> (hereinafter termed the author) of the one part,<br /> and<br /> <br /> (hereinafter termed the publisher) of the other<br /> part, whereby it is mutually agreed between the<br /> parties hereto for themselves and their respective<br /> executors, administrators, and assigns (or succes-<br /> sors, as the case may be), as follows :—<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 /> 1. The publisher shall at his own risk and<br /> expense, and with due diligence, produce and<br /> publish the work at present intituled<br /> <br /> by<br /> and use his best endeavours to sell the same.<br /> <br /> 2. The author guarantees to the publisher that<br /> the said work is in no way whatever a violation<br /> of any existing copyright, and that it contains<br /> nothing of a libellous or scandalous character, and<br /> that he will indemnify the publisher from all suits,<br /> claims and proceedings, damages, and costs which<br /> may be made, taken, or incurred by or against him<br /> on the ground that the work is an infringement<br /> of copyright, or contains anything libellous or<br /> scandalous.<br /> <br /> 3. The Publisher shall during the legal term<br /> of copyright have the exclusive right of producing<br /> and publishing the work in England, the Colonies,<br /> and United States of America. The Publisher<br /> shall have the entire control of the publication<br /> and sale and terms of sale of the book, and the<br /> Author shall not during the continuance of this<br /> agreement (without the consent of the Publisher)<br /> publish any abridgment, translation, or dramatised<br /> version of the work.<br /> <br /> 4. The Publisher agrees to pay the Author the<br /> following royalties, that is to say :—<br /> <br /> (a) The first copies shall be free of royalty,<br />  <br /> <br /> hae Nese<br /> <br /> pant<br /> phi hee<br /> <br /> 1%)<br /> 2<br /> <br /> Ca<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ie<br /> if<br /> as<br /> i<br /> <br /> (Ook ee<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 67<br /> <br /> aroyalty of ten per cent. uponthe next — thousand<br /> copies sold, and fifteen per cent. upon the next<br /> thousand copies, and twenty per cent. upon all sub-<br /> sequent copies, thirteen being reckoned as twelve<br /> throughout.<br /> <br /> (0) Upon the American edition the first<br /> copies shall be free of royalty, ten per cent. upon<br /> the next thousand copies sold, fifteen per cent.<br /> upon the next thousand copies, and all sub-<br /> sequent copies sold.<br /> <br /> (c) In the event of the Publisher disposing of<br /> <br /> copies or editions at a reduced rate for sale in the<br /> Colonies or elsewhere, or as remainders, a royalty<br /> of ten per cent. of the amount received by such<br /> sale.<br /> <br /> (d) In the event of the Publisher realising profits<br /> from the sale, with the consent of the author, of<br /> serial or Continental rights, or from claims for<br /> infringement of copyright, a royalty of fifty per<br /> cent. of the net amount of such profits remaining<br /> after deducting all expenses relating thereto.<br /> <br /> (e) No royalties shall be paid on any copies<br /> given away for review or other purposes.<br /> <br /> (f) The Author shall be entitled to six gratuitous<br /> copies, and any further copies required at trade<br /> price.<br /> <br /> 5. The Author agrees to revise the first, and,<br /> if necessary, to edit and revise every subsequent<br /> edition of the work, and from time to time to<br /> supply any new matter that may be needful to<br /> keep the work up to date.<br /> <br /> 6. The Author agrees that all costs of corrections<br /> and alterations in the proof sheets exceeding twenty<br /> per cent. of the cost of composition, shall be deducted<br /> from the royalties payable to him.<br /> <br /> 7. In the event of the Author neglecting to<br /> revise an edition after due notice shall have been<br /> given to him, or in the event of the Author being<br /> unable to do so by reason of death or otherwise,<br /> the expense of revising and preparing each such<br /> future edition for press shall be borne by the<br /> Author, and shall be deducted from the royalties<br /> payable to him.<br /> <br /> 8. During the continuance of this agreement,<br /> the copyright of the work shall be vested in the<br /> Author, who may be registered as the proprietor<br /> thereof accordingly.<br /> <br /> 9. The Publisher shall make up the account<br /> annually to<br /> and deliver the same to the Author within<br /> months thereafter, and pay the balance due to the<br /> Author on same date.<br /> <br /> 10. If the Publisher shall at the end of three<br /> years from the date of publication, or at any time<br /> thereafter, give notice to the Author that in his<br /> opinion the demand for the work has ceased, or if<br /> the Publisher shall for six months after the work<br /> is out of print decline or, after due notice, neglect<br /> <br /> to publish a new edition, then and in either of<br /> such cases this Agreement shall terminate, and, on<br /> the determination of this Agreement in the above<br /> or any other manner, the right to print and pub--<br /> lish the work shall revert to the Author, and the<br /> Author, if not then registered, shall be entitled to<br /> be registered as the proprietor thereof, and to pur-<br /> chase from the Publisher forthwith the plates or<br /> moulds and engravings (if any) produced specially<br /> for the work, at half cost of production, and what-<br /> ever copies the Publisher may have on hand at<br /> cost of production, and if the Author does not<br /> within three months purchase and pay for the said<br /> plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, the Pub-<br /> lisher may at any time thereafter dispose of such<br /> plates or moulds, engravings, and copies, or melt<br /> the plates, paying to the Author in lieu of royal-<br /> ties ten per cent. of the net proceeds of such sale,<br /> unless the Publisher can prove from his books that<br /> the publication has resulted in loss to him, in<br /> which case he shall be liable for no such payment.<br /> 11. If any difference shall arise between the<br /> Author and the Publisher touching the meaning<br /> of this Agreement, or the rights or liabilities of<br /> the parties thereunder, the same shall be referred<br /> to the arbitration of two persons (one to be named<br /> <br /> _by each party) or their umpire, in accordance with<br /> <br /> the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1889.<br /> <br /> 12. The term “ Publisher” throughout this<br /> Agreement shall be deemed to include the person<br /> or persons or company for the time being carrying<br /> on the business of the said<br /> under as well its present as any future style, and<br /> the benefit of this Agreement shall be transmissible<br /> accordingly.<br /> <br /> As witness the hands of the parties.<br /> <br /> COMMENTS ON THE AGREEMENT.<br /> <br /> Firstly, then, the parties to the agreement. “It<br /> is agreed for themselves, their respective adminis-<br /> trators, executors, and assigns, or successors, as<br /> the case may be.”<br /> <br /> It is the greatest mistake for an author to con-<br /> tract with the executors, administrators, and<br /> assigns or successors of a publisher. The contract<br /> is between principal and agent, and is a personal<br /> contract, and should be maintained as a personal<br /> contract. Supposing an author were dealing with<br /> one of the best publishing houses in England, and<br /> the partners of that publishing house, for some<br /> reason or other, desired to retire from the busi-<br /> ness ; to clear up matters they might put up the<br /> contracts for sale by auction or otherwise. Under<br /> those circumstances an author might find the right<br /> to publish his work purchased by some enterpris-<br /> ing tradesman, who would bring it out in a manner<br /> and form which would be utterly repulsive to the<br /> author, and he would have no means of stopping<br />  <br /> <br /> 68<br /> <br /> him ; and the same thing might occur should a<br /> firm go bankrupt. Tt is, therefore, a most dan-<br /> gerous thing to allow the agent who is dealing<br /> with the property to have a right to assign his<br /> agency.<br /> <br /> In Clause 1 the publisher undertakes to produce<br /> the work with due diligence. These words, as far<br /> as they go, are satisfactory, but the clause is not<br /> nearly comprehensive enough. The following points<br /> are suggested for consideration : that a date ought<br /> to be fixed on or before which the book should be<br /> produced ; that the form in which the edition is to<br /> appear should also be stated, and the price at which<br /> it is to be sold to the public; and further, it is best<br /> to limit the publisher to the production of a certain<br /> number of copies or editions, with the option of<br /> renewal, or to assign the right to publish, subject<br /> to proper safeguards, for a limited number of years.<br /> Several authors adopt this course.<br /> <br /> Clause 2 may, on the whole, be passed, with the<br /> single exception of the words “incurred by.” It<br /> is fair as between the parties that the publisher<br /> should be protected from all suits against him, but<br /> there is no reason why the author should indemnify<br /> him from all expenses incurred by him, as he might<br /> incur unnecessary expenses without the sanction of<br /> the author. There ought, therefore, to be some<br /> words of limitation by which the author has a<br /> voice in any action taken by the publisher. This<br /> Clause is a distinct improvement on the Clause<br /> put forward by Mr. Absolute, and quoted in the<br /> October number.<br /> <br /> Clause 3.—It is difficult to deal with Clause 3<br /> without, in fact, re-drafting the whole of the<br /> agreement, but it should be pointed ont that the<br /> rights which the author is expected to transfer by<br /> this agreement include the rights of production in<br /> the United States. Such rights are generally left<br /> in the hands of an agent, and much better so than<br /> in the hands of publishers, for this reason—that a<br /> publisher does not, as a general rule, undertake the<br /> work of the literary agent ; that his office is not<br /> to place literary work in other hands, but to<br /> produce literary work for the author ; that work<br /> of this kind left in the hands of publishers is not<br /> likely to receive anything like the same attention<br /> as it isif left in the hands of a literary agent ; that<br /> the publisher is the only person who gains by<br /> having control of this work, and that the author<br /> loses by leaving it in his hands. It should be<br /> further pointed out that the publisher does not<br /> anywhere in the agreement undertake to secure<br /> the United States copyright for the author, nor<br /> even to do his best to obtain it. It may pay an<br /> English publisher better to sell sheets or stereos<br /> and pay the author a royalty, as per Clause 4, but<br /> the result is hardly satisfactory to the author.<br /> <br /> It should be added that for this agency work,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> while the literary agent charges 10 per cent., the<br /> publishers actually make 50 per cent. (see sect. (d)<br /> of clause. 4). Out of a large series of agreements<br /> from all sorts and conditions of publishers the<br /> lowest charge for this literary agency business has<br /> been 25 per cent., and this only in one case.<br /> <br /> The last part of the clause is extraordinary. It<br /> seems astounding that the author should not be<br /> allowed to deal with the translation.and dramati-<br /> sation of his own work without the consent of the<br /> publisher. An author must be of a curious Jrame of<br /> mind to part with his dramatic rights, perhaps more<br /> important than all the rest put together. With<br /> regard to the question of abridgment even, it is<br /> not fair that the author should be bound not to<br /> abridge the work unless the publisher is recipro-<br /> cally bound not to obtain an abridgment or to run<br /> any other work which is likely to conflict with the<br /> author’s. So far, this clause has been considered<br /> from the general point of view, but from the point<br /> of view of the writer of technical works, educa-<br /> tional, medical, theological, &amp;c., &amp;c., the clause is<br /> still more disastrous.<br /> <br /> Under no circumstances should a writer of<br /> technical books hand over to his publisher so large<br /> a right of publication. It should be limited<br /> especially as to the number of the edition, giving,<br /> if the author thinks fit, an equitable right to<br /> produce further editions.<br /> <br /> A technical writer must keep the command of<br /> his work, must be able if necessary, to alter,<br /> amend, amplify. He cannot do this with a free<br /> hand if he does not keep undivided control,<br /> <br /> The publishers’ answer will be: ‘“ But this is<br /> provided for by Clauses 5 and 7.”<br /> <br /> But it is submitted that it is one thing for the<br /> author to have unfettered judgment, and another<br /> thing to be forced to revise at request of his<br /> publisher or see his work arbitrarily revised by<br /> another. Whilst considering this question, it<br /> should be mentioned that one of the peculiarities<br /> of publishers’ contracts is, that in the case of<br /> technical works a clause is nearly always intro-<br /> duced conveying the copyright to the publisher.<br /> <br /> An agreement containing such a clause should<br /> never be signed by an author.<br /> <br /> Clause 4.—In Section (a) the royalty is to be<br /> paid thirteen copies as twelve. Royalties should<br /> never be calculated on this basis. All the royalty<br /> accounts put forward by the Authors’ Society have<br /> been (wrongly) reckoned on the basis that the<br /> royalty is paid on every copy sold, as it had been<br /> previously taken into account in the Cost of Pro-<br /> duction that the publisher had to sell thirteen for<br /> twelve to the booksellers. This they do not really<br /> do, except they sell in quantities, and a great many<br /> booksellers are unable to afford to buy in quan<br /> tities ; therefore, in taking the royalty to be paid<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. 69.<br /> <br /> as in Section (a), the publisher is not only<br /> profiting by the liberal estimates of the Society<br /> with regard to royalties, but is also endeavouring<br /> to take in an extra 8 per cent., and the extra<br /> amount on those copies, of which there are many,<br /> sold in less numbers than twelve. The reader is<br /> referred to the October Awthor, where there is an<br /> article entitled ‘‘ Thirteen as Twelve.”<br /> <br /> The clause is also drafted that a certain number<br /> of copies should be free of royalty. This seems to<br /> imply that no book can afford to have a royalty<br /> paid on it from the beginning. Of course this is<br /> not the case, but when such an arrangement is<br /> placed before an author as an equitable agreement,<br /> these points of equity should be clearly explained.<br /> <br /> If the royalty is to be paid after the sale of a<br /> certain number (in this case such a number whose<br /> sale will amply cover the cost of production), then<br /> the author must take care (1) that a number<br /> beyond the number specified is printed ; (2) that<br /> he gets a proportionately higher royalty for fore-<br /> going it so long—e.g., he must then get 50 per<br /> cent. of the trade price, or over 25 per cent. of the<br /> published price.<br /> <br /> If a royalty agreement cannot bear a high<br /> <br /> royalty from the beginning, then a royalty<br /> <br /> increasing with the sale is certainly a fair<br /> arrangement as between author and publisher.<br /> <br /> The same remarks about the royalty refer to<br /> Section (2) and the American sales. It should be<br /> clearly understood whether or not the publisher<br /> intends to obtain United States copyright. He<br /> ought not to be allowed to have the option, as it is<br /> frequently the fact that it pays a publisher better<br /> to sell sheets or plates to the United States than<br /> to go to the trouble to negotiate for the copyright.<br /> If the publisher secures the copyright, it must be<br /> fully understood that it is secured in the name of<br /> the author.<br /> <br /> Section (c).—It is a common thing for a pub-<br /> lisher to pay a royalty on the net amount received<br /> from the sale of a remainder, but under no circum-<br /> stances should the author allow such a loose clause<br /> as the one put forward. If the publisher sells at a<br /> reduced rate to the Colonies, 10 per cent. is an<br /> exceedingly small amount to pay to the author.<br /> On the ordinary 6s. book sold to the Colonies in<br /> sheets, the author will get between 2d. and 4d. a<br /> copy; 10 per cent. is only a fraction over a penny.<br /> The words “ at a reduced rate” and “ or elsewhere ”<br /> are fatal. Who is to decide what is a reduced<br /> rate? There are many methods of selling books<br /> to the trade. Thus, one and all may be called<br /> “books at a reduced rate.’ Would it be fair,<br /> therefore, to pay the author merely a share of the<br /> amount realised? The royalty should always be<br /> paid on the published price, except in the case of<br /> remainders. The section, therefore, should be<br /> <br /> drafted so that a fixed price is paid on the sales to<br /> the Colonies, and a royalty on the net amount<br /> realised from Joné fide remainder sales. The rest<br /> should be deleted. The case of remainder sales<br /> should be distinguished with great care from the<br /> sale of books at a reduced price. The clause, as<br /> worded, cannot but tend to confuse the two issues.<br /> <br /> Section (d) is amusing. It is best to take these<br /> rights out of the hands of the publisher, and place<br /> them in the hands of the agent, if for no other<br /> reason than the fact that the agent would charge<br /> 10 per cent. where the publisher charges, as in this<br /> case, 50 per cent. It is absurd to think that the<br /> publisher, as stated above, should assert that all<br /> his authors signed this agency clause. Anyone<br /> acquainted with the marketing of literary property<br /> would confidently deny such a statement, or come<br /> to the conclusion that the publisher had nothing<br /> but veritable tyros to deal with. This is not the<br /> case with the publisher whose agreement is printed<br /> above. If the author is willing to allow the pub-<br /> lisher to have the marketing of these rights, he<br /> should pay him the usual 10 per cent. commission,<br /> and he might also be entitled to 10 per cent. com-<br /> mission if he was mainly instrumental in recover-<br /> ing money for infringement of copyright.<br /> <br /> Section (f) of Clause 4 is a little vague. Of<br /> course, no royalty ought to be paid to the author<br /> on copies given away or sent for review, but the<br /> words “other purposes’? might cover a good deal<br /> more than this, and are insufficiently precise.<br /> <br /> Clause 5.—The wording of the fifth clause is not<br /> very satisfactory. In the case of technical works,<br /> to which a clause like this specially refers, the<br /> publishers should in the first instance be only<br /> given a right to publish a limited number of<br /> copies, and the author might give him the<br /> option of producing further editions, subject to<br /> certain limitations. Under those circumstances<br /> the right to revise would lie within the author’s<br /> hands, as it should do with the creator of any<br /> work, who alone ought to have power to add or<br /> subtract from what he has already put before the<br /> world. This has all been explained when com-<br /> menting on Clause 8, but the principle is of such<br /> importance that it is worth while to repeat it. In<br /> the case of the publication of ordinary works of<br /> fiction or travel, etc., this clause should be deleted.<br /> It does not apply, and it is bad draftsmanship to<br /> retain it.<br /> <br /> Clause 6.—The author is not safeguarded here.<br /> Could it not be provided that periodically (say |<br /> weekly) during the printing the author be in-<br /> formed of the cost of corrections? He must in<br /> any case be informed what is the cost of composi-<br /> tion, and what is the connection between corrections<br /> and shillings.<br /> <br /> Clause 7 might, under certain circumstances—<br />  <br /> <br /> 70<br /> <br /> that is if the publisher has purchased the copy-<br /> right—be inserted in an agreement, but in the<br /> present form of royalty agreement it should be<br /> struck out. There is no need for it. Its imprac-<br /> ticability with regard to technical writers during<br /> their lifetime, and its inapplicability to ordinary<br /> fiction at any time has been mentioned. It should<br /> be either altered or deleted.<br /> <br /> Clause 8.—There is no need either for the inser-<br /> tion of Clause 8. The copyright is the author’s,<br /> and must remain so. The clause is inserted evi-<br /> dently with the idea of the copyright being vested<br /> in the name of the publisher. This would be a<br /> mistake.<br /> <br /> Clause 9, the account clause, is so beautifully<br /> vague that it is hardly worth while to comment<br /> upon it, except to point out that it is a mistake to<br /> have accounts made up annually, and delivered<br /> and paid three months after they are made up, as<br /> it makes it possible for the publisher to retain the<br /> author’s money for nearly fifteen months. This is<br /> a common account clause among publishers, and<br /> no doubt they find it exceedingly useful to have<br /> the control of the author’s money for so long a<br /> period. But the inconvenience to the author, not<br /> to mention the danger of bankruptcy or similar<br /> contingencies to the firm, is very considerable.<br /> <br /> Clause 10.—The first part of Clause 10 is cer-<br /> tainly necessary for the protection of the author,<br /> as it would be very awkward supposing the pub-<br /> lisher refused to produce the book when the author<br /> had a certain market for it. If, however, as in<br /> the case of some educational works, the publisher<br /> desired still to maintain the control of the market,<br /> so as not to allow the author to republish a book<br /> in competition with one which the publisher had<br /> already before the public, it would be easy to evade<br /> the clause by having afew copies ready on hand.<br /> The latter part of the clause, however, could not<br /> possibly be equitable as between author and pub-<br /> lisher. It is quite possible that the moulds and<br /> engravings might be so worn that they would not<br /> be worth half the cost of production, and the<br /> copies of the book that the publisher had on hand<br /> might not be worth the whole cost of production,<br /> _ as it is quite possible that they might have been<br /> damaged or otherwise defaced. If, therefore, the<br /> author refused to purchase the books at the cost of<br /> production on account of some damage that they<br /> had received, it would be possible for the author in<br /> reproducing the work with some other publisher to<br /> be undersold. The author should have the option<br /> of taking over the stock and plates at a valuation.<br /> The danger, however, is not a very large one, as if<br /> the book was in such a condition that the author<br /> desired to bring out a new edition and the pub-<br /> lisher did not, it would most probably argue that<br /> the book had very nearly reached the end of its sale,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> in which case there would most probably be only a<br /> few copies on hand. The danger, however, is one<br /> that should be guarded against.<br /> <br /> Clause 11 ought to be struck out, as, until a<br /> dispute arises, it is impossible to say whether it is<br /> a fit subject for arbitration ; besidés, arbitration<br /> is more expensive than an action at law, and a<br /> publisher thereby avoids that publicity which is<br /> essential for the interests of authors and the puri-<br /> fication of the trade, which no doubt all publishers<br /> desire.<br /> <br /> Clause 12 should on no account stand. It is<br /> most important, as explained when discussing the<br /> parties to this agreement, that the contract should<br /> be a personal contract, and this point should always<br /> be before authors when signing agreements. They<br /> should under no circumstances allow such a clause<br /> to pass.<br /> <br /> This is a fair comment on the royalty agreement<br /> as it stands. Many suggestions might be made as<br /> to the insertion of various clauses, and the protec-<br /> tion of the author on other points. But these are<br /> faults of omission, and the agreement has only<br /> been dealt with as regards the drafted clauses. It<br /> might be well to mention that some definite time<br /> should be fixed on, before which a publisher should<br /> not be allowed to make remainder sales.<br /> <br /> Finally, it must be repeated, do not be taken in<br /> by the apparently plausible statement that all a<br /> publisher’s authors sign the agreement submitted.<br /> As a rule, where such a suggestion is made, it may<br /> be taken that the statement is not strictly in<br /> accordance with fact.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> American. Copyright.—A Copyright Decision,<br /> <br /> Cuicaao, Ill., October 31.—An important copy-<br /> right decision was given to-day in the United<br /> States Court of Appeals, which established the<br /> principle that the owner of a copyrighted manu-<br /> script cannot be deprived of his exclusive rights<br /> of publication by the error of one who prints the<br /> article with his consent, but who carelessly omits<br /> the notice to the public provided for by law.<br /> <br /> “And After,” a story written by Julia Truitt<br /> Bishop, was in contention. It had been copy-<br /> righted by the Daily Story Publishing Company.<br /> One of the patrons of that firm is the St. Louis<br /> Globe-Democrat, which published “And After”<br /> without the copyright notice. The American<br /> Press Association appropriated the article and<br /> distributed it among its subscribers.<br /> <br /> The owners of the copyright threatened to sue<br /> the patrons of the Press Association for damages.<br /> The Press Association applied for a bill to restrain<br /> such suits. It was denied by Judge Kohlsaat, and<br /> his ruling was affirmed by Judges Jenkins and<br /> Baker.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 71<br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> — +<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property —:<br /> <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 conipetent agent, or with the advice of the<br /> Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement). :<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to :<br /> <br /> C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights. :<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. From time to time the very important figures<br /> connected with royalties are published in The 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 /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> ge<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> me<br /> <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 /> <br /> 2. It 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 /> 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 /> (.) 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 gruss receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.é.,<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 (b.) 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 /> <br /> - be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and<br /> <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. ‘hey 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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> — &gt; —<br /> <br /> 1. 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 /> adyice 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 /> 72<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) To 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 /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> —-—~——9 —<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 /> <br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> VHE Editor of The 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, §.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 /> te<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 /> —<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 létter only.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> AUTHORITIES.<br /> <br /> —1+—~&gt;—+ —<br /> <br /> N this number we publish a report of the doings<br /> of the International Congress of Publishers.<br /> Such a combination may do useful work not<br /> <br /> only to their own trade, but for the better securing<br /> of the author’s property.<br /> <br /> There is also a possibility that such a combina-<br /> tion may at some future date be a very serious<br /> menace to author’s rights, backed as it is by large<br /> capital, Money, at all times, is a great power to<br /> enforce an opinion or to pass a law. Would it not<br /> be possible for those societies which represent<br /> the trade side of literature from the author’s point<br /> of view, to form an international combination, in<br /> order to counteract any ill effect which may be<br /> produced by the combination of the trade ?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> We must congratulate Mr. John Murray that<br /> his historic house in Albemarle Street has escaped<br /> the ravages of the Tube disease, which he has<br /> aptly termed Tube-Yerke-ulosis.<br /> <br /> The Nobel Prize Committee of the Society of<br /> Authors, of which Lord Avebury is the ‘chairman,<br /> met on the afternoon of November 19th, at<br /> 39, Old Queen Street.<br /> <br /> Inthe unavoidable absence of Lord Avebury, the<br /> chair was taken by Mr. Edmund Gosse. Mr. G.<br /> Herbert Thring acted as secretary. A letter was<br /> read addressed by the Director of the Swedish<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 73<br /> <br /> Academy, the poet, ©. D. af Wirsen, to Lord<br /> Avebury as Chairman of the Committee, expressing<br /> the hope that the English Nobel Committee would<br /> not be discouraged if the prize of £8,250 should<br /> this year be awarded to a foreign poet or poets, since<br /> any imaginative writer, strongly supported by the<br /> authors of England, “‘has every prospect of gaining<br /> the Nobel Prize for Literature at some future time.”<br /> Dr. Garnett suggested that unanimity and persist-<br /> ence were of the greatest importance, and that<br /> the Committee should not be impatient if the prize<br /> were not immediately given to the English candi-<br /> date. At the suggestion of Mr. Austin Dobson, it<br /> was agreed that the Committee should take the<br /> same steps as were taken last year to collect the<br /> votes of the qualified British voters.<br /> <br /> We are glad to see that the literary activity of<br /> the Canadian is constantly on the increase.<br /> <br /> A Tennyson Club has just been started at<br /> Toronto, under the auspices of the Victoria<br /> University and the Canadian Society of Authors.<br /> The Honorary President is Professor William<br /> Clark, and the Active President, Professor Pelham<br /> Edgar.<br /> <br /> We hope to have further particulars, and to be<br /> able to follow the course of the club’s labour and<br /> work.<br /> <br /> The editor of La Revue has obtained the opinions<br /> of some leading French authors on the following<br /> subject: “ Would you regret to die? Why?”<br /> <br /> The French are proverbially a light-hearted<br /> nation, and it is no wonder therefore that the<br /> majority of the answers obtained show that the<br /> French author would have a decided objection to<br /> death, and would leave this world with consider-<br /> able regret. The reasons put forward are varied,<br /> some serious, some satirical, some amusing.<br /> <br /> The author who writes under the well-known<br /> pseudonym of “ Gyp” merely replies, “ Oh, pas du<br /> tout.”<br /> <br /> It would be interesting to know what opinions<br /> British authors would express in answer to the<br /> same question.<br /> <br /> One author living this side of the Channel<br /> has given his answer: That his only object in<br /> living was that he might contrast the pleasure of<br /> death. He did not therefore regret to die. It<br /> might be as well to remark that this author was<br /> not an Irishman.<br /> <br /> At a jovial gathering of members and guests of<br /> a certain club frequented by followers of the<br /> literary profession, an argument arose between<br /> two Oxford men as to whether, given a previous<br /> <br /> choice, the majority of men, knowing the life<br /> they would have to go throngh, would consent to<br /> be born into this world. The younger contestant<br /> argued strongly, that no one would have been<br /> born into the world under these circumstances.<br /> As the point obtained some show of interest<br /> among the company, it was finally decided to<br /> take the opinion of a dozen of those present.<br /> Each was allowed to choose his victims. The<br /> party was composed of men of mixed views, but<br /> among the number were one or two decadents,<br /> and others whose lives had not been what, on<br /> the whole, could be called cheerful. With careful<br /> choice the younger member thought that his vic-<br /> tory was assured, but what was his disappointment<br /> when he found that, after having chosen the most<br /> unfortunate men in the room, there was no one to<br /> support him. The question, though not similar to<br /> that put forward by the French editor, carries with<br /> it some analogy.<br /> <br /> The performing rights of a song have been again<br /> before the public. A case has just been tried in<br /> the High Courts where this point was in dispute. *<br /> <br /> We have from time to time impressed upon<br /> those composers who are members of the Society<br /> the importance of reserving to themselves the<br /> performing rights. Publishers generally answer,<br /> if a composer in his temerity makes the demand,<br /> that performing rights have no money in them in<br /> England. The composer’s answer to this is quite<br /> clear : “Then, there is no reason why they should<br /> be transferred to the publisher.”<br /> <br /> It is possible that under the present system<br /> there is no money in performing rights, but the<br /> case tried in the High Court tends to show the<br /> contrary.<br /> <br /> Even if there is no money, it is vastly important<br /> that the composer himself should have, if it seems<br /> good to him, the right of veto, so that a song, on<br /> which he may set great store, should not be pro-<br /> duced and sung in public at times and in places<br /> which might appear to him unfit.<br /> <br /> The publisher’s statement is by no means true.<br /> In the performing rights of certain kinds of songs<br /> produced in comic operas, at music halls and under<br /> other circumstances, there is a considerable amount<br /> of money. ‘These songs are often not written as<br /> part of the opera, but pitchforked into the opera,<br /> in order to make it more attractive, so that an<br /> individual song may obtain a great vogue. Of<br /> course, the composer obtains some kind of com-<br /> pensation from the advertisement, but there is<br /> something far beyond this.<br /> <br /> The French composer has already proved this.<br /> It is time that his English confrére should also<br /> stand firm.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 74<br /> <br /> An Epigram.<br /> Publisher : Th’ agreement’s signed; the profits<br /> <br /> we divide—<br /> A half to each; applaud a just<br /> decision.<br /> Author: Peace and good will to all at<br /> Christmastide—<br /> <br /> Clearly, *twixt you and me there’s<br /> no division.<br /> <br /> ———__1—&gt;_+—___——_<br /> <br /> A LITERARY ACADEMY.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> TI. A Quotation from Zola on Academies.<br /> <br /> HILE the subject of an Académy of Letters<br /> is once again, for a brief moment, before<br /> us in England, I should like to draw<br /> <br /> attention to the views of Zola—the earlier Zola—<br /> on Academies in general: partly because of their<br /> intrinsic interest, and partly because it is just now<br /> well worth while to point out to English readers<br /> that, before the unliterary moralist who wrote<br /> « Trayail ” and “ Fécondité ” made himself known,<br /> there existed a really powerful man of letters,<br /> author of the “ Conquéte de Plassans,” of “&#039;Thérese<br /> Raquin,” and of more than one volume of vigorous<br /> criticism.<br /> <br /> In his “L’Argent dans la Littérature” (‘Le<br /> Roman Expérimental,” 1880), Zola traces the<br /> Academy of the present to the literary salons of<br /> the past, and shows what an article de luxe these,<br /> in their time, had made of literature. Speaking<br /> of what one may call the Augustan age of French<br /> writing, he says :—<br /> <br /> “Tt is now ” (say 1700) ‘ the salons which are at<br /> work upon the literary spirit and which determine<br /> its course. Books are dear and rare; the mob does<br /> not read, the bourgeoisie hardly reads ; we are far<br /> from that great current of literature which to-day<br /> sweeps along with it the whole of society, It is the<br /> exception to meet a passionate reader, who devours<br /> all that the publishers set before him. Thus the<br /> great public—what we call ‘ opinion,’ universal<br /> suffrage, so to speak, does not exist in literary<br /> matters : and the salons, a few groups of chosen<br /> people, have alone to pronounce a decisive judg-<br /> ment. These salons really reigned over literature.<br /> It was they who decided on language, the choice of<br /> subjects, and the manner of treating them. They<br /> sorted out words, adopting some, condemning<br /> others ; they established rules, set fashions, made<br /> their great men. Thence came the character of<br /> literature, as I have tried to indicate it above: a<br /> fleur desprit, an amiable pastime, a_high-class<br /> amusement for well-bred people. Picture to<br /> yourself one of these salons which laid down the<br /> laws of letters. A woman gathered round her a<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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> set of writers whose sole care was to please her ;<br /> manuscripts were read in a select committee, there<br /> was much conversation, carried on with all the<br /> delicacy and all the conventions in the world.<br /> Genius, as we understand it nowadays, with its<br /> irregular power, would have found itself very ill<br /> at ease there; but mere talent flourished in the<br /> pleasant atmosphere of a hothouse. Even in the<br /> earliest days of French culture, when the salons<br /> had scarcely begun and great seigneurs contented<br /> themselves with keeping in their pay a poet as<br /> they kept a cook, the state of domestic servitude<br /> in which letters found themselves put them at the<br /> mercy of a privileged class, which they flattered<br /> and whose taste they had to consult. This gave<br /> them all kinds of pleasant qualities—tact, measure,<br /> a balanced pomp, an artificial construction and<br /> language; and, again, all the charms which are to<br /> be found in a society of well-bred women, subtleties<br /> and refinements of brain and of the heart, delicate<br /> conversations on delicate subjects, touching lightly<br /> on all without bearing heavily on anything—those<br /> fireside chats which are like musical airs, and which<br /> are confined to the melodies, gay or sad, 6f the<br /> human being. This was the literary spirit of the<br /> last two centuries.<br /> <br /> “Naturally, the salons led to academies ; and it<br /> was there that the literary spirit blossomed forth in<br /> a fine flourish of rhetoric. Disengaged from the<br /> society element, having no longer women to con-<br /> sider, it became above all things grammatical and<br /> rhetorical, buried in questions of tradition, of rules<br /> and recipes. You should hear Sainte Beuve, with<br /> his free spirit, still speaking of the Academy with<br /> all the importance and indignation of an industrious<br /> clerk who has gone to his office and has been<br /> shocked by the conduct and the work of his<br /> colleagues. Many men of letters loved these<br /> sittings devoted to disputes about words, these —<br /> gatherings at which one squabbled in the name of<br /> the oracles of antiquity. ‘There they hurled Greek<br /> and Latin at your head, they revelled in a com-<br /> munity of pedantry, in the midst of an extra-<br /> ordinary complication of hates and jealousies, of<br /> petty battles and petty triumphs. There is no<br /> porter’s lodge in which more blows have been<br /> exchanged than in the Academy. For two cen-<br /> turies, statesmen fallen from power, bilious poets<br /> boiling over with conceit, bookmen with their<br /> heads stuffed with folios, have gone there for relief,<br /> to enjoy the illusion that they were famous, bitterly<br /> discussing their own merits, without ever carrying<br /> the public with them.”<br /> <br /> In these words, and many more of the same kind, ©<br /> Zola sets forth his opinions on the nature, and the —<br /> effect upon literature, of the Academy, to which at<br /> that time—presumably—he did not wish to belong.<br /> <br /> EpWARD Rose.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> iT.<br /> <br /> I am strongly in favour of the establishment<br /> of an Academy of Letters, because I believe<br /> that there is at the present time a practical<br /> piece of work that very much requires to be done<br /> in the domain of letters, and that nothing but an<br /> Academy can do it.<br /> <br /> I do not regard the project, as some regard it,<br /> as the establishment of a species of Order of<br /> Literary merit, because I should feel that the<br /> tendency now-a-days is rather to overdo the<br /> recognition of public services than the reverse.<br /> <br /> But I believe that literature in England just at<br /> present is rather in an unsatisfactory condition.<br /> There is a great demand for literature of a certain<br /> kind, and there is a strong tendency among writers<br /> to regard monetary rewards as the test of success.<br /> I imagine that there are a far larger number of<br /> people who make a living by writing than there<br /> were fifty years ago, and | suppose that the incomes<br /> made by successful writers reach a far higher<br /> average than ever before. Thisisa state of things<br /> which has its dangers ; for there is not, among the<br /> consumers of literature, at all a high instinctive<br /> standard of literary merit, or at all a cultivated<br /> appreciation of literary form.<br /> <br /> It is not for the sake of the Academicians them-<br /> selves that I should like to see an Academy estab-<br /> lished ; but there should be, I believe, a strong<br /> central body of eminent writers, whose duty it<br /> should be to be on the look-out for work of high<br /> <br /> jiterary merit, and to commend such work with all<br /> the authority which such a body would naturally<br /> command.<br /> <br /> There are, I suppose, a few writers of high in-<br /> stinctive vocation in each generation who would<br /> work independently of reward of any kind. But the<br /> tendency at present in belles lettres is for writers<br /> to write with the hope of a large circulation<br /> before their eyes, and gradually to desert those<br /> paths in literature which do not lead either to<br /> honour or to money.<br /> <br /> At present the only people who can afford<br /> to write with the sincere aim of producing litera-<br /> ture of a high order are the fortunate people who,<br /> either by the inheritance of wealth, or by the fact<br /> that they hold a professional position which makes<br /> them independent, and provides them with a cer-<br /> tain amount of leisure, are able to disregard the<br /> ultimate tangible results of their work.<br /> <br /> Such people receive a certain amount of recog-<br /> nition from reviews in journals of high standing ;<br /> but the number of literary journals is not very<br /> great, and the tendency of such writers is to grow<br /> discouraged, and to feel that after all they are not<br /> wanted, and that no one very much cares whether<br /> they speak or hold their peace.<br /> <br /> It is certainly a remarkable fact that the purely<br /> <br /> 15<br /> <br /> literary element in magazines and journals has<br /> lately decidedly decreased. A pessimist would say<br /> that this was owing to the fact that the number of<br /> writers whose works were worth literary considera-<br /> tion had decreased; but if this is so, it is, I believe,<br /> because literary activity is turned into other chan-<br /> nels, not because our literary energy is in any way<br /> diminished.<br /> <br /> _An Academy would then perform the office of<br /> authoritative literary criticism. They would ap-<br /> <br /> “point, I imagine, a small literary committee, whose<br /> <br /> duty would be to examine current literature, and re-<br /> commend acertain number of books for commenda-<br /> tion. It would be impossible for the Academicians<br /> themselves to desert the work of composition which<br /> had placed them in the forefront of letters, in<br /> favour of the exhausting task of reading the litera-<br /> ture of the day and adjudicating on its merits, but<br /> they could nominate a small committee of critics,<br /> not necessarily Academicians, men of wide cultiva-<br /> tion and catholic taste, who would make it their<br /> aim to discern what was likely to be of permanent<br /> value, and to recommend the work of rising writers<br /> to the commendation of the central body.<br /> <br /> I believe that this would be of the highest prac-<br /> tical utility. here are authors who would gladly<br /> forego the tangible monetary rewards of writing,<br /> if they could be dignified by the honourable<br /> recognition of the best writers of the time.<br /> <br /> I believe that the literary energy existing in<br /> England now-is very great, and that the one thing<br /> that is required to turn this in the right direction<br /> is the creation of a high standard of literary value.<br /> Authors would be encouraged to write deliberately<br /> rather than hurriedly, to study form and construc-<br /> tion rather than superficial attractiveness ; and it<br /> might possibly create a school of literary artists of<br /> a kind which England just now, considering its<br /> literary output, conspicuously lacks.<br /> <br /> It is idle to point to bygone centuries and to<br /> say that works of high literary merit were then<br /> produced without the assistance of any central<br /> literary body. What formerly existed in England,<br /> and what has ceased to exist, was a high degree of<br /> respect, felt and expressed by notable persons, for<br /> great literary performance. That has nowadays<br /> been completely over-ridden by the popular verdict,<br /> and by the fact that so far more people consider<br /> themselves competent to express opinions on litera-<br /> ture. I should look upon an Academy rather as<br /> a fort established to try and uphold the higher<br /> standard of respect for literature that formerly<br /> existed, than a new departure, a morbid attempt<br /> to confer a dignity on literature which it had not<br /> earned, and which it did not deserve.<br /> <br /> Artuur OC. BENSON.<br /> <br /> 1<br />  <br /> <br /> 76<br /> <br /> IIL.<br /> <br /> Srr,—The help offered by the Society of Authors<br /> is practical and possible ; what is looked for from<br /> an Academy of Letters is neither. Does anyone<br /> seriously believe that the rise, say of Scott, Dickens,<br /> or Macaulay, in public estimation, would have been<br /> in the smallest degree either hastened or enhanced<br /> by such an institution ; or that under its influence<br /> Keats would have been encouraged to live, or<br /> Robert Montgomery sooner and more effectually<br /> dethroned? Sir Walter Besant in “ The Fourth<br /> Generation” made one of the characters say, that<br /> through the sins of the father a descendant might,<br /> for instance, be prevented by poverty from taking<br /> the place in literature his talents fitted him for.<br /> What would or could an Academy do for such a<br /> case? It is the natural and inevitable tendency<br /> of all such bodies to settle down into coteries and<br /> to turn the republic of letters into an oligarchy.<br /> Mr. Herbert Trench says an English Academy<br /> would have to be made better than the one here.<br /> But how? Is England so especially the abode of<br /> academic rectitude ? An Academy of Letters would<br /> have condemned Shakespeare’s works on account<br /> of their irregularities. The surpassing merits of<br /> the greatest genius of our literature would have<br /> been ignored because of academical defects.<br /> Imagine “Hamlet” or “Macbeth” depending<br /> for success on the decision of the French Academy!<br /> If still publicly unknown, they would be even more<br /> contemptuously spurned by it to-day than in the<br /> days of Mazarin, its founder. When a master-<br /> spirit appears with new means to break new<br /> ground, it is an instinct of self-preservation in<br /> an Academy to frown upon him. It is only when<br /> he has been adopted by the multitude, and a new<br /> school has arisen, that the close corporation of<br /> Olympians condescends to recognize him. In<br /> Shakespeare’s time men ventured boldly in the<br /> new world of letters because there was no Academy<br /> to chill their ardour. The work that succeeds with<br /> an Academy is one that, while deferentially con-<br /> ciliating the predilections of one or two of its more<br /> active members, offends the susceptibilities of none<br /> of them—which means, something tamely correct.<br /> Lucas Malet says that “genius is sooner or later<br /> bound by right divine to conquer.” That is very<br /> pretty, but, alas, it is not true. There is abso-<br /> lutely no room for all the genius in the world to<br /> get a hearing. Like everything else in Nature,<br /> there is much more of it than mankind has need<br /> of. A new writer’s most legitimate, though not<br /> <br /> perhaps his commercially best, chance of succeed-<br /> ing with the public is in strong originality—by<br /> which, of course, I do not mean eccentricity, but<br /> originality governed by strong common-sense and<br /> by modest observance of universally accepted<br /> models.<br /> <br /> But strong originality is the very thing,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> I submit, to which an Academy would, even from<br /> the nature of its constitution, be least likely to be<br /> favourable. Appoint six men as a beginning, with<br /> power to add, say, thirty-four to their number.<br /> They choose as far as possible only men of their<br /> own way of thinking. And being constituted, the<br /> forty affix the hall-mark of their approval only<br /> when neither the public needs it for guidance nor<br /> the author for encouragement. The Academies of<br /> Painting and Music cannot be cited as analogous<br /> cases. With regard to the first, it is practically a<br /> necessity for painters to have their works viewed<br /> in a public exhibition of repute, for which it is<br /> equally necessary that there should be some sort of<br /> selection by some sort of committee. Writers are<br /> not subject to these necessities. Again, Painting<br /> and Music must both be very exactly taught, and<br /> Academies of these arts are or, like universities,<br /> ought to be not merely examining but also teaching<br /> bodies. Now, I boldly assert that the writer’s art<br /> cannot be taught. It can be learnt, and must be,<br /> but chiefly by much reading and practice on the<br /> part of the learner. If the young author has “ got<br /> it in him,” he will know how to educate himself ;<br /> if he has not, uo education in the world will bring<br /> out what isn’t there. As to the alleged need of a<br /> standard of criticism founded on the judgment<br /> of experts, a book may show indisputable signs<br /> of care and exceptional knowledge, but if its<br /> author does not possess the gift of infusing the<br /> fire of interest into his work, it is not an Academy<br /> of Letters or the applause of a few specialists that<br /> can make the public read it or even buy it. Still,<br /> it is insisted that an Academy’s guidance is really<br /> required. But is it gravely assumed that an<br /> official approval now and then of a new book would<br /> have any appreciable effect in a young author’s<br /> self-education or on publictaste? The assumption<br /> seems to me out of all proportion. The reading<br /> public in France, as a mass, pays not the slightest<br /> heed to the occasional “crowning” of a book by<br /> the Academy. I do not believe with Mr. Herbert<br /> Trench that there is a thirst among teachers for<br /> guidance in matters of general literature. As to<br /> school and college books, they just use those<br /> which give pupils the best chance of passing this<br /> or that examination, not forgetting the examiner’s<br /> own productions, where such exist. Ce n’est pas<br /> plus malin que ca. As to charlatans, with capital<br /> to foist rubbish on the public, there are humbugs<br /> who block the way in every line of life ; it is not<br /> an Academy that would suppress them. But, it<br /> may be urged, even if an Academy did no good, it<br /> could not after all really do much harm. Well,<br /> that is not a very strong reason for calling it into<br /> existence.<br /> A. HEFFER.<br /> Paris.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> S<br /> bot<br /> <br /> Ati<br /> <br /> *<br /> <br /> KI<br /> <br /> :<br /> <br /> if<br /> ig<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> eet<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pun<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> IV.<br /> <br /> Dear Srir,—A strange wind blew. Beneath it<br /> a mighty sea rose and raged, this way and that,<br /> in a most ‘‘ anarchic” fashion. On the beach was<br /> descried dimly the figure of a man_ groping.<br /> “ What,” Heaven asked him, in its own name,<br /> “are you doing?” “Looking for forty fossils”<br /> was his answer. ‘ And what,” Heaven asked him,<br /> in its own name, “are you going to do with them<br /> when you have found them?” ‘Calm the sea<br /> with them ”’ was his answer.<br /> <br /> The wind (need I add ?) is popular education.<br /> The sea is the book-reading public. The groping<br /> figure is that of Mr. Herbert ‘Trench. The forty<br /> fossils . . . but I, like Mr. Trench himself, prefer<br /> to devolve the task of naming ‘hem.<br /> <br /> Yours obediently,<br /> Max BEERBOHM.<br /> <br /> $&lt; __—_<br /> <br /> A HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE. *<br /> <br /> — &gt;<br /> <br /> T is, perhaps, a platitude to assert that the<br /> chief snare in the path of the literary historian<br /> is the difficulty of properly subordinating<br /> <br /> detail to general development. In his admirable<br /> history of the great literature that extends from<br /> Ulfilas and the earliest Nibelungen sagas to Suder-<br /> mann and Nietzche, Mr. Robertson has avoided<br /> this pitfall with complete success. His work is<br /> one that should meet with nothing but praise, both<br /> for his complete comprehension of the growth and<br /> decline of all the various movements of Germanic<br /> thought and his lucid exposition of the elements<br /> common to all of them, and also for his admirable<br /> criticism in a space necessarily limited of the<br /> intellectual giants of the eighteenth and nineteenth<br /> centuries. While he is careful to trace the influence<br /> and to estimate the importance of Kant, Fichte, and<br /> Hegel in a literature which has always been and<br /> always will be connected with philosophy by the<br /> firmest of bords, he is not forgetful of the form<br /> which, after all, is the eternal element in all art,<br /> and his lyrical selections are most happy. A<br /> literary historian who can sum up the “ Kritik der<br /> reinen Vernunft”’ and the “ Kritik der praktischen<br /> Vernunft” in two pages, and praise with enthusiasm<br /> Heine’s<br /> “Thalatta ! Thalatta !<br /> Sei mir gegriisst, du ewiges Meer !”<br /> <br /> is indeed one in whom we may rejoice.<br /> <br /> The first period of German literature, as Mr.<br /> Robertson points out in his Introduction, falls<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “A History of German Literature,” by John G.<br /> Robertson (Blackwood : MCMII.).<br /> <br /> 77<br /> <br /> approximately between the period of Anglo-Saxon<br /> poetry in which Beowulf reached its final form,<br /> and the tiny golden age of the prose of Alfred<br /> and Ailfric. It was a monastic age, and Germany<br /> was slower than other nations in breaking loose<br /> from the ascetic trammels that have always proved<br /> so inimical to literature, if not to learning. The<br /> age of the Migrations (875—500, ca.) naturally<br /> failed to produce a written literature, although the<br /> struggles of Ostrogoth, Vandal, and Hun, and the<br /> characters of Ermanrich, Odoaker, and Dietrich,<br /> afforded material for the national epics which<br /> developed later. The second sound-shifting was<br /> fatal to alliterative verse, and Otfrid’s theological<br /> poems (ca. 830—850) followed the early Church<br /> hymns in the use of rhyme. The Middle High<br /> Germany poetry was late in setting in, but by the<br /> twelfth century the bonds of monasticism relaxed,<br /> and the secular themes of the wandering singers<br /> became popular. French influence began to appear ;<br /> the old sagas were remodelled, and the lyric fol-<br /> lowed the form set by the Provencal troubadours..<br /> The courtly Middle High German poetry, however,<br /> declined with knighthood ; as the middle classes<br /> rose to power, literary art subsided. Not until<br /> Luther’s genius had placed his nation in the van of<br /> European progress, and Luther’s Bible had fixed<br /> the standard of modern German, did this period of<br /> decadence end, as all periods of decadence do, in<br /> regeneration.<br /> <br /> terman culture in the sixteenth century was<br /> entirely due to the Reformation, and was at first<br /> completely out of reach of the Latin renaissance.<br /> When, however, it might have benefited by the<br /> latter, the horror of the Thirty Years’ War over-<br /> whelmed it absolutely. Germany was the intel-<br /> lectual outcast of Europe until the end of the<br /> seventeenth century, until the appearance of the<br /> genius of Leibnitz. The first period of German<br /> literature in the eighteenth century was character-<br /> ised by imitation of English and French models,<br /> the second was a period of national originality.<br /> Klopstock, Wieland, Lessing, respectively laid the<br /> foundations of the modern German lyric, novel,<br /> and drama, so that by the middle of the century<br /> Germany had passed far beyond the former dark-<br /> ness, and at the beginning of the nineteenth<br /> century German classical literature had reached<br /> its zenith. ‘The Romantic movement, and the.<br /> “young German epoch” that followed, were’<br /> really periods of decadence which produced a few<br /> men of genius and a vast number of fanatical<br /> mediocrities.<br /> <br /> Such is the scheme of development to which Mr.<br /> Robertson adheres. Through all its ramifications<br /> we may trace the element which is the dominant<br /> note of the Teutonic character—mysticism. It is<br /> apparent in the Old High German poetry of Otfrid<br />  <br /> <br /> 78<br /> <br /> and the idea of retribution in the Nibelungen<br /> Lied ; ‘if it disappears in the “ Beast Epics and<br /> the didactic works which are characteristic of the<br /> decline of chivalry, in ‘Reinke de Vos” and<br /> Brant’s “Narren Schyff,” it is handed on by<br /> Luther and reappears widely in the seventeenth cen-<br /> tury ; if it is blotted out by the Thirty Years’ War,<br /> it is apparent in the great work of Leibnitz, and<br /> has been paramount in almost every branch of<br /> German literature since his day. The Teutonic<br /> temperament has always been romantic, 1n the true<br /> sense of the word ; the literature which enshrines<br /> its power is the literature of subjectivity and<br /> individualism.<br /> <br /> In surveying the growth of any branch of art,<br /> we cannot fail to notice how many works have<br /> survived on account of their historical value,<br /> although they are wxsthetically worthless. It is<br /> greatly to Mr. Robertson’s credit that he has never<br /> confused art and archeology, and that, on the<br /> other hand, he has recognised the real beauty of<br /> archaic “first beginnings, so dim and dewy,” as<br /> Browning rather unhappily called them. Modern<br /> criticism is far too apt to regard anything written<br /> in an obsolete dialect as the lawful prey of the<br /> philologist.<br /> <br /> Sr. Joun Lucas.<br /> —_—_—_—__-__<br /> <br /> MR. G. A. HENTY.<br /> <br /> — ts<br /> <br /> HE death of Mr. G. A. Henty, war corre-<br /> spondent and author, has come rather<br /> suddenly. There is no doubt that he<br /> <br /> supplied a certain type of literature which may<br /> entirely disappear with his death. He combined<br /> adventure with instruction, and wrote on lines<br /> that no modern author seems to touch.<br /> <br /> He was a most prolific writer, and certainly<br /> found amongst the boys to whom he appealed a<br /> class as eager for his productions as he was prolific<br /> in his writings.<br /> <br /> All his books were healthy, strong, and vigorous,<br /> full of life and full of “ go,” and all his writings<br /> advocated the strenuous life which he himself lived.<br /> <br /> It is with much regret we chronicle the sad<br /> event.<br /> _<br /> <br /> A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA.*<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> ‘bee Tranis (of whom the Persians and Medes<br /> were the leading tribes) and their language<br /> and literature afford us an example unique<br /> <br /> in the annals of nations. The language used by<br /> <br /> * “A Literary History of Persia” (Prof. E. G. Browne).<br /> T, Fisher Unwin.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the Achzemanian kings in the sixth century B.o,<br /> would be easily understood by an educated Persian<br /> of to-day, and yet there have been breaches in<br /> their history and literature so wide as would have<br /> drained the life-blood of most other races.<br /> <br /> The Achemanian (Hakhamanish), or Old Persian —<br /> period, extended from about 560 B.C. to the over- |<br /> throw of the Iranian Empire by Alexander of<br /> Macedon in 330 3.c. The only remains of that<br /> literature are the royal acts and proclamations<br /> engraven on stone, and they possess the sonorous<br /> dignity and simplicity to which we are accustomed<br /> in edicts, by members of the same dynasty, re-<br /> corded in the Bible. The national cult and<br /> literature was practically suspended for the five<br /> centuries extending to about 200 .c., only linger-<br /> ing in Magian temples or inaccessible fastnesses<br /> of some reputed descendant of Hakhaman. The<br /> national awakening gave rise to what is known as<br /> the Sassanian period, or Pahlevi literature, which<br /> cannot be disconnected from what some scholars<br /> have defined, artificially, as the Avestic literature.<br /> The Avesta, or sacred books of Zoroastrianism, of<br /> which only about one-fourth are known, have come<br /> down to us in the forms imparted to them between<br /> 200 and 350 a.c., but must necessarily include the<br /> oral traditions of the most ancient period, and,<br /> indeed, contains vestiges of practices and super-<br /> stitions from ante-Aryan times, common to all<br /> races. The Avestic literature is only interesting<br /> to him who quarries for the evolution of ideas in<br /> the childhood of the human race. The Pahlevi as<br /> applied to the national resurrection under the<br /> Sassanide dynasty, flourished from about 200—<br /> 650 A.c. ; the remains of this literature, although<br /> principally religious (Zoroastrian), contain some<br /> 40,000 words of historical romance, which with<br /> other remains, now only extant in Arabic transla-<br /> tions, supplied the subject-matter of that stupen-<br /> dous National Legend moulded by the genius of<br /> Firdusi during the Second Renaissance in about<br /> 1000 A.C. d<br /> <br /> The Sassanide dynasty fell in 650 a.c., when the<br /> Empire was overwhelmed by the Arabs, and Persia<br /> became an Arabian province for 300 years, when<br /> Arabic became the language of literature, and<br /> Persian men of genius devoted their talents and<br /> knowledge to the enrichment of Arabic literature<br /> and the glories of Islam.<br /> <br /> The Second Awakening dawned in about<br /> 850 A.c., but did not begin to shine until about<br /> 950, and then only in distant provinces of the<br /> Caliphate and, chiefly, under the patronage of<br /> Turkish adventurers, who nurtured the Persian<br /> cult and made themselves more Persian than the<br /> Persians for the purpose of strengthening them-<br /> selves against their suzerains, the Caliphs of Bag-<br /> dad. I must refer the reader to Prof. Browne’s<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> ood<br /> <br /> book for the many other causes which assisted the<br /> <br /> 40098 Second Birth. This period, which is undoubtedly<br /> » aff the Golden Age of Persian literature, flourished<br /> me and expanded until the Tartar flood burst and<br /> <br /> » 79 overwhelmed Asiatic civilisation at the beginning<br /> to of the fourteenth century. Prof. Browne, in the<br /> oy volume before me, stops at 1000 4.c. and promises<br /> -7 us another one on the “Golden Age,” which will<br /> a) include such well-known names as Nizami, Sadi,<br /> O Omar Khaydm, etc. He has already dealt with<br /> 4) the translation of Tabari’s great commentary into<br /> <br /> { Persian; Assadi, the teacher of Firdusi, and in-<br /> <br /> »y ventor of the “ Romance of the Joust”; Rudaki,<br /> <br /> * “piquant in expression and fluent in verse,” so<br /> <br /> f fluent that he is credited with the composition of one<br /> <br /> &#039; + millionthreehundredthousand verses! The greatest<br /> +8 figure is, of course, Firdusi, with his monumental<br /> »/@ Shah name (“Book of the Kings”); this stupendous<br /> 4 National Legend, comprising some 60,000 couplets,<br /> &#039;@ embraces the traditional primeval legends, the<br /> ** Romance of Iamshid”’ (a sort of combination of<br /> * Solomon and King Arthur), the historical chronicles<br /> <br /> of the Sassanide dynasty and all that is romantic<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> and tuneful down to his own day, coloured, of<br /> course, with Moslem pigment and showing the<br /> grain of Chaldean imagery which the older Pahlevi<br /> writers had assimilated.<br /> <br /> The third Great Trance extended from the<br /> Mongol conquest to about the beginning of the<br /> last century ; but this Third Renaissance has, so far,<br /> concerned itself with recovering the treasures of<br /> the past, translations of foreign books, and—poetry.<br /> <br /> Their poetical forms, the couplet and quatrain,<br /> are borrowed from the Arabic, and from the ninth<br /> to the present century are dirge-like.<br /> <br /> The philosopher is naturally sad, but the senti-<br /> mental Persian wails in his loves, his hates, and his<br /> adorations. When he can spare time from sobbing<br /> a divine hymn to some petty kingling and patron,<br /> he weeps a melancholy dirge about wine, music,<br /> and woman. His eyes are so dimmed with tears<br /> that his Trinity must be brilliantly coloured and<br /> sensuous ; the “ruby wine,” the “heart-exploding<br /> erash of music,” “the ruby lips,’ and so forth.<br /> When a kingling (generally of Turkish extraction)<br /> rhymes, he sighs for “ red-hot blood” and “ nostril<br /> attacking incarmined cuirass.”<br /> <br /> It may be noted en passant that poets made<br /> money in A.C. 1000, for we are told that Rudaki<br /> possessed 200 slaves (some, let us hope, with<br /> ‘ruby lips” and other strongly-coloured physical<br /> attractions) and 100 camel-loads of luggage.<br /> <br /> Prof. Browne holds a brief for Persia and devotes<br /> two-thirds of his book to Arabian literature, which<br /> he attempts to prove to be Persian, because many<br /> Persians, half-Persians, fractional-Persians and<br /> Arabs of “reputed” Persian descent wrote in<br /> Arabic. It would be just as easy to class the<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 79<br /> <br /> numerous works published in Latin throughou<br /> Europe during the last two centuries as “ Roman”<br /> literature. No! Arabian literature and Islam<br /> are no more Persian than the northern Sagas are<br /> the vapourings of a Baboo who has “failed B.A.<br /> Calcutta.”<br /> <br /> I shall look forward to Prof. Browne’s next<br /> volume dealing with the great Poet-Philosophers<br /> of the Golden Age, and should feel grateful if he<br /> would veil his profound erudition by massing his<br /> references in an appendix.<br /> <br /> M. M.<br /> <br /> ae<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> —— ———e— —<br /> <br /> “RUTHOR AND EDITOR.”<br /> <br /> Sir,—Mr. F. J. Winbolt is not complimentary !<br /> First he calls me “ An unknown author,” when my<br /> nameis very well known. Every London editor of any<br /> note knows it, I should say, and I have been called<br /> by an eminent living critic “one of the sweetest<br /> singers in Devon now alive”; besides being one of<br /> Mr. H. D. Traill’s “ Poets in the (late) Nineteenth<br /> Century.” Then he implies that 1am “ an obscure<br /> poet,” which again is wide of the mark, as not<br /> only have I had hundreds of reviews in London<br /> and provincial papers, but my poems have been<br /> extensively copied into the Indian, African, San<br /> Franciscan, and Canadian papers. Besides, he will<br /> find my name in “ Who’s Who.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Winbolt misses the point—i.c., that several<br /> (10) of the poems were from the Westminster Gazette,<br /> and that the editor had reviewed all my inferior<br /> books! Besides, other London papers noticed it—<br /> Pall Mall Gazette, The Queen, Field, Pictorial<br /> World, and others.<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> F. B. Dovueton.<br /> <br /> Kirsfield, Torquay.<br /> <br /> P.S.—Again! What did the editor mean by<br /> saying “He had given my Vol. due considera-<br /> tion ’—a future review or none ?<br /> <br /> F. B.D.<br /> So ee<br /> INCOMPETENT REVIEWERS OF BOOKS—A<br /> PROTEST.<br /> <br /> Srr,—There are two abuses which no author—<br /> not even a young one—is obliged to tolerate. — he<br /> first is having his English cavilled at by a reviewer<br /> who has no grammar; and the second is the<br /> misquoting or mutilating of his printed work with<br /> a view to holding hit up to ridicule.<br /> <br /> Case number one. Discussing “The Land of<br /> the Dons,” my recent work on Spain, the Daily<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 78<br /> <br /> and the idea of retribution in the Nibelungen<br /> Lied ; ‘if it disappears in the “ Beast pies and<br /> the didactic works which are characteristic of the<br /> decline of chivalry, in “ Reinke de Vos” and<br /> Brant’s “Narren Schyff,” it is handed on by<br /> Luther and reappears widely in the seventeenth cen-<br /> tury ; if it is blotted out by the Thirty Years War,<br /> it is apparent in the great work of Leibnitz, and<br /> has been paramount in almost every branch of<br /> German literature since his day. The Teutonic<br /> temperament has always been romantic, 10 the true<br /> gense of the word ; the literature which enshrines<br /> its power is the literature of subjectivity and<br /> individualism,<br /> <br /> In surveying the growth of any branch of art,<br /> we cannot fail to notice how many works have<br /> survived on account of their historical value,<br /> although they are esthetically worthless. It is<br /> greatly to Mr. Robertson’s credit that he has never<br /> confused art and archeology, and that, on the<br /> other hand, he has recognised the real beauty of<br /> archaic “ first beginnings, so dim and dewy,” as<br /> Browning rather unhappily called them. Modern<br /> criticism is far too apt to regard anything written<br /> in an obsolete dialect as the lawful prey of the<br /> philologist.<br /> <br /> Sr. Joun Lucas.<br /> <br /> i<br /> <br /> MR. G. A. HENTY.<br /> <br /> a od<br /> <br /> HE death of Mr. G. A. Henty, war corre-<br /> spondent and author, has come rather<br /> suddenly. ‘There is no doubt that he<br /> <br /> supplied a certain type of literature which may<br /> entirely disappear with his death. He combined<br /> adventure with instruction, and wrote on lines<br /> that no modern author seems to touch.<br /> <br /> He was a most prolific writer, and certainly<br /> found amongst the boys to whom he appealed a<br /> class as eager for his productions as he was prolific<br /> in his writings.<br /> <br /> All his books were healthy, strong, and vigorous,<br /> full of life and full of “ go,” and all his writings<br /> advocated the strenuous life which he himself lived.<br /> <br /> It is with much regret we chronicle the sad<br /> event.<br /> <br /> ————_+-—&lt;&gt;—_e —___—__<br /> <br /> A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA.*<br /> aes<br /> | Tranis (of whom the Persians and Medes<br /> were the leading tribes) and their language<br /> and literature afford us an example unique<br /> in the annals of nations. The language used by<br /> <br /> * “A Literary History of Persia” (Prof. E. G. Browne).<br /> T. Fisher Unwin.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> the Achzmanian kings in the sixth century B.c.<br /> would be easily understood by an educated Persian<br /> of to-day, and yet there have been breaches in<br /> their history and literature so wide as would have<br /> drained the life-blood of most other races.<br /> <br /> The Achemanian (Hakhamanish), or Old Persian<br /> period, extended from about 560 B.c. to the over-<br /> throw of the Iranian Empire by Alexander of<br /> Macedon in 330 3.c. The only remains of that<br /> literature are the royal acts aud proclamations<br /> engraven on stone, and they possess the sonorous<br /> dignity and simplicity to which we are accustomed<br /> in edicts, by members of the same dynasty, re-<br /> corded in the Bible. The national cult and<br /> literature was practically suspended for the five<br /> centuries extending to about 200 a.c., only linger-<br /> ing in Magian temples or inaccessible fastnesses<br /> of some reputed descendant of Hakhaman. The<br /> national awakening gave rise to what is known as<br /> the Sassanian period, or Pahlevi literature, which<br /> cannot be disconnected from what some scholars<br /> have defined, artificially, as the Avestic literature.<br /> The Avesta, or sacred books of Zoroastrianism, of<br /> which only about one-fourth are known, have come<br /> down to us in the forms imparted to them between<br /> 200 and 350 A.c., but must necessarily include the<br /> oral traditions of the most ancient period, and,<br /> indeed, contains vestiges of practices and super-<br /> stitions from ante-Aryan times, common to all<br /> races. The Avestic literature is only interesting<br /> to him who quarries for the evolution of ideas in<br /> the childhood of the human race. The Pahlevi as<br /> applied to the national resurrection under the<br /> Sassanide dynasty, flourished from about 200—<br /> 650 A.c. ; the remains of this literature, although<br /> principally religious (Zoroastrian), contain some<br /> 40,000 words of historical romance, which with<br /> other remains, now only extant in Arabic transla-<br /> tions, supplied the subject-matter of that stupen-<br /> dous National Legend moulded by the genius of<br /> Firdusi during the Second Renaissance in about<br /> 1000 A.C.<br /> <br /> The Sassanide dynasty fell in 650 A.c., when the ex:<br /> Empire was overwhelmed by the Arabs, and Persia 7 az<br /> became an Arabian province for 300 years, when<br /> Arabic became the language of literature, and<br /> Persian men of genius devoted their talents and<br /> knowledge to the enrichment of Arabic literature<br /> and the glories of Islam.<br /> <br /> The Second Awakening dawned in about<br /> 850 A.c., but did not begin to shine until about<br /> 950, and then only in distant provinces of the §<br /> Caliphate and, chiefly, under the patronage of §<br /> Turkish adventurers, who nurtured the Persian 3<br /> cult and made themselves more Persian than the<br /> Persians for the purpose of strengthening them-<br /> selves against their suzerains, the Caliphs of Bag-<br /> dad. I must refer the reader to Prof. Browne’s<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &amp;<br /> <br /> ios<br /> ig.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Cowes S<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> book for the many other causes which assisted the<br /> <br /> v0 ? Second Birth. This period, which is undoubtedly<br /> <br /> the Golden Age of Persian literature, flourished<br /> and expanded until the Tartar flood burst and<br /> overwhelmed Asiatic civilisation at the beginning<br /> of the fourteenth century. Prof. Browne, in the<br /> volume before me, stops at 1000 4.c. and promises<br /> us another one on the “ Golden Age,” which will<br /> include such well-known names as Nizami, Sadi,<br /> Omar Khaydm, etc. He has already dealt with<br /> the translation of Tabari’s great commentary into<br /> Persian ; Assadi, the teacher of Firdusi, and in-<br /> ventor of the “ Romance of the Joust” ; Rudaki,<br /> “piquant in expression and fluent in verse,” so<br /> fluent that he is credited with the composition of one<br /> million three hundred thousand verses! The greatest<br /> figure is, of course, Firdusi, with his monumental<br /> Shah name (“Book of the Kings”); this stupendous<br /> National Legend, comprising some 60,000 couplets,<br /> embraces the traditional primeval legends, the<br /> “ Romance of Iamshid”’ (a sort of combination of<br /> Solomon and King Arthur), the historical chronicles<br /> of the Sassanide dynasty and all that is romantic<br /> and tuneful down to his own day, coloured, of<br /> course, with Moslem pigment and showing the<br /> grain of Chaldean imagery which the older Pahlevi<br /> writers had assimilated.<br /> <br /> The third Great Trance extended from the<br /> Mongol conquest to about the beginning of the<br /> last century ; but this Third Renaissance has, so far,<br /> concerned itself with recovering the treasures of<br /> the past, translations of foreign books, and—poetry.<br /> <br /> Their poetical forms, the couplet and quatrain,<br /> are borrowed from the Arabic, and from the ninth<br /> to the present century are dirge-like.<br /> <br /> The philosopher is naturally sad, but the senti-<br /> mental Persian wails in his loves, his hates, and his<br /> adorations. When he can spare time from sobbing<br /> a divine hymn to some petty kingling and patron,<br /> he weeps a melancholy dirge about wine, music,<br /> and woman. His eyes are so dimmed with tears<br /> that his Trinity must be brilliantly coloured and<br /> sensuous ; the “ruby wine,” the “heart-exploding<br /> erash of music,” “the ruby lips,” and so forth.<br /> When a kingling (generally of Turkish extraction)<br /> rhymes, he sighs for “ red-hot blood ” and “ nostril<br /> attacking incarmined cuirass.”<br /> <br /> It may be noted en passant that poets made<br /> money in A.c. 1000, for we are told that Rudaki<br /> possessed 200 slaves (some, let us hope, with<br /> ‘ruby lips” and other strongly-coloured physical<br /> attractions) and 100 camel-loads of luggage.<br /> <br /> Prof. Browne holds a brief for Persia and devotes<br /> two-thirds of his book to Arabian literature, which<br /> he attempts to prove to be Persian, because many<br /> Persians, half-Persians, fractional-Persians and<br /> Arabs of “reputed” Persian descent wrote in<br /> Arabic. It would be just as easy to class the<br /> <br /> 79<br /> <br /> numerous works published in Latin throughou<br /> Europe during the last two centuries as ‘‘ Roman”<br /> literature. No! Arabian literature and Islam<br /> are no more Persian than the northern Sagas are<br /> the vapourings of a Baboo who has “failed B.A.<br /> Calcutta.”<br /> <br /> I shall look forward to Prof. Browne’s next<br /> volume dealing with the great Poet-Philosophers<br /> of the Golden Age, and should feel grateful if he<br /> would veil his profound erudition by massing his<br /> references in an appendix.<br /> <br /> M. M.<br /> <br /> ————<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> “AUTHOR AND EDITOR.”<br /> <br /> Srr,—Mr. F. J. Winbolt is not complimentary !<br /> First he calls me ‘An unknown author,” when my<br /> nameis very wellknown. Every London editor of any<br /> note knows it, I should say, and I have been called<br /> by an eminent living critic “one of the sweetest<br /> singers in Devon now alive ” ; besides being one of<br /> Mr. H. D. Traill’s “ Poets in the (late) Nineteenth<br /> Century.” Then he implies that lam “an obscure<br /> poet,” which again is wide of the mark, as not<br /> only have I had hundreds of reviews in London<br /> and provincial papers, but my poems have been<br /> extensively copied into the Indian, African, San<br /> Franciscan, and Canadian papers. Besides, he will<br /> find my name in “ Who’s Who.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Winbolt misses the point—i.c., that several<br /> (10) of the poems were from the estminster Gazette,<br /> and that the editor had reviewed all my inferior<br /> books! Besides, other London papers noticed it—<br /> Pall Mall Gazette, The Queen, Field, Pictorial<br /> World, and others.<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> F. B. Doveton.<br /> <br /> Kirsfield, Torquay.<br /> <br /> P.S.—Again! What did the editor mean by<br /> saying “He had given my Vol. due considera-<br /> tion ”’—a future review or none?<br /> <br /> EF. B.D.<br /> Sg<br /> INCOMPETENT REVIEWERS OF BOOKS—A<br /> PROTEST.<br /> <br /> Srr,—There are two abuses which no author—<br /> not even a young one—is obliged to tolerate. The<br /> first is having his English cavilled at by a reviewer<br /> who has no grammar; and the second is the<br /> misquoting or mutilating of his printed work with<br /> a view to holding him up to ridicule. 7<br /> <br /> Case number one. Discussing “The Land of<br /> the Dons,” my recent work on Spain, the Daily<br /> 80<br /> <br /> Chronicle’s reviewer says, “It would not be fair to.<br /> <br /> make’ these strictures without giving specimens.”<br /> He then takes a sentence of sixteen words from<br /> my book, strikes out two commas, puts in a dash<br /> of his own, and, after completely changing the<br /> emphasis and the sense, prints his own travesty as<br /> my production. :<br /> <br /> ‘Case number two. Says Zruth’s reviewer,<br /> “&lt;Tmperative to,’ suggests that Mr. Williams’<br /> profuse and profound knowledge of Spanish has a<br /> little impaired his English.” Yet, a moment later,<br /> Truth’s reviewer produces a grammatical tit-bit of<br /> his own. He asks, “ What voice in literature has<br /> (sic) had the dim millions which in all ages and<br /> countries have lain out of sight like bees in the<br /> darkness of a hive from which we extract the<br /> honey ?” :<br /> <br /> Truth’s ingenious reviewer, therefore, while<br /> straining at the gnats of other people, seems to<br /> digest his own camels with singular complacency.<br /> Possibly, however, I am myself in error. It isa<br /> fact, as Truth is good enough to remind me, that<br /> I have long been absent from England ; but when<br /> I was there, a plural noun, unless my memory 1s<br /> very much at fault, was considered to demand a<br /> plural in its verb. \<br /> <br /> I am quite aware that by far the greater number<br /> of our reviewers of books are intelligent and<br /> <br /> kindly ; but from time to time an exception crops<br /> <br /> up and cries aloud for the pillory. The reviewer<br /> who repunctuates my writings in order to cast<br /> derision on them, imposes upon his readers and<br /> calumniates me. And the “reviewer,” such as<br /> Truth’s, who commits a grammatical blunder for<br /> which a schoolboy of ten would be soundly<br /> whipped, is incompetent to pass judgment on any<br /> book, whether written by me or by anyone else.<br /> <br /> LEONARD WILLIAMS.<br /> <br /> Madrid.<br /> <br /> —1~&gt;—+ —<br /> <br /> THE RUSKIN MEMORIAL SCHEME.<br /> <br /> Dear Sir,—I should be grateful if you will<br /> allow me on behalf of the Ruskin memorial com-<br /> mittee to place before your readers a brief state-<br /> ment respecting the scheme.<br /> <br /> The Ruskin Society of Birmingham has existed<br /> for some seven years to do honour to the great<br /> teacher whose name it bears. It has endeavoured<br /> Lo promote the study of his works and make them<br /> a real power in the land, and it has sought to draw<br /> together men of all parties and creeds, the bond of<br /> union being the common desire to share the<br /> spiritual impetus arising from the study of the<br /> works of one, who preached a true philosophy, and<br /> the recognition that his profound genius was<br /> wholly used for the benefit of mankind.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> But since the death of Mr. Ruskin the Society :<br /> decided to be no longer content to exist as an —<br /> academic body only ; and they thought that the<br /> best memorial they could raise in Mr. Ruskin’s<br /> honour was to carry out a practical scheme on the<br /> lines and in the spirit of his teaching.<br /> <br /> It was not difficult to choose such a scheme,<br /> The master’s love for country life is known to his<br /> most casual reader, as also are his magnificent<br /> experiments to foster it ; and the advice which in<br /> his later years he gave to those who sought his<br /> guidance as to practical work was to found a<br /> village institute to promote the higher life of the<br /> community around it.<br /> <br /> The Society resolved to act on this advice, and<br /> they believed that in the district of Bournville, if<br /> they could secure the necessary facilities, they had<br /> a most suitable place for their experiment, for here<br /> some of those social reforms, notably the housin<br /> one, about which (to quote Mr. Frederic Haram<br /> Mr. Ruskin had written long years before the<br /> statutes, conferences and royal commissions of our<br /> own generation, had been carried out. They there-<br /> fore ventured to approach the trustees of the<br /> Bournville Village Trust and sought their co-opera-<br /> tion. With a generosity only comparable to that<br /> shown on many occasions by Mr. Ruskin himself,<br /> the trustees offered to present, for the purposes of<br /> the memorial, a site of upwards of two and a half<br /> acres. Here we are building the memorial, of<br /> which Lord Avebury laid the foundation stone of<br /> the first portion on the 21st inst. That portion<br /> will embrace a library, museum and lecture room,<br /> and rooms for classes in arts and crafts.<br /> <br /> The site is a central one, not only for residents<br /> here, but for a group of thickly populated villages ~<br /> around. We seek to make the memorial building<br /> a centre of effort for the betterment of the con- —<br /> ditions of village life, and to bring to bear upon<br /> that life some of those influences which have now<br /> to be sought for in our large cities.<br /> <br /> We raise this memorial to Mr. Ruskin remember- —<br /> ing that he taught us that “There is no wealth<br /> but life—life including all its powers of love, of<br /> joy, and of admiration,” and that “That country<br /> is the richest which nourishes the greatest number<br /> of noble and happy human beings.” :<br /> <br /> For the completion of our present scheme we<br /> require a further sum of upwards of £3,000, and<br /> we most earnestly appeal to your readers for their<br /> assistance. We shall welcome all letters of enquiry,<br /> and shall be pleased to give any further informa-<br /> tion.<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> <br /> J. H. WHITEHOUSE.<br /> Honorary Secretary.<br /> Bournville, Birmingham.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/478/1902-12-01-The-Author-13-3.pdf	publications, The Author
479	https://historysoa.com/items/show/479	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 04 (January 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+04+%28January+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 04 (January 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>	1903-01-01-The-Author-13-4					81–108																		<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=1903-01-01">1903-01-01</a>							4			19030101	The Huthor.<br /> <br /> { Tg<br /> i 6<br /> of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR<br /> <br /> Monthly.)<br /> <br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vou. XIIT.—No. 4.<br /> <br /> JANUARY Ist, 1903.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> eg<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> pe ee<br /> <br /> OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> K signed or initialled the authors alone are<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 /> Tue Editor begs to inform members of the<br /> Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author<br /> <br /> _ that the cases which are from time to time quoted<br /> <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 /> Tur List of Members of the Society of Authors<br /> can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,<br /> at the price of 6d. net.<br /> <br /> It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> only.<br /> <br /> —+-&gt;-+—_<br /> <br /> The Pension Fund of the Society.<br /> <br /> Tur 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 /> [Prick SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> ee £816 5 6<br /> Wocal Goans =) a 404 10 0<br /> <br /> Victorian Government 8 % Con-<br /> solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11<br /> WearciGal 2. QOL 9.23<br /> Total 33.5. £1,714 4 8<br /> <br /> SPECIAL 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 /> Up to and including the 19th of December, the<br /> list of subscriptions and donations promised and<br /> given is set forch below. Further subscriptions<br /> and donations will be acknowledged as they<br /> come in.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Tuckett, F. F. &#039; ; .£1 0 0<br /> S Cox, Miss Roalfe 0 5 0<br /> <br /> , Loynbee, William . 010 6<br /> <br /> , Anonymous . : : L070<br /> <br /> » odd, Miss Margaret, M.D. tt 0<br /> <br /> » Pearson, Mrs. Conney 2 2 0<br /> <br /> 5 Seaman, Owen : ; - tt 8<br /> <br /> , Abbot, Rey. Edwin A, D.D.. 1 0 0<br /> <br /> . . Witherby, Rey. C. . 0 5.0<br /> <br /> » Salwey, Reginald E. 0 10 0<br /> Vacher, Francis 110<br /> <br /> Nov. 15, Parr, Mrs... ; 1 fr 0<br /> 4 Davy, Man EO. : . 010 6<br /> <br /> . Allingham, Wiliam, FRCS. 1 1 9<br /> <br /> ,» Armstrong, Miss Frances 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Holmes, Arthur H. (condi-<br /> <br /> tional) ; : :<br /> Rattray, Alex. : ‘ :<br /> ,, Brodrick, ‘The Honble. Mrs. .<br /> Noy. 17, Nisbet, Hume : ; :<br /> Keene, H. G., C.5.1. : :<br /> Bayly, Miss A. E. (Edna Lyall)<br /> 3 Forbes, E. . : : .<br /> ss Spiers, Victor.<br /> <br /> ”<br /> <br /> a?<br /> <br /> owe oor cre<br /> —<br /> <br /> en bo Re OO Rt Ot<br /> <br /> eceocoooocosoo<br />  <br /> <br /> 82<br /> <br /> Noy. 17, Kroeker, Mrs. Freiligrath<br /> » Burrowes, Miss Elsa<br /> » Cooke-Taylor, R. W.<br /> Noy. 18, Voysey, Rev. Charles<br /> , vones, W. Braunston<br /> » Anonymous .<br /> 5 Salmond, Mrs. Walter<br /> » Amonymous .<br /> » Clough, Miss B. AL<br /> » Stanton, Miss H. M.<br /> » “Lucas Malet”<br /> Nov. 20, E. G.<br /> ao enkins, Miss Hadow<br /> Morrah, H. A. 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 /> » Twycross, Miss M.<br /> Nov. 24, Smythe, Alfred<br /> » Haggard, Mrs. John<br /> ,, Anonymous ‘<br /> », Dale, Miss Nellie .<br /> oe Tresham Quaines” .<br /> Noy. 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 /> 5» Hamilton, Mrs. G. W.<br /> Brinton, Selwyn<br /> Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie<br /> Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the<br /> Duchess of<br /> Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace .<br /> <br /> ”<br /> <br /> ”<br /> <br /> Donations.<br /> <br /> Noy. 13, Bullen, EF. A<br /> is Roberts, Morley (an annual<br /> subscriber). :<br /> Nov. 14, Rossetti, W.M. . :<br /> es Marshall, Capt. Robert .<br /> »» Hoyer, Miss ‘ :<br /> . EM 8B.<br /> “ Lefroy, Mrs. .<br /> » Sinclair, Miss May (an annual<br /> subscriber) . : ‘<br /> » McBride, Capt. E. E.<br /> » Garnier, Russell .<br /> Noy. 15, Burchell, Sidney H.<br /> » Spero” :<br /> 5 “ Cecil Medlicott v<br /> », Harker, Mrs. Allen<br /> » Banks, Mrs. M. M.<br /> », Spielmann, M. H.<br /> » Garnier, Col. J. .<br /> », Benecke, Miss Ida .<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> or So by<br /> <br /> oor Of ©<br /> <br /> KSPR wWOoOOCCNOFRFS<br /> <br /> connnacd oro<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> illo e e<br /> aooccunce o orn HONS OO COLON OH HOA OLOTS OLD OH OHMS WN<br /> <br /> i<br /> <br /> He<br /> Howonmonworcneu<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> oacocoococoo<br /> <br /> =&gt;<br /> <br /> oo cCooaoocooeoeoo soso S OS Soo RSS<br /> <br /> So<br /> <br /> ecocoocoacaoceo eoocooocoo<br /> <br /> Nov. 15, Atton, Henry ; 05 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 17, Panter, Rev. C. R.. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> » Keene, H.G,CSi . 0 5 0<br /> <br /> », Spielmann, Mrs. M. H. . 1 i4@<br /> <br /> » Begbie, Harold ; . 8 3 0<br /> <br /> », Stevenson, J.J. . -10 0 0<br /> <br /> , Minniken, Miss Bertha M. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Noy. 18, From sale of autograph . 124<br /> <br /> » Wintle, H. R. 010 0<br /> <br /> » Brickdale-Corbett, H. M. 010 0<br /> <br /> » Defries, Miss Violet : 010 6<br /> <br /> Nov. 19, Stanton, Miss Hannah M. 1 0 ¥<br /> » Warren, Major-General Sir<br /> <br /> Charles, K.C.M.G. 1 0.98<br /> <br /> » “lucas Malet”. 5 5 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 20, Wynne, Charles Whitworth 5 &amp;<br /> <br /> Nov. 22, Skeat, The Rev. Prof. W. W.. 5 0 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 25, Jacobs, W.W. ; : 1 194<br /> <br /> ; Young, W. Wellington . 0 5 0<br /> <br /> » Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite . 010 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 26, Cook, C. H. . 1.1 ¢@<br /> <br /> Noy. 27, Gleig, Charles 010 0<br /> <br /> » Harraden, Miss Beatrice 1 1@<br /> <br /> . Frankland, F. W. 1 0 0<br /> <br /> ,» d Auvergne, Mrs. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Nov. 28, Sutcliffe, Halliwell 1 2 8<br /> <br /> Nov. 29, Weyman, Stanley J. 5 0 0<br /> <br /> Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0<br /> <br /> Dec. 2, Trevor- Batty e, Aubyn 1 14<br /> <br /> » Marks, Mrs. . ; 010 0<br /> <br /> Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0<br /> <br /> « Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Dee. ‘12, Croft, Miss Lily 0 5 0<br /> <br /> a Panting, J. Harwood 010 0<br /> <br /> . Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0<br /> <br /> Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0<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 — Bart., F.R.C.S.<br /> <br /> Rashdall, The Rev. H<br /> <br /> Guthrie, Anstey.<br /> <br /> Robertson, Cc. 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 /> The total amount of cash actually received is<br /> £190 3s. 6d.<br /> <br /> SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <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 />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> - ef the Society will be found to come forward and<br /> <br /> ose meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that<br /> <br /> . dee ‘before the time expires we may be able to print in<br /> <br /> », of the columns of Zhe Author the full list of ten<br /> » dae subscribers of the required amount.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> ive Hawkins, A. Hope . : _£10° 0 0<br /> erisa@ Barrie, J. M. . : : ‘ ~ 10-0 0<br /> jaca Drummond, Hamilton : ; 10-02-60<br /> veg Wynne, Charles Whitworth . 2 19 0-9<br /> es<br /> Tue Pension FunD COMMITTEE.<br /> a In order to give members of the Society, should<br /> <br /> ed: they desire to appoint a fresh member to the<br /> ,-a89 Pension Fund Committee, full time to act, it has<br /> -98e been thought advisable to place in Zhe Author a<br /> <br /> _ (I full statement of the method of election under the<br /> foe Scheme for administration of the Pension Fund.<br /> &gt;a Under that Scheme the Committee is composed of<br /> ad three members elected by the Committee of the<br /> ~- 908 Society, three members elected by the Society at<br /> si the General Meeting, and the Chairman of the<br /> 908 Society for the time being, ex officio. The three<br /> ‘9m members elected at the General Meeting when the<br /> os Fund was started, were Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr.<br /> <br /> &#039; Wf M. H. Spielmann, and Mrs. Alec Tweedie. Last<br /> 98) year, Mrs. Alec Tweedie resigned in due course,<br /> Sf and submitting her name for re-election was<br /> l/:Gh unanimously re-elected. This year, Mr. Morley<br /> 1 99 Roberts in turn, under the Rules of the Scheme,<br /> 09) tenders his resignation and submits his name for<br /> \/-@ re-election. The members have power to put for-<br /> ‘ey ward other names under Clause 9 which runs as<br /> <br /> wolle follows :—<br /> <br /> ae! * Any candidate for election to the Pension Fund Com-<br /> if mittee by the members of the Society (not being a retiring<br /> s@ member of such Committee) shall be nominated in writing<br /> © to the Secretary, at least three weeks prior to the General<br /> ~ Meeting at which such candidate is to be proposed, and the<br /> ‘6 nomination of each such candidate shall be subscribed by,<br /> 4; at least, three members of the Society. A list of the names<br /> + of the candidates so nominated shall be sent to the members<br /> ? of the Society with the annual report of the Managing<br /> _ Committee, and those candidates obtaining the most votes<br /> + at the General Meeting shall be elected to serve on the<br /> *) Pension Fund Committee.”<br /> <br /> Tn case any member should desire to refer to the<br /> “| List of Members, a copy complete, with the excep-<br /> tion of those members referred to in the note at<br /> | the beginning, can be obtained at the Society’s<br /> | Office.<br /> <br /> It would be as well, therefore, should any of the<br /> members desire to put forward candidates, to take<br /> the matter within their immediate consideration.<br /> The General Meeting of the Society has usually<br /> been held towards the end of February or the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 83<br /> <br /> beginning of March. It is essential that all<br /> nominations should be in the hands of the<br /> Secretary before the 31st of January.<br /> <br /> —_——1—_—-<br /> <br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> <br /> THE amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £330 8 6<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,<br /> about £4, The subscriptions received from July 1st<br /> to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . : ‘ : fl 1 0<br /> Salwey, Reginald E. : : : 010 0<br /> Gidley, Miss E. C. : : 010 0<br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0% 6<br /> Dill, Miss Bessie 0. 5.0<br /> Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 6<br /> <br /> ———————_1——______<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> tt<br /> <br /> HE Committee held the last meeting in 1902<br /> on Monday, the 1st of December. They<br /> proceeded to the election of members. The<br /> <br /> list of those elected is set forth below. The post-<br /> age of magazines was one of the questions discussed.<br /> The Chamber of Commerce is dealing with the<br /> matter and the Committee are supporting its action.<br /> Two disputes were up for discussion. In the one<br /> negotiations are being carried forward, and in the<br /> other it was decided, if it was possible to obtain<br /> the support of the member concerned, to take the<br /> matter into Court. As the point under discussion<br /> is one of principle, and concerns a very common<br /> clause in authors’ agreements, it is hoped that the<br /> matter may be tried in Court in order that a test<br /> case may be put forward.<br /> <br /> During the past month one case has been tried<br /> in the County Court. The debt and costs were<br /> paid. The Secretary has forwarded four claims<br /> against American magazines for money due to<br /> the Society’s American agent. The Committee<br /> hope that they will terminate satisfactorily. With<br /> the sanction of the Chairman asmall County Court<br /> case was taken in hand. It was placed with the<br /> solicitors of the Society, but before the summons<br /> was issued the debt was paid.<br /> <br /> The Secretary during the past month has dealt<br /> with ten cases. Five refer to the rendering of<br /> accounts, three to claims for money due, and two<br /> deal with the return of MSS. Five of the cases<br /> have been satisfactorily concluded, two for money<br /> 84<br /> <br /> due and three for accounts. The County Court case<br /> referred to must be reckoned as one of the five.<br /> There is every hope that the balance will terminate<br /> to the advantage of the authors without calling in<br /> the aid of the law.<br /> <br /> pee<br /> <br /> Election, December, 1902.<br /> <br /> The following members and associates were<br /> elected on December Ist, 1902.<br /> Burke, Arthur M. . 2, Carlyle Gardens,<br /> Cheyne Row, S.W.<br /> Carlile, Rey. John C.<br /> <br /> Davidson, Miss Lillias Graemsdyke, Cranes-<br /> Campbell water Park, Southsea.<br /> Foster, Arnold R. 38, Yew Tree Road,<br /> <br /> Withington, Lancs.<br /> <br /> Hextable, Swanley,<br /> Kent.<br /> <br /> Calle de Buenos Aires,<br /> Las Palmas, Canary<br /> Islands.<br /> <br /> Stanhope, The Hon. and Byford Rectory, Here-<br /> Rey. Berkeley ford.<br /> <br /> Nye, George .<br /> <br /> Meyer, Charles<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> ——$+—&lt;—¢—<br /> <br /> IR ROBERT BALL is at present engaged on<br /> <br /> a treatise on “Spherical Astronomy.” His<br /> <br /> latest work, ‘‘ The Earth’s Beginning,” was<br /> practically an account of a recent course of lectures<br /> <br /> given by him at the Royal Institution. It has<br /> been published here by Messrs. Cassell. There is<br /> <br /> also an American edition ; and quite recently Sir<br /> Robert Ball received a copy of a Dutch translation,<br /> with the title “ Het Onstaan der Aarde,” trans-<br /> lated by Dr. B. C. Goudsmit.<br /> <br /> Edna Lyall’s new book, “The Burgess Letters,”<br /> just published by Messrs. Longmans, Green &amp; Co.<br /> at 2s. 6d., is a record of child-life in the sixties.<br /> It is not fiction, but is a genuine record of this<br /> popular authoress’s own childhood. This interest-<br /> ing record has a coloured frontispiece, and eight<br /> full-page illustrations by Walter S. Stacey.<br /> <br /> Edna Lyall is just beginning to write a novel,<br /> the scene of which is laid partly in Italy and partly<br /> in England. It will be remembered that in the<br /> spring of 1902 this writer published through<br /> Messrs. Longmans a short story called “The<br /> Hinderers,” which upholds the Quaker view as to<br /> the unlawfulness of war.<br /> <br /> We must not expect anything from Miss Annabel<br /> <br /> Gray at present, as she is recovering from a most<br /> dangerous illness.<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 /> Lord Avebury’s “The Use of Life” has bee<br /> translated into Gujerathi and Urdu, and, like “The<br /> Pleasures of Life,” into Mahratti. The translation<br /> into Mahratti has an interesting preface by the<br /> translator, who states that his principal object was.<br /> to show that Englishmen had a cheerful view of<br /> life, while his countrymen’s view of life was just<br /> the reverse.<br /> <br /> Mr. Mackenzie Bell’s religious lyric, “ Lord<br /> Teach us to Pray,” which is set to music as am<br /> anthem by Herr Georg Liebling, has been trans-<br /> lated into German verse by the Rev. Professor Carl<br /> Glebe, of Westphalia, for use throughout Germany.<br /> The second edition of the anthem, just published<br /> in London by Dr. Charles Vincent, has both the<br /> English and the German words.<br /> <br /> Mr. Harold Begbie’s latest book, “ Bundy in the<br /> Greenwood” (Isbister, 5s.), is illustrated by<br /> Gordon Browne. It is Mr. Begbie’s first venture<br /> into the nursery, and it was only published after<br /> he had amended the MS. according to the criticism<br /> of his eldest daughter, rising six.<br /> <br /> This writer has just begun a series of ‘‘ Master<br /> Workers” in the Pall Mall Magazine. The first<br /> article dealt with the Bishop of London; the<br /> second with Sir William Crookes ; and the next<br /> two will deal with psychic research and the mys-<br /> tery of the subliminal consciousness. The object<br /> of the series is to convince the ordinary man that<br /> there is a vast amount of work proceeding in the<br /> modern world of which he knows very little.<br /> <br /> Austin Clare’s new north-country novel, “The<br /> Tideway,” will be published immediately by<br /> Messrs. Chatto and Windus.<br /> <br /> ‘“‘The Cardinal’s Dawn,” the serial finishing in<br /> the January issue of Macmillan’s Magazine, is by &amp;<br /> new writer, H. L. Montgomery. The novel is<br /> placed in Italy in the imquecento, and is based on<br /> the intrigues for and against Bianca Capelli.<br /> <br /> Mr. Austin Dobson has undertaken to write @<br /> life of ‘‘ Fanny Burney ” for Messrs. Macmillan’s<br /> “English Men of Letters,” and Mr. Edmund Gosse<br /> is at work on a life of “Jeremy Taylor” for the<br /> same series.<br /> <br /> Mr. Dobson’s “Side-walk Studies,” recently<br /> issued by Messrs. Chatto and Windus, is an enter-<br /> taining book. ‘There is an informing chapter on<br /> “Mrs. Woffington”; another on “The Vicar of<br /> Wakefield and its Illustrators ” ; there is “‘ A Walk<br /> from Fulham to Chiswick” ; and perhaps the most<br /> fascinating of all, “Dr. Johnson’s Haunts and ~<br /> Habitations.”<br /> <br /> From Mr. Dobson’s “Samuel Richardson’<br /> (Macmillan’s “English Men of Letters” Series) we<br /> should like to quote at length, but space permits<br /> only an extract or two. Referring to the recently-<br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> «ie raised question of Richardson’s indebtedness to<br /> self Marivaux’s “ Vie de Marianne,” he says :—<br /> Es “That there are superficial affinities between Richardson<br /> _ (@ and Marivanx may at once be conceded. Both hit upon<br /> s4) the novel of analysis, and in this connection, no doubt,<br /> -js;1f Marivaux precedes Richardson. Their manners of writing<br /> +o» -were also similar in some respects ; and when Crébillon the<br /> voy younger, describing Marivaux, affirms that his characters<br /> jon not only say everything that they have done, and every-<br /> ogid) thing that they have thought, but everything that they<br /> ».uo® would have liked to think but did not—he almost seems<br /> <br /> | 91 to be describing Richardson as well. .. .<br /> ie “There is not, as far as we are aware, a particle of evidence<br /> «/) that Richardson ever saw the earlier volumes of this version<br /> <br /> jo) (of ‘Vie de Marianne’). In fact, the only discoverable<br /> <br /> 455 aeference he makes to Marivaux is contained in the post-<br /> (8. script to ‘ Clarissa,’ and that occurs in a quotation from a<br /> «4 French critic (translated) taken from the Gentleman&#039;s<br /> voll Magazine for August, 1749. That he knew no French is<br /> -. “ef demonstrable, and he could not therefore have studied<br /> sl Marivaux in the original, Moreover, he was not in any<br /> sass sense a novel reader ; and in‘ Pamela.’ the idea of which<br /> bad had been in his mind twenty years before he wrote it, he<br /> vif aimed at a moral work rather than a story.<br /> <br /> “ Richardson has given so circumstantial and reasonable<br /> <br /> ean account of the independent origin and development of<br /> <br /> 04 ed) the book, that it seems superfluous to go outside it in order<br /> <br /> 6) to establish his obligation to a French author, however<br /> <br /> fis gifted, of whom, when he first sat down to write the<br /> <br /> ias% * Familiar Letters’ to which ‘ Pamela’ owed its birth, he<br /> «; bee had probably never even heard the name.”<br /> <br /> 1 In the last chapter, entitled ‘Last Years and<br /> oo) General Estimate,” there is an admirable bit of<br /> summing-up :—<br /> <br /> * His popularity is certain with the few—with those who,<br /> | like Horace Walpole, either read what nobody else does, or,<br /> | like Edward Fitzgerald and Dr. Jowett, read only what<br /> } takes theirfancy. He must always find readers, too, with<br /> <br /> ‘the students of literature. He was the pioneer of a new<br /> ‘movement ; the first certificated practitioner of sentiment ;<br /> 4 the English Columbus of the analytical novel of ordinary<br /> i life. Before him, no one had essayed in this field to<br /> describe the birth and growth of a new impression, to show<br /> the ebb and flow of emotion in a mind distraught, to follow<br /> the progress of a passion, to dive so deeply into the human<br /> ieee heart, as to leave—in Scott’s expressive words—‘ neither<br /> : noe head, bay, nor inlet behind him until he had traced its<br /> <br /> ‘92 soundings, and laid it downin his chart, with all its minute<br /> 00a sinuosities, its depths and shallows.’ ”<br /> <br /> “ The Splendid Idle Forties,” by Gertrude Ather-<br /> ton (Macmillan &amp; Co.), is a revised and enlarged<br /> © edition of her former book, “ Before the Gringos<br /> #2 Came.” The tales give a vivid and striking<br /> <br /> | picture of old Californian life before and during<br /> | the American conquest, of the beauty, grace, and<br /> <br /> passion of the Spanish women, and their fierce<br /> resentment against their country’s invaders.<br /> <br /> Mr. Stephen Gwynne has an interesting article<br /> ‘on “Celtic Sagas” in the December number of<br /> Macmillan’s Magazine. He seeks to illustrate, by<br /> the method of resemblance and difference, the<br /> ancient poetry of Ireland, as represented by Lady<br /> Charlotte Guest’s famous version of ‘The<br /> Mabinogion.”<br /> <br /> Miss Henriette Corkran’s “‘ Celebrities aud I,”<br /> published a short while ago by Messrs. Hutchinson<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 85<br /> <br /> &amp; Co., is a handsome volume brim full of enter-<br /> taining gossip and amusing anecdotes. Miss<br /> Corkran, who is a painter by profession, gives us<br /> her crisply-written impressions of the many<br /> celebrities she has known and met.<br /> <br /> Of Thackeray, kind friend of her childhood, we<br /> hear a good deal. ‘Then there are interesting<br /> anecdotes about the Brownings, Tennyson, W. G.<br /> Wills, the dramatist, Sir Frederick Leighton, etc.,<br /> etc. ; and last and latest, we are given an impres-<br /> sionist sketch of Mr. Richard Whiteing, the famous<br /> author of “ No. 5, John Street.”’ “ Celebrities and<br /> I” has been widely reviewed, and it ought to do<br /> very well.<br /> <br /> Mr. Andrew Lang’s “ The Disentanglers” is a<br /> series of stories, of more or less fantastic adven-<br /> ture, under one cover. (Longmans, 6s.) The<br /> interest which holds them together is supplied by<br /> the connection of some of the characters with an<br /> agency for the disentangling of matrimonial diffi-<br /> culties. We have, among others, “ Adventure of<br /> the Rich Uncle,” “Adventure of the Office Screen,”<br /> “ Adventure of the Exemplary Earl,” and “ Adven-<br /> ture of the Miserly Marquis.” It is an amusing<br /> book.<br /> <br /> Mr. Anthony Hope delivered a_ lecture last<br /> month in Edinburgh, before the Philosophical<br /> Society.<br /> <br /> He said (we quote from the Daily Chronicle) ‘‘the average<br /> man viewed his own sphere of life as normal ; he viewed<br /> as real what he saw existing among his neighbours, and<br /> regarded as real what was before him in ninety-nine cases<br /> out of a hundred. The ninety-nine he called real, and the<br /> one case in the hundred he viewed as unreal.<br /> <br /> “The average man had little adventure; his time was<br /> marked down for him, and he saw little hope of becoming<br /> other than what he was. The lot of the labouring classes<br /> was the most common, but the man who wrote about this<br /> class was marked down by the wealthy classes as a cynic.<br /> In a true and deep picture the novelist could not leave out<br /> the physical side of a man, for often his physical pleasure<br /> was his only pleasure, and in his pleasurable excesses often<br /> lay the man’s deepest temptation.<br /> <br /> “The notions of the man in the street were generally<br /> cousin once removed to truth. He had small sympathies<br /> with the parent who wrote to the newspapers that he liked<br /> to feel safe in handing a book to his girl to read. It did<br /> not do to have the truth told in all circumstances, but<br /> there was generally in a book a message for someone. The<br /> words romance and realism were too often the catchwords<br /> of criticism. Realism widened their views and broadened<br /> <br /> their sympathies.”<br /> <br /> We have received a dainty paper-covered booklet<br /> of selections from the works of John Greenleaf<br /> Whittier, entitled “ A Whittier Treasury.” The<br /> selections have been made by the Countess of<br /> Portsmouth.<br /> <br /> Mr. Percy White’s latest novel, “The New<br /> Christians,” has gone into a second edition. So<br /> has Mr. Morley Roberts’ “Immortal Youth.”<br /> Both these novels well deserve their undoubted<br /> <br /> SUCCESS.<br /> <br /> ?<br />  <br /> <br /> 86<br /> <br /> Mrs. Edward Kennard’s “ The Motor Maniac”<br /> is a capital story somewhat on the lines of her<br /> successful ‘ The Golf Lunatic.”<br /> <br /> Lieut.-Colonel E. Gunter (late East Lanes. Regi-<br /> ment) has published, through Messrs. Wm. Clowes<br /> &amp; Sons, Ltd., 23, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross,<br /> a sixth edition of his well-known “ Officer’s Field<br /> Note and Sketch Book and Reconnaissance Aide-<br /> Mémoire.”<br /> <br /> “Harvest Home”? is the title of the latter-day<br /> poems of Mr. Thomas Winter Wood (Vanguard),<br /> of Plymouth. “ Harvest Home” contains poems<br /> which must appeal to many minds, and we refer<br /> our readers to the volume that they may taste for<br /> themselves. Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall are the<br /> publishers; the price is 3s. 6d. net.<br /> <br /> A volume of poems has been published by<br /> Ernest Western through Thomas Burleigh, 376,<br /> Strand. It is called ‘“ Creeds, Crosses, and Cre-<br /> denda,” and may be commended to those who care<br /> for pleasant verse.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Kegan Paul have published a new poem<br /> by Mr. Ernest A. Tietkens, author of ‘The<br /> Heavenly Link,” entitled “The Loves of the<br /> Flowers: a Spiritual Dream.” It is 2s. 6d. net.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Harcourt Roe, who has paid a six months’<br /> visit to New Brunswick, purposes writing some<br /> articles on New Brunswick and the very primitive<br /> condition of parts of the country there.<br /> <br /> Copies of those excellent and quite indispensable<br /> publications, ““Who’s Who” and ‘“ The English-<br /> woman’s Year Book for 1903” have been received<br /> at our office.<br /> <br /> a re<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> —+—<br /> <br /> FTER the Balzac statue comes the Balzac<br /> Orphanage. It seems that Madame Barbier,<br /> in whose house Balzac lived for some years,<br /> <br /> has founded a home for twenty orphan girls in<br /> memory of the great novelist.<br /> <br /> She is now seventy-five years of age, and she<br /> still owns the house in the Rue Raynouard ‘in<br /> which Balzac wrote so many of his books from<br /> 1840 to 1847, the year of his marriage. Until<br /> last year Madame Barbier lived in this house.<br /> She and her daughter have given up their entire<br /> fortune in order to found this orphanage, and in<br /> spite of all the sacrifices they have made they will<br /> be short of two thousand francs to make up this<br /> year the thirty-two thousand of their expenses.<br /> M. de Braisne, an influential member of the Société<br /> des Gens de Lettres, has written a most touching<br /> account of Madame Barbier’s efforts and sacrifices,<br /> hoping that any admirers of the author of the<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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> “ Comédie Humaine” may come forward and offe<br /> their contributions to the Balzac Orphanage.<br /> The new novel by Anatole France, “ Histoir<br /> Comique,” commences with a tragedy. It is now<br /> appearing in serial form in the Revue de Paris, an<br /> will afterwards be published with illustrations ag<br /> an édition de luxe. It is a decidedly up-to-dai<br /> novel, and the story opens in the dressing-room 0<br /> an actress.<br /> “La Statue ensevelie,”’ by Ivan Strannik, i<br /> well worth reading. It is a novel with remarkabl<br /> little plot, and the whole interest of the sti<br /> centres in the état d’dme of the heroine. She is”<br /> one of the unfortunate women with an artisti<br /> temperament, and an obtuse, egotistical husband<br /> She naturally, under these circumstances, finds<br /> marriage a failure, and so takes refuge in art an<br /> in the friendship of a devoted cousin. There is<br /> nothing particularly original in the story itself,<br /> but the heroine is Russian, and the intense prid<br /> sullenness, and passion of the Russian temperament<br /> make the novel an interesting psychological study.<br /> “Sur la Branche” is the title of the new novel<br /> by Pierre de Coulevain, the author of “ Eye<br /> Victorieuse.” In the latter book we had a study<br /> of the American society woman at home and<br /> abroad, her faults and her qualities being compared<br /> with those of the French woman in the same rank<br /> of life. In this new novel the author gives us his<br /> candid opinion about England and the English.<br /> The general verdict of the English critics after<br /> reading “Eve Victorieuse” was that Pierre deCoule-<br /> vain thoroughly understood Americans. It will be<br /> interesting to read the opinion of the same critics<br /> after the publication of “Sur la Branche.” The<br /> last chapters of this novel are not yet written, but<br /> it is probable that the volume will be published<br /> early in the year.<br /> “TL Argent del’Autre,” by M. Charles de Rouvre,<br /> is an excellent novel. It is the story of a man<br /> who has no fortune of his own, and who falls<br /> desperately in love with a wealthy young widow,<br /> whom he eventually marries. His torment begins<br /> soon after this event. The idea of owing every<br /> thing to his wife humiliates him, particularly as<br /> the wealth she now owns comes to her from he<br /> first husband. The story is cleverly worked out,<br /> so that the reader enters thoroughly into th<br /> sufferings of the husband, and realizes all th<br /> humiliation of his position in the home.<br /> <br /> M. Waldeck Rousseau has just published a book<br /> entitled “ L’Action républicaine et sociale,” treat-<br /> ing of all the reforms that have been accomplished<br /> from 1899 to 1902.<br /> <br /> The French Society of Dramatic Authors he<br /> been fortunate in discovering a most capable ma<br /> as successor to M. Roger, whose death occurred<br /> some two or three months ago. M. Robe<br />  <br /> <br /> te: Gangnat, who has been elected Agent-Général_ of<br /> 2 of the Society, is an advocate by profession. He<br /> 2 -s% was secretary to M. Pichon, the present French<br /> iil/ Minister in Tunis, and attaché under M. Bourgeois,<br /> sail! Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign<br /> tit ® Affairs.<br /> al In 1898, M. Gangnat joined the staff of the<br /> Wl Matin as dramatic critic, and from 1891 to 1894<br /> sy of he was President of the dramatic society known<br /> <br /> es, as “Les Escholiers,” a society which stages the<br /> «toy works of unknown but talented authors. M.<br /> ae} Gangnat is therefore well known in the theatrical<br /> » 109 world, whilst his legal knowledge and experience<br /> . {lis will be invaluable to the Society he now represents.<br /> ae Things theatrical seem to be of the greatest<br /> ja importance, judging from the amount of literature<br /> duc published this season on subjects concerning the<br /> _ ed: theatre in France and in other countries.<br /> <br /> *__ A volume by M. Jules Claretie entitled “ Profils<br /> of de Théatre’’ is interesting from the first line to<br /> &#039; 94 the last. M. Claretie, as director of the Théatre<br /> _voa9 Francais, has exceptional opportunities for writing<br /> ot aa book of this kind. He has the good fortune,<br /> * 90, too, to possess an excellent memory, so that the<br /> “fo volume, with its anecdotes of artistes living and<br /> ssi dead, is like an album of photographs. M. Claretie<br /> » (fs tells us of Dejazet refusing to act in “‘ La Dame<br /> “ui aux Camélias ” and of Frédéric Lemaitre’s pride in<br /> 1 sit his “ Robert Macaire.” He tells us, too, interesting<br /> ine! details about Got, Reichenberg and Monnet Sully.<br /> <br /> ‘As a kind of postscript to this book of M.<br /> sf Claretie’s comes a volume by M. Adrien Bern-<br /> igt heim, entitled “Trente Ans de Théatre.” The<br /> 19g) author gives us details about the working and the<br /> sigh statistics of the four state theatres of France.<br /> ve 9) He also, like M. Claretie, gives us the benefit of<br /> ei his souvenirs, and finishes the volume with an<br /> ©59; account of the Society called the “&#039;Trente Ans de<br /> , $901 Théatre,” in which he is so deeply interested, and<br /> <br /> iy which was originally started as a kind of relief<br /> tie fund for artistes.<br /> -°4 Notcontent with giving us so much information<br /> «od, about the French stage, M. Georges Bourdon has<br /> $e been studying in England all things connected<br /> i dig with the English theatre, and as a result he has<br /> q published a volume entitled “Les Théatres<br /> Anglais.” M. Jusserand, too, has taken up the<br /> subject, and has just published a most interesting<br /> article on “The London Theatres in the time of<br /> Shakespeare.” It appears that the first permanent<br /> theatre was built in Paris in 1548, and that the<br /> first one in London dated from 1576.<br /> <br /> ay The two great successes of this season, so far,<br /> . 84 are undoubtedly the “ Resurrection” at the Odéon,<br /> and “La Chatelaine” at the Renaissance.<br /> <br /> “Le Joug,”’ which Madame Réjane has been<br /> playing since her return to Paris, has not been<br /> ‘enthusiastically received. It is no doubt a clever<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 /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 87<br /> <br /> piece, and the dialogue is bright and witty, but<br /> the French public is getting tired of this kind<br /> of play.<br /> <br /> “Le Cadre” is another play of the same stamp.<br /> It was well received as it was admirably put on,<br /> but the public soon tired of this, too.<br /> <br /> Byron’s “ Manfred” was M. Lugne Poe’s latest<br /> venture, but it must be confessed that most people<br /> were disappointed with this play on the stage.<br /> <br /> At the Opéra Comique, “La Carmélite,” by<br /> M. Catulle Mendés, has been the great event of<br /> the season in the musical world. The theme of<br /> this opera has given rise to much discussion, as<br /> the more devoted Catholics strongly objected to<br /> the taking of the veil being employed as a stage<br /> effect.<br /> <br /> M. Paul Hervieu is the fortunate dramatic<br /> author who has produced a new play for Madame<br /> Sarah Bernhardt. M. Hervieu has had this piece<br /> on hand for about a year.<br /> <br /> The International Theatre is making great<br /> headway here. “Infedele,” by Roberto Bracco,<br /> and “Di Notte,” by Sabatino Lopez, are the two<br /> pieces now being given, and M. Bour has scored<br /> an immense success with both of them. The<br /> latter is a most curious play, and shows up the<br /> striking difference between the Italian and French<br /> theatres. The piece is full of surprises, unexpected<br /> incidents seem to be tacked on to the drama, and<br /> in one or two instances the tragedy borders on<br /> comedy. M. Bauer is excellent in his réle, and<br /> M. Bour’s acting is. as finished as in his famous<br /> “Alleluia.”<br /> <br /> “ Infedele”’ is a comedy in three acts, and is<br /> admirably put on. M. Bour, Mlle. Mylo d’Arcylle,<br /> and M. Bourny have the three chief parts. The<br /> play is an Italian variation on the “eternal<br /> theme,” so dear to French dramatic authors.<br /> The dialogue is witty, but most daring, and the<br /> piece demands extremely clever and finished<br /> acting.<br /> <br /> Attys HALLARD.<br /> ———__1——_e—___—_—_-<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> oe eS ie<br /> Kipling +, Putnam.<br /> <br /> UDYARD KIPLING’S suit for $25,000<br /> damages against George Haven Putnam<br /> and Irving Putnam, constituting the pub-<br /> <br /> lishing firm of G. P. Putnam’s Sons, for infringe-<br /> ment of copyright and trademark, came up again<br /> for argument before the United States Circuit<br /> Court of Appeals on Kipling’s appeal from Judge<br /> Lacombe’s decision against him,<br />  <br /> <br /> 88<br /> <br /> John L. Hill, in arguing for Mr. Kipling,<br /> said that at the time the critical sickness of<br /> the author in New York and the death of his<br /> little girl were exciting intense interest in him<br /> and his works, the defendants decided “ to shake<br /> the tree and get all the apples they could,” and<br /> that the Brushwood edition followed. He believed<br /> the intention was to forestall the sale of the<br /> “Outward Bound” edition, the authorized<br /> edition. ;<br /> <br /> Stephen H. Olin, for the Putnams, said the<br /> publishers had attempted no deceit whatever, and<br /> that only fifteen sets had borne the elephant’s<br /> head and autograph, which the plaintiff says were<br /> used to give the edition the colour of an authorised<br /> edition.<br /> <br /> The Court reserved decision.<br /> <br /> — +<br /> <br /> Literary Property and Copyright in the United<br /> States.<br /> <br /> Ix 1890 an American publisher entered into a<br /> contract with an English author, having in pre-<br /> paration a novel to be published serially in an<br /> English magazine, by which he agreed to pay<br /> £20 “in return for the sole and exclusive use of<br /> advance sheets of said novel in the United States<br /> and Dominion of Canada”; the price to be paid<br /> “on publication of the novel in America.” The<br /> author agreed to deliver to the publisher a complete<br /> copy of the work, either in advance sheets or<br /> manuscript, at least two months prior to the com-<br /> pletion of its serial publication in England. Prior<br /> to the publication of the work in America, in<br /> October, 1891, the greater portion of it had been<br /> published serially in England. Until July Ist,<br /> 1891, there was no statute in the United States<br /> under which a copyright could be secured on a<br /> work by a foreign author. Held that, construing<br /> the contract in the light of such facts, it conferred<br /> no rights of proprietorship in the manuscript of<br /> the work which entitled the American publisher<br /> to copyright the same in the United States, but<br /> only the right to the exclusive use of the advance<br /> sheets to enable him to publish the work in<br /> America coincidently with or in advance of its<br /> publication in England.<br /> <br /> The bill charges that Mr. Barrie, the author of<br /> “The Little Minister,” a novel to be issued serially<br /> in the year 1891 in the magazine Good Words,<br /> published in London, on May 8th, 1890, entered<br /> into a contract with John W. Lovell as follows :<br /> <br /> “This contract entered into and made this<br /> eighth day of May, 1890, between J. M. Barrie, of<br /> London, and John W. Lovell, of New York,<br /> witnesseth: (1) In consideration of the premises,<br /> the said J. M. Barrie hereby grants and assigns to<br /> <br /> THER 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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> the said John W. Lovell the sule and exclusive<br /> right to publish from advance sheets in the United —<br /> States and Dominion of Canada,.a novel by him to<br /> be issued serially in a magazine, known as Good —<br /> Words, during the year 1891. And. the said —<br /> J. M. Barrie agrees to deliver to the said John W.<br /> Lovell a complete copy of such work, either in the<br /> form of advance sheets or MS., at least two<br /> calendar months prior to the serial completion of<br /> such work in England ; and in the event of his —<br /> failure to do so, this contract, at the option of the<br /> said John W. Lovell, shall become inoperative and —<br /> void. (2) The said John W. Lovell agrees in<br /> return for the sole and exclusive use of advance<br /> sheets of the said novel in the United States and<br /> the Dominion of Canada to pay the said J. M,.<br /> Barrie £20 on publication of the novel in America,”<br /> Lovell assigned this contract to the United States<br /> Book Company, which company, on June 19th, ~<br /> 1891, deposited with the Librarian of Congress at. —<br /> Washington a printed copy of the title of the book,<br /> and on October 14th, 1891, deposited two copies of<br /> the book in that office. The publication of the<br /> novel was begun in the January, 1891, number of<br /> the monthly periodical Good Words, in London.<br /> and continued throughout that year. Thirty-eight.<br /> chapters had been thus published prior to the<br /> publication of the completed book by the United<br /> States Book Company in America, and prior to the<br /> deposit of the copies with the librarian; the<br /> remaining seven chapters of the book being —<br /> published in the London magazine subsequently,<br /> The book, as. published in the United States by<br /> the United States Book Company, contained the<br /> notice in form required by the law of copyright,<br /> and the bill charges full compliance: with the<br /> requirements of law with respect to copyrights,<br /> whereby, as it is claimed, the United States Book<br /> Company became the sole owner of the copyrigh<br /> of the book in the United States of America, On<br /> May 29th, 1900, the complainant became the<br /> owner of the rights of the United States Book<br /> Company under the contract between Barrie and<br /> Lovell, and of the copyright, if any, secured’ by<br /> that company. It is further charged that Mr,<br /> Barrie, in 1897, without the consent of Lovell o<br /> any of his successors in interest, dramatised the<br /> novel “The Little Minister,” and secured it<br /> production and performance upon the stage within<br /> the United States under contract with th<br /> defendant Frohman ; that such dramatisation is in<br /> four acts, of which acts 3 and 4 are founded in<br /> plot, incident and characters upon, and much 0<br /> its language is contained in chapters 39 to 4<br /> inclusive, of the novel, and such acts are importan:<br /> parts of the dramatisation ; that the defendants<br /> Yack and Hards are managers or actors in the<br /> theatrical company associated with Frohman, an<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> wen BD<br /> <br /> 3 op ox. 9<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> od Shs Fa! ES ca GR ee ee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 89<br /> <br /> were about to produce the play and perform therein<br /> at certain places stated in the bill, within the<br /> jurisdiction of the court. The bill sought an<br /> Injunction restraining the performance of the<br /> drama. Yack and Hards demurred to the bill<br /> upon the grounds (1) that at the date of the<br /> contract the laws of the United States did not<br /> authorise a copyright in favour of the works of a<br /> foreign author; (2) that the story was first to be<br /> published in the English magazine, before any<br /> right of publication in the United States ; (3) that<br /> the right granted by the contract was merely a<br /> licence granting the exclusive right to publish the<br /> novel from advance sheets after publication thereof<br /> by the author ; (4) that the United States Book<br /> Company never became the proprietor of the book,<br /> and had no authority to procure a copyright ; (5)<br /> laches by the complainant in the assertion of his<br /> alleged right. On May Ist, 1901, the court<br /> sustained the demurrer and dismissed the amended<br /> bill for want of equity (105 Fed., 787), and on<br /> October 29th, 1901, an appeal was allowed to this<br /> ‘court.<br /> <br /> Millard R. Powers for appellant; George A.<br /> Dupuy for appellees.<br /> <br /> JENKINS, Circuit Judge (after stating the facts<br /> as above).—The office of all construction and<br /> interpretation of contracts is to ascertain the inten-<br /> tion of the parties, and the meaning of the words<br /> they have used—their real design as disclosed by<br /> the whole contract. For that purpose we may<br /> resort to surrounding circumstances and the condi-<br /> tion of the parties at the time, not to ascertain<br /> what they may have secretly intended, but to<br /> resolve doubtful expressions and to ascertain the<br /> true meaning of the agreement, And this is to be<br /> judged, not from any separate provision or dis-<br /> connected expression in the writing, but taking it<br /> in its entirety.<br /> <br /> It is insisted for the appellant that the right<br /> acquired by Lovell to the manuscript of “The<br /> Little Minister,” so far at least as concerns the<br /> United States of America and Canada, was that of<br /> proprietor, and that, therefore, he had under the<br /> Jaw the right of copyright. At the date of this<br /> contract, May 8th, 1890, copyright was not<br /> authorised in this country in favour of foreign<br /> authors (Rey. St., sect. 4952); nor, as it would<br /> ‘seem, could a foreign author assign or transfer to<br /> a citizen his manuscript or common law right of<br /> property therein, so that the latter could have<br /> copyright protection within the United States<br /> (Yuengling v. Schile, C. C., 12 Fed. Rep., 97, 102-<br /> 107). The international copyright law granting<br /> copyright to foreign authors was passed March 3rd,<br /> 1891, and went into effect July 1st, 1891 (26 stat.,<br /> 1106-1110, chap. 565). It thus appears that the<br /> contract in question was entered into nearly ten<br /> <br /> months prior to the passage of this law. At its<br /> date Mr. Barrie had no right to acquire copyright<br /> within the United States, and could grant no such<br /> right. Nor could an assignee of his manuscript<br /> and common law right therein acquire such copy-<br /> right. It is, therefore, manifest that it was not,<br /> and could not have been, within the contemplation<br /> of the contracting parties to grant or to acquire a<br /> right to that which did not exist and was not the<br /> subject of a grant. Unless, therefore, by the<br /> agreement in question Lovell became the owner<br /> and the proprietor of the manuscript, to the<br /> exclusion of Mr, Barrie’s right therein, and could<br /> avail himself, with respect to that work, of the<br /> privilege conferred by subsequent legislation, he<br /> has no right to copyright of the work. The parties<br /> at the execution of the contract were thus circum-<br /> stanced: Mr. Barrie was engaged in writing a<br /> novel for serial publication in an English<br /> magazine, to be therein published monthly, com-<br /> mencing with the January number, 1891. By the<br /> agreement, Mr. Barrie granted and assigned to<br /> Mr. Lovell “the sole and exclusive right to<br /> publish from advance sheets, in the United<br /> States and Dominion of Canada,” the work to be<br /> published serially in the English magazine during<br /> the year 1891, and agreed to deliver to Lovell a<br /> complete copy of the work, either in the form of<br /> advance sheets or MS., at least two calendar<br /> months prior to the serial completion of such<br /> work in England.’ In consideration thereof,<br /> Lovell agreed to pay “for the sole and exclusive<br /> use of advance sheets of the said novel in the<br /> United States and the Dominion of Canada” £20<br /> upon its publication in America. It may be<br /> doubted whether the contract contemplated the<br /> serial publication of the work in America, as it<br /> provides for the delivery of the advance sheets or<br /> manuscript at least two calendar months prior to<br /> the serial completion of the work in England; and<br /> we are not informed by the bill concerning the fact<br /> of serial publication here, so that we can judge of<br /> the practical construction placed upon the contract<br /> by the parties. If Mr. Barrie was not bound to<br /> furnish any advance sheets or any portion of the<br /> manuscript until two months prior to the com-<br /> pletion of the serial publication in England then it<br /> is clear that as to the parts published ia England<br /> before the filing of copies of the book with the<br /> Librarian of Congress, namely, the first thirty-<br /> eight chapters, there was no possible right of<br /> copyright under the international copyright law<br /> (Holmes v. Hurst, 174 U.S., 82, 19 Sup. Ct. 606,<br /> 43 L. Ed., 904 ; Same v. Donohue, C. C., 77 Fed.,<br /> 179). The story contained forty-five chapters,<br /> and was completed in England in the December<br /> number of the magazine, and all but seven chapters<br /> were published in England prior to the deposit of<br />  <br /> <br /> 90<br /> <br /> the book in the office of the Librarian of Congress.<br /> At the most, therefore, copyright could only com-<br /> prehend the last seven chapters of the work.<br /> Bearing in mind that upon publication in England<br /> of the work or parts of the work, there could be no<br /> copyright in the United States under the inter-<br /> national copyright law of the parts thus published,<br /> and that at the time of the contract there was no<br /> international copyright law, the meaning of the<br /> contract would seem tobe clear. Mr. Barrie could<br /> only secure any sum for publication of the work<br /> in America by granting the use of his manuscript<br /> in advance of its publication in England, for any<br /> American publisher could after such publication<br /> issue it here without liability to Mr. Barrie or to<br /> Mr. Lovell. It could be reproduced with impunity.<br /> An American publisher could only be first upon<br /> the market here by publishing it simultaneously<br /> with or in advance of its publication in England,<br /> and that could only be accomplished by obtaining<br /> advance sheets of the manuscript before the<br /> appearance of the story or any of its parts in the<br /> English magazine. It is clear to us that the<br /> purpose of the contract was to accomplish this<br /> simultaneous publication. Mr. Barrie did not<br /> sell his manuscript, or dispose of his common law<br /> right thereto. He merely agreed to furnish<br /> advance sheets, and gave to Lovell the exclusive<br /> right to publish them either simultaneously with,<br /> or within a short time before, the completion of<br /> the serial publication in England. Lovell agreed<br /> to pay £20, not for the work, not to become pro-<br /> prietor of the work, but “for the sole and exclusive<br /> use of the advance sheets” of the novel in the<br /> United States. ‘This is a mere licence to Lovell,<br /> giving him the advantage of the use of advance<br /> sheets. That use, it is true, was to be exclusive ;<br /> that is to say, Mr. Barrie agreed on his part that<br /> he would not furnish advance sheets to another.<br /> Lovell only acquired a qualified interest. He did<br /> not become the absolute owner. One of the<br /> qualities of absolute ownership in a work is that<br /> the author has the right to withhold it from<br /> publication if he so desire. Lovell could not do<br /> that. Under this contract he was bound to<br /> publish it, for the consideration expressed in the<br /> contract was not payable until publication. This<br /> construction of the instrument is fortified also by<br /> the amount of the consideration. As the author<br /> had no right of copyright, and as upon publication<br /> in England any one had right to publish it in<br /> America, the author could receive nothing for the<br /> work published here, except such as he might be<br /> able to obtain by allowing its publication here<br /> simultaneously with or in advance of its publica-<br /> tion in England. That accounts for the trifling<br /> consideration in the contract, and speaks the<br /> intent of the parties. It is inconceivable that a<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> distinguished author would have disposed of pro-<br /> prietorship in his manuscript for so inconsiderable.<br /> asum. We are of opinion that the contract con-<br /> ferred no rights of proprietorship in the manuscript<br /> but only the right of publication coincidently with<br /> or in advance of the publication of the work in<br /> England.<br /> The decree is affirmed.<br /> <br /> [Reprinted by kind permission of The Times.]<br /> <br /> Moul v. Boosey.<br /> <br /> THIS was an action for alleged libel. The defen-<br /> dant relied on the defence of fair comment on a<br /> matter of public interest.<br /> <br /> Mr. Lush, K.C., and Mr. 8. O. Henn Collins<br /> were for the plaintiff; Mr. Avory, K.C., and Mr,<br /> P. Rose-Innes for the defendant.<br /> <br /> It appeared that the plaintiff, Mr. Alfred Moul,<br /> was the chairman of the Alhambra, and had been<br /> a composer of musical works, and was the agent<br /> for the British Empire of the Société des Auteurs,<br /> Compositeurs, et Editeurs de Musique de France.<br /> The defendant, Mr. William Boosey, was now<br /> managing director of Chappell &amp; Co. (Limited),<br /> music publishers. The plaintiff alleged that before<br /> the Copyright (Musical Compositions) Act, 1888,<br /> one Harry Wall had taken an active part in the<br /> institution of proceedings for penalties for the<br /> unauthorized performance of musical compositions,<br /> and that he had acted dishonourably and oppres-<br /> sively in the institution of these proceedings. The<br /> defendant, on March 18, 1902, had written a letter<br /> to the Daily Mail, saying that “ Mr. Alfred Moul,<br /> who protests in your columns against justice being<br /> done to English composers, publishers, and music-<br /> sellers, is the same gentleman who has for years<br /> been unsuccessfully attempting to persuade English<br /> music publishers to follow the example of French<br /> music publishers, and to demand from the public<br /> a performing fee for all the minor works in their<br /> catalogues. The piecemeal copyright legislation<br /> that Mr. Moul complains of is, no doubt, the Copy-<br /> right Act of 1882, which was a short Act passed<br /> as a matter of urgency by Parliament to assist the<br /> public in their dealings with a gentleman who was<br /> in Mr. Moul’s own line of business.”” The Act of<br /> 1882 required the proprietor of the copyright, if<br /> he desired to retain the right of performance, to<br /> notify the same on each copy. The plaintiff alleged<br /> that the defendant meant the Act of 1888, that it<br /> was passed in consequence of actions for penalties<br /> brought by Wall, and that these words meant that<br /> the plaintiff conducted his business as agent of<br /> the above-mentioned society oppressively and dis-<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 91<br /> <br /> honourably. The defendant also wrote to the<br /> Referee a letter, which appeared on March 21,<br /> 1902, asking that paper to strain every nerve in<br /> their protest against a system of legalized highway<br /> robbery. This letter went on to say of the plain-<br /> tiff:—‘ He is neither composer, publisher, nor<br /> music-seller. He is not even a street pirate. He<br /> is merely the English representative of a society of<br /> French composers and publishers, who levy a tax<br /> upon the British public for the performance of<br /> waltzes, songs, and other small works in their<br /> catalogues. It is in the interest of these clients<br /> that Mr. Moul complains of our piecemeal legisla-<br /> tion—the said piecemeal legislation consisting of<br /> the Copyright Acts of 1882 and 1888, which, while<br /> admittedly very imperfect, at all events served<br /> their purpose to a certain extent.” The plaintiff<br /> alleged that this letter meant that he was dis-<br /> honestly representing himself to be acting in the<br /> interests of English composers, and that he carried<br /> on his business in a discreditable manner.<br /> <br /> The plaintiff stated that he had never brought<br /> an action for penalties, as distinguished from fees,<br /> for performance, and these fees his society divided<br /> with the publishers ; but the theory of many pub-<br /> lishers was that it would be better to do away with<br /> the right to fees for performance, as they thought<br /> they would sell more copies under such a<br /> system.<br /> <br /> Mr. W. M. Tilson stated that it was general<br /> knowledge that the Act of 1888 (which gave the<br /> Judge a discretion as to the amount of penalties<br /> for the performance of musical copyright works,<br /> instead of 40s. per performance, as under 3 &amp; 4<br /> Wm. IV., c. 15), was passed in consequence of<br /> Wall’s suing for penalties in a great many<br /> cases.<br /> <br /> Mr. John Hollingshead said that he took the<br /> last words in the letter to the Daily Mail to refer<br /> to Wall, who did not carry on an honourable busi-<br /> ness. Mr. Moul’s business was the perfectly<br /> honourable one of collecting fees for his French<br /> clients ; but Wall sued for penalties for the benefit<br /> of his own pocket after performances had been<br /> given by people who did not know that they were<br /> making themselves liable to penalties.<br /> <br /> Corrohorative evidence having been given for<br /> the plaintiff, letters were read for the defence<br /> wbiols had been written to the papers by Mr. Moul,<br /> calling the music publishers pirates, and complaining<br /> of the copyright legislation as being piecemeal and<br /> in the interests of the music publishers, and it<br /> was said that the alleged libels were fair comment<br /> on a matter of public interest, as giving reasons<br /> why the plaintiff was not a proper person to inter-<br /> fere in the discussion, as he was really doing<br /> in a modified form what Wall had been doing<br /> before.<br /> <br /> The defendant, Mr. William Boosey, a music<br /> publisher, of New Bond Street, said that when he<br /> wrote the letters complained of he knew that Wall<br /> had used his rights in an oppressive manner, and<br /> that the Acts of 1882 and 1888 had been passed<br /> to limit those rights. By “line of business” he<br /> meant the collection of fees in respect of minor<br /> pieces of music ; and his objection was that, as<br /> Mr. Moul could not publish a list, the public had<br /> either to subscribe to his society or to run the risk<br /> of being sued, There was no ground for suggest-<br /> ing that he was hostile to the plaintiff. He did<br /> not intend to suggest that the plaintiff carried on<br /> a dishonourable business.<br /> <br /> The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for<br /> £150.<br /> <br /> Judgment accordingly.<br /> <br /> Photographic Copyright.<br /> <br /> A CASE of some interest has been tried during<br /> the last month before Mr. Justice Ridley and a<br /> common jury, entitled Boucas v. Cooke and<br /> Others.<br /> <br /> The defendant Cooke is known, we believe, as<br /> “The Boy Preacher.” He went to the plaintiff<br /> and asked him to execute the photograph for the<br /> purpose of advertising his meetings, and, it appears,<br /> promised to purchase the negative if he was satis-<br /> tied with the photograph. When the photograph<br /> was made, defendant took it to one of the other<br /> defendants who was a party to the action, and the<br /> second defendant had a number of copies printed<br /> off, which were distributed at the meetings. The<br /> plaintiff registered the copyright of the photograph<br /> and then claimed the right of reproduction. The<br /> second defendant registered the copyright of his<br /> print from the original photograph, and sub-<br /> sequent to the date of the plaintiff’s registration<br /> sold several thousand copies. The question was<br /> whether the employment of the photographer was<br /> such an employment as to come under the first<br /> section of the Copyright Act, 1862, the words of<br /> which run as follows :—<br /> <br /> “ Provided that when the negative of any photograph<br /> shall be made or executed for or on behalf of any other<br /> person for a good or valuable consideration,” &amp;c.<br /> <br /> If the photograph had been made on these terms<br /> the right of reproduction would have belonged to<br /> the defendant.<br /> <br /> The judge, in summing up, came to the con-<br /> clusion that the copyright in the negative was the<br /> property of the plaintiff, and the jury assessed the<br /> damages at £20.<br /> <br /> a<br />  <br /> <br /> 92<br /> PUBLISHERS’ PROFITS ON NETT BOOKS.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> HE question of the nett book has been<br /> a6 agitating the minds of the publishers and<br /> booksellers for some time.<br /> <br /> In the United States the system was begun<br /> tentatively, and has taken firm hold. At first<br /> applied only to certain kinds of books, at certain<br /> prices, its success was so assured that it is probable<br /> the nett book will become universal, or nearly so.<br /> Mr. Charles Scribner, the president of the Pub-<br /> lishers’ Association of the United States, explained<br /> the whole case in Zhe Author of April.<br /> <br /> A similar evolution is gradually taking place in<br /> the English book trade. Here also it seems not<br /> unlikely that the nett book system, as its advan-<br /> tages become evident, will by slow degrees cover<br /> the whole market. What is the reason of this?<br /> What are its charms ? Why was it started ?<br /> <br /> Originally books were sold at full price. Then<br /> some enterprising bookseller discovered that he<br /> could still make sufficient profit for himself and<br /> undersell his rival by giving his customers a<br /> discount. This process of underselling continued<br /> till the public received five-and-twenty per cent.<br /> discount, but the small bookseller was no longer<br /> able to make a living profit. Then his voice was<br /> raised in the land, and the reaction set in. Butas<br /> there are always either those who, owing to the<br /> power given into their hands by a large capital, or<br /> those who, having no capital, are unscrupulous on<br /> the point of extravagant trading, it became<br /> necessary that some combination of the trade<br /> should be formed sufficiently powerful to enforce<br /> an equitable plan upon all, the willing and the<br /> unwilling. Such a combination was at hand in<br /> the Publishers’ Association.<br /> <br /> It is not for the author to look upon these<br /> universal trading laws with indifference, nor to<br /> cover himself with the warm cloak of his artistic<br /> temperament, imagining that the temperature is<br /> mild and the sun is shining when the bitter cold<br /> of competition is over all the land. For other-<br /> wise he may be overcome with that sleep which<br /> will surely assist in bringing his career to a<br /> close.<br /> <br /> In plain words, it is most important for the<br /> author that he should carefully watch the methods<br /> of distribution of his wares ; that he should study<br /> with interest trade currents and trade evolution,<br /> and should give his help where and when he is<br /> able, to assist the trade for his own preferment.<br /> He should, at the same time, keep a watchful eye<br /> that the trade does not assist itself at his<br /> expense.<br /> <br /> Many will say that all this careful watching is<br /> mean and sordid. But this view of the case should<br /> <br /> -<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> still be kept in mind by the writer, that in his<br /> profession all this meanness and sordidness—if<br /> such it is—may be an incident, but is not the<br /> ultimate object, the ideal; whereas in trade it<br /> is ‘the be-all and the end-all.” Further, it is<br /> the highest interest not of the author alone but<br /> also of literature that the circumstances under<br /> which the general public can buy should be<br /> thoroughly understood. But enough. There need<br /> be no question of meanness or sordidness on either<br /> side.<br /> <br /> The Publishers’ Association set itself the task of<br /> enforcing certain terms on the bookselling trade,<br /> with the full consent of all the most responsible<br /> booksellers. ‘To the publishers, as to the authors, —<br /> it was just as important that the great distributing<br /> medium should not be wiped out. It may be<br /> candidly stated that, except so far as the improve-<br /> ment of the bookseller was an advantage to the<br /> publisher, there was not a sign that the great<br /> middleman at that time had any other aim before<br /> him. Was this, however, the case ?<br /> <br /> It is the object of this article to show that not<br /> only did the booksellers benefit, but the publishers<br /> also—the former certainly to a greater extent than<br /> the latter. The author and the printer gained no<br /> advantage, and the public—the ultimate arbiter in<br /> all cases of trade—had to pay for the advancement.<br /> So long as the public is prepared to pay, the<br /> other parties must fight the fight between them-<br /> selves.<br /> <br /> The author, then, has this matter for considera-<br /> tion. He was quite willing to acquiesce in the<br /> nett system in order to benefit the distributing<br /> agent, the man who really ought, if he traded<br /> successfully, to be the only person on whom he<br /> need rely for a public appreciation of his efforts.<br /> But is he willing to give a further profit to the<br /> publisher? Ought he not to demand some share<br /> of the increase obtained from the consumer ?<br /> Certainly he ought.<br /> <br /> The publisher has always been affirming that the<br /> nett book is for the benefit of the bookseller<br /> only.<br /> <br /> The following example will demonstrate that this<br /> is not the case, and will show the difference in the<br /> returns of the publisher and the bookseller in<br /> which the author ought to share. The 6s. book<br /> does not, at present, fall within the nett system,<br /> For convenience sake a book costing 12s. 6d. has<br /> been taken. Judging by the book lists it is a<br /> common price for books above 6s. Perhaps owing<br /> to the fact that it is exactly 150d.<br /> <br /> The figures and prices following are taken from<br /> an existing case—a sound and average example—<br /> and can be relied upon as correct. It would not<br /> be necessary to state this, if the figures in The<br /> Author had not so constantly been contradicted.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> It is not essential to go into the details for this<br /> article, but the figures may be verified by any<br /> member.<br /> <br /> Let it be supposed that an edition of 1,050<br /> copies with binding and advertising costs £170,<br /> and that the author receives 10 per cent. on the<br /> published price.<br /> <br /> This is a low percentage, but so long as the<br /> figure is constant in both examples it will not<br /> interfere with the deduction — namely, the<br /> difference between the publisher’s and _book-<br /> seller’s profit.<br /> <br /> In the first instance the book is sold at 12s. 6d.<br /> nett.<br /> <br /> The whole 1,050 copies will in no case be<br /> sold.<br /> <br /> Under the Copyright Act six copies go to the<br /> public libraries, the author usually receives some<br /> presentation copies, and a considerable number<br /> are sent to the Press for review.<br /> <br /> If 100 copies are reckoned for these purposes<br /> the allowance will be liberal, for it must be<br /> remembered that the book is 12s. 6d. nett—an<br /> expensive book.<br /> <br /> The basis of calculation, therefore, must be the<br /> sale of 1,050 — 100 copies = 950 copies. As these<br /> copies alone bring in a return, the cost of pro-<br /> duction must be divided amongst them.<br /> <br /> The amount paid for a single copy of the book<br /> by the purchaser is the sum of four different<br /> amounts. 1. The amount per copy of the cost<br /> of production. 2. The royalty per copy paid to<br /> the author. 3. The amount of the publisher&#039;s<br /> profit on each copy. 4. The amount of the book-<br /> seller’s profit per copy.<br /> <br /> Let W = cost of production.<br /> X = the author’s royalty.<br /> Y = the publisher’s profit.<br /> Z = the bookseller’s profit.<br /> <br /> In each case on a single copy.<br /> <br /> Thus W +X%+Y+2Z = 12s. 6d.<br /> = 150d.<br /> <br /> Going back to the sale of 950 copies, the cost of<br /> production of a single copy must be ascertained.<br /> Thus— ‘<br /> <br /> £170 _ 40,800d.<br /> <br /> ee ae<br /> <br /> = 42°94d,<br /> 950<br /> <br /> We can now write<br /> <br /> 42°94 ++ X + Y¥ + Z = 150<br /> X+Y+2Z = 107°06.<br /> <br /> That is to say, that the sum to be divided<br /> between the author, the publisher, and the book-<br /> seller is—<br /> <br /> 107:06d. = 8s. 11:06d.<br /> <br /> 93<br /> <br /> Next the author’s royalty per copy must be<br /> ascertained. On a nett book the author usually<br /> receives his royalty on every copy sold. He is not<br /> compelled to count thirteen as twelve, a pernicious<br /> custom that has crept in for the publisher’s<br /> benefit, sanctioned, we regret to say, by authors’<br /> agents,<br /> <br /> The royalty is always paid on the published<br /> price.<br /> <br /> 10 per cent upon 12s. 6d. or 150d. = 15d.<br /> <br /> The author receives ls. 3d. per copy. Then<br /> substituting 15d.—<br /> <br /> X + Y + Z = 107-06.<br /> 165+Y+2Z2=10706. Y+2Z = 92°06.<br /> <br /> It is necessary now to solve the question of<br /> Y + Z, the publisher’s and_ the bookseller’s<br /> profit.<br /> <br /> Here the problem is complicated, owing to the<br /> fact that the publishers sell the book to different<br /> booksellers at different prices.<br /> <br /> It is interesting to note the following point not<br /> in relation to the present subject, but in order to<br /> show the faultiness of publishers’ methods. In<br /> those agreements where the author’s remuneration<br /> depends wholly or in part on the nett amounts<br /> received from the trade by the publishers, the<br /> words, ‘‘the usual trade terms,” are taken to<br /> express the sale to the trade, and in the accounts<br /> the price is generally rendered as uniform, and<br /> that—it is perhaps unnecessary to remark—not<br /> the highest price received. This is a trade<br /> method. “—<br /> <br /> The paragraph is an obiter dictum.<br /> <br /> What are these prices? What is the truth ?<br /> <br /> 1. The bookseller who takes a single copy has<br /> it at 2d. in the shilling less than the nett price.<br /> If the book is expensive, a large number of sales.<br /> are made at this figure.<br /> <br /> 2. If the bookseller takes thirteen copies, he has.<br /> them at the price of twelve.<br /> <br /> 3. Certain houses and all export houses demand<br /> a further discount of 10 per cent.<br /> <br /> 4, One house pays only two-thirds of the nett.<br /> price, minus 10 per cent.<br /> <br /> If an average of these four prices is taken the<br /> result is as follows :—<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 1. The single copy . 10s. 5d. -<br /> 2. 13 as 12, per copy 9s. 7°38d.<br /> 3. Export, per copy . 8s. 785d.<br /> 4. Lowestterms, percopy 7s. 6d.<br /> 36s. 2°23d.<br /> 8, 2°23d. :<br /> Average = we i. = 9s. 0°557d,<br /> <br /> Thus the average exceeds 9s. 04d. by a small<br /> fraction, and is based on the assumption that the<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 94<br /> <br /> publisher sells at_least one-quarter of the copies at<br /> the lowest price. By assuming the price to be 9s. 1d.,<br /> a small advantage would be given to the publisher.<br /> But the publisher is always in dread lest, his profits<br /> should be over-stated, so to calm his mind, and in<br /> order to leave no door of escape open, 98. shall be<br /> the figure he receives from the trade. It follows,<br /> then, that the bookseller buying at 9s. and selling<br /> at 12s. 6d., makes 3s. 6d. on each copy.<br /> Repeating the formula :—<br /> <br /> W+x+Y+2Z=150<br /> 42°94 +15 + Y + 42 = 150<br /> , Y = 50°06<br /> <br /> All the four quantities are now ascertained.<br /> 42°94 +15 + 50:06 + 42 = 150<br /> <br /> The proportions of profit will be made more<br /> clear by stating them in percentages.<br /> Thus—<br /> <br /> 28°63 + 10 + 33°37 + 28 = 100<br /> <br /> The same process of reasoning must now be<br /> applied to the discount book.<br /> <br /> In this case the work is sold to the public at a<br /> discount of 25 per cent., or 3d. in the shilling.<br /> <br /> The purchaser pays 9s. 44d. or 112°5d.<br /> <br /> The cost of production is constant, and the<br /> number of copies available for sale is constant.<br /> <br /> Therefore again—<br /> <br /> Wi X35 Y 4751125,<br /> 42°94 4% +7947 = 1125,<br /> X+Y+2Z= 69°56.<br /> <br /> That is to say, the sum to be divided between<br /> the author, the publisher, and the bookseller is<br /> 5s. 9°56d. A trifle more than 5s. 94d.<br /> <br /> The author’s royalties are nominally the same,<br /> that is 10 per cent., but in the case of the discount<br /> book the author has to allow thirteen copies to<br /> reckon as twelve. This never used to be the case<br /> in old days, but the author’s agent weakened in<br /> the bargains of important authors who could<br /> demand the full amount, and the smaller fry<br /> had in consequence to yield also.<br /> <br /> The royalty per copy is therefore—<br /> <br /> 12 180<br /> —— 5 — ——.<br /> 13% 15d. = 13<br /> The equation now stands—<br /> <br /> X+Y+2Z= 69°56.<br /> 13°84 + Y + Z= 69°56.<br /> . Y + Z = 55°72.<br /> It only remains to discover how the publisher<br /> <br /> and booksellers divide the remainder.<br /> As with the Nett book, so with the Discount<br /> <br /> =13°84,<br /> <br /> “Sy,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> book: the publishers sell to the bookseller at<br /> various prices.<br /> <br /> The following is a statement of the prices for a<br /> pook published at 12s. 6d. and sold subject to<br /> discoant :—<br /> <br /> For a subscribed book one-third less than the<br /> published price—<br /> <br /> 13 as 12 at 8s. 4d. and 5<br /> count = 7s. 4d.<br /> <br /> Single copies at 8s. 4d. and 5 per cent. dis-<br /> count = 7s. 11d.<br /> <br /> After subscription—<br /> <br /> 13 as 12 at 9s. and 5 per cent. discount = 7s. 10d.<br /> <br /> Single copies at 9s. and 5 per cent. dis-<br /> count = 8s. 7d.<br /> <br /> If, then, the average is taken of these four prices<br /> —presuming by this that the publisher sells half<br /> the edition on subscription—<br /> <br /> per cent. dis-<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —— = 7s, 11d. = 95d.<br /> <br /> Then the bookseller buys at an average price of<br /> 7s. 11d., and sells at 9s. 4$d., therefore—<br /> <br /> &#039;.L=1s. 54d. = 175d.<br /> Then<br /> Y + 175 = 55°72d.<br /> Y = 38:22a,<br /> All the four quantities are now ascertained—<br /> 42°94 + 13°84 + 38°22 + 17°5 = 1125.<br /> If expressed in percentages—<br /> 38°17 + 12°3 + 33°97 + 15°56 = 100.<br /> If these figures are correct, and on this point we<br /> are clear—although the fact is sure to be denied by<br /> the other side—this very instructive result is clear,<br /> <br /> that the publishers’ and booksellers’ profits stand<br /> out as follows—<br /> <br /> Publisher. Bookseller.<br /> Nett Book ...... 4s. 2°06d.......88. 6d.<br /> Discount Book... .3s. 2°22d....... 1s. 54d.<br /> <br /> The bookseller benefits to the extent of 2s. 04d.,<br /> and the publisher to the extent of 11°84d., or<br /> almost a shilling. Speaking roughly, a ratio of<br /> two to one.<br /> <br /> The profit to the bookseller, we are told, must be<br /> left with him in order to enable him to live, but<br /> the publisher can already live and flourish.<br /> <br /> It might be rightly claimed, then, that the extra<br /> shilling should belong entirely to the author. At<br /> any rate, he ought to gain something.<br /> <br /> ‘Again, according to the publisher&#039;s statement the<br /> following ought to be the figures :—<br /> <br /> Publisher. Bookseller,<br /> Discount Book....3s. 2°22d....... ls, 54d.<br /> Nett Book ...... $5. O°22d.. 75... 4s. 8°84d.<br /> <br /> Either way the profit is not unreasonable, but it<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> _ i is less in comparison for the publisher, who, in<br /> <br /> bbe addition to office and other expenses, places his<br /> <br /> ye9 eapital out with the printers and binders.<br /> <br /> The bookseller risks nothing.<br /> <br /> ,/_ A close study of the figures and percentages has<br /> bel led to an interesting result. In another paper it<br /> <br /> o 1) is hoped to put forward some further matters for<br /> a9 consideration.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 4<br /> <br /> A MUSICAL AGREEMENT.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> HE samples of perfect Agreements issued by<br /> <br /> the Publishers Association and approved,<br /> <br /> : so we must take it, by all those time honoured<br /> oe houses which the public have been accustomed to<br /> ‘0! look upon as the kindly protectors of the.profession,<br /> »7e— gave the members of the Society a powerful insight<br /> ia into the equitable mind of the trade.<br /> ‘Nothing could have been said if it had been<br /> *¢- openly avowed that they represented the extreme<br /> ‘ei¥ view of the publishers, but this was not the case.<br /> af As readers of The Author may remember, they<br /> fy were put forward as equitable between party and<br /> Ts. party.<br /> by We refrain from argument.<br /> They bring their own condemnation.<br /> Again, the worn-out formulas put forward to per-<br /> su. suade some authors to give their signature, firstly,<br /> sq that the agreement is reliable, ‘it has been approved<br /> ? v by King’s Counsel,” or, secondly, that “it isa form<br /> fl ib all my authors sign,” may deceive the one-book<br /> * man and secure to his publisher a temporary<br /> advantage, but can hardly affect those who care-<br /> fully peruse these pages.<br /> oe Yet in spite of all warning for barefaced com-<br /> ® 98 mercial impudence the following—a common form<br /> 209 among the still unrepentant musical publishers—<br /> will take the first prize against all comers, It has<br /> come before the Society from three different<br /> houses.<br /> <br /> In ordinary business the seller usually submits<br /> terms and gains the advantage, if any, but in<br /> publishing, the process is reversed.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> IN CONSIDERATION of a royalty of pence per<br /> copy, seven copies to count as six, the first two hundred to<br /> be free of said royalty—paid to me, the undersigned author,<br /> by the music publishers, the receipt whereof I do hereby<br /> acknowledge, I do hereby sell and assign absolutely to<br /> the said publishers all my copyright and interest of<br /> whatever kind for Great Britain, Ireland, the Colonies,<br /> “amd every other country, of and in the music and<br /> _ words of *<br /> <br /> And also the sole and exclusive right and liberty of<br /> representing or performing the same, and causing or per-<br /> mitting the same to be represented or performed, and also<br /> the copyright and theright of representation or performing,<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 95)<br /> <br /> or causing or permitting the same to be represented or<br /> performed, in every foreign state in which such copyright<br /> or other rights aforesaid, or any of them, now exist or may<br /> hereafter be obtained. And I do hereby agree that the<br /> said publishers shall be entitled to arrange, use, and publish<br /> the said work, musie and words or any portion thereof, in<br /> any other separate form free from any other consideration<br /> in respect of such use and publication.<br /> <br /> And I, the undersigned, warrant and declare to the said<br /> publishers, that I am solely and absolutely entitled to the<br /> premises expressed to be hereby assigned and that free from<br /> incumbrances. Further, only half the above royalty pay-<br /> able on copies sold in the United States of America, :<br /> <br /> Witness my hand, this day of , in the<br /> year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred Z<br /> <br /> Tt is not intended to put forward a useful<br /> Author’s Agreement, but merely to comment on<br /> the extraordinary form in which this document is<br /> drafted, and to explain some of the more extrava-<br /> gant points.<br /> <br /> On the same principle that it takes two to make<br /> a quarrel, it has always been looked upon as<br /> necessary to have two parties to an agreement.<br /> But the Musical Publisher is above such con-<br /> siderations. He is a law unto himself, and appa-<br /> rently to the composer also.<br /> <br /> It is pitiful to consider that for years uncounted,<br /> ever since music was a property, composers,<br /> without a murmur, without a sigh, have been<br /> willing to resign their rights with such a childlike<br /> trust.<br /> <br /> Even now there are leading members of the<br /> profession who do not think that there is any need<br /> for an organisation to withstand this wholesale<br /> abandonment of valuable property.<br /> <br /> After consideration of the parties, or rather<br /> party—for, as we have pointed out, there is only<br /> one party who signs this estimable agreement—it<br /> is necessary to consider what the composer is<br /> conveying.<br /> <br /> He conveys all his copyright and interest in the<br /> piece for all the world, and the sole and exclusive<br /> right and liberty of performing the same. He is<br /> paid, it will be noticed, a certain sum on the sale<br /> of every copy—it is needless to say that the sum is<br /> inadequate in comparison with the cost of produc-<br /> tion, that the copies are reckoned seven as six, and<br /> two hundred given away free for advertising<br /> purposes—but on the performing rights he is<br /> paid nothing. :<br /> <br /> The publisher may say that on performing<br /> rights in England no money is paid. ‘This is not<br /> absolutely true. Take for example, musical operas,<br /> songs sung in music halls, and the many other<br /> forms of musical composition the performing rights<br /> of which are valuable. At no distant date a com-<br /> bination may be formed which will enable the<br /> composer to demand a certain sum for every public<br /> performance. This right in France is very valuable,<br /> simply because French composers and those who<br />  <br /> <br /> 96<br /> <br /> publish French compositions have banded them-<br /> selves together in order to obtain a fall reward for<br /> the property they create. To assign these per-<br /> forming rights, therefore, is altogether inadvisable.<br /> Quite apart from the monetary side of the question<br /> it may be justly argued that the composer, under<br /> certain circumstances, would object to perform-<br /> ances at certain times or in certain places. He<br /> could not, however, stop them under the present<br /> arrangement. In addition, as the publisher holds<br /> the right of performance in foreign countries, the<br /> work might be performed in France, where these<br /> rights are exceedingly valuable. In that case<br /> the publisher would obtain a substantial return,<br /> in which the composer would have no share<br /> whatever.<br /> <br /> So far it<br /> agreement.<br /> <br /> But worse is to follow.<br /> <br /> The publisher not only has all copyright and<br /> performing right, put he also receives the right to<br /> arrange, use, and publish the said work in any other<br /> separate form free from any other consideration 1n<br /> respect of such publication. So that if, as not<br /> infrequently happens, a song runs pleasantly in<br /> waltz time, it would be possible for the publisher<br /> <br /> to adapt the air to a waltz with a new setting,<br /> publish it, and sell thousands of copies.<br /> <br /> seems impossible to imagine a worse<br /> <br /> There<br /> are many other methods of re-arranging an air.<br /> With these the publisher has every right to deal<br /> according to his agreement, and on the sale of<br /> this new arrangement nothing will return to the<br /> composer.<br /> <br /> Take one further instance. How many quad-<br /> rilles, polkas, and other dance music are there that<br /> are merely variants of the popular airs of the<br /> day ?<br /> <br /> The composer receives half royalty on copies<br /> sold to America. There might be some slight<br /> reason for a small reduction, but why a reduction<br /> of fifty per cent.? We should be glad if the<br /> publishers would furnish figures.<br /> <br /> Lastly, a few remarks must be made before the<br /> question is closed, concerning the remuneration<br /> that composers receive for their labours.<br /> <br /> It is the custom to pay exceedingly small<br /> royalties on a song or other musical composition.<br /> The royalty in all cases must be finally determined<br /> by the amount of capital invested by the publisher,<br /> and the return the publisher obtains over and<br /> above the sum invested. Compare for one instant<br /> the cost of production of a book beside that of a<br /> song.<br /> <br /> Any book from the pen of a popular author,<br /> which is sold at 2s. nett will bear a royalty of 2d.<br /> in the 1s.; but the cost of production of a book<br /> excluding advertising is more than twice as large<br /> as the cost of production of a song excluding<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> advertising. It will cost perhaps 15/. to produce —<br /> 2,000 copies of a song which will sell at 2s. nett,<br /> the advertising, of course, coming outside this<br /> amount.<br /> <br /> Say 307. are spent on advertising, and 500 copies —<br /> of the song given away for all purposes, this leaves<br /> 1,500 copies to be sold at, say, 1s. 2d. per copy. The<br /> return is therefore 87/. 10s. If from this the cost.<br /> of production is deducted, 42/. 10s. is left to be<br /> divided between author and publisher.<br /> <br /> Fourpence per copy royalty will, therefore, give<br /> the publisher a handsome profit, and the author a<br /> reasonable return. If the sales exceed 1,500, then<br /> the reproduction is in every way cheaper and the<br /> return to the author larger.<br /> <br /> It should be remarked also that the cost of pro-<br /> duction and advertisement, and number of free<br /> copies is reckoned on a very liberal scale. In<br /> many cases 30/. is an outside price for the advertise-<br /> ment of one song and less than 500 copies are usedi<br /> as gratis copies.<br /> <br /> Musical composers<br /> position.<br /> <br /> should reconsider their<br /> <br /> THE R. D. BLACKMORE MEMORIAL.<br /> <br /> —-—— + —<br /> <br /> MEETING of the Blackmore Memorial<br /> Committee was held at Stationers’ Hall on ~<br /> Wednesday, November 26th, Mr. James —<br /> <br /> Baker in the chair. Mr. R. B. Marston, the hon. ©<br /> treasurer, announced that the subscriptions received<br /> amounted to over £200, the total promised to date —<br /> being £223 1és. Designs from the sculptor, Mr. —<br /> Harry Hems, were submitted showing a medallion<br /> portrait on marble slab. Various suggestions were<br /> made, and it was decided to close the subscription om<br /> December 9th, and at the next committee meeting —<br /> to make final arrangements for putting the work<br /> in hand. Amongst those present were Professor<br /> Raphael Meldola, Mr. Mackenzie Bell, Mr. Herbert<br /> A. Morrah, Mr. James Baker, Miss Pinto Leite,<br /> and Mr. G. E. N. Ryan.<br /> <br /> On December 10th a further meeting of the —<br /> committee was held. Mr. Hems, the sculptor,<br /> produced a fresh design, which was unanimously<br /> approved. Mr. Hems stated that the work would —<br /> be completed and ready for erection early in April<br /> next.<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 /> THE AUTHOR. 97<br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> Ae<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property —:<br /> <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 /> II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement).<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> C1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duciion forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘ office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> 5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. 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 /> IVY. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> eg ge ee<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <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 /> <br /> 2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for<br /> the production of a play with anyone except an established<br /> manager,<br /> <br /> 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS<br /> IN THREE OR MORE ACTS :—<br /> <br /> (@.) 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 /> (2.) 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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (e.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.¢.,<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 anyevent. 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 excced-<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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY,<br /> <br /> eg<br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> i 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 /> 98<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) To 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 /> +-—&lt;&gt;—__ + —_____—-<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> —_1-——+—_<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 /> +&gt;<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> Sa<br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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 /> <br /> <br /> Communications for Zhe Author should be addressed to:<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> —_+——_o__—_——_-<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE<br /> EpITorR 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 /> ——<br /> <br /> Tur 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 /> rVNVHE case of Aflalo &amp; Cook v. Lawrence &amp; Bullen,<br /> which has been supported by the Society<br /> throughout, was heard on Appeal before<br /> Lord Justice Vaughan Williams, Lord Justice<br /> Romer, and Lord Justice Stirling, on Thursday,<br /> the 18th of December.<br /> <br /> Readers of Zhe Author may remember that<br /> judgment in the first instance was given in the<br /> favour of the plaintiffs, with costs. Against this.<br /> judgment the defendants appealed. The Appeal<br /> has been dismissed with costs. Lord Justice<br /> Romer and Lord Justice Stirling decided against<br /> the appellants, Lord Justice Vaughan Williams<br /> dissenting.<br /> <br /> The case is one of considerable importance, as it.<br /> deals with the interpretation of the 18th section of<br /> the Copyright Act. It has already been pointed out<br /> in the pages of The Author that this section is<br /> perhaps one of the worst sections that has ever been<br /> drafted in an Act of Parliament, and is difficult of<br /> interpretation and complicated.<br /> <br /> Every case, therefore, that tends to make it<br /> more explicit must be of importance to those:<br /> interested in literary property. It is hoped that in<br /> the next number of 7&#039;he Author it will be possible<br /> to give a full statement of the judgment.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> We understand that King Oscar, one of the few<br /> royal authors, has been contributing an article to<br /> the magazine of the Swedish Authors’ Union.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 99<br /> <br /> Though it is the privilege of every crowned head<br /> to be egotistical—the subject of the paper was his<br /> own writings in fiction and poetry—yet he dealt<br /> some very frank criticism on his work. He used, he<br /> said, to be very proud of his lyrical productions,<br /> but doesn’t consider them now to be first class.<br /> The poem he considers his best is ‘The Baltic.”<br /> He trusts that his readers’ opinions will coincide<br /> with his own.<br /> <br /> No sooner has King Oscar finished criticising<br /> his own works than another royal personage<br /> comes before the public as an author. “La<br /> Carriére d’un Navigateur” is the title of a work<br /> by Albert I., Prince of Monaco, and, like King<br /> Oscar, in his own line he proves himself an author<br /> of no mean capacity. The book is full of the love<br /> of the sea. It is imaginative and, in places, poetical.<br /> The work is published in Paris.<br /> <br /> Under “ Literary, Dramatic, and Musical Pro-<br /> perty,” we have, with the kind permission of the<br /> Editor of The Times, reprinted the case of Jfoul<br /> vy. Boosey, dealing with the performing rights of<br /> musical pieces.<br /> <br /> We desire again to bring this point before those<br /> composers who are members of the Society, and<br /> again to call their attention to the fact that owing<br /> to a strong combination of French composers the<br /> property in performing rights has become exceed-<br /> ingly valuable. In Germany and France, we believe<br /> that a royalty agreement on the sale of a song or<br /> musical composition is almost unknown, and the<br /> composers make their money from their performing<br /> rights. In England the reverse holds good. There<br /> is no reason, however, why both rights should<br /> not become a valuable property, and bring in a<br /> considerable income.<br /> <br /> The fact that a certain Mr. Wall in former<br /> years took advantage of the unsatisfactory state<br /> of the law to levy contributions from illegal per-<br /> formances, is no reason why the performing rights<br /> should therefore be allowed to run to waste.<br /> <br /> We trust that musical composers will give the<br /> matter their serious consideration.<br /> <br /> Various friends of the late Mr. J. T. Nettleship,<br /> the well-known animal painter, are desirous of<br /> placing a tablet to his memory in the fine old<br /> church of Kettering, his native town, to be<br /> supplemented, if practicable, by some small<br /> memorial in London. Besides being noteworthy<br /> as an artist, Mr. Nettleship was an accomplished<br /> <br /> writer, his ingenious essays, on the poetry of<br /> Robert Browning, first published as far back as<br /> the “sixties,” having done much to promote: a<br /> more general appreciation of the poet’s work.<br /> Mr. Alfred East, A.R.A., Mr. Alfred Parsons, A.R.A.,<br /> Mr. T. C. Gotch and Mr. William Toynbee have<br /> undertaken to organise a fund in London, and<br /> subscriptions may be sent to Mr. Toynbee, Hon,<br /> Treasurer, at 4N, Portman Mansions, W.<br /> <br /> John Kendrick Bangs—so states the American<br /> Author—agrees with Jules Verne that the novel is<br /> passing, and that in a hundred years from now<br /> there will be no such form of literature, or, at<br /> least, not as we knew it. “If wireless telegraphy,<br /> why not bookless romances, typeless novels, page-<br /> less poems? We already have jokeless comic<br /> papers. These things are surely coming, and I<br /> foresee the day when without novels, poetry or<br /> drama the public will be surfeited with romances<br /> and tales of the most stirring character, poems of<br /> stately measure and uplifting concept; psycho-<br /> logical studies of the deepest dye; and dramas<br /> that will take the soul of man and twist it until it<br /> fairly shrieks for mercy—and all of these things.<br /> men and women will get while they sleep.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> A LITERARY ACADEMY.<br /> <br /> —1+~&lt;<br /> <br /> L.<br /> <br /> AM so little instructed in the theory of literary<br /> I academies that it is only after reading the<br /> clever letters published on the subject in The<br /> Author by such authorities as Messrs. Herbert<br /> Trench, H. G. Wells and Morley Roberts, and<br /> Lucas Malet, that I feel emboldened to form a<br /> hasty opinion, entirely on the reading of the<br /> aforesaid letters.<br /> <br /> My blood boils, as does that of us all, including<br /> Mr. Herbert Trench, at the prevalence amongst us<br /> of what I will call the “ tub-novelist.” But would<br /> the establishment of an Academy of Letters in this<br /> country exercise any control over this variety of<br /> literary caterer? Would he not adapt his chair to<br /> the same purpose as he did his tub, and wave his<br /> academic crown to the tune of so much per<br /> thow’ as before ? Mr. Zangwill’s blunt, or<br /> rather pointed, allusion to the ‘“ vulgarity of the<br /> epoch’ seems to sum up the case for me, only I<br /> would substitute for vulgarity the adjective ‘“non-<br /> critical.” Weare, as a nation, non-critical—thank<br /> goodness we are, as a nation, creative. The<br /> French are both, the latter perhaps in a lesser<br /> degree. But in France, though there is a<br />  <br /> <br /> 100<br /> <br /> tremendous fertility in rubbish, as with us, Litera-<br /> ture proper completely ignores the out-put. The<br /> books one reads to soothe the toothache, or to<br /> ameliorate a railway journey, are not the books one<br /> criticises. :<br /> <br /> The three unmentionable “ Claudines” that<br /> have had such a vogue over there were read with<br /> ‘more or less amusement and cast aside—never<br /> considered seriously for one moment. But the<br /> English counterparts to ‘laudine—Heaven forbid<br /> that I should name them !—are on every decent<br /> table, and are gloated over by discreet K.C.’s and<br /> M.P.’s and discussed seriously in would-be literary<br /> salons. We do not distinguish.<br /> <br /> In France, the garcon de café, the demoiselle<br /> de comptoir read their Anatole France, their<br /> Huysmans, and are able to criticise and discuss<br /> him. ‘The French literary man varies from his<br /> ‘English prototype just as much as his audience<br /> does. The labour of a French author has an<br /> absurdly unnecessary concomitant. He takes pains<br /> __jmmense pains. He does not, as a rule, have<br /> the tendency which Lucas Malet deplores in some<br /> -of his English confréres. He does not regard<br /> letters as a means, but as an end. He does not<br /> -aspire to rise from author to “ minister,” and he<br /> never hopes to have time for society. M. Pierre<br /> D’Alheim, the author of “La Passion de Maitre<br /> Fran¢éis Villon,” spent fifteen years over the pro-<br /> duction of this masterly study of the Middle Ages.<br /> And it is one of a trilogy, of which the other two<br /> are still to be written! M. Huysmans lives the<br /> ‘life of a hermit—a genial one, par example ; he<br /> does not hate his fellow creatures, he simply has<br /> not time for them.<br /> <br /> It is my humble opinion that until we have a<br /> few more authors of this stamp in England, it is of<br /> no use arranging an Academy for them. The few<br /> truly earnest labourers in the literary field that<br /> we do possess would be obliged to double their<br /> parts and crown themselves. There are so few of<br /> them. And even then the enlightened critical<br /> public who should haste to acclaim the judgment<br /> ‘would be wanting !<br /> <br /> VioteT Hunt.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> II.<br /> <br /> On the subject of a Literary Academy Mrs.<br /> ‘Clifford writes as follows :—<br /> <br /> «J would gladly contribute to the discussion on<br /> an Academy of Letters, but I am too busy, too tired<br /> to think out even what I feel on the subject—<br /> though I feel a good deal.” She continues :<br /> ““My views so far are in entire agreement with<br /> those expressed by Mr. Herbert Trench. I think<br /> <br /> the only criticism I have to make upon his article<br /> <br /> touches the constitution of the committee, which<br /> -seems to me to be hardly far-reaching enough.” She<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> gives the names of a few gentlemen whom she<br /> would recommend as members, other than those<br /> mentioned by Mr. Trench.<br /> <br /> Under any circumstances; the selection of a<br /> committee of this kind would be difficult, and<br /> might lead to a considerable amount of heart-<br /> burning on the part of some and disgust on the<br /> part of others; but Mrs. Clifford proceeds: “A<br /> committee of this sort should be composed of the<br /> lovers of all kinds of literature, but above all, it<br /> should be composed of those who love it for its<br /> own sake, of those to whom it would be impossible<br /> to think of reward or advertisement, of pushing<br /> forward or holding back for personal reasons. In<br /> short, of men who have no axes to grind, except<br /> the one for which the Academy was instituted,<br /> that of immortalising good literature.”<br /> <br /> Surely it is not possible that any one can quarrel<br /> with Mrs. Clifford’s definition of the real<br /> Academician.<br /> <br /> oS<br /> II.<br /> <br /> I entirely agree with all that Mr. Arthur C.<br /> Benson says in his admirable article in favour of<br /> an Academy of Letters.<br /> <br /> Is it not the education of the masses which is in<br /> some way responsible for the down-hill road litera-<br /> ture is taking, and do not writers of the present day<br /> instinctively lower their standard of composition<br /> to a level which can be appreciated by the larger<br /> public ?<br /> <br /> If an Academy could influence this great _com-<br /> munity, and could inspire it with the desire to<br /> read only what is best, by holding before it high<br /> examples, its work would indeed gain a glorious<br /> crown, and we might hope before long to see the<br /> death of such debasing fiction as appears in our<br /> halfpenny newspapers.<br /> <br /> With things remaining as they are at present,<br /> with no powerful, saving hand held out to check<br /> this downward tendency in letters, the future state<br /> of affairs is not a happy one to contemplate. But<br /> we ought to strive to make it a happy one, and an<br /> Academy might be just the new force in the world<br /> of literature capable of doing it.<br /> <br /> To educate a great crowd of human beings is<br /> one thing ; this assists it in its active walk of life,<br /> but if we allow its leisure moments to be degraded<br /> by the perusal of the vitiating, worthless reading<br /> which pours forth from the press of cheap journals<br /> and elsewhere, the whole ideal of education is<br /> shattered. Let an Academy of Letters come to<br /> the rescue, and let it inspire both our authors and<br /> our public with the aim of crushing out of exist-<br /> ence all that is of bad quality in literature. | Then<br /> the author will produce the best that is in him, and<br /> the public will read it.<br /> <br /> F, I. W1nzott.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> i= we ele Eee<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> iy<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> IV.<br /> [With kind permission of the Editor of the Morning<br /> Leader. |<br /> <br /> One ought to have an opinion on the often-<br /> mooted proposal for establishing a British Academy<br /> of Literature; and by the time I have finished<br /> this article it is possible that an opinion may<br /> have taken root in my mind. Bat as yet I<br /> am unable to work up any conviction either for<br /> or against the proposal. Mr. Herbert Trench<br /> and the distinguished novelist who chooses to<br /> be known as “Lucas Malet” have written to<br /> The Author—the trade paper of the literary class<br /> —strongly recommending an Academy as a pos-<br /> sible, and even probable, remedy for the miserable<br /> decline into which English literature has fallen.<br /> “The present state of affairs,” says Mr. Trench,<br /> “jis nothing less than the merest tumultuous<br /> anarchy. . . . Every year our people, as a whole,<br /> like those of the United States, seem to be<br /> marching steadily, slumberously, into new and<br /> vaster Dark Ages; Dark Ages, not of mere<br /> ignorance, but of the wildest positive error. The<br /> weltering Anglo-Saxon peoples have no intel-<br /> lectual standards, no thought centre, no axis.”<br /> The flippant might be tempted to reply that the<br /> academician - saviours heralded by Mr. Trench<br /> would have too many axes—to grind. But flip-<br /> pancy is out of place in this grave debate. I<br /> repent the untimely levity, and pass on. ‘‘ Lucas<br /> Malet’s” view of the situation is not much more<br /> cheerful than Mr. Trench’s. ‘“ English literature,”<br /> she writes, ‘in its higher and more distinguished<br /> expression, is sick, almost sick unto death.” “ It is,”<br /> she continues, “over-prolific and under-vitalised.<br /> The right of private judgment has run mad,<br /> thanks to a grafting of so-called modern ideas<br /> upon the old Protestant stock.” Wherefore “‘some<br /> of us,” she says, “hail the idea of an English<br /> Academy of Letters, regarding it as a possible<br /> remedial agency.”<br /> <br /> Now, before we can hail the remedy with any<br /> ardour of conviction, it behoves us to be certain<br /> that we have rightly diagnosed the disease. Is<br /> English literature in such a desperate case as<br /> Mr. Trench and “Lucas Malet” would have us<br /> think ? I have touched on the question before in<br /> this column, and have pointed out how Macaulay,<br /> writing in the very heyday of that Victorian period<br /> to which we now look back as to an age of giants,<br /> adopted exactly the same tone of despondency.<br /> Still more aptly did Mr. Gosse remind us, in his<br /> speech at the “ Encyclopeedia Britannica” dinner,<br /> that Montaigne in France, and Ben Jonson in<br /> England, each believed himself to be living in an<br /> age of hopeless literary decadence. I admit, how-<br /> ever, that there isa great difference between assert-<br /> ing the probability, and proving the fact, of illusion.<br /> <br /> 101<br /> <br /> A great deal may be said, no doubt, in favour of<br /> Mr. Trench’s view of the present situation. While<br /> every age has had its loudly-applauded and extra-<br /> vagantly advertised charlatans—its Robert Mont-<br /> gomerys and Martin Tuppers—it must be owned<br /> that the present age is particularly prolific of these<br /> gentlefolks, and that they are “boomed” with a<br /> hitherto unexampled impudence of puffery. But<br /> does not the very word I have employed suggest<br /> the explanation of the phenomenon ? The modern<br /> literary “boom” is more deafening than the similar<br /> manias of bygone generations because the half-<br /> educated reading public is now so much larger..<br /> But in that there is no great harm ; the mischief<br /> would be if we found the manias of the half-<br /> educated public infecting the judgment of the<br /> educated public. Of this I confess I see no<br /> indication. When Thackeray was asked by an<br /> American, “ What do you, in England, think of:<br /> Tupper?” his reply was, “ We don’t think of<br /> Tupper.” With the same promptitude and con-<br /> viction all educated Englishmen of to-day might<br /> reply to a similar question, ‘We don’t think of<br /> What’s-his-name or Thingumbob.” There may be<br /> certain writers on the borderlands of literature<br /> whom some educated people discuss too seriously ;.<br /> but these are precisely the men who, one fears,.<br /> would worm themselves into an Academy. As for<br /> the tendency of mediocrity—as distinguished from.<br /> sheer blatant incompetence—to swamp command-<br /> ing talent, does not that arise from the fact that<br /> our mediocrity is really entitled to rank much.<br /> higher than the mediocrity of fifty years ago? If<br /> we have fewer writers of the very first rank (and.<br /> even that may be an illusion), have we not a great<br /> many more writers—not only absolutely, but in<br /> proportion—whose work attains a more than<br /> respectable standard of intellectual merit ? And<br /> if this be the case, can it be said that literature is<br /> altogether going to the dogs ?<br /> <br /> Let us assume, however, that our pessimists are:<br /> right in their diagnosis of the disease, and inquire<br /> a little into the further question, whether the:<br /> remedy they prescribe is likely to “ touch the spot ””<br /> —if so unacademic an expression may be forgiven..<br /> On this point ‘‘ Lucas Malet ” writes :—<br /> <br /> “ Ts it too much to hope that a recognised central autho-<br /> rity—-to which the elect among themselves may presently<br /> belong—an association of the most distinguished and<br /> enlightened minds of our day, might provoke in the rank<br /> and file a finer ambition and higher conception of the<br /> dignity of their calling, a sounder scholarship, a greater<br /> humanity and love of beauty, a greater self-forgetfulness in.<br /> work ?”’<br /> <br /> ‘<br /> <br /> Mr. Trench takes a somewhat less ideal view.<br /> He would have us look upon the Academy as a.<br /> sort of accredited advertising agency, which should,<br /> ‘in order to guide the public, confer titles of merit.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 102.<br /> <br /> or excellence at the end of each year on works of<br /> worth.” In this way, he thinks, an Academy<br /> would have brought Fitzgerald’s “ Omar Khayyam”<br /> into its due prominence at once, instead of leaving<br /> +t to be “discovered” after the lapse of a genera-<br /> tion. ‘ What qualified person,” he asks, “believes<br /> that the poetry of Matthew Arnold—so pure, so<br /> salutary for our time—yet occupies its just place<br /> in the minds of the multitude, who still acclaim<br /> Tennyson as a demi-god ?” The example does not<br /> seem to be very happily chosen, for it is scarcely<br /> conceivable that any academic laurels could have<br /> made Matthew Arnold popular with “ the multi-<br /> tude.” Arnold seems to me to have been entirely<br /> successful in seeking out his elective affinities. An<br /> Academy could at best have hastened the process<br /> a little. I would rather say that perhaps such a<br /> <br /> poet as Coventry Patmore, or, in our days, Mr..<br /> <br /> Robert Bridges or Mr. Francis Thompson, might<br /> be enabled, by academic recognition, to reach a<br /> larger public. Again, Mr. Trench thinks that the<br /> existence of “some such Society of the Spirit”<br /> would attract to literature “men of powerful talent,<br /> now absorbed by the Bar and commerce. Those<br /> men would be induced to speak who now stand<br /> aloof and silent, in overwhelming disgust.” This<br /> argument, I confess, appeals to me but little. I<br /> do not believe in the existence of the man who,<br /> having anything to say, and any power of saying<br /> it, is deterred by his despair of finding an audience<br /> worthy of his genius. I don’t doubt fora moment<br /> ‘that there are men who, in their own esteem,<br /> -oceupy this pinnacle of intellectual superiority ; but<br /> I think the chances are that the pinnacle would<br /> prove as barren after as before the establishment of<br /> an Academy.<br /> Let us remember, however, that a case may be<br /> a very good one, though the arguments brought<br /> forward in support of it are individually insufficient.<br /> ‘The worst of our national habits, to my thinking,<br /> is that of seizing on any plausible objection to a<br /> proposed reform and making it an excuse for<br /> sitting still and doing nothing. Mr. Trench very<br /> justly insists that “it is weak to plead that an<br /> Academy would be a prey to wire-pullers and<br /> intriguers. Any dignified human society that is<br /> worth framing must undergo, and can weather,<br /> such dangers.” Mr. H. G. Wells fears that the<br /> Academy will be swamped by “ well-bred influential<br /> amateurs ” such as Lord Rosebery and Mr. Balfour.<br /> This possibility has no terrors for me. I think a<br /> British Academy which excluded such a man as<br /> Lord Rosebery would be ridiculous. In sum, I am<br /> .-so far with the supporters of the proposal that I<br /> think its opponents have wholly failed to show<br /> that it could do any harm ; and since many people<br /> think it would do good, why not try it ?<br /> <br /> Winiuram ARCHER.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vv.<br /> <br /> A few words more are asked for on the<br /> subject of an Academy of Letters. It must<br /> be difficult for any distinguished. man of<br /> letters to advance and say, “ Come let us form<br /> a society to save literature from the public dis-<br /> esteem into which it has fallen.” Yet I believe<br /> that were Tennyson, Browning, and Arnold living,<br /> they would have been willing to come forward.<br /> The natural inertia and shamefacedness of the<br /> Englishman would not have overcome them. The<br /> might well have made, and we should all have<br /> responded to, such an appeal.<br /> <br /> Tt seems to me that a public institution is required<br /> which shall image, symbolize, and stand for excel-<br /> lence in literature. For this reason I am gratefal<br /> to famous novelists like Lucas Malet, and to such<br /> admirable writers as Mr. Arthur Christopher Benson,<br /> Mrs. W. K. Clifford, Mr. Benjamin Swift, and Mr.<br /> William Archer, who have in these pages openly<br /> expressed sympathy not only with the aims in<br /> view, but with the means proposed.<br /> <br /> It is idle to say that such a society would wield<br /> no influence. Well could it safeguard its own<br /> dignity. ‘True; writers like Mr. Meredith would<br /> probably find no leisure for criticism, but, as Mr,<br /> Benson has suggested, the society could devolve its<br /> judgments and awards to a carefully-chosen critical<br /> committee. Andin what respect could an Academy<br /> do harm? The recurrent elections of its members,<br /> the merits of their work, might conceivably indeed<br /> elbow from the topics of the dinner tables some<br /> turf scandal or fashionable divorce. Intellectual<br /> and beautiful achievement would in fact stand<br /> some chance of their proportionate share of public<br /> attention. Directly or indirectly the Academy<br /> would become the main organ of English criticism,<br /> an elucidator of our chaos, a simplifier, an orderer,<br /> a guide to judgment.<br /> <br /> Why is this neglected field so important? Be-<br /> cause, surely, art, and in chief the art of literature,<br /> live by the sympathy, and increase the sympathetic<br /> intelligence, of all classes. Art tends to unify<br /> society and makes for solidarity. The novel, play,<br /> poem, are the village greens of the nation. In<br /> art the out-wearied master-printer, with brain<br /> exhausted by the technicalities and intense com-<br /> petitions of his trade, who now at his day’s end<br /> relapses faute de mieux on the mushroom romances<br /> of the boudoir, may learn to share interests with<br /> his foreman (chief reader of the. future), who,<br /> attending all day to the intricate, steady spinning<br /> of some comprehensive machine, returns home at<br /> night less fatigued than his master, and soon will<br /> be less easily satisfied. Art in letters is the reve-<br /> lation of themselves to the young, the invisible<br /> trysting-place of the sexes, the common ground of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 103.<br /> <br /> the specialists, who, with theramifying of knowledge,<br /> tend to become ever remoter and mutually more<br /> unintelligible. Art is the only speech preserved in<br /> our Tower of Babel. It behoves greatly, therefore,<br /> that we guard this sympathetic art of literature ;<br /> see that it falls not into emptiness and dishonour,<br /> and that for the State’s own sake some honest<br /> endeavour is made to distinguish and reward those<br /> who practise this art with signal excellence.<br /> <br /> But let us take account of objectors. An<br /> “ Academy” must be “academic,” says Mr.<br /> Morley Roberts, foisting on us, with a smile, a<br /> play upon words. “The appeal of literature is<br /> individual, is personal. A bedy of men is a lower<br /> organism,” says Mr. Roberts. But it is from the<br /> rabble, from the chance of crowds, and the tender<br /> mercies of journalistic judgment, that I would save<br /> writers above the average. Let us give them a<br /> revising body, an enduring Court of Appeal, less<br /> tardy than that of Time, a court where the deciduous<br /> sentences of the daily papers are replaced by words<br /> of steadier attention. Nothing in Nature is more<br /> sure than that works of genius die and perish utterly<br /> unknown. Genius bears no sovereign amulet<br /> against mischance, and the majestic stupidity of<br /> numbers. Common sense alone can by organiza-<br /> tion set human barriers and safeguards for our great<br /> men against ill destiny and oblivion. ‘ Conven-<br /> tion,” “monotony,” “aridity,” “conservatism,”<br /> <br /> - sighs Mr. Morley Roberts apprehensively. ‘Masters<br /> <br /> of literature, if once publicly recognized, become<br /> fossils,” gently implies Mr. Max Beerbohm. But,<br /> “Tam compelled to ask, “Is there anything more<br /> conventional than the range of ideas in the Old<br /> Kent Road?” Intellectual civilization is free. It<br /> is the savage societies, and the clichés forced now<br /> on us in the guise of novels, that are, above all,<br /> arid and monotonous.<br /> <br /> We have no men, says (I think) Mr. Zangwill.<br /> What! We have still Mr. Swinburne, Mr. John<br /> Morley, Mr. Robert Bridges, Mr. Meredith, Mr.<br /> Pinero, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Yeats, Mr. Joseph Conrad,<br /> Mr. Shorthouse, Mr. Bury, Mr. Bryce, Mr. A.<br /> E. Housman. Are not these a brave beginning ?<br /> <br /> The truth is that, as Lucas Malet forcibly puts<br /> it, a central standard of taste is increasingly<br /> required in the double combat to be waged against<br /> the taste of the mob, and the influence of the<br /> millionaire (whom we have always with us). We<br /> must not look for help from the “ upper classes.”<br /> The French courtiers of the seventeenth century<br /> salons, the eighteenth century groups of English<br /> country gentlemen round Pope and Addison, round<br /> Johnson and Burke, were recruited from educated<br /> aristocracies. It was these gentlemen who formed<br /> noble libraries, and paid for splendid editions.<br /> They had gone on the “grand tour” to France, Italy,<br /> and Greece, to the older and wiser civilizations, and<br /> <br /> so had improved a naturally good eye for the taste-<br /> ful and the humane. But the modern grand tour<br /> is to the United States for a rich wife. Or our<br /> young aristocrat, if more wholesomely disposed,<br /> returns with the imperfect tastes of frontier<br /> peoples. Our young barbarian becomes accom-<br /> plished in Rhodesia or the Klondyke. He returns,<br /> perhaps, no worse a man than were the sons of<br /> Halifax, Temple, Fox, Walpole or Chesterfield.<br /> But as a judge of letters he is probably less complete.<br /> In our quandary no help is to be expected of him.<br /> No help, either, from our mob-deity the millionaire,<br /> who may found libraries till every Sheffield has its<br /> British Museum, yet cannot provide a living for<br /> literature. No! The writers of England, if they<br /> are to restore the dignity of their craft, must do it<br /> themselves. Their task, owing to the vast augmen-<br /> tation of the reading populace, and the all-perva-<br /> siveness of vulgar wealth, is harder far than it was<br /> for any French king or English aristocracy. But,<br /> on the other hand, is not that task tenfold better<br /> worth the doing? Its result may be the gradual<br /> ennoblement, not of clique in a capital, but of an<br /> entire nation.<br /> <br /> No idea of his function can be pitched too high<br /> for the weal of the artist. Priest of the mind and<br /> heart, he is the chief truth-teller left to humanity.<br /> “Treasure words,” said Gogol; “they are the<br /> noblest gift of God.” And the object I have in<br /> writing these lines is boldly to ask those who have<br /> the honour of English letters at heart to form<br /> themselves into a “ Guild of Literature,” as did the<br /> craftsmen painters of Flanders and Italy—a guild<br /> open to any fairly-accredited writer to join. From<br /> this guild should be elected, chiefly (1 think) by<br /> writers themselves, a number of leaders—Masters<br /> of the Craft—to protect it, to represent it, and do<br /> it honour.<br /> <br /> Such a public association of the distinguished<br /> and enlightened would act, as Lucas Malet says,<br /> as an immense encouragement to the rank and file<br /> of writers, especially those of the younger genera-<br /> tion. It would stimulate to steady work—concen-<br /> trate attention on noble ambition and pure reward.<br /> It would help year-long labour like “ that slow and<br /> scientific ” labour of Titian. It would secure for<br /> living writers praise and recognition far earlier than<br /> now is possible. Why, when we light upona splendid<br /> short tale by a living master, like the newly-pub-<br /> lished “Youth” of Mr. Joseph Conrad, should<br /> the knowledge of its beauty and perfection be<br /> confined to the chances of a few Press notices in<br /> London? Why should Mr. Conrad not improbably<br /> have to wait till he is old before he can enjoy the<br /> success he deserves? Why must Mr. George<br /> Meredith wait thirty-eight years after the publica-<br /> tion of “Richard Feverel” before his existence is<br /> acknowledged in the Quarterly Review 2 It must<br />  <br /> <br /> 104<br /> <br /> be because England is all lawn or marsh. There<br /> is no broad culture among our people. There is<br /> no fit organ of letters to honour living artists and.<br /> maintain the magnificent tradition of the dead.<br /> ‘The English take all things seriously—religion,<br /> love-making, family, politics, and commerce—all<br /> things, that. is to say, except art and literature.<br /> ‘Her young writers, not regarding their craft as all-<br /> important, do not give it their best and yet<br /> we propose to reform national education—to<br /> multiply training colleges! It is in vain. You<br /> -cannot multiply wise teachers and simultaneously<br /> despise living literature. It is a kind of stupid<br /> ‘hypocrisy. Recruited from the intellectual refuse<br /> .of Europe, the Churches, nominal custodians of<br /> -education, are soulless and decaying. The brains<br /> are out, the man must die. From them we may<br /> -get chicane in Houses of Lords, but we shall not<br /> -get light in the minds of the people. We must<br /> look to Art and Science to bear on the Torches<br /> ‘relinquished by Religion. Let us therefore found<br /> this new Society of the Spirit—this new Guild of<br /> ‘Literature—to spur and inspirit workers, and to<br /> ‘strengthen them by fellowship. But the chief<br /> -yalue of such a Guild would be not so much its<br /> -substantive as its symbolic value.<br /> <br /> HERBERT TRENCH.<br /> <br /> Oi<br /> <br /> AMERICAN NOTES.<br /> <br /> —-—~&gt;+ —<br /> <br /> LTHOUGH at the time we write our infor-<br /> mation is not so complete as to enable us<br /> to give definite figures, everything points<br /> <br /> to the conclusion that the output of books during<br /> ‘the fall of 1902 has been almost unprecedented.<br /> “The bulk of this was, of course, made up of new<br /> ‘fiction ; but other departments of literature, with<br /> the exception of verse, were not inadequately<br /> ‘represented.<br /> <br /> Greater attention than ever has been paid to the<br /> «make-up and illustration of new works. Whether<br /> ‘there has been a corresponding advance in the<br /> -quality of the contents may be more open to<br /> - question.<br /> <br /> One thing is noticeable as a sign of the times.<br /> It is this: that the success of a book by a popular<br /> author no longer helps the sale of his previously<br /> ‘stocked works to anything like the extent which<br /> it used to do. The American public will have<br /> everything brand-new nowadays.<br /> <br /> As the book of the day, Winston Churchill’s<br /> “Crisis” has been displaced by Owen Wister’s<br /> “The Virginian.” This breezy romance of the<br /> “West, which holds its own against all newcomers,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> is especially remarkable for its description of the<br /> lynching of the cattle-thieves. The book would<br /> undoubtedly have won its way to popularity on its<br /> own merits; but the dedication to President<br /> Roosevelt, and the curiosity excited by the<br /> allusion to the page which his delicate humanity<br /> caused to be rewritten, probably helped it not a<br /> little.<br /> <br /> One of the most notable productions of the early<br /> autumn was “ New France and New England,” the<br /> last of the late John Fiske’s historical writings.<br /> Unfortunately the author only lived to give final<br /> form to the first two chapters, which deal with the<br /> early history of what is now Canada; the rest<br /> consists of his unrevised lectures worked up by<br /> another hand. The motif of the whole is to show<br /> the effect on the development of New England of<br /> the French conquests and losses on the North<br /> American continent.<br /> <br /> Mr. J. N. Larned, of the Buffalo Public<br /> Library, has, in his “Literature of American<br /> History,” made some attempt at the bibliography<br /> of an enormous subject. Although his biblio-<br /> graphical guide gives an annotated list of four<br /> thousand titles, and is brought down to the year<br /> 1900, one is not surprised to discover that it is by<br /> no means exhaustive.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile President Woodrow Wilson, of<br /> Princeton, has just finished for Harper and<br /> Brothers his “ History of the American People,”<br /> which is contained in five volumes, and comes<br /> down to the accession of Mr. Roosevelt. It is<br /> being offered on the monthly instalment system,<br /> the total sum to be paid amounting to twenty-five<br /> dollars. It is a great achievement.<br /> <br /> A work of still greater magnitude is “ The New<br /> International Encyclopedia,” published by Messrs.<br /> Dodd, Mead &amp; Co., and edited by Dr. Daniel Coit<br /> Gilman, Dr. Harry Thurston Peck, and Dr. Frank<br /> Moore Colby. An especial feature is the substitution<br /> for the signed article of most European encyclo-<br /> pedias of contributions supplied originally by<br /> experts, but modified by the criticism of others,<br /> and finally issued by the editors in a form which is<br /> judged to combine the virtues of original individual<br /> research and those of co-operative criticism. This<br /> is a highly-interesting departure, and can hardly<br /> fail to work well in its application to scientific<br /> matters, whatever may be its weak points when<br /> employed in departments where the personal<br /> equation has a more legitimate field of action. A<br /> great effort has also been made to get rid of the<br /> traditional encyclopedic style, and thus to present<br /> in the attractive manner of Larousse matter which<br /> has been prepared on lines suggested by a study of<br /> the best German methods.<br /> <br /> The same publishers have issued a kind of<br /> poetical epitome of the world’s history under the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 3<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> title of ‘Every Day in the Year.” This compilation,<br /> the work of James L. Ford and Mary K. Ford,<br /> contains some eight hundred English poems com-<br /> memorative of great historical events.<br /> <br /> Anyone who is desirous of studying the making<br /> of the American army officer should read Mr. Hu.<br /> Irving Hancock’s ‘“ Life at West Point,” which is<br /> the work of a thoroughly competent observer.<br /> <br /> Those whose interests lie in the direction of the<br /> religious world will find much that is worthy of<br /> notice in Dr. Cuyler’s “ Recollections of a Long<br /> Life.’ While far from strong on the literary side,<br /> the book contains records of the writer’s acquaint-<br /> ance, not ouly with preachers and divines such as<br /> Spurgeon, Dean Stanley, and Henry Ward Beecher,<br /> but also with poets of the rank of Wordsworth and<br /> Whittier, and statesmen like Lincoln.<br /> <br /> Another biographical work which should not be<br /> passed by is the “ Men and Memories ” of the late<br /> John Russell Young, editor of the New York<br /> Tribune, which his widow has seen through the<br /> press. In the course of a public life of nearly half<br /> a century, Young came into contact with such<br /> diverse celebrities as President Lincoln, Horace<br /> Greeley, Henry George, Charles Dickens, and Walt<br /> Whitman, so that his recollections can hardly fail<br /> to be worth glancing at.<br /> <br /> Mr. Charles E. Benton, in the personal experiences<br /> of the Civil War, which Messrs. Putnam have<br /> published under the title, “As Seen from the<br /> Ranks,” contests Stephen C rane’s views as to the<br /> state of mind produced by warfare on the mind of<br /> the combatants. He himself was a member of a<br /> regimental band, but was often under fire when<br /> called upon, in the usual course, to do hospital<br /> duty.<br /> <br /> The numerous lives of Edgar Allan Poe have now<br /> been followed by an elaborate edition in seventeen<br /> volumes of his complete works, edited by Professor<br /> James A. Harrison. Besides the inevitable fresh<br /> life, there are some new letters. First editions of<br /> the most imaginative of American wrilers have<br /> realised fabulous prices of late years.<br /> <br /> An unpublished essay of Thoreau has been<br /> unearthed by Mr. F. B. Sanborn and printed by<br /> Goodspeed, of Boston. It is entitled, “The Service.”<br /> An ardently enthusiastic biographical study, “ The<br /> Hermit of Walden,” has come from the pen of<br /> Annie Russell Marble. :<br /> <br /> Among recent biographies of other American<br /> classical writers there is Professor Woodberry’s<br /> “Hawthorne,” showing the author of “The Scarlet<br /> Letter” “ shaking the dust of his native place from<br /> his feet, and frankly taking upon himself the<br /> character of the unappreciated genius”; and Colonel<br /> Higginson’s “ Longfellow,” yielding some new light<br /> upon the poet’s early married life and his career<br /> as Harvard professor.<br /> <br /> 105:<br /> <br /> Before giving our readers a few jottings upon<br /> the latest luminaries In the sky of fiction, we would<br /> mention in passing one little volume that stands out<br /> from among the not too interesting mass of Christ-<br /> mas publications. It is “The Book of Joyous<br /> Children,” by James Whitcomb Riley. The veteran:<br /> verse writer 1s, we may add, well supported by his.<br /> illustrator, J. W. Vawter. There is plenty of fun<br /> and even a little poetry in the somewhat fancifully-<br /> named gift-book. ;<br /> <br /> Mr. Thomas Bailey Aldrich has brought out an<br /> appendix to his complete works in the form of a.<br /> volume of short stories entitled, “‘ A Sea Turn and<br /> Other Matters.”<br /> <br /> The latest work of that popular favourite,.<br /> Augusta Evans Wilson, “ ‘The Speckled Bird,”’<br /> has been productive of a somewhat sensational<br /> literary incident. Nettled at some not over-<br /> kind, but so far as we can judge perfectly<br /> bond fide, criticism in The Bookman, the novelist<br /> sent the editor of the offending paper a reply in)<br /> the form of a fable. This the editor decided to<br /> print in parallel columns with the reprinted.<br /> review ; and we think that the impartial reader<br /> will decide that he was not ill-advised in doing s0,.<br /> for the errors of taste into which the injured<br /> vanity of the author has betrayed her far exceed<br /> any surplus captiousness with which the critic—<br /> she, too, a fair one—may be justly charged. The<br /> curious may be referred to the November number-<br /> of the periodical above-mentioned.<br /> <br /> Mr. Richard Harding Davis has probably<br /> added to his reputation by his new novel, “Cap--<br /> tain Macklin”: and the same may be said of Sir<br /> Gilbert Parker’s “ Donovan Pasha.” George Barr<br /> McCutcheon’s second venture, “ Castle Craney-<br /> croft,” is thought by his admirers to be as full of”<br /> exciting incident as was “ Graustark,” his first-<br /> born. One of them has christened it “ Around the<br /> World in Eighty Chapters” ; but the castle itself<br /> was, we learn, situated in Luxembourg.<br /> <br /> One of the great hits of the season has been<br /> Mr. F. Hopkinson Smith’s “ Fortunes of Oliver:<br /> Horn,” a romance of the south and of artistic life<br /> in the New York of the fifties.<br /> <br /> George Horton’s “ The Long Straight Road ” is<br /> of the realistic school, a story of every day family<br /> life in Chicago. It is distinctly to be commended, .<br /> if only on account of its treatment of the child<br /> element. The short stories of Will Payne range<br /> round the same region ; but “On Fortune’s Road”<br /> is nothing if not humorous.<br /> <br /> The author of “ Uncle Remus” has written a.<br /> very readable complete story, which compares very<br /> favourably with the latest efforts of certain other:<br /> veterans. ‘Gabriel Tolliver” is the name of his<br /> southern reconstruction tale. Mr. Marion Crawford<br /> has added another item to his long list. The scene:<br />  <br /> <br /> 106.<br /> <br /> of his “ Cecilia” is modern Rome, and the treat-<br /> ment is such as we are accustomed to expect from<br /> this novelist. &#039; :<br /> <br /> Perhaps the best piece of fiction produced in<br /> America during the present season is Newton Booth<br /> Tarkington’s “The Two Vanrevels.” It is a tale of<br /> Indiana in the days of President Polk ; love and<br /> politics are the main themes. To say that the<br /> characterisation shows a distinct advance upon that<br /> of “Monsieur Beaucaire ” would be awarding it but<br /> faint praise in comparison with its merits. Mr.<br /> Tarkington has been much quizzed in some<br /> quarters for the modesty of his proposal that<br /> the Indiana Legislature should endeavour to pro-<br /> mote literature by an annual offer of 500 dollars in<br /> prizes. :<br /> <br /> In conclusion, we must not omit to mention the<br /> swansongs of Paul Leicester Ford (‘ Wanted, a<br /> Chaperon”) and Bret Harte. “The Condensed<br /> Novels ” of the latter master of parody are worthy<br /> to rank with Thackeray’s “Novels by Eminent<br /> Hands,” and will doubtless afford much enjoyment<br /> to their subjects.<br /> <br /> The chief names in our obituary list are those of<br /> Edward Eggleston and Frank Norris. The former<br /> will be remembered not less by his successful<br /> exertions in the cause of international copyright<br /> than by his Hoosier Stories and historical works.<br /> The latter was looked upon by many good judges<br /> as likely to become the best American novelist of<br /> his generation. His first work, “ M’Teague,” was<br /> striking, but unpleasant. For ‘‘ The Octopus,” no<br /> one had anything but high praise. It was the<br /> first of a projected trilogy of wheat, the second<br /> part of which will appear early next year as “ The<br /> Pit.” The concluding portion had not got beyond<br /> its title, “The Wolf,” when the young author died<br /> at San Francisco at the early age of thirty-two, a<br /> victim to appendicitis. Before “ commencing<br /> novelist” he had been to South Africa and China<br /> as special correspondent.<br /> <br /> To the names of Eggleston and Norris we have<br /> to add those of Major J. W. Powell, sometime<br /> president of the Washington Anthropological<br /> Society and of the American Association for the<br /> Advancement of Science, and at his death Director<br /> of the Bureau of American Ethnology and editor<br /> of more than one scientific journal; and of William<br /> Allen Butler, author of “Nothing to Wear” and<br /> “Flora McFlimsey of Madison Square,” poems<br /> that once had as much vogue as Bailey’s “ Festus,”<br /> and whose names are even now by no means<br /> forgotten.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> THE NOBEL PRIZES.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> CCORDING to a telegram from Stockholm,<br /> this year’s Nobel prizes have been awarded<br /> as follows.<br /> <br /> Literature, Professor Theodor Mommsen, of<br /> Berlin.<br /> <br /> Peace, Professor Friedrich Martens, Pro-<br /> fessor of International Law in St. Petersburg.<br /> <br /> Medicine, Major Ronald Ross, of the School of<br /> Tropical Medicine, Liverpool.<br /> <br /> Chemistry, Professor Emil Fischer, of Berlin.<br /> <br /> Physics, divided between Professors Lorenz and<br /> Zeemann, of Holland.<br /> <br /> All the gentleman named are authors.<br /> <br /> They have all written books dealing with the<br /> subjects to which they have devoted their lives.<br /> In fact it is almost impossible nowadays that any<br /> man could spend his life on a matter of research<br /> for the benetit of all humanity without at one time<br /> or another committing himself to a book.<br /> <br /> Of all the awards, that to Professor Theodor<br /> Mommeen will interest members of the Society<br /> most. Many will remember his Roman History<br /> as the bugbear of their school and college days,<br /> and perhaps from the standpoint of the schoolboy<br /> or the undergraduate will be ready to join issue<br /> with the Swedish Academy on their award.<br /> <br /> Several candidates were mentioned as probable<br /> recipients of the prize. It is evident in the<br /> selection of Professor Mommsen that the members<br /> of the Academy are giving a wide and generous<br /> interpretation to the letter of the document that<br /> limits their choice.<br /> <br /> Professor Mommsen was born on the 30th of<br /> November, 1817. He is now, therefore, eighty-five<br /> years of age. He was educated in the Gymnasium<br /> at Altona, and graduated at the University of Kiel.<br /> It is curious that a man who has spent his life in<br /> the dry research incidental to the writing of<br /> history should have commenced authorship by<br /> publishing a book of poetry. This, however, is the<br /> case ; the work was issued under the authorship of<br /> himself and his brother, Tycho Mommsen, in 1839.<br /> In 1848 he obtained a grant from the Government<br /> of Denmark, which enabled him to make a journey<br /> into Italy, and this, no doubt, was the turning<br /> point in his career. From that moment he began<br /> his wonderful study of the History of Rome, and<br /> the many subjects connected with such a labour.<br /> It is on his work as a Roman Historian that his<br /> world-wide reputation is based.<br /> <br /> Between 1854 and 1856 he published three<br /> volumes of his history, and at once became famous.<br /> It was not so much the great learning and exhaus-<br /> tive study shown in the volumes which forced<br /> the attention of everyone to his work as the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> aS —a<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> if<br /> g<br /> a<br /> ie<br /> ¥<br /> 5<br /> <br /> &#039;<br /> [<br /> eek<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> - characters of those mighty men of old.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> insight into the life and character of the nation<br /> about whom he wrote and his new reading of the<br /> All<br /> applauded his methods, though they did not neces-<br /> sarily approve his deductions.<br /> <br /> One remembers his panegyric<br /> Augustus.<br /> <br /> Again, Cicero, whom it is customary to look<br /> upon as one of the most important men of letters<br /> and the greatest advocate of his times, Mommsen<br /> wrote down as a mere journalist, and Pompey he<br /> despised as little more than a recruiting sergeant.<br /> <br /> After the production of the three volumes, he<br /> for many years spent his time in studying the old<br /> Roman inscriptions, and produced in 1861 the first<br /> issue of the “Corpus Inscriptionum,” which was<br /> afterwards followed by sixteen other volumes. No<br /> man living has ever had such an insight into<br /> Roman life, Roman learning, and Roman law.<br /> There is no one who can rival his knowledge on<br /> any of these subjects. Though he never actually<br /> completed his History (it brought him to<br /> the fall of the Republic), he has written so many<br /> papers and collected so much knowledge that he<br /> has provided others with the requisite material.<br /> Everyone who has made careful study of his work<br /> will agree that he is a worthy recipient of the<br /> honour that has been conferred upon him.<br /> <br /> of Cesar<br /> <br /> THE REY. JOSEPH PARKER, D.D.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Y the death of Dr. Parker London has lost<br /> <br /> a great personality and a powerful orator.<br /> <br /> The Society has lost a member who<br /> <br /> since 1890 has been a constant supporter of its<br /> aims and objects.<br /> <br /> He was born on the 9th of April, 1830, at<br /> Hexham-on-Tyne, and privately educated at<br /> University College, London. He began his<br /> career as a Minister at Banbury, Oxford, in<br /> 1869. Over thirty years ago he came to the<br /> City Temple, London.<br /> <br /> He was not a great author, or an author of<br /> many works; but from those he wrote and<br /> ublished it was clear that he was a man of<br /> large mind and generous spirit. His work, the<br /> “Pulpit Bible,” has been of great use to all<br /> Christian preachers of whatever denomination,<br /> but it is not as an author that Dr. Parker will<br /> be remembered. It is as preacher and as auto-<br /> erat of the City Temple.<br /> <br /> ——_———_———__+——— —____——_-<br /> <br /> 107<br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> BOOK DISTRIBUTION.<br /> <br /> Srr,— Would it not be possible to extend more<br /> generally the privilege accorded to the large buyers<br /> of books, of inspection before purchase? There<br /> must be a large public who would increase their<br /> purchases if their opportunities of selection were<br /> enlarged.<br /> <br /> For example :—Acting upon the only evidence<br /> obtainable—the title, the name of author and<br /> publisher, the reviews that happen to come my<br /> way—l order a certain book. On its arrival I see<br /> at the first glance it is not what I expected, or<br /> what I want. I would willingly, there and then,<br /> accept a small fraction of the price of the book, to<br /> be rid of it. It isnot only the wasted money, but<br /> the space on the shelves filled by these undesirables,<br /> that makes book buying so unpopular.<br /> <br /> Again, if I want to inspect the recent books<br /> upon a given subject, or to choose the most<br /> attractive edition of a certain classic, I must<br /> conduct the search myself in the British Museum.<br /> <br /> Surely it would pay the book purveyor to assist<br /> the possible buyer, to help him to keep out of his<br /> house the undesired books, and to discover for him<br /> the desired books ; to encourage him in the forma-<br /> tion of a library of works selected and approved<br /> by himself. One of the chief factors in the success<br /> of the circulating library is the opening of a large<br /> book area to inspection ; only a few of the books<br /> received are selected for reading ; and there is no<br /> accumulation of printed matter in the house.<br /> <br /> It should be the aim of the publisher to convert<br /> the reader from a borrower to a purchaser, by<br /> giving him opportunities for inspection with a<br /> view to purchase. All recent books, and all older<br /> designated books, might be collected in a shop, a<br /> fee being charged for examination. Books might<br /> also be brought to the reader’s door, or sent him<br /> by post, either for an inspection fee, or for a fixed<br /> proportion of the price of each book returned.<br /> <br /> It is the present surprise-packet system, with<br /> its inevitable disappointments to the purchaser,<br /> that stops business.<br /> <br /> Norwoop Youne.<br /> <br /> — 11 —_<br /> <br /> MODERN LITERATURE,<br /> <br /> Sir,—It cannot be denied that the opponents<br /> of Sir E. Clarke’s theory regarding the degeneracy<br /> of modern English literature have certain case<br /> to argue. It is true that in the beginning of the<br /> Victorian era, there was an inequality of workman-<br /> ship which would not have been possible at its<br /> close; and a somewhat indiscriminating public<br />  <br /> <br /> 108<br /> <br /> judgment passed this by with too much indulgence.<br /> This will account for the success of Sam Warren<br /> and Harrison Ainsworth, for the temporary popu-<br /> larity of Tupper and the too high estimate of<br /> Edgar Allan Poe. On the other hand, these<br /> opponents may point to such writers as Hardy and<br /> Blackmore, Swinburne, Meredith, and Kipling, as<br /> instances of good taste on the part of the more<br /> recent public which has duly appreciated these<br /> writers. But it will be noticed that their work is<br /> more or less of the kind technically known as<br /> “light.” Their works are not so likely to endure<br /> as classics as those of the earlier writers who<br /> undertook to convey to mankind intimations of<br /> greater moment. Amongst those will be remem-<br /> bered not only the names of Carlyle, and Newman,<br /> and Ruskin, but also of Emerson and Lowell; these<br /> latter, though Americans, “‘ spoke their American<br /> with a strong British accent,” and have been fully<br /> welcomed as English writers. Such literary work<br /> is perhaps hardly to be expected in the present<br /> conditions of our race. Decadent Latin nations<br /> are undeveloped ; peoples in the more Eastern<br /> regions may produce great craftsmen in arts and<br /> letters; but the eutonic races are otherwise<br /> engaged. ‘Their invention is shown in adminis-<br /> trative problems or in labour-saving machinery ;<br /> their eloquence is reserved for diplomatic dis-<br /> patches and political harangues. ‘To races so<br /> occupied the Muses are compelled to descend from<br /> Parnassus and content themselves with the<br /> humbler office as instruments for man’s occasional<br /> recreation.<br /> H. G. KEENE.<br /> <br /> THE CRITIC.<br /> <br /> Srr,—In glancing through the columns of the<br /> Morning Post the other day (8th December, 1902,<br /> p. 6) I came across a brief notice of a new number<br /> of the Pilot, a periodical which I understand has<br /> recently died and come to life again, and the fol-<br /> lowing passages in the review in question attracted<br /> my attention. ‘Lovers of good English and<br /> sound sense will welcome the reappearance of the<br /> Pilot. ... In glancing through the pages, how-<br /> ever, we have found the word ‘ relation’ standing<br /> in one case at least, and, so far as we can see, in<br /> the second also, for ‘relative.’ There is no reason<br /> why we should meet with this mode of speech in a<br /> journal like the Pilot.”<br /> <br /> Now, I should have thought (I have no privilege<br /> to weight my humble opinions with an editorial<br /> “we ”) that there was no reason why the critic of<br /> the Morning Post should not have been a little<br /> more explicit in his fault-finding, so as to mete out<br /> instruction to the ignorant in general as well as<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> blame in particular to the illiterate contributor to<br /> the Pilot. The question which the casual reader<br /> of such a criticism as this has to ask himself is,<br /> “In what possible meaning, out of many which it-<br /> is entitled to bear, can ‘relation’ be made to stand,<br /> improperly, for ‘ relative’?”’ To read through the<br /> Pilot is a possible course open to me which would<br /> perhaps supply the information, but it is one to<br /> which, perhaps owing to inherent laziness, I decline-<br /> to resort. ‘I&#039;o some extent, however, I object to<br /> doing so, on principle, as I contend that the critic<br /> who apparently makes a charge against another<br /> writer of using bad English should do so clearly,<br /> so that those who read may understand the precise<br /> accusation brought. The obvious common mean-<br /> ing of “relation” and “relative” is that of<br /> “kinsman.” Does the writer in the Jorning<br /> Post refer to this? I am an old-fashioned person<br /> myself, so that Dr. Johnson, and the authorities.<br /> which he cites, together with what I believe to be<br /> universal usage, are good enough for me. There<br /> may possibly be some new fad as to the usage of<br /> “relation” and “relative” as synonyms for “ kins-<br /> man,” which everybody who knows anything ought<br /> to know, but with which I am unfortunately not.<br /> acquainted. Does the editor of the Morning Post,<br /> as the word “we” would suggest, endorse the<br /> views of his critic; and, if so, does he forbid “ rela-<br /> tion” as a synonym for “relative” in all the columns<br /> under his august control? Of course, I may be<br /> making an altogether absurd suggestion in even<br /> hinting that this could be the meaning of the<br /> criticism of the Pilot’s English. In that case I<br /> can only repeat what I have said before, that the<br /> charge of using bad English should have been<br /> made in terms to be understood by the ordinary<br /> reader of the daily newspaper in question or else<br /> not made at all. An accused person and the jury<br /> who are to try him have the right to know exactly<br /> what the charge is that is brought against him.<br /> <br /> EL A. AC<br /> <br /> AN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.<br /> <br /> Dear Srr,—I beg to warn music critics against<br /> contributing to the Concert Goer, New York.<br /> That estimable organ, after duly appointing me its<br /> London correspondent, published articles written by<br /> a person whose opinions and methods of expressing’<br /> himself are not the same as mine, signing them.<br /> with my name.<br /> <br /> A London correspondent is, I understand, again,<br /> required by the Concert Goer, of New York.<br /> <br /> GEORGE CECIL.<br /> November 18th.<br /> <br /> BREINER<br /> <br /> Se<br /> uk.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/479/1903-01-01-The-Author-13-4.pdf	publications, The Author
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
481	https://historysoa.com/items/show/481	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 06 (March 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+06+%28March+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 06 (March 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>	1903-03-01-The-Author-13-6					133–160																		<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=1903-03-01">1903-03-01</a>							6			19030301	Che Muthor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR<br /> <br /> Monthly.)<br /> <br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vou. XITI.—No. 6.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Marcu 1st, 1903.<br /> <br /> [PRrIcE SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> t<br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lei lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> Se<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> — 1+<br /> <br /> c OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> 4 signed or initialled the authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> epgraphs must be taken as expressing the opinion<br /> tof the Committee unless such is especially stated<br /> <br /> &#039; 0 to be the case.<br /> <br /> THE Editor begs to inform members of the<br /> u# Authors’ Society and other readers of 7he Author<br /> ‘that the cases which are from time to time quoted<br /> fin The Author are cases that have come before the<br /> ‘oi notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of the<br /> ‘902 Society, and that those members of the Society<br /> djwho desire to have the names of the publishers<br /> 19: concerned can obtain them on application.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> List of Members.<br /> <br /> Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors<br /> ‘can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,<br /> ~ at the price of 6d. net.<br /> _ It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> ing py<br /> <br /> —_+-—~&lt;— +<br /> <br /> The Pension Fund of the Society.<br /> <br /> _ THE investments of the Pension Fund at<br /> eee present standing in the names of the Trustees are<br /> 2 as follows.<br /> _ This is a statement of the actual stock ;<br /> ¢ Vou, XIII.<br /> <br /> the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> MES BD ois beni iecrtnees an ctaes £816 5 6<br /> docs: sodns:... 404 10 0<br /> Victorian Government 3 % Con-<br /> <br /> solidated Inscribed Stock............ 291 19 11<br /> War loan 3. ee. 201. 9 3<br /> <br /> otal ee. £1,714 4 §<br /> <br /> SPECIAL 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 total amount of subscriptions and donations<br /> up to Dec. 1st is:—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.;<br /> donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to<br /> either list are set out below.<br /> <br /> Subscriplions.<br /> <br /> Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . 50 0. 0<br /> Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia 010 0<br /> Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . 010 6<br /> re Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 0 6<br /> » Brinton, Selwyn OF a) 0<br /> Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie : 7 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the<br /> Duchess of : 2.2 0<br /> Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace . 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 22, Anonymous 010 0<br /> Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W. 0 5:0<br /> a Pike Clement, E. 0 5 0<br /> 1903.<br /> Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6<br /> » Deane, Rev. A.C. . 010 0<br /> Jan. 4, Anonymous 0 5 0<br /> » Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0<br /> » Russell, G. H. : 1 ft 6<br /> Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0 5b 0<br /> ,, Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice : 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M. 10 0<br /> Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : . 010 0<br /> 134<br /> <br /> Feb. 8, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 720 5 0<br /> Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . : ; +0. 5 0<br /> Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0 5 0<br /> » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 0<br /> Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 0 5 0<br /> Donations.<br /> Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0<br /> », Smith, G. C. Moore 1.0 0<br /> Dec. 2, ‘&#039;revor-Battye, Aubyn Lt 0<br /> » Marks, Mrs. . : 010 0<br /> Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0<br /> » “Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 0<br /> » Hellier, H. George. 11.0<br /> Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 05 0<br /> », Panting, J. Harwood. 010 O<br /> » Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. - 010 0<br /> Dec. 28, A.S. . : : 751 12 0<br /> » Bateman Stringer . : - 010 O<br /> Dec. 31, Cholmondely, Miss Mary -10 0 0<br /> <br /> 1903.<br /> Jan. 38, Wheelright, Miss EH. :<br /> » Middlemass, Miss Jean . :<br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.<br /> The Lord . ; : :<br /> » Gribble, Francis. :<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston .<br /> » Miller, Miss E. T. .<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine<br /> Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French<br /> Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt<br /> Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . :<br /> Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas<br /> Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. .<br /> |; Ord, Hubert H. .<br /> Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor<br /> » Carlile, Rev. J. C..<br /> Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.<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 Rev. 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 /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> qaocoorcooocorcon oo<br /> or<br /> SOceaco Sa Coon oOo S So on<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> five years, if nine other members of the Society<br /> will promise the same contribution before 31gt —<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 /> ecooeceo<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> Hawkins, A. Hope £10 0<br /> Barrie, J. M. . : ; : - 10 0<br /> Drummond, Hamilton : : ; 10 0<br /> Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 90<br /> Gilbert, W.8. . . : : - 10-0<br /> Sturges, Julian . ; : ; « 10 90<br /> ee<br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> THE amount standing to the credit -<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still —<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,<br /> about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st —<br /> to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . i . ‘ . £1 19<br /> Salwey, Reginald EH. 010 0<br /> Gidley, Miss E. C. 010 0<br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E. 0 7.6<br /> Dill, Miss Bessie 0. 5 @<br /> Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0<br /> Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6<br /> Clarke, Miss B. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> —_—_——— 2 —_____—<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> ——~&gt;— 2+<br /> <br /> HE second Committee Meeting of the year was<br /> held on Monday, the 2nd day of February,<br /> at 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s Gate.<br /> <br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield was unanimously elected<br /> Chairman for 1903. ‘There is no need to recall to.<br /> the members of the Society Mr. Freshfield’s literary —<br /> attainments.<br /> <br /> He was elected a member of the Committee and<br /> a member of the Council of the Society in January,<br /> 1897. He has been a constant attendant at the<br /> meetings from the date of his election, and has —<br /> been a strong supporter of the Pension Fund and<br /> other objects of the Society. At the present time<br /> he acts as one of the Pension Fund Trustees.<br /> <br /> A warm vote of thanks to the retiring Chairman<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> - ey — was proposed by Mr. Sydney Grundy and seconded<br /> yi by Mr. Lely. Mr. Grundy, in a few words, thanked<br /> i) Mr. Hawkins for his constant and untiring labours<br /> on behalf of the Society, and for the zeal and patience<br /> which he had shown in conducting the many difficult<br /> cases and negotiations. The vote was passed with<br /> enthusiasm and unanimity. The members of the<br /> Society, we are sure, will cordially endorse the<br /> oe action of the Committee.<br /> <br /> The General Meeting of the Society was fixed<br /> <br /> oe! for Thursday the 5th of March. Members of the<br /> o0@ Society will already have received the formal<br /> vom notice.<br /> He Eleven members were elected, making the elections<br /> for the current year 42.<br /> There were three cases before the Committee in<br /> «ty which members’ interests were involved.<br /> <br /> On the first case—a dispute with regard to a<br /> dj theatrical agreement—the Committee decided to<br /> si take counsel’s opinion on behalf of the member.<br /> <br /> The second case was one in which the publisher<br /> sd had refused to carry out his contract. With the<br /> <br /> 09 consent of the member it was decided to commence<br /> <br /> 98 action in the matter.<br /> <br /> ‘ The third case the Committee adjourned to a<br /> <br /> sisl later meeting, in order that they might have fuller<br /> 1178 evidence before them.<br /> <br /> if There was also a dispute between two members<br /> <br /> io of the Society. The Committee hope that the<br /> <br /> )19 Chairman, acting as an unofficial arbitrator, may<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ‘sod be able to arrange the matter amicably.<br /> — +<br /> Record of Cases.<br /> lg Stnce the beginning of the year the Secretary<br /> ced has dealt with twenty-five cases. Of these sixteen<br /> <br /> # have come to a termination.<br /> : Six of the latter were for the return of MSS. In<br /> i five cases the MSS. were duly returned to the<br /> us authors concerned. In the sixth the author had<br /> @ no evidence that the MS. had ever reached the<br /> ‘0 office, and the editor, although willing to give<br /> every assistance in his power, could find no<br /> 2%) trace of its arrival.<br /> _ Two cases were for the settlement and arrange-<br /> _ ment of difficulties under contracts. These were<br /> negotiated successfully. There were four cases of<br /> _ accounts, and on demand they were promptly<br /> rendered. One involved a rather complicated issue,<br /> as the author had been in the habit of supplying<br /> “copy” to a paper, and the amount of copy<br /> supplied was in dispute. In this case also the<br /> matter was satisfactorily settled. The remaining<br /> four cases were money demands. In three of<br /> these cheques have been sent, and the fourth is<br /> in the hands of the Society’s solicitors.<br /> <br /> There are nine cases as yet unsettled. In twoof<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 135<br /> <br /> these for money due cash has been promised. If<br /> it is not paid no doubt a summons will have to be<br /> issued to enforce the members’ just rights, or the<br /> name of the paper will have to be exposed. It is<br /> hoped that the other matters will be satisfactorily<br /> closed before the next issue of 7’he Author.<br /> <br /> ———+—__<br /> Elections, February, 1908.<br /> <br /> Addison, A. C. 13, Skirbeck Road, Bos-<br /> ton, Lincs.<br /> Blyth, James<br /> Gidley, A. J. C. (Jean<br /> Courtenay)<br /> Davies, Nathaniel Owen<br /> <br /> 1, St. Mark’s Hill, Sur-<br /> biton, Surrey.<br /> <br /> 73, Alford Street, Roath,<br /> Cardiff.<br /> <br /> 13, Dennington Park<br /> Road, Hampstead,<br /> N.W.<br /> <br /> Fletcher, Miss Ciceley .<br /> <br /> Hudson, Herbert.<br /> Kennedy, Mrs. William<br /> E. (Aubrey Lee)<br /> <br /> Sharam Rectory, Manor<br /> Cunningham, R.8.0.,<br /> co. Donegal.<br /> <br /> 12, Embankment Gar-<br /> dens, Chelsea, S.W.<br /> <br /> Goring-on-Thames.<br /> <br /> Westfield Old Hall,<br /> East Dereham.<br /> <br /> Maud, Miss C. E..<br /> <br /> Pitt, PW. . :<br /> Savory, Miss Isabe<br /> <br /> Vaughan, The Right Archbishop’s House,<br /> Rey. Monsignor John Westminster, 8.W.<br /> S<br /> <br /> &gt; —___—_<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> —— + —<br /> Obituary Notices.<br /> <br /> HOSE who engage in journalistic work know<br /> that every newspaper office has a series of<br /> obituary notices ready to hand, written<br /> <br /> sometimes many years before the deaths of the<br /> illustrious individuals to whom they refer. When<br /> at last death comes, no matter how suddenly, the<br /> editor is prepared. The notices are brought up<br /> to date and published.<br /> <br /> From the author’s or journalist’s point of view<br /> one interesting fact should be noted.<br /> <br /> The editors of one or two papers—those by no<br /> means the least in the land—have endeavoured to<br /> establish a system of not paying for these biographies<br /> until the person about whom they are written pays<br /> the debt due to Nature. Should it chance to occur,<br /> therefore, that a journalist has undertaken to write<br /> the life of a person plagued with the curse of<br /> longevity, it may not infrequently happen that<br /> the writer dies before his study, and his personal<br /> 136<br /> <br /> representatives, if they chance to be aware of the<br /> matter, are the only ones to benefit by his labour.<br /> <br /> It is evident that such a position is untenable<br /> from a strictly business point of view, unless<br /> packed by a contract in black and white, made<br /> and signed by the author prior to writing the<br /> article. In such circumstances the author is<br /> not an° object for pity, but for derision ; but the<br /> written contract on most occasions is wanting.<br /> Then, as often happens when the terms of a contract<br /> are wanting or indefinite, the editor endeavours to<br /> interpret the arrangement from his own point of<br /> view, and not from the point of view of equity<br /> or of the author. On one or two occasions authors<br /> have appealed to the Society to enforce their evident<br /> rights. The result has been in every way satis-<br /> factory. On one or two occasions authors them-<br /> selves, by taking a firm stand, have succeeded in<br /> obtaining the just reward for their labours when the<br /> work has been done ; but there are still many who<br /> lie quiet under this form of injustice, and prefer to<br /> bear the burden of their misery rather than to make<br /> an outcry. Sometimes because they are regularly<br /> employed by the editor of the paper, and do<br /> not wish to run the risk of losing their salary<br /> in order to obtain a few more pounds ; sometimes<br /> because the obituary notice may be unexpected<br /> work from a big paper, and they do not want to<br /> lose even the prospect of further work. Or, again,<br /> because they do not care whether they obtain the<br /> money or not. Whatever may be the reason that<br /> prompts the action, the editor’s point of view is,<br /> at any rate, impossible.<br /> <br /> Legally, the work must be paid for on delivery,<br /> if it is up to standard and satisfactory to the<br /> editor; unless an arrangement has been made with<br /> the author before he commences the work, that he<br /> is not to receive payment until the death of the<br /> subject.<br /> <br /> If any authors or journalists—it is common<br /> knowledge that there are such—have not been<br /> able to obtain their money under the above<br /> circumstances, and yet desire to do so, their<br /> best plan will be to put the matter before the<br /> Committee of the Society of Authors.<br /> <br /> — oe<br /> <br /> A Question of Title.<br /> <br /> Suit or “Le THeATRE,’ OF Paris, AGAINST<br /> “Tur THEATRE,’ oF New York, LOST BY<br /> Foreign PuBLIcATION.<br /> <br /> The Paris tribunal has just rendered judgment<br /> in the suit brought by the publishers of the French<br /> magazine Le Theatre against The Theatre, of New<br /> York. The result is a victory for the American<br /> publication, its French contemporary having failed<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> to obtain satisfaction in any single one of the<br /> charges contained in the complaint.<br /> <br /> The suit was brought some time ago by the<br /> Paris firm of Manzi, Joyant &amp; Co., publishers of<br /> the French periodical known as Le Thédtre. It<br /> was charged by the complainants, among other<br /> things, that Zhe Theatre was a wilful imitation<br /> of the French periodical, and that its publication<br /> injured the sale of the French periodical, since<br /> many persons purchased Zhe T&#039;heatre, mistaking it<br /> for the French magazine. Messrs. Meyer Brothers<br /> &amp; Co., in their answer, denied that The Theatre<br /> had ever been misrepresented by them as being an<br /> American edition of Le Thédtre.<br /> <br /> They pointed out that The Theatre is printed in<br /> the English language, and deals almost exclusively<br /> with the American stage, whereas Le Thédire is<br /> printed in the French language, and deals almost<br /> exclusively with the French stage.<br /> <br /> ——»——_<br /> <br /> The Retail Price of Books.<br /> <br /> Justice LEVENTRITT has declined to grant the<br /> application made to him on behalf of the plaintiff<br /> in the suit of Straus against the American Pub-<br /> lishers’ Association, for a temporary injunction<br /> restraining the defendant from interfering with<br /> the book-selling business of Macy &amp; Co.<br /> <br /> The American Publishers’ Association is an<br /> organisation of publishers who have banded<br /> themselves together to maintain for one year the<br /> retail prices of copyright books, and within certain<br /> limits to govern the maximum discount to be<br /> allowed on certain other books.’ The association’s<br /> members bind themselves not to sell to any book<br /> dealer known to cut prices, or to any wholesaler<br /> who will sell to such a cut-price dealer.<br /> <br /> Plaintiff alleges that this agreement of the<br /> publishers is a combination in restraint of trade,<br /> and as such is in violation of the statutes of the<br /> State and of the Federal laws, and he asks for<br /> $100,000 damages, as well as for a permanent<br /> injunction forbidding the defendants from pur-<br /> suing the terms of their agreement against Macy<br /> &amp; Co. The temporary injunction just denied was<br /> asked for in connection with this suit, which now<br /> take its place for trial in the regular order.<br /> <br /> The American Booksellers’ Association, an<br /> organisation of retailers reaching throughout the<br /> country in connection with the American Pub-<br /> lishers’ Association, is made a co-defendant in the<br /> suit.<br /> <br /> The plaintiff sets forth that bookselling is a part<br /> of the regular business of Macy &amp; Co., who have<br /> developed it profitably by selling at a small per-<br /> centage of profit for cash only and not at all on<br /> credit, and alleges that publishers have habitually<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> fixed a list price for books which as a matter of<br /> fact only the uninitiated purchasers have been com-<br /> pelled to pay; and the statement is made that the<br /> defendant associations have interfered with the<br /> plaintiff’s business by discriminating against the<br /> plaintiff and forcing plaintiff to resort to secret<br /> and cumbrous methods to procure the books whose<br /> prices it is desired to protect.<br /> <br /> The defendants deny that their organisation is<br /> in restraint of trade or is in any sense in control<br /> of the fixing of prices. On the contrary they<br /> assert that there is the keenest competition<br /> <br /> among the various publishers in the association;<br /> <br /> that each publisher fixes for himself the retail<br /> price at which his copyright books shall be sold;<br /> that the association does not even attempt to fix<br /> <br /> the price which may be made at wholesale ; and<br /> <br /> that the association is merely the expression of the<br /> joint effort of the publishers to assist each other in<br /> establishing the retail prices at which their own<br /> books shall be sold.<br /> <br /> This right of protection has been upheld in the<br /> Appellate Division in a suit brought by a drug<br /> firm against the Wholesale Druggists’ Associa-<br /> tion, and Justice Leventritt, in denying the appli-<br /> cation for a temporary injunction, says that his<br /> own views of the legality of the defendants’ acts,<br /> as they find support in the very persuasive opinion<br /> of the Supreme Court of Georgia in the case of<br /> Brown against the Jacobs Pharmacy Company,<br /> must yield to the controlling law of this Depart-<br /> ment as expressed in the suit of J. D. Park &amp;<br /> Sons against the National Wholesale Druggists’<br /> Association. He adds that there is no substantial<br /> distinction in principle between that case and<br /> <br /> dé this.<br /> <br /> The contest between the Publishers’ Association,<br /> which extends throughout the United States in its<br /> <br /> : operations, and Macy &amp; Co. has gone on during the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> two years of the Association’s existence, and now<br /> <br /> : awaits the determination of the present suit. It<br /> <br /> is said on behalf of the Association that the pub-<br /> lishers are convinced that the Messrs. Straus are<br /> contending for a principle ; the rejoinder is made<br /> that so are the publishers.<br /> <br /> —+—~—+ ——<br /> <br /> A Hard Case.<br /> <br /> Atjthe February Sessions at the Old Bailey an<br /> author and journalist was put upon his trial upon<br /> the charge of having robbed his agents, or rather,<br /> a firm who seem to have described themselves as<br /> “The Clarke and Hyde Press Agency,” by obtain-<br /> ing from them certain payments under false<br /> pretences. We hasten to say that the gentleman<br /> In question was acquitted without his counsel,<br /> Mr. H. C. Biron, being called upon to address the<br /> <br /> 137<br /> <br /> jury, and that there was no evidence that he had<br /> Gas otherwise than as a perfectly honourable<br /> The facts of the case exhibit a phase of<br /> literary agency that will be new to many of<br /> our readers, and will serve as a warning to them as<br /> to the dangers that may follow if they embark upon<br /> financial engagements without caution. The de-<br /> fendant is a contributor to magazines and popular<br /> publications upon general and popular subjects.<br /> He entered into an agreement with the prosecutors<br /> Charles John Lavington Clarke and Bernard John<br /> Hyde, under which he placed his own work, while<br /> it was agreed that whenever he had an article of his<br /> authorship accepted he should be paid by Clarke and<br /> Hyde at once the price that he had agreed to receive<br /> for the article upon its appearance in print, less a<br /> commission of 20 percent. He also agreed to hand<br /> over the full price upon receiving it from the editor<br /> or publisher, while he bound himself to take all<br /> possible steps to recover it, and further agreed to<br /> allow sums not recovered and paid over to Clarke<br /> and Hyde to be deducted from future payments<br /> due from them to him. In these circumstances it<br /> might have been thought that the firm of “agents”<br /> were sufficiently protected in their dealings, for<br /> the author bound himself to adhere to this agree-<br /> ment for all his work. It so happened, however,<br /> that after the agreement had been carried out<br /> without any hitch for some time the anthor drew<br /> payment from them in respect of literary matter<br /> which, though accepted in advance, had not been<br /> yet written, and in respect of an article with regard<br /> to which some misunderstanding apparently took<br /> place between the editor and himself—a misunder-<br /> standing easily explained. With regard to an<br /> article agreed for beforehand, there was some delay<br /> owing to a collaborator being ill, and with regard<br /> to other matters some difficulty or delay arose in<br /> the obtaining of photographs for illustrative pur-<br /> poses. In these circumstances the firm with whom<br /> he had agreed for advances of his payments, and<br /> who had made him advances on the strength of his<br /> statements that the articles were accepted, appear<br /> to have conceived the idea that he had robbed<br /> them and obtained the money under false’ pre-<br /> tences. Some statement by an editor or a pub-<br /> lisher may have been misunderstood by them ; we<br /> are not in a position to criticise their conduct fully.<br /> They did, however, in fact, instead of resorting to<br /> their obvious civil remedy or repaying themselves<br /> under their agreement, adopt criminal proceedings.<br /> The author was prosecuted criminally, he was<br /> actually indicted and tried at the Old Bailey, and<br /> was acquitted, as we have stated, without any<br /> blame for his conduct resting upon him.<br /> It is a strange story, a terribly sad one to<br /> those who appreciate the shock, the anxiety, the<br /> 138<br /> <br /> sorrow and the loss, to the gentleman who through<br /> no fault of his own was involved in it, and to all<br /> personally connected with him. Those who read<br /> of it will see that at the bottom of the whole matter<br /> lies the practice of editors or proprietors of perio-<br /> dical literature to accept articles, to keep them<br /> for indefinite periods of time, and to pay for them<br /> only upon publication. The author may be a poor<br /> man wholly dependent upon his pen. If he be, he<br /> may be lured into entering upon such an agreement<br /> as we have described with persons who will treat<br /> him as the prosecutors treated the defendant.<br /> <br /> Their agreement was one sufficiently profitable<br /> to themselves for them to have lost nothing by<br /> forbearance, if in fact they considered themselves<br /> in any way wronged. Many articles accepted are<br /> published and paid for within three months, and<br /> the author in this instance agreed to abide by the<br /> prescribed terms for all his work. T&#039;wenty per cent.<br /> in such cases of payment within three months would<br /> show a profit at the rate of not less than eighty<br /> per cent. per annum. In the same way articles<br /> paid for within six months would mean forty per<br /> cent. ; and even when work was only paid for<br /> after a delay of four years, the money-lenders (for<br /> a transaction such as this, in fact, is one of money<br /> lending) would realise five per cent. per annum<br /> interest, which most people are glad to be able to<br /> obtain with moderate security.<br /> <br /> It is the old story of the weak and the strong,<br /> the weak being the author in need of money, and<br /> without enough fame to constitute strength, and<br /> the strong the persons able to meet his pecuniary<br /> requirements. It will be seen that the weak for-<br /> feited twenty per cent. of his income as the penalty<br /> of his weakness. It must not be supposed that<br /> we condemn in all cases the withholding of money<br /> from contributors until the article has been sub-<br /> mitted to the public. To pay altogether unknown<br /> contributors in advance might open the door to<br /> frauds upon editors more widely than it is open<br /> already, for editors cannot be omniscient, and may<br /> -at any time be offered matter already published<br /> by some idle thief who has stolen it from an old<br /> magazine or newspaper. ‘The article, however,<br /> should be submitted to the public within a reason-<br /> able time from the date of acceptance, and not<br /> retained for one, two, or three yeurs, as is not<br /> unfrequently the case. With authors known to<br /> the editor there is no reason why the transaction<br /> should not be completed at once by payment.<br /> <br /> In existing circumstances, it is, ay a rule, advis-<br /> able that an author should make a definite contract<br /> that the money should be paid by a fixed date or<br /> on publication, whichever event may first occur.<br /> Many editors do their business on these lines<br /> already.<br /> <br /> be eg een og: See<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> —1—&gt;—+—_<br /> <br /> N the important and very widely read interview<br /> with our President, Mr. George Meredith,<br /> published in a recent issue of the Manchester<br /> <br /> Guardian, he made a most interesting personal<br /> statement. ‘I suppose,’ he said, “I should<br /> regard myself as getting old—I am seventy-four.<br /> But I do not feel to be growing old either in heart<br /> or mind. [I still look on life with a young man’s<br /> eye. I have always hoped I should not grow old<br /> as some do—with a palsied intellect, living back-<br /> wards, regarding other people as anachronisms<br /> because they themselves have lived on into othe<br /> times and left their sympathies behind them with<br /> their years.”<br /> <br /> With regard to Imperial politics, Mr. Meredith<br /> asks, “ Do our people know what Imperial prin<br /> ciples are?” He considers that we have yet to be<br /> instructed in them. He goes on to say :—<br /> <br /> “We call ourselves Imperial, and we believe that we are<br /> allied to the Australians and Canadians, but apparently<br /> there is no parliamentary notion, or even any publi<br /> recognition of what forces and principles animate an<br /> move these colonial democracies. They are moying ahead<br /> of us in certain directions, and can we, if we are to main<br /> tain a close relation with them, remain as we are? I<br /> Australia, for instance, they have given the suffrage to<br /> women. Are we going to do the same here? I cannot see<br /> how we are to keep united in a great Imperial system<br /> unless there is a very close agreement between our separat<br /> political systems.”<br /> <br /> Mr. H. Rider Haggard’s “Rural England<br /> Being an account of Agricultural and Socia.<br /> Researches carried out in the Years 1901 and ~<br /> 1902,” has been very widely reviewed. It i<br /> certainly a book to buy for one’s library. A<br /> writer in the Contemporary Review truly says 0<br /> jt: “ As a faithful and, within its limits, complet<br /> picture of rural England at the close of the nine<br /> teenth century, I think it will live for man<br /> generations to come.” Rural England is in two”<br /> volumes (36s. nett), and contains twenty-three<br /> agricultural maps and seventy-five illustrations —<br /> from photographs.<br /> <br /> Professor Edward Dowden is the able editor o<br /> the “ Cymbeline” in Messrs. Methuen’s edition o<br /> the “ Arden” Shakespeare, which is being issued —<br /> under the general editorship of Mr. W. J. Craig.<br /> “ Cymbeline” is nearly ready for publication.<br /> <br /> Lieut.-Colonel Newnham Davis has in hand<br /> book to be called “The Gourmet’s Guide to-<br /> Europe.” Mr. Algernon Bastard is collaborating —<br /> with him in this. It is to be published next<br /> month by Mr. Grant Richards, and it deals wit<br /> the cuisine of all the countries of Europe and th<br /> chief restaurants of the capitals, sea-ports, an<br /> “ show ” towns, where there is anything interestin<br /> from a gourmet’s point of view to be found.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> f _ This unique book is to be free from any suspicion<br /> xt te of the trail of the advertiser, as no advertisement<br /> uote of any kind will be allowed in it. There will be<br /> sods about 260 pages in the volume, and its price will<br /> 2 8@ be either 3s. 6d. or 5s.<br /> <br /> ve —sMrrs. Hinkson (‘ Katharine Tynan”) has just<br /> ‘oyee} issued through Mr. Eveleigh Nash a novel entitled<br /> 1 A* “ A Red Red Rose.” In the autumn of this year<br /> evel! Messrs. Smith, Elder &amp; Co. will publish another<br /> feyon novel of hers, “The Honourable Nollys.” Besides<br /> eyed: these Mrs. Hinkson has just completed another<br /> soyo8 novel, and is now busy finishing a book for girls.<br /> <br /> ~~ Messrs. Blackie are publishing volume by<br /> ~\lo9 volume the ‘‘Cabinet of Irish Literature,” the new<br /> ibe edition of which Mrs. Hinkson edited for them.<br /> ei She has been finishing the proofs of the fourth<br /> uploy volume.<br /> _ Mrs. Marie Connor-Leighton is at present writing<br /> * ow) two long serial stories which are appearing con-<br /> “ide currently in Answers. She is also writing a serial<br /> ‘a0 for the London Magazine, which started in last<br /> 08 month’s number, and is called “ Was She Worth<br /> iit?” and there will appear very shortly (Grant<br /> ci91 Richards) a story entitled, “In God’s Good<br /> ‘afi Time,” by this prolific authoress.<br /> wf _ All work announced as by the author or authors<br /> »* Tof “Convict 99” and “Michael Dred” is now<br /> “di wholly Mrs. Connor-Leighton’s own. Indeed, all<br /> sd that she has written during the past five years,<br /> “mf amounting on an average to close upon nine<br /> “me hundred thousand words a year, is entirely her<br /> we Own.<br /> ‘| ‘Mrs. Fred Reynolds’ latest novel, “The Man<br /> i with the Wooden Face,” will be published very<br /> 9 soon by Messrs. Hutchinson &amp; Co. The scene is<br /> 18 laid in North Wales. The interest centres round<br /> * ai the figure of a music teacher, who passes her<br /> &#039; “#8 first holiday, after many years’ drudgery, amongst<br /> » ie other paying guests, in a romantic country house<br /> in the beautiful valley of Llanartro. About<br /> iy si one of the guests, “The man with the wooden<br /> face,” there is a certain amount of mystery ; and,<br /> @) as is usually the case in idle holidays spent amongst<br /> ~ mountains, woods, and babbling streams, the little<br /> % god Cupid plays a busy part.<br /> | Mrs. Albanesi’s novel, “ Love and Louisa,” is<br /> F running well through a second edition. It has<br /> ! 8 been published by Lippincott &amp; Co., in America,<br /> ‘{ \m@ and is selling very well over there.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> _ Rita’s new novel, “ Souls,” will be published<br /> “shortly by Messrs. Hutchinson &amp; Co. It is a<br /> 408 stinging satire on certain follies and vices of one<br /> ’ 4% of the many sets of present-day society.<br /> <br /> We have been asked to mention the fact that<br /> he article entitled “Ink Drunkards,” in our last<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 139<br /> <br /> issue, was written by Mr. L. Harlingford North.<br /> We have much pleasure in doing so, as the article<br /> has created some stir. There was a full leader<br /> devoted to it in the Morning Post.<br /> <br /> Mr. Richard Marsh’s new long novel, “The<br /> Magnetic Girl,” is to be issued immediately by<br /> Mr. John Long. The novel is an amusing one,<br /> and very readable.<br /> <br /> Mr. Bloundelle-Burton’s new story of to-day,<br /> “ \ Branded Name,” has finished its serial course,<br /> and will be published in volume form by Methuen<br /> &amp; Co. on the 19th inst. -The mystery of the novel,<br /> although told in the form of fiction, has a solid<br /> foundation in fact, and will, to many persons in<br /> London society, recall some incidents in the lives<br /> of two well-known beautiful women which were<br /> much discussed some few years ago without<br /> becoming matter of public gossip.<br /> <br /> Miss Evelyn Sharp is to produce a series of<br /> readers for children. Of these there are to be<br /> three. The first, now ready, has no words longer<br /> than two syllables, and the stories and verses about<br /> children are all very short. In the second the<br /> words and the stories grow a little longer, and so<br /> in the third. Most of the stories are illustrated by<br /> pictures taken from photographs of real children.<br /> Messrs. Macmillan publish the series.<br /> <br /> “Little Entertainments,” by Barry Pain (1s.,<br /> Fisher Unwin), contains 134 pages of amusing<br /> reading. ‘The Collector” makes a special appeal<br /> to us. We quote the opening, and refer our readers<br /> to the little volume for the rest of it :—<br /> <br /> “The critics speak<br /> <br /> “Tt may be so,’ said the stranger.<br /> sut he is<br /> <br /> very highly of his Academy pictures this year.<br /> not an artist. The point is beyond doubt.”<br /> “Why ?”<br /> “ Because I know for a fact that he understands—really<br /> understands—rates and taxes.”<br /> <br /> We are sorry to say we have room for only one<br /> quotation from “John Bull’s Year Book” for<br /> 1908 (1s., John Bull Press, 5, Henrietta Street,<br /> W.C.) :-—<br /> <br /> “Toe ART OF WRITING BOOKS.<br /> <br /> “ One could not advise the aspiring author to do what a<br /> certain publisher is reported to have done, namely, to<br /> secure a coyer and write a book to fit it. But it would<br /> certainly save trouble if one secured a really good title first<br /> and then wrote a book around it.<br /> <br /> “Two more observations in conclusion, which will not<br /> be believed by the worshipper before the shrine of the<br /> implacable Geddess of Letters, but which must be made<br /> nevertheless. The verses of unknown poets are never<br /> accepted for book publication, And there is such a limited<br /> market for books of short stories that the publisher will not<br /> issue them unless they are the products of genius. Young<br /> writers, therefore, should never commence with poems or<br /> short stories in approaching the book publisher. The<br /> better, nobler, and more satisfactory way is to refrain from<br /> writing altogether.”<br />  <br /> <br /> 140<br /> <br /> Dr. Emil Reich’s “New Students’ Atlas of<br /> English History” is designed to aid the student<br /> in comprehending the leading historical facts and<br /> movements. It is specially intended as comple-<br /> mentary to Green’s “ History of the English People.”<br /> In each map only strictly relevant details are<br /> admitted. When the maps illustrate the progress<br /> of events, or campaigns, a brief chronological<br /> summary is given on the page facing the map.<br /> <br /> There are fifty-five maps in all. The first shows,<br /> by arrow-headed lines, the migrations of the German<br /> and Celtic peoples into and in Great Britain and<br /> Ireland ; while the last show British Africa (three<br /> maps), the British Empire as it is to-day ; and<br /> finally, by a geographical arrangement of statistics,<br /> the distribution of British genius for the various<br /> counties in the three kingdoms.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Charles Voysey has just issued through<br /> Messrs. Longmans a book called “ Religion for all<br /> Mankind: Based on Facts which are Never in<br /> Dispute.” The author tells us in his short preface<br /> that “ ‘The following pages are written for the help<br /> and comfort of all my fellow-men, and chiefly for<br /> those who have doubted and discarded the Christian<br /> religion, and in consequence have become Agnostics<br /> and Pessimists.” Mr. Voysey offers his book at a<br /> price (2s. 6d. nett) which will barely cover the<br /> expense of production, that it may be within reach<br /> of all, and at the same time give proof that the<br /> work has not been done with mercenary aims.<br /> <br /> Among the illustrated editions which Messrs.<br /> Macmillan are including in their Prize Library is<br /> Sir Walter Besant’s “ Life of Captain Cook.”<br /> <br /> We have received a little book entitled “ Arriére<br /> Pensées,” by Mr. W. P. Peters (Clark &amp; Co., Paris).<br /> It is full of epigrammatic sayings and mottoes,<br /> some of which have a touch of humour in addition<br /> to the sting. We quote one or two examples :—<br /> <br /> “Many gather nuts, but few crack them.”<br /> <br /> “ Every dog has his day, and every cat her night.”<br /> <br /> “We may take the world as we find it, but we never<br /> leave it so.”<br /> <br /> Geraldine Kemp, the author of “ Ingram,” and<br /> an industrious writer of short stories, has contri-<br /> buted to a recent number of the “ British Realm”<br /> a lever de rideau which she calls “A Comedietta.”<br /> It is a bright, crisp piece of writing.<br /> <br /> Graham Hope’s new novel, “The Triumph of<br /> Count Ostermann,” is to be published by Messrs.<br /> Smith, Elder &amp; Co. on the 9thinst. Peter the Great<br /> is one of the chief characters of the story, which<br /> begins in 1724.<br /> <br /> Among recently published novels written by<br /> members of the Society “The Little White Bird,”<br /> by Mr. J. M. Barrie; “Paul Kelver,” by Mr.<br /> Jerome K. Jerome; “The Four Feathers,” by<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Mr. A. E. W. Mason ; and ‘‘ Fuel of Fire,” by Mi<br /> <br /> E. T. Fowler, are doing remarkably well, Mr<br /> Edward Kennard’s ‘‘ The Motor Maniac ” is sellin<br /> well also.<br /> <br /> Mr. George Cecil has just accepted the editor<br /> ship of the Piano Journal, a monthly paper<br /> which has been known to the musical public fo<br /> many years. It is an excellent little periodica<br /> chiefly intended for makers and dealers, and<br /> published by William Rider &amp; Son, 164, Aldersga<br /> Street, H.C.<br /> <br /> Mr. W. 8. Walker (“Coo-ee”?) has published<br /> through Mr. John Long two interesting stories,<br /> They are entitled “ Zealandia’s Guerdon”’ and “ In<br /> the Blood.” The latter has sixteen illustrations<br /> by John Williamson. Both tales are very read-<br /> able; ‘Coo-ee” so evidently writes from &amp;<br /> thorough personal knowledge of Australian char-<br /> acter and Bush life ; he shows, too, in ‘ Zealandia’s<br /> Guerdon” that New Zealand is familiar to him,<br /> <br /> Mr. W. Somerset Maugham’s new play “ A Man<br /> of Honour” is issued as a literary supplement to<br /> the March number of the Fortnightly Review. It<br /> was one of the two plays produced by the Stage<br /> Society at the opening of its fourth season.<br /> <br /> Sir A. Conan Doyle, Mr. W. Gillette, and Mr,<br /> Charles Frohman have now had the interim ~<br /> injunction made perpetual against Mr. H. S|<br /> Dacre restraining him from using the title<br /> “Sherlock Holmes” without printing after tha<br /> title “ Not the Lyceum Version.”<br /> <br /> We understand that Mr, Henry Arthur Jones —<br /> new three-act comedy of modern life will b<br /> produced at the Garrick on March 2nd. Mr.<br /> ‘Arthur Bourchier, Miss Violet Vanbrugh, Mr, Sau<br /> Sothern, and Miss E. Arthur Jones will be amon<br /> those appearing in the caste.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Hodgson Burnett’s play ‘“ The Littl<br /> Princess” has made quite a hit at its matinee<br /> performances in New York.<br /> <br /> “Resurrection,” a dramatised version of Tolstoy<br /> great novel, by Henry Bataille and Michael Mortol<br /> was produced at His Majesty’s Theatre on the<br /> evening of February 13th. The play is admirably<br /> staged. There are some fifty dramatis person.<br /> The plot of the drama does not, of covrse, kee<br /> close in every detail to that of the nov.!. Mr.<br /> Tree takes the part of Prince Dimitry Ne aludoff,,<br /> and Miss Lena Ashwell is a charming and at th<br /> game time life-like Katusha. She hada deservedly<br /> enthusiastic reception. Mr. Oscar Ashe was<br /> able Simonson. Mr. Lionel Brough played admu<br /> ably the part of the merciful merchant in #l<br /> jury scene.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> r= “The Marriage of Kitty” reached its 200th<br /> seq performance on the evening of February 16th.<br /> - «90 Our readers will remember that this popular play<br /> <br /> esy was produced at the Duke of York’s Theatre on<br /> joo8 August 19th, 1902, and was transferred some<br /> » sa&quot; weeks later to Wyndham’s Theatre to make room<br /> / for Mr. J. M. Barrie’s “ The Admirable Crichton.”<br /> <br /> of We understand that Miss Hilda Spong is to play<br /> «9d the réle of the Duchess of Quinton in “The Bishop’s<br /> 9volf Move ” when it is produced in New York.<br /> <br /> r The Feuilleton of the Narodni Listz, one of the<br /> joie chief journals of Prague in the Czech language,<br /> eey was lately devoted to the work of Mr. James Baker,<br /> ‘ ody who has made the Bohemian folk, their land and<br /> | ei) its history essentially, his own subject amongst<br /> ‘og English writers. The article that is by A. L,<br /> salel Jelen is headed “ Our English Friend.” It gives<br /> ‘la 8 a sketch of the books and articles Mr. Baker has<br /> ‘ivy written dealing with Bohemia and Bohemian life<br /> &#039; bas and history. His two historical novels, ‘The<br /> ibis Cardinal’s Page” and “The Gleaming Dawn,”<br /> oe adj the scenes of which alternate between England and<br /> s.fo@ Bohemia in the fifteenth century, and “ Mark<br /> <br /> Jif Tillotson,” a modern novel, are about to appear<br /> “3 gi in the Bohemian tongue.”<br /> <br /> +&gt;<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> —+-—&lt;&gt;— +<br /> <br /> NE of the great events of the month of<br /> February in the French literary world was<br /> the publication of Zola’s posthumous novel<br /> <br /> “ Verité.”<br /> <br /> “f -&#039;This book is the third volume of the series<br /> <br /> » entitled “ Quatre Evangiles.” The first two were<br /> <br /> &gt; “Fécondité” and “Travail,” and the last volume<br /> <br /> ~ of the series, “ Justice,” was not even commenced<br /> at the time of the author’s death.<br /> <br /> It requires a certain amount of courage to com-<br /> <br /> © mence this book, which is nearly seven hundred<br /> - and fifty pages long and very closely written. Had<br /> ) the author been spared, he would undoubtedly have<br /> - eut it down considerably, as the descriptions are<br /> 6! long, there is a certain amount of repetition, and<br /> i the story itself is greatly hampered by the excess<br /> © of detail.<br /> Of course it is evident from the first chapter<br /> #) that the author in planning this book was thinking<br /> + of the Dreyfus case. The plot is quite different,<br /> © bnt the victim, the man who is wrongfully accused,<br /> is a Jew. When the sentence is pronounced, we<br /> have the description of the state of mind of the<br /> friend who has taken up the cause of the unfortu-<br /> nate man. It seems as though Zola must have<br /> noted down his own impressions during the Dreyfus<br /> trial and his desire for the truth.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 141<br /> <br /> He touches on the attitude of members of various<br /> classes of society. We have the bourgeois, the<br /> working-man, the wealthy Jewish banker, and the<br /> ruined aristocrat who has married the banker’s<br /> daughter, There are also priests, bigoted women,<br /> Government officials, and, indeed, representatives<br /> of most of the prominent types of modern French<br /> society.<br /> <br /> The chief idea of the book seems to be to prove<br /> how difficult it is for truth to come out victorious,<br /> fettered as it is by the ignorance and prejudices<br /> found in every rank of life. Zola attempts to<br /> prove that it is only by the education of the<br /> masses that any true progress can be made.<br /> <br /> At the close of the book we have the key-note.<br /> “Non! le bonheur n’avait jamais été dans l’ignor-<br /> ance il était dans la connaissance, qui allait<br /> changer l’affreux champ de la misére matérielle<br /> et morale en une vaste terre féconde, dont la<br /> culture, d’année en année, décuplerait les richesses.<br /> . . . Et, apres la Famille enfantée, aprés la Cité<br /> fondée, la Nation se trouvait constituce, du jour<br /> ou, par instruction intégrale de tous les citoyens,<br /> elle était devenue capable de vérité et de justice.”<br /> <br /> A most interesting book by Henri D’Alméras,<br /> entitled ‘Avant la Gloire,’ was published quite<br /> recently.<br /> <br /> It is the story of the literary career of many of<br /> the French modern writers in the days before they<br /> were known to the public, and the perusal of the<br /> two volumes might be encouraging to many literary<br /> aspirants. Among the authors mentioned are:<br /> Dumas fils, Goncourt, Daudet, Maupassant,<br /> Verlaine, Coppée, Sardou, Halévy, Anatole France,<br /> Bourget, Loti, Ohnet, Jules Verne, Margueritte,<br /> Charles Foley, and Brulat.<br /> <br /> Among historical works lately published is the<br /> fifth volume of M. Albert Sorel’s ‘‘ L’Europe et la<br /> Révolution.” ‘This volume is entitled ‘‘ Bonaparte<br /> et le Directoire.”<br /> <br /> Another historical work is by M. le Comte<br /> Fleury, “Les Fantémes et Silhouettes.”<br /> <br /> In this volume we have studies of the two<br /> Princesses de Condé, Lauzun and Madame de<br /> Stainville, du Barry, Marie Antoinette, Despreaux,<br /> the husband of La Guimard and Madame de<br /> Custine.<br /> <br /> “Le Paradis de Homme,” by Mare Andiol, is a<br /> most curious book. It is supposed to be a romance<br /> of the future, and the opening chapter is dated<br /> 2003 and written from the New-Eden. Several<br /> books have already been published anticipating<br /> the time when the progress of science and socialism<br /> shall have worked wonders for mankind. M. Andiol,<br /> however, proves that even in this New-Eden the<br /> inhabitants do not find perfect happiness. And a<br /> wise old peasant woman declares: “It’s no use<br /> expecting from this earth what it does not give.”<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 142<br /> <br /> As regards magazines and reviews, there have<br /> been several fresh ventures recently here in the<br /> way of Anglo-French publications.<br /> <br /> it is now about a year ago since Miss Nina<br /> Estabrook started an illustrated paper called Paris-<br /> World. It is a monthly review containing short<br /> articles and sketches on Parisian topics. The<br /> early numbers would appeal, perhaps, more to<br /> ‘Americans than to an English public on account of<br /> the illustrated interviews and the “ writing up”<br /> of people whose fame is merely social. The last<br /> numbers of this paper are greatly improved, some<br /> of the illustrations are excellent, and if only<br /> certain pages could be replaced by a few literary<br /> articles the little magazine would do great credit<br /> to its editor. It has hitherto been chiefly cir-<br /> culated in Paris and America, but the idea now is<br /> to make it an organ of Parisian news for London<br /> and for the American and English colonies in all<br /> the European capitals.<br /> <br /> Another periodical which has appeared here<br /> within the last few weeks is The Weekly Critical<br /> Review, a sixpenny journal devoted to literature,<br /> music, and the fine arts. It is edited by M. Arthur<br /> Bles, and among its long list of contributors are<br /> names such as MM. Jules Claretie, Francois<br /> Coppée, Gustave Larroumet, Paul Bourget, Auguste<br /> Rodin, Jules Verne, Coquelin cadet, Huysmans, etc.<br /> <br /> It contains articles in English and French, and,<br /> judging by the way in which it is being taken up,<br /> it appears to have supplied a need. There are<br /> numbers of people who read French and English<br /> with equal facility, and for them it is most<br /> interesting to find a paper publishing the thoughts<br /> and ideas of literary men, artists and musicians<br /> either in English or French, as the case may be.<br /> There is no vulgarity whatever about this new<br /> review, and in these days this certainly is refreshing.<br /> <br /> There is a portrait of some celebrity given away<br /> with each number, but there are no other illus-<br /> trations.<br /> <br /> Still another periodical has commenced here in<br /> two languages, English and French, but in this<br /> case the articles are all translated and given in<br /> both languages.<br /> <br /> The International Theatre is the title of this new<br /> venture, and the only wonder is that dramatic<br /> authors and theatrical people generally should<br /> have existed so long without such a magazine. It<br /> is published monthly, and contains an account of<br /> theatrical events in all parts of the world. A<br /> monthly report in French and English is given of<br /> the plays produced in Paris, Vienna, London, Berlin,<br /> Rome, St. Petersburg, New York, etc. Through the<br /> medium of this paper authors can follow the career<br /> <br /> of their plays round the world.<br /> <br /> There seems no doubt whatever but that this<br /> review will have immense success, There are<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> excellent photos of artistes and dramatic authors<br /> of every country, and some most interesting articles<br /> written specially for the paper by celebrities in the<br /> theatrical world.<br /> <br /> The February number contains an interview with<br /> M. Sardou on the subject of the play ‘ Dante,”<br /> which he has written with M. Moreau for Sir<br /> Henry Irving. There is also an article on the<br /> “Dickens Theatre,” by John Hollingshead.<br /> <br /> The editor of the International Theatre is M.<br /> Gaston Mayer, son of the well-known impressario<br /> who has, for the last thirty years, managed the<br /> French plays in London. M. de Beer acts as<br /> manager of the new magazine, which is published<br /> in Paris.<br /> <br /> There seems to be great enterprise this year<br /> with regard to English publications in Paris. The<br /> new edition of English books brought out by Mr.<br /> Fisher Unwin for Continental circulation is a great<br /> boon to the English-speaking colony in European<br /> countries. Hitherto we have had to put up with<br /> the Tauchnitz edition, which is so badly bound in<br /> its paper cover that it comes to pieces in the hand.<br /> If only other English publishers would supply @<br /> similar edition to the “Unwin Library,” the<br /> Tauchnitz firm would have to improve their<br /> edition or retire. Mr. Calmann Levy supplies<br /> the “ Unwin Library” in Paris.<br /> <br /> There is to be a great treat for art-lovers at the<br /> beginning of April.<br /> <br /> The two hundred and forty-five original draw-<br /> ings by Maurice Leloir, for Alexandre Dumas’<br /> “ Dame de Monsoreau,” are to be sold, and there<br /> is to be a private exhibition of them in the Galerie<br /> des Artistes Modernes on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th<br /> of April.<br /> <br /> There is an illustrated catalogue of the draw-<br /> ings, some of which are most quaint.<br /> <br /> ‘At the theatres one of the excitements has been<br /> Madame Sarah Bernhardt’s new interpretation of<br /> Hermione in Racine’s “‘ Andromaque.” M. Saint-<br /> Saens wrote some music for it to give foree to the<br /> most exciting passages.<br /> <br /> The International Theatre has just given us a<br /> German play, “ Jeunesse,” by Max Halbe, trans-<br /> lated into French by Myriam Harry.<br /> <br /> M. Bour was excellent as the German student,<br /> and M. Bauer very fine as the idiot. There are<br /> two priests in the play, and this is probably why<br /> there was so much excitement about it when it<br /> was played in Germany. The fine acting carried<br /> it through well in Paris.<br /> <br /> « Bloradora” has been adapted from the English,<br /> and is now being played at the Bouffes Parisiens.<br /> <br /> Auys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> —_—_——_+-—&gt;—+&gt;—__—_<br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> PUBLISHERS’ PROFITS AND AUTHORS’<br /> RETURNS.<br /> <br /> —+—&gt; +<br /> A Comparison.<br /> <br /> N the January Author certain facts and figures,<br /> intimately connected with nett books and<br /> publisher&#039;s profits, were put forward for con-<br /> <br /> sideration.<br /> <br /> It is more than probable that an endeavour will<br /> be made to deny the figures, and to prove the<br /> deductions arrived at to be false. Mathematics<br /> have never been an exact science in the opinion of<br /> an adversary, and a syllogism never anything but<br /> a useless figure of speech.<br /> <br /> Another evident criticism of the article would<br /> state that the prices were based on the whole of the<br /> edition selling, and that only one book in thirty<br /> pays its way, or, as a music publisher asserts, 2 per<br /> cent. of the published songs succeed. But there is<br /> no need why the author should suffer in order that<br /> the publisher may be allowed to gamble. Or in<br /> other words, each book should stand by itself, and<br /> from the author’s point of view must always do so.<br /> <br /> To those who do not remember the figures set<br /> forth it is as well to repeat them.<br /> <br /> The cost of production of 1,050 copies of a book<br /> of 640 pages, with a fair amount included for<br /> advertising, costs £170.<br /> <br /> The book sells at 12s. 6d. nett.<br /> <br /> W = the amount per copy of the cost of pro-<br /> duction.<br /> <br /> X = the royalty per copy paid to the author.<br /> <br /> Y = theamountof the publisher’s profit percopy,<br /> <br /> Z the amount of bookseller’s profit per copy.<br /> <br /> W+X+Y+2Z= 12s. 6d. = 150d.<br /> <br /> In the former article, which contained the<br /> detailed particulars of figures and calculations, the<br /> equation worked out as follows—<br /> <br /> 42°94 + 15 + 50°06 + 42 = 150.<br /> <br /> Or 3s. 6°94d. + 1s. 8d. + 4s. 2-06d. + 3. 6d. =<br /> <br /> 12s. 6d.<br /> <br /> Take these figures! Consider them! Turn<br /> them about! Look at them under changing<br /> lights! They will afford food for thought.<br /> <br /> The publisher takes the lion’s share. It must<br /> be remembered that throughout the calculations<br /> care has been taken to state his profits at a low<br /> figure, the only advantage that has been given<br /> him—let us be quite fair—that the full edition of<br /> 950 copies (not 1,050) has sold.<br /> <br /> The bookseller, who does little beyond purchasing<br /> the book at one price and selling it at another,<br /> Teceives not +’; of a penny less than the printer, the<br /> binder, etc. {who have done all the mechanical work,<br /> <br /> The author, whose expenditure of time, to say<br /> nothing of anything else, hag been the greatest,<br /> comes in nowhere.<br /> <br /> 143<br /> <br /> The proportion of profits may be made more<br /> <br /> clear by stating them in percentages. Thug :—<br /> 28°63 + 10 + 33°37 + 28 = 100.<br /> <br /> So that if 950 copies are sold, and the author<br /> Tecelves 10 per cent. royalty, the publisher obtains :<br /> 1. The return of the amount he invested. 2.<br /> Sufficient to pay the author’s royalty. 3. Almost<br /> a cent. per cent. profit. If the sales take place<br /> within one year the result is eminently satisfactory.<br /> If within two years, he has made about 50 per<br /> cent. If within four years, 25 per cent.<br /> <br /> The publisher, anxious to join in the debate, at<br /> once leaps to his feet, and with much waving of<br /> arms, bursts into reply<br /> <br /> Firstly, that the figures of the cost of production<br /> are wrong.<br /> <br /> Secondly, that the whole edition has sold out—<br /> a fact almost unparalleled in the annals of<br /> publishing.<br /> <br /> Thirdly, that the author’s royalty is absurdly<br /> understated, as it is well known that authors now-<br /> a-days, etc., ete.<br /> <br /> In answer to the first joinder of issue, let the<br /> publisher produce his own figures. If he can show<br /> them to be reasonable market prices for printing,<br /> paper, and binding, there is nothing to fear.<br /> <br /> In answer to the second, let us consider the<br /> figures alittle further. How many copies must the<br /> publisher sell at 9s. to be able to pay for the cost of<br /> production and to leave 30d. profit on each copy,<br /> so that he may have an equal profit with the<br /> author, that is 15d. for himself and 15d. for the<br /> author—15d. being 10 per cent. on the published<br /> price of the book. 12s. 6d. = 150d.<br /> <br /> The sum is a very simple one :—<br /> <br /> 30d. = 5 sixpences.<br /> 9s. = 18 sixpences,<br /> £170 = 6,800 sixpences.<br /> Let X = the number of copies that must be sold.<br /> 18 X = 68004+5 X.<br /> 13 X = 6800.<br /> X= 523°07.<br /> <br /> The publisher, therefore, who sells 524 copies—<br /> surely not an unreasonable sale—receives a fraction<br /> over the amount received by the author.<br /> <br /> But it is of the utmost importance to remember<br /> that 10 per cent. on the published price has nothing<br /> to do with the percentage on the capital invested.<br /> The capital invested is £170.<br /> <br /> The sum which the publisher receives on each<br /> copy is 9s. From this he deducts 1s. 3d. for the<br /> author’s royalty, and 3s. 6°94d. represents the<br /> capital which he has invested. :<br /> <br /> The sum, therefore, which he receives for 524<br /> copies is, after deduction of the author’s royalty—<br /> <br /> 524 x 7s. 9d. = 4,061s. = £208 1s. ; :<br /> or, after deducting £170, the cost of production,<br /> £33 1s.; and this is the publisher’s profit.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 144<br /> <br /> In order to express the amount as a percentage,<br /> the following statement must be considered :<br /> <br /> 33°05<br /> 170 : 100 2: 33°05: Se 1941.<br /> é<br /> <br /> The publisher’s profit, therefore, exceeds 19 per<br /> cent. of his invested capital when only 524 copies<br /> are sold in twelve months.<br /> <br /> Sometimes as many as 524 copies would sell on<br /> subscription — that is, when the book is being<br /> placed before the trade at the date of, or just prior<br /> to, publication. Then with, say, six months’ credit,<br /> the publisher would make 38 per cent. Take the<br /> darker side: 524 copies only sell in two years,<br /> even then the publisher makes 93 per cent.—a not<br /> unreasonable investment for his money.<br /> <br /> If the whole edition—that is, 950 copies—are<br /> sold within the twelve months, by a similar process<br /> of reasoning—it is unnecessary to work out the<br /> figures—the publisher gains £198 2s. 6d.<br /> <br /> That is, the publisher’s profit on his investment<br /> of £170, to express the same in the form of a<br /> percentage :<br /> <br /> 170 : 100 +; 198125 ; 100 x TAS 729 — 316-55;<br /> or the publisher makes more than 1164 per cent.<br /> per annum on the capital he invests, supposing he<br /> sells the edition within the year. If the edition<br /> sells in two years, he makes 58% per cent. ; if in<br /> three years, over 38 per cent.<br /> <br /> Tn answer to the last statement, the author’s<br /> royalties are what a process of bargaining will<br /> make them ; for the well-known writers of fiction<br /> 10 per cent. is absurdly low. The book is pub-<br /> lished at 6s., and all the figures have been placed<br /> before Members on many occasions.<br /> <br /> But when a book is published at 12s. 6d., it is<br /> not infrequently a volume of memoirs, a bio-<br /> graphy, or a book of travel, and is the property of<br /> the too confiding one-book man. He knows not<br /> the price of literary wares. He is ignorant of<br /> publishers’ methods ; or, perhaps, as the book is<br /> written in leisure moments, he is only too glad to<br /> get anything for it, and proceeds all unwittingly to<br /> undersell his brethren of the pen.<br /> <br /> The one-book man is the natural prey of the<br /> publisher, who reaps a golden harvest at the rate<br /> of 10 per cent. on all copies sold, or at even lower<br /> figures, such as 10 per cent. after the sale of 100,<br /> 200, or even as high as 500 free of royalty.<br /> <br /> However, let us give the publisher the benefit<br /> of his third and last objection.<br /> <br /> The sum to be considered is that divided between<br /> the author and publisher :<br /> <br /> 15 + 50°06= 65°06.<br /> The publisher receives for the book a sum of<br /> money which enables him to pay (1) the cost of<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> production, (2) the author’s royalty, (3) a profit to<br /> himself as a percentage on his capital.<br /> <br /> Now the following table will show that even if<br /> the publisher’s objection is sustained, and the<br /> whole edition sells within a year at the rate of<br /> 30 per cent. to the author on the published price,<br /> he reaps 46°71 per cent. on his capital.<br /> <br /> Publisher’s inte-<br /> <br /> Author’s Author Publisher rest on capital in-<br /> <br /> royalty receives receives vested per cent.<br /> per cent. per copy. per copy. per annum,<br /> 74d. 4s. 9°81d. 134°39<br /> 10 1s, 3d. 4s. 2°06d. ... 116°55<br /> 12 1s. 6d. ... Ss. 11:U6d. 1.) 10571<br /> 15 1s. 10$d.... 38. 6°81d. 99°69<br /> 20 25. 6d. ..,, 28. 11060... 81°64<br /> 25 38: lad. ... 28. 3°81d. 64°76<br /> 30 3s. 9d. ... 18. 8°06d. 46°71<br /> 35 4s. 4¢d. ... 1s. 081d. 29°80<br /> 40 5s. Od. Os. 506d. 11°78<br /> <br /> It is possible that a further objection may be<br /> raised. ‘Che publisher will say, “ You have taken<br /> the sale of limited numbers of the edition when<br /> the author receives 10 per cent.; and, again, you<br /> have taken various royalties to the author when<br /> the whole edition is sold. But what of the pub-<br /> lisher’s profit when the author’s royalty is high and<br /> the whole edition does not sell ?”<br /> <br /> Supposing, then, the author’s royalty is 15 per<br /> cent., 20 per cent., 25 per cent., how many copies<br /> must the publisher sell to make his profit on each<br /> copy equal to that of the author, and what interest<br /> per cent. does this in each case represent upon his<br /> investment of £170, if the copies are sold within<br /> the twelve months ?<br /> <br /> The problem is how many copies must the pub-<br /> lisher sell at 9s. to be able to get back his capital,<br /> £170, expended on the cost of production, and to<br /> have for himself a sum equal to that which he pays<br /> the author.<br /> <br /> The cost of production is always £170 = 3,400s.<br /> = 40,800d.<br /> <br /> The sum which the publisher receives for each<br /> copy is always 9s. = 108d.<br /> <br /> Let X in each case represent the number of<br /> copies which must be sold.<br /> <br /> Then, in the first case, the author receives &amp;<br /> <br /> royalty of 15 per cent. =x a. = 22°6d.<br /> <br /> The publisher must have, to divide equally<br /> between himself and author 2 x 225d. = 45d.<br /> upon each copy sold.<br /> <br /> 108 X = 40,800 +45 X.<br /> 63 X = 40,800.<br /> T= 6176<br /> <br /> The publisher must sell 648 copies. To find his<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 /> <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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> profit per cent. upon his invested capital of £170 =<br /> <br /> 40,800d., we must write,<br /> <br /> 100 x 22°5 x 648<br /> <br /> . 28 ODA . es<br /> <br /> As 40,800 : 100 3: 22°5 x 648: oh<br /> <br /> 22:5 x 648<br /> 408<br /> <br /> Secondly, when the author’s royalty is 20 per<br /> cent., z.e. 30d.<br /> <br /> The publisher must have, to divide equally<br /> between himself and the author, 60d. = 5s. on each<br /> copy sold. And the calculation can be made in<br /> shillings.<br /> <br /> 9 X = 3,400 + 5X.<br /> 4X = 3,400.<br /> X= 650.<br /> The publisher must sell 850 copies. To find his<br /> profit per cent. upon his invested capital of £170 =<br /> 3,400s., he must write,<br /> <br /> As 3,400: 100 ::2°5 x 850:<br /> <br /> 34<br /> <br /> It is deserving of remark that the publisher’s<br /> gain per cent. creases (in consequence of the<br /> larger sale and the larger consequent profit on each<br /> copy), although he is giving a larger royalty to the<br /> author. But a point exists at which he is no<br /> longer able to share equally.<br /> <br /> Thus: in the third case, when the author’s<br /> royalty is 25 per cent., 7.e. 37°5d. per copy.<br /> <br /> The publisher must have to divide equally<br /> between himself and the author 75d. on each copy<br /> sold.<br /> <br /> 108 X = 40,800 + 75 X.<br /> 33 X = 40,800.<br /> X= 1,236°6.<br /> <br /> The publisher must sell 1,237 copies. This he<br /> cannot do, having only 950 copies for sale. That<br /> is to say he cannot give the author a royalty of<br /> 25 per cent., and himself reap an equal profit per<br /> copy. And this appears also in the table given<br /> above, where it is shown that at a royalty of<br /> 25 per cent. the publisher’s profit per copy becomes<br /> less than the author’s, even if the whole edition is<br /> sold, but yet his profit on his capital when paying<br /> the author 25 per cent. is substantial. It is 64°76.<br /> <br /> All possible objections have now been met. It<br /> is clear that with a limited sale, and with royalty<br /> that to some may appear large, the publisher’s<br /> profit is still substantial. If it does not quite<br /> <br /> = 85°7.<br /> <br /> 100 x 2°5 x 850 _<br /> 3,400<br /> <br /> equal that of the author in some cases, it is no<br /> small percentage on the capital invested.<br /> <br /> Workers in other lines of business would be<br /> pleased if they could reckon on such a profit.<br /> <br /> 145<br /> <br /> If publishers grumble about their losses it can<br /> only be accounted for by the fact that that vice<br /> which is gradually pervading and destroying all<br /> legitimate trade has caught them also. They are<br /> eng with books, as others with stocks and<br /> shares,<br /> <br /> _<br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> +4<br /> The Bookseller.<br /> <br /> HE question of “The Distribution of Books”<br /> having been taken up by 7he Author, it is<br /> to be hoped that the whole subject may be<br /> <br /> thoroughly threshed out. Mr. MacLehose has, at<br /> the beginning of his interesting article, modestly<br /> pleaded that the question deserves more attention<br /> than is usually given it. That is putting the<br /> point temperately. Any one who contended that<br /> the distribution of books is at the present moment<br /> the most important of all accessory literary<br /> problems would be probably ‘not far from the<br /> truth. The facts require to be dragged into day-<br /> light, and the whole situation to be made plain. And<br /> that any one who can assist in any way to. this<br /> end will be doing good service must be the present<br /> writer’s excuse for a few remarks upon one aspect<br /> of the subject from one who can make no pretence<br /> to be either fully acquainted with all its bearings<br /> or by any. means so well informed as Mr. Mac-<br /> Lehose» The general obscurity and uncertainty<br /> at présent existing respecting the methods and<br /> complications of the distribution of books exactly<br /> resemble those which obtained concerning the<br /> cost of production before Sir Walter Besant, in the<br /> early years of the Society of Authors, brought<br /> the previously carefully concealed facts to light.<br /> The cost of production has long ceased to be a<br /> secret. And there is no reason why the methods<br /> by which books are distributed should remain one,<br /> if the interested parties (and they are many)<br /> choose to have the facts made plain. If the Society<br /> of Authors can assist to this desirable end, a<br /> service will be rendered, not to authors only, but<br /> also to the reading public, and to the publishers.<br /> That sales should increase is as much to be<br /> desired by these last as by any one else.<br /> <br /> That the distributing machinery is unsatisfactory<br /> and out of gear is undeniable. Wherever we find<br /> simultaneously existing a producer who cannot sell<br /> the commodity which he produces and a purchaser<br /> desirous of obtaining the same commodity unable<br /> to procure it, the method by which the commodity<br /> is distributed is evidently faulty.<br /> <br /> This is at present the case in the book trade.<br /> Authors cannot command really popular sales;<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> 146<br /> <br /> publishers cannot secure remunerative ones. And<br /> at the same time the larger part of the reading<br /> public—a public which would be larger than it is<br /> if its tastes were not systematically thwarted—<br /> cannot procure the books it desires.<br /> <br /> The outcry of the impossibility of getting books<br /> is universal. Every one has heard it in all forms,<br /> ranging from the complaint of the subscriber of<br /> the circulating library who reads only for amuse-<br /> ment (the most laudable, excellent, and improving<br /> of all amusements), andsdeclares “ One can never<br /> get what one wants,” to the protest of the scholar<br /> who knows how small are the number of shops at<br /> which he has any chance of procuring the works<br /> necessary for his studies—if he can procure them<br /> at all. In the suburbs and in the country the<br /> people who will have books send to town for them,<br /> in some cases take railway journeys to procure<br /> them ; the scholar makes laborious extracts at<br /> the public libraries of the matter which he requires,<br /> because to get the actual works is impossible. But<br /> the ordinary reader or purchaser will not, of<br /> course, take all this trouble. He simply goes<br /> without what is difficult to procure, declines to<br /> purchase what he cannot see, and deserts a market<br /> .at which his custom is discouraged.<br /> <br /> -~ On the other side the cry is that the unproduc-<br /> tive stock of books, whether new or old, remains<br /> on the hands of the publisher and bookseller. To<br /> dispose of it is impossible. Yet there is probably<br /> not a book in the world which some one would<br /> not purchase on the spot if it were placed before<br /> him.<br /> <br /> Mr. MacLehose appears to assign the larger part<br /> of the responsibility for this unsatisfactory state of<br /> things to the publisher. The present writer has<br /> no wish to dispute the conclusions of a man better<br /> informed than himself; but he believes that it is<br /> nearly impossible to exaggerate the lethargy and<br /> incapacity of the ordinary retail bookseller. ‘These<br /> retail booksellers are the final link between the<br /> author and the public. They are the distributing<br /> agents on whose capacity the publishers’ profits<br /> largely depend. They are the salesmen whose<br /> place it is to encourage the larger outlay of money<br /> upon books by the general public.<br /> <br /> There are, no doubt, booksellers and booksellers.<br /> There are booksellers (how few ! ) who if, reversing<br /> the discount system, they were to add twenty-five<br /> per cent. to the price of the books which they sell,<br /> might justly claim that their wares were cheap at<br /> the enhanced price. The scholar who has to take<br /> up some difficult subject, and is in doubt from<br /> <br /> which works the new knowledge which he requires<br /> <br /> can be most rapidly and most surely obtained, if<br /> he has a bookseller capable of affording him the<br /> information which he wants, able to mention up-<br /> to-date books not to be found in encyclopedias and<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> bibliographies, able to state which work stands<br /> highest in the estimation of experts, and prompt<br /> to furnish information respecting the appearance<br /> of new works on a special subject, would gladly<br /> pay 25s. instead of 20s. for the advantage of being<br /> immediately provided with the very works he<br /> wanted. ‘The man whose time is money, in need<br /> of some uncommon work, would find it an economy<br /> to pay the enhanced price to have a work, of which<br /> he stood in immediate need, instantly handed to<br /> him across the counter. But the booksellers able<br /> to render such services are extremely rare ; and<br /> they do not put twenty-five per cent, on to the<br /> price of their books.<br /> <br /> But the vast majority can be called booksellers<br /> only on the principle of dwcus a non lucendo. If<br /> asked why they do not stock books, they simply<br /> reply that they cannot sell them. And in many<br /> cases the reason why they cannot sell them is<br /> simply that they do not know how to do so.<br /> <br /> In a recent number of 7he Author figures were<br /> given which showed that in the case of the nett<br /> book the bookseller’s profit is less only by an insig-<br /> nificant fraction than the whole sum paid for pro-<br /> duction, the earnings of the paper-maker, com-<br /> positor, printer, and binder—in fact, the price of<br /> the whole of the mechanical labour. And all that<br /> the bookseller does is to procure the book, perhaps<br /> paying a trifle for carriage, and to hand it across<br /> the counter. Yet he cannot make these severe<br /> labours remunerative |<br /> <br /> That appears at first sight strange. But it is<br /> not so very strange if the capacities of the ordinary<br /> bookseller are taken into account.<br /> <br /> As an instance of what these can be, may the<br /> writer mention a recent experience ? Happening<br /> to require a cheap copy of the poems of Milton for<br /> marking, and not being in a hurry for it, he ordered<br /> a “Chandos Classics’? Milton from a suburban<br /> bookseller. It was never delivered. But at the<br /> end of a fortnight the bookseller found energy<br /> enough to send a messenger to say that the book<br /> could not be procured. When asked for the same<br /> afternoon at the shop of one of the cash booksellers<br /> in the Strand, it was of course produced at once<br /> Whether idleness, ignorance, mere forgetfulness, &amp;<br /> disinclination to supply the book, or 4 combination —<br /> of all these, led the suburban bookseller to say that<br /> the work could not be procured, the Powers above —<br /> know. He asserts that bookselling does not pay —<br /> —in his case, naturally.<br /> <br /> Curiosity prompted a different experiment upon<br /> the tobacconist who has a shop nearly opposite the<br /> able bibliopole, and, like many of his trade, at the<br /> same time plies the business of a newsvendor. This<br /> time the work was a learned one on Egyptology.<br /> “If I give you the title and the publisher&#039;s address<br /> can you procure it?” ‘JI can procure it at once if<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 /> you will give me only the title,” was the immediate<br /> reply. And the book arrived the same evening,<br /> <br /> That a bookseller could, if he chose, procure a<br /> book as easily as a tobacconist could is evident.<br /> <br /> If booksellers of this kind are losing their<br /> custom, so much the better. The country would<br /> be benefited by the bankruptcy of the whole<br /> lot and the transference of their trade to more<br /> competent hands.<br /> <br /> All over the country the case is more or less the<br /> same as in the suburbs—rather more than less.<br /> In the provinces it is generally known that only<br /> the address of an enterprising London cash book-<br /> seller is necessary to make the purchase of the<br /> books sent by post from town easier, cheaper, more<br /> expeditious, and much more likely to result in<br /> what is wanted arriving than any dealings with the<br /> local bookseller. Often the local bookseller will<br /> give only 2d. in the shilling discount, whilst the<br /> London house gives 3d. The London house<br /> io charges the carriage. But if the book is of any<br /> 5 considerable price the difference of the discount<br /> <br /> more than covers carriage. So the local trader<br /> <br /> arranges that the purchaser shall not be left with-<br /> <br /> out a single reason for sending to London.<br /> <br /> * __ Afterwards he discovers that bookselling does not<br /> *{ +=pay—naturally.<br /> <br /> So far, however, we are dealing with a small<br /> part only of the whole question, the supply of<br /> books ordered for cash. Here everything that has<br /> to be done is so simple that the purchaser can do<br /> it for himself as well as or even better than the local<br /> bookseller—when the purchaser knows anything<br /> about books, what he wants, and how to write<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> for them. But these people are not really<br /> numerous.<br /> Unfortunately, the local bookseller is, generally<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> speaking, equally useless to all the rest.<br /> <br /> First of all, tothe considerable number of people<br /> who know little about books, but who will read if<br /> they can get what they enjoy reading, but go<br /> without books because of the hindrances put in the<br /> way of buying them. These people require, in<br /> the case of the most ordinary books, the same kind<br /> of assistance that a student requires in the pur-<br /> chase of technical works. Very frequently they<br /> are simply in search of something to read, without<br /> having any particular work in view. But they<br /> want to see what they are going to purchase.<br /> <br /> But outside these remain a still larger number<br /> who have no intention of purchasing, but will<br /> purchase if something that attracts them is placed<br /> before them.<br /> <br /> To all these the ordinary bookseller has nothing<br /> to show, because he does not stock. He asserts<br /> that it does not pay him to stock,<br /> <br /> But would it ever pay any one to stock, who<br /> knew nothing about what he was stocking, and<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 /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 147<br /> <br /> nothing about the tastes of his customers to whom<br /> the stock was to be sold ?<br /> <br /> The ordinary local bookseller’s acquaintance<br /> with the tastes of his customers is aptly illustrated<br /> by a characteristic declaration from the lips of a<br /> watering-place belle, speaking for herself and her<br /> sisters: “Oh, we never read now. They have<br /> changed the girls that used to serve at — s<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> library. The girls they had there béfore spent all<br /> their Sundays in reading the novels. In con-<br /> <br /> sequence they could always tell us what we should<br /> like. The new girls don’t read novels ; and<br /> Mr. — knows nothing about the books, So<br /> we found that we never got anything that amused<br /> us, and have dropped our subscriptions.” This<br /> was clementary ; still, evidence that to have an<br /> idea of the tastes of the customer is worth<br /> something,<br /> <br /> This, on the other hand, is what a country<br /> bookseller has actually said on the subject of<br /> stocking, no doubt under the impression that he<br /> was being witty: “He only stocks books by<br /> established authors. He cannot be expected to see<br /> genius in the cover of a book.” Then why does he<br /> not look inside? Is he equally unable “to see<br /> genius” there also? He has not the time? But<br /> it is well known that any habitual reader can turn<br /> over a pile of twenty books in ten minutes, and be<br /> sure of detecting by a few hasty glances the two<br /> that will afford him the greatest assistance or<br /> entertainment. In the case of fiction he may<br /> examine fifty in the same time. Why cannot the<br /> bookseller equally easily detect the books which he<br /> can sell ?<br /> <br /> And the publishers’ travellers assert that it is by<br /> the cover that the country bookseller selects his<br /> stock.<br /> <br /> Evidently stocking cannot pay so long as the<br /> salesman is incompetent to choose his stock.<br /> Equally evidently his custom will not increase so<br /> long as he does all in his power to drive away his<br /> customers. Imagine the hosier whose reply to<br /> any demand for gloves was, “We do not stock<br /> them. But if you will give us the size, quality,<br /> and maker’s name, we can get them for you—in<br /> about ten days.” On those terms hosiery would<br /> not pay. The nett book is a novelty distinctly<br /> advantageous to the retailer; and other steps—<br /> those for example mentioned in Mr. MacLehose’s<br /> article—may be taken to ameliorate his position.<br /> But everything will be in vain unless the retail<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> _bookseller chooses to help himself, and to do<br /> <br /> something to woo back the custom which he has<br /> lost, and is still discouraging. If he is incompetent<br /> to do that, the sooner the function of book<br /> distributing is transferred to more competent<br /> agents the better.<br /> <br /> The most serious aspect of the present situation<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 148<br /> <br /> is, not that the publisher can command no widely<br /> distributed competent sellers—though this is<br /> serious for the publisher; nor that the author<br /> cannot get at the public—which is serious for the<br /> author ; but that simultaneously with a wide, if<br /> not particularly intelligent, promotion of education,<br /> the reading habit is being all over the country<br /> discouraged by the inefficiency of the vast majority<br /> of booksellers.<br /> <br /> ——\_o——_+—____—-<br /> <br /> THE SHORTHAND SUBSTITUTE.<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> HAVE no pen in my hand ; there is no short-<br /> hand writer in the room worrying me to<br /> repeat what I said, and asking the way to<br /> <br /> spell this or that word ; there is no typewriter in<br /> front of me with its odious click, click; and yet<br /> this article is being evolved rapidly and without<br /> effort. Now and again I press a key, but that is<br /> all. When I have dictated to the extent of 800<br /> words, I push aside a little lever, place a wax<br /> cylinder in a box, label it No. 1, and have no<br /> more care or trouble about the matter until the<br /> afternoon, when my amanuensis brings me a<br /> neatly-typed article for revision. Thanks<br /> to an excellent voice recording and reproducing<br /> machine, I have done most of my literary work<br /> and correspondence after this fashion for some<br /> years. The only serious fault I have to find<br /> with the system is that in course of time the<br /> phonograph comes to be regarded as almost indis-<br /> pensable, and that when away from home without<br /> my mechanical assistant, literary work of any kind<br /> becomes a grievous toil. Undoubtedly there are<br /> writers who could not use the phonograph with<br /> advantage. Some cannot dictate. In other cases<br /> the voice possesses a somewhat muffled quality,<br /> which makes the record of it too indistinct for the<br /> amanuensis to understand when phonographically<br /> reproduced, and [ may say here that women make<br /> by far the clearest record. There are, again,<br /> authors who are incapable of understanding<br /> and managing the most simple piece of machinery,<br /> though they somehow seem to learn to use a pen,<br /> which is an infinitely more difficult instrument to<br /> manage than a phonograph, and takes much longer<br /> in the learning. But there are large numbers of<br /> authors and journalists by whom the phonograph<br /> would be found as useful as I have found it, and<br /> for whose advantage I venture to offer some<br /> account of my experiences. I have only heard of<br /> two authors who use the phonograph—Mr. Guy<br /> Boothby and Mr. Houghton Townley—and the<br /> output of these is considerable. A few business<br /> men use them in their offices instead of shorthand<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> clerks. One whom I know—Mr. Upcott Gill<br /> publisher—has used a phonograph for many years<br /> for his correspondence.<br /> <br /> The first question which an author will naturally<br /> ask himself is, “Can I do as good work if I dictate<br /> as if I write?” This is very largely a personal<br /> matter, depending on the idiosyncrasy of the<br /> individual. The author who thinks and writes<br /> slowly, and whose literary output rarely exceeds<br /> 500 words in a day, should, I think, confine himself<br /> to the pen, but those who compose about 2,000<br /> words a day or more are likely to keep up a<br /> better average quality of work if they dictate<br /> than if they write. The reason I express this<br /> opinion is that after about 1,000 words have<br /> been written with the pen there is acertain amount<br /> of bodily fatigue which affects the mind to a<br /> certain extent, and towards the end of the day’s<br /> work, the quality of the literary matter is inclined<br /> to suffer in consequence of the writer’s bodily<br /> weariness. As a general rule the literary man<br /> should, during and just before his hours of work,<br /> avoid anything which tends either to distract or<br /> weary him. The phonograph itself is undoubtedly<br /> when first possessed something in the nature of a<br /> distraction ; but this feeling passes off, and very<br /> <br /> soon one’s hand does the slight manipulation which ~<br /> <br /> is required without conscious reference to the<br /> mind, just as the hands of the piano player work<br /> mechanically while the eyes and mind of the player<br /> are fixed on the page of music. :<br /> <br /> This question was one which I considered very<br /> anxiously in connection with my own work, and<br /> the conclusion I came to was that dictated work<br /> was, on the whole, as good as work with pen and<br /> ink. I was able in this connection, to compare<br /> two novels. The first, “Lady Val’s_ Elope-<br /> ment,” was written by me in pencil, and as the<br /> revised draft was almost illegible, I dictated it<br /> to a shorthand writer, making further alterations<br /> as I went. After the shorthand notes had been<br /> transcribed, I revised the story for the third time<br /> and sent it to press. With this I can compare<br /> “ Her Wild Oats,” a novel which was dictated in<br /> a very few weeks, though the arrangement and<br /> scheme of it required many months of work. I can<br /> get no indication of which was the better book<br /> from the reviews; but it appears to me (if an<br /> author is able to judge his own work) that the<br /> wholly-dictated book was the better, and from the<br /> publisher’s point of view it was by far the most<br /> successful. It is shorter and generally less verbose<br /> than the written novel, and the dialogue is more<br /> crisp. The bocks are long out of print, so I do<br /> not hesitate to mention them by name, in order that<br /> others may decide whether my judgment is correct<br /> or not on this point which is one of considerable<br /> importance.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR, 149<br /> <br /> It is a good many years now since the first<br /> phonographs were introduced. A serious mistake<br /> was then made by the owners of the patent. It<br /> was supposed that pretty well everyone would<br /> require a phonograph, and that the invention would<br /> come into general use for correspondence, business<br /> purposes, etc. Instead of manufacturing the<br /> machines at a moderate price and selling them,<br /> the company merely hired them out on rather high<br /> terms, making an arrangement for the lessees to<br /> be visited by an inspector from time to time, who<br /> would look over their instruments and keep them in<br /> order. This system was an absolute failure. The<br /> phonographs were little used, but within the last<br /> few years they have come into popular favour in<br /> the shape of what I may term musical toys.<br /> Talking and music reproducing machines ‘of<br /> various kinds are now sold at a low price by<br /> quite a number of makers, and at the present<br /> day the practical and useful side of the phono-<br /> graph seems in danger of being lost sight of.<br /> The entertainment phonograph is not suitable for<br /> literary work, and an unguided author is likely<br /> to get a machine which for his particular purpose<br /> is of little use.<br /> <br /> It is well, perhaps, to explain that the phono-<br /> graph consists first of a kind of lathe. On the<br /> mandrel is placed a wax cylinder. Set your lathe<br /> in motion and the cylinder revolves, A turner<br /> would cut any circular design he wanted on the<br /> wax while in motion by holding a tool of some<br /> kind against it. In the phonograph what has to<br /> be cut is a fine thread like that on a screw. The<br /> tool which cuts this is a fine sapphire point held<br /> in position by an arm which travels slowly down<br /> the cylinder during its revolutions. In the enter-<br /> tainment phonograph a hundred threads are cut<br /> on every inch of cylinder. In the machine used<br /> for business purposes and by literary men—where<br /> it is important to get as many words on a cylinder<br /> as possible—the arm travels at half the speed, the<br /> sapphire point is finer, and two hundred threads<br /> are cut to every inch. The result is a slight loss<br /> of sound, but the recording instrument has been so<br /> much improved recently that this loss is more than<br /> regained, and an ordinary and fairly clear voice is<br /> admirably reproduced.<br /> <br /> The next question is what connection is there<br /> between the reproduction of sound and the threads<br /> cut in the wax cylinder ? It will suffice now if I<br /> say that the sapphire point which cuts the threads<br /> is attached to the centre of a round piece of very<br /> thin glass. The trumpet into which one speaks<br /> conveys the sound waves to this piece of glass,<br /> which vibrates according to the sounds striking it.<br /> The vibration is necessarily communicated to the<br /> sapphire point, which as it cuts the grooves digs<br /> into the wax more or less deeply, and at varying<br /> <br /> intervals according to the nature of the sound<br /> thus making what is termed the “ record,”<br /> <br /> To reproduce the sounds the sharp point is<br /> replaced by a round smooth point. This, as the<br /> cylinder revolves, goes over the grooves which have<br /> been cut by the sharp point, and the indentations in<br /> the grooves or threads cause the smooth point to<br /> shake, giving exactly the same vibration to the<br /> glass plate above it as the plate attached to the<br /> sharp point received when the speaking into the<br /> trumpet took place. The yibrations or sound<br /> Waves now come out of the trumpet instead of into<br /> it, and the recorded sounds are reproduced.<br /> <br /> I do not give this as a scientific description of<br /> the phonograph, but it is a description which<br /> I think will assist the proposing owner of one of<br /> these marvellous instruments, J] particularly wish<br /> to emphasize the point that for an author’s use the<br /> phonograph should cut two hundred threads to the<br /> inch. Each thread, roughly speaking, represents<br /> a word. ‘The cylinder is four inches long,* so that<br /> if we get two hundred threads to the inch, we can<br /> dictate two hundred words to the inch, or eight<br /> hundred words on the four-inch cylinder. If on<br /> the other hand the author has one of the ordinary<br /> machines in common use, with one hundred words<br /> to the inch, he is only able to get four hundred<br /> words on to a cylinder, and as cylinders have to be<br /> shaved after use, this involves double the amount<br /> of shaving, and many more cylinders have to be used,<br /> which is another consideration, though a very small<br /> one. I only know of one firm which makes these<br /> two hundred thread machines—the Edison-Bell<br /> Phonograph Company, of Charing Cross Road. I<br /> bought one of their ordinary standard machines,<br /> costing five guineas, and by altering the gear-<br /> ing of the lathe, had it turned into a two hundred<br /> thread machine without difficulty and without<br /> extra charge. This machine I keep for my type-<br /> writer’s use for reproducing the records which I<br /> make on a much more expensive machine, It will<br /> however, make a very excellent record of its own,<br /> and would be quite suitable for all purposes if<br /> fitted with a better arrangement for lifting the<br /> sapphire point off the wax when dictation ceases for<br /> a moment or two, and if it could shave cylinders<br /> more satisfactorily. The motive power of the<br /> little lathe is a spring, which after being wound<br /> up, will run for about two cylinders, but in the<br /> course of years the spring naturally gets weak,<br /> and will not do its work satisfactorily for more<br /> than one cylinder. This can of course be remedied<br /> by having a new spring.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * The Columbia Phonograph Company, of Oxford Street,<br /> make a machine for business and literary men, with a<br /> six-inch cylinder. They have also shaving machines which<br /> are somewhat costly. I have not experimented with these<br /> instruments.—J, B.<br /> 150<br /> <br /> For my own use—for making the records and<br /> shaving them—I had to purchase a machine which<br /> now costs £15. It has powerful springs which<br /> will run four or five cylinders without atten-<br /> tion. On this machine there are two little<br /> keys ; one marked “ Off? the other “ On.” If I<br /> press down the “Off” key, the point is lifted off<br /> the wax; on pressing the “On” key the point<br /> drops on to the wax again in its former position.<br /> In the cheaper machine there is a little difficulty in<br /> getting the sapphire point into exactly the same place<br /> after lifting it, but this could be easily remedied,<br /> andit is possible the company would make the altera-<br /> tion for any person requiring a machine of that<br /> class. It is of course necessary for the typewriter<br /> to stop the sound of the voice at the end of each<br /> sentence or two. This is not done by stopping<br /> the revolution of the cylinder but by lifting the<br /> sapphire point off it. It is obviously important<br /> that the point should be lowered into the groove<br /> from which it was raised, otherwise time is wasted.<br /> <br /> For some reasons, an electric motor is very<br /> much better than a spring motor forthe phonograph,<br /> and I should recommend it where electricity is<br /> available without much trouble. In houses fitted<br /> with electric light, it is of course available, the 100<br /> volt system being the best. The 200 volt system<br /> is too powerful, and the apparatus involved lends<br /> to much waste of electricity.<br /> <br /> A question which will perplex the purchaser is:<br /> <br /> whether to have a combined recorder and repro-<br /> ducer, or two separate instruments.t I do not find<br /> that the combined recorder and reproducer possesses<br /> any particular advantage. It is not often during the<br /> day that the author wishes to reproduce what he<br /> has said, and when this does occur, to change the<br /> recorder for the reproducer is a matter of a few<br /> seconds only. Before buying a phonograph I made<br /> arrangements with the company to have from them<br /> various types of phonograph with the option of pur-<br /> chase, and it was after a somewhat prolonged trial<br /> I found the machines I have mentioned to be the<br /> best. The larger one is the most highly finished<br /> production of the Edison-Bell Phonograph Com-<br /> pany, but as I have already said, the cheaper one<br /> would answer every purpose if fitted with an<br /> arrangement for lifting the sapphire from the wax<br /> and for shaving records satisfactorily.<br /> <br /> The running expenses of these machines after<br /> purchase are comparatively slight, for each cylinder<br /> can be shaved at least twenty times (the company say<br /> fifty times in their price list), As a cylinder costs<br /> a shilling, and contains about 800 words, at least<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + The recorder consists of a round metal frame about<br /> 18 in. in diameter, which holds the glass diaphragm and<br /> sharp sapphire point. The reproducer is similar but bears<br /> the smooth reproducing point. The two can be combined<br /> in one instrument.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 16,000 words can be dictated at a cost of one<br /> shilling for material. When the cylinders get thin<br /> a musical or other interesting or amusing record<br /> can be made on them.<br /> <br /> The shaving of cylinders was at the commence-<br /> ment, my greatest difficulty. It is a matter of<br /> considerable delicacy with any of the cheaper<br /> machines—and requires an extremely well-made<br /> machine to do it satisfactorily. I may explain<br /> that the shaving is done by what is called a knife,<br /> but is in reality a flat piece of sapphire with a<br /> sharp, slightly convex edge which can be placed in<br /> contact with the cylinder, and travels along it<br /> while the machine is put at its highest speed. On<br /> the cheaper spring motors, such as that in the five<br /> guinea machine, I found that one could not get<br /> the necessary speed, and the arm holding the knife<br /> did not travel with sufficient accuracy to put a<br /> smooth surface on the cylinder. On my large<br /> machine I could shave the cylinders very well by<br /> using the spring motor, but it was a somewhat<br /> tedious operation, and of course shortened the life of<br /> thespring. Finally I solved the difficulty by having<br /> a handwheel (7% in. diameter) apparatus made by<br /> a bicycle maker for my large machine. It is<br /> placed on the machine in a couple of minutes by<br /> means of two thumbscrews. A piece of round solid<br /> rubber, with a hook and eye at the end of it to join<br /> it, is placed round the shaft of the lathe and over<br /> the wheel, and on the wheel being turned, the<br /> lathe works at such a high speed that I can now<br /> shave a cylinder in less than forty-five seconds and<br /> get a perfect surface. People who use phonographs<br /> for music and amusement more often buy records<br /> ready made than make them, and even after making<br /> a record they rarely want to shave the cylinder.<br /> When they do they can send the cylinder to the<br /> company and get it shaved for them at the cost ofa<br /> few pence. But an author who is using four, five<br /> and even more cylinders aday could notconveniently<br /> send them to the company. The cost of carriage,<br /> loss by breakage, and the trouble involved would<br /> be too great. For authors and for business pur-<br /> poses there is certainly very great need for the five<br /> guinea machines and others of moderate price, to be<br /> so constructed that they will shave properly, or for<br /> a special shaving apparatus to be sold at a<br /> reasonable cost. I should add that when the best<br /> quality machines are driven by electricity they can<br /> be run at such a speed as to render no handwheels<br /> necessary, but I would as soon use a handwheel<br /> when shaving on a £15 machine as on one<br /> electrically driven.<br /> <br /> It will be seen that as matters at present stand,<br /> one is obliged to buy a very expensive machine, or<br /> else send the cylinders to the company to be<br /> shaved. It may be that the profit on shaving<br /> cylinders is so considerable that the Edison-Bell<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 1<br /> a<br /> |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> and other companies are not disposed to encourage<br /> shaving by their customers, but I am sure the<br /> policy is a bad one, for many an author would give<br /> five guineas for a machine which would record,<br /> reproduce, and shave a cylinder well, who would<br /> not be disposed or perhaps be able to give fifteen<br /> guineas or so for a machine which was not<br /> materially better except that it would shave<br /> cylinders. I find it a good plan to have a number<br /> of cylinders in use and to shave not less than half-<br /> a-dozen at a time, a matter of ten minutes or so.<br /> <br /> As the five guinea machine weighs 17lb., while<br /> the £15 machine weighs 541b., the former is by far<br /> the more convenient, particularly when travelling,<br /> for the phonograph must never be given up to a<br /> railway porter.<br /> <br /> I find that phonographs have several advantages<br /> beyond those which are obvious. In the first place<br /> the author and his amanuensis can both be<br /> working at the same time, which doubles the time<br /> the amanuensis can give to transcription. Secondly<br /> the author can work at any time it pleases him.<br /> Shorthand writers who have to come up to the<br /> <br /> .study at eleven o’clock at night will not often be<br /> <br /> found in a very amiable frame of mind. The<br /> author who has a phonograph into which he can<br /> dictate at night, can please himself as to his<br /> hours. Thirdly, the machine is, I need hardly say,<br /> an endless source of amusement to one’s friends,<br /> for even those made specially for literary and<br /> business purposes will reproduce music, songs, etc.,<br /> with more or less accuracy, and the friend who is<br /> not interested in literary matters is sometimes very<br /> much interested in the phonograph. And lastly,<br /> where members of an author’s family are anxious<br /> to assist him in his labours, they can always do so<br /> by shaving the cylinders and by writing out for<br /> him anything he may dictate into the phonograph,<br /> for obviously no knowledge of shorthand is<br /> necessary. One of my delights in my leisure<br /> moments is to place my phonograph at the back of<br /> the piano, ramble about over the keys, and imagine<br /> I am composing. The phonograph makes a record<br /> of the resulting sounds and enables me to study<br /> them and hear what poor stuff Ihave evolved. The<br /> instrument may be therefore recommended as a<br /> moderator of vanity.<br /> <br /> The most pleasant way to hear music, or indeed<br /> any sounds, reproduced by the phonograph is<br /> through thin, hardrubber tubes, the ends of which are<br /> connected with the ears like the modern stethoscope.<br /> These fine tubes have the curious property of soften-<br /> ing away the grating or hissing noise, which is<br /> really the reproduction of the noise of the sapphire<br /> cutting into the wax, while at the same time<br /> increasing and rendering more faithfully than the<br /> trumpet the sounds one desires to hear. When a<br /> trumpet is~used objectionable sounds are em-<br /> <br /> 151<br /> <br /> phasised, and there is a good deal of metallic<br /> vibration as well. I should explain I am referring<br /> to the literary phonograph and not those specially<br /> constructed for concert use. When dictating it is<br /> best to speak into the metal trumpet provided with<br /> the machine.<br /> <br /> It is perhaps interesting to mention that the<br /> foregoing remarks are recorded on exactly three<br /> cylinders and a half, and therefore in all probability<br /> consist of about 3,600 words.<br /> <br /> JoHN BICKERDYKE.<br /> <br /> i)<br /> <br /> CHARLES DICKENS.<br /> eS<br /> <br /> 2 is with much pleasure that we have to record<br /> another celebration in honour of Dickens.<br /> <br /> In last month’s Author we narrated how the<br /> Dickens Fellowship took its first practical step by<br /> giving a dinner to the poor children of the East<br /> End of London, and now the great writer’s memory<br /> is being preserved in the City of Bath by the<br /> unveiling of a tablet affixed to the house, at<br /> 35, St. James’ Square, where Dickens lived during<br /> his residence in that city.<br /> <br /> Some ten years ago it was the fashion to say<br /> that Dickens was not read and in another ten<br /> years would be forgotten, but with the progress.<br /> of time this great artist’s works have sunk more<br /> and more into the hearts of readers, and in the last<br /> few years we have seen a great Dickens revival,<br /> which, no doubt, will continue.<br /> <br /> ————__+—_&gt;—_+____—-<br /> <br /> REFLECTIONS OF A REJECTED<br /> MANUSCRIPT.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> MS. in the publisher’s hand is worth two in<br /> the author’s.<br /> An editor is known by the MSS. he keeps.<br /> —and the stamps.<br /> Desperate authors require desperate remedies.<br /> A poet and his poem are soon parted.<br /> In submitting a MS. he who hesitates is a<br /> wonder.<br /> All is not gold that glitters . . . on book covers.<br /> Faint purse never won fair publisher.<br /> A true friend is one who laughs at our jokes.<br /> It is a wise author who knows his own MS.<br /> after . . . it has been blue pencilled.<br /> An author’s royalties are often far from royal.<br /> No satirist is hero to his own epigram.<br /> “Many Happy Returns of the Day ” applies to.<br /> the unsuccessful writer all the year round.<br /> <br /> Water PULITZER.<br />  <br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> ——1—+—<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property :—<br /> <br /> I. Selling it Outright.<br /> <br /> This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if @ 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 /> IJ. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement).<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> 1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duetion forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “ office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> <br /> doctor !<br /> <br /> Ill. 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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. From time to time the very important figures<br /> connected with royalties are published in Lhe Author.<br /> Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the<br /> 4‘ Cost of Production.”<br /> <br /> IV. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> ‘The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> means.<br /> <br /> (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong<br /> tothe 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 /> —___+—&lt;—_e+____—_——_<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> ———+—<br /> <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 /> <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 /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 8. 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 gress receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<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 (4¢.,<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 /> <br /> be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and ©<br /> <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 this contract.<br /> He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in<br /> the beginning.<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 cou-<br /> tracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —_+——_—__—_<br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> 2. 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&#039;s<br /> opinion, All this without any cost to the member.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinarysolicitors. 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) To 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 /> This<br /> The<br /> <br /> 8. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements.<br /> must be done within fourteen days of first execution.<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 /> o&gt;<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> —1—&gt;— + —<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 /> 6 ae ge<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> a<br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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 /> 58. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> <br /> 153<br /> <br /> Communications for The Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> i)<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE<br /> EDITOoR 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 /> 1+<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 /> HE New Danish Copyright Law has now<br /> passed the Upper House, and was signed by<br /> the King on the 19th of December, 1902.<br /> It will come into operation on the Ist of July,<br /> 1903, after which there will be no further difficulty<br /> in Danes entering the Berne Convention.<br /> <br /> We have to express our regret that the name of<br /> Lieut.-Colonel G. F. R. Henderson, C.B., was by<br /> an error included in the Report among the list of<br /> members who had died in the past year.<br /> <br /> We have watched with great interest the forma-<br /> tion of the Artistic Copyright Society for the<br /> protection of all original workers in the Arts.<br /> <br /> If parts of the Literary Copyright Act are<br /> unintelligible the Artistic Copyright Acts are abso-<br /> lutely chaotic. In many cases the artistic and<br /> literary copyright is very closely connected<br /> where books are illustrated. For many years<br /> now the holders of literary copyright have been<br /> striving to obtain a reasonable law. ‘Two years<br /> ago consideration of the question was promised<br /> in the King’s Speech, but there is, so far, no<br /> fulfilment of this promise. Any combination<br /> which may aid in bringing about the desired result,<br /> and force the woes of the unprotected authors and<br /> artists prominently before the Government and<br /> the country is of advantage to those who own<br /> copyright property.<br /> <br /> The names of those interested in the new<br /> Copyright Association are sufficient guarantee that<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 154<br /> <br /> the matter will be pushed forward with vigour<br /> and influence. :<br /> <br /> We cut the following paragraph, bearing on the<br /> Musical Copyright Act, from the issue of The<br /> Author, of October, 1902 :—<br /> <br /> The Musical (Summary Proceedings) Copyright Act is<br /> essentially a publishers’ Act.<br /> <br /> To a certain extent, however, the Act must benefit all<br /> owners of musical copyright, whether composers or<br /> publishers.<br /> <br /> A careful perusal of its scope tends to show that the Act,<br /> hurriedly conceived, and as hurriedly pushed through the<br /> House, scarcely covers the most important difficulties con-<br /> nected with this musical piracy. It is unsatisfactory, and<br /> only fills a small space in a wide gap. What are the<br /> penalties to be enforced? There is no mention of penalty.<br /> Are the cheap piratical printers, the arch offenders, to<br /> escape the court of summary jurisdiction? It would appear<br /> to be the case.<br /> <br /> The various proceedings that have come before<br /> the magistrates from time to time since the Act<br /> came into force, seem clearly to demonstrate that<br /> our prophecy has been fulfilled.<br /> <br /> The Act, drafted for the benefit of the music<br /> publishers, and carried hurriedly through, does<br /> not deal with the difficulties of the question in an<br /> adequate manner. Instead of forcing this piece-<br /> meal legislation, it would have been much better<br /> if the subject had been viewed from a larger<br /> standpoint, and the whole question of musical<br /> copyright, as well as that of other branches of<br /> literary property, exhaustively dealt with.<br /> <br /> We desire once more to call the attention of the<br /> members to the “Conditional Subscriptions ”<br /> towards the Pension Fund of the Society, set forth<br /> on page 134 of this number.<br /> <br /> As every day passes the time for fulfilling the<br /> conditions grows shorter. Six subscriptions of<br /> £10 a year for five years, in accordance with the<br /> list set down, have been promised. Another four<br /> are wanted. It is earnestly hoped that some of<br /> the wealthier members of the Society will come<br /> forward to complete the list.<br /> <br /> The editor of the American Bookman, who is<br /> suffering from the over persistence of a contributor,<br /> writes as follows :—“ The correspondent who wrote<br /> some time ago, asking for our opinion of ‘ Tess of<br /> the d’Urbervilles’ from a moral point of view, has<br /> now sent us a personal letter about this matter.<br /> He says that he ‘ insists’ upon receiving an opinion<br /> from us. He encloses an envelope stamped and<br /> addressed, and also a blank sheet of paper, so that<br /> we shall have no excuse of declining on the ground<br /> of expense. This is a very persistent gentleman,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> but we are pretty persistent ourselves. We said in<br /> a former number of this magazine that if he tells<br /> us what he thinks about Tess, we will tell him<br /> whether we think that what he thinks is correct.<br /> This is the best we can do, and’ we stand by it.<br /> Meanwhile we have used his postage stamp and<br /> sheet of paper for other purposes.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —&gt;—_ ¢ —_—<br /> <br /> THE NOBEL PRIZE COMPETITION.<br /> <br /> —1.— + —_<br /> <br /> N Wednesday, the 14th day of January, the<br /> Nobel Prize Committee met, under the<br /> chairmanship of Lord Avebury, in order<br /> <br /> to make arrangements for the despatch of the<br /> voting papers which had been duly collected.<br /> Mr. G. Herbert Thring, the secretary, was in-<br /> structed to forward them to the Nobel Prize<br /> Committee of the Swedish Academy, Stockholm.<br /> The letter was duly posted on January 26th, and<br /> notification has been received that the votes have<br /> arrived safely. It has been deemed advisable to<br /> strengthen and enlarge the Committee, and the<br /> following gentlemen, on the suggestion of the<br /> chairman, have been asked and have consented to<br /> jom—Sir William Anson, Mr. Anthony Hope<br /> Hawkins, Mr. George Meredith, Sir Leslie Stephen,<br /> and Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace.<br /> <br /> —————_t—&lt;<br /> <br /> FROM AN EDITOR’S STANDPOINT.<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> IKE the late lamented Archbishop of Canter-<br /> bury, I ama beast. Unlike him, I am an<br /> unjust beast. I treat my correspondents<br /> <br /> with a gross and a studied discourtesy. I have a<br /> morbid craving for postage stamps, which, dis-<br /> honestly retained, form the greater part of my<br /> income. If ever I return an MS, before sending<br /> it back I crumple it up and play football with it<br /> for a week or two. This, or something like it, is<br /> the portrait of myself which I discern on holding<br /> up before me, as a mirror, the correspondence<br /> columns of your entertaining journal. For, alas 1<br /> have reached the lowest depth of moral degradation.<br /> Would that I had been content with the criminal<br /> notoriety of a burglar in a large way of business,<br /> a murderer, or even a War Office official! Beneath<br /> the level even of the last I have sunk—I have<br /> become an editor ; and uniting a brazen shame-<br /> lessness to my other vices, I have the hardihood<br /> to defend myself, and to hint that perfect courtesy<br /> and reasonableness are not found invariably even<br /> in a would-be contributor to the periodical Press.<br /> Well, I will invite the casual contributor behind<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the scenes. Here is the morning’s post-bag, con-<br /> taining, at the least, forty or fifty letters and<br /> manuscripts. Three of the latter, I see, are in-<br /> sufficiently stamped, and surplus postage has had<br /> to be paid on them. MHalf-a-dozen are bursting<br /> from their covers, having been done up in the<br /> flimsiest of envelopes; the result is they are<br /> crumpled and soiled, for which J shall get the<br /> credit when those MSS. are returned to their<br /> senders. Quite a dozen have come in the form of<br /> little cylinders ; it will take me ten minutes to<br /> undo these without tearing the pages, and to read<br /> them is almost impossible—you release your grip<br /> of the page for a moment, and in a flash the thing<br /> springs back again into a tight roll. But before<br /> dealing with the MSS., I study the letters which<br /> accompany them, and others which have come<br /> separately. Here are a few samples from this<br /> morning’s post-bag.<br /> <br /> From one of four closely-written pages—<br /> <br /> * DEAR SiR,—In my opinion, there is no magazine worth<br /> comparing for a moment with your brilliant and admirable<br /> periodical, while, of all its various features, by far the<br /> — is the magnificent editorial article which you your-<br /> se sractae<br /> <br /> At this point I make a rule of skipping promptly<br /> to the last paragraph. Ah, here it is—as usual—<br /> <br /> «|, . no blemish at all, beyond this remarkable lack of<br /> a series of, articles on ‘ Antarctic Crustaceans’; and such<br /> a series I myself am willing to supply. The price (payable<br /> in advance) which I would ask is,” ete., ete. ‘* I shall con-<br /> fidently await your prompt and favourable reply.”<br /> <br /> Well, my friend, you are likely to await it for<br /> some time. If you wish to offer a series of articles<br /> I shall not be the more disposed to accept it<br /> because you introduce your proposal with three<br /> pages of rancid compliment.<br /> <br /> Here is another letter—<br /> <br /> ‘* Str,—In the last instalment of the serial story (by that<br /> popular, but grossly over-rated novelist, X. Y.), now<br /> appearing in your magazine, my attention was caught by<br /> the statement (p. 345) that the heroine ‘ skimmed the grass<br /> like a swallow. Such a sentence could have been penned<br /> only by one ludicrously ignorant of the actual velocity of the<br /> hirundo&#039;s flight. Such blunders are inexcusable in a<br /> journal of your standing. Unknown to fame as I am, I<br /> have written a romance which, at least, is free from such<br /> glaring absurdities, I cannot too strongly advise you<br /> to drop your present serial, and to substitute my tale,<br /> the MS. of which I will forward to-day. To help you<br /> out of your difficulty, I shall be content to accept whatever<br /> rate of payment you are allowing your present serialist.”<br /> <br /> Comment, as the older novelists used to say, is<br /> needless.<br /> Next come two letters in one handwriting—<br /> <br /> “ StR,—No less than four days ago I sent you a powerful<br /> Biblical romance of 15,000 words, entitled ‘The Jilting of<br /> Jezebel,’ It is inexcusable of you to keep me waiting so<br /> long for a reply. Kindly notify acceptance by return, and<br /> oblige,”<br /> <br /> 155<br /> <br /> et SIR,—Since writing to you this morning, I have<br /> received back the MS. of ‘ The Jilting of Jezebel,’ I only<br /> sent it to you four days ago, and it is ridiculous to pretend<br /> that you can have given it really careful consideration in<br /> so brief a period. I am, therefore, posting it again to you<br /> to-night. P.S.—In order that you may have ample choice<br /> I send also ‘The Isolation of Isaac’ and ‘ Rebekah’s<br /> Repentance.’ ”<br /> <br /> The next letter seems familiar. In fact, every<br /> day of the week I get one or more closely resem-<br /> bling it—<br /> <br /> “ StR,—The literary merit of the enclosed tale may not<br /> be very great, although a dear friend of mine—who is a<br /> minor canon, and an extremely good judge—considers it a<br /> beautiful story. But I wish to inform you that the walls<br /> of our lovely parish church are in a pitiable state. My<br /> husband, who is rector here, frequently catches cold owing<br /> to the piercing draughts which enter through the cracks.<br /> For £5,000, we are told, the building could be put in<br /> thorough repair; and it is to this purpose that I shall<br /> devote the cheque which, I feel swre,:you will send me for<br /> my little effort.”<br /> <br /> The next correspondent is quite indignant—<br /> <br /> “*Srr,-~I should be glad if you would explain your<br /> invincible prejudice against my writings. In rejecting my<br /> former MSS, you told me that ‘they were not in keeping<br /> with the character of the magazine.’ Determined that you<br /> should have this excuse no longer, I looked at your January<br /> number. In this I noticed a paper on ‘The Delhi Durbar.<br /> Accordingly, having taken the trouble to ascertain that<br /> this subject was congenial to you, I posted, on February<br /> 14th, a far better article on ‘The Durbar at Delhi.’ And<br /> then you have the effrontery—I can use no other term—to.<br /> reject it |”<br /> <br /> Yet another sample—<br /> <br /> “ Str,—-The bundle of verse enclosed is not intended for<br /> use in your magazine. None of these poems, I know, is in<br /> the least suitable for your pages. But I should be grateful<br /> if you would send me a full criticism of them, substituting<br /> other lines for any which may strike you as faulty.<br /> Perhaps also you would not mind giving me a letter of<br /> introduction to the editor of another periodical, of rather<br /> better class than yours, where they would be likely to gain<br /> acceptance.”<br /> <br /> Has the reader had enough? Would he like to<br /> see the letters urging the acceptance of impossible<br /> MSS. on the plea that the author has an elderly<br /> aunt to support, or that she has contributed to.<br /> Chippy Chirps, The Weekly Piffler, and the Christmas<br /> Number of Giggles? Or—of these I have had<br /> several—on the ground that the writer is “A<br /> Member of the Incorporated Society of Authors ” ?<br /> Or for the singular reason that she was invited<br /> once to a garden-party at Buckingham Palace ?<br /> Does he wish to realise to the full the vanity, the<br /> imbecility, the petty spitefulness of which literary<br /> human nature is capable? If so, the editorial<br /> post-bag will gratify his morbid taste.<br /> <br /> “ Yes,” the reader may remonstrate, “ but then<br /> these letters you have pretended to quote are not<br /> genuine—they are mere burlesques of your real<br /> correspondence.” Would that they were, my<br /> friend! Fictitious, in one sense, these extracts.<br />  <br /> <br /> 156<br /> <br /> are ; even an editor may have some slight remnant<br /> of decency about him, and be loth to transcribe<br /> private letters for the public eye. But I can<br /> put my hand on my heart and declare that letters<br /> no less inane, foolish, and unreasonable than<br /> the imaginary ones here cited are dropped into<br /> letter-box day by day.<br /> <br /> Authors have their grievances too, I know ; and<br /> for some of them there is a very sufficient basis.<br /> Not ignorant of ill I speak ; I, who myself for<br /> many years was a casual contributor. ‘There are<br /> editors who treat their correspondents with dis-<br /> courtesy, there are editors who disfigure MSS.,<br /> there are editors who are unconscionably slow in<br /> acceptance or rejection. To this last failing I can<br /> give no pardon. Personally, I think I have never<br /> kept an MS. for more than a week unless it was<br /> accepted, though I receive sometimes forty or<br /> fifty MSS. in a day. Hardly ever does it happen<br /> that a rejected MS. is not despatched upon its<br /> return journey within two or three days of its<br /> receipt. I make no boast of this ; I do it partly<br /> out of justice to my correspondents, but partly in<br /> my own interests. If I fell into arrears with my<br /> work I should be overwhelmed utterly by MSS.<br /> Yet if this rule is possible for me, who have many<br /> other things to do besides editing a magazine, I<br /> maintain that it is more than possible for most of<br /> my confreres, who can give the greater part of their<br /> working hours to their editorial duties. Occa-<br /> sionally one wants to keep a contribution in hand<br /> for a while, on the chance of being able to make<br /> use of it. In this case a note to the writer, ex-<br /> plaining the wish, and offering, should he prefer<br /> it, to return the MS. at once, seems not more than<br /> what, in common courtesy, is his due. However,<br /> to find fault with editors in your columns would<br /> be indeed a work of supererogation! The truth<br /> which I ask your readers to believe is that they are<br /> a sorely-tried race ; that the habits of hundreds of<br /> their correspondents are enough to induce a bitter<br /> cynicism, and that their grievances are quite as<br /> real as those of the contributors who abuse them—<br /> though, as a rule, unlike the contributors, they<br /> prefer to suffer in grim silence.<br /> <br /> But, despite the “thorns in the cushion,” the<br /> editor has his rewards, which outweigh the troubles<br /> and annoyances of the work. One is able some-<br /> times to give encouragement, to help a beginner<br /> along the right path, to make unseen friends<br /> in all parts of the wrld. Letters of kindliness<br /> and gratitude come as well as the others—letters,<br /> to receive one of which makes the abuse and the<br /> spite seem less than nothing. And thus the editor,<br /> despite the correspondence columns of The Author,<br /> can dream at times that he has laboured not quite<br /> in vain.<br /> <br /> ANTHONY DEANE.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> THE ACADEMIE GONCOURT.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> URING the past three or four months there<br /> has been considerable discussion one way<br /> or another about Academies. -<br /> <br /> The British Academy has come into existence.<br /> The pages of The Author have been full of letters<br /> with regard to the Literary Academy, and lastly<br /> the Académie Goncourt has become legalised in<br /> France.<br /> <br /> Owing to the kindness of Mr. Edmund Gosse,<br /> we are able to cull some interesting facts from an<br /> article of his that appeared in the Daily Chronicle.<br /> <br /> As it is possible that many members of the<br /> Society have not seen the article, and are interested<br /> in the subject, the following statement may prove<br /> instructive.<br /> <br /> Monsieur Goncourt left a considerable fortune<br /> for the formation of an Academy limited and<br /> confined by the strict boundaries set forth in the<br /> will.<br /> <br /> The Council of State has decided that this pro-<br /> posed Literary Society is of public utility, and may<br /> accept the important legacy of M. Goncourt. Thus,<br /> after six years’ struggle, during the course of which<br /> no doubt a good deal of the academic capital has<br /> been squandered, it comes into active life. Mr. Gosse<br /> tells us that M. Goncourt was no lover of the French<br /> Academy, so his academy is forbidden to engage<br /> in the discussion of grammar, to make any sort of<br /> dictionary, to lay down laws of public taste, or to<br /> give prizes for the encouragement of virtue.<br /> <br /> He did not enjoy poetry, and he hated criticism<br /> —accordingly there were to be no poets and no<br /> critics in the academy. This appears to be the<br /> negative side. The positive side is as follows.<br /> <br /> It is to be composed of ten men—all novelists—<br /> each to receive an annual income of 4250, and they<br /> were all to combine in offering a prize of £200<br /> every year on a book which shall be a work of real<br /> literary merit.<br /> <br /> Goncourt’s Academy would have been a most<br /> distinguished little body if it could have been carried<br /> out on the lines which he originally sketched. But<br /> Flaubert, the obvious first president, died early, and<br /> was followed by Maupassant, while Alphonse Daudet<br /> scarcely outlived the founder. Zola apostatised,<br /> and went cap in hand to the other academy ;<br /> him Edmond de Goncourt angrily struck off the<br /> list. He grew discouraged at last, and failed to<br /> fill up lacwne ; so that when the academicians held<br /> their first solemn meeting (on April 7th, 1900),<br /> only seven of them were left. These were MM.<br /> Gustave Geoffrey, Leon Hennique, J. K. Huys-<br /> mans, Paul Margueritte, Octave Mirbeau, and<br /> <br /> the brothers Justin Boex and Joseph Henri Boex<br /> (who called themselves Rosny). M.. Huysmans,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> ertainly the best known among these names, was<br /> <br /> elected president, and M. Paul Margueritte secre-<br /> tary. They completed their number by the election<br /> of M. Elémir Bourges, M. Lucien Descaves and<br /> M. Leon Daudet ; then they were swallowed up<br /> again by that litigation from which they are now<br /> happily and finally released.<br /> <br /> With the exception of M. Leon Daudet, these<br /> gentlemen are not very young. Few of them will<br /> see fifty again, although none have yet seen sixty.<br /> <br /> We thank Mr. Gosse for his interesting facts.<br /> <br /> It remains to be seen, as in the case of the British<br /> Academy, what vitality there is in this formation.<br /> It has been created for no practical purpose,<br /> and seems to have no large ideal. It will be<br /> interesting to watch its future. Perhaps the fact<br /> that it stands without an ideal may be its safe-<br /> guard. Academies with large ideals, in that they<br /> are human, have in many cases fallen far below the<br /> standard they set for themselves. An academy,<br /> however, started on the Goncourt basis may rise<br /> to a standard far beyond its own imagination.<br /> One point is quite clear, and that is the £250 per<br /> annum.<br /> <br /> (a eee<br /> <br /> A GUIDE TO GRUB STREET.<br /> <br /> —_— st<br /> <br /> s HE Literary Year Book ’’* improves by slow<br /> degrees, and the volume for 1903 (which,<br /> by the way, is the seventh that has been<br /> <br /> issued) is an advance upon its predecessors. It is<br /> <br /> still, however, capable of being altered in many<br /> respects before it can be regarded as a really<br /> necessary addition to the numerous works of refer-<br /> ence catering to the requirements of the author or<br /> journalist. Much of the information, for example,<br /> contained within its pages is to be found in the<br /> <br /> Postal Directory ; and as to the remainder, much<br /> <br /> of it is ont of place in a volume that should be<br /> <br /> practical and nothing else. Included in this latter<br /> category are the articles on ‘‘&#039;The Crown and the<br /> <br /> Author,” “Some Questions of Criticism,” and<br /> <br /> “Authors and their Societies.” These, although<br /> <br /> interesting, are polemical. As an instance of the<br /> <br /> distinctly controversial nature of the compiler’s<br /> remarks, the following extract from his account of<br /> the Royal Society of Literature is instructive :—<br /> <br /> “The Royal Society of Literature, as has been<br /> <br /> pointed out before in this place and elsewhere, is<br /> <br /> past praying for. Itis an institution which literally<br /> blocks the way of the proper representation and<br /> encouragement of literature in this country.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “The Literary Year Book,” edited by Henry Gilbert.<br /> London: George Allen, 1903.<br /> <br /> 157<br /> <br /> Very likely it is, but this is not where the question<br /> ought to be discussed.<br /> <br /> As in the last volume, a feature is again made<br /> of the Directory of Authors. No doubt this is a<br /> difficult section to edit, for it is the one that calls<br /> most loudly for improvement. It wants purging<br /> of a good deal of the tag-rag and bobtail who<br /> therein dub themselves “authors.” The wisdom<br /> of setting out at length the various third-rate<br /> periodicals in which their effusions have appeared<br /> is also open to question. No one, for example<br /> (excepting possibly Miss Snooks herself), cares two-<br /> pence—much less four shillings and sixpence, the<br /> price of this volume—to learn that Miss Snooks<br /> has contributed to Cackle and Silly Bits, or that<br /> Mr. Somebody Else edited Coronation Chuckles.<br /> To be of use, the hospitality of the list should<br /> be confined strictly to writers of distinction, and<br /> mention should only be made of the books they<br /> have published during the year.<br /> <br /> The practical portion of the volume includes<br /> lists of periodicals and their editors (with some<br /> explanatory remarks thereon), tables of royalties,<br /> and the names and addresses of the best known<br /> agents and publishers. With respect to the first<br /> of these features, several errors are to be noted.<br /> As, however, the life of a magazine is so precarious<br /> in these days of fierce competition, this is only to<br /> be expected. Among the slips are the mentioning<br /> of several defunct journals as though they were<br /> alive, and the giving of wrong addresses. Thus,<br /> the Candid Friend, Imperial and Colonial, Naval<br /> and Military, and Universal magazines are no more,<br /> although they are described as being still in exist-<br /> ence, while the offices of two or three others are<br /> described erroneously. The “ Contributors’ Guide,”<br /> describing the policy of the different papers alluded<br /> to in the second list, is of distinct value when (as<br /> so often happens) the names of the periodicals<br /> themselves offer no clue to this. It should at any<br /> rate induce budding geniuses in the country to<br /> refrain from bombarding the Pilot with articles on<br /> shipping.<br /> <br /> The tables of royalties scarcely seem so helpful<br /> as they might, and should, be. Even the most<br /> rapacious of publishers would scarcely offer (except<br /> by telephone) a royalty of 24 per cent. on a sixteen-<br /> shilling volume. Yet the editor of the “ Literary<br /> Year Book” apparently thinks that he would, for<br /> the necessary calculations on this basis are given<br /> here. Then, again, the highest royalty which he<br /> takes into account is one of 20 per cent., when it<br /> ought to be one of 834 per cent. These, however,<br /> are matters which are being dealt with at length<br /> in another issue of this journal.<br /> <br /> H. W.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> <br /> EDNA LYALL,<br /> <br /> 1— 1 —<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> E record with deep regret the death of Miss<br /> Ada Ellen Bayly, which took place at<br /> the house of her sister, Mrs. Jameson, at East-<br /> bourne, on Sunday, February 8th. Well known to a<br /> large section of the reading public as Edna Lyall,<br /> an anagram composed of some of the letters of her<br /> real name, Miss Bayly had been a member of the<br /> Incorporated Society of Authors since 1887, so that<br /> she was one of its oldest members. She did not,<br /> however, join it until she had had experience of<br /> literary work and to a large extent had made her<br /> mark. In her childhood Miss Bayly evinced a<br /> taste for writing, and had composed stories before<br /> she left the schoolroom, as, indeed, many girls do<br /> who afterwards make no attempt to win fame as<br /> authors. Beginning early to write with the serious<br /> intention of seeing her work published, Miss Bayly<br /> had for a time to endure those disappointments<br /> which many have to face who begin the literary<br /> life better equipped than she. She was, however,<br /> persevering as well as industrious. It has been<br /> told of her that once she entered St. Paul’s<br /> Cathedral dispirited by a fruitless journey to the<br /> land of editors and publishers, and took courage at<br /> the sight of the monument of one of her kinsmen<br /> who had been killed in battle. She resolved to<br /> fight on even if she died fighting as he died, but<br /> ghe lived to win success and the affectionate esteem<br /> of a large circle of readers. These felt themselves<br /> personally attached to an author who seemed in<br /> ‘a marked manner to infuse her own personality<br /> and feelings into her works. ‘‘ Won by Waiting,”<br /> her first book, written for girls and published in<br /> 1879, had at the time no particular measure of<br /> ‘success, financial or otherwise, and if we cannot<br /> without giving up confidential information relating<br /> to a member of the Society name the precise figure,<br /> we are revealing no secret if we state that the<br /> copyright in “Donovan,” her second book, pub-<br /> lished in 1882, was acquired by a publisher for a<br /> um which represented but a small fraction of its<br /> ultimate pecuniary value.<br /> <br /> The success which Donovan enjoyed did not<br /> come at first, but rather after “We Two” had<br /> attracted many readers among those who like to<br /> study religious questions in the form of fiction,<br /> and had gained the attention of a wider public<br /> still. Miss Bayly’s work was deeply imbued with<br /> religious feeling ; but her books, written as they<br /> were from a Christian standpoint, were filled with<br /> a thoughtful magnanimity not always found in<br /> those of men and women as earnestly religious<br /> as herself. “We Two” was no doubt inspired<br /> by a feeling of sympathy with the difficulties<br /> encountered by the late Mr. Bradlaugh, or at all<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> events the struggles in which his views upon<br /> religious matters involved the late Member for<br /> Northampton suggested possibilities which were<br /> embodied in the story.<br /> <br /> “We Two” was followed by “In the Golden<br /> Days,” (1885), a romance of a different type, and<br /> the author’s position became well established, so<br /> that many who had not read her former works<br /> when they were first published did so now. Toa<br /> high literary or philosophic standard Edna Lyall<br /> did not perhaps attain, but her warmest admirers<br /> were among those not keenly critical in such matters.<br /> She won sympathy for her characters, and had the<br /> power to a very considerable degree of rousing<br /> interest in them and in the intellectual and physical<br /> difficulties and dangers that beset them. Of her<br /> minor works, “The Autobiography of a Slander,”<br /> published in 1887, had many readers. Her recent<br /> production, “ The Hinderers,” 1902, took a side<br /> that was too unpopular at the time to allow its<br /> advocates a sympathetic hearing.<br /> <br /> Miss Bayly was the daughter of the late Mr.<br /> Robert Bayly, a barrister of the Inner Temple, and<br /> a granddaughter of Mr. Robert Bayly, formerly a<br /> bencher, and at one time treasurer of Gray&#039;s Inn.<br /> Her principal writings include, besides those<br /> already named, ‘‘Their Happiest Christmas,” 1886 ;<br /> “Knight Errant,” 1887 ; ‘A Hardy Norseman,”<br /> 1889 ; Derrick Vaughan, Novelist,” 1889; “ To<br /> Right the Wrong,” 1892 ; “ Doreen, The Story of a<br /> Singer,” 1894; ‘‘How the Children Raised the<br /> Wind,” 1895; “The Autobiograghy of a Truth,”<br /> 1896; “ Wayfaring Men,” 1897; “ Hope the<br /> Hermit,” 1898 ; “In Spite of All,” 1901.<br /> <br /> —_————\_1——_<br /> <br /> SIR. GAVAN DUFFY.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> ITH the death of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy<br /> <br /> a fine type of fighting Irishman has<br /> <br /> passed away. His political career—<br /> <br /> revolutionary and startling—has been fully set<br /> <br /> forth in the papers. There is no need to repeat<br /> facts known to everybody.<br /> <br /> He was a member of the Society from 1890 till<br /> 1899, when he retired owing to increasing age.<br /> His literary works were not numerous, but one of<br /> his most interesting was, perhaps, his work entitled<br /> “Young Ireland.” He assigned the right of<br /> publication of this to a Dublin publisher for a<br /> given period of years, and to his amazement, some<br /> years after the date mentioned in the agreement,<br /> found the book was still selling on the market.<br /> As he thought it improbable that ‘these copies<br /> had been printed in accordance with the terms<br /> of the agreement, his suspicions and at the same<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> time his fighting spirit were roused. He deter-<br /> mined to test the matter in the courts. We have<br /> before us a copy of the agreed judgment in the<br /> action in which he was plaintiff; as the judgment<br /> was in his favour his suspicions proved amply<br /> justified : a considerable edition had been printed<br /> and published after the agreement had expired.<br /> <br /> In all his political actions in Ireland, in England,<br /> and the Colonies, he stood forth a sound example<br /> of the Irishman of a past generation, whose high<br /> Irish spirit and Irish vigour carried him to an<br /> honoured old age.<br /> <br /> ee ee ee<br /> <br /> THE AGE OF REASON.*<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> F self-satisfaction, and a placid acquiescence in<br /> the order of the universe, and a somewhat<br /> lofty contempt for all previous ages, may<br /> <br /> be considered to constitute happiness, the mid-<br /> eighteenth century, as it is rather curiously termed,<br /> will be regarded as a period not unworthy of the<br /> return of Astrea. That “their lot had been cast<br /> in an era of unparalleled enlightenment, that<br /> theirs was the last word in the progressive series<br /> of human thought and knowledge,” was the fine<br /> and futile belief of the Encyclopeedists, the Econo-<br /> mists, and of Voltaire himself. For Voltaire, as<br /> Mr. Millar has shown us, was not a pessimist. A<br /> pessimist is a man who knows no better ; he is an<br /> unsuccessful thinker. If Voltaire showed pessi-<br /> mism in his attitude towards the theories of others,<br /> with regard to his own point of view his optimism<br /> was steadfast. He did not dance on his rose-coloured<br /> spectacles. Like all true cynics, he reserved them<br /> for the contemplation of everything that was the<br /> antithesis of what he attacked.<br /> <br /> Johnson, and the novelists, both French and<br /> English, approved of their period for a tamer<br /> reason, simply because it was inevitable. Le Sage<br /> and Fielding acquiesced in the order of things,<br /> not through devotion, not through complacent<br /> content, but because their sense of humour, their<br /> wide, sane view of life, forbade useless lamentation<br /> or rhapsody.<br /> <br /> But the general “song of pure concent” was<br /> not wholly undisturbed. There are always certain<br /> thin-lipped persons who console themselves for<br /> their own stupidity, or ugliness, or bad manners,<br /> by sneering at the wise, the beautiful, and the<br /> gracious. These silly people are, as a rule, of even<br /> Jess importance in literature than in life ; their<br /> denunciations of luxury, which they call effeminacy,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “Periods of European Literature: IX, The Mid-<br /> Eighteenth Century,” by J. H. Millar (Blackwood, 1902),<br /> <br /> 159<br /> <br /> and their attitude to art, which reminds one irre-<br /> sistibly of a policeman in a museum, are rarely<br /> worth notice. Still, on occasions, they acquire,<br /> like many quite intolerable things, the merit of<br /> usefulness. They are usually indiscriminate in<br /> their invectives against the existing order of things<br /> —they would attack the age of Pericles, if they<br /> lived in it, as cheerfully as they would attack that<br /> of Charles I., and so it is just a chance whether<br /> their influence is beneficial or not. In a great<br /> period they are a nuisance ; in a petty period they<br /> are an unpleasant but useful cathartic. They are<br /> always with us.<br /> <br /> They existed in the mid-cighteenth century, but<br /> no one took them seriously, until from their ranks<br /> arose, portentous, insidious, the form of Jean<br /> Jacques Rousseau. He was an Ovid disguised in<br /> the mantle of a Bernardin St. Pierre; he was the<br /> corrupt champion of a not ignoble revolt. No<br /> revolt is ignoble. It is Nature’s protest against<br /> inactivity, and dull oppression, and _ intellectual<br /> death. But most people who revolt are quite<br /> revolting.<br /> <br /> The craving for realism, which was one of the<br /> chief characteristics of the period, found its satis-<br /> faction in one form of literature, the novel. It<br /> affected the drama, too, but only slightly ; poetry<br /> continued its serene, sluggish course of “ classi-<br /> cism,” to be lost at last—the weariest river !—in<br /> the bright waves of the Romantic revival. A<br /> point that Mr. Millar seemed to omit to notice<br /> was that Realism actually formed a step from<br /> hide-bound, mincing “classicism” to Romanticism.<br /> Between the study of man as a piece of intellectual<br /> clockwork and the study of the lurid depth and<br /> grey mystery of his passions must lie the con-<br /> templation of man as a real being, ovre kaxirros ov&#039;re<br /> mpatos tows, dudAdds d€ tis. . . But probably Mr.<br /> Millar was fearful of encroaching on the outskirts<br /> of the claim belonging to his neighbour, Professor<br /> Vaughan.<br /> <br /> Mr. Millar’s book has escaped most of the dis-<br /> advantages that beset a treatise whose aim is<br /> primarily educational. It is well written, with<br /> pleasant flashes of humour, and some of the criti-<br /> cisms are really very illuminating. But his defence<br /> of the period at the end of the volume is an appeal<br /> based on the glass-house theory, and I feel certain<br /> that after he had written it he rushed from his<br /> desk and read Theocritus, or Catullus, or Theo-<br /> phile Gautier, or someone else remarkable for grace<br /> and delicacy. He has avoided the old, obvious<br /> clichés in dealing with the great men; he has given<br /> a succinct account of the philosophy of the period<br /> which all people who have not read any philosophy<br /> could appreciate, and which even a philosopher<br /> might sometimes understand. His information is<br /> derived from first-hand knowledge. As one thinks<br /> 160<br /> <br /> of “ Butler’s Analogy,” one experiences all the<br /> sweet sensations of sympathy. But at all events,<br /> it has not hurt Mr. Millav’s prose style.<br /> <br /> Mr. Millar regards the drama as extinct. It<br /> ended, he says, with “The Critic.” ‘‘ Tragedies<br /> have been produced by poets great and small, but<br /> they are unplayable, and ought to have remained<br /> unplayed.” Did Mr. Millar, I wonder, see<br /> “Herod” ? ‘ Melodramas and comedies have run<br /> for thousands of nights, yet in print prove obsti-<br /> nately unreadable.”’ Has Mr. Millar ever attempted<br /> to read any of Oscar Wilde’s plays ? They are not<br /> so obstinate. Mr. Millar’s book is too readable,<br /> his quotations from Vauvenargues too typical of<br /> the man who loves a good phrase, to make me believe<br /> that he could fail to understand the ‘‘ Importance<br /> of Being Earnest.” He will, perhaps, some day<br /> delete with tears the last page of his chapter on<br /> the drama.<br /> <br /> St. Joun Lucas.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> St<br /> <br /> To the Editor of Ton AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Srr,—I should much like to know whether or<br /> not some folk have any good ground for saying<br /> whether or no? Most of us say ‘‘ whether or not,”<br /> and surely correctly. I had almost persuaded a<br /> certain friend to give up his “no,” when trium-<br /> phantly he produced the Authorized Version,<br /> John ix., 25! But surely even there “ not”<br /> would be grammar, since it means whether he be<br /> a sinner or (whether he be) not (a sinner). In<br /> fact it is the German nicht and nein. Can The<br /> Author settle the point ?<br /> <br /> Kine’s ENGLIsa.<br /> <br /> P.S.—I note that the Revisers have discreetly<br /> dropped the contested point! Still I keep saying,<br /> “‘ Whether it be usage, or not” ; my friend declaring<br /> “‘ Whether you think it wrong, or no.” Will The<br /> Author arbitrate ? doing so by showing reason,<br /> else my friend will never be convinced !<br /> <br /> —— 1 —<br /> <br /> REYIEWS AND REYIEWERS.<br /> To the Editor of Tun AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Dear Srr,—With reference to the playful ways<br /> of reviewers, the enclosed specimen may amuse the<br /> author and publisher, who are kind enough to send<br /> copies of their works to provincial newspapers.<br /> <br /> No one really attends to the remarks of the<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> reviewer ; they have long ceased to pretend to any<br /> value, other than the price of a few lines of print ;<br /> but the question now arises, Is it better to have a<br /> string of ignorant or impertinent observations, or<br /> a review of a quarter of a column (of which half is<br /> quotation from a work other than that under notice)<br /> which barely mentions the book at all ?<br /> <br /> Personally, I prefer the last, judging by the<br /> specimen I enclose. I had never seen the verses<br /> quoted ; so that I’ve learnt something.<br /> <br /> T am, etc.,<br /> <br /> L. Corr CORNFORD.<br /> <br /> Mr. L. Cope Cornford—whose interesting monograph on<br /> Stevenson was so successful in catching the very trick of<br /> that author’s style—announces a new novel under the<br /> romantic title of “The Last Buccaneer.” ‘The title, of<br /> course, is not quite original—few titles are, and luckily<br /> there is no copyright in them. It was used before by a<br /> poet whose work we should like to quote, for it is very<br /> little known, although the author’s name is a household<br /> word among us. Perhaps those who are in need of a mild<br /> amusement might offer their friends a dozen guesses at the<br /> author’s name—to be discovered from internal evidence.<br /> This is the poem :<br /> <br /> “The winds were yelling, the waves were swelling,<br /> The sky was black and drear,<br /> When the crew, with eyes of flame, brought the ship<br /> without a name<br /> Alongside the last Buccaneer.<br /> <br /> “¢ Whence flies your sloop full sail, before so fierce a<br /> <br /> gale,<br /> When all others drive bare on the seas ?<br /> Say, come ye from the shore of the holy Salvador,<br /> Or the gulf of the rich Carribees ?’<br /> <br /> “¢From a shore no search hath found, from a gulf no<br /> line can sound,<br /> Without rudder or needle we steer ;<br /> Above, below our bark, dies the sea fowl and the shark,<br /> As we fly by the last Buccaneer.<br /> <br /> ‘“««To-night there shall be heard on the rocks of Cape de<br /> Verde<br /> A loud crash, and a louder roar ;<br /> And to-morrow shall the deep, with a heavy moaning,<br /> sweep<br /> The corpses and wreck to the shore,’<br /> <br /> “The stately ship of Clyde securely now may ride<br /> In the breath of the citron shades ;<br /> And Severn’s towering mast securely now flies fast<br /> Through the sea of the balmy Trades.<br /> <br /> “From St. Jago’s wealthy port, from Havana’s royal<br /> fort<br /> The seaman goes forth, without fear ;<br /> For since that stormy night not a mortal hath had<br /> sight<br /> Of the flag of the last Buccaneer.”<br /> <br /> The modern reader will trace in this poem something of<br /> the style of Poe and something of that of Mr. Kipling,<br /> though its date makes it highly probable that its author<br /> was influenced by neither of these high authorities on<br /> buccaneers.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/481/1903-03-01-The-Author-13-6.pdf	publications, The Author
482	https://historysoa.com/items/show/482	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 07 (April 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+07+%28April+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 07 (April 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>	1903-04-01-The-Author-13-7					161–192																		<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=1903-04-01">1903-04-01</a>							7			19030401	Che Buthor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR<br /> <br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> VoL: XTIT == No. 7.<br /> <br /> APRIL Ist, 1903.<br /> <br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 3874 VICTORIA.<br /> +» +<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> ——-<br /> <br /> : 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 /> Tue 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 /> 1<br /> <br /> List of Members.<br /> <br /> Tue 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 /> a<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 /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> Be viele rts: £1000 0 0<br /> Ber POON 500 0 0<br /> Victorian Government 3 + Consoli-<br /> <br /> dated Inscribed Stock ...............<br /> WAAR ie ieee<br /> <br /> Eocgisse 1,993 9 2<br /> <br /> 291 19 11<br /> 201° 9 3<br /> <br /> Total<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> SPECIAL 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 total amount of subscriptions and donations<br /> up to Dec. 1st is:—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.;<br /> donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to<br /> either list are set out below.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . 50. 5 0<br /> Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia 010 0<br /> Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . : 010 6<br /> » Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 1 020<br /> », Brinton, Selwyn 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie . ; ~ 0 50<br /> <br /> Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the<br /> Duchess of 3 s » 272 6<br /> Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace . 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 22, Anonymous ; 010 0<br /> Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W. 0 5 0<br /> ‘ Pike Clement, E. 0 5 0<br /> <br /> 1908.<br /> <br /> Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6<br /> » Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 0<br /> Jan, 4, Anonymous O 50<br /> » Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0<br /> » Russell, G. H. ; 1 12.0<br /> Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0 5 0<br /> », Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 5. 0<br /> Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 7 0b 0<br /> Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0<br /> Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred = 0.10.0<br /> <br /> <br /> 162<br /> <br /> Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred Oo 0<br /> Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. ; 0 5 0<br /> Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0 5 0<br /> » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 0<br /> Feb. 23, Finnemore, John 0 5 0<br /> Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. 8t. C. . 1 0 0<br /> Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6<br /> Donations.<br /> Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0<br /> » Smith, G. C. Moore 1 0 0<br /> Dec. 2, Trevor-Battye, Aubyn 1 1:0<br /> » Marks, Mrs. . : 010 0O<br /> Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 05 0<br /> Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 20 0<br /> », “Leicester Romayne” 0 5 0<br /> ;, Hellier, H. George. 1 10<br /> Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 6 5 0<br /> » Panting, J. Harwood 010 0<br /> » “attersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0<br /> Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. 010 0<br /> Dec. 28, A. 5: . : : : Lo 0<br /> , Bateman, Stringer . : - 010 0<br /> Dec. 31, Cholmondeley, Miss Mary 10 0 0<br /> 1903.<br /> Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss E. 0 10<br /> », Middlemass, MissJean . 0 10<br /> <br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, Hon.<br /> The Lord . :<br /> » Gribble, Francis. :<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston<br /> » Miller, Miss E. T. .<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp; Miss Geraldine<br /> Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French<br /> Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt<br /> Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. : é<br /> Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rey. Silas<br /> Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W.<br /> ;, Ord, Hubert H.<br /> Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor<br /> » Carlile, Rev. J. C..<br /> Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.<br /> Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs...<br /> Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella<br /> Mar. 16, Hallward, N. L.<br /> <br /> The Right<br /> <br /> EPoeecocoeoorecoocoooroce<br /> Ho<br /> Ocoeceooeoseoqooooaconoo oom<br /> <br /> Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice 0-5<br /> Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry _10 20<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 /> Dowsett, C. F.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<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.<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 Ze 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. . ; 5 : - 10 0 6<br /> Drummond, Hamilton ; . - 10 0 86<br /> Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 0 8<br /> Gilbert, W. 8S. . ‘ : : . 10 0 6<br /> Sturgis, Julian . j : : - 10 0 6<br /> Sea<br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> THE amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,<br /> about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st<br /> to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . : : : coe<br /> Salwey, Reginald E. :<br /> Gidley, Miss E. C.<br /> <br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E.<br /> <br /> Dill, Miss Bessie<br /> <br /> Moore, Henry Charles<br /> <br /> Kemp, Miss Geraldine<br /> <br /> Clarke, Miss B.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> taal<br /> AaonaIntoor<br /> <br /> oOo o OS Oo<br /> Om GS oo SO<br /> <br /> See<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> MEETING of the Managing Committee of<br /> the Society was held on Monday, March<br /> 2nd, when twenty members and associates<br /> <br /> were elected, making the total number of elections<br /> for 1903 up to sixty-two.<br /> <br /> Mr. A. Hope Hawkins has been elected a<br /> member of the Pension Fund Committee, to fill<br /> the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir<br /> Michael Foster. Mr. Hawkins is the nominee of<br /> the Committee. ;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Mr.<br /> nominee of the Society at the General Meeting.<br /> <br /> We are sorry to state that Sir Arthur Conan<br /> Doyle, while expressing his sympathy with the<br /> work of the Society, has been forced, owing to<br /> pressure of business, to retire from the Committee<br /> <br /> Morley Roberts was re-elected as the<br /> <br /> of Management. The Committee accepted his<br /> resignation with regret.<br /> <br /> Three cases came before the<br /> consideration.<br /> <br /> On the first case the Committee had already<br /> taken counsel’s opinion, but after perusal of it,<br /> regretted that they were unable to take the matter<br /> further on behalf of the member concerned.<br /> <br /> In one of the other two cases it was decided to<br /> commence action, as it was understood that the<br /> publisher had refused to produce vouchers of his<br /> accounts. The Committee have always held that<br /> the right to have accounts properly vouched is one<br /> of the foremost principles for which the Society<br /> contends.<br /> <br /> The second, a case of alleged infringement, the<br /> <br /> Committee for<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 163<br /> <br /> Sandlands, The Rev. J.P. Brigstock<br /> Thrapston.<br /> <br /> 36, Waterloo Bridge<br /> Road, 8. E.<br /> <br /> 52, Lower Sloane Street,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> The Grotto, Hanworth<br /> Road, Hampton-on-<br /> Thames.<br /> <br /> Vicarage,<br /> Stephenson, Cecil<br /> Stone, Miss J. M.<br /> Tayler, J. Lionel<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> The Annual Dinner,<br /> <br /> THE Annual Dinner of the Society has been<br /> fixed for April 30th. It will be held at the Hotel<br /> Cecil at 7 for 7.30. Mr. D. W. Freshfield will take<br /> the Chair.<br /> <br /> The Committee have decided that on this and<br /> future occasions the Chairman of the Managing<br /> Committee for the current year shall be Chairman<br /> of the Dinner.<br /> <br /> The following members have consented to act<br /> as Stewards :—<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Committee were unable to take further.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> March Elections.<br /> <br /> Blew, The Rev. John<br /> Brereton, Capt. Frederick<br /> Ss<br /> <br /> i Chellineton, Rupert ”<br /> <br /> Dougall, Miss Lily .<br /> <br /> Dutton, Mrs. Carrie<br /> (“ Tattler ”’)<br /> <br /> Edge, Miss Kathleen M.<br /> <br /> Hole, W. G.<br /> <br /> Kinder, Mrs. Harold<br /> (‘‘ Frances Aylward ”)<br /> <br /> King, W. J. Harding<br /> <br /> Knocker, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Mathieson, W. L.<br /> <br /> Pells, S. F.<br /> <br /> Peters, William Theodore<br /> <br /> Rainsford, W. H. . ;<br /> <br /> meeves, Mra. (“C. J.<br /> Hargreaves ”’)<br /> <br /> cL. &amp;. ; ‘<br /> Rowsell, Miss Mary O.<br /> <br /> Scatter Rectory, Lin-<br /> coln.<br /> <br /> 3, Queen’s Road, South-<br /> port.<br /> <br /> Melbourne, Derby-<br /> shire.<br /> <br /> Springhall, Sawbridge-<br /> worth.<br /> <br /> Waverley Court, Cam-<br /> berley, Surrey.<br /> <br /> The Castle House,<br /> Shrewsbury.<br /> <br /> Taunton, Coulsdon,<br /> Caterham, Surrey.<br /> <br /> Wallescote Hall, Stour-<br /> bridge.<br /> Millslade, — Brendon,<br /> Lynton, N. Devon.<br /> Clifton Lodge, Wardie,<br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> 185, Church Road,<br /> Hove,<br /> <br /> 55, Cité des Fleurs,<br /> Paris.<br /> <br /> Patton, Bedfordshire.<br /> <br /> 20, Brook Lane, Orms-<br /> kirk, Lanes.<br /> <br /> 67, Buxton Road,<br /> Thornton Heath.<br /> <br /> Abbot, The Rev. Edwin<br /> A, D.D.<br /> Aflalo, F. G.<br /> Allingham,<br /> F.R.C.S.<br /> <br /> Archer, William.<br /> <br /> Arnold, Sir Edwin,<br /> K.C.I.E., C.8.1.<br /> <br /> Avebury, The Right<br /> Hon, The — luord,<br /> P.C., etc.<br /> <br /> Bateman, Robert.<br /> <br /> Beddard, F. E., F.RB.S.<br /> <br /> Bell, Mackenzie.<br /> <br /> Benson, A. CO.<br /> <br /> Benson, E. F.<br /> <br /> Bergne, Sir Henry,<br /> K.C.M.G., C.B.<br /> <br /> Bonney, The Rev. T. G.,<br /> F.R.S.<br /> <br /> Browning, Oscar.<br /> <br /> Bryden, H. A.<br /> <br /> Bullen, F. T.<br /> <br /> Campbell, Lady Colin.<br /> <br /> Capes, Bernard.<br /> <br /> Carey, Miss R. N.<br /> <br /> Chambers, 8. Haddon.<br /> <br /> Cholmondeley, Miss<br /> Mary.<br /> <br /> Church, Prof. A. H.,<br /> F.R.S.<br /> <br /> Clodd, Edward.<br /> <br /> Collier, The Hon. John.<br /> <br /> Cookson, Col. Fife.<br /> <br /> Courtney, W. L.<br /> <br /> William,<br /> <br /> Croker, Mrs.<br /> Davidson, John.<br /> Dobson, Austin.<br /> Doudney, Miss Sarah.<br /> Dougall, Miss Lily.<br /> <br /> Douglas, Sir George,<br /> Bart.<br /> Dowden, Prof. Edward.<br /> Doyle, Sir Arthur<br /> Conan.<br /> Foster, Sir Michael,<br /> K.C.B.<br /> <br /> Garnett, Richard, C.B.<br /> Gissing, George.<br /> Gollancz, Israel.<br /> Grand, Madame Sarah.<br /> Graves, Alfred P.<br /> Gribble, Francis.<br /> Haggard, H. Rider.<br /> Harraden, Miss Beatrice.<br /> Hart, Major-General Sir<br /> Reginald, V.C., &amp;c.<br /> <br /> Hocking, The Rey.<br /> Silas K.<br /> <br /> Hornung, E. W.<br /> <br /> Humphreys, Mrs.<br /> <br /> C* Rita),<br /> Hunt, Miss Violet.<br /> Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe.<br /> Jacobs, W. W.<br /> Jex-Blake, Dr. Sophia.<br /> Keary, ©. F.<br /> Keltie, J. Scott, LL.D.<br /> Kennard, Mrs. Edward.<br /> Lang, Andrew.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 162 THE AUTHOR.<br /> Feb. 8, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5 0 There are in addition other subscribers who do<br /> Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . : 0 5 O- not desire that either their names or the amount<br /> Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert. 0 5 O they are subscribing should be printed.<br /> » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0 5 O<br /> Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 0 5 O SPECIAL CONDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.<br /> Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1:9 9 Mr. Hamilton Drummond i<br /> aS : 5 : : , who is a member<br /> Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6 a See offered a subscription of £10 a<br /> : ve years, if nine other members of the Soci<br /> Donations. will promise the same contribution. ies<br /> Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon 5 0 0 We sincerely hope that sufficient members of<br /> Smith, G. C. Moore 1 0 0. the Society will be found to come forward and<br /> Dec. 2, Trevor-Battye, Aubyn 1 1 0 meet Mr. Drummond’s generous offer, and that<br /> » Marks, Mrs. . : 0 10 0 before the time expires we may be able to print in<br /> Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles 0 5 0. the columns of The Author the full list of ten<br /> Dec. 11, Lutzow, Count 2 0 0 subscribers of the required amount.<br /> », “Leicester Romayne ” 0 5 O<br /> » Hellier, H. Gores 1 1.0 Subscriptions.<br /> Dec. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 0 5 O #awkins, A.<br /> 5, Panting, J. Harwood 010-0 pasie 7 ee : ‘ ‘ a ;<br /> » Tattersall, Miss Louisa . 0 5 0 Drummond, Mactan : ; 35 a<br /> Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0 5 0 Wynne, Charles Whitworth . . 10 0 0<br /> Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. 010 0 Gilbert, W. S. : : 10 6 @<br /> Dee 28,4.5 . .. . . 1 1 0 Sturgis, Julian . 3 3 : - 10 0 6<br /> » Bateman, Stringer . ; . 010 0<br /> Dec. 31, Cholmondeley, Miss Mary 10 0 0 a<br /> 1903. : :<br /> Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. 010 6 Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> » Middlemass, Miss Jean . -,0 10 0 THE amount standing to the credit<br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon. of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6<br /> The Lord . bb 0 : a :<br /> » Gribble, Francis. : 610 06 There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . 010 6 Outstanding. The total of these is, roughly,<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 1 1 © about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st<br /> , Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5 0 to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp; Miss Geraldine 010 6 ;<br /> Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French 0 5 0 fclvey, opined o “ u .<br /> Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt 010 0 Gidley, Mick C0 pie 8<br /> Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. : 040 6 Nison Prof 7. 076<br /> Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 110 “pat ‘Migs Beasts ’ Ob a<br /> Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. 010 6 Moore, Henry Charles 0 8 a<br /> » Ord, Hubert H. 010 9 Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6<br /> Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor 010 0 (Qlarke, Miss B O05 8<br /> » Carlile, Rev. J. O.. 010 0 : :<br /> Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. D0 0 ee<br /> Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs... 010 0<br /> Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 010 0 FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> Mar. 16, Hallward, N. Ll. . 1 20 aes<br /> Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . : ee) ; ;<br /> Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry . -10 0 6 MEETING of the Managing Committee of<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 /> Dowsett, C. F.<br /> <br /> the Society was held on Monday, March<br /> <br /> 2nd, when twenty members and associates<br /> were elected, making the total number of elections<br /> for 1903 up to sixty-two.<br /> <br /> Mr. A. Hope Hawkins has been elected a<br /> member of the Pension Fund Committee, to fill<br /> the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir<br /> Michael Foster. Mr. Hawkins is the nominee of<br /> the Committee.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Ete Swat<br /> <br /> o ety yi<br /> ehh.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Mr. Morley Roberts was re-elected as the<br /> nominee of the Society at the General Meeting.<br /> <br /> We are sorry to state that Sir Arthur Conan<br /> Doyle, while expressing his sympathy with the<br /> work of the Society, has been forced, owing to<br /> pressure of business, to retire from the Committee<br /> of Management. The Committee accepted his<br /> resignation with regret.<br /> <br /> Three cases came before the Committee for<br /> consideration.<br /> <br /> On the first case the Committee had already<br /> taken counsel’s opinion, but after perusal of it,<br /> regretted that they were unable to take the matter<br /> further on behalf of the member concerned.<br /> <br /> In one of the other two cases it was decided to<br /> commence action, as it was understood that the<br /> publisher had refused to produce vouchers of his<br /> accounts. The Committee have always held that<br /> the right to have accounts properly vouched is one<br /> of the foremost principles for which the Society<br /> contends.<br /> <br /> The second, a case of alleged infringement, the<br /> Committee were unable to take further.<br /> <br /> ——_1—~&lt;— +<br /> <br /> March Elections.<br /> <br /> Blew, The Rev. John Scatter Rectory, Lin-<br /> <br /> coln.<br /> Brereton, Capt. Frederick 3, Queen’s Road, South-<br /> S. port.<br /> **Chellington, Rupert ”<br /> Dougall, Miss Lily . Melbourne, Derby-<br /> shire.<br /> Dutton, Mrs. Carrie Springhall, Sawbridge-<br /> (“ Tattler ’’) worth.<br /> <br /> Edge, Miss Kathieen M. Waverley Court, Cam-<br /> <br /> berley, Surrey.<br /> <br /> Hole, W.G. . : . The Castle House,<br /> Shrewsbury.<br /> Kinder, Mrs. Harold Taunton, Coulsdon,<br /> <br /> (‘‘ Frances Aylward”)<br /> King, W. J. Harding<br /> <br /> Caterham, Surrey.<br /> Wallescote Hall, Stour-<br /> bridge.<br /> Millslade, | Brendon,<br /> Lynton, N. Devon.<br /> Clifton Lodge, Wardie,<br /> <br /> Knocker, Mrs.<br /> Mathieson, W. L.<br /> <br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> Fells, S.F. . : -. 185, Church Road,<br /> Hove.<br /> <br /> Peters, William Theodore 55, Cité des Fleurs,<br /> Paris.<br /> <br /> Rainsford, W. H. . . Patton, Bedfordshire.<br /> <br /> Reeves, Mrs. (“C. J. 20, Brook Lane, Orms-<br /> Hargreaves ”’) kirk, Lancs.<br /> 0. L. RB.<br /> <br /> Rowsell, Miss Mary C.. 67, Buxton Road,<br /> Thornton Heath.<br /> <br /> Sandlands, The Rev. J. P. Brigstock<br /> <br /> Stephenson, Cecil<br /> Stone, Miss J. M. .<br /> <br /> Tayler, J. Lionel<br /> <br /> 163<br /> <br /> Vicarage,<br /> Thrapston.<br /> <br /> 36, Waterloo Bridge<br /> Road, S.E.<br /> <br /> 52, Lower Sloane Street,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> The Grotto, Hanworth<br /> Road, Hampton-on-<br /> Thames.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> The Annual Dinner.<br /> THe Annual Dinner of the Society has been<br /> <br /> fixed for April 30th.<br /> Cecil at 7 for 7.30.<br /> the Chair.<br /> <br /> It will be held at the Hotel<br /> Mr. D. W. Freshfield will take<br /> <br /> The Committee have decided that on this and<br /> future occasions the Chairman of the Managing<br /> Committee for the current year shall be Chairman<br /> <br /> of the Dinner.<br /> <br /> The following members have consented to act<br /> <br /> as Stewards :—<br /> <br /> Abbot, The Rey. Edwin<br /> A., D.D.<br /> Aflalo, F. G.<br /> Allingham,<br /> F.R.C.S.<br /> <br /> Archer, William.<br /> <br /> Arnold, Sir Edwin,<br /> K.C.I.E., 0.8.1.<br /> <br /> Avebury, The<br /> Hon. ‘The<br /> P.C., etc.<br /> <br /> Bateman, Robert.<br /> <br /> Beddard, F. E., F.R.S.<br /> <br /> Bell, Mackenzie.<br /> <br /> Benson, A. C.<br /> <br /> Benson, E. F.<br /> <br /> Bergne, Sir Henry,<br /> K.C.M.G., C.B.<br /> <br /> Bonney, The Rev. T. G.,<br /> F.R.S.<br /> <br /> Browning, Oscar.<br /> <br /> Bryden, H. A.<br /> <br /> Bullen, F. T.<br /> <br /> Campbell, Lady Colin.<br /> <br /> Capes, Bernard.<br /> <br /> Carey, Miss R. N.<br /> <br /> Chambers, S. Haddon.<br /> <br /> Cholmondeley, Miss<br /> Mary.<br /> <br /> Church, Prof. A. H.,<br /> F.R.S.<br /> <br /> Clodd, Edward.<br /> <br /> Collier, The Hon. John.<br /> <br /> Cookson, Col. Fife.<br /> <br /> Courtney, W. L.<br /> <br /> William,<br /> <br /> tight<br /> <br /> Lord,<br /> <br /> Croker, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Davidson, John.<br /> <br /> Dobson, Austin.<br /> <br /> Doudney, Miss Sarah.<br /> <br /> Dougall, Miss Lily.<br /> <br /> Douglas, Sir George,<br /> Bart.<br /> <br /> Dowden, Prof. Edward.<br /> <br /> Doyle, Sir Arthur<br /> Conan.<br /> Foster, Sir Michael,<br /> K.C.B.<br /> <br /> Garnett, Richard, C.B.<br /> Gissing, George.<br /> Gollancz, Israel.<br /> Grand, Madame Sarah.<br /> Graves, Alfred P.<br /> Gribble, Francis.<br /> Haggard, H. Rider.<br /> Harraden, Miss Beatrice.<br /> Hart, Major-General Sir<br /> Reginald, V.C., &amp;e.<br /> Hocking, The Rev.<br /> Silas K.<br /> Hornung, E. W.<br /> Humphreys, Mrs.<br /> (* Rita’)<br /> Hunt, Miss Violet.<br /> Hyne, C. J. Cutcliffe.<br /> Jacobs, W. W.<br /> Jex-Blake, Dr. Sophia.<br /> Keary, C. F.<br /> Keltie, J. Scott, LL.D.<br /> Kennard, Mrs. Edward.<br /> Lang, Andrew.<br /> 164<br /> <br /> Lankester, Prof. E. Ray.<br /> Lecky, The Right Hon.<br /> W. E.H., P.C.<br /> Leighton, Mrs. Connor.<br /> Lely, J. M.<br /> Lennox, Lady William.<br /> Lockyer, Sir Norman,<br /> K.C.B., F.RB.S.<br /> “‘Maarten Maartens.”<br /> Marsh, Richard.<br /> Mason, A. E. W.<br /> <br /> Maxwell, The Right<br /> Hon. Sir Herbert,<br /> Bart.<br /> <br /> Middlemas, Miss Jean.<br /> Morrison, Arthur.<br /> Norman, Henry, M.P.<br /> Parker, Sir Gilbert,<br /> M.P.<br /> Parker, Louis N.<br /> Pemberton, Max.<br /> Pinero, A. W.<br /> Plunkett, The Right<br /> Hon. Count, F.R.S.<br /> Pollock, Sir Frederick,<br /> Bart, LL.D.<br /> Praed, Mrs. Campbell.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Pryce, Richard.<br /> <br /> Reich, Prof. Emil.<br /> <br /> Roberts, Morley.<br /> <br /> Russell, Sir W. H.,<br /> LL.D.<br /> <br /> Senior, William.<br /> <br /> Shaw, G. Bernard.<br /> <br /> Sidewick, Alfred.<br /> <br /> Spencer, Herbert.<br /> <br /> Spielmann, M. H.<br /> <br /> Sprigge, S. Squire.<br /> <br /> Stanford, Sir Charles<br /> Villiers, Mus. Doc.<br /> <br /> Steel, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Street, G. 8.<br /> <br /> Thompson, Sir Henry,<br /> Bart., F.R.C.S.<br /> <br /> Tweedie, Mrs. Alec.<br /> <br /> Upward, Allen.<br /> <br /> Wain, Louis.<br /> <br /> Ward, Mrs. Humphry.<br /> <br /> Watts-Dunton, T.<br /> <br /> Wells, H. G.<br /> <br /> White, Percy.<br /> <br /> Whiteing, Richard.<br /> <br /> Wilkins, W. H.<br /> <br /> Zangwill, Israel.<br /> <br /> —_——————_+——_+__—_—_<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> “Fiction for the Million.”<br /> J<br /> <br /> COLUMN article under the above heading<br /> A appeared in the Daily Chronicle on the<br /> 26th February last, in which certain state-<br /> ments were put forward, apparently with authority,<br /> by its author, for he described himself as reader or<br /> “taster” for one of the most successful fiction<br /> publishing firms in the world. The true inwardness<br /> of the article was revealed by its sub-title, “ How<br /> to Make an Income by Novel Writing,” and this<br /> income would appear to be anything but exiguous.<br /> Indeed, a positive declaration is made that by the<br /> production of serials there are “ many writers .<br /> who without much effort” earn from £2,000 to<br /> £3,500 a year regularly. ‘1 speak at first hand,<br /> and from personal knowledge,” adds the writer.<br /> In examining this astounding statement the<br /> question arises, What is meant here by serials ?<br /> The article referred to supplies the answer; they<br /> are such stories as are written by authors “ who<br /> have in many cases had no story at all or very few<br /> stories reproduced in volume form.” As a matter<br /> fact, every one knows exactly what these serials<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> are ; they are described, and not inaccurately, as<br /> “rotters.” It is equally well known that there is<br /> a market for these serials—in the popular penny<br /> weeklies, in the halfpenny dailies, in the halfpenny<br /> evening papers, etc. According to the writer in<br /> the Daily Chronicle, this market is so large and so<br /> abundant in opportunity of money-making, that<br /> there are many who draw from it regular annual<br /> incomes of from £2,000 to £3,500. Now, it is no<br /> difficult matter to get at the prices paid in this<br /> market A very top price is £2 2s. per thousand<br /> words, and there have been cases when £3 35. has<br /> been paid, but between the top price, commanded<br /> by not more than six writers at the most, and the<br /> bottom price, at which a large proportion of serial<br /> work is turned out, there is a great gulf. This<br /> bottom price ranges from 2s. 6d. to 5s. per thousand<br /> words. The editor of a morning halfpenny daily<br /> told the present writer that he considered half a<br /> guinea a thousand a fair price for a serial, but that<br /> a guinea might be paid for “exceptionally strong<br /> work”; he scouted the notion that any serial<br /> could be worth more than a guinea a thousand,/<br /> But suppose, for the sake of argument, a pound a<br /> thousand be taken as an average rate for serials,<br /> how many thousand words must the earners of<br /> from £2,000 to £3,500 a year turn out annually ?<br /> It is a simple sum in arithmetic. For £2,000 the<br /> serial writer must produce two million words ; for<br /> £3,500 three and a-half million words !!! Suppose<br /> the serial writer is able to work 300 days in the<br /> year—and this is a tremendous supposition—how<br /> many words per diem must he turn out to produce<br /> 2,000,000 words a year ? Answer—6,666 words.<br /> To produce 3,500,000 words ? Answer—11,000<br /> words and over. Even the serial-writer who gets<br /> £2 2s, per thousand (and it may be repeated that<br /> at most there are not more than six of him or,<br /> rather, of her) must write a million words, or<br /> thereabouts, annually to earn £2,000 a year. These<br /> “cold” calculations are enough in themselves to<br /> show that the writer in the Daily Chronicle, though<br /> he affirms he speaks “‘at first hand and from personal<br /> knowledge,” is talking very wildly, to put the<br /> matter pleasantly.<br /> <br /> But there is another element or factor to be<br /> taken into account. It is possible to imagine that<br /> a serial-writer might for some time, some longer<br /> or shorter time, turn out 6,000 or even 11,000 words<br /> per diem; no doubt cases have occurred, so to<br /> speak, where something of the kind has been done.<br /> But it is a great mistake to suppose that facility<br /> and rapidity of production means always or even<br /> often a proportionately greater earning capacity.<br /> It may be the very contrary. Here is an in-<br /> <br /> stance, The editor of a paper “running ” serials<br /> offered £600 a year to a serial writer for writing<br /> all. the serials<br /> <br /> he wanted during the year.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> On inquiry, the serial writer found that to<br /> earn his £600 a year (an annual income a long<br /> way removed from £2,000, to say nothing of<br /> £3,500) he would have to produce 5,000 words (two<br /> separate serials in instalments of 2,500 words each)<br /> each day for six days a week, and this without any<br /> provision for sickness or holidays. Worked out,<br /> the rate per thousand came to 8s. When the serial<br /> writer protested this princely remuneration was<br /> insufficient, he was assured that the work was “as<br /> easy as pie,” and if he didn’t care to undertake it<br /> another would. And this appears to be the case,<br /> for a serial writer has been found to go in for the<br /> job. The experiment will be watched with interest.<br /> The end can hardly be other than that when,<br /> through overstrain, the serial writer in question<br /> begins to flag, ‘.e., when he shows signs of being<br /> worked out, he will be promptly and remorselessly<br /> “ chucked.”<br /> <br /> With such facts as these before us, it is impossible<br /> to escape the conclusion that the writer in the<br /> Daily Chronicle is guilty of gross exaggeration.<br /> What he might have said he does not say, and<br /> this is that there are some serial writers who employ<br /> “ vhosts,” and by their aid add materially to their<br /> incomes. But even with the assistance of these<br /> gentry, it is still quite absurd to maintain there are<br /> many who earn from £2,000 to £3,500, without<br /> much effort, a year.<br /> <br /> A SeRIAL WRITER.<br /> <br /> —1—— +<br /> <br /> II.<br /> <br /> ?<br /> <br /> Tue “literary taster” who has lately stated<br /> in an article in the Daily Chronicle that writers<br /> of serial fiction for the million can easily earn<br /> incomes of two thousand a year and upwards<br /> seems to have exaggerated a little, in the first<br /> shock of discovering that in these degenerate days<br /> of the novel there 1s actually a good and dependable<br /> living to be made out of the writing of serials for<br /> popular penny weekly journals.<br /> <br /> It is perfectly true that large incomes are occa-<br /> sionally made by serial writing; incomes large<br /> enough in some cases to make the two or three<br /> hundred pounds a year which is often all that can<br /> be earned by the ordinary novelist who sees his or<br /> her name on title-pages appear a mere pittance.<br /> And it is equally true that with the mass of the<br /> reading public great literary names are growing to<br /> have less and less value, the demand being more<br /> and more for good and strong work by whomsoever<br /> written. ‘There are many proprietors and editors<br /> of weekly journals for the people who simply would<br /> not accept and publish, much less pay for, the work<br /> of the men and women who are the brightest stars<br /> in the literary firmament of to-day. They have<br /> <br /> 165<br /> <br /> learned by experience that the circulation of their<br /> journals is largely affected by—if not wholly<br /> dependent upon—serial stories, and they are wil ling<br /> to pay good prices only to those who have proved<br /> themselves to be masters of the difficult art of<br /> composing serial fiction that shall stir and grip<br /> the public for whom it is provided. 2<br /> The whole matter, therefore, resolves itself into<br /> this simple fact—that more money is to be made<br /> by the writing of serials than by the writing of<br /> ordinary novels by those who excel in this very<br /> distinct branch of literary craftsmanship. The<br /> writer in the Daily Chronicle goes too far when<br /> he lays it down that two thousand a year, or<br /> thereabout, can be “easily” earned in this way.<br /> A large income can be no more easily gained in<br /> this branch of literary activity than in any other.<br /> Only the best workers win the rewards ; and these<br /> best workers are tried by the most difficult of all<br /> standards—the standard of results. The rich in-<br /> flow of money does not come to those who put<br /> together a story, sell it, and then trouble them-<br /> selves no more about its fortunes. The successful<br /> serial-writer must increase, or at least conspicuously<br /> maintain, the circulations of the journals in which<br /> his stories appear. He or she has a challenge cup<br /> to win; and when the serial-writer has won this<br /> challenge cup he cannot rest on his laurels, but<br /> must hold what he has won against all comers, or<br /> else his success and his income will fail and fall<br /> together, rapidly and irrevocably. By this it will<br /> be seen that the person who embarks upon the<br /> business of writing serial novels in order to gain<br /> a large income must have, besides a natural gift<br /> for writing, the gifts of almost tireless industry<br /> and energy, a quick and practically bottomless<br /> invention, dramatic force, and robust health to<br /> stand the strain of regular, unflagging hard work.<br /> Any man or woman who enters this particular<br /> literary arena lacking these initial advantages will<br /> soon find that for one serial-writer who earns an<br /> income anywhere approximating to two thousand<br /> a year, there are hundreds who can only hope to<br /> win the barest subsistence. The few—the very<br /> few—who succeed brilliantly from a financial point<br /> of view are trained specialists, who usually work<br /> regularly for one journal and who practically hold<br /> the market, and will hold it until others shall<br /> displace them by proving themselves their betters.<br /> <br /> Maris C. LEIGHTon.<br /> —_+——+—_<br /> <br /> III.<br /> <br /> Tue article dealing with this subject which<br /> recently appeared in the Daily Chronicle under the<br /> heading of “Fiction for the Million,” gives an<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 166<br /> <br /> initiated reader the impression that some one must<br /> have been “getting at” the gentleman who de-<br /> scribes himself as a “literary taster.” Can he be<br /> serious in asserting that there are many writers of<br /> popular serials earning from £2,000 to £3,500 a<br /> year without much effort ? Surely he has been<br /> misled by the statements of those writers who<br /> wish to convince him, in his capacity of<br /> “adviser to one of the most successful publish-<br /> ing firms in the world,” of the esteem in which<br /> their work is held by other successful publishing<br /> firms!<br /> <br /> For instance, there are writers not above calcu-<br /> lating their incomes on a current month of<br /> exceptional good fortune. Say that A., whose<br /> usual rate is 15s. per thousand words, is lucky<br /> enough to obtain a commission for a serial of<br /> 60,000 words at £1 5s. 0d., and that he can turn<br /> out 18,000 words a week. Thereupon he lightly<br /> informs B., who may be “literary taster” to the<br /> successful publishing firm he wishes to impress,<br /> that he is earning “at the rate of £1,100 or<br /> £1,200 a year,” whereas the fact is, that he is<br /> frequently without work at any price, and that<br /> necessary rest, illness, etc., is bound to interrupt<br /> his output during many weeks of the year. Hence<br /> the genesis of these calculations.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, it is undeniable that a good<br /> income may be made by writers of facility who can<br /> be dramatic and sentimental to order, and have the<br /> knack, often unconscious, of interesting the bulk<br /> of the population; and undoubtedly there are<br /> several writers, comparatively unknown to the<br /> public, who are earning far more by serial work<br /> for the newspapers and popular weeklies than<br /> many novelists of note by their books. And<br /> their employment is secure, for the statement in<br /> the Daily Chronicle that “most publishers now<br /> have every line or at least a considerable part of<br /> the story in hand before they buy it,” and that<br /> “the syndicate reserves to itself the right of<br /> refusing any work submitted,” does not tally<br /> with the experience of the present writer. When<br /> a serial writer’s position is established, he need<br /> not put pen to paper without an agreement as<br /> binding upon the publisher or syndicate as upon<br /> himself.<br /> <br /> In other words, this class of fiction is a very<br /> good thing for those at the top; but that any<br /> serial writer is in receipt of a regular £2,000 a<br /> year is problematical, and £3,500 is a quite<br /> incredible figure, even if those authors are included<br /> whose serials subsequently attain a fair measure of<br /> success in book form, and who are occasionally<br /> able to sell their American, colonial, and foreign<br /> rights. As for the dramatic rights of these stories,<br /> they need not be counted seriously, the majority<br /> being available for nothing better than crude<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> melodrama in which the “pump” is of greater<br /> value than the plot.<br /> <br /> The figures in the Daily Chronicle are absurd<br /> for various reasons. Firstly, £2 2s. per thou-<br /> sand words is the usual top price of most<br /> newspapers. Occasionally £2 12s. 6d. is paid, and<br /> even £3 3s., but these prices cannot be used as a<br /> basis for calculation. Secondly, only a few writers<br /> can always command £2 2s. Od. Thirdly, how<br /> long would those writers maintain their supremacy<br /> if they turned out work at the rate of anything<br /> like a million to a million and a-half words a<br /> year ? And the same argument may dispose of<br /> the “ghost” theory, because the “ghost’s” stuff<br /> must be of inferior quality as he is unable to<br /> obtain remunerative employment for himself in a<br /> market where names have little value. Fourthly,<br /> it is only a limited number of rich newspapers<br /> which will pay £2 2s. per thousand to any-<br /> body. The provincial syndicates have to be<br /> reckoned with, certainly; but as an agreement<br /> with a syndicate usually contains a clause to the<br /> effect that the author is to publish no other work,<br /> during the period of the contract, through any<br /> other syndicate, the provincial market is more<br /> restricted than the London one.<br /> <br /> This being the case, where could “many<br /> writers” place their collective millions of words—<br /> this enormous mass of “copy ”—at top prices which<br /> is to provide these numerous incomes of from<br /> £2,000 to £3,500 a year? No, the British Press,<br /> though big, is not big enough for them. They<br /> dwindle, on the most cursory investigation, to<br /> the half-dozen elect, and Jane, the housemaid,<br /> need not be tempted to devote her pen-and-ink to<br /> “ literature.”<br /> <br /> When we take the second and third-rate<br /> writers, whose remuneration varies between<br /> £1 1s. Od. and 10s. per thousand, the statement<br /> becomes still more reckless. The half-dozen<br /> writers of the first rank are always in demand, and<br /> can usually take their choice of work offered, but<br /> the second- and third-rate writer is numerous and<br /> competition is severe, and where, in the name of<br /> common sense, could many of them place, say,<br /> from three and a half to seven million words a<br /> year, as they would have to do to earn an annual<br /> €3,500! The mere figures make one’s head<br /> swim.<br /> <br /> It is far more probable that £1,800 a year<br /> represents the limit touched by the few most<br /> successful writers of newspaper fiction.<br /> <br /> ANoTHER SERIAL WRITER.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> On Titles.<br /> <br /> THE question of the property in Titles is a<br /> very vexed question. Many authors come to<br /> the Secretary for advice on this subject, and<br /> sometimes are hurt because the Society cannot<br /> recommend them to take action. It has been<br /> thought well, therefore, to repeat in substance,<br /> with certain additions, an article that appeared in<br /> The Author in 1898.<br /> <br /> There is no copyright in a title. This is a<br /> sound foundation to start upon; but this state-<br /> ment cannot be taken as absolutely true, for in<br /> the case of Dick v. Yates, which went to the Court<br /> of Appeal, where the title ‘Splendid Misery” was<br /> under discussion, the Master of the Rolls spoke as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “Now I do not say that there could not be<br /> copyright in a title, as for instance in a whole page<br /> of title or something of that kind requiring inven-<br /> _ tion. However, it is not necessary to decide that.<br /> But, assuming that there can be copyright in a<br /> title, what does copyright mean? It means the<br /> right to multiply copies of an original work. If<br /> you complain that a part of your work has been<br /> pirated you must show that that part is original,<br /> and if it is not original you have no copyright.<br /> How can the title ‘Splendid Misery’ be said to be<br /> original when the very same words for the very<br /> same purpose were used nearly eighty years ago ?”<br /> <br /> This case was fought out mainly on the basis,<br /> «Ts a title copyright?” and the question of trade<br /> mark law on which the right of property in a title<br /> rests, though dealt with, was dealt with as a<br /> secondary point. The reason for this course in<br /> this particular case is clear on the facts as reported.<br /> Those who desire the reason are referred to the<br /> report.<br /> <br /> _ Again, (1) speaking generally, it cannot be said<br /> there is copyright in a title.<br /> <br /> (2) If there is copyright, then the title must<br /> claim distinct originality.<br /> <br /> That, however, there is property in a title is<br /> quite clear, and the law bearing on the right of<br /> such property comes under, and is in some way<br /> analogous to, trade mark law, but titles cannot be<br /> registered like trade marks.<br /> <br /> The real question to consider is whether the<br /> infringement amounts to a common law fraud on<br /> the public.<br /> <br /> This is distinctly pointed out in the case—the<br /> *Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University<br /> of Oxford v. Wilmore-Andrews Publishing Com-<br /> pany—which was tried in the United States<br /> courts. It is a case of great importance, and<br /> brings into prominence the solid principle on<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * The Author, August, 1900.<br /> <br /> 167<br /> <br /> which this question rests. There the Chancellor of<br /> the University of Oxford obtained an injunction<br /> against the defendant for publishing a Bible termed<br /> the Oxford Bible, which was not the “Oxford<br /> Bible’ as known on the market and published by<br /> the Clarendon Press. The plaintiffs could not<br /> possibly have any copyright either in the Bible or<br /> title, and this is the point it is desired to make<br /> especially clear, but the defendant had no right<br /> to sell a book as the product of the plaintiffs,<br /> which product was a well-known market com-<br /> modity.<br /> <br /> In order to obtain this property, two points<br /> therefore are clear :<br /> <br /> (1) That the product must be actually selling on<br /> the market, and must have established a position<br /> on the market by continuous sale.<br /> <br /> (2) That products with similar names must be<br /> similar products.<br /> <br /> This latter statement would appear self-evident<br /> if confusion had not frequently arisen in cases<br /> placed before the Secretary. For instance, a book<br /> of poems could not be confused with a philosophical<br /> treatise, nor a work of fiction with a book of<br /> sermons, even though the names were the same.<br /> <br /> There are also one or two minor points which<br /> are very difficult of decision, and are too intricate<br /> to be dealt with in a short article.<br /> <br /> The case in the American court above referred<br /> to makes it clear that if the book is out of copy-<br /> right, it does not follow there is no trade mark in<br /> the title. But with whom the right of commencing<br /> an action would lie might need some ingenuity to<br /> determine.<br /> <br /> A further point arises for consideration. When<br /> a book has been produced and is out of print, and<br /> the author is deliberating, or states that he is<br /> deliberating, about the production of a second<br /> edition, how far would the author have the right of<br /> stopping the production of a similar book under a<br /> similar title ?<br /> <br /> Though each case must be decided on its separate<br /> facts and its separate peculiarities, the broad general<br /> rule would hold that as it was impossible to buy<br /> the first book in the open market, it was impossible<br /> that any of the public could be deceived, and<br /> therefore the production of book No. 2 could not<br /> possibly be a fraud. This is an important point,<br /> as cases have been known to occur where authors<br /> have practically abandoned their book, their title,<br /> and their rights, but have tried to revive all three<br /> on seeing another book produced with a similar<br /> name.<br /> <br /> It might be useful to quote again a case that<br /> was quoted in a former article, as it illustrates one<br /> or two of the most important points with regard to<br /> property in a title.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Hogg in 1863 registered an intended<br /> 168<br /> <br /> new magazine to be called Belgravia. In 1866,<br /> such magazine not having appeared, Mr. Maxwell,<br /> in ignorance of what Messrs. Hogg had done,<br /> projected a magazine with the same name, and<br /> incurred considerable expense in preparing it and<br /> extensively advertising it in August and September<br /> as about to appear in October. Messrs. Hogg,<br /> knowing of this, made hasty preparations for<br /> bringing out their own magazine before that of<br /> Mr. Maxwell could appear, and in the meantime<br /> accepted an order from Mr. Maxwell for advertising<br /> his (Mr. Maxwell’s) magazine on the covers of<br /> their own publications ; and the first day on which<br /> they informed Mr. Maxwell that they objected to<br /> his publishing a magazine under that name was<br /> Sept. 25, on which day the first number of Messrs.<br /> Hoge’s magazine appeared. Mr. Maxwell’s maga-<br /> zine appeared in October. Under these circum-<br /> stances, on a bill filed by Mr. Maxwell, it was held<br /> that Mr. Maxwell’s advertisements and expenditure<br /> did not give him any exclusive right to the use of<br /> the name Belgravia, and that he could not restrain<br /> Messrs. Hogg from publishing a magazine under<br /> the same name (the first number appeared before<br /> Mr. Maxwell had published his) ; and on a bill<br /> filed by Messrs. Hogg, that the registration by them<br /> of the title of an intended publication could not<br /> confer upon them a copyright in that name, and<br /> that in the circumstances of the case they had<br /> not acquired any right to restrain Mr, Maxwell<br /> from using the name as being Mr. Hogg’s trade<br /> mark.<br /> <br /> This case was, contrary to Dick v. Yates,<br /> decided almost entirely on the aspect of the trade<br /> mark. Certainly papers register titles, and produce<br /> periodically dummy copies in the hope of obtaining<br /> some kind of property. Any one who has studied<br /> the question would at once know that this labour<br /> is wasted, and that this kind of property can only<br /> be claimed when a title has become associated<br /> with a certain commodity by a continued public<br /> circulation.<br /> <br /> How can a paper of which one copy only is<br /> published even every day claim to be such a public<br /> commodity ?<br /> <br /> The contention is absurd.<br /> <br /> From the most practical point of view, therefore,<br /> it is best for the author not to name the title of<br /> his book until his book is produced, if he considers<br /> that there is any particular power in the words he<br /> is using.<br /> <br /> Those who through personal experience have<br /> come across the question of title for the first time<br /> consider the matter as a difficulty but recently<br /> discovered, which needs immediate amendment :<br /> they may, however, rest assured that the question<br /> of legislating more fully on the point has been<br /> deeply and thoroughly discussed and considered<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> by all those who have attempted to legislate on<br /> copyright or who are interested in the affairs of<br /> authorship. It is not a simple or one-sided<br /> question. It is exceedingly complicated, and has<br /> many sides.<br /> <br /> At present no remedy has been devised suffi-<br /> ciently satisfactory to embody in any of the<br /> Copyright Bills, and the solution of each case is<br /> based upon the common law. On the whole, it may<br /> be considered that this is the most satisfactory<br /> way of leaving the question. It gives more scope<br /> and adaptability, and prevents the stiffening that<br /> is often produced when a matter is statute-bound.<br /> <br /> G; ae.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> —1—~—+—_.<br /> <br /> The “Encyclopedia Britannica” in Canada.<br /> <br /> A. &amp; ©. Buack e¢ al. v. Tur ImprrtaL Boox<br /> CoMPANY AND JAMES Haurs.<br /> <br /> Tus action, begun in September, 1901, was<br /> tried before Street, J., at the Toronto Non-J ury<br /> Sittings on September 23rd, 1902, and argued on<br /> January 3rd, 1908. The judgment delivered on<br /> January 26, in the present year, contains many<br /> notabilia dicta worthy the attention of authors,<br /> especially of those who have vested interests in ‘‘<br /> Canada.<br /> <br /> The material facts were, shortly, as follows :—A<br /> Canadian firm called “ Hales and Sparrow” had<br /> been importing into Canada a cheap American | te<br /> reprint of the ninth edition of the “ Encyclopedia ae<br /> Britannica,” its properly-authorised Canadian pub-<br /> lishers being the Clark Company of Toronto. :<br /> Just outside the statutory term—a year—within i<br /> which actions for infringements must be brought,<br /> Hales and Sparrow formed themselves into a com-<br /> pany, calling itself ‘‘ The Imperial Book Company, — .<br /> Limited.” The company had strange notions of<br /> <br /> q<br /> <br /> “See<br /> <br /> ‘imperial ” obligations, for it continued to import<br /> the reprint. Hence the present action. The chief<br /> arguments set up for the defence were well-worn<br /> ones; and the lucid and masterly judgment of<br /> Street, J., reviewing once again much of our<br /> familiar case law, makes the action and its result<br /> an object-lesson for the misguided, if enterprising,<br /> Colonial publisher, who hopes by a splendid variety<br /> of defences to evade his simple obligations as a<br /> citizen.<br /> <br /> It was first of all objected by the defendants<br /> that a certificate of registration at Stationers’<br /> Hall did not, in the absence of other proof, estab<br /> lish proprietorship of copyright ; and that there-<br /> fore it was necessary for the plaintiffs, in addition<br /> to the certificate produced, to prove in fact that<br /> they were the proprietors. Street, J., held that in<br /> the absence of any evidence to the contrary on<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> Sn,<br /> <br /> “&lt;<br /> <br /> uo<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 169<br /> <br /> either side, except the copy of the certificate, its<br /> production was jal] that was necessary to make out<br /> a prima facie Proprietorship of copyright in an<br /> encyclopedia under Sections 18 and 19 of the Act,<br /> or under Section 11 to make out a prima facie<br /> proprietorship of the copyright in a book. On<br /> this first point, therefore, the defence failed,<br /> <br /> The title to the copyright being therefore estab-<br /> lished, it was next contended that the effect of the<br /> agreement entered into between Messrs. A. &amp; C.<br /> Black and their co-plaintiffs, the Clark Company,<br /> was to transfer the copyright to that company ;<br /> that Messrs. Black could not maintain this action<br /> because they had assigned the copyright to the<br /> Clark Company ; and that the Clark Company<br /> could not maintain it because they had not regis-<br /> tered the assignment at Stationers’ Hall.<br /> <br /> This was an extremely plausible contention, but<br /> Street, J., found on the facts no difficulty in dis-<br /> posing of it. As this part of his judgment will<br /> have great interest for all authors, we make no<br /> apology for quoting it in full :—<br /> <br /> “T have examined the agreement in question, and Iam<br /> of opinion that it is not to be treated as an assignment but<br /> merely as a licence. In this agreement Messrs. A. and C.<br /> Black are called the publishers, and the Clark Company<br /> are called the Company. By the agreement the publishers<br /> agree that until 31st December, 1912, the Company shall<br /> have the exclusive right to print and sell the ninth edition<br /> of the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’ and for the purpose of<br /> enabling them to print it the publishers agree to deliver to<br /> the Company the existing plates used in its publication,<br /> and not to publish or announce the publication of a tenth<br /> edition of the work until after the 31st December, 1912.<br /> The Company, on its part, agrees not to alter the text of<br /> the work, and that the style of paper, printing, and binding<br /> shall remain unaltered. That they will pay £40,000 to<br /> the publishers for the rights acquired under the agree-<br /> ment. That they will not sell any copy of the work under<br /> £15, either in Great Britain or America; and that they will<br /> as soon as possible after the 31st December, 1912, deliver<br /> to the publishers any unsold copies of the work and all the<br /> plates used in printing it then in their possession. The<br /> Company further agrees that they will not knowingly<br /> issue any advertisement of and concerning the work of a<br /> nature likely to do injury to the publishers either in their<br /> business or as the owners of the copyright of the work.<br /> Authority is also given to the Company to institute, in the<br /> names of the publishers, any proceedings they may deem<br /> proper in respect of any breach of copyright of the<br /> work. . . . They have expressly reserved the copyright to<br /> themselves, and this reservation is entirely consistent, it<br /> appears to me, with the full enjoyment by the Company of<br /> the rights given them. The agreement therefore must, in<br /> my opinion, be construed as a licence merely, and not as<br /> an assignment,”<br /> <br /> It is interesting to note that, after citing almost<br /> all the case law on the subject in support of his<br /> view, the learned Colonial judge was not above<br /> referring the litigants to our most recent treatise<br /> on the subject, “ MacGillivray on Copyright,” pp.<br /> 80,81 and 82. We congratulate Mr. MacGillivray<br /> on the unusual honour. He is the first of our<br /> <br /> writers on modern copyright to, give particular<br /> attention to the distinction between a licence and<br /> an assignment. The distinction for the practical<br /> purposes of authorship is only in the air as yet,<br /> but we believe things are shaping that way, and<br /> the day is not very distant when we shall be able<br /> to say definitely of every publishing agreement<br /> either that it is an assignment of copyright or only<br /> a licence to use. a<br /> <br /> The next point in the defence was that the<br /> plaintiffs did not correctly notify the Customs of<br /> their ownership of copyright as required by the<br /> Customs Act, 39 &amp; 40 Vict., cap. 36. The learned<br /> judge had no doubt that if this Act was ever in<br /> force in Canada the defence would have been good,<br /> because the date given by the plaintiffs as to when<br /> their copyright expired was wrongly entered as<br /> 1924 instead of 1917. The question, therefore,<br /> remained: Was the Customs Consolidation Act<br /> ever in force in Canada? The Commissioners who<br /> prepared the “Table of Imperial Statutes appear-<br /> ing to be in force in Canada, ex proprio vigore, at<br /> the end of 1901,” included Section 152 of the Act,<br /> which lays down that proper notice must be given.<br /> But Section 151 especially excepts from the opera-<br /> tion of the Act “any British possessions which<br /> shall by local Act or ordinance have provided . . .<br /> for the regulation of the Customs of any such<br /> possession, or made in like manner express pro-<br /> vision in lieu or variation of any of the clauses of<br /> the said Act for the purposes of such possession.”<br /> Now Canada was brought clearly within this<br /> exception by the Statute of the Province 10 and<br /> 11 Vict., cap. 31, by which entire provision was<br /> made for the regulation of the Customs of the<br /> Province by the provincial Legislature. The<br /> defence, therefore, failed on this issue. As the<br /> learned judge said :—<br /> <br /> “T can find no reason in the context or subject-matter<br /> of Section 152 of the Customs Consolidation Act requiring<br /> me to say that it ought to be held to be in force in Canada<br /> notwithstanding Section 151, under the circumstances<br /> above set forth: and I am therefore obliged to conclude<br /> that it never was in force here, because Canada had, with<br /> the assent of Her Majesty, assumed entire control of its<br /> own Customs before the Customs Consolidation Act of 1876<br /> was passed,”’<br /> <br /> The defence at this point appeared to have been<br /> prepared with considerable ingenuity and fore-<br /> sight, for the next argument set up looked as if it<br /> had anticipated this ruling : it looked as if the<br /> defendants had said : “Oh, very well, if you hold<br /> that Section 152 of the Customs Consolidation Act<br /> is not in force in Canada, but that Canada has<br /> regulated her own Customs by Provincial Statute,<br /> —then you must also hold that the English Copy-<br /> right Act of 1842, is not im force there, since<br /> Canada has also copyright legislation of her own ;<br /> <br /> <br /> 170 &#039;<br /> <br /> and therefore the qHaintiffs are not entitled to<br /> recover under thp Ack of 1842 which they plead.”<br /> But the learned\judke was unable to entertain<br /> that view. Caner in his opinion, had no copy-<br /> right legislation which over-rode the Imperial Act<br /> of 1842. Besides, the point had already been<br /> determined adversely to the defendants’ objection<br /> in Routledge v. Low, Smiles v. Belford, and Morang<br /> y. Publishers’ Syndicate. Many hard things have<br /> been said from time to time in Canada, and in<br /> <br /> laces not so far away, about “ the Act of 1842” 3<br /> and the activity of Canada in legislating for itselfin<br /> copyright matters has been the subject of eulogy.<br /> But until the new Copyright Bill comes into force,<br /> at least, both Canadians and Englishmen. will do<br /> well to remember one important fact about<br /> “Macaulay’s Act” before they ignore it: It is<br /> still in force in Canada!<br /> <br /> The next and last question with which the judg-<br /> ment dealt was whether there had been, in bringing<br /> this action, delay amounting to acquiescence or<br /> “laches.” Notwithstanding the protest of Mr. H.<br /> E. Hooper, the Managing Director of the Clark<br /> Company, that he did not know that the illegal<br /> reprint was being sold in Canada until just before<br /> the action was brought, the learned judge held<br /> that there had been some delay. But the degree<br /> of delay which might bar an action for an inter-<br /> locutory injunction would by no means necessarily<br /> be an answer to an action of this kind, and there<br /> was not sufficient delay here to prove acquiescence<br /> or “laches” on the part of the plaintiffs. The<br /> learned judge then summed up as follows :—<br /> <br /> “ ] think the plaintiffs have established their right to an<br /> injunction perpetually restraining the defendants, The<br /> Imperial Book Co., Limited, their servants and agents,<br /> from importing into Canada any copies of the ‘ Encyclo-<br /> pedia Britannica, ninth edition, or of any part thereof<br /> printed in any country outside the British dominions,<br /> which infringe the copyright of the plaintiffs, Adam and<br /> Charles Black ; and I order that the said defendants, the<br /> Imperial Book Co., Limited, do deliver up for cancellation<br /> all and any copies so printed in their possession. The<br /> plaintiffs are also entitled to an account of the profits<br /> realised by the defendants, the Imperial Book Co., Limited,<br /> from the sale of any such copies within one year before<br /> the commencement of this action.”<br /> <br /> As to Hales, who, it will be remembered, was a<br /> co-defendant with the Imperial Book Co.: he<br /> hed undoubtedly made large profits out of the<br /> sale of the unlawfully imported copies of the<br /> ‘ Ehcyclopaedia, but by pleading the statute, as we<br /> have seen, he escaped accounting for them. The<br /> action, therefore,.failed as against him. But he<br /> had to pay his own costs.<br /> CHARLES WEEKES.<br /> <br /> ‘ —_ +<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 6<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. ;<br /> <br /> 1908.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> r<br /> <br /> THE ANNUAL “aa oe OF<br /> <br /> PPVHE Annual General Meeting of the Society<br /> was held in the Large Hall of the Royal<br /> Medical and Chirurgical Society, at 20,<br /> <br /> Hanover Square, on March 5th.<br /> <br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield took the Chair at 4 p.m.,<br /> and, in opening the proceedings, paid a tribute to<br /> the great services rendered by his predecessor, Mr.<br /> A. Hope Hawkins, to the Society as Chairman of its<br /> Committee of Management during the past three<br /> years. Mr. Freshfield went on to suggest that the<br /> report of the Committee, which had already been<br /> in the hands of the Society’s members, might, as<br /> <br /> usual, be taken as read, and proceeded to make a ~<br /> <br /> few explanatory remarks and comments upon its<br /> details. He dwelt upon the good work always<br /> being done by the Society in strengthening the<br /> desired friendly relations between authors and<br /> publishers by removing causes of difference between<br /> them, and criticised the conduct of those authors<br /> who entered the Society for the purpose of getting<br /> some difference adjusted between them and their<br /> publishers, leaving it after having obtained the<br /> desired benefit, to rejoin it only when once more in<br /> need of its assistance. He put forward as a<br /> principle to be adopted by the Committee that, in<br /> dealing with the affairs of members of this class,<br /> litigation should only be entered upon where a<br /> question was involved, the settling of which was<br /> likely to be useful to the Society at large. Mr.<br /> Freshfield also expressed regret at the slow progress<br /> that is being made with copyright legislation.<br /> With reference to the memorial to Sir Walter<br /> Besant, he informed the Society that the work of<br /> Mr. Frampton, R.A., with which considerable<br /> progress has been made, is, in the opinion of those<br /> who have seen it, likely to prove eminently satis-<br /> factory. The other topics which he touched upon<br /> included the work done for the Society by its legal<br /> advisers and the Secretary, the Pension Fund, the<br /> changes in the Committee and Council, and the<br /> dinner, fixed for the 30th of April, the tickets for<br /> which, the Society was informed, are to be 10s.,<br /> while the dinner is to be followed by the usual<br /> conversazione. The report was adopted without<br /> further discussion, and the re-election of Mr.<br /> Morley Roberts to the committee for the manage-<br /> <br /> ment of the Pension Fund concluded the agenda of<br /> <br /> which notice had been given.<br /> Mr. Bernard Shaw then rose, and in a vigorous<br /> speech expressed his regret that neither the com-<br /> <br /> mittee nor any individual member should have<br /> <br /> question for its<br /> <br /> provided the meeting with any :<br /> and upon which<br /> <br /> discussion of interest to authors,<br /> <br /> authors might be glad to ventilate their possibly —<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 /> <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 /> <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 /> <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 /> <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 /> divergent opmions: In the absence of any such<br /> subject, Mr. Shaw made reference to a matter with<br /> regard to which the feeling of those present was<br /> too unanimously with him for it to form the subject<br /> of controversy. Calling attention to the fact that<br /> the Society of Authors is at times the subject of<br /> adverse criticism and uninformed or wilfully mis-<br /> taken obloquy in the Press, he asked whether no<br /> means existed for the punishment of the literary<br /> black-legs who might be responsible for defamatory<br /> statements such as those to which he referred, and<br /> he suggested that the best method for dealing with<br /> them might form a fit subject for the Society’s<br /> consideration upon such an occasion as its general<br /> meeting.<br /> <br /> Mr, Warwick Bond, Mr. Eyre Hussey, and other<br /> speakers continued the discussion, and addressed<br /> those present briefly upon the same subject, the<br /> Chairman suggesting, in conclusion, that the diffi-<br /> culty of detecting the offender might be responsible<br /> for the impossibility of disposing of him or of his<br /> statements otherwise than by contradiction and<br /> refutation. As no member had any other matter to<br /> bring forward, a vote of thanks to the Chairman was<br /> then proposed by Mr. E. A. Armstrong, who con-<br /> gratulated the Society on having obtained so able<br /> a successor as Mr. Douglas Freshfield to take the<br /> place of Mr. A. Hope Hawkins. The motion was<br /> seconded by Lieut.-Col. Manifold Craig, and<br /> unanimously carried.<br /> <br /> The attendance at the meeting was decidedly<br /> smaller than usual, and considerably less than it<br /> used to be before the Society had won the secure<br /> position which it now occupies. This may in part<br /> have been due to the inclement weather, and to the<br /> fact that there was no controversial topic among<br /> the agenda. It is, however, to be regretted that<br /> members of the Society should not be present in<br /> greater numbers upon the annual occasion which<br /> gives them the opportunity to raise questions of<br /> interest to themselves and authors in general, and<br /> to express their approval of the labours of their<br /> Committee and Secretary.<br /> <br /> Among those present were—Mr. E. A. Armstrong,<br /> Miss E. A. Barnett, Miss Clementina Black, Mr. R.<br /> Warwick Bond, Miss E. E. Charlton, Lieut.-Col.<br /> R. Manifold Craig, Mr. Arthur Dillon, Mr. Basil<br /> Field, Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Miss Beatrice<br /> Harraden, Miss Helena Heath, Miss BE. M. Hine,<br /> Mr. Eyre Hussey, Mr. H. T. Inman, Mr. Benjamin<br /> Kidd, Miss Arabella Kenealy, Mr. J. M. Lely, Mrs.<br /> Nella Parker, Miss Olive K. Parr, Dr. A. Rattray,<br /> Mr. Edward Rose, Mr. Bernard Shaw, Mr. F,<br /> Vicars, etc., etc.<br /> <br /> ee Gee cme eee<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. fi<br /> <br /> }<br /> 171<br /> <br /> THE AUTHORS’ ASSOCIATION.<br /> 1)<br /> <br /> N the list of societies given in the Literary<br /> Year Book for the current year we find one,<br /> founded apparently early in 1902, under the<br /> <br /> name of the Authors’ Association.<br /> <br /> We have had brought before us two circulars,<br /> one setting out the “Rules and Constitution of the<br /> Association” and the other its objects :—<br /> <br /> ‘Any person who has, or is desirous of adopting a<br /> literary life either as a profession or a recreation is qualfied<br /> for membership. The subscription for the first year is one<br /> guinea, for following years half a guinea,”<br /> <br /> The control of the society is vested in a Council,<br /> to consist of not less than six or more than twelve<br /> members, including the Secretary and Officers,<br /> This Council, it is provided, “shall manage the<br /> business of the Association, consider what steps<br /> are necessary to forward the objects for which the<br /> Association is established, and take such measures<br /> to carry them out as they may deem advisable,<br /> including the disposal of the funds of the Associa.<br /> tion.”<br /> <br /> The Secretary has charge of all correspondence<br /> and accounts, and the Treasurer pays all debts of<br /> the Association at his direction.<br /> <br /> It is further enacted that “no general or Council<br /> meeting shall without special announcement be<br /> considered a public meeting, or be attended by<br /> reporters for the Press except by invitation of the<br /> General Secretary by order of the Council ; nor<br /> shall any report of or comments upon the proceed-<br /> ings of any meeting be supplied to any newspaper<br /> or periodical, or be printed and published in any<br /> form, except by order of the Council conveyed by<br /> the General Secretary.”<br /> <br /> The General Secretary is Mr. Galloway Kyle,<br /> F.R.S.L., who resides at Darlington. The Asso-<br /> ciation, however, has a temporary office at 62,<br /> Paternoster Row.<br /> <br /> In the circulars before us the Countess of Aber-<br /> deen is stated to be the President of the society.<br /> <br /> We have called Mr. Kyle’s attention to the fact<br /> that her ladyship withdrew from the office in<br /> November last, and that, notwithstanding her<br /> resignation, her name is retained as President<br /> in the Literary Year Book for 1903, and also in<br /> circulars issued by the Association up to the.end<br /> of January.<br /> <br /> In reply Mr Kyle, while disputing the right, of<br /> the Authors’ Society to call for any explanation,<br /> states in general terms that at the time of her<br /> withdrawal her ladyship was informed that in the<br /> Literary Year Book and certain circulars already<br /> prepared her ladyship’s name would appear, and<br /> further that ‘any advertisement or announcement<br /> made or arranged after a certain date does not<br /> contain her ladyship’s name.”<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Mr. Kyle has @ecfined to give any more direct<br /> answer to the exp¥cit question whether he had<br /> Lady Aberdeen’s authority to continue the use of<br /> her name after her withdrawal.<br /> <br /> The following names are printed under the<br /> heading Council in the prospectus :—<br /> <br /> General Secretary and Editor, Mr. Galloway<br /> Kyle, F.R.S.L. ; Treasurer, Mr. J. Wilson ; Art<br /> Editor, Mr. T. Eyre Macklin, R.B.A.: Music<br /> Editor, Mr. T. Hutchinson, Mus. Doc. ; Solicitors,<br /> Messrs. Warburton &amp; Robertson.<br /> <br /> The minimum number of six can, therefore, only<br /> be made up by including the Countess of Aberdeen,<br /> who has resigned, or counting the firm of solicitors<br /> as two councillors.<br /> <br /> The prospectus of the Association is a strangely<br /> inconsistent and self-contradictory document. For<br /> instance, it states emphatically in one paragraph<br /> that, “the Association is not a literary agency,”<br /> but on turning to page 2 we read :—<br /> <br /> “LITERARY AGENCY,<br /> <br /> “ A commission, varying with the position, experience of<br /> the author, and the character, length, and value of the<br /> work, will be charged on the price obtained for all MSS.<br /> published through the offices of the Association. Special<br /> arrangements may be made for the supply of topical<br /> articles, short stories, &amp;c., by experienced members.”<br /> <br /> Inconsistency and obscurity of statement are not,<br /> however, confined to a single point. The circular<br /> alleges that the Association “is neither a trading<br /> nor a philanthropic institution.” Yet it is pro-<br /> posed not only to do the business of a literary<br /> agent, on’very vague terms, but also “to undertake<br /> typewriting and duplication of MSS. at the usual<br /> rates,” and to criticise MSS. for members on terms<br /> stated, or for non-members at double those terms.<br /> <br /> Every member, we must mention, has the right<br /> to have one MS. of 5,000 words criticised each<br /> year free of charge. Though in no way philan-<br /> thropic—<br /> <br /> “Tt is an attempt to offer reliable responsible authorita-<br /> tive advice and criticism to beginners in literature and<br /> journalism, to afford the inexperienced the assistance of<br /> experience ; to organise tentative efforts and direct mis-<br /> directed and wasted energy; to protect and develop<br /> professional interest and to be of general use to literary<br /> workers, especially to the isolated, the uninfluential, and<br /> the amateur, and to introduce some order, coherence, co-<br /> operation and uniformity in the chaotic and feebly indivi-<br /> dualistic state of the earlier stages of the literary<br /> profession.”<br /> <br /> Once more the circular states that among the<br /> Association’s objects are “to assist and advise the<br /> beginner in literature.” ‘To give legal advice on<br /> questions within the scope 6f the Association, and<br /> to afford members the protection and advantage of<br /> a powerful and responsible organisation in touch<br /> with the higher as well as with the lower branches<br /> of the profession of letters.”’<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> And yet we read, “the scope of the Association is<br /> entirely outside that of the Authors’ Society, of<br /> which it can only be a feeder and not a rival.”<br /> <br /> We need hardly assure our readers—but we are<br /> glad to assure Mr. Kyle—that we should welcome<br /> most cordially any Association likely to be of sub-<br /> stantial assistance to authors, even though its field<br /> of action might in some directions overlap our<br /> own. Before, however, we can extend to him the<br /> hand of fellowship, he must produce some further<br /> proof than is contained in the circular before us<br /> that the Association which he represents is the<br /> “responsible and powerful organisation” he claims<br /> it to be.<br /> <br /> He must prove that it has an acting President<br /> and a working Council whose names will convey to<br /> the public an adequate assurance of its indepen-<br /> dence and capacity to administer the funds and<br /> dispose of the interests, literary and financial, that<br /> may be entrusted to it for the benefit of its<br /> clients.<br /> <br /> —_o——_e__-<br /> <br /> BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> IR GEORGE DOUGLAS will publish this<br /> month, through Messrs. Hodder and Stough-<br /> ton, “The Man of Letters,” a novel embodying a<br /> study of the literary temperament. We have<br /> already had from this author’s active pen an<br /> admirable “History of the Border Counties,”<br /> “Poems of a Country Gentleman,” “The Fireside<br /> Tragedy,” etc., etc. He is, besides, a steady con-<br /> tributor to The Bookman and Scotsman.<br /> <br /> Mr. John Murray is just bringing out the<br /> first series of lectures given in the Physiologicab<br /> Laboratory of the London University at South<br /> Kensington. It is intended that the series shall<br /> comprise two volumes a.year. The volume now<br /> in the press is by Dr. A. Waller, F.R.S. This is<br /> the first sign of life that the University of London<br /> is giving as a seat of learning. These lectures are<br /> especially to belong to what may be termed “ the<br /> growing surface of our knowledge,” on work that<br /> has been or is actually being carried out by the<br /> University lectures.<br /> <br /> The numerous readers of Mr. Richard Bagot’s<br /> “Donna Diana,” and “The Just and the Unjust,”<br /> will be interested to know that the author is<br /> making arrangements for their dramatisation. Mr.<br /> Bagot is at present in Italy, and is engaged on<br /> a new novel. ‘This is to appear as a serial during<br /> the coming summer, and is to be published in<br /> volume form afterwards.<br /> <br /> A letter of Mr. Bagot’s recently appeared in<br /> the Atheneum under the heading of “ Fiction and<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 /> ih<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 /> Fact.” In it he&#039;pfotested, and very rightly, against<br /> the growing practice of labelling characters in<br /> fiction with the names of individuals. Mr. Bagot<br /> sent to the Editor of the Atheneum cuttings from<br /> articles published in the Mew York Times, in<br /> which names of well-known members of Roman<br /> Society—personal friends of the author—were<br /> mentioned as being the originals of certain of his<br /> characters in ‘‘ Donna Diana.”<br /> <br /> As this matter touches authors very nearly we<br /> quote a portion of the protesting letter :—<br /> <br /> “That well-known individuals should be mentioned by<br /> name as the originals of an author’s characters appears<br /> to me an abuse of the privileges of the Press. In the<br /> present instance, the statements made are absolutely false<br /> and likely to cause pain, not only tothe individuals alluded<br /> to, but also to many others, while the novelist can scarcely be<br /> pleased at being regarded as a photographic machine. .. .<br /> The characters in ‘Donna Diana’ are types—no living<br /> members of Roman Society are the originals from whom<br /> these types have been selected.”<br /> <br /> We are to have two annuals from Louis Wain<br /> this year. One is to be a “Summer Book,” for<br /> children only ; there is to be also the “ Winter<br /> Annual,” which appeals to grown-ups as well.<br /> Mr. Wain has no intention whatever of throwing<br /> up his cats for a literary career. He is bound<br /> hard and fast to the cat, for he is convinced this<br /> despised little animal is going to do great things<br /> in the cause of humanity.<br /> <br /> Mr. Wain tells us that when he started on his<br /> career as an artist by drawing for the illustrated<br /> papers at dog, cat, and agricultural shows, he soon<br /> found that the primary cause of success was to<br /> please other people and not his own art instincts.<br /> If he drew an animal as others imagined it he at<br /> once made a hit ; but did he follow his own fancy<br /> he “got it hot on the spot.” Every development<br /> he has since made in his art or hobbies has been<br /> the direct outcome of contact with men who are<br /> past-masters in their own particular work. He<br /> has looked through their spectacles, as it were,<br /> and he has endeavoured to grasp the essentials of<br /> all the arts.<br /> <br /> He says further :—<br /> <br /> “In a small way I have started by building up my<br /> annual... . That we shall race forward and arrive at a<br /> more masterful cult in all the arts and sciences directly<br /> the flood of fortune touches the starved-out literati,<br /> quickens the active instincts of the artists, and calls to<br /> life the finer sense of feeling of the musician, I believe<br /> to be a truism; but the organisation to bring it about<br /> will be built up of the united judgment of many master-<br /> minds,”<br /> <br /> Mr. Felix Moscheles, whose very interesting<br /> “Fragments of an Autobiography” we all know,<br /> has no long book in hand at present, but he is busy<br /> in other directions. He is a regular contributor<br /> <br /> to Concord, the monthly organ of the Inter-<br /> national Arbitration and Peace Association, of<br /> <br /> | THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> | 173<br /> <br /> i<br /> which he is chairman. The sbjects treated are<br /> naturally in close connection wh the aims of the<br /> society, and the articles are mainly intended to<br /> popularise and strengthen the Hague Conventions,<br /> and the International Tribunal established in that<br /> city.<br /> <br /> Mr. Moscheles has also lately written on Esperanto,<br /> the International language invented by Dr. Zamen-<br /> hof, of Warsaw. An Esperanto Club has been<br /> formed, and Mr. Moscheles is its president.<br /> <br /> Dr. Andrew Balfour, who went out last December<br /> to the Gordon College at Khartoum, as director of<br /> the Research Laboratories, presented to the Govern-<br /> ment by Mr. H. S. Wellcome, of Messrs. Burroughs,<br /> Wellcome &amp; Co., Limited, fears he will have no<br /> time for fiction in this new position, as there is<br /> any amount of hard work to be done, and that in a<br /> climate which can scarcely be called stimulating.<br /> <br /> Perhaps it is not generally known that Dr.<br /> Balfour wrote, with Dr. C. J. Lewis, of Edinburgh,<br /> a large text-book entitled “Public Health and<br /> Preventive Medicine.” He took to scribbling, by<br /> way of relaxation, shortly after graduating at Edin-<br /> burgh, in’94. His first story, ‘‘ Gentleman Jerry,”<br /> was accepted by Chambers’ Journal, much to his<br /> surprise and delight. He then wrote “ By Stroke<br /> of Sword,” which was published by Messrs. Methuen,<br /> and quickly ran into a fourth edition. The same<br /> firm issued his “lo Arms” and “ Vengeance is<br /> Mine.” “To Arms” is now in its second<br /> edition.<br /> <br /> Like many another, Dr. Balfour served his year<br /> as a civil surgeon in South Africa: the result has<br /> been the output of two books—‘ Cashiered,” a<br /> volume of short stories (Nisbet), and “ The Golden<br /> Kingdom” (Hutchinson). Dr. Balfour belongs to<br /> the same clan as that which claims R. L. Balfour<br /> Stevenson, viz., “ the auld hoose o’ Pilrig,” and he<br /> is very proud of the fact.<br /> <br /> The Rey. Silas K. Hocking is finishing his new<br /> novel, “A Bonnie Saxon,” and will publish it at<br /> an early date through Messrs. F. Warne &amp; Co.<br /> He is also engaged on a new serial story for the<br /> Sunday Companion, the title of which will be<br /> “The Tempter’s Power.”<br /> <br /> Miss Constance Hill is now at work upon a book<br /> dealing with an eighteenth century subject. Mr.<br /> John Lane will publish it. A second edition of<br /> “Jane Austin: Her Homes and Her Friends,” is<br /> in preparation. Our readers will remember that<br /> this really admirable and, we venture to think,<br /> definitive book about the famous authoress was<br /> illustrated by Miss Hllen S. Hill, and that it was<br /> published last Christmas year by Mr. John Lane.<br /> <br /> Miss Constance Hill began to write in 1888,<br /> when she edited and added matter to a series of<br /> books for children written to a large extent by her<br /> <br /> <br /> 174° i<br /> <br /> mother before her marriage. These volumes were<br /> called “ The Parents’ Cabinet of Amusement and<br /> Instruction.” This series ran through many<br /> editions, and elicited letters of warm appreciation<br /> from Maria Edgeworth. In 1894 Miss Hill edited,<br /> with large additions, her father’s life. It was<br /> entitled, “Frederic Hill: an Autobiography of<br /> Fifty Years in Times of Reform” (Bentley).<br /> Then, in 1899, Mr. Heinemann published her<br /> “ Story of the Princess des Ursins in Spain.” This<br /> has just been translated into German and published<br /> by Carl Winter. (Heidelberg University Press.)<br /> <br /> A third edition of Rita’s new novel, “Souls a<br /> (Hutchinson &amp; Co.), is already in preparation. The<br /> first edition was sold out in a week, and the second<br /> is practically disposed of.<br /> <br /> A new book on astronomy by Mr. J. EH. Gore,<br /> F.R.A.S., entitled “The Stellar Heavens: An<br /> Introduction to the Study of the Stars and<br /> Nebule,” is in the press, and will shortly be<br /> published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus.<br /> <br /> Mr. Wilkinson Sherren, whose ‘“ Wessex of<br /> Romance” was published by Messrs. Chapman<br /> and Hall last year, is revising for press a volume<br /> of tales, chiefly rustic in character. A picturesque<br /> cover vignette has been drawn by Mr. William<br /> Pye, whose Dorset pictures and etchings are<br /> becoming increasingly popular. The title of this<br /> volume will be “A Rustic Dreamer.”<br /> <br /> This month Mr. H. J. Drane will publish a<br /> tragedy called “ Messalina,” by Mr. F. T. Winbolt,<br /> author of “Frithof the Bold,” ete. The drama<br /> deals with the schemes of the Empress, and con-<br /> cludes with her overthrow and assassination. The<br /> last scene depicts Claudius at a banquet listening<br /> to the pleadings of Domitia, the mother of Messa-<br /> lina, for the life of her daughter, whom he has<br /> ordered to be slain. Moved by the words of<br /> Domitia, Claudius pardons Messalina, but as he<br /> does so, the news arrives that his orders have been<br /> carried out, and that the Empress is dead.<br /> <br /> The Sunday School Union has just brought out<br /> a fine edition of Miss Wood’s Picture Map of<br /> Palestine, which gives all the physical features of<br /> the country, and is most useful for teaching pur-<br /> poses. It is six feet long, and the names are very<br /> clearly printed. The map is on an entirely new<br /> principle, and is very graphic.<br /> <br /> A little volume, “Recollections of a Royal<br /> Parish,” by Mrs. Patricia Lindsay, recently pub-<br /> lished by Mr. John Murray, gives an interesting<br /> account of the parish of Crathie, in which are<br /> situated Balmoral and Abergeldie Castles. The<br /> book contains several hitherto unpublished letters<br /> from Queen Victoria to the writer’s father and<br /> herself. These throw some interesting sidelights<br /> upon the character of the late Queen, and on life<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> in the Highlands. The oa illustrated by<br /> some excellent views and portraits.<br /> <br /> Mr. E. H. Lacon Watson, author of “ Chris-<br /> topher Deane,” ‘ Benedictine,” and several other<br /> volumes, has recently published a new novel<br /> through Mr. Edward Arnold. Its name is ‘The<br /> Templars,” but intending readers are warned that<br /> the story has no concern with life at the Bar or<br /> with the Knights Templars of the Middle Ages.<br /> The title, in fact, is taken from the name of the<br /> family whose fortunes are chronicled in the book.<br /> It is quite modern.<br /> <br /> Miss C. Gascoigne Hartley’s “Early British<br /> Heroes,” stories founded upon Geoffrey of Mon-<br /> mouth’s Chronicles, has been favourably noticed<br /> by reviewers. Messrs. Dent and Co. are the pub-<br /> lishers. The book is illustrated by Mr. Patten<br /> Wilson.<br /> <br /> A notable book just out is “ The Rubaiyat of<br /> Umar Khaiyam,” done into English from the<br /> French of J. B. Nicholas, by Frederick Baron<br /> Corvo, together with a reprint of the French text.<br /> There is an interesting introduction by Nathan<br /> Haskell Dole (John Lane). It seems that the<br /> translation was undertaken at the solicitation of<br /> Mr. Henry Harland and Mr. Kenneth Grahame.<br /> <br /> We give a triplet of the far-famed quatrains in<br /> this new and striking form :—<br /> <br /> ‘“ When I am drinking Wine, its Foes appear on every<br /> Hand to induce me to abstain, alleging Wine to be the<br /> Enemy of Religion. For this exquisite Reason, now, I dub<br /> myself Faith’s Champion, and with God’s Aid I will drink<br /> Wine ; knowing that to drink the Blood of His Enemy is<br /> a meritorious Deed.” (93)<br /> <br /> “When low lieth mine Head at the Feet of Death, when<br /> Haides shall have plucked me like a Fowl, make nothing<br /> save a Flagon from my Dust; for the odour of the Wine<br /> therein, perchance, for an instant, will revive me.” (290)<br /> <br /> “OQ limpid Wine, Wine of richest Tincture! Fool that<br /> I be, I will in such excess to drink thee, that whoever shall<br /> perceive me from afar, may mistake me for thee, and say,<br /> © Master Wine, pray tell me whence thou comest.” (439)<br /> <br /> The Russian Choir at present singing in “ Resur-<br /> rection” at His Majesty’s Theatre has received<br /> several invitations to sing in other places. An<br /> extensive programme is being prepared of the most<br /> characteristic Russian Church chants, operatic<br /> choruses, and arias, folk-lore and wedding songs,<br /> etc., embracing those of Great Russia, Little Russia,<br /> White Russia, Lethuania, Poland, and the s0-<br /> called Gipsy Cycle. The choir will wear costumes<br /> characteristic of the historical epoch and locality<br /> represented. The undertaking will be under the<br /> direction of M. Jaakoff-Prelooker, who will accom-<br /> pany the performances with brief explanatory<br /> remarks in English. The most important songs<br /> will be printed in full English translations.<br /> <br /> A second edition of Mr. Arthur Lovell’s “ Con-<br /> centration ” (post free, 2s. 3d.), is now ready, It<br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> is enlarged by the addition of a new<br /> entitled, “ Matter and Force.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Bernard Cape’s new novel, “A Castle in<br /> Spain” (Smith-Elder), has gone into a second<br /> edition,<br /> <br /> At the annual general meeting of the Royal<br /> Literary Fund Mr. W. E. H. Lecky was elected<br /> president for the ensuing year. Among those<br /> present were Mr. Edmund Gosse, Mr. Julian<br /> Sturgis, Mr. Owen Seaman, Mr. M. H. Spiel-<br /> mann, and Sir Theodore Martin. Mr. Julian<br /> Sturgis presented the reports of the Fund. He<br /> announced that their income last year amounted to<br /> £2,986, while the sum expended in grants was<br /> £2,870. The total invested sum was £56,410,<br /> which produced an income of £1,741. They were<br /> in want of strong cases, said Mr. Sturgis, and would<br /> be glad to hear of any bond fide literary people who<br /> were in trouble, or of anybody who was engaged in<br /> literary research.<br /> <br /> An_ original light comedy in three acts by<br /> Mr. Henry Arthur Jones entitled, “ Whitewashing<br /> Julia,” was produced at the Garrick Theatre<br /> on Monday evening, March 2nd. Mr. Arthur<br /> Bourchier was successful in the part of Mr.<br /> William Stillingfleet, and Miss Violet Vanbrugh<br /> made the most of Julia. Miss Ethelwyn Arthur<br /> <br /> chapter<br /> <br /> Jones made a decided hit as the Bishop’s out-<br /> <br /> spoken niece, Trixie Blenkinsop. Mr. Sam Sothern<br /> and Mr. Kenneth Douglas were exceedingly good<br /> as the Hon. Edwin and the Hon. Bevis Pinkney<br /> respectively,<br /> <br /> “The Two Mr. Wetherbys,” a “middle-class<br /> comedy ” by St. John Hankin, was successfully pro-<br /> duced at the Imperial Theatre on March’ 15th<br /> before members of the Stage Society. A public<br /> performance was given at the same theatre on<br /> the following afternoon. Mr. Hankin may be<br /> remembered as the author of the series of<br /> “ Dramatic Sequels,” which, after appearing in the<br /> pages of Mr. Punch, were republished in book<br /> form by Messrs. Bradbury &amp; Agnew about a year<br /> ago.<br /> <br /> ————__+—~@—.<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> —_+-—&gt;—+—__<br /> <br /> HE book of the month here<br /> <br /> : 4 “L’Inde,” by Pierre Loti.<br /> <br /> It has been advertised in many of the<br /> <br /> papers as “L’Inde, sans les Anglais,” and this<br /> title gives an admirable idea of the book.<br /> <br /> We have had many volumes on India, and<br /> magazine articles without number, but in most of<br /> these the British element is in the foreground, and<br /> in a country like India, from a poetic and artistic<br /> <br /> 1s, undoubtedly,<br /> <br /> 175<br /> <br /> point of view, the British element is so prosaic<br /> that it completely spoils the picture. In that<br /> wonderful book on Burma, “The Soul of a People,”<br /> the author shows us clearly how prosaic and un poeti-<br /> cal we are. Pierre Loti goes still farther, he leaves<br /> us out altogether, and his book, from an artistic<br /> point of view, gains immensely by the omission.<br /> <br /> Prince Henri @Orléans, in his last book,<br /> “ L’Ame du Voyageur,” speaks of the éfat d’ame<br /> of the explorer. He Says: “Le voyageur ne<br /> recueille pas uniquement le bénéfice d’un travail<br /> conscient ; il éprouve des sensations connues de lui<br /> seul, sensations profondes, nettes, qui lui laisseront<br /> &amp; jamais une impression aussi vive qu’au premier<br /> Jour. Sentant qu’il est prés d’elle et qu&#039;il est a<br /> elle, la nature le prend pour confident et lui ouvre<br /> tout grands ses mystéres. I] n’a pas lieu de<br /> s’enorgueillir, il nest guére plus savant que<br /> d’autres ; mais il a vu de pres, sans voiles; il est<br /> Partiste qui se repait pleinement, sainement de la<br /> beauté,<br /> <br /> Dans ces moments de révélation le voyageur qui<br /> crayonne sur son carnet ne se sent pas écrire; sa<br /> main semble courir toute seule, poussée par une<br /> force inconnue, et l’état de son ame se refléte en<br /> ces pages comme en un miroir.”<br /> <br /> This is surely the way in which Pierre Loti was<br /> inspired to write the poem in prose which he has<br /> entitled “L’Inde.” The volume is divided into<br /> five parts : “ En Route vers Inde,” “A Ceylon ;”<br /> “Chez le Maharajah du Travancore 57 = Danes<br /> VInde des Grandes Palmes 3° ° Dang inde<br /> Affamée ;” and ‘“ Vers Bénarés.”<br /> <br /> “ L’Oblat,” the new book by M. J. K. Huysmans,<br /> is extremely interesting, treating as it does one of<br /> the burning questions of the day in France, that<br /> of the Associations Law and the recent expulsion<br /> of many of the religious congregations. The<br /> oblatis a kind of lay brother who is admitted<br /> as a boarder into a monastery, and as M. Huysmans<br /> tried this experiment himself, and remained in his<br /> monastery until the exodus of the monks and<br /> their departure for the land of exile, the author of<br /> this book speaks feelingly when, as Durtal, he gives<br /> us his opinion on recent events. There are some<br /> very fine pages in “ L’Oblat,” and, as a French critic<br /> says, “ It is a continuation of M. Huysmans’<br /> ‘ Encyclopzedia of Catholicism, ’”<br /> <br /> Durtal is living in a monastery in the neigh-<br /> bourhood of Dijon as an oblat, when the Pope’s<br /> letter with regard to the Associations Law causes<br /> a stir in the French Catholic world. The monks<br /> believe that the Government will not dare to touch<br /> the religious orders, but Durtal has not this faith,<br /> and, in the passages where he attacks the Govern.<br /> ment, treating Loubet “as a veritable Pilate,” we<br /> recognise not only the lay brother, but Huysmans,<br /> an author of the realistic school.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 176<br /> <br /> He describes the indignation of the worthy<br /> monks who object to ask the authorization of the<br /> Government, and who object, still more strongly,<br /> to give an inventory of all they possess. Through<br /> all the tribulations of the monks, the lay brother,<br /> Durtal, appears to see clearly the causes which<br /> have brought about this state of things. “Les<br /> fideles,” he says, “ont aidé A faire du catholicisme<br /> ce quelque chose d’émascule, d’hybride, de mol,<br /> cette espéce de courtage de priéres et de mercu-<br /> riale @oraisons, cette sorte de Sainte-Tombola ou<br /> Yon brocante des graces en insérant des papiers<br /> et des sous dans des troncs, scellés sous des statues<br /> de saints !”<br /> <br /> Finally, Durtal is convinced that if God allows<br /> His Church to be persecuted it is in order that<br /> certain reforms shall be made, and that the Church<br /> shall be more in accordance with the requirements<br /> of the times.<br /> <br /> Among other ideas Durtal proposes that artists<br /> shall help to restore the monastic idea. He<br /> dreams of a huge settlement composed of houses<br /> and studios, where men of various professions shall<br /> live, each house offering hospitality to a monk, but<br /> all living together and having a common oratory.<br /> In conclusion, Durtal says: ‘“ L’Eglise pourrait<br /> faire plus mal que prier Dieu de lui envoyer des<br /> artistes. leurs ceuvres opéreraient plus de con-<br /> versions et lui améneraient plus de partisans que<br /> les vaines rengaines que ses prétres, juchés dans<br /> des coquetiers, versent sur la téte resignée des<br /> fideles.””<br /> <br /> On closing the book one is struck with the idea<br /> that the society of M. Huysmans must have been<br /> a great addition to the monks in the monastery<br /> where he resided for some time.<br /> <br /> “Au milieu des massacres” is the title of the<br /> book just published by Madame Maurice Carlier,<br /> the heroic woman who was recently decorated by<br /> the French Government with the Order of the<br /> Legion of Honour. Her husband was the French<br /> Consul who distinguished himself by his courage<br /> during the events of Sivas, in 1895.<br /> <br /> The “Correspondance de Chateaubriand avec<br /> La Marquise de V.—”’ has just been published as<br /> “Un Dernier Amour de René.”<br /> <br /> The story of this correspondence is quite a<br /> romance. The Marquise de V. was a great<br /> admirer of Chateaubriand’s works, and for years<br /> had “worshipped” in silence. When she was<br /> about forty-eight she ventured to write to the<br /> celebrated author, because she had seen from the<br /> newspaper that he was ill. Chateaubriand replied<br /> in the most cordial terms, and the Marquise then<br /> wrote a longer letter, in which she expressed her<br /> admiration for his works, and owned that he had for<br /> many years been her “ étoile.”<br /> <br /> The correspondence continued during the next<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> two years, and it is very evident from the letters of<br /> the Marquise that her admiration developed into<br /> love, and that she suffered tortures between her<br /> longing to see the man whom she idolised and her<br /> dread lest their meeting should prove to be the end<br /> of their romance. Chateaubriand persisted in<br /> believing that she was quite young, and she had<br /> not the courage to undeceive him.<br /> <br /> Before the end of the first year of this exchange<br /> of letters, Chateaubriand writes: “J’aime celle<br /> qui ne m’est plus inconnue que de visage.” A few<br /> months later he calls on the Marquise, and then<br /> after a few more letters the correspondence ceases.<br /> <br /> As the preface to the book explains ‘ Chateau-<br /> briand avait toujours vite fait de cesser d’aimer et<br /> nombreuses sont les femmes qui en ont souffert.”<br /> The Marquise de V. was probably one of these<br /> women.<br /> <br /> The letters are well worth reading, and one<br /> understands from those of Chateaubriand some-<br /> thing of the fascination he exercised.<br /> <br /> The death of M. Gaston Paris is a great loss<br /> to the French literary world. He was a member<br /> of the Academy, a great savant and a philologist<br /> of the first order. He lectured at the College of<br /> France on the French language and literature of<br /> the Middle Ages. Among his numerous works the<br /> following are perhaps the best known :—“ Histoire<br /> poetique de Charlemagne,” “Les plus anciens<br /> monuments de la langue francaise,” “ Les Contes<br /> orientaux de la littérature francaise du Moyen-Age.”<br /> <br /> The French Academy has lost its Doyen, M.<br /> Ernest Legouvé. He became a member of the<br /> Academy in 1855, and has, during his long career,<br /> seen all his thirty-nine colleagues replaced by new<br /> members. Hewas born in 1807. His best known<br /> works are: “Adrienne Lecouvreur,” and the<br /> “ Bataille de Dames,” et “Contes de la Reine de<br /> Navarre,” in collaboration with Scribe.<br /> <br /> The late M. Zola’s books have been sold, and<br /> among them a Latin manuscript, a breviary of<br /> the fifteenth century, executed by the Abbé de<br /> Moissac. The miniatures and illuminations were<br /> very beautiful.<br /> <br /> Tt seems that the breviary had a history.<br /> Zola picked it up ata sale, and it appears that it<br /> inspired him for his book “ Le Réve.” The exact<br /> description of this manuscript is to be found in<br /> the book.<br /> <br /> An exquisite little volame has just been pub-<br /> lished entitled, “‘Pensées d’une Solitaire.” The<br /> authoress of these “ Pensées,” Madame Ackermann,<br /> died in 1890. She had published an edition in<br /> 1883, but it was very soon out of print, and this<br /> reprint is preceded by a chapter entitled “ Madame<br /> Louise Ackermann intime,” written by Mlle. Louise<br /> Read. In this chapter many hitherto unpublished<br /> fragments of poetry and prose are given, and also<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 177<br /> <br /> a brief sketch of the life of the authoress whose<br /> works won the admiration of such men as Tolstoy,<br /> Sully Prudhomme, Coppée and Barbey @’ Aurevilly,<br /> The latter, who was often horrified at Madame<br /> Ackermann’s tone of revolt in certain of her<br /> writings, spoke of her as “ tout 4 la fois un monstre<br /> et un prodige: un prodige pur le talent et un<br /> monstre par la pens¢e.”<br /> <br /> Whereupon Mme. Ackermann sent her critic a<br /> volume of her poems dedicated to him by “ Un<br /> monstre reconnaissant.”’<br /> <br /> Mile. Read sums up admirably the great merit<br /> of both the Pensées and the poems. “Ceux qui<br /> avaient déja souffert aussi,’ she says: “savent<br /> combien son influence était fortifiante et reposante<br /> et quel courage ils puisaient prés d’elle, non qu’elle<br /> s’efforcat de leur donner de vagues consgolations,<br /> mais sondant avec eux les abimes de la souffrance<br /> méme, la généralisant, l’ennoblissant. La est sa<br /> supréme puissance.”<br /> <br /> The new review published here (The Weekly<br /> Critical) has made rapid strides, both as regards<br /> quality and popularity. The French are quick to<br /> recognise literary merit, and the Editor, M. Arthur<br /> Bles, has already been nominated Offcier a’ Académie.<br /> The tenth number of the review contains some<br /> excellent articles, among others, “An English<br /> View of Nathaniel Hawthorne,” by John F,<br /> Runciman; “The Decay of Craftmanship in<br /> England,” by Arthur Symons ; “ Joseph Conrad,”<br /> by Ernest Newman; and a criticism of the<br /> Schumann Lieder, by Hugues Imbert. Some of<br /> the first writers in France are contributing to this<br /> review, and weekly articles are also to appear by<br /> Arthur Symons, John F. Runciman, and Ernest<br /> Newman.<br /> <br /> The International Theatre, too, seems likely<br /> to be a success. This magazine is published on<br /> the 20th of each month, and the March num-<br /> ber is most interesting. The theatrical news of<br /> the world is summed up in sixty pages, and as<br /> every article is given in two languages, French<br /> and English, it seems as though the whole world<br /> should be able to read it. Dramatic authors will<br /> no doubt enjoy following their plays to the various<br /> countries and seeing the photos of their interpreters<br /> of all nationalities. Besides the “ news,” there are<br /> some excellent articles in this number on subjects<br /> connected with the theatre. Mr. Louis N. Parker<br /> writes on “ Authors and their Adapters.” He says<br /> that in the course of his work he has been struck<br /> by the “callous indifference of authors towards<br /> their own plays. The majority of them do not<br /> seem to care by whom their plays are translated or<br /> interpreted, and they display a reckless ignorance<br /> of theatrical matters outside their own immediate<br /> surroundings which is perfectly amazing. ...<br /> Subsequently they are pained and surprised if,<br /> <br /> owing to the grotesque incompetence of the transla-<br /> tion, or the laughable inappropriateness of the<br /> performance, their play is a fiasco.”<br /> <br /> Perhaps the International Theatre will change<br /> all this. It will be more easy from henceforth for<br /> dramatic authors to know what is going on outside<br /> their own country.<br /> <br /> Another of the articles in this number is “ The<br /> American Syndicate since its Foundation,” by<br /> Norman Hapgood. The author explains very<br /> clearly the origin of the “ Theatrical Trust.”<br /> <br /> In Paris, the city par excellence for all things<br /> connected with dramatic art, the new venture has<br /> been welcomed cordially, and, as the name of<br /> Simpkin and Marshall appears on the cover of<br /> this month’s issue, it is evident that London, too,<br /> has discovered it.<br /> <br /> At the theatres there is great activity. ‘ Werther,”<br /> by M. Decourcelles, still holds the bill alternatively<br /> with “La Dame aux Camélias” at the Sarah<br /> Bernhardt Theatre.<br /> <br /> ‘Le Beau, Jeune Homme,” by M. Capus, at the<br /> Renaissance, has not had the success of “ La Chate-<br /> laine,”<br /> <br /> At the Odeon “ Le Message” and “ Les Appe-<br /> lears ” have been put on in the place of “ Résur-<br /> rection.” M. Antoine has had great success with<br /> “ Le Colonel Chabert,” a piece cleverly adapted by<br /> M. Louis Forest from a novel by Balzac.<br /> <br /> The new play, which is now being rehearsed by<br /> Madame Réjane, is awaited with great interest. It<br /> is in five acts and entitled “La Meilleure Part,”<br /> by Pierre de Coulevain, written in collaboration<br /> with Pierre Decourcelles.<br /> <br /> Pierre de Coulevain’s last novel, “Eve Victo-<br /> rieuse,” had great success in Paris, and, as in the<br /> play an American woman is one of the prominent<br /> characters, great curiosity is felt, not only with<br /> regard to the play itself, but also as to the inter-<br /> pretation by a French artiste of an American girl<br /> who becomes the wife of a French aristocrat.<br /> Madame Réjane has an extremely difficult ré/e, that<br /> of one of the most complex of complex women.<br /> She will no doubt rise to the occasion, and it is<br /> more than probable that ‘‘ La Meilleure Part” will<br /> be her greatest triumph.<br /> <br /> Atys HaLtaRp<br /> ——_$_-—~&lt;—_ —______<br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> es<br /> Some American Conditions.<br /> <br /> HE Authors’ Society might do worse than<br /> issue a Special Commission to inquire into<br /> and report upon the present state of the<br /> <br /> business of book-making and (so far as “ authors”<br /> are concerned) of periodical-making in the United<br /> States of America, Foreign markets are of ever-<br /> <br /> <br /> 176<br /> <br /> He describes the indignation of the worthy<br /> monks who object to ask the authorization of the<br /> Government, and who object, still more strongly,<br /> to give an inventory of all they possess. Through<br /> all the tribulations of the monks, the lay brother,<br /> Durtal, appears to see clearly the causes which<br /> have brought about this state of things. “ Les<br /> fidéles,” he says, “ ont aidé &amp; faire du catholicisme<br /> ce quelque chose d’émascule, d’hybride, de mol,<br /> cette espéce de courtage de pricres et de mercu-<br /> riale d’oraisons, cette sorte de Sainte-Tombola ou<br /> Yon brocante des graces en insérant des papiers<br /> et des sous dans des troncs, scellés sous des statues<br /> de saints ! ”<br /> <br /> Finally, Durtal is convinced that if God allows<br /> His Church to be persecuted it is in order that<br /> certain reforms shall be made, and that the Church<br /> shall be more in accordance with the requirements<br /> of the times.<br /> <br /> Among other ideas Durtal proposes that artists<br /> shall help to restore the monastic idea. He<br /> dreams of a huge settlement composed of houses<br /> and studios, where men of various professions shall<br /> live, each house offering hospitality to a monk, but<br /> all living together and having a common oratory.<br /> In conclusion, Durtal says: ‘‘ L’Eglise pourrait<br /> faire plus mal que prier Dieu de lui envoyer des<br /> artistes. Leurs ceuvres opéreraient plus de con-<br /> versions et lui améneraient plus de partisans que<br /> les vaines rengaines que ses prétres, juchés dans<br /> des coquetiers, versent sur la téte résignée des<br /> fideles.”’<br /> <br /> On closing the book one is struck with the idea<br /> that the society of M. Huysmans must have been<br /> a great addition to the monks in the monastery<br /> where he resided for some time.<br /> <br /> “Au milieu des massacres” is the title of the<br /> book just published by Madame Maurice Carlier,<br /> the heroic woman who was recently decorated by<br /> the French Government with the Order of the<br /> Legion of Honour. Her husband was the French<br /> Consul who distinguished himself by his courage<br /> during the events of Sivas, in 1895.<br /> <br /> The “Correspondance de Chateaubriand avec<br /> La Marquise de V.—” has just been published as<br /> “Un Dernier Amour de René.”<br /> <br /> The story of this correspondence is quite a<br /> romance. The Marquise de V. was a great<br /> admirer of Chateaubriand’s works, and for years<br /> had “worshipped” in silence. When she was<br /> about forty-eight she ventured to write to the<br /> celebrated author, because she had seen from the<br /> newspaper that he was ill. Chateaubriand replied<br /> in the most cordial terms, and the Marquise then<br /> wrote a longer letter, in which she expressed her<br /> admiration for his works, and owned that he had for<br /> many years been her “ étoile.”<br /> <br /> The correspondence continued during the next<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> two years, and it is very evident from the letters of<br /> the Marquise that her admiration developed into<br /> love, and that she suffered tortures between her<br /> longing to see the man whom she idolised and her<br /> dread lest their meeting should prove to be the end<br /> of their romance. Chateaubriand persisted in<br /> believing that she was quite young, and she had<br /> not the courage to undeceive him.<br /> <br /> Before the end of the first year of this exchange<br /> of letters, Chateaubriand writes: “J’aime celle<br /> qui ne m’est plus inconnue que de visage.” A few<br /> months later he calls on the Marquise, and then<br /> after a few more letters the correspondence ceases.<br /> <br /> As the preface to the book explains “ Chateau-<br /> briand avait toujours vite fait de cesser d’aimer et<br /> nombreuses sont les femmes qui en ont souffert.”<br /> The Marquise de V. was probably one of these<br /> women.<br /> <br /> The letters are well worth reading, and one<br /> understands from those of Chateaubriand some-<br /> thing of the fascination he exercised.<br /> <br /> The death of M. Gaston Paris is a great loss<br /> to the French literary world. He was a member<br /> of the Academy, a great savant and a philologist<br /> of the first order. He lectured at the College of<br /> France on the French language and literature of<br /> the Middle Ages. Among his numerous works the<br /> following are perhaps the best known :—“ Histoire<br /> poetique de Charlemagne,” “ Les plus anciens<br /> monuments de la langue francaise,” “ Les Contes<br /> orientaux de la littérature francaise du Moyen-Age.”<br /> <br /> The French Academy has lost its Doyen, M.<br /> Ernest Legouvé. He became a member of the<br /> Academy in 1855, and has, during his long career,<br /> seen all his thirty-nine colleagues replaced by new<br /> members. He was born in 1807. His best known<br /> works are: “Adrienne Lecouvreur,” and the<br /> “Bataille de Dames,” et “Contes de la Reine de<br /> Navarre,” in collaboration with Scribe.<br /> <br /> The late M. Zola’s books have been sold, and<br /> among them a Latin manuscript, a breviary of<br /> the fifteenth century, executed by the Abbé de<br /> Moissac. The miniatures and illuminations were<br /> very beautiful.<br /> <br /> Tt seems that the breviary had a history.<br /> Zola picked it up ata sale, and it appears that it<br /> inspired him for his book “ Le Réve.” The exact<br /> description of this manuscript is to be found in<br /> the book.<br /> <br /> An exquisite little volume has just been pub-<br /> lished entitled, ‘“ Pensées d’une Solitaire.” The<br /> authoress of these “ Pensées,” Madame Ackermann,<br /> died in 1890. She had published an edition in<br /> 1883, but it was very soon out of print, and this<br /> reprint is preceded by a chapter entitled “ Madame<br /> Louise Ackermann intime,” written by Mlle. Louise<br /> Read. In this chapter many hitherto unpublished<br /> fragments of poetry and prose are given, and also<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 /> &amp; BER<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 /> <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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> a brief sketch of the life of the authoress whose<br /> works won the admiration of such men as Tolstoy,<br /> Sully Prudhomme, Coppée and Barbey d’ Aurevilly.<br /> The latter, who was often horrified at Madame<br /> Ackermann’s tone of revolt in certain of her<br /> writings, spoke of her as “ tout a la fois un monstre<br /> et un prodige: un prodige pur le talent et un<br /> monstre par la pensée.”<br /> <br /> Whereupon Mme. Ackermann sent her critic a<br /> volume of her poems dedicated to him by “Un<br /> monstre reconnaissant.”’<br /> <br /> Mlle. Read sums up admirably the great merit<br /> of both the Pensées and the poems. “ Ceux qui<br /> avaient déja souffert aussi,” she says: “savent<br /> combien son influence était fortifiante et reposante<br /> et quel courage ils puisaient prés d’elle, non qu&#039;elle<br /> s’ettorgat de leur donner de vagues consolations,<br /> mais sondant avec eux les abimes de la souffrance<br /> méme, la généralisant, l’ennoblissant. La est sa<br /> supréme puissance.”<br /> <br /> The new review published here (The Weekly<br /> Critical) has made rapid strides, both as regards<br /> quality and popularity. The French are quick to<br /> recognise literary merit, and the Editor, M. Arthur<br /> Bles, has already been nominated Officier i’ Académie.<br /> The tenth number of the review contains some<br /> excellent articles, among others, “An English<br /> View of Nathaniel Hawthorne,” by John F.<br /> Runciman; “The Decay of Craftmanship in<br /> England,” by Arthur Symons ; « Joseph Conrad,”<br /> by Ernest Newman; and a criticism of the<br /> Schumann Lieder, by Hugues Imbert. Some of<br /> the first writers in France are contributing to this<br /> review, and weekly articles are also to appear by<br /> Arthur Symons, John F. Runciman, and Ernest<br /> Newman.<br /> <br /> The International Theatre, too, seems likely<br /> to be a success. This magazine is published on<br /> the 20th of each month, and the March num-<br /> ber is most interesting. The theatrical news of<br /> the world is summed up in sixty pages, and as<br /> every article is given in two languages, French<br /> and English, it seems as though the whole world<br /> should be able to read it. Dramatic authors will<br /> no doubt enjoy following their plays to the various<br /> countries and seeing the photos of their interpreters<br /> of all nationalities. Besides the “news,” there are<br /> some excellent articles in this number on subjects<br /> connected with the theatre. Mr. Louis N. Parker<br /> writes on “ Authors and their Adapters.” He says<br /> that in the course of his work he has been struck<br /> by the “callous indifference of authors towards<br /> their own plays. The majority of them do not<br /> seem to care by whom their plays are translated or<br /> interpreted, and they display a reckless ignorance<br /> of theatrical matters outside their own immediate<br /> surroundings which is perfectly amazing. ...<br /> Subsequently they are pained and surprised if,<br /> <br /> 177<br /> <br /> owing to the grotesque incompetence of the transla-<br /> tion, or the laughable inappropriateness of the<br /> performance, their play is a fiasco.”<br /> <br /> Perhaps the International Theatre will change<br /> all this. It will be more easy from henceforth for<br /> dramatic authors to know what is going on outside<br /> their own country.<br /> <br /> Another of the articles in this number is “ The<br /> American Syndicate since its Foundation,” by<br /> Norman Hapgood. The author explains very<br /> clearly the origin of the “ Theatrical Trust.”<br /> <br /> In Paris, the city par excellence for all things<br /> connected with dramatic art, the new venture has<br /> been welcomed cordially, and, as the name of<br /> Simpkin and Marshall appears on the cover of<br /> this month’s issue, it is evident that London, too,<br /> has discovered it.<br /> <br /> At the theatres there is great activity. “ Werther,”<br /> by M. Decourcelles, still holds the bill alternatively<br /> with “La Dame aux Camélias” at the Sarah<br /> Bernhardt Theatre.<br /> <br /> “Le Beau, Jeune Homme,” by M. Capus, at the<br /> Renaissance, has not had the success of “ La Chate-<br /> laine.”<br /> <br /> At the Odeon “ Le Message” and “Les Appe-<br /> lears”” have been put on in the place of “ Résur-<br /> rection.” M. Antoine has had great success with<br /> “ Le Colonel Chabert,” a piece cleverly adapted by<br /> M. Louis Forest from a novel by Balzac.<br /> <br /> The new play, which is now being rehearsed by<br /> Madame Réjane, is awaited with great interest. It<br /> is in five acts and entitled “La Meilleure Part,”<br /> by Pierre de Coulevain, written in collaboration<br /> with Pierre Decourcelles.<br /> <br /> Pierre de Coulevain’s last novel, “Eve Victo-<br /> rieuse,” had great success in Paris, and, as in the<br /> play an American woman is one of the prominent<br /> characters, great curiosity is felt, not only with<br /> regard to the play itself, but also as to the inter-<br /> pretation by a French artiste of an American girl<br /> who becomes the wife of a French aristocrat.<br /> Madame Réjane has an extremely difficult ré/e, that<br /> of one of the most complex of complex women.<br /> She will no doubt rise to the occasion, and it is<br /> more than probable that ‘‘ La Meilleure Part” will<br /> be her greatest triumph.<br /> <br /> Atys HaALuarp<br /> $+ —____<br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> —_—<br /> <br /> Some American Conditions.<br /> <br /> HE Authors’ Society might do worse than<br /> issue a Special Commission to inquire into<br /> and report upon the present state of the<br /> <br /> business of book-making and (so far as “ authors”<br /> are concerned) of periodical-making in the United<br /> Foreign markets are of ever-<br /> <br /> States of America.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 178<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> increasing importance to the competent British<br /> writer, and the American is by far the most<br /> valuable of them all. We stand to gain, too, not<br /> only by the greater frequency of these over-sea<br /> transactions and the “invasion” of this country<br /> by American firms, but also by the example of<br /> vigour and intelligence which they often afford to<br /> the more conservative British publishers, editors,<br /> and retailers. Unfortunately, the only trustworthy<br /> information at present available is necessarily<br /> coloured by personal experience, and those who<br /> know most are least inclined to indulge in rash<br /> generalisation. I am very glad to respond to the<br /> editor’s request for some personal impressions ;<br /> but I am not at all inclined to help to encourage<br /> the young writer in the notion that there is, out<br /> there in the sunset, a new El Dorado yearning to<br /> acknowledge and reward his budding genius. In<br /> this, as in other departments of industry, the<br /> Republic is beginning to expect to balance exports<br /> against imports. It is now capable of supplying all<br /> the trash it can consume (which, indeed, is saying<br /> a good deal) ; the only conquests that remain are<br /> for special talent, or something still rarer, backed<br /> by skilled advice and vigilant organisation.<br /> <br /> Let me take the periodical Press first. I am<br /> much struck by the courtesy and still more by the<br /> open-mindedness of the American editor, as com-<br /> pared with his English fellow. He is infinitely<br /> more receptive, and, on the financial side, generally<br /> more venturesome. There is no air of pontifical<br /> inspiration or Thibetan impenetrability about the<br /> American editorial office. Thanks to our world-<br /> wide traffic we still have a greater range of oppor-<br /> tunity in politics and the more weighty public<br /> subjects ; in the kaleidoscopic representation of<br /> social life we are sadly behindhand. In publica-<br /> tions devoted to bookish affairs America leads the<br /> whole world, with the Critic, the Bookman, Current<br /> Literature, the Reader, the Lamp, the New York<br /> Times’ Saturday Review, the Dial (Chicago), and<br /> the Literary World (Boston), the last two serving<br /> to remind us of the advantage of having more<br /> than one centre of literary production. When we<br /> recall that, in addition, it is no infrequent thing<br /> to find four or six pages of book reviews in a<br /> single issue of any of the twenty leading news-<br /> papers, it becomes evident that the American<br /> publisher has to cater for an appetite which, already<br /> Jarger than ours, is still growing, and growing<br /> under fairly good guidance. Criticism has not the<br /> air of preciosity to which we are accustomed, and<br /> perhaps it sometimes fails of the expertness on<br /> remote subjects which gives certain British journals<br /> their sole value. Ina word, letters are the posses-<br /> sion not of a small cult but of a great democracy ;<br /> a people marked by the limitations, but also the<br /> glorious vigour and sympathies of youth.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> It may be positively said that the American<br /> editor has finished with average British fiction,<br /> short or long. The reasons are obvious ; but it is<br /> only after having received many hard knocks in<br /> the last few years that some accepted English<br /> writers have bowed to the inevitable. Brother<br /> Jonathan is rapidly learning to discriminate. He<br /> is also a very positive person, and, general polite-<br /> ness notwithstanding, very impatient of incompe-<br /> tence. The editor is a man of ideas, not an<br /> amiable Mr. Mantalini. Great names, great deeds,<br /> new ideas, unfailingly appeal to him. He simply<br /> doesn’t want of us what his own public school<br /> children can do, as he would say, ‘‘in their sleep.”<br /> I am inclined to think that he runs to greater<br /> extremes of price in both directions, though it is<br /> difficult to know how our own lower scales can be<br /> outdone ; but the high prices are nearly all re-<br /> served as prizes for a few men and women of<br /> special gifts and achievements. For the rest, the<br /> national tastes and distastes—for instance, the<br /> absorbing interest in material accomplishment, and<br /> the prevalent puritanism—must be carefully re-<br /> garded. For very few authors can the United<br /> States be looked upon as more than a supplemen-<br /> tary field; and then it can only be effectively<br /> attacked through a trustworthy agent. That,<br /> indeed, may be said of all ‘ foreign rights.”<br /> Conditions of book publication still differ con-<br /> siderably on the opposite sides of the Atlantic,<br /> though no doubt they tend to become more homo-<br /> geneous with the growth of literary intercourse.<br /> The work of the Authors’ Society has still to be<br /> done over there. Only a few men have been<br /> tempted into the new and difficult sphere of<br /> literary agency (one of the chief English syndicates<br /> has lately withdrawn its American representative),<br /> and they exist in the main by and for foreign<br /> business. Cost of production has never, so far as<br /> I know, come under public discussion ; and it is<br /> even more difficult there than here to get books<br /> satisfactorily produced on commission. Even the<br /> beginnings of a corporate feeling among craftsmen<br /> of the pen are hardly yet discernible. In a nation<br /> with the heritage of the Old World behind and<br /> immeasurable material tasks before, it is not sur-<br /> prising that native literature has hitherto been a<br /> mere by-product. Now that a thousand more or<br /> less intelligent young men and women have been<br /> tempted to try their hands upon the romance<br /> topographical or historical, we may expect some<br /> esprit de corps to appear. But the terrible indi-<br /> vidualism of the American character is an obstacle ;<br /> the existence of three or four great national<br /> centres is another ; while the greatest of all will<br /> be found in the peculiar character of American<br /> publishing enterprise in its present stage. If it<br /> be possible, the man of art is more completely than<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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 179<br /> <br /> we are in the hands of the man of business ;<br /> though he may more often console himself with<br /> the reflection that his publisher really is a man of<br /> business, and not merely a dilettante or a potterer,<br /> Agreements oftener take an arbitrary form ; and,<br /> even with the best firms, accustomed to the more<br /> rigid British methods, it is often necessary, for<br /> the sake of a greater advantage, to pass minor<br /> provisions which are now hardly ever met with at<br /> home. Extraordinary arrangements with authors<br /> are also—if the bull may be permitted—more<br /> frequent, these being generally the outcome of, or<br /> closely connected with, the American advertising<br /> system, and the quest of the “boomster.” The<br /> English publisher rarely gives a substantial<br /> advance on royalties unless previous sale records<br /> justify it. The American of good standing can<br /> apparently draw to a much larger extent upon the<br /> support of the retail trade, and so is enabled to<br /> mortgage the royalties on a larger first edition if<br /> he scents a “big seller.” Thus, a quite uew<br /> author may be offered a very large sum in advance<br /> of what turns out to be—until sales have reached<br /> twenty or thirty thousand—a very small royalty,<br /> the inducement being not only the large advance<br /> payment, but the prospect of an expenditure on<br /> advertisements so heavy that it would be, as the<br /> publisher probably justly contends, impossible<br /> under the normal British system. It will be better<br /> for everyone, I think, when this “boomster ”<br /> business is played out ; and one notes with satis-<br /> faction that some of the best of the newer houses<br /> are following the best of the old ones, by abandon-<br /> ing the plan of an exceedingly reduced list of<br /> meretricious works, designed solely for sensational<br /> advertisement. One wonders how some English<br /> houses meet their newspaper bills; and it is not<br /> surprising to learn that the American publisher,<br /> whose expenditure in this direction has sometimes<br /> reached fabulous proportions, is beginning to learn<br /> that it is a mistake. He may spend much less and<br /> yet set us a needed example of effective display.<br /> The Author has been saying some very severe<br /> things of late about the British bookseller ; and,<br /> without endorsing all of them, I quite agree that<br /> our retailers have much to learn, and that upon<br /> the improvement of their position the improvement<br /> of the outlook for authors and publishers largely<br /> depends. If Transatlantic examples are to be<br /> quoted, however, it must be subject to some under-<br /> standing of the differences of the two cases. In<br /> England, apart from a few central shops in the<br /> large cities, bookselling is a sadly impoverished<br /> business, subsisting largely upon the respectability<br /> that attaches to the skirts of culture in an ancient<br /> society. The fall of incomes of the landowners<br /> and the poverty of the country clergy—classes<br /> which would sacrifice books before other luxuries<br /> <br /> —the extension of the Mudie and Smith libraries,<br /> the increasing habit of buying in London, and the<br /> growth of the discount system have played havoc<br /> with bookshops in the provinces. In America the<br /> circumstances are widely different. The book-<br /> man is respected no more, probably less, than the<br /> engineer ; indeed, no one calling is much more<br /> respectable than another. But solid profit is the<br /> measure of success in all callings ; and the book-<br /> seller expects to get, and does get, solid profits.<br /> Trade discounts run to at least 40 per cent. off<br /> “subject” books, and 25 per cent. on net books,<br /> but the net system now practically covers all but<br /> novels. New York is very far from absorbing all<br /> the wealth and enterprise and interest of the land ;<br /> in every town the readers are much more dependent<br /> than we are upon the local stores, Partly because<br /> of the comparative newness of the trade, and partly<br /> from the American faculty for concentration,<br /> these are fewer and larger than in this country.<br /> McClure’s, for instance, is almost the only con-<br /> siderable bookshop in Chicago, and it is, I believe,<br /> the largest in the world, dealing with every kind<br /> of book from the “Caxton” and the “First Folio<br /> Shakespeare ” to the latest ten-cent reprint. | th<br /> does an immense intermediary trade; and alto-<br /> gether—to say nothing of the publishing depart-<br /> ment—no such organisation exists in this country.<br /> Burrows’s, of Cleveland, is another big concern<br /> holding the strings of the retail trade of a wide<br /> and wealthy region. The recent sale by the pub-<br /> lishing house of Henry T. Coates &amp; Co., in Phila-<br /> delphia, of their retail department marks the progress<br /> of specialisation in this business. Such a firm as<br /> Elder and Shepard’s, in San Francisco, includes<br /> extremes of trade which are divided here by all<br /> that lies between, say, Hatchard and Stoneham ;<br /> and their little periodical, Zmpressions, shows<br /> with how much skill they appeal to what is best<br /> in their vigorous and prosperous community. In<br /> Boston, where the trade is older and competition is<br /> keener, where the community is more critical and<br /> better supplied with libraries, and offers less oppor-<br /> tunity for the merely mechanical adjustment of<br /> supply to demand, than in the West, there is a<br /> greater approximation to English conditions.<br /> <br /> But everywhere in the New World—and this is<br /> the supreme fact—there is a more numerous, more<br /> instructed, and more highly-vitalised public to<br /> appeal to ; and a wider diffusion of wealth makes<br /> effective the universal regard for knowledge as<br /> the only title to honour and authority. Ask any<br /> intelligent American what is the matter with poor<br /> old England, groaning amid her feudal remains,<br /> and he will tell you that Culture, also, if we are<br /> to get the most out of it, must be based upon<br /> Democracy.<br /> <br /> G. H. Perris.<br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> Sg<br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<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 /> Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement).<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to :<br /> <br /> (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. From time to time the very important figures<br /> connected with royalties are published in he Author.<br /> Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the<br /> * Cost of Production.”<br /> <br /> IV. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> —_—_—_—_—___o__<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> — +<br /> <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 /> <br /> 2. It 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 /> 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 /> (0.) 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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<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 (i.¢.,<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 (@.) 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. ‘&#039;hey 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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY<br /> <br /> ——————<br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> i, VERY member has a right toask for and to receive<br /> K advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the<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&#039;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 /> <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 /> <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 /> <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 /> I<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 /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<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) I&#039;o 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 /> <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 /> ———_—__—_§_o-——____<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> —1+~ +<br /> <br /> EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this<br /> branch of its work by informing young writers<br /> of its existence. heir 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 scientitic works. The<br /> Readers are writers of competence and experience. The<br /> fee is one guinea,<br /> <br /> ———_ +&gt; —____ =<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> ee<br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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 /> 181<br /> <br /> Communications for Lhe Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> TT Oo<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED RY THE<br /> EDITOR on all subjects connected with literature, but on<br /> no other subjects whatever, very effort will be made to<br /> <br /> return articles which cannot be accepted.<br /> —+~&lt; +<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 Bunk of London, Chancery Lane, or be sent<br /> by registered letter only.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> AUTHORITIES.<br /> <br /> ——+-~ +<br /> <br /> V E have read with much pleasure the Report<br /> <br /> of the Canadian Authors’ Society for 1902.<br /> <br /> The Society has done good work on<br /> <br /> copyright, and is evidently still anxious to keep<br /> <br /> the right view of the Imperial Copyright question<br /> <br /> before the Canadian authorities. he officers of<br /> the society for 1902 are as follows :—<br /> <br /> Hon. President: Prof. Goldwin Smith, D.C.L.<br /> <br /> President: Hon. G. W. Ross, U.L.D.<br /> <br /> Vice-Presidents: Dr. Bryce (Winnipeg), Dr.<br /> Drummond (Montreal), Dr. Frechette, C.M.G.<br /> (Montreal), Hon. J. W. Longley (Halifax), D. C.<br /> Scott, F.R.C.S. (Ottawa).<br /> <br /> Secretary: Prot. Pelham Edgar, Ph.D.<br /> <br /> Treasurer: John A. Cooper, B.A., LL.D.<br /> <br /> Executive: Messrs. James Bain, jun., Castell<br /> Hopkins, O. A. Howland, Bernard McEvoy, Mac-<br /> donald Oxley, J. 8. Willison, B. E. Walker, and<br /> Professors Davidson, Lefroy and Mayor.<br /> <br /> The society numbers over 100 members, and<br /> although there are still, as in the case of every<br /> society of this kind, some well-known authors out-<br /> standing, the list shows that the society is well<br /> supported.<br /> <br /> The main objects of the society are the same<br /> as our own.<br /> <br /> From such a satisfactory beginning great things<br /> may be expected when the literature of Canada is<br /> us large as its territory.<br /> <br /> One of His Majesty’s Consuls residing in a<br /> distant part of the Continent has forwarded a<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 182<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> letter to the office complaining of the extraordinary<br /> advertisement by postcard of a book published by<br /> the firm of Messrs. R. A. Everett &amp; Co.<br /> <br /> The question has been dealt with by letters in<br /> The Times at the beginning of last month.<br /> <br /> We have only taken notice of it because the<br /> Secretary received the correspondence from a man—<br /> personally unknown to him and not a member of<br /> the Society ; one, however, who appeared to be<br /> well aware of the interest the Society takes in<br /> matters relating to books and book advertise-<br /> ments.<br /> <br /> The Consul also reports that other members of<br /> the consular service have received similar post-<br /> cards. This tends to show the terrible extent to<br /> which this peculiar form of advertising has been<br /> carried by the author’s unknown friend, or<br /> enemy.<br /> <br /> We read with pleasure in the letter that appeared<br /> in The Times signed by the publishers, that both the<br /> author and the publishers deny any responsibility<br /> for this method of advertisement.<br /> <br /> Tt still remains a mystery, therefore, who the<br /> enemy may be who has done this serious injury to<br /> the author.<br /> <br /> Has a careful study of the postcards been<br /> made }<br /> <br /> As many members of the Society require advice<br /> on the more difficult subjects connected with copy-<br /> right and the management of their property,<br /> articles have from time to time been printed in<br /> The Author declaring the law and advising on these<br /> special points. In pursuance of these principles,<br /> Agreements from certain houses have also been<br /> exhaustively criticised.<br /> <br /> It has been necessary occasionally to republish<br /> these articles, because former numbers of The<br /> Author have either been sold out or distributed,<br /> and members still require assistance. This is<br /> rendered more easily by a printed article than a<br /> lengthy letter.<br /> <br /> Among the many points of law there is one<br /> which is frequently a cause of disagreement in the<br /> Publishing and Literary world, namely, the law<br /> with reference to titles of books.<br /> <br /> In the September, 1900, issue of The Author an<br /> article was printed dealing with this subject. As<br /> in other cases so in the present, that number of<br /> The Author is entirely out of print. It has been<br /> thought advisable to republish the article.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> M. Jules Lermina, perpetual Secretary of the<br /> “Association Littéraire et Artistique Inter-<br /> national,” writes to inform us that the address<br /> of the Association has been transferred to “22,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Rue Chaiteaudun, Paris (9e).” Correspondence<br /> should be addressed to the Secretary at “85,<br /> Boulevard de Portroyal, Paris.” The twenty-fifth<br /> Congress of the Association will take place on<br /> the 3rd of October next, at Weimar, under the<br /> patronage of the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar.<br /> The report of the Naples Congress of 1902 is in the<br /> press, and will be shortly distributed.<br /> <br /> ——_+—_&gt;_+-__<br /> <br /> AMERICAN NOTES.<br /> <br /> t+<br /> <br /> HE year 1902, was as I anticipated in my<br /> last notes, a record one for its output of<br /> books. It was also remarkable in another<br /> <br /> way. The statistics of the best selling novels<br /> show that, in this department at least, there is a<br /> growing taste for home products. Domestic<br /> fiction claims twenty-three out of the twenty-eight<br /> most-read novels of 1902, as compared with nineteen<br /> out of twenty-nine in the preceding year, “ The<br /> History of Sir Richard Calmady,” “The Hound<br /> of the Baskervilles” and “The Right of Way”<br /> (which last some are inclined to claim as itself<br /> half-American), were the only serious foreign com-<br /> petitors of the champion “Mrs. Wiggs of the<br /> Cabbage Patch,” “The Mississippi Bubble,” “ The<br /> Virginian,” “Dorothy Vernon,’ Mr. Connor&#039;s<br /> “The Man from Glengarry,” and the long-lived<br /> “Crisis.” Mr. Whiteing has announced his<br /> opinion that American fiction is being increasingly<br /> influenced by French novels ; but for my part I<br /> should say that there were some indications that<br /> native genius would in time find itself strong<br /> enough to stand alone.<br /> <br /> There is certainly nothing French about “ Mrs.<br /> Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,” which is now, I<br /> believe, being much read in England. It is prob-<br /> ably the most successful work that the Century<br /> Company have yet issued. Yet the publishers are<br /> quite refreshingly reticent about its sale, declaring<br /> that the book is “ too delicate in its motive to be<br /> handled in that way ”’—that is, as a “big seller.”<br /> At the end of January, however, they did not<br /> object to an announcement that the sales had con-<br /> siderably exceeded two hundred thousand—it was<br /> first issued so long ago as October, 1901—and<br /> were still “going*merrily on.” I note that it<br /> follows Mr. Norris’s posthumous story in the last<br /> lists, still holding second place.<br /> <br /> Surely it is rather new for a publishing company<br /> to have a sentiment against “ working” the public<br /> in the interest of one of their works. A cynic might<br /> suggest ulterior motives; but far be it from the<br /> present writer to make any such base insinuation,<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, I have to congratulate Miss Hegan<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> upon having, like “ Mr. Dooley,” joined the ranks<br /> of those prepared to give hostages to fortune. She<br /> is now the wife of Mr. Cale Young Price, the<br /> Kentucky poet. Her new book, “Lovey Mary,”<br /> is, I gather, in the nature of a sequel to “ Mrs.<br /> Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.” I infer from the<br /> title of a recent announcement of the Boston<br /> Mutual Book Company—“ Mrs. McPiggs of the<br /> Very Old Scratch” — that the last-named has<br /> attained the distinction of being parodied.<br /> <br /> Undoubtedly, the most remarkable book that<br /> has appeared since my last notes were written is<br /> the literary legacy of Mr. Frank Norris. “The<br /> Pit” was the second part of the wheat trilogy,<br /> planned by the American Zola. “The Octopus ”<br /> had dealt with the growers of the grain ;<br /> “The Pit” is a study of the speculators in it.<br /> The scene is Chicago, where the novelist lived<br /> as a boy. It is probably an improvement even<br /> upon “The Octopus,” and is generally thought<br /> to contain the author’s best female character. It<br /> is sad to reflect that “The Wolf,” which was to<br /> have concluded the trilogy, will never exist but in<br /> name.<br /> <br /> A book which has been exciting much curiosity<br /> in the literary world on this side, is “The Journal<br /> of Arthur Stirling ; or, The Valley of the<br /> Shadow,” published by Appleton. Obituary notices<br /> of the supposed diarist, who was said to have com-<br /> mitted suicide after the rejection of his blank<br /> verse drama by eight publishers, appeared in<br /> prominent papers ; but the work is now supposed<br /> to have been a concoction, and has been attributed<br /> to Mr. Upton St. Clair. If this be true, it is to be<br /> hoped that the veritable author will enjoy the<br /> exceedingly outspoken utterances which some of<br /> its critics have allowed themselves. One re-<br /> viewer, whose name appears at the foot of his<br /> article, roundly declares the “ Journal ” to be “ the<br /> most vulgar and impudent humbug that has been<br /> perpetrated for years,” adding to his censure the<br /> contemptuous remark :—‘‘ But it won’t work.’<br /> From what I have seen of it, I should judge that<br /> his strictures were not without justification.<br /> <br /> The new story by the author of “J. Devlin<br /> Boss” is a romance of the Civil War, and the<br /> titular hero, “ The Captain,” is General Ulysses S.<br /> Grant. That industrious romancer, Dr. Cyrus<br /> Townsend Brady, has also written a new novel,<br /> “Woven with the Ship,” treating of the same<br /> period, which seems to yield inexhaustible<br /> material.<br /> <br /> Raymond L. Bridgman’s “ Loyal Traitors” con-<br /> tains dramatic scenes from the late struggle in the<br /> Philippines, and is written in a vein of strong<br /> sympathy for the Filipinos. Its admirers would<br /> fain have it classed with “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”<br /> <br /> Another notable novel which has appeared<br /> <br /> 183<br /> <br /> recently is Hamlin Garland’s « Captain of the<br /> Grey Horse Troop,” which tells how a friend of<br /> the redmen not only succeeded in protecting them<br /> in the reservation where he lived as agent but<br /> also won over to his views the lady of his love<br /> who had shared her father’s hostility to the<br /> Indians.<br /> <br /> I do not think I mentioned in my last notes<br /> Ralph Corner’s story of school life ‘in Canada,<br /> which should be read by all those who enjoy boys’<br /> books as well as those who are attracted by “ best<br /> sellers.”<br /> <br /> “The Henchman,” by Mark Lee Luther, is a<br /> cleverly written story of political life in New York<br /> state—distinctly a good specimen of the genre to<br /> which it belongs.<br /> <br /> I have an impression that amidst the crowd of<br /> books from which I had to make selections for<br /> comment in my Christmas notes I passed over a<br /> work which is so much out of the common as “The<br /> Letters of a Self-made Merchant to his Son.” As,<br /> however, Mr. Lorimer’s book is probably by this<br /> time as well known in England as America, it seems<br /> hardly necessary for me to repair the omission<br /> now.<br /> <br /> The flood of fiction is scarcely yet at the full,<br /> and I must pass on to a few weightier, if not so<br /> widely circulated, books.<br /> <br /> Despite the great mass of publications that have<br /> already come forth—a bibliography issued by<br /> authority last year specifies about 450 separate<br /> works—writers are still busy with the Trust<br /> problem. The latest contributions of importance<br /> to the discussion are Mr. George L. Bolen’s “ Plain<br /> Facts as to Trusts and the Tariff,’ and a volume<br /> somewhat quaintly termed “The Trust: Its<br /> Book,” edited by James H. Bridge. The latter is<br /> written by a syndicate in defence of the Trust, the<br /> several departments of the subject being treated of<br /> by specialists. Mr. Bolen, on the other hand,<br /> takes up the position of a judge rather than that<br /> of an advocate, suggests remedies and recommends<br /> tariff reform.<br /> <br /> Another subject of great concern to Americans<br /> is discussed by Professor Fernow, who, in his<br /> “ Kconomics of Forestry,” pleads for a scientific<br /> treatment of the question. A good popular work<br /> about trees, which has been lately written by Miss<br /> Julia Ellen Rogers, ‘“ Among Green Trees,” may,<br /> perhaps, be mentioned in this connection, since it<br /> is not only descriptive, but both scientific and<br /> practical.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin &amp; Co. propose to<br /> celebrate the centenary of Emerson’s birth, which<br /> occurs next May, by the issue of an edition of his<br /> works, which is to include some hitherto unpub-<br /> lished manuscripts. Of what these will consist we<br /> <br /> have as yet been told nothing, but it is announced<br /> <br /> <br /> 184<br /> <br /> that the Riverside Press will issue a limited edition,<br /> subscribers to which will be presented with original<br /> sheets (not fac-similes) of Emerson’s own hand-<br /> writing. This “Autograph Centenary Edition z<br /> will be a real treasure to the admirers of the<br /> philosopher poet.<br /> <br /> Dr. Van Tyne’s edition of Daniel Webster&#039;s<br /> Letters will also include unpublished matter of<br /> some interest. The editor, it may be noted, has<br /> recently published an interesting little monograph<br /> upon the “ Loyalists of the American Revolution.”<br /> <br /> With the appearance of its fourth volume, Dr<br /> McCrady’s “ History of South Carolina in the<br /> Revolution” has reached its conclusion. It is a<br /> monument of research, but many people will think<br /> that the subject has been treated at somewhat<br /> disproportionate length, and that General Greene<br /> has been rather unnecessarily disparaged.<br /> <br /> Some extracts, and a fac-simile of entries, from<br /> Washington’s private Account Book for 1790-1,<br /> which was rescued from a fire some fifteen years<br /> ago, have been printed in “ The Bookman,” while<br /> the Crific of the same month may be said to have<br /> gone one better historically with an illustrated<br /> “Columbus Codex.” Mr. Herbert Putnam, who<br /> is responsible for the latter article, traces the<br /> history of the manuscript, and adduces reasons in<br /> support of its authenticity. It purports to be one<br /> of the three parchment copies which Columbus had<br /> <br /> prepared at the time of his disgrace, in 1500, of<br /> the various grants that had been made to him by<br /> the sovereigns of Castile and Aragon, of the Bull<br /> accorded him by Pope Alexander VI., and of<br /> <br /> various other documents. The Codex, which has<br /> lately been acquired hy Congress, was bought by<br /> the late Edward Everett at Florence in 1818,<br /> mentioned in print in 1824 in connection with the<br /> printing of another of the transcripts in the pre-<br /> ceding year, and again in Justin Winsor’s “ Lite of<br /> Columbus ” some seventy years later, but not<br /> actually seen by anyone but its possessor until<br /> 1898, when Dr. William Everett lighted upon it<br /> by chance. It was submitted by the latter to<br /> experts in England, and by great good fortune was<br /> rescued intact from a fire which broke out in Dr.<br /> Everett’s house two years ago. The seller is said<br /> to have let this precious document go to the<br /> National Library at a practically nominal price.<br /> <br /> Who wrote “Mary had a Little Lamb”? It<br /> appeared that Miss Anne Hollingsworth Wharton<br /> had triumphantly demonstrated that the honour<br /> belonged to Sara Josepha Hale ; when, lo and<br /> behold! there comes a friend of the latter who<br /> declares of her own knowledge that the said Mrs.<br /> Sara Josepha did not pen the first three—the<br /> immortal—stanzas! This is a conclusion too<br /> affecting for words.<br /> <br /> There is now at last to be a first-rate American<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> art magazine. The aim of the American Connois-<br /> seur, which will be edited by Mr. Charles de Kay<br /> (director of the National Sculpture Society, art<br /> editor of the New York Times, and much else) is<br /> stated to be “ to reflect the various manifestations<br /> of art in America with due reference to the work<br /> of foreign countries, and to contribute to the<br /> tastes of American connoisseurs ”—a commend-<br /> able programme.<br /> <br /> I return for a moment to literature in order to<br /> make mention of a work which deserves com-<br /> mendation as being rather apart from the beaten<br /> track struck out by the national genius. This<br /> is Richard Thayer Holbrook’s “ Dante, and the<br /> Animal Kingdom.” Dr. Holbrook’s work will<br /> appeal not only to the Dante student, but also to<br /> the man of science, and even the general reader<br /> may find it not without interest to him.<br /> <br /> In “ Twenty-six Historic Ships” Mr. Frederic<br /> Stanhope Hill, formerly of the United States<br /> Navy, may also claim to have overstepped con-<br /> ventional limits, even if he has not created a new<br /> subdivision of belles lettres, which is neither<br /> exactly history, science, or biography.<br /> <br /> In the last-named department I have little at<br /> present to chronicle—in fact, Gaillard Hunt’s<br /> “Life of James Madison” is the only book that<br /> occurs to me. But I must add to historical publi-<br /> cations a volume in Appleton’s “Story of the<br /> West” series, A. ©. Lant’s “The Story of the<br /> Trapper,” and the opening volume of the “ Corre-<br /> spondences of the Colonial Governors of Rhode<br /> Island between 1723 and 1775,” edited by Gertrude<br /> Selwyn Kimball.<br /> <br /> My obituary list contains only two names, those<br /> of Mrs. Catherwood and Mrs. Frémont. Mary<br /> Hartwell Catherwood was the pioneer of the present<br /> deluge of historical romance. Under the inspira-<br /> tion of Parkman she first wrote stories of the early<br /> days of the Middle West, but in “The Lady of<br /> the Fort St. John” transferred the scene further<br /> north. Her best and most successful work was<br /> “ Lazarre,” the story of Hleazar Williams, one of<br /> the numerous faux Dauphins, or supposed sons of<br /> Louis XVI. But she also excelled in the short<br /> story and in tales for children.<br /> <br /> Jessie Benton Frémont, besides helping General<br /> Frémont by her masterly inactivity at a critical<br /> moment to conquer California, wrote several<br /> successful volumes of reminiscences, and is said to<br /> have completed at her death biographical studies<br /> of her father and husband.<br /> <br /> —_ &gt; ——_—_<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> A CAPE LETTER.<br /> <br /> ++<br /> <br /> VALUABLE contribution to South African<br /> literature has been supplied by Mr. Gardner<br /> F. Williams, M.A., General Manager of<br /> De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, in ‘“ The<br /> Diamond’ Mines of South Africa—Some Account<br /> of their Rise and Development,” published by<br /> Macmillan in New York and London. The<br /> scope of this bulky volume is much wider than<br /> might be expected from its title, and the style in<br /> which it is written is flowery and most readable.<br /> After opening with a chapter on “The Ancient<br /> Adamas,” which recounts the adventurous careers<br /> of many famous gems, the author passes to an<br /> historical account of the various treasure-seeking<br /> expeditions which have exploited South Africa,<br /> introducing the subject with some mention of the<br /> Pheenicians and of the first navigators of the<br /> “Cape of Storms.” This leads up to the history<br /> of the Diamond Mines, which is followed by a<br /> detailed description of the industry in all its<br /> branches and aspects, together with a chapter on<br /> “The Formation of the Diamond.” One of several<br /> appendices is devoted to the Defence of Kimberley,<br /> in which the De Beers Company took so pro-<br /> minent a part. There are seven maps, 29 full-page<br /> plates (a few of them coloured), and 420 other<br /> illustrations ; these covering a large variety of<br /> subjects.<br /> <br /> “The Art of Life—An Essay,” by Rev. F. C.<br /> Kolbe, D.D. (Cape Town, J. C. Juta &amp; Co.;<br /> Dublin, The Catholic Truth Society of Ireland),<br /> is described in a prospectus as “an analysis and<br /> development of the principle that life is an art,<br /> and is therefore subject to all the rules of art.”<br /> In his first chapter, Dr. Kolbe analyses the various<br /> fine arts, as thus: “A sculptor (1) by the power<br /> of his hand, (2) working under the guidance of<br /> his mental grasp of bodily form, does (3) with<br /> hammer and chisel (4) shape (5) a block of<br /> marble (6) into a permanent type of beauty ;”<br /> and in the same manner he describes life as<br /> “The art wherein man (1) by the power of grace<br /> (2) working through the Moral Sense illuminated<br /> by Faith, does (3) with the instrumentality chiefly<br /> ot Prayer (4) transform (5) the nature of the<br /> Soul (6) into the Divine beauty of Justice.”<br /> <br /> Another little volume published for a Cape<br /> author by a British firm is “The Children’s<br /> Shakespeare (J/erchant of Venice, Midsummer<br /> Nights Dream, and As You Like It),’ by Miss<br /> Ada Baynes Stidolph, with a preface by the Very<br /> Rev. C. W. Barnett-Clark, M.A., Dean of Cape<br /> Town (London, Allman &amp; Son, Limited). The<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> stories chosen are takingly told in short prose<br /> chapters, and the book is graced with several<br /> <br /> 185<br /> <br /> excellent photogravure plates, including a repro-<br /> duction of Faed’s beautiful conception of ‘ Shake-<br /> speare in his study.” The volume is dedicated by<br /> permission to the little daughter of the Governor<br /> of this Colony.<br /> <br /> A remarkably interesting and entertaining story<br /> is contained in the Rev. Wm. Dower’s unpretentious<br /> book entitled ‘Early Annals of Kokstad and<br /> Griqualand Kast” (printed at Port Elizabeth,<br /> C. C.). The author describes himself as the only<br /> one left “of those who took part in the founding<br /> of the town (Kokstad) thirty years ago,” and as<br /> having occupied the position of a sort of “ Pontifex<br /> maximus’ in the little native State. He traces<br /> the development of the Griqua tribe, and the rise<br /> of its “civilisation ’—due partly to an admixture<br /> of half-caste slave blood—and describes its migra-<br /> tions, the cruel wrongs it suffered from both Boer<br /> and Briton, and its unflinching loyalty to the<br /> British flag. The account of the methods of<br /> government is most diverting. There were a<br /> Aaptyn (captain or chief, who was elected), Privy<br /> Council, Volksraad, Magistrates, etc. Dutch was<br /> the official language. ‘‘ Decisions of the Volksraad<br /> were sent up to the Privy Council, and were often<br /> discussed in a free and easy style on the stoep of<br /> the chief’s house,” with the accompaniment of<br /> coffee and tobacco. The delegates were always the<br /> guests of the Government, and the length of the<br /> session depended on the food supply: “No beef<br /> no business, was the unwritten but standing rule<br /> of this assembly!” The country was annexed to<br /> Cape Colony in 1874. A number of good illustra-<br /> tive plates supplement the narrative.<br /> <br /> Messrs. J. C. Juta &amp; Co. continue to repair the<br /> ravages of the fire mentioned in a previous letter,<br /> a number of second editions of South African<br /> legal works have appeared within the last few<br /> months. Among publications of less importance<br /> are “St. Andrew’s College Register,” and the<br /> “Report of the Good Hope Society for Aid to the<br /> Sick and Wounded in War (South African War,<br /> 1899—1902),” both illustrated, and the usual batch<br /> of Christmas Numbers; the most notable of these<br /> being that of the Cape Times entitled “ Through<br /> the Transvaal with Pen and Camera.” The<br /> Central News Agency has in projection a large<br /> paper publication entitled, “ With Chamberlain in<br /> South Africa,” which will be contributed to by<br /> many correspondents of English papers, as well as<br /> local Pressmen. It is being compiled by Mr. G. H.<br /> Kingswell, editor of Zhe Owl, and will be fully<br /> illustrated.<br /> <br /> After an existence of little more than half<br /> a year, Zhe Examiner, an ambitious review<br /> published fortnightly at Beaufort West, has<br /> disappeared. It is doubtful whether anything like<br /> it has ever before been attempted here, and the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 186<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> venture was the more daring in that the paper was<br /> domiciled in a sleepy little country town. Among<br /> its contributors were many eminent English<br /> writers, and its decease is much to be deplored.<br /> All local magazines, save those devoted to very<br /> temporary matters, have an uphill struggle against<br /> the teeming produce of the Mother Country. Of<br /> new monthlies just out or shortly to appear, Zhe<br /> Camera and the South African Freemason are<br /> sufliciently introduced by their names, but the<br /> same can scarcely be said of the Plagiarist, a<br /> sporting journal, which has surely hit upon an<br /> original title, even if the paper’s main purpose is<br /> not therein indicated. Zhe Tribune is a new<br /> weekly, describing itself as a labour paper. Two<br /> or three new dailies are also announced. The<br /> South African Jewish Chronicle now makes a<br /> weekly instead of a fortnightly appearance. Mr.<br /> Jas. Strang, poet, novelist, and journalist, who has<br /> come to this country for health, has been appointed<br /> editor to the Cradock Observer.<br /> <br /> General De Wets’ “‘ Three Year’s War” has had<br /> a phenomenal sale in South Africa, and there has<br /> been a large demand for ex-President. Kruger’s<br /> ‘“‘Memoirs,”’ General Viljoen’s ‘ Reminiscences,”<br /> and Sir A. Conan Doyle’s “Great Boer War” ;<br /> all of these appearing in our book shops, both<br /> in English and in Dutch.<br /> <br /> A South African society of artists was a few<br /> months ago formed in Cape Town, having for its<br /> object the fostering of the study and practice of<br /> art in this part of the world. At the imaugural<br /> meeting, Mr. J. S. Morland was elected president,<br /> Mr. G. Crosland Robinson, treasurer, and Miss<br /> Glossop, secretary ; the lady last named has since<br /> been succeeded by Mr. E. C. Mace. In conjunction<br /> with the South African Drawing Club, the society<br /> held its first exhibition of pictures in December,<br /> the results being most satisfactory and encouraging.<br /> <br /> Yet another dispute has occurred between our<br /> rival theatrical managers, Mr. Geo. Edwardes,<br /> through his representatives, Messrs. B. &amp; F.<br /> Wheeler, applying to the Supreme Court for an<br /> interdict to prevent Messrs. Mouillot and De Jong<br /> from producing the comic opera, “ La Poupée,”<br /> in Cape Town. The evidence not being conclusive<br /> on either side, the Court refused the interdict, but<br /> ordered that respondents should keep an account<br /> of receipts, and that costs should be included in<br /> an action for damages. The dispute centres round<br /> the question as to whether a certain South African<br /> right sold by Edwardes was temporary or per-<br /> petual. Apropos of this squabble, one of our<br /> weeklies, Zhe Owl, published a cartoon reproducing<br /> a well-known poster which shows an elderly<br /> gentieman acting as a barrier between “La<br /> Poupée” and a young admirer, but substituting<br /> Messrs. De Jong and Frank Wheeler respectively,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> for the two male figures.<br /> <br /> The case of Sass vy.<br /> Wheeler, concerning the right to play “ Magda”<br /> <br /> in South Africa, which was noticed in The<br /> Author a few months ago, is still awaiting<br /> <br /> settlement, but it has not again been brought into<br /> court. In the subsequent cases of Hdwardes v.<br /> De Jong, in which “A Gaiety Girl” was the<br /> cause of quarrel, negotiations resulted in costs<br /> being paid by plaintiff.<br /> <br /> A certain Dutch attorney, having successfully<br /> sued the Cape Argus, Cape T&#039;imes, and Scotsman, in<br /> connection with asseverations regarding the loyalty<br /> of his conduct at the time of the siege of Kimberley,<br /> not long ago proceeded to take action against Dr.<br /> E. Oliver Ashe, of Kimberley, for defamation of<br /> character contained in that gentleman’s book,<br /> “Besieged by the Boers” (London, 1900). In<br /> this instance the plaintiff assessed his damages<br /> at £1,000, refused an offer of £100, and was<br /> awarded £5 with costs to date of tender only.<br /> Defendant’s counsel remarked that the libelled<br /> one seemed to have created a lucrative business by<br /> such restitution of his character, and was evidently<br /> making the most of it ; but the present transaction<br /> has proved unprofitable!<br /> <br /> Sipney YoRKE Forp.<br /> <br /> Cape Town, January 31st, 1903.<br /> <br /> a a<br /> <br /> “THE LITERARY YEAR BOOK.”<br /> <br /> —— 1<br /> <br /> HE editor of a book has no doubt a large<br /> power to influence the opinions of his<br /> readers. If competition is the life and<br /> <br /> soul of business, so no doubt criticism is the life<br /> and soul of literature. We owe thanks, therefore,<br /> to the former editor of the ‘‘ Literary Year Book”’<br /> for dealing in this, the seventh issue, kindly and<br /> sympathetically with the aims and objects of<br /> the Authors’ Society. Though he may not have<br /> grasped its highest ideals he yet realises that<br /> its work is useful and beneficial, and flatters its<br /> Committee by praising the more recent lines of the<br /> Society’s developments.<br /> <br /> In last month’s Author there was a review of the<br /> book as a whole. It is our duty to look to those<br /> parts which bear on the legal and business aspect<br /> of the literary life.<br /> <br /> We have not had time to compare the articles on<br /> Agreements and Copyright with those in last year’s<br /> issue, but feel—perhaps a more kindly mood is<br /> with us—that the only objection to be raised at<br /> the present is one inherent in the subject, namely,<br /> that it is impossible to deal adequately with these<br /> two difficult questions in the allotted space. A<br /> small volume would not exhaust the former, nor a<br /> large volume do justice to the latter, As in last<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> year’s annual so in the present issue, the most<br /> difficult part is allotted to Mr. Weekes, and<br /> courageously he grapples with his subject.<br /> <br /> On page 72, dealing with the Royalty Agree-<br /> ment, he states, ‘‘a date before which the book<br /> should be issued is sometimes insisted on by the<br /> author,’ and passes the matter by as one of little<br /> consequence, although in his comments on ‘“ The<br /> Author Commissioned,” he insists that “time is<br /> naturally of great importance to the publisher ina<br /> contract of this kind.”<br /> <br /> In truth, time is of no less importance to the<br /> author in a Royalty Agreement. The author may<br /> have other books coming out, and the dates of<br /> publication must not clash. He may have secured<br /> a contract for the United States market, and time<br /> is therefore essential.<br /> <br /> A certain well-known publisher, whose publica-<br /> tions at one time were more notorious than<br /> illustrious, must have failed to secure during the<br /> past year the future writings of many meritorious<br /> authors, owing to neglect in the past of this very<br /> point, and the consequent inconvenience to those<br /> whose works he was handling.<br /> <br /> If time had been made the essence of the con-<br /> tract the publisher would have been forced into<br /> salutary business habits or would have had to bear<br /> the penalty. There are no doubt publishers not<br /> a few who would feel it a point of honour not to<br /> inconvenience an author by unwarrantable delay,<br /> but there are others whose unwritten word is like<br /> an eggshell ripe for the breaking.<br /> <br /> The date of publication then is most important,<br /> and the fact should have been emphasised.<br /> <br /> On page 73, again, the right of making abridg-<br /> ments should not be left with a publisher. The<br /> author may contract under certain circumstances<br /> not to abridge, but should not leave the control<br /> in the publisher’s hands.<br /> <br /> On page 78 Mr. Weekes deals with the profit-<br /> sharing agreement, but in a manner hardly satis-<br /> factory. As this method is most dangerous, the<br /> author ought to have been given a fuller explana-<br /> tion of the snares and pitfalls that surround it.<br /> The mention of its great dangers recalls an epi-<br /> gram that appeared in a recent number of this<br /> magazine :—<br /> <br /> PUBLISHER: The agreement’s signed; the profits we<br /> divide—<br /> A half to each; applaud a just decision.<br /> AUTHOR: Peace and good-will to all this Christmas tide.<br /> Clearly ’twixt you and me there’s no division !<br /> <br /> Under the same heading in the cost of pro-<br /> duction is included, “ catalogueing, warehousing,<br /> prospectuses, and general office expenses.” These<br /> are items not of the cost of production, but of the<br /> cost of publication. To cover these items the<br /> <br /> 187<br /> <br /> publisher is receiving half profits. Otherwise the<br /> publisher is obtaining 50 per cent. of the profits<br /> as a reward for sitting still ; or—looking at the<br /> matter from another point of view—if the publisher<br /> has a right to these charges in settling the account,<br /> then the author must also bring into account<br /> many items altogether omitted connected with his<br /> work and labour. There is no doubt that for<br /> an author to be able to obtain sufficient protection,<br /> this agreement and its practical issues should<br /> have been dealt with at greater length with fuller<br /> detail.<br /> <br /> Lastly, why only in the agreement entitled, “ The<br /> Publisher Commissioned,” should the author insist<br /> upon “ the right to examine vouchers” ? Thisisa<br /> Common Law right, and it is best not only in this<br /> but in all contracts to let it remain so. Ifa clause<br /> is inserted, instead of helping the author, it may<br /> curtail his powers. There are clauses, drafted by<br /> publishers in their agreements, not unknown at the<br /> Society’s office, which, while they appear to the<br /> uninitiated to give all that is desired, bind the<br /> author to certain definite forms of proof, and<br /> restrain him from free action.<br /> <br /> On the whole, therefore, it is best to rely on<br /> the Common Law, which is not unfrequently a<br /> synonym for common sense.<br /> <br /> The faults culled from this article on agreements<br /> are faults of commission rather than omission.<br /> It has been our aim to fix on one or two salient<br /> points and insist on their importance. On the<br /> whole, we bestow unstinted praise on the care<br /> and diligence shown by the writer. The same<br /> comment may well be applied to the article on<br /> copyright.<br /> <br /> Here again the fault, if any, lies in the method.<br /> A limit in space must produce many omissions,<br /> and the author who relies on an epitomised state-<br /> ment of one of the most intricate of laws may find<br /> himself surrounded by snares wholly unsuspected.<br /> But still there are some phrases and deduc-<br /> tions concerning which, perhaps, the writer of<br /> the article may be able to offer some more lucid<br /> explanation.<br /> <br /> “There is no copyright at Common Law after<br /> the expiration of the statutory period.”<br /> <br /> Here is a merry confusion of terms: Copyright<br /> is a creature of statute. That which is a creature<br /> of statute is not of the Common Law, and where<br /> in all the statutes or elsewhere is it stated that the<br /> right at Common Law to restrain the publication<br /> or multiplication of unpublished works does not<br /> continue beyond the expiration of the statutory<br /> period ? Such a doctrine is surely wholly untenable,<br /> otherwise the privacy of the individual would cease<br /> to be possible seven years after his death.<br /> <br /> In the paragraph about “ Books,’ Mr. Weekes<br /> states: “The word copyright means the sole and<br /> <br /> <br /> 188<br /> <br /> exclusive liberty of printing or otherwise multiply-<br /> ing copies of a book.” This undoubtedly is part of<br /> the meaning of the word “copyright,” but case<br /> and statute law has defined it to cover a wider and<br /> more comprehensive range.<br /> <br /> It is impossible, therefore, to argue “ contrari-<br /> wise,” that an assignment of the sole and exclusive<br /> liberty of printing a book without limitation is<br /> practically an assignment of copyright. It is no<br /> such thing, it is still only “a licence.” To take<br /> one point of difference, a licence is a personal<br /> contract, even though it be for the whole term of<br /> copyright. A sale of copyright is not. It is a<br /> conveyance of a piece of property. Again, a<br /> licensee could not make alterations in an MS.,<br /> but an assignee of the copyright could alter within<br /> non-libellous limits ; and the opinion of an author<br /> as to what is libellous may differ considerably from<br /> that of a judge and jury.<br /> <br /> If we turn to the paragraph on “ Magazines and<br /> Periodicals,” we find the explanation of section 18<br /> is not very clear, but, recognising the difficulty,<br /> forbear from further comment.<br /> <br /> The paragraph that follows on the drama is<br /> unsatisfactory. The author, in his effort to be<br /> <br /> terse, has sacrificed his lucidity, and the same fault<br /> is evident when he talks of paintings, drawings and<br /> photographs ; but the artistic copyright affords<br /> some excuse for incoherence. It is more complicated<br /> <br /> than section 18 of the Act of 1842.<br /> <br /> Let us pass by the rest with a feeling of relief<br /> that our task has been to criticise and not to compile.<br /> Mr. Weekes has made a conscientious effort, and<br /> the result, if not perfect, shows study, knowledge,<br /> and judgment.<br /> <br /> The lists compiled for this book, like all lists in<br /> every annual, are not without faults.<br /> <br /> Some, which might easily have been avoided, were<br /> pointed out in last month’s review. The editor’s<br /> note before the Tables of Royalties is hardly con-<br /> vincing. If the deficiency of the English coinage<br /> forbids giving the exact Royalties, for example, on<br /> a sixpenny book at the rate of 24 per cent., 5 per<br /> cent., 74 per cent. and 10 per cent., it surely would<br /> have been better to have settled the matter in<br /> decimals or omitted to state the result. To give<br /> figures which are absolutely wrong and inaccurate<br /> is an impossible solution of the difficulty. The<br /> sole value of these tables must depend on their<br /> accuracy. And the majority of authors have some<br /> knowledge of the decimal system.<br /> <br /> We hasten to pay a final compliment to the<br /> editor and compilers, and to thank them for the<br /> care and pains bestowed on the production.<br /> <br /> G, i. a.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> “OF THE FASCINATION OF THE LIFE<br /> OF LETTERS.”<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> [eee about their craft must always have a<br /> peculiar interest for bookmen, and to light<br /> upon one of which the charm is not marred<br /> by any awakening of an entagonistic critical spirit<br /> is a pleasure worth recording. Guide books to<br /> Parnassus, author’s wade-mecums—what is the<br /> plural of vade-mecum?—and most compilations<br /> of hints and suggestions have an irritating effect<br /> upon such of us as may be said to have secured a<br /> foothold upon the ladder that leads to success in<br /> literature ; but books of the Highways and Bye-<br /> ways class, written by men who know the country,<br /> may generally be relied upon to provide gentle<br /> entertainment and food for quiet thought. ~ Two<br /> such books have lately been published, “ Literature<br /> and Life,” by W. D. Howells (Harper and Brothers),<br /> and “‘ The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft,” by<br /> George Gissing (Archibald Constable &amp; Co.).<br /> <br /> The pleasure afforded by these two books is of<br /> an identical kind, although emanating from two<br /> very different minds. Howells is cheerily optimistic,<br /> Gissing tenderly compassionate, although, relatively<br /> to himself, optimistic too; the former accepts<br /> things as they are with a good-humoured toler-<br /> auce ; he is of the world, and has found it a genial<br /> place upon the whole; the latter looks back upon<br /> his life “with man’s infinitely pathetic power of<br /> resignation, sees the thing on its better side, for-<br /> gets all the worst of it, makes out a case for the<br /> resolute optimist ” ; he has been in the world, but,<br /> partly from temperament, partly from force of<br /> circumstance, has never been of it. The optimism<br /> of the one is congenital, of the other acquired, and<br /> its expression in the one case is transparently<br /> ingenuous, whereas in the other it savours of<br /> special pleading. It follows that the advice given<br /> incidentally to their fellow-craftsmen by these two<br /> writers is conveyed in widely differing manners,<br /> while on essential truths they approximate to<br /> identity of opinion. Both books are full of what<br /> someone has well described as seed thoughts, and<br /> the arm-chair philosopher may water and tend<br /> them with advantage to himself.<br /> <br /> There are authors who write because they can,<br /> and others who write because they must, impelled<br /> thereto by the irresistible force of genius. It is<br /> only with the latter that posterity will have to<br /> deal ; but the former are a mighty host, and it is<br /> with pity for them that Gissing overflows.<br /> <br /> “ Innumerable,”’ he says, ‘ are the men and women now<br /> writing for bread, who have not the least chance of finding<br /> in such work a permanent livelihood. They took to writing<br /> because they knew not what else to do, or because the<br /> literary calling tempted them by its independence and its<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> dazzling prizes. They will hang on to the squalid pro-<br /> fession, their earnings eked out by begging and borrowing,<br /> until it is too late for them to do anything else—and then ?<br /> With a lifetime of dread experience behind me, I say that<br /> he who encourages any young man or woman to look for<br /> his living to literature commits no less than a crime.’<br /> <br /> The fact, of course, is that while the world wags<br /> young men and women will continue to look there<br /> without encouragement, and the old speculation<br /> arises in the mind as to wherein the fascination of<br /> the life of letters exists. ‘The love of books:<br /> the desire of a quiet life: the imaginary freedom<br /> from the ordinary cares ; the joy of composition:<br /> the desire to achieve the love and respect of the<br /> world: their own respect and love for great authors<br /> —these,” wrote Sir Walter Besant, ‘‘ are the chief<br /> among the many determining forces which may make<br /> a young man or a young woman ardently desire to<br /> embrace the profession of letters.” That is the<br /> summary given by one whom experience had<br /> taught, and if not wholly convincing, it will serve ;<br /> and having embraced it, what did he foresee? A<br /> little further on in the same book he wrote : “ The<br /> Literary Life may be, I am firmly convinced, in<br /> spite of many dangers and drawbacks, by far the<br /> happiest life that the Lord has permitted mortal<br /> man to enjoy. ... But I admit that without a<br /> reasonable measure of success it must be a dis-<br /> appointed and a miserable life. &#039;That reasonable<br /> measure of success is an essential.” It may not<br /> come, and there’s the rub.<br /> <br /> Henry Ryecroft, or George Gissing—even if we<br /> preserve the fiction, it matters not which—gets<br /> nearer to the truth. “It has occurred to me,” he<br /> says, “that one might define Art as: an expres-<br /> sion, satisfying and abiding, of the zest of life.”<br /> And in a thoughtful passage he justifies his defini-<br /> tion. There, probably, is the answer to the question.<br /> * All men are poets if they might but tell” what<br /> stirs within them ; the fascination of the life of<br /> letters is that thereby, albeit with prayer and<br /> fasting, the dumb are taught to speak and the<br /> inarticulate‘learn to give expression to something<br /> of the passion with which their souls are trembling.<br /> Even if the artist, from a modesty too rare or from<br /> whatsoever cause, forebears to communicate to<br /> others the ideas to which he has given expression,<br /> he will, nevertheless, have experienced for himself<br /> something of the fascination of that life; the<br /> charm of literature for the literary man lies in the<br /> fact that it is an art as distinct from a profession,<br /> and brings its own reward apart altogether from<br /> fees.<br /> <br /> Here crops up that everlasting rock—the ques-<br /> tion of financial remuneration for literary work,<br /> and Howells deals with it in no uncertain fashion.<br /> Every man ought to work for his living without<br /> exception, and when he has once avouched his<br /> <br /> 189<br /> <br /> willingness to work, society should provide him<br /> with work and warrant him’a living. “I do not<br /> think,” he says, “any man ought to live by an art.<br /> A man’s art should be his privilege, when he has<br /> proven his fitness to exercise it, and has otherwise<br /> earned his daily bread ; and its results should be<br /> free to all.” ... “The work which cannot be<br /> truly priced in money, cannot be truly paid in<br /> money.” There is no affectation of superiority in<br /> his attitude, no blinking of facts as they are ; he<br /> is perfectly aware that the artist is, and must be,<br /> only too glad if there is a market for his wares,<br /> without which he must perish or turn to something<br /> more saleable. ‘All the same, the sin and the<br /> shame remain, and the averted eye sees them still,<br /> with its inward vision. Many will make believe<br /> otherwise, but I would rather not make believe<br /> otherwise ; and in trying to write of Literature as<br /> Business, J am tempted to begin by saying that<br /> Business is the opprobrium of Literature.”<br /> Especially is this true of literature, which “ is<br /> at once the most intimate and the most articulate<br /> of the arts.” The whole article in Mr. Howells’<br /> book is worthy of serious consideration, but enough<br /> has been quoted to support the contention that<br /> quite apart from pecuniary reward, the charm of<br /> the literary life lies in the fact that literature is an<br /> art as distinct from a profession, and that art is an<br /> expression, satisfying and abiding, of the zest of<br /> life.’ It is that satisfaction for which men strive.<br /> If the gods endow you with temporal prosperity so<br /> much the better for you, but if that “reasonable<br /> measure of success” be not vouchsafed, it may be<br /> human, but it is not logical to complain. Henry<br /> Ryecroft, or George Gissing—again, it matters not<br /> which——anticipates the objection :<br /> <br /> * And why should any man who writes, even if he write<br /> things immortal, nurse anger at the world’s neglect? Who<br /> asked him to publish? Who promised him a hearing?<br /> Who has broken faith with him? If my shoemaker turn<br /> me out an excellent pair of boots, and I, in some mood of<br /> cantankerous unreason, throw them back upon his hands,<br /> the man has just cause of complaint. But your poem, your<br /> novel—who bargained with you for it? If it is honest<br /> journeywork, yet lacks purchasers, at most you may call<br /> yourself a hapless tradesman, If it comes from on high,<br /> with that decency do you fret and fume because it is not<br /> paid for in heavy cash? For the work of man’s mind there<br /> is but one test, and one alone—the judgment of generations<br /> yet unborn, If you have written a great book, the world<br /> to come will know of it. But you don’t care for post-<br /> humous glory. You want to enjoy fame in a comfortable<br /> armchair. Ah, that is quite another thing. Have the<br /> courage of your desire, Admit yourself a merchant, and<br /> protest to gods and men that the merchandise you offer is<br /> of better quality than much which sells for a high price.<br /> You may be right, and indeed it is hard upon you that<br /> Fashion does not turn to your stall.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Reiteration of a truth subtracts nothing from<br /> its essence ; rather does each fresh presentation<br /> <br /> <br /> 190<br /> <br /> add something to its force.<br /> ditto to Henry Ryecroft :<br /> <br /> “Art is not produced for artists, or even for<br /> connoisseurs; it is produced for the general, whocan<br /> never view it otherwise than morally, personally,<br /> partially,from their associations and preconceptions.<br /> Whether the effect with the general is what the<br /> artist works for or not, he does not succeed with-<br /> out it. Their brute liking or misliking is the final<br /> test ; it is universal suffrage that elects, after all.<br /> Only,’in some cases of this sort the polls do not<br /> close at four o’clock on the first Tuesday after the<br /> first Monday of November, but remain open for<br /> ever, and the voting goes on. Still, even the<br /> first day’s canvass is important, or at least<br /> significant.”<br /> <br /> Even if in the event the artist be not elected,<br /> he will, if Gissing’s definition be sound, have found<br /> satisfaction in expression. And in his search after<br /> success, what guide shall he follow, at whom shall<br /> he aim his winged words? With Mr. Howells’<br /> reply this article may fitly conclude:<br /> <br /> “There is only one whom he can safely try to<br /> please, and that is himself. If he does this he will<br /> very probably please other people ; but if he does<br /> not please himself, he may be sure that he will not<br /> please them ; the book which he has not enjoyed<br /> writing no one will enjoy reading.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Howells says<br /> <br /> V. HE. M.<br /> <br /> MORE REFLECTIONS FOR A REJECTED<br /> MS.—AND OTHERS.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> T’S no use crying over spilt ink.<br /> <br /> I Too many books spoil the market.<br /> A roving MS. gathers no dross.<br /> <br /> Spare the style and spoil the paper.<br /> <br /> Put a minor poet on Pegasus—he’ll write like the<br /> devil !<br /> <br /> Fine ‘“ puffs” do not make fine books.<br /> <br /> Take care of the agreements;—the publishers will<br /> take care of themselves.<br /> <br /> It’s an ill critique which blows no author any<br /> good.<br /> <br /> Ce n’est que le premier ‘“‘ par” qui cotite (?).<br /> <br /> (For the Magazine Editor.) Bread I win,—Tales<br /> you lose.<br /> <br /> (For Sir Conan.) A botched plot,—never Doyle’s !<br /> <br /> ARTHUR LAYARD.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> MR. J. H. SHORTHOUSE.<br /> <br /> E record with regret the death of Mr.<br /> Joseph Henry Shorthouse, which took<br /> <br /> place on the night of Wednesday, March 4th. Mr.<br /> Shorthouse was born in 1834, and was consequently<br /> nearly fifty years of age when “ John Inglesant,”<br /> upon which work his literary reputation deservedly<br /> rests, was published. Mr. Shorthouse’s early sur-<br /> roundings were of a commercial nature. He had<br /> not a public school or university education, and<br /> among the circumstances which combined to make<br /> him a student, an impediment in his speech,<br /> rendering social intercourse irksome, is said to<br /> have played a part. On the other hand, his birth<br /> and education in a Quaker family had some effect<br /> in guiding his studies in the direction of questions<br /> his mastery of which drew universal attention to<br /> his first book. The story of the publication of<br /> “John Inglesant”’ in 1881 is one of considerable<br /> interest. The result of long labour, it was for<br /> some years denied acceptance. Published privately<br /> in 1880 in an edition of 100 copies, it came into the<br /> hands of Mrs. Humphry Ward, then living at<br /> Oxford, whose appreciation secured its production<br /> by Messrs. Macmillan ; after which its success was<br /> largely accelerated by the interest evinced in it by<br /> Mr. Gladstone.. Mr. Shorthouse’s other writings<br /> <br /> include ,“« The Little Schoolmaster Mark” (1883),<br /> “ Sir Percival” (1886), ‘Countess Eve” (1888),<br /> “The Teacher of the Violin, and other Tales”’(1888),<br /> and various literary essays, among which were<br /> articles on Wordsworth and on George Herbert.<br /> His residence was at Lansdowne, Edgbaston,<br /> Birmingham.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> THE VERY REY. DEAN FARRAR, F.R.S.<br /> <br /> E have to chronicle with regret the death<br /> <br /> of Dean Farrar. He had been a member<br /> <br /> of the Society since its foundation in 1884, and had<br /> <br /> always shown himself in sympathy wilh its aims<br /> and objects.<br /> <br /> His literary activity was incessant, and to an<br /> extent overshadowed his great and powerful claims<br /> to recognition as a Churchman and a public man.<br /> <br /> His “ Life of Christ ” has had, and no doubt will<br /> continue to have, an enormous sale, although some<br /> have found fault because its passages are too<br /> florid.<br /> <br /> Apart from his theological writings, he will<br /> doubtless be remembered as the author of “ Eric,<br /> or Little by Little,” and other books of a similar<br /> type. These books have also had a large sale, but<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> it is certain that they did not appeal to the class of<br /> boy for whom they were written. Possibly the<br /> public school boy has changed, but we hardly<br /> think this contention is probable. The fault of<br /> the book, as far as it is a representation of<br /> school life, lies with the author rather than the<br /> subject.<br /> <br /> Dean Farrar’s influence has been one of great<br /> power and endurance, and will no doubé last for<br /> many years in the English church.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + —_____<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> Se<br /> “WHETHER OR NO.”<br /> <br /> Str,—The question does not seem to me to be<br /> quite fairly put. Grammar has nothing to do with<br /> logic, but depends upon usage and idiom. If a<br /> phrase has been widely used, it is “correct” for<br /> practical purposes. But if a writer chooses to say<br /> “whether or not” because he thinks that others<br /> do so, I, for one, shall not object ; and if his case<br /> is strong enough, it will prevail.<br /> <br /> When we come to the true test, that of usage,<br /> it can be shown that “ whether or no” has, at any<br /> rate, a long record, and it must be familiar to all<br /> who have read any other English than that of the<br /> present day. Here are a few examples, got together<br /> in a few minutes :—<br /> <br /> “ Whether thou be’st he or no.”— emp. v. 1, 111.<br /> <br /> “Whether one Nym . . . had the chain or no.”<br /> <br /> Merry Wives, iv. 5, 33.<br /> “‘ Whether the three worthies shall come in or no.”<br /> L. L. L., y. 2, 486.<br /> dwell with him or no.”<br /> Merch. Ven. ii. 2, 48.<br /> “Whether Antonio have had any loss at sea or no.”<br /> fd. iii. 1, 45.<br /> <br /> “Whether those peals of praise be his or no.”<br /> Id, iii, 2, 146.<br /> <br /> “Whether one Lancelot .. .<br /> <br /> At least five more examples occur in Shakespeare<br /> alone.<br /> <br /> “ Whethyr will ye come or nay ?”<br /> The Life of Ipomydon, ed, Weber, 1. 1844.<br /> <br /> “ Now whether have I a siker hand or noon?”<br /> Chaucer, C.T., D. 2069.<br /> <br /> ‘Is hit alyfed . . . the na?” (i.e. “Is it lawful :.. or<br /> no ?”)—Matt, xxii. 17, Anglo-Saxon version [ A.V. “or not.’]<br /> <br /> An idiom which has been in use for a thousand<br /> years requires no apology.<br /> <br /> Watrer W. SKEAT.<br /> <br /> 191<br /> <br /> I.<br /> <br /> Str,—Does your correspondent, “ King’s Eng-<br /> lish,” whose letter appeared in The Author for<br /> March (p. 160), mean seriously to contend that it<br /> is not correct to say or write “whether or no,” or<br /> that “ whether or not” is to be preferred? I am<br /> not enough of a scholar to discuss the origin of<br /> the phrase, but am inclined to suggest that the<br /> ‘or no” in modern English, and for that matter<br /> in fairly old English, is superfluous, and that<br /> “or no” may be all that remains of a phrase<br /> “whether, ay or no,” etc. There is tolerably old<br /> and good authority for “whether,” without any<br /> alternative expressed after it.<br /> <br /> Let us, however, consider the authorities for<br /> “‘whether or no,” and leave anyone who suggests<br /> that it is worse English than “ whether or not”<br /> to produce his authorities for the latter. I can<br /> tell him of one which is cited in the Century<br /> Dictionary :—<br /> <br /> “This obscure thorn-eater of malice and detraction, as<br /> well as of quodlibets and sophisms, knowes not whether it<br /> were illegall or not.”— Milton, “Apology.”<br /> <br /> But the same work also quotes :—<br /> <br /> ‘Whether they had their charges borne by the Church<br /> or no, it need not be recorded.” —-Milton, * Touching Hire-<br /> lings.”<br /> <br /> “King’s English” refers to the Authorised<br /> Version; I will submit another passage :—<br /> <br /> “Ts it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no ?”—<br /> Luke xx, 22.<br /> <br /> Will it be suggested that the word “no” is bad<br /> English here because “not” would be equally<br /> intelligible ?<br /> <br /> To return, however, to the authorities for the<br /> use of “whether or no.” Here are a few from<br /> Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary, or rather from Latham’s<br /> Todd’s Johnson (1870), and from the Century<br /> Dictionary. “ King’s English” can verify them<br /> if he likes :-—<br /> <br /> “ As they, so we have likewise a publick form, how to<br /> serve God both morning and evening, whether sermons<br /> may be had or no,” —Hooker’s “Ecclesiastical Polity.”<br /> <br /> “Resolve whether you will or no.” — Shakespear e<br /> Richard IIT,, Act iv. se. 2.<br /> <br /> “This assistance is only offered to men, and not forced<br /> upon them whether they will or no.”—Archbishop Tennison.<br /> <br /> “To that frere wyll I go And bring him to you, Whether<br /> he wyl or no,” —“ Robin Hood,” Child&#039;s Ballads, v. 421.<br /> <br /> “Whether one Nym... had the chain or no.” —<br /> Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act iv. se. 5.<br /> In conclusion, if Shakespeare and Milton are<br /> : ; : : pie.<br /> not of sufficient weight to satisfy “ King’s English,<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 192<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> let me remind him of the opening lines of the<br /> English classic which tells how the long dead, but<br /> none the less immortal batrachian voluptuary—<br /> <br /> “ Would a wooing go,<br /> Whether his mother would let him or no.”<br /> <br /> I am, etc.,<br /> ARcHIE ARMSTRONG.<br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> S1r,—Though I have read many articles in<br /> The Author on the trade of bookselling, I do<br /> not recollect having seen any allusion to the<br /> economic principle which seems specially applicable<br /> to the subject. The principle was laid down many<br /> years ago by Babbage in his interesting book, “ The<br /> Economy of Manufactures,” and is essentially as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> Whenever competition is effective there is<br /> generally but little profit to be obtained from<br /> retailing articles of such a nature that the pur-<br /> chaser can easily verify for himself that the<br /> article is indeed that which the salesman professes<br /> it to be.<br /> <br /> The sale of ordinary books comes under these<br /> conditions. Any intending purchaser can tell at a<br /> glance whether the volumes which the salesman<br /> calls, let us say, the “ Encyclopedia Britannica ”<br /> do really form that work. As, therefore, the<br /> reputation of the salesman is immaterial, the pur-<br /> chaser may quite safely buy the work from any<br /> cheap dealer in a back street, and therefore will<br /> not willingly pay a higher price to the honoured<br /> owner of an expensive shop.<br /> <br /> On the other hand, how difficult it is to ascertain<br /> whether a horse does possess the qualities which he<br /> who would sell it declares it to possess. The prudent<br /> buyer of a horse must generally shun the dealer of<br /> unknown character. He gives his custom to dealers<br /> of high repute only, and has, very properly, to<br /> pay a high price for doing so. No doubt the<br /> bookseller who deals in rare editions or choice<br /> bindings may still find ample rate of profit on<br /> his turnover, for then Babbage’s principle does<br /> not apply.<br /> <br /> Thus the ordinary bookseller’s difficulty seems<br /> to be the consequence of an economic law, and if<br /> this be so it is irremediable by net prices or any<br /> similar device.<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> <br /> A Constant READER.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> II.<br /> <br /> Sir,—Seeing that this question is stated in The<br /> Author of March to be ‘the most important of<br /> all accessory literary problems,” perhaps you will<br /> allow me to return to my suggestion in the<br /> January number.<br /> <br /> That the sale of books of all kinds would be<br /> universally increased if the public had real facilities<br /> for inspection, is obvious. The writer of the<br /> article in your March number says, correctly,<br /> “ There is probably not a book in the world which<br /> some one would not purchase on the spot if it were<br /> placed before him.” This may be equally true of<br /> most commodities, but the book trade differs from<br /> all others, in giving the public practically no<br /> chance of ascertaining what it is they are asked to<br /> buy. ‘To obviate this, books must be treated like<br /> other goods, and offered to the public for inspec-<br /> tion. A shop might be opened where books could<br /> be inspected for a fee (in case a purchase was not<br /> made). Books would also be sent by post, and<br /> brought to customers’ houses in carts. The tariff<br /> might be 5 per cent. on the value of the books<br /> inspected, unless 10 per cent. of their value was<br /> bought.<br /> <br /> What a difference it would make if books were<br /> brought to the door! There is a very large public<br /> to be exploited, people who, though well able to<br /> afford it, scarcely ever buy a book, being kept out<br /> of the market by the difficulty of ascertaining what<br /> books are for sale, what the contents of these books<br /> are, and how they are to be obtained. Make these<br /> things easy instead of difficult, and it is quite<br /> certain that the sale of books would be greatly<br /> increased. Make book-buying easy and satis-<br /> factory, and the public will eagerly pay.<br /> <br /> Why not imitate the butcher and the baker, who<br /> bring their wares to the door ?<br /> <br /> Yours, etc.,<br /> Norwoop Youne.<br /> <br /> WANTED A REFERENCE.<br /> <br /> Srr,—Could any reader of Zhe Author be 80<br /> kind as to inform me through its columns the<br /> source of the following quotation ?—<br /> <br /> Qui cessat esse melior, cessat esse bonus.<br /> <br /> I have searched every quotation book and list of<br /> mottoes in vain. I have seen somewhere, but<br /> forget where, that it was Oliver Cromwell’s<br /> motto.<br /> <br /> Yours obediently,<br /> <br /> J. M. Lary.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/482/1903-04-01-The-Author-13-7.pdf	publications, The Author
483	https://historysoa.com/items/show/483	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 08 (May 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+08+%28May+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 08 (May 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>	1903-05-01-The-Author-13-8					193–224																		<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=1903-05-01">1903-05-01</a>							8			19030501	Che Huthor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vou. XIII.—No. 8.<br /> <br /> May ist, 1903.<br /> <br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> ——_&gt;— &gt; —_____<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —— +<br /> <br /> OR the opinions expressed in papers that are<br /> K signed or initialled the authors alone are<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 /> Tue 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 /> Tue List of Members of the Society of Authors<br /> can now be obtained at the offices of the Society,<br /> at the price of 6d. net.<br /> <br /> It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> only.<br /> <br /> ——— +<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 /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> RO 2 en £1000 0 0<br /> G8 08s 500 0 0<br /> <br /> Victorian Government 3 % Consoli-<br /> dated Inscribed Stock ............... 291 19 11<br /> We A i 201 8 8<br /> otal 2. £1,993 9 2<br /> <br /> SPECIAL APPEAL.<br /> <br /> Tue 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 total amount of subscriptions and donations<br /> up to Dec. 1st is :—Subscriptions, £46 8s. 6d.;<br /> donations, £116 14s. 6d. Further additions to<br /> either list are set out below.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> Dec. 1, Finnemore, Mrs. . . £0<br /> Dec. 3, Caulfield, Miss Sophia &lt; 0-1<br /> Dec. 5, Hecht, Mrs. . s 02<br /> » Hamilton, Mrs. G. W. 1<br /> . Brinton, Selwyn 0<br /> Dec. 9, Dill, Miss Bessie 0<br /> <br /> Dec. 18, Sutherland, Her Grace the<br /> Duchess of : : :<br /> Dec. 19, Toplis, Miss Grace .<br /> Dec. 22, Anonymous ;<br /> Dec. 29, Seton-Karr, H. W.<br /> Pike Clement, E.<br /> 19038.<br /> Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke<br /> 3 Deane, Rev. A.C. .<br /> Jan. 4, Anonymous<br /> Heath, Miss Ida<br /> i Russell, G. H. :<br /> Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline<br /> 5, Bedford, Miss Jessie<br /> Jan. 19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs.<br /> Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice : ;<br /> Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M. M.<br /> <br /> —<br /> OOS Orn ooocoece<br /> ooocoo oOocooaceg<br /> <br /> 9<br /> <br /> 22<br /> <br /> me Oo Oo Or COCO So OS Oo &gt; bo<br /> or<br /> <br /> on<br /> eoooocoocooooan<br />  <br /> <br /> 194<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred. &gt; 6<br /> Keb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0<br /> Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. 0<br /> Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0<br /> » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0<br /> Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . : 0<br /> Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1<br /> Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 0<br /> Apl. 10, Bird, C. P. 0<br /> Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery . (<br /> <br /> oC<br /> <br /> Donations.<br /> <br /> Dec. 1, Sanderson, Sir J. Burdon<br /> <br /> 5<br /> <br /> - Smith, G. C. Moore 1<br /> Dec. 2, T&#039;revor-Battye, Aubyn 1<br /> » Marks, Mrs. . 0<br /> Dec. 9, Moore, Henry Charles (0<br /> Dee. 11, Lutzow, Count 9<br /> », “Leicester Romayne ” 0<br /> <br /> », Hellier, H. George. 1<br /> Dee. 12, Croft, Miss Lily 0<br /> », Panting, J. Harwood 0<br /> <br /> » ‘attersall, Miss Louisa . 0<br /> Dec. 19, Egbert, Henry 0<br /> Dec. 23, Muirhead, James F. 0<br /> Dec. 28, A. 8. 1<br /> » Bateman, Stringer . 0<br /> Dec. 31, Cholmondeley, Miss Mary . 10<br /> <br /> 1908.<br /> <br /> Jan. 3, Wheelright, Miss E. : 0<br /> 5 Middlemass, 1] Miss Jean . 0<br /> <br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, The R ight Hon.<br /> The Lord . :<br /> » Gribble, Francis :<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen .<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston<br /> » Miller, Miss E. T. .<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine<br /> Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French<br /> Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt<br /> Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs...<br /> Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rey. Silas<br /> Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. .<br /> 5, Ord, Hubert H.<br /> Feb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor<br /> » Carlile, Rev. J. CO. .<br /> Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs.<br /> Feb. 26, Speakman, “Mrs.<br /> Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella<br /> Mar. 16, Hallward, N. L. .<br /> Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice .<br /> Mar. 20, Mathieson, Miss Annie .<br /> Mar. 20, Browne, T. A. “ Rolfe Boldre-<br /> wood” A<br /> Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry :<br /> Api. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H.<br /> Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore<br /> <br /> cCorcezocoorecocooresm<br /> <br /> fon<br /> = tec<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Or Or<br /> <br /> or or<br /> <br /> — ee<br /> acnc<br /> <br /> es<br /> acounorce<br /> <br /> e<br /> <br /> H<br /> corcauno Cire<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> i0<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> caoamoococceo<br /> <br /> cooooccoococeocesco<br /> <br /> eageocooco<br /> <br /> eoocoo<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 ood Bart., F.R.C.S,<br /> Rashdall, The Rey. H<br /> <br /> Guthrie, Anstey.<br /> <br /> Robertson, C,<br /> <br /> Dowsett, G, R<br /> <br /> ‘here 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 /> Subscriptions,<br /> Hawkins, A. Hope<br /> <br /> : ‘ £10 0 6<br /> Barrie, J. M. . ; : : . 10 0 0<br /> Drummond, Hamilton : ; - 10.0 0<br /> Wynne, Charles Whitworth : - 10 0 0<br /> Gilbert, W. 8S. . : : ; - 10-0 9<br /> Sturgis, Julian . : : : - 10 0 0<br /> <br /> oe<br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> THE amount standing to the credit<br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £330 3 6<br /> <br /> There are a few promised subscriptions still<br /> outstanding. The total of these<br /> about £4. The subscriptions received from July 1st<br /> to the date of issue are given below :—<br /> <br /> Patterson, A. . : : 8<br /> Salwey, Reginald E.<br /> <br /> Gidley, Miss E. C.<br /> <br /> Nixon, Prof. J. E.<br /> <br /> Dill, Miss Bessie<br /> <br /> Moore, Henry Charles<br /> <br /> Kemp, Miss Geraldine<br /> <br /> Clarke, Miss B.<br /> <br /> ao<br /> acnanoor<br /> <br /> _<br /> <br /> eco coc oF<br /> <br /> —_—_——_——_-—___+____—_<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> —+-~&gt; +<br /> <br /> T the meeting of the Committee held on<br /> the 30th of March twelve new members<br /> and associates were elected to the Society.<br /> <br /> Their names are, as usual, printed below.<br /> <br /> Mr. George Gissing and Mr. Justin McCarthy<br /> were elected members of the Council. They have<br /> consented to accept the responsibilities of the<br /> position.<br /> <br /> There was only one case before the Committee,<br /> and it was adjourned for fuller information on one<br /> or two points.<br /> <br /> is, roughly, ©<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> nt<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Elections.<br /> <br /> “Ben Marlas”’<br /> <br /> Bird, C. P. (D. I, M.) Drybridge House,<br /> Hereford.<br /> <br /> Bowman, Robert Cynwyd, Curwen, N.<br /> Wales.<br /> <br /> Corelli, Miss Marie. Mason Croft, Stratford-<br /> on-A von.<br /> <br /> 11, Chaleote Gardens,<br /> England’s Lane, N.W.<br /> Exeter College, Oxford.<br /> <br /> Dearmer, The Rev. Percy<br /> <br /> Donovan, P. V. de P.<br /> <br /> Douglas, Miss Maud 28, Oakley Street,<br /> Tsidore Chelsea, S.W.<br /> Douglas, Robert Langton 50c, South Street,<br /> Dorking.<br /> Lechmere, Mrs. (Cecil 29, Cadogan Gardens,<br /> Haselwood) S.W.<br /> Stott, Miss Beatrice Moorside Road, Flix-<br /> ton.<br /> Sutro, Alfred 10, Russell Mansions,<br /> W.-C:<br /> Wyatt, Geo. Herbert Henley House, West<br /> Side, Wandsworth<br /> <br /> Common, 8.W.<br /> <br /> —_—&gt;—+—<br /> <br /> Another Pension.<br /> <br /> Iy the month of May the Pension Fund Com-<br /> mittee will proceed to consider applications for<br /> pensions to be granted under the Pension Fund<br /> Scheme of the Society of Authors. Pursuant to<br /> the power to make bye-laws for regulating appli-<br /> cations for pensions vested in the Committee by<br /> the Schenie, the Committee have made and hereby<br /> give notice of the following regulations :—<br /> <br /> 1. All applications must be in writing and<br /> addressed to the Secretary of the Society of<br /> Authors at the Offices of the Society (39, Old<br /> Queen Street, Storey’s Gate, S.W.), and must reach<br /> the Secretary on or before June Ist, 1903.<br /> Envelopes should be marked “ Confidential.”<br /> <br /> 2. Applications may be made (a) by the appli-<br /> cant for a pension, (/) by any two members of the<br /> Society on the applicant’s behalf. In the latter<br /> case the Committee may require the applicant to<br /> signify in writing his willingness to accept a<br /> pension if granted.<br /> <br /> 3. Applications must state, to the best of the<br /> knowledge and belief of the person or persons<br /> making the same :<br /> <br /> (a) The fall name, description, and present<br /> address of the applicant. If the applicant has<br /> <br /> written under an assumed name such name should<br /> also be given,<br /> <br /> (6) The age of the applicant and the date at<br /> which the applicant became a member of the<br /> If the applicant has ceased to be a<br /> <br /> Society.<br /> <br /> member, the date of his or her retirement must<br /> be given.<br /> <br /> (¢) The financial position of the applicant,<br /> including an account of the applicant’s entire<br /> annual income from all sources (including volun-<br /> tary allowances, if any).<br /> <br /> (d) The names of the publications relied on to<br /> establish the merit of the applicant’s literary work.<br /> <br /> 4, Applications may, if desired, be accompanied<br /> by not more than two testimonials to the appli-<br /> cant’s character, and to merits of the applicant’s<br /> works or either of them, and bya further statement<br /> of the applicant’s financial position from some<br /> person acquainted therewith.<br /> <br /> 5. Applications and the contents of all state-<br /> ments relating thereto will be treated as confiden-<br /> tial, the names of the recipients of the pensions<br /> and the amounts granted alone being stated in Zhe<br /> Author.<br /> <br /> 6. All communications’ whatever must be ad-<br /> dressed to the Secretary, and to him only.<br /> Canvassing of members of the Committee, either<br /> by or on behalf of the applicant, is prohibited.<br /> <br /> 7. The pension created will be granted as from<br /> March 25th, 1903, and will be payable, as to the<br /> first instalment immediately, and thereafter in<br /> quarterly instalments in advance on the usual<br /> English quarter days.<br /> <br /> By order of the Pension Fund Committee,<br /> <br /> G. HERBERT THRING,<br /> Secretary.<br /> 4<br /> <br /> OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> i<br /> HE Rev. Edwin A. Abbott, D.D., formerly<br /> Headmaster of the City of London School,<br /> and author of “ The Spirit on the Waters,”<br /> ** Newmanism,” “ Through Nature to Christ,” etc.,<br /> has just published (Adam and Charles Black) a<br /> very interesting and scholarly pamphlet, entitled<br /> “ Contrast; or, a Prophet and a Forger.”<br /> <br /> Dr. Abbott is convinced that the author of the<br /> Fourth Gospel is often, historically as well as<br /> spiritually, closer than the Synoptic Evangelists<br /> to the truthful conception of the birth, nature,<br /> life, and resurrection of our Lord. At the same<br /> time he is firmly convinced that the author was<br /> not the son of Zebedee, nor an eye-witness of the<br /> facts he relates. He was one who considered him-<br /> self but the pen of John the son of Zebedee, and<br /> gave unity to the preaching and revelations of<br /> John.<br /> <br /> Dr. Abbott has in the press a work entitled<br /> “From Letter to Spirit; an Attempt to Reach<br /> through Voicesand Words the Man beyond them”’<br /> (Adam and Charles Black).<br /> 196<br /> <br /> Sir Lewis Morris has added to the last edition of<br /> his works, to be published immediately, several<br /> poems written last year, including the lines on<br /> “The Peace Thanksgiving in St. Paul’s,” “The<br /> Coronation Ode,” written by the King’s request,<br /> and set to music by command, by Dr. Cowen ;<br /> “ Peripeteia,” or an pode, which appeared in the<br /> Times ; the announcement of the King’s illness ;<br /> the lines on “The Last Pageant,” of October<br /> 26th, and the “Ode on the Installation of the<br /> Prince of Wales as Chancellor of the Welsh<br /> University at Bangor.” ‘The new issue comprises<br /> also the lines on “The Jubilee of the Free<br /> Libraries at Manchester,” held as late as the 3rd<br /> of the present month. Sir Lewis, we understand,<br /> is now desirous of bringing his poetical career to a<br /> close, if his friends the public will permit.<br /> <br /> Lieut.-Colonel E. Gunter has published, through<br /> Messrs. Wm. Clowes &amp; Sons, Limited, 28, Cock-<br /> spur Street, S.W., a seventh edition of his military<br /> pocket-book, ‘‘ The Officer’s Field Note, and Sketch<br /> Book and Reconnaissance Aide-Mémoire,” which<br /> was much used by officers during the late Boer<br /> War. This edition, which has been brought up to<br /> date, contains the amendments in war establish-<br /> ments, new sketches, showing the latest designs for<br /> field trenches, etc., as the result of the war experi-<br /> ences, and other matter useful for field training,<br /> <br /> besides materials for Field Sketches and Reports.<br /> The Religious Tract Society has shown its<br /> appreciation of Sir William Charley’s recent<br /> work, “The Holy City, Athens and Egypt,” by<br /> placing in their saloon, 56, Paternoster Row, and<br /> 65, St. Paul’s Churchyard, copies of the work for<br /> <br /> sale. This volume is founded on personal obser-<br /> vation and the researches of modern explorers, and<br /> is a vindication of the Bible narrative against the<br /> assaults of the Higher Criticism. Sir William has<br /> written a lecture on “The Higher Criticism and<br /> the Bible,” which he will shortiy deliver.<br /> <br /> Sir William Charley’s legal works, “The Real<br /> Property Acts” (Sweet) and “The Judicature<br /> Acts” (Waterlow), each ran through three<br /> editions and are now out of print. But there<br /> are three of his books still in circulation: “The<br /> Crusade against the Constitution; an Historical<br /> Vindication of the House of Lords” (7s. 6d.,<br /> Sampson Low); “Ending and Mending the<br /> House of Lords” (2s. 6d., Simpkin, Marshall); and<br /> the above-mentioned “The Holy City, Athens and<br /> Egypt” (10s. 6d., Marshall Bros.).<br /> <br /> “The Sword of Azrael,’ Mr. R. E. Forrest’s<br /> latest novel, is a chronicle of the Great Mutiny.<br /> The title-page has it that the writer is Major-<br /> General John Hayman, late Hon. E.I.C.S., edited<br /> by R. E. Forrest. This is, of course, a mere<br /> literary device. We will not divulge the plot<br /> of this vividly written story; our readers can<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> follow John Hayman’s realistic narrative for<br /> themselves ; they will find it very interesting,<br /> <br /> , Mr. Forrest has published four books, all con-<br /> nected with India. The first one, entitled “The<br /> Touchstone of Peril,” was most favourably re-<br /> viewed. The second, “ Hight Days,” came out<br /> in the Cornhill Magazine, and in book form went<br /> through four or five editions. The third was<br /> “The Bond of Blood” (Little Novels series :<br /> T. Fisher Unwin). It was a small book that<br /> evoked many long reviews; notably it had a<br /> favourable mention in an Ldinburgh Review<br /> article on Anglo-Indian Novelists, known to<br /> have been written by Sir Alfred Lyall.<br /> <br /> Miss Beatrice Marshall has in hand a story of<br /> London in the time of the Commonwealth, which<br /> will be published next autumn by Seely &amp; Co.<br /> Her “ The Siege of York,” a story of the days of<br /> Thomas Lord Fairfax (Seely &amp; Co.), published<br /> last year, proves that she has inherited her<br /> mother’s literary gifts. This was Miss Marshall’s<br /> second historical romance, the first being “ Old<br /> Blackfriars in the Days of Sir Anthony Vandyck.”<br /> <br /> When Mrs. Emma Marshall died in 1899 her<br /> last story was left incomplete. At the request of<br /> her publishers it was-finished by her daughter, and<br /> so successfully finished that Miss Beatrice Marshall<br /> was encouraged to tread further in her mother’s<br /> footsteps. Previous to this she had contributed<br /> articles, chiefly on modern German literature, to<br /> several papers. Two of these, one on Nietzsche<br /> and another on Gerhard Hauptmann, appeared in<br /> the Fortnightly Review.<br /> <br /> After the appearance of her translation of<br /> Sudermann’s great novel “Der Kalzensky”<br /> (John Lane), Messrs. Smith Elder invited her<br /> to take part in the translation of the Bismarck<br /> Memoirs. The biographical sketch of her mother<br /> has gone into a second edition. It contains a por-<br /> trait of that prolific novelist besides twelve illus-<br /> trations (6s., Seeley &amp; Co.). The writing of it<br /> was a real labour of love.<br /> <br /> Mr. William Westall, in spite of ill-health, has<br /> nearly finished a present-day novel which he pro-<br /> poses to call “ Dr. Wynne’s Revenge.” He hopes<br /> soon to begin a long contemplated Lancashire story,<br /> dealing with the stirring period of the cotton famine<br /> and the American Civil War.<br /> <br /> Ian Maclaren (the Rev. John Watson) is not at<br /> present engaged in any literary work owing to<br /> considerations of health.<br /> <br /> Mr. Walter Jerrold is editing a big collection of<br /> Nursery Rhymes for Messrs. Blackie. There are<br /> to be numerous illustrations by Charles Robinson.<br /> Besides this Mr. Jerrold is editing (1) Mrs.<br /> Gaskell’s “Life of Charlotte Bronté” for Dents’<br /> Temple Classics; (2) “ Longfellow’s Poetical<br /> Works” for a new series of Poets to be published<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> by Messrs. W. Collins &amp; Sons; (3) and he is also<br /> editing Dents’ edition of Thackeray’s Prose Works.<br /> <br /> Mr. Robert Machray’s new serial, “ The Mystery<br /> of Lincoln’s Inn,” started in 7%t-Bits on April<br /> 11th, where it will appear for the next three or four<br /> months. The story, which Mr. Machray describes<br /> as an ‘“‘experiment in sensation,” will be published<br /> in book form by Messrs. Chatto and Windus in<br /> September. ‘The Mystery of Lincoln’s Inn” is<br /> built round that somewhat familiar fact of every-<br /> day life, the defaulting solicitor.<br /> <br /> Miss Montgomery-Campbell has written a Pre-<br /> face to a volume, shortly to be issued, entitled “ Old<br /> Days in Diplomacy.” It is by the daughter of Sir<br /> Edward Cromwell Disbrowe, En. Ex., Min. Plen.,<br /> G.C.G., and is inscribed to the Honble. Mrs.<br /> Richard Boyle (E. V. B.). This volume, illustrated<br /> with portraits, is 7s. 6d. net—by post 7s. 11d.<br /> The edition is strictly limited, and the price will<br /> probably be raised in the case of those who do not<br /> subscribe for it.<br /> <br /> “Old Days in Diplomacy,” written at the<br /> request of many friends, gives an account of life<br /> at the Courts of Russia, Wiirtemberg, Sweden,<br /> and the Netherlands, during the first half of<br /> the nineteenth century. The ceremonies at the<br /> foneral of the Emperor Alexander and the Coro-<br /> nation of the Emperor Nicholas are described, also<br /> the official visits of the Dukes of Wellington and<br /> Devonshire to St. Petersburg, as well as the inter-<br /> course with Prince Metternich. It contains many<br /> most interesting personal recollections of royalties<br /> and celebrities at home and abroad.<br /> <br /> A fifteenth edition of Lieut-Colonel Sisson C.<br /> Pratt’s “Military Law, its Procedure and Prac-<br /> tice,” was published a short time ago, and a fifth<br /> edition of the “ Military Law Examiner” (Gale and<br /> Polden) will be issued this spring. Before long<br /> Lieut.-Colonel Pratt will have to take in hand the<br /> revision of the official “‘ Précis of Modern Tactics,”<br /> which was re-written by him, and in view of the<br /> recent experiences in South Africa a new edition<br /> will be of general interest.<br /> <br /> Mr. Morley Roberts’ new book, ‘‘ The Promotion<br /> of The Admiral, and other Sea Comedies,” is a<br /> volume of short stories well worth reading. The<br /> first, which gives the book its title, is in two parts,<br /> and tells how Shanghai Smith, of San Francisco,<br /> tries to get even with a sailor who had once given<br /> him a thorough licking; this sailor being now<br /> Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Dunn, K.C.B. How<br /> Shanghai Smith is himself paid out and how the<br /> Admiral comes up top we will not reveal.<br /> <br /> “The Scuttling of the Pandora,” the last in the<br /> book, is a remarkable little tale of an unlucky ship.<br /> Here is a passage from it :—<br /> <br /> ‘‘T want to see her sink,” Joe said savagely. “I want<br /> to see ’er go where she’s put so many good men. What<br /> <br /> 197<br /> <br /> right ‘as we to save ’er to do more ’arm? It ain’t alone as<br /> she’s drownded my chum or the others, but she ’as a black<br /> record that ain’t finished unless we finish it. She’s strong<br /> and will go on killin’ for twenty years, Geordie. She&#039;ll<br /> oa praney for them as doesn’t care, but what of the likes<br /> of us ?*<br /> <br /> He was greatly moved.<br /> <br /> “She’s caulked with men’s lives, and painted with their<br /> blood!” he cried passionately. “I&#039;d rather she sunk with<br /> me than sailed the seas any more.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Charles Whitworth Wynne, author of «Ad<br /> Astra,” &amp;c., has just published through Messrs.<br /> Kegan Paul a drama in five acts, called “David<br /> and Bathshua.” It is founded on the story in<br /> the Bible, and Saul, Jonathan, Abner, Uriah,<br /> Natham, Michal, and Merab are among the<br /> dramatis persone.<br /> <br /> Mr. F. Marion Crawford’s fascinating book “ Ave<br /> Roma Immortalis,” being studies from the<br /> Chronicles of Rome, has gone into a second and<br /> cheaper edition.<br /> <br /> In his “Studies in Contemporary Biography,”<br /> Mr. Bryce gives us twenty graphic impressions of<br /> twenty notable men. Lord Beaconsfield, Mr.<br /> Gladstone, Dean Stanley, Anthony Trollope, Mr.<br /> Parnell, Archbishop Tait, Cardinal Manning, Lord<br /> Acton, are among the personalities presented to us<br /> in these interesting pages of biographies. This is<br /> a book not to be missed.<br /> <br /> Miss May Crommelin’s “Midge” forms No,<br /> 51 of the Weekly Telegraph novels. This is<br /> “‘a monthly series of copyright books by the best<br /> authors.” “Midge” is a readable story. Miss<br /> Iza Duffus Hardy has written No. 31 of this<br /> series, ‘‘ Hearts or Diamonds.”<br /> <br /> John Strange Winter has contributed No. 46<br /> of the same series, “Mignon’s Secret.’ No.<br /> 48 is “The Dancer in Yellow,” by Mr. W. E.<br /> Norris; No, 47, “The Peer and the Woman,”<br /> is by E. P. Oppenheim. ;<br /> <br /> “Helen” is the name of a new story by Cherry<br /> Rowland—a pleasant tale with a happy ending.<br /> Copies can be had of the writer at Llwyn-y-brain,<br /> Whitland, South Wales.<br /> <br /> Mr. I. Zangwill’s “ The Grey Wig ” (Heinemann)<br /> is a collection of stories old and new. ‘“ Merely<br /> Mary Ann” is an old one, but is none the less<br /> welcome for that. “The Grey Wig,” the first, and<br /> we fancy one of his latest, is very good indeed.<br /> <br /> In his recently published book “The Danger<br /> of Innocence,” Mr. Cosmo Hamilton has given us<br /> asmart Society satire. It is published by Greening<br /> &amp; Co. at 6s.<br /> <br /> Mr. J. Bloundelle Burton’s novel, “A Branded<br /> Name” (Methuen, 6s.), is full of incident. The<br /> name, branded on a woman’s shoulder, was a mark<br /> that would remain upon that shoulder as long as<br /> her life would last.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 198<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The “Star-Dreamer,” by Agnes and Egerton<br /> Castle, is full of charm—‘ the story of a woman’s<br /> influence.’ The atmosphere of a herb-garden and<br /> a laboratory respectively permeate the tale.<br /> <br /> In Sydney ©. Grier’s “The Advanced Guard”<br /> (Blackwood, 6s.), the hero is Sir Dugald Haigh,<br /> who was doubtfully blest with an uncomfortable<br /> wife. The story begins in India; the time is, the<br /> ‘* Dickens period.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Rider Haggard’s new romance, “Pearl<br /> Maiden” (Longmans, 6s.), is interesting from<br /> start to finish. Miriam, the Pearl Maiden, is born<br /> aboard a Phcenician merchant galley bound for<br /> Alexandria. Miriam is brought up among the<br /> Essenes. She endures many things during and<br /> after the siege and fall of Jerusalem. In this<br /> portion of the romance Mr. Rider Haggard has<br /> surpassed himself.<br /> <br /> Mr. William Archer’s article in the April Fort-<br /> nightly Review has been attracting a great deal of<br /> attention. He advocates the formation of a<br /> Critical Court of Honour to which disputed ques-<br /> tions theatrical should be referred. He suggests<br /> that a body of six delegates should be selected<br /> from the representative societies of the different<br /> classes interested, viz., the Society of Authors, the<br /> Institute of Journalists, and the Actors’ Associa-<br /> tion. ‘These delegates to elect an additional<br /> member as president with a casting vote. Com-<br /> plainants would be expected to appear before this<br /> board, and Mr. Archer says, ‘‘ We may be sure that<br /> a plaintiff who had refused to submit his case to<br /> its arbitration would go into the law courts under<br /> a heavy handicap.”<br /> <br /> We understand that the leading réle in Mr.<br /> Sydney Grundy’s new play, Zhe Gipsy, is to be<br /> played—created, in fact—by Miss Fay Davis.<br /> <br /> —_—— + +-____-<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> —1—~&lt;—+<br /> <br /> MONG the recent novels which have had<br /> the greatest success here are “ Dona-<br /> tienne,” by M. René Bazin; “L’Inutile<br /> <br /> Effort,” by M. Edouard Rod, and ‘‘ La Nouvelle<br /> Espérance” by the Comtesse de Noailles.<br /> <br /> Curiously enough, in each of these three books<br /> the most prominent feminine character is an<br /> absolutely selfish woman singularly devoid of<br /> conscience.<br /> <br /> Donatienne, in M. Bazin’s story, is the young<br /> wife of a Breton peasant. She is the mother of<br /> <br /> three children and the idol of her husband, but<br /> poverty compels her to leave the little cottage<br /> Just<br /> <br /> home and engage herself as nurse in Paris.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> continual presence of the husband’s<br /> <br /> _ details to the end of the volume.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> at first she sends her earnings to her husband to<br /> enable him to keep the little home together until<br /> better times. Gradually, however, she becomes<br /> accustomed to the luxuries and amusements of her<br /> new life Her letters to her husband are rare and<br /> finally cease altogether.<br /> <br /> The poor Breton peasant is somewhat slow of<br /> comprehension, but when it dawns upon him that<br /> his wife hus no intention of returning to her<br /> family, the little home, with its memories, becomes<br /> unbearable to him, and with his three children he<br /> sets out with a vague idea of seeking his fortune<br /> elsewhere.<br /> <br /> The story is most pathetic and the dénouement<br /> both touching and tragic. It is told with a<br /> simplicity that adds greatly to the pathos. There<br /> is not a word too much, not a line of any descrip-<br /> tion which could be omitted, and the book is<br /> certainly one of the finest of M. Bazin’s novels.<br /> <br /> “L’Inutile Effort” is a. masterly study of<br /> character. Leonard Perreuse is the ambitious<br /> man of our modern society, the man whose one<br /> object in life is to succeed. He is seconded by a<br /> wife who is narrow-minded, selfish and unscrupu-<br /> lous. They are both somewhat hampered by the<br /> brother<br /> Raymond, a man who has not advanced or rather<br /> degenerated with the times, and who is old-<br /> fashioned enough to have a conscience. The<br /> story of the book turns on the trial of a French<br /> girl in London, who has been arrested on the<br /> charge of murdering her child by pushing it into<br /> the Thames.<br /> <br /> On reading the account in the newspaper both<br /> brothers are convinced that the child is Leonard’s,<br /> and they are equally convinced that the poor girl<br /> whom he deserted is incapable of the crime of<br /> which she is accused. Raymond, who had always<br /> blamed his brother’s conduct in this matter, had<br /> taken an interest in the girl, kept up a corre-<br /> spondence with her for some years, and helped her<br /> when, through illness, she had been in difficulties.<br /> He persuades Leonard that their duty now is to go<br /> to London and give their evidence in favour of the<br /> prisoner. Leonard’s wife, fearing the consequences<br /> of ascandal for herself and her children, insists that<br /> her husband must relinquish this plan. Raymond,<br /> in his indignation, refuses to enter his brother&#039;s<br /> house again. “Ihe unfortunate girl is condemned<br /> to death, and from that moment Leonard’s punish-<br /> ment begins. His conscience is aroused at last,<br /> and in desperation he leaves everything and goes<br /> with Raymond to London to see if anything can<br /> now be done.<br /> <br /> We will not spoil the story by telling all the<br /> It is a book in<br /> which all the characters live, and it is undoubtedly<br /> the strongest of M. Rod’s novels.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> As regards ‘La Nouvelle Espérance,’ by the<br /> Comtesse de Noailles, the title is quite misleading.<br /> From the first page to the last of the book one<br /> searches in vain for the “new hope.” With such<br /> a fine title one naturally expects some elevated<br /> thoughts and ideas, but the whole book is “ of the<br /> earth, earthy,” with a woman as the principal<br /> character who is positively repulsive. ‘‘ The<br /> Degenerates’”’ would have been a more suitable<br /> title for such a novel, as, with the exception of the<br /> unfortunate husband of the heroine, all the cha-<br /> racters are more or less unwholesome. There is<br /> very little plot or even story to the book. It is<br /> merely the account of an idle, selfish, luxurious<br /> woman, who imagines herself ultra-refined and<br /> who has no aim or object in life. She has<br /> a devoted husband whose chief fault appears to<br /> be his blindness to his wife’s defects. Having<br /> absolutely nothing to do, she is naturally bored to<br /> death, and being an extremely self-centred person<br /> she spends hours brooding over her own feelings<br /> and sensations.<br /> <br /> She then endeavours to make love to various<br /> friends of her husband. Her third attempt, only,<br /> is a success, and this liaison with a married man<br /> relieves the monotony of her life until the new<br /> lover discovers that he has a conscience and retires<br /> with his wife to the country.<br /> <br /> The extraordinary feature of this book is the<br /> <br /> absolute depravity of the woman, which, consider-<br /> ing her education and surroundings, makes the<br /> whole story appear unreal. When her lover goes<br /> away she decides that she cannot live without him,<br /> and without the slightest compunction as far as her<br /> husband is concerned, she prepares a strong dose of<br /> morphia, writes a farewell letter to the recreant<br /> lover, which she leaves for her husband’s sister to<br /> forward, and when the clock strikes midnight<br /> takes her departure from this world. In this<br /> farewell letter she says, “Vous m’aimiez et vous<br /> €tes parti parce que votre femme et votre fils yous<br /> Pont demandé. . . . Vous avez fait ce que vous<br /> deviez faire : les hommes ont de la conscience. Les<br /> femmes, mon ami, n’ont pas de conscience ; elles<br /> ont une épouvantable volonté de n’étre pas plus<br /> malheureuses qu’elles ne peuvent.”<br /> _ On closing the book one can only wonder why<br /> it should have been written. As a great French<br /> eritic said about the works of another author:<br /> “ When such things are read and meet with success,<br /> eritics can only write a page of history on the<br /> Manners and customs of a society which reads such<br /> 00ks,”<br /> <br /> “La Bastille des Comédiens ” is the title of the<br /> new book by M. Frantz Funck-Brentano, the well-<br /> snown author of “ Le Drame des Poisons” and<br /> L’ Affaire du Collier.”<br /> <br /> In January, 1902, the Société de I’Histoire du<br /> <br /> 199<br /> <br /> théatre opened a competition for a study on For<br /> PEvéque, the famous prison in which so many<br /> comedians, dramatic authors and critics were incar-<br /> cerated. So little was known about this old prison<br /> that it has been no easy task to collect the necessary<br /> information from the various libraries and the<br /> national archives.<br /> <br /> M. Funck-Brentano’s work was unanimously<br /> declared to be the best, and the volume now pub-<br /> lished, illustrated with eleven engravings, is a most<br /> interesting study of Old Paris and its history and<br /> customs. About a third of the book is taken up<br /> with a description of the prison itself and its<br /> history, while the remaining two-thirds tell us of<br /> the strange customs of those bye-gone days, when<br /> prisoners were notified that they were sentenced to<br /> a few days’ seclusion, and accordingly wended their<br /> way to the prison unescorted.<br /> <br /> The author tells us amusing stories, too, of the<br /> way in which fathers could have their sons im-<br /> prisoned for a short time. In 1744 a M. Thibaut,<br /> of Bordeaux, writes to the police-lieutenant of<br /> Paris to the effect that his son, aged thirty, is in<br /> the gay capital. ‘He is leading a dissipated life,”<br /> writes the anxious father, “and the result may be<br /> that he will disgrace his family.” All that’ the<br /> father asks is that his son may be detained in<br /> prison for a short time and he is quite willing to<br /> pay the expenses. The police-lieutenant investi-<br /> gates the case, and signs a paper on the 5th of<br /> April, “ Bon pour prison, aux dépens du pere.” The<br /> son objects to the hospitality provided for him and<br /> appeals for a release. The father’s consent to this<br /> is necessary, and on the 25th of April, evidently<br /> considering that the lesson has had time to be<br /> beneficial, he signs the paper for the release of<br /> his son.<br /> <br /> Comedians who were wanting in respect either<br /> to the king or to their public were detained at For<br /> l’Evéque for a time, and we are told many amusing<br /> anecdotes about them. Life in this prison was by<br /> no means monotonous, and some of the inmates<br /> entertained their friends in the most hospitable<br /> manner. ‘The celebrated actress, Mlle. Clairon,<br /> gave “des soupers divins et nombreux,” and<br /> carriages filled the street from morning till night<br /> as long as she was in prison.<br /> <br /> When the artistes of the Francais were im-<br /> prisoned they were always allowed liberty for their<br /> performances and rehearsals, as the Comédie could<br /> not dispense with their services.<br /> <br /> In the magazines there are some excellent<br /> articles this month.<br /> <br /> In the International Theatre M. Max Nordan<br /> writes on “Theatrical Censorship.” The authorities<br /> in Berlin have forbidden the production of Paul<br /> Heyse’s “Mary of Magdala,” and M. Nordau<br /> thinks that “all civilised Europeans should blush<br /> <br /> <br /> 200<br /> <br /> to tolerate the existence of that degrading vestige<br /> of feudal despotism : theatrical censorship.”<br /> <br /> The English are specially favoured in the cur-<br /> rent number of this theatrical paper.<br /> <br /> M. Sardou has allowed the editor to publish<br /> photographic reproductions of the principal scenes<br /> of his new play “ Dante,” which is to be produced<br /> soon by Sir Henry Irving. About eight of these<br /> scenes are reproduced, accompanied by an excellent<br /> article giving an idea of Dante’s original concep-<br /> tion of the Inferno.<br /> <br /> Madame Réjane has had to postpone until next<br /> season the new play she was rehearsing: “ La<br /> Meilleure Part.”<br /> <br /> “Ta Rabouilleuse” is a success at the Odeon.<br /> It is a four-act play cleverly adapted by M. Emile<br /> Fabre from Balzac’s “ Ménage de Garcon.”<br /> <br /> Ouida’s “ Two Little Wooden Shoes ” has been<br /> produced at the Opéra Comique as “ Muguette.”<br /> The music is by M. Missa.<br /> <br /> “Tyes Affaires sont les Affaires,” by M. Octave<br /> Mirbeau, is the event of the moment at the<br /> Francais. It is an extremely up-to-date satire on<br /> the omnipotence of wealth. The piece is a literary<br /> triumph, the dialogue brilliant and the interest<br /> well sustained.<br /> <br /> “T’Autre Danger,” by M. Maurice Donnay, is<br /> still a success at the Francais. It is admirably<br /> put on, but the subject is a very delicate one—of<br /> the same nature as that of M. Paul Bourget’s novel,<br /> “Le Fantome.”<br /> <br /> “Lucifer” was the title of the last piece of this<br /> season produced by M. Bour at his International<br /> Theatre. It is a very strong play in four acts,<br /> translated by M. Monnier from the Italian of<br /> M. Butti.<br /> <br /> Lucifer is the name given to a free-thinker, who<br /> was formerly a priest, by the students to whom he<br /> lectures. This ex-priest has married and has a<br /> son and daughter, whom he has brought up as<br /> atheists. An old friend of his comes to live near<br /> him as Professor at the University. This friend is<br /> a religious man, and has an only daughter. The<br /> ex-priest’s son falls in love with her, but her father<br /> refuses his consent to their marriage on religious<br /> grounds. The lovers elope, and after their marriage<br /> return to the ex-priest’s home. In the last act the<br /> young wife has taken a severe chill and is dying.<br /> Her husband, in the presence of Death, implores<br /> his atheist father to teach him a prayer, as in his<br /> desperation he suddenly feels the need of religion<br /> and the certainty that there is something beyond<br /> this life. The struggle between his pride as a<br /> savant and atheist and his family affection is very<br /> terrible, and the scene between the father and son<br /> is most dramatic.<br /> <br /> M. Bour was remarkably fine in this réle.<br /> “Lucifer” and “ Alléluia” are undoubtedly his two<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> best creations. M. Bourny, as the son, was also<br /> excellent. M. Bauer had only a small part, but he<br /> was as fine as usual in it.<br /> <br /> M. Bour has also produced another play by M.<br /> Robert Bracco, a one-act piece entitled “Don<br /> Pietro Carusi,” which is quite a chef d’wuvre.<br /> <br /> ALys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> 9<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> es<br /> Literary Larceny.<br /> <br /> R. HARTLEY ASPDEN, the Editor of the<br /> Sunday Companion and Sunday Circle, has -<br /> laid before the Secretary of the Society of 7 iw<br /> <br /> Authors a case of literary larceny of a very serious |<br /> character. |<br /> <br /> As it is probable that similar cases may have oe:<br /> occurred, and as it has always been the object of —F<br /> the Authors’ Society to maintain the rights of<br /> authors against all comers, members of their own<br /> profession or not, it has been thought right to<br /> publish the facts in detail.<br /> <br /> In January of this year, Mr. Aspden, as Editor<br /> of the papers mentioned, received from a Mr.<br /> Reginald Nash, a story entitled “Through Great f°. *<br /> Tribulation.” This story he was inclined to accept,<br /> and wrote to the author as follows :— B iyky<br /> <br /> DEAR S1R,—My reader has reported favourably on your :<br /> story “Through Great Tribulation.” Please tell me if you<br /> are the author of the story, and if you are willing to accept<br /> £15 (our usual price for these stories) for it.<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully.<br /> THE EDITOR.<br /> <br /> The author’s reply was on a post card, to the<br /> <br /> following effect.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Dar SrR,—Received offer for story entitled ‘Through _<br /> <br /> Great Tribulation,’ which I accept.<br /> Believe me, I am,<br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> (Signed) R. NASH.<br /> <br /> By chance Mr. Aspden discovered that the story<br /> had already been published about two years pre-<br /> viously in another of his publications entitled Golden<br /> Stories. The story was word for word the same,”<br /> with the exception that the title had been changed<br /> and the name of one of the characters. He<br /> thereupon wrote a second time to the author, and —<br /> requested to know whether the story was his own<br /> production.<br /> <br /> In answer, he received a letter stating it was the<br /> author’s own production, and implying that he was”<br /> a contributor to many other magazines. . :<br /> <br /> The original story was written by Mrs. H. B.<br /> Welch. If Mrs. Welch had been a member of the”<br /> Society of Authors the Committee would, no doubt,<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> have gladly taken up the case on her behalf and<br /> exposed the matter in the courts, but the Com-<br /> mittee had no locus standi, and left it therefore to<br /> Mr. Aspden to bring the affair before the public.<br /> Further correspondence made it clear that this<br /> was not the only story that had been taken from<br /> other papers and forwarded to editors as the anthor’s<br /> own work, and we are indebted to Mr. Aspden for<br /> having thrashed out the matter carefully. In con-<br /> sequence Mr. Nash has written, signed and published<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> in the Norwood Free Press the following apology :<br /> <br /> I, Reginald Nash, of No. 1, Dassett Road, Knight’s Hill,<br /> West Norwood, beg humbly to apologise to the Editor of<br /> Sunday Stories and Golden Stories for having, without his<br /> knowledge and consent, taken stories published in those<br /> journals, and endeavoured to dispose of them for payment<br /> as my own original compositions, and I hereby promise not<br /> to repeat this offence in the case of Golden Stories or<br /> Sunday Stories or any other paper.<br /> <br /> (Signed)<br /> Witness, H. Brown,<br /> Dated 18th Mareh, 1903.<br /> <br /> The matter is of serious interest to all members<br /> of the Authors’ Society, and we think it expedient<br /> to publish in full this apology, which has already<br /> appeared in one newspaper.<br /> <br /> REGINALD NASH.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> An Unwarrantable Infringement.<br /> <br /> ANOTHER case has been brought to the notice of<br /> the Secretary. In the autumn of last year a paper<br /> entitled the Science and Art of Mining gave a<br /> prize for the best answer to certain questions<br /> concerning mining.<br /> <br /> One of the questions was :<br /> <br /> ‘« What are the chief causes of boiler explosions ?<br /> —What precautions would you take ?”<br /> <br /> The prize was awarded to John R. Ford.<br /> <br /> Mr. Powis Bale, who is a member of our Society,<br /> an engineer, and a writer of some valuable books on<br /> the subject, discovered in a roundabout fashion that<br /> the answer to the prize question was copied directly,<br /> without any acknowledgment, out of his book<br /> “Steam Engineering,” although one of the rules of<br /> the competition especially forbade this.<br /> <br /> If those who enter prize competitions are in the<br /> habit of competing on these lines the sooner the<br /> fault is exposed the better.<br /> <br /> Mr. Bale placed the matter in the hands of the<br /> Secretary, who at once wrote to the editor of the<br /> paper.<br /> <br /> It is quite clear from the answer of the pro-<br /> prietors that they were unaware of Mr. Ford’s<br /> methods. They have at once taken steps to express<br /> their regret in a public manner, by publishing in<br /> their paper a statement of the facts approved by<br /> the author whose copyright they had unwittingly<br /> infringed.<br /> <br /> 201<br /> <br /> Mr. Ford’s mistake has been acknowledged, and<br /> Mr. Powis Bale has kindly consented to refrain<br /> from taking any further action on the publication<br /> of the apology set forth below :—<br /> <br /> In the autumn of 1902, the Science and Art of<br /> Mining proposed a prize competition, one of the<br /> conditions of which runs as follows :<br /> <br /> “Original answers are specially desired. In all cases<br /> where quotations or extracts are made. the source and<br /> authority must be stated. Any breach of this regulation<br /> which comes to our notice will debar the offender from all<br /> future competitions in these columns.”<br /> <br /> Contrary to the rule quoted, I copied my answer<br /> —consisting of 205 lines—to Question 5, entitled,<br /> “What are the Chief Causes of Boiler Explosions ?<br /> —What Precautions would you take?” from Mr.<br /> Powis Bale’s well-known book, “A Handbook for<br /> Steam Users,” published by Messrs. Longmans,<br /> Green &amp; Oo.<br /> <br /> As my answer won the Prize, it was published in<br /> the issue of the above periodical on October 11th,<br /> 1902, infringing Mr. Powis Bale’s copyright.<br /> <br /> I tender my sincere regret to the Author of the<br /> Book and the Editor of the Paper, and in order to<br /> make my apology public, I give leave that you<br /> should publish it in the Engineer, Engineering, and<br /> the Mechanical World, and in any two others you<br /> may think fit.<br /> <br /> (Signed) Joun R. Forp.<br /> <br /> To M. Powrs Bats, Esq.,<br /> 16 &amp; 17, Appold Street,<br /> London, E.C.<br /> <br /> eo<br /> <br /> THE AUTHORS’ ASSOCIATION.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> N last month’s Author a short article was pub-<br /> I lished referring to this association. One of<br /> the statements contained in that article was<br /> <br /> as follows :—<br /> <br /> ‘Every member, we must mention, has the right<br /> to have one MS. of 5,000 words criticised each<br /> year, free of charge.”<br /> <br /> We have had a letter from Mr. Galloway Kyle<br /> in which he points out that we have misquoted the<br /> words of his prospectus, which run as follows :—<br /> <br /> ‘Hach member is entitled to have one novel, or<br /> three shorter MSS. of not more than 5,000 words<br /> each, dealt with thoroughly per year.”<br /> <br /> Weare glad to correct this inaccuracy, and express<br /> our regret that it should have occurred.<br /> <br /> The publisher, whose offices are situated at 62,<br /> Paternoster Row, E.C., which was referred to in the<br /> same article as the temporary address of the Asso-<br /> ciation, writes to inform us that this address is no<br /> longer connected in any way with the Association.<br /> 202<br /> <br /> AN AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW.<br /> <br /> ee a<br /> <br /> (This Article is taken from the American Book and<br /> News Dealer, March, 1903).<br /> <br /> Of Interest to Authors, Publishers, Booksellers,<br /> Printers, Compositors and Electrotypers.<br /> <br /> + NDER the heading “ A Plea for the Abolition<br /> <br /> of the Duty on Books,” Mr. George F,<br /> <br /> Brett has recently written a pamphlet for<br /> <br /> private circulation, which was published for the<br /> author by the Macmillan Company.<br /> <br /> Mr. Brett says :<br /> <br /> “Tf it be conceded that a duty on books was<br /> needed in the early development of our country,<br /> either for purposes of revenue or to protect the<br /> printing and allied trades, or, more important<br /> still, for the purpose of fostering and encouraging<br /> the original work of our native authors, it must be<br /> clear that such a duty is no longer for any of these<br /> reasons either necessary or expedient.”<br /> <br /> The argument here used is precisely<br /> ment used by all Free Traders to show why<br /> protective tariffs should be abolished.<br /> <br /> It is possible that the next Presidential campaign<br /> will be fought on the Tariff issue ; but if so it is<br /> not probable that the Free Trade party would be<br /> willing to wage the campaign against a special<br /> branch of trade or industry that<br /> <br /> the argu-<br /> all<br /> <br /> would directly<br /> antagonise ail American authors, publishers, book-<br /> sellers, printers, compositors and electrotypers.<br /> <br /> It is certain that the Ways and Means Com-<br /> mittee of the Congress would give a hearing to<br /> representatives of these important industries before<br /> reporting to the House a Bill that would strike<br /> down all protection they now enjoy under the<br /> protective tariff.<br /> <br /> The undertaking to carry such important legis-<br /> lation through the Congress is worthy of one who<br /> is credited with the overweening ambition to<br /> publish all of the books for all of the American<br /> people.<br /> <br /> But Mr. Brett continues :<br /> <br /> « When we turn to the matter of protection for<br /> <br /> the printing and allied trades, the duty is unneces-<br /> sary, as these important trades can no longer be<br /> called ‘infant industries’ in any sense of this<br /> ‘much-abused term, and in the production of the<br /> cheaper classes of books this country may, without<br /> doubt, I think, claim to lead all English-speaking<br /> countries, both in the amount of material produced<br /> and in the cheapness of its costs of manufacture.<br /> «Tf protection to these trades, moreover, were<br /> still needed, it is already provided, and in a much<br /> more effective form, by the provision of our Inter-<br /> national Copyright Act, which makes a copyright<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> in this country depend upon the manufacture of<br /> the article copyrighted within the limits of the<br /> United States.”<br /> <br /> If it be true that the International Copyright<br /> Act affords ample protection for the manufacturing<br /> branches of the book trade, then why repeal the<br /> protective tariff laws that protect and foster these<br /> trades? If they are amply protected under the<br /> one law, why not give them the benefit of both ?<br /> <br /> Does not Mr. Brett seek to have this law<br /> repealed in order that he may import still more<br /> English-made books without paying any revenue<br /> into the United States Treasury ?<br /> <br /> Would not the repeal of the tariff law materially<br /> lessen the amount of work now done by the<br /> American book-manufacturing trades, in setting<br /> up the type, making the paper, electrotyping the<br /> plates and printing the English books that are now<br /> reprinted in this country ? If not, then why<br /> repeal the law ?<br /> <br /> Again, Mr. Brett continues :<br /> <br /> «When we turn to the more important reason<br /> for the existence of the duty, the only reason, if<br /> there be one, worthy of serious attention, 7¢., the<br /> necessity of fostering a native literature, a litera-<br /> ture which shall echo the needs and voice the<br /> sentiments of our national life, it still appears that<br /> we may with entire safety abandon the duty on<br /> books, a duty which has been often and aptly<br /> termed ‘a tax on knowledge.’<br /> <br /> “ Here, again, the workings of our International<br /> Copyright Act, an act of ‘justice to foreign<br /> authors, has had results of great importance to<br /> our own people. Our younger and less known<br /> authors have, since the passage of the Act, found a<br /> much more ready welcome and appreciation at the<br /> hands of American publishers, who are no longer<br /> able to appropriate and exploit the works of<br /> foreign authors without payment.<br /> <br /> “ Let us, then, remove the duty on books as ‘a<br /> tax on knowledge’ and freely welcome what<br /> English authors may have to offer us that is<br /> worthy of acceptance, in order that we may move<br /> forward to our manifest destiny as the greatest<br /> nation the world has yet seen, whether we are<br /> judged by the standards of finance, commerce,<br /> literature or art.”<br /> <br /> Here, again, it is urged that the International<br /> Copyright Act affords ample protection to American<br /> authors ; but if so, why repeal the law? Would<br /> not its repeal again result in flooding the American<br /> market with the product of English authors, manu-<br /> factured and published in England ? Are American<br /> authors prepared to make the test ?<br /> <br /> Do American booksellers wish again to have<br /> the American market flooded with cheaply-made<br /> English books ?<br /> <br /> There is bu} little profit in the sale of cheap books,<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 /> <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 /> <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 /> <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 /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 203<br /> <br /> especially when the trade discount afforded by the<br /> importer is so short that it allows a sales profit<br /> less than the actual cost of handling the books.<br /> Would not such a measure directly antagonise all<br /> American booksellers ?<br /> <br /> It is pertinent to enquire whether the publication<br /> of this pamphlet by a house of English publishers<br /> is the beginning of a Free Trade propaganda ‘to<br /> break down the American industry of writing,<br /> publishing and selling books. If this is not<br /> true, it would be well for the English house of<br /> Macmillan &amp; Co. to disavow such purpose before it<br /> estranges the goodwill of all American booksellers,<br /> <br /> If the impression created is allowed to go un-<br /> disputed, it will be necessary for all English<br /> authors, who hope for a fair measure of patronage<br /> in the American market, to take to cover in self-<br /> defence.<br /> <br /> Neither English authors nor English publishers<br /> can afford to have their books sold in this country<br /> by booksellers who would be compelled to band<br /> together in self-defence, and to sell only so many<br /> of such books, from under the counter, as may be<br /> necessary to hold their favourite customers. In<br /> such case it would be necessary for English authors<br /> to place their books with such English publishers as<br /> have American connections of such character as can<br /> command the goodwill and patronage of the American<br /> bookselling trade !<br /> <br /> It will be recalled that William McKinley was<br /> exalted to the Presidential chair, in Opposition to<br /> the combined influence of the leading politicians<br /> of New York, New England and Pennsylvania, by<br /> the American people, simply because he had become<br /> recognised as the leading apostle of the American<br /> policy of protective tariffs.<br /> <br /> Since the enactment of the Dingley Law, the<br /> American people have been enjoying a great wave<br /> of prosperity, that has been constantly accelerated<br /> by cumulative energy, until our thriving industries<br /> have made this great nation the cynosure of all<br /> eyes and the object of envy by our European rivals.<br /> This is the priceless heritage left to the American<br /> people by our late martyred President. Can it be<br /> supposed fer a moment that we will lightly cast<br /> it aside ?<br /> <br /> 9<br /> <br /> LITERARY COPYRIGHT: THE PERIOD<br /> OF PROTECTION.<br /> Se<br /> <br /> ONSIDERABLE differences of opinion exist<br /> as to what should constitute the period of<br /> protection for literary matter. Some con-<br /> <br /> sider that the existing period of protection is not<br /> <br /> long enough; others contend that literary pro-<br /> perty should be regarded like other forms of<br /> property, and that copyright should be perpetual.<br /> Authorities differ, and distinguished authors dis-<br /> agree, as to the expediency of permitting the period<br /> of protection to be indefinite. It has been said<br /> that an author’s right to his work is, on every<br /> ground of reason and justice, absolute ; and that<br /> in the whole sphere of property, there is probably<br /> no right which rests on such solid foundation, as<br /> that of creation.<br /> <br /> Mr. Edward Jenkins, a member of the Copy-<br /> right Commission of 1876-8, appointed to consider<br /> the chaotic condition of the existing Copyright<br /> Acts, in his report said: “The statute law creates,<br /> it does not recognise, copyright. There is no such<br /> thing as an inalienable natural right to the form<br /> in which a man has embodied his ideas. The<br /> copyright law is, like the patent law for inven-<br /> tion, a creation of a temporary monopoly, for the<br /> encouragement of learning. It is the outcome of<br /> expediency and not of principle.”<br /> <br /> Sir James Stephen, a member of the Copyright<br /> Commission, said: “ The law of copyright ought,<br /> in my opinion, to protect money interests only ;<br /> and I think that the only money interests which<br /> it should protect are those which it creates—that<br /> is to say, the money interest of the author of a<br /> work of literature or art which is capable of being<br /> reproduced by mechanical means in such a manner<br /> that every copy is as valuable as the original. I<br /> approve of copyright in books, because the MS.<br /> has no value till it is printed, and because when it<br /> has been printed, every copy is of equal value, so<br /> that unless a copyright law existed the author of<br /> the most valuable book would have no money<br /> reward for writing it.”<br /> <br /> Sir Louis Mallet, who was also a member of the<br /> Copyright Commission, in the course of his report,<br /> said : “I do not consider that a copyright law, or,<br /> in other words, a law which enables a copyright<br /> owner to prevent other persons from copying pub-<br /> lished works, rests on the same grounds of public<br /> expediency as those which justify the recogni-<br /> tion by law of proprietary rights generally. Nor<br /> does it appear that in modern times it has been<br /> ever so regarded by the legislation of the countries<br /> where it exists. The right conferred by a@ copy-<br /> right law derives its chief value from the discovery<br /> of the art of printing ; and there appears no reason<br /> for giving to authors any larger share in the value<br /> of a mechanical invention, to which they have con-<br /> tributed nothing, than to any other member of the<br /> community. It is not even claimed that an author<br /> should have a right of property in ideas, or in<br /> facts, or in opinions. It is impossible ever to<br /> ascertain or to define how far these are the product<br /> <br /> <br /> 204 THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> of his own thought or of his own labour. It<br /> is merely the form in which they are presented for<br /> which this claim is advanced, and for this all that<br /> is in principle required appears to me to be that<br /> he should be protected in any contract which he<br /> desires to make once for all in the original publi-<br /> cation of his works. Some of the witnesses whose<br /> evidence has been received have urged the claim<br /> of authors to perpetual copyright, on the ground<br /> that the right of an author to property in his<br /> published works is as complete and extends as far<br /> as the right of any person to any property what-<br /> ever. If this analogy were admitted, it appears to<br /> me that it would be difficult to dispute the claim<br /> of an author to perpetual copyright ; but I ven-<br /> ture to submit that the claim of an author to a<br /> right of property in his published work rests upon<br /> « radical economic fallacy, viz., a misconception of<br /> the nature of the law of value. . . . Property exists<br /> in order to provide against the evils of natural<br /> scarcity. A limitation of supply by artificial<br /> causes creates scarcity in order to create property.<br /> To limit that which is in its nature unlimited, and<br /> thereby to confer an exchangeable value on that<br /> which, without such interference, would be the<br /> gratuitous possession of mankind, is to create an<br /> artificial monopoly which has no warrant in the<br /> nature of things, which serves to produce scarcity<br /> where there ought to be abundance, and to confine<br /> to the few gifts which were intended for all. It is<br /> within this latter class that copyright in published<br /> works must be included. Copies of such works<br /> may be multiplied indefinitely, subject to the cost<br /> of paper and of printing, which alone, but for copy-<br /> right, would limit the supply, and any demand,<br /> however great, would be attended not only by no<br /> conceivable injury to society, but on the contrary,<br /> in the case of useful works, by the greatest possible<br /> advantage. .. . The policy, then, of copyright<br /> laws must be sought in another order of ideas, and<br /> be made to rest on some ground other than that<br /> which is the foundation of rights of property in<br /> whatever is the subject to a natural limitation of<br /> supply.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Farrer, now Lord Farrer, secretary to the<br /> Board of Trade at the time of the Copyright<br /> Commission, in a paper prepared by him_ for<br /> the members of the Commission, said: ‘“‘ Pro-<br /> fessor Huxley, and I think Mr. Spencer and<br /> Professor Tyndall agree with him, states in<br /> the strongest and clearest terms his view that<br /> the foundation of copyright law is the absolute<br /> right of the author once and for ever to the<br /> form in which he has uttered his thoughts, and he<br /> ingeniously suggests that this law is merely a<br /> convenient substitute for a sale by the author of<br /> each copy, with a condition attached that the<br /> purchaser shall not copy. It is needless to say<br /> <br /> that this suggestion is as fictitious as it is<br /> ingenious. A chattel going about the world with an<br /> implied covenant by every one, who with or with-<br /> out consideration gets possession of it, that he<br /> will not imitate it, would certainly be a legal<br /> novelty. The real history and fact of copyright<br /> law are very different. As to the absolute and<br /> perpetual right, not only has it never been recog-<br /> nised as a matter of fact, but analogies are against<br /> it. Words, thoughts, and actions, when uttered or<br /> done, pass, as a general rule, into the common<br /> domain, and it is thus that human life is carried<br /> on. In those productions of the human mind which<br /> are most essentially original, and which are at<br /> the same time the most useful to mankind ; in such<br /> things as the moral doctrine of the Sermon on the<br /> Mount, the intellectual theory of gravitation, of<br /> evolution, or of the conservation of energy, there<br /> is and can be no exclusive right. Nor, again, is<br /> there, as a matter of practice, any exclusive right<br /> in more ephemeral matters, ¢.g., in the news,<br /> information, or articles of a newspaper, or in a<br /> political speech. It is only when put into the<br /> particular form of a book, or a lecture, or a picture,<br /> that an exclusive right over the productions of the<br /> human mind has been recognised, and that with<br /> certain limitations and for a certain specified<br /> purpose.”<br /> <br /> It has since been decided that for copyright<br /> purposes the author of the report of a speech is<br /> the “ author” of the speech within the meaning of<br /> the Act.<br /> <br /> The existing period of protection according to<br /> the Act of 1842, passed ‘‘to afford greater<br /> encouragement to the production of literary works<br /> of lasting benefit to the world,” is forty-two years<br /> from the date of publication, or life and seven<br /> years, whichever term may be the longer. As to the<br /> adequacy or otherwise of this term we might very<br /> well refer to the report of the Copyright Commis-<br /> sion. The particular paragraphs read as follows :<br /> <br /> ‘““ We have already stated that we consider some<br /> kind of protection in the nature of copyright<br /> desirable ; and it appears to us that the existing<br /> terms are not more than sufficient, if indeed they<br /> are sufficient, to secure that adequate encourage-<br /> ment and protection to authors which the interests<br /> <br /> of literature, and therefore of the public, alike —<br /> <br /> demand from the State. We proceed, therefore,<br /> to call attention to the three objections to the<br /> present duration of copyright :<br /> <br /> “ First, the period is said not to belong enough.<br /> The chief reasons for this assertion are that many<br /> works, and particularly those of permanent value,<br /> are frequently but little known or appreciated for<br /> many years after they are published, and that they<br /> do not command a sale sufficient to remunerate<br /> the authors until a considerable part of the term<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> of copyright has expired. Some works, as, for<br /> instance, novels by popular authors, command an<br /> extensive sale and bring to the authors a large<br /> remuneration at once, but the case is altogether<br /> different with others, such as works of history,<br /> books of a philosophical or classical character, and<br /> volumes of poems. In some instances works of<br /> these kinds have been known to produce scarcely<br /> any remuneration until the authors have died and<br /> the copyrights have nearly expired. It is also<br /> urged that in the case of many authors who make<br /> their living by their pens, their families are left<br /> without provision shortly after their deaths, unless<br /> their works become profitable very soon after they<br /> are written.<br /> <br /> “These arguments and others of a like kind,<br /> which will be found not only in the evidence we<br /> have taken, but in the debates in Parliament, are<br /> in our opinion of great weight, but on the other<br /> hand, we do not lose sight of the public interest<br /> which, it has been urged upon us, would be<br /> prejudiced by prolongation of copyright. Greater<br /> freedom of trade and competition are said to be<br /> desirable that books may be more abundant and<br /> cheaper in price.<br /> <br /> ‘The second objection to the present duration of<br /> copyright is, that copyrights belonging to the same<br /> author generally expire at different dates. That it<br /> -is well founded is manifest, for if an author writes<br /> several works, or one work in several volumes<br /> which are published at different times, as is<br /> frequently the case, the copyrights will expire<br /> forty-two years from the respective dates of pub-<br /> lication, unless the author happens to live so long<br /> that the period of seven years after his death is<br /> beyond forty-two years from the publication of his<br /> latest work or volume.<br /> <br /> “ Under the present system, moreover, copyright<br /> in an earlier edition expires before copyright in<br /> the amendments in a later edition of the same<br /> work. We have had evidence that in one case the<br /> first and uncorrected edition of an important work<br /> was republished before the expiration of the copy-<br /> tight in the later and improved editions. But<br /> if the alteration in the existing term of copyright,<br /> which we suggest hereafter, were adopted, namely,<br /> that it should be for the life of the author and a<br /> fixed number of years after his death, all the<br /> copyrights of the same author would expire at the<br /> same date, and it would then be open to any pub-<br /> lisher to put out a complete edition of all the<br /> author’s works, with all the improvements and<br /> emendations which have appeared in the last<br /> edition, in a uniform shape and at a uniform price.<br /> <br /> “The third objection to the present duration of<br /> copyright is that it is frequently difficult, if not<br /> impossible, to ascertain its termination, owing to<br /> the fact that the expiration of the period depends<br /> <br /> 205<br /> <br /> upon the time of publication. It is in most cases<br /> easy to ascertain the date of a man’s death, but<br /> frequently impossible to fix with any certainty the<br /> date of the publication of a book. Under the<br /> present law it is uncertain what constitutes pub-<br /> lication; but whatever may be a publication<br /> sufficient in law to set the period of copyright<br /> running, it generally takes place in such a manner<br /> that the precise date is not noted even if known.<br /> It is sometimes said that the date printed in the<br /> title page of a book should be considered the date<br /> of publication, but books are frequently post-<br /> dated, and in many cases bear no date at all.<br /> This objection is one which, in our opinion, should<br /> be removed.”<br /> <br /> The above, I think, is a fair presentment of the<br /> points considered by the Royal Copyright Com-<br /> mission. Many years have elapsed and we still<br /> find that little has been done to co-ordinate the<br /> various Copyright Acts which were considered by<br /> the Royal Commissioners to be in a chaotic con-<br /> dition, and frequently unintelligible.<br /> <br /> In the Bill drafted by Lord Thring, based on<br /> the recommendations of the Copyright Commission,<br /> it was proposed that “the copyright in a book<br /> shall begin with the publication thereof, and shall<br /> subsist for the term of the author&#039;s life and thirty<br /> years after the end of the year in which the author<br /> dies, and no longer.” The effect of such an Act<br /> would obviously be that, although the copyrights<br /> of authors’ works would expire simultaneously,<br /> immature efforts would enjoy a longer term than<br /> works of greater value, though, of course, it does<br /> not thereby follow that the sales of the former<br /> would be the greater. Some time ago, the writer<br /> approached several of the leading publishers for<br /> their opinions as to the duration of the period of<br /> protection.<br /> <br /> Mr. John Murray considers that a new Copy-<br /> right Act is urgently needed in this country. He<br /> thinks the period of protection ought to be life<br /> and fifty years. Perpetual copyright, though it<br /> would be equitable, is impossible, he considers.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Macmillan think that the present period<br /> of protection is insufficient ; life and thirty years<br /> would be more satisfactory. They see no reason<br /> to dissent from the view taken by Mr. Alexander<br /> Macmillan, a former head of the firm, in his evi-<br /> dence before the Royal Commission in favour of<br /> perpetual copyright.<br /> <br /> Mr. William Heinemann, while favouring the<br /> fullest protection possible for literary property,<br /> thinks it would be a matter of serious national<br /> loss, if literary productions were not, after some<br /> time, made popularly accessible.<br /> <br /> Mr. E. Marston considers perpetual copyright an<br /> impossible idea. He thinks that life and thirty<br /> years would prove a satisfactory term.<br /> <br /> <br /> 208<br /> <br /> Messrs. Kegan Paul &amp; Co, remark that un-<br /> doubtedly the limitation of copyright tends to the<br /> general diffusion of good literature, though they<br /> think it hard that a man of outstanding genius,<br /> having produced property of value calculated to<br /> survive his own life, should not have the privilege<br /> of leaving the interest in the property to his<br /> descendants.<br /> <br /> Messrs. George Bell &amp; Sons certainly think the<br /> present period of protection insufficient. They<br /> favour the proposed extension to thirty years<br /> from the author&#039;s death. They are also inclined<br /> to think favourably of a suggestion that has been<br /> made, that direct descendants of an author should,<br /> on certain conditions, have the privilege of obtain-<br /> ing further extensions for successive terms of years<br /> so that a valuable copyright might be kept alive<br /> for an indefinite time.<br /> <br /> Mr. A. Nutt can see no reason why literary<br /> property should be placed in a different category<br /> trom other property. In any case, copyright, he<br /> thinks, should have a clear hundred years’ run<br /> from the death of the author.<br /> <br /> Another publisher, who has issued a large number<br /> of charming reprints, thinks that the present period<br /> of protection is long enough, except in exceptional<br /> cases ; he does not think that anyone can argue<br /> that the time presses hardly upon any relatives of<br /> a man’s family if, after forty-two years and seven<br /> years, the copyright is given to the public. In all<br /> patented works, it is acknowledged that the public<br /> have rights, and in books, it seems to him that so<br /> long as a man has been comfortably paid for his<br /> labour, the books belong to the public more than<br /> even matters of invention.<br /> <br /> Thus we have a variety of opinions upon an<br /> interesting and somewhat complicated subject.<br /> We can assume that the life of the average book<br /> is not forty-two years. Novels which have an<br /> <br /> immense sale at the time of first publication have<br /> their day and practically cease to be, in many<br /> instances. How many of them will be in demand<br /> thirty years after the decease of the authors or in<br /> some cases the manufacturers of them ?<br /> <br /> Text books, of course, get out-of-date. Similarly<br /> with works of reference. Comparatively few books<br /> are absolutely original in every respect. In the<br /> majority of cases, the authors are dependent to a<br /> more or less degree upon the labours of their pre-<br /> decessors. And literary matter would be of com-<br /> paratively little commercial value in the absence<br /> of any method whereby 1t could be rapidly repro-<br /> duced in quantity. ‘he peculiar nature of literary<br /> property is obvious. In the course of the life of the<br /> author, plus thirty years, it ought to be possible to<br /> find a sufficient demand to make most worthy<br /> books remunerative to author and publisher, if<br /> the field is properly worked, But in special cases,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> such as in regard to books which have involved<br /> special labour and expense to produce, and which<br /> have not proved sufficiently remunerative during<br /> the period of protection, it ought to be possible<br /> for the publisher, or author, to obtain an extension.<br /> If it were practicable the period of protection<br /> should depend on the degree of originality of the<br /> matter. This would obviously be a difficult question<br /> to decide.<br /> J. A, Ret.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> THE PUBLISHERS’ ASSOCIATION.<br /> <br /> Oo ¢<br /> <br /> The Annual Meeting.<br /> <br /> HE screeds Association has held its annual<br /> general meeting, under the presidenc of<br /> Mr. C. J. Longman, and has batted its<br /> <br /> report to its members.<br /> <br /> The Authors’ Society has already had note of the<br /> steps that were taken last year with a view to<br /> dealing with the question of copyright. It is<br /> unnecessary, therefore, to repeat the extent to<br /> which the Association also rendered its valuable<br /> assistance in endeavouring to push forward legis-<br /> lation. :<br /> <br /> The President, in his speech, dealt with one or<br /> two interesting points, and, in addition to the<br /> questions connected with the report, mentioned<br /> the contract for serial rights. He stated as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “Of course a good many matters come up at the<br /> Council meetings which it is not desirable to<br /> trouble you with or to put into the report, but here<br /> and there one comes up which may be of interest.<br /> Now there was a subject mentioned not long ago—<br /> a small affair if you will, and only of interest to a<br /> certain section of the members who are novel<br /> publishers. Buta case came up in regard to the<br /> question of serial rights. It has been not infre-<br /> quently the practice, particularly with literary<br /> agents, to sell not only what are known as serial<br /> rights, but what are known as second serial rights.<br /> Unless there is some limit in time put as to when<br /> these second serial rights are to run out, it may be<br /> an intolerable nuisance, and I know cases in my<br /> own business where it has become a nuisance.<br /> There are certain syndicates who buy serials for<br /> circulation in the Press. They buy absolute serial<br /> rights, which is understood to mean that so long<br /> as the term of copyright exists they go on cireu-<br /> lating the novel, or any other work, in the columns<br /> of newspapers, magazines, and so on. A publisher<br /> buys the copyright, but this spectre is never laid.<br /> You never know where it may turn up, and the<br /> thing gets out of control. Sometimes, as in the<br /> case which I have in my mind, the work gets<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> published under another title, or is abridged. The<br /> only reason I have in mentioning it is that I think<br /> it very desirable, in the interests of publishers,<br /> that they should decline to buy a novel in which<br /> the serial rights are sold without limit of time-—<br /> that is to say, the serial rights should cease when<br /> the book is published. If there is any question of<br /> the book being circulated again, which may possibly<br /> be done occasionally, that should be a matter<br /> decided by the copyright owner, who may be the<br /> publisher or author, or both, but I think it very<br /> undesirable either to buy or publish a novel with<br /> these indefinite rights hanging over it. That is<br /> not, perhaps, a very important point, and it only<br /> refers to one section of our members.”<br /> <br /> This question may be a small question to pub-<br /> lishers, and only touch a certain section of them,<br /> but to authors, to those who write fiction, is of<br /> great import.<br /> <br /> Firstly, we have always insisted, and now insist<br /> again, that it is absolutely essential that contracts<br /> with regard to the sale of serial rights should be<br /> clear and limited, and should not be general or<br /> indefinite ; that when serial rights are sold they<br /> should be sold either to one paper or to a limited<br /> circle of papers for one issue only, or for a limited<br /> time.<br /> <br /> Secondly, that under no circumstances should<br /> fiction writers sell the copyright of their works to<br /> the publisher for a sum down or otherwise; and,<br /> thirdly, if, contrary to all advice, they do sell the<br /> copyright, they are bound to disclose to the pur-<br /> chaser a contract of this kind for the sale of serial<br /> rights. If this is the case, then the publisher<br /> buys with full knowledge, and has no cause for<br /> complaint.<br /> <br /> From Mr. Longman’s statement it would appear<br /> that either the publisher has not taken the trouble<br /> to enquire into the point, or that the author has,<br /> unwittingly maybe, refrained from giving full<br /> information.<br /> <br /> Another important question was dealt with by<br /> the publishers.<br /> <br /> The matter was brought forward by Mr. Frederick<br /> Macmillan, of the firm of Macmillan &amp; Co.<br /> <br /> It refers to the supply of educational books to<br /> the educational authorities. This matter is of no<br /> little consequence to the providers of educational<br /> books, and it is hoped that the cutting of prices<br /> which at present rules will not be allowed to con-<br /> tinue, and that the publishers will refuse to supply<br /> the educational centres direct, but will supply only<br /> through booksellers and retail agents. The question<br /> is one that affects the educational author very<br /> closely, as the following example may serve to<br /> show :—<br /> <br /> A certain member of the Society made his living<br /> out of the writing of educational books, and was<br /> <br /> 207<br /> <br /> paid a fixed royalty by the publisher under a hard<br /> and fast agreement. Large orders were gent in to<br /> the publisher for the purchase of his books, and a<br /> demand was made that as the order was large<br /> special terms should be stated. ‘The publisher<br /> wrote to the author and asked him to accept half<br /> the royalty that he was being paid under the<br /> agreement, or otherwise it would be impossible<br /> for him to supply the orders mentioned, and a<br /> large sale would thereby be lost to the author.<br /> If the author’s profits had been reduced pro-<br /> portionately to the publisher’s profits it ig<br /> possible that the publisher&#039;s request might have<br /> been willingly acceded to, but the figures showed<br /> that this was not the case, and it lay with the<br /> author to decide whether he would yield to this<br /> extraordinary pressure of the publisher or whether<br /> he would lose the sale. In this special instance,<br /> the royalty on these books was, unfortunately, the<br /> bread and butter of the author, and he was obliged<br /> to give way. Thus the publisher procured a large<br /> sale at a reduced but not inadequate profit, while<br /> the author received starvation wages. The other<br /> alternative was for the author to refuse to yield, and<br /> Insist on the publisher keeping to his contract ; 0<br /> that case the publisher would have refused to supply<br /> the market, and the author would have had no<br /> remedy.<br /> <br /> It is hoped, therefore, if this question is satisfac-<br /> torily solved as far as authors are concerned, that<br /> it will be impossible for such a case to occur again<br /> or for undue pressure to be brought to bear upon<br /> an author to yield up even the small returns that<br /> some of the publishers are willing to pay him for<br /> his work.<br /> <br /> After some discussion it appears from the report<br /> of the general meeting of the Publishers’ Associa-<br /> tion, that the original question put forward was<br /> somewhat modified, and that the following amend-<br /> ment was passed :—<br /> <br /> “That a special committee be appointed to deal<br /> with questions affecting educational publishers,<br /> and that its first business be to consider the<br /> situation created by the Education Act, 1902.”<br /> <br /> We must congratulate Mr. C. J. Longman on<br /> his re-election to the Presidency of the Association<br /> —which now represents all the important houses of<br /> England.<br /> <br /> G. oy T.<br /> <br /> pn *—~&gt;—_+ :<br /> <br /> SOME FREE LANCE EXPERIENCES.<br /> <br /> —+—&gt;+—<br /> <br /> OME little time ago I set forth in these pages<br /> S certain experiences that had fallen to me<br /> while pursuing the calling of a free lance<br /> journalist. Since then a good deal of water has<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 208<br /> <br /> flowed under Westminster Bridge, and, as during<br /> this period I have continued on my career, further<br /> experiences have naturally come my way.<br /> number of these, it seems to me, are worth jotting<br /> down on the present occasion, for they are not<br /> altogether uninstructive, while a proportion of<br /> them have the additional virtue of breaking<br /> comparatively new ground.<br /> <br /> Those coming within this latter category have<br /> been gathered mainly in America. The United<br /> States, indeed, forms a virgin field for the English<br /> free lance. I know that there is a deeply-rooted<br /> impression to the effect that the Press on the other<br /> side of the Atlantic is a close preserve to all but<br /> those over whom the Eagle spreads its protecting<br /> wings, but I am convinced that, this isa fallacy.<br /> Speaking generally, every paper is open to every-<br /> body, and to a wide-awake editor (such as those in<br /> New York) the nationality of a potential con-<br /> tributor is, like his opinion on conscientious<br /> objections, the superiority of the American boot,<br /> or the educational value of musical comedy, a<br /> matter of complete indifference. Were it not for<br /> this fact, the path of the unattached free lance<br /> would be a good deal thornier than it is at<br /> present.<br /> <br /> My connection with American papers originated<br /> in rather curious fashion. About a year ago I<br /> wrote a short article dealing with a theatrical<br /> subject in which I was interested. This [ for-<br /> warded, together with a number of photographs,<br /> to a magazine which had just been started in<br /> London with rather a flourish of trumpets for the<br /> express purpose of “ministering to the best<br /> interests of the Drama.” My effort, however, to<br /> promote this high intention was evidently an ill-<br /> conceived one. At any rate, the article was<br /> returned, with a a curt note to the effect that it<br /> failed to reach the standard of “ literary excellence”<br /> insisted upon by, let us say, the Footlights Maga-<br /> zine. The intimation was also accompanied by<br /> an ingenuous suggestion that I should forthwith<br /> enrol myself as an annual subscriber to this some-<br /> what exigeant periodical, “ and thereby familiarise<br /> myself with the editorial requirements.”<br /> <br /> On receiving back my MS. (in a condition, by<br /> the way, that pointed strongly to its having been<br /> used as a doormat during the interval), I decided<br /> that the English market’ was too limited for it. A<br /> voyage across the Atlantic would, I thought, do<br /> the article good. I accordingly looked through an<br /> American newspaper directory, and, with the airy<br /> confidence that is part of the equipment of all free<br /> lances, despatched it to the most widely circulated<br /> magazine in the United States, and sat down to<br /> await the result. This came in three weeks’ time<br /> and took the form of a polite letter of acceptance,<br /> accompanied by a cheque for seventy-five dollars.<br /> <br /> altogether.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> The discriminating periodical in question was<br /> Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly.<br /> <br /> Another American magazine which I have<br /> approached with even more success is Munsey’s.<br /> Within the past few months the editor has<br /> purchased five articles from me, paying in each<br /> instance at a rate that is at least equal to that<br /> obtaining among the leading periodicals of the<br /> same nature in this country. As my work has<br /> appeared in the Pall Mall, Strand, Windsor,<br /> and Cassell’s, I may claim to know something<br /> on this most important of points. The Cosmo-<br /> politan, too, of New York, has proved itself<br /> enterprising enough to print work of mine. In<br /> respect of weekly journals of Transatlantic origin,<br /> my most satisfactory dealings have been with<br /> Collier’s Weekly. This, which is also published<br /> in New York, has given hospitality to at least half-<br /> a-dozen contributions from me in recent numbers.<br /> The daily papers, however, have as a rule shown<br /> themselves disinclined to permit me to illumine<br /> their columns at space rates. They appear to<br /> prefer to insert bodily articles of mine which take<br /> their fancy when they make their début in English<br /> publications. As in doing so such journals seldom<br /> go through the formality of either acknowledging<br /> their origin or remunerating me for the same, the<br /> practice only meets with my qualified approval.<br /> Occasionally, I have expressed my views of the<br /> matter: so far, however, the result has not been<br /> satisfactory. One editor, indeed, relying appa-<br /> rently on the fact that the broad Atlantic rolled<br /> between us, replied on a type-written postcard as<br /> follows: ‘Sir, if you don’t like it, lump it!”<br /> <br /> Speaking generally, however, I am firmly of<br /> opinion that American editors transact their work<br /> in a manner that tends to promote the pleasantest<br /> possible relations between themselves and their<br /> <br /> contributors. To this end they are courteous,<br /> prompt, reliable, and business-like in their<br /> dealings. Whenever I have made a_ proposal<br /> <br /> for an article, or submitted a manuscript for<br /> consideration, the matter has been attended to<br /> without delay. Non-acceptances have been notified<br /> in so charming a fashion that the pangs of<br /> rejection have been in great measure removed<br /> As often as not such communications<br /> are almost apologetic in tone, and might reasonably<br /> give the novice the impression that his work is<br /> returned merely because its publication would set<br /> too high a standard of excellence. Of course, it<br /> merely amounts to the curt “declined with<br /> thanks” in vogue in this country; at the same<br /> time, however, it has decided points in its favour.<br /> <br /> The cordiality of the average American editor<br /> towards his unknown contributors is quite remark-<br /> able. The atmosphere of aloofness which is<br /> generally observed on this side of the Atlantic<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 209<br /> <br /> seems to have no existence in the United States.<br /> ““My dear Sir,” is apparently the most formal<br /> opening ever employed in inaugurating a corre-<br /> spondence, while before two letters have passed<br /> this probably becomes “My very dear Sir.” It is<br /> the same thing with the terminations. When you<br /> are not assured that the editor is « Sincerely<br /> yours,” you are begged to regard him as “ Yours<br /> most cordially.” One of those to whom I once had<br /> occasion to write on a strictly business matter<br /> subscribed himself mine “ In all sincerity in every-<br /> thing calculated to foster what is best and brightest<br /> in contemporary literature.” This somewhat<br /> effusive individual conducted a society journal in<br /> Chicago.<br /> <br /> An American editor frequently uses terms that<br /> strike English ears a little strangely. I remember,<br /> for example, on an occasion when I had written to<br /> point out that payment for a certain contribution<br /> was overdue, receiving a “ check ” accompanied by<br /> a hope that “we should not run up against such<br /> snags in future.” A second editor, to whom I<br /> applied for a proof before publication, excused him-<br /> self on the grounds that I might “rely with<br /> confidence on his lynx-eyed compositors.” Another<br /> expressed his opinion of my capabilities in this<br /> fashion : “ Dear Sir, I like your stuff. It is real<br /> spry! Send me some more blocks of it as soon as<br /> you please. You are a live news-getter.”’ Occa-<br /> sionally, however, a wholesome corrective is<br /> administered. One such, sent in answer to a<br /> request for a decision respecting an article submitted<br /> several weeks earlier, ran as follows : “Dear Sir,<br /> your work doesn’t suit us. Our office-boy could<br /> write better copy blind-fold.”<br /> <br /> On the subject of returning unsuitable manu-<br /> scripts forwarded them from this country, American<br /> editors have a good deal to learn, They appear,<br /> for example, to be under the impression that all<br /> that is necessary is to put the article into an<br /> envelope and affix a one-cent stamp to it. Of<br /> course, it then travels as letter-post and is sub-<br /> jected to a considerable surcharge on delivery.<br /> Even when I have taken the precaution to send a<br /> properly stamped uewspaper-wrapper when sub-<br /> mitting a contribution, it is very seldom that any<br /> notice has been taken of it.. Once or twice I have<br /> ventured on a mild expostulation, but the only<br /> reply that this has elicited is that “the editor cf<br /> the prefers to use envelopes.” He also seems<br /> to prefer that their recipients should pay double<br /> postage on the same.<br /> <br /> It must not be thought from the preceding<br /> observations that I have permitted the English<br /> Press to languish for want of attention on my part<br /> during the last few months. So far from this<br /> being the case, I have conducted my campaign in<br /> this country contemporaneously with my American<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> one, and with equal vigour. The periodicals in<br /> which work of mine has seen the light within this<br /> interval range from the « serious” monthlies to<br /> the more frivolous dailies, from magazine articles<br /> and stories in Cassell’s and the Windsor, to<br /> “Celebrities at Home” in the World, and para-<br /> graph matter in Punch. [ wrote columns of<br /> Coronation matter in June and August, and did<br /> my best to keep alive public interest in the Boer<br /> War long after the declaration of peace. I also<br /> furnished for some weeks—in the absence of the<br /> regular correspondent—a “ London Letter” for a<br /> well-known Indian paper. After the second of<br /> these contributions appeared the editor was<br /> removed from office by his proprietors. I should<br /> be sorry to think that my connection with the<br /> paper had anything to do with this, but candour<br /> compels me to admit that I was not invited to<br /> continue my contributions.<br /> <br /> The greater portion of my output of late has<br /> been published in the different periodicals which owe<br /> their existence to the enterprise of Messrs. Pearson<br /> and Newnes. The host of “ Bits” journals which<br /> emanate from the offices of these Liptous of Litera-<br /> ture are a veritable gold-mine to the unattached<br /> free lance. They have an insatiable appetite for<br /> informative articles on the private lives of dis-<br /> tinguished personages, and give a ready welcome to<br /> anyone who can write thereon with an appearance<br /> of authority. At the same time, I must place it on<br /> record that Queer Bits, while expressing itself as<br /> pleased to consider a proposed series on “ Duchesses<br /> I have Dined with,” uncompromisingly rejected a<br /> second on “ Countesses I have Kissed.”<br /> <br /> The rate of payment obtaining among periodicals<br /> of this description is usually the fixed one of a<br /> guinea per column of about 750 words. As the<br /> standard of literary excellence insisted upon therein<br /> is not lofty, the scale is quite a fair one. Indeed,<br /> it is superior to that in force in many decidedly<br /> more ambitious journals. To one of these, for<br /> example (which grandiloquently describes itself as<br /> reflecting politics, literature, science, and art—and,<br /> no doubt, many other matters as well), I once sub-<br /> mitted an article on a military subject. A couple<br /> of months afterwards (no proof for revision, or<br /> notification of acceptance having been forwarded in<br /> the meantime) the contribution appeared. It was<br /> set up, however, in the form of a “ Letter to the<br /> Editor.” This struck me as a little frigid. Yet<br /> worse was to follow, for when—at the end of five<br /> weeks—I mildly pointed out that the cheque due<br /> to me had not yet reached me, I received a<br /> dignified intimation to the effect that “it was not<br /> the practice of the to pay for correspondence.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> To this I naturally replied that it was not my prac-<br /> tice to write articles for publication as “corre-<br /> spondence.” I mentioned, however, that I would<br /> 210<br /> <br /> be prepared to relax my rule in this partieular<br /> instance in so far that I would write a letter<br /> embodying my views on the conduct of periodicals<br /> which filled their columns without expense by the<br /> simple expedient of treating articles as “ Letters<br /> to the Editor” without the sanction of their<br /> authors. The offer still remains open.<br /> <br /> I have frequently heard it contended that when<br /> ladies conduct periodicals they do so in an un-<br /> pusinesslike fashion. For myself, I am disinclined<br /> to take this view, for I have always found that<br /> they are quite businesslike enough in their methods<br /> to get as much as they can for nothing. For<br /> instance, the editress of a monthly magazine called<br /> —let us say, the Perfect Lady—once stipulated<br /> that she could only accept an article of mine on<br /> the condition that I should induce the people<br /> referred to therein to bear the expense of having<br /> their photographs reproduced. The offer did not<br /> appeal to me. It was the same lady, by the way,<br /> who on the second occasion that I submitted -a<br /> contribution, offered me two guineas for three<br /> thousand words and nine photographs, the copy-<br /> right to belong to her. When I sent a district<br /> messenger boy to the office to say that I was not<br /> in the business for my health, she replied on a<br /> postcard, “ There is no oceasion to be rude.”<br /> <br /> This question of payment is a delicate one. Not<br /> even the most brazen of free lances likes to haggle<br /> over the matter, but when he receives an experi-<br /> ence such as the one just recounted he would<br /> scarcely be human if he did not venture on a<br /> protest. For myself, I have two working rules.<br /> One of them is to take all I can get, and the other<br /> is to cash a cheque first and draw attention to its<br /> inadequacy afterwards. I applied this latter on<br /> one occasion when a certain weekly journal, called,<br /> let me say, Our Girls, commissioned me to write a<br /> three-thousand word article (entailing the interview-<br /> ing of six different people, and the supplying of eight<br /> photographs), and then sent me four guineas for the<br /> same. On receipt of my letter of polite expostula-<br /> tion, the proprietors curtly informed me that if I<br /> was dissatisfied I might return the cheque and<br /> they would return the article. I explained that<br /> my system prevented me sending back the original<br /> cheque; I accordingly forwarded one of my own<br /> instead.<br /> <br /> Notwithstanding these little rebuffs I recently<br /> approached a third journal, the editorial direction<br /> of which was also in the hands of a lady. The<br /> paper was a weekly one, and had only just been<br /> started. It was, in fact, from reading its initial<br /> number that I conceived the idea that it contained<br /> an opening for some one who had a slight acquaint-<br /> ance with practical journalism. In “Number<br /> One,” for example, a prominent feature was made<br /> of “Answers to Correspondents,” although no<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> explanation was given as to how “ Constant<br /> Reader,” ‘Subscriber from the First,” and the<br /> other seekers after enlightenment had written their<br /> letters of inquiry before the. paper had even<br /> appeared. Several other points in the general<br /> make-up and management of Cackle—as I will call<br /> the bantling—also struck me as betraying the hand<br /> of the amateur.<br /> <br /> To the office of Cackle, therefore, I went, armed<br /> with a selection of articles and an assortment of<br /> ideas to be submitted diplomatically if occasion<br /> offered, and taking with me a letter of introduction<br /> provided by an acquaintance of the editor. At the<br /> top of avery long flight of stairs was a door marked<br /> “QackLE, Lrp. Srricrty Private.” Having<br /> negotiated a hundred and twenty steps, a little<br /> matter like this was not going to stand in my way.<br /> Accordingly, I rapped on the door and was bidden<br /> by a feminine chorus to enter. On doing so, I<br /> found myself in a small room occupied by five<br /> ladies, sitting round a table littered with manu-<br /> scripts and making a light luncheon off; a bag<br /> of mixed biscuits and a box of chocolates. I<br /> tendered one of them my card together with<br /> the letter of introduction, requesting her to<br /> convey it to the editor, and then sat down on<br /> the only unoccupied chair. While the messenger<br /> was absent her colleagues continued an animated<br /> discussion which my arrival seemed to have<br /> interrupted. From fragments that caught my<br /> ear it seemed evident that press-day was at hand.<br /> “ What is a stick, Gertie ?”” inquired one peroxide<br /> of hydrogen-tinted young woman of another.<br /> “Why do you want to know, Maudie?” “Oh,<br /> the horrid printer says that he is a stick short,”<br /> was the reply, “and I’m sure I don’t know what<br /> he means. Yesterday he sent to ask if I wanted<br /> galleys or page proofs? Why on earth can’t<br /> printers talk English ? &quot;<br /> <br /> At the end of ten minutes or so the messenger<br /> returned. I rose expectantly. “ The editor says<br /> she can’t see you,” was the rather disconcerting<br /> announcement that met me.<br /> <br /> “That is sufficiently obvious,” I remarked,<br /> blandly, “unless she is looking through the<br /> keyhole.”<br /> <br /> “The editor of Cackle only interviews visitors<br /> by appointment,” explained a member of the<br /> staff, in the tone that would be adopted when<br /> referring to the Times. “ Perhaps you will call<br /> again.” There was no mistaking the hint con-<br /> veyed in the last observation. I took it without<br /> delay. Since then, ladies’ papers as a class have<br /> not received any great amount of attention from<br /> me. Iam unable to think, however, that this has<br /> had that adverse effect upon their circulation that<br /> it ought to.<br /> <br /> H. W.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> amt<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR, 211<br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> 1<br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property :—<br /> <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 /> II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement),<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to :<br /> <br /> (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements,<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author,<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. 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 /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> IES:<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. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for<br /> the production of a play with anyone except an established<br /> manager.<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 /> ito 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 /> (0.) 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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES Ge,<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 (4.) 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. ‘Yhey 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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA-<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY<br /> <br /> _ HO?<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —+~—<br /> <br /> 1. 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 /> <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 /> <br /> desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel’s<br /> opinion. All this without any cost to the member.<br />  <br /> <br /> 212<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 seruple<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) To enforce payments due according to<br /> agreements.<br /> <br /> 7. No confract 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 /> —_——<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 /> —_—_———__+——_o—__———_<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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, S.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 /> —_——_—_—\§|o—&lt; &gt; __——<br /> <br /> COMMUNICATIONS AND LETTERS ARE INVITED BY THE<br /> Eprror 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 /> — a<br /> <br /> Tur 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 /> —-——s—_<br /> <br /> N the case of Judge Parry against Mr. Israel<br /> Gollancz, which dealt with the publication of<br /> <br /> “ Dorothy Osborne’s Love Letters,” a general<br /> injunction was granted to the plaintiff. Various<br /> views of the questions involved have been put<br /> forward in the papers during the past month<br /> In a letter to the Zimes, dated April 238, 1908,<br /> the plaintiff&#039;s solicitors state that the proceedings<br /> are not concluded. We must therefore defer any<br /> comment both on this ground and also because<br /> the matter has not yet come before our Committee.<br /> <br /> Mr. Loneman in his “ Notes on Books” (an<br /> interesting trade circular published by his firm)<br /> gives the following definitions :—<br /> <br /> DEFINITION OF THE TERMS “IMPRESSION,”<br /> “ EDITION,” “ RE-ISSUE.”<br /> ImprReEssron.—A number of copies printed at any one time.<br /> When a book is reprinted without change it should be<br /> called a new “impression,” to distinguish it from an<br /> <br /> “ edition,” as defined below.<br /> <br /> EpDrrron.—An impression in which the matter has under-<br /> gone some change, or for which the type has been<br /> reset.<br /> <br /> ReE-IssuE.—A re-publication at a different price, or ina<br /> different form, of part of an impression which has<br /> already been placed on the market.—From Longman’s<br /> “ Notes on Books.”<br /> <br /> We believe these definitions have been approved<br /> by the Publishers’ Association.<br /> <br /> There is one point, however, which has not been<br /> settled. It appears to us to be the most important<br /> point of all.<br /> <br /> We ask Mr. Longman if it is not possible to<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Cees<br /> <br /> &amp;<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 213<br /> <br /> settle the unit of an edition or impression? In<br /> every other trade involving weights, measures, and<br /> numbers units have been settled long ago. It is<br /> only necessary for the Association to come to some<br /> conclusion and bind its members to recognise some<br /> definite system. A thousand copies seem to be a<br /> reasonable number to fix. Thus, if a limited issue<br /> of five hundred copies was produced, the publisher<br /> could state that he was about t6 produce half an<br /> edition, or that the issue would be limited to half an<br /> edition. Again, instead of seeing the advertise-<br /> ments of the large sales quoted in numbers, it<br /> would be sufficient merely to say twenty, thirty, or<br /> forty editions or impressions. We draw attention<br /> to this special point, as in one case that came<br /> before the Secretary of the Society the author com-<br /> plained that although his publisher was advertising<br /> his book as in its third edition, only twenty-five<br /> copies had been sold.<br /> <br /> This was naturally very annoying to the author,<br /> but he had no legal position, and could not claim<br /> damage, as the sole control of the issue of the book<br /> was left, by the agreement, in the hands of the<br /> publisher.<br /> <br /> Again, there is the guarantee agreement not in-<br /> frequently before the Secretary of the Society from<br /> another publishing house that states : “* This edition<br /> shall be the property of the publisher,” or that<br /> “The author shall receive 10 per cent. royalty after<br /> the sale of the first edition.” In neither case is the<br /> amount of the edition mentioned.<br /> <br /> It is important, therefore, to all those who trade<br /> in books that some settlement of the unit of an<br /> edition should be obtained, and when that unit is<br /> settled the Publishers’ Association should enforce<br /> observance of it on its members.<br /> <br /> It is well known that some of the editions of the<br /> daily papers are little more than formal issues, but it<br /> would be unfair to publishers and authors to put the<br /> publication of books on the same level as the issue<br /> of journalistic editions.<br /> <br /> Members of the Society will no doubt recall to<br /> mind that a discussion occurred not long ago in<br /> the Literary Supplement to the Zimes, on the<br /> subject of the payment for articles by a cheque<br /> with a copyright receipt printed on the back.<br /> <br /> The discussion arose out of the fact that a<br /> banker, acting on the instructions of his client,<br /> had refused payment in those cases where the<br /> receipt form was altered.<br /> <br /> It would be interesting to have a list, complete<br /> as far as possible, of those magazines and those<br /> firms which issue this form of cheque.<br /> <br /> We should be obliged if those members of the<br /> Society who have received such cheques within the<br /> <br /> last six months will forward to the Secretary the<br /> name of the magazine or publisher.<br /> <br /> In the early days of printing, when literary<br /> property began to have a bre definite aan<br /> value, there were two forces acting to obtain the<br /> profits of the author’s labour—(1) the power of<br /> the Crown, which was inclined to adopt printing as<br /> a monopoly for its own benefit; and (2) the<br /> power of the trade, which was inclined to think<br /> that the labour of authors should be for its private<br /> advantage,<br /> <br /> Accordingly, by degrees, legislation was evolved,<br /> primarily, for the protection of the Crown monopoly<br /> and the printing trade. :<br /> <br /> As printing developed and literature expanded,<br /> the public gradually came to view the matter in a<br /> different light, and to consider, after all, that the<br /> author might have some right in his own property.<br /> Legislation was then introduced, not on behalf of<br /> the trade, but to protect the author.<br /> <br /> In all the civilised countries of Europe modern<br /> legislation has tended to give a wider basis and<br /> firmer security to the author. Surely to this he is<br /> entitled. He is as much the owner of his property<br /> —perhaps more so—as the man who buys a piece<br /> of land is the owner of that land.<br /> <br /> In another column of The Author we have<br /> much pleasure in printing an article headed “ An<br /> American Point of View.” We see with some amuse-<br /> ment, not unmixed with sadness, that the American<br /> printing trades are still inclined to consider that<br /> legislation dealing with literary property should<br /> not be passed with a view to the protection of the<br /> author, but rather with a view to fostering the:<br /> trade. They have headed the article “ Of Interest<br /> to Authors, etc.” There is irony in this remark,<br /> no doubt suitable to the American humour.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> THE LATE LIEUT.-COLONEL G. F. R.<br /> HENDERSON, C.B.<br /> <br /> ——~ +<br /> <br /> N the March number of Zhe Author we<br /> I expressed regret that the name of this officer<br /> had been inadvertently included among those:<br /> members who had died in 1902. We were un-<br /> happily only premature in the announcement, for<br /> he died on the 5th March, at Assouan, Upper Egypt,.<br /> where he had gone for the benefit of his health,.<br /> which had for some time been precarious. This<br /> was largely owing to his unremitting work. He<br /> never allowed himself proper rest from his literary<br /> labours, and so anxious was he to push on with the:<br /> official history of the Boer War, which had been<br /> entrusted to his able pen, that he insisted on taking.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 214<br /> <br /> his work with him, and had nearly completed the<br /> first volume, when he died, in his forty-ninth<br /> year. This much lamented officer was the eldest<br /> son of the Dean of Carlisle. He was educated at<br /> Oxford and entered the Service in 1878. He was<br /> appointed an Instructor at the Royal Military<br /> College in 1890, and in 1892 had become so well<br /> known by his studies and writings on Military<br /> History and Tactics that he was given the<br /> Professorship of Military History and Art at the<br /> Staff College in succession to Colonel F. Maurice.<br /> He obtained a brevet majority for his services<br /> in the Egyptian War of 1882. He distin-<br /> guished himself by his admirable tactical studies,<br /> “The Campaign of Fredericksburg,” “ The<br /> Battle of Spicheren,” and “ The Battle of Worth,”<br /> which were characterised by insight and power of<br /> analysis and a knowledge of men, as well as by a<br /> literary style to which such works seldom aspire.<br /> But his best known work is “Stonewall Jackson and<br /> the American War,” which was speedily translated<br /> into many European languages, and will ever<br /> remain as a model of military biography. Its<br /> publication stamped Colonel Henderson as one of<br /> the most important military writers since Sir<br /> William Napier, and had he lived he would un-<br /> doubtedly have had his name inscribed very high<br /> up on the roll of fame. He worked indefatigably<br /> in South Africa as Director of Intelligence, and<br /> was of the greatest assistance to Lord Roberts ; but<br /> his health, which had been undermined by over-<br /> work, broke down after Paardeberg, and he was<br /> invalided home. After an all too brief rest he<br /> began the History of the War, and travelled<br /> over to South Africa again to revisit the scenes<br /> of the battles he was describing as was his con-<br /> stant practice. This, though fatiguing, was of<br /> benefit to him as giving some little respite from<br /> work ; but when he resumed his writing and heavy<br /> brain work, it was seen that the strain was too<br /> great, and a winter in Egypt was prescribed. His<br /> splendid example of constant devotion to his<br /> profession, and his high character, exercised a<br /> lasting influence upon the officers of the present<br /> generation ; and his literary work, though pic-<br /> turesque and classical in style, was thoroughly<br /> practical in its aims. His descriptions were vivid,<br /> and he never ceased to search out the why and the<br /> wherefore of events. One of his latest efforts was<br /> the admirable and characteristic preface he wrote<br /> to Count Sternberg’s “ My Experiences of the Boer<br /> War” (Berlin: Reimer, 1901), which was trans-<br /> lated into English (Longmans), and which, though<br /> in the main a lively and amusing account of<br /> adventures as a war correspondent, contains many<br /> reflections upon modern war that are at least worth<br /> consideration. In every way—as an officer, as<br /> a strenuous and clear-minded instructor, and as a<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> writer—Colonel Henderson, who was of a most<br /> unassuming and amiable character, will be long<br /> regretted in the British Army, and, as a well-<br /> known writer of descriptions of foreign armies and<br /> their characteristics in his excellent letters written<br /> to the Zimes while attending foreign manceuvres,<br /> his loss will be much felt by the general public.<br /> <br /> —___+—&gt;__+____<br /> <br /> OF COLLABORATION.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> I WONDER if it is a confession of weakness to<br /> acknowledge that I find something agreeable<br /> in a state of indecision—not with regard to<br /> matters of prime importance, be it understood, but<br /> with regard to those smaller matters of which the<br /> friendly discussion gives point to the conversation<br /> of cultivated men. To be poised between two<br /> friendly disputants, inclining now this way and now<br /> that as one or the other drops fresh crystals of<br /> reason into the scale, and finally to attain a state<br /> of rest midway between the two, thus testifying to<br /> all the world that once more much may be said<br /> upon both sides, and that where there is six of the<br /> one there is again half a dozen of the other, is a<br /> condition in which I like to be, a function I am<br /> ever happy to perform. Yet, the function dis-<br /> charged, I like to draw the disputants aside and<br /> with deference submit to their consideration such<br /> points about the matter of debate as I think they<br /> may have ignored or failed to see. It has been my<br /> invariable experience that I thus acquire some<br /> reputation of being an intelligent fellow, one with<br /> brains in his pate, sir, open to reason, and not too<br /> proud to learn. If I may thus achieve renown as<br /> being a clever man, I am well satisfied to let my<br /> ears do all the work, and give my tongue a rest.<br /> Others may dogmatise: I am content to suggest ;<br /> and if, when all is over, captious critics say it<br /> has been much ado about nothing. I can quote<br /> Shakespeare too, and say ‘“‘all’s well that ends<br /> well.”<br /> <br /> It was thus with me the other day, when the<br /> conversation turned upon collaboration in fiction.<br /> I found that most of those present had in their<br /> early days collaborated with some friend, being<br /> induced to do so by the old argument that two<br /> heads are better than one, or by their observation<br /> of the fact that babies frequently teach themselves<br /> to walk by holding on to chairs. I was interested,<br /> however, to find that the general vote was adverse<br /> to collaboration. Isolated instances of good novels<br /> written in collaboration were, of course, known<br /> and cited, but it was suggested that there was<br /> something in our national temper, or temperament,<br /> unfavourable to the method, and the suggestion<br /> was supported by the assertion that, with the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> exception of Besant and Rice, there was no instance<br /> of British authors working together continuously<br /> and producing such happy results as did MM.<br /> Erckmann-Chatrian and Paul and Victor Mar-<br /> gueritte.<br /> <br /> With this view Besant himself agreed. “If I<br /> were asked for my opinion as to collaboration in<br /> fiction,” he says, “it would be decidedly against<br /> it, Isay this without the least desire to depreciate<br /> the literary ability of my friend and collaborateur.<br /> ‘The arrangement lasted for ten years, and resulted<br /> in as many successful novels. I only mean that,<br /> after all, an artist must necessarily stand alone.<br /> - +. There will come atime when both men fret<br /> under the condition; when each desires, but is<br /> not able, to enjoy the reputation of his own good<br /> work ; and feels, with the jealousy natural to an<br /> artist, irritated by the loss of half of himself, and<br /> ready to accept the responsibility of failure in order<br /> to make sure of the meed of success... . The<br /> collaboration would have broken down, I believe,<br /> amicably. It would have been far better if it had<br /> broken down five years before the death of Rice, so<br /> that he might have achieved what has been granted<br /> to myself—an independent literary position.”<br /> <br /> The modesty and sincerity of Sir Walter Besant<br /> were such that it is absurd to try to read between<br /> these lines and discover any little-mindedness in<br /> roserve. That “jealousy natural to an artist ” is<br /> the quality which he discovers in the British<br /> temperament unfavourable to the method of joint<br /> production, and, so far as collaboration in fiction<br /> is concerned, there cannot be much dispute that<br /> his point is well taken.<br /> <br /> Sir Walter always declined to offer any explana-<br /> tion or give any account of the method on which<br /> he collaborated with Rice, although this was a<br /> matter with regard to which he was pestered for<br /> information. Why people should be so anxious to<br /> find out how collaboration is conducted is a form<br /> of curiosity that always inspires me with amused<br /> wonder. It seems to me that it should bea reason-<br /> ably easy matter, provided proper provision is made<br /> at the outset for the ‘personal equation.” For<br /> those, however, who desire light upon the subject,<br /> and have not had the passage brought before their<br /> notice, I may, perhaps, quote a couple of paragraphs<br /> from a recent issue of the Daily Mail having<br /> reference to Mr. and Mrs. Egerton Castle.<br /> <br /> “The collaboration of husband and wife is rare<br /> and interesting. Mr. and Mrs. Castle plan out<br /> their work together, talk it over thoroughly, and<br /> finally write it in unison, so that it is almost<br /> impossible in the end to decide with whom any<br /> particular idea originally started. The authors<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> never write of places or people they do not know<br /> familiarly. Mr. Castle states that he never begins<br /> to write out a romance until it has been complete<br /> <br /> 215<br /> <br /> in his mind (as discussed and elaborated with his<br /> wife) for a very long time. It is only when both<br /> character and incident and the reciprocal influence<br /> of one on the other have become familiar that the<br /> story is begun.<br /> <br /> “After that the writing goes fast enough at an<br /> average rate of 2,000 words a day—writing in the<br /> morning and revising at odd moments of the day.<br /> Thus a long novel will be written in three months ;<br /> but, of course, the period from its conception is<br /> much longer—generally a year or more.”<br /> <br /> The obviousness of that explanation detracts<br /> not a whit from its interest, and any difficulty<br /> which other people may experience in applying the<br /> principle to practical use themselves will be found<br /> due to their own personality and that of the writer<br /> with whom they work. The old simile of cog-<br /> wheels applies to collaborators as well as to friends ;<br /> while it is essential that each party to the partner-<br /> ship should supply the other’s deficiencies, the<br /> wheels must be oiled if they are to run smoothly,<br /> and the kind of oil most suitable to the par-<br /> ticular machinery will be ascertained without<br /> difficulty.<br /> <br /> This sort of partnership between husband and<br /> wife is not, however, so rare as might be supposed.<br /> I know of several instances among writers of serial<br /> stories for the cheap newspapers. The editor of<br /> one of these told me he found the system worked<br /> admirably in practice, the wife generally supplying<br /> the battle, murder, and sudden death, while the<br /> husband supplied the tender passion and what one<br /> of Mr. Morley Roberts’s characters describes as<br /> “ideal poppycock.” The information struck me<br /> as being very illuminating.<br /> <br /> Upon the question of collaboration in fiction I<br /> thus remain in a state of, to me, agreeable inde-<br /> cision. With regard to collaboration in the other<br /> forms of literary work, I am, perhaps, less vague.<br /> In the writing of plays the association of two<br /> minds seems very often desirable—one to supply<br /> that brilliant superficial cleverness which modern<br /> playgoers seem to require at the hands of drama-<br /> tists, the other to construct the play on the practical<br /> lines necessary to make it effective from the front<br /> of the house and practicable from behind. One<br /> very well known novelist, and part author of<br /> several very successful plays, told me he could<br /> never get his people on the stage, If they were<br /> put there for him he could make them dazzling in<br /> their wit. “You put them in the right place,” he<br /> said, “at the right time, and I&#039;ll put the right<br /> things in their mouths. It’ll be terrific!” Un-<br /> fortunately my peculiar genius also runs in the<br /> direction of “cackle,” while I am as ignorant of<br /> “osses”” as the Jubilee Plunger, so that play is<br /> still unwritten. I did, however, write a play once<br /> in collaboration with a man whose forte was<br /> <br /> <br /> 216<br /> <br /> construction. We had an agreement drawn up and<br /> engrossed and stamped; I almost decided to have<br /> my copy of it framed. My friend was to supply<br /> the bones and see that they were all properly<br /> articulated, and I was to put the meat upon them<br /> and clothe the finished article in the latest mode.<br /> The work was done, upon the whole, without<br /> excessive loss of blood, and in due course the play<br /> began its round of the managers. Writing a play,<br /> by the way, is the easiest part of the business ; the<br /> dramatist’s trouble does not begin until that is<br /> done.<br /> <br /> The first manager wrote very civilly to say he<br /> had read it with interest; and, whilst it was<br /> admirably constructed, it was written in so dull<br /> and illiterate a fashion that he was afraid he could<br /> do nothing with it. My friend explained that he<br /> was only responsible for the construction, and<br /> produced the agreement to prove his words and<br /> attest his competence to construct another play<br /> for the manager to be written by some one else<br /> than me.<br /> <br /> The second manager also wrote very civilly. He<br /> found the dialogue amazing in its brilliance ; the<br /> wit was pungent, the satire refined, and the whole<br /> writing in perfect taste. The construction, how-<br /> ever, was so amateurish, and showed such ignorance<br /> of stage technique, that he, too, was afraid he<br /> could do nothing with it. My friend explained<br /> that the writing was his, the construction mine ;<br /> and if the manager would supply him with a<br /> scenario, upon whatsoever subject, he would be<br /> happy to write it up. His explanation on this<br /> occasion was uncorroborated by documentary<br /> evidence.<br /> <br /> The third manager wrote more civilly still.<br /> Construction and dialogue were both superlatively<br /> good—far above the average. The story, how-<br /> ever, did not appeal tohim. He thought so highly<br /> of the work that he would like to consider the ques-<br /> tion of commissioning a play by the same authors.<br /> Would my friend explain the terms of the collabo-<br /> ration, and give him some information as to my<br /> position as a writer for the stage? My friend wrote<br /> by return of post to explain that the play was<br /> entirely his; he dictated it to me, and my name<br /> appeared as part author because, in the then state<br /> of his finances, it was inconvenient for him to pay<br /> me a weekly salary as secretary, and I agreed to be<br /> paid by a percentage of his royalties provided he<br /> would allow my name to be published on all pro-<br /> grammes and bills of the play.<br /> <br /> I do not think there is any moral in this<br /> anecdote. I tell it because it relates to my only<br /> experience of joint authorship, and is, therefore,<br /> not mal apropos in an article upon collaboration.<br /> <br /> V. E. M.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> AUTHORS AND MODERN THRIFT.<br /> <br /> es<br /> By Bass BLAKE.<br /> I. The Best Provision for Age.<br /> <br /> HATEVER the advantages may be of the<br /> career of a successful writer, a uniform<br /> income is not one of them. The merit<br /> <br /> of his work may show uo falling off ; but all the<br /> same, his profits are materially affected by changes<br /> in the public taste, and the various moods and<br /> maladies peculiar to readers. A commercial man,<br /> once his position is assured, in many cases produces<br /> his income by repetition of those faculties to which<br /> he owed its commencement; but with a writer,<br /> each year brings with it the necessity for origi-<br /> nality, and for the initiation and working out of<br /> fresh ideas. A prudent business man will each<br /> year set aside a sum for the depreciation of his<br /> machinery, with a view in a certain number of<br /> years to replace it by a new plant. It is upon far<br /> more delicate machinery that the bulk and quality<br /> of a writer’s work depends, and it is machinery<br /> which can never be replaced ; yet it is common to<br /> find that no provision is made for its depreciation.<br /> In most cases the writer lacks that foresight which<br /> teaches the commercial man to conserve a certain<br /> proportion of his income against bad times. The<br /> author frequently lives at the top of his income,<br /> disburses his capital as it arrives, and whilst being<br /> peculiarly at the mercy of changes and depressions,<br /> makes little or no preparation for them.<br /> <br /> A common reason for this omission is that the<br /> author’s circumstances and habit of mind do not<br /> bring him into touch with those means of thrift<br /> with which the man of business ig more or less<br /> familiar. That well without water which is termed<br /> “the City” is but a name to him, and his financial<br /> experiences are often confined to some chance<br /> scheme which falls in his way, or to disastrous<br /> incursions into the Stock Exchange. He may<br /> possess some vague notion that in insurance, pro-<br /> viding as it does co-operative protection for the<br /> individual, there are some elements of attraction ;<br /> but the number of policies are so many, and in<br /> their nature so complicated, that he is repelled<br /> from the subject. He has small experience of<br /> finance, and in the multitude of schemes, each<br /> purporting to be the best in the market, he sees<br /> only confusion.<br /> <br /> Modern life insurance nevertheless offers to the<br /> author perhaps the only means of providing his<br /> family with means at his death, or himself with a<br /> provision in age. The popular idea of the question<br /> is, that if a man happens to die young it is a good<br /> bargain for himself and a bad one for the company,<br /> but, should he happen to live, insurance becomes a<br /> very poor investment. A policy, however, suited to<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> a man who is dependent wholly upon his own<br /> powers as a means of income, must be one which<br /> guarantees to him not only life insurance, but a<br /> capital sum when his powers of production may be<br /> expected to be on the wane, and is therefore<br /> strictly a life, and not a death policy, as in<br /> ordinary insurance.<br /> <br /> The form of policy which on the whole is most<br /> suited to authors is that known as endowment<br /> assurance. This provides capital to his family at<br /> his death, as in ordinary insurance, but it also<br /> guarantees to him a sum in cash a stated number<br /> of years hence, when, it may be expected, it will be<br /> very necessary to him. ‘This contract is simple.<br /> The assured pays to the company a yearly premium<br /> for a stated number of years, at the end of which<br /> the policy matures and his premiums cease. If in<br /> the meantime he should die, the sum assured<br /> (together with profits attaching to the policy)<br /> is paid to his estate. But should he survive to the<br /> age stated, the sum assured (with the total profits)<br /> is paid to him in cash. Endowment assurances<br /> are effected for any term of years—say ten, twenty,<br /> thirty, or forty—and, of course, the shorter the<br /> term the higher the premium percent. Twenty or<br /> thirty years is, however, a suitable term, as being<br /> sufficient time to allow the profits allotted to his<br /> policy time to accumulate at compound interest to<br /> a material sum.<br /> <br /> A man with any sum to fifty pounds per annum<br /> to set aside has very limited channels for invest-<br /> ment. In financial circles the advantages are all<br /> with the capitalists who pull the strings, and to<br /> the profits of whom the small investor cheerfully<br /> contributes from his small income. But the<br /> author cannot afford to run risks. With a good<br /> British company the security is equal to that of a<br /> State institution, and an endowment assurance<br /> therein offers the best secure investment which,<br /> so far as I am able to judge, it is possible to<br /> obtain. An instance is provided by a man of<br /> thirty who sets aside twenty pounds per annum as<br /> apremium. For this he obtains a profit-sharing<br /> endowment assurance for £600. At the age of<br /> sixty the policy matures and he will receive,<br /> with accruing bonuses according to last declara-<br /> tion, a total sum of £1,000 in cash. He will<br /> have paid in by this time a sum of £600, and he<br /> receives £1,000, besides a life insurance cover<br /> provided during the whole of the term during<br /> which the policy has been maturing. But as a<br /> fact, the policy has been even more advantageous<br /> to him, as the Government allows a rebate of<br /> income tax, alone among all investments, upon<br /> life insurance premiums. Reckoning the tax at<br /> one shilling in the pound, his £20 premium is<br /> reduced to £19, and the amount therefore he<br /> actually disburses in thirty years is £570 instead<br /> <br /> 217<br /> <br /> of £600. The return of £1,000 is close upon<br /> 4 per cent. compound interest, with the addition<br /> of the cover provided of the sum assured, with<br /> profits to date, should he die in the interim.<br /> <br /> Compound interest is a result not achieved<br /> without some element of compulsion. There are<br /> few men with sufficient strength of mind to<br /> compel themselves faithfully to set aside each year<br /> in a bank such asum as £20 or £50, and allow it to<br /> accumulate at compound interest. Besides, such<br /> savings provide no life insurance in the event of<br /> early death. The form of a policy provides what<br /> may be termed obligatory thrift, inasmuch al-<br /> though, after a few years, there is a surrender<br /> value to the policy should it be discontinued, by<br /> far the best bargain is to be made by following<br /> out the policy to maturity.<br /> <br /> An author with a sense of his responsibilities<br /> must see in endowment assurance a matter of<br /> some importance. It provides for his family in<br /> the event of his death or for his own future in his<br /> age. But he is ill-advised to embark upon any<br /> scheme without some study and inquiry. Gener-<br /> ally, it may be said that a good British office of<br /> established reputation offers the best investment,<br /> but the results in some companies are decidedly<br /> better than in others, and care in selection will be<br /> amply repaid.<br /> <br /> I have shown above the result of an endowment<br /> payable at sixty with a premium of £20. The<br /> following table shows more completely the results<br /> of an endowment payable at fifty with a yearly<br /> premium of £50.<br /> <br /> Cox’s TABLE SHOWING THE WORKING OF AN ENDOW-<br /> MENT ASSURANCE. AGE AT ENTRY, 30. AMOUNT<br /> oF Poxicy, £1,000.<br /> <br /> Plan of policy : Twenty-year endowment assurance, viz.,<br /> payable at age 50 or previous death.<br /> <br /> £ s. da.<br /> <br /> Annual premium for twenty years ... 50 8 4<br /> Less income tax at ls, in the £ 210 4<br /> . ninteainamneonnae poet<br /> <br /> Net cost ... £47 18 0<br /> <br /> WORKING OF POLICY.<br /> <br /> C. At death of insured before age 50.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> | | In return for net |<br /> <br /> At end of year. | The company | premiums paid | Return for cost.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> | will pay— ORE<br /> | _ —<br /> 3 | £1,045 £143 | £902<br /> 5 1,095 239 | 856<br /> io im ae<br /> 15 1,313 718 595<br /> 19 1,378 910 463<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 218<br /> <br /> B. Inevent of surrender of policy before age 50 the company<br /> will grant—<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> )<br /> In return for<br /> premiums paid<br /> <br /> Or cash sur-<br /> <br /> lA paid-wp policy render value<br /> <br /> At end of year. She.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> | of— of—<br /> 3 | 8195 ( Ane eka<br /> 5 tb ee 139 | 229<br /> 9 | «on oo we fe<br /> 15 1,063 [ce 510 718<br /> 19 1,323 | ons 677 | 910<br /> <br /> death. |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ‘A. On survival to age 50.<br /> <br /> The company will pay (including bonuses) £1,438<br /> In return for total premiums paid of... 958<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Return over cost ee bo £480<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The subject of modern insurance is one of some<br /> complexity, but the cardinal facts are straight-<br /> forward. There are other forms of endowment<br /> assurance, but the simple with-profit policy is<br /> found to be the most profitable to the assured.<br /> It provides life insurance, and, what is very<br /> material, the largest possible sum in cash when his<br /> policy matures. For the rest, if there is any<br /> point which, to an author interested in the subject,<br /> is not sufficiently clear, the writer of this article<br /> is at his service.<br /> <br /> The above figures are those of a first-class<br /> representative British office.<br /> <br /> Se<br /> <br /> THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT.<br /> <br /> — t-—~— 9<br /> <br /> M* SCRUTTON has got tired of waiting, and<br /> no wonder. We welcome heartily the 4th<br /> Edition of his able work on Copyright.<br /> <br /> It has been needed for some time.<br /> <br /> Mr. Scrutton’s sound and careful deductions, the<br /> result of exhaustive and diligent labour, come as<br /> a “boon and a blessing” to those who have studied<br /> the intricacies and difficulties that surround all the<br /> questions of Copyright. °<br /> <br /> No writer has presented the subject so clearly<br /> and distinctly, has gone so thoroughly to the heart<br /> of the question, and swept away all those side<br /> issues that might tend to obscure any given point.<br /> The work is so ably written that it would be<br /> possible for a layman, after perusal of its pages,<br /> to deceive himself with the idea that he was an<br /> authority on the subject.<br /> <br /> The chapters dealing with Literary Copyright<br /> treat this division of statute and case law from<br /> every aspect, and bring forward the very latest<br /> decisions. The chapters dealing with Artistic Copy-<br /> right are perhaps not quite so full, ‘There are one<br /> or two points on which we should have been pleased<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> if Mr. Scrutton had turned his discriminating<br /> powers with more freedom. Take as an example<br /> the difficult question of Artistic Copyright and<br /> Book I]lustration. :<br /> <br /> With regard to Canadian Copyright (an exceed-<br /> ingly involved and difficult matter) the author has<br /> not brought together the very latest information.<br /> He makes no reference to the last Act of the<br /> Canadian Legislature, or the refusal of the Canadian<br /> Government to collect the royalties under the<br /> Foreign Reprints Act. Although the author has<br /> not dealt in any of the former editions with the<br /> subject of Copyright in foreign countries, it is a<br /> pity that he did not take it up now.<br /> <br /> As Copyright under the Berne Convention is<br /> almost universal it is of great importance to all<br /> those who hold literary property to have an epito-<br /> mised statement of the limits that surround their<br /> property in those countries included in the Con-<br /> vention. Mr. Copinger, in his able book, under-<br /> took this work, but since the last edition was pro-<br /> duced there has been considerable alteration in the<br /> laws of the different countries.<br /> <br /> With Mr. Macgillwray’s book and with Mr.<br /> Scrutton’s 4th edition, and we hope—at no distant<br /> date—a supplement containing the further informa-<br /> tion, Copyright has been lucky in its exponents.<br /> <br /> Whilst touching on these minor faults of omission,<br /> we must pay Mr. Scrutton every compliment and<br /> thank him for his labours, which are so amply<br /> justified by the result.<br /> <br /> ———————E<br /> <br /> HOMES FOR WANDERING MSS.<br /> <br /> +<br /> <br /> HE second volume of the “ Writers’ Year<br /> Book” is before us. The price is 1s. 6d.<br /> net. Itis published from Granville House,<br /> <br /> Arundel Street, Strand, W.C.<br /> <br /> The great point in a book of this kind must<br /> necessarily be its accuracy, and on looking care-<br /> fully through the lists compiled they seem to be<br /> satisfactory, though, no doubt, in the publication<br /> of all lists there are bound to be a few mistakes.<br /> The book is for the assistance of those authors<br /> who desire to find the proper channel for their<br /> talented productions. It puts before them the<br /> names and addresses of five hundred papers that<br /> receive MSS., photographs or drawings, and at<br /> the same time explains as far as possible the<br /> conditions on which these commodities are accepted.<br /> <br /> The book opens with three articles: “‘ How to<br /> Write for the Press,” “Journalism for English<br /> and American Women,” and “ Writing for the<br /> Magazines.”<br /> <br /> It is not our desire to criticise these articles, but<br /> it is our opinion that in a book of this kind they<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> USO PRRSOS IES<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> are out of place. It should confine itself entirely<br /> to one object, and make its sole aim to be as<br /> practical and as perfect as possible on the points<br /> it undertakes to elucidate. Articles on the ‘‘ How<br /> To” in literature are in evidence in many other<br /> works. It is not necessary to multiply them.<br /> <br /> Ifthe editor had been ambitious to deal with<br /> the legal and technical questions surrounding the<br /> marketing of MSS., drawings and photographs, a<br /> book at least three times the size of the present handy<br /> volume would hardly have exhausted his ambition.<br /> <br /> The book, however, cannot fail to be of use to<br /> those literary and journalistic tyros who are<br /> anxious either to widen their market or increase<br /> their income.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> a se<br /> <br /> THE IRRITABILITY OF AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> es<br /> HE irritability of authors is proverbial.<br /> What is proverbial may be, in a rough<br /> way, assumed to be not very far from the<br /> truth. Why the author should be a_ peculiarly<br /> touchy and snappish animal does not so clearly<br /> appear. The phenomenon can hardly be ex-<br /> plained in the latest fashionable way of<br /> accounting for everything by the single word<br /> ‘heredity.’ Perhaps, however, in the secrets of<br /> Nature’s workshop there is some trick of warp and<br /> woof that, of necessity, occasions the peculiar com-<br /> plexion which constitutes irritability of nature to<br /> be a part of the composition of an author’s brain,<br /> just as it has been said that all nervous people are<br /> monarchists, and all melancholy people democrats ;<br /> which, after all, may not he true. Or, a more<br /> likely explanation may be sought in the fact that<br /> the exercise of an author’s profession, one which<br /> induces a nervous sensibility of a peculiarly com-<br /> plicated kind, possibly tends to nervous tension<br /> that causes the fibre of an author’s brain to jar<br /> under circumstances incapable of producing, in<br /> more slackly-strung natures, any vibration at all.<br /> Be all that as it may, this is indisputable, that<br /> only too many people, who have had a good deal<br /> to do with authors, are more than ready to bear<br /> witness to their being a very captious and touchy<br /> species, anything but delightful to their personal<br /> friends, and often trying in the extreme to the<br /> patience of those whom they ought to treat with<br /> forbearance and regard.<br /> <br /> All this is sufficiently unfortunate. Yet, perhaps,<br /> after all, no one is so bitterly punished by the<br /> author’s proclivity to snappishness as the author<br /> himself. For the only happy aspect of this sad<br /> failing of literary people is, that the culprit is not<br /> ignorant of his own excessive irritability.<br /> <br /> Only, seeing that literary people are fully con-<br /> scious of this weakness, why are not penmen of all<br /> <br /> 219<br /> <br /> classes constantly on their guard against it ? Why<br /> do they not frequently ask themselves, in all serious-<br /> ness, ‘‘ What is the use of losing one’s temper ? ”<br /> It might have been supposed that a man, when<br /> meditating turning author, would recollect amongst<br /> other things, that one of the results of his enter-<br /> prise, whether successful or unsuccessful, must<br /> inevitably be a vast increase of whatever share of<br /> natural irritability Nature had put into him. But<br /> it is a well-known fact that men mostly become<br /> authors either without knowing it, or, at the best,<br /> without thinking at all definitely about what they<br /> are doing. And one of the consequences of this<br /> is, that when the hardships and difficulties of<br /> literary enterprises begin to appear, authors are<br /> enormously astonished, and not a little out of<br /> humour and out of heart. How people can<br /> suppose that any human enterprise can exist not<br /> beset with difficulties and disillusions is really<br /> inexplicable. Yet it is certain that no one thinks<br /> much beforehand of difficulties in authorship. The<br /> soldier and the sailor must run risks and encounter<br /> trials. The lives of solicitors, of medical men, of<br /> merchants, all imply many restrictions and much<br /> self-denial. Every calling in life has its draw-<br /> backs and its dangers. No one is ignorant of the<br /> fact. In making choice of a profession men reflect<br /> upon its hardships, and prepare themselves to face<br /> them. Seldom, however, in the case of literature.<br /> <br /> Qui nihil scripsit nullum putat esse laborem.<br /> <br /> Almost every man is persuaded that he could<br /> write a book well enough if he chose to take the<br /> trouble. After he has begun writing the difficulties<br /> appear, and then ensue the phenomena of the<br /> author’s peculiar irritability and proclivity to lose<br /> his temper.<br /> <br /> The first person with whom the author gets<br /> into a rage is himself. Little harm enough in<br /> that, it will be said—a just retribution! Only<br /> it is no jesting matter to the man conscious of<br /> possessing all the abilities and powers requisite for<br /> success—saviny the knack of keeping his temper.<br /> The story will not shape itself. The characters<br /> will not come out well defined. The scenario is a<br /> tangle. The pen will not obey the behests of<br /> imagination. So the author gets into a passion<br /> with them all. He smashes the pen, curses his<br /> dramatis persone, and pitches his manuscripts into<br /> the fire. And then, what is his work the for-<br /> warder for that ? No difficulties are surmounted by<br /> getting into a rage with them, but by taking time<br /> and pains patiently to effect what has to be done.<br /> <br /> The persons with whom the author next gets<br /> into a passion are invariably editors and publishers.<br /> After many holocausts, some manuscript is at last<br /> completed, often more by good luck than by good<br /> management. The editor or publisher, to whom<br /> <br /> <br /> 220<br /> <br /> it is offered, then refuses it. In nineteen cases<br /> out of twenty the author is absolutely ignorant<br /> why it is refused—whether because it has been<br /> sent to the wrong place, or because it is really<br /> worthless, or because the publisher has just<br /> accepted a similar work, or for which of fifty<br /> other reasons. That does not prevent his form-<br /> ing hypotheses. “There is a clique.’ © Ebe<br /> publisher’s readers never look at manuscripts,<br /> unless they are written by their own friends.”<br /> “Nothing but bosh is ever accepted now.” And<br /> so forth. The author himself scarcely believes all<br /> these things that he says. But—suppose they<br /> were true. Then they would be facts about<br /> literary work with which he must reckon ; just as<br /> the market gardener must reckon with the fact<br /> that a single frost may ruin his peach crop for the<br /> year. Getting into rages will not alter the case.<br /> Why not think of the difficulties with which men<br /> contend in other professions? Why not have<br /> patience, learn wisdom from failure, and try to offer<br /> saleable work in the markets where it is wanted ?<br /> Later on the author is in a rage with the critics.<br /> Why ? Because they tell him disagreeable truths ?<br /> If they do, he is a lucky man. And seeing how<br /> <br /> difficult a thing it is, under any circumstances, to<br /> accept adverse criticism wisely, of what use is it<br /> for the author to complicate matters by losing his<br /> <br /> temper ?<br /> <br /> But the critics tell him nothing. They are<br /> asses! Be it so. And is not a man himself an<br /> ass who loses his temper with asses ?<br /> <br /> Still there remains the public—who have no<br /> discrimination ; and “ that great beast the general<br /> reader ’—whose Philistine tastes are ruining<br /> literature; and “the young person” whose<br /> mamma is the occasion of mawkishness marching<br /> triumphant through the land ; and the “ idiots ”—<br /> who persist in preferring some other man’s books ;<br /> and the general “‘ cussedness ” of everything. With<br /> all these the author is unceasingly getting into<br /> passions of different kinds.<br /> <br /> And of what use to him are his rages? Do<br /> they alter anything ?<br /> <br /> He says that he cannot help getting into a rage.<br /> But he ought to learn to be able to help it. And<br /> this is certain, if he would learn, he would have<br /> an enormous advantage over the other authors<br /> <br /> who will not.<br /> —_—____—_e—&gt;_+___—_—__-<br /> <br /> SHAKESPEARE AND LONDON.<br /> <br /> ——— +<br /> <br /> HE regret for the loss of Sir Walter Besant,<br /> which was touchingly expressed by Lord<br /> Rosebery at the last meeting of the London<br /> <br /> Topographical Society, might well apply to a recent<br /> project for the celebration of Shakespearein London.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> This movement has no fortuitous origin, it is<br /> the unfolding of a silent growth, and there has<br /> been no writer of equal influence and power so well<br /> fitted to be its exponent as Sir Walter Besant.<br /> His knowledge of history and of historical criti-<br /> cism would have enabled him to perceive that the<br /> recognition, in a special sense, of Shakespeare in<br /> London is the inevitable result of a process of<br /> development. A few words of explanation on this<br /> point will be, I think, the best means by which to<br /> recommend the matter to the attention of the<br /> Soviety of Authors and the readers of this<br /> journal.<br /> <br /> That Shakespeare spent his working life as poet<br /> and dramatist in London, and that his plays were<br /> published to the world in London theatres and<br /> printed at a London press are facts which have not<br /> penetrated the public cognisance. Why is this ?<br /> <br /> After the death of Shakespeare his vogue as a<br /> dramatist in London increased rather than dimi-<br /> nished under James and Charles; we can trace<br /> in the records of the Restoration period that the<br /> influence of Shakespeare was competing vigorously<br /> with new modes and a different dramatic con-<br /> vention; in the literary age of Queen Anne,<br /> Shakespeare was promoted from the theatre to his<br /> status as a literary classic, and his first biographer,<br /> Rowe, turned the attention of readers from the<br /> playhouse to the birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon.<br /> Ina later generation we find Dr. Johnson, who<br /> might almost be considered an embodiment and<br /> living-type of London, continuing the editorial<br /> labours of Pope and Theobald without a thought<br /> for the London associations of the plays in their<br /> origin and theatrical history. This example was<br /> improved upon by his great theatrical con-<br /> temporary, Garrick, who, inheriting the traditions<br /> of Davenant and Betterton, in a direct line from<br /> the time of Shakespeare himself, showed his<br /> unconsciousness of ‘history by becoming the most<br /> active promoter of that celebration at Stratford-<br /> on-Avon which served only too effectually to<br /> divert the minds of the dramatic world away from<br /> London, and ultimately, during the last century,<br /> to establish the Birth-place as the Mecca of the<br /> vast public of Shakespeare’s admirers. The<br /> recoil from this position has been slow and sure :<br /> its stages may be marked by a succession of<br /> literary investigators, from Malone at the beginning<br /> of the nineteenth century until the present time.<br /> The History of the Stage, which we owe to him; the<br /> investigations of Francis Douce ; the History of<br /> Shakespeare, and his Times by Drake ; the labours<br /> of John Payne Collier and the publications of the<br /> Shakespeare Society ; the works of Wright and of<br /> Halliwell ; the more popular expositions of Charles<br /> Knight and Walter Thornbury; the work and the<br /> influence of F. J. Furnival and the publications of<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the New Shakspere Society ; the History of the<br /> Stage by F. G. Fleay; the recent biography by<br /> Sidney Lee; and, perhaps I may add, my own con-<br /> tributions to the snbject. These may serve to outline<br /> a progressive study of conditions and environment,<br /> by which Shakespeare has become visualised as a<br /> working playwright, in a London not too remote<br /> for realisation from historical evidence.<br /> <br /> With this brief introduction the prospectus of<br /> the London Shakespeare League may be read with<br /> a due perception of its significance. The first five<br /> paragraphs are as follows :—<br /> <br /> For long years past there has been an enthusiastic<br /> feeling among many Englishmen that the 23rd of April,<br /> the day of England’s Patron Saint, should be revived as<br /> an annual Festival in honour of the ever-living memory<br /> of England’s greatest son and noblest pride—William<br /> Shakespeare. “Certainly it was St. George for merry<br /> England,” wrote Dr. George Macdonald in 1864, “ when<br /> Shakespeare was born. But had St. George been the best<br /> saint in the calendar—which we have little enough ground<br /> for supposing he was—it would better suit our subject to<br /> say that the Highest was thinking of His England when He<br /> sent Shakespeare into it, to be a strength, a wonder, and a<br /> gladness to the nations of His earth.’’ The 23rd of April<br /> was the death-day, and, traditionally, also the birthday of<br /> the poet.<br /> <br /> At the birthplace an annual festival is held, and the<br /> “Shakespeare Week” is worthily celebrated ; but few can<br /> avail themselves of the celebration there, and many<br /> Londoners haye expressed the hope that an organised effort<br /> might be made, duly to observe in London by various<br /> festivals the greatest day in our calendar, so that the<br /> example of the capital might eventually be followed by the<br /> Empire generally, and “‘ Shakespeare Day’ become anational<br /> and Imperial celebration, helping to re-vivify the sentiments<br /> associated with the day in bygone times.<br /> <br /> The movement which has culminated in the formation of<br /> “The London Shakespeare League” took shape during<br /> “Shakespeare Week’ last year, and, as the outcome of<br /> careful consideration, the League places in the fore-front<br /> of its aims an annual celebration to be held in London ;<br /> but the celebration is to be merely one manifestation of the<br /> work it proposes to carry through for advancing the true<br /> knowledge and appreciation of the poet’s works. It is<br /> hoped in course of time to secure a permanent habitation<br /> for the League available for its many purposes.<br /> <br /> The accompanying programme is a first attempt at a<br /> London celebration, and indicates the manner in which the<br /> various learned and dramatic societies may rally round the<br /> League and observe the day.<br /> <br /> An even more effective celebration will, it is hoped, result<br /> if the managers of the London theatres, and ultimately<br /> theatrical managers throughout the Empire, may be pre-<br /> vailed upon to regard as their duty the performance of<br /> Shakespearian plays on or about the 23rd of April. Simi-<br /> larly, organisers of concerts may be induced to devote<br /> the day to Shakespearian music. The League commends its<br /> aims to the attention of Shakespeare societies and reading<br /> unions,*<br /> <br /> When this notice appears in 7e Author the<br /> celebration will have been held, and whether<br /> success or failure attends this first attempt, I<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * The Annual Subseription to the League is, at present,<br /> 5/-. Application for Membership should be made to the<br /> Hon. Secretary, Dr. W. Martin, 2, Garden Court, Temple.<br /> <br /> 221<br /> <br /> venture to think the objects of the London Shake-<br /> speare League are worthy of the active support of<br /> all literary craftsmen. Next year I hope the<br /> Society of Authors and the Authors’ Club. will<br /> associate themselves with the London Shakespeare<br /> Commemoration. The leadership of Sir Walter<br /> Besant need not be absent if his patriotism, his<br /> devotion, his love for London, his reverential<br /> attachment to the memory of Shakespeare, his<br /> desire to assist any movement having for its object<br /> and effect the awakening of the public mind to the<br /> treasures of its intellectual heritage, if his example,<br /> in a word, yet lives in the memory of his<br /> associates and contemporaries to inspire a resolute<br /> belief in the power of an idea.<br /> <br /> T. FarrmMan OrDISH.<br /> <br /> &gt; +<br /> THE WORLD BEYOND!<br /> E<br /> <br /> HO over that gulf a bridge can throw,<br /> Which fearfully yawns between<br /> The world of Sense that we think we know<br /> And the other that is unseen ?<br /> Are there some nerve-cells in the brain,<br /> Seemingly fashioned all in vain,<br /> Where the sole path may lie ?<br /> A lesion slight in the matter grey!<br /> Those cells arranged in another way,<br /> And solved is the mystery !<br /> <br /> Il.<br /> <br /> Then—only then, will a flash of light<br /> Spring forth from the brain to span,<br /> Like a bridge of glory, that realm of night,<br /> Which shrouds ‘‘ the beyond ” from man !<br /> Yes, then the real world shall we see<br /> With eyes unsealed, and ‘iis dream shall flee,<br /> And we shall know at last<br /> That the things of Sense are but shadows all,<br /> Veiling the Spirit-land like a pall—<br /> But, we should stand aghast !<br /> <br /> III.<br /> Yea, happy for us that few will dare<br /> To span for us that profound,<br /> For nameless terrors may wait us there,<br /> Where horrors unguessed abound !<br /> Satyrs and Fauns of ancient Rome<br /> In that pale realm may have their home,<br /> And things never named by man !<br /> In opened eyes would a wonder strange<br /> Amoment dawn ! then to dread would change—<br /> We should see the Great God Pan !<br /> F. B. Doveton.<br /> Norre.—Suggested by Mr. Machen’s “The Great God<br /> Pan,”<br /> <br /> \<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 2:22,<br /> <br /> SOME NOTES ON METHODS OF REJEC-<br /> TION AND REVIEW.<br /> <br /> i<br /> <br /> WO years ago I sent an article to a well-<br /> known monthly magazine. It was returned,<br /> with an unusual variant of the customary<br /> <br /> enclosing letter. I was told that the MS. was in-<br /> teresting, but that the editor was already supplied<br /> with material enough to last for six months. At the<br /> end of six months I again submitted the MS. Again<br /> it was praised, but 1 was informed that for several<br /> months to come there would be no vacancy for<br /> anything. I then dealt with the MS. in other<br /> ways, and at the end of a year from the date of the<br /> second rejection I submitted another article to the<br /> same periodical. On this occasion a similar but<br /> intenser form of reply was adopted. ‘ With sin-<br /> cere regret the Editor returns the enclosed, not<br /> because he fails to appreciate its interest and value,<br /> but because, for a few months at any rate, he can<br /> accept nothing whatever.”<br /> <br /> Naturally, it is not my intention to wait until<br /> this river goes by. But the system of laudatory<br /> indefinite postponement is not frank. No writer<br /> ought to complain of rejection after submitting a<br /> MS. to an editor who considers it, for an editor, if<br /> not always a good literary judge, is presumably<br /> the best authority as to the requirements of his<br /> periodical. If, however, an editor has a staff upon<br /> whom he exclusively relies, he should state plainly<br /> that he does not want outside help. I have no<br /> reason to complain of the staff system, since for<br /> many years a gentleman who controls a certain<br /> paper of somewhat humble and restricted scope,<br /> has habitually printed and paid for everything I<br /> have sent him, thus, indeed, obliging me in honour<br /> to edit my own contributions, and prepare them<br /> with exceptional care. But in this case outside<br /> work is freely admitted when it is suitable, and I<br /> suppose that in a world of competition the open<br /> door is the best policy. An editor who shuts the<br /> gates of consideration on mankind may discover<br /> that his readers, as well as his contributors, are a<br /> small group, and even the potent advertiser may in<br /> time adopt the principle of laudatory indefinite<br /> postponement.<br /> <br /> It may be that it is considered ‘‘neat”’ to<br /> reject with praise under colour of surfeit, or it<br /> may be that in some cases there is an “inner<br /> circle.” But I prefer an editor who will have<br /> the courage to say—‘ Not of the slightest<br /> use,” or “ Don’t want it. Please don’t send any<br /> more.”<br /> <br /> Rejections by publishers stand on another foot-<br /> ing. It is curious, however, that nowadays if you<br /> mention poetry to them they shudder as at pesti-<br /> lence. One is prepared for reluctance. The<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> commercial objections, based on wide and calami-<br /> tous experience, are well known. But what is<br /> happening to-day is that the hint of verse causes a<br /> fit. To such a miserable depth, of the fatuous and<br /> factitious, has this art been dragged by innumerable<br /> professors, that the publishing fraternity have<br /> generalised, and assume that the human race is no<br /> longer capable either of producing or of hearing<br /> language in its higher powers. It is assumed that<br /> your product will be, at best, of the well-known<br /> machine-made variety, to which even the greatest<br /> names in the last century not infrequently de-<br /> scended, and of which people are tired. Conse-<br /> quently, though for aught the publishers know to<br /> the contrary you may speak with the tongues of<br /> men and of angels, their ears are already filled with<br /> wax. Originality is supposed to have exhausted<br /> itself in Whitmanism, a product (by the way) of<br /> morbidity and American convention, differentiated<br /> from other alleged poetry mainly by chaotic manner.<br /> In the general Dunciad are included the raw<br /> amateur, the maker of dead mosaic, and the pos-<br /> sible genius who may be trying to utter some new,<br /> important truth, and whose work, designed to<br /> transcend all conventional types in matter and<br /> form, may bear the same relation to current poetry<br /> as the Marconi system of telegraphy bears to the<br /> <br /> penny post. 7<br /> <br /> This is not a wail. The hypothetical genius, of<br /> course, confronted by such difficulties, would find<br /> a way of overcoming them. He might go to some<br /> place where there is a tub, and, mounting thereon,<br /> give forth his verse orally to the world at large,<br /> thus incidentally creating a public that no book-<br /> seller would ignore. It would save much trouble,<br /> however, and many fits, if the state of affairs I<br /> have indicated were clearly recognised.<br /> <br /> The perpetration, some years ago, of a small<br /> book of verse (amongst other printed writings) is<br /> admitted by the present writer, who hastens to<br /> disclaim for it any pretence of transcendent revela-<br /> tion. But with regard to criticism, one further<br /> complaint may be made. The general racket of<br /> criticism any man ought to be able to stand “ with-<br /> out turning a hair,” especially as the critics are so<br /> often mutually destructive. Nor do I much mind<br /> the half-educated critic, a common variety, of<br /> which a specimen (writing in a newspaper of<br /> patrician, professional and fashionable readers)<br /> took me to task on a point of grammar. I had<br /> used a word in its strict etymological sense, and in<br /> such a way as would have given no offence either<br /> toa highly-cultured reader or to an uncultured one<br /> of simple perception. My usage was denounced,<br /> <br /> in a superior way, as proof of rusticity. Happily<br /> the context was quoted, and I was content that<br /> many readers would perceive the true state of the<br /> case.<br /> <br /> In fact, I felt something of the quiet joy of<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 223<br /> <br /> an angler who has landed a big trout—a trout that<br /> complacently generalised, and gobbled everything<br /> muscoid within view.<br /> <br /> * Different were the reviewers (unfair critics, I call<br /> them) who, after “faint praise,’ observed that,<br /> despite my efforts and certain similarities, I did<br /> not at all come up to the level of ‘‘ Mr. Henley”<br /> and “ Mr. Watson.” Curiously enough, I had never<br /> up to that time read a line of either Mr. Henley or<br /> Mr. Watson, but I proceeded to look into their<br /> work, and soon found that what they burned I<br /> adored and what they adored I burned. I could no<br /> more think of imitating those gentlemen in matter<br /> or style than (I am sure) they would think of<br /> imitating me. Beyond a possible genial sense of<br /> human fellowship consistent with a determination<br /> to continue gaily on our respective paths, there<br /> could be nothing in common between us—certainly<br /> the suggested straining and rivalry was absurd.<br /> And there is no likeness in the styles. I and my<br /> distinguished contemporaries certainly do not write<br /> in the language of the critical Press, but that does<br /> not constitute a mutual resemblance. Now, my<br /> indictment of these reviewers is this, that with the<br /> fullest range of good and bad adjectives at their com-<br /> mand—they might have pelted me to their hearts’<br /> content either with flints or with flowers—they<br /> chose to mislead their readers, and my possible<br /> readers, by a foolish comparison. It was much the<br /> same as telling the author of an astronomical treatise<br /> that he was not Chaucer, and was fairly outclassed<br /> by Horace. When will critics learn their trade ?<br /> <br /> Ruo.<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> ——~+—<br /> <br /> THE ABSURDITY OF MODERN REVIEWING.<br /> <br /> Sir,—May I call attention to the inconsistency of<br /> the modern reviewer, who seems to do his level best<br /> to “boom” any book that strikes him as worthless.<br /> In a certain daily paper last week a criticism<br /> appeared of a certain book that has roused the ire<br /> of critics. It began by calling this book “ stupid,<br /> vulgar and offensive”; it ended with a recom-<br /> mendation that the volume should be thrown in<br /> the dustbin, “‘whence we can only hope that the<br /> female servants may not by any unlucky chance<br /> rescue it for unwholesome consumption at the<br /> kitchen supper table.” In the middle of this was<br /> <br /> a good half column about the book, which was<br /> freely quoted in large chunks for the whole world,<br /> “female servants” included, to read and digest !<br /> Could inconsistency and absurdity go further? If<br /> <br /> the book in question is only fit for the dustbin, is<br /> it fit to be quoted at length in a family newspaper<br /> with a large circulation ? :<br /> <br /> Other critics have spluttered in the same way, but<br /> nearly all have written columns about the book,<br /> showing their intense interest in it. Why can they<br /> not be candid and say, ‘“ This is the sort of stuff T<br /> like, and anyone who wants to be amused should<br /> read it”? instead of turning up their eyes to<br /> heaven over its iniquity, and, at the same time,<br /> advertising it for all they are worth. It is imbe-<br /> cility and it is humbug, this way of reviewing. If<br /> a book is “stupid, vulgar and offensive,” why hold<br /> it up as a lure for the public to run after; why<br /> spend hours of time and columns of print over it ?<br /> Let it die, or be honest enough to confess that it<br /> is vital and deserves to live.<br /> <br /> Mi Ee.<br /> <br /> ———&gt;—+ —_<br /> <br /> THE SOCIETY’S DINNER.<br /> A&gt; Protest.<br /> <br /> Sir,—My annual shock in the form of an official<br /> intimation of the price at which is fixed the yearly<br /> dinner of the Society of Authors has just been<br /> experienced by me. I note that the amount on<br /> this occasion is to be half a sovereign, exclusive<br /> of any more exhilarating vintage than cold water,<br /> while the scene of the function is once more to be<br /> a leading hotel.<br /> <br /> Now, Sir, this is altogether wrong ; it is entirely<br /> opposed to the manner in which such a function<br /> should be organised. Would Shakespeare (or<br /> Bacon, if you prefer it) or Dr. Johnson have<br /> contemplated with equanimity the prospect of<br /> incurring this outlay for the mere privilege of<br /> eating a meal in the company of their fellow-<br /> writers at a big restaurant ? Assuredly no. They<br /> would have had souls above the gilded splendours<br /> of the Hotel Cecil and the ten shilling menus.<br /> Who are we, pray, that we cannot be equally<br /> moderate in our requirements? What, too, is<br /> gained by disbursing this sum? Nothing, I am<br /> convinced, that is at all commensurate therewith.<br /> I speak, Sir, from experience, for I have attended<br /> several of these annual orgies (each, I grieve to<br /> say, at an increased cost). On each occasion the<br /> poor but honest author has been conspicuous by<br /> his absence ; in his place have been serried ranks<br /> of uninteresting nonentities, whose sole claim to<br /> being present is that they have been able to pay<br /> for their seats. A ten-shilling dinner is for our<br /> Pierpoint Morgans, and; the number of these<br /> enrolled in the ranks of the Society is, I take it,<br /> limited.<br /> <br /> Then again, it is not as though the dinner were<br /> a good one ; on the contrary, it is a remarkably<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 224<br /> <br /> bad one when the cost thereof is taken into con-<br /> sideration. On one memorable occasion, indeed,<br /> -the price was a guinea, while the meal served.<br /> would have been dear at eighteenpence. -It seems<br /> to me, Sir, that we are making a great“mistake in<br /> this matter. I am no advocate for the chaste<br /> simplicity of Lockhart’s or Lyons’, but I am<br /> certainly of opinion that the gorgeous saloons of<br /> a first-class hotel are not necessary for the proper<br /> application of a feast of reason—such as should<br /> mark the annual dinner of our Society.<br /> <br /> I object, too, to the practice of the Committee<br /> in inviting guests of their own selection. ‘* Who<br /> pays the piper calls the tune” is a sound com-<br /> mercial axiom. As the members of the Society<br /> meet the bill for the same they should have a<br /> voice in inviting those on whose account it is<br /> incurred. It is the more excellent way. For<br /> myself, I am so constituted that it affords me no<br /> particular joy to pay for the dinner of an individual<br /> IT do not know (or want to) from Adam. I fancy<br /> that Iam not alone in this view. For the Com-<br /> mittee to invite outside guests at all is, in my<br /> opinion, a mistake. It reduces the annual dinner<br /> of the Society of Authors to the level of that of a<br /> charitable organisation touting for money. Surely<br /> we have enough members among ourselves to<br /> secure a satisfactory attendance—in point of num-<br /> bers at any rate. Of course, if the Society were<br /> on a proper basis it would give its members an<br /> annual dinner as a bonus ; failing the realisation<br /> of this pleasant state of affairs it ought at least to<br /> organise a dinner which should not cost those<br /> attending more than five shillings at the outside.<br /> <br /> I am, yours faithfully,<br /> <br /> HoracE WYNDHAM.<br /> April, 1903.<br /> <br /> “WHETHER OR NOT.”<br /> <br /> Srr,—Surely it is disappointing that even such<br /> an authority as Prof. Skeat can only refer one to<br /> “usage,” though it be the usage of a Shakespeare.<br /> Why should not a Scotchman also plead usage when<br /> he says, “I will drown and no one shall save me” ?<br /> What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.<br /> And the people who of late years have affected<br /> to be a “trifle” sorry, a “trifle” thoughtful—a<br /> erowing band, I fear—are fast making “usage”<br /> of a noun as the modifier of an adjective. If<br /> acknowledged as usage, one has nothing to say<br /> save that there is correct usage and incorrect<br /> usage.<br /> <br /> Your other correspondent, A. Armstrong, also<br /> quoting Shakespeare, at least suggests “whether<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> or no”’ might be a curtailed idiom, “ whether ay<br /> or no.” But when I say, “ Whether I go or not,”<br /> what is suppressed is not an imaginary “ ay,” bat<br /> the repetition of the verb.<br /> <br /> I suppose it is “usage” which makes nine out of<br /> ten, if not ninety-nine out of a hundred, of modern<br /> authors write “whether or not.” Why have we<br /> arrived at that usage ? And I doubt the English<br /> school examiner could be found who would pass<br /> “whether or no.” in a boy’s exercise book without<br /> at least telling him he had better say “or not.”<br /> Why so ?<br /> <br /> hat my inquiry of 7&#039;he Author resulted in such<br /> answer (I had asked for good reason) only shows<br /> what weak legs our poor King’s English—beloved<br /> and beautiful withal—has to stand on! Our<br /> language, being so largely the spoil of other<br /> languages, is not securely founded in its own con-<br /> struction. All foreigners, at least every Frenchman<br /> and German learning English, know that. They<br /> have been well grounded in their grammar, and<br /> when they come to acquire our tongue, behold they<br /> find ‘usage ”—too often usage minus reason.<br /> <br /> Sorrowfully,<br /> Kine’s ENGLISH.<br /> <br /> TYPEWRITING.<br /> <br /> Sir,—If any of your readers want to know of a<br /> really good typewriter I shall be most happy to<br /> recommend one: she is a lady, very highly educated,<br /> with literary experience, and is thoroughly to be<br /> trusted with valuable MSS.<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully,<br /> OuIveE KATHARINE Parr.<br /> <br /> WANTED A REFERENCE.<br /> <br /> Srr,—In reply to Mr. J. M. Lely, the passage<br /> which he quotes—<br /> <br /> “ Qui cessat esse melior cessat esse bonus,”<br /> <br /> was stated in the Daily Telegraph of Thursday,<br /> May 29th, 1902 (p. 9, c. 1), to be the motto<br /> written by Oliver Cromwell in his pocket Bible,<br /> in the possession of the Earl of Chichester.<br /> <br /> I, too, have endeavoured to ascertain the source<br /> of this sentence, but, so far, unsuccessfully, and,<br /> therefore, incline to the belief that it was Cromwell’s<br /> own composition.<br /> <br /> Hupert Hass.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/483/1903-05-01-The-Author-13-8.pdf	publications, The Author
484	https://historysoa.com/items/show/484	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 09 (June 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+09+%28June+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 09 (June 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>	1903-06-01-The-Author-13-9					225–252																		<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=1903-06-01">1903-06-01</a>							9			19030601	Che #uthor.<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 /> JUNE Ist, 1903.<br /> <br /> Vou. XIII.—No. 9.<br /> <br /> [Prick SrxpPENnog.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> ———_—__—_+—~@—<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —-~&lt;&gt; +<br /> <br /> OR the opinions_expressed in papers that are<br /> K signed or initialled the authors alone are<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 /> THE 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 /> THE List of Members of the Society of Authors,<br /> published 1902, can be obtained at the offices of<br /> the Society, at the price of 6d. net.<br /> <br /> It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> only.<br /> <br /> —-—&gt;+—<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 /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> Coagole 25 Fees. £1000 0 6<br /> POCH) LOANS obec. 500 0 0<br /> Victorian Government 3 ‘ Consoli-<br /> <br /> dated Inscribed Stock ...............<br /> We lon<br /> <br /> 291 19 Tt<br /> 201 9 3s<br /> <br /> otal o1,995 9 2<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> 1908.<br /> Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6<br /> »» Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 06<br /> Jan. 4, Anonymous 0) 5. 6<br /> - Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0<br /> “ Russell, G. H. ; Ll 0<br /> Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0.5 06<br /> », Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5. 0<br /> Jan..19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 35.0<br /> Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 1 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0<br /> Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : - 0 10 0<br /> Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5b 0<br /> Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . ; 0 5 0<br /> Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0° 5 0<br /> » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0° 5 0<br /> Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 05 0<br /> Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1° 0 6<br /> Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6<br /> Apl.10, Bird, ©. PB. . : A - 0 10.6<br /> Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery. 0 5 0<br /> May Lees, R. J... : ; 1 0<br /> : Wright, J. Fondi . ; ~ 905 6<br /> Donations.<br /> <br /> Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss E. : , 0 10 6<br /> » Middlemass, Miss Jean . ~ 010 0<br /> <br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.<br /> The Lord . D0 0<br /> » Gribble, Francis. : . 010 0<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . . 010 6<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 11 0<br /> » Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5.0<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6<br /> <br /> <br /> 226<br /> <br /> Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French . - 0) 5) 0<br /> Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt : . 0 16 0<br /> Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . : » 0-10 6<br /> Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 210<br /> Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. . : . 010 6<br /> , Ord, Hubert H. . ‘ de)<br /> Teb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor : . 010 0<br /> » Carlile, Rev. J. C.. : . 010 0<br /> Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. . : : a2 0-0<br /> Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs. . : . 010 0<br /> Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 2 0 10° 0<br /> Mar. 16, Hallward,N. LL. . : ll 0<br /> Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . : - 0 8.9<br /> » Mathieson, Miss Annie . . 010 0<br /> <br /> » Browne, T. A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-<br /> wood”) . j : : 12 0<br /> Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry. 110.0. 0<br /> Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H. - 2070<br /> Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore : 0 2) 0<br /> May King, Paul H. : : ~ 010-90<br /> : Wynne, Charles Whitworth .10 0 90<br /> » 21, Orred J. Randal . : pedo E70<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 Rev. H.<br /> <br /> Guthrie, Anstey.<br /> <br /> Robertson, C. B.<br /> <br /> Dowsett, C. F.<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 /> Se<br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> Tur amount standing to the credit<br /> <br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £336 4 9<br /> May 22, Orred J. Randal............... Lied<br /> —____—&lt;&gt;—_e____\_<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> ee<br /> <br /> HE Committee of the Society of Authors met<br /> on May 6th. Mr. Douglas Freshfield took<br /> the chair.<br /> <br /> ‘Twelve members and associates were elected to<br /> the Society. The list is printed below.<br /> <br /> The case of Parry v. Gollancz, with all the papers<br /> and letters, was laid before the Committee and<br /> carefully considered. The Committee decided to<br /> issue a summary of the case with comments in<br /> The Author, (See article, page 232.)<br /> <br /> The agent of the Society in New York has been<br /> forced to give up the work of the Society owing to<br /> the fact that he has taken up the work of a<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> literary agent. As he candidly expresses it, “ he<br /> found it difficult to have to write peremptory<br /> letters of demand to editors and publishers, when<br /> at the same time he might be offering them MSS.<br /> for acceptance.” Accordingly, the Society has<br /> been obliged to appoint another agent, and the<br /> Committee have nominated Mr. Morris P. Ferris,<br /> counsellor-at-law.<br /> <br /> ‘There were two or three cases before the Com-<br /> mittee. One dealt with the loss of a MS. by a<br /> publisher. It was decided to take the matter up<br /> on behalf of the member, as from the circumstances<br /> connected with the case, it appeared that the<br /> publisher had shown considerable negligence.<br /> <br /> Another case, that of alleged breach of agree-<br /> ment by a publisher, the Committee found they<br /> were unable to support, as the solicitors of the<br /> Society did not consider that there was cause for<br /> legal action.<br /> <br /> It was decided not to republish the list of<br /> members during the current year, but in the<br /> autumn, to publish a supplementary list of those<br /> members who had been elected since the last<br /> publication.<br /> <br /> oo<br /> <br /> Cases,<br /> <br /> Tue last statement of the cases taken up by<br /> the Society was printed in the March number of<br /> The Author. Since that date forty-three have been<br /> before the Secretary. They may be subdivided as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> Ten for the return of MSS. ; three for accounts ;<br /> five for accounts and money ; eighteen for money<br /> due ; one dealing with the false advertisement of a<br /> book; one with the infringement of copyright ;<br /> five embracing disputes which cannot be classed<br /> under any particular heading.<br /> <br /> The Secretary is pleased to report that all the<br /> cases chronicled in the March number of The<br /> Author have either been settled or have been placed<br /> in the hands of the solicitors.. All the cases from<br /> that date up to the beginning of April have also<br /> been settled or placed in the solicitors’ hands, with<br /> the exception of one case, where the author—<br /> unfortunately living abroad—had a claim against a<br /> magazine for non-payment.<br /> <br /> The record of the ten claims for the return of<br /> MSS. is as follows :—<br /> <br /> One case has been placed in the hands of the<br /> Society’s solicitors, to enable the member to claim<br /> damages for loss of a MS. by a publisher, as it<br /> appeared clear to the Committee that the publisher<br /> had been negligent. In two cases there has been<br /> <br /> no evidence that the MSS. had been received at<br /> <br /> the office of the paper. In the remaining seven<br /> <br /> the MSS. have been returned at the request of the<br /> <br /> Secretary.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Set<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> In the three demands for accounts the Secretary<br /> has been able to obtain the requisite statement,<br /> with the exception of one case against a well-known<br /> firm that is always dilatory in meeting the demands<br /> of the author or the Secretary of the Society for<br /> details of this kind. No doubt a little mild<br /> persuasion will bring about the requisite result,<br /> <br /> There has been an increase with regard to demand<br /> for unpaid moneys, and the result. of the Secretary’s<br /> applications may be catalogued as follows :—<br /> <br /> In the claims for accounts and money two have<br /> been partially settled—this means that part of the<br /> money due has been paid, the rest will no doubt<br /> follow. One has been completely settled, and two<br /> are still in the course of negotiation. The last are<br /> demands against an American publisher, whose<br /> name is well known on the English market, but<br /> whose methods of doing business when it comes to<br /> the settlement of accounts appear to be far from<br /> satisfactory. In six cases the money has been<br /> paid without any difficulty. In five the matters<br /> have had to go into the hands of the Society’s<br /> solicitors. Two cases are still unsettled, and in one<br /> it is impossible to enforce the Society’s claim owing<br /> to the fact that the member resides abroad.<br /> <br /> This is, on the whole, a satisfactory record,<br /> especially when it is remembered that those matters<br /> referred to the solicitors deal with magazines that<br /> are most probably either in liquidation or on the<br /> verge of Jiquidation. The case of infringement of<br /> copyright has been satisfactorily settled. A full<br /> statement of this was printed in 7he Author. The<br /> false advertisement has also been remedied, and<br /> the remaining matters—various disputes on con-<br /> tracts—are in the course of negotiation.<br /> <br /> Out of thewhole forty-three there are only thirteen<br /> which have not been closed as far as the work of<br /> the Secretary is concerned. Some of them, as<br /> mentioned above, are being continued in other<br /> hands, it is hoped with satisfactory result.<br /> <br /> NEES “ESSE<br /> <br /> May Elections.<br /> 4, Gray’s Inn Squares<br /> <br /> W.C.<br /> <br /> Scarborough.<br /> <br /> Wentworth House, Key-<br /> mer, Sussex.<br /> <br /> The Cedars, Denmark<br /> Avenue, Wimbledon,<br /> <br /> Aitken, Robert<br /> <br /> Alcock, Joseph Crosby .<br /> Arthur, Miss Mary<br /> <br /> Bedford, Mrs.<br /> <br /> SW.<br /> Dickinson, F. James 6, Claremont Terrace,<br /> Hargreaves, F.R.S.L. Claremont Park,<br /> Blackpool.<br /> <br /> Lees, Robert James<br /> <br /> . Engelbery, Ilfracombe.<br /> Macdonald, Mrs. A. E. .<br /> <br /> Gordon Road, Gordon,<br /> Sydney, N.S. Wales,<br /> Australia.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 227<br /> <br /> Merriman,<br /> B.C,<br /> Pickering, Sidney .<br /> Smith, Miss M. C,<br /> <br /> Labor A., Freetown, Sierra Leone.<br /> <br /> Stratton, Falmouth.<br /> <br /> Gretna Hall, Gretna<br /> Green,<br /> <br /> 200, Stockwell Road,<br /> Brixton, 8.W,<br /> <br /> Colonial Institute,<br /> Northumberland<br /> Avenue, W.C.<br /> <br /> Trost, Johann<br /> <br /> Wright, Edward Fondi .<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> +-—&lt;—e<br /> <br /> OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> ae<br /> <br /> | PROFESSOR RHYS DAVIDS’ “Buddhist<br /> <br /> | India” in the Stories of the Nations Series,<br /> <br /> may be out any day now. It was all passed<br /> for press some time ago, but it is being printed in<br /> America. he Professor has just finished editing<br /> the issues of the Pali Text Society for 1903 ; they<br /> form the Journal of that Society. He has also<br /> edited the second volume of “The Digha” in<br /> conjunction with Mr. E. Carpenter. These are<br /> now ready for distribution to members.<br /> <br /> The Government of India has determined to<br /> publish, through the Royal Asiatic Society, two<br /> series of historical volumes. Of these, one is on<br /> the History of India before the arrival of the<br /> English, and will be under the editorship of<br /> Professor Rhys Davids.<br /> <br /> The first volumes to be published will deal with<br /> the historical geography of ancient India, and<br /> with the historical evidence contained in the<br /> Vedas. The other series, to be called The Records<br /> Series, will embrace the period after the arrival of<br /> the English, and will consist mainly of official<br /> documents. The first volume will deal with the<br /> events connected with the Black Hole of Calcutta.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arnold White has had a trying experience :<br /> He lost, during the fire at the Hotel du Palais, at<br /> Biarritz, the MS. of the work on which he was<br /> engaged. It is a continuation of the series on<br /> Efficiency which began eighteen years ago in “The<br /> Problems of a Great City,” and ended in his last<br /> two books—* Efficiency and Empire,” and “ For<br /> Efficiency.”<br /> <br /> Mr. White, however, hopes in the course of the<br /> next twelve months to re-write and complete a<br /> work on National Efficiency, especially with regard<br /> to government and municipal administration, and<br /> its effects on the pockets, the health, and the lives<br /> of citizens of the Empire.<br /> <br /> Miss Mabel Quiller Couch, whose short stories<br /> are well known, has published two volumes of them<br /> under the titles of “The Recovery of Jane Vercoe,”<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 228<br /> <br /> and “Some Western Folk.” At present she is<br /> completing serial work already ordered, but she<br /> means in the near future to write a story for girls<br /> on somewhat new lines. Our readers may remember<br /> a very interesting volume entitled, “ The Holy Wells<br /> of Cornwall,” which Miss Mabel Quiller Couch wrote<br /> in conjunction with her sister.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Mary M. Banks is engaged in editing a<br /> MS. collection of tales of the fifteenth century for<br /> the Early English Text Society. Some two years<br /> ago Mrs. Banks edited the alliterative ‘‘ Morte<br /> Arthur,” published by Messrs. Longmans. Since<br /> then she has given lectures on modern literature,<br /> besides writing articles on literary subjects.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein have in preparation<br /> for the autumn a romance of Italy in the thirteenth<br /> century, by Emily Underdown (Norley Chester).<br /> This firm lately published “ Dante and Beatrice,”<br /> a play in blank verse suggested by episodes in the<br /> Vita Nuova, by the same author. It forms one of<br /> a series started by Miss Elsie Fogerty. “ Dante<br /> and Beatrice” is also published in a tastefully<br /> got-up edition, with a reproduction of Rossetti’s<br /> painting, “ Dante’s Dream,” as a frontispiece.<br /> <br /> Members of the Society will be interested to<br /> know that Mr. Poulteney Bigelow has been asked<br /> to address the United States Naval War College<br /> at Newport, on German Colonisation, on the 16th<br /> of June. This is the college before which Captain<br /> Mahan delivered his lectures on “‘ The Influence of<br /> Sea Power on History ”—a book which has been<br /> translated into almost every tongue, and yet<br /> which, at the time, was declined by the Harpers.<br /> <br /> Lismore, which the King is to visit next<br /> August, is the “ Innisdoyle ” of Julia M. Crottie’s<br /> “ Neighbours,” a book of Irish sketches, published<br /> by T. Fisher Unwin a year or two ago. Lismore<br /> is a quiet old town, beautifully situated on the<br /> poet Spenser’s Blackwater, and although now<br /> fallen away from its ancient importance, still<br /> possesses some features of interest in its fine old<br /> abbey and castle.<br /> <br /> Mr. Frank Rutter, the editor of To-day, has<br /> just published, through R. A. Everett &amp; Co.,<br /> a little volume of scenes and characters from<br /> eee life. ‘‘’Varsity Types” is the title<br /> of it.<br /> <br /> “Varsity Types” has a dozen illustrations by<br /> Stephen Haweis. The dedication runs thus—‘‘ To<br /> those who unconsciously have posed as models for<br /> the following sketches, this little volume is grate-<br /> fully and affectionately dedicated by the author.”<br /> Among the entertaining characters are ‘“ The<br /> Swot,” “The Trophy Maniac,” “ The Snob,” and<br /> “The Bedder,” while “‘ Ditton Corner,” “ An Art-<br /> less Dean,” and “An Academic Court-Martial,”<br /> are scenes to laugh over.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Miss Julie Sutter’s book on the Social Problems<br /> —Brirain’s Next Campaign ”—has just been<br /> issued at a shilling net (320 pp.) by R. Brimley<br /> Johnson, 4, Adam Street, Adelphi, W.C. The<br /> Daily News this winter thought it worth while to<br /> publish a series of articles from its pages, and Sir<br /> John McDougall (as chairman of the London<br /> County Council) invites ‘every Londoner, official<br /> on non-official, to make himself acquainted with<br /> this book.” Both he and Canon Scott Holland<br /> head the volume with a preface.<br /> <br /> Mr. F. Stroud’s publishers will issue almost<br /> immediately a much-enlarged edition of his Judicial<br /> Dictionary. It will be in three thick volumes of<br /> about nine hundred pages each. The work is<br /> unique in that, whilst it is a dictionary in the<br /> ordinary sense of that word, yet the pivot on which<br /> it moves is that it deals with the English of affairs<br /> as expounded by the English Judges and by<br /> Parliament.<br /> <br /> To search for verbal definitions through the<br /> many hundreds of volumes of Reports of Cases,<br /> and the Statute Book from Magna Charta down-<br /> wards, and to harmonise the authoritative exposition<br /> of words and phrases culled from these sources,<br /> must have been an enormous task, requiring much<br /> prior knowledge and the unfailing patience of years.<br /> The idea of this edition is to bring down the<br /> exposition from the earliest times to the end of the<br /> nineteenth century. Whilst we should imagine it<br /> to be indispensable to the practising lawyer, the<br /> book cannot fail to be of general interest, for inci-<br /> dentally it frequently presents striking phases of<br /> the picturesque past.<br /> <br /> Mr. Percy White has been kind enough to send<br /> us the following interesting extract from a letter<br /> written to him by a great admirer of George<br /> Meredith. The writer is himself a novelist and<br /> man of letters :—<br /> <br /> “THE Two MEREDITHS.<br /> <br /> “T am reading ‘ Evan Harrington,’ in the original edition<br /> of 1861. I find that in the final edition, published by<br /> Constable, many admirable passages have been cut out, and<br /> a good deal of broad humour and fun has been lost. An<br /> interesting little paper might be made on a comparison of<br /> the two editions—the old Meredith pruning the younger.<br /> It is remarkable how completely ‘modern’ this book of<br /> 1861 reads—a book which might have been written to-day,<br /> whilst its successful contemporaries, ‘ Framley Parsonage,’<br /> ‘The Silver Chord,’ ‘The Woman in White,’ &amp;c., are all as<br /> old-fashioned and uncouth as the crinolines, matador hats,<br /> and chenille hair nets of the early sixties.”<br /> <br /> “ Park Lane” is the title of Mr. Percy White’s<br /> new novel—needless to say a very readable one—<br /> which has been published by Messrs. Constable<br /> at 6s.<br /> <br /> Mr. G. W. Forrest, O.1.E., ex-Director of Records,<br /> Government of India, and author of “ Sepoy<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Generals,” has published through the same firm a<br /> copiously illustrated book called ‘‘ Cities of India”<br /> (10s. 6d. net). Mr. Forrest, who is one of the<br /> greatest living authorities on the ancient and<br /> modern history of India, has seen with his own<br /> eyes the cities he so admirably describes. The<br /> illustrations are excellent.<br /> <br /> ’ The Transactions of the Royal Society of Litera-<br /> <br /> ture are being edited, as indeed they have been<br /> ‘since 1894, by Perey W. Ames, LL.D., F.S.A.<br /> Besides publishing the following addresses : ‘‘ Posi-<br /> tivism in Literature,” “Supposed Source of the Vicar<br /> of Wakefield,” ‘‘ Racial and Individual Tempera-<br /> ments,” ‘‘ Superstition, Science, and Philosophy,”<br /> “Poetry and Science of Archeology,” &amp;c., &amp;c., Dr.<br /> Ames, in 1900, edited, with introduction and one<br /> lecture, “‘Chaucer Memorial Lectures.” In 1898<br /> he edited, with an historical sketch of the Princess<br /> Elizabeth and Margaret of Navarre, “The Mirror<br /> of the Sinful Soul.” Before that he edited, with<br /> an introductory address, a volume of “ Afternoon<br /> Lectures on English Literature.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Sydney Lee has brought to a close his tour<br /> in America. He has been accorded an enthusiastic<br /> reception in the Hastern and the Western States.<br /> He has given fifty-three Jectures, and has travelled<br /> by rail more than ten thousand miles. Besides<br /> delivering addresses before the Library Association<br /> at Washington and the State University of North<br /> Carolina, Mr. Lee lectured at Staten Island, New<br /> York, at the request of Mr. William Winter, in aid<br /> of the library founded by him in memory of his son,<br /> the late Mr. Arthur Winter.<br /> <br /> Mr. Lee also gave addresses on Shakespeare at<br /> Indianapolis and before the State Universities of<br /> Ohio and Indiana.<br /> <br /> Among recently published books by members of<br /> the Society is Mr. Justin McCarthy’s ‘British<br /> Political Leaders” (T. Fisher Unwin: 7s. 6d.<br /> net). Though all may not agree with his point<br /> of view, may not see eye to eye with him, yet<br /> readers can scarcely fail to find this volume attrac-<br /> tive. It is charmingly written.<br /> <br /> There is also a couple of volumes issued by Mr.<br /> John Murray, entitled, ‘‘ More letters of Charles<br /> Darwin,” being a record of his work in a series of<br /> hitherto unpublished letters, edited by Francis<br /> Darwin, Fellow of Christ’s College, and A. C.<br /> Seward, Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.<br /> (32s. net.)<br /> <br /> Then, Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, whose remarkable<br /> novel, “The Conqueror,’ we all remember, has<br /> now published, through Harpers, “A Few of<br /> Hamilton’s Letters.” Those who are interested in<br /> <br /> that famous man’s personality will find this selection<br /> from his correspondence well worth reading.<br /> <br /> 229<br /> <br /> Professor E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., etc., Direc-<br /> tor of the British Museum of Natural History,<br /> has contributed a Preface to Mr. S. Theodore<br /> Andrea Cook’s book, ‘ Spirals in Nature and Art”<br /> (John Murray). This is a study of spiral forma-<br /> tions based on the manuscripts of Leonardo da<br /> Vinci, with special reference to the architecture of<br /> the open staircase at Blois in Touraine, now for<br /> the first time shown to be from his designs. This<br /> interesting volume is 7s. 6d. net.<br /> <br /> Miss Marie Corelli recently addressed a crowded<br /> meeting of the O. P. Club in the large hall of<br /> the Criterion Restaurant. Miss Corelli spoke<br /> on “The Trust on behalf of the Nation at<br /> Stratford-on-Avon.” She protested against the<br /> destruction of any buildings in Heniey Street, par-<br /> ticularly such old and valuable ones as were seen<br /> and known by Shakespeare, and were on that<br /> account priceless to the literary and dramatic<br /> world of to-day. Especially did she plead for the<br /> quaint little half-timbered dwelling of Thomas<br /> Green, once town clerk of Stratford and cousin of<br /> Shakespeare.<br /> <br /> Miss Corelli protested against the proposed<br /> destructive alterations, and earnestly requested<br /> that a committee might be formed to inquire<br /> into the case she put forward. She considered<br /> that the culpable ignorance and carelessness of<br /> the Executive Committee of the Shakespearean<br /> Trust proved that the time had come when their<br /> national duty should be taken up by a wider,<br /> more educated and more Shakespearean body. An<br /> appeal to Parliament for the preservation of Henley<br /> Street was being sent out for signature, and there<br /> was every reason to believe that it would bereceived<br /> with favour.<br /> <br /> The clause in the Employment of Children Bill<br /> which prohibits the appearance of children under<br /> fourteen upon the stage has evoked a series of<br /> protesting letters in the Daily Telegraph from<br /> such authorities as Sir Henry Irving, Miss Ellen<br /> Terry, Miss Ellaline Terriss, Mr. George Alexander,<br /> Mr. Beerbohm Tree, Messrs. Frederick Harrison<br /> and Cyril Maude, and Mr. Arthur Collins and<br /> Mr. F. W. Wyndham. We have room for two<br /> quotations only. Miss Ellen Terry says :<br /> <br /> “T cannot remain silent when I hear of disaster threaten-<br /> ing our future actors and actresses. Sir Henry Irving and<br /> others have urged the cruelty of taking joy and pleasure<br /> from the lives of children by prohibiting their employment<br /> on the stage. I go further, and say that the effect of such<br /> a law will be to take education from them, education in the<br /> widest sense technical. I can put my finger at once on the<br /> actors and actresses who were not on the stage when<br /> children. Withall their hard work they can never acquire<br /> afterwards the perfect unconsciousness which they learn<br /> then soeasily. .. . lam anactress, but first 1 am a woman<br /> and I love children. I don’tsay that the conditions under<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 230<br /> <br /> which they work on the stage are perfect. I could point to<br /> many things which IJ should like tosee altered, particularly<br /> the practice of their being too many hours at a stretch in<br /> the theatre, as is the case when they are employed in two<br /> performances on one day. But surely it is not right to<br /> sweep away a fine training for children because it has<br /> faults ?”<br /> <br /> The second extract is from Mr. Tree’s letter :<br /> <br /> “T will leave to others the task of pointing out in detail<br /> how desirable it is for the children of poor parents to have<br /> the opportunity of learning in their early years those<br /> habits of obedience, cleanliness and orderliness which are<br /> part of the discipline of every well-regulated theatre ; also<br /> the social value to them in after life of daily mixing, while<br /> still young, with those who can teach them good manners<br /> and self-respect. The one point I am most anxious to<br /> make is this: The Bill as it stands would not only deprive<br /> the children of these benefits, but would also deprive<br /> hundreds of thousands of the public of the pleasure they<br /> derive from those theatrical performances (such as panto-<br /> mime, and the like), from which the services of children<br /> areinseparable. Moreover, any such new legislation would<br /> practically banish from our stage many of Shakespeare&#039;s<br /> most-admired plays, such as “The Midsummer Night&#039;s<br /> Dream,” “ The Tempest,” “ A Winter’s Tale,” ‘The Merry<br /> Wives of Windsor,” ‘Richard III,” “King John,” and<br /> other classical works. It is needless to point out that these<br /> remarks apply equally to grand opera and public concerts<br /> whenever the services of children form an integral part of<br /> the entertainment.”<br /> <br /> All the letters are worthy of careful considera-<br /> tion, and we refer our readers to the particular<br /> issue of the Daily Telegraph from which we have<br /> quoted, 7.¢., that of Monday, May 18th.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ———_—_—__- ~~<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> —— &gt;<br /> <br /> ANATOLE FRANCE’S novel, “ Histoire<br /> Mi e Comique,” is now published in volume<br /> form, after running through the Revue<br /> de Paris as a serial. There is nothing comic<br /> about it except the one word in the title. It is, in<br /> fact, a most gruesome story. Félicie, an actress<br /> who is considered a star, has deserted her lover of<br /> less prosperous days for a young aristocrat, Robert<br /> de Ligny. ‘The ex-lover, Chevalier, warns her of<br /> his own jealousy and begs her to return to him.<br /> She pays no attention to his words and one day,<br /> when she is coming away from a rendezvous<br /> with de Ligny, Chevalier commits suicide in her<br /> presence.<br /> From this day forth Félicie has no peace of<br /> mind. The dead man’s face seems to haunt her,<br /> and at the most unexpected times and places she<br /> fancies that she sees him.<br /> <br /> Chevalier had been an actor, and all his thea-<br /> trical friends undertake the arrangements for his<br /> funeral. The Church refuses the burial service on<br /> account of the suicide, and Félicie, who hopes that<br /> the holy water may lay the ghost of the dead man,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> joins with her comrades in insisting on the religious<br /> rites being performed. A certain Dr. Trublet, the<br /> medical adviser of the theatre to which Félicie<br /> belongs, is the philosopher whom we usually meet<br /> in Anatole France’s books. In this instance the<br /> artistes have recourse to him for a certificate<br /> proving that Chevalier was insane when he shot<br /> himself. A priest had suggested, in a wily way,<br /> that the dead man had, perhaps, not been respon-<br /> sible for his actions, and that if this could be<br /> proved the Church would not refuse to bury him.<br /> Dr. Trublet accordingly searches among his learned<br /> books, and finds various instances of temporary<br /> insanity. He delivers a long harangue on the<br /> subject of free will and determinism. His con-<br /> cluding argument is that the world is an amusing<br /> place on the whole, and that Chevalier must have<br /> been more insane than other men, since he had<br /> voluntarily resigned his place here. The certificate<br /> that he makes out is so full of technical terms that<br /> the doctor declares that it is “ too utterly devoid<br /> of any sense to contain a lie.”<br /> <br /> The funeral service is accordingly held in the<br /> church, All the artistes attend the ceremony and<br /> then proceed to the cemetery, but they are all so<br /> much occupied with their own private affairs and<br /> with ull the gossip and scandal they have to tell<br /> each other, that they only remember at intervals<br /> what has brought them all there together.<br /> Immediately after the funeral Félicie goes with<br /> her lover to luncheon at a _ restaurant, and<br /> endeavours to forget the dead man.<br /> <br /> It is of no use, though, and to the end of the<br /> story she is haunted by his reproachful eyes.<br /> There is not much plot and there is a great deal<br /> that is unpleasant in the book, but the keen<br /> observation, the delicate sarcasm, and, above all, the<br /> perfect style and language are all to be found in<br /> “ Histoire Comique” as in every work by Anatole<br /> France.<br /> <br /> In Brada’s new novel, “Retour du Flot,” we<br /> have a subject which lends itself well to the<br /> weaving of a romance. The mystery is that it<br /> has not been adopted more frequently by authors.<br /> <br /> It is the story of a woman who, after several<br /> years of happiness in her married life, loses her<br /> little girl and cannot recover from her grief. Her<br /> husband, who was also devotedly fond of the child,<br /> wearies of the gloominess of his home and the<br /> constant sadness of his wife and seeks amusement<br /> elsewhere.<br /> <br /> On discovering that he has been faithless to her<br /> his wife applies for a divorce and will hear of no:<br /> compromise.<br /> <br /> After two or three years of loneliness and misery<br /> she consents to marry a cousin who has always<br /> loved her, and who is a man of fine character. She<br /> is quite resigned to her new lot in life when, on the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 231<br /> <br /> sixth anniversary of her little girl’s death, as she<br /> is walking past her old home, she meets her first<br /> husband. He saves her from being knocked down<br /> by a vehicle as she is crossing the road. It is the<br /> first time they have met since their divorce, and<br /> they both realise, as they talk to each other once<br /> more, the fatal mistake they made in the old<br /> days.<br /> <br /> The struggle which now takes place in the<br /> woman’s heart between the love which has never<br /> died and her new duties is described with great<br /> delicacy.<br /> <br /> The loneliness and misery of the man who had<br /> formerly been everything to her appeal to her ;<br /> and when he begs her to meet him again she con-<br /> sents, Her life during the next few months is<br /> almost unbearable. The book is charming to the<br /> very end, and the dénowement seems most natural.<br /> All the characters live, and there is no seeking<br /> after effect. It is merely a simple story told in the<br /> most simple and natural way possible.<br /> <br /> During the last year the books which have been<br /> most discussed here have been those written by<br /> women. ‘This may seem rather flattering to the<br /> fortunate writers of them, but it is only fair to add<br /> that much of the discussion has been on the subject<br /> of the exaggeration of women writers, as shown in<br /> several of their recent novels.<br /> <br /> Judging by some specimens of these realistic<br /> novels that have been before the public, it seems<br /> as though “women rush in where men fear to<br /> tread.”<br /> <br /> In “La Maison du Péché” we had an example<br /> of this, and still more recently in “ La Nouvelle<br /> Espérance.” “ I,’ Inconstante,” too, is a novel that<br /> has astonished everyone, coming, as it does, from<br /> the pen of a woman.<br /> <br /> Exaggeration of this kind cannot be attributed<br /> to Madame Daniel Lesueur in the novel she has just<br /> published, “ Le Coeur Chemine.” It is a delight-<br /> fully natural story of a woman who makes the dis-<br /> covery that she is not as happy as she thought<br /> she was in her married life. Thanks to a poet<br /> whom she had known years before, and whom<br /> she meets by accident at Antwerp, she makes this<br /> discovery. She has accompanied her husband on<br /> one of his business journeys to Antwerp and<br /> Bruges, and the poet wanders through the<br /> museums and churches with her, with the result<br /> that she realises how prosaic her life is.<br /> <br /> There is no strong plot running through this<br /> book: it is just a psychological study from beginning<br /> toend. The poet makes love to the wife of the<br /> prosaic husband, and she is tempted to promise, at<br /> any rate, to be his friend and his muse. Things<br /> cannot stop at this stage, but just at a critical<br /> moment the wife discovers the nobility of character<br /> of her husband and remains faithful to him. As<br /> <br /> the years go by life is again most monotonous, and<br /> once more the poet crosses her path. She has<br /> another terrible struggle with herself, and once<br /> more comes out victorious,<br /> <br /> The minor characters in the story are all well<br /> drawn, and the author only attempts to show us<br /> the workings of the heart of all these human beings<br /> without trying to explain at all why so much that<br /> is unsatisfactory should remain so to the end. It<br /> is, as she says, a most pitiful mystery that one<br /> should be compelled to make sacrifices which, as<br /> far as we can see, do no final good, although they<br /> cost us so much.<br /> <br /> The second volume of “Souvenirs sur Madame<br /> de Maintenon” has just been published by the<br /> Count d’Haussonville and M. Hanotaux. It is one<br /> of the most interesting books that has yet appeared<br /> on this subject, as it contains the famous “ Cahiers<br /> de Mademoiselle d’Aumale.” We get a detailed<br /> account of life at the French Court under Louis XIYV.,<br /> dating from his liaison with Madame de Montespan.<br /> <br /> In the Preface, by M. Hanotaux, we are told<br /> that Madame de Maintenon wished “to remain an<br /> enigma to posterity,’ and that she only intended<br /> those papers about her life to be published which<br /> she had prepared for publication. It was on this<br /> account that Madame de Maintenon destroyed all<br /> her correspondence with Louis XIV, and with<br /> various other persons. ‘<br /> <br /> Mademoiselle d’Aumale commences her memoirs<br /> with a chapter on “Madame de Maintenon and<br /> Madame de Montespan.” Another chapter is on<br /> the ‘‘Duchesse de Bourgogne,” and there is also<br /> an account of the death of Louis XIV., which<br /> Mademoiselle d’Aumale witnessed,<br /> <br /> “Zette”’ is the title of the new story by MM.<br /> Paul et Victor Margueritte.<br /> <br /> “L’Amoureuse Rédemption,” by M. Armand<br /> Charpentier, is a strong book which appears to be<br /> having great success.<br /> <br /> Among other new novels are “ Ballons Rouges,”<br /> by Madame de Bovet, “TL Etape Silencieuse,” by<br /> Jean Saint-Yves, and “ Petite Fille d’Amiral,” by<br /> Pierre Maél.<br /> <br /> A new poet has also come to the front with a<br /> volume entitled “Jamais,” the preface of which<br /> is written by M. Sully Prudhomme. The poet is<br /> M. Charles Reculoux.<br /> <br /> Various books on religious questions have been<br /> published recently, and are no doubt due to the<br /> agitation now going on here with reference to the<br /> Congregations.<br /> <br /> One of these books is “ Le Concordat de 1801,<br /> ses Origines et son Histoire,” by Cardinal Mathieu ;<br /> and another is “La Révolution Francaise et les<br /> Congrégations,” by M. Aulard.<br /> <br /> At the last meeting of the French Academy<br /> literary prizes were awarded to Madame Bentzon<br />  <br /> <br /> 232<br /> <br /> and to MM. Adolphe: Brisson, Mandat-Grancey,<br /> Pontsevrez, Victor du Bled, de Pommerol and<br /> A. Halley.<br /> <br /> The chief theatrical event here has been the<br /> production of Maeterlinck’s new play, “ Joyzelle,”<br /> at the Gymnase Theatre. Space forbids our giving<br /> <br /> any details about this piece this month.<br /> <br /> There is an excellent article on “ The Works of<br /> Maeterlinck ” in the May number of the Interna-<br /> tional Theatre, which gives a very good idea of the<br /> chief features of this author’s books and plays.<br /> <br /> M. Mirbeau’s piece at the Francais may be pro-<br /> nounced a success, and we hear it is to be put on<br /> the English stage by Mr. Alexander as “ Business<br /> is Business.”<br /> <br /> The great theme of the play is the influence of<br /> money in modern society. It is a somewhat daring<br /> piece and the banker is a cleverly drawn type of<br /> the financier of our times.<br /> <br /> “Le Ruban Rouge” is a melodrama taken from<br /> the novel by M. Pierre Sales, whose success as a<br /> « fenilletonist” has been as marked. It has been<br /> put on at the Ambigu, and was very much<br /> appreciated by the house.<br /> <br /> In honour of M. Rostand’s reception at the<br /> Academy, Madame Sarah Bernhardt will revive<br /> “J Aiglon” at her theatre, and M. Coquelin will<br /> give ‘Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Porte Saint-<br /> <br /> Martin.<br /> Auys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> __ 9<br /> <br /> PARRY y. MORING AND GOLLANCZ.<br /> <br /> —+—~&lt;—+ —<br /> <br /> N this action, to which two members of the<br /> Society, Judge Parry and Mr. Gollancz, were<br /> parties, a point of considerable literary im-<br /> <br /> portance was decided, and several others were raised<br /> either in the pleadings or in the newspaper con-<br /> troversy which followed it.<br /> <br /> The facts on which the action was based are<br /> briefly as follows :—<br /> <br /> In 1888 Judge Parry obtained from their then<br /> owner, the Rev. 8. R. Longe, with a view to pub-<br /> lication, copies of the original letters written before<br /> marriage by Dorothy Osborne to Sir William<br /> Temple in A.D. 1652-4. To the originals them-<br /> selves he had no access. The copies were made<br /> by the daughter-in-law of the owner, and the<br /> gratuitous offer of them had been occasioned by<br /> the publication in April, 1886, in the English<br /> Illustrated Magazine, of a sketch by Judge Parry,<br /> compiled from Courtenay’s “ Life of Temple,”<br /> and entitled Dorothy Osborne, Judge Parry<br /> re-arranged the letters, many of which were<br /> undated, in what he believed to be their proper<br /> sequence, and spent some time in modernising<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> their spelling and English and in annotating<br /> them. He proceeded to publish the letters after,<br /> at the request of his publisher, making excisions’<br /> amounting in all to about 100 lines, in a guinea<br /> volume, entitled Zhe Letters of Dorothy Osborne<br /> to Sir William Temple. He registered the copy-<br /> right of his book on June 15th, 1888. In October,<br /> 1888, a second edition was issued at the price of 6s.<br /> _No mention appears to have been made at the<br /> time by the original owner, or by Judge Parry, of the<br /> copyright in the letters ; nor was any notice given<br /> of the copyright having been previously dealt with<br /> when in 1891 the original letters were, after the<br /> death of the Rev. 8. R. Longe, sold by the then<br /> owner to the British Museum, where the librarian<br /> arranged and bound them (with one exception)<br /> in the same order in which Judge Parry had<br /> printed them.<br /> <br /> In November, 1902, Judge Parry’s attention<br /> was called to the advertisement of a volume<br /> entitled Zhe Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to<br /> Sir William Temple. Newly Edited from the original<br /> MSS. by Israel Gollancz. On the 1st December<br /> Messrs. Boote, Edgar &amp; Co., Judge Parry’s<br /> solicitors, wrote to Mr. Moring, the publisher<br /> of the proposed volume, stating that their client:<br /> had copyrighted his publication, of which he was<br /> preparing another edition, and that if necessary he<br /> would take steps to prevent the publication adver-<br /> -tised by Mr. Moring. Mr. Moring answered, on the<br /> 2nd December, that the work in question had been<br /> prepared from the original letters in the British<br /> Museum, and that under these circumstances he<br /> presumed Judge Parry would take no further steps.<br /> in the matter. Messrs. Boote, Edgar &amp; Co.<br /> repliedfon the 4th December stating that they and:<br /> Judge Parry were unable to understand how Mr.<br /> Moring claimed to be entitled to publish the book<br /> advertised by him, and under what permission or<br /> sanction from the British Museum he claimed<br /> such authority.<br /> <br /> On the 8th December Mr. Gollancz wrote to<br /> Judge Parry, alleging that “the fact of the originals<br /> now being the property of the nation made the<br /> letters common property,” and offering “to con-<br /> nect the new edition with your esteemed name.”<br /> On the 9th December Judge Parry referred Mr.<br /> Gollancz to his solicitors, and on the same day<br /> Messrs. Boote, Edgar &amp; Co., wrote to both the<br /> defendants calling on them “to discontinue the<br /> issue of the edition published by you.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Moring, however—after three months delay<br /> issued the volume at 2s. 6d. in March, 1903; and<br /> on the 18th March Judge Parry filed an affidavit in<br /> the Chancery Division of the High Court in support<br /> of an action to restrain its further issue. In<br /> this he did not insist on the claim suggested<br /> in the correspondence to an exclusive copyright in<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the original letters, but based his case on the<br /> allegation that the copyright in his work already<br /> described had been infringed with regard to (1) his<br /> notes, (2) his arrangement of the letters, (3) his text,<br /> and (4) his title. The defendants replied by affi-<br /> davit alleging that “they had not made any unfair<br /> use of the plaintiff’s book,” and as to the notes,<br /> they contested in detail the evidences of any such<br /> use brought forward by the plaintiff. Mr.<br /> Gollancz for himself denied having copied the<br /> order of the letters, stating that he had followed<br /> with one or two exceptions (based on his own<br /> researches) the British Museum order. He ad-<br /> mitted that, “as rough working copy, a print was<br /> set up of the letters as appearing in the plaintiff’s<br /> book,” but he alleged that the editor had collated it<br /> with the original letters “ at least ten times” and<br /> corrected “about 2,000 errors and differences,”<br /> and restored numerous omissions extending from<br /> one line to thirty, “the result being a new<br /> and very superior text.” He entered into detailed<br /> explanation of the cases in which he was charged<br /> with having copied or retained errors in Judge<br /> Parry’s notes. He submitted that his title was<br /> no infringement of copyright. He added, “I<br /> have always bond fide believed that I was acting<br /> within my strict rights, and in a way that could<br /> not be thought unfair to other editors, or in<br /> particular to the plaintiff.”<br /> <br /> The case came on before Mr. Justice Farwell gn<br /> April 8rd, 1903, on an application for an interim<br /> injunction. The Judge ut once expressed his<br /> opinion that the defendants’ admission that they<br /> had taken Judge Parry’s book and had copied it<br /> was fatal. In reply to the argument that they<br /> might “‘have made it their own by ten or a dozen<br /> comparisons with the manuscripts,” he added, “ It<br /> seems to me the substratum is fatal to you ; you<br /> cannot use your scaffolding.”<br /> <br /> On this point, and on this alone, the case was<br /> decided. The defendants’ counsel, “ who stated<br /> “‘they were not altogether taken by surprise,”<br /> submitted to’ judgment for delivery up on oath<br /> of all the books and documents constituting the<br /> infringement, and an inquiry as to damages and<br /> costs down to the trial.<br /> <br /> There can be little doubt that the judgment,<br /> which was so readily accepted by the defendants’<br /> counsel, was sound in law.<br /> <br /> No decision, it will be noted, was arrived at by<br /> the Court on the three further alleged infringements<br /> of copyright brought forward—the title, the<br /> arrangement of the letters, and the notes—nor<br /> does the Committee presume to express an opinion<br /> on the legal points involved. :<br /> <br /> With regard to the notes the question is a<br /> complicated one. The following sentences convey<br /> the opinion furnished to the Committee by an<br /> <br /> 233<br /> <br /> eminent counsel on the general rules likely to be<br /> applied by a Court of Law dealing with similar<br /> cases: ‘The principle of the law, as laid down<br /> in various judgments, appears to be that an<br /> author may use his predecessor’s work, but must<br /> not copy it. He must, by adding something<br /> of his own, or derived from other and separate<br /> sources, by amalgamating and assimilating his<br /> literary material, create a new product. He must<br /> incorporate what he takes in his own work. Inthe<br /> words of Lord Eldon, he is allowed ‘ the legitimate<br /> use of a publication in the fair exercise of a mental<br /> operation deserving the character of an original<br /> work.’ Mere unintelligent copying, especially if<br /> mistakes are copied, will be stopped. Intelligent<br /> verification and assimilation of previous research<br /> in a work of substantial originality will: not be<br /> interfered with. The application of this principle<br /> to individual cases must be guided by the study of<br /> the particular facts involved.”<br /> <br /> The result of the trial gave rise to a newspaper<br /> correspondence, in which some well-known scholars<br /> took part. Dr. Furnivall, in the Zimes, asserted<br /> that the case had been decided on a technical<br /> point, and that a substantial injustice had been<br /> done by declaring illegal a practice which he<br /> asserted to be common among scholars and essen-<br /> tial in the interests of literature. His letter,<br /> however, was not mainly directed to the points<br /> brought before the Court, and still less to the<br /> point decided. He preferred to lay stress on<br /> Judge Parry’s assertion of his own belief that “if<br /> at any time an honest attempt were made to copy<br /> the MSS. in the British Museum, he could show<br /> circumstances entitling him to restrain publica-<br /> tion of such a copy if he so desired,” or, as Dr.<br /> Furnivall put it, “that he could show circumstances<br /> that would entitle him to restrain publication of<br /> these manuscripts in the British Museum if he<br /> so desired.” Professor Skeat also wrote calling<br /> attention to the excisions made by Judge Parry<br /> in his text, and commenting severely on his descrip-<br /> tion of it as “a complete edition.”<br /> <br /> In the opinion of the Committee there can be<br /> no question that any legal hindrance to the use<br /> of manuscripts in a national collection would be<br /> a misfortune to literature. But this claim was not<br /> put before the Court, and Judge Parry has speci-<br /> fically stated that he will never seek to enforce it.<br /> It may therefore be dismissed from the discussion.<br /> <br /> The Committee are unable to regard the point on<br /> which the case was decided as purely technical. Mr.<br /> Gollancz had the original letters at his disposal. It<br /> was open to him to copy them, and to collate his<br /> copies with his predecessor’s version if he thought<br /> it desirable. He preferred to take the opposite<br /> course. He borrowed: his predecessor’s text, and,<br /> without reference to Judge Parry, made it the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 234<br /> <br /> basis of his own. It can be no defence to allege<br /> that Judge Parry’s work was at once faulty and<br /> defective. If it is the custom among scholars to go<br /> to a faulty version, when the original is at hand,<br /> or to use a living editor’s text without communi-<br /> cating with him until after he has threatened legal<br /> proceedings, the Committee consider that the law<br /> has done a service to literature in declaring that<br /> such practices are illegal.<br /> <br /> The Committee have not overlooked the literary<br /> aspect of the case. Judge Parry’s edition of the<br /> letters is admittedly incomplete, and the reason<br /> assigned by him for the excisions, namely, the request<br /> of his publisher, cannot be considered adequate. It<br /> is not disputed that his text and notes stand in<br /> considerable need of revision. Although the<br /> second edition of his volume was published as<br /> far back as October, 1888, he had apparently not<br /> availed himself of the accessibility since 1891 of<br /> the original MSS. in order to revise his text. For<br /> it was not till January, 1903, that Judge Parry<br /> employed a copyist to compare the letters in his<br /> book with the originals in the British Museum,<br /> But, while admitting these considerations, the<br /> Committee feel that Judge Parry was entitled to<br /> be consulted before any use was made of his work<br /> in the preparation of a new edition of the letters.<br /> <br /> Finally, as in the Z%mes correspondence the<br /> action of the Secretary of the Society has been<br /> referred to, the Committee think it desirable to<br /> state the part he has taken in the matter.<br /> <br /> Before the trial Mr. Gollancz, as a member of<br /> the Society, called on the Secretary, who, at his<br /> desire, wrote to Judge Parry in the following<br /> terms :—<br /> <br /> THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS,<br /> Mareh 20th, 1903,<br /> <br /> DEAR SIR,—<br /> <br /> I have now perused your affidavit. I have also<br /> seen Mr, Gollancz, who has given me his view of the<br /> position. :<br /> <br /> Mr. Gollanez has asked me to put this offer before you—<br /> but without prejudice to his legal position if you do not<br /> accept it—that either I should endeavour to arrange the<br /> matter between you, or he is willing to abide absolutely by<br /> any decision come to by an arbitrator appointed by the<br /> Committee of Management of the Society.......<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> (Signed) G. HERBERT THRING.<br /> <br /> The omitted portion of the letter is private, and<br /> does not refer to any offer.<br /> <br /> Judge Parry, in his reply, stated that any offer<br /> Mr. Gollancz desired to make must be made through<br /> the usual channels. This information was com-<br /> municated to Mr. Gollancz by the Secretary.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> a<br /> Opinions on United States Copyright Law.*<br /> <br /> I.<br /> <br /> Music Booxs DrEniep ImportTATION<br /> FEBRUARY 15, 1898.<br /> <br /> I. Reprints of musical compositions are pro-<br /> hibited importation.<br /> <br /> II. The term ‘ books” in the prohibiting clause<br /> includes music books.<br /> <br /> III. Music books made up partly of copyrighted<br /> and partly of uncopyrighted compositions cannot<br /> be imported.<br /> <br /> TV. Destruction of unlawfully imported musi¢<br /> books, pursuant to rules of the Secretary of the<br /> Treasury, is legal.<br /> <br /> By the Solicitor-General.<br /> <br /> I. The Act of March 3, 1891, prohibits “ during<br /> the existence of such copyright, the importation<br /> into the United States of any book, chromo, litho-<br /> graph, or photograph so copyrighted.”<br /> <br /> Musical compositions are usually lithographed or<br /> set from type. They thus fall within the class<br /> prohibited. The act indicates an intent to pro-<br /> hibit copyrighted compositions, which includes<br /> musical compositions, when reprinted by type set<br /> or by drawings on stone made outside of the<br /> United States.<br /> <br /> Il. In the clause prohibiting importation, the<br /> word “books” signifies the mechanical means to<br /> place the author’s intellectual work in_ saleable<br /> shape. Courts have construed “books” in this<br /> sense to include a musical composition though on<br /> but one sheet. The reprint may be a book, a<br /> lithograph, or a photograph, according to the pro-<br /> cess. In any of these forms the reprint cannot be<br /> imported during the life of the copyright.<br /> <br /> III. Music books made up in part of copy-<br /> righted compositions are prohibited. A prohibited -<br /> article cannot be admitted by being attached to an<br /> article which is not prohibited. A book is an<br /> entity. If part is not admissible, it must all be<br /> excluded.<br /> <br /> IV. Under the convention with Canada pro-<br /> viding for the reciprocal return of mail matter<br /> which is “not delivered from any cause,” books<br /> imported in violation of law need not be returned.<br /> The Secretary of the Treasury and the Postmaster-<br /> General have power ($4958, R. 8.) to make rules<br /> to prevent importation of prohibited articles.<br /> Under this general authority rules for the forfeiture<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * Extracts from a pamphlet published by the Americam<br /> Publishers’ Copyright League.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> and destruction of prohibited articles unlawfully<br /> imported may be framed so as to provide “ due<br /> process of law.”<br /> <br /> II.<br /> DrRaMatic RIGHTS IN AMERICA JUNE 80, 1896.<br /> <br /> An unpublished drama need not be copyrighted<br /> to protect stage-rights.<br /> <br /> By Mr. Rives.*<br /> <br /> An American publisher is requested by an Eng-<br /> lish author ‘‘to copyright a dramatisation” of a<br /> forthcoming story by producing a simultaneous<br /> technical performance.<br /> <br /> In the United States stage-right rests entirely<br /> on common law right of property, not upon<br /> statute. An unpublished play is protected. The<br /> play is still unpublished if the text of the drama<br /> has not been printed, although the play has been<br /> produced on the stage and the novel from which it<br /> is taken has been published.<br /> <br /> The simultaneous performance desired is un-<br /> necessary to protect the stage-right.<br /> <br /> II.<br /> <br /> Notice oF CopyricuHt; Form or<br /> 1897.<br /> <br /> Marcu 4,<br /> <br /> When a story, published in a magazine and<br /> copyrighted, is reprinted in book form by another<br /> publisher, under an assignment of the copyright,<br /> the notice therein should give the date of the<br /> original copyright and name of the original<br /> publisher.<br /> <br /> By Mr, Rives.<br /> <br /> A story was copyrighted by the J. B. Lippincott<br /> Company when published in its magazine. The<br /> copyright was assigned to Dodd, Mead &amp; Company,<br /> who are about to publish the story in book form,<br /> and who inquire as to the proper form for the notice<br /> of copyright.<br /> <br /> The law requires a notice to be printed in every<br /> book in order to entitle it to protection under its<br /> coypright. The notice must be in the required<br /> words, Congress declares it must give ‘the year<br /> the copyright was entered and the name of the<br /> party by whom it was taken out.” If the story is<br /> reprinted in the same form the notice should be<br /> “ Copyright, 1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company.”<br /> If it is not to be published in exactly the same<br /> form as in the magazine it may be copyrighted as a<br /> new edition, and the notice should be “ Copyright,<br /> 1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company ; Copyright,<br /> 1897, by Dodd, Mead &amp; Company.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * My. Rives is the Counsel to the League.<br /> <br /> hd<br /> oe<br /> Or<br /> <br /> IV<br /> <br /> RE-BINDING CHEAP Eprrions ror SALE<br /> APRIL 3, 1899,<br /> <br /> Can the owner of a copyright, who sells a<br /> cheap edition of the book, prevent its being put in<br /> another cover, so as to compete at lower prices with<br /> a better edition of the same book ?<br /> <br /> By Mr. Rives.<br /> <br /> The question of how far the owner of a copy -<br /> right can impose restrictions upon the use of his<br /> book has often been before the Courts. The ques-<br /> tion seems to depend on the consideration whether<br /> the owner of the copyright has sold the book. If<br /> the owner of the copyright has nof sold the book he<br /> can restrict its use. So in case of an edition of<br /> Blaine’s “Twenty Years in Congress,” the<br /> publisher had not sold it to canvassing agents and<br /> the bookseller, who got a few copies, knowing of<br /> the agreement under which the agents got the<br /> book, was restrained. But the moment the book<br /> is sold, even though conditions are attached to the<br /> sale, the owner of the copyright must rely on his<br /> remedy for breach of contract, and not on his right<br /> to restrain an infringement of copyright.<br /> <br /> So, where books damaged by fire were sold toa<br /> dealer on condition “that all books be sold as<br /> paper stock only and not placed on the market as<br /> anything else,” but the books were rebound and<br /> put on sale, the Court held the remedy was not for<br /> violation of the copyright, but of the terms of the<br /> contract.<br /> <br /> The question next arises how far an owner of a<br /> copyright who se//s his books can protect himself<br /> by imposing conditions on their use. I think an<br /> agreement by which a dealer undertakes, for an<br /> expressed consideration, to sell the books only in a<br /> certain form would, be valid and enforceable as a<br /> contract ; without reference to any copyright.<br /> <br /> A greater difficulty arises with respect to the<br /> one to whom the first purchaser may sell. The<br /> contract might also provide that the first purchaser<br /> should insert similar conditions in any contract of<br /> sale with a subsequent purchaser. How far a con-<br /> tract between B. and C., made for the benefit of A.,<br /> is enforceable by A., is hard to say. The rule<br /> varies in different States, but usually A. would have<br /> no remedy against C.<br /> <br /> I advise, the safest course is for the publisher to<br /> have a carefully drawn agreement with the dealer<br /> providing that the dealer shall not dispose of the<br /> books except in proper covers ; and also that in<br /> selling to other dealers the original purchaser shall<br /> agree to impose the same condition ; and that any<br /> breach shall be compensated by liquidated damages.<br /> It would also be well to print a notice in each copy<br /> of the book referring to the original contract.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 236<br /> <br /> Such contract should be enforced against the first<br /> purchaser, and he might be trusted to enforce it<br /> against the dealers to whom he sold.<br /> <br /> Vv.<br /> <br /> PUBLICATION TO SECURE COPYRIGHT<br /> OcToBER 30, 1901.<br /> <br /> Is publication of a book necessary to secure<br /> copyright ?<br /> <br /> ae By Mr. Rives.<br /> <br /> The text of the statute is silent on this point.<br /> The act, however, assumes that every copyrighted<br /> book is to be published. Copies of the book must<br /> be deposited “not later than the day of publica-<br /> tion.” No action for infringement can be brought<br /> unless a notice is printed in the “ copies of every<br /> edition published.’ The question is what the<br /> Court will infer from this language. In “ Drone<br /> on Copyright,” it is said that “ publication is made<br /> an essential prerequisite to securing copyright ; and<br /> hence there can be no statutory copyright in an un-<br /> published work.” The case of Boucicault v. Hart<br /> (Circuit Court of the United States in New York)<br /> held that a mere filing of title conferred no rights,<br /> unless there was a publication in a reasonable time.<br /> There is, however, a dictum in the case of Farmer<br /> vy. Calvert (Circuit Court in Michigan) that publi-<br /> cation 1s not necessary. The point, therefore, is<br /> somewhat doutbful. ‘he Constitution empowers<br /> Congress to pass copyright laws, not only to pro-<br /> tect authors, but (as it declares) ‘to promote the<br /> progress of science and useful arts,” or, in other<br /> words, to encourage the diffusion of knowledge.<br /> Part of the price an author pays for protection is<br /> that his work shall be available for consultation by<br /> all who desire it.<br /> <br /> I am, therefore, of the opinion that the purpose<br /> of the law is that the author shall, within some<br /> reasonable time, make his work public.<br /> <br /> As the question is not definitely settled, I should<br /> consider it unwise for a publisher to defer actual<br /> publication for a long time, as it would be running<br /> a serious risk of having his copyright declared<br /> invalid if he afterwards tried to prevent an<br /> infringement. ®<br /> <br /> ———+—<br /> <br /> A Curious ‘Case.<br /> <br /> In the autumn of 1902 a member of the Society<br /> received a communication from a firm of the name<br /> of Messrs, J. E. Stannard &amp; Co., calling itself<br /> advertising agents aad contractors, offering to<br /> procure the copyright of certain of her books in<br /> America, for a fixed price. As, however, the books<br /> <br /> had already been published in England the author<br /> _ was advised that this would be impossible.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> The contractors, however, were not to be beaten<br /> and claimed that they had a method of obtaining<br /> protection, although the work had already been<br /> published in England. They promised great things<br /> from the circulation of the book and offered to<br /> obtain the control of the whole American market.<br /> <br /> Still the author hesitated, but finally, under the<br /> advice of the Secretary of the Society, refused to<br /> accept the offer. The Secretary pointed out that<br /> as the American copyright was lost, it would be<br /> much better for her to deal with her former<br /> American publishers —an old-established and<br /> reliable firm—if she desired to test the American<br /> market. Her English publishers gave her the same<br /> advice. Still Messrs. Stannard &amp; Co. were per-<br /> sistent, “ considering that it must be disheartening<br /> to theauthor to feel that rights worth somethousands<br /> of pounds might slip away at any moment.” Again,<br /> in a letter dated October Ist, 1902, they state as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “We think it decidedly unfair that after we have taken<br /> the trouble to do for you what neither of your ‘ firms of<br /> standing’ ever thought of doing, that is, telling you how<br /> to rescue what you have lost, you straightway go and turn<br /> over the information to someone else. We could have<br /> secured the copyrights ourselves and no one would have<br /> blamed us for so doing, instead of which we offered to get<br /> them for you. Our clients learn to rely on us for straight-<br /> forwardness, and it is natural that we should expect the<br /> same in return. We should be pleased to hear from you in<br /> due course. We are tempted with an offer which would<br /> amply recoup us for our trouble, but as it would not be any<br /> <br /> to your advantage if we accepted it we have postponed the<br /> reply until you come to a decision.”<br /> <br /> The author was still obdurate.<br /> In a letter from Messrs. Stannard &amp; Co., dated<br /> October 24th, we find the following paragraphs :—<br /> <br /> ‘Since we are not in business as philanthropists we have<br /> advised our American manager by this mail to secure copy-<br /> rights of your books if possible, and retain them in our<br /> name.<br /> <br /> “Failing this, he is to issue a par. to the American<br /> Literary Press that the American Literary Copyrights are<br /> not secured.<br /> <br /> “ Since respectability does not enter into the methods of<br /> American business men, we have no doubt that this will<br /> <br /> have the desired effect, and if some cute American publisher .<br /> <br /> copyrights the works in his own name and prevents you<br /> from issuing them in the U.S.A. you cannot say that timely<br /> warning was not given you.<br /> <br /> ‘* As we have pointed out before, the copyrights are worth<br /> as much to us as they are to you. If we get them, the law<br /> is with us. Under no circumstances will we sign your<br /> publisher’s agreement, and unless you are willing to agree<br /> to the terms stated in our agreement we must follow our<br /> own course in the matter.<br /> <br /> “A cablegram (prepaid) will be the only course open<br /> if you wish our American manager to await further<br /> instructions.<br /> <br /> “Since much valuable time has been wasted, we must<br /> ask for a final decision at your earliest convenience.”<br /> <br /> The daring of the gentleman who writes for the<br /> <br /> firm is interesting quite apart from his legal know-<br /> <br /> ledge, which is peculiar, It is abundantly clear<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 /> THE AUTHOR. 237<br /> <br /> to those who have any knowledge of American<br /> Copyright Law that if any person actually obtains<br /> copyright in America without the English author’s<br /> sanction, he must be taking that which does not<br /> belong to him—that is to say, supposing the pub-<br /> lication in both countries to be simultaneous. If<br /> he does not obtain the author’s copyright, but<br /> merely publishes on the American market, he is<br /> only acting as a common but legalised pirate,<br /> <br /> On the 21st of January of the present year,<br /> Messrs. Lane and Stannard, presumably repre-<br /> senting the same firm in the United States,<br /> wrote as follows from New York :—<br /> <br /> “Re the U.S.A. copyrights of your books. We beg to<br /> inform you.that they have been secured in accordance with<br /> the law, and should therefore be pleased to hear from you<br /> with respect to the publishing of the same in this country.<br /> <br /> “As the general publishing price in this country is<br /> $1.50, and the wholesaler’s price but half that amount,<br /> it isnot possible to import an edition and sell at a profit, as<br /> there is a duty of 45 per cent. on imported books. Taking<br /> your offer of two shillings and sixpence (or 60 cents) per<br /> volume, and adding the cost of freight and duty, you<br /> will see that the importing cost would be at least $1 per<br /> volume, and therefore cannot be entertained as a business<br /> proposition.<br /> <br /> “Weare willing and ready to deal with you on equitable<br /> terms for the printing and publishing here, and offer and<br /> require similar terms given to your publishers in England,<br /> with exceptions which you will note in the enclosed<br /> agreement. Under these terms you can have full control<br /> over the MSS., and the books can go to press exactly as<br /> written, which I understand you keenly desire.<br /> <br /> “We wish you to understand, however, that unless they<br /> are purchased by you, the copyrights will remain in our<br /> possession, and we reserve the right, if you refuse our offer,<br /> to sell to an American publishing firm, without stipulation<br /> as to the editing of the MSS. Should, however, you desire<br /> to purchase, your offer would receive premier consideration.<br /> <br /> “In case you accept our offer to publish, the books will<br /> be issued by a New York firm, and will be advertised widely<br /> but economically. Please cable your reply on or before<br /> February 5th, as after that date we shall conclude that you<br /> refuse our offer and shall feel at liberty to conclude negotia-<br /> tions with a firm here for the sale of copyrights with the<br /> privilege of editing the MSS. as they desire.<br /> <br /> ‘‘We must warn you that any further shipments of your<br /> English edition to this country will be liable to be seized<br /> and confiscated, but we will, of course, allow you reasonable<br /> time to warn your publishers and agents.”<br /> <br /> The agreement that they asked the author to<br /> sign is interesting and instructive. There are<br /> three books in question: 25,000 copies of two<br /> of the books are to be published, and 50,000 of the<br /> third. The author agrees to pay all expenses of<br /> printing and publishing, including illustrating,<br /> binding, packing, freights, etc., and also one-half<br /> of the total cost of efficiently advertising the said<br /> books, No limit is fixed for the cost of production<br /> or for the advertisements, and the author has to<br /> deposit in cash a sum equal to the estimated cost<br /> of production and in addition a sum equal to the<br /> estimated initial cost of advertising with the Trust<br /> Company of the City of New York. Such deposit<br /> <br /> to be subject only to the draft or cheque of the said<br /> firm on the certification of such bills of indebtedness<br /> by the author if residing in New York, or in her<br /> absence by her legally appointed representatives.<br /> Should, however, bills or accounts as above stated<br /> be presented for certification and no action taken<br /> on the same within seven days, then the said bank<br /> or Trust Company is hereby authorised to pay such<br /> cheques or drafts out of the aforesaid deposits on<br /> receiving an affidavit by the said firm setting forth<br /> such default or negligence. And lastly, in con-<br /> sideration of the above articles being faithfully<br /> performed and carried out, the said firm agree to<br /> pay half profits.<br /> <br /> It is hardly necessary to make any comment on<br /> the above extraordinary agreement or upon the<br /> proposals made during the course of negotiations.<br /> The facts speak for themselves,<br /> <br /> Although the first letters were full of large<br /> promises of profits of all kinds to the author, yet<br /> the last offer is quite distinct. It is possible that<br /> the author might have been led away by the<br /> temptation held out of large returns arising from<br /> obtaining copyright in the United States, but no<br /> author, however unaccustomed to the ways and<br /> methods of publishers and their dealings in literary<br /> wares, could possibly be deceived by the final letter<br /> and the finalagreement. Nothing farther remains<br /> to be done. The author must stand and wait. If<br /> the books are produced in the United States, they<br /> are pirated copies of the English edition. If they<br /> are produced as copyright, under the American<br /> law, the firm will be subject to severe penalties,<br /> and if the books are produced as an authorised<br /> edition, the author’s remedy is to make the whole<br /> case public,<br /> <br /> G. HE.<br /> <br /> “FAIR COMMENT.”<br /> <br /> — oe<br /> <br /> HE Court of Appeal has now given its<br /> judgment in the case of McQuire v. The<br /> Western Morning News Company, Limited.<br /> <br /> The case is a very interesting one, not only from<br /> the point of view of the dramatist, but from the<br /> point of view of the author. All members of the<br /> profession of literature are subject to criticism.<br /> Although each particular case of “unfair com-<br /> ment’? must be to a certain extent decided on its<br /> own especial facts, yet there are certain broad<br /> rules which the Court lays down in order to<br /> determine on what lines and to what extent a<br /> criticism may be libellous.<br /> <br /> The case was brought by an actor who repre-<br /> sented a piece at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth,<br />  <br /> <br /> 238<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> and objected to the comment that appeared next<br /> day in the Western Morning News.<br /> <br /> In the Court of first instance judgment was<br /> given for the plaintiff with £100 damages. The<br /> defendant company pleading that the words were<br /> not libellous, but fair and bond fide criticism on a<br /> matter of public interest.<br /> <br /> The defendants appealed, and on the appeal the<br /> judgment in the Court below was reversed,<br /> <br /> The Master of the Rolls, in delivering an<br /> elaborate judgment, made some very weighty com-<br /> ments on the law of “ libellous criticism.”<br /> <br /> Firstly, as the libel complained of was a dramatic<br /> criticism of the play publicly acted, unless it<br /> exceeded “fair comment,” it could not be counted<br /> as libellous.<br /> <br /> After going carefully over the statements of the<br /> plaintiff and defendants, he proceeded to raise the<br /> most important question of what are the limits of<br /> “ fair comment.”<br /> <br /> “ One thing,” he said, “is perfectly clear. That<br /> the jury have no right to substitute their own<br /> opinion of the literary merits of the work for that<br /> of the critic, or to try the fairness of the criticism<br /> by. any such standard.”<br /> <br /> This point is most important, and although it<br /> has been made before, yet it cannot be sufficiently<br /> insisted upon. If the verdict of whether the<br /> criticism was fair or not depended upon the jury’s<br /> verdict of the merits of the piece, the result might<br /> be in a good many cases extraordinary. Authors<br /> and dramatists know but too well how even the<br /> highest critics have been known to disagree when<br /> writing about or discussing the features of works<br /> of art.<br /> <br /> Secondly, the Master of the Rolls quoted a<br /> saying of Lord Ellenborough’s bearing on this<br /> subject :—<br /> <br /> “The Commentator must not step aside from<br /> the work or introduce fiction for the purpose of<br /> condemnation. Had the party writing the criti-<br /> cism followed the plaintiff into domestic life for<br /> the purpose of slander, that would have been<br /> libellous.”<br /> <br /> And again, from the same judgment, “ Show me<br /> an attack upon the moral character of the plaintiff,<br /> or upon his character unconnected with his author-<br /> ship, and I shall be as ready as any judge that ever<br /> sat here to protect him.”<br /> <br /> Lastly, he states, “I think the word ‘ fair’<br /> embraces the meaning of honest and also of rele-<br /> vancy.” And later, “‘ The comment, in order to be<br /> within the protection of the privilege, had to be<br /> fair, 7.¢., not such as to disclose in itself actual<br /> malice. It also had to be relevant; otherwise it<br /> never was within it. And the judge could hold,<br /> <br /> as a matter of law, that the privilege did not extend<br /> to it.’<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> These are some of the general points, and in<br /> this particular case the Master of the Rolls stated<br /> that he was clearly of opinion that the verdict was<br /> against the weight of evidence, and that he con-<br /> sidered the latter part of the summing-up of the<br /> judge in the Court of first instance might have led<br /> the jury to apply the standard of their own taste<br /> to the appreciation of the thing criticised, and to<br /> measure the rights of the critic accordingly.<br /> <br /> Members of the Society from time to time come<br /> to the office with questions of this kind, and it is<br /> very useful to put before them those fundamental<br /> facts on which alone an action for libellous criti-<br /> cism will rest.<br /> <br /> G. Hoo.<br /> <br /> —$-—&lt;—-—____<br /> <br /> A COMMA AND A COW.<br /> <br /> ++<br /> <br /> PWHE British Medical Journal of the 28th of<br /> March, 1903, had an interesting account of<br /> a dairy visited during an investigation into<br /> “The Milk Supply of Large Towns.” One of the<br /> incidents was described as follows :—<br /> <br /> “The driver having finished milking, his cow<br /> offered to take me into an adjoining room, where<br /> the milk was cooled.”<br /> <br /> In its following issue the British Medical Journal<br /> commented upon the freak of the “ devil” who had<br /> thus with the aid of a comma created a bovine<br /> successor to Balaam’s ass, and gave two amusing<br /> instances of the powers of misplaced punctuation.<br /> In the one a well-known Nonconformist divine,<br /> wishing to disclaim any ambition to appear in the<br /> black coat and white tie, or stock, of orthodoxy, was<br /> credited with a public declaration that he would<br /> “wear no clothes, to distinguish him from his<br /> fellow-Christians.”<br /> <br /> In the other, a Canadian firm having placed a<br /> new patent nursing-bottle on the market, accom-<br /> panied it with these recommendations, for the<br /> guidance of anxious mothers:<br /> <br /> “When the baby is done drinking it must be<br /> unscrewed, and laid in a cool place under a tap.<br /> If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk it should<br /> be boiled.”<br /> <br /> The last example would seem to require some-<br /> thing more than the minding of stops, in order to<br /> satisfy a critical literary taste. It is not, however,<br /> recorded that any baby suffered. In such a case<br /> an interesting question of legal responsibility might<br /> have been raised by an action for negligence against<br /> the vendors of the bottle brought by a chilled or<br /> par-boiled infant suing through his or her “next<br /> friend.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> ++<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property :—<br /> <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 /> II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement),<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> C.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <br /> (.) 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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher,<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <br /> Ill. 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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. 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 /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> o—~&lt;&gt;—<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> —&lt; +<br /> <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 /> <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 /> 239<br /> <br /> 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS<br /> <br /> IN THREE OR MORE ACTs :<br /> <br /> (a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,<br /> <br /> This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters<br /> <br /> into such a contract should stipulate in the con-<br /> <br /> tract for production of the piece by a certaindate<br /> <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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (e.,<br /> fixed nightly fees). This method should be<br /> always avoided except in cases where the fees<br /> are likely to be small or dificult to collect. The<br /> other safeguards set out under heading (.) 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. ‘hey 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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA«#<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &amp;—~&lt;}P— —<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> <br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<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 /> bs Ly VERY member has a right toask for and to receive<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 240<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) To 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 /> —_—_+—&gt;_ +—___—_—_<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> — to<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 /> JISS. 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 /> ————_——__.——_o—_____<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> ———&gt;+<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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 /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Communieations for Zhe Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> i<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 /> —+— +<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 /> ge<br /> <br /> R. G. H. PUTNAM, the Secretary of the<br /> American Publishers’ Copyright League,<br /> has forwarded to the offices a pamphlet<br /> <br /> privately printed for the League, entitled “ Opinions<br /> on Questions of Copyright.”<br /> <br /> The pamphlet contains opinions upon the more<br /> important issues that have been in dispute during<br /> the last ten years ending December, 1902. Mr.<br /> Putnam, in his letter to the Secretary, states, ‘he<br /> will be very pleased to meet any special require-<br /> ments that may arise for copies on the part of the<br /> managers of the Society.”<br /> <br /> If, therefore, any member for a special purpose<br /> should desire to have a copy of the pamphlet he is<br /> requested to communicate with the Secretary, who<br /> will, no doubt, under Mr, Putnam’s favour, obtain<br /> the work in question.<br /> <br /> We see, with interest, that the Publishers’ Asso-<br /> ciation of America means to print at different<br /> intervals further similar summaries as they are able<br /> to secure records of decisions on Copyright Cases.<br /> These publications will in time no doubt grow to<br /> great importance, as it will be possible in a handy<br /> form to have a collection of all the leading Copy-<br /> right Cases. We thank Mr. Putnam for his<br /> courtesy and consideration.<br /> <br /> Amone@ the Correspondence we print a letter<br /> from Mr. Thomas Hardy.<br /> <br /> It comes at a very suitable time, as the same<br /> subject was treated in the May number of The<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> Author, on page 206, when comment was made on<br /> the Annual Meeting of the Publishers’ Association,<br /> In that article we stated as follows :—<br /> <br /> “ Firstly, we have insisted, and now insist again,<br /> that it is absolutely essential that contracts deal-<br /> ing with the subject of serial rights should be<br /> clear and limited and should not be general or<br /> indefinite, and when serial rights are sold they<br /> should be sold either to one paper or to a limited<br /> circle of papers for one issue only or for a limited<br /> time.”<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, Mr. Hardy seems to have<br /> suffered from a complaint which is not infrequent<br /> among authors, the revival of an earlier work<br /> without any reference to the author. Legally, the<br /> position is quite correct. If the copyright has<br /> been sold or if serial rights without any limitation<br /> have been transferred, the position is often very<br /> unsatisfactory both for the author, or, as in the<br /> case quoted in the May number, for the publisher.<br /> It is necessary to warn authors who publish serial<br /> work to be careful about their agreements.<br /> <br /> In the early days of the past month the papers<br /> were full of the Stock Exchange walk from London<br /> to Brighton, and applauded the fact vociferously<br /> that out of some 90 starters 72 covered the<br /> distance under thirteen hours. From a physical<br /> point of view no doubt the result is highly satis-<br /> factory. : : :<br /> <br /> In the American Author there is an interesting<br /> article on the mental activity of authors. Mr. John<br /> Swinton, “journalist, orator, and economist,” was<br /> desired to write a novel based on certain economical<br /> questions, consisting of 500 octavo pages, small<br /> pica type, in twenty days. Reckoning a page to<br /> contain about 250 words, this meant a book of<br /> 125,000 words. Mr. Swinton objected, but the<br /> representative of the publishing firm was<br /> inexorable, and at last the author stated that<br /> he would make an effort. His own words are<br /> as follows :—<br /> <br /> “He demanded the preface of my book at once. I<br /> pondered. I was familiar with the subject, having thought<br /> and spoken and written much upon it in other years. I<br /> hastily sketched a plan as I talked with him.<br /> <br /> ‘“‘He said he would wait in the house till I had written<br /> the preface, which he desired to take to Philadelphia that<br /> evening. Becoming desperate under his urging eye, I sat<br /> down, and in an hour gave him the preface. The first<br /> chapter was mailed in a few days. Chapter followed<br /> chapter. I worked day and night, keeping up pluck with<br /> never-ending pots of coffee. Three hundred of the five<br /> hundred pages were written, and time was nearly up. I<br /> padded. I put in things I had formerly written. The<br /> twenty days were out, and over one hundred pages were<br /> yet needed. I had to get a few days of grace. Finally the<br /> book of 500 pages and 125,000 words was finished. Its<br /> title is ‘Striking for Life,’ ”’<br /> <br /> This was certainly fine mental athletics, but the<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 241<br /> <br /> article goes on to quote from another American<br /> periodical, the Bookman, a few facts which have<br /> no doubt been fully verified by the writer.<br /> <br /> For instance—Frank Norris wrote 125,000 words<br /> in 89 days. Mrs. Oliphant always wrote at night,<br /> and more than once completed a three volume<br /> novel in six weeks. The following interesting<br /> statements about English authors, from the same<br /> article, may come as a surprise to some :—<br /> <br /> ““Weyman writes one novel a year, and cannot be per-<br /> suaded to attempt more. It took Hall Caine three years to<br /> write ‘The Manxman,’ Barrie four to write ‘ Sentimental<br /> Tommy,’ and four more to produce ‘Tommy and Grizel.’<br /> Maurice Hewlett wrote ‘The Forest Lovers’ four times<br /> before he was willing to let it go from his hands, and the<br /> late Bret Harte tore up a dozen pages of manuscript for<br /> every one that he completed. Harold Frederic was five<br /> years writing ‘The Damnation of Theron Ware. ”<br /> <br /> But for sound mental athletics, consider gravely<br /> an offer made by a certain well-known publisher to<br /> a gentleman, whom he desired to employ to grind<br /> out fiction. This offer was quoted in’ the April<br /> number of Zhe Author, and is absolutely authentic.<br /> The serial writer was to have £600 a year. To<br /> earn this money he would have to produce 5,000<br /> words a day for six days a week, without any<br /> provision for sickness or holidays. It will be seen<br /> that work under this offer comes nearly up to that<br /> of Mr. Swinton, but has to be continued year in<br /> and year out, until the publisher, the public, and<br /> the author are tired, and the last, a useless wreck,<br /> loses his position.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> In the American Critic an article entitled<br /> “Uncertainties of Literature,” written by Elliot<br /> Flower, follows the same lines as the articles that<br /> appeared in the February and March (1902) num-<br /> bers of Zhe Author, on “Some Free Lance Expe-<br /> riences.”<br /> <br /> In reading the record it would appear that the<br /> struggling ree Lance meets with much the same<br /> treatment on both sides of the water. The record<br /> is tabulated.<br /> <br /> Out of 53 MSS., each MS. had to be sent on<br /> its travels on an average slightly over five times<br /> before it could be placed. Nine were accepted at<br /> once, and 12 on a second trial, but at the other<br /> end of the scale, one was sent out 30 times before<br /> acceptance, one 18 times, and two 13 times.<br /> <br /> There is no doubt that when an author has<br /> reached a certain point of facility in writing there<br /> is nothing like persistence to bring success.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Tux following rhyme, written, perchance, with a<br /> view to ridicule, has been dropped into the Society’s<br /> post bag.<br /> <br /> We print it for what it is worth, in the hope that<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 249<br /> <br /> the author will put aside his cloak of modesty and<br /> discover himself.<br /> <br /> No doubt, he calls it an epigram. If so, he<br /> would, we feel sure, be a proper inmate for one of<br /> those beautiful and sanitary buildings that adorn<br /> the hills of Surrey and Sussex.<br /> <br /> To tHE Society of AUTHORS, 39, QUEEN STREET,<br /> SrorEY’s GATE.<br /> You flourish on Authors’ alarms ;<br /> You arouse the unfriendly in Man ;<br /> Then you sell healing balms,<br /> To stifle their qualms,<br /> At the cost of One Guinea per ann.<br /> <br /> But pause for a moment, I pray,<br /> A pen stroke :—your ruin is clear,<br /> From the Street that is clean,<br /> With the name of the QUEEN,<br /> To the street that is doubtful and QUEER.<br /> <br /> ee &lt;&gt;<br /> <br /> THE LYTTON CENTENARY.<br /> <br /> — +<br /> <br /> HE Lytton centenary has produced the<br /> ordinary crop of commemorative articles, the<br /> best being Mr. Francis Gribble’s paper in<br /> <br /> the Fortnightly Review, and the more sober appre-<br /> ciation in Blackwood’s Magazine. Of these two<br /> papers we think the latter has the greater value as<br /> criticism, for Mr. Gribble’s virile intolerance of any-<br /> thing savouring of affectation prompts him to con-<br /> vey the suggestion, though he does not actually<br /> formulate the charge, that Lytton’s vapourings<br /> about the Beautiful and the True originated in<br /> preciousness ” and were therefore insincere, and<br /> his resentment of the seeming insincerity prompts<br /> him to do scant justice to Lytton’s compensating<br /> merits.<br /> <br /> With the intolerance of affectation we are in full<br /> sympathy, but we do not endorse the very common<br /> opinion that Lytton was insincere. He was despe-<br /> rately in earnest, ever painfully conscious of his<br /> “mission”; he had indeed that high seriousness<br /> which, according to Matthew Arnold, comes from<br /> absolute sincerity. With it, too, he had a sense of<br /> humour ; “ Kenelm Chillingly” proves that, even<br /> as it proves its author’s funereal gravity and fathom-<br /> less sentimentality. And with those two qualifica-<br /> tions, high seriousness and humour, it is odds but<br /> what any man will go far. The mistake Lytton<br /> made was in allowing his mission to get in the<br /> way of his art. “In forming his conception,”<br /> <br /> Mr. Worsfold says, “the artist should be guided<br /> by the test of ‘great ideas ’; in executing his con-<br /> ception he must be guided by the ‘rules of art,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> He, on the one hand, can never be, by the nature<br /> of things, so independent of the mass of mankind<br /> as to make artistic excellence his sole object; on<br /> the other, moral worth, however distinctive, can<br /> never of itself suffice to endow his work with the<br /> characteristic charm of art.” Lytton’s moral inten-<br /> tions were above suspicion, and his literary facility<br /> was so extraordinary that it is not surprising that<br /> he neglected the rules of art when, without them, he<br /> could achieve such an extraordinary vogue as he<br /> did at once.<br /> <br /> The measure of success that was meted out to<br /> him might well, indeed, have turned the brain of a<br /> much more robust man, and the wonder is, not<br /> that he enjoyed such a vogue in the earlier part of<br /> his career, but that he was not spoiled by it and<br /> wholly incapacitated for doing the much better<br /> work that he actually produced in the latter half<br /> of his career.<br /> <br /> Whether Lytton was a great artist or not is a<br /> question little likely to be brought up for discussion<br /> now ; the centenary merely offers opportunity for<br /> reconsidering him as a writer at the expiration of<br /> a given period. What he wrote, he wrote ; some<br /> of it suited and has been accepted ; “and that’s<br /> success.” ‘To describe him in a single epithet is<br /> not possible, but the epigrammatic criticism passed<br /> upon him by a writer in the Academy is pro-<br /> bably as fair a one as could be devised : that he<br /> was so full of talent that there was no room left in<br /> him for genius. That his bicentenary will be com-<br /> memorated, and those books which are read now<br /> be read a hundred years hence, may, we think, be<br /> assumed ; and of many a better writer so much<br /> could not be said.<br /> <br /> Or<br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> (Reprinted by kind permission from the Publishers’<br /> Circular, May 2nd.)<br /> <br /> R. ANDREW LANG has been “ pitching<br /> in” to the booksellers in the Morning<br /> Post—or, what is much the same thing,<br /> <br /> he has borrowed the stick of a “ trenchant critic ”<br /> who writes in 7’e Author and re-applied it—with<br /> reservations. He lets his “author” point the<br /> moral, and then he adorns the tail, with another<br /> sting of the stick.<br /> <br /> «The bookseller’s affair is,” he says, “to know<br /> about books and men. My author, however,<br /> ‘believes that it is nearly impossible to exaggerate<br /> the lethargy and incapacity of the ordinary retail<br /> bookseller.” Mr. Lang kindly adds: “These be<br /> very brave words ; I should hesitate to apply them<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> PohCenSORNRRI<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> to his Majesty’s ministers, much more to the<br /> ordinary retail bookseller.” Then why, Mr. Lang,<br /> did you not hesitate before-taking such an unfair<br /> statement out of its coffin and publishing it to the<br /> world ?—it would have remained stillborn had you<br /> not godfathered it. ‘“ ‘The habit of reading,’ says<br /> my author, ‘is being all over the country dis-<br /> couraged by the insutficiency of the vast majority<br /> of booksellers.’” Mr. Lang quotes this silly libel,<br /> and adds that he deems it “ much too sweeping.”<br /> How much ?<br /> <br /> “*The country,’ says my author ferociously,<br /> ‘would be benefited by the bankruptcy of the<br /> <br /> whole lot of booksellers, and the transference of<br /> <br /> their business to more competent hands.’” Mr.<br /> Lang’s comment is: “This man _ has suffered<br /> much.” How much? Anyone would think the<br /> whole of the booksellers of the United Kingdom<br /> had united to offend him by refusing to stock his<br /> works, but all we are told is that some unnamed<br /> “suburban bookseller” failed to get him a cheap<br /> copy of Milton’s poems.<br /> <br /> “The book never came, but at the end of a<br /> fortnight the bookseller found energy enough to<br /> send a messenger to say it could not be procured.”<br /> <br /> If this cock-and-bull story were true, what<br /> ground is there in it for libelling the whole book-<br /> selling trade of the country ? Another ‘“ example,”<br /> as Mr, Lang calls it, of this man’s sufferings at the<br /> hands of the whole trade is that, despairing of<br /> getting a learned work on Egyptology from the<br /> suburban bookseller—apparently he did not even<br /> ask for it—he gives its title and the address of its<br /> publisher to a tobacconist, who at once procured it<br /> —whether the confiding tobacconist ever got paid<br /> for it we are not told. But why should Mr. Lang<br /> give credence and publicity to such a Blue Fairy<br /> story as this ? ’<br /> <br /> “The larger part of the reading public cannot<br /> get the books it desires,” says Mr. Lang’s “ tren-<br /> chant critic.” If this is trne it only goes to prove<br /> that the larger part of the public is what Carlyle<br /> said it was.<br /> <br /> How interesting it would be to have the name<br /> and address of this “author” who would like to<br /> see the whole bookselling trade made bankrupt<br /> because some apocryphal suburban bookseller could<br /> not procure for him a copy of the “ Chandos’<br /> Milton. Mr. Lang’s pen is not often dipped in<br /> disappointed author’s bile, and it is not as if he<br /> believed the charges were true; then why give<br /> currency to anonymous and unfounded abuse of<br /> the booksellers ?<br /> <br /> There are thousands of booksellers in the United<br /> Kingdom selling millions of books every year, and<br /> yet they are all condemned in this wholesale way<br /> because some nameless author says he could not<br /> get a cheap book from some unnamed bookseller.<br /> <br /> 243<br /> <br /> It is true that one or two other “examples ” are<br /> given by Mr. Lang. Some old lady in Norway<br /> wrote for Mr. Lang’s books to an Edinburgh book-<br /> seller, who gaily replied that they were all out of<br /> print. Are we to infer from the strange conduct<br /> of this prevaricating Edinburgh bookseller that<br /> Mr. Lang has no honour in his own country ?<br /> Heaven forbid! Booksellers would be the last to<br /> claim that their knowledge and methods were never<br /> at fault—but even those of authors are not perfect.<br /> <br /> o—~&lt;—<br /> <br /> HALF-PROFITS ON SHEETS TO<br /> AMERICA,<br /> <br /> — +<br /> <br /> T may seem dull reading to the constant reader<br /> of The Author to see the repetition of certain<br /> forms of agreement, certain clauses, certain<br /> <br /> methods of publishing, accompanied with the same<br /> comments; but as long as publishers persist in<br /> bad clauses so long must Ve Author&#039;s objections<br /> persist also.<br /> <br /> There is a clause often embodied in agreements<br /> issued by the best houses in London in which the<br /> author, who does not obtain the American Copy-<br /> right, is entitled to half of the profits on the sale<br /> of sheets to America. If this clause is inserted in<br /> the usual half-profit agreement there is little to be<br /> said against it. The only points at issue, then,<br /> are, Is a profit-sharing agreement desirable? In<br /> what proportion should profits be divided between<br /> author and publisher? But if the clause is inserted<br /> in an agreement where the author is to obtain a<br /> royalty on the publication of the English edition,<br /> there are two very strong points of objection.<br /> <br /> This sale to an American house is mere agency<br /> work. If conducted through the medium of an<br /> author’s agent the latter would be highly pleased<br /> with the payment of 10 per cent. on the net result.<br /> Not so the publisher, although he is constantly<br /> crying out against the agent and his charges, It<br /> is a well-known fact—instances have often been<br /> quoted—that the publisher, although he expresses<br /> strong disapproval of the intervention of the agent<br /> who charges a modest 10 per cent., makes—when<br /> he endeavours to undertake any of the agent’s<br /> duties—a general charge of 50 per cent. The<br /> lowest percentage which has ever been seen in any<br /> agreement before the Secretary of the Society was<br /> 25 per cent. Further arguments against allowing<br /> a publisher to undertake an agent’s work need not<br /> be repeated here.<br /> <br /> The second objection rests on the fact that a<br /> clause drafted on these lines is a distinct pitfall to<br /> the author. It is a pitfall for the following<br /> reasons :—1. Because to the ordinary person the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 244<br /> <br /> difficulties with which the clause is pregnant are<br /> altogether invisible. 2. Because the amount the<br /> author receives in royalty is always calculated—<br /> see the books of the Society on the point—on the<br /> basis that the full cost of composition is charged<br /> against the English edition. If this were not<br /> the case, the author ought to receive a higher<br /> royalty on British sales. :<br /> <br /> Let us explain what we mean more fully.<br /> <br /> ake the ordinary 6s. book :—<br /> <br /> Cost of composition of 3,000 copies ... £30 0 0<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Cost of printing ; ee 16 0 8<br /> Cost of paper a 2 58 0 0<br /> Total... ..£104 0 0<br /> <br /> Of the 3,000 copies the publisher sends 2,000 to<br /> America, and receives for the same (say) 1s. a copy<br /> £100. The cost of composition was compulsory<br /> for the completion of the English edition, the<br /> author’s royalty, as stated, being based on_ this<br /> understanding ; but the publisher takes two-thirds<br /> of this cost towards the American edition, as well<br /> as two-thirds of the cost for the print and the paper,<br /> leaving to be divided between himself and the<br /> author—<br /> <br /> By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0<br /> ‘Two-thirds cost of production ~ 69 6 8<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> £30 13 4<br /> <br /> As the cost of composition has no right to be<br /> charged against the American edition, but only the<br /> cost of print and paper, the difference would work<br /> out as follows :—<br /> <br /> By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0<br /> ‘Two-thirds cost of print and paper... 49 6 8<br /> <br /> £50 13 4<br /> <br /> Instead, therefore, of the author receiving<br /> £25 6s. 8d., by the publisher’s method of calcu-<br /> lation of half profits, the author receives<br /> £15 6s. 8d. and the publisher £35 6s. 8d. It<br /> is almost as reasonable an arrangement as the<br /> ordinary half-profit agreement, whose clauses and<br /> workings have so often been exposed in Zhe<br /> Author.<br /> <br /> To show how this method may be worked out in<br /> the interests of untrustworthy publishers unfairly to<br /> the author, say the publisher in the first instance<br /> only publishes a thousand copies. The cost of<br /> composition would still be £30; printing, £10;<br /> paper, £20. He sells 500 copies to America, and<br /> on the same principle the following sum is worked<br /> out —<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Half cost of production .. £30 0 0<br /> By sale of 500 copies to America at 1s.<br /> <br /> per copy ... one ae «=. 202 0 0<br /> <br /> £5 0.0<br /> <br /> This would leave a deficit against the author’s<br /> account of £2 10s., as the sale to America has<br /> failed to cover the cost of production.<br /> <br /> As soon as the edition is sold and the amount is<br /> worked out against the author he prints 10,000<br /> copies for the English edition, but never takes into<br /> account the proportion of the cost of production of<br /> the 500 sent to America to the 10,000 printed in<br /> England. Again, supposing you take the first<br /> instance and 20,000 were subsequently sold, the<br /> cost of the 2,000 sold to America is still taken in<br /> proportion to the cost of the 3,000 of the first<br /> edition printed, and not in proportion to the whole<br /> cost.<br /> <br /> It will be seen, therefore, that, quite apart<br /> from the contract being unfair and a pitfall<br /> to the unwary (as on the face of the agree-<br /> ment the difficulty is invisible), even if it is<br /> worked out by a publisher with an honest idea of<br /> doing nothing dishonourable, the result of its<br /> working, its natural evolution, becomes a fraud<br /> on the author, as it is impossible to calculate this<br /> sale to America on the basis of future sales. It<br /> must always be calculated upon the sales that have<br /> already been made. The position is ridiculous. It<br /> is to be hoped that the Publishers’ Association will<br /> dissociate themselves from this form of agreement.<br /> <br /> G. H. T.<br /> <br /> —_—--<br /> <br /> AUTHORS AND MODERN THRIFT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> II.—The Purchase of an Annuity.<br /> <br /> O possess an annuity is the dearest desire of a<br /> poor man’s heart. An income assured for life,<br /> against which neither the rumours of wars<br /> <br /> nor the depressions of the money market has any<br /> effect, isperhaps the most comforting of all prospects.<br /> For this reason doubtless—the immunity from finan-<br /> cial worry—the lives of annuitants extend beyond<br /> the common span. One company, in a recent report,<br /> stated that the average age of the annuitants dying<br /> during the year under review was eighty-eight.<br /> The records of other companies confirm this experi-<br /> ence, which is remarkable in view of the fact that<br /> many of the annuitants are in weak health when<br /> they effect their policies, and would not be accept-<br /> able for life insurance except at special rates.<br /> <br /> The Moral Objection is one which arises in the<br /> consideration of the annuity. It is held that as<br /> the capital invested with the company is forfeited<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> to them at the death of the assured ; that the con-<br /> tract is a peculiarly selfish one; at least this is<br /> often the opinion of near relatives. The question,<br /> however, depends wholly upon circumstance. For a<br /> married man with distracting responsibilites to<br /> sink all his available capital might very well be an<br /> unwise step. On the other hand, there area variety<br /> of situations in which to purchase an annuity might<br /> be a most prudent step, inasmuch as the annuitant<br /> is relieved immediately of all anxiety—providing<br /> the annuity is of sufficient amount—as regards<br /> his future.<br /> <br /> Annuity versus Investment—It is generally<br /> agreed by financial authorities that the highest<br /> return on money it is possible to obtain from abso-<br /> lutely secure investment is 8 per cent. he<br /> return from the annuity is much higher, varying<br /> from 5 to 20 per cent., according to age. A<br /> man of sixty would receive £30 a year from his<br /> investment of £1,000, whereas the annuity would<br /> produce him an income of £94. The difference<br /> might very well mean to him the path from penury<br /> to comfort. In consequence of the curious life-<br /> giving properties of the annuity it is regarded with<br /> disfavour by some of the insurance companies, as it<br /> is not a department which is very profitable to<br /> them. The occasional early death of an annuitant<br /> does not recompense them for the abnormally long<br /> lives on which they continue to make a high return.<br /> Another aspect of the annuity in comparing it with<br /> investments is that the return never varies. The<br /> recent depreciation in the value of Consols and<br /> certain railway stocks indicates a risk which<br /> attaches even to “ gilt-edged”’ investments.<br /> <br /> The choice of an annuity is necessarily confined<br /> to persons of capital. But the return per hundred<br /> pounds is the same as per thousand, and to persons<br /> whose income comes to them, as it were, in flashes,<br /> a few hundred pounds might very well be sunk in<br /> producing a small income which has the immense<br /> advantage of being guaranteed to them for life.<br /> The choice of an annuity, being a perfectly simple<br /> contract untroubled by side issues, is one which<br /> offers no difficulty. All the well-known British<br /> offices are absolutely safe. The object, therefore,<br /> should be to purchase the annuity in the office<br /> offering the largest return for the particular age.<br /> The returns differ far more than in ordinary<br /> insurance. For example, a man of sixty can pur-<br /> chase for £1,000 a life annuity of £94 in one<br /> office, whilst another will return him only £80 10s.<br /> The difference is over 14 per cent. Both offices<br /> are of the highest standing, but a man would be<br /> very unwise to take the latter policy when the<br /> former is obtainable. ‘The differences indicated at<br /> several ages is clearly shown in the following<br /> table. The terms quoted by the Post Office are<br /> <br /> also given for the purpose of comparison.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 245<br /> INVESTMENT oF £1,000,<br /> Males.<br /> |<br /> | Age 40. Age 50,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Highest re-| £ 5, d.| £ s.. d.| &amp; $d. &amp; sg<br /> 2 Gunn 62 10 0173 10.0104. .0 1134 oO 8<br /> Lowest re- |<br /> <br /> tora =... | 62 1 0.) 63 10 0130-10 06 114 8 6<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Difference..| £9 15 0/10 0 0/1810 01/19 15 0<br /> <br /> Average of |<br /> 50 offices. | 5 |<br /> <br /> ! W1t 8) 68 7 6 | 8812 61196 6 §<br /> Post Office..| 55 17 6 |.66 18 4187 1 8 195 9 9<br /> Females.<br /> <br /> : ee<br /> Age 40, | Age 50 Age 60. | Age 70,<br /> |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> d.| ee a A es as ga.<br /> <br /> Highest re-} £ s. | £ 8.<br /> CHI cs 56 12 0 | 66 10<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> O18 0 0 1193 0 6<br /> Lowest re- | |<br /> nibunloy eee 48 0 0/5616 8| 7218 4|105 6 8<br /> Difference..|£8 12 0| 918 4/1211 8|1713 4<br /> Average of<br /> 50 offices.| 52 11 8 | 62 1 817915 O1115 0 0<br /> Post Office..|] 50 5 0{60 510/78 8 4 111416 8<br /> |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -Vote.—For the return per £100 in each instance divide:<br /> by ten.<br /> <br /> There is no doubt, however, that the complete<br /> surrender of capital to the company is a material<br /> objection, in some minds, to the purchase of an<br /> annuity. “Should I die the day after, they argue,<br /> the money is absolutely lost, and my estate receives<br /> nothing!” The number of annuitants dying in<br /> the early days of their contract is so small as to be<br /> beyond practical consideration ; but all the same<br /> this objection remains. To meet this several com-<br /> panies have lately devised a plan by which the<br /> income is guaranteed over a stated number of years,<br /> usually ten or twenty. This provides against the<br /> early death of the annuitant, as, in any case, a<br /> return of ten or twenty payments is guaranteed to.<br /> the estate. We have shown that the best return<br /> obtainable for age sixty for £1,000 is £94 per<br /> annum. With the annuity guaranteed for tem<br /> years the return would be £80 3s. and for twenty<br /> years £62 9s. Such tables would appeal to persons.<br /> who wish to provide their estate against the risk<br /> of early death. But, on the other hand, most per-<br /> sons of mature age are more or less covered by life<br /> insurance, and it is perhaps better business to<br /> accept the slight risk of early death in order to:<br /> procure the materially higher income.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 246<br /> <br /> THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE SOCIETY<br /> OF AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> 1+<br /> <br /> HE annual dinner of the Society, held at the<br /> Hotel Cecil, on Thursday, April 30th, was<br /> attended by about 170 members and guests.<br /> <br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Chairman of the Committee<br /> of Management, was in the chair, with Captain<br /> Sverdrup, of the Fram, one of the gold medallists<br /> of the Royal Geographical Society for this year,<br /> on his right hand and Sir Clements Markham,<br /> K.C.B., President R.G.S., on his left ; and the<br /> vice-chairs were occupied by Mr. G. H. Thring<br /> (Secretary), Mr. Rider Haggard, Mr. Anthony<br /> Hope Hawkins, and Dr. 8. Squire Sprigge. When<br /> dinner was over the Chairman proposed the health<br /> of the King in a brief speech, followed by that of<br /> the Queen and Royal Family.<br /> <br /> After these loyal toasts had been duly honoured,<br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield rose again to propose the<br /> toast of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Making reference to the important work done by<br /> the Society for authors at large and for its members<br /> in particular in enabling them to obtain the full<br /> market value for their work, he described it as a<br /> Society for the Protection of Authors. In their<br /> business relations with publishers authors often<br /> needed protection. He deprecated the idea that<br /> the Society led a crusade against publishers, and<br /> preferred to consider it as working to promote<br /> an alliance necessary to both; he likened it rather<br /> to a trades union, having, however, no power to call<br /> its members out on strike. Mr. Freshfield also<br /> referred to the subject of the foundation of an<br /> Academy of Literature, as a question of interest to<br /> authors, on which he believed that there was some-<br /> thing to be said on both sides, though he indicated<br /> his own doubts as to the advantages to literature<br /> and the public taste that might be derived from<br /> such a body counterbalancing the obvious draw-<br /> backs and difficulties connected with its creation<br /> and renewal.<br /> <br /> Mr. Rider Haggard replied for the Society in a<br /> vigorous speech, in which he deprecated the<br /> expression of any desire by authors for the institu-<br /> tion of an Academy, and inquired what the methods<br /> were likely to be by which election to such an<br /> Academy might be secured. He declared that he<br /> had no wish to see authors—men of letters—touting<br /> round to other men of letters in order to secure<br /> election to the Academy. He asked by what stan-<br /> dard it was proposed that their claims to election<br /> should be judged. Was popularity to be the test,<br /> and was the author of whose work many thousand<br /> copies were sold before it appeared to be the one<br /> elected to the Academy, or he whose work was<br /> considered to have high literary qualifications ?<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> He hoped that the question of the Academy<br /> would be left alone, and expressed the belief<br /> that every class had the right to combine<br /> for the mutual comfort and protection of its<br /> members, and that this was the spirit which<br /> actuated those who founded the Society of Authors,<br /> of which he had been a very early member. While<br /> alluding to the question of the prices paid for<br /> literary work and the success of the Society in<br /> bettering the position of authors with regard to<br /> payment, Mr. Haggard asked why Milton sold<br /> ““Paradise Lost” for £10? He answered his own<br /> question by saying, with emphasis, that it was<br /> because he could not get any more. For unpaid<br /> work, amateur work, he expressed no great respect,<br /> indeed he questioned the merits of work done<br /> without hope of reward in such terms that some of<br /> his hearers were inclined to express dissent from<br /> his views. In the course of his speech Mr. Haggard<br /> referred to the friendly relations which he believed<br /> to be those that should rightly exist between<br /> author and publisher, and in conclusion he paid a<br /> graceful tribute to the memory of Sir Walter<br /> Besant.<br /> <br /> In proposing the toast of the guests of the<br /> Society of Authors, Mr. Richard Whiteing referred<br /> to those preseut who, representing science, had<br /> maintained the connection ever existing between<br /> science and literature. He mentioned among those<br /> present Mr. C. Longman, Dr. Clifford Allbutt, Dr.<br /> Mill, Sir William Church, P.R.C.P., Sir Henry<br /> Howse, P.R.C.S., and Mr. G. W. Prothero. In par-<br /> ticular he made allusion to the work done recently<br /> by Captain Sverdrup on board the Fram, and to the<br /> kindred services to science and exploration with<br /> which the name of Sir Clements Markham is<br /> associated. With these gentlemen he joined Mr.<br /> Henry Newbolt as representing the guests of the<br /> Society.<br /> <br /> In replying for the guests, Sir Clements Markham<br /> laid emphasis upon the recent achievements of<br /> Captain Sverdrup in the department of scientific<br /> Polar exploration, and mentioned that Captain<br /> Sverdrup himself would probably find difficulty in<br /> making a lengthy reply to the toast in any but a<br /> foreign tongue. Unfortunately this was the case,<br /> and Captain Sverdrup, to the regret of his hosts<br /> and fellow-guests, confined himself to a_ brief<br /> expression of thanks for the cordial welcome<br /> received by him.<br /> <br /> Mr. Henry Newbolt, replying in his turn for the<br /> guests, described himself as being in a sense a<br /> publisher as well as an author, and was inclined to<br /> think that the attitude of author and publisher<br /> towards one another must necessarily be charac-<br /> terised by some hostility due to their relative<br /> positions and interests. Referring to standards by<br /> which modern literature may be judged, Mr.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Newbolt took a hopeful view of his contemporaries,<br /> but compared their passage past our range of<br /> vision to that of a procession, pointing out that<br /> the procession as it goes by seems to be a confused<br /> succession of units, while the relative merit of the<br /> figures and groups composing it can best be appre-<br /> ciated as it passes into the distance.<br /> <br /> At the conclusion of Mr. Newbolt’s speech Mr.<br /> Oscar Browning rose to give the health of the<br /> chairman. Mr, Browning avowed himself able in<br /> doing this to speak from long acquaintance with<br /> the subject of his speech, whom he had first<br /> known as climbing Mont Blane while a school-<br /> boy at Eton, when he was himself a master<br /> there, and with whose work as an explorer of<br /> mountain peaks and ranges, and discoverer of<br /> ground untrodden by previous climbers, he had<br /> been familiar from his earliest days.<br /> <br /> Mr. Freshfield, in thanking those present for the<br /> warmth with which they had received the toast,<br /> made graceful reference to his memories of Mr.<br /> Browning as an Eton master, and to the long<br /> friendship with him which so many Eton and<br /> Cambridge men had enjoyed.<br /> <br /> A soirée was held after the toasts had been<br /> drunk, and the members and guests had an oppor-<br /> tunity of meeting one another.<br /> <br /> The following is a list of those present :—<br /> <br /> Ackermann, A. 8. E.<br /> Ackermann, Mrs.<br /> Allbutt, Prof. Clifford<br /> Armstrong, E. A.<br /> Ashley, Mrs.<br /> Back, Mrs. Eaton<br /> Baildon, H. Belsize<br /> Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite<br /> Begbie, Miss A, H.<br /> Bell, Mackenzie<br /> Berene, Sir<br /> K.C.M.G.<br /> Besant, Geoffrey<br /> Besier, Rudolf<br /> Bird, C. P.<br /> Boddington, Miss Helen<br /> Bolam, the Rev. C. E.<br /> Boutwood, Arthur<br /> Boutwood, Mrs.<br /> Browning, Oscar<br /> Bryden, H. A.<br /> Buxton, Dudley<br /> Buxton, Mrs. Dudley<br /> Campbell, Miss Mont-<br /> gomery<br /> Carlile, John C.<br /> Childers, Erskine<br /> Church, Sir William &amp;.,<br /> PEC, P,<br /> Churchill, Lt.-Col. Seton<br /> <br /> Henry,<br /> <br /> Colquhoun, Archibald<br /> <br /> Colquhoun, Mrs. Archi-<br /> bald<br /> <br /> Craig, Lt.-Col. R. Mani-<br /> fold<br /> <br /> Crawshay, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Croker, Mrs. B. M.<br /> <br /> Davidson, Miss L. C,<br /> <br /> Davy, Mrs. E. M.<br /> <br /> Doudney, Miss Sarah<br /> <br /> Douglas, Sir George,<br /> Bart.<br /> <br /> Dowsett, C. F.<br /> <br /> Duncan, Miss Sarah<br /> Jeanette<br /> <br /> Esler, Rentoul<br /> <br /> Esler, Mrs. Rentoul<br /> Free, the Rey. Richard<br /> Freshfield, Douglas<br /> Galpin, H.<br /> <br /> “ Wirt Gerrare ”<br /> Gowing, Mrs. Aylmer<br /> Grierson, Miss<br /> <br /> Griffin, H. M.<br /> <br /> *‘ Victoria Cross ”’<br /> Groser, Horace G.<br /> Gunter, Lt.-Col. E.<br /> Haggard, Miss Dorothy<br /> Haggard, Miss Angela<br /> Haggard, H. Rider<br /> <br /> Hallett, Col. W. Hughes<br /> Harrison, Miss Rose<br /> Hawkins, A. Hope<br /> Henslowe, Miss<br /> Hepburn, David<br /> Hills, A. E.<br /> Hodges, W. O.<br /> Holman, Martin<br /> Howse, Sir Henry G.,<br /> P.R.C.S.<br /> Humphreys, Mrs. Des-<br /> mond (‘‘ Rita ’’)<br /> Hutchinson, the Rey,<br /> HN,<br /> lliffe, Mrs.<br /> Irvine, Mrs. Duncan<br /> Irvine, Duncan<br /> Jacobs, W. W.<br /> James, Miss W. M.<br /> ( Austin Clare”)<br /> Jenkins, Mrs. L. Hadow<br /> Keltie, J. Scott<br /> Kenealy, Miss Arabella<br /> Lechmere, Mrs.<br /> Lechmere, Mr.<br /> Lee, Miss Alice<br /> Lefroy, Mrs.<br /> Lennox, Lady William<br /> Little, J. Stanley<br /> Little, Mrs.<br /> Longman, C. J.<br /> Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc<br /> ‘Maarten Maartens ”<br /> Magnus, Laurie<br /> Markham, Sir Clements,<br /> KO. BE RS:<br /> Marks, Montagu<br /> Mason, Miss EH. M.<br /> Meadows, Miss<br /> Mill, Dr. H. R.<br /> Montagu, Mrs. Drogo<br /> <br /> 247<br /> <br /> Morris, Mrs. Frank<br /> Moscheles, Felix<br /> Newbolt, H.<br /> Oppenheim, E. Phillip<br /> Pennethorne, Deane<br /> Pennethorne, Mrs.<br /> Perrin, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Perris, G. H.<br /> Petano, D. K.<br /> Phibbs, Miss I. M.<br /> Praed, Bulkeley<br /> Praed, Mrs. Campbell<br /> Prelooker, Jaakoff<br /> Prothero, G. W.<br /> Rae, John<br /> <br /> * Allen Rainé”<br /> Reeves, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Reich, Emil<br /> <br /> Rogers, A.<br /> <br /> “ Leicester Romayne ”<br /> Royle, William<br /> Savory, Miss Isabel<br /> Stanton, Miss H. M.<br /> Stanton, Stephen J. B.<br /> Stroud, F.<br /> <br /> Stroud, Miss<br /> <br /> Smith, Mrs. Isabel<br /> Spielmann, M. H.<br /> Sprigge, Mrs. Squire<br /> Sprigge, 8. Squire<br /> Sverdrup, Capt.<br /> Thring, Mrs.<br /> Thring, G. H.<br /> Trench, Herbert<br /> Tweedie, Mrs. Alec<br /> Walrond, Charles<br /> Wells, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Wells, H. G.<br /> <br /> White, Arnold<br /> Whiteing, R.<br /> Wilson, Mrs.<br /> <br /> —_——___—_1+—&gt;—_ 2 —____—-<br /> <br /> EDUCATE YOUR OWN CHILDREN.<br /> <br /> 9<br /> <br /> EFORE the South African War it was some-<br /> times asked whether such and such a<br /> colony was really loyal.<br /> <br /> That question has been answered. ‘To-day, at any<br /> rate in Canada, an Englishman may be forgiven<br /> if he sometimes asks of himself “ Does the old<br /> country really want to keep us?”<br /> <br /> If she does not, why not say so openly, and let<br /> those who wish to, return to her, and those who<br /> wish to, join hands with the States.<br /> <br /> But if England really wants to keep Canada,<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 248<br /> <br /> why does she allow the United States to educate<br /> the public opinion of her colony ?<br /> <br /> It is not enough that most of our daily news<br /> comes to us coloured to suit America, that our<br /> telegrams are not altogether reliable, that there<br /> are so many Americans amongst us and such go-a-<br /> head American towns close to us, that our people<br /> must take some tones and colours from their<br /> neighbours which an Englishman born would<br /> rather they did not ?<br /> <br /> To all this is added, for the sake of a few paltry<br /> pounds in the pocket of the English Post Office,<br /> the fact that almost all our light literature and<br /> practically all our magazines are American.<br /> <br /> The way of it is thus: American periodicals<br /> are not better than English. Far from it. Better<br /> illustrated two or three of them may be, but no<br /> one who could get a Blackwood would, I assume,<br /> take any ten American magazines in exchange<br /> for it.<br /> <br /> And our people know this; but the American<br /> magazines are cheaper than ours, thanks to the<br /> extremely high postal rates which our magazines<br /> have. to pay.<br /> <br /> Magazines which cost the same at the offices of<br /> publication differ as one to two in price when they<br /> reach the Canadian market.<br /> <br /> Here is an illustration: The Strand and<br /> Pearson&#039;s are both published in New York as well<br /> as in London. Our booksellers sell the old-style<br /> edition, of course, which costs them 74 cents in<br /> New York, and is mailed to them at 1 cent<br /> per lb. If they bought the English edition they<br /> would have to pay about 9 cents in London, and<br /> 8 cents per 1b. postage.<br /> <br /> The result of this kind of thing is that, taking<br /> the figures of one of our booksellers here as a<br /> criterion, we seil four American magazines for<br /> every British magazine, though we are a British<br /> people and like our own wares best.<br /> <br /> My first.point is a national one.. If you want<br /> to keep Canada British, you had better feed her<br /> mind on British literature.<br /> <br /> My second is for the authors. If you want to<br /> keep a market for British books in Canada, you<br /> had better ask British publishers to advertise a<br /> little (not necessarily in the vilely bad taste common<br /> on this continent, but in such a way that a man’s<br /> intimate friends may have a chance of finding out<br /> that he has written a book), and press for such<br /> postal rates as will allow the magazines in<br /> which they advertise to compete with American<br /> magazines,<br /> <br /> If any one is sufficiently interested in my subject<br /> to pursue it for himself, let him take up any of the<br /> leading magazines of the States and see how they<br /> advertise their books.<br /> <br /> When “David Harum” came out you could<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> not walk through the streets of Ottawa without<br /> being flipped in the face by long streamers of<br /> “extracts ” which floated from the booksellers’<br /> doors ; you could not open a magazine without<br /> setting free a shower of notices ; the book haunted<br /> you. As to our books, I had to start a crusade<br /> against our booksellers, to wake them up to the<br /> fact that ‘The Four Feathers ” had been written.<br /> <br /> Are we not big enough as a nation to sacrifice a<br /> few dollars, that our children may learn at their<br /> mother’s knee, and not at another’s ?<br /> <br /> CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY.<br /> —_—_____» &lt;&gt; ____<br /> <br /> “SIR MACKLIN.”<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> OLLECTIVE psychology is a subject which,<br /> as this volume” testifies, has not escaped the<br /> attention of Mr. A. B. Walkley, but one<br /> <br /> reader, at least, inclines to the opinion that he has<br /> not applied his knowledge with sufficient particu-<br /> larity in this present instance. Had he done so he<br /> would not have forgotten that devices proper to<br /> the rhetorician are not always proper to the author<br /> and that a looseness of argument may pass un-<br /> challenged in the spoken word, but cannot escape<br /> so lightly in the written word: in short, that good<br /> lectures do not necessarily make good books.<br /> There is a certain sort of banter, wholly or partly<br /> good-humoured, that frequently is not only lawful but<br /> expedient to a lecturer who desires to carry with<br /> him the last obstinate objector in his audience ;<br /> but the same banter may have a contrary effect<br /> when the lecture is reproduced in the unsympathetic<br /> medium of printer’s ink and submitted to the<br /> leisurely consideration of the same individual in<br /> the seclusion of his library.<br /> <br /> I seem to detect such partly good-humoured<br /> banter in the first lecture in the volume before me.<br /> I am conscious of an attempt on Mr. Walkley’s<br /> part to anticipate any suggestions I may make of<br /> flaws in his work and to dispose of them before-<br /> hand by belittling my qualifications to estimate its<br /> value. He puts me in my place, so to speak, and<br /> the human nature in me is disposed to rebel<br /> against the operation.<br /> <br /> ‘Everyone who expresses opinions, however<br /> imbecile, in print calls himself a ‘critic.’ The<br /> greater the ignoramus, the greater the likelihood<br /> of his posing as a ‘critic.’” Sentences of this<br /> kind may serve to raise an unthinking laugh and<br /> break the ice between lecturer and audience, but<br /> they are not worthy of being perpetuated in print ;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “ Dramatic Criticism,’ by A. B. Walkley. London:<br /> John Murray, 1903. (5s. net.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 249<br /> <br /> their inaccuracy is only equalled by their antiquity.<br /> The sole reason that 1 can find for their preserva-<br /> tion here is a desire to rule me, and others like me,<br /> out of court by writing me down an ass before I<br /> begin to suggest that perhaps Mr. Walkley does<br /> not embody all the law and the prophets. As a<br /> mere caudal appendage of “that great baby, the<br /> public,” I may be a barbarian, or, isolated, a harm-<br /> less citizen or a placid British vestryman ; with<br /> luck I may be an amateur of culture, in which<br /> case my judgment is probably spoiled by the<br /> literary bias, or a mundane person, in which case<br /> I have a bias either of the individual or the vogue.<br /> Whatever I may be, I don’t matter, which is a<br /> soothing reflection for Mr. Walkley and a chasten-<br /> ing one for me. And yet I can’t help wondering<br /> if it is quite true.<br /> <br /> “From the people whom the critic criticises it<br /> would be unreasonable to expect sympathy,” Mr.<br /> Walkley remarks ; he omits to say what it would<br /> be reasonable to expect from the people who<br /> criticise the critic ; perhaps the possibility never<br /> entered his head. But he also observes that ‘just<br /> as one solid body cannot collide with another with-<br /> out the manifestation of a form of energy which<br /> we call heat, so one mind cannot impinge upon<br /> another without the manifestation of that form of<br /> energy which we call criticism.” Inasmuch as it<br /> is due to Mr. Walkley, with Mr. Murray as a con-<br /> tributory party, that his mind has impinged upon<br /> mine, it is not only excusable but natural that I<br /> should manifest energy with the best of them.<br /> <br /> My dissatisfaction with this book is due to the<br /> fact that it does not take me any further forward<br /> than I was before ; it is nebulous and inconclusive.<br /> Portentously serious in intention it is not a serious<br /> contribution to the literature of criticism. The<br /> author has an irritating trick of proving all sorts<br /> of things, and then, when he has triumphantly<br /> written Q.E.D. at the end of his argument, hastening<br /> to explain that the theorem is wholly immaterial.<br /> He reminds me of Sir Macklin, who, as every<br /> schoolboy knows,<br /> <br /> “was a priest severe<br /> In conduct and in conversation,<br /> <br /> It did a sinner good to hear<br /> Him deal in ratiocination.<br /> <br /> “ He could in every action show<br /> Some sin, and nobody could doubt him,<br /> He argued high, he argued low,<br /> He also argued round about him.”<br /> <br /> It is not for me to suggest whom to cast for the<br /> bishop in the story.<br /> <br /> Thus he refers to Gibbon’s division of critics<br /> into three classes, takes leave to reduce them to<br /> two, compares these two, showing in the process<br /> that there is not so much difference between them<br /> as they themselves suppose, and then, having<br /> <br /> compared and contrasted them to his own entire<br /> satisfaction, war&#039;s us that the contrast must not be<br /> taken too seriously. By such a device the most<br /> exiguous contribution to literature might be<br /> bumped out to the most ample proportions, but<br /> its value, when so bumped out, would be open to<br /> question.<br /> <br /> On page 20 he quotes Mr. Birrell as follows :—<br /> <br /> “T have had some experience of authors, and have<br /> always found them better pleased with the ‘ unprofes-<br /> sional’ verdicts of educated men, actively engaged in the<br /> work of the world than ever they were with the laboured<br /> praise of the so-called ‘ expert.’ ”<br /> <br /> Then on page 35 he examines the passage as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “ After the crowd, the average or uncultivated amateur,<br /> let us turn to Mr. Birrell’s candidate for the critical post—<br /> the man of affairs or of the world who dabbles in the arts ;<br /> in other words, the amateur of culture. Mr. Birrell puts in<br /> a very artful plea for this class. He says the authors like<br /> them, preferring their verdicts of approval to the ‘ laboured ’<br /> praise of the so-called ‘expert.’ Here, however, we must<br /> be on our guard against the rhetorical device of the pro-<br /> fessional advocate—the familiar device of comparing one<br /> thing at its best with another thing at its worst. The<br /> praise of the ‘expert’ is not necessarily ‘laboured.’ And<br /> you will observe that the authors like the men of the world<br /> when they deliver verdicts of approval. What the authors<br /> think of this class when they deliver verdicts of disapproval<br /> we are not told.”<br /> <br /> I have italicised the words in these two passages<br /> which reveal the discrepancy between the text as<br /> given by Mr. Walkley and the text as criticised<br /> by him. I refrain from giving the exact text<br /> of Mr. Birrell’s words, and merely submit that the<br /> discrepancy ought not to have been passed in a<br /> considered argument, not so much because it<br /> affects, or does not affect, Mr. Walkley’s point<br /> as because it affects his credit as a dialectician.<br /> <br /> That there is plenty of good stuff in the book, of<br /> course, goes without saying ; most of it is Aris-<br /> totle’s, and a perverse and tricksy memory brings<br /> before me some lines from an obscure burlesque :—<br /> <br /> “My grievance is that in these modern plays,<br /> <br /> There&#039;s nothing new and good ; whate’er of praise<br /> <br /> Their lines deserve, you&#039;ll find in the antique ;<br /> <br /> Whatever&#039;s idiotic isn’t Greek.”<br /> <br /> With the necessary modifications the quotation<br /> has point, and in all seriousness I cannot think<br /> <br /> : : :<br /> that this volume will add to Mr. Walkley’s<br /> reputation.<br /> <br /> Meandering has a fascination for most ‘‘amateurs<br /> of culture.” I would like to meander a little and<br /> express an opinion which, however imbecile, I hold<br /> : : : z<br /> in common with a good many other people. That<br /> opinion is that what is wrong with the dramatic<br /> critic of the day is his appalling lack of the sense<br /> of humour. It is all very well for M. Anatole<br /> France to talk about “the adventures of a soul<br /> among master-pieces,” and for Mr. Walkley to<br /> announce that “judices nati’? may still be found<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 250<br /> <br /> amongst us. I admire the pretty fancy of the one<br /> and rejoice at the good tidings of the other ; but<br /> recent happenings in the dramatic world dispose<br /> me to think that so far as the stage is concerned<br /> people take themselves much too seriously. Mr.<br /> Walkley snorts at the fatuity of the question,<br /> «« What is the wse of dramatic criticism?” Well,<br /> it is a fatuous question. Mr. Walkley replies to<br /> it from the point of view of the dramatic critic :—<br /> <br /> “ The use of any art is asa channel for the communication<br /> of ideas and emotions between man andman. It is a mode<br /> by which the producer of the art shares out his moods, his<br /> soul-states, his views of life, with the consumer. This is<br /> what is meant in popular language by ‘ being interesting.’<br /> Just as you may have an interesting novel or an interesting<br /> play, so you may have an ‘interesting ’ dramatic criticism.<br /> And that is the use of it.”<br /> <br /> I find that answer very satisfactory, and hope<br /> that the “ club of play-goers ”—there is a world of<br /> sarcasm in the employment of that form of the<br /> genitive case—will perpend it. From the point of<br /> view of the manager a dramatic criticism in, say,<br /> the 7&#039;imes, at the price of a stall costs only sixpence<br /> more than the hire of ten sandwich-men at a<br /> shilling a head for the day, and it carries farther.<br /> It advertises the “show.” And that is another<br /> use of it.<br /> <br /> As I suggested at the outset, I hesitate to put<br /> forward these comments as a “criticism” of Mr.<br /> Walkley’s book ; they are merely indicative of my<br /> soul’s adventures in that masterpiece. I hope I<br /> shall not be deemed irreverent if 1 speed them with<br /> yet one more quotation, protesting that they are<br /> quite honest in intention, and not born of that<br /> little-emindedness which finds pleasure in cheap<br /> sneers :<br /> <br /> “Go, soul, the body’s guest,<br /> Upon a thankless arrant ;<br /> Fear not to touch the best,<br /> The truth shall be thy warrant.”<br /> Vy. iE. M.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> POPULARITY.<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> OBERT VINCENT, historian and man of<br /> letters, had received his death sentence.<br /> The physicians gave him one short year to<br /> live ; but their word was the signal for a cloud,<br /> impalpable as yet, but darker than that of death,<br /> to rise upon the dying man’s horizon. He was a<br /> young man, and it seemed to the world as if it was<br /> but yesterday that he had succeeded in making<br /> his name. But the world was mistaken. The<br /> initiated knew that the reputation which Robert<br /> Vincent had won was of no mushroom growth.<br /> He had won it by sweat, by blood, by years of<br /> patient labour and research. Nay, as was being<br /> proved now, he had bought it with his very life.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> To this small band of scholars Robert Vincent<br /> had been known for years, young as he still was,<br /> as the rising historian of the day, as a writer in<br /> whom in the highest degree scholarship, imagina-<br /> tiveness, and honesty were combined.<br /> <br /> To this small band he was the ideal historian<br /> for whom the world had waited so long. Scholarly<br /> historians there have been. Honest historians’ are<br /> not altogether unknown. Picturesque writers of<br /> history have made their works as household words<br /> tous. But the combination of the three qualities<br /> in one person has often been pronounced to be an<br /> impossibility. 1t appeared in Robert Vincent, and<br /> scholars awaited with bated breath its further<br /> development. But the world in general, the<br /> world which nearly every man secretly craves to<br /> enlist on his side, even when he most professes to<br /> despise it, turned, for a long time, a deaf ear to<br /> the teaching of the historian. To those who<br /> knew, this deafness was simply a question of time.<br /> The world would hear, and hearing would accept<br /> Robert Vincent at his true value. The event proved<br /> that, for once ina way, those who knew were right.<br /> <br /> Robert Vincent won his place as a world power<br /> in literature by the publication of his great book,<br /> “The Welding of the Races.”<br /> <br /> It was a great book in every way. Great in<br /> conception, great in execution. Well balanced,<br /> accurate, and judicial, yet written in language<br /> almost passionately picturesque. ‘The Welding of<br /> the Races ” threw its search light on a period of<br /> English History at once the most obscure and the<br /> most salient. ‘‘As at the touch of an enchanter’s<br /> wand,” the darkness which for hundreds of<br /> years had lain upon the early middle ages was<br /> dissipated, and Englishmen knew at last the secret<br /> of the greatness of their country. “The dark<br /> ages have for England ceased to exist,” was the<br /> judgment of the greatest German critic.<br /> <br /> The wisdom of the small band of scholars<br /> was justified. The world knew and, knowing,<br /> acclaimed, as with one voice, Robert Vincent as the<br /> greatest writer of the century. The author him-<br /> self would have been more than human if he had<br /> not exulted in his triumph. He was young and<br /> he was ambitious, and it is given to few men<br /> indeed to realise, to any great extent, the ambition<br /> of their lives.<br /> <br /> “The Welding of the Races” rapidly proved<br /> itself the success of the day, and the fortunate<br /> author felt that his name had been made for all<br /> time, that he was destined to be numbered with<br /> the great ones of the earth. “‘ Westminster Abbey,”<br /> <br /> he said laughingly to his wife, “ will know me yet.”<br /> And then the end came.<br /> <br /> No prank which the Great Jester loves to play<br /> is dearer to his heart than the summoning of a<br /> man from the prize to gain which he has given<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE<br /> <br /> the best years of his life, given his very soul,<br /> when it is almost within his grasp. We die just<br /> when we are beginning to know how to live. So<br /> it was to prove with Robert Vincent.<br /> <br /> Perhaps it was due to the strain which the<br /> completion of his work had put upon him, perhaps<br /> there was an original weakness of constitution<br /> hitherto unsuspected, or perhaps—. Anyhow,<br /> whatever may have been the cause, at the very<br /> height of his fame the sentence, from which there<br /> is no appeal, was pronounced, “ You must die!”<br /> <br /> There is no need to dwell on the dull, sickening<br /> sense of hope frustrated which fell like a black<br /> shadow on Robert Vincent’s heart when he knew<br /> that he must leave the world, which appeared to<br /> him just then to be so full of brightness and<br /> beauty. But he was no coward, his life had shown<br /> that, and he resolved to face the music like a man,<br /> <br /> “My body will die,” he said to his wife, “but<br /> my soul will live ; for that I have won immortality.<br /> I have put my whole soul into ‘The Welding of<br /> the Races,’ and while England lasts it will last<br /> also.” This he said in no vainglorious spirit.<br /> To him it was a simple fact. But as he grew<br /> weaker there came upon him a mental uneasiness<br /> which puzzled greatly his wife and his doctors.<br /> To some extent, but to some extent only, it seemed<br /> to be assignable to the stress of previous literary<br /> work. The fact was, the dark, impalpable cloud<br /> gathered blackness and substance as time went on.<br /> It pressed in upon him, making the last few weeks<br /> of his life into a hideous, waking nightmare.<br /> <br /> “Qlang, clang! throb, throb! What are they<br /> printing so close to me? Who are printing? Is<br /> it Gradband &amp; Shimmery ?”<br /> <br /> “No, dear,’ said his wife gently, “there is no<br /> printing near you.’ The doctor, who overheard<br /> the mutterings, looked grave and asked the wife<br /> <br /> “Did your husband ever have any dealings with<br /> these publishers, Gradband &amp; Shimmery ?”’<br /> <br /> “No,” she replied, ‘not that I know of. I<br /> never heard their names.”<br /> <br /> “Of course not,” said the doctor with a smile,<br /> “it is scarcely likely that Mr. Vincent would have<br /> had anything to do with publishers of that class.”<br /> <br /> The doctor was quite right. It was indeed<br /> unlikely—the most unlikely thing in the world.<br /> For Messrs. Gradband &amp; Shimmery were known<br /> as publishers of fiction of the baser sort, fiction<br /> which had an enormous circulation among City<br /> ¢lerks and shop girls.<br /> <br /> The stuff which this firm turned out in vast<br /> quantities was lurid and sensational to a degree,<br /> especially that for which “Sydney Trevor,”<br /> popularly supposed to be an assumed name, was<br /> responsible, but it could no more claim to be<br /> literature than a farthing rushlight could claim<br /> to be the moon.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 251<br /> <br /> Of course it was too wildly absurd to suppose<br /> that Robert Vincent, of all people in the world,<br /> could have had any dealings with such a firm as<br /> this. And the doctor made a mental note of his<br /> uneasiness as a curious illustration of an obscure<br /> brain lesion. But this did very little good to the<br /> patient himself. The noise of the printing presses<br /> at work seemed to become louder and more insis-<br /> tent every day. Every day too his imagination<br /> seemed to be haunted by a terror which ever drew<br /> closer and closer. His lucid intervals proved to<br /> those about him that he had no fear of death, nor<br /> even of the act of dying; but even his lucid<br /> intervals were haunted by the shadow of the fear<br /> which oppressed him so terribly in his delirium.<br /> Whatever the fear might be, it was associated with<br /> the idea of printing, and with the names of<br /> Gradband &amp; Shimmery. Nothing that his wife<br /> could do or say—no news she might bring him of<br /> the ever increasing success of his book, no assur-<br /> ances of the high position, daily becoming more<br /> manifest, which he had secured for himself in<br /> literature, was able to expel this fear devil from<br /> his soul. Thereit sat, grinning at him till he died.<br /> <br /> As soon as Robert Vincent’s death was an-<br /> nounced, steps were taken by those whose word<br /> carried weight with the authorities to secure a<br /> place for him in Westminster Abbey. It seemed<br /> likely that their efforts would be crowned with<br /> suecess, and that the historian’s jesting remark to<br /> his wife would prove to be a true prophecy.<br /> <br /> It was urged that the country had only one<br /> way now of paying the recognition it owed to an<br /> admitted genius. What the leaders of thought<br /> said, the general public echoed with all its heart.<br /> No name was so constantly on men’s lips and<br /> before their eyes during these days as the name of<br /> Robert Vincent, historian and man of letters.<br /> Westminster Abbey was the place for him, and to<br /> Westminster Abbey he must be taken. And then<br /> suddenly all this talk stopped.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Gradband &amp; Shimmery flooded the<br /> country with their advertisements—newspapers,<br /> <br /> hoardings, omnibuses, trains, sandwich-men—<br /> every available means of advertisement were<br /> <br /> pressed into the service of Messrs. Gradband &amp;<br /> Shimmery. There had never been known, since<br /> books were first printed, such gigantic enterprise<br /> in advertising methods. Wherever men looked<br /> they saw the names of Gradband &amp; Shimmery ;<br /> and underneath, only in larger characters, the<br /> name of “Sydney Trevor” in inverted commas ;<br /> and below that the name of Robert Vincent ; and<br /> below that again a list of books whose lurid and<br /> sensational titles spoke for them.<br /> <br /> Then the world learnt that Robert Vincent was<br /> identical with ‘Sydney Trevor,” and Westminster<br /> Abbey knew him not. CO. L:<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> ESSAY ON CRITICISM.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> (Reprinted from Longman’s Magazine, by kind permission<br /> of the Author and the Publisher).<br /> <br /> (By A Lapy NoveEtist).<br /> <br /> S there no real critic on these shores<br /> Yet to be found? O Tempora, O Mores !<br /> How shall they judge who measure all by<br /> rule<br /> While Genius, for them, might dwell in Thule?<br /> Tis quality, not quantity, decides<br /> The merit of such work as mine—Quid rides ?<br /> When will they learn the truth that each great<br /> writer<br /> <br /> Of prose or poetry—non fit—nascitur ?<br /> When cease to sneer with condescending smile<br /> At woman—vyarium et mutabile ?<br /> Yet why should I the critics heed? Whate’er<br /> They say, ’tis mine—aequam mentem servyare.<br /> My place among the Immortals is secure,<br /> *Tis mine—divino ac humano jure.<br /> I feel within my breast the sacred fire,<br /> And I—I know it—non omnis moriar.<br /> Already on Parnassus’ sacred slope<br /> I dwell with Melpomene and Calliope.<br /> No marble tomb I crave, no trophies pious,<br /> My monument is—aere perennius.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> FR.<br /> <br /> a a<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> —1—~&gt; +<br /> <br /> AN ANSWER TO “A PROTEST.”<br /> <br /> Sir,—In reference to a letter entitled “A Pro-<br /> test’ in last month’s Author, I would like to say<br /> a few words in common justice to all concerned in<br /> the arrangement of the Society’s annual social<br /> function.<br /> <br /> In the first place, it is a puzzle how the receipt<br /> of the announcement of a dinner could shock even<br /> the most highly strung and sensitive nerves.<br /> <br /> If Shakespeare had lived in the twentieth century<br /> he would no doubt have participated in a meal at<br /> the Hotel Cecil with as much equanimity—and<br /> perhaps even enjoyment—as any other author.<br /> <br /> Next I would like to point ont to the writer in<br /> question that as the Soviety is formed for the pro-<br /> tection and maintenance of literary property, it<br /> must needs respect itself. So, if the Society of<br /> Authors were to hold its annual festival at a third<br /> or fourth rate restaurant, and charge a low price,<br /> as suggested, it would certainly be considered an<br /> inferior concern, and be looked down upon<br /> accordingly. :<br /> <br /> Further, the writer contradicts himself, for he<br /> says that he has attended several dinners each at<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> increased cost, and then confesses having been<br /> present at a guinea one. Comment is needless. If<br /> the protester could be present at a guinea dinner<br /> it seems inconsistent that the suggestion of a 10s.<br /> one should give him a shock.<br /> <br /> As I did not attend any of the guinea functions<br /> I cannot speak from personal experience as to<br /> whether it would have been “ dear at eighteenpence,’””<br /> but I can honestly say that at all the four dinners<br /> which I have attended the food was as good and<br /> as well served as one could wish.<br /> <br /> I have always understood that the Society does<br /> not wish to make money by the dinner, but charges<br /> a price sufficient to cover expenses. If the com-<br /> plainant refers to the ‘ Annual Report,” he will<br /> find that the Society was 5s. 10d. out of pocket by<br /> last year’s dinner ; hence, no doubt, the decision<br /> to raise the price.<br /> <br /> With regard to the guests, it seems to me that<br /> the Society is honowred by the presence of such<br /> men as Sir Clements Markham, Captain Sverdrup.<br /> and others ; men noted for their good and useful<br /> work, some in one field, some in another. I have<br /> never heard of the Society asking subscriptions,<br /> so I don’t quite see how it can be brought down<br /> to the level of a charitable organisation.<br /> <br /> Lastly, I will say that I am so far in sympathy<br /> with the writer of “A Protest” that I think it<br /> would be more agreeable if it were possible to<br /> arrange a festival, or annual gathering, in which<br /> all the members could participate. It is clearly<br /> impossible to please everyone in a large body of<br /> people like the Authors’ Society, and if authors are<br /> “proverbially irritable,” what a large amount of<br /> self-control is needed by a committee formed of<br /> authors, whose task in endeavouring to please all<br /> can scarcely be an enviable one.<br /> <br /> H. M. E. Stanton.<br /> May 4th, 1903.<br /> <br /> SERIAL RIGHTS IN STORIES.<br /> <br /> S1n,—As I receive inquiries concerning my “new<br /> story” in the Sphere for May 2nd and 9th, will you<br /> allow me space to say that, so far from. being new,<br /> it is a resuscitated old story which appeared in a.<br /> country journal nearly twenty years ago, and that<br /> I am in no way responsible for its publication as if<br /> new ? ae<br /> <br /> I make this an opportunity of reminding inex-.<br /> perienced writers of fiction that, in disposing of<br /> ‘serial rights” in their productions, they should<br /> take care to limit the time during which such<br /> rights may be exercised.<br /> <br /> Tuomas Harpy.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/484/1903-06-01-The-Author-13-9.pdf	publications, The Author
485	https://historysoa.com/items/show/485	The Author, Vol. 13 Issue 10 (July 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+10+%28July+1903%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 Issue 10 (July 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>	1903-07-01-The-Author-13-10					253–280																		<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=1903-07-01">1903-07-01</a>							10			19030701	Che #uthor.<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 /> JUNE Ist, 1903.<br /> <br /> Vou. XIII.—No. 9.<br /> <br /> [Prick SrxpPENnog.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE TELEPHONE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The Telephone connection has now been estab-<br /> lished, and the Society’s number is—<br /> <br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> ———_—__—_+—~@—<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> —-~&lt;&gt; +<br /> <br /> OR the opinions_expressed in papers that are<br /> K signed or initialled the authors alone are<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 /> THE 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 /> THE List of Members of the Society of Authors,<br /> published 1902, can be obtained at the offices of<br /> the Society, at the price of 6d. net.<br /> <br /> It will be sold to the members of the Society<br /> only.<br /> <br /> —-—&gt;+—<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 /> money value can be easily worked out at the current<br /> price of the market :—<br /> <br /> Coagole 25 Fees. £1000 0 6<br /> POCH) LOANS obec. 500 0 0<br /> Victorian Government 3 ‘ Consoli-<br /> <br /> dated Inscribed Stock ...............<br /> We lon<br /> <br /> 291 19 Tt<br /> 201 9 3s<br /> <br /> otal o1,995 9 2<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> 1908.<br /> Jan. 1, Pickthall, Marmaduke 010 6<br /> »» Deane, Rey. A.C. . 010 06<br /> Jan. 4, Anonymous 0) 5. 6<br /> - Heath, Miss Ida 0 5 0<br /> “ Russell, G. H. ; Ll 0<br /> Jan. 16, White, Mrs. Caroline 0.5 06<br /> », Bedford, Miss Jessie 0 5. 0<br /> Jan..19, Shiers-Mason, Mrs. 0 35.0<br /> Jan. 20, Cobbett, Miss Alice ; 1 0 5 0<br /> Jan. 30, Minniken, Miss Bertha M.M. 1 0 0<br /> Jan. 31, Whishaw, Fred : - 0 10 0<br /> Feb. 3, Reynolds, Mrs. Fred 0 5b 0<br /> Feb. 11, Lincoln, C. . ; 0 5 0<br /> Feb. 16, Hardy, J. Herbert . 0° 5 0<br /> » Haggard, Major Arthur . 0° 5 0<br /> Feb. 23, Finnemore, John . 05 0<br /> Mar. 2, Moor, Mrs. St. C. . 1° 0 6<br /> Mar. 5, Dutton, Mrs. Carrie 015 6<br /> Apl.10, Bird, ©. PB. . : A - 0 10.6<br /> Apl. 10, Campbell, Miss Montgomery. 0 5 0<br /> May Lees, R. J... : ; 1 0<br /> : Wright, J. Fondi . ; ~ 905 6<br /> Donations.<br /> <br /> Jan. 8, Wheelright, Miss E. : , 0 10 6<br /> » Middlemass, Miss Jean . ~ 010 0<br /> <br /> Jan. 6, Avebury, The Right Hon.<br /> The Lord . D0 0<br /> » Gribble, Francis. : . 010 0<br /> Jan. 13, Boddington, Miss Helen . . 010 6<br /> Jan. 17, White, Mrs. Wollaston 11 0<br /> » Miller, Miss E. T. . 0 5.0<br /> Jan. 19, Kemp, Miss Geraldine 010 6<br /> <br /> <br /> 226<br /> <br /> Jan. 20, Sheldon, Mrs. French . - 0) 5) 0<br /> Jan. 29, Roe, Mrs. Harcourt : . 0 16 0<br /> Feb. 9, Sherwood, Mrs. . : » 0-10 6<br /> Feb. 16, Hocking, The Rev. Silas 210<br /> Feb. 18, Boulding, J. W. . : . 010 6<br /> , Ord, Hubert H. . ‘ de)<br /> Teb. 20, Price, Miss Eleanor : . 010 0<br /> » Carlile, Rev. J. C.. : . 010 0<br /> Feb. 24, Dixon, Mrs. . : : a2 0-0<br /> Feb. 26, Speakman, Mrs. . : . 010 0<br /> Mar. 5, Parker, Mrs. Nella 2 0 10° 0<br /> Mar. 16, Hallward,N. LL. . : ll 0<br /> Mar. 20, Henry, Miss Alice . : - 0 8.9<br /> » Mathieson, Miss Annie . . 010 0<br /> <br /> » Browne, T. A. (“ Rolfe Boldre-<br /> wood”) . j : : 12 0<br /> Mar. 23, Ward, Mrs. Humphry. 110.0. 0<br /> Apl. 2, Hutton, The Rev. W. H. - 2070<br /> Apl. 14, Tournier, Theodore : 0 2) 0<br /> May King, Paul H. : : ~ 010-90<br /> : Wynne, Charles Whitworth .10 0 90<br /> » 21, Orred J. Randal . : pedo E70<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 Rev. H.<br /> <br /> Guthrie, Anstey.<br /> <br /> Robertson, C. B.<br /> <br /> Dowsett, C. F.<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 /> Se<br /> Sir Walter Besant Memorial Fund.<br /> Tur amount standing to the credit<br /> <br /> of this account in the Bank is......... £336 4 9<br /> May 22, Orred J. Randal............... Lied<br /> —____—&lt;&gt;—_e____\_<br /> <br /> FROM THE COMMITTEE.<br /> ee<br /> <br /> HE Committee of the Society of Authors met<br /> on May 6th. Mr. Douglas Freshfield took<br /> the chair.<br /> <br /> ‘Twelve members and associates were elected to<br /> the Society. The list is printed below.<br /> <br /> The case of Parry v. Gollancz, with all the papers<br /> and letters, was laid before the Committee and<br /> carefully considered. The Committee decided to<br /> issue a summary of the case with comments in<br /> The Author, (See article, page 232.)<br /> <br /> The agent of the Society in New York has been<br /> forced to give up the work of the Society owing to<br /> the fact that he has taken up the work of a<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> literary agent. As he candidly expresses it, “ he<br /> found it difficult to have to write peremptory<br /> letters of demand to editors and publishers, when<br /> at the same time he might be offering them MSS.<br /> for acceptance.” Accordingly, the Society has<br /> been obliged to appoint another agent, and the<br /> Committee have nominated Mr. Morris P. Ferris,<br /> counsellor-at-law.<br /> <br /> ‘There were two or three cases before the Com-<br /> mittee. One dealt with the loss of a MS. by a<br /> publisher. It was decided to take the matter up<br /> on behalf of the member, as from the circumstances<br /> connected with the case, it appeared that the<br /> publisher had shown considerable negligence.<br /> <br /> Another case, that of alleged breach of agree-<br /> ment by a publisher, the Committee found they<br /> were unable to support, as the solicitors of the<br /> Society did not consider that there was cause for<br /> legal action.<br /> <br /> It was decided not to republish the list of<br /> members during the current year, but in the<br /> autumn, to publish a supplementary list of those<br /> members who had been elected since the last<br /> publication.<br /> <br /> oo<br /> <br /> Cases,<br /> <br /> Tue last statement of the cases taken up by<br /> the Society was printed in the March number of<br /> The Author. Since that date forty-three have been<br /> before the Secretary. They may be subdivided as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> Ten for the return of MSS. ; three for accounts ;<br /> five for accounts and money ; eighteen for money<br /> due ; one dealing with the false advertisement of a<br /> book; one with the infringement of copyright ;<br /> five embracing disputes which cannot be classed<br /> under any particular heading.<br /> <br /> The Secretary is pleased to report that all the<br /> cases chronicled in the March number of The<br /> Author have either been settled or have been placed<br /> in the hands of the solicitors.. All the cases from<br /> that date up to the beginning of April have also<br /> been settled or placed in the solicitors’ hands, with<br /> the exception of one case, where the author—<br /> unfortunately living abroad—had a claim against a<br /> magazine for non-payment.<br /> <br /> The record of the ten claims for the return of<br /> MSS. is as follows :—<br /> <br /> One case has been placed in the hands of the<br /> Society’s solicitors, to enable the member to claim<br /> damages for loss of a MS. by a publisher, as it<br /> appeared clear to the Committee that the publisher<br /> had been negligent. In two cases there has been<br /> <br /> no evidence that the MSS. had been received at<br /> <br /> the office of the paper. In the remaining seven<br /> <br /> the MSS. have been returned at the request of the<br /> <br /> Secretary.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Set<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> In the three demands for accounts the Secretary<br /> has been able to obtain the requisite statement,<br /> with the exception of one case against a well-known<br /> firm that is always dilatory in meeting the demands<br /> of the author or the Secretary of the Society for<br /> details of this kind. No doubt a little mild<br /> persuasion will bring about the requisite result,<br /> <br /> There has been an increase with regard to demand<br /> for unpaid moneys, and the result. of the Secretary’s<br /> applications may be catalogued as follows :—<br /> <br /> In the claims for accounts and money two have<br /> been partially settled—this means that part of the<br /> money due has been paid, the rest will no doubt<br /> follow. One has been completely settled, and two<br /> are still in the course of negotiation. The last are<br /> demands against an American publisher, whose<br /> name is well known on the English market, but<br /> whose methods of doing business when it comes to<br /> the settlement of accounts appear to be far from<br /> satisfactory. In six cases the money has been<br /> paid without any difficulty. In five the matters<br /> have had to go into the hands of the Society’s<br /> solicitors. Two cases are still unsettled, and in one<br /> it is impossible to enforce the Society’s claim owing<br /> to the fact that the member resides abroad.<br /> <br /> This is, on the whole, a satisfactory record,<br /> especially when it is remembered that those matters<br /> referred to the solicitors deal with magazines that<br /> are most probably either in liquidation or on the<br /> verge of Jiquidation. The case of infringement of<br /> copyright has been satisfactorily settled. A full<br /> statement of this was printed in 7he Author. The<br /> false advertisement has also been remedied, and<br /> the remaining matters—various disputes on con-<br /> tracts—are in the course of negotiation.<br /> <br /> Out of thewhole forty-three there are only thirteen<br /> which have not been closed as far as the work of<br /> the Secretary is concerned. Some of them, as<br /> mentioned above, are being continued in other<br /> hands, it is hoped with satisfactory result.<br /> <br /> NEES “ESSE<br /> <br /> May Elections.<br /> 4, Gray’s Inn Squares<br /> <br /> W.C.<br /> <br /> Scarborough.<br /> <br /> Wentworth House, Key-<br /> mer, Sussex.<br /> <br /> The Cedars, Denmark<br /> Avenue, Wimbledon,<br /> <br /> Aitken, Robert<br /> <br /> Alcock, Joseph Crosby .<br /> Arthur, Miss Mary<br /> <br /> Bedford, Mrs.<br /> <br /> SW.<br /> Dickinson, F. James 6, Claremont Terrace,<br /> Hargreaves, F.R.S.L. Claremont Park,<br /> Blackpool.<br /> <br /> Lees, Robert James<br /> <br /> . Engelbery, Ilfracombe.<br /> Macdonald, Mrs. A. E. .<br /> <br /> Gordon Road, Gordon,<br /> Sydney, N.S. Wales,<br /> Australia.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 227<br /> <br /> Merriman,<br /> B.C,<br /> Pickering, Sidney .<br /> Smith, Miss M. C,<br /> <br /> Labor A., Freetown, Sierra Leone.<br /> <br /> Stratton, Falmouth.<br /> <br /> Gretna Hall, Gretna<br /> Green,<br /> <br /> 200, Stockwell Road,<br /> Brixton, 8.W,<br /> <br /> Colonial Institute,<br /> Northumberland<br /> Avenue, W.C.<br /> <br /> Trost, Johann<br /> <br /> Wright, Edward Fondi .<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> +-—&lt;—e<br /> <br /> OUR BOOK AND PLAY TALK.<br /> ae<br /> <br /> | PROFESSOR RHYS DAVIDS’ “Buddhist<br /> <br /> | India” in the Stories of the Nations Series,<br /> <br /> may be out any day now. It was all passed<br /> for press some time ago, but it is being printed in<br /> America. he Professor has just finished editing<br /> the issues of the Pali Text Society for 1903 ; they<br /> form the Journal of that Society. He has also<br /> edited the second volume of “The Digha” in<br /> conjunction with Mr. E. Carpenter. These are<br /> now ready for distribution to members.<br /> <br /> The Government of India has determined to<br /> publish, through the Royal Asiatic Society, two<br /> series of historical volumes. Of these, one is on<br /> the History of India before the arrival of the<br /> English, and will be under the editorship of<br /> Professor Rhys Davids.<br /> <br /> The first volumes to be published will deal with<br /> the historical geography of ancient India, and<br /> with the historical evidence contained in the<br /> Vedas. The other series, to be called The Records<br /> Series, will embrace the period after the arrival of<br /> the English, and will consist mainly of official<br /> documents. The first volume will deal with the<br /> events connected with the Black Hole of Calcutta.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arnold White has had a trying experience :<br /> He lost, during the fire at the Hotel du Palais, at<br /> Biarritz, the MS. of the work on which he was<br /> engaged. It is a continuation of the series on<br /> Efficiency which began eighteen years ago in “The<br /> Problems of a Great City,” and ended in his last<br /> two books—* Efficiency and Empire,” and “ For<br /> Efficiency.”<br /> <br /> Mr. White, however, hopes in the course of the<br /> next twelve months to re-write and complete a<br /> work on National Efficiency, especially with regard<br /> to government and municipal administration, and<br /> its effects on the pockets, the health, and the lives<br /> of citizens of the Empire.<br /> <br /> Miss Mabel Quiller Couch, whose short stories<br /> are well known, has published two volumes of them<br /> under the titles of “The Recovery of Jane Vercoe,”<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 228<br /> <br /> and “Some Western Folk.” At present she is<br /> completing serial work already ordered, but she<br /> means in the near future to write a story for girls<br /> on somewhat new lines. Our readers may remember<br /> a very interesting volume entitled, “ The Holy Wells<br /> of Cornwall,” which Miss Mabel Quiller Couch wrote<br /> in conjunction with her sister.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Mary M. Banks is engaged in editing a<br /> MS. collection of tales of the fifteenth century for<br /> the Early English Text Society. Some two years<br /> ago Mrs. Banks edited the alliterative ‘‘ Morte<br /> Arthur,” published by Messrs. Longmans. Since<br /> then she has given lectures on modern literature,<br /> besides writing articles on literary subjects.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein have in preparation<br /> for the autumn a romance of Italy in the thirteenth<br /> century, by Emily Underdown (Norley Chester).<br /> This firm lately published “ Dante and Beatrice,”<br /> a play in blank verse suggested by episodes in the<br /> Vita Nuova, by the same author. It forms one of<br /> a series started by Miss Elsie Fogerty. “ Dante<br /> and Beatrice” is also published in a tastefully<br /> got-up edition, with a reproduction of Rossetti’s<br /> painting, “ Dante’s Dream,” as a frontispiece.<br /> <br /> Members of the Society will be interested to<br /> know that Mr. Poulteney Bigelow has been asked<br /> to address the United States Naval War College<br /> at Newport, on German Colonisation, on the 16th<br /> of June. This is the college before which Captain<br /> Mahan delivered his lectures on “‘ The Influence of<br /> Sea Power on History ”—a book which has been<br /> translated into almost every tongue, and yet<br /> which, at the time, was declined by the Harpers.<br /> <br /> Lismore, which the King is to visit next<br /> August, is the “ Innisdoyle ” of Julia M. Crottie’s<br /> “ Neighbours,” a book of Irish sketches, published<br /> by T. Fisher Unwin a year or two ago. Lismore<br /> is a quiet old town, beautifully situated on the<br /> poet Spenser’s Blackwater, and although now<br /> fallen away from its ancient importance, still<br /> possesses some features of interest in its fine old<br /> abbey and castle.<br /> <br /> Mr. Frank Rutter, the editor of To-day, has<br /> just published, through R. A. Everett &amp; Co.,<br /> a little volume of scenes and characters from<br /> eee life. ‘‘’Varsity Types” is the title<br /> of it.<br /> <br /> “Varsity Types” has a dozen illustrations by<br /> Stephen Haweis. The dedication runs thus—‘‘ To<br /> those who unconsciously have posed as models for<br /> the following sketches, this little volume is grate-<br /> fully and affectionately dedicated by the author.”<br /> Among the entertaining characters are ‘“ The<br /> Swot,” “The Trophy Maniac,” “ The Snob,” and<br /> “The Bedder,” while “‘ Ditton Corner,” “ An Art-<br /> less Dean,” and “An Academic Court-Martial,”<br /> are scenes to laugh over.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Miss Julie Sutter’s book on the Social Problems<br /> —Brirain’s Next Campaign ”—has just been<br /> issued at a shilling net (320 pp.) by R. Brimley<br /> Johnson, 4, Adam Street, Adelphi, W.C. The<br /> Daily News this winter thought it worth while to<br /> publish a series of articles from its pages, and Sir<br /> John McDougall (as chairman of the London<br /> County Council) invites ‘every Londoner, official<br /> on non-official, to make himself acquainted with<br /> this book.” Both he and Canon Scott Holland<br /> head the volume with a preface.<br /> <br /> Mr. F. Stroud’s publishers will issue almost<br /> immediately a much-enlarged edition of his Judicial<br /> Dictionary. It will be in three thick volumes of<br /> about nine hundred pages each. The work is<br /> unique in that, whilst it is a dictionary in the<br /> ordinary sense of that word, yet the pivot on which<br /> it moves is that it deals with the English of affairs<br /> as expounded by the English Judges and by<br /> Parliament.<br /> <br /> To search for verbal definitions through the<br /> many hundreds of volumes of Reports of Cases,<br /> and the Statute Book from Magna Charta down-<br /> wards, and to harmonise the authoritative exposition<br /> of words and phrases culled from these sources,<br /> must have been an enormous task, requiring much<br /> prior knowledge and the unfailing patience of years.<br /> The idea of this edition is to bring down the<br /> exposition from the earliest times to the end of the<br /> nineteenth century. Whilst we should imagine it<br /> to be indispensable to the practising lawyer, the<br /> book cannot fail to be of general interest, for inci-<br /> dentally it frequently presents striking phases of<br /> the picturesque past.<br /> <br /> Mr. Percy White has been kind enough to send<br /> us the following interesting extract from a letter<br /> written to him by a great admirer of George<br /> Meredith. The writer is himself a novelist and<br /> man of letters :—<br /> <br /> “THE Two MEREDITHS.<br /> <br /> “T am reading ‘ Evan Harrington,’ in the original edition<br /> of 1861. I find that in the final edition, published by<br /> Constable, many admirable passages have been cut out, and<br /> a good deal of broad humour and fun has been lost. An<br /> interesting little paper might be made on a comparison of<br /> the two editions—the old Meredith pruning the younger.<br /> It is remarkable how completely ‘modern’ this book of<br /> 1861 reads—a book which might have been written to-day,<br /> whilst its successful contemporaries, ‘ Framley Parsonage,’<br /> ‘The Silver Chord,’ ‘The Woman in White,’ &amp;c., are all as<br /> old-fashioned and uncouth as the crinolines, matador hats,<br /> and chenille hair nets of the early sixties.”<br /> <br /> “ Park Lane” is the title of Mr. Percy White’s<br /> new novel—needless to say a very readable one—<br /> which has been published by Messrs. Constable<br /> at 6s.<br /> <br /> Mr. G. W. Forrest, O.1.E., ex-Director of Records,<br /> Government of India, and author of “ Sepoy<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Generals,” has published through the same firm a<br /> copiously illustrated book called ‘‘ Cities of India”<br /> (10s. 6d. net). Mr. Forrest, who is one of the<br /> greatest living authorities on the ancient and<br /> modern history of India, has seen with his own<br /> eyes the cities he so admirably describes. The<br /> illustrations are excellent.<br /> <br /> ’ The Transactions of the Royal Society of Litera-<br /> <br /> ture are being edited, as indeed they have been<br /> ‘since 1894, by Perey W. Ames, LL.D., F.S.A.<br /> Besides publishing the following addresses : ‘‘ Posi-<br /> tivism in Literature,” “Supposed Source of the Vicar<br /> of Wakefield,” ‘‘ Racial and Individual Tempera-<br /> ments,” ‘‘ Superstition, Science, and Philosophy,”<br /> “Poetry and Science of Archeology,” &amp;c., &amp;c., Dr.<br /> Ames, in 1900, edited, with introduction and one<br /> lecture, “‘Chaucer Memorial Lectures.” In 1898<br /> he edited, with an historical sketch of the Princess<br /> Elizabeth and Margaret of Navarre, “The Mirror<br /> of the Sinful Soul.” Before that he edited, with<br /> an introductory address, a volume of “ Afternoon<br /> Lectures on English Literature.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Sydney Lee has brought to a close his tour<br /> in America. He has been accorded an enthusiastic<br /> reception in the Hastern and the Western States.<br /> He has given fifty-three Jectures, and has travelled<br /> by rail more than ten thousand miles. Besides<br /> delivering addresses before the Library Association<br /> at Washington and the State University of North<br /> Carolina, Mr. Lee lectured at Staten Island, New<br /> York, at the request of Mr. William Winter, in aid<br /> of the library founded by him in memory of his son,<br /> the late Mr. Arthur Winter.<br /> <br /> Mr. Lee also gave addresses on Shakespeare at<br /> Indianapolis and before the State Universities of<br /> Ohio and Indiana.<br /> <br /> Among recently published books by members of<br /> the Society is Mr. Justin McCarthy’s ‘British<br /> Political Leaders” (T. Fisher Unwin: 7s. 6d.<br /> net). Though all may not agree with his point<br /> of view, may not see eye to eye with him, yet<br /> readers can scarcely fail to find this volume attrac-<br /> tive. It is charmingly written.<br /> <br /> There is also a couple of volumes issued by Mr.<br /> John Murray, entitled, ‘‘ More letters of Charles<br /> Darwin,” being a record of his work in a series of<br /> hitherto unpublished letters, edited by Francis<br /> Darwin, Fellow of Christ’s College, and A. C.<br /> Seward, Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.<br /> (32s. net.)<br /> <br /> Then, Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, whose remarkable<br /> novel, “The Conqueror,’ we all remember, has<br /> now published, through Harpers, “A Few of<br /> Hamilton’s Letters.” Those who are interested in<br /> <br /> that famous man’s personality will find this selection<br /> from his correspondence well worth reading.<br /> <br /> 229<br /> <br /> Professor E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., etc., Direc-<br /> tor of the British Museum of Natural History,<br /> has contributed a Preface to Mr. S. Theodore<br /> Andrea Cook’s book, ‘ Spirals in Nature and Art”<br /> (John Murray). This is a study of spiral forma-<br /> tions based on the manuscripts of Leonardo da<br /> Vinci, with special reference to the architecture of<br /> the open staircase at Blois in Touraine, now for<br /> the first time shown to be from his designs. This<br /> interesting volume is 7s. 6d. net.<br /> <br /> Miss Marie Corelli recently addressed a crowded<br /> meeting of the O. P. Club in the large hall of<br /> the Criterion Restaurant. Miss Corelli spoke<br /> on “The Trust on behalf of the Nation at<br /> Stratford-on-Avon.” She protested against the<br /> destruction of any buildings in Heniey Street, par-<br /> ticularly such old and valuable ones as were seen<br /> and known by Shakespeare, and were on that<br /> account priceless to the literary and dramatic<br /> world of to-day. Especially did she plead for the<br /> quaint little half-timbered dwelling of Thomas<br /> Green, once town clerk of Stratford and cousin of<br /> Shakespeare.<br /> <br /> Miss Corelli protested against the proposed<br /> destructive alterations, and earnestly requested<br /> that a committee might be formed to inquire<br /> into the case she put forward. She considered<br /> that the culpable ignorance and carelessness of<br /> the Executive Committee of the Shakespearean<br /> Trust proved that the time had come when their<br /> national duty should be taken up by a wider,<br /> more educated and more Shakespearean body. An<br /> appeal to Parliament for the preservation of Henley<br /> Street was being sent out for signature, and there<br /> was every reason to believe that it would bereceived<br /> with favour.<br /> <br /> The clause in the Employment of Children Bill<br /> which prohibits the appearance of children under<br /> fourteen upon the stage has evoked a series of<br /> protesting letters in the Daily Telegraph from<br /> such authorities as Sir Henry Irving, Miss Ellen<br /> Terry, Miss Ellaline Terriss, Mr. George Alexander,<br /> Mr. Beerbohm Tree, Messrs. Frederick Harrison<br /> and Cyril Maude, and Mr. Arthur Collins and<br /> Mr. F. W. Wyndham. We have room for two<br /> quotations only. Miss Ellen Terry says :<br /> <br /> “T cannot remain silent when I hear of disaster threaten-<br /> ing our future actors and actresses. Sir Henry Irving and<br /> others have urged the cruelty of taking joy and pleasure<br /> from the lives of children by prohibiting their employment<br /> on the stage. I go further, and say that the effect of such<br /> a law will be to take education from them, education in the<br /> widest sense technical. I can put my finger at once on the<br /> actors and actresses who were not on the stage when<br /> children. Withall their hard work they can never acquire<br /> afterwards the perfect unconsciousness which they learn<br /> then soeasily. .. . lam anactress, but first 1 am a woman<br /> and I love children. I don’tsay that the conditions under<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 230<br /> <br /> which they work on the stage are perfect. I could point to<br /> many things which IJ should like tosee altered, particularly<br /> the practice of their being too many hours at a stretch in<br /> the theatre, as is the case when they are employed in two<br /> performances on one day. But surely it is not right to<br /> sweep away a fine training for children because it has<br /> faults ?”<br /> <br /> The second extract is from Mr. Tree’s letter :<br /> <br /> “T will leave to others the task of pointing out in detail<br /> how desirable it is for the children of poor parents to have<br /> the opportunity of learning in their early years those<br /> habits of obedience, cleanliness and orderliness which are<br /> part of the discipline of every well-regulated theatre ; also<br /> the social value to them in after life of daily mixing, while<br /> still young, with those who can teach them good manners<br /> and self-respect. The one point I am most anxious to<br /> make is this: The Bill as it stands would not only deprive<br /> the children of these benefits, but would also deprive<br /> hundreds of thousands of the public of the pleasure they<br /> derive from those theatrical performances (such as panto-<br /> mime, and the like), from which the services of children<br /> areinseparable. Moreover, any such new legislation would<br /> practically banish from our stage many of Shakespeare&#039;s<br /> most-admired plays, such as “The Midsummer Night&#039;s<br /> Dream,” “ The Tempest,” “ A Winter’s Tale,” ‘The Merry<br /> Wives of Windsor,” ‘Richard III,” “King John,” and<br /> other classical works. It is needless to point out that these<br /> remarks apply equally to grand opera and public concerts<br /> whenever the services of children form an integral part of<br /> the entertainment.”<br /> <br /> All the letters are worthy of careful considera-<br /> tion, and we refer our readers to the particular<br /> issue of the Daily Telegraph from which we have<br /> quoted, 7.¢., that of Monday, May 18th.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ———_—_—__- ~~<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> —— &gt;<br /> <br /> ANATOLE FRANCE’S novel, “ Histoire<br /> Mi e Comique,” is now published in volume<br /> form, after running through the Revue<br /> de Paris as a serial. There is nothing comic<br /> about it except the one word in the title. It is, in<br /> fact, a most gruesome story. Félicie, an actress<br /> who is considered a star, has deserted her lover of<br /> less prosperous days for a young aristocrat, Robert<br /> de Ligny. ‘The ex-lover, Chevalier, warns her of<br /> his own jealousy and begs her to return to him.<br /> She pays no attention to his words and one day,<br /> when she is coming away from a rendezvous<br /> with de Ligny, Chevalier commits suicide in her<br /> presence.<br /> From this day forth Félicie has no peace of<br /> mind. The dead man’s face seems to haunt her,<br /> and at the most unexpected times and places she<br /> fancies that she sees him.<br /> <br /> Chevalier had been an actor, and all his thea-<br /> trical friends undertake the arrangements for his<br /> funeral. The Church refuses the burial service on<br /> account of the suicide, and Félicie, who hopes that<br /> the holy water may lay the ghost of the dead man,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> joins with her comrades in insisting on the religious<br /> rites being performed. A certain Dr. Trublet, the<br /> medical adviser of the theatre to which Félicie<br /> belongs, is the philosopher whom we usually meet<br /> in Anatole France’s books. In this instance the<br /> artistes have recourse to him for a certificate<br /> proving that Chevalier was insane when he shot<br /> himself. A priest had suggested, in a wily way,<br /> that the dead man had, perhaps, not been respon-<br /> sible for his actions, and that if this could be<br /> proved the Church would not refuse to bury him.<br /> Dr. Trublet accordingly searches among his learned<br /> books, and finds various instances of temporary<br /> insanity. He delivers a long harangue on the<br /> subject of free will and determinism. His con-<br /> cluding argument is that the world is an amusing<br /> place on the whole, and that Chevalier must have<br /> been more insane than other men, since he had<br /> voluntarily resigned his place here. The certificate<br /> that he makes out is so full of technical terms that<br /> the doctor declares that it is “ too utterly devoid<br /> of any sense to contain a lie.”<br /> <br /> The funeral service is accordingly held in the<br /> church, All the artistes attend the ceremony and<br /> then proceed to the cemetery, but they are all so<br /> much occupied with their own private affairs and<br /> with ull the gossip and scandal they have to tell<br /> each other, that they only remember at intervals<br /> what has brought them all there together.<br /> Immediately after the funeral Félicie goes with<br /> her lover to luncheon at a _ restaurant, and<br /> endeavours to forget the dead man.<br /> <br /> It is of no use, though, and to the end of the<br /> story she is haunted by his reproachful eyes.<br /> There is not much plot and there is a great deal<br /> that is unpleasant in the book, but the keen<br /> observation, the delicate sarcasm, and, above all, the<br /> perfect style and language are all to be found in<br /> “ Histoire Comique” as in every work by Anatole<br /> France.<br /> <br /> In Brada’s new novel, “Retour du Flot,” we<br /> have a subject which lends itself well to the<br /> weaving of a romance. The mystery is that it<br /> has not been adopted more frequently by authors.<br /> <br /> It is the story of a woman who, after several<br /> years of happiness in her married life, loses her<br /> little girl and cannot recover from her grief. Her<br /> husband, who was also devotedly fond of the child,<br /> wearies of the gloominess of his home and the<br /> constant sadness of his wife and seeks amusement<br /> elsewhere.<br /> <br /> On discovering that he has been faithless to her<br /> his wife applies for a divorce and will hear of no:<br /> compromise.<br /> <br /> After two or three years of loneliness and misery<br /> she consents to marry a cousin who has always<br /> loved her, and who is a man of fine character. She<br /> is quite resigned to her new lot in life when, on the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 231<br /> <br /> sixth anniversary of her little girl’s death, as she<br /> is walking past her old home, she meets her first<br /> husband. He saves her from being knocked down<br /> by a vehicle as she is crossing the road. It is the<br /> first time they have met since their divorce, and<br /> they both realise, as they talk to each other once<br /> more, the fatal mistake they made in the old<br /> days.<br /> <br /> The struggle which now takes place in the<br /> woman’s heart between the love which has never<br /> died and her new duties is described with great<br /> delicacy.<br /> <br /> The loneliness and misery of the man who had<br /> formerly been everything to her appeal to her ;<br /> and when he begs her to meet him again she con-<br /> sents, Her life during the next few months is<br /> almost unbearable. The book is charming to the<br /> very end, and the dénowement seems most natural.<br /> All the characters live, and there is no seeking<br /> after effect. It is merely a simple story told in the<br /> most simple and natural way possible.<br /> <br /> During the last year the books which have been<br /> most discussed here have been those written by<br /> women. ‘This may seem rather flattering to the<br /> fortunate writers of them, but it is only fair to add<br /> that much of the discussion has been on the subject<br /> of the exaggeration of women writers, as shown in<br /> several of their recent novels.<br /> <br /> Judging by some specimens of these realistic<br /> novels that have been before the public, it seems<br /> as though “women rush in where men fear to<br /> tread.”<br /> <br /> In “La Maison du Péché” we had an example<br /> of this, and still more recently in “ La Nouvelle<br /> Espérance.” “ I,’ Inconstante,” too, is a novel that<br /> has astonished everyone, coming, as it does, from<br /> the pen of a woman.<br /> <br /> Exaggeration of this kind cannot be attributed<br /> to Madame Daniel Lesueur in the novel she has just<br /> published, “ Le Coeur Chemine.” It is a delight-<br /> fully natural story of a woman who makes the dis-<br /> covery that she is not as happy as she thought<br /> she was in her married life. Thanks to a poet<br /> whom she had known years before, and whom<br /> she meets by accident at Antwerp, she makes this<br /> discovery. She has accompanied her husband on<br /> one of his business journeys to Antwerp and<br /> Bruges, and the poet wanders through the<br /> museums and churches with her, with the result<br /> that she realises how prosaic her life is.<br /> <br /> There is no strong plot running through this<br /> book: it is just a psychological study from beginning<br /> toend. The poet makes love to the wife of the<br /> prosaic husband, and she is tempted to promise, at<br /> any rate, to be his friend and his muse. Things<br /> cannot stop at this stage, but just at a critical<br /> moment the wife discovers the nobility of character<br /> of her husband and remains faithful to him. As<br /> <br /> the years go by life is again most monotonous, and<br /> once more the poet crosses her path. She has<br /> another terrible struggle with herself, and once<br /> more comes out victorious,<br /> <br /> The minor characters in the story are all well<br /> drawn, and the author only attempts to show us<br /> the workings of the heart of all these human beings<br /> without trying to explain at all why so much that<br /> is unsatisfactory should remain so to the end. It<br /> is, as she says, a most pitiful mystery that one<br /> should be compelled to make sacrifices which, as<br /> far as we can see, do no final good, although they<br /> cost us so much.<br /> <br /> The second volume of “Souvenirs sur Madame<br /> de Maintenon” has just been published by the<br /> Count d’Haussonville and M. Hanotaux. It is one<br /> of the most interesting books that has yet appeared<br /> on this subject, as it contains the famous “ Cahiers<br /> de Mademoiselle d’Aumale.” We get a detailed<br /> account of life at the French Court under Louis XIYV.,<br /> dating from his liaison with Madame de Montespan.<br /> <br /> In the Preface, by M. Hanotaux, we are told<br /> that Madame de Maintenon wished “to remain an<br /> enigma to posterity,’ and that she only intended<br /> those papers about her life to be published which<br /> she had prepared for publication. It was on this<br /> account that Madame de Maintenon destroyed all<br /> her correspondence with Louis XIV, and with<br /> various other persons. ‘<br /> <br /> Mademoiselle d’Aumale commences her memoirs<br /> with a chapter on “Madame de Maintenon and<br /> Madame de Montespan.” Another chapter is on<br /> the ‘‘Duchesse de Bourgogne,” and there is also<br /> an account of the death of Louis XIV., which<br /> Mademoiselle d’Aumale witnessed,<br /> <br /> “Zette”’ is the title of the new story by MM.<br /> Paul et Victor Margueritte.<br /> <br /> “L’Amoureuse Rédemption,” by M. Armand<br /> Charpentier, is a strong book which appears to be<br /> having great success.<br /> <br /> Among other new novels are “ Ballons Rouges,”<br /> by Madame de Bovet, “TL Etape Silencieuse,” by<br /> Jean Saint-Yves, and “ Petite Fille d’Amiral,” by<br /> Pierre Maél.<br /> <br /> A new poet has also come to the front with a<br /> volume entitled “Jamais,” the preface of which<br /> is written by M. Sully Prudhomme. The poet is<br /> M. Charles Reculoux.<br /> <br /> Various books on religious questions have been<br /> published recently, and are no doubt due to the<br /> agitation now going on here with reference to the<br /> Congregations.<br /> <br /> One of these books is “ Le Concordat de 1801,<br /> ses Origines et son Histoire,” by Cardinal Mathieu ;<br /> and another is “La Révolution Francaise et les<br /> Congrégations,” by M. Aulard.<br /> <br /> At the last meeting of the French Academy<br /> literary prizes were awarded to Madame Bentzon<br />  <br /> <br /> 232<br /> <br /> and to MM. Adolphe: Brisson, Mandat-Grancey,<br /> Pontsevrez, Victor du Bled, de Pommerol and<br /> A. Halley.<br /> <br /> The chief theatrical event here has been the<br /> production of Maeterlinck’s new play, “ Joyzelle,”<br /> at the Gymnase Theatre. Space forbids our giving<br /> <br /> any details about this piece this month.<br /> <br /> There is an excellent article on “ The Works of<br /> Maeterlinck ” in the May number of the Interna-<br /> tional Theatre, which gives a very good idea of the<br /> chief features of this author’s books and plays.<br /> <br /> M. Mirbeau’s piece at the Francais may be pro-<br /> nounced a success, and we hear it is to be put on<br /> the English stage by Mr. Alexander as “ Business<br /> is Business.”<br /> <br /> The great theme of the play is the influence of<br /> money in modern society. It is a somewhat daring<br /> piece and the banker is a cleverly drawn type of<br /> the financier of our times.<br /> <br /> “Le Ruban Rouge” is a melodrama taken from<br /> the novel by M. Pierre Sales, whose success as a<br /> « fenilletonist” has been as marked. It has been<br /> put on at the Ambigu, and was very much<br /> appreciated by the house.<br /> <br /> In honour of M. Rostand’s reception at the<br /> Academy, Madame Sarah Bernhardt will revive<br /> “J Aiglon” at her theatre, and M. Coquelin will<br /> give ‘Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Porte Saint-<br /> <br /> Martin.<br /> Auys HALLARD.<br /> <br /> __ 9<br /> <br /> PARRY y. MORING AND GOLLANCZ.<br /> <br /> —+—~&lt;—+ —<br /> <br /> N this action, to which two members of the<br /> Society, Judge Parry and Mr. Gollancz, were<br /> parties, a point of considerable literary im-<br /> <br /> portance was decided, and several others were raised<br /> either in the pleadings or in the newspaper con-<br /> troversy which followed it.<br /> <br /> The facts on which the action was based are<br /> briefly as follows :—<br /> <br /> In 1888 Judge Parry obtained from their then<br /> owner, the Rev. 8. R. Longe, with a view to pub-<br /> lication, copies of the original letters written before<br /> marriage by Dorothy Osborne to Sir William<br /> Temple in A.D. 1652-4. To the originals them-<br /> selves he had no access. The copies were made<br /> by the daughter-in-law of the owner, and the<br /> gratuitous offer of them had been occasioned by<br /> the publication in April, 1886, in the English<br /> Illustrated Magazine, of a sketch by Judge Parry,<br /> compiled from Courtenay’s “ Life of Temple,”<br /> and entitled Dorothy Osborne, Judge Parry<br /> re-arranged the letters, many of which were<br /> undated, in what he believed to be their proper<br /> sequence, and spent some time in modernising<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> their spelling and English and in annotating<br /> them. He proceeded to publish the letters after,<br /> at the request of his publisher, making excisions’<br /> amounting in all to about 100 lines, in a guinea<br /> volume, entitled Zhe Letters of Dorothy Osborne<br /> to Sir William Temple. He registered the copy-<br /> right of his book on June 15th, 1888. In October,<br /> 1888, a second edition was issued at the price of 6s.<br /> _No mention appears to have been made at the<br /> time by the original owner, or by Judge Parry, of the<br /> copyright in the letters ; nor was any notice given<br /> of the copyright having been previously dealt with<br /> when in 1891 the original letters were, after the<br /> death of the Rev. 8. R. Longe, sold by the then<br /> owner to the British Museum, where the librarian<br /> arranged and bound them (with one exception)<br /> in the same order in which Judge Parry had<br /> printed them.<br /> <br /> In November, 1902, Judge Parry’s attention<br /> was called to the advertisement of a volume<br /> entitled Zhe Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to<br /> Sir William Temple. Newly Edited from the original<br /> MSS. by Israel Gollancz. On the 1st December<br /> Messrs. Boote, Edgar &amp; Co., Judge Parry’s<br /> solicitors, wrote to Mr. Moring, the publisher<br /> of the proposed volume, stating that their client:<br /> had copyrighted his publication, of which he was<br /> preparing another edition, and that if necessary he<br /> would take steps to prevent the publication adver-<br /> -tised by Mr. Moring. Mr. Moring answered, on the<br /> 2nd December, that the work in question had been<br /> prepared from the original letters in the British<br /> Museum, and that under these circumstances he<br /> presumed Judge Parry would take no further steps.<br /> in the matter. Messrs. Boote, Edgar &amp; Co.<br /> repliedfon the 4th December stating that they and:<br /> Judge Parry were unable to understand how Mr.<br /> Moring claimed to be entitled to publish the book<br /> advertised by him, and under what permission or<br /> sanction from the British Museum he claimed<br /> such authority.<br /> <br /> On the 8th December Mr. Gollancz wrote to<br /> Judge Parry, alleging that “the fact of the originals<br /> now being the property of the nation made the<br /> letters common property,” and offering “to con-<br /> nect the new edition with your esteemed name.”<br /> On the 9th December Judge Parry referred Mr.<br /> Gollancz to his solicitors, and on the same day<br /> Messrs. Boote, Edgar &amp; Co., wrote to both the<br /> defendants calling on them “to discontinue the<br /> issue of the edition published by you.”<br /> <br /> Mr. Moring, however—after three months delay<br /> issued the volume at 2s. 6d. in March, 1903; and<br /> on the 18th March Judge Parry filed an affidavit in<br /> the Chancery Division of the High Court in support<br /> of an action to restrain its further issue. In<br /> this he did not insist on the claim suggested<br /> in the correspondence to an exclusive copyright in<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> the original letters, but based his case on the<br /> allegation that the copyright in his work already<br /> described had been infringed with regard to (1) his<br /> notes, (2) his arrangement of the letters, (3) his text,<br /> and (4) his title. The defendants replied by affi-<br /> davit alleging that “they had not made any unfair<br /> use of the plaintiff’s book,” and as to the notes,<br /> they contested in detail the evidences of any such<br /> use brought forward by the plaintiff. Mr.<br /> Gollancz for himself denied having copied the<br /> order of the letters, stating that he had followed<br /> with one or two exceptions (based on his own<br /> researches) the British Museum order. He ad-<br /> mitted that, “as rough working copy, a print was<br /> set up of the letters as appearing in the plaintiff’s<br /> book,” but he alleged that the editor had collated it<br /> with the original letters “ at least ten times” and<br /> corrected “about 2,000 errors and differences,”<br /> and restored numerous omissions extending from<br /> one line to thirty, “the result being a new<br /> and very superior text.” He entered into detailed<br /> explanation of the cases in which he was charged<br /> with having copied or retained errors in Judge<br /> Parry’s notes. He submitted that his title was<br /> no infringement of copyright. He added, “I<br /> have always bond fide believed that I was acting<br /> within my strict rights, and in a way that could<br /> not be thought unfair to other editors, or in<br /> particular to the plaintiff.”<br /> <br /> The case came on before Mr. Justice Farwell gn<br /> April 8rd, 1903, on an application for an interim<br /> injunction. The Judge ut once expressed his<br /> opinion that the defendants’ admission that they<br /> had taken Judge Parry’s book and had copied it<br /> was fatal. In reply to the argument that they<br /> might “‘have made it their own by ten or a dozen<br /> comparisons with the manuscripts,” he added, “ It<br /> seems to me the substratum is fatal to you ; you<br /> cannot use your scaffolding.”<br /> <br /> On this point, and on this alone, the case was<br /> decided. The defendants’ counsel, “ who stated<br /> “‘they were not altogether taken by surprise,”<br /> submitted to’ judgment for delivery up on oath<br /> of all the books and documents constituting the<br /> infringement, and an inquiry as to damages and<br /> costs down to the trial.<br /> <br /> There can be little doubt that the judgment,<br /> which was so readily accepted by the defendants’<br /> counsel, was sound in law.<br /> <br /> No decision, it will be noted, was arrived at by<br /> the Court on the three further alleged infringements<br /> of copyright brought forward—the title, the<br /> arrangement of the letters, and the notes—nor<br /> does the Committee presume to express an opinion<br /> on the legal points involved. :<br /> <br /> With regard to the notes the question is a<br /> complicated one. The following sentences convey<br /> the opinion furnished to the Committee by an<br /> <br /> 233<br /> <br /> eminent counsel on the general rules likely to be<br /> applied by a Court of Law dealing with similar<br /> cases: ‘The principle of the law, as laid down<br /> in various judgments, appears to be that an<br /> author may use his predecessor’s work, but must<br /> not copy it. He must, by adding something<br /> of his own, or derived from other and separate<br /> sources, by amalgamating and assimilating his<br /> literary material, create a new product. He must<br /> incorporate what he takes in his own work. Inthe<br /> words of Lord Eldon, he is allowed ‘ the legitimate<br /> use of a publication in the fair exercise of a mental<br /> operation deserving the character of an original<br /> work.’ Mere unintelligent copying, especially if<br /> mistakes are copied, will be stopped. Intelligent<br /> verification and assimilation of previous research<br /> in a work of substantial originality will: not be<br /> interfered with. The application of this principle<br /> to individual cases must be guided by the study of<br /> the particular facts involved.”<br /> <br /> The result of the trial gave rise to a newspaper<br /> correspondence, in which some well-known scholars<br /> took part. Dr. Furnivall, in the Zimes, asserted<br /> that the case had been decided on a technical<br /> point, and that a substantial injustice had been<br /> done by declaring illegal a practice which he<br /> asserted to be common among scholars and essen-<br /> tial in the interests of literature. His letter,<br /> however, was not mainly directed to the points<br /> brought before the Court, and still less to the<br /> point decided. He preferred to lay stress on<br /> Judge Parry’s assertion of his own belief that “if<br /> at any time an honest attempt were made to copy<br /> the MSS. in the British Museum, he could show<br /> circumstances entitling him to restrain publica-<br /> tion of such a copy if he so desired,” or, as Dr.<br /> Furnivall put it, “that he could show circumstances<br /> that would entitle him to restrain publication of<br /> these manuscripts in the British Museum if he<br /> so desired.” Professor Skeat also wrote calling<br /> attention to the excisions made by Judge Parry<br /> in his text, and commenting severely on his descrip-<br /> tion of it as “a complete edition.”<br /> <br /> In the opinion of the Committee there can be<br /> no question that any legal hindrance to the use<br /> of manuscripts in a national collection would be<br /> a misfortune to literature. But this claim was not<br /> put before the Court, and Judge Parry has speci-<br /> fically stated that he will never seek to enforce it.<br /> It may therefore be dismissed from the discussion.<br /> <br /> The Committee are unable to regard the point on<br /> which the case was decided as purely technical. Mr.<br /> Gollancz had the original letters at his disposal. It<br /> was open to him to copy them, and to collate his<br /> copies with his predecessor’s version if he thought<br /> it desirable. He preferred to take the opposite<br /> course. He borrowed: his predecessor’s text, and,<br /> without reference to Judge Parry, made it the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 234<br /> <br /> basis of his own. It can be no defence to allege<br /> that Judge Parry’s work was at once faulty and<br /> defective. If it is the custom among scholars to go<br /> to a faulty version, when the original is at hand,<br /> or to use a living editor’s text without communi-<br /> cating with him until after he has threatened legal<br /> proceedings, the Committee consider that the law<br /> has done a service to literature in declaring that<br /> such practices are illegal.<br /> <br /> The Committee have not overlooked the literary<br /> aspect of the case. Judge Parry’s edition of the<br /> letters is admittedly incomplete, and the reason<br /> assigned by him for the excisions, namely, the request<br /> of his publisher, cannot be considered adequate. It<br /> is not disputed that his text and notes stand in<br /> considerable need of revision. Although the<br /> second edition of his volume was published as<br /> far back as October, 1888, he had apparently not<br /> availed himself of the accessibility since 1891 of<br /> the original MSS. in order to revise his text. For<br /> it was not till January, 1903, that Judge Parry<br /> employed a copyist to compare the letters in his<br /> book with the originals in the British Museum,<br /> But, while admitting these considerations, the<br /> Committee feel that Judge Parry was entitled to<br /> be consulted before any use was made of his work<br /> in the preparation of a new edition of the letters.<br /> <br /> Finally, as in the Z%mes correspondence the<br /> action of the Secretary of the Society has been<br /> referred to, the Committee think it desirable to<br /> state the part he has taken in the matter.<br /> <br /> Before the trial Mr. Gollancz, as a member of<br /> the Society, called on the Secretary, who, at his<br /> desire, wrote to Judge Parry in the following<br /> terms :—<br /> <br /> THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS,<br /> Mareh 20th, 1903,<br /> <br /> DEAR SIR,—<br /> <br /> I have now perused your affidavit. I have also<br /> seen Mr, Gollancz, who has given me his view of the<br /> position. :<br /> <br /> Mr. Gollanez has asked me to put this offer before you—<br /> but without prejudice to his legal position if you do not<br /> accept it—that either I should endeavour to arrange the<br /> matter between you, or he is willing to abide absolutely by<br /> any decision come to by an arbitrator appointed by the<br /> Committee of Management of the Society.......<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> (Signed) G. HERBERT THRING.<br /> <br /> The omitted portion of the letter is private, and<br /> does not refer to any offer.<br /> <br /> Judge Parry, in his reply, stated that any offer<br /> Mr. Gollancz desired to make must be made through<br /> the usual channels. This information was com-<br /> municated to Mr. Gollancz by the Secretary.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> PROPERTY.<br /> <br /> a<br /> Opinions on United States Copyright Law.*<br /> <br /> I.<br /> <br /> Music Booxs DrEniep ImportTATION<br /> FEBRUARY 15, 1898.<br /> <br /> I. Reprints of musical compositions are pro-<br /> hibited importation.<br /> <br /> II. The term ‘ books” in the prohibiting clause<br /> includes music books.<br /> <br /> III. Music books made up partly of copyrighted<br /> and partly of uncopyrighted compositions cannot<br /> be imported.<br /> <br /> TV. Destruction of unlawfully imported musi¢<br /> books, pursuant to rules of the Secretary of the<br /> Treasury, is legal.<br /> <br /> By the Solicitor-General.<br /> <br /> I. The Act of March 3, 1891, prohibits “ during<br /> the existence of such copyright, the importation<br /> into the United States of any book, chromo, litho-<br /> graph, or photograph so copyrighted.”<br /> <br /> Musical compositions are usually lithographed or<br /> set from type. They thus fall within the class<br /> prohibited. The act indicates an intent to pro-<br /> hibit copyrighted compositions, which includes<br /> musical compositions, when reprinted by type set<br /> or by drawings on stone made outside of the<br /> United States.<br /> <br /> Il. In the clause prohibiting importation, the<br /> word “books” signifies the mechanical means to<br /> place the author’s intellectual work in_ saleable<br /> shape. Courts have construed “books” in this<br /> sense to include a musical composition though on<br /> but one sheet. The reprint may be a book, a<br /> lithograph, or a photograph, according to the pro-<br /> cess. In any of these forms the reprint cannot be<br /> imported during the life of the copyright.<br /> <br /> III. Music books made up in part of copy-<br /> righted compositions are prohibited. A prohibited -<br /> article cannot be admitted by being attached to an<br /> article which is not prohibited. A book is an<br /> entity. If part is not admissible, it must all be<br /> excluded.<br /> <br /> IV. Under the convention with Canada pro-<br /> viding for the reciprocal return of mail matter<br /> which is “not delivered from any cause,” books<br /> imported in violation of law need not be returned.<br /> The Secretary of the Treasury and the Postmaster-<br /> General have power ($4958, R. 8.) to make rules<br /> to prevent importation of prohibited articles.<br /> Under this general authority rules for the forfeiture<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * Extracts from a pamphlet published by the Americam<br /> Publishers’ Copyright League.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> and destruction of prohibited articles unlawfully<br /> imported may be framed so as to provide “ due<br /> process of law.”<br /> <br /> II.<br /> DrRaMatic RIGHTS IN AMERICA JUNE 80, 1896.<br /> <br /> An unpublished drama need not be copyrighted<br /> to protect stage-rights.<br /> <br /> By Mr. Rives.*<br /> <br /> An American publisher is requested by an Eng-<br /> lish author ‘‘to copyright a dramatisation” of a<br /> forthcoming story by producing a simultaneous<br /> technical performance.<br /> <br /> In the United States stage-right rests entirely<br /> on common law right of property, not upon<br /> statute. An unpublished play is protected. The<br /> play is still unpublished if the text of the drama<br /> has not been printed, although the play has been<br /> produced on the stage and the novel from which it<br /> is taken has been published.<br /> <br /> The simultaneous performance desired is un-<br /> necessary to protect the stage-right.<br /> <br /> II.<br /> <br /> Notice oF CopyricuHt; Form or<br /> 1897.<br /> <br /> Marcu 4,<br /> <br /> When a story, published in a magazine and<br /> copyrighted, is reprinted in book form by another<br /> publisher, under an assignment of the copyright,<br /> the notice therein should give the date of the<br /> original copyright and name of the original<br /> publisher.<br /> <br /> By Mr, Rives.<br /> <br /> A story was copyrighted by the J. B. Lippincott<br /> Company when published in its magazine. The<br /> copyright was assigned to Dodd, Mead &amp; Company,<br /> who are about to publish the story in book form,<br /> and who inquire as to the proper form for the notice<br /> of copyright.<br /> <br /> The law requires a notice to be printed in every<br /> book in order to entitle it to protection under its<br /> coypright. The notice must be in the required<br /> words, Congress declares it must give ‘the year<br /> the copyright was entered and the name of the<br /> party by whom it was taken out.” If the story is<br /> reprinted in the same form the notice should be<br /> “ Copyright, 1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company.”<br /> If it is not to be published in exactly the same<br /> form as in the magazine it may be copyrighted as a<br /> new edition, and the notice should be “ Copyright,<br /> 1896, by J. P. Lippincott Company ; Copyright,<br /> 1897, by Dodd, Mead &amp; Company.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * My. Rives is the Counsel to the League.<br /> <br /> hd<br /> oe<br /> Or<br /> <br /> IV<br /> <br /> RE-BINDING CHEAP Eprrions ror SALE<br /> APRIL 3, 1899,<br /> <br /> Can the owner of a copyright, who sells a<br /> cheap edition of the book, prevent its being put in<br /> another cover, so as to compete at lower prices with<br /> a better edition of the same book ?<br /> <br /> By Mr. Rives.<br /> <br /> The question of how far the owner of a copy -<br /> right can impose restrictions upon the use of his<br /> book has often been before the Courts. The ques-<br /> tion seems to depend on the consideration whether<br /> the owner of the copyright has sold the book. If<br /> the owner of the copyright has nof sold the book he<br /> can restrict its use. So in case of an edition of<br /> Blaine’s “Twenty Years in Congress,” the<br /> publisher had not sold it to canvassing agents and<br /> the bookseller, who got a few copies, knowing of<br /> the agreement under which the agents got the<br /> book, was restrained. But the moment the book<br /> is sold, even though conditions are attached to the<br /> sale, the owner of the copyright must rely on his<br /> remedy for breach of contract, and not on his right<br /> to restrain an infringement of copyright.<br /> <br /> So, where books damaged by fire were sold toa<br /> dealer on condition “that all books be sold as<br /> paper stock only and not placed on the market as<br /> anything else,” but the books were rebound and<br /> put on sale, the Court held the remedy was not for<br /> violation of the copyright, but of the terms of the<br /> contract.<br /> <br /> The question next arises how far an owner of a<br /> copyright who se//s his books can protect himself<br /> by imposing conditions on their use. I think an<br /> agreement by which a dealer undertakes, for an<br /> expressed consideration, to sell the books only in a<br /> certain form would, be valid and enforceable as a<br /> contract ; without reference to any copyright.<br /> <br /> A greater difficulty arises with respect to the<br /> one to whom the first purchaser may sell. The<br /> contract might also provide that the first purchaser<br /> should insert similar conditions in any contract of<br /> sale with a subsequent purchaser. How far a con-<br /> tract between B. and C., made for the benefit of A.,<br /> is enforceable by A., is hard to say. The rule<br /> varies in different States, but usually A. would have<br /> no remedy against C.<br /> <br /> I advise, the safest course is for the publisher to<br /> have a carefully drawn agreement with the dealer<br /> providing that the dealer shall not dispose of the<br /> books except in proper covers ; and also that in<br /> selling to other dealers the original purchaser shall<br /> agree to impose the same condition ; and that any<br /> breach shall be compensated by liquidated damages.<br /> It would also be well to print a notice in each copy<br /> of the book referring to the original contract.<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 236<br /> <br /> Such contract should be enforced against the first<br /> purchaser, and he might be trusted to enforce it<br /> against the dealers to whom he sold.<br /> <br /> Vv.<br /> <br /> PUBLICATION TO SECURE COPYRIGHT<br /> OcToBER 30, 1901.<br /> <br /> Is publication of a book necessary to secure<br /> copyright ?<br /> <br /> ae By Mr. Rives.<br /> <br /> The text of the statute is silent on this point.<br /> The act, however, assumes that every copyrighted<br /> book is to be published. Copies of the book must<br /> be deposited “not later than the day of publica-<br /> tion.” No action for infringement can be brought<br /> unless a notice is printed in the “ copies of every<br /> edition published.’ The question is what the<br /> Court will infer from this language. In “ Drone<br /> on Copyright,” it is said that “ publication is made<br /> an essential prerequisite to securing copyright ; and<br /> hence there can be no statutory copyright in an un-<br /> published work.” The case of Boucicault v. Hart<br /> (Circuit Court of the United States in New York)<br /> held that a mere filing of title conferred no rights,<br /> unless there was a publication in a reasonable time.<br /> There is, however, a dictum in the case of Farmer<br /> vy. Calvert (Circuit Court in Michigan) that publi-<br /> cation 1s not necessary. The point, therefore, is<br /> somewhat doutbful. ‘he Constitution empowers<br /> Congress to pass copyright laws, not only to pro-<br /> tect authors, but (as it declares) ‘to promote the<br /> progress of science and useful arts,” or, in other<br /> words, to encourage the diffusion of knowledge.<br /> Part of the price an author pays for protection is<br /> that his work shall be available for consultation by<br /> all who desire it.<br /> <br /> I am, therefore, of the opinion that the purpose<br /> of the law is that the author shall, within some<br /> reasonable time, make his work public.<br /> <br /> As the question is not definitely settled, I should<br /> consider it unwise for a publisher to defer actual<br /> publication for a long time, as it would be running<br /> a serious risk of having his copyright declared<br /> invalid if he afterwards tried to prevent an<br /> infringement. ®<br /> <br /> ———+—<br /> <br /> A Curious ‘Case.<br /> <br /> In the autumn of 1902 a member of the Society<br /> received a communication from a firm of the name<br /> of Messrs, J. E. Stannard &amp; Co., calling itself<br /> advertising agents aad contractors, offering to<br /> procure the copyright of certain of her books in<br /> America, for a fixed price. As, however, the books<br /> <br /> had already been published in England the author<br /> _ was advised that this would be impossible.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> The contractors, however, were not to be beaten<br /> and claimed that they had a method of obtaining<br /> protection, although the work had already been<br /> published in England. They promised great things<br /> from the circulation of the book and offered to<br /> obtain the control of the whole American market.<br /> <br /> Still the author hesitated, but finally, under the<br /> advice of the Secretary of the Society, refused to<br /> accept the offer. The Secretary pointed out that<br /> as the American copyright was lost, it would be<br /> much better for her to deal with her former<br /> American publishers —an old-established and<br /> reliable firm—if she desired to test the American<br /> market. Her English publishers gave her the same<br /> advice. Still Messrs. Stannard &amp; Co. were per-<br /> sistent, “ considering that it must be disheartening<br /> to theauthor to feel that rights worth somethousands<br /> of pounds might slip away at any moment.” Again,<br /> in a letter dated October Ist, 1902, they state as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “We think it decidedly unfair that after we have taken<br /> the trouble to do for you what neither of your ‘ firms of<br /> standing’ ever thought of doing, that is, telling you how<br /> to rescue what you have lost, you straightway go and turn<br /> over the information to someone else. We could have<br /> secured the copyrights ourselves and no one would have<br /> blamed us for so doing, instead of which we offered to get<br /> them for you. Our clients learn to rely on us for straight-<br /> forwardness, and it is natural that we should expect the<br /> same in return. We should be pleased to hear from you in<br /> due course. We are tempted with an offer which would<br /> amply recoup us for our trouble, but as it would not be any<br /> <br /> to your advantage if we accepted it we have postponed the<br /> reply until you come to a decision.”<br /> <br /> The author was still obdurate.<br /> In a letter from Messrs. Stannard &amp; Co., dated<br /> October 24th, we find the following paragraphs :—<br /> <br /> ‘Since we are not in business as philanthropists we have<br /> advised our American manager by this mail to secure copy-<br /> rights of your books if possible, and retain them in our<br /> name.<br /> <br /> “Failing this, he is to issue a par. to the American<br /> Literary Press that the American Literary Copyrights are<br /> not secured.<br /> <br /> “ Since respectability does not enter into the methods of<br /> American business men, we have no doubt that this will<br /> <br /> have the desired effect, and if some cute American publisher .<br /> <br /> copyrights the works in his own name and prevents you<br /> from issuing them in the U.S.A. you cannot say that timely<br /> warning was not given you.<br /> <br /> ‘* As we have pointed out before, the copyrights are worth<br /> as much to us as they are to you. If we get them, the law<br /> is with us. Under no circumstances will we sign your<br /> publisher’s agreement, and unless you are willing to agree<br /> to the terms stated in our agreement we must follow our<br /> own course in the matter.<br /> <br /> “A cablegram (prepaid) will be the only course open<br /> if you wish our American manager to await further<br /> instructions.<br /> <br /> “Since much valuable time has been wasted, we must<br /> ask for a final decision at your earliest convenience.”<br /> <br /> The daring of the gentleman who writes for the<br /> <br /> firm is interesting quite apart from his legal know-<br /> <br /> ledge, which is peculiar, It is abundantly clear<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 /> THE AUTHOR. 237<br /> <br /> to those who have any knowledge of American<br /> Copyright Law that if any person actually obtains<br /> copyright in America without the English author’s<br /> sanction, he must be taking that which does not<br /> belong to him—that is to say, supposing the pub-<br /> lication in both countries to be simultaneous. If<br /> he does not obtain the author’s copyright, but<br /> merely publishes on the American market, he is<br /> only acting as a common but legalised pirate,<br /> <br /> On the 21st of January of the present year,<br /> Messrs. Lane and Stannard, presumably repre-<br /> senting the same firm in the United States,<br /> wrote as follows from New York :—<br /> <br /> “Re the U.S.A. copyrights of your books. We beg to<br /> inform you.that they have been secured in accordance with<br /> the law, and should therefore be pleased to hear from you<br /> with respect to the publishing of the same in this country.<br /> <br /> “As the general publishing price in this country is<br /> $1.50, and the wholesaler’s price but half that amount,<br /> it isnot possible to import an edition and sell at a profit, as<br /> there is a duty of 45 per cent. on imported books. Taking<br /> your offer of two shillings and sixpence (or 60 cents) per<br /> volume, and adding the cost of freight and duty, you<br /> will see that the importing cost would be at least $1 per<br /> volume, and therefore cannot be entertained as a business<br /> proposition.<br /> <br /> “Weare willing and ready to deal with you on equitable<br /> terms for the printing and publishing here, and offer and<br /> require similar terms given to your publishers in England,<br /> with exceptions which you will note in the enclosed<br /> agreement. Under these terms you can have full control<br /> over the MSS., and the books can go to press exactly as<br /> written, which I understand you keenly desire.<br /> <br /> “We wish you to understand, however, that unless they<br /> are purchased by you, the copyrights will remain in our<br /> possession, and we reserve the right, if you refuse our offer,<br /> to sell to an American publishing firm, without stipulation<br /> as to the editing of the MSS. Should, however, you desire<br /> to purchase, your offer would receive premier consideration.<br /> <br /> “In case you accept our offer to publish, the books will<br /> be issued by a New York firm, and will be advertised widely<br /> but economically. Please cable your reply on or before<br /> February 5th, as after that date we shall conclude that you<br /> refuse our offer and shall feel at liberty to conclude negotia-<br /> tions with a firm here for the sale of copyrights with the<br /> privilege of editing the MSS. as they desire.<br /> <br /> ‘‘We must warn you that any further shipments of your<br /> English edition to this country will be liable to be seized<br /> and confiscated, but we will, of course, allow you reasonable<br /> time to warn your publishers and agents.”<br /> <br /> The agreement that they asked the author to<br /> sign is interesting and instructive. There are<br /> three books in question: 25,000 copies of two<br /> of the books are to be published, and 50,000 of the<br /> third. The author agrees to pay all expenses of<br /> printing and publishing, including illustrating,<br /> binding, packing, freights, etc., and also one-half<br /> of the total cost of efficiently advertising the said<br /> books, No limit is fixed for the cost of production<br /> or for the advertisements, and the author has to<br /> deposit in cash a sum equal to the estimated cost<br /> of production and in addition a sum equal to the<br /> estimated initial cost of advertising with the Trust<br /> Company of the City of New York. Such deposit<br /> <br /> to be subject only to the draft or cheque of the said<br /> firm on the certification of such bills of indebtedness<br /> by the author if residing in New York, or in her<br /> absence by her legally appointed representatives.<br /> Should, however, bills or accounts as above stated<br /> be presented for certification and no action taken<br /> on the same within seven days, then the said bank<br /> or Trust Company is hereby authorised to pay such<br /> cheques or drafts out of the aforesaid deposits on<br /> receiving an affidavit by the said firm setting forth<br /> such default or negligence. And lastly, in con-<br /> sideration of the above articles being faithfully<br /> performed and carried out, the said firm agree to<br /> pay half profits.<br /> <br /> It is hardly necessary to make any comment on<br /> the above extraordinary agreement or upon the<br /> proposals made during the course of negotiations.<br /> The facts speak for themselves,<br /> <br /> Although the first letters were full of large<br /> promises of profits of all kinds to the author, yet<br /> the last offer is quite distinct. It is possible that<br /> the author might have been led away by the<br /> temptation held out of large returns arising from<br /> obtaining copyright in the United States, but no<br /> author, however unaccustomed to the ways and<br /> methods of publishers and their dealings in literary<br /> wares, could possibly be deceived by the final letter<br /> and the finalagreement. Nothing farther remains<br /> to be done. The author must stand and wait. If<br /> the books are produced in the United States, they<br /> are pirated copies of the English edition. If they<br /> are produced as copyright, under the American<br /> law, the firm will be subject to severe penalties,<br /> and if the books are produced as an authorised<br /> edition, the author’s remedy is to make the whole<br /> case public,<br /> <br /> G. HE.<br /> <br /> “FAIR COMMENT.”<br /> <br /> — oe<br /> <br /> HE Court of Appeal has now given its<br /> judgment in the case of McQuire v. The<br /> Western Morning News Company, Limited.<br /> <br /> The case is a very interesting one, not only from<br /> the point of view of the dramatist, but from the<br /> point of view of the author. All members of the<br /> profession of literature are subject to criticism.<br /> Although each particular case of “unfair com-<br /> ment’? must be to a certain extent decided on its<br /> own especial facts, yet there are certain broad<br /> rules which the Court lays down in order to<br /> determine on what lines and to what extent a<br /> criticism may be libellous.<br /> <br /> The case was brought by an actor who repre-<br /> sented a piece at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth,<br />  <br /> <br /> 238<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> and objected to the comment that appeared next<br /> day in the Western Morning News.<br /> <br /> In the Court of first instance judgment was<br /> given for the plaintiff with £100 damages. The<br /> defendant company pleading that the words were<br /> not libellous, but fair and bond fide criticism on a<br /> matter of public interest.<br /> <br /> The defendants appealed, and on the appeal the<br /> judgment in the Court below was reversed,<br /> <br /> The Master of the Rolls, in delivering an<br /> elaborate judgment, made some very weighty com-<br /> ments on the law of “ libellous criticism.”<br /> <br /> Firstly, as the libel complained of was a dramatic<br /> criticism of the play publicly acted, unless it<br /> exceeded “fair comment,” it could not be counted<br /> as libellous.<br /> <br /> After going carefully over the statements of the<br /> plaintiff and defendants, he proceeded to raise the<br /> most important question of what are the limits of<br /> “ fair comment.”<br /> <br /> “ One thing,” he said, “is perfectly clear. That<br /> the jury have no right to substitute their own<br /> opinion of the literary merits of the work for that<br /> of the critic, or to try the fairness of the criticism<br /> by. any such standard.”<br /> <br /> This point is most important, and although it<br /> has been made before, yet it cannot be sufficiently<br /> insisted upon. If the verdict of whether the<br /> criticism was fair or not depended upon the jury’s<br /> verdict of the merits of the piece, the result might<br /> be in a good many cases extraordinary. Authors<br /> and dramatists know but too well how even the<br /> highest critics have been known to disagree when<br /> writing about or discussing the features of works<br /> of art.<br /> <br /> Secondly, the Master of the Rolls quoted a<br /> saying of Lord Ellenborough’s bearing on this<br /> subject :—<br /> <br /> “The Commentator must not step aside from<br /> the work or introduce fiction for the purpose of<br /> condemnation. Had the party writing the criti-<br /> cism followed the plaintiff into domestic life for<br /> the purpose of slander, that would have been<br /> libellous.”<br /> <br /> And again, from the same judgment, “ Show me<br /> an attack upon the moral character of the plaintiff,<br /> or upon his character unconnected with his author-<br /> ship, and I shall be as ready as any judge that ever<br /> sat here to protect him.”<br /> <br /> Lastly, he states, “I think the word ‘ fair’<br /> embraces the meaning of honest and also of rele-<br /> vancy.” And later, “‘ The comment, in order to be<br /> within the protection of the privilege, had to be<br /> fair, 7.¢., not such as to disclose in itself actual<br /> malice. It also had to be relevant; otherwise it<br /> never was within it. And the judge could hold,<br /> <br /> as a matter of law, that the privilege did not extend<br /> to it.’<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> These are some of the general points, and in<br /> this particular case the Master of the Rolls stated<br /> that he was clearly of opinion that the verdict was<br /> against the weight of evidence, and that he con-<br /> sidered the latter part of the summing-up of the<br /> judge in the Court of first instance might have led<br /> the jury to apply the standard of their own taste<br /> to the appreciation of the thing criticised, and to<br /> measure the rights of the critic accordingly.<br /> <br /> Members of the Society from time to time come<br /> to the office with questions of this kind, and it is<br /> very useful to put before them those fundamental<br /> facts on which alone an action for libellous criti-<br /> cism will rest.<br /> <br /> G. Hoo.<br /> <br /> —$-—&lt;—-—____<br /> <br /> A COMMA AND A COW.<br /> <br /> ++<br /> <br /> PWHE British Medical Journal of the 28th of<br /> March, 1903, had an interesting account of<br /> a dairy visited during an investigation into<br /> “The Milk Supply of Large Towns.” One of the<br /> incidents was described as follows :—<br /> <br /> “The driver having finished milking, his cow<br /> offered to take me into an adjoining room, where<br /> the milk was cooled.”<br /> <br /> In its following issue the British Medical Journal<br /> commented upon the freak of the “ devil” who had<br /> thus with the aid of a comma created a bovine<br /> successor to Balaam’s ass, and gave two amusing<br /> instances of the powers of misplaced punctuation.<br /> In the one a well-known Nonconformist divine,<br /> wishing to disclaim any ambition to appear in the<br /> black coat and white tie, or stock, of orthodoxy, was<br /> credited with a public declaration that he would<br /> “wear no clothes, to distinguish him from his<br /> fellow-Christians.”<br /> <br /> In the other, a Canadian firm having placed a<br /> new patent nursing-bottle on the market, accom-<br /> panied it with these recommendations, for the<br /> guidance of anxious mothers:<br /> <br /> “When the baby is done drinking it must be<br /> unscrewed, and laid in a cool place under a tap.<br /> If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk it should<br /> be boiled.”<br /> <br /> The last example would seem to require some-<br /> thing more than the minding of stops, in order to<br /> satisfy a critical literary taste. It is not, however,<br /> recorded that any baby suffered. In such a case<br /> an interesting question of legal responsibility might<br /> have been raised by an action for negligence against<br /> the vendors of the bottle brought by a chilled or<br /> par-boiled infant suing through his or her “next<br /> friend.”<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> GENERAL MEMORANDA.<br /> <br /> ++<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property :—<br /> <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 /> II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement),<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> C.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pro-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation.<br /> <br /> (.) 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 /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for “office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher,<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor !<br /> <br /> Ill. 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 /> for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly<br /> the truth. 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 /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book,<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> C1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> 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 /> o—~&lt;&gt;—<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> —&lt; +<br /> <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 /> <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 /> 239<br /> <br /> 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS<br /> <br /> IN THREE OR MORE ACTs :<br /> <br /> (a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT,<br /> <br /> This is unsatisfactory, An author who enters<br /> <br /> into such a contract should stipulate in the con-<br /> <br /> tract for production of the piece by a certaindate<br /> <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 gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (¢.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE<br /> TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (e.,<br /> fixed nightly fees). This method should be<br /> always avoided except in cases where the fees<br /> are likely to be small or dificult to collect. The<br /> other safeguards set out under heading (.) 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. ‘hey 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.<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 AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMA«#<br /> TION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &amp;—~&lt;}P— —<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> <br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<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 /> bs Ly VERY member has a right toask for and to receive<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 240<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) To 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 /> —_—_+—&gt;_ +—___—_—_<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> — to<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 /> JISS. 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 /> ————_——__.——_o—_____<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> ———&gt;+<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> HE Editor of The 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 /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Communieations for Zhe Author should be addressed to<br /> the Offices of the Society, 39, Old Queen Street, Storey’s<br /> Gate, S.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 /> i<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 /> —+— +<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 /> ge<br /> <br /> R. G. H. PUTNAM, the Secretary of the<br /> American Publishers’ Copyright League,<br /> has forwarded to the offices a pamphlet<br /> <br /> privately printed for the League, entitled “ Opinions<br /> on Questions of Copyright.”<br /> <br /> The pamphlet contains opinions upon the more<br /> important issues that have been in dispute during<br /> the last ten years ending December, 1902. Mr.<br /> Putnam, in his letter to the Secretary, states, ‘he<br /> will be very pleased to meet any special require-<br /> ments that may arise for copies on the part of the<br /> managers of the Society.”<br /> <br /> If, therefore, any member for a special purpose<br /> should desire to have a copy of the pamphlet he is<br /> requested to communicate with the Secretary, who<br /> will, no doubt, under Mr, Putnam’s favour, obtain<br /> the work in question.<br /> <br /> We see, with interest, that the Publishers’ Asso-<br /> ciation of America means to print at different<br /> intervals further similar summaries as they are able<br /> to secure records of decisions on Copyright Cases.<br /> These publications will in time no doubt grow to<br /> great importance, as it will be possible in a handy<br /> form to have a collection of all the leading Copy-<br /> right Cases. We thank Mr. Putnam for his<br /> courtesy and consideration.<br /> <br /> Amone@ the Correspondence we print a letter<br /> from Mr. Thomas Hardy.<br /> <br /> It comes at a very suitable time, as the same<br /> subject was treated in the May number of The<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> Author, on page 206, when comment was made on<br /> the Annual Meeting of the Publishers’ Association,<br /> In that article we stated as follows :—<br /> <br /> “ Firstly, we have insisted, and now insist again,<br /> that it is absolutely essential that contracts deal-<br /> ing with the subject of serial rights should be<br /> clear and limited and should not be general or<br /> indefinite, and when serial rights are sold they<br /> should be sold either to one paper or to a limited<br /> circle of papers for one issue only or for a limited<br /> time.”<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, Mr. Hardy seems to have<br /> suffered from a complaint which is not infrequent<br /> among authors, the revival of an earlier work<br /> without any reference to the author. Legally, the<br /> position is quite correct. If the copyright has<br /> been sold or if serial rights without any limitation<br /> have been transferred, the position is often very<br /> unsatisfactory both for the author, or, as in the<br /> case quoted in the May number, for the publisher.<br /> It is necessary to warn authors who publish serial<br /> work to be careful about their agreements.<br /> <br /> In the early days of the past month the papers<br /> were full of the Stock Exchange walk from London<br /> to Brighton, and applauded the fact vociferously<br /> that out of some 90 starters 72 covered the<br /> distance under thirteen hours. From a physical<br /> point of view no doubt the result is highly satis-<br /> factory. : : :<br /> <br /> In the American Author there is an interesting<br /> article on the mental activity of authors. Mr. John<br /> Swinton, “journalist, orator, and economist,” was<br /> desired to write a novel based on certain economical<br /> questions, consisting of 500 octavo pages, small<br /> pica type, in twenty days. Reckoning a page to<br /> contain about 250 words, this meant a book of<br /> 125,000 words. Mr. Swinton objected, but the<br /> representative of the publishing firm was<br /> inexorable, and at last the author stated that<br /> he would make an effort. His own words are<br /> as follows :—<br /> <br /> “He demanded the preface of my book at once. I<br /> pondered. I was familiar with the subject, having thought<br /> and spoken and written much upon it in other years. I<br /> hastily sketched a plan as I talked with him.<br /> <br /> ‘“‘He said he would wait in the house till I had written<br /> the preface, which he desired to take to Philadelphia that<br /> evening. Becoming desperate under his urging eye, I sat<br /> down, and in an hour gave him the preface. The first<br /> chapter was mailed in a few days. Chapter followed<br /> chapter. I worked day and night, keeping up pluck with<br /> never-ending pots of coffee. Three hundred of the five<br /> hundred pages were written, and time was nearly up. I<br /> padded. I put in things I had formerly written. The<br /> twenty days were out, and over one hundred pages were<br /> yet needed. I had to get a few days of grace. Finally the<br /> book of 500 pages and 125,000 words was finished. Its<br /> title is ‘Striking for Life,’ ”’<br /> <br /> This was certainly fine mental athletics, but the<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 241<br /> <br /> article goes on to quote from another American<br /> periodical, the Bookman, a few facts which have<br /> no doubt been fully verified by the writer.<br /> <br /> For instance—Frank Norris wrote 125,000 words<br /> in 89 days. Mrs. Oliphant always wrote at night,<br /> and more than once completed a three volume<br /> novel in six weeks. The following interesting<br /> statements about English authors, from the same<br /> article, may come as a surprise to some :—<br /> <br /> ““Weyman writes one novel a year, and cannot be per-<br /> suaded to attempt more. It took Hall Caine three years to<br /> write ‘The Manxman,’ Barrie four to write ‘ Sentimental<br /> Tommy,’ and four more to produce ‘Tommy and Grizel.’<br /> Maurice Hewlett wrote ‘The Forest Lovers’ four times<br /> before he was willing to let it go from his hands, and the<br /> late Bret Harte tore up a dozen pages of manuscript for<br /> every one that he completed. Harold Frederic was five<br /> years writing ‘The Damnation of Theron Ware. ”<br /> <br /> But for sound mental athletics, consider gravely<br /> an offer made by a certain well-known publisher to<br /> a gentleman, whom he desired to employ to grind<br /> out fiction. This offer was quoted in’ the April<br /> number of Zhe Author, and is absolutely authentic.<br /> The serial writer was to have £600 a year. To<br /> earn this money he would have to produce 5,000<br /> words a day for six days a week, without any<br /> provision for sickness or holidays. It will be seen<br /> that work under this offer comes nearly up to that<br /> of Mr. Swinton, but has to be continued year in<br /> and year out, until the publisher, the public, and<br /> the author are tired, and the last, a useless wreck,<br /> loses his position.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> In the American Critic an article entitled<br /> “Uncertainties of Literature,” written by Elliot<br /> Flower, follows the same lines as the articles that<br /> appeared in the February and March (1902) num-<br /> bers of Zhe Author, on “Some Free Lance Expe-<br /> riences.”<br /> <br /> In reading the record it would appear that the<br /> struggling ree Lance meets with much the same<br /> treatment on both sides of the water. The record<br /> is tabulated.<br /> <br /> Out of 53 MSS., each MS. had to be sent on<br /> its travels on an average slightly over five times<br /> before it could be placed. Nine were accepted at<br /> once, and 12 on a second trial, but at the other<br /> end of the scale, one was sent out 30 times before<br /> acceptance, one 18 times, and two 13 times.<br /> <br /> There is no doubt that when an author has<br /> reached a certain point of facility in writing there<br /> is nothing like persistence to bring success.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Tux following rhyme, written, perchance, with a<br /> view to ridicule, has been dropped into the Society’s<br /> post bag.<br /> <br /> We print it for what it is worth, in the hope that<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 249<br /> <br /> the author will put aside his cloak of modesty and<br /> discover himself.<br /> <br /> No doubt, he calls it an epigram. If so, he<br /> would, we feel sure, be a proper inmate for one of<br /> those beautiful and sanitary buildings that adorn<br /> the hills of Surrey and Sussex.<br /> <br /> To tHE Society of AUTHORS, 39, QUEEN STREET,<br /> SrorEY’s GATE.<br /> You flourish on Authors’ alarms ;<br /> You arouse the unfriendly in Man ;<br /> Then you sell healing balms,<br /> To stifle their qualms,<br /> At the cost of One Guinea per ann.<br /> <br /> But pause for a moment, I pray,<br /> A pen stroke :—your ruin is clear,<br /> From the Street that is clean,<br /> With the name of the QUEEN,<br /> To the street that is doubtful and QUEER.<br /> <br /> ee &lt;&gt;<br /> <br /> THE LYTTON CENTENARY.<br /> <br /> — +<br /> <br /> HE Lytton centenary has produced the<br /> ordinary crop of commemorative articles, the<br /> best being Mr. Francis Gribble’s paper in<br /> <br /> the Fortnightly Review, and the more sober appre-<br /> ciation in Blackwood’s Magazine. Of these two<br /> papers we think the latter has the greater value as<br /> criticism, for Mr. Gribble’s virile intolerance of any-<br /> thing savouring of affectation prompts him to con-<br /> vey the suggestion, though he does not actually<br /> formulate the charge, that Lytton’s vapourings<br /> about the Beautiful and the True originated in<br /> preciousness ” and were therefore insincere, and<br /> his resentment of the seeming insincerity prompts<br /> him to do scant justice to Lytton’s compensating<br /> merits.<br /> <br /> With the intolerance of affectation we are in full<br /> sympathy, but we do not endorse the very common<br /> opinion that Lytton was insincere. He was despe-<br /> rately in earnest, ever painfully conscious of his<br /> “mission”; he had indeed that high seriousness<br /> which, according to Matthew Arnold, comes from<br /> absolute sincerity. With it, too, he had a sense of<br /> humour ; “ Kenelm Chillingly” proves that, even<br /> as it proves its author’s funereal gravity and fathom-<br /> less sentimentality. And with those two qualifica-<br /> tions, high seriousness and humour, it is odds but<br /> what any man will go far. The mistake Lytton<br /> made was in allowing his mission to get in the<br /> way of his art. “In forming his conception,”<br /> <br /> Mr. Worsfold says, “the artist should be guided<br /> by the test of ‘great ideas ’; in executing his con-<br /> ception he must be guided by the ‘rules of art,<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> He, on the one hand, can never be, by the nature<br /> of things, so independent of the mass of mankind<br /> as to make artistic excellence his sole object; on<br /> the other, moral worth, however distinctive, can<br /> never of itself suffice to endow his work with the<br /> characteristic charm of art.” Lytton’s moral inten-<br /> tions were above suspicion, and his literary facility<br /> was so extraordinary that it is not surprising that<br /> he neglected the rules of art when, without them, he<br /> could achieve such an extraordinary vogue as he<br /> did at once.<br /> <br /> The measure of success that was meted out to<br /> him might well, indeed, have turned the brain of a<br /> much more robust man, and the wonder is, not<br /> that he enjoyed such a vogue in the earlier part of<br /> his career, but that he was not spoiled by it and<br /> wholly incapacitated for doing the much better<br /> work that he actually produced in the latter half<br /> of his career.<br /> <br /> Whether Lytton was a great artist or not is a<br /> question little likely to be brought up for discussion<br /> now ; the centenary merely offers opportunity for<br /> reconsidering him as a writer at the expiration of<br /> a given period. What he wrote, he wrote ; some<br /> of it suited and has been accepted ; “and that’s<br /> success.” ‘To describe him in a single epithet is<br /> not possible, but the epigrammatic criticism passed<br /> upon him by a writer in the Academy is pro-<br /> bably as fair a one as could be devised : that he<br /> was so full of talent that there was no room left in<br /> him for genius. That his bicentenary will be com-<br /> memorated, and those books which are read now<br /> be read a hundred years hence, may, we think, be<br /> assumed ; and of many a better writer so much<br /> could not be said.<br /> <br /> Or<br /> <br /> THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> (Reprinted by kind permission from the Publishers’<br /> Circular, May 2nd.)<br /> <br /> R. ANDREW LANG has been “ pitching<br /> in” to the booksellers in the Morning<br /> Post—or, what is much the same thing,<br /> <br /> he has borrowed the stick of a “ trenchant critic ”<br /> who writes in 7’e Author and re-applied it—with<br /> reservations. He lets his “author” point the<br /> moral, and then he adorns the tail, with another<br /> sting of the stick.<br /> <br /> «The bookseller’s affair is,” he says, “to know<br /> about books and men. My author, however,<br /> ‘believes that it is nearly impossible to exaggerate<br /> the lethargy and incapacity of the ordinary retail<br /> bookseller.” Mr. Lang kindly adds: “These be<br /> very brave words ; I should hesitate to apply them<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> PohCenSORNRRI<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> to his Majesty’s ministers, much more to the<br /> ordinary retail bookseller.” Then why, Mr. Lang,<br /> did you not hesitate before-taking such an unfair<br /> statement out of its coffin and publishing it to the<br /> world ?—it would have remained stillborn had you<br /> not godfathered it. ‘“ ‘The habit of reading,’ says<br /> my author, ‘is being all over the country dis-<br /> couraged by the insutficiency of the vast majority<br /> of booksellers.’” Mr. Lang quotes this silly libel,<br /> and adds that he deems it “ much too sweeping.”<br /> How much ?<br /> <br /> “*The country,’ says my author ferociously,<br /> ‘would be benefited by the bankruptcy of the<br /> <br /> whole lot of booksellers, and the transference of<br /> <br /> their business to more competent hands.’” Mr.<br /> Lang’s comment is: “This man _ has suffered<br /> much.” How much? Anyone would think the<br /> whole of the booksellers of the United Kingdom<br /> had united to offend him by refusing to stock his<br /> works, but all we are told is that some unnamed<br /> “suburban bookseller” failed to get him a cheap<br /> copy of Milton’s poems.<br /> <br /> “The book never came, but at the end of a<br /> fortnight the bookseller found energy enough to<br /> send a messenger to say it could not be procured.”<br /> <br /> If this cock-and-bull story were true, what<br /> ground is there in it for libelling the whole book-<br /> selling trade of the country ? Another ‘“ example,”<br /> as Mr, Lang calls it, of this man’s sufferings at the<br /> hands of the whole trade is that, despairing of<br /> getting a learned work on Egyptology from the<br /> suburban bookseller—apparently he did not even<br /> ask for it—he gives its title and the address of its<br /> publisher to a tobacconist, who at once procured it<br /> —whether the confiding tobacconist ever got paid<br /> for it we are not told. But why should Mr. Lang<br /> give credence and publicity to such a Blue Fairy<br /> story as this ? ’<br /> <br /> “The larger part of the reading public cannot<br /> get the books it desires,” says Mr. Lang’s “ tren-<br /> chant critic.” If this is trne it only goes to prove<br /> that the larger part of the public is what Carlyle<br /> said it was.<br /> <br /> How interesting it would be to have the name<br /> and address of this “author” who would like to<br /> see the whole bookselling trade made bankrupt<br /> because some apocryphal suburban bookseller could<br /> not procure for him a copy of the “ Chandos’<br /> Milton. Mr. Lang’s pen is not often dipped in<br /> disappointed author’s bile, and it is not as if he<br /> believed the charges were true; then why give<br /> currency to anonymous and unfounded abuse of<br /> the booksellers ?<br /> <br /> There are thousands of booksellers in the United<br /> Kingdom selling millions of books every year, and<br /> yet they are all condemned in this wholesale way<br /> because some nameless author says he could not<br /> get a cheap book from some unnamed bookseller.<br /> <br /> 243<br /> <br /> It is true that one or two other “examples ” are<br /> given by Mr. Lang. Some old lady in Norway<br /> wrote for Mr. Lang’s books to an Edinburgh book-<br /> seller, who gaily replied that they were all out of<br /> print. Are we to infer from the strange conduct<br /> of this prevaricating Edinburgh bookseller that<br /> Mr. Lang has no honour in his own country ?<br /> Heaven forbid! Booksellers would be the last to<br /> claim that their knowledge and methods were never<br /> at fault—but even those of authors are not perfect.<br /> <br /> o—~&lt;—<br /> <br /> HALF-PROFITS ON SHEETS TO<br /> AMERICA,<br /> <br /> — +<br /> <br /> T may seem dull reading to the constant reader<br /> of The Author to see the repetition of certain<br /> forms of agreement, certain clauses, certain<br /> <br /> methods of publishing, accompanied with the same<br /> comments; but as long as publishers persist in<br /> bad clauses so long must Ve Author&#039;s objections<br /> persist also.<br /> <br /> There is a clause often embodied in agreements<br /> issued by the best houses in London in which the<br /> author, who does not obtain the American Copy-<br /> right, is entitled to half of the profits on the sale<br /> of sheets to America. If this clause is inserted in<br /> the usual half-profit agreement there is little to be<br /> said against it. The only points at issue, then,<br /> are, Is a profit-sharing agreement desirable? In<br /> what proportion should profits be divided between<br /> author and publisher? But if the clause is inserted<br /> in an agreement where the author is to obtain a<br /> royalty on the publication of the English edition,<br /> there are two very strong points of objection.<br /> <br /> This sale to an American house is mere agency<br /> work. If conducted through the medium of an<br /> author’s agent the latter would be highly pleased<br /> with the payment of 10 per cent. on the net result.<br /> Not so the publisher, although he is constantly<br /> crying out against the agent and his charges, It<br /> is a well-known fact—instances have often been<br /> quoted—that the publisher, although he expresses<br /> strong disapproval of the intervention of the agent<br /> who charges a modest 10 per cent., makes—when<br /> he endeavours to undertake any of the agent’s<br /> duties—a general charge of 50 per cent. The<br /> lowest percentage which has ever been seen in any<br /> agreement before the Secretary of the Society was<br /> 25 per cent. Further arguments against allowing<br /> a publisher to undertake an agent’s work need not<br /> be repeated here.<br /> <br /> The second objection rests on the fact that a<br /> clause drafted on these lines is a distinct pitfall to<br /> the author. It is a pitfall for the following<br /> reasons :—1. Because to the ordinary person the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 244<br /> <br /> difficulties with which the clause is pregnant are<br /> altogether invisible. 2. Because the amount the<br /> author receives in royalty is always calculated—<br /> see the books of the Society on the point—on the<br /> basis that the full cost of composition is charged<br /> against the English edition. If this were not<br /> the case, the author ought to receive a higher<br /> royalty on British sales. :<br /> <br /> Let us explain what we mean more fully.<br /> <br /> ake the ordinary 6s. book :—<br /> <br /> Cost of composition of 3,000 copies ... £30 0 0<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Cost of printing ; ee 16 0 8<br /> Cost of paper a 2 58 0 0<br /> Total... ..£104 0 0<br /> <br /> Of the 3,000 copies the publisher sends 2,000 to<br /> America, and receives for the same (say) 1s. a copy<br /> £100. The cost of composition was compulsory<br /> for the completion of the English edition, the<br /> author’s royalty, as stated, being based on_ this<br /> understanding ; but the publisher takes two-thirds<br /> of this cost towards the American edition, as well<br /> as two-thirds of the cost for the print and the paper,<br /> leaving to be divided between himself and the<br /> author—<br /> <br /> By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0<br /> ‘Two-thirds cost of production ~ 69 6 8<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> £30 13 4<br /> <br /> As the cost of composition has no right to be<br /> charged against the American edition, but only the<br /> cost of print and paper, the difference would work<br /> out as follows :—<br /> <br /> By sale of 2,000 copies to America ...£100 0 0<br /> ‘Two-thirds cost of print and paper... 49 6 8<br /> <br /> £50 13 4<br /> <br /> Instead, therefore, of the author receiving<br /> £25 6s. 8d., by the publisher’s method of calcu-<br /> lation of half profits, the author receives<br /> £15 6s. 8d. and the publisher £35 6s. 8d. It<br /> is almost as reasonable an arrangement as the<br /> ordinary half-profit agreement, whose clauses and<br /> workings have so often been exposed in Zhe<br /> Author.<br /> <br /> To show how this method may be worked out in<br /> the interests of untrustworthy publishers unfairly to<br /> the author, say the publisher in the first instance<br /> only publishes a thousand copies. The cost of<br /> composition would still be £30; printing, £10;<br /> paper, £20. He sells 500 copies to America, and<br /> on the same principle the following sum is worked<br /> out —<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Half cost of production .. £30 0 0<br /> By sale of 500 copies to America at 1s.<br /> <br /> per copy ... one ae «=. 202 0 0<br /> <br /> £5 0.0<br /> <br /> This would leave a deficit against the author’s<br /> account of £2 10s., as the sale to America has<br /> failed to cover the cost of production.<br /> <br /> As soon as the edition is sold and the amount is<br /> worked out against the author he prints 10,000<br /> copies for the English edition, but never takes into<br /> account the proportion of the cost of production of<br /> the 500 sent to America to the 10,000 printed in<br /> England. Again, supposing you take the first<br /> instance and 20,000 were subsequently sold, the<br /> cost of the 2,000 sold to America is still taken in<br /> proportion to the cost of the 3,000 of the first<br /> edition printed, and not in proportion to the whole<br /> cost.<br /> <br /> It will be seen, therefore, that, quite apart<br /> from the contract being unfair and a pitfall<br /> to the unwary (as on the face of the agree-<br /> ment the difficulty is invisible), even if it is<br /> worked out by a publisher with an honest idea of<br /> doing nothing dishonourable, the result of its<br /> working, its natural evolution, becomes a fraud<br /> on the author, as it is impossible to calculate this<br /> sale to America on the basis of future sales. It<br /> must always be calculated upon the sales that have<br /> already been made. The position is ridiculous. It<br /> is to be hoped that the Publishers’ Association will<br /> dissociate themselves from this form of agreement.<br /> <br /> G. H. T.<br /> <br /> —_—--<br /> <br /> AUTHORS AND MODERN THRIFT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> II.—The Purchase of an Annuity.<br /> <br /> O possess an annuity is the dearest desire of a<br /> poor man’s heart. An income assured for life,<br /> against which neither the rumours of wars<br /> <br /> nor the depressions of the money market has any<br /> effect, isperhaps the most comforting of all prospects.<br /> For this reason doubtless—the immunity from finan-<br /> cial worry—the lives of annuitants extend beyond<br /> the common span. One company, in a recent report,<br /> stated that the average age of the annuitants dying<br /> during the year under review was eighty-eight.<br /> The records of other companies confirm this experi-<br /> ence, which is remarkable in view of the fact that<br /> many of the annuitants are in weak health when<br /> they effect their policies, and would not be accept-<br /> able for life insurance except at special rates.<br /> <br /> The Moral Objection is one which arises in the<br /> consideration of the annuity. It is held that as<br /> the capital invested with the company is forfeited<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> to them at the death of the assured ; that the con-<br /> tract is a peculiarly selfish one; at least this is<br /> often the opinion of near relatives. The question,<br /> however, depends wholly upon circumstance. For a<br /> married man with distracting responsibilites to<br /> sink all his available capital might very well be an<br /> unwise step. On the other hand, there area variety<br /> of situations in which to purchase an annuity might<br /> be a most prudent step, inasmuch as the annuitant<br /> is relieved immediately of all anxiety—providing<br /> the annuity is of sufficient amount—as regards<br /> his future.<br /> <br /> Annuity versus Investment—It is generally<br /> agreed by financial authorities that the highest<br /> return on money it is possible to obtain from abso-<br /> lutely secure investment is 8 per cent. he<br /> return from the annuity is much higher, varying<br /> from 5 to 20 per cent., according to age. A<br /> man of sixty would receive £30 a year from his<br /> investment of £1,000, whereas the annuity would<br /> produce him an income of £94. The difference<br /> might very well mean to him the path from penury<br /> to comfort. In consequence of the curious life-<br /> giving properties of the annuity it is regarded with<br /> disfavour by some of the insurance companies, as it<br /> is not a department which is very profitable to<br /> them. The occasional early death of an annuitant<br /> does not recompense them for the abnormally long<br /> lives on which they continue to make a high return.<br /> Another aspect of the annuity in comparing it with<br /> investments is that the return never varies. The<br /> recent depreciation in the value of Consols and<br /> certain railway stocks indicates a risk which<br /> attaches even to “ gilt-edged”’ investments.<br /> <br /> The choice of an annuity is necessarily confined<br /> to persons of capital. But the return per hundred<br /> pounds is the same as per thousand, and to persons<br /> whose income comes to them, as it were, in flashes,<br /> a few hundred pounds might very well be sunk in<br /> producing a small income which has the immense<br /> advantage of being guaranteed to them for life.<br /> The choice of an annuity, being a perfectly simple<br /> contract untroubled by side issues, is one which<br /> offers no difficulty. All the well-known British<br /> offices are absolutely safe. The object, therefore,<br /> should be to purchase the annuity in the office<br /> offering the largest return for the particular age.<br /> The returns differ far more than in ordinary<br /> insurance. For example, a man of sixty can pur-<br /> chase for £1,000 a life annuity of £94 in one<br /> office, whilst another will return him only £80 10s.<br /> The difference is over 14 per cent. Both offices<br /> are of the highest standing, but a man would be<br /> very unwise to take the latter policy when the<br /> former is obtainable. ‘The differences indicated at<br /> several ages is clearly shown in the following<br /> table. The terms quoted by the Post Office are<br /> <br /> also given for the purpose of comparison.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 245<br /> INVESTMENT oF £1,000,<br /> Males.<br /> |<br /> | Age 40. Age 50,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Highest re-| £ 5, d.| £ s.. d.| &amp; $d. &amp; sg<br /> 2 Gunn 62 10 0173 10.0104. .0 1134 oO 8<br /> Lowest re- |<br /> <br /> tora =... | 62 1 0.) 63 10 0130-10 06 114 8 6<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Difference..| £9 15 0/10 0 0/1810 01/19 15 0<br /> <br /> Average of |<br /> 50 offices. | 5 |<br /> <br /> ! W1t 8) 68 7 6 | 8812 61196 6 §<br /> Post Office..| 55 17 6 |.66 18 4187 1 8 195 9 9<br /> Females.<br /> <br /> : ee<br /> Age 40, | Age 50 Age 60. | Age 70,<br /> |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> d.| ee a A es as ga.<br /> <br /> Highest re-} £ s. | £ 8.<br /> CHI cs 56 12 0 | 66 10<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> O18 0 0 1193 0 6<br /> Lowest re- | |<br /> nibunloy eee 48 0 0/5616 8| 7218 4|105 6 8<br /> Difference..|£8 12 0| 918 4/1211 8|1713 4<br /> Average of<br /> 50 offices.| 52 11 8 | 62 1 817915 O1115 0 0<br /> Post Office..|] 50 5 0{60 510/78 8 4 111416 8<br /> |<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -Vote.—For the return per £100 in each instance divide:<br /> by ten.<br /> <br /> There is no doubt, however, that the complete<br /> surrender of capital to the company is a material<br /> objection, in some minds, to the purchase of an<br /> annuity. “Should I die the day after, they argue,<br /> the money is absolutely lost, and my estate receives<br /> nothing!” The number of annuitants dying in<br /> the early days of their contract is so small as to be<br /> beyond practical consideration ; but all the same<br /> this objection remains. To meet this several com-<br /> panies have lately devised a plan by which the<br /> income is guaranteed over a stated number of years,<br /> usually ten or twenty. This provides against the<br /> early death of the annuitant, as, in any case, a<br /> return of ten or twenty payments is guaranteed to.<br /> the estate. We have shown that the best return<br /> obtainable for age sixty for £1,000 is £94 per<br /> annum. With the annuity guaranteed for tem<br /> years the return would be £80 3s. and for twenty<br /> years £62 9s. Such tables would appeal to persons.<br /> who wish to provide their estate against the risk<br /> of early death. But, on the other hand, most per-<br /> sons of mature age are more or less covered by life<br /> insurance, and it is perhaps better business to<br /> accept the slight risk of early death in order to:<br /> procure the materially higher income.<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 246<br /> <br /> THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE SOCIETY<br /> OF AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> 1+<br /> <br /> HE annual dinner of the Society, held at the<br /> Hotel Cecil, on Thursday, April 30th, was<br /> attended by about 170 members and guests.<br /> <br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield, Chairman of the Committee<br /> of Management, was in the chair, with Captain<br /> Sverdrup, of the Fram, one of the gold medallists<br /> of the Royal Geographical Society for this year,<br /> on his right hand and Sir Clements Markham,<br /> K.C.B., President R.G.S., on his left ; and the<br /> vice-chairs were occupied by Mr. G. H. Thring<br /> (Secretary), Mr. Rider Haggard, Mr. Anthony<br /> Hope Hawkins, and Dr. 8. Squire Sprigge. When<br /> dinner was over the Chairman proposed the health<br /> of the King in a brief speech, followed by that of<br /> the Queen and Royal Family.<br /> <br /> After these loyal toasts had been duly honoured,<br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield rose again to propose the<br /> toast of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Making reference to the important work done by<br /> the Society for authors at large and for its members<br /> in particular in enabling them to obtain the full<br /> market value for their work, he described it as a<br /> Society for the Protection of Authors. In their<br /> business relations with publishers authors often<br /> needed protection. He deprecated the idea that<br /> the Society led a crusade against publishers, and<br /> preferred to consider it as working to promote<br /> an alliance necessary to both; he likened it rather<br /> to a trades union, having, however, no power to call<br /> its members out on strike. Mr. Freshfield also<br /> referred to the subject of the foundation of an<br /> Academy of Literature, as a question of interest to<br /> authors, on which he believed that there was some-<br /> thing to be said on both sides, though he indicated<br /> his own doubts as to the advantages to literature<br /> and the public taste that might be derived from<br /> such a body counterbalancing the obvious draw-<br /> backs and difficulties connected with its creation<br /> and renewal.<br /> <br /> Mr. Rider Haggard replied for the Society in a<br /> vigorous speech, in which he deprecated the<br /> expression of any desire by authors for the institu-<br /> tion of an Academy, and inquired what the methods<br /> were likely to be by which election to such an<br /> Academy might be secured. He declared that he<br /> had no wish to see authors—men of letters—touting<br /> round to other men of letters in order to secure<br /> election to the Academy. He asked by what stan-<br /> dard it was proposed that their claims to election<br /> should be judged. Was popularity to be the test,<br /> and was the author of whose work many thousand<br /> copies were sold before it appeared to be the one<br /> elected to the Academy, or he whose work was<br /> considered to have high literary qualifications ?<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> He hoped that the question of the Academy<br /> would be left alone, and expressed the belief<br /> that every class had the right to combine<br /> for the mutual comfort and protection of its<br /> members, and that this was the spirit which<br /> actuated those who founded the Society of Authors,<br /> of which he had been a very early member. While<br /> alluding to the question of the prices paid for<br /> literary work and the success of the Society in<br /> bettering the position of authors with regard to<br /> payment, Mr. Haggard asked why Milton sold<br /> ““Paradise Lost” for £10? He answered his own<br /> question by saying, with emphasis, that it was<br /> because he could not get any more. For unpaid<br /> work, amateur work, he expressed no great respect,<br /> indeed he questioned the merits of work done<br /> without hope of reward in such terms that some of<br /> his hearers were inclined to express dissent from<br /> his views. In the course of his speech Mr. Haggard<br /> referred to the friendly relations which he believed<br /> to be those that should rightly exist between<br /> author and publisher, and in conclusion he paid a<br /> graceful tribute to the memory of Sir Walter<br /> Besant.<br /> <br /> In proposing the toast of the guests of the<br /> Society of Authors, Mr. Richard Whiteing referred<br /> to those preseut who, representing science, had<br /> maintained the connection ever existing between<br /> science and literature. He mentioned among those<br /> present Mr. C. Longman, Dr. Clifford Allbutt, Dr.<br /> Mill, Sir William Church, P.R.C.P., Sir Henry<br /> Howse, P.R.C.S., and Mr. G. W. Prothero. In par-<br /> ticular he made allusion to the work done recently<br /> by Captain Sverdrup on board the Fram, and to the<br /> kindred services to science and exploration with<br /> which the name of Sir Clements Markham is<br /> associated. With these gentlemen he joined Mr.<br /> Henry Newbolt as representing the guests of the<br /> Society.<br /> <br /> In replying for the guests, Sir Clements Markham<br /> laid emphasis upon the recent achievements of<br /> Captain Sverdrup in the department of scientific<br /> Polar exploration, and mentioned that Captain<br /> Sverdrup himself would probably find difficulty in<br /> making a lengthy reply to the toast in any but a<br /> foreign tongue. Unfortunately this was the case,<br /> and Captain Sverdrup, to the regret of his hosts<br /> and fellow-guests, confined himself to a_ brief<br /> expression of thanks for the cordial welcome<br /> received by him.<br /> <br /> Mr. Henry Newbolt, replying in his turn for the<br /> guests, described himself as being in a sense a<br /> publisher as well as an author, and was inclined to<br /> think that the attitude of author and publisher<br /> towards one another must necessarily be charac-<br /> terised by some hostility due to their relative<br /> positions and interests. Referring to standards by<br /> which modern literature may be judged, Mr.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Newbolt took a hopeful view of his contemporaries,<br /> but compared their passage past our range of<br /> vision to that of a procession, pointing out that<br /> the procession as it goes by seems to be a confused<br /> succession of units, while the relative merit of the<br /> figures and groups composing it can best be appre-<br /> ciated as it passes into the distance.<br /> <br /> At the conclusion of Mr. Newbolt’s speech Mr.<br /> Oscar Browning rose to give the health of the<br /> chairman. Mr, Browning avowed himself able in<br /> doing this to speak from long acquaintance with<br /> the subject of his speech, whom he had first<br /> known as climbing Mont Blane while a school-<br /> boy at Eton, when he was himself a master<br /> there, and with whose work as an explorer of<br /> mountain peaks and ranges, and discoverer of<br /> ground untrodden by previous climbers, he had<br /> been familiar from his earliest days.<br /> <br /> Mr. Freshfield, in thanking those present for the<br /> warmth with which they had received the toast,<br /> made graceful reference to his memories of Mr.<br /> Browning as an Eton master, and to the long<br /> friendship with him which so many Eton and<br /> Cambridge men had enjoyed.<br /> <br /> A soirée was held after the toasts had been<br /> drunk, and the members and guests had an oppor-<br /> tunity of meeting one another.<br /> <br /> The following is a list of those present :—<br /> <br /> Ackermann, A. 8. E.<br /> Ackermann, Mrs.<br /> Allbutt, Prof. Clifford<br /> Armstrong, E. A.<br /> Ashley, Mrs.<br /> Back, Mrs. Eaton<br /> Baildon, H. Belsize<br /> Batty, Mrs. Braithwaite<br /> Begbie, Miss A, H.<br /> Bell, Mackenzie<br /> Berene, Sir<br /> K.C.M.G.<br /> Besant, Geoffrey<br /> Besier, Rudolf<br /> Bird, C. P.<br /> Boddington, Miss Helen<br /> Bolam, the Rev. C. E.<br /> Boutwood, Arthur<br /> Boutwood, Mrs.<br /> Browning, Oscar<br /> Bryden, H. A.<br /> Buxton, Dudley<br /> Buxton, Mrs. Dudley<br /> Campbell, Miss Mont-<br /> gomery<br /> Carlile, John C.<br /> Childers, Erskine<br /> Church, Sir William &amp;.,<br /> PEC, P,<br /> Churchill, Lt.-Col. Seton<br /> <br /> Henry,<br /> <br /> Colquhoun, Archibald<br /> <br /> Colquhoun, Mrs. Archi-<br /> bald<br /> <br /> Craig, Lt.-Col. R. Mani-<br /> fold<br /> <br /> Crawshay, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Croker, Mrs. B. M.<br /> <br /> Davidson, Miss L. C,<br /> <br /> Davy, Mrs. E. M.<br /> <br /> Doudney, Miss Sarah<br /> <br /> Douglas, Sir George,<br /> Bart.<br /> <br /> Dowsett, C. F.<br /> <br /> Duncan, Miss Sarah<br /> Jeanette<br /> <br /> Esler, Rentoul<br /> <br /> Esler, Mrs. Rentoul<br /> Free, the Rey. Richard<br /> Freshfield, Douglas<br /> Galpin, H.<br /> <br /> “ Wirt Gerrare ”<br /> Gowing, Mrs. Aylmer<br /> Grierson, Miss<br /> <br /> Griffin, H. M.<br /> <br /> *‘ Victoria Cross ”’<br /> Groser, Horace G.<br /> Gunter, Lt.-Col. E.<br /> Haggard, Miss Dorothy<br /> Haggard, Miss Angela<br /> Haggard, H. Rider<br /> <br /> Hallett, Col. W. Hughes<br /> Harrison, Miss Rose<br /> Hawkins, A. Hope<br /> Henslowe, Miss<br /> Hepburn, David<br /> Hills, A. E.<br /> Hodges, W. O.<br /> Holman, Martin<br /> Howse, Sir Henry G.,<br /> P.R.C.S.<br /> Humphreys, Mrs. Des-<br /> mond (‘‘ Rita ’’)<br /> Hutchinson, the Rey,<br /> HN,<br /> lliffe, Mrs.<br /> Irvine, Mrs. Duncan<br /> Irvine, Duncan<br /> Jacobs, W. W.<br /> James, Miss W. M.<br /> ( Austin Clare”)<br /> Jenkins, Mrs. L. Hadow<br /> Keltie, J. Scott<br /> Kenealy, Miss Arabella<br /> Lechmere, Mrs.<br /> Lechmere, Mr.<br /> Lee, Miss Alice<br /> Lefroy, Mrs.<br /> Lennox, Lady William<br /> Little, J. Stanley<br /> Little, Mrs.<br /> Longman, C. J.<br /> Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc<br /> ‘Maarten Maartens ”<br /> Magnus, Laurie<br /> Markham, Sir Clements,<br /> KO. BE RS:<br /> Marks, Montagu<br /> Mason, Miss EH. M.<br /> Meadows, Miss<br /> Mill, Dr. H. R.<br /> Montagu, Mrs. Drogo<br /> <br /> 247<br /> <br /> Morris, Mrs. Frank<br /> Moscheles, Felix<br /> Newbolt, H.<br /> Oppenheim, E. Phillip<br /> Pennethorne, Deane<br /> Pennethorne, Mrs.<br /> Perrin, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Perris, G. H.<br /> Petano, D. K.<br /> Phibbs, Miss I. M.<br /> Praed, Bulkeley<br /> Praed, Mrs. Campbell<br /> Prelooker, Jaakoff<br /> Prothero, G. W.<br /> Rae, John<br /> <br /> * Allen Rainé”<br /> Reeves, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Reich, Emil<br /> <br /> Rogers, A.<br /> <br /> “ Leicester Romayne ”<br /> Royle, William<br /> Savory, Miss Isabel<br /> Stanton, Miss H. M.<br /> Stanton, Stephen J. B.<br /> Stroud, F.<br /> <br /> Stroud, Miss<br /> <br /> Smith, Mrs. Isabel<br /> Spielmann, M. H.<br /> Sprigge, Mrs. Squire<br /> Sprigge, 8. Squire<br /> Sverdrup, Capt.<br /> Thring, Mrs.<br /> Thring, G. H.<br /> Trench, Herbert<br /> Tweedie, Mrs. Alec<br /> Walrond, Charles<br /> Wells, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Wells, H. G.<br /> <br /> White, Arnold<br /> Whiteing, R.<br /> Wilson, Mrs.<br /> <br /> —_——___—_1+—&gt;—_ 2 —____—-<br /> <br /> EDUCATE YOUR OWN CHILDREN.<br /> <br /> 9<br /> <br /> EFORE the South African War it was some-<br /> times asked whether such and such a<br /> colony was really loyal.<br /> <br /> That question has been answered. ‘To-day, at any<br /> rate in Canada, an Englishman may be forgiven<br /> if he sometimes asks of himself “ Does the old<br /> country really want to keep us?”<br /> <br /> If she does not, why not say so openly, and let<br /> those who wish to, return to her, and those who<br /> wish to, join hands with the States.<br /> <br /> But if England really wants to keep Canada,<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 248<br /> <br /> why does she allow the United States to educate<br /> the public opinion of her colony ?<br /> <br /> It is not enough that most of our daily news<br /> comes to us coloured to suit America, that our<br /> telegrams are not altogether reliable, that there<br /> are so many Americans amongst us and such go-a-<br /> head American towns close to us, that our people<br /> must take some tones and colours from their<br /> neighbours which an Englishman born would<br /> rather they did not ?<br /> <br /> To all this is added, for the sake of a few paltry<br /> pounds in the pocket of the English Post Office,<br /> the fact that almost all our light literature and<br /> practically all our magazines are American.<br /> <br /> The way of it is thus: American periodicals<br /> are not better than English. Far from it. Better<br /> illustrated two or three of them may be, but no<br /> one who could get a Blackwood would, I assume,<br /> take any ten American magazines in exchange<br /> for it.<br /> <br /> And our people know this; but the American<br /> magazines are cheaper than ours, thanks to the<br /> extremely high postal rates which our magazines<br /> have. to pay.<br /> <br /> Magazines which cost the same at the offices of<br /> publication differ as one to two in price when they<br /> reach the Canadian market.<br /> <br /> Here is an illustration: The Strand and<br /> Pearson&#039;s are both published in New York as well<br /> as in London. Our booksellers sell the old-style<br /> edition, of course, which costs them 74 cents in<br /> New York, and is mailed to them at 1 cent<br /> per lb. If they bought the English edition they<br /> would have to pay about 9 cents in London, and<br /> 8 cents per 1b. postage.<br /> <br /> The result of this kind of thing is that, taking<br /> the figures of one of our booksellers here as a<br /> criterion, we seil four American magazines for<br /> every British magazine, though we are a British<br /> people and like our own wares best.<br /> <br /> My first.point is a national one.. If you want<br /> to keep Canada British, you had better feed her<br /> mind on British literature.<br /> <br /> My second is for the authors. If you want to<br /> keep a market for British books in Canada, you<br /> had better ask British publishers to advertise a<br /> little (not necessarily in the vilely bad taste common<br /> on this continent, but in such a way that a man’s<br /> intimate friends may have a chance of finding out<br /> that he has written a book), and press for such<br /> postal rates as will allow the magazines in<br /> which they advertise to compete with American<br /> magazines,<br /> <br /> If any one is sufficiently interested in my subject<br /> to pursue it for himself, let him take up any of the<br /> leading magazines of the States and see how they<br /> advertise their books.<br /> <br /> When “David Harum” came out you could<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> not walk through the streets of Ottawa without<br /> being flipped in the face by long streamers of<br /> “extracts ” which floated from the booksellers’<br /> doors ; you could not open a magazine without<br /> setting free a shower of notices ; the book haunted<br /> you. As to our books, I had to start a crusade<br /> against our booksellers, to wake them up to the<br /> fact that ‘The Four Feathers ” had been written.<br /> <br /> Are we not big enough as a nation to sacrifice a<br /> few dollars, that our children may learn at their<br /> mother’s knee, and not at another’s ?<br /> <br /> CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY.<br /> —_—_____» &lt;&gt; ____<br /> <br /> “SIR MACKLIN.”<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> OLLECTIVE psychology is a subject which,<br /> as this volume” testifies, has not escaped the<br /> attention of Mr. A. B. Walkley, but one<br /> <br /> reader, at least, inclines to the opinion that he has<br /> not applied his knowledge with sufficient particu-<br /> larity in this present instance. Had he done so he<br /> would not have forgotten that devices proper to<br /> the rhetorician are not always proper to the author<br /> and that a looseness of argument may pass un-<br /> challenged in the spoken word, but cannot escape<br /> so lightly in the written word: in short, that good<br /> lectures do not necessarily make good books.<br /> There is a certain sort of banter, wholly or partly<br /> good-humoured, that frequently is not only lawful but<br /> expedient to a lecturer who desires to carry with<br /> him the last obstinate objector in his audience ;<br /> but the same banter may have a contrary effect<br /> when the lecture is reproduced in the unsympathetic<br /> medium of printer’s ink and submitted to the<br /> leisurely consideration of the same individual in<br /> the seclusion of his library.<br /> <br /> I seem to detect such partly good-humoured<br /> banter in the first lecture in the volume before me.<br /> I am conscious of an attempt on Mr. Walkley’s<br /> part to anticipate any suggestions I may make of<br /> flaws in his work and to dispose of them before-<br /> hand by belittling my qualifications to estimate its<br /> value. He puts me in my place, so to speak, and<br /> the human nature in me is disposed to rebel<br /> against the operation.<br /> <br /> ‘Everyone who expresses opinions, however<br /> imbecile, in print calls himself a ‘critic.’ The<br /> greater the ignoramus, the greater the likelihood<br /> of his posing as a ‘critic.’” Sentences of this<br /> kind may serve to raise an unthinking laugh and<br /> break the ice between lecturer and audience, but<br /> they are not worthy of being perpetuated in print ;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * “ Dramatic Criticism,’ by A. B. Walkley. London:<br /> John Murray, 1903. (5s. net.)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 249<br /> <br /> their inaccuracy is only equalled by their antiquity.<br /> The sole reason that 1 can find for their preserva-<br /> tion here is a desire to rule me, and others like me,<br /> out of court by writing me down an ass before I<br /> begin to suggest that perhaps Mr. Walkley does<br /> not embody all the law and the prophets. As a<br /> mere caudal appendage of “that great baby, the<br /> public,” I may be a barbarian, or, isolated, a harm-<br /> less citizen or a placid British vestryman ; with<br /> luck I may be an amateur of culture, in which<br /> case my judgment is probably spoiled by the<br /> literary bias, or a mundane person, in which case<br /> I have a bias either of the individual or the vogue.<br /> Whatever I may be, I don’t matter, which is a<br /> soothing reflection for Mr. Walkley and a chasten-<br /> ing one for me. And yet I can’t help wondering<br /> if it is quite true.<br /> <br /> “From the people whom the critic criticises it<br /> would be unreasonable to expect sympathy,” Mr.<br /> Walkley remarks ; he omits to say what it would<br /> be reasonable to expect from the people who<br /> criticise the critic ; perhaps the possibility never<br /> entered his head. But he also observes that ‘just<br /> as one solid body cannot collide with another with-<br /> out the manifestation of a form of energy which<br /> we call heat, so one mind cannot impinge upon<br /> another without the manifestation of that form of<br /> energy which we call criticism.” Inasmuch as it<br /> is due to Mr. Walkley, with Mr. Murray as a con-<br /> tributory party, that his mind has impinged upon<br /> mine, it is not only excusable but natural that I<br /> should manifest energy with the best of them.<br /> <br /> My dissatisfaction with this book is due to the<br /> fact that it does not take me any further forward<br /> than I was before ; it is nebulous and inconclusive.<br /> Portentously serious in intention it is not a serious<br /> contribution to the literature of criticism. The<br /> author has an irritating trick of proving all sorts<br /> of things, and then, when he has triumphantly<br /> written Q.E.D. at the end of his argument, hastening<br /> to explain that the theorem is wholly immaterial.<br /> He reminds me of Sir Macklin, who, as every<br /> schoolboy knows,<br /> <br /> “was a priest severe<br /> In conduct and in conversation,<br /> <br /> It did a sinner good to hear<br /> Him deal in ratiocination.<br /> <br /> “ He could in every action show<br /> Some sin, and nobody could doubt him,<br /> He argued high, he argued low,<br /> He also argued round about him.”<br /> <br /> It is not for me to suggest whom to cast for the<br /> bishop in the story.<br /> <br /> Thus he refers to Gibbon’s division of critics<br /> into three classes, takes leave to reduce them to<br /> two, compares these two, showing in the process<br /> that there is not so much difference between them<br /> as they themselves suppose, and then, having<br /> <br /> compared and contrasted them to his own entire<br /> satisfaction, war&#039;s us that the contrast must not be<br /> taken too seriously. By such a device the most<br /> exiguous contribution to literature might be<br /> bumped out to the most ample proportions, but<br /> its value, when so bumped out, would be open to<br /> question.<br /> <br /> On page 20 he quotes Mr. Birrell as follows :—<br /> <br /> “T have had some experience of authors, and have<br /> always found them better pleased with the ‘ unprofes-<br /> sional’ verdicts of educated men, actively engaged in the<br /> work of the world than ever they were with the laboured<br /> praise of the so-called ‘ expert.’ ”<br /> <br /> Then on page 35 he examines the passage as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> “ After the crowd, the average or uncultivated amateur,<br /> let us turn to Mr. Birrell’s candidate for the critical post—<br /> the man of affairs or of the world who dabbles in the arts ;<br /> in other words, the amateur of culture. Mr. Birrell puts in<br /> a very artful plea for this class. He says the authors like<br /> them, preferring their verdicts of approval to the ‘ laboured ’<br /> praise of the so-called ‘expert.’ Here, however, we must<br /> be on our guard against the rhetorical device of the pro-<br /> fessional advocate—the familiar device of comparing one<br /> thing at its best with another thing at its worst. The<br /> praise of the ‘expert’ is not necessarily ‘laboured.’ And<br /> you will observe that the authors like the men of the world<br /> when they deliver verdicts of approval. What the authors<br /> think of this class when they deliver verdicts of disapproval<br /> we are not told.”<br /> <br /> I have italicised the words in these two passages<br /> which reveal the discrepancy between the text as<br /> given by Mr. Walkley and the text as criticised<br /> by him. I refrain from giving the exact text<br /> of Mr. Birrell’s words, and merely submit that the<br /> discrepancy ought not to have been passed in a<br /> considered argument, not so much because it<br /> affects, or does not affect, Mr. Walkley’s point<br /> as because it affects his credit as a dialectician.<br /> <br /> That there is plenty of good stuff in the book, of<br /> course, goes without saying ; most of it is Aris-<br /> totle’s, and a perverse and tricksy memory brings<br /> before me some lines from an obscure burlesque :—<br /> <br /> “My grievance is that in these modern plays,<br /> <br /> There&#039;s nothing new and good ; whate’er of praise<br /> <br /> Their lines deserve, you&#039;ll find in the antique ;<br /> <br /> Whatever&#039;s idiotic isn’t Greek.”<br /> <br /> With the necessary modifications the quotation<br /> has point, and in all seriousness I cannot think<br /> <br /> : : :<br /> that this volume will add to Mr. Walkley’s<br /> reputation.<br /> <br /> Meandering has a fascination for most ‘‘amateurs<br /> of culture.” I would like to meander a little and<br /> express an opinion which, however imbecile, I hold<br /> : : : z<br /> in common with a good many other people. That<br /> opinion is that what is wrong with the dramatic<br /> critic of the day is his appalling lack of the sense<br /> of humour. It is all very well for M. Anatole<br /> France to talk about “the adventures of a soul<br /> among master-pieces,” and for Mr. Walkley to<br /> announce that “judices nati’? may still be found<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 250<br /> <br /> amongst us. I admire the pretty fancy of the one<br /> and rejoice at the good tidings of the other ; but<br /> recent happenings in the dramatic world dispose<br /> me to think that so far as the stage is concerned<br /> people take themselves much too seriously. Mr.<br /> Walkley snorts at the fatuity of the question,<br /> «« What is the wse of dramatic criticism?” Well,<br /> it is a fatuous question. Mr. Walkley replies to<br /> it from the point of view of the dramatic critic :—<br /> <br /> “ The use of any art is asa channel for the communication<br /> of ideas and emotions between man andman. It is a mode<br /> by which the producer of the art shares out his moods, his<br /> soul-states, his views of life, with the consumer. This is<br /> what is meant in popular language by ‘ being interesting.’<br /> Just as you may have an interesting novel or an interesting<br /> play, so you may have an ‘interesting ’ dramatic criticism.<br /> And that is the use of it.”<br /> <br /> I find that answer very satisfactory, and hope<br /> that the “ club of play-goers ”—there is a world of<br /> sarcasm in the employment of that form of the<br /> genitive case—will perpend it. From the point of<br /> view of the manager a dramatic criticism in, say,<br /> the 7&#039;imes, at the price of a stall costs only sixpence<br /> more than the hire of ten sandwich-men at a<br /> shilling a head for the day, and it carries farther.<br /> It advertises the “show.” And that is another<br /> use of it.<br /> <br /> As I suggested at the outset, I hesitate to put<br /> forward these comments as a “criticism” of Mr.<br /> Walkley’s book ; they are merely indicative of my<br /> soul’s adventures in that masterpiece. I hope I<br /> shall not be deemed irreverent if 1 speed them with<br /> yet one more quotation, protesting that they are<br /> quite honest in intention, and not born of that<br /> little-emindedness which finds pleasure in cheap<br /> sneers :<br /> <br /> “Go, soul, the body’s guest,<br /> Upon a thankless arrant ;<br /> Fear not to touch the best,<br /> The truth shall be thy warrant.”<br /> Vy. iE. M.<br /> <br /> ee<br /> <br /> POPULARITY.<br /> <br /> oe<br /> <br /> OBERT VINCENT, historian and man of<br /> letters, had received his death sentence.<br /> The physicians gave him one short year to<br /> live ; but their word was the signal for a cloud,<br /> impalpable as yet, but darker than that of death,<br /> to rise upon the dying man’s horizon. He was a<br /> young man, and it seemed to the world as if it was<br /> but yesterday that he had succeeded in making<br /> his name. But the world was mistaken. The<br /> initiated knew that the reputation which Robert<br /> Vincent had won was of no mushroom growth.<br /> He had won it by sweat, by blood, by years of<br /> patient labour and research. Nay, as was being<br /> proved now, he had bought it with his very life.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> To this small band of scholars Robert Vincent<br /> had been known for years, young as he still was,<br /> as the rising historian of the day, as a writer in<br /> whom in the highest degree scholarship, imagina-<br /> tiveness, and honesty were combined.<br /> <br /> To this small band he was the ideal historian<br /> for whom the world had waited so long. Scholarly<br /> historians there have been. Honest historians’ are<br /> not altogether unknown. Picturesque writers of<br /> history have made their works as household words<br /> tous. But the combination of the three qualities<br /> in one person has often been pronounced to be an<br /> impossibility. 1t appeared in Robert Vincent, and<br /> scholars awaited with bated breath its further<br /> development. But the world in general, the<br /> world which nearly every man secretly craves to<br /> enlist on his side, even when he most professes to<br /> despise it, turned, for a long time, a deaf ear to<br /> the teaching of the historian. To those who<br /> knew, this deafness was simply a question of time.<br /> The world would hear, and hearing would accept<br /> Robert Vincent at his true value. The event proved<br /> that, for once ina way, those who knew were right.<br /> <br /> Robert Vincent won his place as a world power<br /> in literature by the publication of his great book,<br /> “The Welding of the Races.”<br /> <br /> It was a great book in every way. Great in<br /> conception, great in execution. Well balanced,<br /> accurate, and judicial, yet written in language<br /> almost passionately picturesque. ‘The Welding of<br /> the Races ” threw its search light on a period of<br /> English History at once the most obscure and the<br /> most salient. ‘‘As at the touch of an enchanter’s<br /> wand,” the darkness which for hundreds of<br /> years had lain upon the early middle ages was<br /> dissipated, and Englishmen knew at last the secret<br /> of the greatness of their country. “The dark<br /> ages have for England ceased to exist,” was the<br /> judgment of the greatest German critic.<br /> <br /> The wisdom of the small band of scholars<br /> was justified. The world knew and, knowing,<br /> acclaimed, as with one voice, Robert Vincent as the<br /> greatest writer of the century. The author him-<br /> self would have been more than human if he had<br /> not exulted in his triumph. He was young and<br /> he was ambitious, and it is given to few men<br /> indeed to realise, to any great extent, the ambition<br /> of their lives.<br /> <br /> “The Welding of the Races” rapidly proved<br /> itself the success of the day, and the fortunate<br /> author felt that his name had been made for all<br /> time, that he was destined to be numbered with<br /> the great ones of the earth. “‘ Westminster Abbey,”<br /> <br /> he said laughingly to his wife, “ will know me yet.”<br /> And then the end came.<br /> <br /> No prank which the Great Jester loves to play<br /> is dearer to his heart than the summoning of a<br /> man from the prize to gain which he has given<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE<br /> <br /> the best years of his life, given his very soul,<br /> when it is almost within his grasp. We die just<br /> when we are beginning to know how to live. So<br /> it was to prove with Robert Vincent.<br /> <br /> Perhaps it was due to the strain which the<br /> completion of his work had put upon him, perhaps<br /> there was an original weakness of constitution<br /> hitherto unsuspected, or perhaps—. Anyhow,<br /> whatever may have been the cause, at the very<br /> height of his fame the sentence, from which there<br /> is no appeal, was pronounced, “ You must die!”<br /> <br /> There is no need to dwell on the dull, sickening<br /> sense of hope frustrated which fell like a black<br /> shadow on Robert Vincent’s heart when he knew<br /> that he must leave the world, which appeared to<br /> him just then to be so full of brightness and<br /> beauty. But he was no coward, his life had shown<br /> that, and he resolved to face the music like a man,<br /> <br /> “My body will die,” he said to his wife, “but<br /> my soul will live ; for that I have won immortality.<br /> I have put my whole soul into ‘The Welding of<br /> the Races,’ and while England lasts it will last<br /> also.” This he said in no vainglorious spirit.<br /> To him it was a simple fact. But as he grew<br /> weaker there came upon him a mental uneasiness<br /> which puzzled greatly his wife and his doctors.<br /> To some extent, but to some extent only, it seemed<br /> to be assignable to the stress of previous literary<br /> work. The fact was, the dark, impalpable cloud<br /> gathered blackness and substance as time went on.<br /> It pressed in upon him, making the last few weeks<br /> of his life into a hideous, waking nightmare.<br /> <br /> “Qlang, clang! throb, throb! What are they<br /> printing so close to me? Who are printing? Is<br /> it Gradband &amp; Shimmery ?”<br /> <br /> “No, dear,’ said his wife gently, “there is no<br /> printing near you.’ The doctor, who overheard<br /> the mutterings, looked grave and asked the wife<br /> <br /> “Did your husband ever have any dealings with<br /> these publishers, Gradband &amp; Shimmery ?”’<br /> <br /> “No,” she replied, ‘not that I know of. I<br /> never heard their names.”<br /> <br /> “Of course not,” said the doctor with a smile,<br /> “it is scarcely likely that Mr. Vincent would have<br /> had anything to do with publishers of that class.”<br /> <br /> The doctor was quite right. It was indeed<br /> unlikely—the most unlikely thing in the world.<br /> For Messrs. Gradband &amp; Shimmery were known<br /> as publishers of fiction of the baser sort, fiction<br /> which had an enormous circulation among City<br /> ¢lerks and shop girls.<br /> <br /> The stuff which this firm turned out in vast<br /> quantities was lurid and sensational to a degree,<br /> especially that for which “Sydney Trevor,”<br /> popularly supposed to be an assumed name, was<br /> responsible, but it could no more claim to be<br /> literature than a farthing rushlight could claim<br /> to be the moon.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> 251<br /> <br /> Of course it was too wildly absurd to suppose<br /> that Robert Vincent, of all people in the world,<br /> could have had any dealings with such a firm as<br /> this. And the doctor made a mental note of his<br /> uneasiness as a curious illustration of an obscure<br /> brain lesion. But this did very little good to the<br /> patient himself. The noise of the printing presses<br /> at work seemed to become louder and more insis-<br /> tent every day. Every day too his imagination<br /> seemed to be haunted by a terror which ever drew<br /> closer and closer. His lucid intervals proved to<br /> those about him that he had no fear of death, nor<br /> even of the act of dying; but even his lucid<br /> intervals were haunted by the shadow of the fear<br /> which oppressed him so terribly in his delirium.<br /> Whatever the fear might be, it was associated with<br /> the idea of printing, and with the names of<br /> Gradband &amp; Shimmery. Nothing that his wife<br /> could do or say—no news she might bring him of<br /> the ever increasing success of his book, no assur-<br /> ances of the high position, daily becoming more<br /> manifest, which he had secured for himself in<br /> literature, was able to expel this fear devil from<br /> his soul. Thereit sat, grinning at him till he died.<br /> <br /> As soon as Robert Vincent’s death was an-<br /> nounced, steps were taken by those whose word<br /> carried weight with the authorities to secure a<br /> place for him in Westminster Abbey. It seemed<br /> likely that their efforts would be crowned with<br /> suecess, and that the historian’s jesting remark to<br /> his wife would prove to be a true prophecy.<br /> <br /> It was urged that the country had only one<br /> way now of paying the recognition it owed to an<br /> admitted genius. What the leaders of thought<br /> said, the general public echoed with all its heart.<br /> No name was so constantly on men’s lips and<br /> before their eyes during these days as the name of<br /> Robert Vincent, historian and man of letters.<br /> Westminster Abbey was the place for him, and to<br /> Westminster Abbey he must be taken. And then<br /> suddenly all this talk stopped.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Gradband &amp; Shimmery flooded the<br /> country with their advertisements—newspapers,<br /> <br /> hoardings, omnibuses, trains, sandwich-men—<br /> every available means of advertisement were<br /> <br /> pressed into the service of Messrs. Gradband &amp;<br /> Shimmery. There had never been known, since<br /> books were first printed, such gigantic enterprise<br /> in advertising methods. Wherever men looked<br /> they saw the names of Gradband &amp; Shimmery ;<br /> and underneath, only in larger characters, the<br /> name of “Sydney Trevor” in inverted commas ;<br /> and below that the name of Robert Vincent ; and<br /> below that again a list of books whose lurid and<br /> sensational titles spoke for them.<br /> <br /> Then the world learnt that Robert Vincent was<br /> identical with ‘Sydney Trevor,” and Westminster<br /> Abbey knew him not. CO. L:<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> ESSAY ON CRITICISM.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> (Reprinted from Longman’s Magazine, by kind permission<br /> of the Author and the Publisher).<br /> <br /> (By A Lapy NoveEtist).<br /> <br /> S there no real critic on these shores<br /> Yet to be found? O Tempora, O Mores !<br /> How shall they judge who measure all by<br /> rule<br /> While Genius, for them, might dwell in Thule?<br /> Tis quality, not quantity, decides<br /> The merit of such work as mine—Quid rides ?<br /> When will they learn the truth that each great<br /> writer<br /> <br /> Of prose or poetry—non fit—nascitur ?<br /> When cease to sneer with condescending smile<br /> At woman—vyarium et mutabile ?<br /> Yet why should I the critics heed? Whate’er<br /> They say, ’tis mine—aequam mentem servyare.<br /> My place among the Immortals is secure,<br /> *Tis mine—divino ac humano jure.<br /> I feel within my breast the sacred fire,<br /> And I—I know it—non omnis moriar.<br /> Already on Parnassus’ sacred slope<br /> I dwell with Melpomene and Calliope.<br /> No marble tomb I crave, no trophies pious,<br /> My monument is—aere perennius.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> FR.<br /> <br /> a a<br /> <br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> —1—~&gt; +<br /> <br /> AN ANSWER TO “A PROTEST.”<br /> <br /> Sir,—In reference to a letter entitled “A Pro-<br /> test’ in last month’s Author, I would like to say<br /> a few words in common justice to all concerned in<br /> the arrangement of the Society’s annual social<br /> function.<br /> <br /> In the first place, it is a puzzle how the receipt<br /> of the announcement of a dinner could shock even<br /> the most highly strung and sensitive nerves.<br /> <br /> If Shakespeare had lived in the twentieth century<br /> he would no doubt have participated in a meal at<br /> the Hotel Cecil with as much equanimity—and<br /> perhaps even enjoyment—as any other author.<br /> <br /> Next I would like to point ont to the writer in<br /> question that as the Soviety is formed for the pro-<br /> tection and maintenance of literary property, it<br /> must needs respect itself. So, if the Society of<br /> Authors were to hold its annual festival at a third<br /> or fourth rate restaurant, and charge a low price,<br /> as suggested, it would certainly be considered an<br /> inferior concern, and be looked down upon<br /> accordingly. :<br /> <br /> Further, the writer contradicts himself, for he<br /> says that he has attended several dinners each at<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> increased cost, and then confesses having been<br /> present at a guinea one. Comment is needless. If<br /> the protester could be present at a guinea dinner<br /> it seems inconsistent that the suggestion of a 10s.<br /> one should give him a shock.<br /> <br /> As I did not attend any of the guinea functions<br /> I cannot speak from personal experience as to<br /> whether it would have been “ dear at eighteenpence,’””<br /> but I can honestly say that at all the four dinners<br /> which I have attended the food was as good and<br /> as well served as one could wish.<br /> <br /> I have always understood that the Society does<br /> not wish to make money by the dinner, but charges<br /> a price sufficient to cover expenses. If the com-<br /> plainant refers to the ‘ Annual Report,” he will<br /> find that the Society was 5s. 10d. out of pocket by<br /> last year’s dinner ; hence, no doubt, the decision<br /> to raise the price.<br /> <br /> With regard to the guests, it seems to me that<br /> the Society is honowred by the presence of such<br /> men as Sir Clements Markham, Captain Sverdrup.<br /> and others ; men noted for their good and useful<br /> work, some in one field, some in another. I have<br /> never heard of the Society asking subscriptions,<br /> so I don’t quite see how it can be brought down<br /> to the level of a charitable organisation.<br /> <br /> Lastly, I will say that I am so far in sympathy<br /> with the writer of “A Protest” that I think it<br /> would be more agreeable if it were possible to<br /> arrange a festival, or annual gathering, in which<br /> all the members could participate. It is clearly<br /> impossible to please everyone in a large body of<br /> people like the Authors’ Society, and if authors are<br /> “proverbially irritable,” what a large amount of<br /> self-control is needed by a committee formed of<br /> authors, whose task in endeavouring to please all<br /> can scarcely be an enviable one.<br /> <br /> H. M. E. Stanton.<br /> May 4th, 1903.<br /> <br /> SERIAL RIGHTS IN STORIES.<br /> <br /> S1n,—As I receive inquiries concerning my “new<br /> story” in the Sphere for May 2nd and 9th, will you<br /> allow me space to say that, so far from. being new,<br /> it is a resuscitated old story which appeared in a.<br /> country journal nearly twenty years ago, and that<br /> I am in no way responsible for its publication as if<br /> new ? ae<br /> <br /> I make this an opportunity of reminding inex-.<br /> perienced writers of fiction that, in disposing of<br /> ‘serial rights” in their productions, they should<br /> take care to limit the time during which such<br /> rights may be exercised.<br /> <br /> Tuomas Harpy.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/485/1903-07-01-The-Author-13-10.pdf	publications, The Author
496	https://historysoa.com/items/show/496	Index to The Author, Vol. 13 (1903)	<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index+to+%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+13+%281903%29">Index to <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 13 (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>; <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index">Index</a>	1903-The-Author-13-index		<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=78&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Bradbury%2C+Agnew+%26+Co.">Bradbury, Agnew &amp; Co.</a>; <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=78&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=The+Society+of+Authors">The Society of Authors</a>																					<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">1903</a>								<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=4&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=London">London</a>				https://historysoa.com/files/original/4/496/1903-The-Author-13-index.pdf	publications, The Author